Disclaimer: I have written a disclaimer before.

Namine panted as she ran. When she reached the middle of the first floor room, she turned her head to venture a glance at the door behind her, only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight that greeted her. The doors, the only things holding back the magic of the room beyond, were being bombarded by Arxzyn.

Just when she was about to turn and run, Namine was almost blown off her feet by the shock wave of magic that flooded the room when Arxzyn finished it all with one mighty slice. He jumped through the doors, holding his legs close and his arms wide as he was propelled through the air by the rampant magic. Magic which was still flooding the room with colors of all kinds of hues and shades, all mixing together in a maelstrom of pallets.

"Namine!" Arxzyn screamed as he flew through the air towards her.

Namine spun around and ran to the exit-

When Lucifer's Catalyst stabbed the floor just in front of her, effectively ruining her head start. Arxzyn placed his hand on her shoulder, leaned forward and tore his sword from the white landing. "Now Namine," He said as he set his sword into the ground next to him, "I want you to come with me to-" Arxzyn let out an "Oof!" when Namine elbowed him in the gut, before spinning around and opening the accursed tome.

Namine took a deep breath and roared, "After all that has transpired throughout my quest, I now understand that the holly ones I once worshiped have all but deserted me!" After she finished reading the last word, an orb of pure light burst from the spine of the book and raced toward Arxzyn. When it was half way, the orb dispersed into seven smaller white balls, traveling fast enough to create ghost trails. As soon as the orbs descended upon Arxzyn, however, they scattered into all directions, some circling him, while others haphazardly bounced through the room.

"Ha! It looks like you chose the wrong spell!" Arxzyn triumphantly shouted. That's when all of the balls stopped moving completely. Everything paused, even the constantly flowing magics in the room. Namine looked first at Arxzyn, then each of the holy balls.

Namine raised her hand up high, and brought it down to point at Arxzyn. "Go!" She commanded.

Arxzyn jumped back as a ball crashed and exploded into the spot where he once stood. He jumped over a low-flying one, letting it crash into the wall behind him. That's when three came at him at once. He evaded the worst of it, but all three still grazed his chest, back, and left shoulder and popped, which luckily had no effect. He raised his sword to block the sixth, and raised his blade to bat away the seventh...

With his first sword, Fallen Angel's Reign. 'What! I still have that stray soul, why did it change back?' Confused but undeterred, Arxzyn raised his blade and sliced the seventh ball in half. Arxzyn held his sword over his shoulder, and looked to Namine. As he walked, he started to grow blurry. Everything in fact, began to grow blurred and distorted.

She couldn't really be sure what happened next. After that last spell, everything went hazy.

oXo

Arxzyn examined his blade. It must have been the holy lights that changed it. It was no longer the blue menace he had used until now. Nor had it taken it's original silver form. No, now it was completely different.

It was a blade, that much was certain, and it did have a hilt, with a guard of sorts. But that was where it's similarities to an average sword ended. All parts of the sword met at the center of an aqua crystal orb. The blade itself was of average length, and viewing the flat side reveals it to be convex in shape, and expertly crafted into the hilt within the crystal. The curved daggers that act as guards jut from either side of the crystal, curving out and upward toward the tip of the main blade. The hilt itself appeared to be a wooden rod wrapped in worn purple cloth and topped with a melted rubber pommel. All three blades had an amethyst color to them with an orange gradient toward the edges.

"Celestial's Respite..." Arxzyn mumbled. He sliced the air with his new blade and nodded at it's overall improvement on Lucifer's Catalyst. In an instant, he could tell it was lighter, faster, and magick resistant. It would prove most useful in this skirmish.

Suddenly remembering his task, Arxzyn turned to Namine, who was slumped on the floor. She had her head held low, and still held that accursed tome. Arxzyn strolled to her, holding his new sword in one hand, wary of any sneak-attacks. "Namine." He said. Her head shot up, and Arxzyn jumped back a few feet.

Namine smiled at Arxzyn, while trying not to let on how weak she felt. It made her look wilted. "So, you think you've beat me, huh?" Namine said as she tried to pick herself up without pushing against the book. Arxzyn sighed and gave her a few minutes to stand before replying. When she could finally stand, she stared Arxzyn down while holding her book.

Arxzyn lowered his blade. "My goal never was to hurt you." Namine scoffed at this, but Arxzyn just continued. "My mission was to bring you home and-"

"The only home I ever had was with Razyn!" Namine interrupted, wide-eyed and energetic. "And you took him."

"I understand that." Arxzyn said in a calm tone. "But you have to understand that you can't stay here by yourself forever."

"I will." Namine crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "I am." With that, she sat down and crossed her legs.

"You can't."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

"What are you going to do about it?"

Arxzyn raised his sword up high and ran towards Namine. "This!" The Virtuous Crusader swung his blade down against her, attempting to smack her with the flat side and knock her out cold. But she rolled out of the way, easily dodging his blow.

