The Legend of Talon
Chapter 8
With barely more than a grunt, Talon flicked his sword across the small beast, which seemed to disintegrate before his very eyes. Three more approached, and Talon effortlessly swung his sword at them. They were like small midgets – dwarves. He killed them flies. He flicked his sword, and a Fira spell slammed into the middle of a group of six, exploding and killing them all. Tired, he stepped back into the cave, inside which the rest of the party was seated. Upon his arrival, they all looked up hopefully. He thought for a moment, before selecting Tifa to fight.
As he sat down, he shuddered oddly, then shrugged it off. "Persistent, aren't they?" he moaned wearily. "I must've killed five hundred."
Barda, seated next to him, shrugged as he watched Tifa begin to eradicate the beasts one by one. "Well, we can't let them get in too high of numbers, or they'll swarm the camp and kill us." The corners of his mouth twitched. "Or at least discourage sleep."
Talon opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a gigantic snore from Cloud, leaning on the log next to them. Talon shook his head. "Does he ever stop sleeping?"
Cid, lighting a cigarette in the fire, shook his head. "Nope."
Talon shrugged. "Figures." He turned to Barda. "What are these gnome things, anyway?"
Barda shrugged again, still watching Tifa. "Just that. Gnomes. They own this land, and come out at night…only a threat in big numbers." He stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "AY! Tifa! Mind if I have a go?"
In response, Tifa leaped, flipped in midair, and landed in camp. She attempted to speak, failed, and nodded. Barda quickly began casting Banishing Blade and hacking at the things.
Tifa took Barda's spot at the fire, leaning back against the cave wall. Within seconds, she was asleep. Talon laughed.
Cid shook his head. "Well, I'm not sleeping… I could hold those things off all night."
Wayne, who was hovering between consciousness and sleep, rubbed his eyes and said "Me, too, I guess." With that, he fell asleep.
This time, Barret and Cid joined the laughter with Talon. For a while, they couldn't stop, until Barda came back in, sweating and looking triumphant. "1500! Counted them myself!"
Talon applauded sarcastically. "Wow. Amazing. Bravo. Shall I break your record now, or later?"
Cid stood. "Later. It's my turn to bat now." He picked up his spear and strode out of the cave.
Talon shook his head. "No fair. Alright, then I'm –"
Auron cut him off. "I'M next."
Talon twisted around. "Curse you, Red Baron."
Auron chuckled. "Sorry. Brawn before buffoons."
Everyone awake laughed. Cloud seemed to twitch in his sleep. Talon spoke up. "Oh dear, it seems we're waking sleeping beauty." Everyone laughed again. "You're an animal, Cloud."
Cloud opened his eyes. "Sum'n say m' name? I 'gree with Cid…" he fell back asleep, despite the mad laughter echoing throughout the cave.
After awhile, Cid came back in and threw himself down on a log. "2500. So there."
Talon stared. "You were gone about ten minutes. How'd you manage that?"
Cid chuckled. "A matter of rounding them up into one group. I got about 2000 into a group and had the Highwind blast 'em. 'Course the Highwind always knows how many targets it hits, and it told me something like 2100…I dunno. Then I just kinda hacked 'em away."
Auron slung his sword over his shoulder (narrowly missing Talon's head), and stepped out of the cave with the air of one going for a walk. There was a flash of black light, and Talon whistled low. "That hurt."
Tifa, who had awoken, moved around the fire so that she could see outside. Her eyes widened. "Well, no one else is going out there until morning." Talon stared.
Auron walked back in, looking breezed. He slid down a wall, adjusted his glasses, and fell into a silent sleep.
Talon stared some more. "What'd he do?
Tifa blinked and rubbed her eyes as if making sure it was real. "It's genius. Pure genius."
Talon couldn't take it. He stood up and went to look. As he looked out the door, there was a sort of blue gleam, and he realized the spell Reflect had been cast on the cave entrance. He peered through the wall created by the spell, seeing that many gnomes were giving off a purple glow, and slowly collapsing. Every time a gnome came near another one, the sickness spread.
Talon shook his head, too. "It IS genius."
Cid shrugged. "I'm not counting, but I believe he just dashed all records. Look! Every second, at least ten of them die…it's like shooting fish in a barrel."
