Embrace of Light and Dark

by Knight of Crows

Chapter 9 part 1

Cassiel POV

I'm still trying to process this whole situation. Heartless are attacking immediately after I wake up and now I'm under the protection of this "Nevermore". It could be a coincidence, but more often than not it isn't. I doubt Raven is trying to kill me and I doubt she's trying to kill the others. If this is Raven then that just about confirms it, but why would she attack an entire town just to get near me? There are many more subtle ways of going about this like what Faust did. Just what is she after?

"Is something wrong?" Nevermore asked getting close to the bed, breaking my line of thought. I shook my head.

"No, just thinking. Not like I can do anything else right now." She backed off and turned to the door.

"So what is this about keyblades or whatever?" She asked like she didn't know.

"If you heard that name then you already heard the rest of what I said. That would mean you should know I'm one of the reasons the Heartless are here." She looked back to me.

"Well don't worry kid, we've got this under control. None of these 'Heartless' will reach you." She said tapping her sword.

"Heh, I don't care about those guards nor do I care if they reach me. If they want to fight without their best and possibly only useful weapon then let them. I took out several of those things alone in my injured state and I could do it again if I wanted." She lit up her horn and put on a wicked smile.

"Is that so?" She asked as Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy fell over unconscious.

"Okay I'll bite, what was that?" I asked as she pulled out a vial with a light green liquid from a pouch on her belt.

"I just put them to sleep, they'll wake up about the same time we return, forgetting the last 2-10 minutes." She pointed to the vial.

"This little baby heals minor injuries quickly, restores stamina, numbs the pain of what ever it can't heal, and tastes like dragon piss. Zebras may not make the best tasting potiond, but they do make very effective ones for fair prices. I've tried getting the guards to consider these in place of other medical practices, but I never have the chance to talk to the captain and the others who can bring these in want nothing to do with 'unholy magic', 'inferior methods by savages', 'mud pony knock offs', or 'voodoo and curses'." So racism is also a thing here? Seems like the princesses are doing an even worse job than I thought.

"Enjoy!" She said handing the potion to me.

"What about the princesses? Won't they be pissed you left your post to get a child to fight with you?" I asked.

"They'll be mad yes, but they do try to look at the good in a situation. I've never fought or heard of 'Heartless' until today, but if I have reason to believe it works then I'll use it." I guess I'll play along then.

"I'm already regretting this, and that's not easy to do." I lifted the mask enough to drink the potion and I nearly threw up the second it entered my mouth. If this is what death tastes like then I might change my mind on my desire to die.

"Water?" I asked coughing, trying anything to get that taste out of my mouth. Nevermore grabbed the nearest cup and took her sweet time filling it up like she thinks this is amusing. If this is karma then I have a bitch to slap. I drank that as fast as I could, and the next 5 after that.

"Better?" She asked, trying not to laugh.

"Thank you for the potion, fuck you for not giving an accurate warning! That was as much poison as it was healthy." She shook her head.

"Actually it's best not to drink more than 3 per day. Otherwise you'll be dying of dehydration via severe diarrhea if you're lucky." What?

"Again, poison. What the fuck?" She tapped me on the head with the pommel of her sword making me grab my head in pain.

"I let the first one slide, but now I want you to watch your language. I don't care that you're my charge for now, I won't hear it from a colt your age." She scolded. I just shook my head and complied as I was in no condition to argue. Looking at my arm and leg I saw the wounds looked so much better than before, I actually saw it all healing like how some characters heal in those superhero movies. It was even doing away with the stitches. I tried standing up and had no trouble at all, no pain or discomfort. I felt lighter, better in general for some reason.

"You ready?" She asked.

"I will be after I get my cloak on." It was in the same place as last time. It needs to be knitted back together in a few spots, but it'll survive a while yet. Ignoring the fact I had a woman in the room, I went ahead and put it on before walking out with her behind me.

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Nevermore (Raven) POV

I wasn't lying in anything I've said except my name. That potion was actually made by zebras to heal others and speciesm/ racism is still a problem today. Quite sad really considering Hearths Warming and the official unification of the tribes a thousand years ago. That can come later, right now I want to see Cassiel fight Heartless now that he knows what he's up against. He unlocked his magic earlier than most keyblade wielders as well, I doubt he'll have much trouble with just Shadows and Soldiers. I was going to bring in a Darkside, but that would have been too much too soon I thought. I might summon one depending on how well he handles himself against the small fry.

Exiting the hospital we saw ponies left and right running from the Heartless. The guards were actually performing worse than I thought. I suppose a thousand years of peace will do that, but it's pathetic to see even a single guard run, even more so that it's a dozen guards running and that it takes 5 guards to kill one Shadow, and that's with magic and temporary weapon enchantments. The princesses are the only ones doing any real work, but with Luna still in her weakened state, Celestia having to pick up her slack and defend her ponies, well let's just say it's a good thing I didn't bring any of the big Heartless, especially since so many are trying to hide in the Town Hall.

I took a moment to look at Cassiel and could almost feel from him a desire to leave them to their fate, as if he feels doing so would properly punish everyone for being so weak and cowardly it should be a sin. With a sigh of disbelief (whether it was out of why he was doing this or the situation in general I don't know) he summoned Dawn in his left arm and put his right in his pocket before walking to the scene. Needing to play the part I drew my own sword and temporarily enchanted it with ice. One of the Shadows jumped at him aiming for his head, but Cassiel simply ducked and shot a fireball at it before it landed.

I will say that was quick not to mention accurate. He walked towards a few guards cowering in a shield as 4 Soldiers were attacking it, forming cracks with each strike. Cassiel stopped a good distance behind the shield and looked into the sky and at the Heartless several times before once again surprising me with his creativity. He threw Dawn high above the shield before summoning Nightfall and shooting a fireball past Dawn with his free arm and detonated it sending Dawn flying down into a Soldier. Catching the attention of the guards and Soldiers he was within seconds attacked by the Soldiers.

As they were charging him he recalled Dawn and threw it again, but horizontally this time killing 2 of them and the final one was impaled by Nightfall when it leaped at him.

I may be able to bring in a Darkside sooner than I thought.

Comments

[ShadowLight96]

This stories getting interesting. Shame its only got around 10 chaps so far.