Within instants, they were outside. They had moved silently. Indeed, no one was making a noise anymore. Everyone who hadn't run in terror from the feelings of evil on the courtyard was now frozen with it, staring emptily up at the newest arrivals. Leviathan and his entourage now emptied out from a tunnel onto the field.He had returned to his true form. Now, the great blue serpent of the sea lashed out his finned coils and glared at the sight before him. His long body was stretched in the shape of a guard around the others near him. But inside…he already knew he was nothing compared to what he now faced. In fact, he too was struggling not to match their looks of fear and shock as they stared at the horrors before them.
Apparently, Wyvern had not come alone.
Now, descending silently into the field, the great red esper grinned as he slowly touched down. But slightly behind him, to one side, was none other than Odin. His eyes still blazed red and he was expressionless and cold, but he too went down. Finally…monstrous in size…slowly blotting out the sun…the mountain-sized Atomos hovered over the whole of Terratopolis, gazing down with his cavernous mouth threatening to engulf the mountain in the same way he engulfed Lindbulm. For now, the two other arrivals halted. But Wyvern continued to grin as his feet lightly touched. After doing so, he looked forward and focused his sensors totally on Leviathan.
"A welcoming committee. How nice…" He slowly cooed.
Leviathan stiffened for a moment. No one else dared move. They didn't know what to do. They didn't know how to react. Their powers were far too great for them. No one could do anything against these horrors except stare at them. The sea esper swallowed a moment longer. He had to do something. If he didn't…they would kill them all. He couldn't possibly fight them, but there had to be something he could do. And he had to do it before they made the first move. Finally…he began to make a mental call out to Wyvern. He had no idea how much good it would do, but he had to risk it. Hopefully, Wyvern's mind had at least held out to some degree. If he didn't…they were all dead.
Wyvern…can you hear me in there…?
As if in response to this, however, Wyvern suddenly blurted out a chorus of laughter. It was dark and insidious…void of any warmth of joy. It filled the surrounding espers with more terror as they stared on. Leviathan thought his one attempt to try and do something to stop the monster had failed. However…he was wrong. Matters were far worse than he thought.
"Can I hear him in here, he says…" Wyvern answered with a dark chuckle. "Heh…obviously you don't know as much as you think you know, Leviathan."
The sea serpent said nothing and showed nothing. And yet…already he was beginning to pick up on a difference here. Until now, he had assumed this Kuja had sent his newfound muscle here to kill them all. But now that he was here…he realized he might be mistaken. Wyvern wasn't acting emotionless like the others. And he was actually talking to them… What did this mean?
There was silence for a moment or so longer. Wyvern looked over the crowd menacingly, but did nothing. No one dared make any sudden moves, fearful that it would incite a counterattack. After a few minutes of silence, Wyvern gave a shrug. "What's this? No words of welcome? No celebrations for the king?" He asked as he looked around the area. "You all look a little strange… A little…frightened even. Why, whatever are you frightened of?"
There was a pause after that. No one said a word in the silence.
Finally, Wyvern gestured above him. "What? You're not all nervous on account of some of my friends around here, are you?" He menacingly asked. At any rate, silence was the only thing that answered him. He continued to grin for a few moments more, and then finally gave a shrug. "Well, if that's the case, you should have said so earlier. Here you go."
And with that, Wyvern did something so unexpected it made the otherwise stoic Leviathan gasp aloud.
He craned his head to the sky, focused for a matter of seconds…and then fired off a Mega-Pyron straight at Atomos.
The other espers likewise gaped and expressed other signs of shockas their world darkened, cast into shadow from the light that came forth from the blazing Mega-Pyron. It burned with enough destructive power to easily destroy any large city on Gaia. But now, the massive deadly missile had been fired right on one of Wyvern's fellow slaves. The giant esper didn't even react. He was powerless to. He merely continued to hover as the giant blast headed straight for him…and on touching him erupted into a massive explosion. Immediately, a huge blast of fire and light ignited over the surface of Terratopolis, making it seem as if the mountain was indeed a volcano that was now erupting for the first time in eons. All espers great and small were forced to look away or be blinded by the searing bright light.
