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Chapter 8
The L'cie have been walking through the halls of the subway-esque system, for 10 minutes, and found some stairs where they went up. Hope and Jared were talking about technology, which Jared was explaining, while looking around every now and then, never once breaking conversation. He knew Hope had a lot to learn, but Jared was patient. Lightning had listened to them both talk as well, as was Snow.
Sazh jumped into the conversation when the topic of planes and airships came into play, but it didn't go on for long, though.
As they had gotten to the top of the stairs they had found, they were all on the same platform, when Jared felt an energy pulse in the ground.
Unable to react in time, a glowing mark appeared beneath them, showing the symbol of their brand. Each brand had reacted, even Jared's, and all of them felt the pain.
All of them were panting, but for Jared...
Jared was on his knees, his hands gripping his head. "Jain! What's going on?" He mentally shouted.
(Two more paths are opening up in the Crystarium but...)
"There's more coming in than L'cie abilities!" He mentally shouted, before the others noticed that he hadn't recovered yet.
"Jared!" Lightning shouted.
"Back away from me!" He shouted, his voice pained. "AaaaahhhHHHHHHH!" he was surrounded in a Deep Crimson glow, which then turned into an Orb with the Crimson Dragon's symbol on one end. Everyone looked at the Orb in concern, especially Hope and Lightning. 'What the hell is going on?' Was the dominate thought.
The orb then cracked in a few places, which then spread to encompass the entire orb. Pieces began to fall off, and reveal something new.
What stood before them was Jared for sure. However, the armor was something entirely new... Except for Lightning. She had seen it in his Datalog when he showed her his abilities.
He was currently in a fetal position, with Deep crimson wire wings, Blood red Heavy Platemail Armor with a Ruby on the chestplate, Crimson armguards with a Triple Barrel gun on his wrist, Reaper in his right hand, Crimson metal boots that went up to the knees, and a short skirt-like Platemail emanating from the waist covering 4 points: Ass, Hips, and crotch.
He then fell to the ground, the wings going back behind him, as he landed on his hands and knees, panting. "What the..." He closed his eyes. "What's going on? This feeling is..."
(Jared, what was Lord Shinku doing here to give you power?)
Jared smirked. Now he understood it. 'That's it. That's what happened! It wasn't Shinku that was doing that. Everything is finally unlocked! HELL FUCKING YEAH!'
(Jared?) He heard Jain.
'Yeah Jain?'
(Hate to bring up so stupid questions, but what happened?)
'Jain, Shinku isn't here. My soul fused with the power of his that interfered when I got branded. When that happened I lost most of my abilities. And now they're all back!'
Jared then got up, and stretched his wings out. He no longer had a smirk. Now it was a smile as he remembered the feeling this form gave him. "Uh... What just happened?" Sazh asked.
"Full abilities: Unlocked." Jared replied, causing Lightning's eyes to widen.
"You're kidding us right?" She asked.
Jared looked at her, and shook his head. "This is one form I dearly missed." His smile widened a bit, before he hopped up, and stayed airborne, before flying off seeing two robots coming their way. He used Libra, and knew everything about them. The others had two more in their area, so Jared decided to use what he knew he was missing. Reaper glowed red. "Absolute Powerforce!" He cut through them both, and they both exploded in response.
He then smiled at the feeling he was getting. It had been too long. 'Hey Jain?'
(What? You do realize we've gotten bored here, right?)
'I know, Jain. I've been waiting for the right battle to come up that won't bore the hell out of all of you. Besides, as I get stronger, don't you?'
(True as that is, we need an outlet, and soon. Especially Wulf. He's been getting bloodthirsty.)
Jared saw a bunch more in the area ahead. The others were still busy with their two, so he decided to let loose. 'Alright, we've got 20 enemies right there.' A crystal appeared in front of him, which then shot off a bit, before he shot the crystal causing a White and Gold orb to appear, from which each of the Lightsworns came out.
Everyone, Monster, Robot and L'cie, noticed the high amounts of Energy used. "Have fun!" Jared landed on a banister, and just watched the Lightsworns take out every single one of their targets.
The lot of them were releasing pent up stress, even Celestia. Rinyan, however, was another story. She went into the enemies and then tore them apart from the inside, and ran out. 'Quick and deadly. She really is a Rogue.' Jared noted, before firing a few rounds at the Phosphorus Ooze that was approaching Jain from behind. What came of it was a Cosmic Blast, a White and Green beam that obliterated it. Jain looked at Jared who fired it. (Thank you for that.)
"I got your back if you guys need me. You know that, right?" He replied, earning a nod. The others came up to the area and found the Lightsworns fighting off the enemies in the area. Lightning looked at Jared, who was just watching.
"Why aren't you fighting with them?" She questioned.
"Because, Light, they need to blow off steam. I haven't summoned them since I got them. They've got a lot of stress and battle lust built up. I should have summoned them earlier, but I digress. They need this more than I do. For now, going into your minds, find your Crystarium, and Choose your path. We'll be fine." Jared then held up his left hand. "Holy!" A bright white beam incinerated 3 Enemies, 1 of which was about to hit Garoth from behind.
(I would've been fine.) He growled out.
Jared just smirked in response. "With the three oozes behind you? I think not."
Lightning watched as they dealt more and more damage, as did everyone else. They didn't realize just how much power these guys had.
"They're stronger than before."
"I get stronger, so do they. It's a rule for Eidolons." Jared told them.
Lightning, Sazh and Snow looked at him in slight surprise. "I didn't know know that." Sazh admitted.
"Probably because you were captured right after gaining yours, unless you got it before you reached Nautilus. I know that's where they caught you." Jared admitted.
Sazh shook his head. "I did. I also went over all of those Thirteen Days entries. Seeing day 5 made me lose it 2 days beforehand. Brynhildr is a good guy, but a bit of a hot head."
"Stiria and Nyx are good girls, but a little too flirty for my tastes." Snow admitted. "I'm already engaged, and they still flirt with me."
"Say what?" Lightning's voice was low.
"I keep telling them it's a bad idea, and that I'm taken, but they just don't listen to me." Snow held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Serah's the only one for me. I tell them as much, but the fact that they don't listen, or don't believe it, they don't stop, so I learned to ignore it."
"He's right. I've heard him tell them 41 times before we met back up." Fang commented. "But, they're the most horny of all Eidolons. It's good luck that has them because they're powerful, but it's bad for him because they've made many male L'cie go astray. If they're not completely devoted to one girl, they will eventually fall for them. Snow hasn't even started to fall for their wiles, so he's safe... for now."
"Serah definitely won't like that they're my Eidolon, but if they help me live long enough to see her, I can put up with their stubbornness. Helps that I'm just as stubborn as they are." Snow admitted.
"Good to see you admit it." Lightning commented. "And you know what will happen if she sees them do that, right?"
"Yeah, but the first time I show her, if I ever do, I will tell her beforehand that they're too flirty for her and try not to get angry at them. Either that, or have her tell them. They won't believe my heart belongs to another, then have the one my heart belongs to tell them. I'm not sure which is worse."
Jared spoke on that. "Having Serah tell them is the better choice. If they don't stop, then I'm sorry to say they won't let go, no matter what... I think you'd have to go at it in front of them for them to believe it."
Snow and Lightning looked at him and shrugged. "Better than nothing, I guess."
