Two Destinies Chapter 25: The Battle with... Balir?
Author's Preface: Hooray for April Vacation! Three chapters all in the span of a week! :D *cough* Anyways, yeah, I know, I said I was gonna do a ToD2 chapter next, but I have no idea what I should do with that story line right now... _ And thus, you get to read a ToE chapter, instead! Time to kill a character! :D *shot*
After walking for what seemed to be an endless amount of time, it didn't seem like the team was making much progress through Balir's Castle. Every hallway looked identical to the ones prior, and there were absolutely no hints as to which way they should be heading.
"Great..." Reid complained. "We are completely lost..."
"Not exactly." Ras said. "We've kept ascending floors, so we aren't going around in circles."
"True..." Keele said. "But even I have lost track of the number of floors that we've gone up already..."
"I dunno if it's any indication..." Kyle started, "But the farther we go up, the more my neck bothers me... Something about this place is definitely giving me a bad reaction..."
"Supposedly, Balir has the ability to use the Dark Aurora..." Ras said. "He used it to initiate the Grand Fall. It might be his Aurora that you're sensing... Are you okay, regardless?" Reid shot a dirty glare at Ras. Kyle locked eyes with Ras.
"I'll be okay." He said. "It doesn't hurt THAT bad." Ras smiled.
"Good. At least you're all right." He placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "Now, if you ever do get to a point where your neck bothers you so much that you can't take it, just say so. Don't hold back telling us just so you can stay with the group." Kyle nodded slowly. In his nearly boiling jealousy, Reid grabbed Kyle's arm.
"Come on, Kyle... Let's go..." He said bitterly, storming off with the boy in his grasp so briskly that Kyle was stumbling to keep up.
"Slow down, Reid!" Farah said. "You're leaving the rest of us behind!" However, Reid had stopped cold a few paces ahead, and both he and Kyle were gawking at something ahead.
"...This doesn't look good at all..." Reid said as his gaze was transfixed on the sight ahead of them. Before them was the bloody mess of a whole slew of Celestians lying dead. They were all wearing the uniforms of Shileska.
"...Is Max okay?" Kyle wondered aloud as his eyes moved from body to body of the fallen Shileska members.
"Balir looks really strong if he could take out all of these guys..." Farah commented.
"Then we better stay on our guards... Who knows just what kind of terrible power the Dark Aurora is..." Ras said. There was a pensive look on his face.
"We must find Max!" Meredy said with a rare frown on her face. "Meredy hopes that Max is okay!" Keele nodded.
"All right. Let's find Max. If he's dead, then we'll just go on without him..." And with that, the team departed in search of their overenthusiastic Celestian teammate, all hoping that he was still alive.
The team had traversed down another long hallway, which, unlike the prior hallways, was strewn with the blood of fallen members of Shileska. As they approached the end, they heard a familiar cry.
"BURNING FORCE!" Everybody was relieved to hear this Arte being yelled out. Sure enough, when they turned the corner, there stood Max as well as a few other members of Shileska, firing at an oncoming slew of enemies, which ranged from minotaur-like Stronghorns to zombie-like Hominicles to Clay Golems and everything in between. Before anybody could stop him, Kyle ran to behind Max and held up his hands for a spell.
"BURN STRIKE!" He yelled, letting loose a stream of fireballs to incinerate some of the enemies. Max turned around when he saw the spell. Everybody else had filed in behind Kyle and was standing before Max.
"YEAH! There you are!" He said, smiling. We could really use your help, you guys..." At that moment, he turned around and fired off a round of missiles as he loosed a Magnum Missile Arte. Continuing, he added, "Though I don't think Reid and Farah should get involved in this one..." He said. "If they get close to you, they'll rip your head off..." A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's head.
"Looks like this one's up to Meredy, Keele, and Kyle..." He said, nodding to them. Almost at once, the three of them began casting spells again. Keele was up first.
