Chapter 12

(Zack POV)

Damn. I'm not getting anywhere.

Our swords clashed once again, sending a hail of sparks flying into the air. Ever since Cloud left, all we've managed to do is block the other's attacks. Neither of us was making any progress.

"Hey, Terra," I grunted as we rounded back and clashed again.

"What the fuck do you want?" Terra growled in response.

"Let's move this fight somewhere else. We're not getting anywhere fighting like this."

"That's fine by me. Where'd ya have in mind?"

I glanced around looking past the various craters in the landscape that were formed during our battle. The only thing that seemed remotely change of pace where the mountains, but the foothills would work just as well. "How 'bout the hills over there," I gestured to the closest abnormality in the land.

"Sure. Let's go." Our swords vanished in a quick flash of light and we flew into the air, heading straight for the mountains.

The good thing about Terra was that he normally fought fair. He wouldn't attack someone who couldn't defend themselves without first being instructed by Vanitas to do so. There was something about fighting an enemy one on one, each giving it their all that excited him, and at the moment I was thankful for that.

We landed about fifty feet away from one another at the top of the hills.

"You ready?" Terra shouted, drawing his sword.

"More so than you I'm sure!" I called back, copying the large brunette's actions.

He snorted, then drove the blade of the sword into the ground. The land around him began to shake, and large boulders broke away from the ground, levitating slowly into the air. I tensed myself, changing my stance to better prepare for whatever he was planning. The shaking became more violent and large jolts of energy began manifesting around him. I quickly threw up my shield as hundreds of rock spears erupted from the earth.

The force of the blast drove the tips of the spears through my barrier, which was already at its limit. Luckily, none of the rocks made it all the way through, and I was able to safely dispel the barrier. I was immediately assaulted by Terra's blade as the large Tenshi slashed at me. Blocking the attack, I quickly countered by sending a column of rock crashing up from the ground. The attack didn't make contact, but it was enough to break the brunette's concentration. With one fluid motion, I sheathed my buster sword deep in Terra's chest. Blood spilled from his mouth and the wound between the blade. The large brunette collapsed to the ground with a thud, and lay motionless.

Thank god that's over. I panted and flopped down on the hard earth in an attempt to catch my breath.

I wasn't able to escape Terra's wrath entirely, though. Various gashes and bruises were indicates that the large Tenshi had managed to best me. However, none of the injuries I received were able to hinder my fighting abilities, so I was okay. Now all I needed to do was find the others and come up with a way to defeat Vanitas.

I sighed and stood, unsheathing my buster sword from Terra's corpse, and flying off toward the cliffs.

(Sora POV)

Uh oh.

I was precariously perched on the side of the cliffs surrounded by Akukage. I had managed to elude them by climbing part way up the steep slope and planting myself on a small sliver of rock that jutted out of the cliff face, that was only large enough to fit me. At first it looked like they couldn't reach me, and that I was safe. Unfortunately though, they were slowly inching their way up to me, fangs bared.

Oh, god. I'm gonna die! Riku, I hope you're okay. I love you.

I dropped to my knees and braced myself for death. However, just as the creatures got into striking distance, I suddenly felt myself being scooped up and flying through the air.

"What? Huh? What happened?" I asked, gazing around in a panic.

I looked up and saw Zack smiling down at me, "Hey kiddo, looked like you needed a lift."

"Oh thank you, Zack!" I cried, embracing the raven-haired male.

"No problem buddy."

I smiled up at my savior, then accidentally looked down. We were like a thousand feet high! I quickly shut my eyes and clung to Zack.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to recover from my attack.

"D-d-don't l-l-l-like h-heights," I stuttered. The large male laughed at my response and patted my head reassuringly.

(Axel POV)

I hadn't seen any sign of Vanitas since our encounter earlier, which was good because I was nearly home free. The path leading up to the cliffs was longer than I remembered, but eventually I managed to make it back to the spot where we had first arrived in the Dark Realm. No one else had arrived yet. I gently placed Roxas's still unconscious body down on the soft grass, then proceeded to analyze the situation in the canyon. The mass of Akukage from before had been depleted to almost none, and there was still no sign of Vanitas or his two minions.

"Hey Axel, you're alive!" A familiar voice called behind me. I turned to see Zack descending to the ground next to me, a terrified Sora attached to his waist. As soon as the raven haired Tenshi touched the ground, Sora leapt to the ground and scurried to the nearest tree, clinging to it for dear life. "Wow," Zack exclaimed, fascinated at the small brunette's behavior, "That kid REALLY hates flying."

