Chapter 5: Of Demons and Kings

Disclaimer: I don't own Yveltal, but if I did I'd name him something bacon related.

~o~

Evening gloom blanketed the stony terrain outside the cult's catacomb base. Katria's steps were loud on the gravel as she ghosted between broken concrete houses in the abandoned mountain village.

"Alexi!" she shouted, her voice echoing against the cliffs. No answer. "I know you're here, Alexi. Answer me!"

"You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?"

Katria spun, fury smoldering in her silver eyes. Alexi stared back at her, a blade pressed to her pale throat. "Let her go, Gabe," she snarled. "You don't have to do this!"

Gabriel's jaw clenched. "Why did you have to wake up, Kat? Everything would have gone fine if you'd just stayed asleep!"

"Drugged, you mean!" Katria accused, her eyes melting black! "You did this – poisoned the Nightblades, threw mistweed into the fire, betrayed your comrades…and for what? Because you're nobility?"

"We all are!" Gabriel screamed, drawing a thin line of blood from Alexi's neck. "Every last Nightblade is of noble blood! They lied to us, said we were orphans, but we're not! Honedge will only bond with nobles…but kids with loving parents aren't quite as sacrificial, are they? Our families don't know which of us is their own child…that's what was written in that book, Kat. A list of family lines."

"We both know you won't kill her, Gabe! You need her to die to stop Yveltal! That's what this whole plan was, right? Yveltal will kill the members of the cult as it awakens, and destroy their enemies in exchange! But not if Alexi stops it before it reaches the castle! You'd be a hero, who singlehandedly destroyed the cult and saved the kingdom. You think they'll accept you as a noble son again, don't you?"

Gabriel laughed humorlessly, throwing Alexi to the dirt. "You always were good at chess. But I'm not just some noble pawn. Don't you see?" He reached into his pocket, removing a glass midnight stone. He pressed it to his Doublade, spitting out his words. "I'm King Auguste's firstborn son. I was born to be a king!"

Her scream was torn away by the explosive light of evolution. Gabriel's rough shout echoed over the battlements, his back arching with shattering white power. Katria braced herself against the shockwave, shielding her face with crossed blades.

Gabriel's shout turned to exhilarated laughter. An Aegislash hovered in his palm, an ebony sash wrapping his arm to the shoulder. A golden shield clasped his other arm, matching the five-foot demon blade fit for a king. "I'm sorry it had to be Alexi! There's no other way, Kat! I won't let anyone stand in my path – not even you!"

Metal screamed as her crossed blades caught Aegislash's guillotine cut inches from her forehead. Katria arched back with strain, her muscles burning!

Darkness exploded from her blades, forcing Gabriel back. Katria bounded forward, ghostly power strengthening her to superhuman levels. Her blades clashed and whirled, violet sparks exploding from each point of impact. Her shout was defiance itself, as she fought her rival with intent to kill!

"You wouldn't believe this power!" Gabriel crowed, grinning drunkenly. Spectral power whispered around his forehead, shaped like a dark crown. "I'm not even trying!" Aegislash shone with scarlet life energy, batting Katria against a wall as if she weighed nothing.

The earth shuddered, yawning cracks splintering the ground. Red auroras burst from the cracks, throwing shadows on Gabriel's crazed features.

"It's already starting, Kat!" he called out, lazily slicing his Aegislash; a crescent shadow broke free from the sword, an instant away from her dodging roll. It sliced a building in two behind her. "You won't make it in time! It's not too late to change your mind – stand with me. A Nightblade Queen has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" He accentuated the last word with a barrage of Shadow Balls. Katria deflected two, leaping high to flip over the rest.

A silver star gleamed between her blades. "Flash Cannon!" she called, the molten light-burst nearly taking his head!

Gabriel roared, barreling towards her as the earth shuddered in terrible premonition. For the first time he fought in earnest, his blade slashing and flickering with unnatural speed and power! Katria's arms screamed with each deflection, retreating until her back hit a wall. She ducked, and Aegislash cleft the wall in two. The building groaned and fell, but their deadly dance never faltered, phasing in and out of intangibility at the speed of thought.

