A/N: Muhahaha. Here is the next chapter for ye. I don't want to hear any complaints about how Aerith should not be getting involved. If she can do it in Advent Children, she can do it in my crazy fanfiction! Cap'n, now you get to watch the demented three-way swordfight I promised you. XD. Oh, and a quick note: this chapter will be mostly revolving around Inwë's "vision" (or near-death experience, take your pick). Sorry, Cap'n! There really isn't much to tell about the swordfight since Sephiroth is just toying with the other two. That, and I'm not very good at writing fight scenes.
Sephiroth looked over his shoulder towards the voice that was now yelling at him. He lowered his katana and watched as the Mouth and a battered Beckett walked towards him.
"Idiot! We need her alive until we find the authoress' powers!" Beckett was shouting, "If she dies before we get the powers, this whole dimension will cease to exist! Don't you understand that this whole place is inside her imagination?" Sephiroth gave him a blank look. The Mouth shook his head sharply and pointed at Inwë.
"Beckett, even if he is a fool, does have a point. If that Vala brat is killed we'll never be able to escape this realm. We'll be suspended in time, trapped forever." Sephiroth suddenly started laughing.
"You have it all wrong. If she dies, you two will be trapped here forever. I will be able to leave," he replied coolly. The Mouth automatically raised his sword in a defense stance.
"How so?" Sephiroth turned around and looked down at the unconscious authoress, using the tip of his katana to brush a wet strand of hair away from her face.
"I am far more powerful than either of you," he explained as he sheathed his sword and continued to stare at Inwë, "Even if I am destroyed, something always calls me back. Not unlike you, Mouth."
"What are you talking about?" the Mouth demanded. Sephiroth tipped his head back and looked up at the sky.
"Oh yes. I forgot…you aren't the same Mouth that's been resurrected twice after losing to Inwë or Aragorn. You wouldn't understand." He looked back down at the authoress and remained silent for several seconds. Beckett nervously drew his own sword.
"I can't let either of you have the powers! You're both just in this for revenge, I at least am in it for the good of the East India Trading Company!" he snapped.
"You mean for your good," Sephiroth answered with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Beckett paled and coughed.
"It doesn't matter! I won't let you two get away with this!" The Mouth cackled and eyed Beckett.
"Are you really so foolish as to think you can defeat either of us in combat? You didn't even manage to finish off your own opponent."
"You don't see him around here, do you?" Beckett challenged.
"That's because he's hiding on the other side of the quarry," Sephiroth replied without turning. Beckett and the Mouth craned their necks to try and see Norrington, who was indeed hiding behind a large rock formation near the opposite tree line. He wasn't stupid enough to take on all three villains at once, though he was keeping a sharp eye on the situation. Beckett shook his head and looked back towards Sephiroth.
"Forget about him! He's a coward and a traitor, and will be dealt with later!" With that, Beckett twirled his sword around once and glared at his two allies-turned-enemies.
"Who wants to die first?" he taunted. The Mouth peered over at Sephiroth.
"Do you think he means it?" he asked. The other villain shrugged slightly.
"For his sake, I hope not. However…" Sephiroth drew his sword and turned around, the ghost of an amused smile on his face.
"It seems I'll have to get rid of you two before I can continue with my plan. This should be quite interesting." Beckett and the Mouth glanced at each other quickly, making a silent agreement to fight together for a little while, and rushed at Sephiroth. He easily parried both their blows and swung his katana in a powerful counter attack. The other two gave him a wide berth and started backing towards the middle of the quarry, where there was better footing and more room.
Inwë slowly opened her eyes. She didn't know where she was or how long she had been there, but she was too tired to care. She felt sore and drained, but she wasn't sure why. Then she remembered. She remembered her fight with the Mouth, her retreat, Sephiroth's attack, the voice calling out just before he struck the final blow…and then, nothing. She let out a soft moan as she realized she must be dead. There was no other explanation. But if she was dead, then why did she still ache all over? She closed her eyes again and sighed. A warm breeze stirred her oddly dry hair and brought the scent of flowers with it. The smell was familiar. Inwë opened one eye again and looked around. White and yellow lilies, just like the ones in Aerith's church, surrounded her. The sky overhead was dark blue and dotted with thousands of stars. Inwë blinked and gingerly sat up.
"You're awake! That's good," said a familiar voice behind her. Inwë twisted around, wincing at the soreness in her ribs, and stared at the owner of the voice. A young woman in a pink dress with a red jacket was smiling down at her. She had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and bright blue-green eyes.
"I am dead," Inwë groaned. The woman laughed and shook her head.
"Don't you remember who sent Cloud and the others here?" Inwë nodded.
"You, Aerith. But you're dead, and I was at least dying when I passed out." Aerith smiled kindly and crouched down so she was eye level with the authoress.
"You haven't died yet, Inwë. You're fading. That's why I brought you here, so I can show you something." Aerith stood up and offered Inwë her hand.
