Zell Chronicles
Forgotten
Chapter 6: The Third Fear
Squall looked at the pentagonal structure. "How do you suppose we go about getting the crystal?" he asked. Quistis studied around it and even checked the center for the crystal. Caladorei had told them the crystal was palm-sized. She looked at the carving on the side of the pentagon. On it was carved some Centran message. Quistis took out her hand-held computer and looked up the lettering. It said: He who finds this will be a crystal bearer. The five crystal bearers who forget this place will be the ones who find the Forgotten Crystal. Five sides to a pentagon, five crystal bearers. Quistis showed this to the rest of the group. Zell cocked his head nonchalantly. "All of us found this, now let's just forget it," he said. "It isn't that easy," Rinoa pointed out. "Oh?" Caladorei joined in. "With these amnesia pills we can forget all about things that happened ten minutes ago." His idea was uncanny. Zell volunteered for it first. Squall however, took the pill first and exited the room escorted by Zell, who was the one to keep remembering the information, despite his protests. Rinoa followed and was escorted by Zell out of the room. Caladorei went in a pair next. Zell brought them both out of the room. Then he turned to Quistis. "This is it, huh?" he said it more like a statement than a question. "Yeah," Quistis looked away. She looked down at her feet and looked at the pill. She put it into her mouth and gulped it down. Her eyes blanked out s the effects of the pill started taking place. Zell brought her out of the room and waited as the others started to regain control over their nerves. Once they were all done being brainwashed, they completely vanished. Zell looked around. There was nothing. Zell ran to up and down the halls, attempting to look for the rest of his friends. He was met by a phoenix instead. It turned its red, fiery eyes to glare into Zell's deep blue ones. It spread out its wings. Zell remembered the Phoenix Pinions. He reached for some, thinking that he could fight fire with fire. Then he saw that the Pinions had been corrupted. On them was a design of a triangle with dozen parasites in it. He placed them back into his pouch and turned face to face with the possessed phoenix. He scanned it and it turned out that the phoenix was under control by the Third Fear. He knew how to deal with possessed creatures. He was ready.
Squall raised his gunblade to face the Rose Beast. Some unknown force had forced them here and now they were in for the fight of their lives, ten on one. Irvine was so concentrated on his shots he barely noticed the other five until the Fear recoiled back, allowing time to look at certain things. Seifer and Squall were getting ready to execute a gunblade combination that they had learned in Garden, called Steel Spiral. The name said it all. The two would hold on to each other's hands while twirling towards the target, in this case, the Rose Beast. The sheer energy created by the duo shook the ground as the Rose Beast's hide was being gashed into repeatedly. At last the friction was too much as Seifer and Squall slowed down their frenzy. Caladorei followed up with another big hit with Ballistic Apocalypse. After trapping the Rose Beast in a circle of flame, he proceeded to make the wound deep enough to affect the Fear with magic. Quistis summoned Quezacotl. Soon, the Beast was racked with damage, but still refused to stay down. The ten fighters, however, were getting exhausted, and constant Cures couldn't take away the fatigue. At last the group all summoned their best GF's and let loose the fury of Guardian Energy. Boco did a spectacular Chocobuckle while Eden's Eternal Breath made the Rose Beast tremble with pain. Gansal's powerful ball of energy slammed into the Beast like a bull. The three elemental GF's, Shiva, Quezacotl, and Ifrit were getting ready to cast a three-way ancient spell. Nature's Hurricane, as it was called, took the final string out of the Rose Beast. It retreated. Thus ended the battle of the First Fear.
Ellone could barely hear a thing Laguna was saying. She was too concentrated on making the driver go into the past in a dream sequence.
