Chapter 26: The Gift of Earth
I picked myself up, groaning at the ache that the tumble had left all over my body. I almost jumped when I got an answering groan. Glancing towards the sound of the groan, I sighed when I realized that it was Seifer. The mercenary didn't look any better than I felt. He had a black eye, and blood was running down his face. His clothes were tattered as well.
He managed to get up on his own two feet, using the Hyperion as a crutch, and glared at me, as if this whole bum deal were my fault. He then started to take a look at our surroundings. I did so as well, curious. We'd fallen into some kind of underground cavern. The walls were smooth, telling me that this wasn't a natural formation. Well, that, and the door at the end. What got me, was that there was no sign of the hole that me and Seifer had fallen through. In fact, other then the door, there was no exit, and I know that I didn't fall a small distance through a door at ground level.
"Weird place." Seifer commented at last, pulling a potion from his coat and chugging it down.
I mimicked the action, healing myself up with one of my spare hi-potions. The bruises faded away, leaving the phantom pains. That done, I moved towards the door, examining it. It appeared to be made of oak, but when I touched it, something felt off about it. Like it wasn't even wood. I pulled the door open and took a look. On the other side was more cave. We definitely hadn't come in this way.
When I relayed that bit of information to the scarred mercenary, Seifer swore.
"How'd we get in?" He asked, frowning.
"We fell." I reminded him, with a glare.
"Well where's the opening?" He demanded to know, looking about the dome shaped cavern. "There is none!"
I was inclined to agree that it didn't look like there had ever been an opening; the walls and ceiling looked like they hadn't been touched in centuries, and there was no markings. The only thing that looked out of place was the door.
"You sure the door don't lead outside?" He asked, turning to face me sharply.
"If it did, I'd have left already." I snapped. "No, it leads to more cave."
"Then how do we get out?"
"You must go forwards to go back." A wizened old voice spoke up.
Both Seifer and myself whirled around, pointing our gunblades at the bearded old man who hadn't been there before.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked.
"I? I am but an old man, who has guarded this sacred place for many years." Was the response.
"Sacred?" Seifer asked, sounding suspicious, yet at the same time, interested.
"This is one of four sacred shrines, created by the planet itself. Legend tells that the original four Light Warriors themselves once fought through these shrines, before they fought Chaos itself."
"Wait..." Seifer interrupted, frowning. "You don't mean to say that this is one of the Soul Shrines?"
"Soul Shrines?" I asked, confused.
Seifer turned to look at me.
"The four Soul Shrines were the original resting places of the four Crystals. One for each element. The Shrines themselves were... special... even after the Crystals were removed. The Lifestream is interwoven with the Shrines, making them more then simple caves. The specifics were lost over time though. The name comes from the superstition that these Shrines house the soul of the Planet itself."
"You are correct." The Old Man commented. "This is one of the four Soul Shrines.
"But the Soul Shrines are a myth!" Seifer snapped. "Some children's fairy tale."
"You seem to know a lot about it though." I pointed out.
"When I'm not working, I tend to research legends and ancient lore." Seifer admitted. "Legends are usually built on at least some truth. The problem is that over time, storytellers add a little of their own touch to the story, unknowingly disfiguring the truth."
Wow, I hadn't expected that answer. There seems to be more to Seifer then the power crazy maniac of Final Fantasy 8.
"What makes you so certain that these Soul Shrines are just a myth?" I asked.
"It's too unbelievable." Seifer grunted. "Them holding the Crystals is slightly believable, they had to have come from somewhere, before they were used and abused by us humans...."
"I'm not human." I reminded him.
"Whatever." Seifer snapped. "Point is, the Crystals were eventually destroyed, and with it, humanities ability to use magic without Materia. The Soul Shrines are still supposed to hold the power of the Crystals, even with the Crystals themselves now destroyed. Allegedly, one day, new Crystals will form within the Shrines."
"Believe what you may, but this a Soul Shrine." The old man said.
"Even if it is, it doesn't concern us." I spoke up. "We just want out."
"I said before, that the only way out, is to go forward." The man reminded me.
I turned to Seifer, annoyed.
"Right, for argument's sake, let's say this is a Soul Shrine. Use your knowledge of legends and lore to help us out."
The blond growled, muttering something to himself.
"Ok, for argument's sake, this is a Soul Shrine." I agreed, before concentrating. "This shrine was in the Nibelheim Mountains, so that would make this shrine the Earthgift Shrine."
The old man nodded at us, a merry twinkle in his eyes, and a small smile on his lips.
"You are correct." He informed us.
"In that case, this shrine has five floors, not counting this area, and the actual shrine itself." Seifer continued.
"Correct." The old man repeated.
"And if the legends are true, then the exit sealed up behind us, and as we progress, the way back will continue to seal up each floor. So the only way out, will be through the shrine."
"Figures." I muttered.
The old man nodded, sagely, and turned towards the door.
"You are quite the knowledgeable one, regardless of the reasons for your knowledge." He said. "This door will lead you to the first floor. I wish you luck on your journey."
Both myself and Seifer pointed our gunblades at the man again.
"You never said who you were and why you're here." I grunted. "I'd rather not get stabbed in the back for trusting someone who hasn't told us anything."
