Hurrah. Not much comentary here... Review!! Review, or Angel WILL HUNT YOU
DOWN!!!! ^_^
Disclaimer: Once again. we do not own anything having to do with Final fantasy IX or any other Square games. We have rights to our characters, though. ^_^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- --Part Eight--
Sephira cried out as Kuja took her hand and sprinted off. She stumbled the first few steps, then regained her balance. He dragged her along, leaping over things with a swift, but ungainly, agility she didn't know he had. He didn't seem like himself at all, and she marveled at his ability to be able to run, even though he had recently been defeated, rather violently, by Angel-Black.
And they ran. Through twisted, warped hallways and through irregular doorways, Zidane leading the way. Sephira suddenly caught her foot on a rock and crashed to the ground, crying out in pain. Kuja skidded to a halt, her hand still in his, and he whirled and dropped to his knees, as he tried to pull her to her feet. His head whipped up to the sound of more gunshots that seemed to sound closer than before.
"Please, I beg of you, get up. We need to escape while we can," Kuja pleaded, pulling her up so she was on her knees. She kneeled there, gasping for breath.
"No, Kuja...I cannot run any further."
"Please..."
Zidane halted them by bounding in suddenly beside them and saying, "It's okay. We can stop. I think we've gained enough distance." He thrust his face close to Sephira's. "You okay?"
"Of course I am," she mumbled irritably, dusting off her arms and discovering a couple of scrapes on them, as well as on her legs and midriff. Disgusted, she wiped some of the blood off and shrugged. Taking a deep breath, she staggered to her feet and leaned against the wall.
They remained there for long moments, listening to the sounds of battle, Sephira against the wall, Kuja still kneeling on the ground and Zidane had stood back up and was rocking back and forth on his heels, as though he were agitated or impatient.
They all jumped, startled, when they heard Viteros yell from wherever he was.
"Damn you! Get down here where I can shoot you...um...properly!"
Zidane arched an eyebrow and scoffed a little, despite himself. Sephira winced a little and she pushed herself from the wall and began to pace. Kuja straightened up and stood, watching Sephira for a moment, then turning to the sounds of the battle as he heard the Devil's wordless cry of anger.
"I believe I may go and aid him," Kuja said softly, his chin in his hand as he thought. Sephira stopped her paces and stared at him, a desperate, lonely look surfacing on her face.
"No, you cannot," she whispered. "You are still weak from the last fight."
"But I can aid him. I can work my magic and maybe slow Viteros' opponent down long enough for him to stop her." He dropped his hands to his sides and moved over towards Sephira. Taking her shoulders, he stared down at her. She couldn't hold his gaze for long and hung her head, fighting tears.
"You cannot," she repeated. "I do not want you to be hurt again."
He didn't reply. Placing his nose on her head in a gesture of affection, he whirled around and dashed off, his tattered fabric flowing fluidly behind him.
Sephira remained where she was, her head still inclined towards the ground, her fists clenched and Zidane noticed her shoulders shook. Moving towards her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She shook him off.
"Do not touch me," she warned venomously. Zidane backed away, his hands held up in a gesture of apology.
"Okay, okay, calm down..." he replied, smiling nervously. She gave him a glare, her eyes red from tears and Zidane dropped his hands, then placed one on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, he'll be okay. He and Vit can rock that ninja girl all the way back to where she came from!"
"That is very comforting, in an deranged sort of way," she said with a little smile. Zidane left her side with a leap and struck a heroic pose, placing a hand on his chest.
"Of course it is."
Sephira arched an eyebrow at his antics, still worried beyond belief, but glad that Zidane was there to make things not as horrible as they seemed.
----------------------
~We received a message from Outer Heaven 1 this morning, and it told us that we must hurry and be quick about our genetic engineering experiments. Sadly, the relationship between Masters Garland and Terisas are beginning to sour, and so we must be ready for an eventual attack on us.
We have begun more experiments, as well as production of soldiers, an emergency backup contingency.
Professor Zarius began work on corpses and donated body parts, and has attempted to create an actual human being from these parts. Should this operation be successful, we will have a powerful new type of soldier on our hands, a temporary substitute for the currently incomplete Angel and Devil models.
Hopefully within a few days we will be able to-~
Zidane shut the book. They were not much in a better position than before.
