Salem: Is it my turn yet?
Dante: Hey! What happened to my chapter?!
Light: Er...Trying to format these chapters to flow with the events of the Nirvana arc?
Salem: Which means that YOU, squirt, can move over! My time to shine!
Light: *sighs* Welp, let's get on with it then, before Salem talks our ears off. Alas, I don't own Kingdom Hearts of Fairy Tail. I just own this bunch of lunatics. Which, now that I think about it, says a lot about me...Anyway, read, review, and enjoy folks!
"Incoming! Salem, get your skinny butt out of the way!"
"Whoa!" Salem hit the ground and tucked into a roll just in the nick of time. Had he been just a fraction of a second too late, his poor, miserable existence would've amounted to becoming a stain in the middle of a ten-foot-wide crater. Rolling across the floor, Salem stopped only when he crashed into a wall. Which hurt like hell, but it was better than becoming one with the tile. Now he just needed the stars to stop spinning around his head…
"At least I have an ass," he grumbled nonsensically. "Unlike you and your flat-as-a-board behind…"
Okay, wow. This had to be some kind of new record. Salem considered demanding a medal for all the times he'd gotten knocked around in just one day. "#1 Punching Bag", or something like that. Could he get that engraved on a trophy? He didn't think anybody was better at it than him. After all, Salem had a grand history of it, didn't he? His resume was built on the collection of injuries he'd gotten over the years.
It's like I'm back in Balbaad, getting tossed around by that smug jackass of a wizard…At least this time around, the ice magic is on my side…
Having Gray around was a definite advantage. The wizard's magical constructs were fairly useful in keeping that screaming bundle of rage from mowing them flat. Or, at the very least, he provided some good distractions to keep said rage monster occupied so they could get a few hits in. Things could've been a lot worse.
But we did get stuck with this jerk. Just my luck.
Working together allowed the three of them to find that lacrima in no time at all. This was most likely due to the fact that Lea, who had plenty of experience with recon and stuff like that, took charge in hunting the thing down. Salem was grateful for the help, knowing how screwed up his sense of direction was. If he tried to take the lead, they probably would've never found the darn thing.
It didn't take long to find their assigned chamber. That was fantastic. But when they got there, they quickly found that the room wasn't empty. Go figure.
"Gray, watch your six!" The Ice wizard took off running as Salem chucked a handful of incendiary needles past his head. The explosives detonated within a few seconds of planting themselves deep into their target's side. A deafening howl split the air as he slammed his foot down, creating this massive, gaping crack across the surface of the floor.
"What's with this guy?" Gray demanded breathlessly. "Is this some kind of magic?"
Their opponent charged straight for them. Lea threw himself into the fray and blocked a wild swing with his chakrams. His boots scrapped against the smooth ground, kicking up this foul, burnt rubber smell. Gritting his teeth, he pushed back with all his strength as the boys made a mad scramble away.
"Not magic," he grunted. "N-Nobody powers! He's…He's stronger at night. Moon!"
Just like Lea, Isa had kept his powers after regaining his heart. Thundering like some sort of hellish demon, he shoved his Lunatic against Lea's Eternal Flames until a shower of sparks sprayed from the weapons. Drawing power from his Berserker form, the Seeker of Darkness fought with the strength of a raging Behemoth. And without any of his own allies to get in the way, he could go all out and attack indiscriminately. It was all Lea could do to keep the boys from getting clobbered.
Geez, talk about an icky job. Isa came at them right off the bat. As soon as they set foot in the room, bam! Instant Berserker. Right in their faces. No chance to collect their wits or even form a plan. There was just this unintelligible scream and Lea was suddenly getting thrown into a wall. Just like that and they were into the thick of it.
And to think he'd actually forgotten how hard the idiot could swing. Whodathunkit?
Back when they were kids, Isa had been the baseball hotshot. Put a bat in that kid's hands and he could homeruns for days. To this day, Lea still couldn't hit a ball to save his life, but back then he always liked to think that his best friend's skill made up for it. He'd even joked about how he could grow up to be some super successful athlete someday. Isa hadn't laughed, of course. He thought Lea had spouted more "pointless nonsense".
At least my nonsense wasn't life-threatening like this. Hell, Isa. And you're always calling me a fool? Anything's better than this. Anything!
"Snap out of it, Isa," he shouted angrily, pushing against that massive sword of his. "Don't make me hurt you!"
"Hmph. As if you could."
"C'mon, man. Did you just laugh at me?"
"Watch out!"
Isa, the tricky bastard, eased up on his claymore and pulled back. Suddenly finding himself off balance, Lea fell forward. Isa was waiting for him with a savage kick to the chest, knocking the air right out of his lungs. Fingers twisted around a handful of his hair, holding Lea up as he choked and gasped. Isa drove another quick, brutal blow to the redhead's chin with his knee and then used his claymore to send the man flying. Lea sailed through the air, hitting his side on a hard, chilly object.
"I've got you." Gray grabbed ahold of his leg and pulled him behind the heavy block of ice that formed a small enclosure around a segment of the wall. Lea panted, clutching at his chest as his ribs throbbed painfully. There was this uncomfortable pins-and-needles feeling in his fingers and the back of his head hurt where his hair had been pulled by Isa. Every breath of air was like a punch to the chest.
It hurt. It hurt like hell!
