In the space of these two chapters, I made a startling realization: I drive people insane. Either that, or I'm fun to harass... I'm hoping for the former.

(Teachers givin' ya shit, eh Arcander? I Shall SEND FORTH MY MINIONS OF THE ABYSS TO MAKE THE TEACHER DISAPPEAR! (It'd really be fun to see which the more evil of the two is, wouldn't it? The Teacher Vs. the evil monsters! On pay-per-view!)

Things may be going slower, and may be prone to grammatical mistakes. I have a Norwegian assignment that requires me to read a Norwegian book ("Naive. Super.", pretty damn funny, if ya ask me.) and my head isn't functioning in it's normal fashion. It's moving like a snail on speed (Which is probably fast for a snail, but, well, you get the idea.)

Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter XXXVI: A Ghost Of A Chance

Fear was not a normal emotion felt by Ghost. But when the magic that was normally bountiful started to drain, and he began relying more and more on his own physical abilities, then the foreign thing took hold with alarming strength. He was moving faster than any mere human could see, he knew, but Valentine was more than human by far. The link once shared between he and Chaos was apparent, as he drew upon more and more demonic magic. Ghost could feel the power resonating from him, and he feared and hated it. Black feathers met black capes, and bullets were moving with sickening slowness to them.

Ghost panicked, and began the slow process of summoning Ifrit's strength.

"Ifrit, my god, grant me the strength to wield your – Agh!" Ghost's summoning was cut off short as Vincent latched onto his throat with his metal claw. The crimson eyed pair stared at one another, as if sizing the other up. "Grant me the strength to wield your Scourge!" He screamed, and kicked Vincent away. Flames leapt in his hands, and the fiery weapon took form. He whirled it around him, letting the flames create a shield of sorts.

And then he felt Wraith die.

It felt like his arm had suddenly been ripped off, and came as a physical blow to him. The scourge dissolved to nothing, and the magic left him completely. Vincent was quick on the uptake, and regained his hold on Ghost's throat. But Ghost couldn't feel it, he could only stare perplexed at where Wraith's head struck the ground, and watch with horror as his brother's soul left his body, and merge with the Lifestream.

But that was the odd thing. Wraith's soul couldn't merge with the Lifestream; Jarred had prevented it, long ago, hadn't he?

But with this came a sickening realization, and a horror filled thought.

Jarred has betrayed us! He knows we didn't stand a chance against AVALANCHE, and sent us to die! But why would he do that?!

And with these thought's came another frightening realization.

Because we are bound to him. Just as he can draw upon our power, so can we draw upon HIS. He wants us dead so that no one can stop him!

Coming to terms with this in a shockingly little amount of time, Ghost was quick to drop his weapon, and shout: "I surrender!"

Vincent's face bunched up into confusion for a second, and then one of doubt.

"Why should I believe you?!" He demanded, strengthening his hold. "You support that insane warmonger!"

"He's betrayed us! He let Wraith die! That couldn't have happened if Jarred wanted us to live! He wants us dead!" Ghost shouted back, panic grasping him. Spectre was to deep in a blood lust to hear any of this, and was too deep in magical combat with the metal demon to take heed even if he could. "I, I'll do anything! Don't kill me, please!" He pleaded, closing his eyes in fear.

Vincent had seen he fear in the man's eyes, and knew from long experience that that kind of fear could not be feigned. The man was genuinely terrified.

"Fine." He said slowly, keeping his crimson eyes on the man. "Wait here; We'll deal with you."

Vincent's cape swirled around him as he turned with alarming alacrity, spreading his wings wide, and launching into the air. If Spectre had looked, he would have stood stock still at the sight of Vincent gliding through the air towards him, the Death Penalty held in one hand, and the golden claw outstretched meaningfully. As it was, however, the maniacal Half-Breed stood with his back to Vincent, too deep in concentration to notice anything. Vincent's claw tore into his back, while the Death Penalty ripped a hole through the Half-breed's spine. A pained scream went out, as Spectre tried frantically to remove Vincent from his back, but the damage was already done. After a short, futile, struggle, Spectre fell to the ground, twitching, and then finally going still, an insane grin suddenly plastered on his face.

