Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue.
*`*`*`*`*`
Chapter 10: Final Battle
*`*`*`*`*`
The eerie glow of hundreds of candles illuminated the death ridden temple, shadows creeping in every cold corner of the drab gray room. The high ceiling came up in a slate dome, smooth and untouched. A beautiful, marble pedestal sat in the middle of the room, the four pieces of the crystal were merging together, healing their wounds with energy that Kuja fed to them from his own life force, pouring his very heart and soul into Frios. Ipsen and Robin burst in through the door, unnoticed by the genome.
Ipsen noticed, as he raised his staff, his fingers were more like claws, unbridled by the remains of his mahogany gloves. The navy blue feathers around his neck lowered like a depressed bird's crest.
"This is me," Ipsen sighed, turning to Robin.
"It's all the same to me," Robin retorted lovingly, but remembered the crystals. "Hurry, break them apart before they fuse!"
Ipsen nodded and ran towards the stone as Robin began to draw her sword, but Kuja, who seemed unconscious up until that moment, snapped open his eyes and raised his hand to defend the crystals. Ipsen only caught a small glimpse of what power Kuja was capable of before, but that was before he experienced the excruciating pain of his Flare Star, the star flames exploding from nothingness in a frantic surge. Ipsen was able to stand the blow, but without much energy left in him to remain standing.
"It's too late, they're all ready nearly repaired." Kuja cackled, glaring at the waltz.
"Not if I can help it!" Robin said brought her sword down on the crystal with a powerful blow, knocking the four pieces apart and causing them to fall to the ground with several ringing clatters. Kuja didn't even flinch at this disturbance.
"Fine," he snarled. "I will dispose of you two before I Frios dispose of those on Gaia."
Kuja lifted his arms into the air, conjuring a spell as Robin quickly cast Regen on her and Ipsen. It was a lucky instance that she finished the spell quickly, so Ipsen got enough energy to get up, just in time to avoid Kuja's barrage of magic. He clumsily tumbled into a run and did what came as second nature to him, spreading his wings and taking to the air like a fish to water.
"You fools!" Kuja laughed, another spell growing in his palm.
Robin shot a glance at Kuja, taking her eyes off her surroundings and footing for an instant, but that's all Kuja needed as she misstepped and faltered. The Flare spell left Kuja's hand and hit Robin with its full capacity, the genome crossing his arms triumphantly as the girl fell, Ipsen landing nearby, coming to her aid.
"Robin, come on, get up." Ipsen urged gently, Kuja watching them evilly with a superior grin on his face. The waltz gently rocked Robin's shoulder. "Hey, we're going to beat him together, right?"
The girl pulled herself up and nodded, her hair beginning to lose all its color and becoming a silky white.
"Robin...?" Ipsen said worriedly. A bright aura of light began to envelop the girl's entire form, shining white and brilliant.
"No...." Kuja cursed, narrowing his eyes at Robin. He quickly flung another devestating spell at the couple. Ipsen cringed, awaiting the impact, but it never came. The fireball disipated in a hiss hitting an invisible barrier right behind Ipsen. The girl slightly leaned towards Ipsen, silently asking for his support. The waltz, kneeling on the floor, drew her into his arms, feeling the warmth and power radiating from her aura.
"What's happening to you?" Ipsen asked helplessly. She only answered in the hissing tongue of an incantation, reinforcing the weakening reflect barrier against Kuja's attacks.
The light around Robin seemed to spread like frost to Ipsen, making intricate patterns across the sleeves of his coat.
"So this is what's Trance is...." Robin said with a fascinated smile, looking at her palms. "We'll beat him together, right?"
"Right." Ipsen said with a wide grin. Robin returned the smile and stood up, her usual tomboy-ish outfit were now angelic white robes. Ipsen's black coat was made deep royal purple, gold trim along the hems of his sleeves by the Trance metamorphasis, his raven wings dyed snow white from their shared energy.
