Duke:
With everyone off doing their own thing, it had been rather quiet that morning. Wildwing and Tanya were tinkering with some new gear she'd been designing. Grin was mediating in his room. Even Nosedive was in his room probably sleeping in from staying up playing a video game. Mallory had convinced Heart to go shopping with her. Meanwhile I was taking care of someone, or should I say two someones.
As I watched my son and daughter that morning, I could feel my nerves jumping a bit. The skin beneath my dark feathers seemed to itch in an attempt to alert me that something was just off. However, as I watched my two children, I tried to tell myself it was just my imagination.
"I'm bein' paranoid," I shook my head.
As I said this Flynn began to stir, stretching into a soft cry as he reached his hands above his tiny head. His reddened, curling hair was growing in thicker being four months old now. His eyes had faded into a deep blue like his mother's. While Avery giggled at me with her brown eyes gleaming with light.
"Am I funny to ya Avery?" I asked my daughter as I watched them both.
She giggled more in response.
Then Flynn began to cry more. Lifting him up in my hands, he still felt so fragile. While I held him secreuly in my arms he still cried out.
"What's the matter Eli?" I asked him as I started to pat his frail back.
Then Avery began to follow her brother's lead. Holding them both now as I sat in the rocking chair I tried to ease their cries. When that didn't work, I took them towards the galley to see if it was time to give them bottles, for Heart wasn't home to nurse them.
I could have heard a pin drop from all the way down the hall, despite the cries of my children. It almost felt like no one else was home with us. Then I heard steps coming up behind me. Turning on my heel, I saw Nosedive picking up in pace behind me as he saw me. I stepped to the side in time as he failed to slow down seeing I had the twins. It almost felt deliberate as he tried to grab for me.
"Dive that's not funny!" I exclaimed as I held Avery and Eljiah safely in my hands.
"Sorry man, I don't know what got into me," Dive half heartedly apologized.
His good natured tone seemed to be absent, as was the humor in his light blue eyes.
"Ya alright Dive?" I asked with concern as I still held my children close to me.
Nosedive nodded somewhat assuringly, "Of course I am! Now how about letting me hold the kids for a while?"
Avery and Flynn continued to cry as he reached for them. I stepped back, "No thanks Dive, they don't seem to be in the mood for that."
"How do you know?" He questioned impatiently.
"Look I can take care of my own kids, why don't ya go find Wing or Grin to hang with?" I suggested as I tried to walk away from him.
However, I backed up into the very firm form of Grin I quickly realized. How had I not heard him walking up?
"Sorry Grin," I said before looking over my shoulder at him.
Before, I had never felt had unsettling Grin could be when glaring at you. In this moment as I experienced that, I snapped to attention as he grabbed for me.
"You're making them cry Duke, let me have them!" Dive insisted when Avery and Flynn continued to scream now.
I asked Flynn quietly, "Is this what ya felt?"
I slipped from Grin's grip as he grabbed for me again. Then, holding my babies close to me, I sprinted down the hall. Behind me, I could hear Nosedive and Grin following. Ahead of me, I saw Wildwing and Tanya standing beside one another. In a charge of his own now, Wildwing nearly shoved Tanya aside to get to me first. I slid to a stop in my tracks when I saw this, "Wing?! What are ya doin'?!"
"Give me those children Duke!" Our leader ordered as he lunged at me.
Again I slid to the side to evade his grip, and then Tanya's as well as she reached for my daughter.
"What's gotten inta ya guys?" I questioned as I managed to evade them and hurry down the hall.
Running into the main room, I found Phil as he strolled in with some papers in his hands. He wasn't paying attention when I ran up to him and nearly knocked the forms from his grip, "Hey! What's the big idea Duke?!"
"Phil, I need ya to take Avery an' Eljiah right now! Take them somewhere safe!" I insisted when I realized it was still him.
"Safer than here?!" Phil exclaimed.
I nodded my head as I heard the others approaching, "I'll let ya know when it's safe to come back! Jus' get them out of here!"
"I don't understand, what's wrong?!"
"Go Phil!" I snapped as I turned towards my pursuers.
Finally hearing Phil give in and headed back out with my children in hand. As he did, I faced Wildwing and the others. I drew my saber in an attempt to give some form of a warning, "I don't know what's goin' on guys, but I won't let ya hurt my kids!"
"They can't hide forever," Tanya assured me boldly.
"Tanya what's gotten inta ya?"
"Just tired of being so meek all the time, I thought I'd show a new side of myself!" She said excitedly.
I raised a brow at this, "A new side?"
"You'll show a new side to yourself soon too," a voice that didn't match any of them snickered, "Or should I say an older side of you?"
I found the owner of the voice when my gaze fell upon Wildwing's shadow. As it twitched and moved in front of him, I could hear the sick laughter emerging from it.
It then reached out from his shadow towards mine as I stepped back. It's fingers grew to grasp at the sillouette of mine upon the floor.
"Such wonderful puppets they are, and I think you'll be my favorite," he sneered at me with iempty eyes in the center of my leader's shadow, "You are her favorite it seems anyway."
"Shadow," I breathed as I continued to step away.
"I will admit, your little group put up quite a fight. Each one had so many memories to hold onto, their essences rich with pride in one another and your cause, their hearts connected to one another, making it easy to find every one of you," he taunted, "And when the other one comes back it'll be all the easier to finally claim that creature's magic!"
"That's not happenin' buddy!" I assured as I slammed my hand on the control panel to unlock the case with our souveneirs.
As the shelving rose I darted over to it to grab for the Star Sword. Yet as I ran I failed to realize that my shadow now fell behind me. suddenly I felt something yank on my ankle, pulling me back a bit. I reached for the shelf, my fingers making some purchase as I gripped it to pull myself towards it.
"Hold him!" Shadow snarled as I clung to my ankle.
Before I could move, Grin stepped up behind me and easily grabbed my shoulders and upper arms in a vice grip. Then he yanked me away from the display case, turning me around to see Shadow as he took a more solid form before me.
As though sliding into existance itself, Shadow ascended from our floor until he was standing on two slender legs ending in tendril like, hoof capped feet. His arms extended unnaturally at his sides, his hands stretched out into spindly appendages that both latched onto me and cut into me as they shifted from hands to claws and tendrils . His entire form was that of an impossible ebony, almost sinking in on himself and pulling light around him in as well. Only his wide empty smile and glaring eyes were a piercing hollow white. Even as he walked towards me, slipping out of Wildwing's shroud, he seemed to flicker in and out of reality when light hit him.
"You thought you could steal that creature's magic from me forever, did you?" He mocked.
I tried to pull free from Grin's grip on me, yet his hands tightened with every attempt. His gentle nature eroded away somehow as he held me firmly in place, almost breaking the bones in my arms and shoulders. Only my apparent usefulness spared me this as Shadow lifted a claw ended hand to command him to set me on my feet. My shadow met with the floor, pulled towards the being before me.
"Stop resisting so much," Shadow said with a sneer as he slid close to me, my shadow now melding with his hooves as he dipped them in one by one.
I felt a chill run up my spine as he merged with my shadow, his hands reaching to the floor and holding my arms in place as he held it down. Grin didn't release me yet, being sure I couldn't pull myself away. Then he extended his arms so he could still lean close to me and laugh, "You really were quite the thief weren't you? You had fame, a group that looked to you for guidance, a rival that couldn't begin to match you. Why give that all up?"
"My home," I stated firmly.
"Aw don't lie to me, there was more to it than that wasn't there?" He laughed as he seemed to look into my very being for the answers he already knew.
"That wisp of a soul caught your attention. A precious walking gem asking to be stolen away," he said as he began to slip comfortably into my shadow, almost as though bathing in it's essence, "True that may not been the reason when you started, but once you saw her? Had the chance to have that girl in your grasp?"
"I never stole her!" I retorted sharply as my body grew cold from the inside out.
"You see, but you did. You stole her from me when you slipped through the gateway all those years ago. When your little team was just starting out together, and she had no idea what she was. Then you did it again when she came back to become the dragon she was meant to be," he reminded me as a hollowness burrowed into my chest, "I can see a number of instances where you stole her from others as well. Why? To keep her magic to yourself?"
