'Allo, Iz me again, with a new chapter. I've decided that I'm going to
screw the homework, and devote my time to writing for a while (Not too
long. My teachers will hunt me down if I don't work for too long, the evil
scum. Apparently, they don't appreciate my literature. (They think all
Fanfiction is evil. (Therefore, I declare WAR against anyone who stops me
from writing, and my teachers! Let theirs howls of torment be long and
loud!)))
At the same time of this, I've been struggling to look for a decent webcomic, with a decent update rate. If you know any besides Megatokyo, Saturnalia, p0nju, Demonology 101 or Sinfest, then tell me. I will try my utmost to repay you for your aid in my crusade. (hey, that rhymes! SWEET!)
Yis, I've updated at the rate as I used to, but don't get used to it. I'm on a sugar/caffeine rush right now, so my hands are moving something equivalent to the speed of light, while I myself am bouncing in my chair with a stupid grin on my face.
Iz ze tenth chapter, so I'd like to thank anyone who read this fic so far, and PFTD.
Molly-Chan: Thank you for your very amusing reviews. Its very nice to come home from school, where all my madness comes from, and see that you like the mad shtuff I come up with! (This goes for everyone, don't hesitate to make a suggestion for the fic. I like to see people engage themselves in fics, and I need encouragement to write this fic. You don't need to, I'm just saying that if you have a cool idea for the fic, then don't hesitate. The voices in my head aren't being very helpful lately
Kittie: Hey, you've been reading all the fics I've been writing about FF7 ever since you read PFTD. I hope you don't think too little of me for turning that story into a spiralling series of madness. (Or anyone else for that matter. PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME!!)
CJ-chan: Yis, thank you too. The chapter IS soon! MWUHAHAHA! Anyway, hope you continue reading, and enjoying my stories!
Charles Xavier: *Bows respectively* . . . The almighty Charles Xavier. MUST. PAY. HOMAGE! Anyway, I find it really heartening that a writer of your calibre likes my writing. Sank yo. *Bow once again*
Walla The Wiccan: dude, the story already iz a sacred book. You've yet to see me bend down on my knees in front of it and pray to the gods of literature for another surge of creativity. By the by, who's the goddess?
Beholder Of The Shadows: Hey, you must really like my writing. 'S good to know that someone likes me enough to put me on their favourites list. Iz also good to see that you like Jarred. I do too. He's just so damn cool. Anyway, a new batch straight from the twisted mind of The Ironman is coming on, so I hope ja enjoy it.
Narukye: . . . well, I certainly haven't seen a review like that before, but it brightened my day up. Thank you too!
So, without further adue, ON WITH THE STORY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter X: After The 'Ceremony'
Nox Seran slithered on beside Cloud and Vincent, followed by Barret and Tifa. Cloud watched the demon with a distinct mistrust. This Nox Seran had been acting gloomy for every moment Cloud had seen him, but Cid had described as insane, and Vincent had said that he was usually a very lively person.
"They came form the north." The demon snapped suddenly, with a somewhat impatient look on his face.
Cloud slipped out of thought for a moment at the demons sudden remark.
"'Scuse me?" He asked.
Nox Seran giggled lightly.
"Silly human. I was tracking those dragons before I met up with Valentine. They reek of demon magic." The demon suddenly whipped out a hand puppet from thin air, and began vigorously flapping its head open and closed in time to his words. "They come from the north. From Gaea's peak." Nox Seran threw the puppet away, which mysteriously de-materialized as it flew away from him.
Cloud stood stupefied. He had expected the demon but this was just plain absurd. However, the knowledge in question was well welcome. It would have been hell trying to figure out where that trio of dragons had come from. Cloud was sure that they would have been to several places, just to try to locate a black drgaon brooding ground.
"It really shouldn't have been that hard to find out, either. You only find black dragons at northern crater. From ther you could have wandered around until you found something."
Cloud suddenly felt very inferior in the ways of monsters in comparison to Nox Seran. The hero frowned slightly.
"How is it that you know so much about dragons, huh?" He asked.
Nox Seran's mouth seemed to spread into a smile that was entirely too big for his face, but strangely fitting.
