HOME | DD

Description
Chapter 26: The Rose and the Knight

Lita rushed forward, Keyblade at her side. What was she going to do? Even when they were little, Solus had been a remarkable fighter. No matter how many times they sparred, he would always win. This wasn’t going to be easy…
Solus sprinted forward, using his shoulder to smash his Keyblade into Lita. The black-haired girl reacted quickly, jumping up and flipping over him. As she landed, Lita kicked her back leg up, catching Solus in the back. The teen fell forward, using his momentum to tuck into a roll.
“Is that really all you got?” he sneered. “Not very impressive, Little Sister. Not impressive at all.” Lita frowned.
“Well, how do you like this?!” Lita jumped back and summoned a set of fireballs that circled around her. “Blasting Zone!”
The fireballs launched at Solus, who just stood there with a lazy smirk on his face. Holding out his hand, a massive wall of fire erupted at his feet, absorbing Lita’s fire into it.
“Again, not very impressive.” He drawled. “But what should I expect? You never could beat me when we we’re kids. And I’m not a kid anymore…Hellfire!”
Thick columns of orange fire bust up from the ground, shooting straight towards Lita. She cart wheeled out of the way and pushed her feet off the ground, launching herself forward. Solus met her Keyblade with his and pushed her high into the air.
As Lita tried to control her momentum, she felt a hand latch onto her ankle and throw her clear across the arena. With a heavy thud, Lita smashed into the ground, her armor rattling from the impact. She didn’t have any time to react when Solus rushed at her again, his leg kicking forward at her shoulder.
“Come on!” he shouted. “Don’t tell me that after all these years, you haven’t learned any new tricks? This is pathetic Lita!”
Lita pulled herself up and rubbed her shoulder. Nothing felt broken, but it was sure going to be sore later.
“Solus, please!” she begged. “I don’t understand what I did wrong! What happened?!?”
She watched as her brother’s frown deepened and he bowed his head down. The hand that held his Keyblade shook visibly.
“You…You have NO idea what I’ve gone through…” he snarled. “I will never forgive you!!!”
Solus brought his Keyblade forward as it sparked with energy.
“Ultimate Chaos!”
Streams of red and black energy burst from his Keyblade and shot towards Lita. Spinning on her heel and twirling, she managed to dodge most of them and come out of it with only a few scratches. She wished she could have said the same thing for the ground around her. Wherever a stream of energy made contact with the stone floor, there were patches that totally disintegrated. Looking up in shock, she noticed Solus staring at the ground too, hand pressed to his forehead and muttering “Way too much”.
But as she tried to get her breath back, her brother rushed at her again with a savage right hook. Once more, Lita went flying.
How am I supposed to do this? He’s so much stronger than I am.
As she landed roughly on her feet, Lita let out an irritated sigh. This was insane, but how was she supposed to match this crazy strength?
I used to be faster than he was, but now we’re on par with each other, she thought as they clashed blades with each other. Brute forces is out, so what does that leave? He won’t talk to me unless it’s insults…
Lita pushed forward and then leapt back, putting distance between them. Summoning a wheel of fire around her, she saw her brother smirk.
“Spinning Hellfire, huh?” he snorted. “Still using that move I taught you, Little Sister? Fine then, let’s see how well it’s progressed.”
As he spoke, Solus blew a stream of fire around himself, forming it into a familiar wheel.
“Spinning Hellfire!”
“Inferno Wheel!”
The two unleashed their attacks at each other, where they met in the middle of the arena. Red and orange swirled together, mixing in a dangerous inferno of light. A second after clashing, the twin attacks promptly exploded and the area was bathed in a thick smoke.
...
...
Up in the stands, Hercules and Phil exchanged nervous glances. Although they thought they were being stealthy, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“What’s wrong?” Riku asked, fixing the two with a suspicious stare.
The two jumped and laughed nervously.
“I-It’s nothing!” Phil lied.
“And why do I not buy that?”
Next to him, Myde sighed.
“You two are anxious about Solus fighting on his own, aren’t you?” the former Nobody sighed.
“Um…That might have something to do with it…” Hercules fidgeted.
“Why?” Riku asked. “What’s there to worry about?” He didn’t like the nervous expressions on their faces. And neither did Earthshaker.
“What are you not telling us?” she growled. Her tail twitched dangerously as the hairs on it bristled.
