'Allo! I know the updates have taken a bizarrely long time in comparison to
PFTD, but bear with me. I'm trying not to slip into the nasty mistakes I
made in that fic, as well as make up for some of them.
Chapter IIX: The Dragons Claws
"You stay here." Vincent commanded coldly, pointing to the ground.
Nox Seran wasn't taking to the idea. The demon couldn't really grasp the concept of staying in one place.
"Right, I'll stay with you." He said, slithering behind Vincent.
"No, you stay HERE!" Vincent said firmly, pointing to the deck of the Highwind.
"What? And miss my chance to do my mission? Not likely!" Nox countered, and tried sneaking past Vincent.
A golden claw suddenly barred his way.
"No, Nox Seran of The Council, you won't. There are people here who do NOT need to see what a demon completely out of his mind does at a knighting." Vincent said while turning around and walking away.
Nox Seran slumped down against a wall.
"This isn't fair, I'll have you know!" The demon shouted after Vincent.
Vincent closed the door loudly behind.
"HMPH!" Nox Seran snorted, and grabbed the end of his own tail. "The Valentine was much more fun when he was dead. The Kisaragi wasn't much fun either." He grumbled. His brief encounter with the young Ninja had been very disappointing. He had hero worshipped her for a long time until someone had shown him Jarred in action. Now THERE was a Half-Breed who how to cause a ruckus. Nox Seran looked forward to meeting the Half-Breed one day.
Nox Seran tugged his tail sharply, and his entire body was pulled backwards slightly. The demon giggled, and pulled again.
"EEHEEHEEHEE!" He laughed, and pulled as hard as he could. For some reason, his entire body span around in a circle, defying any law of physics that stood in its way.
Slowly, the demon stopped spinning, but the room didn't. Nox Seran staggered around the room, like some drunken parody of the evil he was supposed to embody, and finally fell to the ground. Nox Seran laughed, and pushed himself up once again.
"LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!" He shouted insanely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarred was being led around as if he was on a leash. Elena had latched on to his arm and seemed as if she wouldn't let go until he gnawed through his own shoulder, after which she try the other arm for size. Jarred actually grabbed the handle of his hand axe at one point, thinking that he might decapitate anyone obstructing his escape. But, he had dismissed the idea, as it would probably make him wanted in just about every country, which wouldn't be very fun at all. So, he endured the boredom that was the ceremony. Elena said something and laughed, but Jarred wasn't really listening, so he just smiled politely.
This wasn't what he had bargained for! He wanted FOOD! And mass quantities of it!
"Daddy!" He heard Joan call out.
It was at that Jarred just gave up on being polite. He jerked his arm out of Elena's grasp sharply, and turned around, ignoring Elena's questioning glance.
"Jarred?" She asked, following behind him curiously.
"Daddy!" Joan called again.
Jarred began running, roughly pushing people out of his way. Jarred didn't like the idea that he had forgotten about Joan, or that he had been distracted by Elena. It really made him want to blow something up. . . Unfortunately the ball room had an immediate shortage of such things.
"Joan?" He shouted out.
"Joan?" Elena repeated behind him, now thoroughly mystified.
"Be quiet, human!" Jarred hissed, and listened for Joan's voice. When it came down to his surrogate daughter he wasn't about to be brought under the will of others. That was just plain BAD. Or at least very not nice. Either way he wasn't going to give in to the human.
Joan appeared at his legs, and Jarred bent down to pick her up.
"Hey there, lil' girl. Whatcha bin' up to?" He asked happily, setting her on his shoulder once again. The shoulder that didn't have the spiked shoulder guard on it, that is.
"I found lotsa shiny rocks!" She said, holding up a handful of jewellery. Jarred picked one up, inspecting it thoroughly. It was necklace, forged from platinum. Several jewels studded it, but the most stunning aspect of it was a beast in the likeness of a dragon in the centre of it, dangling from a chain. After a minute of this, he tossed it away.
"Human foolishness. Only they would make funny little metal things just to show around." He said dismissingly.
