Disclaimer- I don't own any of the Final Fantasy characters in this story.

Author's notes: Heavy testing at work, some parties with friends, I'm moving soon, and I'm still desperately single, yet I still manage to finish this by the 9th. Damn, dedication is a good thing, isn't it? XD

Chapter 14: The Inverted Castle

XXXXXXXX

Blade crashed against blade as Zidane struggled to defend himself.

"What are you doing?" he yelled to me. "It doesn't have to be like this!"

"BE QUIET!" I shouted back, leaning into another charge. I came in low, bringing a blade up while its twin crashed down from above. Zidane blocked both easily, then leapt back, avoiding my attacks like he had a hundred times already.

"How does this help?" Zidane tried to reason. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm just trying to prove that I'm alright!" I said, holding my position for the moment. "Every time I have a bad day or I'm in a bad mood, everyone questions me, like I'm about to have a nervous breakdown! You think I'm weak, don't you?"

"What? No one thinks that! We're only concerned because—"

"And Freya's the worst! Spreading lies and rumors about me! I've seen how she looks at me!"

Zidane gave me a look of pure confusion. "Freya hasn't said a damn thing about you," he explained. "Sure, she's mad at you, but she's been ignoring you. It's what she does when she's pissed off!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" I shouted, swinging my blades wildly until one of them embedded itself into the wall. I didn't bother pulling it out and instead held my one remaining sword in my right hand. "I KNOW what I've heard! She's been talking about me BEHIND MY BACK! You're covering for her because she's your friend!"

"But you're my friend too!" Zidane said, lowering his defenses slightly, as if to show that he trusted me. I didn't buy the ruse and gripped my remaining blade tighter. "We're worried about you and you won't tell us what's wrong!"

"Then trust me when I say I can't tell you, dammit!" I said. "It would mess everything up and add to more questions!"

"More questions?" Zidane asked. "How? What's happened to you?"

That was it. "That's enough!" I shouted. "I said, don't question me!"

I rushed in for the next attack. I had dealt with enough that I needed to tell the others not to mess with me. Zidane was taken off guard and I could tell he didn't have time to mount a defense, but before I reached him, I had to skid to a stop. I backed off, just in time to avoid being skewered by a spear thrown in my face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Freya shouted.

"This doesn't concern you!" I said.

"Freya, stop," Zidane said, coming to my defense for reasons I didn't understand. "We were just talking and it got out of hand. Please, put your spear down."

"And let him charge again?" Freya asked. "I prefer to stay safe."

"Like a spear would stop me," I muttered.

"Trevor!" Zidane scolded.

"What is going on here!" Regent Cid shouted as he came into the hall. He looked a lot more intimidating as a human. He stood taller than me and his mustache and expression made him look like a scarier version of Joseph Stalin. He took out look at our exposed weapons and knew what was happening.

"There will be no fighting aboard my ship!" Cid commanded. "What was this about?"

"Trevor attacked Zidane!" Freya said. "We've got to get rid of him before he does it again!"

"Zidane was talking about leaving me behind instead of helping find Kuja," I explained. I could only hope Cid was a reasonable man. He looked from each of us, one after the other, then spoke again after a moment.

"Zidane?" he asked. "What's your take on this?"

Zidane put his daggers away and folded his arms. "I just thought we could use someone like Trevor in Alexandria or Lindblum to help with the reconstruction. I mean, he could probably cut construction time down by half."

Cid took a moment to consider his options. Lindblum and Alexandria were still a long way off until they were repaired, and my unique magic would really help in deconstruction. But I would fight if I had to. If they kicked me off the mission now, there would be no way for me to get to Terra. I had to get there to make sense of everything that happened to me. I was too close…

"Very well," Cid said finally. "Zidane, we need every bit of help we can get. Kuja is strong. We don't know how strong he is exactly, or what he's planning. Trevor will stay with us."

I gave a sigh of relief. At least Cid wasn't being an ass.

"But Trevor," Cid said sternly. "This is my ship. If you cause another disruption or attack anyone else, I will kick you off and we'll just have to fend for ourselves. Do you understand?"

I knew when I was cornered. If I continued making a fuss now, Cid would kick me off. I had no choice but to comply. At least he was letting me stay.

"Fine," I said. "I assume we all get bunkrooms?"

"Yes," Cid said. "Down the hall."

"Thanks," I said, turning by back on everyone. "I'm going to rest now. Wake me up when we get to Ipsen's castle."

I didn't bother listening for their responses. Zidane had been the one voice I had hoped would always back me up. Without him, I was on my own. Who else did I have on my side? Vivi? He didn't have any pull. I was walking a razor thin line, and this time, if I screwed up, I didn't have a safety net to fall back on.

XXXXXXXX

It took us four days to cross the ocean on Cid's new ship. Odd looking as it was, the thing was amazing. It was easily the fastest ship in the world, and since every other ship remaining was powered by mist, it was the only airship still flying.