Talon laughed. "Well, I've never shot fish in a barrel, but I imagine it would get pretty boring after awhile."
Cloud opened an eye drowsily. "Could you guys at least try to sleep? Who cares about the stupid gnomes, someone should just use Reflect and Bio…"
He was interrupted by Talon, who pointed out that that was exactly what Auron had done. Cloud shrugged stupidly and fell asleep. Talon soon realized that he, too, was feeling the need to sleep. Next to him, Tifa slumped against the wall in a dead sleep. Cid, too, yawned drowsily.
Talon shifted slightly, leaning back against the cave wall. "Well, let's get to sleep. We've got some traveling to do in the morning." Having said that, the blanket of sleep came over him, and he fell graciously under it.
Talon was awoken most rudely the next morning by Tifa whacking him in the back of the head. He blinked and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What'd I miss?"
Tifa smiled. "A near-death situation, which Wayne most graciously saved us from." Then she began telling Talon the entire story about how Wayne had awoken at the very moment that the Reflect spell wore off of the cave and had summoned Ifrit. It had woken up most of them, except for Cloud and himself. Ifrit had unleashed total carnage upon the gnomes, and he had missed it due to sleep. Talon cursed himself.
Talon stood up and stretched. He kicked Cloud in the ribs, causing him to roll over, yawning. He stood, did a weird sort of pirouette in midair, and fell to the ground. Talon laughed as he pulled him to his feet.
Everyone was awake now, and the sun was just coming over the mountains. "Perfect traveling conditions!" Talon remarked. "We should get going as soon as possible."
About five minutes later, everyone was fully awake. They walked out of the cave, grateful to breathe the morning air and be able to walk without being swarmed by midgets with hand axes.
Talon blocked the sun from his eyes and peered off to the south, where the mountain over the Castle was. He saw it and noted the distance to it. He gasped aloud. The others turned to look at him. "I didn't know we were making so much ground! We should be able to reach the mountain by nightfall, if we walk without interruptions." Everyone was very pleased to know this.
For the next hour, Talon was in good spirits, knowing that their first destination was drawing ever nearer. But as they drew closer, Talon began to dread more and more the trials that awaited them there. He walked silently for a great time, eventually going ahead of the others who were killing off the stronger type of gnomes (who came out in daylight) for sport. He was lost in thought, unaware of his surroundings.
He had been looking at the gray sky, imagining what it would like when Leif had been vanquished, when suddenly he plunged downward. It was a few moments before he realized he had fallen into water. He surfaced and took in a deep breath, crawling onto shore. He cried out for everyone else, who immediately began to run toward him.
When they had all arrived, he shook the water out of his eyes. "It would seem we have an obstacle. We will need to swim across.
Their faces darkened. That is, all of their faces darkened except for Cid. Cid laughed and stepped forward, clapping his hands. "No worries! Look up, everyone!" He laughed again as he raised his spear, which promptly began to glow. From the horizon over the mountain, there came a large gray form. It hurtled toward them until it stopped in midair and floated down into the water. Talon gaped at it, realizing it was a ship.
Talon turned to Cid. "You had an airship?" he would have like nothing more than to strangle him on the spot. "All this time, you had an airship, and you didn't tell us? We could've been there about ten minutes after we started the journey with one of these!"
Cid laughed. "Less than that. But if I may correct you, the Highwind," he gestured to the ship, "has lost all manual flight control capabilities. I need a piece of rare rock called Adamantium to power it, but I don't know where to find it. Until then, the only thing it's good for is my Limit Break –"
Talon interrupted. "Your Limit Break isn't important right now! How is it going to help? It's an airship, not a –"
This time, it was Cid who interrupted. "Submarine. That's exactly what its second function is. And the best part is, that system has enough energy to last us as long as we could possibly want to hang around at the bottom of this lake."
Talon's feeling of frustration suddenly turned to excitement. "Great! We'll be able to cut a lot of time using this!"
Cid grinned and nodded. "Yup. Everyone in!" he flicked his spear, and a top hatch opened. One by one, everyone got in. Talon, Wayne, and Barda were highly interested in it. Auron barely looked impressed. Cid motioned for everyone to follow him. He led them through a number of corridors and doors, until they found themselves standing in what was understood to be the control room.
