Draco: BLEGH, Type-0... actually, you know what, that pretty much sums it up.
Finally got around to playing I again. I was en route for an attempt to fight Omega, but I just cleared the thing and started again. For some reason, Shinryu is easy, but Omega just kicks my ass. Murasame is a waste of time anyways - honestly, if you're going to go out of your way to have an extra katana as a prize for a bonus boss, make it tougher than what I already have. Who's in their right mind is going to fight such a famously difficult opponent without Masamune?
Also, I HATE the Labyrinth of Time. Screw it altogether.
Also also, Sauber is an astonishingly fitting name for the other three classes. Zest, Floe, and Daewoo just feel like Warrior, White Mage, and Black Mage names, but Sauber is easily applicable to a Thief, Monk, or Red Mage.
Characters, weapons, origins, locations © Square Enix. Monsters © Akihisa Ikeda.
Illusionary
Madeline fought to open her eyes. It was an uphill struggle, but soon enough she could see the roof of a cave. A brief glance around her told her that it was Maduin's place, and slowly, she started to rise.
"Easy, now."
The voice drew her to turn. Maduin was standing behind the bed, a look of relief on his face. "Maduin..." She glanced at her hands. "It... did it-"
"It worked," Maduin confirmed. "But you were unconscious by the end of it. Haku Ryu insisted I watch over you. You've been out for ten hours."
Madeline raised a hand before her, slowly curling and uncurling her fingers. "I... It's strange," she murmured. "I don't... feel any different."
Maduin sighed. "I shouldn't expect you to," he admitted. "The elder and Kirin agreed with me - it's not something you'll be able to get used to easily. Look around your neck."
The prompt caused Madeline to reach up, surprised to feel something there. Her gaze fell - it looked to be a padlock of sorts, but she could feel faint engravings along the edges. Its surface was fashioned with a cross whose lines intersected in the center, with the smallest of jewels at the core of the meet, and chains emerged from the arm - each chain marked with a likewise cross. The loop was wide enough that Madeline hadn't noticed it until Maduin had pointed it out, but closed enough that she knew it would not be removed accidentally.
"What... what is this?" she asked, raising her gaze to Maduin.
"Alexander's padlock," Maduin replied. "It's a sort of... sealant. Haku Ryu designed it to suppress your magic unless you call on it. When a human is infused with magic, it's volatile. If the arcana is applied at a young age, they can grow with proper control, but at adulthood - and especially with child, it could be dangerous. Unless you reach for it, it won't act."
Madeline nodded. "I see... Thank you."
+x+x+x+
"Terra..."
Time had passed. The arcana kept her alive, but the pregnancy still brought horrific pain - yet Madeline had endured, and now held her daughter in her arms, born just the previous day. Maduin was sitting at her side, and she held the child tight to her chest; upon the yoko's asking if she had a name in mind, Madeline had thought for a moment, and reached a decision.
"Terra," Maduin echoed. "Yes, I... that sounds wonderful. Terra Branford."
Madeline turned to him, confused. "You would not call her yours?"
Maduin shook his head. "After you have put yourself through so much, your name is a greater honour than mine." He glanced down, curling his fingers. "An old relic of times past will do her no good." With a chuckle, he added, "Besides, it flows together so beautifully."
"Terra Branford," Madeline hummed. "I suppose you're right..."
A calm silence followed - and was shattered in an instant.
A huge explosion sounded from outside the cave, and a faint tremor shook the residence, catching both of them off-guard. The tremor lasted hardly an instant, and the moment it faded Maduin was on his feet. "Stay here," he insisted.
Madeline only nodded, holding Terra close to her.
Maduin stormed forward, grabbing his swords from a hook near the entrance and slinging them over his back before drawing the straps tight so that they would not waver. No sooner had he stepped out of the cave than he saw a familiar siren rushing towards him.
"Sylph!" he exclaimed, stepping forward. "What happened?"
"Humans," Sylph insisted. "They managed to open the link! And they broke the door so we can't seal them out! There's a whole legion of them, and they've all got guns!"
Maduin swore. "Have you told the elder?"
Sylph nodded. "Yes."
"Then get Golem, Phantom, and Zona," Maduin instructed, "and tell them to meet me there. I'll do what I can to hold the humans off until they arrive."
He started forward, and Sylph shouted at his back, "They've got a hundred fighters, minimum!"
"And I've got something to fight for," the yoko retaliated, not bothering to turn.
