The Song of Eternity
Canto 2 : Gaia
Verse 4
Hostage
Helpless in the land of his greatest enemy,
Alive because of the evil of one man,
He is used to tempt the hope of the world.
"We need to get headed out of this city in case the guards get suspicious," Deklin explained as Eiko caught her breath in the alley after they reappeared. He kept a lookout on the entrance to the alley, making sure no one had spotted them while Eiko gathered her bearings.
"Did you hear it?" She asked him as she finally started shaking out the cobwebs.
"Ever since we discovered how to do this, we learned to tune it out. It can drive you mad if you aren't careful," he explained as he led her by the hand out of the alley. "We never could understand what it says anyway. Why? Did you understand it?" he questioned her as he led her out of the city.
"Someone is being held, being used to trick good people. That's all I could get from it," she explained as they came to the marketplace near the front gate of town. "Why don't you just, you know…."
"Because any further use of my 'skills' might alert certain undesirable persons to our location. Besides, we're almost out," he explained as they neared the gate. Suddenly a light appeared on the wall of a large building on the edge of the market. Everyone grew silent as the light changed into a picture and came into focus.
"What are you trying to show us Toma?" Amarant questioned the old man as he led them into the basement.
"Patience, Amarant. That always was your problem, never willing to wait for something that is worth it," the old man laughed as he lit several torches on the wall, revealing a forge used to make weapons and a wall with a dozen dusty weapons on it. "No other living beings know of this. Travis, Fiona, and I were working on it before she died and he left," he explained as he walked over to the wall and pulled down a metal claw.
"Travis discovered something amazing. As he became more in tune with his power and grasp of magic, he found a skill only he could do. He did it one day under extreme circumstance when fighting the Alpha WEAPON," Toma explained as he thought back to the day. "He somehow enhanced his speed and strength with a burst of energy. To make a long story short, he isolated eleven other abilities just like the one he used. Only problem was that he could not teach them to anyone or embed them in a weapon like most skills. He also found that if he used all 12 at once, it would come close to killing him or anyone. He finally reasoned that only he could use the skills. One night he was down here fixing his sword and cut himself on it. That was when he understood. The weapons needed to be tempered in his blood to acquire the skills," he finished as he noticed the horrified look on Lani's face.
"Oh, he never ran himself through with them or anything, if that's what you're thinking. He just made some little cuts and bled a lot. He only finished his own sword when he was still here. After he left, I decided to carry on. You'd be surprised at how much he bled around here, with all the fighting and whatnot. There was enough for me to finish these, they all have the skill. He called it the X skill," Toma stopped talking as he heard a commotion above them in the house.
"Mr. Shinji, they're broadcasting, you need to see this. It's him!" The leader of the town guards shouted as he ran down into the basement.
"We have a transmission from the city, sir," a genome spoke as he came into the room where Nathan and Mikoto were sitting with Kuja.
Nathan looked up at the genome annoyed. "Can't it wait? We were talking here," Nathan said, brushing off the genome.
"What is it that is so important?" Mikoto asked the genome.
"Garland, the Alpha WEAPON, and someone who looks like his brother," the genome stopped talking as Nathan bolted upright and ran out of the room. The main area of the Treno auction house was deserted again, with the exception of those working with Nathan. There was a mage in the center of the room, using a spell to project the image that was being sent from the Terran city.
Mikoto helped Kuja shuffle into the room as the image cleared up. "The metal man," Kuja muttered as he noticed Deke. Nathan turned and looked at him strangely, then diverted his attention back to the image.
There were three beings in the image. The first looked like a genome, except that it had whiter skin and had no hair. Over the past few years they had learned the secrets of the Terrans and the genomes they brought with them. The Terrans had learned how to transfer their consciousness to the body of a genome, it had an added side effect of making them resemble their old physical self. The genome in question was the reincarnation of Garland.
The second was a being that had not been seen on Gaia for the last three years. It was the enormous dragon-like metal creature known as the Alpha WEAPON. It had disappeared, presumed dead three years ago along with the third being in the image. The third being in the picture caused Nathan's blood to run cold. His brother was there, floating in the air in a sphere of energy. There were numerous wounds all over his body and he did not appear to be conscious.
"People of Gaia, I assume you all can see this, even the rebels, wherever they are," Garland spoke and his voice came from the image. "Despite your best attempts, the Alpha WEAPON has returned and we are as strong as ever. His return has brought and added bonus with it, your champion, Travis Starmore, is ours," he laughed as the image focused on Travis. "He is being suspended in a sphere of electromagnetic energy, unable to move, even if he was able to, which he is not. Sonic pulses are being sent at his arms and legs every 5 minutes, further shattering the places that we broke earlier. He is drugged and poisoned, and will not wake up for four days, when we will execute him at sunrise. That is unless I receive the unconditional surrender of the entire rebel force by sundown the day before. You have my instructions," he finished as the image turned black.
"This is a bad idea," the Alpha WEAPON spoke to Garland after they ended the transmission.
"Your time away has changed you. You forget who gives orders here Colin," Garland sneered with contempt at the WEAPON.
"I am Alpha now," the WEAPON roared in anger. "I spent years with him on Earth! He is far too dangerous to leave alive. This plan to lure the rebels here is poor logic. We have the numbers and the power. We do not need to do this."
"Sure we do. To see what his brother chooses. His family, or this world. It will be spectacular," Garland laughed as he left the room.
"Starmore… I want my glorious battle," Alpha spoke to the unresponsive man. Travis did not respond.