Sorry for the long delay, hope the extra long chapter makes up for it, enjoy
Chapter 10: Siege of the Grey Castle
Kairi woke up in a small room. There were two beds separated by a bedside table with a lamp on it. The door to the room was in the middle of the wall opposite the beds. Kairi was in the left hand bed and when she woke up she was instantly annoyed.
She didn't remember passing out, and she never went to her inner place, both facts irked her. She looked around the room lazily but when she tried to sit up she was wracked with intense pain. Everything below her neck was screaming in outrage at her attempt to move. The sudden pain surprised her and she let out a quick scream. Moments later the door opened and Bruxeus walked in and stood at her bedside.
"Awake I see, how you doing?" he asked giving Kairi a once over.
"Everything below my chin hurts," Kairi groaned out though the pain, "what happened?"
"You passed out. You must have exhausted yourself to near nothing trying to get out, as soon as Seig started digging you turned around and started to fall. Riku managed to catch you before you hit ground and I brought you here to rest," Bruxeus said sitting on the other bed.
"How long have I been out?" Kairi asked looking at Bruxeus, the pain was subsiding.
"About an hour. Seig got Sora out and as far as I know Anos is healing him now. Seig cast a few cures on you, but I'll let him know your still in pain," Bruxeus said standing up.
Kairi nodded and thanked him as he left. Once he was gone she turned to look straight ahead at the ceiling. Her mind was on what Bruxeus said, she was out for an hour and Anos was still healing Sora. It would have taken Seig at most fifteen minutes to get Sora out; those big rocks would be nothing to him and the Omegas. That meant 45 minutes of healing, how badly injured was he? And how bad would she be if he hadn't protected her?
Her thoughts carried on like this for a few minutes before Bruxeus came back with Seig in tow. "How bad is the pain?" he asked.
"I can't move anything because it hurts too much," Kairi answered annoyed.
"Curaga it is then," Seig said confidently before casting the spell and causing green mist to appear from nowhere and fall on Kairi.
After a few moments Kairi sat up with a slight smirk, "Thanks, I feel a lot better."
"Good, but don't overdo it, you still need to rest, we got about five hours before the next wave hits, but you should be able to sit that one out," Seig said patting Kairi's foot and turning to leave.
"How do you know how long it will take?" Kairi asked leaning forward in the bed.
Seig stopped and looked back at her, "Estimations from Spitfire's initial reports of the first wave. Confirmed by his reports of this one," Seig said simply before leaving.
Kairi turned to Bruxeus, "what happened while I was buried and why won't I be needed for the second wave?"
-XXX-
Sora suddenly became aware of himself. He was lying on a bed in a small room. The room had two beds separated by a bedside table with a lamp on it. The door was in the middle of the wall opposite the beds. Sora was in the left bed and a chair in the corner at the foot of his bed held a sleeping Riku. As his eyes continued to travel around the room he saw that a similar chair in the corner at the foot of the other bed held a sleeping Anos. Sora could also tell there was someone in the other bed, but the lamp blocked him from telling who it was.
The last thing he remembered was covering Kairi as the tower came down on them. He could only hope that since he was alive she was too. Sora let out a slight groan as he tried to sit up but his torso screamed in protest and refused to move. Quickly checking to be sure he didn't wake the two in the chairs Sora resolved to just lie on his back until someone came in to check on him.
"Finally awake?" a voice called from the other bed, a voice Sora knew instantly.
"Kairi?" Sora asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the others.
"The one and only," Kairi replied with a small laugh.
"Are you okay? What happened after the tower fell, did you get hurt?" Sora asked turning towards Kairi but only seeing the lamp.
"I'm fine; Seig said I just need to take it easy. And we got buried under the tower, but because you covered me I managed to get myself out and the others got you out," Kairi whispered back.
"I'm glad you're okay," Sora said meekly. He was happy she managed to get herself out, but it hurt that she left him buried.
"Yeah. How are you legs, they were buried under some heavy rocks I couldn't budge 'em," Kairi asked simply.
Sora smiled to himself, she had just wiped away his hurt, "I don't know, I can't really feel anything below my neck, but they look normal from here."
There was silence for a long time before Kairi finally asked the question burning in her mind, "Why?" she demanded.
"Why what?" Sora asked completely confused.
"Why everything? Why were you Siv? Why did I have to carry that charm? Why were your other selves inside it? Why are you always so weird around me?" Kairi said in a rush, one question flowing right into the next. After a pause, before Sora had the chance to answer she added, "Why did you save me from the tower?"
There was another pause before Sora spoke, "my other selves were in the charm to save me the pain of being stranded in the Dark Realm, being without them turned me into Siv. I don't know why you had the charm but I think Sakura does," he paused here too, he was afraid to tell her. After everything else that had happened between them since he came back to himself, he was afraid of how she would take it. "And I… I think, I hope you already know why I saved you from the tower," he said, still to afraid to say it.
Kairi looked at him, but the lamp blocked his face, "does that mean you admit to having a hero complex?" she demanded.