I spent the days awkwardly wandering around, avoiding everyone else. If I could just make it to Terra, everything could be explained. I might even be able to tell them about Earth, if they could believe me. I was so close to Terra that I could already feel Innural's neck in my grasp, begging for air.

It was midday when we could see the valley in the distance. Long cliff sides surrounded what was basically a giant hole in the ground. At the western end of that hole though was a large castle surrounded by plains and a small forest. Another Terran structure left from the failed conversion of the planets.

Ipsen's castle.

We flew until the Hilda Garde III landed just outside the castle, but the closer we got, the weirder it looked. The top was crowned with several thin towers, like something you'd expect an evil witch to build in an old fairy tail. Gold plating adorned the tips of the towers, making me wonder how important this building once was to the Terrans. It looked somewhat religious in nature. However, the truly remarkable thing was that halfway down from the top, the building stretched out onto a large chunk of rock which looked like it had been plucked from the ground. Underneath the rock was a mirror image of the castle. Matching towers punctured the ground below. There was one central tower both on top and beneath of the castle, supporting most of the weight. One long, lone staircase led to the chunk of rock in between the mirror-imaged castles.

The whole thing was something out of a real estate agent's nightmare. Or an architect's wet dream. Either way, I was wary about going inside.

"I guess this is it," Zidane said as we all walked up towards the staircase. "What a weird looking place. It's like it's upside down or something."

We all branched out, looking at the thing. Even the crew from the airship disembarked with us to get a closer look. I was already used to the shape, but the colors were pretty, so I looked on like the rest of them.

"Alright," Zidane said after he had seen enough. "We probably won't need that many inside. I'll take three of you with me. The rest of you secure this spot in case there are any monsters nearby."

But before Zidane could speak, Amarant spoke up. "…Hey Zidane," he muttered, arms crossed and his scowl looking especially menacing today.

"What's up Amarant?" Zidane asked.

"I work alone," Amarant said. "Always have, always will."

Another cutscene. Amarant would say that working alone was better than working in a team and would run off to prove his point, racing to get to the end of the castle. Amarant never struck me as much of a character in the game and he certainly wasn't a friend now, so I didn't care what happened to him. Instead, I looked around the staircase, examining the structure, planning our route. If it was as difficult as the game made it out to be, then I would have to try out for the Olympics when I was done. That, or find another path through.

"What are you doing?"

I glanced to the side and saw Freya looking at me. Distrusting. Dishonest. How could Zidane defend her and claim she wasn't talking about me?

"Thinking," was all I said.

"About what?" She wasn't interested in what I had to say. She was trying to find out if I would stab her or anyone else in the back. Given her line of questioning, I was almost tempted to.

"If this place looks this weird out here, what's it look like inside?" I said. It was close enough to the truth anyway.

"Hmph, whatever," Freya muttered. She walked back to the rest of the group, just as Amarant started running up the massive staircase to the castle. If I could find a short cut, our path would be a lot easier, and we might be able to actually beat him to the Mirror Room, but that wasn't my biggest concern. I just wanted to get through this with or without him.

"Alright," Zidane said. "Vivi, Dagger and Steiner will go with me. The rest of you, stand guard out here."

"Zidane," Freya said sharply, beaconing him to one side. Zidane walked to her and the two of them had a brief private discussion. I didn't like the way Freya glanced at me more than once. I'd like to see Zidane say that she didn't talk about me now.

After a moment, Freya and Zidane turned back. "Change of plans," Zidane said. "Trevor, you're coming with me. Steiner, I need you to stay back with Freya."

"What?" Steiner yelled. "I cannot leave the princess unescorted!"

"I'll be fine," Dagger said. "And I'm the queen now. I'm not a princess anymore."

"But, I…" Steiner started to say, but he stopped himself. Dagger wasn't the helpless girl she once was. The eidolons she could summon were stronger than most of us anyway.

"Very well," Steiner said, defeated.

"Let's get a move on," Zidane said. "Whatever it is that can unlock our way to Terra, it's in here and we need to find it."

Dagger and Vivi started up the stairs after Zidane. I tried to follow, but Steiner grabbed me by the arm and held me back for a moment.

"Trevor," he said. "Please protect the princess where I cannot."

I looked down on him from the bottom of the staircase for a moment. Steiner originally thought I was just another thief like Zidane. I believe he used the word 'ragamuffin' on several occasions. And now he was asking me to do his job.

He trusted me. I had to repay that trust.

"With my life," I said stoically. The rusty knight took a sigh of relief and let go of my arm. I walked back up the staircase, thinking how good it felt to be trusted again. Such a simple expression and feeling made me happy.

I held onto my short swords and remembered the trick to fighting in this place. If I was going to keep Steiner's trust, protect the others and find the secret of Ipsen's Castle, I was going to need some new weapons.

