Life after Death

Chapter 11: Battle Over Lindblum

LLL

A/N: W00t, action chapter! This will be so kick butt! Anywho…Beastie, are you really called Kay? I just used Kay because it's my middle name…o-O Oh, and I sent you an email, if you haven't read it yet…(I'm impatient, don't worry! ;;)

Loki: Malevalla…you're weird…-.-;

Mel: I know!

Lilly: Anyway, ignoring them…

Ryoko: On with this fanfiction!

Disclaimer: The idea of Kay contacting aliens is really another H. P. Lovecraft reference in disguise. Mel is obsessed over Cthulhu and FFIX, but she owns neither. She wishes she did, because both rock this world, Gaia, Terra, and the stars Cthulhu comes from.

LLL

We boarded the Hilda Grade 3 the next morning, waiting ages for Hilda to finally allow Eiko on the ship. It's a good thing Hilda didn't know what had to happen. Eiko would never have gotten away if Hilda knew she was going to die.

The Princess had dressed herself in a sleeveless shirt, half of it black, the other half white. A zip-up jumper was used as a pair of pants, zipped only half way up so it didn't cover her shirt. It was bright yellow in color with an orange patch on the right knee.

Ryoko and I stood on deck, looking over Lindblum as the airship took off. Erin, the pilot, was being harassed by an overly curious Lilly. Eiko was somewhere below deck, probably ordering people around. The over sized jacket I wore flapped around noisily in the wind. Ryoko's outfit barely moved at all.

She wore a skin tight black uniform that covered everything from her neck to her finger tips to her toes. Over this was a white silk shirt. The neck cut down low, and the fabric was cut right underneath the chest. It was held in place by a strip of black metal. Similar strips were on both of her arms and around her waist. The one on her waist was a belt, holding up a pair of baggy, silk white pants. The ones on her arms, between her shoulders and elbows, held ruffled sleeves of the same material. A rapier was sheathed at the metal around her waist, and black boots could be seen underneath the pants legs.

"What's that?" Ryoko asked, pointing over toward the gate that surrounded the city. I followed her finger, trying to focus in on a black blob.

"LOOK OUT!" I shouted, realization hitting instantly. I tackled Ryoko and pulled her to the ground, just in time.

A fireball soared over our heads, erupting on the wood next to us. It didn't affect the airship, but it might have killed Ryoko.

"Tam!" I hissed, standing up and glaring at the blob. It was coming towards us, and fast. He was close enough to see within a few minutes.

"What's going on?" Ryoko asked, standing up next to me and drawing her rapier.

"Tam's attacking us," I replied, drawing my sickles in response. Tam was busy preparing another spell, but he was still gaining on us.

"That's Tam!" Ryoko spout off in amazement.

"Duck," I commanded, glaring at the black waltz. I can see you, Tam! I thought, starring into the red tinted, glowing yellow eyes.

"Duck?" Ryoko screamed, ducking behind the railing as Tam came at us, hands outstretched, and covered with deadly energy. He snatched at me, holding me by my arms. "Loki!" Ryoko stood back up, and tried to stop Tam in vain.

I didn't care; this was all part of the plan.

His claws dug painfully into my arms, and I had to struggle to see through the pain. An incantation was slipping from Tam's mouth at a hurried pace. I smirked knowingly, trying to freak the waltz out before my counter.

He glared at me for a minute, and then shouted out the final word to his spell. "FLARE!"

"Firaga!" The pure, black energy and my firaga spell met in between us, forcefully separating me and Tam.

"LOKI!" I hear Ryoko shout again. I heard wind rushing past me as I began to fall. I turned my head to stare at the ground, three miles below me.

"Crap!" I muttered, twisting my body around so I could concentrate on my own doom.

"Meteor!" I felt something fall on top of my, right in between my shoulder blades. I shouted out in pain, as the fiery rock pushed be down towards the ground at an increased rate.

I'm dead! I could only think about how I couldn't win. If something didn't happen soon, either the pain would kill me, or the fall would. I did the only thing I could think of.

I let loose my control over my power. Fire surrounded me, though it didn't burn me to touch it. The meteor burned away, but I was still falling far too fast for my tastes. New found power spread through my body, starting at my toes and working its way up. Once it reached my back, I felt something erupt from my flesh, and through my clothing. I looked up at it, gasping at the sight.

Bright red dragon wings were sticking up from my back, and worked on their own to stop my decent. I sighed in relief, the power still vibrating through me uncontrollably. I smirked, remembering something similar.

"Zidane was the first of us who could trance," Vivi explained, looking up at the white clouds over head.

"What's trance?" I asked, swinging my feet back and forth.

"Trance is a surge of emotion. It makes you stronger than you normally are for a while. Only a few people can trance though."

"Can you trance?" Vivi looked up at me, and seemed to smile sadly.

"Yeah, I can," He replied, dropping the subject at that.

"I win!" I announced, fire still surrounding my and licking at my clothing and skin. I floated up to Tam's level, the wings on my back beating softly. Tam glared death at me, floating on a thermal.

"Not quite!" He announced after a second, gliding off on the thermal away from me. I chased after him, gathering energy around my hands silently.

He peered over his shoulder, and looked conveniently surprised. He turned his head back away, and continued to fly, faster this time.

I matched his speed and doubled it easily, tackling him in mid air.

We spiraled downwards, Tam's wings beating furiously under my body to no prevail. "We'll die if you don't do something!" Tam hollered at me, giving up his futile attempt. I smirked, knowing what was to come.

"Only you will die!" I retorted, unleashing the energy I had been gathering. "ULTIMA FLAME!" The fire around me expanding in all directions, becoming so hot that the flames were white. They ripped at Tam's body, and it seemed as if it was pulling him apart.

"No! Loki, don't kill him!" A voice pleaded desperately in my head. I stopped the attack, Tam panting heavily underneath me. Besides his uneasy breathing, he made no movement. "Let him go. He won't hurt you now. You just…you just have to trust me!" The voice continued to beg, and my body complied. I let go of Tam, and he free falled for a moment, before catching a thermal and soaring away.

I floated up to the airship, landing on the deck with a small 'tap'. That voice…for some reason, I had no control over my body. It was as if I was watching myself. It was an all together odd feeling. As I landed on the airship I felt the energy drift away, and the wings shrunk back into me. As soon as this was done, I finally had control again.

I fell forward, landing on my hands and knees. "L-loki!" Ryoko cried, dropping herself on top of me. I started to sob, collapsing under her weight. I had nearly…killed someone I had once held dear to me. "Lokiii!" I started to wish she would stop saying my name, but I was too busy sobbing to tell her so. I felt her tears run down my neck and hair, and heard her sobbing too.

Why has everything…changed so much? Could I really have killed…Tam?

"Don't ever do that again!" Ryoko whispered into my ear, running her hands through my hair. "I'm not going to lose you, not ever!" I looked up at her, confused and dazed.

Her face was tear stained, and she looked truly upset. "Why?"

"Because you're the only family I have!" Ryoko sobbed, resting her head on my shoulder. And right then, it felt as if she was the only family I had.

LLL

A/N: Aw…Ryoko loves Loki! (Not like that…though I did consider it. I decided not too. Ryoko is weird enough.)