Chapter LIV: Dive Into Battle
He stared at the phial of dark liquid that he held in his hand, and doubts suddenly began to creep in.
Did he really have to change his appearance? Surely none of the Chosen Ones had seen him before. He had been careful to remain inconspicuous to any of their eyes.
On the other side of the brewing, bubbling, steaming black cauldron, Lorne regarded him with narrowed eyes.
He knew, of course, exactly what the boy was thinking.
'If I wanted to kill you, believe me, I would not choose poison as the means of doing so.' He said coldly.
Richter swallowed, determined to push aside his doubts. He had no choice but to trust in Lorne, just as Lorne was now forced to trust in him.
Even so, he wanted to know what he was getting himself into.
'How does it work?'
'The potion is potent.' The sorcerer replied. 'You do not drink it all. If you do, then yes, it shall kill you. You drink a quarter every 3 days to keep up the effects.'
'The effects?' Richter stared at the phial.
'Your eyes will change shade. They will turn to green.'
Why green? Richter wondered, and again, Lorne read his mind.
'Because that green-eyed boy-Zane…' Lorne practically spat the name as if it were a disease. '…is important to Vreya. His lies of not knowing her and not caring for her did not fool me. Additionally…I believe you once overheard her saying she dreamt of a green-eyed stranger. And in light of the fact you desire revenge on the one who murdered your uncle…you can see how the pieces are falling together.'
Richter saw perfectly.
'However…' The raven-haired man added, 'Your priority is not to achieve revenge. It is to find out who The One is, and to lure them to me. There is something to that girl, and I cannot be sure of what it is unless you gain her trust and get the information from her.'
'It might take time.' Richter said.
'That is something you do not have.' Lorne snapped. 'A maximum of 5 days, no more.'
Five days? But that was impossible. It would take Vreya and her friends a week just to get used to him.
'10 days…I guarantee results if you give me the extra days.'
Lorne glared. 'Fool. The more time you waste, the stronger they will become.'
'But this potion will last me for 12 days, if I calculate correctly.' Richter dared to argue. 'The more time, the more convincing my act will be, and the more information I can send back to you. I know it will take them all time to trust me. Not just Vreya, but her friends and their trainers.'
Lorne looked away. The boy had a point, he hated to admit. Closing his eyes, he replied, through gritted teeth:
'Very well. However, if you do not succeed by the time the days are up…'
'I won't fail you, Master.' Richter replied.
Lorne's eyes opened and looked at the youth. 'You had better not.'
'Will it be only my eyes that will change?'
'No. Your hair shall, and your complexion shall be lighter.'
'What colour will my hair be?'
'I have fashioned your appearance to go hand in hand with the cover story you will give them. You are not of this world.'
Richter stared.
'Your hair shall be silver.'
'And…what is my cover story?'
'One that cannot fail provided you keep the phial hidden. Your mentor was killed by…my minions and you have been wandering in search of the other Chosen just as he instructed. The Chosen tend to band together, so the fact you finally find them is perfectly plausible. You were transported here from your home land…one of the 14 worlds of the universe existing parallel to Earth, Spira. You were sent to protect The One. That is your duty. Wear this.'
Lorne held up a small stone on a black leather string. 'It is an Earth stone. It will not react to you, but in the presence of the other Chosen, it will. They will think you are one of them, for their stones respond to all Earth stones. The fools thought I could not acquire one, and there are no more that can be acquired now. But I have been saving this one for centuries. Do not ever lose it. Do not allow any of them to take it from you.'
He tossed it to Richter, who caught it and immediately tied it securely around his neck.
'In addition, you will need to change your name. I leave that choice to you. Your weapons are waiting for you. Two steel blades that you are to wield at the same time. You must give the impression you are a skilled fighter, which should be no problem to you. A scenario will be set up, and you will kill a few of the lower level, disposable monsters. The Chosen will be there once they hear that humans are being attacked. You are to let them see you. The monsters all know who you are. They will attack you, but you will never be seriously wounded.'
