This did take a while. I wasn't entirely sure of how to go about this one, or what to put in it. I just hope it still comes up to TF standards and doesn't confuse the heck out of too many people. If I am going over the top or anything, please let me know. Nicely, in a review or PM.
A big thank you to all the "Basch/Ashe" gals and guy for support and encouragement. If you keep giving me those pep talks and good old cheers….then I know this story will be finished. It's all because of you!
Final Fantasy 12
TRUE FEELINGS
WAR
There is no describing what it is like. For the small frail hume mind is not able to comprehend even a fraction of it's true existence. If there was any way to say anything about it, if there were any words, it could be Heaven. Or a minuscule interpretation of heaven and hell combined.
The physical form was beyond the constraints of any on Ivalice. The beings that dwelled there were so different. They were beyond everything else that existed.
The First had created this place. She had existed for too long. Alone.
So She made others like her.
Six they were, six She had tried to make in Her image, but they were only shadows compared to Her splendour. Nothing but faint echoes. She had been disappointed, dismayed that her "children" could not be as She, but eventually She found the love that she had been longing for.
They loved Her so much. They wanted Her, they were devoted and besotted by Her. There was nothing they wouldn't do and such endless flattering only made the First Goddess want more.
There was the Sixth. The youngest. She was the most devoted. She would do anything in her power to make the Goddess happy. It was she who created the beings called Occuria. She gave them the means to make such a wonderful gift.
The Gift of Ivalice.
It was not taken well.
Sixth was tormented by such harsh repercussions and She despaired even more that when the Goddess finally embraced Ivalice, it was because of the others and no love was shown to her.
She did the only thing she could do when her "mother" no longer showed her affection.
She fled and hid. She had stayed hidden for a long while, watching and waiting for the right moment. The war had been only the beginning, the stone that caused the ripple of events that would follow.
The end would come and it would begin by a simple act of saving a life.
A hume life who would be strong enough.
There was only one, but he was weakening.
She began to whisper.
0000000000
Golomore - Year 707
Something was wrong. She could feel it. There was a different texture to the air. It was cold, bitterly cold. The elements never effected her kind, they couldn't feel the heat of the summers or the chills of winter and to feel it now frightened them all. She wanted answers, but the silence was extremely disturbing.
Never in all of her long years, had she received no reply to her questions. Never had the presence lacked more than it did now. It felt horrible, she didn't like it one little bit.
The others had noticed it too. Of course they all looked to her for answers, but she could not alleviate their worries.
Jote walked past so many worried Viera, but she could not say a word. She couldn't offer them any comfort or reassurances as to why the Wood was being so quiet and still. The darkness in the sky had been seen as an omen by them all, the signs of the Goddess' returning was dire.
The darkness was going on for too long.
Jote made her way to the very heart of Golomore. The sacred place where Eruyt had started, where the first Viera were brought into existence. The life tree stood at the very centre of the wood, the largest and strongest of all, the most beautiful.
It did not seem to be now. It was withering and decaying. Where upon its branches, petals and blooms had blossomed with beauty beyond any flower in Ivalice, there were now only dying burnt crisps. Some still tried to cling to life, their colours faded and sick, but they eventually lost their strength and fell from the life tree.
"Mistress Jote…I had no warning." said the Foalen Viera, bowing as Jote approached. "It happened so suddenly."
"The younglings." Jote's whispered with fear on her breath. "The newborns…are they?"
"I took them from the Earth straight away…." The Foalen's head bowed. "Some did not survive and I fear those that did, would not be able to live a normal life. They will need constant care."
"Then take them away from here." Jote ordered, only a slight crack wavered in her voice. "Find others to help you and tend to the newborns. I need to speak to Golomore."
The Foalen Viera bowed and walked away, her steps hurried as she rushed back to those in her care.
Jote was left alone, beneath the crumbling bowers of the Life Tree, feeling a horrible crushing weight on her shoulders. She also felt the worry a child would feel for it's parent, to the one who gave her birth.
"Will you not talk to me?" she asked, struggling hard to remain strong and not give into weakness. "Why is this happening? Have we done something to upset you?"
A long sad note, a whine floated on the cold breeze. A single spiralling trail of the dying blooms spurted from the Life tree's top, and curled its way around Jote. It was an action that Jote knew Golomore did when She was sad. It showed the leader of the Viera, that their wood needed comforting from them.
"Tell me…please."
The notes were like crying. A wail not of pain but such great sadness, Jote couldn't help but empathize.
"Tell me what is wrong….." Jote spoke again after a long agonizing silence.
There was a low crying tone in response.
It was not a voice. It was something much more than words could ever be. It was music, the song and notes that Jote heard every day of her long life. It gave her purpose, joy and love. But it wasn't doing so now.
Jote didn't understand, the anguish in the tones of Golomore's singing was too much, she could feel her hands shaking. Her body was trembling with sadness. What did all this mean?
The leader of the Viera approached the tree and lightly pressed her palm against the trunk. There wasn't any vibrant pulsing power here, there wasn't any essence of life coursing through.
