Chapter 8: Into the Dark

Windbloom, at the same time…

Hisana's Group

CLANG!

Hisana's naginata and Axel's chakrams clashed for what felt like the millionth time during their week of training. While Tsuyo-sa and Yasha had left to fight guardians, the trio had decided to get a bit of practice in before continuing on their journey. After apologizing for letting herself be controlled by her anger, former princess Notokishi, now under the disguised name of Rao Lin Cho, decided that the best course of action for her was to help train the young warriors. But after a few days, she had taught them everything she could, and so she too traveled through the portal to fight the other guardians. Hisana, Axel, and Evelyn had met a few days afterward, and reached the decision that it was now time for them to rejoin their friends in the battle against Marluxia. Which brings to where we are now, with the ice user and the pyro engaging in one last sparring match before heading out. Axel threw a chakram at Hisana vertically, pillars of fire rising in a trail behind it as it flew. Hisana deflected the projectile and ran for the redhead with her blade pointed forward. Axel quickly caught his chakram and held it ready as the small girl leapt at him. Hisana's zanpakutou slammed down on Axel's weapons with great force causing the tall man to stagger for a moment. But it was short lived, and Axel quickly caught his ground and counterattacked with an upward swing. Hisana leaned back out of the spiked wheel's path, then spun around under a second strike and rammed the pommel of her spear into Axel's unguarded gut. The redhead cringed and jumped back to catch his breath. The pyro then smirked and a wall of flame sprouted in a large circle around the fighters. Hisana's naginata began to radiate a pure white glow in response. She aimed her weapon straight at Axel.

"Tengoku tsume mai!" (heavenly talon dance) she yelled.

Hisana began to swing her blade in several elegant arcs, almost as though she were dancing with her weapon. A light of unknown origin mirrored the flow of her weapon's movements, striking down at Axel each time she moved. The pyro soon found himself overwhelmed by the force of the light's blows, and fell down on one knee. Seeing him go down, Hisana readied her weapon again and charged. Just as she was about to deliver a winning blow, Axel suddenly sprang to his feet and flung his chakrams in a fiery circle around him. The surprise attack caught Hisana completely off guard, and she was thrown to the ground by the force of the attack. Axel smiled victoriously at her and caught his weapons with ease.

"You had enough?" he asked mockingly.

Hisana smirked and sprang to her feet. "Please, I'm just getting warmed up!"

Both fighters sprang toward each other and began to rapidly exchange blows. Somewhere in the midst of an attack, Hisana found an opening and thrust her blade at Axel's shoulder. The redhead leaned to the side to dodge, but the attack still scraped across his shoulder and drew blood. For a moment, time seemed to slow down as Hisana watched the cut on the man's shoulder begin to redden with blood. Without realizing it, her eyes started to turn violet, and she tackled Axel to the ground with suddenly superhuman strength. The tall man saw the strange look in his partner's eyes as she leaned her head toward his injury.

"Hey, Hisana! Snap out of it!" he yelled.

Hisana stopped abruptly at hearing his voice, and her eyes went back to sapphire. She stared confusedly at Axel.

"What happened? How did I get you like this?" she asked.

"You just tackled me out of nowhere. Y'know, if you wanted to get to know me like this, you could've just asked." he said with a smirk.

Hisana gave him another puzzled look, then a bright blush spread across her face as she realized how the two of them looked in this position. She quickly stood up and got off him.

"S-sorry." she stuttered shyly.

"Don't worry about it." he got up.

"It's weird though, I don't remember tackling you to the ground at any point during our sparring session."

Axel just shrugged his shoulders. "You must've gotten caught up in the heat of the moment."

"Yeah, probably."

It was a lie. Axel had become increasingly suspicious of Hisana ever since the fight with Shizuru. As they had practiced, the normally kind and generous girl seemed to slip into a bizarre state of incredible hunger the instant she saw blood. Her eyes would become purple, and she'd immediately try to get at wherever the blood was coming from. The other strange part was that when she calmed down and her eyes returned to their normal sapphire blue, she wouldn't remember anything that transpired while she was in her hungered state. Evelyn had noticed as well, and the two of them agreed not to say anything about it to Hisana until they were sure of what the problem was. However, Axel couldn't help but assume from the nervous tone in Evelyn's voice when they talked about Hisana's "condition" that she knew something, and wasn't willing to share it with him. No matter, he'd figure it out sooner or later. He always did. With that thought in mind, Axel decided it was time to call it a day. The pair put away their weapons and returned to Fuka Palace to rest up. Tomorrow they would leave through the portal. Just as Axel was making his way to his room, Evelyn approached him.

