Author's Note: I suck at these on-time updates. But this is the last
chapter before the explanation of my insanity on both fics.Chapter.6? 7?
of "The First Priestess" should be up soon. Don't worry. I'm not dead.
---***---
The Beholder stopped; Sephiroth could see the blue crescent of Avalon almost glowing on her forehead, and shivered. If there was ever anything he feared, it was Avalon. And since this girl was Priestess and Beholder, she held unimaginable power.
Could she unlock that, though, Sephiroth wondered. Gilgamesh and Devali certainly thought so. Lolth was outwardly opposed to the idea; her own eyes were narrowed with hatred, and she hissed, "I would that she had been killed..if she is truly the Beholder her spirit will not allow her to die."
Gilgamesh shook his head. "The power of Avalon must be behind her, and in death she does not have that."
"She will not have it anyway, soon enough."
Gilgamesh put his back to her, facing his son and the Beholder. "You know my position."
Devali, almost inhumanly beautiful, tried to take the Beholder's hand. She responded by yanking it away and began to cast some sort of spell; one of her handmaidens grabbed her arm and twisted it. The Beholder's lips drew back in a grimace, her teeth ground; but she did not cry out. Instead she glared at the handmaid and started another spell. This, too, was halted, and the girl was pushed towards the pedestal upon which the Cup gleamed, wickedly golden, like the beautiful deadly flashing of a deep-sea fish's lure.
Speaking arcane words, each of the Triad placed unholy blessings on the Cup; it was then lifted reverently from its carved seat and lifted high in a final blessing by Devali. Gilgamesh watched as his son brought it over to the Beholder; one of the handmaidens yanked her head back, the other forced her mouth open. Devali placed the chilly metal brim of the cup on her lips. Tipping it back, he whispered another set of words that he had rehearsed since he was old enough to know their meaning.
The handmaiden holding her mouth forced it shut and held on, any trace of fear or apprehension gone. Gurgling noises, and a tiny stream of blood from the corner of her mouth showed she was fighting swallowing with all her might. Finally, though she had to, and coughed once the drow holding her mouth had released it. A fine spray of red covered Devali and spattered Sephiroth's hair. The Beholder's lips were ruby-red with the liquid; it dripped off her chin and stained her dress. Her eyes took on a glazed look; it was time for her to See.
---***---
"Let me GO!"
Calix struggled violently against Leviathan's grip; the elf's emerald eyes were narrowed, and when he finally stopped struggling he shook with rage. "Let me go, damn you!"
Leviathan did not relax his grip. "You'll be very foolish. No."
"Whose side are you on?"
Shiva said, "We are on nobody's side. Now, kindly stop complaining, and listen."
Slowly the party quieted, and as they did a soft, mad giggling could be heard. Peeking between the rails of the catwalk, the say Ailani, on her knees, staring with unseeing eyes at a highly polished mirror.
"The veil," she said, in a voice that should not have carried up to where they were. Shiva frowned.
"The veil," Ailani repeated. "Was it rent in twain from top to bottom?"
" 'Was it rent in twain from top to bottom?' 'The veil?' What is she talking about, Shiva?" Alastair asked. Shiva shook her head.
"It may be millenia past, Elf-lord. The Beholder sees many things."
Ailani's giggling grew a little louder. "Catchers..catchers in the rye..behold, they shall harvest their unholy souls and burn them, like weeds among wheat..Goddess, Ceridwen,the Wheel spins thirteen times..then the Truth will be shown to all, when the Wheel..thirteen.Mother, Goddess.." She trailed off into a fit of giggling, then collapsed, and lay motionless a moment.
Much like with Rikku's group, several things happened in that moment.
Calix jumped off the catwalk, landing lightly on his feet and drawing his blades. Also, Shiva struck Lolth with a javelin made of sparkling, opaque ice, and Seymour, Yuna, and Rikku tumbled out of the silver door and landed on one of the handmaidens. This caused Ailani to sit up and notice a small light outlining her.
She knelt, looking at her glowing hands, then at her father. Actions and ideas not her own began running through her head; slowly she stood, the light growing brighter, until she was almost unbearable to look at. All motion in the room stopped. The only things that was discernible in the light were her eyes, bright bluey sparks.
"Father," she said, in a voice that resonated through the Tower. "The Lock."
Seymour stared up at her. "What?"
"I am the Key, as you are the Lock. The spell."
---***---
The Planet gave both the words they needed, and smiled to itself as it felt the Lock turning. Destiny would be fulfilled, the last of its children brought back to it.
