Shahdee gave me this fic just moments ago,so pleasedon't flame me sayingI stole this fic. And since I'm online I thought I would put it up now. Thanks Shahdee.
Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's
Chapter One.
A raging fire vigorously smacked against the pale green tinted glass whilst people trod over it, heading for the temple, or to simply sit down on the stone steps surrounding it. Well, at least people used to. Kilika Temple was long since abandoned, only a restricted stretch of area deep in the heart if the Kilika Forest, located on the outskirts of the town itself. Nobody knew why the temple had suddenly become restricted, cut off from human civilisation. Even the monks and priests, who had dedicated their lives to maintaining the welfare of the building, were kicked out without any warning or explanation. It was like all the temples now, from the mighty Bevelle to the icy Macalania. All shut down, to decay into nothing.
But they knew why.
A feral band of freedom fighters — a clan of people, from many walks of life — that weren't fooled by the fake world know only as the Matrix. Sure, it looked, acted and smelt like Spira. Hell, it even tasted like Spira. Bit the cold hard truth was —it wasn't. The real Spira was long since in decline — Sin had seen to that. He, along with the traitorous Aeons, had annihilated everything in their path. Transforming the inhabitants into an ideal source of energy; placing them in cocoon prisons as part of a massive hive, located somewhere on the darkened planet.
Luckily, a chosen few had slipped through the cracks and were spared from being manipulated. If you can call being privy to the cold, harsh reality of the condition of Spira spared? Soon, the remaining survivors gathered in the last remaining city — Home. The former Al Bhed residence, situated deep underground and out of the prying eyes of the enemy. This hideaway acts as the last sanctuary of mankind, all the while the freedom fighters pioneer to find something — anything — to put a halt to Sin and the Aeon's tyranny. Something that wasn't progressing as well as they wanted.
Wisps of shining afternoon sun peeked through the tall adjoining trees and into their eyes as they ventured forth, down the steps to the towering Kilika Temple. Moaning of the huge ornate double doors echoed around the wide circular great hall, lit up feebly by six dusty torches that eliminated the finely sculpted statues of past high figures of society.
Walking up the stair case, Rikku ran a nonchalant finger over the thick banister, examining the amount of dust left on it distastefully. "What a dump!" She proclaimed, wiping her finger on her suede jacket. "It's almost as bad as your room, Brother."
"Fuck off Rikku!" He snarled, helping Rydan push open the tall door at the top of the stairs.
"Oh, touched a nerve, eh Rikku?" Lilia smirked, placing her hands on her slender hips.
"You fuck off too Lilia!" He cast a lethal glare over his shoulder at the dark green haired woman, sticking her tongue out in response.
An old lift awaited them at the end of the dismal corridor, dirt and grit crunching under their boots as they stepped on, causing the circle to dip slightly with their weight.
"Are ya sure that's safe?" Rydan inquired, his hazel eyes scrutinising it. He exhaled, a small puff of smoke lingering around his head momentarily.
"'Bout as safe as those things." His partner gestured to the cigarette gripped between his fingers.
"C'mon, stop wasting time." Quickly Rikku grabbed the brunettes arm, dragging him onto the lift, that dipped even further as a vermilion symbol appeared through the muck on the floor. It shook to an unsteady start. Several dust particles soared up making them cough violently once it entered their throats. Where were the Monks when you needed them?
An orange light, tipped with bright red shone from the elder man's cigarette while travelling down the tight, pitch black tube. Soon, the lift came in contact with the ground with a solid thump; more minerals fell into their hair. In particular, Rydan's brown locks as he was too busy stamping out his cigarette to exit in time.
"Goddamn it!" He cursed, shaking the out the dust. Stepping off, the handsome twenty-nine-year-old buried his hand into his biker jacket pocket, retrieving his cigarette packet. Damn! Only one left. Being a chain smoker, Rydan wasn't best pleased. Putting it in his mouth, he cautiously leaned forward to one of the torches, just missing scorching his hair as the tip was set ablaze.
"Hurry it up!" The blonde demanded from the nowopen doorway. Inhaling, Rydan dismissed her with a casual flicker of the hand. Let the baby wait. It wasn't like they were in any hurry, and he needed to savour the bitter taste of nicotine invading his pallet more.
An exquisitely crafted disc was barely visible on the dark background of the grey door on the Northern wall of the quaint chamber. Brother tapped his foot irritably, his arms folded across his chest, as he waited for the last member of his team to arrive. A bloody turtle would move faster than that man with a cigarette shoved in his mouth.
