Chapter 32
Phillona's palm was warm and soft when she placed it in Sifan's hand. She looked up at him with watery eyes and smiled faintly. He didn't really feel all that comfortable holding Phillona's hands but she did. Seeing that she needed it, he didn't let go of her hand. He just nodded and the both of them proceeded to the deeper and darker pathway of the cave.
"Phillona..." Sifan whispered, as he and Phillona walked on, "just be cheerful, ok?"
[I know it isn't easy being in your shoes but...]
"...You're not chained to any responsibilities any more..." he said, watching her, "Look at me...in balamb, the entire cavalry wanted me to be an almighty gunblade warrior like my father...but I gave a rat's ass...I didn't chain myself to the responsibility of stepping into my father's shoes... "
"You're free, Phillona..." he continued, "free to be yourself.... you can live life the way you've always wanted to..."
Phillona smiled at him, "Thanks... it's comforting that way..."
"It was?" Sifan said, amused, "I wasn't even trying..."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah..." he lied.
She tilted her head and looked at him, a smile on her face.
[Don't look at me like that...it makes my head go all fuzzy...]
"Can I stay with you till I find a job somewhere...?" she asked slowly, "Only till I find a house or a job...whichever comes first..."
"Er...well..." Sifan dragged his voice.
Lyris had never barged into his head more painfully.
{Just say 'yes'...}
[But I like to be alone...]
{Fine, I'll NEVER TALK TO YOU AGA-}
[OK OK...Geez...I'll let her stick around...]
"Yeah fine..." Sifan replied, turning to Phillona, "I'd really prefer being on my own but ...you can stay..."
She nodded, "Always want be a lone wolf... huh?"
"Lone wolves don't usually hold hands..." Sifan muttered feeling Phillona's gentle grasp on his hand, "just consider this a small favor...nothing more."
"I guess you're just doing it out of pity..." Phillona said, "Poor, backstabbed, homeless, orphan girl who can't face life anymore..."
He tightened his hand around Phillona's palm so hard that she let out a small shout, "Ow!"
"Sorry..." Sifan said calmly.
"Why did you do THAT for?"
"For the same reason you thumped me with a coconut."
"...................."
"For having stupid ideas of what I thought of you...."
"Yeah but a coconut wasn't so bad..."
"You made me bleed!" Sifan retorted.
"Buckets of blood, right?" Phillona said sarcastically.
After arguing about which one hurt more (the coconut or a tight finger clutch), Phillona removed her hand from Sifan's, rolled her fingers into a fist, and drove it into Sifan's stomach. The air went out of him as he bent forward, groping his stomach.
"Oops..." Phillona said, "I was just playing..."
She bent over to see if Sifan was okay when he shot out his free arm and wrenched Phillona's arm behind her, "Hee hee...who's the martial arts master now...?"
Pulling her hand free from his grasp, she elbowed him hard and threw him over her shoulder to the ground. Sifan was flat on the rocky floor, his head spinning like a merry-go-round.
She stretched out her hand to Sifan. He refused to take it and got up on his own.
He was dusting his pants while Phillona stood in front of him, her eyes glued to him. He straightened up, deciding not to waste anymore time fooling around with Phillona.
"Let's go...." She said, as if she had read his thoughts.
They walked together quietly, each lost in their own thought. After a few steps, suddenly, they heard a loud roar of a monster ahead of them. And then, unexpectedly, the air went mute again. Sifan and Phillona slowly inched their way towards the source of the sound.
A dead Behemoth was lying on the ground. A man stood over the fallen monster. His torso was cloaked in dark red. He wore a large, rusty warrior's leg armor. Grey hair flowing down the sides of his face and one closed eye were the characteristic features of his face. In his hand, he held a gigantic sword.
He swung it at the dead monster's horns and they broke and fell to the ground. He picked it up and put it in a bag. He walked closer to where Sifan and Phillona stood. He almost went past them when Sifan caught a glimpse of his face at close range. His heart flipped. It was the same person who had caught him by the neck in the golden saucer airship. It was the very same person who had mistaken Sifan for Relafen Almasy.
