The Secrets Behind the Half-Fiends
That was it. It was taking too long. Where is he? Just as Serenity readied herself to run inside, Silver came jumping out of the temple. She gasped and turned as she watched him roll down the stairs. Taking two stairs at a time, Serenity went down the stairs and stopped herself when she was right beside him. Serenity hovered over him, before kneeling down beside him. "Silver…are you okay?"
Silver grinned as he saw Serenity next to him. He kept one eye close for some reason, his forehead ached and he was sure he had some wounds around the body, but it didn't matter. He lifted his blitzball in triumph and laughed softly. "Got it!" he said, trying to sit up. "I'm ok, what about you?" He laughed again.
Serenity stared at him as if he was mentally insane. "You…you went back in for your blitzball?" She asked him. Sure, it obviously held some sort of high personal attachment to him, but to risk his life for it… Serenity couldn't help smiling at him though as he laughed. She wasn't sure why he was laughing, but it was contagious. She held onto him lightly, keeping him from sitting up. "I'm…fine, now that you're here…"
Serenity searched through the supplies they bought back at the port, though she slowed her pace. Tallulah would most likely come along any minute now, shove her out of the way and tend to Silver herself. "You should stay lying down…who knows what kind of physical condition you're in now, let alone mental…what were you thinking?"
…
"I probably have something for it," Zephyr said, looking through her many pockets. She removed a bottle of violently purple liquid - a dispel tonic - and a hi-potion, and proceeded to pour the contents of both into a larger flask. The resulting liquid was a sparkling, opalescent blue. She handed the flask to Lhinx.
"Drink up," she advised, tossing the empty vials and standing up. "I think there are too many pheromones changing hands around Silver's way, and everyone is completely forgetting about healing him. . ." The halfling couldn't help but smirk. Lhinx and she - the "unattractive" ones, apparently, although she could care less - were the only ones immune to the tiger demon's charm. There was Lucine, of course, but the girl seemed so childlike and carefree, not to mention determined to find her mother, that she just couldn't care less about Silver and his pretty face.
Stupid pheromones. Who needed them?
With this in mind, Zephyr made her way over to Silver to evaluate the damage.
…
Silver just felt something deep inside his heart when Serenity held him. He smiled kindly and then turned it into a grin. "I'm ok, really. And I know I may be crazy, but this ball is the last memento from my father, I'm not going to lose it. Though my dad said it attracted bad luck... it isn't true". Silver smiled at Serenity again and raised his head a little. "Both times I've got in trouble because of this ball I ended up in your arms." He blushed madly, and suddenly felt his talking was stupid... but it was something he needed to tell.
Zephyr snorted with laughter, standing behind the two, but shortly quelled her giggle attack. "Whenever you're quite done," she said politely as she could manage, "I think those wounds of yours could use healing, Silver. . ." The halfling already had a couple of hi-potions in her hands. She'd use an X-potion, but she only had two of the damned things and they were nearly impossible to find in this age of peace. Or, rather, what was until so recently an age of peace. . .
…
"Both times I've got in trouble because of this ball I ended up in your arms." Tallulah heard Silver tell Serenity that and the words felt like a knife right in the middle of her chest. She was losing him... she needed to do something or she would have no chance of winning him back for her. Tallulah turned her hands into tight-closed fists filled with raga against Serenity as she turned away and walked near the wounded Ronso.
Tallulah stood next to her and smiled kindly, trying to forget about her hatred and placed both hands on top of the wound. A gentle blue light glowed and the wound suddenly bleed some more... black blood, poison. Then she took a bandage out of her pack and covered the wound with it. "It should be alright now," she told Lhinx, "You are a Ronso, it'll leave a scar but you should be able to walk."
…
Serenity giggled then smiled warmly at Silver's words, bowing her head so that her hair fell in front of her face and disguised her mostly likely red and flushed face.
