A Light That Never Comes
Chapter II: Lightning Above and a Fire Below Me
Destiny Islands
Present Day
Sora's POV
I peered behind myself to see Lightning and Aya cautiously entering the cavern. As soon as the three of us entered the cave, it became black as night, save for the shine that some of the ores have. The Lunar Cavern is a small underground cave, hidden behind a large forest, connected to the canyons surrounding the area where the Academy is located. Of course, this is where I found Fenrir.
Or rather, it found me five years ago.
Destiny Islands, Lunar Cavern
Five years ago; 0023
"Sora!" An eleven-year old Aya called out, obviously trying to get my attention as the both of us were playing hide and seek.
On my side, I was hiding somewhere hard to reach, snickering in the hopes of seeing my sister going all nuts when she couldn't find me. I don't know how she does it, but she always finds me, no matter what when we play hide and seek.
"SOOOOORRRRAAAA!"
I chuckled to myself, now seeing her getting all flustered and kicking a nearby tree, causing leaves from the tree to fall and the birds nested up there flying.
"You wanna find me?! Try your best!" I hollered out, catching Aya off guard by the sound of my voice.
"Like you ever tried your best!"
Now that I knew that she'll find me again, I had to get out of this area and lose. Again.
Before I could even move, the earth under my feet crumbled, and the next thing I know, I've been eaten alive by the darkness of the cavern. The area where I stood finally gave in and cracked under my weight.
Once I regained consciousness, my head was throbbing from the trauma I received from the fall. Groaning, I knew I was inside a cavern from the fall. I slowly got to my feet, head darting in all directions as I desperately looked for an exit. The hole in which I came in was too high for me to reach.
Without thinking, I drifted into the dark abyss, not even paying attention to the darkness of the cavern. Wandering off alone, with no light to see the path that I walked on, I was worried about Aya not being able to find me inside this cavern.
Maybe I should've let her win this time then be in this situation.
As I ventured into the darkness of the cavern, the wind was violently howling and blowing from all sides. My body started to shiver from the chills coming from the winds, and sweat pouring down my forehead. Before I could even move, something tackled me to the ground.
From that fall, I got cut on my left cheek by a sharp rock. Screaming from the burning cut, I covered it with my palm, knowing that the blood will be on my hand. From there, I saw four pairs of eyes, all filled with the moonlight's shine, turn at me. A growling noise followed, then fangs flashing in the dim light. "Oh great."
Backing away, I had to keep my distance from the Bander Wolves since I had no weapon at the time. That wasn't the case however as their growling became louder, signaling that they were getting closer to me despite backing away from them. My back hit the cavern wall, knowing that I was boxed in and ready to be the beasts' dinner. The ferociousness was still in their eyes, and the glare of hunger came as well.
They pounced towards me as I blacked out, knowing my fate will be quick and painful. A sudden yelp rang out, as another growl came along, forcing me to open my eyes to see what was going on.
The animals that tried to devour me were being taking out one by one, causing them to retreat. A pair of crimson eyes looked at me as I thought it was another one of those wolves.
"Calm, child. I am not here to hurt you."
At first, I didn't believe the creature as I backed away and hit the wall again. My body was still quivering from the previous attackers.
"Sora..."
I stopped shaking fearfully as I stood up slowly, letting my hand get off my cut cheek.
"You fell from the top of my cavern, didn't you, Sora?"
I nodded in the darkness, not even questioning on how does this creature know my name.
"I am Fenrir. I shall lead you out of my cavern, and accompany you once you leave this cavern."
It's been five years since Fenrir and I met. Ever since I got out of that cavern, he accompanied me in the familiar crystal form that Eidolons take on when not in battle.
Inside the cavern, darkness roamed freely and the cold winds blew, just as I remembered it when Fenrir saved me. Since it was dark, there needed to be light for the three of us. Snapping my fingers, the palm of my hand shone brightly as I held it up like it was a lantern to guide our way.
Minutes passed by quickly as I lead my sister and instructor like I knew the place from the back of my hand. The deeper we ventured into the cavern, the more colder it got, causing our breath to collide with the cold, dry air. My lungs felt like it was freezing from the inside, but I brushed it off and continued.
It seemed that Lightning mistook my silence as we continued exploring the cavern. "Is there something wrong, Strife?" I turned back to face both Aya and my instructor, whom were behind me. "You seem tense."