Eve took the full brunt of a blow, and Katria's left arm went numb. She stumbled, blocking desperately with Noir, crashing to her knees! "You're no match for my power!" Gabriel bellowed, his hair falling over his forehead crazily. "I was always better!" He struck Noir aside contemptuously, draining a chunk of Katria's life in the same strike! "Stronger!" He kicked her stomach hard, bowling her over.

Gabriel raised his Aegislash high with a single hand, silhouetted against the rumbling cauldron of a storm. "I deserved better," he whispered, grief aching behind his words…

Aegislash clattered to the stone.

Katria raised her head just in time to see Gabriel fall to his knees, collapsing lifeless beneath an uncaring sky. The last sparks of his life force flickered feebly, and vanished. She stared at his empty eyes, breathing hard.

"Only a king can wield an Aegislash, Gabe. And you were never worthy. Blood alone doesn't make a leader."

"Katria!"

Alexi rushed to her side, nearly tripping on the battlefield. She tackled Katria in a hug, clinging to her fiercely, whispering her name over and over again. "I thought you were going to die!" she wailed. "Oh, Katria…"

Lightning snarled across the storming heavens as the earth shuddered and groaned! The scarlet light seared high into the clouds, as a terrible cry vibrated deep within the bones of the earth.

Katria and Alexi stared at each other hopelessly.

It was too late. Yveltal had awakened.

Alexi stood, strangely calm, her torn dress whipping in the wind. "I guess it's my turn, huh? To protect you."

"No!" Katria shouted, true panic thundering through her soul! She couldn't lose Alexi, not after all this! "You don't have to do this, we'll find another way…"

"There is no other way," Alexi apologized, her gaze steady. "No one knows where Xerneas slumbers! I can do this. I have to do this."

"There's a weapon!" Katria shouted, grabbing Alexi's shoulders. "Your father gave it to me before…" she gritted her teeth, soldiering on. "It's an artifact of Xerneas – it's not enough, not alone…but if Yveltal was weakened in battle, using it might send it back into hibernation." Alexi wavered, shock coursing over her face. "Let me go first," Katria urged, sensing her hesitation. "Yveltal won't be at full strength. I can beat it. I know I can!"

"But your life force," Alexi breathed numbly. "Katria, you used so much of it today! You'll die!"

"Not right away. Even if I go all out, we'll have a few years left after! Better that than leaving me alone, right?" Alexi froze, indecision warring in her blue eyes. "Stay here. It will be too dangerous for you. If I fail, it'll be up to you to stop Yveltal. Either way we'll be together, right?"

"Right. Right! We can do this," she breathed, in dawning hope. "Promise me you'll win, Katria?"

"I promise," Katria whispered, knowing she could guarantee nothing.

Alexi smiled, pressing her hand to her heart. "And I promise…I'll be queen! Winning over Alain shouldn't be too difficult. And when I am…I'll change the Nightblades, so there are no more secrets and lies! Kalos needs our haunted blades, but I'll make sure they have a family, at least!"

Fierce pride coursed through Katria, nearly bringing her to tears.

Alexi was the queen the people deserved. Kalos would thrive under her rule.

"I'll be back," Katria promised.

And she descended the long stairs towards the legendary god of death.

~o~

Energy squirmed against her skin with every step, evil and wrong. Katria picked her way over rubble and debris from the earthquakes, descending deeper into the catacombs. Grey statues inhabited the base, so life-like they seemed like real people.

The walls shuddered, the earth groaning in protest. Katria froze, until the tremors passed, and continued on her way.

She didn't realize the truth, until she saw a statue with a loaf of soft bread lifted to her lips. Realization crashed over her – they had been people! Yveltal didn't just kill – it turned the bodies to stone. Eve and Noir shivered in their sheaths.

It seemed an eternity before she reached the massive double doors in the catacomb's depths. Red light seeped from the crack, pulsing oddly.

Katria swung open the door.

A crystalline scarlet cavern met her eyes, a grand castle beneath the mountains. Dozens of bowing statues circled an empty crater. Katria drew her blades, searching for the enemy.

