Finally! It's done! I am SO sorry to all you loyal followers who have been waiting for this. It's annoying to wait for another update, but it's also annoying when you're trying to write and some idiot has the telly on loud and you can't concentrate! Well, it's done. I hope you like it, and please…I love your detailed and wonderful reviews! So please do! Sorry…had to re-edit because it didn't separate the paragraphs.
Final Fantasy 12
TRUE FEELINGS
DEATH
The little girl came out from her hiding position and slowly approached the centre of the cavern. The body of her father still hadn't moved, it had lain there for so many hours but it had only been now that she had summoned up enough courage to go and see him.
She tentatively knelt down next to him and although tears trickled down her face, she found that she was too numb to feel anything. Her father, the man she had loved and adored, was dead and now, they were all alone.
She touched his still cold face and tried to wipe the blood from his skin but it was all crusted, dry and impossible to clean off.
"Daddy….daddy…."
She shook him by the shoulders, as if this action could possibly bring him back from the dead, but when she continued to shake him, she noticed that his hand was still holding on to something. Prising open his stiff fingers, she found a jewel. It was beautiful, a bright ebbing orange crystal was giving off heat and when she looked closer, she noticed misty glyphs within it.
He had died for this? What was it?
She took hold of it and immediately felt the power coursing through her skin. This was no ordinary jewel, this was something far greater and rarer than she could ever have imagined.
This would get her out of this cavern alive. This would change her life forever.
Mosphoran Wasteland Year 707
Basch Fon Ronsenberg did something he never thought he would do. He unsheathed his sword and thrusted the end of the blade to his Queen's neck.
It was her body and face, but it wasn't Asheila B'nargin Dalmasca inside. Those black pits that starred back him instead of her dazzling blue eyes, belonged to Ultima.
As he pinned her up against the rock face, Basch experienced a sickening dread and escalating fear for Ashe.
The tip of the blade that pressed against Ashe/Ultima's neck was steady and firm, his hand never faltered and all it would take would be one simple swipe, a twist of his wrist and the sword would slice her throat.
"Where is she?!" Basch snarled. "What have you done with her?!"
Ultima hissed back, Basch's blood still staining Ashe's white teeth, but she said nothing. She instead wrapped her arms around her and continued to gaze with hatred back at him.
"I would take the sword away, Basch." Jiiryn rested a hand over his and tried to push the sword and it's blade down. "That is still the Queen's body…even if she's not the one in control."
"Where is she?!" Basch demanded. "What have you done to her?"
"I've done nothing!" It sounded like Ashe's voice, but it was distorted by echoing harsh alien tones. Ultima recoiled further against the rock. "She is gone and I'm all that's left. Besides you can't kill me…He won't let you and you certainly wouldn't want to harm this body."
Basch threw the sword down in anger and lunged against Ultima. He grabbed her arms and pinned them and her (Ashe's! It's Ashe's!) body more forcefully against the cold surface of the rock. His body thrusted against hers.
She still smelt like Ashe. That beautiful jasmine Asheila scent was so thick in her hair and skin that it sent a spasm rippling through Basch's body. Ultima laughed.
"You can hurt me in THAT way if you wish." Her tongue licked her bloodied lips. "Your Queen has many memories, limited but repugnant with your hume inferiority…I've yet to experience what she dreams of you doing to her. Oh…she dreams of you…every night…the things you do…"
"Stop it!" Basch reigned his anger as much as he could, but his hold was shaking.
Ultima squirmed in his grasp, her chest stuck harder to Basch, squashing her breasts against him. She reached up, rested her cheek to his and breathed a long single breath in his ear.
Basch felt cold. A chilling terror was dousing him, his stomach wrenched as a searing pain shot through out his body, breaking him and his strength down.
He closed his eyes and tried to focus, this wasn't Ashe.
Lips kissed around his ears, bitter icy lips burnt his skin with sudden sharp bites which made Basch's legs buckle. But there was that darkness inside him, the Esper who was always on the verge of breaking out. He was loving it. It felt all new.
Zodiark was getting stronger, always draining Basch and thriving on the painful memories of his past. There was a swelling urge to take hold of Ashe's chin and kiss her, but Basch struggled with the other being and tried to force him back down.
Zodiark's mocking in Basch's head confused him even more. There was a crazy laugh (was he just plain crazy?) so he released his hold on Ashe's arms and immediately cupped her face with his hands. He opened his eyes and felt sickened. This was not the woman he loved. Yet it was. The two strong male personalities were struggling for dominance, two sets of feelings were blending together.
Basch's hand gripped her face. He leaned forward to kiss her, forced on by Zodiark's elation, but instead his hold squeezed tightly on her cheeks and shoved her head back hard. His fingers were burning with cold, the empty void from those eyes gave him no doubt that Ashe wasn't inside. She wasn't here at all.
Fury coursed through him.
"I will have you tell me where the Queen is…now!"
The response he got was a bloodied fob in the face. Her spit drooled down his cheek and her knee rose sharply and connected with his groin. The pain sent Basch reeling backwards, he fell to the ground holding on to his throbbing manhood hoping it would help the seething agony go. But Ultima didn't stop there.
She approached to where he lay on the ground, Ashe's hands were lined with glowing white pulsing orbs of light and she was directing them at him.
