Author's note: I wanted to start of by apologizing for any racism I may have showed in the previous chapter, it wasn't intended to anger anyone. I was tired while writing that particular peace, no to mention bored, and threw that in for the very amusement someone may receive from it. So I appreciate you bringing my wrong to my attention Devil Theory, I greatly do. And before I forget, Nikki, my computer will not let me submit reviews for some odd reason. Just know I haven't forgotten, and I continue to read your story. It's excellent. Well, here is the next chapter everyone. This time, I'm using spell check.
Chapter 6- Covenant (( Tidus POV ))
The feelings of defeat was a heavy burden on my heart as I lay there in silence as the time of dawn came at last. My mind reflected on the confrontation I waged against Collust and the woman Aslaiha just hours previous to my case of being bedridden, even though I felt no pain. It was exhaustion that served as my weakness on this morning, and due to that, I was vulnerable and pitiful. I had sworn to myself never again to fall past strong and invincible, and I began to think it true, not just a boast out of arrogance, and it was Collust who cut me down to the level he thought I should be.
Perhaps I was in my place. I had become proud, proud of what I had in fact BECOME. My strength, my speed, my intellect, in it all there was no reason not to gain confidence. And it's possible that was my flaw, the reason I felt so defeated. Collust had shown me I was not the greatest, not the best. He held his own against what mortals would consider godly, unearthly, agility and power. He matched, and occasionally overpowered, whatever I was to through at him. Even in the end, when it was he who retreated, that match wasn't mine. It was his.
'Is it true I do not possess the strength to call myself invincible?'
Against the darkness, even those with power are eventually overcome. Your time of glory lasted long, and it is not over yet. But it can be. It depends all on where you go from here.
I was not at all startled to hear the voice again, after what had occurred. It was predictable it would give it's opinion, how could It not? It was the ultimate opportunity. And like Gallant, Oblivion was always willing to voice his thoughts.
'Where do I go from here?' I took advantage of this moment, and again attempted to stir another conversation. Last night was the first time I had actually conversed with Oblivion, and not been answered by silence. Maybe our connection was thickening? Or maybe it was too amused to not respond.
That choice rests on you alone. I can see your heart, and know where you stand. You are undecided, attracted by the promising power of the dark yet drawn to desire to protect with the light. You want to keep her safe, when in truth, she may be all that's holding you back.
I clinched my teeth at it's comment, and lashed out with my mind to make it see where it had done wrong. 'Do not speak like that again! Yuna has given me the strength to overcome any obstacle, no matter what!'
Then why do you feel defeated? I have studied you, Tidus, and know that when your loved ones are in danger, you gain the power to beat the odds. But it is not given to you by them, it's only awakened. You have the power, and have had it all along.
I did not respond immediately, even though just by thinking Oblivion was given more words than I could voice. Was the power within me? Did I have possession of it all this time? Or was it truly love that fueled me with strength? That gave me the power, in the voice's words, to beat the odds?
Do not fret. You know the answer.
'Do I?'
You the have the power alone… It paused. And I can help you control it.
'As though I need your help.'
Your independence is respected, and a great strength. You need not rely on others to gain power, thus you need not rely on me. But by accepting my proposal, you can gain the strength, and much more, to put Collust to shame.
Temptation, that was the emotion I felt as it's words passed through my head over and over again like an echo. It was promising me ultimate power, invincibility, Oblivion was promising me it. But what was his gain? What could he benefit from giving me the strength to take down such a powerful being like Collust? A powerful being like himself? No, there was catch. I wouldn't play into his hands.
'What do you hope to gain?'
Your loyalty.
Betrayal. That's what he wanted from me. He wanted me to betray the ones I called friends, the ones I loved. And he believed to make me do this by tempting me with the promise of greater power? Pitiful. Oblivion had no comprehension of how my heart operated, of how I ran my life. I wouldn't join him, I wouldn't turn my back on my friends. Not on Yuna.
'You insult me with your words. I will not align myself with the likes of you.'
Then your friends will perish.
Perish? Was he threatening me? Or speaking the truth? Doubtful. Somehow it appeared the bad guys were always attacking the hero through those closet to him. This only enraged me all the more. And I fell into a flurry of anger.
'Then come on! Send your best and I'll cut them down! You do not frighten me you fool. Your threats are empty, for I will never let that happen.
You know you cannot win. When Collust returns ,you will fall, and with you will Spira crumble. I will have won.
This didn't make sense. Didn't he want to win? What would change if I did in fact join him? By staying on opposite sides, he'd still prevail. In his mind, at least. I'd never allow it, I'd crush him just as I had crushed Gallant. I just had to wait for him to make his move.
'What difference will bringing me,' I began while stretching my thoughts to his mind, 'to your side make?'
Things will be simpler, with you no longer an obstacle and by my side. But you will benefit as well.
'How?'
You will gain the strength you seek, something unlike any you have seen, or possessed. You will have the freedom to rule over a legion of darkness, and command SHADOW itself while I make Spira bow to my will. And most importantly, those who you cherish, will survive…
I was surprised, startled, to hear this. Was he speaking true? Did I hear him correctly? 'They will continue their lives unthreatened by your forces?'
They will live, I will make sure of it.
And that was all I wanted, in my heart of grey, it was the goal I had set before myself to reach. For those with my love to gain shelter beneath this endless conflict in blood. Now it was he who I sought to protect them from who offered that. Ironic? Yes. But it was this irony that made my blood, my wounds, my hurt, worth while. My goal was in reach of completion, I only had to extend my hand to grasp it.
