BAND OF BROTHERS
CHAPTER 5
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"Well, well, guess who´s come out knocking at our door?" A voice above their heads startle the young women. "Sephiroth´s beautiful pet!"
The unwelcomed innuendo reaches their ears, and Lightning´s group of friends turns around to meet their matching foes. Four enemies are coming from behind a massive rock in the middle of the asteroid, with Garland at the very front, followed by Jecht, Vayne, and Kefka´s always-loathed face leering at them from above the biggest rock.
"Who are you calling 'pet', you buffoon?" It´s Tifa the one sending the first challenge, while everyone takes their battle stances.
"Yes, please do clarify. Who´s supposed to be my pet? The strawberry blonde or the brunette?" The devilish voice coming from behind them sends shivers down every young woman´s back, and slowly, all too slowly, they turn around, except for Lightning, who closes her eyes, gathering her composure as well as her strength.
Because right in front of them, standing on top of a boulder, it´s the tall form of the silver-haired mad man, with the frame of his large Masamune flashing bright under the sunlight, and a devilish smirk plastered on his features.
Lightning looks intently at each foe, and then allows her eyes to meet the silver orbs of her enemy, whose smile becomes larger the moment he fixes his stare on her.
"Right…"
Instinctively, Yuna and Rinoa get closer to Lightning, their backs almost touching hers.
"Don´t worry, Light, we´re together in this." Rinoa speaks valiantly, though she can´t avoid the tremor audible in her voice.
The Savior doesn´t respond, evaluating their odds. And not liking the outcome.
"Five against four, and with one counting as a double. Our chances are slim…" Yuna speaks up, not wanting to be the negativist, but still trying to be realistic.
"That only means we´ll have to fight harder to turn our chances around." Lightning reaches behind with one hand, finding the smaller one and squeezing, trying her hardest to give reassurance to the young woman. Yuna smiles at the gesture, but only a tad.
"Yo! Sephiroth! You can´t take them all!" Jecht yells at the man, with a tinge of playfulness behind his voice. "There are way too many chicks for only you to handle!"
"You think I can´t handle them all by myself?"
"What he means, and I´m sure you understand," Vayne intervenes, always the diplomatic but all too eager to start the fight, "is that you should share with us any of your… ah… girls. It won´t be polite at all if we just stand here watching while you have all the fun."
"Hey, you moron! It´s even less polite to talk about us like that. We´re here, you know?" Tifa yells at them, and Rinoa pushes her by the shoulder, a warning in her eyes; she really doesn´t want to be on anyone´s bad side.
Sephiroth smirks, entertained. "I really don´t mind, if you ask me. Chose whomever you want. I´ll have them after you´re done anyway."
"Tch…" Lightning mimics the man´s smirk. "I don´t like it when people decide for me." With that, she turns around and jumps towards the sky, flying as fast as she can towards Sephiroth, trying to make him face her instead of her comrades. But just when she´s about to slash him, Jecht clashes his sword against hers, blocking her path, a smirk of sufficiency plastered on his features.
"Where are you going, beautiful? Didn´t you hear the man? We get to choose whom we fight against."
She growls in anger and frustration at her new and unwelcomed opponent, but the pinkette still searches with her eyes the tall form of the silver-haired man, and when she finds Sephiroth´s face, she can see a smirk full of malice drawn on his lips, making her even more anxious.
I can´t let him choose someone else… either one he´ll make a living hell for them.
Jecht moves and clashes his sword against hers once again, making her stagger, a mistake that almost costs her life, if it weren´t for the fast reflexes that allow her to avoid a direct hit on the abdomen. Both blades fight for dominance, and while their swords create sparkles with every clash, the raven-haired man takes his face closest to hers, his smirk never leaving his lips.
"Stop it, blondie, you´re gonna break my heart if you still search for Sephiroth instead of dancing with me. Didn´t you hear me before? You´re mine now."
Lightning smirks in response. "You wish."
