Chapter 35
For those recently got to know Arun they would describe him as an energetic boy who fought with Caelum endlessly. They would say there were times he could be weird and arrogant, but he was loyal to his friends. He fought with all he had, because he wanted to protect them. He was someone they could get along with and rely on.
If they saw him at that moment, they wouldn't have recognized the boy wreaking havoc upon the Heartless.
Arun was merciless as he ran through the trails surrounding Hollow Bastion. Numerous Heartless cross his path, but all vanished just as quickly as they appeared. As soon as they came in sight he slashed through all of them. He didn't notice he began using moves he had never used before like firing off a fireball that split off into three separate ones and most of the magic he used were dark in nature. No, he was far too lost in his anger to notice. There wasn't a care in the world for the Heartless he was bashing to smithereens.
With new incredible speed he vanquished them to continue on his way.
He was furious. Something inside him snapped when he saw Goofy lying motionless on the ground. All of the fear and anger he had been pushing back lately finally released itself in that moment. The frustration, the stress, the pain…All of it came pouring out into downright fury. Arun wanted to completely destroy something and cause others pain just to get rid of the misery he was experiencing. As a result the Heartless he encountered took the brunt of his anger.
He never noticed the path of destruction he left in his wake as he slashed and cut down the annoying little creatures that got in his way. He lost himself in his anger and it would be impossible to bring him back from it so easily.
It wasn't longer before he reached a small cavern down the trail. Entering it, he found it held crystals of all sizes sticking out from the walls and the rocky ground. They gave an iridescent glow that served as a natural light to the otherwise dreary cave. Not far from where he stood was an opening that led further down towards the chasm. He took another step to exit the fissure when he heard a voice behind him.
"Arun!"
With a glance over his shoulder he saw a young boy with white and red hair enter the fissure. The boy came in running. He halted a few feet away. Doubling over, his hands on his knees, his fought to catch his breath.
"Jeez…Idiot! Who told you…you could run off like that?" he gasped. Somehow, he still had the energy to glare at him like a parent to a child. He returned the look. "With all…these Heartless…you'll get yourself killed! Seriously…think for once!"
He ignored the stupid boy. Really, thinking he could order him around? Who did that moron think he was? It was people like him who were too cautious, too hesitant, too weak that made him want to tear them to shreds. It was too bad he had better things to do than listen to this weakling. He stared to walk away.
"Hey! Arun, don't be an idiot! Hey, are you even listening to me?"
The boy grabbed his arm in a tight grip. A surge of annoyance flooded him. Without thinking, he raised his Keyblade in his free hand to slice up the boy. He mildly hoped he amputated his hand. Unfortunately, the boy released him before he could. The boy cried out, stumbling back.
"What the hell, Arun? What are you-" The boy's red eyes met his own cold ones. He froze and was rendered speechless. "What the-Your eyes are-"
"Back off, weakling. You don't know who you're messing with," he growled. His voice was deep as if two people were speaking. There was a part of him that noticed but largely ignored it.
The boy regained himself. He straightened and stared down at him with an arrogant posture.
"Oh, I know who I'm messing with. I'm messing with a no good punk bastard who thinks he's the shit! You're nothing but lowlife trash that shouldn't exist!"
Shouldn't exist…
Shouldn't…exist…
Those two words struck a chord within him deep inside his heart. Why did he exist? Why was he here? What was his purpose? He wasn't supposed to exist. No, he shouldn't have existed at all, yet he did. He did exist. He did! His fingers clenched into a fist as he trembled in cold fury. Everyone thought he wasn't meant to be. Well, he'll show them he existed. He would show them he was here to stay. Anyone who said otherwise would feel his misery, his pain, the agony of being told he was nothing.
Starting with this loser.
In the blink of an eye he charged at the boy. He kicked him in the gut. The boy slammed against the rocky walls of the fissure. The little weakling gasped, eyes bulged in shock. He landed on his knees. He almost laughed. It was hilarious how the boy thought he could take him on! It was so pathetic he saw no reason to continue the fight. He shot a volley of dark fireballs at him.
