A/N: Grr . . . Review count bad! Me mad! And sad! Not glad! Etc. etc.
Let us do better this time, ne? Okay, this is another filler chapter for
sure, but the next one ain't (good grammar . . .). And I have exciting
news! Yay! But . . . IT WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE!
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! So read the other A/N too . . .
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantsy (Darn it, Rosianna . . . Mwa, I'm just teasing ^_^ I noticed you corrected the error. Thanks.)
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"I find it kind of funny,
I find it kind of sad,
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had."
– Mad World, Tears for Fears
"Oh man . . . Don't tell me . . ." Zidane groaned as Kuja shoved past him down an intricately decorated corridor of Alexandria Castle.
"Leave me alone," Kuja growled warningly, continuing on his way and ignoring the scampering of Zidane's footsteps as his brother reversed direction and tore off after him.
"You fought with Megan again!" Zidane hissed accusingly, pulling up next to the silver-haired sorcerer and power-walking so that he matched Kuja's quickened, agitated stride.
"Leave me alone!" Kuja repeated, more forcefully this time. Zidane, of course, wasn't ready to back down just yet.
"God, what the hell are your problems?! Why do you two even bother talking?! All you ever do is claw each other's eyes out!"
Kuja bristled and suddenly stopped walking. He stood there motionless for a moment, then turned and looked at Zidane strangely.
". . . She called me a murderer . . ."
"Er, Kuja . . ."
The elder genome heaved a sigh. "I know, I know . . . I AM a murderer . . ."
"WAS a murderer . . ." Zidane corrected. Kuja frowned.
"Zidane, I don't know how much more of this I can take . . . Why . . . Why didn't you just let me die at the Iifa Tree?! Why, damn it?!" Kuja ran his hand desperately through his hair, lacing the ivory locks through his fingers and then allowing them to collapse back into his face. He looked somewhat mad. "I just can't take it anymore!" he shouted.
"Take what?" Zidane queried softly.
Kuja backed up into the wall and then slid down it, eyes closed wearily.
"Life . . ." he whispered softly. "I just can't take life anymore . . ."
". . . You know why I saved you . . ." Zidane murmured, not moving from his spot. His kept his eyes downcast as Kuja sat there, head leaning back against the cool wall.
". . . Why . . .?" Kuja choked out.
"Because I love you . . ."
There was silence, in which neither of the brothers moved. If this answer shocked Kuja, he didn't show it. A small smile twisted on the warlock's face.
"Love," he spat, grinning. "What has love ever done for anyone? It builds us up, breaks us, and then allows our pieces to shatter into a thousand tiny fragments . . . Blown away on a wind so that not even the eyes of Bahamut can track down every . . . last . . . piece . . ."
Zidane shook his head fiercely. "No, Kuja! Love is beautiful! Love unites us, makes us stronger! It was through love that you saved my life as much as I saved yours! You're my brother and I am yours! We are eternally bound by this so-called 'love' that you detest!"
Kuja laughed, a cold, mirthless laugh. "It's so easy for you to love, Zidane! You have the beautiful queen at your side and hordes of wonderful friends! A whole planet bowing at your feet! What do I have?! I have nothing! Any creature that can stand to gaze upon me for more than a minute finds itself blind! I'm a monster, Zidane! A murderer! And nothing you do can ever change me!"
". . . I didn't ask you to change . . ." Zidane murmured. "Because . . . I didn't have to . . . There is so much you can still do with your life – for others,"
"Who, Zidane?!" Kuja snapped, glaring tiredly at the younger genome. "Who have I to love?!"
Zidane smiled hesitantly and bowed his head.
". . . You have me . . ."
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"So it's souls he wants, eh?" Drakja whispered to himself, gazing at the complicated control panel of the Indomitable. It was quiet in the room; empty. Perfect for plotting mischief . . .
"So everything has come together?" a soft voice intoned from behind. Drakja closed his eyes at Lulian's smooth, melodic voice and smiled.
". . . Yes . . . Most definitely,"
She came up beside him, looking thoughtful. "So Garland wanted souls all along. We should have guessed . . . They make him stronger, huh?"
Drakja nodded. "So it would seem . . . I think he can control them; use them to his own will . . . It's really the power he craves . . ."
"So to get souls . . ."
Drakja chuckled. "You have to kill mortals, yes,"
"Except . . ."
Drakja cut Lulian off with a wave of his hand. "We shan't discuss that now. I don't know Garland's reasoning behind the exceptions and I'm not about to ponder them,"
"I think I understand them . . ." Lulian whispered. Drakja said nothing.
"Have you decided on a course of action yet?" Lulian queried. The alpha- male smirked.
"Naturally. It's simple. We're just going to finish what Kuja started . . ."
"Which is?"
"Complete and utter annihilation of every known city with a population,"
Lulian laughed. "How evil . . ."
"It's delicious," Drakja corrected. "And the first target is obvious . . ."
"Alexandria?"
"Yup. That way, once I've gathered some souls, I can complete the . . . other . . . part of this mission,"
Lulian shivered with delight. "Cool . . .!" she squealed. Drakja smiled, pleased with himself, and then suddenly stiffened.
"Lulian!" he boomed in a commanding voice. "Gather every geonome on this ship! Tell them we're taking a direct course over Alexandria IMMEDIATELY! Tell them to prepare for battle!"
"Yes, sir!"
The alpha-male grinned.
"It's time to put our new airship to use . . ."
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Kuja gazed ponderingly at Zidane for a moment longer. It was true, though he'd never given it much thought. He and Zidane . . . they were bound by threads much stronger than fate . . . He wondered, briefly, what would happen if they were broken.
"Ah, Zidane, you might want to get the others . . ."
Zidane blinked, taken-aback by the abrupt change in subject, and frowned. "What? Why?"
Kuja sighed, sightless eyes drifting towards the ceiling.
"Something tells me . . . Drakja's back,"
". . . Drakja . . .? He's coming to attack the city again . . .?"
Kuja hesitated, closing his eyes wearily. ". . . Yes . . ."
"Aw, crap,"
A crash like thunder rose from outside and Zidane flinched, biting his lip. Kuja, without opening his white eyes, nodded.
"That would be him . . ."
"What the hell's he doing out there?!" Zidane shouted furiously, racing down the hallway and coming to a skidding halt before a window. Kuja waited for Zidane's response, and when there was none, he opened his eyes.
". . . What are they doing . . .?"
"Oh damn it all, Kuja!" Zidane gasped. "It's that airship of theirs! They're tryin' to blow up the freakin' city!"
"Zidane!" a shrill voice rose from the entrance hall. Immediately the rest of the crew – save Megan – piled into the corridor, eyes wide and desperate.
"I know, I know!" Zidane whined, punching a fist into the wall beside the window. "God damn them!"
"What are we gonna do?" Vivi queried nervously.
"Well, we should at least investigate," Garnet offered. The team nodded and immediately rushed for the doors. Zidane started to go, then stopped, turning around.
". . . Kuja . . .?"
Kuja sighed, heaving himself to his feet.
"Coming . . .!"
The crew, however, regretted peering outside the second the doors were thrown open. From across the moat they could see that the entire city of Alexandria had become shrouded in a thick, black cloud. It swirled slowly, rotating over one spot where a violet and silver airship hovered silently above the great nation like an evil specter of the night. Lightning flashed, jagged and cold, across the sky as a small portion of the city burned, turning the black cloud a flickering, blood-crimson. Citizens of Alexandria screamed and ran, Garland's previous attack on Alexandria with the Invincible three years ago still fresh in their minds.
It was a nightmare . . .
And to top it off, geonomes kept teleporting like little flickering candles from the ship out into the city. Not only were they raiding and looting, but they were mercilessly killing humans for unrecognizable reasons.
"Oh Shiva, it's another slaughter!" Fratley gasped.
