I'm doing a double update for Thanksgiving, to say thanks to the universe for giving me some time to get my writing done as well as finally getting me to this part of the story. It's been so long.
The next time that I'm gonna get this much free time will probably be Christmas, so…yeah, hang tight.
Enjoy! :)
A Gelatitan.
That was their first mark.
Charon wasn't a patient man. Or fal'Cie. Or…whatever. He wasn't very patient.
Their first target was a giant flan that looked to be the result of some disease. Charon used a Deceptisol (that apparently he just had and never thought to share with the group) to get a Preemptive Strike and absolutely wreck it.
The next Menhirrim gave them an Ambling Bellows and his Cryptos friends. All Sai knew was that there was a Thundaga spell that boomed through the area, all the machines started glowing gold and Charon sliced down the two Cryptos and launched the Ambling Bellows as it was trying to deploy more.
Sai didn't even know what happened to the Gurangatch. He wasn't sure that its armored shell did anything to protect it. Like, at all.
As the swords of the three Menhirrim were returned to them, they all moved in sync across the different rooms to flip their swords upright and activate their power with small flashes of dark purple auras. The flames blocking the path forward were extinguished, and then the statues were still.
"That it?" Snow asked, unimpressed. "These big, massive, amazing statues, they all bring their forces together to put out that tiny flame."
"Amazing powers," Fang said sarcastically.
"They aid us when we need it," Charon said. "Let's just get moving."
They headed down the path once more, but Dahaka flew past and everyone drew their weapons.
"Great. Here we go again!" Fang called, her lance drawn in defense.
"Can't take a hint," Snow said.
"You're one to talk," Lightning countered.
"Huh?"
"What did you do to Asushunamir?!" Charon demanded.
The fal'Cie didn't speak, but Charon's eyes widened to his response in his fal'Cie language.
Charon pointed to Dahaka. "Go!"
Three Menhirrim statues - the very three that they'd helped regain their powers - appeared in three flashes of light. They were suddenly very active, not only being able to fly, but to also move their stone bodies with speed and grace, moving their weapons into battle poses. One struck Dahaka on his turtle shell back as he passed and the other one of the glowing crystal orbs on his tail. The third one rose up and swung his sword, a wave of energy flying out and then chopping off another section of Dahaka's tail, causing it to plummet down to the lower floors.
"Whoo!" Sazh cheered. "I'll be damned!"
Dahaka flew off and the Menhirrim lowered their battle stances, their voices whispering through the air.
"What are they saying?" Sai asked.
"They're sad?" Charon drawled. "Something like that."
The three statues held their swords in front of them with both hands, the blades pointing upwards, and flashed away.
"Oh, thank you!" Vanille called.
"Well, I guess the way is open now," Lightning announced.
Sazh nodded as they followed her lead forward. The outer path led to another room with some Pulsework Gladiators, yellow Pulsework machines that had arms that looked like boxing gloves and rings for heads. They headed up the stairs to the third tier with some Mánagarmrs and even more Gladiators. They talked to another Menhirrim statue, and when it stabbed its sword into the floor, the tower began to shift again, the next few floors lining up and the doorway that had once been blocked because the tier hadn't lined up was now open.
They walked outside to find one of the ramps and rings for the elevator. This time, the center wasn't clear and completely transparent, an aura clearly there. Sai carefully tapped it and the aura shimmered like water that had been disturbed. With a chime, a rumble from below came closer and the elevator came up to the third tier.
"Smart elevator!"
This time, they had access to the fourth floor and went through the noisy ride. Both sides of the elevator opened this time, so they shrugged and went off the left side. They found a room with some Yaksha and their War Dances that did damage in a wide radius and Yakshini and their Catastrophic Dance that inflicted Deprotect as well as their Frenzied Dance that gave Bravery onto its allies. There was another elevator inside, separate from the main one, but it only had one floor that it went to beyond the one they were currently on.
"The fifth floor," Charon said. "That's what it says."
"Should we go to the fifth floor or should we check the other side?" Lightning asked.
"Might as well make sure we're not missing anything," Hope said.
They headed to the other side of the main elevator where the room had some flying Cie'th - Varcolaci - with their Miasma attacks and their evasive nature, and another separate elevator that went to the sixth tier, according to Charon.
"Should we go in order, back to the fifth floor?" Vanille suggested.
"We don't have time for this back and forth!" Charon snapped. "You go to the other elevator, split up and speed up. Shu's life is on the line here and so is Cocoon's, so hurry up!" He handed them one of his Kozuka. "This will help you understand the Menhirrim. Go!"
"I'll stay with him," Sai said. "Everyone else, handle the fifth floor."
They nodded and left. Their Menhirrim had the mark of a Mushussu and a couple Yakshini, which were happily right on the same floor. The main elevator wasn't active on the fifth floor since it wasn't aligned yet, and so they had reached a dead end and turned back.
Meanwhile, Sai and Charon went up to the sixth floor where a Vampire (a bigger and slightly more dangerous Cie'th) was waiting for them. It hit hard, had a good deal of defense, and had an Aeroga attack which basically summoned a tornado. Though it was pretty tough, it didn't last long against an angry Charon.
"A Vetala," Charon reported after the Menhirrim spoke. "Pretty dangerous. They put up barriers that can only be breached with a stagger and they have powerful magic attacks that hit fast and over a wide area."
"So where did he say that it was?"
They went out to the main path and into another room with a Menhirrim that already had his sword. After swatting some Varcolaci and Chonchon (weird little bat Cie'th) they had the Menhirrim stab his sword into the floor and rotate the tower's floors. When they walked out of the room, they found they had come out on a different part of the circular path with access to a new room. Inside, there was a staircase back down to the fifth floor and to the Vetala.
It was certainly an interesting Cie'th, hovering with a rock beneath and above the body, as well as two faces on each pectoral and the former brands with the red eyes beneath them like nipples. Now Sai knew that Cie'th had faces as well as the eyes of their brands (he could see the red eyes of his and his friends' brands forming) but never had he seen them positioned like that.
