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Chapter 60: Maelstrom
It was Balthier. Lead thought, as he fired another bullet into a charging Imperial. The man, in Zargabath's cell had not been Zargabath, but Balthier. But there would be time to analyze where had they gone wrong later. It was time to move!
When the alarm sounded, the lights flickered back to life and, at a moment's notice; several Imperial troops were coming down upon them.
The Imperials were armed with daggers but had superior numbers. Lead and second flanked out, firing and reloading as fast as they could while the Imperials converged on them relentlessly, third kept between them, casting spells and flailing her staff about.
The Imperials kept coming.
Lead's weapon clicked empty, he fumbled for another clip, nothing.
"Vaan! I need more ammunition!" he yelled to second, keeping an Imperial at bay with a dagger of his own, drawn from his thigh.
"I'm out too Basch!" Vaan replied. He too had drawn his dagger and had engaged the Imperials hand to hand.
An Imperial lunged for Basch, but he deftly strafed and skewered the incoming Imperials neck. Then, using the technique which never failed him, he dove headfirst into the Imperial rank.
He made contact, he started hacking and slashing, keeping other daggers at bay. Then, a dagger slit his left thigh and he fell to the ground and the Imperials upon him.
Vaan had not been brash; he thinned the Imperials, engaging them one by one until there were none left to fight. He turned around to see Basch lying on the floor, parrying and stabbing at Imperials as best as he could.
Third had he own battle, three Imperials had cornered in the cell promenades. Her staff was not an effective melee weapon and casting spells was tiring. She glanced to her right, given only a heartbeat to do so, but she saw Basch tumble and then overwhelmed. She swallowed her hesitation and cast Bio.
Several green masses of sludge with slimy tentacles flailing in every direction exploded from the tip of her staff and headed for every Imperial in sight.
The toxic masses tore at the Imperials with their tentacles and then, once the Imperials were open, funneled inside their bodies and continued flailing their tentacles until the Imperials were dead and poisoned.
Panting sliced and bruised, Bash tried to get up. Everything had happened so fast.
"Basch, are you all right?" Vann asked as he hurried to aid the fallen judge.
Suddenly an Imperial rose to his feet, tentacles flailing from his lacerated gut. He held his dagger high as he charged towards Basch and Vaan.
Then he suddenly froze, his arms twitching, then the tentacles subsided as a dagger tip protruded, bloody and glimmering, from his chest.
The Imperial slumped to the ground dead. Balthier was holding a bloody dagger in his hands as third came running to them. The man looked liked nothing of his old self, a mere shadow of the man Vaan, Basch and the others knew. His face had been gaunt and looked rather haunting, his clothes tattered, his muscles looked weaker than they had been, starved it seemed. And in his hazel eyes, there spoke a deep pain unfathomable that even Basch could not understand it. This was a shadow of the man they used to call the greatest sky pirate of all time.
Balthier however ignored the look of derision on Vaan's face and turned to glare at the person who approached him.
"Stay away from me, girl.' Balthier spoke, and though the accent was still there, it was huskier, darker and more ways spoke of the change he had gone through. What had been done to him here? What evils did Balthier have to go through in order to transform him to this specter? And where was Fran?
All these questions on the three's heads were interrupted by the cold, chilling words Balthier added. "It would not sit well with your friends."
Vaan stared up at him, his eyes unbelieving of what they had just seen. His eyes did not burn with the fires of hate which it once did but neither did it have the delight of seeing an old face. Whatever Balthier had done, Vaan did not wish this fate on him. They had been friends after all.
Basch made a pained grunt, and slowly rose to his feet. "I am grateful." He spoke to Balthier, to which the man merely shrugged to. Vaan rose to his feet now, clearly ignoring his once idol and preferred to pay his attention to the third member of their group as she rejoined them.
"Are you all right, Yvelle?"
Yvell made a slight nod; she was casting darting glances around the area, scanning for enemies and apparently apprehensive of their current situation.
Vaan was looking at Balthier blankly, his blue eyes calculating him, rude almost in his stare. The old Balthier by now would have spoken out a sassy remark or some such and Vaan was surprised he didn't. In fact, Balthier barely glanced at Vaan at all. Something that irked the younger pirate.
"Leave him Basch; we have other things to do." Vaan said coldly without taking his eyes of Balthier.
Balthier ignored this and merely shrugged. He turned away from them and proceeded to the stairwell.
