PART XXVII

A shrill scream penetrated the darkness of the cavern, followed by a splash.

"Eugh!" Vivli yelled, finding herself knee deep in water. "Where are we?"

"Inside Lavos." Zinkata stated, splashing down behind her.

"Quite some fall." Bootus observed.

"Why does the inside of Lavos look like a cave?" Voldos asked. Bootus shrugged. Zinkata became aware of Vivli clinging to him tightly in the darkness.

"Well, there's nothing here!" Bootus announced.

"I think we go ahead." Vivli said sheepishly.

"Okay, let's see just what Lavos is." Voldos gulped, leading the party forwards before stopping. "Why is the archer at the front?" He exclaimed.

"Oh, you wuss." Bootus sighed. "Fine. Me and Zinkata will take the front." Vivli whimpered, clinging to Zinkata, still badly frightened by the darkness of the cave. "Fine." Bootus sighed. "Me and Zinkata with Vivli being dragged along will take the front."

"I hate this idea." Vivli muttered as the three walked ahead, but her fear wouldn't let her let go of Zinkata.

The four of them stepped forwards, out of the cave and into darkness. They paused for a moment in the darkened room, the only noise being the low whimpering from Vivli. Slowly a small purple glow began to surround the room, forming a band around the lower part of what appeared to be a huge circular room. Closer inspection revealed this to not be a uniform glow, but light coming from what looked like tiny canals in the wall, running with purple energy. As they saw the light they could make out the dark grey metal that surrounded the canals, and in the centre of each part of the wall was embedded a sphere, suggesting something that needed power. The top of the room, and the centre was still darkened.
"It looks like some kind of strange energy." Bootus gasped.

"Magical." Vivli guessed.

"I don't think so." Bootus said. "Hear that humming noise?" The party paused, there was indeed a humming noise building up. "I think it's mechanical!"

"A machine?" Zinkata exclaimed. "That's impossible! No steam! You couldn't run machinery like this without steam."

"It fell from the sky, Zin." Voldos pointed out. "I think anything is possible." The room was suddenly cast into light and the heroes fell silent as they saw the massive form sat in the middle of the room. A gigantic humanoid monster, one without legs, with its gigantic, almost robotic looking arms crossed across its body. It was suspended from the ceiling by gigantic thick supports, and the bottom of its legless form rested on a cone that seemed to expand from the ground. The entire beast was gigantic and well built, appearing to be made up of dark grey and green armoured plating. Two harsh eyes peered out from its head, with a gigantic hole resting above its eyes, possibly a third, or possibly something else. It had no mouth, but a flesh sack pulsated with each unseen breath.

"Lavos." Gasped Zinkata. It flicked out its arms, opening them up in what the Light Warriors could only assume was a battle stance.

"This is it." Vivli whispered.

"Let's finish this!" Voldos announced, readying his bow. Lavos made no noise, but opened out its hands.

"Don't suppose you have another Lumanaire, Viv?" Bootus asked.

"I simply redirected Lavos's magical power outside." Vivli shrugged. "Can't do it in here without that power."

"Oh." Bootus stated. "Let's do this the old fashioned way then!"

Voldos fired his arrows, and they pinged uselessly off of Lavos's heavily armoured body. Zinkata ran in with his sword, but one of the gigantic arms swept in, knocking him aside. Bootus lashed out with his scythe, cutting into the monsters body. Lavos looked down in anger, and batted the galka away. One of the arms robotically spread across the monster's body, and Lavos was absorbed in a sparkling white light.

"That was a heal spell!" Vivli exclaimed. "That arm on the right is casting a heal spell on the body!"

"Destroy the right arm. Got it!" Zinkata cried, running in.

"Be careful!" Vivli called after him as the arm batted him away without effort. Zinkata crashed down and Vivli healed him. More arrows flew in, pinging uselessly off of Lavos.

"Damn!" Voldos cursed. Lavos pulled in its arms.

"What's it doing?" Bootus asked in panic. It flicked out its arms, and two plates on its body had opened, revealing small cylinders that stuck out slightly.

"What are those?" Vivli cried, grabbing Zinkata in fear.

"They look like-" Zinkata's eyes went wide. "Guns!" He turned Vivli around and protectively knelt over her as intense laser beams blasted out of the two nozzles revealed in Lavos's body. The Light Warriors grunted in pain as they took the hits, burning into their flesh. Vivli was protected by Zinkata, who almost fell on her as a dead weight. They heard a clicking as the panels on Lavos closed once more, and Zinkata rolled away from Vivli. The three were badly hurt, but stood. Vivli quickly cast curaga, and they felt their wounds ease, but not even Vivli could heal them fully.

"He's a little more powerful than I expected." Grunted Bootus.

"We aren't finished yet." Voldos snarled. "Next time he opens his innards, he's going to get a body full of arrows." One of the hands opened up, tossing a spinning blade at Voldos. The elvaan jumped back, but it cut across his body. "ARGH!" He grunted.

"Cure!" Vivli announced as she cast the spell. Saying the name of the spell wasn't required, but she did it often anyway just to inform others of what she was doing.

"Bootus!" Zinkata yelled. "We need to work together!"

"What's the plan, Zin?" Bootus asked, running to Zinkata.

"Give me a boost!" Zinkata announced. "Then you attack that arm as I attack the top."

"You got it!" Bootus agreed as Zinkata jumped onto Bootus's shoulders. Bootus charged at the arm and threw Zinkata into the air as it swept in at him. Zinkata spun in the air, slicing into the arm before it could get to Bootus. It faltered, dropping slightly. From here Bootus drove upwards with his scythe slicing the arm along its bicep. It faltered with a mechanical crackle, but an ooze suggested it was alive. Bootus couldn't tell if they were fighting a machine or a monster. It didn't matter, for as soon as this weakened opening was revealed Voldos unleashed three arrows at it, which hit with deadly precision. The arm dropped off, crashing to the ground where it exploded in a white light.

"Good work, team!" Zinkata announced. Lavos turned to them, and flung out its one good arm. The entire room seemed to explode into flames, burning every one of the Light Warriors. Zinkata, Bootus and Voldos grunted, taking the fiery pain and managing to stand. Vivli collapsed in pain, barely able to move. Through some miracle none of the warriors clothes were on fire. "VIV!" Zinkata yelled as soon as he saw she was hurt. He turned to run to her.

"Zin…look…out…" Vivli managed to say. Zinkata turned just in time to see another deadly spinning blade being hurled in his direction. He dove aside and it lodged into the wall behind him.

"Zin! Potion!" Voldos cried, hurling a bottle at Zinkata. The hume grabbed it from the air and turned to Vivli, pouring the blue liquid gently into her mouth. She winced, gulping it down.

"I hate that stuff." She squirmed. "It tastes horrible!"

"Works though." He smiled. Vivli struggled to her feet, with his help.

"What do you know! It does!" She laughed.

"Didn't this happen last time we fought an evil monster capable of destroying the world?" Bootus asked.

"So I break easily!" Vivli cried, casting another curaga spell to heal the entire party. Another hatch opened on Lavos and flames leapt out, burning Bootus.

"That thing really likes fire." Voldos observed.

"I'm beginning to like it." Vivli smiled as she saw Bootus stagger back. The other arm lashed out at Zinkata, who was stood nearby, and he was hit back. In its hand formed another spinning blade, and it prepared to throw it. Voldos fired an arrow at it, and the blade clanged to the ground. Bootus ran in, driving his scythe into Lavos's hulk as the hand swept down on Zinkata. Zinkata drove upwards with his sword, tearing the hand in two. The entire arm suddenly fell away from the body of Lavos, like the creature had decided to detach it. This left the four facing the now armless body of Lavos that still scowled at them silently.

Suddenly the four felt as if they were being ripped apart by an immense gravitational pull in the centre of the room. Vivli screamed.

"Hold on!" Zinkata cried as he felt himself being torn apart. They could all see a great grey orb forming around them. It suddenly exploded and they crashed down. Lavos seemed to grunt as it released the spell.

"We alright?" Voldos cried.

"I hurt my ankle!" Vivli whined.

"I'll take that as a yes then." Voldos sighed. Vivli cast her best curaga spell and the four rose to their feet. Lavos's mouth sack seemed to be pulsating faster than normal.

"I think it's been weakened from that attack." Vivli suggested.

"I'm not surprised." Bootus winced. "That hurt!"

"You wuss." Vivli taunted.

"It was gravitational." Bootus said bluntly, folding his arms. "You're too light. Your body weight doubled isn't half what mine is."

"Stop bickering." Voldos sighed, firing an arrow. This time it thudded into Lavos successfully. "Hey! It is weakened!"

"Attack!" Zinkata ordered. Him and Bootus charged him, attacking with their weapons. Voldos pounded it with arrows while Vivli watched, terrified for her friends. The pulsating sack suddenly exploded and Lavos let out a mighty roar. The beast's entire body began to glow white, and it erupted in a gigantic explosion, throwing the Light Warriors back.

As the light faded, the Light Warriors saw a fairly small hunched form in the centre of the room where Lavos had been. It rose, still being nearly double the height of Vivli, and so slightly taller than Bootus. Still humanoid, but clearly alien. It was covered with strange bronze looking skin, possibly armour, the Light Warriors couldn't tell, with two long flapper like arms, a dull white, and a dome on its head, in which sat purple flesh and a single eye that peered at the heroes. They couldn't explain it, but suddenly they understood, as if Lavos was beaming signals into their brains.

"It can't be!" Vivli gasped.

"From the dawn of time." Zinkata said in shock. "From the fall of Gaia. It's been manipulating us."

"Creating us like we're some animals to be harvested!" Voldos spat.
"The five races were but a creation of Lavos." Vivli muttered in disgust. "Created for it to harvest. It can't be."

"It makes sense." Bootus said bluntly. "Survival of the fittest, no? How did five races evolve to dominate one planet when evolution says we should have killed each other? Lavos rose us this way. So that we'd fight. We'd be petty. We'd let it evolve to this point while we were too self absorbed to see it."

"And in the ultimate irony, it mocks us still." Zinkata sighed. "The only creation that wasn't of Lavos's are the beastmen."

"We are not Altana's children." Vivli muttered in shock.

"We are Lavos's." Zinkata stated.

"No more!" Voldos spat suddenly, drawing his bow. "If Lavos manipulated the races of Gaia to evolve, if he manipulated our entire lives, so be it! This day, we break free!"

"Yeah!" Zinkata cheered. "You hear us Lavos? We're going to destroy you! We're going to break free of your influence! Maybe you've been sat here, influencing our history, making us evolve as you saw fit, but no more! We're going to destroy you, Lavos!" Lavos let out an ear splitting howl.

"You heard him!" Bootus spat. "My life will not have been for nothing!"

"Mine neither!" Vivli cried.

"It thinks it manipulated us throughout history?" Voldos laughed. "It thinks it influenced our evolution, our culture, our wars and our triumphs?" Voldos smiled at it. "Well, pal, did you organise this one? Because it seems to be going wrong!"

"Let's finish it!" Zinkata yelled, readying his sword. Lavos howled again, and two small armoured orbs flew out from behind it, with distinct spikes sticking out of them towards the floor and purple fleshy tops, looking much like a part of Lavos. "This ends here!" Zinkata cried.

"Yeah!" The Light Warriors screamed.

Lavos let out one final howl and suddenly they were jolted into a strange blurry dimension. They felt as if they were moving through a green void at an incredible speed. Through the void they could see something; a temple being constructed.