"Technically, I *AM* a monster, you know." He threw up his hands dramatically. "'A demon is cast from the fieriest of hells, born from the cruellest of flames, aand is a monster that enjoys nothing but mindless slaughter and the pain of others', is what someone said about us. Of course, he didn't say much after we got our hands on him." Nox Seran stopped, and twisted his tail around so that it wrapped itself around his neck. "We know much about all living things, as it was once vital information. JENOVA has nothing on us." He said proudly, and with that rare insane smile readily spreading.
Vincent smiled.
"Demons are also anorectic. Apparently it's a common trait." He said with a grin. Cloud chuckled at this, and Nox Seran's proud smile vanished like the wind, and he slumped forward.
"Watch it, Valentine. I don't point out every flaw in the human race, so don't point out every little detail about mine. If you do, I'll be forced to spit on you."
It had been six months since Vincent's last encounter with the demons, but he knew that they didn't make little treats. There was always some little fact that made its way into their threats.
"Fine." Vincent replied. "Cloud, how about we get the airship ready? We can go to the north right now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarred began the slow process of cleaning himself off.
After he had thrown Wraith, Spectre and Ghost (Sorry, I forgot to include his name in the last chappie, but that's the red eyes thing's name.) he had looked down at his hands and noticed with much distaste that they were covered in dragon blood. Along his shirt was drenched with the stuff, and his shirt still had quite a rather big hole where Vincent's bullet had entered his chest, and another where it had exited. Wearing damaged clothing wasn't exactly his favourite thing, but he had been known to do once or twice. During the siege, for example, he had been lucking that his shoes hadn't suffered mortal damage, because everything else had to be thrown away, or burnt. But the shoes had mysteriously survived without a scratch, and were still in use.
He carefully removed it from his shirt, and tossed it out the window. If he really needed some new clothes, he could just go 'shopping' for more. He searched the room for a shower, but found the room had no such thing. He narrowed his eyes at the room.
"I know your against me." He growled evilly. "But I'm going to search this room again, and I want to find a shower this time. You will comply." He threatened, and began searching the room once again. Unfortunately, the room hadn't taken his threat too seriously.
Jarred grumbled darkly, but latched his shoulder guard onto his shoulder, and wrapped the straps around his back and chest and buckled them together, and buckled the two straps that went under his arm together as well. He tried moving the shoulder guard, but it was firmly in place.
"And now, my friends," He said to himself. "We will start our crusade for a shower."
With a cheerful energy, he opened the door and strode boldly out into the hallway, bumping into Elena and Vincent at the same time.
"Oh, hello Jarred." Vincent said, instantly recovering from the surprise. Elena was a bit slower at this.
"Whoa, ah, hello." She said in surprise.
Jarred merely smiled cheerfully.
"'Allo." He said, and slipped by them. "I'm in search of a shower right now, but I'll be sure to get back to you." And he left them.
Around halfway down the hall he realized that he had no idea where he was.
"Uhm, you people wouldn't happen to know where I could find one, would you?"
Vincent laughed, and nudged Elena forward.
"She works here, Jarred. She should be able to help you." And went down the opposite direction of the hall.
"Well? Are we going or not?" Jarred asked, somewhat impatiently.
"Ah, sure." Elena said somewhat nervously, and walked up to Jarred. "To the shower room."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seph X pushed open the ShinRa building door. His thick coat dragged against the floor, and the long sheath of the Masamune was scraping against the floor with a metallic, hissing sound.
"Uhm, excuse me sir, do you have an appointment?" A desk lady asked.
Seph X turned his steel head to the woman.
"No. I do not need one either. I am Seph X." He said simply, and made for the elevator. His cloak billowed dramatically, which was what he had wanted.
Suddenly, he noticed a shocking amount of blood on the floor. He looked around the room, to pretty muchly see that it had been covered with the crimson stuff, and that three dragon corpses littered the place. He frowned.
"Reeve has acquired a strange sense of décor." He said simply, and promptly ignored the scene. He stepped into the nearest elevator, and pushed the button to go to the sixtieth floor.
"Sir! You can't go up there! I would lose my job!" The desk lady shouted, running for the door.
