Necromancy For Fun And Profit.
An Epic Quest sequel.
A/N: Yay! The not-so-long awaited sequel!
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG-1 nor Atlantis, I also do not own Final Fantasy Ten or Ten-Two. Oh, I also do not own any of the other series that may have cameos within this fic.
I do however, own the minor characters Priest Lanemt, Xobb, Tanya, Chris Hether, Creevey Tolins, Mollayna Sortok, Steev Des'mar, Fai Merryworth, Red Soks, Rinder Kail, Mick Kail, Torzo Kail, Zairen Kail, Gordos Alkin, Carma Sandra, Priest Grevens, Tamern Zeld, Major Kally Lisette, Lieutenant Zane Roston, and Doctor Sven Cormac. Also, Xander, Tara, Skye, Souron, Kayden, Becca, Batalax and Nysa are based off of real people, but I do not own them, except for Nysa, who is me.
Chapter Eight.
Anniversary
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Nysa groaned and shifted her position slightly. From what she could tell, her feet were bound together, and her hands were tied behind her back. She wasn't blindfolded, but it was far too dark to see anything anyways, so that was no help. She shifted again, trying to gain feeling back in her arms, when she bumped up against something warm.
"Mm.."
"Hello?" she whispered questionably.
There was a rustling sound and then, "Nysa?" the voice of Paine replied back, just as quietly.
"What happened?" Nysa asked urgently. She was sitting up and already had her hands untied. She bent over and untied her legs next before moving over and releasing Paine.
"I have no idea. I had been with talking to Rikku. We had just gotten back to the Celcius after finding another sphere... but then I woke up here."
"I had been on a Hover." Nysa said softly, "I had just left Highroad, and I was heading to the Djose academy to talk to Drewil Capp, the white mage that has been teaching there, as I found him a replacement so he can go back to the field." She squinted her eyes, and even tried casting scan, but still, there was not enough light to see anything at all in the dark room. She gave a sigh of exasperation, and summoned a small spark of flame into her hands and held it out so that she could see where they were. Beside her, Paine gave a quiet gasp. "What's wrong?"
"This is where it happened." Paine said softly.
Nysa didn't need to know what it was, as she had seen enough of the Crimson Spheres that she recognized the cave as the place that Shuyin had been released from.
"You're awake." A voice said from behind them. Both girls turned quickly.
"Nooj!" Paine said.
"No." Nysa said quickly. She could already tell that she was unarmed, and that her item pouches had been taken, along with her com sphere. A quick glance at Paine showed that she was in the same predicament. Nysa inwardly smirked. Since defeating Sin, even before then, she had played herself off as the typical thief warrior. No one knew that she was far more than that. "This is not Nooj. Isn't that right? ..Shuyin?"
Nooj looked slightly startled, but his expression was angry. He took a menacing step forward and raised the gun he had in his hands. "How did you know?"
"I know... because of Lenne." Nysa said softly, praying that their plan would work. She had gotten Shinra to start making the Dresspheres a month ago, but she hadn't gotten a chance to test out the Songstress sphere, and was still unsure whether or not only Yuna was able to bring out Lenne's soul. Nysa had done a pretty convincing cosplay of Lenne for Halloween back on Earth, but being similar in looks had nothing to do with drawing out someones soul. But then again, Yuna and Lenne were damn near identical save for the eye color and hair length...
"Lenne?" Nooj said, but both girls could see that another form was beginning to overlap his. A face that looked so much like Tidus, but so much angrier than Tidus had ever been, even at his worst.
"Why did you capture us?" Paine asked suddenly, but by the tone of her voice, it was easily heard that she was more concerned about how he had captured them. The last thing she remembered was griping at Rikku about calling her by that annoying nickname. She looked around discreetly, but didn't see Rikku anywhere in the cave, but that didn't mean she wasn't there, as the light Nysa had been able to summon barely lit up the distance between them and Nooj, and he was right in front of them.
