I LIVE! For the moment, at least. Whew...
After single-handedly battling the forces of evil (Shcool) And fending off the minnions of hell (Siblings) and escaping from the gates of the abyss (anywhere outside my room's door ^_^) I return triumphantly with a new chapter! Enjoy!
On a slightly(Huh, slightly less happy note, I must report that I won't be able to update for two weeks or so. School has brought down a can of whoop- ass (homework, exams, massive amounts of big, red F's) on me, and I have to battle them. (And fail with my pride dangling from a rope tied to the top of a tall tree.)
Also, Windows Office died on me, so the amount of spelling and Grammer (See, the first one(The first I noticed, at least)) mistakes are bound to increase shockingly. (yeah, like it wasn't like that before^_^) Be afraid, be very afraid. Or be something else, if you want. whatever floats your boat, bebe. (I can't remember where I heard that, but it cracks me up every time. Along with 'bricks and bones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me'. Its weird, but funny, neh?.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter XVII: Destroyer
Seph X stood out on the deck, staring downwards. He couldn't really believe that Jarred was dead. The young warrior had always seemed so damned ALIVE, on the brink when you just wanted to sit him down shove some sleeping medicine down his throat, and hope to god that he fell asleep. The odds always seemed to be against, however.
And now he was gone. Not a very spectacular death, either. He just FELL. Right into the ocean. and drowned. It was hard to think of the warrior that way. Death just didn't suit Jarred too well. Elena, well, that was a different matter. Seph X didn't know her too well, but didn't exactly hold her in as high regard as jarred, who had the capability of levelling cities in seconds. Seph X had doubts that she could travel THROUGH cities in less than an hour. Joan was a bit bewildered about the whole thing, but Tifa and Cloud were taking care of the little girl. They kept her distracted about the whole matter, so as to keep her happy. Every once and a while, however, she asked where her father was, and an ominous silence erupted, until Nox Seran laughed insanely, and played with his hand puppets.
The machine sighed. Or emulated the general movements of sighing, as he couldn't draw breath himself. He couldn't forgive himself for merely standing by and letting both Jarred and Elena fall over the edge. If only he had been more aware, more cautious. Suddenly, he realized that he had contracted something that was commonly known (not among AVALANCHE) as a Vincent Valentine syndrome. Blaming yourself for something you couldn't stop.
He decided it was useless to dwell on something that he couldn't have prevented
Instead, he decided that a little air would do him good. He went out onto the deck. As he wrapped his hand around the door handle, it suddenly burst open.
"Kahn! You can't just bust into the Highwind! This isn't what I planned at ALL!" A female voice shouted.
A deep, threatening growl erupted from the dark figure that had opened the door.
"Silence, Cetra-wench! You do not understand the danger we face! The Shadowlord is here! Death would be preferable to what he could do to us!"
Seph X tried to recognize the figures shape, but couldn't. Finally, he tried scanning its magic level. it went off the chart, and came to one conclusion.
"Demon." Seph X growled, drawing the Massamune.
The figure turned, to face Seph X.
"Whoa, a walking lump of krotonite." It said in surprise. It seemed to suddenly notice the Massamune. "And its got some nice steel." It muttered absently. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Prince Of Darkness is, would you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At that very moment, the Prince Of Darkness was unconscious. In a cave. In the Bone Village. Outside Elena and the excavation leader talked.
"Lucky we came across ya." The man said, taking out a cigarettes. "You would hae froze otherwise." he said with a thick northern accent. Elena had trouble understanding him at times, because of it. He seemed to be speaking a whole different language at times. This time the mans meaning was obvious.
"Yeah. Lucky we fell so near your village." She replied.
"Nae, I bet Jarred there was 'eaded straight here in the first place, but was stopped by the Vlakorados." He said, peeking inside the cave.
Elena furrowed her eyebrows.
"Jarred said something about that as well. Why would they go after him like that? I thought they hunted alone."
The head excavation-person (Don't know the word for that, so I'm not even going to bother) laughed.
"Not when it comes down to Jarred, they don't. he once killed their pack leader. The Alpha-whatever-the-'ell-i'-was."
Elena nodded.
"So, how do you know Jarred? I notice that you seem to know him."
The man laughed.
