Chapter 10:
Arina's POV
For the longest time, we just stood there. My arms were shaking like crazy and my legs were trembling. A low growl rumbled in Xehanort's throat as he summoned his red, glowing swords. Even was still struggling from Ansem's grasp, but Ansem wouldn't release his firm grip. Even looked at me with fear and desperation in his eyes. Tension hung in the air making it hard to breathe, until Ansem spoke.
"You know your friend doesn't have to die, but someone else will pay," Ansem told us.
"Mmf mmfion mmo mhf!" Even tried to yell out, but his voice was muffled by the cloth.
Ansem elbowed him in the ribs, making him shut up. "You guys really are fools to go against me. You're in no position to fight: your friend here has his pathetic life at stake. But that all can change; I won't kill Even but to that I'd have to kill Xehanort," Ansem smirked.
"What? That's not fair! Why would we ever do something like that?" I yelled at him.
"Because that filthy b****** made everyone else join him and left me to rot in the darkness!" Ansem yelled at Xehanort.
"It was your own fault! That experiment you told us to abandon would have led to great discoveries! We would have had to make a few sacrifices but it would have been worth it!" Xehanort shouted getting ready to strike Ansem.
"One move and Even's life ends," Ansem repeated his threat, the katana still at Even's throat.
Xehanort sighs heavily and his glowing swords disappear. "Fine, you can have me. But first let Vexen go," He told Ansem firmly.
I gasp in disbelief. What was Xehanort doing? Is he really is going to sacrifice himself to save Even? I can only grip my bow harder as Xehanort slowly walks to where Ansem is standing. As promised, he let go of Even and let him drop to the floor. Ansem walks over to Xehanort and the two meet up in the middle. Ansem raises his sword and swings it at Xehanort. Suddenly, a glowing, red sword blocks his sword from hitting him. Ansem gasps in surprise; Xehanort was holding his swords and chuckling to himself.
"I thought you would be smarter, but I guess you were so obsessed with killing me you never would've thought that it would be a trick," Xehanort laughed once more.
"You'll die right where you stand!" Ansem shouted swinging his katana at Xehanort once more.
Xehanort blocked it again, making an X with his swords. Xehanort jumped above Ansem and swung one of his swords at Ansem. Ansem blocked it with his black katana. Xehanort swung his other sword at Ansem hoping to hit him. Ansem ducked and jumped away. Ansem pointed his sword at Xehanort and shot a HUGE blue beam at Xehanort. Xehanort muttered a curse under his breath and jumped up, barely avoiding the beam. Xehanort spun in a full circle hoping to hit Ansem, but he jumped away and swung his katana at Xehanort, landing a small gash on his arm.
Xehanort griped his arm as Ansem swings his sword at him once more. Xehanort cursed again and jumped back. He swung his sword at Ansem, but he met match with his sword. Xehanort swung his other sword at Ansem catching him off guard and elbowing him in the gut. Ansem fell backward and coughed up a couple drops of blood. Ansem jumped up in the air and threw his sword at Xehanort. Xehanort managed to knock it away before it was able to inflict any damage on him. The katana glowed white for a second before it re-appeared in Ansem's hands. The two charged at each other and their swords met match once more.
"Even!" I called running over to him as Ansem and Xehanort fought.
I kneeled beside him and untied the gag that covered his mouth.
"Thanks, Arina," He told me before glancing at Ansem and Xehanort fighting. "What in the world is Xemnas thinking?" He muttered to himself.
"I dunno," I replied as I cut the ropes that held his hands behind his back with an arrow. "But he did that just to save you,"
"One problem with that; these bracelets are restricting my use of magic. I can't even summon my shield," Even explained.
I take his hand and examine the device on his wrist. They're dark blue with silver symbols and golden specks on it. Its feels heavy and cold, like metal. I turn Even's wrist over and see a black line around the device. That must be how Ansem attached it.
"I think I know how it's attached, there's a black line that attaches the two sides together. But the catch is, I don't know how to break it," I tell him.
"I would break it, but it I cut my wrist I'm dead," Even's eyes suddenly grew wide. He muttered something under his breath before he turned to me again.
"Arina, if you can use one of your fire-elemental arrows you could break these. It might burn me, but if you free on hand then I get the other," Even explained.
"But Even!" I protested.
