Chapter 32
Intense Training
(Sephiroth, you will Master That Materia)
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or it's characters; all OC's are mine besides some names.
A/N: Hey all! This will be my last chapter until I get back from Florida. Yeah! I can't wait; I've never been there before. Anyways, I thought the way the last chapter left off that that would be a good place to stop but Noooo. Juzu talked me into doing one more before I go so here it is, so if it leaves off in a bad spot blame her. (I'm evil aren't I Juzu?)
Intense Training (Sephiroth, you will Master That Materia):
Three week passed as the two officers and a Wutain traveled slowly towards the unsuspecting Fort Natic. Tseng was becoming worried about the two Shinra commanders. They were becoming more distant, quiet and were focusing before there was a need for it. Sometimes when he'd wake up late in the night he'd find both of them gone.
Tseng had looked for them on a number of occasions but had no luck in finding them. They were always back in the mornings though, Tseng had worried at first that they would try and ditch him but they always came back…
He'd even asked them once what they did at night and was answered by silence. They hardly talked at all anymore, but they always seemed to know what the other was thinking.
The day had grown hot and the raven-haired Wutain boy trudged along behind Sephiroth and Daitona. The all too familiar silence filled the air around them. They were within 20 miles of Fort Natic now and their tensions were becoming higher.
'Are we ready, could we ever be ready to take an entire fort by ourselves?' Daitona chewed at her bottom lip, she could feel her own wariness and tension growing just as well as Sephiroth's.
'We have been training as hard as we can, Daitona, we can't do much more than that…unless you want to wait and try something else. This wouldn't feel so weird if we had our troops backing us up but we are a team remember? So long as we put our minds to it and fight as a team we can overcome any odds,' Sephiroth assured her.
Daitona stopped dead in her tracks and threw her pack down in a cloud of dust. She put both her hand to her head and walked away from her companions. Sephiroth stopped and watched after her.
Daitona stopped once she found a grassy area and she sat down with her head in her hands. A while later a hand came to rest on her shoulder.
"Daitona…"
"It's not nerves anymore…it's a feeling. A lot are going to die when we show up if we use the force necessary…otherwise we'll be killed before we penetrate the fortress walls." She began to chew at her bottom lip again.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Sephiroth came around and sat beside her.
Daitona was silent for a long while, Tseng sat near by wondering what was going on. Were the two officers really having second thoughts about their plan?
Daitona gritted her teeth then looked up at Sephiroth. "My materia, if you can master all the abilities that I have put into it…but that…"
"But that's dangerous," Sephiroth finished for her.
"But if you get more control over it so can I. Maybe…we should wait and work with the materia, master it." Her eyes grew wide when she said that then closed. "I could not…but I can help you…but that is also dangerous…"
"How so?" Sephiroth wondered.
"Last time I gave you my strength to use an attack you hadn't the ability to do I drew Divinian power…you started to change like me even though you are not Divinian. I don't know what happened, it's like…you suddenly became Divinian when the attack was at full force." Daitona frowned at not knowing how to voice what the answer was.
"What are you saying? Your Divinian heritage just changed my own and made me even more similar to you. I'm like you?" Sephiroth asked.
"Similar, yes, but you are still by far no capable of the full force of a real Divinian." Daitona decided he had explained and grasped the concept better than she did so she let it go as said it.
"What an interesting concept…" Sephiroth scratched his chin in thought. "Lets master that materia…together, make me stronger Daitona. Your magic capabilities are far better than anyone else's…make me that way too. Make me faster, like you to where no one could hit me."
"Make you…you mean give you. That is all part of my heritage. Because of what I am, that's what makes me so fast, makes my magic attacks so different than any other, the physical strengths I have also come from that. You ask me for all that, but you forget that requires the destruction from that materia and a risk to myself and you," Daitona stated softly.
"But I'll help you like I did last time…"
"And you remember how it left me last time? Well, I don't. It's kind of frightening loosing memory and waking up somewhere you don't know…"
Sephiroth tightened his lips. "How about this…we start off with a smaller attack, train you too, a resistance in a sort. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. Do you trust me?"