"It's not much to kill…but it will hurt. Let me speak to Zodiark."
Basch couldn't speak, the agony of her knee having impacted with his crotch was still stinging. The crazy laughing in his head was confusing any rational thought he tried to have. Zodiark was about to reclaim control.
No. He would not allow it. Basch clenched his teeth and with all the force he could, he ignored the pain and staggered to his knees. It was then that his own hands were beginning to pulse.
The Quickening rush was pounding in his head and chest…the power of the mist and the fulminating darkness flowed over and crackled like electricity on his skin. But he never even got to finish. Ultima paid him another kick to his balls and the agony increased tenfold as it was followed by a brief but just as searing pounding of light elemental magic. Basch screamed. He felt Zodiark cry out along with him. It was a pain he had never felt before, but thankfully it was brief.
The look on Ashe's face…there was regret. Fear and remorse. Was this Esper afraid?
"I didn't want to do that!"
Feeling a little too hume already?
"But you will let me talk to Zodiark now."
"And if I refuse?" Basch spat a mouthful of bile from his lips as he still writhed in agony. "You will continue to use the magic that hurts both me and Him?"
"He will suffer anything for me! For both of us!"
"Then you will have to kill me."
Her hands began to glow, her face was so dark and twisted with rage that Basch thought Ultima would. Instead, it was her who was knocked off her feet by the blast of Fulminating Darkness. She was thrown back into the rock and she crumpled to the ground with a thud.
"Ultima!"
Zodiark broke through Basch's defences. There was a snap in his neck. A sharp painful crack and Basch didn't know any more. The Esper burst to the surface and Basch was no longer in control of his own body.
Zodiark rose quickly to his feet to rush to Ultima's side. The dark aura around him pulsed with anger at this attack on her, but as soon as he still felt the putrid hume breath coming from her lips, Zodiark turned to see who had done this to his love.
The Viera was right behind him. Her long clawed hands were up in a show of defence, but her fingers still ebbed with the Quickening mist.
"Basch!" Jiiryn called out. "Take control!"
"What did you do to Her?" Zodiark stormed towards Jiiryn, threatening with killing intent.
"Basch! Push him back! Be strong, I know you can control him!"
Her neck was grabbed with choking force, Jiiryn gasped and was lifted right off her feet. She tried to struggle, her hands clawed at his fingers but his hold was squeezing so hard. His dark stare bore deep into her.
"Viera…you're now just a shell of what your kind were. Why aren't you dead? Do you not feel your precious wood taking all your hope? Shall I kill you now and end your misery for you?"
"Basch…! Basch…come back! Regain control!" Her feet flailed and kicked, but her attempts did nothing as He squeezed even more.
"You actually are concerned for this hume I possess? It's laughable. I don't care for his stupid inferior feelings for the Dynast Queen…I only care for Her and for justice to be served for what was denied us. This…Basch…he is my means to do this. He can't hear you now! I keep him down! I won't have him or you stand in my way. No matter how powerful either of you claim to be."
The snarl on his lips seethed a hissing foul breath, but Basch's fingers finally released from Jiiryn's neck. She fell to the muddy ground, choking and gasping for breath. She felt the sore marks on her skin, and looked up to Basch. Zodiark had already returned to Ashe's body and was watching intently and with yearning as Ultima was slowly coming round.
"You think you're the only ones with power?" Jiiryn gasped, coughing to breath air into her lungs.
"The only power that matters."
"Basch will resist you. He will make it difficult for you. I know he will."
"He cannot resist! Whilst I'm in control he cannot do a thing!"
"I don't believe that."
The falter in His steps, the stagger and sudden jerk of Basch's head told Jiiryn all she needed to know. She smiled as the Esper was now clearly showing signs of struggling. His face was creased into a disgusted frown, small beads of sweat were trickling down his temples and those dark empty pits were now showing signs of distress. Great distress.
"No! This isn't possible! He can't do anything against me! He shouldn't be able to know! It's not fair!" Zodiark leaned against the rock face and smacked it hard with Basch's fist. The rock was given a dented hole from impact and left only bleeding knuckles for Basch. "Stop it! Ultima! Tell him to stop it!"
"It is not your body, Zodiark!" Jiiryn yelled. "You can't control him all the time! You can't control him any more!"
Ultima finally came round from her attack and looked at the two above her. All she saw was the Viera hume shouting at her companion, and Zodiark himself having difficulty in keeping control.
"Basch Fon Ronsenberg! You are better than this…take back what is yours!"
"No! I won't let him! I won't! Not until I have done what I must to…!!"
His fist pounded again and again on the stone rock, shredding Basch's skin, dripping and splashing blood with every impact. He didn't feel Ultima's hands trying to pull him back. Only her voice screamed in his ears, but it was getting weaker. She was fading away and was replaced by the Hume's reluctance to give in.
Always Zodiark skimmed through Basch's memories, dredged from the pit of his mind the ones that gave him nightmares, the ones that killed him and kept him in his hell. It was because of those terrors that when Zodiark finally relinquished, on his own terms, Basch could not recall what this demon did. But this time it wasn't working. It was doing the opposite, it was reminding him why he was alive.
0000000000
The lashes of the whip were brutal and bloody. Each one felt worse than before and eventually he had no choice but to scream once more. His head tilted back and he let loose a painful howl. He was rewarded with another blow by the guard's whip and it caught him deep and sharp on his brow. His skin was sliced open as if it had been with a knife, it tore right across his eye and ear and the blood streamed down his face along with his tears.
