It was a while later and they were back at Ragnarok stocked up with weapons
and potions galore. Quistis sat in her seat with a determined expression,
while Squall was deep in thought, no doubt thinking about Rinoa. Kiros was
lounging nonchalantly in his chair, his two hand blades hanging against his
hips.
Jayson stood by the window looking out towards Mordred Plains as Ragnarok
rose and Meia slipped her hand into his. He looked round to her.
'This is it... time to see if I'm dead right or just dead.' He said softly.
'You shouldn't worry so much. I have faith in you.' Meia replied squeezing his hand.
'I just hope the others are as trusting. Must be weird not having a GF in battle huh?' he said to her.
'I suppose, plus I was just getting used to being able to talk to Siren.' She said smiling and leant against him.
'Well it'll be over soon...' he told her. 'One way or another.' He added silently to himself.
Ragnarok touched down outside the cave that was Spore's lair. The five of them stepped down the landing ramp and found the entrance to be completely empty.
'No guards... I find that worrying.' Quistis said softly.
'Yeah well I'm sure we've got enough to worry about as it is. Everybody unjunctioned?' Jayson said as the unstrapped Fixxer.
There was a number of mumbled yeses.
'Good. Okay Quistis and Kiros you stay at the entrance. Kill anything that tries to get in or out. The rest of us will go see Spore.' Jayson said dryly and they headed to the cave entrance, which seemed so much more dark and forbidding than before.
The three of them entered the dark damp passage, the gloom lighting up for them as they entered the palely blue lit chamber where Spore resided. All around the blue orb that was Spore's prison sat Toramas and Imps, Jayson was aware of the scrape of horns on stone, indicating the presence of Behemoths somewhere deep in the back of the cave but what he wanted to hear most of all was the scuttling clicks of parasites as they tried to approach them but so far he couldn't hear it.
'Well, well guess who's back...and you've brought me your friends.' The insidious voice of Spore said smugly in his head.
'This time it will be different.' Jayson retorted out loud getting looks from the others.
'What? You don't hear him?' he asked them still not taking his eyes from the immobile face hidden behind the translucent orb.
'No...' Meia and Squall replied softly.
'I don't like that... why me? Is it because of the parasites before or because of who I am?' he thought to himself and then pushed the thought aside.
'Never mind... let's just do what we came to do.' He told them and charged the monsters, Fixxer tearing into the nearest Imp as Squall attacked a Torama and Meia's Krystal katana sliced into another Imp that prepared to cast Confuse.
Quistis and Kiros stood outside the cavern entrance and listened to the shrieks of pain and sounds of gunfire and rendered flesh. Kiros leaned against the entrance wall the rough rock pricking his exposed shoulders.
'How can you just stand there and listen to all that without rushing to help?' Quistis demanded as she seemed to be pacing on the spot.
'What good would that do? More likely we'd get hit by them cause we'd get in the way, besides we have to get any of those that try to get away.' Kiros replied softly.
'I can't just stand here and leave them to it!' Quistis replied.
'You may not have to... I think we have company of our own.' Kiros told her standing away from the wall and pulling out his hand blades as a Behemoth came thundering down the passage at them.
Corpses laid strewn around them, sweat poured down their faces as they continued to hack and slash their way through the ranks of monsters. They were almost there, there were no tunnels in the back of Spore's chamber and the whole back wall was Spore himself.
Jayson jumped up bringing Fixxer down into the back of a Behemoth that tried swiping a paw at Meia, tearing its spine out with protective rage and watching it drop lifeless. Around him Squall was shooting and slashing down the last of the Imps while Meia was stunning Toramas with her staff. Jayson came up beside Meia slashing the throat of one Torama as she thrust her katana into another.
The three of them backed off as they realised they had killed the last of Spore's monster minions. They swept the sweat from their faces with the back of their hands and Jayson pulled a bottle of water from a hip pouch and took a deep draught. He then passed the bottle to Meia and motioned them to walk back slowly to the chamber's entrance where the water bottle was passed onto Squall who drank slowly from it.
Throughout all the carnage Spore had been silent in Jayson's head but now he could here a dry chuckle ringing in his thoughts.
'What do you hope to achieve? You killed most of my minions yourself last time you were here and that didn't stop my little pets taking you down.' Spore said sarcastically.
Jayson ignored Spore and said to the two others. 'Get ready, we'll be getting a visit from some parasites now...'
Jayson sheathed Fixxer getting a weird look from Squall. 'No good' Jayson mouthed and drew his daggers. Meia followed suit pulling out her darts whilst Jayson passed Squall a dagger.
Squall took the dagger looked at it slightly puzzled and then sheathed Lionheart and tried getting to grips with the dagger presented to him. It was then the scuttling began.
Outside Quisits and Kiros stood panting as the Behemoth's body finally dropped and faded. Her body ached from where the Meteor spell had hit her, luckily her Spirit was high so that damage wasn't that severe. Kiros though looked worse for wear, kneeling on the ground, his arms stained with rivulet of blood that ran from numerous cuts.