"W-we have to stop them!" Garnet cried, clapping her hands over her mouth. "M-my people! They're dying!"
Zidane brooded silently for a moment. ". . . We'll have to chase away the geonomes . . . That's all there is to it . . ."
"And the airship?!" Eiko snapped, growling. Zidane blinked.
"I should think that obvious . . . Someone has to go up there and take it down,"
Immediate silence. Steiner's lip was twitching with agitation.
"And how in the name of Carbuncle do you plan on doing that?!"
Zidane furrowed his brow. "We have the Invincible, which is a better model of that ship up there . . . It shouldn't be too difficult . . ."
"But no one here knows how to fly it!" Beatrix pointed out, her voice squeaking somewhat with nerves.
"I do!" Zidane argued, placing his hands on his hips.
"We're wasting time!" Garnet moaned as the hysterical, panicked screams of the citizens began to increase. Zidane scratched his head nervously.
"I-I could take the ship . . . I could destroy the Indomitable . . ."
"But we need you to fight!" Lani shouted. "You're the only one here who is any match against the geonomes! You're as strong as they are – you can defeat them!"
Garnet looked ready to collapse. "Oh god, make a decision, guys!"
Zidane closed his eyes wearily, brow creasing with thought. He summed up the situation quickly.
/Geonomes flood the city from below . . . While the Indomitable attacks from above. We could destroy the geonomes now . . . While someone uses the Invincible to take down the Indomitable . . . I'm the only one here who can defeat the geonomes . . . And the only one that can fly the ship . . .! I can't be in two places at once! This is impossible, how are we going to – ?/
"You have to do it . . ." Zidane said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Hmm?" All eyes turned onto the young genome.
"You have to do it," Zidane repeated, this time turning his gaze on Kuja. "You can fly the Invincible, can't you? So you have to take it up there while we fight . . ."
Kuja seemed taken-aback for a moment before he made a derisive noise. "Me in an airship duel? Don't make me laugh!"
Zidane shook his head desperately.
"You're the only one that can do this . . .! You've used the ship for destructive purposes before – destroyed entire cities with it! You're the mechanical one in the group here! You were raised on Terra with machines and guns! You and the Invincible . . . You're unstoppable with that thing! I knows it's been years since you've driven it . . . but with your telepathic powers and sense of mechanics . . . You can do this!"
Kuja frowned, but noticed the eyes of the others on him now. The eyes didn't seem disappointed, they seemed . . . justified . . . They'd expected him to back down and not take the job, and that was the response they'd gotten. Kuja's eyes narrowed dangerously.
". . . I'll do it . . . Just take care of the geonomes,"
Zidane smiled widely, breathing a sigh of relief alongside Garnet.
"Thanks Kuja . . . We won't fail . . ."
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"Oh man, what a mess . . ." Eiko muttered, gazing around at the wreckage as innocent pedestrians streamed past her, crying.
"We must assist!" Steiner cried, unsheathing Excalibur II. The others were drawing weapons as well, leering angrily into the flames of the city. Not a geonome had approached them yet . . .
Yet . . .
"Well would you look at that!" It was a whole group of geonomes – ten at least – standing in the middle of the street, their weapons dripping with blood. "It's the second Angel of Death and his nutty little friends!"
"Back off . . ." Zidane warned. "We're not gonna fall so easily this time . . ."
"Tha's right," a rather thick-headed looking geonome slurred. "'cause this time ain't no leader to shoot you's off a cliff . . ."
Zidane flinched, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I think that's the signal to attack," Freya whispered. The others nodded, drawing back their weapons. There was a cry, and within minutes the sound of metal clashing upon metal filled the rancid air.
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Kuja raced desperately for the docks. He had to hurry. Brave or not, strong or not, Zidane and the others were going to get slaughtered if he didn't take down the ship. Pedestrians ran by him and – not without guilt – Kuja had to push several of them away.
The docks loomed close, tall and gleaming in the evil premature night. He used faint magic to blast a guard out of the way at the door (only enough to stun him), then slipped inside the hangar. The Invincible sat there proudly, unused yet still brilliant. The silver and violet structure seemed to sparkle, not even penetrated by dust. Kuja strode up to the side of the ship, gazing up at its regal form, and tried to remember how to enter it.
"You get off with a hidden door . . ." Kuja murmured. "But to get inside you have to . . ."
Kuja reached out with his mind and finally grasped the teleporter. Not many knew how to operate the ship like he did and not many knew he'd lived on it for nearly two years once as a child. Once his mind had wrapped around the teleporter's controls, he felt his body disintegrating. He watched his own arms fade away to dust, then there was a flash of light and he found himself standing in the proud, inoperative control-room of the ship.
". . . Excellent . . ."
The warlock strode forward, and with a wave of his hand the wall before him faded away to reveal a hidden, semicircular window so large that Kuja could see at least half of the airship dock before him as if he were actually standing outside the craft. From outside, however, no window could be detected, open or not. It was a brilliant tactic Garland had come up with. No matter how much Kuja loathed the man, he always remained in awe of the evil overlord's ingenuity.
"And now to turn this puppy on . . ." Kuja closed his eyes, feeling for the controls with his mind. He knew Zidane most likely operated the ship manually. He had to. But Kuja, on the other hand, was capable of powering the craft simply with his mind. He was not capable of telekinesis or anything of the such like Garland, but in his childhood years he had been taught the art of manipulating machinery with his psyche. In a desperate situation such as this one that required fast action, telepathy was the only way to fight.
From seemingly nowhere there was a roar and the ship sprang to life. Blinking lights and flashing symbols spread out before the panels and the gears locked into place with yawning clicks. The Invincible seemed to purr as if it had never been used and of virgin purity; brand new. Kuja smiled, having forgotten the exhilaration of operating an airship. Now that left only one last problem to solve . . .
"How am I going to get out of the hangar?"
In the chaos of the latest attack, all guards and mechanical personnel were gone. There was no one around to open the garage. Kuja sighed, tapping his chin.
"Well, I guess they don't leave me much choice . . ."
And so Kuja did what he had always been bred to do . . .
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Ummei moaned, closing his eyes. Mikoto cocked her head, staring at the geonome curiously.
"Uh . . . You alright?"
"Bleah . . . Air-sick . . ."
Mikoto clapped a hand to her forehead, rattling the tight chains around her wrist. "You've been on this ship HOW LONG and NOW you're air-sick?!"
Ummei groaned, lying on his back in the boiler-dungeon. "Well so-rry! We're below the main floor where all the movement occurs . . ."
"What movement?!" Mikoto snapped, relieved to see the guard again after so many days of him missing, yet finding herself frustrated with the omega already. "The ship is floating motionless in one spot!"
Ummei squeezed his eyes shut as something beneath the ship rumbled. Mikoto frowned.
"Wh-what's that?"
". . . You don't want to know . . ."
"What is it?" Mikoto tucked her feet beneath her legs, sitting alertly. Ummei opened his emerald green eyes for a moment, seemingly wanting to get up, but then closed them again, looking pale.
". . . The eye . . ."
". . . The eye . . .?"
Ummei nodded, turning green. "The mechanical eye of the ship . . . It maintains its stability on captured souls; also capable of drawing them in through a Mist-like, alluring transaction of chemicals that seemingly seduce the spirits into entering voluntarily – similar to Gaian flies being drawn to a Venus fly-trap. Once there, however, souls are kept locked in suspended animation where one with magical access to the ship's reserves is capable of diffusing them into themselves and using the souls as a means of nearly boundless energy – often to achieve a higher state of being. In other words, a mortal could potentially be killed and then kidnapped by the ship's automated iris,"
Mikoto was so used to Ummei's intelligence swings now that she didn't even start upon his sudden use of "high-class" words. She almost welcomed it, in fact, after having been alone in the dungeons for so long.