"Let's go." Inwë pulled herself to her feet and followed Aerith through the starlit meadow of flowers. Her pain started to fade, but she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. After a few moments it was gone altogether.
"Aerith…" Inwë began after a moment, "Is Cloud all right? He didn't look so good when I saw him." Aerith looked over her shoulder at her companion with a soft smile on her face.
"Are you really that worried about him?" she asked. Inwë nodded.
"There are two things I've learned about Cloud: one, he may be a good fighter, but he has real bad taste in employers. Two, he has a knack for getting into bad situations. Of course I'm worried about him!" Both women laughed.
"That describes Cloud very well," Aerith replied, "But I don't think you need to worry about him." Inwë decided to take Aerith's word for it and sighed.
"He's a real handful."
"So are you! That's why I sent Cloud and the others in the first place." Inwë suddenly looked very grave and quiet. Aerith stopped walking and eyed her curiously.
"Are you ok?" she asked softly. The authoress shook her head.
"I…so, if they get hurt…it'll be my fault? Just like what happened to you was my fault? My sin," Inwë added with a ghost of a wry smile. Aerith gently put a hand on the authoress' shoulder.
"Don't blame yourself for that."
"But I…" Inwë let her voice trail off and sighed, staring into the distance. Aerith turned around and kept walking. Inwë eventually shook herself out of her thoughts and followed.
After another five minutes of walking, the two found themselves beside a shallow pool of water. Smooth black stones created a perfect ring around the smooth surface of the pond. Inwë's eyes widened slightly when she saw it. Aerith glanced at her, suddenly looking serious.
"Do you know what this is?" she inquired. Inwë slowly approached the pool and crouched down next to it, tracing her pointer finger along one of the smooth black rocks.
"This is a Vision Pool," she replied with a note of awe in her tone, "I've heard of them in stories, but I've never actually seen one."
"That's because they're very rare. Some dimensions don't even have one."
"What can it do?"
"This one can call up visions of the recent past or the present from any dimension where time exists." Inwë let out a low whistle.
"Nice. Most are limited to their own dimension. How did you find this one?"
"I asked the planet."
"Ah, yes. I should have thought of that." Inwë stood up and slowly circled the pool. Aerith stayed where she was and watched as Inwë paced.
"Well," the authoress said at length, "Why did you bring me here?" Aerith didn't answer. Instead, she knelt on the soft grass beside the stones and dipped her finger in the water. Ripples appeared on the surface and spread across the pool. In a moment, a murky image of the quarry appeared. Inwë gasped in surprised and sat down next to Aerith.
"Is this the past?" she asked quietly. Aerith nodded.
"This was just after you got stabbed about ten minutes ago." Inwë flinched as she spotted Sephiroth in the picture. The image flickered as Beckett and the Mouth ran up. Inwë could tell they were arguing even though there wasn't any sound to accompany the picture. After a few minutes Sephiroth and the other started fighting. Inwë couldn't help but grin.
"This is going to end badly for those two. Sephiroth is completely out of their league!" she said gleefully. Aerith laughed.
"You sound very supportive of the man who just tried to kill you," she commented lightly. The authoress shrugged.
"What can I say? Sephiroth is the best fighter I've ever seen, and I would love nothing better than for him to get rid of the other two for me. Saves me time." Inwë stood up and looked around.
"How do I get back? I have to get my powers." Aerith stood up too and sighed.
"You're starting to sound like Cloud." Inwë cracked a roguish grin.
"I'm not complaining. Now can you help me or not?" Aerith frowned slightly and Inwë's smile faded.
"You don't understand, Inwë. You're dying in that realm. I can't just send you back."
"Can't or won't?" the authoress challenged.
"Both. If I send you back, you'll die before you can get your powers." Inwë hissed in annoyance and turned her back on Aerith, running a hand through her hair.
"What am I supposed to do? If I stay here, Sephiroth will kill Beckett and the Mouth and go after my powers himself. He could kill Cloud and the others!"
"Inwë…you're dying. This dimension is the only safe place for you right now. As long as you're here and you receive no further injury, your life will be preserved," Aerith protested gently. Inwë sighed and sat down dejectedly.
"What will happen to everyone else if I die before I get my powers?"
"I don't know. Most of them are canon characters, so they should be all right."
"And my friends? Would they be all right?"
"I think they'd be returned to their own world, though possibly with amnesia or a different side effect." Inwë nodded.
"Send me back. I think I can find the strength to go on, just for a little while. My powers aren't far from the quarry. If I try, I could make it." Aerith opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it.
"I hope you know what you're doing." The authoress stood up and brushed off her clothes.
"Well, I guess we'll find out," she muttered. Aerith shook her head sadly and lifted a hand. Inwë felt the pain from her injuries start to return. Her surroundings began to fade out into mist until she could only see Aerith. Then, even she disappeared and left the authoress alone in the fog. Inwë started to turn around but found she couldn't move at all. The pain came back in full force just as she began to wonder if something had gone wrong, or if Aerith was purposefully keeping her trapped between realms. The authoress felt her mind sliding back into darkness…
In the quarry, Sephiroth was still easily holding off the hopeless attacks of Beckett and the Mouth. The two lower-class fighters were lucky that Sephiroth was just killing time rather than actually trying to kill them.
