This is chapter fifty - seven. Thank you Eddie Camp for reviewing last chapter!

Chapter Fifty - Seven: Fighting to Believe

Gillick's sword collided with Silver's twin blades in a flurry of sparks. Gillick's amber eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth, pushing harder against his opponent's weapons. Silver, seemingly knowing she'd be over powered, back away so that the boy's own weight was used against him. He started to resist falling, then stopped, allowing himself to fall into a roll to return him to his feet, spinning around as he did so with his sword flying rapidly out.

The weapon caught one of Silver's swords before it could cut him, but he was unable to block the second, which was rapidly flying towards his side. He hurriedly tried to duck away, but couldn't completely escape being caught by the blow, the weapon tearing open a gash in his side. He quickly found himself caught off balance, and tried to right himself. Damn it. If I keep going on like this, then I'm screwed. He allowed himself to fall to the ground to dodge Silver's attacks, rolling towards her so that she stumbled over his body and fell to the ground. He planted both hands on the ground, one still clenched tightly around the hilt of his sword, and forced himself to his feet, dashing forward and bringing his sword up to land a powerful overhead blow. Silver had rolled over, but was unable to regain her feet before he struck, and was forced to resort to simply blocking with a sword, brining the other up quickly to try and force Gillick's strike to the side and send him off balance. She wasn't quick enough, however, and Gillick powered through her defenses. She attempted to roll away, but still ended up getting a shallow wound on her arm.

"Please, stop fighting!" Mala pleaded again.

Gillick spared her a brief glance. "No! Not until she understands!"

"Hun, I don't think beating her senseless will make her understand anything," Allia told him dryly. "Actually, it's more likely to prove her point."

Gillick had no time to respond as Silver came flying towards him, her weapons swinging rapidly. He attempted to block all the blows, but she was fast, and the fact that she fought proficiently with more than one weapon at a time meant that he couldn't keep up. He weathered her strikes, taking shallow nicks along his body, until she finally paused in her drawn out combo. Then he slashed his sword out in a wide arc to force her back.

Silver looked startled for a few moments, then jumped backwards. However, he hesitation resulted in a long but shallow slash along her midsection, the wound spraying drops of crimson.

Gillick took the opportunity to backpedal, his mind whirling. He gritted his teeth. He hated to admit it, but it seemed like Allia had a point. There was no way, though, that he was backing down now. Damn it…somehow, I'll make her see! Even if it kills me!

The whole experience, for some inexplicable reason, reminded him of his fight with Senn. But I won't lose this time! he growled angrily at himself, lunging forward with his sword drawn off to the side, ready to bring it forward to strike.

Silver, by this time, had recovered, and was able to block his blow. However, his greater strength caused her arm to be forced to the side. Her eyes grew wide at the sight, but she quickly retaliated by swinging her second sword towards his exposed left side. He spun to the side, allowing the weapon to slash through thin air. Silver spun around deftly, crossing her arms in front of her with her swords for out on opposite sides of her body. She dashed forward, rapidly drawing her blades out. Gillick lifted his sword to parry the blow, bracing the flat of the blade with one hand. The tips of Silver's blades screeched along his weapon, sending sparks flying, but they didn't breach his defense.

Gillick allowed himself a smirk. Silver obviously didn't have such a high bounty on her head without reason; she was very skilled with her dual weapons, and very fast. Her speed and skill were used to make up for her weakness: her lack of physical strength. Gillick, on the other hand, had a certain amount of speed and strength on his side; enough, at least, to overpower and keep up with his opponent.

"What are you smirking at?" Silver barked, drawing him out of his thoughts.

He glanced behind him, at Riun and Mala, who were watching with horrified expressions. Noticing she had his attention, Mala took a hesitant step forward. Instantly he returned his attention to the green eyed woman. "Why the hell does it matter?" he retorted.

Silver seemed to seethe at the comment. "Fine." She lunged forward without warning. "Then I'll just kill you without knowing!"

Gillick spun away from the quick strike, lashing out his sword to block the second blow that Silver sent flying his way. The swords clanged off each other, and the two jumped apart briefly before lunging back towards each other, weapons blurs of motion. Silver spun her swords quickly, trying to outmaneuver the black haired boy. Gillick, instead of trying to parry all the strikes, took a risk and flipping his weapon so that the tip of the blade pointed towards his opponent's midsection and stabbed forward. Though the sword was knocked about by Silver's he still managed to cut along her side, the wound adding to the blood that still seeped from the one across her stomach. She jumped back, glaring at him. His amber orbs glared back.