Seph X smiled that thin metallic smile that only he could make.
"I can do whatever I want here. I saved this city." He said as the elevator doors closed.
The elevator jolted upwards as it began its slow ascent, and Seph X felt the familiar press of gravity pushing down on him.
The mechanic clone mentally calculated the time, and arrived to the conclusion that it was a bit in the night. Seph X smiled once again. The knighting should be done by now, but that only gave him more of a reason to be with the AVALANCHE, which was his true reason for even being here. Self- amusement was the word of the day.
Seph X turned around to get a good look at what was left of Midgar after the siege. A good deal of the ruins of buildings were still there, some were being rebuilt, but compared to the whole city most buildings had been completely levelled due to the powerful magic that Jarred had worked here (And the grenades and rockets SOLDIER had shot\threw at the robotic warriors of Mech-Head, but this was a fact commonly overlooked, as it was JARRED who was enjoying blowing things up). The silvery moon cast its soft pale light on the sleeping city, while a shrouding mist moved in from the sea. It was a small marvel in itself that the mist could reach above the plate itself, and into the city, but it made for an eerie sight at night. It looked like thin, wisp-like finger reached through the city, forever searching for something hopelessly unattainable.
The machine stared out at the city perplexed. It didn't dawn upon him that the elevator had arrived at its destination until a guard prodded him in the back with his gun.
"Drop your weapons, free-bird* scum" He said meekly, obviously daunted by Seph X's height and long sword, along with the metallic hair that spilled around him. There was something oddly familiar about this person.
Seph X slowly turned around, allowing the guards a good look at his face.
"I'm gone for a few months and you forget me already? This is a shame, to be sure." He said, and pushed the guards gun away. "And you even insult and point a gun at me? Shame to go around for years!" he said lightly. "But I might forget this little incident if you bring me to Reeve." The machine said slyly.
The guard seemed to squint, but suddenly recognized the smiling machine in front of him.
"General Seph X! We tried tracking you down, but you vanished after the siege! Where have you been?"
Seph X flicked a hand idly.
"Oh, out and about. Nowhere special. Now, how about I talk with Reeve now?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn stared lazily up into the sky, watching as the gigantic winds of Gaea's peak swirled around him. The hissing, whirling winds tossed the lifestream into a unreachable barrier, at the same time creating an immense magical strength on the inside. In the old days, when Demons, Half-Breeds and Cetra had all lived in peace, this place had been the centre of magical activity. Nearly anything could be summoned with ease here, as long as you knew what you were doing. During the war, however, the Demons and Half- breeds had been forced elsewhere. The demons back to north and south, and the Half-Breeds back to the west.
The demon lord looked over the rocky terrain with distinct distaste. This place had once been beautiful, even by his standards, but now that beauty had been destroyed. Now only vague ruins of what had been remained
"This place is entirely to barren. I don't like it." He snapped suddenly.
This took Aeris by surprise. She was currently walking on air, something she had longed to do in life, but had never been able to do. Now, it was sickeningly easy.
"Huh? Barren? Well, yeah, I suppose it is. What's it to you? This is how its been for. . . Forever!" She said, spreading her hands wide. "Its where JENOVA came into our world, Kahn. This place is EVIL." She said.
Kahn snorted.
"Do not toss the word 'forever' around lightly, Cetra girl. We cannot begin to comprehend how long it is. The word is dangerous and," Kahn stopped suddenly. "Haven't I said this before?"
Aeris smiled sweetly at him.
"I think ya have." she answered, floating slowly to the ground.
Kahn frowned.
"Anyway, this hasn't always been this way. Under the care of 'The Three Races', this place was known as the 'Psirys Gardens'. Of course, when the Half-Breeds left they take the garden with them, the snooty buggers. Now you can't find a single psirys anywhere." He said, reminiscing.
Aeris cocked her head to one side.
"Psirys? You mean an 'Iris'?" She asked.
"No, I mean a Psirys. It was one of the greatest things of our time, you know. It had magical qualities like nothing you've seen before. Of course, that's why they had to go. If we or the Cetra got our hands on enough Psirys's we could rearrange the face of this tortured planet."