Elena arrived just in time to grab the necklace, and swiftly make it 'disappear'.
"Jarred!" She hissed. "What are you doing?! These are priceless!"
Jarred took a ring from Joan's hand.
"Want another?" He offered good naturedly. Elena hesitated, and then swiped the ring.
"Where did you find these?" She asked, admiring the ring. It reflected the light brilliantly, which glinted in the her eyes.
Joan was currently putting a diamond studded wrist bracelet around her arm. It was made to fit around a normal woman's wrist, but Joan was a little too small for the bracelet to fit there. But it fit her arm perfectly. Next, she tried on a necklace.
"She found them." Jarred said with a smile on his face, gesturing to Joan. Elena suddenly noticed the black skinned child on Jarred's shoulder.
Her eye's went wide, and she recoiled somewhat from the young warrior and his offspring. While she didn't get to know Jarred very well during the siege, she had generally assumed that he was way too young to be active in that department. True, he had turned out to be nineteen, but that was still a bit young.
"You have a kid?!" She said in near hysteria. Jarred's smile vanished.
"Why does everyone get like that when they see her? What's wrong? And NO, she's NOT my kid. She appeared on my islands one day." He said indignantly.
Elena calmed down.
"I see. Why didn't you try to find her parents?" She asked, with a somewhat angry look on her face. As far as she could see, Jarred had seen a child on his islands, and just taken her in as his own. Ten out of ten points for the 'father of the year award', but minus a hundred for morality.
Jarred frowned.
"Get real, Elena. How many people like me do you see on a daily basis? Not many, I should guess. 'Sides, I have first hand knowledge that she has no parents." He declared.
"Really?"
"Yes. I killed the other one like me." He said nonchalantly. Jarred seemed to suddenly notice something in the distance.
"Ooh!" Jarred exclaimed suddenly. "Vincent's here! And Red XIII! And Barret! And Cid! And Yuffie!" Jarred went on into a mass of 'ands'. Suddenly he stopped. "Why's Yuffie's stomach so big?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn snapped his eyes open.
"Everyone is there. This is your last chance to go back to your damned city, Cetra. After this I can guarantee that The Council will dispatch someone for your immediate termination."
Aeris smiled at Kahn.
"But you'll stop them, won't you? You're having too much fun to let a old fuddy-duddy like the Shadowlord to ruin it."
Kahn nodded somewhat.
"If it includes resisting the Shadowlord, I would fight to the end. I hate that old demon more than life itself." He declared solemnly. "I'll tell the dragons to do their thing."
Kahn closed his eyes once again, with a faint smile hovering across his face. Now he could REALLY fight. Demons, half-breeds, and maybe one of those JENOVA freaks. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It happened just as the ceremony was starting.
The whole of AVALANCHE said behind Cloud, Jarred was absent mindedly handling his hand-axe in a mean gesture, Joan was off collec5ting more of her 'shiny rocks', and the Turks were guarding Reeve. The LoS riders were spread around the room, ignoring the whole thing. They had been dismissed earlier that night, and were enjoying themselves immensely.
Then the three, black dragons crashed through the ceiling, spraying stone and decorations around the room. Everyone was thrown into an immediate panic, except maybe Vincent, who had been expecting something like this the whole time. It was just waiting to happen, really. Of course, Cid was also ready to provide some of his colourful opinion on the matter.
"You rat scumlic bastards! We were this F-¤%#-ing close to getting to the F- &/¤-ing end of this, and then you guys show up!" The old pilot immediately cast about for something to use as a weapon, and found himself painfully lacking. "SHIT!"
Jarred took only a second to react. First, he cut his finger on his axe in surprise at the dragon's sudden appearance, then proceeded to launch himself into attack. Vincent provided fire support.
"Cloud! Get the other's out of here! These dragon's will make mincemeat out of us if we don't move fast enough!" Vincent ordered swiftly, and went airborne. He could get a clearer shot while in the air. "Will someone tell me what Jarred plans to do to those things with only a hand axe and a dagger?!"