When Hercules and his trainer failed to find the words to relay their worries, Myde stepped up.
“Solus is different from most fighters.” He said simply. “He’s not exactly normal, I know that. But there’s something else. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ve never seen him fight alone before. Usually, my sister is always with him.”
“And for good reason!” Phil exclaimed. “When that kid gets really bent out of shape, he becomes a whole different person!”
“As far as we know,” Hercules explained. “Solus has some sort of ‘other power’. Some times when he uses it, he loses control. That’s where Sitara comes in.”
Earthshaker glanced curiously at the blonde down on the ground, who was watching the fight going on intently.
“I don’t want to sound rude, but what can she do?” Earthshaker asked. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who enjoys fighting…”
Myde let out a laugh.
“Oh, that’s for sure. Sitara is like me; we don’t fight unless we absolutely have to. But Sitara has a certain quality that calms Solus down. And he’d never hurt her either; that’s the only reason I trust him around my little sister.”
“You’re all skirting around some important information,” Lightning cut in curtly. “What happens to that kid?”
Phil rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Let’s just say that whatever happens, if you get in a fight with the kid when he rampages, I’ve got two words of advice…”
“Run.” Myde cut in. “Run away as if your life depends on it. Because it most likely will…”
...
...
Solus coughed as he made his way through the smoke. Once again, he had put too much energy into an attack, but what did he honestly expect?
Stupid idiot, he chided. I need to focus! Sitara isn’t here to help reign myself in. and Phil would chase me all the way to the Underworld if I destroyed the arena…Again.
It never occurred to him that if he had just approached this fight with a level head, it might be easier to control “It”. Sadly, his temper had only gotten worse over the years with all the pent up aggression and anger.
It’s all their fault. They never cared…
Suddenly, Solus felt something wrap around his ankle. Before he could even look, he found himself hoisted upside down.
“What the f-!”
Lita walked up to find her brother thrashing around like a caught animal. Lita felt it odd that for some reason, his right hand remained pressed to the corresponding side of his face. She wondered what he was trying to hide.
"Solus, are you alright?” she asked uncertainly. Solus’s one visible eye fixed her with a glare.
“I’m hanging upside down like a slab of meat.” He snapped. “Why the hell would I be?!”
As he continued to thrash, Lita watched him, absolutely fascinated. Suddenly, and much to Solus’s mounting frustration, she began to laugh.
“What is so damned funny?!?” he demanded.
“R-remember when we were little?’ Lita got out between chuckles. “And we had a contest to see who could climb the farthest up the palm trees? You fell off and were hanging by your belt for twenty minutes until Mother got you down. Well, it’s like that!”
Solus blinked. He did remember that day. But, he wasn’t the only one who fell, at least he thought so.
An image flashed past his eyes. There were two little boys, one was him and the other had brown hair, while Lita was down on the sand laughing with another boy, this one silver-haired. But the annoying part was that he couldn’t remember their faces.
“You…you remembered that?” he asked quietly.
Lita nodded as she released him from her Blast cord. Solus stumbled back from the sudden blood rush to his head and was shocked to find his sister catching his free arm.
“I never forgot, Solus…” she said. “I’ve missed you, you know…”
Solus growled and pushed her away.
“Oh save it. I don’t want to hear this, especially from you!”
He summoned his Keyblade and ran forward, smashing it into Lita’s. Grunting, she tried to push back as he pressed forward. As the struggle for ground continued, Lita noticed an eerie glow from under Solus’s bangs. It was a faint, red light that she almost mistook for the sun hitting some of the red strands in his hair. But Solus noticed her stare, and immediately backed up. His face looked almost…Scared?
“Solus? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” he yelled, but his voice was a tad raspier than before. “Just…Just back off!”
Now Lita was extremely confused. First, Solus had been egging her on to fight, going as far as to attacking her belligerently. She couldn’t understand what was going on. What was he so afraid of?
The more she searched her twin’s face, the clearer it became that he was scared. His one visible eye was shifting all over the place, and his body was tensed like a caged rat. Something was wrong.
To the surprise of everyone in the stands, Lita dismissed her Keyblade and walked towards Solus in slow, steady steps. She made her face look calm, but her eyes still held their determined light in them.
“Solus…” She held out her hand in a non-threatening gesture. “You aren’t okay, I know you aren’t. Please, let me know what going on. Something is bothering you, Brother. Tell me what it is. Maybe my friends and I can help.”