After a long while, Golomore responded once again. The melody was slow and so agonising to listen to, that Jote shook her head as she interpreted it all.
"No. You have not! You could not!"
If Golomore was able to smile, she would have done so now at her child's unwavering devotion. Instead her sad notes briefly altered to a gentle hum before returning back to it's grieving tone.
More leaves from the Life Tree fluttered to the ground, Jote could see the bare branches becoming more in number. It hurt her so much to see it so deathly ill, it hurt her to be so powerless.
Golomore carried on singing, Jote heard the tune that was solely for her…her name and melody and her ears drooped low as she heard her "mother's" love for her. She heard the reasons for Golomore's sadness.
Jote bowed and slowly sank to her knees, both of her hands now clinging to the brittle flaking bark.
"I feel the anger towards Ivalice." Jote replied, "She cannot be so to you. You have given her nothing but love."
The song was becoming weaker, some of the notes even became discordant and harsh. Jote stroked at the trunk in an attempt to calm and ease Golomore's pain, but when she heard the last piece, when she heard the wood's answer to all these problems, Jote backed away.
"No. You cannot allow this to happen…we….we can't all die?" Jote choked briefly. "The Goddess will surely spare you…spare us?"
The answer was clear and high. It was such a discordant and angry reply that Jote felt the ground tremble beneath her. Some of the trees surrounding the Life Tree were shaking hard and before Jote's very eyes, they too were beginning to wither.
"No! You can't do this to us! We have been with you all of our lives, we are connected! Those who abandoned you deserved such punishment, but not us! You can't let the loyal Viera die like this!"
The music had stopped. It was silent.
There was no pain. Unlike her sisters and the other Viera, there was no agonising pain from the loss of the song. Though it had been a part of her long life, Jote wasn't missing it now.
A heavy drowsy fog began to haze her mind and her eyes were trying to close. She longed for sleep.
"Just lye down, curl up and go to sleep. It would be so restful."
Her head bobbed forward, her eyes could see nothing but blurs in front of her and her limbs were feeling limp. Sleep. Just rest and sleep.
It would all be over then.
All the Viera of Golomore would sleep.
No more singing, no more life.
0000000000
Unknown - Year 707
The light came on again.
It pierced brightly at the "young 16 year old" and he didn't like it one bit.
"Why can't you leave me alone?!" he yelled lashing out with his hands and shielding his eyes with his arms. "I don't have to talk to you!"
"Then why are we still here?"
Where is here? His head? Another plain of existence? Or was this a really bad dream? There was nothing in the blackness, just the two white lights pounding down with dazzling ferocity on the two males.
Basch stood above his 16 year old self and realised now why he was picturing Him like this. This was nothing more than an angry child. An teen with an uncontrollable rage and immense strength, and He reminded him too much like Basch when he was that age.
"I don't fucking appreciate being made into hume form, just so we could talk!" The boy spat, black bile drooling from his lips. "Even if it is just all in your head!"
All in his head. Basch thought he was going crazy. This was his mind? It was a strange and twisted representation of his thoughts if it was. He pondered on to where he really was, his body; was he still in the cell? A shiver shook his "body" now as he recalled the painful Holy magics of the cell and the watching eyes, always observing him. They were watching him now. Not knowing of what was occurring inside.
It was very disconcerting to see a younger version of himself, who was now on his feet and only a few inches shorter than him. There was a rage on that face and in his body mannerisms, but the black pupils showed Basch that there was something more to this strange being.
This wasn't Basch. This was not a 16year old hume boy grieved with the loss of his family, who had taken to release his anger with bloodied battles on fiends and booze. This was a very powerful being, with the strength to obliterate anything in its path, this was the creature who shared his body.
"I won't be kept here like this!" snapped the "boy." "The stupid entity thinks you and I can talk over our problems, She thinks you can calm me down? That's not possible!"
Zodiark shoved Basch hard, but the hume didn't even budge. It was as if Penelo had tried to push him. The anger on "Zodiark's" face increased ten fold. He was furious.
His fists clenched and Basch deducted that the Esper boy was trying to summon up his powers. The concentration and straining effort on his face was intense but there was no Darkja spell or any kind of magic. There was nothing.
Zodiark looked in disgust and fear at his hands. He tried again to muster up his element, yet no darkness mist seeped from his fingers.
"What….what have I become?" his voice was muttering but barely staying calm. He curled his fingers into claws as every attempt he made to use his powers failed. There wasn't even a spark of darkness.
"Is there a problem?" Basch asked, a little too smugly.
"You!" Zodiark gazed up at Basch with such seething hatred. He pressed himself hard against the hume man, the spit hissing through his teeth. "You did this to me!"
"I did no such thing."
"Liar! You are responsible for me being weak, like all humes! You took my powers! You were the one who lured me into this gross construct of a body!"
Zodiark launched into another attack on Basch.
"Oh no. Not again."
Basch readied himself, he put up a defensive stance, but the hits that landed on him were nothing more than slight knocks, he received no pain at all from them. That he was able to stand so steady on the spot, not flinching or stumbling, was angering Zodiark even more. The rage was more like a tantrum now.