"Yeah." Seifer smirked. "For all we know, you could be using us to do the dirty work of fighting our way to the shrine, only for you to do something freaky."
The man smiled at me.
"My name is Prescott. And as for why I am here? I am bound to this place..."
And with that, he just vanished. No puff of smoke, no bang, not even a sound. It was as if he was never there to begin with.
"What a weirdo." Seifer commented, moving to the door. "Though if this is the Earthgift Shrine, then I am not looking forward to this."
"Something else the legends say about this place." I asked.
"Only that there is nothing about the 5 floors we have to go through." He said. "It changes every time someone enters. I could tell you what the legend of the Light Warriors said about this place, but it wouldn't be what we'll encounter."
"Figures." I muttered, opening the door. "Truce?"
"Truce." Seifer agreed.
I stepped through the door, and instantly felt a pressure in my head. I pressed a hand against my forehead, moving forwards.
You are entering forbidden territory, kupo. We should not be here.
I groaned, staggering a few steps, before slamming my palm into my temple, getting the moogle to shut up. I turned to witness Seifer doing the same thing.
"What summon you got?" I groaned.
"Fenrir. If my partner were here, he has Griever. You?"
"Choco-mog."
Seifer grunted, looking around.
"Something tells me that we won't be able to relay on either summon here." He commented at last. "They don't want us here."
"Forbidden territory." I quoted.
Seifer nodded.
"And would you look at that. There's the welcoming party. "
I looked down the passageway, easily spotting the large number of imp-like creatures charging towards us, brandishing butcher's knives. I readied my gunblade in my usual stance, watching from the corner of my eye as Seifer got into his classic fencer's stance.
"I say we just cut through and just get to the exit as quickly as we can." I hissed.
For a second, it looked like Seifer would argue against me, but then he nodded.
"Agreed. I've fought these types before; they're easy enough in smaller numbers, but in a group that large..."
I grunted, and leapt forwards, slicing through a couple of the goblins. Besides me, Seifer span and twirled, a lethal hurricane. We continued to cut through them, moving slowly down the passageway. Despite killing anything that came near us, we still occasionally got cut. One cut too many, and Seifer stopped, an orange glow around the Hyperion.
"Go!" He ordered me, before unleashing his limit break on the group.
I sprinted down the corridor, quickly finding a set of stairs, headed downward. Not looking back at Seifer, I leapt down the stairs, away from the large number of Goblins that ignored Seifer and continued after me. I landed with a grunt, and immediately regretted it, as I stood up sharply, spitting the sand out of my mouth.
"Oh, please God, tell me you're kidding me." I muttered, eyes wide as I caught my surroundings.
I was standing in the middle of a desert that stretched out in all directions. Looking behind me revealed that there was no set of stairs that I could use to return to the cave. In fact, there was no sign of Mount Nibel, no sign of anything. Sand and sky was all that I could see for miles on end.
Well, on the bright side, at least the temperature couldn't affect me.
I took a hesitant step forwards, and hurt a small thump, along with some curses. Turning, I spotted Seifer, laying on his back, looking skyward, shocked. I moved towards him, cautiously. He sat up, staring at the desert, confused.
"You have got to be fucking with me." He cursed, jumping to his feet.
"Nope. Desert as far as the eye can see." I said, sarcastically.
"How'd we end up in Corel Desert?" He asked.
"It ain't. Look around, I don't see the Gold Saucer anywhere, and you can see that place from the outskirts of Corel Desert." I informed him.
"Shit." Seifer cursed. "And we have to find a stairwell somewhere in the middle of a desert? We'll be long gone from this heat before we've searched ever inch of this place."
"Correction: you'll be long gone. I can survive longer then you in this heat; it's starvation and thirst that'll do me in."
Seifer cursed again, before picking a random direction and marching. Sighing, I shook my head and followed after him. No sense in splitting up, in this desert, we'd never find each other again.
Two hours later, and we were still walking. Seifer wasn't doing too well. He'd regularly take a sip of potion, to both get some liquid inside of him, and to help with the sunburn. If he kept up like this...
"Seifer, stop." I commanded.
"Why? We have to keep going. Need to find the stairwell."
"If you keep this up, you're going to wear yourself out. Either that, or you'll get heat stroke, and I have no idea whether potions can help with that."
To his credit, Seifer stopped, realizing the truth in my words. Sighing, he moved to a nearby tree and sat down in its shade, closing his eyes.
"Damned desert." He muttered.
"I hear ya." I commented. "I prefer rain forests myself. At least there's more to look at than sand with the occasional trees."
The mercenary gave a weak chuckle, shutting his eyes. A few seconds later, he was breathing deeply, almost snoring. That hike through the desert had worn him to exhaustion. I don't blame him, I'm tired myself, but I didn't have the disadvantage of sweating and all those other human traits.
If anything, the lizard in me is enjoying the heat.
I took the opportunity to think about my current situation. Trapped in the middle of an endless desert, with Seifer, looking for a set of stairs. There has to be one, it seems rather anti-climatic to fight our way through one floor, just to appear in a desert to die. Wait, maybe that's it. The first floor was a test of endurance. This floor is a test of intelligence. But then, what's to think about, there's nothing but sand and trees.
