(sob…(sob)….my computer went berserk and…and…(sob)…I lost chapter thirteen…THAT TOOK ME SOOO LONG TO WRITE! So now I have to redo it…so unfair…(sob)…
Enjoy this chapter anyway. As much as you can enjoy this sort of chapter MWAHAHA
Chapter eleven
'You're the sweet crusader
And you're on your way
You're the last great innocent
And that's why I love you.'
Mary Jane – Alanis Morrisette
The sky was a brilliant blood red, the blackest of clouds streaked across it bleakly, like the fingers of darkness. These clouds skidded across the red arch so fast it appeared as if the entire world was moving. The ground was a dust bowl of ash, cracked and infertile, a desolate desert of ebony land. From some of these cracks, great fountains of steam spurted into the air, releasing a heavy hissing sound as it did so.
This wasteland stretched on forever it seemed, and crossing its expanse were hordes of monsters, screaming and wailing, their bodies' writhing to reach the glowing portal; surging together in a phalanx to escape this hell. Some weren't so lucky, and their stinking corpses littered the ground, along with a handful of skeletons, their ivory bones poking out at oblique angles from the dust.
Yet in the distance, rimming the lip of the horizon, a light could be seen. It pulsated in bright blue hues, never fading, incessant. The black clouds circulated around this beam of light, yet as black and heavy as these clouds were, not a drop of rain fell from their heights. Not a single blinding flash of lightening hit the ground, nor did the angry growling of thunder bellow from their depths. It was as if they were just for show.
However, the thing that had just slipped through the bright azure window hardly saw these things. Its eyes were white and its head was bowed, but it acutely aware of the light that pulsated in front of it. That was its goal, the place where the fate of this world and the next would be determined.
The Half Mortal began its journey across the Land of Eidolons, each footstep thudding on the ash ground. It looked as if the entire world had been consumed in a blaze that had demolished everything its fiery grip touched.
The monsters that surrounded it fled screaming into the darkness. No sun adorned the sky and blessed the earth with its warm rays. There was only a dead lump in the heavens, hanging like a broken and ugly decoration on a Christmas tree. Maybe it once had given warmth to the inhabitants of this ghastly planet. But now the world was forever cast in the eerie shadows of this dead sun.
The Half Mortal arrived at the source of the light and looked up. Obsidian steps curled up around a black column to a platform high above the dead ground. On this plateau, the Half Mortal could make out a jet-black throne constructed of thorns, twisting and curling up into the sky like a mangled beast.
Upon its seat sat a female the Eidolon Amias did not recognize, yet it knew that she was its target; the very thing it had to destroy to end its brother's reign.
It placed a foot on the first step and was knocked off its feet.
'Who dares approach the Divine Summoner?' a voice as deep as the rumbling of an earthquake bellowed into the sky.
The Half Mortal looked up and saw the King of Dragons, Bahamut, and the Holy Mechanical Being Alexander looming over it, appearing from nowhere it seemed. They now stood like statues on either side of thorny structure.
Strangely Amias remembered back to the words the magic man had spoken earlier. I think something bigger and more powerful is controlling the Eidolons!
'Speak, tiny being,' Alexander stated crisply.
'I am Amias,' the distorted voice of Zidane and Amias proclaimed, 'I am the Eidolon of Death. I bid my masters will and come hither to cease your selfish reign.'
The mighty dragon unfurled his wings and beat them once, as if to display his power. 'You are not Amias! Amias was destroyed many eons ago on the planet Gaia, trapped within the Cave of Death, sealed by his own Summoner.'
'I am Amias,' the Half Mortal repeated. 'You shall let me pass, brothers.'
Alexander's beautiful wings shuddered slightly, and it loomed over the Genome, seemingly inspecting him. 'No Bahamut, I believe he speaks truth. True, Amias' body may have perished long ago, but it is possible that his soul could have become crystallized within an Eidolon Amulet.'
Bahamut squinted thoughtfully, it's thick jaws clenched shut. It crossed its armored arms over its barrel chest. 'Doth Alexander speak truth, you who claim to be Amias?'
'I possess this mortals body to carry out his will. It is he who claimed possession of my trapped soul.'