Cid turned to the group. "Right. Well first, this it the Highwind, the fastest and most advanced airship in existence. Welcome aboard." He waved vaguely. "Now, we have two options. The first is that we go straight across this gigantic puddle to the mountain, ignoring everything inbetween. The second is that we all take a special pill that allows us to breathe underwater and we go exploring a bit.
"Now, let's take a vote. All who want to go straight to the mountain?" Auron waved vaguely. "And all for exploring?" All hands (except for Auron's) shot up.
"Right, well that settles that." He pulled canister out of his pocket, and gave everyone a small black pill not unlike a small bean. "Swallow that when we're about to go out into the water. Do not swallow it now, or you will suffocate." He grinned. "You will find that the water will seem like air. Gravity will come into effect, and you will be able to walk on the bottom with ease."
He turned and punched a command into the console, then whipped around and began to walk out of the room, motioning to them to follow. Once again, they found themselves winding down hallways and walking into a number of doors. They suddenly turned a corner and found they had been led to the way they came in. Cid flicked his wrist at a door, which sealed behind them. He turned to the group. "Swallow your pills now." There was a small bustle as people choked or had trouble swallowing it. Cid swallowed his own, then gave the thumbs up and thrust the hatch open.
Water came flooding in. Talon braced himself for the impact, expecting to be crushed by the pressure. But as the water swept over him, it merely felt like a soft wind. He motioned to swim out the hatch, only to realize that he didn't float. Cid laughed at him as he frantically tried to swim, eventually falling flat on his face. Talon stood up (which was amazing in itself) and realized that he could hear Tifa and Barret talking between themselves as though they were not in water.
Talon decided to risk trying to speak. He drew in a deep breath, expecting to drown, only to realize it was like sucking in air. "Cid?" he spoke quietly. "This is weird."
Cid laughed. "Of course it is! Come on then, all of you, out the hatch!" He climbed the ladder and leaped off the side of the ship, landing with a surprising thud. Talon cautiously leaped after him, followed by the rest of the group.
Talon shook his head. "This IS weird." He began to walk with extreme ease. He jumped, and found that gravity had indeed taken effect as if he was on land. He found that it was even easier than on land. He began to walk around the lake, followed distantly by everyone else.
Suddenly, something caught his eye. Something blue had flashed on the ground. He stooped, and, looking carefully, found what seemed to be the hilt of a sword. He grabbed a nearby rock and pried it out of the ground. He grabbed it, and, mustering up all the strength he had, hauled it out of the crack in the rock. He held it up to examine it, just as everyone else approached.
Barda gazed at the bright blue sword Talon was wiping the grime off of. "Wow. That's a nice sword. Where'd you find it?" Talon shrugged and motioned to the crack in the rock. He swung it, and it shot an icicle. He soon realized that it was enchanted with an Ice spell, much like his blade. He unsheathed his own sword, only to realize that the fire had gone out. By carrying it with him in the water, he had removed the enchantment. For the second time that day, he cursed himself.
He flung his old sword to the ground, knowing that it was useless. Barda stooped and picked it up, putting it under his belt, next to his own. "You never know when it might come in handy to have an extra sword."
Talon laughed and sheathed his new blade, which was very cold at his side. He began to walk once again, far ahead of the others. He had not walked ten feet before something else caught his eye.
There was a small green sort of horn sticking out of the ground. Talon looked at it curiously. He heard the group approaching behind him as he grasped the horn tightly. His muscles just began to flex to pull up the thing when Cid gave a strangled cry. "No! Don't!" But it was too late.
Talon was thrown backwards as the ground erupted around the horn. Below the horn came an enormous head, followed by a gigantic body, and Talon felt that he was once again standing in front of Ruby Weapon.
Cid, who approached and hit Talon in the side of the head, quickly backed up this thought. "Fool! You have awoken Emerald Weapon! He dwells underwater, and is much stronger than Ruby!" He bit his lip worriedly as Emerald extracted two gigantic arms, hauling itself out of the hole it was in. Once it had extracted itself, four eyes opened on either of its shoulders, two blue, two yellow. It looked very menacing."