(Oh come on! You really expect us to believe you're taken?) Stiria commented.
Snow grumbled. 'You two aren't going to let up until you see the proof, aren't you?'
(You got it, sweetie!) Nyx said.
Snow sighed. "Come on. Let's just get going."
Just then, Jain spoke. (Lightsworns! Bring the Judgment!)
Jared looked at the Lightsworns, which all glowed, and hit Gragonith, which confused Lightning. Just then, Judgment Dragon appeared, and Jared landed on the top. "Guess we got a little time to blow some shit up, eh?"
(We've been bored. Sue us.)
"No need. It's partially my fault." Jared admitted. "Let's do this!"
Scales left the dragons hide and created a wind storm. This was Scale Storm.
The forelegs came up and smashed two underneath each of them. This was Dragon Stomp.
JD gave off a massive roar that sent several of the targets back. This was Dragon's Roar.
"Let's finish this in one more move!" Jared shouted.
(With pleasure!) JD went up, as did Jared. (Adrammelech's Judgment!) A large white, Grey, and Crimson ball appeared in front of the giant Dragon's mouth.
Lightning saw this, and shouted in response. "Hit the deck!" Everyone got down on the ground.
As they did, the ball made a large beam that obliterated an sign of life it touched. Any enemies, Automatons with slight sentience, even a few machines that were running. If it could move, it was obliterated.
JD landed in the center of the half crater, and Jared stopped in front of him, floating. "You good?"
(For now. Good luck, and summon them more often. They'll need it. Trust me.)
JD then flew into the ceiling and vanished in a white light. Jared floated over to them. "Sorry about that. They were in a pissy mood, and bored as hell. Had to let them burn off some steam. Too much?"
They all nodded at his question. Jared then sat down for a bit, and went into the Crystarium. There, he saw Jain, who just stared at him. "Sorry Jain. I should've summoned you guys sooner. I was an idiot."
(You were doing fine on your own, but you need to realize we're here to help.) Jain told him. (You can't do everything on your own.)
"I know, but..." he hung his head. "I'm sorry. Can't you all forgive me?"
Jain put a hand on his shoulder. (Garoth is a little ticked right now, but the rest have already done so. For me, there is nothing to forgive.)
Jared nodded, still slightly depressed, but ended up wrapping his arms around her chestplate. She returned his embrace, (It's okay. You don't have to apologize. Garoth is just ticked you got those three behind him.)
Jared didn't even meet her eyes, but got back a few seconds afterwards. His eyes were watery, as if he were about to cry, so he wiped them, and his determined face came back up. "Thank you, Jain."
(Don't mention it. By the way, every enemy we took out added to your CP. Take a look) Jain and him looked at the Center crystal, and their eyes widened. Even Jain didn't think they had gained this much.
"How many guys did you all take out?" Jared asked, surprise in his voice.
(I think it was over 100 total.) Jain said.
"Holy shit..." Jared breathed out. "Over 600,000 CP from all that?"
(Shall we put it into action?)
"Ravager first. Finish that, and then go for Saboteur, and finally Medic. Commando, Sentinel and Synergist are mastered already, so we just have to work on these three. Deal?"
(Alright, let's see how much we can get into this.) Jain replied.
Jared put as much as he could into Ravager, and he barely made it to the end of Ravager. He checked his stats. His MATK and ATK stats had gone up quite a bit. He had learned every spell Ravagers learned, all three tiers of all 5 elements, Quake, Holy, Dark, Darkra, Darkga, Darkja, Darkstrike, Holy Strike, and at the end was two more abilities, which surprised even him: Shadowstrike and Shadow Cannon. "Didn't think those two would be there."
(Neither did I. Looks like it's not just a Reaper special thing, anymore.) Jain commented.
"Looks that way." Jared commented. "Considering the fact that I barely have 100 CP left now, I think it's safe to say that I'll be working for more experience after a while. Got to test out the new abilities."
(Before you go, I should say something. Every time you learn a spell or ability here, I gain them. Lyla has been learning the spells, as have each of the Spellcasters in our group. Since we are not normal Eidolons, I believe we are taking extra abilities from your L'cie abilities. I've learned every single one, Lyla and the other Spellcasters have learned the spells like Aero, Thunder and the like. Garoth and Wulf have been learning the ones such as Flamestrike, but Jenis has only really learned Holy, Ruin and Ruinga, which is weird considering she is a Spellcaster as well.)
Jared thought about it. "Jenis is the Healer of the Lightsworns. I think her skills would progress as I progress into the Medic role. Think that's why?"
(Could be.)
"What about Rinyan and Gragonith? No offense, but I'm not sure what else they could learn, aside from Holy, and Holy Strike."
(They both learned those, but Rinyan also learned Shadowstrike when you did, and all the Tier 1 and Tier 2 spells. She also has a bit of Natural Cloaking, being our resident Rogue.)
"And Gragonith?"
(All Tier 3 spells, aside from Darkga, but not their Tier 1 and Tier 2 abilities. He's effectively a tank, and a massive wall, since his defenses increased at twice the rate of everyone else.)
"I guess that comes with being a Dragon. They're powerhouses. Always are. Since I barely mastered Ravager in this session, I guess I should actually move into Medic instead of Saboteur."
(Jenis?)
"Yeah. Can't have her feeling useless, you know? She's a part of the team as well." Jared replied.
(Alright. You should get going. After that, we're going to need so rest. Give us 2 days. We'll be fine by then.)
"Sure thing, Jain. See ya soon!" Jared vanished.
Jared returned to the living world, as the rest finished their conversation. Lightning looked at him and gave him a quick summary. "Apparently, this is an Ark. We're here, and this is for training us to become stronger weapons." She said, before raising an eyebrow. "But I'm sure you probably already knew that." It wasn't a question.
Jared simply nodded. "Yeah, I knew. Anyway, I got well over 600,000 CP from all that. I spent all I had the moment we got here, and that was the only battle I've been in since we started. I just mastered Ravager, with about 100 CP left. I'm saving it for a while, and then going for Medic after a while."
"Why not Saboteur?" She asked. "Wouldn't Slow be in your best interest?"
Jared shook his head. "True as that is, one of my Eidolons has barely gained any abilities. She's a healer, and I can't leave her hanging."
"Now that's strange." Fang commented. "But not as strange as your Eidolon. First off, I've never seen an Eidolon like that. Second, all Eidolons have their own set of abilities and don't learn from the L'cie. Sure they get stronger as the L'cie does, but they don't learn the abilities of the L'cie themselves. Care to share?"
Jared shrugged. "They're the Lightsworns."
"Never heard of them." Fang replied.
Vanille, on the other hand spoke up. "Lightsworns? You mean the Knights of the Round, right?"
"Similar, but not quite." Jared replied, though this earned looks from everyone.
"Vanille, those were not the Knights of the Round. Knights of the Round wouldn't have gone to him simply because of the Dark Spell set." Fang commented.
"Lightsworns are similar to Knights of the Round, for sure. But they weren't originally an Eidolon. That's why they have to learn skills when I learn them. The only difference is Celestia, the Angel, and the fact she knew Holy from the beginning." He then explained to them what the Lightsworns really were. "To be honest, I think Jain's the one in my Crystarium, because she's the one I'm most connected with. Shadowwind or not, the Fal'cie didn't choose my Eidolon. Neither did the Maker. No, it was Shinku." Jared's form glowed and he was back in his normal armor, slightly panting.