Lilia, meanwhile, was too busy obtaining the Kilika Sphere shinning from the right hand wall. It felt warm in her hand as she bypassed the so called 'leader', growing more and more pissed, and placed it into the awaiting hole beside the door. The very fires housed in the sphere flared up to quickly engulf the door in a sea of orange and yellow; matching the mowhawken Al Bhed's mood perfectly.
"Rydan!" He hollered. "Move it!" There was skimmer of desperation in his tone. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about this place that didn't sit right. If didn't know better, he would say something was watching them.
Lilia jumped from behind him, her eardrums ringing. What the fuck was his problem? Since when did Rydan being slow ever affect him like this? "Calm down, Brother." She spoke in a soothing tone, praying it would chill him out; as she carefully removed the sphere, resulting in the raging flames to vanish, taking the door with them.
"Yeah, my eardrums can't take any more." Rikku moaned, clamping her hands over her ears.
A growl travelled deep from Brother's throat when Rydan strutted in. Why doesn't anyone give him some respect as leader of the group? Gippal receives tons of it from his team. Even Paine commands gallons of respect and admiration from her team, and she isn't even the leader! A fact Brother had brought up on many occasions. But then, neither Gippal or Paine shouted or behaved like spoilt brats when things didn't go their way.
The next area was dull and just as dark, with only three empty sphere hole posing as any interest. Lilia looked at each of them in turn, ready to drop the damn Kilika sphere in either of them. The warming sensation she had experienced when first obtaining it had rapidly changed into a scorching inferno in the palm of her hand; and she was very grateful she was wearing gloves. She hastily made a beeline for the Northern recess, shoving the sphere in harder than she meant to. The bloody thing was burning her hand for christ sake. The violet eyed woman swiftly shook her hand roughly, trying to cool it down.
A small flame was quickly ignited, showing the bumps and dips of a glyph above. Rikku, spotting the older woman's discomfort, and, deciding to give her a break, spared little time in grabbing the circle in her bare hand. The same warm sensation that Lilia had experienced, coursed through the teen's veins. She didn't mind though, in fact she was quite grateful. The Celsius was always so cold, it was a wonder she hadn't turned blue.
Gently she touched the glyph, running her fingers over the delicate contours, while a mint green thread followed suit, to outline the complicated design. The section of wall immediately shifted up, showing yet another chamber hidden within.
Wow! The room was gigantic. With a gruelling mass of angry flames standing high in a deep pit, dominating the room. An abundance of heat immediately washed over them, it was so intense that they had to raise their hands to shield their faces as their squinted eyes watered.
"Whoa! W-what a sauna." Brother gasped, wiping the forming sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. Pity they didn't have time to enjoy it. Relaxation was such a rare commodity these days, and the rare returns home didn't count. For one thing it didn'thave apool, not even a mini-bar in their rooms. Oh well, mustn't grumble. Times are more that hard.
Edging further inside, Brother's acute senses caught the glimmer of a pure white switch near the fire wall that Shinra had told them about. Unfortunately, Shinra had told them allot of things before they had left reality, going on and on about the trails, drumming it into the brains. Or so speculated. If only the cell phones would work down there, but, according to Shinra, the trials was too deep underground for them to receive any sort of signal.
Wandering over, the Al Bhed racked his brain trying to remember what was so important about the switch. It didn't turn something on, nor switch anything off. So what was it?..... He was too preoccupied thinking about itthat he didn't notice his foot slipping onto the corner of the white floor. A blinding flash of light instantly flooded the space, their eyes stinging harshly with the sudden change.
"What the fuck have ya done now?!" Seethed Rydan, rubbing his sore eyes.
"I didn't do nothing." Replied Brother, as his own eyes refocusing to the world around him. "Just stepped on this thingy."
"What thingy?"
"This thingy. This!" His temper was rapidly wearing thin as he sharply pointed to the floor.
"Hey guys, look at this." Rikku blinked every five minutes, all the while trying to study the pedestal that had strangely found its way from the other room. "Did any of you bring it in here?"
Lilia and Rydan shook their heads.
"So, what do we do with it?" Lilia asked, placing a loose strand of dark green hair back behind her ear, a diamond ring sparkling from it.
"Ain't we meant to put it on this switch?" Brother cast his green eyes downward, white shimmering back up at him.
"Dunno?" Rikku walked over, kneeling down to get a closer view of the switch. "What did Shinra say?" Where was the damn kid when you wanted him? And why hadn't he wrote the instructions down?! It wasn't like he didn't know what they were like when it came to memory. As past experiences had proven.
"We might as well try it." Lilia shrugged, standing behind the pedestal. "Get goin' Rydan!" She added with a small push at his shoulder.