XXXXXXXX

The inside of the front hall was large and glamorous. Or, it would have been, if it weren't covered in dust and crumbling from weathering and monsters. This place had once been some sort of temple, I imagined. Tall blue and gold striped pillars reached the top of a curved ceiling. I imagined that just below us, there was a room exactly like this one, just upside down. There was a platform just in front of us that we couldn't reach. I knew that if we could get up there, then we might be able to bash our way through to the mirror room.

"This place is huge!" Vivi said. "I wonder what it was built for?"

"Maybe a rich king?" Zidane guessed. "I robbed a guy who had a mansion like this once."

We stepped into the front hall where our path was divided two ways. One way was blocked by rubble. Part of the ceiling collapsed and took a lot of the wall with it. The other way had something else in the way though.

"What is that thing?" Dagger said after a gasp.

Down the other side of the hall was he corpse of a flying monster called a veteran. It was little more than enormous bat wings attacked to a flying eyeball with feel, but its eye had been gouged out, leaving a bloody pool around it and a hole in its head so gory even I didn't want to look at it.

"Amarant's been through here," Zidane said. "Come on, he has a head start on us."

Zidane led Vivi and Dagger down the next hall. Vivi and Dagger had magic on their side, so they would probably be alright, but Zidane and I were melee fighters. The magic cast over this place ensured that the stronger our weapons were, the weaker our attacks would be. Amarant would have to settle things his own way, but as long as he kept going after monsters with big squishy weaknesses covering half their body, he would be alright.

"Guys, wait up," I said, turning to a small plaque just under the balcony on the floor above. "There's something here."

"What is it?" Zidane asked.

I wiped away some dust, revealing a dark iron plate with raised lettering. I read it aloud. "Do not be restricted by your knowledge and experience. This place turns logic upside down. That which is big is small. That which is strong is weak. Heaven is earth."

There was a brief moment while the others considered the message. Vivi was the first to speak. "I don't get it."

"It's a riddle," Dagger said. "But what does it mean?"

"It could be like Oeilvert," I said. "It had an anti-magic seal on it. Maybe this place has something similar."

"That still doesn't tell us anything about the riddle," Zidane said. "Big is small? Strong is weak? I'm with Vivi on this. I don't get it."

Sometimes, it was painfully obvious that Zidane wasn't the brains of the party. It was because of this part of the game that I always kept the weakest weapons for all of my characters when I replayed. Sure, there was a moogle we could buy weak weapons from in the game, but could we find him here? And would he have any of those weapons on him?

"Whatever," Zidane said. "Let's just move on. We shouldn't linger in a place like this."

Dagger and Vivi agreed with him, and I reluctantly had to go with it. Even if they knew what it meant, there wasn't much we could do without any replacement weapons. I would just have to keep an eye out and hope we didn't run into anything too substantial.

The hallway led into a courtyard. There was a small skylight in the ceiling among the rafters, wide enough to allow natural light to flood the room. The room was dull and drab. Grey stones covered everything, whether it was the bricks on the walls or the cobbled floor. Several doors along the walls opened up into other rooms and hallways, but the thing that caught my attention was the long pole in the far corner. Amarant must have already gone down there, reaching into the upside down section of the castle.

I didn't want to do all that climbing. The ladders and poles we would have to deal with would kill my arms, not to mention what it would do to Dagger and Vivi. In some places, Ipsen's Castle was like something out of that show, Ninja Warrior. As much as I normally would have wanted to try my luck at a physical challenge like that, I wanted instead to get the mirrors out of this place and get to Terra.

Zidane was saying something to the others, but I was lost in my own little world and wasn't listening to him. However, a howl broke me out of my thoughts. A second later, a cerberus crashed into the courtyard from one of the windows on the next story up. It was a monstrously large demon dog, with enormous hands that carved deep into the stone floor. It only had one head, unlike its name suggested, but it was so big that it could have easily bitten us in half and still have plenty of room to chew.

"Back up!" Zidane yelled to Dagger and Vivi. "Trevor, flank it!"

"Got it!" I yelled, wondering how far I should go with all this acting. I knew our weapons were useless and I was putting us all in harm's way by not saying anything, but right now, I had to protect my cover. Getting to Terra by any means was all that mattered.

Dagger stood back and gripped her rod, ready to cast whatever healing spell she would have to. Vivi was already casting a fire spell. Zidane kept the monster distracted while I twirled my short swords by its side. They would do little more than bounce off of the dog's skin, but maybe my demon sabers could make a difference…

"Fira!" Vivi yelled. Zidane backed up as a pillar of fire grew underneath the cerberus, growing in width and height, overtaking the beast. For a moment, everything was silent, save for the crackling of the flames. It looked like an anti-climactic end to the battle, but when the fire cleared, the demon dog was still standing, injured now, but only slightly with some singes.

"Good job Vivi!" Zidane shouted as he rushed in. "Get another one ready!"

