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Shadows of Birth Chapter Eight - Darkness Vs. Light

"Damnit! How did you turn back so quickly?!" Venair pushed forward, applying a lot of pressure to the dragons holding Bloodlust.

Layla was trying to hold up the Keyblade, but the weight against her already wounded arm was beginning to be too much. She knew Consus was having difficulty as well, holding the other blade in his bare hand. She clould see a small trail of blood running from the palm of his right hand. "Consus... I can't believe your back!"

She heard him laugh. You know, I can't either. I saw him go to attack you and just didn't know what to do, so I did what I knew I should. Seems like following my first instinct did me good for once." She watched as he began to push back on the blades. He was single handedly pushing the two attacking blades and stepped ahead, pulling his father closer to him. "There are things that some of us just don't know, Venair. This happens to be one of them."

The elf braced himself. "You're lying, but I can take that. It shouldn't matter, you all will be dead soon." As the drakes continued to win the battle of strength, Venair began to form a yellow ball at the tip of Apocalypse. Consus quickly drug his hand against the blade and clasped his hand over the magic. Venair gave him a furious look as he felt the magic dissolve away. "What do you think you're doing, boy?!"

"Something I should have done a while ago. I'm fighting for something worth while, and there is no way I'm going to let you hurt my friends anymore." Venair let out a loud laugh as he was inched closer to a wall by the two drakes. "You're a fool to trust others. Everyone has Darkness in their heart that they give in to. When that happens, they'll deny your very existence and throw you away like the used rag you are!"

"Why don't you just shut up and let me live my own life, dad!"

"Fine, if that's the way you want to be. Show me what little power your 'friendship' can give you. You'll see it only hurts you in the end." As he felt his heel hit a rock behind him, Venair jumped into the air above the two, but Consus wrapped his bare hand around the end of Inferno and pulled him back to the ground. On impact, Venair lost his grip on the blade and only held Apocolypse.

Consus flipped the blade to where he held onto the hilt of the Keyblade and pointed it down at the Elf. He released Bloodlust from his left hand and gave a smile. "You can use that for now, Layla. I've got this one." She gave a simple nod, shocked at how she was wielding his blade now without his heart. He could hear all the questions racing through her mind, but couldn't give the answers she was looking for.

"You dare use my own weapon against me? Heh, yeah. You could be my son after all if you would kill a man like that. Oh wait, you won't kill me. What are you going to do, make me suffer and pay for what I have done?" He swiftly cat a Fire spell at Consus, who blocked with Inferno, but that moment was all Venair needed to stand up and ready Apocalypse in is hands. "Like hell! I created you, now I'll destroy you!"

Watching as his father jumped at him, he also saw Layla come from his side and parry the swift strike. As the two crossed blades for a moment, Consus looked at the battle between Riku, Damien, and the weird Heartless. They seemed to be struggling a bit, blood running down various areas of the drake and Riku was looking tired from the pratically endless combat. Looking slightly left of them, he saw Sora had just about the top half of his body free from ice. He pointed Inferno towards the struggling friend and shot a Fire spell just at his feet. The fireball caused a small explosion as it hit, causing Sora to fly away a few feet. Consus looked at his father's blade for a second in shock, then felt a bit stupid after remembering the name of the blade.

"What the hell was that for?! Ah, my head..."

"Look, I'm sorry, you can pay me back later! Just help Riku and Damien!"

After standing up, Sora couldn't help but shake. His frozen prison had kept him there for quite a while. "...Allllright."

Consus turned back to Layla and Venair, who were still exchanging blows. Each attack was parried by the other, it seemed as though they were completely equal in melee combat. Layla had one advantage of using her tail as well, which started to throw off the foe. She would use it to try and occasionally trip him or hit him in the side. Overall, though, the battle could last for hours. "You've done enough, it's my turn."

"Damn, you ruin my fun. Okay, I'll meet you by the Heartless! We need to take that thing out." She found where Consus was standing and began to lead Venair towards him. As she swung her arm forward once, he actually was able to grab her hand and pull her to the ground. He lifted his remaining Keyblade and went to stab her in the back, but Consus blocked the blade just inches above her scales. "...I owe you one."

