The Machina War of Destruction

by The Reverse Edge Blade

this fic is about Lenne and Shuyin during the Machina War between Zanarkand and Bevelle. Please review! this is my first fic in the FF X2 category, so please tell me right away if it sounds damn boring, but please read a few updates, even if you think the

7. Chapter 7: Bevelle's most feared Machina

Sorry this chapter took ages.

I've had sort of a writer's block, and other things.

I hope I've done a decent job with this one. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

Bevelle's most feared Machina

I woke up later by the shaking of the tanks as it drove on, hitting bumps on the hard and clearly rough ground. I opened my eyes, and sat up on the hard, naked floor of the round cage. The first thing I noticed was that my sword was gone. The only thing I still had on my back, were the braces. "Goddamn it!" I swore under my breath.

We were driving away from Zanarkand, but we weren't leaving by the main road. I turned around in the tiny cage. What I saw made my eyes widen in astonishment. Probably because of the extreme size of it.

An airship stood before me. At the nose-section of the airship, I saw a long laser cannon with the bevellian flag painted at the side of it. Under and over each of the six wings of the airship, there were placed twenty miniature missiles with the atomic mark painted in yellow and black. "Those assholes." I muttered, as the huge airship seemed to get larger as the tank approached it.

The tank stopped beside the airship, and a bridge lowered from the entrance door of the Machina. The cage I was in opened and a man who seemed to be from Bevelle grabbed my arm and dragged me unceremoniously out of it without looking at me.

"Hey, man! It's not like I cannot walk! You hear me!"

I yelled at the guy, but he just ignored me.

He dragged me up the bridge, and inside the enormous airship.

Inside, there were Bevellians in military uniforms sitting or standing with machine guns or pump-shotguns in their lap or over their shoulder. They looked at me with hateful eyes as the man dragging me walked past them. I looked back at them, without flinching.

"Looks like I was right.

Bevelle is a city in Spira full of war mongers." I thought darkly.

I wanted to ask them where Lenne was, but I thought better of it.

Why would they know, or care about where she was?

All they wanted was every Zanarkandian Summoner dead, anyway.

The man dragged me to the back of the airship, opened a heavy, metal door, and threw me inside the small cell. "I've had enough of you dragging and throwing me around like shit!" I roared at the guy.

This time, he actually looked at me. "You're from that damn godforsaken Zanarkand-place. Why wouldn't I be dragging and throwing you around?" He asked. His voice was deep and menacing.

I just looked at him, feeling hate such as I'd never felt before.

"You cold-blooded, war Machina-obsessed asshole." I whispered in a low voice. The man just shrugged. He turned around and walked further inside the airship, as if I wasn't worth his attention.

I sighed in a mixture of feelings I couldn't quiet place, and sat down on the hard floor against the wall of the cell. "At least I'll get to Bevelle this way."

I thought, trying to see things from the bright side as always.

After awhile, I fell asleep, mostly due to exhaustion.

I opened my eyes and looked around me. I was lying on the ground of an enormous grass field. All around me, people were fighting each other. Bevellian tanks with extremely large cannons were firing at Valefors and Bahamuts flying in the air, sending rays and beams down at the Bevellian army. I got up from the ground, terrified at the Machina war being fought before me. Suddenly, one particular Summoner caught my eye. Lenne was flying around above the two armies, this time on Bahamut. I saw her get up on the dragon, and wave her Summoner Staff. Yojimbo and Daigoro the Dog came walking out of a forest that had suddenly appeared below her. Lenne looked down at the Samurai Aeon. He sprang forward, having received his tribute of Gil from her the day she acquired him. Enough Gil for her not to have to pay him ever again, surprisingly enough. Yojimbo sprang forward, pulling out his Katana and swung around. He made a slashing movement at tenths of Machina facing him. The Zanmato Strike wiped them out instantly. Tenths of Bevellian Machina exploded, and a terrible sound filled the entire grass field. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, an unbelievably enormous crater had appeared where the tanks had been only moments before. Yojimbo sheathed his Samurai sword again. Daigoro now sprang forward, jumping at the closest tank and kicking it with his hind legs. This had little effect, however. Daigoro the Dog retreated back to his master, and Yojimbo pulled out three small knifes and made a slashing movement at the tank his pet had failed to defeat. The Wakisashi Strike sliced the single tank in halves. Deciding that Yojimbo was safe, and in complete control of the situation below, Lenne bended forward and whisper in Bahamut's ear. For some reason, I could hear perfectly clear what she said to the Dragon King. "Bahamut, use the Impulse. Disable those huge tanks right below us. I'll cast the Shield spell on us when they'll fire back." A mixture of purple and black sparks appeared at the end of Bahamut's wings. They grew into beams, and he released them. They charged down on the tanks below, and the two Machinas exploded, leaving a huge crater in their place. Lenne flew on, conjuring a Shield around herself and Bahamut, trying to escape the tenths of beams and flames being shot at her from below. Suddenly, the Dragon King let out an ear-splitting roar of pain, and I saw how they started falling from the sky. Lenne, sitting between Bahamut's huge wings, shook her head from the shock and pain of the beam that had hit them. Even though Lenne had conjured a Shield for protection, Bevelle's Machina were too powerful. It had penetrated the shield as if it was nothing. I watched how blood flowed from grotesque cuts on both her legs. Both of Bahamut's wings were bleeding ferociously, his red, hot blood gushing out, and drenched Lenne in her beloved Aeon's blood. I watched how she screwed up her face, and cried as she felt Bahamut's warm, red thick liquid against her skin. I felt her sorrow inside. I felt how heartbroken she was at the thought of one of her Aeons feeling pain. I watched how they fell down to the ground, and heard Lenne's scream as the ground below drew ever closer…….