She walked over to him and pulled a X-potion from a pocket, biting the cap off she forced the blue liquid between Kiros' lips and watched the cuts heal as it took effect.
'I hope they're doing better in there.' He muttered through ragged breaths.
'Well nothing else has made it's way out...' Quistis replied trying to conceal her own concerns.
The first parasite sprung up at head height at Jayson only to be skewered on his dagger in mid air, torn off and crushed in his hands. He dropped the mangled creature to the ground in disgust and prepared for more.
The scuttling increased as they appeared in droves, the floor a mass of black keratinous patches.
'Where are they coming from?' Squall yelled over the clicks of chitin legs moving along the floor.
'Must be some holes in the back!' Jayson replied and then motioned them to stay put as more scorpion-like creatures leapt up at them from the floor and off the walls.
Jayson moved forward stomping down on the parasites underfoot with a sensation akin to pleasure. Behind him he could her the soft pings as parasites bounced off Meia, Squall and himself.
'How can this be!?' Spore roared incredulously in his mind.
Jayson just grinned in reply as he pulled a flare from a pouch and snapped it open, the pure white light illuminating two round holes either side of Spore's orb from which parasites were crawling out of.
Jayson unsheathed Fixxer as he heard the soft patter of insectile bodies falling to the ground and the soft grunts as Meia and Squall continued to fight. He fired two rounds into each of the holes causing them to collapse and block the further progression of any more parasites. He then trampled back to the others crushing even more parasites until the sound of scuttling died away.
He noticed a few cuts on Meia and Squall's faces from where parasites had flailed against them and he was aware of blood trickling down the side of his face from where a parasite had leapt on him.
The three of them sat at the entrance of the chamber and gazed at Spore who remained frozen in silence. They each pulled a potion from their pouches and healed themselves whilst waiting for their hearts to wind down from their battle-induced purrs.
'Well I guess it's time.' Jayson said finally, slowly standing.
'Are you sure we should go through with this?' Squall asked standing up using the cave wall for support.
'We've come this far we can't just leave him here like this, who knows when he might regain his strength?' Jayson replied looking into Squall's eyes.
'Fine... so what do we do?' Squall asked as Meia stood up finally.
'Well you two are going to go back out to Quistis and Kiros and wait for me.' Jayson said softly.
'What?' Meia demanded.
'Look when it happens this whole place will come down, it wouldn't be a good idea if we were here when that happened right?' Jayson told her softly.
'But why you?' Squall asked giving Meia a pained look.
'Do you need to ask?' Jayson retorted and gripped Fixxer tightly.
'Now get going, I'll be along shortly.' He told them.
Meia and Squall looked at each other and decided not to argue and started running down the damp passage towards the light of day.
'This is it... time to see if I'm dead right or just dead.' He said softly.
'You shouldn't worry so much. I have faith in you.' Meia replied squeezing his hand.
'I just hope the others are as trusting. Must be weird not having a GF in battle huh?' he said to her.
'I suppose, plus I was just getting used to being able to talk to Siren.' She said smiling and leant against him.
'Well it'll be over soon...' he told her. 'One way or another.' He added silently to himself.
Ragnarok touched down outside the cave that was Spore's lair. The five of them stepped down the landing ramp and found the entrance to be completely empty.
'No guards... I find that worrying.' Quistis said softly.
'Yeah well I'm sure we've got enough to worry about as it is. Everybody unjunctioned?' Jayson said as the unstrapped Fixxer.
There was a number of mumbled yeses.
'Good. Okay Quistis and Kiros you stay at the entrance. Kill anything that tries to get in or out. The rest of us will go see Spore.' Jayson said dryly and they headed to the cave entrance, which seemed so much more dark and forbidding than before.
The three of them entered the dark damp passage, the gloom lighting up for them as they entered the palely blue lit chamber where Spore resided. All around the blue orb that was Spore's prison sat Toramas and Imps, Jayson was aware of the scrape of horns on stone, indicating the presence of Behemoths somewhere deep in the back of the cave but what he wanted to hear most of all was the scuttling clicks of parasites as they tried to approach them but so far he couldn't hear it.
'Well, well guess who's back...and you've brought me your friends.' The insidious voice of Spore said smugly in his head.
'This time it will be different.' Jayson retorted out loud getting looks from the others.
'What? You don't hear him?' he asked them still not taking his eyes from the immobile face hidden behind the translucent orb.
'No...' Meia and Squall replied softly.
'I don't like that... why me? Is it because of the parasites before or because of who I am?' he thought to himself and then pushed the thought aside.
'Never mind... let's just do what we came to do.' He told them and charged the monsters, Fixxer tearing into the nearest Imp as Squall attacked a Torama and Meia's Krystal katana sliced into another Imp that prepared to cast Confuse.
Quistis and Kiros stood outside the cavern entrance and listened to the shrieks of pain and sounds of gunfire and rendered flesh. Kiros leaned against the entrance wall the rough rock pricking his exposed shoulders.