"No I… I saved you because…" Sora's heart was racing; his eyes went from the lamp blocking Kairi's face to Riku to Anos, the latter two still sleeping, and back to the lamp. He wanted to say it, he wanted to since he first saw her again after composing himself, but she hated him. He was afraid of the rejection, he found eternal absence and emptiness somehow more bearable, but he had to say it now, "Because I love you Kairi, because I've loved you since I first met you, even when I didn't know what love was, or that I was helplessly in its grasp."
There was a pause while Sora's words registered in Kairi's mind before a bright white light emitted from her as the spell broke and there was a pause of silence afterwards as well. Sora wasn't sure what the light was, but he had a guess and was hopeful, but he waited for Kairi to talk before giving in to hope.
"Sora… did you just say that you love me?" Kairi asked in a slightly confused tone.
"Yeah, I think I did. Why? Is something wrong?" Sora asked instantly worried.
"No, everything fine, it's like a haze around my mind just evaporated and… and I love you too Sora," Kairi said finally a laugh to her voice.
"Really?" Sora asked trying to sit up, his pain kept him down but he was too happy to voice it.
"Yes really, and it's about time," Riku said sitting up.
"Is this what you've been waiting for the whole time?" Anos asked sitting up also.
"Yeah, told you he'd come around," Riku said with a smirk towards Anos and ignoring the looks of shock and embarrassment he was getting from Sora and Kairi.
"How long have you two been awake?" Kairi demanded looking back and forth between the two.
"Just after your conversation started," Anos said simply.
"I was never asleep, I was hoping this would happen and I didn't want to miss it," Riku said with a full grin.
"What kind of person are you?" Sora asked half joking.
"Well, now you two are finally in love Kairi'll be your girlfriend, so I guess I'm the kind of person who just got bumped up to your best friend," Riku said, his grin only widening.
Sora's face reddened at the mention of Kairi being his girlfriend but Kairi just smiled back at Riku. There was a general silence for a while, the only noise being Sora mumbling about Riku and Anos pretending to be asleep.
After a while of letting Sora mumble Anos turned to Riku, "I think we embarrassed them enough, I think we should head out and leave them alone."
"I don't think we can ever embarrass Sora to much, but I guess I'll follow you out," Riku said with a last smirk at Sora before the two left the room and shut the door behind them.
The silence that remained was deafening. The conversation would have flowed seamlessly if Riku hadn't interrupted but now Sora was having trouble finding where to begin.
"What do we do now?" Kairi asked voicing Sora's confusion.
"I don't know. Riku kind of threw the conversation off when he 'woke up' there," Sora said in a lost tone.
"No, not about us, we're dating. I mean how are we going to get rid of your pain if I'm too drained to stand, let alone heal you, and our friends just left without handling the problem," Kairi said thoughtfully.
"Wait What? We're dating?" Sora said confused.
Kairi reached over and took the lamp off the table and set it on the ground so she could see Sora, "of course we are. Unless you want to propose now, then we can be engaged; but I'll have to warn you I don't want to get married until this whole mess is over," Kairi said confidently.
After a short pause Sora looked at Kairi with a confused look, "did I miss something?"
"Probably, but don't worry, I'll fill you in on everything," Kairi said with a giggle.
-XXX-
Seig sat on the outer wall above where the door once was staring out at where the army would come from. He held a small ring case in his left hand and was absently opening and closing it, unaware of the fact the case was empty and the ring was in his right fist. Spitfire had returned from his scouting a short while ago and was currently wandering around the castle at his leisure.
Seig sighed as he mulled over the information he had just received. The army would reach them in less than two hours and was almost three times larger than he had initially thought. Seig never knew how bad thing were when he saw this through another's eyes. He absently wished he could have seen it through his own eyes, but that was an impossibility.
His only hope was in the reassurance that Yen Sid kept giving him, knowing the major events and acting accordingly will not alter the events greatly. This was combated by the simple fact that there were events happening, things he would have called major that Yen Sid may not have, that he doesn't remember. Seig was afraid that he had already done some act that altered things, making everything one big unknown.
If that was true then the ending he knew of wasn't assured, the survivors he saw may die, and the forces he remembered may be increased. Seig was perfectly fine not knowing what was going to happen, it's how he lived every part of his life until this mess started. But he knew this was the most important thing he'd ever do, this is why he did what he had to, not what he wanted to, at every step along the way. And now his set in stone ending was crumbling.
-XXX-
Kairi sat on the outer wall of the castle above what was once the front door. She was idly chatting with the Omegas as they waited for the army to arrive, according to Seig it would be less than half an hour from now. Anos and Riku were with Sora fixing him up so he could move and walk. Yen Sid hadn't been seen since he entered the castle after the first wave and Seig was somewhere in the castle as well.
Kairi was really interested in knowing what was going to happen with the second wave, but none of the Omegas knew either, and when Riku and the others arrived, Sora being half carried between Riku and Anos, none of them knew Seig's plan either. The seven of them sat on the outer wall waiting as time ticked away, doing random and frequent checks to see if the army had arrived yet.