Zidane leapt into the cerberus' side, digging his daggers in deep and leaping on top of it. Although, instead of digging deep and cutting through the monster's flesh, Zidane barely scratched it. Sure, there were two fresh holes bleeding from the side, but on its massive body, they looked like little more than paper cuts. And the cerberus wasn't about to let Zidane ride him.

With a buck and a whip of its head, the demon dog crashed about. Zidane didn't have time to catch his footing and was sent flying, bouncing once before he slid to a stop.

"Zidane!" Dagger cried out in fear as she started casting a Cure spell.

But our concerns didn't end there. The monster turned to Zidane, fangs dripping with drool as it inches closer, ready to devour an easy meal.

With it's back turned to me, I figured I had an easy time attacking. I ran in, demon sabers stretching out of each blade. At the last second, I jumped, short swords over my head and ready to cut the dog's legs off. But that was my mistake. The cerberus heard me coming and kicked its feet up, nailing me in the stomach and throwing me all the way to the far wall. Even worse, the sudden blow knocked my short swords out of my hands. I didn't see where they landed as I rolled head over heels until my head smacked against the old rock. I had to fight tears back as a headache hit me so hard that I nearly blacked out.

It took me a moment to recover from my assault. My lungs and stomach burned from just trying to breath, but I was finally able to get back on my feet. I had to lead against a pillar to support myself though. But as I did, I saw something that wasn't in the game. Behind each pillar was a statue of a soldier, each wielding a metallic weapon. Perhaps these were in the game, but the camera angle made it impossible to see. Either way, I saw a chance at getting those downgraded weapons.

Most of the statues were long since destroyed, and their weapons missing, possibly by other explorers, or more likely by monsters going after shiny things. My heart soared though when I saw a thief statue ducking in the shadows with a pair of daggers in his hands.

Thinking quickly, I grabbed the daggers out of the decaying statue's hands, tearing them off at the wrists. The daggers themselves were just simple steel, but simple was what we needed right now thanks to the magic of this place.

The battle was still going on without me. Vivi let off another Fira while Zidane deflected swipes and blows from the monster, restored to his fighting glory thanks to Dagger's healing spells. Zidane used the edge of his daggers to deflect, but as I suspected, they did little against the cerberus' thick hide. I took a chance and wound up a pitch from where I stood.

"Zidane!" I shouted. "Catch!"

I tossed one dagger quickly, and then the next. The first blade bounced off the demon dog's head at the handle, doing little damage. I worried for a moment if these weapons were the real deal, until I the second blade flew in, slicing through flesh and muscle of the monster's arm like it was nothing. Zidane dropped his weapons, opting for the new pair. He quickly gathered them and dropped into his old fighting stance as the cerberus hesitated with a deep gash in its forearm.

Now that Zidane was taken care of, it was time for a pair of short swords for myself. I looked from statue to statue, but nothing they had stood out. One had a staff, but that wouldn't do me much good. Another had a shield, handy, but useless without a blade. One statue looked like a gallant knight holding a bastard sword, but his weapon was long gone, as were his arms. Stupid thieving monsters…

I had nearly given up hope on finding a new weapon until I came across the last statue in the row. My expression dropped when I saw what it was, but I needed a weapon with an edge, and technically, this qualified. I wasn't used to it, and I was never a fan of it, but it would have to do.

I yanked the statue's arms off, pulling the great axe free and into my lap. I cracked the remaining fingers off as best I could, but the handle was so big that it hardly made a difference. The metallic curve of each edge looked sharp enough to cleave a cow in half. Edge to edge, the axe had to be about as big as Vivi. As I tried to lift it onto my shoulder, I imagined that it was nearly twice as heavy as him.

"Zidane!" I called out as the agile thief dodged more attacks. "Bring it over this way!"

Zidane nodded and dodged with a roll. He managed to slip passed the cerberus and run towards me. The demon dog, enraged that his prey was getting away, pursued intently. He didn't even offer me a glance, even as Zidane ran right by me.

With the axe as heavy as it was, I couldn't hold it aloft like I could a broadsword, but I was still able to hoist it over my shoulder. If I could pivot it fast enough, I wouldn't even need to swing full speed. The monster's speed would act as the extra force I needed.

Zidane turned and skidded to a halt by one of the pillars, ready to dodge in case my next attack didn't work. Fortunately, the cerberus didn't see me as much of a threat thanks to its last kick to my gut, so it tried to pass me by without any confrontation. That was when I swung, aiming for its head. The heavy weight of the axe brought itself over my shoulder, swinging impossibly hard into the demon dog's flesh.

My aim was off, but only by a little. Instead of its face, I hit its neck, chopping deep into flesh and muscle almost like it wasn't there at all. I had seen surgical scalpels that were less sharp than this axe. The heavy metal was no match for the cerberus, and it was dead before it even realized that something had happened to it. Its head and neck hung free from most of the body, but still attached by only a thin membrane. It was a grotesque scene, but I had to admit, I liked it. I had killed this thing by myself in only a single blow.