"Lightning!" Yuna and Tifa yell at her, but the pinkette yells back.
"Stay away! I can handle the two of them by myself." She says, looking back at her friends, trying her hardest to reassure them. "You concentrate on defeating the rest. I´ll come as soon as I can."
Jecht takes advantage of her distraction and breaks their contact, searching with his blade the tender skin of her leg. But Lightning is ready for him, and clashes blades once more.
"I see you like to take the easy route."
The man huffs. "Psh. Of course not, but with a chick as beautiful as you, any route is good as long as it works."
Lightning growls at the innuendo and clashes her blade against his once again, but then her senses scream at her and she makes a summersault, barely avoiding the Masamune from embedding itself in her body, though the sharp blade is still able to tear her armor and wound her side. She yelps at the pain, but it leaves her mind right away when she notices the man rushing directly towards her friends.
"Tifa! Look up!"
The brunette hears the warning on time, and jumps away, right before the deadly blade parts her in half. Once she falls on the ground, knee first, she looks up and locks eyes with the dangerous man.
"Sephiroth…"
The devilish smile never leaves the man. "Hello there Tifa, long time no see. Please, don´t die too soon, I hope you endure longer than the last time, at least while my peers have fun with my Valkyrie."
Rinoa and Yuna walk closer to Tifa´s back, supporting her.
"We´re here, Tifa." Rinoa speaks, her dark eyes fixed on the man´s tall frame. "We´ll defeat him together."
Tifa smiles and nods, but Sephiroth only chuckles.
"The more, the merrier; three will surely endure more than just one."
Lightning rushes as fast as she can towards her friends, hoping to be there in time to prevent the single-winged angel to hurt any of them, but then her instincts yell at her, so she raises her blade, just in time for it to stop Garland´s heavy sword from piercing her, though the strength of the blow still sends her flying backward.
But he´s not done with her yet.
Right before she comes to a stop, he throws his blade towards her once again, the chain dancing around, and though Lightning clashes her sword against it, apparently redirecting its path, the blade still whirls around her left wrist, entrapping her with its heavy chain, and once trapped, Garland pulls hard, making her stagger and scratching the delicate skin of her wrist. Capturing her arm had been his true intention all along. The pinkette raises Overture to break the chains, but once more her instincts alert her and she moves her hand in a swift motion, making it clash against Jecht´s Seafang, who had jumped forward towards her right side, seeking to draw some blood.
Pressing his blade against hers, he brings his face closer once more. "I told you, didn´t I? You are mine and must warn you, I´m quite the jealous type, you know?"
"Tch…"
So entertained she is with the raven-haired man, she doesn´t perceive Garland reaching them until it´s too late. Garland pulls her by the trapped limb, making her stagger, and this time the friction of the steel upon tender skin draws blood from her wrist, making her hiss. The man directs a punch towards the Savior´s face with his free hand, which the pinkette barely avoids, but the metallic ends manage to scratch her face. Lightning pulls hard at the chains, trying to free her left arm, and as the imposing man looms over her, readying another attack, she slashes her blade at him, striking his metallic forearm without making any significant damage, and then sends a fast kick towards his head, seeking to break his momentum, but her movements are limited by the chain entrapping her, and the knight avoids the hit easily, allowing his huge hand to grab her by the collar, forcing her body down and making her crash hard against the ground. All the air leaves her lungs, and she closes her eyes, coughing, but once she opens them, sees on top of her Garland´s immense figure. He had replaced his fist with his enormous boot, now resting against her chest. He presses downwards painfully hard, and she almost can feel her ribs giving way to such immense load, and she moans while doing her best effort to inhale some air, an almost impossible task given the weight of her opponent.
"Lightning!" The three friends yell at her, and Tifa makes a sprint towards the man, but then she has to jump backward, avoiding by mere inches the Masamune once more, as it stabs the ground she had been in a fraction of a second ago.
"Where are you going? It´s the three of you against me, remember?"
