The Collapse of Kilika Temple
Tallulah was already a little tired of singing for the Yevonites when she caught a glimpse of Serenity and the others climbing the stairs. Tallulah kinda felt relieved by having them to save her from singing anymore for Yevon guards, but at the same time a rush of anger took all over her body when she remembered Serenity trying to steal Silver from her. She had been wondering, what if Silver didn't want her back? No. Letting go of him wasn't in Tallulah's plan, she was getting him back even if that meant keeping Serenity away from him, one way... or another.
…
"Move aside!" Silver had barely time to move before a large fiend jumped out of the chamber. Dog-like... in fact one of the biggest canine fiends he'd ever seen. The fiend turned around and faced them, growling just as another one appeared from a dark corner of the waiting room. Exactly like that one from Besaid, just that this one was red as a shrimp and wasn't carrying the ball and chain, but a huge battle-axe like Lhinx.
Silver let go of the door to draw his gunblade and face the two creatures now in front of him. "Not again..." Silver let his bag fall on the ground and took his mask, putting it on and ready to fight.
…
As they reached the first landing, the huge square that led to another flight of stairs to the temple, Serenity noticed Tallulah there. The Yevon Guards still hung around though she didn't look like she was going to be singing again for them anytime soon, though that didn't seem to bother them now that they had more people to gawk at. Serenity smiled at her and waved her hand lightly in the air. "Tallulah! You were great! All of Kilika heard you!"
Tallulah suppressed a grumpy sound when she saw the girl she considered her rival waving happily at her. She faked a smile, and walked towards her, Lucine and Kai. "That song, Silver wrote it for me," she said almost in a proud voice, hiding her point in the words she just spoke. "It has been so long since I gave a concert here, I wanted to sing a special song."
…
Lhinx looked to the chamber and kept her hand under the door.
Lhinx snorted and drew her weapon out, looking at the red lizard like fiend before her. The creature hissed in a challenging way, arousing a deep anger in the Ronso youth.
The creature charged at her.
(Crud, there's not much room in here, but I can't go in the chamber, not yet.)
Lhinx removed her hand swiftly, drew her weapon and blocked the creature's axe blade from making contact with her torso. Lhinx let out a loud distinctive growl and pushed her opponent back. The creature moved it's right leg to stop itself from falling, skidding rather to a halt and charging quickly back. The creature charged again, being met with a quick swipe of the Ronso's poleaxe.
(Obviously this will be a contest of strength....) The Ronso thought. (Good. My kind of fight. While we keep these two busy, Zephyr can take 'em out with some of her firearms.)
Silver looked at Lhinx fighting the fiend and he decided to take care of the other one, the dog looking. "Fight between dogs and cats continue, eh?" he joked, ready to attack. The canine jumped on him, and by luck he manage to avoid it. It was quick, and he knew that if it managed to push him down to the ground her was as good as dead. Silver charged towards the fiend and jumped again just before it bit him. This time he left a slash on it's leg and the fiend fell.
Damn you...
He ran towards it to deliver the final blow when something jumped on his back. Another fiend, smaller or so he could tell, monkey size but real heavy.
…
Serenity closed her eyes, feeling if she kept them open that it would give away whatever pain jabbed at her, for the eyes are the windows to the soul. She smiled and nodded at Taullah. "Yes, I figured it was something between you two. The one back at Besaid was the same as well. Are…all of your songs like that?" Serenity asked, genuinely curious now. Feeling she had to brace herself for Tallulah's answer, she opened her eyes again while she could and cast a look upward. "Did they get in alright?" she asked in a low tone so none of the guards would hear.
Tallulah almost grinned as she felt the trembling in Serenity's voice. "Not really, only special songs. Most of my songs are better to dance and for those I usually wear hot pants or something like what your mother used to wear in her concerts." Tallulah walked closer to Serenity and whispered "And yes, your cute boyfriend made it into the temple alright." She marked the word 'boyfriend' with a soft voice filled with hidden anger, again trying to tell Serenity she had no chance with Silver.