Suddenly the boy raised his staff.
"Barrier!"
A light blue shield erected around him before the fireballs made contact. They bounced off the shield to hit the tight walls around them and sent pieces of crystal. Rocks fell around them. He brushed off the dust that settled on his clothes, mildly impressed. Well, well. So the little boy knew some tricks. They were kiddy moves, though, so he wasn't all that impressed. He could do better. He chuckled. He'd gladly show them to him first hand.
The second the shield fell he lunged. His blade swung down in an arc over his head. The boy, somehow, just managed to catch the teeth of his blade with a raise of his staff.
Up close the boy locked eyes with him. He had to say he appreciated the deep red color of the boy's eyes. They were just the right shade to resemble blood. He liked it even more when they dulled as fear crawled through him.
The boy regained his senses long enough to fire shards of ice out of his hand. Tilting it made it incredibly easy to avoid.
"Come on. You can do better than that," he taunted.
Bloody eyes narrowed. Fire of the same colored burned around his staff. He jumped away to avoid getting burned. Sliding to a stop, he saw the boy stand.
"You think you're such a big shot," the boy snarled. His girly looking face morphed to an animalistic one. "You talk big, yet you're a spineless fool who doesn't have the power to back you up. Pathetic."
"Tch. You talk too much." He was tired of talk. The boy in front of him was the one who talked big. He clearly saw it. The boy feared him. Clearly, he wasn't worth the time or effort. "I'm tired of you. I'm ending this now."
"Now? End what-" The boy cut off into a choked scream as he leapt into the air. He slashed down at him, waves of darkness flying off the blade. At the last second the boy dove to the side. He shifted his blade into a lunge, but the boy was incredibly lucky to have moved his torso. The tip of his sword sank deep in the rock. This gave the boy enough time to put distance between them. Sneering, he wrenched it out and went after the boy. Attacking the boy again, he was met by the resistance of a shimmering barrier. While distracted by the backlash of the barrier breaking, the boy fled once more.
The two played their little game of chase for awhile. The boy ran away as soon as he came close. He would go after him, then the boy would use magic against him whether it was a barrier or thunderbolts. They did their job to keep him at bay.
Though he said he'd end the boy, he wasn't actively trying to kill him. Something held him back from doing any real damage. The only injury he gave the boy was a deep cut he made on his leg caused when the boy didn't move fast enough. It puzzled him.
He liked causing misery, spreading it to others so they'd know what it felt like. Joy was the thing he derived from it. So, why…Why was he holding back?
Irritation boiled his blood. He didn't want to hold back. He was going to kill the boy if it was the last thing he did!
He came at the boy from the side. The boy tried to run except he ran into a wall. He was backed into a corner with nowhere to run. He gasped and raised his staff to block. But, he shifted his Keyblade to go under the sorry excuse of a stick. Grinning, he struck to go for the kill at his exposed front.
"Fire!"
He sensed the surge of magic behind him, heat coming towards him. Swinging his Keyblade around, he raised a reflective barrier. The ball of fire behind him hit the shield. Little hexagons lit up as the flames bounced off to hit the wall. His back to the boy, he was unable to do anything as he ran off away from him. The boy retreated to where his saviors were.
He frowned at the group of another teenaged boy, a girl, two dog creatures, a duck, and a tiny mouse. The spiky haired boy and the mouse both held Keyblades. Hm, how interesting. The girl glanced between him and the boy. She looked at the latter in immediate concern.
"Caelum! What-" She stopped short to turn to him, opening her mouth to speak. Her mouth dropped open as well, round eyes widening. "What are you two doing? I told you guys to stop fighting! You know I don't like it when you guys fight!"
He scowled. "I don't listen to whiny little girls."
She looked like someone slapped her.
"Don't talk to her like that!" the boy, Caelum, snarled. He snapped his fingers.
