Fractured Twilight {KH Fanfic/Boy Of Choice}

Chapter XXXVI

Axel released his arms from Ember and immediately whipped around with Chackrams in hand to defend her. The loud sound of clanging weapons pierced Ember's ears as Axels Chackrams and Marluxia's Scythe came together in an aggressive manner. Ember clutched her hands together nervously, wishing she would have planned this endeavor a lot better before they set out. Marluxia pressed against Axel to lower his guard before jumping back to gain distance, causing Axel to peek over his shoulder as he conversed with Ember.

"Stay right here."

To Ember's surprise a sudden burst of flames surrounded her, but gave enough distance as to not cause her to break a sweat. Ember knew Axel was trying to protect her as he was unable to guard her personally before he leapt towards Marluxia. As the two began to clash with such fury Ember scanned the unknown room for a way out... Or a way to help.

Her quick scan from earlier was disrupted, but now that she took more time to figure out details she came to the understanding Marluxia teleported them somewhere special. It reminded her of when she woke up standing on that platform inside her heart as there was an endless dark abyss waiting for them just beyond the platform and the Organization symbol presiding right at the center. Pillars were placed right at the edge of the platform but held up nothing as no walls were present. Ember wanted to reach out to confirm her theory, however Axels protective firewall prevented her from doing so. With a frown her attention turned back to the fight.

Marluxia was swift and cunning, seemingly able to control vines and other plants. She remembered the thorns showing up around Roxas, and she saw similarities during the battle. Marluxia seemed to have the ability to float in the air as he glided across the platform with ease, even using whatever abilities he had to drift from Axel's attacks. Axel used his mixture of flame and physical attacks to the best of his ability yet Marluxia seemed to be able to deflect them all.

Several vines came rushing from the ground right towards Axel, in which Axel burned away with a wave of his hand and cleared a path directly to his foe. He flung a Chackram straight towards Marluxia, but he was able to deflect the attempted strike with one slash of his weapon. As Axel went for another attack by his weapons Marluxia flicked his wrist and created a quick barrier of vines for protection as Axels Chackrams came into contact with the barrier instead of his target. As Marluxia made his vines retreat Axel was immediately in his face with a fireball prepared. Marluxia immediately deflected with his Scythe.

Ember could only stare in astonishment at both of their fury, their strength and cunning ideas were baffling. Until this point Ember wasn't really able to study Axel's fighting skills fully, so she soaked in everything she could. He was swift and strong, however Marluxia seemed to have extra power she was unaware of. She nervously fiddled with her fingertips, watching the battle with anticipation.

'I need to help... Somehow.' She thought to herself. Ember bit her bottom lip. 'Marluxia is so filled with surprises I'm not sure how to help.'

Ember committed to studying Marluxia instead, attempting to focus on every aspect of his movements and skills to find some sort of weak point. She refused to sit there useless. Marluxia was swift, keen, and never left anything from his sight. Axel tried to sneak up behind him on multiple occasions and yet Marluxia seemed to know he was there as if he had eyes on him at all times. Ember's eyes darted with the blurs crossing her vision, their speed and force extraordinary. She grew annoyed, squinting her eyes as if that would solve her issues. Keeping up with the blurs and studying hurt her head and caused her to finally lower her eyes and look away.

Ember grabbed onto her head with shaking hands. Her body was slowly failing her. The heat from Axels protective flame was warm and helped her aches, but of course wasn't a perfect solution. A wave of dizziness hit her from all the action happening while her brain couldn't keep up. She strained to force herself to stand so she was able to peer just over the fire no matter how much her body screamed for her to halt.