After a while Spitfire appeared on the wall having come from outside the castle. Xexox stood and looked out and the emptiness to find the army in sight. They were ten minutes away at their current pace.
"They're here, Riku get Seig, Anos get Yen Sid," Xexox said looking back at the two boys.
"No need," Seig's voice called up from the courtyard.
Everyone looked down to see Seig walking confidently towards them with Yen Sid a few paces behind. "Are you ready for whatever you're doing?" Bruxeus asked as he and the others got to their feet, Sora leaning against the rise on the wall.
"Indeed," Yen Sid said simply as he and Seig climbed the stairs.
"He'll handle everything, all we have to do is watch and pick off any stragglers that may make it through, but I doubt that'll happen," Seig said as they reached the others and Spitfire reformed into his shadow.
"They're about ten minutes away at their current pace," Vaxer said as Yen Sid surveyed the approaching forces.
"Whenever you're ready," Seig said simply and Yen Sid nodded.
Yen Sid stood at the center of the wall and shut his eyes taking in a deep breath. He started going through gestures and motions evident of high level powerful magic. His breathing was very regular and his movements graceful as they flowed one into the next. All eyes were watching the approaching army expectantly to see what spell Yen Sid would unleash.
The clear sky of the early evening started to lighten as if the sun were rising again. At the same time the earth itself started to darken as if the sky was horribly overcast. Once the sky was as bright as it would be at noon it broke and dissipated showing the fullness of the spars and space beyond the atmosphere. The break happened in the sky above the center of the Nano forces and spread outward like a sickly infection. Sora was sure it would reach itself on the other side of the planet in moments.
When the break in the sky happened Yen Sid raised his right hand, palm flat and vertical, towards the approaching army. His eyes were still closed and his features were calm, his graceful movements had stopped and everyone was silent as they waited for what he was about to do.
"Phantasmagoria," Yen Sid said quietly.
Almost instantly after speaking the work a large burst of wind shot forth from Yen Sid towards the army, Sora nearly falling over from the backlash of it. The eyes watching the army could see that the wind had reached them, but had no effect. The force slowly increased until it was suddenly a gale force rush pushing from Yen Sid's unmoving frame towards the oncoming army.
Seig and the Omegas stood unmoving behind Yen Sid, but the others were having trouble keeping their feet under the wind pressure. As they watched the gale winds slowed then stopped the army from moving forward, although the Nanos were still marching, they were making no progress. Sora watched in amazement as pieces of the Nanos broke off under the wind, an arm at the elbow, a wing at the shoulder, a leg at the knee; all of these flew from their owners into the air to where the sky broke.
As the pieces ascended into the sky Sora realized that it wasn't a wind pushing, it was a vacuum pulling. The pieces broke off not just from the front of the army, but from the sides and the back, and even some Nanos completely lost their footing and rose in completeness as well. As the broken parts ascended upwards they broke down more until they were no larger than a marble. They reached the sky and started revolving around the empty space the crack began at, the marbles formed a spiral form, it almost looked like a miniature galaxy.
Everyone watched in amazement as the miniature galaxy grew larger and larger as more and more marble sized broken pieces of Nanos joined the spiral, as the forces behind the pulling winds grew stronger. Without any warning large chunks of the earth broke from the ground, the separated pieces joining the spiral as well. These breaks happened at once, countless fractures scattered around the army, nearly all outside the area the Nanos took up, though a few were within the ranks.
Shortly after the chunks of earth were broken off and almost immediately after they had broken down and joined the spiral streams of molten magma rose form the cracks. One stream came form each break and they ascended right into the sky, into the center of the spiral, where there was a large opening. The magma pooled together at the center of the spiral forming a large sphere before fanning out and filling the space above the spinning marbles.
The rivers of lava stopped flowing and the magma in the sky filled the space at the center of the spiral as well as covered the top of it. The powerful winds died down and the pieces of the Nanos stopped breaking off and the last of the marbles joined the rest in the miniature galaxy that floated above the army. The magma that floated above the spiral started to lower and integrate into the spiral itself.
As the magma integrated into the spiral the powerful winds that kept the Nanos herded to one spot finally weakened enough for the Nanos to move away. Before a single Nano had made it beyond the cracks the lava had flowed from large pillars of fire shot forth from the ground, one from each of the outer crack. The pillars quickly changed from strait to a grid, a net that kept the Nanos caged in the large area below the spiral.
Any Nano that attempted to get beyond the flames were tuned to ash. Several thousand became ash. Once the magma had integrated itself into the spiral the whole spinning complex stated to lower itself towards the ground. It moved slowly at first but quickly picked up speed as it rocketed towards the ground and the Nanos below it. The impact shook the whole planet, only Yen Sid remained unmoved from the tremors, even the Omegas and Seig fell either to a knee or the ground.