Nooj looked smug, "Nothing can stop me. Not even you, Koorikage."
"So you decided to get me out of the way?" Nysa said blandly, as if she didn't care one way or the other. "But what of Paine? Why take her too?"
"She has the only evidence of my presence here. No one can know until I have activated the machine!"
That meant he wanted the Crimson Spheres destroyed. The last thing he had said clued into the thief's mind and she laughed lightly, "Do you mean Vegnagun? Because if you do, I gotta apologize. In eight days, it'll have been a year since Majokage Ophelia Vanaid destroyed it."
Wait... eight days? That would put today as the eighth of August... meaning it had been exactly a year since the defeat of Sin. Ironic. She thought. "Besides," she continued, still in the same bland tone, "do you honestly think we would allow you to destroy Spira, after all the work we have put into it's rebirth? The Spiral of Death ended a year ago, and I for one, am not about to let it start again."
Paine just continued to stare at the spirit overlapping what was once a good friend of hers.
Shuyin stayed silent, but they could both easily see that he was furious. "Look, Shuyin. I'm sorry. What Bevelle did to you and your country... is unforgivable. But it was a very long time ago, and a lot has changed." Nysa paused and looked Shuyin in the eyes, "Everything has changed. You've been living in the body of the second in command for the Chiryooshakage, even you have to see that things are not the same. The people are not the same."
"And yet," he said spitefully, "The invasion on Zanarkand continues!" He took a step forward angrily, and looked as if he was about to shoot Nysa. "Your armies are still invading my home, years later, with no regard to the innocent people. Lenne died to protect the people, she was killed by your men! Because she didn't want me to kill them! She was trying to save your men, because she was a good person. Nothing like you!"
"Shuyin..." Nysa whispered. She looked down, but refused to feel shame for something that had happened long before she was born. If only she knew why she honestly felt as if she could have stopped it from happening... "That was over a thousand years ago. Those men? They were not my men. They were the men of a man named Yu Yevon. A man that a year ago, myself and seven others killed and sent to the Farplane." Nysa took a step forward, her eyes begging him to understand, "Yu Yevon didn't just kill the people of Zanarkand... he killed the people from everywhere. After Zanarkands fall, he was still so hungry for power, he started an eternal summoning that he used to go after his own people. Over the last thousand years, millions of people have been killed. City after city have been leveled... and dream after dream have been shattered."
Nysa looked at him beseechingly, "Do you really thing the people of Spira need more punishment? Punishment for something they had no part in? ...Because I don't. And we're not invading your country. Zanarkand is considered a holy place, but it is also unsafe, as the fiends there are beyond powerful, we're working to make it safer, so that the people will be safer. You want your people to be safe, don't you?" She would neglect to mention the fact that no one had lived in Zanarkand since it's fall.
"They killed her."
"And I'm sorry. But the people who killed her are long dead." Nysa said shortly.
His eyes narrowed, and Paine realized that nothing they said was really getting through to him. He was too far gone in his grief and anger. She still had no idea what was going on, and she was afraid if she moved, this spirit; Shuyin, would shoot the Koorikage, which even if she didn't work for the older girl, was something she would not allow to happen.
"I will end Spira!"
"Over my dead body." Nysa shot back coldly.
"That can be arranged." Shuyin replied as he clicked the safety off of his gun.
Nysa let out a startled laugh, as if she thought the entire thing was hilarious. "I hope you realize..." her right leg moved back slightly as she put herself into her most common fighting position, "That I was not named the leader of the Military... because I look good in uniform." in her hands, two silver twin daggers appeared.
Paine snorted lightly, probably amused over the fact that Nysa never wore a uniform. The girl always wore ether a bright, nearly neon color, usually yellow or green, or she wore complete black, there was usually never any middle ground. The only thing that ever stayed the same in her outfits, were the yellow item pouches strapped to her legs, the stylish goggles around her neck, and the Yevon forehead protector that she wore tied around her left thigh.