But before he could cross the intersecting promenade footfalls and shouting were heard from the stairwell which led to the floor below. Within seconds another group of Imperials had appeared. This it seemed to evoke a reaction from Balthier for his eyes widened and turned to look over at the others.
"This way!" Balthier yelled to the three.
Basch and Vaan were doubtful, preparing to fight rather than to flee.
"There's no escape but the fifteenth floor. Hurry!" Balthier tarried no longer; he bolted about, dagger in hand and made for the other stairwell.
Basch began to back away slowly but Vaan would not stir.
Yvelle was unfamiliar to the hatred they felt towards Balthier; she urged them to retreat, to follow Balthier. But when that did not work, she too ran for the stairwell and instead urged them to follow her.
The Imperials gave chase.
XOXOXOX
Fran was climbing the stairwell which led to the fifteenth floor very slowly. She was wounded, she was broken and she was violated. She was humiliated.
The torture she endured was nothing compared to the torment of being alive with a wounded pride. It was all Scipio's doing.
Repeatedly, Scipio himself beat her with chains.
"You will not cooperate?" Scipio demanded his silky smooth voice cutting through her ears like blades when he had Imperials pin her limbs to the ground, "Then I will make you!"
Instead of a lash he used a chain. It was a heavy, rusty chain which abraded her back with each and every swing.
Then, she would still not tell what Scipio wanted to hear.
"Where is the stone?!"
She glared at him defiantly earning not another laceration but a wide grin crept from his lips.
He ordered his men to abuse her, and so they did, repeatedly and cruelly. And then when all the torment was done, all the beating and the violation, they tied her to a chair with her hands bound behind her. Her head hung in eternal shame.
Then after a while, when the hours crawled by, Scipio came in and leaned close to her ear and whispered.
"I can imagine the shame you must live by, now. Since you are of no use to me, and you are shamed, I will give you death to end your misery. The fifteenth floor of this facility shall be your grave…" there was a very blank tone in Scipio's voice when he told her thus.
She was wiser than many of her Kinsmen, but even she could not fathom Scipio and what it was or who it was which drove him to do the things which he did.
But what would she care?
Now, she walked meditatively, up the stairs. There were two riflemen at the bottom of the stairwell, guns at the ready. They would not accompany her to the door.
She came to the door which would open to the fifteenth floor. It was a plain gray door which swung inward. It was slightly rusted and the smell of blood was very evident; the air thick with it.
She grasped the knob and turned it. She stepped past the threshold.
She could never betray Balthier for reasons she could not yet understand. Perhaps Balthier had shown her what she had always wanted to see, but she was uncertain what it was.
What she was certain of was that she was deeply honored now, to have been of aid to a valorous man.
Balthier told her of why he betrayed the Lord Larsa and his other friends. It was simple, but it was enough to be deemed worthy of honor.
Scipio would have killed her even if she had cooperated.
So, now, she walked into her death, having been strong for Balthier.
XOXOXXO
Hilaneya did not let go of Scipio's arm throughout their entire trip. She insisted despite Scipio's occasional protest delivered in a calm and silky voice. It exasperated Scipio but his mood would not be changed today, so he allowed her.
Now, they were in Giruvegan again. They were not at the Gateway, but rather, within the grand chamber of the Grand crystal; the massive hive-like structure which housed the vast crystal.
"Tell me again, how that falling down trick works." Hilaneya said to him, leaning very close to his ear.
A sigh of exasperation.
'If you take a free-fall from anyone of the levels, the chamber will turn itself into a loop. So, you can't actually die from falling her because when you're near the bottom, the mist is so dense that it distorts space and time, you'll only end up at the very top of the chamber only to fall again, then it goes on, a cycle.'
"How do you stop?" Hilaneya asked eagerly, like how a small child will anwer.
"Grab a ledge." He replied dryly.
"You said that there was a library here, right?" Hilaneya spoke with a bit of interest. Or perhaps she was trying to prolong the time Scipio would speak to her. Scipio did not doubt it was the latter.
"Yes." A muted response.
Hilaneya smiled and tugged on his arm again. " Where is it?" she asked eagerly only to get a grunt from Scipio as a reply. She did not desist on her pulling on his arm.
'The very bottom of this chamber.' Scipio answered glaring at her now when he could not take the tugging anymore.