"Of course . . ." Mikoto whispered. "The Invincible has a mechanical eye too. Garland used to draw in souls with it . . . So is he going to be doing that again with THIS ship?"
Ummei shook his head, looking like he was trying to keep his lunch down.
"G-Garland's gone . . . Drakja's in command . . . Under Garland's orders to capture souls . . . in Alexandria . . ."
"Alexandria?!" Mikoto sat up abruptly. "But that's where my brothers are!"
Ummei heaved himself up and, stumbling, dragged himself to his feet. Exhausted and looking even greener, the geonome leaned against the wall, panting.
"Th-they'll be fine. Th-they have . . . p-powerful souls . . . Neither of the ship's eyes can," Ummei hesitated, gulping, then tried again. "Neither of the ship's eyes can draw in souls . . . As powerful as the Angels of Death's . . ."
Mikoto blinked. "Seriously?"
"Y-yes . . . If Garland . . . wanted Zidane's, Kuja's, or even YOUR soul . . . He'd have to use al . . . he'd have to use alternative methods . . ."
"Such as what?"
Ummei opened his mouth to speak, then covered it and ran hurriedly from the room. Mikoto stared at the open vault-like door for a moment, then sighed.
". . . Idiot . . ."
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"Damn it, Kuja!" Zidane shouted as he dodged a geonome's sword. "What the hell is taking you so long?!"
"Yah!" Beatrix let out a fierce cry and plunged the glimmering blade of Save the Queen into a geonome's chest. The creature shrieked, convulsing momentarily, and then collapsed to the ground, dead. Zidane's lip twitched.
". . . Nice . . ."
Beatrix flipped her golden curls over her shoulder. "Thanks,"
"Ah, watch out!" Lani screamed. Beatrix whipped around just in time to dodge the world's most enormous axe as it careened, pathless, through the air. It blew past Beatrix's head, causing her hair to blow as if caught in a wind. The edge of the axe wedged itself into a brick wall nearby, the handle trembling.
"Lani!"
"I'm sorry, geez!"
All around them the cries of the citizenry and geonomes could be heard. Whether it was Garland's creatures murdering innocents or Zidane's crew murdering them, the city was in havoc. Of all the attacks that had occurred, this was undoubtedly the worst. Zidane was concerned, however, that he had not yet seen Lulian, Chikara, Drakja, or any other high-ranking geonomes. The most chaos would be flowering from them.
/Well Drakja's probably the one operating the ship . . ./ Zidane deduced. /Kuja said he sensed Drakja's attacking . . . So I guess we shouldn't expect much ground-level trouble out of him./
All at once, an explosion rock the city near the sea. Flames roared into the sky, curling and crashing down upon the streets in a wave. Sparks crackled in the air as the sky took on a crimson hue. Fire seared across the belly of the clouds, streaming down like comets onto the cool, oil- slick water. It gave the horizon the appearance of having been set aflame.
"What on Gaia was that?!" Freya shrieked from nearby, turning her face away from the blinding heat of the flames.
"The Indomitable didn't do that . . ." Fratley scratched his head.
Suddenly, a rumble filled the air. From the ashes and spitting fire rose a gleaming, polished airship. It revolved slowly, changing direction, as it rose silently into the night sky. Smoke curled from a set of mammoth guns protruding from the front end of the craft where it had blasted apart the hangar. Awe was written on the faces of Alexandrians and geonomes alike at the sudden intrusion of this beautiful ship.
The Invincible was back and ready for action . . .
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Kuja smirked, watching the city below him shrinking to doll-house-size proportions. The hangar was smoking quite thickly, filling the sky with smog.
"Well, it's their fault for not having any mechanics around . . ."
The warlock whipped around, away from the controls, and tried to think up a tactic.
"Drakja is bound to notice the ship any second now . . . I've got to act fast before he starts shooting . . ."
Kuja sighed, abandoning the control-room for the interior of the ship. He glanced over the eerily familiar surroundings, taking note that very little had changed since the last time he'd been there. /Though/ he thought to himself, frowning with distaste. /I can't remember the last time I was in here because I was under the influence of Them./
Kuja trudged towards the thin staircase that lead down to the inner basement of the ship. He hadn't even realized he was descending down the steps until the blinding red glow of the ship's innards suddenly forced him to look away.
"What . . .?" Kuja opened his bleached eyes a crack, peering down into the depths of the craft. /Of course . . .!/ "The eye . . ."
All at once, an explosion of deafening voices seemed to overtake the sorcerer. He gasped, clutching onto the railing as the screams filled his ears. He couldn't understand what they were saying through the piling of voices on top of voices, yet he somehow knew exactly what they wanted.
/The eye . . ./ Kuja was barely able to pull that thought together. /They want to go to the eye . . ./
"N-no . . ." Kuja pulled back, trying to get as far from the mechanical iris as he could. Unfortunately, what he thought was pulling back was actually descending further down the steps. They were drawing him down . . . Dragging his every muscle further into the crimson abyss of the stairs.
"Ah . . . I . . . I can't fight them!"
The voices were consuming him. Everything was becoming a swirling medley of blacks and reds. He thought it was the black of unconsciousness and the red of the eye, but then he came to the horrid realization that it wasn't. There was something else . . . A struggle going on in him . . . Between black and red . . .?
Red was winning . . .
Kuja grasped a strand of his hair and gasped. It had become bloody crimson.
"No! I can't transform! Not now! Zidane . . . He'll get killed . . .!"
Everything was going numb. He was sinking down . . . down . . . further into the realm of no return . . .
/You can do it . . ./ a voice whispered. It was a woman . . . Her voice was so familiar, yet Kuja couldn't put his finger on it in his state. /Fight them . . ./
"I-I . . . Nng!" Kuja closed his eyes in exhaustion. It wasn't time yet. He knew when it would be time to let destiny win. But not now . . . Not yet . . . It wasn't time!
"STOP!!!"
Kuja gasped as if resurfacing from water. He was slumped over on the steps, the red glow of the ship reduced to a calm burning. It was over . . . He'd won . . . again.
But how many more times could he fight Them before they destroyed him?
Kuja rose shakily to his feet, silver hair falling in disarray around his face. He felt awful, but he knew he had to finish his task.
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"Well lookee here . . ." Drakja murmured, gazing out the main semicircular window of the Indomitable. "So that fool Kuja thinks he can defeat my ship . . . Fat chance! Time to gun it!"
Drakja grinned widely, noting that the Invincible was right in his line of sight, and slammed his fist down on a glowing red button. He watched, rejoicing, as two massive, deadly bullets tore from the ship's hull and rammed into the side of the Invincible a half a mile away. The airship was jerked lethargically as it took the blow. However, the steel of the ship was powerful and the bullets left only two black char-marks on the side, smoking.
Drakja folded his arms across his chest, chuckling.
"Now to wait for the retaliation . . ."
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Kuja snarled as he stumbled sideways, the ship rocking from a bullet-hit. The geonomes were shooting at his craft already!
"Bastard!" Kuja hissed, racing for the control-room. "He's not going to get away with this!"
The flickering panels appeared before the silver-haired sorcerer as he threw himself into the room. He knew, of course, what he had to do. Shoot back. He also knew Drakja expected a retaliation and was prepared for it. But after all, this WAS a battle.
Kuja grasped the steering handle of the Invincible and wrenched it around. The ship roared and shot through the air at a speed most would not have thought possible of such a large airship. He circled the craft, facing himself in the direction of the Indomitable, and punched in a series of numbers on a keypad near his arm. Almost instantly the Invincible released a wave of torpedo-like objects. The enemy airship wasn't able to react fast enough and was thrust backwards a few feet from the bombardment of missiles. Drakja, obviously taken-aback, pulled his ship away hurriedly. Kuja grinned, knowing he'd caught the enemy geonome off guard.
And thus began the most ferocious airship war in the history of Gaia . . .
