Hey, everyone! The beginning of chapter 25 is a more detailed recap of the final battle depicted at the end of the last chapter. I felt as if, since this is such an epic battle that I love to watch over and over in the trailers, I should do a much better job at describing it. So here we go: Somnus Nemoris take two! And ACTION!
~Disclaimer:~
Another haiku
Because I know you love them
To disclaim Versus
Somnus Nemoris
Tellus dormitet liberi in diem faciuntnumquam extinguuntne expergisci possint.
Omnia dividittragoedia coramamandum quae.
Et nocte perpetuaehem vel vera visionepar oram videbo temane tempu expergiscendi.
The kingdom sleepsand children sacrifice themselves day by dayuntil they extinguish,and they will never awake.
This tragedy destroys,in front of them,every beloved thing.
And in this never-ending night,Look there, the real visionon the edge; I will see youand the next morning the time will awake.
Tsubomi
~Chapter Twenty-Five~
He jut out his arm, eleven respective weapons flashing in a swirl of blue and white light, surrounding Noctis in an impressive vortex display of magical prowess. Grabbing onto the handle of his most trusted of the eleven weapons, Noctis felt an invigorating surge of power rush through his entire system, his hair turning a darker shade of black, like that of perpetual night, and his golden eyes melding to that of a crimson red rose, his pupils glaring nothing but the daggers of thorns at his attackers.
Without warning, he flew forward, the gravity as light as the air itself under his heels, propelling him forward, his blade clashing against armor like a hot knife through butter--easy.
With the first flank decimated, the rest of the soldiers drew in, as if numbers could change their odds at survival. Stabbing his weapon into the concrete for stability, Noctis drew forth a gun blade from his arsenal and used the handle of his stuck-fast blade to spin around in a complete 360 degrees, wiping out the second raid of intruders with a shower of magically enhanced bullets.
"St-Stop him! We've got the advantage here! Shoot!" cried one of the soldiers, an alleged commander.
It wasn't long that he exclaimed this that he soon fell to Noctis' blade, drowning in a puddle of his own blood.
The Prince felt no remorse, however. Those that were attempting to take his crystal deserved nothing of his sympathy. As long as they longed for it, he would destroy them…
It was as simple as that.
Teleporting at the speed of light in foresight of more opposition, Noctis scaled the sides of his fortress, almost invisible to the naked eye, and disposed of the vermin trying to sneak within from the windowsills and rooftops. Freefalling for a moment, a soldier fired at Noctis frantically in a feeble attempt to save himself, screaming in sheer terror at the crimson eyed reaper before him. Thrusting his blade forward, Noctis heard the sickening sound of the crunching of metal and bone, and the blood spraying from the soldier's backside, raining down onto the streets below like hell's rain.
Realizing that they stood no chance of being able to defeat this superhuman individual, the army's numbers decreased significantly, save for a few who held more heavy artillery.
Just about to head back up the steps of his castle, the remaining soldiers unleashed one last revolt--several cannon based rocket missiles. Noctis simply craned his neck for a moment before he was enveloped in a plethora of smoke and blast powder, his shield, once again, rendering the attack useless.
Hightailing away after such a sight, Noctis was the only one left, his remaining company a sea of corpses. It was, indeed, a pitiable sight.
Closing his eyes, the Prince dismissed his weapons and walked back inside towards his throne, to, once more, lock himself within his suffocating cage.
~…~
Four days had passed and Vidal was no where close to reaching the kingdom of Tenebrae. In fact, he was even more far from it than ever. But not only was he lost without directions, but he was running low on rations and confidence as well.
"Things are gonna suck if I have to start eating one of my limbs," he joked to himself as he gnawed on the last stale bread roll he had at the edge of an unfinished road. "I was sure that this would've taken me somewhere familiar… but it looks like it's any man's guess from here on out."
Sighing heavily, Vidal looked to the peach colored heavens with weary eyes. "Dammit… I should've asked Vanille for directions or a map when I had the chance… I'm such a moron!!"