Trees that always appear in groups of three.
Turning around sharply, I examined the trees. Yes, same here. Three trees, all of which look exactly the same. Creepy actually, never seen trees that look exactly the same before. The three together formed the points of a triangle, with one point further away from the other two, forming an isosceles. It almost looked like it was an arrow.
Maybe that was what we had to do; follow the trees. Well, we've got nothing better to try. When Seifer wakes up, we'll follow the trees. Assuming I'm able to convince him that doing so could hardly be any worse then just walking in a random direction until we die of starvation, or worse.
Now, seeing as something warm and wet is on my arm, accompanied by a low growling noise, I think I might have more pressing matters to attend to.
I spun around, tail whipping whatever it was behind me. The monster was red, with a scorpion tail, and pincers. Once it realized that it had been seen, it burrowed under the sand. I took several steps back, uncertain as to whether it had run away, or whether it was just being sneaky. I got my answer when there was an explosion of sand, and the Deserpede launched itself through the air towards me.
With reflexes I hadn't had before this whole adventure started, I pivoted around, using my enemy-skill materia. Once again, I wound up breathing fire on a hapless monster, though it was probably a bad move to use when said monster happens to be flying through the air towards you. A very bad idea.
Yelping, I threw myself to the ground, avoiding the flaming corpse. Jumping to my feet, I spotted another Deserpede moving towards the still sleeping Seifer. I pulled Talon free of its sheathe and fired several rounds at the ugly insect. The monster bug made a few sounds that made its annoyance obvious and moved towards me, tail reared and ready to strike. I didn't give it the chance and sliced my gunblade through its tail, leaving a stump behind.
With a screech of pain, the Deserpede burrowed underground. After remaining on guard for a minute, I finally let my guard down.
"Not bad kid." Seifer spoke up.
"How long you been awake?" I asked.
"When you fired your gunblade. That thing is loud enough to wake the dead."
I grunted, stabbing the burnt insect to make sure that it was dead.
"I think I might know how to find the stairs." I said at last.
Seifer perked up at the sound of that.
"How?" He asked, eagerly.
"When you're fit to go, I'll lead the way." I told him, deciding to not tell him that I was going to be following trees.
"I'm good whenever you are." Seifer grunted, getting to his feet. "The sooner we get out of this desert, the better."
"The sooner we leave this shrine the better." I corrected him.
Once Seifer was back on his feet, we started walking, me leading.
"Tell me more about the Soul Shrines." I said at last.
"What's to say?" He countered.
"Well, you knew that this was the Earthgift Shrine just by the location, and that it would have five floors..."
Seifer gave me a 'hmm' sound as he thought about what to say.
"The Earthgift Shrine, as the name implied, is the Shrine where the Earth Crystal was found." Seifer started. "Obviously, that means that this whole shrine has an affinity was the earth. That's how I knew this one was Earthgift. Don't get much more earthy then the lower parts of Mount Nibel."
"And the others?" I asked, curious.
"The other shrines are Hellfire Chasm, Lifespring Grotto and Whisperwind Cove." Seifer explained. "It's pretty bloody obvious which shrine is connected to which element. Hellfire Chasm has ten floors, Lifespring Grotto has twenty floors, and Whisperwind Cove has forty floors. As well as an increasing number of floors, the challenges are also increasingly difficult."
"Can't think of any place that would fit the elements of the other three shrines." I mused, thinking.
"Well, Lifespring Grotto is probably underwater. No way you can get any more water than under the sea. Beats me where the other two could be though."
"Well, it's not like I'm going to go looking for them." I commented. "Besides, what'd be the point? Unless I just happened to go to one as a new Crystal is created."
Seifer nodded, absent-mindedly.
"Not going to happen anytime soon, if what you AVALANCHE guys say about Mako Reactors is true."
That's true. With no mako, no energy for the Planet to use to create new Crystals. That's food for thought. I wonder what the world would be like, if new Crystals are formed. No more need for Materia, if their return brings magic back to the hands of us mere mortals.
Heh, Yuffie would lose her job.
I almost didn't notice it when we neared an oasis. If a certain lizard hadn't pointed it out, I would have likely walked into the water. Seifer seemed happy. Once he'd tested whether or not the oasis was real and not a mirage, he leapt in, head first.
Don't blame him. The heat was starting to get to me. Still, at least I was more controlled about it. I simply sat at the edge and took a long drink, before relaxing for a while. By the side of the oasis lay our staircase. We could afford a rest before leaving this desert behind for good.
The next floor looked like a forest. Only everything had a purple hue about it. It looked like someone was forcing me to wear purple tinted shades. The sky was purple, the grass was pinkish, and the trees were maroon.
"Wonder how this floor will turn out." I wondered, aloud. "Will we need brains or brawn."
"Brawn if that guy is anything to go by." Seifer replied, smirk evident in his voice.
I followed his gaze and my sight rested upon a skeleton wearing chain mail armour. The skeleton yelled out and charged at us, swinging a rather vicious looking scimitar. With a sigh, Seifer swung the Hyperion, knocking the skull from the rest of the skeleton's body. The skull rolled along the ground before coming to a rest against a maroon tree.
"Hey! That was uncalled for, that was." The skull complained.