He had to get one of her swords away from her. She was far less deadly with only one blade than with two; it was his best option for defeating her.

And then what? he hissed to himself. How are you going to make her understand you?

He shook the thought away. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

He was jerked out of his thoughts when he noticed Silver lunging for him. He ducked quickly to the side, but still felt her sword cut through his left shoulder. He gritted his teeth, rolling away and back to his feet, spinning around in the same moment. "Don't get distracted," Silver warned him, eyes like green ice.

Gillick mentally scolded himself for not focusing. Aloud, he responded, "Shut up!"

"Isn't this getting a bit ridiculous?" Allia called from the sidelines.

"No," the two responded in unison before dashing back into battle, swords flying as they struck at each other, the ring of metal crying throughout the clearing.

"I don't like this," Riun whimpered, his voice barely audible over the increasing sounds of the battle. "Can't you make them stop, Mala?"

"No," Mala responded, her voice quivering. "I'm not…strong enough…"

"It's hard stopping two people who are so stubborn," Allia commented dryly. "I guess the only thing we can do is watch."

Gillick's eyes shifted briefly to the side, looking at the three observers. He watched as Riun shifted away from the assassin, who'd come over to stand next to him, and barely heard him say, "Maybe you shouldn't have said anything."

Then Gillick dragged himself back to the task at hand, pulling back rapidly as Silver struck. She was caught off balance, but easily recovered by sticking the tip of one of her swords into the ground and flipping over it, using the other to strike at her opponent.

In that moment, though, she had only a tenuous grip on the sword jammed into the earth.

Now's my chance, Gillick realized. He didn't intend to waste it.

He lunged forward, sword lashing out. Silver attempted to draw her weapon from the earth, but at the last moment, Gillick dropped into a slide, knocking the woman's legs out from under her. She tumbled to the ground as he regained his feet, quickly jerking the second sword from its place in the dust. He looked at the Silver Fang's leader, and was reminded once again of his battle against Senn. Before he knew it, he found himself repeating the man's words. "So, you ready to talk?"

"Are you ready to give up and talk yet?"

Silver glared at him, a disgusted sneer curling her lip. "Why would I talk to you, Keyblader, when you attacked me?"

"Did you forget? You're the one who attacked me!"

The words of the memory rang in his ears. Unlike him, however, Silver didn't lunge forward immediately after her angry words. Instead, she scrambled to her feet, gripping her remaining sword tightly as she hurried back several paces. Her eyes were narrowed, green depths calculating. She was trying to decide the best way to defeat him with only one weapon.

Gillick snorted at her. "You're not going to win now; I'm the one with two weapons, not you."

Silver lifted her head, looking down at him. "You're a bit too cocky for your own good. Wielding two weapons may prove more difficult than you think."

Gillick's amber eyes narrowed. "We'll see about that." He started to lunge forward, but the memory of his battle with Senn surged forward again and he hesitated. The old man may have been the first to attack, but he hadn't been the first to strike after he'd asked if he were ready to talk; Gillick had done that. Now, he figured it would be a smart idea the let her make the next move.

But damn, he hated it.

As he held himself still, watching the woman study him with those same haughty green eyes, he felt his annoyance come to a boil. "Well? What are you going to do, damn it?"

Silver snorted, her eyes narrowing to slits. "I'm going to figure out how to beat you, obviously. If you're not going to make a move, that is."

Gillick radiated with fury, his fists tightening around the hilts of the swords until his knuckles turned white. It took all of his will to keep from lunging at her. Bitch, he thought mutinously, amber eyes blazing.

Silver continued to study him. "I don't understand; why attack me, just to suddenly hold back when you have the advantage?"

This was it; this was the opening he'd been looking for. The chance he needed to convince Silver that he truly was who he said he was. But his anger clouded his judgment, and he clenched his teeth against any words that may have burst forth.

Silver filled in the blanks with assumptions of her own. "Since when did you become a coward?"

Gillick's self control snapped. He lunged forward with a war cry, swords held out to his sides. "I am not a coward!" He dragged both blades upward, and Silver blocked them with her one, quickly moving backwards.

