Chapter 6: Issark's Attack
Eriks leadinglady- Yeah, I was thinking of making them hook up somewhere in the story. Thanks for your quick reviews and if u think my stuff is long then check out my friend's story "Two Fallen Gods, and a Guardian Angel" his chaps are now like 25-30 pages. Here's chapter six for ya! I'm really sorry for the extreme delay I kinda got really really really distracted because I got a new gaming comp so I've been playing games instead of typing and the site was down also and then it wouldn't let me upload anything.
Rikku awoke leisurely opening her swirling jade eyes. Her eyes set sights on a familiar face. It was Gippal; he came all the way to Bikanel just to check on her and her friends. 'What is he doing here?' She contemplated. As if Gippal knew what she was thinking he began to speak.
"I see your awake now. I came to check on you three after I heard what happened from Nhadala. You okay?" He had an edge of concern on his voice.
Rikku leaned up on her right elbow having the sheets slide down her wounded body. "Yeah, I guess." She winced as a flash of pain struck her elbow and she collapsed back onto the bed.
"Are you alright?" Gippal exclaimed as Rikku's golden lock shrouded head hit the pillow.
Rikku just lay there for a moment with her jade eyes closed. She then opened them to see Gippal staring at her with a look of great concern on his face. She was surprised to see that it seemed like he actually cared about her. A quaint smile passed onto her lips as she flicked her eyes fully open.
Gippal grinned in relief. "You should stay here and rest up Rikku. I'll go and see if I can get any potions for you to make your injuries heal quicker. You should go back to sleep now, I'll be here when u wake with your potions." He rushed off out the med tent flap and off into the sand.
Rikku slid her delicate eyelids closed and drifted into a sweet slumber. Her massive amount of wounds did not affect her at all anymore. She was comfortably numb to all the pain that must be assailing her body. When she awoke the sun had set on the desert island and was becoming quite cool. She gazed around the room with foggy eyes. She rubbed them with her delicate fingers trying to clear her vision. There wasn't a soul in the room, only her and some empty furniture.
"I wonder where everyone is." She thought aloud in a soft voice under her breath. She lifter her wounded body up into a sitting position on the side of the bed. She realized that no pain assailed her in the action of sitting up. She threw her legs over the side and touched the clothed floor with her toes. She then began to raise herself up, but as she did pain shot through every fiber of her being. She fell back onto the feathery bed with a stifled thud. As soon as she lay back onto the bed the pain that threw her back onto it dissipated. She gave up trying to rise after the painful event and tried to sleep again.
No sleep came to the injured Al Bhed girl. She tossed and turned in her pain wracked body causing pain to shoot up from random spots on her body. The tent flaps rustled in the soothing night wind. Rikku turned to the tent entrance expecting to see someone standing there. There was only the slight breeze rustling the sand plastered off white flaps. She let out a silent sigh and turned onto her left side. 'Why can't I sleep?' She contemplated. 'Why did I think there was someone there? Why was I hoping that there was?'
Rikku continued to toss and turn on the feathery bed for the remainder of the night. Thoughts fluttered through her mind rapidly. She thought of Yuna and Paine and wondered if they were alright. She thought of how long she would be in the condition that she was in and how she could live like this. The event at Guadosalam flooded her mind with unrelenting questions. She could not answer any of the questions that flooded her mind she could only speculate. Then through all of her thoughts and questioned there imposed a visage. She could not shake the face from her mind it lingered there haunting her thoughts. The face was that of a familiar status. It was Gippal! 'What? Why am I thinking of him?' Her jade eyes shot open and broker her concentration. The image of Gippal's face broke abruptly shattering into shards of smoke drifted out of her field of vision.
Rikku flew up into a sitting position throwing the sheets down past her feet. She flung her feet over the edge of the bed to touch the chill floor. She shot her gaze up to a level position. She was gazing into two different colored eyes, one green one blue. Yuna had her hands behind he back and was swaying a bit. Rikku gazed in amazement at her cousin. Yuna had nearly no wounds along her body left from the previous battle.
Yuna stretched an arm out to her cousin. She opened her clenched fingers revealing a small vial made of blue glass. She handed it into her cousin's trembling hands. "Here. It's a high potion." Rikku gazed at the vial a moment before she nodded her thanks and popped the cork. She lifted the blue vial to her lips and tilted it towards the sky. The clear liquid inside the vial cascaded down the inside of the vial and into her mouth. She swallowed the liquid that had become warm as it entered her mouth. The fluid made its way down her esophagus warming her from the inside out.
After she had finished the vial off Rikku gaped at her cousin with a questioning glance yet she said nothing. "Yes?" Yuna queried to her gaping cousin.
"Where's Paine?"
"She's around here somewhere. To be honest I don't know where exactly she is either. Nhadala said she saw her walk off over a dune right outside of camp but that's all." Yuna went over to sit next to her injured cousin.
"How are you today Rikku?" Yuna questioned with concern in her voice. "You were pretty beat up yesterday."
Rikku tried to shift up on the bed towards her cousin but the pain stopped her in mid move. "Owww!" She tried to face her cousin on the bed but had the same results as last time. "I can't move." She lowered her head down and touched her chest with her chin.
Yuna went to pat Rikku on the back but refrained so as not to hurt her. "It's okay Rikku. You can just rest for now we aren't in a hurry to get anywhere. By the way Gippal is around here somewhere and he said he wanted to see you as soon as you were up."
Rikku shot up a look at her cousin. "Really? He wants to see me?"
Yuna smiled and nodded. "Yep. And he wanted to say sorry for not coming back with some potions but he didn't want to disturb your sleep."
'Wow. He must really still care about me.' Rikku thought. Her dark pain wracked eyes lit up with a vivid exuberance. "Where is he?"
"I think he's somewhere right outside this tent." Yuna smiled. "I'll go get him for you." Rikku nodded her gratitude. Yuna got off the bed and walked out of the tent to fetch Gippal.
Rikku sat alone in the tent for what seemed like an hour or two but in reality it was only a few moments. 'What should I say to him? How can I know if he feels the way I do? What should I do?' There was a flapping at the tent entrance informing that someone was there.
Gippal strode across the expanse of the tent without saying a word. Rikku continued to sit up right on the bed. Gippal reached her before he spoke. "Hey. How you doing?"
"I'm fine except I can't move without pain shooting up."
"Well, it looks like you need more rest. I'll just leave you to sleep." Gippal turned to leave. He felt a feeble hand clutch to his shirt.
"No. Don't go." Rikku's voice was so soft Gippal could barely hear her. "I want to know something."
"Sure. What is it?"
Rikku looked down to the sandy floor and then up at Gippal. "I…want to know if…um…" Was all she could manage to stutter.
"Come on, what is it?" Gippal questioned, he was obviously getting annoyed at her.
She gazed at the floor for a moment. "Well…I guess I'll leave you to rest if you don't have anything to say." He turned to the door. Once again Rikku grasped his shirt preventing him from moving. "What do you want? Talk if you want to talk." An edge of anger flowed on his voice.
Rikku almost burst out crying but held her tears. "Gippal…" She gazed into Gippal's questioning eye. "I…I love you!" She blurted out lowering her head as soon as the words passed over her lips.
Gippal almost jumped through the roof with surprise. He didn't think that she still felt that way about him after so long and all they have been through. Of course he still felt that way for her but he assumed that she hated him because of the way he had treated her lately. "Rikku." She lifted her aching head to stare into his one eye. "I love you too but it just wouldn't work out. I mean that I'm working with the machine fraction at Djose and you're in the Gullwings."
Rikku's eyes began to water as she attempted to hold back her tears. "I could quit the Gullwings and come and live with you. I like working with machina so it would be a fun job. I could help you do your research and everything!" She shot up to a standing position with all the excitement and disappointment. She quickly succumbed to the pain and collapsed onto her knees.
Gippal ran to Rikku and put his arm around her shoulders. "Are you alright?"
"Don't try to change the subject!"
"I'm not! ...I just wanted to know if you were alright." He calmed down after his first statement to try to get Rikku to subdue her anger. His eye met with her dual jade swirling eyes. She instantly lost all threads of anger and became serene.
Rikku opened her mouth just as a deafening explosion ripped through the campsite. The tent was torn asunder and carried away in the strong wind that followed the massive explosion. Rikku fell onto the sandy ground and coved her head with her battered arms. Gippal was knocked off balance and tumbled to the sandy floor almost landing on Rikku. The bed that was in the tent flipped along the ground until it struck one of the hover vehicles near where the tent used to be.
Out of the rising dust clouds ran a figure over to Rikku and Gippal. "Are you two alright?" Nhadala shouted as she rushed over to the two.
Gippal sat upright and put a hand to his aching head. "Yeah, but what the hell was that?"
"I don't know but all of a sudden something fell from the sky and that explosion was the result." Nhadala ran over to Rikku to help her to her feet. She grappled the injured Al Bhed around the shoulders and hoisted her to her weary feet.
"I got her Nhadala." Gippal stated taking control of Rikku's aid. He let her rest against him as they walked till they met up with Yuna and Paine.
"Are you two alright?" Yuna queried as they met up.
"I am but Rikku here is still pained by her wounds." Gippal gently rested Rikku into a sitting position on the sand. "Do either of you know what just happened?"
"Nope." A colossal shadow passed over the four and rested a few feet in front. They all gazed up into the sky shielding their eyes from the glaring sun. The thing that was in azure sky had two massive multicolored wings that jutted out from either side of its body. Its thick black scales shone bright in the dazzling sunlight. A great wheel of gold rested upon the thing's back. The wheel began to revolve violently with lightning bolts shooting out and wrapping all around the grand golden wheel.
The gigantic figure in the sky opened its massive jaws and gathered energy in front of it. The fiend flipped down to the ground and onto all four legs. Yuna gasped as the fiend gathered more and more energy around its jaws. 'Bahamut.' Bahamut opened its colossal jaws wider and dug its golden claws into the ground. Yuna and the rest of them scattered around the partially destroyed campsite. Gippal ran over to Rikku and lifted her up onto his right shoulder and then took off. Yuna ran over near the entrance to the camp and hid on the other side of a sand dune. Paine ran around Bahamut and prepared herself for the massive explosion that followed.
Bahamut unleashed the massive orb of energy that his jaws had harbored straight into the middle of the camp. The sand where the immense orb of concentrated energy hit was disintegrated on contact. The blue and gold flames emerged from the center of the blast and extended throughout the entire camp. Gippal hastily ran up and over a sand dune on the perimeter of the camp with Rikku on his right shoulder as the blast rushed over the top of the dune. Yuna was knocked to the ground on the other side of a sand dune from the sheer power of the wind formed by the blast. Paine grasped to the side of a hover vehicle as the harsh wind splashed over her.
When the clouds of dust and sand cleared Bahamut was seen standing on the edge of the crater with his arms folded across his out thrust chest. A dark figure appeared in the azure sky and descended to Bahamut's side. The figure was clad in hefty robes of green and white. The figure's visage was hidden under a thick hood protruding from the robes enshrouding him. He wielded two colossal battle axes made of ash and mithril. The dual battle axes glowed with amethyst magic wafting off them.
Yuna sprung up and peered over the sand dune she hid behind. She saw the figure standing next to Bahamut and instantly realized that she had seen him before. The figure scanned over the shattered camp for survivors. His gaze came to an abrupt halt when he saw Yuna's head peeking over a dune. Yuna hastily ducked down out of sight and was silent. The sound of footfalls came over the dune and reached Yuna's ears as they drew nearer. The footsteps halted right on the other side of the sand dune and the sound of metal clamoring together came with the halted footfalls. Yuna could feel a surge of wind and sand wash over right above her head. She gazed up and around to see the sand dune cleaved clean right above her head.
Bahamut's wings batted the air above Yuna as he flew over her and landed in the sand with a thud. Yuna spun around and scrambled up on top of the dune and ran smack into the figure with the dual axes. She was jostled to the ground and scrambled backwards crab style. She stopped as she touched a large pointed object with her back. She tilted her head back to see Bahamut standing over her. Her eyes shot wide in terror as Bahamut thrust a clawed hand towards her head. She rolled out of the way just as Bahamut's clawed hand smashed into the sand going through five feet of sand.
Bahamut wrenched his arm out of the few feet of sand and faced the distressed Yuna. He raised his massive arm again and prepared to strike the immobile former summoner. "Bahamut stop." Bahamut stops mid attack and obeys his master. The figure walked over to Yuna who was in fear for her life. He drew the thick hood away from his head revealing short platinum hair and dual scarlet eyes. "Lady Yuna, we finally meet." Yuna stared in disbelief at the man standing before her.
"Wh…who are you? And how do you know my name?" She stammered backing away from the man.
"I think you know who I am, but to refresh your memory I am Issark." Issark shifted his axes into his left hand then he held out the other for Yuna to grasp. She reluctantly took his firm hand and was hoisted up by an unseen strength.
"What do you want with me?" Yuna questioned to the summoner.
Issark smirked. "To destroy you of course, why else do you think I had my Bahamut blow up this camp?"
Yuna's eyes shot wide open and gazed into Issark's grinning ones. "Why do you want to kill me? And if you want to kill me why did you stop Bahamut from killing me and why did u just cleave the dune in two when u could have done it to me also?"
Issark strolled towards Yuna and she backed up but she found herself once again up against Bahamut. "Well, to answer your second question I didn't have Bahamut kill you because I want to do that honor myself and as for not cleaving you in two, I like a struggle." He approached her again but she could not move away anymore.
"And what about why?"
Issark smirked again. "You will find out soon enough."
Just then there was a loud ticking sounding from behind Bahamut and a voice called to Yuna. "Yunie, run!" She turned to see Rikku and Gippal running away from Bahamut. The aeon lifted his head over his left shoulder to spot a machina bomb placed upon his back. Yuna dashed away from the aeon and Issark as the bomb ticked its last ticks and exploded.
Yuna leapt over a sand dune as the flames licked the air behind her. Bahamut let out a fierce cry of pain and then dissolved into pyreflies. Issark shielded himself with his dual magic axes creating a small jade barrier around himself. Rikku and Gippal were far out of range when the bomb exploded and they hid again behind a dune. Paine met up with Yuna as she tumbled over the top of the dune.
The dust and sand cleared with Issark standing with the barrier around him. "Damn you, you Al Bhed heretics!" He shouted through the ripped apart camp.
He traced the foot steps of Rikku and Gippal to the sand dune they were behind. "Take this you heretics!" He crossed his arms and held them to his chest. Then he spread them outward and to each designated side sending a wave of purple energy hurtling towards Rikku and Gippal. The sand dune was washed off the face of Spira drawing up sand as it glided past the dune causing a slight sand storm. Little did he know but Rikku and Gippal then ran to another dune then another until they were behind him.
Issark began to perform some summoning gestures but as he was a grenade landed at his feet. He quickly kicked it away from his body as it exploded a few feet away from him. The blast interrupted his summoning as well as knocked him to the ground. He got back upon his feet and began to do the same summoning gestures. Yuna popped up from behind the dune and fired a bullet into Issark's right arm. He held his arm and cursed. A bluish radiance began to arise from his left hand healing his wound.
Paine ran around the sand dune and rushed at Issark. Her skull blade was caught by his dual axes in a firm grapple. He yanked on his axes and spun around conveying Paine's blade through the air. He raised his right axe into the air and brought it down upon her. She barely evaded the blow and tumbled along the ground away to his side. He swung his left axe to his side smashing her in the torso with the blunt side of the axe. She fell to her side and clutched her aching stomach. He strode up to her and began conjuring up a spell.
The spell was interrupted by another gun shot to the arm. Issark cursed once again and healed the wound. This enabled Paine to regain her composure and fling out a leg tripping the summoner. He hastily leapt to his feet and brought his axes along the ground in Paine's direction. She stood and stepped on the axes with her foot. This action stopped the momentum of the dual axes. Issark then pulled his axes up and launched Paine into the air. She was helplessly falling down towards the summoner whose axes were poised to swipe her from the sky. He swung his axes as she drew into range. He missed. He gazed up to see Paine still in the sky and coming down towards him in a dropkick stance. Her foot connected with his face and he was buried into the sand from all the momentum.
Issark lay in the sand for a few moment before he began another summon. Paine was off retrieving her sword and Yuna was behind the sand dune so no one noticed his actions. Paine turned back to Issark that was half lodged in the sand to see he was summoning. She rushed over to impale him with her blade but she was too late. Three glyphs appeared on the sand. In the sky three different colored streaks flew through the air towards where the glyphs were. They crashed into the glyphs and a flower shot up from each glyph. The petals unfolded to reveal the Magus Sisters.
Sandy stopped Paine in her tracks with her Razzia attack. Two streaks of crimson colored energy flowed across the sand towards Paine. She was struck with both of the waves of energy and fell backwards. Sandy then followed up her Razzia attack with a charge at the downed warrior. Paine hastily shot back upon her feet and prepared herself for Sandy's charge. Sandy went ballistic with her two daggers flashing all over the place striking Paine many a time. Paine finally landed a blow on the swift aeon causing her to fall back away from the warrior.
Cindy did her camisade attack against Yuna blowing her up over the dune. Yuna rolled on the sand as she hit the ground and squeezed off a few shots at the aeon. The bullets reflected off of Cindy's tough shell and dug themselves into the sand. The aeon then ran over to Yuna and leapt into the air above her. Yuna quickly rolled to the right to evade Cindy's massive belly flop. Cindy pushed herself out of the sand and charged at Yuna again. This time she cast a blizzara spell at the gunner. Yuna was struck by the spell and was instantly frozen ion place.
Mindy flew over to Sandy who was having a hard time with Paine by now. She aimed her stinger at the warrior and did her passado attack. The shots struck Paine knocking her off balance. Sandy did Razzia again sending the twin trails of crimson toward the injured warrior. Paine couldn't evade the attack this time either and was blasted by the full brunt of the attack. She cried out in pain while Sandy strode over to her to finish her.
Sandy was about to finish off Paine just as a grenade went of behind her sending her flying over Paine. Mindy flew into the sky and sought out the owner of the grenade. She spotted Rikku and Gippal huddled behind a sand dune and aimed her stinger at them. She opened fire on the couple striking them with many shots. Gippal shielded Rikku from the attack causing him to hunch over in pain. Rikku had no choice but to act but she wasn't sure if her body would let her. She rested Gippal up against the dune and spotted her daggers laying twenty feet away from them. She decided to make a break for it and took off towards her daggers.
Mindy spotted Rikku's actions and prepared a thundaga spell. She unleashed the spell at the running Al Bhed. The bolt missed Rikku as she continued to run to her daggers. Rikku grasped her twin daggers causing pain to shoot up from her fingers. She let out a silent cry of pain and continued with her mission. Mindy conjured up another spell but this time it was firaga. The aeon sent the spell hurtling toward the injured Al Bhed with great force. Rikku flipped her blades together in a shielding position and prepared for the blow. The spell struck the daggers and diminished on the spot. The twin orange and yellow daggers suddenly became scolding hot and burnt Rikku's already injured hands. She dropped them hastily and blew on her hands. Mindy then conjured up another spell. She fired the wataga spell at Rikku and it instantly engulfed her in water. Her hand began to steam from the water and she felt them burn with immense pain.
Gippal opened his eye to see Rikku engulfed in the wataga spell. He franticly searched around for some type of weapon to fight the aeon with. He scanned the destroyed camp site for any weapon at all. He then noted Rikku's daggers set in the sand. He rushed over to them and grasped their hilts. He felt his hands burn from the slightest touch. He yanked his hands away and tore off his sleeves and wrapped them around his hands. He then grasped the twin daggers with ease. He went over to Rikku and slashed the water bubble around her. The bubble popped and Rikku fell to the ground gasping for air. Gippal put a comforting arm around her shoulders and then stood to fight the insect aeon.
Yuna was hastily thawed out of the ice from the blistering heat of the desert. She regained her composure and found Cindy lumbering over to her. She drew up her dual pistols and clicked on the flame strike ability. She fired the flame encrusted bullets as Cindy's plump head. The aeon let out a cry of anguish as the flaming bullets stuck into her pudgy face. Yuna took this opportunity and dashed off behind the pained aeon. Yuna activated a dresssphere and became enshrouded in whirls of gold, pink and white. A massive sword cut through the brilliant radiance around Yuna. She emerged in her samurai ensemble wielding the gigantic hooked sword with flames etched near the hilt and at the start of the hook.
Cindy pivoted on her heels to see Yuna's new transformation and let out a silent cry of terror. Yuna rushed up to Cindy dragging her massive samurai sword along side her. She brought it up as soon as she was in range of Cindy and cleaved the aeon in two. The two parts of Cindy's plump body slid away from each other and collapsed to the sand. A fait blue aura began to drift around Cindy's right hand. Instantly the aura engulfed her body and glowed even brighter. Yuna covered her eyes from the blinding aura of azure. The glow dissipated and Yuna removed her hands from her eyes to see Cindy standing there in one piece. Yuna let out a gasp of horror to see that the aeon had mended her self with a healing spell.
Sandy and Paine were locked in tight combat with their blades. Sandy could not overpower Paine nor could Paine overcome Sandy's strength. They stood with their blades locked for some time before Paine acted. She drew her blade out from the tight lock it was trapped in and bashed it into Sandy's stomach. The aeon grappled her stomach and plunged to the ground gasping for air. Paine smirked and drove her skull sword straight into Sandy's torso. She let out a sharp cry of pain as pyreflies began to leak out of the massive gauge Paine had left in her torso.
Cindy heard her sister's cry and lumbered over to her completely ignoring Yuna. She cast a healing spell on Sandy and then she also cast not so mighty guard. Sandy rose to her nimble feet and thanked Cindy. She then took off after Paine who was flocking the opposite direction to make time for a strategy. Sandy kept up in the pursuit and was soon upon the fleeing warrior. She started off with a Razzia attack that took out both of Paine's legs. She tripped face first into the coarse sand. Her legs felt like they were being sawed at with dull blades.
Mindy and Gippal began to face off. Mindy used her passado attack pelting Gippal with tons of the small orbs. Gippal shook off each attack as he rushed towards the insect aeon. He leapt into the air at the soaring aeon and landed two quick blows before plunging back down to the ground. Mindy plummeted down to about two feet off the ground from Gippal's attack. Gippal hit the coarse sand while spinning around to push off to charge against Mindy. He charged at his top speed towards the hovering aeon. Mindy had no time to react and was caught off guard by Gippal's unrelenting charge. He flashed the twin daggers into the aeon's flesh carving out large gauges and splattering blood on the sand causing it to clot.
Mindy lashed out at Gippal after his ingenious attack with her stinger. He ducked and weaved to evade the deadly aeon's stinger. He got in close enough to strike Mindy but she realized this and spun around knocking Gippal to the ground with her abdomen. She poised her stinger above the fallen Al Bhed. Gippal opened his eye and saw the deadly stinger poised above his head. He tumbled to the side as Mindy brought down her stinger. The stinger buried itself into the dense sand where Gippal's head once was. She let out a cry of frustration as the stinger was dislodged from the sand.
Yuna charged Cindy with her immense samurai sword trailing along the ground. Cindy raised a hand and cast the not so mighty guard spell on herself. Yuna did not halt her charge on the large aeon but continued to pick up her speed. When Cindy was less than ten feet away Yuna raised her sword to point straight out from her and to Cindy's chest. Cindy only stood there awaiting Yuna's feeble attempt at an attack. The gap between the two narrowed with every passing second.
Yuna kept her blade extended and held it with to firm hands as it plunged into Cindy's barrier. Sparks of blue and yellow jumped out from where the blade and the barrier met. The sparks landed all around the two and scorched the sand. Yuna could feel herself being pushed back by an explainable force but she kept up the struggle. She could feel her feet slipping through the sand away from the barrier shrouded aeon. Then a rock imposed giving her something to push off of to regain control of her body. She pushed off the rock with all her might and felt herself moving slightly forward. She took control of her body and pressed on with all her might she could muster. The sparks continued to fall but now they were more violent and more in number.
Sandy stood over the injured Paine who was still grasping her legs in intense pain. They still felt like they were being sawed off with dull and rusted blades. She tried to get upon her feet but she collapsed at merely getting upon her knees. Sandy placed a firm foot atop Paine's head and pressed down. Paine's head slowly descended into the sand causing her to coke on the coarse grains. Sandy pushed her foot against Paine's head even more so than before submerging it deeper into the sand. Paine's mind began to race and cry out of oxygen as her head was completely submerged into the sand.
Gippal rushed Mindy again to catch her off guard as she tended to her aching stinger. He succeeded in catching her off guard and landed two swift blows to her head. She tumbled to the ground from Gippal's momentum with dual gashes on the right side of her head. Gippal charged the injured aeon with all his momentum then he leapt into the air. Mindy had no time to evade Gippal's sky dive attack and was caught by his blades. He came down upon her with the twin daggers out in front of him facing downwards. The dual daggers plunged into Mindy's supple chest and burst out the other side splattering blood on the sand below. Out of Mindy's wounds leaked pyreflies into the azure sky and then they disappeared out of sight.
Mindy lay helpless on the ground wallowing in pain and a puddle of her own blood. Gippal approached the dying aeon to deal the finishing blow. He outstretched his arms out behind him and went into a leaning forward position. He pulled his arms together as fast as he could, making them pass over one another. A slim trail of crimson blood shot along the sand in the direction Gippal had slashed. A distinct line appeared across Mindy's neck. Her head began to slip away from her body as it fell backwards while her head fell forward. Pyreflies immediately began spewing out of the dissolving body.
The barrier that was barring Yuna's sword from impaling Cindy held fast against Yuna's relentless assault. She could not muster the strength to break on through to the other side of the barrier. The point where the barrier and Yuna's samurai sword met continued to spew sparks upon the desert ground. The barrier was showing no sign of giving in the slightest bit but Yuna's strength was fleeing her body every second. She could feel herself slipping away from the barrier again and felt a sense of helplessness wash over her.
The barrier held fast pushing Yuna farther and farther away from her target. As Yuna was sliding along the sand she stumbled over a squat cactus sending her on her back. Her sword flung around in the air. It continued to revolve in the air with its own momentum above Yuna's head. Yuna could not move an inch, she was paralyzed with shock. The blade tumbled down from the azure sky upon her head. She closed her eyes tightly and prayed that the sword would miss her somehow. When she didn't feel the pain of the massive sword plunging into her flesh she peeked open an eye. Sure enough the blade had missed her head and landed only two inches from her head severing a small lock of hair from it.
Cindy dispersed her shield and approached Yuna who was still stuck in shock and horror. Yuna regained her composure at the mere sight of the lumbering aeon. She immediately shot up onto her feet and grasped the hilt of her samurai sword. Cindy continued to hobble towards the distressed samurai slowly. Yuna lifted her colossal sword to find that it was way too heavy for her weakened body. It fell into the sand right in front of Cindy allowing the aeon to traverse the gap between her and the samurai.
Gippal returned Rikku who was now sitting upright in the sand. "Here." He held out her orange and yellow daggers. Rikku gazed into Gippal's eye and smiled. She then stretched her arms out and took the twin daggers. "Can you stand?"
Rikku got onto her knees and then continued to push herself up onto her feet. "Yep." She went over to Gippal and embraced him. "How about you? Are you hurt?"
"Not in the least." Rikku gazed over his shoulder as the continued their embrace. She spotted Yuna about to be assailed by Cindy and she saw Paine with her head completely buried in the sand with Sandy's foot on it.
"We got to help them Gip!" She broke the embrace and ran after Yuna. "I'll help Yunie and you help Paine!" She shouted as she rushed to her cousin's aid.
Gippal stood fixed in position for a moment. Realizing he had no weapon to aid his friends he scanned the area for anything that could be used. He soon spotted a metal rod jutting out from the sand not to far from where he was standing. He ran over to it and grasped it with both of his hands. He heaved upon it but it didn't budge. He tried again and it slipped lose. Pulling it up in triumph he noted that the end that was buried in the sand had a jagged edge on it. Content with his weapon he took off towards Sandy to rescue Paine from suffocation.
Rikku dragged her pained body to close the gap between her and her cousin. Cindy noted the charging Al Bhed and hastily shifted her focus onto Rikku. Rikku continued to advance on the aeon and her weakened cousin. She attempted to leap at Cindy but a vicious pain shot up through her legs preventing her from her aerial attack. The pain was so intense that she tripped onto the sand face first just feet away from Cindy. Rikku pushed herself back upon her hands and feet and kicked off the ground to quickly accelerate. She lifter herself up to a bowing run with her daggers out at her sides.
Gippal rushed up behind Sandy while she still held Paine's head submerged in the sand with her foot. She didn't notice the Al Bhed quickly approaching from behind with a spear like weapon. He thrust out the spear like pole into Sandy's back along her spine. She let out a terrible cry of horror and pain as the spear pierced through her body and burst out her abdomen showering the sand in front of her with her crimson blood. Her blood began to bubble out of her mouth and left streaks of crimson all down her body. She collapsed onto the sand next to Paine in a curled up ball. Her body began to shimmer on the ground as pyreflies began to race out of it. She completely dissolved in a matter of seconds reliving the group of friends of an aeon.
Cindy raised her pudgy hands in front of her and began to chant a spell. Rikku acted before Cindy got the chance to activate her spell. She went for the aeon's legs. Her dual daggers impaled the aeon's thick legs and splattered trace amounts of blood onto the sand. She collapsed to the ground as Rikku yanked out her daggers with a twist after she hauled them up through Cindy's leg. Cindy rolled onto her back and tried to grasp her injured legs but it was in vain. Her large body prevented her from reaching her legs to heal them.
Gippal gripped Paine's shoulders and wrenched her head out of the sand. He propped up her head in his right hand while the rest of her body lay on the ground. She was still breathing but very slightly so he decided to make her drink a potion. He rifled around in his various pouched and pockets till he located a potion. He popped the cork on the top of the blue crystal vial. Then opened her tightly pressed lips and placed the vial on her bottom lip. He tilted the vial back releasing the healing liquid into her mouth. She coughed as the liquid passed down her esophagus sending the familiar warm sensation throughout her body.
Paine's crimson colored eyes fluttered open to see Gippal tending to her. "How do you feel Dr. P?" He gazed into her suffocated eyes.
Breathing hard she responded. "I'm fine."
"I think you should just rest here. I'll go and help out Yuna and Rikku." He began to run off towards the battle with Cindy but Paine called to him.
"Wait." She got up onto her feet warily and strolled over to her skull blade lodged in the sand. "I'm coming with." Gippal shrugged in agreement and continued on towards Rikku and Yuna with Paine following at his heels.
Yuna was upon the ground when Gippal and Paine got to her and Rikku. Cindy was still upon the ground on her back swaying back and forth to get up. Rikku was tending to Yuna's weakness giving her potions and comforting her as Gippal and Paine approached. Cindy finally managed to muster the strength and pain tolerance to stand once again. Gippal shot out his spear right into her chest but it was easily glanced away by her thick shell. She grasped the spear shaft and wrenched it out of Gippal's grip. She turned the weapon upon him and bore down upon him with a hasty and strong blow.
Gippal barely evaded the spear thrust and ran around behind the assaulting aeon. He grasped a handful of sand and ran back around to Cindy's front. He dashed the sand into her eyes causing blindness. She stomped furiously and covered her eyes with her hands, dropping the spear in the commotion. Gippal gripped the spear shaft and drew it up into both hands and poised it to impale Cindy. He thrust it out towards her but she uncovered her eyes and grasped the spear in mid flight. Gippal however was ready for her actions and shifted the spear head into her chest. She was pulling the spear towards her and Gippal's momentum caused the spear to pierce her thick shell. She let out a howl of pain as the spear sunk deeper and deeper into her supple flesh beneath the rough outer shell. Pyreflies began to drip out of the massive wound and Cindy's body began to shimmer. Seconds later her body was completely dissolved into pyreflies.
The friends all took a few moments to rest after their ordeal. They all popped corks off of potion vials and drank the warm healing fluids. Rikku gazed her jade eyes around the desolate former camp site. Then out of nowhere she realized something. "Hey guys, where's Issark?" The group of friends surveyed the camp site but could not find a single trace of Issark.
"Yeah, where did he go?" Yuna gazed around confused.
Issark strode up to a very old looking wooden door. He approached the door and put his right hand around the knob. As he touched the knob an eerie voice came through the door. "Come in Issark." Issark finishes the rest of his actions opening the old wooden door. He entered into a dark and dank room. The room housed a few shelves with miscellaneous books and papers stacked on them. An oak desk sat on the opposite side of the room from the door and where Issark was standing. Sitting at the oak desk was a figure cloaked in a dark blue cloak. Two red eyes pierced the darkness shrouding the figure's visage.
"I trust you have killed the one I informed you to." An eerie soft voice came from the depths of the cloak.
Issark did not meet the gaze of the twin crimson eyes; rather he glanced away from them the whole time. "Um…I could not kill the one you wanted." He was reluctant to speak the truth.
"I see." The figure stood up and strolled around the oak desk. "So, you failed me Issark." The figure grasped Issark's collar and raised him into the air. "I do not like failure. Remember I made it so you could live again and I can kill you."
"I will not fail you again. Please master let me go." He pleaded.
"Very well." He set Issark down on his own two feet. "But remember if you fail again your going back." The figure went back to sitting at the oak desk. Issark nodded and left the room through the antique door.
The figure sat there for moments after Issark left contemplating how he could have lost to her. 'I suppose she has gotten even more powerful than before. And she has the strength of her friends with her which they have also increased. If Issark cannot defeat her then I will just use him as a decoy until I can utilize my plan.' The figure got up and opened the antique door and left the musty room.