Chapter Fourteen: Borderlands, Phase 03
Twin explosions of gunfire opened on the Heartless and shredded them apart with a discordant synthesis of tactic and panic, mowing them down from the outsides in as their halfling bodies fell and flailed under visceral gusts of their own black blood. A second into the thundering massacre, it finally struck Ienzo that he was directly responsible for half of those kills.
But the centermost Soldier—the last to be hit from both Naomi and Ienzo's sides—was quick to assess the ambush and leapt as his subspecies did over the tall barricade of corpses and into the toppled truck before any bullet could graze it. The armored beast caught the woman and child completely off-guard as it spun back around upon landing and launched itself at Naomi with an ironshod spinning-kick. In haste and in panic, she held her rifle up as a shield just fast enough to intercept a direct blow, but the force of the attack was still enough to splinter through the firearm's casing and knock the wind out from her upon contact with her stomach, sending the unfortunate chronicler crashing through the barricade of bodies and out into the blood-drenched snow.
Ienzo was now alone in the truck with the enemy. He froze for a second, scarcely believing what he'd seen, but when the Heartless whipped its head in the boy's direction, the chronicler's assistant remembered himself and fired on the ironclad halfling. Deafening gunfire resounded in the armored room to the phantasmagoric flares of gunfire, but the Soldier evaded every shot as it zeroed-in on the boy. Learning from Naomi's mistake, Ienzo leapt to the side—out from the truck—to evade the Heartless' strike rather than break his rifle in a futile attempt to block it. Staggering over the piles of the toppled flesh-blockade, Ienzo noticed the darkling hadn't attempted to disarm him with a kick as it had Naomi, but instead its claws were plunged into the armored wall where the boy once stood, a very clear attempt to skewer his heart. Straight for the kill…
The revelation terrified and sickened Ienzo, but he quickly raised his rifle and fired once again, far too apprehensive to line a proper shot.
In its speed, the Soldier sank its claws into a pair of slain infantrymen from the broken barricade and hoisted them up as shields to absorb the bullets, their bodies rippling and bursting on impact with the shells discharged from the boy's gun as the Heartless ran forward and Ienzo scurried backward.
Naomi recovered from the daze of the Heartless' blow, but found herself trapped beneath two bodies from the barrier and she didn't have the strength left to remove them. In a sudden dread, she scanned the field for Ienzo and found him retreating from the corpse-shielded Heartless while maintaining fire from his rifle. But the Heartless swung an arm back and then launched one of the skewered cadavers straight at Ienzo, prompting him to weave aside, but he was still struck on the shoulder by the rotting projectile, stealing his balance and nearly knocking him over. Before he could regain himself, the second body was thrown and slammed directly into him, blasting him off his feet.
Naomi gasped in terror and redoubled her efforts to lift the pair of corpses from atop her—at least enough to slide out—but that kick to her stomach had taken too much out of her.
When Ienzo struck the ground, the body thrown against him sailed further than he, so he was unburdened by the dead man's weight when he tried to lift himself up. But before he could attempt to reclaim his footing, he found the Soldier bee-lining straight for him once again. In haste and still on his back, Ienzo raised the rifle, took perfect aim, and squeezed the trigger…
…only for a fatal click to damn him. Out of ammo, he realized in purest horror.
The Heartless closed in, nearly upon him, but then a single gunshot sounded and a bullet flew straight between the boy and his hunter, halting the Soldier in its tracks. Both boy and Heartless turned to find Naomi, still trapped beneath the two bodies, but wielding a smoking pistol she'd retrieved from one of her fallen comrade's holsters. Behind the steaming barrel, her emerald eyes seethed raw hatred into the Heartless that dared attack Ienzo.
She fired again and the Heartless weaved back as Ienzo scurried away, still clutching his empty rifle. In his flight, the silver-haired boy saw the Soldier had lunged for him but then withdrawn to avoid Naomi's second bullet that furthered the distance between them. And in that moment, Ienzo was nauseated with the revelation that, had Naomi not fired the second round and had he not run away, the Heartless would very well have used him as a human shield against Naomi's bullets just as it did to those cadavers against Ienzo's barrage.