"Aye, that was a long time ago, when 'e was but a lad at the age o' fifteen. We found 'im 'untin' monsters, and was impressed with the way 'e faught. We offered 'im a job as an escort, seemins 'ow there were a lot of Vlakorados at the time. 'E said it was their breeding time, and agreed to start 'untin' the beasts. We paid him an 'efty amount, and suddenly the monsters stopped attacking. They even ran away a few times. We thanked him kindly, and paid 'im. But 'e stayed. We asked 'im why and 'e said it was because he had something to do. So we let 'im stay. It'd be a lie to say that we weren't scared of 'im, but we enjoyed 'is company. After a while we lost our fear of 'im. 'E became one of us." He said with a smile. "Those were some fun days. But we all knew Jarred would 'ave to leave. We knew 'e wasn't 'appy. All you 'ad to do was watch 'im sleep."
Elena raised an eyebrow. She hadn't understood all of what had been said, but she could have sworn he had said, 'watch him sleep'.
"Watch him sleep?"
The man gestured to the still form of jarred.
"Take a look for yourself. If tha' do nae break ye 'eart then I'd 'ave to ask you too leave this place."
Elena understood the first sentence, but the second was a mass of weirdness. She decided to act on the first, and ignore the second. She went to peek up on Jarred.
Like she had suspected, Jarred ay on his side, unmoving. But something was wrong, he seemed to be shivering or something, like he was cold. But she was wrong. He was only clenching his teeth. She also noticed that only a section of the blanket was being used. She pulled it back, to reveal that young warrior, clasping his knees up to his chin, in a protective ball. At the moment the blanket was removed, he cringed, clenching his teeth all the more and closing his eyes tighter.
"Ye can tell 'e's afraid o' somethin' but ye can nae tell what e's of." The man said, having walked up beside Elena. He pulled the blanket back onto Jarred.
"I'd 'ate to sound harsh, but when are ye leavin'?" He asked.
Elena was taken aback.
"I thought you were his friend?!"
The leader frowned.
"Jarred is my friend, yes, but 'e's not welcome 'ere. Not at the moment. 'E attracts monsters like flies to shit, and when 'e can't fight we have to. But we're not fighters. We' can give you food, and clothing, but we want you two out of 'ere as soon as possible."
Elena looked down at the shivering form of Jarred, and nodded.
"We'll leave as soon as Jarred is awake."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mercenary known as Psin bowed deeply in the presence of 'Her'. His silvery hair spilled downwards as he did so.
"What do I owe the pleasure of you summoning me, my queen?" He asked humbly, smiling inwardly.
There was the sound of shuffling.
"You know damned right what I summoned you here for. This is not a battle between you and Jarred anymore." Her light, perfect voice said firmly. "Even a human, upon knowing your connection to Jarred, would know it was you behind that storm. I warn you; Leave the Prince Of Darkness alone. Or your usefulness in death will exceed your usefulness in life."
Psin smiled openly this time, letting his façade drop for a moment.
"And what would you plan to do when a berserker-rage comes upon him at the sight of me? Will I stand down and allow him to slaughter me? Never!" He returned.
Power suddenly left Psin's limbs. He fell to the ground, suddenly limp. Despite how much he writhed, he could move a muscle. Slowly, like some closing hand, he felt a strong pressure around his head.
"Never disobey me, Psin." Her voice ground darkly, and the pressure increased. "It proves fatal."
Psin suddenly regained control of himself, and the pain left his skull. The mercenary breathed deeply, regaining his composure quickly. He pushed himself upwards, and averted his gaze away from his employer.
"Very well, my queen. I promised never again to attack the Prince as long as I am in your service. But bear in mind, if he attacks I WILL defend myself."
The room seemed to echo around with her laughter.
"If he decides that you must die, then you will! Remember your last encounter with the Prince!"
Psin's hand strayed protectively towards the twin scars under his left eye. He could almost feel her smile bearing down on him. Feeling like a fool, he tore his hand away angrily.
"I'll kill him, just you wait. When I'm done working for you I'll hunt him down like the dog he is."
"And he will kill you. Who do you think he is? A human? A demon? No, my foolish friend, Jarred is the Prince for a reason. He shows limitless potential, but has yet to use any of it."
Psin sneered, vanishing into the air.
"And he won't if I have anything to do with it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud sat with Joan sleeping on his lap, and Tifa resting against his shoulder. The black skinned girl had the look of pure innocence on her face, strange to consider that Jarred had said she wielded great power. She snuggled in deeper, in deep sleep.