The large male snapped out of his trance, then turned to me and grinned, "Terra is no more! "

"Really?" I asked, surprised, "That's great!"

"Yup," Zack grinned triumphantly, "Ran the bastard through with my buster sword. He is LONG gone."

We all three turned to the sound of flapping wings and found Riku landing close by. The silverette had a large gash in his chest and his shirt was stained with blood, but other than that he appeared to be okay.

"Riku!" Sora called and glomped the silverette, embracing him.

"I went after Ventus, but the coward vanished" the teen said apathetically.

"Well, at least we wont have to worry about him," Zack sighed, relieved. Suddenly, a look of shock overcame his face and he gazed around frantically, "Hey, where's Demyx and Zexion, not to mention, Cloud?"

Both Riku's gaze and mine fell to the ground.

"Cloud was trying to save Roxas, and ended up being killed in the process." I looked to Zack whose expression had turned to one of shock and desolation. "Before he died, he told me to tell you not to worry about him and that he loves you. He also said to do everything you can to help kill Vanitas."

The raven-haired male smiled through the pain and sobbed, "That liar. He told me he wouldn't get killed. I'll have to get him back for that when I see him next."

Seeing the older male like this made it difficult to hold back the pain. I turned my attention toward Riku who looked to be in even more pain than he had before.

"On my way here," the silverette said somberly, "I found Demyx and Zexion's bodies. They were killed while fighting the Akukage. It appeared as though Demyx was cut down first, and Zexion had tried to protect him."

"What?" I gasped, unable to comprehend what I had just heard. "No, that can't be. How many of our friends is that bastard going to take before this is over?" I clenched my fists trying to hold back the rage and sadness that coursed through my body. First Cloud, now Demyx and Zexion. Not to mention the fact that he possessed Roxas and forced him to kill his own brother. "I'm going to kill him!"

A small whimper from behind me snapped me out of my tirade. Roxas had started to wake up, but looked to be in pain. I sprinted to his side and carefully laid his head down on my lap. His eyelids opened listlessly revealing his beautiful crystal cerulean eyes.

He groaned and rubbed his eyes before gazing up at me. "Axel? What happened to you?" The small blonde lifted his hand and tenderly wiped the dried blood from my face. I smiled, then leaned down and kissed his forehead.

He tried to sit up, but was quickly overtaken by pain and fell back on my lap. His new wing draped over his body as he fell, covering part of his torso. "Whoa!" the blonde exclaimed as he beheld his new appendage, taking in the sight of the jet-black wing that spread from his shoulder blade, "When did this happen?" I giggled as I watched him, the sight was just too cute.

Riku and the others joined us, examining Roxas as well. The silverette bent down and stroked the feathers, almost analyzing it as he went along. "I believe that when Vanitas infused you with the darkness, he passed some of his powers along to you. The 'rebirth' of power caused you to grow a new wing in place of your old one."

"Wait," the blonde stated, confused, "If I have new powers then why does it hurt so bad? Shouldn't I feel better than worse?"

"It's probably because your body isn't built to handle the darkness, so it's trying to reject it," Zack jumped in, "That's the pain you feel."

"So, does that mean I have to find some way to remove the darkness from my body?"

"No," the raven-haired male waved his hand dismissively, "the pain should go away as your body becomes accustomed to the dark power. In a while you should feel stronger than ever."

The blonde tried to stand once again, cringing, but managing to get to his feet. "You're right, I do feel stronger." He held out his right hand, summoning his sword in a flash of light. However, along with his original white blade, a new black sword appeared in his left hand. "Whoa, it's just like Vanitas's," Roxas gasped, holding the new blade up to examine it, "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I guess if you're all still you, then it's okay," Riku assured, "Do you feel anything different, like malicious or dark?"

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment before replying, "No, I just feel like me."

"That's good," the silverette sighed.

"Hey, Roxas?" I placed my hand on the blonde's shoulder.

He turned and looked at me with a questioning gaze, cocking his head to the side, "Yeah Axel?"

I couldn't hold my gaze and looked at the ground. I wanted desperately to tell him about Demyx and Zexion and to ask if he could do something, but I didn't want to say anything that might distract him. The blonde had been possessed the entire time we'd been here, so he didn't know that Demyx and Zexion were here. That's why he hadn't noticed that they were missing. After all, Roxas is the only one who can defeat Vanitas. Without him, none of us will make it out alive. It would be best to tell him after the battle.

"You said earlier that you can bring people back to life, right?"