The Death Sentence cracked out its bullets, and a dragon recoiled in pain. At that point, Jarred had made his way to one of the dragons. The warrior laughed madly, and through the hand-axe suddenly. The weapon spun in a deadly circle, and sheared right into the dragon's chest. The slow witted dragon blinked, and bellowed in pain. It brought a clawed paw down on Jarred, but the Half-Breed wasn't there anymore. He had leapt in closer, and driven his long dagger into the dragon's neck. Its crimson contents spilled freely over him. Jarred turned just in time to dodge a fanged mouth that was going to try to eat him. The Half-Breed summoned a globe, and tossed it in the dragon general direction.
It missed, but hit the other one behind it. Jarred cursed loudly, something he was unused to. Cursing was bad.
The dragon's tail lashed out, but Jarred jumped over. From above he could hear Vincent quickly taking care of the other dragon, but was apparently being met with ammunition problems.
While still in mid-air the dragon's paw slashed out and smashed into Jarred. The Half-Breed then went on to defy gravity for a full two seconds, until he crashed against a wall. His head clacked against the stone, and he could feel blood trickle down his face and where the dragon had hit him. Jarred pushed himself forward again, and was getting very mad very fast. However, without any weapons that anger was pretty useless. Jarred summoned a globe, and took careful aim. Unfortunately, there was little time for this as the dragon charged him. The dragon's claw pinned his arms to the wall, And jarred was brought painfully close to its hideous head.
"Daddy!" Joan called out.
Jarred's eye's went wide. Despite being thrashed, beaten and slightly woozy, he struggled against the dragon's firm grip.
"Joan." He said silently, and pushed forward with all his might. His tendons stood out like ropes on his arms, his charcoal red eyes blazed with rage and fury. Finally, he just couldn't take anymore. He bellowed his hatred.
Like it had in siege of Midgar, Jarred's body went aflame with a black inferno. The dragon shrieked in pain as its magical heat scorched its hands, but it refused to let go. Jarred howled in rage, and the flames only got more intense. Eventually, the dragon was caught between two choices: loose its hands, or let go. It was an easy descision. The dragon let go.
With his hands free, Jarred launched himself from the wall, and pounded his into the dragon. His blazing hands scorched the dragon everytime, and filled the room with its loud, shrieks of pain. Finally, Jarred pointed at the beast. As if they were a part of him, the flames moved onto the dragon, burning it slowly.
"Daddy!" Joan callout again. Jarred snapped his head to in that direction to see Elena trying valiantly with Vincent to fend off the remaining dragon without any weapons. Apparently, Reno and Rude had left with Reeve. Jarred's skin flared hotly, and he charged the dragon. He summoned a globe, and forced it into the dragon's back. The thing howled in pain, and whirled upon Jarred.
"Get 'im, Vincent!" Jarred shouted, and ducked a claw swipe.
Vincent took advantage of the dragon's revealed back, and reloaded his gun. He aimed at where Jarred's globe had seared through the thick hide, and pulled the trigger.
Jarred was once again showered in blood as the exit wound from Vincent's bullet exploded from the dragon's chest. It rammed straight through Jarred as well, and he flew backwards with a look of pain surprise. He hit the floor with a sickening splash of blood, both his own and that of the dragons. His red eyes dimmed now that his rage was gone, and gasped out.
"Goddammit!" He rasped out.
He tried pushing himself forward, but found that his body was unwilling to obey. That was odd. He tried again. This time it seemed like his body was revolting against him. Pain shot through his limbs. Jarred swore.
"I. Can't. Move!" He shouted angrily. He opened his eyes to see Elena, Vincent and Joan standing above him.
From behind them came the sound of clapping.
"Bravo, my prince. A nice performance, but you shouldn't play with dragons. They bite." Jarred moved hieck upwards to see three, blue haired figures approach him. The only thing he could see clearly was the colour of their eyes, which were red, blue and black.
Jarred moaned.
"SHE BECKONS, PRANCE OF DARKNESS. WE MUST OBEY!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn snapped his eyes open and roared in fury.
