Note: This chapter is set in an AU containing elements of both Ordinary Heroes and Whispers of the Gods. As a result, you should not take anything contained in this chapter too seriously (i.e., do not expect this to actually happen in Whispers of the Gods). It is a sequel to Chapter 19 of this story (i.e., Cackles of the Gods).

X X X

Not Quite Right

Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca was a young woman on a mission. Throughout her life, she had been forced to stand back and watch as others defended her. All eight of her older brothers had been grievously wounded defending Dalmasca from its neighbours. None of them had died yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out. Even her beloved protector, Basch, had been injured intercepting a ruthless group of assassins.

Dalmasca needed a miracle to deal with all of its enemies, and only the gods could provide one. The standard prayers and entreaties had all failed. Her ancient ancestor, the Dynast King, had angered the gods with his ruthless conquest of nearby kingdoms. His descendants had borne the weight of the gods' displeasure as their conquered lands were taken from them one by one until only Dalmasca itself remained. And now even Dalmasca might fall. Perhaps it was just punishment, but she refused to let her family suffer because of their ancestor's sins.

With the help of a cunning pirate and the odd collection of friends she'd made during her trips into the city disguised as a commoner, she'd managed to sneak out of Dalmasca. Her destination was the Trial, the ancient ritual held by the Yun to select who would be their goddess's Chosen.

The journey had been a nightmare. She couldn't afford to travel openly, so she had been forced to seek passage with the most disreputable merchants and caravans. The plains had brought nothing but hardship, for they were set upon by a host of wild beasts. She had come face to face with behemoths, lions, and even a hydra. Only the great walls of Oerba had offered solace, but she couldn't afford to linger there for more than a few days.

Once she reached the mountains of the Yun, her hardships had only worsened. For someone raised in the scorching heat of the desert, the unrelenting cold, thick snow, and howling wind had been nothing short of horrendous. Only thoughts of her homeland, her friends, and her family had given her the strength to go on as she trudged along the winding mountain paths and scaled sheer, icy faces of rock. At least the other contestants she met along the way understood, for they too could barely stand the harsh beauty of the mountains. Only the Yun remained undaunted, accustomed as they were to the rigours of mountain life.

But seeing the Yun in person had only doubled her determination to succeed. She had learned through close study and certain, secret, sources that whoever won the Trial also gained command over the Yun. With the Yun at her side, Dalmasca need never fear for its safety again. Ashelia had no illusions of conquest – the Dynast King had angered the gods enough with his foolishness – but the mere threat of the mountain warriors would provide a valuable deterrent.

And then there was the goddess of the Yun herself. The Fang of the Heavens was amongst the most exalted of the High Mother's children. To be her Chosen meant protection from the vagaries of the wind and weather, along with the aid of a goddess so skilled in the arts of war that only a handful of her divine brothers and sisters could withstand her. Yes, Ashelia would win the Trial and with it Dalmasca's safety.

If she had thought the journey to the Trial was difficult, the Trial itself was an ordeal beyond simple description. For several long weeks, she slogged upward into the mountains, scarcely able to breath the thin air and only a hair's breadth from death and starvation. In her desperation, she resorted to eating the moss off rocks and scavenging whatever she could from the discarded prey of dragons and the deadly mountain wolves that haunted the lower slopes. When she stumbled upon a wounded elk, she nearly wept with relief. Its meat would feed her for days, and its wounds made it easy prey. Then she did weep when a dragon, having smelled the kill from afar, swooped down and made off with the carcass.

Had she the strength, she would have loosed an arrow at the dragon. Instead, all she could do was stumble back to her cave and hope the dragon did not return for her. More than once, she'd been forced to hide when one of the legendary beasts swooped low, spitting fire, and beating the air with titan wings.

At last, she reached the base of an enormous mountain. It was so high its peak was hidden in the clouds above. Surely this was the mountain of the goddess. Mindful of the other contests, she climbed as swiftly as she could. She wasn't sure how long it took her since the cold and the pain were so bad that each day seemed to blend into the next. Finally, there was no more of the mountain to climb, and she pulled herself up onto the summit.