Solus continued to back up, keeping his arms fixed against his sides. Looking anywhere but in her eyes, his voice was strained.
“No…No one can help me. I’m beyond help at this point. It’s…Better if you just stay away.”
Lita frowned. “No, I will not! You’re my brother, my family! I want to help you!”
“Then why didn’t you come find me!” Solus screamed. Lita took a startled step back.
“Wh-what?”
“You…” he growled. “You never came to find me, after we got separated. You and Mother, you abandoned me! You broke your promise!!”
With a fierce yell, he launched himself at Lita, hands reaching for her. Unprepared, Lita fell backwards as his hands clamped down on her shoulders, pinning her to the ground. Looking up in fright, Lita saw the fury pass across his face. But not only that, but pain and suffering and betrayal. Right before her eyes, she saw the mask crumble away.
“The both of you…” he choked out. “Neither of you came to find me. I suffered because of you! Do you have any idea…How much pain I went through? All those years, I kept hoping you would find me, but you didn’t. Seven years, Lita. What the hell were you doing?!?”
Solus shook as he spoke and his fingers dug into her shoulder painfully. But she really didn’t notice it. At the moment, Lita’s attention was fixed on her older brother, and her heart was aching for him. It was then that she took the moment to read his heart.
So much pain was bottled up inside him. It felt like his heart had been ripped to pieces and then poorly stitched back up. Pain and anger was built up like a bomb that could explode at any second. Lita could feel it like a burning knife pressed on bare skin. And while she tried sorting through the emotions, she got scattered images of needles, and medical equipment, men in masks and lab coats, and fear. So much fear.
Lita snapped out of it when she felt something wet drop on her face. Looking up, she saw small water droplets oozing from Solus’s sky blue eye. Tears. For the first time in her life, Lita was seeing her brave, beloved, big brother crying.
“Solus…” she squeaked. “What did they do to you?”
“Things so terrible, you could never imagine.” Solus growled, reaching up to press his hand under his bangs. “Why? Why didn’t you come find me?”
Before Lita could speak, a tremor ran through Solus. His muscles stiffened and his breath hitched. His blue eye flashed red for a second.
Mustering all his strength, Solus pushed himself away and stumbled backwards, hands clutched to his head. Lita sat up and watched in horror as his eye turned red and his skin turned a sickly white.
“N-No!” he shouted. “Stop it, don’t do this! Arah! C-Chaos, stop!”
“Solus?!? Brother, what’s wrong?!?” Lita rushed over but was flung back by her brother’s arm.
“Stay away!”
...
...
“Oh no, I was afraid of this!” Phil moaned. “It’s happening again!”
“Wonderboy, should I start evacuating the Coliseum?” Meg asked hurriedly.
Hercules frowned. “Hurry.”
As Meg rushed off with Phil’s megaphone, spectators began rushing from the arena in a panic. Riku and Earthshaker rushed up out of their seats and stated down to the field. Myde and Hercules held them back.
“What are you doing?!” Riku struggled to get out of Myde’s grip. “That’s out friend down there!”
“Let me go!” Earthshaker howled. “Let me go or I bite your head off!”
“There’s nothing you can do!” Myde shouted. “If you rush in, Solus will attack!”
“But what about Lita?!”
Lightning stepped forward, her gunblade drawn. Her face was even more serious than it normally was, and her eyes were like ice.
“If it comes down to it, we fight.” She announced.
Riku hoped that for Lita’s sake, it wouldn’t come to that.
...
...
What was happening?
Lita watched with disbelief as her brother continued to moan and shout. It was as if he was turning into some sort of demon, right before her eyes! She could see his eyes glowing red as his hair began to stand on end. As his moans turned to growls, glints of sharp teeth peeked out from his mouth.
Ever instinct in her told that she needed to run, get away. But she just couldn’t. This was her brother. What he had just said; what she had just felt. Solus had been alone, abandoned, and maybe he was right. Maybe all those things that happened to him…maybe they were all her fault.
Maybe, she thought. Maybe if I had tried harder to find him…Mother wouldn’t have died…I wouldn’t have given into the Darkness…This…This wouldn’t be happening!!!
Lita pushed herself up. she had spent enough time feeling sorry for herself over the years. Now was the time to put an end to her self-pity. What’s done is done. Right now, her brother needed help.