Ghost sobbed deeply, in shame and fear.

"My brothers..." He said thickly, looking at the corpses of his two brothers. Cloud turned quickly at the sound, and raised his weapon meaningfully, but Vincent put up a restraining arm.

"He's surrendered." The gunman stated, and advanced upon Ghost. "You said Jarred betrayed you, Ghost. How, and why?"

Ghost gulped, and his jaw quivered for a second, before he related the tale of how he and his brothers had been killed and then revived. He told it quickly, conscious of the black globe that the Highwind was approaching.


"W, we were never truly alive, but not really dead either. Dead, but still breathing. If he wanted us to kill you, you would be dead, I assure you. It wouldn't matter how many time you killed us: We'd be restored shortly afterwards, and we would attack again. But Jarred let Wraith and Spectre die, and would have let me die as well, if I hadn't surrendered." He said, and looked up at Avalanche, hopefully. "Don't take me back to him! He'll keep me alive, just so that he can torture me for my betrayal!" The black skin man fell to his knees, begging. "Don't make me go to him!"

Vincent sneered violently, and prodded the grovelling figure with a boot.

"Get up!" He commanded harshly, and prodded Ghost once again. "I doubt you would you've shown much mercy in your life, so I don't know why we should know why should show you any. And you didn't answer my second question: Why did Jarred betray you? You made yourself to sound invulnerable. Why would he want to destroy his best weapon."

Ghost shivered, and stood up. His eyes were closed, and his hands were clutched tightly around him.

"Just as we were bound to him, so is he bound to us. He can draw upon our power directly, but in the same way we can draw upon his! He wants us to die, so that he can use the powers of the Prince by himself. We were far from his greatest weapon: We were his greatest liability. If we rebelled against him, we could use his own power against him, and he could do nothing about it. So he sent us to you. H, he sent us to die!"

"Wait, you can use Jarred's power?!" Cid shouted, shouldering past Vincent. "#/%#! We can use that against thee crazy (&=%! C'mon, try it! Show us some magic, kid!"

Ghost took several steps back, his eyes wide with fear.

"What?! And become like him?! I like having power, sure, but that much would crush me! The madness that drives him would consume me as well! Not without reason are few selected to be the Prince! The Prince is the instrument of darkness, a manifestation of the negative power around us, the ultimate enemy of all life! To seek that power..." Ghost shivered visibly. "You cannot quench a fire with gasoline, and you cannot kill the Prince of Darkness with shadows of his own power. It only makes him stronger, and maddens you in the process, which in turn makes him stronger still! No, I will not use his power! Never!" He darkened a little. "I mean, even if I did kill him with his power, I would only take his place.  Darkness would consume me as it did him."

Silence greeted this statement. Ghost felt the stare of many eyes, weighing, measuring, and scrutinizing him. He cowered slightly, unused to such attention. In the past, when with company as... peculiar... as Wraith and Spectre, people tended to overlook the thin, silent, admittedly leering man that followed after, usually stopping to enjoy the (*Cough Cough*) View. Now, feeling the weight of attention, he yearned to be just about anywhere else.

"Er, if I got you inside Jarred's domain, would you let me go? I won't bother anybody, ever again! I'll become a pacifist, and join the Church of Aeris!"

A pink figure appeared there in a second, a perplexed look on it's face.

"I have a church?!" She asked, a look of dreamy happiness on her face. "That means I'm a saint!"

She was ignored, for the most. Such things weren't too important, at the moment, at least. Cloud seemed more interested in Ghost's former statement. The swordsman stood over Ghost, and stared at him grimly. Ghost met his stare, only without the normal disdain he usually held for humans.

"Bring us to Jarred, and we will let you go. For now." Cloud said slowly, watching Ghost's reaction. "But we will find you when this is all over, and we will discuss some sort of punishment for your service to Jarred." Ghost nodded quickly, and bowed.