"What the heck?" Sai demanded.
"Cie'th come in all different varieties," Charon said. "This Cie'th is so powerful because it's the combination of two l'Cie who had so strong a bond that when they failed their Focus, they merged into one."
"Like two people in love?"
"Or siblings or just close friends, maybe parent to child. Any powerful bond when the two share the same Focus and fail together. It's not common, but it's not exactly rare either."
The Vetala, like Charon had mentioned, used Inertial Barrier to put up a circular barrier around its entire body that made it immune to physical attacks and resistant to magical. It looked to be mostly transparent, the visible parts scattered like a petri dish of bacteria. It hovered around the battlefield casually, using Multicast with some circular glyphs appearing on its…hands(?) to use two second tier spells - in this case, Watera and Blizzara. Charging the next Multicast didn't take very long and the next pair was two Thundara spells. It continued this simple pattern while the two boys went to work staggering it. It took little time to get it up, and once it was staggered its barrier went away, even so, it was still using Multicast with Fira and Thundara. Charon stabbed it in the…well a face and then took it down with vigor.
"Charon, what did Dahaka say happened to Shu?" Sai asked.
He had meant to ask earlier, but he had forgotten during all the action.
Charon dropped his head. "Remember how I said that me, Shu, Rei, and my sister Styx were special fal'Cie?"
"Sure, ones representing the stages of life or whatnot."
"Well the four of us have the ability to create a Ragnarok that can destroy Cocoon. Whatever makes us so special, I don't know, but Dahaka figured it out. Maybe this was Barthandelus, telling Dahaka about us before we came so that we'd never make it to Oerba, so that I'd give in or something or maybe so that Shu could be captured and threatened into making me do stuff. I don't know how he learned, but now Dahaka seems to think that Shu can open a portal to the Unseen Realm on their own - no big sacrifice like Barthandelus planned, no Ragnarok."
"And can Shu?"
Charon shook his head. "It's not that simple. Maybe all four of us together could open a portal, but we would all have to use so much power that…it would require us dying in some ritual. If Dahaka tries to extract Shu's power and Shu alone…it won't be enough and Shu…"
"…won't survive," Sai finished.
Charon's eyes were filled with tears but he didn't let any of them fall. "We have to hurry. Come on."
Sai sighed and ran after Charon. This was how Charon and Shu were supposed to be, loving each other above all else without all the complications getting in the way, the insecurities, the hesitation. There was no doubt that Charon still cared about Shu, and now that he'd finally been pushed into admitting it, mostly to himself rather than anyone else, maybe he could make it past all of his emotional pain.
They headed down the hall and had another Menhirrim with a Penanggalan as a mark. Charon also smashed a Tyrant (the mechanical kind with the shield and the Centurion Blade. Like the blue and more powerful version of a Berserker). They walked outside into the hall, seeing a Menhirrim that had his weapon and that could probably move the tower layers again, but as they approached, Dahaka came up again, flying up and down before flicking his tail and freezing the path in front of the Menhirrim.
"We'll never get to him now," Sai sighed.
"Let's double back and meet up with the others for the final Menhirrim," Charon said. "We get these three up and running and they'll be able to nullify the ice like they did the fire and hopefully get another chance to strike back at Dahaka."
They went back the way they came to the staircase up to the sixth floor and to a room that had the first Menhirrim they'd found. The others were already there looking for Charon and Sai, so they met up nicely at the sight of the mark. There were Chonchons still there, but now there was a big blue one that was no doubt the Penanggalan. It was a battle of Blitz to take out the bats and surviving Life Sounding attacks that summoned the others into action. Penanggalan had access to things like Deprotega, Poisonga, and Aeroga, but beyond that, it wasn't a very hard fight.
The three Menhirrim now had their powers returned and they did the same as the others on the lower floors, pointing their swords upwards with a small burst of energy. Charon and Sai informed the others of the Menhirrim that could readjust the higher floors and they all went back down to the fifth floor where they had been.
"The ice should be gone now so the Menhirrim can do his work."
They made it to the location and Charon was right, the path to the Menhirrim was clear. On their way to it, however, Dahaka came down again from above, flicking its tail in their direction and causing them all to duck. Dahaka's flight had definitely been affected from its shortened tail, as it constantly worked to maintain balance like a reverse pendulum.
"Pick on something your own size!" Sazh shouted.
"Now!" Charon called.
The Menhirrim appeared in a flash, weapons raised. One slashed at the base of Dahaka's tail that connected it to his body, another going straight for his face, but Dahaka retaliated with a sweep of his remaining tail and sent the two stone men flying into the tower wall. Vanille screamed and flinched as Hope took a step back from the force of the impact. The two Menhirrim started to plummet before teleporting away.
"Eat this!" Charon shouted.
The final Menhirrim slashed at Dahaka, sending out a wave of energy from his blade and narrowly missed the fal'Cie, instead cutting off the rest of his tail and leaving only a single crystal orb attached. Dahaka retreated to the top of the tower again. The final Menhirrim hovered above them, whispering his message.
"They're going to help us get to the top floor to Dahaka - and Shu," Charon informed them.
The Menhirrim pointed to the Menhirrim that they had already been planning to investigate, now free of Dahaka's ice. He then flashed away.
"Aw…he's gone…" Vanille muttered.
"Let's just count our blessings," Snow said. "The way's clear. We have to hurry if we wanna save Shu."
Everyone nodded. "Right."
They had the Menhirrim stab his sword into the ground and braced themselves as the floors of the tower began to rotate again, the elevator finishing itself as the central elevator was positioned. They went back inside to find a different room filled with Yaksha and Yakshini, taking the inner elevator from the fifth tier to the fourth tier - as that seemed to be the only way forward. Charon was frustrated at the constant backtracking, thinking about Shu and how injured they were before Dahaka had even taken them. He'd never seen Shu that weak, he'd never been so scared for them.