"No answers here," he said truthfully.
"Then.how shall we win over this.person?" asked Sephira. Kuja had gone back.
"I don't know."
"I do," said Sephira, suddenly sitting up. "I know! Do you remember the Shadow Bible?"
"Who could forget such a creepy book?"
"Perhaps.it lies within?"
Zidane jumped up. "Yes.of course! Terisas and Garland got their inspiration from the book, so-"
"Perhaps the answers are there!" said Sephira. "Where is the book?"
Zidane pulled it out of his belt pouch. "Took it from Viteros."
Letting his intuition guide him, Zidane opened the book to a random page and was amazed by what he found.
~16. Verily I say unto you, it came to pass the shadow sorcerer Muridegl, raised by the dark god Vashcoriladus, even unto godhood, began the work called necromancy, even the corrupting of souls, yea, an exceedingly dark and shadowy control of the dead, undoing the eternal rest.
17. And it came to pass the dark god Vashcoriladus, even the god of death, was displeased, and behold he said unto Muridegl Thou hast sinned against me and all of creation. Thy shadowy monstrosities art of great darkness, even an utterly unholy nature, even so as to repel the dark god himself! I, Vashcoriladus, thus say unto thee, thou hast failed in creation and life. And so, I pass this curse up unto thee-
18. Thy dead shall not be mindless. They shall remember the life before, even their entire life, from dust unto dust. And they shall be troubled by the memories thereof, and they shall curse thee, Muridegl, and hate thee, and one day shalt consume thee. And so, even unto thou I lay this curse, and upon the day of thine own death thou shalt not die but be damned, even insomuch as to exist forever in a state of eternal misery.~
"That's it! Their weaknesses are their memories!"
"Wait," said Sephira, "How do we know of the nature of our enemy? How do we know she is of this undead army?"
"I know.I just know. I.this book has a strange way of knowing what is going on." Zidane was completely serious.
"I.I shall go along with this, considering our lack of a better plan, but I still have many misgivings."
------------------
"Die, die!" Viteros had drawn his katal claws, the sharp metallic claws inside of the machinery in his hands that would only be used as a final defense should his guns fail. She was simply too fast to shoot with the machine gun.and he was out of bullets.
The dining hall was a wreck; glass shards, overturned furniture, and squashed food littered the ground. Over the wreckage they still battled, jumping nimbly over the obstacles in their way. Viteros was just beginning to tire; he could feel the edge of fatigue beginning to burn his muscles. But the ninja, it seemed, was just as fresh as ever. The Devil hid his exhaustion, and he hoped that his opponent was merely doing the same.
He spun and slashed, cutting once more nothing but thin air. The best hit either of them had done was a rip to the clothes, and that rip was on him.
Screaming in desperation, Viteros shouted, "Who are you!?"
To his surprise, she answered. "You know I not?"
They both leapt to opposite sides of the hall, and Viteros was gratified to see she, like him, was doubled over panting. "No. Who are you?"
"Ha! Devil, I you disappoint! Remembering not Akumu Kage?"
"Akumu Kage? Akumu.?"
She laughed and straightened, hands on her hips. "You not remembering! Disappoint, Viteros, disappoint. I am you good memory having, thinking. And remembering not Ghosts Agents?"
"Ghost Agents? Project Ghost?"
"Good. Remembering. You remembering old life."
"Old life? Old life? You call that nightmare life? When I had to work with people like you.and even you.you don't have any life at all."
"Life figurative being. I, you, life choosing. That truth."
Viteros stood up; he was done with this pointless discussion. He saw that Akumu did also. He lifted his clawed metal hand. "Let's finish this."
"As you wish."
They ran at each other, and Viteros felt the dark power growing inside of him. In this world he channeled Trance, although at this moment he'd much prefer a Limit Break.
They made contact, each cutting at each other as hard as they could. Then they separated, both of them on a different side of the room. Viteros smiled and stood up straight. He turned, and so did Akumu. Then he stumbled.
Clutching at the knife wound in his stomach, Viteros winced, one eye completely shut tight from the pain. The blood seeped through his fingers and fell to the floor, staining the mirrors. Suddenly, he coughed, and the blood sprayed from his mouth, and he collapsed on the floor, still coughing up more and more blood. His entire body trembled.
