"Can't believe we lost Seifer and Fujin," Irvine said. "Would have liked having them around for this one."
"I get a feeling we'll find them where we're going," Paine said. "We weren't the only ones to take a truck from that village."
Leonora made a gagging sound at the reminder of the ride and Lebreau complained about her being a wimp.
Rude looked at Reno, who just shook his head. They were stuck with these guys until further notice, so it was better to suck it up and get used to it. Rude couldn't remember the last time he had to adjust to new party members.
The twilight sky provided no help in guiding their way through the shadows of this dusty maze and it smelled of old earth and subtle herbs. The growing cold brought out distant animal calls that echoed as warnings. The stars, stark and distant, missed their typical glamor in the dead of the desert.
"I don't like this," Rude said.
"No one does," Reno said.
Elena started. "We've got readings! Something explosive is happening toward the center!"
"What did I say?" Paine asked.
Leonora gripped the canyon wall. "Where?"
"Follow me." Elena gestured for Rude and Reno to take to higher ground before she guided the other three through the canyon walls.
Rude found his way to the tip of a pillar and settled in to watch, remote ready to carry a drone Elena's way.
Reno waited at the base of the pillar, barely peeking past it. "Do you see them?" he asked.
"I see Red's home."
"But are they fighting there?"
"No." Rude pulled out his binoculars and tossed the remote to Reno. It took some looking to find energy blasting rock in the twisting labyrinth of the canyon. "They're south of the settlement, fifth dial. Looks like three participants. Three channels. West, south, and east."
"Glad we aren't involved then."
"We are involved. Trigger the drone—Elena's approaching from second on east."
"Roger, roger." Reno manipulated the remote and a buzzing sounded from whence they came. It wasn't Rude's best work, but it would provide a solid opening for Reno and him to enter.
As the drone made its way, Rude watched the chaos just out of sight. Much as he hated to admit it, the distraction provided by Seifer and Fujin benefited them with solid cover and they would face weaker versions of whatever it was that Tseng fought with.
The drone found its mark and exploded opposite Elena's party. It brought down rock from the western side and trapped the spirits. The chaos quieted before Elena tossed her grenade that blew up the southern exit.
Leonora encased the rubble in solid ice while Irvine arranged himself to take his shot. Rude didn't need to see it because they laid this plan out beforehand. Next was Paine, who would charge in and take the heat.
"Our turn," Reno said before hopping to the next pillar. Rude got down and followed.
After maneuvering their way to the closest platform, Rude flexed his fists and rolled his shoulders. It didn't look like Red at first with the ghostly forms he took, but despite the sickly green encompassing it, that feline form dispelled all doubt.
Reno jumped into the fray first, but Rude studied the positions of the teams. Seifer, Fujin—when did they rejoin?—and Paine took melee while Leonora, Elena, and Irvine kept back. Reno would take melee.
Rude leapt in and rolled. Got to his feet and readied himself, looking for Aerith's corrupted image before something took him from behind.
Rude grunted and twisted to find Reno about to swing again. Rude caught his kneebreaker.
"Oh," Reno said, intonation taking on a sweetish lilt. "Sorry. I mistook you for someone else."
"What—?"
Reno stumbled free and shook his head. "She's messed up, man. It's the dog we need to worry about. And it feels like we've got real company."
Elena's voice crackled over the intercom, "I wondered where she went to."
Seifer yelled profanity and lunged for Irvine. Rude made for Irvine only for him to do the same thing as Reno did. Rude wondered how they found Seifer again before getting distracted with a possessed Reno.
Leonora hit Lebreau with ice, then Elena threw a grenade Rude and Reno's way. They flung themselves away, but the shockwave rattled Rude's chest and caused a ringing in his ears.
"No good!" Reno said. "That's another two spirits at least!"
"Retreat!" Elena yelled. "There's three!"
Red took Fujin and clawed up her legs before Seifer chased him back. Aerith took Lebreau and shot out Irvine's foot.
Paine swore and flipped her sword in place. "Try this!" She made swinging motions with her sword out and Rude wondered at the way she moved despite her leather.
Something growled, low and feminine. Rude heard it everywhere and nowhere. The party moved as themselves for once and they got moving.
"What is that?" Elena asked as they made a break for it.
"Sending," Paine said. "Not a good one, but it works."
Her mannerisms reminded him of Tifa. Rude cleared his throat and looked away.
Paine kept dancing—almost hopping backward to cover their exit. They made it out of Cosmo Canyon's threat range.
"Who else was it?" Reno asked. "I didn't recognize them after Aerith."
Elena hissed, "Aerith might have tried to stop them. We attracted something a lot angrier than her, looks like."
"Great." Reno followed Rude back through the canyon, breath hitching. "This is gonna suck."
"Got that right," Paine said.
Seifer and Fujin caught up with them and Irvine asked after their disappearance.
