Author's Note: I checked up recently on the reviews of this story, and found myself surprised to find four more have been submitted. I hadn't been expecting that, but as a reward for those who were responsible for these new reviews, I have decided to give you a new chapter. Who knows, maybe this story will end up being finished after all?
Chapter 18- Vengeful Hearts
"It's done," Gallant's voice reverberated in the chamber as a sinister chuckle slipped through his lips twisted in a grin, his yellow teeth bared. He slid his fragile hands forward, tracing a fingertip upon the markings engraved in the marble walls before him lightly. "The blood of the first has been spilled."
"First?" Tidus questioned with a slightly frantic tone, casting his gaze worriedly upon the ominous being who stood just feet from where he hung in chains. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly as I said." Gallant gave a dull response, his lips moving though wordless as he scanned over the markings without hurry, giving not a glance in Tidus's direction. "The blood spilling of the first sacrifice, the Al Bhed known as Rikku. "
The man's words were like needles inserted into Tidus's heart. For a brief moment his mind went blank, unable to accept the information Gallant had given him. A deep sorrow soon engulfed him, but for a moment only before rage exploded through his veins.
"No," he roared his sadness and anger out with everything he had, struggling futilely against his binds while grunting and thrashing his head madly about. "No! Your lying. You couldn't have killed her!"
"I couldn't have?"
"No!"
Gallant only laughed amusedly. "Your so correct. Who am I to take the credit when it was Yuna herself responsible for this oh so tragic loss."
"Yuna?" Tidus blinked in confusion, the twisted snarl of hate fading away. "Yuna would never do anything like that! You're a fucking liar!"
"Am I?" Finally, Gallant cast his malevolent cerulean orbs upon his prisoner, his humored expression unable to prevent the terror Tidus felt when those eyes fell to him. He regretted his words almost immediately. "Now, this you have to explain. What possibly could ever cause you to believe that woman would not? For one driven into insanity by love, sacrifice would not be considered sacrifice. More accurately, in truth, to her it's just disposing of anything near a hindrance."
"Your pitiful.."
"And you aren't?"
Tidus looked away in disgust, tensing up his body and shutting his eyes tightly while gritting his teeth. It was impossible. Yuna would never do something so terrible! Especially to Rikku of all people. Not his Yuna, never. Gallant was only trying to destroy whatever remained of his hope, and his trust in the one he loved. The man was trying to eliminate love itself!
Tidus refused to be conquered.
"Trying to destroy everything we had between us by passing off lies," Tidus whispered while slowly opening his eyes, and fearlessly matching Gallant's horrific gaze. "Yuna would never give a life for another."
Gallant frowned as a slight tinge of annoyance spread through his body. In his mind, he could not believe the sheer stupidity of this boy. Even his youth is no excuse for how moronic he was in truth being. How could this boy not see?
"You are an idiot to think otherwise." The aged man spoke coldly, his amusement far gone. "In the battle with Sin, your lover sacrificed you and the Aeons to ensure Sin would return no more. In her search for you, she sacrificed her innocence, killing who she truly was to become someone she never wished to be. And now, in my acts of having you kidnapped, she has ventured here. In doing so, she sacrificed another to get a step closer to reaching you. Unfortunate indeed, but to her, undoubtedly necessary." Leaning forward, Gallant's rancid breath blew against Tidus's face, filling his nostrils. Tidus reeled in disgust. "It's only a matter of steps taken until she needs to sacrifice another one, all just for you."
"Shut up," Tidus screamed out, his voice echoing again and again for many seconds before fading into silence. "Your dead! I swear, you are so dead." A flash of gold invaded his pupils, slowly consuming the beautiful blue orbs while yellow streaks flashed around his being. His pull against the chains strengthened, finding himself faced with less difficulty and pain in the act of resisting them. Even showing results! For slowly, the binds began to break.
It's awakening…
Gallant stepped back, distancing himself from the enraged boy. How interesting that Tidus would dare direct energy Gallant himself had given against him! Such arrogance. This boy would suffer for his foolish mistake, though for now, Gallant chose to humor him.
With a final jerk the binds shattered, Tidus wasting not a moment of time with his gained freedom before assaulting Gallant head on. His fist pulled back, eyes blazing with hate as he rocketed forward, thrusting his arm ahead and colliding his knuckles against his foe's jaw. The impact sent the old man against the marble wall with a deafening crack, such force did the collision have the room shook under it's might. But as the man slumped to the ground, no bruise was left on his face, no pained expression, and his eyes, those cold, evil eyes never broke contact with Tidus's own.
"Sad you chose to abuse the strength I have given you," Gallant whispered in a snake-like tongue, standing up once more and with a sigh brushing himself off. "Even in my weakened state, you have no chance of prevailing. The punch hardly made me flinch, and I dare say that was in all likeliness the best you could provide."
"Not even close." Tidus's voice shook with power he failed to control, his whole body blazing with a magnificent, beautiful golden aura that contained traces of lavender streaks within. "Your dead!" Shouting his battle cry, Tidus grasped one of the fallen chains by his feet, once again leaping forward and brutally slapping the weapon again and again across the aged man's body. He showed no signs of easing up, determined to inflict as much pain as he was able.
Gallant merely took the assaults head on, unresponsive to Tidus's flurry of attacks. He stood in mere silence, unmoving, allowing the boy to have his fun.
Even though he could feel himself exhausting the energy, still he continued to attack. The chain was like a piece of rubber against Gallant's body, no matter how hard he swung the sinister being refused to so much as groan. Finally, as his rage was replaced by exhaustion, the portion of energy he had summoned returned to it's dormancy within him.