'So it is true then!' Alexander boomed. 'Yet we shall not let you pass brother, and you have no chance against us with only a tiny mortals body as your weapon!'
'You have been given another chance to live, brother,' Bahamut thundered, 'and now we shall give you one. Leave now and we shall spare your granted life. Or join us and seek revenge on those who enslaved and betrayed us.'
The Half Mortal remained motionless, as the Eidolon was silent for a moment. Then it said, 'I shall not join you, for your souls are now impure, diseased by bitterness and lust for revenge. The mortals protected us, gave us a small freedom to be summoned from this land, we fought with them as they fought with us, they granted us a chance to use our power to its potential.
'But times have moved on. There is no need for us anymore. We should accept death gracefully; we have served our purpose in this life and must move onto the next. The Summoners are few now; their villages are no more. The danger of their planet no longer exists, therefore we no longer exist.'
The King of Dragons roared and steam shot from the mechanical stumps of Alexander's feet.
'What you claim is preposterous!' Bahamut cried in rage.
'How can you proclaim such nonsense?' Alexander took a massive step forward toward the Half Mortal, but it did not budge. 'The mortals and Summoners alike must pay for their ignorance toward our kind!'
'Our kind,' the Eidolon's soul said coolly, 'is dead. But I see it is too late to change your opinions, for all of you are overruled with fear and hate. Fear for death, hate for yourselves. I am Death. I do not fear what I create. I accept it with open arms, as you should.'
'SILENCE! You are no brother of ours! Your words are foul and twisted! The mortal rids you of rational thinking!'
'No. The mortal has made me see so much. They are far stronger than all of us put together.'
Alexander laughed maliciously. 'You say these insignificant forms possess more power than us?'
The Half Mortal shook its head sadly. 'You judge only by power and strength. I have seen inside this one. I see he holds more determination and will than any of us. He is willing to sacrifice his very life and the one he loves to save others; this is one of the reasons why I possessed him.'
'Fool! What rubbish you speak!'
'We shall never let you disrupt our plans! You say you wish for death? Then we will serve it to you on a silver platter! Alexander, let us dispose of this vile creature!'
True, the Half Mortal had the two strongest Eidolons lunging toward it at once, and true, it had a body that paled in both size and strength compared to the Eidolons, but it was no fool. The couple underestimated it and was surprised when the tiny being shot from where it stood with amazing speed and agility and sprinted up the obsidian stairway.
Amias knew what he was doing.
Bahamut roared in disgust and black balls of fire shot from its fang-rimmed mouth. They exploded around the Half Mortal and it wobbled unsteadily, weaving in and out them, feeling their hotness singe its fair skin.
Up, up, up.
Alexander concentrated a beam of the magic Holy, and it trailed after the possessed Genome, burning a thin line through stairs. It made a sharp humming sound and the Half Mortal could hear it getting closer and closer.
Up, up, up!
It leaned forward to go faster, could feel the heat of the beam now as it neared it. The tip of the beam scorched its tail, yet it was all right because the Half Mortal skidded round a corner and the beam exploded on the obsidian column. It shook the possessed man almost to the point where he fell off the side, but thanks to its tail, it regained its balance and continued…
Up! Up! Up!
The King of Dragons released a physical assault, and smashed into the stairs in front of the Half Mortal. They shattered and fragments of the steps tumbled to the level below. Bahamut's black, curling claw rose and came down again, missing the Eidolon's temporary body by inches. Amias praised the mortal's agile body and quick reflexes.
Jump!
The Half Mortal landed unscathed on the opposite side of the stairwell after leaping with amazing skill over the chasm the dragon had created. It slipped a little then continued its ascent with the dragon's infuriated roars echoing in its head.
Yet it knew it was close now because now it could hear a high-pitched screaming emitting from nearby.
One more corner! One more corner and then -
Alexander's Holy Beam hit the Half Mortal dead on and threw it off its feet over the edge of the staircase. The coal-black column whistled by it as it descended.
Down, down, down.
Stairs became a blur and the possessed man reached out and groped the air wildly until a cool, solid surface pressed against the palm of its gloved hand. It hung suspended many feet above the ground, dangling like an earring from the columns staircase.
'Overconfidence is not a virtue,' Alexander lectured snidely. 'And now you will pay for your earlier words.'