Aeris nodded.
"What was it?"
"A flower." Kahn said automatically, and suddenly remembered what this particular Cetra had been in life. He groaned internally as Aeris smiled broadly.
"A flower?! A MAGIC flower?! Ooh, what did it look like? Was it red? Or maybe blue? Ooh. . ." And so it went on.
"BE QUIET!" Kahn bellowed. "I'll summon an image!" He said quickly.
Aeris immediately quieted down. Kahn Sighed.
"It might be a little inaccurate, okay? Its been absolute AGES since I last saw one myself." Kahn closed his eyes, and held his clawed hands together. He visualize th flower in front of him, with its purple petals, with small crimson stripes on the underside, and tipped with an ocean blue. Finally, the little silvery streams running down the light green stem.
He spread his hands wide, and muttered a few words in his ancient tongue. He heard Aeris gasp, and he opened his eyes, looking at the picture perfect image.
"Glad to see I'm not senile yet." He said upon reflecting his art.
Aeris was staring at the image with wonder.
"These covered the whole of this place?" She asked, awed.
Kahn nodded.
"Yes. This was once a great place to be. Everyone liked it. Pity its gone now."
Aeris shifted. Kahn perceived by the look on her face that she was going to ask him something.
"What?" he asked quickly, eager to get it over with.
"Could you make one of these?" She asked.
Kahn laughed.
"I wouldn't waste my time trying. Psirys's are impossible to make. There's just too many things about them that we never found out about."
Aeris looked downcast. She looked at the flower once again. Kahn smiled.
"But I can solidify the image, if you like. It won't be anywhere near real, but it'll be something for you to look at." Kahn mutered a few more words in demonic, and the flower was suddenly pulled to the ground by gravity. Aeris caught it quickly before it touched the ground. She stared at its colourful greatness with great interest.
"You'll have to look for a real Psirys when you're alive, Cetra. If you find one, I'll be the first to congratulate you." Kahn said, and resumed to look up at the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* A free-bird is a mercenary, I'll have you know. The guard is NOT a fruit. I borrowed it from MW4 Mercs ^_^. That game rocks.
Anyway, that's the chapter for now ^_^. I don't know when the next chapter will come, as I'm on a crusade for webcomics. I've found inspiration in art. Anyway
At the same time of this, I've been struggling to look for a decent webcomic, with a decent update rate. If you know any besides Megatokyo, Saturnalia, p0nju, Demonology 101 or Sinfest, then tell me. I will try my utmost to repay you for your aid in my crusade. (hey, that rhymes! SWEET!)
Yis, I've updated at the rate as I used to, but don't get used to it. I'm on a sugar/caffeine rush right now, so my hands are moving something equivalent to the speed of light, while I myself am bouncing in my chair with a stupid grin on my face.
Iz ze tenth chapter, so I'd like to thank anyone who read this fic so far, and PFTD.
Molly-Chan: Thank you for your very amusing reviews. Its very nice to come home from school, where all my madness comes from, and see that you like the mad shtuff I come up with! (This goes for everyone, don't hesitate to make a suggestion for the fic. I like to see people engage themselves in fics, and I need encouragement to write this fic. You don't need to, I'm just saying that if you have a cool idea for the fic, then don't hesitate. The voices in my head aren't being very helpful lately
Kittie: Hey, you've been reading all the fics I've been writing about FF7 ever since you read PFTD. I hope you don't think too little of me for turning that story into a spiralling series of madness. (Or anyone else for that matter. PLEASE DON'T BEAT ME!!)
CJ-chan: Yis, thank you too. The chapter IS soon! MWUHAHAHA! Anyway, hope you continue reading, and enjoying my stories!
Charles Xavier: *Bows respectively* . . . The almighty Charles Xavier. MUST. PAY. HOMAGE! Anyway, I find it really heartening that a writer of your calibre likes my writing. Sank yo. *Bow once again*
Walla The Wiccan: dude, the story already iz a sacred book. You've yet to see me bend down on my knees in front of it and pray to the gods of literature for another surge of creativity. By the by, who's the goddess?
