Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
(A/N): Long live Devil May Cry! Die DmC: Devil May Cry!
Sorry folks, I know I said I'll post the last chapters all at once but it's taking much longer than I had anticipated. So here's an extra long chapter to hold you over until I'm able to get back into writing this fic. Originally this was to be Ch.25 but it works as Ch.24. I did have 24 and 26 typed up but my old laptop died and they didn't make the transfer. So review let me know people still like this fic. It might give me the inspiration to continue.
Chapter 24:Temen-ni-gru
"So we need to find another world now don't we?" Luna asked Naminé and Roxas as she came out of Sol's room.
He was still under the effects of Luna's Sleep spell. The raven haired woman had carried him into his room and tucked him to sleep while she added a bit more strength to the spell in hopes that if Sol slept long enough he'd forget what she had done. Looking at Roxas though there was a small chance of that happening. It had only been half an hour at most and Roxas looked in serious need of a shave. His baby face was harder and he was sporting a face beard now. Luna sighed as she looked the Keybearer over. To add to his differences he was a tad taller than before. Like Sol had said her Haste spell had a side effect. From the looks of things Roxas had aged two years in twenty-five minutes.
"Roxas, go and shave." Luna instructed. "Naminé and I will find another world for us to travel to. Don't need Sol to see your blonde beard now do we?"
"Why did this affect me so badly but you look exactly the same!?" Roxas practically yelled.
"Because I age slower than you do. Now shave!" Luna explained as she pushed Roxas into his room. "Come on Nami, let's go find another world."
Luna grabbed Naminé's hand and pulled her along towards the cockpit. Instead of resisting Naminé just let herself be dragged about by Luna. It wouldn't have been exactly an easy thing to do getting away from her and there was no real reason to either. When they arrived in the cockpit Luna let go of Naminé's hand and plopped into a chair. Bringing up a map of the worlds around them Luna tried to find a world that was close by in hopes of sealing another world soon.
"What about this one?" Luna asked Naminé pointing at a world that would take only a few hours to travel to. "Teman-ne-gu" she said stumbling over the foreign word.
"It think it's pronounced Temen-ni-gru." Naminé offered up completely unaffected by the odd word.
"What makes you so sure?" Luna questioned in a slightly annoyed tone.
"While I was with Organization XIII it was one of the worlds they had scouted. It's supposed to be filled with demons and such. It was deemed to hazardous to take over." Naminé answered.
"Sounds like a perfect spot for the egotistical Celestial Warriors don't you think?" Luna more stated than asked. "It's only two hours away we should head over and at least try and see if we can find the Keyhole."
"Where we headed?" Roxas asked as he entered the room.
Luna and Naminé turned towards the blonde male. He no longer had any facial hair and there wasn't a single knick from shaving on his face. Naminé seemed a little entranced by the clean shaven male before her. There was one thing that was bugging Luna though and she just had to ask him.
"How did you manage to shave without cutting yourself. Most people cut themselves at least one on their first try."
"Oh. Me and Axel shaved Lexaeus bald one day. It was a pretty funny sight to have a bald guy chase after you with shaving cream still on his head." Roxas told her.
"Good to practice on someone else I guess." Was the only thing Luna could think to say to him. "But to answer your question we are heading towards Tamon-na-gre."
"Temen-ni-gru." Naminé corrected.
"What she said." Luna grumbled. "Be there in two hours so get a quick cat nap."
With that said Luna hopped up out of her chair and left the room. Taking her own advice she headed to her own room to catch as much sleep as she could before they came to the world with the unpronounceable name. Someone really wanted to mess with interstellar travels if they gave a name like that to a world. Pushing the button that opened her door Luna heard an echo it seemed like. Her warrior senses kicked in and she turned around to see Sol standing in the doorway of his room. He, for very understandable reasons, did not look happy. Still not wanting to face Sol at the moment Luna ducked into her room and repeatedly pressed the "close and lock" button until the door slid shut with a click.
Letting out a sigh Luna leaned up against the door and slid down in relief. Even though she expected it the loud banging of Sol knocking on her door caused her to jump. Luna knew better than to open the door and let her annoyed partner in. She had learned that the hard way the first time she had truly gotten on his nerves and he had really laid into her that day. Funny thing was though she couldn't even remember what had upset him so much that time.
Crossing her room Luna looked around her room for a pair of earmuffs that would hopefully muffle the loud racket that was happening on the other side of her door. Finding the overly fluffy ear wear she put them on and fell into her bed. She could still hear Sol banging on the other side of the door. Taking her pillow she put it over her ears and smiled. There was no longer any noise getting to her ears. Luna closed her eyes and let the silence lull her to sleep.
-KotH-
Sol stood outside Luna's room no longer banging on the door after he realized she wasn't going to be opening it anytime soon. There was only one option left to him, the ship's master key. It would open any of the doors in the gummi ship with no problems. The only problem was he couldn't remember where he had stashed it. Running towards the cabin he passed Naminé and Roxas on the way to their rooms. He did a quick double take on Roxas. The former Nobody had definitely aged due to Luna's use of the Pure Haste spell. Time Magic was a tricky business and even more so when using Mana. Once he found the master key he was really going to let Luna have it. She probably took a few years off of her and Roxas' lifespan with that maneuver.
Coming to a stop in front of his hidden bookcase Sol started rummaging through the shelves. There was no key to be found on any of the shelves though. Next he took each book off and shook it to see if he had put it inside one of them for safe keeping. When he got to the third row the second book from the right a small blue plastic card fell out. Picking it up off the ground a smile crept onto Sol's face. Written in cursive were the words "Master Key" in gold.
Faster than a speeding Blizzard spell Sol was off to Luna's room. Standing outside her door another problem presented itself to Sol. How to use the card in his hand. There was no slot for him to slide it in and no scanner to read it. Being pretty much back at square one Sol resorted to knocking on her door again only this time more calmly. Growing frustrated Sol took a deep breath and decided that it would better if he simply waited her out. She was going to have to leave her room sooner or later. He sat in front of her door and proceeded to wait her out.
