Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Final Fantasy IX characters but my
characters are my own creations and I do own the rights to them.
Chapter Twenty-One: It's Not Over Yet
"What the hell is that?" screamed a frightened solider standing next to Zidane. All the fighting had stopped. No one moved, even the monsters seemed to be frozen in place. Zidane would have started laughing at the way the soldier screamed had it not been for the object of everyone's attention. Above the center of the city a bright light grew. It kept getting bigger as it started to engulf everything in its path. Soon it was only a few feet from the battlefield. Zidane could feel the heat coming from the ball that was rapidly approaching him. He put his arms up to block out the blinding light and the intense heat as it rolled like a fog over him.
Screams could be heard all around the battlefield as everything disappeared. Zidane closed his eyes and tried to protect himself though he didn't know what from. He didn't know how long it had been since the light had caught him but the heat was starting to get to him. Grunting he tried to hold his ground as a brutal wind suddenly sprang up from the mists. It kept pushing him back and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
And then as suddenly as it had sprung up the light vanished. Everything was as it was before. Or at least that was what Zidane thought at first glance. When he finally put his arms down he discovered that the monsters were gone. Not one could be seen on the bloody field. All the fighters stared around them in amazement. Zidane also happened to notice that all the genomes and angels were gone, too.
"What just happened?" a tiny voice from beside Zidane's leg asked. He jumped in surprise and nearly knocked over Vivi who had come to stand behind him while he was taking in what had happened. Eiko giggled as she watched Zidane trip all over himself while he tried to stand up without shoving Vivi to the ground.
"Eiko! Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Zidane yelled at the child. Eiko just giggled at his stern glance. Zidane sighed and threw his hands up in the air as a sign of defeat.
"Hey, somebody had to break you out of your trance. You looked like you saw a ghost," she replied smartly.
"Let's hope I didn't," he said as he started jogging off in the direction of the city square. Eiko and Vivi followed him praying that Phina was okay. All Zidane could think about the entire way there was how the light was an omen. If it was for good or evil Zidane didn't know.
~*~ City Square ~*~
A small groan that could be heard from underneath a pile of rubble told Phina where Xavier was. The summoner had tried to escape her fury by diving behind the now completely ruined fountain. Phina sat for another moment on the cold stone ground. She felt a little lightheaded because of all the energy she had used up. ~Mental note: next time, make sure to control my temper~ she thought, mentally scolding herself for her stupidity. She was lucky that she had stopped herself from vaporizing everything in sight.
"Well, Xavier it's over. I suggest that you surrender, unless of course, you would like to be ripped to shreds by the hundreds of soldiers that had to fight the demons that you sent to this planet," she said with biting anger. Everything that had happened was his fault. Phina would make sure that he would not get away with it. Another groan was the only response that she received from Xavier.
Sighing Phina finally managed to pick herself up. She instantly regretted the move. Once on her feet the world started to spin around her in a dizzying circle. Phina stumbled a little as she made her way to where Xavier was hiding. Kneeling on the ground, she started to dig through the rubble with her hands. Pretty soon she was able to make out a wrinkled hand from underneath the mess. Quickly she cleared away the rest of the rubble to find Xavier lying face down on the ground moaning in pain.
"Oh, stop the whining, you baby!" Phina hissed at the pathetic excuse for a man in front of her. Xavier took no notice of her as he continued to writhe on the ground as if in terrible pain. A shout from behind her made Phina turn around.
Standing at the entrance to the city square was Zidane, Vivi, and Eiko. On seeing Phina, Zidane sprinted towards the woman. When he reached her he fell to his knees and brought her into a tight hug. She returned the hug warmly; glad to see that he was not injured seriously.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Zidane asked.
"I'm fine. Don't worry I'm fine. Everything's all right," Phina whispered. Pulling back Zidane looked at the woman in his arms. Her hair was a complete mess and there was blood oozing from small cuts all over her body. The overalls that she was wearing were ripped in places but her green eyes were sparkling.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Phina laughed. It felt so good to laugh.
"Yes, yes, I'm just fine, Zidane. Xavier was just trying to get me to submit to his will and it made me mad, so I kind of blew up. Literally."
"You mean that was you? That big, white thing was you?" Zidane gasped in surprise.
"I don't exactly remember what happened but there was like this rush of energy that left my body," Phina said thoughtfully.
"AHHH!" Eiko shrieked. While Phina and Zidane had been talking the little princess had walked over to examine Xavier's body. It was still twisting in pain but the spasms seemed to be growing smaller. Suddenly the summoner just stopped twitching period and his eyes snapped open to look straight at Eiko. Something in his gaze kept her frozen in place while he slowly inched his hand towards her. When the hand grasped her wrist with a ferocity that Eiko didn't even know a man like Xavier could have, she screamed.
