Erm…I don't own any of the characters here. Any of them. At all. Forever.
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Shadow Feather: Chapter 3
Black-guard
(Pale horse with no carriage)
"W…what?"
Ansem's dark guardian floated in front of me. Its right arm was strained against the Masamune. It shook with the effort of repelling it. My own arms quivered slightly as my muscles groaned at the intense strength it took to hold the being at bay. Its white eyes stared into my own Mako-ridden irises. We stood there for a long time, testing each other, testing ourselves. In strength we appeared to be…matched? No. It was difficult to say quite what we were. Then, slowly we pulled apart with renewed wariness. We had both underestimated the other. Ansem appeared to be enraged.
"How! How could you stop my guardian! We are invincible! This…this is impossible." As he screamed at me about the absurdity of the situation I stared down at the sword in my hand. Masamune quivered…almost in embarrassment. Never before in all our time together, had Masamune failed to cut something. The blade never dulled and I was the only one who knew how to use it. With my skill and its fantastic quality, we had cut down thousands of enemies before without any trouble. Why now? This truly was…impossible.
"It doesn't matter! SUBMIT!"
Once again the shadow and Ansem rushed at me with impressive speed. Instead of attempting to block the oncoming blow I ducked under it. The tip of the Masamune dragged across the ground and then flipped over. I placed my palm on the bottom of the hilt and then thrust upward at the throat of the guardian.
The point drove directly into the bottom of the shadow's chin, spraying sparks upon contact. The blade stopped. Masamune shivered from the pressure I was applying and the shadow guardian resisted the push with everything it had. Once again we spun apart, readying ourselves for the next attack. The walls of my mind faded into a cautious dark yellow hue. Ansem, now silent, stared at me with disbelief.
Slowly I raised my hand and directed my palm at the guardian's head. A look of sudden realization and horror flashed upon Ansem's face. Within seconds he was closing the gap to prevent my magical assault. They moved too fast. The shadow swung its fist for my skull but I danced away. Ansem did not let up on his assault. His guardian thrust his fist outwards to my torso but I spun out of reach. He aimed for my legs but once again I evaded and whirled around to his backside.
I opened my palm again to aim at the guardian. Ansem screamed and they struck towards me again. It was too soon for me to complete the spell they expected, but I had no intention of doing so.
"Pale Horse."
The guardian's fist stopped inches from my ribcage. Slowly, any part of him that was not already entirely black became so. Then the entire room went white. Blotches of shadow formed all around and converged upon him. It let out a deafening howl that was absorbed by the brightness surrounding him. There was a flash of dark light and the room once again returned to normal.
Ansem gasped in shock as he beheld his guardian. What remained was the head, the right arm, and a bit of torso connecting the two. It bled darkness onto the effervescent floor beneath them. The room flashed into a pleasing shade of purple at the thought of my triumph. Ansem fell to his knees. He was breathing hard in short gasps. The dark blood that fell from the guardian was beginning to form a small puddle at my feet, it spread fast, covering nearly ten feet within moments.
"C…curaga."
The yellow bells formed this time above the floating remains of the guardian. It shook while wincing in pain and then dropped a foot from the air.
"Curaga."
Ansem looked broken and detached. The yellow bells formed and once again the guardian winced in pain. He fell another foot until his fist hit the ground.
"Curaga."
Still the guardian remained in disarray.
"Curaga!"
A look of anger flickered across Ansem's face. The shadow fell into the puddle of his own blood and lay there, helpless.
"CURAGA!"
The bells rang and the guardian let out a whimper of pain.
"Dammit. DAMMIT! Heal damn you! CURAGA! CURAGA!"
The guardian writhed in pain and howled. The terrible noise shook the room and made me clutch at my head in pain. Ansem was crying now. The guardian splashed his blood on Ansem's face in his convulsions and they mixed with his tears.
"CURAGA! CURAGA! DAMMIT! Curaga! Cur…cura…cu."
Suddenly the bells stopped coming. Ansem screamed and wept. Howled his spell but no more bells appeared. In his fit, his MP had somehow ran out. It was a pitiful sight, the two of them. Bleeding and crying. I stepped forward, unsheathing the Masamune. Ansem looked up with a wild look in his eyes. Twenty feet of blood soaked ground stood between us. His disheveled hair fell over his face and he smiled crazily at me.
"He'll be at the Coliseum. You'll find him there. You'll find them both there. All of them! The wing and the key. You'll find them there. Do not go there first though, oh no, come to the Empty Fortress instead! The…the Hollow fortress! Yes. You'll meet a real God there. He will take you to them! YES! THE KEY AND THE WING! BUT YOU'LL HAVE ONE TOO WONT YOU? WON'T YOU? COME TO THE HOLLOW CASTLE TO FIND THE GOD THE KEY AND YOUR WING!" Ansem howled with insane laughter and then sunk into the blood darkened flood beneath him. I felt his presence leave my mind and return somewhere I couldn't follow.
I stood there for a time, watching the walls flicker with images of what had just taken place. The walls flashed with the fight with the guardian and Ansem's mad tirade. He had spoken about wings. Mother had given me wings. In our final battle together against the traitor, she had transformed me into a seraph with six bright white wings and one black wing in place of my right arm.
Go to the Hollow Castle…
I let myself slip out of my mind and into realty. My eyes were shut but there was light beating on my eyelids, bright light…light…from a sun. I opened my eyes. I was sitting on a floating piece of rock. There was water falling all around me. It was as if I were on the inside of a waterfall. Ahead, more floating islands of rock hovered weightlessly above seemingly solid water below. The rocky platforms extended ahead of each other, each one higher than the last. At the top I could see some sort of gateway with a long string of something extending from it. The string was cast off into thin air until it reached another gateway on the other side. The gateway was attached…to a floating castle.
