The Fateful XIII
Chapter 24
Make a Promise
Disclaimer: MAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!
Okay, here we are again my friends. Some more twists and turns here and there, it'll be an all around eventful chapter. I don't wanna waste any time yammering my mouth off, so we'll just get on with this already.
READY, SET, ONWARD HOOOOOOO!
Roxas had to admit, these two weren't too shabby. Both their forms were extremely fluid and masterful, and their movements precise. Whoever they were, they were masters of their respective fighting styles. He was sure he would be able to handle them more easily if he could use his keyblade, but as it was, he was sticking with his dark powers, which meant that he was fighting a primarily ranged battle as were they.
The girl, Katara if he remembered correctly, reminded him of Nevax and his ice and water spells. Aang on the other hand, reminded him more of Rhcxis and Xealx. Katara seemed to be able to control water wither her mind and hand movements alone, while Aang favored to use his staff as a medium between his mental abilities. He was a bit peculiar though, because unlike Katara, he seemed to be able to use more than just one type of attack. He could manipulate air, water, fire, and earth, which made him a larger threat.
He did a series of back-flips as he dodged another one of Katara's attacks, which seemed to come in the form of her using the water as a whip. He thrust his fists forward, retaliating with a string of dark blasts that would have hit their mark if not for the fact that at the last minute she created a shield out of ice. As his attacks ceased, Aang came at him with his staff, sending gusts of wind at him that knocked him back even as he dug his feet into the ground.
He dashed forward again, heading straight for his bald opponent. He leaped into the air and clasped his hand together, smashing the ground a few meters in front of him and sending forth a dark wave of energy that sliced through the ground like a hot knife through butter. The monk quickly used earthbending and created a thick wall of stone to protect himself and block the attack.
The explosion from the wave impacting the stone kicked up a lot of smoke, but Aang remained unharmed. That is until Roxas came rocketing out of said smoke and gasped the younger boys face in his right hand. In a flash of adrenaline and surprise, Roxas fired a blast point blank into his face. He was sent hurtling through the square and into some unfortunate shop owner's wall.
Just as he landed from the attack, Roxas heard a whistle ring through the air and twisted to the side. His maneuver was just in time to avoid a spike of ice that was hurtled by Katara.
She fired several more, the first of which Roxas caught and began beating the others way with as he advanced on her position. When she finally ran out of water, Roxas thrust the ice spike forward and pinned her to a nearby wall by piercing the shoulder of her dress. With a twitch of her hand however, the spike suddenly revered back into water and slid down to his right foot. In an instant it was frozen to the ground and he was unable to move it.
The next thing he knew, Katara hand rolled away and he heard the rest of her water rushing toward him, as she must have melted them down as well, from behind. He bent backwards and looked behind him to see the water come over him and begin to envelop him. It smothered over him body, his face, his arms and legs, it seemed to cover him everywhere, and then it began to grow cold.
In an instant, Roxas was trapped in a frozen prison of ice. He couldn't move an inch of his body; whatever this was, it wasn't normal ice, but it wasn't magically synthesized either. What could it be made of to make it so strong?
He decided that now wasn't exactly the best time to be thinking it over, and instead tried to find a way to free himself. He already had a strategy in mind, and was confident that it would work; he just had to implement it. He filled the thin gap between his skin and the ice with dark energy and continued to build up the pressure and it pressed upward against the ice. After a few seconds of encasing himself in his own energy, the ice shattered and he was free again.
He shook his head and breathed on his hands to warm them. His recovery was interrupted though, when he sensed a raging storm of fire coming at him. He turned to face it and put his right hand forward.
"Reflega!" he shouted.
The magical shield surrounded him as the fire overwhelmed his position and scorched everything it touched. The inferno only last a few seconds, but it put a fair amount of strain on his spell and left him panting a little after he released it. He looked up to see Katara standing by Aang who was back up, his left fist was releasing small amounts of smoke.
Roxas wasted no time and charged forward, his hands began to glow their dark colors again. Aang did the same, and the two converged on each other. Just as they were about to collide, another whistle rang through the air, and something lodged itself in the ground in between the two of them. The object that had impeded their battle was something that filled Roxas with utter dread...it was Hikari's keyblade.