Zell rubbed his skull and brushed off the dust from his shorts. He scanned the possessed Phoenix again and confirmed that it was under the Wind Beast's control. The Wind Beast was the name of the Third Fear and wind was what it was like, blowing into bodies and feeding off their minds and bodies like a parasite. He decided to go all out. After all, items that were wasted could be found all over the place, namely the Islands closest to Heaven and Hell. Zell charged up and channeled his energies towards the Phoenix. His muscles tensed and he brought down on it a Meltdown spell. He then wasted no time by casting triple and using three Meteors. The repeated damage was not enough to stop the Phoenix, however, as it regained its concentration and sent a fireball hurling at Zell. Zell had dealt with fire enough times to know that by going through it, it would not be anything a quick temperature rise and drop. Zell jumped through the flames and executed consecutive Ultimas, taking energy from the flames. The Phoenix reared its head from the damage and screeched. It flapped its wings toward Zell, creating a Tornado. Zell blocked it with a Shell Stone and sent the Phoenix skidding across the floor with a mighty punch. He then threw a flare stone out at the Phoenix. It screeched loudly enough to reverse the direction of the stone. Zell was hit by the rock, still clutched his ears at the sound. Before he knew what hit him, he was surrounded by a thousand sparks and fire. He absorbed the damage like a dry towel and was hesitant to get up. He rubbed his sore arm muscle and cast Curaga. He then charged for his supreme combo with some new made-up moves. He started with Heel Drop and Dolphin Blow but this time, he executed a new attack, Cross Fist. This slammed his opponent in two places. He then used Ten-Forms Frenzy, in which he attacked ten times with fast and furious leopard fists. He performed his newest finishing move, Screeching Eagle, wonderfully, cutting straight into the heart of the Phoenix, instantly killing it. Zell felt sorry that he should have killed the Phoenix, for it would never revive their party members again. However, that was not his greatest concern, as the Third Fear could soon find another body to inhabit; his own.... He ran all the way out of the Centra Ruins without once looking back and was outside with forest to his left and mountain to his right with monsters creeping all around him. Exhausted, Zell plopped down after running through the forest and was happy to see a lake nearby. He took a drink in large gulps and took a Potion to ease his cut and bruises. He then fell into a deep sleep.
Squall looked at the gleaming red crystal in his hands. He looked at it from all sides and decided that it was the Master Crystal. Caladorei thought that their mission was complete. Little did he know that it was just one of many crystals. The group went onto the conference room in the Ragnorak. Squall took count of everybody there. Then it hit him like a club. We're missing Zell! He frantically asked the rest of them where they last saw him, but none of them knew where to find him. Then Squall remembered. He was in the Centra Ruins.
It was like a calling from Heaven itself, as if the Great Hyne was telling him personally his destiny and what to make of it. There was a white light similar to that of a blazing sun. It waved in front of Zell's eyes like a faery. Zell tried to reach for it, but he felt as if his arms were made of lead. Heavy fatigue was apparent all throughout his exhausted body. He tried to reach for it again, and succeeded only in bringing his arms up a few inches. He gathered all of his energy and took one last swipe at it. The light flickered and then went out. In its place was smoke. Zell felt refreshed and rejuvenated and felt something in his hand. He looked, and there, in his rather bloodied- up palm was a crystal. He blinked once, then twice. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and then squeezed the crystal. He placed it into his pouch and looked around. He surveyed the forest and decided to find some shelter. At first there was failure. The trees that he chose could not stop rain and weather. After searching unsuccessfully for a sturdy and weatherproof shelter, Zell saw a mountain with a cave on the east side. Zell hesitated before deciding to go in, and when he did so, it was with the aid of his cautiousness and his throwing of Flare Stones to light the way. After carefully surveying the roughly 3 yards wide and 5 yards long cave, he decided to go to the back and start a fire. Zell gathered some firewood and cast a Fire on it and immediately the wood burst to flames. Zell then decided to fortify his cave by making a door. He picked a thick, tough tree and gave it a hard whack. The tree fell down with a deafening crash that echoed through the mountains. Zell then used his mighty fists to make the tree into wooden blacks. Zell took his safety ropes and tied the blocks together, making it impenetrable to the monsters that dwelt in the mountains, namely Blitzes and Grand Mantises. He then took down branches and pine boughs and fashioned a soft "carpet". When everything was done, the sun had set and the nighttime monsters were our prowling for a tasty morsel. Zell checked his pocket and took the Potion. He then checked his pouch for everything, and all was where it should have been. He laid down on his pine "bed" and quickly fell asleep.
"You see him?" Squall asked. Quistis came around the corner. "Nothing," she said. Caladorei and Kandi arrived from a different corridor. "Nothing," said Caladorei. Irvine and Selphie came back, with the same results, but it was the Disciplinary Committee that turned up something. "We found this while traveling through the staircase." Seifer held up the carcass of the dead Phoenix, now gray and stone dead. Squall examined it with a sharp look in his eyes. He turned to Rinoa. "Let's go."
