The Dragon Knights informed the Cleyrans of the demons defeat and they returned to the settlement and the cathedral. The High Priest decided to continue with the dancing and the celebrations, feeling that there was all the more reason to celebrate.
Blaine did not stay in the cathedral long. He left as the Cleyrans entered the cathedral and he decided to go to the observatory a second time. Kildea noticed his absence and went looking for him. She went to the observatory first and found him gazing at the view.
"Blaine?" Kildea asked. "What you are doing here?"
Blaine glanced at her, acknowledging her presence before turning back. "I'm just thinking."
"The High Priest wants to speak with you." Kildea said simply. "I'm sure he wants to thank you for what you've done."
"I don't wish to speak with him just now." Blaine replied.
"Why not? Is there something wrong?" Kildea asked, slightly hurt by this response.
"Well...I still have this ominous feeling." Blaine answered, racking his brain. "Something is about to happen." Yet I vanquished Aryelc, so what could it be?
"You might be sensing an upcoming summoning call." Kildea suggested. "The High Priest is planning on calling you forth from the jewel."
Blaine's eyes widened. "What? Why is he calling me forth?"
"He wants you to regenerate the sandstorm that protected Cleyra, and to see your true form." Kildea answered with a smile.
Blaine looked a little shaken by this, and grabbed Kildea's hand and started walking to the cathedral at a quick pace. "Come on, let's go and see the High Priest."
"Blaine? What's the matter?" Kildea asked, surprised by Blaine's reaction.
Blaine didn't answer; he just continued to hurry towards the cathedral. I just know what will come of this, and I will not let it happen!
Meanwhile, inside the cathedral, the shrine maidens finished performing their dance and the High Priest stepped forth.
"Now that we have finished our celebrative dances, I believe we should finish off this celebration with a truly remarkable event." The High Priest announced. "It is time that we called forth the guardian spirit of the jewel to restore our protective sandstorm. Although we shall make it weak enough so that our Burmecian brothers can pass through it so they can return to their home, and then we can perform the dance to strengthen the sandstorm. I'm sure that the Burmecians will be thankful of witnessing this, even if it means having to brave our sandstorm when they leave."
The High Priest then turned and walked towards the jewel, resting in its place atop the harp. He carefully took it out of its place and held it in front of him. He then began to chant...
Outside the cathedral, Blaine froze in his tracks and Kildea nearly fell over from the sudden stop.
"The summoning is about to begin..." Blaine said, looking very anxious.
The words of the High Priest then began to run through his mind. Burmece, the Holy Spirit of the Burmecian Realm and our creator and guardian, please answer my call. Come forth and use your great power to restore our protective sandstorm!
Blaine fell to his knees, he felt as though he was struggling against something. But I don't want to restore the sandstorm!
"Blaine!" Kildea said in a worried tone before coming up to him to see what was wrong. Blaine pushed her away, trying to win his mental struggle. After a few seconds, another voice ran through his head.
Sealing yourself from the world can be considered an act of hatred. You do not want to be part of the world. Blaine recognised this voice and a look of terror filled his face. I shall answer your call, summoner. I will protect you from the world, just like you want. I shall destroy the world, and then it cannot harm you. In the sanctuary of the afterlife, you will not need protection, as you cannot be harmed...
Inside the cathedral, the High Priest was sharing a similar look of terror as he heard these words. He watched the jewel pulse with red light, and white mist streamed out of the jewel and out of the cathedral. Blaine could see the mist flowing out of the cathedral and into the sky above them. Darkness filled the sky and the mist began to take form. A bright flash blinded both Blaine and Kildea for a brief moment. After the flash, they could clearly see what had been called forth from the jewel.
High above Cleyra, a large red muscular figure floated in the sky. His massive dragon like wings kept him aloft and his black, demon eyes stared at the city below. Blaine and Kildea could almost see through the blood red hue of the creature. The demon looked rather similar to Burmece, except for its colour, and the black demon eyes and the massive demon horns sticking out between his ears.
The High Priest came out of the cathedral to see what he had called forth, followed by the Dragon Knights and the Cleyrans in the cathedral. They all looked into the sky and saw the demonic figure hovering above them.
"What have I done!" The High Priest asked himself, filled with regret.
"The great demon Aryelc has risen once again!" Aryelc cheered, grinning wickedly. "The time of the zero world is near!"
The Cleyrans were frozen with terror at the sight of the demon. The High Priest decided to try something. He step forward and cleared his throat.