"I WAS *THIS* CLOSE TO KILLING HIM! THAT WRETCHED HALF-BREED MUST DIE!" He roared.
Aeris jumped back in surprise. She hadn't been expecting the demon to e finished so soon.
"WHEN HE COMES HERE I'M GOING TO RIP HIM APART!" He fumed.
"What happened?" Aeris asked calmly. She was beginning to get used to the demons chaotic mood swings and temper tantrums. If you watched him for a while, you could actually begin to guess when he would have them. Just about every fifteen minutes.
Kahn flashed Aeris an angry glance.
"That cursed Half-Breed killed my dragons. Those things aren't the easiest things to summon, you know! If I had known he would have killed them I would have sent more! MURDER ONE! MAN SLAUGHTER! TI ME' KA!"
Aeris blinked at the last one.
"Ti me' ka?"
Kahn blinked himself. His black skin went a tinge redder than normal.
"Forget that. Old demonic. Nothing special." He murmured quietly. "I think that they'll be able to find out where those dragons came from. Black dragons are only found on Gaea's peak, and if they can't put the pieces together then I would advise you to enlist better help."
Aeris smiled.
"They'll know. They aren't stupid. 'Sides, Nox Seran should be able to trace your magic back here. The others have no choice but to listen to that demon." She smiled.
Kahn blanched.
"Nox Seran?! You KNEW The Council dispatched Nox Seran?!" He shouted. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Aeris blinked.
"Geez, Kahn, don't spaz out. He's just a silly, confused demon. He's not dangerous."
Kahn exploded.
"FOOL! HOW DO YOU THINK THAT DEMON GOT ONTO THE COUNCIL?! BY LAUGHING?! NO! NOX SERAN IS RUTHLESS, CRUEL, AND HUGELY POWERFUL!" He shrieked. "I can kiss my freedom good bye now. Nox Seran is going to tear me apart. I knew I shouldn't have trusted a CETRA!"
Aeris blinked again.
"Nox Seran is just a bit odd. He's not THAT powerful. I mean, He had to have help from WEAPON to cross the ocean."
Kahn glared at Aeris.
"So would I after the random eon or two. I say it once, I say it again. We are in grave danger. The planet will not help you. Its will has been severed due to your desire for life."
Aeris smiled.
"I don't believe that. The planet wouldn't want the last Cetra to die."
Kahn smiled wickedly.
"Oh, I can see YOU'RE going to have fun if we get out of this mess alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud poked his head into the room where they had moved Jarred. The three people who had appeared had insisted on bearing Jarred alone, and guarded the room rigidly. It was almost as if they had established a camp there.
"Jarred?" He asked.
The air wavered, and then one of those freaky people appeared in front of him. Its red eyes blazed angrily, and it sneered somewhat.
"Jarred is damaged. The winged one harmed him. He must heal before he can socialize." It said.
Cloud was pushed away, and the door slammed shut.
"Not a very nice person." He remarked, and sat down against the wall facing the room.
Vincent joined him, with a cup of coffee in his hands..
"They're still not letting anybody in there?" He asked, handing Cloud the cup.
"Yeah." Cloud took a sip, but scorched his tongue. "Did you really shoot Jarred? They keep saying you did."
Vincent sighed.
"I didn't think the bullet would go through the dragons chest. I just thought it would stop." Cloud could clearly see that Vincent was feeling very guilty about the whole thing. In fact, Vincent was the first person to have tried to talk to Jarred, but the three people had forced him away with their weapons.
Joan sat with Elena, down the hall.
"So, Jarred's got a kid." Vincent murmured. "Couldn't see that comin' for the life of me."
Cloud looked down the hall. He could see Elena and Joan playing some game.
"I don't think she's his. He said he just found her one day. I honestly don't know. He acts so immature, so naïve, and then suddenly he show up with a kid. I Don't know what to think of that kid anymore."
The door opened. One of the three people walked out of the room.
"When can you get that airship moving?"
Cloud shrugged.
"It can go anytime, I guess."
"Then you must find out where those dragons came from. They attacked Jarred. The source of this insult must be found." He declared, and returned into the room.
