Once all of us had boarded the structure, the door behind us slid shut and it began to move again. We all stood in the doorway, trying to get our barings and make sure that we weren't going to be ambushed. When we were certain that we were safe for the moment, we all let out a breath.
"Okay," Luke started, "Before we get going I want everyone to check their magic and junctions. This is some serious shit and I don't want anyone dying because they weren't junctioned properly."
We did as we were ordered and then awaited his next order.
"If Raine is right and the sorceress is here, this is going to be the final showdown," Luke began.
"She's here," Raine insisted, "I can feel her."
Luke nodded. "We need to have a plan. First of all, Raine, Gavin and Morgan will in no way be a part of the battle with the sorceress."
"What?!" Raine exclaimed. "That's not fair!"
"Yeah!" Morgan agreed, "we wanna fight too!"
"You guys aren't SeeDs," Luke reminded, "and as field leader, I forbid it. If we can find a safe place for you before the battle begins, you'll stay there until it's done. If not, you'll stay as far back as possible and will leave if you get the chance."
"And what if you don't win?" Raine questioned, "then what are we gonna do? We'll be sitting ducks. We can help you."
"Yeah," Gavin backed, "At least let us heal or something. You might need us."
"They have a point," Cale told him, "we're gonna need all the help we can get."
Luke was silent for a moment. "All right, but you have to stay in the very back and heal only. No offensive magic and definately no attacking. We'll be busy enough trying to keep ourselves alive, we won't have time to be trying to bail you out."
The three cadets nodded, knowing that was the best they were going to get out of him. He continued with his orders.
"When we engage the sorceress, we'll break into battle formation like always. Me, Cale, and Kaisa will be the front line, Tal and Vaughn will cover us. Kayla, you're our strongest healer so I want you inbetween them and the kids."
"No way," Vaughn argued, "I want to be on the front line. Kai can cover."
"She doesn't have a projectile weapon."
"She can use magic," Vaughn insisted, "This is a serious battle. People could die. Do you really want to put her so close to the danger?"
"Damn it Vaughn," Luke muttered, "We're about to go into the battle of a lifetime and you're letting your puppy love get in the way of soldier instinct. Come on man, think!"
Without a word, Vaughn grabbed Luke's shoulders and slammed him into one of the shiny green walls. I was standing the closest to them and I gasped and stumbled backwards.
"You listen to me Almasy," Vaughn hissed, "If you want to let your sister get killed, whatever, but I'm not gonna stand by and let her. And you better think twice before you just assume that what I feel for her is puppy love." He took a step back but Luke remained where he was. I could see the surprise on his face but there was no anger. The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes. Around them, none of us moved.
"Okay," Luke finally agreed, "you can have the front line, Kai can cover. There probably won't be much use for weapons anyway."
Vaughn took a few steps away and Luke walked away from the wall. We all stared at him in shock, surprised that he had given in instead of retaliating violently.
"Now," Luke continued, "where was I?"
"Battle formation," Raine reminded.
"Right," Luke nodded, "Raine, Gavin and Morgan in the far back, Kayla in front of them, Kaisa and Tal in front of her, me, Vaughn and Cale will be the front line. Does everyone have a GF?"
We all nodded.
"Okay, we need to rearrange our magic. I want most of the healing and support magic to the kids and Kayla. Kai gets as much offensive magic as she can hold and we'll split the rest of it among the rest of us."
We all complied and once the magic was redistributed, we were ready to continue into the structure.
"All right, Raine," Luke stepped aside with flourish, "lead the way."
She nodded and took the point position, and the rest of us followed. Raine led us through the halls of Lunatic Pandora without hesitation. She knew where she was going, that was for sure. Luke had told her to lead us to our parents before the sorceress, knowing that their help would be much appreciated. Thanks to Gavin's ENC-NONE we didn't have to deal with any random monsters. We had been wandering the halls for about half an hour when we came to a room with two trap doors in the floor. There was no way around them and we definately couldn't jump over them, they were too long.
"We have to go through here," Raine told us when she saw the trap doors, "they're through here."
"Do you think they'll hold us?" Kayla asked doubtfully.
"We've gotta try," Tal insisted, knowing that Raine wasn't mistaken about where their mother was.