I glared at him as he gave a twisted grin that went from pointed ear to the other, "Who are ya to say what she was meant to be?!"
"That's why you'll be my favorite puppet to lure her in with," he assured me, "You don't think I can't see through your essence how much of you has gone into protecting her since you met? You don't think I can't hear her echoes as she calls your name? She made you turn towards her each time didn't she?"
"Of course she did," I stated firmly, unable to deny, "I love her."
"Love? Such an odd thing isn't it?" He musedm echoing Dragonus himself as he grew an extra tendril to stroke his chin with, "The reason you've sworn to be with and protect her will be the very reason she is taken from you."
As I still tried to slip from Grin's grip, he began to apply further pressure that nearly shattered my shoulders.
"I think you've evaded me long enough, thief," Shadow noticed as I winced, "And so has that creature."
I growled angrily to hear her reffered to in this manner. Just like Asteroth, Aten, Dragonus. All of them that tried to take her from us.
"Such a fight for what doesn't belong to you, any of you. Your whole group has fallen with their essence in my claws, and I'll do the same to you and your other teammate when I find her," he assured me, "Aren't you feeling more like your old self already? Don't you want the adrenaline of adventure again? The thrill of the heist?"
"No, I don't! I want her!" I said as I shook my head, trying to shake out his whispers into my soul.
"You say that, but remember how the rush felt back then? Didn't it make your heart race to escape the grip of authorities everywhere?" He mused, "It's time you focused on your old career again, and forgot all about her. She was merely the one that tried to tie you down."
"She makes my heart race! Bein' on this team with her give me all the adventure I need now!" I fought while still struggling to get away.
"You are stubborn aren't you?" he noted in bewilderment.
I gave a smirk, "Looks like I won't be your puppet after all will I?"
Shadow's grin grew impossibly wider as he laughed, "Your essence is still merging with mine thief, I just can't alter your mind quite yet."
A shudder ran up my spine as he then hissed, "I can still control you in other ways, thief. Allow me to pull the strings a bit...not that you have much choice."
I glared at him still, refusing to show I was at all shaken by his words.
"Beings always have control over what their shadows do, but I can reverse that," he informed me as his being sank deeper into my shadow.
Suddenly my hand jerked forward as my shadow waved at me. My remaining eye widened as I was then forced to kneel. Still Grin gripped my shoulder as I was forced to my knees. I tried to push myself up out of this locked up position, but my shadow wouldn't allow me to move in the slightest.
"That's better," he snickered, seemingly from within my mind now.
"I won't hurt her!" I swore as I was forced to stand.
"Hurting her will be the least of your worries, not that you have any say anyway," he assured me.
"You should have allowed me to take that essence of yours. It would have been more merciful for you to be my puppet and unaware!" He taunted, "Now you'll know everything that happens to her, at your hands!"
Those very hands refused to ball into fists when I heard this, and his laughter that followed in my head made it ache with frustration.
He then pondered from within my mind, "Hmmm, if you call out to her, she'll know something is wrong and will run from my grasp once again."
"She wouldn't leave us like this," I growled at him.
"She left her own mother when she ended up in your world, she left her kingdom when it was attacked, she'll run from this too!" He insisted.
Before I could respond, I looked to see a thin tendril reach out from my shadow's side and reach up to it's throat. It's odd appendages that seemed like fingers gripped my neck. My hand tried to reach for it as I began to choke as though something had a hold on my vocal cords. Then I realized that I couldn't make a sound at all.
"That's better," he chuckled wickedly in my mind, "Your shadow doesn't ever have a say, so why should you?"
My shadow then began to pull me along as I walked over to the door to stand guard it. As I did, I was forced to lean against the wall as I typically did with my arms folded over my chest.
"Is this how you lured her away thief?" He asked me as he forced me to smile somehow.
I then was forced to remain there while the others began patrolling the halls and monitoring Drake One. Only I was to remain positioned by the elevator door for when she returned. My heart burned knowing I was being used to pull her close; that she would walk up to me as she always did, and I couldn't stop her. Could I? Even my thoughts were peered into it seemed at this point.
"So many promises about to be broken," he snickered with clear assurance in his voice, "She will be given up to me, and by your own hands that were used to steal her away so many times before!"
All I could do was dare hope that she and our children would be okay, but even this he mocked as I was forced to wait for her.
Heart:
The warm sun soaked into my forearms and hands as I stretched them out.
"Feels much better than a fake one doesn't it?" Mallory nudged me with a wink.
I gave a light laugh in response as I followed her into her favorite clothing store. Shrugging my shoulders, I went in to see her eyeing a new dress. Then she excitedly said, "It's even on sale!"
I continued along with her through the isles as she picked out a few more blouses and skirts.
"It's so nice to kick back after all of that!" Mallory said while looking back at me with a relieved smile.
I was about to respond when the signal on my comm went off. Activating it, I overheard Phil shouting over the voices of my crying children.
"Phil?! What's wrong? Why do you have Avery and Flynn in the car?" I exclaimed with sudden worry.
"I don't know! Duke told me to take them somewhere safe!" He informed us as he tried to soothe my babies.
"Wait, where's Duke and the others? Why wouldn't the pond be safe?" Mallory questioned.
"I think they're still at the pond, but I don't know what's going on!" Phil said.
I looked to Mallory with quick unease spreading over me. Taking a breath, I spoke as calmly as I could, "Phil, please keep Avery and Flynn safe. We'll find out what's happened!"
"Got it! You two be careful thoug!" Phil insisted.
"I'm counting on you Phil!" I begged as I heard my children still crying fearfully.
"Their Uncle Phil won't let you down Heart!" He promised me before closing the communication.
I then tried to contact Duke, but I didn't get an answer. That fear gripped my chest as I turned to Mallory, who nodded in response. We then quick changed into our battle gear and made our way back towards the pond.
As we drew closer, something began to creep up my spine. The very building before us stood impossingly as we faced it's doors. A dread I could never explain when it hit me tried to pull me back.
"Something's wrong," I said as I stepped away and started my way around towards the emergency exit.
"What do you think it is?" Mallory asked as she followed me.
"I'm not sure," I answered while trying to maintain my composure, "This just doesn't feel like home all of the sudden."
In my legs I felt the need to run. My nerves begged me to get away. Yet my stronger resolve to find the others kept me near as we started our way underground.
"So far so good," Mallory commented as were able to use the code to get in.
However the tunnels ahead were much dimmer than usual.
"What in the world?" Mallory commented as the door closed behind us and we heard it lock in place.
My skin started to crawl along my arms and up to my shoulders. I closed my eyes to refocus, knowing they were adjusting to the low light. Without needing to look, their more draconic nature had come forth.
"It's still so strange to see your eyes change like that," Mallory told me, "I think I'm always a little scared you could slip away when you have to use your like that. I mean, I know it's a part of you, but still..."
"It's okay, I won't let that happen Mallory," I assured as we started down the narrow corridors and halls, "You guys are even more a part of me remember?"
Mallory gave a reassuring smile in response.
While we walked I noticed as Mallory kept her hand near her blaster. I made sure to have my glaive ready as well.
"I wish we knew what was going on," Mallory commented, "Such a gorgeous shopping day ruined!"
I glanced at her with an appreciative smile, knowing she was trying to keep me calm. Yet still I felt the urge to escape biting at my heels.
We came to a cross in the path. The hallway ahead seemed even darker than the one we'd been following thus far.
"I have a feeling that's the right way," Mallory sighed.
"Odd that none of our defenses have gone off," I mentioned.
"Do you think they know we're coming?" Mallory asked.
"I'm not sure," I replied, "We don't know where the others are, or what's even here. All I do know is that something just feels very wrong."
"Well no matter what it is, we can handle it!" Mallory assured me while pumping her fist up a bit.
I nodded my head with some regained confidence.
Duke:
"She's here thief," Shadow echoed in my head, "You feel her too don't you?"
I wouldn't have spoken even if I could. Yet I felt my chest grow cold as he found the answer himself. Something in it was responding to her presence, giving us both away.
