~~~Part 4~~~
(A/N - thanks to Gizamaluke 7377 and Weiila for the canon dialogue from this segment of the game. As stated elsewhere, though, this content belongs to the folks at Squaresoft, and is used without permission.)
"What are you," Amarant asked. He and Freya had been staring the creature down for several minutes, all watching each other, looking for an opening that nobody presented. He decided to break the near silence and see if it might help. "One of Kuja's monsters?"
"Yes," Maliris rumbled, "we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra itself." Freya growled slightly, trying to shake off the fear deep inside of her. She latched on to Amarant's calm presence, and the possibility of finding out what Kuja had been talking about before, to try and steady herself.
"What is Terra," she snarled at the monster, fueling her anger with the uneasiness she still felt.
"We did not become guardians to chat with mortals," it chuckled. "We derive pleasure from ending your worthless lives..."
"Just to prove how powerful you are," Amarant said matter-of-factly.
"So you understand," Maliris said with a thin smile. "But will that knowledge help you?" The lean warrior snorted derisively.
"Foolish." The fire snake flared with rage at the insult, and the temperature of the room rose.
"What," it roared, unable to believe the audacity of the red-haired mortal before it.
"Picking fights with strangers in a place like this," he said, shaking his head. "I used to know someone like that. He was a loser." He walked over to lean against one of the pillars, looking at the snake as he realized where its weakness was - its pride. Just like his had been before. "He refused to find beneficial ways to use his power," he continued. "Instead, he'd seek out people to fight..." Freya looked at him, wondering what he was getting at - and regretting her earlier comments that seemed to be working their way into his self-recriminating lecture to Maliris.
"Amarant," she said quietly, before the serpent cut her off.
"What...are you talking about," it asked half-curiously, even as a sharp, flaming blade formed in each of its six hands. Freya and Amarant took up their own fighting stances, the ice-spear the Burmecian was wielding steaming slightly in the heat of their surroundings, but maintaining its dangerously low temperature.
"We'll show you what he means," she shouted with a sneer for Maliris.
"Interesting," the serpent hissed with a chuckle, "but you'll regret this!" It brandished its swords, swinging at the most obvious threat - the little mouse with the ice-cold spear. She leapt into the air, taking advantage of the vaulted ceiling as Amarant struck, his claws skittering harmlessly off of Maliris' scales. The fiend sneered at him as it turned.
"Flames of Hell," it snarled, slashing through the air with its blades, sending a swath of flame towards him. He dove out of the way, wincing as the edge of the flame caught his side, gritting his teeth. He tumbled back to his feet, drawing his hands back to summon his inner strength for an attack.
"No Mercy!" He brought his hands forward, releasing the blast of energy into Maliris. The fiend snarled as it felt something that it hadn't felt in centuries - pain.
"A good trick, mortal," it hissed. "And aptly named, since that is exactly what it has earned you!" It dove forward, just before being reminded of a threat it had forgotten - Freya. The dragon knight plummeted from the ceiling, her spear only grazing the rapidly shifting form of the fiend - but that was enough to raise a tortured shriek of pain from its ancient frame. The long tail whipped around, grabbing Freya and squeezing her tight, drawing a squeak of terror, anger, and pain from her.
"Freya," Amarant shouted, lunging towards Maliris, his rage flaring white hot as he struck it again, this time chipping one of the fiend's bright red scales. It howled and brought its six arms to bear on the lean warrior, cutting into him with its blades at a blinding pace and sending him flying back into the wall of the shrine. He kneeled for a moment, screaming as his entire body glowed with the power of his anger, pain, and fear. Maliris watched, not entirely sure what to make of it - the fiend hadn't witnessed this sort of rage in all its centuries of life. Amarant scooped a few coins off the floor, and charged towards the battle, spinning around and releasing a hail of gil towards the stunned serpent, who barely had time to brace for the impact before the gold coins cut into its scales. Demon and dragon knight both screamed as Maliris tightened her death-grip on Freya, who soon went limp in its grip between the heat, pain, and lack of air.
"Hold, or I'll kill her," it snarled, praying that Amarant was still coherent enough to understand its threat. To judge by how quickly the attack ceased, he was.