"Stand back," Luke ordered, "I'll try it." He took a deep breath and stepped onto the closest door. It gave no sign of giving way beneath him. He waited a second. "Seems sturdy enough."
"Are you sure?" Morgan inquired.
Luke jumped up and down on the door. "Pretty sure."
Vaughn went next, joining Luke on the door. "Yep, we're good."
Cale and Tal joined them, showing that the door would hold their weight. Once they were satisfied, they continued on. Me, Kayla, Raine, Morgan and Gavin followed. We were about halfway across the door when I heard something click under us. I turned to Kayla, who was next to me but before I could say anything, the door gave way beneath us and we plummeted to the level below, screaming as we went. We all landed in a heap, arms and legs all twisted together. When we managed to untangle ourselves, we made sure we were okay, then stood and looked up at where the door had opened. It had closed by itself and there was no sign that it was even there on this side.
"Great," Kayla mumbled, "Now what are we going to do?"
"Do you think the guys will try to open the trap door to get us?" Morgan asked.
"I don't think they can," I admitted, "there is no way that the five of us weigh more than the four of them. It's almost like the door opened under us on purpose."
"Why would it do that?" Gavin questioned.
"I don't know," I stated, "but I think we should continue on. Once we find our parents, then we can go back and look for the guys, if they don't beat us there."
Everyone agreed and with Raine once again in the lead, we continued on our mission. We were walking for about twenty minutes in silence, looking for signs of the guys, when Raine stopped in her tracks. I was walking close behind her and nearly plowed into her. Kayla, who was behind me, did run into me. She smiled apologetically and then turned to Raine as she spoke.
"We're getting close," Raine informed, "we need to go a little farther down this hall and then turn right and we'll be where they are." She seemed nervous about it and I couldn't figure out why, so I asked. "The sorceress is closer to them now," she stated, "Probably in the room next to them or maybe one over. Either way, she's close."
"We need to be ready for anything," I told the others. Since losing the guys, I had taken over as field leader. No one had really appointed the task to me but I took it anyway. I'm an Almasy and I like to lead, I guess. "The sorceress could be waiting for us." As I said it, I realized that "could" was kidding myself and the others. It was almost certain that she was waiting for us. She had to know we were there. "If everybody's ready, we should keep going." The others nodded and we headed down the hall to a dead end. The only way to go was right, the way Raine had said our parents, and consequently the sorceress, were. Before stepping around the corner, I stopped the procession.
"This is it, guys," I started, "is everybody ready?" I looked around at them and saw fear in all of their eyes. I wasn't exactly thrilled about this situation either, especially since we had to go in without the guys, but I knew we had no choice. As my eyes fell on them, they nodded, one by one. "Okay, this is it. Remember what Luke said, Raine, Gavin and Morgan in the back. Me and Kayla will take the front." They all nodded and I took the front this time. I took a deep breath and led them around the corner.
We found ourselves standing in a rather large room. It was slightly darker than the preceeding hallway and it took us a second to adjust. After a few seconds, I began to make out objects against the walls. They were large, cylinder shaped devices with tubes and pipes coming out the top and leading into the roof. On the front of each cylinder was a clear window that was about four feet long and two feet wide. As I stared, I realized that there was something inside. I strained to see what and my heart felt like it stopped. There were people inside.
"Mom!" Raine cried from behind me and dashed into the room.
"Raine, no!" I called, but she was already by me. She had run to one of the cylinders and had her hands pressed to the window in front of it. Confused, I followed her into the room. When I got closer, I could see the people inside better. They were our parents.
Kayla and the twins had come in behind me and now they were at the cylinders as well, calling to their parents and banging on the windows of the cylinders. I scanned the room quickly and my eyes fell on my mom. I ran to her.
"Mom!" I called and got as close to the glass window as I could. I could see that her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving. I didn't know if she could hear me in there or not but I pounded on the glass. "Mom! MOM! Answer me, please!" I turned back to the others. "Are they alive?"
"Yes," Raine answered, "If you look closely, you can see them breathing."
"Can we get them out?" Morgan asked.
Raine shook her head. "There's a strong magic seal on the pods. We'd never be able to break it."