"Hey, come with me for a bit. Mrs. Irino wants to talk with us." said the tan woman.

"What about?"

"Hisana."

"I see…"

The two nodded in understanding and made their way to the recently added foreign ambassador's quarters, where Saya and Tsuyo-sa lived. A few minutes later, they were inside the otherworlder's room, waiting for the pale woman to begin. Saya wore a sad expression on her face as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. With a heavy sigh, she rested her luminescent red eyes on her guests.

"Thank you for coming." she began. "I'm sorry for disturbing you when you should be sleeping, but if you're going to continue traveling with Hisana there's something important that you must know."

"Does it have to do with her…you know, 'condition'?" asked Axel.

Saya nodded. "It does. You may have already guessed this, but Hisana, just like Yomi and her sister, is a vampire."

Axel was only moderately surprised. Evelyn just nodded, she had known all along.

"I thought so." Axel said, reclining in his chair.

"I don't expect you to be that surprised, given her heritage it would only be natural. However, there's something odd about it. Hisana has had vampirism all her life, but never has it shown itself in broad daylight. She's seen blood before, so I wonder why she's suddenly very hungry for it?"

"Probably because she hasn't had any since she was born. She's been deprived of it for three years, so it would only make sense if her senses become more sensitive to blood." Evelyn said matter-of-factly.

Saya nodded. Axel took in the information, then leaned forward.

"You said earlier that her vampirism never showed up in daylight. Does that mean it comes out even more at night?" he asked.

Saya paused for a moment, then took a deep breath. "It's complicated. When Hisana and Shinzo were born, they both had snow-white hair, ghostly pale skin, and red/violet eyes. They're identical twins. Sadly, both girls had inherited the darker aspects of both of their parents, Yomi's vampirism and Ebony's other-self, Ivory. Around this time, an ancient vampire called Alucard appeared before me and my friends. He was the one who had turned Yomi into a vampire, and was thus the source of the children's vampiric heritage. Alucard said that if the twins were allowed to grow and develop their powers, they would bring forth calamity. I was outraged, and Yomi was furious. Ebony clung tightly to her daughters, and said that she didn't care what he thought of her children or how they looked, she wasn't going to let anybody take them away from her."

Saya paused and let out a small laugh.

"The way that small girl stood up for herself always impresses me. Anyway, Yomi threatened to kill Alucard if he tried to go anywhere near the twins. Alucard just laughed at her and went on his way, telling her not to regret her decision. That awful man's words still troubled us, so Ebony and Yomi devised a plan. They put a charm on the girls, and made them look more normal. However, it was an incomplete charm, and the effects partially wore off at night. Whenever the sun went down, the twins eyes would revert to their original color…"

"Wait, you mean when Hisana's eyes turn violet, they're-" Axel began.

Saya nodded. "Her eyes are naturally that color. Hisana's vampiric blood is weaker though, which is why they only turn violet instead of pure red like Shinzo's. After the charm was in place, Ebony and Yomi moved to Karakura Town, where they planned to try and raise their daughters to be as normal as possible, and turn any powers that might surface toward more peacekeeping purposes."

Well, at least they succeeded with one of them… Evelyn thought to herself.

"From what I've seen with Hisana, their efforts have succeeded for a time. But without her parent's guidance, I fear I am uncertain of what will become of her now. She's such a sweet girl...it would be awful if she ever became as cruel as that Alucard person. And who knows what's become of Shinzo..."

Evelyn tensed for a moment, then relaxed. "The last time I saw her, Shinzo was still unaware of her vampirism. But if Hisana has become like this, and considering that Shinzo's vampiric blood is much stronger, it's only a matter of time before she figures it out."

The others nodded in agreement.

"I would ask that you keep this information from Hisana for as long as possible, until you can figure out a way to suppress her urges." Saya finished.

Axel and Evelyn agreed, and made to leave. Saya stopped Evelyn at the door once Axel was out of earshot.

"There's something important I need to ask you." Saya whispered.

"What is it?"