The rest of the FORCE, wore partial uniforms, mostly so that people could see what rank they were without having to ask. The Genin wore whatever they wanted, as long as it was comfortable and easy to move in. The Chunnin also wore whatever they wanted, but they also wore a forest green vest with many pockets that were designed to be like the multi storage item pouches. The Jonin wore camouflage pants, black shirts, and green vests with many multi item storage pockets. Hunters wore all black, along with a white porcelain mask. Medics wore the regular clothing of their rank, along with a white lab coat over top. ANBU wore something similar to the Hunters, but instead of just black clothing, they wore black organization thirteen styled robes, and white porcelain animal masks. All of them wore their forehead protectors.
Shuyin's eyes narrowed even further as he looked at the daggers. He had no idea where they had come from, as he was positive he had taken all of their weapons. Unbeknown to him, they were made from ice, and a minute ago, they had never existed.
"I'm sorry Shuyin. But you need to go to the Farplane." Nysa said apologetically. "But... there's someone who needs to go with you."
Paine looked slightly curious, while if anything, Shuyin looked even angrier.
Nysa shook the charm bracelet on her left wrist slightly, and in a small flash her outfit changed. Before she could do anything else, Nooj dropped to the ground and Shuyin stood there, "You're not Lenne!"
"Shuyin! Stop this!" Nysa said urgently. She didn't want to fight him. She didn't want his final death to be like this. She wanted him to get peace. "Paine, get Nooj out of here. I'll handle this."
Paine followed her orders immediately. And once she was out of the cave, she had no idea why. She hadn't even thought about it, something about the way Nysa said it just made her feel like she had to obey. Paine pulled Nooj's head into her lap and closed her eyes, "You're our captain..." she said to him softly.
Back in the cave, Nysa continued to stare down Shuyin until finally, he attacked. She dodged the sword strike and threw a couple ice needles his way before she had to roll to the side to avoid another strike. "Please, Shuyin! I do not want to fight you!" she really didn't. Because she was terrible at holding back, and she didn't want to kill him. That's why she wouldn't train anyone other than lower than Jonin. She would only end up hurting them. When she had set everything up, she had put Yuna working with Nooj for somewhat selfish reasons. Yuna, physically, was the weakest of the three Kage, and since he was working with her and saw how she was, Nysa had hoped he would underestimate her and Batalax. Her plan had worked, but now he was underestimating her too much.
Of course, she thought, Yuna isn't as weak as she was a year ago ether. The girl had taken to the combat parts of the Sphere Grid like a kite takes to air. Strangely enough, even with all the interfering she and Batalax had done with the time line, Yuna had still managed to get her outfit from X2, along with the skill as a Gunner.
He called out his strongest attack and became a blur as he reigned strike upon strike down at her. Nysa withstood it all, and then when he had went back to his starting position, she stood calmly as if nothing had happened. "Shuyin. This stops now. Lenne loved you, she wouldn't want you to destroy Spira."
"You will never understand!" he cried out and raised his sword once again.
Nysa narrowed her eyes, and her twin daggers changed into a staff made of ice. "I said I didn't want to fight you! ...I never said I wouldn't." She would much prefer to not have to though. She closed her eyes and reached deep inside herself to the part of her mind and magic that was connected to the Dressphere. Lenne... if you can here me, he needs you now.
Shuyinnnn...
Nysa's eyes opened, and a figure began to overlap her much as it had done to Nooj. Only a second later, the spiritual figure stepped out of her and towards Shuyin.
Shuyin lowered his sword slightly, "Lenne?" he breathed. She reached out to touch him and he jumped back and nearly fell over, but she caught him by the arm.
"Lenne." he repeated, more sure this time.
"Hi there." she said softly.
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to grip her hand like a lifeline. "Ugh... A thousand years.. and this moment is all we get?"
"This moment's enough." she said. "I don't need anything else. Just knowing how you feel is enough."