"I know this is dangerous, but we need to take some risks," He told me. "I believe in you, Arina,"
I could feel my face burn for a second. I closed my eyes and shook off the feeling. This was no time to get involved with love. I pulled an arrow from my bag, with red, yellow, and orange ribbons hanging from it. Even held out his wrist as the tip of the arrow began to glow. I shut my eyes and held the arrow against his wrist. I felt the magic flow from my fingertips to the tip of the arrow.
After a couple moments the bracelet still didn't look like it was going to break. I saw Even gritting his teeth, trying to hide the burning pain. For a second I thought I should stop, but then a heard a crack. I looked at Even's wrist and a crack had formed on the bracelet.
"Keep going…we've almost got it," Even encouraged through his teeth.
I stared into his eyes, filled with pain. I wanted to stop, to stop the burning pain that I was causing. Suddenly, the blue bracelet cracked against and fell off his wrist! I stopped my flow of magic and we stared at the fallen bracelet in disbelief. Even smirked slightly and froze the other bracelet around his other wrist. The ice cracked before it shattered along with the bracelet. His left wrist was red and black from the burns, about they didn't look that serious.
"Thank you Arina!" He threw his arms around me.
Suddenly an army of heartless surrounded us. We both jumped to our feet and summoned our weapons. We stood back-to-back and prepared for another fight.
A group of heartless tried to jump above us but Even froze them in mid-air as I loaded my bow and fired. The arrows shot through where their hearts would be, and they burst into thousands of tiny ice shards. A couple more tried to tackle me, but I shot a couple arrows at them. One of them avoided them and tried to slash at me with it claws, while the other landed beside it and began to charge up a blue beam. I muttered a curse under my breath and jumped up, barely avoiding the attacks. I quickly loaded my bow and shouted out,
"Aquarius!" I shouted before I fired.
The two arrows sped towards the heartless hybrids, streams of water and blue ribbons trailing behind them. The two crossed each other before they struck the heartless. I landed and re-loaded as a group of heartless tackled me, one of them knocking my bow from my hands. Two held my arms down while two began charged up for a large red beam. I shut my eyes tightly as they fired.
I waited for pain to overthrow me. But it never did. I opened my eyes and saw a figure standing above me. The heartless that were surrounding me had disappeared. Roxas stood above me two keyblades, one silver with a golden star at the end and other black and silver, in both hands. Axel stood beside him, Chakrams in hand. I quickly climbed to my feet and summoned my bow and arrows. The four us stood back to back as the heartless formed a huge circle around us.
"What are these things exactly?" Roxas wondered glancing nervously at the heartless surrounding us. It was about…5,500 to four that sounded fair, right?
"They're basically hybrid heartless-half heartless, half Nobody," Even explained quickly. "I would tell you more, but I barely what they are myself," He admitted.
Axel twirled his Chakrams. "Hybrid or not, we'll blow these punks to hell!" He exclaimed, his Chakrams blazing with fire.
Normal POV
Axel charged at the heartless, his Chakrams covered in flames. He threw both of them as a dozen came charging at him. The Chakrams destroyed two of them and Axel caught them again. Axel spun in a full circle, taking care a couple more heartless. One tried to shot a blue beam at him, but he easily maneuvered. Another heartless jumped above him and slashed against his back with its long claws. Axel grit his teeth together to stop himself from crying out in pain. He jumped up and threw his fiery Chakrams at the heartless once more. It destroyed one and flew back to Axel.
Roxas was having trouble with them, too. One tried to slash at him with its claws, but he blocked by making an X with his keyblades. Another jumped above him, but he quickly whirled around and stabbed it Oblivion. Roxas swung Oathkeeper at a heartless but it dodged quickly. It lunged at Roxas but he blocked the heartless's attack. He jumped back and charged at the creature. At the last second he jumped above the hybrid and slashed at it with both of his keyblades. The heartless seemed to scream out in pain before it faded into black.
A couple more charged at him, but Roxas blocked their claws easily. He jumped up in the air and stabbed both of them, making them disappear. One jumped above Roxas and slammed its fist into the ground. The force was so strong; Roxas was knocked of his feet and lost his grip on Oblivion. Still on the ground, the heartless jumped above him and prepared to finish him. A fiery shape knocked the heartless out of the air and it faded. The Chakram spun around and flew back to its wielder, Axel. Axel grabbed Roxas's hand and pulled him to his feet. Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and he and Axel charged at the hybrids once more.