I turned back to my mom and saw that her chest was rising and falling shallowly as she breathed. I sighed in relief and stepped back into the middle of the room. I scanned the other pods. I saw Aunt Rinoa, Uncle Squall, Uncle Raijin, Aunt Fujin, Uncle Zell, Aunt Selphie, Uncle Irvine... Even Laguna Loire and Ellone were there. I scanned the room again as the panic began to build.
"Hey!" I called, near tears, "where's my dad?"
The others turned to me, then scanned the room.
"He's not here?" Kayla questioned.
"No," I told her and hurried around the room, checking each pod and then double checking it. "He's not here. Where is he?"
"Maybe he got away," Gavin suggested.
"No," I shook my head, "he wouldn't have left without my mom." I looked around at the others, waiting to see if they had any other suggestions. They all stared at me forlornly. It was then that it hit me. "Oh no!" I wailed and fell to my knees, my face in my hands. "She killed him! That bitch killed him!" I began to sob uncontrollably.
"Kai," Kayla murmured and knelt next to me, wrapping me in a warm hug. She offered no other comfort and I was glad, because nothing would've helped. I don't know how long I sat there on the floor, crying my eyes out, but suddenly a rage like none I had ever felt came over me. I was barely able to keep it in control as I furiously wiped the tears from my face and pulling away from Kayla, stood up.
"Come on," I urged, "we need to continue on. We can't help our parents as long as the sorceress is still lurking about." That evil bitch had killed my father and now she would pay with her life.
The others were scared, more scared than they had been. It was obvious that they had been counting on our parents' help in defeating the sorceress. Now that they knew we were on our own, they were near terrified. Me, on the other hand, I was completely focused. There was no fear in me, only rage and a thrist for revenge. Before they could protest, I walked through the door at the other end of the pod room. I didn't care if they followed or not. I would kill the sorceress or die trying, even if I had to do it by myself.
The next room was connected to the pod room by a short hallway. When I approached the next room, my first thought was that it had a black door blocking the entrance but when I got closer, I realized that there was no door and that the black was actually the interior of the room. I crept closer, knowing but not carrying that anyone inside the room would be able to see me. I looked in and saw nothing but blackness so dark that it hurt my eyes to look at it. Suddenly, two spots of color flared to life across the room. They were both blood red in color and about the size of quarters. It took me a second to realize what they were but suddenly, I felt the breath catch in my throat. They were the eyes of the sorceress.
As I watched, her eyes moved across the room. At first I thought they were coming towards me but I realized I was wrong when they stopped after a few feet and turned away from me. A soft glow began to eminate from the sorceress and soon only the corners of the room were left in shadow. I didn't realize that the others had joined me until I heard Kayla gasp next to me. I turned to her but she wasn't looking at me. Her eyes were fixed on the sorceress.
The woman in the room was tall, probably even taller than me, with long, flowing blonde hair down her back. She wore an emerald dress that trailed the ground behind her and on her bare arms we could see the strange markings that evil sorceress's seemed to be fond of. We couldn't see her face because she was facing away from us, towards a still shadowed corner across the room. As we watched, she lifted her hand and beckoned with a long, purple fingernail. The only answer she recieved was a bullet that hit the high level shield she had erected around herself. The shield flashed blue for a moment, then disappeared.
"Come SeeD," she urged in a saccarine voice, "come into the light so that I may see you."
The five of us watched in terror as Vaughn stepped out of the shadows. He raised his shotgun and fired again but with the same result as before.
"Fine," Sorceress Lantana hissed, "if that is the way you want things to be..."
Suddenly, my dream came flooding back to me and I knew what was about to happen. In it, I hadn't been able to save Vaughn but here, I could. "Vaughn!" I screamed and sprinted to him, hitting him as hard as I could and knocking both of us to the ground just seconds before the amethyst nails would've impaled him. We skidded a few inches and then came to a stop.
"Kai?!" Vaughn asked in surprise.
"I did it," I mumbled, "you're okay."
"Yeah," he assured, although he didn't understand what I meant.
"I see," the sorceress hissed. The two of us jumped to our feet quickly. "So that is why you resisted my advances? Foolish human. No matter, I only have a need for one knight anyway."
As she had spoken, we had been joined by the others, including Cale, Tal and Luke and we quickly fell into formation.
"Your intentions are foolish, SeeDs," she told us, "You cannot defeat me. Your parents made the mistake of thinking they could and look at what happened to them."