Above, electricity crackled above his head. He stepped to the side as lightning struck where he once stood. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly smiled.
"You got to do better than that, little boy," he taunted.
"I'll show you who's little!" Caelum's fighting spirit rose. He lunged at him, his staff's end aimed for his leg. He leapt backwards. The boy cast a Blizzard spell aimed at his legs, but he moved before it hit. Stepping back, he felt something slippery beneath his foot. He lost his balance long enough for Caelum to swing his staff at his head.
Stars flew through his vision as the hard cylinder struck him across the mouth. He regained his balance, shaking his head to clear himself. Touching his mouth, he pulled back his hand and found red droplets smeared on his fingers. The sight of it made him laugh. The sudden flash of pain hurt, that was for sure. That meant he would have fun breaking the boy for getting a hit in at all.
He'd regret he did that.
He moved to get behind Caelum. To the other boy he must have looked like he teleported, because as soon as he got behind him he shifted his head, a look of pure astonishment pasted on his face. Grinning, he slashed at the boy's back. Caelum gasped, casting a quick Barrier to catch him. He wasn't fast enough.
Blood flew off his back and onto his Keyblade. Caelum stumbled back. Although, he didn't let the pain get the best of him as he cast Cure on himself followed by a volley of Fira aimed at him. He jumped over the fire and summoned an ice pillar beneath Caelum's feet. The surge of magic allowed him to sense the attack, leaping back just when it pierced through the gravel. Landing, the boy intercepted him with another Thunder attack, which he easily avoided. None of the newcomers did a thing.
They slung spells and attacks left and right, dancing around each other to do as much damage as possible. He would slash and lunge at the boy to cut him up as best as he could, but Caelum was more cunning than he thought. The boy would wait as he came close to fire off once of his spells to disarm him. Except he was obviously underestimated him. The boy didn't seem to take him seriously, because he could tell all of the spells he used were of a lower level. He could see the boy was experienced enough he should have known higher levels of magic.
Just because of that he didn't feel it necessary to waste his energy on him. He held back some of his strength to deal with him properly. If Caelum didn't use his full abilities on him, then neither would he.
Still, it was clear to see who was going to win the fight.
The repercussions of underestimating him came to light as he closed in on Caelum once again. The boy prepared to fire off another spell when he cast one of his own.
"Slow!"
Time slowed around Caelum. His hand raised in slow motion-far slower than he should have. While the world moved too slow to him, it was Caelum who did not move fast enough. He elbowed him in the torso, then kicked his legs out from under him. Being the weakest form of the spell, it ended. His motions went back to normal and the boy skidded across the ground.
Caelum coughed, struggling to his feet. He wavered.
"Damn it!"
"I'm done with this," he said, bored. Caelum had outlasted his entertainment value. He stalked forward to deal the last blow.
"No, Arun!" The girl ran from where she stood with her group to get to Caelum's side. She threw out her arms to shield the boy. Her bottom lip quivered. "Please, stop this! This isn't funny anymore. Just please, please stop! You're hurting Caelum!"
"You want to go down with your friend, too? Be my guest." He didn't care if the girl got in his way. It wasn't like she could take him on.
"He's your friend! What's gotten into you?" Her voice cracked. Looking closely, he saw her arms were shaking terribly. "You're not like this. You wouldn't try to harm Caelum like this. Why?"
"You're annoying. This is who I am and you'd do best to remember that," he said. He was going to give something that would make the girl and her friends fear him.
He went in to get rid of her. Running straight for the girl, he poised his Keyblade to pierce through her head. The girl had no chance of escaping, so she squeezed her eyes shut to take what was inevitable.
NO, WAIT!
His vision went white. His Keyblade halted six inches from her face. He didn't know why he stopped until his head throbbed. It made him lose focus, unable to continue. The agony buffeted him so fast he brought his hand to his temple.
I can't hurt her! a voice in his head cried, panicked.