"I guess it's…more like he'll—he'll hurt me, huh?" Lea winced as a sharp, shooting pain pulsed under his fingertips. "Gah! Think he might've…busted a rib." Either that or left a serious bruise deep in the bone. Geez, whether he was Saix or Isa, the idiot hit like a truck.
An explosion cut through his wallowing, shaking Gray's wall of ice. Salem hopped over the top of the barrier, breathing heavily as he flopped to the ground. Smoke curled around his clothes. The hair tie keeping his braid together had snapped, loosening the plait. Messy strands of loose hair coiled around his neck and shoulders like purple snakes. There was a sort of haphazard, caught-in-a-twister look that could only come from throwing himself head-first into a crazy battle.
Salem, wide-eyed and tense, pressed himself up against the wall opposite the ice. This nervous, reedy laugh trickled out from behind his teeth. "I, um…I think I just made our Berserker boy even more…berserk…"
The roar that followed confirmed the young Nobody's fear. A loud crash coming from the other side of Gray's wall must've come from him swinging Lunatic into it, hacking away with the spikes. Small chips of ice rained down on their heads.
"Thanks for that," Gray muttered ruefully. "What did you do to him?"
Salem's chuckle was more akin to an anxious little kid who knew he was about to be scolded. More like, what didn't he do? He had to have unloaded nearly his entire arsenal of explosive weapons on that damn lunatic. Just about all of his needles were gone, except for maybe a small handful of Thunder-charged ones. And the rest of his elemental knives had been used up in order to bulk up Gray's barrier.
His explosive tags were gone. So were most of his throwing stars. Salem guessed that he might be able to summon up a few more plain old throwing knives, but that was about it. Looked like he was stuck with his scimitars. Normally, he'd divert a bit of magic towards replenishing his stock. But that was asking for the impossible in the middle of a battle like this one. Isa wasn't going to give him the chance to do it fighting the way that he was. And at this rate, any magic he had left was going to have to go to taking him down.
So this battle was going to have to be strictly scimitars and low-level spells.
This was doable, but given the current situation and opponent, it was nowhere near preferable. Salem didn't like being limited in such a way. And he wasn't the best at close combat either. His strengths were in mid- to long-range, preferring to strike with some distance between him and his opponents. He was athletic and flexible, but he lacked the brute strength that Lexsam had that made him excel in close-range, hand-to-hand fighting.
From the looks of it, the same went for Gray, whose spells were mostly ranged. It looked like he could throw a decent punch, but with somebody like Isa as their opponent, the Fairy Tail wizard was wise to stick to his strong suits. Lea was the only one with good flexibility at any distance. The fire kept their enemy at bay. However, switching freely between his chakrams and his Keyblade allowed him to dart in and out for fast strikes.
But because they were fighting Isa, Salem was reluctant to dump that kind of weight on his shoulders. Lea was already getting the brunt of the Seeker's fury thrown at him, and he had the bruises to prove it. At this rate, they were risking serious injury if he kept this up.
The only problem was if he was going to be able to get Lea to pull back.
Lea would fight Isa if he had to. That much was certain. He was willing to do whatever it took to get his friend back, and Salem could appreciate that. But he didn't want to push these two into a corner. Isa didn't look like he had any problem beating Lea within an inch of his life. And for Lea to have to fight one of his oldest friends like that…
Salem would not allow that. He wasn't that cruel.
"Give me some time to wear him down," he requested, peeling himself away from the wall. "I've got plenty of juice left in me to wear Isa down. Just long enough for the berserk to wear off. Then come you guys come in and we'll take him out."
"You can't be serious!" Gray's protests were indignant. Even a little furious. "You expect us to sit by and watch you get thrown around by this guy and do nothing?"
Lea struggled to pull himself up right. His body hurt but there was no way that he was going to let a kid like Salem rush in on his own like that. "No. No way. Isa's my problem."
If anybody was going to fight that blue-haired idiot, it was him. His responsibility. Not Salem's.
As he tried to get up, a hand pushed down on the center of his chest. The touch triggered some sort of muscular spasm in his side, bringing Lea back down. Salem was already on his feet, standing over him with his head slightly bowed. Once again, he was surrounded by that strangely serious air, making him appear older as he stood there, head bowed and eyes cold.
"Not just your problem, Lea." Salem clutched his shirt until the thin skin stretched over his knuckles turned white. There were traces of pain in his expression—the way his lips turned down at the corners and the slight furrow between his brows. He drew his shoulders up, squared straight against his back. Everything about the teen was tension. Like a tightly wound spring.
"He's got a piece of my heart, remember? I want it back."
Isa held one of the shattered fragments of his heart. Salem could feel it with every fiber of his being. He could feel the deep yearning for it like an ache in his chest. It was an inexplicable, almost magnetic pull towards the Berserker that mixed with an unfathomable, seething rage. His blood boiled whenever he set his eyes on Isa, burning with this volcanic fury. And he felt it more strongly than he liked to admit. This kind of intensity brought out something in Salem that was so alien to the Nobody. There was this dark part of him that wanted that fragment back so badly that it scared him. It clawed at his throat, begging to take control.
This was the same feeling that tried to consume him whenever he was near his father or Lexsam, two people he knew for certain were holding on to fragments necessary to become whole again. So for Salem to feel this way, there could be no other reason cause. It was like every atom of his being was screaming. Salem was certain.
Isa had something that belonged to him. And he was going to get it back. No matter what, Salem was going to take back what was his.