-KotH-
The alarm that signaled the approach of a world sounded. Standing up Sol stretched causing a popping to go down his back. Sitting in front of a door for two hours wasn't very comfortable. The doors to Naminé's and Roxas' rooms opened up and the two Keybearers looked well rested. The two blonde haired teens went off towards the teleporter while Sol stood outside Luna's door still. He wasn't going to let her get by without him saying something. With the normal whoosh sound her door opened.
"Not now Sol. We got a world to seal." Luna said pushing him out of her way before she walked down the hall.
Sol stood there mouth agape as Luna marched right on by. He hated it when she was right. The world they were going to was more important at the moment. If this one was anything like the last world there would be lots of walking and he'd have plenty of time to reprimand her for her actions earlier that day. Grabbing a few Hi-Ethers and Hi-Potions off the shelf on his way to the transporter Sol used one of the Ethers on himself. He was still drained from their fight at Crystal Mountains. He hoped that the others had remembered to grab a few of the items for themselves or they might run into some trouble.
Walking into the transporter room the other three were all standing inside ready to jump down to the world. Sol stepped into the chamber and Luna pushed the big red button that sent them down. As he materialized on the world Sol felt an odd felling at first. It was almost like there wasn't anything underneath him. Looking down Sol noticed that this was partly correct. He wasn't standing on anything but there was certainly ground a few hundred feet below him and it was quickly coming up to meet him.
"Who set the coordinates?" Sol asked calmly as they plummeted.
"Me." Roxas answered.
"Never touch the controls again." Sol deadpanned.
"No problem." Roxas replied. "How are we going to survive this fall anyway?"
"Slowra" Luna chimed in with the end of the spells incantation.
All four of them started to fall at a slower rate than before. They were still falling pretty fast but at this reduced speed nothing would be broken only bruised. Now that he wasn't fearing for his life Sol looked out over the landscape underneath him. It was a dark scene before him. The sun was setting and off only a mile or two to the side was a large tower that stretched high into the heavens. Next Sol looked to where they'd be landing. It wasn't going to be soft by any means. They were headed straight into what looked like a stone building.
Sol caught a glimpse of a person walking out of the building. Whoever it was had white hair and had a red coat tossed over his bare shoulder. In right hand was a large claymore of a sword. The white haired man threw his sword up in the air and with style that most can only hope to have he put his coat on in time to catch his sword. Sol had been so entranced by the display of awesomeness that he didn't realize that he should be bracing for impact. The red coated male sneezed right as the four falling people crashed into the building he had come out of. From the force of impact the already unstable building collapsed as they landed on it.
"I hope you all have enough to cover all this!" the man outside shouted.
Lying more than a little dazed in the rubble Sol wondered who the man was talking to. The man couldn't have seen them could he? Never once had he looked up after putting his coat on. With a groan Sol pushed himself of the slab of stone and looked around for the others. Luna was off to his right already standing up and moving to Naminé who was lying in a clear spot. Roxas was groaning as he lifted himself up out from underneath a small stone that had fallen on his side. He didn't look injured in the least thankfully. Keybearers were definitely made of strong stuff.
Sounds of fighting could be heard coming from the other side of the pile of rubble. Metal on metal was accompanied by other worldly screams. With a silent nod the four inside the rubble climbed over to see what was happening on the other side. Once over the rubble they caught sight of the man Sol had seen before they crashed into his building. He was fighting against creatures that could best be described as Grim Reaper-like. They had large scythes in their hands and were wearing tattered robes over grey skin. What was truly amazing was that the man was killing the creatures with ease. Not a single one of their scythes managed to touch him. When he wasn't swinging his sword though the man would reach to the back of his coat where two pistols were strapped in. One was black and the other a silver colour. His accuracy with the two pistols was amazing. He was even two timing. One pistol aimed to his right and the other his left and he was managing to hit the creatures.
"Let's help him." Luna said calling Flamberge to her hand.
She jumped down from their perch on the rubble and landed while slashing one of the monsters turning it into sand. Sol, Naminé, and Roxas followed suit calling their weapons to hand and jumping down to assist Luna and the white haired swordsman. Icebrand's blue blade sliced through the creatures with ease but they weren't turning to sand as easily as Luna had made it look. It took a few cuts or one that cleaved them in two before they would turn to dust. These monsters were worse than Heartless, they kept popping up in vast numbers. After a few minutes another version appeared. These ones wore red robes and had white mad-scientist like hair. Even more appeared after they were dispatched. A new one that carried a large sack on their back appeared not long after the red robed ones. Their white haired gunslinger jumped away and started raining bullets down on the sack carrying creature. After a few rounds the sack glowed a bright orange and exploded taking a few of its allies along with it.
A small respite came for the heroes. It looked like all of the enemies were gone. That was until a heart piercing shriek echoed through the air. Everyone turned to face the source of the sound. Appearing and disappearing in puffs of black smoke was another scythe wielding monster. The blade of the scythe glowed blue but other than that it looked like a larger version of the first monsters they had seen. Sol glared at the new foe that appeared before them. It seemed to focus on the man from this world and left everyone else alone for the most part. It would port away whenever anyone got close to it except the white haired man. Then those two would exchange blows before it would vanish and reappear. Sometime when it disappeared it would come back flying through the air and try a fly by slice at whoever got in the way. Growing tired of the constant teleporting Sol unleashed a Blizzard spell at the creature. This distracted it long enough for their new ally to lop its head of turning the black robed creature into blue dust. With flair the man put his sword onto his back before he turned to face the off worlders.
"Vergil send you guys to?" he asked them.
"No." Luna answered. Sol thought he could see a small blush creep up on Luna's face.
"We don't even know a Vergil." Naminé added.
It seemed as if both girls were being entranced by this white haired devil. Pun intended.
"That's good. I don't like fighting girls. Besides I didn't think my bro would send Hell Prides, Lusts, Wraths, and a Vanguard at me and send me help at the same time. Name's Dante." He said introducing himself.
