-Disclaimer- So... There was this Spanish-speaking frog...
((A/N: Wait, it's not Sunday… Gah. Anyways, thanks Hazza for the catch, haha. No need to apologize; reviews are for critique, yeah? Anyways… So, I was looking around, and it looks like the longest fanfiction has something crazy like a couple million words… Hmm… Challenge accepted… Unless I start running out of ideas, I've got a couple million years to work with here, hm? Eh, I don't know; it would probably get boring for you guys, I'd assume… We'll see. Alright, to the story.))
Our Solemn Hour
As I woke up in the morning, I realized that it had been a week since I had first woken up, and I was still alive. Awesome for me! Or maybe he was just planning my death, which wasn't as awesome… Well, either way, I was still alive. I could get through this. I just had the feeling that I would live; that was good, right? Surely nothing bad could happen if I was still alive in the future, like I was all but certain I would be… Yeah, I know, I actually thought that at that point. Too bad I was right and wrong at the same time…
I walked outside with Aegis. Cantus was already standing there, waiting for me. He nodded. "Morning."
I paused. "Is it late…?"
"No, not at all. Sorry, I was just a bit anxious; I didn't get very much sleep last night…"
I paused. "Neither did I… I kept on waking up… Strange that it was like that for both of us…"
He looked quite worried. "Actually, it's not too strange; it's just simply bad. That means that Chaos is intending on making a move soon; perhaps even today."
"That's… not good. Should we go see the Council?" Why did I say that…? Bad me. If only I could go back and hit myself… Please say no, Cantus... please say no…
"Hmm… Yeah, that'd probably be best… It would be better if we knew that we had at least most of the Council behind us." Darn him… Oh well, I might as well tell the story accurately…
I nodded. "Alrighty then! Let's go!" I looked back at Aegis. "You stay here, alright?" She just kind of looked at me, and I nodded. "Alright!" I grabbed Cantus, and off we went, teleporting to Korsanth. This is the part where things started to get bad… Like, really bad.
"Jenova!" Cantus said quickly. "You're still in your normal form…"
I paused, realizing he was right, and I quickly changed my appearance. "Alright, thanks for that. Let's go." We walked into the city, but things were strangely quiet. Sure, most Cetra were normally out and about, but still…
Cantus paused. "I contacted the Council, but they're already here… Looks like they're the only ones here…"
We ran through the deserted city, getting to the main building and rushing down the stairs. All we could hear was the trickle of water from the lake and our own footsteps.
It didn't take very long to get down to the platform in the center of the lake at the bottom of the city. The whole Council was waiting for us as we approached. Dalan paused, looking at me.
"Why is she here…?"
Lucade stepped up next to him. "Isn't it obvious by now? She's the Guardian."
I paused. "Wow, that was a quick – and wrong – assumption…"
Lucade shook his head. "We don't have time for games. I know that we have a traitor in the Council, but without the Guardian, even one intruder against all of us would be unfair to the Council. So? Is she the Guardian on not?"
Cantus shook his head. "Never mind that. Lucade… I never told you we had a traitor… I said we might."
Lucade rolled his eyes, tilting his head so that some of his shoulder-length black hair fell behind him. "You aren't exactly discreet, Cantus. It's quite obvious that this world is in danger; I don't know why you want to hide it from us…"
Cantus sighed. "We needed to find out who it was. And… I think we have."
The Council members all looked at each other in worry. But I noticed something… their movements were synchronized, in a way. I didn't notice it at first, but after a moment of watching them, I finally started to see the repeating pattern. All of them except for Dalan and Lucade. What was going on here…? Wait… No…
Dalan shook his head. "Yes? Who?"
Lucade smirked. "Yes, who?"