The impact released an increasable light that shattered the netting of fire and forced everyone to turn away or shield their eyes, again Yen Sid remained unmoved. The light faded to reveal the spiral, nearly perfect to how it was before it fell, digging its way into the ground spiting burst outward at anything in the area that moved, finishing off any Nanos that survived the impact. Once the top of the spiral was below the level of the ground three large plates of earth shout upwards surrounding the hole tilted inwards and smashed on top of the spiral.
The ground trembled slightly as the three plats landed but once they did there as another quake, one that seemed to come from the core of the planet. Along with the quake bright lights shot upwards from all the cracks in the ground. As the lights from the ground faded the earth turned back to its normal color and the sky returned. All the holes and cracks the spell had formed in the planets surface had also been smoothed over, as if it never happened. There was no sign the Nanos had ever been there.
"Holy Hell," Riku said with wide eyes as he stared unblinkingly at where the army once was.
He was the first to speak since the spell had been cast and even then it wasn't for several moments after it had finished. Everyone had already reclaimed their feet and Yen Sid finally moved, taking a seat on the rise of the wall before Riku uttered his words.
"Now you know why it can only be cast so many times," Seig said with a smirk as a chair appeared behind him and he sat down.
"That was insane… what could anyone do to stop that?" Sora asked after another long moment.
"Nothing," Xexox said simply.
"Only having enough magical force within, and channeling it properly into a defense could you survive the blast, but even then you would be near death," Yen Sid added.
"What's the reason we don't do that to the third wave again?" Anos asked looking at Seig.
"Among us, Yen Sid is the only one able to cast it," Seig said.
"And as you can imagine, it takes a significant drain on the magical reserves, I cannot cast it again for several more day," Yen Sid said simply.
"What about Merlin, or Tim? Could they cast it?" Sora asked eagerly.
"Indeed they can. But not here. Another casting on this planet will bring forth its end," Yen Sid said as he rose to his feet, "now, if my memory serves me correctly, we have until just after dawn before the third wave appears on our horizon."
"That would be correct. I'll still sent Spitfire to make sure our estimates are right, but they have been so far," Seig said confidently.
With that, and a nod to everyone present, Yen Sid descended the stairs of the wall and entered the castle to get a much needed rest.
"I still can't believe the power of that spell," Kairi finally said after a while.
"Be glad you were able to see it, you're not likely to ever again," Vaxer said as he folded his arms, "only full mages know how to cast it, and only a handful of them are powerful enough to do so," he added after receiving a look from Sora.
"I think its time the four of you retired as well," Seig said standing up, "two of you were nearly killed by a falling tower and one of you nearly burned yourself out healing them." The chair behind Seig vanished and he waved his arms towards the stairs as if the allow the others to go before him.
"Why do I need to go now, I'm still fine," Riku asked with a smirk.
Seig smiled as well as his cane appeared in his hand, "is that a challenge?"
"Sure," Riku laughed, "I'm pretty sure I can take you," he said as he drew Dawn's Edge.
"Really? Are you sure? Are you positive?" Seig asked mockingly as his cane morphed into his katana.
"Riku, he's at least as good as the Omegas, I mean, remember how easily he took down that Razor?" Anos asked stepping up beside Riku and muttering in his ear.
"I don't know how to rate the Razors, but Riku could easily hold his own against either me or Vaxer. Not sure about Xexox though," Bruxeus said with a small laugh at the end.
"I'll be fine; I know when I'm in over my head. And besides, Seig's not going to try to kill me; we're on the same side," Riku said reassuringly.
"Riku I never saw you back down from anything. If you did ever get in over you head, you probably just ignored it and plowed along," Kairi said with a hint of worry in her voice.
"Don't worry, if I am too much, I'll tone it down, but I'm going to start out at my top here," Seig said as he rested his katana on his shoulder.
"Wouldn't want anything less," Riku said grinning.
"At the least it'll be a good fight to watch," Sora said shrugging and smirking at Kairi.
"Not for you," Bruxeus said as he grabbed Sora and Kairi by the back of their shirts, "you two need you rest, you too Anos, lets go," he said as he started towards the castle despite the complaints and overly dilapidated attacked from the two heroes. Anos followed behind laughing to himself.
"Two things before we start," Seig said as he jumped down to the courtyard.
"What?" Riku asked as he took the stairs, the remaining Omegas each took a set on the ledge of the wall.
"One, I want you to use Phantasmagoria, I know it won't break against my blade in battle and I don't want that happening to your Zanpakutou," Seig said pointing to Dawn's Edge in Riku's hand.
"Fair enough," Riku said as he switched the two blades, "what's the second thing?" he asked as he reached the courtyard and took his place opposite Seig.
"Well, aside from the obvious of the Omegas being the refs and keeping things fair and even, the wager," Seig said grinning.
"What wager?" Riku asked.
"Simple, for every hit you land on me that manages to draw blood, I will answer one of your deep, burning questions about the mystery that is me," Seig said simply.
"And in the case of you winning?" Riku asked curiously.