Then there was her touch on his scar. Her fingers gently ran along the long line and although there was no magic, Basch felt the healing warmth in her skin. For a brief moment, there was only the pain of not being able to touch her back. Her hand rested where the scar ended on his ear and she smiled.
"I was wrong to distrust you, wrong to hate you. I see it all now. Thank you."
0000000000
"Basch!"
Basch thought he had been drowning in a deep ocean of Zodiark's emotions, a bottomless chasm of ancient memories and thoughts, but breaking through the surface, taking that breath of air, brought a fazed sense of reality back to him.
The pain of his bleeding hand forced him to scream and his body unleashed an uncontrollable and unexpected Quickening burst. There was a crunching break of bone and a blinding and powerful explosion of darkness and mist. He staggered, drained by the Fulminating Darkness and he spun round with disorientated dizziness.
Ashe. The stinging ache in his chest hurt at the sight of her body.
Giruvegan.
The ancient city. Why did he think of that?
Go to Giruvegan, end this all now!
His hands flailed out and caught Ashe's arm. His head swayed from side to side as he tried to gain his balance and focus, but he pulled hard on Ultima and she stumbled against him. His bleeding broken hand wrapped around her head, tugging her cheek close to his lips.
"I won't play your games any more." he hissed, with menace. "If you have done anything to hurt Asheila…"
"She isn't here!" Ultima spat back with such seething. "She has her. She took her soul to the other plain. The First tried to drag me back, but I resisted! I felt Her Voice, Her Power! The Dynast Queen is with Her and is already dead! Humes are low! Humes are disgusting to us! She will not have tolerated her! Your Queen is dead!"
"That…." Basch screwed his eyes shut and tightened his grip on Ashe's face. "I cannot and will not believe."
"Believe it, hume! Can you not already feel Ivalice dying? Can you not feel Her hate?!"
There was pain. Basch could sense the darkness and emptiness inside of him.
"Right now, all that matters to me is where she is. I will get her back."
"You can't."
"You say I cannot…but I know you can." Basch moved back, yet his painful broken hand still gripped firmly on her flesh. "We will go to Giruvegan, because you wish it. The Great Crystal lies within and beyond that…only you know and you will show us."
"You can't command me, hume. You and your pitiful and watered down Viera can't rival me."
"Try us."
The threat provoked another horrified look upon Ashe's face. Basch knew that now, having shared Asheila's body for over a year, Ultima was starting to become adjusted to these feelings. There was a small tiny glint of light in those dark eyes. She tore herself from his grasp and smeared his blood from Ashe's face.
"Basch…" Jiiryn placed a hand on his shoulder. "The survivors of the crash.…we need to go and find them. They could need our assistance."
"Giruvegan is in the direction of the smoke." said Basch, clutching his broken hand close to his chest. "We shall indeed tend to any who need our help, before going on."
Jiiryn's hand squeezed his shoulder tenderly.
"Basch…" Her voice faltered. "Don't forget the others. Everyone in Ivalice is suffering…"
"I have never forgotten. I can only help them all by finding Asheila." he replied in deep painful tones. "There is nothing else I can do."
He turned round to face her and upon meeting her gaze, the past came back to him with such aching clarity. In his youth he had been so angry, he travelled without a purpose or life, drinking and killing, but instead of self destructing, it was this beautiful Viera who had saved him.
His good hand reached out to touch her cheek.
"I haven't forgotten, Jiiryn." he croaked.
She smiled softly and handed him his sword. As he took it, his fingers grazed her claws.
"Neither have I."
Jiiryn held such sadness in her eyes. Sadness at what could have been but didn't happen. A foolish young Viera had lost her heart to a hume, but she wasn't the same woman any more. He had no idea.
Jiiryn began to walk away up the steep slope of Mosphoran's terrain, never looking back.
"The Wood has changed those who abandoned it." Ultima grinned an evil grimace. "Those weak Viera are just like you now. The mist is fading from their veins."
"Jiiryn is strong."
"The Quickenings within you…your kind was not meant for it. I can't fathom how someone as pitiful as you could have mastered their magics."
"Who do you think taught me?"
Ultima gazed ahead to Jiiryn.
"You won't need anything that she taught you, hume. Only Zodiark can save your pitiful species and when He does, you all had better hope he doesn't feel like destroying this world himself."
00000000
He watched them walk away.
Teiern walked out from the shadows and gently cupped his hands together behind his back. Like the child he seemed to be, he began to rock on the soles of his feet.
The Judge behind him stepped to his side and knelt down in obedience.
"What would you have us do, Lord?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders.
"They haven't changed." his voice so hume. "So determined to be what was righteously denied. They will not have a chance."
"My Lord…"
"Discreetly, we shall follow them. But we take no action unless the Queen is endangered. Her survival is paramount. Though…to be rid of my own kin would be ideal…however, my mother has other plans for him."
"As you wish…"
00000000
If they could ever have used words, they would have been pleading. If She had heard them, then She didn't respond, disgusted only at their petty begging.
Their persistence was lost on Her. In fact they were making an already festering anger even worse. Then as they pleaded again, Her patience finally ran out.
