Read and review, pretty please. ^_^
Disclaimer: La la la... Same as all the other disclaimers. We don't own anything having to do with FFIX. We own our characters, though.
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Chapter Four
Kuja glanced up, fully alert, when he heard guns being fired and screams. Sephira came awake and gazed around her, frowning.
"What do you conceive might be happening? A battle?" she murmured, looking up at Kuja as he got to his feet. Kuja smiled down at her.
"I am sure it is only a minor difficulty. It is probably not a thing to worry about. I shall go and investigate the problem," he replied calmly.
"I am going with you as well."
"I do not believe I could stop you," he said with a smile and held out his hand to her, "so let us depart." He helped her to her feet and they set off to the doors of the cockpit. As they stepped into the metallic hallways, the lights around them flickered and died. Kuja frowned at the gloom.
"What is going on?" he asked and groped for his companion in the darkness. He found her hand and they set off into the darkness. Feeling around them for the walls, they used their hands to navigate the ship. Finding Kuja's quarters, Kuja shut the door as Sephira sat down.
"Kuja, what are we to do? We cannot go through the Invincible without a source of light. We shall eventually run into Garland and we can do nothing in the dark."
Kuja smiled into the blackness and held up a hand. "Ah, but, my angel, we already have light." He closed his hand and when he opened it, a small bit of bright violet flames lingered in his palm. Sephira beamed and stood.
"I had almost forgot in the panic. We must at least witness the problem, to sustain our curiosity." She conjured a bit of light green fire in her hand and they both set off out of Kuja's room, one each of their hands held high.
Hurrying through the corridors, they glanced quickly around them, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary which might compensate for the problem.
"The source of our power-outage would most likely be in the power room. Unless it is only a technical failure in some other part of the ship and it has affected the rest of the lights." He stopped for a moment at the hallways that split off two different ways. "I cannot recall which way to take. I have not visited the power room in a long while. Shall we part ways or choose one and take it?"
Sephira gazed at either corridor, both unpenatrably dark and gloomy. She held up her hand, filling an inch of the blackness with light.
"I believe I shall be fine on my own. We shall separate and then meet back in your room, hopefully with an answer to our curiosity."
"Agreed. I shall see you soon, angel." He turned and ran down the left corridor. She watched him leave, until all she could see was the small flame and the shine of his hair in the distance. Then she whirled around and set off down the right path.
------------------
Kuja hurried along the passageway he had taken, his hand held high to shed a small amount of light to the darkness around him. Checking every door as he went, save those that he knew the contents of, he stopped for a moment, placing his chin in his free hand, thinking as hard as he could. It had been so many years since he had visited the power room; nothing in it held any interest to the Genome. It was all electrical and wires and they didn't fascinate him in the least.
He closed his eyes, trying to think harder. Silence filled his ears. Where could it be? Where could it...
A rustle sounded through his thoughts. His eyes snapped open, but he didn't move, his head still inclined down slightly, his chin still in his palm and his other hand held up. He dimmed the fire of the light, keeping his eyes ahead of him. It was unmistakable. Someone, or something, was walking in front of him. Light footsteps, coupled with a rustle every so often, strode away from Kuja.
His curiosity consuming him, Kuja slowly started forward. Maybe it was only a Genome. But why would a Genome be making rustling sounds?
"Who might that be, walking ahead of me?" Kuja asked the darkness before him, holding up his hand and bringing the bright light back into existence. The form of a person was in front of him. The being was black. His hair, his pants and, oddly, the wings that graced his back. Kuja found this confusing. The person twisted the top of it's body to look back at Kuja and the purple-haired youth saw that this person was a young man, in his late teens possibly. His sharply handsome face, with it's magenta colored eyes and delicate, arched eyebrows, was fixed on Kuja, and yet the black-haired youth didn't utter a word, which unsettled Kuja. The winged youth was strong, built on the slender side, graceful, but powerful. His narrowed eyes met with Kuja's and they kept each other's gaze for a long moment, before the seraph turned and began to walk slowly away once again, his wings folded behind him.
