Chapter 11: The Music Man
-Morning, Day before the final battle-
Rekks looked through the window of Rose's room as finished slipping on the last of his clothes. He looked over to his side to see Rose sitting on her bed lacing up her boots. Rekks flopped down on the other side of the bed back to back with Rose.
"This is it." Sighed Rekks
"I guess so, tomorrow Yul returns." Replied Rose
"These past couple of months have been……"
"I know."
"Rose….I….I love you. Just in case I don't see it through tomorrow I want you to know how a really feel." Said Rekks as he sat up and headed for the door
"Rekks wait!" Rose stood up and brought her lips in close to give Rekks a passionate kiss
He smiled back at her and wrapped his arms around her bringing her into a hug.
"Don't say stupid things. You'll be fine, we all will." She whispered
"I really hope you're right." Rekks replied
Rekks opened the door taking one last look at Rose before closing it behind him and heading out.
Up on top of the Celsius Tev closed the last panel on the Celsius and packed away his tools. He grabbed his communicator and radioed in Shay who was sitting in the main cockpit running a diagnostic of the ship's systems.
"Done with the last of the tune ups." He stated as he opened the hatch leading into the ship
"Great everything checks out here. We're ready for game day." Replied Shay
"All righty, I'm gonna stash the tools then head into the village for something to eat. Want me to bring something back for you?" asked Tev
"Sure hurry back." Answered Shay
Tev stashed his tools in his recently repaired locker then headed out into the village. As he passed by all the houses, stands and people Tev took a moment to soak in the atmosphere. He caught sight of Rekks sitting at a table all alone. Tev got himself some juice then sat down by his friend.
"Feeling some pre-game jitters." Chuckled Tev
Rekks sighed then looked up at Tev giving him a lop sided smile.
"What's a matter with you?" asked Tev
"Nothing, just have a lot on my plate right now." Replied Rekks
"Where's Rose?" smirked Tev
"What's that supposed to mean?" replied Rekks embarrassed
"Oh, come on who are you fooling? First there was that night, then ever since you two have practically been joined at the hip. Everyone knows."
"Is it that obvious?"
"It's so obvious it's the size of Luca stadium."
"That's a bit excessive."
"Regardless of what's wrong with you. Despite a potential death match tomorrow I would assume you'd be a bit happier about your current situation."
"Death Match, that's certainly a way to put it. I guess that's the reason. With that over my head I don't really see how I can enjoy my current situation. My sister's getting married, I've formed a close relationship with some amazing people while I've been here and I've found the love of my life. On the other hand I might die tomorrow and the world could end."
"Well everything looks crappy when you put it that way."
"And how should I look at it oh mighty Tevolusus."
"Laugh all you want, but listen. You don't know for shore what's going to happen tomorrow, but what you do know is what's important. You have good friends, a loving family and a girl who's crazy about you. What more do you need to enjoy the moment. Who cares what the future holds, for right now, what matters is caring for the people who care about you."
"Thanks." Laughed Rekks as he stood up and started walking away
"Hey where are you going?" shouted out Tev
"See ya later." Smiled back Rekks as he walked away
Tev shook his head then continued to drink his juice.
Later that night Vid was searching around the village for Rekks. No one had seen him since he talked to Tev earlier that day. Vid rounded the corner heading toward Zialas' former training spot. He saw Rekks laying down on a large bolder starring up at the sky.
Vid approached slowly and leaned on the rock. He remained there silent until Rekks turned his head to face Vid.
"So whatca doin out here?" asked Vid
Rekks just turned his head to look back up at the stars.
"Everyone's worried." Added Vid
"They should. Hey Vid can you do me a couple of favors." Asked Rekks
"Like what?" Vid raised an eyebrow
"Take care of Cana. She's my sister and I know you love her some make sure she stays as safe as she can. And, in case I can't, keep an eye on Rose for me."
Vid suddenly shoved Rekks off the bolder. Rekks fell to the ground with a thud then looked back at Vid with surprise. Rekks slowly rose to his feet. Vid then punched Rekks square in the jaw knocking him back down. Rekks rubbed his jaw as he moved into a sitting position and looked up at Vid.
"What was that for?" asked Rekks
"Don't be sayin no goodbye. I heard what Tev said and what ya sayin now. Ya sayin ya goodbyes cuz ya think ya gonnna die tomorrow. Stop it!"
Rekks turned his head away from his friend.