Beholder Of The Shadows: Hey, you must really like my writing. 'S good to know that someone likes me enough to put me on their favourites list. Iz also good to see that you like Jarred. I do too. He's just so damn cool. Anyway, a new batch straight from the twisted mind of The Ironman is coming on, so I hope ja enjoy it.
Narukye: . . . well, I certainly haven't seen a review like that before, but it brightened my day up. Thank you too!
So, without further adue, ON WITH THE STORY!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter X: After The 'Ceremony'
Nox Seran slithered on beside Cloud and Vincent, followed by Barret and Tifa. Cloud watched the demon with a distinct mistrust. This Nox Seran had been acting gloomy for every moment Cloud had seen him, but Cid had described as insane, and Vincent had said that he was usually a very lively person.
"They came form the north." The demon snapped suddenly, with a somewhat impatient look on his face.
Cloud slipped out of thought for a moment at the demons sudden remark.
"'Scuse me?" He asked.
Nox Seran giggled lightly.
"Silly human. I was tracking those dragons before I met up with Valentine. They reek of demon magic." The demon suddenly whipped out a hand puppet from thin air, and began vigorously flapping its head open and closed in time to his words. "They come from the north. From Gaea's peak." Nox Seran threw the puppet away, which mysteriously de-materialized as it flew away from him.
Cloud stood stupefied. He had expected the demon but this was just plain absurd. However, the knowledge in question was well welcome. It would have been hell trying to figure out where that trio of dragons had come from. Cloud was sure that they would have been to several places, just to try to locate a black drgaon brooding ground.
"It really shouldn't have been that hard to find out, either. You only find black dragons at northern crater. From ther you could have wandered around until you found something."
Cloud suddenly felt very inferior in the ways of monsters in comparison to Nox Seran. The hero frowned slightly.
"How is it that you know so much about dragons, huh?" He asked.
Nox Seran's mouth seemed to spread into a smile that was entirely too big for his face, but strangely fitting.
"Technically, I *AM* a monster, you know." He threw up his hands dramatically. "'A demon is cast from the fieriest of hells, born from the cruellest of flames, aand is a monster that enjoys nothing but mindless slaughter and the pain of others', is what someone said about us. Of course, he didn't say much after we got our hands on him." Nox Seran stopped, and twisted his tail around so that it wrapped itself around his neck. "We know much about all living things, as it was once vital information. JENOVA has nothing on us." He said proudly, and with that rare insane smile readily spreading.
Vincent smiled.
"Demons are also anorectic. Apparently it's a common trait." He said with a grin. Cloud chuckled at this, and Nox Seran's proud smile vanished like the wind, and he slumped forward.
"Watch it, Valentine. I don't point out every flaw in the human race, so don't point out every little detail about mine. If you do, I'll be forced to spit on you."
It had been six months since Vincent's last encounter with the demons, but he knew that they didn't make little treats. There was always some little fact that made its way into their threats.
"Fine." Vincent replied. "Cloud, how about we get the airship ready? We can go to the north right now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jarred began the slow process of cleaning himself off.
After he had thrown Wraith, Spectre and Ghost (Sorry, I forgot to include his name in the last chappie, but that's the red eyes thing's name.) he had looked down at his hands and noticed with much distaste that they were covered in dragon blood. Along his shirt was drenched with the stuff, and his shirt still had quite a rather big hole where Vincent's bullet had entered his chest, and another where it had exited. Wearing damaged clothing wasn't exactly his favourite thing, but he had been known to do once or twice. During the siege, for example, he had been lucking that his shoes hadn't suffered mortal damage, because everything else had to be thrown away, or burnt. But the shoes had mysteriously survived without a scratch, and were still in use.
He carefully removed it from his shirt, and tossed it out the window. If he really needed some new clothes, he could just go 'shopping' for more. He searched the room for a shower, but found the room had no such thing. He narrowed his eyes at the room.
"I know your against me." He growled evilly. "But I'm going to search this room again, and I want to find a shower this time. You will comply." He threatened, and began searching the room once again. Unfortunately, the room hadn't taken his threat too seriously.
Jarred grumbled darkly, but latched his shoulder guard onto his shoulder, and wrapped the straps around his back and chest and buckled them together, and buckled the two straps that went under his arm together as well. He tried moving the shoulder guard, but it was firmly in place.
