So…remember chapter 18 of Into the Void where I went on a huge rant about reviews?
Yeah…I almost want to do that again. But I was in a very dark place when I wrote that. I'm not in that anymore. So just please…
Please…
Please…
REVIEW! It would make me very happy and encourage me to write more. My frequent readers know that the more reviews I get, the faster I want to write. So if you'd like this to be a more consistently updated fanfic, then please REVIEW!
Thank you, that is all.
I'm pretty sure you want me to get on with it at this point…
I DON'T OWN FINAL FANTASY III
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Chapter 9: A Cloud of Darkness
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Sean lay in the field of flowers, anxiously waiting for his friends to come back. His Umbreon and Scyther were both wandering around, noting the black sky's contrast with the colorful field. It was surreal, everything was lighted in the area around him and yet the sky was so dark. It was ironic. It sent a chill down his spine.
Suicune was pacing around the field, he looked anxious.
"Something wrong?" Sean asked.
Not really. Suicune said, stopping to look at his partner, I just don't like sitting around here doing nothing this whole time. I feel like we're sitting ducks.
"Tell me about it." Sean said, sighing, "I wonder which tyrant is next."
Just don't say which you wouldn't prefer. We might just get that.
"Hey, last time it worked." Sean said.
Sephiroth was still a formidable foe. Watch it.
"I gotcha." Sean said. He sat up, "So where next?"
We're finding Amaranth's soul next. There's a cave nearby that houses the souls of those trapped in the Void, so we should expect to find her there.
"A cave of lost souls…" Sean muttered, "Suicune, if we close the Void, will we get them out?"
I believe so. Once they're physically out of the Void, they should be mentally as well. Unless they're killed in the real world first.
"I hope we're not too late then…" Sean said.
Blade and Lunar were still examining the area when they froze suddenly. Sean noticed this, and Suicune suddenly growled.
"Oh no…" Sean said.
They're here.
"Who? Can you tell?"
No. It feels like one entity, but it's everywhere. We're surrounded. But it's just one person.
Sean sprung up to his feet, "Dammit…" he thought for a minute, then realized.
"Shit."
Got it?
"The Cloud of Darkness."
The moment he said that he heard a piercing laugh echo throughout the entire field. It sounded like a mixture of men and women's voices, not taking on a pure form.
"It's not male or female, it manifested as a female in Final Fantasy III, but I believe the Cloud can manifest as many things."
I know now. Sean, stay alert, the attack will come from all sides.
Sean called out to his Pokemon, "Lunar! Blade! Watch yourselves! An attack can come out of anywhere!"
His Pokemon nodded in agreement.
Sean looked around; looking for a sign, but nothing was different. He then looked up and saw the sky, it was as if the land beneath them had lifted up and was taking them towards it. It was getting closer to them, ready to consume them when it got close enough.
"I found our cloud." Sean said, pointing straight up. Suicune nodded. Sean took in a breath, "Suicune! Ice Beam, up above! Lunar! Shadow Ball, same area!"
The two pokemon looked straight up and fired, their attacks combining in a synergy, turning into a comet with a shadowy aura. The comet pierced the sky, a funnel opening up right where it entered the mass of black. The same laugh from before emanated from the funnel as hundreds of snakes spewed forth from it, entering the field and hiding in the flowers.
"Shit!" Sean yelled, he jumped on Suicune's back and summoned his daggers, ready to defend himself. He pulled out his pokeballs and called back Blade and Lunar, protecting them from the reptiles.
Why did you do that?
"These things must be poisonous, and they're doing a good job of hiding."
Alright. What should we do?
"Surf!" Sean yelled. Suicune nodded and jumped backwards a few feet, a large wave of water erupting in front of him. Sean shot out his hand and poured electricity into the wave, charging it with explosive energy. Soon the wave began to kill snakes; Sean heard hisses and cries from the malicious creatures.
The flowers didn't get wet.
The snakes, however, were still pouring from the funnel in the sky, and Sean could now see them. They were purple and had black dots along their backs, their fangs so large that they curved down their chins. Sean was convinced that a single bite from one of these would kill him.
The snakes that were hit by the wave were soon replaced with more snakes, now so numerous that Sean could pick out the hordes of them through the large flowers and grasses. They moved towards them slowly, like a wave of molasses, but this molasses would kill you on contact.
Suicune sent out a another wave of Surf, Sean charging it again, but this time it seemed to have no effect on the approaching wave of snakes. Sean looked around, starting to panic. He needed a way out.
Sean turned around to see more funnels opening behind them, and an equally large wave of snakes approaching them from the behind. They were surrounded.
"Bad news, Suicune." Sean said, "We're not able to back up anymore. The snakes are over there, too. Any ideas?"