"Don't give me dat ya know it's true. I've knowin ya all my life." Spat out Vid
"Okay I admit it……I'm scared. When I came here, I had virtually nothing to lose. And now, I care about the people of this village, feel guilty about what's happened to them, Strengthened bonds I have with friends and family, fell in love and have been drawn into this…..this thing with Yul."
"Yeah you are freakin."
Rekks sat back on the bolder as Vid took a seat next to him.
"Things seemed easier when I didn't care as much."
"Yeah well we're all scared as hell. You do think I don't got nothing ta lose?"
"How do you guys deal with it?"
"Well we all look ta you. Throughout this whole thin ya never freaked out. We all took comfort in the fact that ya stayed strong."
"Looks like that's done with."
"Naw, this will pass."
"How can you be sure?"
"Brudda who knows ya better? Remember our first pro Blitz game."
"How could I forget?"
"We were both so nervous. But we did it, we owned dat game. We need ya brudda. So ya got more ta lose now, cherish it, then fight for it. I love Cana and I'm gonna make sure I do every goddam thin I can to be able ta marry her when it's all done."
"My parents once told me something, When you fight for something you truly care about with all you heart there's no way you can lose. My father did it when he defeated Sin, Mother did it to beat Vegnagun, and now's our turn."
"Ours?"
"This is our story, each and everyone of us is gonna write our place in history tomorrow."
"Now ya soundin normal again."
"Ya thanks for knocking some sense back into me."
"Aww ya just needed a little reminder. Ya were just doubting ya self for a second it was nothing."
"Do you think I'm strong enough to beat Yul?"
"Considerin what happened last time I thin you can definitely beat em. Ya stronger now."
"So is he. You know what me and Cana are right. We're daydreamers, Waking Fayth, our power comes from are boundless spirit. Yul is the same, he's a dream too. And tomorrow our two dreams collide."
"Passionate anger vs. Passionate love for life, eh?"
"Yeah something like that."
"You'll win……or else I'll owe ya a drink when we get home."
Vid laughed as he started to walk away. Rekks watched as his friend disappeared back into the village. He looked back up at the starry sky and sprung to his feet dusting himself off.
"One last thing to do tonight." He said to himself
A few minutes later Rekks found Zialas standing by the watch tower starring into the horizon.
"Why you come?" asked the Ronso
"You came because I said you could fight Yul. Only one of us can beat him now…..so why are you still here?" chuckled Rekks as he placed a hand on his sword
"I still fight." Replied Zialas as he picked up his spear
Zialas pointed his spear at Rekks as Rekks drew his sword pointing in back at the Ronso.
"Then let's see who gets the honors." Smiled Rekks
The two of them charged at each other. Zialas thrust the spear at Rekks. Rekks sided stepped then knocked the spear away with the side of his sword. Rekks moved in close for a swipe, but Zialas recovered quickly whipping the spear right for Rekks' throat. Rekks blocked the attack and the two of them jumped back creating some distance.
"You know I trust you." Smiled Rekks
"And I trust you." Replied Zialas
"Will you fight by my side? Put away you're pride for a greater cause? I need you there."
Zialas smiled at Rekks then charged straight at him. Rekks smiled back then answered the Ronso's attack.
The next day every fighter in the village had assembled at their posts. Tev and Shay loaded the last of the non-fighting villagers into the safety area before closing the hatch and heading for their posts.
Rekks stood on top of the battlements surrounded by troops. He looked down across the way to see Rose ready for battle he smiled at her then checked over everything one last time.
"Sir the rest of your generals have reported in. They're all ready." Reported a soldier
"Good, we don't know which way Yul will come from, but fiends will come from every direction just to confuse us." Replied Rekks
"Yes sir." Answered the soldier
Rekks closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. Just then the ground began to shake as massive fiends popped out from the sand tackling right into the battlements. The soldiers began firing at them as more fiends appeared swarming the battlements.
"Long rangers stay, Close range fighters fall back behind the wall incase of breach. Everyone be ready." Yelled Rekks as the soldier started to scramble
From a distance Yul watched playing his flute as his monsters tore into the village's defenses. The wall shook violently, Rekks leaped out it calling out to his troops as one of the larger fiends burst through. Rekks landed on the fiends' back then stabbed his sword downward into its spine bringing it down.
"Long rangers head for the building tops and take down the fliers, everyone else stand your ground." Commanded Rekks
Meanwhile Rose's repositioned her troops to better defend their wall. She slashed on of the flying fiends as it came right at her. A large group of fiends began swarming of the wall.