Akumu laughed. "Born of blood, die of blood," she mocked. "You.urk.what this?"
Beginning to pale, she looked down and saw on her unwounded chest a small metal square. She frantically tried to rip it off but couldn't. "No! You.S-Cutter!"
Viteros, still laying there on his side, blood seeping, laughed quietly through his coughing. "That's.that's right, Akumu. I still have an S- Cutter. Remember those? The good old assassination weapon S-Cutter, the most painful way to die."
Slowly, the S-Cutter began to whirl. Slowly, and then, faster and faster until it was a spinning metal disc. Then arced blades emerged from the sides, and the thing jabbed Akumu with a small needle, then detached.
A small drop of blood on her chest staining the perfect black of her clothing, Akumu looked at the little floating machine. "This.this blood remembering?"
Viteros had finally maneuvered himself onto his knees. One hand still clutched his wound while the other, trembling, supported him from collapsing again. Despite his agony, he managed a fierce grin, madness shining through his agony-stricken eyes and sweat-matted hair. "It'll remember your exact DNA sequence, Akumu Kage. And it'll come after you. It'll keep coming until you're dead. I'd say you're the one who dies by blood."
The cutter slowly turned in the air until one sharp edge faced its target. Then, spinning faster, it tore through the air and towards her throat.
Akumu dodged expertly, turning a no-hand cartwheel through the air and then jumping up and over debris with catlike agility, but the flying object still chased her.
Suddenly, Kuja ran in. Looking around, he stood in the way of the ninja and shouted, "Do not move!"
Viteros scrambled forward on his knees and yelled, "Kuja! Get out of the way!"
The Genome looked over for a split second. "What?"
Akumu ran forward and jumped high enough to land her foot on Kuja's face and leapt over him. Kuja groaned and stepped back, clutching his head.
Then the S-Cutter hit him. It was just a small cut, not even ripping him, merely slicing a bit and taking some blood.
But that was enough.
The cutter floated there for a few more seconds, analyzing the blood sample it had taken. Kuja looked at Viteros. "What will this.?"
"It'll try to kill you both," the Devil replied.
-------------------
Zidane and Sephira hurried through the strange halls, trying to find their way back to the dining room, but with no luck. There was just no way of finding anything in this madhouse. Finally, tiring of running in circles, Sephira focused inward, sensing life.she saw Kuja, colored yellow with fear, Viteros red with pain, and then the other.the ninja.
Her color was strange.
Unlike most, who just had a psychic color that belied some of their personality and situation, she was a strange meshing of many colors, and in the middle, an azure silver core.
Most interesting.
Coming out of the psychic vision she aimed at the wall she was facing and dissolved it with a fireball. "From now on," she said stepping through, "We go in a straight line."
Zidane shrugged. "Works for me."
---------------------
Inside the dining hall was pure chaos. Akumu and Kuja frantically tried to dodge the flying S-Cutter and at the same time somehow defeat each other while Viteros desperately looked for any healing items-he was losing blood fast, and consciousness was drifting in and out. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but with this amount of blood out of his system there was no way he could win, and anyway, who was this-
Bang.
"Could it be? The one with the Special Break.Limit Healer."
Viteros pushed himself up and stared. "No! It can't be!"
He coughed and spurted up more blood. Then he forced himself to shout, "Aaeeris!"
Sephira and Zidane arrived at that moment, suddenly, and Zidane leapt and cut the S-Cutter in half. He spun and faced the ninja, followed closely by Sephira, who had the beginnings of a fireball starting to ember in her hands.
Viteros pushed himself up. His arm trembled. "Aeris!"
Akumu turned and looked at him, and now that he had a good view, Viteros knew.there was no mistaking that soft emerald eye and the silky hair.only a Cetra could.
"Its you! I knew it! Limit.urk.healer."
Viteros collapsed again.
"Aeris? And what that being?" Akumu stood there, confident, hand on her hip. "What you saying are? Aeris! Not but.not.aaaAAAAhHH!"
Screaming, the enemy grabbed her head and staggered, finally tripping over a stray chair leg. She fell and still lay there, writhing, shrieking, then suddenly her entire body spasmed and she stopped moving.