"Then I will take you; But you'll pardon me if I don't exactly stay for your victory party, in that case." He closed his eyes, and summoned forth the magic need to move the entire Highwind to Jarred's domain, the black sun.

From outside the Highwind, it was a spectacular sight. A wreath of fire sprouted from nothing under the airship, and quickly grew in strength and power, enveloping the ship above. Slowly, both fire and ship vanished from sight, and nothing was left but a patch in the sky where there had once been something. On the inside, however, it was quite unpleasant. It probably had something to do with the fact that 100 degrees of heat suddenly appearing is hard to fit into your prospective image of 'pleasant'.

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Jarred's eye flared open, and he stood up violently. Elena watched him curiously, worryingly, from where she stood, beside him. His hands reached for the Villis Me Ka, and drew the blade quickly, and pulled the dagger out from nowhere. He stood tall, with a deep frown on his face.

"They have come." He said eventually, as if he was greatly surprised. "And Ghost comes with them. Wait, he flees now." The warrior took a few steps forward, and stared into the darkness. "So, he has betrayed me. Not surprising. He was never one for loyalty. But he should know better than to-" He stopped mid-sentence. "She's here! How did she manage to get in?! How can she still be alive?!" He said wildly, spreading his arms wide. Dark wisps surged from the surroundings, enveloping him. It pulled him in, until he was finally gone.

Elena was let alone, in the darkness around her, with her thoughts. If Jarred had been a little more experienced, he would have known that this was an exceedingly dangerous situation, but he wasn't, and there Elena sat.

Could Psin have been right? She wondered, recalling the man's words. "Don't listen to his lies, human! He is the channel of evil! All that he creates is twisted in vile! A world he creates would be an atrocity!" He said. Could he have been right? Is Jarred really, evil? He sent Ghost and the others to die, I know that, and they were his brothers!

A glint of steel caught her eye, and she noticed the betrayer laying on the ground, it's silvery blade shining with some non-existent light. She stood up, and walked over to the sword, and looked at it. It's curved, s-shaped hilt, and the Midgarian symbols. At the end, a crystal blade jutted out abruptly, it's translucent edge glowing slightly. The Turk looked at the beautiful sword for a moment, before picking it up. At her first touch, the blade flared with light, and the darkness writhed around her. In the back of her mind, she could almost hear the screams of tortured souls.

~You have taken my blade, human. Have you seen the cruelty of Jarred for yourself? Do you believe me now?~ Something said in the back of head.

Psin? Is that you?

~In a way, yes. This is the last part of my consciousness. I poured my soul into this blade, so in death I live on, in a way, inside the sword. Do you believe now that Jarred is evil.~

...

~Answer me!~

No. But, I don't believe he is the person he was before.

~Of course not. The Darkness has corrupted him, and what good intentions he had before is nothing now. All that is left now is the husk of the man you knew. He is a tool to the darkness, and everything will be destroyed if he is allowed free reign. I tried to break free, and defy him, but I have failed. You, however, stand a chance. I don't think Jarred, even corrupted as he is, could bring himself to harm you. Are you willing to stand against him?~

Elena stood silent. She could feel every fibre in her body in turmoil, each one with their own opinion of the matter. Her hands trembled, and she could almost see Jarred looking at her, with a crushed look, as he realized that she too had betrayed him. On the other hand, she heard Jarred speaking openly of betraying those he had called brother, and musing at how they would react afterwards.

~We don't have forever, human. Will you do it?~

She hesitated, and then sighed.

Yes.

~Then you may wield my blade. It is made of the bones of Talice, the young girl Jarred grew fond of, as well as the bones of Gerald, the man whom Jarred took for his father. It will burn his flesh and soul to touch this blade, and it will not take long for you to kill him. Strike him down, human, and your world will be safe! For now, at least.~

Elena nodded grimly, and clenched the blade. It radiated all the stronger.