"She's really quite cute when you get right down to it." Tifa murmured. "Sometimes you really wonder how she feels so comfortable around a person like Jarred. I guess she's just very trusting."
Cloud nodded.
"I wonder why Jarred kept her around? He doesn't look like the type to adopt kids. He looks more like the type who's kill them." He remarked.
Tifa frowned.
"Cloud, that's a horrible thing to say! I happen to think Jarred is a sweet kid, even though he has a shocking lack of moral fibre."
"We're talking about a person that finds blowing things up as a form of entertainment. Particularly if they fall on something else afterwards. Face it, he's a psychotic killer, Tifa. He destroys things for fun. I doubt he'll be missed by too many people."
The came the sound of something akin to the sound of steel being ripped away with a wooden spoon. (Can you imagine that?) And the loud cursing of something that obviously wasn't very happy at the moment. Then there came the great bellow, sounding mysteriously like Seph X, echoing around the Highwind.
"A DEMON'S TRYING TO ATTACK THE SHIP!"
Followed by a quick, angry voice.
"LIKE I WOULD WASTE MY TIME ATTACKING THIS PLACE! I JUST WALKED THROUGH A DOOR FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! WILL YOU PLEASE *STOP* SWINGING THAT SWORD AROUND?!"
Also followed by a startled, female voice.
"Kahn! What's going on?!"
Also followed by the maniacal laughter of Nox Seran, who whipped his hand behind his back and pulled out a massive mallet from non-existance.
"The Cetra AND Kahn!" He shouted happily, slithering away in pursuit of the ruckus.
Tifa didn't stir. Cloud tired to ignore the happenings.
"Things certainly have gotten more interesting lately." He remarked. Tifa nodded. "We should really help them."
Tifa snuggled deeper into his shoulder.
"Later:"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The legions of the Shadowlord marched imperiously behind him, across the snow strewn lands of the north. If it was something he could say about his new form, then it that was entirely too open to the elements. His wings threw away heat like a heater, and his thin hide (Or, like we humans say, skin) couldn't keep the cold out for the life of it. He summoned a thick coat to protect him from the elements, and folded his wings tightly, so as to generate warmth in them.
"PHALOX RAGE!" He bellowed as he came to the top of the rim that was Gaea's peak. There was a definite lack of magic here, which was frightening thing to consider. Not only that, but the only demonic presence here was his own. Kahn wasn't here. Not only did that mean that Kahn was utterly terrified, it meant that he was running. And Kahn NEVER ran.
Something was very wrong.
Phalox Rage, Council Member and present leader of the Kala Sat, appeared with silence and stealth that were required of someone in his position. These traits proved necessary to gain and maintain a high rank when the ranks in question were among demons.
"Yes, Shadowlord?" He asked.
"Kahn isn't here." He stated.
"No he isn't, my lord." He replied patiently.
"Don't get snotty with me, Phalox. I demand to know why he's not here."
Phalox Rage merely shrugged.
"All we know is that a Half-Breed appeared, and created an immense warding spell. We didn't have a chance to find out what happened. Other than that nothing has happened."
The Shadowlord whirled around, grabbing Phalox Rage by the throat.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS?!" He demanded. "WE *BOTH* KNOW WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE WAR! IF A *HALF-BREED* IS WILLING TO SPEAK WITH KAHN, THEN I THINK WE BOTH KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"
He lifted Phalox Rage effortlessly, squeezing all the tighter around the demons throat. Phalox Rage brought his own hands up, seeking to loosen the grip, but to no avail. His legs flailed around, strugelling uselessly.
"WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED *NOT* TO TELL ME ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS?" he demanded.
Rather abruptly, his hand burst through Phalox Rage's throat, spraying blood over the Shadowlord's face and hand.
He dropped the corpse, and turned to the small army behind him.
"SEARCH THE AREA FOR CLUES ABOUT THE TRAITORS WHEREABOUTS. FAILURE IN OBEYING ME IS REPAID WITH DEATH!" He ordered.
The demons howled out their approval of this*, and set about to obey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*: Demons were originally feudal monsters in this fic, only brought into union upon their war with the Cetra. I'll get into the history of the shtuff later ^_^
Yes, I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but boohoo and all that. Anyway, gotta rush!