Still not sure about their safety, Kuja approached the still body, and Sephira was ready to burn it as soon as it moved.
Disclaimer: Once again. we do not own anything having to do with Final fantasy IX or any other Square games. We have rights to our characters, though. ^_^
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- --Part Eight--
Sephira cried out as Kuja took her hand and sprinted off. She stumbled the first few steps, then regained her balance. He dragged her along, leaping over things with a swift, but ungainly, agility she didn't know he had. He didn't seem like himself at all, and she marveled at his ability to be able to run, even though he had recently been defeated, rather violently, by Angel-Black.
And they ran. Through twisted, warped hallways and through irregular doorways, Zidane leading the way. Sephira suddenly caught her foot on a rock and crashed to the ground, crying out in pain. Kuja skidded to a halt, her hand still in his, and he whirled and dropped to his knees, as he tried to pull her to her feet. His head whipped up to the sound of more gunshots that seemed to sound closer than before.
"Please, I beg of you, get up. We need to escape while we can," Kuja pleaded, pulling her up so she was on her knees. She kneeled there, gasping for breath.
"No, Kuja...I cannot run any further."
"Please..."
Zidane halted them by bounding in suddenly beside them and saying, "It's okay. We can stop. I think we've gained enough distance." He thrust his face close to Sephira's. "You okay?"
"Of course I am," she mumbled irritably, dusting off her arms and discovering a couple of scrapes on them, as well as on her legs and midriff. Disgusted, she wiped some of the blood off and shrugged. Taking a deep breath, she staggered to her feet and leaned against the wall.
They remained there for long moments, listening to the sounds of battle, Sephira against the wall, Kuja still kneeling on the ground and Zidane had stood back up and was rocking back and forth on his heels, as though he were agitated or impatient.
They all jumped, startled, when they heard Viteros yell from wherever he was.
"Damn you! Get down here where I can shoot you...um...properly!"
Zidane arched an eyebrow and scoffed a little, despite himself. Sephira winced a little and she pushed herself from the wall and began to pace. Kuja straightened up and stood, watching Sephira for a moment, then turning to the sounds of the battle as he heard the Devil's wordless cry of anger.
"I believe I may go and aid him," Kuja said softly, his chin in his hand as he thought. Sephira stopped her paces and stared at him, a desperate, lonely look surfacing on her face.
"No, you cannot," she whispered. "You are still weak from the last fight."
"But I can aid him. I can work my magic and maybe slow Viteros' opponent down long enough for him to stop her." He dropped his hands to his sides and moved over towards Sephira. Taking her shoulders, he stared down at her. She couldn't hold his gaze for long and hung her head, fighting tears.
"You cannot," she repeated. "I do not want you to be hurt again."
He didn't reply. Placing his nose on her head in a gesture of affection, he whirled around and dashed off, his tattered fabric flowing fluidly behind him.
Sephira remained where she was, her head still inclined towards the ground, her fists clenched and Zidane noticed her shoulders shook. Moving towards her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She shook him off.
"Do not touch me," she warned venomously. Zidane backed away, his hands held up in a gesture of apology.
"Okay, okay, calm down..." he replied, smiling nervously. She gave him a glare, her eyes red from tears and Zidane dropped his hands, then placed one on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, he'll be okay. He and Vit can rock that ninja girl all the way back to where she came from!"
"That is very comforting, in an deranged sort of way," she said with a little smile. Zidane left her side with a leap and struck a heroic pose, placing a hand on his chest.
"Of course it is."
Sephira arched an eyebrow at his antics, still worried beyond belief, but glad that Zidane was there to make things not as horrible as they seemed.
----------------------
~We received a message from Outer Heaven 1 this morning, and it told us that we must hurry and be quick about our genetic engineering experiments. Sadly, the relationship between Masters Garland and Terisas are beginning to sour, and so we must be ready for an eventual attack on us.
We have begun more experiments, as well as production of soldiers, an emergency backup contingency.
Professor Zarius began work on corpses and donated body parts, and has attempted to create an actual human being from these parts. Should this operation be successful, we will have a powerful new type of soldier on our hands, a temporary substitute for the currently incomplete Angel and Devil models.
Hopefully within a few days we will be able to-~
Zidane shut the book. They were not much in a better position than before.
"No answers here," he said truthfully.