'How do we get there?' Hilaneya continued to ask, eagerness in her voice. Scipio finally figured the best way for her to finally stop talking was to answer all her questions and be done with it.
'We walk. If we descend all the way the Mist will not distort our time and space, therefore the only possible way that you can actually reach the real bottom of the chamber is by walking. '
'There's really a floor there?' she sounded doubtful.
Scipio resisted growling in pure frustration. He had forgotten how inquisitive Hilaneya could get. "Yes and a library with numerous tomes and manuscripts containing invaluable knowledge.'
Hilaneya smiled, "Take me there then, and I will read with you."
Scipio shrugged as he saw no apparent point in visiting the place now that he knew most of what was written in those tomes.
While they were descending the steps a silence hung over them. Hilaneya disliked silences so she struck a conversation.
'What about the prison? Wasn't the intrusion due tonight?'
'Frethelion will take care of everything.' Scipio said in an assured tone, 'I even told Balthier that his beloved Viera was going to die if he didn't do something about it.' Scipio smirked.
"What did you tell him?' The interest in her voice was real now.
'While I was torturing him I said, "Fran will die on the fifteenth floor once you hear an alarm go off. You see, the siren's wail awakens my accomplice in the fifteenth floor; he will take care of Fran. But lo and behold, once that siren wails, you will be free and you can save her. I'll berth the Strahl on the roof; just in case you survive you can escape. There's only one door leading from the fifteenth floor to the roof so don't get lost." And then I went to come and get you.'
Raised eyebrows, as if she doubted some part of this elaborate plan of Scipio's. "Wouldn't he suspect that it's a trap?'
'Of course he would.' Scipio answered with enthusiasm now.
'Well?' Hilaneya looked at Scipio, 'Will that not destroy your plans?'
'I always have a plan.' A faint smirk and a hint of arrogance.
Hilaneay chuckled, 'Oh well. That's my Scipio,' Scipio grunted at this, 'what did you find so interesting in this place anyway?'
'This,' Scipio began as soon as Hilaneya had finished pronouncing her last syllable, 'is where I found the truth behind people like you, and Frethelion and that girl in the Lord Larsa's party named Yvelle. There are actually four of you, I'm not sure what or which person the fourth took form as.'
'Ah, so now you know.' her face lit up with excitement.
'You could have told me you were so, but that does not merit my forgiveness of your sins against me.' There was chastisement in his tones that Hilaneya did not like.
Hilaneya stuck her tongue out at him.
'And this place,' Scipio continued, 'is where I found the truth about me; what I am and why I am.'
'I'm sure that's very interesting.' There was no sarcasm in her tones now.
XOXOXO
Balthier ran, as fast as he could, up the stairwells. Fran was walking to her doom; violent mental images appeared in his mind. If anything happened to her…
Scipio you swine.
After Scipio had tortured Fran and ordered her to be violated, he then proceeded to torture Balthier. Balthier did not feel the pain, no. He felt the pain long before he was tortured with chains and lashes, he felt pain when he heard Fran scream. When he saw what they did to her. Endless, countless screams, that trapped Balthier in a world of nightmares.
After a bout Scipio spoke to him.
"I try to pry an answer I already know."
'What?!' Balthier spat his heart cold, surging with hatred new to his person.
"Of course I have the stone, I was just messing with your heads. " Scipio answered cheerfully, peeking at Balthier's apoplectic mien with a smirk. "Ah, however, listen. When a siren sounds, go to the fifteenth floor where Fran will be waiting for you to rescue her, otherwise she'll die.' Then Scipio smiled his evil smile and before Balthier could fully grasp what he had said and before he could utter what are you prattling about Scipio had gone with a flourish of his cape.
Scipio, as I live and breathe. Balthier cursed that name again and again as he dashed up the steps. Scipio was playing with them, all of them.
He was playing with Larsa and all his friends, with the senator, with all Ivalice. He had made very clear to Balthier that he was pulling all the strings, and soon he would spread pestilence on all Ivalice with the ravaging fires of war. Oh, how he longed to strangle the life out of Scipio.
Now, as he dashed up the steps, Balthier, Vaan and the girl he saw following them was right behind him. He could easily say why he had opted to betray them, but he was sure that his reasons would not merit their belief as quickly as he would hope, as quickly as instantly.
He had no time to persuade and convince, for now. His main concern was Fran, next to that, getting Vaan, Basch, the girl and Fran out of Archadia as soon as he can.