---***---
Behind Ailani, a great tear appeared in the air - that was what it looked like, at least. It swirled with green and blue and silver, pulsing. Ailani, growing brighter, rose into the air.
"The veil," Alastair muttered.
A great boom rattled all in the room; three shock waves started pulsed out from Ailani. In the first wave, the Triad disintegrated; in the second, Devali and the other drow did; the Deva vanished, back to their plane to watch safely. The third pulse was not felt by anyone for a minute. Then the tower began to rumble.
"The Tower's going to collapse!" Alastair cried, grabbing Rikku's hand and making for the door. A chunk of ceiling fell in front of him. Spinning around in panicky circles, the party was trapped.
Another light appeared in the middle of the floor, and grew into the shape of a horse - with a golden horn and moon-silver coat. Nenya, only it was not. The stallion was nearly as tall as the catwalk around the top of the hall; wings were furled tightly against his withers. The great steed knelt, and the party ran up his foreleg, clinging to each other. Calix was in front; he grabbed strands of the wiry mane and gripped tightly. With a neigh like the tolling of a bell, Nenya leapt upwards. The golden horn cast a beam of gold light, clearing off half the Tower and allowing them to escape safely into the night air.
"AILANI!" Calix yelled, looking down at the bare point of light that his beloved was, visible against a tempest of magical power and dust. Seymour grabbed the elf's chain mail.
"Let her go, Prince," he said. "Let her be." The half-Guado's eyes were filled with tears. "She'll be fine."
Nenya took them far up from the Earth; it seemed they grew as big as a mountain, then were as small as fireflies, dancing in a timeless dance that brought them safe through the Valley of Shadow.
---***---
"So it is done," Bahamut said.
"Yes." Shiva watched as the tiny point of light that was Ailani dimmed, flickered, then went out altogether. "Ailani was the right choice."
"She had the Old Blood, too, Shiva. She is one of the Planet's children. The last."
Shiva watched as slowly the dark mist that had covered much of the three- dimensional map dispersed; it glowed merrily, the little points of light twinkling. "So we are free, truly free."
"Yes."
---***---
Within the ruins of the Tower, Ailani smiled as she watched Nenya spiral upward. Even as the ceiling fell, and her form became less corporeal, she smiled up at the starlight.
It felt like she was swimming, down the deepest parts of the Lake in Silverwood. Turning over, she kicked her feet; why, she was swimming! Ahead of her was a green glow, and Ailani swam for that.
^Welcome home, my child.^
---***---
Almost four hundred years later, an elf with black hair tread softly through a verdant forest. His hair was streaked through with silver, now, but not with age. The years had not dimmed his outward appearance; but he moved with the stiffness of age. In truth, he had not been out here in four hundred years. All his companions that had been with him then were long dead. Looking back to where a great winged stallion stood, grazing happily, he nodded and continued on.
He came out into a valley, forested over too. Moving to the floor, he finally found what he was looking for. A ruin of a wall stood in front of him. Leaping from stone to stone, the elf made his way into what the outline showed to have been a grand hall.
Bursting rocks with magic did not make him break a sweat, and he found what he was looking for. A beautiful silver dress, old, old bloodstains spattering the front. Carefully folding it, he put it in his pack and turned to go, but stopped.
A young woman stood in front of him, smiling a bit arrogantly. "Well, Prince Calix, I can see you're no different."
The elf dropped his pack. "A-Ailan..i?"
The apparition nodded, and then held out her hand. It was half-hidden in a long sleeve, the robe of a high priestess of Avalon. The crescent on her brow glowed brightly.
"Hello, Calix," Ailani said. "It's been a long time."
"A long time?" Calix said incredulously, then smiled weakly and stepped forward. "Ailani.. I've missed you."
"I know. I've been waiting for you, Calix."
Calix stood beside her, looking at his body laying on a sun-warmed stone in what had been a Tower. Ailani's spirit laughed.
"Looks like I killed you a little, Calix."
"Yes," Calix said, smiling at her and taking her hand. "Looks like you killed me a lot."
They disappeared.
---***---
I would like to thank my lovely, bestest, most adorable friend Kyle-chan. I couldn't have gotten this off the ground without your inventive RP mind. Thankuu.
To yunalesca78 - thank you so much for all the awesome reviews. When people were sending me flames, and when I started thinking maybe I was being too cliché, or too long-winded, or something, your reviews always made me feel like I was actually any good. You're really a cool person.
To arcander - man, you rock. What else can I say?
To all my other reviewers: thank you, for the good reviews and the bad. Both kept me thinking realistically and kept me on track when I wanted to go off on tangents with certain characters, and in many ways (I know you lot have seen them) influenced where the story went initially. Again, thanks for 16 chapters of pure joy.