"That man, Alucard, he talked about Shinzo growing up and bedding Hisana, and that if such a thing were to happen, then the multiverse would be doomed. I still think its nonsense to even believe that, but I can't help but wonder. You've been with those girls most of your life, so have you noticed anything...'strange', going on between them?"

Evelyn paused, then shook her head. "No, nothing. I'm not sure about Shinzo, but I know for a fact that Hisana is straight. I highly doubt a relationship like that will ever happen."

Saya breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Alright, you can go now."

Evelyn wished the older woman goodnight before heading off to her room. It's a good thing Saya hadn't pressed her any further, for she was well aware that if the horned woman really wanted to, she could've gotten the truth out of her using her old 'counseling' methods. The next day, Hisana, Axel, and Evelyn said goodbye to King Siegfried and Queen Kaia before entering the next portal.

The other side of the portal...

The trio came out standing on a rocky cliff-face covered in lush greenery. A waterfall ran to their right, traveling down a great mountain. The trio stepped toward the edge of the cliff and looked out at the new world. Below them was an enormous landscape, bordered on all sides by tall mountains. Rivers ran for miles on end, trees covered half the land whereas deep snow covered the rest. In the distance, they could make out settlements and castles of varying sizes. And in the center of the land, rising higher than the clouds themselves, sat the biggest mountain that any of them had ever seen.

"I don't know where we are..." Hisana began. "But it sure is beautiful."

"Yeah...nothing like the deserts on Earl or the urban draw of Karakura Town." Evelyn added.

"While I will admit that it's quite the view, perhaps we had best figure out where in the hell we are?" Axel stated.

The others nodded, and the trio began to descend the mountain. Sometime later as they were walking through the dense forest at the base of the cliff, a deep and loud roar came from overhead. The trio instantly drew their weapons as a large shadow passed over them.

"What was that?" Evelyn asked.

"Not sure, but it can't be good." Axel said.

Just then, the roar came again, except this time louder. Whatever the source of the roaring was, it was getting close. Within moments, an angry mass of scales and wings came crashing down in front of the group. As the dust settled, the group stood face to face with a large dragon covered in shining bronze scales. The dragon opened its jaws wide at the group.

"FO...!" it bellowed in what almost sounded like a voice.

A torrent of bone chilling frost burst from the dragon's mouth at its prey. Axel called up a wall of flame to repel the blast. As the frost melted into steam, the dragon thrust its head forward, jaws open wide to swallow the tall man. It never got the chance, as it suddenly felt the tip of Hisana's naginata stick into its unarmored underbelly. The beast let out a roar of pain and staggered back. It sent forth a mighty gust of wind with its wings as it took flight. The dragon didn't get far, as it soon felt something metallic snake around its tail before it was swung against its will into the trees. The dragon slowly began to rise, belching out a blast of frost as it did so. It didn't notice Evelyn sneaking behind it until her hooks had caught onto its wings, and she had the dragon standing upright on his legs.

"Now!" she yelled as she held the beast in place.

Hisana and Axel took full advantage of the opportunity and threw their weapons at the dragon. The beast roared in agony as it felt the blades pierce its hide. With a final deep groan of pain, the dragon went limp. Evelyn released the dead monster, and it collapsed to the ground. The group all gathered around and stared at the beast.

"Well that was...odd." Axel noted.

"Yeah, since when does a dragon just show up out of nowhere?" Hisana stated.

Just then, about half a dozen roars came from overhead. The group took the sound as a sign to leave, and ran through the woods. Soon, they found themselves in a snowy clearing. Before they could go any further, a green and brown dragon landed in front of them. They began to slowly back up, when suddenly a red and a white dragon landed behind them. A bronze and a gray dragon then descended on either side of the group. They were completely surrounded. The dragons growled and snapped at the group, anxious to learn what the taste of these strange wanderers. The group packed tightly together, so that each person was facing a pair of dragons. They knew that with this many, there was a good chance that one or all of them would be slaughtered. Just then, an angry cry sounded through the woods. A man clad in iron armor, holding a steel broadsword in one hand and a dagger in the other, charged from out of the brush toward the fray.

"Fus ro dah!" the man shouted.