"Luna."
"Naminé."
"Roxas."
"Solaris." Sol said making sure to use his full name. He didn't trust this 'Dante' for some reason.
"Well thanks for the assist guys but if you'll excuse me I got to go give my brother some payback." Dante told them as he turned around and headed down an alley.
"We'll help!" Luna shouted as she ran after him. "More of those monsters could be out there and you could use our help."
"Sure thing doll. A few demons don't worry me though." Dante replied as he put his arm around Luna and walked off with her down the alley.
The temperature around Sol dropped a good twenty degrees as he stomped off after Luna and Dante. He really didn't like Dante. Naminé and Roxas were quick to follow after their friends. The world was creepier than Halloween Town could ever hope to be.
-KotH-
Standing on the top of the tower that Sol had seen while he fell stood a man with white hair slicked back. He wore a blue trench coat and held a sheathed katana in his left hand. He was a spitting image of Dante. In fact the man standing there was Dante's twin brother Vergil. He stood vigilant at the top of the tower. He associate, Arkham, had just finished boring him with the details of the tower they stood atop. He did not care that it was confined for two millennia. No what Vergil cared about was the pendant that his twin wore. With it he would be able to gain the power of their father, Sparda.
Now Vergil could easily send a few of the tower's demons to collect the pendant that Dante wore rather than lure him to the tower. But that wasn't his style. His brother at the very least deserved to have it taken from him by Vergil's own hand. There was one problem though that Vergil hadn't counted on. Four problems to be exact. He didn't know where those others had come from but they were making it far too easy for his brother to reach the tower. Only the lesser demons could leave the tower. If he wasn't limited to the weak Vergil would have had the greater demons out there luring his brother to him. Dante's new allies might be strong but even they would have difficulty taking down the demons that resided inside the tower.
Vergil's demon half alerted him to the presence of two people as they appeared atop the tower with him. One had pale blue hair in a mullet and he wore a brown, almost black, robe. A scythe much like the Hell Vanguard's was in his hand. It even carried the same eerily blue glow. Standing next to him was a man with purple hair that came down just past his shoulders. He had on a white coat with a black shirt underneath. His pants were black for one leg and white for the other. A throwing knife spun in his hand as he looked bored. Both of them wore the same white mask.
"Greeting and salutations." The purple haired man said as he flicked his knife up his sleeve. "My name is Gemini and my friend here is Aquarius."
"And why should I care to learn your names?" Vergil asked them.
"Ah because we've been listening to what is going on here." Aquarius answered. "We know of your little problem that comes in the form of four."
"Our proposition is this Vergil." Gemini said. "We deal with the four brats and once you open your Hell Gate, we get to accompany you through."
"The demons of this tower will wipe out the weak." Vergil stated. "I don't need your assistance."
"How about a little duel. Me versus you. I win you let honor our proposition. You win, we kill the kids anyway and then double team you and enter the Hell Gate anyway." Gemini offered.
"I like the way you think." Vergil said unsheathing the Yamato.
A knife appeared in both of Gemini's hands. These ones weren't designed for throwing but instead made for close combat. He wielded them backhand and charged the half demon in front of him. A series of faster than the eye can see slashes waves of power flew from Yamato towards Gemini. The Warrior dodge the attacks using his natural agility to keep himself safe. Closing the distance between them Gemini lashed out with one knife only to have it blocked by Yamato's blade. A smirk on his face Gemini sliced with his free knife. He expected Vergil to jump away or to try moving his katana to block teh second attack. Instead Vergil used his sheath to stop the attack.
"Is that the best you can do?" Vergil asked. "You are weak. How can you hope to kill those kids if you can't even manage to hit me?"
"We've just started to fight. Don't act like your better than me."
"It's no act. Might. Controls. Everything. Until you have learned this you cannot hope to beat me." Vergil pushed against Gemini's knives and watched him strain under the force.
Gemini grunted with effort as he tried to push back against his foe. Even with him being a half demon he shouldn't have been this strong. Gemini didn't want to admit it but he was going to have to use his real power if he wanted to best the warrior in front of him. Dropping his knives Gemini ducked under the resulting slash of Yamato. Using his powerful Wind magic he caused the fallen knives to leap into the air and rocket towards Vergil. Two quick flicks of his wrist and Vergil blocked the blades. With a growl Gemini summoned smaller knives between each finger. Throwing the almost needle sized blades he used his Wind powers to make them dance around Vergil. They never even got close as Vergil sliced them out of the whirlwind.
Inwardly Gemini smiled. His plan was going perfectly. Vergil was flicking away his attacks without care for the fact he was littering the ground with knives. Once there were enough on the ground Geminin would cause them all to fly up and pierce Vergil. He wound't kill him as they still needed Vergil to enter the Hell Gate where they could take Sparda's power for their own and use it to bring this world into darkness. Gemini kept summoning knives and letting Vergil knock them out of the air. It took all his self control to not bounce around happily as his plan fell into place.
When there were a good thirty fallen knives on the ground Gemini sent a gust of wind directly at Vergil. This succeeded only in blowing the bottom part of his coat outwards. It was supposed to have him flinch and cover his face to stop the wind from causing his eyes to water. Gemini increased the force with which the wind blew until it whipped up into a gale. Gemini's knives started to clatter against the stone and still Vergil stood there as if he was waiting for something to happen. Angered at his opponent Gemini put his plan into action and brought all the fallen knives up into a whirlwind. Even with the speed he had displayed Vergil wouldn't be able to stop every blade from hitting him.
What Gemini didn't know though was that Vegil had been toying with him from the start. Now he had grown bored with the repeated failed attacks. With unimaginable speed Vergil appeared behind Geminin in an instant. Flipping Yamato so the blade pointed backwards he thrust it into Gemini's stomach. Ripping the blade sideways through Gemini Vergil finished with cleaning his blade and sliding it back into its home.