"Well, if I win, I have a project, a job, that I want you and Sora to do for me. It won't be until after this whole thing is finished, but if I win that you must do it, and get Sora to help you, regardless of what may come about between now and when I send you," Seig said sternly, things had just gotten serious.
"What kind of job?" Riku asked hesitantly.
"I'll give you the details later, when the timing is more appropriate," Seig said with a shrug.
After a short pause Riku grinned, "deal. Xexox, care to give us the start?" Riku said as he dropped into a fighting stance.
Xexox sighed and rose to his feet, "Riku, ready?"
"Ready!" Riku said as he bounced slightly in his stance, he was more than ready.
"Seig, Ready?" Xexox asked turning to said man.
Seig stood as he did before, leaning slightly on his left leg, his katana held loosely in his right hand and resting on his right shoulder. He glanced up at Xexox before smirking and looking back at Riku, "lets do this, I got things to tend to."
Xexox sat back down and looked at each warrior one last time before shouting, "Fight!"
Riku bolted towards Seig his sword back and to his right wound up for his attack. Seig stood unmoved waiting for Riku to come to him. Riku reached Seig and stopped moving forward as he swung his blade, stopping it when it was straight in front of him positioned right into Seig's chest. But Seig wasn't there, he had vanished once Riku started his swing and once the blade stopped he reappeared standing atop the blade.
"What's this then? You pulled your punch," Seig said mockingly as he looked down at Riku.
Riku glared up at him, "it wouldn't have killed you, the Omegas or me could have healed you from the wound."
"Which is why it missed, if you try and make it not lethal, I'll have no issue avoiding the attack, and you avoiding mine," Seig said as he hopped off the blade.
"You want me to kill you?" Riku asked and he straightened up.
"No, but I want you to try to, if you pull it off, congrats," Seig said with a smirk. "Now then," and Seig vanished again, "let's do this for real now," he said appearing where Riku started from.
"Fine, but no magic or special tricks," Riku said dropping into his fighting stance.
"Good, your getting it now, we'll do it one on one," Seig said lowering his sword from his shoulder and tightening his grip. "Spitfire, why don't you sit this one out and enjoy the show," at Seig's words his shadow rose from the ground and took the shape of Spitfire before it leapt up to the wall and sat beside Bruxeus.
"Ready for real now?" Riku asked from his fighting stance.
"On your mark," Seig said confidently.
-XXX-
Riku slid backwards on the ground and dropped to a knee but he quickly forced himself back to his feet. He had always assumed Seig was a fighter; he had the presence of someone who had seen to many battlefields, but he thought he would be at the level of the Omegas at most, and Riku knew he could hold his own against one of the Omegas.
His eyes looked up from the ground to see Seig standing ready. They had been fighting for a while now; their light now came from the glow the castle itself gave off and no longer from the blackened sky. Seig had been true to his word and lowered his fight to Riku's level, and just by looking at how easy and calm the man was Riku knew how far he had lowered his game.
Gritting his teeth Riku charged in again sword held forward in readiness. Seig stood in a relaxed stance, but it was still a battle ready stance. Riku had done this exact thing nearly every time Seig had sent him skidding or flying backwards. He seemed to let his anger take control in battle, a bad habit to have.
Riku reached Seig and the man threw up his defense instinctively but there was no sound of metal on metal or feeling of reverberation as the swords met. Riku had stopped short and pivoted around, throwing his foot out to knock Seig's sword out of the way as Riku brought his sword in for a devastating blow.
Seig's eyes shot wide and he moved back as quickly as he could, but was still given a large cut across his left leg and into his lower torso. Seig stopped himself and looked up at Riku, he had baited him the whole time, making it seem he was being rash and not thinking, tacking several smaller hits just to get the chance to land a big one.
Seig smirked at Riku; he was a good fighter and a quick thinker but the time had come for the fight to end. Seig now charged Riku, the deep gash in his leg seemingly causing him no hindrance as he moved towards his target. Riku dropped into an open defensive stance; he didn't know what Seig was going to do so he was ready for the attack from any angle.
Seig held his sword across his body in his left hand on his right side and when he reached Riku he swung forward. The attack came from Riku's left, and he swung towards the blade to block the attack. As Seig swung forward he let go of his sword but kept his arm moving towards Riku's sword. Seig's arm hit the flat of Riku's blade and pushed it upwards and outwards as his right hand grasped his falling blade and thrust it into Riku's abdomen.
Seig's left arm had a large chunk of it gashed out from his block but he managed to get his hit in. "Great fight kid, I kept it to your level but its bed time now," Seig said before pulling his sword from Riku and walking towards the Omegas.
Riku fell to his knees when the sword was pulled out but his grip on his sword just tightened. Gritting his teeth against the pain Riku forced himself to his feet and moved quickly towards Seig's back. Seig was about to ask Xexox to heal the pair when he heard the footsteps behind him. He spun and swung his blade in an upward motion to block any attack Riku had.