I allowed myself a wide smile in my moment of commanding power.

"Nice job Trevor!" Zidane said. "How did you know that these weapons would work?"

"I took a guess," I said, pulling the axe free. It was too heavy to lift, so I had to drag it out. "That plaque earlier said 'That which is strong is weak'. I figured maybe it affected on our weapons or something."

"Well, it was cleaver either way," Dagger said, casting another Cure on both Zidane and myself. "But that axe seems a little heavy for you Trevor."

"Doesn't matter," I told her. "I didn't see any other weapons laying around." My comment reminded me of my fallen short swords and I walked over to sheath them.

"I think its cool!" Vivi said.

"Well, we should get going again," Zidane said, holding on to his new daggers. "We still have a whole castle to walk through before Amarant can beat us."

I thought again of the rest of the path that laid before us. Climbing it with only my short swords weighing me down was hard enough. I wouldn't be able to do it with this damned axe holding me down.

"Screw that!" I said. I didn't care about coherency or apparent logic at the moment. My impatience caught up and got the better of me. "I'm taking a short cut."

"Huh? A short cut?" Zidane asked. "Trevor, where are you going?"

I didn't answer him. Instead, I walked back the way we came. My axe dragged along the ground, screaming as it ground against the paved path. The others followed me, trying to get me to turn around and go "the correct way", but I ignored them. I didn't stop until I got to the platform in the first hall we entered. My shoulder felt like it was about to pop out of its socket, but I was still able to lift the axe up onto it. With a grunt, I swung into one of the pillars, smashing it utterly.

"What are you doing?" Zidane demanded.

"You might want to get back," I said, running as fast as I could with the axe behind me.

The second I was far enough, the platform collapsed, falling mostly in one solid piece. Most of the rubble collapsed underneath the fallen platform, giving us an incline to work with. It even looked shallow enough for me to drag my axe up, though I certainly wouldn't have minded a second pair of hands.

"There," I said, proud of my accomplishment. "Short cut."

"How do you know it's a short cut?" Zidane just had to ask. "Where does this lead?"

I had already started towards the platform, but turned and glared at Zidane. I had found a way for us to get out of here sooner and beat Amarant, and he wanted to question me? He really made himself out to be an ingrate at times.

"Zidane," I said slowly. "Remember when I said don't question me? Keep that in mind."

"Trevor?" Dagger asked. "I want to know too. How do you know it's even safe up there?"

"I'll explain everything later," I said. "I just need to finish something before that. Just trust me and stay out of my way."

I earned confused and concerned looks from the others. They still followed me, but I had to drag my axe up the platform by myself.

XXXXXXXX

The short cut saved us an incredible amount of time and energy. The fallen platform led us up to a room with a crude elevator. The elevator ride took us up to a hidden room with a mural and several glowing green lines interconnecting throughout the floor, reaching all the way back to the mural. I looked down and saw the same triangular rune etched in green light that I had seen in other Terran buildings before. The mural itself was a simple drawing of Gaia, which made me wonder why a Terran structure would have a map of Gaia. It was probably a safety feature planted on the planet after the failed absorption between the planets so Terrans studying Gaia could return home.

That was what I thought anyway.

"This is… interesting," Zidane said as we all walked in.

I set my axe against the doorway as soon as we entered. I would need it in a moment, but there was no way in hell I was going to drag that thing around more than I needed to. I took the chance to rest my arms and leaned against the nearest wall.

"Is that a map of Gaia?" Dagger asked, approaching the mural.

"Careful!" Zidane told her. "We don't know what any of this does. They might be trapped."

"I was just looking," Dagger defended. "And look at these."

There were four irregularities embedded in the mural. They were dusty, but I could still see the reflective surfaces of four mirrors, each with rounded frames of their own color. What really mattered though, was their placement on the map. Each spot gave us our next clue on where to go next. I could only hope that Zidane or Dagger picked up on that before I had to give them another hint and another reason to suspect me of something.

"Mirrors, huh?" Zidane said, looking at them next to Dagger. He hesitantly reached out and tapped the one with the red frame. When no trap activated, he brushed some of the dust off of it.

"Well, I guess they're safe," Zidane said.

"Hey, look at this," Dagger said, standing on her toe tips to examine the mirror. "It says something on the bottom of the frame.

"Really?" Zidane asked. He brushed more dust off and leaned in as well, reading it so we could all hear. "…My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain."

"What does that mean?" Vivi asked.

"I… have no idea…"

Vivi grabbed the sides of his hat and pulled it lower. "This place confuses me," he pouted.

I rolled my eyes. Did I have to do everything around here? It was clearly a clue directing us to the fire shrine. "Fiery mountain sounds like a volcano," I hinted. "Like Mt Gulug."

"Right, that makes sense," Zidane said. "What about this one?"