"Hey wait..." Phillona said when he almost walked past them, "Y-You took on a behemoth on your own...?"
The man didn't answer immediately but after a few seconds he spoke in the same cold voice that Sifan had heard, "You see anyone else around missy?"
"Uh well..." Phillona said, gazing at the bag where he had put the behemoth's horns, "You must be some kinda...er...hunter..."
"I am a poacher..." the man replied, "I hunt monsters for their skin, horns...anything that sells in the market..."
"Oh..." Phillona said, "Well...we're materia hunting..."
"Well...we're ALSO running out of time..." Sifan muttered, not understanding why Phillona was making conversation with a poacher
"So am I..." came the impatient reply of the man.
"Well..." Phillona said, "If...um...you can help us with the monsters...we'll give you a part of our pay..."
The man thought for a while, his single eye staring at Sifan, "How much..."
"15%..." Sifan replied flatly.
"Farewell..." came the immediate reply.
"No wait! 20%..." Phillona shouted as the man walked away, "25%!"
The man disappeared around a corner turning a deaf ear to Phillona. She sighed, "Oh well...guess it's up to us now..."
The both of them kept walking till they approached a turn.
"Ok...this is it..."Phillona said, "Around that turn...there'll probably be a monster. There's always one at the end of the cave. You will see a small crater-like depression on the ground. Past the depression will be a circular boulder that is movable. The crater-like opening on the ground has the materia that we want and the path behind the circular boulder leads to the big guy himself...Omega..."
Sifan nodded and together with Phillona, he inched his way around the turn. A ruby dragon was sleeping on the ground quietly. Near it's tail was the ground cavity Phillona had talked about. Sifan stood on his tiptoe and saw a few materia shining inside. And similar to what Phillona had said, behind the Ruby dragon was a circular stone blocking the entrance to another cave.
"Wanna try and sneak past the dragon for the materia...?" Sifan whispered.
"I am not good at sneaking...." Phillona replied softly.
"Fine, I'll do it..." Sifan said and turned around to the dragon. Phillona started to get nervous and a worried look soon appeared on her face as Sifan slowly tiptoed past the dragon. It was humungous with red scaly skin for a hide and large nostrils and a horn that extended backwards till the middle of it's back. Each of its claws was as big as Sifan's hand, it's bat-like wings along with its fangs and snake-like tail only made Sifan shudder. He walked past the tail and crouched near the cavity on the ground. There were loads of bones piled among which lie a few shiny materia.
[Maybe the monsters bring all the materia hunters here after they kill them. Then they take their own sweet time eating them, I guess...]
He picked up the materia one by one as Phillona looked on nervously. After reluctantly turning the pile of bones inside out, Sifan was convinced that there weren't anymore.
[Ten materia. Not bad. Not bad at all...]
Sifan stood up and was about to start his way back across the sleeping ruby dragon when the poacher they had run into earlier appeared around the corner. He noticed the sleeping dragon- tiptoeing Sifan scenario and smiled. Suddenly, he cast a loud thunder spell on the wall of the cave, disturbing the dragon's sleep. The dragon shot up immediately. Noticing Sifan stand inches in front of it, it lunged its head out for a bite. Fortunately, Sifan avoided it with a backward jump and whipped out his gunblade. Phillona joined Sifan and the poacher for the fight against the ruby dragon that stood up and stretched itself.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" Sifan fumed standing near the poacher who was calmly waiting with his sword supported on his shoulder, "I would've been dragon feed..."
"I doubt it..." The man said, "Ruby dragons prefer fully-grown humans..."
[Wise guy...]
Phillona cast a protect spell on Sifan and when she was about to do the same on the poacher, he raised his hand, "save your MP, I don't need it."