I opened my eyes and stared around wildly. I was still lying in the small cell. I breathed rapidly, and my heart beat so fast it felt as if it would blow out of my chest at any moment.

I let a hand run across my forehead and through my hair.

It was drenched in sweat, just like after my previous nightmare.

I looked at my quivering hands. They were shaking just as badly as the night when I'd dreamed of that terrible Machina. The nightmare that, without me knowing it at first, was what made me go on this journey. I knew it was the reason why I was here now.

Even though I'd heard the man on the television announcing the rumour about the powerful Machina that was supposedly being kept at the Bevelle HQ, I knew that I wouldn't have decided to go on this journey, if I hadn't seen that fiendish weapon in that dream.

My breathing slowed down after awhile, and my body stopped shaking. "Are you awake now?" I looked through the small

"window" in the heavy metal door.

"Finally. Now perhaps we'll at last get some peace and quiet in here. You screamed so loudly while sleeping. And you kept howling a name aloud. Think it was "Lenne", or something. I would've woken you up, but you screamed so loudly I just didn't feel like trying to wake you."

"So? What's your point?" I replied to his little speech.

"That you should shut up. We're flying above Bevelle now, and

we'll be arriving at Saint Bevelle soon. You'll be placed under arrest in the Underground of our Temple there. You better stay still and quiet till then." "Why do you call your Headquarters a Temple?

And why have you named it "Saint Bevelle"?

You guys religious, or something? You sure don't look like it."

I nodded towards those large rifles beside the many soldiers in the airship. "We call our Temple "Saint Bevelle", because that's where our Maesters reside. And among them, Grand Maester Nodachi-Sama.

He's the leader of all the people in our glorious Machina city.

I'm the leader of the Elite Guard of Saint Bevelle.

It's my job to keep heathens like you away from our Grand Maester.

That's why I'm the one who's been dragging and throwing you around. Part of my duty as leader of Saint Bevelle's Elite Guard. A duty I follow with pleasure." The man added.

"Glorious Machina city?" I asked, ignoring the last part of his little speech. "You sure are full of yourselves, aren't you? No wonder there's so much difference between our two hometowns. I'll bet that guy you call a Maester is just the same. But all in all I'm glad I wasn't raised like you, or any other of those fucking war mongers at that shithouse you call a Temple."

The man suddenly got up from his seat, and unlocked the metal door to my cell. I got up hastily; ready to fly at his throat.

He pushed away my hands as I tried to get hold of his windpipe, and delivered a quick, rock-hard punch to my nose. Blood flowed out as my nose broke. I screamed out in pain and fell against the wall.

The leader of Bevelle's Elite Guard started kicking me, aiming for my head and face as I lay on the floor, desperately trying to get up.

None of the other soldiers paid any attention to the completely

one-sided fight in the small cell at the back of the airship.

As the man continued to hit and punch me, I stopped attempting

to fight back. I just lay there, covering my head with my arms

to shield my most critical body parts.

I tried to think of something else as I was being beat up.

I remembered Lenne's cheerful, smiling face.

And I remembered her blissful moaning and whimpering as we'd lied in bed together. I remembered her eyes as I'd rubbed her core, so full of love and content ness. I remembered how she, just by living with me, had told me constantly that she loved me, and would never leave my side.

I remembered our flights on Valefor, before Zanarkand lost its life.

And Lenne's gentle whisper in my ear, telling me she'd wanted to go out with me for ages.

