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Shadows of Birth Chapter Four - Alike, Yet So Different

Staring out at the vast sea, Consus watched as the sun was setting below the horizon. He had thought about the battle with Venair. Another Deathbringer... But is that what a Deathbringer does? Kill Keyblade Masters...?

"What are you doing? You know Kairi called us for dinner, right?"

Swiftly turning around, Consus felt as Bloodlust formed in his hand as he realized it was Riku. "...Oh, I'm sorry."

"You alright?" He said, slowly walking up. "You've been keeping to yourself since the fight, what's wrong?"

Feeling the Keyblade disappear, Consus then let out a sigh as several thoughts came into mind. "That was a Deathbringer... Right?"

Riku shrugged. "That's what the King called him. Why does that bother you so much?"

"When I got my Keyblade... That's what the voice called me. It said that I was one like..."

"Are you for real? You're nothing like him!"

"Wha-"

"No, you're better than him. Look, pull out your Keyblade for a moment."

Consus looked at him confused, "Alright." Holding his left arm out, he then felt the surge of power embrace him as Bloodlust formed. "...Every time I hold it, I want to see something die. It tells me to kill with it do it can feast on the blood of its victims. I don't know if I can trust myself anymore."

"Can't you see? That's what he wants you to think. He wants to tear you apart from the inside and break you." Watching as Consus' gaze turned back towards the sea, Riku held his hand out and summoned his Keyblade. "You know, I don't think I could have survived the Darkness without Sora's memories. There was a time I was out of hope, hell, we looked at death and spit in his face that day..." Once he noticed Consus was staring at his Keyblade, he gave a small smile. "You want to hold it?"

Consus gave him an odd look, "What's up with you and Sora doing that? I mean, what does it matter?"

"How did you feel when you held Sora's Kingdom Key, Consus?"

Recalling back when they were in Traverse Town, Consus tried to recall what he had been feeling, but nothing came to him. "I'm not sure, I was holding both of them together."

"There was a moment when Bloodlust left your hand. Try to think of what you felt at that exact moment."

"...I remember it felt warm in my hand, almost like it was welcoming me."

Riku showed a smile. "Then you have just proved that you are not at fault for your actions."

Looking at Riku confused, Consus couldn't help but laugh. "So, Bloodlust is truly what its name states? Great, sounds like peaceful news to have my main weapon want to kill all my friends."

Riku put his weapon away and gave a smile, "Trust me, it would have a tough time taking us out by itself. You need to start hearing some stories about us, you'll be in for a wild ride."

"Maybe falling into Darkness wouldn't be so bad... I'd be alone then."

"Huh? Did you say something, Consus?" Sora gave an odd look to the drake as they all sat in the living room. It was getting late and everyone was all pretty much zoning at this point.

Consus looked up at Sora, "No, it's nothing. So, what's the game plan?"

Sora showed a slight frown, "Always right done to business with you."

"Well, we've been wondering from the beginning!" Donald chimed in, which only made Goofy laugh.

"Fine, well, tomorrow we're going on a delivery, actually." Looking at the blank faces, Sora felt a little embarrassed. "Yeah, that's it. A delivery."

Riku let out a sigh. "You guys can have fun, then. I've got stuff to do here."

"Not so fast Riku, you might want to know where we're going first."

Turning back to Sora, he gave a curious gaze. "It better not be to Wonderland. If I see that cat again, I'm punching it in the face."

Sora smiled. "I'll do you one better. We're heading to Draconica. Need to see Layla and Damien again and give them a gift."

After seeing everyone's excitement, Consus grew curious. Kairi was the only one who didn't seem as happy, but she still held a smile on her face. He pondered at the name of the world for a moment, wondering if it could possibly mean what it sounded like.

He hid a smile away from everyone. Other dragons... This could be exciting.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"...Are we there yet?"

"I said no!"

"......ARE. WE. THERE. YET?"

"Knock it off, Sora! He's trying to drive!"

