Author's Note: I do not own Final Fantasy XIII or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong to their respective owners.
Ch. 38 Sacrifice
The eight of us rose up on the lift to the apex of Taejin's Tower, and once there we walked onto the platform that would take us to Dahaka. The ride was short, but along the way we all readied our weapon's and went over the list of spells that each of us knew. The platform stopped, and we all looked around until Snow pointed and said "Hey, look!" Dahaka flew down to float before us, roaring mightily. "it's acting strange," Lightning said, and Hope told her "He must be weak from losing his tail. Then Dahaka's mask disappeared, showing his true form; a serpentine demon sitting on a throne.
"Really? Looks pretty feisty to me," Snow commented. "He's bluffing to scare us off. Let's just go with that, right? Come on, we can do this!" he said. "Cause if we don't, we're never getting to Oerba," I called, and at that everyone nodded. And began the fight. Vanille, Fang and Sofia all took a step back and began casting debuffs, while Sazh and Hope cast buffs, and Lightning, Snow, and I charged forward. Dahaka growled and swiped his massive claws across the ground, but Snow just shrugged it off while the two of us jumped over it.
Lightning cast Libra and told us all that physical attacks were weak against it, so Snow and I switched to magic. Snow cast Blizzaga and the spikes of ice shot and and tried to pierce the fal'Cie, but his skin was like metal. At that I smiled; metal was a great conductor. Lightning got the same idea and I cast Waterga, bathing the fal'Cie in water before she cast Thundaga, and the fal'Cie learned the hard way that water and electricity simply do not get along.
Dahaka roared in pain and rage as raw energy coursed through its body, glared at the two of us. I smiled and yelled "Nice to see ya!" before I jumped up so I was level with its head and cast Ruinga. The magical blast knocked his head back, especially because of the Faith spell Sazh hit me with, and this time he glared specifically at me. The mask went back over its head and an orb of energy charged its mouth for a second before firing at me, sending a lance a dark energy that hit me and passed straight through.
I yelled in pain, there was no wound but it still felt like I had been stabbed with a red-hot spike. So that was Foul Utterance; not only did it hurt but I could feel the buffs I had been equipped with disappear. Luckily I didn't have to feel that again for a moment, because at that moment the beast staggered a little, having been successfully hit by Fang's Slow spell. With that in mind I cast a few Cures on myself before running back, cast Fira and Aerora.
The flames blasted against the beast's arm before the wind caused it to spread, hitting Dahaka on the left arm and side of his chest. He grunted, but his attention was turned to Sazh and Hope when they, having finished buffing everyone up, joined in and they both cast Blizzara. Twin blocks of ice shot at him and he knocked them away with a swipe of his arm, before rising into the air and glowing red. My eyes widened and realized what he was about to do, and I yelled "Everyone, duck for cover!"
Snow and Fang but up their Mediguards while Sazh renewed his Shell status. Hope did the same and Vanille ducked behind Fang, Sofia, Light, and me. Just in time too, because at that moment the fal'Cie unleashed Fulminous Firestorm. The move itself was a one wickedly huge blast of fire, but then the fire swirled around us like a vortex to get us all who weren't Sentinels and the ones that were. By the time the fire faded were all pretty burnt, and Hope, Vanille and Sofia began casting healing spells.
Snow and Fang dropped their Guards and Snow charged forward, Fang joining after casting a quick Imperial, that spell working rather easily. Now that the fal'Cie was weak to elemental spell, Snow cast Blizzaga again, and this time the ice spikes pierced it armored flesh. Dahaka roared in pain and cast Faith and Aeroga, the first spell powering up the other. A small tornado appeared in front of and drew me and Snow in, tossing us around and around before sending us flying towards the edge of the Tower.
Snow grabbed the ledge and held on with one hand while I held on to him. "This thing's getting pretty annoying; what do you think?" Snow asked. I looked up and smiled. "It's time we did something about that. You thinking what I'm thinking?" I said. He made his trademark smirk, cocky as usual, and said "Eidolon time." With a grunt he threw back up into the ring before climbing back up. It looked like in looked like in our momentary absence the fight had taken a swift turn for the worse.