The kicks suddenly stopped. I coughed blood as that asshole left my cell and locked the door behind him. I'd never felt so beaten up before.

I could hardly move from the pain that now engulfed my entire body. At least it felt like it. I wasn't entirely sure what exactly he'd done to me, but I was certain he hadn't broken anything more than my nose.

But I knew perfectly well that the only reason why he hadn't beaten me to death, was because it was his orders to get me to Bevelle.

The blood from my nose continued to flow, and I clutched it with both hands and closed my eyes, trying to shut out the pain.

"Think about something else, Shuyin."

I remembered only glimpses, and the feeling itself of what had happened when Lenne and I lay in bed that night, before we took a break from the bonding. Apart from the glimpses I remembered, I could still remember the sensation of being blinded and deafened in ecstasy.

But I couldn't remember what we were doing.

"It doesn't matter."

I thought, trying to recover from the beat-up. "As long as I know Lenne was happy with me. I don't really care about the details.

As long as I know Lenne was feeling blissful, then the rest of the thing can go to hell." Normally I wouldn't think of it that way, but the situation I was in made it hard not to think aggressive thoughts, even about such things. It was sad, really. Sad I was getting that way because of all the things that had happened to me, of all the things that had been taken away from me the moment Lenne departed.

I tried to sit up, but my l was too exhausted. I lay down on my back, with my head facing the door, so the blood wouldn't flow into my nose. I was afraid of how it would feel if I let it flow into my broken nose.

"Lenne. She told me just to live, and wait for her to come back to me. She didn't want this to happen to me. She didn't want me to suffer physical pain like this, while at the same time yearning for everything about her, torturing my own mind with the longing.

Lenne wanted me to be safe in Zanarkand until she returned.

She didn't want me to experience something like this.

All that was written in her face and her voice when she told me to live and wait for her. I'm sorry, Lenne. Not before now, I see what you really meant when you told me that. And not before now I know what that last kiss I received from you actually meant to you.

You were telling me that you didn't want me to suffer for your sake. You were telling me that you loved me, and that you didn't want me to go so far for you, for it would make your heart bleed.

But I love you, Lenne. I cannot live without you.

My world would be ripped into a thousand bits if you lost your life."

I screwed up my face, and cried silently at a mixture of feelings I could understand, but couldn't sort out.

I was too messed up to keep my feelings categorised like that.

I remembered my grandmother telling me a story once,

before she died of pneumonia.

The story about the lovebird who gave up living, so it could join its mate. The lovebird had felt like its entire world had fallen apart around her, and as if there was no more purpose in continue to live in the world it had always called its home.

If Lenne died, I would feel just like that.

I knew it instinctively. If Lenne died, I would just give up living.

I'd never thought about it like this before. It hurt.

To feel this way really hurt.

"If I could somehow escape them once we land, I might still have a chance of reaching the Bevelle HQ, and steal that Machina. I won't give up. I've come too far. I won't stop until I've stolen that thing and saved my Lenne." It was the only thing that now kept me going.

The hope I held of stealing that Machina was the only reason why I wasn't just sitting there, waiting for death to come and get me.

I curled up to a ball on the hard floor of the small cell, and continued to clutch my broken nose while waiting for the airship to land.

Some time later (no idea how long we'd been flying) I felt the airship starting to descend. "Looks like we've reached to place." I thought, and got up from my curled-up position. The man who'd beaten me up rose from his seat, hoisted his pump-shotgun over his shoulder, and went over to my cell. He opened the heavy metal door.

"Don't try anything funny." He said menacingly.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to attempt to strangle you more than once?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Does this guy think I suffer from bad short-term memory, or something? He's damn annoying." I thought, letting him, resentfully, drag me out of the cell, and further into the airship. He stopped just beside the exit, but he didn't let go of my arm, which now started to feel numb from the lack of blood circulation. "No point asking him to slacken his grip. He told me he dragged me around with pleasure, after all." Suddenly, I felt the wheels under the airship hit solid ground.

The Machina had landed, and by the sound of it, was now driving on a landing field to slow it down. There were no windows in the airship, so it wasn't possible to see out, but I could tell by the way the airship moved, that it would come to a stop pretty soon.

It happened gradually. The airship slowed down little by little, and then stopped. The noisy rumbling of the wheels against the landing field died out. I heard a man shouting outside. A loud, harsh voice announcing the arrival of the enormous airship:

"The airship The Peacebringer has arrived at dock 5!"

"The Peacebringer! Is this thing really their definition of something that's gonna bring peace to Spira!" I thought disgusted, thinking about the 240 nuclear missiles on the wings.

