Question for you all who are playing or have played the 2011 game of the year The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. How would you feel about me writing a few short stories based on that wonderful little world? It's an idea I've been toying with for a while, now.
Nehrut: (stuck on a couch with a controller in his hand) "Must play more…"
Just something I was curious about. Anyway, seeing as my game-happy OC is busy apparently looking for Dwemer cogs, I'll just do the disclaimer. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or Dreamworks. Enjoy!"
!
Chapter 117: Cleansing
"The gods deserve a proper tribute!"
Fortunately, these words weren't coming from the lips of the real Tzekel-Khan. The entire population of El Dorado had come out to see the gods off tonight, as they would leave the following morning.
The one who had spoken Tzekel-Khan's line was a child of about seven, who was wearing a large red mask and holding a wooden sword. He had a thin rope strung loosely around Bibo the armadillo's neck. Together with another seven-year old who was playing Miguel, they were reenacting the scenes at the whirlpool and ball court.
"Stop! There will be no sacrifices!" 'Miguel' said, picking the confused Bibo up and holding him out of reach of the fake weapon.
There was quiet, appreciative laughter from the crowd, and Sora's was among it. He sat on the steps of the gods' temple, around which the majority of the activity was taking place. Their entire group was also on the steps, and Miguel and Tulio were sitting on cushioned, golden thrones that had been brought to the steps.
"That kid does you better than you do!" Tulio said, jokingly punching his partner on the arm. He took a sip from the drink he held in his hand, not noticing that Miguel was wearing the same sour expression that he had been when he had seen his and Chel's kiss. "Some sendoff, huh? We'll finally get to go back home and live like kings!"
Tulio glanced over toward Chel, who was helping some children pet Altivo. Sora noticed Tanni in the little group, and waved at her. She waved back cheerily, as Chel did the same to Tulio.
The man gazed at her while slurping down his drink. Miguel responded to his partner's previous statement. "Isn't King kind of a step down from god?"
Tulio nearly choked on his drink upon hearing this. "Woah, Miguel." He laughed slightly. "We can't stay here. We have a plan, remember?"
Miguel looked at him coolly. "How about we forget the plan, hmmm?"
The other man was about to reply, when the night air was split by a ground-shaking roar.
Everyone soon discovered that the source of the noise was coming from Tzekel-Khan's temple, the roof of which suddenly burst apart from the inside like a grenade exploding.
Perched there was a huge jaguar made of stone with glowing, blue-green eyes.
As the horrible laughter of Tzekel-Khan echoed across the city, hundreds of Heartless and Nobodies joined the jaguar as it rushed down the side of the temple toward the assembled mass of people.
There was exactly one second of silence, and then two little girls screamed. But, a moment later, it was revealed to Sora that this was actually Miguel and Tulio. Despite the situation, he laughed inside.
Tzekel-Khan's voice split the night air, "Now everyone will know the truth of your 'divinities!'"
The citizens of El Dorado reacted exactly the way Sora was afraid that they would: with complete and total panic.
King Mickey rushed up the steps, and lifted his golden Keyblade into the air. "QUIET!" He shouted in a voice that quiet obviously was magically amplified. The entire crowd came to a complete halt –having been bolted out of their fear by the sheer volume of Mickey's voice. "Everybody get into the gods' temple right now! We can't protect you if you're running around in a frenzy."
The people listened to him, and rushed up the steps at the same time the off-worlders took off at high speed to meet the attackers. Several Assassins appeared around the temple to see that they made it inside and stayed safe.
"I'll take the big thing." Sora said, surfing just over the ground on the Keyboard, and aiming at the jaguar's face.
"Then we'll handle the endless hordes of evil creatures!" Nehrut said.
"Stay safe!" Mickey told them all, having just caught up with them in a surprisingly short amount of time. "Take them down!"
They met the Dark forces then, and now Sora could see the two Nobodies who must have been Cossex and Xyran at the head of the group. Nehrut went to Xyran, while Mickey went to Cossex. The rest of their party waded into the Heartless and lesser Nobodies as Sora shot at the jaguar statue.
He soon discovered that the massive creature was every bit as sturdy as it appeared. The strikes from his Keyblade against its forehead did seem to injure it, though not much, and still it continued on its path toward the gods' temple, where hundreds of people were had taken refuge.
Well, he wasn't about to let it reach them. He soared right back into its path, pooling as much electricity to Sleeping Lion as he could. It was shaking with pent-up energy as he finally cried out, "Thundaga!" and fired dozens of bolts directly into its face.
That seemed to slow it a bit. It came to a halt, letting out a slightly pained roar as the electricity crackled all around the front half of its body, scorching it and leaving blackened patches of stone.
It growled, and seemed to decide that the temple could wait. It would deal with Sora now, then move on. It swiped a massive paw at Sora, who dropped beneath it, allowing it to pass easily over his head. He struck at it with his blade as it passed by, leaving a deep gouge in it.