"Everyone fall back to position B and ready arms." she commanded
When they reached their positions Rose pulled out a small device and pressed it. The section of the wall she was defending suddenly burst into flames with a thunderous explosion. The flames enveloped many fiends as the troops took cover.
A second group of fiends broke through the wall of fire barreling straight for Rose's group. She gave the order causing all of her soldiers to spring forth firing at the incoming fiends. When all their bullets were gone they switched to melee weapons and continued to take down the remaining forces.
Over in Tev and Shay's section, Shay handed Tev some ingredients then loaded up her gun. Tev placed them in her Alchemy arm as he ordered his troops to fire at the incoming fiends. His arms shone brightly it transformed into a big metal cylinder around his arm with a huge circle shaped device around his fist.
"MODE 3: BIG BOMBER!!!!" shouted Tev
Tev fired a series of missiles from his alchemy arm causing massive explosions. Shay waited until Tev fell to his knees and his arm transformed back. She pointed her gun down and began opening fire to allow him to rest.
"If this mode takes this much out of me I can't wait to see what happened when I really let this baby loose." Chuckled Tev
"Don't exhaust yourself too much there's still plenty of more fighting left." Answered Shay as she shot down two fiends
"I'm fine." Smiled Tev
He loaded in more materials into his arm causing it to glow.
"BIG SHOT!!!" shouted Tev
He popped out from his hiding spot and began firing down at the fiends. One of them came at him from the side chomping down on his alchemy arm. Tev struggled to shake the beast off. The creature bit down harder. Tev began punching it in the face trying to pull it off his arm. Finally he grabbed a broken piece of wood and stabbed it down into the fiend's eye forcing it off. He readjusted his arm then shot the creature in the throat.
Over in Cana's section the fiends had already breached the wall. She was using some of her magic skills to keep then back from reaching the inner part of the city. Four fiends came right at her. Cana nailed them al with an Ultima spell. As the dust cleared Cana saw Yul standing right in front of her.
She cast a flare spell, but he blocked it with the power of his aura. He began to play his flute as Cana shifted to her warrior dress sphere. A large group of fiend flew in blocking her path. Cana back flipped out of the way then jumped aside as another group of fiends came in the other way. The came together and fused into one gigantic dragon like fiend.
The dragon shot a fireball at Cana. She rolled out of the way the shifted into her alchemy dress sphere and opened fire on the beast with her machine gun. While she was occupied Yul took the opportunity to side step her and head for the middle of the village.
Cana side stepped a swipe from the beast's tail and continued to fire. The beast dove toward her when a Blitz ball came from the side smacking into his eye. Vid caught his ball on the rebound and ran over to Cana.
"What are you doing here?" asked Cana
"Ya didn't think you'd have all the fun of taking this guy out ya self?" replied Vid
The two of them nodded at each other. The dragon shot a fireball tearing down the building they were hiding behind. The pair ran down the street avoiding the dragon's flames the best they could. Vid spun around quickly gripping his ball, unleashing a powerful thundraga spell right at the creature's neck.
The beast cried out in pain. Cana shifted to her warrior dress sphere then jumped at Vid. He gave her a boost launching her at the dragon. With a powerful swipe she lopped off its head then landed on a nearby building. The creature spun around slamming its tail into the side of the building. Cana leaped off landing in Vid's arms.
The creature screamed out as two heads grew out from where the stump of his first head was. It shot out two streams of fire nearly hitting Vid and Cana.
"Dat's so unfair!" grumbled Vid as he dodged another fireball
Cana shifted to her black mage dress sphere. Together with Vid she unleashed a furry of black magic spells. The dragon growled in pain as it hit the ground with a massive thud. The pair stopped for a second to catch their breathe when The beast heads raise and growled in anger.
The dragon flapped its wings causing a massive thunder blast to strike the ground next to them. The two of them began running again full speed. Cana changed back to her alchemy dress sphere as the dragon chased then on ground. She fired at the creature's legs causing it to scream in pain. In answered back by firing two blasts of fire at them then flying into the sky.
Vid and Cana barely managed to roll out of the way of the blasts. The creature swooped down to try and devour Cana. Vid Sprang to his feet and managed to knock the creature back by bouncing his ball between its two heads. The dragon to a tumble into a nearby building. Vid took this opportunity and struck one of the heads with a blinding shot buying them some time to run.
Back in Shay and Tev's area one of the larger fiends finally managed to punch a hole into the wall. They evacuated all their troops before blowing the wall.
