Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The King of Dragons

He was old—the oldest living creature in, on, or above the Planet, the only thing older than he being the Planet itself. He had seen the earliest signs of human life emerge and had seen them advance throughout the centuries. He had witnessed the rise of the Cetra civilization and had been there when they had foolishly accepted one who was not one of them into their midst.

He had observed the Cetra perishing from their mistake.

Had the Cetra perhaps called on him in their time of need, he would have aided them. They were a part of him as much as he was a part of them, and although the Cetra had long forgotten the ties that he and his downtrodden kin shared with them, he still remembered. He was the oldest of all of his kind and of the Summon Elementals, the wisest, the one who knew the answers to everything and should have dominated the entire Planet as a god. He remembered the time long ago when he had been spawned from the bowels of the young Planet, and he had perceived the births of his Summon kin years after his own day of existence. He, with his unofficial post that had been somehow assigned to him for eternity, kept the Summons in line and reminded them of their duties to the Planet and to their cousins.

Despite his duty, he forced the rules only when the help was asked for. All Summons were engaged to answering the calls of their mortal kin, although they could choose to come without help being asked for. However, he and the rest knew that that would never happen. Their pride, although they were family of a sort, kept them from thinking themselves as slaves to those who died and returned continuously and hardly ever acknowledged the glorious presence they so much depended on.

They are stupid, he thought to himself, but they do what is right.

"Bahamut, I've asked you many times now," Leviathan hissed softly, interrupting the elder's thoughts. "There is trouble. He who should not have been returned has returned. He poses another threat to the Planet's existence. What do we do?"

Bahamut lowered his slender head on its S-curved neck and looked at his cousin with slanted crimson eyes. "I would like to hear from the others first," he responded, turning his eyes to the other Summons who floated on the astral plane.

Shiva stared coldly at Bahamut. "Elder," she said in a bare whisper that would have frozen a mortal's ears upon contact, "I have no say in this matter. All I do say is that we leave the decision up to you. You know the most and remember the most; surely you would have the best choice for this."

Ifrit objected almost immediately with a spout of fire spitting from his mouth. Shiva glared at him icily, keeping as far away from him as she could.

"I object," Ifrit growled. "I say that we just leave the mortals alone. They've pulled through the first time, so who says that they can't the second time? They'll have more experience, so surely it would be done even quicker…"

Phoenix trilled impatiently, twitching her bird head around. "Brother, while I would normally agree with you as you are also my fire-kin, this time, I must disagree. Yes, the mortals will have experience, but they are mortals and not like the One who should have not returned. Those mortals who saved the Planet from death last time will be older now; by my calculations, the youngest is now about twenty, and the eldest is almost forty. The One who should have not returned is physically twenty-four and in perfect condition, both physically and mentally. He would be able to defeat all of them easily, because not only would his enemies be smarter, but he will be, too."

Mog squeaked, bouncing excitedly on its chocobo, who squawked in agreement.

"What are you talking about?!" Kjata snorted.

"Mog says that Phoenix must have had a hand—or wing—in this, since she works in revival as well as fire," Bahamut translated smoothly. "Mog, your theory is correct, but you are wrong in this case. Phoenix does not deal with revival under certain circumstances; she can only revive those who the Planet lets her to. Others like the One and the Cetra are handled by the Planet itself."

"And what does the Planet have to say about this?" Alexander asked, creaking as he shifted his huge bulk while Mog and its chocobo slumped dejectedly. "How could it have allowed this to happen?"

Bahamut closed his eyes. "You have all lost communication with the Planet not too long ago, correct?"

All of the Summons gave an affirmative. "But should that affect you as well, Elder?" Ramuh asked, stroking his white beard thoughtfully.

Bahamut bowed his head. "Unfortunately, it has. The Plant has shut us, its children, out of its communication and the Lifestream. We cannot tell what its motives were when the One came back. And yet I sense an alien hand dealing in this…"

Odin let out a low murmur. "Could it be that Jenova creature again?"

Bahamut nodded slowly. "There is a great possibility."

The Summons gathered before him all let out surprised exclamations. "How can this be true?! The mortal who defeated the One before also killed her, did he not?" Titan cried.

"No, not completely, I don't think. There might be a part of her somewhere…still alive…and still able to manipulate and control."