"Stop hitting me." Basch said, a firmer edge to his voice. Zodiark wasn't listening. With every passing second he was getting more and more irate and frustrated. "I said stop hitting me!"
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!"
Zodiark threw a fist towards Basch's face, but just as quickly, Basch blocked the punch with his own hand. Zodiark struggled and tried to get out of his grasp, but Basch wasn't letting go.
"When you've calmed down, I believe we can continue this conversation." he said.
For a long while, Basch didn't think the Esper boy would calm down, but eventually Zodiark snatched his hand out of Basch's grasp and stood rooted to the spot, seething and glaring with malice towards the hume man. His "breaths" were hard and deep, but soon they slowed and Zodiark appeared to be calm. Yet behind those black eyes, the fire of fury was still raging.
"Have you quite finished?" asked Basch, circling the teen.
Zodiark snarled and barred teeth that were dripping with fetid black bile.
"I don't know what is going on." Basch watched closely at the Esper's reaction before he continued on. "I know that voice that spoke to me, I heard Her when I was in Nalbina. Who is She?"
Zodiark bowed his head, there was a fierce sound of grinding teeth, but no words came from him.
"Who is she?!" The level rose in Basch's voice.
"A Goddess!" Zodiark snapped back in retaliation. "The one who created me!"
"So all this…is her doing? She is allowing us to communicate like this?"
Zodiark grunted in disgust. It wasn't difficult to know that the Esper hated this form of communication, but this was the opportune moment for Basch to get the answers he so desperately needed.
"Why me?" Basch asked, still pacing round the boy like an inquisitor. Zodiark was not afraid, he stood straight and defiant against the man he thought inferior. "Why did this…goddess decide to talk to me?"
"Because She was deluded into thinking you were strong enough for me." scoffed Zodiark, allowing a triumphant and mocking smirk to curl his lips. "All I know is that She tried with others in the past to come and defeat me…to get me from my prison. None of them came close! None of them could handle me! You can't handle me either! She is a fool to think any hume can defeat me!"
"I defeated you!"
"Because She let you!" Zodiark spat. "She gave you the power to take command of me. She thought that someone like you could use me to help save her precious Ivalice. But even then She failed!"
The memory of that day came back. The fight, the assault on Zodiark deep in the Henne mines became so clear to him now.
Before the battle had even begun, Basch had felt differently. He was more charged, he had felt stronger, but that wasn't what enabled him to kill Zodiark's body.
Ashe.
It had been the sight of Ashe flying across the cavern and impacting with the far wall, that spurred him on. The thought of her dying, of her not being in his life, sent him into such a berserked frenzy of madness that he had brought Zodiark to within an inch of his life. Yet, all this hadn't been down to him.
Basch smiled and such an action gave Zodiark cause for concern. His smirk vanished as Basch leaned in close to him, their faces inches apart.
"You chose to do this." Basch said. "I remember now. You chose to enter my body. You chose to inhabit this "weak hume form!""
"What?" Zodiark grimaced, though the guilt shone through brighter than a beacon. "That's just damned insane!"
"You BEGGED!" Basch growled.
"No! I would never stoop so low! Your kind is beneath me! I am superior! I have no need to beg for anything from you!"
"Don't deny it!"
"It wasn't me that made this happen!" Zodiark was screaming now, his face was contorted as he struggled so hard to convince himself that He was right. "I didn't get us stuck together!"
"You think you are so superior than I?" Basch felt his own anger beginning to boil. "You, a thousand, if not a million, year old Esper of the Gods are behaving like a Hume child! You are lying to yourself because you can't bare being wrong! Grow up….BOY! Admit that this was your doing!"
"I am not a child!! I've lived longer than you could possibly imagine! I was here when Ivalice was created! I am not a damned fucking child!"
"Stop behaving like one!!" Basch jabbed a hand against the boy's shoulder. "Admit that you are wrong!"
"That's not going to happen!" Zodiark tried once again to shove Basch back, yet there was no strength to move the towering bulking man. "But I will tell you this, when I have done what I need to do, your use to me will be finished! You can die with all the others!"
"Your threats don't scare me."
"They weren't threats." Zodiark folded his arms.
"So what do you need to do?"
Zodiark finally gave Basch a look that didn't direct his hatred towards him.
"The First. I will take Her life." he said, the malice and bitterness dripping from his lips. "I will have justice for what She did to me… She will know that She made a terrible mistake!"
"What of Ultima?"
The anger vanished straight away. Basch saw immediately the painful grieving on the boy's face, the same gut wrenching agony he had felt when Ashe was shot. Zodiark's head drooped forward and he pressed his fingers hard against his temples. They rubbed in a circular motion, to somehow try and ease the painful memory. It wouldn't work. Basch could never forget either.
"She is dead." growled Zodiark, peering up at Basch from beneath his long blonde hair. "And no one in Ivalice shall live either."