"Such a stubborn drake," he remarked, "It would be much easier on you to just give in."
I tried to shake my head out of defiance. Instead I began to walk towards the emergency entrance door down the hall a bit. As I did, I heard the others in their various positions.
Wildwing barked orders at our friends, Tanya scoffed at others for not understanding what she was building, Grin listened to her with impatient groans, and Nosedive seemed to be itching for a fight as he punched a nearby practice bot just for the sake of it.
I caught myself wondering how I would have been had this happened? What nature would I show? Based on my past, I guessed it would have been based around greed perhaps for being a thief. Yet what would I have tried to steal? Gems no longer interested me.
"You can always find out," he coaxed.
My will tried to refuse as I thought of how Heart looked at me. I couldn't give that up.
Then I wondered how this was at all possible. My friends were just as strong in will as I. We had faced allies like this before. So why was I left fighting for my own sense of self while the other had changed?
"Her magic has had a stronger effect on you over time," Shadow told me, "You have had the closest bond with her have you not. She even carried your impossible children?"
Yet that didn't seem to be entirely it. I didn't doubt that Heart's magic was a part of the equation, but it felt like there was more to it. With every step, every movement, I felt as though I were trying to maintain my sense of self. Memories slipped away from me one by one as he pushed me forward. Was it the desire to not back track on all that I'd worked so hard to prove?
Now I stood waiting in the hall across from the door that lead down to the emergency entrance. I tried to resist as I leaned back against the wall again. Then I paused in this attempt, and realized without thinking or saying anything. I knew what I needed to do.
"I wonder," he then mused while we waited and I allowed myself to relax, "What would you steal if not gems? Without reservations how would you act? Would you still be someone she turned to?"
Without a voiced decision, I allowed my restraints to fade from me.
"Doesn't that feel better?" He asked as his grip loosened on my arms, no longer pinning me in place.
"What's the job?" I asked as though half interested, my voice returning to me.
Shadow breached the surface of my shadow on the floor and stood before me now, "That's more like it."
"What's the job?" I repeated while growing impatient.
"I think you know, don't you? Steal that creature for me and bring her to me," he informed me, "Do this and you will be considered the greatest thief of all the realms."
"That'll be easy enough," I agreed as he released me.
I nodded my head as I put in the code and decended to the floor below. Without another word, I slipped into the darkened halls and listened carefully for my target. After a moment, I turned my head in the direction of the voices I heard and went after them.
Heart:
As Mallory and I walked along cautiously, I could hear light steps drawing near from ahead of us. I reached behind me and drew the staff that turned into my glaive. Mallory stood beside me with her drawn blaster. Each of us stepped into the side wings of the hall and looked out our respective corners to see what was approaching us.
Then the steps slowed as they drew near. Bewilderment swam in my head as his frame came into view.
"Duke?" I heard Mallory whisper in confusion.
Even in the near pitch dark I could make out his distinct sillouette as he stopped to look down the hall.
"Heart, are ya there?" He asked as he seemed to listen for us.
I stood still, hearing an odd tone in his voice. Mallory looked to me from her hiding spot. I shook my head to indicate something was off.
"Where are ya?" He questioned.
It was and wasn't him all at once. His tone warned me with prided and impatience. He started stepping closer again. I looked to Mallory with unease in my eyes. Then I gave her a quick, silent nod, as I signaled for her to wait where she was. With a deep breath, I turned the corner to stand in front of him. Upon seeing me, he looked me up and down in a way he never had before. His remaining left eye held a cold touch to it as though he were assuming my worth.
Duke then stepped swiftly in front of me as he reached for and grabbed my wrist. Pulling my hand up, he slipped his other beneath my chin to have me look up at him, "Ya seem to be quite vaulable? So I think I'll keep ya for myself."
His charming smile was replaced with a greed filled smirk that I had never known him to wear. I tried to wrench my hand away from him, but he held it tighter to prevent me from slipping away, "Nice try, but when I decide to steal somethin', I always finish the job."
Then he gave a laugh as he looked over my head to Mallory's hiding spot, "I'd put that blaster away if I were you. All it will do is alert the others, an' I'd rather not have to worry about them chasin' us. Though I am up for the adrenaline rush if need be."
"Duke, what's gotten into you?" Mallory asked while I stood in shock still.
"Nothin' much, jus' woke up after feelin' like I've been asleep for a long while," he noted while glancing at me, "For such a spell to be woven over me, your magic must be quite worth all the fuss right?"
My eyes widened in disbelief to hear him refer to me in this way.
Duke looked over his shoulder for a moment before looking back at me. His smirk remained as he leaned close to me, "Is such an odd girl really worth all this trouble?"
"Duke, what's wrong with you?" I finally asked, shaking myself from the disbelief I was trapped in, "This isn't you!"
"Isn't it though?" He smirked while starting down the hall with me nearly dragged with him.
"No!" I tried to get free from his grasp as he pulled me along.
"Duke, stop it! Why are you doing this?"
Duke, still rather calm and collected, gave a smug smirk as he made me look up at him again while he answered, "I'm a thief, remember?"
I shook my head. In all these years whenever he mentioned that word, there had been a certain skip in my beating heart. This time it didn't skip. This time it froze from the ice in his tone. His cupped hand under my chin gripped it rather harshly. He asked with the same casual smirk I usually adored, "Don't ya like this side of me?"
"Now let's go!" he commanded as he began to force me to follow again, his hand in a vice around my wrist as I tried to pull free.
"Duke..."
"Let her go L'Orange!" Mallory ordered from behind him now with her blaster trained at his back.
"Mallory!" I pleaded, "Don't!"
Duke paused in his steps, scoffing a bit, "Ya won't do it. Ya wouldn't do that to a trusted friend an' teammate would ya?"
"The real you would want me to if it kept her safe!" She assured with anger in her eyes as she noticed him twisting my wrist to keep me from getting loose.
Duke then spun me around to where I was facing him as he looked down at me. Struggling proved useless as I fought with how familiar and how alien him holding onto me seemed at the same time.
"Look, I can always knock ya out an' drag ya away if I have to," he warned me harshly, before pausing in his fight to keep a hold of me.
For a split second, Duke slipped his hand from my chin to the back of my head. His fingers brushed over the old scars that had taken my memories all those years ago.
Behind him I saw Mallory creeping up behind him.
"Duke?" I attempted, "Duke, what's wrong? What happened to you?"
"All I know, it that I have a job to do," he said simply, before smirking again as he slid his hand to my scarred cheek, tracing the line under my eye, "Though they didn't count on me decidin' to keep ya instead."
"Who gave you this job?" I questioned with fear washing over me.
"He says he's been lookin' for ya for years," he answered with a shrug, "but he'll have to find us first if he wants ya so badly."
My eyes widened in horror as that chill ran rapidly through me, "Shadow?! He's here?!"
Looking up at Duke, I now knew what had happened. I knew why he was acting so calously towards me, smug even. Yet at the same time, I noticed something lingering in his remaining brown eye as he watched me in turn.
"You're trying to keep me from him?" I realized when that faint glimmer of light came and went.
Even with his soul twisted up, all his warmth gone, some part of him was trying to defy Shadow's desires. Why give up such a treasure when he could possess it himself? Who would catch Puck World's greatest thief if he returned to his life of crime? Shadow hadn't been able to stop him thus far.
"I figured you were worth stealin'," he then said, sounding slightly more invested than before, as though he were trying to remember why he'd decided this in the first place.
"Duke, I'd give you myself in a heartbeat," I assured him, before giving a reluctant slight nod to Mallory.
He gave a prideful smirk that made my stomach twist to see on him, "Ya don't really have a choice do ya?"
In that instant, Mallory gave him a hard kick in his side, causing Duke to release me as he was knocked into the wall. He yelled out in anger from the sudden impact, and tried to leap back to grab me. I jumped back and forced my hands out towards him. Focusing I breathed out as crystals began to hold him in place. I nearly stopped when he glared at me. Blinking tears away I continued to focus until his wrists, and ankles were held in place against the wall with crystal shackles locking him there.