"Shinku is the Crimson Dragon the leader of all Duel Monsters, but I've been working with the Lightsworns long before I was a Guardian. Sure they were a bunch of Cards then, but now that they're real and my Eidolon, I really have to get used to it."
Fang just looked at him and crossed her arms. "I remember what you said while we were in that Moon. You never showed me those cards."
"Didn't look for them. Didn't think they'd be there." Jared shrugged. "Sure, I used Fiends, Warriors, hell any deck well in that Game, but above all others, the Lightsworns were my best. I had a complete connection to them." An astral projection of Jain appeared behind him, but he didn't notice. The others, however did. "The Lightsworns were my friends. They always were. Sometimes, I thought I could hear them talk, even though I knew they were just cards at the time. There were a few others I heard, but not many."
"Who were the others?" Hope asked.
Jared looked at him. "One was my Raviel, Lord of Phantasms. Another was my Yubel card, when she talked, it wasn't much, but she always got me in a better mood when the Lightsworns couldn't. Then there was Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, fierce guy, bad at giving advice. Winged Kuriboh, funny little guy, but he just looks like a ball of fur with Angel wings. Finally, there was Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction. There one spell I managed to create, which is based on Gandora: The Giga Rays of Destruction. If you hear me call that out, do not get in the way, and hope it doesn't hit you. It's powerful, dangerous, and highly concentrated. You don't do much for it, as it guides itself. It will strike anything that moves, and it cannot tell friend from foe." he mentally counted them off from his head. "Haven't heard any others, so that would be about it. I still heard every single Lightsworn, and Judgment Dragon, which are my Eidolon and their Gestalt respectively, and they kept me company much better than my own blood relatives. They were more spread out than I would have liked, but with most of them traveling due to the Local Military, I can't really blame them. It's why I stayed isolated near one of their homes: my Grandmother to be exact. She was one of the only ones that didn't move so often with a good place for Isolationists such as myself."
They all looked at him. "You were an Isolationist?" Lightning questioned.
Jared nodded. "With my abilities, I had enough common sense to keep them hidden. I had to stay by myself for some time, because they could've gone out of control. I didn't want someone else to be hurt because of me, and since I wasn't in complete control of them until I reached Endiness, and then again in Weyard, I had to be alone. My family didn't like it, but I didn't cut myself off from them. I kept in touch as much as I could, but in the end, it was the Lightsworns that kept me company most often."
"Any chance this game could have a world where it's worldwide?" Hope asked.
"Without a doubt." Jared said. "Shinku is living proof of that, and I have his power in me. If it's not real, I'd say something is definitely wrong."
Hope nodded. "Alright, let's get moving. You mind letting us get some experience? We need it more than you do." Hope pointed out.
"Wait Hope." Jared said. "Everyone should just train their L'cie abilities. Hope, you're a different story. I want you to use your Guardian Abilities instead. You'll still gain CP, but your goal here is to get the Mechanical Summon ability down pat. You need to be able to summon any weapon instantly, and be able to use them. This is practice for both. Trust me. You'll need this more than you know."
Hope nodded, and kept Nue in his pocket somewhat. Jared looked at him, and watched as he started to pull on his Mechanical summon ability a bit. It took him some time, but he was able to make a few handguns used by PSICOM. They had 12 round magazines, but they didn't do much. Sazh noticed his problem, and showed him what his Vega 42s did, since he knew them better than his own hand. He used them much. Once Hope got those down, he was using them in a similar way to Sazh, but with less flair.
More to the point, Hope's aim was pretty good for someone that hasn't shot a single gun in his life. "Must be a L'cie thing, I suppose. Magic requires aim, so maybe that's helping you out." Sazh commented.
"He's right. It's the fact that you're aiming with Spells that is helping your aim now." Jared commented. "For now, stick with those. Work on your aim, and carrying them. They're Lightweight, and you don't have to worry about running out of ammo."
Sazh nodded at that. Ammunition was always a must with guns, but with their ability to make anything weapon appear, Ammo was not much of a concern for them.
Meanwhile, Lightning, Snow, Fang and Vanille were in one group taking on a few Circuitrons. Jared grouped them in the "Bomb" category. They self-destruct if you don't take them out fast enough. They also training using every ability they had against the Pulsework Knights, which Lightning was glad didn't explode when they were taken out, the Circuitrons, and a few others called Phosphorus Ooze. They combined and gained a major boost in ability, along with combining their stamina at the time. Tricky little idiots, as Lightning called them.
They had just decided to fight as much as they could, without tiring. Hope was training his aim with handguns, which he had memorized from Jared and Raines. He didn't have the knowledge and understanding of Explosives yet so those were out of the picture, aside from Radar Missiles, which he can only fire one of at a time, whereas Jared can make 50 at once.
Sazh just helped Hope with some tips on aiming. After a bit, Hope's aim had increased. Much more so than it would have otherwise. Hope was thanking Sazh, who was helping him with advice, and Jared who had his back when he needed it.
Jared only really interfered when Hope needed it, but Sazh was right there with him, giving him advice as needed. They had also taken on leeches, similar to the Crawlers Hope and Jared had seen in the Gapra Whitewood. A single Libra told them its name was Noctilucale. Major differences between the two: More stamina and an added Weakness in Ice.
Hope was using the Mechanical summon ability for a lot of different weapons, all with the same weight and balance as the Vega 42s Sazh usually used. He was getting better, but he was still far from mastering the Weapon class, according to Jared.
"Then why don't you show us how's it done?" Sazh questioned.
Jared just shrugged, eyes closed, and two identical copies of Sazh's Vega 42s appeared in his hand instantly, before he fired 3 shots in seemingly random directions, without looking in any way. The way he did that standing still, eyes closed, and took out 3 beings in a 2 second timeframe, Sazh was actually impressed. Jared then opened his eyes. "Hope, you're good. I'll admit that much. But you're far from a master. Even Sazh isn't a master of these weapons. To be a master of any weapon, you must be able to tell where everything is, what's in range, what isn't, and, since you have all needed knowledge of the enemies here, be able to hit them in an instant kill shot without looking at them directly, or taking time to aim. You are far from a master with guns, as Boomerangs seem more your style, but this ability is crucial to being a Guardian, and not training in it could mean your death if you can't bring something out."
Jared instantly had a large shield on his left arm, which Sazh and Hope saw on Jain. "The ability is not only for Weapons. Shields, armor, airships, even snowboards. There is virtually no limit to what can be made with the ability. Heck, I use it to make skillets for cooking, at that. As I told Light, it's one of the only skills I tend to abuse outside of battle." The shield vanished and the two looked at him. "You have to be able to bring things out within milliseconds. The time it takes could mean your death if you're going for something defensive, like a shield, or someone else could escape, if you were going for a gun. Bringing out anything of certain materials would make it easier to bring out other objects made of said material. The Vega 42s are made of High-grade Steel, but it's steel Nonetheless. The easier it is to bring out things made out of Steel, the more understanding you'll have of how to get it out."
Hope then decided to work on bringing things out when not in a fight. Jared hadn't used many spells, but the three went on a different route from the others. He was mainly acting as Backup for the other two in his group.
When their group met up, they were far away from the original area where they split up (The end of the place where the L'cie Abilities are unlocked, and Jared regained his Dragoon form). What they saw in front of them was a Behemoth. Lightning looked at Jared, who looked at Hope. "Hope, why don't you show them what you've learned?"