Seig knocked Phantasmagoria from Riku's left hand but Dawn's Edge, held firmly in his right, found its way into Seig's stomach. Seig gasped in surprise as Riku fell to his knees, "call it a draw," he said before falling on his back with a smile on his face.
-XXX-
The sky above was beginning to brighten over the Grey Castle and the nine warriors who stood on its outer wall. Riku was telling Sora about the fight with Seig, Kairi and Anos also listening to the tale. Riku also told them about the wager but he didn't know how many hits he got on Seig that drew blood, or if Xexox had ruled it a draw or not. Neither Seig nor Xexox would talk about it; they were both more intent on the upcoming battle.
As the sky brightened the Nanos appeared on the horizon approaching the castle. There was little the warriors could do before the Nanos were several meters away, so they were resigned to wait for the army to get close. As the Nanos got nearer everyone fell silent and stood ready for whenever the attack would be launched. As the army marched Seig was glad to notice that this wave was slightly smaller than the first, and significantly smaller than the second, though it was still a large force.
The army stopped marching about three hundred feet from the wall of the castle and simply stood there as if waiting for the command to fight. Anos surveyed the enemy and noticed several types of Nanos, he was happy to not see and Magefists, but they could still be there, he just wasn't seeing them.
"My, my. It has been a while since I was last here, there was still a front door then, how the years have changed us," a mocking voice called from the courtyard.
Everyone spun to see Sol and his entourage standing in the center of the courtyard and looking up at the heroes. Sol stood in the center with Thal and Fos on his left and Jak, Jen, and Xah on his right. None of the heroes had seen or heard as they got into the castle, and Yen Sid scowled at how easily Sol had gotten through the magical barriors.
"Sol, decided to show your face at last?" Sora asked looking down at the dark beings.
"Silence Siv, I'll deal with you later," Sol said turning his cloaked head towards Sora.
"His name's Sora and you have more to worry about that just him," Kairi shouted down at Sol.
"I knew I recognized that voice," Seig said suddenly and all heads turned towards him. "I don't know why you're using a name like Sol, you should be proud of your name, proud of your heritage, Antilus," Seig said with a smirk.
At Seig's words all the dark beings looked at Sol somewhat expectantly while the Omegas looked at him in shock, Yen Sid was impassive and the four heroes were confused. After a moment Sol pulled back his hood revealing his face, which was scowling up at Seig. It was a face the Omegas recognized as Antilus, but Mickey would have called him the Dark Mage that started the Keyblade Wars.
Antilus reached up and unfastened the clasp at the neck of his cloak before discarding the cloth behind him. He was wearing clothing very similar to what Xehanort's heartless wore when Sora fought him all those years ago. "I suppose you'll be telling mother I'm still alive now," he said irritated.
"I wouldn't dream of it. To tell her now that your alive, just so I can tell her tonight that you're dead again is not something I would do," Seig said raising his sword to rest it on his shoulder.
"How… you died in the Keyblade War, your death is what ended the war," Bruxeus said confusedly.
"My mother's gift. I did die but her gift saved me. She never would have seen me worth enough, but I saw myself as such," Antilus said crossing his arms and glaring at Bruxeus.
"That would explain them then," Yen Sid said gesturing the dark being to the right of Antilus.
"Pulled from the moment of their death, I'm sure that explains why they look different; no doubt you altered them while they were in their state of weakness," Seig added crouching down and looking over the dark entities.
"King Jack," Yen Sid said nodding to Jak, "Queen Jenova," he said nodding to Jen, "and Knight Nax," he said nodding to Xah.
"You never cease to amaze," Jack growled as he looked up at Yen Sid.
"Enough of the pleasantries, we're here for a reason," Nax said irritated.
"Anos, come with us. Once Sol…Antilus has taken this realm he has promised us his in addition to ours. When we merge to two together we can rule them as we all see fit," Fos said informatively.
"No, you want to control everything, but you can't, I'll do whatever I can to stop you," Anos said defiantly.
"Told you," Thal muttered to Fos. "We won't hold back against you, you'll die along with them," she said looking at Anos.
"A similar proposition is for you as well, Siv. Return and fight with us and I'll forgive this transgression," Antilus said looking at Sora.
"Do you really expect me to return with you?" Sora asked angered.
"No, I just needed time to do this," Antilus shouted before throwing his right arm towards the wall where there was once a door and the rock and stone exploded outwards creating a new opening, "This castle will be rubble by nightfall!" Antilus shouted with laughter as he and his entourage vanished and the Nanos charged forward.
"Keep them back!" Seig shouted as he turned back towards the outside of the castle and the charging army, "for every hit you take, give them a hundred!" he bellowed before launching himself off the wall and into the hoard of enemies.
Two keyblades appeared in Bruxeus's hands as he followed Seig over the edge, Vaxer close behind with his large blade and Xexox just behind him with his long blades in his hands. Sora raised Ragnarok into the sky, said "courage" and followed the Omegas over the ledge in Valor form with Ragnarok in his right hand and Masamune in his left.
