The Forgotten
Chapter 28: The Forgotten.
Gale woke with a start, sitting up sharply and panting. She looked around the room and then whipped the sweat from her brow. She then noticed that she was alone in the bed.
"Stratus?" she called out. No answer. She pulled herself out of the bed and wandered over to the mirror on the wall, before fixing her hair and tying it back in her bandana. The sound of the door opening made her jump and then turn to see Stratus enter the room.
"Oh. Good morning." He said quickly.
"Hey. Where did you go?" she asked in response.
"Just to get our tickets. We leave in an hour so you'd better get ready." He replied.
"Okay. Just give me a minute."
----
Stratus and Gale arrived at the boat bound for Gongaga just on time, quickly boarding and finding their room. The ride to Gongaga was uneventful and they soon found themselves leaving the ship, the sun just setting on the horizon. They stayed the night in a local hotel and then began to make their way to Cosmos Canyon. The sun was beating down on them as they walked through the grass towards the desert like area of Cosmos Canyon. Stratus lagged behind Gale, keeping a keen eye for attacking monsters. A shift to his right made him stop and grab for Gale. She jerked to a stop at his touch and looked around. Nothing.
"What is it?" whispered Gale.
"I felt something. Like where being watched." They had found themselves between a valley leading to Cosmos Canyon not long ago.
"Like what? I don't see anything." She asked.
"Neither do I but it's their." He replied quietly. The harsh sound of cackling echoed through the Canyon and Gale and Stratus both stiffened.
"Your correct boy! It is there!" The laughter continued and Stratus jerked his head from left to right, searching out his foe. "Here!" yelled the mysterious enemy as a huge Golem with rusty armour burst through the wall to his right, sending rocks towards the pair of teenagers.
"Gale lookout!" Stratus yelled as he jumped into the air and landed on one of the projectiles before jumping of as it collided with the wall behind him. Gale did the same, leaping from rock to rock and closing on the enemy before leaping forward with her knife and jamming it in the head of the beast, making it howl in pain and stagger backwards. The beast, however did not fall but began to shake its head, causing Gale to loose her grip and fall to the floor with a thud. Stratus jumped in front of her and unsheathed his borrowed broad sword.
"Stay back Gale. I got this!" With this he leaped forward only to be squashed by the huge hand of the Golem, wedging him into the floor. The beast brought its hand back and balled it into a fist before bringing it down upon Stratus. Stratus didn't waste any time in dodging the attack, rolling to his side and jumping back to his feet next to Gale.
"Okay. Maybe we should attack this thing together." He suggested between breaths. Gale nodded and then ran to her side, distracting the monster. Stratus, with the Golems back turned to him, snuck up on the beast and began cutting at its legs, blood smearing his sword as he cut away with the blade.
Gale took the opportunity and jumped onto the head of the beast, pulling her knife free and leaping back into the wall. She hit the wall, feet first and bent her knees before propelling herself at the beast and wedging the knife between its eyes. With another howl the beast collapsed and Gale pulled her knife free once again.
"Well done." Stratus congratulated.
"Thanks. You did great yourself." She returned his gesture.
"You think you've won!" the voice sounded again, startling the two. Another cackle and a bony old man with a staff appeared on the side of the canyon. He thrust his staff into the air and called forth another minion. This time a heard of six skeletons rose from the floor (ala Jason and the Arganotes if anyone remembers that film). They held curved swords in their right hands and a small circular shield in the left.
"What the hell? Who are you?" Stratus yelled, pulling his second swords from its sheath.
"You may call me Hydra." The man slurred.
"Why are you attacking us?" Gale asked, batting of one of the Skeletons.
"I am one of The Forgotten, it is my duty to destroy!" he garbled.
"Who are The Forgotten? And why must you destroy?" Gale continued.
"The Forgotten are what the name itself implies, a batch of Forgotten experiments that serve no purpose. Our leader tells us the world will never accept us and so we must destroy it. Simple!" He garbled again.
"Simple! You fucking nuts!" Stratus hacked away at an attacking skeleton, cutting its leg clean from its body.
"You do not understand! Just like Deluge told us!" Hydra roared and thrust his staff into the air again. The ground began to shake beneath Stratus's feet and suddenly a huge worm like creature broke free from the ground.
"Deluge?" Stratus staggered backwards, bumping into Gale as she did the same.
"Deluge Staan! Our Leader! Now my Earth Zolem and Bone Warriors will take care of you! Attack!" The Bone Warriors lunged forward, driving at Status and Gale but hitting nothing but Gale's Barrier and being knocked back.
"We have to do something! My magic power is weakening. Can't you blast them with Flare?" Gale asked, holding her hands out in front of her to try and focus her power.