That was a relief to Richter's ears.
'They will separate Vreya from the rest of the group, and you will see to defending her, indirectly. Pass her for long enough for her to get a glimpse of your eyes only, and the Earth stone. Then you will disappear, and a day later, appear at their base. Let one of them catch you spying…and you will give your story from there.'
It was a lot to digest, but it did sound like a remarkably brilliant plan.
'What about their guardians? Won't they know I am a fake?'
Lorne smirked. 'Oh no. They cannot interfere. The Guardian King will suspect. But he will not interfere. This will just be another test for them.'
'How will I get information back to you?'
'On the seventh night, when you are alone, a black raven will come to you. You are to slip a written account into its claws. If you still have no information by then, it will return on the tenth night.'
Richter nodded. 'Is there anything else I should know?'
'I suspect that since my useless subjects have failed to locate the ashes of the Phoenix, that the Chosen Ones may have already located and acquired them. You will bring the ashes to me. The potion will strip you of your dark magic ability and because you do not have a guardian, you will be unable to use any other form of magic. If you do not have dark magic, the Guardian King cannot prove that you are a subject of mine. Take your first drops now, before you leave. Your attire has been prepared and is waiting for you in the armoury.'
Richter nodded. He was still a little apprehensive, but Lorne had told him all he needed to know and there was nothing left but to carry out the plan.
'Ten days, Richter Kane.' Lorne hissed. 'Now get out of my sight.'
Richter bowed slightly. 'I will not fail you, Master.'
He turned and left the dark room. As the door slammed shut behind him, Lorne's eyes narrowed.
'We shall see…boy.'
'I've gotten a report in from Ortega that monsters have been sighted in this area.' Fleck pointed to the map.
Bo quickly glanced at it before returning his eyes to the road in front of them.
'South west? We've covered that range already!'
'Seems to be a monster hot-spot.' Fleck muttered in response.
In the back of the van, Roxy was singing the same song for the seventh time. Even Selphie, who was not familiar with it, was starting to sing along.
'Old Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o!'
Zane, who sat at the end, wished Roxy would disappear to some remote farm in some remote area and take her singing there. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep from snapping completely.
'And on that farm he had a...' Roxy stopped and turned to Ash. 'Hey what animal haven't I done?'
'Haven't you done them all?' Ash raised his eyebrows. 'You've sung that so many times now.'
'I love it!' Roxy grinned at him. 'Give me an animal!'
'The only animal you haven't done must be an ant!' Lila cried.
'Oh! An ant!' Roxy exclaimed. 'C'mon Selphie! And on that farm he had some ants, e-i-e-i-oooooo!'
Selphie giggled and Zell rolled his eyes.
'Yo, that chick is just like Selphie. You'd think they're long-lost sisters.'
'Well it's a good thing they're not from the same planet.' Sara declared, and went back to filing her nails.
Roxy and Selphie sang a little more, when suddenly Roxy broke off and whined.
'Fleck, are we there yet? It's been ages!'
'Ten more minutes.' Fleck replied back to her. 'Actually Bo, is there a specific place we should stop do you think?'
'The city central? I have no clue, bud.' Bo shrugged.
Roxy huffed and continued with her song.
'And on that farm he had a chameleon…'
Zane glared at her. 'Who the hell keeps a chameleon on a farm?'
'Old Macdonald of course!' Roxy looked back at him and stuck out her tongue. 'D'uh!'
Zell clucked his tongue and Ash looked at Zane and shrugged helplessly.
'Roxy's famous for her great imagination…' He offered.
Zane rolled his eyes and went back to looking out the window. The sky was an ominous, dark grey, and it looked as if it would rain heavily at any moment.
In the van behind them, Jez rubbed her temples.
'You alright boss?' Harris asked her, glancing at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the road.
'Headache.' She muttered.
Seifer stared boredly out the window. Next to him, Quistis was reading a small geography guide. Vreya sat between Gen and Costa. Rinoa, Squall and Irvine had not joined the party and were back at base.
'How are you Vreya?' Gen looked at her.