I know your decision. Save you words, for your heart speaks for you. Now you must merely prove your loyalty…
'How?' I would step forward to complete all tasks if it promised Yuna's protection, so long for Oblivion's sake, he kept his end of the bargain.
Travel to Luca. During my first attack, my forces failed to…eradicate entirely the whole of that location's population. I want you to go and finish the job the Wraiths and SHADOW could not.
'So I'm not kill them all?'
Destroy everyone of them, and consider those of your choosing saved.
Then he was gone, for I felt his presence fade. The conversation was over, and the decision had been made. The task had been placed before me, now I only had to carry it out, then I could rest at last.
"I must only stain my blade," I whispered, my eyes narrowing as I glanced over to the wall, eyeing Caladbolg, "again to finish the task I placed before me. Then my war…will end."
The final chapter in my tale written by blood, the climax to a lifetime of conflict, was drawing close. All I needed was to pick up the pen and write the ending pages for the ending scene, which I knew how would finish. "This is the closing act…When I follow out Oblivion's orders, then it will end. Spira will crumble, but we will be safe. That's all I care for, that Yuna lives on. And she shall."
My fist curled as I considered the possibility she would not in my mind, the rage building only at the thought alone.
"Or Oblivion will pay."
"Your awake…"
I was startled by the voice that had come to intrude on my privacy, shifting my eyes upon the one standing in the doorway suspiciously. I didn't need a glance to recognize the owner, but it was my own insecurities that made me look to her direction. It was Yuna, and being her, she could have managed to drift in on some part of the conversation that I voiced, not thought. Possibly she learned a significant deal, enough to cause her to pry or wonder. And if so, she hid it well. Well enough for even my piercing eyes to be left useless. A rare moment, and odds were the last.
"Are you feeling better?" She spoke while taking light steps across the floor to my bedside, kneeling down and gently placing her hand upon my own while observing me with sympathetic eyes. "Your injuries, please, have they bothered you? I was almost sure I managed to seal them completely."
"Don't worry," I whispered while averting her gaze, finding something else for my eyes to focus on, "you did well enough."
I felt her hand leave my own, the pressure fading, the warmth departing, and I almost longed for it again. But I didn't show it, I kept my face emotionless, stone, and stared off into space.
"Then will you rest more?" Her voice came again, and only then did I realize how close she had gotten to me, her breath hot on the side of my face. "I know your probably believing your up to walking, but hurting or not, no one should continue the day without proper rest after suffering such a…" She paused, as though considering her words. I was aware she was, certain of it. And I knew what she wanted to say. Defeat, "after suffering through such an exhausting battle."
"I'll be fine. My rest will not go on much longer."
The warmth of the closeness of our bodies was no more when she departed, her footsteps signifying her exit. And when I thought she was gone, through the corner of my eye I saw otherwise. She stood in the doorway, looking back at me, silent, and when I bothered to look upon her I could see the sadness in her eyes. What did she hurt for? If it was for me, she was only wasting her tears.
"Paine," she began, "and the others will be coming back soon. Lulu informed them of what happened earlier, so they insisted on coming here to watch out for us. Whether or not Collust returns," another pause, "isn't clear yet. If the stories are true, then this won't be the last time we see him."
I had to stifle a laugh at how fearful Yuna appeared to be of this Collust. How could I not find amusement in the knowing my lover recoiled at such an insignificant pawn in Oblivion's game. But when I finished my task, Collust would threaten us no more. "If he comes, then he'll die."
"I just hope it's him," with that she left, leaving only a whisper in the air. "and not you."
Once more, I was left in the silence. I was alone, laying on my back, staring up into the ceiling, and thinking. Perhaps I thought too much? Perhaps I was too focused on pondering my thoughts themselves? When I was alone, it was then when I began to think. It was when I most lucid and aware of the events occurring around me, which made me THINK I was strongest on my own. Just an idea, not truth. Alone I have only myself to protect, but in the company of others It is my obligation to protect them, and that is what inspires my power. That is what inspires me.
'I've made an agreement with the devil himself,' I thought inwardly to secure my privacy in the slight chance Yuna listened in from the outside. I didn't trust my senses right now, and until they proved operational, I wouldn't ever again. 'And sold my soul, my very life, for the promise of power and the strength to protect.'
I was falling fast from a level that respect was given, and tumbling into the pits of a level so low it demanded it. I was losing my position as independent, becoming gradually a slave to the darker forces that called to me. All for one: her. And in a way, all for them. I could only hold on to the remaining thoughts that I would never fully become a slave to Oblivion's will. I wouldn't be another of his dogs.
"I won't beg when you tease me with a bone," I whispered while tensing my body, curling the beddings as I curled my fists. "And I won't fetch when you throw the stick. You'll have my loyalty, and nothing more."
'I will kill them all, but not in your name.'
I forced myself to sit, a sudden wave of dizziness washing over me. I placed my head down, resting my forehead in my right hand palm as I brought it up, waiting for it to pass. And when it did, I stretched me thoughts out the best I was able, wanting Oblivion to know, whether listening or not.
'They will die in the name of love, and the future of those who have earned it.'
"And your puppy, Collust," I spoke out, not caring who heard. "should he cross me again, rest assured, I WILL put him to rest. And if YOU betray me…"
'Then I…will lay you down as well..'
