Tear in The Silk:
Screaming. Shouting. Crying. It all violated his ears and he was unable to stop them.
Because he hadn't been able to keep up with Eraqus, he was being carried on his back, leaving him to do all the work. But he didn't complain about it at all. He was too focused in keeping him safe.
Xehanort looked behind them and saw the battle draw near. Faster than they were going. Soldiers left and right flooded the streets, civilians were being evacuated, and the sun burned brightly. He tightened his grip around Eraqus.
Then the raven took a sharp turn into an alley, just barely avoiding the crowds that caught up to them. His silver eyes watched as children, elders, and parents raced down the steep hills of Scala ad Caelum who almost unable to keep their footing. He turned to the one behind him. "Are you alright, Xeha?"
The latter was stunned momentarily before he nodded, wiping the left half of his face. "I'm okay. Just a scratch."
Eraqus narrowed his eyes and set him down to inspect. Those piercing eyes remained on the cut on his cheek, seemingly wishing the person who did it would just disappear. Maybe he actually did want it to be true. He bent down a little and leaned his forehead on one of the 'X's on his shoulder. The cut stung as his hair brushed against it. But then he began to hum.
He paused before he continued. "Xeha, do you mind covering your eyes? Maybe your ears too?"
It was already hard enough to hear him through the shouting but he obliged anyway, tightly closing his eyes and bringing his hands to his ears. Eraqus leaned into his face, allowing him to feel the vibrations of his vocals. The stinging gradually began to fade after each second and soon enough, it was completely gone.
When he felt him move away, he opened his eyes.
He didn't ask and he didn't answer. The two exited the dark alley and ran with the crowd with hands linked tightly together. The people were persistent. Half ran away while the other rushed towards the wreckage.
Their grips couldn't hold on any longer and eventually, were torn apart.
Eraqus turned in shock and shouted his name, only for it to be washed away by the other sounds and down the kingdom. Xehanort was pushed back up. Back to the occuring battle.
"Eraqus!" he yelled. It was almost a scream. Then, there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Hurry, Xehanort. We have to leave." The silver flipped his head around and saw a strange brunette who held strikingly resemblance to Vanitas. Besides the hair color and attire, he would've thought it was his friend that had left the other day. "I'll explain everything once we're out of here. Stay close," said the stranger.
His instincts were rarely wrong so he followed after glancing back one more time. He thought he saw someone else grab Eraqus.
Once again, he ended up at the square where the dance was held during the festival. It wasn't as crowded as the streets but there was still a lot of people. The brunette turned towards him again and stared with sky blue eyes. "Call me Sora. I'm one of Vanitas' brothers and this kingdom really needs your help."
✖
Vanitas stared at Roxas with a suspicious eye. "So you're telling the truth?"
The blond got off of the rails and turned towards him with indifference. "Tell me; do I look like I'm lying? I clearly look like Ventus don't I?"
The onyx bit his lip, obviously unable to refute that. "If you were always at the tavern, how come I've never seen you before? It was almost like you've never existed," he muttered with confusion.
Roxas hummed. "The forest is filled with mist, is it not? I've been there for so long that my ability has taken over nearly a fourth of the area and you always are affected the most. It isn't that hard to manipulate someone when they're almost half dreaming."
"So you're saying that I overlooked you every time I came over? Why didn't you let me know you even existed?"
Vanitas had ran out of energy to yell and was easily frightened by his sharp glare. "Orphans," he said. "Every single one of us were taken from by their own family, left for dead. Many from the silver kingdom and very few from the bronze. I'm sure you've read up on some history, right?"
He nodded, looking down at his boots. "Kids were removed from families in order to take part in wars. The previous king of Scala ad Caelum came to a disagreement and then the Silver King waged war. In the end, there were no results. The king died, replaced with a new king but that one vanished with his son. At the same exact time, the Silver Prince remained hidden within this kingdom and the war ceased momentarily."
The one standing over the bridge smiled. "Well, I'm glad you had it better than me, Vanitas. Don't get me wrong, you're not to blame for leaving me behind because I knew they were trying to protect us. You were just too clumsy is all. To be spotted by that bastard of a king must've sucked."
"Yeah it did," he laughed. "Every time I saw him fight intruders, I'd lose my confidence to jump in immediately. I just didn't have that strength when it came to it."
Then, Roxas came over to pat his shoulder. "Sora should be at the square right now. Once you find him, he'll tell you where Ventus is. But be careful right now. As you can see clearly, there's a very big riot going on up there. If you need a weapon besides those twin blades, the watchtower has many to select from."
That smile seemed contagious. He wasn't sure if it was his ability or he was just genuinely feeling happy. Vanitas couldn't help himself as he stepped forward and gave his lost brother an awkward hug. One down, two more to go. "Thank you, Roxas," he said before turning on his heel and jumping on the rails to avoid running through the crowd.
Roxas was left completely flabbergasted.
Although the knight ran with complete balance and attention, a specific voice and name caught his ear. Down in the wave of bodies, a person waved his arm towards the opposite direction, yelling out the name "Xehanort". His blue eyes turned and spotted the silver haired individual right away. He was being taken the other way by someone else. Vanitas knew exactly who it was.
The non thief or the silver damsel in distress? It wasn't a difficult choice. He leapt from stall to stall, making his way to the raven in no time. Xehanort had someone reliable with him right now.
"Eraqus," he called, grabbing onto his arm. The one who had his name called spun his head around.
His silver eyes widened before he gripped his wrist. "You have to help me find Xehanort." There was strong desperation in his voice. "I can't leave him alone out here when he's a walking target."