"That….." Basch was trying to believe it himself. The entity had said she was alive, but how could he trust a word of such a being? There was no possible way that she could have come back…the phoenix potion would have distorted and dishevelled her, the magics would have brought back something else and it would never have been Ashe. But the pain of her death was more than any torture he had undergone. The loss of Ashelia was more than any wound or suffering in this world. Basch could feel better if he did believe it. He wanted to. "That is not true."
"What?"
"Ultima…..She still lives." Basch tried to make his words convincing. "Your creator told me. She said there was still hope left."
Zodiark began to shake his head furiously.
"You lie! We both saw her get shot! We both felt her die in our arms!"
"MY ARMS!"
Basch roared as the painful memory exploded once more in his mind. He bowed his head and screwed his eyes closed, trying to get rid of the heart wrenching vision. "Ashe's blood was on my hands! Not yours! This is not your body! You asked to join with me because you thought it would be a way to save and free Ultima! I said no, but you did it anyway!"
"You think I really wanted to?!" Zodiark yelled. "You honestly believe I wanted to live in your limited and decaying body? I had no choice! There was no way Ultima could have released herself from the great crystal! You had killed my body beyond any use…so yours had to be forfeited!"
"There…that wasn't so difficult to admit now, was it?" Basch smiled, even though there was no pleasantries behind it. "You had to rely on a weaker and lower life form to help you. You needed me! You still do! Yet you still behave like a mere infant by trying to justify what you did to me! You took possession of me, you took control! The all mighty and powerful Zodiark…the strongest, the darkest! How low have you really stooped? Well I tell you this now! You have no more power over me! I am the one who is in control , not you."
"No! I won't allow it!" The boy was screaming hysterically now, his face burning with rage and desperation, but all Basch could do was watch and sigh in dismay at such an erratic display of emotion. "I am the strongest! You have nothing over me, you cannot….!"
"Enough of this!" Basch was finally losing patience himself. He grabbed hold of the boy by the neck and lifted him off his feet. Zodiark's expression was one of absolute fear and surprise. Never in his whole existence had any lesser being, been able to do such a thing. Their deaths would have been instant if they even tried. Instant and painful.
"You will listen to me!" Basch sneered. "Right now, all that matters to me is Ashelia. If she and Ultima are alive, then we shall find them. I shall allow you to have your revenge…but I will not let you do anything that will harm Ashe. Is that understood?"
"You can't control me you fucking……"
"Curb that foul tongue and answer me! Is that understood?!"
"I could never hurt your Hume Queen!" gasped Zodiark, his fingers clawing at Basch to get him to release his grip.
"Well then." Basch allowed his "younger self" to fall back down the ground. "I suggest the both of us start co-operating. If we are to save the women….."
"Ultima is not a woman!" Zodiark gasped. "She is more than that! Humes…you don't understand. You think you love this…this Ashelia?"
Basch growled in menace. He didn't need to think. He knew it with every breath he took, with every beat of his heart….everything that was him, loved her.
"You have feelings for her. Your Hume love…" Zodiark shook his head. "…that is nothing! It's nothing to what I feel for Ultima! It doesn't even come close! How can you possibly understand anything confined in these constricting shells? "Love." is not a mere disgusting word, or feeling….what I have known, what I have felt was the VERY essence of it! Your love for Ashe is pitiful compared to mine for my Angel!"
"How could I know what you feel?" Basch sighed, "When all I have ever known is this existence. All I am is Hume. What could I know of your world or what you've experienced? You may be sharing my body, but you don't know who I am. You don't know what I have experienced or what I am capable of! But I vow this, if anything happens to Ashe, even I won't know what I'm capable of doing."
"Like you could ever hurt me." Zodiark mocked.
"Don't tempt me." Basch growled, "Because you are not the only one who knows a thing or two of pain. I have had more than my fair share of it."
Suddenly, a dazzling and bright intense flash of white light enveloped the blackness. Along with it came a searing agony that was so harsh that both of them crashed to the floor screaming. Their hands clutched at the sides of their heads, their "bodies" curled up into balls as the light became brighter. It was a pain that tore at every fibre of their being, it burnt at their skin and bones and it seemed like it would never stop.
It felt like they were going to die.
Basch prayed for it to happen.
When the Holy light finally faded, there was a huge crash, a shattering of glass and distant screams. Then he heard the voice and when his eyes opened once again, he was peering up from the floor of his cell. There, standing behind the broken glass wall, amidst the bodies of the guards, was a sight he never expected to envision.
But it was a beautiful one at that.
"Basch….it's okay. We're here to help you." her voice so exotic and soothing to his aching ears. "We're going to get you out."
0000000000
Giruvegan Year 707
The hatch was already opened, andthe billows of snowflakes and icy winds whipped into the ship and down the corridor. It had been a small favour that Eri had given her "prisoners" thick winter coats to keep out most of the cold. Larsa felt even more ashamed when several blankets had to wrapped around his leg to keep it warm as well. It only made him feel more helpless.
Eri stood at the open hatchway and pulled her hood up around her head as she looked out towards the great city of Giruvegan. Larsa could just about make out, three figures, each standing alone in different spots at the gates.
The little girl, Vaya, was the nearest to the ship, but she was standing without any coat, relishing in the snowy storm. He saw her look back and her horrid grin through the flakes caused him to jerk his head away.