Striding purposefully up to Solus, Lita dug around in her bag, searching through the vast collection of items and brick-a-brack, looking for that one thing. The one dear object that she had kept with her for all those years, which she hadn’t even showed the others.
As she stood arm’s length away from her brother, Lita felt her fingers wrap around it. Quickly, she withdrew her hand and knelt in front of Solus. Her twin looked up fearfully, his eyes glowing fiercely and he struggled to get his words out.
“Go….get out of here….” He flinched when Lita looped something around his neck. Jerking back, he looked down and his breath came out in a whoosh.
Hanging from his neck from a thin black cord was an oval-shaped, gold locket. The front cover was painted with shinning, crimson enamel and an oval-shaped blue gem was set in the middle. It was the opposite of the one that hung around his twin's neck. Solus reached a shaky hand and clasped the locket. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“M-my locket…” he breathed. “You…You had it…this whole time?”
Lita nodded and smiled sadly. “I thought you were dead when we found it…There was blood on it and we thought the worst. I’m…I’m so sorry, Solus. I didn’t try hard enough to find you, and because of it, you were hurt so much. I’m so, incredibly sorry…”
The next thing Lita did shocked Solus more than the return of his locket. Before he could speak, she pressed her forehead to the ground, bowing low. Stunned, he momentarily forgot about his current problem and began to protest.
“H-hey…wait! t-that’s not fair…” he waved his hands around, flustered. “Uh, c-come on, get up! I’m supposed to be pissed at you, not….Oh dammit…”
Hastily, he jumped up and pulled Lita up with him. As he did so, he felt someone crash into his back.
“Solus!” a timid voice squeaked out.
Whirling around, Solus was just in time to catch his best friend, Sitara, before she fell on her backside. That was when he noticed that she was staring at him with wide, fearful eyes.
“Solus! I t-told you to t-tell me if things were g-getting this bad!”
“Lita!” Everyone whirled to see Riku, Earthshaker, Tala, and the others rushed down. As soon as he got within a proper distance, Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and stood protectively in front of Lita.
“Get back.” He ordered.
Solus frowned. Silver hair, light blue eyes…Why did this guy look familiar?
Lita pushed herself out and between the two.
“Don’t hurt him, Riku!” she pleaded.
“Riku…?” Solus mumbled. The name tugged at the furthest, fuzziest parts of his memory. He did know that name, didn’t he?
When Riku didn’t show any signs of backing down, Sitara summoned her Keyblade and got in front of Solus, shocking the dark-haired teen. He could see her shaking in her baggy jacket.
“D-don’t hurt h-him…please…”
“Alright, everyone put away your weapons. Now!” Earthshaker roared. In their shock, Sitara jumped and dropped her Keyblade while Riku stepped back.
Solus frowned as the odd, silver-haired woman with the red eyes walked up to him, staring at him. Most likely, she was studying his demonic appearance, and he was glad that he had decided to keep his armor on. But it also made him pissed. He hated it when people stared at him.
“Take a picture,” he snapped. “It’ll last longer!”
He watched as the woman’s eyes flashed and the dog ears twitched. He probably just made her angry, but he didn’t really care. This far into the transformation, he could take her on easily. What he didn’t expect was for her to let out a booming laugh and crush him in a bear hug.
“Oh, you ARE Solus!” she exclaimed. “I recognize your mother’s infamous tongue anywhere! Oh, thank Bahamut, you’re alive!!”
“What…what happened to you?” Tala asked, her eyes burning with curiosity.
“This is what we were talking about!” Phil exclaimed, shooting a frown at Solus. “And because of it, I’m shutting down the Games for right now. Can’t have you fighting when you look like that.”
“I never would have guessed this was what happened when you got angry, Solus.” Myde shuddered. “Remind me next time to not tick you off…”
“Can you change back?” Lita asked worriedly. Solus nodded curtly.
“It will go away on its own. How long until the Games are up and running again, Phil?”
“Well with this little stunt, I don’t have a clue, kid.” The portly satyr replied. “Might be a while since everybody in the city is running like a Hellhound is after ‘em…”
Sitara let out a tiny squeak. “Phil, y-you have to get the G-Games running again! It’s i-important!”
“It’s just a silly competition. It’s not that big of a deal…” All eyes turned towards Lightning, and Solus and Sitara (who had just noticed her for the first time) paled.
“You…”
“S-Serah’s sister!!!”