When she mentioned our parents, I remembered that my dad had been missing from the pod room. The rage boiled in me again and I stepped forward, breaking the battle formation.
"You killed my father!" I accused, "Now, you will pay!"
"Killed your father?" Lantana asked, amused, "But you are mistaken child." She turned back to where I had first seen her eyes, which was still covered in darkness, and once again beckoned. "Come my knight. Show these children our power."
All attention was focused on the spot where the sorceress was looking. We caught sight of movement in the blackness and Lantana's knight stepped frow the shadows. I heard gasps all around and a wail of disbelief that it took me a second to realize had come from me. I felt Vaughn's hand close over mine but it did nothing to comfort me.
Standing before us was my father, Seifer Almasy.
Lantana turned back to us, an evil smirk on her lips. She looked straight at me when she spoke. "You see child? I did not kill your father. It would've been a waste to do so."
"No!" I wailed. I felt the rage leave me and it was replaced with dispair. This couldn't be real, it had to be a trick. My dad wouldn't betray us like this.
"What the Hell?" Luke whispered. I think he was just as shocked as me.
Lantana turned to my brother. "What child? Do you not recognize your own father?" She looked down at my dad, who was now kneeling next to her submissively.
"This isn't real," I spoke suddenly, "it can't be. It's a trick." I could feel hysteria building up in me and I knew that if I didn't get it under control, I would snap.
Lantana laughed. "Oh child! Your denial will not make this situation any less true."
I felt tears prick my eyes. "Why? Why him?"
"He is by far the best fighter of your parents," she replied, "although it was somewhat difficult to convince him to join me, it was well worth it."
"What did you do to him?" Luke demanded, "I know my dad and he wouldn't let you take over his mind without a fight. What the Hell did you do to him?!"
"You are correct child," Sorceress Lantana nodded, "He fought valiantly and in the end, I was forced to show him that you, your mother and your sister had been killed by my forces. When he thought his family was dead, he simply shut down and I was able to infiltrate his mind to make him what you see before you, a mere puppet to do my bidding."
My eyes fell back on my dad and he looked up at us. I gasped when I saw that his eyes were completely blank. The green orbs were devoid of any emotion or thought and were clouded slightly. I felt tears slip down my cheeks as I realized that this wasn't my dad, this was just his shell. My dad was gone. The anger began to seep back into me as I realized that in a sense, my dad was dead and that the only way to bring him back was to kill the sorceress. I pulled away from Vaughn and brandished my weapons threateningly at Lantana.
"You'll pay for this!" I screamed, "For all the pain and suffering you caused to the people of Esthar and FH and for what you did to our parents! You're going down!"
The sorceress scoffed boredly. "I grow tired of this conversation. Knight, take care of this problem."
My dad got to his feet and without a word, rushed towards us with Hyperion drawn. He was aiming for me and I stood there in shock and probably would've been killed if Luke hadn't stepped in front of me, crossing his gunblade with my dad's.
"Get back," Luke ordered, a slight smirk on his face, "He's mine."
I nodded and backed up as my dad broke the stalemate and swung dispassionately at his only son. Luke blocked easily and struck, but was blocked as well. As I watched them, I wandered who was going to win this showdown. My dad had taught Luke everything he knew so there would be no secrets as to the moves. My final conclusion was that Luke had a better chance because he was fighting for something. He had the passion and the need to win, while my dad, or rather, the thing he had become, was nothing more than a hollow marionette, fighting because someone was pulling his strings.
None of us made a move to attack my dad or the sorceress and in turn, Lantana remained silent and still. We were all watching the fight in front of us. It was like seeing my dad fighting himself when he was younger, except there was no fire in my dad's moves and none of the bravado that we were so used to hearing from him. If he had been himself, he would've been yelling insults at Luke, trying to make him lose his concentration and make a mistake. Likewise, if this had been a normal fight, Luke would've been doing the same thing but he knew it would do no good so he conserved his energy.
The two of them fought for almost five minutes without either of them getting even close to hurting the other. They both attacked and parried identically, making the battle look almost like an intricate dance that only the two of them knew the steps to. They were so evenly matched that they could fight until they both passed out from exhastion and never even draw blood. Apparently the sorceress had figured that out as well because without warning, she raised her hand and with a bored look, fired a Flare spell at Luke. He was thrown back against a wall, where he slumped down and didn't move. We were so surprised by her sudden intrusion that we all just stared for a second. We finally focused back on her when she spoke.
