CHAPTER 25: Chaos Reigns
Disclaimer: I do NOT own FFVII characters, worlds, ideas, etc.
Author's Note: Voila! Another chapter! And the end is ever-so-near!!! Enjoy!
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The PHS rang loudly throughout the hall of the royal pagoda, risking the alarm of the imperial guards.
Cid fumbled to retrieve the device, causing it to ring a few more times, before finally answering the call.
"Shit, Barret! Damn near sic'd Wutai's army on my ass!" he hissed into the receiver.
Barret chuckled on the other line. "'Should set that thing to vibrate, then."
"Yeah, yeah… wha'd ya got? Get the vamp, yet?"
"Naw. We saw somethin' sneak into the temple awhile ago. Red thinks it was him, but I'unno. Coulda been anybody."
Cid frowned. "Aw'right. Spike and I will check on the brat just in case. Keep stakin' out the pagoda. One of us will call after we've secured everythin'."
"Ya got twenty minutes."
When the connection ended, the pilot hurried back to the chamber where he and Cloud were assigned to retire. The warrior, naturally, was wide awake and staring anxiously out the one window. He turned his head quickly upon Cid's excited entrance.
"We think Vince is here," Cid stated, grabbing his spear from his coiled bedroll.
Cloud became suddenly filled with furious determination. He marched across the room and out the door, like the soldier he was—completely resolute. Cid followed close behind, slightly worried by the Avalanche leader's drastic change in demeanor.
'He thinks we're gonna save Tifa,' Cid worried as they both darted down the labyrinth of halls throughout the pagoda. 'He ain't got a clue what we're 'bout to be up 'gainst.'
They went up a flight of stairs and veered around another corner before arriving at the last place they had seen Yuffie: her room.
Cid froze upon noticing the ajar door, then whispered, "Looks like she had a visitor."
Cloud did not respond. He merely drew his sword and stepped closer toward the partly opened slab of wood.
Slowly, he eased open the door and crept inside. It was completely dark, save for the streak of moonlight illuminating the tidied bed.
"She's not here," Cloud growled dejectedly. His defense stance slackened with annoyance.
Cid could not tell if he was referring to Yuffie or Tifa. It was no matter, though, for he still felt at a loss just as Cloud did. If ever he were to have a daughter, he suspected she would something like Yuffie; now that she was missing without a trace (or possibly on her deathbed), he was besieged with fear.
'If that vamp lays one hand on her…!' he thought angrily, heaving now. 'So help me!'
Cloud cursed under his breath. "Now where are we supposed to look? I feel like this whole thing is just a wild-chocobo hunt! Gods, what in the hell …."
But Cid was not listening. A faint purple glow ebbing on the other side of the room had gathered all of the pilot's attention.
"What the hell's that?"
The ex-soldier broke his tangent and became keenly alert. "Where?"
Cid inched forward, his weapon cradled.
The glow pulsed brightly as he neared, and he felt a sudden rush of excitement surge through him. Cid quickly leapt in front of the peculiar radiance, spear jabbing forward blindly in the dark.
"Cid!" Cloud exclaimed in a hushed voice.
The pilot's spear plunged through what was now a large, floating ellipse of light. Miniscule lightning of some kind wrapped around the weapon's shaft and crackled irritably at the abrupt intrusion.
"What the –?" he began, tugging his spear free from the magical plate.
The electricity subsided and was replaced with a gray landscape.
"A mirror?" Cid wondered aloud.
Cloud stepped forward and peered into the scene displayed. "No," he said breathlessly,
"it's a portal."
--Y--
Mara flung her palms out towards Vincent. Their eyes were locked fiercely, but the slight grimace of her pale lips and knitting of brows did not go unnoticed. Something Yuffie had not expected to see had cemented into her enemy's expression.
'Is she… struggling?' Yuffie was absorbed by the appalling phenomena taking place. She honestly did not know whether to consider this a good or bad sign.