The ruby dragon seemed to have taken a dislike to the man's arrogant words. It rushed straight at him to swipe him with its claws. It ended up swiping his sword instead when he brought it down for a block. He then thrust it upwards and the blade sunk into its lower neck, making it bleed profusely.
"Listen kids..." The man said, "Rule number one: Always go for a dragon's neck or throat...they are literally disabled when they can't use their throats for their breath attacks..."
The dragon didn't want to take this insult lightly either. It wanted to prove that it could still use its breath attacks and make a fool of his attacker. It stood on its hind limbs, spread its wings and tried to spew out a blazing stream of fire. But it fell to the ground gasping and shorts spurts of fire were the only things that came out of its mouth.
Sifan jumped forward and mentally connected his summon materia with his mind, "Let 'er rip, dragon boy ..."
Bahamut landed with a deafening thud in front of the coughing and gasping ruby dragon. He roared in an ironic manner as if to say, "You're a goddamn shame to our race..."
With that, Bahamut rid the ruby dragon of life's miseries with a sweltering mega flare and the battle came to a rather early end.
After Sifan and party re-appeared, Sifan turned to the poacher after sheathing his sword, "It would have been easier if had just let it sleep..."
The man walked over to the dead ruby dragon, ignoring Sifan. He lifted its head and placed it on a rock. He then took his sword and with an inhuman force, smashed its blunt edge over the dragon's snout. He then forced open its mouth and gathered the bloody and broken fangs into his bag.
He walked over to Sifan and did something with his face that Sifan guessed to be a smile.
"He wouldn't have let us do that if he were asleep..." the man replied.
"You have a name..." Sifan asked him, "Or should we call you poachy?"
Phillona couldn't help but snigger a little.
"You want me to stick you against a wall and raise you off your feet again..." the man said, sticking his face inches near Sifan's.
Sifan's smile only irritated him even more. He was about to punch Sifan's lights out when Phillona intervened, "Alright you guys...cut it out..."
"You wanna pick a fight with this guy? He'll end up selling your damn liver..." She whispered to Sifan under her breath.
Phillona quickly spun around to the poacher, "Uh...we had agreed on 25%..."
"No need..." the man snapped immediately, "The ruby dragon fangs will get me 100 times your measly 25%..."
The man began to walk away swiftly but he turned around after a couple of seconds, "The name's Setzin...not poachy..."
With that he disappeared around the corner.
Sifan shot a glare at the circular stone and looked back at Phillona, "Wanna go Omega yourself to death...
She was about to reply when an iron giant's cry echoed in the direction of the cave where Omega Weapon lived.
Sifan's curiosity got the better of him and he rushed to the circular boulder despite Phillona's protests. He slowly inched away the boulder and peered through the opening. Phillona stuck her head under Sifan's arm and watched with him.
In what looked like a large cave with a flat, even ground, lay an Iron giant with one arm missing. Over him stood a large four-legged monster with the iron giant's arm in its mouth. Its entire body was covered by a bluish-silver armor. Its head was shaped like a gargoyle's and it towered as high as the iron giant who was lying sprawled on the ground. It spat out the iron giant's arm and glared at the almost-dead giant with its bright red eyes. It raised its forelimb and flattened the giant's head with it, crushing it to nothingness. The giant let out an ear-piercing holler and faded off to its death. The Iron giant's killer roared triumphantly and marched away into the shadows out of Sifan's line of vision, it's thundering steps echoing in Sifan's head. Sifan was speechless. What he just saw was none other than Omega Weapon himself.
Sifan rolled back the stone quietly and turned around to Phillona whose eyes were as wide as his.
"T-To the beach..." Sifan stuttered, "O-On the d-double..."
***********************
-------------------------------------__________________________
Note from the author:I found a pic on the net EXACTLY like the way i imagined Sifan to be,...i posted it on my bio(click on my name)...take a look if you wanna see how Sifan looks although originally its some anime character or something...BUT HEY ...he's the perfect picurre of Sifan i had in mind...