"Wait!" Kuja pleaded and started forward. The being didn't halt, simply raised a hand behind him, slender fingers flexed. Kuja cried out as a sudden energy hit him and forced him to his knees. Struggling to get back to his feet only heightened the pain, and all the while, the winged youth was pacing slowly away.
"Come back!"
--------------------
Sephira ran along her corridor, not bothering to check the rooms as she passed. She had travelled all the hallways of the Invincible, whether it had been physically, or with her mind. She simply didn't know where exactly the power room was.
Stopping for a moment to recollect her thoughts, she glanced around her, then put out the fire in her hand—she could easily relight it—and her index and middle fingers to each side of her head, at her temples. Searching through the Invincible, she tried to find a place, or room, with a certain aura to it. Everything had an aura, whether it be a living person, animal or thing, or an inanimate object. Every aura could almost be described as a color. A human-like being, whether it be an actual human, or a Genome, was a pale blue in color. An animal was brown, sometimes green, depending on what type of species it was. Inanimate objects were varied and many, but most showed up as a grey color. Energies showed as the color they may represent. Electrical exhibited as a yellow tone. Even though the power had been cut, the yellow would still be oozing away from the place where it had been kept, having only been shut down recently.
Finding bright yellow flashes in one room not far from where she stood, she opened her eyes, relit the flame in her palm and set off. Searching as she went, she finally located the power room. Stepping into the large space, she marveled at the wires and machines that occupied the chamber. Spotting one machine which seemed turned off, and with the knowledge that there was an unconscious man on the ground, her suspicions were confirmed; someone, or something, had switched off the power.
"I have come for what I had been searching for," she murmured to herself, whirling around and exiting the power room. Navigating her way back to Kuja's quarters, she sat on the armchair and waited for Kuja to return. Lounging there, tapping her foot on the ground, she realized that something was wrong. Kuja should have been back by now.
Standing, she rushed from the room and retraced her steps, until she found the corridor where they had split ways.
"Kuja!" she cried down the hall he had taken. "Kuja? Are you down there? Answer, lest I worry more for you!" When nothing replied to her call, she raced down the corridor. "Kuja?" she called as she went, searching for him.
As she ran, she didn't notice the hand that fell out of a door on the right of the hallway. The hand was unmistakably Kuja's, slender and pale, and he was obviously unconscious. But so great was Sephira's worry that she simply bypassed this fact, her mind fixed on moving forward, not noticing little details such as this.
"Kuja?" Her voice rang through the hallways, many people hearing her call. And one in particular.
The black angel of Kuja's nightmare had heard and it had kindled an interest in him, an attraction so immense, that he turned and slowly began to pace back up to where he had attacked Kuja.
And Sephira, unknowingly, pursued the one she hoped to find.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Viteros…what have you gotten yourself into!?~
Viteros looked around the room. He had little else to do besides that but muse on his most amusing, and, ironic fate…
~I really need to pay more attention. The Khamrask really got to me too easily. Heh…frick, I suck.~
While engrossed in reading the Bible, Viteros had been so interested he had let down his guard. That allowed Terisas' elite warriors, the Khamrask, to abduct him…Bloody Accursed, that was a very ironic thing, considering Viteros had been the one had almost destroyed the Khamrask…back in the days…his glory days…of the Devil Project.
-----------------
"Viteros…Viteros…you awake?"
"Uuuggh...ah, Master Terisas!"
"Hah, don't, Viteros. Relax. Sit back down, and don't bow so low! It shows weakness and fear, you know. And you, as leader of the Khamrask, you really need to show more strength! You are weak on the inside, but you can overcome it."
"Yes…my lord…"
"Viteros, relax! Really, you are so, so tense! You REALLY DO need to relax for a moment every day. It helps with your nerves."
"Yes, Master Terisas, I will do as you say…"
"Don't be so utterly formal! I knew that Lerien shouldn't have put so much of that NT-18^3 into you. It really isn't that great of a chemical."
"I can't change what I am."
"I didn't say change! You are so eager to please."
"My Lord…right now…I live to serve."
"And a chance to serve you will now have. Viteros, you will lead my new genetically engineered army. Your second in command will be Lashramakagosk."