As a cruel swallowing of the world slowly edged to the islands off the continent of Valendia, the ignorant vermin that swarmed on the surface had no clue as to their impending deaths. But the false gods were given an even slower agony. For their disobedience, She tortured their worthless souls and stripped them of their power. Then She allowed their lives to bleed away, their deaths like sweet exlirs on her senses.
The Occuria were slaughtered. Gerun and his followers were finally punished for daring to be more than they were.
Then, Her very own children were beginning to rebel and this betrayal hurt just as much as her rejected love. They would be the next to suffer.
But, for now, She turned her attention to the Hume woman. The onslaught had nearly killed her, but instead it had done something far greater. It made her aware.
00000000
Rabanastre Year 704
She knew who it was without even looking.
Ashe pulled her legs to her body, tucking and curling herself in the alcove as tightly as possible. She didn't want to speak to anyone, least of all him. Though she bore him no hatred, she just couldn't bring herself to be near him.
Obliged as he would be, he would recount the events that led to her husband's death and he wouldn't reveal his anguish or grief. He would block it all inside, enduring the pain and try to heal hers. He'd try to comfort her, offer words to ease her despair and that was the last thing she wanted. Ashe wanted to cry, she wanted to scream and break down. Within just two days, she had been widowed and every part of her hurt with such overpowering loss.
"Princess…"
She didn't answer him. She rested her head on her knees and watched the fountain trickling endless clear water into the stone basin before her.
"Your Highness…."
She saw him in the corner of her eye. Basch had knelt down onto the grass, no longer in his metal armour but dressed in the long white shirt, and trousers that he wore beneath. He stayed down on one knee for a long while, waiting for any kind of response from her. Eventually, she couldn't help but turn to look at him. He gazed back at Ashe, exhaustion so clearly on his dirty sweating face. In his eyes Ashe saw his compassion and worry, but he was tense as he struggled to contain his own grief.
Ashe tore her gaze away from him and went back to looking at the water fountain. The water sounded so peaceful, so serene, but it did nothing for her raging emotions. Her tears never stopped.
"Highness…I…"
"Don't." Ashe barely felt the word come from her mouth. She raised a hand to her face to shield her view of him. "Please…don't say anything. Just go. I don't need you here."
She had thought he would do as she commanded, but Basch never made a move.
"I failed you." he said. "I could not protect him. Your faith in me was misplaced."
"… you would protect him."
He should have. Ashe shook her head in denial. She had hoped that her silence would give him cause to leave, but still the Captain never faltered.
"Princess, I am so sorry. I tried."
The bells of the church in the distance tolled. They chimed a mournful dirge for the city's people to know, but for Ashe it only made the tightness in her chest twist in aching wrenches. She was shaking now, or had she been and not realised it?
Her legs fell out from her tight hold to her chest and Ashe felt herself slipping off the stone bench. As she hit the ground, her body once again curled up on the damp cold grass. The tears flowed with more woe and was accompanied by gasping heavy breaths, each a desperate attempt to bring some life to a dying body.
The guilt and shame tore at her. Her mind kept crying over and over again, why had she pulled away from him? Why did she not overcome her fears and allow that night to be what it should have been?
Ashe remembered the disappointment in Rasler's eyes, but she knew he understood, or at least a little, why she had done so. But she needn't have left him, she didn't have to flee. The guilt festered inside her for abandoning him in their wedding bed.
The moment wasn't right, she had kept telling herself. It didn't feel like the magical and blissful moment she had dreamed it would be. Time didn't stop, neither did the world, it wasn't right. Ashe couldn't go through with it, her thoughts had strayed. Always they strayed and she hated herself for it.
Now he was dead, it felt even worse. That night she should have given herself to him, after all wasn't that what she had vowed? Wasn't it because he loved him?
Always. I met you, l loved you and I married you not just because of necessity but because I always loved you.
Ashe felt a hand touch against her shivering back and instantly a violent jerk threw the hand off her. She didn't want to be touched now. Certainly not by him.
She wanted to feel the hurt she deserved, Ashe didn't need his comfort nor would she welcome it.
His fingers touched her head and once again Basch was shrugged off with a furied swipe of her arm.
"Don't touch me!" Ashe scrambled up out of her ball and leaned against fountain's basin. Her hair was in such a state, tattered and tangled, drooping over her tear sodden face, the dress she had worn at the funeral was muddy and torn, and she was not the strong royal woman who had knelt by Rasler's coffin.
She had come here to be alone, to prevent anyone else from seeing her like this. She did not need Basch to come looking for her.
"Princess…"
He had wanted to say more, but he couldn't find his voice. Ashe didn't want to hear those deep soft words from his lips, she didn't want to have his hands touch her or comfort her. She needed this hurt, this was her punishment and Ashe certainly wouldn't allow Basch to take that away from her.
She didn't want to be thinking of him again. She should never have thought of him, for it wasn't this man she had married.
"Go, Captain." she murmured, when his presence began to take an even worse toll on her fragile state. "I said I did not need you here and nor is your presence required."
"I beg to differ, princess."
His hand grabbed hold of hers. She squirmed, she pulled and tugged, Ashe did anything to get out of his hold, but Basch's grip was stronger than hers. Ashe looked at him, piercing angry pupils bore a sudden hatred towards him, but he only looked back with compassion.
