A/N-First things first, I am sooo sorry that it took so long to update! I'm glad that you guys were patient and I hope you aren't mad! Winter Break is finally upon me and I will have time to FINISH this story! GASP!!! Haha! Oh, I forgot to add that Talaed means "deceit" in Al Bhed, but you smart reviewers probably already knew that! Also, you just may have more than one surprise in this chapter. Anyways, thanks for the reviews! I'm glad to know you guys weren't confused at all! Yay! I'd like to thank you guys for telling me about the Den of Woe. Thank you very mucho! Anyway, things are going to get much more interesting from here out. But it's nearing the end as well! rubs hands together Let's get started, shall we?
♥Every Heart♥
Chapter Nineteen: The Den of Woe
Everything happened in slow motion. I could hear my heart beating rapidly in my chest, my tears splashing heavily onto the ground, Yuna's gasp of terror, Talaed's victorious smirk on Gippel's face, the bang as the bullet was released from the huge gun. I just stood there dumbly, waiting for it to end. No…it couldn't end like this! I had to do something! But what?! It was too late, anyway. The trigger had already been pulled and now the bullet was racing towards me in slow motion. No sooner did I breathe then I heard that voice. That voice that I grew to loathe, then grew to like, then grew to loathe again.
"Let me blow you a kiss!" I blinked as Talaed was knocked to the ground by the sudden wind, sending the bullet flying into the sky instead. The remaining pyreflies angrily swirled around us upon the impact. Leblanc landed in front of me, brandishing her red fan. "Too easy!" I gaped, openmouthed as the ubiquitous blonde woman turned around and smirked at me.
"H-How did you get here?!" I breathed, my eyes wide in shock.
She winked. "With all that commotion outside, who could sleep? I just followed your 'Yunie' and lover boy. You can thank me later, loves! Now let's finish him off!" She started to advance towards the Gippel fraud who was scowling and quickly regaining conscious.
"No!" I screamed, effectively stopping her, "What if we hurt Gippel in the process?! I can't risk that!" Talaed slowly stood up as Leblanc hesitated mere feet from him. I looked at Yunie for support to see her still pointing her guns at Talaed shakily, slowly crossing her arms over each other to create an 'X'. "No…Yunie, don't!" She stopped and looked at me, a sad expression on her face.
"Then…what do we do?" she whispered, lowering her weapon. I turned back to look at Talaed, who was pointing his gun straight at me again. Yunie noticed it before me and I cried out as she pulled the trigger of one of her guns. Then I realized she had been aiming at Gippel's gun, as it was now on the ground, leaving Talaed unarmed. Yunie lowered her gun once more, narrowing her mismatched eyes. "Rikku…the only way Talaed can leave Gippel's body is when he decides to. I don't think there's any other way…"
My mind started to frantically try to think up of something clever to do, but I was just drawing blanks. Well first things first, we needed to get Gippel's gun away from Talaed. As if reading my mind, Leblanc summoned another powerful gust of wind with her pointed red fan, blowing the gun in our direction. The weapon landed in front of my feet and I stuck my right blue and white boot out and flipped the gun upwards into the air, catching it with my daggers.
"You've got nowhere to run, Talaed. You're cornered! Now leave Gippel's body!" I exclaimed shakily, slipping the rather large gun under my yellow belt. The fiend smirked and threw back his head, laughing. It sent shivers down my spine. I could tell I wasn't the only one affected by the way Yunie grit her teeth and Leblanc's grip on her fan faltered. After a few seconds of the insane laughter, he threw me a nefarious smile, making my heart beat erratically because of the way he was making Gippel look.
"Just because I am unarmed does not mean I do not possess a few tricks of my own!" I slowly backed away as Talaed lifted his right arm into the air. The atmosphere was growing warmer by the second and more beads of sweat trickled down the sides of my face. "As you should know, fiends have their own elements, and mine is obviously fire. But enough chatter! Now burn!" Gippel's eye turned a blood red, making my blood turn to ice. Flames licked the once green iris of his eye and a feral snarl escaped his throat. The hand that was in the air snapped and then Talaed screamed, "Dragon Tears!!!"
I had barely enough time to react as a shower of flames came falling from the sky, burning the grass and trees alike. Not having any water spells, I did the next best thing. I started kicking at the dirt on the ground, trying to extinguish the growing flames on the grass. Yunie was doing the same thing, covering the side across the pond while Leblanc was blowing out the flames with a strong gust of wind, flicking her wrist this way and that. Smoke soon danced upon us, making me cough. Talaed's insane laughter could be heard, and then it was gone.
"Yunie! Leblanc!" I cried, covering my nose and mouth with my scarf. My eyes watered from the smoke and from the distress of seeing our secret place becoming destroyed. I heard a cry of pain from my cousin and I blindly ran through the gray haze in the voice's direction. "We gotta get out of here! If we breathe in anymore smoke, we'll suffocate!" I started pushing my barely visible cousin down the pathway, feeling a cool breeze behind me signifying Leblanc's presence.
After we were safely away from the dying fire, I took a good look at Yunie, who was sitting up on the ground and breathing lightly. The fire had burnt off some of the hair from her ponytail, which reached up to mid-waist now. She had a small but severe wound on her right thigh and I winced seeing the raw flesh. "Leblanc, do you happen to have any Curagas?"
The fan-wielding blonde muttered something and a blue light surrounded Yunie's leg. The brunette sighed as the spell alleviated the wound. The skin was pulled back together, leaving a small scar. "Thanks, Rikku. I'm fine now," Yunie assured. As soon as she spoke, she started coughing violently, making my eyes widen. She covered her mouth with a pale hand and after withdrawing it, I gasped as I saw scarlet dripping from her hand. "My lungs…burn," she whispered, and then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
I cried out and caught her head, placing it gently on the ground. "She's going to be ok, right?" I whispered to Leblanc, who was frowning and wiping soot from her outfit.
"Don't worry, love. I'll take her back to Djose to get some medical attention. We should head back."
"But…what about Gippel?" I mumbled, glancing up at Leblanc. The blonde lady sighed and tucked away her huge fan.
"There's nothing we can do, love. We don't even know where this Talaed went." I closed my eyes, trying to think. As Leblanc started to pick up Yunie's body, a light bulb went off in my brain.
"Wait! I read Shinra's Weapons Dictionary, and it said the Hammer of Light was accidentally discovered by people trying out for the Crimson Squad. Wasn't that in the Den of Woe?" I stared ahead of me at the pathway on Mushroom Rock Road leading to that cursed place. Silence was my reply. "I'm right, aren't I?" I stood up from my kneeling position, a valiant expression appearing on my face.
"But you shouldn't go by yourself, Rikku," Leblanc replied seriously, using my name for the first time. "If something happens to you…" Her voice trailed off and I sighed.
"I have no choice. I'm going," I firmly replied. "Take care of Yunie." Before Leblanc could stop me, I ran ahead, disappearing into the shadows. Her cries grew fainter and soon I couldn't hear them at all as I continued to walk. I felt my way through the dark until I found the entrance to the path leading to the Youth League HQ. Stumbling along the path, I sighed. There was no way I would get to the Den of Woe like this. Hoping against all hopes, I fumbled in my pockets, praying that I had a match or something. I took out something short and thin and my eyes lit up. Alright! I struck the match against the hard surface of my pockets, watching as it illuminated the pathway for me. My luck increased twofold as I spotted an abandoned lantern hanging off of a lone gnarly branch. I quickly lit the lantern before the flame on my match died out or burned my fingers first, sighing with relief.
I held out the lantern in front of me, and the fear of being alone came rushing back. Everything around me was deathly quiet, beckoning me to continue onward. Everything looked the same, but there was no one walking around, not even an Ochu in sight. I breathed in shakily and my resolve faltered for a moment.
I took a step forward, hearing my boots crunching loudly against the hard gravel. I continued at a steady pace, straining my ears for anything abnormal. The unnerving silence stretched on and paranoia found a home in my mind. I clutched the handle of the lantern tightly as the air around me started to get chilly. The hollow sound of nothingness was starting to get to me, so I started humming a Chocobo nursery rhyme, hoping it would help get my mind off the strange silence. I soon reached the stone stairs leading down into the Den of Woe. Everything was eerily dark down the there…
"Aw, come off it, Rikku! You can do this!" Hearing my own voice squeak like that, I wasn't so sure if I could. Slowly, I descended the stairs and hopped off the last one as I reached the bottom with a smooth thud.
"Hahaha…" I froze as the familiar laughter reached my ears. It was up ahead of me, inside the Den of Woe. I breathed in deeply and took a step forward, jumping a little upon hearing just how loudly my boots sounded. I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, clutching it tightly with my free hand. The entrance of the Den of Woe appeared before me, open and beckoning. The laughter grew louder and I started to hyperventilate. Thinking encouraging words to myself, I stepped inside the entrance and the laughter abruptly stopped. It was silent once more.
Trembling, I held the lantern in front of me…and gasped. It looked just like that place in my dream! Except…I wasn't chasing Chappu. I was chasing Talaed. Realization dawned on me. That fiend had created that dream to make me start to believe that Uppahc was Chappu so that I would help him! It obviously had backfired, but I was still here nonetheless.
Thinking hard about my dream, I remembered that I had possessed the Hammer of Light instead of Talaed, so that was always a good thing. So before I rescued Gippel, I would have to find that weapon. "But…where could it be?" I whispered to myself, frowning.
"Rikku, Rikku, Rikku…What's a small and fragile girl like you doing here…all alone in the dark?" The dangerous voice breathed steadily down my back, a high-pitched giggle emitting from his throat. I froze, gripping my lantern so hard I was half-surprised that the handle didn't break. Before I had time to react, an arm wrestled me into a headlock, not bothering to cover my mouth since no one could hear us. The lantern dropped to the floor with a metallic clang. I went limp, frozen with fear, not knowing what to do. Noticing my compliance, Talaed started dragging me somewhere and I started to panic.
Screaming, I jammed my heel down on his foot, relieved when his grip on me loosened. Using the advantage, I spun around and elbowed him in the ribs, making sure not to use my daggers since I didn't want to mutilate Gippel's body. Talaed stumbled away from me, losing his balance momentarily. I grabbed his outstretched arm and hesitated, muttering an apology before kneeing him in the groin with all my strength, hearing him gasp in obvious pain.
Using the head start, I ran in the opposite direction and soon found my lantern. I kneeled and picked it up, inspecting it before sighing in relief when it still worked. Hearing a growl somewhere behind, I raced forward, deeper inside the Den of Woe.
After running blindly for a few minutes, the voice faded away and I was left by myself again. But just because it was quiet, it didn't mean that I was alone, so I kept on high alert. Just as expected, when I turned a corner I came in contact with a relatively weak fiend so I disposed of it with a swipe of my dagger, picking up a Potion it left behind. I would probably need to stock up on those.
"Nooj!"
I froze. What? That voice didn't sound familiar, but that name sure did! What was Nooj doing here anyway? I strained my ears and leaned forward a little, certain I had heard it from there.
"Well then if you won't believe me, I know Baralai will, won't you? C'mon!"
Baralai too? Just what were they doing here? Wasn't Baralai back in Bevelle attending some political matters? The voices were coming from just up ahead and around the corner, the people hidden from view. Wait a minute….The gears started turning in my head. The only person I heard speaking was that anonymous guy…Where were Nooj and Baralai's voices?
"You believe me, Gippel? Yeah, let's go! I know I wasn't hallucinating when I saw that thing!" Ok, now I definitely had to see what was going on. Gippel was definitely not there…
As quietly as I could, I tiptoed to the end of the path and peeked around the corner. What I saw was definitely not what I expected. A young boy no older than thirteen was standing by himself…and it looked like he was talking to himself. But what surprised me most was how fuzzy his appearance looked, like he would fade away in an instant. Pyreflies danced hypnotically around him and my eyes widened as I realized he must be an unsent. But…he just seemed to be replaying…a memory. I understood.
Just like during Yunie's pilgrimage two years ago when we were at the Zanarkand Ruins, memories of the summoners who had died fighting Sin, or memories of those like Seymour, were all around the place. Their memories had become trapped there. And whoever that young boy was…he had obviously died here and was leading them somewhere. The Hammer of Light possibly? Feeling excited, I turned the corner and stealthily followed the blonde kid as he started to run.
Now that I was following him from behind, he looked kind of familiar. But…I couldn't possibly know him because he was dead. Or maybe he was an unsent I saw during one of my journeys. It wasn't really the way he looked, but the way he ran…It didn't really matter though. We soon came to a fork in the pathway and the kid scratched his head and sighed in annoyance. Most likely something Gippel said to him. I grinned slightly, pitying the poor preteen.
"Fuimt oui crid ed? E's dnoehk du nasaspan rana, Gippel. E's zicd y get!" My eyes widened dramatically. At this rate, I was sure my eyes would pop out of their sockets if I kept up the eye-widening. That saying…E's zicd y get…I'm just a kid. Could it be…?
Now that I thought about it, Shinra never talked about his past, and he sure knew a lot…more than any kid should know. And he always hid his face behind a helmet and talked freakily and he was Al Bhed…While I had done some serious pondering, the kid had run up ahead, choosing the left path. Deciding to ask Shinra if he was unsent later-no matter how bizarre it seemed-I quickly continued pursuit.
