Here's Chapter Two! I'm upping the stakes!
In this chapter, we learn more about the Wings and find out Midgaard's fate!
This is the last chapter to focus so heavily on the Wings so heavily, it'll be back to Red and Aeris properly soon!!!
It begins...
What is a dream? Is it life within consciousness?
Or simply consciousness searching for an alternative?
Do we live within a dream?
Or does the dream exist outside of us?
I'm frightened.
I'm terrified.
Hold me...
"Red, please stop for a second," murmurs Aeris, "I need a moment to catch my breath."
Since the start of their journey during the night, they had kept a strict Westerly course towards Yuffie's Dojo in the hills. Red, Efos and Puri had kept up a strong swift pace but Aeris, having only just resumed a physical body, found the use of legs difficult and awkward. While the cat-beasts rested upon their haunches watching Aeris kindly, the young Ancient found a seat on a moss coated rock and gently massaged her aching muscles, weary but horribly aware of her apparent weakness.
"Its funny, I found it so much easier with my staff..." she said a little quietly to herself.
It could have been Red's imagination, but at this point, tears glinted in her sad grey eyes.
"Aeris..."
She looks up, hair spilling to the floor as her flimsy tie gave up, the tears finally finding their way free of restraint, spilling down her flushed cheeks, "Oh Red, I'm so frightened! This isn't going to work! The Wings, I can't even comprehend fighting the Wings, let alone BlackArmour! I can't even walk for more than an hour! I'm useless!"
Finding her tears with his tongue, he licked them away gently and did his best to smile, but his lipless mouth and sharp teeth turned it into a macabre, almost threatening gesture, and he hid it nearly immediately. Humans were such difficult things to control and care for. Red's own race were far easier, preferring to keep their own emotions inside for the most part, using scent and posture to portray how they felt. But humans, humans had to use expressions, tears, sound and posture, so many diffierent concoctions that if caught unprepared, could be entirely overwhelming.
"Tell me more Aeris, I can tell you're holding things back," Red said, "And if I'm going to contribute anything to this, no, if I'm going to give it everything, I have to know everything!"
Aeris sobbed gently, wiping away her tears only to find new ones streaking her face, "Red... The Wings... They're not just primary defence systems designed to protect BlackArmour Weapon..."
The fur on Red's back bristled in anticipation, "Go on?"
Efos and Puri, sensing their father's agitation, slunk behind the rock that Aeris sat upon, keeping well out of the way. Since this woman had turned up, they'd seen a rather unwelcome side of their father's personality, one which they would be quite happy if they never saw again.
Taking several deep breaths, Aeris clenched her hands into fists, "The Wings were once Ancients, used in the development of the Weapon System. Against their will, so essentially it was a violation of their wills and minds. Because the Ancients were such a pacifistic and gentle race unaccustomed to violence, this assault broke their minds and left them wide open to the advances of the Weapon System. They were mixed with the loathed Machine Materia, one of the materia which led to the uprising of mankind's technological developments - this Machine Materia was to enhance their synchronicity with BlackArmour Gehenna Weapon, as well as incorporating in enhanced strength and knowledge. Each Wing was supposed to care for separate area of combat. Diamond Wing is given incredible speed with a sword crafted from the same incredible alloy which forms the weapons - though this sword is also enhanced with the Metal Materia, Machine Materia and Acidic Materia, so one touch of it could essentially destroy. Ruby Wing is physically weaker, but being the purer of the two Ancients, suffered a far greater corruption giving him a sadistic nature and creative use of torture in his efforts to hunt and kill. Ruby was actually operated upon after being infused with the Machine Materia, so that he could have other Materia actually placed inside his body so that his connection with the Planet would increase the Materia's powers tenfold... So you see, Red, I was the last of my kind. Until now. I'll be helping to kill two of the last three Ancients..."
It isn't possible.
An end, to end, was my desire.
But it was, has been stolen...
(heartbeat)
And now...
(heartbeat)
I will wake up...
Diamond Wing unsheathed his sword and turned his expressionless eyes to the East. Cradling the sword, he welcomes is strength, its vicious power throbbing clear through its metallic length, from the potent Materia sealed within, to the cruel edge, finely worked by the most skilled Smiths in the world. Within his body, he feels the synchronicity with the Materia pulse and grow, for even though his system is recycled and reused by the Machine Materia, it is still essentially Ancient and therefore bound to the Planet - and it is this bond that enhances the performance, evolving the link daily until Diamond Wing will be entirely one with his sword, unstoppable, indestructable.