"Lashramakagosk…no one calls him that, and you know it."
"I know, but the term 'Angel' is so strange. I don't like to use it."
"Well, sir, I don't mean to tell you advice, but I think that if you insist on calling him something besides Angel, call him Lashra…sir."
"All right, Vit. Hey, Lashra! Get over here!"
"Sir!"
----------------
~And now…I'm back.~
Viteros had to smile at the terrible irony. He was once again a prisoner of the Khamrask, in a lab, once more, merely a test subject for Terisas to work with as he pleased…nothing more, once again, than a worthless little test subject, like a rat.
~What was I back then…all loyalty to Terisas, my creator, my master. My…slaver. Terisas, I swear by the dark gods, I will avenge myself! You will suffer, truly, at the hands of merciless justice.~
Then he shook his head. ~What can I do now? I'm his prisoner again, and I'm not even the one with the great power to defeat them…Lashra…~
Then a much more practical thought took place in his head. ~Where the %@#!#^$#%@#!(%%^%*@#(&$#*!(@#$*#@! Is Zidane??~
----------------
Zidane was, at the moment, crawling, centimeter by centimeter, underneath laser sensors. He didn't know what they were, but he did have enough common sense to know that they probably wouldn't be a good thing to touch…not anything that Garland had sitting around. And especially the long things that were moving along the walls…looked a lot like what Viteros had called 'guns'.
A few minutes after going through the door and sneaking through the dark, he had seen Viteros, on a metal dais. Not really on it, more like hanging over it, with cables hooked onto his arms and back. Maybe Zidane could finally see that 'freaky arm' of his. Still, curiosity could wait until they were safe. No time to waste. Zidane still crept, along, along…slowly…quietly…couldn't set off anything…
Zidane had but one thought to console himself. "At least now he can't call me an idiot…he'll know he depends on me!"
-----------------
Zidane halted for a moment, taking a breath. Glancing up as he heard a slight buzz in the air, he realized that the sensors had turned off. Relaxing, he suddenly tensed when his mind gripped on the fact that someone, or something, had turned them off. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly scanned the area around him.
A hand suddenly latched onto his shoulder.
Zidane jumped and scrambled to his feet, stumbling away from the person behind him. Turning, he tripped over his own feet as the somebody walked towards him. Hands took his shoulders and emerald eyes met his.
"It truly is you. I did not fathom you would come here. Why have you come?"
Zidane recognized that voice. It had been the young woman that Vit had been talking to. What was her name... Sephira?
He struggled out of her grip and tapped his chest. "Of course it's me! I have to save Viteros!" He watched, a slow smile creeping up on his face as Sephira arched an eyebrow.
"Surely he can take care of himself. Unless his powers are not as we thought." She closed her eyes and placed a hand to her mouth, as though thinking. "I believed that you would not feel inclined to crawling under those sensors, whatever you may have been after. That is why I shut them off."
"Well, thanks, I guess," Zidane replied, placing a hand on the back of his neck and laughing a little, quietly.
"What have you to laugh at? Viteros apparently requires our aid, so shall we not go and get him?"
"Uh... I just noticed. Where's that guy you were with? Kuja?" He bit the end of the last words when he saw an extremely worried and troubled expression rise of the young woman's face.
"I do not know where he may be. I am upset and anxious for him. I should have found him by now. But he seems to have vanished. I went down the hall, searching for him, but I found you instead." She sighed in distress. "But I do believe he can take care of himself. We have not the time to worry for him. He can be found after. In the mean time, let us aid Viteros."
Zidane nodded, slapping a hand to his chest. "Let me go first," he offered, turning from her and creeping towards where the enigma was being held, drawing his daggers. Sephira followed, smiling slightly, simply striding past him and taking the lead.
"There is no security. And nothing to harm us. Let us do this quickly and efficiently." She reached Viteros and circled him, carefully examining the wires and cables hooked onto him. Zidane blushed furiously, straightening up and dashing over.
"Vit! Vit? Are you okay?" He tapped Viteros on the arm, waiting for a reply, which came in a hate-filled whisper.