There was a moment of silence and Lenne spoke again, "Shuyin... let's end this. Let's go home."
Shuyin looked doubtfully at her and shook his head slightly, "Can we?" he reached up shakily and touched her face.
"That was all a thousand years ago." she replied gently. She put both hands on his shoulders, "We've come too far to look back now. Rest Shuyin... Rest with me." She hugged him to her, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as if he never wished to let go. "Let's go. I have a new song for you." she said and looked over at Nysa, "Thank you."
And then they both slowly faded away into pireflies.
In the spot he had been standing, all the items he had taken from them sat in a small pile. Nysa quickly re-equipped her com sphere, and then re-strapped her items pouches to her, along with her multiple weapons. She picked up Paine's items and couldn't help but think that this whole thing had been far to anti-climatic.
In the game, he had nearly torn Spira apart before he had been sent to the Farplane. Yuna had been dragged into it, as had all the other leaders of the three factions, along with some of their friends and followers. But here, in the now, it was just her. For some reason, that made her feel slightly sad.
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"So it's over?"
"...I guess."
"Nysa, what's wrong?"
Nysa let out a deep sigh, "It's just. In the game, after getting rid of Shuyin... Tidus came back. What if I've messed everything up?"
"If anyone messed things up, it was me." The mage said, "you and I both know this. I'm the one who went all zap-zap-bam-Vegnagun-must-die." Batalax gestured wildly with her hands as she said this, causing them both to laugh quietly.
It was the day after Shuyin and Lenne had gotten their happy ending. Batalax and Nysa were taking advantage of the small calm. So here they sat, on a blanket with a picnic basket, in the middle of the Besaid beach.
Nysa was silent as she took a sip of her Mana Energy. "I wonder what the others are doing right now?"
"Probably working. Or going to College, or something." Batalax said softly, "Time moves like, double time there, so while it's only been a year here, it may have been more there."
"It's strange to think, that if we were to ever see them again, we would most likely be a couple years younger than them. Which, by the way, did you happen to notice that we both missed our birthdays...again?"
"I did notice, actually." Batalax said sheepishly. "I was teaching my course for becoming one of our Counselors, when someone mentioned that in two weeks it would be a year since the start of the eternal calm. I was a little surprised. We've been on the go so much this year, it feels like only a couple months had passed, not an entire year. I don't feel twenty though... I feel older. Much older."
"Me too."
Both girls sat and continued to soak up the sun. They were both wearing skimpy bikinis; Nysa's was white and yellow, while Batalax's was white and purple. Nysa still had her goggles around her neck, an item pouch strapped to each leg, and her forehead protector was currently in her item pouch, as she didn't want tan lines on her leg from it, of course when she had told this to Batalax, the slightly older girl had laughed hysterically and pointed repeatedly at her item pouches before laughing again. Batalax had nothing with her besides Tikki George which lay on the blanked beside her, and her forehead protector which was tied around her head like a headband, though her bangs mostly covered it.
"So, who's the next big bad that's gonna attack Spira?"
"I don't know." Nysa replied honestly. "From here on out... well, everything is as new to me, as it is to you. So... no more inside information... Sorry."
"Oh." Batalax said. "It's going to be kinda strange now... everything being unknown."
"Yeah. It is. But we still have our mission. I'm just... not sure when it will start. I'm going to give Bahamut another year to send us a sign, and if he doesn't... well. We're going hunting."
Batalax let out an evil sounding laugh.
"So, what are your plans for the next month?"
"Not much, actually. I have Baralai handling most of the paperwork, well, I still have to be the one to sign things or decline to sign them, but he sorts most of it pretty well. My next class for teaching up coming politicians for New Yevon doesn't start for another five months. It had a pretty good turn out, by the way. All of the priests and priestess of old Yevon were obligated to come and be evaluated, mostly so they could learn the new laws and regulations. There were only a few who didn't pass and were kicked out of the order... actually, most of those few ended up getting arrested. Turns out they were planning on blowing up Home."