A powerful blast of wind burst from his mouth, causing the dragons to stagger for a moment. He leapt onto the back of one of the dragons, causing the others to turn his way in interest. The group used the distraction to strike at the dragons, and soon ice, fire, and blood was flung across the clearing. When it was over, the six dragons lay dead, and the group of unlikely comrades fell to their knees in exhaustion. All of them, including the strange man in armor, had survived.

"Thanks, we were in quite a bind back there." Hisana said.

The man nodded. "The three of you are very brave to face that many dragons on your own. You have my respect."

"Thanks. By the way, who are you? And where exactly are we?" asked Evelyn.

The man's smirk was visible from under his helmet. "I had you figured for foreigners. You are in the province of Skyrim, home to my people, the Nords. As for who I am..."

Suddenly, the bodies of the recently slain dragons began to burn away, and the light from their flames traveled over to the man. After a few moments, the lights vanished within the man.

"I am the Dovahkiin." (dragonborn!)

Sometime later, the Dovahkiin and the travelers arrived at the city of Whiterun. There the guards questioned the odd looking group, but let them pass once the Dovahkiin informed them that they were his allies and had helped him slay several dragons. Exhausted from the combined strain of the battle with the dragons and the long walk to Whiterun, the group decided retired at the local Bannered Mare inn. The Dovahkiin payed for their rooms, and the four of them sat around the hearth to talk.

"So, what brings the three of you to Skyrim?" asked the Dovahkiin.

"We're here to defeat the guardians overseeing your world, so that we can free it from Marluxia's grasp." Evelyn explained.

"Ah, that would explain the sudden appearance of those strange foreigners."

"Wait, you mean we're not the only people from another world to come here?" asked Hisana.

The Dovahkiin nodded. "I've only seen two of them, and both wore a long black cloak, just like yours." he gestured toward Axel.

The redhead leaned forward in interest. "Did you see their faces? Could you see any weapons they might have had?"

"Aye, one was tall and lanky, and the other short and thin. The taller one looked like a woman with short blonde hair and green eyes. The shorter one had their hood up, I didn't see their face."

Axel groaned. "Aw man, not her again..."

"Do you know who he's talking about, Axel?" inquired Hisana.

"Unfortunately, yes. Her name is Larxene, and she's gotta be the biggest bitch I've ever met in my life. The chick's a sadist, I tell you."

"What about the shorter one? Any clue on who that is?"

Surprisingly, a warm smile spread across the pyro's face. "Well, I have an idea, but it would be too good to be true. And besides..." his smile wavered. "If it is them, then that means we'd have to fight...and I'd have to watch them go away again..."

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Hisana staring up at him sympathetically. Her eyes were violet, but he knew it was only due to the time of day. Luckily, the Dovahkiin must have just assumed her change in eye color was a reflection of the fire around them.

"Don't worry Axel, if it's someone you care about then we'll try to do our best to make them see reason." Hisana said with a smile.

Axel returned the smile. "Thanks."

The Dovahkiin smiled at the pair and rose to his feet. "Well, since it seems that the three of you have come to help the people of Skyrim, then I shall join you. Let's get some rest, we've got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow."

The group all yawned in agreement and got up to go to bed. On the way to the guest rooms, however, they realized something was odd. The Dovahkiin had only rented three rooms. Confused, Hisana brought up the question with the proud Nord.

"Is there a problem? I thought you and the tall man were together?" he answered nonchalantly.

Hisana's cheeks reddened. "W-why would you think that?"

"You were walking side by side the whole way here. Plus, I saw that look you gave when you comforted him." the Nord smirked.

Hisana's cheeks reddened even more. "We're just friends. I've known the guy for little more than a week."

The Dovahkiin just shrugged. "Oh well, suit yourself. Either way, someone's sharing a room." with that, the Nord retired for the night.

Hisana sighed heavily, then went to discuss the arrangements with her companions.

"Why not? It's only for the night." Evelyn stated.

"Or, (gasp) do you not trust me?" Axel said as he feigned depression.

Hisana just sighed. "Alright, fine. Let's just go to bed."

With the problem settled, Axel and Hisana went off to one room, while Evelyn went to another. The tan woman watched her friend and their ally enter their room together, and felt a pang of guilt. She wanted Hisana to be happy, but she couldn't help but feel as though she was betraying Shinzo. If they did anything, and the older twin found out...she shook her head at the idea. No, I don't even want to think about what would happen. Putting that thought aside, Evelyn retired for the night.

