Yay, it's the next chapter of my awesometastic story! Sorry I didn't update Saturday, I went to a movie, ate out, and then spent some time at a carnival. And my sister threw up in the car. So it was a kind of strange night. Anyways, here's my next chapter. I MAY be updating this coming Tuesday, because, that, readers, is my birthday! WHOO! I'll be 15! Yay! So I'll probably update on Tuesday. Read on!

Summary: Kurt is a Fallen, an indescribably beautiful race of demon–angels. Kitty is a fledgling priestess with a hidden power. Kitty knows that Kurt isn't her enemy, but can she prove it?

Fallen Angel

18. Spirit, Light, and Dark…Together?

Kitty waited—now she was really wishing she had the bow, since she sort of knew how to shoot arrows now, and maybe the element Spirit would work for her—just maybe?

"What do we do now?" she whispered to Kurt, who was standing next to her.

"Wait…maybe?" Kurt mumbled, thinking. "Well…"

Sparks, back in half-fairy-half-Fallen form for whatever reason, was keeping her now-red gaze focused on Fervior. "He's doing something…" she hissed at Kurt and Kitty, and both turned to face the direction she was looking in.

For certain, there was something going on. But what, that was what Kitty was unsure of.

Tendrils of darkness were appearing in a sort of tornado around all four of them, the inky-black threads blocking out the multi-colored lights from the first Fallen's realm.

As the light from the other world was fully extinguished by the blackness all around them, the invisible ground dropped out from under their feet, and all were sent tumbling into darkness.

"Oof…" grumbled Kitty, sitting up, blinking slowly. The swirling colors of the other realm were nowhere to be seen; all there was to see was great, black, obsidian walls towering over them. For a moment Kitty thought they had been returned to the Shrine of Stars; but there was no binding-circle etched into the floor, and the walls were completely black, without the white speckles signifying the stars.

Kitty noticed that if the chamber had been completely dark, she wouldn't have been able to see a thing—even with her Fallen-enhanced vision. The faint light, making a circle, was made from, as Kitty looked up and saw, a nearly opaque black glass (here Kitty wondered how on earth there was such a thing as black glass—that light could actually go through)

The faint, grayish light fell upon an obsidian circle, raised a bit, as if meant to be some sort of table. Kitty was distracted by the sounds of her friends waking up.

"You guys okay?" she asked worriedly.

Kurt grinned. "Don't you think it takes a little more than a fall to really hurt us, huh?"

Kitty smiled in relief. "I figured as much."

"Where are we?" asked Sparks, looking around. Kitty could only shrug. "I have absolutely no idea," she said. "This place is weird…"

Sparks stiffened. "Look!" she hissed, and pointed. Kitty followed her gaze, staring in surprise.

Fervior was sitting just outside the circle of dim, gray light; if she squinted hard enough, she could—barely—see the chains of darkness. While here there was no whirlwind for the chains to anchor to, Kitty could see that they snaked from the edges of the black walls—practically buried into the obsidian. Fervior didn't move from the spot, and Kitty (rightfully) assumed that this was the spirit of the dark Fallen, bound together by the shackles of shadowy darkness.

Kitty glanced at the Spirit-arrow-generating bow, which had appeared in her hands (as Fervior couldn't use it in his present state) and closed her eyes, attempting, in vain, to create a Spirit arrow.

Nothing happened.

In truth, as Kitty searched her power, the presence of Spirit was so small and slippery she couldn't hold onto it for long, especially not to draw it to the surface to actually use it.

Growling in frustration, she turned and asked, "How do you make Spirit arrows?" to either Kurt or Sparks, but both simply stared at her and shook their head in confusion.

Narrowing her eyes, Kitty crossed the room—around the circle of light and its little table, and crouched next to Fervior, who did not move at all as Kitty approached.

Kurt's voice floated to her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting a Spirit arrow," she replied. "I don't think he'll miss one…after all, he seems to have an endless supply." She lifted the bow, inching closer to the dark Fallen, as close as she dared, and held the bow out, the tip nearly brushing one of Fervior's wings. For a moment, silence permeated the chamber and all was still. Then a glowing light built up around the bow, and before Kitty could even blink her eyes she saw a Spirit arrow sitting, gleaming, against the string. She stepped backwards and walked back to Kurt and Sparks as quickly as she could, grinning to herself at her idea of getting an arrow.

She sat next to the other two, and Kurt eyed the Spirit arrow suspiciously. "Now that you've got that, what do you plan on doing with it?"

