**The usual disclaimers apply**
~In the last chapter…
Pluto just smiled.
"Ellone the reason why I brough you here is to show you these..." Presea waved
her hand towards the pillars.
Ellone walked towards the red-glowing pillar. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
"th-that's a - a ...!!!"
Notes:
~*~ - dream state
- thoughts
* * * - another place, time, space,...etc.
THE LEGEND OF ATLANTIS
By: Rhys Icewind
Chapter 15 - Binding of the Sorceress
The group assembled in the main atrium except for Umi, Rinoa, Ellone, Yue and Eagle.
The girls were all dressed in sleeveless, silk dresses while the men wore white shirt,
loose pants and a tunic held by a belt(belts in the case of Squall).
"It is now time that breif you all on the current situation. Galaxia has plans to rule
over this dimension and afterwards, other dimensions as well." Presea started then sat
down.
Pluto stood up and held her staff aloft, letting them see Galaxia's holographical
portrait. "This is Galaxia. Now, the only way to stop her is by summoning the guardians
of the pillar. Three are now summoned and only one is left."
"Are we to find this other person?" Shayla suddenly asked.
"No. You will all be led to the chamber of pillars where Rinoa and Ellone are..."
"what's..." Shayla started to say, but Sakura shushed her.
"as I was saying, you will all be led to the chamber of pillars and there we shall
start the ceremony. Sakura, please ask Ellone to help Shayla. No further questions
may be asked." Pluto finished by lowering her staff and disappearing.
"let's go." Ferio simply said, and Presea proceeded to open the secret doors.
===
"mors mortis..." Galaxia started her chant and her crystal ball glowed black.
The world called Terra acted accordingly. The once blue skies turned dark and the
bright sun no longer shone. It was as if an eclipse was happening.
"...maligo-are!"
The symbol of a skull over two crossed bones appeared on the crystal ball. In Terra,
people panicked and some kept themselves inside their houses. Those who were outside
the towns and were roaming in the woods were unlucky and they just died. Their skin
withered and it was as if they were bags in which the contents were being sucked away,
bones along with it.
Realizing that the towns were protected from her spell, her eyes blazed a firey red
and she tried to penatrate the ancient charms that protected each town.
'you will never succeed' she heard a voice behind her.
Much to her surprised, she saw a woman, all clad in a white, flowing gown, long, golden
hair, royal-blue eyes with a golden cresent upon her forehead.
"Serena." she smirked.
'Galaxia, why do you have to do this?' said Serena, her voice and eyes filled with
compassion.
"none of your business, Serena! you are not my Queen and you will never be!" Galaxia
shouted, then she raised her hand, "EVANESCO!"
The image of Serena disappeared but her voice lingered a bit longer. 'there is still
time, change, Galaxia' then, it faded away.
"foolish one!" she shouted at the thin air, "never will they understand the pain they
caused me!"
===
"please sit down." Ellone told Sakura and Shayla.
The duo say down, with Shayla sitting in front of the red pillar and Sakura infront
of the green pillar. Cloud just stood infront of the golden-brown colored pillar.
Rinoa stepped from out of nowhere wearing a white colored dress with golden linings.
It had long sleeves that grew wider as the reached her wrists. Around her neck, she
wore Saturn's pendant and a diamond-studded medallion which was the size of her fist.
It glowed a faint blue in the pale light.
Shayla, being the only person who had no idea to what was happening almost asked a
question, hadn't Ellone given her an icy glare. she thought,
"the binding shall now begin. I trust you are ready, Rinoa?" Pluto asked. She had
appeared in the room before the other did. She was the only person who wore the same
outfit that she did as usual - short, olive-green skirt; white bodice with a green
ribbon and a maroon-colored brooch in the middle; olive- colored collar with 2 white
stripes along the edges; dark-green colored shoes and white gloves that reached her
elbow with two soft rings at the edge that were the same color as her skirt.
Rinoa kept her eyes fixed on the ground and gave a curt nod.
"Pluto...we can't start as of yet." Presea suddenly said.
Pluto raised an eyebrow in question.
"Shayla-shayla" she simply answered.
Shayla-shayla stood up at the mention of her name. "Okay! what's going on?"
"Please calm down Shayla" Cloud said, holding shayla's shoulder.
"CALM DOWN?!?! what do you mean calm down? all of you seem to know what's going on,
I surely don't! why won't someone explain something?"
Presea approached her and touched her forehead with her index finger. Shayla suddenly
became quiet and fell to the floor.
~*~
"Shayla!" a little voice shouted. It was little Sakura.
Shayla ran over to her and embraced her. "Sakura, what are you doing here?"
"waiting for you." another voice said.
