Chapter 8- Trial By Ice

Port San d'Oria was unlike the rest of the kingdom. It had a lower population, and Vivel saw several Humes, Tarutaru, and the cat-like Mithra conversing with Elvaan. It seemed detached from the real San d'Oria, but in a good way. Oopy had arrived from his home after gathering a few of his belongings. According to him, the Airship was not suited to land in Rabao, so they needed to get off on a plateau a decent way West from the town, and walk the remaining way. Hamza had paid for a new set of armor, the same checkered Brigandine style. Vivel had lost all of his belongings after his battle with Titan, but was allowed to keep his current attire and the Kagehide Great Katana. Oopy had his orange gi on complete with matching hose and gaiters. His arms were still wrapped in cloth, healing from the Gigas assault. Oopy, Vivel,and Hamza approached the docks, where an Elvaan in a blue robe guided them to the airship.

This airship was unlike the larger models that frequented Bastok. Still large however, this flying boat elegantly rested in the waters of the port, with a small bridge reaching out to the dock. The ship was painted crimson red with the two-lion San d'Oria symbol on both sides.

"Right this way, we will be departing shortly. Ramyrez wishes for this to be a hasty journey. Our airship will make it to Altepa in only a few hours," said the guide Elvaan. Oopy walked in confidentally, showing that he had made this trip many times. He paused suddenly, sharply turning around.

"Where is the crystal?" he asked in a single breath.

"We have it in the storage room. It has been strapped down because of it's tendancy to... hover. Now please Oopy, let's get going. I'm sure that you know about the dangers of this particular trip," said the Elvaan, frowning.

"There is no danger. Let's get this damn thing moving," Oopy snapped. "You two, come to the lobby now," he said nodding to Hamza and Vivel. The two Tarutaru followed without question on to the ship. Taking the first left they entered a large rectangular room. The floor shined golden and there was a map of the known world on the back wall. Looking at it, Vivel saw flight routes marked. There were routes to Selbina, Jeuno, Bastok, Windurst, Norg, Kazham, and other areas Vivel could not identify. He saw a line going to a spot West of Rabao, and assumed that would be their destination.

Hamza came up behind Vivel and poked the Windurst part of the map with his Polearm. "That's where Duke is," he said with a grin. "He's probably waiting for me right now, wondering where I am. Oh, well guess he has to wait longer!" Oopy then approached and furiously grabbed the lance from Hamza's arms, driving it in to the floor in a rage, breaking the tip and cracking the floor.

"You idiot!" Oopy boomed. "Defacing property of our Kingdom. I should kill you right now!"

"Well, uh, you kinda just damaged the property yourself there, mister," said Hamza, poitning at the floor. Oopy clenched his fists, fuming, as if he really was going to attack. At that moment two tall Elvaan men entered, together holding a brown leather bag with something concealed inside of it.

"Leave it here!" shouted Oopy motioning for the men to put the bag down and follow him out of the lobby. He turned to Vivel. "Make sure that damned devil crystal doesn't move around, or the both of you will be killed without question." Vivel nodded dumbly. "Let's get moving, lock these two fools in. I don't want anything in or out of this room until we land in Altepa." demanded Oopy. He proudly marched out, while the two other Elvaan hastily followed him and closed the doors to the lobby locking them.

"That jerk!" shouted Hamza, red with anger. "After you saved us too!" he said to Vivel.

"Nah, I didn't save you, Titan did," said Vivel sulking. "I just sat there like a child."

"Viv," said Hamza consolingly. "You're too modest. See, I'm not good at things, but I tell myself that I am. I think you're just the opposite though." Vivel smiled to show his gratitude. He wished he could think of something nice to say to Hamza. He noticed that with the prescense of the item they were looking after, the room was much colder.

With that, there was a rumbling and Vivel stumbled to the floor. "We're taking off, wow this thing is fast," said Hamza looking at the ceiling, as if it told him something. The rumbling stopped and the ship became calm again. "Soon we'll be able to ditch these losers and go have some more adventures. But hey, let's take a look a the crystal," the Dragoon said with glee.

"No!" protested Vivel, as Hamza walked over to open the leather bag. "Oopy said he would hurt us, don't do it," he pleaded.

"Just a little peek," said Hamza. He unlatched the bag and stepped away. "Man that thing is ice cold." he said laughing. To both of their amazement, the crystal began to unveil itself independently, and floated out of the bag and slightly over the floor. Vivel immediately recognized this as a protocrystal, exactly like Titan's except it was crystal clear, rather than brown.

"I know what that is!" said Vivel hysterically. "It's an avatar crystal, that's where I met Titan!"

"Oh, really?" said Hamza, intrigued. "Well let's go say Hi, and thank him for helping us."

"Oh, well it wasn't that one exactly," corrected Vivel. "It was a different color, but the same exact shape. I somehow went inside it and beat Titan in a battle, so he let me summon him."

