Thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed! I have really enjoyed writing this. Forgive me for always taking so long to update!
Chapter Sixteen
BANG!
Thorn fired at Vincent once, then twice, missing both times.
Vincent kept moving, kept walking, closer and closer to Caridoth and Thorn. He could feel the darkness and the power building up inside of him with every step. Chaos was rising to the surface.
"I've beat him before as that monster he turns into," Thorn said to Caridoth, his voice shaking just a bit. "I'm sure we can do it again." He raised his gun to take aim.
"Not--this--time!" Vincent's voice echoed deep and strong under the setting sun. His eyes flashed red, and suddenly, he rose up into the air, a winged creature of darkness, terrible and powerful.
"Now, Maena!" Yuffie yelled. She had almost reached some of Thorn's Shinra lackeys.
Maena concentrated all of her anger and held her hands to the sky. This is it, she thought. I have to do this right!
And suddenly, a huge dragon swooped down from the sky, landing behind Maena with such force that the very ground shook beneath it.
Everyone was still, with even Chaos hovering in the air, his red eyes on the dragon.
Yuffie, who had ceased cart wheeling towards the enemy, breathed, "Neo-Bahamut! Maena, you've summoned Neo-Bahamut!"
The dragon came up behind Maena and bowed to her, as if asking for her command.
And Maena was ready to give it. "There." She pointed towards Thorn and Caridoth. "Attack them."
The dragon lifted into the air, ready to attack, when suddenly, Chaos rose to meet it. Maena and Yuffie watch in wonder as Chaos settled on the back of the dragon creature. Both winged beasts threw back their heads and roared, then began diving at Caridoth and Thorn.
Thorn immediately began to run, but Caridoth stood his ground. He raised his hands to the sky. "I, son of Jenova, brother of Sephiroth, will not be defeated by the magic of a weakling girl and a freak monster! I command the very wind to come to my aid, and the lightning!"
The sky suddenly changed to become dark and cloudy, as the sun sank beyond the horizon. The wind picked up speed and thunder boomed.
Still, Neo-Bahamut and Chaos dove towards Caridoth.
"Bolts of lightning, I command you!" Caridoth cried.
And suddenly, the sky flashed. A jagged streak of white cut the darkening sky and lashed out at the dragon-summoning and its winged rider. The bolt must have hit Chaos, for the dark form gave a screech and tumbled from the back of the dragon. But Chaos immediately righted itself and went into a dive behind Neo-Bahamut. The dragon had not been shaken.
Yuffie and Maena tore their attention from Chaos and the fierce Summoning and turned to fight the onslaught of Thorn's Shinra minions. Maena's magic, combined with Yuffie's ninja skills, was enough to hold off the Shinra terrorists long enough for Neo-Bahamut and Chaos to reach Caridoth and Thorn.
There was a sudden burst of rainbow-colored light, shooting from the dragon creature. Caridoth swiftly drew a materia-studded sword and held it before him, calling on its power. A shield of protection flared in front of him and Thorn. When Neo-Bahamut's light hit the shield, the earth shook and there was a sound like rolling thunder. A cloud of fire and smoke rose up.
Maena and Yuffie grabbed each other's arms and crouched low. Oh, gods, Maena thought. Is my Summoning strong enough to break the shield?
There was sudden silence.
Maena pried Yuffie's hands from her arms and stood cautiously, peering through the smoke. She coughed, her eyes and throat burning from the heaviness of the smoke.
And then, the smoke cleared.
Maena gave a cry of triumph, then one of dismay. Thorn lay crumpled on the ground, his face bruised and soot-stained, his arms covered in burns. His Shinra men were all either dead or fleeing. But Caridoth was still standing, and after delivering his mighty attack, Neo-Bahamut had vanished. Chaos hovered over Caridoth, the two mighty warriors facing each other at last.
"Maena! Yuffie!"
Cid, Shera, and Nanaki ran to join the two girls. Shera pulled Yuffie to her feet.
"We managed to destroy that machine," Cid said. "We had to fight off a pack of Shinra #$s, but we managed."
"It was a materia-sucking machine," Shera explained. "It would have taken all our materia-- and probably your life, Maena, since the materia runs in your blood."
"Look," Nanaki spoke up, nodding towards Chaos and Caridoth.
Chaos had landed, his mighty, black wings stroking the air behind him restlessly. Caridoth still held his sword before him, his long hair stirring in the wind from Chaos' wings.
"Vincent," Maena murmured, starting to step forward.
"No!" Cid grabbed her arm and jerked her back. "Do you want him to watch you die? If not, I suggest you stand back. This fight is between those two men."
Maena swallowed hard and nodded. Her heart was pounding and chills ran up her arms. This was it.
