Chapter 4: Martial Power against Spiritual Might
By the time Yuna had gotten back to the 'front', Wutai had been pushed back over half of their landmass. SOLDIER had barely rested, barely stopped, taking one village one forest, one valley, one fort at a time, day and night. Yuna had been stunned to see a map with it all shown out just what had been taken. In about a week, from when she had left the front to when she returned, they had lost so much. Yuna didn't want to know, want to fathom, how many people had been mercilessly killed and walked over in that timeframe.
It made her yearn for facing Sin.
And that brought a hysterical bubble to the back of her throat that she had to force down.
She already knew she was a walking dead woman, but this... even Sin took breaks, even Sin paused his slaughter, lurking under the tides of the ocean. There was an air of helplessness all around her, and the only thing stopping it from becoming an all devouring depression and despair was her. They looked to her, desperate, eyes pleading, so fearful, looking for any sign of weakness or fear or defeat in her face. A single showing of it, of letting them know it was over, and they'd crumple. So she kept that emotionless mask her face had become, and simply stared at the map, listened to the reports, showing nothing of what she thought.
Perhaps it would have been better for her to show the truth instead, maybe less Wutains would die if she did.
Either way, the butchery needed to end.
Had to end.
So she pointed to the next fort in Shinra's path, and that was where they would make their stand.
Where she would make her stand.
Alone.
Yuna watched, staff held loosely towards the ground, unreacting, as she stood just outside the gates of the Wutai Fort, one of the last three before Fort Tamblin, Wutai's last line of defense. Slowly, Shinra emerged from the treeline, but stayed at the edges. Masses of SOLDIERs, with infantry behind them. At their head were the three generals, who stopped a few feet from the treeline. She didn't immediately turn her attention to Sephiorth, instead turning her head to study the other two.
Genesis Rhapsodos, pretty face, redheaded, red leather, red sword at his waist. There was a recurring theme there. He did not look physically strong, which was odd to her considering SOLDIER's strength. Few of them had the muscles, save perhaps Angeal, that would even hint at their pure raw might. It had something to do with how they were empowered she figured, Wutai didn't have a clear idea how they got their strength but knew they were 'enhanced'. Physical strength, while he would most likely be as strong if not stronger than regular SOLDIERs, wasn't his fortee. She could feel his raw magical might. In that regard he might even be stronger than Sephiroth, it was hard to tell, he was far stronger magically than anyone she had known, Lulu included. The man's eyes were studying her in turn before he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, as if asking 'well?'.
She didn't answer the question, and instead turned her gaze to Angeal Hewely. His clothing, unlike Genesis and Sephiroth, was similar to other SOLDIERs. His arms were bare, showing their muscular form. Hus hair was a little messy, with long sideburns and a little fuzz on his chin. His face was set serious, and held himself at the ready. Upon his back he bore a massive sword, bigger even than Sir Auron's. Oddly, he had a second sword at his waist, small and meek in comparison. Her eyes briefly crinkled at that, curious. Angeal didn't particularly react to that, save for a slight twitch in his eye, the upward hint of amusement on his lips that she would have missed if she wasn't dead staring at him. Her confusion over his swords amused him for some reason.
She finally set her gaze on Sephiroth and spoke, her voice harsh, ringing from one end of the soon-to-be-battlefield to another, "Leave."
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and took a few strides forward before coming to a stop and calling out, "Leave, Lady Yuna?"
"This is the only warning I will give you," she said firmly, "Butchers like you are not welcome in these lands."
None of the SOLDIERs visibly reacted. They certainly had to know what she was talking about. Whether they felt anything at all, she did not know.
"We've given Wutai ample opportunity to come to an agreement," said Sephiroth calmly, "Every ceasefire we have had, every attempt at negotiations has failed at their adamant refusals to budge an inch."
Yuna frowned a little. There had been peace attempts? That she hadn't been told. Still..., "And your response when such talks fail is to burn villages to the ground? Murder innocents?"
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "The beginning of the war was harsh, in ways that even we SOLDIERs do not look back on with pride. We do not deny this, but such levels of violence and subjugation have not been utilized in some time."