"I am a fool."
Disclaimer: La la la... Same as all the other disclaimers. We don't own anything having to do with FFIX. We own our characters, though.
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Chapter Four
Kuja glanced up, fully alert, when he heard guns being fired and screams. Sephira came awake and gazed around her, frowning.
"What do you conceive might be happening? A battle?" she murmured, looking up at Kuja as he got to his feet. Kuja smiled down at her.
"I am sure it is only a minor difficulty. It is probably not a thing to worry about. I shall go and investigate the problem," he replied calmly.
"I am going with you as well."
"I do not believe I could stop you," he said with a smile and held out his hand to her, "so let us depart." He helped her to her feet and they set off to the doors of the cockpit. As they stepped into the metallic hallways, the lights around them flickered and died. Kuja frowned at the gloom.
"What is going on?" he asked and groped for his companion in the darkness. He found her hand and they set off into the darkness. Feeling around them for the walls, they used their hands to navigate the ship. Finding Kuja's quarters, Kuja shut the door as Sephira sat down.
"Kuja, what are we to do? We cannot go through the Invincible without a source of light. We shall eventually run into Garland and we can do nothing in the dark."
Kuja smiled into the blackness and held up a hand. "Ah, but, my angel, we already have light." He closed his hand and when he opened it, a small bit of bright violet flames lingered in his palm. Sephira beamed and stood.
"I had almost forgot in the panic. We must at least witness the problem, to sustain our curiosity." She conjured a bit of light green fire in her hand and they both set off out of Kuja's room, one each of their hands held high.
Hurrying through the corridors, they glanced quickly around them, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary which might compensate for the problem.
"The source of our power-outage would most likely be in the power room. Unless it is only a technical failure in some other part of the ship and it has affected the rest of the lights." He stopped for a moment at the hallways that split off two different ways. "I cannot recall which way to take. I have not visited the power room in a long while. Shall we part ways or choose one and take it?"
Sephira gazed at either corridor, both unpenatrably dark and gloomy. She held up her hand, filling an inch of the blackness with light.
"I believe I shall be fine on my own. We shall separate and then meet back in your room, hopefully with an answer to our curiosity."
"Agreed. I shall see you soon, angel." He turned and ran down the left corridor. She watched him leave, until all she could see was the small flame and the shine of his hair in the distance. Then she whirled around and set off down the right path.
------------------
Kuja hurried along the passageway he had taken, his hand held high to shed a small amount of light to the darkness around him. Checking every door as he went, save those that he knew the contents of, he stopped for a moment, placing his chin in his free hand, thinking as hard as he could. It had been so many years since he had visited the power room; nothing in it held any interest to the Genome. It was all electrical and wires and they didn't fascinate him in the least.
He closed his eyes, trying to think harder. Silence filled his ears. Where could it be? Where could it...
A rustle sounded through his thoughts. His eyes snapped open, but he didn't move, his head still inclined down slightly, his chin still in his palm and his other hand held up. He dimmed the fire of the light, keeping his eyes ahead of him. It was unmistakable. Someone, or something, was walking in front of him. Light footsteps, coupled with a rustle every so often, strode away from Kuja.
His curiosity consuming him, Kuja slowly started forward. Maybe it was only a Genome. But why would a Genome be making rustling sounds?
"Who might that be, walking ahead of me?" Kuja asked the darkness before him, holding up his hand and bringing the bright light back into existence. The form of a person was in front of him. The being was black. His hair, his pants and, oddly, the wings that graced his back. Kuja found this confusing. The person twisted the top of it's body to look back at Kuja and the purple-haired youth saw that this person was a young man, in his late teens possibly. His sharply handsome face, with it's magenta colored eyes and delicate, arched eyebrows, was fixed on Kuja, and yet the black-haired youth didn't utter a word, which unsettled Kuja. The winged youth was strong, built on the slender side, graceful, but powerful. His narrowed eyes met with Kuja's and they kept each other's gaze for a long moment, before the seraph turned and began to walk slowly away once again, his wings folded behind him.
