Anne wheezed and panted as she wobbly ascended the last few steps before sinking to her knees and letting out a soft wail.
"Why are there so many stairs?!"
"My, what an unimpressive display."
Anne lifted her head slowly and glared at Rufus who stood in the centre of the next room, arms folded and a very bored look on his face.
"This is Phoenix's hero? This little girl who can't go up a few stairs without running out of breath?"
Anne sighed as she shakily stood to her feet and brandished her sword.
"Hey, took down your Behemoth and Coeurls," she huffed before narrowing her eyes "That happened to be my friends and sister!"
Rufus shrugged elegantly.
"So you found out I can transform people into beasts," he said nonchalantly "Not an impressive feat. If you paid attention to your Mommy and Daddy's stories then you would know about my ability before."
"Like I have time to waste on pathetic fairy tales!"
Anne let out another breath and rested her hands on her knees, still catching her breath.
"You had a crummy architect to build this place you know," she rasped.
Rufus frowned slightly before taking a few steps forward. Anne stood up straight and held her sword out, bracing her shield as Rufus paused.
"Your stance is incorrect, you're shaking and your helm…"
Anne blushed as her helm slipped off her head. She quickly spun to scoop it off the floor and placed it back on. Rufus tutted, shaking his head and sighing.
"Really, this won't take long. I could let you go free if you could just hand over the necklace."
"Somehow I don't think that would be a good idea," Anne sighed as she pushed her hair out of her eyes.
"Hrm, just because you're a poor hero, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."
"I didn't ask for this!" Anne shrieked as she gestured to her getup "Heck, my Chocobo stole this off someone and brought it to me, I'm only wearing it because he gets stroppy if he finds me without it! How was I supposed to know it would do this?!"
"How could I believe you?" Rufus rolled his eyes "All little girls enjoy lying."
"I'm a blacksmith, do you really think the thought of being in an actual battle has ever crossed my mind?"
"A female blacksmith?" Rufus looked disapproving "Really…"
Anne gritted her teeth and adjusted her grip on her sword. Rufus's body was encompassed by dark purple flames as he smirked at her coldly.
"Do you really think you stand a chance?" he taunted "Just because you have Phoenix's crystal doesn't mean that you will actually defeat me, child."
Anne took in a deep breath as she lowered her sword and let the crystal vibrate against her chest.
"I can't just stand here and let you get away for what you've done to my sister and friends," she said as orange flames surrounded her.
Rufus's arm emitted a lilac aura as Anne swung her sword and he lashed out to block it. The clash of power immediately sent Anne flying back and go splat against the wall. Anne began seeing Chocobos circle her head and managed to block Rufus's next attack with her shield. She winced as her arm shook with the impact and Rufus slammed his head against hers, forcing her to lock eyes with him.
"I could shred you like paper," he smirked.
"Wings of Rebirth!"
Rufus hissed as Anne's arms lit up with amber aura and he retreated as she shot up. Anne's stomach flipped as she hovered in the air momentarily before she dropped down, sword poised to pierce Rufus as she plummeted down. Rufus's dark aura grew as he shot up, hands above him, poised like a falcon's talons which were ready to go in for the kill. Anne suddenly switched to her shield again and the two clashed again, Rufus's dark talons trying to tear through Anne's barrier. Anne winced as she felt the dark energy grip her arm and suddenly she was thrown to the floor. She coughed up blood, her eyes wide with the shock of the pain. She stared up at Rufus for a moment before shakily rolling over and getting to her knees.
"Why do you still persist?" Rufus growled as he slowly descended.
Anne wiped her mouth, staring at her blood with a horrified look. She looked over to Rufus, feeling the despair clutch at her. Who was she kidding? She wasn't a fighter, she barely had the stomach to see her own blood. Sure, she had injured herself time and again when she was training to be a blacksmith but the fact that someone was actually trying to kill her began to hit her full force.
Anne took in a shaky breath, corrected her stance and raised her sword and shield to prepare to defend for her life. Rufus smirked.
"Just give up and die peacefully," he crooned "Perhaps the gods will let you go to the Promised Land for putting up such a valiant effort."
"B-Barrier," Anne muttered and her shield emitted a green glow to encircle her in a dome.
Rufus only lifted his hand to summon a wave of dark energy at her and it shattered her protection in a blink. Anne winced as she staggered back at the force of the attack, her heart thumping against her ribcage as her senses screamed at her to flee from this man, run for her life and just forget about this scary place.
"Die!"
She yelped as she blocked the second wave of energy that was sent towards her. Cruel laughter echoed in the dismal room as she felt the heat through her shield and her arm shook.
"No," she whispered "No, I can't…I have to go on…"
"Your efforts are futile!" her opponent taunted "Just give up and accept your fate peacefully!"
The dark figure was engulfed in black and purple flames, his grin wide and malicious as his eyes bore down upon her with a sadistic gleam.
"I will turn that pretty face of yours into dust!"
She backed off as he swooped down towards her.
"I don't think I can dodge that…" she whimpered.
"KWEH!"