"Cut away their darkness Dawn's Edge," Riku said before his Zanpakutou became a war axe. He nodded at Kairi who returned it and the pair followed the others over the edge of the wall in unison.
Only Yen Sid and Anos remained on the wall, Yen Sid was casting mid level spells at the middle of the army, most of them getting through but Antilus managed to block several of them. Anos watched the fray of battle for a short moment before jumping off the back of the wall into the courtyard. He stood ready on the other side of the opening ready to take out any Nano that managed to get past the others and through the opening in the wall.
"This is going to be a long day," Anos muttered to himself as two Razors and a Greyman clamored through the hole at once.
Sora hacked his way through the mess of Nanos. It felt almost like the heartless or nobodies, but they always went down easier while the Nanos seem to be far more resilient. Their body forms were also generally more disturbing than the heartless; they ranged from the gigantic monstrosities, to animalistic forms, to dragon like shapes, to things that seemed to be made of knives, or rope, or bags, even some that were nothing more than giant mouths with six legs. There were also smaller ones, bug like things as big as he head with blades instead of legs.
Sora just pushed his way through the enemy forces, each time one of his forms ran out he called down another and each time he put one of his other selves in charge, following their suggestions on what form to be next or who to send next. He moved towards the back of the army as he cut them down, he had a feeling that's where Antilus and the others were watching and he was going to take them down.
Riku stood with Kairi, Seig and Vaxer blocking off the opening in the wall. Xexox and Bruxeus had both leaped into the thick of the fight and seamed to be mowing down all the Nanos they could reach. Despite the vast number of enemies they faced the four of them working together managed to make a safety bubble around the opening with only a few sneaking past, well within Anos's ability to take out.
"Well burn out like this, we're not taking them out fast enough. One or two of you stay here, the rest spread out and stop the mayhem," Seig shouted to the others.
"Who stays?" Kairi shouted back.
"I will," Vaxer said simply.
"I'll go," Riku said through gritted teeth, "I'll cut them like butter," he added as he split a Greyman in two.
"As will I," Seig said confidently.
"Then I stay too," Kairi shouted back.
Seig nodded before taking out two Nanos with a swing of his sword and looking at the ground behind him, "Spitfire time to shine," he said before looking back at the fight.
As it had the previous night Seig's shadow rose from the ground and took the shape of Spitfire. However, unlike before when Spitfire would either run off on its own or follow Seig around it took two running steps towards its owner before launching itself at his back.
Spitfire hit Seig's back and lost all rigidity of shape as he seemed to splash before being absorbed into Seig's back. Seig didn't stop moving or cutting down the Nanos as Spitfire melded into him, and he didn't slow down as the effects took place either. It seemed as though the skin of his entire torso had turned black as night. The black skin also spread upwards claiming his neck but stopping at his jaw line and hair line. It also claimed his arms down to the elbows, and all his muscles bulged slightly.
Seig's eyes were also affected, the whites turning black, but the iris stayed blue. His sword also changed, it straightened and gained an edge along its other side as well as growing in length by a few inches. Once his change had finished Seig charged into the mass of enemies that moved against him.
"If he's stepping it up a notch…" Riku said with a smirk before stepping out of the direct contact with the Nanos to hold his axe out in front of him, "Ban-kai," he said simply. There was a small burst of white light and gust of wind and when it was gone Riku stood where he was for a moment before launching himself at the Nanos in front of him.
Riku now had a black organization cloak open over his normal clothes and had a golden spiked gauntlet on his left arm going up to just past his elbow. On silent commands from Riku weapons would appear in his hands and vanish again once he was done with them. A great sword appeared in his right hand and he grasped it in both before cleaving through two Bonehounds. Once the blade left the Bonehounds it vanished and a spear appeared in its place which Riku used to run through three Nanos before it, too, vanished.
Each of the weapons was the same gold color as the gauntlet and seemed to be intrecutly designed and made. With his Bankai unleashed Riku moved into the fray following Seig's example but a different path. Kairi and Vaxer now stood much closer to each other and to the opening holding off the Nanos.
"You can enter the madness if you wish, I can hold this line on my own," Vaxer said once they had closed in together.
"I wouldn't make it, keyblades are useless against them except from Sora, my magic isn't strong enough to hurt them and I can't release my sword like Riku, so I'll just kill myself out there," Kairi said defeated.
"To release your blade just command it and call out its name," Vaxer said simply.
"But I don't know my swords name," Kairi said exasperated.
"Are you sure?" was all Vaxer replied.
Kairi furrowed her brow in thought, her body mindlessly going through the motions she had practiced for years as she thought hard. And then it was there, as if she had always known it, as if it was the first thing she had ever learned and she suddenly felt stupid for forgetting it. With a smile on her face Kairi stepped back and held out her sword, "Send them home, Crystal Heart."
