(BGM: Rockman X5 – X vs Zero)
CLANG
Alicia's sword crashed into Maleficent's staff. Though made of wood, the rod held together like an iron pole. The older woman pushed with all her might, tossing the young former princess backward. The girl quickly recovered in a back flip, but had to continue hopping backwards as small orbs of black and green flame rocketed towards where she stood.
A booted foot slammed into the older woman's face, knocking her back. Zero quickly grabbed the old mage's leg before she got too far, spun in place and then launched her toward Alicia. The pale blonde slid under the flying body of Maleficent, twisted and then thrust her right leg up. Her foot slammed into the older woman's back, popping her into the air. Zero took to the air above the mage, only to get a face full of emerald flame as the sorceress recovered. Alicia did a quick handstand to pop herself back upright, and then formed a spell.
"Fragment of Light…Limited!"
A pink glyph appeared underneath Maleficent, who had landed. Before she could react, what looked like a targeting reticule appeared around the glyph, and a beam of light slammed down upon her, searing her flesh. The old woman hissed in pain, before she doubled over from a fist to her gut, courtesy of Zero, followed by a spinning right kick that connected with the side of her head, launching her away.
"End it Alicia!"
Alicia nodded, focusing her thoughts. "Now is the time!"
She practically flew forward, sword arm raised. "Finishing Strike!"
She swung diagonally from left to right, twirling and performing a horizontal swing, pivoting again for a direct thrust, and then twirling one last time gathering energy into her blade, bringing it up across Maleficent's chest, the energy knocking the woman into the sky where she was surrounded by a glowing pure white orb.
Alicia leapt to the sky as three gigantic lances slammed into Maleficent, pinning her in place. Two massive walls of energy emerged from Alicia's back, taking the form of glowing white wings. In her right hand formed another giant spear.
"Nibelung Valesti!"
She hurled the spear with all her might. The lance slammed into an open spot in the cage of spears, going straight through Maleficent's body. The energy sphere shattered, and the pieces all swirled together in a massive vortex of energy covering the area in a blinding white light. When it cleared, Alicia had landed, the wings gone; and Maleficent slammed into the ground away from them.
"You cannot withstand the force of my powers."
Zero flickered up next to her. "Getting confident are we?"
"She's done…she has to be. I threw in as much Light energy as I could into that."
Zero's senses told him otherwise…and he was proven right moments later as Maleficent's body was surrounded by emerald and black flame.
"Foolish children! To think you have defeated me so easily?! My will shall not be denied!"
From the flames emerged a towering black scaled dragon.
Alicia's eyebrow twitched.
"WHAT?!"
Zero smirked and readied his Keyblade. "Oh come now…you didn't really think it'd be that easy did you? Multi-tiered boss. Pain in the ass…but they tend to stay dead after the second or third form."
"We will see how confident you are when your souls are being tortured in the underworld!"
How did we get into this again…?
The Thirteenth Order
Chapter VI: Giant Enemy Dragon Part I
(BGM: Crisis Core FFVII – Night of Seclusion)
They landed on The World that Never Was. The transport was rough, but they made it unharmed. After docking the ship on the roof of an apartment building, they made their way through a few waves of Shadows to the nearest store. Oddly enough, the place was still stocked, and the food was still fresh.
"Woot for luck."
"Woot?"
"Ahh…lingo from my world. It basically means awesome, in the sense that something was succeeded at."
"I see. Woot indeed."
She gave a nervous smile, which was met with a confident one. "Oi, Oi! You don't have time to be worrying. As soon as we grab this stuff and head back to the flat I'm teaching you some magic!"
"A-ahh."
"Oh Great Deity of the Holy Realm, cast thy fragments upon these corrupt souls! May purifying rays transcend through life and sear their blackened hearts with your eternal light!"
The pale blonde struggled to properly form the powerful spell. The energy coursed through her body in ways she'd never felt, distracting her from properly routing it for materialization. Sweat rolled down her brow as her throat constricted from lack of moisture. Her body trembled as the powerful force built within her, a circle of power beneath her feet, meant to assist in directing the energy.
"Ju-Judge...Kyaaah!"
The energy began to take form in front of her, but instead of coming down as multiple rays of light the way it was supposed to, it appeared as a giant ball of light in front of her that exploded, sending her flying off the roof. The explosion blew off a large chunk of ground in front of where she was. Zero swung down, one hand holding his keyblade, which was jammed in the side of the building they were staying in, and the other wrapped around Alicia's waist. The two swung back up to the top of the building, Zero landing on his back while Alicia collapsed on top of him.
The girl panted and shuddered, mind reeling not just from the explosion, but the realization of how close to death she actually was. She slowly clambered off of the young man and turned away so he'd not see her falling tears. Zero acted like he didn't notice and whistled.
"Not bad princess. You meant to cast a Judgment spell and ended up with a modified Ray spell…and a pretty powerful one too."
She clutched her body and shuddered, wildly shaking her head. She started when a pair of arms wrapped around her. Zero lazily rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Maa maa, don't worry. So you don't have the control yet to cast Judgment, you still got out a pretty powerful move…and once I figure out what triggered it, we can make it your own personal technique ne?"
She sighed, still shivering slightly. "If you hadn't been there…"
"Oi, there's no sense worrying about ifs here. I was there and that's all that matters. We'll just have to pick a safer location for that one is all."
She sighed again and turned around, this time with a weak smile on her face. "Do you always make such things seem so trivial?"
"Well…not trivial…but if it went a certain way, there's no point in thinking too much about how it could have gone another way…unless it's one of those repeat events…then thinking about it is a good thing, but those aren't too common."