He doesn't move from the top of the Shinra Corp building, even though there is life in the suburbs and outer city. He is content to wait here, working quietly for his master, learning everything from the broken machines and the broken experiments deep in the reccesses of the laboratories. There are secrets to be learned, mysteries solved, and while Ruby delighted in spreading fear, Diamond much preferred gathering knowledge and gathering power that way. Though the same side of the coin, their faces faced separate ways.
"Thinking again?" murmurs a voice in his ear, "Diamond, you're ever the philosopher, aren't you?"
"I like to think about life, no, I like to think. Is that so wrong?"
Ruby giggled, stepping out from behind his tall comrade and into plain sight. His simple robes were splashed with blood and gore, his face streaked with red and his eyes glowing with intensity.
"You funny thing," giggles Ruby, "All that power and you so rarely use it. Are you sure you're entirely sane?"
"Saner than you." was Diamond's sharp reply, "Now be quiet. I'm trying to work things out!"
Spinning away on nimble feet, Ruby sat himself atop a vine strangled terminal and peered down at the sword toting Wing. It was odd to see such a change him him. Diamond allowed himself very few hints of emotion and these had always been carefully planned, staged events. He just couldn't do emotions. Perhaps this is what made him such an efficient killer, but at the same time, held him back?
***What have you to report?***
The voice of BlackArmour Gehenna Weapon roared in Ruby's head suddenly, tearing through all the fibres of his being and chilling the final few shreds of what could pass for his soul. It only took Ruby a few seconds to group his thoughts and prepare his reply.
"We are preparing this world for you, Master BlackArmour. While Diamond is investigating the ruins of Shinra Corp, I'm taking steps to insure that the people of Midgaard are taken out of the picture. The other settlements will fall easily if Midgaard is erased first!"
***What steps are you taking?***
"I'm going to unleash my Ice Materia upon this city, coating it beneath a spell I can only name - UltigaBlizarra..."
"You can do that? You've reconciled yourself to kill the others of your kind?"
"I have to! They're no longer the peace loving pacifistic Ancients that I knew! They're violent, wicked, sadistic!"
Red harrumphed and stood, locking his eyes on Aeris' face, not moving away for a second, "Aeris - I really don't know if violence should have to be the only resort now that you've told me this. Shouldn't we see if there's a method of release for them? Saving them from the Weapon Programme so that we could possibly see the return of the Ancients?"
Wide eyes sparkling in the morning light, Aeris shook her head and shed her last tear. Then, standing, she gathered her clothes about her and walked to the brink of the small gnoll that they had rested upon, cast her gaze to the growing amber sun semi-shroudded beneath shreds of ghostly cloud.
"The Ancients won't return now, Red. I am fine with being the last of my kind, really I am! Once BlackArmour Weapon is destroyed, I will settle and marry, have a child and be content to bring life into this world. But these Wings could never be restored to their former selves. And even to introduce a faint percantage of hope, would require thousands of years to undo the traumas visited upon them by the Machine Materia." pausing, Aeris sniffed quietly and smiled a simple, sad smile, "No, these Wings must be killed, for our good, their good and the good of the Planet!"
On tiptoes, Ruby casts back his head in delerium as the Materia all across his slender frame throb with power. One specific Materia, sky blue in colour, inserted into the skin on his left wrist, turns a rich neon colour and gives off such a blinding presence that anything looking on would have been incapacitated until it dissipated. Holding up his hands, working fingers quietly into a hidden pattern, manipulating various energies to his control, Ruby delighted in the approaching chill as Ice Magic gathered to his command.
It is coming...
Silence...
My wish...
The wish...
Finally reaching the critical point, Ruby cast his hands out and turned a full circle to indicate that all of Midgaard was his target. Then, clapping his hands together in a sound that thunderclapped across the city, a voice danced from his throat with tones that reached too far into the ground to be human, with hints of an ethereal power that couldn't quite be touched upon, saying only these words - "UltigaBlizarra!" - and with that, Midgaard was doomed...
It came as a wall of ice, blue and unstoppable, sweeping down from the top of the Shinra Corp building in all directions. Through the ruined city it came, out into the living city so quickly that all those trapped by it didn't even have the time to scream in horror, all paused in their every day affairs. Their doom was permanent, horrendous and awesomely cruel, as the people slowly suffocated, unable to move, unable to show anything apart from mute, simple expressions. Some died smiling at the ones they loved, some died with faces expressing hate - the spectrum was covered...
And beneath Midgaard, something turned in its sleep as the call came for it to wake up...
Silence has come.
Midgaard is destroyed.
And now...
And now...
I will wake up...
END OF PART TWO! Please Read and Review! It'd mean a lot! Part Three will be up soon!