Falling to the ground it took Gemini a few seconds to come to terms with what had just happened. He was beaten. No not beaten, he was decimated. He hadn't stood a chance against Vergil from the start. This guy could give Capricorn a run for her money. As he hit the ground Gemini just looked up at Vergil's uncaring face. It was a riot to be so soundly beaten by a guy that didn't even care. Gemini hadn't even gotten to use his full power. He took the name Gemini for a reason. He had the unique ability to split in two. It was actually a sweet move. One of him would wear all black with red hair while the other wore white with blue hair. White would use the throwing knives while black would use the knives designed for close combat. He wouldn't get the opportunity to show it off now though.
"Aquarius. Do not attack Dante. Do whatever you wish with the others though. Once they are finished leave this world or face the same fate as your comrade." Vergil said to the remaining Celestial Warrior. "They will make the entrance to the tower. Meet them there."
"Aquarius gulped before escaping into a Corridor of Darkness to fill out Vergil's command. He didn't want to get on the half demon's bad side after watching him kill Gemini with ease. Sparda's power wasn't worth his own life.
-KotH-
The group of heroes came out to a street where more demons appeared. It was populated by a few Prides the first Grim Reaper ones, Lusts the red robed ones, and Wraths the ones with the bomb on their back. The team of five dispatched of the Hell Demons with ease. As the last one turned to sand a blue energy spear appeared through Dante's chest. He was completely unaffected by the fact something was piercing his heart. Ripping the blue rod out of his chest Dante tossed it towards a new enemy that had appeared. They were stone grey, had six arms, and one large red eye. The energy spear slammed into one of the demons that Dante called Enigmas causing the monster to die on the spot. Sol could practically see Luna swooning as Dante pulled out his twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory, and shot back at the demons keeping their attention trained on him as he ran forward.
"Water!" Naminé chanted as she sent an orb of water out towards the closest Enigma.
The water spell collided with the demon causing it to stagger backwards. Roxas charged after Dante and the both reached the Enigma Luna had attacked at the same time. Bond of Flame and Rebellion sliced the six armed monster in two. Luna wasn't far behind the two guys. More Prides and Wraths appeared though stopping her from helping Dante and Roxas from taking out the Enigmas. Sol and Naminé stayed back using their long reaching magic to lend aid. Blizzards and Waters spells flew through the air drenching and freezing demons. A flaming sword, a red Keyblade, and a normal claymore sliced the Hell Demons and Enigmas sending them back to where they came from.
Sol had never had to cast so much to defeat any foe as he was having to do with the demons of this world. Luna may be flirting with Dante but Sol had to give the guy credit. He was a beast if he was taking them down with ease. A few of the Prides got close enough to Sol and Naminé that rather than casting Sol started to use Icebrand to dispatch of the lesser demons. As the last one turn to sand it registered to Sol that these demons might be resistant to his magic. Dante, Luna, and Roxas didn't seem to be having any troubles with cutting them down but it took high levels of magic to kill one of the creatures. As a mage Sol was at a serious disadvantage on this world.
"Well that looks like all of them." Dante announced.
"Where are we going exactly?" Sol asked him since Luna had seemed to have lost all her senses. Naminé and Roxas weren't exactly being helpful either. They seemed to be too scared of the world. Demons that shrieked when you killed them could be slightly traumatic. Heartless didn't make any noise when they died, they simply vanished into the darkness.
"To the tower, got a message from Vergil to meet him there. Let's just say he really motivated me to come see him." Dante answered cool as a cucumber.
Vergil's 'massage' had been a few Hell Prides that attacked Dante in his home. Their scythes had been ineffective on Dante though and had only been turned against them despite the fact the blades had been left in Dante. Any normal man would have died from the blood loss but Dante isn't exactly human. He repeatedly gets stabbed in the heart and lives to tell the tale.
"Why does your brother want to kill you anyways?" Roxas asked as they entered a building.
It was a bar that looked thoroughly trashed and everything was covered in a layer of dust. Par for the course in this world more demons popped up to assault Dante and our heroes.
"He doesn't want me dead really. This is just his way of saying hello." Dante answered as he pulled Rebellion off his back ready to fight once more.
"They really don't let up do they?" Luna observed as the Prides threw themselves at the warriors.
"Prides aren't that smart. They go for the strength in numbers approach."
Sol parried one of the scythes that came at him. He cut down the Pride demon with a few quick slashes. A flurry of swords and scythes was seen all throughout the now cramped bar. At one point Dante was thrown into a wall and knocked down a shotgun that had been hanging up on the wall. Taking it up of the ground he pulled the trigger and the buckshot came flying out spraying outwards hitting a few of the Prides.
"Cool, free gun." Dante said as he got up.
With new weapon in hand Dante used his shotgun to take out a few demons that ventured within range. Part of Sol wondered where Dante was getting the ammunition for the weapon. Maybe it was a special power that he had. He couldn't have just happened to be carrying around the right kind of bullets for a shotgun. Right now though Sol wasn't going to complain. Dante's skill with the sword and his guns was keeping them from having to fight all the demons alone.
Their luck though had just ran out. Coming out of the ground were a group of Shadows and Neoshadows. Rather than attacking the humans though they went after the demons. Inky black Heartless converged on the black robed Prides. What happened next was an abomination. The hands of the Prides became claw-like and their eyes became the pure yellow of a Heartless. They grew in size so that even Sol, who was the tallest of the group, only came about chest height on them. Each scythe blade was covered in shadows making it hard to distinguish where it was exactly. Black tendrils could be seen coming out from underneath the robes of the Pride Demon Heartless.
"Damn." Sol managed to utter before one of the Pride Heartless extended its arm out towards him its arm stretching out like a rubber band.
The grey claw grabbed Sol by his throat and started to pull him back towards the new breed of Heartless. Dante's Rebellion sliced the arm off though allowing Sol to regain his breath that had been choked out of him. If Heartless were here than that could only mean that the Celestial Warriors were targeting this world.
"What were those things?" Dante asked as he blocked a shadow scythe.