Everyone was covered it burns or cuts from various spells and attacks from Dahaka, whose magic even stronger than ever thanks to his Faith status. He wasn't giving the group time to remove it either, casting one spell after another. "Everyone, clear the way!" I yelled, and Snow and I summoned our Eidolons. Stiria and Nix emerged from their sphere of ice, and Snow yelled "Show 'em how it's done!" Regnuma burst from her hole in the ground climbed, spreading her wings and letting out a screeching roar. "Time to go to work!" I called.
Stiria began casting Blizzard and Blizzara while Snow and Nix ran up and attacked Dahaka, one using her wheel and the other his fists. I smiled and joined them, while Regnuma cast Dark Firaga, creating an explosion of black flames. The beast growled and was once again about to cast Aeroga when I used Dispelga, getting rid of all our buffs but also getting rid of his. The spell caused him to falter, and Snow and I took that opportunity to jump up and attack.
Snow punched away at is face and neck while I slashed at its chest, while Nix cast Blizzara, Nix used Blizzaga, and Regnuma unleashed Dark Thundaga, sending down bolts of violet lightning. The beast roared and drew itself into a ball, its body glowing blue before its used Bone-Chilling Breaker. The move sent mammoth shards of ice at all of us, and while the Shiva sisters were unaffected Snow, Regnuma and I were. I cast Cura on Snow and Regnuma cast Curaga on me, and then I looked at Regnuma and said "Time to do this together!"
She nodded and her eyes flashed redder before she dissolved into smoke, wrapping around me and forming my armor and wings, along with Diluculum. Snow smiled and got the idea, saying "Let's do this!" to his Eidolons. They came together and combined with each other to create his motorcycle, which he jumped onto and revved the engine. Dahaka growled and cast Thundaga, but I held up Indomitus to absorb the blow while Snow drove out of the way.
I flew up to Dahaka so I was level with his face and slashed my swords in an X, sending a band of silver and black energy in that shape rushing at him. It hit him straight in the face and he roared in pain, and then Snow used Spinfreeze to slash at him from below with shards of ice. He roared and put his mask back on, charging Dilluvial Plague. Not giving the chance to both of us used our ultimate moves. Snow revved his engine and yelled "Cool 'em off!"
He spun in circles, a subzero wind following his and creating gargantuan pillars of ice, some of which formed on Dahaka. Then the ice shattered and sent countless razor-sharp shards everywhere, cutting into the fal'Cie's metallic skin. I placed my swords in an X over my head and charged energy, until it grew to large for me to contain and I yelled "Energy Release!" pointing both swords and Dahaka and firing it all in a beam of black light.
It hit him and exploded in a blast large enough to shake the entire tower and create a mid-sized mushroom cloud. I fell to the ground as me armor and extra sword vanished, and now that the Eidolons were gone the others joined it. Sazh and Hope quickly buffed me and Snow back up before attacking, the fal'Cie continuously battered by the raw energy of my attack, and the power of the spells and attacks from everyone else.
The use of Energy Release had left me momentarily unable to attack, but I was able to watch with satisfaction as they others attacked Dahaka. We weren't just a bunch of weak l'Cie anymore. Our time in the Ark and on the Gran Pulse had made us stronger, faster, and a lot more powerful than before. A fal'Cie like this was barely a challenge, one that we can and will defeat. It looked like Dahaka was beginning to realize this too, because he roared in anguish and forwent magic, instead attacking straight with his claws.
He caught Fang with the back of his hand and sent her flying before he picked up Vanille, shocking her with a quick Thunder before throwing her too. I caught Vanille and Fang survived by crashing into Sazh, sending them both to the ground. That knocked me out of my daze and I charged forward, but Dahaka swung down and punched Hope square in chest, sending him back across the ground until he slammed into me.
That left three of us left, and the fal'Cie picked up Snow and Sofia and slammed them against the ground before tossing them away too. Now Light was all that was left, and she didn't even stay there long before Dahaka swept her away too. Without any interference he began charging Dilluvial Plague, and I knew we couldn't stop him in time. It was then that I came to a decision, and stood before pulling back my sleeve to show the mark on my arm.