Both Seifer and myself shared a freaked out look with each other, before turning to face the skull.
"Ok, that is freaky." Seifer commented.
"So's your face." The skull snapped.
"This coming from a talking, decapitated skull."
"Well, you did just decapitate me." Skull-y snorted. "So yeah, this coming from a talking decapitated skull."
"You mind pointing us towards the way out." I asked.
"No I bloody well will not. You decapitated me; I don't think I'm entitled to do jack all for you."
I shrugged, turned away.
"Fine by me. Good like with the rest of your... err... unlife."
Waving dismissively, I walked away from the skull, ignoring the storm of curses and swears that were sent my way in retaliation. Something along the lines of no longer being able to enjoy having an unlife when having nobody to enjoy it with. Not my problem.
The forest trail was a worn dirt path, marking the general direction. So roughly half an hour we walked, without incident, when we came to a fork in the path, leading off in all the various directions on the compass. So much for having a clear path to the exit.
Murphy's Law also dictates that something else must go wrong.
I wished that I could kill Murphy myself for his stupid law, when from the trees, a small army of skeletons charged forwards, bellowing a war cry that clearly said that they were trying too hard to be masculine.
They failed, miserably.
But still, despite their shortcomings with their war cries, there were still a large number of them, and each one had a scimitar and a desire to use it. The numbers were stacked against us, but then again, if all of these things had the same level of skill as Skully back there, then that actually means that they're an even match with these numbers.
Seifer and I readied ourselves, standing back to back as the skeletons surrounded us.
"This'll be fun." Seifer smirked.
"You have a warped sense of fun." I felt obligated to point out.
"Nah, you're just a stick in the mud."
Well, at least he didn't call me chicken-wuss, that'd mean that he was actually trying to insult me. He'd fail, since I've heard far worse, but then, this is Seifer, so whatever.
The skeletons chose that moment to charge.
Grunting, I parried a slash from the first skeleton to reach me, and delivered a swift kick, sending the undead warrior flying back. No chance to brag about my awesome skills though, since three more came to replace the one I'd just knocked back.
The key problem with standing back to back with Seifer like this is that even though we're making sure that nothing attacks us from behind, if either of us were to dodge rather than block an attack, we'd be getting each other killed very swiftly. It wasn't too much of a problem against these skeleton warriors, since they were all bone and no muscle, quite literally, but when they had the advantage of numbers; it gets a tad difficult to block each and every attack, especially if they all attacked at once.
For instance, such as now.
Giving several choice swears under my breath, I swung Talon around to intercept the nearest blade, while my right hand caught the wrist of the second skeleton, and I twisted around driving my foot into the shoulder of the third.
The kick had enough power in it to send the skeleton's sword arm flying off, leaving a very confused skeleton to look at the stump that was all that remained of his arm. Meanwhile, I twisted my arm around; sending the skeleton whose wrist was in my grip to the floor, and slammed my tail into the grounded warrior. All that remained was the skeleton whose blade was caught in a deadlock against mine. That was easily solved by sliding my blade so that the end was pointed at the skull of said skeleton, and pulling the trigger.
There was no time to rest however, as the skeletons I'd taken out were replaced with more of them. Sighing, I drove my blade into ribcage of the next skeleton to approach, before forcefully wrenching it out to the side, cutting a second one in half. Grunting, I focused on my Materia.
Since Skully had essentially told us that the skeletons understood plain English, I didn't utter the name of the spell. This made it more difficult to cast, but at least any possible defence against it would be negated by the fact that they had no idea what spell I was casting.
Matra Magic is incredibly weird. It sort of summons missiles which start bombarding the enemy, and I don't mean the spell's form looks similar to missiles, I mean it literally is summoning missiles. Apparently, the design for the missile was stolen from ancient magic powers.
Yeah, some of the magic on Gaia is seriously fucked up. Watch as I cast a spell known since the time of knights in shining armour… MISSILES!
Ignoring the fact that I cast a spell that involved launchinging a number of warheads at skeleton warriors, the spell actually did a fair job of slowing the swarm down, as well as cutting down a small percentage of their number. Ok, not by much, but it still helps.
Apparently Seifer was inspired by my use of magic, because I started to feel the static in the air of another spell being cast. A quick glance over my shoulder showed that the Blonde's scarred face was screwed up in concentration. Must be a powerful spell, or else he just sucks at spell-casting. Figuring that he needed time to cast the spell, I went back to concentrating on the skeletons, who had used the time to regroup and press the attack.
Frowning, I shot at a couple of the skeletons on front of the group, before they got too close to be able to focus on firing at them.
I had to fight the urge to duck rather than parry the first scimitar that came towards me, since I still had Seifer stood behind me, trying to cast whatever spell it was he planned on using. Once I had disposed of the first skeleton, the time for finesse was over as they began to crowd me, scimitars at the ready.
Thankfully, there were so many of them, I didn't even need to bother aim my slashes and stabs, skeletons were caught anyway.
After a minute of this, I was tiring, but then the air began to feel heavy, and I know that it wasn't my exhaustion. The static in the air increased with the air becoming so heavy it was difficult to breath. And then Seifer thrust his palm out.