"This thing is used to slaughter thousands of people at once!" I yelled at the guy holding me, unable to contain myself.

"Is this really what you call bringing peace to your homeland!"

The leader of Saint Bevelle's Elite Guard looked at me, his cold, heartless eyes narrowed as he looked into my eyes.

I looked back at him without backing down,

disgust written all over my face. After awhile, he spoke.

"You cannot understand our ways, Zanarkandian.

What makes you think you have any right to ask us such questions?"

He said no more, as if I wasn't worth his attention. "The same attitude as always." I thought angrily. "Treating me like I'm some kind of insect buzzing around his head, trying to annoy him. He just turned around, and started walking down the bridge that had been lowered from the airship down to the landing field, dragging me unceremoniously along as always.

We were standing on an airship landing field much larger than the one at Zanarkand's airport. All around, people were running among skyscraper-sized buildings, like the ones in Zanarkand, with the exception that these skyscraper-buildings looked much less alive than Zanarkand's. There were no lights in different colours in them, or any loud voices coming from them. They all looked like the way Zanarkand had looked after Bevelle's first attack. The citizens of Bevelle continued to run among the buildings, back and forth, a never-ending mass of people swarming all over the airport. "Like ants in an ant colony." I thought. When I looked around, I could see no passenger airships. There were only war-Machinas to be seen.

I saw many other airships like the one I'd arrived in.

Mostly, there were only airships like that stationed here.

I started shaking with anger at the thought of these monsters slaughtering my people.

I looked ahead of me, and noticed another one of those cage tanks that had picked me up in Zanarkand. The leader of Saint Bevelle's Elite Guard dragged me towards it. "Great. There goes my chance of escaping. Now, I'll have to wait until we've reached the HQ, if I want to have a reason for hoping."

I thought, as the bevellian holding me pushed me roughly inside the cage and closed it.

I sat down inside the cage of the new tank, but not before I swore loudly.

The tank's engine got turned on, and I felt the floor shake under me, as the massive belt-wheels of the tank rolled forward.

"At least I can see outside now." I thought, once again in an attempt to cheer myself up.

The whole Machina city of Bevelle seemed to have the atmosphere of a city ruled by a dictator. I could tell it was a city where people weren't allowed to say what they wanted about their hometown. The people weren't allowed to talk freely, or fight for a cause they believed in within organisations they could form at free will.

The reason why I could tell that the citizens of Bevelle had no freedom, was because that, even though the city wasn't silent as death like in Zanarkand, people seemed to be much less spirited than in my hometown before Bevelle's Machina attacked.

I could hear no laughter coming from any open windows in any house.

No youths walking together in big groups, talking loudly and excitedly about Blitzball or anything. The streets were crowded, but if people were walking together, they talked to each other in whispers.

It seemed as if they were afraid to raise their voices, or laugh at jokes they told each other. Bevelle seemed, if possible, even gloomier than Zanarkand. At least people in my hometown weren't afraid of telling each other jokes, or laugh with each other, even if they were terrified.

It really made me sad to see something like this.

To see a society were people

actually lived their lives the way the people of Bevelle did.

"If I'm going to use that Machina that's supposedly being held at the Bevelle HQ, I'm not gonna use it in a way that'll harm these people."

I thought, though I had no idea how I was gonna do that.

Every citizen of Bevelle seemed so down-spirited and depressed.

It was as if, by every step they took, they were asking for help.

As if they were begging someone, anyone, to come and give them the freedom they were denied by their Grand Maester.

"So this is what the Machina city of Bevelle is." I thought bitterly, looking at the poor souls through the metal railings of my small prison.

The cage tank passed a small boy sitting by himself on the pavement, looking as if he would like nothing more than just sink through the ground and stay there. As I looked at him, it struck me that I'd never before seen a more defeated-looking person.

A kid who looked as if he wasn't older than ten years, I'd wager. His head jerked upwards at the sound of the huge vehicle approaching.

He met my gaze, and I looked back into his eyes.

They were big, hazel ones. Eyes full of sorrow, the eyes of a human living in captivity. The small boy stretched out a small, bony hand and tried to reach me. I stretched out my own, much bigger hand.

But just before they could make contact, the tank increased its speed, and the small boy was lost from my site.

An intense feeling of pity for him welled up inside of me, and I sank to the floor of the cage, feelings of hatred for Bevelle's Maester, and pity for every citizen of this Machina city boiling to the surface in my mind. "I never thought I'd ever see such a soul-crushed child."

Suddenly, I felt the rumbling under me fade away.

I opened my eyes, and looked around.

We were standing in front an enormous temple.