"Good," Maliris sneered. "Now die!" Six arms swung towards Amarant, and six blades flew through the air towards him. He tumbled back, narrowly dodging the flying blades. He flipped to his feet, just in time to see the fireball flying at him. He tried to dodge, but too late, as the flames engulfed him. He ground his teeth together, enduring the intense pain before it passed by him, his clothes nearly untouched by the searing heat thanks to the glowing nimbus of power around him.. He ducked out of the way of the next blast, but a great fist caught him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He tried to summon the energy required to heal himself, but he couldn't focus enough, couldn't even perform the simple maneuvers required to open his chakras. So instead, he gasped for breath as his Trance left him spent and helpless before the wrath of Maliris.
"So, mortal," it said with an arrogant sneer, "your tricks are done." It slithered forward slowly, loosening its grip on Freya slightly so that it could move more easily as it collected two of its swords. And, in doing so, made a fatal mistake - letting the Burmecian breathe more easily.
"Now you die," it roared, raising its blades high for a killing blow. Freya's eyes fluttered open at the noise as her body recovered quickly from its abuse.
"No," she shouted, trying to free her spear-arm. Maliris started to bring its swords down towards Amarant, and she did the only thing she could think of - wrapped her leg around the haft of her spear, and brought the blade back to slice into the fiend's tail. Maliris screamed, dropping its swords as it looked back at her in disbelief - and then horror, as it looked at its wound, and the growing ice that was flowing over its body, freezing it solid.
"How," it asked, before the deadening cold froze it completely solid.
"Nobody puts me out of a fight," Freya growled, wriggling free as Amarant stood. "When I jump, destroy it," she yelled, waiting for his answering nod before leaping. Amarant drew his hands back again, summoning the force he had used before the fight had gone out of control.
"No Mercy," he shouted, launching the globe of energy at the frozen fiend - smirking with satisfaction as he recognized the trembling of the frozen body that came before..
Amarant barely had time to cover his face before a hail of ice shards reminded him that creatures, particularly ones that big, usually shattered rather than crumbling. Freya landed a moment later, nearly slipping in the pile of ice that was left behind.
"Well," she said, shaking her head. "At least *now* we can put the mirror in place.."
~~~===~~~
Later, back on the Hildegaard III, Freya was sitting in her room, looking up at the ceiling. She heard a knock at her door, and she turned over on her bed, looking away from it.
"Who is it," she asked carelessly.
"It's me," came Amarant's familiar voice. She closed her eyes and curled up slightly.
"Go away," she said weakly. She heard the door open and close quietly, just as she expected.
"I told you to go away," she said, curling up further on the bed. She didn't *want* to talk to him now. Didn't *want* to have to think about what had happened earlier, how she'd overreacted. Didn't *want* to let go of the hurt and forgive him.
Did she?
"I know you did," he said softly, pulling a chair over and sitting down. "How're you doing?"
"I'm doing just fine, thanks," she said coldly. "Now, would you leave me alone?" He winced, wondering if he'd made a mistake coming up here so shortly after what had happened.
"Zidane's having the crew take us back to the Shimmering Island," he said, looking towards the porthole of the ship, and the passing clouds. "We'll be seeing Terra soon." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore him, but she couldn't.
"What do you want," she finally asked miserably. Amarant swallowed the lump in his throat before he answered.
"I wanted to apologize for earlier. Maybe I shouldn't have shut down like that, but I certainly shouldn't have treated you the way I did after that. It's just an old habit that's hard to break after twenty years or so - but I'm trying."
"Damn it - why did you have to apologize," she muttered to herself, not realizing that she'd said it out loud. It was so much easier to stay mad when she thought he didn't care how she felt.
"Because I hurt you," he answered. "I didn't mean to. I just don't think when I get like that - instinct, experience, those things change how I act. It's been over a decade since I could really afford to let how I feel change things."
"Amarant," she said, biting her lip. "I shouldn't have done what I did. I just.. I didn't know what was going on. I still don't. It was.like you forgot me."
"No," he said, shaking his head as he stood and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder. "If I'd forgotten about you, I wouldn't have acted that way. I've always fought going into a fight with somebody I cared about, because I know that I shut down like that. And we're alive because you did that. It knocked me out of that mindset - I might not have listened to that.thing if that hadn't happened. I might have let it.." He trailed off, hating what he'd become for the second time that day. Freya turned over to face him, and reached up to touch his shoulder.
"You didn't," she said simply. "Instead.you almost got killed, stopping before you'd finished the fight." Amarant chuckled and shook his head.