Why? She's just some stupid girl! She's worthless! Weak! She deserves to die!
I CAN'T!
Another wave hit his senses, leaving him blind without knowing what was happening. He curled within himself as if it would protect him from the demons that dealt damage to his suffering head. He begged for it to end.
He stilled at the touch of someone's hand on his shoulder. The throbbing in his head went silent.
"Arun, can you hear me? It's me, Arty."
Who…? Was that the girl he was trying to kill? Her voice was gentle. It was full of worry, but for who? It couldn't have been for him. Why would she care?
"Why wouldn't I care? You're my friend! Friends worry about each other, don't they?"
"A-Arty?" he mumbled, hesitant.
"Yes, it's me. Arty, your friend."
"Friend…"
His heart and head eased. That's right. They were friends. Ever since that winter day, they were friends. No matter what anyone said about them, he didn't care. Arty was his friend. He'd never give that up or do anything that could end that. She was his friend.
All the suffering that plagued his head faded. It cleared up, allowing him to think again.
Eyelids fluttering, Arun took in the blur of dark hair and stormy eyes. They stared down at him in concern. His vision focused and he saw Arty looking down at him. He was left wondering why.
"Arty? Ugh, my head." What the heck happened? Why did his head ache like he was out all night drinking? Thankfully, it didn't hurt enough to the point he couldn't stand. Arun reached a hand down to brace himself as he stood. Arty took a step back, almost as if she flinched. Once on his feet, he brought his hands to his eyes to rub them. He was sleepy all of a sudden. He stopped and opened his eyes to take in their surroundings. The only things that stood out were the fact they were in a crystal cave of some kind and that Caelum was covered from head to toe in bruises and dust. He looked as if he lost a fight with a dust bunny. "Wait, where are we? How did we get here? And why does Caleum look like crap?"
"Arun, don't you remember?" Max asked, slowly. He stared at Arun like he was about to bite him.
"Remember what? I remember running and fighting Heartless after we saw your dad…" He trailed off. Right. Goofy. That happened. "Well, then the next thing I know I'm here with you guys."
Everyone exchanged glances of disbelief. He frowned. It didn't make sense for them to do that. Did something happen?
"Um, you were fighting the Heartless and one knocked you out," Mickey explained. He smiled. Arun could tell it was faked as it never reached his eyes. "Caelum found ya first and brought you here. Because of that, he got hurt trying to protect ya."
"Caelum? Protecting me?" Arun burst out laughing. "Are you sure it was Caelum? He'd rather leave me unconscious on the road instead of help me!"
"And I will next time! Don't expect me to save your life!" Caelum hissed. He began to rummage through his pockets for something.
Max sighed. Taking out a Mega Ether, he handed it to Caelum. Caelum took it grudgingly, muttering under his breath about freezing Arun solid. Arun smirked. He'd like to see him try. Max smiled for a second at the odd muttering, then it faded.
"Dad…" Max muttered.
At the mention of Goofy a solemn air filled everyone.
"Oh, Goofy," Donald warbled, saddened.
There was a moment of silence. Not even Arun dared to speak. It hurt to remember what happened to Goofy. Poor, loyal Goofy.
"Hey, fellas!"
Everyone jumped at the familiar voice. No, it couldn't be! Mickey, Donald, and Max's jaws dropped in disbelief as they stared at something wide-eyed behind Sora, Arun, Arty, and Caelum. The four teens whirled around to see Goofy standing at the mouth of the fissure, smiling cheerily. He waved.
"Goofy!" everyone exclaimed in a mixture of joy, confusion, and overall bewilderment. A rush of relief filled them.
"Ya know that really hurt," Goofy said, running towards them to come to a halt in front of Sora. He rubbed his head where they saw a slight bump where the boulder struck him.
"Aw, Goofy!" Mickey ran and leapt onto Goofy, hugging him with the widest relieved smile they had ever seen.
"Gawrsh, yer Majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time."