The morning sun caused the mountain animals to stir and awaken. Zell was already up and busy making a fire to warm the damp cave. He then set out to get food. He knew that Cockatrices, which lived in the forest, were delicious, as he tried some last year in Deling City Restaurant. He managed to pre-roast one with a Firaga and summoning Ifrit to kill it right away. After having a fine meal that filled him up, Zell looked at himself. He looked like hell. His pants were torn in several places, his shirt ripped and his jacket vest completely mangled and burnt from constant pecking from the Cockatrices and the fire of the Phoenix. He got up to explore his surroundings. When he was a good three hundred yards from his shelter, he came across a crevice within the mountains. He examined it and noticed strange markings of High Centran. When he touched it, he realized that it could only be of one material: Jind. Jind was a highly magical substance, used to make the various magic stones. As soon as Zell's hand came into contact with the Jind stone, he could immediately feel the Jind power Shadow near. This meant that the Jind stone most likely produced Ultima Stones. But taking Jind is not without consequences. Zell placed the Jind stone into his pouch, concluding that the Jind stone said, "Shadowmage Sentry", according to his basic intuition on the subject of High Centran. But when leaving for his shelter, Zell was blocked by a mysterious human-like figure in a heavy, long cloak that trailed behind him. The figure was completely black, and had no shadow. Zell said, "Move over." It did not budge. Zell asked again, this time more firmly. Once again, the cloaked figure did not move a muscle. Zell tried going around it. It sped like lightning in front of Zell. Zell tried to push it out of the way. It did not move either. This only added to Zell's already fiery temper, and he engaged in battle. Zell punched it as hard as he could, sending the figure sprawling. "Finally, something gave way," he muttered. He geared up for another attack, but before he could react, the Sentry had already hit Zell in the gut with its weapon: a tri-section whip. Zell was the one sprawling this time. He held his stomach and quickly reached into his pouch for an X- potion. He gulped it down and threw the container aside and closed his pouch. He then turned to face his enemy, but a second too late, for it had already ran behind Zell and kicked him. Zell was sent flying forward. Amazing, he thought, it has speed and power like crazy! He got up as quickly as he could and cast Protect. When he was hit again, it still hurt, but at least he was still on his feet. He released a barrage of punches and then executed his Limit Break, ending with a spectacular Cross- Fist, Ten-Forms Frenzy, and Screeching Eagle attack. The Sentry was down for the count and Zell was gathering back his energy. "Not...*huff*...so good...*huff*...when someone else...*huff*...gets the initiative, huh?" he taunted between gasps. The Sentries' eyes-where his eyes should've been-were turning a fiery, bright white. He got faster and stronger with every attack he executed. Zell got time to scan it, reading about its ability, called Shadow Fury, which gave it more power the more it attacked. Zell decided not to let it attack and tried to Blind it. With it blinded, its attacks didn't work, and its Shadow Fury was disabled. Zell took the chance to see what he could draw from it. He felt the presence of a powerful GF, and that was enough for him. He concentrated on taking the Guardian Force from the Shadowmage Sentry. When the GF was drawn, the Sentry immediately grew, weaker, as its junction was sucked away from it. Zell then took it down with three punches. The Sentry vanished, leaving behind a scroll and a black crystal. The air was thick with a foul stench. Zell casted an Aero that blew away the odor and the dust that was covering the scroll. Zell picked up the black crystal and carefully examined it. It was the size of a coin and the reflection made by it was astounding. There was none. Zell then placed it into his pocket and grabbed the scroll. It was heavy yellow parchment and the writing was from a deep, full red and High Centran. Zell tried to interpret it, but with his low level of Centran language, he could only read enough to equal squat. Zell rolled it up and placed it in his pouch to see if there was somebody who could read it. Next, Zell checked the GF that he had drawn. Channeling his energies into his GF "bank", he found out that its name was Jiyaf, a large Ice GF that had an ability that Zell wanted: Translate. Zell went into the forest to look for some monsters to test Jiyaf on. He found a Chimera, a worthy opponent, ad he immediately began summoning. It came quicker than Zell expected, and when it came, Zell could see its true shape in his ethereal form. It was male in shape, and he had icicles covering parts of his body. He was like a male Shiva.