Description
Chapter 26: The Rose and the Knight

Lita rushed forward, Keyblade at her side. What was she going to do? Even when they were little, Solus had been a remarkable fighter. No matter how many times they sparred, he would always win. This wasn’t going to be easy…
Solus sprinted forward, using his shoulder to smash his Keyblade into Lita. The black-haired girl reacted quickly, jumping up and flipping over him. As she landed, Lita kicked her back leg up, catching Solus in the back. The teen fell forward, using his momentum to tuck into a roll.
“Is that really all you got?” he sneered. “Not very impressive, Little Sister. Not impressive at all.” Lita frowned.
“Well, how do you like this?!” Lita jumped back and summoned a set of fireballs that circled around her. “Blasting Zone!”
The fireballs launched at Solus, who just stood there with a lazy smirk on his face. Holding out his hand, a massive wall of fire erupted at his feet, absorbing Lita’s fire into it.
“Again, not very impressive.” He drawled. “But what should I expect? You never could beat me when we we’re kids. And I’m not a kid anymore…Hellfire!”
Thick columns of orange fire bust up from the ground, shooting straight towards Lita. She cart wheeled out of the way and pushed her feet off the ground, launching herself forward. Solus met her Keyblade with his and pushed her high into the air.
As Lita tried to control her momentum, she felt a hand latch onto her ankle and throw her clear across the arena. With a heavy thud, Lita smashed into the ground, her armor rattling from the impact. She didn’t have any time to react when Solus rushed at her again, his leg kicking forward at her shoulder.
“Come on!” he shouted. “Don’t tell me that after all these years, you haven’t learned any new tricks? This is pathetic Lita!”
Lita pulled herself up and rubbed her shoulder. Nothing felt broken, but it was sure going to be sore later.
“Solus, please!” she begged. “I don’t understand what I did wrong! What happened?!?”
She watched as her brother’s frown deepened and he bowed his head down. The hand that held his Keyblade shook visibly.
“You…You have NO idea what I’ve gone through…” he snarled. “I will never forgive you!!!”
Solus brought his Keyblade forward as it sparked with energy.
“Ultimate Chaos!”
Streams of red and black energy burst from his Keyblade and shot towards Lita. Spinning on her heel and twirling, she managed to dodge most of them and come out of it with only a few scratches. She wished she could have said the same thing for the ground around her. Wherever a stream of energy made contact with the stone floor, there were patches that totally disintegrated. Looking up in shock, she noticed Solus staring at the ground too, hand pressed to his forehead and muttering “Way too much”.
But as she tried to get her breath back, her brother rushed at her again with a savage right hook. Once more, Lita went flying.
How am I supposed to do this? He’s so much stronger than I am.
As she landed roughly on her feet, Lita let out an irritated sigh. This was insane, but how was she supposed to match this crazy strength?
I used to be faster than he was, but now we’re on par with each other, she thought as they clashed blades with each other. Brute forces is out, so what does that leave? He won’t talk to me unless it’s insults…
Lita pushed forward and then leapt back, putting distance between them. Summoning a wheel of fire around her, she saw her brother smirk.
“Spinning Hellfire, huh?” he snorted. “Still using that move I taught you, Little Sister? Fine then, let’s see how well it’s progressed.”
As he spoke, Solus blew a stream of fire around himself, forming it into a familiar wheel.
“Spinning Hellfire!”
“Inferno Wheel!”
The two unleashed their attacks at each other, where they met in the middle of the arena. Red and orange swirled together, mixing in a dangerous inferno of light. A second after clashing, the twin attacks promptly exploded and the area was bathed in a thick smoke.
...
...
Up in the stands, Hercules and Phil exchanged nervous glances. Although they thought they were being stealthy, it didn’t go unnoticed.
“What’s wrong?” Riku asked, fixing the two with a suspicious stare.
The two jumped and laughed nervously.
“I-It’s nothing!” Phil lied.
“And why do I not buy that?”
Next to him, Myde sighed.
“You two are anxious about Solus fighting on his own, aren’t you?” the former Nobody sighed.
“Um…That might have something to do with it…” Hercules fidgeted.
“Why?” Riku asked. “What’s there to worry about?” He didn’t like the nervous expressions on their faces. And neither did Earthshaker.
“What are you not telling us?” she growled. Her tail twitched dangerously as the hairs on it bristled.