"Let's put Volt to the test!" He announced. "Take this! Thunder Blade!" A large sword made out of lighting came down between a bunch of enemies and electrocuted them (Author's Note: Yes, this is Thunder Blade from Symphonia and onward, not Eternia's Thunder Blade.), but many more kept filing in.
"Take this!" Meredy said, twirling around. "Blizzard!" A howling stream of ice blew past the enemies, stopping quite a few in their tracks.
"Now it's my turn!" Cried Kyle. "Voltic Heat!" The funnel of air came careening downward, blowing many of the enemies away. Very few enemies were left standing in the wake of the three Mages' Artes. Max smiled.
"Thanks, you three." He said, aiming his gun at the remaining enemies. "Now, let's finish them off! BURNING FORCE!!" Once more, a gigantic fireball ripped through the remainder of the enemies, leaving not one of them still alive. The heroes were victorious! "YEAH!!!" Max said as he thrust his gun into the air in a moment of gloating over the victory.
"So, I'm guessing that you're Max?" Ras said, pushing the brim of his hat out of his face. Max grinned as he walked over to where Ras was standing.
"Yeah!" He said, holding out a hand. "I'm Max, the leader of Shileska and soon to be the next king of Celestia!" Ras took Max's hand and shook it.
"The name's Rassius Luine..." He said. "But you can just call me Ras."
"Very well." Max said. "So, you're an Inferian... Are you an old friend of Reid, Farah, and Keele here?"
"We know each other..." Ras said. "Though I don't know if they consider me their friend..." He looked at Reid especially when he said this, but Farah was the first to speak up.
"I consider you a friend." She said, smiling. Reid shot a dirty glare at Farah.
"I hate to break up this reunion..." Ayla said, appearing behind Max. "But we still have to infiltrate the rest of this castle, and we're not gonna do so without moving in."
"Yeah!" Max said. "Let's get going." And with that, the reunited team moved forward and closer to Balir's throne room.
Since the team had defeated a large number of enemies in that blockade, the rest of the castle was rather quiet. Few enemies engaged the team, and they were all quickly dispatched.
"Not so tough now, are you, Balir?!?" Max yelled down a hallway. "We'll take you on and kick your ass from here back to Inferia where you belong!"
"Max!" Farah scolded. "There's a twelve year old amongst us who shouldn't be hearing language like that!" Chat glared at Farah.
"Stop treating me like I'm some kind of baby!" She said, pouting. "You don't see any other twelve year old girls commandeering a large pirate vessel, do you?"
"Just because you are a sailor doesn't mean you should talk like one~~~" Reid said, snickering a little. A Pow Hammer bounced off his forehead. "Oww... Not many twelve year olds are good at giving people instant headaches with Pow Hammers, either..."
"Serves you right." Chat said, crossing her arms defiantly. At that moment, the mood was broken as Kyle sank to his knees, clutching at his neck. Almost instantly, Ras was there to help him back to his feet.
"You're holding in the pain, aren't you?" He said. "I asked you to let us know if you were feeling any pain, rather than bottle it up." Kyle sighed.
"I'm sorry..." He said in a rather pained manner. "I just didn't want to get in the way of this fight with Balir just because of my condition..." Ras wrapped his arm around Kyle.
"You won't be getting in the way..." He said. "Your well-being is as much of a concern to us as defeating Balir is." Kyle nodded slowly.
"Thank you..." He said quietly. "But really, defeating Balir should be your first priority... I might be in pain, but I'll be fine."
"Look!" Meredy chirped. "Those double doors!"
"They sure look like what would be the doors to the throne room..." Keele commented, rubbing his chin.
"Let's go see for ourselves." Reid said, taking a step forward. However, Max had run past him quickly and was banging on the door with his gun.
"OPEN THIS DOOR, BALIR!" He yelled. "OR I'LL BUST IT DOWN!" As he said this, he repeatedly kept banging on the door. Everybody else sweatdropped.