"For the love of all that's good…" Sazh muttered, also tiring of the back and forth.
They went down to the fourth floor and got into the central elevator, taking it up to the sixth floor again before heading into the rooms and into another damn elevator and Sai had lost track of what they were doing anymore. They plowed their way through some Cie'th and made it to the final elevator that would take them to the Apex.
"That means the top, right?" Vanille sighed.
When they reached the top it was definitely the top, as they were at the broken part of the tower where the sun could be seen. There were a couple more elevators, showing that the tower still had a little more adjusting to do before the central elevator itself could make it to all of the floors rather than needing to take one of the extra elevators on the sixth floor.
"Shu!" Charon called. "Shu!"
Shu was dreaming. It took a while to realize that.
Shu was little, sitting with Rei at the springs. "Rei, what if we get separated?"
"We'll find each other," She declared. "No matter how long it takes, I'll always come for you."
She slipped one of the flowers around their wrist and another around their middle finger. "I promise." She put her finger to the glowing plant on their wrist, and it shimmered before disappearing. "Just in case someone tries to take them away." She held out her bundle of flora. "Now do you promise me?"
They stared at her in surprise before taking the plants and repeating what she'd done for them. "Okay. I promise."
Shu was lying in Charon's lap on his bed on the Lindblum. "What are we supposed to do if we get separated?"
Charon ran his hands through Shu's hair. Yeah, they'd reached that point in their relationship. "We'll find each other, no matter what. I'll never let anything take you from me."
"We should get matching rings," Shu blurted.
Charon looked down at Shu. "Where'd that come from?"
"Just an idea. We need something symbolic between us. Me and Rei got flower rings so that we would always have each other. You and I need rings too."
Charon ruffled Shu's hair and they squeaked, combing it back into place again. "I'll give you a ring one day, but let's wait a few years before we get married."
"Sure. What's a 'married?' Is that a type of ring on Cocoon? Is it a word for a pair of rings? We usually just call them a 'couple' of rings like everything else."
Charon gave a knowing smile. "Never you mind."
"What?! Tell me~! Tell me and I'll love you forever!"
Charon looked like he was gonna keep his mouth shut, but eventually, he couldn't resist and gave in.
"It means bonding with someone you love for eternity, making sure that people know you belong to each other and no one else, and it's an ultimate declaration of love."
Shu blinked. "And you…you'd married me?"
"Marry," Charon nodded. "But let's give things a little more time to progress. Just to make sure."
Shu jolted awake, a feeling of dread settling in. They wanted to ask, 'Why did you need to make sure?' but they had known that Charon was right. They needed to have more time together before they took such a big step, to make sure that all the secrets between them were out. Charon had known the whole time that he was lying to Shu, that's why he had said they should hold off - because he knew that Shu wouldn't want to marry him after they learned the truth.
But Shu still did. They still wanted to love Charon, love him enough to marry him. Now they would never be able to.
Shu's entire body was numb. They weren't sure if they had woken up yet or if this was still just a dream. It was sunny out. The sun was nice, but there were shadows. Half of Shu's body was in a shadow and therefore didn't get as much healing as the part of them in the direct sunlight.
Shu wanted to call for Charon, but their voice wouldn't come.
They were scared, they felt helpless and alone, and they were tired. They were so tired of this game of dancing around Charon and waiting for him and tired of loving him. But they didn't want to stop loving him, they couldn't just turn their feelings off. That was a weird thing, feelings. Why did they have them? Why didn't any other fal'Cie have them? Was Shu even a fal'Cie? What about them was so special, the thing Charon had mentioned?
Who cared anymore? Shu just wanted rest. They wanted all this pain to stop, both the physical and the mental. Now they understood, to a small extent, what Charon had been going through - being so tired of the endless pain that the only way to make it stop was death. Shu had never known that kind of pain before, they'd always had someone by their side, Rei, Sai, Charon. Now, it all just seemed to be slipping away.
Shu saw Dahaka flying past, looking agitated. The fal'Cie spoke to Shu a couple of times, but Shu's hearing was affected from Dahaka's attack, so all Shu heard was a low growling, echoing far away like Dahaka was on the other end of a long tunnel.
Shu fell asleep a couple times, unaware when they were awake and when they were asleep. They dreamed of kissing Charon back when they were still together, they dreamed of Charon turning his back to them when they were apart. They remembered times when the two of them laughed together, they remembered the times when they were arguing.
"Shu!"
The voice came from below, but it was undeniably familiar. "Charon?"
"Shu!"
"I'm right here!"
Their voice wasn't coming out for some reason. Their mental powers didn't have a wide enough radius while they were this weak. Dahaka was hovering above Shu, reaching a talon down to their chest. Finally, Shu could understand what Dahaka was saying to them.
"Child of the goddess, open the gate and return unto this land the Maker of all things!"
Dahaka's intentions flowed through Shu and they began to panic.
"Mataecharonsan, save me!"
It was a desperate plea, a hope that using Charon's command name would somehow communicate to him that Shu needed his help. Shu needed him. Shu needed the Charon that they'd fallen in love with back, they needed the Charon that loved them and the Charon that wasn't afraid of anything. Shu wanted Charon, they wanted Rei, they wanted everything that they'd lost and had pretended that they were coping with but really weren't. Shu needed to get something back with all of this loss they were facing in such a short period of time.
Shu felt Dahaka's talon slicing them open and everything became foggy. There was a green light that Shu saw as they began to feel like their life force was being drained out of their stomach - which it kinda was.
I love you.
They wanted that to be their last thought, they wanted it to be the last thing they ever knew, they wanted to let Charon know one last time before they lost the chance forever. But a moment later, the only thing that Shu had managed to get to was 'love.' At the end, Shu forgot what they loved and why they were still fighting when they could just…stop.