When he finally gazed back towards the gates, Larsa could see another child. The boy had the lightest of jackets on, but he too seemed un-phased by the weather. However, it was the woman wearing the long white thick coat with an orange/gold fur lined hood, standing right at the huge gate, that made Larsa feel some hope.
Ashe. It had to be.
Eri spoke up.
"This is all the result of a war waged millions of years ago. Not of our doing. But why do wars generally happen? Tyranny? An uprising against a bad and evil leader is certainly a good reason for killing, for one's freedom is vital…it's a right. Religion however, is different. It is nothing but a difference of opinion over what gods to worship and who is the more superior. How life should be lived, who is worthy who is not worthy. Certainly, plenty of wars have occurred in Ivalice because of religion and beliefs. But love…..that is different. Wars for love are rare, but the most bloody."
Eri and her sister, stepped forward and out into the blizzard.
"But what do we know of love?" Eri sighed and looked up at the black sky from which the snow flittered down. She sighed as the flakes fell on her face, her tongue licked them from her lips. "It's just a hume feeling. A diluted and weakened version of the true thing. I can't describe to you what it really is, but such a powerful emotion provokes strong bloody vengeance. The first ever war was because of it, it dragged on for eons….it took so many lives. The battles in all of Ivalice's history claimed only a minute fraction of the lives that this war tolled. It was all because of Her, wanting the one being, the one beauty She could never have."
Larsa looked to Ashe. She was like a statue before the gates, clutching her arms around herself, the snow now covering her like a blanket. The confusion creased upon Larsa's young face and just to his side he heard a "huh?" from Vaan. Zargabaath made no comment, only his armour clanged as he moved.
"I'm tired of all these games." Larsa said. "Are you going to get to the point?"
"Ultima." Eri smirked. "What do you know of her?"
"The Seraph. The highest of all the angels." Zargabaath spoke. "She lead an uprising of the Espers against the gods. But she was entombed in the Great Crystal…imprisoned for all eternity."
"But…Ashe…" Vaan cleared his throat. "Ashe fought her, we all did. Ashe defeated her and now she commands…."
Eri shook her head.
"The First Goddess….fell in love." The woman chuckled. "If you can call it that. She had wanted Ultima, from the moment the angel was created. But Ultima loved another. The Keeper, the strongest of all of their kind. Zodiark and Ultima…for their love they were punished. Zodiark was buried in a prison deep in Henne. Ultima knowing what the Goddess had done, started the war. She rose up against them all and the war lasted for millions of years, but they could not destroy the Goddess or her kind. The First could not kill her love, so Ultima was banished. But not before Shemhazai told her of a weakness.
Though none of them had the power to destroy them, Ultima could do only one thing. The Goddess didn't know until it was too late, then her and her kind fell into a deep slumber, bound by the same crystal that Ultima was imprisoned in. Only the Occuria and a handful of the Goddess' loyal servants survived.
Your Queen….should not have been able to set Ultima free. Humes are simply not strong enough."
"Well, Ashe has proved you wrong there!" sneered Vaan. "I saw her strike the killing blow myself!"
"Kill?" Eri placed her hands on her hips and gave the young man a scowl. "Do you really believe that people like us could possibly kill beings like the Espers, even with all the magics we've learnt? No. Ashe didn't kill her…only her body. The soul of Ultima was encrusted into a glyph stone, which you have done with Belias. But Ashelia did something that you nor any of your friends have thought to do."
Eri beckoned them all with a wave of her hand, but none of them moved out into the freezing dark.
This woman was playing games that Larsa really didn't have the patience for. He couldn't bare the scheming and subtle hints any more, he just wanted straight answers, but that was not going to happen.
"My lord? Shall we continue onward? I have great concerns of what does lie ahead."
Larsa did not distrust Zargabaath, it just felt different hearing his voice here, when it was normally Basch's. He missed Basch's council, for he would know what to do. He would also help him to get through this stinging loss…the trauma of his missing leg.
"There's not much else we can do…can we?" asked Vaan. "Those two have something bad in mind, way bad."
Larsa shrugged his shoulders and pulled the blankets further around his waist. He had to agree with Vaan's statement, there wasn't anything they could do, so they had to follow those women. They had to walk into the trap and take the bait. With a single gesture of his hand, Larsa motioned for Zargabaath to push his wheel chair down the ramp and onto the snow covered ground.
The cold chill became even sharper as the wind stung at his skin. Larsa tensed, but his body still shivered as the three of them followed Eri towards the gates. The wheels of his chair couldn't cut through the snow very well, Zargabaath found it difficult to manoeuvre and even Vaan had to help put some strength behind the handles.
Larsa hated all the jerks and bumps that shook the chair, but when they came to a halt a fair distance behind Ashe….he forgot for a moment about his own predicament. The Queen. He had to know if she was all right.
"Ashe!" Vaan called out before Larsa could, but he received no reaction from the Queen at all. She never flinched or indicated that she even heard him. "Ashe! It's Vaan! And Larsa! We're…."
