New Friends
"Aaagh…my head…" These were the first words out of Shiava's mouth when he woke up. "Where the hell am I?" he asked. He tried to stand, but the movement made him dizzy and nauseous. Sitting back down, he examined his surroundings. He was no longer underwater, and he seemed to be in some kind of grand hall. There was very little light, but just enough to see. The room was huge and there was a whole other part that wrapped around the upper level, with the broken remnants of a grand staircase that led to his level. Slime dripped down the ancient, stained walls. A cascade of water dripped in the middle of the room. It was as big as a waterfall. Wincing, Shiava looked up at the distant ceiling. It was riddled with large holes in the stone. That was what let in the light. The entire place was extremely cold. Suddenly Shiava became aware of just how very cold he was. He was shivering as he had never shivered before. The combined cold of the place and his saturated clothes were ganging up on his body. "I have to get a fire or something before I freeze to death" Shiava muttered. He forced himself to stand up, despite the dizziness and nausea he knew it would cause. Gritting his teeth, Shiava staggered around the giant room until he found a door. He then realized what must have happed. The force of the water must have pushed his body into the hall. He was in the palace like structure he had been looking for. What irony. He found the shelter and now he was going to freeze to death.
"Got to find some firewood" Shiava muttered again. He began to climb what was left of the grand staircase. As he ascended to the top level, he slipped on some of the slime, falling hard and knocking the breath from his body. "Damn" he wheezed, "why do the gods seem to hate me?!" his curse echoed in the vast, empty place. There was no answer. Finally, Shiava got to the top. He tried to marshal his tired brain into some kind of order. It wasn't easy. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate. Thoughts kept slipping into the huge void in his mind almost as soon as they appeared. He was shaking harder than ever now. It looked like the symptoms of hypothermia were setting in. Shiava staggered into a room on the upper level. It had once been beautiful, he could see, but now it had fallen into ruin, just like the rest of the place. Its stone floor was barely covered with the remnants of a decaying carpet. A beautiful four poster bed had once sat in the corner. Now it was just a heap of rotten wood, the sheets and cloth material having long rotted away. Shiava found what he was looking for, however. He broke off a few chunks of wood from the bed. Looking around, he discovered that there were a few moldy rags of what had once been elegant drapery, hanging from a broken window. Tearing them off, Shiava found his tinder. "Now to find some flint" he thought. Shiava wandered around the upper level for a little while longer. He wasn't sure how much time passed. His watch had stopped from the water. It seemed to be half an hour. Finally he found a bit of flint in an old box. After gathering these items, Shiava settled himself back into his place in the grand hall. Soon he had a roaring fire started.
"Ahhh, that's better" Shiava sighed. Then his stomach gave a loud rumble. How long was it since he had eaten? He thought back, and then groaned. The last time was at dinner that last, horrible night in Bevelle. How long had it been since then? Shiava tried to think back. What had happened? Fire had engulfed the bridge, he had jumped…Sir Auron had saved him. Then Sin had…sucked him up. He looked at his surroundings again. Why had Sin deposited him in this ancient and desolate place? It had most likely been abandoned for more than a hundred years. Where was it? And most importantly…what had happened to Arenna? If Shiava's knowledge of how Sin worked was correct, then Arenna had now become the monster, doomed to wreak chaos, blood and death upon the world until a summoner sacrificed their life, and the life of a guardian to create a Final Aeon. But this would lead to another Sin…
Shiava shook his head, and then gasped in pain. As he waited for the colored lights to stop whirling around in his vision, he pondered his present situation. What was he going to do? How would he leave this place? It would do for now, but he still had a quest to fulfill. He would free Arenna! Then, when it was all over they could talk together, laugh together, lie in each other's arms just doing nothing like the old days….
These thoughts of a rosy future warmed Shiava's soul better than any fire could. With this on his mind he fell into a restful sleep, despite the hard, damp stone under him.
As the young sword mage slept, he didn't notice the fire beginning to go out. It dwindled and dwindled, until soon it was nothing more than a few embers. Then it died completely. As it died, darkness crept over the hall. Still Shiava didn't wake. Then, in the darkest recess of the upper level, something moved. Slowly it unfolded its four long legs. The ends of these legs were tipped with foot long blades. Its two red eyes glowed in the darkness. The large praying mantis like fiend had lived here for years preying on small rats and any other animal foolish enough to enter its lair, coming out to strike when the darkness came. But now it sensed something different. A food item bigger than any it had encountered before. It certainly could not recall anything like it in its previous human life. But it also had a sense of caution left over from its previous life. The prey was still alive. The fire had gone out, and he was in a deep sleep. It weighed the odds. Hunger won. This is what makes fiends so dangerous. The civilized beings intelligence, with animal instincts. The fiend was a Klikk, a species noted for their intelligence and vicious strength. They attacked prey without mercy with the razor sharp blades at the ends of their legs.
Shiava continued to sleep. The Klikk crept along the wall high above, silently. Its mandibles dripped in anticipation of the fresh meat lying below. Then, Shiava tossed in his sleep and turned over. Then his hand touched the hot ashes of the fire.
"Yeeow!" Shiava yelped, clutching his hand. "Man that hurt." Suddenly he noticed the fire. "Oh gods, it's out!" he began rapidly putting more wood and tinder onto the dying blaze. Soon the fire roared back to life. In the sudden light of the fire, Shiava happened look up. Then he screamed.
The Klikk was faced with a dilemma. The prey had seen it. Now the prey was awake and aware. Once again it weighed the odds. The chances were, it could take this weak, tired human. It lunged.
Shiava saw the horrible monster above him launch itself off the wall. It landed directly in front of him, three feet away. The boy drew his sword. Adrenaline shook off the remnants of sleep like an old blanket. The creature rushed at him, both of its front legs were held out like spears, ready to impale him. Shiava ducked below this and cut down. His blade drew a long slash down the side of the monster. It shrieked in pain, a sound like fingernails being drawn across a blackboard.
The Klikk was surprised and pained. It had not expected such resilience and agility out of the prey! It was wounded now too. The fiend realized that this prey might be a bit more than it could handle. But its predatory instincts urged it on.
Shiava saw the monster falter. He breathed a bit easier, but still remained on guard. A decision that proved a wise one, when the monster came rushing up. One of its leg blades slashed Shiava's arm. If his sword had not partially blocked the blow, Shiava would have lost his arm for sure. Gritting his teeth, Shiava switched his sword to his other hand. The monster was suddenly in front of him. It knocked the sword from Shiava's hands. With another slash it had cut a long red ribbon across his chest. "ARRRGHH!" Shiava screamed. He fell to his knees. The creature opened its mandibles.
The Klikk could hardly believe its luck. The prey had been brought down! Now it could feast upon sweet flesh and warm blood…Suddenly a movement at its feet startled the creature. A small, dark, and vaguely round object lay in front of it. It was also strangely familiar, something from its former life…suddenly the object exploded in a brilliant fireball, forever ending its questions.
Shiava watched as a grenade exploded, engulfing the monster in a fireball. It gave a hideous, wrenching cry. Finally the horrific conflagration faded. Shiava looked around. Suddenly the doors to the far left of the room burst open. A large group of strange looking people ran into the room. They were wearing an assortment of odd looking clothes. Some wore what looked like diving outfits modified for land, others wore strange looking yellow gas masks. There was one thing they all had in common though. They were all tan skinned and blond haired.
"Al Bhed" Shiava thought before slipping into unconsciousness. This was really becoming a disturbing trend.