"That got boring rather fast," she commented, "perhaps the rest of you will give me some more entertainment. Knight, attack!"
My father did as she said, coming straight at Cale. The oldest Dincht put up his fists in anticipation of the fight but never even got the chance to strike. My dad simply knocked his hands out of the way and sliced him down the chest. Cale cried out in surprise and stumbled a few steps, then fell to the ground, his hands pressed to the wound in a feeble attempt at stopping the bleeding.
"Hurry!" I heard Raine shout, "Heal him! He's gonna die!"
I don't know who she was talking to and I didn't turn to look. My eyes were fixed on Cale, who was still breathing at the moment but wouldn't be for long. Already there was a puddle of blood around him that was rapidly approaching pool status. My dad had done this. Without even a word, he had sliced Cale open like the fish he liked to catch off the Balamb pier. My eyes moved a little and fell on the form of my brother. He wasn't moving and I didn't know whether he was alive or dead. I felt like I was in a trance as I looked back and forth between the two of them. I saw that Raine and the twins were now kneeling next to Cale and trying desperately to heal him before he died. No one had even made an attempt to help my brother. My attention was brought back to the battle when I heard a loud gunshot. I jumped and spun around just in time to see my dad swipe Vaughn's gun away, slicing his arm in the process. Vaughn hissed in pain and put his hand to the wound as blood pumped out of it. It wasn't life threatening like Cale's but it was serious. If he continued to bleed, he would eventually pass out but that wasn't even on the top of my list of concerns. Vaughn was defensless and my dad was pulling Hyperion back for the deathblow.
Without thinking, I skidded in front of Vaughn and threw my Sais up just in time to catch the gunblade on them. My dad was strong, there was no doubt about that, but once again he had no passion in the fight. I managed to keep his blade away from me while I tried to reason with him.
"Daddy!" I cried, my words strained because of the pressure he was exerting on his weapon and therefore, on me, "It's me, Daddy, Kaisa. Can't you see me at all? I know you're in there Dad. We're not dead, none of us. The sorceress lied to you. Please Daddy, you've gotta stop this before someone gets really hurt." Of course, two people already had been really hurt and Vaughn was wounded as well. My dad showed no signs of hearing me and I felt tears begin to slip down my cheeks. "Daddy, please listen to me!"
Suddenly, his eyes flashed something. The color came back to them for a second and for the first time since the sorceress had called to him, I saw a spark of life in the jade depths. It was gone as quickly as it had come, but it gave me some hope. I tried again. "Daddy, you've got to fight her! Show her that no one messes with an Almasy!"
That spark again, and then his eyes cleared completely. The pressure on his gunblade lessened but didn't all together stop. He blinked a few times and then for the first time since we had begun the fight, he really looked at me.
"Kaisa?" he mumbled thickly.
"Daddy!" I cried, although I didn't dare trust him enough to lower my weapons.
"Baby girl," he started. His words were slow and deliberate as if he were having trouble saying them, "You've got to stop her."
"I know Daddy," I assured.
"You've got to stop...me."
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Suddenly, I dropped to the ground and rolled between his legs, much like Uncle Squall had done the day we watched them fighting in the Training Center. Not anticipating my move, my dad stumbled a few steps at the sudden loss of opposing pressure and Hyperion sliced forward into the tile floor, giving me the time I needed to spring up behind him.
"I'm sorry," I whispered and then hit him as hard in the back of the head with the hilts of my Sais. Because I was behind him, I didn't know if I had been successful or not until he crumpled to the ground and lay still. I was down next to him a second later, checking to make sure he was okay. I was terrified to see blood soaking into his hair where I had hit him but his breathing and pulse were fine so I wasn't worried too much. I got back to my feet and saw that Kayla was now with Raine and the twins and was casting Full Cure on Cale, who looked like he was just seconds from giving up. He was white as a sheet and had lost a lot of blood. As soon as the spell connected, the color came back to his skin and he sat up, perfectly okay. His brother and sister hugged him tightly, and suprisingly, Raine did too. Kayla stayed long enough to ask him if he was okay, then hurried to where my brother still lay against the wall.