Bahamut reared his right arm back and the Half Mortal watched helplessly as the claw came screeching down toward it. The blow was direct and brutal and it found itself flying through the air again.
It hit the dead ground so hard it bounced slightly and rolled over and over. It coughed up the black soot and tried to raise its body up again to fight. Bahamut pressed his clawed foot against its back and pressed down, crushing the Half Mortal against the ebony earth. It cried out in pain and blood trickled from its mouth as it was compressed to the ground. The Eidolon's could felt no pain; how could it? Yet the mortal was being put through an excruciating trial of hurt.
Bahanmut's laugh bellowed loudly across the reddened sky. The lifeless orb of the sun stared grimly down at the scene. 'What was that you said, Amias? 'They are far stronger than all of us put together'? your attempts have been futile! You have given up everything, life, power, revenge, and now all you have left for you is death!'
The mortal screamed out again as the King of Dragons pushed harder down on its tiny body. Wounds reopened and fresh ones seared into its skin. Blood soaked the ground and many of its brittle ribs snapped like twigs under the pressure. It was so great it could not even think properly, let alone try to escape.
But Bahamut had not finished yet. It bent low and scooped the broken Half Mortal up in its claw. 'I want to see you suffer, traitor,' he hissed into its face.
The Half Mortal opened its white eyes and looked up into the face of the dragon, up into its amber eyes.
'Wh-what…h-has…h-happen…happened…t-to… y-you… b-brother…?' it wheezed.
'Realization!' Alexander bellowed triumphantly. 'From this day we are slaves no more! We are kings!'
'No! We are more than that! We are gods!'
The Half Mortal managed a little laugh. 'Y-you are…nothing…but f-fools!' it spat before coughing up blood. 'W-we…must…a-all…face…d-death…s-sometime…'
Bahamut crushed its little body with its talons. It cried out in pain. 'How can you display such impotence when put in such a situation so unruly to your favor?'
'Do you not see?' Alexander cried. 'We have won already! By the next sunrise Gaia will be demolished and we shall reign supreme! You are the fool for not joining us when you hand the chance brother.'
'Y-you s-shall…meet…y-your…doom…by…t-this m-mortal…' Amias spluttered, blood pouring from its dissipated body.
Bahamut bellowed. 'But we have met our final triumph courtesy to a mortal! The idiot Summoner was so easily manipulated by simple words of false reassurance. How stupid mortals are! And look,' Bahamut swooped down over the woman who sat upon the throne. 'at what he idiocy has lead to! An eternity of enslavement; just as you did to us!'
The Half Mortal opened its eyes.
'How hilarious it is,' Alexander added, 'that she was blinded by her loneliness therefore was obliged to aid us, yet now she faces an eternity of being completely alone because she aided us!'
They roared with laughter but little did they know it was too late.
The Half Mortal stared right into the face of the Queen of Alexandria. The possessed man began to glow in Bahamut's hand. It grew brighter and brighter until the dragon and machine ceased their laughter.
'What is this sorcery?' Alexander screamed with distaste.
Amias chuckled through his pain. 'It is Trance. You fell right into my trap.'
'WHAT?'
The Half Mortal pried Bahamut's finger away from around its beaten body and leapt deftly into the platform below.
'But this is not any kind of Trance, brothers,' it said, and raised the amulet. 'Now you shall meet Death!' the light grew blinding, yet now it emitted from the amulet. 'I use this mortals body to summon myself!'
And now in Zidane's voice, it cried, 'Amias, come forth!'
Okay there you go. This chapter was actually quite fun to write! I hope you understand fully now why Zid had to be possessed ….
Replies (almost forgot hehe)
Rose mage: I'm glad you like my work! It's nice to be appreciated!
Beastie worl: now I'm burning people with my suspense? I MUST STOP HURTING PEOPLE LIKE THIS!
Xnoeleex: oooh! New reader! Hallo! Hope you're enjoying it so far!
Samy-chan: another new reader! YAY! Hey, I read one of your stories the other day…it was really good but I really can't remember which one it was! ;;;…I remember liking it though so don't worry!
Coalar Lee Drake: Garnet got slightly hurt in this chap…I hope that made you happy! Hehe.
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