A/N: Oh gods . . . My air conditioner's dead . . . According to the gauge
it's currently 86 degrees in my bedroom . . . barf Can't . . . go on . .
. much longer . . . Ugh. Well, we're gettin' to the end, eh? One more
chapter after this and then the epilogue. Next chapter will reveal
everything except for Kuja88's info, since that's reserved for the
epilogue. Hard to believe all mysteries shall be solved by the next
chapter. Kinda . . . Kinda scares me, actually nervous laughter . . .
And this chapter is REALLY long again . . . But right now I'm high on some
major I-just-saw-the-Harry-Potter-and-the-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-movie-three-
times-and-I-am-a-Sirius-Black-fan fumes. I WUB HIM!!!!! squeal So I'm
happy now, despite the heat. But this chapter was EXHAUSTING to write . .
. I hope I maintained good quality throughout, regardless. Ah, who cares
'bout me, read the damn fic already, lol!
Disclaimer: The Golden Rule: Own Final Fantasies, exactly as they own you. Which means, erm, not owning them, I guess . . .?
Warning! Major cliff-hanger ahead!
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"I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die."
– "I Measure Every Grief" (excerpt), Emily Dickinson
"Are you guys ready?" Zidane stared about the interior of the Invincible at them all, his comrades, ashen faced but prepared to take on the world.
"I-I'm kinda scared . . ." Vivi admitted, nervously gripping his hat and tugging it down over his face.
"No! We know no fear!" Eiko complained, pointing accusingly at Vivi. "We're the . . . uh . . . The Unbeatable . . . er . . . Gaian People! And we shall vanquish ALL who oppose us! Rawr!" she added as an afterthought, puffing out her chest indignantly. Garnet was laughing, leaning on Zidane.
"You wanted us to be 'The Betrothed,' remember?"
Zidane smirked, wrapping his arm around his fiancé's shoulders. "Yeah, and then you said your talent was "up to snuff" but the name wasn't . . ."
Freya was chuckling nervously, sticking close to Fratley. "Whatever happens, you won't leave my side again . . . right?" she whispered.
"Never . . ." the Iron-Tailed echoed, closing his eyes and hugging Freya tighter.
"I'm gonna hack Garland into pieces!" Lani hissed, swinging her axe. There were many murmurs of assent.
"We're going to win!" Steiner affirmed, looking serious. "Because I just can't stand the thought of an unhappy ending!"
"Here, here!" Beatrix cheered, laughing. Though most of this was what many people would call "dumb-show," it was definitely helping to boost morale. The whir of the airship's motors seemed to deafen somewhat with the crew's rising confidence.
"So . . . what's everybody's motivation?" Zidane queried, frowning slightly. "I mean, what is it that we're really fighting for today?"
Silence fell. No one seemed to know what to say or wanted to be the first to say it. Zidane raised an eyebrow. "Alright, how 'bout a volunteer . . . Rusty?"
Steiner turned a bright shade of magenta and opened his mouth to reprimand the young thief when Garnet rested a delicate hand on his arm
"No, Steiner . . . We're a team now . . ."
The knight sighed, bowing his head in shame. "My motivation . . .?" he queried softly. "Gee . . . I dunno . . . I think . . . I think I just want to see . . . I want to see Alexandria shining bright again the way it was before our king – gods bless him – passed away. I want the crystal atop the castle to glitter as it once did before the city became so stained with sin . . . Yeah," he nodded, pouting. "Yeah, I'm doing this for Alexandria!"
"A noble cause," the others agreed. Zidane smirked.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Rusty. There definitely ain't any rust on your heart . . ."
Steiner stared at Zidane, rubbed his eyes, and stared some more. Could it be . . .? Yes, it was true. Zidane had changed a lot. Matured, perhaps. He'd learned some hard lessons in such a short life. For better or for worse, he was different . . .
"What about you, Fratley?" Zidane continued, glancing around at the small gathering. Fratley shifted, seeming to ponder his answer.
"I will admit," he said. "That my main goal is to see Burmecia restored as well. Oddly enough, part of this quest is to aid the man who helped destroy it . . . Yet, I think in the end I simply want the threat eliminated. I want my people to be able to walk the streets of Burmecia – and Cleyra for that matter, though they have turned their backs on us in these hard times – and not have to be afraid anymore. I want the children to be able to run in the streets without supervision. I want fathers to think about things other than sending their sons off to war . . . And you know what?" Fratley paused, seeming to blush slightly. "I think I might be doing some of this in memory of our . . . of our lost comrade, Quina. I think, in all this, the Qu stands as a lasting tribute to the sacrifices our people have made. I guess I just want justice to be served . . ."
Freya was beaming proudly. "Yes, that is what I want as well . . ." she spoke so softly that the others had to lean in to hear her. "I am doing this so that dear Fratley and I may have at least some semblance of a chance of eternal happiness together . . . War has driven him away from me once . . . And I shall not let it happen again . . ."
"And it won't," Fratley smiled, caressing Freya's cheek gently with his clawed hand.
"What about you, Amarant?" Zidane now turned to the silent, brooding bandit. Amarant grunted.
"I'm doing this so I can watch Garland suffer . . . I've spent my life being an asshole . . . I guess killing another asshole will feel just as good as eliminating my asshole-ish self . . ."
"That makes so little sense, yet at the same time means everything . . ." Eiko was gaping at Amarant as if trying not to laugh.
"You got that right!" Lani chirped. "And I'll be right alongside him, killing Garland just so I can get the satisfaction of saying /I/ murdered not only Amarant's supposed asshole side, but the satisfaction of murdering the biggest ASSHOLE to ever walk this sorry earth!!!"
Though shocked, half the room actually applauded at this blunt statement. After so much suffering under Garland's rule, the idea of his blood-strewn corpse was almost as pleasing as smelling a bouquet of fresh roses.
"Well, I'm doing it for the Summoners!" Eiko piped in, shaking a finger. "Kuja may have destroyed them, but Garland made him do it in the first place! It's Garland's fault I spent my life living in a pile of rubble with only my moogles for company! And hell, I'm doin' this for THEM too! And now that I know there are still a few Summoners left – the queen, that Megan girl . . . Well maybe there's still hope of restoring our race! I gotta give my people a chance, ya know what I mean?!"
"What about you, Vivi?" All eyes turned onto the little mage. Vivi ducked his head fearfully, fidgeting.
"I-I just want my kids to be happy . . . They were in Alexandria Castle when the geonomes came . . . I don't even want to think about wh-what could have happened if they'd been . . ." Vivi gulped. "If they'd been attacked . . ."
"And they won't be while I still have a breath in my body," Garnet hissed. "I'm doing this for all the suffering Garland has ever caused me . . . Both my mothers . . . My city and comrades . . . What he's tried to do to my fiancé and his people . . . For poor Mikoto and the genomes . . . And . . ." Garnet blushed profusely, laughing. "I guess I'm doing it in the memory of my, er, future brother-in-law too . . . It seems that every injustice that has ever been done upon me in my life was Garland's fault . . . I guess my motivation is just to show him how it feels to be miserable . . . He needs to be taught that lesson . . . And it has to be painful . . ."
"I'm likin' the sound of this!" Eiko grinned devilishly.
"And you, Beatrix?" Zidane inquired curiously. Beatrix sighed.
"I'm doing it for everything that I've ever stood for in life . . . The pact I made to protect my city, my queen, the Alexandrians . . ." she glanced, blushing, at Steiner for a moment and then looked away hurriedly. Zidane grinned faintly so she wouldn't notice HE'D noticed. "I'm doing it for the promise I made to Gaia and the promise I made to Kuja . . . I don't want to see suffering anymore . . . So I guess I've got to start at the source . . . And that source is Garland . . ." Beatrix paused, then smiled.
"And you . . .? Zidane . . .?"
Zidane fell silent, staring at the floor. Well, what the hell was he SUPPOSED to say?!
"I . . . I don't know . . ."
"Of course you do!" Garnet stared, disbelieving, at Zidane. "You must, or you wouldn't have asked US to find the answer in ourselves!"
Zidane scratched his head uneasily, not even entirely sure what he wanted to say. "I'm just doing this so that . . ." the blonde raised his head slowly and looked up at his comrades – his friends – with shining eyes.
"I'm doing this so our story will have a happy ending . . ."
There was a hesitant silence amongst the crew of the Invincible. Some people were smiling, others were contemplating this answer.
"We WILL have a happy ending . . ." Vivi muttered with more confidence in his voice than they had ever heard him have.
"Of course we will," Beatrix was glaring as if furious that anybody could even THINK they wouldn't.
"It just . . . It just seems so far away . . ." Zidane sighed, shaking his head. "Like tomorrow will never come . . . I mean, we have so much we need to do and so little time to do it. No matter how I look at it, we'll never be able to REALLY go home. Something, somewhere, will be so radically changed from this adventure that complete happiness will never be achieved . . . So I guess I'm just doing this so that I can have that one little hope to grasp onto . . . That hope that maybe – just maybe – everything will work out in the end . . ."
Nobody needed to ask what he was talking about. They'd stayed away from the topic, but they all knew deep in their hearts that Zidane was going to lose family by the time all this was over. One way or another, somebody he loved dearly was going to die. It was just a question of who, how, and by whom . . .
"We're almost there," Fratley commented, gazing out the yawning front window of the airship. "We should probably get ready . . ."
"Yeah, and somebody ought to go wake that Megan girl," Garnet pointed out, frowning slightly. She couldn't help but notice that everyone called the third Summoner the "Megan girl."
"I'll do it," said Beatrix, shrugging. After witnessing Kuja tear his arm through Amarant's claws a few hours ago, Megan had passed out cold (she was still afraid of blood no matter what anyone did to change it . . .). She hadn't woken since. Of course, she wouldn't be fighting (as she had no discernable powers to speak of), but she had insisted on coming along anyways, most likely for moral support and the hope that she wouldn't miss the wonderful shower of blood when they finally tore Garland limb from limb (at least, that's what she HOPED would happen).
Beatrix took her leave of the others and slunk off into one of the outer rooms of the Invincible where Megan lay, unconscious, upon the floor. The general smirked and bent over, shaking the Summoner gently.
"Hey . . ." she whispered. "Hey, wake up . . . We're touching down now . . ."
Megan groaned, shaking out her head and grasping blindly for her glasses. Beatrix retrieved them for her and Megan, still lying upon the ground with her eyes clenched tightly shut, took them and slipped them on. Then she sat up and opened her eyes. Beatrix nearly gasped. They were swelling with tears just ready to pour.
"Whoa, whoa . . . Wh-what's wrong . . .?"
Megan sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "He shredded his arm and didn't even seem to feel it . . .!" the Summoner practically wailed. "It should have hurt but it didn't!"
Beatrix blinked, shocked, and got down on one knee beside the young woman. "Megan, Megan everything's going to work out . . . We're going to kill Garland and then you won't ever have to see someone do something as disgusting as that again . . ."
"It's not that . . .!" Megan sobbed, burying her face in her knees. Beatrix hesitated, then asked a very, VERY daring question.
"Megan . . . What are your true feelings about Kuja . . .?"
Megan stopped and raised her face, bleary-eyed, to stare at Beatrix. "M-my feelings for . . . for HIM . . .?"
"Yes. What do you really think of Zidane's brother . . .?"
Silence wrapped about the room, sinking into the frigid steel walls. Megan had the deer-caught-in-headlights expression on her face. She trembled, then spat and rose furiously to her feet.
"I THINK HE'S AN INSUFFERABLE JACK-ASS AND I HOPE HE ROTS IN HELL!!!"
Then the Summoner stormed, sobbing, from the room. Beatrix gaped after her, frowning, and got back to her feet. A small smile flicked across her features.
". . . No she doesn't . . ."
The Invincible had landed and now the crew stood before the entrance to the Fire Shrine. Only two possible outcomes awaited them there: either they won and Gaia could finally be at peace, or they lost and the threads of the universe became forfeit.
"Well, it certainly LOOKS grim . . ." Lani cocked her head, staring at the base of the mountain. "But, well, you can't live your life based on speculation . . ."
"Sure you can!" Eiko snapped. "We're all going to die and that's that . . ."
"Hey, what happened to that talk we just had on the airship?!" Garnet hissed. "We're going to win, remember?"
"Ah, right, right . . ."
Zidane smirked, walking steadily through the heat-shimmering entrance of what was once Taki-Bi's lair. The air was stifling and the others were complaining almost immediately as they followed the genome in.
The count-down was beginning . . . The fate of Gaia would be sealed . . . Already Terra was drifting lazily through space towards Gaia . . . Already Garland had absorbed the souls of innocents . . . Already Kuja and Mikoto stood blindly in the midst of chaos.
Would they win or would they lose . . .? And what would they lose, even by winning?
The passages were growing steadily darker as the team crept along. Fear was beginning to crawl up their spines. There would be no turning back this time . . . It was all going to end here . . .
And then they were back in Taki-Bi's arena. The enormous chamber was lit and cleared, ready for battle. Indeed, it would all end here . . . Now they just had to wait for Garland and the cavalry to show up . . .
"Scary, scary, scary, scary . . ." Eiko kept muttering, clutching her flute.
"Gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im . . ." Of course, THAT was Amarant . . .
And then it came . . . It was not unlike the breaking of the Apocalypse upon the world (if one is feeling cryptic . . .).
WHOOSH!
Flames erupted throughout the chamber. A cackling arose from the spreading wildfire that circled about the hall. The crew backed up, drawing weapons. A dark shadow was forming within the heat, rising slowly from the primordial soup. Flames twisted and curled towards the ceiling. The figure's laugh echoed against the stone walls.
Then he emerged, not unlike like a spider crawling from its nest. White eyes were now a putrid, socket-black, gray hair flailing in the wind, black armor now lusterless, pieces of it morphed to android-metal. And in the center of this dark conglomeration was a red orb that glowed and pulsed fiercely with a light so burningly bright that if one dared to gaze into its depths they would go blind . . .
Garland levitated into the air, snickering, and then landed lightly upon the floor – cape billowing dramatically behind him – before the flames. Muscles bulged where muscles had once not once been present on his thin frame, fangs glistened behind his disgusting lips where an even more atrocious smile twisted.
"Oh my god . . ." Zidane's eyes were wide. "What the HELL did you do to yourself, man?!"
"Thank you for the compliment . . ." Garland intoned softly. His voice now carried a slithering aura to it that formed an icy chill in the air when he spoke. "I have finally absorbed the power that I so deserve . . . I have reached a higher state of being – not unlike enlightenment . . . I can tap into powers now that only the gods could ever dream of! And when I have defeated you all, I shall absorb the souls of my first angel of death and that fiend, Saishoja . . . Then I will be the most powerful creature to ever grace the soils of Terra and Gaia combined!" Garland laughed maniacally, drunk delirious with his own victory. This was horribly familiar . . .
"So, er, I guess this is what we would call the Final Battle, eh?" Freya queried, huffing and readying her spear. Garland looked thoughtful.
"You COULD say that . . . But really . . . It's more of a show-down . . ."
"No, it's a battle," Steiner corrected. "After all, it's the good-guys versus the final bad-guy and . . ." He stopped, realizing that what he'd just said had to be the stupidest thing to ever pass his lips. The knight bowed his head in shame. "I am . . . an idiot . . ."
"You ARE an idiot . . ." Zidane hissed, clenching his daggers. "Heh! All of us against JUST HIM? Hehe . . .You fuggin' WISH, Steiner!"
"Heh . . . Indeed . . ." Garland snapped his fingers. There was a very thick silence hanging above the chamber. Then they came, creeping from the shadows, slithering from the walls. The hallway, before so dark, was now lit by hundreds of glittering green eyes. They were drawing in from all sides, surrounding the crew and Garland. There were hundreds of them, like a sea of parasitic insects. Slinking here and there like cats, fangs bared, claws at the ready. The whipping of tails could be heard and the suppressed giggles of those wretched, god-be-damned geonomes . . .
Garland glanced about blandly as these creatures of the night moved closer and closer, forming a circle of death around the heavily outnumbered team. Suffocating, stifling, groping for the kill . . .
"Stop," Garland commanded. The geonomes quickly froze, still grinning and gnashing their teeth. The Terran overlord raised an eyebrow. "Drakja!"
"Yes, Master . . .?" A shiver rippled across the room as the alpha-male strode arrogantly from the darkness. He swung his arms, head held high, sneering broadly as if he were already standing above the ruins of his victory-field . . . Smirking as if he'd already won . . . He moved into the circle beside Lulian who licked her lips, grinning devilishly at the crew she knew she was about to destroy. Ummei cowered nearby, whimpering and shaking his head. He was muttering something that sounded curiously like "I don' wanna . . .!" over and over again. Much to the horror of the crew, a young genome moved out from the circle and stood beside Garland, glaring at the crew with her bright, aqua eyes.
"Oh gods . . . Garland, don't you DARE throw Mikoto into this!"
Garland chuckled. "She obeys ME now, Zidane! This is one of the few things that will make her happy! Of course . . . This one here . . ." Garland raised an arm as Kuja stepped calmly out from behind him to flank the old man's side. "Doesn't understand happy or sad . . . He's just here to kill . . ."
Kuja said nothing, just continued to stare vacantly at the floor. Garland was stroking his hair lovingly like a pet while keeping one hand affectionately on Mikoto's head. Zidane was feeling intensely nauseous.
Garland glared at his quivering enemies. His eyes were black in color now – giving them the appearance of empty sockets, a part of the skin on his cheek was torn off to reveal wires and machinations of some kind; steel. What the old man had become, none of them knew . . . Years later, when the horror of those dark days had begun to dissipate, they would refer to this new creature as "Gigahertz Garland."
Now they just wanted to call him dead . . .
"Well?!" Zidane shouted. "What the hell are you waiting for?!!"
Garland grinned. "If you're in a rush . . . GET 'EM!!!"
There was a roar of crashing waves breaking upon the shore and before the crew could react, the circle of geonomes had collapsed inwards. A terrible cry burst through the room as metal clashed suddenly upon metal. Immediately, blood spurted.
Drakja plowed through the group with increased vigor. Outnumbered by ten to one, Zidane's team was almost immediately dog-piled. But they fought valiantly, soon dragging themselves from the mess.
The most memorable battle in the history of Gaia had begun . . .
Zidane cried out furiously as seven geonomes leapt at him . . . all at once. He gripped his Ultima Weapon by the middle handle and swung with all his might. In one fell sweep four geonomes shrieked as blood exploded from their bodies, thrown off their feet from the force of the blast. Zidane whipped around, ready to take on the other three. But before he could even think about swinging the blade at least six others attacked.
The rest of the team did the same, fending off as many geonomes as they possibly could yet finding that the more they wounded, the more came.
Garland stood idly by at the back of the room, looking bored. "Kuja, take care of this mess, will you?"
Kuja swung forward, ominous waves of magic swirling about his body. A hidden door nearby rumbled and churned open, allowing the warlock's beautiful silver dragon to storm, snarling, from elsewhere in the shrine. Kuja gripped the creature's neck and swung himself up. Then, with a roar, the dragon lifted a few feet into the air and dove like a bullet into the melee.
There were scattered cries of horror as the dragon plowed through at least twenty people. Geonomes teleported urgently out of the way but one of the heroes – Steiner – wasn't fast enough. Weighed down by his armor, he could only gasp as the battering-ram head of the monster smacked him full force and sent the knight flying.
"Steiner!" Beatrix cried out. The dragon landed and skid. At least two geonomes, too slow, were crushed beneath its weight. Blood sprayed into the battle arena as the fight continued to blaze. Everything was deafened with the sound of weapons and magic bursting throughout the chamber. There was nowhere to run. Every inch of the hall was being taken up by battle. It was like a war that had become compressed to the tiniest degree.
But far out, in another area of the Fire Shrine altogether, someone was not fighting. Someone was lurking through the shadows of the dungeons . . . sneaking where none were supposed to be . . .
Saishoja was striding almost nonchalantly through the cells, ignoring the stares of the released but unmoving genomes that sat, waiting for the fate of Gaia to be decided. Their aqua eyes followed him ominously through the hall. This curious man – with his silver tail and odd, ethereal glow – appeared to be looking for something. He whistled a tune, humming as he untied the ends of his blindfold and gently wrapped it around his wrist. The dead-man's bleached eyes stared forward into the darkness as his own, separate gaze roved across the cells.
"I know it's here somewhere . . .!" he sang, smirking. "And I'm gonna find it!"
Then he stopped, cocking his head. The cell to his right was the only one occupied by something that did not appear to be your average, every-day blonde genome. There was a man in it, but a man that did not appear very . . . solid. It seemed to be some sort of hologram, flickering and quivering, the image sometimes fading out completely. The picture's form was of an unconscious boy slumped against the wall with shimmering silver hair and four luxurious feathers sprouting from his part. The man, though in a state of death, could best be described as stunningly beautiful. Saishoja's sightless eyes widened and he clutched onto the bars, staring into the cell.
"My god . . . I found him . . ."
Of course, Saishoja knew better than to think this was a hologram. Due to past experience (and the fact that he WAS one) Saishoja knew this to most definitely be a soul. Kuja's soul . . .
"I don't believe it . . ." Saishoja stared at the warlock's fading spirit imprisoned within the Fire Shrine. "That dirty bastard . . . I knew it . . . I KNEW Kuja's soul was the same as . . . Heh. Garland thinks reusing souls won't make a difference . . . He's preserving them, right . . .? More like denying their family in the afterlife from seeing them!"
Saishoja sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the cool bars that he couldn't feel.
"If I let the soul fade out now . . . Then I can see Him again . . . But then what would stop Garland from finding it later . . .? No, defeating Garland comes first. I will make him pay . . ."
"I will make him pay for robbing my son's soul from me . . ."
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Zidane gasped for breath, backing up against the wall. Mikoto was walking steadily towards him, dagger in hand.
"Gods . . . My sister's tryin' to kill me . . ." the thief was stupefied, raising his own weapon. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?!"
Suddenly, Mikoto ducked as the dragon – ridden by the ever-powerful Kuja – swooped by in a shower of ivory feathers. Zidane covered his head, wincing.
Nearby, Drakja was laughing. "Go get 'em!" he teased, watching as Zidane inched away from his murderous sister. Then there was a shriek.
"Argh, Dagger!" Zidane gasped, looking up just in time to see Garnet stumble backwards from three giggling geonomes. Dark red blossomed across the midriff of her butter-yellow suit.
"You bastards!" Zidane abandoned Mikoto, rushing towards his fiancé.
"No, Zidane!" Garnet cried out. "I'm fine, run!"
"No, I – " Zidane suddenly realized what the queen had been pushing him away for. The genome made a frantic dive and felt his hair blow wildly in a fluttering wind as the dragon came shooting over him, grazing his very head with its downy belly.
Several geonomes plus Beatrix stopped and stared, mouths gaping. "Yowch,"
The dragon landed with a heavy thud in front of Zidane. Several geonomes rushed out of the way just in time. The blonde soon found himself staring up into the unforgiving eyes of a monster with steam blasting from its nostrils.
"Aw, shit . . . GUYS, I NEED BACK UP!!!"
But none could come. Every last member of the team was pitted against gangs more than they could handle. Zidane would have to fight this one out alone . . .
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Amarant laughed (which was a rare sight), his claws sinking into the neck of an unsuspecting geonome. It screamed in agony, seizing, and then fell limply from the talon's blades and into a pool of its own putrid blood. Lani giggled.
"Nice!" She swung her axe at another pair but they teleported away. Vivi was shaking uncontrollably as he watched a geonome curl up in smoke before him.
"I . . . I don't wanna kill . . ."
"Oh, just hang in there, Vivi . . .!" Eiko was standing nearby, ready to cast healing magic when necessary. The other members of the group were scattered about, battling to the death.
"Hey, you there! Get outta the way!" Lani was yelling at Megan who stood huddled in the corner, unable to fight. Megan blinked, then yelped as a stray Firaga bloomed in her direction. She dove out of the way just in time to watch the corner become enveloped in flames.
The battle was heating up . . . The higher ranking geonomes needed to work very little as their henchmen were making enough of a mess as it was.
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Garland strode calmly to where Zidane kneeled, petrified, staring into the burning eyes of Kuja's dragon.
"Well, now isn't this interesting . . .?" the elder queried. "What're you going to do, Zidane?"
"Picture how many ways I wish this dragon would kill you instead . . .!" was the snapped response.
"Ah, temper, temper . . ."
"Oh, fuck off," Zidane was glaring up at the dragon. Any second now Kuja was going to command it to attack. /Great . . . Just great . . ./.
But Zidane saw the oddest thing at that moment, something which he was positive no one else had seen. The dragon . . . winked . . . at him . . .
Of course, Zidane knew dragons couldn't wink. But he was under the impression that if they could, that's exactly what this dragon would have done.
"Oh for crying out loud, I'm bored already . . .!" Garland snapped. "Kuja, just have the damn dragon kill him for god's sake and give me his god- forsaken soul!"
Kuja didn't move. Neither did the dragon. Garland's face fell into a frown, his ebony eyes narrowing.
". . . Well? What are you waiting for . . .?"
Kuja said nothing. Garland sighed, remembering that Kuja was still an empty shell. "Kuja, TELL me what you're waiting for . . ."
Kuja hung his head, eyes sad, his voice lowered to a soft, robotic monotone. "The dragon says it cannot kill his master's brother and it refuses to obey the orders of any other than the aforementioned master,"
Garland's face flared with fury. "WHAT?!! BUT YOU /ARE/ HIS MASTER!!!"
Zidane was breathing deeply, staring up at the dragon in astonishment. It shook out its feathery neck, seeming to smirk. Kuja didn't respond. Garland was growling.
"Kuja, tell me why it won't obey you!"
". . . The dragon says I am not Kuja . . . It says I am nothing more than an empty shell with your embittered spirit stuffed into the body . . ."
Zidane snorted despite himself. /Ooh! Burn, hehe! The dragon's got guts!/
Garland was shaking with fury. "Heathen creature of the damned!" He pulled back a fist as if to punch the dragon but Zidane almost immediately spotted the spell crackling between his fingers. He made to cry out when suddenly the dragon shrieked and lashed out at Garland with its powerful, whip-like tail. And for all the power Garland had ever had, years of allowing others to do his dirty work had left the man with ONLY his power and no real intelligence for using it. It was, through this fault of his, that he was completely and utterly caught off guard by this sudden attack.
SMACK.
The powerful slam of the tail hit the old Terran full force. He stumbled backwards but had, unfortunately, had a barrier up the entire time. But something happened then that, though unnoticed by most of the geonomes, caused a few of Zidane's team members nearby to pause in their attacks and gape.
Mikoto – who was waiting obediently a few feet away – suddenly gasped as if resurfacing from water and suppressed a scream. The dagger that had previously been clenched in her hands slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor. She stared down at her trembling hand and then, dazedly, touched her face.
"Oh . . . Oh my god . . ."
Mikoto stumbled backwards and hit the wall. Then she stood there, shaking fiercely and crying like a child. But that was the least of Zidane's worries. Something else happened then that concerned the genome much, much more than that.
Atop the silver dragon, Kuja suddenly gagged, his eyes flashing.
". . . N-no . . ." the silver-haired sorcerer gasped.
Garland – who had just regained his balance – blinked and swore just as the young warlock choked and slipped sideways off his beast.
"Argh! God damnit!" Garland charged forward and, quite amazingly, caught Kuja's unconscious form just before he hit the ground. The dragon hissed, backing away from the loathsome man. Zidane was watching fearfully, the raging and screaming of his comrades and enemies dying out around him as he closed himself off from the chaos of the Fire Shrine. What he'd just seen . . . Could it be that . . .?
"Stand up!" Garland ordered, trying vainly to support Kuja's limp form. The old man hurriedly stood the silver-haired genome on his feet and pressed a palm firmly against his forehead, keeping one hand on Kuja's back to keep him standing. A faint light rippled about Kuja's body before his blank eyes snapped open yet again, seemingly back to his empty, puppet self. Then he took a step forward and stood perfectly straight, all signs of his previous plight now gone.
Garland sighed, turning away from Kuja to glance at Zidane. He scowled. "And just what are YOU smirking about?!"
Zidane was standing up slowly, smiling. "I've got you, Garland. I've found your weakness . . ."
The Terran overlord raised a bushy gray eyebrow. "Oho? And just what would that be, hmm?"
"When you lose your concentration, you lose control over anyone you are controlling," The ex-thief smiled superiorly. Garland flinched but hurriedly regained his composure.
"Yes, that's absolutely true. But there's only one problem, Zidane," Garland placed his hands on his hips, grinning. "You see, if that's the case, then if you attack me and I break my concentration, I lose control over Kuja . . . Which means I would no longer have control over his life expectancy. He would die immediately. What you just saw now was luck, Zidane. I happened to be there in time. But next time you attack me, your brother might not be so lucky,"
"I DON'T CARE!" Zidane screamed. "I'VE MADE MY DECISION, GARLAND!!! IF KUJA IS DOOMED TO PERISH BEFORE THIS BATTLE IS OVER, THEN I WILL GLADLY STAND BY AND WATCH HIM DIE!!!"
"Fine then," Garland glowered. "Kuja, get him!"
Kuja stepped daintily towards Zidane who backed up, snarling.
"I'll kill you!" he threatened. "I swear I will!"
Kuja charged. But this time, no fear of killing the warlock was stopping Zidane. The decision was made. If he had to fight his brother to the death, so be it.
"Die!" Zidane swung his blade but Kuja ducked and then propelled himself at the young genome, knocking him to the floor. Nearby, Zidane heard Garnet scream. Had she been watching the entire time?! She was supposed to be battling! Kuja raised his head as if, for a moment, considering going after the source of the scream. Fear instantly overcame Zidane and, in that second, he swung the blade hard at Kuja's head. The flat-end of one of the swords hit the sorcerer so hard that he was knocked sideways. Zidane gasped, shocked at his own sudden attack, and sat up. Kuja slumped over on the ground, dazed from the head-wound. Garland growled and began to stomp towards Kuja. But the dragon roared angrily and dodged in front of him, blocking his path.
Of course, Garland could have easily blasted the dragon out of the way with his new-found Gigahertz powers. However, the damage at that moment was done before the thought even crossed his mind . . .
There was a flash of light that caused everyone within fifty feet to hiss and cease their actions. Fratley was cursing, shielding his eyes with one clawed hand as two geonomes that had previously been latched onto him with their teeth dropped off and backed away.
Then he appeared in a brilliant shower of luminescence. Silver hair blowing elegantly in the phantom wind, the ends of his ebony blindfold shifting in the breeze. Held like a child in his arms was what appeared to be a hologram of Kuja – unmoving and fading out. Garland's mouth fell open, horrified, and he took a step away from the sudden trespassers. For the first time since Kuja's Trance on Terra, the crew saw fear in Garland's eyes.
"S-Saishoja . . .!" the old man gasped.
So Saishoja had returned . . . The only man he'd ever feared . . .
Garland glared at the newcomer, bristling. "You . . . You . . .!"
"Yes, me," Saishoja grinned. "I'm back, Garland. What's been taking you so long anyways? Why haven't you come after me yet?"
"I . . . I . . . You!"
Saishoja breathed a long, heavy sigh. "Yes, Garland, yes, it's me! Now, if you'd kindly stay where you are behind that dragon and let me work, maybe I won't stick around to watch your body bleed to death . . ."
Garland smirked. "I don't bleed anymore, Saishoja. I've become the Gigahertz, in case you hadn't noticed . . ."
"Blah, blah, blah, world domination, blah, blah, blah, assimilation, blah, blah, blah, blah, SHUT UP!"
Saishoja's teeth were bared. "Shut . . . up . . . Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to relieve myself of carrying this soul,"
Garland blinked, dumbstruck, then gasped.
"You BASTARD!!! YOU WOULDN'T /DARE/!!!"
"Wouldn't I, Garland? Wouldn't I?"
Zidane clenched a fist fearfully. /I don't understand . . . What's Saishoja going to do . . .? W-wait . . . He's not . . . He's not going to give Kuja his soul back, is he?! No, he can't! Then Garland would lose control over Kuja and Kuja would die!!!/
"No, Saishoja, stop!" Zidane yelled, failing to notice that quite a lot of the fighting around him had subsided or stopped completely. "If you do that, Kuja will DIE!!!"
"Exactly!" Garland shrieked, panicking. "You wouldn't kill your own heir, would you?!!"
". . .You're tempting me . . ." a fanged grin spread across Saishoja's lips, his tail snapping the ground irritably.
/Why . . .?/ Zidane thought desperately. /Why . . .?! Why would Saishoja do this?!! He's supposed to be on OUR side!/
"Well, here goes nothin'," Saishoja began muttering some incantation, a light beginning to shimmer through the aura of his form.
"No!" Garland moved forward and the dragon, snarling, backed out of his way. Zidane's eyes were wide and shining with fear.
"Saishoja, STOP!!!"
Saishoja's invisible gaze fell in Zidane's direction, freezing the young genome's insides. Then he whispered two, simple words . . .
"Trust me,"
Garland cried out like a cornered animal and raced towards where Kuja was hurriedly regaining his composure (and his need to kill Zidane).
"Hurry! Hurry! UP!!!" Garland gripped Kuja's arms hard and began to drag him to his feet. Suddenly, the sorcerer stumbled and clutched Garland's wrists, gasping. Garland's face fell.
". . . Shit . . ."
Saishoja was laughing hysterically, the flickering image of Kuja completely gone. "Too late, Garland! If I were you, I'd back away from him . . .!"
Garland, though snapping that he saw no reason to do so, dropped Kuja and stumbled backwards. Zidane had his hands over his mouth.
"No . . . No . . .!"
Kuja – slumped over on the floor – clenched a fist near his chest, coughing. "Wh-wha . . .? Wh-where AM I?!" He looked around with his dazed white eyes, trembling. "Oh geez . . ."
Zidane made a move to run towards his brother when something leapt on top of him, knocking him to the floor.
"Argh! God damn geonomes, I forgot this was the final battle!"
Reality came back as a cold slap in the face. Looking around, Zidane saw his people, struggling and exhausting themselves as geonomes attacked and fell dead around them. The floor was littered with the bodies of slaughtered enemies, some so young they were still considered children. And Zidane could see his own team beginning to fail. Vivi was no longer standing and Freya was trying hurriedly to drag him out of the way of battle.
Zidane felt a cold blast flutter past his head and felt the weight of the geonome blown off him. Blinking in confusion, Zidane looked up to see Saishoja standing proudly above his fallen form, holding out one flawless hand for the genome to latch onto. Frowning, Zidane took it and allowed Saishoja to pull him back onto his feet.
"Excellent," Saishoja grinned. "We should go defeat Garland together,"
"No, stay away from me!" Zidane nearly sobbed, recoiling from the soul. "You just killed my brother!"
Saishoja's lip twitched slightly as though he found Zidane somewhat amusing. "Did I, Zidane?"
"Yes, you did!"
"Oh, come now!" Saishoja laughed, glancing back to make sure Garland was still far enough away that they were safe. "Do you honestly think I would do anything that stupid without some legitimate motive for doing so?!"
"Yes, you would!" Zidane yelled. "If it was a selfish goal or simply a personal gain! You don't care about me or Kuja or even Gaia for that matter!"
Saishoja smirked. "Trust me,"
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Kuja stood there, the rain lashing violently against his face.
"I SURRENDER!!!" he screamed, arms open, voice dying on the wild wind. The sky was pitch black, the city of Alexandria smudged out in the boiling storm. He felt the movement behind him as the rain lashed violently against his face.
/I'm sorry, Brahne . . . I failed you . . ./ he thought, speaking to the imprisoned souls held within him. A gentle, reassuring voice responded.
/. . . It's not your fault . . . Your brother will save us . . ./
Then he gasped, pain flooding his vision as Kuja felt the hot needle in his back, tugging him inside-out. He panted, sinking to the roof, the insane laughter of Drakja echoing behind him.
/Just let it end . . .!/ he thought miserably. /Please . . .! Let it end . . .!!!/
Darkness overtook him as Kuja hit the roof. Everything went black.
"No . . . No . . .!"
Kuja blinked. /What the . . .?/
And then he was somewhere else.
. . . Just like that . . .
Completely and utterly dazed, Kuja stared about, his vision still blurred as he returned from what he had been sure was death only seconds earlier. He was even lying in the exact same position on the floor. It was like he'd passed out, closed his eyes, opened his eyes, and found his body moved somewhere completely different when no time at all had actually passed.
"Wh-wha . . .? Wh-where AM I?!" He was coughing, shaking uncontrollably. There was an unbearable pain coursing through every inch of his body. He was finding it difficult to breathe. "Oh geez . . ."
Kuja stood up shakily, clenching a fist near his chest. He was amazed he'd been able to stand (though he felt himself growing weaker every second). His somewhat doubled vision locked on Garland and the warlock frowned.
". . . the hell?"
Garland looked crestfallen, staring at Kuja as if he'd just been diving for apples and dropped one seconds before breaking the surface.
"Well, Kuja, it was nice knowing you," Garland muttered, glaring fixedly at his creation. Kuja blinked.
". . . What . . .?"
"Your purpose has been fulfilled. You, Kuja of the Shi Tribe, have been officially terminated. Good day,"
And, as if these words had some sort of power over him, Kuja suddenly felt as if a pair of fists had grabbed his lungs and rushed the air from his chest. The sorcerer blinked, too shocked to even realize what had happened. The silver-haired genome sniggered, delirious and astounded by the utter stupidity of the whole thing as the physical shock finally set in.
"Hehe . . . Aw, fuck . . ."
Choking, Kuja dropped to his knees, gasping for the air he couldn't receive.
Nearby, as if in another world, he heard Zidane's voice screaming.
"No! Let me go to him!"
"No, Zidane! No, you'll get killed! Believe me!"
Kuja furrowed his brow, unable to fully understand the words he was hearing as everything began to swirl about him. That voice . . . So like his own . . . Saishoja . . .?
There was a battle raging around him. People were screaming. Zidane was being held back by someone who was glowing. Kuja could just barely see them. There was a fierce pounding in his ears.
/I'm going to die . . ./ He realized, too numb to care. /My limit has come . . . What did my mages call it? Stopping? Yes . . . This is what stopping is like . . ./.
The reel began to play, the one he'd always heard about when someone has a near-death experience. The reassessment of one's life as everything flashes before your eyes. Kuja saw everything like a movie he had no control over. That's when the horror began . . .
/Flash/
"Why has no one prayed for my son's soul to rest?!!"
"Sir, they cannot find it!"
/Flash/
"Master Garland, I don't want to kill anymore!"
/Flash/
"Alone for awhile, I've been searching through the dark . . ."
/Flash/
"BURNING! BURNING! THE SUMMONER VILLAGE IS BURNING!!!"
/Flash/
"No . . . No gods, please . . . Why are you doing this to me . . .?!!"
/Flash/
"So far and away, see the bird as it flies by . . ."
/Flash/
"Kuja, wait! Don't leave me!!! KUJA!!!"
/Flash/
"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
/Flash/
"Who is he? Who is the one that has done this to you?"
/Flash/
Fire, burning, pain, death . . .
/Flash/
"What is his name?!! Tell me the name of the man who has done this to you!"
/Flash/
So much pain . . . Just let me die . . . Please . . .
I don't want to be alone anymore . . .
/Flash/
WHO IS THE MAN?!! TELL ME HIS NAME!!!
/Flash/
He saw them. His brother and his comrades. They were dying, the forces of Garland overpowering them. The little mage was unconscious, Mikoto was sobbing in the corner. What had Garland done to her?! Blood was flowing like a red river across the floor, geonomes littering the ground, some still clinging to the life they should have had. The queen was injured, limping, she was falling.
So much destruction . . . Death and pain . . . The world of Gaia was ending.
/Who is the man that did this?!/ the demanding voice screamed over and over and over again. /Who is he?!! WHAT – IS – HIS – NAME?!!!/
Kuja hit the floor hard, the last breath in his body fading. Can't remember, can't remember . . . Anger, anger, anger. They were all going to die . . . Every . . . Last . . . One . . .
Hatred, hatred, resentment, pain, pain, pain. He was going to die hating, die in physical agony. No, no, no . . . He closed his eyes, ready to finally end it all, subside the pounding of fury in his ears.
WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!! WHO?!!
BAM.
His eyes snapped open. And he remembered.
If he hadn't watched his life flash before his eyes, the very drugs of death would have made him forget who, who had done this to them all . . . A faint snarl escaped his lips and he found himself clenching a fist he would have been incapable of pulling seconds before. Someone was standing a few feet away, smiling warmly upon him.
"Yes . . . Be angry . . . Only you can save them now . . ."
"Angry . . ." Kuja murmured, eyelids fluttering in exhaustion. "I hate him . . ."
"You'll die before him . . ."
"Never . . ."
"Then go get him . . ." There was a pause. "Tell me the name of the man that did this to you, your brother, Gaia, everyone . . ."
Kuja gasped and he felt sudden power explode through every fiber of his being.
"GARLAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!"
WHOOSH.
The ground cracked, splitting across the seams, roiling magma shifting thickly beneath it. Darkness seemed to billow towards the ceiling. Almost everyone in the room was knocked off their feet as if smacked with the force of a sack of bricks. The walls shook, tentacles of black energy rocked the hall. Garland hit the wall hard, struck too dumb to contemplate what could have thrown a Gigahertz off its feet. Everyone was down, geonomes screamed in fear. Saishoja had vanished. A thick dust was settling as flames erupted and swooped up the walls.
He rose slowly in the heat like a monster reawakening from the depths of Hell. His shoulders were hunched with his eternal pain, body shaking. Black feathers rustled in cold, hate-filled air, magic curling up from the dust. His lips had become a charcoal black, his body rippling with muscle and ebony fur. His tail, now ringed with black, curled upon the floor, his night-colored hair shifting as he straightened his hunch. Twilight-eyes glinted hungrily, pale face twitching with fury. A hiss escaped his throat, the name of the one creature he would make suffer that night:
". . . Garland . . ."
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A/N: Ooh, what just happened, henh?! I love how utterly confusing this chapter was. I probably befuddled the minds of everyone reading this thing and I respect this chapter for that, lol. But I guess I'll just be sittin' here on the sidelines wavin' my little flag and singing "GO KUJA GO!!! GO KUJA GO!!!" And my reviewers will be singing "DIE GARLAND DIE!!! DIE GARLAND DIE!!!" Ah, the joy . . .
Heh, one of my friends read this chapter and said something to the affect of "I think you and your entire cast have gone mental" lol. I think she might be right . . . But since I didn't invent most of the cast, y'all really can't blame me . . . Hmm, couple of important notes . . . Uh, for one thing, there was a very small reference to the movie "The Crow" in the above chapter, but you wouldn't have caught it unless you'd seen the movie several times and were familiar with some of its famous quotes (as I am, hehe). Also, as one of my friends made an allusion to this, I'll confirm now that Saishoja is DEFINITELY not evil . . . Okay, I know he came off evil in this chapter what with the whole "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MY ACTIONS ARE GOING TO KILL KUJA AND I DON'T CARE!!! MAH . . . MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" But I swear, he does it all with good intent . . . Also, I just saw the third Harry Potter movie and my pathetic love for Sirius Black has now come back for revenge . . . I think Kuja's jealous, heehee.
Kuja: Am not!
BMD: Are too! hugs Sirius
Sirius: Smirk
Kuja: Grrrrrrrrrr . . .
And because of my love for Sirius, the word "veil" has been officially removed from the English language . . . Those of you who have read the entire series know what I'm talkin' about . . . . evil glare From now on, the word "veil" has been replaced with "Hell-curtain" and the word "arch" (only in terms of the structure) has been replaced with "Evil bearer of the Hell-curtain." So there, hmph . . . bursts into tears regardless
REVIEW MY FICCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Or suffer!!!
Oh god . . . passes out from heat
Ooh, and a question. Anonymous(), sorry about the delay, lol. Um, it was DEFINITELY my dad not reading it in time pokes dad He was on a business trip and he told me to e-mail the chapter to him when I was done, but then I had a difficult time writing part of the chapter (mostly the battle stuff) and didn't get it to him. Which meant it would have been delayed maybe a DAY, except that my DAD pokes dad again didn't read it until, like, three or four days after he came back because he had "work to do" (hah!). As for the poems at the end, that wasn't to make the chapter longer (the chapter was already one of the longest yet by itself) but simply because, while perusing my Word documents, I stumbled across them and was, like, "Dude!" Very sorry, for the delay. Here's my question to you: You said your school year just started. Well, mine just ended, lol. I was just wondering where you lived . . . (just curious, you don't have to tell me grin).
Disclaimer: The Golden Rule: Own Final Fantasies, exactly as they own you. Which means, erm, not owning them, I guess . . .?
Warning! Major cliff-hanger ahead!
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"I wonder if it hurts to live,
And if they have to try,
And whether, could they choose between,
They would not rather die."
– "I Measure Every Grief" (excerpt), Emily Dickinson
"Are you guys ready?" Zidane stared about the interior of the Invincible at them all, his comrades, ashen faced but prepared to take on the world.
"I-I'm kinda scared . . ." Vivi admitted, nervously gripping his hat and tugging it down over his face.
"No! We know no fear!" Eiko complained, pointing accusingly at Vivi. "We're the . . . uh . . . The Unbeatable . . . er . . . Gaian People! And we shall vanquish ALL who oppose us! Rawr!" she added as an afterthought, puffing out her chest indignantly. Garnet was laughing, leaning on Zidane.
"You wanted us to be 'The Betrothed,' remember?"
Zidane smirked, wrapping his arm around his fiancé's shoulders. "Yeah, and then you said your talent was "up to snuff" but the name wasn't . . ."
Freya was chuckling nervously, sticking close to Fratley. "Whatever happens, you won't leave my side again . . . right?" she whispered.
"Never . . ." the Iron-Tailed echoed, closing his eyes and hugging Freya tighter.
"I'm gonna hack Garland into pieces!" Lani hissed, swinging her axe. There were many murmurs of assent.
"We're going to win!" Steiner affirmed, looking serious. "Because I just can't stand the thought of an unhappy ending!"
"Here, here!" Beatrix cheered, laughing. Though most of this was what many people would call "dumb-show," it was definitely helping to boost morale. The whir of the airship's motors seemed to deafen somewhat with the crew's rising confidence.
"So . . . what's everybody's motivation?" Zidane queried, frowning slightly. "I mean, what is it that we're really fighting for today?"
Silence fell. No one seemed to know what to say or wanted to be the first to say it. Zidane raised an eyebrow. "Alright, how 'bout a volunteer . . . Rusty?"
Steiner turned a bright shade of magenta and opened his mouth to reprimand the young thief when Garnet rested a delicate hand on his arm
"No, Steiner . . . We're a team now . . ."
The knight sighed, bowing his head in shame. "My motivation . . .?" he queried softly. "Gee . . . I dunno . . . I think . . . I think I just want to see . . . I want to see Alexandria shining bright again the way it was before our king – gods bless him – passed away. I want the crystal atop the castle to glitter as it once did before the city became so stained with sin . . . Yeah," he nodded, pouting. "Yeah, I'm doing this for Alexandria!"
"A noble cause," the others agreed. Zidane smirked.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Rusty. There definitely ain't any rust on your heart . . ."
Steiner stared at Zidane, rubbed his eyes, and stared some more. Could it be . . .? Yes, it was true. Zidane had changed a lot. Matured, perhaps. He'd learned some hard lessons in such a short life. For better or for worse, he was different . . .
"What about you, Fratley?" Zidane continued, glancing around at the small gathering. Fratley shifted, seeming to ponder his answer.
"I will admit," he said. "That my main goal is to see Burmecia restored as well. Oddly enough, part of this quest is to aid the man who helped destroy it . . . Yet, I think in the end I simply want the threat eliminated. I want my people to be able to walk the streets of Burmecia – and Cleyra for that matter, though they have turned their backs on us in these hard times – and not have to be afraid anymore. I want the children to be able to run in the streets without supervision. I want fathers to think about things other than sending their sons off to war . . . And you know what?" Fratley paused, seeming to blush slightly. "I think I might be doing some of this in memory of our . . . of our lost comrade, Quina. I think, in all this, the Qu stands as a lasting tribute to the sacrifices our people have made. I guess I just want justice to be served . . ."
Freya was beaming proudly. "Yes, that is what I want as well . . ." she spoke so softly that the others had to lean in to hear her. "I am doing this so that dear Fratley and I may have at least some semblance of a chance of eternal happiness together . . . War has driven him away from me once . . . And I shall not let it happen again . . ."
"And it won't," Fratley smiled, caressing Freya's cheek gently with his clawed hand.
"What about you, Amarant?" Zidane now turned to the silent, brooding bandit. Amarant grunted.
"I'm doing this so I can watch Garland suffer . . . I've spent my life being an asshole . . . I guess killing another asshole will feel just as good as eliminating my asshole-ish self . . ."
"That makes so little sense, yet at the same time means everything . . ." Eiko was gaping at Amarant as if trying not to laugh.
"You got that right!" Lani chirped. "And I'll be right alongside him, killing Garland just so I can get the satisfaction of saying /I/ murdered not only Amarant's supposed asshole side, but the satisfaction of murdering the biggest ASSHOLE to ever walk this sorry earth!!!"
Though shocked, half the room actually applauded at this blunt statement. After so much suffering under Garland's rule, the idea of his blood-strewn corpse was almost as pleasing as smelling a bouquet of fresh roses.
"Well, I'm doing it for the Summoners!" Eiko piped in, shaking a finger. "Kuja may have destroyed them, but Garland made him do it in the first place! It's Garland's fault I spent my life living in a pile of rubble with only my moogles for company! And hell, I'm doin' this for THEM too! And now that I know there are still a few Summoners left – the queen, that Megan girl . . . Well maybe there's still hope of restoring our race! I gotta give my people a chance, ya know what I mean?!"
"What about you, Vivi?" All eyes turned onto the little mage. Vivi ducked his head fearfully, fidgeting.
"I-I just want my kids to be happy . . . They were in Alexandria Castle when the geonomes came . . . I don't even want to think about wh-what could have happened if they'd been . . ." Vivi gulped. "If they'd been attacked . . ."
"And they won't be while I still have a breath in my body," Garnet hissed. "I'm doing this for all the suffering Garland has ever caused me . . . Both my mothers . . . My city and comrades . . . What he's tried to do to my fiancé and his people . . . For poor Mikoto and the genomes . . . And . . ." Garnet blushed profusely, laughing. "I guess I'm doing it in the memory of my, er, future brother-in-law too . . . It seems that every injustice that has ever been done upon me in my life was Garland's fault . . . I guess my motivation is just to show him how it feels to be miserable . . . He needs to be taught that lesson . . . And it has to be painful . . ."
"I'm likin' the sound of this!" Eiko grinned devilishly.
"And you, Beatrix?" Zidane inquired curiously. Beatrix sighed.
"I'm doing it for everything that I've ever stood for in life . . . The pact I made to protect my city, my queen, the Alexandrians . . ." she glanced, blushing, at Steiner for a moment and then looked away hurriedly. Zidane grinned faintly so she wouldn't notice HE'D noticed. "I'm doing it for the promise I made to Gaia and the promise I made to Kuja . . . I don't want to see suffering anymore . . . So I guess I've got to start at the source . . . And that source is Garland . . ." Beatrix paused, then smiled.
"And you . . .? Zidane . . .?"
Zidane fell silent, staring at the floor. Well, what the hell was he SUPPOSED to say?!
"I . . . I don't know . . ."
"Of course you do!" Garnet stared, disbelieving, at Zidane. "You must, or you wouldn't have asked US to find the answer in ourselves!"
Zidane scratched his head uneasily, not even entirely sure what he wanted to say. "I'm just doing this so that . . ." the blonde raised his head slowly and looked up at his comrades – his friends – with shining eyes.
"I'm doing this so our story will have a happy ending . . ."
There was a hesitant silence amongst the crew of the Invincible. Some people were smiling, others were contemplating this answer.
"We WILL have a happy ending . . ." Vivi muttered with more confidence in his voice than they had ever heard him have.
"Of course we will," Beatrix was glaring as if furious that anybody could even THINK they wouldn't.
"It just . . . It just seems so far away . . ." Zidane sighed, shaking his head. "Like tomorrow will never come . . . I mean, we have so much we need to do and so little time to do it. No matter how I look at it, we'll never be able to REALLY go home. Something, somewhere, will be so radically changed from this adventure that complete happiness will never be achieved . . . So I guess I'm just doing this so that I can have that one little hope to grasp onto . . . That hope that maybe – just maybe – everything will work out in the end . . ."
Nobody needed to ask what he was talking about. They'd stayed away from the topic, but they all knew deep in their hearts that Zidane was going to lose family by the time all this was over. One way or another, somebody he loved dearly was going to die. It was just a question of who, how, and by whom . . .
"We're almost there," Fratley commented, gazing out the yawning front window of the airship. "We should probably get ready . . ."
"Yeah, and somebody ought to go wake that Megan girl," Garnet pointed out, frowning slightly. She couldn't help but notice that everyone called the third Summoner the "Megan girl."
"I'll do it," said Beatrix, shrugging. After witnessing Kuja tear his arm through Amarant's claws a few hours ago, Megan had passed out cold (she was still afraid of blood no matter what anyone did to change it . . .). She hadn't woken since. Of course, she wouldn't be fighting (as she had no discernable powers to speak of), but she had insisted on coming along anyways, most likely for moral support and the hope that she wouldn't miss the wonderful shower of blood when they finally tore Garland limb from limb (at least, that's what she HOPED would happen).
Beatrix took her leave of the others and slunk off into one of the outer rooms of the Invincible where Megan lay, unconscious, upon the floor. The general smirked and bent over, shaking the Summoner gently.
"Hey . . ." she whispered. "Hey, wake up . . . We're touching down now . . ."
Megan groaned, shaking out her head and grasping blindly for her glasses. Beatrix retrieved them for her and Megan, still lying upon the ground with her eyes clenched tightly shut, took them and slipped them on. Then she sat up and opened her eyes. Beatrix nearly gasped. They were swelling with tears just ready to pour.
"Whoa, whoa . . . Wh-what's wrong . . .?"
Megan sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "He shredded his arm and didn't even seem to feel it . . .!" the Summoner practically wailed. "It should have hurt but it didn't!"
Beatrix blinked, shocked, and got down on one knee beside the young woman. "Megan, Megan everything's going to work out . . . We're going to kill Garland and then you won't ever have to see someone do something as disgusting as that again . . ."
"It's not that . . .!" Megan sobbed, burying her face in her knees. Beatrix hesitated, then asked a very, VERY daring question.
"Megan . . . What are your true feelings about Kuja . . .?"
Megan stopped and raised her face, bleary-eyed, to stare at Beatrix. "M-my feelings for . . . for HIM . . .?"
"Yes. What do you really think of Zidane's brother . . .?"
Silence wrapped about the room, sinking into the frigid steel walls. Megan had the deer-caught-in-headlights expression on her face. She trembled, then spat and rose furiously to her feet.
"I THINK HE'S AN INSUFFERABLE JACK-ASS AND I HOPE HE ROTS IN HELL!!!"
Then the Summoner stormed, sobbing, from the room. Beatrix gaped after her, frowning, and got back to her feet. A small smile flicked across her features.
". . . No she doesn't . . ."
The Invincible had landed and now the crew stood before the entrance to the Fire Shrine. Only two possible outcomes awaited them there: either they won and Gaia could finally be at peace, or they lost and the threads of the universe became forfeit.
"Well, it certainly LOOKS grim . . ." Lani cocked her head, staring at the base of the mountain. "But, well, you can't live your life based on speculation . . ."
"Sure you can!" Eiko snapped. "We're all going to die and that's that . . ."
"Hey, what happened to that talk we just had on the airship?!" Garnet hissed. "We're going to win, remember?"
"Ah, right, right . . ."
Zidane smirked, walking steadily through the heat-shimmering entrance of what was once Taki-Bi's lair. The air was stifling and the others were complaining almost immediately as they followed the genome in.
The count-down was beginning . . . The fate of Gaia would be sealed . . . Already Terra was drifting lazily through space towards Gaia . . . Already Garland had absorbed the souls of innocents . . . Already Kuja and Mikoto stood blindly in the midst of chaos.
Would they win or would they lose . . .? And what would they lose, even by winning?
The passages were growing steadily darker as the team crept along. Fear was beginning to crawl up their spines. There would be no turning back this time . . . It was all going to end here . . .
And then they were back in Taki-Bi's arena. The enormous chamber was lit and cleared, ready for battle. Indeed, it would all end here . . . Now they just had to wait for Garland and the cavalry to show up . . .
"Scary, scary, scary, scary . . ." Eiko kept muttering, clutching her flute.
"Gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im, gonna kill 'im . . ." Of course, THAT was Amarant . . .
And then it came . . . It was not unlike the breaking of the Apocalypse upon the world (if one is feeling cryptic . . .).
WHOOSH!
Flames erupted throughout the chamber. A cackling arose from the spreading wildfire that circled about the hall. The crew backed up, drawing weapons. A dark shadow was forming within the heat, rising slowly from the primordial soup. Flames twisted and curled towards the ceiling. The figure's laugh echoed against the stone walls.
Then he emerged, not unlike like a spider crawling from its nest. White eyes were now a putrid, socket-black, gray hair flailing in the wind, black armor now lusterless, pieces of it morphed to android-metal. And in the center of this dark conglomeration was a red orb that glowed and pulsed fiercely with a light so burningly bright that if one dared to gaze into its depths they would go blind . . .
Garland levitated into the air, snickering, and then landed lightly upon the floor – cape billowing dramatically behind him – before the flames. Muscles bulged where muscles had once not once been present on his thin frame, fangs glistened behind his disgusting lips where an even more atrocious smile twisted.
"Oh my god . . ." Zidane's eyes were wide. "What the HELL did you do to yourself, man?!"
"Thank you for the compliment . . ." Garland intoned softly. His voice now carried a slithering aura to it that formed an icy chill in the air when he spoke. "I have finally absorbed the power that I so deserve . . . I have reached a higher state of being – not unlike enlightenment . . . I can tap into powers now that only the gods could ever dream of! And when I have defeated you all, I shall absorb the souls of my first angel of death and that fiend, Saishoja . . . Then I will be the most powerful creature to ever grace the soils of Terra and Gaia combined!" Garland laughed maniacally, drunk delirious with his own victory. This was horribly familiar . . .
"So, er, I guess this is what we would call the Final Battle, eh?" Freya queried, huffing and readying her spear. Garland looked thoughtful.
"You COULD say that . . . But really . . . It's more of a show-down . . ."
"No, it's a battle," Steiner corrected. "After all, it's the good-guys versus the final bad-guy and . . ." He stopped, realizing that what he'd just said had to be the stupidest thing to ever pass his lips. The knight bowed his head in shame. "I am . . . an idiot . . ."
"You ARE an idiot . . ." Zidane hissed, clenching his daggers. "Heh! All of us against JUST HIM? Hehe . . .You fuggin' WISH, Steiner!"
"Heh . . . Indeed . . ." Garland snapped his fingers. There was a very thick silence hanging above the chamber. Then they came, creeping from the shadows, slithering from the walls. The hallway, before so dark, was now lit by hundreds of glittering green eyes. They were drawing in from all sides, surrounding the crew and Garland. There were hundreds of them, like a sea of parasitic insects. Slinking here and there like cats, fangs bared, claws at the ready. The whipping of tails could be heard and the suppressed giggles of those wretched, god-be-damned geonomes . . .
Garland glanced about blandly as these creatures of the night moved closer and closer, forming a circle of death around the heavily outnumbered team. Suffocating, stifling, groping for the kill . . .
"Stop," Garland commanded. The geonomes quickly froze, still grinning and gnashing their teeth. The Terran overlord raised an eyebrow. "Drakja!"
"Yes, Master . . .?" A shiver rippled across the room as the alpha-male strode arrogantly from the darkness. He swung his arms, head held high, sneering broadly as if he were already standing above the ruins of his victory-field . . . Smirking as if he'd already won . . . He moved into the circle beside Lulian who licked her lips, grinning devilishly at the crew she knew she was about to destroy. Ummei cowered nearby, whimpering and shaking his head. He was muttering something that sounded curiously like "I don' wanna . . .!" over and over again. Much to the horror of the crew, a young genome moved out from the circle and stood beside Garland, glaring at the crew with her bright, aqua eyes.
"Oh gods . . . Garland, don't you DARE throw Mikoto into this!"
Garland chuckled. "She obeys ME now, Zidane! This is one of the few things that will make her happy! Of course . . . This one here . . ." Garland raised an arm as Kuja stepped calmly out from behind him to flank the old man's side. "Doesn't understand happy or sad . . . He's just here to kill . . ."
Kuja said nothing, just continued to stare vacantly at the floor. Garland was stroking his hair lovingly like a pet while keeping one hand affectionately on Mikoto's head. Zidane was feeling intensely nauseous.
Garland glared at his quivering enemies. His eyes were black in color now – giving them the appearance of empty sockets, a part of the skin on his cheek was torn off to reveal wires and machinations of some kind; steel. What the old man had become, none of them knew . . . Years later, when the horror of those dark days had begun to dissipate, they would refer to this new creature as "Gigahertz Garland."
Now they just wanted to call him dead . . .
"Well?!" Zidane shouted. "What the hell are you waiting for?!!"
Garland grinned. "If you're in a rush . . . GET 'EM!!!"
There was a roar of crashing waves breaking upon the shore and before the crew could react, the circle of geonomes had collapsed inwards. A terrible cry burst through the room as metal clashed suddenly upon metal. Immediately, blood spurted.
Drakja plowed through the group with increased vigor. Outnumbered by ten to one, Zidane's team was almost immediately dog-piled. But they fought valiantly, soon dragging themselves from the mess.
The most memorable battle in the history of Gaia had begun . . .
Zidane cried out furiously as seven geonomes leapt at him . . . all at once. He gripped his Ultima Weapon by the middle handle and swung with all his might. In one fell sweep four geonomes shrieked as blood exploded from their bodies, thrown off their feet from the force of the blast. Zidane whipped around, ready to take on the other three. But before he could even think about swinging the blade at least six others attacked.
The rest of the team did the same, fending off as many geonomes as they possibly could yet finding that the more they wounded, the more came.
Garland stood idly by at the back of the room, looking bored. "Kuja, take care of this mess, will you?"
Kuja swung forward, ominous waves of magic swirling about his body. A hidden door nearby rumbled and churned open, allowing the warlock's beautiful silver dragon to storm, snarling, from elsewhere in the shrine. Kuja gripped the creature's neck and swung himself up. Then, with a roar, the dragon lifted a few feet into the air and dove like a bullet into the melee.
There were scattered cries of horror as the dragon plowed through at least twenty people. Geonomes teleported urgently out of the way but one of the heroes – Steiner – wasn't fast enough. Weighed down by his armor, he could only gasp as the battering-ram head of the monster smacked him full force and sent the knight flying.
"Steiner!" Beatrix cried out. The dragon landed and skid. At least two geonomes, too slow, were crushed beneath its weight. Blood sprayed into the battle arena as the fight continued to blaze. Everything was deafened with the sound of weapons and magic bursting throughout the chamber. There was nowhere to run. Every inch of the hall was being taken up by battle. It was like a war that had become compressed to the tiniest degree.
But far out, in another area of the Fire Shrine altogether, someone was not fighting. Someone was lurking through the shadows of the dungeons . . . sneaking where none were supposed to be . . .
Saishoja was striding almost nonchalantly through the cells, ignoring the stares of the released but unmoving genomes that sat, waiting for the fate of Gaia to be decided. Their aqua eyes followed him ominously through the hall. This curious man – with his silver tail and odd, ethereal glow – appeared to be looking for something. He whistled a tune, humming as he untied the ends of his blindfold and gently wrapped it around his wrist. The dead-man's bleached eyes stared forward into the darkness as his own, separate gaze roved across the cells.
"I know it's here somewhere . . .!" he sang, smirking. "And I'm gonna find it!"
Then he stopped, cocking his head. The cell to his right was the only one occupied by something that did not appear to be your average, every-day blonde genome. There was a man in it, but a man that did not appear very . . . solid. It seemed to be some sort of hologram, flickering and quivering, the image sometimes fading out completely. The picture's form was of an unconscious boy slumped against the wall with shimmering silver hair and four luxurious feathers sprouting from his part. The man, though in a state of death, could best be described as stunningly beautiful. Saishoja's sightless eyes widened and he clutched onto the bars, staring into the cell.
"My god . . . I found him . . ."
Of course, Saishoja knew better than to think this was a hologram. Due to past experience (and the fact that he WAS one) Saishoja knew this to most definitely be a soul. Kuja's soul . . .
"I don't believe it . . ." Saishoja stared at the warlock's fading spirit imprisoned within the Fire Shrine. "That dirty bastard . . . I knew it . . . I KNEW Kuja's soul was the same as . . . Heh. Garland thinks reusing souls won't make a difference . . . He's preserving them, right . . .? More like denying their family in the afterlife from seeing them!"
Saishoja sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the cool bars that he couldn't feel.
"If I let the soul fade out now . . . Then I can see Him again . . . But then what would stop Garland from finding it later . . .? No, defeating Garland comes first. I will make him pay . . ."
"I will make him pay for robbing my son's soul from me . . ."
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Zidane gasped for breath, backing up against the wall. Mikoto was walking steadily towards him, dagger in hand.
"Gods . . . My sister's tryin' to kill me . . ." the thief was stupefied, raising his own weapon. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?!"
Suddenly, Mikoto ducked as the dragon – ridden by the ever-powerful Kuja – swooped by in a shower of ivory feathers. Zidane covered his head, wincing.
Nearby, Drakja was laughing. "Go get 'em!" he teased, watching as Zidane inched away from his murderous sister. Then there was a shriek.
"Argh, Dagger!" Zidane gasped, looking up just in time to see Garnet stumble backwards from three giggling geonomes. Dark red blossomed across the midriff of her butter-yellow suit.
"You bastards!" Zidane abandoned Mikoto, rushing towards his fiancé.
"No, Zidane!" Garnet cried out. "I'm fine, run!"
"No, I – " Zidane suddenly realized what the queen had been pushing him away for. The genome made a frantic dive and felt his hair blow wildly in a fluttering wind as the dragon came shooting over him, grazing his very head with its downy belly.
Several geonomes plus Beatrix stopped and stared, mouths gaping. "Yowch,"
The dragon landed with a heavy thud in front of Zidane. Several geonomes rushed out of the way just in time. The blonde soon found himself staring up into the unforgiving eyes of a monster with steam blasting from its nostrils.
"Aw, shit . . . GUYS, I NEED BACK UP!!!"
But none could come. Every last member of the team was pitted against gangs more than they could handle. Zidane would have to fight this one out alone . . .
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Amarant laughed (which was a rare sight), his claws sinking into the neck of an unsuspecting geonome. It screamed in agony, seizing, and then fell limply from the talon's blades and into a pool of its own putrid blood. Lani giggled.
"Nice!" She swung her axe at another pair but they teleported away. Vivi was shaking uncontrollably as he watched a geonome curl up in smoke before him.
"I . . . I don't wanna kill . . ."
"Oh, just hang in there, Vivi . . .!" Eiko was standing nearby, ready to cast healing magic when necessary. The other members of the group were scattered about, battling to the death.
"Hey, you there! Get outta the way!" Lani was yelling at Megan who stood huddled in the corner, unable to fight. Megan blinked, then yelped as a stray Firaga bloomed in her direction. She dove out of the way just in time to watch the corner become enveloped in flames.
The battle was heating up . . . The higher ranking geonomes needed to work very little as their henchmen were making enough of a mess as it was.
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Garland strode calmly to where Zidane kneeled, petrified, staring into the burning eyes of Kuja's dragon.
"Well, now isn't this interesting . . .?" the elder queried. "What're you going to do, Zidane?"
"Picture how many ways I wish this dragon would kill you instead . . .!" was the snapped response.
"Ah, temper, temper . . ."
"Oh, fuck off," Zidane was glaring up at the dragon. Any second now Kuja was going to command it to attack. /Great . . . Just great . . ./.
But Zidane saw the oddest thing at that moment, something which he was positive no one else had seen. The dragon . . . winked . . . at him . . .
Of course, Zidane knew dragons couldn't wink. But he was under the impression that if they could, that's exactly what this dragon would have done.
"Oh for crying out loud, I'm bored already . . .!" Garland snapped. "Kuja, just have the damn dragon kill him for god's sake and give me his god- forsaken soul!"
Kuja didn't move. Neither did the dragon. Garland's face fell into a frown, his ebony eyes narrowing.
". . . Well? What are you waiting for . . .?"
Kuja said nothing. Garland sighed, remembering that Kuja was still an empty shell. "Kuja, TELL me what you're waiting for . . ."
Kuja hung his head, eyes sad, his voice lowered to a soft, robotic monotone. "The dragon says it cannot kill his master's brother and it refuses to obey the orders of any other than the aforementioned master,"
Garland's face flared with fury. "WHAT?!! BUT YOU /ARE/ HIS MASTER!!!"
Zidane was breathing deeply, staring up at the dragon in astonishment. It shook out its feathery neck, seeming to smirk. Kuja didn't respond. Garland was growling.
"Kuja, tell me why it won't obey you!"
". . . The dragon says I am not Kuja . . . It says I am nothing more than an empty shell with your embittered spirit stuffed into the body . . ."
Zidane snorted despite himself. /Ooh! Burn, hehe! The dragon's got guts!/
Garland was shaking with fury. "Heathen creature of the damned!" He pulled back a fist as if to punch the dragon but Zidane almost immediately spotted the spell crackling between his fingers. He made to cry out when suddenly the dragon shrieked and lashed out at Garland with its powerful, whip-like tail. And for all the power Garland had ever had, years of allowing others to do his dirty work had left the man with ONLY his power and no real intelligence for using it. It was, through this fault of his, that he was completely and utterly caught off guard by this sudden attack.
SMACK.
The powerful slam of the tail hit the old Terran full force. He stumbled backwards but had, unfortunately, had a barrier up the entire time. But something happened then that, though unnoticed by most of the geonomes, caused a few of Zidane's team members nearby to pause in their attacks and gape.
Mikoto – who was waiting obediently a few feet away – suddenly gasped as if resurfacing from water and suppressed a scream. The dagger that had previously been clenched in her hands slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor. She stared down at her trembling hand and then, dazedly, touched her face.
"Oh . . . Oh my god . . ."
Mikoto stumbled backwards and hit the wall. Then she stood there, shaking fiercely and crying like a child. But that was the least of Zidane's worries. Something else happened then that concerned the genome much, much more than that.
Atop the silver dragon, Kuja suddenly gagged, his eyes flashing.
". . . N-no . . ." the silver-haired sorcerer gasped.
Garland – who had just regained his balance – blinked and swore just as the young warlock choked and slipped sideways off his beast.
"Argh! God damnit!" Garland charged forward and, quite amazingly, caught Kuja's unconscious form just before he hit the ground. The dragon hissed, backing away from the loathsome man. Zidane was watching fearfully, the raging and screaming of his comrades and enemies dying out around him as he closed himself off from the chaos of the Fire Shrine. What he'd just seen . . . Could it be that . . .?
"Stand up!" Garland ordered, trying vainly to support Kuja's limp form. The old man hurriedly stood the silver-haired genome on his feet and pressed a palm firmly against his forehead, keeping one hand on Kuja's back to keep him standing. A faint light rippled about Kuja's body before his blank eyes snapped open yet again, seemingly back to his empty, puppet self. Then he took a step forward and stood perfectly straight, all signs of his previous plight now gone.
Garland sighed, turning away from Kuja to glance at Zidane. He scowled. "And just what are YOU smirking about?!"
Zidane was standing up slowly, smiling. "I've got you, Garland. I've found your weakness . . ."
The Terran overlord raised a bushy gray eyebrow. "Oho? And just what would that be, hmm?"
"When you lose your concentration, you lose control over anyone you are controlling," The ex-thief smiled superiorly. Garland flinched but hurriedly regained his composure.
"Yes, that's absolutely true. But there's only one problem, Zidane," Garland placed his hands on his hips, grinning. "You see, if that's the case, then if you attack me and I break my concentration, I lose control over Kuja . . . Which means I would no longer have control over his life expectancy. He would die immediately. What you just saw now was luck, Zidane. I happened to be there in time. But next time you attack me, your brother might not be so lucky,"
"I DON'T CARE!" Zidane screamed. "I'VE MADE MY DECISION, GARLAND!!! IF KUJA IS DOOMED TO PERISH BEFORE THIS BATTLE IS OVER, THEN I WILL GLADLY STAND BY AND WATCH HIM DIE!!!"
"Fine then," Garland glowered. "Kuja, get him!"
Kuja stepped daintily towards Zidane who backed up, snarling.
"I'll kill you!" he threatened. "I swear I will!"
Kuja charged. But this time, no fear of killing the warlock was stopping Zidane. The decision was made. If he had to fight his brother to the death, so be it.
"Die!" Zidane swung his blade but Kuja ducked and then propelled himself at the young genome, knocking him to the floor. Nearby, Zidane heard Garnet scream. Had she been watching the entire time?! She was supposed to be battling! Kuja raised his head as if, for a moment, considering going after the source of the scream. Fear instantly overcame Zidane and, in that second, he swung the blade hard at Kuja's head. The flat-end of one of the swords hit the sorcerer so hard that he was knocked sideways. Zidane gasped, shocked at his own sudden attack, and sat up. Kuja slumped over on the ground, dazed from the head-wound. Garland growled and began to stomp towards Kuja. But the dragon roared angrily and dodged in front of him, blocking his path.
Of course, Garland could have easily blasted the dragon out of the way with his new-found Gigahertz powers. However, the damage at that moment was done before the thought even crossed his mind . . .
There was a flash of light that caused everyone within fifty feet to hiss and cease their actions. Fratley was cursing, shielding his eyes with one clawed hand as two geonomes that had previously been latched onto him with their teeth dropped off and backed away.
Then he appeared in a brilliant shower of luminescence. Silver hair blowing elegantly in the phantom wind, the ends of his ebony blindfold shifting in the breeze. Held like a child in his arms was what appeared to be a hologram of Kuja – unmoving and fading out. Garland's mouth fell open, horrified, and he took a step away from the sudden trespassers. For the first time since Kuja's Trance on Terra, the crew saw fear in Garland's eyes.
"S-Saishoja . . .!" the old man gasped.
So Saishoja had returned . . . The only man he'd ever feared . . .
Garland glared at the newcomer, bristling. "You . . . You . . .!"
"Yes, me," Saishoja grinned. "I'm back, Garland. What's been taking you so long anyways? Why haven't you come after me yet?"
"I . . . I . . . You!"
Saishoja breathed a long, heavy sigh. "Yes, Garland, yes, it's me! Now, if you'd kindly stay where you are behind that dragon and let me work, maybe I won't stick around to watch your body bleed to death . . ."
Garland smirked. "I don't bleed anymore, Saishoja. I've become the Gigahertz, in case you hadn't noticed . . ."
"Blah, blah, blah, world domination, blah, blah, blah, assimilation, blah, blah, blah, blah, SHUT UP!"
Saishoja's teeth were bared. "Shut . . . up . . . Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to relieve myself of carrying this soul,"
Garland blinked, dumbstruck, then gasped.
"You BASTARD!!! YOU WOULDN'T /DARE/!!!"
"Wouldn't I, Garland? Wouldn't I?"
Zidane clenched a fist fearfully. /I don't understand . . . What's Saishoja going to do . . .? W-wait . . . He's not . . . He's not going to give Kuja his soul back, is he?! No, he can't! Then Garland would lose control over Kuja and Kuja would die!!!/
"No, Saishoja, stop!" Zidane yelled, failing to notice that quite a lot of the fighting around him had subsided or stopped completely. "If you do that, Kuja will DIE!!!"
"Exactly!" Garland shrieked, panicking. "You wouldn't kill your own heir, would you?!!"
". . .You're tempting me . . ." a fanged grin spread across Saishoja's lips, his tail snapping the ground irritably.
/Why . . .?/ Zidane thought desperately. /Why . . .?! Why would Saishoja do this?!! He's supposed to be on OUR side!/
"Well, here goes nothin'," Saishoja began muttering some incantation, a light beginning to shimmer through the aura of his form.
"No!" Garland moved forward and the dragon, snarling, backed out of his way. Zidane's eyes were wide and shining with fear.
"Saishoja, STOP!!!"
Saishoja's invisible gaze fell in Zidane's direction, freezing the young genome's insides. Then he whispered two, simple words . . .
"Trust me,"
Garland cried out like a cornered animal and raced towards where Kuja was hurriedly regaining his composure (and his need to kill Zidane).
"Hurry! Hurry! UP!!!" Garland gripped Kuja's arms hard and began to drag him to his feet. Suddenly, the sorcerer stumbled and clutched Garland's wrists, gasping. Garland's face fell.
". . . Shit . . ."
Saishoja was laughing hysterically, the flickering image of Kuja completely gone. "Too late, Garland! If I were you, I'd back away from him . . .!"
Garland, though snapping that he saw no reason to do so, dropped Kuja and stumbled backwards. Zidane had his hands over his mouth.