"Let me go!" she spat. "How dare you touch me like this! Unhand yourself!"
"Princess!"
"I don't need you!" she cried, the anger was replaced by choking sobs. "I don't need anyone! I don't deserve anyone! "
He never replied. Ashe had known all too well that this man would eventually break through her defences. Against all the rules, defying the strict boundaries between royalty and Knight, Basch Fon Ronsenberg fought against her struggles until his arms clung her so tightly to him, that her anger turned back into mournful cries and screams.
All he did was hold her. He held her for as long as she needed to spend those tears, then when the sobs died down to nothing but rattling breaths, he rocked her gently in his arms.
All he wanted was to help soothe her pain, but his actions only made the both of them worse.
For he could not shake the new and forbidden feelings that had stirred since he saw her wed.
She could not shed the guilt that as she had lain to make love to her husband, she had thought only of him.
00000000
Archadia Year-707
She handed him her helm and smiled in sickening satisfaction at his reaction.
Larsa's hands trembled as the metal helmet touched his skin, but his gaze couldn't stop staring in surprise at the woman before him. In shock, he eventually turned to the other standing behind him.
They were exactly alike. There was no difference.
The long black ebony hair was the same length, the eyes, nose and mouth were identical in every detail , and so too was the menace in their faces. The little girl by her mother's side also bore so much resemblance to the two twin sisters that it was chilling.
How could he have been so foolish to have not known that voice?
His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Along with all the anguish of his trauma, a confusion at seeing these two women now side by side, was wrecking the young boy. A shiver trembled his body and it worsened as he felt the stump on his missing leg twitch.
"All these years you never knew, my lord?" asked Eri, pushing her hair behind her ears. "Or did you think that your precious Ronsenberg twins were the only ones?"
"Who the hell are you?" Vaan voiced Larsa's own thoughts. The young teen edged closer to Larsa, adopting a protective stance around the Emperor. His gaze flicked from Eri and Arla, a stern and distrusting glare in his eyes and a twitching hand at his sword.
"Servants to Ivalice." said Arla, "Nothing more."
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" asked Vaan. His fingers still traced the hilt of his weapon. Vaan saw Zargabaath taking a stance beside Larsa's other side, he too tensing for a fight.
"Because you listen to your instincts." Eri interjected. She turned away and began to stroll around the hall, looking around at the grand Archadian décor. "However, what my sister says is true. The rage in Archadia and all other countries are driving the people mad. The First…the one being from the very beginning has now been woken. It is Her they are feeling as She bleeds all over us. There is only one way to put an end to it, and you my Lord Larsa are going to help us."
"I don't know who you are…" Larsa stammered. He clenched his fists as he felt the truth in Eri's words. There was anger, a horrific wrath deep within him, not anything that he knew himself to be capable of, but something much more powerful. It was like a disease, weakening him with every second and pulling him into further delusional insanity. "I don't…you were my brother's…"
The memories came back to Larsa. Apart from one of his protectors, this woman had been the only other female judge in his father's employ. Fleeting and brief meetings of this enclaved and mysterious lady brought forth an uneasiness and fear, for she was but a silent shadowed figure in the back round. Keeping a distance but always projecting a powerful presence. A presence that had always unnerved him, especially as to how close to Vayne she had been. Too close.
"I have always been here, Lord Larsa." said Eri. "Your brother confided in me greatly. More than Bergan, Ghis or even Zargabaath. He had intended me to be your protector and I wish I had been. Drace lacked in her upbringing of you."
"I don't think so, Eri." Zargabaath spoke, his hand now curled round the hilt of his sword and the blade a few inches out of its sheath. "Drace was a pillar of good for our Emperor…she wished for nothing more than his future. But, what are your intentions with him?"
"Nothing good, I'd bet." added Vaan, as he glared at Arla. "What about you? Did Ashe know about any of this?"
Arla shook her head.
"The Queen is oblivious. To too many things." she replied. Her eyes gave a nervous glance to the child at her sister's side.
This little girl had everyone on edge, except her mother.
Her silence all this while hadn't gone unnoticed, the chill in the air hadn't lessened, the vileness of her presence only added to the bile that seeped under their skins.
"You want to know our intentions?" asked Eri, resting a hand on her hip and glaring at Zargabaath with a smirk. "I only intend to return to Giruvegan with your Emperor. Larsa is a key component to saving this world and I will make sure that he fills that role to his fullest. Even if he has become an invalid, it works in our favour."
"Who are you?!" Larsa snapped, an outburst that had been aching to release since the realisation of his disability. His face flushed red with anger and fear, he wanted to get up from this blasted chair, to take up a sword and confront this so called Judge of Archadia. His small body slipped forward in the wheeled chair, but only one foot planted against the plates below, it wouldn't carry his furied and trembling frail form.
"I am Eri Cellen…" said the Judge. "My sister and I once held a proud name of noble Archadian heritage. But now we and you, Lord Larsa, are part of something much more. We are the future, we can make Ivalice as it was intended to be."
"You say this…" Larsa seethed through clenched teeth. "But I do not believe you."
"Then we could always seek your beloved Gabranth and he will say our truths." said Eri. "He will confirm who he really is and you will have no choice but to help us. Ivalice can become the paradise it once was…if you would only accept the truth. Disbelieve us and we will all die."