Cloud stepped forward. "I'll fight it. Talon and Cid, you join me." He raised his sword, ready for combat. Next to him, Talon strapped on his shield (though he never used it) and did the same. Cid merely stood there, muttering.
Suddenly, one of Emerald's eyes flashed. At the same moment, there was a blinding blue light, and Auron laughed triumphantly. A yellow beam flashed from one of the eyes, straight at Cloud. There was another blue flash, and the beam went straight back and exploded against the eye that shot it. There were two more blue flashes, and Talon realized that Auron was casting Reflect on them all. Three more eyes shot. All three were destroyed from their own attack.
Talon decided to step forward first. He leaped forward, slashing at the gigantic mass, and realized it had done nothing. They would need to use magic to defeat it. He voiced this opinion aloud, and his two allies nodded.
Suddenly, Tifa came from behind and pushed him back. "You can't do much. You can't use magic – except for a weak Ice spell. Get back with them."
Talon glared at her. "And you can use magic?"
Her eyes flashed menacingly. "Oh, yes…the best of its kind. You'll see." Talon backed off.
Cloud stepped forward, casting his sword behind him. "Right. Let's have some fun!" He raised a hand, which glowed bright yellow. Emerald Weapon swiped at him, but he leaped, and swung his arm downward. From above, a gigantic Thundara pierced the water, striking it. Talon was surprised to see that the spell did not conduct through the water and electrocute everyone.
Cloud was not finished. A yellow ball had materialized in his hand, and when he threw it to the ground, another thunderbolt struck, and Ramuh appeared. He seemed to be holding his breath. He raised his staff high into the air, and lightning struck it. His entire staff seemed to flash, and became a lightning bolt in his hands. He threw it at Emerald Weapon, who was quickly encased in a light that seemed to eat him from the inside. It writhed as if in pain, and continued to do so when Ramuh struck him with three Thundara spells before disappearing due to lack of air. Cloud stepped back to rest.
Cid stepped forward and inhaled deeply from his cigarette (Talon was dumbfounded). He then leaped with all his might, thrusting his spear into Emerald's face. He slashed at it once more before leaping off and landing, immediately thrusting his hand into the air. As he did so, Kjone plunged into the water, roaring with rage (Talon guesses that he could already breathe underwater). He landed with a thud, and reared onto his back legs. When he landed on all fours again, two thunderbolts consecutively struck his horns. He then gave another cry of rage before thrusting into the Weapon, disappearing after he had done his damage. His damage however, was astonishing. Emerald had lost both of its arms, and what was left of him was barely moving.
Talon had been expecting Tifa to lash out with some amazing thunder spell. He let out a loud and obvious gasp when she fell to her knees. He thought she was in pain, and started to dash forward before Barret seized his arm, shaking his head silently. Talon looked on, worried and curious at the same time.
Suddenly, she stood and launched backward. There was a black hole where she had been kneeling seconds before. Out of the hole rose a creature that reminded Talon of Hades, but smaller. It approached Emerald Weapon, looked him up and down, and nodded. It raised its scythe, which suddenly grew to a gigantic size. It brought it back and slashed it down.
Talon had been expecting there to be an explosion or a sound of some sort. He was quite surprised when the scythe silently passed through Emerald, before disappearing completely, along with its owner. He was quite stunned, thinking it didn't work, until suddenly Emerald Weapon flashed, and was gone.
Tifa thrust a fist in the air. "Yes!" The three fighters walked back to the rest of the group.
Talon spoke first. "That was quite some spell. What was it?"
Tifa grinned proudly. "Doom."
"Nice…and effective."'
Tifa laughed. "Yeah, it gets em every time…when they're weakened, anyway."
Cid approached. "Um, friends, we've got a bit of a problem. He's – ah – not dead."
There was a stunned silence while his words sank in. Tifa whipped around. "What do you mean, not dead?"
"Apparently, he fought off the spell." He pointed behind him. When Talon looked up, he saw that Emerald Weapon was struggling to its feet.
Barret laughed. "Big deal. He's weak! I'll finish –" his words were cut off as there was a strange sort of "Bing!" and a yellow beam flashed across the landscape, passing directly through Barret's chest and into Wayne's.