Cloud stared at the door.
"What strange people."
Chapter IIX: The Dragons Claws
"You stay here." Vincent commanded coldly, pointing to the ground.
Nox Seran wasn't taking to the idea. The demon couldn't really grasp the concept of staying in one place.
"Right, I'll stay with you." He said, slithering behind Vincent.
"No, you stay HERE!" Vincent said firmly, pointing to the deck of the Highwind.
"What? And miss my chance to do my mission? Not likely!" Nox countered, and tried sneaking past Vincent.
A golden claw suddenly barred his way.
"No, Nox Seran of The Council, you won't. There are people here who do NOT need to see what a demon completely out of his mind does at a knighting." Vincent said while turning around and walking away.
Nox Seran slumped down against a wall.
"This isn't fair, I'll have you know!" The demon shouted after Vincent.
Vincent closed the door loudly behind.
"HMPH!" Nox Seran snorted, and grabbed the end of his own tail. "The Valentine was much more fun when he was dead. The Kisaragi wasn't much fun either." He grumbled. His brief encounter with the young Ninja had been very disappointing. He had hero worshipped her for a long time until someone had shown him Jarred in action. Now THERE was a Half-Breed who how to cause a ruckus. Nox Seran looked forward to meeting the Half-Breed one day.
Nox Seran tugged his tail sharply, and his entire body was pulled backwards slightly. The demon giggled, and pulled again.
"EEHEEHEEHEE!" He laughed, and pulled as hard as he could. For some reason, his entire body span around in a circle, defying any law of physics that stood in its way.
Slowly, the demon stopped spinning, but the room didn't. Nox Seran staggered around the room, like some drunken parody of the evil he was supposed to embody, and finally fell to the ground. Nox Seran laughed, and pushed himself up once again.
"LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!" He shouted insanely.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarred was being led around as if he was on a leash. Elena had latched on to his arm and seemed as if she wouldn't let go until he gnawed through his own shoulder, after which she try the other arm for size. Jarred actually grabbed the handle of his hand axe at one point, thinking that he might decapitate anyone obstructing his escape. But, he had dismissed the idea, as it would probably make him wanted in just about every country, which wouldn't be very fun at all. So, he endured the boredom that was the ceremony. Elena said something and laughed, but Jarred wasn't really listening, so he just smiled politely.
This wasn't what he had bargained for! He wanted FOOD! And mass quantities of it!
"Daddy!" He heard Joan call out.
It was at that Jarred just gave up on being polite. He jerked his arm out of Elena's grasp sharply, and turned around, ignoring Elena's questioning glance.
"Jarred?" She asked, following behind him curiously.
"Daddy!" Joan called again.
Jarred began running, roughly pushing people out of his way. Jarred didn't like the idea that he had forgotten about Joan, or that he had been distracted by Elena. It really made him want to blow something up. . . Unfortunately the ball room had an immediate shortage of such things.
"Joan?" He shouted out.
"Joan?" Elena repeated behind him, now thoroughly mystified.
"Be quiet, human!" Jarred hissed, and listened for Joan's voice. When it came down to his surrogate daughter he wasn't about to be brought under the will of others. That was just plain BAD. Or at least very not nice. Either way he wasn't going to give in to the human.
Joan appeared at his legs, and Jarred bent down to pick her up.
"Hey there, lil' girl. Whatcha bin' up to?" He asked happily, setting her on his shoulder once again. The shoulder that didn't have the spiked shoulder guard on it, that is.
"I found lotsa shiny rocks!" She said, holding up a handful of jewellery. Jarred picked one up, inspecting it thoroughly. It was necklace, forged from platinum. Several jewels studded it, but the most stunning aspect of it was a beast in the likeness of a dragon in the centre of it, dangling from a chain. After a minute of this, he tossed it away.
"Human foolishness. Only they would make funny little metal things just to show around." He said dismissingly.
Elena arrived just in time to grab the necklace, and swiftly make it 'disappear'.
"Jarred!" She hissed. "What are you doing?! These are priceless!"