"You think I can?" Hope asked, slightly scared.
"It's not a matter of can or can't." Jared replied.
Hope wasn't any less scared, but his eyes now showed determination. While Hope was working on the Greater Behemoth, however something else came into the area, and Jared was instantly on guard. "Oh shit." 'Jain, please tell me you guys are willing to fight right now.'
(We can, but not for long.) Jain then appeared behind him. (A Large Spider? That's what you want us to help with?)
'Jain, you don't know about my connection to spiders, and I doubt the others do either. I doubt even Shinku knew.'
(Enlighten us, then. Why would you summon us for a spider of all things?) he heard a slightly gruff, yet female voice tell him. He knew it was Ehren.
'I was actually hoping there wasn't a spider here. Looks like there was one, and, as I expected if there was, it found me.' Said spider was a good 8 feet tall, looked a lot like a Black Widow, and had acid falling from the mandibles.
Fang and Vanille saw this, and instantly got ready for a fight, but the moment Lightning saw it, she told Vanille and Fang to leave the spider alone. "That thing is more powerful than anything we've come across, and it's here for us!" Fang retorted.
"Not us." Light countered, before pointing at Jared. "Him."
"What did he do to piss it off?" Fang questioned.
"Nothing he did. Something his grandmother did, and all spiders know of the connection." Lightning told them.
"Shouldn't we, I don't know, help him?" Snow asked, ready to strike it with a Blizzara.
Jared soon has his Eidolon Crystal out and shot it with Cerberus. All 13 Lightsworns appeared in the area, and Jared immediately started using Mediguard, Titan's Guard, and Steelguard in that order. Titan's Guard was ability he found was far more powerful in defense than both Steelguard and Mediguard combined, but he rarely used it. What's more is, it wasn't a L'cie ability. The spider constantly attacked Jared, but wasn't doing any good damage to him thanks to his shields.
It ignored all others, even the Lightsworns attacking it. Ehren then used something that surprised all of them. "Shadow Cannon!" The 3 foot purple beam hit the Spider, sending it flying. Jared was panting from the damage the Spider had managed to inflict, but even the Shadow Cannon didn't do much. Jared's shields went down, and he used Vital boon on himself followed closely by Pure Ply, before reactivating the shields, but this time adding Vendetta at the top. 4 shields, and he was back to taking hits. Lyla then added another barrier, which wasn't doing much good. Jain was shield bashing the spider in several different areas, but it was Gragonith that dealt the first good blow.
He used Holy Blast, a Supercharged Holy equaling a Tier 3 Holy, and it nearly vaporized the spider. Garoth made one blow after that with his axe, and managed to cut it in half in one go. The remains of the Spider fell to the ground, and Jared deactivated his shields, dismissing the Lightsworns with a "Thank you." before using Firaga to burn any traces of the Spider left. Jared limped over to the wall of the tunnel, and sat down, his back against it. "Fucking spiders...never leave me alone..." He mumbled., not caring if the others heard him.
Just then, Hope had managed to fell the Greater Behemoth, but he soon found that only Sazh was watching him, and it was half-hearted. "What happened?"
"Giant Spider came in, Jared took it on alone." Sazh replied. "I knew you might need help, so I watched over you. Taking on a Behemoth is much better than before, I think. But you look exhausted yourself."
"Did you just say Spider?" Hope asked, earning a nod. "Oh... How strong was it?"
"Strong enough to ignore most of the Lightsworns' attacks. Seriously, those things were going at it like bulls on parade, but it never shifted its gaze off of Jared. Almost like the others didn't matter."
Hope managed to get over to Jared, and sat down, Nue in hand. They were both panting. "Hey... Hope. Sorry I couldn't... watch."
"It's fine... I know what happens with you... and spiders." He replied.
"If I hadn't used Titan's Guard... I wouldn't be here right now." Jared admitted.
"Ya got that right!" Fang scolded him. "You never take on a Crimson Blackmould on your own. L'cie or not, that's suicide."
"Suicide?" Snow questioned. "How strong are they?"
"Strongest beings in Gran Pulse. They may be few, but they're stronger than they should be. Even Pulse Fal'cie know not to piss one off. Whatever you did, you better hope another doesn't come after you."
"Not like I have a choice." Jared retorted, his voice still weakened, as he used another Vital Boon. "Spiders of all kinds hate me. Scorpions, I'm okay with. But all spiders hate me. If there's one within 2 or 3 miles, it'll know where I'm at and it'll find me." He managed another Vital Boon. "And it'll try to kill me. If it has eight legs and no tail, it'll find me." He started to sink into his shadow. "I'll be in my Shadow Vault." Hope grabbed his arm, and went in with him. Everyone else just watched, surprised.
"How did he..." Sazh trailed off.
"Not a clue." Lightning admitted.
"Think we should wait for him?" Snow asked.
"Good idea." Lightning answered.
-Shadow Vault-
Jared was immediately inside the house in his Shadow Vault, only slightly surprised that Hope was holding onto his arm. Jared just looked at him. "I hope you realize that the only reason you could come in here is because you're a Guardian, too."
Hope blinked, as he looked around the building. "Wait, this is the house that we..."
"Yes. It is." Jared looked around, and saw that the Lobos and Chris weren't there. "Anyway, I'm gonna catch some Zs. The room Nue was in is still off limits, if you decide to go outside than be careful. It's got no gravity whatsoever." Jared walked over to the bed, the armor fell off and disappeared, before he laid down and went to sleep.
Hope just blinked at him, before turning to the entrance/exit, and opening the obsidian door, only to find an infinite space of nothingness. He saw several things floating around from cars, Velocycles, 'So that's where they were.' Even a Centurion Blade that they had found earlier. 'I guess he took that too.'
He walked off, and was wondering what was going on, before he thought about something. 'He said this was a void of nothingness. If that's the case, how does he get around?' He thought, before something hit him. 'Wait... What if I just will myself around?' he did that and started floating a bit, before managing to go over to one of the Velocycles. It was still inactive, which he was grateful. He continued to float around, willing himself to go where he wanted to, but he found something strange. 'What is a PSICOM Baton doing here? I mean, I didn't think he took one of those... Unless he took someone from PSICOM that had one... but then who...' He then went up to it, and noticed something. 'Wait, isn't this that Nabaat woman's baton?' He saw the insignia, which he had only seen on hers. He had seen several, but none of them had that symbol on it. It wasn't PSICOM, it wasn't anything he came across aside from on her Baton.
That's when he remembered something. 'A stowaway... He took her from the Palamecia on purpose, didn't he? But altering her memories... He didn't replace what was already there. No, he gave her some new memories, without getting rid of the old ones. Like he did with us. But then... sending them out?' Hope then realized it. 'Does he think she can be changed? He gave her information, and sent her somewhere she can think on it? Somewhere without Sanctum influence? But where would he send her that could be...' His eyes widened. 'No, he didn't... Come to think of it, he probably did, and I shouldn't be surprised.' He shook his head, and then saw the Lobos coming by. He then caught sight of Kadeem. "Kadeem!" He shouted.
"Hope?" Kadeem stopped, and floated over to him. "What are you doing here?"
"Grabbed Jared's arm as he came in." Hope admitted, before looking at the Baton. "Did this thing come in with a person?"