"I do trust you, you know that. I trust you more than anyone else, if you really want this…then I'll agree."
Sephiroth nodded then stood. Daitona remained sitting a bit longer then joined him.
"Equip the materia. Tseng," Daitona turned to the Wutain. Her eyes glowed with the crimson materia Sephiroth pulled from his pocket. "You are to stay here, make camp. Sephiroth and I will be back later tonight or in the morning. It depends how things go. Do not go looking for us or you're liable to get killed. If things start getting rough I suggest you cast all the barriers spells you have and hold them."
"Done," Sephiroth announce.
Daitona nodded then they left the clearing, walking back the way they had come. They would not give up their location or their nearness to the fort.
Sephiroth and Daitona walked for about three hours before they found a clearing suitable for their training.
Sephiroth raised his sword as if to use the materia, but Daitona stopped him by covering the burning orb with her hand. She turned and pressed her back against his chest and moved the Masamune so that he held it in front of her.
Sephiroth took one of his hands off the hilt and wrapped his arm around her waist. She held onto his sword and his other hand with both of her hands.
"Now concentrate and think of 'Divine Mists.' It is an attack higher than the first level attack but lower than the second," Daitona instructed.
Sephiroth did as told and he felt everything around him slip away. His minds eyes seen nothing but darkness; he was aware of the other probing at his thoughts and he gave into it. His vision cleared to the surroundings of the area. There were no enemies, so he picked something to use as a target.
The merging of his consciousness and Daitona's told him immediately what he had to do and how to do it. There was a thick brush about 15 yards away, that was the target. With Daitona's consent their powers mingled, merged then hers burned him again.
The pain wasn't as intense as it had been the time before so his concentration was not disturbed in the least. The silvery stripes began to throb and burn then quit in favor of doing the same to his shoulders, but many more times over.
His vision went black; he could feel the attack then the slip on Daitona's consciousness but not as badly as it had the time before. The attack used was unseen by there eyes because Daitona had closed out the only vision they had.
When it was over Sephiroth opened his eyes to a lowered sword and the entire area before them was torn to pieces and the land overturned.
"Dang…" Daitona breathed.
"You ok," Sephiroth asked to be sure.
"Yeah…your arms burn…lift your sleeves."
Sephiroth let go of her and allowed her to hold Masamune while he lifted the sleeves of his black trench coat. There was a long silver red tinted stripe on his shoulder and one on the upper part of his arm. It was the same on his other arm.
"They didn't hurt so bad this time. Maybe it is better starting out at a lower level like that," Sephiroth commented looking over the stripes.
"Every time you change so do I." Daitona removed her own shoulder guards from her vest and discarded them. The stripe she had was one long one the snaked up her neck then branched off just under her chin to attach to the two thin ones on her cheeks. It ran in a gentle arc around the back of her neck to do the same to her other cheek. There was another branching off into thicker strips to run along both her shoulder then to become thin and end in a point after the curve of where her shoulder turned to arm. Two more thin strips ran downwards on the upper front part of her arm the other just opposite, running down her shoulder blade. Both sides head identical strips and they remained the silvery red color though they had an almost bluish tint when they thickened at her shoulders.
"I don't feel any pain when they show up…but I've never had them on my shoulders like this before," Daitona said and looked over her own strips, they'd never grown that thick before. "We can do one more low level attack like that before I need to rest."
"I felt you power over mine…" Sephiroth stated slowly.
"You don't have that kind of power to spare yet, but mine won't overcome yours this time. This attack is below a level one"
Sephiroth positioned himself behind her once again and took hold of Masamune and raised it back up. "What this time?"
"The name exceeds itself. 'Holy's Wrath'."
Sephiroth didn't question it and did as he had done before. 'Hey Daitona, think you could keep your eyes open this time. I'd like to see the attack.'
'As you wish. I'll try.' Their consciousness merged easily and they decided on a scorched tree for their next target.
Again Sephiroths arms started to burn, but nothing like the in the last attack, it was more irritating than anything else. He felt his power rise with Daitona's, he was about to think hers was going to go over his, but then the draw stopped and there was a comfortable warmth and a tingling sensation throughout his entire being.