Lucine stepped back, folding her arms and leaning against the temple wall. She listened to Tallulah and Serenity battling it out...and heard every word. Even Tallulah's smart-ass comment about Silver being Serenity's boyfriend. Jeez, Tallulah was a bitch. Of course, she would never say that to her face. Secretly, Lucine enjoyed watching the rivalry between the two. Of course she felt sorry for Serenity, so she would stay on her side. They may even think of a way to get Tallulah back for all her rude remarks. Wouldn't that be fun, Lucine thought.
She walked over towards the two, breaking up the catfight. "Well now, what do you think about getting inside the temple to find the others?"
Serenity leaned back slightly as Tallulah came closer to her and whispered, "And yes, your cute boyfriend made it into the temple alright." Serenity's eyes widened in both shock and a tinge of fear. Serenity shook her head and took a couple steps back, bumping into a Yevon priest. "I…he's not my…we're just friends…" As she apologized to the priest she bumped into, who didn't seem to be annoyed at all for her lineage to Lady Yuna, Lucine came up to them, and Serenity closed her eyes and let out a relived sigh. "What a great idea, Lucine! Let's go…" Serenity took one last look at Tallulah then made her way down the stairs into the darkened temple.
"Better if we wait for them," Tallulah said, grinning just a little "The ladiesman may get distracted if the three of us cute girls get inside. He may be flirting instead of looking for what they went there." Tallulah giggled and turned around, looking at the Yevon guards. "You better be alright, Silver," she said to herself, sighing.
Hearing what Tallulah advised, Serenity stopped halfway down the steps and sat down. She brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. She didn't feel like going back up and being harassed by Tallulah, even though it felt hotter in the temple. Serenity laid her head in her arms, her eyes open. Her mind was filled with a bunch of things, and all she wanted to do is just be blank…
…
Silver felt a sharp pain as the monkey-like creature slashed his back, opening the wound he already had from the fiends in the boat. Quickly turning around her punched it as sent it against a wall. Without a second to lose he be-headed the canine fiend with his blade before it could get up and faced the monkey, which jumped up and hung from the ceiling.
"Come down here!" he yelled, suddenly remembering Zephyr and Lhinx and looked around for them.
"Shield your eyes and stand back!" Zephyr cried as she pulled out a pair of dark grenades. Hurriedly wiring them together and activating them, she tossed the blaster mine into the melee, hoping that her comrades had taken her advice.
She held her gun at the ready in case one of the fiends - no, she reminded herself, they, were a particularly brutal breed of half-fiend - approached her. For now, they seemed quite preoccupied with Silver and Lhinx, which was just fine with her.
The halfling was mildly surprised that the creatures were hiding in the chamber of the Fayth, but it was predictable. Of course there would be something dreadful in the chamber. It was almost funny that they were half-fiends. . . maybe she'd have an opportunity to share the Guado theories on the subject with the others on the return trip through the cloister. . .
…
The Ronso youth let out a grunt-like growl as she and her opponent continued to push against each other, their pole-axes being the only thing separating their clawed hands from lashing out at the other.
"Where is the human?" Lhinx communicated to the fiend.
"What concern is it of yours?" The lizard asked, opening its lizard jaws and exposing its sharp teeth.
"I can not allow you to kill and be free from the consequences of such a crime!"
"Who says I killed him?"
The lizard fiend let out a painful bellow like hiss as a blaster mine went off and took its health down a large notch. Lhinx pushed the creature back and whipped her poleaxe into a battle ready stance once more.
"We are not gaining any progress this way, Ronso, we are too evenly matched. Toss aside your weapon and we'll settle this the traditional way." The lizard demanded in the fiend tongue.
