Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Square Enix, just my ideas and stuff like that.

Note: Now it's the battle between Calera vs Roen + Anuy!!! Ready, fight!

Chapter 22

Melody of Punishment

Roen held his longsword in a spear-like fashion and sprinted towards Calera. He knew from looking at Calera's stance, that she has a very weird fighting-style for her whip. She had her knees a little bent, and had her left hand holding back the tip of the whip while her right hand held it in place. It was like she was gonna strike someone with a wet towel, and she literally did.

She let go of her left hand and flicked her wrist, making the whip snap right at Roen's sword's tip. In a huge surprise, he got repelled back to the ground right next to Anuy.

"Whoa...I wasn't expecting an attack that strong..."

Anuy wheeled toward him hurriedly, and spluttered out words and sentences like 'sorry!' and 'do you need healing?'

Shaking his head, Roen said, "It's alright Summoner. But maybe you can soften my blows? Hehe...."

"Alright...I'll try to do that." Anuy then placed her wand on his hand, which healed a small scrape. "I can always try helping in small ways..."

Both of them heard footsteps approaching them with a soft giggling sound. "You see from that attack, that I'm no ordinary girl. I'm probably stronger than Malfonse and Ira altogether. Hehe, face it you two, you don't stand a chance against me!" Calera then flicked her wrist again, sending out a high-speed whip attack once again.

Roen smirked at the chance. With just one beat of his wings, a current of air went through the holes in his blade, creating some kind of peppy tune. Before the whip even reached Roen, a 3 foot tall purple-furred dog appeared from a portal atop the ceiling, and it stomped on the whip, stopping it in its tracks.

"W-what the hell? Where did THAT mutt come from?!" Calera screamed out with a shocked expression.

Roen nonchalantly hoisted himself onto the dog as if it was a horse and he had his sword's blade resting on the ground. "Let's see if you can handle this one here, I've known this mutt to be quite the crazy type."

"I don't like the sound of that," Anuy muttered quietly.

The dog barked loudly and suddenly sprinted forward. Roen's sword blade made a trail of sparks appear along the ground. Within 2 seconds Roen jumped off the dog at high speed with his sword raised. The dog got under Calera's skirt, which by the way made her squeak, and it jumped up. Because of the dog's muscular back, it bounced her upwards, making her meet Roen face to face.

"I guess you couldn't handle the dog after all, girl," Roen said in a calm tone. He swung his sword down and slashed her stomach. The force of the blow sent Calera into the ground, creating an immense eruption of stone and dust to waft out torrentially. Roen landed onto the ground with a soft thud, and wiped the blood from Calera's stomach onto the dog's fur.

"Thanks Ralfin." Roen then looked at the crater that was created. In all the dust and debris, he discerned a figure moving clumsily out of the hole.

"Damn boy, your dog has one perverted mind. If it does that one more time, I'm gonna-"

"Well, when he did it the first time, you didn't do anything. What makes you think you're gonna do it again?" Roen asked patiently.

With a shriek, Calera bursted out of the dust clouds and lunged towards Roen's throat. At that moment, a barrier of light blocked Calera's path.

Giving off a small smile, Roen turned around and said, "Thanks Anuy, I owe you one."

Anuy had her eyes closed, focusing all her mana into the barrier, but she gave a curt nod towards his direction.

"Both of you must think that you're getting the winning edge, eh? Sorry, but I don't have any intentions of losing here." Calera then jumped back 5 feet away, only to feel a sudden surge of pain on her stomach. She looked down to see a large wound, cut clean from the sword. Alot of blood was dripping down her legs. "Tch, beginner's luck."

She then took out her whip and swung it above her head like some cowgirl getting ready to catch a bull. "That barrier is NOT gonna protect you forever!" She then swung her whip towards Roen, making it arc like a yoyo. But the same result was seen, a yellow barrier protecting Roen from harm.

"Even that attack won't work. Give up girl, or Calera, you lost." To emphasize what he meant, Anuy focused the point where the whip was having contact with the barrier, and made it 'jelly-like'. The whip suddenly turned around and smacked into Calera's chest, making her fall back onto her butt.

"Ow! How did she...do that?!" Calera suddenly had the feeling that maybe, JUST maybe, she didn't have a chance at all here. No, she can't think that way! Not when her life depended on it. She then got up and gripped her whip firmly. "A dog and now some kind of reflective barrier? Interesting..."

"Calera...you're not stronger than either Malfonse or Ira, are you..." Anuy said in an I-know-something-about-you tone.

Sighing, she replied, "Pff, probably from how I fought, you came up with that idea. I'm gonna have to admit, yes, I'm not stronger than them in strength, but in technique, I'm probably the best in that category!" Just then, Calera pulled off a very unusual move. She wrapped the grip of the whip around her ankle, and she suddenly executed a continuous amount of flares.

"Holy shit, she's doing the flare!" Roen couldn't believe it, that move was commonly used for gymnasts or breakdancers. Was she a....

"Hm, that's good to hear the truth, Calera. Now I can finally use that spell I learned from Zelferd." Anuy bowed her head and started to chant some words silently.

Roen knew what she was talking about, for some reason. "Ralfin, let's go!" Both him and the dog broke through the barrier and ran towards Calera.

Then Roen's fear came true. Calera finished her flares and suddenly got into a headspin. Her body increased in speed and at the same time the whip went faster and faster, like a rotor blade from a helicopter. Roen got smacked in the cheek, sending him back 7 feet away into the ground. Ralfin, the dog on the other hand, was a lucky mutt. Because it wasn't over 5 feet, the dog went under the whip's range and lunged towards Calera.