"Yeah, it was a woman. Dunno her name. But when she left, this thing didn't go with. Dunno why. Why do you ask?"
Hope sighed. "I was right. He took Nabaat off the Palamecia, put her in here, brought her out in the Ark, and sent her out without a single weapon. Nothing but new knowledge." He looked back at Kadeem. "Come on. Let's head back to the house. I'm gonna get some rest. Just took on a Greater Behemoth alone, while Jared took on some spider."
"Spiders are the Bane of Athena. Believe me, the fact that Jared is not scared of Spiders is a feat in itself. Being pissed at them, on the other hand, that's a whole new concept."
"Athena? Never heard of them."
"Not surprised. We know of Artemis, Pan, and through Pan we wolves learned of Athena. Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy. Jared's either her son, or grandson."
"What did Athena do to Spiders to make them hate Jared?"
"Uh... I think it's because Athena turned a weaver into a Spider because she's a sore loser. Spider got pissed, and she became the Queen of Spiders. Now all Spiders try to get revenge for their Queen on the children of Athena. If you know what I mean."
Hope understood revenge, so he nodded. "I get the revenge part. But making your children hate someone for your own grudge? That's like saying all L'cie are bad because our parents are just scared of them. It doesn't make sense."
They reached the house, and Hope got back on the couch, this time, Kadeem was next to him on said Couch.
He was asleep for longer than Jared, who found Kadeem in the area, Seriune was asleep with Chris. The rest slept in stranger positions.
He decided to work on his Ironman armor while Hope continued to sleep. He was making the weapons, and programming them into the armor.
It was a good hour before he realized that Hope was waking up, and he came out, and went into the Bathroom to take a shower, which Hope had heard. He was talking with Kadeem and Seriune. Seriune had asked about Lightning, and Hope answered as best as he could.
Jared came out, and looked at Hope. "Go ahead in, and take a shower. You'll need it. Since I have Mercury Psynergy back, as long as its here, water's always ready."
Hope nodded, and decided to take a shower, while Jared fed the Wolves, and made sure Seriune, Chris, and Kadeem ate. Those three had a partner, and he would not let them suffer. When Hope came back out, they ate a bit, and Jared told him how to get out, which was actually quite simple now that he thought about it. "Just will yourself out? That's it?"
"What? You think you'd be able to move around in a no gravity zone on willpower alone, and you can't leave on willpower? You think I'm stupid enough to change them when I'm one of the only ones to come here?"
"Point taken. But before we go, I have a question I don't think you want the others to know the answer to."
Jared raised an eyebrow. "You found Nabaat's Baton, didn't you?"
"So you did bring her along with us."
"Yeah."
"How did she live? She was hit with Ruin." Hope asked, actually confused.
"Didn't think it was possible for her to have a Magic Resistant undershirt. Seriously, it was much less effective than it should've been. The origin of that particular shirt was not Cocoon, and I doubt it was Pulsian either."
Hope was obviously surprised. "That's why you brought her along? Because she was alive?"
Jared nodded. "I also gave her some information on the truth of what's going, who Dysley really is, what his goal is, and that you all are supposed to stop him, as am I. After I gave her the information, I told her to think on it, and I sent her out."
"Where did you send her?"
"Gran Pulse. I had an image in my mind of Oerba. You could ask Fang and Vanille about it. I'm sure they know. Dysley is probably wondering what the fuck's going on. Some are even wondering how competent the Sanctum is, as I'm sure you're aware."
"Yeah, I am."
"Alright then. Any other questions the others probably shouldn't know?" Jared asked.
"Not that I can think of."
Jared nodded, and they both willed themselves out.
-Fifth Ark-
The group of L'cie were wondering what was going on with the two, as they had yet to come out. Lightning was the least worried, but she was the only one awake at the moment. It was her watch. Jared and Hope came out of the Shadow at this point.
She looked at them. "You both get a good enough rest? You've been gone for 6 hours."
"Really?" Hope asked. "It felt like 10." He looked at Jared.
"It's why I only need 4 hours of sleep. Shadow Vault Time is twice as fast as normal time. I sleep for 5 to 8 hours in there, or meditate for 4 hours here. That's all the rest I need. After that, I use the extra time to get ready. If it's been 6 hours here, then it was really 12 hours. Just double the time."
Lightning raised an eyebrow but shrugged. "So, you see Seriune there?"
"Yeah. She's worried about you. I've been making sure she's properly fed, and with the way the others are training both her and Kadeem, she needs the rest."
"The feeling's mutual." Lightning admitted, knowing the others weren't awake. Jared then took the time to explain the actual Elements, or Scientific Elements as he called them. He explained how they work, and Hope was doing his best to listen, and realized that it was much easier to understand. Jared had memorized every single Element in his home world and a few others that weren't. He thanked Psycho for those. After he made sure Hope understood the structure and behavior of atoms, including the difference between Fission and Fusion, he got into the Compounds, Mixtures, and Molecules.
Hope had found these topics exceedingly easy to understand, which confused him. After he had finished explaining the Molecules, he spoke. "If you're confused at something I say, just tell me."
"It's not the explanations that confuse me." Hope admitted. "It's the fact that I can understand them so easily. I don't get that. I barely even understood most of that stuff before, but now... when you explain it, it seems much more easy to understand. But... it's just like Chemistry, right?"
"Yeah, that would be about right." Jared admitted.
"How you managed to retain that much information should surprise me." Lightning said, still the only one up. "What I'm more surprised at is the fact that I'm not surprised that you have."
Jared and Hope looked at her, before looking at each other and shrugging. "Honestly? Eidetic Memory has its perks. I may have a few bad memories I wish I could forget, but I remember the good that came of them."
Hope shrugged. "Anyway, what else is there I should know from this?"
Jared looked back at Hope. "You're eager."
"You've actually caught my attention with this. It's... different, but now I know that I'll be using it in far more than anyone else. Any amount of information can help."
Jared smiled in response. "You're learning. Alright, the next topic is what certain materials are made of, like Minerals, metals, and alloys." Jared went into what he knew of metals, how they're made, what certain metals are made of, and the like. This was a lot more in detail than the Scientific Elements, which shouldn't have surprised either Lightning or Hope. They knew he had taken up Blacksmithing as a Hobby a while back.
However, Fang and Sazh had woken up during the explanation of the metals, and then for Alloys. Jared was the only one who knew they woke up, but continued on regardless. After each subject, he asked them if there was anything they didn't understand. Lightning didn't understand a few points, but managed to make sense of most of it. Same with Hope, but he had a question. "If Alloys are made of Metals, than why are they grouped differently?"
"That is a good question, mate." Fang pointed out. "I don't even know the answer to that one."
Lightning and Hope were surprised she spoke up, and was actually sitting up against the wall now. Sazh answered the question. "It's because Metallic Alloys aren't always made of Metals only. They have a few others too, but those are mostly ignored. I really only know this because it was a surprise question on the S-Class Piloting test in Eden. I actually guessed on that Question, and I got it right. I didn't understand why it was there, though."
"Irrelevant questions tend to pull a few legs, and whether they're apart of the score or not is unknown." Jared said. "That's something I found from experience. C-, B- and A- class cars where I'm from had a few of them. I was able to drive all of them, and ride any type of Motorcycle with my M-Class License. It was all tied into one, though. Never took a piloting Class, but out of all vehicles, I prefer Motorcycles."