"Whenever you're quite done, I think those wounds of yours could use healing, Silver," she heard Zephyr say, and Serenity nodded and quickly stood up, slowly backing away from Silver so the half Guado could get to work. Turning around, Serenity looked around at the rest of the group. Her duel-colored eyes fell upon Tallulah, and Serenity hoped that she hadn't seen anything. Quickening her pace, Serenity steadily walked over to Lucine and pulled her aside.
"Lucine, I desperately need your help."
…
Silver groaned softly as the romantic moment was over, but felt strangely relieved. He sat up and took the potion Zephyr was offering. "Thank you," he said, smiling though the taste of the potion wasn't really something he liked. He slowly managed to get on his feet, the would on his back aching again but he felt it finally stop bleeding. He looked around for his pack and put it on. With his ball on the other hand he walked towards the others and took off his mask.
…
Lucine just sat and watched happily as Silver and Serenity got their moment. Score one for Serenity! Lucine thought, giggling. She looked over to the side, catching a glimpse of Tallulah's jealous face. Ha, serves her right.
As soon as everybody was healed and taken care of, Serenity approached and pulled her to the side. "Lucine," She said, "I desperately need your help."
"Um, sure Serenity. What's up?"
Serenity looked at Silver as he walked towards the others, and she smiled warmly, then looked away as she felt her face becoming hot again. She looked squarely at Lucine. "It's…everything! Our parents, Silver, Tallulah…" Serenity started, taking a quick glance at Tallulah before looking back at Lucine. "I think…well, there's definitely something between Silver and Tallulah, don't you think? I sometimes feel like she wants to chop my head clear off my neck, you know? And Silver…"
Serenity smiled at the thought of it, before shaking her head. "I think I…but the whole thing with Tallulah…and him…he…Oh, Lucine, I feel so different when I'm around him, you know?" Serenity clasped her hands together, feeling like she was babbling and making no sense whatsoever. "If I ever like…lose myself, I need you to keep me on track, okay? No matter what may happen…or may not happen…we need to find our parents first." Serenity looked at Lucine, then laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, geez, that probably made no sense but I had to say it. Do you…understand?"
Lucine listened carefully to everything Serenity had to say. She thought for a moment, and then answered, "Yep, I think I know what you mean. And about Tallulah, well...there might have been something between Silver and her a long time ago, but..........maybe it's not as strong now." Lucine looked over at Silver, then back to Serenity and lowered her voice a bit. "But Silver definitely seems to like you a lot, Serenity, truthfully. And I think the more time you spend with him, the more he'll realize what a great person you are, and what a big psycho Tallulah is." She giggled a bit at the last remark, remembering that jealous face of Tallulah's.
Lucine stepped forward and took hold of Serenity's hands. "And I understand what you're trying to say, so don't worry about it. I promise, promise, to always help you in any way I can. You and I have got to stick together." She let go of Serenity's hands, then held up her own hand, pinky finger extended. "Friends forever, right?"
Serenity giggled and nodded, extending her pinky finger and linking it together with Lucine's. "Yes, friends forever," she said, then giggled again at some of Lucine's comments, turning around to stand beside her and watch the group. "You really think Tallulah's a psycho?" She asked between giggles.
"Of course she is!" Lucine said, giggling along with Serenity. "I mean, I have to admit she's a good healer, but I guess it's probably a good thing she's not an alchemist like Zephyr or something like that, because she'd blow us all up out of jealousy!" After she had finished laughing, Lucine walked back over to the group to see what was going on.
…
Silver blushed to the top as he could hear the girls' conversation. Sometimes to have extreme good hearing like animals wasn't the best thing. His hands start shaking as well as his legs and most of his body.
Damn my tiger part!
Aren't you happy for what you heard?
I... don't know...
You know you are as indecisive as women sometimes...
SHUT UP!
…
Zephyr took a look around. Everyone seemed to be here and in one piece. She cleared her throat loudly, trying to get their attention.
"Wherever the missing Gullwings are, they're not here. We should probably get going. On our walk back through the forest, I think we need to do a little. . ." She paused for a moment here, and tried to make eye contact with everyone in the group, especially Silver. ". . . information-sharing," she continued, eyes narrowed.