I looked at my sister, whom knew the true reason behind my silence. I then looked back at our instructor. "...I'm fine. Just preparing myself."
"You know, whenever I accompany any of my students on these types of tests, they crumble in fear. But you two don't seem to mind."
"Our father's attitude rubbed off on us."
"Like father, like son and daughter." Lightning concluded. "Your father was my mentor once, and he rubbed off on me too."
I turned to face my instructor fully. She was all ears like a student, but with the authority of an instructor. I guess she was telling the truth. "You can't be serious..." I thought.
She gave me her signature glare as she reached for her weapon. "Thought you wanted to know." She gave me the go-ahead, urging me to continue being the lamp for the three of us and continue on. We reached to the deepest part of the Lunar Cavern, where we stopped and I extinguished the light in my palm since there was a hole in the ceiling of the cavern.
"Okay, this seems to be the entire area and we haven't seen any monsters, let alone an Eidolon. Maybe the scanners were buggy?"
"Impossible. I checked them out earlier; they did show high levels of Eidolon energy in the cavern." Our instructor responded, crossing her arms.
I looked around, mainly at the hole in the ceiling of the cavern. The hole was large enough for an 11 year old to fit in...
Wait a minute.
It made sense now.
I was back at where I fell into the cavern those years ago.
Aya's POV
Sora was awfully quiet when we got here. Maybe something was up that made him this way. Normally, I'd ask him what's wrong, but he had to be the silent type nowadays! Ugh, some brother...
I saw him looking up at where the light came in to light this part of the cavern, like he knew this place before.
"I know why your brother's looking up at that tear in the cavern ceiling." Shiva spoke from the crystal she takes form of in my mind. "This is where he fell when you were playing that game five years ago."
Points for Shiva... Again.
Her ability to read minds of my friends, even my brother, is unsurprising now. Before, it was amazing when I found her. I was able to find out what the other boys at the Academy are really thinking when they ask me out. It's no wonder I'm called the "Queen of Ice" because of Shiva's ability.
I watched my brother take off his glove from the hand that he used as a light source and put it on the ground. He was tensing again, but focusing to feel the ground's temperature as he kneeled. Sora reached for his weapon and withdrew it, impaling it on the cavern ground as if it were an Eidolon scanner. From the dim light, I could see the craftsmanship of the weapon.
It was a near identical replica to father's First Blade from his Fusion Swords set, although with a handguard that was about the same length and width of the handle. Despite it's appearance aside the color palette, it doesn't combine with five other swords like father's. Even though the sword can go into battle and inactive mode, it lacks the power to add more weight and make it easier to swing it with a completed assembly. Father made this weapon for Sora as an orientation present when the both of us were going to the Academy, I guess he didn't want him to carry the same burden he had during the Geostigma Crisis years ago.
Sure, there were blade-wielding students at the Academy, but the ones that really stood out from that group were my brother and Riku. It's no wonder that Riku chose my brother as his rival. Both of them had the swordsmanship similar to father and the One-Winged Angel; even their Mako-enhanced abilities.
He then sat down in a position that made him look like he's meditating. He possibly cannot be doing that at a time like this! Since Shiva can't read his mind during his meditation, this is a waste of time for him!
The earth of the cavern suddenly shook, rocks from the ceiling of the cave crumbling down. Sora suddenly got out of his meditation and at the speed of light, he wrenched out his sword and backflipped out of the area he sat on. "It's here."
As if we had abruptly awoken the slumbering earth, the dirt, gravel, ground and rocks had continued trembling violently. The winds whistled loudly like a train whistle, and then, it stopped.
Silence flooded the room like it was water, shadows dancing on the cavern walls without us knowing. I felt my rapidly beating heart just as fast when Sora removed his weapon from the dirt, my body flooding with blood like it was a river out of control. I gulped as a countermeasure admonitory to turn back, but I regathered my courage and reached for the pocket on my duster. Pulling out my gloves I use for fighting, I put them on, tugging at the end to make sure they don't slip off.
We found the Eidolon, all right.
Like a phoenix rising from it's ashes, the Eidolon stood tall and ready for combat, towering over the three of us. With eyes deep as the brightest flame, and a structure intimidating enough to cause anyone's body to immediately freeze. Like tar, flames dripped from the beast's clawed fingers.
The target Eidolon took a swift step forward that moved his entire body forward. This Eidolon glared down at the three of us like a wolf usually eyeing injured prey, eyes bursting with rage and jaw hanging. "I AM IFRIT. WHO DARES ENTER MY CAVERN?!"
