Disclaimer: It would be so nice if things made sense for a change.
Razyn stood there.
Watching him.
Razyn threw his arms in the air, and a dome of pure energy surrounded them both, preventing escape.
Razyn dropped his arms and began walking around the edge of the dome. Arxzyn mimicked the motion, still holding Celestial's Respite in both hands. But unlike Razyn, Arxzyn watched his enemy, where as Razyn was just walking around the circle while letting his body hang freely. Razyn continued to walk, dragging his feet as he carried himself around the edge of the barrier. Arxzyn continued to watch him, careful not to be caught by surprise.
Razyn began to speak, adding noise besides his shuffling feet to the room. "Why did you do it?" He asked while looking at Arxzyn out of the corner of his eye.
Arxzyn continued to walk, keeping his gaze fixed on Razyn. "Do what?" He asked.
Razyn snapped his head toward Arxzyn and quickly replied with "Don't play stupid!"
"It was a mission from the Gods-" Arxzyn tried to explain.
"Don't give me that, either." Razyn interrupted. "The Boss said that thanks to our contract, as long as we pray, we don't have to give servi-" Razyn continued trudging along.
"I'm not one of you." Arxzyn corrected. "I happily follow the Gods' orders and give them my service for what they have given me." Arxzyn continued walking.
Razyn shook his head. "So they told you to hurt my best friend." Razyn stopped walking and faced Arxzyn. His walk had apparently given him a chance to recover, because he no longer stood hunched over from exhaustion. He stood upright, staring down the taller man.
"No," Arxzyn replied, still facing Razyn, "They merely requested that I repair her heart and bring her to Garret. Sakkaku to be exact." Arxzyn remained poised as Razyn stood still across from him.
Razyn lowered his gaze, allowing his hair to fall into his face. "So you..." He mumbled.
Arxzyn cocked his head to hear a little better. "Come again?" He asked.
Razyn's gaze snapped to Arxzyn. He arched his back, and held out his exposed claws as he roared, "So you decided to hurt her yourself!"
"No!" Arxzyn tried to protest to the now untraceable Razyn. Arxzyn looked this way and that while he heard rapid footsteps from all directions. He held up his blade just in time to deflect a claw swipe from Razyn.
Arxzyn raced to the center of the ersatz arena and put his hand behind Celestial's Respite trying to use it as a shield. His eyes darted from behind his shades, trying to find the Lustful Heartless. Every few seconds, he would spot a blur and a slash would come at him from some arbitrary direction, and he would react by swiftly blocking. When that failed, he tried to dodge the attack, avoiding the worst.
After an eternity of defending and dodging, Arxzyn noticed his enemy begin to slow. Or his eyes started to grow accustomed to Razyn's speed. He couldn't tell which. But he knew time had given him an advantage.
Arxzyn ran forward and swung his blade down on Razyn. Razyn, undaunted, deflected the attack and swiped at Arxzyn, who quickly countered. Arxzyn flicked his wrist and tried cleaving Razyn in two, only to have the shade backflip over the attack. As soon as Razyn landed, he arched himself forward and began slashing away at Arxzyn, trying to force him back on the defensive. But after just a few seconds of slicing, Arxzyn batted away Razyn's claws and brought Celestial's Respite down onto his crown.
Only to have Razyn catch the blade with the very tips of his claws. The resounding twang echoed off the outside walls and brought a silence with it as the two warriors struggled against each other's might.
"..."
With a grunt, Arxzyn jumped back and poised himself to deliver the finishing blow.
With a low growl, Razyn leaped away, and readied himself to tear his enemy apart.
Arxzyn straightened his back and held his sword in both hands, above his right shoulder.
Razyn leaned forward and held his arms straight back, spreading his claws wide.
Arxzyn and Razyn roared and ran to each other, ready to finish the fight.
oXo
Namine stood in the center of the crater. Even though she was still slightly dazed, she could tell that a battle was taking place just within that dome. Namine swallowed and walked out of the crater, and to the blue-static wall. 'Who is in there?' She thought as she swept her hand across the dome's surface. She looked up, left, then right. It went all the way to the ceiling and completely blocked the hallway.
'Looks like I have no choice.' Namine thought as she took a step back. 'I'll have to wait this fight out. After all, it's none of my business, so why interfere?' Namine closed her eyes and casually walked away from the barrier.
She was about to sit down and rest when she heard it. Two screams. She spun around, her eyes wide with fright. One was obviously Arxzyn; she'd heard him yelling enough to recognize it in an instant. She wasn't worried about him, though. That loon was the least of her problems.
It was that other voice.
"Razyn!" Namine ran to the blue wall and frantically pounded on it, trying desperately to get through. When that didn't work, when tears started welling up in her eyes, when she had almost lost hope, she thought of something.
Sniveling and wiping the tears away from her face, Namine stepped away from the dome and uttered the three words that saved her from her first encounter with Heartless.
"Release my Blasphemy."
The world froze. The sounds stopped. The wall's quivering frame stilled itself.
And Blasphemy came. Just like before, he was transparent. Only this time, Namine could make out more features. He was just like Razyn, just slightly off, like his nose or his chin. He did share the same blue hair, which was greased back, and he wore the same cloak. He had his arms crossed behind his back and floated in front of Namine.