In this chapter, we learn more about the Wings and find out Midgaard's fate!
This is the last chapter to focus so heavily on the Wings so heavily, it'll be back to Red and Aeris properly soon!!!
It begins...
What is a dream? Is it life within consciousness?
Or simply consciousness searching for an alternative?
Do we live within a dream?
Or does the dream exist outside of us?
I'm frightened.
I'm terrified.
Hold me...
"Red, please stop for a second," murmurs Aeris, "I need a moment to catch my breath."
Since the start of their journey during the night, they had kept a strict Westerly course towards Yuffie's Dojo in the hills. Red, Efos and Puri had kept up a strong swift pace but Aeris, having only just resumed a physical body, found the use of legs difficult and awkward. While the cat-beasts rested upon their haunches watching Aeris kindly, the young Ancient found a seat on a moss coated rock and gently massaged her aching muscles, weary but horribly aware of her apparent weakness.
"Its funny, I found it so much easier with my staff..." she said a little quietly to herself.
It could have been Red's imagination, but at this point, tears glinted in her sad grey eyes.
"Aeris..."
She looks up, hair spilling to the floor as her flimsy tie gave up, the tears finally finding their way free of restraint, spilling down her flushed cheeks, "Oh Red, I'm so frightened! This isn't going to work! The Wings, I can't even comprehend fighting the Wings, let alone BlackArmour! I can't even walk for more than an hour! I'm useless!"
Finding her tears with his tongue, he licked them away gently and did his best to smile, but his lipless mouth and sharp teeth turned it into a macabre, almost threatening gesture, and he hid it nearly immediately. Humans were such difficult things to control and care for. Red's own race were far easier, preferring to keep their own emotions inside for the most part, using scent and posture to portray how they felt. But humans, humans had to use expressions, tears, sound and posture, so many diffierent concoctions that if caught unprepared, could be entirely overwhelming.
"Tell me more Aeris, I can tell you're holding things back," Red said, "And if I'm going to contribute anything to this, no, if I'm going to give it everything, I have to know everything!"
Aeris sobbed gently, wiping away her tears only to find new ones streaking her face, "Red... The Wings... They're not just primary defence systems designed to protect BlackArmour Weapon..."
The fur on Red's back bristled in anticipation, "Go on?"
Efos and Puri, sensing their father's agitation, slunk behind the rock that Aeris sat upon, keeping well out of the way. Since this woman had turned up, they'd seen a rather unwelcome side of their father's personality, one which they would be quite happy if they never saw again.
Taking several deep breaths, Aeris clenched her hands into fists, "The Wings were once Ancients, used in the development of the Weapon System. Against their will, so essentially it was a violation of their wills and minds. Because the Ancients were such a pacifistic and gentle race unaccustomed to violence, this assault broke their minds and left them wide open to the advances of the Weapon System. They were mixed with the loathed Machine Materia, one of the materia which led to the uprising of mankind's technological developments - this Machine Materia was to enhance their synchronicity with BlackArmour Gehenna Weapon, as well as incorporating in enhanced strength and knowledge. Each Wing was supposed to care for separate area of combat. Diamond Wing is given incredible speed with a sword crafted from the same incredible alloy which forms the weapons - though this sword is also enhanced with the Metal Materia, Machine Materia and Acidic Materia, so one touch of it could essentially destroy. Ruby Wing is physically weaker, but being the purer of the two Ancients, suffered a far greater corruption giving him a sadistic nature and creative use of torture in his efforts to hunt and kill. Ruby was actually operated upon after being infused with the Machine Materia, so that he could have other Materia actually placed inside his body so that his connection with the Planet would increase the Materia's powers tenfold... So you see, Red, I was the last of my kind. Until now. I'll be helping to kill two of the last three Ancients..."
It isn't possible.
An end, to end, was my desire.
But it was, has been stolen...
(heartbeat)
And now...
(heartbeat)
I will wake up...
Diamond Wing unsheathed his sword and turned his expressionless eyes to the East. Cradling the sword, he welcomes is strength, its vicious power throbbing clear through its metallic length, from the potent Materia sealed within, to the cruel edge, finely worked by the most skilled Smiths in the world. Within his body, he feels the synchronicity with the Materia pulse and grow, for even though his system is recycled and reused by the Machine Materia, it is still essentially Ancient and therefore bound to the Planet - and it is this bond that enhances the performance, evolving the link daily until Diamond Wing will be entirely one with his sword, unstoppable, indestructable.