A shadow uncurled from the high ceiling, hanging upside down by terrible talons. Fear and despair crashed over Katria in a nightmarish mental aura, but she held her ground as Yveltal's scarlet wings spread wide. Its screech was terror and death incarnate, tearing away at her sanity and blowing a fell wind through the crystal.

Starlight burst around her blades. Katria shouted in equal parts defiance and terror, her eyes bleeding black.

Lurid light rained over her, and Katria's back arched in agony. Eve and Noir shrieked, confirming Yveltal's wings had stolen five years in a single breath. Katria's war cry turned to hatred, as she leapt high with her swords over her head, bringing the Sacred Sword down in a powerful double handed slash. Silver energy crashed against clawed scarlet wings.

The crystal cracked at Yveltal's booming shriek, and blood dripped from her ruptured eardrums. Muted ringing was all that remained of her hearing.

"This isn't fair!" Katria shouted, though she couldn't hear herself speak! "You're not even fighting yet!" She landed on shattered crystal dust, ghostly power fortifying her bones. Katria grimaced, a Flash Cannon searing upwards. Yveltal rolled in midair, neatly dodging.

She dove to the side, and statues exploded behind her, crushed by Yveltal's talons. Katria leapt off a kneeling statue to change direction, another Sacred Sword slashing against Yveltal's hide! Sound vibrated against her skin, and she screamed as crimson light bathed the cavern.

How many years, that time?

"If you're a deity…then you won't care if I fight this!" A Hyper Beam shattered against Katria's skin, dispersed like water by a faint ghostly shield!

Ten years? Twenty?

The third Sacred Strike was batted aside by Oblivion Wing, and Eve shattered with a terrible telepathic cry-

"Because we're nothing to you!" Katria jerked Noir down, tearing boulders from the ceiling. Ancient Power showered Yveltal like cannon fire. It writhed, smacking a rock towards her by accident, and Katria's left shoulder broke with a sickening pop.

Did it even matter, at this point?

Katria stood tall on a jutting crystal, shifting her senses to hear through Noir as Yveltal dove towards her. Reaching into her pouch for the weapon Branimir had given her-!

She thrust out her hand, and Yveltal stopped, hovering in place.

Katria cried, the music box in her palm singing a sweet lullaby…

"It's supposed to be secret, but I always knew you. Katria…" Branimir had whispered, pressing the box into her shaking hands.

"You were always…such a good big sister!"

"I'm a willing sacrifice!" Katria Markov shouted, standing tall! "Go back to sleep!"

Yveltal's wings beat steadily as it listened. Unoffended by the battle she never could have won. Brilliant red light washed over her, throwing her shadow in stark relief.

Hot tears spilled over Katria's cheeks, and she bitterly regretted her last words to Alexi being a lie.

There had never been a weapon. Just Katria. A blade, not a person.

Goodbye…

The brilliant burst of light faded, and Katria's statue stood strong, immortalized in her moment of defiance, a music box singing in her hand.

Yveltal screeched one last time, curling back into a cocoon. Sated at last.

…little sister.

~o~

Lords and ladies lined the practice hall, talking amongst themselves as newly hatched Honedge hovered uncertainly near small children. A few blades had already chosen their partner, to both their delight. An incredibly lifelike statue stood at the head of the room in a pose of proud defiance…

"Mom!" A little boy ran through the kids, launching himself at a beautiful silver blonde woman. "Mom, look!" he shouted, holding out his Honedge with an expression of awe. "I got one!"

"Yes, you did, Raoul," Alexi approved, ruffling his curly blond hair. "And what a fine blade! Perfect for a little prince."

"She says she'll never hurt me," Raoul explained, his forehead pinched. "But she's so hungry. Why do the Honedge choose us?"

"Well," Alexi murmured, sitting her son on her lap. "Some say Honedge are reincarnations of great swordsman from old!"

"Like grandma," Raoul cut in seriously.

"Yes, like grandma. Remnants of their personalities remain, and their will lives on, though their human memories are very faint. Perhaps the Honedge used to be like you and me, and protect what they love, even after death." She smiled beatifically at her son. "Now. Are you a ranger, or a guardian? Ask your blade what she wants!"

Raoul's grin lit up his whole face. "That's the best part! She says our job is to guard you, Mom! So we'll protect you, no matter what!"

~o~