Chapter X
-The Phon Coast-
As soon as Valkyrie's lids snapped shut, the sun tore through hidden cracks in the cavern, marking the new day. If the time had been different, Valkyrie would have grumbled and protested and finally awoken after ages of prodding, but there was none of that today; they had no time to spare.
The two carefully made their way through the tunnels back to the Hunter's Camp, where Beth and Atak waited, both relieved. After a few minutes of deliberating, it was decided that the Lhusu Mines would be the prime place to search for Zargabaath. After all, Gilgamesh was known to stalk the tunnels, spoiling for a fight. Atak quickly arranged air transportation with the clan airship: being one of the most successful clans in Ivalice had its perks.
Conversation was scarce once the trio boarded. Everyone knew what they were up against, and that failure was not an option. Though unstable, the mutated judge was likely to be extremely powerful. If left untested, he would be certain to cause Ivalice great peril. Beth anxiously muttered the spell work for Dispel under her breath, as if worried she would forget the magick. Zeus was constantly changing the bullets in her guns, unable to decide on an appropriate starting shot. Valkyrie could only stare ahead.
As soon as the ship touched down in Bhujerba, the three took off without so much as a goodbye. Tearing through the city, they headed directly for the Lhusu Mines. However, just inside the entrance, they had to stop for a moment: the Mist was already flowing thick.
Valkyrie turned to Beth. "Are you sure you're going to be okay with all this?"
Beth smiled faintly, and held up her hand. "Atak leant me a Ruby Ring when I told him of my allergy last night. He said that the Reflect would keep me from getting too sick."
"In that case, take this," said Zeus, reaching into her pocket and pulling out an Opal Ring. "We wouldn't want you healing that monster by mistake."
Beth thanked Zeus, and the party moved on through the tunnels. Because of the Mist, the bats and slavens that normally populated the tunnels were absent. In fact, the only foe the party ran across was the Gazer, a reaper that was only known to spawn in the mines if intruders remained for too long.
"They have to be a warning," said Valkyrie, crashing his sword through one of the fiends. "They must be telling us to leave."
"Yeah," agreed Zeus, delivering a fatal shot, "but we don't have much of a choice."
The party continued to trek onwards, growing weary from the continued battles (Zeus and Valkyrie both fell to Doom twice; Beth was saved thanks to Reflect). At last, the glowing orange Gate Crystal welcomed them near an entrance to the open sky. They sat down to catch their breath, basking in the healing warmth of the crystal and formulating a plan to take down Zargabaath.
"He has to be on the next bridge," said Beth, shuddering. "The Mist has grown much more concentrated."
"You're probably right about that, meaning we don't have much time," said Zeus, thinking. "We should probably try and avoid staying close together, that way we all won't take the full brunt of his power."
"I'll engage him in close combat," said Valkyrie. He gripped the crest around his neck. "After all, I've got extra protection."
Zeus nodded. "Speaking of which, we need to try and weaken him before we seal him away. If you unleash Adrammelech too early, I don't think it'll be enough to finish the twisted fiend off."
Valkyrie began to agree, then stopped, looking puzzled. "Wait...how do I summon Adrammelech anyway?"
"Don't look at me, I'm not the one with the crest," said Beth shrugging.
"I have to agree," said Zeus. "I have no idea. I suppose you'll know how when you need to, or something dopey like that."
"Perfect," said Valkyrie, groaning. "Are we ready to do this?"
"Uh...I guess," said Zeus.
"Come on Valkyrie, are you kidding me?" snapped Beth.
"Neither am I," said Valkyrie, grinning weakly. "Well, then, let's go."
Shaken but determined, the party slowly walked onto the Tasche Span.
Zargabaath was waiting, but he wasn't facing the three. Instead, the abomination was staring into the tunnels beyond, as if waiting for something to appear. Valkyrie wasn't about to ask, though. He took advantage of the creature's failure to notice the party and rushed forward to stab the monster deeply in the back.
As the malformed man roared and turned to face Valkyrie, Zeus drew her guns and Beth hung back, casting Dispel as fast as she could manage. Many blades had now grown out of Zargabaath's shoulders, and he pulled two of them out with a sickly squelching noise.
He swung them at Valkyrie with lightning speed, but the young man was ready with a counter. Though he nearly collapsed under the weight of the blades, Valkyrie swung his broadsword around to land a slice on one of the strange blue arms. Blood flowed freely and the mutant roared again.
The battle began progressing in a bizarre unsynchronized rhythm: Valkyrie was constantly distracting the false Gilgamesh, mostly countering the creature's blows with his own, but occasionally landing a hit. Zeus plowed away at the creature with her guns, firing and reloading as fast as she could, while Beth cast rounds of Protect, Shell, and Haste. Zargabaath, annoyed by Beth, tried sending a cast of Disable her way, but Reflect bounced it harmlessly away. However, it seemed that the monster was immune to the spell, so it did them no good.
Angered at how easily his counter had been shrugged off, Zargabaath swiped at Valkyrie with a spare arm, infecting him with Disease. Zeus stopped firing to cast Cleanse and Beth had to cast Curaga twice while Valkyrie held his own. Defending with only one arm and a sapping life force was not pleasant, and once he was back to full health, Valkyrie retaliated with a piercing stab to the arm that had injured him. The limb was nearly taken clean off, but only nearly, and it dangled grotesquely at the creature's side, dripping blood.