It was surprisingly fast, and its teeth snapped forward to chew the Keybearer up. Sora flew straight backwards, and its huge teeth barely missed him. Sora fired a few icy Blizzard spells at its mouth, but these were mostly ineffective against it, and the ice shattered against its teeth.
It chomped at him again, missing by a shorter margin this time when Sora flew backwards. Sora quickly transformed his blade into the Keyfist. He flew higher into the air, over the creature's head. He twisted himself around in the air, and shot straight down, driving his new weapon into the top of its head.
That hurt. The Keyfist left a large crack in its head, and chunks of stone flew from it, skidding down its face.
The jaguar growled, and rushed out from under the Keybearer. It jumped up at him, intending to crush him between its claws. He was able to avoid the full force of the blow, but in the process of escaping the attack, one of its claws raked across his side, leaving a large gash on his hip.
He cried out from the pain, and fell over fifty feet toward the ground.
!
Kairi, Riku, and Mickey were locked in a three-on-one fight against Cossex.
They stood on the roof of a golden building, battling back and forth amongst themselves, neither side seeming to be able to get an edge over the other.
When Mickey leapt toward Cossex, her booted heel shot out, catching him in the stomach and knocking him completely off the building. She threw her axes at either of her remaining opponents, who both smacked them away with their Keyblades.
Before they could advance toward their unarmed opponent, she was already leaping high over them to reclaim her weapons. But it was during this short reprieve from the fighting that Kairi saw Sora fall.
She felt him flickering in and out of consciousness even from this distance, and her expression became one of terror.
Riku noticed, and reacted just a moment before she could. "I got him!" He and his Guardian took to the air, shooting after the falling Keyblade Master at speeds she had never before seen them reach. Unfortunately, she was unable to see if they intercepted him, because Cossex was all over her.
Her silver blades were blurs and flashes of light as they slashed toward her from all directions seemingly at once. Several times, Kairi was forced to rapidly back away from the Nobody, lest she be cut into tiny pieces.
"Princess Pieces." Namine interjected.
Now is really, really not the time!
Kairi gathered Light to her palm, and released it at Cossex. She brought her axes together, blocking the attack, though it forced her backwards a step. Kairi ran toward her, bringing Destiny's Light down toward her head, and the blow was parried.
The younger woman slashed her blade at the Nobody's legs, and she leapt over the attack. Cossex struck with both of her weapons simultaneously, one going high, and the other going low. Kairi blocked the one moving toward her neck, but wasn't able to move away from the other in time to avoid it completely.
She ignored the pain coming from the cut across her shin, and fired Light at Cossex's chest. She dodged out of the way, and then ducked under a strike that could have beheaded her. Kairi went on a full offensive this time, striking quickly at every possible moment, and often from unexpected directions.
She pressed Cossex back to the edge of the building, and forced her to leap backwards into the streets below. Kairi followed her down (slashing through a Rapid Thruster on the way) and landed directly in front of her. She stabbed forward at her stomach, only to have the strike turned aside by the axe blades.
A pair of Soldier Nobodies rushed past either side of Cossex, both of them bringing their short swords to bear against Kairi. She blocked their matching attacks, and threw their blades off of hers. She cut the legs out from under one of them, before narrowly turning aside one of Cossex's axe blades.
Three blades struck at her at once: The remaining Soldier's, and both of Cossex's. Kairi leapt away from them, and gathered Light to her blade. She swung it, and sent a crescent-shaped disk of Light at them. Cossex was fast enough to leap out of its path, but the Soldier wasn't as lucky.
!
Nehrut now realized just how deadly an opponent Xyran was.
He and Axel were fighting the young Nobody in a large, open plaza near Tzekel-Khan's temple. Only a few Heartless and Nobodies were present, since most were participating in the battle with their allies.
Nehrut parried the strikes of two Elementalists, and cut one of them in half before Xyran struck at him with his spear. Xonem appeared between them, and caught the spear between his bladed arms (everybody was so used to his coming and going by now that it didn't surprise them anymore). Nehrut jumped over him, and brought his blade down toward Xyran's head.
He threw himself backwards, summoning Xigbar's guns, and firing as he moved. The telepath put up a barrier to block the projectiles. Axel came on from the other side, and threw both of his burning chakrams at his back.
Without even flinching, Xyran dismissed the guns, and summoned a familiar giant sitar, the head of which looked to be covered with a large mass of water. He smacked the burning weapons aside, extinguishing the fire, and sending them back at their source.
Xyran grinned, and began to play the musical weapon. Water shot all across the area from his feet, sending his opponents crashing to the ground. They had just gotten to their feet, when the water resolved itself into eight watery clones of Xyran, with featureless faces. Each one held a water spear.
Four ran toward each of them, and Nehrut ran to meet his set of them. The first one launched its spear at his face. He ducked under the attack almost casually, and drove Presul into its chest. The form harmlessly reverted back into normal water, and splashed all over him.