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". . . Wow . . ." Vivi raised his wide-brimmed hat slightly to watch the spectacle above. "Th-they're really fighting . . ."
Zidane paused in looting a dead geonome's pockets and looked up. "Kuja was trained in this sort of stuff, so of course he's good at it . . ."
"You think he'll win?" Garnet queried, unscrewing the cap off an ether.
"Wouldn't doubt it . . ."
The two airship were caught in a fierce combat. Bullets rained through the air as they pummeled each other back and forth. There was a flash of white light as the Indomitable sent a torpedo careening towards Kuja's ship – which had put up an invisible barrier. The missile thudded into the side and exploded, sending fragments of dangerous shrapnel raining down upon the city.
"It's getting intense . . ." Beatrix pointed out nervously. "Both ships are smoking badly,"
"Yeah, and no matter how far we spread out, the geonomes just keep killing . . . We'll never be able to round them all up!" Steiner shouted, running past his comrades and down another alley.
Zidane winced as the two airship circled each other, doing a sort of twisted dance as they fired senselessly at one another.
Suddenly, the Indomitable pulled back. A glimmering barrier encircled it so that the Invincible's bullets hit the side like harmless little pellets and fell uselessly away. All the geonomes that the crew could see in the streets ceased in their action as if waiting for something; listening to an invisible command. Zidane frowned.
". . . What is this . . .?"
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"Gah, what the hell's Drakja doing?!" Kuja hissed, slamming his fists down on the controls angrily. "He can't be giving up already!"
The warlock sighed, backing away from the panel. There was nothing else to do until Drakja pulled down his barrier and attacked.
"This is so offensive!" Kuja ranted. "Right in the middle of nowhere, even!"
There was a moment of frustrated silence when the silver-haired sorcerer suddenly noticed the strange vortex-like cloud around the Indomitable was beginning to spin much faster than before. Kuja pressed his palms against the panel and leaned forward, peering furiously out the massive window.
"What in the name of Atomos . . .?"
And then the beams came, violet and red splashes of luminescent colors. Kuja saw now what he had not been able to see from his position before.
Drakja had opened the eye of the Indomitable!
The rays came spewing from beneath the accursed ship, flooding into the city like molten water. It washed over houses, shops, steeples, seemingly grasping at something and nothing at the same time.
Kuja gaped, horrified. "No . . . He's drawing in the souls of the citizens that were killed . . ."
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Garnet squealed and covered her head as the cold energy washed over her body. The others dropped to their knees as well and closed their eyes, waiting for the screeching light to blow past them. Their hair whipped in a phantom wind; tearing at their clothes. Zidane let out a desperate groan and stumbled to his feet, fighting against the scorching air to drop down beside Garnet and hug her tightly, protecting her from the immense power.
From around them they could make out glimmering lights floating out from the streets. Lost souls soon to be taken captive . . . The flickering orbs even tore themselves from the bodies of killed geonomes . . .
Zidane cracked one eye open and watched, completely baffled, as a dying geonome in a sewer nearby tried to fight the power drawing its weakening soul from its body. Then the glowing orb surfaced from its flesh and darted into the sky. The geonome gargled, then went limp.
Dead . . .
Zidane could feel a burning in the back of his eyes. So much death . . . So much destruction . . . And for what?
"Garland . . ." Zidane clenched his teeth in bitter resentment. "Whether on my grave or yours . . . I WILL make you pay for this . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja slumped against the console, too shocked to even speak.
"I couldn't save them . . ." he whispered, watching as the glimmering lights – like little stars that had detached themselves from the black sky – danced into the air towards the glowing red eye of the Indomitable.
It all felt so hopeless . . .
Then suddenly, the last orb was gone and all energy evaporated from the city. Kuja blinked and felt a very sudden sense of foreboding.
But the feeling came too late . . .
His task completed, Drakja removed the Indomitable's shield in less than a second. The guns were out, and he fired . . .
Kuja could only gasp as the largest missile he'd ever seen came careening through the night . . . straight towards his ship. The sorcerer cried out as an explosion rocked the Invincible. And all he saw was the roaring, biting flames before the console burst into a thousand pieces . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"NO!!!" Zidane leapt to his feet, clapping his hands over his mouth in horror as he watched the Invincible burst into flames. It fell through the air like a burning meteor of Hell . . . Drifting towards the ground. It smashed through a large building and, in small bursts and explosions, it curled up into smoke.
"Argh, Kuja!" Zidane tore away from Garnet and raced for the carnage of the ship. The others followed him promptly, ignoring the popping of geonomes as they teleported away from the streets and back to their own mother-ship.
"Oh my god . . ." Freya's green eyes were wide as they gazed upon the wreckage. The Invincible, though still mostly intact, was a smoldering pile of trash amongst the debris of Alexandria.
It was like a molten death-trap . . .
". . . Kuja . . ." Zidane sunk to his knees, staring at the rubble that his brother had disappeared beneath.
Suddenly an image flickered nearby and Kuja appeared out of nowhere, sitting on the ground and wiping some blood off his arm onto his shirt.
"Damn him!" the sorcerer cursed, licking at the wound and wincing. The crew gasped, stunned by Kuja's rather random arrival. Zidane was at his brother's side first, looking furious.
"God damnit, Kuja! You scared the crap out of me!" he accused. Kuja looked up mildly, frowning, and pulled himself painfully to his feet. He bit his lip where small wounds pulled at his flesh.
"Are you alright?" Beatrix queried, looking concerned. Kuja nodded, running his fingers agitatedly through his hair.
"I'm fine . . . But the Invincible's not . . . And we didn't stop the attack . . ."
Several of the crew turned around hurriedly and searched the skies for the Indomitable. The ship was long gone . . .
It was over . . .
"Terrible . . ." Garnet whispered. "I need to get back to the castle and take care of this mess . . . I think we're going to need to call another meeting with the rest of the nations. This cannot continue . . ."
The others nodded, exhausted. There was no time to mourn the losses.
The fight was only just beginning . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Hah . . . Another battle down the chute . . . So y'all wanna hear the news? *big grin* Okay, here goes . . . The next chapter, (thirty-six, isn't it?) officially marks the point where I first imagined this story. One day while I was sitting in a science class or something, I pictured, to the very last detail, the next chapter and the chapter after it and from there sprouted this entire little ficcy. Why is that important, you may ask? Several reasons:
#1. After the next two chapters, this story will go in a complete downward spiral to the finale. No rest-stops, no fillers, no side-quests, NOTHING!!! Everything will come together for the big finish (which is, alas, still about ten to twelve chapters away + epilogue).
#2. I'm incredibly familiar with the next chapters till the end, so there won't be anymore last minute changes (like Quina's death and a few other things).
#3. We're finally going to learn stuff! Like . . . What those people corrupting Kuja are. Or . . . Every last little miniscule detail of Garland's plan. Or . . . what the hell the Metsubo is. And ya know when we find all that out? *can't contain excitement* In, like, two or three chapters! I'm not kidding! It's THAT close!
#4. That means the story is almost over *sniff* . . .
So read and review ya'll! MORE THAN THE LAST CHAPTER OR I'LL *censored*
P.S. FYI, don't get the wrong idea 'bout me or Americans. I don't get nasty little random thoughts like the last chapter (as some reviewers suggested). Just so you all know, I've never had a boyfriend, I've never been in love (with a real guy), and I've never experienced . . . "those things." And no, it's not because I'm ugly or have no hope of ever finding a man . . . IT'S BECAUSE I'M ONLY FOURTEEN FREAKIN' YEARS OLD!!! PEOPLE MY AGE SHOULD NOT BE DATING OR DOING ANYTHING LIKE WHAT WAS OCCURING IN THE LAST CHAPTER!!! Most of the description stuff with Lulian and Kuja etc. was just how I "pictured" those sort of things and putting myself in their shoes. Not to mention I've read enough manga and fanfictions to get the GENERAL idea. So don't think wrongly of me or Americans . . . We're not all that bad (well, not ALL of us . . .)