"Ya think this will hold me?" He demanded with a growl of contempt in his voice.
I shook my head, "Not really, but it'll give us time to get the real you back."
"You're goin' right up to him doin' this!" He warned me, "Ya would have at least been safe with me."
I looked at him with a pain in my chest and a forced soft smile as I said, "If it were the real you, then I know that I would I be safe. Yet seeing you like this...this isn't the thief you once were is it? You never looked at anything the way you're watching me now did you?"
"How do we get him back?" Mallory asked.
"I don't know," I said as I ran my hand through my hair, from my bangs to the base of my neck.
"He must have the others waiting like this too," Mallory said through frustration.
Inside my chest, my heart began to burn as I considered this. The need to run washed away when I saw Duke looking at me like I was nothing but something to take. My hands balled into shaking fists, knowing the others were altered in such a way as well. What traits were drained away, how were their souls altered to bring me running?
"Shadow wants to see me?" I heard myself ask in a growing rage, "Then I'll oblige!"
"Heart, that's giving him what he wants isn't it? We need to think about this!" Mallory tried to warn me.
"What's to think or talk about? We have to get them back don't we?" I questioned.
I looked up at Duke again as he glared at me. I wondered how long he had fought? I wanted to know if he was still fighting somehow?
In this attempt, I stepped closer to him, making sure his wrists were still bound as I did. Then I gazed up at him to find an answer. He raised a brow at this, as though surprised by these actions.
"Let me go sweetheart," he attempted in a smooth tone not even touched with the vile tones he'd been using.
"I'm sorry my thief," I told him as I stood on my toes to reach him.
With that I stole a kiss from him. As I did this I rested my hand over his chest to feel his heartbeat pound faster. When I stepped back I noticed the longing, and yet bewilderment, in his eye as he tried to lean into the kiss himself still. I smiled with some hope when I saw this sliver of a sign. Yet I also saw him beginning to slip his wrist from the crystal bindings to get free. With one hand free he grabbed for me as I narrowly stepped back in time.
"Jus' let me steal ya from him! Let me go, an' he won't find ya! We can hop worlds together!" Duke called to me as I forced myself to run from him.
"So what's the plan?" Mallory asked while running alongside me.
"I don't know!" I replied, "I just need to find Shadow!"
"Heart!" Mallory grabbed my arm to pull me to a hault.
"Heart why are you going head first like this?! You saw what that thing did to Duke, and the others will be like that too! We need to think of something!"
I took a deep breath and let it out as I tried to think.
"I've run away from a lot of things...my kingdom when it was destroyed, my past, my mother, Shadow...:" I told her, "This time is different! I am not running away to let them stay this way! All of you are my family!"
Energy began to spark around me as I took in what was happening, my very words causing my very blood to surge with electricity it seemed.
"Heart-" Mallory attempted.
I took another breath and looked at my friend.
"Usually you're the one gearing up for a fight," I mentioned.
"Believe me, I want to take this thing out too!" She assured me, "But if he got to Wildwing and everyone else, we need to plan this carefully."
However, we realized quickly that we didn't have much time to discuss this. Ahead of us we heard heavy footsteps drawing closer. Looking up, we found Grin entering through the doorway to the pond. He glared down at us impatiently from where he stepped. Behind us we heard the shattering of crystals as well. At this sound Grin began charging at us.
"Grin!" I called to our friend as he came towards us like a thundering freight train.
Mallory and I leapt to the sides as he continued on between where we had stood. Then his boots made a grinding sound along the metal flooring as he came to a sudden stop behind us. We turned to see Duke running up after us with Grin standing over me.
"Come on buddy, it's us!" Mallory pleaded to him as we backed away from him.
Just then, as Duke neared us, Grin turned to him for a moment. Then he looked to the metal wall beside us for a second, gripped the edge of it, and pried it from the base. To my shock, our gentle giant of a friendh then pulled it to create a metal sheet dividing us and the two of them.
"Grin!" I called to him as he secured the new wall between us.
"What are ya doin'?" I heard Duke question.
Grin didn't answer in words. However we did hear a scuffle as Duke tried to get by our friend. Taking this chance given to us, Mallory and I headed to the main hall of our headquarters.
As I took my first step into corridors leading to our bunks, I felt a chill run up my spine. The lighting had been dimmed significantly. Down the hall, towards the lab, I could hear Tanya explaining something to someone in annoyance. With this I could also hear Nosedive yelling at her in growing aggravation of his own.
"We stick together," Mallory ordered firmly.
I nodded my head as we followed the voices of our teammate. The whole time I kept my eyes focused on our shadows walking just ahead of us.
We soon came to the door of Tanya's lab. By now she was mocking Nosedive, who stood in front of her tapping his foot eagerly. Peering in from the outside, we could see our leader was missing.
"I don't care what you have on that desk!" Nosedive snarked while rolling his eyes.
"I don't know why I bother?! You wouldn't get it anyway!" Tanya scoffed.
I looked to Mallory, who in turn was in shock to hear them like this.
"It'll help track who we're looking for!" Tanya told him as she flipped a switch on the device, "Her magic will act like a beacon for it!"
It immediately began to beep, breaking the otherwise silence as she held it out towards the doorway, "We got her Wildwing!"
"Run!" Mallory yelled as we nearly flew down the hall towards the ready room.
Behind us, we heard the two of them following. Then fear gripped my chest as we heard a third pair of boots join them. Looking over my shoulder, I saw as Wildwing shoved both Tanya and Nosedive aside so he could get to us.
"Wildwing!" I gasped in shock.
"All we're doing is running!" Mallory shouted in frustration as we continued to flee from our friends.
"You're right!" I snapped as I came to a suddent stop and turned towards them.
Mallory paused just ahead of me, "Heart what are you doing?!"
"I'm tired of this!" I said in an odd calm as I stood between her and our oncoming teammates.
"Heart-"
"I need to face him! I can't keep running! All it's doing is hurting the others!" I told her with a rigid ice spreading in my chest as I saw how cut throat our friends were acting.
"Heart this is crazy!"
I shook my head as I looked to meet the worry in her eyes, "This is not the craziest thing I've done."
"Mallory, you're always the one pushing to fight back when the odds are stacked against us. Why should this be any different?" I mentioned.
"Heart, we don't want to lose you to him! If he gets a hold of you, we don't know what he'll do!" She admitted to me.
I then realized why she was so concerned this time around.
"I don't want you taken from us again sis," she admitted, "Brain washed, changed, any of tha!. If Duke or your brothers can't keep you safe from him, then I have to!"
"Mallory, we're a team whether it's against Dragonus or Shadow," I reminded her, "or anyone else! You shouldn't just be protecting me!"
"I know that; but we don't know what he can do to you and your magic! Odin told us to keep you away from this creep no matter the cost!"
"You guys aren't the price I'm willing to pay!" I snapped.
As Mallory attempted, "I know that, but we have to-"
Wildwing had reached us by now. Seeing him look down at me as though I were a stranger pulled at core.
"Shadow!" I called out with energy sparking around me in a growing fury, "Shadow you wanted to see me right?!"
"Heart-!"
Duke:
As Grin reached out to grab me, I slipped beneath his grip and found a slight opening beneath the sheet of metal he'd curled and bent to shield the girls from us. I quickly slid under it and continued down towards the entrance of the pond.
Then something suddenly tugged at me as I entered through the door. A snickering voice filled my head as I turned to see Shadow smiling again. His claw and tendril clamped down onto my shadow's shoulders, holding me in place, "Where is she, thief?"
"These things take at least some time," I replied, "I'll find her."
A wicked smile crossed his face as he sunk his tendril like fingers into my spine through my shadow's.
"It seems you are too dangerous to leave running loose?" he remarked as he peered into my recent memories, told by my shroud to him, "You thought you could steal her for yourself did you? Hop worlds with you? For what purpose I wonder? To steal treasure after treasure? You were an ambitious one weren't you?"
I smirked, "I jus' thought it would make her come with me a bit easier is all. She knew somethin' was different as it was."
"None the less, you are far too dangerous to allow free roam like the others," he repeated, "Though it is entertaining to see that the one that fought the longest would be the most twisted up of them all. Perhaps your past isn't that far behind you?"