When Hercules and his trainer failed to find the words to relay their worries, Myde stepped up.
“Solus is different from most fighters.” He said simply. “He’s not exactly normal, I know that. But there’s something else. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’ve never seen him fight alone before. Usually, my sister is always with him.”
“And for good reason!” Phil exclaimed. “When that kid gets really bent out of shape, he becomes a whole different person!”
“As far as we know,” Hercules explained. “Solus has some sort of ‘other power’. Some times when he uses it, he loses control. That’s where Sitara comes in.”
Earthshaker glanced curiously at the blonde down on the ground, who was watching the fight going on intently.
“I don’t want to sound rude, but what can she do?” Earthshaker asked. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who enjoys fighting…”
Myde let out a laugh.
“Oh, that’s for sure. Sitara is like me; we don’t fight unless we absolutely have to. But Sitara has a certain quality that calms Solus down. And he’d never hurt her either; that’s the only reason I trust him around my little sister.”
“You’re all skirting around some important information,” Lightning cut in curtly. “What happens to that kid?”
Phil rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Let’s just say that whatever happens, if you get in a fight with the kid when he rampages, I’ve got two words of advice…”
“Run.” Myde cut in. “Run away as if your life depends on it. Because it most likely will…”
...
...
Solus coughed as he made his way through the smoke. Once again, he had put too much energy into an attack, but what did he honestly expect?
Stupid idiot, he chided. I need to focus! Sitara isn’t here to help reign myself in. and Phil would chase me all the way to the Underworld if I destroyed the arena…Again.
It never occurred to him that if he had just approached this fight with a level head, it might be easier to control “It”. Sadly, his temper had only gotten worse over the years with all the pent up aggression and anger.
It’s all their fault. They never cared…
Suddenly, Solus felt something wrap around his ankle. Before he could even look, he found himself hoisted upside down.
“What the f-!”
Lita walked up to find her brother thrashing around like a caught animal. Lita felt it odd that for some reason, his right hand remained pressed to the corresponding side of his face. She wondered what he was trying to hide.
"Solus, are you alright?” she asked uncertainly. Solus’s one visible eye fixed her with a glare.
“I’m hanging upside down like a slab of meat.” He snapped. “Why the hell would I be?!”
As he continued to thrash, Lita watched him, absolutely fascinated. Suddenly, and much to Solus’s mounting frustration, she began to laugh.
“What is so damned funny?!?” he demanded.
“R-remember when we were little?’ Lita got out between chuckles. “And we had a contest to see who could climb the farthest up the palm trees? You fell off and were hanging by your belt for twenty minutes until Mother got you down. Well, it’s like that!”
Solus blinked. He did remember that day. But, he wasn’t the only one who fell, at least he thought so.
An image flashed past his eyes. There were two little boys, one was him and the other had brown hair, while Lita was down on the sand laughing with another boy, this one silver-haired. But the annoying part was that he couldn’t remember their faces.
“You…you remembered that?” he asked quietly.
Lita nodded as she released him from her Blast cord. Solus stumbled back from the sudden blood rush to his head and was shocked to find his sister catching his free arm.
“I never forgot, Solus…” she said. “I’ve missed you, you know…”
Solus growled and pushed her away.
“Oh save it. I don’t want to hear this, especially from you!”
He summoned his Keyblade and ran forward, smashing it into Lita’s. Grunting, she tried to push back as he pressed forward. As the struggle for ground continued, Lita noticed an eerie glow from under Solus’s bangs. It was a faint, red light that she almost mistook for the sun hitting some of the red strands in his hair. But Solus noticed her stare, and immediately backed up. His face looked almost…Scared?
“Solus? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” he yelled, but his voice was a tad raspier than before. “Just…Just back off!”
Now Lita was extremely confused. First, Solus had been egging her on to fight, going as far as to attacking her belligerently. She couldn’t understand what was going on. What was he so afraid of?
The more she searched her twin’s face, the clearer it became that he was scared. His one visible eye was shifting all over the place, and his body was tensed like a caged rat. Something was wrong.
To the surprise of everyone in the stands, Lita dismissed her Keyblade and walked towards Solus in slow, steady steps. She made her face look calm, but her eyes still held their determined light in them.
“Solus…” She held out her hand in a non-threatening gesture. “You aren’t okay, I know you aren’t. Please, let me know what going on. Something is bothering you, Brother. Tell me what it is. Maybe my friends and I can help.”