We could rush them with an ice beam and see how far we get without getting bitten, but we need a decision, fast!
Sean could see no other route, the idea was a deathwish, but they had no other choice. Suicune crouched, Sean braced himself. The snakes were only about 20 feet away from them now.
"One, two…" Sean began, but he was cut off as the area around him burst into flames. A pillar of fire surrounded him and Suicune, protecting them from the foul snakes. Sean looked up and saw Julie riding on top of Moltres, she extended her hand.
"We can't stop the snakes, but we can get above them! Call Suicune into his ball and hop on!" She yelled.
Sean looked at Suicune, who nodded. Don't die here. I don't want to be released to hear I've been stuck in the Void for centuries.
Sean chuckled, "I'll see you in a few minutes, Suicune." He jumped off of the legend's back and called back Suicune. Moltres landed in front of him and allowed him to climb on behind Julie, grabbing hold of her abdomen.
"Let's go, Moltres!" Julie said. The bird nodded and flew straight up into the sky, just as the pillar of fire disappeared. The snakes burst forth into the small area that was being protected and swallowed it like a wave.
"Impeccable timing you have, Julie." Sean said, now breathless.
"Did you expect anything less?" Julie said with a chuckle, she looked up at the cloud, which was still pouring out the snakes, "It looks like we'll be fighting this battle in the air! What now?"
Suddenly, Moltres burst forward and sank to the left, almost throwing Sean and Julie off. Before they could say anything, a large burst of bright, pink particle beams narrowly missed them to their left.
We have to be careful! Moltres said. Hang on tight; this is going to get hairy!
Sean and Julie braced themselves as Moltres started flying off in seemingly random directions. Particle beams came from left and right, from ahead and from behind. They were everywhere. Sean could feel the heat emanating from these beams, if they were hit even once they would be burned to a crisp.
"What do we do?" Julie yelled over the chaos, "We're surrounded!"
If we can get into one of the snake funnels, we should be able to break into the core of the Cloud and destroy it!
Sean looked down at the sea of purple and black, he could hear thousands of hisses coming from it. He gulped. They were hundreds of feet above it, but Sean could still imagine the snakes leaping up from it and attacking them.
Suddenly, a barrage of particle beams came from above. Moltres dodged many of them, but on dodging one that was right in front of the bird's head she was hit by one on her left wing. Julie hung on, but Sean was thrown off the back of the bird. He let out a scream as he held out his hand, grabbing onto Moltres' talon.
"Sean!" Julie yelled, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Sean yelled, hanging on for dear life on the claw of Moltres, "How's Moltres?"
I'm hurt, but luckily I'm a fire type, so the heat from that blast didn't hurt me as much. Hang on tight!
Sean looked down at the snakes in fear, and he screamed as he lost his focus as Moltres jerked forward. He lost his grip on the talon and began to fall into the sea of hissing below.
"SEAN!" Julie screamed; her voice cracking.
Sean closed his eyes, waiting for the end, but at the last second landed on something else, a hand grabbing his arm and pulling him onto a flying creature. Sean opened his eyes to see Jo in front of him, and to see he was flying on Articuno.
Careful now! Articuno yelled, Sean, hang on this time!
Sean was disoriented but grabbed onto Jo's abdomen, "I'm fine. Thank you so much."
"It's my pleasure. Now please, turn off all wireless devices and fasten your seatbelts. Turn your seats to the upright position, as we are preparing for takeoff." Jo said, Megan climbing out of her backpack and onto her head.
Moltres nodded towards Articuno as if a plan was made. Jo looked at her bird, "GO!"
Articuno shot towards a funnel of snakes, Moltres moving right below her. Particle beams fired all around them, but the birds didn't flinch. Gracefully they avoided the attacks until they were about ten feet from the waterfall of snakes.
"MEGAN! GO!" Jo yelled, her Pikachu lurching itself off of her head into the middle of the snakes.
"Pikkkaaacchuuuuu!" Megan yelled as a seemingly endless amount of electricity sprung forth from her body, lighting up all of the snakes in the funnel like a Christmas tree. The lightning went up like a chain into the mouth of the funnel. Megan fell onto Moltres' back, Julie catching her safely in her arms.
The snakes were now dead bodies at this point, falling from the sky. Articuno and Moltres flew into the mouth of the funnel, firing flamethrowers and ice beams to stave off any snakes that would still be alive.
They entered The Cloud of Darkness. They were now on a plane covered in a pink mist, a large, shadowy mass lay below them, constantly shifting. One would fall through if they fell from here and fall victim to the snakes that were no longer visible.
"Holy crap, that was intense." Sean said, "Great job, everyone!"
The birds let out a cry of victory, Jo and Julie cheered. Megan was too tired to emit a noise.
