Ch.3: Nighttime Terror
By: Slash Fanatic
A/N: I've been away from for a REALLY long time. That said, I don't have a clue why some letters and symbols won't display when I uploaded; yet you can see them in previous chapters anyway. Plus, any time/scene changes are recognized by a page break since that's the only thing I could think of to do.
Disclaimer/Warnings: I don't own anything from FFX or FFX-2. They're owned by their respective owners. I do own the story though. And the character, Angie, I guess. Also, beware of yaoi and yuri content.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Enough!" Auron cried out as he slashed through the last Bicocette fiend. Armored creatures were his specialty. Lulu stood by his side, not letting her magic go unrecognized. The man's attack skill were evenly matched by her spell casting and together they were an unstoppable offensive team. At the moment, they were in the heart of the town, defeating groups of fiends that decided to pull a midnight run while the rest of the villagers scurried to the security of the temple.
"Help! Somebody help my daddy!" A little girl's voice pleaded outside the village.
"Angie?" Lulu recognized the voice instantly as a friend of hers: a little eight year old child that she would allow to play with her dolls sometimes. "Angie!" The mage sprinted off to the entrance of the village and kept running, in hopes she would find her on the main road...and still alive when she got there.
Auron remained in the village, not wanting to leave the people there completely defenseless. As he watched his friend run down the darkened path, with only a fireball and her senses to guide her, he realized something.
"Wakka…you better protect Tidus or I'll send you to the Fareplane myself…"
"Daddy! Vidina!" Angie cried as her father and pet dog left her side again. Unfortunately, her small family was chased away from the village by fiends. They were up against a Coyote and Skink fiend this time. Where they were going to run to, they didn't know, but it's not like they had a choice.
The child struggled in her mother's grasp. "No Angie! Stay away from the battle!" Her mom said as she tightened her grip on her daughter.
Vidina barked, rushed forward, and bit into the Coyote fiend; locking his jaws into its neck. The fiend yelped and kicked the mid-sized dog away from it with its powerful front legs. As the dogs fought it out, the lizard-like creature leapt and tried to slash at the man with its sharp claws repeatedly. The man evaded the attack as best he could as they came. Then he heard a howl of pain from behind.
He turned around and saw Vidina fall to the ground, whimpering. "Vidina!" Angie cried, sobbing into her mother's stomach. As the murdering fiend paused, the man took the opportunity to attack it with his Baroque Sword. He was successful in turning it into pyreflies.
As the man pulled his sword away from the bushel of sparkling entities, the Skink assaulted him with a Petrification attack. The man tried to dodge but was struck in his right arm. Blood spilled from the wound for a brief second before hardening, along with the rest of his body.
Angie's mom was terrified. What could she do? Her mind was a mess, filled with anxiety and terror about the predicament she is in. The fiend took one look at the distraught villagers kneeling on the cold ground, and charged at them.
"Mommy!"
"Angie! Run!" The mother threw her child from herself just as the fiend pounced on top of her. She shrieked as she instinctively grabbed its forelegs and collapsed to the ground.
"Mommy!"
Her mother screamed, "Ruuun!!!," as the fiend fought to break from her grip. In a blink of an eye, it pulled free and sliced at the woman's midsection, instantly turning her into stone.
"Mommy…" The child blinked her tears away in confusion and turned towards her father. "…Daddy?" She was too young to know why her parents weren't moving, but she knew she was alone. Even though she could clearly see them in front of her, she knew they were gone, leaving her completely vulnerable to the fiend.
The Skink hissed and jumped towards Angie. She screamed and turned her back at the creature, its nails polished scarlet with her parents' blood. The girl wasn't stupid. She knew she was destined to die like her mom and dad.
"Burn!"
The fiend was in mid-flight when a Firaga spell hit its mark. In a matter of seconds, it turned the lizard into ashes and pyreflies. Lulu came just in time and ran up to the sobbing girl. She bent down as Angie embraced her.
"Angie. Where are your..."
Lulu gasped when she looked beyond Angie and saw the girl's parnets. They've been petrified!
Angie cried harder. The mage looked down and stroked the girls hair, trying to comfort her.
"I'm not a genuine white mage, but I'll do what I can." She smiled warmly at Angie. The girl sniffled and hugged her tighter.
Wakka and Tidus laid passed out on the ground as the giant water flan crept closer and closer to them. It was going to eat the two men and make them apart of its gelatin exterior.
Before it had the chance to devour its victims, an onslaught of bullets shot into the fiend. The gunfire seemed to irritate the fiend more than cause harm, but they did bring it to a halt.
"Hold it right there!" Yuna shouted as the Gullwings ran to aid whoever the fiend was attacking. They noticed the incredible size of the flan first rather than the people that were at its mercy.
"Holy killer Tonberries! That's the biggest flan I've ever seen!" Rikku gasped.
The trio made their way to the victums. "Don't worry, we got this under…" Yuna stopped in mid-sentence when she realized who the flan had defeated.
