A/N: I've never played Final Fantasy IX so forgive me if I got the details of the Iifa Tree wrong.
By the way, his name is pronounced EH-mid. :)
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Aya's Origins – Chapter 7
The Iifa Tree…
A small decomposing root breaks easily under Aya's shoes as she navigated her way through a giant tangled web of dead and deteriorating roots and branches. Of course, it wouldn't be so much of a problem if it wasn't for the obvious fact that she was trudging through a huge tree. So huge that it could be a world of its own.
"Whoa!"
The teenage girl lands on a mangled mess of smaller roots after getting her shoe caught in a hidden branch, breaking through the thick bush and landing squarely on the barren ground underneath. Groaning in pain, she turns to discover the left leg of her pants cut open, a slash of blood oozing through the fresh wound of her leg. She lets out a irritated cursing and climbs onto a stable root that was wide enough to support her entire body. Setting herself steady, she pulls up her injured leg to roll up the pant leg and inspect it. The half-inch wide jagged cut was bleeding profusely, staining the deep blue of her jean pants. Not wanting to use up any part of her pants, Aya decides instead to roll out the right sleeve of her jean jacket and rips off a third of it. She then uses Ferocity's blade to cut the sleeve lengthwise, giving her a long rectangle of fabric to work with.
Curaga.
Aya spins her head around upon hearing that. "Who's there?"
No answer.
The girl couldn't figure out where the voice came from, nor could she narrow down what the voice could have belonged to. Ever since she acquired the ability to use Fire magic, this same voice kept sounding out every often or so. Each time she felt herself and her magic powers become stronger and stronger.
"Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Graviga…" Aya spoke out, recalling the most recent magic list in her mind. "And now, Curaga. This is getting annoying. How the heck am I getting these spells?"
Pointing Ferocity over her left leg, she summons Blizzaga to create a crystal of ice. Soon after the ice formed, she then calls out Firaga and melts the ice over her leg. A sharp hiss of breath was sucked through clenched teeth as the resulting cascade of water washes over her wound. Once cleaned, she places a hand over the wound and initiates Curaga. The spell manages to stop the bleeding but she still needed to cover it up. Taking the sleeve fabric, Aya proceeds to tourniquet the remaining exposed flesh, reduced now to a simple red line. With that done, she rolls up what was left of the sleeve on the jacket to make it match the other rolled up sleeve.
Aya takes a deep breath and stands herself up on the huge root she was sitting on. Pain shot up her injured leg as she did so, causing her to wince at the intense feeling.
"Man," she groans as she uses her spear to support herself. "It still hurts."
Slowly and steadily Aya makes her way through the sea of giant tree roots, heading for the decrepit center where the giant tree itself stood, albeit dead for who knows how long. A heavy mist hung in the air between the top of the Iifa Tree and the roots below, creating a humid aura about the gargantuan plant. As Aya stumbles along, she gazes up at the still-attached branches of the tree the closer she got to the trunk, wondering what great event took place so long ago. The world in which it resided was long gone, replaced by a barren landscape surrounded by darkness.
Upon getting within fifty meters of the tree trunk, Aya could hear the sounds of sorrowful whimpering through the densely laid tree roots before her. Supporting most of her weight on her good right leg, she takes the staff of Ferocity in both hands and aims its sharp blade at the center of the wall of roots before her.
"Firaga!"
In a blaze of fire, the roots burned away, revealing a clear path to the trunk of the giant tree. Using her spear as a walking stick once again, Aya saunters through the path, the sound of crying getting louder and louder as she nears the tree itself. It wasn't until she entered a clearing when she finally notices a dark figure sitting huddled near the base of the tree. Curious as she was, Aya cautiously approaches the individual whom she deemed to be a young man from the sound of his voice.
"Are you all right?"
The person was startled by the girl's presence as he whips around to face her. Aya's eyes went wide to discover that the crying individual was very familiar indeed.
"Emyd?" she takes a step forward towards him. "Is it really you?"
"You've got to get out of here, Aya," the young man responds with panic in his tone. "I can't… I can't control it as well as Ale and Relena."
"Wha… What are you talking about?"
She takes another step forward.
"Don't!" Emyd cries out, taking a step backwards towards the tree behind him. "Please, don't come any closer, Aya. I don't want to hurt you."
"Why would you hurt me?" Aya asks, her left leg throbbing slightly from the wound. "You're a Heartless, too, aren't you?"
The young blonde-haired man hangs his head as he wraps his arms around his chest, his body shuddering slightly. "Yes, I am. That's why you've got to stay away from me."
"But why?"
"Because Heartless hunger for the hearts of others. It's an uncontrollable urge."
"But… Ale and Relena never tried to take my heart."
"That's because they're stronger than me. They can control the darkness within them better than I can." Emyd looks up at his friend with a mixture of fear and concern in his saddening eyes. "The darkness within me is forcing me to take your heart. I don't want to."