Gillick quickly discovered she was right about dual wielding being more difficult than it looked; it was hard for him to move the to weapons in his hands with the same synchronism she did, and his movements felt awkward and ill timed. I did better with one sword! he thought irritably as he missed his target. Again. Frustrated with his lack of success, he tossed the extra sword behind him, the weapon landing in the dirt with a dull sound.

Silver quirked an eyebrow at him as their weapons slammed against each other. "So, it was too much for you?"

"No," he hissed furiously, though inwardly he knew he was lying. "It'll just be quicker if I do it like this!"

He pressed harder against his opponent's blade and, knowing she was about to pull back to send him off balance, pulled back himself. Silver's eyes widened a fraction in surprise, and the momentary distraction allowed Gillick to drag his weapon along her unguarded side. Her breath hissed out through clenched teeth as blood sprayed from the wound.

Gillick whipped around, ready to attack her again. She held her bleeding side with her free hands, teeth gritted and eyes flashing. "I'm not…done yet…" she gasped, her voice strained.

"Want to bet?" Gillick snapped.

He noticed her glance back towards her second weapon, and he felt alarm pulse through him as he realized what she was about to do. He dashed forward at the same moment she did, intending to slam into her with his body. She whipped around as he neared her, dragging her weapon rapidly upwards. His eyes widened as he tried to pull back and avoid the blow, but the sword still cut a long streak of red upwards across his chest. She was tricking me, he realized with wide eyes. She knew that I'd get close if I thought she was going to get her other sword…close enough to wound me, maybe kill me, even in her weakened state. Though he was still furious with the woman, he couldn't help - grudgingly - admiring her intelligence.

It appeared, however, that she didn't have enough left in her to continue the fight; she'd lost too much blood. She fell to the ground, her remaining sword slipping free from her fingers. She grasped vainly for the blade, attempting to pick it up, but was unable to.

Gillick stood over her, blood dripping from his wounds and his breathing ragged, but the light of triumph shining in his eyes. Fury pulsed through him as he looked down at the formerly powerful leader. I should just kill her, he thought bitterly. After all, if I let her live, she'll just try to kill me again. He gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, the tip pointed downwards towards Silver's chest. She looked up at him, but no fear glowed in her eyes…only a faint, lingering sense of pride. His own eyes narrowed. "This is the end, Silver."

He'd just started to bring his sword down when he saw Mala and Riun out of the corner of his eye. Their expressions made him freeze the decent of his sword. Why do they look so horrified? They don't actually care about this woman, do they? He looked the beaten warrior over, wondering what they saw. He felt his heart falter at what he was about to do. I decided to protect them, a voice whispered quietly in his mind, and I wanted to make Silver understand. This does neither. But how could he let her live, knowing what would happen if he did? He'd shown mercy before, and all it had brought him was more grief and pain. This would be no different, he was sure of it.

…And yet, if he didn't make the effort, then maybe he'd never come out from under the shadows of his past as a Keyblader.

He felt the war flare inside him, and then did one of the hardest things he'd ever done. With a cry, he brought the sword down. Instead of being stabbed into soft flesh, however, it was jabbed into the earth just beside the Silver Fang's leader.

Silver's green eyes were wide, but she still managed to comment, "I think you need to work on your aim, Keyblader."

Gillick gritted his teeth. "I am not a Keyblader," he hissed, "and I didn't miss."

Silver's surprised green eyes flicked to him as he pulled his weapon out of the ground. He could feel every instinct, every fiber of his being, screaming at him, telling him to kill her. He ignored him, slowly forcing his protesting muscles to lift his sword and slide it back into its sheath. His hand lingered on the hilt, unwilling to release the weapon. Slowly he forced his fingers open and lowered his hand, his breathing unconsciously growing heavier from the effort.

"Why?" Silver asked him, apparently too surprised to be suspicious. "It's obvious you don't want to let me live, so why do it?"

Gillick slowly curled his fingers into fists. "I'm…taking a leap of faith." He heard Mala gasp behind him, and knew what she was thinking of: when he'd been the Light Army's captive, and she'd helped him escape. "I may not like you, and I know you'll kill me the second you get the chance," he told her quietly, "but killing you wouldn't protect Mala and Riun, and it wouldn't make you understand. So even though it's against everything I've been taught, against every instinct in my body, I'm not going to do it." Then, before she could respond and make him change his mind, he forced himself to walk as quickly as he could away from the clearing.

That's the end of chapter fifty - seven. Reviews would be awesome, please!