Shayla suddenly broke her embrace and stepped back. In the place of Sakura was a tall,
blonde woman with thin-rimmed glasses and beautiful emerald eyes who was smiling at her.
"what's the matter?"
"w-who are you?"
"Fuu. don't you remember, Hikaru?"
"Hikaru?"
"yes. Isn't that your name?" she tilted her head.
"No. It's Shayla"
"That can't be!" she smiled, "look at yourself, long, braided, red hair; blazing
red eyes full of courage, the red orb on your left hand..."
"what?" Shayla's eyes widened in surprise. "but..."
Fuu turned around and raised her left hand. "speculum" she whispered, and from the
floor rose a simple, round mirror; clear as crystal.
Shayla gasped at the image in the mirror. It was indeed as Fuu had described it.
And not only that, but also she was wearing a long flowing, red gown. It was not
the Shayla she knew in the mirror, but it was another person. Shayla ran closer to the
mirror and touched her face in awe. But suddenly, the image in the mirror smiled.
Shayla jumped back as the image slowly stepped out of the mirror. "hello. Nice to see
you again." she said. Shayla thought, "I miss
you so much."
"miss me?" Shayla said.
Hikaru's eyes were filled with hurt. "Have you truly become so free that you have
forgotten me?"
"for-" Shayla's voice was cut shot as she suddenly felt a certain pang in her heart.
It was hurt, she knew, but didn't know why.
"Dear Hikaru, maybe the things she have gone through were so tough and unavoidable that
she has your memory lost in her mind." Fuu said.
Hikaru held Shayla's hand and said, "Please try to remember..."
As soon as she said those words, Shayla's mind were flooded with memories: her graduation,
her first day at the garden, her happy childhood, the time she was adopted and finally, the
beggining.... how she was separated from her true self, how she knew that the world was in
danger, how she was parted with her true friends.
Warm tears ran down her eyes as she embraced Hikaru with all her heart. She knew now.
They were one.
~*~
Shayla woke from her dream, in the same place, unmoved.
"Are you OK?" Sakura's voice came from her left.
Shayla looked at her, still with tears in her eyes, and just nodded.
"I guess we can start now?" Pluto asked.
"Rinoa." Presea simply said, pointing at the center of the floor, at the center of
the gold pentagon.
Rinoa obeyed and walked towards the center slowly, keeping her eyes on the floor. When
she finally reached the center, silence could be felt everywhere. "O, sorceresses of old,"
she started, and the pillars glowed more brightly. "..hear the cry of your people." The
glow of the pillars started to pulsate and Rinoa looked up. Much to Shayla and Squall's
surprise, Rinoa's brown eyes were glowing white and so was her body. Then, she started
to chant again:
"Save us from the trouble that awakens,
Through the midst of time, we found you,
pillars of light
full of strength and might
help us in our time of plight!
ADSTRINGO!!!!"
The pillars gave off ane explosion of light as the Spell of Binding ended and their
arcane magics released. The pentagon underneath Rinoa glowed furiously, undaunted by
the powerful explosion of the pillars.
After the light show, the brightness slowly faded and three people in the room were
left glowing. Rinoa's own glow was lost and she collapsed to the floor. Squall immediately
ran to her.
"welcome back." Pluto greeted the three glowing persons.
Everybody (except Squall and Rinoa) smiled at what they saw: Cloud was still the same
as before, but everone could feel his increased power. On the place of Sakura stood a
stately woman with short hair with curls on the ends and emerald green eyes wearing
a mint-green silken gown.
"Fuu." Ferio said as he embraced her and she embraced back. "how I missed you."
"me too." She simply said, her head buried in Ferio's chest.
On the other hand, on the place of Shayla stood another stately woman just a few inches
shorter of Fuu. She had long, unbraided red hair and firey red eyes. She was wearing a
light-red verion of what Fuu wore. Lantis approached her.
"Hikaru." he smiled.
"Lantis, I missed you so." Hikaru said and they embraced.
"Welcome back, Prince Cloud, Queen Fuu and Princess Hikaru." Presea greeted.
Cloud smiled at Presea. "It is good to be back indeed, Tifa."
Presea just smiled at him with longing in her eyes.
Meanwhile, inside Yue's room where Umi slept, Umi glowed a faint blue and she suddenly
awoke. "It is time."
* * *
END CHAPTER 15
the following Latin terms were used in this chapter:
(arranged in order of appearance)
mors mortis - death
maligo-are - to do/ contrive evil
evanesco - (evanui) to vanish, disappear / pass away
speculum - mirror
adstringo - (persons) bind, oblige, (+ refl.) commit oneself to
source: Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid
~In the last chapter…
Pluto just smiled.
