Chapter 3 HOME?
All of the weapons were speechless; this world was on the brink of destruction. They looked around realizing they were on a slim pillar of earth. Fayt walked to the edge of the cliff; there pillar extended downwards for quite a distance. He could see nothing bellow him; the dark abyss created by the night sky only made the chasm seem infinitely deep. White lightning crashed above their head; the black clouds let a lightning bolt go almost every second.
They all looked to the only path they could take; it led upwards to the mountain cliffs. The path was only a couple of meters wide; it was fairly straight with only a few curves along the path. Every one of the weapons began to walk the path that lay in front of them. They looked from side to side; gazing across the land.
Brett was walking a long the long narrow path when his foot slipped on the edge of the path. Brett began to fall down into the dark abyss and he closed his eyes. A hand wrapped around his wrist; Brett's eyes flashed open to see Lightning struggling to hold him up. Theus grabbed onto Lightning and helped both back to a steady stance. Lightning laughed after they were both safe and everyone's attention turned to him. "I get it know! This place's gravity field is going berserk; gravity must be ten times stronger here. It would tare us apart if we tried to fly high into the air. Long story short no one fall off or you might be gone for good."
Everyone nodded before continuing up the path; leaving Brett and Lightning behind. "Thank you Lightning I really appreciate you saving me there." Lightning finally caught his breath and regained his composure; "do not worry about it. Someone has to take care of you till you get back to that girl's side. She sounds like some one you really do not want to lose and no doubt she will take real good care of you. I got someone really special at home, and so do some of the others. I will make sure you all get back home."
As the weapons rose higher; they looked left to behold the remains of a metal structure. "What is that thing?" Aeolus questioned; the voice came back immediately answering his question. "It is an Alterran ship; or at least the remains. The gods say they cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals; so they instead unleashed a plague upon on the entire ancient race. That is their idea of not interfering."
The weapons continued to travel upwards; stopping only to watch the land beneath an ancient ship sink into the earth. The Weapons paid little attention; they only wished to finish this journey and return to what they desired most. The higher they climbed the more they saw how destroyed the land was; the devastation knew no end on this poor world.
They reached the summit of the path; expecting to find more mountains on the other side, but hey found something else. The Weapons beheld a giant city of epic size; the city was nestled in an ancient crater. The Weapons looked closer at the abandoned city; the city was badly damaged and had massive gaps in the streets. The city had an advanced appearance; the society obviously had possessed great technology before its destruction.
Aeolus, Brett and Siarnaq beheld something they could relate to; massive shells of huge creatures were frozen in the streets. "Those are Weapons!" Aeolus remarked, simply sensing what was there made it obvious. The shells still emanated small amounts of ancient knowledge trapped in the shells.
"You are correct Weapon of the wind; those are the shells of dead weapons. When the planet is first inhabited by the Lifestream; the planet creates its guardians from material in the planet. Sadly these weapons were no match for the plague the gods unleashed upon this world. They are protectors of entire worlds; but this plague sucked the very thing that gave them strength. The plague destroyed the Lifestream in this world; leaving what you see. The weapons activate only during a calamity in an effort to save the Lifestream. It is sad to think of all the souls that died that day; an entire civilizations souls and people wiped from time."
"That is horrible! How can the gods have done that; what reason could they possibly have for this!" Brett shouted to the very heavens. He received no answer; standing in that spot, he wondered if they would kill everything he cared about. The other Weapons were a drift in a sea of confusion and mixed feelings. This world and the last were plenty of evidence.
"How do we know the gods did this? All we have is you word so far." Fayt asked the sky, demanding an answer from Jenova. "Everyone knows about this legend. Atlantis was the capital of the Alterrans; and the gods' wrath destroyed it so long ago. It is truly up to you to believe me or not; but that does not change the fact you all still must aid me. I have no interest in harming the ones you care about; but things must change, or the gods will lead every soul to their eventual demise. Now proceed to the volcano at the edge of the city; you must walk there, for the lightning is more then powerful enough to kill you."
The voice faded away leaving the Weapons to go on the final stretch of this journey. They descended the cliffs; they slid down the edge, stopping at the edge of the city. They began to walk forwards to the higher mountain in front of them.
The city was incredibly damaged; windows were broken and small remnants of a once great civilization lay in ruin. The Weapons walked through the city; starring at all the destruction, knowing what ever force id this was far to cruel. The skeletons of people were no where to be found; it was clear that this world was indeed ancient.
Brett was still following up behind the others; he was dead silent till he though of a question. "What exactly is the Lifestream?" Siarnaq turned his head slightly, before beginning to speak. "The Lifestream is what makes life possible. It is present in all life; from plant to human. When you die the Lifestream returns to the world and takes your conciseness and experiences with them. Lifestream is the most primary element of life, understand?"
