The Silent Strike on Luca Stadium
Serenity laughed a bit exasperatedly, rubbing the side of her head. She felt like she was going to explode and go mental with everything that was going on at once. She didn't even laugh about Zephyr's comment about Tallulah, though she really wanted to. "Really, guys, Spira is not going to come to an end if I don't play blitzball. I'm really feeling…" Serenity trailed off, glancing at Tallulah before turning her head away and rolling her eyes, "…Sick."
Serenity began taking deep breaths. She felt trapped there in that room. It was nauseating listening to Tallulah and Silver talk to each other, especially when Silver still sounded so flustered over Tallulah's outfit. She was sitting right there in front of them, for Yevon's sake. She had to get out of there before she suffocated. And maybe her leaving would cut the tension out a bit. Jumping up suddenly, Serenity cleared her throat. "Actually, I'll see you guys out there, okay? Wave to me in the stands!" Serenity said a little too cheerfully and quickly made her way out of the room.
Lhinx followed Serenity out quickly. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder to get her attention. "This what Tallulah want. If need air, breathe now, but if one of team injured, need you to take place." Lhinx said calmly.
"Hey, Serenity!" Silver called. Not again... why do I always end up making her run away?
Silver ran after her, but waited until they both were a little farther away from the locker room to speak. "What's up, sweetheart?" he asked, feeling his human side rise atop and facing her, his hands carefully placed on her shoulders. "Hey, you don't have to play if you don't want to, but then again I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. I think we'd need to talk about it..." Silver placed a quick kiss on her lips and smiled, taking her hand and placing it on his chest, just over his heart "... Feel this? It beats for you, and it belongs to you. Maybe it isn't a human heart... and its colour is actually gray-black instead of red... but it's all yours."
He then turned at the Ronso girl who was with them. "She's right, we need you."
Serenity looked from Lhinx to Silver and smiled sadly. Brushing her free hand through her hair nervously, Serenity knew Lhinx was right. This is what Tallulah wanted. But she didn't know what else to do. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. "If…and only if, someone gets injured or something, I shall take the person's place. I just…I can't do this. It's too much, you know? And it may be what Tallulah wants, but…I can't do anything else. This is taking a strain on everyone in the group, not just me, and I think that this would really help."
Serenity opened her eyes and looked at Silver. It was comforting and reassuring to know that he was hers no matter what Tallulah tried to do, and she hugged Silver tightly. "Yes, well, tell that to her." Stepping back, Serenity wiped her eyes from invisible tears. "And I think we'd need to talk about it, too, but now is neither the time nor the place." She held onto both his hands. "I'll…be okay. I'll see you guys out there, okay? Good luck."
She patted him lightly on the shoulder and continued on her way.
Lhinx stepped back from the two and reentered the locker room. The chlorine smell still drifted in the room. (Why hasn't it permeated into the air yet? It's way too strong now to be from a blitz game.) The Ronso walked over to stand directly beneath the air vent. She looked closely, noting an odd green shade to the air coming out.
"Should all leave room. Smell bad here." Lhinx said, eyeing the ventilation ducts.
(Whatever is going on, it's not strong enough to be sensed without a good nose.) Lhinx thought.
The room was eerily quite now that Silver and Serenity were gone. But it felt that some of the tension had disappeared from the room. And maybe now they could get back on track and play some blitzball. "I'll be right beck guys, I'm going to go change." She said, stepping out of the room. There had to be an empty locker room around here somewhere.
Lucine looked up and down the hall, and finally found one that was empty. She shut the door and locked it, setting the wetsuit she was carrying on the bench. She quickly undressed, making sure to fold all her clothes neatly. She put on the wet suite and gathered up her clothes, then stepped back out into the hall.
Silver waved lightly at Serenity and smiled, then followed Lhinx inside the room. "Ok, everyone, I'm going get that ol' jerk and get into the first match we can. Better if you start warming up..." he motioned towards the door but then stopped and grabbed Tallulah's arm, pulling her in a very funny way "... And you come here, no thongs allowed in the Sphere." He laughed softly as he dragged his former girlfriend down the corridor and to an office near the Dome.
Silver knocked lightly twice and waited, then the door opened and a tall, heavy built guy appeared. His skin was brownish as Silver's, just that he didn't have the black, tiger-like stripes on them. "How's it been, Dam?" Silver called his cousin by his old nickname.
"Little Silver? For Spira, you've grown!" Dam said and hugged Silver tightly. Even when he was only a human, he already had half the strength of a Demon, which in human terms was extremely strong.
"Ya, I drink my chocolate every morning" Silver joked, hugging him back. "Hey, pal, I've come to ask a favor... can you put us in a match like soon? My friends and I really want a good match. And can you get me a proper wetsuit for her?" He pushed Tallulah forward.