"Tidus! Wakka!" Forgetting that there was a ten foot fiend that lurked ahead of her, she ran to her friends and hoped they were alive enough to render aid but Paine grabbed her by the arm.
"Yuna, the fiend first!"
"Oh! The perpetrator! Lets go ladies!" Yuna sprang out of Paine's grasp and ran to fiend, her little bee guns ready in her hands.
The gunner slid to a stop at safe distance from her target. Wakka and Tidus were not even a few feet behind her.
"You'll pay for hurting my friends!" If Yuna could ever look pissed off, then she was beyond that point. For the first time in her life, she wanted to kill a fiend not out of necessity or to survive, but for retribution.
"Change into the appropriate dress-sphere Rikku!" Yuna barked out an order, which sent chills down the Al Bhed's spine since her cousin looked so stern, but it was understandble.
Rikku nodded and dress-sphere changed into a Black Mage as Yuna switched into the Warrior. Paine held her sword in the air to summon a Thunder Blade attack.
The water flan did the same opening technique that it used against Tidus and Wakka.
"It used Over-soul! Take it out quick!" Yuna shouted as she rushed up to the fiend and used Magic Break; slicing at its "stomach" and lowering its power.
"I feel a storm coming!" Rikku gathered electrical energy in her mage's staff, it took awhile for her to cast spells. As she held her blue/yellow striped wand in the air, a lightning bolt from the sky struck Paine's blade magically, infusing it with its power. She dashed and gave a mighty slash at the fiend's belly.
The gargantuan fiend screeched as some of its gelatin body was hacked off and discarded like trash by Paine. In reaction, it casted Waterga on the YRP. A bubble of rushing water enveloped the group individually. The spell wasn't harsh because of three factors: it was weakened from the previous battle, it had to cast the spell on three separate people, and Yuna had lowered its magical power.
"Is that all you got!?" Yuna shouted as she shook water from her hair. Then she prepared a Thunder Blade attack of her own.
"Eat lightning!" Rikku casted her spell finally. Lightning bolts fell from the sky and struck the fiend, causing more aqua gelatin to fly from its body. Paine rushed in and hacked away at the fiend with her sword to form a two-way chain attack. After a couple of swift swings, she retreated, not wanting to be close to the fiend for too long.
The flan screeched in agony again, its piercing voice echoing along the silent canyon. The girls winced at its high pitched vocals. It hissed at the trio of sphere hunters before casting another Waterga spell on them.
When Yuna left the cruel waters of the bubble, she staggered a bit, but in her eyes there was determination. We will NOT lose.
"This is for my friends!" She proclaimed, thrusting her sword into the air and obtained lightning magic. The brunette then charged at her opponent and carved into the fiend with her charged sword.
Rikku composed herself as Yuna fought the fiend and then changed back into her Thief outfit. She joined her cousin and started hacking away at it.
Paine's sword finally got it's element magic and she dashed alongside her commrades to help take down the flan. The three women were simply too much to handle as they ganged up in a triangular fashion on their opponent.
The gigantic water flan melted down into a pile of slim and turned into pyreflies to meet its demise. Although it was dead, Yuna continued to glare at the fiend's remains.
"We did it Yuni!" Rikku chirped. Her statement didn't register in Yuna's mind.
"Yuni?"
Yuna didn't say anything as she turned and went to Tidus and Wakka. She took off her garment grid to disable its interference with her natural white magic.
She frowned as she looked at the half naked Wakka. His tanned back was covered with scars and blood had stained his torn up yellow pants. Paine quickly approached and stood by the gunner. "Anything I can do?" She asked.
Yuna kneeled next to the men. "Help me roll this big guy off Tidus." Together, they rolled Wakka off his boyfriend and left him beside the redhead. She winced when she saw there was even more scars on Wakka's chest and stomach.
"Oh Wakka…it looks like you did all the fighting…I'm sure you did everything possible to protect Tidus." Yuna murmured.
"Blondie looks okay, his blitz uniform took a beating though." Paine pointed out.
Yuna didn't respond as she took out two Phoenix Downs from her hip cargo bag. She handed one to Paine. "Give it to Tidus."
The warrior nodded and then turned around to set out her task.
"You can revive them, right Yuni?" Rikku said as she walked up behind her, placing her hands behind her back. Her body language looked tense.
"Rikku, come around here and hold up Wakka for me." The thief quickly complied. Yuna twisted off the cap to the vial, opened Wakka's mouth, and poured all the golden syrup onto his tongue. She closed his mouth afterward.
"Okay, I forced fed Tidus." Paine announced and moved beside Yuna.
The Phoenix Down should of started its magic, so Yuna turned around to face Tidus and help it along. Sitting on her knees, she placed her hands on the blonde boy's chest. She closed her eyes and focused her mind to tap into her mage powers. Everything became at a standstill.
A divine light from beneath her hands painted every corner of Tidus' chiseled body. He glowed like an angel. The cuts that were on his torso closed up and the bruises faded to nothingness as Yuna healed him. His brilliant blue eyes opened slowly as he revived; their radiance so intense that they outshined his golden skin. His glow faded when the healer removed her hands.