"Not a chance of that - I was just getting him where I wanted him." Freya rolled her bright eyes back, but she was chuckling when she slugged him playfully. Her expression turned more serious as she drew him down beside her.
"What you did earlier - please don't do it again."
"I won't, if I can help it - just tell me if I do. It'll take awhile to stop shutting down like that."
"I can handle that," she said, pulling him close to her. "I just don't like to feel like you're trying to get rid of me," she finished softly, resting her head on his shoulder. "I already had one lover leave me behind, I don't want you to do the same," she whispered.
"Shh - I'll never leave you, if I can help it," he said, rubbing her neck and back gently. "I promise." They were quiet for a long moment while they both calmed down, releasing some of the fear and anger of the day, before Freya spoke again.
"Amarant?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you shut down like that? If you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but.."
"But you want to know why I become somebody else when I'm on a job, right?" She nodded against his shoulder, and he thought for a moment, trying to decide the easiest way to explain it.
"You remember that tattoo you noticed the first time we were together?"
"Yes," she said, absently tracing a finger over the rough, stylized serpent scar under his vest.
"It's the brand of one of the pit slaves of Treno's old Serpent Syndicate."
"Pit slaves," she asked, trying to figure out what he meant as she pulled back slightly, watching his face.
"We were trained to fight in the pits deep below the city - not something I like to remember. Part of what I had to do to survive was shut down like that - and I just never stopped doing it, when I was on a job."
"So that's why you feel like you have to prove yourself all the time," she said softly, still half-shocked at the very idea. He shrugged.
"Maybe. Doesn't matter too much - but it is why I do that. I've had to for years now."
"Does Lani know about this?"
"She was there," he nodded. "Different syndicate - think she was in King's stables. But she was there. She wound up taking the worst parts of it too, before we dealt with the problem. But that's not something I want to talk about," he said firmly.
"All right, Amarant," Freya nodded quietly, pulling him close again. "It can wait."
"Thank you," he said softly. "Get some sleep, lover, I have a feeling we'll be needing it." Freya smiled and closed her eyes, relaxing against him.
"Just make sure you get some too," she said with a slight chuckle, before the two of them both tried to get some rest before the ship reached their destination..
(A/N - thanks to Gizamaluke 7377 and Weiila for the canon dialogue from this segment of the game. As stated elsewhere, though, this content belongs to the folks at Squaresoft, and is used without permission.)
"What are you," Amarant asked. He and Freya had been staring the creature down for several minutes, all watching each other, looking for an opening that nobody presented. He decided to break the near silence and see if it might help. "One of Kuja's monsters?"
"Yes," Maliris rumbled, "we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra itself." Freya growled slightly, trying to shake off the fear deep inside of her. She latched on to Amarant's calm presence, and the possibility of finding out what Kuja had been talking about before, to try and steady herself.
"What is Terra," she snarled at the monster, fueling her anger with the uneasiness she still felt.
"We did not become guardians to chat with mortals," it chuckled. "We derive pleasure from ending your worthless lives..."
"Just to prove how powerful you are," Amarant said matter-of-factly.
"So you understand," Maliris said with a thin smile. "But will that knowledge help you?" The lean warrior snorted derisively.
"Foolish." The fire snake flared with rage at the insult, and the temperature of the room rose.
"What," it roared, unable to believe the audacity of the red-haired mortal before it.
"Picking fights with strangers in a place like this," he said, shaking his head. "I used to know someone like that. He was a loser." He walked over to lean against one of the pillars, looking at the snake as he realized where its weakness was - its pride. Just like his had been before. "He refused to find beneficial ways to use his power," he continued. "Instead, he'd seek out people to fight..." Freya looked at him, wondering what he was getting at - and regretting her earlier comments that seemed to be working their way into his self-recriminating lecture to Maliris.
"Amarant," she said quietly, before the serpent cut her off.
"What...are you talking about," it asked half-curiously, even as a sharp, flaming blade formed in each of its six hands. Freya and Amarant took up their own fighting stances, the ice-spear the Burmecian was wielding steaming slightly in the heat of their surroundings, but maintaining its dangerously low temperature.
"We'll show you what he means," she shouted with a sneer for Maliris.
"Interesting," the serpent hissed with a chuckle, "but you'll regret this!" It brandished its swords, swinging at the most obvious threat - the little mouse with the ice-cold spear. She leapt into the air, taking advantage of the vaulted ceiling as Amarant struck, his claws skittering harmlessly off of Maliris' scales. The fiend sneered at him as it turned.