"This is little Tallulah? You two back after all? I told you, Silver, this woman is a real jewel."
"Um... no, she's only my friend now" Silver said, blushing "My... girlfriend doesn't feel like playing right now... but still, you could lend me a wetsuit just in case. She's just like Tallulah's height... just a little less..." Silver rolled his eyes from behind Tallulah and put his hands over his own chest, hoping he would get the idea.
"Oh... yup, you're in. Report to the Sphere in ten minutes and you'll be playing. I can't tell against whom, it's random... and here..." Dam stretched behind him and took two pink/white wetsuits and handed them to Silver, who immediately noticed the difference on the breasts. "Now, go, you don't have much time and we don't want to keep them waiting. We'll talk later, little Silver." Dam pat Silver's back hard and went inside his office, closing the door after him.
Zephyr rolled her eyes, although the gesture was invisible behind her cobalt goggles. The damn things were a little disconcerting, because you could never tell if she was looking at you, away from you, or through you. At that moment, the halfling appeared to be staring at the ceiling. Lhinx's warning snapped her out of it, and she raised an eyebrow.
"I smell it too," she said, sitting up. "Chlorine. . ." One of the alchemist's survival traits was a nose for toxic chemicals. All chemists had this, because if one was a chemist without it, one was very shortly dead. Natural selection. "If we get into the sphere and there're those kinds of concentrations, we'll literally burn up," she continued as she got to her feet. "At least," she muttered under her breath, "those of us who leave unnecessary skin exposed will."
With this remark, the half-Guado gathered her clothes and brought them into the hallway (wouldn't want to be asphyxiated while retrieving her jeans after the game). She sniffed again, and called back, "hurry up, and shut the door behind you. Something weird's going on here." She watched as the Glories literally ran out of their own room, coughing and wheezing. Guado were more sensitive to environmental change than humans were, almost like bipedal frogs were.
Maelstra was the last person out of their room, and she slammed the door shut behind her. When she saw Zephyr, she ran towards her. "What is this stuff, Raphie?" she asked, breathless.
"Oh, suddenly I'm worth speaking to again," she said bitterly. "Only when you want something from me, though."
"I'm serious. My lungs just locked up for no reason. A little worrying."
"Uh huh," Zephyr said, as if annoyed at Maelstra's frailness. "Chlorine is poisonous in its gaseous form. Usually you just smell the fumes of the liquid or the dissolved solid, not the actual gas. Someone's pumping it into the rooms." The tone of her voice made it clear that this could be no accident, in her opinion.
"Well, we have to evacuate!" Maelstra cried. Zephyr gave her a meaningful look, and the Guado goalie sighed. "Right. Little Raphie has to be the big shot and find out who's doing it."
"Damn straight," the halfling said, allowing herself a smirk. She removed her belt from the pile of clothes in the hall and strapped it on, gun and all. Zephyr then pulled on her vest full of supplies. She cut an impressive figure in her wetsuit and battle gear, even though it was a complete accident. "Hold this?" she asked, and shoved her clothes into Maelstra's hands before she could reply.
"Yeah, yeah," Maelstra said, trying and failing to keep a stoic expression in the face of Zephyr's wild smile. "See you outside, hero girl."
"Hardly," she muttered, turning around and shouldering her gun. Raphaela Guado addressed her comrades. "Get outta there, guys. I do believe we, as the resident team of badasses, need to get to the bottom of this. And someone get Serenity," she added as an afterthought. Damn troublesome love triangle. It just couldn't end well.
As Lucine stepped out into the hall, she saw Zephyr running out of the room, yelling something about chlorine. Lucine ran over to her to see what was wrong. "Hey, what's going on, Zephyr?"
"Lhinx and I both smell chlorine gas in the air," she said bluntly. "That means, like, suffocation. Dying. Not good." She was speaking unusually quickly. "The game's probably gonna be starting soon, but a couple of people who aren't playing have to look for the source of the chlorine. . ." Zephyr smiled halfheartedly and spread her arms, emphasizing the presence of her belt and vest. "Looks like I'm one of them, and you guys are out a center. I think the people in the sphere will be okay so long as Silver or Lhinx is in there to warn them if the smell gets too strong. I think. . ." She paused for a moment, taking a breath. Chlorine. She could almost taste it now. "We can't spare someone to go with me, can we?" she said, voice growing softer, tone uneasy as she did the math.
Kai walked out into the hall and began stretching and throwing a few kicks. "I can't wait to play it has been so long since I played." Kai said to himself as he warms up. It also helped to calm him, since he couldn't find a way to relieve whatever tension was going on between his sister and Silver. The prospect of a game, however, only reminded him of his missing parents.