Her smile grew stronger. "You are…a very strange individual."
"Ahh but that's what you like about me right?"
Her smile grew coy. "Perhaps." She turned and walked away, leaving a confused Zero. "O-Oi! What do you mean perhaps?! Oi! Dammit woman don't not answer!"
"So he's on the World that Never Was?"
"Yes…that's what he told me. He said that he'd be waiting for us there."
"Kairi…how did he tell you this?"
"I…seem to have some sort of connection to him, your Majesty. Neither one of us knows how it works, just that it was created when he took over my body that day…When I sleep, sometimes I can see what he sees."
"And you're saying it's the other way around too right?"
"Actually Riku…I'm not sure…I think he can control his portion…because he told me this while I was eating this morning."
"So that's why you were looking around randomly."
She blushed and nodded. "Yeah…his voice showed up in my head and I thought he was nearby."
Sora got up and stretched. "Well that settles it. We're heading out to the World that Never Was."
Riku and Kairi nodded. The two got up and began to leave. Kairi however noticed King Mickey make a small gesture towards her for her to stay behind a moment. She nodded and slowed her pace, letting Riku overtake her position before doubling back.
"Kairi…what is it you didn't tell us?"
"He's going to win…and after that…he's going to send us out on a mission."
"A mission?"
"He said something about strange creatures appearing. They aren't Heartless or Nobodies. He said that these creatures seek to Destroy the worlds, not just envelop them in darkness."
"I see…Ansem…mentioned something like that long ago…but he said the information was fragmented…do you think, this Zero is at that particular world because the Organization had information on these creatures?"
"I don't know…it's possible though."
"Hey Kairi! Come on!"
"Go on. Just be careful."
"We will, your Majesty."
(BGM: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann – Rap wa kan no tamashii…Datta…yo na…)
Alicia shot up with a yelp. Wearing only a flimsy white night gown, she shuddered as sweat matted her brow from the horrid nightmare she woke from. She clutched herself tightly and whirled her head around. The dimly lit room seemed extremely intimidating to the young Ex-Princess. She clambered out of the bed and trotted out of the door. Closing it behind her she sighed in relief. After walking a few steps, she came to the door where Zero slept.
The two had taken residence in the abandoned Hotel just before the alleyway that lead to the Castle That Never Was. Though the World was in perpetual night, their bodies and minds were weary from the day's training, and they set off to bed.
Stupid nightmares…I've gotten too used to sleeping near Rufus and the others…I don't even have Silmeria's Einherjar anymore…so it really felt like I was alone in there…nobody to talk to…
She was about to knock on his door…but hesitated.
Maybe I shouldn't. He's done a lot for me already…and other than the trip here I don't think he's gotten any sleep since the day his body was stolen…I shouldn't wake him up…it's just a stupid night-
Suddenly the door handle glowed a faint blue, and then opened. She blinked as the door gave way to show Zero sitting up on the bed, shirtless. She blushed slightly at the sight as he whacked his hand on the empty space on the bed. She slowly stepped forward, jumping when the door swung shut behind her. She whirled back to him only for him to grunt in annoyance and continue gesturing for her to come over.
"How did-
"Your energy spiked about a minute ago." He yawned. "Then I elt…ou…ousi…a…door…" He stretched slightly. "Agh…just c'mere dammit. I still need sleep."
"No…I…I'll just go back to my room, I shouldn't have-gyaah!"
She yelped again, only this time due to Zero gesturing towards her and her body literally lifting off the ground and zooming to the bed where she landed with a soft thump. He pulled her close to him and lay her head on his chest as he pulled the sheets over them. Her face turned bright red at the proximity. She looked up at him to see him giving her a half-lidded stare.
"Must've been one helluva nightmare to make a spike like that. We both need sleep Princess. No point in wasting time staying awake."
She sighed in surrender and made herself comfortable. "Besides…what self respecting woman lover wouldn't want such a cutie like you laying next to him?"
She slapped his chest as he gave a tired sounding chuckle. "Pervert."
"And loving it."
Despite the everlasting blush on her face, and the knowledge that this was quite obviously a pervert she was laying next to…she was comfortable…content…relaxed…her mind was clearing faster than it ever had in the time she was alive before now. Is it…him? It might be…I don't think I've ever felt this…safe…
"I'm only doing this…" Her eyes drooped as fatigue slammed into her with the subtlety of a freight train, yawning, she continued. "…because…I'm tired…"
"Whatever you say Princess…"
"…and…because I feel…safe…"
One last sigh of content, and the Pseudo-Valkyrie was out like a light. Zero gave a weary smile and a gentle kiss to her forehead. Unseen to him the sleeping girl smiled, but he felt her grip his side tighter as she pulled herself closer.
"Sleep well…Alicia…"
A short update, REALLY short, but I'm hitting a bit of a block and I thought this would be a nice place to end. We see more of Zero's kinder side, and his and Alicia's growing relationship.
The next chapter will have a bit more training, the fight against Dragon Maleficent, and information on the unknown enemy!
D&S Master: I suppose it was. Personally I found the Kairi Eating scene to be funnier. And yes, never get in the way of Kairi and her breakfast…or she will break you.
RCRS: You…are even more random than my girlfriend. And she is RANDOM. We're talking about a girl who will randomly start singing "jeeeesussss had a monkeeeeey for dinnerrrrr!" and other things like that. Though the fruits of your boredom match not hers. You may have watercolor panted your arms, but SHE turned a UPS bobble head toy doll thing into a DRAG QUEEN.
Yes, I date strange people.
ORE O DARE DA TO OMOTEYAGARU?!