Zidane grabbed the next few mirrors, taking them down from the wall as well. The green lights fades from the wall and the connecting lines on the floor, but that was all that happened. No traps or death screams came after us. The others were able to relax as Zidane read the other clues.

My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth. The water shrine.

My power is protected behind a tornado. The wind shrine.

My power is protected under the shaking ground. The earth shrine.

All of the mirrors were soon removed from the wall. Zidane and Dagger carried them our way, one in each hand. The green light had now completely faded from the room, leaving the Terran rune bare and now the only significant thing about the room.

"Well, looks like we got what we came for," Zidane said, stuffing the four mirrors carefully into a sack. "Let's go."

"What do you think the mirrors mean?" Dagger asked.

"I'm not sure, but like Lady Hilda said, those things on the wall might have something to do with the seal." He flipped the sack of mirrors onto his back with a huff. "Let's worry about that later though and just get out of here."

"It's funny," Vivi said as the three of them started to leave. "Normally when we do something like this, a big monster appears out of nowhere."

If we weren't about to fight for our lives, Vivi's point would have been downright funny.

A sudden voice boomed across the room, almost echoing in our heads. "M-mirror… Return… to me…" It was weak and gravelly, but deep, giving the voice an ominous feel. It was almost like Damien's voice, but more demanding and less compelling.

"Who's there?" Zidane asked, looking around desperately. Then from the mural behind us, a monster the size of a minivan summoned itself out of nowhere, just like Vivi said. I saw a thin line appear at first, which then expanded outward to the sides. An enormous bug, tan in color with a thick exoskeleton and four long, hairy claws, two on each side and one very large tail, floated before us. He let out a scream that sounded like a thin strip of sheet metal scraping across a chalkboard.

God I hated bugs.

"Energy flow… interrupted…" the giant bug grumbled. "Energy to… Terra… You dare get in the way of Terra's master plan…?"

"Wh-what is this?" Zidane muttered. He was as shocked as the rest of us. Dagger and Vivi matched his expression of revulsion at the sudden appearance of this monster. I just hated giant bugs.

"My name… is Taharka," the bug said. He spoke with a patient dignity, almost like how Soulcage spoke. "Return… my mirrors…"

"You should say please when you ask for things," Zidane said. At least his wit was recovering.

"Fool!" Taharka grumbled. "You will regret this."

Taharka let out another chalkboard scratching scream before jumping into the fray, striking at all four of us with each of his clawed arms. We all fell back as he flew above us, making the small room seem even more cramped. I didn't want to, but I grabbed my axe, hoping that I could corner him long enough to keep him still for a few blows.

Taharka finished his flyby and landed on the platform in front of the mural. He used all four of his clawed legs to hold himself up, making him look like something out of Tim Burton's nightmares.

"I got him!" Vivi yelled. Apparently, he had been charging an attack and was waiting for the right moment to cast it. He was becoming quite the little strategist. Before Taharka could move, the floor opened up and a pillar of flame consumed him. There was a short roar as the flame vent blew at its strongest. After a few seconds, it closed up and died down, but that was when we noticed something terribly out of place. Even though he had been surrounded by flames for as long as he had, Taharka had barely been singed. He shook a bit of ash from one of his arms, but that was all the damage we could see.

"Is that your best?" he mocked sullenly.

"Wha? But how…?" Vivi stuttered.

"I have been sworn to defend this castle," Taharka said with his grave tone. "You will not steal the mirrors and open the path to Terra."

"Sworn by who?" I shouted without thinking. I had assumed it was Garland, and nearly shouted his name as well, but I had enough to worry about the others already questioning me. I just bit my tongue and let Taharka pretend he had superiority over me.

"You would not understand, even if I told you," Taharka said. "Lay down your lives before I destroy you utterly."

"We need stronger magic!" Zidane said. "Dagger, do you still have that jewel I gave you in Alexandria?"

"Um, yes, right here," Dagger said, pulling it out of her pocket.

"Use it!"

While Zidane traveled to Alexandria to find Dagger after she went missing, Beatrix had given him a garnet to deliver to Dagger. It looked nice, but it held an incredible power. It was the very summoning stone that contained Bahamut, King of the Dragons.

Dagger quickly went to work, kneeling down and placing the stone against her healing rod as she tried to find the right incantation to summon the beast. However, she would need time, and that was something we didn't have much of. I dragged my axe and myself in between Dagger and the giant bug. Hopefully I made a more appealing target than her.

"Your greatest quality is your insignificance," Taharka mocked us again.

"I'm going to cut your head off," I threatened. I was getting tired of doing nothing. Even though my axe was hindering me, I still had a burning hatred for him deep within me. I lifted the axe onto my shoulder, momentarily falling off balance, then broke into a charge. I was going to cleave him in half one way or the other.