The sky darkened until it was virtually pitch black, and then it started to rain. Only this rain wasn't water. This was far worse then raining cats and dogs. It was raining rocks. Comets to be exact, dozens of comets came raining down, destroying all that stood in their path.
After the rain of comets stopped, Seifer fell to his kneels, panting. But that was alright, since the skeleton army had been destroyed by the comet shower.
"Dark Sky, the upgraded form of Comet." Seifer eventually managed to say. "I hate using that spell, takes nearly everything I have to cast it."
"Sounds like you wouldn't be able to cast Ultima." I commented idly.
"I wish." Seifer snorted. "Only the best can use Ultima. Technically, I shouldn't even be able to use Dark Sky, but I never did like listening to the rules of the world. But if Dark Sky does this to me when I cast it, I'm not going to try my luck with Ultima."
"Ouch. Remind me to stay away from the high end stuff." I winced.
Ok, so no using Ultima, probably no using Comet… I wonder whether I can use Flare… wait…
"But isn't Eden one of the most powerful summon entities known to man?"
"Summons are a slight exception to the rule. Ok, I can't summon Eden for more than a single attack, but I can summon Eden."
I nodded, accepting his words. Who'd have thought, Seifer was helping me understand some of the background details on using magic. Before now, the most I'd known was how to cast them and that using too much too quickly without ethers in between was Bad with a capital 'B'. And people wonder why I generally make a point of avoiding the spell-casting. Leave that to the magically competent.
I opened my mouth to make a remark of some kind, but before I had a chance to even consider what it was that would be leaving my gob, a loud crack echoed through the forest. This crack was accompanied by a sudden pressure on my ankle.
Looking down at my ankle as quickly as I could, I instantly spotted the cause of the pressure. A skeletal hand had risen from the ground in a twisted parody of a plant, and latched itself onto my ankle. I reached inside my coat, hand managing to brush against the handle of my gunblade, before the hand descended back underground, and taking my foot, and by extension, me, along for the ride.
It stopped pulling so hard once I was waist deep in the ground, though it continued to tug, so I was still slowly sinking ever deeper.
"Fuck!"
Swearing, Seifer dove towards me, grabbing my hand. Once he had an iron grip, he began to pull, slowing down my sinking, but not stopping or, even better, reversing my current momentum. Cursing repeatedly, I pushed against the ground with the hand that Seifer wasn't pulling against, trying to help him in stopping my current situation.
It all seemed to be in vain, as another sharp tug managed to send me even deeper into trouble than I already was. And by this point, I was starting to get just a little bit desperate.
"Help me!" I screamed, struggling with everything I had.
Ok, so maybe a little was a little bit of an understatement, but in all seriousness, I was being pulled under the ground by a skeleton. In these circumstances, I'd like to see anybody else manage to remain calm.
Vincent doesn't count. It's hard to tell whether or not he even has emotions at this point, always speaking in that monotone voice…
Ok, shifting a little from the point, but by this point I'm trying not to panic too much. How much is 'too much' is debatable. I'm thinking too much is the moment I start hyperventilating, but others may beg to differ. I would then be inclined to disagree, before forcing them into the situation that I'm currently in just to see whether or not they manage to retain such opinions.
Another sharp and I was now up to my armpits deep in the ground.
"Do something!" I yelled at Seifer.
"I am doing something!" The blond yelled back.
"Well do more!" I commanded in retaliation.
"So sorry; I left my shovel in my other coat's pocket!" Seifer snapped.
Yet another tug and I was submerged under the ground, the only thing left above ground being the arm that Seifer continued to tug against.
Seeing as my face was now buried, I suppose that it really doesn't matter whether or not I panic too much, seeing as I can't breathe at the moment regardless. It was pitch black, so I couldn't see anything, not that there would be much to see anyway. Dirt, dirt and oh, what is that? Dirt!
I felt another tug and I was now completely submerged. I couldn't feel Seifer's grip, so he hadn't been dragged under with me. No, he wouldn't have been stupid enough to willingly let himself befall the same fate as me. So, I was to die through suffocation, buried in the middle of a forest deep within a mythological cave.
Oh yeah, a death to brag about till the end of time.
Strangely, I felt another tug, and then all I saw was a bright white light.
It was actually an upgrade from before, seeing as now, I at least had the ability to breathe. Though how much better, I have yet to determine. Where was I, and how did I get here from being buried in the ground.
All I could hear was the beating of my heart.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
A sudden swirl of colour in this wide expanse, though I couldn't be sure whether it was real, or just my eyes playing tricks on me, due to having stared at nothing but this endless white for so long.
No, it was definitely real, since it just returned, and I heard a faint humming with it.
The swirl of colours approached me, and I felt a faint warmth from it. Then I was suddenly somewhere else. It looked like I was in the streets of Midgar to be precise. Empty streets of Midgar, but the streets of Midgar nonetheless.
"Yo kid." A voice said. "No slacking off."
I spun around, trying to see who had just spoken to me, but found nobody. Though now that I thought about it, besides sounding familiar, for a reason I cannot begin to understand, there was a feeling that I wasn't alone here.
"Forgive me." A new voice, this one completely unfamiliar.
But then that feeling of being watched faded away, leaving me alone again.