'What?' Her head rose in surprise at the seemingly random question.
He smiled. 'Well it's been a while since I've asked how you are.'
She blinked and then smiled back. 'I could say the same to you.'
Costa put his arm around her casually. 'We're not seeing enough of you Bonita! My daily dosage of beauty isn't delivering!'
She laughed and poked him in his side. 'Come on, there are plenty other beautiful women in our party for you to gawk at.'
'True.' He grinned at her. 'But there's only one Bonita!'
Vreya smiled and looked back at Gen. 'I'm okay I guess. Besides the usual worries we have, I don't know what we're all supposed to do about school. And there's no news on TV these days! There're only random programs about wars and stuff and people are complaining, but no-one's doing anything about it.'
'Man, that asshole has control of the police force, TV and radio stations, everything!'
'You have to give him credit for the speed at which he's taken care of everything.' Quistis looked up from her book.
'He couldn't have done it without the help of humans here who are on his side.' Gen replied.
'Damned traitors the lot of them.' Costa muttered.
Vreya sighed. 'We haven't actually encountered normal people from our world who work for him though.'
'Not yet.' Seifer remarked, glancing at her. 'I'm sure as the action heats up, you'll see loads of them.'
'What about those savage whatevers?' Vreya pondered.
'They're from a world called 'never brush your teeth or wash yourself'.' Costa declared.
Vreya laughed despite herself. 'They are a little scruffy.'
'A little?' Costa blinked at her. 'Bonita, they make my old granddad look squeaky clean.'
They laughed at that, and then Harris announced they had arrived.
'Alright everyone, Fleck's come to a stop. Get your weapons ready and let's find out what's going on here.'
They parked and met up with Fleck's group.
'Are you sure we're even in the right place?' Jez demanded. She was in no mood to waste time.
Fleck looked around. They had parked in a street corner that looked rather deserted.
'It's too bad Ortega couldn't meet us here.' He said in response.
'You know, you've never actually told us what he and that woman do.' Sara said.
Bo glanced at her. 'They're sort of our look-out crew and report any strange goings-on. They're our version of secret undercover agents!'
'I'm sure I've told you that before…' Fleck frowned. Then he shrugged and said: 'Let's just get out on the main road and see what we can find.'
They found their way out of street they had parked in, and continued to weave in and out of other streets for a while. Finally, Sara called out to Fleck:
'Excuse me but…didn't the man even give you an address?'
'He only said that he had come here, seen that nobody was about, and when he'd asked some local residents why, they shook their heads and closed their doors in his face.' Fleck called back to her.
Roxy huffed. 'Well where is everyone anyways?'
'Man, it's like a ghost town.' Costa said.
'Ghost town, but where are the ghosts?' Jez muttered. They continued to walk, and as they did so, rain began to drizzle from the sky.
'Oh perfect!' Lila cried in dismay, putting her hands over her hair. 'The only thing we'll find here are bad hair days!'
'I love the rain!' Selphie cried, grabbed Roxy's arm and skipped forward happily.
What don't you love? Zane, who walked at the back of the group, thought in exasperation. Selphie was always so cheerful and bubbly he was sure she had a medical condition.
Seifer, thinking along similar lines, rolled his eyes. 'That girl isn't normal.'
Quistis sighed. 'And you finally realised that after how long…?'
Gen smiled slightly. 'You know it's funny.' He said to Vreya, who walked beside him. 'Ever since I got Dragoone, I haven't minded water at all.'
'I thought you didn't mind it to begin with.' Vreya glanced at him.
'Well, I never really liked swimming before.' He admitted.
She smiled. 'Well it's great you've gotten over that fear now.'
'Yes, definitely.' He agreed.
'I can hear something. I think we're getting closer to the town central!' Fleck called back.
'How do you know?' Jez demanded. 'We might have covered towns around this region, but this place doesn't look familiar at all.'
He stopped suddenly as the loud sound of an explosion and a high pitched scream filled the air.