"Mm.. Gippal mentioned that to me. He ordered some of the new Hunters to track them down and bring them to Bevelle, because they had apparently run for it after being kicked out of Yevon. I heard that the Hunters have been handed over to you?"
"Yeah, I figured that since I am the one that will be giving them their missions, as I'm the one who deals with law and criminals, it would be easier if the hunters worked for me and respected me as their leader." Batalax said. "What are your plans for the next month?"
"Probably some paperwork. I have to be the one to agree to requests sent out for the Genin teams, and wow, you would not believe some of the things people hire them out to do. Last week, Squad 78 was taken off their patrol of the thunder plains... to babysit a bunch of kids in Kilika while their parents went out of town to attend a seminar at the Luca Academy.."
"Really?" Batalax laughed. "Wait, Squad 78? I thought you only had 75 squads?"
"I did. But that was two months ago. There have been twenty more teems join the ranks of Genin."
"That's eighty more Genin! Does that mean twenty more of your Jonin have left Zanarkand to lead the Genin teams?"
"Yeah. But there are still twenty teams in Zanarkand, along with the fifty Al Bhed teams who work with us, but not necessarily for us."
"Still. If Academy Students keep advancing to Genin so fast, and we continue with sending a Jonin with each team... You're going to run out of Jonin in Zanarkand."
"It's going to slow down a lot now, as before now, all the teams who had been sent out are those who have already started on their sphere grids. They are mostly older, and have been around to fight Sin spawn and fiends, long before we came here. But now that all of them have been put on the field, the people in the academies are school age, like, late elementary school age to early high school age. Some are younger, if they showed enough potential." She took another sip of her drink, "A lot of them signed up because they have nothing else. Because unfortunately, many of Spira's youth have no parents."
"That makes a... lot of sense, actually. When are the next teams going to become Genin?"
"In a year, maybe." Nysa replied. "The academy students currently attending, and all those who will attend after them, have little to no training at all. They have to learn how to focus enough to access their skills, long before they learn how to actually use them. Meaning it could actually be a couple years before we get our next batch of Genin."
"Wow."
"Yeah." Nysa said. She rolled over so that her back could get tanned, "I remember when I first talked with Yuna's guardians? Lulu seemed completely shocked when I told her that you had only been a black mage for a couple days, because apparently, for people who aren't us, it can take up to years learning how to channel magic into the Sphere grid."
"Really? I'm awesome!"
"I knew you'd say that. That's why I told her not to tell you. I was afraid your ego would get Goon sized."
They both let out a sigh, Goon... Goon had been a stuffed lion Xander had gotten Nysa years ago. It's head was nearly the same size as it's body, so whenever they mentioned someone having an ego, they would warn them that they'd end up big headed like Goon. Batalax had loved that lion probably more than Nysa herself.
"What is going to be the usual age of people when they start the Academy?"
"I'm not sure. I actually wanted your opinion on that. I've based the Academies off of an anime called Naruto, as I've told you before. But in the anime, kids started attending the Academy when they were around six years old, and they graduated when they were around twelve. I understand the need for that, but personally, I think six years old is far too young to decide if you want to join the military."
"Yeah. It is. But the Academies, while mostly military, aren't completely. They also teach people how to be doctors, and mechanics, and lots of other things. Plus; kids can always drop out if they don't like it. There isn't a binding contract or anything."
"True. Can you let the council know that the Academies are accepting students six years old and above?"
"I can do that." Batalax replied. She sat up and took a sip from her drink. "So you get enough teachers for the three Academies?"
"Oh yeah." Nysa said. She shot a smirk in her friends direction, "Half of the retired Warrior Monks are teaching. Most of the White Mages that had run the temples, are now running the hospitals, while Priest Lament is teaching the Chunnin and above Medic course at Djose. Oh, Lulu is also teaching some advanced Black Magic courses on her spare time. Actually, a lot of former Guardians and former Summoners are teaching at the Academies. Also, a lot of the Seed members decided to teach, and while they're lessens are rather informal, they do seem to know what they're talking about. They're people like us, who had no training. They just learned everything as they went."