Brooding over it for a couple more moments, the blonde finally picked himself up and continued on. The dryness of the air stung his already strained eyes and irritated his sunburned skin.
"What I wouldn't do," he moaned, "for a nice comfy car right now… Hell a bicycle would do! I just need something to go faster and get off my feet… or else I'll never make it anywhere!"
And as Vidal complained, a loud roaring sound was crying from behind him, like a berserk motor on overdrive. Turning his head just so, the blonde quickly panicked as a behemoth of a motorbike was on his tail, his legs reflexively adjusting themselves into a sprint as he made a mad dash for his life.
'Of all the…!' he thought, pumping his limbs harder. 'I wished for a vehicle and here it is coming to kill me! Shit!'
But as he felt the tip of the spinning rubber of the front wheel reach his heels, Vidal dived out of the way and rolled onto the desert earth, coughing up gritty sand that made its way into his gasping mouth. Looking over his shoulder, the motorcycle had stopped right before trampling over him, the rider of such a beast striding over to his side.
"Waitaminute," the blonde squinted, sand in his eyelashes, "you…"
"Forgot me already?!" the figure boomed, becoming but a blackened silhouette in front of the fiery setting sun.
"N-no, way," Vidal gasped. "SNOW?!"
The ex-assassin grinned. "Back from the depths of hell, baby."
~…~
Stella wandered the halls of the castle gracefully, heading over to Noctis' quarters in habitual routine. Tapping against the embellished door with the silver knocker, she received no vocal response as always, and simply entered inside. There, Stella found Noctis sitting at the edge of his bed, a towel around his bare shoulders and chest, hair and skin dripping wet from a recent shower. Snaking her way to his side, she peeled the towel from him and placed it on his head.
"What's wrong?" she feigned sincere concern, drying his soppy black hair for him. "Why haven't you dried off yet? If you're careless you'll get sick, and then who will protect our kingdom?"
Noctis' languid red orbs winced at the use of the plural possession.
Stella smiled at the reaction, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Don't tell me you're having repressed feelings about all of this? You can't just stop, you know. Aren't we going to have the chance of a happier life? Won't we finally achieve an existence of peace?"
"Happier life?" the Prince finally replied. "Peace? No. No amount of peace is worth this much bloodshed. And if you've let my godfather's empty words get to your head, then let me remind you of our current situation: we're now, slowly and steadily, decaying from the inside out."
Stella, brought aback by Noctis' invocations, retreated her hold and drew a tight line across her pretty face with her lips. "Yes… But still!!"
Pulling off the towel from his head, Noctis averted his crimson gaze to her and held it with an overwhelming sense of grave seriousness. "And there is absolutely no cure."
Rendered utterly speechless, Stella jolted up from the bad and stormed out, distraught by the inevitable.
'Very well. We may be dying, and there may be no getting past it… But mark my words, Noctis Lucis Caelum, you will perish before my own time is up!'
~Chapter Twenty-Five Finis~
Oh my, Stella… Your sexy wiles couldn't turn on Noctis. I wonder what she'll do next? (Please don't kill me for this chapter, Stella-Haters… Even though StellaxNoctis has become increasingly more popular…! OcO)
Oh and Snow is alive! Well, I had planned his "revival" a couple of chapters after I supposedly "killed" him off, so yeah… he'll become a vital asset to the finale now =x=;; (As much as I hate to admit it… orz)
Speaking of finales, has anyone around here beat FF13 yet? (I know you have Qwerty-san =3=) I mean, I bet those hard core gamers have, but I mean, I'm only on Chapter 7... =v=;;(I need more time to play!!!)
Well, without further ado, I hereby end my ranting. Now REVIEW please! And thank you for over 300!! Next chapter I will seriously LIST every single reviewer to date and personally thank EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU!!
No lie.
So keep REVIEWING!! *A*/