"Flames of Hell," it snarled, slashing through the air with its blades, sending a swath of flame towards him. He dove out of the way, wincing as the edge of the flame caught his side, gritting his teeth. He tumbled back to his feet, drawing his hands back to summon his inner strength for an attack.
"No Mercy!" He brought his hands forward, releasing the blast of energy into Maliris. The fiend snarled as it felt something that it hadn't felt in centuries - pain.
"A good trick, mortal," it hissed. "And aptly named, since that is exactly what it has earned you!" It dove forward, just before being reminded of a threat it had forgotten - Freya. The dragon knight plummeted from the ceiling, her spear only grazing the rapidly shifting form of the fiend - but that was enough to raise a tortured shriek of pain from its ancient frame. The long tail whipped around, grabbing Freya and squeezing her tight, drawing a squeak of terror, anger, and pain from her.
"Freya," Amarant shouted, lunging towards Maliris, his rage flaring white hot as he struck it again, this time chipping one of the fiend's bright red scales. It howled and brought its six arms to bear on the lean warrior, cutting into him with its blades at a blinding pace and sending him flying back into the wall of the shrine. He kneeled for a moment, screaming as his entire body glowed with the power of his anger, pain, and fear. Maliris watched, not entirely sure what to make of it - the fiend hadn't witnessed this sort of rage in all its centuries of life. Amarant scooped a few coins off the floor, and charged towards the battle, spinning around and releasing a hail of gil towards the stunned serpent, who barely had time to brace for the impact before the gold coins cut into its scales. Demon and dragon knight both screamed as Maliris tightened her death-grip on Freya, who soon went limp in its grip between the heat, pain, and lack of air.
"Hold, or I'll kill her," it snarled, praying that Amarant was still coherent enough to understand its threat. To judge by how quickly the attack ceased, he was.
"Good," Maliris sneered. "Now die!" Six arms swung towards Amarant, and six blades flew through the air towards him. He tumbled back, narrowly dodging the flying blades. He flipped to his feet, just in time to see the fireball flying at him. He tried to dodge, but too late, as the flames engulfed him. He ground his teeth together, enduring the intense pain before it passed by him, his clothes nearly untouched by the searing heat thanks to the glowing nimbus of power around him.. He ducked out of the way of the next blast, but a great fist caught him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He tried to summon the energy required to heal himself, but he couldn't focus enough, couldn't even perform the simple maneuvers required to open his chakras. So instead, he gasped for breath as his Trance left him spent and helpless before the wrath of Maliris.
"So, mortal," it said with an arrogant sneer, "your tricks are done." It slithered forward slowly, loosening its grip on Freya slightly so that it could move more easily as it collected two of its swords. And, in doing so, made a fatal mistake - letting the Burmecian breathe more easily.
"Now you die," it roared, raising its blades high for a killing blow. Freya's eyes fluttered open at the noise as her body recovered quickly from its abuse.
"No," she shouted, trying to free her spear-arm. Maliris started to bring its swords down towards Amarant, and she did the only thing she could think of - wrapped her leg around the haft of her spear, and brought the blade back to slice into the fiend's tail. Maliris screamed, dropping its swords as it looked back at her in disbelief - and then horror, as it looked at its wound, and the growing ice that was flowing over its body, freezing it solid.
"How," it asked, before the deadening cold froze it completely solid.
"Nobody puts me out of a fight," Freya growled, wriggling free as Amarant stood. "When I jump, destroy it," she yelled, waiting for his answering nod before leaping. Amarant drew his hands back again, summoning the force he had used before the fight had gone out of control.
"No Mercy," he shouted, launching the globe of energy at the frozen fiend - smirking with satisfaction as he recognized the trembling of the frozen body that came before..
Amarant barely had time to cover his face before a hail of ice shards reminded him that creatures, particularly ones that big, usually shattered rather than crumbling. Freya landed a moment later, nearly slipping in the pile of ice that was left behind.
"Well," she said, shaking her head. "At least *now* we can put the mirror in place.."
~~~===~~~
Later, back on the Hildegaard III, Freya was sitting in her room, looking up at the ceiling. She heard a knock at her door, and she turned over on her bed, looking away from it.
"Who is it," she asked carelessly.
