Here's chapter forty - eight. Thank you caitlinkeitorin for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Forty - Eight: Gold and Silver

Trevor dragged his Keyblade up to meet that of the first Dark Army Keyblader who attacked him. The two blades clashed together in a flurry of sparks. The gray - and - white haired boy quickly ducked beneath his opponent's guard, slipping down close to the ground and whipping out a leg to knock his enemy's out from beneath him. He quickly spun back to his feet as his opponent tumbled to the ground, lifting his weapon above his head to bring it down on his opponent while he was defenseless. The other Keyblader quickly whipped his blade back up, blocking the strike. The Keyblader brought his legs up, kicking out with both feet. Trevor gasped as the air was driven out of him, the action giving his opponent time to recover and return to his feet.

Trevor grimaced as he felt pain lance across his upper arm. He whipped around, noticing that another Keyblader had arrived to join the fray. He pulled his Keyblade up, slashing at the second man, who blocked the strike easily with his weapon. Trevor cried out, "Aeroga!" The man's eyes widened as he was suddenly sent flying by the sudden vortex of wind. Trevor didn't hesitate to press his advantage, lunging forward and summoning flames around his sword. He swung a powerful blow at his opponent's chest, the armor denting beneath his fire - enhanced weapon. "This is the end, Dark Army scum," he promised. With those words, he switched his flaming blade for an icy one, and stabbed the tip of the frozen weapon down through the visor of the other's helmet. He jerked it back out quickly, blood spraying up from the wound.

The young general whipped heard something behind him, and whipped around quickly, weapon out. The Keyblader caught the attack, eyes wide. For a few moments, Trevor didn't understand why; then he realized he'd attacked his own warrior. "Sorry," he panted, backing off. The Keyblader nodded, eyes still wide, and slipped back into the fray, making sure to head away from him.

What's gotten into me? he wondered, his body sending itself back into battle of its own accord. "Thundaga!" he roared, jagged bolts of lightning flying down around him and piercing any he came too near. He whipped around in a circle, blade out and coated in fire, before lunging forward towards the first enemy he saw. He hit the stunned woman with a barrage of blows, grabbing the teeth of her Keyblade with his and jerking it from her grasp. Then he killed the woman in a similar fashion as he had his first victim.

A hiss of pain slipped out between his lips. His eyes…they burned. He rubbed at them with his free hand, wondering if he'd gotten grit in them, since he'd chosen not to don his armor. He was dismayed when nothing came away, though when he opened his eyes, his vision was perfectly clear.

He noticed another Keyblader dashing towards him and instantly slid into a block, Keyblade out and one leg splayed forward, the other bent as he braced himself against the blow. He tried to push away, but the awkward stance he held made it difficult, and the Keyblader, grinning, pressed his advantage. He applied pushed down against his opponent's Keyblade, the action sending Trevor off balance. The Dark Army quickly swung down towards the younger Keyblader, who hurriedly tried to push himself away. The action, however, was too slow to completely dodge the blow. He gritted his teeth as he felt the Keyblade slice through flesh and fabric on his left side, but quickly righted himself. He looked down at the sticky red liquid that was now flowing from his open wound. Just a little blood. No problem. Just…hold out until Master Tollun gets here.

He was brought back into the fight as the enemy Keyblader sent a wave of darkness flying into him. He felt it pierce him and he let out a cry of pain. Silently berating himself for his lack of concentration, he lunged forward and slashed out his Keyblade. His weapon collided with his opponent's briefly, but he pulled back quickly, bringing his blade low and drawing it up under his opponent's guard. "Blizzaga!" he shouted, the tip of his Keyblade now pointed towards the other's unguarded chest. Should've chosen to wear your armor, he informed the Keyblader silently as his opponent was speared by the blast of ice.

But the fight wasn't over yet. Trevor took a deep breath, looking towards the fortress. He rubbed vainly at his still - burning eyes, then felt himself be drawn back into the fight.

Gillick walked aimlessly through the woods. His amber eyes were fixed firmly on the ground in front of him, and he was attempting to keep his mind carefully blank.

He wasn't succeeding.

A ringing buzzed in his ears, and he sighed in frustration. "And now I'm hearing things," he muttered. Then he stopped. The ringing, once he'd stopped to listen to it, sounded a lot like the sounds of battle. He swiveled his gaze around towards the direction it was coming from. Who the hell's fighting? he wondered. He guessed it was someone with the Dark Army, whether it be the Silver Fang or the Light Army. He snorted, turning away. Doesn't involve me, he thought as he began to head away.

But his heart felt heavy. He grimaced, clutching at it. Knock it off, you worthless thing, he growled to it, angry. It was heedless to his commands. His shoulders slumped. Why should I feel guilty? he thought in frustration. They're the ones who kicked me out, and the Light Army isn't worth my time. His heart, however, seemed to be adamant about making him feel as guilty as possible. Reluctantly, he turned back towards the battle. Fine, I'll check it out. Happy? He shook his head. Great. I'm talking to myself.

When Gillick reached the edge of the woods, he looked out at the expanse of open ground before the Dark Army's prison. Keybladers clashed against each other on it. He narrowed his eyes. So it was pointless to come here. I knew it. He was about to turn to leave again when he noticed a certain figure fighting amongst the Light Army Keybladers. His eyes widened. Trevor! His younger brother was trying to ward off several Keybladers at once, but was being overwhelmed by their numbers, and kept rubbing at his eyes. Gillick reached up and grasped the hilt of his sword. Damn it. Why'd you have to go an get yourself into trouble? he thought in agitation.