Seeing the raw fury, as well as the fierce determination, in Salem's eyes left Lea unsure. Even a little stunned. Anger was nothing new for Salem. Despite being pretty upbeat, he had this dark, vengeful side of his personality, on that he rarely showed to others. The kid had a real stubborn streak that reminded him so much of Roxas that his chest actually hurt for a moment.
Lea knew that he wasn't going to be able to dissuade Salem. Easy-going as he was, when the kid got serious, he wouldn't be moved. Trying to change his mind was like pushing against a boulder. Nearly impossible, back-breaking work. Hell, fighting a swarm of Neo Shadows wasn't nearly as difficult as attempting to change Salem's mind once he'd decided on something.
Damn, stubborn idiot.
He let out a sigh of defeat, slumping against the wall. "Just don't kill him, okay? He's still a friend whose butt I need to pull out of the fire."
Salem nodded curtly. "Got it memorized."
Lea smirked. "And don't steal my lines, either. Get your own!"
Salem scaled the wall of ice and stuck his head out over the top. Down below, Isa was making some pretty good headway against their poor barrier. Hacking away with Lunatic, it seemed as if he might actually bust all the way through with just a couple more swings. If Salem was going to do this, now would be the right time.
He summoned his scimitars and crouched over by the edge. Now, what to do? He could just leap down and tackle Isa head on. But that would most likely lead to getting a spike shoved somewhere uncomfortable, which would definitely ruin his day. His second thought was to turn that claymore into a lightning rod with a good old Thunder spell. It'd be satisfying to blow that guy sky-high, but a spell like that this close up that could easily shatter the ice. What a way to screw things up.
I guess all that's left is to try giving him a taste of his own medicine and knock him around for a change…Yeah, I kinda like that. Aero it is, then.
Salem twisted the dangling chains at the ends of his scimitars around his wrist, fastening them in place. Once they were secured, he held his hands out and formed a tight little ball of wind magic in his hands. For added measure, he twisted it together with his favorite, low-level gravity spell and dropped it down on the enemy below. That gravity component did a fantastic job of knocking the Luna Diviner off his feet, while the main component—the wind spell—pushed him away from the wall. Salem hurled himself from the ledge and gave chase.
"Thundaga!" A bolt of lightning shot from Salem's hand, arcing across the room. Hitting the Seeker directly in the center of the chest, his spell threw Isa right into a wall.
The blow left his opponent momentarily stunned, providing an excellent opportunity for Salem to swoop in and land a couple of spells before darting back out. In that short span of time, Isa peeled himself away from the wall and dropped down into a low crouch, arms spread out by his sides. An overwhelming sense of pressure emanating from him, waves of animosity rolling off the man with each feral snarl. There was this great, powerful tremor of fear weighing down on Salem.
Memories came rushing back of days spent trapped in a tiny little cell, chained in place as that blue-haired monster loomed over him, growling like a wild beast as he beat into a younger, newly born Nobody who couldn't control his powers well enough to defend himself. These were awful memories, ones that Salem wished that he could just pluck from his mind and throw away, never having to think of them ever again.
Damned brute. Salem cursed the Seeker as terror wound tight in the pit of his stomach, faced with the thought of contending with Isa on his own. His palms began to sweat and the Nobody could feel just the smallest of shakes in his knees.
But he refused to bow down to that cheap intimidation tactic. He would not cower. Yes, there had been a time where this power of Isa's had left him helpless and terrified. But those days were long since passed. Salem wasn't the same scared little kid held prisoner in those dungeons. He was wiser, with the power to fight back. His adventures had given him the experience to fight back. The Luna Diviner would not bully him into a corner. Not this time around.
"I'm not going to let you hurt them, Isa." Salem held his head high and stood strong against his opponent, swallowing the fear. "And you aren't going to stop us from taking this thing down." Holding his swords out by his sides, he shifted his weight onto his front foot, shifting into a more combative stance. "I'm also taking back what you stole, by the way. Just so you know."
Isa held his claymore up menacingly. Eyes glowed a hellish yellow as his lips curled back into a very wolf-like snarl. "You are welcome to try," he growled.
So there is some sense left in that head of his after all. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, honestly.
The Seeker swung his massive sword up, pointing the extended spikes at Salem in a gesture of challenge. The young Nobody answered by applying a quick Haste spell on himself and rushing forward. Isa's greatest strength had to (quite literally, in fact) be his impressive physical strength—the power he was able to put into swinging that hefty claymore around was astounding. And because of his Berserker form, the considerable bulk of the weapon didn't slow him down; he was able to swing fast and wild without tiring.
If Salem was to stand any chance, he needed to find a way to turn Isa's advantage into something he could use against him. First thing's first: throw the man off balance.
The Berserker had quite the explosive temper. And if dealing with Vanitas had taught Salem anything, it was that people with tempers were easy to manipulate. Maybe if he set Isa off just enough or in just the right way, he'd trip up. Considering his other options, all dubious and just as life-threatening, what did he have to lose?
"That the best you got," he jeered quickly. "C'mon, Sunshine, this is lame! Hit me like I did more than just drown your goldfish or something!" Salem cartwheeled away from the swing coming from his left side, using the opportunity to slash at his opponent's forearm. It missed, of course, but that worked too.
"Hit me, you prissy loser! Are you tryin' to make me fall asleep?"
More. Come on, strike more. Swing crazier. Show me just how far you've fallen into depravity, you self-righteous douche. Prove that you're worthy of that piece of my heart that you stole. HIT ME, DAMMIT!