"Heartless. Beings of pure darkness." Luna answered sending out a Firaga spell to the nearest Pride Heartless while she blocked the claw of another with Flamberge.
"Great. They really made these Prides worth something." Dante smiled at the new challenge.
"How can you be smiling about this?!" Roxas yelled as he was being attacked by two of the Demon Heartless.
"Just makes it more interesting." Dante replied shooting one of the nearby foes in the mouth causing it to stagger backwards.
"You're crazy." Sol told while he cast Cura on the group. The green light healing the minor wounds they had collected.
"Aw come on Sol. When was the last time we actually worried about Heartless? They've been getting too easy." Luna chimed in. "Dante's right. Things just got more interesting."
"Blizzara!" Sol shouted sending out an ice chunk through a few of the hybrid monsters. "The demons were bad enough before the Heartless fused with them. They had a magic resistance like nothing I've ever seen. Not all of us are as physically inclined as you."
Luna dodged a scythe at the last second. "Consider this practice then." Swinging Flamberge in an overhead arc she cleaved the Demon Heartless in two.
"Can you two fight each other later?" Naminé said loudly. She couldn't really bring herself to yell at the two.
The platinum blonde Keybearer shot ball of electricity off the tip of her Keyblade and into one of their enemies.
The Pride Heartless stopped dead in its tracks as the lightning course through its body. It was paralyzed by the weak Thunder spell that Naminé had sent at it. Everyone, save Dante, got an idea in their head. Both Sol and Luna held their blades out in front of them and let lightning coat the magic weapons. Roxas and Naminé readied a set of Thunder spells to keep the Pride Heartless busy. The merge of Heartless and Demon must have weakened the demons natural magic resistance. The Thunder spells seemed to stop the bodies from being able to move freely. If the spell didn't outright stop them than it at least made the hybrid move at a slower rate. Blades and Keyblades dispatched the remaining fusion monsters with relative ease. Even with their new trick they still had to fight in a small bar against a large number.
"That takes care of that." Dante said brushing his hands off against one another.
"We should get out of here before more come." Roxas said as he panted. "I really don't want to fight more of those things."
"Agreed" Sol voiced.
There was only one other exit in the bar and it was off to the right of the way they had come in. Going back wasn't going to lead them towards the tower so they took the other door out. This door lead the to a broken street. the pavement was at an angle that lead up towards the tower. They could now actually see the base of it and as luck would have it the entrance was at the top of the broken street. There didn't seem to be any demons, Heartless, or Demon Heartless popping up to attack them so Sol asked if they could take a break. He, Naminé, and Roxas were all looking worse for the wear.
"Dante and I will scout ahead then." Luna told them."Come on Dante let's see what's inside."
Luna trotted off to the entrance to the tower with Dante following her. Dante looked like he hadn't suffered a single hit throughout the entire fight. Even his coat was still in perfect condition. Sol wanted to argue that they should stick together in case more of the hybrids appeared. Even with the Thunder spell trick they were going to be a pain to defeat if only Luna was there to cast. He really didn't have the energy or patience to try talking sense into Luna though. She smelled a good fight and like always she wanted to take part in it and come hell or high water she was going to be a part of it. Sol walked across the street and sat up against a halfway destroyed building. Roxas and Naminé came and sat next to him. Sol reached into his pockets and produced a Hi-Ether for each of them. All three of them drained the power out of the blue cube immediately feeling the effect restore their mana pool.
-KotH-
Luna walked alongside Dante as they headed to the tower's entrance. She felt bad about leaving Sol behind but he seemed to be in one of his moods. He always got that way after she had done something wrong. True it was normally after she did something really wrong like age her and a friend by two years but that didn't make it any better in her opinion. He seemed more ticked off than just that though and she was really stumped as to why. It had started not long after they had came to this word. Even in her mind she wasn't going to try saying the name of this demon infested world. She would have to ask him what was wrong once she and Dante had finished checking out the base of the tower.
Walking through the entrance Luna instantly felt a chill. Dante however didn't seem to be affected despite the fact he was shirtless. He was a man's man full of style and sass. She couldn't help but appreciate his fighting ability. His swordsman ship was the stuff out of legends. He wasn't bad looking either. The chamber that the two had entered was covered in ice. Directly across from them was a block of ice that was a good three times taller than Luna. Ice covered chains connected to whatever was in the ice to the wall. Standing on top of the ice was a sight Luna had hoped to see. One of the Celestial Warriors stood in his mask with a scythe in his hand. It was fitting that the scythe wielding Warrior was in this world.
"It's Luna isn't it?" the man asked from his perch. "And you must be Dante."
"Keen observation." Dante retorted. "Who are you?"
"Call me Aquarius. I made a deal with your brother not to harm you. But this guy," the butt of Aquarius' staff tapped against the ice underneath him, "well he has a job to do. Miss Luna if you would be so kind as to leave and check on your friends I believe they may be in need of your assistance."
Aquarius then cut a gash into the ice before he vanished into a Corridor of Darkness. Cracks appeared in the ice and the chains started to rattle as whatever was inside tried to get out. It sounded like thunder roared through the chamber as the large slab of ice broke revealing a three headed dog. Ice still clinged to its fur as it walked forwards.
"Leave now mortals. The likes of you are forbidden in this land! You who are powerless are not worthy to set foot here!" the middle head proclaimed.
"Dante. I have to go help the others can you handle this guy?" Luna asked as she was already heading towards the door.
"I can handle a talking mutt." Dante replied.
"Take care Dante." Luna said as she left the room.
Turning back to the still chained Cerberus, Dante started to taunt the monster. "You know in a dog show, you'd definitely take first place."
In rage Cerberus shot a beam of ice out of its mouth. Back flipping out of the way Dante watched as the entrance to the tower was covered in ice.
"Easy, Fido." Dante continued completely uncaring that is only exit had been sealed. "How 'bout I take you for a walk." Dante leanded over slightly and started clapping his hands like you would to call a dog to you. "Come on puppy, let's go."