As he stated this he melded with my shadow once again. Before I could resist, I was being dragged along the hall by the strings sewn into me by my shadow at my heels. That shroud draped along the wall beside me smirked as I fell into step. Something in my chest began to harden when I looked back into my memories from before the invasion, and from before her. He was tapping further into who I once was, and slipping it away from my own mind. My personal code, my ethics, and everything else tried to fall away.
Yet at the same time, that same something in my chest tried to wrap itself over my heart. As a shroud over it it grew close to sealing my heart inside stone, I heard her voice call out from our main room. The stone began to crack, but didn't fall away. One way or another, I knew I wanted her; but I was forgetting why that it was it seemed. I knew he could hear these thoughts, but I found I just didn't care at the moment. One way or another, I would steal her away.
"She's calling to me, do you hear her thief?" He suggested me, "Let's have some fun with her!"
Without a thought, I now I smirked myself.
Heart:
I stood beside Mallory as we faced our teammates. My hands remained firmly balled into fists as I began summoning energy to dance around us.
"It's so strange to see you staying in one place...?" his voice mocked from behind Wildwing.
Our friends stepped to the side to show Duke standing behind them. Yet along the wall I saw who was really addressing me in such a way. Duke's shadow was unnaturally dark as it fell upon the metal sheets that made up the room, and much taller and slender as it stretched upward. Those of our teammates were faded, telling me just how he had done this to them.
"Release them Shadow!" I snapped as I stepped forward to shield my remaining teammate.
"I think not, they're wonderful puppets," he told me as my blood boiled, "They are very useful, and quite affective against you. You wouldn't dare harm them, would you now?"
"No, but I'm about to fry myself a nightmare!" I assured while focusing on where he was.
Shadow laughed as he pulled the strings of Duke's shadow, causing him to wave, "Go ahead! If you do you'll torch what's left of his soul!"
"You twisted freak!" Mallory shouted as Duke was forced to his knees as though he were an offering or sacrifice to me.
"Destroy all that he is to chase me out! It might save you, am I right?" he snickered.
I froze as I tried to figure out what to do. A pit formed in my stomach as I looked around at our friends and then to Duke. A shaking rage washed over me as Duke tried to look up at me. After all this time, after all this running, he'd cornered me. If I moved, it would cause them harm; if I fought back it would torture him. If I gave myself up they would...wait...I gazed down at Duke, knowing he would hate this.
"Give him back, Shadow," I requested with my claws digging into my palms as I trembled, "Release him, and you can take me!"
"Are you crazy?!" Mallory exclaimed, "You think we want you to do this?!"
"I know you don't," I told her, "But for their safety-"
"Heart-!"She yelled.
I looked at the Shadow that smiled at me as though he were about to partake in a wonderful meal. Glancing at Duke, as he was locked in place before me, I spoke, "Let them go, and you can have me. Leave my children with their father, and I will not run. I'm tired of running anyway."
"What's to make sure I keep this bargain?" He taunted.
"An easy meal?" I offered as I took a breath.
I glanced at each of my friends as they rested their hands over their hearts for a second. It was all I could think to do. Mallory too felt a shield grow over her heart as I looked over my shoulder at her before turning back to face Shadow.
"Heart, don't do this!" Mallory tugged on my arm, "We'll find another way!"
As I turned to her to try and reassure her, I barely had time to notice Duke swiftly getting to his feet. Turning, when I did see the flash of burgundy caught by the corner of my eye, I saw the tendrils latched onto him were pried off while he darted towards me. Though his shadow was quite faded by this point, Duke managed to move on his own as he reached for my hand. Once he had it, he pulled me into a run with him.
"Heart!" Mallory cried out as I looked over my shoulder to see she tried to follow, but something tugged her back.
Horror grasped at my heart as I watched her grow more rigid. Her widened eyes rapidly drained of emotion until they narrowed into aggression.
"Get them now!" Shadow shrieked.
Though I didn't know what to expect from Duke at this point, I didn't stop running with him. We darted down the side hall in an attempt to evade our pursuers. With them far behind us, we turned the corner towards our bunks. This hall was quite darkly lit and eerily quiet. In moments he pulled me into our room and locked the door behind us. Pulling me into the deeper part of the room away from the entrance, Duke he pinned me against the wall, almost as though hiding me from anyone that may have entered. With some luck we were left alone as they searched the other corners of the pond.
"Duke?" I risked with a breath as I gazed up at him.
In the dark of our room, I could see the glare he watched me with. His hands gripped my wrists beside my shoulders, keeping me in place.
"Have ya lost your mind?!" He demanded in a harsh whisper, "What were ya thinkin' givin' yourself up like that?!"
I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure if it were him or not.
"How did you pull away?" I then asked him a bit bewildered.
"What?!"
"How did you break free?" I questioned.
"I jus' moved without thinkin' about it. His grip was loose with him about to latch onta ya," he explained with a slight shrug.
Then he smirked as he looked me up and down again, "Such a commotion over such an odd girl though?"
My shoulders sank as his tone carried no emotion when he said that.
"Why did you steal me then if I'm not worth the trouble?" I asked with a trace of pain in my voice.
Duke's smile grew more confident as he leaned closer, "I never said ya weren't worth it."
A stabbing ache filled my chest from the all too shallow tone accompanying these words. I bit my lip to keep the sting of tears from falling. I tried to remind myself that this wasn't him. These weren't his real thoughts and feelings.
"Though I do wonder, why give such a treasure up so easily for a thief like me?" He then asked with a bit of intrigue in his eye.
"It doesn't make sense to me. Ya could have escaped, or even been rid of him with that magic of yours. Why worry about what happens to me in the crossfire as long as you can get away?"
"Duke, you're worth everything to me. You and our children, and our teammates...you always will be," I ventured, "My thief?"
Duke:
These strange words spoken from this odd girl tugged at me. Yet my hardened heart refused to believe her. Gripping her wrists tighter, I pulled her against me as I pondered, "Either way I've kept my word an' stolen ya away. Now to get out of here an' decide what to do now that I have ya."
"He could have killed you Duke," she mentioned to me with a raised brow, "You risked a lot for a heist, even for you?"
"Once I've decided I want somethin', nothin' can stop me from takin' it," I told her as I slipped a hand under her chin to have her eyes meet with mine.
"Duke, do you even know why you want me?" She questioned.
Faultering a bit, I realized that I wasn't sure how to answer her. All that had registered was that I did. Since I'd seen her I hidden away in the darkened halls, I knew I wanted to take her for myself. Shadow could threaten me all he wanted, chase us to the ends of the universe, or taken my very soul. No matter what it took, I would keep such a gem in my hands and out of his claws.
However, she was now in my hands, and I didn't know what to do with her. We could hop worlds with that power of hers, find vast treasures to steal. No one would be able to catch us.
Yet as I pondered over this, I couldn't help but notice her soft peach lips and thought of our shared moment from before. With her chin still cupped in my hand and her wrists held by the other, I pulled her closer to me.
"All I know is that I do," I told her with a smirk as I leaned towards her, "An' I think I'll steal somethin' from you now while I'm at it?"
With that I bent slightly forward as I kissed her. For a moment I felt her try to pull away from me, causing an odd alarm to run through my core. Until a moment later when she sank into me instead. To my disbelief she managed to slip her hands free from me, or did I release her? Instead of running and escaping while she could, she clutched the fabric worn over my chest.
When I pulled back from her a bit, I gazed down over this odd girl. She in turn looked up at me with eyes shimmering in the dark like sapphires. I knew these eyes. I knew how they looked at me, yet didn't believe it somehow. A soft blush touched her cheeks as she caught her breath.
"You didn't need to steal me, Duke," she then told me softly, "I've always been yours."
The stone around my heart continued to crack as I felt something else wrapping around it in it's place. I looked to her in bewilderment as I placed my hand over my chest for a moment.
"Duke, promise me you'll steal me back once more?" She then requested.
"What are ya-?" I attempted just as she shoved me back and stepped towards the door with me behind her.