"Impressive SeeDs," the sorceress spoke, gaining all of our attention, "you managed to incapacitate my knight. I should have known better than to use someone so weak when it came to his family. No matter though, I was growing weary of his entertainment anyhow. Now, the real fun begins." She smiled and I felt like my heart had been frozen.
"Battle formation!"
I looked over and saw that Luke was up now and was hurrying back to us. We did as he ordered and as we fell into formation, I saw that Vaughn was still cradling his left arm where my dad had cut him. He had recovered his gun, however, and held it at the ready.
"Kayla!" I called behind me, "Vaughn's arm is hurt."
"Okay."
I heard her call out Curaga and then saw it envelope Vaughn. When it disappated, he flexed his arm and fingers a few times, then focused on the sorceress.
"This will be the battle to end all battles," Lantana narrated, "More impressive than even the battle with Ultimecia because I am more powerful than Ultimecia ever was. My name will go down in history and all who hear it will tremble with fear. I am Lantana, and soon I will rule this world with an iron fist and all humans will be my slaves!"
This chick was certifiably crazy, which made her that much more dangerous and we all knew it. If her boast proved to be true and she was more powerful than Ultimecia, we were in for the fight of a lifetime. Luke was obviously not intimidated by her talk because he was the first to strike.
"Ultima!"
The spell hit the sorceress with hardly any damage at all. The only thing it did was surprise her and I think, piss her off a little. She narrowed her eyes at us.
"After what I said, you still wish to fight me?" she asked in disbelief, "Fine. This place will be your tomb." Once again, she smiled that icy smile. "Maelstrom."
We were hit by the black energy and it zapped us all pretty good. The worst thing was the Curse status, keeping us from using our Limit Breaks. I heard the Dincht's, Raine and Kayla casting Esunas on us and Luke firing more spells. Vaughn shot at Lantana again but only managed to put a chink in her shield. I suddenly wondered if I could get behind her shield and get her with my Sais. It could work, but I'd have to get close enough to her first. I turned to Tal, who was firing his Blaster Edge with little or no effect.
"Tal!" I called, getting his attention. "Distract her! I'm gonna try something!"
He nodded and I saw him step away from the formation and charge up Aquarius. Lantana was focusing more on my brother than anyone else and she didn't see the GF until it was too late. She was engulfed, doing the most damage that anyone had been able to, although it was still minimal. When the bubble burst and she crashed back to the ground, I was standing right there. I rushed behind her shield and slashed her twice before flipping out of the way just as she lunged for me. I made it back to the formation unharmed but left Lantana bleeding on her face and chest. She was really pissed now and the icy smile had disappeared.
"How dare you!" she hissed at me, "how dare you touch me! You will pay! Your death will be especially painful and torturous!" She lifted her hands into the air. "I call upon the warrior power of the great god Odin!"
We watched in surprise as gray smoke began to swirl around her and her outfit changed from the green dress to full on armor. When the smoke disappeared, she was dressed like a warrioress, complete with helmet. She now held a weapon as well, a long, nasty looking staff with a ball on the end, perfect for blunt force trauma.
"Now you will know pain," she promised and swung her staff with deadly intent. I think she was aiming for me but Vaughn and Luke got in the way. Luke stopped her in mid-swing and Vaughn shot at her, striking her in the chestplate. The bullet didn't even make a dent. Thinking that weapons were going to be of no use, I fired a Holy spell at the witch. It was absorbed into her armor before it even hit her and then reflected back at us threefold. Tal, Cale and I took most of the spell and I fell to my knees, gasping for breath. I felt my Limit Break become active and I struggled to my feet. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go offense or defense but in the end, I decided I wanted to hurt the bitch.
"Ray Bomb!"
The spell slammed into Lantana. Of course, the magical part of it was absorbed by her armor and the physical part that hit the armor was nullified. I thought that the spell had been a total waste of time until I saw that part of Lantana's neck and face were scorched. I suddenly realized that magic was going to be useless and physical damage was almost impossible unless you hit her where there was no armor, which wasn't very many places. Her legs were uncovered, as were her arms, a portion of her face and neck. It would take forever to cause enough damage to defeat her but it was the only chance we had.