There was a goddess waiting for her there, but it took her only a moment to realise that it wasn't the right one. This goddess had the same tanned skin and dark hair of the Fang of the Heavens, but she was a great deal younger with eyes like the clear blue sky. The dragon that lounged beside her on a large rock was also a great deal smaller than the Fang of the Heavens' beloved Bahamut.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up from Ashelia's lips as she collapsed to her knees. Had she come this far only to fail?

X X X

Diana loved watching the Trial. Mortals were such interesting creatures. Not only did they live for a really, really short time but they were also unbelievably fragile. One little blast of dragon fire was enough to kill most of them, and they were all kinds of squishy too. Boulders, trees, houses – practically anything could crush a mortal. It made her even more eager to keep a close eye on them. If they were so fragile, it couldn't hurt to look out for them a little more.

However, the mortals that competed in the Trial were a lot stronger than most of the others. They were tougher and faster too, and almost all of them were great fighters. It was fun watching from the top of her mountain as they did their best to reach her mom's mountain. Being her mom's Chosen was a huge honour, so there were more than a hundred of them all trying their best to win.

Diana watched them climb cliffs, face off against the occasional dragon, and even fight off packs of ravenous wolves. Her mom even let her send in the odd blizzard or snowstorm to get rid of a few of the contestants. That was nice, but she was careful not to kill anyone. Her mom watched all of the contestants closely, so only the truly worthy ones would get anywhere near her mountain. But that didn't mean the others had to die. There was no shame in not being the best in what was a very special group of mortals.

She had been taking a break from watching the Trial when her dragon, Bhakti, decided to sun himself on his rock. Her mountain was the second biggest – her mom's was the biggest – and Bhakti's rock was in the perfect position to catch some of the midday sun. He wasn't anywhere near as big as Bahamut yet, but he was doing his best and eating everything he could get his claws on.

The dragon stretched out on his rock and gave a loud yawn. Diana looked over at the rock thoughtfully. She was feeling a little tired, and he did look very comfortable. Ignoring her dragon's chuckle – Bhakti was surprisingly giggly for a dragon – she stretched out on the rock beside him. It was so nice! No wonder dragons did this all day.

She was getting ready to use Bhakti for a pillow when a young mortal woman climbed up onto the summit of her mountain. Wait. That wasn't supposed to happen. And the mortal certainly wasn't supposed to fall to her knees and start laughing crazily while pulling at her hair.

Diana hopped off her rock. "Uh… are you okay?"

The mortal scrubbed at her tear-stained face. "You aren't the Fang of the Heavens are you?"

"Oh. OH." Diana winced and shot Bhakti a dirty look when the dragon chuckled. Climbing up a mountain was pretty easy for a god or a dragon, but it was very hard for a mortal. "I'm not. I think you climbed the wrong mountain." She pointed to the even bigger mountain behind hers. "That's the mountain you're looking for."

The mortal went back to sobbing. "Why have the gods cursed my people? Dalmasca is doomed!"

"Dalmasca?"

Diana's question prompted a tearful, wailing explanation as the mortal – Ashelia – blurted out the long, horrible history of her country and the trials it had endured. Diana winced as the story unfolded. Dalmasca and Ashelia's family were really unlucky. She also felt bad because the mortal had eight – eight! – older siblings. She only had one, and although she loved her older sister very much, Averia could be horribly bossy. The thought of eight bossy, older sibling was almost too terrible to contemplate.

However, Ashelia's mention of the Dynast King did grab Diana's attention. Like most young gods, she had been subjected to a long, hideously boring education concerning the laws of Cocoon. In her case, the lectures had been delivered by the goddess in charge of wreaking horrible vengeance upon anyone who broke them. If she remembered right, a certain King Raithwall – also known as the Dynast King – had stolen some divine artefacts a long time ago and used them to conquer the lands around his own.

Needless to say, the gods who'd lost those artefacts had not been amused. They had complained to the High Mother and the High Father, and the two great gods had placed a curse upon Dalmasca and its ruling family. The point, Diana assumed, was to remind people that it was a very, very bad idea to take a god's stuff. Unfortunately, it didn't look as though anyone had ever bothered to explain that to Ashelia's family so they could give back what they'd taken and apologise. Oops.