"Yeah, right." Vaan scoffed.
His defiance was short lived. The child who had remained silent all this time, approached him. Her empty shell still grinning with terrifying affront. Her hand reached out for Vaan and caressed at the small pouch that was attached to his belt. He jerked at her touch, but her small fingers prised at the leather and curled round the contents.
"The Gigas." Her voice was so inhuman that Vaan felt sick. "A weakling easily defeated. Such a shameful end to be conquered by a lowly hume. He cannot help you…none of the others can. You have no choice."
"Vaya…" Eri reached for her daughter's hand once more. "We must go now."
"Of course, mother."
"No!" Vaan yelled. His sword was finally released from it's protective sheath and the long blade lashed out towards the three females. Zargabaath followed suit. There was no way they were going to let them take Larsa anywhere. The other guards who had remained, formed a circle around Larsa, their weapons also brandished. But that had no affect on any of them. The two twins came closer together, sheltering the child as much as they could, but it was the sudden appearance of a squadron of Archadian soldiers coming down the stairs that turned everything around.
Lead by another Judge, one that Larsa did not recognise, these soldiers out numbered Larsa's. Their weapons were also larger, sharper and much more menacing. They were no members of the militia, these guards were something else completely. They circled Larsa, Vaan and Zargabaath in a tight formation, for any action dealt by them and the others, would result in an instant killing blow.
They closed in so much, that Vaan was pressed right up against Larsa's chair. The teen then bent down low and whispered.
"What are we going to do?"
Larsa didn't think there was anything. Feeling so hopeless and useless himself, feeling so dead, he couldn't say a word. He couldn't command or order.
"Then it's settled." said Eri, taking back her helm and placing it over her head. "We head now for Giruvegan. Emperor, my guards will take you, Zargabaath and your young protector to the aerodrome. But do not fear, the city will be looked after, as much as possible…I won't let our people suffer in our absence."
Those followers sharply shoved Vaan and Zargabaath back towards the door ,Vaan resisted, wanting to stay close to Larsa, but his wrath only increased when Arla once again took hold of the handles of his wheelchair. He didn't want her near him, for he had sworn to Basch that he would look after the Emperor. Vaan painfully recalled his foolish rantings to Larsa before, hating the fact that he had taken Basch's role, but now his stupid and selfish feelings were not an issue. Larsa was important…he had to keep him safe.
His mind drifted. As he was pushed hard against the door, Vaan thought of only one other person.
Penny…..
"Get your hands off him!" Vaan shouted, venting his hatred to Arla. He strained in the hold of the guard, lashing back with a leg and kicking the armoured cretin a sharp blow to his knee. He spun out of the grasp and then shoved Arla away from Larsa. His hands coiled round the handles of Larsa's chair, and before even the twins and their soldiers could pull him away, he whipped out a dagger that he had concealed in his attire. He held it aloft and poked it towards his foes.
"I will tend to him." said Vaan. "I will be the only one who will! Get it? Understand?!"
Arla shrugged her shoulders.
"If you so wish." she replied, as if she really cared. "But don't worry little one. It won't stop you hearing the truth or from hearing the story we're going to tell…" She laughed, a cold intense laugh. "You won't be so loyal to that Kingslayer. No one will be."
00000000
Mosphoran Wastelands Year 707
The fiends hardly disturbed them. Basch saw a pack of wolves in the distance, but with every step they took closer towards them, the beasts shied away.
Jiiryn stayed ahead, walking with her long bow in her slender hands and keeping an eye out for danger. She never turned or looked back at Basch, though the two of them coiled and circled around each other, cutting down any of those foolish fiends who did dare to come near them.
The lack of attacks were due to the essence of Ultima. A couple of Worgens crept up close behind her, but when she turned, it took only a slight curling of her lips, an evil smile, to make the beasts run howling.
None of them spoke a word. Silence was golden between them all, but Basch could not stand the agonising sight of Ashe's form as she walked just a few steps ahead of him. As his eyes looked at her, he swelled with longing at the swaying of her hips, the swinging of her arms and the way the gentle breeze fluttered her hair. But like the fiends, it only took one backward gaze from those dark pitted eyes to make him edge further away form her.
A horrid tension pulled at his muscles, every limb ached and throbbed, his hand (healed only with a cure spell) was still flexing with soreness and all the bones and knuckles cracked with every movement of his fingers. His head still pounded with the raging insanity from Zodiark, a temper boiled so much beneath his flesh that it took every inch of effort to keep Basch from lashing out in rage. It was a struggle to try and keep sane.
Then the smell hit his nostrils. The thick plume of smoke was barely visible through the endless darkness, but the stench of burning was impossible to miss.
"The ship is just ahead." said Jiiryn, pointing through a thick enclave of trees. "We should hurry!"
Basch nodded but he waited until Ultima was in front of him. He stood still, his eyes glaring meanly for her to proceed and when she did so, she walked with a slow bored swagger. Her face had a constant frown of disgust as she passed him.
The stench of the smoke was getting heavier and Jiiryn's pace quickened. Basch soon heard the crackling of fire and when they came to the broken clearing and he caught a glimpse of the wreckage, he felt a sickening dread. He recognised this blazing hull. It was the Strahl.