"Yeah. I've met a good portion of the Seed members. Most of them work mostly with Yuna and Nooj, right?"
"Yeah. Most of them are in the Youth League. Although, Aren't some of them in New Yevon as well?"
"Yeah." Batalax replied. "Just out of curiosity... how many people do you have out in the field working for you now?"
Nysa did a quick count in her head, "five hundred and twenty six. A lot more if you count those that are still in training."
"Really?" Batalax asked, she sat up and looked at Nysa, "What ranks are they all?"
"One hundred and sixty of them are Jonin. Out of those Jonin, twenty nine are Squad Leaders for Genin teams, twenty of them are ANBU, ten of them are working for you as Counselors, twenty five of them are Medics working in hospitals all around Spira, and the other eighty one are in Zanarkand."
"One hundred of them are Chunnin. Out of those, twelve of them are teaching at the Academies, twenty are Hunters, thirty of them are Medics working in hospitals, and the other thirty eight are in teams of three patrolling the Calm Lands, Gagazet, and Bikanel."
"For Genin, there are one hundred and sixteen people. They are split into twenty nine teams. Two teams to nearly every location in Yu. Two to Besaid, two to Kilika, two to Luca, two to the Highroad, two to Mushroom Rock Road, two to Djose, two to the Moonflow, two to Guadosalam, two to the Thunder Plains, two to Macalania Forest, and two to Bevelle."
"That is only twenty two teams, what about the other seven teams?"
"They are on standby. It is them who are usually hired out by the general population. Of course, their patrol routs are changed once every two weeks, so the ones who are on standby doing random missions for Civilians, are not the same teams who will be on stand by a week from now."
"The other one hundred and fifty are Seed. I don't actually give them orders, unless they are desperately needed. They are basically the people who are on standby at all times. You and Yuna can contact them if you need to hire someone out for a mission."
"That actually sounds quite well organized." Batalax said, slightly awed.
Faint footfalls could be heard on the sand as a group of people made their way over to them. Batalax squinted up at them, but didn't recognize any of them. Nysa did the same, only she did recognize them. They didn't seem to recognize her though.
"Excuse me, but we're going to have to ask the two of you to pack up your stuff so you can be escorted to the village. A very large fiend has appeared in the water, and it's not safe for civilians to be this far from the safety of the village." the man speaking was Jonin Mervo Lantac, leader of Genin Squad eighty two.
"A large fiend?" Batalax asked, "What kind?"
"The dangerous kind, you have to get out of here." replied one of the four Genin. He looked to be around fourteen.
"Dangerous... Hmm. Sounds like an adventure." Nysa said, her eyes were sparkling with mischief, and Batalax couldn't help but laugh.
"I don't believe you understand, this fiend is very dangerous. Level eighty at the least."
Nysa's eyes widened, as did Batalax's. Something that high of a level was Zanarkand level even Sin Spawn level. A lot of her higher Jonin would have trouble dealing with something that powerful, and their were only two Jonin currently on Besaid Island? She was thankful her and Batalax had taken the day off. "B. Gear up. We got ourselves a fiend to fight."
"Lady, I don't think you get it! This thing will tear you apart! You have to get out of here now. I'm a Jonin, and even I don't know... I've called for back up, but please get to the village!"
"Calm down." Nysa ordered. She watched as Batalax took off up the beach to her house, "Where is the fiend coming from, and how do you know it is coming?"
"The S.S Winno sent us a message... just before it was destroyed."
"Fuck." Nysa cursed, "Why was I not told!"
The four Genin and their leader looked confused.