There was screaming from above, a raspy voice that Charon knew was Shu without a moment of thought. There was a green light coming from above them, and the others followed Charon as he sprinted to the center of the apex, looking up to see there was another platform above. Charon looked down, realizing that they were thankfully on an elevator specifically meant to get them up there. He slammed his fist down on the elevator and a jolt went through it, causing it to start rising.
When they reached the top, there were high winds as a large column of green energy was surrounding Shu floating high above - or more accurately, the energy was coming from Shu. It was their life force, Charon could sense it for miles. He'd always known that smell, that feeling that he got just from being around Shu, and it was overwhelming now that it was free from Shu's body. It was escaping.
Up above Shu, their energy was gathering and warping the air like some kind of black hole. Shu's energy was being fed into making that portal.
Charon jumped up. "Shu!"
Instantly, pain ripped through his abdomen and he started to fall, but he pushed harder to generate thrust. He just needed to reach Shu.
He started to see spots, his vision was tunneling to black from the pain. He felt his fingers brush Shu's before he coughed up blood and began to plummet. The moment he hit the ground his body healed itself and he recovered, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to reach Shu unless Dahaka's curse was removed, and that would only happen if he killed Dahaka.
"Dahaka! Where are you?! Show yourself!"
"The gate shall open!"
Dahaka came floating down to face them, smiling with its weird mask and arms.
"What have you done?!" Sai demanded.
"I have done what Barthandelus has not! He has made us wait all these years, searching in vain, while I have done what the king has failed to do in merely a day!"
"He's opening the gate to the Unseen Realm!" Charon explained. "It won't work! Shu's not enough! You need all four of us, and two of us are dead!"
"One is more than enough to do the job! Two will be even better!"
"Come and get it, you son of a bitch!"
"We need to get to Shu!" Sai announced.
Dahaka started to hover in a slightly unstable way, as though he was about to throw up.
"It's acting strange," Lightning announced.
"He must be weak from losing his tail," Fang observed.
Lightning sparked. Charon just now noticed that the area they were in was surrounded by crystals that Dahaka had to have placed there strategically for the purpose of this transformation. Electricity sparked across Dahaka, fed to him through the crystals. Dahaka grabbed the final crystal orb that had once been his tail and then his body actually rose up to reveal a dragon-esque form with its turtle shell opening to reveal a fan of metal blades.
"Yeah?" Snow chuckled. "Uh, looks plenty feisty to me."
"He's bluffing to scare us off," Hope suggested. "Let's just go with that, all right? Come on! We can do this!"
Dahaka roared in challenge.
"Not our lucky day," Fang muttered.
They split into teams. Hope and Sazh went to buffing the team as fast as possible, Fang and Snow went Sentinel to defend against what Dahaka had, Vanille and Sai began casting debuffs, and Lightning cast Libra so that she and Charon could begin pummeling Dahaka with everything they had. Dahaka cast a Fira spell and then a Thunder spell, but seeing as they weren't overly powerful, Fang turned Saboteur to try and inflict Slow. Vanille had Imperil hit, making Dahaka weak to all of the elements, and Hope cast Enfire on the group so that they did more damage.
Dahaka swiped with his claws at Snow, knocking him to the ground, but it didn't keep him down for long. The next time Dahaka used his claw attack, Snow was prepared and defending again. Fang got Slow to hit while Vanille went to work on Deprotect. Dahaka cast a Blizzard spell then a Watera. Sai, Fang, Sazh, Hope, and Snow went offensive, joining Lightning and Charon in the assault. Vanille finally got Deprotect to hit and joined in casting her spells for a stagger gauge.
Dahaka whined in protest before he roared and the fan of blades from his turtle shell retracted. He held his hands out in front of him and built up energy into an orb of power. It became almost strong enough to have its own gravitational force before it exploded in a Fulminous Firestorm, healed Dahaka's debuffs and cast Imperil on a couple of the l'Cie. The skies turned from blue to yellow and pink like there was a sun right above the tower, and Dahaka now absorbed fire and lightning attacks.
Hope went Synergist and switched the Enfire for Enfrost while Vanille healed everyone up from the blast as well as using Esuna on those inflicted with Imperil and they unleashed their attacks once more. Dahaka roared and lowered his dragon head to reveal the mask part that they had once thought was his real face, preparing Foul Utterance. The mask took a deep breath so powerful that disturbed the air around it and darkened it with wisps of orange and black energy. It flashed as though it had spit out a hairball and sent out a blast that resembled a comet about the size of a basketball. It soared down and then exploded when it struck Charon, sending him flying back with a grunt, but he pulled himself back up and ran forward to attack, the others having to heal the damage.
Dahaka cast Haste and Faith on himself, throwing out a Firaga. Hope put up Barfire on everyone while Fang was fast with getting a pair of Dispels out there so that Dahaka couldn't have that edge over them for long. Dahaka reared up for another attack similar to Fulminous Firestorm, but it instead exploded into an icy blast that turned the sky from fiery to an abnormal blue-white and freezing the air from the Bone-chilling Breaker. Now Dahaka absorbed ice and water attacks rather than fire and lightning. Dahaka cast Blizzaga, fittingly enough, and Hope had to quickly switch the Barfire to Barfrost and the Enfrost to Enfire for everyone. On top of the fact that all of Dahaka's special moves were dispelling three to four buffs at a time, Hope nearly had a full-time job keeping everyone protected and enhanced.
They staggered Dahaka and the skies flashed back to normal, but Dahaka still absorbed ice and water and halved physical attacks. Of course, that mattered very little when it came to how angry Charon was, and Vanille was quick to get Deprotect and Imperil back on so that Dahaka's defenses were lowered even further. Charon couldn't jump up to reach Dahaka, but through his stagger, the large fal'Cie fell to the ground. He bashed the fal'Cie while the others cast spells and helped build the gauge further. At the end of his stagger, Dahaka got a nice little Smite from all of the physical attackers capable of such.