Serenity leaned over the balcony where she was sitting. The sphere was filled and ready to go. She was scanning the area for the team that they were going to face, but didn't see any sign as of yet. "Well I suppose I wouldn't…they don't usually come out till they have to swim to the center and shake hands…" Serenity said to herself, and sighed as she plopped back down in her seat, deciding to watch as the stadium began to fill up once again with some spectators.
Calix walked though the now almost completely empty halls looking for his former teammates who he hadn't seen since the forest in Besaid. He hopped he would be able to find them and join them in the game. Blitz was his thing, he had learned a few extraordinary skills from his defective father.
As he strolled along Calix heard a familiar voice, not one he liked very much, because she ditched him, but nonetheless it was on he knew. As Claix bolted off down the hall in the direction of the voice he called out "Zeph!" with a rather excited voice.
Lhinx nodded to Zephyr. "Whoever doing this wants team in poor health." Lhinx said. "Check other locker room, people need be evacuated." Lhinx took out her own weapon and proceeded to other locker rooms. She forced the first door open and looked around within, seeing no one, and then sniffing the air. She pulled her head back quickly, snorting the putrid gas out of her large cat/dog like nose.
(Our locker room is one of the furthest away from the main pipe. Whoever did this wasn't certain where we would be.) The Ronso went to another locker room, holding her nose as she opened the door.
(But, this would take a little while to plan. Whoever did this knew we were going to play blitzball from earlier on today. It had to be someone from the ferry.) Lhinx thought as she looked around the room for anyone. (But who says they were after us directly?)
The Ronso's ears picked up a faint clanging sound after she shut the door of the previous locker room. She turned and looked up at the ceiling. (I can't assume this was aimed directly at us. The Guado Glories were in a locker room the same time we were. They could be targets just as easily as...oh no.)
Lhinx rushed to the final locker room on the wall and tried to open the door. (It's locked!) Lhinx rammed her shoulder against the door and managed to open it after the second attempt. She then proceeded to jump out of the way as 6 heaving Ronso ran out of the room, covering their noses.
Lhinx shut the door and went to the coughing Olea. Her coughing and wheezing were attempts to gain in as much air as possible. After minutes of the routine, her breathing began to sound a little less scary. Zeik snorted the chlorine smell out of his nose, breathing in air through his large fearsome mouth.
"One minute we just talking, next barely able to breathe." Olea said to Lhinx. "We try get out, but door not let us out. Too weak from smell to force open."
Lhinx bore her teeth, her eyes growing small with anger. (How dare they do this to my brothers and sisters!) Lhinx thought in anger.
"Relax. We okay." Brun said to Lhinx. "But not know how this happen."
"I tell you how happened. Stinking Guado did this!" Toru said angrily.
"The Guado victims as well, Toru. Not them." Lhinx said.
(But then again, it was awfully convenient that both races were in the locker rooms at the same time...) Lhinx thought.
"Ah, hi, Calix," Zephyr said, mildly surprised that he was alive. "Now is not the best time. We have a gas problem. Chlorine. Someone's pumping it into the locker rooms. Anyway, yeah. . . it's bad." With this curt greeting, she turned away from him and ran up behind Lhinx, tapping her on the shoulder.
"I think the Goers are the only ones left. I don't know if they're in their room or not." She pretended she didn't hear the dirty Guado remark. Quite frankly, she agreed. Guado were reprehensible beings, just like humans, Ronso and demons. The point of life was searching out the good ones.
She ran off to the other hallway of locker rooms. The hall itself was already scented with gas. She pulled a textured cloth out of her vest and breathed through it. It didn't help much. Gods, whoever did this really overdid it. Chlorine poisoning was supposed to be stealthy, almost artistic. Not that she would know or anything. Heh.
None of the doors in the hall were locked, and none of the teams were in the rooms - which begged the question, where exactly had the Goers run off to?
Lhinx watched Zephyr go, hoping the alchemist didn't get herself hurt. (Ah, she can take care of herself.) Lhinx thought. (But that still begs the questions, who's pumping the gas in?)
"Run to outside." Lhinx said to the Ronso fangs. "Gas getting worse." The 6 Ronso nodded and ran off.
(There's no way either the Ronso or the Guado could've done this. The Guado may not like the Ronso much, but it doesn't mean they're gonna risk causing another disaster in Luca like Lord Seymour did with the fiend invasion. And the Ronso wouldn't be able to stand being near such a large amount of chlorine long enough to dump it into the vents. Wait.)
Her mind went back to the clanging sound she heard earlier.