Hamza suddenly beamed with excitement, emitting frost from his breath. "That means there's a new guy inside that thing!" he shouted triumphantly. "So go in there and beat him up, I bet you'll get an ice-man!"

"But, what if I lose?" Vivel said timidly, knowing he had no choice in the matter.

"No way!" said Hamza. "Just do your big bad attack like before and you'll be back before I know you are gone. Unless you want me to go in with you?"

"I think only I can go in, and I made a promise to Carbuncle about it, so I guess I have to. Although I really wouldn't like to..."

"Hey, said Hamza seriously. "You will only lose if you choose to. You gotta create your own reality, not let others mold it for you. This is all your pick."

Vivel nodded, although he didn't believe it. Turning towards the glimmering protocrystal, he began to concentrate hard, remembering what he had done for Titan. Soon, he felt the tug on his body just like before, except faster. In the back of his mind he heard Hamza cheering in awe, but that quickly faded away. He then involuntarily closed his eyes, and then opened them inside the Avatar World.

It was set up exactly like Titan's, except there was an icy blue surrounding and ground. He also noticed that snow was lightly falling. In Bastok, it had only snowed once in his lifetime. He remembered running outside to see it, and only witnessing it turn to rain. Gloomily, he had returned inside.

There was a calm tone in the place, but Vivel could feel the Avatar with him. Looking up the winding slope, he decided to call Titan for his battle, and be ready to attack right away. Quickly, Titan emerged, with snow building on his broad shoulders. Vivel felt the strain of calling him, especially with his heavy chainmail armor on, so he quickly moved towards the main protocrystal. There was the same turn in the slope that he had seen in Titan's realm. He pictured facing a ice version of Titan, completely colorless. His imagination was interrupted by the soothing sound of a female.

"Summoner, you venture in to my world to do battle?" asked the voice. Vivel felt calm by the woman's tone. "You must tell me Summoner, what is askew in your world? The divider between our realms has been tampered with, the protocrystal's balance shaken. What has transpired to cause such unfathomable events?"

"Oh," said Vivel, trying to sound friendly. "Well we're just delivering your divider to Rabao. Well I was just told to make sure it doesn't float, really. I am not the one selling you."

"Selling me?" said the voice. "My faith in your kind has vanished, Summoner. What greed could cause the wish for destruction of my home? Offer your life as penance, Summoner, for you now must pay."

Vivel immediately lost all comfort, desperately shouting, "I'll just try to ask them not to sell you, if it's hurting you."

"My world is deteriorating, you must sacrifice yourself so I can find solace in my eternal misery. I am Shiva, the Avatar of Frost."

At that, Titan advanced to the end of Vivel's path, where Vivel now saw Shiva. She was built like a human, unlike Titan's beastly appearance. Colored light blue and white, her sad face gleamed with beauty, She had long bands of hair spiked out arbitrarily, but still in a fashion of beauty. her slender legs and arms were covered with long synthetic gloves and boots, with trands of icy cloth waving from her arms.

Vivel's marvel ended as Titan delivered a strong punch in to Shiva's torso. Shiva returned the favor with a slap to Titan's face. Vivel saw that though it appeared to be an even exchange, his copy of Titan could not win against Shiva Prime. He decided that Astral Flow was his only shot, and prepared it right away. "You'll be sorry that you wanted to fight," said Vivel brashly. "Astral Flow! Go Titan with Earthen Fury!"

Titan obeyed and crashed his hands to the ground, creating a fissure that erupted in to the highest magnitude of earthquakes. Vivel grabbed a chunk of ice to keep from being shaken and watched as the layers of land swallowed Shiva and devoured her, crushing her frail body in a wave of earth. Just as quickly, Titan vanished and there was a cloud of icy dust in front of Vivel.

Vivel got to his feet, brushing the flakes of ice off of his Katana sheath. "Well," he said out loud. "I'm getting better at this, didn't even pass out." He called out victoriously, "So can I summon you or what?" There was a quiet, and suddenly Vivel was struck in the head by a large chunk of ice. He collapsed to the ground and grabbed his head, covering his hands in frozen blood. It did help to numb the pain, however.

"Your hasty attack would have been smart, if it was enough the defeat me, Summoner" said Shiva. Vivel struggled to his feet, and saw a badly injured Shiva advancing on him. She was slouched over, and there were gleams of frozen sweat on her forehead. "It appears my Heavenly Strike ability caused quite the collision."

Desperately, Vivel tried summoning Titan, but could not begin his summoning. He reached for Carbuncle but with the same luck. He then came to the horrible realization that using Astral Flow depleted his summoning magic. He remembered that his previous uses of the ability had given him a lot of time to rest afterwards.

As if reading his mind, Shiva soothingly said, "It appears you are still a novice to the art of summoning. That is for shame, your arrogance alone is what will kill you. I will end this swiftly with my Axe Kick."