Nehrut rubbed the water out of his eyes just in time to duck under a pouncing Wildcat. He cut in in half when it landed, and quickly parried the scythe of an Elementalist. Two more of Xyran's clones attacked him, but they soon met the same fate as the last one that had tried to kill him.
He saw that Axel had already dealt with the other five, and charged at Xyran. He dismissed the sitar, and summoned two fistfuls of kunai. He punched at the telepath's face, and narrowly missed. He did lose a lock of hair, however.
Nehrut punched out his hand, and the Nobody flew backwards from his mental blast. He hit a nearby wall with enough force to crack it, and Axel moved in for the finisher, sending gouts of flame at him.
The supposedly doomed Xyran teleported to the other side of the plaza as the flames scorched a portion of the wall into a blackened, crumbling mass. Spear in hand, he stabbed at Nehrut's chest, and would have ran him through had he not jumped hastily backwards.
Xyran signaled the Heartless and Nobodies to leave the telepath to him, and they all turned their attention toward Axel and Xonem. Four more Assassins appeared to back them up.
Nehrut and Xyran faced each other for a moment. Xyran cracked a wry smile, and nodded appreciatively toward Nehrut's sword. "You're pretty good."
"You're not so bad yourself." Nehrut complimented. "Of course, that's mostly because your copying other people."
Xyran shrugged. "Eh, what're you gonna do?"
"Pummel you."
"Har har." Xyran rolled his eyes. "So you're telepathic, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Cool! That means I'll be telepathic!" Xyran rushed toward him, the end of his spear crackling with electricity.
"Not a chance!" Nehrut snarled. His telepathy was a gift, and he wasn't about to cheapen it by letting this random Nobody copy it. He gathered mental energy, and thrust out his hand.
The telepathic energy surged from his hand just inches from the crackling energy of the spear. This had a very unusual result that neither of them could have foreseen. The first was that the electrical energy burst from the spear, and flew in all directions in the form of thick, white-hot bolts. Heartless and Nobodies alike were struck down.
The second effect was harder to explain.
!
Nehrut was floating; at least that was what it felt like. His entire body felt numb, aside from his head, which was throbbing to the point where it was almost painful.
He opened his eyes (had they been closed?) and looked around. He saw nothing but grey everywhere, plus a few vague silhouettes that he saw as though through a heavy mist. As his senses began to return to him, the shapes began to resolve themselves.
In a few moments, he could everything perfectly. And he definitely wasn't looking at El Dorado. For miles, all he could see was rolling, grassy, bright green plains. Far, far off in the distance, he could see majestic mountains against a bright blue sky.
He seemed to be standing on a high hill, and he was looking down on what appeared to be a small herd of wild mustangs.
No, he realized. Not just mustangs. There was a pair of humans down there. One male and one female. Both of them were young.
As he watched, the two moved away from the herd and closer to his hill. Nehrut realized with a start that the male was none other than Xyran. His hand was interlaced with that of the dark-haired young woman next to him.
They came to a halt, and the girl said something to Xyran. Nehrut should have been too far away to hear them, but he heard her words perfectly.
"Just be careful, alright?"
"I will. I promise."
She practically leapt onto him then, pulling him into a crushing embrace which he returned with a hint of desperation.
"That's private!"
Nehrut turned around. A very angry-looking Xyran stood there, as well. He looked back over his shoulder, and realized that there was still a Xyran down there, locked in an embrace with the girl. Comprehension dawned on his face.
"This is your memory, isn't it?"
"You have no right to be here!"
"It's not like I meant to do it."
Xyran sighed, and lowered his head. "This is why I'm in the Brotherhood... This is why I have to capture a Keybearer."
Nehrut looked back over his shoulder again, down at the memory versions of Xyran and the girl. He was surprised. The Xyran down there looked exactly like the one in front of him. That meant he was already a Nobody in this particular memory. But he seemed to be in a relationship with that girl.
"You're worried something will happen to her her, aren't you? You're trying to protect her."
"Yes. If aiding the Brotherhood means she stays safe, it's something I have to do."
"Did you love her?"
Xyran didn't answer for a long time. His hand strayed to his jacket pocket, but he didn't reach inside of it. "I don't know... I don't exactly have a heart to love her with, do I?" He chuckled weakly.
"But when I was with her, well... I felt like I did."
Nehrut felt very sorry for the Nobody. He was in a similar boat to the one Bariss had been in when the group had first met her. Except that perhaps he had it worse. Their motivations were slightly different, but Xyran had much, much higher stakes. Bariss had found herself able to leave, but he didn't enjoy the same option.
"We can help you, you know."Nehrut offered.
"I doubt it."
"No, really. We can protect her from the Brotherhood if it needs to be done. That's what we're trying to accomplish in the first place. Peace and protection for the decent people across the worlds."
"You won't be able to get to her before Serndask does." Xyran actually looked like he might cry. "This is all I can do to make sure she's safe."
Before Nehrut could say any more, everything abruptly went black.