"Pfft, fine. I just want to get there already." Sora crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back, letting out a wide yawn. "Wake me up when-"

"We're here!" Donald yelled. Sora shot him a funny look as they began to slow down. "What? You said wake you up!"

"I wasn't even asleep yet! Ugh, oh well. Let's get out of this ship and see them already!"

Consus stared amazed at Sora. He's nothing but a little whelp inside, it's so surprising that he has saved several worlds from destruction. He had to admit, though. Seeing other planets and meeting new people, he smiled at the irony of it all.

Once they felt the ship come to a halt, it wasn't but moments before everyone had rushed out of the ship, leaving Consus alone again to be left in utter amazement. I'm going to need to put tags on these guys or I'm going to lose them, that's the fastest I've ever seen any human run! Or duck... Or dog-thing... Argh, what am I still doing here?!

As he walk outside, he was first blinded by the bright sun that shown in the sky. After his vision returned, he gazed upon the beautiful landscape around him. He could see a wide forest miles away just ahead of them followed by a patch of mountains. They currently stood in a grassy patch that held a few bushes here and there, but was pretty clear. Looking to his left, he saw his companions all walking towards a small house. Without paying much mind, he followed them and continues to take in the view.

He almost ran into Goofy as they approached the door, not noticing how close they really were to the place. He heard as Sora gave a few knocks on the door and waited, but there was no response. "Hello? Anyone home?" Sora called, knocking again. After a moment, he let out a sigh and turned around. "I guess not."

Just as Sora was about to walk away, the door opened behind him and there was a loud scream. "Sora! You're back!"

Turning around with a smile, he almost fell over as a black dragoness tackled him through the door. Consus was half tempted to pull out his blade, but once he saw the look on Sora's face, he noticed she must have been a friend. As they both recovered, the dragoness was full of hugs to everyone around her, but then came to face Consus. "Who's this? I've never seen him with you guys before."

"He's new. A guy we know found him and we're looking after him." Riku said, smiling as he put his hand on Consus' shoulder.

"Oh, well any friend of Sora and Riku is welcome here. My name is Layla, who might you be?"

Staring at the Dragoness, Consus was unsure what to think. He looked at her and noticed that unlike most dragons, she stood on two legs. He gazed at her black form to see the exposed red stripes around her. The weirdest part that Consus thought, though, was that she was wearing clothes. He also seemed to notice a trend with the girls he had been seeing lately. This one looked like she was expecting soon as well. "I'm Consus."

"Well, since you're all here, let's go inside. No reason to stay out here when Damien is probably wondering what the hell I'm doing."

"He's here? I thought he was gone again for a while." Sora said as they entered the house.

"He was, but he came back a couple weeks ago. Said he couldn't stand being away from me for so long."

As those two kept talking, Consus gazed around the room. He noticed a typical life style household, it was quite warm and welcome, but almost everything inside looked as though it were best suited for a human rather than dragon.

"Here, let me go get Damien, I'll be right back."

Watching as Layla left the room, he felt a nudge on his arm. He looked over to see Riku, who was watching him. "First time you see a real dragon?"

Consus shook his head. "No, but it's been a long time. She's a lot different than the one I saw, but I can't deny that I'm glad I came."

Riku showed a smile. "Good. I was hoping a little Draconic contact would cheer you up."

"Well, it's working, so keep it up." He said with a smile.

He heard talking from the other room and turned to see as a pair of humans then walked into the room. The girl smiled and waved her arm over to the man next to her. "Consus, this is Damien. He can be a bit skittish, but he's alright."

He gave him a funny look and all she did was reply with a laugh. Consus was looking at the pair confused. She has the same eyes, but is that really her...?

"Oh, that's right. Damien, show him your true form."

Astonished, Consus watched as the humans form changed in front of him, going from full humans to a pair of dragons almost instantly. Watching the awe on Consus' face, Damien couldn't help but smile. "Looks like he's happy to meet me too."