With its anticipated meat-shield now beyond its reach, the Soldier reverted from its more advanced strategy and back to its more feral instincts, dropping to all fours and evading every oncoming bullet from the pistol by rushing and dodging through upturned waves of snow, drawing ever closer to Naomi, and when it had drawn close enough, it leaped the remaining distance with its claws outstretched to claim the trapped chronicler. But a bullet from Naomi's gun tore through one of its legs, breaking the armored beast's midair arc, yet it fumbled near enough to grapple with her upon landing. With an iron-cased claw, the Soldier back-swung the handgun from the woman's grasp, and with its other appendage already raised and coated with Dark energy, it plunged its talons deep into her chest and pierced her heart.
Naomi froze. All breath and blood-flow left her. Her pupils shrank and her eyes gradually became ghost-white. With the monster's claws inside her and spreading Darkness into her heart, she knew and dreaded what awaited her in the precious seconds of life she had left.
The brave woman's blood soaked against its armor, the Heartless wrenched its talons deeper into her core, its golden eyes domineering and merciless, and when it was ready to rip the fated organ from its victim's body…
—a sharp and resounding pain tore through the Heartless' ribs, paralyzing the ironclad predator where it lurched. With its once-fierce eyes trembling under the searing agony from the fatal penetration in its side, the Emblem slowly, shakily turned its gaze aside, where it found Ienzo, his eyes burning and face awash with the hot tears of righteous fury, and the boy's hands were desperately gripping the handle of a combat knife he'd plunged deep into an open spot in the Heartless' armor. Doubtless the knife had belonged to a fallen soldier. It was only then that sense returned to the Heartless; in tuning out its higher brain functions to focus solely on disarming and ending the woman through pure animosity, and then giving in further to primal impulses first when the bullet tore through its leg and then when succumbing to its own bloodlust when its claws pierced Naomi's heart, the Emblem had blocked out all logical sense that would have warned it that Ienzo—out of ammo though he was—was still an active player, let alone that he would find some way to rearm himself. Regret was never so bitter.
The Heartless' talons in the woman's heart…
The boy's knife in the Heartless' side…
With a vengeful yell, Ienzo ripped the blade from the monster's ribs and impaled it again—and again!—and again!—and again!—and again!—and the Heartless spasmed and wailed under every visceral thrust. In its agony, it released Naomi's heart and attempted a swing at the murderous boy, but its strength failed under another bladed rupture and Ienzo then threw the armored beast back-first on the ground, where he descended upon it and struck it further and further with his knife, skewering it even as it raised its hand for mercy. Goring it long after its limbs stopped twitching…
Panting and dripping sweat over his kill, adrenaline-filled Ienzo watched with wide-eyed wonder and horror as the unrecognizable Soldier slowly disintegrated away until even the glowing heart in its chest—someone else's, no doubt—shot through the air and vanished in a trail of magic. Ienzo learned from Even what happens in the exceptionally rare cases when both a person's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed—the "Somebody" they both originated from is brought back to life—and in the case of the Emblems, the Heartless end of the process is more apparent because the heart is visibly seen leaving the husk, likely attempting to return to its original body. It was supposed from this that the Purebloods were not created from stolen Hearts, but were, in fact, pure manifestations of Darkness, hence their name.
And yet, for all he knew of the process and what he'd seen of this Emblem's death, there was no sign of Naomi's heart being restored. The boy frantically returned his gaze to the woman dying on the snow, the heart-stealing process incomplete but still doing considerable damage, and he only now wondered: What happens to someone when their heart is mangled by Darkness, but never fully extracted? How can Naomi's heart return to her and restore her if it never left…?—if she never became a Heartless…? How can she possibly be saved?!
He'd never seen or heard of the transformation process interrupted at so critical a stage and he feared what terrible ramifications this would have on Naomi's disturbed heart. A fully-made Heartless at least has hope for restoration if its stolen heart is freed and returned to its body. But Naomi…her heart is damaged, but the process wasn't complete. It's still in her: corrupted and dying—killing her from the inside! How do I save her?!
He rushed to her side, knelt in the snow, and desperately clasped her hand.
"Naomi! What's—?! What's happening to you?!"