Imperial ranks were at their heels, but strangely…
Balthier did not encounter a single Imperial as he ascended. None at all.
The fifteenth floor was likely a trap, but Fran was more valuable to him than his own life.
XOXXOXO
Frethelion heard the siren, he heard the Imperials rush after the intruders. Scipio had made it very clear that they must reach the fifteenth floor alive and unspoiled. So, Frethelion ordered all security details to be positioned in the basement floors.
Frethelion knew what was in the fifteenth floor, and only now did he piece together Scipio's masquerade.
He rubbed his hands together; a smug smile on his face, satisfied that at last he fully understood what Scipio was going on about.
It was in his blood to be overly intelligent after all, that and being greedy.
XOXOXO
Fran had barely opened the door when a great gust of wind blew her into the room, or rather; a great gust of wind sucked her into the room. The door slammed behind her.
Ears pricked, she scanned the room she was in. It was poorly lit, and the lights were reddish and made the room look like it was covered in blood. There was a thick metallic smell cloying the air, then Fran knew that there were corpses in here, hundreds of them.
A scraping sound, then a heavy shuffle of feet. Fran wheeled about and saw nothing. The scraping was heard again, then a low growl which was slightly muffled, as though imprisoned in a metal box.
Her eyes, now adapted to the dim red glow of the room, darted left and right. She could see mounds of corpses, and then she heard the sound again.
She was in the middle of the room now, tensed. She wheeled about and then she saw it.
XOXOXO
The prison was much more hellish than a morgue, much, much more.
So long as a half devil named Scipio held it, it would be like hell itself. The very shape of the building was to inspire endless fear into the hearts of those which were unfortunate enough to have crossed Archadian law, let alone, Scipio.
The Octagon, Scipio hoped, was so bizarre a shape for a prison that its being bizarre would be one to make a detainee uncomfortable. Scipio thought, and to some degree being accurate, that the Octagon gave the detainees illusions that they could run, but they'd eventually come to a corner, and change bearing and run again. It was like running in circles, but circles were familiar. Scipio didn't want them to feel familiar. He made sure that all detainees were shifted from cell to cell at least once a month.
He broke spirits in that prison, that much is very certain, but he broke many things aside from spirits.
Scipio didn't delight in torturing others who couldn't even flail at him, he was not that much of a butcher as he always reasoned that he wanted a good fight every time he slew. However, the detention of all outlaws within Archadian jurisdiction happened to be in his jurisdiction, he had no choice but to see to it done. Oh, how done the job is indeed.
Here's something very few people know:
The prison's basements were not the dank and dark dungeons one might find in an aging castle; riddled with bones and lined with dust, nor was it a slaughter house where Scipio's most devious torture methods were carried out. The basements were very clean in every sense of the word.
The upper five floors spelled hell beyond recognition to any detainee, to anyone.
Scipio went mad there, so did his captives.
The worst torture chambers were on the top floor. There were no windows on the upper five floors. The middle five had generous enough slits to allow sunlight to creep in, but there on the highest five not even air could get past the walls.
And it was rightly so, there were always screams there on the highest five floors.
The eleventh to thirteenth floor was bearable enough, but nonetheless harrowing: endless beating and, if ever a woman, degradation. The smell was foul and the air thick and cloying. The detainees who were sentenced there were bound like slaves, naked and chained. They were not treated like humans anymore.
But despite that, Scipio made sure there was enough artificial light in those three floors. It gave the floors a little humane touch as Scipio saw it lacked it. He pointed it out rather casually.
The fourteenth, or the second highest floor, was where more gruesome torture took place. But usually, this followed torture from the first three floors. This floor was used specially for mental torture.
Usually, by the first floor of the five highest floors, the detainee would crack and divulge all that need be divulged. Few ever reached the higher floors. Scipio allowed them that much, that if they lost their nerve and cooperated he would not let them escalate, but if they lost their sanity he escalated them all the way.
And that's very bad because nobody wants to go all the way up there. Once you go up, all the way to the fifteenth, there's no going back.
Why, if you die in the eleventh floor, the wardens would leave you there for at least half a day before they throw you into the regular cells. Only those who die in the fifteenth floor stay there, then again, no one really knows why people get escalated there.