Phina spun around and glared at Xavier. With Zidane's help she stood up and kicked the weakened man. He grunted but didn't let go of Eiko. Instead he pulled her closer and started to laugh like a maniac.
"Look out!" Vivi cried. He caught Xavier doing something with his other hand and it didn't look good. Before Phina and Zidane had time to react, Xavier had blasted them with the energy he had stored in the palm of his hand. The couple was sent flying backwards along the ground and stopped only when they hit the wall of one of the ruined buildings. Zidane managed to shield Phina from the blow but there was a sickening crack as his head struck the stone hard.
"Did you really think you could beat me? After everything that I've worked hard to do," Xavier sneered as he slowly rose to his feet. He clutched Eiko's hand tightly and held her at his side. She struggled and twisted trying to escape but it was no use. With another blast f energy from his palm, Vivi was lying next to Phina and Zidane unconscious.
"No! Leave them alone!" Eiko cried. Xavier just threw her to the ground.
"Stop it, Xavier!"
He turned to find Phina standing up and glaring defiantly at him. There was something in her eyes. Something he had seen before. Her eyes had the same look of pure hatred when he had insulted her father back in the cave. And it was those eyes full of venom that scared him.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hey, look guys! I updated. Aren't you so proud of me? Well, anybody? Guess not. Yeah, well, I kind of had a really, really big writer's block. I couldn't figure out where I wanted to go next so I kind of just stopped writing. I know, I know icewater_angel probably hates me because I haven't updated in close to a month, which is totally not me. Normally I update once a week or once every two weeks at the latest but school's been tough, I just got a job, and I've been paying more attention to my other stories which frankly are doing a lot better than this one. One of the ones I have going is 17 chapters with 25 reviews and my favorite is four chapters long with 22 reviews (BTW: If anybody wants to read those the first is under Zelda and called The Missing Triangle and my second is an original story called Princess of Thieves). So there's my excuse. Lame I know but that's what happened. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Please forgive me icewater_angel.
Oh yeah and thanks to Cavilier for the very nice review. I'm glad that you like my story. Sorry for not updating. See ya next time.
Chapter Twenty-One: It's Not Over Yet
"What the hell is that?" screamed a frightened solider standing next to Zidane. All the fighting had stopped. No one moved, even the monsters seemed to be frozen in place. Zidane would have started laughing at the way the soldier screamed had it not been for the object of everyone's attention. Above the center of the city a bright light grew. It kept getting bigger as it started to engulf everything in its path. Soon it was only a few feet from the battlefield. Zidane could feel the heat coming from the ball that was rapidly approaching him. He put his arms up to block out the blinding light and the intense heat as it rolled like a fog over him.
Screams could be heard all around the battlefield as everything disappeared. Zidane closed his eyes and tried to protect himself though he didn't know what from. He didn't know how long it had been since the light had caught him but the heat was starting to get to him. Grunting he tried to hold his ground as a brutal wind suddenly sprang up from the mists. It kept pushing him back and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
And then as suddenly as it had sprung up the light vanished. Everything was as it was before. Or at least that was what Zidane thought at first glance. When he finally put his arms down he discovered that the monsters were gone. Not one could be seen on the bloody field. All the fighters stared around them in amazement. Zidane also happened to notice that all the genomes and angels were gone, too.
"What just happened?" a tiny voice from beside Zidane's leg asked. He jumped in surprise and nearly knocked over Vivi who had come to stand behind him while he was taking in what had happened. Eiko giggled as she watched Zidane trip all over himself while he tried to stand up without shoving Vivi to the ground.
"Eiko! Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack," Zidane yelled at the child. Eiko just giggled at his stern glance. Zidane sighed and threw his hands up in the air as a sign of defeat.
"Hey, somebody had to break you out of your trance. You looked like you saw a ghost," she replied smartly.
"Let's hope I didn't," he said as he started jogging off in the direction of the city square. Eiko and Vivi followed him praying that Phina was okay. All Zidane could think about the entire way there was how the light was an omen. If it was for good or evil Zidane didn't know.
~*~ City Square ~*~
A small groan that could be heard from underneath a pile of rubble told Phina where Xavier was. The summoner had tried to escape her fury by diving behind the now completely ruined fountain. Phina sat for another moment on the cold stone ground. She felt a little lightheaded because of all the energy she had used up. ~Mental note: next time, make sure to control my temper~ she thought, mentally scolding herself for her stupidity. She was lucky that she had stopped herself from vaporizing everything in sight.
