Chapter Six

Chapter VI

"I thought I knew the truth. I was wrong."

      It feels like time has frozen. One minute Roxas is lunging himself at me. The next, he's still. Suspended in the air above me. I blink, shocked, and sidestep. He comes crashing down, Keyblade smashing into the ground with a loud clang. I parry  just in time to dodge a particularly powerful attack that looked like the results would be disastrous if it had struck its target. Lifting my staff into the air, I twirl it and slam it down on Roxas's back while he's recovering from the recoil of his attack. I cartwheel backwards and land cleanly on my feet as he cries out in pain and falls to the ground.

      It's not over yet. He pulls himself to his feet and darts towards me, and then we're locked in combat. I bring my staff down at his shoulder, but he blocks it with his Keyblade and snatches it from my hands, flinging it away. He swings at me and I dodge, falling to the ground and rolling away. I spot my staff on the ground at the far corner of the room and I dive for it. But Roxas is there before me. As I make a rough landing, he jabs me in the shoulder and I cry out as a severe pain electrifies through my body. 

     Muscles screaming, I force myself up and sweep Roxas's feet from under him, causing him to fall. Taking it to my advantage, I swipe my staff and bring it crashing down on his chest. He shrieks and I cartwheel backwards once more, getting some distance between us as he shakily gets to his feet, using the Keyblade like a cane.

     "Are you okay?" I ask, and he glares at me.

      I wipe a bead of sweat off of my forehead and he takes it to his advantage, surging forward and jabbing the Keyblade into my stomach repeatedly. It knocks the breath out of me and I slump to the ground. He slinks towards me, Keyblade poised to attack once more, and I hear Axel call, " Enough!She's finished!"

     Then blackness takes over and I slip into unconsciousness.

                                                      *                                *                                *

     "Why did you have to be so brutal?"

     "She needs to be treated like the rest of us."

     "You looked like you were going to kill her, Roxas."

     "I wasn't going to."

     "Well, you easily could have. She's fragile, Roxas."

     Silence.

     "Fragile. Sure."

     "You've changed, Roxas. What happened to you?"

     Rapid footsteps. They fade away quickly, and I slowly open my eyes. Axel is sitting beside my bed with his face buried in his hands. I frown and gasp painfully, "I'm alright."

     He looks up at me, dumbfounded, and just stares.