"Sparkra!" Salem threw his hand forward, a shower of sparks flying from his sword as the Berserker came to close. Good to know that those elemental weaknesses Vanitas had applied to Xehanort's other cronies as well. Salem didn't enjoy the magical equivalent to a firework going off in his face either, but for someone more closely tied to the Darkness, such a thing ought to be excruciating.
"Aw, does the poor baby not like the bright lights," he sneered. "I'm sorry…As if."
In a different time and place, maybe he would've actually apologized. In this case, Salem decided to drop part of the ceiling on his enemy instead. Not only was it extremely satisfying, but it slowed him down too. Nice little added bonus.
Too bad it didn't last. Within a minute, Isa had dug himself out of the wreckage and they were back to their battle. Well, one-sided battle. Salem kind of got the feeling that between the taunting and trying to bury him under rubble, Isa was leaning more towards actual slaughter.
When Isa went to bring Lunatic down on his neck, Salem pulled back and used the sword itself as a sort of spring board. Pushing off one of those spikes gave him enough momentum to return an earlier blow dealt to him towards the beginning of the battle. He felt the heel of his foot connect with Isa's face with a satisfying crunch.
That infuriated howl was music to his ears. "Oh, I'm sorry," he cackled. "Was that your nose? Terribly sorry, my good man. You really ought to put some ice on that!" Cue the Blizzard spell to the face.
As amusing at it was to turn the blue-haired man into a literal popsicle, continually pissing the guy off didn't count as taking him down. As he let Isa chase him around the chamber, Salem's mind raced to come up with a proper plan.
How did Sora even take down the rage monster before? Salem wished he could have plucked that memory out of the guy's head when he had the chance; it would've been helpful. Actually, next time they saw each other, he was just going to take a peek at as many memories as possible. After asking, of course. Permission was a must when it comes to friends, especially the blissful doofuses.
This would be a lot easier if he weren't blocking my Nobody powers. How the hell is he doing that anyway? Some kind of charm or enchantment?
That would have to be slated for another time. So what did he know? According to Lea, Isa's powers were derived from the moon. Salem knew that. But apparently his powers were much stronger at night. That also made plenty of sense. Then maybe the real question to ask was how long could he maintain his Berserker form in one stretch.
"Heyo!" Salem back-flipped over his opponent's swing, using the momentary pause to drive the pommels of his sword down on the back of Isa's neck. "That almost took my head off, Izzy!"
"That's the idea." Isa's hand shot out of nowhere, snatching the back of Salem's belt. Before he knew it, the ceiling flew overhead as he was slammed face-first into the ground.
The marble floor was harsh and unforgiving. Striking his head against the tiles left him stunned, unable to breathe for a few moments. A harsh metallic shriek stabbed at his ears; his scimitars fell to the ground a little ways away from him. His vision turned dark and fuzzy around the edges and he felt this burning pain in his joints. He might've chipped a tooth and he certainly bit into his tongue.
"O-Ow…"
A foot nudged his stomach, rolling Salem over onto his back and pinning him down with the heavy heel of his boot. The sudden movement and heavy pressure on his battered torso brought on a strong wave of nausea. His stomach contracted sharply. Salem chuckled wetly, tasting a bit of blood in the back of his tongue.
"Y-You know…There are other ways to get a guy's attenti—A-Ah!"
That damn boot dug into his stomach until Salem was sure that it left a sole-shaped imprint on his liver. The Seeker stood over him, glowering darkly as he shifted his more of his weight onto that foot. Lunatic was buried into the ground next to him, the spikes submerged deep into the stone.
"Do you ever cease this incessant talking," he demanded. "It is pitiful."
Salem struggled to free himself from under Isa's foot. Well, at least he was succeeding in pissing the guy off. That was…nice. "Ah, g-geez…How much they been feeding you, man? You…You weight a ton…!"
Was this what having a Large Body Heartless standing on you was like? No matter how hard he struggled, Salem couldn't break free. Isa was damn heavy, so trying to push him off wasn't likely to succeed. His Warp spell? Did he even have enough magic left to get him far enough away?
Lunatic was buried deep into the ground by Salem's head; it looked like it was stuck in there pretty good.
That sword of his looks like it's stuck in the floor pretty deep. Maybe I can…
That might do the trick. He worked quickly. Snapping his fingers produced a small, inconsequential Spark spell that exploded in the Berserker's face, blinding him for a brief moment. It was a small window of time, but just enough for Salem to snatch up a Memory of Nobody. He drug the curved blade across the inside of Isa's calf, cutting just deep enough to weaken his hold on him. Propping himself up, he drove his fist into the side of his assailant's knee. Isa howled and pulled away, giving Salem enough space to crawl away.
Or, at least he tried to. Salem didn't account that his strike would bring Isa down on his uninjured knee, falling forward. With his vision already starting to clear, he sprung forward and grabbed Salem by the leg, pulling him back. Once he had a firm grasp on the teen's leg, he delivered a glancing blow to the back of his head. Salem cried out and retaliated by kicking out as hard as he could. When it became clear that none of his strikes were landing, he started to panic and picked up his sword.
The violet blade sang as it cut through the air. Memories of Nobody were the sharpest pair of blades in Salem's entire collection, so the one sword cut cleanly through the thick material of Isa's jacket, laying open a deep gash across his chest and up into his face. Drops of crimson blood splashed up into man's eyes and hair.
