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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Twenty-Seven - Lumina Cross

Kai wrapped his arms around Kaoru’s limp form and focused all his energy on slowing their freefall toward the courtyard below. He felt the darkness surge in him, answering his call and command as readily as it always had. A violet glow suffused the air around them, pushing out on all sides until it formed a translucent sphere about five feet out from their bodies. The sphere touched the ground first, cushioning their impact. Kai remained suspended in the air for a minute, then the sphere broke and he landed on his feet. He immediately went to his knees, still holding tight to Kaoru.
Kai looked up toward the hole in the wall that they had been forced out of, letting out a soft breath of surprise they had survived the attack and the fall. Kai remembered a glimmer of golden light surrounding them, but as soon as Kaoru passed out, that golden shield had vanished. He looked down at Kaoru’s face. Unconscious, he looked small and frail. He didn’t look for one minute that he could wield a Keyblade, being so wire thin. Kai lifted a hand and brushed a stray strand of blonde hair away from Kaoru’s closed eyes, wincing as he felt a spark pass between his fingers and Kaoru’s skin. It was the same sort of feeling Kai had had when he’d first laid eyes on Kaoru, and when he’d first touched Kaoru. Just from that little bit of contact alone, Kai had somehow known that if he had just asked, Kaoru would help him. The Light’s vaunted warrior, aiding a being steeped in darkness. It was laughable.
But Kaoru hadn’t been what Kai had expected him to be.
Kaoru had been steadfast in his conviction, a constant presence by Kai’s side whether Kai wanted it or not. He had been there not only to stop Kai from making a huge mistake, but to protect Kai as well.
“I didn’t expect the little Keyblade brat to be that powerful.” Secundus’s words broke through Kai’s reverie, making his shoulders tense and his heart pound. “I can’t believe he managed to stop it.”
The world tipped from technicolor to monochrome for Kai, bright flashes of color coming only from the bright glows of hearts. Kai turned his gaze from Kaoru - who, glowing bright with the protection of his Keyblade, actually hurt Kai’s eyes - and focused on Secundus.
The man floated maybe a foot or so off the ground. Eight black tendrils grew out of his back on either side of his shoulders in mockery of wings, hanging limply down like thick willow tree branches. Every now and then the tendrils twitched as if they were alive. Secundus’s skin was a pallid white in Kai’s vision, with cracks around his eyes that showed deep, sickly black. And his eyes themselves were just deep, dark, black pits of nothingness with a sickly purple glow. Kai held Kaoru closer, absolutely certain that he didn’t want Secundus to touch him.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, oddly enough, teased the thought that holding Kaoru so close didn’t actually hurt anymore.
“The light is only as powerful as the person who believes in it is.” Kai replied, his voice as soft as thunder.
Secundus’s brow rose. “You don’t still believe that drivel, do you, Kai? Look at you. A being of pure darkness, steeped in hatred and suffering. I can see it now, what you really look like. I guess I have that brat to thank, introducing me to these new powers of mine.”
“Kaoru didn’t do anything except keep me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”
“By doing what? Killing me? Giving in to the rage and hate that makes you so strong with the darkness? You can’t defeat me otherwise.”
“Yes, I can. I can defeat you with my own darkness.” Kai wasn’t sure if Rinally and Ioshua would be coming out soon, but if he wanted to fight Secundus, then he would have to let Kaoru go. That would mean Kaoru would be vulnerable.
“Your own darkness? Don’t make me laugh, boy.” As if to accentuate his statement, Secundus really did throw back his head and laugh. “There is no such thing as personal darkness. There only is darkness. Just like there is only light. You either have one or the other. I can see that little Keyblade brat is chock full of light. That’s how he survived, isn’t it? His light was strong enough to beat back my darkness. Well. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Kai snarled. “Don’t you dare touch him.”
“And what are you going to do? Protect him? The darkness fears the light! It runs from it, it fights it, destroys it if it’s capable! You said yourself you’d kill him if he interfered, so do it! Rid us of that Keyblade and that light. You’d be doing the world a favor.”
Kai bared his teeth and pulled Kaoru closer to him. “You’re wrong. Darkness can’t exist without light. Darkness doesn’t fear the light; it’s light’s closest companion. Everywhere light is, so is darkness.” Darkness is light’s sanctuary. That’s what Kaoru had said.
“Is that what he told you?” Secundus pointed at Kaoru. The tendrils that cascaded from his back twitched with violent motion. “He’s going to tell you anything he can to get you to keep from embracing your true self. Just being near him pains you, doesn’t it? All you have to do is give him to me. I can end your pain.”
