Chapter 14

Gift of the Goddess

Youko stumbled upon arrival. It wasn't anywhere near as smooth or precise as it normally was. No build up. No mist. Just one minute he felt like something was attempting to tear his soul apart—something he'd began to consider a possibility after how outraged those words had been. Contract?—and then the next he was staggering as already weakened legs hit stone. There was no compulsion. No discernable target amidst this world of blinding green, so he allowed himself to drop to his knees. His breathing was harsh. Pained. Each one feeling like a slap on an already opened wound.

Something was wrong. Something was different.

That voice. He…remembered it. Somehow.

"Shit. Are you okay?" Another voice. He knew this one. Zack. Zack was here? Of course he was. He'd been summoned after all. "But—how—I didn't do anything. Sure Ammy likes to initiate a summon, but I always have to finish it—"

"You did not summon him." That voice, powerful. Familiar. No, it wasn't one voice. Many voices. The voice of a god. "I did."

Youko forced his head up, peering through the curtain of his hair into the sea of green energy surrounding them. That same overpowering scent and taste of Life assaulted him, it was the green energy. That was the energy that always came searching for him. That was the magic that swept over him like a wave, carrying his spirit from one world to the next. And that voice…

Flashes of jumbled memory. Death. A white fox mask. A price.

"Lady Inari…" He breathed out; his head pounding as the green mist began to coalesce, forming a humanoid silhouette in the thickest of the green mist. But no, she did not have the white fox mask of his patron deity. Of the one in that memory. But her voice…that presence…it nagged at him.

"Wait a sec—did you just speak!?" Youko grit his teeth and shot a glare at Zack, who was currently kneeling beside him. Didn't he realize he was in the presence of a god?

And then he froze, eyes widening, one hand going to his throat. He had. But then he shook his head, hissing back, "Now isn't the time!"

"Damn. Of course it's in a completely other language."

Youko ignored that, focusing on the armored woman who touched down on the stone floor before them. Long blond hair streamed behind her, teased by the swirling mist. Golden armor, wings of rippling white cloth. Shield in one hand, ornate staff clasped in the other…the sight of her took his breath away. She wore no helm, eyes as deep as eternity, and as green as this world bore into him. "You came very close to breaking your contract, Youko Kurama."

"What contract?" The pain was receding now. It was strange. He couldn't feel Zack. Not like he normally could. He just felt…her.

Then again...he wasn't the one to summon him this time, was he? "If you mean my promise—I made that to Zack. And Zack alone."

He'd promised to aid Zack. Not this woman—goddess. He had no idea what contract she was talking about.

"I have been…lenient with you. You are no god; you cannot be expected to remember that which you agreed to in death. But with that promise, you once more accepted the terms of your contract. I will not tolerate interference again."

Youko grit his teeth, her voice resounding in his head like a final cymbal crash, marking the end of a particularly poignant phrase. It was so…damning. No hope of arguing.

"Look, freaky floating lady, I have no idea what's going on here." Zack stood up, stepping between Youko and the resplendent goddess before them. He had that huge sword in a two-handed grip, holding a defensive posture in front of the fox's kneeling, and for the moment defenseless body, "I can't understand a word you two are saying, but if you are threatening my Guardian, I'm going to have to do something about that."

"Don't be foolish, Zack!" Youko barked, it felt so surreal actually being able to speak like this. Not that it meant much when there was an obvious language barrier. Why was it only one way? The young man obviously recognized his name, and shot him a confident grin over his shoulder, "Don't worry about it. I've taken down scarier looking things than this lady."

She's a god you idiot. Youko thought viciously, but he didn't get the chance to say the words. He felt her attention shift from him to the swordsman. He heard her words shift, even as he could still understand them. She'd changed languages. "Favored of the Cetra, do you wish to defend him? Will you take his crime unto yourself, and prove yourself above my judgment?"

"What crime?" Youko spat back, "You yourself said I came close, but I did not break it." He was guessing. He had no idea of the specific terms. Death. She said he'd agreed to it upon death. He'd only died once, and he had next to no memory of the event. Oh, he knew the plan. It had always been a contingency plan. Evade the Ferry Girls, find an unborn human child, and hide. He'd always assumed it had worked, since he'd woken up a human toddler, once his tattered soul had time to heal. "I came."