"No way Lil!" He said defiantly, crossing his arms over his muscular chest, perfectly displayed in a navy tank peeking through the small gap in his black jacket. "Brother brought it here, so he can risk his ass gettin' burned."
"What?!"
"Get going leader." The word leader wasfilled with sarcasm.
Brother grumbled releasing he was largely outnumbered, and reluctantly made his way behind the pedestal, moving Lilia out the way in the process. Gripping the rim tightly, his arms tensed as he pushed the surprisingly heavy pedestal over to the switch. Goddamn it! This wasn't fair. He was the leader, he should be giving out orders, not obeying them.
"Hang on!" Brother stopped immediately at the sound of Rikku's shrill voice.
"What now?" He groaned, looking over his shoulder with dread in his eyes. What would he have to made to do now?
The blonde teen ran past her sibling to the shining red orb that stuck out like a soar thumb against the blandness of the fire wall, suddenly recalling something Shinra had read off on his things to do list. Removing it gently, a small line on the wall disappeared. "Shinra said that we had to put this in here before we place it anywhere, remember?" She explained putting the sphere in a spare recess on the pedestal, therefore answering Brother's confused look. Then added with a sly grin. "Oh, and by the way, if something happens...can I have your machina?"
"I'll tell you where you can shove the machina!"
"Is that a no?"
"Outta my way Rikku before I run you over with this pedestal!" He snapped, his temper resting on a thin string. Sharply, he pushed the dark grey object forward onto the marking on the floor. Hordes of beads of sweat formed on his brow with the extreme heat blazing inches from his face. He rapidly backed away once the pedestal stood firmly in place, that section of flooring immediately melting away, leaving no trace of its existence. "Damnit!"
"Well done Brother." The sarcasm dripped from the brunettes tone. "What do we do now?"
"The brat didn't mention anything 'bout that." The brat obviously referring to Shinra, as Lilia gazed deep in thought where the floor had once been.
"You mean you were actually listening?"
"Yeah.... Well, bits of it." She shrugged. Her plucked eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to recall the gist she had listened to. Get the red sphere, put it in pedestal. Yeah, done that. Push pedestal on the switch, yada, yada, yada. They had done all that. Argh! What the hell was it? She knew it was something so damn simple. But what? Ugh, she was getting a migraine. Small turquoise dots began flickering before her eyes..... Hm, turquoise....turquoise.... That's it!
Without another word, Lilia rushed past Rydan and into the previous room, appearing a few minutes later with a glyph sphere clutched in her hand. A turquoise glyph sphere. She knew she had overlooked something important. She held it out proudly. "A glyph sphere."
"A what?" Rikku asked, puzzled. She couldn't remember Shinra saying anything about another type of sphere. But then again, like they others, she wasn't really listening. They were only Trails for crying out loud, you just went with the flow.
"A glyph sphere." Lilia repeated, shoving the orb into the empty recess the Kilika sphere had left. It sparkled against the wall; a short vertical line springing up to join the red. A secret door shot open revealing a useless fuchsia destruction sphere sticking out like a beacon on the dark wall.
Another surprise was also in store as the raging flames were extinguished, like an invisible flood of water had been drop on top of it. Smoke erupted instantly, and once cleared showed two sets of ash ridden steps, making for an accessible route to the other side, where another disc door took residence.
"Waydago, Lil!" The young Al Bhed girl cheered, jumping up and down.
"Thank you, thank you."
The sinking feeling in the bottom of Brother's gut increased ten fold when going down the steps. The stone still warm under their boots, with dark ash sweeping across the ground when they arrived. And, despite speculations, the pedestal was still in one peace, standing beside the wall, and still holding the red orb.
The mowhawken man quickly made a beeline of it, snatching it out of its hole. Never mind the rising heat, he was already roasting in this oven, one more to add to the list didn't matter.
Upon arriving at the door, Brother mimicked the same process Lilia had used at the first disc door: Placed the sphere in the waiting recess causing an inferno of fire sprung alight, covering the entire door, and vanishing without a trace once the sphere was taken out.
The entranceway leading to the Chamber of the Fayth was way too unsettling for his liking, or maybe he was developing an over suspicion worthy of any sceptic. But he just couldn't shrug it off as he entered. A copper plated door was brilliantly portrayed by the flickering light housed behind the glass of the four lamps, stationed on either side of the room. It was the main focus of the small space, and not only for being the door that allowed entrance to the Chamber. It snapped open as they approached, a deadly sharp point hanging menacingly above, looking like it would suddenly drop down and slice and dice at any minute, as the wandered through.