"Then we have to find that part," Typhoon said assertively, albeit a bit breathy in his voice.

"And become slaves to the mortals once more," Hades grumbled rebelliously.

Arthur and his twelve other knights all glared at him simultaneously. "Then so be it," he boomed. "This is for our mother, Hades."

Hades snorted. "You can talk all you want. Of course they like you the best, Arthur, you and your knights! No one, not even the Elder, can match your damage factors!"

Bahamut cleared his throat noisily, reminding Hades of his place. "As I see it," he continued while Hades settled down, "we need to send an envoy down to the Planet to aid the mortals physically by their side. The rest of us will stay up here and wait to be summoned. Are there any volunteers to go?"

No one did so much as breathe in the complete silence that followed Bahamut's proposition.

"No one?" Bahamut looked around. "Leviathan?"

Leviathan coiled about himself, hissing under his breath. "No, Elder, I'm afraid not. There are limits to what I can do."

"Phoenix?"

"I would not be the best choice either, Elder." Phoenix let out a reluctant, fluting laugh. "You know that I would be of no help to the mortals, in fighting or in strategy. Defensive would be something I do best when called upon."

One by one, Bahamut went through all of the Summons, and all came up with legitimate excuses. Too weak, too hotheaded, too stubborn, doesn't know that much, can't speak intelligibly, too many, too big, too cold, too unobserving…

"The point we're getting at, Elder," Alexander announced, being as blunt as he usually was, "is that you should go yourself."

"I?" Bahamut blinked slowly, settling his leathery wings along his scaled back. "I am too old, I'm afraid."

"Elder, if you're too old, I'm too young," Hades rasped in a voice that sounded like nails screeching across a piece of slate. "You are the oldest here and you know the most. You have three offensive forms to access, you know strategy, and you can help the mortals intercept any move the One might make."

"Besides that, you can shift into your humanoid form, which most of us can't do," Shiva pointed out. "Perhaps I am humanlike, too, but they have seen me before, as they have seen the other humanoid Summons. They would know who I am. The point is to make sure that they don't recognize us so that they are not suspicious as to how heavily the Planet's future lies on their shoulders."

"And they've never seen your humanoid form before, Elder," Odin agreed. "Arthur can take over as a temporary leader until this ordeal is over."

Bahamut laughed ruefully. "I see that I have no choice. Very well, then, I agree. Arthur, make sure that all Summons report if the mortals call them, and you are no exception to the rule, either." He turned to leave. "I wish all of you the best of luck. Goodbye."

In the blink of an eye, Bahamut disappeared. There was no poof or flash of light; just the fact that he was there, and then he was suddenly gone.

The other Summons stared at the empty space silently.

"And all of our wishes for good luck go to you, too, beloved Elder," Shiva whispered softly, exhaling plumes of cold white frost. "Good luck…"

* * *

Bahamut opened his eyes slowly as his clawed feet came into contact with the Planet. He dug his claw tips into the ground involuntarily, feeling a thrill of pleasure go through his spine at the soft, moist yielding of the earth. It had been far too long since he had last been in direct, physical contact with the Planet.

Taking in his surroundings, Bahamut noted, pleased, that he had managed to teleport to a very conveniently located place. Walls of mountains ending in sharp spikes told him that he was in the middle of the Nibel mountains, and the presence of an old, worn out building nearby said that, although humans had been here at one point, they weren't anymore. He leaned forward negligibly and spread his wings slightly to keep balance, sniffing at the shadowed structure. The musty smell of humans long past and the distinct odor of the Lifestream and death saturated the building. Tapping at it with one claw proved it to be solid, despite its broken down appearance. A flash of faded color caught his eye and he leaned down, narrowing his red eyes to catch what the barely visible sign read.

SHINRA

NIBELHEIM MAKO REACTOR

Shinra. Ah, I recognize that name…No wonder this Reactor is abandoned; Shinra is dead, and this is where… Bahamut sniffed once more, wrinkling his nose in distaste and rearing his head back with a faint snort. This is where that Jenova alien was stored. Jenova's scent, although old like the smell of the humans', was unmistakable. Dry, reeking of bitterness and hate, full of longed-after vengeance.