-KotH-
Lightning leapt off of Naminé Keyblade and into the nearest normal Pride Demon. The monstrosity met it's end as Icebrand sliced it in two from behind. It wasn't long after Luna and Dante had left that the demons had appeared. Sol had been thankful they weren't the hybrid creatures, not that normal demons were very easy. When they had appeared Sol wasted no time in adding protection spells to the three of them. Protect and Bravery on himself and Roxas while Naminé got the addition of Faith to boost her Cure power. Sol was to drained to add Haste to the mix and he could already feel the mental strain of the buffs he did have going. Only years of mental training allowed him to keep them going as scythes hit protective barriers rather than the flesh they were meant to.
Jumping over one of the Pride Demons, Sol turned and brought an end to the demon with a quick slash. Roxas was creating a small opening around Naminé not letting the demons get close to her as she used her magic to slow the fiends down. They might have a unnatural resistance to magic but they still suffered from the side effects such as paralysis. In a flurry of metal Sol dispatched two more demons turning them into dust. As he fought Sol somehow had managed to get farther and farther away from his two allies cutting him off from help or being able to help them. Naminé's voice cut through the air as she yelped in pain. With a very colourful curse Sol unleashed a Thundaga spell out into the hoard of demons stopping them momentarily. Cutting down what he could Sol made his way to the source of the scream. Standing over Naminé who had fallen to the ground was Roxas holding both their Keyblades. Using both blades Roxas kept the demons away from him and the fallen girl.
Sol looked for the wound on her and found a large gash on he side where one of the scythes must have entered. From the look of the wound the blade must have entered her side and was pulled out the same way rather than ripping out through the front of her. Reaching into his pocket Sol took out one of the shards that he gotten at Crystal Mountains. Pulling the mana through the crystal he felt it purify into the stronger more addictive Mana. Running past Roxas who thankfully noticed that Sol wasn't a demon the mage dropped down to his knees and pressed the crystal to Naminé's injured side. Green healing magic poured out of the crystal and attempted to stitch the flesh back together. Magic could accelerate the healing process of people but it couldn't supply them with blood and Naminé had already lost a lot. The size of the wound was beyond what a normal mage could handle. If Naminé was going to make a full recovery she was going to need a specialist or a few mages working together to simply pump her with enough magic that she'd be able to heal herself.
As if they knew that a Keybearer was injured the Heartless appeared to make the situation worse. Once again they didn't go after the three heros but went and fused with the demons around them. Demon Heartless screeched into the night as they sensed the approaching death of the young girl. Sol turned and looked at the situation unfolding before him and swore under his breath. Roxas wasn't going to be able to handle all of them alone and even if Sol was able to heal Naminé she wouldn't be able to fight and he would be to drained to be of much help.
A saving grace came along with the sounds of a motorcycle. Riding the motorcycle was a woman with brown short cut hair wearing a white button shirt that fell down to her bellybutton. She had on a plaid mini skirt and knee high brown boots. A series of pouches covered her skirt and what was the most concerning thing about the woman was the rocket launcher, with a bayonet attached to it, strapped to her back. As she drove down the street she took the rocket launcher off her back and aimed it at the mob of Demon Heartless and let a missile fly right into the center. Even these hybrid Heartless had a hard time standing up to the destructive force that exploded in the center of their hoard. Sol had stared the entire time and admired the leg control the woman had to keep her motorcycle going as she fired her explosive at them.
The woman stopped her bike before jumping off of it. She produced a pistol and started shooting at the hybrids. While the rocket launcher packed the necessary punch needed to defeat the Demon Heartless the pistol had no such power. The opening she created though had bought them enough time for Luna to come running out of the tower with Flamberge in hand. The raven haired spellblade looked around as if she was expecting something else to be out here rather than just the mob of Heartless that stood before her. When she spotted the fallen Naminé her blade became coated in red flames and she made a bee line for the girl. The mystery woman noticed Luna rushing by with flaming sword in hand and had her pistol trained on Luna for a few seconds before turning it back to a nearby monstrosity and shooting it point blank in the head. At that range the handgun packed more than enough of a punch and the Pride Heartless turned to sand and black smoke as it died.
Turning his full attention back to Naminé Sol tried to fix only what he needed so that she'd at least be able to live without someone pouring magic inot her. His eyes closed as he concentrated on the open wound. Sweat started to fall down his brow as the strain of using so much magic in such a short time was taking its toll on him. Between Crystal Mountains earlier and the fighting he did on this world Sol had barely been able to recover his strength. There was a real possibility that even with using Pure Mana that Naminé wouldn't make it.
"Luna! Roxas! We have to get Naminé back to the ship! She needs more than I can do for her!" Sol shouted at his two friends.
"Great plan Sol but in case you haven't noticed there's only a hoard of Demon Heartless blocking our way." Luna responded as Flamberge twisted in the air to block one of the shadow scythes.
"What about teleporting up to it?" Roxas asked.
"Interference from the dark energy of the Heartless prevent that." Sol answered.
"What about Agrabah? Didn't you guys do it there?"
"The world was dying so light was escaping as the world went into the darkness. We were riding on that light when we teleported out."
Roxas grimaced as he unleashed his rage on a nearby foe. "So all we have to do is defeat these guys and then we can get back to the ship."
"Right. Sol keep working on Naminé. Roxas and I will handle getting rid of these guys." Luna said .
"Hurry up." Was all Sol said.
"But where would the fun in that be?" Aquarius asked appearing above the Heartless. His scythe hung blade down as the Warrior stood relaxed. "Makes my mission easier if you simply let her die here. I only have to kill the three of you then."
The sound of a gun firing alerted Aquarius to the fifth person down below. He blocked the bullet with the blade of his scythe. Turning his attention to the unknown woman below he sent a wave of energy at her. She rolled out of the way and made to shoot at him again but was soon drawn into a fight with more of the Demon Heartless.
"Now that our distraction is done with how about we have ourselves a little fun." Aquarius said as he dropped down to the street. "Defeat me and the Heartless will leave this world. Have fun finding me though!"