"Damn," Tidus wheezed as he let the chain drop, leaning forward slightly as the radiant aura faded. He breathed harder than he had ever breathed before. "nothing."
Face emotionless, a sudden and unexpected uppercut from Gallant's right arm sent Tidus soaring backwards in a daze, numbed almost immediately from the pain, even as he smacked against the wall across the chamber. He slumped to the ground, barely conscious.
Gallant's footsteps were audible faintly as he approached the fallen boy, grasping him by his collar and lifting him high into the air with a single hand. "Do you see it now how pointless it is to resist me?"
Groaning, Tidus's eyes adjusted themselves to the surroundings once more, finding himself face to face with his nemesis. "This isn't over. I swear I'll get you."
A dark shadow cast upon his face as Gallant responded, appearing all the more ominous. "Every time you rise to me, I will just cut you back down. No one can save you, your destiny cannot be denied. Soon, I will awaken Oblivion! Then your miserable life will become something great as I use your body to harness his endless and incredible power."
Meanwhile, Outside the Temple
"It's all my fault," Yuna whispered while she held Rikku's head close to her breasts, eyes flowing with tears. "This shouldn't have happened, it wasn't supposed to."
Things had turned unexpectedly for the sphere hunters, a turn for the worst when their confrontation against the army of fiends resulted in the loss of one of their beloved members. Yuna's very own cousin, Rikku, an Al Bhed who had accompanied her on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin, no longer lived. Her happy, carefree laugh was now nothing more than an echo in the wind. It would be heard no more, not even memory. She was gone and Yuna took the blame with a shattered heart.
Paine overlooked the former summoner, huddled over Rikku's lifeless body, with crystal eyes of unshed tears. The unbreakable shell that guarded her weaker emotions crumbled within, falling to pieces. A shell lasting for years, only to break with loss. Something she had grown custom to. Yet somehow, found herself ready not to endure another death.
"This is wrong," the dark warrior whispered silently, her faced twisted with agony while the first of many tears to come slid down her cheek.
Yuna heard the pained voice from behind her, drying her tears with a sniffle before finally, brushing a strand of hair from the fallen Al Bhed's beautiful face, laid Rikku's head gently against the sand. She paused only for a moment, a sorrowful smile forming on her lips before arising. "I'm so sorry, Rikku."
I swear I'll make them pay for this!
The high summoner turned angrily in Paine's direction, regarding the silent, unmoving swarm of fiends with a hate no one had ever seen in her bi-colored eyes. She wanted them dead, gone. Suffering. Yes, tortured by her hands.
"I'll make you pay," she spoke beneath her breath, the pistols at her sides removed from their hoisters and held firmly in hand. Two twitchy index fingers caressed the trigger impatiently. "I swear!" Her promise to the fiends would be kept.
As Yuna darted forward, Paine found herself in a state of bewilderment. A side of Yuna unseen had awakened with Rikku's passing, the eyes once full of compassion and understanding defiled with thoughts of hate and vengeance. Her personality now swarmed with emotions, dark ones. Even as she passed, Yuna did not glance to her. Her attention directed only upon her victims, and quite possibly her executioners.
The thought sprung Paine into action. She would not let another die! She failed to protect Rikku but she would not allow Yuna to share the Al Bhed's fate. Dashing forward with speed she had never believed she possessed, Paine's hands outstretched, searching, reaching, and finally grasping Yuna's wrists. With a jerk, the gunner fell back into the dark warrior's arms.
"Let me go!" Yuna struggled against her companions embrace, trying with all her mind to escape the hold that cut her off from revenge. "Let me go! Paine, they have to pay for this! They have to! Rikku's gone and it's all their fault! They took her! They took her!"
With a heavy sigh, Paine nuzzled her face into Yuna's shoulder, tightening the lock and forbidding Yuna to escape. "It's alright Yuna, there's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do."
Again, Yuna found herself breaking down into tears. She fell back against Paine's chest, using her for support as her strength quickly gave way to sobs. Paine was right. Nothing could be done, Rikku was gone. No matter how many fiends she killed, nothing could bring her back. In all likeliness, she herself would only end up falling prey to the same end. Ripped to pieces by her enemies fangs and claws.
"We have to get to Tidus," Yuna spoke again while holding back her sobs. "He's in there, waiting for me to come and save him."
As Paine prepared to respond, a sudden roar above them caught her attention. Ahead, the crimson Celsius soared in the direction of the massive fiend. Guns fired from above, Gippal launching multiple shots from his weapon that almost immediately disposed of a significant number of fiends. The Celsius's defensive weapons fired rapidly, barraging the army of beasts with an endless fire of bullets.
"YEEEEEHHHAAAWWWWWWW!" Brother's voice roared over the speaker, apparently enjoying himself with the slaughter. Sickly cruel, yet understandable considering the fact they were monsters. "Mess with Yuna, and you miss with me!"
In no time at all, a clear path had been spread for Yuna and Paine to venture through. For a moment, both contemplated on how they would break the news of Rikku's death to everyone. Especially to Gippal. No doubt he would take it the hardest, the fact being obvious there were unspoken emotions between himself and Rikku. Now, those feelings would go unexpressed.
They pushed onward in a hurry, the massive fiend that hovered above the bridge distracted by the Celsius. What it was capable of remained uncertain, but Yuna prayed Brother would be careful. It could easily flatten the ship with it's massive paw. A single swipe, and it would be over. For now, she focused ahead as they drew closer to reaching the passage that lead to the temple entrance. She would get Tidus back, or lose him, and the person responsible would pay or the Gullwings would die fighting. Everything ended on this day, one way or the other.