Soory it took so long. Been real busy. Stupid college. Anyhow, I've finally realized that this story is going to be a hell of a lot longer than I first imagined it to be. As long as you all don't mind (insert anime tongue face). Regardless, here ya go!
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Now, never before have I been afraid of dolls, but these dolls were terrifying. They weren't the cute little girl toys you might be used to. These were huge, brown and bent of thrashing us to hell and back. Two clomped from around a bend and proceeded towards us. They simply strided quite mechanically. Unliving things, of course.
"Oh boy, Chaos Idols! Smash 'em up bucko!", Azura instructed me. Well, what else could I do but strike out at the nearest one. Azura clonked harmlessly against it's upper leg.
"Ah, shit! Tomo, put a bullet in it!", I instructed. And I was rewarded. A moment later and Tomo had projected a bullet straight through the chest of the near statue. A small hole was cracked in it's outer shell, but it seemed uneffected. Leslie could be heard chanting from behind me as I ducked and dodged the flailing arms of the living idols. The acrid stink of magic casting followed a moment later as both statues were enveloped in a blue twirling pattern. Lines of energy twisted about the dolls for a moment before locking in a single position.
"Quickly! They're bound!", Leslie shouted.
"Dude, just hit 'em in the space between the chest plate and the legs.", Azura told me. I followed these instructions with a wide swing towards the thin, pinnacle-like object that held up the upper body of the doll. Upon contact the damn thing simply shattered. "Gods dammit!", I choked out my surprise as the statue crumbled to the ground.
"All right!", Azura cheered me on. I felt proud of my damn self until Leslie's body knocked me to the ground. It wasn't even a good fall either. She had been catapaulted by the arm of the second doll. The wind was knocked out of me and I had a hard time trying to stand whilst supporting Leslie's stunned form. The statue had succeeded in knocking Tomo and Sakaki across the hallway as well. Both bodies were slumped against the bone-like walls unmoving.The Soulforged was doing her best to fend off the spinning, flailing arms of the arcane beast. Her sword absorbed the blows she could not dodge, but her arm buckled every time the beast struck the weapon. All of her antics were in order to form a splendid distraction for Yomi's magic casting. Yomi held out her hand, palm towards the doll as a roiling mass of fire erupted from her fingers and scorched towards the doll. It struck with a mass concussion that spat fiery globules of plasma into the air. The doll stumbled from the impact and rocked on it's feet.As I contemplated my own plan of attack everything seemed to change. The air became stale and the walls took on a cast that mocked the colour green. I had only a moment to register this change before trifold lances of pure azure light pierced the doll from multiple angles. The blue spears cut through the statue's 'skin' as if it were nothing more than leaves of a plant. The energy grew to such a degree that my eyes were momentarily blinded until the light died down and ultimately disappeared. As the cute little green spots faded from my vision I noticed the Soulforged standing where the doll had once been. There was no longer any evidence that the one doll had been here at all. The remains of the first doll still laid in a pile in the middle of the hall.
"H..how?", I choked out as I helped Leslie to walk.
"Beryl Wrath.", muttered...the Soulforged. I hadn't expected a response at all so I was totally floored when she spoke. Her voice came soft with a slight lilt to it. Even Yomi stopped in the process of helping Tomo and Sakaki to their feet to stare in awe at the newly vocal part of our group.
"So you CAN talk!", shouted Tomo with an accosting finger directed at the turquoise warrior.
"Yes.", muttered the Soulforged.
"So, what's yer name?", Tomo certainly wasted no time.
"The Soulforged.", came the response from below the veil.
"That's it"
"Yes"
"How old..", Tomo began before getting a helping hand to close her mouth compliments of Yomi.
"We have to get going. Time if of the essence.", Yomi said.
"Yea, let's go.", I said after I made sure everyone was in well enough shape to continue. Except for a few heavy bruises and minor abrasions we were in fair shape.
We followed the hallway until it forked to the right and left. Gazing down each corridor was the opposite of helpful due to the fact that everything looked the same.
"Which way Azura?", I asked the weapon.
"Oh...pfft...head left.", it responded after a moment. Following it's directions we followed the bone walls until they gave way to a vast room with a vaulted ceiling. The roof could hardly be seen, much less the door on the opposite wall.
"Anything we should know about here?", Yomi asked mockingly to the weapon in my hand.
"Umm..just don't step on the dark hexagons on the floor.", it said.
"What happens then?", asked Tomo.
"Umm...more security measures"
The floor was pure white save for the oddly spaced patches of dark gray. The patches were hexagonal and fairly small compared to the rest of the room. "Well, that doesn't seem too hard.", I said as I stepped into the room. Oh, how those words haunt me to this day. My left footfall was approximately five feet away from the nearest hexagon, but that didn't stop it from rushing towards my feet.
"Holy shit!", I dove to the ground to avoid touching the moving floor piece. I was only safe for a moment as the gray marker rocketed back towards me. All I saw was a flash of blue followed by my being bodily dragged at some unholy speed a few inches above the deadly floor. Next thing I knew, there I was, back against the far door and the Soulforged standing next to me.
"I'll help.", she muttered before once again moving so fast across the floor that the trap couldn't keep up with her if it tried.