Arina and Vexen were having trouble with the heartless as well. Arina fired a couple arrows at a heartless knocking it down. She shot another arrow, with fire-colored ribbons on the end, finishing it off. She jumped up and shot a couple more arrows at the heartless below. Arina loaded her bow again as another jumped above her. She quickly turned around as Vexen froze it. Arina quickly fired her arrow at the heartless, making it burst into millions of icy shards. Another heartless jumped up and tried to slash at Vexen with its long, pointed claws. Vexen whirled around and shot an icicle through where its heart SHOULD be, making it fade into oblivion.
More and more heartless kept coming, but the four remained strong and kept fighting. Arina took a couple steps back and shot a couple fire-element arrows at the heartless, destroying one of them. She loaded two arrows and aimed at a couple that was charging at Axel and Roxas.
"Gemini!" She shouted before firing.
The two arrows glowed white and spun in a circle around the heartless before they pierced through the hybrids. Arina turned around and shot more arrows at the group of heartless that came charging at her. She jumped up and shot at a couple heartless from below. When Arina landed she heard a small cry of pain. She turned around and saw Vexen gripped his left forearm, blood dripping down his arm.
"Even!" Arina cried rushing to his side. "Are you okay?"
"These hybrids managed to re-open this…crap," Vexen muttered regaining a fighting stance. "There's way to many of them!"
"Tell me about it!" Roxas commented as he and Axel gathered around both of them.
"If more keep coming then…" Axel mumbled something under his breath. "I think Ansem's trying to distract us so that he can deal with Xemnas!" He gasped.
"D*mn these hybrids then!" Arina exclaimed. "We need to help Xehanort!"
"But how?" Roxas questioned, slashing at another hybrid. "There's too many of them!" He exclaimed knocking one away with Oblivion.
"Wait a second…" Vexen murmured a couple sentences under his breath. He shook his head. "Axel, can you create a fire wall big enough to contain all of these heartless?"
"I think so, why?" Axel wondered.
"If we can contain these into one spot, then we can finish them off easily. It'll take up a lot of magic, but sometimes it's the only choice," Vexen replied.
Axel smirked. "I've never really made a fire wall that big before, but it sounds fun," Axel chuckled. "This place'll be in ashes when I'm done. Stand back," He ordered.
The rest of the group backed up as Axel's Chakrams became ablaze with fire. Axel jumped up and smirked to himself. He spun around and threw his Chakrams at the hybrids below. The Chakrams circled the heartless until they were all cornered and gazing around helplessly, like dazed Shadows. Axel landed a couple yards away from the fiery prison and held out his Chakrams, still blazing with fire.
"Do it now! I can't hold this forever!" He shouted, putting every drop of his power into cornering them.
Arina nodded towards Axel before taking off towards the group of heartless, Roxas and Vexen trailing behind her. Arina loaded her bow with three arrows and aimed for the group. Vexen came to a halt next to Arina and began shooting beams of ice at the many cornered foes.
"Tri attack; water, fire, and wind!" Arina shouted before she fired a volley or arrows at the heartless.
The ribbons trailed behind the arrows made of rainbow of red, blue, and light purple. Roxas was shooting lighting at the heartless, destroying them a few at a time. Axel could feel sweat dripping down his face as the three continued to fend off the heartless from a couple yards away. Vexen turned a couple hybrids into ice sculptures and Arina fired fire-element arrows at them, demolishing them.
After a couple minutes Axel couldn't take it anymore. He threw his Chakrams at the cornered hybrids, making the firewall go boom. The force was so strong; it knocked all of them off their feet. Roxas could feel the blistering heat blow in his face. The heat died down and Axel was on his hands and knees, painting heavily. His Chakrams disappeared in a flash of orange light.
"Axel!" Roxas cried rushing to his side.
"Don't worry (paint) about me… go save (paint) Xemnas. I'll (paint) be fine," Axel reassured.
Arina kneeled beside Axel and pressed her arrow against his wounds. The glowing tip of her arrow stopped the blood from flowing out his nasty wound. When she was done, a red-brown scab covered his back. She stood up and glanced at Xemnas, still fighting Ansem, then at Vexen. Arina clenched her fists and drew in her breath.
"Even…if I don't make out alive," She began. "I want you know-"
"Now isn't the time for talking," Vexen said quickly, cutting her off. "Xemnas needs our help!" He told her, running towards where Xemnas was fighting Ansem.