"And now, my friends," He said to himself. "We will start our crusade for a shower."
With a cheerful energy, he opened the door and strode boldly out into the hallway, bumping into Elena and Vincent at the same time.
"Oh, hello Jarred." Vincent said, instantly recovering from the surprise. Elena was a bit slower at this.
"Whoa, ah, hello." She said in surprise.
Jarred merely smiled cheerfully.
"'Allo." He said, and slipped by them. "I'm in search of a shower right now, but I'll be sure to get back to you." And he left them.
Around halfway down the hall he realized that he had no idea where he was.
"Uhm, you people wouldn't happen to know where I could find one, would you?"
Vincent laughed, and nudged Elena forward.
"She works here, Jarred. She should be able to help you." And went down the opposite direction of the hall.
"Well? Are we going or not?" Jarred asked, somewhat impatiently.
"Ah, sure." Elena said somewhat nervously, and walked up to Jarred. "To the shower room."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seph X pushed open the ShinRa building door. His thick coat dragged against the floor, and the long sheath of the Masamune was scraping against the floor with a metallic, hissing sound.
"Uhm, excuse me sir, do you have an appointment?" A desk lady asked.
Seph X turned his steel head to the woman.
"No. I do not need one either. I am Seph X." He said simply, and made for the elevator. His cloak billowed dramatically, which was what he had wanted.
Suddenly, he noticed a shocking amount of blood on the floor. He looked around the room, to pretty muchly see that it had been covered with the crimson stuff, and that three dragon corpses littered the place. He frowned.
"Reeve has acquired a strange sense of décor." He said simply, and promptly ignored the scene. He stepped into the nearest elevator, and pushed the button to go to the sixtieth floor.
"Sir! You can't go up there! I would lose my job!" The desk lady shouted, running for the door.
Seph X smiled that thin metallic smile that only he could make.
"I can do whatever I want here. I saved this city." He said as the elevator doors closed.
The elevator jolted upwards as it began its slow ascent, and Seph X felt the familiar press of gravity pushing down on him.
The mechanic clone mentally calculated the time, and arrived to the conclusion that it was a bit in the night. Seph X smiled once again. The knighting should be done by now, but that only gave him more of a reason to be with the AVALANCHE, which was his true reason for even being here. Self- amusement was the word of the day.
Seph X turned around to get a good look at what was left of Midgar after the siege. A good deal of the ruins of buildings were still there, some were being rebuilt, but compared to the whole city most buildings had been completely levelled due to the powerful magic that Jarred had worked here (And the grenades and rockets SOLDIER had shot\threw at the robotic warriors of Mech-Head, but this was a fact commonly overlooked, as it was JARRED who was enjoying blowing things up). The silvery moon cast its soft pale light on the sleeping city, while a shrouding mist moved in from the sea. It was a small marvel in itself that the mist could reach above the plate itself, and into the city, but it made for an eerie sight at night. It looked like thin, wisp-like finger reached through the city, forever searching for something hopelessly unattainable.
The machine stared out at the city perplexed. It didn't dawn upon him that the elevator had arrived at its destination until a guard prodded him in the back with his gun.
"Drop your weapons, free-bird* scum" He said meekly, obviously daunted by Seph X's height and long sword, along with the metallic hair that spilled around him. There was something oddly familiar about this person.
Seph X slowly turned around, allowing the guards a good look at his face.
"I'm gone for a few months and you forget me already? This is a shame, to be sure." He said, and pushed the guards gun away. "And you even insult and point a gun at me? Shame to go around for years!" he said lightly. "But I might forget this little incident if you bring me to Reeve." The machine said slyly.
The guard seemed to squint, but suddenly recognized the smiling machine in front of him.
"General Seph X! We tried tracking you down, but you vanished after the siege! Where have you been?"
Seph X flicked a hand idly.