There´s a certain amount of terror behind the female´s red-brown eyes but forces her battle stance to look as defiant as possible. She can´t fail Lightning now, she promised her they could fight eye to eye, promised her she would protect her. And Tifa will definitely do her best to keep her promises, even if it means defeating this man once and for all.
"Wait up, Lightning! We´re coming to your aid!" Rinoa yells while pointing her Blaster Edge towards the single-winged man, while Yuna raises her staff too, reading her first spell, but then, she turns and jumps to the side, crashing against her closest friend and sending Rinoa rolling to the ground, avoiding by mere inches the firaga spell directed at them.
"Rinoa! Yuna!" Tifa yells at them, but a movement in her peripheral vision alerts her from a slash, and she jumps up further away, understanding she is in no condition to help her friends now.
C´mon girls! You can do it! She screams in her mind, hoping they can sense her thoughts, and then jumps towards Sephiroth, this time taking the offensive. We are strong enough to win!
Yuna and Rinoa turn around to meet eye to eye with the treacherous clown, followed closely by Vayne.
"Ha! You think you´ll leave us out of the fun. Think twice!" And with that, he sends towards them a powerful aeroga spell that envelops both girls, making them fly in between screams.
Kefka laughs at them, but Vayne looks rather annoyed and directs his eyes towards Sephiroth. He knows no matter how strong any of them can be, they shouldn´t be on the man´s wrong side.
"I hope you don´t mind we disposed of such nuisances without asking you first."
Sephiroth remains serious for a moment and then closes his eyes and smirks.
"As I said before, the more the merrier."
Vayne nods and jumps to keep up with the buffoon, who has already run towards the fallen women.
"T-Tifa… guys…" Lightning tries to yell at her friends, but the pressure over her chest is just too much to endure, and she barely whispers her call.
"You´re quite a formidable foe, Lightning." Garland speaks to her, while he leans over his knee, forcing even more pressure over her ribcage. "Formidable, for a woman. But you´re definitely no match for any of us."
Both palms against the sole of the knight´s boot, the pinkette pushes as hard as she can, trying her hardest to free her chest, if only an inch, but the weight is just too much, and she can barely intake any air. In spite of that, and against her own intelligence, she uses the last of her breath to push his buttons.
"The last one… who made the mistake… of belittling… me… paid it with… his blood."
The humongous warrior smirks, unable to prevent the admiration forming on his mind.
"We´ll see about that, woman."
He pushes his boot harder against her body, and Lightning screams, as she can feel her ribs finally giving way under the pressure. A cracking sound alerts the men of the fracture of her ribs.
Garland and Jecht chuckle as a response to her plight.
"If you beg me, I might as well finish the torture faster."
She´s gasping, the air denied to her, but in between her torment, she forces her will to grow stronger and creates a thundara spell that, transmitted from her palms through his metallic boot, creates a perfect conductor that makes her enemy writhe and yell out of electrocution, forcing him to free her from her captivity and transmitting it to Jecht, his closest ally. Once the pressure leaves her chest, she inhales deeply, not caring how much it hurts, and without losing her momentum, creates a second spell, a beautiful flare, that explodes on his face and sends the humongous knight flying backwards and away from her.
"Agh!"
"Tifa!" Hearing her friend´s yelp, Lightning looks to her side, and sheer terror envelops her. Sephiroth slashes upwards, breaking the brunette´s guard and sending her flying backwards, only to crash hard against a rock. Tifa rolls on the ground, barely avoiding the next slash. It´s obvious the man is winning their battle. The pinkette forces herself to stand up, ignoring the pain, but when she´s about rush at them, a powerful strike hits her back and pushes her downwards, the side of her face hitting the ground once more. She gets up fast but a pair of hands trapping her left arm prevents her from doing it completely, and without losing a second, said hands twist her arm painfully, forcing her on one knee, and with the same inertia, as well as swift and precise movements followed by a sickening crack, her foe twists her limb even more and forces her arm out of its socket, the pain so exquisite Lightning can´t prevent a scream from coming out of her lips.