"It's the feeling of wind running through your hair, isn't it?" Hope asked, earning a nod.
"Since Snow and Vanille are still out of it, I'll continue the Chemistry lesson for Hope. You don't have to listen, but the Chemistry is important for him to know. After that, there's Physics, but at the moment, Chemistry is more important. He's bound to break the laws of Physics anyway. I know I have." Jared shrugged, before continuing. Hope was asking a few questioned here and there, mostly How something works like that. Jared had essentially crammed 120 hours of Chemistry into a 2 hour time period, including the side conversations that the other 3 awake added in.
Vanille was the next to wake up at the end of the time period. He had covered every single lesson Chemistry could bring to the table. Jared raised an eyebrow at Snow. "We'll leave the Physics lesson for later. We should get moving."
"But Snow's not up yet." Vanille pointed out, before she noticed Jared had started to walk towards him, and put an image in his mind, causing him to wake up, as if scared shitless. He then looked around and saw he was still in the Ark.
He visibly calmed down. "Just a dream..." He shook his head. "More like a nightmare." He then noticed everyone looking at him. "What?"
"Care to share the nightmare?"
"Trust me on this one Sis. You don't want to know." Snow told her. His voice held none of his usual cheer and determination. No, the voice oozed a serious and dreadful vibe.
"How bad?"
Ignoring the fact she didn't correct him on the sister comment, he told her the best thing he could that say was accurate. "Best way to put it: you'd be screaming your head off, trying to claw out your own eyes if you saw it. And mean that literally."
"Please. I'd never do that." Lightning countered.
"It was bad enough that you would. I can almost guarantee it." Snow shivered.
Jared walked over to Lightning and whispered in her ear, causing her eyes to widen, as she looked at him in actual surprise. "You're kidding me."
"I shit you not."
Lightning just looked at Snow in pity. "Snow... I pity you for seeing those two." She then sent a look at Jared. "That image should be reserved for torture. Not waking someone up."
Jared shrugged. "I'm insane. You expect anything less?"
Lightning just stared at him for a moment before sighing. "I'm not sure if I should be surprised or pissed that I can't come up with a good comeback to that."
"Just be happy that it won't go on for hours." Jared told her, before bringing a lot of food out of his Shadow, and passed it around. "Eat up. Especially you, Hope. It's to put your new knowledge base to the test."
Hope nodded, ready for a quiz. "You memorized the RPG-7. Bring one out." Hope was half-ready for a quiz, but this was, ironically, slightly better. Especially when Jared followed. It took much longer for Hope to bring it out, but he did it. He was still new to explosives, but the new knowledge made it easier.
They both saw a group of Noctilucale. A large one. "Fire at will, Hope."
"Got it." Hope replied, as he aimed it, and pulled the trigger. He was slightly off on his aim due to the weight. Jared, however, made a single shot take out a lot of those that Hope didn't.
Where there was once 19 of them, there was now 5. Jared made another Rocket, and reloaded, before aiming and firing. "There goes the other five."
"How do you make the Rockets separate?" hope asked.
"It takes practice. Being able to make them is one thing. Diverting your will enough to make multiple weapons, or making something with another thing out is actually hard to do at first, but it's not impossible. Easiest way to practice bringing out multiple things out at once is through the Radar Missile. It's why I gave you the information on that first. Why do you think I can make 50 at once, and then another wave of 25, and then 10 more while the rest of them are still there? It's all practice."
Hope nodded, understanding it now. Jared then looked at Nue. "For now, use Nue, and summon Radar Missiles and have them target the enemy while using Nue. I'll do the same. No spells. Damage done by weapons made by Mechanical Summon give 50% more CP than Spells and normal weapons. Learned this from Thexterons in the Vile Peaks. At least it does for me. No spells aside from Synergist and Medic. For now, leave Commando, Saboteur and Sentinel alone. You're not ready to use Sentinel though, so I'd leave it out for now."
Hope nodded, and brought Nue out. Jared looked at the others. "We'll go on ahead separate from you guys. I have to oversee his training with this. You guys could help with your respective weapons, but those lesson can wait. For now, he has to get used to the ability."
The others nodded, and they walked, while Jared and Hope went along another route. Jared stayed behind Hope, Reaper in hand just in case, while Hope had taken on the weaker ones with Nue, and using Radar Missiles, though it was harder to make more than one when pressured. Apparently he could make 2 when he had time to concentrate, but when already in a fight, he could only make one, and it was weaker than usual. He sometimes threw Nue into the fray, used Shell and Protect on himself, as well as Haste.
But that ended up being a problem. Apparently, Haste increased his speed so much, he found it harder to concentrate, which surprised him slightly. He had waited for it to wear off, and when he did, he found it slightly easier to make a single Radar Missile. Jared took out a few that got too close to him without looking at the opponent he was stabbing. He merely watched Hope, but never let his guard down.
Jared and Hope went on a different path, and found a giant area, which Jared then saw another Spider. "Oh shit." 'And the Lightsworns won't help me this time.' "Sorry, but we're not ready for another fight yet. We're still tired from the last one."
'I know.' "Hope, remember the restrictions I gave you for this training?"
"What about them?"
"Get to a higher ground, and be ready to pull out everything you've got and then some. When this thing attacks: Ignore all restrictions."
Hope was slightly confused, but did as he was asked. It was a good 12 feet higher than Jared was, it was along the wall, and nothing else was in the area.
That is, until he saw the Spider Jared was glaring at. Apparently, it was another Crimson Blackmould. Jared immediately put up Mediguard, Titan's Guard, Steelguard and Vendetta in order from skin to surface, but then he added onto it, by going into his Dragoon Form. "Hope! Barrage the damn thing!"
"Right!" Hope was firing Spell after Spell, usually Fira, Aerora, and Blizzara, and added in Radar Missiles, and threw Nue, too.
The damage Nue did was much more than it probably should have. It did more damage to the Spider than the Lightsworns did, that's for sure. That was when Hope got an idea. "Jared! You using Vendetta over all that?"
"Yeah!" He grunted out. "Forget about what I'm doing! I'm fine!"
"Not why I asked!" Jared was able to use Reveal to see what Hope was looking at, and then noticed the smirk on the teen's face. 'what could he be smirking at?'
Hope then used Enthunder, causing Nue to get the enhancement, he had Bravery on him already, and then threw Nue, making a particularly long scratch. It wasn't deep by any means. "Hit the scratch!" Hope shouted.
That was when Jared realized the plan. 'Weaken the shell, then use all the damage I absorbed with Vendetta and strike the same spot!' Jared then jumped towards the spot Hope had hit, and shouted out a single word. "Vendetta!" He went straight through the damn spider, and it fell to the ground, half dead. Jared was panting. That was tough going. He had felt Protect and Shell on him, but it wasn't doing much good, even with the 4 barriers, and Dragoon Armor. Jared had a Firaga in hand, and launched it, burning the damn thing. He was panting and gave Hope a thumbs up. "Crazy plan, Hope."
"It's only crazy if it doesn't work." Hope replied, coming down to Jared's level. "That was... tougher than a Greater Behemoth." Hope was slightly winded from that, and looked at the spot where the Crimson Blackmould fell. He got his breath back quickly, but looked at Jared. And used Curasa on him. Jared raised an eyebrow. "Even though you have no injuries, Curasa should help with the pain it still inflicted."