Interesting to note, but whats done was done, so she merely shook her head. "Subjugation by blade or by boot is still subjugation."
Sephiroth tilted his head in surprising acknowledgement. "I suppose it is. The question remains however, what do you intend to do here, Lady Yuna?"
Her eyes furrowed a little. What did he think she was going to do by coming out here? Surrender? Beg mercy? She had opened with her intentions pretty bare and forward...
Then again, that wasn't actually an impossible concept. She imagined negotiations had been instigated like this, a single person going out to meet the invading force. They did not know if she had come to parley, or to fight. Perhaps to them, a single person fighting their power alone was an inconceivable notion. Even though she would lose, would die, she would do her best to rob them of that superiority.
She raised her staff and gripped it tightly. "If you do not leave Wutai, I will make you."
Sephiroth studied her silently, eyes flickering to the top of the Fort's walls, at the Wutai watching but not interfering, not even a bow nocked or a gun raised. "By yourself...?"
She pursed her lips. "We both know I'm the only thing standing in Shinra's way. I wont have other people needlessly die for me just to get in your way."
There was a bit of movement behind Sephiroth, from Hewely, a look of approval on his face and respect in his eyes. Genesis scoffed lightly under his breath, and Sephiroth merely tilted his head, understanding and acknowledging her words. "Admirable. Unfortunately for you, we will not back down. We have our orders, as I imagine you do."
"I do not fight, I do not stand up for what is right because I was ordered to," she countered, "Wutai has made no demands of me and I am not bound to them, I fight for these people because I want to help them. No more. No less."
Sephiroth looked thoughtful. "You have no binding ties to the Wutai then?"
"No."
"They haven't been harboring you or your family here?"
She narrowed her eyes. "I'm fairly certain you've already heard back from your spy on how I came to be here."
Sephiroth hummed briefly. "I thought to confirm it."
"You came here for one reason and one reason only," said Yuna, struggling to hide the despair under her hostility, "Are you going to attack? Or are you going to leave?"
Sephiroth didn't immediately reply, studying her intently for a moment before answering, "Understanding one's opponent is half the battle. Entering into one without that understanding leaves you half blind."
He thought he could understand her from a few words? "And what, do tell, have you 'discovered'?"
Sephiroth's response was instant. "That you will give everything for a cause you believe in, up to and including your life, even if you believe its hopeless and you stand no chance."
Yuna's throat went dry and her grip on her staff turned her hands white.
"Nail on the head," mused Angeal, barely loud enough to hear.
"I will still offer you the courtesy of a chance to surrender," said Sephiroth.
"And I'll still offer you the chance to leave," she said, her eyes briefly flickering to those behind him, "Or at least pull your forces back. I will not surrender, and I will not hold back. If they stay, they will die."
"Pity," mused Sephiroth before he narrowed his eyes, "And foolish, I can close the distance before you have a chance to summon. They are in no danger."
"Now Leviathan," sent Yuna before a grim look overtook her face. "Well it's a good thing I did that before hand, isn't it?"
A great hiss filled the air and the Patron of the Wutai flew over the Fortress with a roar. Sephiroth sprang back and away from her, drawing his sword as did his commanders and SOLDIERs. A absolutely massive and towering torrent of water surged from the ground behind the fort, parting around both it and Yuna, before coming together and hurtling at the Shinra army. The three top SOLDIERs had enough reflexes to brace themselves, perhaps some of the lesser SOLDIERs did to, but no one was able to get out of the way. The flood smashed into Shinra, removing them from view for a moment before the water flew outward into the woods.
Or what was left of them.
Yuna had a brief moment to wince at the sight of the devastated nature behind the flattened and scattered army before she called out, "Shiva! NOW!"
The second Aeon leaped over the wall of the Fort, landing and slamming a fist into the sudden-wetlands. Water froze in an ever spreading ripple. The vast majority of SOLDIER and any surviving infantry were still stunned. The water froze with many still underneath or facedown in it. She watched grimly, as almost all of the army was trapped like this. They'd all be dead within minutes. It was nauseating to kill them all so brutally. Suffocation and/or drowning was an awful way to go.
There was an audible crack as Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal broke free of their icy prison and stood, impressively finding their footing on the ice.