"Deiru, what are you doing?!" Lightning called, knowing what I planned to do. I smiled at her and said "Sorry," before I cast Salvation, healing everyone. That wasn't what made her worry, it was what I did next. I cast Absolute Protection, creating a barrier around everyone while I grunted as I was hit with Deshell, Deprotect, Curse and Imperil. Dahaka cast Dilluvial Plague, and when they gusted of toxic wind didn't hit everyone else, they all came at me.
"No!" Light yelled. I shouted in pain, battered by a brick-force storm of toxicity while my own weakened defenses didn't help in the slightest bit. The storm ended and I was nearly unconscious, also being affected by nearly every status ailment on the roster. Hope and Vanille ran forward, casting Cure and Esuna over and over, while the others attacked Dahaka with a vengeance.
The fact I had about near sacrificed myself for them against this guy only made them angrier, and now the fal'Cie seemed to realize that using that spell may have been a bad idea. He tried to hit them with some magic, but the barriers around them out just made the spells bounce off, and then the fight ended when Lightning cast Thundaga, Snow used Blizzaga, Sazh fired Firaga, Hope sent Aeroga, Vanille cast Waterga, Fang unleashed Quake and Sofia blasted him with Ruinga.
All seven of the spells connected at one time, and exploded in a blast of blinding light, Dahaka's screams coming from within. When the light faded the fal'Cie was lying on the ground, barely moving, and light finished the job by walking forward and stabbing in the head. It shuddered for a moment before dying, fading away in a flash of golden light.
The entire group stood there, breathing heavily from exhaustion, until Light walked toward and flicked me on the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" I asked, more out of annoyance than pain. "What were you thinking, sacrificing your own safety so we wouldn't get hit? What if that spell had it any harder? You would have died!" she told me. I was about to make a retort, saying that if I hadn't they would have been hurt too, when I looked at her eyes and stopped. They were huge in her faces, aqua orbs magnified by unshed tears.
"Please, don't do something like that again, okay?" she asked, and her voice dropped to whispers so they other wouldn't hear. "I couldn't bear to lose you," she said. "Lightning..." I said softly, before pulling her into a tight embrace. The others made moderate sounds of surprise, but I didn't care; they already knew we were together, so I wasn't going to try and hide it. I held her close and she held me back, until we let go and I looked at her.
I smiled and said "Alright, you win. I promise I will not try to sacrifice myself in battle." Light nodded and said "Thank you," before giving me a quick peck on the lips. I stopped, momentarily unable to think, and she turned away to say "So, we're going Oerba now?" The others all blinked, until Hope nodded and pointed at the lift that had appeared once Dahaka died. "It's down that way, right?" he asked.
Vanille nodded and said "Yep!" and Snow asked "What's it like?" Sazh walked to the edge of the tower, and as he did that she said "Well, it's kind of small. But it's warm and green, and very naturey!" "Around the fal'Cie, it was flowers as far you could see, huh?" Sazh looked back from the edge and said "The view from here ain't so rosy, I'm sorry to say." That brought me back to earth, and Lightning asked Vanille "Do you want to wait here?"
"No, I need to see it for myself," she said, before she and the rest of us walked to the edge. Where the probably once was a bright and life-filled village, now there stood an empty and ruined town, filled with Cie'th and covered in a fine layer of crystal dust. "It's gone," Vanille said. "Every trace of color," Fang agreed. Then she scowled angrily and said "This is stupid. We're chasing shadows! This whole idea of losing our brands is hopeless!"
"Nothing is hopeless. We'll find a way," Sofia said, and Snow added "There has to be one." "Let's keep on looking. That's what we came here for. We all agreed, and now we're here," Hope said. "You think... you think it's really possible?" Vanille asked him, and he nodded. "Sure. Anything is." Lightning looked at Fang and said "There's no going back." "You think I don;t know that?" she replied, but we knew it was a rhetorical question.
Despite the fact our hope had just vanished like a desert mirage, I said "Let's go down there. According to what I saw in my world, we have to go down and at some point during our stay there we learn something important. So let's go." The others didn't argue, and we all got on the lift that would take us to Oerba.
xxx
Nooo! Fang and Vanille's home is gone! But still, the show must go on, and it will come next chapter!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)