"The Temple of Uggalepih." Vivli observed. "It's proving its domination over time by showing it."

"Screw that. I'm taking it out!" Bootus yelled, running and driving his scythe into the monster. Lavos roared, and a gigantic bolt of lightning crashed down, hitting Bootus and sending him falling back. Vivli ran in to heal Bootus as the floating orb to the left of Lavos healed the monster.

"Oh, here we go again." Zinkata sighed, running and slicing at the healing orb. The orb spun back as it was hit by the sword, and came to a stop in the air. It floated down over Zinkata, and suddenly the paladin was encased in a multi-coloured orb, dropping down in a daze as the orb flew away. Vivli ran in to heal him, but he gestured for her to turn away as he healed himself. "Save your magic Viv, you might need it." He advised.

"What's the plan?" Bootus asked through his own pain.

"We destroy that orb on the right." Zinkata stated. Voldos fired an arrow at it, but it moved out of the way. Lavos began to do what almost appeared to be a dance, and Vivli collapsed. "VIV!" He yelled, running to her side.

"She's asleep!" Voldos cried in shock.

"Sheesh, I never realised she was this lazy!" Bootus exclaimed.

"It's a side affect of whatever Lavos did!" Zinkata cried. "She's alright, but I can't wake her." Lavos howled again.

"What now?" Voldos sighed. A gigantic boulder appeared and slammed into the three Light Warriors, missing the sleeping Vivli, and they crashed back, crushed under the massive stone.

"Ow." Groaned Zinkata. Lavos seemed to laugh. Voldos blasted an arrow which thudded squarely into Lavos's single eye. Lavos roared as the orb healed him. The other orb moved in, creating the same sphere around Bootus as it had around Zinkata. Zinkata noticed Bootus was barely still awake, and cast a healing spell on him before staggering to his feet. "Oh, you are going down!" He spat, frustrated. He ran at the healing orb and leapt into the air, slicing down through and taking it out. It fell to the ground, defeated. He turned to Bootus with a smile. "NOW!" He ordered and they ran at Lavos. The image of the temple had now faded, showing the construction of Bastok by the galka.

Lavos unleashed a blast of electricity, frying Bootus and sending him back. The orb on the left flew in and jabbed into Zinkata with its spike, taking him out. He let out a gurgled scream as he went down. Vivli jolted awake, instantly realising what happened and started to cast a healing spell. Zinkata and Bootus were quickly healed and got up, facing Lavos angrily. Voldos fired an arrow at the other orb, but it just clanged off of it.

"That other orb is made of some tough stuff!" Voldos exclaimed.

"Don't worry about the orb! Just get Lavos!" Vivli cried. Bootus leapt at Lavos, driving his scythe down through the dome like head, shattering the glass. Lavos squealed as Zinkata ran in, cutting the beast in half with a mighty blow. Lavos toppled to the ground and Zinkata drove his sword through its skull, finishing it off.

The four paused for a moment.

"We did it." Bootus stated.

"We did!" Zinkata cried. The background subtly shifted to a fully constructed Windurst.

"ZIN! LOOK OUT!" Vivli screamed as the orb moved in, jabbing him again. Zinkata stumbled back, his shoulder bleeding from where the spike on the bottom of the orb had torn through it.

"What the-" Zinkata began. They heard Lavos squeal once more.

"Of course!" Vivli cried. "It's not the monster! It's the orb! Lavos is the orb!"

"Not for long!" Bootus announced, confidently swinging his scythe in a large attack. The orb took this hit with a clang. "What? It's stupidly armoured!"

"Banish!" Vivli tried hitting it with one of her spells.

"That was pathetic." Bootus groaned. Vivli sighed.

"HOLY!" She yelled as she concentrated all of her powers into a single attack. The white light ripped through the orb, but it still stood, unscratched.

"Hey, its armour cracked!" Voldos observed.

"That means we can attack it!" Zinkata cried, running in with his sword. The orb flew at him, hitting him in the face and knocking him to the ground before hitting Voldos with its multicoloured sphere. Bootus turned to face it, but it jabbed him with his spike. Zinkata got up, groaning. "Viv! We need a heal spell!"

"I can't!" Vivli whimpered. "I'm out!" Zinkata paused.

"Can you manage a single cure?" He asked.

"Yeah." She nodded. "But what good will that do?" Zinkata pulled his sword back behind him, holding it as if ready to swing.

"Cast it on my sword!" He announced.

"Your sword?" She repeated, confused.

"Do it!" She did it as Zinkata spun outwards, spinning his sword in a circle.

"CURE WHIRL!" He cried as the cure spell was forced outwards by his sword, healing the entire party.

"Cure whirl?" Bootus asked sceptically as he got back up.

"It's hard to come up with names on the spot!" Zinkata protested.

"That's why I thought Lumanaire was particularly original." Vivli smiled. The orb flew in, this time towards her. Vivli shrieked in terror as Voldos fired an arrow. The arrow thudded into the orb, deflecting it towards Bootus, who cut out with his scythe. Bootus ducked under it as he missed and it came around, moving towards Zinkata. It was beginning to glow white.

"What's it doing?" Voldos asked.

"It's going to heal the other parts!" Vivli realised. "We have to kill it! Now!" It flew towards Zinkata who rolled forwards, stabbing upwards. It jabbed downwards, catching his hand and causing him to drop his sword with a yelp. Bootus blasted a fireball, knocking the orb backwards and he cut upwards with his scythe, slicing into the orb. Everybody froze as Bootus stood there with his blade embedded in the tiny creature. It began to glow white. It exploded in a spectacular explosion.

The four sat up, dazed, back in the room they had fought Lavos in earlier, before he had revealed his true form. The room itself was badly damaged.

"I did it." Bootus smiled. "I killed Lavos!"

"Yeah, we killed Chaos, but you don't hear us gloating." Zinkata grumbled. Vivli looked in pity at the charred remains on the floor of Lavos.

"Can you believe the most evil creature of all time, the being that manipulated all life only so that it could destroy it, was that tiny orb?" She asked.

"It's funny to think, isn't it." Zinkata smiled, walking over and hugging her. There was a sudden rumble and the four looked around.

"I think we had better leave." Voldos suggested. The rumbling got worse. "Now!"

Author's Note: Well, that was pretty weird. To justify myself, that is pretty much the Lavos battle from the game. Lavos does appear to be the orb on the right in the battle, not the main monster, as that orb is far stronger than the main monster and what you have to kill to complete the game. The other weird bit, the 'it's been manipulating our destiny…' bit was also taken from the game, where, as soon as Lavos reveals its true form, for some reason the heroes know that it manipulated evolution. Don't ask me how, so I kinda made it up. Hopefully it worked.

Also Phabrizoe caught the Star Wars Episode 3 quotes in chapter 23. Congratulations! In my defence, they were coincidence, kind of. I wrote the dialogue, and had the line 'We will do what we must!' just before the battle, so 'You will try!' fitted perfectly (for those who don't know, that's pretty much a part of Star Wars dialogue, except the line was 'I will do what I must'). Ahem. Although, I always steal quotes. I claim they're loving references. The truth is I'm not original enough to think up my own dialogue. Like I can't think up my own villains!

I also altered the last chapter slightly (and this one to add this note!). Thefrogkiller's review pointed out I referenced Chrono Trigger with Life and Lumanaire. Life was an accident! It's supposed to be Raise, but I'd been playing Chrono Trigger and not enough FFXI clearly! I've gone back to fix that now.

And damn. Wish I'd of thought of the X-Slash idea before hand. Unfortunately, Voldos doesn't have a sword at the moment, so I couldn't have done it anyway, but it's a great idea I wish I did do!