Ashe moved closer to the gates and wrapped her coat even more tightly around her body. Again, she did not reply to Vaan, she didn't even turn to look at him. Vaan gave Larsa a puzzled look.
"You majesty Ashelia." Larsa beckoned to Zargabaath to push him closer, but Ashe just took more steps away from him. "We are pleased to see you well and safe….but what of…"
"Basch fon Ronsenberg." Arla beamed a sadistic smile. "He's in a cell at the moment, recovering no doubt from his squabble with the pirate. He will be joining us shortly."
"The pirate?" Vaan's eyes lit up. "Balthier is here? With Fran? Penelo! Where is she?!"
"Ooh! Calm down little hormonal teen." Arla chuckled. "She's quite safe at the moment. You'll get to see your girlfriend. But she's not important. Ultima is."
"Huh?"
At last Ashe turned round. From beneath the fury hood, there was no sign of the woman they knew. There was no radiance to her face, no light in those dark black eyes, there was nothing Hume about the expression which gazed back at them.
"Ashe?" Vaan stammered, creeping closer to her with a trembling hand. "Ashe! It's me, Vaan!"
He was pulled back, tight fingers dug into his arm and dragged him away from Ashe.
Arla gave him another shove back towards Larsa, however Vaan retaliated with a hard jab of his fist against her shoulder. Arla responded back once more in kind. The strength behind her assault sent the young man crashing to the snow covered ground.
There was a sound of metal scraping against metal as Zargabaath unsheathed his sword.
"Back off!" Arla shouted.
"I want to talk to Ashelia!" Vaan yelled, his face flushing the sudden anger that surfaced.
"She doesn't want to talk to you! She's not interested in you any more!"
"Arla! Stop this now!"
Larsa peered round to the other twin. Her daughter had gone back to the comfort of her arms, if she even did get any comfort from such a hold. The little girl was smiling as if all this conflict and tension was so amusing.
"What are we standing around for?" Arla snapped. "Do we really have to wait until they all understand?"
"These are the Queen's friends…they need to know what has happened to her. Who she has now become?" Zargabaath placed his sword back to his side.
"She's so beautiful."
"Ultima has always been beautiful."
The girl and her brother sighed.
"Disgusting hume form…not right for her."
"It hides her true beauty, Ultima can't shine as bright."
"Okay…crazy children are really starting to scare me." Vaan whispered to Larsa. The boy emperor just shuddered as the children approached in a trance like motion towards Ashe. Not even Zargabaath's supportive hand on Vaan and Larsa's shoulders did anything to quell their distaste.
"The glyph stone." Eri approached Larsa's side. "It is a fragile thing. A crystal so delicate that it responds to the touch of it's owner. A simple crush could shatter it, releasing the soul. Ultima's was destroyed. The stone was ground to pieces in your queen's hands and instead of dying…Ultima had only one choice left to her. She went to Ashe's body. Ashe is host to the most important being ever to exist…she is the one who can end all this."
"But I thought…" Larsa clenched his teeth. He was getting more than confused. Hadn't these women said that he played a part in this somehow? Wasn't he needed for something?
Eri smiled.
"Don't worry, my lord. Your moment will come. But I just want you to witness this. My children have been waiting for this moment for so long. I have been waiting for this."
"I still don't…." Vaan was shaking his head in bewilderment.
He had been there, he had seen Ashe drive the killing blow through the Esper's body, but he recalled nothing of the glyph stone breaking. He saw no change in Ashe's behaviour after that moment, there was no sign or inkling of anything wrong. How could he have missed something like this?
Larsa touched Vaan's arm, silencing the young boy before he could say anything further. For that moment on, they were stunned as the two small children approached Ashe.
Ashe's reaction to them was immediate. She was angry. Her face frowned, her teeth bared in a livid snarl.
"You." Larsa felt his body shudder at the eerie alien tones of the Queen's voice. "You cannot be here! You should not be here!"
"The same could be said for you, High seraph."
There was a crack of energy, like static electricity, in the air. There was an awful howling wind and to Larsa's horror, he saw coils and tendrils of white snaking round Ashe's body. Her hands were open but tense and clawed and building up in her freezing palms, were small globes of white light.
"Vayakalan…you should never have been created. They were wrong with bringing you to life!" Ultima spat with every word that came from her hume lips. "Zodiark should have put an end to you, eons ago."
The girl giggled and just rocked on her feet, still acting as if this was all just a game.
"Our brother should have done a lot of things. He should have left you alone, for you were not his to possess. We're here to take you back now, Ultima. You can go home and be in your true form once again. You can apologise to the goddess and…"
"I will not apologise to that fucking BEAST!"
The wind roared and through the cold there was a scorching heat, generated by the holy magics that now swathed around Ashe. Larsa watched aghast as both of the children stood next to each other and gripped each other's hands. The holy opposite, the darkness, began to mist around both of them.
Those children, they too were possessed by some form of Esper?
He felt a hand suddenly squeeze around his throat.
"Ultima! Stop this now! Or I will kill not only the street rat, but I will crush this little boy's throat."