Kitty paused, staring at the white arrow, her mental train of thought slowing. "You know…I don't really know…"

She caught a muttered word of 'hopeless' from Kurt, and she glared half-heartedly at him. Sparks said nothing, simply staring at the Spirit arrow for a long while, and then asked: "What can combat darkness?"

"…Light, isn't it…?" mumbled Kitty, now wishing she'd paid more attention to Shade's lessons.

"So what would happen if we combined the elements? Light, Dark, and Spirit?"

Kitty frowned. "What do we need Darkness for?"

"Light cannot exist without Dark; so we cannot wield one without the other." Kurt explained. "I learned that when we were taught about all the elements. Didn't pay that much attention to it, though…"

Sparks gave a sigh, as if condemning both Kitty and Kurt for their non-attentiveness.

Kitty looked at the Spirit arrow; Sparks and Kurt did too.

"This might work…" she whispered, words springing to her mind. "Darkness to manipulate the chains, Light to banish them, and Spirit to restore!"

Kurt's eyes widened as he understood.

Sparks grinned. "This plan of yours…might just work…"

Kitty closed her eyes, recalling a distant memory of training with Shade.

"Kitty, concentrate!" Shade snapped, dark eyes glaring. Kitty shifted her gaze to the ground as Shade ranted.

"Stop trying to summon them both at once! You're just a beginner, so only try one at a time! You hear me?"

Kitty nodded numbly, holding out one palm and attempted, like many times before, to summon either Darkness or Light.

She screwed up her eyes, her other hand balling into a fist—and she felt a faint shimmer in the air, and when she dared to look again, she saw with elated surprise, a tiny black orb hovering inches from her hand.

Shade nodded. "Good! Now—" she didn't finish. Kitty's orb of Darkness shrank to the size of a pin, then disappeared, leaving Kitty feeling rather miffed.

"Concentrate; don't let anything distract you!" Shade reminded her, and she nodded, grumbling under her breath.

"Good. Again!" Shade called, and it was back to work.

Kitty remembered that Shade had told her specifically not to summon both at once, but it didn't seem like she had much of a choice—and besides, hadn't she had enough practice already?

She let her mind drift…

Kitty was standing on an immense plane of white. Before her eyes, swirling into existence beneath her feet, was a black-and-white swirling circle, and she felt an almost rhythm to the air. She remembered what Dark and Light stood for:

Life and Death.

Earth and Sky.

Creation and Destruction.

There were many others that flooded through her mind like water from a waterfall. She closed her eyes, sensing more than seeing, that the great circle underneath her was rising; forming into two orbs—one pure black, one pure white. The two orbs drifted apart, hovering inches above her outstretched hands. She reached up at the same time, hands connecting to the pulsing spheres of power…

Kitty's eyes flashed open, and she almost allowed herself a grin at the two orbs hovering beside her. She looked down to the Spirit arrow, and pulled the spheres closer, hearing Sparks's voice.

"Put them one at a time over the arrow, Kitty!" She sounded almost like Shade, Kitty reflected, and selected the Darkness orb, figuring it was better to use it first, and Light second.

She guided the pulsing dark circle to the Spirit arrow, where the soft, white glow of the arrow vanished, hid beneath a thin covering of the Darkness orb's making.

Acting on instinct—or maybe it was her connection to the element—Kitty knew, almost without really realizing it, that she should place Light over Darkness quickly, or risk losing the arrow entirely, and while she knew she could always get another Spirit arrow from Fervior, she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to summon Darkness and Light again.

She drew the Light orb forwards; the small, shining light lit up the others' faces in the dim gloom. Kitty carefully pressed the circle to the Darkness-covered Spirit arrow—she could still see a vague hint of the original element's glow—and once the Light hit the other elements, the arrow began to spark like some sort of fireworks display. The arrow became mostly white again, with faint shades of gray and tinges of gold. It was still sparking; Kitty quickly stood; she didn't want to waste what time she had.

Here goes nothing! she thought, slightly desperately; for a moment afraid her plan wouldn't work. Then the arrow was flying, straight and true.

Kitty didn't see it even hit Fervior, for seconds after she'd loosed the arrow, brilliant white light washed the room until she was forced to close her eyes to avoid blindness.

What had just happened?

Yes, what did happen there? Muahahaha! Cliffanger! *grins evilly* Review! Cuz you know you want me to update on Tuesday! (My birthday! Squee!)

~ Shadey