"Hit her where there's no armor!" I shouted and accessed my Limit Break again. I cast Mighty Guard this time, knowing that the Haste, Protect and Shell would be invaluable if we had to get that close to her to do damage. I also got lucky and Aura came through as well. Now we were ready to do some damage. Luke went first, using Demon Slice on the sorceress. When he was done, Cale was all set up and unleashed Duel on her exposed skin. Tal went next with Boomerang, then Vaughn with Shot and Pulse Ammo. He was so good with the shotgun that he managed to hit her exposed throat and face with every shot. After he was done, it was my turn.
"Gatling Gun!"
While I was in no way a marksman, and couldn't control the bullets even if I was, a fair amount of them hit the sorceress in her exposed areas. I heard Kayla casting Full-Cure on everyone and felt the tingly sensation envelope me. Behind me, I heard Gavin call out Harpoon, his Limit Break, in which he hurled his spear at the sorceress. It stuck in her leg and she wailed in pain, then pulled it out and threw it back at him. Gavin caught it easily and with no harm to himself.
"Nice shot Dincht," Luke praised, "but no more attacking."
"Okay," Gavin agreed, beaming with pride at the compliment.
The sorceress hissed in anger and attacked, this time with magic. She cast Apocalypse on us, but luckily our Shell spells from my Mighty Guard were working fine and we took only about half the damage the spell normally would've done. Not to say that it didn't hurt. In fact, it ended up knocking out Morgan, but she was brought around quickly by Raine. Our Aura magic had worn off but now we were able to access our Limit Breaks again because of the amount of damage we had taken and we all launched into our special attacks again. I used Homing Laser this time and it did a fair amount of damage. Kayla waited until everyone had performed their Limit Breaks, then she healed us again.
We then began to attack normally, trying to dodge Lantana's staff while simultaneously doing damage. We weren't always quick enough to dodge but with Protect in place, the staff didn't do enough damage to worry us and for the first time since entering Esthar, I had begun to believe that we could win the battle. What happened a few seconds later showed me how wrong I was.
"Foolish SeeDs," Lantana sneered, "You actually believe you can defeat me. Hell's Judgement!"
The spell hit all of us hard, leaving us with barely enough strength to stay conscious. Then, before anyone could act, she swung her club again, knocking out our front line. I saw Vaughn go down in front of me and I felt the terror building in me. One more shot and we could all be done for. Before she could do that, I used Gatling Gun again, giving Kayla the time she needed to use Full Cure. Of course, it didn't work on the guys who were unconscious so it left me and Tal as the front line.
"Cast Aura!" Tal demanded. Raine, who had cast triple on herself at the beginning of the battle, complied, and Tal, Kayla and I began to glow gold. I used Homing Laser again while Tal launched into Boomerang. While we were attacking, Raine had cast Full Life on the guys and Kayla used Wall to restore their Protect and Shell spells.
"That was close," Vaughn stated with a smile and winked at me as he took a shot at Lantana.
"You okay?" I asked, still concerned for his safety.
He tipped his hat at me. "Never better darlin'."
I grinned. "You're such a dork."
He turned back to the fight and I cast Mighty Guard again, renewing anyone's spells who had run out and giving the guys back their Haste status. Lantana tried to cast Hell's Judgement again but this time Kayla was ready for her. She used the last of her Aura to cast Full Cure seconds after the sorceress cast her spell. The end result was that we were all healed as soon as we had been harmed. Seeing that we had figured out how to counter her little trick, Lantana got angry.
"This ends now SeeDs!" she cried. Her armor melted away, turning back into her emerald dress.
I felt the air catch in my throat. Whatever she was about to do was going to be big and she obviously didn't have enough power in her warrior form to do it, which suggested some serious magic was about to transpire. We all froze in our places, waiting to see what she would do.
"You are not the only one's who have Guardian Forces," she told us and raised her arms to the ceiling. "Ragnarok!"