Arun, Sora, Caelum, and Arty exchanged expressions of disbelief and exasperation. That 'bump on the head' could have killed him. They honestly thought he was dead! Still, they were all incredibly thankful he was okay.
Donald squcked. His feathers began to rise alongside his anger. He stomped over to Goofy. The moment Mickey let go of him Donald raised his small staff and used it like a baseball bat to whack at Goofy's shin. Goofy yelped in pain, jumping around and holding it.
"That hurt, too," he whined.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Donald yelled, half-annoyed and half-relieved.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you fellas."
"Dad…Dad!" Max exclaimed. He ran over to Goofy, throwing his arms around his father. He pulled him into a hug, which he would normally never do. He told Arun once how embarrassing it was for his dad to hug him all the time. At times Goofy still treated him like he was ten and it was so embarrassing at this age. To see Max openly hug his dad meant a lot. Especially as Max tried to look like he wasn't going to burst into tears at any moment. "I-I thought you were-I almost thought I lost you!"
"Aw, Maxie." Goofy returned the hug, ruffling Max's hair with one hand. He smiled gently. "Don't worry 'bout me. I made ya a promise I'll always come back. I always keep my promises, don't I?"
Max laughed lightly.
"Yeah. You do. I'm glad you're okay."
"Of course I am! I get hit on the head all the time!"
"Then, you must have a hard head. Makes me jealous I didn't inherit that."
The father and son laughed. It was contagious enough that the rest followed suit. Though it wasn't that funny a joke, they needed to diffuse the tension of what they felt over Goofy's supposed 'death.'
Once their laughter died down, it left them in a much better mood. They knew they were still in danger with Heartless swarming everywhere. Laughter was the best medicine to calm them after one of their own nearly died. Arun certainly felt better. But, then Mickey heaved a tired, long sigh.
"Well, fella.s It's good we're all okay. But the worst is just ahead of us," he reminded them. "A lot of your friends are fighting their hardest right now. That means we'll be doin' the same soon."
"Yeah. Everyone's doing their best right now," Sora said.
"So that means we should do the same, right? This is our town!" Arty declared, resolute. "I still have a lot to make up for from last year. I'm not going to let Heartless ruin all my hard work."
Arun didn't say a word as Caelum and Max readily agreed. He still wondered what exactly Arty did a year ago. What was her part in the story? He knew now that Maleficent and Arty knew each other, so Arty worked for the witch. He wondered what it was the witch made Arty do.
Oh, well. I'll find out soon enough. He scratched his head as everyone decided to heal their wounds. He watched Arty wrap some bandages around Caelum's wrist. Seeing that, he also had to find out how Caelum got those injuries. There was no way Heartless did that to him. Some of those cuts were far too clean to be from a claw. And Caelum knew how to block the most basic sword techniques. They've fought enough times for him to learn how to fight against blades. So how? Hm…Just need to add that to my growing list of questions.
Arun would have to find all the answers soon enough. But, looking at Caelum's injuries and Arty's tentative smile, his gut hurt at the thought of findings these answers. Because he wasn't sure if they were worth the pain.
xxx
When they all made sure they had healed all of their injuries they continued through the other opening of the crystal cave that led to what many of the townspeople nicknamed 'Villain's Vale.' It led out towards the canyon that was visible from the town. None of them were reassured by the sight of thousands of Heartless that could very well kill them. Yet, the dark creatures stood idle in the canyon.
"I've never seen them do this before," Arty whispered, grasping Arun's arm for comfort. He let her since Max unconsciously did the same to his other arm. He seemed to have developed the habit after multiple times in the past. "I wonder what made them act like this?"
"Yeah, what's with them?" Sora muttered. Any louder and they could have Heartless upon them.
"Probably that guy up there?" Caelum pointed a finger above.
Goofy was the first to look up and gasped.
"Hey!"