"Be gone!" The High Priest shouted at the demon. "As your summoner, I order you to return to the jewel!"
"Foolish mortal..." The demon replied, still grinning. "You think you can control me? Burmece and I are unlike most eidolons; we don't have to abide by our summoner's instructions if we don't wish to. That's why the summoners split up the crystal all those years ago. They could call forth the eidolons within, but they couldn't control them. They were afraid of their power."
The Cleyran High Priest looked horrified after hearing these words. Fear clutched every inch of his body. This is the end...
The Dragon Knights had all drawn their lances and ran up to confront the demon once again. Aryelc noticed their battle stances and laughed hard.
"You honestly think you can stop me!" Aryelc taunted. "You may have beaten my manifestation with Burmece's help, but I'm in a completely different league now!"
The Dragon Knights didn't let these words affect them, and they began preparing various Dragon Knight techniques.
"I could just blow up Cleyra and be done with the lot of you, but that wouldn't be satisfying." Aryelc said as he wondered what to do. "Besides, I would end up destroying the jewel if I did that. No, I'll just kill you all one at a time and savour the frightened looks on your faces..."
Blaine had started running full speed towards the cathedral, dragging Kildea behind him.
"Blaine? Where are we going!" Kildea asked.
"There's only one way we can stop Aryelc in his true form." Blaine said simply. "We're going to the cathedral, so that you can call me forth from the jewel once again."
Aryelc noticed Blaine running towards the cathedral and his grin turned into a scowl. "Oh no you don't..." The demon growled, and his fingers glowed a fiery red colour. He then pointed the glowing finger to where Blaine and Kildea were running. "Firaga!"
A stream of fire poured out of his fingers and shot towards Blaine and Kildea. The Dragon Knights were to far away to do anything to protect them. Blaine noticed the spell coming towards them and positioned himself in front of Kildea. The spell hit Blaine full force, causing Blaine to cry out in pain and be pushed backwards by the force of the spell. He landed on top of Kildea and the two fell into a crumpled heap.
"Blaine! Blaine! Are you alright?" Kildea said in a panicked voice as she checked over the fallen Burmecian. His front was covered in serious burns, yet he was still conscious, although very weak.
"Forget about me." Blaine said weakly. "Just run, get to the cathedral and summon me."
Kildea nodded, and got up whilst laying Blaine down carefully. She then proceeded to run towards the cathedral as fast as she could.
"There's no-one to save you now." Aryelc jeered, as he prepared a spell to stop Kildea reaching the cathedral. His hand was glowing with fiery red energy once again.
"You're forgetting about us!" Frato roared, as he pointed his spear towards Aryelc to unleash his technique. "Dragon's Crest!"
A magical dragon emblem appeared in front of the demon, who didn't seem concerned by it. A white, spiritual dragon burst through the emblem towards Aryelc, and bite and attacked Aryelc's chest. The demon gave a slight grunt in pain, and when the attack subsided the Dragon Knights were all shocked to see that the attack had barely scratched the demon.
"Don't you see now?" The demon hissed. "Your attacks are useless against me."
Aryelc finished gathering the energy for his spell, and pointed his finger at Kildea. "Flare!" The demon chanted, and the energy shot towards the Cleyran Oracle. Kildea saw the attack coming towards her, and she froze to the spot, completely terrified.
The energy formed an intense fireball as it shot through the air, and Kildea screamed as the attack closed in on her. The attack hit her full force, but Kildea didn't feel any pain. Instead, the fireball bounced off her and shot back straight towards Aryelc.
"What?" The demon said in disbelief as he saw the fireball come back towards him. He brought his hands over his face and chest to block the attack. The fireball slammed into him full force and exploded, causing Aryelc to grunt in pain.
Kildea was surprised to see the spell bounce off her. She checked herself to see if the fireball had done any damage to her, and she found she was glowing in a mysterious red light.
"Kildea!" Blaine called out to her. Kildea turned to look at him. He was still on the floor, but he was facing her with his hand pointing at her. "I've cast a Reflect spell on you. But it won't last long. Run to the cathedral now while Aryelc is distracted!"
Kildea nodded and turned to run towards the cathedral. She managed to get the cathedral's entrance and she called out to the High priest.
"Come on! Get inside!" Kildea said frantically. "We have to summon Burmece!"
"Of course!" The High Priest exclaimed, sensing a ray of hope.
The two quickly ran into the cathedral. Meanwhile, the Flare attacked had subsided and Aryelc was growling. His Flare spell had given him some fair sizes burns, but they weren't major. He had noted the disappearance of Kildea and the High Priest and he knew what they were up to. He turned to the fallen body of Blaine and addressed him.