"Aaaaaggghh!"
"Now you cannot win." Vayne Solidor smirks evilly at her, both his hands still imprisoning Lightning´s arm, the pain so unbearable both knees are on the floor, her body doubled over itself, trembling, as her pink bangs block her eyes. Forcing herself to move in spite of the pain, and of the hands keeping her arm in check, she raises her blade, ready to strike the man hurting her, but its travel is stopped by another big hand that entraps her wrist right before the blade reaches its target. She looks to the side, terror, and torture in her eyes.
"Umh… am I sick, or does she look quite hot in such predicament?" Jecht has finally recovered from Lightning´s last attack, and with another twist and a second scream, forces her to let go of her blade.
Lightning is panting now, doing her best not to fall unconscious by the amount of pain, both knees on the ground and both arms imprisoned, useless and bleeding, while her bangs cover her blood-stained face and her blue, pain-filled eyes. She´s the humiliating picture of utter defeat. A shadow in front of her makes her know another enemy is looming over her, and she hates herself for being so vulnerable. For letting these men take advantage of her, and in such a stupid way.
"She does look amazing when she´s suffering. Right?" Vayne speaks to the man in front of her, and by the metallic boots entering her line of vision, she knows it´s Garland. The pinkette looks up and glares at the brunet beside her, but said man hits her cheek hard, breaking her lip, and her eyes close again, hidden by her long bangs.
After a moment, Garland´s huge blade touches the base of her chin and forces it up, its tip scratching the delicate skin of her neck and creating a bloody path. Without her consent, he forces her eyes to look up at him, the movement sending pain towards her shoulder too.
"I thought you said we shouldn´t belittle you. Now tell me, beautiful Valkyrie, what do you have to say about your recent plight?"
Panting, the pain almost unbearable, she manages to smirk at him. "I´d say it´s obvious you need three brave and very proud men to take down a single woman. You sure live up to your reputation."
Garland slaps her in the face again, his metallic gauntlet scratching her skin and leaving trails of blood.
"You should know your place, woman. There´s no way you nor any of your kind can defeat us, and it will be your blood what awakens the golden dragon today."
Lightning´s blood boils in anger and desperation, when suddenly there´s a blinding light in front of them, forcing her to close her eyes; when she looks up, she finds herself free of the three men, and Rinoa wearing beautiful angel wings, floating in front of her.
"R-Rinoa… how?" And then, without previous warning, there´s a powerful wall made of light that forms from the maiden´s hands and strikes her foes with a mighty crash, sending them further away from her. Rinoa, after making sure they´re defeated, immediately folds her wings and falls besides Lightning, sending a bluish fog her way, the cura spell making the taller woman breathe easier almost immediately. Utter concern plastered on her features, Rinoa kneels beside her friend, inspecting her wounds and making sure they´re closing correctly.
"Are you okay, Light?"
Lightning smiles at the smaller woman. "I´m okay now, thanks to you."
"No… no, you´re not! Your arm…"
The two of them look down at the odd angle her arm has taken, and Rinoa looks up to meet Lightning´s still pained eyes.
"Does it hurt you?"
The pinkette tries a smile but comes out as a grimace. "Yes… but it´s okay, you´ll just have to put it in its place for it to heal."
"No way!" The maiden yells, her eyes opening wide like plates at the invitation. "I´ve never done that!"
"If you don´t, it won´t heal correctly, no matter the spell."
But Lightning can only see terror in the girl´s dark eyes and knows she won´t be able to stand it. The pinkette looks up to see Tifa fighting her toughest against Sephiroth, pushing as much as she can, hitting as hard as her body allows her. But Lightning knows she has not much time left. So the Savior makes a decision.
With softness in her eyes, she looks at her friend´s terrified orbs. "It´s okay, Rinoa. Don´t worry, you don´t have to do it." Doing an enormous effort, Lightning stands up, reaches for the straighter boulder and rests her forehead upon it, while whispering words Rinoa cannot understand, her eyes closed and a countenance of concentration, as if she were praying.
