Chapter 39 – Help in the most unexpected form

It's time for nursery rhymes!

Imagine WL as the sheep and Celestine as the person asking.

"Baa Baa black sheep have you any wool?

  Yes ma'am yes ma'am three bags full

  One for my master (That's Zell so that he can stroke my head)

  And one for my dame (That's you so that you will let him stroke my head)

  And one for the flaming girl who won't go away." (Wool can be comforting for PMS.)

Yay! And of course, Baa Baa black sheep doesn't belong to me.

Celestine: Preposterous! Do you think that I would let Zell touch you just by bribing me with a bag of wool? Think again!

WL: Baaaaa~~~ Baaa~~~

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~WINHILL~

      "What the……" Xu stared in a mix of amazement and disbelief at the scene before her – the same reaction that the twenty-five strong squad behind her was having.

    Less than five minutes ago, they had set off from the Deling camp to defend Winhill from intruders… but they had not expected help of any kind, much less in the form of those that were presented before her.
    A small group of Underground creatures, whose intention were evidently on raiding the small town lay writhing upon the ground like earthworms, clutching their eyes and other various parts of their bodies in blinded agony.

    Apparently, this was the result of an attack by… a group of PUPU ALIENS?!!

    One of the light turquoise little guys, presumably their leader advanced towards Xu…

     "Humans help Pupu. Pupu help humans in return." It said in its high-pitched, child-like voice.

    Unbeknownst to Xu, this was the same Pupu who was saved by Squall and company with five Elixirs when its UFO had crashed and burnt right into the hole that was vacated by the mobile Balamb Garden.

    And now, in order to repay their kindness, it had called upon a whole army of its own kind to strike down the Underground Creatures threatening to destroy Winhill, with their alien rays.

     "But how did you manage to get here so fast?' Xu asked in astonishment.

     "PuPu always hovering around here. PuPu likes this place and humans."

     "I see." The two words were all Xu could say, for this was definitely one of the weirdest things she had ever seen… not a surprise since she was not exactly Agent Dana Scully of X-files fame.

     "Human go help other humans. Winhill safe with PuPu protection."

     "Thank you, PuPu!" She smiled widely at it/him, then turned towards her squad.

     "Well, you heard the little one, let's go help the rest in Dollet."

     "Aye Aye Ma'am!"

    ~DOLLET ENTRANCE~

    Nida looked up in despair when he realized not a single one of his attacks were of any use against the Black Ogre.

    Sure, he knew about the monster's weakness… but its fatal spot was right in the middle of its forehead. How was he supposed to aim at it since this thing was at least five-stories high, maybe even wrose?

     "This is getting nowhere…" Yuri panted, wiping at the sweat dripping like mad across her brow. Several strands of her jet-black hair had escaped from her normally neat pigtails, some plastered across the side of her face due to the sticky perspiration. Signs that hinted at her vigorous efforts to get at the enemy.

    Both of them were essentially magic users, and their weapons were for close combat, thereby rendering them ineffectual.

     "Magma Breath." The Ogre hollered, and let a string of molten rock fly towards them.

    This Ogre was not quite as inaccurate as the one in Timber, for it was not asleep when it spewed off the barrage of rock.

    Nida managed to evade it, but Yuri got caught by a flying piece of the stuff, resulting in a serious-looking burn on her thigh.

     "AHHHHHH!!!!" She cried in pain, tempted to clutch her thigh but at the same time afraid that it would aggravate the injury.

    How can I stand around and let her get hurt? Nida, you're useless!

    With a newfound fury, Nida felt the power surge through his body, lending him a fresh and precious spurt of energy to his badly battered shell.

     "Yuri… I'm going to rush up to the top of that building over there, and try to tackle his spot. Will you be okay?"

     "Sure… I'll try to hold his attention. Show him what you've got!" Yuri gave him a thumbs-up sign and a huge smile.

     "I will beat him down… I swear to you Yuri!" Nida returned her gesture, and started out for the building as steathily as he could manage… for it would not bode well for them if the Black Ogre were to find out what he was about to do.

    Meanwhile, Yuri did not let herself idle for too long.

    I know Selphie said that GFs don't work… but that doesn't mean I can't summon one to try and earn some time for Nida!"

    She closed her eyes to concentrate upon her task on summoning her newly acquired GF… an uphill one since the surroundings was chaotic and saturated with shrieks of the inhuman kind, coupled with the injury cries from her fellow Squad mates.

     Eurzeria… My most wonderful GF… I request for your presence immediately… to battle with me against the greatest threat of all... Be strong for me… and you will have my gratitude for the rest of my life…"

   My pretty charge… your wish is my command. I shall protect you from the Ogre and mesmerize him with my web of dreams……

    As GF and human passed each other by, Yuri gave her Guardian an imploring look before disappearing onto a higher plane, to be replaced by Eurzeria.

    Basking in the shower of multiple prisms of light that signified the start of her trance-like moves, the GF danced around the enemy while spinning an invisible web that trapped the monster with seemingly nothing, while sprinkling golden glitter on it to induce sleep status.

    The dance was repeated for a number of times, increasing in speed as she spun faster round her target, until it was covered from head to toe with the glitter.

    As her dance climaxed, she rose up in the air, and spewed a cobweb-like substance upon the Ogre, encasing it snugly in its unbreakable threads.