"Caridoth." A voice deep and dark rose from Chaos' throat. "You are charged with numerous crimes and high treason against this planet and against its people. You have taken materia that was not yours to take. You have killed the innocent to acquire materials to build that machine. You have given up your last chance to change your ways and fight FOR all that is right and good. And for this--" Red eyes flashed and the wings stilled their beating. "For this you will die."
"How does he know all that?" Maena whispered.
"He's Chaos," Yuffie replied softly, awe in her voice.
At this death sentence, Caridoth laughed. "You think YOU have the right to death sentence ME? I am Sephiroth's brother! The GREAT Sephiroth's brother." His voice trailed off and a sly smile twisted his features. "Though not by that wench you once loved, I might add."
Lucrecia, Maena thought.
Chaos rose up once again into the air and began to attack with his wings, his teeth, and his claws, while Caridoth frantically fended him off with his blade.
Maena and the others jumped back as the battle neared them. Chaos picked up Caridoth suddenly and threw him to the ground. Caridoth stood up, shaken, and lashed out with his sword. But the man could do nothing to fend off the dark creature that fought him.
Suddenly, Caridoth lashed out and grabbed hold of Maena, pulling her against him and pinning her arms to her sides. He grinned wickedly. "Change back, Chaos. If you don't, I'll kill her." His sword rested against the wizard girl's throat.
Don't do it, Vincent, Maena pleaded silently. Though she was trembling with fear, she knew that Vincent must defeat Caridoth--even if she had to die.
Yuffie grabbed Shera's arm as she watched. "We have to do something!" she whispered harshly.
"Indeed," Nanaki replied, his voice a low growl. "I fear that Vincent has gone too far into Chaos to return at his own free will."
"You mean, he can't change back?" Yuffie's voice was filled with horror.
"He can," Shera explained. "But it's going to take something BIG to get him to."
Meanwhile, Caridoth, Maena, and Vincent as Chaos had formed a tense tableau. None of them moved. Caridoth anxiously kept his sword at Maena's throat, and Maena kept her eyes locked with Chaos' burning red ones. She wished that her powers extended to telepathy. If only she could tell him to go ahead and attack. The fate of the world was at stake, and if she had to die to save the world, then so be it.
Suddenly, a change came over the dark creature standing before Maena and Caridoth. It started to pale, then shrink, then change shape. In no time at all, it was Vincent Valentine who stood there, not the creature inside.
"Vincent, fight him!" Maena cried.
"Caridoth. Let her go." Vincent's voice was low and dangerous, his eyes hard.
"Why should I? I never said I would. I just said I wouldn't kill her if you changed back." Caridoth grinned slowly, a devil staring out through his eyes.
There was silence, as if the very earth was standing still, holding its breath. The sky rolled with dark clouds, and a sudden rumble of thunder shattered the silence.
"You've already seen the powers and talents we possess," Vincent said to his enemy, motioning towards Cid and the others. "We could take you down without hurting her." At least, I think we could, he thought.
Caridoth's smile only widened. It looked as if it would break his face. "Oh but you haven't seen all the powers and talents I possess."
"Oh really?" Vincent tried to sound calm. The heady rush of his blood was making his ears roar.
"Really." Caridoth's smile disappeared. Abruptly, he spun Maena around to face him. "You are not an unattractive specimen," he said to her quietly. He traced her jaw line with his finger.
Vincent seethed inwardly, but made no move. He feared what Caridoth could do to Maena.
"If I kiss you, I can put you under my control. The art of seduction is one that my unfortunate brother NEVER managed to master. But I have mastered it." He leaned towards her.
Maena panicked. She could NOT let this evil man control her and her powers. I have to die, she thought. Just like Aeris--I have to die. She reached inside herself and took hold of all of her power with her mind. I have to do this. I have to destroy Caridoth--even if it means destroying me.
Vincent saw what she was doing. "Maena--Maena no!"
Maena turned to smile at him, the memory of their kiss powerful in her mind, fueling her magic. Then, she released it, all of it. There was a flare of white light, like a geyser of sun-rays. Maena and Caridoth were bathed by it, their features enhanced by the powerful glow that seemed to radiate from Maena's body. Maena's face was lit by a smile, Caridoth's by a snarl of rage.
"Maena!" The scream tore itself from Vincent's throat, all of his pent up feelings bursting out at once.
The light flared suddenly, brightly, and a tremendous wind burst from it, knocking the onlookers to the ground. And then, it was gone.