I should shift now, before someone discovers me by accident. There's no time to dwell too much on the past at the moment…

Bahamut backed away from the Mako Reactor and closed his heavy eyes once more, concentrating on the energy he stored within him. He found the lines and grasped them with mental "hands," pulling them from their storage areas to his center of existence. Keeping his desired form firmly in mind while tugging strongly at the energy lines, he slowly felt the changes come over him as, with a bone-crunching snap, he shrunk from his majestically huge size into the delicately designed structure of mortal humans.

The Planet's gifts to its firstborn were his powers, his wisdom and intelligence, and his ability to shape shift into four forms—those referred to as Bahamut (his most comfortable and preferred form, despite being the weakest amongst the dragon shapes), Neo Bahamut, Bahamut ZERO, and the feeblest, the humanoid. Bahamut had practiced with his humanoid form before, so was by no means defenseless, and also knew almost by heart what he looked like. Even the Planet could not, it seemed, use up enough power to make him look like a complete human.

Bahamut's humanoid form still kept hints that he was not a mere mortal and perhaps descended from dragons. His soft skin was a light gray, a paler version of his heavily armored, dark gray, scaled dragon form. After rifling through the styles of several humans, he had found a suitable outfit that he could easily fight in and also hide things up sleeves and pant legs without them being obvious. Bahamut's clothes were a plain black, blending perfectly with his dull skin shade, and his boots were also black leather. He wore a hooded gray cape out of practicality for protection and hiding weapons. His hair was long and a gently scintillating light blue-gray while his eyes remained a furious, flashing crimson. A reason why he wore his hair long and had a hood in addition to that was because his ears were quite unlike a human's; while humans sported rounded ears, his were long, slender, and pointed, much like his normal dragon ears. Humans, in his experience, found his "mutated" ears to be quite unsettling besides the fact of his foreign skin color.

Humans are stupid in that way, too, Bahamut thought amusedly as he opened his eyes and pulled his hood up over his head to hide his strange ears. They can't accept beings for what they are without killing and dissecting them first.

Relying once more on his inner strength, Bahamut summoned a strangely carved metal staff into his hands. Had humans been capable of understanding the dragon tongue, they would have read the engraved, twisted ruins as: "There is no pride in dying today; dying tomorrow with dignity is what matters." Inscribed above it in the ancient language of the Summons was the blessing of the Planet and, in much tinier print, the names of each of the Summons Bahamut shared his "blood" with. Mounted at the top of the staff was a flawed, mottled ruby that was roughly cut and shot through with various shades of red as well as dark orange.

There. Maybe this will discourage humans from bothering me. Bahamut smiled grimly before another thought entered his mind. Maybe I can communicate with the Planet from down here…

Dropping to his knees in the dirt that had become rough to his soft human body, he placed a hand on the ground and reached out with his mind, trying to reach the spirit of the Planet.

What he found obstructing him was a surprise, but not unexpected.

There was indeed, as he had sensed before, an alien spirit stopping him from reaching the Planet. It grabbed him in a rough grip and tossed his mind about, keeping him far away from the Planet's essence. Almost panicking, Bahamut managed to tear himself away from the evil spirit and hurl himself back towards the safety of his body. As he sped upwards, the heat of the guardian on his back, he faintly heard the despairing call of the Planet, shrieking like a child in pain. Usually, the mortals could pick up on the Planet's cries, but this time, it was muffled by the alien presence. That strange being kept the Planet from being heard, effectively keeping the mortals from realizing that something was wrong. Especially with no more Cetra to talk with the Planet anymore, the mortals were completely oblivious and unaware.

Someone has to warn them…but first…I have to somehow reach the Planet.

Bahamut surfaced back into his body and summoned a mental image of the Planet's surface that he had flown over so many times, drowned in oceans, lakes, and rivers, studded by huge land masses and islands, ridged by mountain ranges and dotted by human homes. From the area where he was at, there was a place not too far away that had a very close contact with the Lifestream. Trying it from within the Reactor would not do, for it was dead and the Lifestream surfacing in its bowels was already sealed away by the Planet and Holy. But there was a place…a place hidden within a round crater, nearby a dark, sparkling lake, flanked by bits of land, and curtained by a shimmering waterfall. From sense, it was a serene little grotto that had once been inhabited by a long-gone ghost and was covered from waterfall to cavern wall by memories of the past.

Hopefully, no one would be there at the moment…

And I don't think the Planet will mind if I "cheat" a little…

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