"Umm... Max?" Farah said, trying to stop him. However, at that moment, the sound of cracking wood had drowned out whatever it was that Farah was going to say. A couple seconds later, the wood had completely broke and fell apart, revealing the interior.
"Well, I guess we should go in, then..." Reid said, shrugging. "Max opened the door for us, so..." Farah glared at Reid for a second, and then she shrugged.
"Might as well..." She said a bit begrudgingly. The team then invited themselves into the room, prepared to fight Balir.
The team went down another long, dark corridor slowly. It seemed infinitely longer than the others. However, near the end of it, Kyle stopped.
"Guys, I have a REALLY bad feeling about this..." He said, hands around the back of his neck. "My neck is KILLING me... Balir must be really strong..."
"...Or dead." Farah said, looking ahead. The team quickly filed into the next room, only to see what looked like a zombie sitting on the throne. Meredy took a step forward.
"Ba... lir?" She said, staring at the figure on the throne. Everybody else took a step forward as well. Keele blinked twice before speaking.
"It's a mummy..." He said. "Balir is a mummy?" Meredy shook her head.
"No...!" She said. Everybody was really confused now.
"Does this mean Balir is dead?" Questioned Reid. "If so... who's behind the Grand Fall?"
"Ugh!" Kyle yelped as he once again sunk to his knees. "Damn, there's something still here..." At that moment, there was a quiet chuckling from behind them.
"Balir is dead..." A woman's voice said. Everybody turned to face the woman. She was a well-endowed woman who wore a long purple dress with a magenta headdress. She continued. "Balir died ten years ago... But his soul lives within me..."
"So... I was ten years too late?" Max said, looking a bit disappointed.
Ten years ago? Kyle thought. My dad also died ten years ago...
"...Shizel?!" Meredy said. The woman whom Meredy had called Shizel sashayed over to the throne where Balir's corpse was sitting. Once over near Balir, she stared at Meredy.
"Oh, so it's you..." She said. "It's been a long time, Meredy..." Everybody looked at Meredy.
"Meredy, do you know her?" Farah asked.
"Who is she?" Reid added. Meredy looked down, then again at Shizel.
"Shizel is..." Meredy stuttered. "Shizel is... Balir's consort..." Keele looked at Shizel, then again at Meredy before speaking.
"Consort?" He repeated. "You mean that Shizel is... Balir's wife?" Farah frowned at Shizel.
"Are you the one who's causing the Grand Fall?!?" She said, ready to throw fists at Shizel at any minute. Shizel chuckled.
"Of course~~~" She said, obviously not trying to hide it. "Could any other?" Ras pulled out his sword.
"You..." He said, pointing it at her. "Why would you do such a thing?!?" Shizel laughed.
"What is the value in a world choking in the miasma of its own sickening desire?" Everybody was surprised by this response.
"...Choking in the misma... of its own sickening desire?" Kyle repeated as if he had no idea what that meant. Shizel continued.
"It was also the dying wish of Balir against all those whose obsession with material possessions took his life." Reid took another step forward.
"That's no reason!" He yelled, also taking out his sword. "We can't just let you destroy Eternia!!!"
"You fool!" Shizel laughed. "It isn't destruction! It's REBIRTH! Balir and I will allow none to stand in our way!"
"Oh really?" Max said, pointing his gun at Shizel. "Then let me do the honors of standing in your way!" He fired a shot a Shizel, who seemed unaffected. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's neck.
"Max, I think you just instigated a fight..." He said. Shizel laughed again.
"Fool!" She yelled. At that moment, she summoned a bolt of lightning to come down and strike Max. Farah instantaneously ran over to see if he was all right.
"Max!" She said. "Are you all right?!?" Max opened his eyes, seemingly okay but a bit frazzled.
"...Yeah?" He said in a daze. Farah gave a relieved sigh and proceeded to heal him.
"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Kyle yelled, preparing a spell.
"Let's do it!" Reid cried. Shizel laughed.
