The three walked out onto the grounds of Castle Oblivion. It was unnaturally cold that night, and the three were shivering as they drew their weapons.
"It's definitely getting cold fast," Roxas said, "it was warm a few days ago...and now...well, weather can certainly change quickly..." Falcon nodded stiffly as she shivered, her teeth chattering from the bitter winter winds that sharply daggered through the air like jagged knives. Axel took sympathy on her and, feeling protective, put an arm around her shoulders in an effort to warm her up.
"Th-Thanks..." she stuttered, and snuggled against him, savoring the warm fire. Roxas quirked an eye and smirked. Oh, cunning little Roxas, his plan was working...
"Well, better get started on these heartless," Axel said, "you'll warm up as you get moving, so let's go." Spinning his twin chakrams as they generated bouts of flame, he charged forward on a fire slide and was lost in the midst of teeming heartless. Instantly Roxas was lost in the fray as well. Falcon hefted her keyblade and ran head on in the mass, slashing left and right, spinning as she dodged the heartless's sharp claws. She soon caught a glimpse of Axel, surrounded by a dozen heartless or more, breathing heavily. He twirled both chakrams again, throwing them both and sending them slicing through the ranks of never-ending heartless. Falcon brought one arm back and used sonic blade to smash through a row of heartless at a blinding speed. Axel spun around, surprised at her fighting skill.
"Falcon!" he cried, and dashed forward, dispatching a heartless creeping up behind her. Likewise, Falcon spun and twisted in mid-air, slamming her keyblade into the body of another, killing it. Falcon and Axel stood back to back soon, crushed in by the on flow of heartless, picking off one, then another, and another. Both were caught several times as heartless swarmed in on them, overtaking their defenses and tearing at their skin until the other saved them. Falcon then took off into the air, using her newfound flight skills, and picked off heartless from the air, swooping down and killing a few with sonic blade, then rising up again to regenerate, and re-using the attack. All three were so immersed in the fight that they didn't hear the giant heartless come until all the small fry scattered.
"They're retreating," Axel said, straightening up.
"No, look," Roxas said, and pointed. In front of them stood a massive lion-like heartless, though twice the size of any normal lion, all black except for the gleaming red eyes. Bleeding from a dozen bleeding cuts and scraped, Falcon staggered as she landed, her eyes widening in fear as she faced the giant lion. It roared massively, the very ground beneath them shuddering. And then it leapt, and though they managed to avoid being crushed, all three staggered under the earthquake-like impact of the lion's weight hitting the ground.
"This thing's huge!" Axel exclaimed, and he jumped swiftly aside as the lion jaw snapped shut over the very spot where he had been. The lion's long tail lashed out to the side though, and Axel yelped as he was swept off his feet and fell. The lion rounded on him, baring its humongous fangs. Axel scrambled up, and threw one of his chakrams at the creature, the burning wheel hitting the shoulder. The lion roared in pain as the scent of burning fur filled the air. Falcon leaped into the air and spreading her wings, she angled herself and folded them as she dive-bombed toward the lion's side, stretching her claws out. She felt the rip of flesh as her demon claws tore through the fur and skin of the lion's side, now stained with crimson blood all the way from the spine to the shoulder. Instantly the beast let out a thundering bellow and turned on Falcon, her hand dripping with blood. The lion lashed out with its claws at an amazing speed for one its size, and caught Falcon deftly on the side, the long claws tearing a gash in her side. Falcon screamed as the excruciating pain shot through her like a torpedo, and she kneeled down, clutching her side that was pouring blood with one hand. Roxas instantly rushed to her, and knelt down beside her.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Do I look okay?" she spat at him. She looked up and saw that the lion had turned its attention back to Axel, who was keeping it at bay with fire and his chakrams. The lion snapped it's teeth forward, and Axel narrowly missed having his head crushed, but the lion lashed out with his claws again, and slashed Axel on the leg. He cried out as his leg began streaming blood, but still he stood against the oncoming attack. Now he couldn't move as fast, and he stumbled when he put weight on the injured leg, his face contorting with pain. The lion was now gaining a distinct advantage, even with the three long rakes in its side. Axel sent his chakrams careening again at the beast, and it howled in rage, lunging again at Axel, who managed to dodge, wincing as pain shot like lightning up his leg, tearing a bit more.
He fixed Roxas and Falcon with a water-freezing glare, 'go, now! Get the rest of the Organization out here and get Falcon to safety. I'll hold off the lion!"
Falcon made to argue and defy him, but Roxas grabbed her arm, shaking his head, "no Falcon, he's right, only the rest of the Organization can kill it, let's go!"
"You go," Falcon said resolutely, "I'll stay here."
"No!" Axel shouted, "both of you, go now!" Falcon looked down, torn with indecision, and then ran back with Roxas. Together, they found the Organization within seconds.