Next door, the other members of the group were having a hard time getting to sleep. It certainly didn't help that there was only one bed in the room. Axel offered to sleep on the floor, to which Hisana had agreed after a few hesitant moments. The tall man was currently laying down on a bearskin rug with a pillow beneath his head, staring up at the ceiling. He smiled as he heard Hisana rustling uneasily on the bed nearby.

"Can't sleep?" he said softly.

"...yeah." she replied after awhile. "You?"

Axel chuckled. "Same. Never really had much time for sleep."

"Oh..."

It was quiet for a moment, then Hisana spoke again.

"Axel, that other person the Dovahkiin mentioned..."

"Yeah?"

"Are they...special to you?"

The pyro paused at the question, then smiled softly. "Yeah...they are..."

"Is it alright, if you tell me their name?"

"...I suppose. His name is Roxas."

"His? Oh! So you're-"

Axel turned toward the door. "Yeah...guess so...is that a problem?"

"Oh, not at all! It would be kinda hypocritical if I thought that way, considering my parents were that way as well."

"Heh, yeah I guess it would be."

They both laughed. Hisana sat up and looked over at Axel. She saw him staring up dreamily at the ceiling.

"Axel?"

He turned toward her. "Yes?"

"I'm glad you decided to help us. You're a good friend, and if that person does turn out to be Roxas, then I'm sure you can work something out."

The redhead paused. He found himself surprisingly captivated by the glow of the girl's eyes and smile. "Y-Yeah...I think so too."

Hisana nodded. "Good." an unintentional yawn escaped her lips. "Alright, I think I can sleep now. Goodnight, Axel."

He watched her lie back down, then turned toward the ceiling again. Despite the odd feeling in his chest, he found himself surprisingly at ease. He closed his eyes to sleep.

"Goodnight, Hisana."

The next day, the trio and the Dovahkiin headed on their way toward the notorious city of Riften, where he had last seen the cloaked figures. At some point they found themselves on a slow climb over the icy mount terrain that surrounded what used to be the town of Helgen. Eventually they made it over the mountains and were just over halfway to Riften. However, just as they were nearing the edge of the snowy terrain, a large blast of fire suddenly descended from somewhere up above. The four warriors split apart as the fireball exploded on their previous position. They instantly drew their weapons as a figure clothed in a black cloak began to walk towards them with a staff bearing a green gem on its tip in one hand. The figure rose its head, revealing the face of an elderly man with white hair.

"Greetings, fools. At last I have found you." said the old man.

"Who are you?" demanded the Dovahkiin.

"I am Jagar Tharn, the first guardian of this world."

"Wow, you're just gonna come out and say it? Usually we have to figure it out ourselves." said Evelyn.

"I see no reason for me to hide it, seeing as how you'll all be dead very soon!"

Jagar rose into the air, and a sphere of dark magic formed in his hand. The sphere turned into three purple lights, that then formed three elemental atronochs, one fire, one ice, and one thunder. The group split up to attack the creatures. Axel took on the ice atronoch, the Dovahkiin took on the fire, Evelyn fought with the thunder, and Hisana was left to deal with Jagar. The ancient battlemage laughed maniacally before sending a barrage of fire, frost, and thunder magic at his opponent. Hisana struggled for a moment under his barrage, but quickly found a pattern in his attacks and weaved between the spells. Jagar bit his lip in frustration as the spear user drew close. Concentrating dark magic, he summoned a sword of pure magic to his open hand and descended to take on the girl. Hisana charged toward the battlemage, and began to slice and cut endlessly as she dodged and parried his attacks, after receiving more than a few slashes on his chest and arms, the battlemage discarded his magic sword and levitated back into the air.

"You are skilled, young one, but you cannot touch me n-"

SCHINK!

Jagar's eyes widened in shock as his brain registered the immense pain he now felt in his gut. Cringing, he looked down to see Hisana with her blade driven through him, held aloft by a pair of pure white angelic wings. The girl looked up at his bleeding injury with violet eyes that shone with hunger. Before Jagar could try to fight back, the girl gripped him by the throat and sent them both falling down to the ground. The large blood loss, coupled with the wound in his chest and the impact of the crash, took what little life remained from Jagar. The battlemage's eyes rolled back as he breathed his last. Upon his death, the atronochs he had summoned disappeared. The group looked about in confusion for a moment before their eyes settled on Hisana. Her wings had disappeared, and she was hunched over the dead guardian. Axel smiled and walked over to her.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Nice job, Hisana! Looks like he wasn't so tough after-" he looked over her shoulder and froze.