!
The telepath snapped back into consciousness to see Xyran crouched on his knees a few feet away from him. He himself was also on the ground, with Bariss (where'd she come from?) and Axel standing protectively in front of him. From what he could discern, Bariss had smashed her shield into the Nobody's head. The Heartless and lesser Nobodies were nowhere to be seen, though he still heard sounds of battle from elsewhere in the city.
"Stay away from him." Bariss growled.
Xyran rubbed the top of his head, grimacing. He looked quickly back and forth between Nehrut and Bariss, and chuckled slightly. "Nehrut, bro... she is really into you."
Bariss threw her sai at him, but he quickly leapt backwards, and was on his feet in a moment. He brought his spear back to his hands. He looked Nehrut in the eye.
"Please don't say anything."
He suddenly left. Just like that, he was running out of the plaza, and into another part of the city.
Bariss glared after him, but her expression softened immediately when she turned around to face Nehrut. She helped him to his feet, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He smiled slightly at the gesture, and took the hand that was on his shoulder in his own. "Fine, thanks."
"What happened to you two?" Axel asked. "You just froze in place for a moment. I was starting to get worried, and then Bariss came and smacked the guy."
"I saw his memories." Nehrut replied, gazing curiously after Xyran.
"What'd you see?" Bariss asked.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you."
"Why not?"
Nehrut shrugged, and grinned slightly. "He just asked me not to."
!
Riku snatched Sora out of the air just ten feet before he hit the ground and broke every bone in his body. The Keyblade Master was only semiconscious, and had a deep gash across his side from the massive jaguar's attack.
The huge stone cat noticed this, and raised its paw to smash the two into the ground. The stone claws were meters away, when Riku's Guardian rushed up. It stopped the attack dead using only its burly fists.
The jaguar didn't seem to have expected this, and raised its paw to strike again. In the time it took for it to do this, however, Riku and Sora were already gone.
Riku set Sora carefully down on the nearest building that hadn't been partially demolished. "Hang in there, pal." He said quickly, slapping Sora a few times on the face to keep him awake. He turned him on his side, and took a High-Potion from his back pocket. He cracked it open, and allowed the magical substances to spill onto Sora's large wound.
He watched as the magic materials did their work, stopping the bleeding and closing the wound in a few short seconds. Only a faint scar was left, and then, Sora's magic clothing repaired itself, blocking it from view.
Sora sat up, blinking rapidly. "That hurt."
"Well, that's just one of our many occupational hazards, isn't it?"
Sora got to his feet, and eyed the jaguar, which was still trying to destroy the Guardian, with little luck. "Be careful of that thing, it has a longer reach than you'd expect."
"Clearly."
Sora summoned the Keyboard, and leapt onto it. He wore a sly grin. "I've got an idea. Think you can keep it distracted for me?"
"No problem." Riku took to the air again, and was soon joined by the Guardian.
Sora watched closely. The two weaved around the massive creature's head, harassing it with quick bursts of Dawn energy to its face and upper body.
The younger Keybearer waited for a moment, and then summoned the Keyfist into his right hand. He flexed his fingers, and a Keywhip appeared in his left. This one was obviously formed from the Kingdom Key.
Sora grinned, and shot forward, gripping both ends of the whip in his left hand. He soared toward the jaguar, which was roaring loudly at Riku as he continued to pester it. It frequently lashed out at him and the Guardian with its claws, but Riku was doing a better job than Sora of avoiding them.
It didn't realize that Sora was so near. It opened its mouth wide to try and bite down on Riku, and Sora acted. He threw the business end of the Keywhip forward, launching it through the side of its mouth, and out the other. The length of its chain extended to several feet.
Sora moved over the jaguar's head, and shot back down to catch that end in his left hand. Now, he held both ends of the whip, which was locked around the jaguar's head, and lodged in its mouth. He landed on its head, and with a gesture, he shortened the length of the chain until it was taught around it.
The jaguar reeled back, realizing too late that Sora had made the Keywhip into something of a giant bridle. Sora held tight, and with his right hand (covered by the Keyfist) began bashing into its stone forehead.
It howled in pain, and not too far away, Riku applauded before sending blast after blast of Dawn into its face. The jaguar shied away from the attacks, and bit down hard onto the chain in its mouth. But the magic chains were much, much stronger than its stone teeth. All the while, Sora continued to pound it.
Far away, back in Tzekel-Khan's temple, the high priest howled in agony. He shook his body back and forth, knowing that his creature would copy the movement, and hopefully dislodge the Keybearer.
!
Miguel, Tulio, and Chel didn't realize that the fight might yet be won for their side. They took the jaguar's pained howls for roars of triumph, and feared that their new allies might have been destroyed.
And so, they didn't intend to wait around for it to find them.
"Come on! Get on!" Chel urged from Altivo's back.