Some assume that it was the sentence of the law. Some say it is Scipio's whim. But those some would only be the wardens. No one, not even the Emperor nor the covert and all-knowing Order of the Tournesol knows about the on-goings in that building. And the wardens fear Scipio more than anything, anything.
There are only two doors on the top floor.
There is one door which leads to a stairwell; the stairwell connects the fourteenth and the fifteenth floor. The other door leads to another stairwell which connects the fifteenth floor to the roof. Sometimes Scipio needs fresh air from all the corpse-smells.
One last thing, this only Scipio, Hilaneya and Frethelion know.
Scipio is the chief ward, but there's something which helps him coerce answers on the fifteenth floor. If not coerce, the thing acts as the executioner, which it usually does.
That something is beyond human comprehension, which is why it comes to question as to how Scipio managed to get it in there in the first place, whatever that thing is.
XOXOXXO
It appeared to be human, but its head…
A bizarre tetrahedral, made of steel which was now rusting and caked with blood, seemed to encase, or was, its head. It shuffled towards Fran, dragging a massive, rusty, sword behind it. The right hand which held the blade was bleeding profusely. It was clothed with only a kilt and it had boots which were blackened from too much blood. Its upper torso had several stitches spanning it, as if it was sewn from different corpses. It was very muscular, and the tetrahedral shifted from side to side as it advanced towards Fran.
Fran quickly looked for a weapon, fumbling around the corpse mounds. She grabbed hold of a metal bar she found skewered on one of them, and held it like a sword.
She poised herself, readying for a fight.
She assessed the thing which shuffled towards her, it seemed very vulnerable and slow.
She cast a spell, 'Ardor!' but nothing happened.
Strange, she thought. Why is there no Mist here?
The thing was ambling closer, and it was bending back to strike. Fran quickly strafed as the rusty blade hissed past her, missing her by inches. The thing's sword buried itself deep into the steel floor.
Fran quickly jumped backwards, and the thing quickly pulled its sword loose and swung it horizontally towards Fran. Fran was far enough and the blade missed her again, but the thing was surprisingly strong; it made a full turn swinging its blade as it spun and almost cleaved Fran's stomach.
It made another strike, from the right. Fran parried with the metal bar but the thing's blade was too hefty and it broke the metal bar and cleaved Fran's left shoulder.
Fran's knees buckled from the pain. The blade was not sharp but it was very heavy and the force of the strike was great.
The thing bent back again, preparing to strike…
XOXOXO
Balthier was running faster now, they were in the thirteenth floor stairwell, Balthier shouted to the others, 'Listen, the Strahl's probably berthed on the rooftop, when we get to the fifteenth floor go to the door on the other end and do not hesitate.'
Balthier made sure he was loud enough for the footfalls of the Imperials were beginning to intensify.
Basch merely grunted an affirmative.
But Vaan spoke to him, loud enough for Basch alone, as they fled, 'Are you believing him?'
'What choice do we have?'
XOXOXOXO
The Imperials froze at the hallway which led to the fifteenth floor stairwell, the leader called a halt and the intruders vanished up the steps.
'Sir?' an Imperial asked.
'Scipio has always said that nothing except him and some of his friends survive the fifteenth floor.'
'We shall back down then?'
'Yes.'
The Imperials began to back away slowly; the stench of blood and festering flesh was very strong.
XOXOXOX
The door exploded from its hinges and a dagger was suddenly quivering in the things chest.
'Run, Fran! To the other door!' a voice called her back from the meditative trance she had quickly placed herself in. Her eyes opened and saw the thing trying to get the dagger out of it, growling.
Fran quickly clambered up and scanned the room, sure enough; at the opposite side of the door which she came from was another door. She ran for it and saw the others run for it too.
Balthier was there before anyone else; he turned the rusted knob and opened the door. Fresh air flooded the room and washed away the cloying air was washed away but only for a little while.
'Hurry!' he beckoned the others, the thing was sauntering towards them.
Fran went past the threshold first, then Basch, Vaan and then the girl. Balthier took one last look at the frightful thing which shuffled towards him, it was slow and far enough.
He closed the door behind him, there was no deadbolt. He ran up the last stairwell which led to no door but simply an opening which led to the roof top. The others were still running up the steps, and they spilled onto a flat roof, and there on the east side of the concrete roof was the Strahl.
Balthier rushed past all the others, fumbled with the fuselage console and then the cabin door opened.