Everything was calm and he found himself completely relaxed and whatever irritation of burning he had felt was completely gone now. His vision was clear and he watched the sky turn to an angry black then split suddenly by a beam of white light. It struck the three and completely vaporized it. The vision blurred a bit then became cleared again. The light spread out in all directions destroying anything in its path. It stopped just short of where they stood; the light vanished and the dark clouds cleared.
The vision blurred again then went dark, Daitona's consciousness ripping away from his own. Sephiroth's eyes snapped open.
Daitona breathed raggedly as she struggled to keep a grasp on the few threads of consciousness she had. Sephiroth stabbed his sword into the ground then helped her to sit down.
"This really does take a lot out of you, doesn't it?" he asked her gently.
"Yeah…sorry. The first one we did I supported most of the power in it. It really drained me. Just give me a little bit and we'll try another attack," Daitona assured and closed her eyes to rest.
It took Daitona nearly two hours to recover her strength before they were ready to continue. The sky was beginning to darken by that time.
Daitona stood in Sephiroth's grasp as she decided on the next move.
"Ok…only one this time before I rest. I won't take so long this time, a half-hour, ok? This attack is above a level two attack and below a level three. I'm going to draw a lot more energy from you this time so I'm not so tired afterwards, you may need that rest too. Now think of 'Demon's Glare' and I will close my eyes this time to protect us form the attack."
"Ok," Sephiroth stated, merging his mind with hers was becoming an almost natural reaction.
The burning feeling filled his arms this time then slowly started to creep up either side of his chest. The pull of his energy was getting exhausting as Daitona's power dragged higher and higher taking his along. Just when he though he'd collapse from fatigue his energy leveled off and Daitona's took over in an overwhelming blast.
'You supplied close to half…' her voice told him. 'I'll take care of the rest. Look straight ahead, I have to close my eyes soon.'
Sephiroth did as told. There was a strange black screen in his vision. There were eyes on it that were slowly opening to reveal crimson red, and then everything went black. Sephiroth struggled this time to open his eyes. He was completely whipped out and Daitona just felt so heavy in his arms now.
With some effort he stuck Masamune into the ground and lowered himself and Daitona down into a sitting position. Daitona's face was a little pale and her eyes were still closed.
"Daitona," Sephiroth urged and shook her in his arms.
Her eyes opened about half way and she slowly focused on his face. "Sorry about that…I guess that drained the both of us…it's harder to use power like that when there is no enemy. Lets just rest for now. I think my half-hour speculation was a bit off." She smiled somewhat then closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest.
Sephiroth slowly lay down on his back and held Daitona as he drifted off into sleep brought on by exhaustion.
Hours later the two were up and at the attacks again. They were able to do several lower level attacks before having to rest. That is how that night was spent until the early rays of morning sunlight woke them from their last rest from the bouts.
Daitona groaned and sat up; Sephiroth looked up at her with a questioning look. "I told Tseng we'd be back by this morning."
"Oh." Sephiroth closed his eyes then sat up beside her. "Then I guess we ought to go then. I'm getting kind of hungry anyway and we left all our supplies with him."
After they both thoroughly stretched out stiff and achy joints, and muscles alike, they started the trek back to where Tseng would be waiting.
****
After having a good breakfast Sephiroth and Daitona rested most of the day. Later on they told Tseng of what they were doing, then packed enough food supply for the two of them to last a few days. With the promise to be back in four days the two officers left and went even further than the last time. Their training was going to get hard and it wasn't helping that it left the both of them completely whipped out afterwards.
It was the beginnings of evening when Daitona and Sephiroth found the place they'd train this time. They crossed over a stream they'd rest by later on, and then passed into the clearing that was soon to be enlarged.
Daitona sighed as Sephiroth took his position behind her then brought Masamune up in front of the both of them. "At least this is becoming easier with the lower attacks. We were able to do six level two's before rest last time…lets do something different while we still have light."
"And what would that be?" Sephiroth asked.
"The level four attack we used against the Wutain's. I know we'll defiantly have to rest after that, but I won't draw more energy from than you can stand. Now, think 'Untouchable'." Daitona instructed.