Chapter 6: The Third Fear
Squall looked at the pentagonal structure. "How do you suppose we go about getting the crystal?" he asked. Quistis studied around it and even checked the center for the crystal. Caladorei had told them the crystal was palm-sized. She looked at the carving on the side of the pentagon. On it was carved some Centran message. Quistis took out her hand-held computer and looked up the lettering. It said: He who finds this will be a crystal bearer. The five crystal bearers who forget this place will be the ones who find the Forgotten Crystal. Five sides to a pentagon, five crystal bearers. Quistis showed this to the rest of the group. Zell cocked his head nonchalantly. "All of us found this, now let's just forget it," he said. "It isn't that easy," Rinoa pointed out. "Oh?" Caladorei joined in. "With these amnesia pills we can forget all about things that happened ten minutes ago." His idea was uncanny. Zell volunteered for it first. Squall however, took the pill first and exited the room escorted by Zell, who was the one to keep remembering the information, despite his protests. Rinoa followed and was escorted by Zell out of the room. Caladorei went in a pair next. Zell brought them both out of the room. Then he turned to Quistis. "This is it, huh?" he said it more like a statement than a question. "Yeah," Quistis looked away. She looked down at her feet and looked at the pill. She put it into her mouth and gulped it down. Her eyes blanked out s the effects of the pill started taking place. Zell brought her out of the room and waited as the others started to regain control over their nerves. Once they were all done being brainwashed, they completely vanished. Zell looked around. There was nothing. Zell ran to up and down the halls, attempting to look for the rest of his friends. He was met by a phoenix instead. It turned its red, fiery eyes to glare into Zell's deep blue ones. It spread out its wings. Zell remembered the Phoenix Pinions. He reached for some, thinking that he could fight fire with fire. Then he saw that the Pinions had been corrupted. On them was a design of a triangle with dozen parasites in it. He placed them back into his pouch and turned face to face with the possessed phoenix. He scanned it and it turned out that the phoenix was under control by the Third Fear. He knew how to deal with possessed creatures. He was ready.
Squall raised his gunblade to face the Rose Beast. Some unknown force had forced them here and now they were in for the fight of their lives, ten on one. Irvine was so concentrated on his shots he barely noticed the other five until the Fear recoiled back, allowing time to look at certain things. Seifer and Squall were getting ready to execute a gunblade combination that they had learned in Garden, called Steel Spiral. The name said it all. The two would hold on to each other's hands while twirling towards the target, in this case, the Rose Beast. The sheer energy created by the duo shook the ground as the Rose Beast's hide was being gashed into repeatedly. At last the friction was too much as Seifer and Squall slowed down their frenzy. Caladorei followed up with another big hit with Ballistic Apocalypse. After trapping the Rose Beast in a circle of flame, he proceeded to make the wound deep enough to affect the Fear with magic. Quistis summoned Quezacotl. Soon, the Beast was racked with damage, but still refused to stay down. The ten fighters, however, were getting exhausted, and constant Cures couldn't take away the fatigue. At last the group all summoned their best GF's and let loose the fury of Guardian Energy. Boco did a spectacular Chocobuckle while Eden's Eternal Breath made the Rose Beast tremble with pain. Gansal's powerful ball of energy slammed into the Beast like a bull. The three elemental GF's, Shiva, Quezacotl, and Ifrit were getting ready to cast a three-way ancient spell. Nature's Hurricane, as it was called, took the final string out of the Rose Beast. It retreated. Thus ended the battle of the First Fear.
Ellone could barely hear a thing Laguna was saying. She was too concentrated on making the driver go into the past in a dream sequence.