"Okay spilt up, we'll meet back at the designated point try to lead them into the traps." Stated Tev
"Okay be safe." Replied Shay
"You too." Replied Tev
They gave each other one last kiss then headed in opposite directions. Tev loaded some more materials into his arm sending it into big punch mode. One of the large fiends came at him. Tev pulled back his arm then knocked the fiend into oblivion. He rallied in his troops and together they charged right into the oncoming wave of fiends.
Meanwhile rose was being chased down the streets by a group of fiends. She quickly spun around and shifted into her Dark Knight dress sphere. She pointed her arm at the group of fiends and unleashed a powerful Demi spell, crushing the fiends. She ran up and chopped down the remaining forces then continued on.
She turned the corner when she came across a group of dead soldiers. She winced slightly then continued on when she heard a voice call out to her. She turned back to see a bloody soldier call out to her. She knelt by his side and checked him over. She shifted into her White Mage dress sphere and did her best to help him heal.
The soldier groaned then coughed up some blood. He tried to speak, but his words came out slurred. She leaned in closer as the soldier struggled to speak.
"Yul….is…here." he fell back down to the group and passed out
Rose transformed back to her warrior dress sphere the made sure the soldier was safe before heading out. As she raced down the street two fiends came out to block her path. She made short work of the first fiend, but the second one crashed into a nearby wall causing in to fall over toward Rose.
Yul turned the corner to find 5 soldiers standing in his way. They pointed their weapons at Yul. He smiled as he pointed his flute at them. In a flash Yul ran up to the soldiers and sliced them all to pieces.
He continued on until he saw the cavern entrance right in his sights. Yul began running for the cave when a spare sliced through the air landing right in his path. Zialas jumped down and glared at Yul as pointed his spear at him.
Zialas thought back to the night before and what Rekks told him.
"I trust you. So guard the entrance with you life. If I'm not able to get there in time, I'm counting on you."
Zialas snarled at Yul. Yul smiled then transformed his flute into a sword again.
"Let's dance fur ball." Smiled Yul
Yul fired two energy blasts at Zialas. Zialas dodged them both then leaped at Yul. Yul blocked his attack then came at him with a couple of swipes from his sword. Zialas dodged the best he could, but was nicked on the side by one of the slashes. Zialas jumped up onto the ledge of a nearby building to catch his breathe.
Yul swiped his sword sending out a blade of energy at the building. Zialas jumped off speeding toward Yul as the blast collided with the building. Yul jumped to the side as Zialas crashed into the ground. He took a swipe with his sword, but Zialas rolled out of the way. Zialas quickly used lancet taking Yul by surprised.
Zialas put some distance between him and Yul before slamming his spear into the ground sending a pillar of energy at Yul. Yul quickly countered with his own energy blast causing a small explosion. Yul waited for the dust to settle when Zialas' spear came slicing through the smoke. He barely had time to avoid it as slashed him past the arm. Yul then heard the loud roar of the Ronso as he jumped out of the dust.
Zialas slashed his claws at Yul with a violent rage. Yul could barely dodged the violent strikes. He lashed out with his own sword. He managed to slash Zialas on the leg then leap back gaining some distance. As the dust cleared Yul watched Zialas pull his spear out of the ground.
"Using my own move against me then coming full throttle. Ronso's are fun." Smiled Yul
Zialas roared loudly then ran full blast at Yul thrusting his spear forward. Yul readied himself as the Ronso approached.
Meanwhile as the battle raged on, Rekks raced through the streets. He headed down an alley to find a group of soldiers fighting of a large fiend. One of them fell bloodied and beat right by Rekks. Rekks dragged him into the alley where he would be safe. The fiend to a swipe at the soldiers forcing them back. Rekks drew his sword and headed out.
The fiend to a swipe at him, but Rekks ducked under its claws. He moved in closer slashing the beast across the chest. It screamed out in pain then came Rekks in a furry. Rekks side stepped the beast then bolted straight at it. He jumped into the air and with one slice of his blade cut the fiend's head off.
Rekks landed on the ground and began heading for the center a the village when another large group of fiends appeared to attack the soldiers. Rekks sighed as he headed back to help them out.
To be continued………….
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Remember to send in any reviews, thoughts, questions, suggestions, etc. you have I love getting feedback and hearing from you guys. The battle has started but there is still more fighting to do. Who will survive? How will the fights end? Will Yul achieve his goal? Find out in Chapter 12: Fading Dreams