A chunk of Jagar's chest had been bitten off. Slowly, Hisana turned around to face him. Her eyes were violet, and her lips were stained with blood. Axel stood unmoving, shocked and unsure of how to react. Hisana saw his worried look and the hunger in her eyes vanished. However, they still retained their violet hue. Hisana slowly brought her fingers to her lips, and began to tremble when she saw the blood on her hands.

"Axel..." she whispered.

"Hisana, what's-oh no..." Evelyn said as she also noticed the state of her friend.

The Dovahkiin walked over to the group with anger burning in his eyes. He glared down at the blood covered girl who sat shaking with fear.

"You...you're a vampire, aren't you?" said the Nord.

Hisana slowly met his gaze, then turned away. "I thought I wasn't...but...it looks like I was wrong..."

"I see. So you were unaware of this. But nevertheless, you are still a vampire."

Axel and Evelyn put their weapons between the Nord and Hisana.

"So what if she is? If you try to harm her..." Axel growled.

"Lay down your weapons, I have no intention of harming her."

The others gave him a confused look.

"What? But you sounded like-" Evelyn began.

"I know how I sounded, and I can understand your concern. If I were anyone else, I probably would have tried to kill her here and now. But luckily for the three of you, I have compassion in my heart. And although I may not know this girl as well as you, I can plainly see that she is not a cold blooded murderer."

The others stared at the Nord with newfound respect. The Dovahkiin sighed and his gaze softened.

"At the least, this just means our journey will be more difficult. I will keep my promise to help defeat the other guardians, but I will not be held responsible for anything that happens to her. Is that clear?"

The others nodded.

"Fair enough." Axel said.

"Good." the Dovahkiin turned back to Hisana. "There's a waterfall nearby. Clean yourself up, then we'll be on our way."

Hisana stared mournfully at her feet as she stood bare beneath the flowing water. Axel stood around the corner, out of sight and keeping an eye out for danger. Or perverts. Hisana slowly went about washing herself, taking extra care with her hands and face to make sure all of the blood washed off. After a few minutes, she had finished cleansing herself and wrapped a towel around her body before sitting on a nearby rock to dry.

"Did you know?" she asked. She knew Axel heard her, because she could her his low sigh as he prepared to speak.

"Yes. But I only recently learned of it." he replied.

"...Evelyn?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say she's known all along."

"Yeah...that sounds about right."

An awkward silence fell over them at that. Wanting to break the tension, Axel cleared his throat.

"So, are you surprised?" he asked.

"...Not entirely. My 'father' was a vampire, so it's only natural. I was always told that I wasn't like her, that I was more 'normal' than either of my parents. But...I still knew there was a good chance that I was a vampire too."

"Makes sense."

Another pause.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"A little. I'm mainly just frustrated that you guys didn't tell me. I'm going to have a long chat with Evelyn later..."

"Heh, I'll bet she's looking forward to that."

"She better be."

It's silent again as she gets dressed. Hisana looked at her reflection in the water again. Her eyes were still violet. No, remembering what her 'father' told her, now that she'd fed they would remain violet for the rest of her life. With a heavy sigh, Hisana picked up her things and walked over to Axel. The tall redhead stepped to her side as they began walking to where Evelyn and the Dovahkiin were waiting.

"I like your eyes, by the way."

Hisana looked up at him in surprise. "You do?"

Axel nodded. "I think violet suits you better than blue." he smirked as he saw her blush.

"Thank you." she whispered.

Neither of them noticed the eyes watching from above on a nearby cliff. Two hooded figures stood observing the pyro and the vampiress as they walked. The taller of the two figures let out a sarcastic laugh.

"So you think these people will just welcome you into their arms? Ha! Same old Axel, he still believes he has a heart. But of course, you and I both know that nobodies like us don't have such things." it said. The taller figure turned to the shorter one. "Isn't that right, rookie?"

"Yes, Larxene." the shorter figure replied. With that, the figures disappeared into shadow.