The actual chamber was just as hot at the others, a magnificent painting of the fire demon was brought alive with a mixture of warm colours under a sheet of clear glass on the floor of the plateau, suspended above a boilingpit of lava. It truly was beautiful. It was a pity that people were deprived of such a unique work of art. Not that Brother or Rydan took heed to the scene. Rydan was too preoccupied trying to make the last millimetres of his cigarette last just that second longer before it burned his thin lips. While Brother was unwillingly embracing his newly discovered suspicion. It was odd, but he couldn't shake the feeling that their every move was being closely followed. It was ridiculous really, there was nobody else in the room with them. So how could they have been watched? It was stupid.
But he didn't know how right he actually was.
High above them, deep in the shadows, a slanted pair of yellow eyes glowered at them; a small snarl playing on his lips. How dare they enter the Chamber! How did they even get past the Trails? Even the most exceptional people in the world couldn't figure out the complexity of the trails. They had to have the devils luck.
"Look! There it is!" Rikku shouted in glee, pointing at a vermilion flame defying gravity in the centre of the painting. Wandering over, she tilted her head scrutinising it. "Hm, I thought it would be some kind of gigantic jewel the way Buddy and Shinra were goin' on about it." She mused.
"I don't care!" Brother yelled after her. "Just grab it and letsgo!"
"Jeez, what's biting your ass?" Rydan questioned, stamping out the filter on the suspended walkway.
"Nothing! I just don't like this place."
"Aw, is big baby leader scared of the nasty temple?" He mocked, rising his voice several notes.
"Shut it smoker boy!" He snapped, knowing he had touched a nerve by the flicker of a wince from Rydan. He smirked turning his attention back to Rikku, still gazing at the fabulous gem.
"It's beautiful." Lilia breathed, joining the blonde to stare at the captivating ruby.
The eyes from above narrowed dangerously, he leaned forward ready to strike if they even considered touching the stone, which he knew fine well that they did. Why else would they risk coming here? They definitely weren't measly treasure hunters....
Then that only meant one thing......
Rikku nodded at Lilia, before carefully extending her arm; allowing her hand to hover over the gem before grabbing it. It fitted snugly in the palm of her hand, and she captured one last gaze before turning on her heels and heading back.
That was it!
Using all the power in his strong legs, the man leapt from out of the shadows. Lethal ebony claws extending from his fingers as he continued speeding downwards, his lips curving into a malevolent smile. Nobody, and he meant nobody, was going to get their hands on that gem. The girl was history!
"Huh?" Lilia spotted something out the corner of her violet orbs — a reflection. But not just any reflection. An image of a burly man was rapidly coming towards them, deadly claws poised to strike down Rikku!
Impulsively, she raced forward. "Rikku!" She bellowed, as the creature closed in. Rikku swiftly looked over her shoulder, confusion written all over her face. "Look out!" Lilia pushed her harder than she meant to. Soon an agonising pain spark down from her right shoulder where the claws had struck, slicing through the flesh and bone easily. So it wasn't the one he wanted, but at least he had gotten somebody. That's all he cared about.
Rikku tumbled forward, a small yelp escaped her throat as she landed awkwardly on her wrist. A sharp, sudden pain coursing through it. But that was nothing compared to the pain Lilia was experiencing as the last threads of life slipped out of her reach. Falling to her knees, a thick foam of blood trickled down her chin, her entire right side gushing the red liquid as it slid parted from the rest of her body.
"LILIA!" Rydan yelled in despair, staring into the hollow eyes of his best friend as she fell to the ground, dead before she even hit it.
"Lilia...NO!" Tear seeped from Rikku's green eyes once the world stopped spinning and she realised what had happened. The stupid woman! How could she do that? Sacrifice herself for someone she had only known for a couple of months. Why?
"Rikku!" Brother skidded to a halt beside her, the puddle of blood starting to edge closer. "Rikku, you alright."
She could only nod feebly, the shock caving in on her; as well as Rydan who just stood there staring. This wasn't happening. This was just not happening! It was all a dream. I-it had to be....Lilia couldn't be dead.… She just couldn't leave him.
A maniacal laughter invaded their eardrum. The Al Bhed siblings stared up at the bulky figure. It was strange but he kind of looked familiar... Nah, they had never set eyes on him before.
"Your a lucky girl." He stated in deep tones, parading his hand in front of them as the claws retracted. "Shame I can't say the same thing about your friend." The same guffaw that send an icy finger up their spine followed.
Brother growled, gently sliding his sister out of harms way before helping her, hastily, to her feet. Sure, they may fight like cats and dogs at times, but they were still family. He had to protect her.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Rikku cried, cradling her fractured wrist as she leant on Brother for support in the upright position.