The furious bellow was unlike any the Nobody had ever heard, more like the cry of some wild animal than a human's. The vast chamber shook violently. Even the very foundations it was built on seemed to groan under the intense pressure Isa managed to exert. Everything shook like an earthquake, pitching back and forth. Pieces of loose marble and mortar rained down from the ceiling. The lacrima practically vibrated as it rolled unsteadily at the top of its pedestal.
It was a thundering cry that rattled Salem. Dazed by the sheer volume of it, he lay there, unmoving. Only when Isa's hands wrapped around his throat did panic set in. Salem struggled and trashed, desperately trying to free himself.
"G-Get off me," he screamed. "Let go!"
"Pitiful brat," Isa snarled maliciously. "So much like your worthless father…All talk."
"I'm not…like…him!" The grip tightened around Salem's throat, choking off his protests.
He couldn't get free. Salem's struggles seemed in vain. Isa was just stronger than he was. No amount of kicking and punching could get him to let up. And with that iron grip around his neck, it was getting harder and harder to breathe with every passing moment. His vision was starting to double and he felt light-headed.
Not too far away, he could hear Lea and Gray shouting as they burst through the ice.
"Let him go, Isa!" That was Lea. Salem caught a faint whiff of charcoal and cinder. The pyro was coming in hot. Literally.
"N-No, Lea!" Salem tried to scream, but all that came out was a strangled gurgle. "St-Stay…Stay back!" He reached out, trying to urge him away.
Salem took his eyes off Isa for just a second. Just one, single second, that's all it took. A measly little moment of attention diverted away from where it ought to be. A sudden pain lanced through his stomach. Beginning as a dull throb, it quickly bloomed like the fire of an Ifrit. His stomach burned so intensely that he nearly lost consciousness on the spot. Agony ripped through his body, but as painful as it was, he didn't even have the strength to scream.
A wrenching cry burst through the air. Lea barreled into the Berserker, dragging him from Salem's body as it lay still on the ground. In doing so, Isa lost his grip on Lunatic's handle. The spike that had been plunged into the Nobody's torso pulled free and went skidding across the floor.
Gray's feet slid as he dropped to Salem's side, calling the teen's name. Salem was unresponsive and his breathing was shallow. But the wound in his stomach was bad, about the size of Gray's fist and bleeding profusely. He had no idea how to fix something like this, but at the very least, he could try to stem the flow of blood. Putting his shirt to good use, Gray pressed it against the injury and called out, "I've got Salem. Kick that guy's ass, Lea!"
The redhead didn't need to be told twice. He was more than happy to comply.
"Isa, how could you?!" Lea screamed as he slammed the Seeker against the lacrima pillar. In his rage, he allowed flames to curl around his arms and shoulders. Bright pops of scarlet fire licked at the sticky blood coating his fingertips where he gripped the torn jacket, charring the leather.
"Isa!"
The Seeker's disheveled hair was ragged. Salem's blade had cut in an upwards slash, cutting the two longer pieces in the front at an angle. The injury caused by that sword took the form of a large, jagged gash running the length of his chest, collarbone, and jaw. That stark contrast between his skin, pale from the injuries and strain of maintaining his Berserker form for so long, made those glowing yellow eyes appear almost demonic as he snarled at Lea, bearing his teeth.
"What do you wish me to say," the Seeker demanded gruffly. Blood had flown into one of his eyes, but he made no attempt to rub it away. Instead he held his head high, staring down his nose at Lea. "Am I supposed to say that I had no meant to do that? That it was an accident?" He scoffed coldly. "Do not be a fool."
His eyes were emotionless, cold and detached, like he really couldn't care less. As if his actions were of no consequence to him. It was that same damn expression that "Saix" always wore back during their Organization XIII days. No trace of compassion or care. Those eyes were as dull and lifeless as a pair of gold coins.
Gold. Lea didn't think he'd ever hate a color as much as he hated gold. And he hated those eyes. They were alien. Unfamiliar. Isa's eyes weren't gold. They were blue. Blue, dammit!
"That was a kid, Isa. Salem's just a kid!"
"What that boy is…is nothing more than an empty shell ever seeking oblivion. I merely sought to aid him in his meaningless endeavor."
"We've done enough to him," Lea shouted. "How many times are we going stab this poor kid in the back?!"
This wasn't the Isa he knew. His Isa had always been a bit of a smug asshole, sure, but never like this. Salem had been put through enough hell over the years; he didn't deserve this. The Isa that Lea knew would never do something like this.
Dammit, Xehanort. I could kill you for this.
Lea used his arm to press harder against Isa's throat, lifting the man slightly off his feet. The Berserker silently glared down at him, bitter contempt starting to spark somewhere deep in his eyes. Anger burned hot behind Lea's. His jaw clenched so tightly that his jaw hurt. Why wouldn't he say anything?
"Say something, dammit!"
This was just like when they were Nobodies. Unspoken thoughts hidden behind a mask of passive indifference. It was all very Saix, Xemnas' perfect Number 7. The dependable crony. The faithful second-in-command waiting at back and call, just itching to carry out whatever mission their Superior had for him. And for what?
"You've already got your heart back. What's in this for you? Do you really crave power that much that you'd throw everyone else under the bus to get it? Answer me, Isa!" He slammed the man up against the wall. His chest felt so tight that it hurt.
