Chapter XXVI:
Betrayal and Failure
"Let's get going. Alpha, how long will it take you to install the block?" Bergljot said hurriedly.
"Maybe half-an-hour to an hour since you're in a hurry," Alpha answered. "You can take my ship to get to the hole. I installed radar that'll help locate sources of massive energy. Keyholes hold some of the greatest energy on a world. I can put one on yours later, but for now I'll stay and just install the warp. I'll bring it to you when I'm done."
"Alpha?" Anselm muttered. "Thanks for everything."
"No problem," She smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "Now get going before you lose your kids!"
She watched as her seven friends boarded her craft and took to the sky. Alpha turned to The Isra, picked up the block, and began to install it.
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"Where the hell is he?" Sephiroth muttered. They had been flying for about half-an-hour with no sign of Raj.
"I don't see the Keyhole, either," Bergljot sighed, staring into a large sphere in the middle of the cockpit. "Wait! There!"
"Where?" Anselm snapped. She pointed to a small, glowing dot twenty miles north of where they were. "Let's go."
"Hey…" Emer started as she stared at the sphere. "That's where Chocobo graze."
"So why aren't you there?" Gwandoya asked. Emer bowed her head.
"I ran away. I didn't feel safe there. While I lived there, I saw something. It had the body of a cat or dog, the wings of a Chocobo, and the hands of a human. Sephiroth… I know what we heard last night. It was the same animal. Also, they… turned me away, when I became friends with Lycou and Cernunnos. They taught me to speak your tongue. My flock told me that I am a disgrace to Chocobo. We don't speak the human language."
"We better get over there soon," Sephiroth said, deciding to drop the subject. They sped along for about five minutes before they saw anything. "Hey, what's that?"
In the middle of a field were hundreds of Chocobo of every color under the sun. At the far end of the field were two hills. In front of the farthest from them was a large boulder. Engraved on it was a keyhole. The birds scattered as the ship landed. Emer was the first to leave.
"Wark!" she squawked. Another Chocobo approached her and began chirping angrily. Emer stood quietly until the other bird pecked at her roughly. She beat her wings against the other in retaliation. Emer yelled to the humans as she fought. "Go to the Keyhole! I'll try to tell them to leave us alone!"
"Right," Bergljot nodded. She and the others hurried over a hill to find a horrifying sight. "Raj!"
"Took you long enough," he whispered. The children were laying in front of him, Raj looking down at them. They were crying and there was no mistaking the cuts on their faces and arms.
"Give me back Gemini and Genesis!" Bergljot screamed, struggling to keep tears from flowing.
"Give them back? No, I don't think so. Ansem requested these babies specifically, and I wouldn't want to disappoint him, now, would I?" he said with an amused chuckle. He turned to face them. His own face was cut and bruised, but he smiled on and on. "Tell me, Sephiroth, how much longer will you be able to take the pain of your nightmares?" he asked. Sephiroth tried to ignore the questioning stares of his friends by looking down at the ground. "How much longer can you go knowing that you'll have to kill the only other person you ever truly cared for besides Aeris?"
"Shut up! Those children will die without their mother, and you know it!" he yelled back angrily. "Ansem surely wants them alive! What use will they be if they're dead?"
"What do you think he'll do when he receives them?" Raj called back. Bergljot lost it at that statement.
"Give me my children!" she screeched. She leapt at him, but stopped when she saw what he held in his hand.
"I'll do it, I swear to god I will!" Raj called. He raised his hand to reveal a vial full of green liquid. There was no mistaking the skull and crossbones printed on it. He held it over the children. "If one drop so much as touches their skin, they'll die within seconds! Do you really want to take that chance?"
"Please, no," Bergljot gasped. She cried silently. A howl behind Raj distracted them all.
"Ah," Raj smiled. He pocketed the vial and picked up the twins. "I hear that Enosh has shown up at last. Goodbye," he grinned. He leapt over the hill and was gone.
"What do we do?" Anselm asked nervously.
"We fight," Lycou growled. He stood his ground.
"Ronso never give up!" Cernunnos yelled.
"How true," a voice groaned from the top of the hill across from them. "I suppose that means I should never give up, either?"
"What the hell is that?" Sephiroth muttered. The creature had a body similar to that of Lycou. Its fur was blue and he had a small horn on his head. What was more amazing were the wings stretching from his back and the human hands at the ends of his front legs.
"I am a creation of humans, a hybrid of Ronso, Chocobo, human, and even your people," the creature said, adding a nod to Lycou. He didn't speak with his mouth; he used telepathy instead. "They wanted to create an all-powerful creature. They did not succeed, for I have been dead for quite some time. I have struck an alliance with the great Ansem, and have been sent to make sure you will not get any farther then you have."
"Tell us what you know!" Gwandoya yelled. They all shook their heads with the squawking laughter filling them.
"Why should I? What good would the information be to those who will die at any moment?" Enosh chuckled. He tackled Gwandoya without warning.
"Leave Gwandoya alone!" Cernunnos cried. He ran up and stuck the hybrid in the side with his spear. They all fell to their knees with the cry of pain that came from Enosh. He stood seconds later, ready to tackle again.
"We can't do anything like that again if we don't want to get hurt ourselves," Anselm called. "I have an idea."
"Don't do anything stupid!" Bergljot cried back. Anselm approached the monster. Enosh sprang at him.
"STOP!" Anselm yelled suddenly. The creature froze in midair as the stop spell hit him, but not before he slashed Anselm across the chest. Although his hands were that of a human, his claws were retractable and the size of Lycou's. Anselm lay on the ground in pain. "AH! ATTACK NOW!" he gasped. The others ran up to the mutant and slashed at his body quickly. They didn't notice Anselm crawling away to safety.
"Argh!" Enosh cried when he unfroze. He stood shakily. "This is impossible. How can you do this?"
"We're the good guys. That's how," Sephiroth said. Lycou stared at him, surprise plainly on his face. "Now tell us what you know."
"Never!" Enosh yelled back. He flew up into the air and prepared to leave. He flew up to a cliff next to them, but was heard yelling as he was met by something else.
"What's going on?" Gwandoya whispered. He stood quietly while the others stared up. A loud, painful squawk was heard after a few moments.
"Emer," Cernunnos whispered. He began running towards the rock wall. "Emer need help!"
The others began to run after, but stopped when they saw Anselm still laying in pain. Bergljot knelt and laid a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"Anselm…"
"Go after that thing," he moaned. He took a deep breath to ease the pain.
"We need you," Bergljot muttered.
"No. You're the Keyblade master. You're all we need."
"Anselm, I'm not leaving you here to…" Bergljot stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Go after the hybrid. I'll stay with him," Sephiroth said quietly. "We'll be fine. Go."
"Thanks," Bergljot whispered. She ran with the others to help Emer while Sephiroth knelt by Anselm to bind the wounds.
When the foursome reached the top, they found that they weren't needed, after all. Emer was clawing at the animal, along with around two hundred other Chocobo, nearly two-dozen Ronso, and five animals that seemed to be of the same species as Lycou. Enosh was nearly dead.
"Emer, move!" Bergljot called. Emer squawked at the other creatures and they backed off. Bergljot approached the panting figure. His wings were broken, his hands were bleeding, and blood dripped from his mouth. He looked up at Bergljot.
"Let me die quickly. No more pain, please," he whispered. She shook her head.
"You don't deserve that. But," she sighed. "I'll do it, because I'm not cold-hearted enough to torture you."
Bergljot raised her Keyblade and slashed him open, killing him instantly. Bergljot heard a noise far below, and looked down to find Raj with her fearful, crying children. She dragged the body to the edge and threw it over.
"Happy birthday, jack-ass," she muttered. She turned to the others. "We need to seal the Keyhole now."
"Let's go," Lycou agreed. "But let's take Chocobo. If they don't object, that is."
"Of course not," Emer smiled the best she could. She and three other Chocobo lowered themselves for the passengers. Lycou had some difficulty getting on and staying there, but he managed well enough. The Ronso and Lycou's friends hopped on other ones and hurried down the side of the cliff.
"Is that a Gummi Ship?" Gwandoya asked. They listened to the roaring engine of The Isra. Alpha was piloting the ship towards them.
"Good," Bergljot whispered. They continued on. When they got back, Sephiroth was fighting with Raj.
"Bergljot, seal the Keyhole, now!" Sephiroth called when he saw them. They all looked at the Keyhole, their hearts filling with dread. It was fading.
"No, stop!" Bergljot yelled. She ran over, but it was too late. The hole was sealed before she could raise her blade.
"Shit," Raj whispered. He pushed Sephiroth to the ground next to Anselm and picked up the twins. He ran over to Alpha's ship. "Goodbye, and let's hope we don't meet again!"
"Hold it!" Bergljot screamed. She screamed louder when a piece of earth rose up in front of her. The planet was rumbling violently as Raj began to pilot Alpha's ship off the planet. Alpha had The Isra over to them, but she didn't land. Instead, she lowered a platform from the door.
"Get on! Tell the animals that if they don't want to die, they need to get in!" She yelled. All the Chocobo and Ronso crowded onto the platform. Alpha had to lower it twice more for everyone to get in, but they managed. When they were in, Alpha turned the ship into the air sharply and left the planet. Looking back as they flew away, Bergljot and her friends watched in horror as the planet was torn apart by an invisible force.
"So that's what happens," Bergljot whispered, "when the Keyhole isn't sealed. I failed."
"No," Anselm said gently. "You didn't fail. Raj tricked and distracted us."
"How so?"
"You didn't see the injuries on Enosh. When he slashed at me, I managed to see at least a dozen cuts already on his body. He was already hurt."
"Raj, you bastard," Gwandoya muttered. "Well, we have a ship full of oversized birds and dogs. What do we do with them?"
"Hmm," Bergljot furrowed her brow. She turned to Alpha. "Get Renatus for me."
"Sure," the young pilot smiled. She pushed some buttons and waited. Renatus' face was plastered across the screen seconds later.
"Hello, Bergljot. What's going on?" she asked. Bergljot quickly told her everything that had happened. Renatus agreed to keep the animals on her planet until the light was free and they had a planet again. "I'll be awaiting your arrival."
"We'll be there in a few minutes," Bergljot smiled. "Remember, we have a Warp Gummi."
"Oh, yes, I forgot that already," Renatus laughed. "I'll be out by the landing field waiting for you."
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"Thank you so much Renatus. You must be getting tired of us bringing all these people to your world," Bergljot apologized. Renatus shook her head.
"No, it is actually quite nice to have Chocobo and Ronso again. And I hope that you find the children soon."
"Hey, Sephiroth," Lycou whispered. He and Sephiroth were standing a few yards away. "I apologize for mistrusting you. You are nothing like what my grandfather said."
"You're feelings were justified. There is no need for apologies," Sephiroth assured him with a smile. Lycou grinned, too. Sephiroth stuck out his hand, which Lycou then laid his paw in.
"Sephiroth. Some on! We're leaving!" Bergljot called from the ship.
"Good bye, child of Nanaki," he yelled as he ran to his friends.
"What now?" Gwandoya asked as they took off.
"First, buckle up so we can get back to where we were," Alpha ordered. About a minute later, they were back at the ruined planet of Selvaggia. She set the ship on autopilot and joined them in the map. They already had a planet picked out.
"Here," Anselm pointed as Alpha walked in. "This is our destination."
"What's it called? I can't see from over here," Sephiroth asked. He leaned, arms crossed, against the wall by the door.
"Ruya," Anselm said simply.
"NO! I won't go there!" Sephiroth yelled suddenly. Everyone stared at him as he shook. "I refuse!"
"Sephiroth, what's on Ruya? What was Raj talking about back there?" Gwandoya asked him. Sephiroth didn't reply. He only turned and walked out of the room.
"Sephiroth?" Bergljot called into the hall. He was standing in the middle of the corridor, trembling. She wrapped her arms around him from behind. "What's on Ruya?"
"He's there. Waiting for me," Sephiroth whispered. "I can't do it. He's just a kid."
"Who is?" she inquired, walking in front of him. Her eyes went wide when she saw the tears on his face. "Sephiroth… you're really scared about this place, aren't you?"
"Hmm," he nodded shamefully. "I don't want to watch him die again."
"Who are you talking about?" Bergljot pressed. Sephiroth walked towards the bedroom.
"Someone very close to me. He's known me his entire life. I had to watch Cloud murder him long ago. I don't want to suffer that again."
"Sephiroth, if you have a problem, tell us and we'll try to help," she whispered. He turned to face her and smiled weakly.
"If there was a way you could help, I would have told you when my nightmares began. Alas, this is something I alone must deal with," he said sadly. He went into the bedroom and shut the door.
"Did you get anything?" Anselm asked as he and the others approached her.
"All he said was that there was someone there who Cloud murdered a long time ago and Sephiroth had to watch. He doesn't want to watch again. He also said that he's been having nightmares."
"So the nightmares are scaring him. I would think he'd know the difference between real and dreams," Gwandoya muttered. "Anyway, we'll be there tomorrow. The world's pretty close."
"Tomorrow?" Bergljot repeated. She sighed. "Okay. I'm all for it. Anyone else not want to go besides Sephiroth?"
"I'll go," Anselm said.
"We need to try to save all planets, no matter how scared we are," Gwandoya pointed out.