Well what was I supposed to do here? Stand around looking like a prat? No, I'm going to walk to the one building of significance in Midgar and see if I can figure out what is happening.
I'm taking an educated guess that I'm not actually in Midgar. Of course, this educated guess works on the assumption that Gaia still follows the same general set of rules as if it were still a game.
If I walk in and learn that I really was transported to Midgar, then I am going to be so incredibly screwed.
Wow, way to inspire myself.
I waited for a snide comment from the lizard within, but got nothing. On concentrating, I found that he was absent from my mind, a strange feeling, since I'd long grown used to his constant presence.
It was always reassuring knowing that I was never truly alone.
Now I was.
Oh, is this going to be like that freaky dream I had back in the Shinra Tower? The one that I had while reportedly 'dead'?
If I encounter any funky mirrors with disembodied voices being annoying, then I am going to smash each and every one of them. Who knows, maybe the source of the disembodied voice is behind one of them.
I reached the entrance to the Shinra Tower and took a step through the doors, to appear in the middle of Cosmo Canyon. The place was empty, except for a kid standing near the flame of the Cosmo Candle. Shaking my head, I moved towards the dark haired youth and came to a stop several paces away from him. The boy seemed to realize that he was no longer alone, and turned around to face me.
He was dressed in very plain clothing. A white t-shirt and jeans. He didn't wear any footwear though.
Besides the pale skin, the only remarkable thing about his appearance was his eyes. Apart from being an almost unnatural shade of orange, they held a wisdom that not even Bugenhagen had managed to achieve, even with his one hundred plus age. Such wisdom didn't fit with the image of a child.
"So you're the one." The boy remarked, tilting his head slightly.
"And you are?" I asked.
"You'll know soon enough." The boy answered, waving my question aside. "We'll meet, sooner rather than later. But will it be as partners, or a passing acquaintance, is the question."
"What are you talking about? Are we not meeting right here and now?"
"We are, but not really. Technically, none of this is real. But, it will be as real as you let it."
I was silent, examining the boy. There was a sense of familiarity about him, but I couldn't place my finger on why. And I had already ruled out his being another games console. He didn't have that same presence as Jade and Maria. No, his presence was more powerful in its own right, yet dwarfed by the two beings who were more or less the gods of this world.
"It's alright to cry." The kid suddenly said.
"Huh?"
"Crying. I've found that it can sometimes help." The boy shrugged.
"I have no reason to cry." I answered.
"You will." Was the cryptic response.
I didn't get a chance to reply to that odd statement, as the boy turned and walked away, fading into the air.
For a minute, I was left all alone, with only the sounds of the Cosmo Candle as my company, before the scene melted away to a place I was familiar with, but hadn't seen for a long time.
I was stood in the yard of my school back home. Like everywhere else, it was empty, void of any sign of life. I took a step forwards, looking around at the sight, remembering the small details that such a long absence had made me forget, such as the dent in the fence where some idiot and run headfirst into, or the football that was stuck on the edge of the roof of the main building, as it had been for months.
All those little details that had left me.
I heard a footstep and spun around, tensed. There, behind me was a group of four. I could tell instantly that they were not from the so-called real world. The most noticeable proof of this was the shortest member of the group. He was a Black Mage, shroud hiding his face and glowing yellow eyes and all.
The tallest of the group looked at me and nodded.
"So, this is your world." The one dressed on green stated, looking around in wonder.
"I would criticize this place, but I know nothing of the way your world works." The Black Mage claimed, crossing his arms.
The one dressed in a white cloak, with the hood pulled up chuckled, seeing my discomfort.
"Fear not, for we are allies." She said, reassuringly.
Strangely, I believed her words.
The tallest one finally spoke up, looking the most serious.
"Hard times approach, and we can do little to help. Stay strong and you'll be fine. We'll meet again." He finished before the group vanished in the blink of an eye.
Again, I was alone. Shrugging, I turned and kicked a football that had rolled up to me by the wind. The ball sailed through the air before smashing one of the school windows.
"Oops."
As if the window smashing was the trigger, the world seemed to explode and I was back in the white void from before. Only there was a shadow, a silhouette of a being before me. I got the impression that the being was examining me as if I were a piece of meat.
"You don't look very promising, yet I have to wonder." The being said in a distorted voice.
"What are you?" I asked.
My answer was pain. The being clearly didn't like being spoken to, and sent a fist to my temple. Blinking away the spots that formed in my field of vision, I tried to focus on the being, unable to focus properly. I could see darkness forming at the edge of my vision. I was losing consciousness.
I wonder whether it's a normal occurrence to recognise that you are indeed about to black out.
"Little lizards should speak only when addressed to by their betters."
"Up yours." I managed to utter before I blacked out.
I awoke, still in the void, but at least this time these was no sign of the being. I considered casting Cure on the bruise I could feel forming on my temple, but didn't get the chance before the scenery changed from white void to sterile lab… with me strapped to the cold metal table in the centre of the lab.
I struggled against the leather straps that held me down, paying no mind to the fact that me clothes had vanished. Time and a place for everything. My nudity had to take a backseat to the fact that I was strapped to a table in a lab.
