To cute-kitty: I know you'd be rather confused, but don't worry, the only characters that you really need to know about are Larc and a character not yet introduced named Sierra. The others were introduced simply to give a feel for the world and to kind of give some background info because the Jumi and some of the other characters will play a few more little parts before this thing is over!
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Eight strangers and a dragoon walked through the small gate and into the field where all the students were lounging. Each student wore long robes, with each of them wearing robes coloured according to what class they were in. One student, in blue, walked up to Rikku.
"Hey, who are you?" He asked curiously. Rikku smiled at him.
"My name's Rikku, who are you?" she asked politely. The boy beamed up at her.
"I'm Lunes!" He told her. "I'm from the magic school in Geo." He explained. Yuna walked over.
"And what are all these magic students doing in the middle of this field?" She asked. Lunes brought himself up to his full height and made himself look very important.
"You see, they say a dragon lives in this palace and his presence makes all the herbs that grow around here more potent for our potions!" He told her proudly. At the news that there was a dragon, the others gathered around too.
"What do you know about this dragon?" Baralai asked, eyeing the skeleton palace. Lunes frowned.
"Not very much, but we've been hearing voices, so we don't go too near to the skeleton."
"Voices? What kind of voices?"
"Voices that don't have words. They're kind of scary." Lunes admitted. Gippal walked confidently up to the mouth of the dragon skeleton.
"Hey! Anybody home?" He shouted. All the students were staring at him, many inching away from the skeletal palace. A little woman dressed up as if she was a flower who had been helping the students pick their herbs walked up to him.
"Have respect for the Bone Fortress!" She scolded. "A great dragon lives within!" Gippal ignored her.
"Hello?" He shouted again. Rikku walked over to him.
"I don't think there's anyone there." She observed. Gippal sighed. Then, the mouth of the skeleton opened and a wave of stagnant air rushed out. Rikku started to cough.
"Bah! That dragon had better do something about that breath! It's nasty!" she complained. Gippal grimaced and covered his nose and mouth and started to go inside. He was about to step into the mouth when a human skeleton dressed in armor immerged from the shadows and pushed Gippal roughly away.
"Leave this place." He ordered. Gippal glared at him.
"Make me." He answered defiantly. Yuna rolled her eyes, pulled out her guns and took two clear shots, sending her bullets into the helmet. A moment later, the skeleton warrior crumbled. They tried to go inside, but the skeleton rebuilt itself, blocking their way once again. Rikku sighed.
"You're irking me." She told it plainly. It answered by taking a swing at her with its sword. She squeaked and ducked. Gippal pulled her out of the way. Tidus cut down at the warrior with his brotherhood, cutting off the skeleton's sword hand. Before the skeleton could retrieve it, Yuna kicked it out of the way and transformed into the Black Mage dressphere. She cast Thundaga on it, but to her surprise, it didn't affect the creature, it only electrified his armor, making it dangerous to the touch. Her face fell.
"Oh. Oops." She said, wincing as its gauntlets gazed her arm and zapped her as she tried to avoid being cornered. Tidus and Sora swung at it, taking care to miss the armor, but instead missing the skeleton warrior entirely. Kairi shot her disk at it, hitting the bullseye. The skeleton crumbled again, this time disintegrating into dust. Kairi's eyes widened as the disk flew back at her, to reattach itself to her claws. It crackled as it flew through the air, having transferred the entirety of the charge into itself. She cringed as it reattached and she cried out as her entire arm went numb. Sora ran his fingers over her numb arm, concerned.
"Okay?" He asked, worried. Kairi nodded, moving it around a bit.
"Feels like it fell asleep, it's just kind of numb is all." she answered, walking towards the mouth and continuing to stretch her arm out, wincing. "We'd better go before our friend rebuilds himself again." she told them. The rest followed her inside. They found themselves in a shadowy room, with no where to go but back out, the only thing inside was three pedestals.