Chapter 8
With barely more than a grunt, Talon flicked his sword across the small beast, which seemed to disintegrate before his very eyes. Three more approached, and Talon effortlessly swung his sword at them. They were like small midgets – dwarves. He killed them flies. He flicked his sword, and a Fira spell slammed into the middle of a group of six, exploding and killing them all. Tired, he stepped back into the cave, inside which the rest of the party was seated. Upon his arrival, they all looked up hopefully. He thought for a moment, before selecting Tifa to fight.
As he sat down, he shuddered oddly, then shrugged it off. "Persistent, aren't they?" he moaned wearily. "I must've killed five hundred."
Barda, seated next to him, shrugged as he watched Tifa begin to eradicate the beasts one by one. "Well, we can't let them get in too high of numbers, or they'll swarm the camp and kill us." The corners of his mouth twitched. "Or at least discourage sleep."
Talon opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a gigantic snore from Cloud, leaning on the log next to them. Talon shook his head. "Does he ever stop sleeping?"
Cid, lighting a cigarette in the fire, shook his head. "Nope."
Talon shrugged. "Figures." He turned to Barda. "What are these gnome things, anyway?"
Barda shrugged again, still watching Tifa. "Just that. Gnomes. They own this land, and come out at night…only a threat in big numbers." He stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "AY! Tifa! Mind if I have a go?"
In response, Tifa leaped, flipped in midair, and landed in camp. She attempted to speak, failed, and nodded. Barda quickly began casting Banishing Blade and hacking at the things.
Tifa took Barda's spot at the fire, leaning back against the cave wall. Within seconds, she was asleep. Talon laughed.
Cid shook his head. "Well, I'm not sleeping… I could hold those things off all night."
Wayne, who was hovering between consciousness and sleep, rubbed his eyes and said "Me, too, I guess." With that, he fell asleep.
This time, Barret and Cid joined the laughter with Talon. For a while, they couldn't stop, until Barda came back in, sweating and looking triumphant. "1500! Counted them myself!"
Talon applauded sarcastically. "Wow. Amazing. Bravo. Shall I break your record now, or later?"
Cid stood. "Later. It's my turn to bat now." He picked up his spear and strode out of the cave.
Talon shook his head. "No fair. Alright, then I'm –"
Auron cut him off. "I'M next."
Talon twisted around. "Curse you, Red Baron."
Auron chuckled. "Sorry. Brawn before buffoons."
Everyone awake laughed. Cloud seemed to twitch in his sleep. Talon spoke up. "Oh dear, it seems we're waking sleeping beauty." Everyone laughed again. "You're an animal, Cloud."
Cloud opened his eyes. "Sum'n say m' name? I 'gree with Cid…" he fell back asleep, despite the mad laughter echoing throughout the cave.
After awhile, Cid came back in and threw himself down on a log. "2500. So there."
Talon stared. "You were gone about ten minutes. How'd you manage that?"
Cid chuckled. "A matter of rounding them up into one group. I got about 2000 into a group and had the Highwind blast 'em. 'Course the Highwind always knows how many targets it hits, and it told me something like 2100…I dunno. Then I just kinda hacked 'em away."
Auron slung his sword over his shoulder (narrowly missing Talon's head), and stepped out of the cave with the air of one going for a walk. There was a flash of black light, and Talon whistled low. "That hurt."
Tifa, who had awoken, moved around the fire so that she could see outside. Her eyes widened. "Well, no one else is going out there until morning." Talon stared.
Auron walked back in, looking breezed. He slid down a wall, adjusted his glasses, and fell into a silent sleep.
Talon stared some more. "What'd he do?
Tifa blinked and rubbed her eyes as if making sure it was real. "It's genius. Pure genius."
Talon couldn't take it. He stood up and went to look. As he looked out the door, there was a sort of blue gleam, and he realized the spell Reflect had been cast on the cave entrance. He peered through the wall created by the spell, seeing that many gnomes were giving off a purple glow, and slowly collapsing. Every time a gnome came near another one, the sickness spread.
Talon shook his head, too. "It IS genius."
Cid shrugged. "I'm not counting, but I believe he just dashed all records. Look! Every second, at least ten of them die…it's like shooting fish in a barrel."
