Yo: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Lu: Guys! Get the meds! Um…hey guys…this is Lumino. Yozora has been feeling under the weather lately so he apologises this was late. He also says he's been discouraged and might be losing interest in this story. He knows people read it, he just doesn't know how you feel about it so-
Yo: My spine! My spine is frozen!
Ts: I'll get more blankets then.
Yo: No! It's summer! It's too hot!
Ra: What do you want from us man?!
Lu: Alright, I need to make this quick. Reviews aside, he also has been very busy the past few weeks so he'll try and squeeze in more writing when he gets the chance. He does say sorry though. Now here you go, Chapter 35.
Yo: I see the light…
Lu: It's just flu bro!
Disclaimer: SAO is owned by Reki Kawaharea and FF is owned by Square Enix.
Chapter 35: Trial of Ramuh
10:15am
{Final Fantasy X-2: Yuna's Ballad}
The battlefield was broken and scorched. Nothing but ruin remained. This was a sign that the battle had concluded but their comrade was gone. Kizuna was nowhere in sight and his health gauge had not returned. "Do you think he's…"Tsukino muttered.
"No, his name is still on the friend list so he's alive but something's jamming the map," Lumino said.
"A crystal jammer," Lily whispered feeling her magic was gone. 'No.' She jet off into the wetlands at the edge of the swamp. Kizuna's cards didn't need magic to fire but his protective spells did need magic. Lily knew that all too well. She ignored the calls of their comrades in search of the blonde.
"You'll probably die if you fight at close range. Lily's magic takes too long to charge. I'm the only one who can fight at long range quickly. Now shut up and move it!"
'He's not dead.'
"Don't worry, I'm not dying at all."
'He's okay. I just need to find him.'
'I have to find him, I have to find him before-' Lily tripped and fell face first into the muddy ground. She looked back to see what she tripped on.
Kizuna's bag.
The small bag he always kept with him. He always had emergency curatives just in case his cut cards were in cooldown. She reached out for the bag and trembled at the amount of magic pressure and heat it was giving off.
'What is that?' she thought reaching for the button. She pulled her hand away preferring to ask him when she found him. She ran off following the trail of destruction and carnage the two left in their wake.
She didn't hear the sound of fighting at all. This gave a possibility that Kizuna had won, driven the enemy away or died a few seconds ago. Tears started to well up in her eyes at the thought of the person she loved dead. Her vision started to blur but a health gauge appeared beneath hers.
Kizuna 142/ 5327
Hope faded as quickly as it came. He was alive but his health was critical. Maybe she could make it in time. She looked around her, trying to spot him in the rain as she ran. It was short but her eyes caught a glimpse of something yellow.
Her eyes widened to see Kizuna on the ground. His left arm and right leg was missing, had multiple cuts and stab wounds, a larger one in his stomach and had three cards burning near him. "K-k-k…"Lily stuttered as the tears returned in full force. Lightning flashed and thunder roared.
"KIZUNAAAA!"
{End of Soundtrack}
8:00pm
Kizuna woke up but felt an immense jolt of pain. "Don't move. You're arm and leg are still missing," Lily said emotionlessly while staring out the window.
It took a while for Kizuna to analyse and understand his surroundings. He was lying in a hotel bed, his limbs were still gone after his fight with Incognitus and Lily was next to him. Judging by his health, he guess she healed him. "Couldn't if I wanted to," he said. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it." That emotionless voice again. She was crying wasn't she? There was this sad atmosphere again. He didn't like it. There was something off about her.
"So, which one are you?" Kizuna asked.
"Fuyumi…the others gave me the name 'Samui' but what does it matter," she said. Lily described her as 'a sad, loner who brings sorrow and grief wherever she is.' This atmosphere made Kizuna want to crawl in a hole and wait like the other 3000 players on floor 1…
…Too soon?
Kizuna decided to see their location. Floor 23, in the city Storm Cloud. Ironic name. The time was…wait. "How long have you been out?"
"Since we got here so…around 9 and a half hours."
"What, change back," Kizuna ordered in distress. He didn't like how Lily had gaps in her memory.
"I can't," Samui said after a pause.
"What! Why?!"
"Lily won't cheer up. She's shutting out every thought. They're trying to get her out but it's no use. Once she builds those walls, you'll need an army just to scratch it."
"Isn't there some way to-"
"Need I remind you that this is your fault? If I saw right, you were the one who criticized her strength and went off to fight that guy alone only to get mangled up and left for dead like that. In the end you caused it and now there isn't much we can do to get her out."