The three friends nodded their heads in understanding. Both Luna and Roxas moved closer to their two friends to better protect them. If Aquarius was like the other Celestial Warriors than he was going to try to attack the injured to weaken the group. It didn't seem like the Warriors liked to play fair. As they continued to fight against the demon Heartless though Aquarius never made his presence known. There were no attacks that looked like they came from something other than the Heartless. Sol started to worry about the woman who had helped them. They hadn't heard anything that sounded like her being injured but they weren't likely to hear much over the otherworldly screams of the dying Pride Heartless.
Sol could see that Luna was growing annoyed with the constant attacks from the Heartless and seeing nothing from their leader. Aquarius was playing with them by sending only his minions at them and Luna hated being taunted so crassly. Sol knew his partner and if Aquarius didn't show up soon she was going to charge in after him and that could very well be his plan. As much as Sol wanted to get up and help Roxas and Luna fight he was stuck healing Naminé. The effects of using the Mana crystal in his hand was starting to catch up with him. There was a small tingle in the back of his mind that was telling him with more power he would be able to close her wound and bring her back into fighting condition.
"Go find Aquarius!" Sol shouted at them. "Pretty soon I won't be able to help her if we don't get going now!"
"We can't leave you undefended though." Luna countered.
"I can protect us for a bit. I'll have to stop healing and simply focus on keeping her alive but I'll be able to hold them back for a few minutes. Three at most really."
"Let's go Luna." Roxas said. "If we don't we'll lose Naminé."
"Can't have you losing her before you confess your love now can we?" Luna joked.
"That's besides the point!" Roxas yelled at her.
"I can't help but notice you didn't say 'I don't love her'." Luna chuckled.
"Just GO!" Sol shouted at the both of them.
"Right." Luna and Roxas chorused.
Cutting away the full extent of the healing magic that was trying to fix Naminé Sol redirected it into forming a small Barrier spell around them. With any hope the shield would be able to hold against both magic and physical attacks long enough for Luna and Roxas to deal with Aquarius.
Roxas followed after Luna as they made their way into the never ending hoard of Pride Heartless. Where Luna's stamina came from puzzled the Keybearer. She didn't have a Keyblade to give her extra power like he did. In fact he was drawing strength from two at the moment and he could see that he was lagging behind the female warrior. Flamberge was leaving a trail of flames in the air as Luna cut down their foes with uncanny precision. Roxas had never seen her with such a serious expression on her face during a battle. Luna always had a small smile in her face when she was fighting. It made it look like she enjoyed the fight. Now however she was all business and there was a frown on her face as she slew countless monsters.
"Roxas can you see him?" she asked as they had a moments reprieve.
Looking around them quickly Roxas tried to pick out anything that seemed different. It took him only a few seconds but he was able to spot a glowing blue scythe among the mass of other scythes. Roxas alerted Luna to his discovery and she nodded as she spotted their true opponent. With a yell Luna pointed the tip of Flamberge at the blue scythe. Flames shot from the hilt down the blade and into the group of Pride Heartless turning them into ash instantly.
"Why haven't you done that before?!" Roxas shouted amazed at the display of fiery strength that his companion had been holding back.
"Flamberge needs to recharge before it can do that again." Luna answered curtly. "Let's go."
Luna didn't give Roxas any time to respond as she ran through the hole she had just created. Following after her the two came face to masked face with Aquarius. The Celestial Warrior stood ready for the two heroes to attack him. Rather than charge at him like Roxas thought she would Luna plunged Flamberge into the ground. Cracks ran out from the blade and out around them to form a circle. Flames shot into the air creating a flaming barrier much like the one Axel had created in the virtual Twilight Town when he had tried to bring Roxas back.
"No interruptions." Luna said with a smirk. "Isn't this how the Heartless fight? Create a barrier to cut off aid?"
"I see our reports on you are wrong. It seems Solaris isn't the only tactical genius among you." Aquarius stated.
"Can't spend two decades with the guy and not pick up a few tricks." Luna replied.
Aquarius swung his scythe sending a wave of blue energy towards the two. Luna rolled under the horizontal energy while Roxas jumped to the side. Luna countered by bringing Flamberge up sending her own wave of energy out, only her's was fire based rather than unelemental. Bond of Flame left Roxas' hand as he preformed a Strike Raid on Aquarius. The two front assault was dodged. Aquarius had vanished and reappeared only a few feet away his scythe held above his head. The blue of the scythe started to glow brighter as its owner charged the weapon with power. Roxas ran forward catching Bond of Flame as he moved. He swung Destiny's Embrace to point directly at Aquarius and shot a ball of water magic at him. The orb slammed into Aquarius but he still held his weapon high in the air collecting energy for an unknown reason.
Luna tried to get to their opponent before he was able to complete whatever he was trying to accomplish. Just as she got within striking distance the weapon came down forcing Luna to roll to the side lest she be cut in two. Cracks appeared in the ground around the blade much like the ones that Luna's Flamberge had created. Instead of going out and creating a wall of flames these cracks caused chunks of the street to float into the air. All three combatants were taken up into the air far above Luna's flames. Pieces of the street hovered in the air acting as small platforms.
Each fighter had their own platform at the moment. Luna looked around and found the quickest path to Aquarius and started moving from street chunk to street chunk. Roxas was ahead of her though and closing in on Aquarius. Just as Roxas went to jump to the platform that Aquarius was standing on a sheet of pavement flew in between them. Roxas was already in mid jump when he realized he wasn't going to be clearing the pavement in time. The Keybearer didn't face plant into the slab instead he ran up the vertical street. Reaching the top Roxas grabbed the top and vaulted over to land on Aquarius' platform. From the way the Warrior took a step back it was clear he had not intended for Roxas to be able to make it to him. The two males started a duel as Luna continued to try and reach them. The problem was that the platforms were losing altitude as Aquarius had to focus more on his fight with Roxas. It wasn't long before the dueling platform was to far up for Luna to jump to. She would have to trust in Roxas' ability to defeat the Celestial Warrior on his own. Luna looked down at the scene below her. Sol was protected by a clear barrier that would shine when one of the Demon Heartless attacked it. Off to the side was the woman shooting down Pride Heartless at point blank range. Jumping off her descending platform Luna landed next to the mystery woman. Pointing in the direction of Sol and Naminé she led the lady towards her friends and protection.