As Dahaka rose once more, he was severely weakened, and it would only take a few more hits to defeat him. He reared up for another attack that resembled Fulminous Firestorm and Bone-chilling Breaker, but this time the energy gathered was a murky green and darkened the air even more than usual.
"Diluvial Plague, brace yourselves!" Charon shouted.
The energy exploded in a black wave that almost suffocated the air, dispelling the group's buffs and hitting everyone with Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Poison, Slow, Curse, Deshell as well as healing all debuffs from Dahaka. Everyone was forced to go defensive, Fang, Snow, and Sai becoming Sentinels to buy the others time to recover. Hope and Sazh healed some of the debuffs through canceling them out with Synergist spells, but that also meant they had to charge twice as long for them to get the actual buffs on. Lightning and Vanille were healing the debuffs one by one and the little damage that the attack had done.
But during their distraction, Dahaka cast Faith and then Haste again, and now there was no one to stop him. He swiped at Lightning and Vanille, slowing the healing process down, and they were split between healing damage and curing status ailments. The Sentinels were still the targets, but Dahaka used wide ranged magic spells that hit the others regardless and slowed the recovery process even further. Dahaka then used Fulminous Firestorm again, nearly hitting everyone hard enough to knock them all out. Hope was finally finished with his Synergist moves and joined in the healing, getting them to high enough health just barely so that they survived the Thundaga that Dahaka unleashed next.
Fang took the risk and went Saboteur in order to use Dispel on Dahaka and get rid of his positive buffs before going back into Sentinel mode. Hope put the Barfire and Enfrost spells on once more and it was a last ditch effort to slay the fal'Cie, who fought harder than ever when on the verge of death. Dahaka cast Aeroga, one of the more deadly of his spells, which summoned a tornado that whisked everyone off their feet, tossing them into the air with a gust of damage strong enough to knock a couple of them out.
It was now or never.
Dahaka swiped at them with wide arcs, but Charon jumped over them, feeling his curse biting at him as he pulled at Zanmato. The blade came out, almost screaming with rage. It burned with orange flames that faded to red then to purple at the tips, something that had never happened before, but Charon didn't care so long as it got the job done.
"This is for Asushunamir, you son of a bitch!"
The blade sliced all the way through Dahaka's body, right through his shell, and the wound left was burning with the same flames as the sword. They spread out and overtook the roaring Dahaka as he flew up trying to escape. His body crackled with blue electricity as he burned away, turning to nothing but ashes that then faded and disappeared, all in less than a second.
The winds died down, the column of light from above disappeared, and the portal that had been opening was unsustainable so it collapsed in on itself and left nothing. Shu started to plummet.
Charon dropped his sword and ran.
He sprinted to be just below Shu when they were supposed to hit the floor, landing on his arms but breaking Shu's fall all the same, and that was all that mattered.
Charon carefully pulled Shu into his arms. "Shu. Shu! Hey, I'm here. Shu!"
Shu's eyes were half open and unresponsive. Their skin was white and chipped like porcelain, lifeless. Their eyes and hair had lost all color and life.
"No…" Charon shook Shu's shoulder. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Shu. Shu! Shu, wake up! It's me! It's Charon! I'm here! I-I made it! I…I told you I'd find you no matter what…I told you I'll never let…I'll never let anything take you away from me…"
His head fell against Shu's shoulder as he sobbed.
"It was a lie…it was all a lie…I lied to you, I lied to myself…! I can't lose you too, I can't survive seeing this over and over and over! You can't leave me as the only one left!"
The others watched silently, beaten and battered, victorious but failures all the same.
"You said I was family!" Charon snapped. "You don't leave family behind! You don't leave them alone knowing that if someone was different you might've saved them! You don't be the one to die and get out of that pain - that guilt - of surviving so easily! You don't be that selfish!"
Shu didn't move. The exposed wiring of their fal'Cie body had no energy flowing through it. Charon could see the gaping hole that had released Shu's energy and life force, coated in a light layer of green blood. Shu's skin was cracking like glass, and then it began to turn to crystal.
"No…no. No! NO!"
Shu's body started to fragment, crystal shards floating away into nothingness. Their body began to become transparent and then less solid. It meant Shu was gone, it meant there would be nothing left. It meant that there would be no evidence they had ever lived.
"No, no, Shu don't leave me! Shu! Shu!"
Shu was floating on the water, staring up at a dark cloudy sky, glowing with the sunlight behind them. Or maybe just the clouds themselves that were glowing.
"Wake up. Hey, wake up!"
Shu blinked. They were awake. Weren't they?
"Good, you're conscious. Can you sit up?"
Shu tried to move. It was really exhausting. Their limbs felt like lead, or maybe more like jelly. Or both. Lead jelly. Ew, that sounded gross.
They pulled themself upright, and then they realized that their hair was really heavy from the water soaking in.
"Ah! No~! Are you okay?!"
They ran their hands through their hair, trying to see it even though it was behind them. They pulled it in front of them and started to pet it.
"Aw, you poor thing! I'll give you a proper bath later."
There was a giggle. "You haven't changed."
Shu looked up and saw a woman with flowing black hair framing a face with sharp features like an elf's. She had pale skin, almost white like a ghost, but beyond that she looked very gentle and nice.
She smiled. "Welcome to Valhalla, the Unseen Realm, land of the goddess and chaos, world of the dead, etc."
Shu stood, wading in the water that went up to their waist. "Do I know you?"
She blinked. "Oh, I suppose I look different when I'm grown up and healthy. Well, if you can call being dead 'healthy.'"
She said that so casually, like she was making a joke. "You mean you're dead?"
She nodded. "So are you, little lion."
"Little…" Where had Shu heard that before? "You're…"
"The little serpent. I'm all grown up now!"
"You're…Styx…Styx!"