He chuckled deeply, his soulless eyes shining with amusement. Oh what to do, what to do? Should he tell them, or shouldn't he? It would be fun it see the reaction on their face once they know. Be privilege to this information before they died. But he decided to toy with them a little longer. It was a rare occurrence after all. ".....I think you know who I am and what I want...."
"Why else would I be asking you bastard!" She fixed him with an angry glare as she fought back tears destined to bust forth.
So, the Al Bhed bitch was spunky. Oh well, enough playing, he did have a job to do after all. Taking a deep breath to heighten the tension, he began. ".....I am the fire demon, Ifrit, and I want my stone back."
What? No way! It can't be true. Ifrit was an Aeon, not a human, and not even in the Matrix. He wandered the earth of Spira along with the other grounded Aeons. But...somehow they knew what he was saying was the truth. The look in his fiery eyes, the shock of burnt orange hair, and dark skin. Not to mention those claws.... His entire demeanour and outlook pointed to the fire demon. But the question was, how?
"My stone!" His voice brought them back to reality, their widened eyes narrowing as he held out his palm. He was living on cloud cuckoo land if he even considered that they would hand over the gem willingly. Either way he would kill them without a second thought.
"Fuck off!" Brother's shouted defiantly, glancing down to the ruby still clutched tightly in his sisters hand.
"Now now," He drawled taking a step forward. "You wouldn't want to end up like your little friend, now would you?" Another laugh echoed.
"YOU TWISTED MOTHERFUCKER!!"
"Rydan!?" Brother exclaimed, as the rage and heartache erupted in the brunette like a volcano; his hazel eyes flashing violently as he lunged forward, running on pure adrenaline. Snatching his uzi from their brown holster, he fired recklessly, round after round of bullets ricocheting off Ifrit's protect spell.
"GO!" Rydan hollered over the increasing noise.
"What? No way!" Rikku spoke stubbornly. "We don't leave a team mate!"
"Stubborn to the end, eh Rikku?" He cast a wry smile over his shoulder in a momentary lapse. "I'll-I'll miss that.... Now GO!"
"But-"
"Come on Rikku." Brother demanded, pulling on the blonde's upper arm.
"Get your hands off me Brother!" She shot back.
"...Rikku...please..just for once listen to me."
Green met green as Rikku looked into her brother's eyes, seeing a rare flicker of conflict and pain. He wanted to stay and fight. He may not have particularly liked the older man, but that didn't mean he wanted to see him die. But he was bound to help defeat Sin, and this sacrifice would result in the possibility of thousands being saved. Rydan realised that, and accepted his fate.
"A-Alright." Rikku stammered. Bye, Rydan.
More and more metal casings fell to over the walkway, as the Al Bhed siblings sprinted back through the trails. Slamming open the towering door leading into the great hall, speeding though the small gap created in the double doors, to appear back in the outside world, the sun starting to fade though the gaps in the trees.
A faint clicking was all that was mustered when Rydan squeezed the trigger over and over again, the magazines spent completely. A sea of cartridges fell from the walkway down to the inferno beneath. Ifrit's smile grew more evil, stretching across his face. Slowly, he moved forward, savouring the moment. Every step hammering another nail in Rydan's coffin. Yes, he knew he was going to die. Even if he ran, he would get very far; it wasn't only the uzi magazines that were spent. The intense heat, physical burden, and the massive emotional strain of loosing his best friend was too much to bare.
Looking up, his squinted eyes came face to face with the towering monster. He gulped despite himself. He knew he was going to die, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.
"Be grateful I'm making this quick." Ifrit stated like he was doing some great dead. Raising his hand, claws once again travelling out of his fingers. Hysteria got the better of Rydan, he fell to his knees, laughing like a mad man. Ifrit's orange eyebrows rose in confusion. Humans must be more insane that he thought. What the fuck was there to laugh about? Bah! Stupid humans. They were only good for one thing — energy, power. "What's so funny, human?"
"You." Rydan answered between laughs. "Your....hilarious!"
Ifrit's lips curled into a mean snarl, his arm still raised ready to strike. "Pathetic human." He drawled, bringing his hand down swiftly, the long claws slicing through Rydan's thick neck with ease, cutting the head clean off; putting a halt to the annoying laughter of a mad man. Ifrit was positive as the head rolled to a stop before him, that with that amount of laughter at his own execution, that the human had lost his mind right until the moment his blade like claws had ended his misery.
Well, no matter. All that mattered now was the retrieval of his fire ruby. Heh, they may have thought they had escaped his wraith, but think again, that stone was his. And he was going to get it back.
Read and review please.
Silver Tigeress.