I know. I just wish I didn't.

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Cloud stepped out onto the outside deck of the Highwind, and was met by the pure blackness that surrounded it. It writhed and moved like a living thing in pain, and pulsed as if some heart were pumping it with some vile fluid. Wisps of it floated outwards, towards the end of the deck, and suddenly merged and took form, steadily become less vague, Jarred stood before him, the Villis Me Ka held in his hand menacingly. He looked up at the swordsman, and smiled.

"I see you made it." He said slowly. He brightened up, and took a step forward. "Come with me, Cloud. We can create a perfect world!"


Cloud held his sword at ready, and shuffled forward as Tifa, Vincent and Cid and the rest followed behind him.

"And destroy the world we worked so hard to save? Ha! Fat chance!" He shouted, leaping forward and swinging down with the Ultima Blade. Jarred caught the blade with his hand, holding the sword firmly in place. Cloud's eyes swivelled as he stared at what was happening.


"You cannot stop me." The warrior stated, pushing the sword away. "I am the Prince Of Darkness, the destroyer and creator. I give you a choice, humans. Stand with me, or stand against me, but either way this world, and all the others, will be obliterated!" The Villis Me Ka was lifted high into the air, and Jarred sneered maliciously. "I will make sure of it!" The vile sword fell, slashing through the air towards the blonde swordsman.

Cid flung his spear, and watched with a satisfied expression as it pierced through Jarred's chest, entering and exiting. The warrior staggered back, clutching at the spear with one hand, a confused look on his face, while Cid beamed.

"Take that, ta &%¤#)/&#!" Cid bellowed, lighting a cigarette. "I'd love to see anybody survive a hit like that!" He turned around, towards the Highwind.

"Is that a promise?"

Cid whirled around, and watched with fascinated horror as Jarred firmly grabbed the spear, and tore it out of his chest, very audibly. It whirled in his hand, and then lashed backwards, as Jarred prepared to throw it.

"What comes around goes around, human!"

Cid had no time to react. The weapon moved in a blur, and tore a hole through the pilots chest, and lodged itself deeply in the Highwind.

Cloud backed away, watching as the gaping wound in Jarred closed in on itself, healing at an alarming rate. The black-skinned man walked forward, his arms held wide, a smile on his face.

"Come now! I will kill you all, absorb your souls, and then move on to the planet!"

Mech-Head joined Cloud, holding the Massamune ready.

"Feh, keep dreaming, degenerate! We'll stop you!"

Vincent raised the Death Penalty, pointing at Jarred.

"I do not fear death, Jarred. I've survived it twice."

Tifa joined Cloud as well, going into stance.

"We can't let you do this, Jarred!"

Jarred shrugged, and held the Villis Me Ka at ready.

"I tried to convince you." He spun around, facing the darkness. "I will show you how inevitable it is."

The darkness suddenly shuddered, and began seething. If they had been placed differently, they could have been able to see the a pillar of light appear above them, and then rapidly expand. Below them, the same thing was happening, until all that was left of the darkness was a thin layer, spreading out into what seemed eternity in all directions. The sun shimmered off it's dark surface, and black clouds thrashed around it.

"There is no light on the world below. All they can see is eternal darkness." Jarred said with certainty. "Their pathetic existence is about to end."

All around them, spikes began ripping through the darkness, as if some gigantic claw was trying to gash it's way out. They all began slashing around, with increasing speed. A huge, deep groan went through the air, carrying with it such a heartfelt pain that the whole of Avalanche looked around. Jarred turned around, a smile once more on his lips.

"Listen! The death cry of the planet! In a few minutes it will be dead, along with everything else on this planet! Bow down to my power, scum, or die like your foolish brethren." He ranted, slashing the Villis Me Ka around him madly. Suddenly he calmed, and stared at the assembly before him.

"Let's end this."

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'K, only one or two more chapters, t' go, and then an epilogue, all ready and typed out. (But I won't add it until a few days after the story is done, just cuz I'm evil.)