"Yes! Hi Shu!" She spread her arms out for a hug and then stopped. "Oh, wait! Don't touch me or you'll be stuck here forever."
Shu blinked. They were standing with their arms open, ready to hug her. "Hm? Why the what?"
Styx pointed at the water where Shu was just noticing that the part they were standing in was regular ocean water but the part Styx was in - and connected to by her dress since she was water and all - was glowing. There was a clear line between the shimmering water and the regular water, and suddenly Shu felt like they were in the uncool water.
"My river surrounds Valhalla now, it keeps it separate. In here, there's no life or death anymore. Time isn't allowed to touch Valhalla's shore, and so I keep regular life out there and all the weird stuff in here."
"Wow! You got a promotion!"
"Yeah!"
"And in so little time! Oh, wait, there's no time in there, so…"
She waved. "It's okay. It's weird. Living people don't often come here, but if they come here, time kinda still works for them, but it really doesn't, and…yeah. But you're dead, so if you come in here, your time will stop and you won't be able to leave."
"How did I get here?"
"You died, silly."
"I died? What about Charon?! Is he here?!" Shu looked around. "He'd never let me die! Not without…" Shu stopped. "Or…maybe he would."
Styx frowned and crossed her arms. "Did Cinthy do something? I swear, he's such an idiot sometimes. He needs someone like you to ground him."
"He's really scared. And I'm tired of him being scared of asking for help!"
"It's your job to smack him upside the head when he does that, okay?"
"You know where he is?"
She nodded. "This is Valhalla. I can see the whole of the timeline here. He's alive, Shu. He's crying over you right now. Well, right now for you anyway. There is no now for me, especially if I'm trying to compare to the outside world."
"Charon's…he…" Shu's eyes watered at the idea of Charon seeing them die. "You mean I…I really…?"
"There's something that I wanna show you."
Styx held up her hand and her glowing water began to steam and bubble, creating the steam that shimmered and showed an image. Shu started crying and covered their mouth with their hand as they saw themself and Charon standing together, dressed up all formally in ceremonial garb, looking at each other with more love than Shu had seen in so long, maybe even more. Rei was there, standing in a beautiful purple dress with golden accents and, what Shu referred to as, fal'Cie script that read "May love reign eternal when all else is ephemeral. To Asushunamir and Whatever-His-Name-Is-Supposed-To-Be-Mataecharonsan-Hyacinthaja" (that made Shu laugh when they read it). Her hair was half up in a pony and half braided with ceremonial beads, a circlet around her forehead, smiling behind Shu encouragingly. Sai was there in a simple human-style tux, clapping encouragingly behind Charon. Rei started jumping up and down and throwing a handful of rose petals when Charon leaned in to kiss Shu.
"I love you."
Shu cried.
Shu cried because that wasn't possible anymore. That was a future that Shu had lost a long time ago. A future with Rei and Sai still together, a future where Shu and Charon had never made so many mistakes.
It was a future where Charon and Shu had a mar…marry…thing.
"A wedding," Styx corrected. "You get married at a wedding. And that's your wedding."
"I…I can't…we can't…"
"You can. This is Valhalla. I can see the entire timeline, all the ones that are true and the ones that are possible. You and Cinthy…err, Charon, you get married for hundreds of years. You never stop loving each other."
Shu stared. "I…you…you're sure?"
She nodded. "Of course I am! I know my way around here."
The image in Styx's mist shimmered. Shu saw an image of themself sitting blankly in a dark place, a cell. They were still pretty young, but there was a blankness in Shu's eyes.
"What's that?"
Styx blinked. "Oh, sorry. All the memories of your past and future are here. In giving you your future, I have to give you your past as well. That's you."
"No, it's not. I was never…"
Styx's expression dropped. "I'm sorry, Shu, but you were. This is how Barthandelus got you to make a deal with him."
"Hotareichan was much more complacent," Barthandelus taunted.
"R-Rei?" Shu asked in shock. "W-What…What did you do to my sister?!" Shu demanded, crying.
"Nothing, for now," Barthandelus said. "If you wish for it to remain so, you will do as I command."
"Where is Rei?!" Shu shouted desperately.
"Do you wish to see her? Then you shall have to perform a simple task for me."
"I…I don't remember this," Shu said.
"Barthandelus erased the memory. When Rei left you, the day after the final battle of the Great War, she went to find the crystals of the two l'Cie called Vanille and Fang. She placed them inside Anima's Vestige, but Barthandelus ambushed her, trapping her within the Vestige as well and putting her and Anima into a deep sleep. When you went looking for Rei the next day…well…"
"Anima, what is this?! Let me through!" Shu pounded on the door to Anima's Vestige hard enough to bust through, but the barrier remained solid.
"I'm afraid your companion is in no shape to respond."
Shu turned with a startle to see a man dressed in white robes of royalty. He was no mortal though. Shu could sense that much.
"You…you're…"
"I am Barthandelus, fal'Cie of Cocoon."
"Where is Hotareichan? What have you done to her?!"
"I have stored her and Anima away for future use, along with the two servants. You, however…you could be of use to me now."
Barthandelus stepped forward and Shu was trapped against the sealed door. "No…no! NO!"
The mist dissipated into the air.
"I'm sorry, Shu," Styx said.
"What did…what did he do to me?"
Styx shrugged. "A small bit of torture, but it was mostly the mentioning of your sister that drove you over the edge. You went mad, Shu. Absolutely insane with grief."
Shu took a moment to process it all. "So…how did I get out? How did I just…integrate back into the world?"
"He just let you go once he had what he wanted. With that code name of his, he could control your mental state as well as shut you down. But he couldn't control you like Barthandelus could my brother. You still fought, Shu. You didn't agree to the deal willingly, you were simply driven to your limits. The reason you can control my brother is because he gave everything he had to you, he gave you his future because he didn't have anything else. Even if he did it unconsciously, he put all of his hopes for the future in you. With Barthandelus, he put all of his hopes for the future with me into the king, and therefore everything he cared for that would ever define his life. He found something else to live for, and that's what now makes you his master rather than Barthandelus. And you? Your sister's gone too, and that means that Barthandelus has lost his leverage over you - the prospect of seeing your sister again, being with her."