"It's me," came Amarant's familiar voice. She closed her eyes and curled up slightly.
"Go away," she said weakly. She heard the door open and close quietly, just as she expected.
"I told you to go away," she said, curling up further on the bed. She didn't *want* to talk to him now. Didn't *want* to have to think about what had happened earlier, how she'd overreacted. Didn't *want* to let go of the hurt and forgive him.
Did she?
"I know you did," he said softly, pulling a chair over and sitting down. "How're you doing?"
"I'm doing just fine, thanks," she said coldly. "Now, would you leave me alone?" He winced, wondering if he'd made a mistake coming up here so shortly after what had happened.
"Zidane's having the crew take us back to the Shimmering Island," he said, looking towards the porthole of the ship, and the passing clouds. "We'll be seeing Terra soon." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore him, but she couldn't.
"What do you want," she finally asked miserably. Amarant swallowed the lump in his throat before he answered.
"I wanted to apologize for earlier. Maybe I shouldn't have shut down like that, but I certainly shouldn't have treated you the way I did after that. It's just an old habit that's hard to break after twenty years or so - but I'm trying."
"Damn it - why did you have to apologize," she muttered to herself, not realizing that she'd said it out loud. It was so much easier to stay mad when she thought he didn't care how she felt.
"Because I hurt you," he answered. "I didn't mean to. I just don't think when I get like that - instinct, experience, those things change how I act. It's been over a decade since I could really afford to let how I feel change things."
"Amarant," she said, biting her lip. "I shouldn't have done what I did. I just.. I didn't know what was going on. I still don't. It was.like you forgot me."
"No," he said, shaking his head as he stood and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder. "If I'd forgotten about you, I wouldn't have acted that way. I've always fought going into a fight with somebody I cared about, because I know that I shut down like that. And we're alive because you did that. It knocked me out of that mindset - I might not have listened to that.thing if that hadn't happened. I might have let it.." He trailed off, hating what he'd become for the second time that day. Freya turned over to face him, and reached up to touch his shoulder.
"You didn't," she said simply. "Instead.you almost got killed, stopping before you'd finished the fight." Amarant chuckled and shook his head.
"Not a chance of that - I was just getting him where I wanted him." Freya rolled her bright eyes back, but she was chuckling when she slugged him playfully. Her expression turned more serious as she drew him down beside her.
"What you did earlier - please don't do it again."
"I won't, if I can help it - just tell me if I do. It'll take awhile to stop shutting down like that."
"I can handle that," she said, pulling him close to her. "I just don't like to feel like you're trying to get rid of me," she finished softly, resting her head on his shoulder. "I already had one lover leave me behind, I don't want you to do the same," she whispered.
"Shh - I'll never leave you, if I can help it," he said, rubbing her neck and back gently. "I promise." They were quiet for a long moment while they both calmed down, releasing some of the fear and anger of the day, before Freya spoke again.
"Amarant?"
"Yeah?"
"Why do you shut down like that? If you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but.."
"But you want to know why I become somebody else when I'm on a job, right?" She nodded against his shoulder, and he thought for a moment, trying to decide the easiest way to explain it.
"You remember that tattoo you noticed the first time we were together?"
"Yes," she said, absently tracing a finger over the rough, stylized serpent scar under his vest.
"It's the brand of one of the pit slaves of Treno's old Serpent Syndicate."
"Pit slaves," she asked, trying to figure out what he meant as she pulled back slightly, watching his face.
"We were trained to fight in the pits deep below the city - not something I like to remember. Part of what I had to do to survive was shut down like that - and I just never stopped doing it, when I was on a job."
"So that's why you feel like you have to prove yourself all the time," she said softly, still half-shocked at the very idea. He shrugged.
"Maybe. Doesn't matter too much - but it is why I do that. I've had to for years now."
"Does Lani know about this?"
"She was there," he nodded. "Different syndicate - think she was in King's stables. But she was there. She wound up taking the worst parts of it too, before we dealt with the problem. But that's not something I want to talk about," he said firmly.
"All right, Amarant," Freya nodded quietly, pulling him close again. "It can wait."
"Thank you," he said softly. "Get some sleep, lover, I have a feeling we'll be needing it." Freya smiled and closed her eyes, relaxing against him.
"Just make sure you get some too," she said with a slight chuckle, before the two of them both tried to get some rest before the ship reached their destination..