'Heh, I expected this to happen.' she thought. She then got into a handstand and did a back hand spring over the dog and Roen. She then turned to face Anuy and charged towards her.

But before she reached her, Anuy opened her eyes quickly and her eyes glowed a bright yellow. "Heaven's Rain." A yellow glyphic symbol shaped like a star appeared under Calera. She looked down in horror.

Anuy then raised her staff up high and the ceiling above Calera turned into a glyphic symbol of a star as well. A beam of light encased Calera, making it seem as if she was in some kind of tube.

She banged her fist onto the now solid walls of the light. "What's going on!? Let me out this instant!" Calera's eyes were suddenly turning teary-eyed.

5 spears of light emerged out of the ceiling glyph and all of them aimed at Calera's head. "Please........let me go." She slumped onto the light wall and began to sob.

Anuy's face had tears coming down her cheeks as she said one word. "IM.....IMPALE!!!!" The 5 spears of light went down in a flash and they all embedded into Calera's head. And just as the spears embedded themselves into her head, the glyphs disappeared, every bit of the mystical light disappearing.

Roen got up from the ground and stared at Anuy, who was sobbing quietly. He heard Ralfin whine, but he petted the dog's head gently and walked towards her. He passed Calera's corpse, slumping against air, and he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I.....heh, I bet you feel really bad right now, am I correct?" Roen asked.

Anuy looked up at him and her eyes were filled with tears. Roen gritted his teeth and opened his arms wide.

"Here, let me give you a hug.....I mean, no, wait..." 'Of course, I'm not supposed to have any physical contact with the Summoner....ah well.'

He gathered both of Anuy's hands and held it in his. "Anuy, we're gonna be staying here for a while, so yeah, just let all your-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Anuy started to cry intensely, and she hugged Roen for comfort. "There there, it's alright."

Now, in the middle of the ceiling there was a hollow circle where Roen and Anuy descended through. The circular light that shone in the middle of the floor had half of it blocked by some shadow. Next, when you look up the hollow hole, there's a long, white coated figure looking in. The same person from last time.

"Damn, I was too late for this AND the last battle! But it seems the climactic battle is almost going to begin....I might as well get to the next battle site." He then disappeared in a black'ish mist.

BACK AT THE AIRSHIP/ WILL'S POV

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It's quite sad seeing your friends go off to fight in a battle that determines their life or death. I watched as Tsuki placed some bullets into his handgun and Derek sheathed his daggers into some holsters attached to his waist. This time, Zelferd was the one at control.

"Alright Tsuki and Derek, I pray for your safety. And especially you, Tsuki, show them your stuff." Hehe, I just had to say that.

Tsuki looked at me and grinned. "Sure thing."

I heard Zelferd yell out, "Okay, I'm opening the window hatch now. Good luck to the both of you!" He then pressed the Open button, and the window once AGAIN opened up.

Tsuki and Derek saluted and they both jumped off at the same time, going down towards Besaid Beach.

Zakuo stood next to me with his arms crossed. "Hm, you're gonna be all by yourself once me and Zelferd get's off. You used to the airship's controls?"

"Er, yeah, I think so. I mean, I know how to steer and all, just not sure about the panels."

I heard Zelferd sigh. "Come here then, Will. I"ll tell you what they do."

I nodded and walked towards the pilot seat. At the same time, I wondered, did everyone survive? Or did worse come to worse, and that everyone died? No, I can't think negative! I must think in a positive manner! If I don't, I'm pretty much crushing my soul and will to fight.

"Alright then, how do I work these panels again?"

Tsuki and Derek landed onto the sandy beaches of Besaid. Palms trees and several rock formations were scattered around the place. A formation of seagulls flew overhead squawking in their language. Little crabs scurried along the beaches' shores, leaving little tiny prints of their legs into the sand.

Tsuki stood up and gulped in a huge amount of nice, salty beach air. And then he felt Derek nudge his shoulder.

"Hey Tsuki, look over there."

He looked over to the impasse that lead to Besaid Village. But right in front, guarding the impasse was Ira, her outfit the same as Anuy's. Big difference? That she had legs to help her move to one place to another, while Anuy had to use a crippling wheelchair.

Ira smiled kindly and bowed. "Welcome to Besaid! I hope you enjoy your stay here. As a welcome gift, I'll- she held 5 roses in her right hand and gave off a sneer- "rip you to pieces."

Tsuki and Derek went back to back and both held out their weapons. Tsuki's handgun and Derek's dagger was aimed towards Ira.

"Well then Derek, I haven't seen you fight before, so I'm etching to see some of your moves." Tsuki held a curious look in his eyes.

Derek shrugged and said, "Sure, I mean I can't really do any harm..."

Then they both smirked and looked at Ira and said at the same time, "But she'll be an exception."

"Oh, feeling confident eh? Good, very good. Now then, let's start the battle, shall we?" Ira then threw the 5 roses into the sandy ground. "Let's just say that you'll both be in your graves VERY quickly."

And the roses then transformed.

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A/N: Woowee! This chapter seemed to be pretty cool, lol. And thanks for the review chiharu chan and zephyr, i appreciate it with all my heart. :)

And it seems as if the situation has gone a little more drastic...or maybe not. But it seems Anuy has made her FIRST kill with a human being, and that same, mysterious dude appeared! Who is that person?

But then again! Who will win in this fight? Obviously its gotta be the good guys, right? But then again situations can change in a blink of an eye.

So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please R&R!!! :D