"I'll be staying on the ship since I don't have a weapon, but I can take you over," Alpha agreed. Sephiroth came out and stared at them.
"Sephiroth, I'm sorry," Bergljot said, "but you're outvoted for going to Ruya. Four to one vote."
"Fine," he sighed bitterly. He approached the cockpit and sat down. He didn't move for the rest of the ride.
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"Sephiroth, shouldn't you go to sleep?" Alpha asked. According to the Gummi clock, it was nearly midnight. Sephiroth remained seated in the cockpit with Alpha, but the others were sleeping soundly in the back.
"I'm afraid to. What can you tell me about this planet?"
"Not much. It's covered in fog. Um…" she thought. "There's one part of the world that light never touches. We think that's where the Keyhole is."
"What about creatures?" he inquired.
"Seems there are mostly doppelgangers."
"Doppel-who?"
"Doppelgangers. They take the form of anything they come across. I read that they can also manifest one's worst nightmares, but who knows if it's true? I mean, no one on my world has ever seen one. I guess they don't have one where you come from, either. 'Doppel-who," she mocked with a laugh. Sephiroth smirked as Alpha turned on the autopilot and turned to face him. "Isn't that better?"
"What?"
"Smiling. You have a really nice one. All you have to do is laugh once in awhile. You'll feel better, trust me," Alpha grinned, straddling the pilot's seat. He smiled back and looked down at the floor. His expression faded as he closed his eyes.
"But what will I do when I get there? I can't laugh while watching the death of…" he fell silent. Alpha got up and knelt by him.
"Sephiroth, if things get really tough out there for you, come back to the ship. No matter what Bergljot says, you come back here, got it?" she insisted. Sephiroth nodded weakly. "Come on, smile."
"I don't feel like it."
"Oh, come on mister grumpy-pants, smile!" she ordered. He looked up and grinned slightly. "Now, you can do better than that. Smile!" she ordered further.
"You enjoy torturing me," he sighed. Throwing away as much dignity as he could, Sephiroth grinned the cheesiest grin he could. The result was showing all his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly. "You know," he said through his teeth, "this really hurts."
"You don't know how stupid you look," Alpha said, trying to suppress a laugh. She failed miserably. She was suddenly doubled up with laughter.
"Haha," Sephiroth looked at his grinning reflection in the window and began to join her. They sat there exchanging stupid facial expressions and laughing until their entire bodies hurt and they could shed no more tears of joy.
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NM: Wow… This story has been on ffnet for just over a year now… Thanks guys! Anyway, I'm actually happy with the ending of this chapter. I know the fight really sucks, but the battle wasn't important. What was important was the death of the world. Oh, and I don't own the rights to any Chocobo, Ronso, or Nanaki's species. Obviously. Okay, reviews:
Master of the Dark Trio: It takes so long because: 1) Lately, I've been at a point in the story where writer's block is a major problem. Hopefully, the next one to three chapters will be quicker as I've been thinking about them for quite some time; 2) I have had two other stories in the works (Love of an Angel and Angel's Child), so I've been working on those when I have few ideas on this one; 3) I'm lazy; 4) I don't even know why this is, but I don't like working on these stories when someone else is home with me, mostly because I feel like they're looking over my shoulder, which is a pain in my bum when people do that to something I'm doing on the computer. Fortunately, I've been home alone a lot lately, so, again, I'll hopefully be working harder.
Soul Vagabond: Hehe… thanks. Please don't flame for the fight… and… READ THE OTHER STORY!!! (please? It's cool. Reno and Rude are there. And vampires.)
CorDynasty: ((bow)) Thanks. Yeah, the story actually generated from a thought I had while I was falling asleep one night. I wondered, what if Ansem didn't really die and Sora's descendant had to kill him? What if she was a normal, every day girl and her friends knew who she was, but she didn't? What if Sephiroth joined them? and so on, and that's how this story was born. As for the one-winged angel becoming good too quickly and easily, I know. I couldn't think of anything else to make him want to be good. Also, I didn't say what he was up to during Bergljot's pregnancy, so you can come up with your own ideas, if you want. Also, (I use that word too much) the next couple of chapters may explain the soft spot in Seph's heart. As for the worlds, there will be one world for every summon they get. There's 13 summons, so there will be 13 worlds, plus Selvaggia and the End of the World, where the last fight will be. After careful calculations, they still have 9 worlds to go to (plus End) before the ending, including where they're just about at.
NM: Thanks for reading, and to those of you who have been with me since the beginning, thank you especially for pushing me to work. ((sends plushies of various FF characters to readers))
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