Jarred took a ring from Joan's hand.
"Want another?" He offered good naturedly. Elena hesitated, and then swiped the ring.
"Where did you find these?" She asked, admiring the ring. It reflected the light brilliantly, which glinted in the her eyes.
Joan was currently putting a diamond studded wrist bracelet around her arm. It was made to fit around a normal woman's wrist, but Joan was a little too small for the bracelet to fit there. But it fit her arm perfectly. Next, she tried on a necklace.
"She found them." Jarred said with a smile on his face, gesturing to Joan. Elena suddenly noticed the black skinned child on Jarred's shoulder.
Her eye's went wide, and she recoiled somewhat from the young warrior and his offspring. While she didn't get to know Jarred very well during the siege, she had generally assumed that he was way too young to be active in that department. True, he had turned out to be nineteen, but that was still a bit young.
"You have a kid?!" She said in near hysteria. Jarred's smile vanished.
"Why does everyone get like that when they see her? What's wrong? And NO, she's NOT my kid. She appeared on my islands one day." He said indignantly.
Elena calmed down.
"I see. Why didn't you try to find her parents?" She asked, with a somewhat angry look on her face. As far as she could see, Jarred had seen a child on his islands, and just taken her in as his own. Ten out of ten points for the 'father of the year award', but minus a hundred for morality.
Jarred frowned.
"Get real, Elena. How many people like me do you see on a daily basis? Not many, I should guess. 'Sides, I have first hand knowledge that she has no parents." He declared.
"Really?"
"Yes. I killed the other one like me." He said nonchalantly. Jarred seemed to suddenly notice something in the distance.
"Ooh!" Jarred exclaimed suddenly. "Vincent's here! And Red XIII! And Barret! And Cid! And Yuffie!" Jarred went on into a mass of 'ands'. Suddenly he stopped. "Why's Yuffie's stomach so big?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn snapped his eyes open.
"Everyone is there. This is your last chance to go back to your damned city, Cetra. After this I can guarantee that The Council will dispatch someone for your immediate termination."
Aeris smiled at Kahn.
"But you'll stop them, won't you? You're having too much fun to let a old fuddy-duddy like the Shadowlord to ruin it."
Kahn nodded somewhat.
"If it includes resisting the Shadowlord, I would fight to the end. I hate that old demon more than life itself." He declared solemnly. "I'll tell the dragons to do their thing."
Kahn closed his eyes once again, with a faint smile hovering across his face. Now he could REALLY fight. Demons, half-breeds, and maybe one of those JENOVA freaks. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It happened just as the ceremony was starting.
The whole of AVALANCHE said behind Cloud, Jarred was absent mindedly handling his hand-axe in a mean gesture, Joan was off collec5ting more of her 'shiny rocks', and the Turks were guarding Reeve. The LoS riders were spread around the room, ignoring the whole thing. They had been dismissed earlier that night, and were enjoying themselves immensely.
Then the three, black dragons crashed through the ceiling, spraying stone and decorations around the room. Everyone was thrown into an immediate panic, except maybe Vincent, who had been expecting something like this the whole time. It was just waiting to happen, really. Of course, Cid was also ready to provide some of his colourful opinion on the matter.
"You rat scumlic bastards! We were this F-¤%#-ing close to getting to the F- &/¤-ing end of this, and then you guys show up!" The old pilot immediately cast about for something to use as a weapon, and found himself painfully lacking. "SHIT!"
Jarred took only a second to react. First, he cut his finger on his axe in surprise at the dragon's sudden appearance, then proceeded to launch himself into attack. Vincent provided fire support.
"Cloud! Get the other's out of here! These dragon's will make mincemeat out of us if we don't move fast enough!" Vincent ordered swiftly, and went airborne. He could get a clearer shot while in the air. "Will someone tell me what Jarred plans to do to those things with only a hand axe and a dagger?!"