~~ Black Mage Dad ~~ (who's a girl . . .)
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantsy (Darn it, Rosianna . . . Mwa, I'm just teasing ^_^ I noticed you corrected the error. Thanks.)
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"I find it kind of funny,
I find it kind of sad,
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had."
– Mad World, Tears for Fears
"Oh man . . . Don't tell me . . ." Zidane groaned as Kuja shoved past him down an intricately decorated corridor of Alexandria Castle.
"Leave me alone," Kuja growled warningly, continuing on his way and ignoring the scampering of Zidane's footsteps as his brother reversed direction and tore off after him.
"You fought with Megan again!" Zidane hissed accusingly, pulling up next to the silver-haired sorcerer and power-walking so that he matched Kuja's quickened, agitated stride.
"Leave me alone!" Kuja repeated, more forcefully this time. Zidane, of course, wasn't ready to back down just yet.
"God, what the hell are your problems?! Why do you two even bother talking?! All you ever do is claw each other's eyes out!"
Kuja bristled and suddenly stopped walking. He stood there motionless for a moment, then turned and looked at Zidane strangely.
". . . She called me a murderer . . ."
"Er, Kuja . . ."
The elder genome heaved a sigh. "I know, I know . . . I AM a murderer . . ."
"WAS a murderer . . ." Zidane corrected. Kuja frowned.
"Zidane, I don't know how much more of this I can take . . . Why . . . Why didn't you just let me die at the Iifa Tree?! Why, damn it?!" Kuja ran his hand desperately through his hair, lacing the ivory locks through his fingers and then allowing them to collapse back into his face. He looked somewhat mad. "I just can't take it anymore!" he shouted.
"Take what?" Zidane queried softly.
Kuja backed up into the wall and then slid down it, eyes closed wearily.
"Life . . ." he whispered softly. "I just can't take life anymore . . ."
". . . You know why I saved you . . ." Zidane murmured, not moving from his spot. His kept his eyes downcast as Kuja sat there, head leaning back against the cool wall.
". . . Why . . .?" Kuja choked out.
"Because I love you . . ."
There was silence, in which neither of the brothers moved. If this answer shocked Kuja, he didn't show it. A small smile twisted on the warlock's face.
"Love," he spat, grinning. "What has love ever done for anyone? It builds us up, breaks us, and then allows our pieces to shatter into a thousand tiny fragments . . . Blown away on a wind so that not even the eyes of Bahamut can track down every . . . last . . . piece . . ."
Zidane shook his head fiercely. "No, Kuja! Love is beautiful! Love unites us, makes us stronger! It was through love that you saved my life as much as I saved yours! You're my brother and I am yours! We are eternally bound by this so-called 'love' that you detest!"
Kuja laughed, a cold, mirthless laugh. "It's so easy for you to love, Zidane! You have the beautiful queen at your side and hordes of wonderful friends! A whole planet bowing at your feet! What do I have?! I have nothing! Any creature that can stand to gaze upon me for more than a minute finds itself blind! I'm a monster, Zidane! A murderer! And nothing you do can ever change me!"
". . . I didn't ask you to change . . ." Zidane murmured. "Because . . . I didn't have to . . . There is so much you can still do with your life – for others,"
"Who, Zidane?!" Kuja snapped, glaring tiredly at the younger genome. "Who have I to love?!"
Zidane smiled hesitantly and bowed his head.
". . . You have me . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So it's souls he wants, eh?" Drakja whispered to himself, gazing at the complicated control panel of the Indomitable. It was quiet in the room; empty. Perfect for plotting mischief . . .
"So everything has come together?" a soft voice intoned from behind. Drakja closed his eyes at Lulian's smooth, melodic voice and smiled.
". . . Yes . . . Most definitely,"
She came up beside him, looking thoughtful. "So Garland wanted souls all along. We should have guessed . . . They make him stronger, huh?"
Drakja nodded. "So it would seem . . . I think he can control them; use them to his own will . . . It's really the power he craves . . ."
"So to get souls . . ."
Drakja chuckled. "You have to kill mortals, yes,"
"Except . . ."
Drakja cut Lulian off with a wave of his hand. "We shan't discuss that now. I don't know Garland's reasoning behind the exceptions and I'm not about to ponder them,"
"I think I understand them . . ." Lulian whispered. Drakja said nothing.
"Have you decided on a course of action yet?" Lulian queried. The alpha- male smirked.
"Naturally. It's simple. We're just going to finish what Kuja started . . ."
"Which is?"
"Complete and utter annihilation of every known city with a population,"
Lulian laughed. "How evil . . ."
"It's delicious," Drakja corrected. "And the first target is obvious . . ."
"Alexandria?"
"Yup. That way, once I've gathered some souls, I can complete the . . . other . . . part of this mission,"
Lulian shivered with delight. "Cool . . .!" she squealed. Drakja smiled, pleased with himself, and then suddenly stiffened.
"Lulian!" he boomed in a commanding voice. "Gather every geonome on this ship! Tell them we're taking a direct course over Alexandria IMMEDIATELY! Tell them to prepare for battle!"
"Yes, sir!"
The alpha-male grinned.
"It's time to put our new airship to use . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja gazed ponderingly at Zidane for a moment longer. It was true, though he'd never given it much thought. He and Zidane . . . they were bound by threads much stronger than fate . . . He wondered, briefly, what would happen if they were broken.
"Ah, Zidane, you might want to get the others . . ."
Zidane blinked, taken-aback by the abrupt change in subject, and frowned. "What? Why?"
Kuja sighed, sightless eyes drifting towards the ceiling.
"Something tells me . . . Drakja's back,"
". . . Drakja . . .? He's coming to attack the city again . . .?"
Kuja hesitated, closing his eyes wearily. ". . . Yes . . ."
"Aw, crap,"
A crash like thunder rose from outside and Zidane flinched, biting his lip. Kuja, without opening his white eyes, nodded.
"That would be him . . ."
"What the hell's he doing out there?!" Zidane shouted furiously, racing down the hallway and coming to a skidding halt before a window. Kuja waited for Zidane's response, and when there was none, he opened his eyes.
". . . What are they doing . . .?"
"Oh damn it all, Kuja!" Zidane gasped. "It's that airship of theirs! They're tryin' to blow up the freakin' city!"
"Zidane!" a shrill voice rose from the entrance hall. Immediately the rest of the crew – save Megan – piled into the corridor, eyes wide and desperate.
"I know, I know!" Zidane whined, punching a fist into the wall beside the window. "God damn them!"
"What are we gonna do?" Vivi queried nervously.
"Well, we should at least investigate," Garnet offered. The team nodded and immediately rushed for the doors. Zidane started to go, then stopped, turning around.
". . . Kuja . . .?"
Kuja sighed, heaving himself to his feet.
"Coming . . .!"
The crew, however, regretted peering outside the second the doors were thrown open. From across the moat they could see that the entire city of Alexandria had become shrouded in a thick, black cloud. It swirled slowly, rotating over one spot where a violet and silver airship hovered silently above the great nation like an evil specter of the night. Lightning flashed, jagged and cold, across the sky as a small portion of the city burned, turning the black cloud a flickering, blood-crimson. Citizens of Alexandria screamed and ran, Garland's previous attack on Alexandria with the Invincible three years ago still fresh in their minds.
It was a nightmare . . .
And to top it off, geonomes kept teleporting like little flickering candles from the ship out into the city. Not only were they raiding and looting, but they were mercilessly killing humans for unrecognizable reasons.
"Oh Shiva, it's another slaughter!" Fratley gasped.
"W-we have to stop them!" Garnet cried, clapping her hands over her mouth. "M-my people! They're dying!"
Zidane brooded silently for a moment. ". . . We'll have to chase away the geonomes . . . That's all there is to it . . ."