"Then don't let it!" cried out Aya. "You can do it, Emyd. Fight it with everything you've got."
"I've been fighting it, Aya," the young man whimpers in response. "I can't beat it."
"Emyd…"
Suddenly, her friend began groaning in pain and cries out in fear. Shadows crept all around him, slowly engulfing him inch by inch. The teenage girl was startled by the occurrence, staggering back away from him.
"What… What's happening? Emyd!"
"Anti-form."
"What?"
"Heartless like Ale, Relena, and me have the power of Anti-form," began Emyd as the lower half of his body became deep black. "It turns us into the Heartless monsters we truly are when someone with a heart is nearby. It's uncontrollable."
"No…" Aya breaths in shock at the sight before her. "How could this happen? Why are you all Heartless?"
"You already know the answer to that, Aya," replied Emyd, the darkness now encompassing two-thirds of his body.
The girl watches helplessly as another of her closest friends was slowly being taken over by darkness. She knew deep down in her heart that another fight was on hand, but she wasn't sure that she would survive this one as easily as she did with her other friends. She was still wounded from her fall and the thought of having to fight a friend who was becoming one with darkness seemed to weaken her chances to fight back even further. Within minutes she was now standing before a being of pure darkness with bright yellow eyes peering from the soulless figure. She could see that the creature still retained the shape of her friend, making it hard for her to want to fight it.
It's not your friend anymore.
The now dark shadow that was Emyd lashes out quickly, striking with fingers that are now claws. Aya barely managed to dodge the attack, the sharp digits just grazing her jacket. She lands a few feet away, accidentally using her wounded leg to end the leap. She curses instantly as pain shot up her leg. Before she knew what was happening, the dark Emyd was jumping at her again with claws outstretched. Whipping Ferocity around, Aya slashes the being away, sending him flying backwards into a wall of dense roots. Catching a second wind, Emyd dashes out of the pile of dead roots and comes at the girl on all fours. Now with an obvious limp due to her quick reaction, Aya tries to deflect the shadow's attacks with Ferocity only to have it knocked out of her hands. Taking advantage of the situation Emyd unleashes a fury of slashes upon the girl with the final attack sending her flying back deep into another wall of roots. Aya yells out in pain as broken branches cut her up during flight, memories flashing within closed eyes as she flew.
Darkness falls.
No, not darkness. Evil.
Must protect…
Key…Use the Key to close the doors.
Groaning, she summons up the last of her magic powers to launch a Thundaga strike upon the quickly approaching shadow Emyd. The lightening stunned the yellow-eyed creature, giving Aya enough time to go look for her spear.
Help me escape…
For all the light in the heart of a ten-year-old…Within lies a hero…
Within… Within…
Digging through some more dead roots and fallen branches, Aya catches a glimpse of the glinting metal of Ferocity.
In the same room, suddenly it's a real planet...
Hug it and let's go…
Stay… Stay and sleep…
Here it's all in the light…
Was it in the darkness?...
She manages to grab hold of the spear's staff before she felt something grab hold of her right ankle.
Of course, he was evil…
See… See where he walks… It's moving…
He won't call me…
Hug me…
Miss the darkness, it must be the end…
Ascension there…
For you see, powerfully… Yours is bright and now missing…
It's me…
Yeah, we know that…
Before Aya could even think, Emyd drags her out of the thick pile of dead roots by her leg and throws her into the trunk of the Iifa Tree hard.
He's moving…
Is it hard to be dark?...
Help me, help me…
Let me see…
He believes then…
Battle bruises…
The girl cries out in intense pain as her back cracks against the loosened bark of the tree. She falls to the ground grimacing from the aches that now dotted her body. Looking up with one eye, she could see Emyd running at her on all fours again like a feral predator closing in on its prey.
It won't call me… Oh, I missed that call…
To the other, it was me…
One there, shot… That doesn't help…
Let your mind go crying now…
We found they were weak…
He was, obviously…
He needs that greed…
With a mighty leap, Emyd comes down on Aya with dark claws outstretched and aimed for her throat, fully prepared to rip her to shreds. The girl looks up at her opponent and fidgets around quickly to find her spear.
Hug it and let's go…
Stay… Stay and sleep… Feel it more every night…
Wasn't he the darkness?
Just when Emyd was upon her, Aya manages to grab hold of Ferocity and in the blink of an eye, the shadow being had fallen into the weapon. Red-orange eyes gaze into glowing yellow ones as the latter slowly lost its lively intensity. Soon Aya was face-to-face with her old friend, the darkness faded away from his body. However, his wound proves fatal as black smoke evaporated from his stomach where Ferocity pierced right through him.
"Thank you… Aya…"
With his last breath, Emyd completely fades away, leaving the girl to cry tears of sadness for the sorrowful fate of her beloved friends.
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A/N: Hmm, wonder how much more of Aya's lost past will she encounter next? Has anyone noticed the connections yet?