"So…so we're both free to choose our futures. And the moment we are…we ruin it."
Styx shook her head. "You'll get better, I promise."
"But…but I'm dead."
She smiled sadly. "You're not welcome in Valhalla yet, little one. I'll see you again, one day, but hopefully not for a long, long time."
Shu looked up. "Wait, if you're here, is Rei-?"
"You have to go now or you'll never leave. You'll always be a sibling to me, Shu. My best friend. None of it was ever your fault, and tell Charon it wasn't his either. And just…tell him I say 'Hi.' Give him a big hug for me, Shu, and look after him. Promise me, you'll look after him."
The water surrounding Shu began to swirl like a whirlpool and Shu began to sink. Or maybe the water was simply rising around them.
"Promise me, Shu! Promise me you'll take care of him!"
"I-I promise!"
The water consumed them.
Shu's sword had fallen away when Dahaka had captured them, falling to the bottom of the tower and embedding itself into the large crystal at the center of the first tier. It had rested there, a large Damascene blade separated from its wielder for the first time in many years. Shu had never lost their weapon, they had always kept it with them ever since they learned that it was best to keep it close.
It seemed to be a bad omen, as the only time that Shu had ever lost it was the time that they had died.
Now, the blade stood alone and away from its master, beginning to lose its shine as though it was dying along with Shu.
Then, the blade flashed to life. It rose up from the crystal it was embedded in and flew to the top of the tower.
It was going home.
"No…no. No! NO!"
Shu's body started to fragment, crystal shards floating away into nothingness. Their body began to become transparent and then less solid. It meant Shu was gone, it meant there would be nothing left. It meant that there would be no evidence they had ever lived.
"No, no, Shu don't leave me! Shu! Shu!"
There was a crash. Everyone braced themselves for another fight, but instead they saw a blur of motion from a large blade. Shu's weapon smashed into the ground in front of Charon where the remains of Shu were fading away. And then the energy that had been Shu's body stopped dissolving into the air and instead circled the weapon, reversing the sequence that had been Shu's death. Their body reformed, how standing straight with their hands gripping the base of their sword. Their eyes were closed, as though they'd fallen asleep standing. They still looked battered and beaten, but their body was reforming for a reason. Right?
Charon got to his feet. "Shu? Shu, can you hear me?"
Hope heard a small spark behind him and turned to see Charon's colorful and powerful Zanmato. It seemed to be completely normal. Maybe he'd imagined the sound. But then Zanmato sparked again. And then it started to hum.
"Uh…guys?!" Hope shouted urgently.
Lightning was the first to turn, hearing the worry in Hope's tone. Her weapon was still drawn from the battle and gripped tightly for a fight. Sai turned just in time to see that Zanmato was moving as though possessed, twisting on the ground and then starting to slide across the ground. The others turned just in time to see Zanmato shoot through the air, past them all, and right to-
"NO!"
Shu was struck right in the chest by Zanmato, their eyes opening in shock as their grip on their sword released and they fell to the ground. Charon grabbed Shu and tore Zanmato out, shoving it into his sheath and tossing said sheath away.
"Shu. Shu, can you hear me?!"
The wound from Zanmato was glowing with the same red and purple energy that had killed all of Zanmato's other victims. It was pulsing slightly inside of Shu's body, almost like a heartbeat.
"Ch…Chare?"
There was a wave of hope rippling through the l'Cie in the form of a chorus of gasps and muttering.
Shu took a deep breath and the color began to return to their eyes and hair. Their skin still remained pale, but the cracks were beginning to fade just slightly so they were barely noticeable. Shu coughed hard, feeling the pain of their damaged body all at once and almost passing out again if it weren't for Charon. Shu heard the panic in his voice, felt the touch of his skin through the numbing pain, felt the cool energy of his power that comforted them.
Charon pulled Shu to rest in his lap, his body, and his arm. He tried to make Shu comfortable and pull them close enough to examine them.
"Shu?"
"Chare," Shu wheezed.
Charon let out a deep sigh of relief, and Shu felt his entire body relax and tremble with exhaustion. "I thought…I thought you were gone…!" He rested his forehead against Shu's. "I thought you were dead, you stupid fool!"
"Sorry…"
"No. No, don't apologize." Charon sighed, his voice breaking. "That's my job. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For the lies, for Rei, for my stupidity, for my confusion, for everything that ever hurt you. I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"
Shu smiled. "It's okay. I know, Charon. I'm sorry, too. Oh, and Styx says 'Hi.'"
Charon froze and stared Shu in the eyes, but there was no joking in them. Charon knew what Shu looked like when they were kidding, and this wasn't it.
"You…you saw her?"
Shu gave a small nod. "I was dead and then…I wasn't. I think…I think she saved me."
Charon's eyes watered and he gripped Shu in a tight hug. "Thank you…t-thank you…"
Shu patted his arm lightly. "She already knows, Chare. Just wait until you hear about…" Shu coughed. "…about what she's…" *Cough* "…doing."
Charon cupped Shu's face. "You're still hurt. We need to get to Oerba, now. Shu needs shelter, a place to rest and heal."
"Shu's in no condition to be fighting," Sai said. "We've made it to the top of the tower and gotten rid of Dahaka, but how are we supposed to get back down?"
"The broken part of the tower," Shu said, pointing weakly. "It'll…" *Cough* "…take us down. It can disconnect from the broken elevator and-"
"And give us a free ride right to Oerba, no walking involved," Charon finished. "Shu, you're a genius!"
Shu smiled. "I know."
"I see the track over there," Lightning pointed. "But where's the cabin?"