"Oh shit," hissed Roxas.
He quickly threw his hood over his head and frantically scanned the area for his friend. If her keyblade was here, then she wasn't too far away. He was quickly presented with his answer as out of no where, his best friend landed to the left of both he and Aang. To his surprise, his mother wasn't too far behind and landed next to her.
He was shocked at how much Hikari had changed. Her hair was now longer than it was before, a lot longer. It used to only be shoulder length, but now it was easily halfway down her back. She'd grown taller to, two inches at least; impressive for only half a year. She looked like she'd physically matured even more than he had, she even seemed like a different person.
Both their gazes fell immediately on Roxas, which didn't surprise him considering he was wearing an Organization coat. He began backing away slowly, praying to God he didn't have to fight them, especially not at the same time.
Hikari regained her keyblade and pointed it at Roxas.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
At that, Roxas turned tail and ran for it. He did this for two reasons; one, he really didn't want to fight them, and two, there was the risk that they might find out who he was, and he didn't want to deal with that, at least not yet.
He jumped to the rooftops and tried his best to lose them. He heard them giving chase behind him, and pushed his legs harder to get away. He jumped off the roof he was on and landed in the streets below, turned a corner and continued running. As he reached the halfway point down the street, the stone tiles of the road shot upward, cutting off his progress with a huge wall.
He looked up at the roofs and there stood Aang with his hands raised. Roxas scowled under his hood and charged his fist with energy. He turned and punched the wall, blowing through it and opening his way. As he leaped over the stone however, he didn't see his mother and Hikari on the other side, and when he did, it was too late.
In an instant, both the keyblade wielders slammed their weapons into his face, sending him rocketing back down the street and crashing through a wall into a closed shop. He staggered up from the blow, his forehead bleeding, and still attempted to escape. He didn't want to use a corridor, but that was coming down to his only option.
There was no possible way to beat both his mother and Hikari, especially with Aang interfering as well. He continued to run down another street, and when he was confident that he'd temporarily lost them, he leaned against the wall of the of the buildings to regains his breath. His head was pounding from the injury and throbbing from the blood loss, they really nailed him good.
He heard their footsteps from around the corner and began running for it again, but the street shot up into a wall again. He looked up at the roof of one of the nearby buildings and saw Aang again, those mental powers were getting annoying. He looked back, and the two women had him cornered. He cursed under his breath and opened a corridor to escape. Or at least, he tried to.
He tried making a connection several times, but he couldn't get it to remain stable. He knew why to.
'That bastard planned this, he wanted me to fight them!' he shouted in his mind.
He turned to face them fully, they were both closing in, so he did the only thing he could do; he summon his keyblade. The black keyblade that was Oathbreaker ever since he was forced into Kysrel's service stopped them both dead in their tracks.
Hikari was the first to speak. "That...that looks like Roxas' keyblade. What did you do to Roxas!?"
He looked at her from under his hood. "I killed him."
At his statement, Hikari's eyes grew wide and Kairi's filled with tears. That was to be expected, and this whole experience was just getting more an more disgusting for him. Then something happened that he didn't expect; Hikari began charging him. She had her keyblade ready to slash him in half, and tears fell from her eyes as well.
He quickly brought his blade to his side and blocked the strike. He jumped up and over the stone wall and ran down the street again, but Hikari was suddenly much faster than she had been, and caught up with him in an instant. They ran side by side and she attacked him relentlessly as he continued to fight on the defensive. This continued down many streets; they turned corners, dodged the rare pedestrian, even jumped over a few planted shrubs and other plants.
He took note that she was much faster in her attacks than she used to be, Xelskyr and his mother must have been training her hard. He was a little eager to right her now, he wanted to see what else she might have improved on. Maybe she'd even mastered a few techniques.
They finally broke their run after they reached the outer walls of what seemed to be a palace. It was large and had a hug set of stairs leading to a building with a huge golden seal of what he could only assume was their national symbol. It was guarded by high walls, and they stopped right outside the gates.