Horrified, Vivel looked on as Shiva rose in to the air, and lifted both of her arms, she then rushed at Vivel, and stopped directly in front of him. "Good night, child," she murmed and she brought her left leg above Vivel's head, and sent it crashing down.

In an instant, Vivel instinctively pulled out his Great Katana and parried the attack. Shiva retreated, amazed. This was Ignatious's training, he realized. They had constantly practiced parrying slow attacks. He then cntinued what he had always done with Ignatious. Diving at Shiva he slashed in to her chest, sending her back with a brittle cough. "Now for Tachi: Enpi!" he shouted and slashed at Shiva twice in her unprotected body. She fell back, and for a second Vivel stood smiling, impressed with his ability.

"So, you had more energy in you," said Shiva. "Very well." The Avatar approached Vivel, and struck his arm, knocking his weapon away from him, and sending it over the edge of the slim layer of ground. "You were so fond of your Astral Flow ability, I shall show you the devastation of mine. There is no escape this time!"

Vivel quickly cycled through his options, and Shiva engaged and prepared for an attack. He did not have the energy to summon, and had lost his weapon, but he could pull off a black magic spell quickly. An idea popped in to his head and he began a cast.

"Your weak offense can not stop Diamond Dust!" Shiva bellowed, and at her command six pillars of ice rose around Vivel. With a snap of her fingers, the pillars crushed down upon Vivel, trapping him in solid ice.

"And now my tired soul can have but a moment of gratitude," Shiva whispered. "A valiant effort, Summoner, but an unprepared one." At that, The ice around Vivel slowly started to heat. To Shiva's amazement, it started to melt away in to a puddle at the Summoner's feet, until Vivel was completely free of his icy prison. He sighed and looked up at the confused avatar.

"I figured your attack would be some giant ice thing, so I put up Blaze Spikes to try and melt it. Seems like it worked," said Vivel happily.

"This should not have happened," murmured Shiva. "Not if I was in the Cloister..."

Vivel started casting a Fire spell, but was quickly slapped by Shiva. "No, stop," said Shiva, as a scared Vivel fell to the ground. "I will lend you my power, you have proven yourself. But Summoner, you must restore me to my rightful place, that is your task with a part of me at your command. I Thank you, your visit shall echo within me forever. Good bye, brave Summoner."

And with that Vivel felt himself being pulled away from the protocrystal without a choice, and then he collapsed in a heap back in the airship lobby. Hamza was seated in the corner, shivering.

"Vivel! Are you all right? Did you win?" he shouted, rushing to his friend's aid and helping him up.

"Vivel passed the test," said a voice. Vivel looked up and saw Carbuncle facing Hamza and himself.

"Hey, are you the avatar he got? Kinda lame, I expected something bigger." said Hamza, walking towards Carbuncle's small body.

"Shiva was the avatar who resides in the protocrystal," said Carbuncle. "And Vivel managed to survive, but slightly."

"So why are you here?" said Vivel. "Are you mad that I didn't summon you? I will use you next time I promise!"

"No, Summoner. I have been watching over your travels, and although you have a strong will to live, you may not survive in a world so fierce. I have decided that since we are allies, I will lend you my physical abilities. My strength, vitality, dexterity, and agility is yours, Summoner. It is not much, but may help you survive the perils you have yet to face."

"Wait, Carbuncle," said Vivel struggling to get up. "I'm not sure I know why the avatars want to kill me. Aren't I supposed to be helping them?"

"Summoner," started Carbuncle. "They do not understand the desire to live of your kind, they assume that you expect a life or death battle. It is the only way to call them, to battle them. Luck was on your side against Shiva, but we can't rely on luck alone. So please, take my power."

"Wait" said Hamza. Carbuncle and Vivel turned to him. "Don't I get a power boost too? I could sure use one! Then nothing can stop me. Give me some avatower power!"

"Hamza," started Carbuncle. "You are not a Summoner, I must focus my full efforts on Vivel.

"But he's my friend," said Vivel. "If you help him he will help me, I need him. Please Carbuncle, I'll accept your power if Hamza gets some too."

"Summoner, this is not something to be discussed. But very well, if you are to protect Vivel I see no harm in helping you. Now come to me, fighters of the avatars. Open your hearts, and accept my energy."

Hamza joyfully stepped towards Carbuncle and Vivel followed, happy to help his friend. Carbuncle lept in to the air and flashed bright with the colors of the rainbow. The colors reflected on to Hamza and Vivel for only a second, and then faded.

"Wow!" shouted Hamza. I feel great! I can jump twice as high now!" He also noticed that he had a brand new lance, as blue as Carbuncle, with a sharper tip than any other he had ever seen. Vivel too had a blue Great Katana now, fashioned n a manner perfet for Vivel's stance.

"Please use this power to continue your quest for the avatars. Farewell Vivel, my heart and yours are now attuned," Carbuncle whispered and quickly vanished.