"You came at my summons. You ignored his. The one who holds your Oathstone." She nodded toward the swordsman standing in front of him, stamping the butt of her staff into the ground. "Ignoring the call once you re-accepted the terms binding you is a significant breech."

"I didn't summon anyone!" Zack shifted his stance, "There's no way he can ignore it if I didn't ask."

The goddess…laughed. "You did. You were reaching for him with your magic the moment I brought you to this plane. He is your guardian, is he not? The partner you call on when you need it most. Should your life be in danger, where would you instinctively turn? Not to Ifirt. Nor to Odin. Not even Amaterasu. She and the Cetra belong together, and you instinctively recognized that."

Zack flinched, and then glanced guiltily over his shoulder. His body language hunched, but then he straightened, gloved hands tightening on the hilt of his sword, "If you are right…then it's really my fault. I will not let you hurt him for something I did!"

"Don't!" Youko wanted to shout. Wanted to reach out and grab the young man by the shirt and drag him away from the entire situation. But he couldn't move. The ease of speech was gone, the restriction had been lifted, he realized, to allow him to give his defense in this…trial of sorts. Now the usual conditions returned, that unseen hand strangling the sound in his throat. That same force ran through every inch of this magic-constructed body. He could feel the will holding him still. Holding him silent. An observer, not a participant.

Zack was not his summoner this time. She was, and she didn't want him to interfere. He could do nothing as a golden helm formed, hiding her face from sight.

"Very well. I accept your right to challenge."

x-x-x

Zack didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. The floating crazy lady was fast, even his limits only bounced off her shiny gold armor. He'd grown desperate and tried Chain Slash, which normally took a good chunk out of whatever he'd been fighting. Nothing. He'd tried to avoid using offensive magic—most of her attacks were spells—and regulated his reserves for keeping constant Wall and Reflect spells up. At this point in a fight, he would normally call on one of his summons, but his preferred one was currently frozen in the center of a quickly cast bubble of defensive spells and probably wouldn't be able to help him anyway. How did one summon a summon that had already been summoned, but not by you? If she was telling the truth about having been the one to force the summoning—and how that was possible when the materia was in Zack's bracer—then she was probably keeping Silver out of the fight on purpose.

Ifrit and Odin wouldn't answer either. Their materia remaining dark even as he switched them with some of his current slots, rolling to dodge the slow moving fire ball chasing him around the arena. Was she blocking them too?

His inattention led him to miss a step, the fire clipping him in the side and exploding in a wave of magic and heat. It knocked him back, some of the force being absorbed by the Wall spell, some of it veering away and rebounding on the woman. He saw it shatter before it reached her, much as the rest of the reflected spells had. He sucked in a pained breath, forcing himself to ignore the added burn of the mako working to repair the damage. He plucked a small container from his inventory, downing the foul tasting green liquid. The Elixir would help with the healing, and would give him the magic to cast another Wall and a Regen spell as well. He absently thanked anyone that was listening that he'd taken Sephiroth's advice all those days ago. He'd started with some ten Elixirs. He only had a handful left. He would have been toast long ago if it weren't for them.

Before he was back to his feet huge chucks of crystalline ice smashed into the stone floor around him. He rolled on the ground, kicking into a dash the moment he got his feet under him. He ended up directly beside the crazy lady—he hadn't looked to where he'd dashed to, having been too worried about avoiding the falling ice to pay attention to it. Adrenalin and mako rushed through his veins, bringing with it a fire of strength and fury. He drew on it, remembering the times he'd worked beside Sephiroth, the time more recently he'd been training with him. He remembered Sephiroth's smirk, his strength, his confidence…

And most importantly, his sword technique.

Octaslash!

It didn't quite feel like Octaslash though. Something else sparked between each slice, a surge of strength. Of power. Octaslash focused on one point. Zack moved, bouncing around the woman, making one heavy blow here. One there.