"..." Calix started top reply to the short greeting with Zypher, but was cut short as she dashed off. There was something strange about this chlorine, it bothered him...it reminded him of a song his younger brother always used to listen to... in fact, the song was written by a bunch of people who worked in a chlorine plant. The chorus went along the lines of this "Go boys go, we'll time your every breath, for every day your in this place you're two days near death, But ya GOOOOOOO!"
The connection was oddly eerie, Calix needed to tell some one, so he dashed off after Zypher keeping the chorus in his head, and using his coat to breath through to block the fumes.
"What the heck is happening!" Silver yelled, handing his scarf to Tallulah as the gas smell got stronger. "Damn it! It... hurts... agh!" He really ached inside, the gas filling his lungs and his extremely sensitive nose about to blow. His vision got blurry and he was weak. As a Demon, his nose was like Aquiles and the back of his foot. The poison gas got to his organism pretty bad... and Silver fell, into a world of total darkness.
Lucine was looking round, and quite frankly, confused. Lhinx ran off in one direction to help her Ronso friends, Zephyr ran off in the other to find out where the chlorine is coming from, and if that wasn't enough, Calix had come back! But down the hall he could see Silver falling as Tallulah was watching over him. "Aw man, this isn't good! This REALLY isn't good!" She ran over to Silver, trying to help him up, but he was so big! "Tallulah, can you help me get Silver up? We don't have much time!"
"Someone help me!" A voice cried out through the ventilation ducts. Lhinx looked up and reached to tear open the duct.
"Where are you?" Lhinx yelled up into it.
"I'm in the pipes! I can't get out!" The man's voice cried. Lhinx reached her hand into the not open vent.
"See hand?" Lhinx asked.
"Yes, but I can't reach you...please get me out! I'm claustrophobic!" The voice demanded.
(I can't fit in there, I'm too big!) "Do not panic! You breathe in more of gas."
"I have a mask and an oxygen tank." The man called. "I'm just stuck, but I'm running out of Oxygen."
(An oxygen tank...) Lhinx wondered. "How you get in there?" Lhinx demanded.
"I..."
"I get you out. Then you explain." Lhinx said with noted anger. (There's no way I can get in there and move around. I need someone small to boost up and pull him out!) Lhinx thought.
"I need someone's help!" Lhinx said.
"Lady Serenity!"
Serenity turned to see who had called her, and stood up and bowed as a small group of Youth League members has approached her on the balcony, looking quite miffed. "What is it?"
"We just saw the Ronso Fangs evacuate from the locker room halls. They had reported the smell of chlorine gas in the ventilation system of Luca stadium."
"We're informing people as we go of the situation and asking them to stay clear of the lower levels. We guessed that the High Summoner's daughter would like to be notified."
"And we are glad for your safety, Lady Serenity." The three of them stood unbelievably straight and saluted.
Serenity nodded to them. Her friends were down there. And, knowing them, were still down there, trying to figure it out. "Yes, thank you." She moved her gaze upward to the sky, using an arm to block the sun's rays.
"Well, there is no need to panic everyone. With the fresh air out here, the civilians here should be fine. I'll go check it out." Serenity stopped herself, finding it quite odd that she actually going to throw herself into this mess that didn't really have anything to do with her parents' disappearance…something her mother and her friends would have done. Looking back at them, they seemed just as surprised, but seemed to take it as if it was Lady Yuna standing before them. They saluted once again and went off.
Serenity made her way back downstairs, and stopped at the base of the stairs. She couldn't just rush in there. Going down the other flight of stairs, Serenity went to the booth that was in front of the stadium. "I need a wet cloth," she told them. They looked at her a bit taken aback, but they got out a cloth and a bottle of water and handed her the now dripping wet cloth.
Climbing the stairs once again, Serenity moved towards the stairs that led down into one of the locker room halls, and put the cloth over her nose and mouth before she headed down inside.
"We're never going to get out of here with Silver like he is!" Lucine said, close to tears. The others were gone, except for Tallulah, and they had to carry Silver out by themselves. Well, if she couldn't lift him, she'd just have to drag him out. She got a good grip on his hand, then gave a tug. He moved a little bit, and it was better than nothing, but they were still going too slow.
Lhinx looked over and saw a struggling Lucine and Tallulah over a very unconscious Silver. "Hold on." Lhinx called into the duct. Lhinx ran over to the three.
"I get Silver out, then we get man out of vent duct." Lhinx said. "I too big to crawl in and reach. Give you boost and we pull out." Lhinx propped Silver up and lifted him onto her shoulder. He wasn't the lightest person in the world, but the tiger demon's weight was not a challenge for the Ronso.