The door was set into a cave - deep enough to be cast in shadows, but close enough that the sunset would still light it up if the mouth of the cave was unblocked - and that left them with two chokepoints. The cavern entrance was maybe wide enough for them to march two-by-two, but they wouldn't get through the door at any more than single file. Haku Ryu was standing at the entrance, and as Maduin arrived, the elder turned to him.
"How's your blood held up all these years?" Maduin inquired.
"Maduin, I've had magic since my third year of life," Haku Ryu insisted. "The blood is irrelevant - I can't face off with an army of that size."
"They're humans."
"With firearms."
The yoko sighed. "Then we fall back to the void?"
Haku Ryu bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Maduin. We don't have another choice."
"Just promise me you'll take of Madeline and Terra," Maduin pleaded.
"Terra?" The elder turned to him. "You decided on a name?"
"It was her idea," Maduin added.
"It's beautiful." Haku Ryu. "And you're going to see she grows up alright."
Maduin turned. "What?"
A snicker from the elder. "You didn't think I was going to let you go down in some blaze of glory, did you?"
"Honestly, haven't they come through yet?"
The voice of Zona Seeker caused Maduin to turn. The werewolf was there, along with Golem - a snow fairy with a candy stick, who prided herself on trapping her body in a massive form of ice - and Phantom - a thunder beast wrapped in cloths to make himself seem spectral, silent unless absolutely necessary. At Zona's prompt, Golem only sighed, the air icing around her breath. "Human leaders think a rousing speech is going to save their troops," she recalled. "Let's kick some ass."
Phantom only nodded.
Haku Ryu set a hand on Maduin's shoulder. "Just clear the way for me," he insisted. "Then do something to stop anyone else and fall back."
"Consider it done yesterday," the yoko promised.
Golem sucked in a sharp breath as frost wrapped her hands, quickly spreading to encompass the rest of her body. In an instant, she was nearly unseen within a massive, humanoid figure of solid ice - a figure which quickly stormed forward. Phantom started walking after her at a much more gradual pace, and Zona seemed to vanish. There was only the briefest of pauses before Maduin began moving, leaving Haku Ryu standing at the entrance to the cave.
+x+x+x+
"Riches to every man who brings me a monster's body! Luxury to any who capture a monster alive!"
Emperor Gestahl prided himself - as he did in his childhood - on being there when things went down, whenever he could. His every resource had gone into finding the monsters' refuge; for he was certain that such powerful creatures could not blend into the human world fully and completely, so soon after a war against humankind - and so there must be somewhere they were gathered.
And now, he had found it - a perfectly ordinary door, upon a very basic frame, leading nowhere.
With that last promise to his men, they stormed forward, weapons in hand. They had decided to not risk damaging the doorframe, in case it maintained the connection to the monsters' refuge (how was a question that Gestahl couldn't answer, but better not to take the risk); this left them marching single-file into the small doorway with their revolvers in hand, and machine guns over their backs - unloaded, with rounds of each at their belts, to prevent being prepared with a shot that would only empower their opponent.
It came out on a cave, and there they found their first opponent. A hulking shape of pure ice, chill mist hanging in the air around it - the surface was frosted over, preventing anything that might have been within or behind it from being seen. The first man glanced over his shoulder to see all of three men had made it through behind him; he quickly popped the chamber of his revolver and grabbed a round, shouting, "Ifrit!"
The moment the bullet was in place, he raised his revolver at the icy creature and fired.
Someone got in the way - a man with green hair, a pair of swords on his back - and the bullet connected with the shoulders, bursting into fierce flames on contact. He yelped as he landed, the touch to the earth possessing slightly more spin than would have been preferable - but when his hand went to the impact, there was a bullet wound - and nothing to show it had been burned.
"Damn, that's actually a bullet on there!"
The man on point stepped back. "What the...?"
Maduin groaned, reaching around the damaged flesh - there didn't seem to be any bullet casing to show for it, implying the bullet had been vaporised in the detonation. Just to be sure, he let flames storm around the shoulder as he turned to the man who had fired. "Don't call it Ifrit if you've got steel with the fire!"
A fierce swearing emerged as another man stepped around the leader, raising his revolver at Golem's head - or rather, the head of her icy casing. "Ramuh!" he roared to the men.
Another shot flew - and this one, too, was interrupted. Phantom had stepped into place behind the swordsman without anyone hearing or seeing him until he had a hand raised to block the bullet. The impact dragged his hand back, and the voltage that danced around the impact point did little more than cause his cloths to waver as he turned to Maduin.
The yoko raised an eyebrow. "Did you not hear me shout, 'that's actually a bullet on there', or did you just think I was exaggerating?"