Why did it have to be like this? Who did he piss off in a past life to deserve stuff like this? It was like Lea was cursed or something. The Organization had torn him and Isa apart twice now. And then everything that happened with Roxas. This stupid Keyblade of his had given him the opportunity to make everything right again. But at this point, he didn't know if it was even possible.
His friends were always going to places where he couldn't follow. They were always leaving him behind. And no matter how often he promised to keep them out of trouble, to pull them back if they tried to do something stupid, he just…He couldn't.
Lea was always getting left behind.
"Just…Let me help you, Isa," he begged. "We can fight this together, but you've gotta give me something to work with here. Just let me help you. Please." Lea just wanted his friends back. All of them. He just wanted to know that they were all going to be safe and sound.
"Lea…" The tension slowly started to drain from Isa's body. His hair smoothed down into a manageable, albeit haphazardly cut, mess and the edges of the scar running across the bridge of his nose appeared less jagged. His eyes even began to lose that eerie glow.
He almost looked normal again. Less like some crazy demon and more like his best friend. There was still that infuriatingly blank expression on his face, but it was a start. At least that was one weight off Lea's shoulders. "Can we just, I don't know…talk instead of slugging it out?"
"…You are a fool."
WHAM!
A chakram-sized fireball split the two apart. Lea was flung back, grunting as he hit the ground hard on his side. At the same time, the fireball hit Isa dead-on in the center of his chest. Lunatic fell from his fingers, producing the loudest, most reverberating thud he'd ever heard.
For a stupid second, Lea actually thought that fireball might've been one of his. Throwing them around was one of his favorite things about his powers. But as soon as his common sense caught up with the rest of him, he quickly realized how impossible that was. For starters, his fire didn't work like that. It didn't just spontaneously pop up out of nowhere. Lea had to put conscious effort into summoning it. Secondly, he couldn't summon a fireball far enough behind him to come speeding towards them as fast as that one did.
Duh.
So if that fireball wasn't one of his, where had it come from?
Footsteps clicked against the tiles. The stride was staggered and uneven, as if the person walking was unsteady on their feet. Lea propped himself up on his forearms and craned his head back, jaw dropping at what he saw.
"S-Salem?!"
The kid looked like the walking dead. Totally Hell warmed over. Although, considering the present injury, that really shouldn't be surprising. He was pale from the blood loss and his body trembled with every step. Breathing seemed to be a struggle for the Nobody—Lea could hear the harsh, sandpapery rasp with every intake of breath. Salem leaned off to one side, trying to support himself as he walked. How he managed to stay on his feet, Lea had no idea.
He was definitely Braig's kid, alright. The two of them were a special kind of stubborn.
"What the hell are you doing, Salem?!" Lea eyed the ominous stain slowly spreading across the teen's shirt, dark against the inky-blue material. There was this gaping hole in the armor-like padding built into the front of the shirt. That stuff had probably kept Isa from killing Salem outright; of that, Lea was certain. But the injury was so serious that the kid shouldn't even be moving at all.
Key word there being "shouldn't". Lea had to wonder if Salem even realized that there was a big old hole punched in the middle of his stomach. The kid sure didn't act like it. There was something off in his expression. Actually, he looked weirdly…Happy?
Yeah, he kind of did look happy. Lea could see this strange, giddy little smile curling at Salem's lips. It was a blissful, childish smile. Innocent. And even though his body reflected the amount of paint he had to be in, the Nobody appeared to be laughing as he held something against his chest.
"I…I got one back…"
Lea frowned, straining to catch that little whisper. "Kid…? Salem, buddy, you alright?"
Salem continued to wobble around until his feet carried him to Lea's side. He could see some kind of shiny object held in the boy's hands, light peeking out from between his fingers. When Salem looked down at him, his expression was something akin to delight and pure happiness.
"Lea…I got it back." Salem's voice shook and broke. "I got it back!"
As Salem uncurled his fingers, he released a strange light. It was small, maybe about the size of a marble, but it had the appearance of a broken piece of glass. And it glowed softly, bathing Salem in a warm, pinkish light. Lea couldn't figure out what the object was until he took another look at Salem's face and it all clicked. The glowing light looked just like the hearts that were released when freed from a Heartless. And for Salem to look so blissfully excited…
That was one of the fragment of the heart that had been stole from Salem and split up among members of Xehanort's Seekers. Lea was actually seeing one of the shards that Salem had practically devoted his entire existence to retrieving.
Lea couldn't believe what he was seeing. Salem had only managed to retrieve a few little shards over the years, but this was the first time he'd actually seen the Nobody with one in hand.
"That's…That's great, kid," he said slowly. "Now how about taking that shiny piece of goodness and going somewhere where we won't have to worry about you keeling over?" Just watching this put Lea on edge. The kid didn't look so good, and he knew that the kid wasn't doing so good, but he didn't think that Salem was completely aware of the fact. The little gleaming shard seemed to grab every bit of his attention. Was this some kind of adrenaline high?
Salem shook his head, almost doubling over when he began to laugh. "No, no. This is…This is fantastic! This couldn't be more perfect!"
Taking a few more steps, Salem put himself between Lea and an extremely wary Isa. The Seeker tensed as he drew closer, eyes watching every single move like a cornered beast. Salem didn't pay him any mind, however. He just kept laughing as if this was the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen.
"Is this normal for him?" Gray appeared at Lea's side, helping him to his feet. The wizard looked beyond confused, not that Lea could blame the poor guy. But still, he shook his head.
"Not really," he replied. "Salem's a weird kid, but never like this."