Angeal looked back in completely and utter horror. There were less than ten SOLDIERs who appeared to have broken free like them and survived. "Gods... she just..."
"I warned you," said Yuna in a clipped tone as Shiva moved to stand in front of her protectively, and Leviathan floated overhead, hissing menacingly.
"The arrow has left the bow of the goddess," spat Genesis, enraged, "You are a viscous little thing, aren't you?"
Sephiroth's face was the most chilling. His eyes washed over the death and destruction before turning back to her, coldness in his eyes. There was a spark of anger, of rage, but he kept it tightly controlled. He didn't speak to her, he merely readied his blade, eyes flickering to Shiva and Leviathan, weighing odds. "Genesis, take Shiva. I will take Leviathan, Angeal, subdued and capture the Ancient."
Yuna blinked, taken offguard. Capture? They wanted to capture her? Not kill her?
Shiva shoved Yuna away as a large fireball erupted from Genesis's hands, sparking the battle. Sephiroth leaped after Leviathan, and then Yuna had no more time to pay any other SOLDIER or an Aeon attention as Angeal burst at her. She had a split second to cast haste on herself and barely manage to throw herself out of the way, dodging fist thrust right at her stomach. She lashed out with her staff and cringed as it hit his side with a 'plunk' and did nothing but make her arm shake. It was like she had hit a wall.
He turned, and this time she didn't get a chance to dodge as he swung a leg and smashed it into her stomach. She screamed in agony as she was sent flying, blood and spit and even a bit of whatever was left of her last meal bursting out of her mouth. She felt her ribs crack and break, her innards shaking and shifting at the immense impact, her spine almost felt pushed out alignment from the blow. She hit the icy ground and kept on rolling and skidding heads over heals. Sharp ice ripped open her face and arms, tore into her clothes, until she finally came to a stop, moaning, unable to stop tears of pain from slipping down her face.
She took a ragged breath, bit back a scream of agony as she struggled to rise to her feet despite her body's damage. She managed to raise her staff into the air and give a warbled, "C-curaga!"
Light washed over her, and she couldn't stifle the cry of pain as bones snapped back into place and mended, it felt like her innards were being rearranged again. She lowered her staff and briefly buckled to her knees, struggling with the sensation. One hit... just one hit...
There was a rushed pattering of feet and she looked up to see Angeal rushing towards her again, not as fast as a SOLDIER could go, but enough not to lose his footing on the ice. There was a sharp intake of fear rocketing down her spine, an internal scream of 'not again!'. She didn't have anything truly offensive to fight him with. The Black Magic she had learned from Lulu was basic things, and she didn't have the physical might for her staff to do anything but bounce off him. She only had her White Magic, and the hope that her Aeons *might* prevail...
Her White Magic...
Holy here, and Holy on Spira, are two vastly different things after all.
Shiva's words echoed in her head. Yuna had never mastered the spell, but what did she have left to lose?
She rose to her feet as he drew close and drew on her magic, holding out an open palm towards him and crying out, "Holy!"
Angeal came to a sudden and startled stop as spheres of white light burst into existence around him, spinning with trails of light before they rushed at him. He managed to dodge one in time, but the others exploded against him. Angeal was sent flying out of the explosion of light, hitting the ground with a thud and a grunt. To her dismay, he rose to his feet, a little singed and a bit scuffed up, but not extremely damaged. He was not however charging her again, eyes warily sizing her up. She returned the look, bracing herself to cast the spell again...
And then she felt Shiva fade, defeated. She sharply turned at the sound of crackling fire, sighting a fireball coming her way. She barely had time to throw up a shell before it slammed into her, sending her skidding and staggering back. She waved the smoke out of the way and saw Angeal and Genesis coming at her from two separate sides.
She didn't have a chance to react.
Angeal slammed a fist into her rib-cage, and she screamed as felt her ribs splinter, ripping into her lungs. She was thrown back until it felt like she hit a brick wall. Hands in red leather shoved her to the ground before a red blade surged past her eyes, spearing through her arm and into the ice, pinning her to the ground with a blood-gurgling scream of pain.
"That, is enough of that," said Genesis dismissively.