See you again soon.
Sephira Netzach
---***---
The Beholder stopped; Sephiroth could see the blue crescent of Avalon almost glowing on her forehead, and shivered. If there was ever anything he feared, it was Avalon. And since this girl was Priestess and Beholder, she held unimaginable power.
Could she unlock that, though, Sephiroth wondered. Gilgamesh and Devali certainly thought so. Lolth was outwardly opposed to the idea; her own eyes were narrowed with hatred, and she hissed, "I would that she had been killed..if she is truly the Beholder her spirit will not allow her to die."
Gilgamesh shook his head. "The power of Avalon must be behind her, and in death she does not have that."
"She will not have it anyway, soon enough."
Gilgamesh put his back to her, facing his son and the Beholder. "You know my position."
Devali, almost inhumanly beautiful, tried to take the Beholder's hand. She responded by yanking it away and began to cast some sort of spell; one of her handmaidens grabbed her arm and twisted it. The Beholder's lips drew back in a grimace, her teeth ground; but she did not cry out. Instead she glared at the handmaid and started another spell. This, too, was halted, and the girl was pushed towards the pedestal upon which the Cup gleamed, wickedly golden, like the beautiful deadly flashing of a deep-sea fish's lure.
Speaking arcane words, each of the Triad placed unholy blessings on the Cup; it was then lifted reverently from its carved seat and lifted high in a final blessing by Devali. Gilgamesh watched as his son brought it over to the Beholder; one of the handmaidens yanked her head back, the other forced her mouth open. Devali placed the chilly metal brim of the cup on her lips. Tipping it back, he whispered another set of words that he had rehearsed since he was old enough to know their meaning.
The handmaiden holding her mouth forced it shut and held on, any trace of fear or apprehension gone. Gurgling noises, and a tiny stream of blood from the corner of her mouth showed she was fighting swallowing with all her might. Finally, though she had to, and coughed once the drow holding her mouth had released it. A fine spray of red covered Devali and spattered Sephiroth's hair. The Beholder's lips were ruby-red with the liquid; it dripped off her chin and stained her dress. Her eyes took on a glazed look; it was time for her to See.
---***---
"Let me GO!"
Calix struggled violently against Leviathan's grip; the elf's emerald eyes were narrowed, and when he finally stopped struggling he shook with rage. "Let me go, damn you!"
Leviathan did not relax his grip. "You'll be very foolish. No."
"Whose side are you on?"
Shiva said, "We are on nobody's side. Now, kindly stop complaining, and listen."
Slowly the party quieted, and as they did a soft, mad giggling could be heard. Peeking between the rails of the catwalk, the say Ailani, on her knees, staring with unseeing eyes at a highly polished mirror.
"The veil," she said, in a voice that should not have carried up to where they were. Shiva frowned.
"The veil," Ailani repeated. "Was it rent in twain from top to bottom?"
" 'Was it rent in twain from top to bottom?' 'The veil?' What is she talking about, Shiva?" Alastair asked. Shiva shook her head.
"It may be millenia past, Elf-lord. The Beholder sees many things."
Ailani's giggling grew a little louder. "Catchers..catchers in the rye..behold, they shall harvest their unholy souls and burn them, like weeds among wheat..Goddess, Ceridwen,the Wheel spins thirteen times..then the Truth will be shown to all, when the Wheel..thirteen.Mother, Goddess.." She trailed off into a fit of giggling, then collapsed, and lay motionless a moment.
Much like with Rikku's group, several things happened in that moment.
Calix jumped off the catwalk, landing lightly on his feet and drawing his blades. Also, Shiva struck Lolth with a javelin made of sparkling, opaque ice, and Seymour, Yuna, and Rikku tumbled out of the silver door and landed on one of the handmaidens. This caused Ailani to sit up and notice a small light outlining her.
She knelt, looking at her glowing hands, then at her father. Actions and ideas not her own began running through her head; slowly she stood, the light growing brighter, until she was almost unbearable to look at. All motion in the room stopped. The only things that was discernible in the light were her eyes, bright bluey sparks.
"Father," she said, in a voice that resonated through the Tower. "The Lock."
Seymour stared up at her. "What?"
"I am the Key, as you are the Lock. The spell."
---***---
The Planet gave both the words they needed, and smiled to itself as it felt the Lock turning. Destiny would be fulfilled, the last of its children brought back to it.
---***---
Behind Ailani, a great tear appeared in the air - that was what it looked like, at least. It swirled with green and blue and silver, pulsing. Ailani, growing brighter, rose into the air.