Tulio leapt on behind her onto the horse's bare back, and Miguel soon followed. Chel, using the makeshift bridle that had been fashioned for the horse, urged Altivo forward, as if he actually needed to be told to. With a loud whinny, he surged forward down a side street that led out of the city.
Unfortunately, this was perhaps their worst possible course of action.
!
Even over the sounds of the city-wide battle, Sora could hear Altivo's cry, and he briefly halted his assault of the panther's head to try and see where the former warhorse was. It didn't take him long.
His very foolish riders had chosen a street that was fairly close to the fighting, and Sora could see the speedy Wild Dog and Wildcat Heartless pursuing it. Altivo was surprisingly fast himself though, and was keeping well ahead of the Dark creatures.
The jaguar noticed the horse and its riders, as well. It suddenly stopped trying to shake Sora off of him, and rushed after the horse. It trampled its way through several buildings to close the space more quickly.
In a desperate attempt to distract it from its new targets, Sora increased the force of his blows to the head as much as was possible. But now, the creature seemed impervious to the pain, so numbed was it at the prospect of taking down the 'gods.'
A handful of Aerial Knockers flapped toward the top of the sprinting jaguar's head, moving directly toward Sora. He grimaced. He only had one free hand, and he was in an awkward position to fight them.
Still, he tried, and was able to smash three of the Heartless, before one landed a hit on his chest, loosening his grip on the Keywhip by a dangerous degree.
It slipped loose of the jaguar's mouth, and Sora was forced to leap off of the creatures back to avoid the continuing blows from the Aerial Knockers.
He fell several feet before summoning his Keyboard beneath his feet. He changed the Keyfist back into the familiar Oblivion Keyblade, and cruised forward after Tzekel-Khan's jaguar, and the Heartless. He hoped that his friends could hold off the remaining enemies back in the city as they all rushed into the jungle.
The first thing they encountered was a high cliff wall with a man-made stone ramp leading up the side. Altivo rushed up first, followed by the ground Heartless that Tzekel-Khan's jaguar hadn't trampled in its enthusiasm.
Sora extended his blade toward the flock of flying Heartless flapping over its head, and shouted "Thundaga!"
Bolts of lightning shot from the tip of the black blade, incinerating the Heartless in microseconds. Not one survived.
The jaguar was too large to follow the horse up the cliff, so instead, it clawed at the side, accidentally tearing apart the remaining Heartless in its attempt to send him and the riders over the side.
It was partially successful. Large pieces of rock slid loose, and Altivo began to fall. Fortunately, one of his back hooves landed a solid kick into one of the jaguar's glowing eyes, cracking the jade it was made of. It cried out in fury, and swiped furiously at the horse.
The blow connected, and Altivo, Miguel, Tulio, and Chel went flying in all directions.
Sora poured on the speed when the jaguar raised its paw to crush the dazed Chel. He extended his blade, shouting "Blizzaga!"
A large particle of ice connected with its paw. It didn't do it much harm, but it did distract it for a crucial moment that allowed Chel to get out of range of its claws.
"Altivo!" Sora heard Tulio shout. "Get Chel out of here!"
The horse understood this command, and rushed over to the woman. She leapt onto his back, and galloped away at high speed, as the jaguar turned its attention back to Miguel and Tulio.
The two cons were running at full speed toward a narrow gap ahead of them. It was between two sheer cliff walls, and would hopefully prove too small for the stone creature to follow. The second they reached the fissure, Sora met them, grabbing them both by their collars, and yanking them forward a few more crucial meters to break into a wide open space on the other side of the cliffs.
Before them was a wide area of dark rock, which Sora thought might be rapidly cooled lava sitting at the site of some past volcanic eruption (he noticed what might have been a dormant volcano nearby). He released his grip on Miguel and Tulio's shirts, and looked through the gap they had just moved through.
Tzekel-Khan's jaguar was trying to shoulder its way through. To Sora's horror, large portions of rock began to break loose from the the cliffs on either side of it.
He didn't even bother to warn Miguel and Tulio before he grabbed them both roughly by the arms, and flew away from it, across the cooled lava. The moment he took off, there was an earth-shattering noise behind them as the jaguar knocked huge pieces of rock from the cliffs, forming a space wide enough for it to move through.
The rocks it had launched into the air plowed into the blackened lava. As it turned out, there was actually a lake of bubbling lava hidden underneath the deceptively boring surface. The debris formed massive holes and cracks in the surface, exposing the lava beneath. Gouts of the fiery liquid shot up into the air, nearly frying them as they passed.
Sora flew over it, supporting the screaming Miguel and Tulio as he did so.
The jaguar attempted to follow them, only to fall head-first into the lava with a horrified roar.
Sora smirked, and continued past the lake of lava. He carried the relieved Miguel and Tulio a short ways further. To his surprise, they had wound up right back at the platform where Tzekel-Khan had tried to sacrifice a man three days before. The giant whirlpool was still spinning in full force far below them.
At last, Sora set Miguel and Tulio down on the platform. They rubbed their arms where he had grabbed them, trying to relieve the pain his vise-like grip had left them with. "Do you work out, or something?" Tulio asked.