"And the airship?!" Eiko snapped, growling. Zidane blinked.
"I should think that obvious . . . Someone has to go up there and take it down,"
Immediate silence. Steiner's lip was twitching with agitation.
"And how in the name of Carbuncle do you plan on doing that?!"
Zidane furrowed his brow. "We have the Invincible, which is a better model of that ship up there . . . It shouldn't be too difficult . . ."
"But no one here knows how to fly it!" Beatrix pointed out, her voice squeaking somewhat with nerves.
"I do!" Zidane argued, placing his hands on his hips.
"We're wasting time!" Garnet moaned as the hysterical, panicked screams of the citizens began to increase. Zidane scratched his head nervously.
"I-I could take the ship . . . I could destroy the Indomitable . . ."
"But we need you to fight!" Lani shouted. "You're the only one here who is any match against the geonomes! You're as strong as they are – you can defeat them!"
Garnet looked ready to collapse. "Oh god, make a decision, guys!"
Zidane closed his eyes wearily, brow creasing with thought. He summed up the situation quickly.
/Geonomes flood the city from below . . . While the Indomitable attacks from above. We could destroy the geonomes now . . . While someone uses the Invincible to take down the Indomitable . . . I'm the only one here who can defeat the geonomes . . . And the only one that can fly the ship . . .! I can't be in two places at once! This is impossible, how are we going to – ?/
"You have to do it . . ." Zidane said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Hmm?" All eyes turned onto the young genome.
"You have to do it," Zidane repeated, this time turning his gaze on Kuja. "You can fly the Invincible, can't you? So you have to take it up there while we fight . . ."
Kuja seemed taken-aback for a moment before he made a derisive noise. "Me in an airship duel? Don't make me laugh!"
Zidane shook his head desperately.
"You're the only one that can do this . . .! You've used the ship for destructive purposes before – destroyed entire cities with it! You're the mechanical one in the group here! You were raised on Terra with machines and guns! You and the Invincible . . . You're unstoppable with that thing! I knows it's been years since you've driven it . . . but with your telepathic powers and sense of mechanics . . . You can do this!"
Kuja frowned, but noticed the eyes of the others on him now. The eyes didn't seem disappointed, they seemed . . . justified . . . They'd expected him to back down and not take the job, and that was the response they'd gotten. Kuja's eyes narrowed dangerously.
". . . I'll do it . . . Just take care of the geonomes,"
Zidane smiled widely, breathing a sigh of relief alongside Garnet.
"Thanks Kuja . . . We won't fail . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh man, what a mess . . ." Eiko muttered, gazing around at the wreckage as innocent pedestrians streamed past her, crying.
"We must assist!" Steiner cried, unsheathing Excalibur II. The others were drawing weapons as well, leering angrily into the flames of the city. Not a geonome had approached them yet . . .
Yet . . .
"Well would you look at that!" It was a whole group of geonomes – ten at least – standing in the middle of the street, their weapons dripping with blood. "It's the second Angel of Death and his nutty little friends!"
"Back off . . ." Zidane warned. "We're not gonna fall so easily this time . . ."
"Tha's right," a rather thick-headed looking geonome slurred. "'cause this time ain't no leader to shoot you's off a cliff . . ."
Zidane flinched, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I think that's the signal to attack," Freya whispered. The others nodded, drawing back their weapons. There was a cry, and within minutes the sound of metal clashing upon metal filled the rancid air.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja raced desperately for the docks. He had to hurry. Brave or not, strong or not, Zidane and the others were going to get slaughtered if he didn't take down the ship. Pedestrians ran by him and – not without guilt – Kuja had to push several of them away.
The docks loomed close, tall and gleaming in the evil premature night. He used faint magic to blast a guard out of the way at the door (only enough to stun him), then slipped inside the hangar. The Invincible sat there proudly, unused yet still brilliant. The silver and violet structure seemed to sparkle, not even penetrated by dust. Kuja strode up to the side of the ship, gazing up at its regal form, and tried to remember how to enter it.
"You get off with a hidden door . . ." Kuja murmured. "But to get inside you have to . . ."
Kuja reached out with his mind and finally grasped the teleporter. Not many knew how to operate the ship like he did and not many knew he'd lived on it for nearly two years once as a child. Once his mind had wrapped around the teleporter's controls, he felt his body disintegrating. He watched his own arms fade away to dust, then there was a flash of light and he found himself standing in the proud, inoperative control-room of the ship.
". . . Excellent . . ."
The warlock strode forward, and with a wave of his hand the wall before him faded away to reveal a hidden, semicircular window so large that Kuja could see at least half of the airship dock before him as if he were actually standing outside the craft. From outside, however, no window could be detected, open or not. It was a brilliant tactic Garland had come up with. No matter how much Kuja loathed the man, he always remained in awe of the evil overlord's ingenuity.
"And now to turn this puppy on . . ." Kuja closed his eyes, feeling for the controls with his mind. He knew Zidane most likely operated the ship manually. He had to. But Kuja, on the other hand, was capable of powering the craft simply with his mind. He was not capable of telekinesis or anything of the such like Garland, but in his childhood years he had been taught the art of manipulating machinery with his psyche. In a desperate situation such as this one that required fast action, telepathy was the only way to fight.
From seemingly nowhere there was a roar and the ship sprang to life. Blinking lights and flashing symbols spread out before the panels and the gears locked into place with yawning clicks. The Invincible seemed to purr as if it had never been used and of virgin purity; brand new. Kuja smiled, having forgotten the exhilaration of operating an airship. Now that left only one last problem to solve . . .
"How am I going to get out of the hangar?"
In the chaos of the latest attack, all guards and mechanical personnel were gone. There was no one around to open the garage. Kuja sighed, tapping his chin.
"Well, I guess they don't leave me much choice . . ."
And so Kuja did what he had always been bred to do . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ummei moaned, closing his eyes. Mikoto cocked her head, staring at the geonome curiously.
"Uh . . . You alright?"
"Bleah . . . Air-sick . . ."
Mikoto clapped a hand to her forehead, rattling the tight chains around her wrist. "You've been on this ship HOW LONG and NOW you're air-sick?!"
Ummei groaned, lying on his back in the boiler-dungeon. "Well so-rry! We're below the main floor where all the movement occurs . . ."
"What movement?!" Mikoto snapped, relieved to see the guard again after so many days of him missing, yet finding herself frustrated with the omega already. "The ship is floating motionless in one spot!"
Ummei squeezed his eyes shut as something beneath the ship rumbled. Mikoto frowned.
"Wh-what's that?"
". . . You don't want to know . . ."
"What is it?" Mikoto tucked her feet beneath her legs, sitting alertly. Ummei opened his emerald green eyes for a moment, seemingly wanting to get up, but then closed them again, looking pale.
". . . The eye . . ."
". . . The eye . . .?"
Ummei nodded, turning green. "The mechanical eye of the ship . . . It maintains its stability on captured souls; also capable of drawing them in through a Mist-like, alluring transaction of chemicals that seemingly seduce the spirits into entering voluntarily – similar to Gaian flies being drawn to a Venus fly-trap. Once there, however, souls are kept locked in suspended animation where one with magical access to the ship's reserves is capable of diffusing them into themselves and using the souls as a means of nearly boundless energy – often to achieve a higher state of being. In other words, a mortal could potentially be killed and then kidnapped by the ship's automated iris,"
Mikoto was so used to Ummei's intelligence swings now that she didn't even start upon his sudden use of "high-class" words. She almost welcomed it, in fact, after having been alone in the dungeons for so long.
"Of course . . ." Mikoto whispered. "The Invincible has a mechanical eye too. Garland used to draw in souls with it . . . So is he going to be doing that again with THIS ship?"
Ummei shook his head, looking like he was trying to keep his lunch down.