Talon laughed. "Well, I've never shot fish in a barrel, but I imagine it would get pretty boring after awhile."
Cloud opened an eye drowsily. "Could you guys at least try to sleep? Who cares about the stupid gnomes, someone should just use Reflect and Bio…"
He was interrupted by Talon, who pointed out that that was exactly what Auron had done. Cloud shrugged stupidly and fell asleep. Talon soon realized that he, too, was feeling the need to sleep. Next to him, Tifa slumped against the wall in a dead sleep. Cid, too, yawned drowsily.
Talon shifted slightly, leaning back against the cave wall. "Well, let's get to sleep. We've got some traveling to do in the morning." Having said that, the blanket of sleep came over him, and he fell graciously under it.
Talon was awoken most rudely the next morning by Tifa whacking him in the back of the head. He blinked and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What'd I miss?"
Tifa smiled. "A near-death situation, which Wayne most graciously saved us from." Then she began telling Talon the entire story about how Wayne had awoken at the very moment that the Reflect spell wore off of the cave and had summoned Ifrit. It had woken up most of them, except for Cloud and himself. Ifrit had unleashed total carnage upon the gnomes, and he had missed it due to sleep. Talon cursed himself.
Talon stood up and stretched. He kicked Cloud in the ribs, causing him to roll over, yawning. He stood, did a weird sort of pirouette in midair, and fell to the ground. Talon laughed as he pulled him to his feet.
Everyone was awake now, and the sun was just coming over the mountains. "Perfect traveling conditions!" Talon remarked. "We should get going as soon as possible."
About five minutes later, everyone was fully awake. They walked out of the cave, grateful to breathe the morning air and be able to walk without being swarmed by midgets with hand axes.
Talon blocked the sun from his eyes and peered off to the south, where the mountain over the Castle was. He saw it and noted the distance to it. He gasped aloud. The others turned to look at him. "I didn't know we were making so much ground! We should be able to reach the mountain by nightfall, if we walk without interruptions." Everyone was very pleased to know this.
For the next hour, Talon was in good spirits, knowing that their first destination was drawing ever nearer. But as they drew closer, Talon began to dread more and more the trials that awaited them there. He walked silently for a great time, eventually going ahead of the others who were killing off the stronger type of gnomes (who came out in daylight) for sport. He was lost in thought, unaware of his surroundings.
He had been looking at the gray sky, imagining what it would like when Leif had been vanquished, when suddenly he plunged downward. It was a few moments before he realized he had fallen into water. He surfaced and took in a deep breath, crawling onto shore. He cried out for everyone else, who immediately began to run toward him.
When they had all arrived, he shook the water out of his eyes. "It would seem we have an obstacle. We will need to swim across.
Their faces darkened. That is, all of their faces darkened except for Cid. Cid laughed and stepped forward, clapping his hands. "No worries! Look up, everyone!" He laughed again as he raised his spear, which promptly began to glow. From the horizon over the mountain, there came a large gray form. It hurtled toward them until it stopped in midair and floated down into the water. Talon gaped at it, realizing it was a ship.
Talon turned to Cid. "You had an airship?" he would have like nothing more than to strangle him on the spot. "All this time, you had an airship, and you didn't tell us? We could've been there about ten minutes after we started the journey with one of these!"
Cid laughed. "Less than that. But if I may correct you, the Highwind," he gestured to the ship, "has lost all manual flight control capabilities. I need a piece of rare rock called Adamantium to power it, but I don't know where to find it. Until then, the only thing it's good for is my Limit Break –"
Talon interrupted. "Your Limit Break isn't important right now! How is it going to help? It's an airship, not a –"
This time, it was Cid who interrupted. "Submarine. That's exactly what its second function is. And the best part is, that system has enough energy to last us as long as we could possibly want to hang around at the bottom of this lake."
Talon's feeling of frustration suddenly turned to excitement. "Great! We'll be able to cut a lot of time using this!"
Cid grinned and nodded. "Yup. Everyone in!" he flicked his spear, and a top hatch opened. One by one, everyone got in. Talon, Wayne, and Barda were highly interested in it. Auron barely looked impressed. Cid motioned for everyone to follow him. He led them through a number of corridors and doors, until they found themselves standing in what was understood to be the control room.