There was a great roar of pain before she felt Leviathan's defeat. She weakly raised her head to see Sephiroth landing on the ground, a ways away, soaking wet, ruffled and a little roughed up, but not even out of breath. She hadn't managed to even wind them...
She bent forward and hacked up blood, her eyes blurring.
"Mmm, I think you hit the fair lady to hard," mocked Genesis, "And here I thought you were a gentlemen, Angeal."
"Just cast a low level cure," said Angeal firmly, "Shinra wants her alive after all."
Why... why did...?
She flinched as Genesis did as instructed, her lungs mending a bit, not fully, but enough to not drown in her own blood. He did not withdraw his arm from her sword, instead he kicked her staff away and leered down at her. "Not much of a threat compared to us, were you little Ancient?"
She glared up angrily at him, furious, shamed. Everything still hurt, she could feel the pain of her Aeons, resoundingly beaten. Worse was the pain in her mind. She hadn't made even the slightest difference. She had killed their army, but these three alone could wipe out Wutai if they wanted to. She had failed to even take one of them out...
Failed.
Failed failed failed failed failed...
She drowned in that failure, that pain...
Before she felt something react to that pain, listening to it.
"Yuna," came a woman's depressed voice, turning into surprise, "How are you here?"
It felt... felt like... an Aeon...?
"Bind the Cetra and be done with it," ordered Sephiroth, scowling down at her, "You had best have been worth this."
"How is unimportant," came the woman's sharp and slightly panicked voice, "Share your pain with me Summoner. Call to me!"
Yuna suckered in a breath as she felt the connection. "Is that...?"
It was Anima... it was Seymour's summon, calling to her, offering aid. She wasn't bound like the others were, to little red materia. Was that what Shiva had meant? That Anima's isolation ironically saved her that fate?
"SUMMON ME!"
Dark energy rippled around Yuna, spilling into the surrounding area like a flood. Angeal threw himself back with a cry of surprise, Genesis withdrawing his sword from her arm and doing the same. Yuna surged to her feet and raised her hands and screamed, "Feel my pain! Come, Anima!"
The skies darkened as a massive whirling vortex of fire and purple clouds filled the skies, and down from it dropped a spiked anchor. It slammed into and through the ground in front of her, causing a massive circle of dark energy to appear as it sank further and further down. Then it stopped, and began to pull. Chains rose from the darkness as the anchor pulled up, and with them, came Anima. She was a massive, mummified rotting figure, chained and bound. Her arms and wings chained to her skelital body. Anima tilted her head back and roared, her mouth of sharp teeth and tusks gaping wide.
"GODDESS!" Genesis didn't appear to be able to stop himself from crying out, "What the hell is that?!"
Angeal only managed to get a chocking sound of shock out of his throat.
"I believe," said Sephiroth tersely, "She called it Anima."
Anima's eyes glowed with energy before her head snapped back, and an explosion hit the ground between the three SOLDIERs, sending them flying backwards. Again and again Anima's eyes glowed and energy exploded forward in bursts of energy painful to Yuna's senses. One of them caught Genesis head on and flattened him to the ground with a pained cry, actually damaged by the attack. Angeal suddenly moved, planting himself infront of Genesis as Anima turned her focus on the downed SOLDIER, firing her attack relentlessly. Angeal crossed his arms in front of him and took each blast head on, each one bloodying him, burning him, and starting to shred bits of his clothes.
Unfortunately, the focus left Sephiroth free to move.
The Silver General surged forward and ripped into Anima with his blade again and again. The summon's barrage of blasts faded as it roared with agony. No longer downed, Genesis rose to his feet and began launching spells at the Aeon. Angeal took a moment to heal himself with his materia before rushing forward and joining Sephiroth. Yuna had a moment to admire how much stronger Anima was now than when Seymour had summoned it, to be able to take this kind of punishment. But it wouldn't last long.
Then she felt it.
She felt the surge of pain from the Aeon, followed by overwhelming energy.
It was time.
And Anima agreed.
"Anima!" screamed Yuna, feeling the power take form in the shape of a word, "OBLIVION!"