He leaned in a bit and grinned. "It is good to see you again princess." He was like a child, in tone and demeanor. "How can I help you? What wish do you have?"
Namine smiled and held her hand over her heart. She thought really hard. Knowing her luck, she needed to word it just right, or else she might get killed or something-
"No need to think so hard." Blasphemy said, wagging his finger. "I'm not some djinn; I'm not going to trick you." He crossed his arms behind his head and floated sideways, like he was lying on his side. "Just say what you want, and you'll have it."
Namine looked up at Blasphemy and nodded. Then she looked at the dome and donned a mask of confidence. She looked him square in the face and declared, "I want those two to stop fighting."
"Mm?" Blasphemy 'stood up,' turned around and saw the dome. "Ah! Would you look at that! A class α Twilight Barrier!" He rubbed his chin as he examined the semi-transparent blue walls. "And here I thought the guy wasn't even paying attention..."
Namine sighed as the Demi-God fawned over the only thing keeping her from her true love. She cleared her throat, and Blasphemy immediately tore away from the barrier.
"Don't worry, don't worry." He said, trying to wave away any of Namine's concerns. "Time's stopped, so there's no reason to fret." With that said, he turned around and pointed at the barrier. An opening just big enough for Namine appeared.
Namine looked at the golden arc standing against the blue sphere and then at Blasphemy. She smiled and thanked him before running into the battlefield, leaving him behind.
"I always thought..." Blasphemy rasped as he turned around and floated away from the dome. "That the Princess of Twilight would be a little bit colder." He snapped his fingers and vanished from that world.
oXo
With a grunt, Arxzyn jumped back and poised himself to deliver the finishing blow.
With a low growl, Razyn leaped away, and readied himself to tear his enemy apart.
Namine ran to the center of the room, unsure of who she should approach.
Arxzyn straightened his back and held his sword in both hands, above his right shoulder.
Razyn leaned forward and held his arms straight back, spreading his claws wide.
Namine clenched her eyes shut and prayed that what she was about to do would work. That nothing would go wrong.
Arxzyn and Razyn roared and ran to each other, ready to finish the fight.
Namine held out her palms when the warriors reached her. "STOP!" She screamed. She reached out and pulled them close to her as a great white heart shone from the floor, blinding all three travelers.
Then everything faded to white as the bright light surrounded all three of them, nullifying all senses.
oXo
A pure heart. A chained heart. A splintered heart. These three symbols each sat proudly in the middle of their own stain glass platform. These platforms were circular and arose from the infinite darkness. One was dark blue and gradually became light blue towards the edge. This was the one with the chained heart; it had a circular picture of a dagger above the heart, with an empty circle to the right of the heart, and to the left. Another of the platforms was orange which turned to yellow farther from the center. It possessed the pure heart, which was surrounded by the faces of thirteen men and women who had their heads turned away, and two empty circles. The last platform had nothing within it's gradient purple frame but one small splintered heart and two empty circles next to each other, and far away from the splintered heart.
On each of these platforms, stood a single person. On the azure, a young man with a tattered grey cloak and bright blond hair. He looked troubled. On the coral-colored platform stood a very young blond girl, wearing naught but a pink dress. She looked scared. On the violet platform was a tall man with bright blue hair and wearing a black and white cloak. He looked unstable.
All three snapped their heads up and turned around to face each other.
The girl sniveled and faced the blond boy. "Razyn?" Her tone closely reflected her demeanor.
The blond boy looked at the girl. "Yeah Namine?" He answered. His voice was gruff and commanding.
She held her hands to her heart and asked, "Will things ever be the same?"
"..." The endless abyss was silent. They could not even hear their own breathing.
She looked down at her hands. She swallowed. "Razyn?" She called.
The youth crossed his arms and smiled. "Don't worry Namine. We'll protect you."
She broke her gaze away from her hands and looked at the young man. "How can you protect me if you're so far away?"
"We're closer than you think." The man whispered, his voice echoing around the others. He was staring between the other two, as if his eyes weren't focused. Even though he whispered, his voice was heard as if he were standing over both of their shoulders.
The girl turned to the unstable man. "Arxzyn?"
The man continued to speak in strained breaths. "Our hearts are permanently linked. No matter what happens, we will always be able to rely on each other. Near or far."
The girl sighed and smiled. "Thank you. Razyn. Arxzyn." She nodded to the others in turn.
The youth grunted with a grin. "What are you talking about Namine?"
The man whispered, "You are the one responsible for chaining our hearts together." He smiled a small smile. "You just wouldn't give up."
"I'm happy it all worked out in the end." The girl mumbled.
She closed her eyes and sighed, holding her chin up. The youth closed his eyes and puffed out his chest. The man looked down at the floor and closed his eyes. After a moment, a bright light traveled up from the darkness and consumed them all.
When the light somewhat subsided, a fourth platform stood between the original three. All three blindly walked toward the center of their new platform on steps that appeared as they walked. In the still white emptiness, it was obviously smaller, just big enough for the three to stand comfortably. It was white throughout, bearing nothing but three round portraits.
Namine, Razyn, and Arxzyn opened their eyes. They first looked at Razyn, who grinned. Then to Arxzyn, who nodded. Then Namine was the focus; she giggled.
Everything faded to white as a bright light surrounded all three of them.
A/N
...Editing makes everything seem a lot longer than it really is.
qinop out