"Wait!" Kuja pleaded and started forward. The being didn't halt, simply raised a hand behind him, slender fingers flexed. Kuja cried out as a sudden energy hit him and forced him to his knees. Struggling to get back to his feet only heightened the pain, and all the while, the winged youth was pacing slowly away.
"Come back!"
--------------------
Sephira ran along her corridor, not bothering to check the rooms as she passed. She had travelled all the hallways of the Invincible, whether it had been physically, or with her mind. She simply didn't know where exactly the power room was.
Stopping for a moment to recollect her thoughts, she glanced around her, then put out the fire in her hand—she could easily relight it—and her index and middle fingers to each side of her head, at her temples. Searching through the Invincible, she tried to find a place, or room, with a certain aura to it. Everything had an aura, whether it be a living person, animal or thing, or an inanimate object. Every aura could almost be described as a color. A human-like being, whether it be an actual human, or a Genome, was a pale blue in color. An animal was brown, sometimes green, depending on what type of species it was. Inanimate objects were varied and many, but most showed up as a grey color. Energies showed as the color they may represent. Electrical exhibited as a yellow tone. Even though the power had been cut, the yellow would still be oozing away from the place where it had been kept, having only been shut down recently.
Finding bright yellow flashes in one room not far from where she stood, she opened her eyes, relit the flame in her palm and set off. Searching as she went, she finally located the power room. Stepping into the large space, she marveled at the wires and machines that occupied the chamber. Spotting one machine which seemed turned off, and with the knowledge that there was an unconscious man on the ground, her suspicions were confirmed; someone, or something, had switched off the power.
"I have come for what I had been searching for," she murmured to herself, whirling around and exiting the power room. Navigating her way back to Kuja's quarters, she sat on the armchair and waited for Kuja to return. Lounging there, tapping her foot on the ground, she realized that something was wrong. Kuja should have been back by now.
Standing, she rushed from the room and retraced her steps, until she found the corridor where they had split ways.
"Kuja!" she cried down the hall he had taken. "Kuja? Are you down there? Answer, lest I worry more for you!" When nothing replied to her call, she raced down the corridor. "Kuja?" she called as she went, searching for him.
As she ran, she didn't notice the hand that fell out of a door on the right of the hallway. The hand was unmistakably Kuja's, slender and pale, and he was obviously unconscious. But so great was Sephira's worry that she simply bypassed this fact, her mind fixed on moving forward, not noticing little details such as this.
"Kuja?" Her voice rang through the hallways, many people hearing her call. And one in particular.
The black angel of Kuja's nightmare had heard and it had kindled an interest in him, an attraction so immense, that he turned and slowly began to pace back up to where he had attacked Kuja.
And Sephira, unknowingly, pursued the one she hoped to find.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Viteros…what have you gotten yourself into!?~
Viteros looked around the room. He had little else to do besides that but muse on his most amusing, and, ironic fate…
~I really need to pay more attention. The Khamrask really got to me too easily. Heh…frick, I suck.~
While engrossed in reading the Bible, Viteros had been so interested he had let down his guard. That allowed Terisas' elite warriors, the Khamrask, to abduct him…Bloody Accursed, that was a very ironic thing, considering Viteros had been the one had almost destroyed the Khamrask…back in the days…his glory days…of the Devil Project.
-----------------
"Viteros…Viteros…you awake?"
"Uuuggh...ah, Master Terisas!"
"Hah, don't, Viteros. Relax. Sit back down, and don't bow so low! It shows weakness and fear, you know. And you, as leader of the Khamrask, you really need to show more strength! You are weak on the inside, but you can overcome it."
"Yes…my lord…"
"Viteros, relax! Really, you are so, so tense! You REALLY DO need to relax for a moment every day. It helps with your nerves."
"Yes, Master Terisas, I will do as you say…"
"Don't be so utterly formal! I knew that Lerien shouldn't have put so much of that NT-18^3 into you. It really isn't that great of a chemical."
"I can't change what I am."
"I didn't say change! You are so eager to please."
"My Lord…right now…I live to serve."
"And a chance to serve you will now have. Viteros, you will lead my new genetically engineered army. Your second in command will be Lashramakagosk."