Salem continued to laugh it up. He didn't sound manic or anything, thankfully. Lea had had the misfortune of hearing one of Salem's unhinged cackles before, and it was unnerving. This was a more level-headed kind of laugh. A genuinely pleased sound, almost like a giggle.
Just how much pain can a Nobody take until it starts messing with their brain?
"Now this, this is great," Salem wheezed giddily. "Izzy. Izzy, my man, I owe you one. Whoddathunk it? All I needed, in order to get a chance at snatching this beauty back, was to get stabbed through the gut! That's so ridiculous, it almost hilarious!" Salem pulled himself up and wiped the tears from his eyes. In doing, he must have pulled at his injury, because he grabbed at his stomach and winced.
"Although, to be honest, I could've done without the whole shish-kabob thing, but oh well." Salem flashed a dazzling smile and a crooked little shrug. "Beggars can't be choosers, I guess. Either way works in my favor."
He snatched the heart fragment up as it danced above his head. Holding it tightly between his fingers, Salem crowed as he pressed it to his chest. A vibrant, purple glow covered his body until Salem was completely awash in a bright light. The boy inhaled deeply and arched his back as if struck by a bolt of lightning. Wind appeared to swirl around him, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris.
When everything settled down and the light began to fade, it seemed as if his injuries had healed. The tear in his shirt was still there, but the skin visible underneath was whole and only bearing the slightest traces of a scar. Salem stood up straighter and ran his hand over his stomach. A small whistle ran past his teeth.
"Now that's what I love to see." He nodded appreciatively, carefully twisting back and forth. Testing just how well his injuries had healed up. He was sore and still pretty stiff. There was only so much twisting he could do until he felt his body protest, but for the most part, he thought he was out of the danger zone. As long as he avoided any more spikes, he ought to be good.
Another piece down. He was that much closer to becoming whole again.
Salem could feel more of his powers returning as the new fragment merged with the others, as well as a nice little boost of energy. It was always like this. Each new piece brought him closer to becoming a Somebody again. Salem didn't expect to see his injury healed up from it, but he sure didn't mind it in the slightest. Forget elixirs, this was where it's at! He could feel every nerve ending buzzing like a live wire. The tips of his fingers felt all tingly and it sure seemed like his hair was standing on end. Kind of like static, but way stronger.
Salem liked this. He felt stronger. And man, it felt good!
He tapped his foot against the floor, using the toe of his boot to kick up the handle of Isa's claymore. Salem had always hated this piece of junk—its heft had broken plenty of bones and left scars on his body that stubbornly stuck to his skin no matter how hard he tried to erase them.
Just looking at that sword conjured up all kinds of nasty memories. Most of which were extremely unpleasant and ones that he wished he could forget. Go figure. Recovering a fragment that had been in Isa's possession, he really shouldn't be surprised.
Gah, stupid memories. Why couldn't I get something that doesn't kick my butt too?
The ridged metal grip was cold in his hand. Heavy and unwieldy. From an aesthetic point of view, Lunatic was a nice piece of metalwork. Salem couldn't deny that. But it was such a heavy, clunky thing. It didn't feel right in his hand. He hated touching it. So many brutal memories tied to this weapon.
Well, that and Isa had just tried to clobber Lea with it. Hard to like something that somebody had tried to use against one of his friends.
"That wasn't very nice, Mr. Isa. Lea was trying to be nice and give you an out. But then you go and try to beat the living daylights out of him." Salem gave an exaggerated sigh. "So not cool."
He couldn't blame Lea for trying to pull some sense out of Isa. If Salem were in his shoes, and he was stuck fight Vanitas…Yeah, that would suck. Lea was being kind of stupid, but it was an admirable kind of stupid. Honorable. And here was Isa, spitting on Lea's attempt at saving his butt from a fate worse than death.
That was…Despicable.
"I might have some unresolved issues with the man," he admitted, "But I'd like to think that I've moved past it. So I don't care if you two used to be friends. Here and now? Lea is my friend."
Those Organization clowns were not going to get away with messing with his friends. Not again. If they thought that they could push him and not expect a reaction? No. they were the fools. Those who hurt his friends were not allowed to walk away unscathed.
Salem was a vengeful brat, after all. It's why he took on the alias of "Kurokami". He cut his teeth on spiting at his enemies. He lived to making life nothing but difficult for them. Taking his revenge on those who had wronged him. Nothing made Salem happier.
And to think, now he had a little more power at his disposal too. How wonderfully wicked.
"My dear boy. I think we have just the power we need to pull off that little trick of ours."
Bryn, I love you. Think it'll work?
"I believe so. At the very least, I can provide some back-up for you."
Now there was an idea. Salem had tried to cast that spell before, but it never worked. Maybe because he never had a sufficient amount of magic to weave such a complicated spell together. Either that, or because he was lacking in something that only his Anima powers could make up for. Whatever the cause, he just couldn't get it to all come together in one cohesive spell.
It was kind of infuriating. Salem loved the idea of this spell he and Brynhildr had put together, inspired by an interesting type of magic that they'd witnessed in one of their previous adventures. Not quite a summoning spell, but something more like Enhancement magic. Now that he had this extra power returned to him, they ought to be able to pull it off without anything blowing up in his face.
There was roughly ten minutes left to blow this chamber to kingdom come. Not a lot of time, unfortunately. So if they were going to knock Isa down a peg and take out that lacrima, they needed risky. Hell, they needed a little crazy.