The rest of them followed their line of sight. On one of the cliffs stood someone dressed in the signature Organization XIII coat. Their head was up to conceal their face from them. They were at the edge-so close they were one step away from death. Lifting up his hands to their head, they removed their hood to reveal it was a man.
This Nobody was of a young age around his mid-twenties. He had tan skin, yet his hair was a shocking silver color grown past his shoulders. Just looking at him brought the strangest sense of déjà vu to Arun.
That's the guy from the portrait! Arun also thought he looked like the old man from his vision as well. What did that mean? This couldn't have been a coincidence.
"It's the guy who's not Ansem!" Donald exclaimed, temper rising once again.
"You mean his Nobody," Goofy corrected. Arun was so glad to hear him point out the obvious again after what happened to him earlier.
"The leader of Organization XIII…" Sora trailed off in a serious silence. No doubt he wasn't happy to meet this mysterious leader at last.
Arun had mixed feelings about finally knowing who this man was. Besides the déjà vu, he couldn't decide whether he was pissed or saddened. Neither emotion made sense. He was angry that he was one of the parties responsible for causing Arty so much trouble. Although, this anger ran deeper than detached irritation. He felt as if this guy personally spurned him. And he couldn't begin to explain his despair. That was even more detached compared to his anger.
Mickey's eyes widened and he suddenly gasped.
"Wait a minute. Now I remember! Xehanort! Ansem's apprentice! The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody!"
"What? But then why would he-" Arty shook her head. "No, there's no time to ask that. Mickey!"
She cried out when the mouse king summoned his Keyblade and ran off, disappearing in the swarm of Heartless. More closed in around them, preventing them from following after.
They were raced to stand back-to-back so they weren't left open to any attack.
Arun and Sora summoned their Keyblades as everyone stood, tense and on defense.
"So, what now?" Max gulped, hiding behind his shield.
"Well," Caelum began, slowly taking in their situation, "I think we're going to need to split up. I take the thousand over there, you take the thousand over there. I'm pretty sure we'll get them all that way."
"A thousand each, huh?" Arun let out a slow breath. "Doesn't seem too bad. But who's teaming up with Arty?"
"No one is. I can handle myself," Arty interjected, panting slightly. She twisted the grip on her bow.
Arun watched in wonder when the bow's form changed. It widened and folded in on itself. The ends folded to become a thin blade with a small hilt. Suddenly, instead of a bow, she held a small rapier. The blade was the same silver with the swirling engraving etched on the bow.
Holding the sword at the ready, she smiled knowingly at their surprise.
"Leon taught me. I knew my bow could turn into a sword, but I never got the chance to learn until you and Caelum left," she answered the question on all their minds. "Anyway, I bet I'll finish off a thousand before any of you guys. Last one to finish buys ice cream for everyone else?"
"And buys all the supplies to restock." Sora grinned, though it looked a bit unsure. "That's the bet? The one who takes out their thousand last buys ice cream and pays for a full restock of supplies?"
Arty thought for a second. Arun was sure she was going to say something nasty to Sora again. But she nodded.
"Sounds good. Get ready to cough up the money, Sora!" In a manner reminiscent to Arun's own fighting style Arty dove straight into battle. Arun's jaw dropped as she lunged straight through the Heartless. They immediately saw Heartless flying through the air from the impact. They fell again to cover her trail.
"I hope she'll be okay," Goofy hoped, the natural worrier.
"Aw, she'll be fine," Donald dismissed all too easily. "C'mon, Goofy! We can't let Arty win!"
"And we can't let Xehanort get away."
"That, too!"
Donald and Goofy both gave Sora a thumbs up to let him know they would be fine. Then, they dove into the fray. They could hear Donald's infamous war cry that oddly sounded as if he were being strangled.
Arun, Caelum, and Max exchanged looks to one another. They smiled at the immediate challenge.
"We're not losing to them. Or, you, for that matter," Arun stated, grinning.
Caelum huffed. "We'll see about that. I still haven't forgotten about the tie we had."