However, with my limited gait, I was telegraphing my moves very clearly. Taharka saw this and curled up into a defensive ball, tucking his arms and head inside while wrapping his tail underneath himself, leaving only the thickest armor exposed. Undeterred, I still swung my axe, but it was like trying to attack a concrete wall. The axe smashed harmlessly against him and sent strong vibrations into my arms. It hurt so much that it forced me to drop my weapon and fall to one knee.

Taharka laughed at my discomfort and added insult to injury, or rather, injury to more injury, and spun once, releasing his tail and swatting me away along with my axe. I bounced against the floor on the other side of the room with my axe grinding to a halt by my side.

"Trevor!" Zidane yelled. "Are you alright?"

"No!" I shouted back. The hatred was burning brighter than ever within my chest. "I'm fucking pissed off!"

But before I could go in for another charge, Dagger started to utter some words under her breath that I barely noticed.

"I think I got it," she said to herself. Standing proudly, she held the garnet against her rod and began chanting her new summon spell. "O beast of flare, King of the Dragons, come before me and char all before you to ash!"

"Get to cover!" Zidane shouted. We had all seen what Bahamut could do, so we knew that the room wasn't really large enough to escape unscathed. Still, in the short time, our best bet was to hide. Dagger, Vivi and Zidane all hid low by the doorway while I held the head of my axe in front of myself for cover.

It turned out that summoning Bahamut in the small room was far less impressive in real life than it was in the game. Because of how he came flying in from the atmosphere, I never got to see him. He held his position outside the castle, but we all knew Bahamut had arrived when his attack crashed through the ceiling.

Mega Flare, as his attack was called, was simply Bahamut's breath. A charged beam of light and heat, the attack held the same power as a sun. It was too bright to look at directly, but we could feel the heat even as far away as we were. Taharka let out his chalkboard scream as he was cooked within his shell.

With the heat, light, scream and smell of cooked bug in the air, nearly all of our senses were overwhelmed. I was so disoriented by the end of it that the only reason I knew it was safe to move again was when Zidane patted me on the shoulder, telling me to get up.

The attack from Bahamut had really left its mark. Almost the entire floor and far wall were scorched black with soot. The mural was long gone, suffering a dent in the wall as well as total discoloration. However, despite the devastation, Taharka was still standing, though not without injury. He had suffered a crack in his exoskeleton, burning his insides and leaving a spout of blood flowing out of him. His breathing was labored and he was clearly in pain. At least now he would be slower and easier to hit.

"You damned fools," he said slowly. "You don't know what powers you toy with."

"You're still not gonna stop us!" Zidane said, holding his new set of daggers offensively. He rushed in, but even with his gaping wound, Taharka was still dangerous. Zidane barely had time to get close when the bug unfolded himself and tail whipped Zidane. The thief went flying across the room and slammed into the far wall. Taharka finished up by casting Blizzaga on Zidane, encasing him in a large block of ice and trapping him within.

"Zidane!" Dagger cried out.

"Oh no!" Vivi said. He ran up to the ice cube and started pounding on the side.

This was only the second time I had seen Blizzaga used in this world, the first time being in the fight against the first Black Waltz. However, I was surprised when the pillar of ice didn't destroy itself. Normally, it should have shattered as soon as the casting was finished, but instead we were down one fighter.

And Taharka used to be such a simple boss.

"Dagger, stay back and get ready to heal Zidane," I said, taking charge. "Vivi, use your fire to melt the ice. Get Zidane out of there before he suffocates. I'll keep the bug busy."

"R-Right," Vivi said. He channeled the warm energy in his hands and pressed them against the ice. I could see Zidane's eyes darting around inside the ice cube. He was still conscious, and probably had only a minute of air left. Vivi had to work fast and I had to give him time to work.

"You!" I said, dragging my axe towards the bleeding bug. Dagger and Vivi were too busy worrying over Zidane to concentrate on me or anything I did, so I had a chance to freak Taharka out and keep his focus on me.

"You are outmatched," Taharka said as I neared. "Will you surrender before you perish?"

"Very cute," I said, coming almost within striking distance. I stayed a few feet away, just in case he tried to tail whip me as well. "Is that something Garland told you to say?"

Taharka's eyes popped out as best they could. He paused for a moment to recollect himself and shut his hanging jaw. "How do you know that name?"

"I know far more than I let on. Just don't tell the others, will you?"

"That name has never been breathed on this planet before. How do you know it?"

"Maybe he sent me," I goaded. "Maybe I'm supposed to access Terra along with my comrades."

"Impossible," Taharka said. "Garland would have come himself if others were seeking access."

I smiled. "Too bad. I was hoping to end this easily, but I guess you just want to die, don't you?"

I hoisted my axe up and made the final few steps to Taharka, but in my haste, I lost balance of the overly heavy axe. It fell behind me as I tried to carry it on my shoulder.

God dammit! I shouted telepathically to the axe. MOVE!