Samui was right. Kizuna couldn't argue. Now that he thought about it, he had just been hurting her over and over. Did he have any right to call himself her friend? Kizuna looked to the roof. He tried to imagine the sky above him with the stars and the moon out.
Flashback
'The sky is pretty,' a simple sentence said by a young Kizuna.
'Isn't it. The stars and the moon!' Aria said pointing to the objects in the sky.
'Stars?'
'Yep. A giant ball of fire bigger than the world! Although they are really far away. You know, I sometimes think stars are souls of people who are gone watching over us eternally.'
'. . . I don't get it.'
Flashback end
"Souls huh?"
"Not healthy for a second soul like me to be out."
Kizuna thought of the word soul and started humming a tune. It sounded a little sad but he didn't seem depressed humming it. He forgot that Samui was in the room and she was listening. The one thing that the 4 souls shared was a love for music.
"Maigo no ashioto kieta
kawari ni inori no uta o;
Soko de honoo ni naru no darou
tsuzuku mono no tomoshibi ni"
Kizuna sang the song to himself. He wasn't good at singing but he wasn't bad at it either.
"What song is that?" Samui asked. She didn't sound emotionless. She was curious. While Kizuna hummed, her heart skipped a beat.
"Oh. It's called Zero. That's the only part of the song I know," Kizuna replied. "Why?"
"Um…well…the melody is just close to my favourite song." Lily was slipping through.
'Keep it up Kizuna. She's nearly there.'
'Come on blondie. You got her interested.'
"Well, why don't you sing? I'd like to hear it."
"S-seriously?"
"Yeah. You're already good at playing a flute. I'm sure you're also a great singer." Her heart skipped a beat again. The sadness and worry started to fade away as Samui smirked. She forgot what she was thinking.
"So, which one are you?" Kizuna asked again seeing the clueless look on her face.
"What do you mean by that?" Lily asked.
"Original it is." Kizuna was about to talk more until the door opened revealing the rest of the party.
"Thank god, you're awake," he asked.
"Sorry for worrying you. Did you guys get to the next runestone?" he asked as Lily helped him sit up.
"Yeah. The final one is in a dungeon here," Raiden said. "We're going tomorrow."
"Why didn't you go without me? I wouldn't have minded."
"It's not that. You'd be in danger. There are still people who can kill you in your sleep. Inn or no inn. Besides, we wouldn't leave you behind."
"You know, it's getting real hard to tell you and Aria apart," Lumino said.
"What's that supposed to mean!"
"Oh Kizuna. Before I forget. Here," Lily said giving him his bag. "I didn't look inside."
"Thanks."
"What's in that thing anyway? It's giving off a heavy aura," Ronen asked. Kizuna opened the bag knowing he couldn't keep the item a secret anymore. He drew a single card.
"What the hell?!"
"What is that?"
"Call it: A last resort," Kizuna said. "I was going to use it against Incognitus but…he cut my arm off, before I had the chance."
"I see. But it could be very dangerous for you to use."
"Like I said. It's a last resort. If there's another way, I won't use it."
"Was he really that strong?"
"Yeah. His gravity magic was strong but you guys already knew that. His rapiers were deadly. I knew that if you guys fought him, you'd die. His defences were very difficult to break and he was fast. I'm lucky to have survived," Kizuna said. He yawned and dropped back into a sleeping position. The others figured that they should rest as well.
Kizuna, I'm sorry. You had to bear so many burdens, so many hardships because of me. I…I appreciate you standing by me all these years. Until the end, I'll always see you as my brother. Thanks.
Year 2023 June 24 9:00am
The party was travelling through the dense forest on floor 23. The place attracted a lot of rain, the rainy season just intensified the storms so Floor 23 was a borderline hurricane. The eight struggled through the storm. Their sight and hearing were hindered by the flooding amount of water and the howls of raging winds.
Kizuna, who had regained his limbs, had to guide the others alongside Raiden. There was no lightning bolt lingering in one spot. Raiden had gained a sense for the runestones and Kizuna would find a path for them to walk.
A distant rumbling sound was heard. A bright flash blinded the party as a loud bang hit the area of floor 23. "Damn, that was close!" Raiden yelled. "We must be close!"
"Alright!" Scarlet cheered getting sick of the storm. The lightning had hit a large rock sealing a cave. The party entered, finally catching a break from the storm. Raiden could feel it. The feeling of lightning running through his blood intensified.
"Come on. If we can make it through there, we'll find the last runestone, I'm sure of it."