Phantom only rolled his eyes - hardly visible under his cloths - before stepping around and raising a hand towards the men. A surge of voltage slammed into the man furthest ahead; then the lightning leapt between the soldiers, throwing their bodies into voltic fits before they slumped to the ground, lifeless. Someone tried to fire at them as they approached, but Maduin only countered with a shot of fire that triggered the bullet - which tried to burst into ice, although the result was more akin to water falling - and proceeded to melt the barrel of the gun that had fired it and singe the hand holding that gun.
Another man stepped forward, just out the door; his revolver was loaded, and he quickly fired, prompting Maduin to blast this shot as well.
He, Phantom, and Golem all stepped back when his flames, upon striking the bullet, dissipated into the air, leaving no trace he had ever attacked.
The man grinned. "Screw strategy! Bahamut!"
Everyone started loading, and Golem stormed forward, hoping to strike them down before they could fire. The first man to fire that effective shot, however, only holstered his revolver and pulled a machine gun off his back, firing a short burst at Golem's feet. The shots shattered the legs of her casing, causing her to slide just through the door, and another man quickly fired at her main body - this was a flaming shot, melting her protection and singing the shoulder blades of the snow fairy within. Someone else fired at her arm - voltage pumped across her body, leaving her unconscious.
A blur shot out the door, and the man who had cried Bahamut quickly found himself kicked between the legs, elbowed in the nose, and his machine gun pulled from his hands and thrown across the cave - all in about two seconds. Three men proceeded to raise machine guns of their own at the masked figure standing there, loading and firing as the first firer fell to the ground - he managed to dodge most of the volley with his body, but his cape was in shreds by the time he was done - and the last shot managed to strike his leg, the voltage paralyzing him as it had Golem.
Phantom had made it out while this occurred, a blast of lightning from an outstretched hand leaping between the three men as Zona Seeker fell to the ground; someone else proceeded to fire at him, however, and though he volted the bullet, the ensuing clump of ice struck him in the face before he could react. Another shot promptly connected with his leg, freezing him to the ground; further shots slammed into his arms and legs, leaving him frozen in a block of ice by the time they were done.
Maduin was hidden in an outcrop and swearing under his breath - these people were versatile, and those 'Bahamut' attacks were dangerous. If Haku Ryu was as weakened as he claimed, there was no way he was going to survive long enough to pull this off. Upon hearing the next few men stepping through the door, he threw himself in the way, spreading his hands as though he would shield someone behind him.
The men laughed. "What're you gonna do?" one taunted. "Bring down the whole cave?"
"If I have to," Maduin confirmed.
Their smiles faded.
The yoko gave his own. "But I doubt I'll have to."
His lands lashed forward, and a wall of flame surged up before him, causing the men to stumble back. Maduin quickly drew his swords and stormed forward; the moment he could see the soldiers, he drove his blades through two of them and dragged them to the ground like a pirate trained to kill. As the others rounded on him, he released the weapons; this freed his hands to blast waves of fire across the attackers, setting their flesh alight.
One sword was raised before him, so he was peering down the blade.
The other was raised at his side, at an angle just heavenward.
"Now, showtime."
The next man to step into view was greeted with a kick that sent him flying like a meteor - complete with flaming trail. Machine guns were rounded on him, and he lashed his swords to catch the first few bullets, expecting the attacks to tear his swords apart. He was pleasantly surprised to find the attacks only wrapped his swords in ice; he quickly moved the weapons to beat the hail of icy attacks aside, each new frost shattering from the bullet that sprouted the next. Blows across the hearts left the soldiers lifeless on the ground the moment their firearms were empty, and the man who survived long enough to pry the empty clip only received strikes to the wrists before he could reload; this left Maduin's arm's crossed, which he quickly remedied by bringing both blades across the gunner's throat.
The click of a touched trigger warned him that a soldier had a revolver raised at his head. "Drop the swords."
Maduin released his blades; the second they hit the ground, his hand went up, grabbing the gun and causing it to fire at the ceiling. He quickly switched it to his other hand as he arced into an away spin, slamming the butt of the firearm into its owner's temple; he quickly tossed the weapon away as he kicked one sword and then the other back to his hands.
Another shot was fired.
His attempt to deflect it sent voltage racing across his blade and into his hand, causing him to drop the weapon - and leaving him off-guard for the attack that slammed into his leg.
He was unconscious before his other sword had gone still on the earth.
+x+x+x+
"Everyone take refuge!"