Anne was bowled over and Rufus was flung to the side by the unexpected arrival. Anne landed on her rump with a yelp and she looked up at the huge red Chocobo that pranced around, cawing proudly.
"Ryu?!"
She glanced at Rufus who was crumpled on the floor, his aura dying down and then looked at Ryu who promptly pecked her on the head.
"Kweh!"
"Oh, don't you sass me, mister!"
Anne was back on her feet, adjusting her helm and glaring at Ryu.
"You left me alone to fend off monsters!" she shrieked at him "I was worried about you and absolutely terrified! Do you even know what found and chased me here?! And even when I think I'm safe, I end up donning this pathetic set of armour and fighting monsters! So don't you dare just barge in and pretend everything's fine, because everything is so not fine!"
"Kweh!"
"Ow!"
Anne winced as Ryu pecked her again and ruffled his feathers happily. She stood up straight, glaring up at him.
"Also, there's the issue with this."
She held out Phoenix's crystal around her neck.
"Where did you get this? And why did you decide to steal it? Do you have any idea what trouble you've put me through because of your shenanigans?!"
Ryu just bounced and cawed, making Anne groan.
"What a foul creature."
Ryu and Anne jumped and turned to see Rufus getting up onto his feet and glowering at them. He cracked his neck from side to side, his body getting enveloped in his dark aura.
"No matter, I shall turn the two of you to dust!"
"Kweh!"
Anne watched as Ryu sped charged towards Rufus.
"Ryu, wait!"
Rufus blocked the headbutt Ryu was going to deliver and was shoved back, his shoes scratching against the floor as Anne stood there, rather dumbstruck.
"Guess that's what happens when you eat too many mimett greens."
She shook her head as Ryu backed off after Rufus shoved him back. She spread her arms.
"Wings of Rebirth!"
"Kweh!"
Anne was launched up as Ryu charged forward again. Ryu skidded as Rufus flew up to meet Anne as she dove for him. Anne raised her sword and tried to attack only to be blocked by Rufus's talons. She rasped when the other set of talons wrapped themselves around her neck and she began choking.
"KWEH!"
Anne watched as Ryu flashed behind Rufus, his beak grasping the back of Rufus's collar and suddenly the talons were gone from her neck. Ryu's eyes blazed red as Anne began falling and he soared higher towards the ceiling. And in a flash of brilliant amber, Anne felt the heat of the explosion as she slowly descended.
"RYU!" she shrieked as Rufus roared in pain and she landed on her feet, her arms losing their amber aura.
To her left fell a very charred body. To her right landed a rather cooked Chocobo. Ryu didn't move as Anne fell to her knees beside him and shook him.
"Oi, since when could you kamikaze like that?!" she shouted as he didn't respond to her shaking "Ryu? Ryu, please, wake up!"
Her breath left her as Ryu's body crumbled to ashes and she fell back, covering her mouth and shaking.
"Ryu…no…"
She closed her eyes and bowed her head, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"No, no, this isn't happening," she whispered sadly "No, Ryu…"
She sniffed and sobbed on the spot, letting the tears flow down her cheeks.
"Kweh?"
"Hm?"
When Anne looked up, flying in front of her was a small red Chocobo chick. It shook its body and cooed happily as ashes fell from it. Anne took one last sniff before wiping her tears and staring at it.
"…Ryu?"
"Kweh."
The Chocobo chirruped happily as it flew closer and Anne offered her hands for it to settle in. It looked up at her, blinking its adorable black eyes and Anne sighed.
"It is you, stupid Chocobo."
Ryu chirruped again, rather annoyed and flapped his wings. Anne raised a hand, petted his head…and then smacked him off her hand.
"I thought you were dead!" she shrieked at him as he went flying across the room "You had me worried sick! I may act like a nag but I do love you, you ignorant selfish Chocobo! You bad Chocobo! You made me cry! I thought you were gone, never to be resurrected or reincarnated or whatever! And when could you use magic?! And why did you think it was a good idea to use it for a suicide attack?! You are just…just…ARGH!"
"Kweh!"
Ryu recovered and sped over to her, pecking her nose.
"Oh don't you dare give me your sass when all of this is your fault!"
"Kweh!"
Ryu fluttered over and settled on Rufus's corpse, bouncing up and down.
"Yes, it did the job but couldn't there have been a less messy way to deal with him?!"
"Kweh!"
Anne stood and stared at the body and Chocobo chick. She wanted to leave but now something felt like it was calling for her to do something. She slowly walked over to the corpse and knelt before it. Ryu chirruped in approval as she slid her sword into Rufus's shoulder.
"Corrupted soul," she whispered "return to the cycle and start your life anew. May the Eidolons bless you in your new journey."
She watched as the whole body went up in flames and nothing but ashes were left of Rufus's body. A breeze swept the room, scattering the ashes and Anne looked around trying to find the source of said breeze. Ryu settled on her shoulder as she spotted a window that had been conveniently left open (thought she did not remember seeing that) and Anne turned to look at him.
"Can we go home now?"
"Kweh!"
Ryu took off and went up the stairs.
"No, that way isn't home! Ryu!"
Anne got to her feet and began shouting at him as she gave chase.