{Final Fantasy XV: What Lies Within}
The party ventured through the hollow. The cave was narrow, leaving them to walk in a line and squeeze though the tight spaces of rocks. Small daemons would assault them every now and then but were made quick work of them.
"Is there any end to this?" Lumino asked.
"It is a deep cave," Yami commented.
"Rairai, are you okay?" Scarlet asked. Raiden could barely contain the pain and was trembling a lot and began to struggle moving.
"I'm okay. We're close though," the blonde replied coming to a fork in the road.
'My baby'
A voice echoed in the dark. "What was that?" Ronen asked.
"A daemon maybe?" Lumino said looking down the right path.
"Come on, we won't make it down that way," Tsukino called as the party was leaving. Lumino nodded but looked down the path one more time. Hissss.
.
.
.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the raven's scream echoed. The others ran back to see he disappeared. They ran ahead to see him on the ground. He was on a distant path in the area. "Lumino, you okay?"
"NO I'M NOT OKAY!" he yelled in fear. "Why did it have to be a snake?!" The raven's fear of snakes wasn't unknown to the party and they already knew the exact reason he feared them. Daemons started to spawn around the entire area. Imps, Mindflayers and Thunder bombs.
Suddenly, the entire area was hit with an Icestorma attack. Lily had killed the imps and thunder bombs but the mindflayers still lived. She gathered up her magic and burnt one with Fira while the others slayed it.
'Not only is it time consuming, it's also weak,' she thought.
"Nice call, Lily," Kizuna said.
"Yeah, you did well," Yami added. The complements didn't erase her doubt. Her magic wasn't enough.
Without any enemies left to kill, they went further into the dungeon and Raiden started to tremble more. The party became more observant of Raiden. They had to make sure he made it to the runestone.
{Kingsglaive - Final Fantasy XV: Little Sister}
They managed to see that his fighting style and expressions were becoming more…cold. He was becoming distant and relying on only himself. He didn't link with anyone and always had his mind somewhere else.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
"It's no good! Run!"
"HELP!"
"JUST RUN!"
"SUZUKI!"
{End of Soundtrack}
Raiden was snapped out his thoughts as a hissing sound was heard.
'My baby.'
"It's her," Lumino said fearfully hiding behind Tsukino.
"Calm down. We'll be able to handle it."
"Company," Raiden said as a snake leapt out of the ground causing the raven to shift back. It had the deformed face of a woman but the body of a snake. This sent chills down everyone's spine or in Raiden's case, lightning.
"My baby…where?"
"What do we say?" Scarlet whispered.
"I don't know," Yami said.
"We can't help you. Can you leave?" Raiden asked being a little too calm.
"But you can…BY BECOMING MINE!"
{Kingsglaive - Final Fantasy XV: Headlong}
Everyone scattered as the Naga howled. The snake looked to Raiden and sought to attack. Coursing lightning around his body, without even striking his blades, he blitzed around the area striking the serpent each time they crossed paths.
The others kept using link strikes to strike the Naga each time she gained her composure before being stuck by a bolt of lightning again.
Panicking, she burrowed underground to escape. Raiden clicked his tongue trying to find where she was. Lily cast quake and the snake emerged again. Lumino appeared and smashed her down with his mace. He was hit by her tail, forgetting to airstep.
The quake and snake had caused Scarlet to become careless and drop her spear. The Naga regained her composure and stared at Scarlet with dead eyes. Scarlet got scared and tried to move back but tripped. "N-no…"
"SUZUKI!"
A stream of lightning sped and blasted the Naga in the face. Scarlet's spear was picked up off the ground. The lightning bounced off the walls until it was above the serpent. All the electricity surrounding Raiden was focused into Scarlet's spear. Raiden's eyes flashed red as he glared at the Naga filled with intense hatred.
"Don't touch her!" He came down and stabbed the Naga to the ground in a burst of lightning. The snake faded into a dark mist.
{End of Soundtrack}
'My…baby…where…'
"What was she talking about?" Tsukino asked.
"Dunno but if her baby is anything like her, I don't want to see it," Yami said.
"Here," Raiden said passing Scarlet's spear back. He caught the worried…no fearful look on Scarlet's face. She was focus on his right hand. Raiden looked to see it was burnt by the earlier lightning. He quickly shoved it in his pocket before anyone else could see. "Come on. We're close."
The moved into the small cave that the Naga appeared before. When they got out, Raiden's pain stopped. Finally they reached the runestone.
"Rairai," Scarlet called.
"What?"
"Can I have your camera for a bit?"
"What do you want that thing for?"
"Come on! I want to take a picture of you when you touch the runestone. It looks really cool."
