Another chapter...another strange update. As I type this, it's 4 minutes to 1 in the morning. Don't ask why inspiration seems to strike at odd times, it just does. Anyway, on to the replies!
Bracey Face Anime Gurl: Um...okay. Sure. I'm not hyper...yet. You'll see that side of me in the sequel. (grin)
Daniel Wesley Rydell: Urge to destroy disco...rising...
ShadowStar05: Thanks.
Auron's Fan: Okay. One at a time. Anima will not be acquired because, if you go by the storyline, it never is apparent that Yojimbo/Anima had to be gained, in order to gain the Final Aeon. So, I'm following a bit of the story facts on that one. Seymour's insane because...well...I have many theories on this. The most convincing of which has to do with his parents. But I digress. As for kindergarten? I really don't know, and shudder to think, actually.
XxCougarxX: Welcome to Destiny's Call, Cougar! Or...not really, considering you've read since the start. But whatever. I try to be accurate, it's one of the things I take pride in. Whether I really am as close as people say or not, I don't know.
desert-tiger: Oh yes, he's going down...but not without a fight. Annoying little...
anbu713: (grin) I know. Isn't it wonderful? Anyhow. No more waiting, ya?
unknown: Welcome to Destiny's Call...um...unknown! The updates won't really get any quicker, unless I have inspiration. Usually takes me about a week to write a chapter, because I try to make sure I have no errors, make sure I include everything, etc. Hope it's understandable.
Now, without further ado, the next chapter!
Chapter 34—Revealed Truth
Everyone drops into a fighting stance, prepared to defeat the psychotic Maester for the third time so far.
(Play Star Ocean 3 theme Cutting Edge of Notion)
"Lance of Atrophy!" Seymour cries, not wasting any time in attacking. Charging quickly at Auron, he hits Auron with the attack, which causes Auron to groan as his skin shifts from a normal hue to a sickening gray.
"Quick, use Esuna!" I yell to Yuna, who nods, casting the spell. As Auron's skin returns to normal, Tidus, Wakka, and Kimahri triple-team Seymour.
"Take this!"
"Silence Buster!"
A duo of cries from Tidus and Wakka accompany a downward strike from Tidus' Caladbolg and a smash from World Champion. Kimahri stands up straight, and absorbs health and magic power from Seymour as Seymour takes all the hits, barely flinching, before smashing Tidus away.
"Oh man, this is going to be a hard one..." I mutter, pointing a palm at Seymour. "Firaga!" The powerful fireball launches from my palm, slamming into Seymour, but doing little to no damage at all.
"Thundaga!" Lulu cries, the lightning bolt striking Seymour, but not doing any more than the other attacks.
"This is the best you can muster? You stand no chance against me, then. Prepare for the wonderful world of non-existence! Cross Cleave!" Seymour yells, flying backwards, before swinging his two swords out, cutting into each and every one of us and throwing us back into a cliff wall.
"...That...is quite possibly...the most painful thing...I've felt yet..." I mutter, getting up slowly and looking at my now badly cut and bleeding chest. Resisting the urge to gag, I gulp down a Hi-Potion, watching the others do much the same. "Okay...that didn't go so well..." I say, looking over at the others. "Any ideas?"
"Power Break!" Auron yells, running up to Seymour and delivering a mighty slash, a cut appearing on the metal of Seymour's new body.
"Holy!" Yuna cries, the balls of light appearing from the sky and raining down on Seymour, doing another bit of damage.
"Take this, you big meanie!" Rikku yells, throwing a grenade at Seymour which explodes in his face, causing him to growl in pain.
"You insolent...how dare you strike me! Protect!" Seymour cries, casting the White Magic on himself, which protects him from physical strikes.
"Well, there goes one plan out the window...I'm not liking this..." I mutter, sheathing my katana and bringing my staff out. "Blizzaga!" I yell, pointing the staff at Seymour as a large icicle strikes him in the chest, causing him to turn to me.
"Lance of Atrophy!" he bellows, striking me with the attack. I can feel myself slowly changing into a zombie, and am unable to do anything about it. Moaning, I weakly strike at him with my staff, but he brushes the strike off.
"Blizzaga!" he yells, casting the magic at Rikku, Tidus, and Auron, who all take the attacks with a cry, stumbling back.
"Esuna!" I hear Yuna yell, casting the restoring magic on me, as I feel my strength returning. Drawing my katana again, a smile creeps across my face as I figure out how to hurt Seymour quite a bit.
"That's it...I'm taking him out. And I know just how to do it! Renzokuken!" I say, charging in at Seymour and unleashing a barrage of strikes which do nothing but bounce off the Protect spell he has active. But that was all part of the plan for me. Jumping back, I pick my finishing move quickly. "Overdrive Reels!" Focusing, I draw my staff again, and begin to summon the aeon Bahamut. As the massive dragon descends next to me, I smile, pointing at Seymour.
"Be go..."
"Too slow! Bahamut, Mega Flare!" I yell, before Seymour can take the opportunity to banish the aeon. Bahamut backflips onto all four feet, before charging an energy ball in his mouth, and firing a massive beam at Seymour, which passes through the Protect to slam into him. Dismissing Bahamut, I turn to Seymour, who cries out in pain and glares at me as the attack dissipates.
"You seem to know my weaknesses...that must be remedied!" he says, lunging at me with one of the swords. Jumping to the side, I smirk as Auron, Tidus, and Kimahri unleash a flurry of strikes at his now unprotected chest, causing him to grunt again. Suddenly, a barrage of Firaga spells slam into Seymour, eight in all. Lulu smiles, her Overdrive hurting Seymour even more. Moving back, Seymour gives an evil smile.
"Time to send you pitiful mortals to the afterlife. Reflect!" he yells, the magical barrier making spells useless. Along with the Protect almost nullifying physical strikes, I back off, trying to think of another plan. Before I can speak, Seymour yells again.
"Flare!" he yells, casting the magic not at us, but at himself, the magic bouncing off the Reflect and hitting Auron, the monk being knocked off his feet and burned quite badly by the powerful attack.
"Auron!" Tidus yells, looking at the fallen monk. As Yuna casts a Curaga spell on him, Tidus growls, turning to Wakka for a moment. "Wakka, when I say so, throw your blitzball at me as hard as you can!" Wakka looks a little confused, and my eyes go wide as I realize what he's about to do. Glaring, Tidus turns back to Seymour, gripping his sword tightly, and bringing a fist back.
"You're through!" he yells, running at Seymour with speed similar to Haste before laying into the deranged Maester with a barrage of slashes. Stabbing his sword into the ground suddenly, he bounces off of the handle, before yelling to Wakka. "Now!" he yells, and Wakka aims carefully, before throwing the blitzball directly at Tidus. Tidus does a flip in mid-air, and executes a perfect Sphere Shot, the ball flying down to hit Seymour in the chest with an explosion of energy.
'Wow...he just used Blitz Ace...incredible...' I think, awed by the attack.
Landing, Tidus grabs his sword out of the ground, turning to Seymour again.
"How'd you like that?" he taunts, Seymour growling and turning to him.
"You are a nuisance, son of Jecht. Waterga!" he yells, hitting Tidus squarely with the burst of water magic. Tidus falls, landing on his back, and Yuna runs over to him, casting a Cura spell on him as the rest of us prepare for another set of attacks.
"Hastega!"
"Magic Break!"
"Demi!"
"Silence Buster!"
My Hastega spell speeds all of our movements up drastically, as Auron runs in and unleashes the Magic Break attack on Seymour, causing the Maester to float back a little. Lulu's Demi connects, but doesn't do much, and I realize that Seymour must be down to relatively low health. Wakka's Silence Buster also hits, causing Seymour to float back more, and growl in pain.
(End SO3 theme Cutting Edge of Notion)
"How...how can you be this powerful...it makes no sense..." he mutters, glaring at all of us.
"It makes perfect sense! You just can't accept the fact that you just can't beat us! We're more powerful as a group than you'll ever be alone, because we watch out for one another! And now, the only thing you're going to see from now on is the Farplane!" I yell, bringing my staff out and beginning to perform the sending dance. Unfortunately, Seymour simply laughs and bursts into pyreflies, which fade away quickly. Cursing, I put my staff away after realizing that he escaped yet again.
"He will become Sin...with my help." Yuna says quietly, apparently to no one in particular.
"Lies. Forget them." Auron says, looking at the summoner.
"If he becomes Sin, Sir Jecht will be saved." she continues, and Auron turns towards the trail.
"We're leaving."
"You know something! Tell me!" Yuna suddenly exclaims, running up to Auron and looking him in the eyes. "Tell me!" she repeats.
"Sin's...my old man." Tidus says, hanging his head.
'This won't be fun.' I think, as everyone turns to Tidus, Wakka being first to speak.
"You hit your head?" he asks, and Tidus shakes his head.
"Sin is my old man. My old man became Sin! I don't know how or why he did it. I felt him, inside, and when I did, I knew it was true. My old man is Spira's suffering. Sorry." he says, looking at all of us.
"Even...knowing that Sin is your father...still, you know...I must..." Yuna says, trailing off as she now realizes what will happen when she defeats Sin.
"I know." Tidus says, nodding. "Let's get him. I think my old man would want that."
"You'd fight your own father?" Lulu says softly.
"Yeah. No problem there." Tidus replies.
"Uh...'bout your old man...you sure this ain't some kinda bad toxin dream or something?" Wakka says, to which Tidus shakes his head again. "Then, Chappu..." he trails off. "I, uh...I think I'll just pretend I didn't hear nothing. I'm getting a little confused, ya? Why...why'd all this have to happen?"
"We'll learn when we arrive. Soon." Auron says, beginning to walk along the path leading to the summit of Mount Gagazet, and effectively ending the conversation right then and there.