"Where to now?" Paine asked Larc. Larc was at a loss. Why would Drakonis have sent them on a wild goose chase? Kairi was inspecting one of the pedestals. Leaning on it, she found it sunk a little into the floor. Surprised, yanked her hand back from it and stared. A moment later, there was a crash and the mouth of the huge skeleton slammed shut. Rikku squeaked.
"We're stuck!" Paine rolled her eyes.
"Thank you Captain Obvious." she said sarcastically. "Now what?" Looking around, no one saw what they might be able to do to find an escape. No one except Kairi. She was still inspecting the pedestal that had sunk a little ways into the floor. Since then, it had slowly risen up the inch or so, to its normal height. Looking at how the pedestal was attached to the floor, she saw it was sitting in a hole that was chiseled out of the stone floor. The once sharp edges of the hole had been worn down, as if something had been grinding against it. Quietly, she walked over to the next pedestal. It looked the same way. Everyone else was watching her now. She put a bit of pressure on the top of this new pedestal and found that it too began to sink a little. The final pedestal was like the others as well. Looking up, she smiled.
"I think this is our way out." She said, pointing to each of the pedestals. "They all sink into the floor, and there has to be a reason for it. Maybe this is the key to getting into the rest of the palace."
"Okay, but how about getting out again?" Gippal asked. Larc shook his head.
"We'll find our way out when we come to need a way out. For now, our priority is hunting the dragon." He ordered. Kairi went and stood by the first pedestal. Larc walked over to the second one and Baralai stood by the third.
"On the count of three." Kairi said, placing her hands on the top of the pedestal. The other two followed suit. "Ready? One, two….THREE!" At that, all of them pushed. It was much harder than any of them had expected it to be. They were able to push them down some of the way, but something kept them from pushing it down any further. Kairi, frustrated, climbed on top of her pedestal and started jumping up and down on it. The pedestal went down a little further, but it still didn't help much. Yuna and Tidus walked over to Larc and began to help him. The pedestal started to slide further down with all three of them pushing. Paine and Rikku hurried over to Baralai to give him a hand, and Gippal and Sora went to help Kairi. In a few moments, the pedestals were locked into place in the floor. There was a moment of silence in which all that could be heard was the heavy breathing of everyone. It was surprising how hard they had to work to get the pedestals to move. Everyone froze when a low rumble began. As it got louder, the floor began to shake. The roof seemed to start collapsing down on them. Kairi dropped to her knees, covering her head. Sora backed into the wall, protecting his face. Gippal crossed his arms over his head, bracing himself to be hit with the falling stone and bone. Then, all at once, the rumbling stopped. Kairi's eyes snapped open and she looked up. The breath was pulled from her throat. After a moment, she was finally able to speak.
"Uh, guys? I think we're in the castle now…" She said, staring around. They were in a lavishly furnished room, with a huge window opening out to the field far below. Kairi got to her feet and found herself wondering how high up they were, and how they possibly got there. Sora and Gippal were just as surprised at their surrounding as she was. Blinking, she realized that they were the only ones with her. Slapping her hand over her mouth, she muffled a gasp. Sora looked at her.
"What's wrong?" He asked, worried and on edge.
"We're the only ones here." She said slowly. Both Gippal and Sora looked confused. Suddenly, Gippal understood.
"Where's Rikku!" He asked, looking around. Kairi didn't want to say it, but she was afraid that no one had made it out of the collapsing entry hall but them. Sora frowned.
"We're gonna have to look for them. Maybe they were sent to a different part of the fortress because they pushed a different pedestal." He reasoned. Kairi breathed a quiet sigh. I hope your right Sora…
The three walked out of the room and into a hall. They searched each of the rooms branching off, but found it was fruitless. There didn't seem to be anywhere to go from where they were, and no one else was in the rooms. Kairi wandered hopelessly into one random room, Sora following her glumly.