Eight strikes. Nine. Ten. Eleven.

With each blow the force seemed to increase, his sword sliding, scraping, and hissing as metal screeched against metal. There were dents in her armor now. A few more swings. If the power kept growing with each one—and he knew it would—then he might finally get through that armor!

Twelve.

Her shield smashed to the ground, knocked free by a heavy blow to the gauntlet.

Thirteen.

One of her "wings" collapsed to the ground, sheared off by another.

Fourteen.

Her helmet flew free, once more releasing that golden hair.

Final strike—

She caught the Buster Sword with her staff, killing Zack's momentum. He went to disengage, to try a different venue of attack, but she refused to let him. A twist of the stave and Zack's shoulder exploded into pain, his arm going limp at his side. Dislocated? Easy enough to fix, he'd just have to pop it back into place after all this was done, the mako would take care of the rest.

Unfortunately, he could not wield the Buster Sword one handed. Not weakened like this. The tip clanked to the ground. Zack groaned in pain, finally letting the blade fall, hand going to his shoulder. A good shove and it should work—

An icy blast of wind bore into him, stripping him of the beneficial magic spells he'd kept up. It tore through his Wall. His Reflect. His Barrier. His Regen.

All of a sudden he almost buckled from the pain, as the numbing side-effect of the regen spell was ripped away. His good hand went limp, unable to go through with his earlier plan. He almost sank to his knees, but he struggled to keep to his feet.

"Enough." Her voice rang around him. Through him. It seared through the pain, "You have fought well, but my judgment comes."

He could feel the magic building, intricate circles drawing themselves into the stone beneath him. He clenched his teeth, drawing on every ounce of power he had. Every ounce of energy. She was right in front of him. She was absorbed in her casting. He gathered a fist, and let it fly.

He didn't remember anything else.

x-x-x

Youko watched, incredulously, as Zack punched a goddess. In the gut. And then collapsed into her startled arms. She didn't seem hurt by the blow, but the ominous red magic faded, and the build-up of power slowly ebbed away. She just held him carefully, thoughtfully. Deep green eyes searching his face.

Suddenly, the iron will holding him down faded, and Youko sprang to his feet, crossing the distance between where he'd been bound and where the goddess stood. She didn't protest as Youko took the young man from her. He forgot about her completely, checking over the unconscious soldier. Hesitantly he forced the mangled shoulder back into place—luckily Zack was near enough to a human in his physiology that Youko's assumption was correct—and he automatically began growing one of his healing herbs.

And then he froze. The herb was growing faster. Much faster than it should. The power he was using…it wasn't his.

He turned slowly, meeting the thoughtful face watching the both of them. She saw his unasked question, and inclined her head. "Continue. I will hold the bond as you work."

So Youko focused on tending the unconscious soldier. Luckily the dislocated shoulder had been the worst injury he could access. The rest appeared to be energy exhaustion, as the…magic in Zack's body worked to heal itself. He could almost see it, a green glow traveling under the skin, concentrating in the areas of the most damage. Burns faded slowly, only the faintest of green wisps escaping from the edges of the tissue. Any cuts were already gone.

But Youko did what he could. He tore a strip from the goddess's fallen wing-armor to bind the shoulder. He administered his herbs, one which would numb the pain, and another which would help bolster natural healing. At last there was nothing he could do but wait.

"In honor of his defense, I will overlook it this time." The goddess' voice reminded Youko of her presence. He lifted his head to see her still standing there, "But take this as your last warning. Do not try and shirk your obligations again. No matter the reason."

She crossed the stone floor, gathering the fallen sword with ease. She laid it gently at Zack's side, who Youko had laid on the ground while he worked, head pillowed by the rest of the cloth he had cut from the "wing".

"What did I agree to?" To his surprise, Youko found the words came out. "The terms. Why did I bind myself to you?"

She turned those green, green eyes on him. "I cannot tell you why. That answer is locked within your own heart. As for the terms…"

He felt his heart pounding in his ears as she paused, the silence seeming to stretch on and on. That was silly. He was just mist and magic here. He had no heart right now. Not a physical one.