With a flash of light Kairi's sword hand changed from a katana into a beautiful blade. The weapon itself seemed to be a pure diamond, the blade about three feet long and the handle about six inches. The edge of the blade continued form the tip all the way down past where the handle starts and went over the handle to meet the pommel. Only one side of the blade was edged and the other was flat and the handle was even with the flat side of the blade.
On Kairi's right hand was a silver gauntlet that was ornately decorated with several jewels. The gauntlet extended up her arm to just below her elbow. From the pommel of the blade to jut behind the wrist of the gauntlet there was a thick silver chain. Kairi smiled to herself as she looked at her sword as it cut through the Nanos with considerable ease.
"Are you sure you'll be alright here alone," Kairi asked glancing sideways at Vaxer once the shock of her new blade had worn off.
"Certain," Vaxer said simply.
Kairi grinned, "Thanks so much," she said before throwing her sword outward into the mass of Nanos. The chain extended out of some sort of recess in the gauntlet and as Kairi moved forward and swung her arm sideways the sword followed as it returned to her in one smooth arch, allowing her to catch it in her right hand with ease.
Once Kairi had entered the madness of the battle Vaxer threw his empty left had out to his side and a sword identical to the one held in his right hand appeared. He effortlessly wielded the two massive blades and fought back the Nanos that pressed against him, only few making it to the wall beyond him and Anos managed to take them all out.
Sora finally made it to the back of the army and once he broke from its ranks he found himself staring at Antilus and the other dark beings. "Did you come all this way for me?" Antilus asked with a smirk.
"I came all this way to destroy all of you," Sora said sternly, he stood before all of them in Champion form, Honor returning control to Sora once he had exited the battle.
"Oh really?" Fos asked with a wicked grin that matched Thal's.
Moments after Fos spoke the ground began to shake violently. The Nanos didn't stop fighting so none in the fray could afford to stop to try and find the source. Yen Sid soon found that the cause of the shacking was coming from behind the army and was quickly moving towards the army and castle.
"Oh hell!" Anos shouted when the shaking started.
"What is it?" Vaxer bellowed from the other side of the wall.
"I didn't think they'd be able to fit them through the portal," Anos shouted back.
"What is making the earth shake?" Yen Sid demanded looking back at Anos.
"Diggers! Worms, at least two!" Anos shouted back.
Before anyone else could say anything two gigantic purple worms burst out of the ground under the castle and started smashing it with their exposed bodies. The creatures were immense in size, they were as big around as a house and the part of their tube shaped body that was exposed elevated their heads well above the castle.
"That's the cue," Antilus said with a twisted smirk before he vanished.
"Bastard!" Nax muttered looking at where Antilus was.
"We gotta move," Fos said turning and running back where they had come from.
The other dark beings were quick to follow him. As they ran Sora launched his keyblades at them one grazed across Thal's cheek as it flew past. She let out a scream and spun to glare at Sora, Fos stopped too to see what happened while the others kept moving. The keyblades returned to Sora who reverted back to normal when they reached him.
Thal looked back at Fos, "go, I'll kill this one. Call the army back, the Diggers can handle the others," she said before turning back to Sora and walking towards him, "you made me bleed, I'll gut you."
As Thal moved towards Sora Fos closed his eyes and raised his right hand in the air, after a moment he lowered it, opened his eyes and followed the other dark beings back to the portal. After a moment the army of Nanos began to follow, retreating back to the portal. Sora and Thal stared at each other as the army began to run past them.
"Let's get this over with," Thal screamed before charging Sora.
Sora raised Ragnarok in the air and said "love," before entering Complete form and returning the charge.
-XXX-
Antilus appeared on the outer wall of the Grey Castle just a few feet from where one of the Diggers appeared. He looked at Yen Sid who stood about twenty feet from him and was glairing daggers in his direction.
"I always wondered why you refused to teach me. At first I thought it was because you thought I'd make a better brawler like my father was. When I started learning from others I believed it was because you didn't want to help make a mage that would be more powerful than you. I even blamed you initially when I fell to the darkness in my heart. But now I know.
"You saw this moment. Years and years ago you saw this moment, and instead of teaching me and being careful and watchful of what I would learn, you tried to smother the passion out of me. It's not your fault I went to the darkness or that things came to this point, it would have happened even if you did teach me. it's your fault I know as much as I do and that I'm as powerful as I am. You could have placed an early cap on my power, but now the time has come for me to destroy you," Antilus said smiling as he walked towards Yen Sid.
"There are two reasons I never taught you. The first is because your grandfather asked me not to. He was afraid of you becoming this, I knew it would happen either way. But the main reason is because of this moment, I didn't want to give you the pleasure of being able to say it," Yen Sid said smoothly as he folded his hands.
"Being able to say what?" Antilus asked with a confused look as he stopped walking.
"Being able to say that 'the student has surpassed the master,' or 'now the circle is complete,' or 'and the student becomes the master,' or any other such nonsense that I know you would say if you could, but now you can not," Yen Sid said simply.
"I'll still kill you," Antilus said gritting his teeth.
"You'll try," Yen Sid replied confidently.