Dark pools of energy pooled under the three SOLDIERs and Yuna, tugging them all below the surface of the world around them. They were sucked into a world of distorted swirling red and purple and black energy. Directly underneath Anima was a mummified, demonic looking version of the Aeon with long gray hair. It's wrists were bound with a chain, but that was it's only binding. With a roar, the Aeon snapped it's chains, and purple energy surged around it. The Aeon lashed out, explosions ripping from it's fists on impact as they smashed again and again into the SOLDIERs, electing pained cries and yells. Finally, the area blew apart with a massive explosion that Anima shielded Yuna from, but gave no such favors to the SOLDIERs.
Yuna was recalled to the surface, and the SOLDIERs cast out where they landed in bloody heaps a ways away.
Genesis twitched on the ground, groaning and cursing under his breath. Angeal rose to a knee, huffing and puffing, blood running down from a bloody and burned welt to the side of his head. Sephiroth was the one however who took to his feet, eyes narrowing at Anima, raising a hand to wipe blood off his face, glancing down at the red substance with appraisal, a sight he didn't look accustomed to seeing. When he looked up, an aura of blue and orange surrounded him with a high pitched whine as fire lit in his catlike green eyes.
"Cut," he snarled out.
In the blink of an eye he blew forward, his blade glowing and singing with energy as he slashed seven times into Anima, leaving massive glowing wounds.
"Vanish!" he finished, slicing Anima completely in half with the eighth and final blow.
Anima gave a pained wall as she burst into energy and faded away. Yuna stared at the sight in shock, stunned. Shiva... Shiva hadn't lied about Sephiroth's potential power... but she hadn't imagined... to see it like that... there was no way...
He had been injured, bled, and had taken Anima serious in return, defeating her near effortlessly with whatever kind of attack that had been.
Yuna sank to her knees and bowed her head. She had nothing left...
"The silence collar, Genesis, if you would," commanded Sephiroth.
There was a patter of feet on ice as Genesis cautiously approached, knelt down, and tightening something around Yuna's throat. She flinched as she felt herself cut off from her magic, from her Aeons. Then she was roughly hauled to her feet, her arms pinned behind her back.
[Save the Cetra!] came a cry in Wutai.
Yuna looked up sharply as the Wutai started to pour out of the fort, the SOLDIERs tensing in anticipation, before Yuna screamed, "STOP!"
The Wutai froze their rush, staring at her, some slipping on the ice as they tried to obey.
"Just... stop," she said, her voice hoarse, "I won't bear any of you to throw your lives away in a lost battle. They'll slaughter all of you. Just... fall back, retreat. It's..."
She hung her head. "It's over. I'm sorry..."
"I'm so sorry..."
Nothing more was said, the Wutai stared at her in sorrow as Genesis hauled her away, Angeal covering the rear while Sephiroth took the lead, what little Shinra survivors there were piling in behind them...
Review Responses:
Frozenseed: Thanks, but poor Yuna, wrecked the Shinra detachment, but got roughed up a bit. Anima made it not a complete wash VS the trio, but in the end, they were far to powerful for a Yuna not at the peak of her power and without most of her Aeons to even dent. (Yuna from the point of Mount Gagazet is much weaker than she has the potential to be by the time she reaches Jecht).
Expressz641: Mhm. I'm not sure if I really want to use them or not, there is also the question of how many and what summons to give to Yuna as well.
Patrick the Observer: Maybe Yuna will, maybe a certain someone else possibly trained by Yuna will. Who knows, I'm weighing options. Actually, Chaos is a WEAPON, not a summon/Aeon. I view WEAPONs as different from Summons. Wutai cannot win the war, but they can maybe dictate some terms in some regards if they aren't to stubborn. The War isn't fully over with this loss, there's still more to come, at least 1 more chapter, before it draws to a close.
As for Yuna and Hojo, I haven't quite decided how it's going to go down. Rape or potential rape as an unfortunate possibility from here on in, but I'm not quite sure I can inflict continual forced childbearing on Yuna. I may be cruel to my characters, but not that cruel, I'm not also here to write a rated E rape fanfiction, no thank you, there's enough of that here/on Ao3 as it is.
I'm not sure about Avalanche. It's an idea I hadn't thought of, we'll see if they come into factor or not yet.