The rest of the group also came to a halt, and Harris looked at Fleck. 'I think you might have been right about us being close to the centre.'
'Someone's in trouble!' Roxy cried. Then more screams filled the air.
'No, my baby, don't hurt my baby!'
'What in God's name are you?'
'Call the police…argh!'
'A lot of people are in trouble…' Fleck said. 'Let's move!'
They hurried to the end of the alleyway and what they saw on the other side shocked them all. The large, spacious city central, with both sides of the streets lined with shops and tall, dark glass company buildings, was a complete wreck.
'Good God.' Sara whispered.
Civilians were scrambling and screaming about in a panic. Smoke rose from the remains of the broken remains of chairs and tables of cafes, and from the broken glass of shop windows. Still bodies littered the floor and the entire scene was one of chaos.
In the centre of it were grinning savages, and the same black shadowy goblin creatures that had attacked Vreya's parents. Her eyes widened.
'Those are the things that attacked my home!'
'Holy crap.' Costa exclaimed. 'There are like…20 of them at least!'
Seifer brandished Hyperion. 'If there were 100, let them come!' He charged forward, straight into the action.
'I guess that ruins the idea of thinking up a strategy…' Jez huffed.
'The strategy is to save these people!' Lila cried, and followed after Seifer. The rest of the group rushed after her.
The goblins noticed the movement of human life instantly and their eyes glowed red. They raised their arms and pointed with their weapons, and spoke in a language that sounded like gibberish to the ears of the humans.
They began to jump up and down and then they charged forward. The savages sneered. One of them caught hold of a human woman who had been trying to flee by her hair, and caught Gen's gaze.
'Too late human scum…' The savage leered, and swiftly drew his blade across the woman's neck, slitting it deeply. She screamed, then, choking on her own blood, fell to the floor as her captor released her. Gen stared in horror, and then retaliated with a Water spell. He sent it at the savage, who cackled and threw a dark energy ball back at him. The two spells collided and exploded.
'Gen!' Harris called. 'Don't waste spells! Just use your guardian!'
Seifer decapitated the head of one of the goblins, and kicked another away from a small child who was shrieking in fear.
Lila grabbed hold of the child, but as she did, another savage threw an energy ball at the little boy.
'Oh God!' Lila cried, and pushed the child out of the way, taking the full effects of the dark magic. She was thrown back, screaming.
Ash frowned and looked at the savage who had hurt her. Angrily, he summoned Aquila, and the thunder-bird screeched and unleashed a devastating attack which had grown more powerful as Ash's battle experience had increased. But the enemy had also become more powerful and resilient. The attack damaged the savages and the goblins, but they were still standing.
One of the goblins jumped up and down, and then pointed its spiked club at Ash. A burst of dark energy swirled from it and flew at Ash. Thinking quickly, he batted it with his sword and it flew back at the goblin.
Lila struggled up and crawled to the little boy who was on the floor, cowering.
'Where's your mother?' She winced, casting Cure to heal her wounds.
The boy sobbed and pointed to the woman who had been slaughtered by the savage.
Horror washed over Lila, and it mixed with anger. She picked the child up and set him under a table. 'Stay there, and don't move!' She ordered. Then she ran back to the battle and slammed a savage with a Tornado spell. When he fell, he laughed insanely.
'Ahaha! Your little spells are weak!' He rushed at her with a battle-axe and her eyes widened. She raised her arm and fired a shot from her crossbow. It pierced the savage's shoulder but did not stop him. But a sudden crack of a whip around his leg knocked him off balance and Sara tugged ruthlessly, dragging him back.
'Finish him off Lila!'
Lila didn't hesitate to aim an arrow right into the savage's head. It connected and he convulsed in pain. To make sure he was finished off, Zell cast Thundara. The savage fell still, fried to his core.
'Hey, they keep coming!' Selphie exclaimed. She and Costa had just finished off three goblins.
'Where are they coming from?' Quistis shouted over a sudden gust of harsh wind. The skies had darkened and it began to rain.