Later that day, the group reached Riften. There, the Dovahkiin met with an old associate of his named Vex and learned of the mysterious figures' location. The Nord sighed and went back to the others.

"It seems that the figures were last seen heading toward Castle Volkihar." he said with a groan.

"Is that far?" asked Axel.

"It's on the other side of the province. And worse, the only reason someone would want to go to that place is to go to the Soul Cairn."

"What's the Soul Cairn?" asked Hisana.

The Dovahkiin sighed. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

The Soul Cairn, two days later...

"...and at the end of it, I had to fight an enormous undead dragon known as Durnevhiir. I bested him with the help of Serana and Valerica, and he gave me the title of 'Qahnaarin', or 'Vanquisher' in our tongue." the Dovahkiin finished as they entered the Soul Cairn. "Well, here we are."

The Soul Cairn was a dark and desolate place filled with ruined castles, ghostly spirits, shadow-like skeleton warriors, and an endless thunderstorm. The group gazed in somewhat disturbed wonder at the dark world as they walked across its (sandy? I'm not entirely sure) and bone strewn valleys. The Dovahkiin lead the way, with Evelyn trailing right behind him. Hisana and Axel walked side by side behind her.

"This place is...very strange. But, I kind of like it." Hisana noted as she looked at their surroundings.

"Really? It gives me the creeps." said Axel.

"My parents used to tell me stories about a world like this. A place where light never shined, cities and buildings fell to ruin, and the only inhabitants were mindless killing machines who knew only pain and suffering."

"Sounds real cheery."

Hisana laughed. "Yeah, that's what I said too."

Both of them laughed at that. Evelyn smiled at their interaction just before the Dovahkiin stopped in front of the door to an enormous structure.

"We're here." he said.

He and the others drew their weapons as they entered the boneyard. Inside, it looked as though the boneyard had been built in the form of a large arena, closed off on all sides with a platform on each of the four walls, and a slightly raised platform in the center. Two cloaked figures stood on the center platform. The taller of the two had her hood pulled down, revealing her electric blonde hair and green eyes that shone with cruel intent. The shorter figure still had their hood up, and their features were hidden. Axel stepped forward and glared at the tall blonde.

"Yo, Larxene. It's been awhile." he said with usual cockiness.

"Long time no see, Axel. I see you've made some new friends." Larxene countered.

"I gotta say, I always knew you were a bitch, but I never thought you'd end up Marluxia's bitch."

Larxene grew absolutely furious. "The fuck did you just say?"

"You heard me, bitch."

"Oh, you're going to regret that one, Axel."

A loud roar came from overhead, followed by the whooshing sound of a pair of large wings as a shadow passed over the heroes. A great dragon, with rotting green scales and oddly shaped horns descended from above and landed behind Larxene and the other nobody. Now it was the Dovahkiin's turn to step forward.

"Durnevhiir!" he called.

"Forgive me...Qahnaarin...I must...obey...this witch's commands..." the dragon spoke in a low rumbling voice.

"Looks like this will be an interesting fight, don't you think, Axel?" Larxene asked sinisterly.

"What the?! There are four guardians?!" Axel said.

"Nope, the rules haven't changed. You guys killed one of the guardians, which means that two of us up here are the remaining guardians. But the question is, which of us is, and which of us isn't?"

Axel grit his teeth. "You bitch..."

"Y'know, I'm getting really tired of hearing you call me that!"

Larxene clenched her fingers into fists, and yellow tipped knives suddenly appeared in between her fingers.

"Then why don't you do something about it?" Axel glanced at the others. "She's mine, take Durnevhiir and the other one!"

He and Larxene leapt at each other before anyone could reply. While the two senior nobodies engaged in a ferocious duel of fire and lightning, Hisana and the Dovahkiin went for Durnevhiir, who had summoned a small legion of black skeletons to his side. Evelyn was left to face the unknown nobody. The tan woman readied her weapons, and the short figure held out its hands. A gold and black sword appeared in one hand, while a large almost wheel shaped shield appeared in the other. The figure's hood fell back with a flick of their head, revealing wild long yellow hair and golden eyes attached to a slightly pale and sinisterly feminine face.

"Come, it is time for Rikxaga to destroy you. Superior will be most pleased." said the strange girl.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but the only one who'll be destroyed here is you!" Evelyn countered as she she sprang toward the girl.