Both combatants lay aside their pole-axes, the Ronso less willing then the fiend. The fiend charged at the Ronso, only for Lhinx to duck to the side quickly and bring down her right fore arm onto the fiends back, forcing it down on the floor.
The fiend responded by whipping it's tail against Lhinx's belly and leaving a long cut that quickly began to bleed. The Ronso clenched it's teeth in anger and let out a short, defiant roar before lifting up the fiend and throwing it against the wall to the right of the door to the chamber and close to the ceiling.
Lhinx could hear a sick crunch like sound as the fiend met the floor of the chamber once more. The Ronso stepped toward the fallen enemy and looked down on it as it rasped for breath through shattered ribs and torn lung. The fiend turned its head up at Lhinx and spat out green-reddish mucus like substance into the cut along the Ronso's stomach before its head fell in death.
Lhinx grasped her stomach, pulling out the majority of the goo.
(What is this stuff? It's so gross!) Lhinx whipped her hand toward the ground, making the goo splatter to the ground. She stepped back a bit, as if the world had shifted a bit.
(Whoa...that was weird...Almost lost my balance.)
Lhinx took out a cloth and wiped her paw off, hoping to get the memory of and the substance itself off and out of her mind.
Lhinx looked about the room at her comrades and could've sworn there were two of each of them for a second.
"Thank you, Zephyr." Lhinx said, remembering the grenade the half-Guado had sent into the fray to aid the two.
Lhinx then looked down at the floor and blinked twice, catching what she thought to be a dancing crack in the ground.
…
Serenity lifted her head up; staring at the door that led to the Cloister of Trails. She put her hands down beside her angrily. Silver couldn't be so disgustingly controlled by his hormones to be distracted if the three of them came in to help. She watched as priests backed away from the stairs at the sounds of roaring, and wondered what was going on in there. But before she could act upon it, she felt as if she was shifting to the side, and almost slid into the wall. Letting out a muffled scream, the effect of trying to keep it in, Serenity backed away from the wall she almost became one with. It seemed like they were going to have a battle in their own right outside the temple just as much as they were having inside the temple.
"What-what's going on?!"
…
"No problem," Zephyr said with a smirk, taking careful aim at the troublesome monkey-like creature on the ceiling. Zephyr fired, and the half-fiend fell within Silver's reach, wounded but not dead.
Zephyr wasn't much into killing things. If she stayed in the background and didn't demonstrate any overly powerful techniques, she'd be appreciated as a good helper, a healer, and a supporter. A good thing to be seen as, she had found.
The Ronso walked over to the chamber door, wondering if opening it again would be wise.
(What if those things had friends? I didn't even think to listen for anything on the other side before...)
Lhinx leaned her ear against the door and felt like her mind was sloshing within the confines of her skull.
(Gaah, what's wrong with me?) The Ronso wondered, rubbing her forehead before trying to focus on the other side of the door again.
Silver looked down at the monkey fiend and smashed his head with his boot, killing it immediately. "Why do you think this is happening? Not fiends, but weird monsters coming out of the temples. Reminds me of something my mother told me a long time ago, when Lady Yuna beat that Vegnagun thing."
"Could...be anything..." Lhinx said. The brain sloshing feeling stopped, being replaced quickly by a heat like sensation instead.
"Hear nothing on other side..." Lhinx said as she stood back.
…
Climbing up to her feet, Serenity still gazed at the wall she almost hit, and climbed up the stairs to the others, not noticing the cracks that suddenly formed on the steps below her as she went up. "Guys, something is really off. And I don't just mean the temples or the abrupt odd actions of the fiends lately…It's like all of Spira's effected." Serenity hugged herself, feeling cold though it was hot. "What do you guys think?"
…
"Ok... let's go then, we have nothing more to do in here, do we?" Silver didn't wait for response as he took his bag again and started walking towards the Cloister once again, a little worried about Serenity and Tallulah being fighting at the moment.
I've got a bad feeling about this...
You always got bad feelings...
This time is for real, something's not right...