Solus continued to back up, keeping his arms fixed against his sides. Looking anywhere but in her eyes, his voice was strained.
“No…No one can help me. I’m beyond help at this point. It’s…Better if you just stay away.”
Lita frowned. “No, I will not! You’re my brother, my family! I want to help you!”
“Then why didn’t you come find me!” Solus screamed. Lita took a startled step back.
“Wh-what?”
“You…” he growled. “You never came to find me, after we got separated. You and Mother, you abandoned me! You broke your promise!!”
With a fierce yell, he launched himself at Lita, hands reaching for her. Unprepared, Lita fell backwards as his hands clamped down on her shoulders, pinning her to the ground. Looking up in fright, Lita saw the fury pass across his face. But not only that, but pain and suffering and betrayal. Right before her eyes, she saw the mask crumble away.
“The both of you…” he choked out. “Neither of you came to find me. I suffered because of you! Do you have any idea…How much pain I went through? All those years, I kept hoping you would find me, but you didn’t. Seven years, Lita. What the hell were you doing?!?”
Solus shook as he spoke and his fingers dug into her shoulder painfully. But she really didn’t notice it. At the moment, Lita’s attention was fixed on her older brother, and her heart was aching for him. It was then that she took the moment to read his heart.
So much pain was bottled up inside him. It felt like his heart had been ripped to pieces and then poorly stitched back up. Pain and anger was built up like a bomb that could explode at any second. Lita could feel it like a burning knife pressed on bare skin. And while she tried sorting through the emotions, she got scattered images of needles, and medical equipment, men in masks and lab coats, and fear. So much fear.
Lita snapped out of it when she felt something wet drop on her face. Looking up, she saw small water droplets oozing from Solus’s sky blue eye. Tears. For the first time in her life, Lita was seeing her brave, beloved, big brother crying.
“Solus…” she squeaked. “What did they do to you?”
“Things so terrible, you could never imagine.” Solus growled, reaching up to press his hand under his bangs. “Why? Why didn’t you come find me?”
Before Lita could speak, a tremor ran through Solus. His muscles stiffened and his breath hitched. His blue eye flashed red for a second.
Mustering all his strength, Solus pushed himself away and stumbled backwards, hands clutched to his head. Lita sat up and watched in horror as his eye turned red and his skin turned a sickly white.
“N-No!” he shouted. “Stop it, don’t do this! Arah! C-Chaos, stop!”
“Solus?!? Brother, what’s wrong?!?” Lita rushed over but was flung back by her brother’s arm.
“Stay away!”
...
...
“Oh no, I was afraid of this!” Phil moaned. “It’s happening again!”
“Wonderboy, should I start evacuating the Coliseum?” Meg asked hurriedly.
Hercules frowned. “Hurry.”
As Meg rushed off with Phil’s megaphone, spectators began rushing from the arena in a panic. Riku and Earthshaker rushed up out of their seats and stated down to the field. Myde and Hercules held them back.
“What are you doing?!” Riku struggled to get out of Myde’s grip. “That’s out friend down there!”
“Let me go!” Earthshaker howled. “Let me go or I bite your head off!”
“There’s nothing you can do!” Myde shouted. “If you rush in, Solus will attack!”
“But what about Lita?!”
Lightning stepped forward, her gunblade drawn. Her face was even more serious than it normally was, and her eyes were like ice.
“If it comes down to it, we fight.” She announced.
Riku hoped that for Lita’s sake, it wouldn’t come to that.
...
...
What was happening?
Lita watched with disbelief as her brother continued to moan and shout. It was as if he was turning into some sort of demon, right before her eyes! She could see his eyes glowing red as his hair began to stand on end. As his moans turned to growls, glints of sharp teeth peeked out from his mouth.
Ever instinct in her told that she needed to run, get away. But she just couldn’t. This was her brother. What he had just said; what she had just felt. Solus had been alone, abandoned, and maybe he was right. Maybe all those things that happened to him…maybe they were all her fault.
Maybe, she thought. Maybe if I had tried harder to find him…Mother wouldn’t have died…I wouldn’t have given into the Darkness…This…This wouldn’t be happening!!!
Lita pushed herself up. she had spent enough time feeling sorry for herself over the years. Now was the time to put an end to her self-pity. What’s done is done. Right now, her brother needed help.