Xemnas and Ansem both looked horrible. Ansem had a small stream of blood running down his face and Xemnas was bleeding from the arm and side. Ansem swung his sword at Xemnas, but he easily dodged. Xemnas swung both his sword in a circle as Ansem met match with one of his glowing swords. He jumped up and slashed his sword at Xemnas, who sidestepped and barely missed it. Ansem slashed at Xemnas making an X shape in the air. The X seemed to glow black before an invisible force slashed at Xemnas.
Xemnas doubled over in pain. He looked up as Ansem raised his katana and prepared to finish off Ansem. Xemnas shut his eyes and waited for Ansem to kill him. A silver shape cut through the air and got Ansem right in the shoulder. The object pining him to the wall as three more pined his other shoulder and two legs to the stonewall. Xigbar stood in front of him, a smirk on his face and one of his guns resting on his shoulder.
"Braig…I should've known it was you," Ansem growled.
Xigbar smirked even more. "You're right, but now it's my turn to talk," He pointed one of his guns at Ansem. "Why did you abandon that experiment in the first place?"
Ansem laughed. "You really think I would tell you that easily? Right, Arina?" He glanced at Arina who just stood there completely silent.
Arina glanced at Vexen and Xigbar, then at the floor. "Yes, Ansem. That was part of your plan," She murmured.
"Arina…knows?" Vexen murmured debating on whether he heard Ansem and Arina correctly or not.
"She's known all along, Even. Didn't she tell you?" Ansem asked.
Vexen turned towards Arina. "How do you know him? You said you didn't…"
Arina looked at the floor again. "I'm so sorry, Even. I've known who he is this whole time. I've known this was going to happen from the time you rescued me," Her eyes filled with tears. "But I didn't want to tell you. You made me feel…something I never thought I had," Tears began to drip down her face. "I didn't want the feeling to end. I thought you'd never forgive me and I'd be miserable for the rest of my life," Tears poured down her face like water falling off a cliff.
"Humph, whatever Arina. Now free me so we can end this," Ansem commanded.
Arina nodded and wiped her tears away. "Yes, master," She replied walking over to where Ansem was pinned.
Arina removed Xigbar's glowing shards and they disappeared in flashes of white light. Xigbar clutched his guns ever harder as Ansem jumped down from the wall. Vexen, whom was still in shock, stood there completely speechless. All this time she's known this would happen, and she never said a thing! After going through the trouble of rescuing her and trying to comfort over, what seemed like, an over-reaction she betrays them. Wrathful, angry emotions replaced Vexen's feelings for the traitor. He shook off the rest of his thoughts of her and gripped his shield.
"You insufferable monster! You're going to pay for this!" Vexen screamed at Ansem. "I'm not afraid to fight you! You'll pay for what you did to Arina!"
"That seems more like it. Foster your anger and direct it at me, or Arina for that matter," Ansem smirked and turned towards Arina, who stared at the floor with her head down. "Now Arina…kill Even and make sure you bring me what's left of him when you're done,"
Both, Arina and Vexen, gasped in shock. There was no way Arina would be able to kill Vexen, the person she cared about the most. Ansem narrowed his red eyes at Arina, making her cringe in fear. There was no other choice. More tears poured down arina's face as she summoned her bow and arrow again. With trembling hands, she loaded her bow.
"I'm sorry, Even," She sobbed before she fired her arrow, right at Vexen.
I got a lot to say to you, yeah I got a lot to say
I noticed your eyes are always glued to me
And keeping them here and makes no sense at all
They taped over your mouth
Scribbled out the truth with their lies, you little spies
They taped over your mouth
Scribbled out the truth with their lies, you little spies
Crush, crush, crush, crush, crush
Two, three, four!
Nothing compares to, a quiet evening alone
Just the one too, I was just counting on
That never happened, I guess I'm dreaming again
Let's be more than…this
If want to play it like a game
Well come one, come on let's play
'Cause I'd rather waste my life pretending
Than have to forgot you for one whole minute
They taped over your mouth
Scribbled out the truth with their lies, you little spies
They taped over your mouth
Scribbled out the truth with their lies, you little spies
Crushcrushcrush by Paramore
Kingdom Hearts (C) Square Enix
Arina (C) Me
Author's Note: Hello! I would like to say this one of my favorite chapters. I've actually almost finished typing this story, but I need to make sure the chapters are good before I post them. When I post one of the later chapters, I need your help to pick a song to use at the end. I'll tell you more when the next chapter is posted! See ya!