Haku Ryu's voice echoed through the air, raising Madeline's gaze. Terra began to cry out in her arms, but she quickly drew the child close, shushing it - and trying not to let her growing fear show in her voice. It wasn't long before someone stepped into Maduin's cave, and Madeline recognized the white wings and blue dress in the corner of her vision. "Seraph, what's going on?"
"Humans," Seraph warned. "Human soldiers. They've got firearms that aren't normal - they already took Maduin prisoner!"
Militant stomping drew the siren to turn around, seeing someone with a machine gun step inside, aiming it around. He froze for a moment at the sight of the woman with white-feathered wings; that was long enough for Seraph to lash an arm and a wing forward, throwing razor-sharp feathers forward that impaled the gun in both lungs, the heart, the throat, and the skull. His strangled gasp caused Terra to cry again, but Madeline did her best to quiet her.
"Seraph, go," she insisted. "You need to take cover."
"But you-!"
"Even the worst of humans won't kill a newborn if they have the resources to take her hostage," Madeline insisted. "Go!"
Seraph started to turn away, only to run head-first into a soldier. The soldier reacted first; a revolver fired at her foot, and voltage lashed across Seraph's body. Her last note before she fell to unconsciousness was not a scream of pain, but a single note - one that did wonders to quiet the child in Madeline's arms; when the siren fell to the ground, the soldier noticed Madeline lying in the bed.
The human woman swallowed heavily. "I'll come quietly," she promised, "as long as you don't hurt my daughter."
It took a moment for the man to decide; then he stepped forward, holstering his weapon. "Can you walk?"
"Possibly..."
Madeline?
The elder's voice came from nowhere - she raised her gaze, concerned. To her fortune, a gunshot had sounded dangerously close to the cave; the soldier shook his head. "Don't worry. If I tell them you're coming with me, they won't harm you."
"I..."
Don't try to talk to me. The soldier can't hear me. Haku Ryu's voice echoed in her mind, sourceless. Listen carefully. We're trying to fall back to the void. It's a failsafe that'll prevent anyone from entering or exiting Roku Okoku. But we need someone to trigger it on both ends. The soldier helped her to her feet, but she hardly paid him any attention; whatever focus was not on the elder's words was on Terra in her arms. Kirin is going to come with you. Once she's on the outside of the door, she's going to disrupt the soldiers and start the process out there, while I begin it in here. Maduin should be conscious by the time you get out there; you and he come in the moment Kirin begins.
Madeline did not respond, only allowing the soldier to lead her back towards the doorway - someone had already come and taken Seraph away. Sure enough, Kirin was running towards them; when the soldier went for his revolver, she quickly raised her hands in surrender. "Please, don't!" she cried. "I'm not going to hurt anyone! I just want to make sure the baby is safe!"
"You're... a midwife?" the soldier asked, incredulous.
"Something like that," Kirin insisted. "Please, just let me help her!"
The soldier kept his eye on the witch as she put an arm around Madeline, supporting her - she still was not very steady on her feet. "Is she alright?" she asked the human woman.
"Yes," Madeline confirmed, not daring to speak of Haku Ryu's words. "So far, yes. She's fine."
The four of them - mother, child, witch, and soldier - made their way through the cave. The door linking Roku Okoku to the outside world was in pieces - although the doorframe was intact - and Madeline was horrified at what she saw. Phantom was encased in ice; Golem, Zona, and Seraph were all unconscious and twitching with electricity; Maduin was struggling to supporting himself with his hands, with a soldier on either side holding a firearm to his head. The moment Madeline stepped out of the door, Maduin tried to move; he ended up falling over, his body still weak.
"M-Madeline..."
Kirin helped Madeline approach the fallen yoko; the human woman knelt down next to him, still holding Terra tight to her. "Maduin," she murmured. "Are you alright?"
"Never... mind me..." he gasped. "Terra..."
"Terra is right here," Madeline insisted. "Don't worry."
The soldier who had escorted them looked between the two. "Is he the father?" he inquired.
Kirin nodded.
The gunners on either side quickly holstered their weapons as Maduin struggled to rise. He managed to get to one knee, carefully putting his arms around Madeline so as to not harm Terra. Kirin sighed in relief, setting one hand on her chest. "I was afraid you would be in a... less favourable state."
Maduin shook his head. "It'll take more than that to take me down."
Something beneath the witch's garb began to glow.
"Good."
The yoko drew Madeline close, covering Terra with her mother's garb as a light flashed across everyone present. The soldiers all stumbled back, and the unconscious monsters woke; Seraph took in the situation, saw the child was protected, and knew what they wanted her to do. Her mouth opened, and a single note echoed through the air - the soldiers dropped their weapons, covering their ears in pain, and even Madeline bowed her head from the discomfort caused by a note pitched so as to target human ears.