"Lashramakagosk…no one calls him that, and you know it."
"I know, but the term 'Angel' is so strange. I don't like to use it."
"Well, sir, I don't mean to tell you advice, but I think that if you insist on calling him something besides Angel, call him Lashra…sir."
"All right, Vit. Hey, Lashra! Get over here!"
"Sir!"
----------------
~And now…I'm back.~
Viteros had to smile at the terrible irony. He was once again a prisoner of the Khamrask, in a lab, once more, merely a test subject for Terisas to work with as he pleased…nothing more, once again, than a worthless little test subject, like a rat.
~What was I back then…all loyalty to Terisas, my creator, my master. My…slaver. Terisas, I swear by the dark gods, I will avenge myself! You will suffer, truly, at the hands of merciless justice.~
Then he shook his head. ~What can I do now? I'm his prisoner again, and I'm not even the one with the great power to defeat them…Lashra…~
Then a much more practical thought took place in his head. ~Where the %@#!#^$#%@#!(%%^%*@#(&$#*!(@#$*#@! Is Zidane??~
----------------
Zidane was, at the moment, crawling, centimeter by centimeter, underneath laser sensors. He didn't know what they were, but he did have enough common sense to know that they probably wouldn't be a good thing to touch…not anything that Garland had sitting around. And especially the long things that were moving along the walls…looked a lot like what Viteros had called 'guns'.
A few minutes after going through the door and sneaking through the dark, he had seen Viteros, on a metal dais. Not really on it, more like hanging over it, with cables hooked onto his arms and back. Maybe Zidane could finally see that 'freaky arm' of his. Still, curiosity could wait until they were safe. No time to waste. Zidane still crept, along, along…slowly…quietly…couldn't set off anything…
Zidane had but one thought to console himself. "At least now he can't call me an idiot…he'll know he depends on me!"
-----------------
Zidane halted for a moment, taking a breath. Glancing up as he heard a slight buzz in the air, he realized that the sensors had turned off. Relaxing, he suddenly tensed when his mind gripped on the fact that someone, or something, had turned them off. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly scanned the area around him.
A hand suddenly latched onto his shoulder.
Zidane jumped and scrambled to his feet, stumbling away from the person behind him. Turning, he tripped over his own feet as the somebody walked towards him. Hands took his shoulders and emerald eyes met his.
"It truly is you. I did not fathom you would come here. Why have you come?"
Zidane recognized that voice. It had been the young woman that Vit had been talking to. What was her name... Sephira?
He struggled out of her grip and tapped his chest. "Of course it's me! I have to save Viteros!" He watched, a slow smile creeping up on his face as Sephira arched an eyebrow.
"Surely he can take care of himself. Unless his powers are not as we thought." She closed her eyes and placed a hand to her mouth, as though thinking. "I believed that you would not feel inclined to crawling under those sensors, whatever you may have been after. That is why I shut them off."
"Well, thanks, I guess," Zidane replied, placing a hand on the back of his neck and laughing a little, quietly.
"What have you to laugh at? Viteros apparently requires our aid, so shall we not go and get him?"
"Uh... I just noticed. Where's that guy you were with? Kuja?" He bit the end of the last words when he saw an extremely worried and troubled expression rise of the young woman's face.
"I do not know where he may be. I am upset and anxious for him. I should have found him by now. But he seems to have vanished. I went down the hall, searching for him, but I found you instead." She sighed in distress. "But I do believe he can take care of himself. We have not the time to worry for him. He can be found after. In the mean time, let us aid Viteros."
Zidane nodded, slapping a hand to his chest. "Let me go first," he offered, turning from her and creeping towards where the enigma was being held, drawing his daggers. Sephira followed, smiling slightly, simply striding past him and taking the lead.
"There is no security. And nothing to harm us. Let us do this quickly and efficiently." She reached Viteros and circled him, carefully examining the wires and cables hooked onto him. Zidane blushed furiously, straightening up and dashing over.
"Vit! Vit? Are you okay?" He tapped Viteros on the arm, waiting for a reply, which came in a hate-filled whisper.
"I am a fool."