The manacled gunman just stared vacantly into Mara's soulless eyes as she struggled to dominate him.
A low growl rumbled in their enemy's throat and Vincent's skin began to glow like fire under silk, flickering and raging across his entire body. The white-hot luminescence that made steam rise from his body.
'That definitely can't be good…'
"Damn you, fiend! Stay as you are!"
It seemed, however, the more power she fed into him, the more violently he began to transform.
A riotous sound of shattering bones made Yuffie's heart constrict. Bloodied leather webs had sprung from his spine with immense ferocity – nothing in comparison to prior metamorphoses. Mara had obviously not intended for him to change quite yet. So then, what was setting him off so vehemently?
Massive, mineral-like talons ripped from fiery fingertips, scraping through stone as though it were sand, and enchanted bindings clanked with strain as Chaos thrashed for freedom.
'And blood,' Yuffie thought horrifically. Her body prickled with fear and she cursed her sudden cowardice. 'Even if my death is inevitable, I will not let him become a monster!' No, she had to be strong. Without aid, she would still need to fight. Because no one else could. She had made herself a legend among Avalanche, and she only hoped to be a savior for the home she had abandoned to rot. There was still hope. Always hope. She could not – nay, she would not – fall victim to the prison of a nightmare that this nemesis had composed for her. She needed to save her people from destitution. She needed to save Vincent from his beast. She needed to liberate herself.
Even if it meant at the cost of her own life.
'That is only if worse comes to worst.'
Nothing was set in stone – those foreboding nightmares did not establish her fate. She had seen, and therefore, she could possibly avoid. But she had this one chance; she couldn't falter.
Smoky black energy misted into the air and surged towards Vincent, enveloping him in a spinning, cylindrical column. It whipped around him at such a blurring speed that it almost seemed solid.
From what she could make out through the disarray, Vincent himself was in a state of utter confusion. Wings and claws retracted and grew repeatedly; skin flashed between the fire of his demonic fury and the dull pale that was human; raven hair lengthened and spilled across ancient stone. Vincent – or perhaps it was Chaos – whipped his head up angrily, and with his mouth ajar, he heaved blazing breaths and sputtering flames against the magical wall. Menacing, crimson eyes bled black, leaving a vibrant ring of red around the onyx iris.
Yuffie dared to look into the dismal recesses, only to find them penetrating her, defying her very will to help him. His stare, although wicked and possessed, held a sort of anger that she had only seen in Vincent; the anger derived from her foolishness on numerous occasions; the anger which spoke on many levels of the gunman's worry.
She felt cold all over. Nothing to do with the weather. The eerie silence in the air terrified her. Through all of the horrific commotion, Vincent made not a sound. No snarls, no shrieks.
Only the repulsive shredding of muscle and flesh rung out.
"Vincent?"
The black shield spun faster, shrinking against him; suffocating him.
Yuffie looked to Mara, who now smiled triumphantly over her conquest.
"You'll kill us both if you persist," spoke a voice so dark and so deep that it reverberated throughout her entire body.
"Then obey me! I will not tolerate your rambunctious antics!"
"He cannot control his emotions with that human around," Chaos replied with arrogant nonchalance. "She is the only thing he cares for, and you've provoked his fury, which in turn manipulates mine. You have brought the havoc upon yourself."
Mara relinquished her spell, vacuuming all magic back into her palm. Chaos remained bound, but instead of Vincent's kneel, he chose to stand proudly.
Demon or not, the being before them was magnificent. He heightened the quality of Vincent's frame and human attributes with skin aglow like the hottest part of the sun deepened the contours of his muscles and accented the fiery ruby bordering his jet eyes. Tousled black hair fell passed his hips, few strands snagging on stretched leather wings.
"You forget. I don't really need you, Chaos. I could easily kill her without you."
"Yes, but it would be hardly worth boasting to our underworld."
"I care not for glory!" Mara seethed. "That wretched emperor betrayed me!"