The temple was built circle-shaped, on a huge plateau. Above the double doors, were the letters "Saint Bevelle" written in Japanese Kanji. "So, this is the place." I thought, looking up at it.

I turned around, and looked behind me. A long staircase made of white stone led up to the Bevelle HQ. "It looks more like some kind of place to worship something, rather than a place where they keep Machina hidden." I thought, wondering if it could all have been bullshit that stuff about the Machina being held inside the temple of Bevelle. Suddenly, I noticed that the tank was gone. I was just sitting in the small cage.

"The Bevellians must've detached the cage from the tank, and somehow lifted it all the way up the stone staircase, and placed me here. But where are they now?" I thought. Then I saw them.

About ten soldiers all equipped down to the bone with heavy infantry weapons. Automatic rifles and pistols, pump-shotguns, hand-to-hand combat weapons, such as daggers and swords.

They were all dressed in white and green, with white helmets that covered their forehead, making them hard to see properly.

They had white, heavy-looking boots which seemed as if they looked more like white-painted iron than anything else. As I looked at their heavy equipment, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

"How the heck am I supposed to escape now!"

The Bevellian soldiers walked over to my cage, and positioned themselves in circles with the cage in the middle.

One of them approached the cage, and unlocked it with a heavy, silver key with a small version of the Bevellian flag engraved on it.

The entire cage made a whining sound as he opened the door.

He grabbed my wrist, and dragged me out the same way his boss had done. I tried to get on my feet, but he pushed me to the ground, and all the other soldiers aimed their pump-shotguns at me.

Their helmets shielded their eyes, so I couldn't see them, but I could tell they really hated me. Even though I couldn't see their eyes, I could tell by the way they held their weapons pointed at my head, and I felt a kind of icy cold chill emanate from them.

Every muscle in my body tightened by the hate I felt towards them.

My eyes burned with a white-hot hatred towards those bastards who'd invaded my hometown. The Bevellians noticed how my body tightened. They moved closer. One of them put his shotgun against the side of my head, ready to blow my brains out.

"Don't try anything stupid, Zanarkandian."

I forced my body to relax, though my hatred burned even fiercer.

Suddenly, one of them grabbed my hair, and dragged up after it.

It hurt like hell. I tried to follow the hand as it dragged me upwards after my hair. I gritted my teeth, so I wouldn't scream.

"You'll be placed under arrest in the Saint Bevelle Underground."

The guard holding me let go of my hair, and pushed me to the ground again. "As long as they're standing in this tight circle around me, I won't get any chances of escaping. That'll have to wait until they've moved away. It's the only chance I've got." "What are you mumbling about, Zanarkandian? The Underground awaits you."

The Bevellian grabbed my arm. I felt how it got numb from his tight grip. "What's up with this guy, anyway, holding my arm so tightly? He took a step backwards, and dragged me unto my feet. The other soldiers watched in silence, as if they were used to this kind of thing. They led me into the temple.

I was standing in an enormous room with a balcony above me.

On the balcony, was a huge banner bearing a strange symbol I'd never seen before. It could've been a key, if it wasn't for that it had three blades below the handle, instead of one. The three-bladed key was painted in black, with a white circle behind it. Around the white circle, I was the rest of the banner painted in deep-red.

Below the balcony, right opposite of where I stood, was an elevator-like device which floated in mid-air.

The whole room had the atmosphere of a place where people were holding important ceremonies or meetings.

The whole room was silent as a graveyard in the night.

The only sound that could be heard was a whispering that seemed to come from one of the rooms to the right side.

"What's that whispering?" I asked the guards.

The one holding me actually spoke this time.

"Our nuns are praying to the Grand Maester that Zanarkand will fall, and that peace will soon return to the world."

"THEY ARE WHAT!" I screamed in outrage.

I couldn't and wouldn't understand what that asshole had just said.

I remembered how Bevelle's Machina had bombed a single district in Zanarkand just to get the one Summoner who they suspected resided there. I remembered how they'd killed tens of civilians in the assault.

I remembered how they'd made my hometown into something I still couldn't understand.

"It's you who're destroying the world-peace!" I yelled at him, unable to contain myself. Finally, I had an excuse to get out my feelings, and I used it. I yelled on:

"Look at all those war-Machinas you've got right outside this very room! Look at all the defeated people of your city!

Look at the way you invaded Zanarkand and transformed it into…..into what it is now!" I roared, not being able to find words for what Zanarkand had now become.

"Murasame." The man said to one of the guards, as if I hadn't spoken at all. "Head over to the heliport with half of this company, and prepare The Peacebringer for immediate take-off.