Kuja narrowed his eyes at the two heroes, both empowered and emboldened by the sudden release of energy. The devilish genome conjured all his will into a Flare spell and commanded it at the couple, but Robin deflected it with lightning speed, the Reflect spell immediatley dissipating the lapping flames. Ipsen spread his wings and beat them powerfully, getting into the air to provide an offensive balance with Robin's defensive spells. With a cool temperment, Ipsen called upon several newly discovered spells, invoking them one by one, barrading Kuja with the elements.
"Thundada!" he snarled, swinging his staff forward. A wild peel of lightning struck at Kuja with an earsplitting crackle. "Firada!"
Kuja defended himself as best possible as the blistering enferno surrounded him. Ipsen narrowed his eyes and called out one last spell.
"Blizzada," he muttered, several icy shards stinging and piercing Kuja's contorted and damaged flesh, causing the man to scream and wail in agony, partially from pain, partially from his final defeat.
With one last moan, Kuja exhaled his last breath and his life failed him. He fell to the ground with a sickening thump. Ipsen landed, the aura of power losing its effect as his coat and feathers faded back to their original, dark colors. Robin too lost her angelic appearence, her hair going back to its dusty blonde color and clothes to their drab black and green.
"We did it," Ipsen sighed, relieved.
Robin swayed in her place and stumbled, weakened by her excessive expenditure of magic and energy. The waltz quickly caught her, offering her a shoulder to lean on.
"Thanks," she murmured, trying to keep her voice up in strength and volume, to hide her spell of weakness.
"No problem," Ipsen said.
"Can we go home?" Robin groaned.
The waltz nodded.
"You want me to carry you?" Ipsen asked sincerely. Robin replied with a shake of her head.
"N-no...I can walk," she sighed, still leaning on Ipsen's shoulder for support.
"Here, hold on," Ipsen said and scooped up the crystals in his hand. Robin tugged on his sleeve and shifted her weight off his shoulder.
"Come on, hurry up," she sighed jokingly, her voice was still somewhat fatigued. Robin began walking towards the shrine's exit.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ipsen said and walked through the open door behind Robin.
*`*`*`*`*`
Chapter 10: Final Battle
*`*`*`*`*`
The eerie glow of hundreds of candles illuminated the death ridden temple, shadows creeping in every cold corner of the drab gray room. The high ceiling came up in a slate dome, smooth and untouched. A beautiful, marble pedestal sat in the middle of the room, the four pieces of the crystal were merging together, healing their wounds with energy that Kuja fed to them from his own life force, pouring his very heart and soul into Frios. Ipsen and Robin burst in through the door, unnoticed by the genome.
Ipsen noticed, as he raised his staff, his fingers were more like claws, unbridled by the remains of his mahogany gloves. The navy blue feathers around his neck lowered like a depressed bird's crest.
"This is me," Ipsen sighed, turning to Robin.
"It's all the same to me," Robin retorted lovingly, but remembered the crystals. "Hurry, break them apart before they fuse!"
Ipsen nodded and ran towards the stone as Robin began to draw her sword, but Kuja, who seemed unconscious up until that moment, snapped open his eyes and raised his hand to defend the crystals. Ipsen only caught a small glimpse of what power Kuja was capable of before, but that was before he experienced the excruciating pain of his Flare Star, the star flames exploding from nothingness in a frantic surge. Ipsen was able to stand the blow, but without much energy left in him to remain standing.
"It's too late, they're all ready nearly repaired." Kuja cackled, glaring at the waltz.
"Not if I can help it!" Robin said brought her sword down on the crystal with a powerful blow, knocking the four pieces apart and causing them to fall to the ground with several ringing clatters. Kuja didn't even flinch at this disturbance.
"Fine," he snarled. "I will dispose of you two before I Frios dispose of those on Gaia."
Kuja lifted his arms into the air, conjuring a spell as Robin quickly cast Regen on her and Ipsen. It was a lucky instance that she finished the spell quickly, so Ipsen got enough energy to get up, just in time to avoid Kuja's barrage of magic. He clumsily tumbled into a run and did what came as second nature to him, spreading his wings and taking to the air like a fish to water.