"Oh shit!" Cale breathed and the rest of us felt the same way. We heard a distant rumble that progressively grew louder until the entire room was shaking. Suddenly, the roof was torn off the building and we looked up at the biggest dragon any of us had ever seen. It was red and looked very much like the ship that had born it's name, but it was at least three times the size. There was no way it could fit in the room and a second later we realized it didn't have to. With one gigantic paw, it tore the room apart, leaving only the floor in tact. We could now see outside and it looked as if the sky had been painted with ink. Dark clouds swirled around, making it appear to be night, but it couldn't be. We hadn't been inside Lunatic Pandora for that long. I didn't have anymore time to contemplate the time because at that moment, Ragnarok swooped down and hovered behind the sorceress, allowing her to climb onto him like a child riding a pony. He then ascended above us and hovered menacingly.
"Now your end has come!" Lantana shouted, "Ragnarok, show them the power of the sorceress and her guardian!"
We all stared up at the beast, terrified and without any idea as to what to do. Behind us, Raine was the first to take action and began casting Regen on everyone. It was a good idea, but I doubted it was going to help us much, especially if we were dead. No one else moved to do anything. I glanced at Vaughn and saw that he was looking at me. He offered a weak smile but I didn't return it. I couldn't. This was it. I heard the dragon roar loudly and it grabbed my attention again. Riding near it's head, Lantana rose her arms to the sky once again.
"Hell's Inferno!"
A bright red light began to gather around the mouth of the dragon and grew until his entire head was gone in the glow. We watched in horror as he brought his head back and then with an enraged roar he flung the ball of fire at us. I stared up at it in shock, not knowing what I could do but stand there and wait to get fried. Suddenly, Vaughn grabbed me and threw me to the ground, then landed on top of me. I looked over and saw that Tal had done the same to Kayla. She looked over in my direction and without hesitation, held her hand out to me. I gripped it tightly as I felt the heat from the spell reaching us. A second later, we were engulfed and I could do nothing but close my eyes and scream.
The onslaught seemed to go on forever and I don't know how I stayed conscious but after it was over I was hanging on, although barely. Vaughn was still on top of me, shielding me with his own body and he had paid dearly for it. He was unconscious and had several cuts and bruises were already forming on his face and hands. He was bleeding from several of them. After ascertaining that he was in fact alive, I crawled out from under him and gently lowered his head to the floor. I was surprised when I heard someone call my name.
"Kai."
It was Kayla. She was sitting next to Tal, who looked just as bad or worse than Vaughn.
"Is Tal okay?" I questioned.
"He's alive," Kayla answered, "What about Vaughn?"
I looked down at the unconscious man next to me and had to fight to hold back tears. "The same."
Kayla and I surveyed our surroundings and saw that everyone but the two of us were unconscious. Luke and Cale were back with the Dincht twins and Raine and had obviously tried to shield them the best that they could but it hadn't matter. They were all out. I figured that the only reason Kayla and I had remained awake was because our Fire defense was higher than everyone else's because of Ember and Blayze. Before we could even think of getting back to the battle, the sorceress spoke.
"So two still live," she mused, "no matter, I will take care of that."
Hurry Mistress! You must do something or she will kill everyone!
"Kayla!" I called. She was still sitting next to Tal in a trance. She looked up slowly. "Heal me and then cast an Aura on me."
"I don't have any Aura magic," Kayla told me apologetically.
"Never mind," I started, "Start healing everyone else. I'll take care of the witch."
I stood up next to Vaughn and Lantana began to laugh.
"Ah, young SeeD, I know you are angry about your boyfriend but soon you will join him."
"He's not dead," I shouted back, "but you are." I closed my eyes and concentrated with all the strength I had left. "Shockwave..."
"Kaisa no!" Kayla screamed, "you aren't strong enough."
I knew I wasn't but there was nothing else I could do. I had to stop her. "PULSAR!"
The spell left my body and I fell to my knees as it engulfed the sorceress and her GF. They howled in pain as spell hit them over and over. When it was finally over, Ragnarok disintegrated into nothing and Lantana fell from the sky and landed hard in front of us. Behind me, I could hear Kayla and Raine, who Kayla had healed first, casting curative magic on the others. In front of me, the sorceress started to get up and then fell back to the ground.
"Curse all SeeDs," she muttered and then she too disintegrated, leaving nothing behind to show us she had even been there in the first place. A second later, Vaughn was pulling me into his arms.
"Hyne Kai, are you okay?"
I smiled weakly but didn't answer. I was completely drained and I knew that I was going to pass out any second.
"Vaughn..." I managed and then the blackness enveloped me.