I grabbed the Masamune from my side and stood up. I looked down at myself to see that I still had no clothes though I was not terribly surprised. With a sigh I focused my mind on the gateway and closed my eyes. I felt a rush of wind and suddenly I was standing beneath it. The castle loomed in front of me. It seemed to be uninhabited for the most part. I began to walk along the edge of the platform.
Slowly, I made my way upward and then into the castle. I passed room after room, devoid of any sort of life. I did not have a plan, only that it seemed logical to make my way to the center of this place. I walked onward, through giant hallways and strange libraries. Finally I heard voices.
A slow and deep voice floated from out of the room at the end of the hallway. "…the boy's strength is not his own."
A loud and scratchy voice cackled out next, "Why don't we turn him into a Heartless? That'll settle things quick enough!"
A strangely accented and somewhat whiny man spoke up, "And the brat's friends are the king's lackeys. Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them."
A deep, almost jolly voice rang out, "You're no prize yourself!
"Shut up!"
Then a woman's voice permeated the air. She sounded dark and knowledgeable. "Enough. The Keyblade has chosen him. Will it be he who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could be quite useful..."
A key…
I strode toward the door. I listened to the murmurs of agreement from inside at the woman's comment and then thrust open the door.
A chorus of swears and yelps issued from the dark room.
"SHIVER ME TIMBERS! THERE'S MUTINY FROM THE AFT!"
"OOhhh NO baby! That's doesn't ride with the BOOGIE!"
The room was filled with the motliest crew I had ever seen. Six figures stood around a glowing green table. There was a woman in a long dark dress with jagged sleeves. She held a long scepter and wore a strange hat that gave her the appearance of having horns. On her right seemed to be…a sack…in the general shape of a human being. It had holes for eyes and a mouth. On his right stood a man in red with a tiny pointed mustache. He wore strangely ostentatious clothing and on his hip wore a tiny fencing sword. His hat was enormous. Next to him…well…the woman wasn't actually standing; she didn't have legs. The obtuse, purple tinted woman rested on several writhing tentacles. Beside her stood a tall, thin man with a long golden staff with a cobra's head carved into the top. His long face ended with a small jagged goatee. To his right stood a tall man in dark robes. He was blue. His head was also on fire, with blue flames. He had a very imposing prescence about him.
"Well buckle me shoe straps, he's naked." The red clad man stared dumbly at my exposed body.
The horn hated woman spoke up next, "Who are you? How did you get here?"
I stood in the doorway for a long time, staring at the scene before me. It was all very surreal to be sure. Quickly I regained my composure and unsheathed the Masamune. I held it, pointed at the woman before me. "Is this the Hollow Castle?"
The sack spoke from across the table where it had retreated to. "Baby this is Hollow Bastion ya dig? But you got the right idea." The woman waved her hand to silence the sack creature. She looked into my eyes and spoke to me again.
"I suggest you lower your sword, if you wish to keep the arm that holds it." I gazed steadily back into her emerald iris and addressed her again.
"You mentioned a key before. Do you know anything about wings? Or gods?" The blue man stood up straight and burst into smoke.
He reappeared beside me and spoke with a very business like tone. He said, "Gods? Well you came to the right place my boy. I myself, happen to be a god, the god of the underworld in fact. What can I do you for? How about some clothes, eh?" He snapped his fingers and suddenly I was covered in a long trench coat with metal shoulder pads. The leather sleeves fit closely but comfortably around my muscles and upon my legs I wore very comfortable leather pants. Several members of the group sighed in relief. "Don't worry about paying me back, that one's on the house alright?"
I didn't trust the clothes I was wearing but I couldn't sense any magic inside them. "Who are you?"
"The name's Hades. It's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand.
The leading woman stepped between us and brushed his hand aside. "It seems you require our assistance. You do not seem to be of this world so I can only assume you escaped the darkness of your own. I am Maleficent. Who, are you?"
I watched her for a time. The others in the room shuffled back and forth with anxiety. Hades seemed to have a very contemplative look on his face.
"Sephiroth."
"Pleased to meet you. What is it that you wish from us?"
"I need nothing of you. I wish to go to the Coliseum. I was told I would…find him there."
"The key bearer?"
"I don't think so. An enemy of mine."
Hades clapped his hands loudly and smiled. "Well aren't you in luck! I happen to live near the Coliseum! I can take you there…for a price…"
"No deal."
His face fell. "It's not a big deal at all you know? I just need a favor in return for your trip."
"I don't do favors. I don't make deals."
He looked at me for a while. The blue fire on his head cast funny shadows all around the room. "I can see you're pretty set in your ways. That's a shame; I suppose the Sergeant bed-head with the big sword will have to do."
The world stopped. I couldn't breathe. My eyes shook and widened in recognition. With perhaps no time passing at all, I grabbed Hades by the front of his robes and pulled him down to my level. Inches from his face I spoke with quiet menace, "Who…will have to do?"
"Hey hold on there, calm down buddy I was just…"
"Who are you talking about!"
"Geez…some kid I hired to kill Hercules, blonde spiky hair…big ol' sword…said he's looking for someone and he'd do anything to…"
"What is his name?"
"Home if I know…something fruity…Sky? Cloud? Yea it's Cloud."
"Take me to the coliseum or I will kill you and everyone here."
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I feel like Sephiroth meeting any Disney character is crazy taboo but we'll see how things work out I guess. I want some more reviews dammit! Review! Anything I don't even care what you say! Later.