Roxas caught the hilt of scythe between his crossed Keyblades. The blade was only a inch or two from his face and he had to turn his head away as it gathered light. As the light erupted into energy Roxas cast Reflect sending the energy back towards the blade instead of at him. Aquarius pulled the scythe so that the blade slammed into the two Keyblades. The resulting impact cause Roxas to uncross the two weapons and Aquarius got use of his weapon back.
I don't have time to be messing around. I have to finish him off if Naminé is going to get help. Roxas thought as he started his opponent down.
Roxas flung Bond of Flame into Flame Raid. The power of the Keyblade increased the intensity of the flames as it flew through the air. After only half the distance between the Keyblade and its target the flames it had generated were licking the ground they had grown so large. Sweat started to trail down Roxas' face as he urged the flames to grow stronger. Then as a true test of his mental abilities Roxas tossed Destiny's Embrace into a Aqua Raid. This Keyblade didn't go straight out but curved like a river bend towards its target. Aquarius held his scythe out as far as he dared and blocked the flaming Keyblade. Destiny's Embrace came from the side though and drowned its target in water. The physical blow caused Aquarius' scythe to waver and Bond of Flame was free to move forward its flames turning the water of the Aqua Raid into steam. Aquarius let out a scream as the steam burned his entire body far worse than the flames alone would have.
With a rumble the floating platform started to descend. Aquarius was somehow able to withstand the pain of the full body burn and continued to stand. Roxas caught both Keyblades as they returned to him. He dismissed Destiny's Embrace for the final attack. It was a move that he had learned from his time in the Organization meant to kill off weak opponents in one hit. In his current state Aquarius easily fell into that category. Cherry blossoms fell around Roxas as he lowered his Keyblade to his side. Faster than the naked eye could see Roxas dashed forward and cut Aquarius in two. Zantetsuken was a move that killed. Aquarius died right as the street returned to its place on the ground. True to Aquarius' word the Pride Heartless vanished in a puff of black smoke at his death.
Roxas ran over to where his three friends were at. The woman who had helped them out was walking towards her bike that had been completely left alone. Looking at her face Roxas saw that her eyes were two different colours. One was red and the other a bluish-green both were wet with tears. Seeing the moisture in the woman's eyes Roxas picked up speed. He could only hope that she wasn't crying because something had happened to Naminé. Reaching his three friends Roxas could see Naminé drawing in ragged breaths. Sol looked up and nodded his head quickly. Reaching into his pocket he produced the remote for the gummi ship and pressed the button that would teleport them back to the ship. A blue glow surrounded them as they were taken back up to the orbiting ship.
"Luna. Radiant Garden or Disney Castle whichever is closer!" Sol commanded.
Luna didn't even take the time to acknowledge him and ran to the cockpit.
"Roxas see if you can't contact the others. Once Luna tells you where we're going have them meet up with us there. I think it's time we paid the Celestial Warriors a visit."
Roxas did nod his head before he followed after Luna. Still holding the Mana shard in his hand Sol used the power to lift Naminé into the air. Moving as quickly as he dared he moved the unconscious girl to her room. She thankfully hadn't locked the door and it opened as they approached. Setting her down on the bed Sol cut off the flow of Mana. Walking at a very brisk pace Sol headed towards the medicine cabinet where the really strong healing items were found. The Potions the Moogles sold weren't the best potions out there. Some worlds had better herbs and remedies that made the powers of a Hi-Potion look pathetic. going through the cabinet Sol found one of these more potent mixtures. It was from a world were monsters ruled the lands and the people had to develop such a powerful restorative salve in order to survive.
When Sol got back to Naminé's room he found Roxas be her bed. As much as he wanted to give the two a little privacy Naminé couldn't afford it at the moment. Moving to stand next to the injured girl Sol took a deep breath for what he was about to do. He had done it a few times before back when he was a sellsword. He'd done it way to often with Luna. To Roxas' surprise Sol lifted the edge of Naminé's dress so that it was above the wound. This showed more of Naminé than Roxas had been ready to see. His blue eyes went wide at the sight before him. Sol wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention and proceeded to open the jar. The contents were a blue sticky substance made from a mushroom and other various ground herbs. It's purpose was to stop the bleeding and much like magic supply the body with energy to speed up the healing process. Sol knew the paste itself wasn't going to be much help in the end but it'd allow him to get some rest.
"Out." Sol said pointing to the door once he had applied the paste to Naminé's practically white skin. "You clearly can't take your eyes off her and now's not the time to be staring. The paste isn't supposed to be covered with anything so I can't very well cover her back up."
Roxas shook his head. "No. I have to stay here with her. It was my fault after all. I should have stopped that attack from even hitting her."
If Sol had the energy he would have smacked sense into Roxas. "Not true. If you're looking to place blame then put it on me. I allowed them to separate me from you two. In case you have forgotten I've been contracted to protect Keybearers. I should have done a better job of protecting my friend and charge."
"Sol" Luna's voice came over the ships' intercom. "Disney Castle was the closest. We should be there in five hours with manual flight. Thing is I don't think I can stay awake that long. Kinda used Flamberge's power today and I'm still feeling the drain from Crystal Mountains. I did the math and it'll take nine hours on auto."
Sol mumbled a curse. Even unconscious Sol didn't want to loudly swear around Naminé. "Roxas feel up to flying a ship? The autopilot only goes at about half the speed of manual. You heard Luna she can't do it and I'm not in any better shape."
"I'm on it." Roxas said as he was already halfway down the hall. This gave him something to do to help Naminé.
Good guy. Sol thought as he collapsed from exhaustion.