"There, there." Diana patted Ashelia on the back and handed her a handkerchief. "It'll be okay."

"No, it won't! Dalmasca is doomed! My family will die, and my kingdom will fall, and it's all my fault because I climbed the wrong damn mountain!"

That provoked another giggle from Bhakti, and Diana shot the dragon another glare. The dragon, of course, continued to giggle although he was careful to muffle the sound with his claws.

"You know, the Fang of the Heavens is my mom. I think I know why your kingdom and family have been cursed too. It might take a bit of poking around, but I could probably get the curse lifted if you agreed to do a few things for me."

"Really?" Ashelia stopped sniffling and grabbed Diana's hands. "You would do that for me, honoured goddess?"

Diana pried Ashelia's hands off. "Sure. Wait here while I talk to my mom. I'll be right back, and Bhakti can keep you company."

The young goddess vanished leaving the dragon and the princess alone.

So… do you know how to play hide and seek?

Ashelia twitched. The dragon had… had talked to her. "Hide and seek?"

Bhakti's smile was equal parts mischievous and toothy. You hide and I seek.

X X X

With her divine eyes that saw further and more keenly than any mortal's ever would, Averia gazed down from Cocoon at Dalmasca. What she saw only made her want to noogie her sister her harder.

"Why do you have a giant temple in your honour in the capital of Dalmasca?"

Dalmasca's recent woes had come to a mysterious end a few months ago, and they had recently opened an opulent, new temple complex in their capital. The four largest temples belonged to the High Mother, the High Father, their mom… and Diana.

"You're just jealous because it's bigger than the temple that city built you after you blew up their hydra." Diana giggled and squirmed out of her sister's grasp. Floating away, she flashed her sibling an amused smirk. "I convinced mom to convince the High Mother and High Father to stop cursing them once they built them a new temple and gave some stuff back. So yeah, now I have a really awesome temple too. Isn't that giant statue of me great?"

Averia scowled. She'd been totally outdone by her younger sister. Still, a good deed was a good deed. Diana deserved congratulations. "Well done."

"Heh." Diana flew around Averia, dancing a merry little jig in the air. "Now who has the larger temple? That's right it's – erk!"

Diana tumbled to the ground, twitching. Smoke billowed off her. "You… you hit me with lightning!"

"That wasn't me."

"Look at the sky. There aren't any clouds. It had to be you!"

"It wasn't me."

"Fine."

Averia turned and got a few steps before a miniature tornado threw her through the wall and out onto the street. A few gods stopped, saw who it was, and then kept on walking. The residents of Cocoon had learned to stay out of the way when the two daughters of the Wind and the Lightning bickered. It was safer that way.

"You little twerp!"

"Bring it!"

X X X

The small storm brewing around Averia was enough to send most of the nearby sea life headed for deeper waters. She was still stewing over her punishment for her little quarrel with Diana. She'd gotten more than a training session with her mother – terrifying enough on its own – she also got to spend an entire week cleaning up the messes left by other gods on the mortal world.

Their fight hadn't even been that bad. It wasn't like they were actually trying to hurt each other. They were bickering, that's all. If they'd really wanted to hurt each other, they would have done a lot more than throw a few small tornadoes and a bit of lightning. Now, Averia had to go off and get the lake she'd made filled since her mother said it was an eyesore and the city's people had begun to send prayers to Cocoon wondering when they'd be able to enjoy the new water feature she'd promised.

The best god for the job was one of the younger water goddesses who happened to owe her a big favour. If only it wasn't such a hassle dealing with her. All of the others water gods were busy though, which meant she had to make do. She wasn't sure if it helped or hindered that this particular goddess was one of Diana's best friends.

And like Diana, she shared a love for all creatures big, monstrous, and deadly, especially leviathans.

Averia was still some distance away when a leviathan reared up in front of her. The sea serpent was easily a mile long, its somehow graceful bulk covered by scales, each the size of a large shield. Shimmering blue-green in the sunlight, its cavernous maw opened wide in what could easily have been a smile or a snarl, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yuffie get your leviathan out of my face before I zap it."