"Betrayed you? Now that is an illusion."
The hellion snarled. "I needn't explain myself to you!"
"Then how about me?" Yuffie interjected, her heart pounding in her ears. "I think I have the right to know why I'm to die for my father's stupidity!"
Hateful, burgundy eyes slid to the ninja no longer quiet. "Your father has already paid his price."
Yuffie was stunned for a moment. 'No, no he's not! She wanted him here to see me die first!'
Mara's serious gaze did not falter. No cackle convinced a lie.
A fresh wave of fear crashed over Yuffie. "No, no," she whispered in disbelief. Then in a shout, "You're lying!"
But even as she said the words, she doubted them.
Platinum eyes followed the ashen hand that motioned towards the dais.
Scarlet liquid was spilling down stone steps, streaming from the top platform where only a blood-soaked robe could be seen from behind a dilapidated wall. Eyes wide, heart screaming, and body numb, she walked in a trance up to the dais. There was so much blood! It made her nauseous to the point where her eyes began to water and she had to cover her mouth. As she drew nearer, the beginnings of a carcass unveiled for her to see. The sight after walking up the steps and peering around the wall forced all the warmth from her body.
There, surrounded by a pool of blood, laid her father. Or rather, what was left of him. It was a horrid scene: his lower jaw had been torn from his skull, and it looked as though some large beast and ripped his abdomen to shreds.
Yuffie could feel herself hyperventilating and the fresh tears falling from their ducts. "D-Dad?"
"That, my dear, is no illusion," Mara stated blithely. "I think you and I both agree that he earned every bit of his punishment."
Blood painted her hands and soaked her dress as she knelt beside the morbid corpse. "You're wrong," her voice broke weakly.
Mara cocked a brow. "You pity the man who tortured you your whole life? Who used you for his own selfish gain?"
"He was still my father!" Yuffie shouted back, and then in a sad whisper, "He was still my family."
"Pathetic," Mara said disgustedly. "Perhaps you would change your mind if you knew that upon offering him an exchange for your life instead of his, he greedily accepted. Now, tell me, human, what kind of father would do that?"
The empress whipped around furiously, the frenzy of hatred boiling in her silver orbs. "What does it matter anyway? You're here to take my life! My compassion is no concern of yours!"
Mara stared indifferently; demon eyes completely devoid of emotion or empathy. "It's true. I really do not care for your woes, Princess, because I do intend to rid the planet of your family's foul bloodline and curse your homeland for its treachery. However," – she glided closer to the last of Wutai's royalty – "I cannot deny that your resilience to all my tormenting is rather quite intriguing."
"So you've just been toying with me?" Yuffie asked despicably.
"You have not yet fallen, despite how much I have taken from you." The demon chuckled darkly. "Your home, your lover, your friend, even your parents!"
Horrorstruck, Yuffie's eyes widened. "You…you...!"
"Took your mother. Yes. A little parting gift before Godo bound me into the Hell-forsaken mountain."
Her jaw clenched hard, threatening to break loose some teeth.
"Wishing for death, now, empress?" Tifa's imposter revealed a wicked smile.
"Only yours." Yuffie clenched her jaw and focused all her senses.
"Then lend me a good fight."
A large piece of metal clattered against the ground in front of Yuffie, and she felt an overwhelming surge of adrenaline and determination. Victory was not impossible.
She bent over and curled her fingers around the four-pointed blade alive with mastered materia. She studied it, admiring the countless battles won. It was only right that she wield Conformer, her most trusted weapon, now, when death was imminent. Die with pride or fight until victorious. Surprising, even to herself, that she would be satisfied with either ending.
Yuffie quickly swiped the blades at her bloodied wedding gown, stripping away any inhibitions, before hoisting the shuriken over her shoulder readily.
Mara grinned, gliding out into the open space of the ancient ruins. "Let us commence."
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Oops! Cliffhanger… Please let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading!
Coquettish Siren