Consus lifted his blade and caused Venair to fall back, Layla rolling out of his grasp. He only turned his head for a second to look at his friend, but that was enough time for Venair to toss Apocalypse forward at the half-elf. He swiftly jumped to the side, rolling onto one knee as he glared at his father. "A move of desperation, if I've ever seen one."

Venair showed a smile. "You should think before you talk, kiddo."

He felt a shudden slam hit him in the back and fell to the ground. He watched as Inferno flew out of his hand and landed close to his father as the blue Keyblade flew back into his right hand. "Not good..."

As he drew up the red blade, Layla had jumped forward. Helifted the two blades and crossed his swords and blocked against Layla's attack. She jumped above him and felt Bloodlust disappear from her hand. She was shocked for a moment, but knew she needed to improvise. As she landed, Layla blew a stream of Shadow fire at Venair. He quickly held Inferno and Apocalypse to block the attack and let out a laugh. "You'll never learn! Your powers are useless!"

Little did he realize that Consus was behind him, holding onto Bloodlust tight, he jumped sielently ahead and thrust Bloodlust into the lower back of Venair. As the strike landed, Venair's reaction pulled Inferno away from the fire and both Elves were engulfed by the dark flames.

Fearing the worst, Layla watched as the smoke cleared away from her attack. Once she could see again, she showed a small smile when she saw Consus was tucked under his wings. The golden ligaments were seared lightly, but overall no real damage was done to him.

Venair was a different story. He lay n the ground, a black haze coming from his still body. As Consus stared down and looked at his dad, he felt Bloodlust disappear from his grasp.

"...Finish me off already, kid. Don't be a filthy coward!"

"No, Venair. I won't kill you. Not for the reasons you are giving me or what you say I am." He knelt down and glared at his father for a moment, watching as the two blades in his hands disappeared as well.

"...I think you can handle the rest here. I'm going to help the others ." Layla had said. Consus only gave a nod in reply, but that was all she needed before running off to the east to help their comrades.

"You're a waste of a Deathbringer... You can't even do your job right by killing me. That's sad."

Consus let out a small laugh. "You think that's sad? You apparently don't know the meaning of that word, or what it means to be a Deathbringer... I've come to realize that you're wrong, Venair. A Deathbringer isn't always bad... Nor do we always have to kill. It is our choice to give into the Darkness in us and quench its thirst, or to ignore it and fight for the Light."

This time, it was Venair who let out a laugh. "Oh kid, you crack me up. You think you can fight it, but it will consume you like it will everyone else."

"Give it up, Dad. You'll never win." Consus said, standing up and walking towards his group of friends, who seemed to be holding up fairly well against the new Heartless. "If you really want my power, it would be better to work with me rather than against me."

Venair let out a light chuckle as he began to slowly sit up. "Hasn't anyone ever tell you not to turn your back on an enemy?"

As Riku jumped left, Sora charged up from behind and slashed his Keyblade down in mid-air, slicing through the side of the four-armed Heartless. It let out a loud hiss and kocked Sora out of the air, cauding him to land onto his back hard.

"Sora, you alright?!" Layal had run up from behind and began to help her old friend up. He gave a slight nod and turned back to the Heartless with a look of determination. She took a look around and found Riku and Damien running up to the beast at the same time, attacking in two separate areas, but all at the same time. "Let's finish this! We've almost got it!"

The black dragoness ran forward and jumped high into the air above the creature's Head. She used both her claws to swing down and gouge her claws deep into the beast's head. As she was falling on the creature's backside, she also landed a few kicks hard into the back to the Heartless, causing it to fall to it's knees. As she turned around for another strike, She watched as Venair's charred form appeared next to the Heartless. "I won't let you fools win! I am Immortal as long as I have the power to control the Darkness!"

At this point, Consus had run up with Bloodlust forming in his hand once he saw Venair next to the dark creature. He used a single swing to knock away the attacking Riku and Demein and sent them to the ground. He then turned to the Heartless and placed his right hand on its chest. The area around them went dark, almost as if it had instantly turned night in the middle of the day. As each warior able recovered and stared, they were all surprised to see the final product of this weird magic.