An ear splitting roar shook the sky, cracking rocks and shattering glass all over Terratopolis. Espers cringed and covered their ears in pain from it. The sky seemed to growl as the air rushed back in on itself. Yet after a few moments, the explosion was gone and faded. It left only the telltale pillar of smoke in its wake. The light died, and when it did the espers slowly ceased cringing and began to look up again to see the extent of the damage. It was much as could be expected from the magnitude of that attack…
To the horror of the younger espers…the ashy remnants of Atomos now slowly fluttered down to the ground, raining like snow flurries over the courtyard.
Most espers turned pale. They glared at Wyvern in a mixture of fear and confusion. Leviathan himself was among them. What had he just done? He had killed Atomos… He had totally destroyed him. Why? Weren't they on the same side? Weren't they forced to serve the same master? But the only answer he received in response to this was a surge in evil from Wyvern, feeling his wickedness increase as he grinned wider and snickered darkly at his own handiwork.
"That's a bit better. At least I can hear you breathe and moan now…"
At this, Leviathan couldn't take it any longer. He had no idea what the meaning of this was, but he knew for certain that he'd never find out if he just stood there. Besides…Atomos might have been under control, and he might not have been the most admired of espers, but he was an esper. He had kept their secret for generations.
And he had just been brutally murdered.
"What are you doing?"
Wyvern merely shrugged in response. "Just clearing the air, Leviathan. Just doing what you wanted, after all. Didn't you want Atomos stopped? Oh…and as I recall…" On saying this, he slowly turned over to his side. Standing their motionless still, not reacting at all…was Odin. On seeing that, the sea serpent suddenly tensed up. "You wanted him stopped as well. So tell me…anything you ever wanted to get off your chest to Odin before he dies?"
Leviathan felt his blood run cold. The others likewise froze in terror. He couldn't… Immediately, he turned his head to Odin. Blasting as hard as he could, Leviathan shot a futile mental message at him to snap out of it and do something. But it was hopeless. Odin could hear nothing. The block in his mind didn't even shift. The others could only helplessly watch, knowing what he was going to do next. Starlet, having long since finally moved past her anger with Odin from centuries earlier, reached out a hand and cried out to him.
"Wyvern! Don't!"
But it was too late.
Grinning wickedly, Wyvern snapped his head around and fired a point-blank breath attack straight at Odin's chest.
The warrior esper was powerless to react. Suddenly, he was ripped off of his feet as a massive fiery shot blasted into his torso and shot straight through.A rod of flame carried Odin onward through the air and across the courtyard, until the power threw him into one of the walls and smashed him against it violently. The nearby espers screamed in fear and scattered. The others were mortified. Leviathan's jaw dropped, and he was powerless to do anything but stare. He couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. Odin was so strong and mighty… He had been one of the oldest espers and a trusted ally for years. But now…in just one moment…the great and powerful esper had been violently taken away. He couldn't believe it to be true. It had to be a dream. And yet…he watched and saw the burning hot attack die down. When it did, it leave a sizzling, red-hot hole perfectly burned into Odin's armor. There was nothing on the other side but empty space. For a moment, his body was still frozen against the wall, paralyzed in its last expression of agony.
But then…Leviathan felt Odin's spirit slip off from the armor he had possessed for so long. The lights in his skull helmet slowly grew dim, as the armor began to limp and fall. As Leviathan sensed his brother return to the Lifestream, the whole suit fell off and collapsed into a heap of useless scrap against the ground. Leviathan's entourage gasped. Ramuh dropped his own staff in shock, and Starlet's pupils shrank. Odin…the great warrior esper…he was dead. Just like that…one of the most powerful among them was dead. One of the oldest and greatest of all espers…gone. It didn't seem real. It seemed like some sort of nightmare…
Leviathan was speechless. He stared a moment longer, but then turned back to the grinning wicked esper. "…Why? Weren't you both serving the same master?"
"Perhaps." Wyvern calmly answered in reply. "But the truth of the matter is…I never liked him. Always thought he was so much stronger than me. And I owed him for that beating from earlier."