The axe fell back, bending me backwards along with it and leaving me very exposed for the next attack. I tied to pick it up again, but I was too focused on dodging any potential attacks. Try as I might, I was too rushed and couldn't so much as lift it. I was starting to panic as Taharka looked for an opening, but I could also feel my rage building at my inability to fight. I felt helpless and weak.

"You should destroy it," came Damien's voice, prodding me, taunting me. "Finish the damned bug, then destroy the axe. It dares defy you and deserves to be incinerated."

"Not now Damien!" I couldn't help but shout. As I spoke, I could feel the fury bubbling within me. It traveled into my axe like my chi normally flowed, but this was stronger. Self-hatred at my weakness mixed with hatred for Taharka and giant bugs, as well as my impatience of my team and my desire to get to Terra already. It was a dark, ugly energy that made me feel sick, but right now, it was the only weapon I had.

"You are a liar," Taharka finally concluded. "Garland would not send you without evidence. I do not know how you know his name, but it is irrelevant. You will die in this place."

"Useless fucking axe!" was all I could yell as I dragged it around uselessly on the ground. I tried to hold it as defensively as I could, but I knew it wasn't enough. I shut my eyes and waited for the impact that awaited me.

Strangely though, when I heard the attack come, I didn't feel any pain. I looked up and instead, saw Amarant of all people, holding Taharka by the claws and keeping him trapped in place. The blades of Taharka's arms cut into Amarant's arms, but it was a minor wound at best.

"See?" Amarant said, grunting against the crushing attack. "Teamwork does nothing!"

"We beat you here," I said, taking the chance to redouble my efforts. With Amarant keeping Taharka busy, I had a chance to pick up my damned axe again. I lifted one leg as a counterweight and hoisted it up over my shoulder. All the energy and hatred that had poured itself into the weapon soon came to life, spilling out of the blade and reforming the edges. Just like the extended blades of my demon sabers, this attack grew the size of the axe by three feet on each side with a dark, swirling energy without adding onto the weight.

Taharka could see the attack coming and swung his second pair of claws at Amarant. They dug deep into the bandit's sides, causing him to roar in pain. But, Amarant being the stubborn bastard that he was, didn't give up. Instead, he pinned both of those claws under his elbows, keeping them trapped inside him. Taharka tried to move, to retreat, to fly, but he simply could not free himself. He could only scoot Amarant forward inches at a time.

I prepared the next attack. Since I wasn't strong enough—a thought that only fueled more energy into the axe—I had to use centrifugal force. I turned my entire body, swinging the blade haphazardly at first. The weight pulled at my arms as I could barely hold on, but I still managed to swing at a downward angle. The edge flew over Amarant's head and into Taharka's chest, slicing away the arms and spilling his intestines onto the floor.

In pain, Taharka let out that same chalkboard-scratching scream. He fell forward as Amarant fell back into the center of the room, all four bug arms still in his grasp. I could ignore him for now and worry about finishing this fucking bug off before it could wriggle into a crawlspace or something.

I continued the arc, swinging the axe up and over my head. The enormity of it had grown so much that it cut into the walls without even slowing down.

Taharka looked up at me in his final moments and pleaded, "No, wait!"

I didn't have the patience to even ponder sparing him. He had delayed my revenge and was going to die.

The axe made its final turn, flying over my head and crashing straight down into Taharka's back. It crashed through his armored exoskeleton, then crashed through the floor after the attack split him in half. The axe broke a hole through the floor, and took Taharka down. Its weight was too much for me to bare, so I released it, sending it crashing against several walls and pillars below until the energy released itself in an instant. The resulting explosion shook our room and joined one last chalkboard scream.

As soon as the shaking stopped, so did the scream. And everything was dreadfully quiet again.

"Everyone alright?" I asked, despite the obvious.

Zidane had just had his head freed from the ice. His legs were still encased, but at least he wouldn't die this way. Amarant was still bleeding from his sides after removing the claws from himself, but Dagger was already charging up a Cura to fix that.

I scanned the room until I saw all that mattered, a small white sack by the doorway that contained the mirrors. I walked over and looked inside, seeing all four mirrors still intact. Good. The pathway was still secure.

"Trevor?" Zidane said with chattering teeth. "Where are you going?"

I pulled out a short sword and, using my anger from the last fight, charged up a demon saber, cutting Zidane free from his prison, save for a thin layer around his legs. I didn't exactly have surgical tools after all.

"Let's get moving," I said as everyone stirred. "We need to get to Terra. Now!"

XXXXXXXX

Does anyone else think that Harbinger's voice from Mass Effect 2 would make a good voice for Taharka?

I guess this chapter ended up a little longer than I expected. Still, it's nice to get one step closer to Terra, isn't it? It's probably another two chapters until they arrive, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting excited about it. XD

I know this wasn't my best chapter, but due to its size and my time constraints, I'm afraid that it'll have to do. I've been getting involved in a lot of meetings and work lately, as well as all the tests that they keep throwing at us.

Still, a long, chapter with ok quality is better than nothing, right?

…Right?