"I'm the Chosen Wielder of the Keyblade. I think super-strength comes with the package."
"Really?"
"I don't know; I just train a bit."
The two of them took a moment to catch their breath. "Well, even though our arms are broken, we're away from the freaky Tzekel-Khan cat."
Sora was about to make a sarcastic remark about being careful not to jinx them, but then there was a loud roar from behind them at the land-facing end of the platform. They twisted around to look, and saw the jaguar barrel into the area, and stand on the end, blocking their escape.
Sora summoned Oblivion again, while Miguel and Tulio took a few reflexive steps back, nearly falling over the edge of the platform into the whirlpool that supposedly led to Xibalba.
The jaguar growled once, and Tzekel-Khan himself emerged seemingly from nowhere to stand between its two front legs. He was smiling horribly, and his eyes were glowing in the same manner as the jaguar's.
"I know what you are." He said, his eyes losing their glow at the same moment as the jaguar's. "And I know what you are not. And you are not gods!"
They were all silent for a moment, before Tulio did something that took Sora completely by surprise. He grabbed Miguel roughly by the front of his shirt. "You're not a god! You lied to me?"
Sora gaped at them. He was about to speak, when Tulio suddenly shoved his partner away from him. "How dare you?"
"Hey, hey, it was his stupid plan!" Miguel said defensively to Tzekel-Khan, pointing an accusing finger at Tulio.
Now the high priest looked confused. "What?"
His question went unnoticed. Tulio walked up to Miguel. "Woah, woah, my plan was that we should lie low! But your plan was to run off, and be all 'Ooh, look at me, look at me, I'm a god!'"
"That's not true!"
"No! Who're you kidding? You're buying your own con!"
"At least I'm not dating mine!"
"I- Ooh, low blow..."
Miguel smirked in satisfaction, and began to walk away. He had just passed by Tzekel-Khan, when Tulio began to follow him. Tzekel-Khan made no move to stop them. Sora only now realized that his massive jaguar wasn't moving. He raised his eyebrow in suspicion.
"Listen Mr. High-and-Mighty, we'd both be sailing out of here right now with a mountain of gold if you had just listened to me!" He shoved him in between the shoulder blades.
"Well, now you've got all your precious gold, and Chel!" Miguel shot back. Tzekel-Khan turned to look at them. He was smirking now, enjoying the show. He chuckled slightly when Miguel slapped Tulio in the back of the head. "So what do you need me for!"
"Well, maybe I don't need you anymore!"
"Well, why don't you just go back to Spain, and I'll stay here? Then we both get what we want!" He shoved him.
"That's fine with me, pal!" He shoved him back.
"Fine with me, too!" Miguel slapped him, and Tzekel-Khan grinned.
"Fine!" Tulio slapped him back, and the high priest's grin grew.
"Fine!"
"Alright!" Miguel punched Tulio. There was low laughter.
Sora realized that these two were criminal masterminds just one second before Tzekel-Khan did, and he smiled widely.
"Alright!" Miguel and Tulio were about to punch each other, when their fists suddenly flew into Tzekel-Khan's face with enough force to send him sprawling backwards toward the end of the platform.
The two cons –having just pulled off an old tactic that had gotten them out of more than fifteen tight spots- grabbed a few nearby vines that had been sitting on the ground, and rushed toward Tzekel-Khan with the intention of tying him up.
Unfortunately for them, the man was not unconscious, as they had first believed. His eyes took on a horrible green glow, and he raised his hands, roaring.
The roar was echoed by the now mobile jaguar statue behind them, which pounced toward them with the intention of finally destroying them.
Sora rushed forward to place himself between the jaguar and Miguel and Tulio. He raised his hands, and cast a powerful Reflega spell around the three of them. The massive creature skidded across the transparent dome.
He heard Tzekel-Khan scream as his creation collided with him, and both of them skidded over the side of the platform into the whirlpool below. A few seconds later, there was a loud splash.
Sora lowered the shield, and rushed over to the edge to look down over the side. He saw nothing but the swirling, churning waters just as they had been three days ago. He breathed a sigh of relief, and heard Tulio chuckle weakly behind him.
He turned, and Tulio patted Miguel on the back. "That was good!"
Miguel didn't reply, and it soon became clear that what he had said to Tulio during their act had actually been partially true. He turned his back on his partner, and began to walk back down the platform in the general direction of the city.
Tulio began to follow him, "Miguel..."
Sora was about to follow them, when he stopped suddenly. He could feel something strange. There was a great Darkness nearby, and they were all in danger. Slowly, he turned around, and looked back over the edge of the platform into the whirlpool.
There was something moving in there.
Something very, very big, and glowing green.
Sora twisted back around, "RUN!"
Miguel and Tulio looked at him curiously just as the huge creature burst from the whirlpool, water streaming off of it. The massive jaguar had doubled in size, and there were now mosaic patterns of the same glowing green color as its eyes all over its body.
