Chapter Seven: The Cloister of Trials
Review replies: Well I might as well. I don't have much, but it's always nice to respond to 'em. So, here we goes.
Kaya De Crystalline : Heh, what's new? I change my name all the time, probably due to that fact that I'm bored out of my mind. And no problem, I love your fics. Thanks for comment!
Lisa : Hey, thanks. And no, that's not Devil hunter Dante. I'm just using the name.
Bloodfan : Well, I made like a bunch so enjoy!
Kinniku Fan : Yeah, I'm impressed too. I didn't think it would turn out very well. Glad you like it!
Zarbok : Heh, thanks mate. Those were nice reviews you left. I'll keep it up.
Lunatic Pandora : LOL, nice reviews, Luny. Kain has always been the cool type, ne? Well, glad you like it.
ShadowHawk : You bet I will! Thanks!
Dark Sephiroth : No, the soppiest, weakest human RPG character would be Shana from The Legend of Dragoon. Though I see how you can confuse the two by appearence, I swear, they're almost twins. I'm glad you like the fic though, but don't plan on Kain getting any more softer. You saw what he did to that blitzer.
Well, keep 'em coming guys!
The lift halted before a large, stone door. Stepping forward, the vampire, without hesitation, pushed open the doors, making his way into a large, dark room. A small pedestal, much like the one in the Besaid trials, was there. On the right side of a large, flaming blockade was a glowing, flaming sphere. Kain walked over to the sphere, removing it as the blockade vanished, revealing a small tunnel leading into another room. Taking the sphere with him, Kain slipped into the next room, seeing more slots on the wall. One had a glowing green sphere and the other was empty. Placing the flaming sphere into the slot before him, a strange burning appeared on the wall... a glyph.
Kain removed the sphere, placing it onto the right access as he touched the glyph. The wall shot up into the ceiling, revealing a large, fiery chamber. Kain jumped back for a moment, shuddering at the thought of failed summoners making their false moves, plunging into those flames to embrace their death. Brushing the thought from his mind, he moved into the room, noticing an odd, glowig switch on the floor. Kain touched the switch with the bottom of his boot. A flash engulfed the room behind him, and when he looked, he saw the pedestal had somehow been transported from one room to the next. Suspcious, Kain entered the room and removed the flaming sphere, placing it onto the pedestal. Positioning himself behind the pedestal, Kain eyed the room of fire... as if his mind had been guiding him, as if a part of him knew what to do, he was well aware of what had to be done. Gripping the pedestal tightly, the vampire pushed forward into the flames as a strange stairway appeared around the flames. Cautiously, the vampire walked along the stone path, and then, pressing against the wall to avoid the flames, moved himself down the stairs and into a lower chamber. In this chamber, another large door was revealed, a slot beside it. Nodding to himself, the vampire removed the sphere, placing it into the slot as he heard the door's locks shift. For a moment, he paused.
Kain
"Only guardians allowed, and I for one am no guardian."
[he shook his head]
"Seems to be too late for that, no doubt."
Without further word, the vampire pushed open the doors. A strange hymn fills the room sung by the harmonic voice of a male. This was the first thing the vampire noticed as he entered the room, besides the fact that the chamber of the faith was similar to that in Besaid. As soon as he entered the room, all eyes fell on him. Vorador's eyes narrowed in fury and suspcious while Lulu gasped silently, apparentally appalled by the nerve he had. Wakka jumped in his surprise.
Wakka
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Kain
"I haven't come all this way to just wait around for you people!"
"I don't know this place and you're not leaving me to the ignorant pigs I've meet so far."
Lulu
[furious]
"Yuna will be the one to suffer the consequences!"
Kain
"What consequences?"
Wakka
"She could be excommunicated!"
Kain
"I could care less if she was denied the honor to sit on the thrown as the queen of Spira!"
"If I want to go somewhere, I'm going, and there isn't a man here, undead or alive, who can tell me different."
Lulu
"Kain, I didn't want to do this."
"But you have pushed me too far."
In her rage, Lulu blasted several spheres of fire at his chest, causing him to fall backwards, his chest singed, tinted a shade of black. Instantly, the vampire leapt to his feet and lunged out with his claw, gripping a handful of Lulu's braided hair. His fangs bearing, he was just about to thrust his fangs onto Lulu's throat when a powerful blow struck against the vampire's head. Kain instantly released his hold on Lulu's hair and went flying into a wall, then noticed Vorador beside the black mage, glaring daggers at him. Kain smirked, and unsheathed his sword. Vorador stepped infront of the fallen black mage as his sword appeared in his claws. In unision, the two kicked off the ground and swung the swords for each other, the blades crashing against each other repeatively. Kain pulled in, trying to stab the vampire only to have Vorador deflect the blow and swing for Kain's head. Shifting the blade before him just in time, Kain had blocked the attack and saved himself from decapitation, when he felt a power build up within him. With one powerful swing of his sword, Vorador went flying through the air, crashing into a wall, crimson flames dancing across his chest. Gasping from the damage, Wakka stood between them.