After single-handedly battling the forces of evil (Shcool) And fending off the minnions of hell (Siblings) and escaping from the gates of the abyss (anywhere outside my room's door ^_^) I return triumphantly with a new chapter! Enjoy!
On a slightly(Huh, slightly less happy note, I must report that I won't be able to update for two weeks or so. School has brought down a can of whoop- ass (homework, exams, massive amounts of big, red F's) on me, and I have to battle them. (And fail with my pride dangling from a rope tied to the top of a tall tree.)
Also, Windows Office died on me, so the amount of spelling and Grammer (See, the first one(The first I noticed, at least)) mistakes are bound to increase shockingly. (yeah, like it wasn't like that before^_^) Be afraid, be very afraid. Or be something else, if you want. whatever floats your boat, bebe. (I can't remember where I heard that, but it cracks me up every time. Along with 'bricks and bones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me'. Its weird, but funny, neh?.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter XVII: Destroyer
Seph X stood out on the deck, staring downwards. He couldn't really believe that Jarred was dead. The young warrior had always seemed so damned ALIVE, on the brink when you just wanted to sit him down shove some sleeping medicine down his throat, and hope to god that he fell asleep. The odds always seemed to be against, however.
And now he was gone. Not a very spectacular death, either. He just FELL. Right into the ocean. and drowned. It was hard to think of the warrior that way. Death just didn't suit Jarred too well. Elena, well, that was a different matter. Seph X didn't know her too well, but didn't exactly hold her in as high regard as jarred, who had the capability of levelling cities in seconds. Seph X had doubts that she could travel THROUGH cities in less than an hour. Joan was a bit bewildered about the whole thing, but Tifa and Cloud were taking care of the little girl. They kept her distracted about the whole matter, so as to keep her happy. Every once and a while, however, she asked where her father was, and an ominous silence erupted, until Nox Seran laughed insanely, and played with his hand puppets.
The machine sighed. Or emulated the general movements of sighing, as he couldn't draw breath himself. He couldn't forgive himself for merely standing by and letting both Jarred and Elena fall over the edge. If only he had been more aware, more cautious. Suddenly, he realized that he had contracted something that was commonly known (not among AVALANCHE) as a Vincent Valentine syndrome. Blaming yourself for something you couldn't stop.
He decided it was useless to dwell on something that he couldn't have prevented
Instead, he decided that a little air would do him good. He went out onto the deck. As he wrapped his hand around the door handle, it suddenly burst open.
"Kahn! You can't just bust into the Highwind! This isn't what I planned at ALL!" A female voice shouted.
A deep, threatening growl erupted from the dark figure that had opened the door.
"Silence, Cetra-wench! You do not understand the danger we face! The Shadowlord is here! Death would be preferable to what he could do to us!"
Seph X tried to recognize the figures shape, but couldn't. Finally, he tried scanning its magic level. it went off the chart, and came to one conclusion.
"Demon." Seph X growled, drawing the Massamune.
The figure turned, to face Seph X.
"Whoa, a walking lump of krotonite." It said in surprise. It seemed to suddenly notice the Massamune. "And its got some nice steel." It muttered absently. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Prince Of Darkness is, would you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At that very moment, the Prince Of Darkness was unconscious. In a cave. In the Bone Village. Outside Elena and the excavation leader talked.
"Lucky we came across ya." The man said, taking out a cigarettes. "You would hae froze otherwise." he said with a thick northern accent. Elena had trouble understanding him at times, because of it. He seemed to be speaking a whole different language at times. This time the mans meaning was obvious.
"Yeah. Lucky we fell so near your village." She replied.
"Nae, I bet Jarred there was 'eaded straight here in the first place, but was stopped by the Vlakorados." He said, peeking inside the cave.
Elena furrowed her eyebrows.
"Jarred said something about that as well. Why would they go after him like that? I thought they hunted alone."
The head excavation-person (Don't know the word for that, so I'm not even going to bother) laughed.
"Not when it comes down to Jarred, they don't. he once killed their pack leader. The Alpha-whatever-the-'ell-i'-was."
Elena nodded.
"So, how do you know Jarred? I notice that you seem to know him."
The man laughed.