She gave no verbal response. She didn't even seem aware of the world around her. She laid back-first on the snow, pale, paralyzed, and trembling. Ienzo removed his glove and felt her cheek—cold as ice. And with her heart so horribly damaged, all of its vital functions were shutting down and her breathing soon failed as well.
It was then, kneeling on the red snow of a deathbed and squeezing the hand of the dying woman he'd come to think of as his own mother, that Ienzo's defenses finally broke. His strength and composure failed and he allowed himself to do what he hadn't done since his last blood-relative passed away.
He cried.
A trickle—a single drop, followed by another—a sniffle, a bucking of his shoulders—then, a wail. Leaning over her, he bawled his heart out because he was completely helpless to save her. There was nothing he could do but watch the most important person in the world to him suffer and die and he was once again left all alone. First his biological parents, then his elder sister, and now the last human being to show him any love and kindness since his "stepfather," Even, all but abandoned him for his shady research. For the first time since he'd met Naomi, he was truly alone.
Against every shred of better judgment, the imperiled boy screamed to the treacherous woods, "Somebody, help!"
No answer but the wind.
He shrieked again, "Please! Save her!"
Again, nothing.
A desperate, revolting thought entered his mind then. A Heartless had begun removing Naomi's heart, and if her heart was fully removed, she would become a Heartless. And if she was a Heartless, there remained the rare chance that she would one day be restored when both her heart and body were freed from the monsters that would possess them. Ienzo's skin paled and his breath all but ceased as he looked on Naomi's open wound in terror at what his sick mind had conjured.
If…if I remove her heart…
He shook the idea away at once, gasping and sweating profusely as his face and body gnarled in sickness and horror at what he'd almost suggested. His gloved fingers contorted and sprawled over his panicked face as he writhed further. What am I thinking?! I can't tear out her heart! What if I'm wrong and end up killing her?!
Another idea entered his mind and he froze in place as he pieced together the new plot. Only someone or something wielding the powers of Darkness can turn someone into a Heartless by ripping out that person's heart. He shot his gaze to the dark woods where the monsters dwelled. If I can get another Heartless to finish the job…
He cupped his hands over his mouth and screamed to his lungs' greatest capacity, "HELP!"
His young voice echoed through the woods, but none answered the cry. He tried again. "HELP!"
Another echo. Another desperate cry, "PLEASE! HELP HER!"
Nothing.
And when he finally accepted that no one was coming, Ienzo slumped over and implored Naomi once more, his voice weak and breaking, "Don't leave me…alone again…"
He remembered her words from just before they ambushed the group of Soldiers: "…if anything goes wrong, you run as fast as you can back to the city. We won't wait for Sephiroth if we don't even know if he's still alive." He hated that he was seriously considering her advice now that it meant leaving her behind when she needed him most. But, trembling and hesitant though he was, the brokenhearted boy slowly picked himself up and took his first fragile steps away from the woman he loved, not yet ready to let her leave his field of vision.
But at length, after he finally turned around to face the horizon where he would eventually find the city gates, he stopped and agonizingly wondered: Would it be more merciful to kill her now, rather than let her suffer?
His own cowardice slowing him down, he turned back to where he'd left Naomi, still on the brink of eternity and unaware of her physical surroundings, and then he found the pistol the Emblem had knocked from her grasp, still lying on the snow. In one eternal minute, he scooped up the firearm, found a few bullets still in the chamber, and returned to the side of his spiritual mother's shuddering body, the gun poised and heavier now than any other he'd carried.
Upon aiming, her words came back to him yet again: "Find your dominant hand. Use it to keep the gun steady."
With a heavy sniffle, he did so.
"And find your good eye. Rely on that to aim."
Clearing away the newest wave of tears, he followed her orders.
"You don't need to slam the trigger—only squeeze it. Anywhere from four to six pounds of pressure should do it."
He bawled once more as his trembling finger glided over the trigger and failed to use enough force to pull. He tried—oh, how he tried—but his body simply wouldn't allow it.
"When you're on the battlefield, never hesitate to take the shot. You'll leave yourself open for the enemy to kill you."
He remembered then what nightmarish creatures occupied these woods and were possibly converging on his location at this exact moment. There was no guarantee they'd "save" Naomi, but there was every chance they'd slaughter him. The longer he stayed with Naomi, the easier a target he made himself for his hunters. If he was going to do this, he had to do it now.