“Don’t touch him.” Kai snarled.
Secundus’s face twisted and became ugly with rage. “You’re more like me than you want to admit, Kai. Protect that boy all you want, but you won’t be able to defeat me. Not now. I’ll kill you both!”
Kai pulled Kaoru up further into his arms and leaped away as Secundus attacked, those tendrils whipping out toward the spot where they had once been. The tendrils crushed the stone into pebbles, then shot toward Kai with lightning speed. With his burden, it was all Kai could do to dodge, narrowly avoiding being struck by those tendrils. He knew that he couldn’t run. He had brought himself to this entire moment with the intention to kill Secundus, so he couldn’t give up now. And, despite everything Kaoru had told him, Kai still wanted to kill Secundus, to avenge his parents and the countless other people that had suffered under the Princep’s hands. At the same time, he also knew that if he didn’t defeat Secundus now, then the man would be free to destroy Lumina Cross and anyone else who decided to oppose him. Kai set Kaoru gently down against the wall of the Residence, staring at the blonde’s face. Even unconscious, Kaoru still glowed gently with light. Kai decided he was going to protect it with everything he could give.
Kai pushed away from the wall and Kaoru, spinning to charge straight for Secundus. He didn’t have a weapon, like Secundus did, or a Keyblade, like Kaoru did, but he was far from helpless. He dodged away from the tendrils as they rocketed toward him, his own darkness rising from his skin to form a shield that deflected the closer tendrils away from him. At the last second, Kai changed directions, getting around behind his enemy before dancing backwards, a great cloud of darkness growing around him. Secundus burst out laughing and chased after him, apparently deciding that dealing with Kai first was more beneficial to him. Kai allowed himself a smirk, continuing to retreat until Secundus was far enough away from Kaoru. Then Kai attacked.
His first attack was an exploratory one, weak for all of its speed. He wanted to see what Secundus’s defenses were like, where the weakness in those defenses were, and how hard he would have to hit those defenses to break through. The glittering violet spears of darkness that had formed from the cloud surrounding Kai were batted away by Secundus’s tendrils as if they were annoying gnats. Then those tendrils sped toward Kai with the intent to gore him. Kai dodged low, rolling to the side to escape those tendrils. The ground erupted as they impacted, sending up a cloud of dust and debris. Kai charged forward while those tendrils were working themselves out of the ground and attacked Secundus as soon as he was close enough. His fist found Secundus’s mouth and snapped his head back. Before Secundus could recover, Kai dropped low and swept the man’s feet out from under him, then took a handful of the darkness that surrounded him and stabbed down with it.
He missed Secundus only because the man suddenly shifted and thrust his hands toward Kai’s chest. The fierce explosion of darkness between them sent Kai flying away from Secundus. Kai landed on his back, rolled heels over head, and came to rest on his stomach. He spat out a glob of blood and pushed himself up to his knees. As he gained his feet, so did Secundus, the man’s lips split in a leering grin.
“Do you really think you can beat me?” Secundus said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“I know I can.” Kai replied. He straightened, holding his left hand out behind him. His fingers curled as if over a hilt, and he hunched his body slightly, making his center of gravity lower to the ground to add more speed to his attack. His foray had shown him just how vulnerable Secundus actually was. Now he just had to exploit it.
Secundus held out his hand and made a ‘come here’ gesture. “I’ll give you one more shot, boy. Then I’ll put you down. But I won’t kill you right away. I want you alive so you can see me destroy the little Keyblade brat and Ioshua.”
For once, Kai forced his anger down into a tiny little sphere in the center of his soul. He refused to let his anger control him this time. He refused to let his hate for Secundus control him this time. He found himself in the calmest state he’d ever found himself in, and Kai could see the strands of foul darkness that were attached to Secundus’s body. He had never been able to see darkness before, least of all from another person. He could see the sickly strands of deep green and thick purple that pulsed outward from the man’s soul, taking physical form in the shape of those tendrils. There was a sort of clarity to the world that Kai had now had that he didn’t have before. He ruled the darkness; it no longer ruled him.
He pushed off with his left foot, rushing toward Secundus faster than he’d even run before. The man was ready for him, though, and those tendrils lashed toward him lightning fast, one after the other. Kai dodged and rolled and ducked and danced through the assault, his left arm moving as if it wielded a blade rather than just a solid cloud of blackness. He felt resistance when he slashed across a tendril with his own weapon, and then he sliced clean through it, making Secundus howl in rage and pain. Kai continued on, cutting through another tendril and slicing a third. And then he was before Secundus, within the man’s guard. Kai met Secundus’s eyes and thrust his darkness toward the man’s chest.