"Then.how shall we win over this.person?" asked Sephira. Kuja had gone back.
"I don't know."
"I do," said Sephira, suddenly sitting up. "I know! Do you remember the Shadow Bible?"
"Who could forget such a creepy book?"
"Perhaps.it lies within?"
Zidane jumped up. "Yes.of course! Terisas and Garland got their inspiration from the book, so-"
"Perhaps the answers are there!" said Sephira. "Where is the book?"
Zidane pulled it out of his belt pouch. "Took it from Viteros."
Letting his intuition guide him, Zidane opened the book to a random page and was amazed by what he found.
~16. Verily I say unto you, it came to pass the shadow sorcerer Muridegl, raised by the dark god Vashcoriladus, even unto godhood, began the work called necromancy, even the corrupting of souls, yea, an exceedingly dark and shadowy control of the dead, undoing the eternal rest.
17. And it came to pass the dark god Vashcoriladus, even the god of death, was displeased, and behold he said unto Muridegl Thou hast sinned against me and all of creation. Thy shadowy monstrosities art of great darkness, even an utterly unholy nature, even so as to repel the dark god himself! I, Vashcoriladus, thus say unto thee, thou hast failed in creation and life. And so, I pass this curse up unto thee-
18. Thy dead shall not be mindless. They shall remember the life before, even their entire life, from dust unto dust. And they shall be troubled by the memories thereof, and they shall curse thee, Muridegl, and hate thee, and one day shalt consume thee. And so, even unto thou I lay this curse, and upon the day of thine own death thou shalt not die but be damned, even insomuch as to exist forever in a state of eternal misery.~
"That's it! Their weaknesses are their memories!"
"Wait," said Sephira, "How do we know of the nature of our enemy? How do we know she is of this undead army?"
"I know.I just know. I.this book has a strange way of knowing what is going on." Zidane was completely serious.
"I.I shall go along with this, considering our lack of a better plan, but I still have many misgivings."
------------------
"Die, die!" Viteros had drawn his katal claws, the sharp metallic claws inside of the machinery in his hands that would only be used as a final defense should his guns fail. She was simply too fast to shoot with the machine gun.and he was out of bullets.
The dining hall was a wreck; glass shards, overturned furniture, and squashed food littered the ground. Over the wreckage they still battled, jumping nimbly over the obstacles in their way. Viteros was just beginning to tire; he could feel the edge of fatigue beginning to burn his muscles. But the ninja, it seemed, was just as fresh as ever. The Devil hid his exhaustion, and he hoped that his opponent was merely doing the same.
He spun and slashed, cutting once more nothing but thin air. The best hit either of them had done was a rip to the clothes, and that rip was on him.
Screaming in desperation, Viteros shouted, "Who are you!?"
To his surprise, she answered. "You know I not?"
They both leapt to opposite sides of the hall, and Viteros was gratified to see she, like him, was doubled over panting. "No. Who are you?"
"Ha! Devil, I you disappoint! Remembering not Akumu Kage?"
"Akumu Kage? Akumu.?"
She laughed and straightened, hands on her hips. "You not remembering! Disappoint, Viteros, disappoint. I am you good memory having, thinking. And remembering not Ghosts Agents?"
"Ghost Agents? Project Ghost?"
"Good. Remembering. You remembering old life."
"Old life? Old life? You call that nightmare life? When I had to work with people like you.and even you.you don't have any life at all."
"Life figurative being. I, you, life choosing. That truth."
Viteros stood up; he was done with this pointless discussion. He saw that Akumu did also. He lifted his clawed metal hand. "Let's finish this."
"As you wish."
They ran at each other, and Viteros felt the dark power growing inside of him. In this world he channeled Trance, although at this moment he'd much prefer a Limit Break.
They made contact, each cutting at each other as hard as they could. Then they separated, both of them on a different side of the room. Viteros smiled and stood up straight. He turned, and so did Akumu. Then he stumbled.
Clutching at the knife wound in his stomach, Viteros winced, one eye completely shut tight from the pain. The blood seeped through his fingers and fell to the floor, staining the mirrors. Suddenly, he coughed, and the blood sprayed from his mouth, and he collapsed on the floor, still coughing up more and more blood. His entire body trembled.