"The veil," Alastair muttered.
A great boom rattled all in the room; three shock waves started pulsed out from Ailani. In the first wave, the Triad disintegrated; in the second, Devali and the other drow did; the Deva vanished, back to their plane to watch safely. The third pulse was not felt by anyone for a minute. Then the tower began to rumble.
"The Tower's going to collapse!" Alastair cried, grabbing Rikku's hand and making for the door. A chunk of ceiling fell in front of him. Spinning around in panicky circles, the party was trapped.
Another light appeared in the middle of the floor, and grew into the shape of a horse - with a golden horn and moon-silver coat. Nenya, only it was not. The stallion was nearly as tall as the catwalk around the top of the hall; wings were furled tightly against his withers. The great steed knelt, and the party ran up his foreleg, clinging to each other. Calix was in front; he grabbed strands of the wiry mane and gripped tightly. With a neigh like the tolling of a bell, Nenya leapt upwards. The golden horn cast a beam of gold light, clearing off half the Tower and allowing them to escape safely into the night air.
"AILANI!" Calix yelled, looking down at the bare point of light that his beloved was, visible against a tempest of magical power and dust. Seymour grabbed the elf's chain mail.
"Let her go, Prince," he said. "Let her be." The half-Guado's eyes were filled with tears. "She'll be fine."
Nenya took them far up from the Earth; it seemed they grew as big as a mountain, then were as small as fireflies, dancing in a timeless dance that brought them safe through the Valley of Shadow.
---***---
"So it is done," Bahamut said.
"Yes." Shiva watched as the tiny point of light that was Ailani dimmed, flickered, then went out altogether. "Ailani was the right choice."
"She had the Old Blood, too, Shiva. She is one of the Planet's children. The last."
Shiva watched as slowly the dark mist that had covered much of the three- dimensional map dispersed; it glowed merrily, the little points of light twinkling. "So we are free, truly free."
"Yes."
---***---
Within the ruins of the Tower, Ailani smiled as she watched Nenya spiral upward. Even as the ceiling fell, and her form became less corporeal, she smiled up at the starlight.
It felt like she was swimming, down the deepest parts of the Lake in Silverwood. Turning over, she kicked her feet; why, she was swimming! Ahead of her was a green glow, and Ailani swam for that.
^Welcome home, my child.^
---***---
Almost four hundred years later, an elf with black hair tread softly through a verdant forest. His hair was streaked through with silver, now, but not with age. The years had not dimmed his outward appearance; but he moved with the stiffness of age. In truth, he had not been out here in four hundred years. All his companions that had been with him then were long dead. Looking back to where a great winged stallion stood, grazing happily, he nodded and continued on.
He came out into a valley, forested over too. Moving to the floor, he finally found what he was looking for. A ruin of a wall stood in front of him. Leaping from stone to stone, the elf made his way into what the outline showed to have been a grand hall.
Bursting rocks with magic did not make him break a sweat, and he found what he was looking for. A beautiful silver dress, old, old bloodstains spattering the front. Carefully folding it, he put it in his pack and turned to go, but stopped.
A young woman stood in front of him, smiling a bit arrogantly. "Well, Prince Calix, I can see you're no different."
The elf dropped his pack. "A-Ailan..i?"
The apparition nodded, and then held out her hand. It was half-hidden in a long sleeve, the robe of a high priestess of Avalon. The crescent on her brow glowed brightly.
"Hello, Calix," Ailani said. "It's been a long time."
"A long time?" Calix said incredulously, then smiled weakly and stepped forward. "Ailani.. I've missed you."
"I know. I've been waiting for you, Calix."
Calix stood beside her, looking at his body laying on a sun-warmed stone in what had been a Tower. Ailani's spirit laughed.
"Looks like I killed you a little, Calix."
"Yes," Calix said, smiling at her and taking her hand. "Looks like you killed me a lot."
They disappeared.
---***---
I would like to thank my lovely, bestest, most adorable friend Kyle-chan. I couldn't have gotten this off the ground without your inventive RP mind. Thankuu.
To yunalesca78 - thank you so much for all the awesome reviews. When people were sending me flames, and when I started thinking maybe I was being too cliché, or too long-winded, or something, your reviews always made me feel like I was actually any good. You're really a cool person.
To arcander - man, you rock. What else can I say?
To all my other reviewers: thank you, for the good reviews and the bad. Both kept me thinking realistically and kept me on track when I wanted to go off on tangents with certain characters, and in many ways (I know you lot have seen them) influenced where the story went initially. Again, thanks for 16 chapters of pure joy.
See you again soon.
Sephira Netzach