Serenity came upon Lucine, Tallulah, Lhinx and unconscious Silver first. He seemed to have blacked out, and they were trying to drag him out. They were going at a pretty slow pace, but Lhinx had lifted him up on her shoulders. "Lhinx! Guys! What's going on?"
"Someone pouring chlorine into ducts." Lhinx said. "Tell me where to take Silver. Lhinx have to come back and save someone else."
"Lhinx! I'm so glad you're here!" She let the young Ronso carry Silver out, trying to help, but there wasn't much she could do. Then she saw Serenity running down the hallway, breathing through a wet cloth. "Serenity! You shouldn't be down here, you could get hurt! But...it looks like Silver's blacked out from the chlorine down here. Once Lhinx gets him out of here, you stay with him, because I have to give her some help."
Lhinx saw a bench near the locker rooms entrance. (It looks far enough away to be clear of the gas.) Lhinx thought. Lhinx ran towards it, trying to be careful with Silver's unconscious body.
"Well I couldn't just leave you guys down here! You guys can get hurt, too." Serenity said, following them as they moved back towards the entrance. There was someone else still stuck down here? She looked around as if she could see the gas. "Who would do something like this? They could kill people!" She looked at Silver, and hoped he was still alive.
Silver's eyes moved a little, still closed. His breathing had gotten heavy and difficult, but he was returning to real world. He felt all his body numb and weak, and he couldn't even open his eyes.
Dammit! What the Hell is happening to my body!
Can't you tell? Your nose is your weak point, remember? You get poison gas and you are history!
Then... am I going to die?
Depends on what you want... I can just shut down your body and let you die peacefully, or you can try and keep on fighting...
What for?
Serenity... that's the one you love the most, isn't she?
Yes... I'll go on... for her...
Silver's body shoot violently and he opened his eyes, gasping for clean air and moaning in pain as the gas burned his lungs. "Damn!" he managed to yell... and his thoughts flew towards his precious blitzball.
I'll get it back as soon as this is over... and I will tear into pieces the one who did this!
Tallulah was paralyzed. She held on the scarf tightly, and saw Silver's blitzball on the ground. With lots of effort she lifted it and followed Lhinx and the others to safety. Tallulah remained by Silver's side, worried to death about her loved one. "Don't you die on me!" she whispered, and then looked at Serenity, very worried. She had no power over Demons, for they were unique creatures and their organism was the same but at the same time entirely different from any other creature in Spira.
Lhinx almost dropped Silver when his body quaked. (He's alive. Thank goodness.) Lhinx thought. They neared the bench. Lhinx slowed down a bit and lowered Silver to the bench.
(There's one more...but can we get him out.) Lhinx wondered.
The Ronso looked to Lucine. "Man in duct claustrophobic. We need hurry." Lhinx said, and began to run, but fell to one knee. She swore under her breath.
(I must've breathed in too much of the gas. But there's no time...) The Ronso rose again, feeling a bit light headed now.
"Wait" Tallulah said, concerned about Lhinx "I'll go too, I can heal the poison out of us." She handed the Ronso Silver's scarf, for her nose wasn't as sensitive as Ronso's. Tallulah left the blitzball next to Silver and followed Lhinx, silently cursing whoever did this.
Lhinx tied the scarf around her face and proceeded towards the locker room hall. She stopped at the open duct and looked up. She then looked to Lucine and Tallulah. "Man is stuck in there." Lhinx said, pointing up, her voice slightly muffled by the scarf. "I give boost and one of you pull him out. Which one?"
Kai emerged from the lower levels coughing as Lhinx and Tallulah went down. "I am gonna get who ever did this," He said, trying to stay on his feet. There was no way he was going to let someone ruin the thing his father loved most after his family. "Crap, I breathed too much gas." He said falling to his knees he had been down there longer then the others so the gas was affecting him now.
"I'll do it" Tallulah said, and closing her eyes she repeated three times a very short spell. Suddenly, her staff was teleported to her hands and she readied herself for Lhinx boost. "He can hold on to this if I cannot reach him. Just make sure you don't push me to hard or my thong might fall." Just like Silver had thought her, she needed to keep cool even in extreme situations, and even joke if the time was too tense.
(Now I really wish she had worn something more...) Lhinx thought as she lifted Tallulah up to the duct, hoping her own black claws wouldn't hurt Tallulah.
Tallulah jumped inside the duct, barely avoiding Lhinx's claws. Silver's were ok because they were always under those thick black leather gloves, but the Ronso's were not only bare, they were bigger. As she crawled inside, the gas began filling her body. "Esuna!" she cried and a blue light surrounded her. The ultimate spell against any bad stuff. "Hey, are you there? Can you hear me?" she called.
"Yeah! Help me please!" the man cried, in panic, but too weak to move or so Tallulah could tell.