"Aye, that was a long time ago, when 'e was but a lad at the age o' fifteen. We found 'im 'untin' monsters, and was impressed with the way 'e faught. We offered 'im a job as an escort, seemins 'ow there were a lot of Vlakorados at the time. 'E said it was their breeding time, and agreed to start 'untin' the beasts. We paid him an 'efty amount, and suddenly the monsters stopped attacking. They even ran away a few times. We thanked him kindly, and paid 'im. But 'e stayed. We asked 'im why and 'e said it was because he had something to do. So we let 'im stay. It'd be a lie to say that we weren't scared of 'im, but we enjoyed 'is company. After a while we lost our fear of 'im. 'E became one of us." He said with a smile. "Those were some fun days. But we all knew Jarred would 'ave to leave. We knew 'e wasn't 'appy. All you 'ad to do was watch 'im sleep."
Elena raised an eyebrow. She hadn't understood all of what had been said, but she could have sworn he had said, 'watch him sleep'.
"Watch him sleep?"
The man gestured to the still form of jarred.
"Take a look for yourself. If tha' do nae break ye 'eart then I'd 'ave to ask you too leave this place."
Elena understood the first sentence, but the second was a mass of weirdness. She decided to act on the first, and ignore the second. She went to peek up on Jarred.
Like she had suspected, Jarred ay on his side, unmoving. But something was wrong, he seemed to be shivering or something, like he was cold. But she was wrong. He was only clenching his teeth. She also noticed that only a section of the blanket was being used. She pulled it back, to reveal that young warrior, clasping his knees up to his chin, in a protective ball. At the moment the blanket was removed, he cringed, clenching his teeth all the more and closing his eyes tighter.
"Ye can tell 'e's afraid o' somethin' but ye can nae tell what e's of." The man said, having walked up beside Elena. He pulled the blanket back onto Jarred.
"I'd 'ate to sound harsh, but when are ye leavin'?" He asked.
Elena was taken aback.
"I thought you were his friend?!"
The leader frowned.
"Jarred is my friend, yes, but 'e's not welcome 'ere. Not at the moment. 'E attracts monsters like flies to shit, and when 'e can't fight we have to. But we're not fighters. We' can give you food, and clothing, but we want you two out of 'ere as soon as possible."
Elena looked down at the shivering form of Jarred, and nodded.
"We'll leave as soon as Jarred is awake."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The mercenary known as Psin bowed deeply in the presence of 'Her'. His silvery hair spilled downwards as he did so.
"What do I owe the pleasure of you summoning me, my queen?" He asked humbly, smiling inwardly.
There was the sound of shuffling.
"You know damned right what I summoned you here for. This is not a battle between you and Jarred anymore." Her light, perfect voice said firmly. "Even a human, upon knowing your connection to Jarred, would know it was you behind that storm. I warn you; Leave the Prince Of Darkness alone. Or your usefulness in death will exceed your usefulness in life."
Psin smiled openly this time, letting his façade drop for a moment.
"And what would you plan to do when a berserker-rage comes upon him at the sight of me? Will I stand down and allow him to slaughter me? Never!" He returned.
Power suddenly left Psin's limbs. He fell to the ground, suddenly limp. Despite how much he writhed, he could move a muscle. Slowly, like some closing hand, he felt a strong pressure around his head.
"Never disobey me, Psin." Her voice ground darkly, and the pressure increased. "It proves fatal."
Psin suddenly regained control of himself, and the pain left his skull. The mercenary breathed deeply, regaining his composure quickly. He pushed himself upwards, and averted his gaze away from his employer.
"Very well, my queen. I promised never again to attack the Prince as long as I am in your service. But bear in mind, if he attacks I WILL defend myself."
The room seemed to echo around with her laughter.
"If he decides that you must die, then you will! Remember your last encounter with the Prince!"
Psin's hand strayed protectively towards the twin scars under his left eye. He could almost feel her smile bearing down on him. Feeling like a fool, he tore his hand away angrily.
"I'll kill him, just you wait. When I'm done working for you I'll hunt him down like the dog he is."
"And he will kill you. Who do you think he is? A human? A demon? No, my foolish friend, Jarred is the Prince for a reason. He shows limitless potential, but has yet to use any of it."
Psin sneered, vanishing into the air.
"And he won't if I have anything to do with it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cloud sat with Joan sleeping on his lap, and Tifa resting against his shoulder. The black skinned girl had the look of pure innocence on her face, strange to consider that Jarred had said she wielded great power. She snuggled in deeper, in deep sleep.