Vincent staggered dazedly to his feet, stunned by the feel of wetness on his face. Was it blood? He reached to touch it, then looked at his fingers. It was not blood. It was tears. He was crying--for Maena. Maena! He ran forward, blinking hard, trying to clear his dazzled vision. "Maena!" he shouted. His vision cleared, and in the shadows of the coming storm, he saw her, lying on the ground.
Cid, Shera, Yuffie, and Nanaki got to their feet just in time to see Vincent fling himself to his knees beside the prone body of the woman he loved.
"Oh, gods," Yuffie muttered, bringing her small hands to her face. To her surprise, they were shaking. She felt something warm nuzzle up to her knees,. Glancing down, she saw Nanaki looking up at her, trying vainly to comfort her with eyes that were as full of sorrow as her own.
"She sacrificed herself to save us," Cid murmured, holding his wife in his arms. "She redeemed us with her life."
Vincent was shuddering violently with silent sobs as he gazed down at Maena, who looked strangely graceful, as if she had gently draped herself over the earth. Images flashed uncontrollably in his mind, images of Maena: lying in the coffin where he had first met her, bending over him as he lay wounded, nonchalantly pushing up the sleeve that had fallen from her shoulder, laughing with abandon at Yuffie's antics, hiding from him in the chocobo stall, crying when she thought he could not let go of Lucrecia, calling down rain from the sky, her deep emotion after he kissed her, and then, finally, the look in her eyes as she turned to smile at him one last time…
Sobbing unashamedly now, Vincent gathered her gently into his arms, caressing her face with his fingers, then bending to kiss her. He held her closely to him, crying into her hair, his tears resting like dew in her golden tresses. Everything inside of him felt as if it were being ripped apart.
Suddenly, a voice spoke from the darkness behind him. "She died in vain, Valentine. I'm still alive."
Caridoth.
Shaking with rage and sorrow, Vincent gently lowered Maena to the ground and stood. His hand went to the rifle he carried. "You scum," he said, his voice low and rough. "You hideous, base, writhing, filthy, evil, disgusting piece of garbage!" He spun on Caridoth, gun raised and pointed. "It is your time to die."
Caridoth laughed and shook his head. "Not if my magic and my sword have anything to say about it." He raised his sword over his head, closed his eyes, and--
Nothing.
"What?" Caridoth's eyes flew opened, and he looked at his sword, then his hands. "Where is my magic?" He cursed angrily, his eyes going to Maena's still form. "That stupid girl DID accomplish something. She drained me of my magic entirely!"
Vincent smiled grimly, proud of the woman he loved. "Yes. And without it, you are nothing." Coolly, he pulled the trigger, smiling with satisfaction as Caridoth cried out and staggered to his knees. Then Vincent frowned. Caridoth was getting back up!
"You'll never defeat me!" the evil man cried, rushing at Vincent with his sword raised.
I have no reason to live, Vincent thought suddenly. I should just let him kill me. The others can finish him off; he's wounded. And I can be with Maena…
"Vincent."
The voice that spoke was Maena's.
"Vincent! Stop him! You must live!"
And Vincent pulled the trigger. He spun around before he could even see Caridoth hit the ground. All that mattered in the world to him was Maena.
"Maena! You're alive!" He skidded to the ground by her side.
Maena was sitting up weakly, her eyes weary and her smile tight. "You stopped him, Vincent," she said quietly as her gathered her into his arms. "You saved the world."
"No, Maena. It was you." Vincent could not hold back his love for this woman. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her lips, her ears, her neck…
"Guys! Please!"
Maena and Vincent looked up, reluctant to tear their eyes from each other.
"Not in front of us!" Yuffie was standing akimbo, shaking her head.
Vincent stood, helping Maena to her feet and lifting her into his arms. He smiled down at her, and she smiled up at him. "Cid," Vincent said, not looking away from Maena, captured in her emerald eyes, "if you don't mind, would you take me and Maena to Costa del Sol?"
"Sure thing, Vince," Cid said, looking confused.
Nanaki spoke up. "Why?"
"Because that's where we are spending our honeymoon," Vincent declared. Then quietly, he whispered in Maena's ear, "marry me." It was not a question.
Maena nodded, smiling brightly.
"Honeymoon? Whoopee! You're getting married!" Yuffie began dancing around and singing.
(LINE HERE)
Vincent and Maena walked slowly up the stairs of the Costa del Sol villa--slowly because they kept stopping to embrace.
Maena Valentine, Maena thought, as Vincent kissed her passionately. I am his wife now.
Vincent smiled at her, his hands caressing her back, his eyes caressing her face. "You rescued me from the deep, dark dungeon of guilt and despair in which I had imprisoned myself," he said, his voice low and husky. "I will never be able to repay you."
Maena smiled crookedly. "Oh, I think you will," she said, taking his hand as he led her up the stairs.