"Ellone the reason why I brough you here is to show you these..." Presea waved
her hand towards the pillars.
Ellone walked towards the red-glowing pillar. Her eyes widened at what she saw.
"th-that's a - a ...!!!"
Notes:
~*~ - dream state
- thoughts
* * * - another place, time, space,...etc.
THE LEGEND OF ATLANTIS
By: Rhys Icewind
Chapter 15 - Binding of the Sorceress
The group assembled in the main atrium except for Umi, Rinoa, Ellone, Yue and Eagle.
The girls were all dressed in sleeveless, silk dresses while the men wore white shirt,
loose pants and a tunic held by a belt(belts in the case of Squall).
"It is now time that breif you all on the current situation. Galaxia has plans to rule
over this dimension and afterwards, other dimensions as well." Presea started then sat
down.
Pluto stood up and held her staff aloft, letting them see Galaxia's holographical
portrait. "This is Galaxia. Now, the only way to stop her is by summoning the guardians
of the pillar. Three are now summoned and only one is left."
"Are we to find this other person?" Shayla suddenly asked.
"No. You will all be led to the chamber of pillars where Rinoa and Ellone are..."
"what's..." Shayla started to say, but Sakura shushed her.
"as I was saying, you will all be led to the chamber of pillars and there we shall
start the ceremony. Sakura, please ask Ellone to help Shayla. No further questions
may be asked." Pluto finished by lowering her staff and disappearing.
"let's go." Ferio simply said, and Presea proceeded to open the secret doors.
===
"mors mortis..." Galaxia started her chant and her crystal ball glowed black.
The world called Terra acted accordingly. The once blue skies turned dark and the
bright sun no longer shone. It was as if an eclipse was happening.
"...maligo-are!"
The symbol of a skull over two crossed bones appeared on the crystal ball. In Terra,
people panicked and some kept themselves inside their houses. Those who were outside
the towns and were roaming in the woods were unlucky and they just died. Their skin
withered and it was as if they were bags in which the contents were being sucked away,
bones along with it.
Realizing that the towns were protected from her spell, her eyes blazed a firey red
and she tried to penatrate the ancient charms that protected each town.
'you will never succeed' she heard a voice behind her.
Much to her surprised, she saw a woman, all clad in a white, flowing gown, long, golden
hair, royal-blue eyes with a golden cresent upon her forehead.
"Serena." she smirked.
'Galaxia, why do you have to do this?' said Serena, her voice and eyes filled with
compassion.
"none of your business, Serena! you are not my Queen and you will never be!" Galaxia
shouted, then she raised her hand, "EVANESCO!"
The image of Serena disappeared but her voice lingered a bit longer. 'there is still
time, change, Galaxia' then, it faded away.
"foolish one!" she shouted at the thin air, "never will they understand the pain they
caused me!"
===
"please sit down." Ellone told Sakura and Shayla.
The duo say down, with Shayla sitting in front of the red pillar and Sakura infront
of the green pillar. Cloud just stood infront of the golden-brown colored pillar.
Rinoa stepped from out of nowhere wearing a white colored dress with golden linings.
It had long sleeves that grew wider as the reached her wrists. Around her neck, she
wore Saturn's pendant and a diamond-studded medallion which was the size of her fist.
It glowed a faint blue in the pale light.
Shayla, being the only person who had no idea to what was happening almost asked a
question, hadn't Ellone given her an icy glare. she thought,
"the binding shall now begin. I trust you are ready, Rinoa?" Pluto asked. She had
appeared in the room before the other did. She was the only person who wore the same
outfit that she did as usual - short, olive-green skirt; white bodice with a green
ribbon and a maroon-colored brooch in the middle; olive- colored collar with 2 white
stripes along the edges; dark-green colored shoes and white gloves that reached her
elbow with two soft rings at the edge that were the same color as her skirt.
Rinoa kept her eyes fixed on the ground and gave a curt nod.
"Pluto...we can't start as of yet." Presea suddenly said.
Pluto raised an eyebrow in question.
"Shayla-shayla" she simply answered.
Shayla-shayla stood up at the mention of her name. "Okay! what's going on?"
"Please calm down Shayla" Cloud said, holding shayla's shoulder.
"CALM DOWN?!?! what do you mean calm down? all of you seem to know what's going on,
I surely don't! why won't someone explain something?"
Presea approached her and touched her forehead with her index finger. Shayla suddenly
became quiet and fell to the floor.
~*~
"Shayla!" a little voice shouted. It was little Sakura.
Shayla ran over to her and embraced her. "Sakura, what are you doing here?"
"waiting for you." another voice said.