Zell rubbed his skull and brushed off the dust from his shorts. He scanned the possessed Phoenix again and confirmed that it was under the Wind Beast's control. The Wind Beast was the name of the Third Fear and wind was what it was like, blowing into bodies and feeding off their minds and bodies like a parasite. He decided to go all out. After all, items that were wasted could be found all over the place, namely the Islands closest to Heaven and Hell. Zell charged up and channeled his energies towards the Phoenix. His muscles tensed and he brought down on it a Meltdown spell. He then wasted no time by casting triple and using three Meteors. The repeated damage was not enough to stop the Phoenix, however, as it regained its concentration and sent a fireball hurling at Zell. Zell had dealt with fire enough times to know that by going through it, it would not be anything a quick temperature rise and drop. Zell jumped through the flames and executed consecutive Ultimas, taking energy from the flames. The Phoenix reared its head from the damage and screeched. It flapped its wings toward Zell, creating a Tornado. Zell blocked it with a Shell Stone and sent the Phoenix skidding across the floor with a mighty punch. He then threw a flare stone out at the Phoenix. It screeched loudly enough to reverse the direction of the stone. Zell was hit by the rock, still clutched his ears at the sound. Before he knew what hit him, he was surrounded by a thousand sparks and fire. He absorbed the damage like a dry towel and was hesitant to get up. He rubbed his sore arm muscle and cast Curaga. He then charged for his supreme combo with some new made-up moves. He started with Heel Drop and Dolphin Blow but this time, he executed a new attack, Cross Fist. This slammed his opponent in two places. He then used Ten-Forms Frenzy, in which he attacked ten times with fast and furious leopard fists. He performed his newest finishing move, Screeching Eagle, wonderfully, cutting straight into the heart of the Phoenix, instantly killing it. Zell felt sorry that he should have killed the Phoenix, for it would never revive their party members again. However, that was not his greatest concern, as the Third Fear could soon find another body to inhabit; his own.... He ran all the way out of the Centra Ruins without once looking back and was outside with forest to his left and mountain to his right with monsters creeping all around him. Exhausted, Zell plopped down after running through the forest and was happy to see a lake nearby. He took a drink in large gulps and took a Potion to ease his cut and bruises. He then fell into a deep sleep.
Squall looked at the gleaming red crystal in his hands. He looked at it from all sides and decided that it was the Master Crystal. Caladorei thought that their mission was complete. Little did he know that it was just one of many crystals. The group went onto the conference room in the Ragnorak. Squall took count of everybody there. Then it hit him like a club. We're missing Zell! He frantically asked the rest of them where they last saw him, but none of them knew where to find him. Then Squall remembered. He was in the Centra Ruins.
It was like a calling from Heaven itself, as if the Great Hyne was telling him personally his destiny and what to make of it. There was a white light similar to that of a blazing sun. It waved in front of Zell's eyes like a faery. Zell tried to reach for it, but he felt as if his arms were made of lead. Heavy fatigue was apparent all throughout his exhausted body. He tried to reach for it again, and succeeded only in bringing his arms up a few inches. He gathered all of his energy and took one last swipe at it. The light flickered and then went out. In its place was smoke. Zell felt refreshed and rejuvenated and felt something in his hand. He looked, and there, in his rather bloodied- up palm was a crystal. He blinked once, then twice. He rubbed his eyes and pinched himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating and then squeezed the crystal. He placed it into his pouch and looked around. He surveyed the forest and decided to find some shelter. At first there was failure. The trees that he chose could not stop rain and weather. After searching unsuccessfully for a sturdy and weatherproof shelter, Zell saw a mountain with a cave on the east side. Zell hesitated before deciding to go in, and when he did so, it was with the aid of his cautiousness and his throwing of Flare Stones to light the way. After carefully surveying the roughly 3 yards wide and 5 yards long cave, he decided to go to the back and start a fire. Zell gathered some firewood and cast a Fire on it and immediately the wood burst to flames. Zell then decided to fortify his cave by making a door. He picked a thick, tough tree and gave it a hard whack. The tree fell down with a deafening crash that echoed through the mountains. Zell then used his mighty fists to make the tree into wooden blacks. Zell took his safety ropes and tied the blocks together, making it impenetrable to the monsters that dwelt in the mountains, namely Blitzes and Grand Mantises. He then took down branches and pine boughs and fashioned a soft "carpet". When everything was done, the sun had set and the nighttime monsters were our prowling for a tasty morsel. Zell checked his pocket and took the Potion. He then checked his pouch for everything, and all was where it should have been. He laid down on his pine "bed" and quickly fell asleep.
"You see him?" Squall asked. Quistis came around the corner. "Nothing," she said. Caladorei and Kandi arrived from a different corridor. "Nothing," said Caladorei. Irvine and Selphie came back, with the same results, but it was the Disciplinary Committee that turned up something. "We found this while traveling through the staircase." Seifer held up the carcass of the dead Phoenix, now gray and stone dead. Squall examined it with a sharp look in his eyes. He turned to Rinoa. "Let's go."