His breath was rising, his body shaking, his every fear and sorrow swallowing him from the inside—but he stilled himself. Violently torn though he was, he cooled down just long enough to line up the shot, and before strength returned to his trigger finger, he muttered to Naomi under his breath, "Please don't haunt me."
And he pulled the trigger.
…
…
…
It jammed.
An exasperated sigh broke from Ienzo's mouth, a product of both joy and agony. Hysteria overtaking him, a nervous, painful laugh escaped him, followed immediately by renewed tears and howls of misery. Don't do this to me! I can't—! Don't hurt me like this…
He threw the gun away and fell bawling to his knees with his face in his hands. Despairingly, he remembered the knife he used on the Soldier Heartless. If the gun wouldn't cooperate, he could always use that.
Weak and miserable, his head shot up when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching in the distance, terror and hope claiming him both at once. Are the Heartless coming after all?
He retrieved the combat knife used to end the Soldier and looked around for a place to hide. As he backed away, he beheld eight bipedal figures stepping nearer through the passing snow and wind, their gait calm and humanoid. In seconds, Ienzo recognized the middle man as Sephiroth and sheathed the knife in his pocket, and two of the forms beside the wingless angel…
"Dilan! Aeleus!" Ienzo shouted upon seeing them, only a twinge of relief in his young voice while the rest still despaired for Naomi's condition. Miraculously, both knight-captains and the five other soldiers appeared unharmed from the carnage their young savior rescued them from. Their unmarred conditions were likely another product of the wingless angel's healing magic. But postponing his gratitude for their safety, Ienzo ran some meters forward and begged, "Naomi's dying! Can you save her?!"
All eight men and women tensed and briefly froze, Dilan and Aeleus exchanging nervous glances, but Sephiroth was quicker to bolt to the felled woman's side. The others followed almost immediately after.
"What's wrong with her?" the young swordsman probed with a clear anxiety underlining his usually calm voice, but even before Ienzo could answer, Sephiroth noticed the deep incision into Naomi's heart and the creeping Darkness that sprawled and wafted from the wound through her clothes.
"It—it was one of those Soldier Heartless," Ienzo fretfully answered, fighting through the world of despair crushing his brittle spirit. "It tried to rip her heart out, but I killed it before it could finish. Only, Naomi's still—"
"Look away," the silver-haired teenager tersely interjected. He didn't bother facing Ienzo or the others when he gave the order, let alone waste time seeing if they obeyed, but as soon as he'd said it, he tore open Naomi's winter coat and nearly every other layer of upper body clothing underneath—sparing her bra—until he could see the festering, cancerous cesspool of a laceration the Emblem had infected her with even when its plan to steal her heart had failed. Repulsive contusions and sprawling stems of Darkness incarnate swelled betwixt her bosom, all originating from her rotting, hemorrhaging heart.
Dilan and Aeleus respectfully averted their eyes when they understood what Sephiroth was doing, as did the other five behind them, but Ienzo couldn't look away. He understood the importance of respecting a woman's dignity and blushed slightly at seeing Naomi in this state of undress, but above all else, he needed to see if she would survive. He wasn't about to turn around at the exact moments when her fate was being decided.
Sparing no time, Sephiroth launched his left hand forward and brought it to a halt just over Naomi's exposed heart. With the palm open and his fingers contorted in anticipation of the pain awaiting him, he took a moment to close his eyes, catch his breath, and when he was ready, his hand crackled with Dark energy that forcefully attracted the festering plague within Naomi's wound. The black element surging from the chronicler's heart and into the teenager's grasp elicited prolonged but subdued cries of anguish from the wingless angel, his teeth clenched as the searing pain of the Darkness he extracted rushed into his own hand and viciously spasmed for control over its new host. But through hardened discipline and sheer force of will, the silver-haired teenager managed to remove what seemed every trace of the volatile energy from Naomi's body and harnessed the voracious Darkness in his own shuddering grasp, unimaginable suffering washing over and coursing through him as he struggled to maintain his hold over it.
Just how Sephiroth had learned to tap into and harness this forbidden element as though his own body naturally attracted it was the least of Ienzo's concerns. All that mattered was that he used it to save the last person in existence that he truly cared about. Even now, the Darkness' presence upon Naomi's flesh and within her heart was fading away—though, much of the physical damage and open wounds remained.