Sora's POV
His cavern? Yeah right. This place is Fenrir's, and I'm guessing Ifrit usurped him.
"It is true. He stole this place from me."
Fenrir's right. He used to rule this cavern before this wannabe Eidolon stole it. He told me.
Since my sword, the Kingdom Blade, was resting on my shoulder one-handed, I said nothing and placed my other hand on the lower half of the handle, lifting it off my shoulder and transformed to battle mode. I gave the Eidolon a grim reaper's look and pointed the blade directly into it's eyes.
"Very well. I SHALL BE YOUR DOOM!" The beast raged it's lungs out, ground shaking beneath us.
Lunar Cavern Usurper
IFRIT
Ifrit charged at the three of us, taking a deep and forceful swipe with the claws in our direction. Aya ducked out of the way as Lightning and I defended our sides, easing the blow but not deflecting it completely. The instructor gained almost quick recovery from the blow, but the flat of my blade was forced into my shoulder. I was then launched from the ground and into the air, suddenly grasped by the Eidolon and slammed onto the ground, leaving a crater of my fall. Recomposing myself, I tried to stand, but to no avail.
"Sora!" Aya shot a blast of green light made it's way towards me in a flash, fusing within me. No longer I felt pain and I got back to my feet, charging towards the Eidolon.
Just as Ifrit was about to swipe at me again, I timed my jump and evaded it, using all of my strength. The blade made contact and started to sink deep within it's skin with each swing of the weapon. At the same time, I reached for my weapon's holster and pulled out my auxiliary blade, Wolfheart. Just as quickly as I could, the blades tore and bit hard quickly in the time I was in midair before getting back on the ground.
Behind me, I could hear Aya's rushing footsteps and quickly put my blades behind me, using them as a jumping point for her. I could feel her weight on both Kingdom Blade and Wolfheart, and used all of my strength to launch her up to Ifrit. I followed after her, both of us attacking the Eidolon just as Ifrit tried to hit us with three heavy, powerful swipes. The first swiped was a fail, the second the same as the first, but the third made contact. Aya and I were starting to fall from the air, but I shot the same green blast at her, making her senses work again and both of us landed on our feet.
Fronting a wicked smile on it's face and eyes, the demon lunged towards us. Both of us evaded the charge as I took out a crystal with a dark grey color that made it look like crystallized smoke. Time for phase II.
"Fenrir, howl before the moon!" I crushed the crystal with my hand, a bright light following the "destruction" of the crystal.
"Shiva, freeze them now!" A brilliant blue light followed Fenrir's summon portal, obviously from Aya.
From Fenrir's portal, a clawed foot came flying out of there and digging deep into the dirt and ground. Moments later, in all his fierce glory, came my Eidolon; a mechanical beast black as night, eyes the color of crimson, and a clawed tail as he howled menacingly. At the same time, the portal Aya's crystal had made, a hand shot out like a monster would, but with more grace. From it came a woman with entirely blue skin and clothing, gracefully standing on the cavern floor.
"Bite your way through!"
"Freeze them down!"
I took Wolfheart and placed it over one of the two cutting sides of Kingdom Blade, putting them together to give my main weapon the power it needs. I knew that I couldn't assemble my Kingdom Blade like dad's Fusion Swords, but who's stopping me? Besides, I can give my sword more power by combining my auxiliary with the main sword; that was the advantage that dad gave me, but the full story was that I can't combine the sword with more than two auxiliary weapons.
"Fenrir, how lowly. Joining these humans, knowing you will be enslaved by them to do whatever they please." Ifrit taunted my Eidolon, the former ruler of the cavern snarling through it's mechanical jaws.
"That may be what you think Ifrit, but Sora has shown me the true values of being a partner Eidolon with a human!"
Fenrir and I charged towards the usurping Eidolon, dragging my combined Kingdom Blade against the cavern dirt. I flung it towards the direction of Ifrit, sending dirt and rocks at him as Fenrir starts to emit a blue aura and pounce on Ifrit at the same time the rocks and debris hit him.
Aya followed with her Eidolon summoning chunks of ice and firing them at Ifrit. She then rushed towards the Eidolon and starts throwing hard, yet fast punches infused with ice.
"We'll win this here and now!"
In flashes of light, our Eidolons were enveloped in them. Fenrir had been reconfigured, with even more blades and armor that made him look like a king, as well as more power; Shiva had split into two, Nix and Stiria.