Phillona's palm was warm and soft when she placed it in Sifan's hand. She looked up at him with watery eyes and smiled faintly. He didn't really feel all that comfortable holding Phillona's hands but she did. Seeing that she needed it, he didn't let go of her hand. He just nodded and the both of them proceeded to the deeper and darker pathway of the cave.
"Phillona..." Sifan whispered, as he and Phillona walked on, "just be cheerful, ok?"
[I know it isn't easy being in your shoes but...]
"...You're not chained to any responsibilities any more..." he said, watching her, "Look at me...in balamb, the entire cavalry wanted me to be an almighty gunblade warrior like my father...but I gave a rat's ass...I didn't chain myself to the responsibility of stepping into my father's shoes... "
"You're free, Phillona..." he continued, "free to be yourself.... you can live life the way you've always wanted to..."
Phillona smiled at him, "Thanks... it's comforting that way..."
"It was?" Sifan said, amused, "I wasn't even trying..."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah..." he lied.
She tilted her head and looked at him, a smile on her face.
[Don't look at me like that...it makes my head go all fuzzy...]
"Can I stay with you till I find a job somewhere...?" she asked slowly, "Only till I find a house or a job...whichever comes first..."
"Er...well..." Sifan dragged his voice.
Lyris had never barged into his head more painfully.
{Just say 'yes'...}
[But I like to be alone...]
{Fine, I'll NEVER TALK TO YOU AGA-}
[OK OK...Geez...I'll let her stick around...]
"Yeah fine..." Sifan replied, turning to Phillona, "I'd really prefer being on my own but ...you can stay..."
She nodded, "Always want be a lone wolf... huh?"
"Lone wolves don't usually hold hands..." Sifan muttered feeling Phillona's gentle grasp on his hand, "just consider this a small favor...nothing more."
"I guess you're just doing it out of pity..." Phillona said, "Poor, backstabbed, homeless, orphan girl who can't face life anymore..."
He tightened his hand around Phillona's palm so hard that she let out a small shout, "Ow!"
"Sorry..." Sifan said calmly.
"Why did you do THAT for?"
"For the same reason you thumped me with a coconut."
"...................."
"For having stupid ideas of what I thought of you...."
"Yeah but a coconut wasn't so bad..."
"You made me bleed!" Sifan retorted.
"Buckets of blood, right?" Phillona said sarcastically.
After arguing about which one hurt more (the coconut or a tight finger clutch), Phillona removed her hand from Sifan's, rolled her fingers into a fist, and drove it into Sifan's stomach. The air went out of him as he bent forward, groping his stomach.
"Oops..." Phillona said, "I was just playing..."
She bent over to see if Sifan was okay when he shot out his free arm and wrenched Phillona's arm behind her, "Hee hee...who's the martial arts master now...?"
Pulling her hand free from his grasp, she elbowed him hard and threw him over her shoulder to the ground. Sifan was flat on the rocky floor, his head spinning like a merry-go-round.
She stretched out her hand to Sifan. He refused to take it and got up on his own.
He was dusting his pants while Phillona stood in front of him, her eyes glued to him. He straightened up, deciding not to waste anymore time fooling around with Phillona.
"Let's go...." She said, as if she had read his thoughts.
They walked together quietly, each lost in their own thought. After a few steps, suddenly, they heard a loud roar of a monster ahead of them. And then, unexpectedly, the air went mute again. Sifan and Phillona slowly inched their way towards the source of the sound.
A dead Behemoth was lying on the ground. A man stood over the fallen monster. His torso was cloaked in dark red. He wore a large, rusty warrior's leg armor. Grey hair flowing down the sides of his face and one closed eye were the characteristic features of his face. In his hand, he held a gigantic sword.
He swung it at the dead monster's horns and they broke and fell to the ground. He picked it up and put it in a bag. He walked closer to where Sifan and Phillona stood. He almost went past them when Sifan caught a glimpse of his face at close range. His heart flipped. It was the same person who had caught him by the neck in the golden saucer airship. It was the very same person who had mistaken Sifan for Relafen Almasy.