Leviathan snapped back at that. He hadn't expected that. He expected some sort of method to this madness…some sort of order given from Kuja. But this? It was just his own selfish ambition? What was going on? Wasn't Wyvern supposed to be under Kuja's control? He had to be…because Leviathan couldn't see any other way he could have done that to Odin. He wouldn't have been allowed to due to the spell. However…that suddenly struck Leviathan with a terrifying thought. If Wyvern had just killed Atomos and Odin so easily…then that meant…
Before Leviathan could reach the horrifying conclusion any quicker, however, he recoiled in terror again. Wyvern, in a flash, was standing right before him. The sea esper cried out in fear. He hadn't even seen the man move…
"Ah, little Leviathan…" He sneered over his body. The sea serpent, in response, cringed back from him, shocked at his sudden arrival. After a moment, however, he tried to look a bit stronger. But he couldn't hide his sweat or his panicked expression. The others went white and stared helplessly as the great red esper glared over him. "If it isn't the clever little esper who managed to trick me so many years ago… You never were good at straight fighting, were you? You always had to rely on your little tricks. Well…at any rate, that's all in the past now. Now…there is indisputably one esper king. But don't take my word for it. See for yourself."
With that, Wyvern suddenly shot up a talon to Leviathan's head. The sea serpent could have tried to run, but it was useless. With his new powers, he moved far too fast to be countered or avoided. Before he could do anything else, the beast had his head in one scaly palm. Starlet moved to advance at that, but the others stopped her before she did something stupid. Secretly, Leviathan was glad…even as his pale, sweating flesh trembled in Wyvern's grasp. He thought it was over… However, the esper didn't crush. Instead, he simply extended the same talon and lightly touched Leviathan's brow. He did so for a brief moment…before driving it sharply in. Immediately, Leviathan's scales and flesh were pierced, and blood began to run off of his forehead. The sea serpent gave a cry of pain and writhed in response. As for Wyvern, he relished this. He grinned ravenously as he watched Leviathan struggle. But after that was done…he simply pulled his claw off again and stepped back. Leviathan hissed and relaxed a bit, sliding his body away from the monster. As for Wyvern, he casually raised his bloody talon to his mouth and licked it.
"As you can see, Leviathan, there's no longer any barrier between the two of us." Wyvern calmly answered as he let his tongue run along the claw. "You probably already guessed it by now anyway, what with how easily I did in Odin and Atomos. At long last, I'm finally free."
Leviathan panted a moment. His head throbbed, and blood continued to pour off of it. But he was calming down. No one else dared say a word or make a move. Starlet might have tried to aid Leviathan, but the others wouldn't let her. After a moment, however, he raised one of his coils to wipe off his brow.
"…Free?" He finally asked the red esper. "Is that what you call enacting a genocide on thousands? Killing your own sibling? Becoming the tool of Kuja?"
To this, Wyvern merely snorted. "Kuja again." He disdainfully responded. "Is that the limit to your vision? I thought you were supposed to be smart." He crossed his arms confidently at that and grinned wider. "Do you honestly think I would have let something so stupid happen to me? Do you think that the miserable little excuse of a wizard could ever bow me to his will? Did you think I was so weak and pathetic that I would go the course of the fools like Odin and Atomos? I am the strongest of all espers. No one tells me what to do."
Leviathan's eyes widened a bit at that. The others were much the same. At first, Leviathan just thought it was idle boasting. But he realized that he could be telling the truth. After all, why else wasn't he like the other espers? Why did he have so much control? But he was still filled with evil…more so than before.
"…But…that doesn't make sense." Leviathan finally announced, his face bewildered. "I heard it all. I saw it all. He went into your mind. And after he went out, you did as he told you. You destroyed that whole fleet. You let him help you. Yet you're still talking to me like this… You're still so freely speaking and acting against him… That doesn't make sense, unless you…"
Then, at once, it hit Leviathan.
His blood once more turned to ice water in his veins. His eyes filled with despair and darkness. He glared at the smiling, confident body of the monster before him, staring in overwhelmed shock. It couldn't be true… He refused to believe it…even as he realized it made perfect sense. That was too much for Leviathan. At once, his passion died, and he nearly slumped. He continued to stare at him, but he said nothing else. He just stared blankly as the horrible truth came to him.