Balthier went inside and ran to the pilot's seat. He started the engines; the fuel cells were full and the rings were fully primed; the ship was in perfect shape.
As he waited for the rings to accumulate enough power, everyone got aboard. He quickly punched the cabin door control button and the door closed.
He glanced behind him, into the cabin, everyone was settling, Fran was moving up to join him in the bridge.
He turned his gaze to the control panel but something caught his eye: the tip of the thing's tetrahedral.
He quickly referred to the console, the glossair rings were having trouble, and there wasn't enough mist to launch immediately.
'Fran,' Balthier grabbed her by the shoulders, one was wet with blood, and gently but quickly made her sit down, 'we have trouble, stay here.'
Fran merely looked him in the eyes, no emotion in them. Balthier would not admit how much that hurt him. He turned quickly to the others, old hates forgotten at the moment in the need to escape.
'Vaan, I need five minutes. Grab a rifle from under the cabin bed and keep that thing at bay!' he shouted to Vaan. He opened the cabin door; the thing was on the roof and was shuffling towards the ship.
'What is that thing?!'A sharp cry from Yvelle told them that it was coming closer.
'Just shoot it!' Balthier yelled as he made for the engine room.
Vaan quickly knelt beside the cabin bed and found a Capella. I'll deal with him later, Vaan told himself, glowering at the running Balthier, telling himself there was time for confrontations later. When they got out here alive. There were six of them on a rack. He got two and handed one to Basch.
"Yvelle, see what you can do with Fran!" Basch ordered as he exited the cabin, rifle in hand. Yvelle nodded and went to the bridge, whispering the healing words needed.
Vaan was already on the roof, the Capella at the ready. Basch joined his side, he pressed on the fuselage console and the cabin door closed.
The thing stopped shuffling…
XOXXOOX
'What's wrong with you girl?!' Balthier yelled at the engine.
The rings were fine, the fuel cells were full, and everything was in check.
Balthier tried harder to find the problem, the engine turbines were fine, and they should have accumulated enough mist in five seconds. There was always enough Mist for the Strahl wherever it chose to fly.
Unless, there was something wrong with the engine catalyst; Mist which was not ignited would not provide propulsion.
He quickly unbolted the protective cover of the combustion mechanism, something was missing.
There was a little piece of paper stuck between two pipes. Something was written on it.
That monstrosity on the fifteenth floor has the Mist ignition plug. It's in its stomach. –Scipio.
Then he heard gunshots outside.
XOXXOXO
Vaan emptied the fire shot clip into the thing's chest, five bullets out of eight hitting its mark. The thing growled and flinched with every shot.
'Scatter!' Basch yelled to Vaan as he fired at the thing.
Three bullets pelted the metal tetrahedral. The thing shivered and its massive sword clattered to the ground. It flailed at the air, as though blinded suddenly. Basch emptied the rest of his clip. He and Vaan had five extras each.
Vaan reloaded and quickly shot at the thing from behind. The thing flinched as bullets pierced its flesh. The fire shot burned the flesh, making black bullet holes.
'Shoot the head Vaan!' Basch yelled.
The thing stopped writhing and looked at Basch, tilting the vertex of its tetrahedral towards Basch. It quickly picked its sword up and ran towards Basch.
The thing swung it sword as it rushed past Basch, Basch quickly rolled out of the way. He righted himself and fired at the thing again. The bullets hit the tetrahedral and its legs, but it did not stop. It slowly faced Basch, preparing to charge again.
'Hey!' Vaan shouted and shot at the thing. It ignored Vaan even though all eight bullets pelted the tetrahedral.
Basch quickly reloaded but the thing was suddenly in front of him, it swung its sword from below and cleaved the rifle in half.
Basch stumbled and fell to the ground. He tried to scramble away from the thing as it raised its massive sword to strike from above. He could smell the drying blood on it and it made him think of a violent death destined specially for him.
'Over here!' Vaan shouted even louder. He approached the thing as he pumped rounds into it. The thing still ignored Vaan.
Basch could not scamper away any further. He could hear a low, guttural growl coming from within the tetrahedral.
There was a thunderous gunshot and the thing's tetrahedral blew into pieces. The thing's right arm slacked and the rusty blade fell with a clatter to the ground.
Balthier was standing by the cabin door, he was training his Fomalhaut where the thing once stood.