He knew it was a terrible idea to go out there…but he didn't want to see his brother die. So he sprang out into the clearing, jerking his sword from its scabbard. "Trevor!" he called.

His brother turned to look at him, eyes growing wide. "Gil?" he asked, sounding like a little kid again. Gillick froze at the sight of his eyes. There was something…wrong with them, but he couldn't tell what; he wasn't close enough…

Then he felt something nick the skin on his upper right arm. He turned burning amber eyes to his attacker. "Really? Is that the best you can do?" he taunted. He lunged forward without giving his opponent the chance to react, slashing his sword down across his opponent's body and leaving a long, shallow, bloody gash. So, then not all of these guys are the same as the ones who are normally here, he thought with grim satisfaction. That's good, because I don't have time to waste on this.

He whipped around, dashing back to help his brother. He jumped and kicked the first Keyblader he saw in the back, causing her to stumble forward. He pushed off her back while she was off guard, whipping his sword around to cut upon her unprotected neck. She fell without a sound as Trevor forced back his second opponent. "Aeroga!" Trevor called. Gillick dug the tip of his sword into the ground, preventing himself from being blown away by his brother's magic. The Keyblader, however, wasn't so lucky, and was sent flying backwards.

As soon as Trevor's magical attack faded away, Gillick jerked his sword from the ground and rushed towards his brother. "What are you doing here?" he hissed, his hand falling on his younger sibling's shoulder.

Trevor looked at him with surprised blue eyes, as if he'd forgotten that he was there. "I'm…here to fight for the Light Army."

"That doesn't explain much," Gillick growled, amber eyes narrowed.

"It explains enough," Trevor retorted. His blue eyes seemed to be flickering with light, making Gillick nervous. What's going on? What's wrong with him? "I'm here to find out how to get the X - blade, so that we can stop the Dark Army once and for all."

Gillick felt his blood run cold; he knew his brother wasn't talking about the typical Keyblades. "How do you know about the X - blade?"

Trevor's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you? I read about it in an old book I found."

Feeling edgy and wondering why they hadn't been attacked by any more Keybladers yet, Gillick looked around. The battle seemed to be heading away from them, the warriors of both light and darkness pressing closer towards the fortress. He turned back to his brother, amber eyes serious. "Don't go looking for the X - blade; from what I've heard about it, it'll only cause trouble."

Trevor's eyes narrowed. "But it has the power to defeat the Dark Army once and for all!"

"And it's not worth the price you'd pay!" Gillick snapped back, though he supposed he didn't even know if there would be a 'price.' But what he did know was that if it really was a more powerful version of normal Keyblades, as Silver claimed, then no good could come of it.

Trevor narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And what do you care?" he asked, his voice icy. "You abandoned us, remember? Betrayed the Light Army and abandoned the Keyblade."

"That's in the past!" Gillick spat, angry at the direction this conversation was going. "That's not what we're talking about now!"

"But it doesn't matter, does it?" Trevor continued. "Because it's in the past, you have no reason to care anymore."

Gillick's grip on his sword tightened. "You idiot. Will you-"

"No!" Trevor interrupted. "I will do this, for the sake of the Light Army! Whatever it costs me!"

"And if I try to stop you?" Gillick asked slowly, not liking the idea of fighting his brother again. But if it's to save him from himself…

"Then I'll kill you," Trevor informed him simply. Then he lunged forward.

Gillick whipped his sword up, catching his brother's blade. "What the hell's gotten into you?" he snapped, amber eyes narrowed.

Trevor cocked his head. "I've been wondering that for a while, too. But you know what? I don't think anything's gotten into me. I've just realized where my loyalties lie."

As Gillick watched, he saw his brother's eyes change from blue to a startling, unearthly shade of silver. As Gillick's own amber ones widened, the runes along his sword began to glow. What the hell? he wondered, looking at them. He'd always figured the runes were just decoration, but Senn had said the sword had power. So…was it reacting to the change in his brother's eyes?

Then it felt as if Gillick's eyes were burning. He let out an involuntary cry, his voice echoing with his brother's as they both jumped backwards. Gillick found himself falling to one knee, jamming the tip of his sword into the ground and using it to prop himself up. He rubbed at his eyes. What the hell? What the hell is going on? He cracked open the amber orbs to see his brother rubbing his eyes in a similar manner, and thought about the odd change in the boy's eyes.

Then he remembered what he'd been told during his time as a Keyblader; about how eye color could change depending on how far you were immersed in either light or darkness. Gillick's eyes had become amber when Viril had forcibly infused him with darkness. And Trevor's eyes seemed to just be turning silver… Maybe that's why our eyes burned, he thought grimly. Light and darkness, forever enemies. Typical that my brother would be my opposite.

The burning in Gillick's eyes was fading, and apparently, Trevor's eyes were recovering now. Trevor lifted his head, looking down at Gillick. He narrowed his amber eyes. "Why are you looking down at me, like you're so high and mighty?" he hissed.

"Why?" Trevor repeated. He snorted, narrowing his silver eyes. "Maybe it's because the world doesn't need traitors like you."

Gillick gritted his teeth, his grip tightening so hard around the hilt of his sword that his knuckles turned white. "You attack your own brother," he hissed quietly, "and I'm the traitor?" Do you even hear what you're saying, he added silently, or can light blind all your senses?

For a moment, Trevor looked taken aback, even remorseful. Then she shook his head, closing his eyes as a sad smile flickered onto his face. "Well, I guess it can't be helped, can it? Why don't we finish the fight we started two years ago?" He lunged forward, Keyblade to his side.

"Idiot," Gillick growled. "That fight was finished then." And he was going to make sure history didn't repeat itself.

That's the end of chapter forty - eight. Please review?