'How can you just stand there and listen to all that without rushing to help?' Quistis demanded as she seemed to be pacing on the spot.
'What good would that do? More likely we'd get hit by them cause we'd get in the way, besides we have to get any of those that try to get away.' Kiros replied softly.
'I can't just stand here and leave them to it!' Quistis replied.
'You may not have to... I think we have company of our own.' Kiros told her standing away from the wall and pulling out his hand blades as a Behemoth came thundering down the passage at them.
Corpses laid strewn around them, sweat poured down their faces as they continued to hack and slash their way through the ranks of monsters. They were almost there, there were no tunnels in the back of Spore's chamber and the whole back wall was Spore himself.
Jayson jumped up bringing Fixxer down into the back of a Behemoth that tried swiping a paw at Meia, tearing its spine out with protective rage and watching it drop lifeless. Around him Squall was shooting and slashing down the last of the Imps while Meia was stunning Toramas with her staff. Jayson came up beside Meia slashing the throat of one Torama as she thrust her katana into another.
The three of them backed off as they realised they had killed the last of Spore's monster minions. They swept the sweat from their faces with the back of their hands and Jayson pulled a bottle of water from a hip pouch and took a deep draught. He then passed the bottle to Meia and motioned them to walk back slowly to the chamber's entrance where the water bottle was passed onto Squall who drank slowly from it.
Throughout all the carnage Spore had been silent in Jayson's head but now he could here a dry chuckle ringing in his thoughts.
'What do you hope to achieve? You killed most of my minions yourself last time you were here and that didn't stop my little pets taking you down.' Spore said sarcastically.
Jayson ignored Spore and said to the two others. 'Get ready, we'll be getting a visit from some parasites now...'
Jayson sheathed Fixxer getting a weird look from Squall. 'No good' Jayson mouthed and drew his daggers. Meia followed suit pulling out her darts whilst Jayson passed Squall a dagger.
Squall took the dagger looked at it slightly puzzled and then sheathed Lionheart and tried getting to grips with the dagger presented to him. It was then the scuttling began.
Outside Quisits and Kiros stood panting as the Behemoth's body finally dropped and faded. Her body ached from where the Meteor spell had hit her, luckily her Spirit was high so that damage wasn't that severe. Kiros though looked worse for wear, kneeling on the ground, his arms stained with rivulet of blood that ran from numerous cuts.
She walked over to him and pulled a X-potion from a pocket, biting the cap off she forced the blue liquid between Kiros' lips and watched the cuts heal as it took effect.
'I hope they're doing better in there.' He muttered through ragged breaths.
'Well nothing else has made it's way out...' Quistis replied trying to conceal her own concerns.
The first parasite sprung up at head height at Jayson only to be skewered on his dagger in mid air, torn off and crushed in his hands. He dropped the mangled creature to the ground in disgust and prepared for more.
The scuttling increased as they appeared in droves, the floor a mass of black keratinous patches.
'Where are they coming from?' Squall yelled over the clicks of chitin legs moving along the floor.
'Must be some holes in the back!' Jayson replied and then motioned them to stay put as more scorpion-like creatures leapt up at them from the floor and off the walls.
Jayson moved forward stomping down on the parasites underfoot with a sensation akin to pleasure. Behind him he could her the soft pings as parasites bounced off Meia, Squall and himself.
'How can this be!?' Spore roared incredulously in his mind.
Jayson just grinned in reply as he pulled a flare from a pouch and snapped it open, the pure white light illuminating two round holes either side of Spore's orb from which parasites were crawling out of.
Jayson unsheathed Fixxer as he heard the soft patter of insectile bodies falling to the ground and the soft grunts as Meia and Squall continued to fight. He fired two rounds into each of the holes causing them to collapse and block the further progression of any more parasites. He then trampled back to the others crushing even more parasites until the sound of scuttling died away.
He noticed a few cuts on Meia and Squall's faces from where parasites had flailed against them and he was aware of blood trickling down the side of his face from where a parasite had leapt on him.
The three of them sat at the entrance of the chamber and gazed at Spore who remained frozen in silence. They each pulled a potion from their pouches and healed themselves whilst waiting for their hearts to wind down from their battle-induced purrs.
'Well I guess it's time.' Jayson said finally, slowly standing.
'Are you sure we should go through with this?' Squall asked standing up using the cave wall for support.
'We've come this far we can't just leave him here like this, who knows when he might regain his strength?' Jayson replied looking into Squall's eyes.
'Fine... so what do we do?' Squall asked as Meia stood up finally.
'Well you two are going to go back out to Quistis and Kiros and wait for me.' Jayson said softly.
'What?' Meia demanded.
'Look when it happens this whole place will come down, it wouldn't be a good idea if we were here when that happened right?' Jayson told her softly.
'But why you?' Squall asked giving Meia a pained look.
'Do you need to ask?' Jayson retorted and gripped Fixxer tightly.
'Now get going, I'll be along shortly.' He told them.
Meia and Squall looked at each other and decided not to argue and started running down the damp passage towards the light of day.