She started walking back towards the village, then turned around with a thoughtful look when she was about twenty feet away from the rest of the group. "Something was going on in Kilika Temple, and in the past events in temples have always been connected somehow. . . so why is it that I feel so very out of the loop?"
She tapped her long, glassy silver nails on a barrel of her gun, producing a metallic "t-t-t-tink, t-t-t-tink" noise, then sighed with exasperation. "Come on, guys. No time to waste, right?" Zephyr stood there, thrown into shades of orange, pink and purple by the light of the setting sun, and waited for her comrades.
They didn't have very developed crisis skills. Well, some of them had led pretty cushy lives, and those who hadn't were recovering from wounds, so that wasn't surprising. Nevertheless, the halfling couldn't quite put together the events in Kilika Temple. . . yet. She expected to find more answers in Djose. This little pleasure trip was becoming quite a conundrum, although an interesting one to work out.
…
Serenity smiled and shook her head, following after Lucine, and joined the rest of the group as Zephyr cleared her throat and gave a mini pep talk. Serenity stood where she was for a moment, taking in the sight of the setting sun and the effect it had on the sky. It was one of the most prettiest sights she'd ever seen, and Serenity looked at it as if she'd never see another sunset again. Her own form of saying goodbye to it. This is really real. Serenity thought as if it was the first time she'd actually stopped to take things in. You guys are really missing. This isn't a nightmare. We could all die tomorrow and I would never get the chance to see your faces again… Serenity slowly cast her glance downward.
"Come on, guys. No time to waste, right?" Zephyr called at them, about 20 feet off.
Serenity blinked, looking as if she was rooted on the spot, but then made her way down towards the village as well. As she neared Zephyr, she said, "So what's this information-sharing thing you're talking about, Zephyr? What do you know?"
…
Lucine sat for a moment, watching the changing colors of the sunset. It reminded her of her home in Bikanel Desert. There you could see the whole horizon if you sat on top of a sand dune. She used to sit there every night while her mother told her stories about the adventures of the High Summoner Yuna and the Gullwings. Thinking about her mother brought tears to her eyes, but she forced the tears back, not wanting the others to see her cry. So after one last look at the sky, she headed towards the village, catching up with Serenity and Zephyr.
She arrived just in time to hear Serenity say, "So what's this information-sharing thing you're talking about, Zephyr? What do you know?"
"Information sharing, eh?" Lucine said, looking at the two of them.
…
Tallulah said nothing for a while, she just stood next to the Ronso. Her hatred was going down slowly, but she was already feeling better and the desire of using her magic to turn Serenity into a Sahagin was gone. She faked a smile and started walking along with the group, using her staff as a walking stick. "Can we go to your house one last time, Silver? I wanna change clothes." In Tallulah's voice the anger was still noticeable, but no longer filled with the same hatred it would have been a few minutes ago.
Still pretty nervous, Silver followed the rest of the group back to the village. His heart almost exploded when he heard Tallulah's voice behind him. "Y-yes, we can spend the night at my place and take the morning ship to Luca, and then we can head to the Djose temple." Silver looked at the ground while walking and then up at Serenity's back, then down again. He was... pretty embarrassed by overhearing her conversation with Lucine, yet... he felt happy.
…
A fascinating thing happened as the group began to walk through the woods once more: Zephyr Guado supported the still-recovering, silent Lhinx Ronso as they walked, careful not to let her fall. A passerby who didn't know the pair would have to look twice at them and wonder, am I dreaming? Could it be that there's a Guado supporting a Ronso? Enemies helping one another?
"Information-sharing," she said, a tad bitterly. "There were three monsters - you notice I don't say fiends, but monsters - in Kilika Temple. Lhinx and Silver killed all three of them, albeit with some personal injury, as you can see."
The halfling looked to Silver. "You didn't seem very surprised, Silver. A bit taken aback at first, but. . . you handled them quite well." She smirked. "I think I even heard you say. . . 'not again'?" Her gaze swept briefly over Serenity, then back to Silver. "Care to fill us in?"