As we walk along the path, suddenly we come across a large, stone wall. People seem to be embedded in it, and blue mist floats all around it. A small funnel of blue energy floats upwards from the wall to the sky, and Yuna gasps upon seeing it.
"Wow!" she exclaims, Wakka turning to her.
"Wh-What are those?"
"Those are fayth." she replies, before noticing the energy trail, which causes her to gasp again. "A summoning! Someone is using these fayth! Someone is drawing energy from all of them!"
"This many?" Rikku asks, and Lulu steps up beside us to look at the wall.
"Who wields power on this scale, and what could they be calling?" she asks no one in particular.
'I want to tell them...but they need to find out on their own.' I think, walking over beside Rikku. Suddenly, she turns to Auron and runs up to him, staring him in the face.
"Hey, you know something, don't you? Spill the beans!"
"Look not to others for knowledge. This is your story too." he replies, walking away from Rikku a few feet before stopping.
"Yunie might die, you know?" Rikku asks, before Tidus steps up beside the wall, and turns to Rikku.
"No...Auron's right." he says, causing Rikku to give him a confused look. "This is our...this is my story." he says, turning to the wall and touching it. Suddenly, a burst of white light flashes in front of him, causing him to let out a short cry. I'm moving before he even starts falling, and I catch him as he falls unconscious.
"Tidus!" Yuna exclaims, running over to him, as I set him down gently on the ground.
"He's okay. He's just unconscious." I say, looking the fallen blitzballer over.
'Ben?'
'What in the...?' I think. Someone...or something, just talked to me. Through my mind. 'Who...wait a minute. Bahamut?' I ask mentally, realizing who just spoke to me.
'That's correct. I have something to tell you. Myself and the other fayth...we have a gift for you. To help defeat Sin. Follow the path back, and look carefully around to the right. You'll find it.' he instructs, and I quirk an eyebrow, wondering what he means by that. Shrugging, I set off back towards the way we came, everyone else giving me strange glances.
"Hey, where are you going?" Rikku asks, running up beside me.
"I...to be honest? I don't really know. The fayth I got at Bevelle...it just told me something. I'm not sure what it means, but I'm going to do what it told me to." I answer, and she gives me a strange look, before shrugging.
"Okay..." she says, walking back to the others. Looking around, I continue on, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Then suddenly, a small glint from behind a rock catches my eye. Walking over to the rock, I look behind it to discover a small treasure chest. Bending down and opening it, I look inside, and gasp. Reaching inside, I pull out a pair of wrist blades, specially designed to attach to my forearms, with a small bar to hold while using them. There are three blades instead of the standard one, one going straight out from my arm, and two more, each at about a 45 degree angle to the middle blade.
"Scissors suwayyah...but, where...do they even have these in Spira?" I say, thinking out loud.
'This is our gift to you. I looked inside your mind, and saw your choices for weapons. These stood out more than the rest.' Bahamut replies, as I look at the suwayyah. Putting them on, I notice they glow slightly, and my eyes go wide.
"Is this..."
'Yes. This could be considered your legendary weapon. We fayth made the others, long ago, just after the war between Zanarkand and Bevelle.' he says, answering my unspoken question.
"I...I don't know how to thank you..." I say, putting the suwayyah away.
'Help Lady Yuna defeat Sin. That will be thanks enough.' the fayth replies, and I smile, walking back to the others.
As I return, I notice everyone still watching Tidus, who seems to have remained unconscious the entire time I was gone. Granted, it wasn't very long. Walking up to the group, I suddenly notice Tidus groan and stir slightly, sitting up as everyone moves back to give him some room. Standing up, he looks around, before Yuna walks back up to him.
"Are you all right?" she asks, and he nods, causing Yuna to sigh in relief.
"Hey! We were so worried about you!" Rikku says, as I walk over beside her.
"You okay?" Lulu asks, and Tidus nods again.
"I...I'm okay." he replies, a small bit of tension in his voice going unnoticed to the group.
"What happened?" Yuna asks, Tidus turning to look at her.
"Nothing...I blacked out. I was dreaming. You called me...and I woke up." he says, stretching for a moment. "Nothing like a good nap." he says, grinning and looking around. "Well, I'm ready. Let's go!" Everyone nods at this, and we continue along the path to the summit.
"Oh boy...doesn't this just look wonderfully foreboding..." I mutter, as we arrive at the entrance to the cave which will take us to the summit of Mount Gagazet.
"I guess...Zanarkand is through here." Tidus says softly, and I nod, looking at the blond-haired boy.
"Yeah. This'll take us to the summit of Gagazet...and then, Zanarkand is just beyond." I say, before turning my gaze back to the cave. Rikku inches closer to me, grabbing my arm, and I look over at her. She looks a little scared, and I really can't blame her. This place looks, well...evil. Taking a deep breath, I follow Yuna into the cave, and onward to the summit of Gagazet.
Finally, Ben gets his legendary weapon! What will happen in the cave, and what is yet to come until they reach Zanarkand? You'll have to keep reading! Until next time, please review!