"Yeah! Good idea!" Stratus began digging in his bag before coming up empty handed. "Shit!"
"What?" Gale gasped.
"I don't have it with me! It's on my Buster Sword!" He yelled in frustration.
"Fuck! Can't you use some other spell?"
"None that are that powerful. We will just have to bash our way through them." He cringed. Gale groaned and nodded at him.
"Ready?" Another nod. She released her hold on the wall and jumped backwards, over the Bone Warriors behind them and landed on her feet graciously. Stratus did the same but forward instead of backwards.
Gale ran backwards, luring three of the Bone Warriors away from Stratus and towards herself. She pulled her Freedom from behind her back and aimed, waiting just long enough before throwing the Boomerang and hitting the heads of the Skeletons consecutively before it returned to her grasp. The bone Warriors stood still for a moment before raising their hands and twisting their heads back into place.
"What the hell? How am I supposed to beat these things if they keep fixing themselves." She cursed, kicking at the dirt at her feet. One of the Warriors lunged forward with its blade and cut across her mid section before she could even react. Blood splattered to the floor as she fell to the ground, clutching her open wound, trying to stop the endless amount of blood pouring from it.
Stratus found himself backed up against the wall of the Canyon, three Bone Warriors and a huge Worm, which apparently was a Earth Zolem surrounding him. Stratus racked his brains, trying to think of a way out but coming up empty. Think Status! Think! He cursed himself. You need new techniques so think of some! The sound of Bone hitting the floor made him jump out of his thoughts in time to duck a swing of the blade, which cut cleanly through the rock wall behind him. Going on nothing but instinct he tackled the Skeleton and sent it crashing to the floor, before using the momentum to slip himself back onto his feet and duck another two Blade, belonging to the other two Warriors. The swords clashed together above him and the dashed forward before the ground shifted around him and the huge Zolem emerged from the ground, knocking him to the floor. A gasp from his left made him twist his neck to see Gale clutching her chest and kneeling on the ground with pain and anguish all over her face.
"Gale!" he yelled, jumping to his feet and sprinting towards her. The three Warriors around Gale turned just in time to meet Stratus swung sword, cutting them clean in half and sending them crashing to the floor in six bits. He knelt next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Gale! Gale!" he rocked her but she didn't even turn to look at him out of shock. He quickly pulled out his Restore Materia and equipped it before casting Cure onto his girlfriend, hoping the spell would do the trick. The bleeding stopped but the wound was still visible as the green cloud formed around her dissipated. He was about to cast another when a furious bone crunching kick hit him square on jaw, knocking him to the floor.
He looked up to see one of the Bone Warriors luring over him, broken blade in hand. The two behind him growled in anger just as the Skeletons shield was sent crashing into his face, grinding him into the ground. He grabbed the edges of the shield and began to push, his physical strength out matching the skeletons and sending the shield back into its skull, causing a large cracking sound and sending it flying to the ground. Stratus got to his feet just as his adversary did, its skull bearing a large crack down the middle.
"You want a piece of me! Fine!" Stratus roared to life, bringing his sword into its skull and sending it flying into the rock face. The body remained motionless for a few minutes before collapsing to the ground in a head of bones. Stratus didn't waste any more time in charging for the others, using the same attack to take them out and leave them a pile of bones on the rocky ground. Stratus didn't have time to celebrate however as the biggest adversary he had ever faced ploughed through the ground once again, sending rock and dirt into his face. The beast snapped forward and smashed into the ground where Stratus had stood but hit nothing but ground. Stratus had jumped just in time and began to dodge the beast as it emerged from the ground and crashed back into it. This is getting tiring, he thought. Wait a minute. Hydra is the one who summoned these things, so if I take him out. Then this Zolem think will go too. Or it should do. He dodged another plunge, this time waiting until the last minute.
"Did it get him?" Hydra slurred. "I don't see him. Ha! That fool didn't even but up a-ugh." He was interrupted as a blade found a place on his neck, singing the skin and making it bleed slightly.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you Hydra." Stratus glared into the mans ear.
"I promise I wont try to hurt you. Please. Let me go and I will leave you in piece." The man begged.
"I'm not stupid old man. Tell me one thing. What are the Forgotten after?" Stratus hissed. "The Forgotten want the destruction of Shinra. But seeing as how that has already happened, then the next best thing will have to do."
"Ranish."
"Precisely. After that, the world." As the man began another cackle of laughter his head was severed from his body, cleanly cut. Stratus held his sword to his side, the blood from the battle smeared over its blade.
"We may have the same enemy but your nothing but monsters."