"Who are you?" The voice made both of them jump. Spinning to find its source, they spotted another skeleton warrior. Kairi yelped in surprise and clenched her fists, ready to fight it, just as they had the last one. Sora sliced his Keyblade through the air menacingly. Gippal, having heard Kairi's cry, looking inside the room and glared at the skeleton.
"Not another one." He said, exasperated. The skeleton warrior looked surprised.
"You seem to need aid?" He offered politely. Gippal, Sora and Kairi were all taken aback.
"We'd like out of here…" Sora told it suspiciously. The skeleton warrior nodded and motioned towards a wall. They stared at it, confused. After a moment, the wall crumbled away, revealing a door. Surprised, Kairi thanked the warrior quickly and they hurried into the room. It looked like all the others that they'd searched in before, but there was another door. It probably just led to a hall similar to the one they'd searched before, but there was always that chance that their missing friends were here. Kairi walked quickly over to the door and pulled it open. She ran headlong into Paine. Both girls stumbled back in surprise, and then stared at each other, even more surprised. Kairi grinned sheepishly.
"Hi Paine." Paine crossed her arms.
"We've been looking everywhere for you. Where were you?" She asked, almost angry. Kairi almost laughed.
"We've been looking for you." She replied, her relief making her almost giddy. Paine walked into the room and sat down on a chair, followed by Baralai, and then….
"Rikku!" Gippal walked over to her and swept her off her feet, kissing her. Rikku giggled. Kairi started laughing.
"Aww! Aren't you cute!" She teased. Both of them turned red and glared at her. She just laughed all the more. Baralai was looking around the room curiously, almost as if he was searching for something.
"Where's Larc?" He asked after a moment.
"Who cares, I'd be glad to be rid of him." Gippal answered.
"Maybe, but Yuna and Tidus are probably with him." Baralai reasoned. At this, everyone's faces fell.
"Guess we'd better get looking then." Sora decided after a moment, walking out the door. The hall was indeed much like the one they'd already searched, but for one difference: the huge door at one end. It looked like it led somewhere important. Everyone else piled out into the hallway behind him. He looked at Baralai.
"Where does that lead?" Baralai shrugged.
"Don't know. We haven't looked in there yet." He answered. Paine was already down the hall and pushing the door open. Getting a look inside, she was tempted to swear. It looked much like the entry hall they'd just come from, except that there was only one pedestal. She walked inside, looking for a door. Just as she had expected, there wasn't one. The rest of the group entered, and upon seeing the pedestal, all their faces fell. Kairi pouted and sat on the pedestal, knowing that it would take much more than her weight to push it down. Or not. She cried out as the pedestal fell freely into the floor, jarring her back as it came to a sudden stop. Everyone was staring at her. She frowned. They all waited for the rumbling to start, but it never did. Instead, there was a creaking sound. At the front of the room (behind Kairi) was a relief of a dragon underneath an arching frame, or what they thought was a frame. The relief began to lift, revealing the arch to be a new doorway. Kairi twisted around to see what everyone was staring at, and stood up, relieved. She walked through the arch and found herself in a large circular cage like enclosure. A spirit that reminded Kairi very much of Hitodama was sitting in the middle of the room.
"Where to?" It asked. Kairi stared at it.
"Huh?" Gippal asked, watching the spirit suspiciously.
"Where to?" It asked again. "You're on the first floor, you can go to the second or the third." It explained.
"The third." Rikku answered. Paine looked at her, curious.
"…why?" she asked after a moment. Rikku shrugged.
"Why not? We're going to have to search them both anyway, so who cared which on we start on?" With a jolt, the cage enclosure began to move upward. It was an elevator. Baralai could help but find it odd that there was an elevator in a skeleton. The elevator stopped again, and a door opened.
"Third floor!" The spirit announced professionally. They stepped out and found themselves in a room like the entry hall, except that it had no pedestals. There was a person standing in the middle of the room. They all watched her curiously. As she turned to face them, they found she looked rather wolfish, like Larc, and also had armor similar to Larc's except that hers was white and blue. She glared at them.