Cid turned to the group. "Right. Well first, this it the Highwind, the fastest and most advanced airship in existence. Welcome aboard." He waved vaguely. "Now, we have two options. The first is that we go straight across this gigantic puddle to the mountain, ignoring everything inbetween. The second is that we all take a special pill that allows us to breathe underwater and we go exploring a bit.
"Now, let's take a vote. All who want to go straight to the mountain?" Auron waved vaguely. "And all for exploring?" All hands (except for Auron's) shot up.
"Right, well that settles that." He pulled canister out of his pocket, and gave everyone a small black pill not unlike a small bean. "Swallow that when we're about to go out into the water. Do not swallow it now, or you will suffocate." He grinned. "You will find that the water will seem like air. Gravity will come into effect, and you will be able to walk on the bottom with ease."
He turned and punched a command into the console, then whipped around and began to walk out of the room, motioning to them to follow. Once again, they found themselves winding down hallways and walking into a number of doors. They suddenly turned a corner and found they had been led to the way they came in. Cid flicked his wrist at a door, which sealed behind them. He turned to the group. "Swallow your pills now." There was a small bustle as people choked or had trouble swallowing it. Cid swallowed his own, then gave the thumbs up and thrust the hatch open.
Water came flooding in. Talon braced himself for the impact, expecting to be crushed by the pressure. But as the water swept over him, it merely felt like a soft wind. He motioned to swim out the hatch, only to realize that he didn't float. Cid laughed at him as he frantically tried to swim, eventually falling flat on his face. Talon stood up (which was amazing in itself) and realized that he could hear Tifa and Barret talking between themselves as though they were not in water.
Talon decided to risk trying to speak. He drew in a deep breath, expecting to drown, only to realize it was like sucking in air. "Cid?" he spoke quietly. "This is weird."
Cid laughed. "Of course it is! Come on then, all of you, out the hatch!" He climbed the ladder and leaped off the side of the ship, landing with a surprising thud. Talon cautiously leaped after him, followed by the rest of the group.
Talon shook his head. "This IS weird." He began to walk with extreme ease. He jumped, and found that gravity had indeed taken effect as if he was on land. He found that it was even easier than on land. He began to walk around the lake, followed distantly by everyone else.
Suddenly, something caught his eye. Something blue had flashed on the ground. He stooped, and, looking carefully, found what seemed to be the hilt of a sword. He grabbed a nearby rock and pried it out of the ground. He grabbed it, and, mustering up all the strength he had, hauled it out of the crack in the rock. He held it up to examine it, just as everyone else approached.
Barda gazed at the bright blue sword Talon was wiping the grime off of. "Wow. That's a nice sword. Where'd you find it?" Talon shrugged and motioned to the crack in the rock. He swung it, and it shot an icicle. He soon realized that it was enchanted with an Ice spell, much like his blade. He unsheathed his own sword, only to realize that the fire had gone out. By carrying it with him in the water, he had removed the enchantment. For the second time that day, he cursed himself.
He flung his old sword to the ground, knowing that it was useless. Barda stooped and picked it up, putting it under his belt, next to his own. "You never know when it might come in handy to have an extra sword."
Talon laughed and sheathed his new blade, which was very cold at his side. He began to walk once again, far ahead of the others. He had not walked ten feet before something else caught his eye.
There was a small green sort of horn sticking out of the ground. Talon looked at it curiously. He heard the group approaching behind him as he grasped the horn tightly. His muscles just began to flex to pull up the thing when Cid gave a strangled cry. "No! Don't!" But it was too late.
Talon was thrown backwards as the ground erupted around the horn. Below the horn came an enormous head, followed by a gigantic body, and Talon felt that he was once again standing in front of Ruby Weapon.
Cid, who approached and hit Talon in the side of the head, quickly backed up this thought. "Fool! You have awoken Emerald Weapon! He dwells underwater, and is much stronger than Ruby!" He bit his lip worriedly as Emerald extracted two gigantic arms, hauling itself out of the hole it was in. Once it had extracted itself, four eyes opened on either of its shoulders, two blue, two yellow. It looked very menacing."