Shayla suddenly broke her embrace and stepped back. In the place of Sakura was a tall,
blonde woman with thin-rimmed glasses and beautiful emerald eyes who was smiling at her.
"what's the matter?"
"w-who are you?"
"Fuu. don't you remember, Hikaru?"
"Hikaru?"
"yes. Isn't that your name?" she tilted her head.
"No. It's Shayla"
"That can't be!" she smiled, "look at yourself, long, braided, red hair; blazing
red eyes full of courage, the red orb on your left hand..."
"what?" Shayla's eyes widened in surprise. "but..."
Fuu turned around and raised her left hand. "speculum" she whispered, and from the
floor rose a simple, round mirror; clear as crystal.
Shayla gasped at the image in the mirror. It was indeed as Fuu had described it.
And not only that, but also she was wearing a long flowing, red gown. It was not
the Shayla she knew in the mirror, but it was another person. Shayla ran closer to the
mirror and touched her face in awe. But suddenly, the image in the mirror smiled.
Shayla jumped back as the image slowly stepped out of the mirror. "hello. Nice to see
you again." she said. Shayla thought, "I miss
you so much."
"miss me?" Shayla said.
Hikaru's eyes were filled with hurt. "Have you truly become so free that you have
forgotten me?"
"for-" Shayla's voice was cut shot as she suddenly felt a certain pang in her heart.
It was hurt, she knew, but didn't know why.
"Dear Hikaru, maybe the things she have gone through were so tough and unavoidable that
she has your memory lost in her mind." Fuu said.
Hikaru held Shayla's hand and said, "Please try to remember..."
As soon as she said those words, Shayla's mind were flooded with memories: her graduation,
her first day at the garden, her happy childhood, the time she was adopted and finally, the
beggining.... how she was separated from her true self, how she knew that the world was in
danger, how she was parted with her true friends.
Warm tears ran down her eyes as she embraced Hikaru with all her heart. She knew now.
They were one.
~*~
Shayla woke from her dream, in the same place, unmoved.
"Are you OK?" Sakura's voice came from her left.
Shayla looked at her, still with tears in her eyes, and just nodded.
"I guess we can start now?" Pluto asked.
"Rinoa." Presea simply said, pointing at the center of the floor, at the center of
the gold pentagon.
Rinoa obeyed and walked towards the center slowly, keeping her eyes on the floor. When
she finally reached the center, silence could be felt everywhere. "O, sorceresses of old,"
she started, and the pillars glowed more brightly. "..hear the cry of your people." The
glow of the pillars started to pulsate and Rinoa looked up. Much to Shayla and Squall's
surprise, Rinoa's brown eyes were glowing white and so was her body. Then, she started
to chant again:
"Save us from the trouble that awakens,
Through the midst of time, we found you,
pillars of light
full of strength and might
help us in our time of plight!
ADSTRINGO!!!!"
The pillars gave off ane explosion of light as the Spell of Binding ended and their
arcane magics released. The pentagon underneath Rinoa glowed furiously, undaunted by
the powerful explosion of the pillars.
After the light show, the brightness slowly faded and three people in the room were
left glowing. Rinoa's own glow was lost and she collapsed to the floor. Squall immediately
ran to her.
"welcome back." Pluto greeted the three glowing persons.
Everybody (except Squall and Rinoa) smiled at what they saw: Cloud was still the same
as before, but everone could feel his increased power. On the place of Sakura stood a
stately woman with short hair with curls on the ends and emerald green eyes wearing
a mint-green silken gown.
"Fuu." Ferio said as he embraced her and she embraced back. "how I missed you."
"me too." She simply said, her head buried in Ferio's chest.
On the other hand, on the place of Shayla stood another stately woman just a few inches
shorter of Fuu. She had long, unbraided red hair and firey red eyes. She was wearing a
light-red verion of what Fuu wore. Lantis approached her.
"Hikaru." he smiled.
"Lantis, I missed you so." Hikaru said and they embraced.
"Welcome back, Prince Cloud, Queen Fuu and Princess Hikaru." Presea greeted.
Cloud smiled at Presea. "It is good to be back indeed, Tifa."
Presea just smiled at him with longing in her eyes.
Meanwhile, inside Yue's room where Umi slept, Umi glowed a faint blue and she suddenly
awoke. "It is time."
* * *
END CHAPTER 15
the following Latin terms were used in this chapter:
(arranged in order of appearance)
mors mortis - death
maligo-are - to do/ contrive evil
evanesco - (evanui) to vanish, disappear / pass away
speculum - mirror
adstringo - (persons) bind, oblige, (+ refl.) commit oneself to
source: Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid