Author's Note:
I started to write this chapter as a Rufus one, because I couldn't think of a Cosmo Canyon team one. And then I realized, yes, I do have an idea for one. And it kind of made me sad, because I suddenly realized that I was getting around to that point. The point where... yes, kiddos, we're in the final run. Promised Empire is coming to a close. I'll be sad to see it go, and I know (some of) you will be, too. I'd like to take the time to thank Konie Hime, Macky, Melan Blue, Jaded Echo, Adelide, Nisus, MarcustheBloody, corkyciggs, and even that silly ass Jaysinya (: P) for taking the time to read and review my story. I'd thank the gang from SftPO, too, but I don't know if they still read my stuff, heh. Anyway, as I've been saying... Final Trinity is coming, so don't despair too much. I don't own Final Fantasy.
Chapter Fifty One
Traitor
Barret stood on the walls of Cosmo Canyon stroking his metal hand. It hadn't been until recent days that he'd really begun to appreciate his gun-arm now that he no longer had it. His people, the refugees of Corel, and by some extension, Gold Saucer and Cosmo Canyon, expected him to be a leader. But they also needed him as a warrior, and now, here he stood, awaiting the coming of night.
Vincent said this would be it. This would be the night where someone would try to open the back door of the canyon and try to let the Tali Hishna in. Red was going to walk the walls alongside Vincent making themselves as obvious as possible. Barret's job was to do something along similar lines, but with a twist.
A roar erupted from the canyon, and Barret started. The Tali Hishna were early. It wasn't night yet. Doubt filled him as he wondered what to do. Go through with his part of the plan, or stay on the walls and fight? If they were early, they were obviously up to something.
He reading his hammer, pulling it out. "Screw it."
"Don't you dare stay here to help us," Vincent hissed.
Barret whirled about to see the black-clad man standing behind him, wings outstretched. The man had a menacing look in his eye.
"They're up to somethin'!" Barret protested.
"Of course they are. I felt a shift in power earlier this day. The Tali Hishna have gained a new ally, or a new power. They seek to test it this day. Do not delay! Get to the Gi Cavern door!"
Barret hesitated and looked at the incoming army, and noticed their new advantage. "Holy shit, is that what I think it is?"
Vincent glanced over and said, "Clever. Blind folds. They're used to being all but blind, so someone has taught them how to regain their normal sight."
"One of their own?" Barret asked.
"Doubtful. Someone from outside taught them this. Underground there would never be reason to further hamper your vision. Someone intelligent came up with this. But it doesn't matter now! Do what I told you to do! And remember... if anything goes wrong, we will retreat to the library! The signal for the retreat will be Red XIII howling as loudly as he can. Now go to the cavern!"
Barret nodded one last time and retreated from the wall, taking three steps at a time on his way down. When he got to the final five, he jumped, and made a break for the stairs leading to the Gi Cavern entrance. When he reached those, he similarly took those stairs three at a time until he made it to the top and into the tunnel. Once inside, he ducked down a small side passage by the door, making sure to pull some boxes that had been left there for him in advance for him to hide behind.
He didn't have to wait long before he heard the grumbling of a malcontent Elder.
"Are you sure this will work?" Frennal complained, and someone grunted.
Barret frowned. Not who he'd expected. He had been sure it was Dorret. Or maybe it was? Frennal was talking to somebody.
"I'd hate to let them in and have them kill us. I'm not a brave man. I admit it. I want to live. And if this will let us live..." The man rambled on for a while, and Barret, beginning to wonder who the other conversant was, slowly inched his way up along the top of the box to look.
And nearly revealed himself with his sharp intake of breath.
Dio.
And Marlene, tied and gagged, was slung over his shoulder.
Barret ducked back down, his heart racing. He had to resist leaping over the boxes and killing Dio right there.
How, though? And why? Why would Dio betray them to the Tali Hishna? Why would he work alongside Frennal? He cast his mind back, trying desperately to look for any clue that may be there.
Barret grunted. "Think we'll make it?"
Dio shook his head sadly. "No. Reports of attacks on the Canyon have come to me from my scouts. I've lost about half of them already, too. Good fighting men. Men we can't afford to lose. I think that those damned albinos have been watching us, waiting for us to get deep into this place so they can attack us at night."
"Shouldn't we be tryin' to make some sort o' defenses then? Somethin' we can use to hide behind when the attack comes?" Barret looked back to the people, and saw them only setting up their tents, but no fortifications.
"They won't do it. No, that's not fair of me. They can't do it. Their homes have been lost, Wallace. They've been driven away by an unknown enemy. They have no morale. If I told them that an attack was going to come tonight, they'd scatter now. They aren't fighters. All we have is you, that cat, a few of my old security guards, and myself. Tell your companion to be on the look out tonight. All my men are going to be alert, but I figure that cat will see any attack coming first."