When the darkness had dissipated, Consus' eyes went wide as he stared at the new form of Venair in front of him. He looked remarkably like himself, but almost every part of him now was black. He seemed a little taller than before and now had four arms. The top two were wielding his Keyblades and the bottom two started to radiate in magical energy. "You have messed with me far too many times... For that, I will eat your very souls... "

"They haven't returned yet? I wonder what's taking so long..." Kairi was sitting in front of her computer, looking at the screen where there was an image of Leon. He looked a bit worried, but soon shook it off. "I'm sure they have their reasons, but I just found another letter from the King. Once Sora returns, have him send Consus over. The King would like to address him personally."

Kairi gave a small nod. She had been worried about what had been going on with them, but didn't want to bother them with a phone call. "I will. You just make sure things are alright there. I heard things have been getting worse since they left Traverse Town."

Leon hesitated, but soon gave a nod. "Yeah... I think Traverse Town might be a lost cause. We're working on a new plan at the moment for good shelter for victims to this war, but that's going to take some time. Just keep yourself safe and call us if you have any problems."

With a nod, Kairi gave a slight smile. "I will. You guys be safe."

As she watched Leon disconnect the line, she let out a sigh and turned to look out the open window. "I just hope they're alright... I have a bad feeling about all of this."

Jumping into the air, Consus flapped his wings and took to the skies as he watched Riku and Sora attack from below. Venair seemed like he was fresh into the battle, not having a single scratch on him anymore, and that worried the drake. He wondered if they would have enough stamina to be able to take down this new form. "No, we can't give up. There's always a way to win... You just have to find it."

Watching as the black form of Venair used its powerful arms to knock away the first two Keybearers, it was caught off guard by Layla and Damien coming up from the side and cutting deep into the flesh with their claws. Venair soon countered by swinging his blades, which hit Layla, but Damien was just able to dodge out of the way. Layla landed on the ground and sat up swiftly, holding the new wound across her chest. "Damn, this guy is something else!" Looking up, she watched as Consus pulled out Triumph in its true form and began to speed down at Venair, blade tips first.

As he came close, Venair rose Apocalypse and parried the Keyblade, but the duel-daggers stabbed into the left shoulder of Venair. Before the drake could pull out the blade, Venair had reached up and knocked Consus off of him and next to the black Dragoness on the ground. After he rose back to his feet, Layla had charged forward and jumped into the air again, but this time she kicked the top blade of Triumph off and landed on the hilt of the bottom blade, forcing it deeper into the flesh. Consus ran to where the top-half of his blade landed and picked it up, slashing his quickly in the legs with both Bloodlust and Triumph. Riku joined in with Sora in attacking the exposed area, which soon began to wear Venair down.

As Layla landed on the ground again, Venair swiftly turned and cast his yellow explosion again, causing everyone but Consus to fly away about six feet. After they were knocked back, Venair formed a black ball and dropped it just behind him. "You will die to Ultima!"

As Consus held his blades tight, he dashed forward and jumped up level with Venair's chest and thrust his bladed forward, slamming the blunt ends of the weapons into him, which caused him to fall back into his own spell. As the sphere collapsed into his form, Consus watched as the Heartless split from his father's body and disappeared into nothing. Venair soon collapsed onto the ground below, holding tightly onto his chest.

Consus walked up to him, Riku, Sora, Layla, and Damein all ran up to his side as he stared down at the weak form of Venair. "Are you done yet? If so, I've got better things to do with my friends here than to keep fighting against you."

Venair slowly stood back up to his feet and was putting all his weight on his right side. The wounds he had were now all showing on his body, and just like everyone else, he was quite the bloody mess. Through all the pain, though, Venair had one lase shot. He gave a last smile before reaching into his back pouch and pulled something out. "You're so stupid... I'll never give up! Not as two Deathbringers walk, never!" He pulled the object he held in front of him. It looked like a small figurine of a dragon, but was black and distorted. "The time is now, Cherrina! It's time to show these brats just who they're messing with!"