We're gonna crush Zanarkand, so this godforsaken freak learns to keep his goddamn mouth shut." The man called Murasame saluted, and he and a four other soldiers went out of the room.

While the last soldier passed me on his way out, I slipped my hand inside his pocket, and took out his small knife.

I pocketed it quickly and silently. The other soldiers were too busy chatting amongst themselves to notice anything.

I noticed that, by coincidence, I'd put the small knife in my right pocket. And the man holding me stood on my right side.

This would make it easier for me to use the small weapon.

"I don't have anything against it; since he and that boss of his has been treating me like shit since I got captured in Zanarkand."

I held the small knife lightly with my right hand, trying not to act as if I was up to something. The man holding me was looking in a different direction, speaking to one of the other guards who were still there. Before I took out the small knife, I took a quick look at the man's pockets, to see if there was anything of his weapons I could use.

I saw a small machine gun in a sheath on his right leg.

The machine gun could be reached easily. All I had to do was stretch my right hand just a few centimetres away, and grab it. Since the lock on the sheath was open, it would be easier for me to steal the weapon. "How convenient for me that they keep their guns in sheaths like that.

I'm sure it's supposed to be for his advantage, but

I'm not so sure about that."

Once I'd formed as good a plan as I could in this situation, I tightened my grip on the small knife, ready to pull it out of my pocket.

I closed my eyes. I'd never done anything like this before.

Now that I thought about it, to use that Machina to slaughter hundreds of people in order to save Lenne, was an extremely drastic thing to do, to use an easy word.

I heard a moan come from close by me, and the sound of something dripping to the floor. Then I heard the sound of something heavy falling, meeting the floor with a crash that rang through the entire room. And then moaning again, they weren't the blissful, happy moans I'd heard from Lenne. These were moans of agony,

moans of someone who was in deep pain.

I opened my eyes. I had stabbed the small knife in his stomach, instead of his wrist, as I'd planned to.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, before anyone could do or say anything, I pulled out the small machine gun from the sheath on the Bevellian's right leg, raised my arm holding the gun, and fired.

Another body fell to the ground, shot through the heart. Then, before anyone of the three soldiers who were still standing could raise their guns in retaliation, I picked up the body of the man lying in front of me with the small knife through his stomach. He coughed blood, and moaned in pain as I held him in front of me as a living shield. I pointed the small machine gun on one of the three soldiers. None of them seemed to want to fire at me, afraid to hit their comrade.

I fired the small gun again, twice and two more bodies fell to the ground. I noticed that the man still standing was holding a shotgun with one trembling hand.

I looked into his face, which was filled with an intense fear.

I pointed the small machine gun at the hand that held weapon, and fired. The soldier dropped the weapon immediately, screaming in pain, clutching his bleeding hand with the other. He fell to the floor. What I could see of his face was red with blood running to his face due to the pain. I threw the stabbed man aside, and shot him in the head.

He died instantly. Blood flowed from the hole in his forehead.

His dead and bloody face wore the expression of a dead person who'd experienced mind-breaking agony before death took him.

I went over to the man lying on the floor. He quickly backed away, trying to get away from me. "Where's my sword?" I asked in a voice I didn't recognise. "I-in the room to the left of you. M-my boss told me to put it there, locked in a vault before you arrived."

"Where's the key to the vault?" I asked, still in that murderous, harsh voice I didn't recognise.

The man moved a shaky hand to his helmet, and took it off.

The white, heavy helmet fell to the floor with a crash.

Again, the sound of something heavy hitting the floor rang across the entire hall. "I-inside the h-helmet." He gasped, still clutching his hand with the other. They were now both soaked in his red, warm blood.

I went over to the helmet and picked it up.

A key with a different shape than the key to the cage tanks, but with the Bevellian flag carved in it lay in there.

I took it out of the sweaty, warm helmet, and pocketed it.

Then I left the man to his own business.

I was standing in a small room with a huge vault which filled it nearly entirely. The vault seemed to be made of a thick material that looked as if it could withstand a bomb of nearly any kind.

I approached the enormous vault, and placed the key in a keyhole in the middle of the circle-shaped, heavy door.

I turned the key in and stepped hastily aside as the vault opened.

It opened slowly, with a screechy sound. I clasped my hands over my ears, trying to block it out. The vault opened entirely, and the loud, screechy sound died away.

I looked inside a room which seemed to be so big that an airship like the one I'd been brought to Bevelle in could easily fit in there.

My sword lay in the middle of the huge vault, still inside its holster.

I stepped inside the room. My feet made echoes in the vault as it made contact with the metal floor. I went over to the sword, and picked it up.