Footsteps echoed through the air, and I turned my head to see Professor Hojo walking towards me. He was speaking into a small recorder, yet no sound seemed to escape his lips. I renewed my struggle against my bindings, getting desperate to escape. Hojo seemed to ignore my struggle, continuing to talk with no sound into his recorder.
This carried on for five minutes, before I managed to exhaust myself. It was as if that was the sign Hojo had been waiting for, because he chose that moment to advance, pulling forth a scalpel. I watched in morbid fascination as the small blade neared my body. It stopped just as it touched my flesh, and I flinched as I felt its coolness. I swallowed, shutting my eyes.
The blade pierced my flesh, and I screamed.
A flash of light, and was back in the void… though still lacking in the clothes department, but right then, I really didn't care, as I pressed my hands against where I had felt the scalpel cut into me. There was no physical sign of injury, but the pain was still there, still bad enough that it felt as though the scalpel was still there, still cutting…
I didn't get a chance to recover before another flash of light and I was somewhere else.
This time I was on the cargo ship from Junon to Costa Del Sol, and I was in the same position I'd been just after Sephiroth had cut my eye open. Sephiroth was stood over me, looking towards the ceiling as I remembered him doing after he'd cut my eye, but this time, he didn't retreat into the engine room. He actually stayed to thrust the Masamune through my chest before leaving.
I tried to stop, but despite my efforts, a strangled cry managed to escape me before I was once again returned to the void.
This time I didn't even get a chance to recover before being forced into a new place. This time back in the real world, an alleyway I had to pass through every day to get to school. Only this was the time I was assaulted by a so-called 'well 'ard guy'. This time though, the entire gang of dropouts joined in.
I tried to fend them off, but somehow I couldn't gather the strength, and they easily overpowered me. I felt bones breaking in their assault, and eventually blacked out as a brick connected with my skull.
I woke up, not in the void, but in yet another place where I felt pain.
And it continued like this. For longer than I cared to count. And it wasn't just physical pain. In many ways, the words cut deeper than the physical pain ever did. Words that I once had to put up with every day returned full force, and I was no longer shielding myself from their cutting edge.
"Freak."
"Bastard."
"Retard."
And so on.
And all I could do was endure it.
I finally got respite, when I appeared, no longer in the body of a teenager, but of the small insecure child that I felt like. Later, when I thought back to this moment, in a rough guess, I would put my current form as being six or seven years old.
I blinked, looking around, whimpering.
"Why hurt me?" I whispered.
Silence was my answer.
"Why hurt me?" I repeated, shivering. "What did I do wrong?"
Whispers filled the air. Hateful whispers that sent me laying myself on the floor and curling myself into a ball, as if it would be sufficient to shield me from the cutting words.
I heard a chanting, and the whispers fled, scared of this new development. I sobbed, certain that this new development only meant more pain for me. It wasn't until I heard a familiar and comforting voice.
"Oh, young one."
I looked up, and spotted the familiar form of Xenor, only looking more blue/purple then usual, his eyes luminous blue rather then the usual red.
Sniffing, I got up and ran to Xenor, throwing my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder.
"Don't leave me Xenie…" I sniffed.
I felt Xenor rub my back soothingly, and I heard a voice in my mind.
'It's alright to cry.'
At first, I thought it was actually being said to my mind, but then, even in my current state, I realized that it was nothing more than a memory of the kid I'd met in the Cosmo Canyon recreation.
And he had offered advice that seemed very good at that moment in time.
And it was with that, that for the first time in years, I let myself cry.
Xenor continued to rub my back soothingly, chanting something that I vaguely recognised from my childhood, but I didn't. More of those false memories. Just another thing that seems to be going wrong in my life. Just another thing to cry about.
I continued like this until I eventually fell asleep.
I awoke with a gasp, fist flying towards Seifer's mug, before I recognised him, and managed to stop myself from socking him in the face. The blond backpedalled away from me, relaxing once he realized that I was not about to hit him.
"Fuck happened to you?" He asked, eventually.
"I… I don't know." I shook my head.
"It looked like you were having a seizure." Seifer decided to inform me. "A bad one."
I shook my head, looking up at him in confusion. I decided that telling him about my weird-ass vision or dream or whatever it was wasn't in my current interests. Hell, I wasn't about to tell him anyway. He might be acting civil towards me at the moment, but we are acting under a truce until we get out of here.
"Heh. Spend two weeks looking for you, and I don't even get a thank you." Seifer snorted.
My lips twitched.
"Thank you."
"Forget about it. It was only coincidence that I found you here." He waved aside my thanks. "Whatever flipped out dream you were having when you were freaking out on me must have been depressing though."
I looked at Seifer in confusion, and he put a finger under his eye. I raised a hand to my own eye and felt just under it. My hand came back, wet. Odd, lizards don't have tear ducts.
Must have been one of the human elements that carried over from my metamorphosis.
"You seem different."
I felt different. Lighter. Like I had dropped a weight which had been dragging me down. Maybe crying really does help. Shrugging, I turned to properly look at the blond gunblade wielder.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
Seifer pointed at something behind me. Upon turning around, I spied a gravestone, and an open grave, casket inside, just waiting to be buried. On closer inspection, I could clearly read what was inscribed on the stone.
Jethro 'Spike' Logan
1989-2005
He will be missed by none
That was morbid. Jeez, that was really depressing.