Larsa looked round with fearful eyes. He saw Vaan down on his knees in the snow, with a sword jabbing at the back of his neck. Arla was holding on to the hilt of it, and Larsa saw the craziness in her eyes. The woman was really itching to plunge that sword in. However, it was Eri who's gloved hand still squeezed at his throat. There wasn't craziness in her stare. She was most certainly sane, but that was what was more terrifying.
"Kill them…." Ultima smiled. "I don't care. Vayakalan won't harm me for they wouldn't want to incur our dear sweet Goddess' wrath. They don't want to die here with everyone else."
Eri's hand tightened round his neck. Larsa couldn't breathe. The Judge woman returned the friendless smile.
"Then I will snap this boy's neck and I will kill everyone you love. Including your beloved. Including Zodiark. It's your choice."
The anger vanished. There was a saddened wail on the wind and the light changed from a dazzling white to a dull grey. The wisps of magic and energy no longer flowed round Ashelia's body, the power was lost as it crackled and sputtered to small sparks and spits. There was also a much more hume look upon her face.
It was one of sadness.
"He is alive?"
Eri released her hand from Larsa's throat.
He coughed and spluttered and he wiped the tears from his watering eyes. Larsa tried to shake off the confusion that ached in his head, though through the grogginess he could see Vaan still on his knees struggling to keep his skin from being pierced by Arla's sword. Zargabaath? He looked round and saw that the Judge was also being held at the point of a long katana blade, from one of Eri's own men. Zargabaath wasn't being allowed to get near Larsa at all.
"For the time being." Eri sighed and took a few steps to stand behind her own children. Only Arla remained, taking any opportunity to nick at Vaan's neck with her blade. Vaan was trying to move, to get away from her, but as Arla gazed at Larsa with the malice smile, her sword still followed Vaan's neck. It would only take one gentle push and it would kill him.
Eri beckoned to her children. The boy rushed over and gave his mother such a huge hug, that Larsa thought there must be something hume to him. The girl, Vaya, just strolled over, her black eyes flicking to Larsa and to Vaan and then Zargabaath, taking everything in.
"Ultima. I know what you are doing." Eri continued, stroking gently on her son's black hair. "You can't stall this for long. It is time to go home. There is nothing you can do."
"You wanna bloody bet?!" Vaan shouted. Arla flicked her wrist and Vaan received a long gash from his ear to his neck. He screamed a deep cry and immediately Larsa reacted in the only way he knew how to. He went to rush to his side, but the harsh reality of the chair and of his disability stopped him from toppling into the snow himself.
When had he forgotten about his limb? Why had he had forgotten about this twitching wretched stump?!
"Arla….calm down." Eri rolled her eyes. "Don't hurt the boy yet. I'm sure there will be plenty of time to mess with him. Ultima…enough staring at the gates. We need to go to Giruvegan."
Was that genuine sadness on that face? Ultima never succumbed to these emotions, she was above all this, but it seemed that being in a hume body for so long was beginning to take its toll. Larsa carefully watched every step that Ashe/Ultima took towards Eri and her son and the closer she did, he could see the tears slowly trickling like melted silver down her face. From those ebony eyes.
This wasn't Ashe.
"I want to see Zodiark." Ultima demanded. "Show him to me! Show me that he is still alive!"
"No." Eri shook her head.
The angel was getting angry, the power was beginning to pulse once again. Her fists clenched and the white fire blazed over her knuckles.
"Show me Zodiark!!"
There was a horrible sound. The earth shook, it trembled and roared; the sound was deafening and raging. Only Ultima and the girl, Vaya, seemed unperturbed by it. They were not afraid. If it was at all possible, the sky was even blacker, as a wrath more furious than the High Seraph's, boomed throughout Ivalice.
"SHE is angry." said the boy to his mother as she held him in her arms. Eri kissed his brow. "We can't let Her be in any more pain!"
"Sssh…Kalan. She won't harm any of us. She is waiting for them to act."
It was Vaya who stood in Ultima's path. The little girl didn't frighten her, in fact there was only detest.
"You know he is alive." Vaya smirked. "We wouldn't harm our brother unless we have to. But we cannot let you see him. You are not for him. So let's go to the ancient city, or my sibling can bring back the Queen. And you know she wants to leave here."
The expression on Ultima's face began to change. It wasn't immediate, but Larsa could see it. The anger and all the hatred faded away. Her top lip curled upwards as another sensation took over. Ashe's body began to shake, Ultima's powers stopped suddenly, the light faded from around her and there was pain.
The darkness, the only element that could hurt her or could kill her, was snaking and coiling up around her and it was soaking into her. The pain was too much. She screamed.
It was a scream that tore so harshly at Larsa's heart. He felt her agony and it was more than he had ever felt from his own trauma. The high alien pitched sound howled in his ears and even if he placed his hands over them, it couldn't block any of the screams out.
"ASHE!"
Vaan's voice could barely be heard. Larsa hoped that the older boy wasn't reacting brashly. He looked round and sure enough, Vaan had pulled himself out of Arla's grasp and was running towards the Queen.