My question seemed to catch him off guard. He paused for a moment before asking, "Why? What happened? Did someone get hurt?" The blonde began to panic.

I looked to Zack and Riku who shook their heads. "No, it's just… if something happens, I wanted to know that I wouldn't have to worry."

"Oh," he sighed, clearly relieved.

"Axel," Riku called and gestured for me to come over. "Sorry, Rox. We need to borrow him for a minute."

"What?" I jogged over to the two Tenshi. Sora had trotted over to Roxas and was now pestering him with all sorts of questions.

"Roxas will be able to revive the others after the battle," Riku explained in a low voice so the others couldn't hear.

"Why can't he do it now while Vanitas is gone?" I questioned, irritated. "Wouldn't it make more sense to have more allies going into a fight this big?"

Zack stepped in, "Right now, Vanitas is out there gathering his strength for a massive attack. Roxas is our ace in the hole, and we need him to be in top condition for when that attack comes. For now, Demyx, Zexion and Cloud will have to wait."

"I don't get it," I replied stupidly, "How will helping the others affect anything?"

"Because," Riku explained once more, clearly irritated with my stubbornness, "healing someone is one thing. Something that simple doesn't waste that much energy. However, bringing someone back to life is an entirely different matter. It takes massive amounts of energy to call a soul back to its body, not only that, but you also have to make sure that the soul doesn't leave the body once it's returned. Healing a single person could easily wear Roxas down to the point where he'd be slaughtered if he tried to fight Vanitas. It would be best to wait until the battle's over."

"Oh, right," I sighed. "So how much energy would it take to bring someone back? Because, if this gets over and he's completely worn out… would he even be able to?"

"If that's the case," Riku answered, looking deep in thought, "If Roxas tried to revive someone when he's clearly physically incapable, meaning that he too is on the verge of death, or even seriously injured, he could very easily kill himself in the process. We would need to wait until he recovers his strength before we even think about bringing someone back."

I nodded solemnly, then turned my attention back to the little blonde. He was teaching Sora some fighting techniques, while occasionally repositioning the brunette's stance. With Terra and Ventus gone, I truly believed that Roxas could actually defeat Vanitas. However, with all of the horrible things Vanitas had been able to do to him, I couldn't ignore the possibility that he could become injured or even killed during the fight. I don't think that I'd be able to handle losing him again.

"Hey Roxas," I called to the blonde. He looked up from his lesson with Sora, then motioned to the brunette that he'd be right back. It was refreshing to see him be able to do things without constantly having to worry about his injuries all the time.

He trotted over to where I stood and smiled up at me, "Yeah Axel?" The little blonde was surprisingly calm despite the fact that he was about to fight a huge battle at any moment.

I smiled tenderly down at him, then ruffled his golden spikes a bit. His blue eyes fell to the ground, sadness replacing the calm. Then, out of nowhere, he leapt into my arms and embraced me. The action had caught me off guard, but after a moment I returned the gesture, cradling the small Tenshi in my arms.

His warm tears began to stain my shirt, and he whispered softly, "I love you Axel."

Pulling away slightly, I tilted his chin up so his azure eyes met my green. Tears streamed down his face as he gazed at me. "I love you too," I replied. I delicately wiped away the tears then pressed my lips to his. He immediately returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around my neck.

We pulled back after a moment and gazed at each other, before turning to find Sora and Riku comforting one another as well. Zack just stood back and watched, a hint of sadness glinting in the raven-haired male's eyes.

We had all come here knowing that the possibility of losing a loved one was very high, and no matter how much it hurt, we just had to accept it. No matter what, I was not going to lament the loss of someone of whom I knew would be coming back. I had to stay strong.

Suddenly, a huge earthquake shook the land. I desperately clutched onto Roxas in an effort to protect him. As soon as the shaking stopped, we rushed to the edge of the cliff to find the source of the earthquake. Large gauges had formed in the land, and mountains were crumbling in the distance. All of the remaining Akukage had fled and now an eerie silence had fallen over the canyon.

A large black portal began seeping over the ground in the middle of the canyon, and from it emerged Vanitas. Enormous black wings spread intimidatingly from his back. Golden eyes filled with hatred and loathing.

"Coward," Zack growled, "he concealed himself in the shadows while his flunkies did all the fighting."

The portal vanished and Vanitas hovered for a moment before slowly raising his hand into the air. We watched in horror as surges of black lightning fell form the sky, igniting everything they came in contact with in a veil of blue fire. Suddenly, a colossal pillar of darkness descended from the sky, engulfing Vanitas as it gradually extended over the land.