His world sank into her but his vision didn't come up like it normally did. Instead a misty looking dragon appeared in the darkness of his and Daitona's mind. This time when it spoke he could understand its word through Daitona's mind.
"Young one…and one who wishes to call upon our powers. You are dealing in a dangerous game calling on my power when there is no threat."
"Dragon of the shadows," Daitona's voice was crisp and clear. "We will go into battle where it is quite possible we will die if we do not practice this power. We need the strength to endure more than one high level attack"
"Young Divinian child, you have the power needed to destroy a world such as this ten times over again. Why do you reject you heritage so?" The dragon sounded almost sympathetic.
"Divinian I may be, but I am also human. These are my people no matter how I look at it and I do not wish to kill more than necessary with my other heritage," Daitona stated softly.
"And you will let your royal bloodlines slip into a none Divinian? Child, Divinian mates do as much, is he your mate?"
"W-what?" Daitona's voice was thoroughly startled. "My mate? You're rather blunt aren't you? It's not like that. Can't one do such a thing because of a friend?…I mean…well…I…I don't know…"
The dragon laughed softly deep in it's throat. "Misguided since birth, child you are confused. You are still but a baby amongst our people. Your father was young himself…a young teenager in his late teens, as they'd say on this planet. Yet to these beings your father is ancient. There are Divinians still alive that are older than this dieing planet."
"Dieing planet?" Sephiroth spoke.
"Yes, dieing; slowly but surly."
"How is that?"
The dragon's gaze lowered. "One only lives as long as lifeblood flows through their veins, it is the same for the planet. The planet's lifeblood comes from those who have died and have returned to planet, the life stream. But now, for many years now, the planet's lifeblood has slowly been sucked away. It can still be saved though, if this leach is stopped. That is all I can tell you young one, some things needs to be figured out for ones self."
"Dragon…" Daitona stated slowly.
"I'll give you my own attack so that you do not need to summon upon me until there is an enemy present. Think 'Fires of the Damned'." Before anything else could be said the darkness cleared and the untouched clearing lay there before their eyes.
The energy pull came and went with swiftness then a low rumbling noise filled their ears. In the course of two and a half seconds flamey spikes exploded from the ground all around the clearing, rose to a height then vanished in a gust of wind.
But that wasn't the end. The wind kept blowing until it became a whirlwind and the flames flared back it existence to mingle with the winds. Electricity crackled around in spiral of wind and fire, with one loud snap everything vanished. The rumbling grew louder then a giant ring of fire appeared and started to move in a circular motion. Electricity played across the area within the ring. The fire grew higher into a wall and ever so slightly arced over until it became a huge fiery dome. The flames were an inferno that further excited the electricity it contained. The moving flame slowed to a claw then froze over. Cracks formed in the icy dome then completely shattered.
The roar had by then died to a soft hum then disappeared all together. The chunks of ice startle to melt by the time Sephiroth opened his eyes and looked around. There was a nice size crater in the ground where the dome had been.
"Wow…" he hummed.
"…so that was another level four attack, the dragon from the shadows own attack. That didn't drain me nearly as much as I had thought it would," Daitona commented.
"No, it didn't, did it? I guess this training is really working then after all." Sephiroth paused. "Tell me Daitona, are Divinian's immortal?"
"In a sense. We are not subject to time like the people here are. We age, but at a point we don't…I'll look sixteen for a long time if I have that ability…" Daitona wrinkled her nose at the thought of living for hundreds of years.
The same thought passed through Sephiroth mind and he laughed.
****
-End Chapter 32-
A/N: When I proofread this chapter it seemed to have mistake after mistake, so if there are some...or more than usual I am sorry. This will be the last chapter until I get back from Florida. Hope you've enjoyed and I didn't leave off in that bad of a spot either! Look for another chapter on the 9th or 10th of August. I'll try for the 8th but I doubt I'll be able to think up an entire chapter and get it posted in a day. So, until I get back, see ya!
Oh! And check out the beginning of 'In the Dimension's of a Different Time and Space.'