"I can take you all on! You are all mere annoyances! This will be a waste of time!" At that moment, she began to throw lightning every which way at the heroes. Not skipping a beat, they all dodged the lightning as it struck the ground near their feet.
"Let's see you take this!" Kyle yelled, thrusting an arm into the air. "Burn Strike!" The flames fell harmlessly around Shizel, as if she had some kind of magical barrier up. "...It didn't work?" Kyle was flabbergasted. Usually his Burn Strike spell razed everything in the way.
"Fool! Curse your misery!" Shizel fired a bolt of lightning at Kyle, who was struck and fell to his knees with a small cry of agony.
"Kyle!" Farah cried as she ran over to him to heal. "Here, hang on a second..." Kyle stood up onto his feet shakily, rejecting Farah's help.
The two swordsmen danced around Shizel in tandem, striking almost simultaneously with the same Artes. Shizel was unaffected, however. Instead, she blew them away with more of her magic, tossing them in opposite directions.
"You can't stop me!" Shizel showed no signs of fatigue. "I'll flatten you all! Prism Sword!" The spell was aimed right at Keele and Meredy. Two multicolored blades struck the ground around them, disrupting their magic and throwing them to the sides.
"Let's try something new!" Chat cried, pulling out a glowing Pow Hammer from her bag. Once it was removed, it flew into the sky. Chat pointed at Shizel and cried "Miracle Hammer!" The Pow Hammer had come back down ten times larger and supposedly hit Shizel on the head. However, Shizel was hardly stunned by the attack.
"Time for me to try something new as well..." Shizel said, darkness brooding in her voice. "Take this!" A bolt of white lightning came down and struck Chat. After being knocked back a little, Chat cried out.
"Aah!" She said. "I can't move!" Keele turned to her.
"Hold on!" He said, making the usual hand motion he did when casting magic. "I have just the spell for you! Recover!" Upon feeling the effects of Keele's spell, Chat fell over, finally able to move again.
"Thanks..." She said as she stood back up. Once again, she faced Shizel. "Okay, you're gonna pay for that!"
"Ha ha ha!" Shizel was infuriated now. "You all just don't know when to give up, do you?!?"
"We won't give up until you go down!" Max said, firing missile round after missile round to no avail. "I will be the king of Celestia!"
"Don't kid yourself! You already lost!" At that moment, Shizel held a hand up to the air, and a purple void appeared over her head.
"W-what the hell is that?!?" Farah cried.
"This doesn't look good..." Ras commented, bracing himself. Shizel laughed again.
"You will now feel the true power of the Dark Aurora Artes!" She said. "This one's called 'Eternal Finality'~~~"
"I won't let you use that Arte!" Reid said as he started running towards her.
"Too late!" She yelled. At that moment, she held up both of her arms towards the void and began chanting. "Gates to the Eternal Void, show your passage!" A large energy sword appeared from the void. "Partake in my baptism of darkness!" The giant sword then plunged into the ground, unleashing a large amount of dark energy upon the party. Everybody was knocked over by the attack, and none of them could fully get up afterward.
"Dammit..." Reid said, voice full of pain. "She's gonna kill us..."
"The Darkness is so strong..." Kyle said, his neck aching more than the rest of his body. "And it really IS going to devour me... Damn..."
"Heh heh heh heh..." Shizel was once again laughing as she saw the heroes unable to move. "I did not wish to waste my true power on the likes of you... but you give me no choice..."
"This is it, guys..." Keele said. "We're finished..."
"No, we're not..." Ras said as he struggled to his feet. "Not if I have anything to say about it..." He ran between Shizel and the downed heroes and put up his arms. "Everybody, find the strength to get out of here! Run! You mustn't stay here!"
"Meredy cannot move..." Meredy said slowly.
"None of us can..." Chat groaned. "Ugh... I would if I could, but..."
"Heh heh heh... It's too late for any of you to run..." Shizel said, pointing at Ras. "Time for you all to vanish into Vatenkeist! Face the baptism of the Aurora!" Shizel's body started to crackle with lightning, but Ras stood firm on his feet.