Jared nodded. He went back to normal, and they continued to walk off. They went on, and the others took 30 minutes to get to that particular chamber, where they saw the damage from a distance. Actually Sazh noticed it first. "I think Hope and Jared were here earlier." He said, pointing at the area.
"I'll check it out." Lightning jumped on the platforms along the wall, went past the point Hope was at earlier, and saw the scorch marks, and the tell tale sign of Jared using an extremely powerful Vendetta was in the air. He had used it a few times, but never to this extent. When she was done, apparently Fang and Snow managed to get there, while Vanille and Sazh were right behind them. "Fira was used here."
"Firaga too." Sazh stated. "And I know it wasn't me, even though I just learned it."
"It was Jared." Lightning said. "What's more is, he also used Vendetta."
"What could make him go on the defensive?" Snow asked. "I mean, if he ran into another of those spiders, I wouldn't be surprised, but..." His eyes widened. "Oh shit."
"Wouldn't surprise me." Lightning stated.
"I told him it was suicide!" Fang shouted in rage.
"And I told you it wouldn't have mattered." Lightning retorted. "It would've gone after him whether he tried to run, and can you really see him running from something?"
"You're talking about a guy that can stare death in the face and smile like a loon." Sazh pointed out. "I doubt he'd be afraid of a spider, and as such, he'd never run."
"He didn't run from PSICOM. They're not a threat to him, even in major numbers." Lightning added.
Fang sighed in irritation. "The guy's pushing it. He better not have gotten Hope involved."
"I doubt Hope was even noticed." Lightning pointed out.
Fang was still pissed that he ignored what she told him.
UP ahead, Jared and Hope were both taking smaller strikes. Hope was able to use more stealthy tactics, and Jared had helped, being a master in the art. Hope had found it surprisingly easy to adapt to. With Nue, the multiple ranged weapons, and his specialty being a Mage, Stealth was a boon. It meant he was rarely, if ever found. With Jared's small hints at how Stealth worked, he picked it up a lot quicker than Jared did.
However, something else caught his attention during this. Hope had managed to learn Dark, which killed 3 Noctilucale when he first used it.
That cinched it for Jared. The fact that Hope was learning stealth so easily, and the fact that he used Dark, he knew that Hope had a pretty high affinity for Dark. The two were firing Dark every now and then.
The first rule of Stealth Fighting: If you're seen, make sure they're dead, or you've just landed the killing blow.
Hope had picked this up highly quick. Seeing Jared be more active in his training, and working on the Radar Missiles while using Stealth Tactics, he was doing a lot better. Hope was rarely seen by the enemies, but most didn't even see Hope. Then again, these weren't humans, or even intelligent beings. The Greater Behemoths were a bit tougher, but Hope was able to annoy the hell out of one of them using Stealth.
Jared had smirked, and used his own method. He hid in his own shadow, moved it, and fired a random spell, usually Ruinga, Thundara, or Firaga.
Missiles appeared in random places. The beast was having trouble keeping up, and it was enough to find them. He couldn't even smell all of his supposed targets. He only smelled one, but even that was distorted so much that it couldn't pinpoint the position.
When it was finally weakened enough, Nue came from around a pillar, and the behemoth noticed, as did the upcoming L'cie. The thing was dealt a quick hit, but it didn't take it out.
The 4 Missiles that followed from 3 different directions, however did. 3 of them were Radar Missiles. The last one was an RPG. The beast fell to the ground, dead.
At this, Jared came out of his Shadow, and Hope came from behind another pillar, putting Nue up.
"You've gotten a lot better, Hope. Stealth is more your style, I guess." He commented.
"No kidding. It's actually a lot easier than frontline fighting." Hope admitted.
"You haven't spent any CP since we beat down that Spider together, have you?"
Hope shook his head. "Think I should now?"
"I'd be a good idea." Jared looked down the path. "I'm picking another humanoid. It's also a bad thing for us, because I recognize this signature."
"Such as?" Lightning spoke up, announcing their presence. Jared didn't even bat an eyelash, while Hope blinked.
"Closest feels like Raines." Jared replied.
"What would Raines be doing here?" Snow asked, confused.
"What I wanna know is, why did you take on a second Crimson Blackmould? I specifically told you not to fight them!"
Jared raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be able to run forever, Fang. I know this. It would chase me for eternity, which, at the moment, you guys don't have."
"Have you, at least, checked your brands?" Fang scratched her head in irritation.
Jared raised an eyebrow. "I haven't checked Hope's Brand, but I don't have to worry. I have no time limit. Hope does, last I checked, but I know he knows what to look for."
Hope nodded. "Thing is, I've only checked it once since our powers were fully awakened. What it showed surprised me quite a bit." He took the bandana around his wrist, and showed the fully open brand. Fang and Vanille gasped at that. "It was surprising, because I saw that it was already completely open. I didn't tell Jared, nor did I ask why. I figured it could wait."
Jared raised an eyebrow. "You should've at least told me that it was fully open."
"Hey, we were working on my skills. It kind of seemed unimportant at the time. I was planning on telling you the next time we rested." Hope looked at the others. "I guess that's now though. How powerful is this threat, though?"
"If a Greater Behemoth is an A-Class, this would be an S-class. Not Barthandelus difficulty, but still up there." Jared told them. "If you're not fully prepared, I suggest you get that way."
Jared sat down, and started to Meditate, while Hope tried to follow his lead. He had succeeded, and found himself in his own Crystarium, with a faded starburst crystal in the center.
Jared had found himself in his own, the Crimson Kokiri crystal in the center, and Jain right there. "I doubt I'll be able to summon you for the next battle. You guys are still resting, right?"
"Sadly, yes." Jain replied. "With the threat ahead, and the fact that we can't help you is not good. You'll need your friends to help. I doubt even a fully rested Hope would be able to help much."
Jared nodded sadly. He had put as much CP as he had into Medic, which had given him Curasa, and a lot of MATK and MDEF boosts. He had also learned Curaja. Apparently, he also found Stream of Life in there, highly early. He found it be the same as Lifestream Dragon's ability in his Dragoon Form, but had a mental Targeting system. It was also a lot more effective, being able to get rid of debuffs, and enhance buffs. The trade off with it, however, was that the more targets, the less effective it was.
He had gotten to the Seventh area, with a good bit to go to get to the eighth. Although, considering the fact that he was doing this more for Jenis than himself, he was more concerned about the abilities he gained than the stat boosts.
Jared was about to leave the Crystarium, but Jain stopped him. "Something wrong?"
"Not really. But when you do face this threat, use my Sabre."
Jared cocked his head in confusion. He didn't do this around others, but in the Crystarium he had nothing to worry about. "But don't you always have it on you?"
Jain shook her head. "Not this one. The real deal will appear on your back when you leave here. Use that, instead of Reaper. That way, you'll have us at your side, even if we can't fight ourselves."
Jared then figured it out, and vanished.
-Hope's Crystarium-
Hope had been using the Crystarium since the Gapra Whitewood. He had long since figured that he would need to level things himself. He had mastered Synergist, highly easily, in fact. It was actually a lot easier to get it down than he had thought. Medic was the next easiest, but he had also been putting a lot of CP in Ravager as well. He had nearly spent all he had. Ever since the Brand had opened without his knowledge, his Crystarium was a lot larger than it probably should have been. He had just learned Thundaga from this one, but it was a longshot.