"What the hell is that thing!" Sora exclaimed in terror as an enormous, black creature emerged from the darkness. Massive razor-sharp claws the size of two story houses attached to monstrous paws and muscular limbs appeared first. They were soon followed by an enormous head armed with menacing fangs that oozed some sort of venomous black liquid. Its glowing red eyes contrasted against its huge, jet-black body. The creature's muscular frame and large, wolf-like tail stretched the length of at least three football fields. It was basically a giant Akukage times a hundred!

"That's Vanitas's true form," Riku said solemnly.

"It's huge!" I gasped, taking a step back.

Without warning, Roxas flew into the air and charged the creature, swords poised for battle. The beast snapped at him as he flew overhead. Quickly diving through the air, the small Tenshi just barely managed to dodge the glistening black fangs that threatened to skewer him, embedding one of his swords in the monster's jaw along the way. The creature roared in pain, then swiftly countered, swiping at Roxas with its large tail. The blow made contact and sent the blonde spiraling to the ground.

Rushing to assist their friend, the other two Tenshi took to the air, weapons drawn. The monster positioned itself to slash at the unconscious blonde on the ground with one of its massive claws. Its attack was thwarted, however, as an orb of blue fire collided with the side of its head. The creature reeled back and snarled at its silver haired assailant. Riku charged and slashed open a huge gash in the monster's neck with his sword, causing a thick, black liquid to spill to the ground. It howled in pain and swatted at the silverette with its claws. He managed to dodge the blow, launching another orb of fire at its head.

While Riku distracted the creature, Roxas gradually rose to his feet. In an instant, the small blonde was back on the monster. He drove both of his swords into the creature's side, then with one swift movement, created a huge laceration that ran along the entire length of its body. More of the thick, black substance gushed from the wound.

The creature snarled and lunged at Roxas, fangs bared. Out of nowhere, Zack appeared in front of the smaller Tenshi and erected a barrier around them, which successfully deflected the beast's attack. The larger male then quickly dispelled the shield and thrust his palm forward, creating a huge pillar of rock to erupt from the ground. It struck the monster's chest, sending crashing to the ground.

"Yeah! Get 'em Zack!" Sora cheered next to me, "You guys got him now! Just a little more and this fight's in the bag!"

The creature snarled and leapt to its feet, only to be sent toppling to the ground once again as another orb of fire struck the back of its head. Zack and Roxas joined the silverette as they watched Vanitas stand shakily. A low growl rumbled in the monster's chest and threw its head up in the air, almost as if it were howling. Suddenly, a large ball of dark energy began to take shape in its mouth.

"Shit!" Zack exclaimed, "Everyone get behind me, now!" The raven-haired male erected the shield once again.

However, instead of directing the attack at the three Tenshi, it turned and faced me and Sora, the ball of energy growing larger in its mouth.

"No!" Riku cried and sped toward us, panic and desperation painted across his face.

The creature released the attack, and I quickly took Sora and shielded him with my body, my back facing the blast. I braced myself for impact, but nothing happened. Slowly opening my eyes, I turned to see why Sora and I were still alive. What I beheld sent a torrent of emotions flooding through me, the most prominent among them were sorrow, rage and nausea.

Not five feet away, Riku stood, arms out defensively, between us and Vanitas. He was facing me and Sora, aquamarine eyes wide with pain, blood spilling from his mouth. An enormous lake of blood was forming under the silverette's feet. His tensed body suddenly went limp and his eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed.

(Sora POV)

His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell forward.

"RIKU!" I cried in despair and rushed to catch him. His body collapsed on top of me, head and arms draped over my shoulders. "Oh, Riku," I sobbed.

I went to rub his back and gasped, horrified, as I discovered a large, gaping hole in the middle of his back. His breathing came out in gurgled heaves as more blood continued to spill from his mouth. In a matter of seconds I was completely drenched in my silverette's blood, and becoming very dizzy. I tried my hardest to stay awake, but the smell of the blood and the sight of the gaping wound in his back hurled me into unconsciousness.


Hi ya'll!

Yeah, I killed Riku. But Zack, Roxas, Axel and Sora are still alive! ... for now *muahahaha*

just kidding, but still. Yeah, so I would love to see some reviews, and I'm debating on whether or not to write a bonus chapter. If I get enough reviews, I might consider giving you guys a little treat. I've already written the outline and there's some fanservice to make up for the lacking amount in the story, however it also works with the story, so keep reviewing!

I was also planning to write a sequal, which I think you guys would appreciate once I get to the end. Chapter 13 coming soon!