Aware that he couldn't cast spells on Beth by now, Zargabaath instead chose to torment Zeus with magick. Though it cost him a few nasty cuts from Valkyrie, he managed to inflict the female warrior with a curse, rendering her nearly useless. Beth fired off a speedy Esuna, but Zargabaath blasted Valkyrie backwards with a powerful shot of Mist and headed straight for the female warrior. Though he was close to passing out, Valkyrie did the only thing he could think of and swiped at the monster's ankles. Tripping over the unexpected sword, the mutant turned back to Valkyrie, deciding he was more of a danger than the female.
After getting both Zeus and Valkyrie back in good condition, Beth remembered Zeus' strategy during her battle in Rabanastre. Sleep had slowed Gilgamesh down then, and it would slow Zargabaath down now. It would be tough to manage between casts of White Magick, but it was worth a shot. She downed a hi-ether and continued to aid her allies, on the watch for an opportunity.
As the battle progressed and he took more and more damage, Zargabaath only grew angrier. The repeated blows were causing his body to deteriorate, meaning he became more and more unstable. Unexpectedly, he leapt back, drawing a final blade with his last good arm, and seemed to cease from fighting. Valkyrie charged forward, but Zeus had a bad feeling about what was coming next. She replaced her guns and drew the Save the Queen, charging forward as fast as possible.
Zeus was right about the danger. Striking his swords into the ground, Zargabaath fired off a terrible shockwave, and as the redhead had sped to the front line, she received the brunt of it. As the light faded and rubble settled, Valkyrie raised his blade to counter, but the monster was out cold.
"I finally got Sleep to work!" Beth yelled to him, triumphant. It was then she noticed Zeus gripping the edge of the bridge with one hand, vainly trying to hang on. "Oh gods!"
Valkyrie rushed over to the side. "What's hurt? Let me help you up."
Zeus smiled. "I tried to get my leg up, but I slipped even further." She struggled with something at her belt. "At least one of my legs is broken. I can't even move one of them."
"Dammit," said Valkyrie, "Curaga can't fix a broken leg. Well, let's at least get you up here, see if we can get you to the crystal before he wakes up."
"There's not that much time," panted Zeus. "Ah! Got it!"
She pulled the Masamune up with her spare hand and clattered it onto the bridge.
"Use that. You're excellent with it, and it may turn the tide in our favor. Besides, those who fall from the Skycity always survive, right?"
"Those who...what do you mean – Zeus!"
Valkyrie reached downward, but it was too late. Having released her hand from its precarious grip, Zeus was plummeting into the sea.
"She'll be okay," said Beth, reassuring Valkyrie as best she could. "Though researchers are still unsure of how it happens, those who fall always end up at the Phon Coast. The hunters will be there when she lands."
The moment of tension was cut short by a snarling grunt. It appeared that the spell was wearing off, and Zargabaath was soon to awaken. Having no time to consider the loss, Valkyrie sheathed his own weapon and gripped the Masamune.
Upon striking the first blow, Valkyrie realized that the katana of legend was a much better choice than his Claymore. Though he dealt about the same amount of damage, parrying became much easier, meaning he had more chances to slash at the monster. Zargabaath noticed this, and though he now assaulted Valkyrie with three blades instead of two, Valkyrie was still able to parry him rather easily. It didn't help that Beth was now assaulting him with casts of Bio, draining his health away.
Knowing his time was short, Zargabaath bypassed Valkyrie with an incredible burst of speed. Preparing another blast of Mist, he flew towards Beth, and this time Reflect couldn't absorb the Magick. Beth crashed to the ground, and the distorted being turned to face Valkyrie, twisting its mouth into a wicked grin.
As the two circled each other, Valkyrie weighed his options in his head. If he paused to try and awaken Beth, he would be stricken down in the blink of an eye. Yet, if he kept battling the creature and had to heal himself, he would certainly fall before long, as he couldn't match Zargabaath's pace. He could try and make a run for the crystal, but as he had just witness, the speed at which the creature moved was tremendous. Readying his sword, Valkyrie that the best option was to continue defending, hoping that the creature's many bleeding wounds would tire him out.
A blinding light burst from Valkyrie's chest, causing both boy and fiend to jump backwards. Beneath Valkyrie's feat, a glowing circle appeared, spinning wildly. The crest finally ceased its movement and lit Capricorn with a painful yellow aura, and for the first time, Valkyrie could see fear in the monster's eyes.
As if guided by instinct, Valkyrie raised his sword to the sky, feeling the power of Thunder running through his body. His entire body pulsing with the charge, he rammed his sword forwards to the air, and the red and green dragon known as the Emperor charged forward, blasting Zargabaath with what could only be Thundaja.
There was no way for Zargabaath to recover. Adrammelech tore through him with such force that his poor excuse for a body exploded into a thousand tiny pieces.
When Valkyrie was finally able to open his eyes, he saw nothing but the cavern leading deeper into the mines ahead of him. It seemed that Zargabaath had been completely obliterated: not even a fragment of the man remained.
Well, not quite. As Valkyrie glanced around the bridge, he noticed a simple coin lying on the ground. Upon walking closer, he recognized it to be the Ancient Medallion, the same piece of gold he had seen that day in the sewers, the one Beth had turned into a necklace, the cause of this whole mess. But after inspecting it, he realized that something had changed. That glitter of power, the one he had first recognized, had faded away, seemingly never to return.
Valkyrie picked it up, smiling. Nothing but a simple coin.