The Death Sentence cracked out its bullets, and a dragon recoiled in pain. At that point, Jarred had made his way to one of the dragons. The warrior laughed madly, and through the hand-axe suddenly. The weapon spun in a deadly circle, and sheared right into the dragon's chest. The slow witted dragon blinked, and bellowed in pain. It brought a clawed paw down on Jarred, but the Half-Breed wasn't there anymore. He had leapt in closer, and driven his long dagger into the dragon's neck. Its crimson contents spilled freely over him. Jarred turned just in time to dodge a fanged mouth that was going to try to eat him. The Half-Breed summoned a globe, and tossed it in the dragon general direction.
It missed, but hit the other one behind it. Jarred cursed loudly, something he was unused to. Cursing was bad.
The dragon's tail lashed out, but Jarred jumped over. From above he could hear Vincent quickly taking care of the other dragon, but was apparently being met with ammunition problems.
While still in mid-air the dragon's paw slashed out and smashed into Jarred. The Half-Breed then went on to defy gravity for a full two seconds, until he crashed against a wall. His head clacked against the stone, and he could feel blood trickle down his face and where the dragon had hit him. Jarred pushed himself forward again, and was getting very mad very fast. However, without any weapons that anger was pretty useless. Jarred summoned a globe, and took careful aim. Unfortunately, there was little time for this as the dragon charged him. The dragon's claw pinned his arms to the wall, And jarred was brought painfully close to its hideous head.
"Daddy!" Joan called out.
Jarred's eye's went wide. Despite being thrashed, beaten and slightly woozy, he struggled against the dragon's firm grip.
"Joan." He said silently, and pushed forward with all his might. His tendons stood out like ropes on his arms, his charcoal red eyes blazed with rage and fury. Finally, he just couldn't take anymore. He bellowed his hatred.
Like it had in siege of Midgar, Jarred's body went aflame with a black inferno. The dragon shrieked in pain as its magical heat scorched its hands, but it refused to let go. Jarred howled in rage, and the flames only got more intense. Eventually, the dragon was caught between two choices: loose its hands, or let go. It was an easy descision. The dragon let go.
With his hands free, Jarred launched himself from the wall, and pounded his into the dragon. His blazing hands scorched the dragon everytime, and filled the room with its loud, shrieks of pain. Finally, Jarred pointed at the beast. As if they were a part of him, the flames moved onto the dragon, burning it slowly.
"Daddy!" Joan callout again. Jarred snapped his head to in that direction to see Elena trying valiantly with Vincent to fend off the remaining dragon without any weapons. Apparently, Reno and Rude had left with Reeve. Jarred's skin flared hotly, and he charged the dragon. He summoned a globe, and forced it into the dragon's back. The thing howled in pain, and whirled upon Jarred.
"Get 'im, Vincent!" Jarred shouted, and ducked a claw swipe.
Vincent took advantage of the dragon's revealed back, and reloaded his gun. He aimed at where Jarred's globe had seared through the thick hide, and pulled the trigger.
Jarred was once again showered in blood as the exit wound from Vincent's bullet exploded from the dragon's chest. It rammed straight through Jarred as well, and he flew backwards with a look of pain surprise. He hit the floor with a sickening splash of blood, both his own and that of the dragons. His red eyes dimmed now that his rage was gone, and gasped out.
"Goddammit!" He rasped out.
He tried pushing himself forward, but found that his body was unwilling to obey. That was odd. He tried again. This time it seemed like his body was revolting against him. Pain shot through his limbs. Jarred swore.
"I. Can't. Move!" He shouted angrily. He opened his eyes to see Elena, Vincent and Joan standing above him.
From behind them came the sound of clapping.
"Bravo, my prince. A nice performance, but you shouldn't play with dragons. They bite." Jarred moved hieck upwards to see three, blue haired figures approach him. The only thing he could see clearly was the colour of their eyes, which were red, blue and black.
Jarred moaned.
"SHE BECKONS, PRANCE OF DARKNESS. WE MUST OBEY!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn snapped his eyes open and roared in fury.
"I WAS *THIS* CLOSE TO KILLING HIM! THAT WRETCHED HALF-BREED MUST DIE!" He roared.