Fenrir's back launched an identical replica of dad's complete Fusion Swords, but with blue and silver color palette. The sword came to my possession, which was somewhat lighter than dad's Fusion Swords. Gripping my swords tightly, I pointed the combined Kingdom Blade at Ifrit while I rested the Fusion Swords replica on my shoulder.
"Let's ride!" Aya made the first move as the Shiva sisters combined to form a motorcycle. Hopping on the Hyper Mode Shiva, she popped the clutch and revved the engine, racing towards the Eidolon. As she raced toward Ifrit, an ice trail was made, making a ramp for Fenrir and I to use as she stopped the bike and spun a 360 multiple times, ice following into a barrier and sending shards towards the Eidolon. Fenrir and I made eye contract and nodded at each other, getting on his back and shifting my balance.
"The moon's light is here!"
Fenrir raised his head and howled towards the light as we charged towards the icy ramp. Digging his claws on the ice to maintain his footing, we approached the end of the ramp and leapt off, Fenrir giving me a boost and like a bullet, I rushed towards the Eidolon. Stabbing the Kingdom Blade into the stunned demon's chest, in which I ignored the blood flying from it, I jumped up and circled around it, slashing as I went before I was above it, slamming it down to the ground.
"Till next time." I returned the Fusion Sword replica to Fenrir, whom took it by the bladed edge and faded away as my crystal returned.
"Nice!" My sister got off the motorcycle as it changed back into the whole Shiva before disappearing.
"Impossible! Me, beaten by humans and with Fenrir and Shiva?!" Ifrit was kneeling on the ground in defeat. It looked at me in the eye, as he knew I was Fenrir's summoner. "Very well. I shall accompany you two and give Fenrir his cavern back."
In a flash of light, Ifrit vanished, but left a crystal behind. A sign that he has become our Eidolon.
I picked up the crystal, a bright flame red/orange as it looked like a miniature version of my Materia. Ifrit was now our Eidolon, which means that I have to share him with Aya. Like I'd care about it.
"Seems you two worked together." Lightning was behind us, having seen the entire fight. "You've passed, all right."
"Yes! Sora, we'll be GC officers soon!"
I unattached Wolfheart from Kingdom Blade, putting them back in my holster and crossing my arms, facing away from her.
"Sora! Aren't you gonna say something?!"
"We came here just to get an Eidolon as a way to get into the exam; it's not anything special. If I were you, I'd save it for when we're officially GC officers." I moved past both of them as I was given my score on my FOMA P900iV from the instructor. Looking that I had an A in every field of the digital gradesheet, I flipped the phone closed and shoved it in my pocket. Leading the three of us out of the cavern and into the warm air, where the shadows of the afternoon were fading away and a September sunlight shone down among the dense forest and bright leaves.
The prerequisite mission was done, and our Academy-issued Eidolon has been captured: Ifrit. I enjoyed the sound of silence and nature on our way back to the Academy, checking the hours until the GC Exam begins. Lightning and Aya hardly said a word on the walk back, the only time that my sister asked if I was gonna be alright after a slam like that. I told her that I was used to pain.
Once I was in my dorm, I took off my gloves and went over to the washbasin. Opening the faucet, I cupped as much water my hands could carry and splashed it over my face. The dirt and blood were then washed away and fled into the washbasin as I grabbed a towel and dried my face from the water. Leaning back in my chair afterwards, where the digital alarm clock ticked soundlessly on the drawer next to my bed, ensuring that every second I had to use until the exam starts will not go unnoticed. I readied my GC cadet uniform and left it nearby, but I focused more to work on polishing my Wolfheart and Kingdom Blade from Ifrit's blood and grinding them against the Mythrilstone to sharpen them again.
If there's one thing you should know about use of blade weapons, sharpen them after every battle. Use about these types of weapons brings wear and tear- and it'll be both useless and a real waste of Munny to get it repaired, even at the best swordsmith.
With every rag, Mythrilstone, and towel used to clean and sharpen my swords' blades, the rag and towels had to be discarded into the nearby wastebasket and the Mythrilstones put back into my sharpening drawer as I silently slid open my window to let the scent of blade polisher, Mythrilstone, soap and blood creep away.
"May all students whom passed the GC written exam meet at the lobby for final exam. Repeat, may all students whom passed the written exam meet at the lobby."
Looks like it's go time.