"You fools!" Kuja laughed, another spell growing in his palm.
Robin shot a glance at Kuja, taking her eyes off her surroundings and footing for an instant, but that's all Kuja needed as she misstepped and faltered. The Flare spell left Kuja's hand and hit Robin with its full capacity, the genome crossing his arms triumphantly as the girl fell, Ipsen landing nearby, coming to her aid.
"Robin, come on, get up." Ipsen urged gently, Kuja watching them evilly with a superior grin on his face. The waltz gently rocked Robin's shoulder. "Hey, we're going to beat him together, right?"
The girl pulled herself up and nodded, her hair beginning to lose all its color and becoming a silky white.
"Robin...?" Ipsen said worriedly. A bright aura of light began to envelop the girl's entire form, shining white and brilliant.
"No...." Kuja cursed, narrowing his eyes at Robin. He quickly flung another devestating spell at the couple. Ipsen cringed, awaiting the impact, but it never came. The fireball disipated in a hiss hitting an invisible barrier right behind Ipsen. The girl slightly leaned towards Ipsen, silently asking for his support. The waltz, kneeling on the floor, drew her into his arms, feeling the warmth and power radiating from her aura.
"What's happening to you?" Ipsen asked helplessly. She only answered in the hissing tongue of an incantation, reinforcing the weakening reflect barrier against Kuja's attacks.
The light around Robin seemed to spread like frost to Ipsen, making intricate patterns across the sleeves of his coat.
"So this is what's Trance is...." Robin said with a fascinated smile, looking at her palms. "We'll beat him together, right?"
"Right." Ipsen said with a wide grin. Robin returned the smile and stood up, her usual tomboy-ish outfit were now angelic white robes. Ipsen's black coat was made deep royal purple, gold trim along the hems of his sleeves by the Trance metamorphasis, his raven wings dyed snow white from their shared energy.
Kuja narrowed his eyes at the two heroes, both empowered and emboldened by the sudden release of energy. The devilish genome conjured all his will into a Flare spell and commanded it at the couple, but Robin deflected it with lightning speed, the Reflect spell immediatley dissipating the lapping flames. Ipsen spread his wings and beat them powerfully, getting into the air to provide an offensive balance with Robin's defensive spells. With a cool temperment, Ipsen called upon several newly discovered spells, invoking them one by one, barrading Kuja with the elements.
"Thundada!" he snarled, swinging his staff forward. A wild peel of lightning struck at Kuja with an earsplitting crackle. "Firada!"
Kuja defended himself as best possible as the blistering enferno surrounded him. Ipsen narrowed his eyes and called out one last spell.
"Blizzada," he muttered, several icy shards stinging and piercing Kuja's contorted and damaged flesh, causing the man to scream and wail in agony, partially from pain, partially from his final defeat.
With one last moan, Kuja exhaled his last breath and his life failed him. He fell to the ground with a sickening thump. Ipsen landed, the aura of power losing its effect as his coat and feathers faded back to their original, dark colors. Robin too lost her angelic appearence, her hair going back to its dusty blonde color and clothes to their drab black and green.
"We did it," Ipsen sighed, relieved.
Robin swayed in her place and stumbled, weakened by her excessive expenditure of magic and energy. The waltz quickly caught her, offering her a shoulder to lean on.
"Thanks," she murmured, trying to keep her voice up in strength and volume, to hide her spell of weakness.
"No problem," Ipsen said.
"Can we go home?" Robin groaned.
The waltz nodded.
"You want me to carry you?" Ipsen asked sincerely. Robin replied with a shake of her head.
"N-no...I can walk," she sighed, still leaning on Ipsen's shoulder for support.
"Here, hold on," Ipsen said and scooped up the crystals in his hand. Robin tugged on his sleeve and shifted her weight off his shoulder.
"Come on, hurry up," she sighed jokingly, her voice was still somewhat fatigued. Robin began walking towards the shrine's exit.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ipsen said and walked through the open door behind Robin.