Of course something's not right, your three love interests are out there...
Three?!
Don't tell me Lucine isn't cute...
Yes she is, and so is Zephyr and even Lhinx in her own ways...
Oh come one ladiesman, you like all of them?
I'm no ladiesman...
No? Well you're flirting with this new girl while your girlfriend is around...
SHE ISN'T MY GIRLFRIEND ANYMORE!!!! I got to live my own life now!
Whatever…
…
Calix turned, then turned back, to see that Zephyr had ditched him. Oh great.... my advice just needed to kick in now didn't it? Not sure exactly of which direction she went, he followed his instincts and found the temple. The area was slightly full of mangled guards, which was a good thing Yevonites weren't exactly his idea of friends.
He continued to travel up the long and semi steep steps of the temple, he was taking his time and pulling in all the sights he could so if he found his mother he could ask what was happening. After a short while Calix came upon the last platform before the Cloister. Calix though this temple, by far was his favorite, partially because it was his home town, and partially because of the structure of it, but the more he thought about it, it was in fact the opposite of lady Shiva, it was Ifrit's housing.... the fire housing....
…
"I think we better get outta here!" Tallulah put her microphone away and hold her staff tightly, moving closer to Lucine and Serenity. The shaking on the ground wasn't a normal earthquake... it was something more. The guards were worried as well and most of them ran back to the port. "You're right, Serenity, this may be the reason your mother left... maybe she wanted to investigate." Tallulah was pretty scared herself, she wasn't much of a fighter and in most of her journeys she had depended on a strong man to look after her. Especially on Silver.
…
Zephyr narrowed her eyes, concerned with Lhinx's somewhat unsteady condition. "You've got a terrible slash wound," she noted, and took Lhinx's arm. She felt the temple shake - no, it wasn't the temple, it felt like everything was trembling, an earthquake - and knew that they needed to get out. She tugged Lhinx behind her, following Silver back through the Cloister of Trials.
This was really. . . bizarre. She felt like now was definitely not an appropriate time to give a lecture on half-fiends. Maybe when the group got back outside. . .
She saw Calix, but hardly took notice of him. She mentally checked off "the stupid blonde guy" from her list of things to worry about. At least he was in one piece, but she couldn't say as much for her friend the Ronso.
…
As Lucine stood close to the others, she could hear a terrible blast from the outside of the temple. "It sounds like the temple is falling apart!" She yelled over the roar of the earthquake. 'What should we do? Just wait here for the other's while we get squished to pieces?" She was torn between the to choices. To wait while the temple crumbled around them, or stay and watch for Lhinx and the rest. "Oh, man, this is really bad!"
"You're right, Serenity, this may be the reason your mother left…maybe she wanted to investigate," Tallulah said, and Serenity nodded silently. And now…I want to investigate this, too, and find you guys in the process. Serenity looked at Tallulah, who was looking pretty freaked out.
"It sounds like the temple is falling apart!" Lucine yelled, for now it was terribly loud. Serenity covered her ears so she wouldn't go deaf. "Well standing out here doing nothing won't be any help to them," Serenity yelled as well. "And leaving them in there isn't any better, either. I think we should go in and get them out! They have to notice what's going on! They'll be buried alive in there!"
Serenity nodded and ran after Lucine, looking back to make sure that all the Yevon guards and priests had ran off and cleared the temple empty except for them. Going through the door she opened, Serenity looked around, coughing because of the dust that hung in the air. Though it was hard to fully see 10 feet in front of her, she could smell blood. "What in Yevon's name went on in here?" Serenity said mostly to herself, for she knew none of the others would know the answer to the question, and jumped to the side as a piece of the ceiling fell down where she was standing.
Lucine started coughing as the piece of ceiling that had fallen sent up more dust. Down the hall she could make out some splashes of color. In fact, they were bright red! "They must have been fighting! Where could they be now, though?" Lucine strained her eyes to see through the dust, and thought she saw some kind of movement now down the hall. She turned towards Serenity. "I think I see something down the hall! Look!"