And for every harrowing convulsion and wrack endured, Sephiroth maintained a solid fist over the encompassed Dark energy which yearned either to claim a new host or self-destruct and take the reluctant carrier with it. In a final twist of his afflicted body, the wingless angel thrust his arm to the heavens and released the explosive energy in a concentrated beam akin to lightning. He felt no shame in screaming when the volatile parasite was torn from his flesh. And when the last of the extracted Darkness was discharged into the air, where it met its end in a sky-splitting detonation without a living host to save itself with, Sephiroth fell to his knees, breathing and sweating profusely from the grueling procedure. The glove and a notable portion of the sleeve of his left arm had burned to cinders from what he'd done, and an ominous stem of black veins throbbed and writhed beneath the steaming skin of his left hand and forearm until, finally, it faded away, perfectly concealed within his bloodstream and hidden under layers of slowly cooling flesh.
Though they'd initially averted their gazes at the intrusion upon Naomi's modesty, the soldiers had since belayed that directive when the apocalyptic lightshow began. They saw everything Sephiroth had done. The exhausted teenager felt their bewildered and judgmental stares upon him as he fought to catch his breath, and when he could speak again, he addressed them, "I've removed the Darkness, but her heart is still critically damaged. I'll do what I can, but she needs a real doctor to save her." He turned his gaze around and pointed with his uninjured hand to the armored truck still crashed into the woods, "Get that vehicle back on the road. It's our fastest means of reaching the city."
The waiting room of Radiant Garden General Hospital; midday of February the third…
She was on the other side of the glass, unmoving and undead. That's how Ienzo last saw her after the doctors rushed her into the operating room. Had it not been for Dilan leading him away, Ienzo might've stayed for the whole procedure.
So, the boy sat on the end of a bench in the lobby of the overcrowded and understaffed hospital, waiting for the doctors to treat Naomi's internal injuries that Sephiroth couldn't heal and contemplating what his future would be like without a responsible guardian to raise him. Sephiroth had volunteered to put his limited healing magic to use for the patients still in his ability to save and so left the group. The five rescued rookies were ordered to return to base and submit reports of what they'd experienced in the Heartless borderlands. Dilan and Aeleus, meanwhile, stood beyond earshot of grief-stricken Ienzo.
Dilan lamented, "Thirty-eight rookie soldiers gone, all because a mad scientist sent us blind into a deathtrap. Even won't get away with this."
"Yet we have no way of proving he planned for this outcome," Aeleus retorted. "And given his influence over the courts and the politicians, we may never build a legitimate case against him."
"So, what then? How will we bring him to justice?"
Aeleus took a moment to think. Then, "To attack him as we are would be suicide. Better to have somebody else do the deed and take the fall."
Dilan raised an eyebrow. "An assassin? What hitman on this earth is skilled enough to get anywhere near Even under these conditions?"
The stockier knight-captain gestured with his arm into the extensive hallway that led to the emergency room which contained dying Naomi, "That's Terra's wife on the operating table. It's very likely she won't live past the hour. Terra himself is due back from his mission in London sometime today. We need only inform him of this tragedy before Even's henchmen do and shift the blame to pure chance…"
"And lead him to pursue revenge while our hands stay clean," Dilan finished, looking away and disgusted with the thought.
Aeleus placed a hand on his equal's shoulder. "It is better this way. Even is beyond the law's reach, but now he will face justice. And we have seen enough needless death to last both our lifetimes. Let someone else lift this burden from us."
And Aeleus especially had seen far too much. Haunting memories flashed in his mind of when the Heartless captured him and the other survivors, how they were taken to the Emblem Factory beyond enemy lines, how he had witnessed so many of their platoon forced into nightmarish machines where Darkness tore them apart and turned them into a new breed of monster beyond his human comprehension…and how valorously he fought with his near-dying breaths to save himself and unconscious Dilan—whom he'd borne on his back while fending off their predators with his ax-sword—from certain doom before Sephiroth came to their rescue. The brunette knight-captain knew what he'd experienced would torment him for the rest of his natural life, and the five rookies they'd escaped with would suffer a similar trauma, yet Aeleus was grateful that Dilan was insensible for most of it.