"You tell them what's going on, I'm not letting Axel stay out there alone," Falcon said quickly to Roxas, "I finally figured out the meaning of what Namine said about being zero." Without another word, she sprinted back outside, using her lightning demon speed to reach the scene of the battle.
"Axel!" she cried in anguish as she saw the state he was in. The lion had definitely gotten the better of him. He was bleeding profusely from more wounds than she could count, including the deep wound on his leg. He had been slashed repeatedly on the chest, arms, and just about everywhere else. Falcon rushed over to him, desperately worried about him, which surprised her. There was a deep cut on his cheek, and his breath was coming in ragged gasps, blood bubbling from hi mouth.
"Falcon..." he whispered as the lion writhed on the ground from his last attack, "why are you...here?"
"You said that I should figure out the concept of being zero by myself, and I did. I will be obeyed if I have the second say," Falcon replied.
"You...shouldn't be here..." Axel continued, glancing at the rip in her side, "you're wounded."
Falcon rolled her eyes, 'pfft, like you should talk, you're a mess." Axel smirked slightly, and then shakily stood up, retrieving his chakrams. Due to her shadow element and her demon blood, the wound on Falcon's side was healing quickly. With a demon snarl, she leapt into the air and unleashed a flurry of consecutive lightning fast sonic blades on the lion, causing it to roar in pain and stand back up, trying to fin its assaulter. It swatted rapidly with its paws and tail, trying to knock Falcon from the air. It succeeded. With a cry, Falcon lost her balance as the tail struck home, slamming her to the ground, and re-opening the tear in her side. Falcon screamed as fire shot up her body from the wound: mind-numbing pain.
"Falcon!" Axel cried, and scrambled to her as fast as he could. He gasped as the lion rose in front of Falcon's fallen form, raising a paw to deliver the final blow. Axel powered up his fire slide, dashing on a blaze of flame the last few meters to her, standing protectively in front of Falcon as she rose, dazed by not terribly wounded, except for the fresh blood that poured from her side. She gasped as the lion swung its mighty paw, powered packed behind it, and slammed it into Axel, swatting him aside powerfully as if he were a mere bothersome fly. To Axel, it seemed like he'd just been hit by a freight train. He was knocked off his feet, and sprawled several meters on the ground before coming to a complete stop on the pavement and lying still, dreadfully still.
"Axel, no!" Falcon shouted and dashed to him, using all her speed, ignoring the sharp pains in her side. The lion simply bounded over her head and turned, cutting her off Axel. In desperation, Falcon felt the demon rise within her, and along with it, the power of her shadow, beckoning to her command. She rose up to her full height to stand before the lion, all feat gone from her mind, only rage remained, pure untainted rage. Black shadow filled the sky, blotting out the sun and any sign of light. As darkness twined around her, Falcon raised her arms, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously.
"I call upon the ancient power, and demon's blood, to invoke the right of shadow law," Falcon began. She had no idea where these words came from, they dimply spilled from her mouth like a river, "heed me darkness, banish all light and obey me. By demon's blood I command you, rid us of the monster before us." A chaotic wind whipped through the air, Falcon's hair lashing wildly. Even at her young age, in the demonized state, she appeared to be a wild demon mage, powerful and undeterred. The shadows entwined with the wind and formed a mighty dragon, which exploded into the air and split into two, forming another dragon. Together the two dragons rose and fell in intricate patterns through the blackness of the shattering sky.
"My two shadow warriors, rid of the beast before us," Falcon said, her voice commanding the dragons forward. The two dragons rushed toward the lion, who never before had seen suck an accomplished shadow mage at such a young age. It knew it had met its end. It gave one final roar that faded into nothingness as the dragons tore through its very being, thundering past even after the heartless lion had disappeared into the blackened air. The dragons vanished from sight and the fierce winds died down at last.
'I've never unleashed such strong shadow power before...' Falcon realized, her last though before her strength gave way and she fell to the ground.
It was at the exact moment that Axel woke to see Falcon sink slowly to the ground. The pain that surged through his body was instantly forgotten as he stood and rushed as fast as his body would allow over to the fallen Falcon. He knelt beside her, ignoring the pain as his torn muscle and skin protested, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Falcon..." he whispered gently, "no..." He hoped beyond hope that she wasn't dead. He would never be able to forgive himself if she died. Moreover, the Superior would never forgive him either.
"You can't be..." he said as he lifted her up, the excruciating tearing pain flooding back to him, rending his very being to pieces. As he trudged back, he knew he was close to blacking out himself, the pain was draining his strength to the core, and every step felt like lead. His cloak stained with Falcon's demon blood, and every shredded piece of sinew and fiber in him burned like wildfire, but first he needed to see Falcon into the care of Zexion. He surprised himself with the feelings of protectiveness and worry that filled him. He just reached the door when Zexion opened it.
"Heal her...Zexion, please," he gasped before staggering and collapsing to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness.
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