----
Chapter 28: The Forgotten.
Gale woke with a start, sitting up sharply and panting. She looked around the room and then whipped the sweat from her brow. She then noticed that she was alone in the bed.
"Stratus?" she called out. No answer. She pulled herself out of the bed and wandered over to the mirror on the wall, before fixing her hair and tying it back in her bandana. The sound of the door opening made her jump and then turn to see Stratus enter the room.
"Oh. Good morning." He said quickly.
"Hey. Where did you go?" she asked in response.
"Just to get our tickets. We leave in an hour so you'd better get ready." He replied.
"Okay. Just give me a minute."
----
Stratus and Gale arrived at the boat bound for Gongaga just on time, quickly boarding and finding their room. The ride to Gongaga was uneventful and they soon found themselves leaving the ship, the sun just setting on the horizon. They stayed the night in a local hotel and then began to make their way to Cosmos Canyon. The sun was beating down on them as they walked through the grass towards the desert like area of Cosmos Canyon. Stratus lagged behind Gale, keeping a keen eye for attacking monsters. A shift to his right made him stop and grab for Gale. She jerked to a stop at his touch and looked around. Nothing.
"What is it?" whispered Gale.
"I felt something. Like where being watched." They had found themselves between a valley leading to Cosmos Canyon not long ago.
"Like what? I don't see anything." She asked.
"Neither do I but it's their." He replied quietly. The harsh sound of cackling echoed through the Canyon and Gale and Stratus both stiffened.
"Your correct boy! It is there!" The laughter continued and Stratus jerked his head from left to right, searching out his foe. "Here!" yelled the mysterious enemy as a huge Golem with rusty armour burst through the wall to his right, sending rocks towards the pair of teenagers.
"Gale lookout!" Stratus yelled as he jumped into the air and landed on one of the projectiles before jumping of as it collided with the wall behind him. Gale did the same, leaping from rock to rock and closing on the enemy before leaping forward with her knife and jamming it in the head of the beast, making it howl in pain and stagger backwards. The beast, however did not fall but began to shake its head, causing Gale to loose her grip and fall to the floor with a thud. Stratus jumped in front of her and unsheathed his borrowed broad sword.
"Stay back Gale. I got this!" With this he leaped forward only to be squashed by the huge hand of the Golem, wedging him into the floor. The beast brought its hand back and balled it into a fist before bringing it down upon Stratus. Stratus didn't waste any time in dodging the attack, rolling to his side and jumping back to his feet next to Gale.
"Okay. Maybe we should attack this thing together." He suggested between breaths. Gale nodded and then ran to her side, distracting the monster. Stratus, with the Golems back turned to him, snuck up on the beast and began cutting at its legs, blood smearing his sword as he cut away with the blade.
Gale took the opportunity and jumped onto the head of the beast, pulling her knife free and leaping back into the wall. She hit the wall, feet first and bent her knees before propelling herself at the beast and wedging the knife between its eyes. With another howl the beast collapsed and Gale pulled her knife free once again.
"Well done." Stratus congratulated.
"Thanks. You did great yourself." She returned his gesture.
"You think you've won!" the voice sounded again, startling the two. Another cackle and a bony old man with a staff appeared on the side of the canyon. He thrust his staff into the air and called forth another minion. This time a heard of six skeletons rose from the floor (ala Jason and the Arganotes if anyone remembers that film). They held curved swords in their right hands and a small circular shield in the left.
"What the hell? Who are you?" Stratus yelled, pulling his second swords from its sheath.
"You may call me Hydra." The man slurred.
"Why are you attacking us?" Gale asked, batting of one of the Skeletons.
"I am one of The Forgotten, it is my duty to destroy!" he garbled.
"Who are The Forgotten? And why must you destroy?" Gale continued.
"The Forgotten are what the name itself implies, a batch of Forgotten experiments that serve no purpose. Our leader tells us the world will never accept us and so we must destroy it. Simple!" He garbled again.
"Simple! You fucking nuts!" Stratus hacked away at an attacking skeleton, cutting its leg clean from its body.
"You do not understand! Just like Deluge told us!" Hydra roared and thrust his staff into the air again. The ground began to shake beneath Stratus's feet and suddenly a huge worm like creature broke free from the ground.
"Deluge?" Stratus staggered backwards, bumping into Gale as she did the same.
"Deluge Staan! Our Leader! Now my Earth Zolem and Bone Warriors will take care of you! Attack!" The Bone Warriors lunged forward, driving at Status and Gale but hitting nothing but Gale's Barrier and being knocked back.
"We have to do something! My magic power is weakening. Can't you blast them with Flare?" Gale asked, holding her hands out in front of her to try and focus her power.