It landed on the platform, which shook under its feet, but didn't give way. It gazed down at Sora, who was mere feet away, and opened its mouth wide.
Sora was slightly repulsed to see Tzekel-Khan inside its gaping mouth. His back seemed to be connected to thin, glowing green cords that ran down the jaguar's throat. He had somehow acquired the skull mask that he had worn during his attempted tribute, and his eyes were glowing green once more.(1)
The Keybearer was reminded of how Xehanort's Heartless had merged himself to World of Chaos during their final battle. Tzekel-Khan looked rather like that now.
The high priest smirked. "I will cleanse this city, starting with you."
Sora looked calmly back up at him. "Miguel, Tulio, back away a little, and watch me turn this statue into rubble."
The two men backed away slowly into the temple entrance that was built into the mountain. Tulio moved about twice as quickly as Miguel. "Are you sure you don't want us to get help, Sora?" Miguel asked slowly.
Sora snorted, and looked up at Tzekel-Khan with a smirk. "So you've made yourself more powerful. Well, I can do that, too."
He clapped his hands together, hard. "Light!"
He let off a great flash of blinding energy. And when the light faded, Sora was floating a few inches above the ground. His clothing had become bright silver and white. His shoulders and legs were black, with a swirling white pattern that resembled wind. This was the apex of Sora's power thus far: Final Form.
Two Keyblades were floating in the space directly behind him. The first was Oblivion. The second was a new one. The shaft was pure gold, and resembled the horse-like creature that had been present on the gods' tablet. The teeth of the key were the heads of the horse and gods. The guard was shaped like an eagle (also gold) with its head at the pommel of the blade. The Keychain hanging from the end was a tiny reddish ball with eyes, which looked suspiciously like Bibo the armadillo.
'The Trail We Blaze.'
Sora allowed the overall effect of his transformation sink in for a moment. He felt, more than saw Miguel and Tulio's jaws drop. He chuckled to himself when Tzekel-Khan scowled at him. The jaguar's mouth closed, obscuring the high priest from view once more.
He raised his claw, and brought it down hard onto Sora –or tried to, anyway.
Sora was already gone. He had moved with such speed that he had temporarily vanished from view. He had moved backwards, and now made a single gesture with his hands. His two Keyblades flew forward without him even having to touch them.
The two weapons sliced into the stone creature's wrist three times each within one second, tearing off great pieces of the stone that composed it. Greenish light burst forth from the 'wounds' as the Keyblades flew back to Sora, who didn't even need to catch them.
Tzekel-Khan howled, and charged at Sora, his huge paws cracking the stone platform. Sora leapt directly toward him, landing on his head. He flew down his stone-ridged back, his Keyblades slashing back and forth across it as he made his way to the other side of the massive thing.
He shot out over to the center of the pit, and hovered high over the whirlpool. His Keyblades spun slowly around him, and they both seemed to be glowing with faint silver light. Sora extended a hand, and beckoned to Tzekel-Khan challengingly.
He stomped his front paws down onto the ground with a roar, and green light extended out across the pit. It soon solidified into a greenish platform of glowing mosaic patterns. The jaguar almost seemed to smile as it rushed out onto this new platform, and leapt at Sora.
The Keybearer shot directly toward him, his blades spinning quickly around him. But this time, Tzekel-Khan was the one who moved out of the way, stopping abruptly, and leaping nimbly to the side of the attack.
Sora twisted in the air, and both of the blades flew horizontally toward the creature's face in wide arcs. They struck across his brow, narrowly missing his glowing eyes. This time, he didn't wait for his blades to return to him, and shot forward to snatch them from thin air, and drive them both into the jaguar's forehead.
He rushed away from it before the creature could react to the attack, and hovered just outside of his reach. Tzekel-Khan shook his head as though trying to ward off the pain that he had just inflicted on him.
He then opened his mouth, revealing the human within once more. Tzekel-Khan was holding a large glowing ball of green energy between his hands, and it was pulsing with inner power.
With a shout, he released the energy in the form of a broad beam, rushing toward the floating Sora with a loud roaring sound.
"Refleja!" Sora exclaimed, rushing directly into the beam as the magical barrier formed around him. The energy flooded over the protective bubble he had made, only succeeding in stopping Sora's charge at Tzekel-Khan.
Sora waited for the blazing attack to end, and then let the shield drop. Tzekel-Khan seemed surprised to see that he was still alive. The Keyblade Master spun his blades around him, their points aimed at the sky. "Thundaja!"
Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed overhead. Dozens of broad bolts of lightning streaked from the cloudless sky, striking all over Tzekel-Khan's stone body. Chunks of the jaguar's body fell loose, crumbling to the magically created floor he had created moments earlier.
He had just recovered from the massive electrical attack, when Sora went back on the offensive. He landed on the ground, and sprang toward Tzekel-Khan's face. His Keyblades spun rapidly around him, carving away great chunks of the face, leaving great scars in the stone.