There was a blinding shine from the blade that was clasped so tightly in his hand, but even with bleeding neck wound, Vaan was determined to help save his Queen.
But Arla was quicker.
As Ultima crumpled to the ground in a mist of darkness, Arla ran after him and her hand grabbed hold of his hair. She pulled him back down to the ground with a sickening wrench and there was a tearing as strands of white blonde hair was yanked from his head. Vaan writhed on the ground, but he couldn't recover quickly enough, as Arla's boot kicked him in the stomach. No one could hear his cries at such an assault. Zargabaath also tried to retaliate, but the Judge was restrained with an equal blow to his own belly.
"VAAN!" Larsa screamed. He wanted to do something, he badly wanted to get up and help save his friends, but the frustration seethed as he gazed once more at the chair he was in.
Eventually, the eerie and piercing screams of the Angel fell silent.
No one moved. As the darkness still wrapped around Ashe's body, no one even spoke. There was only the sound of Vaan's gasping chokes.
Vaya clapped her hands happily.
"That was fun!"
She doesn't know what fun is.
"That's it!" Arla yelled and rammed the sword into the ground right next to Vaan's head. "I've had enough! We're going in NOW! Leave this pathetic boy behind and the Judge. We don't need them!"
Her sister nodded.
Eri pressed her hands gently against her son's back and eased him forward towards Giruvegan. The boy called Kalan joined with his sister at Ashe's side, both of them staring down at her with anticipation. There was a disturbing excitement in their youthful faces as they watched the unconscious jerking of her body. There was glee on their faces at the agony that Ashe was still in and it was sickening to see children so pleasured by pain.
"My lord, Emperor." Eri bowed, though her show of grace wasn't taken as respectful. "It's time to put an end to all of this. It's time to save Ivalice."
Larsa never felt more helpless when he was wheeled away. The last thing he saw, as the falling snow clouded his vision, was both Vaan and Zargabaath being led back into the ship by soldiers.
"Basch….why aren't you here?" Larsa muttered to himself. "She needs you. Ashe really needs you."
No more waiting. No more stalling.
This was going to happen now.
000000000
Rabanastre Year - 706
When she saw him, her heart almost stopped.
There was the demon, tall and black.
He was no longer a sight of hope or strength. He was only a lie now, a lie to cover up a life he should never be throwing away.
She couldn't move towards him, though she wanted to. She felt inside her a powerful urge to take those steps, to take his out stretched hand and hold it tightly to her chest.
Ashe wanted to say the words that cried in her head and in her heart, but they refused to come out.
There was only the vision of the man who killed her father. For it wasn't him.
The gloved hand was held out for her, waiting for her touch.
They stood facing each other for a long while in silence, but she was screaming so loudly. Each second that passed was agony for her.
"I don't want you to go."
She wanted to see his face, she wanted to gaze upon him one last time, but he wasn't Basch any more. The others…Talven, the council…everyone…they couldn't know.
They were waiting for her to take his hand. They were waiting for that declaration of peace, but she could never be at peace if he left now, but would he know? Could he see anything through that beastly helm? Surely her face was revealing how sad she was feeling, how desperate she was to just give into her desires?
She was too strong. She never showed her weakness, but he would know. He was the only one who would.
At last Ashe stepped forward and took hold of his hand. She felt the metal squeeze against her skin and through it, she felt him. His support, his anguish…his hope.
"Judge Magister Gabranth." Her voice sounded stern and cold. "I am pleased that we have managed to avert a war. Lives have been saved by your support. I look forward to the new relations between Archadia and Dalmasca."
"As do I, Highness."
His voice….it was not him. She couldn't bare to hear such a soothing voice doused by the harshness of the metal. Ashe wanted to take it away….she wanted to hear his words freely.
"Thank you." the princess spoke gently "For everything."
Ashelia didn't know when he took his hand away. She couldn't remember the members of the council speaking, or the plentiful "Goodbyes" that were said.
The events of these past months flashed by in her memory and they were filled of him. She recalled very little else except him by her side, protecting her and guarding her. Fighting for her.
Basch had come back in her life, but with his departure, those memories would only remain as such.
Ashe heard faint sounds of footfalls striding away, along with a harsh sound of armour, which were followed by the large palace doors slamming loudly. The echo ran through out the halls.
He was gone.
"But I need you here." she whispered. "I need you to be by my side. You help me be strong."
There was no reply, only silence.
She missed him already.
00000000000000000
Golomore was gone. Silent but peaceful. It was what the Wood deserved.
However, the rest of them would not be so fortunate.
The great mountain was shaking, the avalanches of snow swooped down to the rift below and the temples of the Occuria were swallowed as it fell into the chasms of the breaking earth. None of the low lives were spared, no mercy was given.
The Cerobi Steppe was torn, ripped into nothing. The fiends there mattered not.
More and more lives were lost. The overwhelming grief, the screams and cries was like music to Her.
So what did it matter if these Humes…these other creatures died when the Angel came back to Her?
There was no need for Ivalice when Ultima came home.
It would be wiped out once she was safe.
So the screams continued.