Their two darknesses clashed with thunderous noise. Both were thrown back from each other, crashing into the ground where they lay stunned for a time. Secundus recovered first, letting out a terrible bellow as he attacked Kai with his remaining tendrils and a blast of darkness that was filled with terror, hate, and rage. Kai threw up a hand to try and block the tendrils and raging darkness with a shield of his own, but at best he only managed to deflect the tendrils. The darkness hit him full on, bypassing his shield as if it didn’t exist and striking his body with tempest force. He felt his body lifted up by that power and slammed back down, and Kai let out a shrill scream as he felt Secundus’s darkness trying to consume his own.
A bright light, shimmering with prismatic colors, appeared in Kai’s peripheral vision then. Secundus threw up his arms to shield his eyes, yelling. Before the light, the darkness retreated, leaving Kai panting on the ground. His pain lasted only for a moment, for the light filled him with strength that chased away the hurt that Secundus had inflicted. As the light grew stronger, so too did Kai’s darkness grow stronger in response. Kai pushed himself upright, then grasped the hand that was offered to him.
Kaoru looked up at him with a bright smile. Kai’s lips twitched into a smile in return. “Took you long enough.” Kai said.
Kaoru shrugged, though he didn’t look too apologetic. “Sorry. I would’ve been here to back you up sooner, except for the fact I was unconscious.”
“Shut up and help me.”
Kaoru shrugged and fell into stance, Guardian appearing in his hands. Kai assumed his stance as well, his left hand once more gripping onto that invisible hilt. Secundus glared at both of them, his face twisted and broken in a mask of rage. The man shrieked, his body undulating and growing as the darkness inside him suddenly began to push its way out, pulsing with a sickly pallor. Kaoru rushed forward, intending not to let Secundus finish his transformation. Kai was right behind him. Secundus raised a bulbous, darkness-infested arm and swung it toward them. Kaoru ducked under it while Kai went over it, and they continued their forward momentum. Kaoru struck with Guardian, the Keyblade cutting deep into the darkness that was pulsing around Secundus’s body. Kai attacked as well, his left arm flashing back and forth lightning quick.
Secundus roared in pain and lashed out at the boys, sending them backwards with a powerful blow. Kai hit the ground and somehow managed to stay upright, cursing softly under his breath. Kaoru wasn’t so lucky. He hit the ground and his legs gave out from under him, throwing him to the ground. He lost his grip on Guardian as he did so, and the Keyblade vanished in a starburst of light. The monster that was Secundus focused on the fallen boy and bellowed, raising its arms for an attack that would squash Kaoru into a messy puddle. Kaoru looked up, watching those hammer-like arms come toward him faster than he could dodge.
Then Kai was there, holding up his hands, the fingers of his right hand splayed, the fingers of his left hand clamped around something, as if that would shield him and Kaoru.
Kaoru heard Rinally cry out, but she wouldn’t be able to reach them in time, no matter how hard she tried.
Kai let out a shout, just a wordless cry of defiance. The darkness swirled around him and Kaoru, sparking here and there with a white and violet hue. The dome of darkness with tints of light swirled closed around them at the last second, and when those sledgehammer fists hit the shield, the tremor cracked the stone beneath their feet and Kai winced from the pain of the blow. But the shield held. Then Kai swept his left hand down and away, and the darkness solidified in his hand, a myriad of colors. And from them formed a beautiful Keyblade, its blade deep black with violet veining, about three feet long and ending in a hooked blade. The guard was shaped like wings half-unfolded for flight, and had upon them glittering white gemstones, like a reflection of light deep within the darkness. He held the weapon in a reverse grip, with the blade pointing behind him.
Kaoru shoved himself to his feet and called upon Guardian, the gold and white Keyblade materializing in his hand. As if in response to the presence of Guardian, Kai’s Keyblade began to emit a diffuse violet glow. Kai glanced at him, his eyes now a warm emerald green rather than the Heartless black and gold they were before. On Kai’s left shoulder and forearm rested armor much akin to Kaoru’s, only being black and violet instead of gold and white. Both pieces still seemed to glow with a light all their own.
Then they focused on the monster Secundus had become, tightened their grips on their Keyblades, and rushed into battle, darkness and light, side by side.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn