I don't own anything except the Takahari family, their Dragoon Spirits, Kenji Okamura, and Victor d'Eltham
I was still sprawled next to the pool where we had fought the Spheromorph when I awoke.
Groggy, I reflexively reached over my shoulder with my right hand, expecting to grasp the hilt of my blade. It came as a shock when my hand encountered nothing.
For I no longer had a right hand.
"Lie still, Ian," Rose said, holding my remaining hand. "You're still in shock from your wound, and you need to rest; you've never been hurt this badly before."
"What...?" Incredulous, I stared at the stump of my right arm, severed above the elbow. Then memories began to flood back, of my duel with the cyborg ninja, whose feminine voice I seemed to remember from some other place and time, and of the surprise appearance of Victor d'Eltham, arriving when he was least expected.
"How is he, Rose?" Ryan asked anxiously from where he stood, a few feet away. "Is he gonna make it?"
"There was never any doubt of that, Ryan," she replied. "But, like his eye, the arm is gone for good. And so is his ring; after it sank, it melted, for reasons I do not comprehend."
I groaned. "How long was I out?"
"About an hour, niisan," Karen answered, standing guard. "Ever since that guy with the broadsword drove off the cyborg. Who was he, anyway? You looked like you knew him."
"I do," I replied. Despite Rose's protests, I carefully sat up, then stood, trying not to look at my arm. "That was Victor d'Eltham, a mystery man who is at least six hundred years old. I don't know much about him myself, but he's no vampire, you can be sure of that. I don't know how he's survived this long, but he's no bloodsucker. I met him eight years ago, in Bavaria. He refused to explain himself until we had fought, but after our battle ended in a draw, he revealed some of who he was and what he was doing."
Moving awkwardly, I shifted Raiden-Ken's scabbard so that the hilt would point over my left should, stooped to pick up the blade and sheath it, and then continued. "Victor said he'd been waiting for centuries for me, or someone like me, to arrive, though he didn't say precisely why. He did, however, seem pleased at my skill with a blade. He also mentioned that he was once a member of the Knights Templar, during the time of the Crusades. I gather that it was as a Templar Knight that he became immortal, however it was that he managed it. Since then," I continued, rubbing my arm, "he's shown up occasionally to 'test my skills', or pull my bacon out of the fire. I recall an incident in Rome, in particular."
"What about that ninja thing?" Ryan asked. "Who was she?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, brother. Whoever she is, she seems intent on fighting me to the death." I frowned. "I honestly can't think of any women I've met that you haven't who'd want to kill me, aside from a few vampires I've killed. Couldn't be one of them, anyway; it was hard to tell through the exoskeleton's mic, but I think her accent was French."
"With you, Ian, you never can tell," Karen said, shaking her head. "You make the weirdest enemies, sometimes."
"It's a talent."
My announcement that I was prepared to travel took the Spirans by surprise. "But you're wounded!" Yuna protested.
"Yeah, you lost an arm, in case you didn't notice!" Rikku agreed.
Auron, on the other hand, gazed at me with an evaluating look in his eyes. "You are sure?"
"Auron, if I couldn't fight one-handed with either hand, I wouldn't have passed my ninjutsu training," I replied, understanding exactly what he meant. "And I want to find out exactly what's going on. That cyborg..." I trailed off, lost in my own thoughts.
"What is a cyborg, yah?" Wakka asked. For once, even his tone was merely one of polite inquiry; perhaps he recognized the severity of my injury and didn't wish to add insult to grievous bodily harm.
"Are you sure you wanna know?" Karen asked him. "It's machina, if that's what you were thinking. Pretty advanced, even for us."
"Uh, never mind," he said. "If it's machina, I don't even wanna know."
"It shouldn't pose too much of an obstacle for all of us," Auron observed, hefting his huge blade.
I firmly shook my head. "Thanks for the offer, but no. This is something I have to deal with alone, without help. Even you, Rose," I added. "I'm sorry, but this, more than any other battle I've ever fought, is mine to fight, and mine alone."
"I see," the legendary Guardian said. "I understand. Some battles must be fought alone."
I, of course, didn't understand why he had just repeated what I had said, but the Spirans seemed in awe of his statement, so I let it pass.
We finally emerged from that accursed forest within minutes, and we found ourselves in a snowy region. "So this is Macalania," I mused. "Chilly, isn't it?" I turned to Yuna. "Let me guess: you get an Ice-elemental aeon from the temple here."
"Probably," she replied. "But, since my father left me behind on his pilgrimage, I can't be sure. I've never seen it."
"Hey, isn't that Trommel?" Karen said abruptly, pointing to a figure nearing us. "Definitely a Guado, from the hair."
It was indeed Seymour's aide-de-camp. "Lady Yuna," he said, bowing. "Maester Seymour wishes to apologize for having left so abruptly; we were not expecting your answer so soon."
"It is all right," she replied.
"Please, this way, My Lady." Trommel began leading her off, down the trail toward the Temple.
Yuna paused briefly as Tidus whistled suddenly, and she nodded, before moving once more. I assumed that this particular whistle held some sort of significance to them, though I had no idea what.
"Look out!" Wakka shouted suddenly, pointed down the hill. Al Bhed on snowmobiles were surrounding Yuna and Trommel, shouting gibberish.
As the Guardians simply leapt down to the base of the hill, I turned to my own group and uttered one word: "Go." I immediately followed my own command, drawing my katana with my remaining hand. "I may be short-handed," I cracked as I jumped, "but that doesn't make me helpless!"
The Al Bhed scattered away as the wave of warriors approached, abandoning their vehicles in the process. Aggressive as they were, they appeared reluctant to face this many armed people at once.
Instead, they brought in a large machine, which had a very bizarre form of wheels, resembling drill bits. Before they unleashed it, Rikku conversed sharply in Al Bhed with what appeared to be the leader, and after a moment she gasped. "Translation!?" Tidus asked.
"They're going to use an anti-magic field on us!"
"Why, those..." Ryan advanced, lips curled in a snarl, and drew his blade.
I stepped in his path. "Kotonashi kadan, nakamadoushi," I said softly in our native tongue. "Yabuwotsutsuitehebiwodasu."
"Temae kichigai," Rose murmured in my ear, but even she turned her attention to the machine, which was clearly the more immediate threat. "Any ideas on how we kill this thing?"
"That is a question," I admitted. "I faced nastier armored vehicles back home, but always with AP or HE rounds."
"Stand back, niisan," Karen broke in. "Duck!"
Now, whenever I hear my impetuous younger sister say "Duck!", I know that it's a very good idea. With her, you never know what crazy stunt she'll pull next, so I dropped to my stomach faster than a chef testing his Ginsu knives.
Just in time for the miniature rockets from her Gyrojet to sail through the space where my head had been a moment earlier. Despite the accuracy problems the weapon had (which was why the hand-held rocket launcher had never caught on), the Al Bhed machine was a pretty big target. All of them struck dead on, inflicting a great deal of damage.
Unfortunately, so did the machine's retaliatory strike. Mana Beam!
Ryan was the only one in the beam's path, and I rectified that by kicking his legs out from under him. But the attack still grazed him, and he cursed as his hair lit on fire. "Hot!" he added, batting at the flames. "HothothothotHOT!"
"NulBlaze!" Yuna called out, raising her staff. The spell put out the fire swiftly, though his hands were still burned.
"Thanks," he gasped. "Ouch."
"This is for the fallen!" Auron swung his heavy blade, using the same technique with which he had irritated Cassius days earlier. Only this time, it did much more than merely irritate. The machine split in half, smoking.
The leader of the attacking Al Bhed looked astonished, stuttered out a few more words to Rikku, and fled.
Looking suspicious, Wakka strode over to her. "Hey, how come you speak their language, yah?"
She sighed. "Because... I'm Al Bhed. And that... was my brother."
The big man turned to Lulu. "You knew?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because we knew you'd be upset."
"This is great!" He scowled fiercely. "I can't believe I've been traveling with an Al Bhed, a heathen!"
"That's not true!" Rikku protested. "We have nothing against Yevon!"
"Then why do you disobey Yevon's teachings, huh!?"
"Why shouldn't we!?" she demanded. "What's so great about Yevon, anyway!? You just blindly follow the teachings, without bothering to think for yourselves! If Yevon's so great, then why is Sin still here?"
"Because people used machina! But if we continue to repent for our sins, someday Sin will be gone forever!"
"When!?" she demanded sensibly. "We Al Bhed think that there might be another way to defeat Sin, you know!"
"Only summoners can defeat Sin." Wakka stated this as if it were an immutable law of nature.
"Wakka, get over your dogmatic ignorance, will ya?" Ryan said in frustration. "Just because nobody's yet found a way to defeat Sin without summoners doesn't mean nobody ever will. On our world, that 'it didn't happen yesterday, so it won't happen tomorrow' attitude probably set back powered flight by several years, and blinded people to its potential when it finally did arrive."
"Yeah, and nothing will ever change if you keep that attitude!" Rikku agreed.
"Nothing has to change!"
I rolled my eye. Okay, if we can't manage it by reasoned arguments, perhaps some scientific theory in terms he doesn't understand will at least keep him confused long enough to smooth things over. "Wakka," I said, "back home we've got what is called the 'Asymmetry Theory'. According to this theory, evolution" I didn't bother mentioning that I thought evolution was the biggest crock since astrology, since it wasn't relevant to my goal "favors asymmetry. All the forms of life on our world that have become extinct show signs of symmetry. That means that if there is no change, you become stagnant, and, eventually, extinct. Get my drift?"
As I had hoped, he was thoroughly confused by my explanation, and finally walked away with a grunt, shaking his head all the while.
"Sorry we couldn't do more about him," Ryan said softly, "but I think he'll at least leave you alone for awhile."
"Thanks for trying, anyway."
"Rikku," Auron broke in. "Does this thing move?" He indicated one of the abandoned snowmobiles.
"Yes!" She ran over, suddenly cheerful again, and demonstrated its controls.
"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Tidus asked.
"You sure you know how to use this?"
He watched Kimahri hop onto one and drive off, and he snorted. "Better than Kimahri does!"
The snowmobiles sped up our trip a great deal, and we arrived at Macalania Temple much faster than I had expected.
Of course, we instantly ran into a problem at the door, when the guard spotted Rikku. "You may not pass. Your kind is not welcome here."
"She is a Guardian," Auron said softly, eyes narrowed.
The Yevonite gasped audibly. "An Al Bhed, a Guardian!? Impossible!"
"Look, I want to protect Yunie, and that's all I want," Rikku said.
"And that is all one needs to be a Guardian," Auron agreed.
"Very well." The guard stood aside.
I held back as the others entered. "Rose, you and Karen go in with them. Ryan and I will take another route."
Rose cocked her head, smiling slightly. "You're planning something big, aren't you? Expecting trouble?"
"Always."
"When will we meet up?"
I half-smiled. "Believe me, you'll know."
She held my gaze a moment longer, then nodded. "Okay. We'll meet you inside." She and my sister followed the Spiran party into the temple.
"So, what are you planning, Boss?" Ryan asked, rubbing his hands together. "Something nasty?"
My slight smile became a grin. "We, Ryan, are going to climb onto the roof of the antechamber just before the Fayth. If something goes wrong, as I expect, we're going in."
Within minutes we were in position, and via some high-tech audio goodies, we were able to listen in on the events below us. "Seymour!"
Switch to third-person POV
On the heels of Tidus' shout, Karen raised Buke-Kontan, the Warrior's Soul, to an offensive position. Her palms itched, and it seemed to her that her blade desired Seymour's blood as much as she did.
The contents of the sphere Jyscal had left behind had shocked and appalled her, and she knew that Rose, while more accustomed to such things, felt much the same.
"Please be silent," Seymour said, replying to Tidus. "Lady Yuna prays to the Fayth."
"Make me!"
At that, the maester turned, an eyebrow raised. But before he could reply, the door behind him opened, and Yuna stepped out, then paused, seeing her Guardians arrayed before her with their weapons drawn. "What are you...?"
"We saw Jyscal's sphere!"
"You killed him," Auron said coldly.
"Oh, I see." Seymour turned to Yuna. "You must have known this. So why did you come here?"
She stood amongst her Guardians. "I came..." She faltered for a moment. "I came to stop you!"
The murderous half-breed took a step toward her, and the Guardians blocked his way. "Ah, of course. 'Protect the summoner even at the cost of one's life.' The Code of the Guardian."
Yuna raised her staff. "Maester Seymour, they may be my Guardians, but they are also my friends. I will not stand by and watch them be hurt! I will fight you, too!"
"So be it." Seymour raised his own staff, then gestured, apparently summoning reinforcements.
When none arrived, he looked puzzled, and Karen grinned savagely. "Don't expect any help, Seymour," she said with savage glee. "I killed your Guado friends before we even got in here, right after I saw that sphere."
"So you show your true colors at last," he replied, shaking his head. "You would murder fellow sentient beings in cold blood."
"Don't try that particular word game on me, Seymour. I've done the same thing dozens of times, and if the target so richly deserves his demise, it's not murder. It's just a preemptive strike."
"You will not have the chance to do the same to me, however." He twirled his staff. "Feel my pain! Come, Anima!"
Karen's cheerful expression vanished as the aeon she had last seen in Luca took shape before them. "Uh-oh."
What happened next, no one had predicted. Tidus let out a yell, and the Dragoon Spirit of the Divine Dragon began to glow brightly, blindingly. His entire body was consumed by it, and when it faded, Tidus was covered in gray armor, with only part of his face exposed. It was vaguely insectoid in appearance, and six wings sprouted from his back. His left arm had become a cannon, and despite the somewhat less-than-aesthetically pleasing armor, he was just about the nastiest-looking thing Karen had ever seen, even (barely) eclipsing her brother's Diamond armor.
Seymour looked surprised, and Tidus himself was positively stunned. "What in the world...!?"
"You have become a Dragoon," Rose said hurriedly, "like us. And now you need to use that power. Harness its magical strength!"
What followed Tidus' intense concentration turned what should have been a crushing defeat into a smashing victory. "Divine Dragon Cannon!"
Ninja, Black Monster, and Guardians all scattered as the massive energy beam lanced out and caught Anima right in the eye.
Seymour looked positively poleaxed as his powerful minion succumbed to the assault and vanished completely. "The power that defeated Anima," he said in awe. "It must be mine!"
That was when the next completely unexpected event occurred: in two places, the ceiling literally exploded, raining dust, debris... and a pair of ninja.
Ryan landed easily in a crouch directly in front of Seymour, holding a pair of revolvers. Within seconds, he'd pumped all twelve rounds into Seymour's chest... and then Ian landed behind the Guado, swinging Raiden-Ken with all the strength in his remaining arm.
Return to Ian's POV
"That power will never be yours, Seymour," I snarled through gritted teeth, and my blade sliced cleanly through his neck.
Maester Seymour Guado slowly toppled backwards, heading falling separately, and something eerie happened: though his head was severed, the mouth moved, speaking to the summoner. "Yuna... you would pity me now?" And then he was still.
"Good riddance, bastard." I straightened, and began to return my blade to its scabbard.
Rose's expression stopped me. "Ian... Behind you..."
Warned by her tone, I slowly turned. Standing behind me, weapon drawn, was the cyborg. "You again."
"Yes." She nodded. "It is time, Ian. This time, the battle will be to the death."
"At least tell me why," I said. "Why do you insist upon this duel?"
"If you defeat me, you will know. If I defeat you, you will know before the end."
I spun my blade. "I don't think so, cyborg. It ends here." Gathering my strength, I hurled myself forward, katana sweeping low in an attempt at a leg cut.
She parried, jumped, and chopped at my head. I blocked, rolled, and landed a solid hit on her left arm, causing sparks to fly. "That's good, Ian." Blocking and parrying my next flurry of attacks, she continued her running commentary. "Do you remember, Ian? The feel of battle... the clashing of bone and sinew?"
"I've never forgotten." I leapt over the cyborg's next attack, ducked a strike, and flung myself to on side to avoid a shuriken. "I was born on the battlefield, raised on the battlefield. Every day is a struggle to survive. Every breath I take may be my last. Battle is something from which I am never free." I backflipped, released my blade for an instant, tossed a shuriken, and reclaimed the sword before it could hit the floor. "Perhaps I was born to fight."
"Yes." The throwing star was batted aside with the cyborg's inhuman reflexes. "But there is more to the warrior than war, and more to the poet than poetry. The two must be one, for the price of freedom..."
"Is eternal vigilance." Even as I unleashed another attack, I frowned, for she had quoted my own clan's motto, and few outsiders knew it. "And the price of victory..."
"Is sacrifice." The cyborg nodded. "At last you begin to understand."
"Understand what?" The only thing I understood was that this cyborg had far greater knowledge of the tenets of the Kyuuketsuki Ryoushi Clan of Ninja than any outsider should. "All that you have given me is riddles."
"But every riddle has a solution." And it was then that she made a fatal error, leaving herself open to attack as she drew back her blade...
"Who are you!?" I flung Raiden-Ken into the center of her chest and kicked the pommel, pinning her to the wall.
"At last..." she whispered. "It ends..." Her blade clattered to the floor, and she brought her hands to her helmet, slowly lifting it...
And I came face-to-face with the horrifying price of victory.
Switch to Ryan's POV
I took an involuntary step backward when I saw my brother's reaction to seeing his adversary's face; I had never seen Ian look so stunned and stricken. "N-no..." he moaned. "It... can't be..."
"Thank you, mon ami," the woman said weakly. Young, around Ian's age, she had jet-black, shoulder-length hair, and green eyes. "Thanks... to you... it finally... ends..."
"How...? You... you died... Seven years ago..." He sank to his knees. "What have I done...?"
"You have... set me free..." She coughed. "I was... taken from the battle... Neither truly alive, nor truly dead... Now, you have finally... freed me from this existence..." The woman seemed to gather her remaining strength. "In my exoskeleton... there is a data disk. I have not the time remaining to... tell you all you need to know... But the disk... contains everything." She coughed again, coughing up blood. "It is time... mon ami... I... am dying..."
"No... Jeanette... There must be something that can be done..."
"There isn't." She smiled. "I do not ask you not to grieve, Ian. But do not blame yourself. I died... in Kazakhstan, seven years ago... What I have been through since... is not living... I was an undying shadow... in a world of lights..." She held out her hand. "It was... good to see you again, mon ami... But now... I must go. Farewell..."
Ian grasped her hand tightly until the moment of death, and then he collapsed to the floor.
What he did next scared ten years off my life: he screamed, a high, mournful sound that scared the daylights out of everyone in earshot.
It scared Karen and I the worst, for we had never known Ian to display grief so openly. Even after our parents were murdered, the Dragoons who were with him from the time he first arrived in Endiness told me he never so much as shed a tear; he kept it all locked inside. For him to react so openly, and badly... This woman must have been very close to him at one time.
No one dared approach him, as he knelt on the floor beside "Jeanette's" body. When he finally stood, he was... different. More bitter, with the fires of vengeance in his eye, yet also with a weight upon his shoulders, and a sadness that I would never have thought him capable of. The man to whom death meant nothing, after killing dozens of people and surviving his own death, had been changed by the death of one woman.
Carefully, he withdrew his blade from her body, and spoke in a formal tone, in Japanese. "I have dishonored this blade, and myself," he said. "I may not wield it again. It shall remain in this place, marking the place where Jeanette Delacroix departed from this world. The blade Raiden-Ken shall remain in this place till the end of time, unless one truly worthy of the weapon claims it. But always shall it return to this place, and none shall remove it." He raised it, and sank the point firmly into the floor.
Ian carefully lifted the body of Jeanette Delacroix, cradling it in his arms, and turned to leave. "I'm sorry," he said without turning. "But there is something I must do, and I must leave for a time."
Rose nodded slowly. "I understand, Ian. Do what you must. We'll carry on while you're gone."
"Ryan," he continued, "you are in charge of the mission during my absence. I leave it in your hands."
"I won't fail you, Brother." I accepted the responsibility with a certain trepidation, but if Ian was leaving the mission in my hands, I would not fail. Especially not after this occurrence, even if I didn't fully understand what was happening.
"I know you won't." Slowly, somberly, he walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Yuna asked, and Ian paused.
"I don't know," he said simply. "To the ends of the earth, if I have to." And then he was gone.
Following Ian's departure, Rose turned to me, clearly about to ask me what I knew about what had just happened. But before she could open her mouth, the door opened once more, and Trommel strode in, along with several guards. The ruckus had finally been noticed.
I noticed Karen looking disappointed, and when I raised an eyebrow, she mouthed, "I didn't get them all." Clearly, she was irritated by her failure to completely eliminate the Guado guards.
"What happened here?" Trommel demanded.
"It's not our fault!" Tidus said quickly. "Seymour attacked us. He's the bad guy!"
"You did this!?"
Auron ignored the exchange. "Yuna, send him."
Seymour's aide immediately blocked her path. "Stay away from him, traitors!" He and his minions picked up the body, and they filed out, Trommel giving us one last hateful look on the way out.
"I think this is our cue to get out of here," I said, "right bloody now."
"What have I done?" Wakka moaned.
I grabbed his arm. "You can have a theological crisis later, big guy. Right now we gotta get outta here. And Tidus, I now you've got a million questions about your Dragoon Spirit, but it'll have to wait."
"I know." He nodded firmly. "Let's go!"
Getting out was a little trickier than getting in; the puzzle in the Cloister of Trials had already been solved when we entered, but now it was in pieces once again.
On the other hand, it gave us some breathing space, and Rose and I stood in a corner while the others figured out the puzzle. "Who was she, Ryan?" she asked quietly.
"I... don't know," I admitted. "I'd never heard the name Jeanette Delacroix before. But she was obviously very close to Ian."
"Then how could you have avoided meeting her?"
"Well..." I shrugged. "It's not that big of a surprise. Until about six months prior to the Second Dragon Campaign beginning, I hadn't even seen Ian for about two years."
She raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"It was eight years ago," I began. "Ian was sixteen. That year, he was sent out West, carrying out various missions for the Clan overseas, while Karen and I stayed in Japan handling domestic missions. At the time, I had no idea what he was doing out there, but six years ago, we recovered Clan records from the dojo in Japan, so I now know that a lot of the time was spent hunting vampires. The weird thing is..." and I paused, gathering my thoughts "...his travels are well-documented. But only for the first three months. Then, instead of recording time, place, mission, and outcome, the files only give the dates and locations."
Rose frowned. "That's odd. So you have no idea what he was doing during the remaining time overseas?" I shook my head. "What was his mission just before the records become spotty?"
I thought back. "He was in Paris, chasing the vampire Francois Lafayette, distant relative of a hero of the American Revolution. He was still there for the first three months of the record blackout. Then he suddenly turned up in Costa Rica, of all places. For the next year and a half, he spent various amounts of time on a meandering path across the globe. From Costa Rica, he went to Washington D.C. in the U.S., then New York City, Kazakhstan, a cathedral in Ukraine, and then finally Kazakhstan again. Right after the Kazakhstan operation, he returned to Japan."
In the six and a half years we'd known her, Rose had learned enough about Earth to know that Kazakhstan and a Ukrainian cathedral were really out-of-the-way places, especially for a vampire-hunting ninja. "That doesn't make sense," she said finally. "A cathedral is about the last place you'd expect to find a vampire, and Kazakhstan...?" She shook her head again. "Did you ever ask him about it?"
"Once." I grimaced. "He gave me a really cold look, then drew his blade and pressed it to my throat. Ian told me that if I ever asked that again, he'd cut off my ears and staple me to the roof."
"And?"
"I believed him."
Rose frowned suddenly. "Kazakhstan... Didn't Delacroix say that she was killed in Kazakhstan? And the name sounds French."
I nodded thoughtfully, stroking my chin. "Yeah, that's French, all right. You think the records were kept vague at Ian's request?"
"Either that, or he altered them himself when he retrieved them from the dojo," she concurred. "Now that I think about it, Ian insisted on recovered the files himself, and he took his time about it." Rose shrugged. "Somehow, though, I don't think we'll know the truth until he returns."
"I hope he hurries," I admitted. "I've known for a long time that I was nowhere near his equal in combat, and it makes me nervous when he's not around. Even without his arm."
Rose seemed to come to a decision. "The arm wasn't the only thing he lost," she said quietly. "He also lost the ring, and in the end, that may prove to be a greater loss."
I frowned. "What do you mean? Couldn't Charle just make another?"
"You don't understand, Ryan. That ring held more than just immortality. Didn't you ever notice how resistant Ian was to death?"
"Well... after Cassius showed up, I assumed it was vampiric healing at work."
She shook her head sharply. "No. That wouldn't protect him from beheading, or a thrust to the heart, and he's suffered both since acquiring the ring."
I gaped. "What? Then how is it he's still alive?"
"That ring was an ancient Wingly magic artifact, said to have been made by Magician Faust, at Melbu Frahma's order. It had within it the spell of immortality, but it covered more than just aging. As long as he had it, Ian was immune to disease, poison, and mortal wound. But it couldn't protect his arm, and so it was destroyed, though I'm not certain how." She sighed. "That's another I don't understand. If that woman was once so close to Ian, why did she injure him so badly, and then destroy the ring?"
"Maybe she knew something about it that we don't," I suggested. "Maybe that disk Ian's got will explain." Surprising even myself, I chuckled. "Now at least I know why Ian seemed so confident his pipe-smoking wouldn't give him cancer. But why didn't he tell us?"
"It was his ace in the hole. I have no doubt that you wouldn't willingly tell anyone, Ryan, but I also know that everyone has a breaking point, a point beyond which they cannot resist the pain. When that point is reached, a prisoner will tell his captives anything, just to stop the pain."
I considered this for a moment. "Well, I won't pretend it does wonderful things for my ego, but I guess I understand."
Our conversation was interrupted by Karen's yell of triumph. "Ryan, Rose, we got it! We can get out!"
We exchanged glances, then ran for the door.
The welcoming committee awaiting us in the main room of the temple left much to be desired. Trommel barred our path, along with about a dozen Guado guards and several from the temple itself.
"You may not pass," Trommel said, voice filled with anger. "Traitors must be punished."
"Just watch Jyscal's sphere!" Tidus said angrily. "That'll show you-"
"You mean this?" Trommel held it up, obviously preparing to break it. "Guado take care of Guado affairs," he said, and...
I got fed up with him and all his blasted Guado. I leapt into the air, somersaulting, and with a flurry of sword slashes I had not only cleared a path, but retaken the sphere. In an instant, I was out the door and running, the others right on my heals.
Author's note: Well, this chapter is certainly... interesting. It wraps up a few loose ends and introduces some more. As you may have already figured out, the next chapter or two (possibly three) will be from Ryan's perspective, as Ian takes care of his own private mission. Once he returns, all will be explained. And Victor d'Eltham will have a larger appearance later in the story... I'm just not sure where.
I certainly hope this is a good chapter; I lost quite enough sleep getting it done this fast.
Songwind, as for the arm, I can only say wait until Ian returns.
Translations: "Kotonashi kadan, nakamadoushi," translates as "Nothing drastic, comrades"; "Yabuwotsutsuitehebiwodasu", that thoroughly unwieldy and unpronounceable word, means "Let sleeping dogs lie"; "Temae kichigai" is, roughly, "You're mad."
I think that covers the notes for this chapter; read it and let me know what you think. -Solid Shark