"Wyvern…" He spoke quietly, almost whispering. "…Please don't tell me you joined him willingly…"
The wide grin on Wyvern's face, however, was all he needed to know. Immediately, he felt his heart sink inside him and his mind will with dread.
"Oh, he did go into my mind, Leviathan." Wyvern darkly answered. "But he didn't go on a hostile takeover. He merely negotiated terms to a rather good proposition. You see…he knew that I was doomed to be your slave, so he offered to grant me the power to break free from that obligation if I agreed to become his servant. Perhaps it isn't the world's greatest job…" He paused a moment, only long enough to unfurl his wings and force out his strength once again. "…But the fringe benefits are nice."
Leviathan's shock suddenly vanished. Instead, he flew into a rage, and lashed back at the esper. "You fool… Why did you do that? How could you do that? I thought you hated being under control! Yet you just turn around and submit to this monster?"
This, however, only made Wyvern laugh even harder. His voice was evil and malicious, as well as full of pride. Leviathan glared at him furiously as he did, but after a moment the red esper cut back.
"Submit? Ha!" He sneered back. "I just needed him to break me free from you, and to give me this power. Now that I have it, I can clearly establish myself as King of the Espers. So long as we're both getting what we want, who cares? Besides…there is still one thing I want that he can help me get…"
Leviathan hesitated at that. Another wave of anxiety rippled through him. He was too menacing about this… "…What thing?"
But to this, Wyvern only grinned wider. An even greater maliciousness and violence burned throughout his aura, making Leviathan tremble anew and shrink back from him. When he spoke, his voice was full of violence and inner rage.
"Oh, come now, Leviathan… Surely, you've had to want this too." He cooed in answer. "All of our kind must have wanted this secretly. I know I have. Because, unlike you, I strive to be free of fear. Therefore, I get rid of what makes me afraid. And I will confess that I did have some fear as of late, unbelievable as it may seem. Actually, I suppose I've had it for a while. You're only dealing with it for the first time now, but now that you are you have to want to be rid of it just as much as I do.
"Our race is beset with a new fear, Leviathan. A fear that we could become the playthings of humans. A fear that we could be degenerated into simple weapons. I'm surprised you didn't realize this threat centuries ago. Don't you know what sort of threat a summoner represents to us? One that could make us bow to their power and be at their beck and call like common dogs? I recognized this threat years ago. But not you." Here, Wyvern's face grew dark as his eyes narrowed, and his tone turned vicious. "Oh no…you and your stupid intelligencia thought it was a good thing. You only saw the chance to service your little 'pets' as being a great asset, not realizing the blatancy of it all. Not realizing that you were losing the position of god and becoming the servant. Frankly, I thought you would have fought against it. I know even my traitorous brother would have. If it hadn't been for some foolish mercy on his part, he never would have had to bear the insult of it all. But you have. You fools…you willingly went under their yoke. You used them as the middleman to try and control powers too great for you. The arrogance and stupidity of it all… It makes me want to puke."
Wyvern paused a moment after that, seething and letting that last phrase practically get spat out. But after that, he grinned again. "But that's all over now… Now that I am here. Now that I have found an ally that can help me. And again, we'll both get what we want out of this deal."
Leviathan didn't have to listen to this for long to get what Wyvern was saying. He already knew even if he didn't know Wyvern's own sinister desires. What had been going on until now made it more than obvious. Immediately…he felt his own fear redoubled.
"No…you can't."
Wyvern merely grinned in response. "There's only one kingdom left to smash, Leviathan. The very kingdom that started this whole mess. It's poetic justice when you think about it. You know. Aren't you a fan of poetic justice? Odin managed to turn Cleyra into splinters with one hit. How much damage do you think I can do when I arrive in Alexandria?"
"You'll kill thousands of innocent people!" Leviathan shot back in horror. "I can't let you!"
To this…Wyvern merely changed to a smile. As he did, he crossed his arms in front of himself and drew up his height. He began to exude more of his power…causing Leviathan to tremble. His own bravery began to break as he felt the horrible power begin to flare up of Wyvern once again.
"And just what are you going to do about it?" He coolly sneered in response.