Nysa raised a hand and unclipped the hair-clip holding her hair in a bun and let the mess of hair and tiny braids cascade down her back. She then pulled her forehead protester out of her item pouch and strapped it to her right thigh above her item pouch. "Do I need to repeat myself Lantac?" She said exasperatedly.
All four Genin and their Jonin leader all snapped to attention and looked highly embarrassed. "No, Lady Koorikage."
"Gippal said you were unavailable." the only female Genin in the group said. Nysa remembered her name to be Carilla.
Nysa shook her head, of course he would say that. He knew that she had sent Shuyin the previous day, and after all the trouble the unsent had been for him and his team, it was no wonder he assumed she would like to be left alone. She hadn't gotten a chance to fully debrief him on what had happened. "Mm. I was, yesterday. I hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him today." Nysa closed her eyes for a moment. "Contact Brother Highwind, captain of the Celcius. Tell him to come to Besaid immediately."
"Yes Koorikage."
Nysa slipped on her green flip flops, "I'll be back down in ten minutes. Have your team secure the perimeter. About an hour ago, there were a couple children playing in the ruins to the south of here, make sure they are no longer there."
"Yes Koorikage." Mervo saluted and started issuing orders to his team.
Nysa ran from the beach at a haste induced speed until she got to Batalax's house, in which she noticed the door was still open. Once inside, she made her way up the stairs four at a time, and ran to her room. She pulled on a pair of camouflage colored short shorts, pulled her hair into a pony tale, and was out the door.
When she got down the stairs, she had to sidestep so she didn't run into Batalax. Batalax had changed into what she normally wore when she was playing her part as Majokage, the leader of New Yevon. She wore a skin tight purple tunic that went down to her thighs, black capri's. She had sleeves much like Yuna's from the first quest, meaning they were not attached to her outfit, instead being attached to her upper arms; the sleeves were black and flowing. She had two black and purple item pouches, one strapped to each leg. Her boots were white and ankle length. She wore a white priestess robe over the assemble. To finish her outfit, she had Mr Tikki strapped to her back.
"What's the situation?"
"The S.S Winno was destroyed." Nysa replied back seriously.
"Shit.." Batalax was already out of the house with Nysa behind her. She stopped for a moment to allow Nysa time to ditch her flip flops and replace them with black combat boots. Her yellow ones had been destroyed a couple months back, and she had yet to find replacements.
"The Celcius should be on it's way. I figured we would be able to see the fiend better from air. If not, I can create an ice way for us to walk on."
"Good plan. Any ideas on extermination? I'm best with electricity, which would most definitely kill it... but it would also kill the fish and other sea life, which I will not do--" She cut Nysa off before she could even open her mouth, "--And I don't care how much you hate fish. I won't kill them. It's one of the main food sources for these islands, after all."
"Bah." Nysa huffed, "Depending on the speed of the Fiend, I may be able to kill it with an ice spear. But honestly Ophelia... it's not the fiend that worries me. It's the fact that it has gotten this close to civilization before anyone knew about it. A fiend this size shouldn't just... appear out of nowhere."
The dirt gave way to sand as they made their way back to the beach. Both girls were slightly sad that their day of relaxation had been ruined, as the day had a certain tranquil quality that was normally hard to find. The sky was clear of any blemishes, and there was enough of an ocean breeze that the heat of it being a tropical island wasn't overwhelming. In fact, around two hours before they had been interrupted, the two young woman had been swimming in the lagoon below Ophelia's home.
As they made their way back to where their picnic had been interrupted, Batalax noticed that another Squad had showed up, along with Wakka and Lulu. She immediately went and stood by Lulu, while Nysa continued to walk until she was standing just before the gently lapping water.
"What's she doin' ya?"
Batalax just shrugged at Wakka's question, "No idea."
A loud hum sound could be heard, and everyone turned their eyes to the sky as the Celcius appeared. The group quickly made their way across the sandy beach to the dock where they were met by Rikku. "Come on guys! It's huge! Nearly the size of Kilika! We gotta stop it before it gets closer to the village!"