Aeris jumped back in surprise. She hadn't been expecting the demon to e finished so soon.
"WHEN HE COMES HERE I'M GOING TO RIP HIM APART!" He fumed.
"What happened?" Aeris asked calmly. She was beginning to get used to the demons chaotic mood swings and temper tantrums. If you watched him for a while, you could actually begin to guess when he would have them. Just about every fifteen minutes.
Kahn flashed Aeris an angry glance.
"That cursed Half-Breed killed my dragons. Those things aren't the easiest things to summon, you know! If I had known he would have killed them I would have sent more! MURDER ONE! MAN SLAUGHTER! TI ME' KA!"
Aeris blinked at the last one.
"Ti me' ka?"
Kahn blinked himself. His black skin went a tinge redder than normal.
"Forget that. Old demonic. Nothing special." He murmured quietly. "I think that they'll be able to find out where those dragons came from. Black dragons are only found on Gaea's peak, and if they can't put the pieces together then I would advise you to enlist better help."
Aeris smiled.
"They'll know. They aren't stupid. 'Sides, Nox Seran should be able to trace your magic back here. The others have no choice but to listen to that demon." She smiled.
Kahn blanched.
"Nox Seran?! You KNEW The Council dispatched Nox Seran?!" He shouted. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Aeris blinked.
"Geez, Kahn, don't spaz out. He's just a silly, confused demon. He's not dangerous."
Kahn exploded.
"FOOL! HOW DO YOU THINK THAT DEMON GOT ONTO THE COUNCIL?! BY LAUGHING?! NO! NOX SERAN IS RUTHLESS, CRUEL, AND HUGELY POWERFUL!" He shrieked. "I can kiss my freedom good bye now. Nox Seran is going to tear me apart. I knew I shouldn't have trusted a CETRA!"
Aeris blinked again.
"Nox Seran is just a bit odd. He's not THAT powerful. I mean, He had to have help from WEAPON to cross the ocean."
Kahn glared at Aeris.
"So would I after the random eon or two. I say it once, I say it again. We are in grave danger. The planet will not help you. Its will has been severed due to your desire for life."
Aeris smiled.
"I don't believe that. The planet wouldn't want the last Cetra to die."
Kahn smiled wickedly.
"Oh, I can see YOU'RE going to have fun if we get out of this mess alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud poked his head into the room where they had moved Jarred. The three people who had appeared had insisted on bearing Jarred alone, and guarded the room rigidly. It was almost as if they had established a camp there.
"Jarred?" He asked.
The air wavered, and then one of those freaky people appeared in front of him. Its red eyes blazed angrily, and it sneered somewhat.
"Jarred is damaged. The winged one harmed him. He must heal before he can socialize." It said.
Cloud was pushed away, and the door slammed shut.
"Not a very nice person." He remarked, and sat down against the wall facing the room.
Vincent joined him, with a cup of coffee in his hands..
"They're still not letting anybody in there?" He asked, handing Cloud the cup.
"Yeah." Cloud took a sip, but scorched his tongue. "Did you really shoot Jarred? They keep saying you did."
Vincent sighed.
"I didn't think the bullet would go through the dragons chest. I just thought it would stop." Cloud could clearly see that Vincent was feeling very guilty about the whole thing. In fact, Vincent was the first person to have tried to talk to Jarred, but the three people had forced him away with their weapons.
Joan sat with Elena, down the hall.
"So, Jarred's got a kid." Vincent murmured. "Couldn't see that comin' for the life of me."
Cloud looked down the hall. He could see Elena and Joan playing some game.
"I don't think she's his. He said he just found her one day. I honestly don't know. He acts so immature, so naïve, and then suddenly he show up with a kid. I Don't know what to think of that kid anymore."
The door opened. One of the three people walked out of the room.
"When can you get that airship moving?"
Cloud shrugged.
"It can go anytime, I guess."
"Then you must find out where those dragons came from. They attacked Jarred. The source of this insult must be found." He declared, and returned into the room.
Cloud stared at the door.
"What strange people."