"Yeah! Good idea!" Stratus began digging in his bag before coming up empty handed. "Shit!"
"What?" Gale gasped.
"I don't have it with me! It's on my Buster Sword!" He yelled in frustration.
"Fuck! Can't you use some other spell?"
"None that are that powerful. We will just have to bash our way through them." He cringed. Gale groaned and nodded at him.
"Ready?" Another nod. She released her hold on the wall and jumped backwards, over the Bone Warriors behind them and landed on her feet graciously. Stratus did the same but forward instead of backwards.
Gale ran backwards, luring three of the Bone Warriors away from Stratus and towards herself. She pulled her Freedom from behind her back and aimed, waiting just long enough before throwing the Boomerang and hitting the heads of the Skeletons consecutively before it returned to her grasp. The bone Warriors stood still for a moment before raising their hands and twisting their heads back into place.
"What the hell? How am I supposed to beat these things if they keep fixing themselves." She cursed, kicking at the dirt at her feet. One of the Warriors lunged forward with its blade and cut across her mid section before she could even react. Blood splattered to the floor as she fell to the ground, clutching her open wound, trying to stop the endless amount of blood pouring from it.
Stratus found himself backed up against the wall of the Canyon, three Bone Warriors and a huge Worm, which apparently was a Earth Zolem surrounding him. Stratus racked his brains, trying to think of a way out but coming up empty. Think Status! Think! He cursed himself. You need new techniques so think of some! The sound of Bone hitting the floor made him jump out of his thoughts in time to duck a swing of the blade, which cut cleanly through the rock wall behind him. Going on nothing but instinct he tackled the Skeleton and sent it crashing to the floor, before using the momentum to slip himself back onto his feet and duck another two Blade, belonging to the other two Warriors. The swords clashed together above him and the dashed forward before the ground shifted around him and the huge Zolem emerged from the ground, knocking him to the floor. A gasp from his left made him twist his neck to see Gale clutching her chest and kneeling on the ground with pain and anguish all over her face.
"Gale!" he yelled, jumping to his feet and sprinting towards her. The three Warriors around Gale turned just in time to meet Stratus swung sword, cutting them clean in half and sending them crashing to the floor in six bits. He knelt next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Gale! Gale!" he rocked her but she didn't even turn to look at him out of shock. He quickly pulled out his Restore Materia and equipped it before casting Cure onto his girlfriend, hoping the spell would do the trick. The bleeding stopped but the wound was still visible as the green cloud formed around her dissipated. He was about to cast another when a furious bone crunching kick hit him square on jaw, knocking him to the floor.
He looked up to see one of the Bone Warriors luring over him, broken blade in hand. The two behind him growled in anger just as the Skeletons shield was sent crashing into his face, grinding him into the ground. He grabbed the edges of the shield and began to push, his physical strength out matching the skeletons and sending the shield back into its skull, causing a large cracking sound and sending it flying to the ground. Stratus got to his feet just as his adversary did, its skull bearing a large crack down the middle.
"You want a piece of me! Fine!" Stratus roared to life, bringing his sword into its skull and sending it flying into the rock face. The body remained motionless for a few minutes before collapsing to the ground in a head of bones. Stratus didn't waste any more time in charging for the others, using the same attack to take them out and leave them a pile of bones on the rocky ground. Stratus didn't have time to celebrate however as the biggest adversary he had ever faced ploughed through the ground once again, sending rock and dirt into his face. The beast snapped forward and smashed into the ground where Stratus had stood but hit nothing but ground. Stratus had jumped just in time and began to dodge the beast as it emerged from the ground and crashed back into it. This is getting tiring, he thought. Wait a minute. Hydra is the one who summoned these things, so if I take him out. Then this Zolem think will go too. Or it should do. He dodged another plunge, this time waiting until the last minute.
"Did it get him?" Hydra slurred. "I don't see him. Ha! That fool didn't even but up a-ugh." He was interrupted as a blade found a place on his neck, singing the skin and making it bleed slightly.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you Hydra." Stratus glared into the mans ear.
"I promise I wont try to hurt you. Please. Let me go and I will leave you in piece." The man begged.
"I'm not stupid old man. Tell me one thing. What are the Forgotten after?" Stratus hissed. "The Forgotten want the destruction of Shinra. But seeing as how that has already happened, then the next best thing will have to do."
"Ranish."
"Precisely. After that, the world." As the man began another cackle of laughter his head was severed from his body, cleanly cut. Stratus held his sword to his side, the blood from the battle smeared over its blade.
"We may have the same enemy but your nothing but monsters."
----