They weren't out of danger yet, however. In front of them, a barely-dressed woman appeared. She was voluptuous, almost like a succubus, and had an aura of evil around her. Shadows covered what would be the forbidden parts of her body, and she was decorated in red sashes. Her black hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall. She was tempting, but deadly.
"You did a wonderful job getting here" the ambiguous voice said, "But I'm afraid it's time for you to die here."
"Not likely." Julie said, she let Megan climb into her backpack and looked at Moltres, the bird nodded.
Jo whispered to Sean, "When Articuno gets close enough, jump and stab the Cloud. Julie, Moltres, Articuno and I will cover you."
Sean wanted to protest, but did nothing to. He was the only one whose weapon manifested as a blade. He called forth his daggers and began to charge them with electricity.
Moltres went first without a command from Julie. The succubus fired a wall of particle beams at them, but Moltres flew right under it. The bird fired a flamethrower at the succubus which was dispelled right as it had reached her.
Articuno was right behind, clearing the same obstacles Moltres had. The pink mist turned purple as the battle intensified, with Articuno and Moltres making multiple attempts to break the succubus' defenses, trying to get Sean close enough to jump.
Moltres flew behind the succubus, trying to get a jump on her, but instead a particle beam manifested from behind the demon's back and nailed Moltres right in the chest, causing the bird to cry out and fall through the cloud.
Moltres! Articuno yelled, now diving at the Succubus from above. Demon!
Another particle beam lurched forward and shot Articuno out of the sky, sending her through the cloud with Moltres.
You have lost the battle! The voice yelled, We have defeated the intruders!
The mist in the cloud had turned black, but a voice seemed to illuminate the darkness.
"DIE, SUCCUBUS!"
The succubus didn't see Sean falling from above. He landed on its shoulders and stuck both blades into its chest, "Go back into the portal of hell you came from!" The electricity charged in the daggers unleashed itself into the succubus, causing it to let out a blood-curdling scream.
No! This can't be possible! How could we, an omnipotent being…
The voice cut out as the succubus exploded. The Cloud of Darkness immediately dissipated, sending Sean falling through. The snakes below were gone, and a now dismounted Moltres caught Sean on her back.
Great work.
Sean sat up and grabbed the bird's neck, "Are you sure you're okay? You took a huge hit."
I'm alright, but thanks for worrying. I'll need a rest, though. I'm glad I chose to go with Julie, I haven't had this much excitement in centuries.
Sean landed next to the rest of his friends; Articuno was being tended to by Jo, a potion being applied to the area where the particle beam hit. Sean hopped off to get an attack hug from Julie.
"You did it!" She yelled, "We defeated another tyrant!"
Sean smiled as she let go, "And it's all because of you two." He said, looking at Jo and Julie, "You came right when I thought I was about to die twice." He looked at the birds and bowed, "Thank you for joining us."
It's our pleasure. Articuno said, after seeing that display of teamwork from you three, we can't wait to help you finish your quest.
"Without you, we would be dead right now." Jo said, hugging Articuno's neck, "Thank you so much."
Sean looked around, "Uh…what about Jordan and Zapdos?"
Everyone went silent. Where was Jordan? Did he fail his test?
Zapdos won't respond to our call. Moltres said, It's possible he's still testing Jordan.
"But…why is it taking so long?" Julie asked.
Zapdos isn't very trusting of anyone. It'll take a lot of convincing to get him to join your cause. Don't count Jordan out as dead yet, Zapdos would surely let us know if he killed somebody. Articuno said.
"Alright" Sean said. He looked around; the flowers were all back as if nothing had happened.
"Let's break here for a bit. That was exhausting." Jo said. Everyone nodded. Megan was already sleeping in Julie's pack.
Sean called out Suicune.
I see you won. Great job! Suicune said. He bowed towards the birds, and thank you for joining us, once again.
It's been a long time, Suicune. Moltres said, Let's catch up while the kids rest.
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Jordan had braced himself for a deadly voltage of electricity, but nothing had happened. Instead, an orb appeared in front of him. He saw the whole battle against the Cloud of Darkness and wished he was there to help the whole time. It killed him to be so helpless.
"Zapdos! What are you trying to do to me?" Jordan yelled.
I won't kill you. I'll join you, but after you tell me your true reason to fight.
"I told you!" Jordan yelled, "I'm here to protect my friends!"
Don't you dare lie to me! The bird let out a piercing scream, I know why you're fighting, and you're not leaving until you tell me the truth!
Jordan clenched his fists, what was Zapdos trying to get out of him?
"Fine. I'll play your game." Jordan said, sitting down in front of the orb. He wished he could tell his friends he was O.K.
Go ahead. We have all of eternity to figure this out.
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Review please!