"Hmhm, we'll see."

While they began to exchange blows, Larxene cringed as one of Axel's flaming chakrams cut across her side. The pyro's gaze had gone from it's usual calm playfullness to deadly serious. Larxene growled and tossed a quick barrage of lightning charged knives at her former ally. Axel deflected most of the projectiles, but a few lodged themselves in his shoulder. He cringed slightly and shrugged off the pain before hurling a vortex of fire at Larxene. The blonde knife wielder barely had time to react before the blast connected and she went flying back. With a shout of anger, Larxene quickly rose to her feet and held out her hands. Orbs of lightning materialized in a long line from both of her hands. Smiling insanely, Larxene spun towards Axel, spinning the lightning orbs with her. Axel waited until her attack was just about to connect before throwing out his chakrams and creating an immense explosion of fire. Larxene had no time to dodge, and was horribly burnt. Axel could hear her scream through the flames. With a snap of his fingers, the fire vanished, and the blackened and beaten body of Larxene collapsed to the floor.

"You think they'll accept you..." the lightning user said in a hoarse voice. "you think that she'll trust you...once she learns that you have no heart?"

Axel just glared at the smoking woman. "I don't know what you're talking about."

With that he turned around and snapped his fingers. A pillar of flame rose up behind him. He could still hear her screaming as he went to aid his comrades.

Not far away, Evelyn was struggling against Rikxaga's surprisingly incredible strength. The short nobody had managed to either evade or block almost all of her attacks, and the only significant injuries she had were a deep gash in her shoulder and a broken rib. As for Evelyn, nearly everywhere on her body was either bruised or cut. The aura of blue flames that signified her power was beginning to waver. She had to end this, now. Mustering up all the strength she had left, Evelyn let out an inhuman roar and charged toward Rikxaga at incredible speed. The short nobody was surprised by the sudden burst of speed from her opponent, but managed to get her shield in front of her in time as Evelyn thrust her fist forward. However, Rikxaga hadn't considered the possibility that Evelyn's strength had undergone a boost as well, until her shield was blown apart from the force of the punch. Gritting her teeth, Rikxaga took an upward slash at Evelyn, too fast for the tall woman to dodge. The nobody's sword cut apart Evelyn's mask, revealing her rage filled amber eyes. Upon meeting the tall woman's gaze, Rikxaga felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and she collapsed to her knees, grunting in pain. Images began to fly through her head, almost all of which depicted her laying bare, struggling in vain against the ministrations of an unknown girl with the same eyes as Evelyn.

"Stop it..." she whispered against her will. "I take it back...anything...anything but this!"

Evelyn glared at the small girl in confusion, and reached down to grab her. Seeing Evelyn's hand move towards her, Rikxaga flinched and feebly backed away.

"No...no more! Please, don't touch me anymore! I...I don't want this!" Rikxaga continued.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not even touching you!" Evelyn demanded.

Rikxaga kept crawling back until she was up against a pile of rubble. Her eyes were wide with fear, and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Save me..." she whispered. "Please Yomi, save me..."

Evelyn froze. "What did you just say?"

All of a sudden, Rikxaga grabbed her head as it throbbed again. When the pain subsided, she was back to normal, and realized now that both her allies were gone. Durnevhiir was already disintegrating into energy, and Larxene was burned to ashes. Axel, Hisana, and the Dovahkiin all surrounded her. Left with no other choice, Rikxaga reluctantly called forth a dark portal and disappeared with it.

"Who was that?" asked Hisana.

"Not Roxas, that's for sure." answered Axel.

Hisana noticed the shocked look on Evelyn's face. "Evelyn what's wrong?"

"That girl, she said her name was Rikxaga. She had some kind of weird spasm or something, but she started crying and begging for help all of a sudden. And just before she vanished, she called for someone to come save her."

"Did she say who?"

Evelyn nodded.

"She was calling for Yomi."

24 Guardians Remaining...

A/N: Wow, longest chapter yet. And before anyone tries to correct me, I only know what Jagar Tharn looks like, I don't know specifically what kind of magic he wields so I had to make it up. As for the Dovahkiin, I made him nameless and gave him the generic appearance and weapons because I'm lazy lol. Anyways, plaeses continue to read and don't forget to review! Till next time! DarkNovelist out.