I'm going to be wrapping this story up in the next couple of chapters so I hope you enjoy it, but fear not, I will soon be working on a sequel so for now, R + R!

Chapter 19: Split Personalities

Dav, Ashura and Craxte continued to hack their way through the Heartless to reach Sora who as Donald earlier stated was in trouble. Donald however had gone ahead to help Goofy and Sora.

"Damn, these things are getting stronger all the time" cursed Dav as he parried a shield swipe and struck the attacking Defender with his Buster Blade.

"Indeed, they are increasing in difficulty, we will have to hurry in order to save the key bearer" added Craxte who sliced through a lone Shadow.

Just as Ashura struck down the last of the Heartless another large group of Heartless appeared, blocking their path to the Chapel where Sora had fought Maleficent.

"Guys, can you keep these things busy so I can get through and help Sora out?"

"Go, we shall keep them at bay. But be warned if these are tough out here, they will be even stronger in there" Ashura warned while planting a powerful right fist into an unsuspecting Soldier's face.

Dav headed toward the doorway and ducked under the legs of a Large Body and then rolled away from a Shadow's lunge attack. After looking back at his friends he advanced through the door and into the Chapel.

As he charged into the room with his Buster Blade held above his head he noticed that the room was empty and devoid of any life.

"Thats weird, I thought Heartless were supposed to be in here" Dav muttered to himself as he gazed around the room that he and Riku battled in a while back. Shrugging he jogged off into a side route that he realized was the one Cloud and Aaron had fought the Defender's during their first visit. Inside the hall it was quiet and deserted with not even Heartless to bother him. Faint echoes of shouting could be heard from the opposite room where the Princesses of Heart were being kept. As he drew closer the shouting sounded more like fighting and the voices were familiar. Dav broke into a sprint with his sword resting on his right shoulder and arrived in the huge chamber Terri had been confined in earlier.

He saw that Donald and Goofy were watching anxiously from the twin sets of stairs that led to the central platform. Sora was battling Riku who wore his Heartless combat suit instead of his usual yellow top and baggy trousers. Dav ran to the knight and mage and tried to join the battle but an invisible barrier barred his entry.

"What the hell is going on? Why is Sora fighting Riku alone in there?"

"Well gawsh this shield thingys keeping us from helping 'im" Goofy informed with a worried expression on his face.

Just as Dav was about to speak again a sharp pain throbbed in his head, causing him to collapse to his knees while clutching his forehead with his hands.

"Whats the matter buddy?" Goofy asked while turning his attention from the fight to a pained Dav.

A second wave of unbearable pain swept through his head as his vision became blurry and he began to slip in and out of consciousness. Finally after a third pulse of great pain he fell forward and hit the steps with a loud thud

A8A

Terri was sat in the library glancing through a book on legends while Aaron and Andrew were patrolling the lobby and castle entrance way for more Heartless.

"Interesting, Arieth I think you were right about Dav, this book speaks of a legend that I've lived with since I was a baby. The story of the balance, everything fits, Dav as the balance, the lost brother is Andrew, the thief being Aaron, Ashura the wondering warrior, Craxte the neutral warrior and the mysterious girl... is me"

"Really? What else does it say about the balance then?" Aerith asked with a look of interest as Terri skimmed further down the page.

"It says that as the Keyblades of Light and Dark battle it out, the balance shall began it's inner conflict between his light and dark sides... that means if Sora is up there and so is Ansem... It means Dav will face himself... But how it makes no sense..."

Terri loosened her grip on the book which slid out of her hand and crashed to the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust as it landed. She stared out of one of the huge library windows at the night time sky that had crept up on the castle and the entire world. She stood up quickly and grabbed her katana that was laid beside her chair and glanced over to Cloud who leant against a bookcase.

"Cloud, Dav is in danger, we have to get up there and help him"

"The balance….. the legends are true then, lets go and fast"

"Were coming too, your not leaving us on patrol duty again" said Andrew who had just entered the room with Aaron in tow.

A8A

Ashura and Craxte entered the massive chamber and ran toward the stairs where they saw Dav across numerous stairs with the pendant around his neck glowing a soft grey.

"What happened to him?" asked Ashura who was checking out the door and saw Sora and Riku still fighting on the huge platform.

"He just collapsed without anything happening" replied Donald.

The giant doors burst open and Terri, Cloud, Aaron and Andrew came charging toward the staircase.

"Get away from him" yelled Cloud who had his Buster Sword held out in front of his body.

"Why?" Goofy asked but no one had time to reply as a large column of grey energy shot out of the 'Balance' pendant and knocked Donald, Goofy, Ashura and Craxte down the stairs and into the hard flooring which knocked them all unconscious except Ashura who instead flipped backward as he neared the floor and landed on his feet.

The same grey energy again expelled from the pendant but this time blinded everyone as to what was about to happen. Dav, although unconscious rose from the ground and slowly another's outline appeared from him and the light subsided revealing two Dav's, one looking like normal but he had a glowing yellow outline and his hair was much brighter. The other Dav had dark eyes and black hair with an evil aura around him and he wielded a version of Dav's original Buster Blade but the metal was burnt, twisted and black while the good Dav was holding a Double Edged Sword (similar to Zidane's from FF9). The grey light subsided and both Dav's stood in battle positions on either staircase with the others stood (or laid) near the door.

"At last, we shall settle this, the age old story between good and evil" spoke the dark Dav whose now creepy features had a menacing grin on them.

"Enough talk, we must fight to determine the winner, good or evil" returned the Dav of light who had a look of determination on his face.

The dark Dav took a huge inhuman leap into the air and pointed his Shadow Blade towards his opponent who in a great show of speed disappeared from his current position and a blurry image swept across the room and he reappeared where the evil Dav had originally stood.

"What are we supposed to do?" shrieked Aaron who flinched as evil Dav kicked the good version with such force that his body left a print in the stone wall behind where he made impact.

"We have to stop them from fighting; according to the legend if either of them wins then the Dav we know will cease to exist. We have to beat both of his sides ourselves and then he will meld back into his original form" Terri informed the group as the good Dav sent the evil side smashing against the stairs with a powerful punch to the head.

The group nodded to one and another and headed toward the battle, to save their ally and friend from himself, quite literally.