The black-haired knight-captain half-smirked. "Um, Aeleus…PDA. Thought you weren't into that."
It was then the geomancer realized his hand was still on Dilan's shoulder. He wasn't ashamed. Instead, he pulled his partner in for a sudden hug, surprising the dreadlocked lancer with the embrace. It was so unlike him, but not unappreciated.
"I thought I'd lost you," Aeleus stammered in a voice thickening with relief. "Let me have this."
The shock had worn off. Dilan sighed compassionately and wrapped his arms around his other. They stayed that way, the two knight-captains in the crowded hospital, for perhaps a minute—they didn't keep track. When they were satisfied, they pulled apart and held each other at arm's length, only gazing placidly at one another. There were still many things they wouldn't do in public.
Dilan was the one to break the silence. "Terra and the others could return anytime. You'd better hurry if you want this plan to work."
Aeleus nodded and lowered his arms, ending the embrace. "And what of you?"
"Someone has to be here for Ienzo. I imagine Naomi was like a mother to him, and perhaps his only friend. If she doesn't survive…" He'd turned his head to where the boy had sat, only to find his spot of the bench occupied by someone else. The lancer hastily redirected his gaze around the room, alarm steadily growing as Ienzo seemed to have vanished from the building. He asked his partner, "Where is he?"
By then, Aeleus had already caught on and was searching for the boy as well. "I don't see him either. Do you think he's gone back to Naomi?"
Dilan grunted. "I'll check. You just—you meet up with the Keybearers when they return." The geomancer nodded and the dreadlocked lancer turned and quickened through the hallway, muttering to himself, "He can't have gotten far…"
The brunette knight-captain departed through the hospital's doors and into the snow-swept streets. The sky was clear and beautiful this far into the city's heart, though all manner of terror and unrest plagued the streets. But even with his eyes set to the majestic heavens, his mind returned to the horrors of the Emblem Factory. There was much he hadn't told Dilan of his experiences and he preferred to keep it that way. Ever since their return, his once-stalwart heart had felt somehow…weaker. But he understood why. He'd witnessed otherworldly monstrosities no sentient being should ever live to see. Even the bravest of warriors would be crippled by terror were they in his position.
Just as Even experiments on Heartless, so, too, are the Heartless experimenting on us. But what do they hope to accomplish? He hung his head and sighed. This world nears its end. All we can do is fight until we are overrun. This ends no other way than with our deaths. The end of life…the end of Light…
Epiphany surged through his mind and alarmed his senses back to the present. Did Ienzo overhear us? Could he have snuck closer and listened to our schemes to eliminate Even? If he knows we seek a scapegoat for the murder…
His eyes widened and the mantra of terror escaped his mouth, "Oh no…"
A hackney carriage speeding through the streets of Radiant Garden; seconds later…
Every second brought him twenty-two meters closer to the royal castle: the prison where he was transferred after his parents had perished on the Night of Calamity…and the dwelling-place of the monster responsible for every tragedy endured in his young life.
Ienzo felt the combat knife still tucked away in his pants pocket—the very same he'd used to gut the Heartless that may very well have murdered Naomi. He'd used the ring under his glove as proof of his imperial status to secure the taxi ride, and after overhearing Dilan and Aeleus plotting Terra's downfall—to orphan Sora and Riku just as Even had orphaned him—he knew he had to take matters into his own hands. He stared through the windshield at the first visible spire of the monster's lair and knew closure was upon him.
First my parents…then my sister…and now Naomi… You've taken everything from me! Naomi said I survived your deathtrap for a reason, and now I know what that reason is. I'm going to rip out your black heart, Even, and then I'll feed it to those Heartless pets you're so fond of. You die today, by my hand.
I'm only bringing this up because I just know someone's gonna complain about it in the comments. Yes, Dilan and Aeleus are gay in this fic. No, shipping will not be a major part of this story—you should know that by now. And no, I do not personally enjoy yaoi or yuri, but I just figured, hey, with a cast this large and from so many diverse backgrounds and walks of life, what're the odds that absolutely everyone will be straight? There, I hope that answers every concern I shouldn't have to be concerned about.