"So, you are Drakonis's new Champions of Hell." He spat. Kairi blinked.
"Champions of Hell? We're not Champions of Hell, we're just out to help him get his stolen mana back." Kairi explained patiently. The woman laughed.
"Stolen mana? So that was his lie, then." Gippal glared at her.
"If Drakonis was lying, than tell us what's really going on." He demanded. The woman shook her head.
"No, that would be a waste of breath. Even if I did tell you, I'd still have to kill you."
"Kill us? Why?" Sora asked, angry.
"Because you are minions of Drakonis, and I am Sierra, the dragoon of the White Dragon…sworn enemies. And because if I kill you, I won't have to kill Larc." She answered. Before anyone got the chance to ask her what she meant, she pulled out two knives and leapt at them. Kairi ducked out of the way, slashing with her claws but missing. Gippal shot but found Sierra moved so fast that he couldn't get a clear shot at her. Sora fenced with her for a moment, but only to have her dive and him and he only just was able to dodge the attack. By the time he had reoriented himself, she'd nearly wounded Baralai, and the only attack of theirs yet to have hit her was Rikku who managed to steal something from her. Then, Sierra made a mistake. She dodged an attack but cornered herself in doing so. Paine happened to be standing in the right place at the right time and as Sierra spun, she found herself standing with Paine's sword at her throat. Paine glared at her.
"Explain yourself." She ordered. Sierra glared at her and disappeared into thin air. Paine faltered, surprised. Baralai blinked.
"Where'd she go?" He asked, rather bewildered. Rikku grinned.
"Who cares, look what I got." She held up a small key. "I stole it from her. I don't know where it leads, but I'm sure she'll be right mad when she finds out I scoffed it." She told them, beaming. With that, she started across the room and opened a door.
"Where are you going?" Paine asked. Rikku shrugged.
"Looking for Larc and Yunie and Tidus." she answered, disappearing into the hallway. Paine followed her, but found that once she reached the hallway, Rikku seemed to have disappeared. By the time everyone else found her, she was standing in front of a door, looking bewildered. A banging sound came from the other side and she jumped back.
"What's that?" Kairi asked, surprised. Rikku shrugged, looking a little afraid. Suddenly, Gippal snatched the key away from Rikku and walked up to the door. He placed the key in the lock and grinned.
"Perfect fit. Ah Rikku, I knew you were good for something." He said. Rikku glared at him. He opened the door, and Larc came stumbling out. Paine crossed her arms.
"Why were you banging on the door? Were you trying to break it down or what?" She asked sarcastically. Larc glared at her.
"How else was I supposed to find a way out?" he asked. Yuna and Tidus came out a moment later. Rikku beamed at them and almost knocked Yuna over when the Al Bhed decided to hug her cousin. They all piled into the room that Yuna, Tidus and Larc had come from. Paine spotted another door.
"Why couldn't you guys have just gone out that door?" She asked.
"Because that door was locked too. And were heard noise coming from that direction and figured it was you guys." Yuna answered. Paine nodded.
"That noise was probably from our little confrontation with Sierra." She answered. "Come to think of it… Sierra said she had to kill us because she didn't want to kill Larc." She looked at the dragoon in question. "Why is that Larc?" she asked. However, Larc ignored her, took the key from Gippal and unlocked the other door.
"Are we going or not?" He asked gruffly, disappearing down the next hallway. Paine glowered at him and followed along with the others. This hallway was different from the others. There were windows all along both sides and instead of a floor there was a bridge that crossed the huge chasm that stretched out in the darkness below. As she crossed, Yuna found herself wondering what was in that darkness below. She'd fallen into enough supposedly bottomless pits to know that there's always a bottom, and there's always something interesting. Her thoughts were pulled back to the present with a crash. Larc kicked open the huge double doors at the other side of the bridge and was standing waiting for them. Together, they entered the huge room beyond the door. It looked like a throne room. Sitting regally and waiting for them was a hideous looking dragon.
