Rift, a suikoden fanfic

Title: Rift
Author: Risa
Pairing: Luc/Viki
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Suikoden is the property of Konami.
Summary: Suikoden II Just when Viki forms an ounce of confidence in her abilities, something goes horribly wrong.

Viki never considered herself strong in the least. In fact, she considered herself to be the most useless person Lord Riou had recruited. She'd sometimes get a spell wrong and zap an entire reconnaissance party to the wrong town, which was always embarrassing. Thankfully, she never sent them flying head first into Highland. Not only would that be embarrassing for her, but also horrible for the party. She heard all kinds of stories about Luca Blight, and they weren't pretty.

Lord Shu suggested she practice her skills daily in order to lower the risk of any mistakes being made in the future. She reluctantly agreed, mostly because she didn't want to double, or triple, the amount of casualties via her clumsiness. But he insisted, so she complied. Important men like Lord Shu seldom ever spoke with her, so there was no way she'd turn down a suggestion from him.

Many of the younger members requested places to go daily. Futch was teleported to a mountain up by Two River City, where he chose to maintain his new dragon, Bright, every single day, and Viki never messed that up. The little dragon meant a lot to him, and Futch was just so adorable. His eyes twinkled every time he spoke of Bright, and he considered the trip from the mountain and back to the castle to be excellent training. Dragon knights needed to stay in shape after all.

Pretty soon, that new ninja kid Sasuke started joining Futch on his trips to see Bright, and sometimes Chaco would tag along, too (but only if that scary guy Sid was after him.) It was nice seeing all the young faces and new friends stop by at the mirror.

More and more people began showing up after that. She found it strange, how so many people, after all the times she has screwed up, trusted in her abilities. Viktor and Leona would use her as a quick, efficient way to stock up on booze. Only walking back from Kuskus took half the time. Shin would use the mirror every so often to keep tabs on Greenhill for Lady Teresa's sake. Ayda wanted to check up on forests all over Jowston and was sometimes accompanied by Kinnison. They all claimed that Viki's services were most appreciated and kept everyone in excellent shape. Sometimes, even Lord Riou would drop the Blinking Mirror off at the ware house, just so he could get some exercise on the trip back to the castle. This was only when he was off to places where Highland troops weren't likely to slay him, otherwise Shu wouldn't allow it.

Some suggested she charge potch for her services after awhile. Just having the respect of the Dunan Army was more than enough for her. It was much, much more than she expected. And Shu was right, her skills had improved in the process. She didn't think she could ever be any happier.

But she was bound to make some kind of ungodly mistake eventually.

Futch and Sasuke were on a race up the hall, but didn't fail to wave hello to their expert teleportress in the process. Everyone was hyped and jubilant since Master Tir McDohl had been recruited. He was her former leader from the Liberation Army during the Gate Rune Wars. The combined force of the two young leaders was flawless; the war had already been won, according to many. Soldiers took this time to stock up on weapons, armor, and runes for the final show, while others just sat back with a mug of booze, grinning complacently. The war would soon be over, and that was simply wonderful.

She wondered every day where she'd end up once the war was over. She missed the little home she was given near the castle in Gregminster. Maybe she'd head back to Toran after this. There were familiar faces there, and she wanted to show them how she screwed up much less since she took Lord Shu's advice.

Dare she think it, but for the first time in over a century, Viki was actually feeling a bit of confidence in her abilities. The feeling scared her so much that the voice that'd just spoken to her startled her out of her thoughts.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream, you just startled me. Hi, um... "

"Luc," he said with a scowl.

"Oh, yes, I know that. At least, I did. I just forgot for a second."

Luc gave the girl a bemused stare. Was this really the master of the Blinking Rune everyone had been blabbering about? She seemed like nothing more like a stuttering air-head to him.

"W-was there something you wanted?" she asked. Her hands were quivering like an earthquake, causing her to drop her staff. Luc's glare was so intense; bold, fierce, and unforgiving as one of the twenty-seven True Runes spun out of control. It caused her blood to freeze in her limbs and boil in her face. Gosh, he was intimidating enough to be one of the bad guys.