Cantus started to say something, but I grabbed his shoulder. "Cantus…" He looked over at me, and I continued after a moment. "That's why. Chaos… He did take over one of them… Lucade or Dalan, I mean. And you… you wondered why someone as powerful as them wouldn't have had time to warn the others, or to call for help. But you see… they did. One of them did. But it… their call fell on deaf ears." I looked out at the Council. "We thought that it was Dalan, and only him, but… it's everyone but him…"
Cantus looked at me like I was crazy, but Lucade laughed, clapping. "Very good! I didn't think you would get that! You're quite the perceptive one, aren't you… what's your name? I know it's not Ayanumi, since that's your race… I believe Cantus called you Jenova just outside of the city, correct? I didn't see either of you, but I could hear your voices…"
Dalan ran over to us. "I… I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you; I did! But he… He said that he would kill you if you knew. So I had to stay silent."
Cantus nodded, pulling out his staff. I pulled out my swords, before realizing that I didn't have them. Yet they were there, as though I had pulled them from the very air.
Lucade grinned. Every other Council member around him faded away, and he nodded. "You wish to fight? Fine, then! Bring your futile attempts; it will all be in vain."
Ignoring his attempts to demotivate us, we all launched into a battle. It didn't last for very long, though, as he only seemed interested in me. After maybe a minute at most, he leapt straight forward and grabbed me.
Just as how I would grab Cantus and teleport, Lucade – or rather, Chaos – harshly grabbed me and teleported the both of us far away; only after a moment did I realize that we were in Vitrum Sylva.
I managed to get free from him, and I ran as fast as I could. Storm clouds had started gathering, and a heavy rain had started falling. Thunder would send a resounding boom around the area every now and then, and forked strikes of lighting would occasionally tear through the sky. Had I been normal, I had no doubt that the wind would have been frigid; however, I didn't even notice if it was or not.
Thanks to the rain, the grass was ever more slick than normal, and I fell repeatedly, sliding for a moment and then getting up, running, and repeating it all over again. I wasn't sure how Chaos didn't catch up to me; he was probably just amused.
I managed to get into the glade in the center and dove into the glass thing, putting up the wall and hoping that he couldn't tell the difference. Aegis was gone; she must have sensed the coming battle and fled.
Finally, everything was silent. Mostly silent, of course, as the rain was still beating down, pounding on the roof of the sanctuary. The darkness of the clouds cast a shadow over everything, making it even darker than it normally was; even the lighting had ceased. I leaned against one of the walls, breathing heavily. I changed my outfit back; I wasn't even sure how I had fought and run so effectively in a dress. However, I kept my appearance changed; maybe I could convince him that I wasn't the Ayanumi? Damn Cantus for using that as my alias…
Then, I saw an extra shadow cast on the glass, and I knew that he was in the glade. I quieted my breathing. Maybe he wouldn't know I was here…
"Come now, little Ayanumi…" he said, walking around my little sanctuary. "I'll try to make your death a quick one… Although, you've given me quite a lot of trouble, so maybe I won't…"
He circled me once, then walked off. Now, you know how there are always those horror movies where there's at least one stereotypical girl? The one who gets chased by the big scary whatever, and locks herself in a closet, or a bathroom, or a small room, et cetera? And then she thinks she's safe, and so she leaves her sanctuary even though everyone watching is yelling at her to not leave, and ninety-nine out of a hundred times she immediately gets caught? Yeah, I was that girl this one time. Stupid me…
I idiotically tried to dart out of the sanctuary, running into the forest. Chaos, though, was standing right there, like some kind of living Slenderman. I tried to dodge him, but my movements were too quick. Again, I slid on the grass, falling to the ground. He grabbed me by the neck, lifting me off of the ground.
He smirked. "Well, that was easy…" He looked me up and down. "Hmmm… I know that's not your real form. You can't fool me…"
I smirked. "I'm not… who you think I am…"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes you are. I've been hunting your kind for quite a while… I know an Ayanumi when I see one, even if you don't look like one. That first day that I saw you, I was fairly certain that it was you, but I wanted to be sure. When you effectively denied that it had been you, I'll admit that you convinced me for a while. But when the protector of a Guardian is spending quite a lot of time with someone for no real reason, well… it's pretty condemning." He nodded. "Now, I want to see your real form before I kill you. You're the first female of your species that I've come across… I want to know what you look like." He thought for a moment. "Of course, I know that, scientifically, you have no real gender, but by your races standards and by non-scientific standards, you'd definitely be a women. So, what sets you apart from the others…?"