Zane turned to look in the direction of a wreck. He saw black silhouettes behind the smoke, and cautiously stepped forward, away from the rest of the group. The silhouettes had green eyes, and a new kind of enemy emerged. It was a lizard-like man, dressed with heavy armour and armed with a metal rod with a sharp point at the end of it. It pointed at Zane, and then five more of them emerged.
What the hell is this…? Zane thought, but didn't have much time to consider, as one of the lizard men raced towards him. His speed despite the armour caught Zane by surprise, but before the creature could reach him, something slammed into him. It was a shard from Vreya's projectile. Three more shards flew through the air and smacked into three of the other lizard men. Having had time bought for him, Zane ran forward and slashed into one of the creatures, at the space where its belly was exposed underneath the armour. The creature snarled and threw a green energy ball at Zane. It slammed into the boy and he was flung back from the unexpectedly strong force.
Roxy gasped and summoned Elyria. But the creatures were not silenced from her song, and Fleck waved his arms.
'They've become resistant; you have to try something else!'
Seifer blocked an attack with Hyperion from a savage directed at a male civilian and his wife. 'Get out of here!' He yelled at them. The centre was almost completely vacant of civilians now.
Zane got to his feet, glaring at the monster that had managed to floor him. Looking around for a way to get to it, he then realised something. Not only were more and more monsters appearing out of seemingly nowhere, most of them were heading in the direction Vreya was in.
He forgot about getting even with the lizard creature and stepped towards where Vreya and Roxy were firing off spells.
'Vreya…!' He began, when a snarl alerted him to the fact that the creature had not forgotten him.
Zane cursed and whirled, just in time to block a stab from the monster. He dodged a swipe from another of the creatures, but they were surrounding him.
'Yo, hang on man!' Zell yelled, and rushed forward, punching his way past three goblins. He directed a Firaga spell at the lizards, but they were unaffected.
'Shit, what are those?' Costa exclaimed, pointed towards the group that was surrounding Zane.
Vreya's head whipped around and her heart leapt as she saw just how many had cornered Zane.
'Zane!' She ran forward, but failed to notice the goblin that had been anticipating her move. She was tripped off her feet and Quistis rushed forward to aid her, but something wrapped around her legs and knocked her off balance.
'Ugh…' She looked up into the face of a new snake like creature that had appeared from nowhere. It hissed and drew its head back to strike.
'Quistis!' Seifer yelled. He ran forward and stabbed an intercepting savage angrily in the stomach. He got to Quistis and hacked at the snake, but it let go of Quistis and disappeared into the ground in a pool of black, ink like substance.
'This is insane!' Jez cried, looking at the scene. The place was swarming with monsters. It was like they all had known the Chosen would be here.
The snake rose from the ground behind Selphie, who shrieked and hit it with her weapon. It was struck but again disappeared into the ground.
The petite SeeD then summoned Ifrit and the damage he did was enormous. A few of the goblins fell, defeated. But the savaged still remained.
Seifer summoned DoomTrain and their defences were worn down, but still far too many monsters still stood.
'We need Bahamut!' The blond ex-knight said in frustration. 'Where the fuck is Squall when you need him!'
'These monsters have some kind of resistance spell on them!' Quistis snapped at him. 'Even one strike from Bahamut wouldn't kill them all!'
Seifer cast Dispel, but no barriers were removed. 'What resistance spell?' He glared at Quistis, who was shocked to be wrong.
'How could they have gotten so strong all of a sudden?' Gen shouted, while dragging a young girl away from the rubble and dust and pushing her towards the alleyway.
Nobody had an answer. Ash managed to kill another goblin and Roxy finally managed to get another savage down, with Zell's help.
Sara had come out of a shop, coughing, having found no survivors. She was greeted with a goblin, but she was so angry, one strike with her whip floored the already weakened creature.
Vreya fired a Holy spell at the lizards that surrounded Zane, and she finally got a result. The creatures writhed in pain and then turned away from Zane and rushed right at Vreya.