Rinoa approaches her friend. "Lightning? What are you…?"
But before she can finish the sentence, the pinkette draws her injured shoulder backward, slightly away from the boulder and, with a fast and precise movement, slams her shoulder hard against the rock, creating a sickening crack that accompanies her painful scream.
"Aaarrghhh!"
"Lightning!" Rinoa jumps up at the action, startled, and jumps forward once she sees the Savior falling on her knees, her body collapsing against the stone. Rinoa arrives in time to help her before the pinkette falls on the ground, and the winged maiden takes the injured body in her arms, though still scolds her, tears in her eyes, while she creates another cura spell. "What have you done?! What was that for?!"
Lightning pants while her whole body trembles, the pain still exquisite, and then gives her friend a tired smile.
"The… the shoulder is in its place… now it can heal correctly…"
"Oh… Lightning…" Rinoa closes her eyes and places her forehead on top of her friend´s, trying to give her comfort, while the magic does its work. After a few seconds, and once she can breathe better, with her arm already in its position, Lightning looks up to search for Sephiroth and finds Tifa still fighting against him. It´s obvious he has the upper hand, what with the girl having many bruises and cuts all over her body, but it´s obvious, too, that he´s struggling on defeating her, which makes the pinkette proud.
Gathering her remaining strength, Lightning stands up, staggering a bit, but then shakes her head and gets ready to jump to aid, but Rinoa pulls her down. "Wait! I still have to heal you! You´re all injured and bleeding!"
"Rinoa let me go… I have to help her..."
"But Lightning! Look at her! Please just look at Tifa! She might not be winning, but she sure as hell is giving him some good fight."
Rather unwillingly, Lightning does as Rinoa asks, and there, in front of her, is the proof she needs: Tifa is hurt, many bruises and cuts gracing her skin, but her movements are still firm, her posture is perfect, her punches are strong and precise, and her defense and offense are magnificent. Indeed Sephiroth is way stronger, but Tifa has held her ground very beautifully. Lightning can´t help but smile in pride at her friend´s determination.
"We promised you we´ll fight at your level." Rinoa speaks into her ear, trying to convey her some reassurance. "It´s hard because you´re the best. But as you can see, if we do our best effort, we´re able to keep up with you."
Now a truly smile graces her lips, as she nods, acknowledging her words. "Okay, fine, you´re right. But anyway this can´t go on. The Planesgorger will be here soon, so we need to finish that fight. Please go help Yuna while I take care of him."
"You shouldn´t worry about Yuna," Rinoa shrugs. "She´s handling it just fine." Rinoa points her finger towards the east, and there, Lightning can see how the last brunette is making Kefka suffer, with combinations of blasts, thundaras, and firagas spells, the infamous clown almost making a run for good. Lightning sighs in relief but takes advantage of Rinoa´s distraction to rush forward to aid her friend. This time, when Sephiroth strikes his blade down towards Tifa, Lightning´s Overture clashes against Masamune, creating sparks with the blow.
"Oh? I´m very glad you´re back to me, Lightning. I thought you had left me, so I hope you understand I had to entertain myself." He smirks at seeing her figure in front of him. Her bloodied, trembling, but proud and beautiful figure in front of him. "I hope I didn´t make you jealous."
"You should already know it´s me the one you have to fight. Let my friends be."
His smile is wide, almost luminous, as he tries to taunt her. "Well, I saw you all too entertained with the rest of my peers, I thought I couldn´t be that selfish."
"How considerate of you."
They clash swords again, and the battle dance starts, until the paths of dark magic appear in the sky. The Planesgorger has arrived.