    When Eurzeria disappeared to return to her original position in Yuri's mind, the girl peered anxiously at the Black Ogre, hoping that her GF's powers were strong enough to at least stun the enemy for a period long enough for Nida to get into position.

    The Black Ogre did not move, just simply stood rooted in its original position with its arm poised in mid-air.

    It had intended to perform the Arm-Swipe attack at Eurzeria, but did not have reflexes of that caliber.

     "Thank Hyne for that…" Yuri whispered to herself, for she had always winced whenever her GF took a beating… something that seemed to puzzle the hell out of other SeeDs and Cadets.

   She noticed suspicious movement near the Black Ogre's head.

   Sure enough, it was Nida, who was perched precariously on the very edge of the roof which had the closest proximity to the Ogre's head.

    Even though the distance was rather far, she could still make out the smile on his face, as if telling her that he would be able to make it, and he would be alright as well.

    The adventurous SeeD leaped onto the back of the Black Ogre, then waited for some kind of reaction.

    The Black Ogre gave a snort, looked up, and stared blankly at its surroundings, before going back to nodding off again.

    Both Nida and Yuri heaved out a sigh of great relief, for he would have had very high chances of falling to his death should it decide to shake its body around in order to get rid of the one riding on its neck.

    Nida reached cautiously for his twin daggers, and tried to climb up its head to get a better position… however it was not easy at all, for the Ogre's hair was oily and often gave him the slip.

    Finally, he gained a manageable foothold, grabbing onto two tufts of its hair for his dear life, and quickly stabbed both his daggers into its spot in the middle of the head.

    With a huge yowl, the Ogre shrieked its protest at having its forehead stabbed in the middle by something that crawled up to its head when it was sleeping. He had thought that it was merely a flea in his hair… something that it had grown accustomed to and thus paid no attention to it.

    Bit by bit, it started to disintegrate into black dust like other slain Black Ogres.

    Nida started to plummet to the ground, approaching the fate of being squashed like a tomato with an alarming swiftness.

     "NIDA!!!!" Yuri called out when she saw him falling, unable to think of anything to save him.

    In the midst of her desperation, she screamed for help in her mind.

    A gentle, translucent hand caught the boy just as he was about to meet the ground head on, and set him gently upon the ground.

     "Thank you, Eurzeria… you saved us again…" Yuri said, her eyes brimming with tears at the close call.

    You need not thank me, Yuri. Any time you need my help, just call out my name.

     It vanished from the sight, returning to where it previously dwelled.

      "Well… at last we killed the monster. I never thought I could do it."

     "Oh Nida… I have always thought that you were as capable as any other SeeD… you just lack confidence, that's all…"

     "Yuri… that's the most flattering thing I've ever heard in my whole life!"

     "You will always be my hero…" Yuri stared into his eyes in tenderness, and Nida returned her gaze with similar emotions… both of them forgetting for that one second that they were in the midst of a bloody, destructive war, and that there were several creatures left for them to get rid of……

    One particular Underground Creature could not stand to see happy couples in bliss…

    With an outstretched claw, it prepared to decorate Yuri's back with deep, horrible wounds inflicted by its terrible, sin-ridden talons……

   Will Yuri get hurt? Hyne Forbid!

    But who will stop it? Surely not Nida, since he's even more unaware of its presence than Yuri.

    Make a guess… if you're right, that means you're right. If you're wrong, too bad….

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    Hiiiii everyone…. I know this chapter is also very short… but I had to grapple with a dead mind and shortage of time (Only had two and a half hours to write…. Damn I hate deadlines) only to come up with this… this crap… And more bad news… I may not be able to update for three to four days(or even more) since my workload has increased… argh… so I urge you to be patient and wait for the more exciting stuff to pop into my mind by magic… what the hell am I yabbering about?

    First things first, the thank yous… I cannot not do this or face the wrath of the insomnia monster.

    Quistis88 – Don't worry! Since I'm such a sucker for those six, I definitely will bring them back faster than you can say "Redrumiel is the biggest jerk in the whole wide world." Oh, that's a long sentence I know, but I just wanted to make sure I don't have to eat my words.

    Soul of Flame – Let me backtrack a bit… your chapters are not bland! Okay… got that off my chest… I remembered seeing that in one of your reviews, but never got around to correcting it. Anwayz… thank you for saying that I'm a talented writer… though I can't really see it myself. You're talented as well… ff.net is full of such people… Each time I read someone's fic, I think "I really have to learn from her/him"… and such is the case when I read your fic too! That sounds… weird…. But you get the idea…

    Jengab057 – I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! I enjoyed writing it as well, because of encouraging reviews from you people… (even if that might not seem the case since I am continually criticizing my fic, but that's just my bad habit.)

    Last but not least…

    Princess of Lundberge -  Ummmm… Thanks for your advice? Compliment? Patience for reading up to here??????????? Uhhhhh……. *scratches head*

    Alright folks! That's all for the day. Meanwhile… let me take a poll here…

1) Do you want Celestine to live?

2) Or die?

 Your answer… shall determine the ending of this whole goddamn story… the long-running Angel series which I will wash my hands on after the last chapter. So vote, and vote wisely.

    Celestine: Shouldn't I be consulted for an opinion? It IS my life after all?!!!!!!!!!!!!

    WL: Absolutely not. You have no say whatsoever. Tough.