Chapter 3
Meanwhile, back at the cold room, Shantotto and Prishe were examining a trapdoor.
"Hmm. I wonder what this lousy contrapton is used for." Prishe wondered as she opened the lid.
Inside was a ladder descending into a dark abyss. "Let me take a look, Doc."
Shantotto puffed angrily. "Grrr. You always want to do things your way. It's quite annoying, wouldn't you say?"
The white mage/monk shrugged. sighed. "Be my guest."
As her partner climbed down, her foot slipped as the rung broke. "Aaahhh!" She hung on to dear life as she climbed up from the cellar.
She dusted off her tunic and informed, "The ladder seems incomplete, it's quite fatal if you fall on your feet."
"That seems like sound advice, Doc." Prishe complemented. They both returned to the white room.
At the right room Tidus, Yuna, Vaan, and Lightning walked on the river bank as they saw a pond with blood-thirsty sharks and a lime-covered skeleton watching them with eyeless sockets.
As they approached, Tidus said excitedly "Ahhh. Now this place I can relate to. As a star ace, water is my specialty, you know."
Lightning scolded "Don't lose your head, water-boy. We must stay away from this lake and keep our heads on our shoulders."
The quartet marched on to a subterranean cascade where a waterfall descends into a cool, clean stream.
Vaan kneeled down and picked up some stones. "Hmm. Here's some great souvenirs."
Lightning looked at him blankly. "You really are a pack rat, aren't you?"
"Hey, you never know when we might need them."
She rolled her eyes and they continued forth to a cavern with damp walls. Vaan felt a chill run down his spine. "Whoa...now I know how Luneth feels about claustrophobia..." he muttered at the irregular structures.
He saw a big rock in between the walls and scratched his chin. "Hmm...I wonder if I can do...this!"
He threw a stone toward the rock and it left it dangling, revealing a sack filled with three jewels: a red gem, a white gem, and a blue gem. Vaan's face brightened as he gazed upon them. "Wow! This is every pirate's dream!"
Lightning grabbed his shoulder firmly to interrupt his reverie.
"Owww!"
"Will you stop fantasizing and concentrate on what's going on!?" She released her hold and Vaan followed after he let out a grunt.
Still examining the jewels, Vaan went back to the white room with the others. "Wait-hold on!" He ran to the cold room and found a small hole in the stone wall.
He took out the white gem and stuck it in. A small sphere appeared on top of the stand. He touched and it felt as cold as ice. He rushed past his friends to the pond and dropped the sphere. It froze instantly upon contact and he slowly treaded toward the skeleton. He took the key, thanked it, took the ice sphere, and headed back to the shore.
Back at the mirror room, Zidane and Bartz were making faces at each other. It was a contest to see who can make the scariest face to frighten the opponent. After each face, there were periods of laughter. A few minutes later, Vaan rushed to them and showed them his treasures.
"Wow! You're becoming quite the thief!" Zidane praised.
"I'm sure these jewels are very useful for something. I mean, you never know what you might find."
As quick as the wind, Zidane stole the red gem. Vaan looked down at his empty hand and Vaan yelled, "Wha-Hey wait! Give it back!"
The Genome threw toward the center mirrior, it shattered, and the shards of glass fell to the ground as they tinkeled. There was an iron door hidden from the debris.
"Nice shot, Zidane!" Bartz complemented.
"I wonder what's in there, since we don't have anywhere else to go."
As the trio marched forward, a shadowy hand reached out from the right mirror. It looked as if it were coming from a portal to another dimension. Unbenknownst, the hand grabbed the thief's tail and yanked him belly first to the floor.
Bartz and Vaan ran to him and grabbed his hands, pulling him away. With each passing second, they were losing their grip and the hand pulled the helpless Genome closer to the portal.
From the cellar Squall walked up and saw what was all the commotion about. He watched his friends stuggle then he aimed his gunblade and shot three times at the dark arm. It dropped him with a thud and it disappeared into the portal.
When Zidane was calm enough, he stood up and said "Whew! You saved my skin! Thanks!"
Squall informed him "Stay sharp, this isn't the time or place to be playing games."
The bashful thief rubbed the back of his head with a red hue on his cheeks. They moved on to the door which felt hot to the touch. With some elbow grease, the door slid open.
"Awww man. So this is what Hell fels like..." Zidane thought as he felt the intense heat.
Across was a massive stone bridge with raging flames on each side, and a door up ahead.
"We can't stay her for long, we have to act now!" Squall said.
Bartz marched up to the door and opened it. It flew open as a gust of wind knocked him back. Frightfully, he saw a flame horror towering over him. Thanks to Firion, he used his mimicking spell Blizzaga at it. Unfortunately it began to melt on contact.
Laguna wandered toward the group from behind as he muttered "This place is way hotter than-Whoa! What the heck!?"
He drew his bazooka and fired a laser beam at the beast, but it absorbed it. Even physical attacks were futile since it had a never-ending burning body.
Laguna panicked "It's no use. Our weapons and magic are worthless!"
When it was Vaan's turn to strike he scratched his chin, snapped his fingers indicating he has an idea, and dropped the ice sphere into the flames. With that, they disappeared in a flash of light and so did the fire drake, since there was no energy to feed it. The ground was now covered with a thick oil.
Vaan stretched "Whew! That's the end of that. No way we can restart this fire." Everyone sighed with relief.
"That was impressive!" Zidane cheered.
"Yeah! You're on a roll!" Bartz added.
"You know, you're not half bad...for a pirate, that is." Laguna chimed.
"Awww, it's nothing. You gotta do whatever it takes to be a sky pirate. It's worth taking many risks. That is my dream." he said as he covered his heart.
"Heh, sounds like w're not the only ones with dreams." Laguna said as he referred to Firion.
"Looks like you're all still intact." Sure enough it was him taking up the rear. "We've been looking everywhere for you guys. I'm just glad you're okay."
"No sweat, fearless leader." Zidane chirped.
"Come on, let's go. There's a long road ahead." And the team marched on.