Leviathan swallowed a moment. Force was definitely not an option anymore. If he had killed Odin so easily, then he had no chance. None of them did, even if all the espers in the world united against him. The amount of power he had now was horrific. He had to change his tactics. He had to do something. Even if he would spare the espers, he feared greatly what his vented wrath would do to the rest of Gaia if it was left unchecked. He and his cruel master had to be stopped somehow.
"You've already killed their leaders and military." Leviathan went on. "All that's left are humble citizens who've done nothing to you. The last two summoners are allied with us. There's no need for you to attack them. Alexandria is full of families and children, Wyvern. Helpless people who just want to live in peace. You once wanted to help people live in peace too, remember? Don't you remember Palad and his people?"
However, Leviathan's attempts to appeal to the last shreds of Wyvern's mercy were totally wasted. To his chagrin, Wyvern merely spat the words back in his face with another bout of hideous laughter. It was cold and uncaring, without the slightest shred of decency or mercy left. The evil within him flared. Until now…Leviathan could see no love in Wyvern's heart. But now…he began to realize that it wasn't blocked out. It simply wasn't there.
"Palad, his family, and all the rest of humanity were just sheep for the slaughter." Wyvern coldly snorted. "They were utterly helpless and hopeless. We made them who they are. I made them who they are. And now that they've gotten cocky, they've turned their backs on their masters. On their gods. They made amusing little pets for a while. But now that they're becoming a dangerous nuisance, it's time to be done with them. I'm not interested in having slaves like Crusader. I just want them gone. I know if I just let them do whatever they'll cause problems in the future. But before they die, they'll remember who their true leader and god is…"
Leviathan was frozen in wide-eyed shock. Madness as well as rage had taken Wyvern. He was rewriting history to satisfy his own delusions. And his hate…his horrible hate he felt for humans… Leviathan had never sensed anything like it. Was he that heartless and merciless?
"This can't be you, Wyvern…" Leviathan protested, almost pleading. "You once struggled to become strong enough to save the humans…to deliver them from evil…"
Again, Leviathan winced as he heard heartless laughter thrown back in his face.
"Heh, maybe that's what I told myself at the time, but now I'm in touch with what I really wanted." Wyvern grinned in response. "The truth is…I only wanted to show up Griever and the Four Fiends. I wanted them to know that I was by far the strongest being on the Planet. As far as the humans were concerned…I wouldn't have minded it so much if they would have simply switched to worshipping me. The little sheep needed to be tended to and led anyway. At any rate, I am by far the strongest being in existence now. And I intend to show the world that. I'm going to form a new kingdom on this world…one in which the humans will return to their place in the dust and they'll know our own place…as their rulers."
Leviathan stated horrified at Wyvern a moment longer. His madness was growing. Perhaps he had barely been holding it back before, but now Kuja warped him to become something truly abominable. He didn't know what to say. This nightmare grew worse all the time. At last, he could only say one thing that was truly obvious…
"…You're insane."
Wyvern simply shrugged. "Say whatever you like. If you disagree with my thinking, you're welcome to try and stop me. That'll make my job a bit quicker. You see, Leviathan…I'm going to be cleaning house after I've returned the humans to the dark ages. It was your stupid wife that taught Bahamut that attack to fight back against me. And you were the one who made that seal. So rest assured…I do plan to kill the both of you. As well as anyone else who bears any other thought toward me besides obedience and worship."
Leviathan's blue scales turned whiter. Starlet recoiled a bit in fear. In another moment, she might have drawn a blade or used her Ashura transformation. The others likewise shrunk back. Ifrit and Shiva themselves vainly prepared their bodies for a fight…thought Wyvern could kill them both without even trying at his new level of power. They were all dead, Leviathan realized. There was nothing they could do to stop Wyvern now.
"However, I'll let you all live in fear a bit longer." Wyvern sneered in continuation. "With my new power, I can take anything you can throw at me. So I want you to draw your feeble little plans against me and see if you can do anything to stop me. I'll enjoy breaking them into dust and then ripping your throats out. But for now…I'll content myself with humanity. But don't worry, I won't be striking just yet." Here, he grinned a bit wider. "After all…I'm sure those two little summoners will be headed back there with the fatass dead. Once they do…I'll rid this world of those mutated freaks as well in one stroke. So until then…adieu."