Striding purposefully up to Solus, Lita dug around in her bag, searching through the vast collection of items and brick-a-brack, looking for that one thing. The one dear object that she had kept with her for all those years, which she hadn’t even showed the others.
As she stood arm’s length away from her brother, Lita felt her fingers wrap around it. Quickly, she withdrew her hand and knelt in front of Solus. Her twin looked up fearfully, his eyes glowing fiercely and he struggled to get his words out.
“Go….get out of here….” He flinched when Lita looped something around his neck. Jerking back, he looked down and his breath came out in a whoosh.
Hanging from his neck from a thin black cord was an oval-shaped, gold locket. The front cover was painted with shinning, crimson enamel and an oval-shaped blue gem was set in the middle. It was the opposite of the one that hung around his twin's neck. Solus reached a shaky hand and clasped the locket. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“M-my locket…” he breathed. “You…You had it…this whole time?”
Lita nodded and smiled sadly. “I thought you were dead when we found it…There was blood on it and we thought the worst. I’m…I’m so sorry, Solus. I didn’t try hard enough to find you, and because of it, you were hurt so much. I’m so, incredibly sorry…”
The next thing Lita did shocked Solus more than the return of his locket. Before he could speak, she pressed her forehead to the ground, bowing low. Stunned, he momentarily forgot about his current problem and began to protest.
“H-hey…wait! t-that’s not fair…” he waved his hands around, flustered. “Uh, c-come on, get up! I’m supposed to be pissed at you, not….Oh dammit…”
Hastily, he jumped up and pulled Lita up with him. As he did so, he felt someone crash into his back.
“Solus!” a timid voice squeaked out.
Whirling around, Solus was just in time to catch his best friend, Sitara, before she fell on her backside. That was when he noticed that she was staring at him with wide, fearful eyes.
“Solus! I t-told you to t-tell me if things were g-getting this bad!”
“Lita!” Everyone whirled to see Riku, Earthshaker, Tala, and the others rushed down. As soon as he got within a proper distance, Riku summoned Way to the Dawn and stood protectively in front of Lita.
“Get back.” He ordered.
Solus frowned. Silver hair, light blue eyes…Why did this guy look familiar?
Lita pushed herself out and between the two.
“Don’t hurt him, Riku!” she pleaded.
“Riku…?” Solus mumbled. The name tugged at the furthest, fuzziest parts of his memory. He did know that name, didn’t he?
When Riku didn’t show any signs of backing down, Sitara summoned her Keyblade and got in front of Solus, shocking the dark-haired teen. He could see her shaking in her baggy jacket.
“D-don’t hurt h-him…please…”
“Alright, everyone put away your weapons. Now!” Earthshaker roared. In their shock, Sitara jumped and dropped her Keyblade while Riku stepped back.
Solus frowned as the odd, silver-haired woman with the red eyes walked up to him, staring at him. Most likely, she was studying his demonic appearance, and he was glad that he had decided to keep his armor on. But it also made him pissed. He hated it when people stared at him.
“Take a picture,” he snapped. “It’ll last longer!”
He watched as the woman’s eyes flashed and the dog ears twitched. He probably just made her angry, but he didn’t really care. This far into the transformation, he could take her on easily. What he didn’t expect was for her to let out a booming laugh and crush him in a bear hug.
“Oh, you ARE Solus!” she exclaimed. “I recognize your mother’s infamous tongue anywhere! Oh, thank Bahamut, you’re alive!!”
“What…what happened to you?” Tala asked, her eyes burning with curiosity.
“This is what we were talking about!” Phil exclaimed, shooting a frown at Solus. “And because of it, I’m shutting down the Games for right now. Can’t have you fighting when you look like that.”
“I never would have guessed this was what happened when you got angry, Solus.” Myde shuddered. “Remind me next time to not tick you off…”
“Can you change back?” Lita asked worriedly. Solus nodded curtly.
“It will go away on its own. How long until the Games are up and running again, Phil?”
“Well with this little stunt, I don’t have a clue, kid.” The portly satyr replied. “Might be a while since everybody in the city is running like a Hellhound is after ‘em…”
Sitara let out a tiny squeak. “Phil, y-you have to get the G-Games running again! It’s i-important!”
“It’s just a silly competition. It’s not that big of a deal…” All eyes turned towards Lightning, and Solus and Sitara (who had just noticed her for the first time) paled.
“You…”
“S-Serah’s sister!!!”