XOXXOXO
The grand crystal chamber was quiet. Scipio and Hilaneya had finished with the library. They were overlooking the Grand Crystal, once more on the topmost level of the chamber.
'How long have you known about me? About the four of us?' Hialneya asked Scipio. They were both gazing at the glowing crystal. She did not avert her gaze from it as she spoke to Scipio.
'Maybe a year after you nearly killed me here.' Scipio did not take his eyes away from the crystal as well.
'Oh. You do understand that I have been defeated.' Hilaneya's voice spoke of no remorse of her "killing" Scipio.
"Yes." Neither did Scipio. " I reckon this is the second time you assume the form of a hume. Your first metamorphosis was due to your death, who killed you, I know not. I do know that your kind is immortal when you are not of hume form. Then…'
"When I was reborn a hume I was a very naughty person and I transformed again. Only to be killed by Vaan and Penelo, and their friends.' Hilaneya interrupted a small smile gracing her face to which Scipio could only agree.
"Yes."
'If you hated me so, why did you not kill me? You would have made my life a hell by killing me endlessly, in this form or the other." There was curiosity laced in her tones, and more so besides that Scipio could not care to interpret.
Scipio was silent. Hilaneya was looking at him now, then after a long silence Scipio said, 'I would have killed you in your second form, but somehow, I didn't want to, I wanted to kill you in your hume form. But I needed you to live long enough to wreak havoc otherwise you'd break the cycle. Then when you did enough you would go missing, then I'd stumble upon you, in your second form. I thought killing you in your hume form would be more fun.'
Hilaneya chuckled then she said, "You have me now. Kill me." Orange eyes met Crimson ones as Scipio looked at her.
'I lost you every time before, when you would transform. I kill you now, I lose you again. I will not allow that…anymore.' Scipio replied in his serious tone, surprising himself at the honesty he spoke with. Hilaneya seemed pleased enough for she smiled at him and he smiled back.
'Does this mean, you forgive me?'
'Maybe.' A small shrug and a twitch of his lips.
Hilaneya's smile contorted into a perplexed expression.
'Look, back then I, I, uhm…'
'You could never say what you felt. So don't.' Scipio interrupted now, his voice becoming it's old cold tone.
'You're ruining the moment.' Hilaneya said. He stared at her.
'Maybe some other time, you will tell me what you want to tell me. But now, I must ask you to stay here. I have some business to attend to in Archades, bloody business.'
'I could help.' She insisted now.
'I don't want you to see it, Hilaneya.' Scipio spoke now, his voice soft and non-venomous.
Hilaneya cocked her head in disbelief. 'I am a murderer like you Scipio! My heart is as cold and black as yours!'
'My heart is not entirely that. Stay here, please.' Hilaneya's eyes met Scipio's and she saw what he was trying to get across, or at least what she thought Scipio was trying to get across; she could not read his thoughts right now, she didn't have the heart to do so, now that he had been so honest.
'All right.' she sighed resignedly.
Scipio smiled at her and left. Then when he had gone, she walked to the ledge and sat down and waited, patiently for Scipio to return.
XOXXOXO
Scipio collected his pistol form his office in the ministry complex. Frethelion met him in the lobby, both footsteps unhurried nor in a state of panic.
'They escaped as you planned my lord.' Frethelion spoke after a short bow before Scipio.
'Good.' Scipio answered, for once in no mood for theatrics.
'May I say something sir?' Frethelion inquired politely.
'What may that be?' Scipio returned, quite pleased that Frethelion had some manners. Unlike the little heathen witch Scipio would like to call Hilaneya.
'You seek dominance over Ivalice and you've arranged for this, carefully.'
Scipio laughed, 'Yes, oh so carefully, my plans are already in motion.'
'Even before the house of Soliddor?'
'Correct, you don't miss a thing do you? After all, you were feared for your intelligence.'
Frethelion looked at him, amazed.
'You know?'
'Oh yes. But enough of that, come, I will take another step towards dominance this night. It starts with that insipid Ortal.'
XOXXOXXO
Ortal had finished reading the novel he had recently purchased from the Imperial library. It was about politics and how that world revolved on out maneuvering each other to attain power. Sometimes, the maneuvers, as illustrated in the book, required subtlety and sometimes it did not.
One instance wherein subtlety was not requisite would be tomorrow, for he decided that he would have Scipio executed tomorrow, publicly and lawfully. He had sent a spy to Scipio's little jail house and his spy uncovered grim truths. Scipio treated the inmates inhumanly.
