Chapter The Last

Gilder looked around him. At his sides stood Enrique, Vyse, and Aika. Behind him, Fina was concentrating on the six moon crystals hovering around her. Encircling the five friends was the battered landscape of Ixa-Taka. What was once Ixa-Taka, Gilder corrected himself. After the climactic battle between the Delphinus and Darknoth, there was very little still standing. Off in the distance lay the wreckage of the massive airship. There was no question as to who lost that duel. Yet the loss was not in vain. Darknoth had been weakened, causing it to revert to its Vigoro-sized form. Still, he wielded enormous power, and despite any weakening, he was a gigas. Only one thing could stop it now, and Fina held that key in her hands.

"Fina, how much time do you need?"

"Uh . . . I think I need an hour to do this properly."

Vyse fell down in an anime-like style. The instantaneous flip with feet stuck straight up . . . you know what I mean.

"An hour! I think you only have five minutes, if that. Try to make the most of it!"

"Okay."

Ten feet away stood Darknoth. Despite being a creature of pure chaos, it looked like it was still infatuated with Aika. It was staring at her and a faint blush could be seen on its cheeks. It shook it's head and pointed his sword at the heroes. A giant ball of blackness congealed at the tip of blade.

"Pirate's of Old, Defend our Cause!" shouted Vyse just as the blast tore off towards them. A skeletal pirate holding a scimitar materialized in front of the blast and completely deflected it, destroying the King's hideout in the process. Then it dashed forward, slashing Darknoth. The sword connected, strained, and shattered!

Darknoth silently laughed and slashed his sword toward Vyse, Gilder and Enrique. A blast of darkness shot towards them.

"Righteousness be my shield, shield of justice!" called out Enrique, creating a shield of light before the blast. The shield bent under the strain of the attack, finally shattering. But The blast was absorbed, leaving the three heroes unharmed. Looking around, they saw Darknoth embracing Aika, and struggling to kiss her.

"Get off me! You stupid weapon! What are you doing!"

If the situation hadn't been so dire, the three would have cracked up laughing.

"wow, Aika. Enjoying yourself?"

"When we get out of this, I'm going to KILL you Gilder! AAAAGGGGHHH! Moons, give me strength!"

A yellow glow surrounded her as the Electrum spell blasted out from in front of her. It knocked Darknoth back several feet, enough for Aika to get back to her friends.

"Fina, are you ready yet?"

"Almost. Another hour . . . I mean minute."

"Okay. Pirate's Wrath!" Vyse flew straight at Darknoth, delivering two massive slashes, with should have decapitated Darknoth. Yet there was a different result instead . . .

"No! My cutlasses! They broke! Damn!"

"Heh, not enough power in those little knives, my friends. You need something stronger . . . "

Gilder looked at his wrist, lifted a finger to test the wind, then took five steps forward. Darknoth watched curiously. Gilder stood there for fifteen seconds, then suddenly said:

"Darknoth! You mess with me, you mess with Claudia!"

Gilder jumped straight up, high enough to land at the helm of an airship. And normally he would have. But he miscalculated, instead jumping right into the path of the Claudia and getting flattened against the hull. The Claudia opened fire, unleashing a wave of destruction right over where Darknoth was standing, flooding the area with explosions.

Meanwhile, Gilder slid off the hull and rapidly approached the ground. Fortunately, his fall was broken. Unfortunately, it was broken by Enrique. Or maybe that really is fortunate, Thought Vyse.

"Okay guys! Let's try one more thing to give Fina time! Ready? In dire need . . ."

Vyse jabbed the air with his empty fist, as his cutlasses were gone. Aika pointed her boomerang upward.

"We call for . . ."

Gilder stuck his gun in

"The Power . . ."

Enrique added his sword

"Of The Ancients!"

"To battle our foe!" finished Vyse as they four blasted off into the sky. Heading toward the silver moon, they commandeered it and piloted it straight at the ground. It smashed right into Darknoth, dealing some damage, though not visibly harming it.