Namine jumped to her feet only to be assaulted by Arxzyn's mighty blade. Arxzyn was more than happy to realize that his new sword was worlds more aerodynamic than his old weapons as he swung the flat side of his blade against Namine. First, he tried batting at the sides of her head and ribs a couple of times, only to be dodged again and again. Then with a mighty roar, he brought it down, trying again to hit her square in the head.

Namine giggled from Arxzyn's right. "Aren't you getting tired yet? Why don't you give up, it's no use~"

Arxzyn stood upright and planted the tip of his blade into the floor. He smirked at her. "I don't think you comprehend the kind of power I have." He said. "A couple of magick tricks and gymnastics aren't going to be enough to dissuade me. I report to a higher power and gain strength as such." Arxzyn nodded toward his sword as if to prove his point.

Namine reared her head back and howled with laughter. She looked back down at Arxzyn. "Gods? Really? You think that some people high atop a mountain, or sitting in the clouds are helping you?" Namine smirked and narrowed her eyes. "Man, you're more delusional than I thought."

Arxzyn shrugged. He was about to retort when Namine opened the book again. He pulled his blade from the floor and held it in front of himself, bracing for the impact of the attack.

Then came the incantation. "I have learned that ultima power awaits those who venture beyond the blanket of security that is the realm of Light." Namine looked up from the book at Arxzyn, who was still defending himself from the oncoming onslaught of magic. A blue-white glob oozed out of the spine of the grimoire. This glob detached itself from it's magickal origin and floated towards it's target. While floating, it crystallized into a transparent fist-sized blue globe. The orb stopped a meter in front of Arxzyn.

Arxzyn, the wary man that he was, took a step back, away from the stationary attack. But when he stepped back, the ball moved forward. Arxzyn took another step, and another. Sure enough, with every step back, the ball would move forward the same distance. 'If I don't move, it can't hit me. All I have to do-' Arxzyn's train of thought came to a halt when the ball before him started moving on its own.

"What?" Arxzyn shouted as the globe gained considerable speed. He brought up his sword and placed on of his hands against the back of it to brace himself should the attack occur without contact. 'This is too random.' Arxzyn thought as he continued to back away from the orb. 'All magick follows a pattern of sorts; spells don't work this way...' Arxzyn's eyebrows raised in curiosity. 'I'm sorry his life ended, but right now I'm glad I've acquired that scientist's memories.'

'I must be missing something. Moved at a slow speed, then stopped, then when I moved it followed. But now, it's moving on it's own, and faster than before, but not as fast as I am...?' Arxzyn's eyes widened with his revelation.

"Stupid." Namine said as the orb made contact with Arxzyn. It exploded with a mighty force which created a crater in not only the floor but the ceiling and walls closest to Arxzyn. The explosion itself was a sphere of cycling energy, all of it spinning, whipping and rotating in perfect unison like clockwork. All of it trying to rip it's target apart in the most painful manner possible. In spite of all this, between the material Castle Oblivion was made from, and the fact that Arxzyn wasn't making a peep, no sound could be heard in the entire room.

Namine watched all of this with dead eyes. She swiveled and walked away. "Just because you figured out that it moved with me doesn't mean anything."

Namine stopped and looked over her shoulder at the now dissipating storm. At the prone form of Arxzyn. She stayed and watched him for a few moments before walking back to the front door.

"HAH!"

Arxzyn slammed his right heel behind himself for support as Namine went spinning through the air. He repositioned his frame so his now bare shoulders were properly aligned. Ramming her like that wasn't something he wanted to do, but it had to be done. He removed his damaged shades and flicked away the ruin.

As Namine flew threw the air, she somehow spun a bit so that when she landed, her back was the first to hit the floor without stopping. She quickly started to roll a short ways away from her landing point, into the crater Arxzyn inhabited only a moment ago.

That is when Arxzyn noticed it; she jumped mid-roll and released something that caught her. Something came out of her and was holding her in it's hands. It was holding the unconscious Namine in it's arms, trying in vain to bid her awake. When it couldn't awake her, it looked up at Arxzyn, it's angry black and orange eyes startling the Virtuous Crusader.

"ARXZYN!" It roared loud enough to shake the room. It gently placed Namine's body on the floor and ran to Arxzyn with more speed than any mere fiend could ever try to muster. Arxzyn barely had enough time to call forth his sword - which it dodged - to defend himself. As it held back Celestial's Respite with just the balls of it's fingers, it growled at Arxzyn much like a beast would.

"It's good," Arxzyn grunted, "To see you, too." Arxzyn lunged at the monster, forcing it to jump away and give him some space.

It stood there, chest heaving, serrated teeth bared, eyes wide with anger, and clenching and releasing it's fists with unbridled rage. It was barefoot and, if memory serves - so much has happened - undoubtedly naked underneath the tattered cloak it wore.

"Razyn."

The Heartless roared.

A/N

Gasp! Razyn is back! Huzzah!

What will he do?

How will it do it?

Read and Review!

qinopt out.