"Squad Seventy, stay on the island. Make sure the people stay calm, and far away from the beaches. Also keep an eye out for fiends, a lot of the time, they can sense danger, and it makes them more wild than usual."
"Yes Koorikage." The team leader replied before he and his team headed in the opposite direction of the airship.
Nearly the size of Kilika? If it came closer to the village... they wouldn't have to worry about it attacking. Something that big would cause the entire place to be wiped out by floods! It would be like a tsunami hitting! Batalax swallowed thickly, Besaid was her home, and by Yevon, she was not about to let some island impersonator destroy it!
"Take us over it." Nysa ordered in Al Bhed to Brother, as they entered the bridge of the ship.
"On it." He replied.
It was a couple minutes later when they finally reached the fiend. Everyone let out gasps as they realized just how big it was. Batalax was out of the room and in the elevator with Nysa before the rest of them had even finished taking in the sight. Once on the deck of the ship, both girls went to the edge and looked down. The gasped again, but this time for a completely different reason.
"It's not a fiend..." Batalax breathed. Her eyes were wide and her fists were clenched tightly around her torch. She paid no mind to the wind whipping her hair about as her eyes stayed locked on the creature below.
The creature was dark green, almost black, and it faded into a lighter green that looked almost brown. There were multiple tentacles, all of them a lighter green, but still rather dark. It looked up at them with multiple eyes. Under the eyes was a giant mouth that looked as if it could swallow a behemoth whole. It was terrifying to even look at.
"It's a freakin' Kraken! Damn Cuttlefish! I told you fish were evil!" Nysa said viciously. Batalax noticed that she too was looking down at the creature with wide eyes. The thief's knuckles were white from the tight grip she had on the thin railing set up around the ship. Nysa was greatly known for her extreme fear of fish and sea like creatures, or at least she was back on earth.
"We can't kill it." Batalax said venomously, "It's just an animal. It doesn't know that what it's doing could kill hundreds of people... it doesn't know."
"B... everything I have ever read or seen about Krakens depicts them as horrible, twisted, creatures. Even if it did know that it was killing hundreds of people... I don't think it would care."
"But..."
"Ophelia. If we don't do something about this, right now. Everyone on Besaid will die."
Batalax met Nysa's eyes defiantly, and they seemed to lock gazes for an eternity before the mage looked down in defeat. Her hands clenched tighter around her torch as she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening as Squad eighty two, Wakka, Lulu, Rikku, and Paine walked towards them. "Okay..." she admitted quietly. "We'll kill it, but how?"
"I'm still thinking ice would be the best bet." Nysa said. "It wont harm anything other than the Kraken, and it should be an incredibly quick and painless death."
"What is the plan, Koorikage, Majokage?"
"She's going to kill it. Spear it with ice." Batalax said with a hint of bitterness leaking into her voice. She wasn't one to kill animals. If she didn't like meat so much, she would have become a vegetarian.
"Good plan. Where are you going to get the ice?" Mervo asked.
Nysa had forgotten that no one was aware of her powers over ice or Batalax's over electricity. Even Wakka and Lulu, who had known, assumed that the powers had vanished with the sending of the Aeons. It probably had something to do with the fact that she only really used it when she was alone, and Batalax didn't use hers at all, except as a boost to her thunder spells.
"I'll handle it." Nysa said shortly. She sent out a faint prayer that she wouldn't miss and let loose a hail of thin, nearly invisible spears of ice down at the creature. She closed her eyes as they hit. The creature let out a loud screech of pain that had them all covering their ears. Beside her, Batalax visibly winced when the large creature turned into pireflies a few moments later. The water down below went down by around ten inches, visibly. "It's done." Nysa said coldly.
Batalax left the deck and headed to the elevator, after a moment, Nysa followed. Squad eighty two, along with the others continued to look down at the water where the large, almost Sin sized fiend had been moments before. All of them were wondering the same thing; just how powerful were those two women?
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