He doesn't move from the top of the Shinra Corp building, even though there is life in the suburbs and outer city. He is content to wait here, working quietly for his master, learning everything from the broken machines and the broken experiments deep in the reccesses of the laboratories. There are secrets to be learned, mysteries solved, and while Ruby delighted in spreading fear, Diamond much preferred gathering knowledge and gathering power that way. Though the same side of the coin, their faces faced separate ways.
"Thinking again?" murmurs a voice in his ear, "Diamond, you're ever the philosopher, aren't you?"
"I like to think about life, no, I like to think. Is that so wrong?"
Ruby giggled, stepping out from behind his tall comrade and into plain sight. His simple robes were splashed with blood and gore, his face streaked with red and his eyes glowing with intensity.
"You funny thing," giggles Ruby, "All that power and you so rarely use it. Are you sure you're entirely sane?"
"Saner than you." was Diamond's sharp reply, "Now be quiet. I'm trying to work things out!"
Spinning away on nimble feet, Ruby sat himself atop a vine strangled terminal and peered down at the sword toting Wing. It was odd to see such a change him him. Diamond allowed himself very few hints of emotion and these had always been carefully planned, staged events. He just couldn't do emotions. Perhaps this is what made him such an efficient killer, but at the same time, held him back?
***What have you to report?***
The voice of BlackArmour Gehenna Weapon roared in Ruby's head suddenly, tearing through all the fibres of his being and chilling the final few shreds of what could pass for his soul. It only took Ruby a few seconds to group his thoughts and prepare his reply.
"We are preparing this world for you, Master BlackArmour. While Diamond is investigating the ruins of Shinra Corp, I'm taking steps to insure that the people of Midgaard are taken out of the picture. The other settlements will fall easily if Midgaard is erased first!"
***What steps are you taking?***
"I'm going to unleash my Ice Materia upon this city, coating it beneath a spell I can only name - UltigaBlizarra..."
"You can do that? You've reconciled yourself to kill the others of your kind?"
"I have to! They're no longer the peace loving pacifistic Ancients that I knew! They're violent, wicked, sadistic!"
Red harrumphed and stood, locking his eyes on Aeris' face, not moving away for a second, "Aeris - I really don't know if violence should have to be the only resort now that you've told me this. Shouldn't we see if there's a method of release for them? Saving them from the Weapon Programme so that we could possibly see the return of the Ancients?"
Wide eyes sparkling in the morning light, Aeris shook her head and shed her last tear. Then, standing, she gathered her clothes about her and walked to the brink of the small gnoll that they had rested upon, cast her gaze to the growing amber sun semi-shroudded beneath shreds of ghostly cloud.
"The Ancients won't return now, Red. I am fine with being the last of my kind, really I am! Once BlackArmour Weapon is destroyed, I will settle and marry, have a child and be content to bring life into this world. But these Wings could never be restored to their former selves. And even to introduce a faint percantage of hope, would require thousands of years to undo the traumas visited upon them by the Machine Materia." pausing, Aeris sniffed quietly and smiled a simple, sad smile, "No, these Wings must be killed, for our good, their good and the good of the Planet!"
On tiptoes, Ruby casts back his head in delerium as the Materia all across his slender frame throb with power. One specific Materia, sky blue in colour, inserted into the skin on his left wrist, turns a rich neon colour and gives off such a blinding presence that anything looking on would have been incapacitated until it dissipated. Holding up his hands, working fingers quietly into a hidden pattern, manipulating various energies to his control, Ruby delighted in the approaching chill as Ice Magic gathered to his command.
It is coming...
Silence...
My wish...
The wish...
Finally reaching the critical point, Ruby cast his hands out and turned a full circle to indicate that all of Midgaard was his target. Then, clapping his hands together in a sound that thunderclapped across the city, a voice danced from his throat with tones that reached too far into the ground to be human, with hints of an ethereal power that couldn't quite be touched upon, saying only these words - "UltigaBlizarra!" - and with that, Midgaard was doomed...
It came as a wall of ice, blue and unstoppable, sweeping down from the top of the Shinra Corp building in all directions. Through the ruined city it came, out into the living city so quickly that all those trapped by it didn't even have the time to scream in horror, all paused in their every day affairs. Their doom was permanent, horrendous and awesomely cruel, as the people slowly suffocated, unable to move, unable to show anything apart from mute, simple expressions. Some died smiling at the ones they loved, some died with faces expressing hate - the spectrum was covered...
And beneath Midgaard, something turned in its sleep as the call came for it to wake up...
Silence has come.
Midgaard is destroyed.
And now...
And now...
I will wake up...
END OF PART TWO! Please Read and Review! It'd mean a lot! Part Three will be up soon!