"G-Garland's gone . . . Drakja's in command . . . Under Garland's orders to capture souls . . . in Alexandria . . ."
"Alexandria?!" Mikoto sat up abruptly. "But that's where my brothers are!"
Ummei heaved himself up and, stumbling, dragged himself to his feet. Exhausted and looking even greener, the geonome leaned against the wall, panting.
"Th-they'll be fine. Th-they have . . . p-powerful souls . . . Neither of the ship's eyes can," Ummei hesitated, gulping, then tried again. "Neither of the ship's eyes can draw in souls . . . As powerful as the Angels of Death's . . ."
Mikoto blinked. "Seriously?"
"Y-yes . . . If Garland . . . wanted Zidane's, Kuja's, or even YOUR soul . . . He'd have to use al . . . he'd have to use alternative methods . . ."
"Such as what?"
Ummei opened his mouth to speak, then covered it and ran hurriedly from the room. Mikoto stared at the open vault-like door for a moment, then sighed.
". . . Idiot . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Damn it, Kuja!" Zidane shouted as he dodged a geonome's sword. "What the hell is taking you so long?!"
"Yah!" Beatrix let out a fierce cry and plunged the glimmering blade of Save the Queen into a geonome's chest. The creature shrieked, convulsing momentarily, and then collapsed to the ground, dead. Zidane's lip twitched.
". . . Nice . . ."
Beatrix flipped her golden curls over her shoulder. "Thanks,"
"Ah, watch out!" Lani screamed. Beatrix whipped around just in time to dodge the world's most enormous axe as it careened, pathless, through the air. It blew past Beatrix's head, causing her hair to blow as if caught in a wind. The edge of the axe wedged itself into a brick wall nearby, the handle trembling.
"Lani!"
"I'm sorry, geez!"
All around them the cries of the citizenry and geonomes could be heard. Whether it was Garland's creatures murdering innocents or Zidane's crew murdering them, the city was in havoc. Of all the attacks that had occurred, this was undoubtedly the worst. Zidane was concerned, however, that he had not yet seen Lulian, Chikara, Drakja, or any other high-ranking geonomes. The most chaos would be flowering from them.
/Well Drakja's probably the one operating the ship . . ./ Zidane deduced. /Kuja said he sensed Drakja's attacking . . . So I guess we shouldn't expect much ground-level trouble out of him./
All at once, an explosion rock the city near the sea. Flames roared into the sky, curling and crashing down upon the streets in a wave. Sparks crackled in the air as the sky took on a crimson hue. Fire seared across the belly of the clouds, streaming down like comets onto the cool, oil- slick water. It gave the horizon the appearance of having been set aflame.
"What on Gaia was that?!" Freya shrieked from nearby, turning her face away from the blinding heat of the flames.
"The Indomitable didn't do that . . ." Fratley scratched his head.
Suddenly, a rumble filled the air. From the ashes and spitting fire rose a gleaming, polished airship. It revolved slowly, changing direction, as it rose silently into the night sky. Smoke curled from a set of mammoth guns protruding from the front end of the craft where it had blasted apart the hangar. Awe was written on the faces of Alexandrians and geonomes alike at the sudden intrusion of this beautiful ship.
The Invincible was back and ready for action . . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja smirked, watching the city below him shrinking to doll-house-size proportions. The hangar was smoking quite thickly, filling the sky with smog.
"Well, it's their fault for not having any mechanics around . . ."
The warlock whipped around, away from the controls, and tried to think up a tactic.
"Drakja is bound to notice the ship any second now . . . I've got to act fast before he starts shooting . . ."
Kuja sighed, abandoning the control-room for the interior of the ship. He glanced over the eerily familiar surroundings, taking note that very little had changed since the last time he'd been there. /Though/ he thought to himself, frowning with distaste. /I can't remember the last time I was in here because I was under the influence of Them./
Kuja trudged towards the thin staircase that lead down to the inner basement of the ship. He hadn't even realized he was descending down the steps until the blinding red glow of the ship's innards suddenly forced him to look away.
"What . . .?" Kuja opened his bleached eyes a crack, peering down into the depths of the craft. /Of course . . .!/ "The eye . . ."
All at once, an explosion of deafening voices seemed to overtake the sorcerer. He gasped, clutching onto the railing as the screams filled his ears. He couldn't understand what they were saying through the piling of voices on top of voices, yet he somehow knew exactly what they wanted.
/The eye . . ./ Kuja was barely able to pull that thought together. /They want to go to the eye . . ./
"N-no . . ." Kuja pulled back, trying to get as far from the mechanical iris as he could. Unfortunately, what he thought was pulling back was actually descending further down the steps. They were drawing him down . . . Dragging his every muscle further into the crimson abyss of the stairs.
"Ah . . . I . . . I can't fight them!"
The voices were consuming him. Everything was becoming a swirling medley of blacks and reds. He thought it was the black of unconsciousness and the red of the eye, but then he came to the horrid realization that it wasn't. There was something else . . . A struggle going on in him . . . Between black and red . . .?
Red was winning . . .
Kuja grasped a strand of his hair and gasped. It had become bloody crimson.
"No! I can't transform! Not now! Zidane . . . He'll get killed . . .!"
Everything was going numb. He was sinking down . . . down . . . further into the realm of no return . . .
/You can do it . . ./ a voice whispered. It was a woman . . . Her voice was so familiar, yet Kuja couldn't put his finger on it in his state. /Fight them . . ./
"I-I . . . Nng!" Kuja closed his eyes in exhaustion. It wasn't time yet. He knew when it would be time to let destiny win. But not now . . . Not yet . . . It wasn't time!
"STOP!!!"
Kuja gasped as if resurfacing from water. He was slumped over on the steps, the red glow of the ship reduced to a calm burning. It was over . . . He'd won . . . again.
But how many more times could he fight Them before they destroyed him?
Kuja rose shakily to his feet, silver hair falling in disarray around his face. He felt awful, but he knew he had to finish his task.
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"Well lookee here . . ." Drakja murmured, gazing out the main semicircular window of the Indomitable. "So that fool Kuja thinks he can defeat my ship . . . Fat chance! Time to gun it!"
Drakja grinned widely, noting that the Invincible was right in his line of sight, and slammed his fist down on a glowing red button. He watched, rejoicing, as two massive, deadly bullets tore from the ship's hull and rammed into the side of the Invincible a half a mile away. The airship was jerked lethargically as it took the blow. However, the steel of the ship was powerful and the bullets left only two black char-marks on the side, smoking.
Drakja folded his arms across his chest, chuckling.
"Now to wait for the retaliation . . ."
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Kuja snarled as he stumbled sideways, the ship rocking from a bullet-hit. The geonomes were shooting at his craft already!
"Bastard!" Kuja hissed, racing for the control-room. "He's not going to get away with this!"
The flickering panels appeared before the silver-haired sorcerer as he threw himself into the room. He knew, of course, what he had to do. Shoot back. He also knew Drakja expected a retaliation and was prepared for it. But after all, this WAS a battle.
Kuja grasped the steering handle of the Invincible and wrenched it around. The ship roared and shot through the air at a speed most would not have thought possible of such a large airship. He circled the craft, facing himself in the direction of the Indomitable, and punched in a series of numbers on a keypad near his arm. Almost instantly the Invincible released a wave of torpedo-like objects. The enemy airship wasn't able to react fast enough and was thrust backwards a few feet from the bombardment of missiles. Drakja, obviously taken-aback, pulled his ship away hurriedly. Kuja grinned, knowing he'd caught the enemy geonome off guard.
And thus began the most ferocious airship war in the history of Gaia . . .
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". . . Wow . . ." Vivi raised his wide-brimmed hat slightly to watch the spectacle above. "Th-they're really fighting . . ."
Zidane paused in looting a dead geonome's pockets and looked up. "Kuja was trained in this sort of stuff, so of course he's good at it . . ."