Kirin quickly drew her wand from between her breasts, grasping it in both hands and holding it towards the doorway - and magic began to gather around the frame, a darkness gathering around it. Maduin did not hesitate; supporting Madeline with his own body, he started towards the join, understanding already that they needed to get through before the connection was shattered.
It was then that someone stepped out of the shadows.
A man in ornate, all-consuming robes, with an aged face and hair gone grey of age, and a handgun in his grip, levelled on Madeline's head.
The two parents came to a stop, Madeline keeping Terra close to her chest, and Maduin putting an arm before her. The man paused for the briefest of moments; then he smirked, lowering his handgun so that it was aimed at the child. Both of them went still as he stepped forward.
"Give me the child."
Madeline shook her head. "No," she protested. "I won't let you take her."
The man took a single step forward, and the parents both stepped back. "Give her to me, or I will kill her now."
Maduin glared, briefly; then a light crossed his body, arcane patterns shining across his bare flesh.
An attempt to pull the trigger only clicked ineffectively, the firearm jammed; Maduin quickly reached forward, his hand lighting up with heat as he contorted the barrel in his blazing palm. A swift cross to the jaw - unflamed, due to his proximity to the child - sent the man tumbling to the ground, and he quickly turned so that he stood between the opponent and Terra, pulling her out.
Madeline was horrified to see Terra was starting to writhe - and something was glowing upon her. "What-?"
"I'm sorry," Maduin insisted. "I had to stop him. She must have received the magic you did when you underwent Haku Ryu's ritual. It's a miracle if you still have any. Hers is starting to react to being so close to mine..."
He was supporting Terra with his hands, which meant Madeline's could spare one to reach for her neck. "The lock," she insisted. "Alexander's padlock. Could it contain it?"
"It only needs to be quieted," Maduin insisted. "The lock can do that, but you-"
"But nothing," Madline insisted, setting both hands to support Terra. "Do it."
Maduin quickly reached forward, grasping the padlock with one hand. One link connected to it fell away, and he quickly drew the chain off from around Madeline's neck. Quickly, he circled Terra and her bundle of blankets with the chain - loosely enough that it would not apply pressure, but tightly enough that it would not slide off; then he set the freed link against the loop of the lock, causing it to seal on. The glow around Terra quieted, and he quickly set his arms around mother and child - for Madeline was now beginning to glow, patterns not unlike Maduin's own beginning to shine beneath her garb.
A gunshot sounded.
Kirin's scream drew Madeline's attention; the shot had connected with the witch's thigh, and ice was beginning to cross her body. Maduin turned to see the man in the robes was on one knee; the melted-barrelled handgun was on the floor before him, but another was in his hand, raised towards the witch.
Maduin kicked the firearm away with a burst of fire.
Madeline's footsteps stopped him from doing the same to the man himself; he turned to see the human woman stepping toward Kirin, with Terra still in her arms.
"No, Madeline!"
The words fell on deaf ears. Kirin was struggling to maintain her magic, even Madeline could see that; quickly, she took the wand from Kirin's hand and set the child into her arms. The magic had begun in the witch herself, but the wand was now what acted as the link to the arcana; now, Madeline turned to the doorway, raising the wand - and seeing Haku Ryu behind it, arcana lighting up upon him as well.
She started towards the door, with Kirin's wand outstretched - and was surprised when Maduin stepped up to her.
"Madeline, don't!" he demanded. "Your magic is too unstable, it could kill you!"
"This needs to be done..." Madeline protested.
"I can do it!" Maduin insisted. "Let me-"
He was silenced when another gunshot sounded; this bullet slammed into his leg, and voltage ripped up about him as he fell to the side. Madeline saw the man in the robes stepping forward, with his handgun raised. Turning back to the doorway, she saw Haku Ryu standing there; and after a brief moment, the elder only nodded.
She released the wand.
The magic condensed upon the doorway, the image of Roku Okoku vanishing.
Madeline quickly turned to face the man in the robes, the magic she held now running wild - and as the robed man pulled his trigger, she so desperately wanted it all to harm him.
Terra's cry caught her ears, and reminded her of how close her child still was.
She could not trust the arcana to bring this man harm without doing the same to her child; and so she only closed her eyes, willing the magic to recede as the gunshot sounded, and a bullet struck her heart - and flames ripped up around it.
The last thing in her ears was Maduin's voice, screaming her name.
Draco: Ungaaah. That all came out a lot more cruel than I meant it to be. I feel like an ass.