"Eraqus!" he repeated louder. "We have to get to the watchtower. There's no way you're going to be able to protect him in your state and I seriously doubt he'd want you to sacrifice yourself."
"But—"
"Come on! The sooner we get them, the faster we'll get to come back. I know where he is and I'll take you there once we're finished. He's in very good hands right now."
Vanitas didn't have the time to wait for an answer so he pulled harder and guided him through. It wasn't hard to maintain a grip because of his extensive training but every minute, he would feel Eraqus tug back on him. Yes, he knew that feeling and he was feeling it now. But they would have to wait to be reunited.
When they were out, they began to dive into a dead sprint. The tower looked so far but it got closer and closer with each leaping step. He was surprised Eraqus could even catch up.
"Isa!" he shouted. The blue haired male, was already staring at him as if expecting them.
He gestured to the open hatch. "Plenty."
Vanitas stood silent while Eraqus hopped straight into it. "Celtic, no. Gladius, no. No, no, no. Oh, here, take this Vani," he said holding up a blade. It was curved and ended with a very sharp point and there was a keychain connected to it. It looked like a gear. "It's a scimitar. I think it'll suit you."
The onyx hesitantly grasped the hilt and swung it. "Wow, these types of swords really exist?"
Isa smiled. "Of course they do. Have you found anything, Eraqus?"
Just then, he popped up from the ground and crawled out with a very thin weapon in hand. Vanitas had almost mistaken it for a spear. "Yeah, I got what I need! Let's go!"
Only then did Vanitas realize that Isa had left. Actually, no one else was up here except him and Eraqus. "I guess they already headed out for battle."
"We should too," he said linking the sword to his waist.
He nodded, inserting the scimitar in its scabbard. "Right."
They didn't even bother to go down the stairs and instead launched themselves from the edge and landing on a building. They were quite fortunate to have very little houses with shingles.
And again, Eraqus was able to keep up with him. He was swinging from railings, hopping up and down crates, and flipping from rails. He couldn't help but be shocked
"H-Hey, wait up!" When had he get so far?! "You don't even know where it's at!"
That made Eraqus skid across the floor as if it just occurred to him that he was clueless. "Uhm...Lead the way?"
Vanitas sighed out in relief, waving his arm as a gesture to follow him. The onyx used the scimitar in his hand to cut ropes, swinging to the other side of the road and landing at their destination, Eraqus dropping right beside him.
"Where is he?" he asked hurriedly.
He didn't know how he had grown to be so attached to him this quickly and right now wasn't the time to tease him about it. From the corner of his eye he saw a male with brown hair kneel down to pat someone's head. It was his brother. It was Sora.
What stopped him from running over to tackle him down was that a certain silver was sitting on the floor an arm covering his eyes. He was trembling. Crying.
"It'll be alright." He barely heard the words that came from Sora's lips. "It's not your fault, I promise."
Out of nowhere, a knight in violet pink armor stepped next to Sora. She removed her glove and looked at him, waiting for approval. The brunette nodded with a sad smile and patted the silver's hair again. This time he couldn't hear what he said as the pink knight came down, also saying something that was inaudible.
He knew Sora's ability but his body didn't want to move.
"Xeha?" muttered Eraqus.
✖
Xemnas backed away from the point and struck hard at the blade, feeling the vibration as they linked. The bridge they stood on had cracks and craters littered across its surface as the water rose and splashed against it.
"Where's the Moonstone, Xemnas!?" Ansem exclaimed with pure rage.
"I'm done waiting for you too take away what's precious to me!" He spun and aimed the sharper ends at his legs only to be parried. "Even if you managed to get your hands on it, it would never obey your command."
In unison, they stepped back and had a staredown. "Is it because of that thing you call 'son'? Face it, that thing was born to kill! After everything, you still know nothing."
"SILENCE!!"
All of a sudden a ray of blue light shot into the sky. One was located in the town square and the other at the top of the castle. Noon was coming and the moon was still full. It seemed that both of them had realized this at the same time and began to fight their way to the closest location: The town square.
Xemnas furrowed his silver brows and jumped above Ansem, turning his blades backwards and diving down straight towards him.
Once again, they parried but that didn't stop them from running even faster.
Then from multiple directions, lower knights joined Ansem in attacking Xemnas. But luckily for him, he had a group of his own.
Leaping back, a claymore blocked a sword thrust from the left and flung it away. "We have your back!" yelled Isa.
One by one, the members of the attack team from the tavern began to fend off the lower soldiers without bringing harm to them. A scythe, knives, swords, and chakrams were held by them, leaving them with the upper hand. Ansem should have really trained those knights better.
When they arrived, the square was strangely empty. Besides the people that watch on the outside of the square, it was desolate. He narrowed his eyes and saw two slumped figures. "Xehanort," he whispered.
Eraqus held him in his arms and pulled him close, lips moving but no words were leaving. Ansem saw this as an opportunity and shoved Xemnas aside before leaping down with his saber held high.
Before he could pierce, another sword intercepted him and cut a hole in his chest, his blade just grazing the strap on his chest. Eraqus, who was slumped just earlier had a rapier in hand, scraping the point at his face. His eyes were so dark that the king himself was a bit shocked.
That satchel had opened when it collapsed, sliding out a large silver ring. Ansem looked even more terrified as he realized what the hell it was.
With his rapier, he flicked up the item and landed it on his dark locks. That silver item was a crown. The crown of the Silver Prince.
◻ ◼ ◻ ◼ ◻ ◼ ◻ ◼ ◻ ◼ ◻
Oh gods it's happening. Damn, the ending is so close and I'm so excited!
Maybe the next chapter is the end? Maybe the one after that? Who knows?
[10|05|19]