Rude wished he remembered the names of the spirits that chased them.
She felt the prickling of irritation as a burning in her skull, the urge to take the fight and show her enemies Rage.
Queen held her face in her hands and breathed deep. She needed to be the mastermind Mwynn set her up to be.
King issued orders and she turned her communications off. She needed to think without eleven voices.
"Oh, I raised you better than this." Arecia joined them and shook her head. "What are you moping about for, children?"
King's demeanor cracked. "Mother."
Queen rose to attention. "Valhalla has fallen far enough that any can enter?"
"It appears so. Tell me, how is your new war?"
"We're fighting," Queen said, "like you taught us to."
"I taught you to pick equal fights."
"This is equal. You and Mwynn made us equal."
"We made you better, darling, and now you've pitted infants against this thing. Where's your honor?"
"You taught us to dismiss honor," King said. "Victory above all."
Arecia smiled and tossed her hair. "Very true of you. But aren't you growing complacent, lounging about in here? Why not join your brothers and sisters?"
"We've found no reason to leave," King said. "We're safe here and control communication so the others don't have to."
"Then why both of you?"
"Redundancies make each take less damage. We've kept a hundred percent uptime until now."
"You were never quite human. And yet you lie to your mother like you have always been so."
Queen's stomach turned. "The fal'Cie lie too."
"But gods should not."
"Mother," King said. "What is it you want?"
"The fight draws closer to my domain." Arecia admired the architecture. "I've never been here before. In fact, to my knowledge, no living fal'Cie has. Yet you arrived dead and found the fading essence of a goddess who showed you what you were always meant to be."
"You've been watching us?" King asked.
"Of course, darlings. I'm your mother. Much of it, I pieced together myself, since not one of you came to find me."
Queen clenched her fists. "We're not putting a target on Orience by going back there."
"You know that I left that world." Mother rarely said what she meant, making this another one of her riddles. To train the mind as much as the body, she always said.
Queen said, "There is no more reason to paint a target on you then there is to paint one on Orience."
"Closer." Arecia sat down and crossed her legs.
Queen looked at King, who returned her uncertainty.
"Your responsibility is important but let's take a moment to look at your reasoning." Arecia leaned back. "You say it is just to keep it safe, but your siblings spent plenty of time on other worlds?"
King folded his arms. "Those worlds need active protection."
"Don't you think that if Bhunivelze wanted to destroy your world, he would have done so by now? You don't think he knows where you come from?"
"We can't go back," Queen said. "Not like this."
"Not like what?" Arecia asked.
"Failures."
"And what have you failed in?"
"Gaia VII is lost." Queen choked back tears. "We never even reclaimed all his possessees. And now he's spread to worlds."
"King, you've taken it upon yourself to be the protector of your siblings. How is that going?"
"Ace distances himself from the others. Deuce has broken down. Trey lost his will to continue. Cater lost faith in herself. Cinque won't listen. Sice turned to vengeance-reaping. Seven bristles like an angry cat. Eight's gone quiet. Nine tried to kill an ally. Jack won't commit himself to the mission."
"It's not as bad as that," Queen said. "Cinque encouraged Eight and Trey, and Seven grounds herself, slowly. Nine uses his ears more than he ever has."
"I could have kept it from happening in the first place."
Arecia said, "There are twelve of you. You are not one link, connecting to eleven others. I did not raise you all to fall apart at such a minor inconvenience such as this. I also did not raise you to handle your worlds with plastic gloves or become someone that you are not. Darling, could you summon me a chair?"
Queen warped Valhalla to bring a replica of the luxurious type Arecia favored. She patted Queen's head and Queen bristled at her condescending touch. "Thank you, darling."
"You're saying we've become detached?" King asked.
"Dear, I raised you to dive into the heart of a problem and solve it from the inside."
"We need to coordinate," Queen said. "If someone doesn't stay at a distance, then we'll not track the whole picture. You taught us to communicate with our commanding officer who stayed in his commanding room."
"And are any of you commanding officers?"
Queen forced herself to say, "No, ma'am. But we have no one else to serve as such."
"Then I'll let you go back to playing command once we get this settled. For now, I'll take command and you two go take a break. See the battlefield for once."
"You'll stay?" King asked. "For how long?"
"I have shards that I'd like to transfer to your new friends, yet none of them are here. I recommend you search out a spirit by the name Zack Fair as I understand he's one of the only escaped spirits of your lost world. King, channel Protection for the universe you would bring about. And Queen, use your rage."
Queen smothered her twinge of fear at the thought of stepping back into those lapping waves below them. "Yes, Mother."
"I'll hold the fort while you're gone, dears. Enjoy your vacation."
King took her by the arm and Queen let him guide her out. Good for him to do so, as she would be tempted to fight back until the walls fell and eternity ended. But at his reminder, she realized how much she missed blood on her hands and the thrill of battle.
