Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter FourThe door to the fourth floor was already open, and Yuffie stood silently in front of it. Strangely, it was not her nervousness that was keeping her from walking through the door. Instead she was taking a moment to think about how she had progressed so far up the levels of the pagoda.
Taking a deep breath to quell her growing excitement, Yuffie finally stepped onto the fourth floor. The boards creaked lightly beneath her boots, and Yuffie jumped slightly at the noise. Perhaps she was more nervous than she had first thought. Or maybe because it was so quiet this high up. There were no windows so she could not see or hear anything from the village outside, that the sudden noise had surprised her. Or so she had told herself.
The shadows of the others moved past her, and Yuffie realised that the noise had caused her to freeze, standing just by the doorway. Tifa managed to give the girl an encouraging look as she walked past, before walking on to stand with the others at the back of the room.
Staniv was waiting for Yuffie. He was standing where she had expected – in the spot that designated him as one of the Sacred Gods. He greeted her with another warm smile, and Yuffie felt her nerves ease off again. He gestured to the middle of the room, and Yuffie walked over and stood in the centre.
If only her father could see her now, she thought. No doubt her father was sitting somewhere at home, wasting himself away in the remains of what a glorious village Wutai had once been. Thinking that made Yuffie angry, and made her more determined than ever to make it to the top – if just to show her father that there were still honourable fighters left in Wutai.
Staniv watched her curiously as she glared up at the ceiling. He watched her, thinking, before his face slowly creased into a knowing smile. To bring Yuffie's attention back to the task at hand, he clapped his hands loudly. It got the desired effect and Yuffie was broken from her trance, and looked at Staniv.
"The rule is the best fighter on each floor will be your opponent…" he said loudly, so everyone could hear him. "Although it's a five-storied pagoda, the fourth floor is the highest… In other words, no one has ever defeated me --- " He patted his chest firmly. "Master of Weaponry! You still want to try…?"
Yuffie nodded. "Just come on!" she said fiercely.
Again Staniv smiled his approving smile. "I like you!" he said. He liked Yuffie's fierce determination, her arrogance, and her self-confidence in her abilities. He truly believed that she was a worthy opponent. Even so, as much as he admired her, he was not going to go easy on her. Not one bit. "Now watch…" he said, closing his eyes. "Weapon Change!"
Staniv then raised his hand into the air and, instead of smoke rising up from the floor, smoke began to seep from the palm of his hand. Yellow smoke this time, forming a thick cloud around Staniv's entire lower arm. The smoke twirled and swirled around him, seeming to solidify with each second that passed. The smoke suddenly flashed brightly, like a bolt of lightning bursting from the inside, and in that flash, the smoke took shape.
The smoke transformed into a weapon, which seemed appropriate since Staniv was the 'Master of Weaponry'. The smoke had become a large metal ball, a very heavy metal ball, attached to a long metal chain that Staniv held in his hand. Staniv flicked his wrist so that the ball went swinging around his head, and what remained of the smoke swept down the remainder of Staniv's body, rapidly transforming him before Yuffie's eyes. Remembering Chekhov's stern warning from the previous battle, Yuffie did not attack. Instead she waited, waiting to see what Staniv would become.
Staniv transformed into a very sturdy, muscular monster, covered from head to foot in incredibly thick skin that looked almost like rock. Its head was merged into the rest of its body, visible only as a rising lump with small eyes peering out from the flesh. Its legs widened towards its feet, turning from rocky grey to a mottled green colour, standing like tree trunks on the wood. In the middle of its chest was a deep red glow like a gem, not materia, much to Yuffie's dismay.
All the while, the metal ball on the chain continued to swing round and round, gradually picking up speed as the monster swung it round. Yuffie stepped back, careful to avoid the ball. She did not want to be hit by that kind of weapon. A weapon like Cloud's sword might have the strength to deflect a weapon like that, but her shuriken would be next to useless defending her against that.
"Your trial begins now!" Staniv said, his voice, like Chekhov's, croaking from deep within the monster's form. Monster tongues weren't often designed for speaking human language, and it was a miracle that Staniv and the others were even capable of twisting their tongues as such.
Staniv then charged forward, swinging the ball with all his might at Yuffie. Yuffie responded by jumping up out of the way, leaping as high as she could over Staniv as he charged past. He could move surprisingly fast considering his monster's build and form, and he would have killed her if she had stayed where she was. Well, not killed, since that was against the rules, but she would certainly have had some painful bruises to go with her still-burning wrists.
Staniv continued to charge, his forward momentum carried on by the swinging of the ball. It took him a good few steps to stop, the ball narrowly missing Vincent's head. Cait also had to duck, stepping back off the top of the Mog and clinging to its back as the ball swung around. When Staniv had turned away he scrambled back on top of the Mog, and put the megaphone to his mouth.
"Watch it, you idiot!" the cat snapped angrily. "You almost killed me!"
Staniv ignored the cat, and focused his attention back on Yuffie as she stood at the other end of the room. He thought she was stalling, perhaps even frozen with fear, but he would be wrong to think that. Yuffie was once again remembering her advice from Chekhov. She wanted Staniv to make the first moves, so she could size up his strengths and weaknesses.
His strength would be… well… his strength. His monster was designed to carry heavy weaponry – those huge muscles were able to swing the ball around for hours if need be. The disadvantage lay in the fact that his body was not designed for sharp turns and quick stops. Staniv seemed to use the monster's momentum for his attacks. If she could be quick enough, then she would be able to dodge the ball. Of course, her shuriken would not do much damage.