"This time I'm going to beat the both of you," Max declared, joining in.
"You wish!"
"I'm not going to lose to any of you." Sora grinned, readying his Keyblade. "Besides, I have to win. I don't have the money to pay for supplies or ice cream."
"Then get your butt into gear!" Arun decided they were done talking. Summoning an Aero spell, he managed to blow a path for him. Heartless parted by force. Smirking at his friends, he mock saluted to them and joined the fray.
Immediately, Arun lost sight of his friends. All he could see were the Heartless that surrounded him. He took a moment to observe the creatures. There were only two kinds of Heartless that made up a majority of the crowd. It was the knight-like Heartless with the sword on the arm and the skinny legs. The other was a flying bronze Heartless that had barely had a mouth. All he saw were two glowing eyes peeking out from underneath its 'cap' and its 'body.' They wouldn't be a problem. It was the amount of them that was.
The Heartless decided they stood still long enough. Several of the knight Heartless circled around him to get to his blind side while the floating ones' gaps began to glow. Arun wasn't sure what they were doing, but he wasn't ready to find out. So he leapt into the air to grab one. Holding it, the Heartless unleashed its attack-a beam of charged light that instantly took out its brethren before him. When it finished its attack Arun released the Heartless. He grinned.
Ooh, I'm gonna have fun with this.
Arun didn't hold back. With a combination of his physical prowess and his meager but powerful magical abilities he took down one Heartless after another. He slashed and lunged, struck and lashed out, in beautiful dance of blades. He knew he had to take them out as quickly as possible before he was overwhelmed. Because of that, he decided to use his Dark Cannon ability to eliminate most of the surrounding Heartless. While he was busy trying to regain his focus, he ended up using the floating Heartless with its beam charge attack. He flipped and dove as he took out the sword wielding Heartless, never once stopping to think or breathe. All he could do was trust in his blade and take out the wretched Heartless.
He didn't know how long he fought for, but, slowly, he watched the Heartless number dwindle. They all foolishly came at them to meet their deaths at his hands. He laughed at the thought they could defeat him. Stupid Heartless! They ran on instinct alone. Did they really think they could kill him? They may have taken his body from him, but he would always find a way to get his revenge! No matter how many times they tried to kill him, he'd always come back. Unlike them, he knew better than to run off to his death. He was far smarter than that.
He kept on fighting until the numbers went down from a thousand to a hundred and, finally, to one.
With a rather flourishing slash he took out the last Heartless of his bunch. After that, he found his area was cleared of all Heartless.
Arun paused to catch his breath. He lifted his hand to wipe off the blood and sweat smearing his face. That was quite the workout. Taking out over a thousand Heartless on his own was a lot harder than it looked. He berated himself on his performance. The past month made him rely more on his friends. He had become too soft to the point he couldn't fight on his own anymore.
No wonder Vanitas called me weak, Arun thought, disgusted he agreed with his Nobody on something. Though he despised how Vanitas taunted him, he was right about one thing. He was never going to beat him the way he was. Not when he was relying on his friends. Vanitas actually gave him good advice, that damn Nobody. And speaking of Nobodies…
During his battle, he wandered far away from his friends. He was closer to the castle than he was before. Arun had the perfect view of Xehanort's Nobody from where he stood. The Nobody faced the castle, gazing at the broken skeleton it was. Seeing him, he knew he had to do something.
None of his friends were around, so he saw the opportunity to go face Xehanort in the form of a slope leading up to the cliff. Arun sprinted towards it. More Heartless appeared. They weren't a problem since he just fought a thousand Heartless already. They didn't even slow him down as he quickly climbed the slope.
In no time at all he arrived at the top of the cliff.
He skidded to a halt several feet away from the Nobody. At first he had his back turned to him. The second Arun stopped Xehanort turned to him. As the Nobody's profile was revealed to him, Arun couldn't hold back a gasp. The Nobody…! He was…!
"Terra?"