"There's mana here." Larc muttered. "Jajara. I wish to return the mana you stole to my master!" He announced. The dragon watched him emotionlessly.
"Stole? Larc, you are greatly misguided. I did not steal mana from your master. I will defend my mana stone with my life." He answered.
"Fine! Than I shall fight you for it!" Larc bellowed in rage. Jajara's great wings unfolded and he launched himself up high above them. After hovering for a moment, inspecting them, he dove down at them, prepared to attack. Kairi shot her disk, Gippal and Yuna fired bullets at the creature before he even got close to them. He faltered, injured. Rikku jumped up and caught the tail. The tail snapped, forcing her to let go and sending her flying up at the dragon's belly. She jammed her weapons deep into the stomach before kicking off and landing on the ground. The wing beats weakened, and Jajara fell to the ground with a crash. Rikku grinned.
"That was easy." She noted. Larc started towards the door behind the throne. That is, until Gippal shouted.
"WHAT IS IT WITH THESE THINGS AND REBUILDING THEMSELVES!" Jajara had managed to rebuild himself, grotequely and even more hideously than before perhaps, but nonetheless, the dragon was alive and once again willing to fight. Frustrated, Gippal shot bullet after bullet at the newly formed dragon. Jajara was clearly weakened, and in a last ditch attempt to keep Larc from the mana stone, he ran himself into the roof, sending the entire roof crashing down on them. Taking relative cover along the walls, they waited the rain of stone and bone to end. Kairi sighed, deciding that this reminded her too much of the incident in the entry hall. Slowly, the huge stones became pelting rubble, and then nothing at all. After a moment, they starting back across the room again, following Larc to the door behind the thone. He pushed it open, and within was a small room. At the center was a small stone floating in the air, radiating blue light of almost blinding intensity. Larc took it and the stone's brightness faded enough that they could look at it. Nodding, Larc put it into a small bag and smiled at the others.
"As a small token of thanks from my master for you help so far." He said, handing a Wind Bottle to Yuna. Yuna thanked him and they went back into the throne room. Rikku frowned.
"Now, how do we get out of here?" She asked. Tidus spotted a window and looked outside it, staring off into space as he tried to think of a way to get out. Suddenly, Baralai shouted from behind him.
"Tidus! You're a genius!" He announced. Tidus spun around to look at him, bewildered. Baralai looked out the window. "The spine makes a perfect ladder to climb to the ground on! Great idea!" Tidus looked a little confused still, but smiled.
"Uh, thanks…" With that, he climbed onto the window sill and jumped the few feet down onto the spine. He had intended to land and start climbing, but the momentum hadn't let him stop and he slid down on his feet, similar to the way he and all of Yuna's other guardians had made it to Yuna's wedding to Seymour to save her. He could hear Rikku laughing as she slid down the spine after him. One by one, they jumped down and followed. The spine went all the way down the tail, which ended not far from the mouth. The students, who'd all moved as far away from the skeleton as they could after the explosion of Jajara hitting the ceiling, stared as the group came tumbling off the tail, ending up in a large pile in the middle of the field. Getting up and brushing herself off, Yuna grinned at the students.
"Umm, hi." The students continued to stare, and the group left the Bone Fortress, starting back on their way to the house as night began to fall. Larc said he would have to return to the Underworld, but that he would be waiting for them the next day. Standing next to the Tomb Stone, Larc was about to reenter the Underworld.
"Wait a sec." Kairi said, breaking the silence. Larc looked at her. "Why was Sierra so intent on killing us instead of you?" She asked, knowing Larc had avoided the question earlier. Larc's face fell. Touching the Tombstone, he gave his answer.
"She's my sister."
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DUN DUN DUN! The plot thickens! Yay! Review everybody!