Even when Ortal had declared martial law, Scipio had shown some of his genocidal impulses. He hung at least five hundred Archadians who opposed Ortal. Ortal did not directly order this but simply asked Scipio to take care of the problem, not that he minded how he took care of it. But now, that only gave him another pretext to kill Scipio: he was a mad man and was the true enemy of the state. Oh, he could imagine it now, defacing Scipio in front of the Archadian public, and then, he would gain good favor also, for he would declare that Scipio acted on his own behalf and he, Ortal, was bringing a madman to justice.
That was what Scipio is after all, he is just a madman, he had no subterfuge as Ortal had once thought; when he heard of the prison it was clear that all was just a hoax to make him believe that Scipio was more powerful and cunning than what he appeared to be.
Ortal proceeded to his bedchamber. Someone was standing by the window.
'Who are you?!' Ortal demanded, his voice edged with authority.
'I am no mad man. I am more powerful and cunning than you think.' the figure said, its back to Ortal. Then, with a flurry of a cape it spun about and there stood Scipio, his eyes aflame with murderous intent.
He advanced on Ortal, speaking calmly in a very grave tone. 'You do not require subtlety, because you do not maneuver.' Ortal's eyes widened in horror, his head screeched danger.
The alarm, I must summon my personal body guards! He thought.
'Your guards cannot help you.' Scipio said. Ortal's eyes widened even more, he could feel his chest tightening as he slowly backed away from the advancing Judge.
'You are unfit to rule for your judgment is clouded. The prison? Your spy was in collusion with me, to make you feel in control. All these games were to make you feel in control, so that it may be easier for me to kill you.' then Scipio grinned an evil shark grin. Scipio quickly and suddenly drew his Durandal. And then Ortal's vison was suddenly leveled with Scipio's feet, his vision slowly fading, and the last he could hear was Scipio's evil chuckle.
Why? He thought, but this thought lasted for one brief flickering moment, then he died.
After Scipio dealt with Ortal he assembled an honor guard of a hundred Judges. He had been conspiring with the military for this moment. There were, of course, those he could not bend, for instance the judges who belonged to the bureaus. He kept them in their cells, along with Zargabath, for they would be necessary in his games.
He didn't actually seek dominance, everybody simply assumes that. He was after vengeance, more or less.
Vengeance for one hellish life brought to him by the usurpers what be known as the Archadians. But soon, he grew to realize that he was not after Vengeance, he was after something he could not fully understand. He tried to justify his actions so he kept telling himself that he was after vengeance, for now, that would do him good.
So, he took his honor guard and literally knocked on every Archadian door. He asked all those who opened the door, despite their complaints of it being the dead of night, if they would be for him or against him. Now it was he who would declare martial law. He did not bother with the people of Old Archades for they were filthy and were, necessary, for his games.
Most of them, if not all answered against.
Solidor's democratic poison. He thought.
So, he commanded his honor guard to detain all those who refused him, and he rewarded a thousand sandalwood chops to all who accepted him.
But he was not through with the civilians who refused him.
He hung them all in the gallows, all of them.
By sunrise Scipio had slaughtered three-fifths of the civilian population. He raised the legal Archadian flag in the Imperial complex, but he only raised it halfway. He reasoned that all those who perished that night deserved a little respect, and so the country was half-mast.
'Now,' he said to himself, 'I am avenged, I have only to fulfil.'
Authors' Note: Here we go. That's the End folks!
First, let us apologize for the long delay. I believe we have explained ourselves, but there's no harm in reiterating everything. Real Life has been very demanding, and it's only now that we got to post it. Yes, I confessed, it had been a few days sitting in the computer and..I apologize again.
So there you have it. I hope you guys like it! A shout out to a three reviewers who tirelessly review and remind us to post. Thanks to Sheik, Fudokishi, and Zaz0-Zaz9! Hope you guys like this ending..
Ooooh..One final thing. Whoever gets to guess from where we got the monster on the 15th floor from, there will a special prize and mention on the second book for you!!
Yes! There shall be a sequel. And as soon as we figure out a title, we shall Post it up!
Meanwhile, please review and critic. Your feedback is muuuch appreciated!!
Here's to the end of Ivalice Storm!! *toasts*
Comet and Scipio