"Uff… that´s quite a shame, I had already missed you badly. But as you might know, that´s my cue to leave this place." He clashes his blade against hers once more, and, using the sparks as a distraction, he brings his face closer to hers in between the blades, pressing his lips against hers. Lightning doesn´t know what´s happening, and her mind goes blank the moment his lips fall on top of hers, a distraction that he uses to his advantage, placing his hand on the back of her neck to deepen the kiss, his tongue trying to force its way inside her mouth. But after a moment she recovers and takes advantage of his intention, and angrily, she bites his lower lip hard, drawing some blood and forcing him to let her go. The man jumps backwards, just in time to avoid a direct slash from her.
"Freaking bastard! How dare you?!"
The man chuckles at her words. "Your lips are as sweet as I always imagined them to be. I´m sorry I must leave you, my dear, but I really hope you dream of me today because I sure will dream of you."
And with that, he disappears through a luminous gateway, leaving a very angry woman and a group of speechless friends.
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Cloud walks beside Squall, both friends seeking the next gateway. After the fiasco with the girls, their mood was so sore, they hadn´t been too willing to take anyone else with them. Fortunately for the two friends, Tidus and Kain had chosen different paths as well. The cadet didn´t know why he really distrusted the Dragoon, but he had always got on his nerves, and even more so now that he understands the true depth of his relationship with the pinkette.
After a couple of minutes walking in comfortable silence, Cloud decides it´s time to address a thought that has been plaguing his mind since the previous day.
"Can I ask you something? Why are you helping Kain? I thought you hated his guts."
Squall remains silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "She loves him."
"Mmh? She? Whom do you mean?"
"Lightning loves the bastard."
"Really?" Cloud remains silent for a moment, mulling over this new information. "I would´ve never guessed she´d pick someone like him. Are you certain of it?"
Squall pauses, not too willing to share his thoughts, but if he doesn´t trust Cloud, who is there for him to trust? "You should´ve seen her face when he came to the camp. I´ve never seen her like that, smiling so… brightly. She looked absolutely beautiful."
Cloud scoffs. "I would´ve never thought you´d fall in love with her."
Squall punches his friend in the arm and the blond chuckles.
"Don´t be stupid."
"And? What´s her beautiful smile has to do with anything? I would never think you would want to fix anyone´s love life."
"I don´t… I actually wanted to ask Rinoa to do the honors. She´s very good at that. But I didn´t have time to ask her, you saw how she was, and actually had decided to just drop it, because the man is so… thick, and it´s just not my problem." He shrugs and stays silent, not too willing to keep on talking. Until an intrusive image appears in his mind. "But then I saw Lightning leaving and… I still believe this whole mess in between them is quite easy to sort out. Wouldn´t you think?"
Cloud shrugs. "I guess… but neither you nor I can understand Lightning enough to help the guy, I mean, sometimes I cannot even understand Tifa. What would you suggest we do then?"
"Well…" Squall hesitates. "If we can´t ask our women for help, I think I know the perfect man for the job."
The blond scoffs. "I just think you should let them solve their problems by themselves. Why do you care anyway?"
Squall sighs. "I don´t know, you well know I usually don´t, but… but I really would love to see Lightning´s smile again, and if its Kain the one who can do the magic, then I want to help."
"I still think you´ve developed a thing for her."
Another punch, though this time it feels as if the action had sealed their agreement, and then they keep walking with a silent camaraderie.
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A/N: Well… I guess I can say I overdid it this time? Sorry, I was a little bit angry, I guess. And usually is Lightning the one who suffers my inability to control stress. But at least it means the chapter is a little bit more exciting, right? The idea in this story, if you haven´t caught up with it, is that it´s the blood of the champions, not just the fighting, what calls forth the Planesgorger. That´s why, in this story, most of Spiritu´s champions are rather… sadistic? As you can see, not only Sephiroth is to blame. Or, we can still blame him for bringing forth the sadistic part of his comrades, right?
I also wanted to introduce the possibility that someone will be there to help Kain on getting Lightning back because we all want Lightning to forgive Kain, don´t we?
Hope you liked the story.
I don´t own Final Fantasy. I just write this out of fun.