"Damn you Burmece...Why can't you accept your fate?" The demon cursed.
"I won't go down without a fight..." Blaine said, smiling at the demon. "...And the Dragon Knights won't either..."
Aryelc looked down at Freya, Frato and Fratley and saw them charging up their techniques. He chuckled at their efforts.
"Trying those attacks again?" The demon asked, sneering. "You know they are useless against me. You're nowhere near powerful enough, it is futile."
The Dragon Knights ignored the demon's taunts, and their techniques were ready. The three knights put the tips of their spears together, and the energy in their lances combined into a single point.
"Dragon's Breath!" The Dragon Knights chanted together. A massive white magical dragon head formed out of the energy, and it opened its maw and fired several thunderous bolts of energy at the demon.
"What?" Aryelc exclaimed in disbelief. The bolts of energy slammed into him, causing him to scream in pain. This time the attack had done its work.
When the attack subsided, the demon had some fairly severe burns on his chest. He growled angrily at the three knights. "You insolent little..."
Aryelc began charging up green and white energy in his palms, the spell was ready in seconds. The demon cast the spell upon himself without hesitation.
"You cannot defeat me." Aryelc said simply. "Curaga!"
The white magic took its effect upon the demons body and dissolved the burns off the demons skin, healing up any wounds. After the spell had finished, Aryelc was left fully healed and at it was if nothing had touched him.
"I'll take all three of you measly urchins down with this attack..." The demon growled. The Cleyran tree began to shake with the demon's power. "And all of your friends! I'll show you my true power!"
Blaine knew what was coming, and his smile faded and his eyes filled with fear. Hurry up and summon me Kildea...the whole of Cleyra will be destroyed by this attack...
The Dragon Knights tried not to look intimidated and took up defensive positions. The demon glared at them, his eyes burning with rage.
"This is the end of Cleyra!" The demon roared and threw his hand up into the air...
Inside the cathedral, Kildea and the High Priest had reached the jewel and Kildea immediately began to pray to the jewel.
"Burmece, the great Holy Spirit of the Burmecian Realm and the creator and guardian of our kind, please answer my call." Kildea called out to the jewel, focusing her mind. "Come forth and protect us from Aryelc's wrath and hatred..."
After Kildea had finished those words, the jewel began to glow with a bright blue light. The High Priest and Kildea both shared a look of happiness.
"Burmece is coming!" Kildea said happily.
The light from the jewel spewed out white energy which shot past Kildea and outside of the cathedral.
Once Aryelc had thrown his hand up, strong winds began to pick up around Cleyra and the sand was caught up and pushed through the air. More sand began to appear magically from above Cleyra, and within seconds Cleyra's magical protective sandstorm had been regenerated.
"The sandstorm..." Freya commented as the three knights looked curiously, anxious as to what the demon's attack would be.
"Yes...the sandstorm." Aryelc said with a grin. "Cleyra's protector...and now, it shall become its destroyer!"
Aryelc thrust his hand up again, and fire began to appear within the sandstorm. Waves of fire flew round the sandstorm, igniting the air and sand until the sandstorm had become a raging firestorm, surrounding the Cleyran tree. The three Dragon Knights watched in horror as this took place. Aryelc was beaming wildly.
"Say goodbye to this world..." Aryelc cackled, and he thrust his palms forward.
The firestorm began to shift, and move across ever so slowly. After a few moments, which seemed like hours for the knights and the citizens, the demon became engulfed in the fire. He wasn't harmed by this, instead he just grinned wickedly as the firestorm slowly moved towards the tree. After a few moments, the edge of the tree was caught inside the firestorm and was burned away. It kept moving closer and closer...
Then, all of a sudden, bolts of blue light shot through the firestorm and flowed with it. The firestorm flashed, and there was a blinding burst of white light. When everyone could see again, the firestorm had vanished. They could also see another titanic figure facing Aryelc, it looked very similar. However, its skin was blue and not red; it did not have the demon horns or the demon eyes. It looked angelic, and the Cleyrans could guess as to who it was.
The demon growled angrily at this new figure. Aryelc spoke the name of the new figure with a seething tone.
"Burmece..."
Disclaimer: I do not own FF9 or its respective characters or locations. I do own Frato, Blaine/Burmece, and Aryelc though.
Author's Notes: Please give me a review if you are reading this and tell me what you think. All constructive comments are welcome. As a writer, I need them.