Silver looked up at Zephyr. "Well, those monsters weren't the first ones I've seen. Back in Besaid... Serenity and I went into the Chamber of the Fayth and there we encountered one just like the one Lhinx killed, just that it had a chain with an spiky ball instead of an ax." He paused for an instant and then went on. "And somehow I'm sure this two will not be the last temples with those things inside the Chambers. That's why I propose we all go to Djose and check it out. Yevon surely knows about it, so many guards around can't be a coincidence. We may have to deal with them. And I'm positive, this weird events have to be connected with whatever reason High Summoner Yuna and her companions had to leave."
…
Serenity looked from Zephyr to Silver as they both talked. She wanted to ask what Zephyr meant when she said monsters, and not fiends, but figured to keep questions till the end. Looking back up at the sky briefly as Silver spoke, Serenity thought silently again. Something big like this, that effected all of Spira on a whole…can Yevon truly be up to old tricks again? Serenity wasn't sure what to make of things yet. "Maybe you guys should let those wounds heal and rest. Let us take the front when we go to Djose Temple. If you guys burn out, well…let's not think about what would happen."
Silver smiled at Serenity. "Wounds? What wounds? I'm a Demon. I'll be healed by the time we get there. Still..." He paused again. "I'm not letting our beautiful ladies alone, nor let Kai have all the fun while fighting out the monsters." He laughed softly and pat Kai's shoulder as he walked past him. "We can rest at my house tonight, it's small but we'll all fit inside."
…
Wow...monsters? They must be a lot more powerful than fiends if what Silver said was true. When Vegnagun and Shuyin first appeared, there were also disturbances in the temples, except they affected the Aeons. But, speaking of Aeons, she couldn't remember Ifrit in the temple at all or Valefor at the temple in Besaid. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe it had to do with the High Summoner's disappearance.
"Serenity's right, you guys. We'll venture into the temple first, and you guys stay behind and keep the Yevon guards off our butts. Well...if there are any. All of the Al Bhed around there kinda scare them off." Lucine laughed a little, then went on. "And anyway, I know the people there, since my Dad used to be the leader of the Machine Faction. I'm sure they'll be happy to help us."
…
Kai laughs a bit when Silver talks about him having all the fun fighting monsters. "Well you may heal by the time we get there but not all can heal that fast, and I agree you could take care of that guards when we go in," Kai says and he walks up next to Serenity. "What's on your mind sis?"
Serenity looked at Kai and smiled, messing up his hair a bit. "Kai, haven't talked with you in a while." Her smile faded slightly at his question and she diverted her eyes back up to the colored sky. "Oh…nothing," she said distantly, then looked back at him. "What's on your mind?"
"Me? I'm just hoping going through the temples will bring us closer to finding our parents and the others," he says and puts his hand on Serenity's shoulder. "I know you were thinking about something but I won't pressure you to tell me since you don't want to. Just remember that I am here when ever you wanna talk."
…
Zephyr listened to her comrades attentively, then broke into the conversation.
"So long as Serenity goes into Djose, things should be fine," she said simply. "If a bunch of people go in there without any knowledge of the monsters inside, they'll be in trouble. But Serenity's seen one of them, so she should have some idea of how to go about it.
"Speaking of which," she added, "as soon as I saw the damn things it was pretty obvious to me what they were. Half-fiends. Anyone besides myself familiar with the theory behind them?"
…
Serenity smiled at Kai, almost looking as if she was going to cry, and hugged him from the side as they walked, for she didn't want to stop and fall behind from the group. "I know that you're here, and I'm glad that you'll be there when I do want to talk. We'll talk tonight, okay? And I'm sure that all of this will bring us back to all of them. It already seems like we're just at the beginning of this entanglement." With that, Serenity listened back into the group's conversation.
"Speaking of which, as soon I saw the damn things it was pretty obvious to me what they were. Half-fiends. Anyone besides myself familiar with the theory behind them?" Zephyr had finished.