I glared at him. "How should I know…?" I noticed that the rain was completely soaking the both of us, but neither of us cared.
He rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to show me, then I'll just have to make you, I suppose…"
I didn't understand what he meant at first, but then, a searing pain shot throughout my entire body. I felt as though my every atom was being torn apart; and that was probably what was happening. Since the change in my appearance was on a cellular level – i.e., my own cells hid within cells that had a changed genetic structure, allowing me to be whatever I wanted – he would probably be able to force me back into me original form by tearing my original cells away from the ones that they were hiding in. I cried out, trying to pull away from him, but his grip was like iron. Left with not much of a choice, I forced the rest of my transformation, my outward appearance going back to its original state. Since I only ever changed my visible appearance and not actually my body itself, it only took a few seconds.
Chaos nodded. "Good girl. See? That wasn't too hard, was it?"
I smirked, and he dropped me. He pulled out a large sword and held it under the base of my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Now, don't struggle, or I'll just make this last longer. Understand?"
I could tell that that was exactly what he wanted, though. But I wasn't about to give him that pleasure, so I only shrugged. "Whatever… Just get it over with…" But I had a plan. Smart me. Stupid me.
Chaos paused. "First, though, tell me… Can you, by chance, manipulate other living beings?"
I froze, and then quickly shook my head. "Is such a thing possible…?" Whatever he wanted my abilities for couldn't be good, so I wasn't about to tell him the truth.
He nodded. "Oh yes, it's very possible. One and only one of the Ayanumi has that ability… that is the one that I truly want to find. Not only will that Ayanumi's powers be invaluable to me, but the one marked with those abilities is the most powerful of their kind. Plus, better yet, the gods will make no move to save whoever it is. They'd rather let me kill that Ayanumi than save them and give them the chance to one day defy them." He smirked. "But if it's not you, that's fine."
Just as he was about to strike me, I pulled out my own weapons, blocking him and darting to the side. He grinned, obviously having expected my move, but he played along anyways and fought me. I could see his annoyance, though, when he wasn't able to take me out quickly. In fact, I kept the battle up for quite a while. Long enough, unfortunately or not, for another to show up…
"Jenova!" Cantus shouted, running in and stepping in front of me.
Chaos rolled his eyes. "Get out of my way."
"Never. If you want to get to her, you're going to have to kill me."
"…Alright."
"Wait!" I quickly said, pushing Cantus to the side, much to his and Chaos's surprise. "No. Leave Cantus alone, and I won't fight you. Or I will. Whatever you want."
Chaos smirked. "The Ayanumi protecting her protector from trying to protect her? Wow, that's a new one."
Cantus shook his head at me. "Exactly, Ayanumi. It's my duty to protect you… not the other way around."
I shook my head. "I don't care."
"But-"
"Leave," I growled, and Cantus froze; though not of his own accord. I could feel him struggling against my control, but I didn't let him take over. He stared at me.
"You… you can…" he choked out, and I looked away.
"Leave. Now." I released him, and expected him to run off because of what had just happened. But, for some idiotic reason, he stayed.
"I should have known… How didn't I…? Why didn't you tell me? No, there will be time for that later." He nodded, standing next to me, much to my surprise. Chaos, though, was grinning madly.
"I knew it was you," he said gleefully, grabbing Cantus and throwing him to the side before either of us could do anything. Then, before I could even move, he smashed his sword against the side of my head, knocking me out almost instantly. However, he still had time to say one last thing: "Soon, Ayanumi. Soon, you'll be mine."