The blue drake looked a lot like a snake, having a pattern on the scales that extended from his neck. Consus wasn't sure if he should be glad or if he should just accept it for what it was. After all, in his world, Dragons were rare creatures. The only real one he ever saw was his mother, and that was only once.

Sora reached into his back pocket and pulled something small out and handed it to the dragoness. "By the way, this is for you guys."

She looked at it for a moment, confused. "It's a phone, so what?"

"Not just any phone! It can call whoever has the same type of phone on any planet! Go ahead, try it out! Call my house!"

After Sora's excitement, Layla gave a smile and began to push buttons on the phone. She then held the device up to her ear and Consus' eyes went wide as he heard Kairi answer on the other side.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked, poking the drake again.

"How are they doing that?! Man, everything about you guys confuses me!"

"...They didn't have much technology on your world, did they?"

Consus let out a sigh. "Whatever that is, yeah, I guess we didn't have it."

• Consus was surprised with himself. He was actually laughing and talking amongst the group. They recalled to him how Sora, Donald, and Goofy had come here searching for a 'keyhole' to help save the world. Several times jokes were made at each other, which Consus usually never understood, but the reactions of the friends around him made it worth being in the conversation.

"Is the phone the only reason why you guys came all the way out here?" Layla said after setting it down again. She had in fact only just got done playing around with it as they began talking about the past.

"Pretty much. It's always nice to see good friends too, so I'm satisfied with those two answers alone." Sora said with a smile.

Layla gave another smile and stood up. "I'm going to-"

"You go nowhere but with me!"

From behind Layla, a black portal appeared and a hand reached out, grabbing the black dragoness' arm and began to pull her inside. She cried out for Damien, but he was too far away and couldn't reach her in time. As the portal closed, Consus felt as his blade formed in his left hand again. He heard Damien calling for his mate in the back, but was quickly masked by the voice in his head.

"If you wish to save the girl, you will come alone to the heart of the forest."

"Venair, you bastard!" Consus yelled, busting out the front door. Sora, Riku, and Damien were all quick to follow him as he began running outside, but he soon stopped and turned towards him. "Venair wants me to go alone to save her..."

Sora gave him a glare. "Fat chance! We wouldn't-"

"No, Sora. He needs to do this."

Looking up at Riku, Sora gazes into his friends eyes. They were locked on the drake standing ahead of them. "What do you mean?! He doesn't stand a chance against Venair by himself! None of us do!"

"Look, Sora. If he sees all of us coming, that could put Layla in even more danger. He could even kill her on sight and none of us need that right now."

After a moments thought, Sora let out a sigh and gave a nod. "Yeah, Okay." He watched as Consus began to turn away and quickly reached into his pocket. "Wait, you better take this." Pulling out a cell phone, he threw it at the drake, who barely caught it. "Use that to call us if you need. I have it set to where you press the red button, it will call my phone automatically."

Looking at the layout of the phone, he was thankful whoever made the device had kept it simple. Every button had a logo and its own color with an arrow pad and a screen. I guess I'm kind of understanding this technology thing. It can't be too hard. He flipped the phone into his pouch and smiled. "Thanks. It's good to know someone's got my back for once."

Riku let out a small laugh. "Get used to it with this group, kiddo."

Consus laughed as well, Kiddo... I'm probably three times your age and you would never know._He gave a final wave and then began running ahead. After he picked up a little momentum, he jumped into the air and let his wings start to carry him. As he flew, he looked at the setting sun and let out a sigh. _Nothing is ever easy...

"Are you kidding? You believed me when I said we weren't going? Like hell! That's going to be a trap!"

Sora glared at Riku, questioning his motives. "Why did you tell him to go off on his own, then? What was the point?"

Damien walked up and patted Sora on the shoulder. "I think Riku is right on this one. If Consus doesn't know we're coming..."

Sora let out a smile, "While he's with Consus, we come in from behind."