Sora continued up his head and neck, and stopped in between his front shoulder blades. His blades floated out to either side of him, with their points facing down. They spun in place, and great gouts of silver light blasted down into the jaguar's back, sending him crashing to the ground with a wail of agony.
The Keybearer leapt away from the injured creature, as he got wearily back to his feet. It wasn't yet defeated. It opened its mouth again, and the human part of Tzekel-Khan shot out his hands. Dozens of balls of green energy shot from his fingertips, screaming at Sora at high speed.
Refusing to back down, Sora twitched his fingers, and his floating weapons shot away from him to strike a few of the blasts. The energy exploded against the magic metal of the Keyblades, and then both of them shot in a completely new direction to collide with a new blast. Out of all of these blasts that Tzekel-Khan sent at him, only one came close to hitting Sora, and he easily slid out of its way.
The jaguar growled, and rushed toward Sora with a slight limp. Sora summoned his Keyblades back to him, and waited for him to arrive. In seconds, the creature was looming over him. He brought his claw slashing down to swipe him away.
Sora didn't even flinch. He shot forward, blades spinning blindingly fast around him, and tore apart the jaguar's wrist, completely separating his paw from his leg. Before Tzekel-Khan even had time to react to this, Sora was shooting high into the air. Light gathered around him and his spinning blades.
Tzekel-Khan roared in pain and fury, and looked up at Sora. He had reached the peak of his ascent, and was completely covered in bright silver. He was painful to look at.
With a shout that echoed for miles, he shot down at Tzekel-Khan like a meteor. He struck the base of the jaguar's neck with enough force to break completely through his neck –severing his head, plowing through much of his chest, and cracking the magically created ground open.
The ground shattered, and the fragments of the stone jaguar fell through the remains, hurtling toward the whirlpool far below. Sora flew out of the way of the destroyed jaguar and back toward the platform where Miguel and Tulio now stood. As he did, he could hear Tzekel-Khan's terrified, disbelieving screaming.
It came to an abrupt halt when the stone jaguar's head struck the water.
!
"That's that." Xyran muttered, with a shrug.
He and Cossex stood on the opposite side of the pit, and had watched the entire battle between Sora and Tzekel-Khan.
"If we don't go up against him now, I don't think anyone would blame us." Cossex noted. "If that form could defeat that beast in about five minutes, he'd probably be able to defeat the two of us."
"It's just a matter of self-preservation." Xyran agreed. Then, a strange look passed over his face. After a moment, he reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out an interlocked pair of silver charms, linked together by their chains. Each one was marked with the silhouette of a running horse.
"And I could 'accidentally' drop these..." Xyran muttered.
A small portal opened in front of him, similar to the sort that Xigbar had used on occasion. He gave the charms one last look, and tossed them inside.
Cossex looked at him curiously. "What were those?"
"I found them earlier." Xyran grinned slyly. He opened up a corridor of Darkness behind him. "Let's blow this place."
!
Sora touched down on the platform, and reverted back to his normal state. His clothing turned back from silver to black, and he let out a long breath. Using that form even for a few minutes always tired him out. The power it granted however, made it worth it.
He chuckled at the awe-struck expressions Miguel and Tulio wore.
"Tha... tha tha- uh..." Tulio stuttered.
"...was amazing?" Sora finished for him, receiving a dumb-struck nod in return. Sora looked down, and noticed an odd pair of interlocked charms sitting on the ground before him.
Were those there before?
As he bent down to pocket them, he heard somebody shout, "Over here!"
The three of them turned toward the direction the voice had come from. On the far edge of the platform, there were people gathering. Each of them were filled with awe and joy. They started cheering, and rushed forward toward their heroes.
They were lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd, and Sora soon found his friends in the midst of the mob.
"I take it you did all the work?" Axel asked.
"Duh." Sora replied with a slightly smug grin.
Chief Tannabok madehis way up to Miguel and Tulio, and crushed them in a massive bear-hug instantly. When he released them, Miguel said to him, "I've decided to stay!"
Tannabok beamed, even as Tulio, Chel, and the others looked at him in surprise. "This is wonderful news! What a glorious day for El Dorado!" He raised his voice to where the whole crowd could hear him. "Lord Miguel has decided to live among us!"
The crowd rushed forward toward Miguel, practically ignoring the others in his midst. They were soon escorting him away from the site of the whirlpool, leaving Tulio, Chel, and the off-worlders behind.
"Are you okay, Tulio?" Kairi asked.
He definitely wasn't. His expression was one of intermingled betrayal, sadness, and anger. He couldn't seem to decide which expression he wanted to go with, so he settled for none of them.
"Everything's fine." He replied flatly.
!
I've been waiting for quite a while to write a scene with Final Form. That was way too fun to use in KH2.
1) Inadvertantly inspired by Ansem in the final boss battle of KH1, I think… Woops!
Well, leave a review please!