"Aurora Wall!" He yelled as his body began to glow with many different colors. However, he was badly hurt, and the Aurora was fading fast. "Damn..." He grunted. "I don't have enough strength left... Ngh?!?" At that moment, the Aurora was glowing even brighter than before. A second later, a bright formless white glow appeared behind Ras. Everybody looked away from the brightness except Kyle.
"...Dad?" He wondered aloud. This was the same glow that had saved him from the Darkness once before. The glow then transformed into a shining six-winged angel with long flowing hair and golden-trimmed armor for a second.
I will always protect you from the Darkness... The voice of Stahn Aileron echoed within Kyle's mind. Kyle found the strength to rise to his feet again.
"Dad!" He said. "Thank you!" At that moment, the power that Shizel had been building up exploded outward, knocking everybody cleanly away. Before Kyle completely lost consciousness, he heard the screams of multiple voices. There was the cry of agony from Ras, and another cry he couldn't quite make out, but it was higher pitched. After hearing those cries, the world became quiet.
Reid was the first to recover. Totally in disbelief, he pinched himself to see if he was awake. "Am I... alive?" He wondered. Looking around, he saw the battered bodies of Meredy, Keele, Chat, Max, and Kyle lying what seemed to be lifelessly on the ground. "Hey!" He yelled as he stood up. "Is everybody all right?!?" Meredy was the next to awaken.
"I'm alive..." She said in amazement as she returned to her feet. "I wonder why..." Keele stirred next.
"I'm okay, too..." He said as he walked over to where Reid and Meredy were standing. Chat and Max awoke and stood up as well. The only one who hadn't moved was Kyle.
"Kyle?!?" Reid ran over to the young blonde's body and started to shake him. He wasn't waking up that easily. "Kyle, Kyle! No...!" He was afraid that Kyle had been killed. He was the only one standing besides Ras and had taken the full force of the blow. However, a small laugh came from Kyle's body.
"Dad..." He said. "My dad saved us... He gave Ras the power to protect us with that Aurora Arte..." Reid sighed. Kyle looked up at Reid. "Hey, Reid... What's wrong?"
"...What do you mean... 'what's wrong'?" He said, smiling as Kyle rose to his feet once again.
"Where's Farah?" Meredy noted.
"And what about Ras?" Chat added.
"Ras? Farah?" Reid looked around for the two of them, but the first thing he saw was Ras' battered body lying on the ground somewhat far away. "Ras!" The team ran over to where he was lying. His hat had been blown off during the Arte. "Ras!!" Reid bent over the fallen swordsman. He was weak, but still alive.
"Reid..." He said weakly. "I just remembered... There's something... I needed to give you..." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a tapered blue and gold device and handed it to Reid.
"W-what is this?" Reid asked, holding the object in his hand. Looking at it closer, he recognized the object. "..Is this... the Seyfert Key?"
"Indeed..." Ras said, sighing weakly.
"Ras..." Kyle too bent over Ras. "My father recognized you as a good person... At one point, I had thought you were a minion of the Darkness, but that couldn't be any farther from the truth..."
"Kyle..." Ras looked at the younger blonde standing over him. "The Key that Reid now has... It lead me to the First Trial of Seyfert... That's where I met you..." Kyle was confused.
"W-what do you mean?" He said, locking eyes with Ras. The older blonde chuckled.
"During the Trial, I took on the form of your Celestian friend Loni..." Kyle gasped.
"...Loni?" He said. "You know Loni, too?!?"
"Indeed. For a short time, I was him..." Ras was getting weaker. "My task was to protect you... But it wasn't you as you currently are... You were only five years old during the Trial... You looked so much like me, that I thought you WERE a younger version of me... That is, until I realized how different than me you were... Loni was Celestian, but you wanted to be best friends with him. I would have shied away from Loni because he was different... But you weren't like that... To think that I finally got to meet you outside of the Trial... You're just as pure and innocent as you were back when you were five..."