"Ok, hold on to this!" she called back and said a quick spell. Again, her staff began to glow and it grew, longer and longer until the man said he got it. "That's it! Hold on tight!" Tallulah said the spell again and the staff returned very slowly to it's normal shape, pulling the weak man along. "Pull us out, Lhinxie!"
Lhinx nodded and pulled hard, resulting in both Tallulah and the man plopping out, his oxygen tank hitting the ground next to him and making a sharp clang sound.
"My mask!" The man cried and reached for the tank.
"We're near exit. Leave it behind." Lhinx said. Lhinx had managed to grab the man and begin to drag him away.
"We get out of here." Lhinx said to Tallulah and Lucine. As Lhinx carried the man out, he began wailing.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The man pleaded. "I was paid to pour that stuff into the ducts. I didn't know anyone would be in there for long! They were just supposed to get out."
"Shut up and come on." Lhinx said firmly. "Talk later, get out now!"
Slowly, Silver returned to his normal self. Dizzy and with a headache but the poison had been assimilated and destroyed by his body. Another power Demon's had. He looked around and saw his blitzball lying next to him, and he took and held onto it tight. "Ok... now time for payback..." he said.
Silver looked at Serenity sitting next to him and smiled warmly. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" he asked, standing up, his legs feeling like jelly.
Serenity watched as Silver stood up, and she stood up with him to hold him upright, for it looked like he was going to fall over at any moment. "Silver, you really shouldn't be moving around! You almost died!" Serenity spread out her damp cloth and tied it around like a bandana over Silver's nose and mouth. "There, that should make it easier for you to breathe."
Serenity looked around the empty hallway. She didn't know where Kai or Zephyr was, and prayed to Yevon they were okay. "Well, the others went back for another person that was trapped." She looked back at him. Silver didn't look like he was going to back down on finding whoever had done this. "If you're really going to go, I'm coming with you no matter what."
Silver looked at Serenity and smiled under the clothe, but then took it off and wrapped it around his forehead, like a headband. "If I can keep this, then you can come along" he joked, then tapped the bullet he gave her "Now we are even... and bound to each other" Silver leaned to kiss her and after cracking his body a little he went on running towards where Serenity had told Lhinx and the others had gone.
But then, Silver remembered... Dam! Dam was still near, just in the middle of the gas leak. "I have to help Dam!"
Serenity smiled and shook her head. "You know, if you wanted something in return for the necklace, I could have gotten you something better than a wet cloth," Serenity joked, and followed him as he started off towards where the others went. But he stopped suddenly, and spoke about someone named Dam. "Well then, let's go."
He took off running the opposite way, down a very long corridor where the gas was pretty strong. Silver put the his ungloved hand over his mouth and the other on Serenity's shoulder. "Stay right here, my organism can either assimilate and destroy the poison or let it kill me, human's organism will only let the poison kill them."
Without waiting, Silver took off again, as fast as a Tiger Demon could, which was just REALLY fast. He got in nothing but seconds to Dam's office and kicked the door open. There, his cousin lay with his head on the desk, unconscious or maybe even death. Silver lifted the heavy-build man on his back and took off again, to where Serenity was and farther away to the exit. He could feel poor Dam breathing with so much difficult he could barely believe he was alive. If something happened to his cousin, Silver would tear the responsible into pieces.
Lhinx had managed to get the man to the circular bench outside the locker room entrances. The man kept crying as he sat there, trembling with guilt. Lhinx took off Silver's scarf and held it in her hand. "Stop crying and calm down." Lhinx ordered of the man.
"You don't understand! I'm gonna be killed because of this. How can I not be crying and be able to relax when I'm gonna die?"
"I not let anyone kill you." Lhinx said calmly.
"How do I know that?"
"If I want you dead, I would leave you in locker room without mask."
"You should've, anything would be better then to be killed by my boss."
The man let out another wail and bent over, covering his face with his hands.
"What happened?" Lhinx asked calmly.
"I was hired to pour chlorine into the ducts. I was given 100,000 gil to do it. I couldn't just refuse, I needed the money." The man said through sniffles and tears.
"Who hire you?"
"I don't know, there was always a different middle man on the sphere whenever we talked. I was given instructions to follow by them. Everything I used, the chlorine, the gas mask and the O2 tank were left in specific places along with the money."
"How you get stuck?"
"Some of it dropped, about 100 of it, into the duct and I reached in. Then the ladder dropped out from under me, I fell in and began crying for help. That's when I heard you. Please don't kill me! I got a wife and three sons. The temple took everything of ours."
"Temple?"
"Yes, I'm a merchant from Bevelle, my family's there and living with my wife's family until I can come back with the money to restart our business."
