Prologue: Imminent Death
I stared at Vegnagun. This was the creature that ensured Bevelle's victory over Zanarkand. It was their trump card if the summoners, like Lenne, could defeat the other machina. However, I had other plans. It would be my trump card. I would use this monstrosity to ransack Bevelle. You can't attack another city if yours is in shambles, now can you? They'd have to call back their army and focus their attention on me. That way, Lenne would be safe from harm. Of course, once that military of theirs returned, I'd most likely not survive, but I didn't care. So long as she would be spared, I was fine with death.
"You're my only hope in saving Lenne," I heard myself mutter.
I quickly walked up to Vegnagun, worrying about time. I reached it and climbed onboard to its cockpit. It was strange. My back was to the front of the machina. Not only that, but the controls looked more like an organ for one of Lenne's concerts rather than something that controlled a city buster. Although, I guess you could think of it like this organ plays music that tames the beast, giving you control of it. Bevelle sure had some strange engineers. In any case, that wasn't something I should be thinking about. What I needed to focus on was getting this thing running so I could blow a few holes all over town. I needed to cause enough damage to the city so that not only would Lenne be safe from this one Machina War, but safe from any future wars, too.
I had never driven a machina before so luckily, this organ control panel wasn't too difficult to operate. I played a nice, well, fitting tune and the massive beast started to activate. Its mouth opened, or rather the lower jaw, and something moved within it. However, right before the cannon was about to shoot out of its mouth, I heard her.
"You must stop! That's enough!" I turned around to face her. "Lenne!" She was standing there with her arms held out. I cringed. She knew my intentions.
Suddenly, we heard footsteps and she gasped when she turned around. There were several guards heading for her with guns in hand. I quickly left the cockpit and embraced her in my arms. This wasn't how I wanted it to go. The spotlights came on to shine on the intruders, us. I looked up and turned my head towards the guards. I hated them. I hated each and every one of them because I had failed her and they were making sure of that. The guards took aim at the two of us. They were going to kill us right there. I looked back at Lenne and tried to comfort her by giving her a fake look of reassurance. She looked back at me and I knew that she also knew we were dead. Her eyes moved a little downward before she looked at me again, a tear sliding down her face. Then, she smiled at me. It killed me right there. She was fine with her fate. She knew I failed her, but she smiled anyway. I couldn't protect her. I couldn't save her. I failed. My heart shattered.
Finally, the bullets were let loose from the guns by those guards. They sped towards us and both of us cringed. You know, I used to always make fun of that ridiculous idea that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. The only thing I could ever imagine thinking about before dying is, "Wow, this bites." Now that I really was about to die, I realized that that was true...
I stared at Vegnagun. This was the creature that ensured Bevelle's victory over Zanarkand. It was their trump card if the summoners, like Lenne, could defeat the other machina. However, I had other plans. It would be my trump card. I would use this monstrosity to ransack Bevelle. You can't attack another city if yours is in shambles, now can you? They'd have to call back their army and focus their attention on me. That way, Lenne would be safe from harm. Of course, once that military of theirs returned, I'd most likely not survive, but I didn't care. So long as she would be spared, I was fine with death.
"You're my only hope in saving Lenne," I heard myself mutter.
I quickly walked up to Vegnagun, worrying about time. I reached it and climbed onboard to its cockpit. It was strange. My back was to the front of the machina. Not only that, but the controls looked more like an organ for one of Lenne's concerts rather than something that controlled a city buster. Although, I guess you could think of it like this organ plays music that tames the beast, giving you control of it. Bevelle sure had some strange engineers. In any case, that wasn't something I should be thinking about. What I needed to focus on was getting this thing running so I could blow a few holes all over town. I needed to cause enough damage to the city so that not only would Lenne be safe from this one Machina War, but safe from any future wars, too.
I had never driven a machina before so luckily, this organ control panel wasn't too difficult to operate. I played a nice, well, fitting tune and the massive beast started to activate. Its mouth opened, or rather the lower jaw, and something moved within it. However, right before the cannon was about to shoot out of its mouth, I heard her.
"You must stop! That's enough!" I turned around to face her. "Lenne!" She was standing there with her arms held out. I cringed. She knew my intentions.
Suddenly, we heard footsteps and she gasped when she turned around. There were several guards heading for her with guns in hand. I quickly left the cockpit and embraced her in my arms. This wasn't how I wanted it to go. The spotlights came on to shine on the intruders, us. I looked up and turned my head towards the guards. I hated them. I hated each and every one of them because I had failed her and they were making sure of that. The guards took aim at the two of us. They were going to kill us right there. I looked back at Lenne and tried to comfort her by giving her a fake look of reassurance. She looked back at me and I knew that she also knew we were dead. Her eyes moved a little downward before she looked at me again, a tear sliding down her face. Then, she smiled at me. It killed me right there. She was fine with her fate. She knew I failed her, but she smiled anyway. I couldn't protect her. I couldn't save her. I failed. My heart shattered.
Finally, the bullets were let loose from the guns by those guards. They sped towards us and both of us cringed. You know, I used to always make fun of that ridiculous idea that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. The only thing I could ever imagine thinking about before dying is, "Wow, this bites." Now that I really was about to die, I realized that that was true...