"Damn, that bitch is fast.", Azura said with a mote of awe in it's voice.
"You don't have to tell me twice.", I said as the Soulforged reappeared near me to drop off Leslie.
"Hmm...wow.", was all Leslie said as she brushed off her short robe.The Soulforged rushed back and forth three more times to carry Tomo, Sakaki, and Yomi across the doomsday floor.
"You're awesome!", Tomo told the Soulforged with a pat on the back. The blue clothed wonder responded with a curt nod of her head.
"What now?", I questioned Azura.
"Well, ya see that door behind ya"
"Yea...it has no handle.", I observed. It was simply a flat reccession in the wall. "Of course not. It's cermet. Hold me near it and you push against it. We'll see what we can do.", the weapon said.
I braced my shoulder against the odd door and began to push. I pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed some more.
"Uh...Mr. Pri..", was all Sakaki could get out before the door stopped resisting my force and I fell hard down on my shoulder.
"Owww...", I moaned as Azura laughed at me.
"HAHA! That's always funny"
"Yea, yea.", I shrugged off the chide as I stared up the cermet staircase before us.
"Where's this go?", Yomi asked.
"Oh...all the way to the top floor of the tower. The Stellar Fulcrum", Azura said proudly.
"...Is that good?", I asked.
"Of course you ass! That's where Eald'narche would be.", said Azura.
"Excellent. Let's go.", said Leslie, leading the way defiantly. We all agreed in quick succession and began our trek upstairs. We were certainly excited at the time.
An hour later we certainly weren't when we were still trudging up those endless winding stairs.
"Gods, when does this end?", I said torturously.
"Yea, really. I'm bored!", Tomo whined.
"Oh, quiet! You're almost there.", Azura responded. With a huff and puff I asked, "What would have happened if we stepped on those gray things on the floor"
"Incinerated, drowned, electrocuted, crushed by rocks, ripped to shreds by a tornado, or frozen solid.", Azura explained.
"Great..", I answered.
"Hey, look up ahead!", Leslie called. Lo and behold,up ahead was another cermet door. This one though was heavily engraved and otherwise dolled up. Pillars and arcane scrawlings surrounded the door, making it look like the entrance to a palace.
Standing in front of the gate, the Soulforged spoke, "Qe'Iou Gate"
"Huh?", I asked.
"A Zilartian word meaning 'central'.", Azura clarified.
"So this is where Eald'narche is? Do you think Sess' body was taken here too?", Leslie asked.
"Can't say for sure.", said Azura. "But it's a good bet Sess' remains will be here"
"So how do we...", I began, but the door had aleady slid open. Inside was an amazing sight. Glowing,blue lines lead to a main core that sat in the center of the large, vaulted room with catwalks leading to it. Below the center platform was a vast, slowly rotating blue crystal that emitted acres of power. The recessed area we had entered into was below the amazing scene before us. There seemed to be no one but us within the giant room.
"The hell is that?", asked Tomo, pointing to the crystal.
"That's the..", Azura began.
"That's the Chrysalis Core. And you're all just in time.", came a lilting voice from above us. Looking up, I saw a small child. No older than 12 or 13. He was standing at the edge of the platform in his long gray robe and bobbed blonde hair. One eye was covered by a black patch.
"Ah, Lord Eald'narche. Long time no see.", Azura spoke. I recoiled. I'm sure everyone else did too. This kid was the feared and evil Lord Eald'narche? I couldn't believe it. Like hell I was gonna let a kid wreck the world.
"...Azura? It seems you've been a bit...disposed.", he threw his head back and laughed.
"Shut it asshole! Where's Kaorin? And what have you done with Sess?", Leslie screamed. Totally unlike her to raise her voice.
"Oh? Did the little automaton lead you here?", he laughed again. "Following this I presume.", the kid grinned and brought from his pocket a cruxiform object a little larger than one's hand.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO SESS?", yelled Leslie again at the top of her strained voice. By now she was choked with tears and couldn't speak normally. I'm sure we all felt a little distraught at the situation. I wanted to cry too.
"What better way to obtain the Spiritform needed to unlock the Core.", he laughed and tossed the cross-like object from the platform. It clattered upon the cermet floor. "And your little friend. She is my key.", with a small wave of his hand Kaorin appeared immediately next to him. Her eyes were blank and she was dressed in something..umm..far more revealing than a girl her age should be wearing.
"Let her go gods dammit!", I couldn't help but scream.
"And what are you going to do about it? I'll rend each of you limb from limb without effort.", Eald'narche spoke.
"We'll kill you, you bastard!", screamed Tomo defiantly.
"Idiots. When I break all the seals and unlock the gate to Ra'Nau I shall be even more unstoppable than I am now! The Zilart shall once more rule all of Vana'diel!", he proposed with a tremendous head-thrown-back laugh. He certainly was over the top.
"Never.", muttered the Soulforged.
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kekekekeke! What ya think of dem apples? Hope you all enjoyed it. Like my new Zilartian place name? Ra'Nau? Y'know, similar to Tu'Lia and Al'Taieu. But where is it? OoOOoooo,mystery.
-peace-