"Hey wait..." Phillona said when he almost walked past them, "Y-You took on a behemoth on your own...?"
The man didn't answer immediately but after a few seconds he spoke in the same cold voice that Sifan had heard, "You see anyone else around missy?"
"Uh well..." Phillona said, gazing at the bag where he had put the behemoth's horns, "You must be some kinda...er...hunter..."
"I am a poacher..." the man replied, "I hunt monsters for their skin, horns...anything that sells in the market..."
"Oh..." Phillona said, "Well...we're materia hunting..."
"Well...we're ALSO running out of time..." Sifan muttered, not understanding why Phillona was making conversation with a poacher
"So am I..." came the impatient reply of the man.
"Well..." Phillona said, "If...um...you can help us with the monsters...we'll give you a part of our pay..."
The man thought for a while, his single eye staring at Sifan, "How much..."
"15%..." Sifan replied flatly.
"Farewell..." came the immediate reply.
"No wait! 20%..." Phillona shouted as the man walked away, "25%!"
The man disappeared around a corner turning a deaf ear to Phillona. She sighed, "Oh well...guess it's up to us now..."
The both of them kept walking till they approached a turn.
"Ok...this is it..."Phillona said, "Around that turn...there'll probably be a monster. There's always one at the end of the cave. You will see a small crater-like depression on the ground. Past the depression will be a circular boulder that is movable. The crater-like opening on the ground has the materia that we want and the path behind the circular boulder leads to the big guy himself...Omega..."
Sifan nodded and together with Phillona, he inched his way around the turn. A ruby dragon was sleeping on the ground quietly. Near it's tail was the ground cavity Phillona had talked about. Sifan stood on his tiptoe and saw a few materia shining inside. And similar to what Phillona had said, behind the Ruby dragon was a circular stone blocking the entrance to another cave.
"Wanna try and sneak past the dragon for the materia...?" Sifan whispered.
"I am not good at sneaking...." Phillona replied softly.
"Fine, I'll do it..." Sifan said and turned around to the dragon. Phillona started to get nervous and a worried look soon appeared on her face as Sifan slowly tiptoed past the dragon. It was humungous with red scaly skin for a hide and large nostrils and a horn that extended backwards till the middle of it's back. Each of its claws was as big as Sifan's hand, it's bat-like wings along with its fangs and snake-like tail only made Sifan shudder. He walked past the tail and crouched near the cavity on the ground. There were loads of bones piled among which lie a few shiny materia.
[Maybe the monsters bring all the materia hunters here after they kill them. Then they take their own sweet time eating them, I guess...]
He picked up the materia one by one as Phillona looked on nervously. After reluctantly turning the pile of bones inside out, Sifan was convinced that there weren't anymore.
[Ten materia. Not bad. Not bad at all...]
Sifan stood up and was about to start his way back across the sleeping ruby dragon when the poacher they had run into earlier appeared around the corner. He noticed the sleeping dragon- tiptoeing Sifan scenario and smiled. Suddenly, he cast a loud thunder spell on the wall of the cave, disturbing the dragon's sleep. The dragon shot up immediately. Noticing Sifan stand inches in front of it, it lunged its head out for a bite. Fortunately, Sifan avoided it with a backward jump and whipped out his gunblade. Phillona joined Sifan and the poacher for the fight against the ruby dragon that stood up and stretched itself.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" Sifan fumed standing near the poacher who was calmly waiting with his sword supported on his shoulder, "I would've been dragon feed..."
"I doubt it..." The man said, "Ruby dragons prefer fully-grown humans..."
[Wise guy...]
Phillona cast a protect spell on Sifan and when she was about to do the same on the poacher, he raised his hand, "save your MP, I don't need it."
