Convergence - Prelude to Darkness, part 10
"So, what do you suggest we do then?" Aerith asked Freet, disturbed by the predicament she was in. "If
you don't know the surroundings at all, what use are you to me than a lighter?" Freet raised an eyebrow,
snorting flames out of his nostrils.
"I can do more than play with fire. For instance..." He snapped his fingers, an echo resonating in the mouth
of the cave. Aerith looked around, expecting something to be different, while Freet merely smirked. In a matter
of minutes, a fireball from within Ifrit's Cauldron came out. "Start hoverin' and find us a village or something
nearby."
The fireball began to rise, which startled Aerith. She didn't know they could operate outside of the cavern
with how they were arranged during her escape. After it got high enough to see around the wasteland, it
bobbed up and down.
"It says there's a small village to the northwest of here, and we can reach it through the wasteland." He
snapped his fingers again, dispersing the fireball up above them. Aerith gasped, worried about the thing. "Don't
worry. It just went back to where it belonged." He smirked, floating over to her shoulder and sitting on it. "Let's
get going!"
"You're just going to hitch a free ride while I do all the walking?"
"Nonsense! I'm gonna protect you, remember? So, I gotta keep my energy up. Besides, there's probably
nothing among these bones anyway." He patted her cheek, smiling. "Nothing to fear as long as I'm here.
Remember that." Winking, he pointed forwards, signaling her to start walking.
With her staff in hand, Aerith began walking away from the mouth of Ifrit's Cauldron, taking her time scaling
the numerous hills of skeletons when there was no way around them. Thick clouds of fog seemed to hover
close to the ground, making it hard to see around them sometimes. She often lost sight of the sky, trying to use
it to gauge which direction she needed to go.
"So, what's the story with you?" Freet asked bluntly. "You died, and then you wake up alive? That's kind of
freaky, don't you think?" Aerith nodded, wondering herself. "Maybe there's a connection between you coming
to life and the sky? Or a connection between those two and the area being different?"
"Your guess is probably better than mine. All of this is different to me, so it's no surprise that none of it is
familiar. But, you've been out of the cave plenty of times, so I'm sure it came as a shock to you to see everything
like it is."
"That is definitely true. The sky looks the same, but that's not counting for much, what with the influence of
magic in the world." He winked, blowing out a small wisp of smoke that resembled a heart at her. "Take me for
example. I'm a being of magic, as true as the nose on your face."
"I can see that. And those fireballs back there, I'm guessing they were magic as well?"
"We call them Bombs, because of their fiery tempers sometimes." Freet snickered, mimicking their explosive
nature. "Pops usually had to submerge them in lava to keep them from blowing up the cave."
"If you and Ifrit are the same, why do you call him 'Pops'? I still don't understand that."
"It's complicated." Freet leaned forward on her shoulder, striking a thinking pose. "Think of it like time; he's my
future, and I'm his past. He's what I'll become, and I'm what he used to be." Aerith shrugged, following him
slightly. "When a Guardian, such as him, loses their ability to become physical, it takes a toll on the element we
control."
"The Bombs back there started picking on you as soon as he disappeared, right? Well, that's because his
influence was weakening. I was trying to sleep, but apparently they didn't know that." He hopped off of her
shoulder and pointed at the ruby in her necklace. "I came from this. It's like my home."
"Ah, I see. So you were the one who said to be quiet earlier?" Freet nodded, smirking. "It was rather deep,
so I thought it was Ifrit."
"Like I said; we're the same person. So, it's only natural you'd think that. Watch it." He halted her progress as
a steam geyser shot forth from the ground. The steaming water narrowly avoided touching her going up, giving
her time to move out of the way before it came down. Freet winked, hovering back to her shoulder.
"Thanks. So, how did you do that?"
"I sensed the heat." Freet flexed his arm, trying to impress her some more. She couldn't help but laugh,
enjoying the company. Before she even realized it, she had traversed through the wasteland, finding grass
beginning to bloom on the edges. Smoke rose beyond a small line of trees, which they both hoped was where
the village was.
Aerith jumped off of the last hill of bones, glad to see signs of life once again. She lost her balance near the
bottom, falling face first into the dirt and sending Freet flying a few feet away from her. As she began to stand,
she felt something snagged on her foot. Thinking it was just a stray bone she tripped over, she looked back to
move it away.
"Aerith!" Freet said, but it was too late; she had already seen the bony hand of a skeleton as it held onto her
foot. From underneath the pile of bones, it stared at her with its vacant eye sockets, the entire skull deformed to
give it an angry expression.
Bending to try and pry the skeleton's grip from her foot, she found it to be far stronger than she would've
expected. Taking hold of her staff, she began to whack at it a few times on the skull, hoping to make it retreat. As
the skull started to crack, she felt its grip tighten.
"Freet, help!" she asked, not sure what to do. She took a whack at its arm, breaking it apart and allowing her to
get away from the pile of bones. The skeleton pulled itself out from underneath, staring at her intensely as a red
light shined from deep within.
The bony hand of the skeleton was still holding onto her foot tightly, despite her attempts to pull it off. Freet flew
over and held his hands out towards it, releasing a steady stream of fire on it. Singing her pants lightly, he
managed to cause its grip to loosen.
Taking hold of the hand at that moment, she pulled it off and threw it at the skeleton, who was walking towards
her slowly. A black liquid oozed out of the skeleton's joints, giving it a creepier look. The same liquid began to pour
out of the other skeletons near the wasteland's edge, causing them to start moving.
"We don't stand a chance against these many creatures. Let's get going!" Freet said, hovering beside Aerith as
she stood up and ran towards the billowing smoke. She hoped that the skeletons wouldn't follow them, not wanting
to look back. Whatever world she found herself in was turning out to be more dangerous than she expected.
She often lost sight of the sky, trying using it to gauge which direction she needed to go.