"Well, Xavier it's over. I suggest that you surrender, unless of course, you would like to be ripped to shreds by the hundreds of soldiers that had to fight the demons that you sent to this planet," she said with biting anger. Everything that had happened was his fault. Phina would make sure that he would not get away with it. Another groan was the only response that she received from Xavier.
Sighing Phina finally managed to pick herself up. She instantly regretted the move. Once on her feet the world started to spin around her in a dizzying circle. Phina stumbled a little as she made her way to where Xavier was hiding. Kneeling on the ground, she started to dig through the rubble with her hands. Pretty soon she was able to make out a wrinkled hand from underneath the mess. Quickly she cleared away the rest of the rubble to find Xavier lying face down on the ground moaning in pain.
"Oh, stop the whining, you baby!" Phina hissed at the pathetic excuse for a man in front of her. Xavier took no notice of her as he continued to writhe on the ground as if in terrible pain. A shout from behind her made Phina turn around.
Standing at the entrance to the city square was Zidane, Vivi, and Eiko. On seeing Phina, Zidane sprinted towards the woman. When he reached her he fell to his knees and brought her into a tight hug. She returned the hug warmly; glad to see that he was not injured seriously.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Zidane asked.
"I'm fine. Don't worry I'm fine. Everything's all right," Phina whispered. Pulling back Zidane looked at the woman in his arms. Her hair was a complete mess and there was blood oozing from small cuts all over her body. The overalls that she was wearing were ripped in places but her green eyes were sparkling.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Phina laughed. It felt so good to laugh.
"Yes, yes, I'm just fine, Zidane. Xavier was just trying to get me to submit to his will and it made me mad, so I kind of blew up. Literally."
"You mean that was you? That big, white thing was you?" Zidane gasped in surprise.
"I don't exactly remember what happened but there was like this rush of energy that left my body," Phina said thoughtfully.
"AHHH!" Eiko shrieked. While Phina and Zidane had been talking the little princess had walked over to examine Xavier's body. It was still twisting in pain but the spasms seemed to be growing smaller. Suddenly the summoner just stopped twitching period and his eyes snapped open to look straight at Eiko. Something in his gaze kept her frozen in place while he slowly inched his hand towards her. When the hand grasped her wrist with a ferocity that Eiko didn't even know a man like Xavier could have, she screamed.
Phina spun around and glared at Xavier. With Zidane's help she stood up and kicked the weakened man. He grunted but didn't let go of Eiko. Instead he pulled her closer and started to laugh like a maniac.
"Look out!" Vivi cried. He caught Xavier doing something with his other hand and it didn't look good. Before Phina and Zidane had time to react, Xavier had blasted them with the energy he had stored in the palm of his hand. The couple was sent flying backwards along the ground and stopped only when they hit the wall of one of the ruined buildings. Zidane managed to shield Phina from the blow but there was a sickening crack as his head struck the stone hard.
"Did you really think you could beat me? After everything that I've worked hard to do," Xavier sneered as he slowly rose to his feet. He clutched Eiko's hand tightly and held her at his side. She struggled and twisted trying to escape but it was no use. With another blast f energy from his palm, Vivi was lying next to Phina and Zidane unconscious.
"No! Leave them alone!" Eiko cried. Xavier just threw her to the ground.
"Stop it, Xavier!"
He turned to find Phina standing up and glaring defiantly at him. There was something in her eyes. Something he had seen before. Her eyes had the same look of pure hatred when he had insulted her father back in the cave. And it was those eyes full of venom that scared him.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hey, look guys! I updated. Aren't you so proud of me? Well, anybody? Guess not. Yeah, well, I kind of had a really, really big writer's block. I couldn't figure out where I wanted to go next so I kind of just stopped writing. I know, I know icewater_angel probably hates me because I haven't updated in close to a month, which is totally not me. Normally I update once a week or once every two weeks at the latest but school's been tough, I just got a job, and I've been paying more attention to my other stories which frankly are doing a lot better than this one. One of the ones I have going is 17 chapters with 25 reviews and my favorite is four chapters long with 22 reviews (BTW: If anybody wants to read those the first is under Zelda and called The Missing Triangle and my second is an original story called Princess of Thieves). So there's my excuse. Lame I know but that's what happened. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Please forgive me icewater_angel.
Oh yeah and thanks to Cavilier for the very nice review. I'm glad that you like my story. Sorry for not updating. See ya next time.