"You two are pathetic," the villain sighed in an almost bored tone as Beckett tried to slash at him – again.
"Hmph. I've been going easy on you!" the Mouth snapped angrily. He suddenly unleashed a flurry of magical attacks. Chunks of darkness and ice mixed together flew at Sephiroth, who easily dodged or shattered them all. Beckett let out a soft whimper as shards of ice flew at him.
"Watch where you're throwing those!" he yelled. The Mouth grinned.
"Oh, but I was." Beckett paled sharply. Sephiroth tipped his head slightly to one side as the three of them stood watching each other. The dynamics of the "alliances" being made were almost comical.
On the other side of the ravine, Inwë stirred slightly. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. She was wet again, as it was still raining, and she felt exhausted. There was something sticky on her hands, but she didn't want to think about what it was. She did anyway. She figured she must have lost a lot of blood. Inwë gingerly rolled onto her back and sat up. She made a point of not looking at her hands or at the ground.
"Hey! She's not dead!" shouted a furious voice from the opposite end of the quarry. Inwë looked up and saw the hazy outlines of Sephiroth, Beckett, and the Mouth. Her vision blurred again, but she could still hear footsteps running towards her.
"No way in hell am I dying here!" she snarled to herself. Inwë climbed to her feet and stumbled towards where she sensed her powers were. Her sight cleared again and she could see the forest ahead. Her feet slipped on the slick rocks, but she kept going. She couldn't stop, not when she was so close. She wouldn't fail again.
The sound of branches snapping behind her spurred the authoress on. She wasn't all that worried about if the Mouth or Beckett caught her, since she figured she could talk her way out of that. Sephiroth was the one she was scared of. He wasn't the type to negotiate with people.
"Vala, don't be a fool! We have your friends captive!" Inwë heard the Mouth say somewhere behind her.
"Are you…sure…about that?" she panted as she dodged a few steps to the left and kept running. The Mouth didn't reply. Inwë wasn't sure what that meant, but she was too tired to think much of it. She paused for a second to catch her breath and put a hand on her stomach. The wound was bleeding again. I don't have much time, Inwë thought. She looked around desperately for any sign of the light that had marked the location of her powers until now. Up ahead, she saw a glimmer through the leaves. She sucked in a deep breath and ran towards it. She was starting to go numb and she was slowing down. No, she told herself sternly, you can't give in yet. You have to keep fighting! Don't let those jerks win.
"Remember the spirit of the Turks!" Inwë said fiercely to herself in an attempt to be courageous. She jogged towards the light that she could now see shining through the trees. She was so close. In a few more yards she staggered into a clearing.
In the center of the clearing, a bright light surrounded a small object. Inwë stepped forward and knelt down by the light. She sighed contentedly as she saw the familiar pendant and closed her fingers around it. It felt cool and smooth in her hand, the light slowly fading until it was nothing more than a faint gleam. Inwë stood back up and stared at the necklace as it rested in her hand. Suddenly, she felt the cold edge of a katana sliding against her neck, the blade resting on her shoulder.
"Give me the pendant," said a calm voice. Inwë smiled.
"It's too late for that, Sephiroth." She concentrated for just a moment, and the katana vanished. She heard Sephiroth take a step back.
"Next time think before you hurt the people I care about," the authoress said quietly before she willed Sephiroth out of the dimension. He beat her to it. Inwë sensed the dark magic gather behind her and disappear.
"Well, I guess he can still teleport," Inwë muttered, "Maybe this time he'll stay in his own realm." She heard more crashing behind her as the Mouth and Beckett caught up. She turned around and smiled at them evilly.
"Bye, Mouth!" she said innocently. The Mouth gave her one startled look before he vanished into thin air. Beckett gave the authoress a terrified look.
"I-I am the head of the East India Trading Company! You can't just kill me! There would be diplomatic consequences!" he begged in a very whiny voice. Inwë gave him a disgusted look.
"Hmph. You had better pray Bruckheimer gives you a quick and painless death in the next movie, because if you're still living after that then you're fair game. A friend of mine and I have planned out your demise in gruesome detail."
"So…?"
"That means that I have to let you go, but I'll be seeing you after the movie premieres. Savvy?" Beckett whimpered. Inwë snapped her fingers and Beckett vanished as well, sent back to his own world with the fear of God put back into him. Inwë relaxed slightly and looked around. Suddenly, she felt renewed pain from her injury. Her vision faded in and out very rapidly before she stumbled. She put out a hand to steady herself, but she collapsed. Her eyes slowly shut as her fingers curled around her pendant. She was so tired.
A/N: It's not over 'til it's over. By the way…who said Inwë can't die? XD