"Whoa, you look like you're about to trampled by wild boars, pretty," said Viktor, emerging from the ware house with Flik at his tail. He stepped up right behind Luc and grabbed a fist full of his robe's collar. "This prissy little thing givin' you trouble?"

"Who are you calling 'prissy'?" Luc lurched forward a few times, in some painfully vain attempts to break free of the mercenary's stone solid clutch. In a breathless strained voice, he says, "I'll use my rune to tear you to shreds if you don't let go."

Flik then stepped up and placed a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Let him go, Viktor. I think you're choking him," he said, just as Luc's face began to turn swollen and purple.

"Serves the little bastard right." Viktor released Luc. "The poor lady couldn't even speak, he had her so scared."

"Um... umm... " Viki tried to say something in response to that, only to be presented with three upturned backs that wouldn't hear a word of it. Oulan and Anita sure weren't kidding when they harped about the stubbornness of men.

Later that night, Luc returned to the mirror, just as Viki was dozing off. He startled her with his abrupt presence once again. She managed to get a polite hello out, just for the sake of them starting off on a better leg this time around. She even managed a smile in the process.

"Listen, I need you to do me a favor," Luc just came out and said without making any eye contact with her. She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes, obviously, so the least he could do in return for her services was stare at the floor. What an ugly, dusty floor it was, too.

"S-sure! Is there somewhere you'd like me to take you?" There was nothing else she was even remotely good at, so she figured he had some place he needed to be.

"Yes. I need to go to Magician's Island, tonight."

"I don't know. That's really far. I-I thought you had the ability to teleport, too, d-don't you?"

"Yes, but I need to preserve my powers. Breaking through Highland's units will be quite a task, and this army's worthless without me at full strength."

"Oh, I see." She tapped into her keen sense of the Jowston region, but soon realized her sense of the Toran region was fuzzy. She wasn't sure she could teleport Luc that far. Even Banner Village was a task, and the one she most often screwed up on. Not to mention, Magician's Island had all kinds of magic barriers and monsters scouting the area. Not to mention it was currently run by Lady Hellion, who was a powerful magician of many surprises. This would not be an easy task by any means. Viki wasn't even sure if she could pull it off. She frowned.

"I-I'm sorry, Mr. Luc. I'm not sure if I can do this."

"What do you mean?" he looked right up at her, and again her staff met the floor with a glassy clang that echoed throughout the whole room. Thankfully, at least half of the idiot guards were asleep.

"Well, you see, Lady Hellion runs that island. She's pretty nice, but also scary. And it's so far. I might mess up and put you in danger. I don't want to do that."

Luc scoffed. "What, is THIS the brilliant teleportress Futch and that other kid couldn't shut up about? The same one Viktor calls a gift from the Gods?"

Viki blushed like hell.

"Geez, what kind of magician are you if you can't even properly teleport out of a place like Jowston? I'll have you know that I can teleport from the Island Nations to Harmonia if I so please, and that's just using the Wind Rune. You should be able to get all around the world using the Blinking Rune!"

Viki choked on a sob. "You're right. I'm just-"

"Just?"

"-I'm scared. I'm scared I'll mess up and hurt someone, or I'll use it so much that it ends up consuming my soul, or-"

Luc rubbed his forehead. He was starting to think it'd take less energy out of him to just head to Magician's Island by way of his own rune. If only it were true. Teleporting truly did sap his of his energy since it took a lot of magic, which was why he seldom ever did it. He needed to get to Magician's Island, though. Leknaat telepathically informed him that he was to meet her there tonight, and he couldn't turn her down no matter what. It was a rather odd request, though, considering how much she despised the place. It reminded her too much of that witch Windy.

"-oh, I'm sorry. I guess I was saying too much. If you want to go to Magician's Island then I'll do my best to send you there. Please don't be angry with me."

"All right, then. Hurry up."

Viki concentrated as hard as she could. Once she got a clear vision of Luc's destination, her wrist began to glow. However, the two of them were engulfed in a brisk blue light that Viki wasn't familiar with, and they completely disappeared from the room with a pow.