"Couldn't they have at least waited until I was dead before trying to bury me?" I asked, rhetorically.
"You were dead." Seifer grunted. "I phoenix downed you. Never seen anyone go into a seizure from being given a phoenix down before though. You allergic or something?"
"No, I've been phoenix downed before with no problems." I answered. "The only problems I ever had was the cause of death."
Not least of which was Cel deciding the test with electro-shock therapy technique on me. Still hurts just thinking about it. I plan on never repeating that situation, it hurt, and it killed me while it was at it. Painfully, I might add.
No, I won't be getting over Cel's fascination with electrocuting people any time soon.
"So, which way to the exit?" I asked.
Seifer pointed over my shoulder. Pivoting around, I easily spotted what he was aiming his finger at. The stairs to the next level were in a clearing just yards away from where we were standing.
"That's… strangely convenient of them; putting my grave right next to the stairs."
"Maybe they wanted me to find you." Seifer grunted. "Like you were a prize for enduring this place."
"Didn't you just say moments ago that you finding me was a coincidence?"
The blond seemed to lose his cool at having his earlier words contradict his current words, and he was forced to spend a moment thinking.
"I don't know. How should I know what the logic behind this cave is? I said before, the only thing I know about these places, is that the Crystals were originally discovered in these caves… supposedly."
"Nice save; your reputation as a bad-ass is intact." I muttered, sarcastically.
"Look, whatever. Can we just get the hell out of here? Two weeks in this forest is two weeks too long."
"I've really been out of it for two weeks?"
"Yeah. Thankfully, despite the number of walking skeletons, this forest still has wildlife."
That is something he should be thankful for. Starvation is probably one of those un-revivable deaths, since technically speaking, starvation is a pretty natural way to die. Unpleasant, but the body and likely the spell/phoenix down would recognise it as the body dying naturally.
That brings to mind a point. Suicide is near impossible here in Gaia. Seriously, if some guy hangs himself, or puts a bullet in his own brain, just bring out the crate of phoenix downs and voila. You'd have to have a pretty messy death if you're genuinely serious about taking your own life, since how else would you cause enough damage to be unhealable.
Ok, I'm breaking this chain of thought, since I don't want to gross myself out.
Seifer took my silence as an invitation to bugger off. Ok, he was only going to the stairs, but still. Considering I'd been dragged, quite literally, six feet under, he could at least be more cautious about leaving me alone, lest we experience a repeat performance.
I caught up with Seifer just as he proceeded down the stairs. Muttering, I followed him and left the forest, for yet another cave. The only difference that I could see from the first cave we'd fought through was the fact that the path split into four directions, and I could see more junctions down each path.
Oh great, a maze, as if we couldn't get enough of those.
And judging by Seifer's scowl, he agreed with me. Then again, I doubt his patience would allow for him to like the prospect of trudging through a maze without already knowing the path to take. I was probably the type that cheated on those drawn mazes as a kid.
"You know what the sad thing is?" I spoke up, as a thought entered my head.
Seifer gave me a look before shaking his head.
"We can't just use the whole only turn right strategy for this maze, since the flight of stairs might be in any dead end in the entire maze."
The blond blinked, before muttering several choice words.
"Thanks, and there I was about to suggest we only turn right." He finally moaned.
"I suppose that makes this floor the test of 'try not to get too lost while every god in the cosmos laughs at your misfortune'."
"Yeah, well fuck every god in the cosmos."
"Oh, and this maze just got worse." I decided to mention.
"How?"
"Look behind you."
Seifer did so and swore, pulling out his gunblade as a small group of imps Imps charging us, knives being waved like these was no tomorrow.
"Oh I just love mazes. Don't you?" I hissed, already feeling a certain amount of hatred for this floor.
I would put it at a day later that we found the staircase. Little had happened as we'd trekked through the maze. We walked, we bumped into Imps, we killed Imps, and repeat, except for the times we had to rest.
At the site of the stairs, I gave a small cheer, and then leapt headfirst down them, eager to escape the maze for once and for all. Ok, leaping down headfirst was probably not the best idea, but it wasn't like I'd broken anything.
I was a little disappointed that it was another cave, but then, from what I could see, it was just a large hall, with a large structure reaching up to the ceiling in the centre.
"Well, what do you think we have to do here?" Seifer asked.
A loud roar was heard, and the sound of rusted metal being scraped together followed after. A quick look at my surroundings revealed the cause. Four large metal gates were opening. Something told me that I wasn't going to like what I was about to witness.
I knew I was right when the over-sized dog with three heads entered from one of the new openings.
Sometimes, I hate being right.
An:
This chapter was something of an eperiment that I wanted to try for a while. I've already found ways to include characters from other Final Fantasies into IWGH2, but what of locations? Granted, I've mentioned Ivalice as being a completely different continent, but I meant as more than a passing mention. The Earthgift Shrine was one of the bonus dungeons in the FF1 remakes for GBA and PSP (I own the latter, and had the former on emulator ages back), so I wondered if I could find a way to include them. I have a plan involving them, but if you, the audience disagrees with the concept, then the Earthgift Shrine will be the last you'll hear of it.
And sorry for the 3 hour delay. Lost track of what day it was.