But Zane was not going to let them go so easily. He ran after them and swiped at their calves with his sword. They fell, the bottom half of their legs seriously wounded. They hissed, and tried to get back up, but Zane finished them off, one by one.
But as many as they killed, there were still more. Zane, having finished his kill, looked at Vreya, who relaxed slightly. No sooner had she done so, red light surrounded her, and pushed everyone else around her away. The same force sped towards Zane and threw him back, through a cracked shop window. It shattered.
Vreya screamed, not knowing what the force was. All her friends had been floored from it.
'What the hell was that?' Costa cried. 'Argh!'
Selphie cast Curaga on everyone and bounced back up, green eyes bright with anger.
'That's it, now I'm mad…huh?'
From the red circle that throbbed around Vreya, monsters rose. They were similar to the snake creature, but they had arms and legs and throbbed with red, pulsating light. Another circle of the same creatures materialised and headed towards the rest of the Chosen.
To the mentors, it was all too clear what was happening. Vreya was being segregated from the others.
'Vreya, they're trying to target you!' Jez screamed to her charge. 'Get out of there!'
Seven of the monsters surrounded the girl. She tried to keep an eye on all of them, but it was impossible. Her friends were battling to get to her, but too many monsters kept appearing and slowing them down.
Stumbling from the window which he had been sent through, Zane angrily wiped the blood away from his face and gripped his sword hilt tighter. Fighting dizziness, he once again cursed the fact he had no guardian. The only way he could be healed was if someone cast magic his away. The potions he carried had smashed in their containers from the impact of being sent through the window.
He was the only one who the monsters were not attacking. His mind scanned the possibilities of what he should do. But they found nothing. If he rushed in, he would be killed. He couldn't attack from a distance because he had no magic. And he was already injured. So he did the only thing he could. He yelled at the monsters, hoping to get their attention.
'Hey you hybrid freaks! I'm not down yet!'
Two of the creatures turned to him and crawled away from Vreya. She caught Zane's eye, and raised an arm to cast Curaga his way, but one of the creatures attacked at that moment. Acting quickly, she smacked it in the side of its head with her projectile weapon, then sent a wave of energy at all of the monsters. They were forced back, but not far enough. They closed in on her again.
The two that crawled towards Zane disappeared into the ground. Zane looked behind him and around him, not knowing where they were going to come out from. The last place he expected was from the air. Something crushingly heavy landed on him and knocked his sword from his hand. The creature leered up at him and Zane struggled to get free.
'Zane!' Vreya cried, and ran straight towards him, raising a hand and firing a Holy spell towards the monster. But the ones that surrounded her intercepted and took the blow. Her heart pounded in horror. Zane was already badly injured and the others were nowhere near him. If she didn't do something, he would be killed.
'Aurion!' She cried up to the skies, not knowing what else to do, and unable to find a split-second to summon her own guardians. 'Help him!'
'Vreya!' Lila screamed. 'They're getting to Vreya!'
'Shit, these monsters keep coming, it's like this was a trap all along!' Ash yelled, smacking another goblin away. They had never been in such a desperate situation.
High on the rooftops of one of the buildings, a figure cloaked in black stood. In his hands, were two twin blades. He had been watching the progress of the battle and now knew it was time to make his move at last. His green eyes fixed on the brunette girl who was surrounded by monsters. Lightening crackled in the dark sky and the wind howled.
Without hesitation, he pushed himself away from the roof and dove off the building.
Angelheart's End of Chapter Ramble:
Ok cliff hanger and that's only half of what was originally an entire chapter, but to be honest with you guys, the other half isn't ready yet! Too much fighting and battle to do, so I had to stop it there to give you an update as fast as possible. Otherwise it would've been another week of waiting! Sorry for the huge delay, I've been having personal stuff to deal with as well as uni work! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try to update the next one as fast as I can. Thanks again for all the reviews of the last one. I hope this one doesn't disappoint! By the way yep I used the name Spira for a world because I couldn't think of another lol. And yep the last bit is inspired from Riku's Deep Dive from Kingdom Hearts 2! Lol!