Every bone in Raiden's body told him to give her the camera. He didn't know what he looked like when he touched the thing. His mind on the other hand told him not to considering what Scarlet did 'that one time'.
"Are you really gonna pass up a good photo?" Lumino asked.
"Really strange of you," Kizuna said.
"There's nothing wrong with doing it," Ronen said.
"Come on. I think this is a memory worth capturing," Tsukino said.
"I think it's a great idea," Lily said.
That wasn't the only reason he didn't give people his camera. The first 10 pictures of the camera were of him and…
"If she's taking the photo, she can't mess with you and have dirt on you," Yami yelled. That was a good point. He sighed and gave it to her.
"Listen, you take ONE picture. That's it. No follow up. NO SCROLLING. Just one," he said. Scarlet just grinned goofily and ran to the corner behind the runestone. It was a good spot, he had to admit. He sighed and approached the stone.
'Now seeker, receive the blessing of the Storm.'
He gulped and stretched out his right hand. He didn't touch the stone but heard a distant thunderclap. Lightning burst through the celing and hit the stone. He winced and tried to bear the power going through him. Purple lights surrounded and went into him. His eyes turned red.
He caught glimpses of a barren land, Gentiana and a giant old wizard. Ramuh. He was standing, looking at Ramuh on the island as Gentiana approached.
The visions ended and the power stopped surging. Raiden gazed to see his hand healed. He felt the same and at the same time different. His eyes faded back to their green. He looked to Ronen who was smirking.
"I know. It's scary," he grinned. "You'll get used to it though."
"Here you go," Scarlet said in a better mood than ever. Wait…was she blushing? What picture did she take or see? Everyone else seemed normal enough. He snatched the camera away, he would look at it later.
"Come on. Let's go. I'm bushed," Raiden said.
"Alright! Finally!"
11:30am
Location: Storm Cloud
Of course it was still raining but not as bad as before. The group figured they should rest for the rest of the day. Deities always tired them out. Lumino and Tsukino went to find food, Lily went somewhere else and Kizuna went to get more items. The other 4 went back to Cloud 9, the inn of Storm Cloud.
"Feels so good to have that electricity out of my blood," Raiden said flopping on the bed.
"We don't have blood in this game," Yami said.
"Right. I forgot about that. Ronen."
"Yeah?" the brunette responded scrolling through his menu.
"2 days ago, during the boss fight, how did you access Titan's power?" Ronen understood why he was asking but something was off. He got out the current sword he was using and inspected it.
"Who or what do you want to kill?" he asked seeing a small crack. Raiden's eyes went wide. "I've seen that you've been more determined and more ruthless when we were searching for that runestone. You have a grudge against someone or something and you want them dead."
Raiden didn't want to talk. He'd been seen through but he had no interest in talking. "Nevermind," Raiden said.
"Is it human?" he asked.
"No."
"Alright then," he said laying down the sword. "*sigh*I don't really know how I did it. I just felt a surge of adrenaline and anger and I'm still trying to find a way to trigger it again. I don't think I can tell you a way of triggering it by will. Although, you get very tired after triggering it and it's only a fraction of the god's power."
"Oh, I see," he said disappointed.
"You shouldn't get so down. You almost got it. When you grabbed Scarlet's spear," Ronen said going back to his glaive.
"Yeah, I could have sworn I saw his eyes turn red for a second," Yami said. She suddenly looked to Scarlet who had a bubbly smile on her face. She was imagining or remembering something. "What's wrong with you?"
"Just remembering the picture I took," she said. Raiden immediately scrolled through his menu to see the photos. He still didn't trust Scarlet with his camera. His eyes widened when he saw what she took.
His arm was extended to the runestone with lightning going up his arm. The intense power cause his hair to fly in back and his eyes were red. He looked a little demonic yet cool at the same time. "Awesome…" he muttered. He heard a giggle from the redhead but ignored it.
"So tell me, when you have the power, are you going to take this monster on alone?" Ronen asked. The blonde looked back to the picture and back at his friends. Would he ask his friends to help him? He flashed back to Yami after she returned from the Tsugasa ordeal.
Pain. Confusion. Fear. All this went through his heart as he tried to decide what he would do. He sighed. "Yeah."
"What I want to kill is my prey alone. I don't want your help."
Finally done… *passes out*
Ro: Dammit, not again.
Ki: Was the drug too strong?
Ya: Anything to get him to shut up.
Li: Anyway, he left his plan for the next chapter…Another Trial? Hold on, that's still a while from now…ah here.
Next time: Sceptre of Pious