…
Zephyr finally got out of the cloister, Lhinx dragged behind her. "Chances are this thing's collapsing in a few seconds, guys!" Zephyr said to Lhinx and Silver. After all, it was like most things…a matter of chance.
Lhinx could feel a burning sensation in her skull as she felt Zephyr leading/dragging her along. If she weren't having such a headache, she could've easily run on her own and drag the other two. There wasn't much time.
(I wanted to go into the chamber...blast, stupid earthquake had to choose now to happen just when we were so close.) The Ronso thought as she followed the half-Guado out.
Lhinx looked up and could barely see the outline of what her mind's current state made out to be a Ronso cub, a rather skinny one at that.
(Wait a minute...that's...that's Lucine! And the others!) Lhinx thought.
Then everything began to swirl in Lhinx's sight as her leg's composition had morphed into wobbly plywood.
(We're almost there...) Lhinx thought. (Wow...this place is lookin' weird...oooh, I better warn the captain, the ship's going down the drain....)
Lhinx mentally kicked herself.
(What is wrong with me?!) Lhinx yelled inwardly. (It's like I'm going crazy...)
…
Yes, now Lucine was positive she could see someone down the hall. And as they got closer, she could just make out the shape of what looked to be Zephyr dragging something behind her. Wait...it wasn't something, it was someone! And a very furry someone at that. "Lhinx!" She cried, running through the crumbling hall towards the Ronso and the halfling.
"Lucine!" Zephyr cried. "Come on, we've gotta get out of here! Quit playing hero and run!" The halfling wasn't getting anywhere fast because of Lhinx, who, although she was probably among the strongest in their party, was moving so sluggishly that she seemed almost drugged.
"Hey, you guys are going to be crushed if I don't help you!" She yelled, taking Lhinx's other arm. Jeez, Lhinx is heavy! She thought as she lifted the Ronso up. Ahead she could see Serenity and Tallulah at the entrance to the door. "Alright, Zephyr! We're almost there! Just a little bit further!" She pulled as hard as she could, hoping that she was actually helping.
(Well this is a kick in the ol' pride, yessir.) Lhinx thought as she tried to support herself without the others help, but failing with every forced step. What little control she had was preventing her from crushing her two companions with her heavy bone structure and body.
(I've gotta speed things up. I'm slowing these two down too much.)
The Ronso tapped into a hidden storage of adrenaline as she picked up her pace, hopefully to the relief of the others but it began to increase the burning sensation in her head along with the cut across her stomach.
Zephyr turned to Lucine and flashed her a rare smile. The half-Guado's genuine expressions of happiness were quite rare, as she usually sported a cynical smirk. However, her actual smile was much scarier than any other expression that could be on her face, if one looked close enough; a manic glint was present in her eye, a look easily comparable to that of a past Maester of Yevon.
With the help of Rikku's daughter and Lhinx's sudden power surge, Zephyr finally helped the Ronso out of the Cloister. "Good gods," she muttered, heaving Lhinx just a few more feet away from the doorway before letting go of her. "What happened to you, Lhinx?" she asked. "Did one of the half-fiends poison you?"
…
Silver didn't run as fast as he could. The wound on his back was bad and since Zephyr was helping Lhinx he was slicing the rocks out of their ways. Finally he saw light at the end of the tunnel... then smelled Lucine and the other girls. Rikku's daughter came to help Lhinx and he smiled as he saw neither Tallulah or Serenity where scratching each other's face. "What the Hell is happening to Spira?! Someone really messed up here!" He wasn't sure who could be guilty of something like that, powerful fiends inside the temples, and now they were about to be crushed. "Darn!" Silver froze and then went back, suddenly remembering he left his blitzball inside the Chamber.