"Half-fiends?" Serenity repeated. "Well…fiends are people's souls that weren't sent…they envy the living, and that turns into anger and hate…they become fiends and prey on the living, right? So half-fiends…" Serenity aloud thought trailed off, trying to sort it out silently now in case she was wrong.
…
Kai hugged Serenity back. "Ok, sis, you got it." With that he listened to the others. "Hum. I know a little but I'm sure you know a lot more then I do. It would be interesting to hear what you know about them, Zephyr."
"They're creatures that are somehow part fiend, and part, er . . . 'other,'" Zephyr explained in brief. "Two of the half-fiends in the temple looked like they were part animal - a monkey and a dog. But the other one," she continued, "I think Lhinx was . . . communicating with it, somehow. It was probably half-human, half drake.
"There are dozens of ways half-fiends could have ended up in the Chambers of the Fayth, according to Guado theory," she continued. "But it definitely has something to do with the fact that they're all connected . . . by way of the Farplane."
"They are like me," Silver said all of sudden. "We Demons come out of fiends, they are our ancestors along with some other animal and humans. I really don't wanna think how things happened so we appeared. Fiends, humans and animals all mixed in a single creature," he sighed softly, "But that thing didn't smell like any Demon, it smelled to ashes, to blood and they really stink to pure hatred."
Silver walked a little up ahead and couldn't hear any Yevon people around. "They may be another race of Demons. I was born out of a Tiger Demon and a Human, maybe they come out from a Demon and a pureblood fiend. Or maybe they are just some stupid monster out of some outer dimension or a cereal box or something."
"I don't think they have such simple origins," Zephyr said carefully to him. "They came from the Farplane - as much we can be certain of. That suggests that they could have lived hundreds, even thousands of years ago . . . before the time of Vegnagun, before the time of Sin." Zephyr's voice dropped quite a lot in volume then, worrying that someone might here. It wasn't exactly socially acceptable, the theory of half-fiends and . . . origins. "During the time at which demons . . ." her eyes passed over Silver, "Ronso," Lhinx, "and Guado . . . first appeared on Spira."
"Yes, but remember Ronso were Ronso since they were born, never had fiend's blood, and Guado are still though like an over-evolution of mankind," Silver said, remembering something his mother told him once. "But about the Farplane you may be right. No one has ever even tried to investigate were exactly we Demons come from so who knows?" He laughed and shook his head a little.
"So, they half-fiends come from the Farplane, you think?" Lucine asked, trying to get things straight. "So if they were stuck in the Farplane all this time...something must have happened to let them out!" As they walked along, it all started to make since. Her mother, along with the High Summoner Yuna must have known what was going on. They were so closely connected to the temples of Spira.
In response to Silver's remark, the half-Guado muttered a reply, more to herself than to her comrades. "That depends on what - and who - you believe."
And in response to Lucine, Zephyr spoke more clearly. This could be an important point. "Or maybe it was just that whatever was too powerful and destructive for them to get past is gone now," Zephyr said darkly. "Maybe Vegnagun served a purpose besides the destruction of Spira . . . maybe it was helping to protect it."
The Farplane… Serenity thought. Vegnagun, Sin…before all of this, these half-fiends existed…But why are they showing up now? And why hasn't anyone spoke of it?
"Or maybe it was just that whatever was too powerful and destructive for them to get past is gone now." Zephyr said darkly. "Maybe Vegnagun served a purpose besides the destruction of Spira...maybe it was helping to protect it."
Serenity glanced at Zephyr, then quickly looked away, casting her eyes downward. She didn't know what to say. How was that possible? Vegnagun there to protect them…? Well, it would have been true, if it wasn't released. This seems bigger than Sin and Vegnagun combined. It's years older than them and affecting Spira from within…It destroyed the Kilika Temple for Yevon's sake. Rubbing her temples with the palms of her hands, Serenity closed her eyes as they continued walking. What does it all mean?
"So…" Serenity said hesitantly, "Something…or someone…has to replace Vegnagun in order for balance to reoccur?" With Lady Yuna, and her friends missing…there's no one…