"No . . . No . . .!"
Kuja – slumped over on the floor – clenched a fist near his chest, coughing. "Wh-wha . . .? Wh-where AM I?!" He looked around with his dazed white eyes, trembling. "Oh geez . . ."
Zidane made a move to run towards his brother when something leapt on top of him, knocking him to the floor.
"Argh! God damn geonomes, I forgot this was the final battle!"
Reality came back as a cold slap in the face. Looking around, Zidane saw his people, struggling and exhausting themselves as geonomes attacked and fell dead around them. The floor was littered with the bodies of slaughtered enemies, some so young they were still considered children. And Zidane could see his own team beginning to fail. Vivi was no longer standing and Freya was trying hurriedly to drag him out of the way of battle.
Zidane felt a cold blast flutter past his head and felt the weight of the geonome blown off him. Blinking in confusion, Zidane looked up to see Saishoja standing proudly above his fallen form, holding out one flawless hand for the genome to latch onto. Frowning, Zidane took it and allowed Saishoja to pull him back onto his feet.
"Excellent," Saishoja grinned. "We should go defeat Garland together,"
"No, stay away from me!" Zidane nearly sobbed, recoiling from the soul. "You just killed my brother!"
Saishoja's lip twitched slightly as though he found Zidane somewhat amusing. "Did I, Zidane?"
"Yes, you did!"
"Oh, come now!" Saishoja laughed, glancing back to make sure Garland was still far enough away that they were safe. "Do you honestly think I would do anything that stupid without some legitimate motive for doing so?!"
"Yes, you would!" Zidane yelled. "If it was a selfish goal or simply a personal gain! You don't care about me or Kuja or even Gaia for that matter!"
Saishoja smirked. "Trust me,"
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Kuja stood there, the rain lashing violently against his face.
"I SURRENDER!!!" he screamed, arms open, voice dying on the wild wind. The sky was pitch black, the city of Alexandria smudged out in the boiling storm. He felt the movement behind him as the rain lashed violently against his face.
/I'm sorry, Brahne . . . I failed you . . ./ he thought, speaking to the imprisoned souls held within him. A gentle, reassuring voice responded.
/. . . It's not your fault . . . Your brother will save us . . ./
Then he gasped, pain flooding his vision as Kuja felt the hot needle in his back, tugging him inside-out. He panted, sinking to the roof, the insane laughter of Drakja echoing behind him.
/Just let it end . . .!/ he thought miserably. /Please . . .! Let it end . . .!!!/
Darkness overtook him as Kuja hit the roof. Everything went black.
"No . . . No . . .!"
Kuja blinked. /What the . . .?/
And then he was somewhere else.
. . . Just like that . . .
Completely and utterly dazed, Kuja stared about, his vision still blurred as he returned from what he had been sure was death only seconds earlier. He was even lying in the exact same position on the floor. It was like he'd passed out, closed his eyes, opened his eyes, and found his body moved somewhere completely different when no time at all had actually passed.
"Wh-wha . . .? Wh-where AM I?!" He was coughing, shaking uncontrollably. There was an unbearable pain coursing through every inch of his body. He was finding it difficult to breathe. "Oh geez . . ."
Kuja stood up shakily, clenching a fist near his chest. He was amazed he'd been able to stand (though he felt himself growing weaker every second). His somewhat doubled vision locked on Garland and the warlock frowned.
". . . the hell?"
Garland looked crestfallen, staring at Kuja as if he'd just been diving for apples and dropped one seconds before breaking the surface.
"Well, Kuja, it was nice knowing you," Garland muttered, glaring fixedly at his creation. Kuja blinked.
". . . What . . .?"
"Your purpose has been fulfilled. You, Kuja of the Shi Tribe, have been officially terminated. Good day,"
And, as if these words had some sort of power over him, Kuja suddenly felt as if a pair of fists had grabbed his lungs and rushed the air from his chest. The sorcerer blinked, too shocked to even realize what had happened. The silver-haired genome sniggered, delirious and astounded by the utter stupidity of the whole thing as the physical shock finally set in.
"Hehe . . . Aw, fuck . . ."
Choking, Kuja dropped to his knees, gasping for the air he couldn't receive.
Nearby, as if in another world, he heard Zidane's voice screaming.
"No! Let me go to him!"
"No, Zidane! No, you'll get killed! Believe me!"
Kuja furrowed his brow, unable to fully understand the words he was hearing as everything began to swirl about him. That voice . . . So like his own . . . Saishoja . . .?
There was a battle raging around him. People were screaming. Zidane was being held back by someone who was glowing. Kuja could just barely see them. There was a fierce pounding in his ears.
/I'm going to die . . ./ He realized, too numb to care. /My limit has come . . . What did my mages call it? Stopping? Yes . . . This is what stopping is like . . ./.
The reel began to play, the one he'd always heard about when someone has a near-death experience. The reassessment of one's life as everything flashes before your eyes. Kuja saw everything like a movie he had no control over. That's when the horror began . . .
/Flash/
"Why has no one prayed for my son's soul to rest?!!"
"Sir, they cannot find it!"
/Flash/
"Master Garland, I don't want to kill anymore!"
/Flash/
"Alone for awhile, I've been searching through the dark . . ."
/Flash/
"BURNING! BURNING! THE SUMMONER VILLAGE IS BURNING!!!"
/Flash/
"No . . . No gods, please . . . Why are you doing this to me . . .?!!"
/Flash/
"So far and away, see the bird as it flies by . . ."
/Flash/
"Kuja, wait! Don't leave me!!! KUJA!!!"
/Flash/
"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
/Flash/
"Who is he? Who is the one that has done this to you?"
/Flash/
Fire, burning, pain, death . . .
/Flash/
"What is his name?!! Tell me the name of the man who has done this to you!"
/Flash/
So much pain . . . Just let me die . . . Please . . .
I don't want to be alone anymore . . .
/Flash/
WHO IS THE MAN?!! TELL ME HIS NAME!!!
/Flash/
He saw them. His brother and his comrades. They were dying, the forces of Garland overpowering them. The little mage was unconscious, Mikoto was sobbing in the corner. What had Garland done to her?! Blood was flowing like a red river across the floor, geonomes littering the ground, some still clinging to the life they should have had. The queen was injured, limping, she was falling.
So much destruction . . . Death and pain . . . The world of Gaia was ending.
/Who is the man that did this?!/ the demanding voice screamed over and over and over again. /Who is he?!! WHAT – IS – HIS – NAME?!!!/
Kuja hit the floor hard, the last breath in his body fading. Can't remember, can't remember . . . Anger, anger, anger. They were all going to die . . . Every . . . Last . . . One . . .
Hatred, hatred, resentment, pain, pain, pain. He was going to die hating, die in physical agony. No, no, no . . . He closed his eyes, ready to finally end it all, subside the pounding of fury in his ears.
WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!! WHO?!!
BAM.
His eyes snapped open. And he remembered.
If he hadn't watched his life flash before his eyes, the very drugs of death would have made him forget who, who had done this to them all . . . A faint snarl escaped his lips and he found himself clenching a fist he would have been incapable of pulling seconds before. Someone was standing a few feet away, smiling warmly upon him.
"Yes . . . Be angry . . . Only you can save them now . . ."
"Angry . . ." Kuja murmured, eyelids fluttering in exhaustion. "I hate him . . ."
"You'll die before him . . ."
"Never . . ."
"Then go get him . . ." There was a pause. "Tell me the name of the man that did this to you, your brother, Gaia, everyone . . ."
Kuja gasped and he felt sudden power explode through every fiber of his being.
"GARLAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!"
WHOOSH.
The ground cracked, splitting across the seams, roiling magma shifting thickly beneath it. Darkness seemed to billow towards the ceiling. Almost everyone in the room was knocked off their feet as if smacked with the force of a sack of bricks. The walls shook, tentacles of black energy rocked the hall. Garland hit the wall hard, struck too dumb to contemplate what could have thrown a Gigahertz off its feet. Everyone was down, geonomes screamed in fear. Saishoja had vanished. A thick dust was settling as flames erupted and swooped up the walls.
He rose slowly in the heat like a monster reawakening from the depths of Hell. His shoulders were hunched with his eternal pain, body shaking. Black feathers rustled in cold, hate-filled air, magic curling up from the dust. His lips had become a charcoal black, his body rippling with muscle and ebony fur. His tail, now ringed with black, curled upon the floor, his night-colored hair shifting as he straightened his hunch. Twilight-eyes glinted hungrily, pale face twitching with fury. A hiss escaped his throat, the name of the one creature he would make suffer that night:
". . . Garland . . ."
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A/N: Ooh, what just happened, henh?! I love how utterly confusing this chapter was. I probably befuddled the minds of everyone reading this thing and I respect this chapter for that, lol. But I guess I'll just be sittin' here on the sidelines wavin' my little flag and singing "GO KUJA GO!!! GO KUJA GO!!!" And my reviewers will be singing "DIE GARLAND DIE!!! DIE GARLAND DIE!!!" Ah, the joy . . .
Heh, one of my friends read this chapter and said something to the affect of "I think you and your entire cast have gone mental" lol. I think she might be right . . . But since I didn't invent most of the cast, y'all really can't blame me . . . Hmm, couple of important notes . . . Uh, for one thing, there was a very small reference to the movie "The Crow" in the above chapter, but you wouldn't have caught it unless you'd seen the movie several times and were familiar with some of its famous quotes (as I am, hehe). Also, as one of my friends made an allusion to this, I'll confirm now that Saishoja is DEFINITELY not evil . . . Okay, I know he came off evil in this chapter what with the whole "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! MY ACTIONS ARE GOING TO KILL KUJA AND I DON'T CARE!!! MAH . . . MAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" But I swear, he does it all with good intent . . . Also, I just saw the third Harry Potter movie and my pathetic love for Sirius Black has now come back for revenge . . . I think Kuja's jealous, heehee.
Kuja: Am not!
BMD: Are too! hugs Sirius
Sirius: Smirk
Kuja: Grrrrrrrrrr . . .
And because of my love for Sirius, the word "veil" has been officially removed from the English language . . . Those of you who have read the entire series know what I'm talkin' about . . . . evil glare From now on, the word "veil" has been replaced with "Hell-curtain" and the word "arch" (only in terms of the structure) has been replaced with "Evil bearer of the Hell-curtain." So there, hmph . . . bursts into tears regardless
REVIEW MY FICCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Or suffer!!!
Oh god . . . passes out from heat
Ooh, and a question. Anonymous(), sorry about the delay, lol. Um, it was DEFINITELY my dad not reading it in time pokes dad He was on a business trip and he told me to e-mail the chapter to him when I was done, but then I had a difficult time writing part of the chapter (mostly the battle stuff) and didn't get it to him. Which meant it would have been delayed maybe a DAY, except that my DAD pokes dad again didn't read it until, like, three or four days after he came back because he had "work to do" (hah!). As for the poems at the end, that wasn't to make the chapter longer (the chapter was already one of the longest yet by itself) but simply because, while perusing my Word documents, I stumbled across them and was, like, "Dude!" Very sorry, for the delay. Here's my question to you: You said your school year just started. Well, mine just ended, lol. I was just wondering where you lived . . . (just curious, you don't have to tell me grin).