Cloud stepped forward. "I'll fight it. Talon and Cid, you join me." He raised his sword, ready for combat. Next to him, Talon strapped on his shield (though he never used it) and did the same. Cid merely stood there, muttering.
Suddenly, one of Emerald's eyes flashed. At the same moment, there was a blinding blue light, and Auron laughed triumphantly. A yellow beam flashed from one of the eyes, straight at Cloud. There was another blue flash, and the beam went straight back and exploded against the eye that shot it. There were two more blue flashes, and Talon realized that Auron was casting Reflect on them all. Three more eyes shot. All three were destroyed from their own attack.
Talon decided to step forward first. He leaped forward, slashing at the gigantic mass, and realized it had done nothing. They would need to use magic to defeat it. He voiced this opinion aloud, and his two allies nodded.
Suddenly, Tifa came from behind and pushed him back. "You can't do much. You can't use magic – except for a weak Ice spell. Get back with them."
Talon glared at her. "And you can use magic?"
Her eyes flashed menacingly. "Oh, yes…the best of its kind. You'll see." Talon backed off.
Cloud stepped forward, casting his sword behind him. "Right. Let's have some fun!" He raised a hand, which glowed bright yellow. Emerald Weapon swiped at him, but he leaped, and swung his arm downward. From above, a gigantic Thundara pierced the water, striking it. Talon was surprised to see that the spell did not conduct through the water and electrocute everyone.
Cloud was not finished. A yellow ball had materialized in his hand, and when he threw it to the ground, another thunderbolt struck, and Ramuh appeared. He seemed to be holding his breath. He raised his staff high into the air, and lightning struck it. His entire staff seemed to flash, and became a lightning bolt in his hands. He threw it at Emerald Weapon, who was quickly encased in a light that seemed to eat him from the inside. It writhed as if in pain, and continued to do so when Ramuh struck him with three Thundara spells before disappearing due to lack of air. Cloud stepped back to rest.
Cid stepped forward and inhaled deeply from his cigarette (Talon was dumbfounded). He then leaped with all his might, thrusting his spear into Emerald's face. He slashed at it once more before leaping off and landing, immediately thrusting his hand into the air. As he did so, Kjone plunged into the water, roaring with rage (Talon guesses that he could already breathe underwater). He landed with a thud, and reared onto his back legs. When he landed on all fours again, two thunderbolts consecutively struck his horns. He then gave another cry of rage before thrusting into the Weapon, disappearing after he had done his damage. His damage however, was astonishing. Emerald had lost both of its arms, and what was left of him was barely moving.
Talon had been expecting Tifa to lash out with some amazing thunder spell. He let out a loud and obvious gasp when she fell to her knees. He thought she was in pain, and started to dash forward before Barret seized his arm, shaking his head silently. Talon looked on, worried and curious at the same time.
Suddenly, she stood and launched backward. There was a black hole where she had been kneeling seconds before. Out of the hole rose a creature that reminded Talon of Hades, but smaller. It approached Emerald Weapon, looked him up and down, and nodded. It raised its scythe, which suddenly grew to a gigantic size. It brought it back and slashed it down.
Talon had been expecting there to be an explosion or a sound of some sort. He was quite surprised when the scythe silently passed through Emerald, before disappearing completely, along with its owner. He was quite stunned, thinking it didn't work, until suddenly Emerald Weapon flashed, and was gone.
Tifa thrust a fist in the air. "Yes!" The three fighters walked back to the rest of the group.
Talon spoke first. "That was quite some spell. What was it?"
Tifa grinned proudly. "Doom."
"Nice…and effective."'
Tifa laughed. "Yeah, it gets em every time…when they're weakened, anyway."
Cid approached. "Um, friends, we've got a bit of a problem. He's – ah – not dead."
There was a stunned silence while his words sank in. Tifa whipped around. "What do you mean, not dead?"
"Apparently, he fought off the spell." He pointed behind him. When Talon looked up, he saw that Emerald Weapon was struggling to its feet.
Barret laughed. "Big deal. He's weak! I'll finish –" his words were cut off as there was a strange sort of "Bing!" and a yellow beam flashed across the landscape, passing directly through Barret's chest and into Wayne's.