The morning sun caused the mountain animals to stir and awaken. Zell was already up and busy making a fire to warm the damp cave. He then set out to get food. He knew that Cockatrices, which lived in the forest, were delicious, as he tried some last year in Deling City Restaurant. He managed to pre-roast one with a Firaga and summoning Ifrit to kill it right away. After having a fine meal that filled him up, Zell looked at himself. He looked like hell. His pants were torn in several places, his shirt ripped and his jacket vest completely mangled and burnt from constant pecking from the Cockatrices and the fire of the Phoenix. He got up to explore his surroundings. When he was a good three hundred yards from his shelter, he came across a crevice within the mountains. He examined it and noticed strange markings of High Centran. When he touched it, he realized that it could only be of one material: Jind. Jind was a highly magical substance, used to make the various magic stones. As soon as Zell's hand came into contact with the Jind stone, he could immediately feel the Jind power Shadow near. This meant that the Jind stone most likely produced Ultima Stones. But taking Jind is not without consequences. Zell placed the Jind stone into his pouch, concluding that the Jind stone said, "Shadowmage Sentry", according to his basic intuition on the subject of High Centran. But when leaving for his shelter, Zell was blocked by a mysterious human-like figure in a heavy, long cloak that trailed behind him. The figure was completely black, and had no shadow. Zell said, "Move over." It did not budge. Zell asked again, this time more firmly. Once again, the cloaked figure did not move a muscle. Zell tried going around it. It sped like lightning in front of Zell. Zell tried to push it out of the way. It did not move either. This only added to Zell's already fiery temper, and he engaged in battle. Zell punched it as hard as he could, sending the figure sprawling. "Finally, something gave way," he muttered. He geared up for another attack, but before he could react, the Sentry had already hit Zell in the gut with its weapon: a tri-section whip. Zell was the one sprawling this time. He held his stomach and quickly reached into his pouch for an X- potion. He gulped it down and threw the container aside and closed his pouch. He then turned to face his enemy, but a second too late, for it had already ran behind Zell and kicked him. Zell was sent flying forward. Amazing, he thought, it has speed and power like crazy! He got up as quickly as he could and cast Protect. When he was hit again, it still hurt, but at least he was still on his feet. He released a barrage of punches and then executed his Limit Break, ending with a spectacular Cross- Fist, Ten-Forms Frenzy, and Screeching Eagle attack. The Sentry was down for the count and Zell was gathering back his energy. "Not...*huff*...so good...*huff*...when someone else...*huff*...gets the initiative, huh?" he taunted between gasps. The Sentries' eyes-where his eyes should've been-were turning a fiery, bright white. He got faster and stronger with every attack he executed. Zell got time to scan it, reading about its ability, called Shadow Fury, which gave it more power the more it attacked. Zell decided not to let it attack and tried to Blind it. With it blinded, its attacks didn't work, and its Shadow Fury was disabled. Zell took the chance to see what he could draw from it. He felt the presence of a powerful GF, and that was enough for him. He concentrated on taking the Guardian Force from the Shadowmage Sentry. When the GF was drawn, the Sentry immediately grew, weaker, as its junction was sucked away from it. Zell then took it down with three punches. The Sentry vanished, leaving behind a scroll and a black crystal. The air was thick with a foul stench. Zell casted an Aero that blew away the odor and the dust that was covering the scroll. Zell picked up the black crystal and carefully examined it. It was the size of a coin and the reflection made by it was astounding. There was none. Zell then placed it into his pocket and grabbed the scroll. It was heavy yellow parchment and the writing was from a deep, full red and High Centran. Zell tried to interpret it, but with his low level of Centran language, he could only read enough to equal squat. Zell rolled it up and placed it in his pouch to see if there was somebody who could read it. Next, Zell checked the GF that he had drawn. Channeling his energies into his GF "bank", he found out that its name was Jiyaf, a large Ice GF that had an ability that Zell wanted: Translate. Zell went into the forest to look for some monsters to test Jiyaf on. He found a Chimera, a worthy opponent, ad he immediately began summoning. It came quicker than Zell expected, and when it came, Zell could see its true shape in his ethereal form. It was male in shape, and he had icicles covering parts of his body. He was like a male Shiva.