"The Menhirrim can get one and attach it," Charon jumped in quickly. "Hey!"
A Menhirrim statue flashed into existence in front of them, looming over them with its weapon.
"Look who's back," Snow exclaimed.
Sazh smiled with a nod of approval.
The Menhirrim whispered to them.
Shu giggled. "He's saying thanks. 'At last, we are free. We go now, to-" *Cough* "-to hunt down evil where it hides.'"
Hope walked forward. "So I guess that means there are still more monsters like that one out there."
"Sounds like it," Lightning agreed. "Somewhere out there on Gran Pulse."
"Hira, I ask one more thing of you," Charon said.
The Menhirrim whispered his response and Charon nodded.
"Thank you."
An elevator cabin rolled up the elevator that was part of the broken half of the tower. The Menhirrim said a final farewell before he flashed away. Vanille waved and Sazh chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"Gone just like that."
"Bye!" Vanille called. "Bye!"
"For a big hunk of rock, that thing sure can move."
"Did you say that thing's name was 'Hira?'" Snow repeated.
"It's cute," Shu smiled.
Charon nodded. "They named themselves. The Menhirrim don't have to guard this tower anymore, they're meant for more than that. They're going out and hoping to do for others what we did for them, liberate Gran Pulse of the tyrants that have taken over since the collapse of order after the Great War."
"Guess they're just doing what they can too," Fang said, hands on her hips. "Trying to 'save the world.'"
"Yeah, well it's not all on them," Lightning declared. "Last time I checked, we are still in this fight."
"Let's get going," Sai suggested. "We wanna be in this fight, we'd best take a little time to recuperate. Magic only goes so far in healing. I think we need a mental break too."
Sai grabbed Zanmato, knowing that Charon would be hesitant to go anywhere near the blade with Shu in their hands. Charon carefully picked up Shu, pulling them onto his back where they could rest as peacefully as possible. Charon stomped and the elevator took them back down. They headed over to the edge of the tower where the elevator down the broken half was located.
Sazh went up to the edge of the tower, looking down at the small village below.
Hope turned and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Oerba's right down there, then, isn't it?"
Vanille nodded. "Yep!"
"So what's it like?" Snow asked.
Vanille stepped forward in thought. "Weeeeell…it's…kinda small. But it's warm and green and very nature-y!"
"Around the fal'Cie, it was flowers as far as you could see, huh?" Fang added.
"Lots of plants," Shu agreed. "It was cozy and nice and the plants there were so kind."
"View from here…" Sazh began, standing at the edge to look down at the village. "…ain't so rosy, I'm sorry to say."
"What…?" Shu asked nervously. "Charon, go. Show me."
Charon walked forward so that Shu could get a good view of the village from over his shoulder, and Shu was speechless at the sight. "No…this…this isn't…that's not Oerba."
"Yes it is, Shu."
"No…no I was just here a few weeks ago…! I…I've been going back and forth for centuries…"
Charon sighed. "No. You haven't."
Shu turned their head in surprise. "What?"
"You've been in stasis for 600 years, implanted with fake memories of the last few centuries by Barthandelus."
Shu could only stare in shock. "No…no you're lying! I…I remember-!"
"You remember what Barthandelus wanted you to remember. You were rescued by the Cavalry, a purposeful ploy to help you aid the l'Cie in destroying Cocoon."
Shu clenched his fist. "And you knew this?! You knew that everything that I remembered over these years was a lie?!"
He shook his head. "I didn't know for sure, but I suspected. When you told me you'd managed to escape Barthandelus, that all your memories of going back and forth were hazy, that you felt like all those centuries you just stopped feeling anything, I got suspicious."
"Why not bring it up earlier?" Shu asked meekly, their anger fading.
Charon shrugged. "There was never a good time, and it didn't seem to have a big impact on things."
Shu stared off into the distance in thought. "So…that means…Styx was right."
"What do you mean?"
Shu shook their head. "I'll explain everything when we get there."
Vanille and Fang's faces fell at Shu's reaction.
"You wanna wait here?" Lightning suggested to them.
Vanille shook her head firmly. "No!" She looked forward bravely. "I need to see it for myself."
The two walked forward solemnly to see the ruined village that had been wiped out many centuries ago. Down below, the village that had once been Oerba was now covered in a thick layer of crystal dust. There was no greenery, no plants, no color, no life that could be seen.
"It's all gone…" Vanille said, clasping her hands together in front of her.
"Every trace of color," Fang agreed. She put a hand to her hip angrily. "We're chasing shadows! This whole idea of losing our brands is hopeless!"
"There's gotta be a way," Snow declared.
"Let's keep on looking," Hope said. "That's what we came here for. We all agreed, and now we're here. We need to get down there for some sanctuary anyway, so we might as well take a look around. You never know, we may be surprised with what we find."
"You think…you think it's really possible?" Vanille asked, hopelessness sinking into her voice.
After everything that they'd seen of Vanille, Gran Pulse was showing just how afraid she really was of their future.
Hope took her hand firmly. "Sure. Anything is."
Sai smiled sadly at the two of them. Once upon a time, it had been Vanille doing everything she could to keep Hope's spirits up. Hope had grown a lot, and so had Vanille, in a way. Vanille had been forced to face the looming future they were fighting, and Hope had learned how to fight it in the first place.
Vanille chuckled and smiled at him, nodding, and he returned the favor.
"There's no going back," Lightning reminded them. "We don't have time for another detour."
"You don't think I know that?" Fang responded.
"Let's go," Charon urged. "We need to get to a safe place and recuperate. Shu's about to pass out here."
"No, I'm…not…" Shu protested weakly.
And then they promptly fell asleep.
The headed over to the elevator. Only Fang remained, staring down at the village.
Sazh stretched and then tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on."
Fang stared for one final moment and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the sight she was about to see. This was her home, but it wasn't. Oerba had died a long time ago, and Fang wasn't sure what she was going to see.