Roxas hated how she looked at him. It was with a burning hatred, a look he didn't even know she possessed until he told her that he was dead and his present persona had killed him. He didn't really have much time to think about it though, because she came at him again with a fast vertical slash.
He attacked back and their blades clanked as they collided and the two keybladers jumped back from each other. It became a wild flail after that, she'd charge him, he'd charge her, neither of them gaining any sort of advantage over the other.
He was still trying to lose her and avoid further fighting if possible. He ran up the length of the wall guarding the palace in an attempt to outrun her, but she kept on him, running upward as well. As he reached the top and pushed off with his foot, he did a front-flip and threw Oathbreaker at her to slow her progress.
She swung Threshold of Light with all her might and knocked Oathbreaker off course, sending it harmlessly clattering to the ground; her chase after him hadn't been deterred in the slightest. He re-summoned his blade just in time; as they landed in the courtyard leading to the palace, he slashed down on him and probably would have easily sliced him open if he hadn't regained his keyblade when he did.
He jumped back again and kept running, only turning around to block Hikari's attacks when she came close enough to do so. The guards on duty around the palace looked on at the two battling teenagers, not really sure what to make of it. They eventually came to their sense though, and used their earthbending to fire boulders at the two possible attackers. Dozens upon dozens of the rocks flew at them, but it only made the battle more interesting for the both of them.
They both jumped into the air and used the boulders as aerial stepping stones, bouncing from one to another attacking each other. As Roxas reached the highest one, he put all his strength into his legs and jumped straight up, high enough to reach the roof of the palace. Just when he was sure that he had finally given her the slip, Hikari jumped after him, even higher than he was.
They both landed on their feet, and Hikari re-ignited the battle atop the palace's roof. She sliced at him relentlessly, but he was able to block every strike. The training sessions against Kysrel had done wonders for his reflexes, seeing as he was so damn fast it was like you were fighting surrounded. He had to hand it to Hikari though, she had come light-years forward in her abilities.
After a strong counter attack on Roxas' part, Hikari jumped back and held her blade down at her waist and spread her legs. Roxas was uncertain as to what she was planning on doing, mostly because he had no idea how her fighting style may have changed over the months.
"I hope you enjoy this one, it's called the Dawns Fury," she growled.
His eyes widened as he watched her begin to glow in an aura of gold-ish energy; but her keyblade was where it was strongest. He got a feel for what she was going to do and gathered his own darker energy and mirrored what she was doing. Almost right after he'd gathered up his strength, Hikari swung her keyblade forward and sliced vertically at the ground, firing a wave of bright golden light at him. He mirrored her actions yet again and fired off an attack of the same variety, save for its color which was blackish purple.
The two attacks met in the center between them and resulted in an explosion that kicked up so much dust and debris that neither could see much past their own face. As it settled though, the most prominent sight was the huge gaping hole in the roof of the palace; Roxas hoped he wasn't expected to pay for that.
Hikari though, was still staring at him with that ice-cold hatred. That expression that said that she was sickened just by looking at him. It hurt him, but at the same time, it made him feel good. It was heartwarming how much she cared, of course, he'd probably have the same reaction if someone came along as said they'd killed her. He didn't blame her for anything.
He reacted out of instinct when she moved to the right and charged him again, and began running towards her again. He practically counted the steps they took until they their blades collided with each other. At least, when they would have collided.
Just as they were about to impact each other, a bolt of lightning shot between them and hit both their keyblades, knocking them from their hands. They both watched as their weapons clattered to the edge of the palace and rested next to each other.
"I think that's enough for one night," said a voice that was familiar to Roxas.
They both looked over at the source of the lightning, and saw the hearty old man that was Iroh. Roxas look at him with an incredulous look, wondering, one, how the old man even got here, and two, how he shot lighting out of his hand.
"Who are you!?" demanded Hikari.
"Me; I'm just an old man who has seen enough violence between the youths of the world and doesn't wish to see anymore. Especially when it is completely unnecessary," he replied calmly as he approached the pair.
She scowled angrily. "This...this monster killed my best friend! He's going to pay!"
At this Iroh chuckled.
"You think this is funny you old bastard!?" she shrieked.