Viki screwed up. Big time.

"Aww hell, it was a trap," said Luc, as his razor eyes scanned the area. He had to keep his guard way up; he and Viki were trapped in a strange dimensional rift, which only one of high magical caliber could cause.

Harmonians. Sasarai. Leon Silverberg must've suggested they come up with some creative way to trap Dunan's number one magician in a snag. Tapping into his mind, tricking him into believing Leknaat needed him, and then trapping him in a cold rift, blocking his way to Magician's Island. Only Bishop Sasarai had magic that powerful, that keen-

-that... utterly frustrating, inconvenient, and meddlesome. It was official. Sometime, while he still sucked air, Sasarai had to die. The end.

If he didn't find a quick way out of this, though, it would surely be the end for him and Viki.

"M-Mr. Luc. I am so sorry. I really messed up," she said with thick tears rolling down her face. "This is all my fault."

"Quit that!" he hollered, mildly startled by the tears. But she wouldn't hear it. She truly believed, as ubiquitous blood red, black, and amber swirls and dull sounds of slicing air surrounded them that this was truly going to be the end. Both of them had lived for centuries, and a simple attempt at teleporting to a small island was now going to be their downfall.

She couldn't hate herself more.

Luc's eyes continued to observe the area. There was gravity all right, but no visible solid floor on which they stood. There were black clouds, shaped like... curved blades of shurikens, which he was certain all that slicing noise was coming from. Trying to be creepy, huh?

It was an ambiguous situation. Were those actual shurikens, or was it just in his head? Through a hole in one of the blade-shaped swirls, he spotted a tiny white light. It had to be the source of magic that kept them locked here. He could sense its power from where he stood, and could tell right away that it would take a whole lot of magic to break that. Three times as much as it would to teleport.

He cursed. Big time.

"... I'm... I'm sorry... " Viki choked once again.

"WOULD YOU STOP!?" Luc grabbed both of her shoulders and forced her to look at him. "There's nothing to apologize for. This is the doing of some other rune barer. You had nothing to do with it."

"... It's all my fault... "

Luc groaned, and his gaze softened. He still wore the scowl of a seething demon, but the stones in his eyes had crumbled. What was he going to have to do to shut her up? It was bad enough he fell for such a cheap trick, but Viki all but died inside because of it. He was the one to be blamed... and Sasarai, of course.

"... I can't believe how horrible I am... "

"Stop saying that. Hey, look-" he grabbed her by the chin non-too-lightly and jerked her face toward his, forcing her to look at him. "-don't you dare turn away. Not until I'm finished speaking."

Reluctantly, she nodded, and Luc dropped his hand from her face and placed it back on her shoulder.

"The situation isn't nearly as grim as it looks. There's a powerful Harmonian Bishop working for Highland and he's playing a stupid trick on us. Understand?" She nodded again, feeling an overwhelming wave of calm soothe her nerves. When his eyes looked... normal, rather than like frothing beasts guarding a steel tight fortress, it was easier to look at him. In fact-

"Are you listening to me?"

"Oh yes, sor-"

Luc put his hand up and shook his head. "Don't apologize. As long as you've stopped freaking out."

"Are you sure this is only a trick?" Viki asked. It looked pretty real to her.

"That's what it seems like. And it's not a funny one, either."

"W-what are we going to do?" This time, her hands clutched one of his arms, and she looked up at him with a hopeful gaze. If anyone could save them, it was him. She was no good at being a hero.

"First, you're not going to move."

"Huh?"

"Don't move."

Doing as he said, she stood completely still, and his rune flared. A warm ray of magic formed a ring around her staid body, and transparent arches of wind magic formed into a ball all around her.

"This barrier won't last very long. The less you move, the longer it'll last."

"Mr. Luc, what're you going to do?"

"See that light?" He pointed toward the marble-sized orb of light, and Viki had to squint to see it, especially through the milky barrier.

"I-I think so."

"Good. I'm going to destroy it. This could kill me, but you should be fine. Just don't move."