"Ras..." Kyle said, looking like he was about to cry. "So THAT's what you meant when you said all those things to me... That's why you went out of your way to protect me... I understand now..."
"Reid..." Ras turned to face Reid again. He reached a hand up and took the hand that Reid wasn't holding onto the Seyfert Key with. The two of them began to glow rainbow colors, but Reid wasn't feeling pain, unlike when this event occurred between him and Meredy.
"...This light..." He said. "...What is it?"
"It is the Divine Aurora..." Ras explained. "You and I both have the ability to use the Divine Aurora..."
"But what is the Divine Aurora?" Reid asked. "What does it have to do with me?" At this point, Ras' skin was starting to lose its color. He took a deep breath.
"Meet with Galenos..." He said. "He will tell you the rest..." Reid stared at Ras, who chuckled weakly. "I guess... this is the end for me..."
"Ras!" Kyle yelled. "Ras, no!"
"Reid..." He said. "Protect those you love. Aurora Artes exist for that purpose..." After saying this, Ras' grip went weak in Reid's hand.
"Ras!" Reid, Keele, and Meredy all said the same thing one right after the other. Kyle buried his face into the palms of his hands and began to cry. The others started crying as well. Reid stood up and wiped away the tears from his face.
"...Ras..." He said. "I will... I'll protect the people I love..." He turned to look at the Van Eltia. "...We need to return to Galenos... Come on, you guys..." Almost everybody rallied behind Reid and was ready to return to the Van Eltia. Everybody except Kyle. He was still slouched over Ras, not having moved at all. Reid walked over to Kyle. "Come on, Kyle... Let's go..."
"You never cared about him, did you?" Kyle's voice was full of anger. "You just want to get away from him so you'll forget him faster..."
"Kyle, that's hardly the case... Please, let's go..." Reid put a hand on Kyle's shoulder. Almost instantly, Kyle yelped and shrank away from Reid. The blonde glared at Reid, tears still stuck in his eyes.
"You..." He said. "YOU're the one my neck was reacting to... I can't believe my doubts with Ras prevented me from seeing the truth!"
"Kyle?"
"I can't believe you! How could you be so heartless?!? Ras gave his life to protect us, and all you wanna do is go following that stupid thing he gave you! No wonder my dad picked Ras over you! I hate you!" After that, Kyle ran off toward the Van Eltia.
"Kyle!" Reid yelled, but Kyle never looked back. "'I hate you'... Did he really mean that?" Reid felt doubly hurt. First Ras had died, and then Kyle had said such harsh things to him. "Kyle... You don't understand... I promised you that I'd protect you from the Darkness... I'd never hurt you on purpose..."
"I hate to change the topic..." Keele said. "But where's Farah? I don't see her anywhere..."
"Is Farah dead, too?" Meredy said, looking like she was about to burst into tears again. At that moment, a glowing white figure touched down where the party had first found themselves after being blown out of Balir's Castle and seemed to pick something up off of the ground. Reid ran over to the figure and tried to look past the brightness.
"...Are you... Kyle's father?" Reid asked. The figure said nothing, but held out a glowing white tendril. "...Is there something you want to give me?" The figure silently opened to reveal a red ribbon in its grasp. Reid gasped. "Farah!" He said. He looked at the figure. "Kyle's father, is Farah okay?!?" Another glowing white tendril reached up at an angle towards the sky. "...Is she on Inferia?" The tendril shook as if saying no. "...So, she's somewhere else?" The white arm fell gently upon Reid's shoulder. "So, she IS somewhere else... Is she okay?" The glowing figure shrugged briskly. "...I hope Farah's okay..."
Author's Final Note: Now this chapter was a real shocker... Farah's gone, Kyle's mad at Reid, and Ras is dead... What else can go wrong?!? MUCH more! :D *shot* Stay tuned for another update, which (this time for sure!) will be a ToD2 chapter! In the meantime... Reviews, please? *makes puppy dog eyes*