"You're no fun." The leviathan snickered as the water beside it parted and a young goddess hopped onto its head. Yuffie was the children of the two patron gods of Wutai, and she had inherited all of their power and at least five times their mischief. Naturally, she and Diana got along wonderfully. "So… I heard you have a lake you need filled."

"I do." The damn leviathan was laughing at her.

"I also heard you got into heaps of trouble for making it and that you got into even more trouble last week for fighting with Diana."

"I did."

Goddess and leviathan shared a chuckle, and Averia fought the urge to summon her spear and whack Yuffie over the head. It wouldn't help although it would probably make her feel much better.

"Are you going to help me or not? Remember, you owe me a favour."

"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten. You saved me from Vinnie."

'Vinnie' was Vincent, an imposing god of blood and darkness who happened to live within walking distance of Averia and Diana on Cocoon. Yuffie had, on one of her frequent trips to the home of the gods, decided that the time had come to best one of the most storied pranks in Cocoon's history, one that involved her Aunt Aerith and her Aunt Serah. With Diana's help, Yuffie had indeed managed to go one better. They'd dyed every single thing on Vincent's property pink.

The god in question had been less than pleased. That is to say, he had been completely murderous. As the skies around Cocoon darkened and the rivers below ran red with blood – prompting many a mortal to start wailing about the end of the world – Averia had been forced to step in and reason with him. After all, Diana was her sister. Vincent had been placated, barely, by Averia's promise to punish Diana and Yuffie to the full extent of Cocoon's laws.

For the next year, Diana and Yuffie had been stuck helping the needy all around Gran Pulse. They had answered every plea for aid and every prayer for help. They had even appeared before an assortment of poets, artists, and writers desperate for inspiration. They'd grumbled the whole time, but it was better than what Vincent would have done to them. So Yuffie owed Averia a favour.

"I need you to fill that lake."

"Right now?" Yuffie made a face. "But I was about to go get some pirates."

"Pirates?"

"They've been preying on the ships around Wutai for a month now. It's about time someone taught them a lesson."

"Fine, we can do that first. But I'm going with you. We fill the lake right after."

The found the pirates soon enough. There was a whole fleet of them hidden in coves amongst some lonely islands.

"What have they done?"

For once, there was no humour in Yuffie's voice as she explained their crimes. Mere theft was the least of them, and Averia felt something cold yet hot stir in her blood. Deep down inside, one of the few true differences between her and Diana was their sense of justice. Diana fought to make wrongs right and to protect the innocent. Averia would always treasure her sister's gentleness in that regard.

But Averia had inherited their mother's purpose and with it her more ruthless brand of justice. There were people – gods and mortals – for whom laws and common decency would never be enough. For such people, Averia was to be the spear that struck down evil without remorse or pity. Where she went, the wicked would tremble. Where she walked, the foul would fall. She reached out to the High Mother with her soul, requesting permission to act as she saw fit. The great goddess approved, and Averia returned her attention to the pirates.

"I will help."

"Fine. But try not to hit Nami with any of your powers."

Averia slanted a curious look at the leviathan. "Nami?"

"Nami as in Tsunami since she makes them wherever she goes."

A grim smile tugged at Averia's lips. It was a fitting name. The leviathan stirred, and a massive wave fell over the islands. The surging water smashed ships, tore up trees, and crushed buildings. Then the gigantic sea serpent was amongst the wreckage, laying waste to everything else.

Averia floated above it all. Then she spoke, her words heavy with the full weight of divine law as she detailed their crimes and the punishments that awaited them. When she had finished, she let her lightning come, a great, sundering force that killed everything in its path. Diana could never do this, and Averia was glad she would never have to. Diana was their mom's successor, a goddess destined to help guide and protect mortals. Averia would walk in their mother's footsteps, a spear to strike down the wicked and punish the sinful.

Finally, it was done. Yuffie smiled.

"Thanks for the help. Let's go fill that lake of yours." The goddess patted Nami on the head. "Call some of the little ones to help you gather the treasure then make sure you bring it back to Wutai."