She had to stop thinking for a moment, as Staniv had reached her again. The monstrous ball went swinging, aiming for her head. Yuffie ducked the first swing and then jumped over the second, landing on Staniv's head for a second before leaping to the other side of the room. She tried to strike him with her weapon as she passed, but, as she expected, the weapon barely did any damage to him. Staniv on the other hand, still carried by his momentum, ran forward more. His weapon crashed into the wall, breaking the wooden panels. It then became lodged, stuck in the wall.
Yuffie landed again, and turned to face Staniv as he struggled to pull his weapon out of the wall. She had to use his lack of speed to her advantage, but how could she when he had the stamina to go on for hours? She could not tire him out. She tried to think of another way she could defeat him. He was the Master of Weaponry, which meant that his weapon could be the key to his defeat. There was no way she could destroy the ball… but if she could get it away from him…
As Staniv continued to struggle, Yuffie held out her shuriken in front of her. She peered straight down the line, her eyes focusing on the metal chain that Staniv used to hold the metal ball. It was strong but much thinner than the ball. If she used enough of her own momentum, the shuriken should cut through the metal. She hoped so, at least. The shuriken was not a weapon designed to cut through metal, but it was her only chance.
Staniv finally got his weapon free of the wall and turned to face Yuffie. The girl had her shuriken in her right hand, and was swinging her arm upwards, round and round, building up strength in her arm for a strong throw. Staniv, not realising what she was up to, began to swing his ball again. He knew the shuriken could not damage his body.
When enough momentum had been gathered, Yuffie yelled as she released the shuriken, sending it flying forward through the air. The shuriken spun like a top as it zipped through the air, heading towards the chain. It missed the first time – knocked away by the metal ball as it spun round and round. But the momentum that Yuffie had built up kept the shuriken spinning, and it turned around like a boomerang and headed straight back to Staniv.
This time the shuriken hit with dead-on accuracy. There was a bright flash of light as the shuriken blades connected with the metal of the chain. Yuffie held her breath. Seconds later a loud crack could be heard, and the ball went flying up into the air. It flew up close to the ceiling before falling back down to the ground, landing with a thud so heavy that it dented the ground. The shuriken meanwhile, flew back to Yuffie's hand. She reached up and caught it gracefully, and looked back at Staniv.
The monster had disappeared the moment the ball had become detached from him. Staniv was left standing, his palm open, and his eyes wide in sheer amazement at his own defeat. "Wh, what…?" he gasped. He looked at Yuffie.
Yuffie grinned. "Of course!" she exclaimed.
"Splendid!" came a voice behind her. Yuffie spun to face the door, just as Gorky walked in. He smiled at her as he walked in, a look of pride in his eyes. "Your level and skills have improved…"
As he walked in, another figure stepped through the door. It was Shake. "Oh, ho! You might not be as much of a child as we thought you were!" he said. Chekhov walked through the door after him.
"Of course. If WE lost to her…" She let the sentence hang, and looked over at Staniv.
Staniv looked back at Chekhov, before slowly nodding his head. He took a step backwards to join his three comrades, and looked at Yuffie. "You have defeated four of our best," he said. "But now you will have to face him……!"
He gestured over towards the last door at the end of the room – the door that led up to the last floor of the pagoda. Yuffie stared at it, feeling a lump grow in her throat. She stared as Staniv, Chekhov, Shake and Gorky all walked towards the door, heading up the stairs to announce her arrival on the last floor.
Yuffie waited a few moments, still trying to catch her breath. The last four battles had tired her out tremendously, and her wrists were still heavily aching. She was startled when she felt someone grab her wrists, and as she looked up she saw that Aeris was standing beside her, a bottle in her hand. Aeris poured the clear liquid onto her wrists, and as Yuffie looked down, she saw the wounds begin to fade. The burning sensation also subsided. Aeris did not use the whole bottle – just enough so that Yuffie's wounds did not hurt so much.
"You sure you're ready to go through with this, Yuffie?" she asked.
Yuffie didn't know what to say at first. She was filled with a range of emotions – excitement, anxiety, and confidence, doubt… all these things were running through her mind at once. She could not let the others see this, so she smiled and said, "Of course!"
Yuffie led the way through the door – up the last set of stairs leading to the final floor. The door was open, and Yuffie could see into the final room. She could see two of the Sacred Gods standing by the wall, watching her, and waiting for her to step through. But Yuffie stood frozen at the door, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head she saw Cloud standing behind her. He gave her a gentle nod. Yuffie smiled briefly and nodded back, before she walked confidently into the room.
She strolled bravely in, her face set and ready. She could feel the gazes of the other Sacred Gods as they stood at the four corners of the room, watching her as she walked in. She did not look back at them, and kept her eyes firmly fixed on where she was going. When she reached the middle she turned. Then, finally, she raised her eyes to her opponent.
She jumped.
"D, …Dad?"
Before her, to her utter amazement, was her father. Lord Godo, the leader of the people of Wutai. Yuffie stared. He was dressed in a white kimono, covered by a purple tunic and kimono combined. It was easy to see that Godo and Yuffie were related. He had the same jet-black hair and keen eyes – eyes that seemed to smile at Yuffie as he saw her shocked expression.
"I'm glad you made it this far, Yuffie!" he said with a laugh.
Yuffie shook her head. She could not believe what she was seeing. Her father… Her useless, good-for-nothing father… He was the fifth Sacred God? The most powerful of them all?
"Why, why are you……"
Godo raised a hand, silencing her. "I'll answer you by having you try your skills against me!" he announced. He readied his fists, glaring at his daughter. "Hold nothing back," he warned. "Come as if you're trying to kill me! If you don't… then I'll have to kill you!"
"H…hey!"
Godo didn't listen. "What are you doing!" he demanded. "OMNI-Change! ……!"