I can do this. I will do this. I will prove to Xehanort, to Lexsam and my old man, too…I am not the weak, foolish boy they think I am. I will be their reckoning, and I will have my revenge on them all…!
Salem reached into one of his pockets and pulled Brynhildr's crystal out. She felt warn in his fingers, like a roaring fire, as he summoned every last drop of magic left in his body and fed it to the stone. In return, Bryn took her own power and poured it into Salem until they were a kind of river flowing into each other. Push and pull. Give and take.
"Great Spirit of Flame, of Judgement and Courage, heed my call…Accept this power and inhabit my body…Come forth, come forth my Maiden of Fire! Lend me your strength and extend your Wings, O Valkyrian Warrior! BRYNHILDR!"
A column of fire exploded at Salem's feet, engulfing the Nobody within a blazing inferno. A sweltering heat filled the room, taking the air and feeding it to the hungry fire, growing stronger with each greedy gulp. More intense. The flames stretched high, reaching for the ceiling with ferocious abandon. Great plumes of smoke filled the chamber.
"What's he doing?!" Gray shouted as he called up a thick wall of ice between him and the inferno. "This is crazy!"
"Neither have I," Lea called back, his eyes watering from the thick smoke. This was beyond anything he'd ever seen. Salem was summoning his Eidolon, Brynhildr, wasn't he? Since when did she make fires like this?!
The reckless fires threw great, sprawling shadows across the walls, dancing across marble and stone. They spread out like massive, feathered wings. Wings of smoke and flame that stretched all the way around the chamber. And there was this abrupt metallic sound coming from deep within the madcap hellfire. A clink, clink, clink. Like the rattle of chain links against a stone prison cell. Eerie and haunting. Like something out of a horror story.
The sound of laughter carried over the roar of the flames mixed with a sharp snap of heels clicking against the floor. A figure emerged from within the inferno, throwing back the blazing curtain with a flick or his arm. The fire started to curl in on itself, twisting tighter and shrinking down. Fizzling out like a dying campfire until it just popped. Burst not unlike a balloon, spewing glowing embers and ashen cinder.
"Now this is what I call a success," the figure all but purred. "Bryn, you are absolutely wonderful."
Salem stood in the middle of the room, but it wasn't quite the Salem they were familiar with. He had transformed into something more akin to a spirit, an Elemental. To Lea's eyes, it had seemed as if the boy had somehow merged with his Summon. Like he himself had become Brynhildr.
Fire curled from the tips of fingernails that smoldered like forged iron. Black markings appeared across the surface of his skin, especially down his arms and across his chest. Freed from its braid, his hair had grown out considerably as well, split off into three black tails that swayed around at his knees. It was almost as if the heat of that inferno had charred most of it black, save for a few stray strands that had retained their violet hue.
Salem glanced at himself, marveling at the handiwork his spell had wrought. The red and gold armor covering his hips and thighs were an interesting design choice, as were the strange heeled boots that curled up around his legs like a pair of horns. Leaving his chest bare felt a bit strange, but he supposed that less clothing meant less to burn. And having a fondness for a dramatic flair, he enjoyed the swath of red silk around his hips and the bracers covering his forearms.
A success, indeed. I wish Sin and the others could see this!
"S-Salem…?"
The Nobody turned to face Lea and Gray. Naturally, they were looking at him like he'd grown another head. Big surprise there; their shock wasn't wholly unexpected. Salem did suppose that he looked pretty strange. That being said, he did love the little thrill he got out of their shock. While he couldn't speak for the Fairy Tail wizard, seeing Lea so speechless was a rare treat.
Salem grinned toothily. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Maybe," Lea stammered, catching his second wind. "Just…What exactly is this?"
Vanitas and Tegan had their D-Links. And Sora had his Drive forms, thanks to those clothes from the Good fairies. Seeing stuff like that had always made Salem a little jealous. He liked the idea of upgraded forms. And now he had a perfected one of his own!
"I call it an 'Eidolon Equip'." Salem blinked a pair of ember-colored eyes. "Well…That's more of a working title, but you get the idea."
Instead of equipping a set of armor or some magic clothes, he used Brynhildr's power—as well as Brynhildr herself—to create an upgraded form. Salem used both magic and his own Anima powers to tap into his Eidolon guardian's power. By doing so, it allowed for a temporary channel to open up, allowing Salem to borrow Brynhildr's abilities for a time. In a sense, he actually became the Eidolon.
"Now then…" Turning, Salem faced Isa. Whether the Seeker felt anything about this new sudden turn of events, Salem did not know. But then again, he really didn't care.
Now they were on a more even playing field.
He held his hand out. The flames coming out of his fingers swelled and ballooned to form an appropriately sized, slightly altered version of Brynhildr's bludgeon. Despite being considerably larger than the Lunatic claymore, this weapon fit him like a dream, feather-light and just warm enough to feel comfortable in his hand. A change of pace from the scimitars and knives and lightweight projectile he was used to, but not an unwelcome on.
Salem smirked, hefting the weapon up to his shoulder. "It's time to turn the tide."
Salem: *screaming to the high heavens* I GOT ANOTHER ONE BACK!
Light: *winces* Oh geez! Salem, I think you busted an ear drum!
Dante: *crouching with his arms wrapped around his head* And the sound barrier...
Salem: Light! *tackles to the ground* Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Light: Y-You're welcome? Uh, you're welcome!
Dante: *scowls* Ugh.