Dio had specifically not tried to mount a defense. He knew the attack was coming... no, he even knew where it was coming, and he hadn't done anything. He'd purposefully led them into a trap.
"Now that was a battle!" the leader of Gold Saucer declared. "That force easily numbered two thousand, and all of them dead!"
Vincent snorted, and Barret gave Dio a funny look, then shrugged. Red XIII loped up to join them, his tongue lolling out in a almost canine smile. Suddenly, his feline dignity asserted itself, and he sat back on his haunches and rubbed a paw across his scarred face, then said, "How many wounded did we take?"
Dio looked about him, as if just noticing that some of their people had died, and Barret answered, "Too damn early to tell. I'd say we lost 'bout a quarter o' the people from Corel and Gold Saucer, and 'bout half o' the people from Cosmo Canyon."
And there, Dio had been far more concerned about the fight than about the lives of others. Barret had a vibe then, but never followed through on it.
Dio nodded. "The same thing happened with Gold Saucer. Someone let them in. Opened up the elevator from the prison below and hid a large raiding party til everyone was asleep."
Barret inwardly swore. Of course! Only one man had access to the controls of that elevator. He should have known right at that moment that Dio had been behind that. And now was behind a similar scheme in Cosmo Canyon.
It all made sense now.
And right now, Barret wanted to show how much he wanted to show Dio by slamming him in the face with his hammer. But not while he had Marlene. And worse, Vincent had told Dio the activation code to deactivate the bomb. But if Barret waited any longer, they might get that door opened, and the Tali Hishna would pour through.
His daughter, or his people.
Standing up and letting loose a growl of pure rage, Barret charged from the boxes. Dio was clearly shocked, Marlene obviously happy at seeing her Daddy, and Frennal was busy hacking away at the keypad.
"Traitor!" he yelled in defiance, meaning to strike Dio down.
And then the world erupted in fire and earth.
He was rocked and thrown backwards as the cavern shook all about him. He lost sight of everything as torches were knocked from their rungs, and the flare of fire went out, buried under the rock that sealed the tunnel.
Barret was back on his feet instantly, swinging his hammer fiercely. It was blocked by a sword-stroke from Dio. Even as he pressed his strength down on the hammer, their two weapons locked, Barret saw Marlene, safe and unharmed. He smiled inwardly. Outwardly, he growled all his anger at Dio.
"How could you?" he spat. "Did you do this so you could live?"
Dio shook his head. "No. I did this so I could have a final stand. Just me and waves upon waves of enemies, trying to get around me while I defended the only way in. I did it in Gold Saucer, and they beat me back. The Tali Hishna... no, the Yenta Pree... did something to me. It put something in my brain to make me think it was a good idea. And then ... Barret, just give me this? Let me fight them off. I failed Gold Saucer. If I take my stand here, I'll win this time. I know it!"
"You don't know shit!" Barret erupted, "The Yenta Pree fucked wit' yo' mind, and you're lettin' it!"
"No! I could have won! But... why'd the cavern explode? I told Frennal the damn password! You changed it, didn't you?"
Barret shook his head. "Password's the same as it always was. Only, I think Vince had your number the whole time. The password wasn't meant to deactivate the bomb. It was meant to detonate it."
Dio let out something close to a wail, and fell backwards and dropped his sword. "Kill me."
"What?"
"You heard me! The damn thing is in my mind! They put something in me, and now they're manipulating me! I want it out!"
"Dio, I can't-"
The tunnel shook again as something came loose. Barret looked up, and saw a large rock that had been supporting the entire ceiling begin to fall. He instantly raised his arms and braced himself.
The rock came down hard, and the only thing that saved him from being crushed entirely was his cybernetic arm and massive strength holding the rock up. He felt like he was slowly being crushed, and knew that as soon as he let go, he and everyone else in the tunnel would be dead.
"Get out of here, Dio," Barret managed through all the pain. "Grab Marlene and get... the hell... out!"
Dio shook his head and stood up. "I'm not leaving you behind."
"What're you... gonna... do? Lift the damn... rock... yerself?"
But even as he said it, Dio was already putting his hands on the rock, heaving upwards. The man made an agonized cry as he lifted, and Barret felt the weight come off his shoulders. Dio immediately fell to his knees, and Barret had to duck to prevent getting smashed with a large piece of rock.
"Get... out... of... here! Yenta Pree... can only make me... do what... it's ordered! You have a family... Get your daughter out of here!"
Barret looked Dio in the eyes, and for the first time, felt sympathetic to the man who had betrayed them. "I'm sorry, Dio."
The sound of Red XIII howling filled the chamber over that of falling rocks and shifting stone.
"Save... your damn... apologies and pity... Just... godammit... Get out of here!"
Barret nodded once, moved to pick up Marlene, and began to retreat from the tunnel, all the while hearing Red XIII's howls ahead. As soon as he made it to the exit of the cavern, he heard the sound of falling rock.