Without another word, Wyvern beat his giant wings one powerful time. The strength of the stroke made him take off into a shot, and his body soared into the air. The blast of air was so strong that surrounding espers were forced to shield themselves and recoil. Leviathan winced himself for a moment, but then looked up and watched as he went into the air. Already, his new power was sending him skyward, through the opening at the top of their world and soon sailing out into the sky. The other espers, still cringing and nervous, slowly looked up from their own timid positions. But he did not attack or rain down death on them…although his fully powered attack could destroy both the mountain and all of the people in it at this point. Instead, he merely banked in the air and took off at full speed.
The espers were left alone in their dwelling. All were silent. They turned and looked to each other in fear, none of them knowing what to say or do now. Terror still gripped them, and all of them were filled with confusion and fear. Most of them had heard what had transpired, but none of them knew what this meant. Was it Bahamut? Was it Wyvern? And what did this mean for their future now? Were they all in mortal danger?
Leviathan himself bowed his head and stared blankly. The espers behind him looked to each other in terror and trembled in fear. Leviathan had to struggle not to do the same himself. The apoplectic shock, luckily, managed to keep him from breaking down for now. He couldn't believe it. He looked ahead to the soulless armor that lay against the ground, and was speechless. Another of his brothers were dead. Odin may have not always been the kindest person…but he was a great and noble warrior, and he had changed greatly from his youth. And he had been a trusted ally during his reign. He had also been the strongest among them all after Bahamut and Wyvern were gone. But now…he was dead. Wyvern had mercilessly killed him. There was no way to transfer his soul into another object this time. He had already returned to the Lifestream. Odin's millennia stay of execution had been broken.
Wyvern again… He stole his twin brother from him… He killed Bahamut… And now Odin was gone as well because of him. The madman had brought centuries of pain and fear to the esper race…and now he was worse. He was brimming with evil now. Any goodness left in him was now suppressed under Kuja's power, and as he fueled Wyvern's own evil the foul esper allowed himself to be dominated and controlled by it, letting it twist him and warp him into a demon so long as he received power in exchange. He was psychotic. He was growing mad…just as Crusader had gone mad with her own power so long ago. Strong as he was, he had already shifted his focus from destroying his enemies to destroying anyone that would be a threat. He was going to throw humanity back into the dark ages. However…Leviathan knew he wouldn't stop there. Assuming his own wickedness hadn't already brought him to the point where he thought of humans as playthings, he'd kill them anyway just to show his superiority. And then he'd start killing the espers as well… He would not stop until he felt that everything around him quivered before his power. He was a crazy egomaniac…and he had to be stopped.
Yet now, Leviathan gave a pause. He looked up and around him, and began to see the other espers slowly recovering. The evil aura had faded for now, and they were free to move about without fear of Wyvern approaching. However, they were timid and fearful, and Leviathan could seeit on their faces. He swallowed as he saw this. The truth was finally out. They knew. Even if they didn't, they had to suspect the truth by now. They'd demand an explanation. They'd want to know what Leviathan had meant in that exchange. Leviathan feared this even more. He would finally have to tell them, of course. He couldn't cover this up anymore if he wanted to have any loyal espers left at all. But he would drive others away by doing so. Leviathan knew full well that there were disloyal and cowardly espers among them. They would only become worse after having been subjected to the new power of Wyvern. They would believe it would be better to live as Wyvern's slave than die as his enemy. They would see his new power as a source of comfort and strength. Any of their own separate hates for humanity would be evoked, and their flames would be fed by Wyvern's own rebellion. Everything could fall apart very soon… There could even be an esper civil war. Then…there was the fact that humanity now knew the strength of espers…
There was only one hope. Leviathan supposed there had only been one hope for some time, but now it was undeniable. The stone monolith had to be finished. The Crystal Stone had to be used. It was their only hope for survival. It was the only thing left that could stop both Wyvern and Kuja. This was no longer a contingency. Now…their very lives depended on it.
Inhaling deeply, Leviathan turned around to the others. They looked to him, though they too were still cringing and nervous. They had to work out a plan now. Every decision they made for the next four days would mean life or death for Gaia.
To be continued...