…
As they were dragging Lhinx through the hall, Zephyr gave her a quick smile. Shocked, Lucine almost dropped Lhinx to the ground, but managed to heave her back up. Was that a....a...real smile from Zephyr? She thought, finding it hard to believe. But she saw that it was true and so gave her a smile back.
Once they were out of the Cloister, and safe, Lucine looked back to see what had happened to Silver. She peered into the dust, and she could just make out his shape coming closer. Than, all of a sudden, he stopped, as if thinking about something. Then he turned around and started running back towards the chamber of the Fayth. "Silver!" she yelled, "Don't go back! It's not worth it!"
Silver hear Lucine in the distance as he ran back towards the Chamber, avoiding the falling rocks. No matter what anyone told him, that ball was worth everything. It was his dad's last gift, and he wasn't going to lose it. He would never forgive himself if he did. As the wound on his back kept aching he gritted his teeth and kept running. A rock almost fell on him and he punched it away. It was really hard, but he managed to get to the Chamber before the temple collapsed. There it was, his beloved black blitzball.
Silver grabbed it and was about to run back when he saw something on the human-sized fiend's neck. A golden chain, and a glowing pendant hanging from it. He dropped on his knees and took it, suddenly remembering in what situation he was and putting the pendant in his pocket. He took of running, as fast as he could.
I'm not gonna make it...
Yes you have to make it, two beautiful girls waiting for you out there...
This is about to collapse... it's useless...
Try you stupid cat, try! Think about Tallulah!
She isn't my girlfriend!
Then about Serenity...
I...
…
The half-Guado just rolled her eyes as Silver ran back inside. Stupid. She didn't care how sacred it was, whatever he'd lost - his life was more important. Why didn't it compute to him that the odds were vastly stacked against him?
Ah well. Zephyr could always calculate the odds better than others around her. It was just common sense.
"Man, what is Silver thinking?" Lucine said, pacing around. Now that they were out of harm's way, she sat on the ground next to Lhinx. Well, I'm sure Silver can take car of himself. She thought. She turned towards Lhinx, and finally got a got look at her wound. It was a giant slash mark across her stomach. Lhinx was also acting slow and sluggish, and Lucine bet it wasn't just from the loss of blood. "Zephyr, do you think you have an antidote that can cure whatever Lhinx is suffering from?"
…
Serenity stood at the base of the ever-collapsing temple. The others were a bit farther behind her, out of harm's way, but she couldn't completely leave as long as Silver was still in there, even if he was half a demon. How could he go back in there? What was worth more than life itself? Serenity clenched her hands into fists beside her, then cupped them around her mouth to amplify what she was going to yell, hoping that it would guide him back. "SILVER!" Serenity seemed to fidget in her spot, unsure whether she should run in there or stand out here. If he didn't appear soon she was going to run in there regardless.
…
Lhinx looked down at the slash across her stomach.
(It doesn't look too deep, but what on earth was that stuff the fiend spat into it...did he plan this...)
Lhinx shook her head quickly and slumped down onto the seat of her pants. She took out the towel she had used to wipe off the mucus and looked at it.
(Can't use it again, otherwise I'll just make the cut worse. But the bleeding hasn't stopped yet.)
Lhinx took out another of her Besaid potions and drank it, feeling a tad better but not by much.
She looked up suddenly as Serenity yelled into the temple for Silver.
(What's that idiot up to now? Suicidal dolt.) Lhinx shook her head with a slight grin. (Awe well, he better hurry back.)
…
Silver heard someone calling his name. Something in that voice gave him enough strength to run faster. His will was set now, he wasn't going to die yet... he wasn't going to die...
... till I reunite Serenity with her family...
Another rock and Silver kicked it, jumping over the small crack where there used to be the fire curtain. He tried to push his legs to the limit as he saw the light again, and stopping a second he jumped out of the temple and rolled down the stairs, landing on his back, and the temple completely collapsed just seconds later. "Ouch..."