"So your head isn't as thick as a Paopu Fruit tree, congrats." Riku said with a clap as he began to walk forward. "We need to get moving, he's got us outrun by miles at that speed."

Damn, why here?! He had to quickly dodge left to avoid a swift attack from an aerial Heartless while watching where he was going with two in front of him. Once he had a moment, He drew both blades to Triumph and attached them together. Once he held that blade in his right hand, he felt Bloodlust form into his left. Wanna play? We'll so who can dance longest.

As he continued forward, the Heartless seemed to time their attacks at the same time. Fatal mistake. Consus flaped his wings once and flew over them, his blades dragging through the heads of the foes. Blood streamed down Bloodlust where as the Heartless hit by Triumph vanished, releasing a heart into the air. ...That was odd. Remembering he had one left on his tail (almost literally), he decided just to out run it for a while, then kill it while it was tired. The Heartless seemed to have other plans, though as it charged forward, knocking itself into Consus. He lost control of himself for a moment, but was quick to recover and sped back up to the Heartless, stabbing it deep into the chest with his Keyblade. He watched at the black heart-like icon vanished from its head and the blades tip turned black. It was the first time he had really paid attention to when he killed with his Keyblade. He watched as the heart that should have flown away actually went into the blade. ...that can't be good.

Her eyes were as heavy as bowling bawls, she hardly had the strength to lift one, but needed to know what had happened. She was surrounded in darkness, by the looks of it, in a deep cave. She didn't recognize the place at all, so she attempted to stand up, but she couldn't move a muscle. She saw something sparkle in her peripheral vision and struggled to turn her head, but soon saw a dark black, almost purple crystal lying there. Why does it feel like my life is being drained away...? Where the hell am I even?

"Ah, you're awake. It took you long enough, though I do admit, this crystal is way more than enough to contain you."

Looking over, Layla watched as a man wearing a dark crimson coat and black pants walked up to her. Her eyes went wide at the sight of the weapon in his hand. A Keyblade?! But how does he have one...?

He smiled at her shocked glance. "Ah, the look of fear. That is what I cherish most before the kill, and I must say, my dear, you are doing very well at that."

"What... do you want with me?" She was able to finally choke out. Even talking seemed to take a lot out of her. What was wrong with me?!

The man walked up and sat next to the paralyzed dragon, flipping his Inferno between his fingers. "Oh, I'm sorry, you must have things mistaken. I have nothing I want from you, besides mainly your heart, but that would just be a bonus." He stared down into the dazed eyes of the dragoness. He was enjoying every moment of this. "I want my son to come and play with me, that's all."

"Man, you guys are slow! We need to figure out a better way!" Damien said, flying back down from the sky to his friends.

"How? There's no way you can carry us all." Riku said, letting out a sigh of frustration. The sun was completely down now and he wondered if they would even make it by daybreak.

"Wait, Donald. You remember how you had that flying spell in that other world? Do you think you can do it again?"

The duck gave Sora a glare, "I told you, that was the last time I could cast that!"

"What do you need to cast the spell?" Riku asked, not really seeing any other shot.

"I need a Phoenix Pinon. I have everything else."

Riku then turned his attention to the blue drake. "Do you have any Phoenix in this world?"

Damien shrugged. "Not that I've ever seen."

"We're going nowhere fast..." Riku sighed.

"Hey, you know. I did happin' to find a purty feather while we were in Radiant Garden last time." Goofy pulled off his hat and reached in a small sleeve on the inside, pulling out a golden feather.

Donald stared at the object in his hand. "Give it to me! We're wasting time! Why didn't you tell me you had one?!"

"I guess I didn't really know what it was, but I remembered it looked like the purty feathers you collected, yep."

"Get to it, I need to make sure Layla is safe." Damien was hovering above the group, kind of zigzagging in the air impatiently.

Sora gave a smile, "No worries, now we'll get there in no time!"