"When first meeting with middlemen?"
"I was going to the temple in Bevelle to pray for mercy from Yevon and to forgive me for whatever sin caused me to have to have my money taken by the temple. As I knelt, a man came up behind me. He told me not to turn around but to go where he told me or else he would shoot me with the machina weapon at my back. He took me to a private room and gave me a sphere which I was too be contacted by my boss. I was instructed to come to Luca from Bevelle and await orders there."
Lhinx shook her head as the man continued with basically the same information he had given her of what had happened. (I better not let Silver get hold of this guy.)
"Please don't kill me!" The man begged once more.
"Stay right here, my organism can either assimilate and destroy the poison or let it kill me, human's organism will only let the poison kill them."
Serenity blinked as Silver placed a hand on her shoulder and said this. "No, wait, Silver—" Serenity called after him as he took off again without her. Why was everyone treating her as if she couldn't do anything, or that she was fragile that she would break under any circstance? First it was Lucine, and now it was Silver—she wasn't that weak, was she? Serenity waited there patiently, though, for Silver's return. He came back after a while, with a man on his back, and he passed by her towards the exit. Serenity looked back, hoping no one else was there, and followed again after Silver hesitantly. Everyone might have been evacuated, but they still had to turn off whatever was leaking out the chlorine, and find Zephyr and Kai.
Kai sat there on his knees for a second before getting up slowly, using the wall as a brace. "Man this stinks." As Kai made his way out, he covered his mouth with part of his jacket. After a minute he made his way out to where Serenity and the others were. "Man, don't go down there...Whew!" He says loudly and sarcastically, trying to joke about the bad situation as he falls back to his knees from dizziness from the gas.
Once they were finally outside, Silver placed his cousin on a bench, outside the building. "Dam, Dam wake up... Dam you cannot die on me, you still have to tell me your story in this years." Tears began to fill his eyes, and Silver shook him until Dam opened his eyes at last.
"Sil...ver... little Silver... everywhere you go there is trouble," his cousin said, laughing in agony. "Silver... if I don't make it... tell... tell Shahna I love her. Remember Shahna? I married her... and she is waiting a kid..."
"Hang in there, buddy. You are a strong guy, poison isn't going to kill you," Silver said, his thoughts flying to Shahna, a beautiful Al-Bhed girl Dam met at Zanarkand while accompany Silver and Tallulah on their second journey.
"I... I'm not dying just yet... but I think I'll take a nap..." Dam said weakly and closed his eyes, his breathing getting steady. Silver took off his glove and bit his wrist, blood coming out.
"Drink my blood, Dam. Demon's blood can cure poison. It's like an antidote" Silver said, revealing a secret only Demons knew. If any human heard that, the word would spread and a massive genocide of Demons would begin. That's why they kept is a secret.
Dam drank a little, and Silver took the pain. After a few moments, Silver put his hand away from Dam's mouth and made sure he swallowed it. He was sure his cousin would make it... but then, Silver felt a sudden long to tear the one who did this into pieces, very, very slowly and then feast on his flesh.
Serenity stood near Silver as he spoke with Dam, but figured it was a personal time, and took a few steps back. Lhinx and the others were already outside with some man she didn't recognize, and Serenity looked over at Kai, who had just come out. "Kai?" Serenity said, and quickly walked over to him. "Are you okay?" She knelt down beside him and looked at him worriedly.
Kai looked up at Serenity when she kneeled beside him. "You know it would take more then a little stinky gas to take out your big bro," He said, laughing, but coughed when he tried to laugh too much. "So what about you sis? You doing alright?" He said as he coughed a little more. "Man I should be fine in a little bit this fresh air will cleanse my system of the gas," Kay said in an attempt to comfort his sister.
Serenity smiled slightly at Kai, hoping the gas didn't go too far into his system to prove the whole fresh air idea useless. Patting him lightly on the shoulder, Serenity looked around at the rest of the group. "I'm doing pretty good, actually. I had a wet cloth for good breathing, and guardian angel over there," Serenity nodded over to Silver, "made sure I didn't go anywhere where the chlorine concentration was too high for me to handle." Serenity actually felt pretty bad for feeling so good. She'd wish something would happen to her so she didn't look as if she wasn't helping the group out at all.
Silver stood up with a solemn face that suddenly turned into rage. "Whomever did this... I'm making sure he gets no hands to work again... tear him into pieces and feast on his flesh and blood!" Silver moved his head up and finally showed the colour of his eyes. The shiny black eyes he had were gone and now a crimson red filled them. His rage had taken over him. "I'm going to make him suffer for hurting those I love!"