"N-no! You can't die, Mr. Luc! Please don't die!" Viki sounded like she was on the verge of tears again, and Luc couldn't bring himself to face her. It had been so long, too long, since he could remember anyone showing him this amount of admiration and support. If he got a glimpse of those tear strewn eyes of hers, he would probably lose his nerve.

Without turning toward her, he said, "This is extremely dangerous. Any false move and you'll be dead, you hear me? Stay put. Do. NOT. Move."

"Luc-" Viki tore her eyes from the sight and choked in sorrow. She would smolder in a sullen river of hell, but she'd stay still while doing so. Yes, if Luc was giving up his life for her, she'd honor his request by not moving from her spot.

The beast of his rune's fortress tore through his right arm in an angry tempest, hungry and ready for its meal. Ultraviolet fangs tore through the offending light in the distance, and a blinding ray of pure energy bounced back with twice as much force on impart.

Luc disappeared in the luminosity, along with Viki.

"That was a fine mess you got yourself into... "

Viki struggled to force open her parched eyes, and was greeted with the blurred, but undoubtedly smiling face of the elder magician Hellion.

She handed Viki a glass of water and a bottle of medicine. "Thank you."

If headaches could drum like a conga line, Viki didn't know it until the moment she sat up. As she swallowed down the bitter medicinal syrup in one shot, she could recall only a bright light. A bright light, and the most horrifying shrill of noise that made a chorus of banshees sound like a lullaby. Viki squinted and jerked, causing some water to fly from her glass. Hellion pushed her back against the bed post and smirked.

"That was quite some magic show you and your friend put on. I'm surprised that you survived it."

Magic. Friend. Survive.

Luc.

This time, the whole glass hit the floor and shattered all over the place.

Hellion chuckled. "Yes, child, he survived. Barely, I might add, though I was able to restore him back to full health. I take it you'd like to see him?"

Viki didn't have the words to respond. She could remember every detail of that catastrophic place now. The scarlet swirls, the stark slices in the air, the barrier...

Luc.

Before she could croak out an ashen "yes", she found herself on her hands and knees staring face down at pearl white sand. Hellion teleported her toward the shore where Luc stood, watching the tide roll in and out.

He turned to face her just as she was standing up and dusting the sand from her robes. His expression was just the same as it was back in the rift, an unwavering scowl to freeze hell, and eyes like sunrays to contradict his mask.

Luc was ecstatic to see Viki alive.

"I told you not to move, you know," was the first thing he said.

But she couldn't read the tone in his voice at all.

"Huh?"

"When the energy was released, you pulled me into the barrier with you-"

"I... "

"-I told you to stay put. You could've been killed, and-"

"Mr. Luc... "

"-all those stupid kids would've blamed me for it-"

"Um... "

"-Viktor would've beaten me to a pulp. And Lord Riou would've had me locked up-"

"... Oh..."

"-what... are you doing?"

Viki leaned her face into Luc's shoulder and sighed. She was just so happy that he was alive, and safe. She honestly couldn't recall pulling him into the barrier, but if she really did, then this is the first time she'd ever done something wrong that ended so right. She couldn't stop herself from circling her arms around his shoulders. If she could at this very moment, she'd fuse with him and become one with his body, just so he'd never go. He'd never die without her.

And much to both their surprises, Luc returned the embrace without really knowing why. Every action he took, since the moment he confronted her at the mirror, had been rash and impulsive. He'd spent the entire night playing with this poor girl at the very edge of his life. It wasn't fair. What she'd gone through had been completely his fault, but she'd spend the rest of her life insisting that it was hers. If he ever got his hands on Sasarai, he swore a beastly tempest would be the last thing that bastard ever saw.

"Let's go home, Luc. Please?"

He agreed with a tacit nod, and summoned the energy from his own rune to teleport them back to Lake Castle. Viki may have been one of the most powerful magicians he'd ever met, but even the mighty needed to conserve their energy.

He supposed, with Tir McDohl around and all, the Dunan Army would live without him at his full strength, one way or another.

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