"Service, to be initiated upon your body coming into your power once again. An Eidolon is charged to protect the one who holds the Oathstone. The proof of your contract." She knelt, placing an armored finger on the red materia glowing gently in the metal—bracelet?—just above Zack's glove. "I save lives, so they may save mine. The Calamity nears. Eidolons gravitate toward the humans at the nexus of fate. Those who may help. Whether they choose to do so or not…well, it is one of the failings of humans."

Suddenly, the power buoying Youko faded, and the light in the materia dimmed, flickering. He was overwhelmed by exhaustion—none of it his own. Zack. She'd transferred the bond back to Zack. Who was running on fumes as it was. He wouldn't be able to hold out on his own for long.

She placed both her hands over the metal bracelet—armor—that held the colored glass orbs. It glowed. Shifting. Changing. Becoming something else, etched with the wings of angels.

"Give him your name, before you go." She turned away, walking toward the rift, slowly dissolving into mist. Green mist. "And remember my warning. I do not normally accept mortals. Do not make me regret my decision."

And then the green faded away. Shouts rang out across the room. Youko spun. Two men were running towards them, from an opening in the wall others began to spill out. Three others in the same uniform—a purple version of Zack's outfit—and then a handful of others, all dressed in long white coats.

He forced himself to his feet, summoning his whip and making it bloom, the coiled vine wrapped around his clawed hands. He snarled at the oncoming enemies, positioning himself between Zack and them. They ground to a halt, hands going uncertainly to their swords.

"Stop." A nasal voice commanded, drawing the attention of the five combatants. Youko flattened his ears. Something felt off about that man. He smelled…tainted. The man had one of the long white coats, with long black hair and glasses that shone in the dim light. "I recognize it. It's one of the boy's summons. Leave it be. As for the rest of you," He barked at the others, "I want every inch of this cave recorded and measured. Get to work!"

They scrambled to do as he said. Obviously the man was in charge. The armed soldiers seemed uneasy, glancing between Youko, and the man who'd just given them the order. One of them stepped forward, hand still on his weapon, "Director, sir…Fair is unconscious."

"Yes, yes." The man waved it off, "It is an…anomaly…but this ability has been reported. Go help them with moving the equipment!" He snapped to two of the other guards, gesturing sharply toward the entrance, where some of the other white-clad men were struggling with some indescribable pieces of machinery. "And if you damage one piece…" The muttered threat had the soldier he was originally talking to shifting uneasily, before the 'Director' seemed to remember he was there, "What was it…? Oh yes. We shall just have to wait for either the first class to wake up and order the thing away, or for him to run out of magic. It is highly unfortunate. I would dearly like to see the readings from the sensors…"

He inched toward Zack's body, and Youko hefted his whip again. The man stopped and shook his head. Youko did not like him. And was not about to let him any nearer.

Even after Zack had woken up, and Youko finally let himself dissolve into mist and return home, he felt those narrowed, far too curious eyes on his back.

x-x-x

A/N: Some answers! But also more questions! Honestly, Minerva was originally planning on letting Kurama off with a warning anyway, but then decided to use it as an opportunity to test Zack.

Yes, I decided to give Zack the 15 strike version of Omnislash. Did you know there are like 3 different versions of that technique? 15 strikes is the original FFVII one. AC uses a six slash move with the fusion sword. AC: Complete is 13 slashes… Dissidia has a different one too, 14 slashes with a final one that hits like 6 times.

Anyway, my reasoning behind having Zack find this specific move is that he was trying to use Octaslash, but wasn't working properly because he kind of "clicked" into another Limit. Omnislash seemed to be a logical progression from there.

Hehe. Game mechanics are fun… I wonder if anyone notices the significance behind Zack's finishing move.

Uh. Anyway. Sorry. This is a day late. It completely slipped my mind that yesterday was Monday…Better late than never right? The next chapter concludes our little diversion away from Nibelhiem, and will deal with the…consequences of the rather abrupt summoning in Koenma's office…

Thank you for the reviews too! I look forward to them every week. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. See ya'll next week! T