The ruby dragon seemed to have taken a dislike to the man's arrogant words. It rushed straight at him to swipe him with its claws. It ended up swiping his sword instead when he brought it down for a block. He then thrust it upwards and the blade sunk into its lower neck, making it bleed profusely.
"Listen kids..." The man said, "Rule number one: Always go for a dragon's neck or throat...they are literally disabled when they can't use their throats for their breath attacks..."
The dragon didn't want to take this insult lightly either. It wanted to prove that it could still use its breath attacks and make a fool of his attacker. It stood on its hind limbs, spread its wings and tried to spew out a blazing stream of fire. But it fell to the ground gasping and shorts spurts of fire were the only things that came out of its mouth.
Sifan jumped forward and mentally connected his summon materia with his mind, "Let 'er rip, dragon boy ..."
Bahamut landed with a deafening thud in front of the coughing and gasping ruby dragon. He roared in an ironic manner as if to say, "You're a goddamn shame to our race..."
With that, Bahamut rid the ruby dragon of life's miseries with a sweltering mega flare and the battle came to a rather early end.
After Sifan and party re-appeared, Sifan turned to the poacher after sheathing his sword, "It would have been easier if had just let it sleep..."
The man walked over to the dead ruby dragon, ignoring Sifan. He lifted its head and placed it on a rock. He then took his sword and with an inhuman force, smashed its blunt edge over the dragon's snout. He then forced open its mouth and gathered the bloody and broken fangs into his bag.
He walked over to Sifan and did something with his face that Sifan guessed to be a smile.
"He wouldn't have let us do that if he were asleep..." the man replied.
"You have a name..." Sifan asked him, "Or should we call you poachy?"
Phillona couldn't help but snigger a little.
"You want me to stick you against a wall and raise you off your feet again..." the man said, sticking his face inches near Sifan's.
Sifan's smile only irritated him even more. He was about to punch Sifan's lights out when Phillona intervened, "Alright you guys...cut it out..."
"You wanna pick a fight with this guy? He'll end up selling your damn liver..." She whispered to Sifan under her breath.
Phillona quickly spun around to the poacher, "Uh...we had agreed on 25%..."
"No need..." the man snapped immediately, "The ruby dragon fangs will get me 100 times your measly 25%..."
The man began to walk away swiftly but he turned around after a couple of seconds, "The name's Setzin...not poachy..."
With that he disappeared around the corner.
Sifan shot a glare at the circular stone and looked back at Phillona, "Wanna go Omega yourself to death...
She was about to reply when an iron giant's cry echoed in the direction of the cave where Omega Weapon lived.
Sifan's curiosity got the better of him and he rushed to the circular boulder despite Phillona's protests. He slowly inched away the boulder and peered through the opening. Phillona stuck her head under Sifan's arm and watched with him.
In what looked like a large cave with a flat, even ground, lay an Iron giant with one arm missing. Over him stood a large four-legged monster with the iron giant's arm in its mouth. Its entire body was covered by a bluish-silver armor. Its head was shaped like a gargoyle's and it towered as high as the iron giant who was lying sprawled on the ground. It spat out the iron giant's arm and glared at the almost-dead giant with its bright red eyes. It raised its forelimb and flattened the giant's head with it, crushing it to nothingness. The giant let out an ear-piercing holler and faded off to its death. The Iron giant's killer roared triumphantly and marched away into the shadows out of Sifan's line of vision, it's thundering steps echoing in Sifan's head. Sifan was speechless. What he just saw was none other than Omega Weapon himself.
Sifan rolled back the stone quietly and turned around to Phillona whose eyes were as wide as his.
"T-To the beach..." Sifan stuttered, "O-On the d-double..."
***********************
-------------------------------------__________________________
Note from the author:I found a pic on the net EXACTLY like the way i imagined Sifan to be,...i posted it on my bio(click on my name)...take a look if you wanna see how Sifan looks although originally its some anime character or something...BUT HEY ...he's the perfect picurre of Sifan i had in mind...