Wakka
"Stop it now! That's enough!"
Kain
"Stand down or die, human!"
Wakka
[glares at Kain]
It's not fair for Yuna to be punished for your issues."
[looks at Vorador]
"And you should know better, being her guardian!"
"We wait now...."
Vorador rose to his feet as the sword vanished, continously glaring at Kain. Lulu had found the strength to rise and walked over to the green vampire while Kain sheathed Chappu's sword. Rage was building within him... Vorador had attacked him twice, and it wasn't going to go unpunished. He sighed to himself, continously glaring at the chamber of the Fayth.
I assumed I had to withdraw... for Yuna's sake.
Though I wasn't entirely sure why I must care.
I suppose I was curious about her newest Aeon.... and what kind of creature it would be...
So despite all that had happened, I had to inquire.
Kain
"So, what lies within the chamber with Yuna?"
"She obviously isn't alone in there."
Wakka
"The fayth, remember?"
Kain
"Fayth..."
Lulu
"The fayth are people who gave their lives to battle Sin."
"Yevon took their souls, willingly given from their still-living bodies."
[she speaks icily and still glares at Kain]
"Now they live forever, trapped in statues."
"But when a summoner beckons, the souls of the fayth emerge once again."
"That's what we call an 'Aeon'."
Kain
"So much in one room..."
"So what exactly does Yuna do in there?"
Wakka
"She prays with all her heart for a way to defeat Sin."
Just as Wakka replies, the door from the chamber opens. Yuna appears from the room, sweat beading on her chest and forehead, her face flushed from exhaustion. As if trying to use the air as support, she steadies herself to walk down the stairs without stumbling. Then she falls to her knees at the base of the steps. Concerned for her safety, Vorador, Lulu and Wakka sprint to her side while Kain watches in the distance...
"There was something I hadn't confessed to the others, that day."
"The hymn we heard there, in the temple... I knew it from my life as a human..."
"I figured it was proof that Spira and Nosgoth were connected somehow. At least, towards Vorador, myself, and that Umah vampire from before."
"Maybe that's why, suddenly, I felt like...I just wanted to return to my world."
"I tried to force out my words, to have somebody listen. But the words refused to come."
Outside the temple, several people watch as Yuna and her guardians appear. They begin to cheer, clapping and waving. Yuna wipes a stream of sweat from her forehead, and begins to twirl her rod as several, fiery spheres surround her form, creating a strange, circular shape at the center of her spinning rod. Holding it straight, the flames trail to the end of the rod as Yuna drops to her knees. The flames create a strange, circling figure around Yuna, then rises at least nine feet in the air, with her still ontop.
In an explosion of fire and stone, Yuna goes flying into the air as a large, furious beast appears from the core of the stone and fire. Flames and orange fur cover the head, arms and neck as the beast stays to the ground on all fours. Yuna falls towards the ground, but before her guardians could react, the beast stood on it's hind legs, catching the summoner with one arm so she was seated on his shoulder. He lowers her to the ground, then releases a furious growl. Kain watches in shock and amazement as Yuna trails her fingers over the beast's forehead, then whispered a name...
Yuna
"Ifrit..."
After a moment, the flames return to Ifrit, and his figure vanishes, as Valefor had in Besaid. Lulu and Wakka sigh with relief, then turn to leave the village. Yuna eyes Kain, then walks towards him.
Kain
"What in the....?"
Yuna
"What's wrong?"
Kain
"I'm afraid I don't understand... how do the Aeon's appear and disappear like they seem to do so often?"
Yuna
"He requested to see the people outside the temple.... one last time."
"Then he was dismissed... when I pray to them, they can aid me in battle, like with the Sinspawn..."
Kain nods, the begins to walk away with Yuna beside him. The two are silent as they walk back down the stairs. Yuna turns around to face the temple, then does the prayer gesture before rejoining him. Luzzu and Gatta are in the forest, fighting off fiends as the Summoner and her guardians walk pass, entering Kilika one more.
Wakka
"Off to Luca at last!"
[he turns to Kain]
"The matches start soon as we get there, so rest up on the way, ya?"
Kain
"I'll be sure to..."
He notices Yuna smiling again, and says nothing. He merely boards the boat with the others as it sets sail once again...