"Wha…what happened?" He stammered, "I'm sore all over…" Tidus had briefly forgotten what had caused him to be unconscious. Then it all came back to him suddenly, like a crashing wave.
He remembered the huge flan, feeling helpless and so pathetic against it. He felt so scared, so frightened for his life and Wakka's. WAKKA. The memories continued to slap him repeatedly in the face. Before long, he was on the ground, losing consciousness. Just as he was blacking out, he caught a glimpse of his boyfriend's face. He was crying. He was shedding tears because of him. Tidus' heart fell to the pit of his stomach.
Like a spring, he shot up from the ground. "WAKKA! Wakka, I'm sorry!" He looked around in horror for his lover and found him knocked out on the soil next to him. "Wakka!" He looked striken when he saw how terribly wounded his Wakka was.
"He'll be fine when Yuna heals him." Paine said and tried to look sympathetic.
Tears threatened to drop, but Tidus held them back. "Wakka..." He swiped at his eyes with his torn sleeve.
Yuna put a hand on his shoulder and gave the blitzer a reassuring smile in hopes of making Tidus feel better. He takes a deep breath.
Tidus stepped aside and hid his face behind his left arm, ashamed of himself. I hurt him. He fought for me and got injured. All because of me...
The brunette kneeled next to the blitzball captain in preparation to heal again. She took a deep breathe with her eyes shut, mind focused, and placed her gentle hands on the redhead's scarred chest. Angelic light spilled all over his torso. Tidus watched in awe as each cut slowly healed and disappeared one by one on his lover's bare skin.
It seemed like an enternity had passed twice by the time Wakka was revitalized. Yuna fell backward from exhastion and was caught by strong arms, which were Paine's.
"You all right?" The warrior asked. Yuna giggled lightly, "Yeah, I'm just tapped out magically."
Paine had slipped her arms around the girl's waist, holding her against herself tightly. A light pink tint painted her pale cheeks visibly. She noted that Yuna smelled sweetly; the fragrance of wildflowers exuded from her.
At that moment, Wakka stirred. "Tidus…" He said faintly as he regained consciousness.
"Wakka, I'm here!" Tidus grabbed his boyfriend's hand, caressing it against his soft cheek.
The redhead blinked a few times before he fully woke up. He directed his gaze at his blue-eyed blonde. Wakka's lips collapsed into an ugly frown as he began to cry. "Tidus…" The younger man helped sit him up with his free hand.
Wakka had that feeling again. The very same emotions that he thought he had lost two years ago when he thought he would never see his beloved Tidus. The pain seemed to grow and blossom from his chest. It felt like a Phantom fiend had a strangle hold on his heart. Wakka continued to cry hard into Tidus' shoulder.
The three girls were silent and shifted uncomfortably as they watched the two lovers. Rikku felt like they should give the guys some space.
"Uh…lets give these fellas some private time!" The braided blonde announced, almost startling her female companions. Paine ascended from the ground, nonchalantly, but felt bitter for having to let go of the brunette.
Yuna still felt dizzy from her healing sessions and placed her hands on her head in an effort to stop the world from spinning. "Whoa…I'm still a bit woozy…Paine, could you give me a hand?" She asked.
Paine extended a leather covered arm and lifted the young woman from the ground. Losing her balance, Yuna slumped upon her.
"Oops! I'm more tired than I thought!" She said innocently. Paine felt her heart flutter but kept her usual calm, expressionless demeanor.
"Okay, lets go NOW!" Rikku started to shove the girls towards the wooden bridge, ruining Paine's moment. "Lets scarf some Potions as we wait for them…" She suggested.
"Wakka, calm down! I'm fine, really! Really I am!" Tidus said, trying to reasure his lover.
Wakka sniffled. "But…but, I broke…my promise…to you." He said in fragmented speech. Tidus' right shoulder felt like a wet towel.
"Promise? Wakka, what are you talking about?"
The blitzer reclined from the crook of Tidus' neck to give him an answer. His eyes were a bit bloodshot and his head felt like it was going to crack open like an egg. He tried to calm himself down, but every time he would draw breathe, he would choke on it.
That's when they heard gunshots echoing off the landscape walls. Both men instantly looked at the source of the repetitive sound coming from the bridge. There, they saw YRP in a battle with a dozen Divebeaks. Although they were outnumbered, the women easily took care of the pathetic aerial fiends in a matter of seconds.
"Come on guys! We hav'ta see if the village is safe!" Yuna yelled, beckoning the boys by jumping up and down while waving her arms. Pyreflies flew randomly behind her.
Tidus sighed. Wakka sniffled.
"You can tell me when all of this is over, okay?" Tidus whispered, giving his man a kiss on the cheek and a bear-hug. "When we get to the village, we'll getcha a new uniform too."
As he let go, Wakka nodded, and the lovers stood up to make their way to the Gullwings.
--------------------------------------------------------
End Ch.3
A/N: Yup, I reincarnated Vidina into a dog! XD Muwhahahaha! lol
R/R please.