"It's just up ahead, you guys," the Al Bhed whispered excitedly. After a few more twists, turns, and stumbles upon my part, we had ourselves a dead end. I was confused. What was I supposed to be looking at? All I saw were gnarly branches coating the walls and a lone platform. It was a suspicious thing, to have a platform in the middle of nowhere. The object was shining radiantly, intricate carvings and possibly an old and long forgotten language was etched on the sides. One thing I did recognize was the hieroglyphs. The answer came to me as 'Shinra' placed a sphere in the center of the platform and in a brilliant flash of light something appeared on the majestic platform.
The kid and I gasped at the same time, stunned with wonder. I approached timidly. So this was it. This was the Hammer of Light. It was a pretty long and thin object…for a hammer. It definitely didn't look like a hammer. More like…a silver rod (that's features looked like it was carved from the trees in Macalania) with a strange design at the top and a diamond pommel. Before I could stop him, the kid reached forward and grasped the foreign object.
"I think this is the Hammer of Light, you guys," he whispered, handling the weapon with care. Suddenly, the boy whipped around and his signature eyes widened. He quickly hid the weapon in between the safety of the branches in the wall and turned around again. He remained silent for a moment and then…
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said calmly. I had a feeling he was hit on the head by the butt of a gun by the way he cried out and collapsed onto the ground, clutching his forehead. "No…Gippel…don't…" he whispered. My heart went out to him as I realized Gippel was beating up the soldier. Suddenly another person appeared in a swarm of pyreflies, an unknown soldier. The helmet he wore covered his eyes, and a semi-automatic was held in his arms.
"You know, you guys won't get out alive even if you fork it over," he sneered nastily. He raised the gun and aimed at someone but was knocked back by Gippel's massive gun most likely. That wasn't such a good idea, though. I watched as a spray of bullets rained down, muffling a scream as they passed through my body, sending a chilling effect through me.
A voice cried out in pain and I whirled around to see the kid clutching the right side of his face as heavy droplets of blood fell from the gaps of his shaking fingers. I ran over to his side and watched as he fell over, lifeless, hands still on his face. In that instant, the memory disappeared and I was left alone once more.
I stood up slowly from my kneeling position, horrified beyond imagination. If that boy was really Shinra…no wonder he hid behind that helmet. I shivered. So where was the Hammer of Light now? Remembering where the kid had hidden it, I walked over to the side, relief washing over me as I saw a shimmering in the darkness. I kneeled down again, setting the lantern aside and carefully extracting the long object from its haven, feeling the cool and smooth length. A surge of incredible power swam through my veins and I gasped softly. Hope ignited in me at that moment. I found the Hammer of Light and now I could save Gippel! Quietly cheering, I turned around and headed back the way I had come, now in search of Talaed.
I didn't have to look far. As soon as I turned the corner I suddenly came into contact with something very solid and my lantern flew away from me, clanging loudly against the dirt wall. As I fell to the floor, Gippel's massive gun knocked the wind out of me, and my daggers dug painfully into my back. In the blink of an eye, the Hammer of Light was gone from my grasp. Dread consumed me and I slowly looked up to face the thief. Talaed grinned maliciously down at me with a severe look in his eye, paralyzing me, the silver rod grasped firmly in his right hand. In his other, a fire spell was surrounding his clenched fist as he raised it high above his head.
"Thank you, Miss Rikku," Talaed hissed mockingly. With a cry, he lunged at me in a blaze of inescapable inferno. This was it. This was the end of my story. There was no way I was going to avoid the final blow. I closed my eyes, surrendering.
I'm sorry, everyone…
A/N-Every time I make Talaed laugh, I remember the Green Goblin's laughter for some reason…Anyways, I've been trying to update every week, but I've been having writer's block! I've already finished the epilogue, though. I know what I want to happen, but I just can't seem to word it right! Sorry! So know that I'm trying, ok? Oh yeah, this story was supposed to be twenty chapters and end notes, but I wanted to get this out ASAP so I cut this chapter in half, mainly because I haven't finished the other half of this story and I know you guys have been waiting for quite a while (Again, sorry!) Oh yeah, before I end this note, this might sound obsessive or strange, but I remember a dream I had last night and I was Rikku and I was getting married to Gippel and it was outside of a beautiful day right in front of the ocean! swoonsAnd it seemed so real! I really felt like I was Rikku! Hee-hee! I have been inspired! Haha oh yeah, about Shinra being unsent, that's just my little twist in the story because I wanted to freak you guys out. Haha! But you know…it's possible…quirks eyebrows Also, has anyone read Angels & Demons by Dan Brown? If not, do it! It's a really good book that'll make you feel smart by the time you finish it. . Later!
Moshi Moshi Mai
Translations:
Fuimt oui crid ed? E's dnoehk du nasaspan rana, Gippel. E's zicd y get! : Would you shut it? I'm trying to remember here, Gippel. I'm just a kid!