Before I could finish my question I felt a cold grip nearly tighten along my spine, "Did you enjoy the thrill of that final heist, thief?"
Looking at the door, I noticed a long spindly arm had reached from beneath the doorway. It's claws tried to dig into the shoulder of my shadow in an iron grip.
"Let him go Shadow!" She then snapped in defiance.
I watched in disbelief as she stood, defending me, forcing me to remain back as I watched things unfold. Yet as I did, I longed for the freedom I'd never known while as a thief back on Puck World. The freedom I'd found here on this planet, with her and the others. I wanted her!
Why did I want her so badly?!
Yet as these thoughts ran through my head, Shadow laughed, "She will never be yours again! Besides why would she want you to hold her with those claws?"
I watched in shock to see my shadow shifting, as his had slipped around her to grab a hold of he manipulated it's shape, my body began twisting to match the form created. Beneath my feathers and flesh, my bones began to warp and pull. At my fingertips claws began to grow s the first sign of this.
Heart:
I stood glaring at Shadow. A seering heat rose in me as I turned to watch Duke being forced to kneel on command once again. Shadow then swore in a low growl as he stood looming over us in the darkened room, "I'll make sure you obey my every whim this time, thief! You've tasted your last bit of freedom with that stunt!"
To my horror I watched as Duke's shadow continued to twist and shift, forcing his body to follow suit as he fell on his side in pain. A pain I remembered more than the memory itself washed over me as I knew in my core what was happening to him.
"Shadow let him go!" I begged as Duke's writhing came to a sudden pause.
"Why should I risk him trying to steal you away again?" He questioned while Duke gasped for pained breath at his feet.
"If you cause him any more harm I will fry you alive! Even if you escape it'll be difficult for you to regain magic so quickly to come after me again!" I said as I somehow maintained my composure and knelt beside Duke.
"...run...stay away..." he told me, but I couldn't bring myself to obey his requests.
Instead I placed a hand on his side to try and ease his pain in some way. A soft glow illuminated itself at my fingertips as I tried to heal his shadow and him.
"If you fry me, then his soul will fry too!" Shadow laughed, "So why should I agree when I could have a rather useful vessel to control? I could have both of you!"
"I know for certain that my own hollowed self is worth more to you. That of a dragon, am I right?" I reminded him, "If you continue to do this to him, I will fight you every step of the way. I'll find a way to heal and save his soul, but are you willing to take that risk Shadow?"
"This thief is worth your freedom? Your magic? Your very core self? All tossed to the side because you feel for him?" Shadow mocked while eyeing Duke, "You're willing to have your very form reshaped to keep his from harm? After all this time running from me, you'll toss yourself to me?"
"Release my family, return them to the souls I've known all these years, and I will go with you," I said in an unwavering tone.
Shadow's spindly arm began to reach for mine.
"Heart...don't..." I heard Duke beg me before the light returned to his eye.
Tears brimmed my eyes as I realized, "Duke...you're still...?"
He breathed out, "Of course, sweetheart. I'm sorry..."
It took all the gathered courage I had in me to turn and face Shadow as he watched us. A twisted smile spread over his shroud of a face. He snickered in warning while reaching his tendrilled arm out to me, "Don't try to fry me by the way; I'm still bonded with his shadow. If you try to pull any stunt at the last second his soul will be the price you pay. It won't be as easy to heal as you think."
"I figured as much," I admitted as I looked to Duke.
Shadow, after all these years, had found a cruel way to corner me. With the others stripped away, and Duke in his direct grasp, this was all I could think to do. I couldn't run from this one, nor could I fight head on. He knew this.
Beside me still, Duke struggled to get up and reach out to me. I leapt to my feet and stepped back from his shaking hand, knowing what would happen to him if I tried to break this deal.
"Heart please..." he said, "I can take a little pain if it means you're safe."
"I know you can...but I can't take it, Duke," I told him as chilled air wrapped around me.
"It's so strange to see you not running away," Shadow commented, "Have your years with these feathered freaks weakened your resolve?"
"If anything it's grown stronger I'd say," I assured.
Shadow stroked his chin with a third smaller tendril he'd grown as he looked at Duke, who was lying prone at his feet, and then back to me, "Love is such a strange thing isn't it?"
He then gave a wide grin to the drake lying on the floor.
Duke's shadow began to shift back, causing him to grit his teeth to endure the transformation back. Despite his changes having only begun, I felt how taxing it was. As the pressure eased I watched as he gasped for breath while trying to get up from our bedroom floor.
"Heart..." he choked out between quick breaths, "...Don't...do this!"
Then Shadow turned towards me with an outstretched tendril that sprawled out into several claws. Refusing to look at Duke now, I reached a steady hand out and grasped his. In an instant I felt tears force themselves out as he wrapped his faded form over my own skin, enveloping me in a shroud. It wasn't a heated intense grip like Aten's had been, nor cold like other foes who'd tried to take my magic for their own. Shadow's grasp on me created a hollowed sensation to run through, from my core and outward. Standing there, I could feel him wrap himself around my frame and merge with my own shadow as though we were one being. Those tears ran down my face as my veins grew cold who he began tryin to drain who I was away. Emotions, magic, memories.
No, not my memories! It were as though my very self were being locked away.
Before I couldn't, I looked to Duke. He watched me as Shadow held him down with his own shroud still. With every moment he became more like himself while I became less of myself. In that last instant, I knew how much I loved this drake, this thief. My heart pounded as I recalled our earliest adventures together while I could. Like a candle about to flicker out of existance, it burned for those days. Those days that made me stop running, for I had someone to stand with.
"I don't want to leave you..." I promised him, "I want to stay with you and the others..."
"Too late child...you gave up for their well being. A valiant effort to keep them safe a while longer," Shadow hissed in amusement.
For a moment I thought of Flynn and Avery and begged Duke, "Keep them safe."
"Why not have them join their mother?" Shadow suggested.
In my half drained state this almost felt like a possible desire. Yet looking at Duke made me shake my head as I repeated, "Keep them safe!"
Duke began to try and push himself up again. Yet Shadow's extended claw held him down by the spine as though reaching into Duke's core still. Even now, despite what he had just been through, he still tried to steal me back. As I knew my thief always would, even if I didn't remember it.
Duke:
The light in Heart's eyes dimmed, and the shades of blue in them faded to that of frozen coal. As she looked at me, I noticed the love she'd held for me slowly slip away. Now she looked to me, knowing who I was, but simply disregarding me for anyone of worth to her.
"Heart...?" I asked in disbelief.
She was silent as she looked down at me with him clinging to her shadow.
"Tell him what you think of him now," Shadow hissed in her ear as he latched onto her shoulders, embracing her in his twisted grasp.
Forcing her to walk up and kneel beside me, she looked down with those cold eyes. Emotions stripped away, tears dried, now in her eyes that saw nothing in me worth looking at. Yet in spite of how she gazed down at me her mouth twisted itself closed.
"Exactly," he laughed.
For a second I wondered what she had really thought then. After all this time, I couldn't believe it, that..., "Heart, you're not gone...I know you're not."
"The others will be here soon," she finally replied coldly, "It will be difficult to escape if we wait much longer."
Shadow stroked her hair like a dog he owned as he latched onto her around her neck, "What a perceptive vessel."
I then watched as Heart looked over me again with vague curiosity.
"No matter what ya have her say, I know she's still locked away in there, tryin' to get back out," I growled.
Shadow scoffed as he then began to shift his hand in my shadow, pulling it away slowly. It felt as though a blade were being pulled through of my chest, twisting as it made it's way out.
Seeing this, Heart quickly assured me, "I don't need a thief to steal me away."
I hadn't thought her words would dig so deep. I hadn't expected them to cut more than his the blade along his tendriled arm, scraping against my heart as he pulled it out instantly. This hollowed feeling radiated through me, reaching down my limbs at first. Even my arms felt cold as I tried to reach for her, stumbling from fatigue and anguish washing over me.
Still I knew it wasn't her. I understood those words were a lie. So why had it hurt so much to hear her say them none the less?
"I know that isn't you, sweetheart," I assured her when I noticed her slight reaction to my pained expression.