Song Zanarkand
Brett nodded to Siarnaq; as he nodded the entire city began to shake violently. Everyone of the weapons turned to see the earth crumbling in a wave formation near where they use to be. The weapons saw the wave heading towards them at an incredible pace; the wave causing the remains of the city to sink into the earth.
Siarnaq took a single look at the crumbling city remains, and knew this was going to be massively bad. He quickly turned around yelling to the others with alarm in his voice. "RUN!!!"
All of the weapons turned running towards the ancient Volcano. They dodged through the obstacles in the city; using only the lightning to light their way. The wave moved forward swallowing everything its path; the very mountains being swallowed up into the earth.
Brett was falling behind and the chasm was gaining on him. Siarnaq slowed down to grab Brett's hand pulling him forward. Siarnaq jumped forward sling shooting Brett up to the front of the group. Siarnaq burst forward at lightning speed; he looked to Brett telling him to summon his wings.
Brett looked confused for a second; he dodged through the obstacles, before he summoned his eight wings. Immediately as the wings appeared on Brett's back did the entire city light completely up The street was bathed in a gentle light that illuminated but did not hurt any of the Weapons eyes. Lightning complemented Brett on his abilities; but it was interrupted when Siarnaq pointed out a huge Weapon blocking the street.
Siarnaq's back exploded with dark energy that formed nine long arms. Each armed stretched out; the arms each found one of the other seven Weapons, before they wrapped around them.
Once Siarnaq had all seven Weapons, he quickly summoned two spears into his remaining free hands made of darkness. Siarnaq leapt into the air taking all seven other Weapons with him. The arms with spears pierced the tall ruins of the buildings, allowing Siarnaq to move forward at high speeds. The gravity was immense on Siarnaq but he was able to compensate easily for the extra weight.
The group moved quickly forward, changing paths when required because of lack of buildings or places to grapple onto. Lightning came down from the sky, tearing through the arm of darkness that carried Brett.
Brett fell to the ground, hitting his head hard, knocking him out. Theus creamed to Siarnaq to go back, but there was simply no time. Lightning dug deep with in himself; he but his hands to the arm that was carrying him. From his hands lightning tore the arm apart; Lightning dropped down, rolling on the ground before standing up.
He was not going to let this kid who was so brave die. His entire body pulsed twice; his body emerged from the light, on his back were four bright yellow wings. He reached to the sky; lightning came down in-between his fingers, creating three kunais in each hand. One kunai formed between each of fingers.
Lightning wrapped his hands around his body before he whipped them out in a semi circle. The kunais flew forward landing behind Brett's back. The wave was nearly upon him when the kunais exploded, sending Brett flying into his arms. Lightning turned after catching Brett; he carried him in both his arms, starting to run at full speed to try and catch up.
Lightning dodged and jumped over obstacles in his way. He used his surge of power to give him a massive boost in speed. The wave picked up more speed though; almost trying to swallow the Weapons into the earth. Lightning pushed himself beyond what he thought he was capable of; he did not want to die, and they're many people counting on him.
The sky erupted with rage; sending hundreds of lightning bolts across the sky. Lightning focused on his goal keeping his speed up, still aiming for the Volcano. Siarnaq landed at entrances that lead into the Volcano. His arms disappeared releasing the Weapons that turned back to see Lightning giving it his all.
Theus and Aeolus jumped forward running towards them. Lightning came down from the sky, causing anything it touched to explode. Lightning came towards the Weapon of Lightning; he was not going to let his own element kill him. He threw Brett over his shoulder as he let his wings disappear.
Lightning used his free hand to push the lightning from the sky away, diverting the path into a nearby building. Altering the path of the blast slowed Lightning down. Another blast came down from the sky on top of Lightning; the air formed a shield above saving them.
Theus spun in the air, landing into a crouching position sending a wave of ice across the street. Lightning jumped over the wave of ice, the air shield still above protecting him. Lightning came down on the ice, quickly balancing him self letting him slide into the entrance to the Volcano.
Theus and Aeolus turned running inside as the doors shut from behind. The volcano emitted a bubble shield that stopped the wave of destruction in its tracks. The eight Weapons breathed a slight sigh of relief. They all waited for Brett to regain consciousness; when he did Lightning asked how he was feeling.
"I'm fine. Thank you for saving me Lightning; I could sense your aura protecting me." Lightning just laughed a bit before responding to Brett. "No problem, you wanna see that girl again anyway right? You just got to promise me that you will take to heart what I said earlier, ok?"
Brett nodded in agreement, when Siarnaq took notice. "Good you are up; were going on then." Lightning and Theus helped Brett up into a standing position; Brett was fine to walk by him self in the last stretch of their journey.