"Why the heck do these guys bother to lock a single sword inside this huge thing?" I wondered, fastening it to the braces on my back.

I went out of the huge vault, or storeroom, or whatever.

The first thing I noticed when I got out in the hall again was that the soldier who'd given me the key for the vault had gone.

"I sure hope this doesn't lead to any trouble."

Then, suddenly, I heard screaming. I turned around quickly.

The nuns who'd been praying came running out of their room, screaming loudly at the sound of the corpses lying on the floor, and the blood that covered rather huge parts of the hall.

They ran out of the temple, screaming loudly.

"More witnesses." I thought, looking after them, hearing them scream. "Aw, well. Not much to do about that. I don't want to kill them."

I sighed, and went over to the elevator-like device.

"Now, how do I use this thing?" I wondered, looking at the device.

It had no buttons, or any obvious means of triggering the device.

I put my hand on the golden handrail built circle-shaped around the elevator, wondering what I should do now.

Suddenly I felt the device move, and I grabbed the handrail with both hands so I wouldn't fall from the surprise.

The elevator began to descend, down into a thin layer of mist.

"Why is there mist here, anyway?"

As the elevator went down, I could feel how it seemed to get colder.

"Perhaps I should expect it, being underground and all."

I looked over the handrail, and looked downwards.

All I could see was the white mist. "I sure didn't expect something

like this of all things." As the elevator descended, the mist started to surround me, and it got harder to see. I clutched the handrail, to have something to hold on to. "Man…..this mist….it makes me feel…..unsafe." I mumbled, sitting down on the floor of the elevator.

The elevator stopped in mid-air, a few centimetres above the platform.

I got out of the device, and looked around the room.

I was standing on a shining blue platform in a huge room.

The room was built like some kind of labyrinth, and I could see

holes in the walls, where one was clearly supposed to place something.

"What is this place? How am I supposed to find that thing here?"

I took a few steps into the room. As I stepped forward, my feet made echoes as they touched the ground. The sound of my feet soared around the hall. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to search until I find it." I moved on, looking around the room for possible exists apart from the elevator.

After what seemed like endless hours of walking inside the labyrinth, I saw a new path to my right, leading upwards.

I took the new path to my right. I looked down, and saw what was beneath my feet. The floor I was walking on…..I could see through it.

Beneath me, I could see an endless maze of roads and platforms.

I swayed as I stood there, looking down at all the paths around me.

"Whoa! This place is…..crazy." I thought, not able to put it any other way. I forced my eyes upwards, looking ahead of me, away from the maze below. I moved on, looking around me for more paths that stood out from the others.

After some more time, it looked up, for some reason.

I saw another elevator above me, like the one I'd used coming down into the labyrinth. I quickened my pace, and tried to find the fastest route to the elevator, hoping it would lead me to the Machina.

I broke into a run. My feet made rapid echoes across the hall as my legs moved. After about thirty steps, I started breathing fast as I got more tired. Suddenly, I stumbled. I let out a yell of surprise, as my feet slipped. I landed on the see-through floor, and rolled a few times across the hall by the speed I'd held. After a few rolls, I managed to stop.

I lay there on the floor a few moments, trying to catch my breath, and get rid of the dizziness. I sat up, and put a hand to my forehead, trying to clear it. "Phew. That sure was breathtaking." I got up, my legs shook under me. I tightened the muscles in my legs, forcing them to cooperate. "Come on…..get back to normal!" I thought, trying to shake off the feeling I had from the experience.

After a minute, or something, my legs stopped shaking.

I stood upright, and let out a sigh. "Phew…….time to move on."

I continued onwards, but I didn't break into a run this time.

I walked on. The elevator above drew closer with each step I took.

I reached it, the elevator. "If I'm lucky, this thing can bring me to…." I stepped on it, and put my hand on the handrail.

The elevator flew slowly upwards.

The elevator stopped, and I looked in ahead of me.

I was looking at a huge double door with the strange three-bladed symbol on it. "What's with these guys and their weird symbols, anyway?" I wondered. I approached the double doors.

They looked heavy, as if, to open it, you'd have to have at least three adults to push it open. I tried, even though I knew it would probably come to nothing. "Come oooooon! Open up!" I moaned, as I kicked from the ground with my hands against the double doors, trying to push them open. "Nnnnnnng…….huh……pffff……shit……you're persistent, aren't you?" I stepped away from the door, when an idea suddenly flashed into my mind.

"I know what to do."

I put my right hand up to the handle of the sword on my back.

I pulled it out, hearing the sound of it being unsheathed as I pulled.

I stood there, the sword in my right hand, against the floor.