Akumu laughed. "Born of blood, die of blood," she mocked. "You.urk.what this?"
Beginning to pale, she looked down and saw on her unwounded chest a small metal square. She frantically tried to rip it off but couldn't. "No! You.S-Cutter!"
Viteros, still laying there on his side, blood seeping, laughed quietly through his coughing. "That's.that's right, Akumu. I still have an S- Cutter. Remember those? The good old assassination weapon S-Cutter, the most painful way to die."
Slowly, the S-Cutter began to whirl. Slowly, and then, faster and faster until it was a spinning metal disc. Then arced blades emerged from the sides, and the thing jabbed Akumu with a small needle, then detached.
A small drop of blood on her chest staining the perfect black of her clothing, Akumu looked at the little floating machine. "This.this blood remembering?"
Viteros had finally maneuvered himself onto his knees. One hand still clutched his wound while the other, trembling, supported him from collapsing again. Despite his agony, he managed a fierce grin, madness shining through his agony-stricken eyes and sweat-matted hair. "It'll remember your exact DNA sequence, Akumu Kage. And it'll come after you. It'll keep coming until you're dead. I'd say you're the one who dies by blood."
The cutter slowly turned in the air until one sharp edge faced its target. Then, spinning faster, it tore through the air and towards her throat.
Akumu dodged expertly, turning a no-hand cartwheel through the air and then jumping up and over debris with catlike agility, but the flying object still chased her.
Suddenly, Kuja ran in. Looking around, he stood in the way of the ninja and shouted, "Do not move!"
Viteros scrambled forward on his knees and yelled, "Kuja! Get out of the way!"
The Genome looked over for a split second. "What?"
Akumu ran forward and jumped high enough to land her foot on Kuja's face and leapt over him. Kuja groaned and stepped back, clutching his head.
Then the S-Cutter hit him. It was just a small cut, not even ripping him, merely slicing a bit and taking some blood.
But that was enough.
The cutter floated there for a few more seconds, analyzing the blood sample it had taken. Kuja looked at Viteros. "What will this.?"
"It'll try to kill you both," the Devil replied.
-------------------
Zidane and Sephira hurried through the strange halls, trying to find their way back to the dining room, but with no luck. There was just no way of finding anything in this madhouse. Finally, tiring of running in circles, Sephira focused inward, sensing life.she saw Kuja, colored yellow with fear, Viteros red with pain, and then the other.the ninja.
Her color was strange.
Unlike most, who just had a psychic color that belied some of their personality and situation, she was a strange meshing of many colors, and in the middle, an azure silver core.
Most interesting.
Coming out of the psychic vision she aimed at the wall she was facing and dissolved it with a fireball. "From now on," she said stepping through, "We go in a straight line."
Zidane shrugged. "Works for me."
---------------------
Inside the dining hall was pure chaos. Akumu and Kuja frantically tried to dodge the flying S-Cutter and at the same time somehow defeat each other while Viteros desperately looked for any healing items-he was losing blood fast, and consciousness was drifting in and out. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but with this amount of blood out of his system there was no way he could win, and anyway, who was this-
Bang.
"Could it be? The one with the Special Break.Limit Healer."
Viteros pushed himself up and stared. "No! It can't be!"
He coughed and spurted up more blood. Then he forced himself to shout, "Aaeeris!"
Sephira and Zidane arrived at that moment, suddenly, and Zidane leapt and cut the S-Cutter in half. He spun and faced the ninja, followed closely by Sephira, who had the beginnings of a fireball starting to ember in her hands.
Viteros pushed himself up. His arm trembled. "Aeris!"
Akumu turned and looked at him, and now that he had a good view, Viteros knew.there was no mistaking that soft emerald eye and the silky hair.only a Cetra could.
"Its you! I knew it! Limit.urk.healer."
Viteros collapsed again.
"Aeris? And what that being?" Akumu stood there, confident, hand on her hip. "What you saying are? Aeris! Not but.not.aaaAAAAhHH!"
Screaming, the enemy grabbed her head and staggered, finally tripping over a stray chair leg. She fell and still lay there, writhing, shrieking, then suddenly her entire body spasmed and she stopped moving.
Still not sure about their safety, Kuja approached the still body, and Sephira was ready to burn it as soon as it moved.