The leviathan nodded and let loose a low, keening cry into the water. A few minutes later, a swarm of smaller serpents had arrived.

Yuffie and Averia arrived at the 'lake' to find it nothing more than a big dustbowl.

"You did all this to kill a hydra?" Yuffie swallowed a laugh. "Someone needs to learn restraint."

"Just fill it up."

"Fine, fine." Yuffie lifted her hands and then stopped when she caught sight of a few mortals below. "Hey, you! You should probably move. You'll drown if you don't."

And then water was pouring down into the lake, a veritable flood from the sky. More of the city folk gathered to watch the spectacle, and there was much cheering when the flow finally tapered off and the lake was full. Yuffie reached into her pocket for a large egg.

"Could we put this in there?"

"No."

"But –"

"We are not putting a leviathan egg in my lake!"

"Meanie." Yuffie sighed and tugged on Averia's sleeve. "Buy me something tasty."

"What?"

"I'm hungry after all that, and you know more about mortal food than me. There has to be a festival going on somewhere, or a market maybe. Get me something."

Averia sighed. "Fine. But we'd better go and get Diana first. She will throw a fit if she isn't invited along."

As they headed back for Cocoon, Averia made a mental note to see her Aunt Aerith soon. Her lake needed some plants and fish. Hopefully all those rumours about her Aunt Vanille convincing her Aunt Aerith to create some kind of flying, fire breathing shark were wrong. The last thing she needed was to have to come back and save the city again.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

I had a lot of fun with the last chapter of this kind and so did you guys, so I thought I'd give it another go.

The idea of mortals having to undertake a serious of gruelling trials before winning the favour of the gods is one that occurs reasonably often in mythology. In this chapter, of course, things go slightly awry. Of course, everything works out in the end, but you can't really blame Ashelia for feeling a little put out by the whole disaster. The bit where Diana points at the even larger mountain is a nod at one of my favourite moments from The Simpsons.

Averia's part of the chapter is a little more serious than Diana's section. That is at least partially due to the fact that Averia is a more serious person. But mostly, it's because Averia is Lightning's successor whereas Diana would be Fang's. As Lightning's successor, Averia will have to enforce Cocoon's laws, which necessitates a somewhat different approach than looking after the Yun and other mortals would. Of course, she's still a sucker for Diana's pout, even if she is super serious some of the time.

In case anyone isn't aware, Ashelia (i.e., Ashe) is from Final Fantasy XII. Yuffie is from Final Fantasy VII.

Finally, if you read my author's notes, you are almost certainly aware that I have original short stories available for purchase on Amazon (the term short story is deceptive as they average ~20,000 words). To everyone who has supported those thus far, I would like to say thank you. It means a lot to me. Two of those stories, The Last Huntress and The Lord of Dark Waters are related to each other, with The Lord of Dark Waters being the sequel to The Last Huntress (they are both part of what I have chosen to call the Last Huntress Series).

As someone with an avid interest in books, I am well aware of how difficult it is to get into a series. The second story, in particular, is plagued by a simple problem: how can anyone like it if they haven't read the first one? So this weekend, I'll be making things a little easier for you.

This Sunday 15th of September, The Last Huntress will be available for free. That's right, from 12:00 AM midnight 15th September to 11:59 PM that same day (Pacific Standard Time), you can get The Last Huntress for free (there may be some delay at the start due to Amazon's occasional scheduling issues). I know that it's tough to give something new a go, but if you've enjoyed my fan fiction, I think you'll enjoy my original fiction too. And remember, it's free this Sunday. And if you do enjoy The Last Huntress, please leave a review and consider picking up the sequel to it The Lord of Dark Waters. Perhaps I'm biased, but I think it's even better.

I already have a link to The Last Huntress in my profile, but I will be updating it to be more visible once the free promotion starts on Sunday (both my deviant art and tumblr will be similarly updated – there are links to both in my profile). If you don't have a Kindle, don't worry. You can still get The Last Huntress for free – all you have to do is download a completely free Kindle app from Amazon (link in my profile) so that you can use your PC, Mac, laptop, or iPhone/iPad instead.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.