Before she could pull herself back, I managed to grab her hand and hold her there. I then realized, that I had the strength to do this in the first place? Where the shadowed blade should have cut into me, I instead felt no further pain as something sealed itself around it. I looked into Heart's eyes as a spark lit in them for a split second.
With a smirk I began to pull myself up.
He forced her to step back, for I knew she wouldn't otherwise. As I stood, I realized why the words had really cut so harshly to me. It was because I hadn't been able to keep her from having to say them. That she was in his clutches at all was possibly the biggest insult I'd ever suffered as a thief. Along with her now turning from me, without his command, to run. I quickly followed after her to the main room, gaining strength as I did. The others had met up with us there, their cores returned surprisingly as promised.
"Heart, what's going on?!" Wildwing exclaimed as she ran to Drake One.
Heart put a code in as the souveneir shelf began to rise up.
I ran up beside her, noticing her amused shadow upon the wall. If I said anything, Shadow would hear it. He snickered while watching from her shadow, holding her tightly. Then I noticed as Heart glanced up at me with a shimmer of light in her eyes as she reached over swiftly and gripped my hand. I didn't say a word, I only squeezed her hand slightly in turn before she pulled away quickly.
She then looked to Tanya, who hurried over.
"Givng a final goodbye to them are you?" Shadow taunted.
Heart didn't answer, acting as rigid as she had moments ago. She gestured towards the shield on our control panel that would allow teleportation energy to pass through. Tanya put the code in to drop the shield. Our team tech. also put the lights back onto normal throughout our headquarers. At this Heart gave a slight smile.
Then to me she made a quick nod to the star sword with desperation showing through her eyes.
"Heart? What are ya-?" I tried to ask as she stepped back and took a deep breath.
"She's allowing us to escape aren't you my pet?" Shadow snickered while clutching her form, "It is a faster way to get away isn't it?"
"Sis what have you done?!" Wildwing exclaimed in disbelief as he tried to hurry to her.
"Why, she gave herself up to set all of you free. I don't quite understand it myself, but here we are," Shadow mused while stroking Heart's cheek possesively.
By now I had grabbed the star sword and held it ready.
"If you use that on me now it'll destroy her essence and soul as well. Unless that's what you want?" Shadow warned me.
I looked to Heart for an answer. She only looked to me steadily with a thin smile on her face.
"Heart?"
Shadow then waved Heart's hand out, summoning her magic to create a portal of energy and ebony whisps.
"Sis don't! You're one of us!" Nosedive called to his twin.
Heart looked to us as Shadow tried to force her to take steps through. She dug her heel in slightly to stand firm a few moments more.
"Young friend!" Grin attempted, "You know a solo path is not one you prefer! Let us walk with you!"
Heart's eyes fought back...tears? Was she still there? Then they closed as she took a breath and charged up energy in her hand towards the portal as it began to shift in nature. The darkened wisps grew lighter and tinged with soft blue streaks of electricty. She opened her sapphire eyes again and smiled, "I'll find a way back guys!"
"Heart?!" Mallory exclaimed.
Without another word, Heart began to summon up more energy as Shadow clung to her in confusion, eluding the bursts.
"What are you doing?!" He sneered sharply.
"I can't defeat you Shadow, but I can trap and weaken you at least!" She remarked.
Then Heart looked to me quickly, "If a piece of him tries to break away use the star sword!"
"Heart...you'll..."
"I'll be okay...I can heal my shadow with some time, but it will take a bit to get back because of that," she explained quickly.
"Where are you going?!" Tanya questioned now, "You keep saying you'll come back!"
Heart kept her energy lashing around her to keep Shadow from slipping away. She then looked to the portal reluctantly.
"You guys have protected me since we met..." Heart said looking to us for a moment more, "It's my turn to protect you..."
"You and I are one now, child, if you force me out I'll rip away your essence with me!" Shadow swore while clutching onto her, "You won't remember your connections to get back!"
Heart looked straight at us with a faithful smile, "Of course I will. No one's been able to make me forget them so far!"
She then looked to me, "I'll find a way back, Duke, okay?"
"Heart..." I breathed before giving her a confident smile to assure her, "I know ya will love."
Without any further hesitation Heart slipped into the portal and it sealed tight behind her.
"Heart!" Wildwing called while reaching out to her in vain.
"Sis!" Dive attempted.
"What's going on?!" Tanya questioned.
Mallory looked at the ground, bursting angrily, "It was Shadow! He had all of us under his control, and Heart gave herself up to save us!"
Wildwing turned to us with worry showing through the eyes of the mask. He looked to each of us, "We all fought...this morning when I felt him creeping in, I tried to hold on..."
"This was his plan, if he got to us he could get her!" Dive mentioned bitterly, "We've been there trying to keep him away from her all this time, just for him to do this?!"
"Her magic must have kept her from being pulled into his influence," Tanya said, "but we..."
"Tanya, even I couldn't help but give in after a point," I told her gently when I realized what she was about to say, "an' Heart did this knowin' we fought back as much as we could."
"Despite the steps we've taken with her, this is all still unfamiliar ground to us. Our realm didn't have the magic hers does," Grin mentioned.
"We've still learned a lot about it in a short time," Tanya said, "but it still wasn't enough."
"Stop it! Stop talking like we've failed already!" Nosedive suddenly snapped, "Heart's not going to lose to that creep, and neither are we!"
"So what do we do now then guys?" Mallory asked.
"We tighten our defenses," Wildwing affirmed, "We'll use the readings we got from Shadow being here to adjust our shields so he can't get in again! We'll patrol the city for Dragonus and Shadow to get our teammate back!"
Yet when we turned on our comms to get Heart's signal, we found it to be as though it didn't exist.
"She...she's not here!" Dive exclaimed.
I then looked to the star sword held tightly in my hand. My remaining eye widened a bit as I realized, "She...she wen't back?"
"Went back?" Mallory questioned.
"To the other Anaheim, to her home! She dragged him there!" I said in half disbelief.
"Why go there? Why not take someone with her?" Tanya asked.
"To ensure Shadow couldn't latch onto any of us," Grin mentioned, "If one of us went with her, Shadow would escape and use us against her."
"He's latched onto her though...like he...No!" Wildwing snapped suddenly.
I looked to our leader, knowing why this reaction had come out. We both exchanged expressions of growing fear as we realized what Heart had meant, what she was going to do.
"What is it bro?" Nosedive asked.
"Heart's going to burn away her shadow...to get him off of her" Wildwing answered angrily, "But no one's there to save her this time!"
Nosedive looked to me, "Duke, can't you use the Star Sword to find her? To save her?"
I started to nod and lift the sword up when something tugged at me to give me pause. Grimacing, I lowered the blade as I said, "If I do that right away, he'll use me against her again. That's why she went alone."
"She could die!" Dive exclaimed, "Dude, you can't be serious right now?! I thought you loved her!"
"Of course I love her, Dive! Ya think I want to stay behind like this?! Don't ya think I want to steal her from this?!" I snapped with my own temper rising, "I swore I'd keep her out of his grasp an' I didn't!"
"Both of you calm down!" Mallory ordered, causing us both to look at her with worry blending with anger, "This isn't helping her!"
Grin then stepped between my younger teammate and I, resting his hands on our shoulders as he spoke, "Heart is not the same as she was back when she burned away her shadow before. That must be her plan. Heart is on a path we can't walk with her on for a little while, but I'm sure ours will cross with hers when it's time."
"Grin's right, what happened to Heart before was before she had magic of her own. She can heal herself with the magic gifted from her mother now," Tanya explained while looking back on recent adventures, "That's why Heart said she would find her way back with time."
"She could die and we won't know...if she uses too much magic, we don't know what could happen...we're not there to help her keep control..." Dive protested, his hands balled into fists.
It was then that I felt something in my chest grow firm around my heart. It was the same sensation I had feltt when dealing with Asteroth recently. Ever since the final conflict with Aten, it had been there in my chest. It was a sensation that was there and wasn't at the same time somehow. Something in me, acting like a barrier that seemed to harden like a shield.
"Dive...I think we will," I said looking to him with certainty, and a hand over my heart.