He shook his head. "No, no. It's just that, he did not kill your best friend," he said, then looked at Roxas, "isn't that right Roxas?"
Hikari stood their in shock and confusion, not sure if she could believe what the old man had just said. She ran it through her head; this guy did have a keyblade that looked a lot like Roxas' Oathkeeper, he fought similar to him, albeit a little less aggressively that she remembered, and based on how long she hadn't seen him, he was around the right height.
She walked towards him, determined to get an answer. She stood in front of him, both of them the same height, and stared at him face to face. She grabbed his hood and pulled it down, revealing the face of her best friend. He looked a bit different, like the fact that his hair was longer and slightly flatter now, and fell into his face a little. His eyes were what gave it away though, they were the same pools of blue as she remembered they were.
Before she knew it, she fell to her knees and began to cry. Roxas knelt down with her and held her as she cried.
"Roxas...w-what's happened t-to you," she stuttered through her tears.
"It's a long story. I'm sorry about all this, I was hoping you wouldn't have to find out at all."
She pulled back and sniffed. "Where have you been, we've been worried sick!?"
He lowered his head. "I'm with Kysrel now. Not by choice obviously, he's making me work for him. He's using Namine as leverage."
"That bastard! Why is he doing this to you?"
He shook his head. "It would take too long to explain, but you're in more danger than you know. I need you to stay safe; promise me you won't try to save me."
"But Roxas what about yo..."
"HIKARI!" he shouted, tears threatening to hit his eyes as well.
"Promise me you won't try to save me. If he doesn't have you, then he can't finish his plan. Just promise me, no matter what he threatens to do to me or Namine, don't do it. I'll protect Namine and I can take care of myself."
Her eyes pleaded him to just come back with her and his mother, but they both knew that wasn't happening. In the end she agreed and nodded.
"I promise," she murmured.
"Good," he said, pulling her into another hug.
"Remember Hikari, I care about you...more than you'll ever know."
He suddenly got brave and kissed her cheek before standing and throwing his hood over his head once more. He walked up to Iroh and extended his hand, which the old man took.
"Thank you Iroh, you helped me a lot."
Iroh nodded. "Always a pleasure. I would love it if you would stop by for tea again sometime."
Roxas laughed a little. "If I can. I do have a favor to ask though. Could you not tell anyone who asks about me that you saw me, the fewer people who know what went down here the better. Pass it on to Hikari to."
"Of course."
"Thank you," he said gratefully as he let go of his hand and opened a corridor.
'Oh sure, now it works!' he growled mentally.
The dark portal swirled and Roxas waved the old man goodbye as he stepped through and disappeared from the world. Just as the portal closed, Aang and Katara arrived, both of them aboard the glider in his staff. They landed gracefully and approached Iroh.
"Iroh, what happened, where did that guy go?" asked Aang.
"Of that I'm not entirely certain, but he certainly was an interesting person."
"Who was he?" asked Katara.
"Just a lost soul who needed a little guidance."
As Iroh conversed with Aang and Katara, Kairi knelt down next to Hikari who was still crying, but had a smile on her face.
"Hikari, what happened?"
She looked over at Iroh who put his finger to his lips, and took it was a signal along the lines of, 'keep quiet about it for now' and she nodded.
"That guy...he told me the truth during our fight. Roxas and Namine are alive and well, they're just prisoners."
"Are you sure!?" asked Kairi frantically.
Hikari nodded. "Yes...I am."
She sighed a sigh of relief and almost cried again as well. Hikari though, only had one thing on her mind at that moment in time, and that was Roxas' parting words to her.
"Remember Hikari, I care about you...more than you'll ever know."
The words gave her butterflies in her stomach and the thought of the kiss he gave her afterward made her blush. She had no idea he felt...that way about her. How long had he had feelings like that towards her? For that matter, how could she have not noticed? She felt like a fool for not realizing sooner, but felt happy at the same time.
It took her a while to figure it out, but she realized...she felt the same way about him.
Alright then, hows about that huh? Good? bad? in-between?
I know the ending might have been a lot to swallow all in one sitting, but maybe that's just my perspective. There's still a good amount of chapters left, so more developments on all this later.
Please review.