He looked down the Ravager and took note of each ability before spending the 80,000 CP he had gained. Stealth Tactics had helped immensely. It was definitely his field. 'Fire, Blizzard, Aero, Thunder, Fira, Water, Quake, Thundara, Watera, Blizzara, Dark, Aerora, Dispelga, and I just learned Thundaga. Looks like Darkra is next.'
He had spent all of his CP in Ravager, so it wasn't much he could do now, so he left the Crystarium.
-Fifth Ark-
Jared had saw a new weapon at his waist, which was slightly surprising, but he recognized it by form, though it was sheathed. The scabbard was actually more of a cylinder than a normal one for a blade, which was only slightly weird for him. It was the Hilt that got to him, and it also helped him recognize it, even while Sheathed. There was golden wings going around the scabbard on opposite sides of each other, a golden material in the handle with a leather grip, that seemed accentuated with scales similar to the of Gragonith's scales. There was a slight difference from what he remembered, as there was nothing else, but everything pointed to it being the right one. 'I guess there are some discrepancies between the real deal and the card, but still, it seems so insignificant.'
(It's so you can use it like you did Reaper. As long as your spirit is strong, it will be strong. This Sabre is yours now. Use it well.) He heard Jain say.
'Thanks, Jain. I owe you one.'
(Just use it well, and know that we are there to help you whenever and wherever we can.)
Jared mentally nodded. 'Will do. Now I got figure out the abilities.'
(Aside from Shadow Cannon, it's the same as Reaper. Shadow Cannon is replaced by Holy Blast. It's something that Gragonith used to damage that Spider.)
'Oh... that's good. Really good.' Jared replied, before unsheathing it slightly, and seeing that the blade was made of pure Energy. He didn't think that was the case at first, and nearly cursed himself out for it. 'How did I NOT notice it was made of energy instead of it being metal with a Holy Aura down the blade?' Jared mentally asked himself, before sheathing it back up. Lightning looked at the new weapon, and was about to ask about it, but Jared beat her to it. "Gift from Jain. Asked me to use it in the upcoming fight."
"And its name?"
Jared hummed. 'Jain, did you name this thing?'
(No. I didn't use it enough to give it a name. Go ahead and name it, as it is now yours.)
Jared thought for a moment. 'How about Angel Blade?'
(That's Celestia's blade.)
'Hmm...' He then heard Reaper's voice.
"Name it Holy Reaper, while I change to Dark Reaper."
'Jain?'
(It should work.)
'Holy Reaper it is, then.'
As everyone else had rested up, They got up, Jared having Holy Reaper over his right shoulder. Dark Reaper had been switched to the left shoulder. "Everyone ready for a fight?" They all nodded, even Hope, who had just gotten out the Crystarium himself.
"Then's let go. Hope, be ready for anything. That goes for the rest of you as well." Jared told them. "This is not something we can make light of."
Everyone nodded at that, and had a serious face on. They started to walk. "Jared, the whole Dark Reaper, Holy Reaper thing is going to be a bit of trouble for some people to remember." He heard Reaper speak. "I'll admit I wasn't entirely thinking, but now that I am, I think it would be a good idea to fuse both blades. Holy Reaper isn't sentient, but by doing this, I'll go into the new blade, and it'll keep its form and abilities as Holy Reaper, but also acquire my own. It may change the blade slightly, but it shouldn't do anything to the hilt."
'If I do that, I wait until after the fight. Got it? This is gonna be troublesome, but we have to do this.' Jared told the voices in his head.
(Jared has a point, Reaper. Wait until after the fight. Use it to get used to Holy Reaper. Then fuse them, if you can.)
"I'm with Jain on this one." They heard Cerberus say. "Better not to do so until after a major fight. This counts as a Major fight."
"I'm with Cerb and Jain as well." They heard another gruff voice. Jared hadn't heard from him in a while, but he knew who it was.
'Dragon Horn?'
"Who else? But, I have one more stipulation to add. Fuse me into the new blade as well. It'll gain my abilities, but I won't go into it myself. It'll be the last you hear of me, though."
(I haven't heard you before, though.) Jain pointed out.
"I don't talk much." Dragon Horn replied.
'So, we're effectively fusing 3 Blades into one, and using Holy Reaper as the base form. Is that right?' Jared clarified.
Cerberus. "Yes."
Dragon Horn. "Yup."
Reaper. "Oh yeah."
(That would be right.) Jain finished.
'Got it. So... Reaper first, then add in Dragon Horn. Deal?' Jared asked, earning a round of "Deal" from all of them.
They continued down the hallway, and found another large room. It was who they saw that caused Jared to sigh. "I knew it."
For standing in front of them was the one person Jared had sensed.
Cid Raines.
00000x00000
Chapter Complete!
Alright, How will the fusion work? Will it even retain all abilities? Will the blade turn out how they think it will?
Hope's brand is completely open! How is he not a Ci'eth? Same reason as Jared? Or a different reason altogether?
Crimson Blackmould is essentially an 8 foot tall Black Widow with the legs of a Tarantula, Acid Breath, Acidic Saliva, and Poison Thread. It's defensive abilities are insane, far more than Paku, and that is a big deal.
It's Physical Strength is also immense, on the same level as the Physical Defense. The Magical Stats are extremely low, but it also has an extremely strong resistance to the normal 6 Elements. When its dead, the resistance is gone, and the carcass is extremely weak to fire. Without the exoskeleton, however, it is extremely vulnerable to Magic, although the Physical Defense is still high.
If you want a more accurate description here it is:
Name: Crimson Blackmould
Type: Feral Creatures
Subtype: Arachnids
HP: 890,000
Level: 80
Chain Resistance: 190
Break Value: 700%
Immunities: Poison, Deprotect, Deshell, Slow, Imperil, Curse, Pain, Fog, Daze, Death
Elemental Weaknesses:
Normal (With Exoskeleton)
Fire: Resistant
Ice: Resistant
Lightning: Resistant
Water: Absorbed
Wind: Halved
Earth: Resistant
Physical: Resistant
Magic: Resistant
Normal (Without Exoskeleton)
Fire: Weakness
Ice: Weakness
Lightning: Normal
Water: Halved
Wind: Halved
Earth: Normal
Physical: Normal
Magic: Weakness
Stagger (Exoskeleton Breaks off)
Fire: Weakness
Ice: Weakness
Lightning: Normal
Water: Normal
Wind: Normal
Earth: Normal
Physical: Normal
Magic: Weakness
Notes:
(With Exoskeleton)
-Can inflict Poison
-Can inflict Doom
-Can inflict Pain
-Delivers devastating Physical attacks
(Without Exoskeleton)
-Can inflict Poison
-Can inflict Doom
-Can inflict Pain
-Delivers Devastating Physical attacks
I am also pleased to note that you don't need to break the Exoskeleton off in order to get the bonuses for that point. You just need to make a hole big enough and launch the required element through said hole to gain the desired effect. Hope had that as an idea, and it worked. The fact that it had an Exoskeleton was a little strange, to be honest.
Anyway, that's all the information on that beast, and you can bet there will be more of them to come.
ALL HAIL INSANITY! ALL HAIL THE LOG!
FUCK YOUR SPIDERS! (I mean no offense to Spider lovers. I just hate the damn things)