"Oh, out and about. Nowhere special. Now, how about I talk with Reeve now?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kahn stared lazily up into the sky, watching as the gigantic winds of Gaea's peak swirled around him. The hissing, whirling winds tossed the lifestream into a unreachable barrier, at the same time creating an immense magical strength on the inside. In the old days, when Demons, Half-Breeds and Cetra had all lived in peace, this place had been the centre of magical activity. Nearly anything could be summoned with ease here, as long as you knew what you were doing. During the war, however, the Demons and Half- breeds had been forced elsewhere. The demons back to north and south, and the Half-Breeds back to the west.
The demon lord looked over the rocky terrain with distinct distaste. This place had once been beautiful, even by his standards, but now that beauty had been destroyed. Now only vague ruins of what had been remained
"This place is entirely to barren. I don't like it." He snapped suddenly.
This took Aeris by surprise. She was currently walking on air, something she had longed to do in life, but had never been able to do. Now, it was sickeningly easy.
"Huh? Barren? Well, yeah, I suppose it is. What's it to you? This is how its been for. . . Forever!" She said, spreading her hands wide. "Its where JENOVA came into our world, Kahn. This place is EVIL." She said.
Kahn snorted.
"Do not toss the word 'forever' around lightly, Cetra girl. We cannot begin to comprehend how long it is. The word is dangerous and," Kahn stopped suddenly. "Haven't I said this before?"
Aeris smiled sweetly at him.
"I think ya have." she answered, floating slowly to the ground.
Kahn frowned.
"Anyway, this hasn't always been this way. Under the care of 'The Three Races', this place was known as the 'Psirys Gardens'. Of course, when the Half-Breeds left they take the garden with them, the snooty buggers. Now you can't find a single psirys anywhere." He said, reminiscing.
Aeris cocked her head to one side.
"Psirys? You mean an 'Iris'?" She asked.
"No, I mean a Psirys. It was one of the greatest things of our time, you know. It had magical qualities like nothing you've seen before. Of course, that's why they had to go. If we or the Cetra got our hands on enough Psirys's we could rearrange the face of this tortured planet."
Aeris nodded.
"What was it?"
"A flower." Kahn said automatically, and suddenly remembered what this particular Cetra had been in life. He groaned internally as Aeris smiled broadly.
"A flower?! A MAGIC flower?! Ooh, what did it look like? Was it red? Or maybe blue? Ooh. . ." And so it went on.
"BE QUIET!" Kahn bellowed. "I'll summon an image!" He said quickly.
Aeris immediately quieted down. Kahn Sighed.
"It might be a little inaccurate, okay? Its been absolute AGES since I last saw one myself." Kahn closed his eyes, and held his clawed hands together. He visualize th flower in front of him, with its purple petals, with small crimson stripes on the underside, and tipped with an ocean blue. Finally, the little silvery streams running down the light green stem.
He spread his hands wide, and muttered a few words in his ancient tongue. He heard Aeris gasp, and he opened his eyes, looking at the picture perfect image.
"Glad to see I'm not senile yet." He said upon reflecting his art.
Aeris was staring at the image with wonder.
"These covered the whole of this place?" She asked, awed.
Kahn nodded.
"Yes. This was once a great place to be. Everyone liked it. Pity its gone now."
Aeris shifted. Kahn perceived by the look on her face that she was going to ask him something.
"What?" he asked quickly, eager to get it over with.
"Could you make one of these?" She asked.
Kahn laughed.
"I wouldn't waste my time trying. Psirys's are impossible to make. There's just too many things about them that we never found out about."
Aeris looked downcast. She looked at the flower once again. Kahn smiled.
"But I can solidify the image, if you like. It won't be anywhere near real, but it'll be something for you to look at." Kahn mutered a few more words in demonic, and the flower was suddenly pulled to the ground by gravity. Aeris caught it quickly before it touched the ground. She stared at its colourful greatness with great interest.
"You'll have to look for a real Psirys when you're alive, Cetra. If you find one, I'll be the first to congratulate you." Kahn said, and resumed to look up at the sky.
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* A free-bird is a mercenary, I'll have you know. The guard is NOT a fruit. I borrowed it from MW4 Mercs ^_^. That game rocks.
Anyway, that's the chapter for now ^_^. I don't know when the next chapter will come, as I'm on a crusade for webcomics. I've found inspiration in art. Anyway
