DL Noleek

Child of the Serpent

Chapter 3: Summoning

Disclaimer: Don't own anything SquareSoft

Desperate people do desperate things,

especially when something they care about

is placed in danger. It is those people you

have to watch out for because their feelings

often cloud their better judgement.

They can either be the hero or the villain.

It all depends on how they react to a given

situation.

-Tseng, Leader of the Turks
A quote from Memoirs

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lir had used the paths behind the walls to gain entrance to the shrine unnoticed, only this time it wasn't demons she was attempting to allude, but her own people. There were guards outside the temple doors as well as outside of her room, but with any luck, she wouldn't need either exit. Hopefully her accost into the night would be unnoticed until late the next morning; by then she would be long gone and on her way--to wherever it was she was going.

And therein lay the only weak spot in her plan--after she left Wutai, then what?

The question had plagued her since dawn that morning. It was like the incessant buzzing of a fly; it was a small detail in comparison to the rest of her plan (at the moment), but it was something that was irksome and needed to be swatted at before it went away.

The fact of the matter was that Wutai would not survive the continuous onslaught of sieges. The demons who had swarmed the Planet were many times their number. It was possible that they could hold out longer, for several generations in fact, if they were to align themselves with another nation. Another army with enough force to keep the city safe would certainly be a welcome ally--but who? The only other city that matched Wutai in strength, as far as she knew, was Junon, but Junon lay across an ocean and a continent in both directions. Wutai, isolated since the beginning from every other city and country in on the Planet, now had no one to turn to.

And thus the people looked to their rulers for guidance--a wounded lord who was still barely conscious and a single maiden with no real power of state. Lir and her brother were two grounded falcons against a hurricane.

The decision to leave had been difficult. If she stayed, she would be able to help Shinn; under her eye, he could heal faster and stronger. She could even take control of some of the more domestic requirements of his office, such as finding room for some of the refugees coming into Wutai. Already, people were flocking to the city's gates from outlying villages. They arrived on carts, chocobos, and on foot. Literally thousands of men, women, and children had been streaming through the gates every hour since dawn, pushed off their farms by the invading demonic forces; all of them were cold, all of them were hungry, all were suffering from physical or emotional pain, and all of them wanted in. The only problem was, there wasn't any room. The inns were already full and even with pubs, stock houses, and the public shrine being converted to living quarters, the city could not hold everyone. The walled city, with its powerful warriors, strong barricades, and war-ready weapons would never be able to hold with the entire continent's population inside. A walled city full of people was also the perfect target for the Daracons; with everyone in one place, all the demons had to do was take down Wutai and the continent was theirs.

Lir knew that if she stayed, she could help ease some of the city's problems, but that was it--she could only ease them, not solve them. And Shinn would get better with or without her further aid.

But if she could get rid of Tibora…

Tibora, the Daracon who had slaughtered her father, had to be the demon lord in control and from her observations, Lir assumed that the demon army would do the same thing a tower would do when the foundations were taken out from under it; it would crumble. Most demons were like the advanced technology from the old world. Demons would not unite unless bound together by some connection and had to be told what to do if they were to be used as an attacking force.

There were very few demons at or beyond human intelligence. Shinn, who had been outside the walls a great deal more than she, once told her of a lone Menapet attacking an entire battalion of armed men. For a Menapet, it was a foolish decision. Their delicate exoskeletons, weak wings, and claw-less fingers were no match for armed men. Lir herself remembered a little of that conflict; the worst injury had been a bite to a shoulder.

Lir's plan, as well thought out as it could be, was simple--find out where Tibora was and assassinate him. The demon world--or at least, the one that gripped Wutai--would fall apart without him. Now, how to find him and how to get there--the plan had a few glitches, but Lir had no better ideas. Killing Tibora was her main goal, the details she would figure out along the way.

Tibora was Lir's reason for going to the shrine in the first place. Lir, a lone human, could not hope to defeat a demon lord. She had no delusions of grandeur and victory; Lir would die if she were to just barge into his lair by herself.

There was no way a single human could take on a demon army--well, no one in her time anyway--but a god…

The Leviathan materia could give her what she needed. His power alone would be able to lay waste to Tibora and his followers. With a powerful summon on her side, how could she fail?

Lir peered at the red globe lying in its place on the pedestal in front of the god statue. Technically speaking, the Leviathan Summon was a materia that had to be given freely in order for it to work. As the lorespinners told it, Leviathan had bound itself to the Kisaragi House before the construction of the fiefdom, the god having chosen the Kisaragi as leaders for its followers, charged with binding the people together and guarding them. In return for their service, Leviathan had promised to come when the current lord of Wutai summoned him. It was a powerful weapon, but it could only be used by the Lord of Wutai; if anyone else so much as touched the materia, the god would turn His wrath upon him.

Lir could only pray desperately that the god would accept her as its bearer. The summon would not be given to her--she was no Wutai Lord--she would have to take it.

There was no telling how Leviathan would react. /Hopefully, he'll see that I mean no harm and that I'm doing this for the greater good. If he doesn't--/ Lir didn't need to finish the thought. If he couldn't see her true intentions, it may not matter to her whether or not Wutai was destroyed.

Lir reached out toward the softly glowing sphere, hesitating just before settling her hand over its smooth surface. Stealing the materia was harder than she thought it would be. It wasn't that she was worried about getting caught--Lir would either succeed, or the materia would kill her for her attempt--but taking something that was so important to her family was--difficult.

Lir took another deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut before closing the distance between her fingers and the softly glowing ball of light, her muscles tightening at the initial contact. For a moment, she remained frozen with one hand over the orb and then, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes and lifted the materia fully into her hand.

/It's warm./ The thought came unbidden to her, and it was such an obvious fact that Lir almost laughed aloud. After all the anticipation, the fear of being killed by her own god in retribution for her theft, all she could come up with was--it's warm.

It was though, and that was strange because every other materia she had encountered had always been cool. This felt almost like an egg--it was as if there was something sleeping within its shell.

Lir didn't have time to come up with an explanation for the warmth because suddenly, the orb's light flared. For one heart-stopping second, Lir thought that Leviathan had indeed thought ill of her crime and she nearly dropped it, but the flare died down and soon the materia's soft light was expunged entirely. The heat that had been present earlier was also quenched.

The room, which had been bright because of the light shed from the orb, dimmed as light from the torches along the walls cast shadows about the shrine and over the god statue in the center. It may have just been her imagination, but Lir could almost swear that the god statue now looked empty--the darkness playing over the face made the features look completely expressionless. The effect was unsettling and Lir shuddered, placing the now cool materia into an empty slot on her right fan.

/I guess I can take all this as a sign that I am welcome to Leviathan's power--I hope. Still, something about this isn't right. Father never had time to formally pass the Leviathan summon to Shinn, so it's hard to tell what the materia is supposed to do when it is accepted, but I don't think that it was supposed to flare like that. Maybe it was because there was no ritual./ Lir seriously hoped that was it and didn't dwell on the thought; she didn't need more weight added onto her burdens.

Besides, she still had other things to do tonight--she had to get out of Wutai.

"She actually went through with it, I'm surprised. I thought for sure that she'd chicken out and go back to bed." The figure watched as Wutai's newest "thief" made her way from the palace and towards the city gates. He leaned against the shrine wall across from the palace's front door, settling himself more comfortably into the shadows--the next guard would be passing by any moment and it wouldn't do to get caught now. /Getting snagged now would cramp my style/. He smirked at the thought. It really was thrilling to watch how she managed; who would have though the innocent Lady of Wutai had it in her to steal the Leviathan summon right out from under her brother's nose.

-Yes, she did very well, but she has a ways to go yet.

The voice, as always, was a soft presence in the back of his head. To him, it was like hearing a soft whisper in his ears, but it was a sound no one else ever heard. It was a light breath of wind that caressed and wound its way around his senses--intoxicating, powerful, and utterly frozen.

The figure in shadow flicked a strand of red hair out of his face before lighting a cigarette, taking a deep whiff to fill his lungs with the smoke. And to think, there was a time when people told him that /smoking/ would kill him; what an utterly laughable concept. Now, having sixty or so tons of concrete fall on top of one's head, that might be a one way ticket to Hades' door, but smoking--harmless. Or at least, it was to him. "So, why are we here again?" he asked.

-Because we're supposed to help her in the next leg of her journey.

"Ah, that's right," the figure said rather offhandedly. "Kitsune, you are dashing my plans for the evening. To think, I could have been settled comfortably in a warm bed by now, drowned on some cheap wine and enjoying the company of a beautiful woman--or women, whatever the case may be. But no, I have to be doing something constructive with my time!"

-Are you finished yet? We have things to do.

"Why should I have to--"

-Because /she/ said so, remember?

"Yes I do remember, but I thought we were supposed to be free agents. Since when do we work for somebody?"

-Since the seal over the demons was broken, now come on! Lir's getting too far ahead of us and we have to divert her current course. We can't let her leave the city without calling him.

"All right!" He took one final puff from his cigarette before tossing it to the ground and stamping out the butt with his foot. "If it will get you to shut up," the figure mumbled.

Stepping away from the wall, he began following his charge, moving as fast as the shadows that concealed him and knowing full well than no human in the immediate area would see him. He didn't stop until he reached a small alleyway well in front of her.

As soon as he slowed down he began changing, his bones and muscles twisting into a new form. It was painful, but that was nothing new; it was always a small agony. His legs withered, his back bent, and his shoulders stooped, morphing until they fell comfortably into their new shape. The feeling of looking through someone else's eyes emerged, like a strange kind of tunnel vision as his skin, youthful before, became as wrinkled as the cloths that had previously been on his back. Yes, the cloths had changed too. The black tank top and loose breeches just didn't look right on the old priestess. Two hundred years of these kinds of things, and it still felt gross in the old bag of bones.

/The things I have to put up with sometimes./ He thought silently to his companion.

-Well, she won't listen to you! But the old priestess…

/Yes, I know, now stop disrupting my thoughts./

-You think that it's always all sunshine and fun being stuck your head? You're a very disturbing man you know.

/Ah, but I'm fun./

-Uh, huh. Just get to work, here she comes.

As much as he hated to admit it, the voice was right. He couldn't afford to bungle this; not that he ever 'bungled' much of anything. Despite his carefree attitude, he knew when to get serious and this was no time for playing games--it was time to pull a trick.

He stepped out of the alley and into Lir's path just as she was about to pass him. She obviously had not seen him because she jumped back with a small cry, her green eyes widening at the sight of him. Her tiny mouth moved up and down, but she couldn't seem to get a single word out of it. The lady had begun to reach for one of her fans, but thought better of it and right then, he couldn't help pitying her.

/Yeah, after what you did back at the palace, I would be afraid of meeting a temple priestess out on the streets too./ He watched as the young woman tried to speak, admiring the full redness of her lips, her perfect complexion, and her tight young body. /Damn, and she's cute too. Under different circumstances I may have taken advantage of some of her assets… I almost feel guilty--but then again, this could save her life. If she went to fight the Demon Lord alone…/

His thoughts were interrupted again as Lir finally managed to find some words. "I'm sorry, I…" She fingered the hilt of her fan, her fingers automatically going to the summon materia she had just taken. "Please understand, this was for the good of Wutai. I know what I did was wrong but…"

She didn't even make an attempt to lie. A trait that was perfect for a gentle lady--but a trait she couldn't afford. She would learn, he supposed, she would have to. "I know," he said, effectively silencing her. His voice was higher and weaker than it had been; by all things holy he hated this form! "I have foreseen the destruction that will decimate this entire Planet. Leviathan has accepted you as its new bearer and thus it is you who must save our world from its ultimate demise," he stated, putting as much authority into the old voice as he possibly could.

/Jeez, I sound like Budahgen, how awful!/

Lir's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't say anything, so he continued. "Lady of Wutai, inheritor of Leviathan, you can not do this alone. You must ask the god for aid in your quest for you have not been outside these walls. The world is a big place and it shall be new to you. In the old shrine within the caves of Dao Chao, there lie several sutras. Use one of these to summon a guide."

His charge didn't say anything, but she nodded in understanding and immediately reversed direction, heading toward the ancient mountain. When he was sure that Lir could no longer see him he morphed back into his original form.

"Well, that went well."

-Yes, I suppose. She seemed quite shocked to see a priestess standing in the middle of the road.

"Yes, I suppose. Do you think that she'll summon him?" She would if she was as intelligent as she looked. Lir may be a princess, but she wasn't some gently bred fool. Although learning of the world through /his/ experiences; she would have to be very strong, very stubborn, and very persuasive.

-Oh, I think she will. She has a role to play, as do we.

"So we aren't done yet?" he nearly hit himself for saying it. They couldn't possibly be done yet, that was way too easy. He knew what his companion would say next…

-Of course not. We have to follow her out.

"Damn." Well, he knew it was coming.

The wind outside of the cave roared in discordant harmony; the sound unnerved Lir to no end. The sky had been slightly overcast before she left the palace, which had not necessarily been a bad thing since she was trying to sneak away with a stolen summon materia. Now, however, the rampage outside indicated the approach of a coming storm and although Lir had been praying fervently that it would hold off until she could depart, she doubted that her prayers had reached a caring ear.

