Chapter 14 - Hopelessness

I covered my eyes and body with my energy to shield myself from the power of the explosion, but I was convinced that Gilgamesh was still alive. Of that I had no doubt, and I began to raise my power quickly, for I knew that I would have to charge at the blast as soon as it died down enough for me to jump at. Suddenly I spotted a small gap in the blast as it began to fade, and I dived straight towards it without hesitation. I could see the massive figure of my foe pushing off the last pieces of power from Jessie's beam, and as I pulled my fist back I could see him glance towards me out of the corner of his eye.

I thumped him straight in the side of the mouth, knocking him right out of the smoke and into the open air. As I quickly sprinted after his body, Gilgamesh regained his senses and jumped up, flying into the air above me. I followed and as I moved to hit once again, Gilgamesh disappeared to my right hand side, but by the time I had realised where he had disappeared to, it was too late as I was falling towards the ground below me. My right arm had been smashed, and now I was finished. For me, the fight was over.

Gilgamesh came to the ground, and I heard his deafening footsteps walking over to my weary body. As he shadowed over me, he smiled and put his hand out in front of me. I could feel the energy from his body beating into his palm, I knew this was the end.

'Any last requests you little pest?' he asked me. I shuddered at the question.

'.I'll.destroy you.' I stammered. Admittedly, it was an idle threat. There was no way I could have summoned the energy to do such a thing in any normal way.

'Ha.not a chance kid. Now die!'

I felt the power, and got ready for the sensation of burning and pain that I was undoubtedly about to discover for the first and last time. But it never came. And as I looked up towards my assailant, I discovered he was not there anymore, but an old woman stood in his place. An old woman named Jaria.

'.Jaria!? What the hell?!' I shouted as she appeared in front of me. I now had the time to quickly heal my own wounds, and as I got to my feet she started to walk towards Gilgamesh, who now stood directly in front of her.

'Rylian.' She said as she spoke softly, 'We have to beat him, but I can't do it on my own. If we team up though we should be able to take him down. Are you with me?'

I laughed at the request and ran to Jaria's side quickly. I threw my hands forward and was ready to fight. I could feel that my strength had increased dramatically once again since I had healed myself, and I knew in my mind that we could beat Gilgamesh.

'Ready! Set!' shouted Jaria, and immediately she sprinted towards Gilgamesh who was now up and ready to fight again. And suddenly I gasped, for I could see that this ancient woman was even stronger than I was! I shook myself out of my confusion quickly however, and ran as fast as I could to join my ally in her fight.

I got behind Jaria and kept up with her as well as I could. Her speed was nothing less than phenomenal in comparison to my own. However, I could still sense that she was not quite as strong as Gilgamesh. We got closer and closer to our foe, and I suddenly realised what Jaria was about to do. She disappeared with great speed, and I could see her reappear behind Gilgamesh's back. He immediately looked around behind him, and this gave me a fantastic chance. I got in underneath his huge body, and jumped with my right fist pounding straight into his chin, sending him reeling up into the air. I could see Jaria fly above his body, and suddenly her fist flared up with an almighty surge of energy, burning a darkened red and extremely powerful. Gilgamesh realised what was about to happen at the last second, but for him it was too late. Jaria threw her fist right into the back of her enemy, and the screams of anguish from Gilgamesh reverberated around the entire valley. He fell to the ground, and I quickly noticed that he was still alive.

I walked quickly and cautiously towards Gilgamesh who was now on his knees, trying to pick himself up from the wound that had just been inflicted upon him. He looked up at me, and I could easily see the fear that now held his eyes open and shaking before me.

'.I'll.kill you all.In Kefka's name.!' he growled. I just looked at him. What a ridiculous notion. There was no way he was getting up.

'You're not doing a very good job of it, are you?' I said to him. My voice was cold and my blood was boiling. I was completely enraged by this guy.

'.You're gonna die!' he roared, and beyond better judgement he leapt for me. If I hadn't been taken by the element of surprise I would have easily dodged his move. However, I was shocked, and he leapt onto my body, and wrapped his arms around me.

'Yes! You're finished kid! There's no escape! I'll blow myself up and take the village with me!'

My heart fell to pieces, and I tried to free myself from his iron grip around me. However, it was no good at all for I was held fast. There was no way out of this one for me. In any normal situation, I would have been a goner. But then, this was no normal situation.

'Ha!' he yelled as Jaria stood by and watched. She couldn't do a thing for me, and I knew this. 'You're never going to get free!'

'Is that a fact?' I said softly, and I pushed all my energy into my body. However, the aim wasn't to get free. I knew that Gilgamesh was weak from the blast that Jaria had hit him with, and now I had a plan to save the village. I jumped as far as I could into the air, and started to try and fly as far as I could against the almighty struggle that Gilgamesh was putting up.

'No! Take me back to the village you little fool! I'll tear you apart!'

But I had no intention of such a thing. And suddenly I could feel the massive surge of energy forming around his body. There was no way that Gilgamesh was going to stop that explosion now, and as I pushed as far upwards as I could, I felt the terrible blast wrapping around my body, and threatening to tear my body to pieces.