With a spurt of speed, Basch ran to the wreckage of Balthier's ship. It had impacted deep into the ground, broken into many twisted and gnarled fragments. The engines were ablaze, choking the air with thick black smog, and there didn't seem to be a way to gain entrance. Basch felt the panic and fear welling up like vomit in his throat as he desperately tried a way to get in. But the ship looked so unstable and the smoke was making him gag.
"Balthier!" He cried out. There was no response. Bash then noticed a small bent piece of hull, which was near what he figured to be the cockpit. He knelt down and tried with his fingers to pry it up and open to gain access.
"You know this ship?!" cried Jiiryn as she too tried to lend a hand.
"Aye…it is the Strahl….my….friends are inside. We must get to them!"
His fingers were hurting with agony as he pulled at the metal, the sharp edge cut at his skin but he did his best to ignore the pain. He was coughing so much, the smoke was stinging his eyes, and his hands were bleeding once again. The metal became slick at his wrenching pulls, but eventually Basch managed to get an opening wide enough for him to get through. The air from inside wafted out with a scorching heat along with more black stinking smoke.
"Keep an eye on her." spluttered Basch, gazing back towards Ultima. "But stay close, I may need your help."
"Go!"
Covering his nose and mouth as best he could, Basch forced his way into the Strahl. Everything was so dark inside, he couldn't tell where he was going and the air was even thicker. Cautiously he headed to the door which he thought would lead him to the cockpit. His feet stumbled and tripped over all the debris, he nearly went crashing to the ground when he came across a broken Bangaa body.
He must have been the reason why the Strahl crashed, thought Basch.
He plundered on into the cockpit, or what was left of it. It was hardly recognisable, the impact had destroyed just about everything, but that didn't concern him as much as the sight of the two bodies slumped in the pilot's chair.
"No!"
Basch navigated his way through the broken debris and when he reached them, he felt horribly numb with grief. The tears that flowed now, were not only because of the smoke.
"Penelo!!" Basch cried. He knew they were dead, but Basch quickly checked anyway. He knew there would be no pulse, as his fingers trembled at Penelo's lifeless neck. He then picked her up, with teeth clenched he forced himself to not break down, but when he turned he was surprised to see Ultima standing in the doorway. The light aura around her, illuminated the cabin, giving Basch a real view of the horror around him. Penelo was so bloodied in his arms, that he couldn't stop himself from clutching her face to his chest and stroking her red stained hair.
"Oh dear. It's a bit of a mess. Isn't it?"
A deep angry growl came from Basch's throat. He then walked over and reluctantly put Penelo's body into Ashe's arms. Ultima was disgusted.
"Take her outside!" Basch ordered.
Ultima hated holding this Hume body, she held Penelo out as far away from her as she could muster and sneered down at her with vile loathing.
"I said take her outside!" Basch yelled, his voice breaking and choking.
"You care so much for this dead thing…bring her back to life!" retorted Ultima.
"I don't have any Phoenix potions on me! I have nothing!! If I did, it would be too late to use, Penelo would not come back as herself, now get out before this whole ship collapses on us!"
"There are always side effects to life magic."
Basch wasted no time. He returned back to Balthier and hauled his body up into his arms. The smoke was starting to over come him, he could barely breathe himself now, so Basch made his way back to the exit. It was a slower trip back out, the weight of Balthier and the fumes were weakening him. Every step he took was difficult and painful, his legs throbbed under the pressure and his senses reeled in confusion as he tried to find the exit. He hoped that Ultima got Penelo out and that he too would get out before the Strahl finally collapsed in the flames.
He didn't recall how long it took him, but Basch found the small opening and he gently lay Balthier's body on the ground. Kneeling down, Basch scrambled to the hole.
"Jiiryn!"
He saw the Viera approach and she offered a hand out toward him. She helped pull him out, concerned about his gasping and coughing breaths, but again she assisted as Basch dragged Balthier from the wreckage of the Strahl.
Scooping him back in his arms, Basch stumbled away from the ship, hacking more sharp agonised breaths. He felt sick, his gut was wrenching so hard that he thought he would puke. The pounding in his head wouldn't stop, the aching grief and sadness twisted in his heart and chest, and when he finally put Balthier down on the grass, he turned away, staggered a few paces and collapsed to the ground.
He couldn't believe they were dead. Penelo…sweet Penelo, she was so young. She didn't deserve this.
"Basch. I'm so sorry."
He looked up as Jiiryn rested her hand on his shoulder, his hand swiped blood and dirt across his face in attempt to get rid of the tears. Seeing the Viera gazing back at him, with such compassion in her eyes, was a small comfort in his anguish, but it made him realise. There was still someone else missing.
"Fran! Oh god, Fran could still be in there!" He bolted back to his feet and he was about to run to the ship once again, when he noticed Ultima.
She was kneeling over Penelo's body. The flaring white magics cracked from her hands and were snaking over the young girl's skin. The body began to jerk and thrash.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Basch screamed and ran over to Ultima. His hands grabbed hold of Ashe's shoulders and threw her aside. "You would desecrate her so casually? How dare you!"
The sword came out of its sheath in a matter of seconds and once again the blade was pointed at Ashe's throat.
"I wasn't violating her!" Ultima shouted back. "I was bringing her back!"
"No!" Basch was fuming, red hazed in his vision. "I will not have Penelo become some empty mindless zombie! I won't let you do it!"