Perhaps it wouldn't matter if the fury outside did strike; Lir was beginning to tire of going through sutras and was slowly beginning to think that the old woman had sent her on a wild goose chase. If the woman hadn't been a priestess, she might not have gone at all, but Lir didn't dare disobey the words of someone who was favored by the god. She was sure the god was spiteful enough as it was--there was no need to temp Leviathan's wrath more than she already had.

The cave was quite possibly the most inhospitable place to spend time in all of Wutai. Converted into a shrine soon after the death of Lord Godo, Wutai's leader during the Meteor Crisis, its depths were an intermingling of opposites. The cave was a deep one, a wall of fire pouring steadily out of the rock on one side just behind the alter on the far wall, casting light on that one side while sending the rest of the cave into darkness. Predictably, the area nearest the flame was also warmer; the walls furthest from the flames were actually covered in ice. Perhaps balance had been what the shrine's creators had originally seen in the formation; it made it the perfect location for a shrine to the gods.

Not only was it a major shrine, but it also was a library of sorts--which was the other reason why Lir had come. The entire back wall had been painstakingly carved into little compartments and each little box contained--or had once contained--a sutra. Many of the oldest sutras were aged beyond recognition, the vellum having been eaten away by weather and the passing of years. The older ones Lir passed over on her search; if they didn't break apart in her hands, the writing would be unintelligible.

But for all the manuscript present, Lir had yet to find what she was looking for--something that would summon her help. There was seemingly a plurflora of knowledge hidden away at the top of Da Chao, but nothing thus far had proven useful, though she was beginning to think that some of her ancestors had been a bit eccentric. There were billions of odds and ends: prayers she expected--such as those for rain, bountiful harvests, and cleansing--and those she didn't--like the one for rashes, or the prayer that prevented sleep.

Lir was about to give up and continue her journey alone, when she spotted a small scroll tucked away in a corner in one of the more shadowy parts of the room. Bending over, she picked it up carefully, the ancient vellum coming apart in tatters in her hand even as she pried it open.

/There's no title,/ she noted silently. Lir could make out a few scratches at the top of the page that might have once contained some writing, but it was so worn that there was no way to make it out. Surprisingly, however, the prayer itself was intact.

/This is what I came for,/ she thought absently, and then started at the thought. /Where did that come from? There isn't even a title, how could I possibly know that this is what I have been seeking? I could look through at least a couple more before trying…/

She could, but she wouldn't.

Rising to her feet, Lir carried her newly acquired prayer over to the shrine near the fire and set it down on the altar. The firelight immediately caught the ancient black ink and Lir's jade eyes widened. The light reflected off the ink as if the dried liquid was some kind of mirror, the old dye becoming suddenly moist again, as if it had just been written; the ink was beginning to run.

Lir tried to put a comment past her lips, tried to recall the action of placing the vellum down on the alter in the first place, but her arms suddenly lost their ability to move. It was as if something was forcing her to say what was written on the page.

And to her horror, her lips began to move with no prompting from her:

"Seeker of redemption,
hear my voice through the torment of damnation
and answer my call.

Wanderer of the shadowlands
cease your eternal trek across nightmare's plain
and follow my voice across the barrier between.

Ye of darkness, and light,
come through the veil,
at my beckoning from promised land.

Silent warrior of the past,
shed your chains that bind you from this quest,
and come now at my behest!

You are needed once again!"

Lir's voice fell silent and she held her breath, half-fearing that nothing would happen, and half fearing that something would. For a moment, it appeared that whatever it was she had called would not appear, but then Lir felt a sweltering heat from beneath her.

The ink on the parchment, which had been moist before, began to wave, like ripples in water. It was almost as if the words were melting into the page and then suddenly, the great fire behind the altar blinked and went out. Before Lir could utter a cry of bewilderment, the flames roared up again with a vengeance, their reach now further than before, covering the alter and sending Lir stumbling back blindly. Despite her efforts to restrain it, Lir screamed, the sound stolen from her throat echoing through the chamber.

Lir's jade eyes widened at the blaze--it just wasn't possible. Nothing like this phenomenon had ever been reported within the shrine.

But nevertheless, the flames were as real and as hot as those from a blacksmith's forge and Lir had an uneasy feeling that this forge was melding a weapon of awesome strength--a weapon she wasn't sure she wanted.

/But you asked for it,/ she reminded herself--or had she? It felt almost like she had been forced to read the prayer…

There was only fire to begin with , but it wasn't long before Lir caught sight of a shadow emerging through the orange haze. At first, it appeared to be nothing more than a shapeless apparition, but it soon took the form of a man. Tall and lean, he carried himself with the easy grace of a hunter, and his steps were as silent as they would have been had he been stalking prey.

Lir couldn't make out any specific features, however, though her eyes tried. Unconsciously, she took another step back, but it wasn't enough to avoid a sudden assault. Before she could move away, the figure leaped out of the flame, a black swirl of cloth behind him fanning out like the wings of a vengeful angel.

She felt herself pushed off her feet and onto the cold stone floor, jagged rocks sending shots of pain up she spine as landed. The man's heavy weight lay on top of her, his hands and knees pinning Lir to the ground. Under different circumstances, it may have been an awkward position…

And then she found herself staring into a pair of malicious eyes--red eyes, as crimson as blood.

Lir felt cold metal clamp around her throat and could just barely make out the form of a golden claw in her peripheral vision. Her air was completely cut off as she was forced to stare up at man's face. He was so close; she could feel his breath across her cheeks and her nose--warm as the smoke from the fire behind him. But as close as she was, Lir couldn't make out the face before her; a crimson cloth, as red as his eyes, covered every feature.

"Why did you bring me back?" Lir shuddered, the man's voice was quiet, but cold. His claw moved up higher on her throat and began to squeeze a little tighter, but not tight enough to prevent her from speaking--he wanted an answer.

/Leviathan what did I summon?/

"She no longer resides within this world! All that was once here for me is gone!" His voice was rising and Lir could almost picture the lips behind the cloth curving into a vicious sneer. "Who are you and why have you summoned me?--answer before I am forced to act further!"

The man riled on, but Lir meanwhile, was nearly floored with shock. The answer to her previous thought was obvious, but nearly unbelievable. Red eyes, midnight black hair, a golden claw, and a red cape--from what Lir recalled of the Planet's history, the description matched that of Vincent Valentine. All well and good except for one tiny problem--Vincent Valentine, former member of Avalanche and hero of the Planet, had been dead for over two hundred years. It was physically impossible; people just didn't come back from the dead, unless what she had summoned was a ghost…

But it would have to be a damn live ghost. The figure above her was definitely warm and solid as stone--an unmovable stone.

/So if this is Vincent Valentine, then 'she' would be…Lucrecia?/ It was a shot in the dark, but it was her best guess. The priestess had sent her here to call for aid and well, if this was what she called, he would have to do. But something told her that this demonic man would not work for free. An idea was already sowing its seeds, but it was a long shot; she had no choice.

"My name is Avalir Kisaragi and I called you because I needed your help." The words came out airy and hoarse, but Lir sighed inwardly. At least she got them through her throat.

"I don't want to help you, I just wanted to be left alone." The claw tightened again and Lir's world began to spin; she would need oxygen soon.

"Please," she pleaded, "the Planet is in danger again. Demon's have…"

"I don't care about some demons, all I wanted…"

Pleading wasn't working. Lir had hoped that she wouldn't have to use her incentive, but…

"If you help me…I can bring back Lucrecia." The hand gripping her throat suddenly released her and Lir gulped in a huge mouthful of air as Vincent's weight suddenly moved off of her.

"What did you say?" His voice had gone back to it normal volume, but Vincent's eyes were wide in disbelief.

Those crimson eyes bore through Lir as if they could uncover every dark secret she had ever kept hidden. She knew she shouldn't have said, knew that it would be impossible, but then again, what she had just done in and of itself had been impossible. The bonds of reality had blurred a bit.

"If you help me defeat the demon lord Tibora, I promise that I will revive Lucrecia as I just revived you," Lir said.

Vincent's eyes widened a fraction more and Lir felt a double-edged sword of relief and apprehension twist through her gut. The man remained silent, but Lir was already certain that she had him. It was a good way to get him to help her; the hope of seeing Lucrecia again was too strong.

/Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep my promise./

Author's Comments: End chapter 3. Told you Vincent would appear in this chapter, but it looks like Lir has gotten herself into a bit of a spot; it appears she has made a promise she can not keep. For those who are wondering, yes there is going to be some romance between Lir and Vincent (quite a bit actually). I thought the two characters would balance each other out very well. I'm going to have fun playing with them.

Lastly, please review, I like reviews. Reviews mean that I keep the story moving at a good pace.