"I have to agree with you Silver... And when I get better I am gonna have to hurt the one responsible for this too," Kai said in between coughs. "Man this sucks."
The man cried in fear after hearing Silver's proclamation and began to get up to run away, but was stopped by a Ronso youth's arm blocking his way.
"Please, he's gonna kill me!" The man begged.
"And running to far end of Spira not gonna stop that if he set mind to it." Lhinx said as she forced the man to sit down again. "Lhinx have alchemist, healer and other friends who heal those hurt by gas. Calm down."
The man hid his face within his hands and wailed once more.
"Crying not deter wrath of demon, or anything for that matter." Lhinx was a bit annoyed now, but knew patience was needed for this man.
When Silver saw him for first time his first impulse was to jump on him and butch him like cattle... but as he walked slowly towards the panicked man he knew he couldn't have been the one after all that. Maybe some hired, worthless piece of shit... I'm make him tell me who is behind this...
Without thinking, Silver ran and appeared in less than a second in front of the man. His anger was so great a vein popped out from his forehead and broke the headband. Silver took off a glove and grabbed the man by the neck, lifting him on the air as he cried and plead for his life.
"Who did this! Was it just you or someone paid you for hurting my friends! Answer you worthless human!" Silver passed his thumb over the back of the man's neck and scratched it with his claw, making it bleed a little, one of those little cuts that ache like hell. "Tell me or I'm ripping your head off!"
Lhinx could barely hold back the impulse to stop the angered Tiger demon. She noted the way he held the man's neck and could see any attempt at relinquishing his grip would be fatal to the already scared human.
"I told the Ronso I don't know! Please, put me down, I beg you! I can't breathe!" The man cried as he waved his arms around to the back of his neck to stop the bleeding. He looked fearfully to Lhinx.
"You told me you wouldn't let anyone kill me!" The man said in a hoarse voice. "You should've let me run! Now I'll never see my family!"
Lhinx closed her eyes, trying to avert her gaze from the helpless man. A crowd was beginning to form around the scene. People were whispering, some giving looks of pity to the human, others looking in disgust at those who were threatening the man. (Be calm. This is a very delicate situation...) "Ronso do not lie." Lhinx said. "Lhinx not let anyone kill you."
The man began trembling again.
"Trust me." Lhinx said. "And explain calmly to Silver what you told Lhinx."
The man's terrified gaze began to relax a little as he watched Lhinx's almost stone like face. He attempted a gulp and nodded. He slowly began to relate to Silver the story of the Bevelle temple taking his family's funds and how a man in the temple first offered him the job.
"I have the sphere. It's with my things in the Luca Inn. I recorded all of their transmissions I got through it. They're still there." The man said.
Silver looked at him with a very angry face and dropped him hard on the floor. The Demon showed him his fangs and roared, making some of the persons around tremble and took a step back in fear. "You better be telling the truth... or you shall be my meal."
The Silver Fang they once knew was gone. Now it wasn't Silver anymore, it was Wolfe. Silver's great secret, his second name was Wolfe, as well as his other personality, the one that appeared when he was taken by the rage. His crimson red eyes looked deep into the man's and made him tremble in such a fear many would've just died from it.
"You are shit... risk people's life just for your personal problems..." He sure was mad, but knew that if he wanted to get the one behind all this he would have to let the man live. "You will see your family again... but not until you help me find whomever hired you... it's that or being torn into pieces right here and now!"
Lucine was so scared by Silver's sudden change of personality, that she took a couple steps back, making her trip on one of the steps. she stumbled back, but never took her eyes from Silver. He was mad before...but now it was like someone had cast Berserk on him! His eyes were blood-shot and his teeth were flashing menacingly. She was sure if anyone tried to get in between him and the man who did this, even if it was Serenity, they'd be torn to pieces.
"W-well then...s-should we go to the Luca inn?" She said quietly, so as not to stir up Silver's rage any further.
Silver... or better be said Wolfe, looked at Lucine, his eyes still red but his face no longer showing extreme anger. It was solemn this time. He glanced at the people around who were looking at him with fear and shook his head. Then at poor Dam, sleeping, suffering from the side effects of the poison. Wolfe eyed one of the people in the public and motioned him to come forward, which of course he didn't do.
"My cousin needs help, and you look pretty strong. I ask you to carry him to the hospital. Here..." Wolfe took a few coins out of his pocket and gave toss them to the man. "... Just make sure he gets there." He looked at his companions, their faces filled with confusion and even fear. Something inside his heart made it ache when he saw them. Nevertheless he knew what he had to do. Wolfe walked to the man and grabbed the back of his jacket, then lifted him on his shoulder and started walking.
"Let's get going" he said, his voice ice cold. "We can't let the responsible for all this to get away with it..."