"You think he'll win?" Garnet queried, unscrewing the cap off an ether.
"Wouldn't doubt it . . ."
The two airship were caught in a fierce combat. Bullets rained through the air as they pummeled each other back and forth. There was a flash of white light as the Indomitable sent a torpedo careening towards Kuja's ship – which had put up an invisible barrier. The missile thudded into the side and exploded, sending fragments of dangerous shrapnel raining down upon the city.
"It's getting intense . . ." Beatrix pointed out nervously. "Both ships are smoking badly,"
"Yeah, and no matter how far we spread out, the geonomes just keep killing . . . We'll never be able to round them all up!" Steiner shouted, running past his comrades and down another alley.
Zidane winced as the two airship circled each other, doing a sort of twisted dance as they fired senselessly at one another.
Suddenly, the Indomitable pulled back. A glimmering barrier encircled it so that the Invincible's bullets hit the side like harmless little pellets and fell uselessly away. All the geonomes that the crew could see in the streets ceased in their action as if waiting for something; listening to an invisible command. Zidane frowned.
". . . What is this . . .?"
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"Gah, what the hell's Drakja doing?!" Kuja hissed, slamming his fists down on the controls angrily. "He can't be giving up already!"
The warlock sighed, backing away from the panel. There was nothing else to do until Drakja pulled down his barrier and attacked.
"This is so offensive!" Kuja ranted. "Right in the middle of nowhere, even!"
There was a moment of frustrated silence when the silver-haired sorcerer suddenly noticed the strange vortex-like cloud around the Indomitable was beginning to spin much faster than before. Kuja pressed his palms against the panel and leaned forward, peering furiously out the massive window.
"What in the name of Atomos . . .?"
And then the beams came, violet and red splashes of luminescent colors. Kuja saw now what he had not been able to see from his position before.
Drakja had opened the eye of the Indomitable!
The rays came spewing from beneath the accursed ship, flooding into the city like molten water. It washed over houses, shops, steeples, seemingly grasping at something and nothing at the same time.
Kuja gaped, horrified. "No . . . He's drawing in the souls of the citizens that were killed . . ."
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Garnet squealed and covered her head as the cold energy washed over her body. The others dropped to their knees as well and closed their eyes, waiting for the screeching light to blow past them. Their hair whipped in a phantom wind; tearing at their clothes. Zidane let out a desperate groan and stumbled to his feet, fighting against the scorching air to drop down beside Garnet and hug her tightly, protecting her from the immense power.
From around them they could make out glimmering lights floating out from the streets. Lost souls soon to be taken captive . . . The flickering orbs even tore themselves from the bodies of killed geonomes . . .
Zidane cracked one eye open and watched, completely baffled, as a dying geonome in a sewer nearby tried to fight the power drawing its weakening soul from its body. Then the glowing orb surfaced from its flesh and darted into the sky. The geonome gargled, then went limp.
Dead . . .
Zidane could feel a burning in the back of his eyes. So much death . . . So much destruction . . . And for what?
"Garland . . ." Zidane clenched his teeth in bitter resentment. "Whether on my grave or yours . . . I WILL make you pay for this . . ."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kuja slumped against the console, too shocked to even speak.
"I couldn't save them . . ." he whispered, watching as the glimmering lights – like little stars that had detached themselves from the black sky – danced into the air towards the glowing red eye of the Indomitable.
It all felt so hopeless . . .
Then suddenly, the last orb was gone and all energy evaporated from the city. Kuja blinked and felt a very sudden sense of foreboding.
But the feeling came too late . . .
His task completed, Drakja removed the Indomitable's shield in less than a second. The guns were out, and he fired . . .
Kuja could only gasp as the largest missile he'd ever seen came careening through the night . . . straight towards his ship. The sorcerer cried out as an explosion rocked the Invincible. And all he saw was the roaring, biting flames before the console burst into a thousand pieces . . .
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"NO!!!" Zidane leapt to his feet, clapping his hands over his mouth in horror as he watched the Invincible burst into flames. It fell through the air like a burning meteor of Hell . . . Drifting towards the ground. It smashed through a large building and, in small bursts and explosions, it curled up into smoke.
"Argh, Kuja!" Zidane tore away from Garnet and raced for the carnage of the ship. The others followed him promptly, ignoring the popping of geonomes as they teleported away from the streets and back to their own mother-ship.
"Oh my god . . ." Freya's green eyes were wide as they gazed upon the wreckage. The Invincible, though still mostly intact, was a smoldering pile of trash amongst the debris of Alexandria.
It was like a molten death-trap . . .
". . . Kuja . . ." Zidane sunk to his knees, staring at the rubble that his brother had disappeared beneath.
Suddenly an image flickered nearby and Kuja appeared out of nowhere, sitting on the ground and wiping some blood off his arm onto his shirt.
"Damn him!" the sorcerer cursed, licking at the wound and wincing. The crew gasped, stunned by Kuja's rather random arrival. Zidane was at his brother's side first, looking furious.
"God damnit, Kuja! You scared the crap out of me!" he accused. Kuja looked up mildly, frowning, and pulled himself painfully to his feet. He bit his lip where small wounds pulled at his flesh.
"Are you alright?" Beatrix queried, looking concerned. Kuja nodded, running his fingers agitatedly through his hair.
"I'm fine . . . But the Invincible's not . . . And we didn't stop the attack . . ."
Several of the crew turned around hurriedly and searched the skies for the Indomitable. The ship was long gone . . .
It was over . . .
"Terrible . . ." Garnet whispered. "I need to get back to the castle and take care of this mess . . . I think we're going to need to call another meeting with the rest of the nations. This cannot continue . . ."
The others nodded, exhausted. There was no time to mourn the losses.
The fight was only just beginning . . .
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A/N: Hah . . . Another battle down the chute . . . So y'all wanna hear the news? *big grin* Okay, here goes . . . The next chapter, (thirty-six, isn't it?) officially marks the point where I first imagined this story. One day while I was sitting in a science class or something, I pictured, to the very last detail, the next chapter and the chapter after it and from there sprouted this entire little ficcy. Why is that important, you may ask? Several reasons:
#1. After the next two chapters, this story will go in a complete downward spiral to the finale. No rest-stops, no fillers, no side-quests, NOTHING!!! Everything will come together for the big finish (which is, alas, still about ten to twelve chapters away + epilogue).
#2. I'm incredibly familiar with the next chapters till the end, so there won't be anymore last minute changes (like Quina's death and a few other things).
#3. We're finally going to learn stuff! Like . . . What those people corrupting Kuja are. Or . . . Every last little miniscule detail of Garland's plan. Or . . . what the hell the Metsubo is. And ya know when we find all that out? *can't contain excitement* In, like, two or three chapters! I'm not kidding! It's THAT close!
#4. That means the story is almost over *sniff* . . .
So read and review ya'll! MORE THAN THE LAST CHAPTER OR I'LL *censored*
P.S. FYI, don't get the wrong idea 'bout me or Americans. I don't get nasty little random thoughts like the last chapter (as some reviewers suggested). Just so you all know, I've never had a boyfriend, I've never been in love (with a real guy), and I've never experienced . . . "those things." And no, it's not because I'm ugly or have no hope of ever finding a man . . . IT'S BECAUSE I'M ONLY FOURTEEN FREAKIN' YEARS OLD!!! PEOPLE MY AGE SHOULD NOT BE DATING OR DOING ANYTHING LIKE WHAT WAS OCCURING IN THE LAST CHAPTER!!! Most of the description stuff with Lulian and Kuja etc. was just how I "pictured" those sort of things and putting myself in their shoes. Not to mention I've read enough manga and fanfictions to get the GENERAL idea. So don't think wrongly of me or Americans . . . We're not all that bad (well, not ALL of us . . .)
~~ Black Mage Dad ~~ (who's a girl . . .)