"Well…..here goes….." I lifted the sword above my head, as if I was about to cleave someone's head in two.

I sliced at the door, hearing the sound of tree being chopped as the sword made contact with the huge thing.

I stood with the sword through the door, and moved it left, right, centre, until the huge double doors fell to the ground with an ear-splitting bang that shook the floor.

I stood there, awed at how it'd happened. "Holy cow, that was…..whoa…..didn't expect it to sound like that.

I stared at the remnants of the door lying in pieces across the floor in front of me some more. Then, as if I had been hit by something hard,

I returned to my senses. I blinked, and put the sword back into the sheath.

"Time to move on." I stepped over the remnants of the entrance door.

I looked ahead of me.

I was standing in a circulated room, with the same three-bladed key painted on the floor. The room looked like some kind of waiting-place.

I stepped further inside the room, examining the strange-looking "door" opposite of me.

It was sort of egg-shaped, and looked as if it was made of something heavy. But unlike the door I'd chopped up back there, it wasn't so breathtakingly big. Suddenly, an image flashed into my mind.

I thought I could see Lenne there, in a small cage attached to a long chain. I thought I could see how she was holding the railings of the small round cage, screaming the words "let me out!"

The image made me run towards the egg-shaped door.

I pulled out my sword, and struck at it with such force, that

when I met the door with the blade of the sword, I slammed my body against it. The door fell to the floor with a crash.

The tip of my sword had made one large hole in the centre of the door.

I sheathed the sword again.

I could see nothing ahead of me, but an enormous black hole.

It was so deep, that when I looked down, I could see nothing but blackness.

"Well…..there's nothing for it….."

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and stepped out into darkness.

I fell. Keeping my eyes closed through the entire fall.

I felt how the wind rushed past me with increasing speed as

I continued to fall.

It felt as if it would never end. "Lenne. I need you."

I landed hard, hitting the floor with a loud crash.

I opened my eyes. I was lying on my back, my face upwards, looking into the blackness I'd fallen through.

I sat up, feeling sick from the sensation.

"I…..made it, Lenne." I got up from the floor.

I looked ahead of me once more, hoping this would lead me to my goal.

I was standing in a long corridor. The corridor just led onwards, no turns, or doors to any of the sides. The corridor was too dark to see what colour the walls were painted in. Then I remembered it.

This was the place with the door with the message in blood-red.

"Maybe this will….."

I broke into a sprint, keeping my gaze fixed ahead of me.

I had to find it. It was the only way I could save my Lenne.

The only way it wouldn't come true.

I stopped as my eyes met the two double doors I'd seen in the nightmare. Across the doors, I could see the same message in blood-red. "Do not enter". I gulped as I read the Japanese Kanji letters.

"This……is it." I stepped closer to the door, and put my right hand on the handle of the sword. "In there…." I pulled out the weapon.

"Those……bastards." I sliced at the doors as though possessed.

As if the only thing that stood in my mind, was to…..destroy.

Once, twice, thrice, fourth, fifth, sixth. I wouldn't let get her. Never.

The double doors were reduced to bits and pieces of metal.

Even though I'd just sliced my way through a double door made of a material like that, I didn't even think about how terrific the strength of that sword was. I ran over the remnants of the door.

I'd reached it. The room with the Machina

with the balcony-like platform.

I stood there, awed and terrified at the sight.

"What a……monster." The Machina in front of me was built just as I'd described it to Lenne the day after the nightmare.

It really looked like it was fifty meters tall.

It was built completely with legs, torso, arms, head and tail.

I looked into the dark holes that was supposed to be the "eyes" of the monster. "Did Bevelle……really create something like this?"

I'd tried to imagine how terrible that Machina could be, having seen it in my dream. But I'd never dreamed that to see it in real life, leering down at me with those pitiful holes, could feel so……horrifying.

I took a deep breath, trying to recover from the feeling of despair.

I couldn't remember it feeling this scary in the dream.

I'd felt like that nightmare seemed realistic, but I'd never imagined how it would feel to see the real thing.

I forced my legs to move forward. I looked into the Machina's holes.

I reached the end of the balcony.

The Machina stood there silently.

It really did look as if it was waiting for me to say or do something.

I opened my mouth, and found myself saying the twelve words from the nightmare: "You know, you're all I can count on to save Lenne."

Suddenly, the whole room got bathed in blood-red light, and an alarm went off. The sound of it echoing through the huge room, making it sound even louder than it actually was.

The sound was so terrible. It really sounded more like a scream than anything else. It really felt as if the Machina in front of me was screaming, howling.

I turned around in the room, and faced whoever could have found me.