"She's really quite cute when you get right down to it." Tifa murmured. "Sometimes you really wonder how she feels so comfortable around a person like Jarred. I guess she's just very trusting."
Cloud nodded.
"I wonder why Jarred kept her around? He doesn't look like the type to adopt kids. He looks more like the type who's kill them." He remarked.
Tifa frowned.
"Cloud, that's a horrible thing to say! I happen to think Jarred is a sweet kid, even though he has a shocking lack of moral fibre."
"We're talking about a person that finds blowing things up as a form of entertainment. Particularly if they fall on something else afterwards. Face it, he's a psychotic killer, Tifa. He destroys things for fun. I doubt he'll be missed by too many people."
The came the sound of something akin to the sound of steel being ripped away with a wooden spoon. (Can you imagine that?) And the loud cursing of something that obviously wasn't very happy at the moment. Then there came the great bellow, sounding mysteriously like Seph X, echoing around the Highwind.
"A DEMON'S TRYING TO ATTACK THE SHIP!"
Followed by a quick, angry voice.
"LIKE I WOULD WASTE MY TIME ATTACKING THIS PLACE! I JUST WALKED THROUGH A DOOR FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! WILL YOU PLEASE *STOP* SWINGING THAT SWORD AROUND?!"
Also followed by a startled, female voice.
"Kahn! What's going on?!"
Also followed by the maniacal laughter of Nox Seran, who whipped his hand behind his back and pulled out a massive mallet from non-existance.
"The Cetra AND Kahn!" He shouted happily, slithering away in pursuit of the ruckus.
Tifa didn't stir. Cloud tired to ignore the happenings.
"Things certainly have gotten more interesting lately." He remarked. Tifa nodded. "We should really help them."
Tifa snuggled deeper into his shoulder.
"Later:"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The legions of the Shadowlord marched imperiously behind him, across the snow strewn lands of the north. If it was something he could say about his new form, then it that was entirely too open to the elements. His wings threw away heat like a heater, and his thin hide (Or, like we humans say, skin) couldn't keep the cold out for the life of it. He summoned a thick coat to protect him from the elements, and folded his wings tightly, so as to generate warmth in them.
"PHALOX RAGE!" He bellowed as he came to the top of the rim that was Gaea's peak. There was a definite lack of magic here, which was frightening thing to consider. Not only that, but the only demonic presence here was his own. Kahn wasn't here. Not only did that mean that Kahn was utterly terrified, it meant that he was running. And Kahn NEVER ran.
Something was very wrong.
Phalox Rage, Council Member and present leader of the Kala Sat, appeared with silence and stealth that were required of someone in his position. These traits proved necessary to gain and maintain a high rank when the ranks in question were among demons.
"Yes, Shadowlord?" He asked.
"Kahn isn't here." He stated.
"No he isn't, my lord." He replied patiently.
"Don't get snotty with me, Phalox. I demand to know why he's not here."
Phalox Rage merely shrugged.
"All we know is that a Half-Breed appeared, and created an immense warding spell. We didn't have a chance to find out what happened. Other than that nothing has happened."
The Shadowlord whirled around, grabbing Phalox Rage by the throat.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS?!" He demanded. "WE *BOTH* KNOW WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE WAR! IF A *HALF-BREED* IS WILLING TO SPEAK WITH KAHN, THEN I THINK WE BOTH KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!"
He lifted Phalox Rage effortlessly, squeezing all the tighter around the demons throat. Phalox Rage brought his own hands up, seeking to loosen the grip, but to no avail. His legs flailed around, strugelling uselessly.
"WHY DO YOU FEEL THE NEED *NOT* TO TELL ME ABOUT THINGS LIKE THIS?" he demanded.
Rather abruptly, his hand burst through Phalox Rage's throat, spraying blood over the Shadowlord's face and hand.
He dropped the corpse, and turned to the small army behind him.
"SEARCH THE AREA FOR CLUES ABOUT THE TRAITORS WHEREABOUTS. FAILURE IN OBEYING ME IS REPAID WITH DEATH!" He ordered.
The demons howled out their approval of this*, and set about to obey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*: Demons were originally feudal monsters in this fic, only brought into union upon their war with the Cetra. I'll get into the history of the shtuff later ^_^
Yes, I know this chapter is shorter than the others, but boohoo and all that. Anyway, gotta rush!