"Wait, you feel that too?" Tanya asked.
I nodded my head.
We all then shared an expression of bewilderment; before understanding set in.
"I felt it just before Shadow took over me," Mallory mentioned, "it's like a barrier of some sort."
"If Heart died so would her magic," Wildwing realized, "these shields would fall away wouldn't they?"
"Or at the very least begin to weaken," Tanya agreed.
I then looked to Dive, "Believe me, if too much time passes I will go an' find her. But I have to wait so not to jeaopordize her plan. It's killin' me, but if I go in right away her plan won't work."
"So will this be the end of Shadow then? She won't have to run from him anymore?" Mallory asked.
"Heart hasn't run since she found us," I mentioned while setting the Star Sword on it's shelf, "But I don't think this is over. We're meant to fight with her on this one, that I feel in my core."
"Heart's buying us some time though," Wildwing agreed, "But when this fight does take place we'll be ready!"
"For now we can prepare and wait for Heart to come back," our leader said firmly while looking to us all, "We'll do things as normal. Patrols for the raptor will be in place, games will go on, and we'll train for the fight ahead."
He then looked to Tanya, "We need to look into guarding ourselves better against magic and Shadow's energy though. Do you feel up to the task Tanya?"
Tanya blused a bit and nodded her head, "I'll do my best to get us up and ready!"
While we talked Dive called Phil to bring Avery and Flynn back. I listened to everything around me as I tried to remain calm. It took so much not to go after her, but I had to believe in her.
Before much longer I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, "Are you alright Duke?"
I shrugged in response to Grin, "As much as I can be, I guess. How can I fight against somethin' like Shadow that bend our wills like that? I fought the longest an' he still twisted me up. I tried to steal her for her an' then..."
I then remembered how I acted towards Heart during that. A feeling of disgust almost drowned out my fury when I remembered something else. I wanted her...one way or another...I was trying to steal her from him.
"I am not goin' to let this cretin do this again. Magic or not, I will defend her an' our kids," I swore as I turned to my friend, "She came to Puck World lookin' for someone to bond with her...She found us...an' she found me. I won't let her down this time."
"Duke, you haven't let Heart down yet," Grin mentioned sharply.
"How can ya say that-?"
"Duke, we've all been through the ringer since we met," Mallory added.
"We've also grown with every adventure. This won't be any different," Grin said, "With Heart we'll learn how to fight Shadow and defeat him!"
At these words I glanced at the Star Sword with a growing resolve. As I did I recalled Heart's request to me..."Steal me from this..."
I vowed, "Of course I will sweetheart..."
Soon after Phil arrived with Flynn and Avery, both whom I took into my arms and held them close to me.
"Your mama will be back soon Eli an' Ave, I know she will," I promised them as they whimpered almost knowingly, "I know...I miss her already too."
"If you do have to go after her you know they'll be in safe wings," Dive assured me with a returned smile, "And sorry about before Duke."
"It's alright kid, I know you've always been close to her too," I said.
"She's my little sister," Dive reaffirmed.
"Heart will come back soon," I assured him.
Dive nodded with hope returning in his eyes and in my own spirit. With this I held my children close to try and hug them for her somehow. They in turn clung to me with their tiny hands.
Heart:
The portal had dumped us on the into the my realm of origin. Shadow screeched and pulled at me to try and force me back through the sealing gateway. I dug my hands into the dirt to keep him from being able to move me until it was closed.
"What are you doing child?! We had a deal!" Shadow snarled in my ear as I began to gather energy from within myself.
"So you thought!" I snapped with a growing temper, "I will not let you puppet my family and I!"
Energy began to spark around me rapidly, building up along with a rising heat from my core.
"Your essence! Your memories! They will all burn away!" He screamed, "And as long as a sliver of me survives I will come back to find you! I will find your thief, and warp him to my will!"
"I know I can't destroy you as I am even now; but I can hinder you and keep you away from them !" I growled with a distorted voice now, "I will remember them! I will know them as I do now!"
Shadow held onto my own tightly, and I noticed him beginning to rearrange it quickly. My bones began to ache, my skin shifted as I crumbled to my hands and knees. My eyes widened to see my shadow twist as he pulled me to all fours.
"You will be the vessel I should have had all along! You will not get away from me this time, nor will he be able to steal you back!" He cackled as my hands started to shift on me now growing into the claws of a twisted dragon, "It's time you accept what you really are!"
I gritted my sharpening teeth as the heat contiued to rise in me.
"You were born to be a dragon, to use that magic in your blood! Seeing how you don't want it, I will take it and this shape for myself!" He snickered as my body began to reform to match the shadow he'd given me.
I tried desperately to focus my thoughts, my memories, my magic. I ignored the horns emerging from my forehead, the tail lashing out from my spine, and theclaws growing from my fingertips. I felt my frame bulking up as my heartbeat raced desperately.
"Wing...Dive..." I begged as my face began to shift into a maw with electricity sparking from it in warning.
"You'll never see your brothers again now will you?" Shadow taunted while twisting my shadow further, building muscle onto my limbs.
"Grin...Tanya...Mallory..."
I closed my eyes to ignore my shifting shadow and body. What was left of my hands balled into fists.
"You will never run from me again!" Shadow assured with a deep chuckle as I fought against his will, "Once I have your magic, I will return to that realm and do as I wish to them with your magic!"
"Duke...Avery...Flynn...!"
My eyes snapped open as my magic rushed through me. It sparked dangerously.
"I will find them and pull them apart! All but that thief of yours; he I will puppet as long as he is useful!" He laughed in my head, "Not to mention of course, your sweet little children filled with their own magic! A nice dessert after such a wonderful meal I'd say!"
With a rage errupting from me, so did my energy and magic. It struck wildly it seemed around me. I glared at my own shadow, refusing to obey it's changing commands, forcing the transformation out as I stood up on my feet. Then with a whip of electricity, I lashed out at it, knowing what would happen.
"You will not touch them!" I shouted as I struck it with bursts of energy.
His screams drowned my ears as he splintered into pieces. I felt his claws digging into my shoulders to hold onto me.
"I am not your puppet! I will stand with them to defeat you and anyone else that threatens our home!" I snapped.
Shadow then merged and shifted into a larger form of his base self. Using the light, he towered over me along the mountainside to my left. His empty eyes leered at me as I shakily stood, glaring at him.
"You think you can be rid of me child? You think you have any hope of truly defeating me? I have lived off of magic as long as it has existed! I will claim yours as well! Your family and thief will be torn apart when I get ahold of their shadows once again! Now last chance child, submit and become my vessel to prevent this curse, or awaken the rest of me in this war you have brought upon yourself and them!" He said with a twisted sneer.
I stood firm as he began to sink back into my shadow. He grinned ear to ear, "Now then, let's get comfortable working together shall we?"
"No matter what it takes..." I breathed.
"What was that?" He questioned.
"We will defeat you, no matter what it takes! I will not merge with you no matter what it takes!" I snapped as energy burst from my core in an intense light surging through and around me.
Shadow screamed wildly as the energy focused on my shadow with him inside it. He writhed and pulled to get away from the magic surging through him. He splintered into pieces and slivers as he reached for other shadows around us. I kept at it, lashing out until my own shadow was all but gone. It stood, clinging to my heels, in shreds upon the rocks beside me. It's very form was faded nearly completely from the unrelenting light. Once more he screeched as he slunk away in a shriveled sliver, "You've sealed their fate, girl! Nightmares will be an escape to them once I get a hold of them!"
With that he slipped away as I stood firm with energy sparking around me still. I coudn't use much more, but stood as though I could. Both of us hanging on by a sliver to escape the other for the time being, not willing to call the other's bluff in this stand off.
Luckily he didn't call mine as he vanished into the shadows of the mountains to recooperate. While I in turn dropped my magic energy and crumbled to my knees, exhausted. Glancing at my shadow I saw it was barely there. Adrenaline was soon replaced with emptieness as I tried to hold onto myself. Once more I repeated their names to engrave their memory into my core.
"Duke..." I finally breathed before collapsing to the ground as the world went black.