"Okay guys, I'm ready!"

"About time! Okay, Fina, do it!"

"Moons, In our time of need, grant us the strength to defeat our foe and save the world. Moons, revive the gigas Zelos!"

From the sky descended a massive pillar of light which encircled the five companions. Suddenly, the silver crystal flashed brilliantly and grew, forming the solid sphere the companions recognized as Zelos. A light flashed out of the ball, gazed over the five friends, and left a visible effect. Three effects, in fact. First, all five companions' skin instantly turned silver. Second, the weapons they were carrying transformed into weapons formed of Zelos' power incarnate. And finally, everyone's clothes disintegrated. All five, suddenly naked, could only stare, and try to cover themselves as best as they could.

"Fina, what just happened?" asked Vyse.

"Yeah! And where are my clothes!" said Aika, blushing furiously.

"Uh . . . well, I revived Zelos and everything, and for some reason, that turned our skin silver. It is probably temporary. Same with the weapons. I'm not sure why we lost our clothes, though.

"It should be obvious. Zelos has power over metal and organic life. But not over organic materials that have been processed. So it destroyed it rather than risk being defeated again. So now we're naked." explained Enrique.

Gilder moved his hands while looking down.

"Hey! What happened? It . . . disappeared. Nooo!

Everyone, confused, looked down and saw that it was true. The parts they had been modestly covering had disappeared, covered by the new silver skin.

"Well, that makes this a little better. I still don't feel like I'm wearing anything, though."

"It doesn't matter! Fina, what do we need to do to finish off this thing?"

"One of us has to combine with Zelos, the way Ramirez did."

"WHAT?"

"Yes. I should do it." she wiped a tear from her eye. "I know that you always loved Aika more. I'll leave her to you." She walked forward, but Vyse caught her arm.

"Fina, that's not true. I love you . . ."

Aika, watching, suddenly sniffed, and trudged toward Zelos.

"Fine, then. I'll go to Zelos."

"NO! Aika, wait, come back. I love you too!"

"Vyse, you can't love us both equally! Not forever. You have to make a choice."

"No. I can't do this. ARRRGGG!"

Then Vyse ran forward to Zelos.

"Zelos, let me add my strength, that we might defeat this evil being!"

Zelos glowed silver, then encircled Vyse.

"NOOOO!" screamed Fina and Aika together.

A brilliant light enveloped Vyse/Zelos, and when it cleared, an altered Vyse was standing there. Namely, a normal skin colored Vyse with a silver g-string.

"What the --" said everyone except Vyse.

"This is strange, but I accept my fate." A giant silver sword appeared in Vyse's right hand.

"Darknoth, you're mine!"

Meanwhile, the four other friends conspired.

"Let's give him a magical advantage!"

"Sounds good. On three, then, 1 . . . 2 . . . 3!"

"MOONS, GIVE US STRENGTH!" shouted the sidekicks. Around Fina shone a blue glow, while around Gilder shone a red glow. Enrique had a purple glow, and Aika had yellow.

"Quika!"

"Increm!"

"Panika!"

"Driln!"

The magical effects acted immediately, speeding up and strengthening Vyse/Zelos while weakening and confusing Darknoth.

"SILVERSWORD FURY!" shouted Vyse/Zelos as he sliced and diced Darknoth into tiny pieces. After five minutes of slashing, there was nothing left. Not even the tiniest fragment of a moon crystal.

Vyse slumped to the ground. "Finally, it is finished." He removed the g-string, forgetting that he wasn't wearing anything, then fell to the ground, asleep.

Fina said, "Zelos, return to your slumber." Then gathered the six crystals. Gilder moved Vyse onto the Claudia, and everyone left for Crescent Isle the way they had after their last epic battle.

I hope you've enjoyed my tale! This was my first fanfic ever, and it was really fun to write. Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed, and next week I'll post my second fic, Valuan Skies. Until then!