"She won't! Who do you think I am?! I am the Highest Seraph! The god's angel! Before I was condemned to ferrying the dead, I gave life! I was given the power and I can use it!"
There was the sound of gasping and crying. Basch looked round and to his astonishment he saw Penelo was sitting up groggily from the ground. The sword dropped from his fingers and he rushed over to her before crashing down next to her side. His strong hands embraced her hard.
"Basch!" Her arms wrapped around him and she buried her face against his chest. "I…I'm so…"
"You're safe now…you're okay!" He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. He planted a fatherly kiss on her forehead, so overjoyed and pleased that she was alive. He then turned her head gently, checking for wounds. He began to brush her hair out her eyes and the wet tears from her cheeks, "You are okay…aren't you?"
"I…I think so."
"Fran. What about Fran, was she…?"
"Oh Basch, no…the Bangaa left her in Bhujerba, she was not aboard. Ow, I've got a splitting headache…what…what happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell me. What caused the Strahl to…?"
"Oh fucking bollocks!"
The roaring bellow, caused Basch to look across to where he had put Balthier and sure enough, the Sky Pirate was sitting up and looking in horror at his downed ship. Ultima was standing a little way off, her hands only sparking a few tendrils of magic.
"Balthier. Are you well?" asked Basch as he picked Penelo up from the dirty ground.
"No!" Balthier pulled and tugged in frustration at his hair. "My ship! Those damn fuc….bloody lizards crashed my ship! They will pay! Where are they?!"
"They?" Basch, with Penelo now clinging to his back, walked over to him and helped him to his feet. Balthier nodded in thanks but his twitching eyes were fuming at the loss of his beloved Strahl. "I saw only one dead Bangaa on the ship. Were they all in the cockpit when the ship crashed?"
"One? Only one?" Balthier frowned and shook his head. Then he noticed the blood all over his clothes. "Oh, this is great! My clothes are ruined! If I ever see those Bangaa again, they're getting the bill and nice bullet hole for their heads!"
"Where did the blood come from?" Penelo rested her head on Basch's shoulder and asked worryingly. "Is it yours? Are you injured?"
"My hands are still bleeding, but it is nothing I cannot endure."
Did they not realise they had died? Could he even tell them this? Basch looked over to where Ultima was and when his hands let Penelo slip from his back, he approached the Esper.
"Why did you do it?"
She didn't answer. Though it was clear on Ashe's face. The hume confines of Ashe's body was taking a much deeper toll on the Esper than either of them had known. The "inferior" emotions were getting to her.
"Thank you." said Basch.
The surprise in those eyes couldn't be missed. She sneered at such sentiment.
"We will go to Giruvegan now. You have your friends back, now you will help Us."
Basch nodded.
"Aye. We will go."
He wasn't going to waste any more time here now. He had to find the Queen. He needed to find her, before it was too late.
00000000
"There are always side effects to life magic."
His hands were shaking.
Balthier paused as he took one more look at the still burning Strahl. He had lost a good ship, one that had served him well and gave such good memories.
But something was missing. Something was terribly wrong and he couldn't recall what it was.
Walking away, he joined Basch, Penelo, Ultima and the Viera woman on their long walk to the ancient city. He then paused once again.
Someone was missing. Someone important.
His hands were shaking even more and in his head, a stinging pain began. It would never go away.
00000000
They called them Purvama. Floating Continents.
Bhujerba had been one of them.
The winds howled, the rain was torrent in it's down pour, flooding not only the breaking and shaking streets of city, but the very sea into which it was now falling. Black clouds swirled around like a dense fog and a great chasm opened up amongst the dark foreboding waves.
In Ridorana, the towering spire was beginning to crumble. It was breaking apart into the churning and vicious sinking hole that lead to the depths below.
At the same time, both Bhujerba and Ridorana plunged into the watery depths. They were swallowed whole and drowned into an abyss where there was no absolution.
00000000
Archadia Year 712
She had been like this for five years now. Just an empty shell, with soulless eyes glaring at the walls of her white room. Drool poured from her mouth and the stench that affronted his nostrils almost made him gag.
Her hair was a mess and her skin was so pale that she looked near death. They had tried to feed her as much as possible, but how could she eat, when she didn't have a clue as to what was going on. She didn't know who or what she was. There was nothing.
"We tried talking to her, Magister." said the doctor. "But she doesn't respond at all."
"She doesn't know how to." The judge replied. "She doesn't know anything."
"This is no way for a person to live, sir. You should consider letting her die."
"I would not be able to do such a thing."
"Yet you've been coming here ever since she was admitted. If I may be so bold, why do you, Magister?"
Why? Because of the guilt, because of some sense of duty or a silly twisted take on a promise made all those years ago? He wasn't sure, but he knew that he had to come and see her. No one else did.
"She's family." he uttered. "It is hard to lose a loved one, even for someone in her condition. I have to hope that there might be a slim chance, inside her…there is still something. Anything. It is false hope I know…but I will not abandon her."
"Of course, Judge Magister. We will keep tending to her."
"Good. Then you can start by cleaning her up. This room is vile."
He walked over to her and tried to break her never ending unblinking stare. It never worked. So instead, he rested his hand on her head and gently kissed her brow. Then, without looking back, he walked out of the room.
She never would feel anything ever again.