Final Fantasy VI: The Sands of Time

Book 2: The Goddess War

Chapter 11 - Red Tide

11.13 - The Face of the Enemy

Ole Bull saw what was about to happen before anyone, and was already on the move by the time his trump card fell. One minute it seemed Maduin might actually overpower the hell horse, and then...it was over. The girl stopped pelting him with trivial sparks and instead blinded him with an intense ball of light. The horse followed up with his own blinding flash of electricity from those glowing eyes, and Maduin fell, stunned and blind. And useless.

"Damn fool!" Ole Bull growled as he mounted for battle.

"You're the fool if you go out there in your condition." Delphino was holding onto her partner's bandaged arm, but not really holding him back. She knew they had no choice now.

"I was a fool for thinking I could sit back and do nothing while others fought." Ole Bull patted a huge clump of hair beneath him, and rose suddenly far above the milling soldiers still behind the sturdy gates of Zwill.

"Let's go, Colossus."

The gates lurched open and a mountain of hair and muscle rushed out to join the battle. Delphino looked on after them for a moment, then scurried off towards Harcourt Mansion.

"We do what we must," she said softly as she disappeared from the battlefield.

Ole Bull knew he had no chance against the enemy Esper. His steed, an enormous bull vomammoth, was still no match for the towering warhorse. But he was a match for a little girl, surely. If he could catch them off guard, break their concentration, then maybe...

The field of battle that met the old warrior's eyes as he left the city walls behind was a grim spectacle, all too familiar. He had suffered these barbarians on and off for his entire life, and the life of his father, killed by the savages, and his father before him, also killed by the savages in his time, straight back to Old Zwill himself, perhaps the only Harcourt to ever live out his natural span of life. But the blood of Zozo ran through them all, and these beasts were his kin, and his curse.

Mathias...they will pay.

"Steady, men! Don't let the enemy rattle you. Lilith isn't the only one with tricks!" Ole Bull roared to his men as he charged through the ranks towards the center of the skirmish where the two Espers waged their own private war. Friend and foe alike made way for the titanic beast and its equally impressive master. He saw many familiar faces as he passed line after line of newly-minted soldiers. Friends, town troublemakers, even the stray merchant or two. Any able-bodied citizen of Zwill had taken up arms for this fight. He knew they couldn't hear him with the wax in their ears, but they could feel the power of his words all the same.

Ole Bull himself trusted to Delphino's powerful hypnotic suggestions to suppress any of Lilith's seductive charms. So far they seemed to be working. As the glowing core of the fighting approached, Ole Bull could see the young, wounded girl that was the much hated Demon Wife. Lilith was powerful, but it seemed her powers were not on the scale of the Espers. Ole Bull could say for certain he had never seen an Esper bleed, even if Lady Fey claimed they could.

But I will make them bleed today.

Faces. Everywhere familiar faces. Too many to count, too many by far. There was something wrong here, though. The faces of the enemy were familiar as well. Many had lighted masks, glowing with incandescent markings like tattoos, but many did not. And the ones that did not were dreadfully familiar...

No...what devilry is this? Is this what the men of Zwill have come to? Must we fight our own comrades?

It was true, and he could see why the men he passed seemed to need his encouragements so badly. All those tragic souls who had wandered from Zwill, assumed lost to the Goddess, were far more lost than he had imagined. Slaves to the Goddess, they now fought like mindless zombies against their former allies. Only a truly evil god could force men to fight their friends and family!

Ole Bull almost halted his charge as this realization hit him, but he could not stop. Maduin was down, and Servais as well. Delphino was not a hand-to-hand fighter, and the Lady Blunt...best not to even think of her. No, the only Stradivari left to take the field against Lilith was himself, wounded as he was. But he was not completely alone.

"Arooo!" Jupiter howled beside him, loping along with his wide bloody grin. The red fang had followed him out the gate, and two more mouths hungry for flesh were right behind him.

"Today, the beasts of the earth rise up alongside mankind, to remove this abomination from the world. Right, old friend?" Ole Bull's face was a savage as his bestial allies. His blood was up,and despite his injuries he was ready for a good brawl. The twin Ipooh lumbered just behind him, lashing out at anything that got in their way. They both looked ravenous with hunger.

Thirty years. Has it really been thirty years? Mathias, I have not forgotten.

Thirty years was a long time to wait for revenge. But, revenge was not the Stradivari way, and Ole Bull - no, Sampson Harcourt - had been forced to be patient. No love, no loyalty, nothing but the Stradivari mattered since that day. Had he not seen the truth of this simple creed in the erratic Lady Blunt? What had her obsession gotten her but grief and the empty thrill of killing?

But I am not like her. I have done my part for my brothers. Today is my time though, my revenge. I am in control of my emotions perfectly. Perfectly...

Thirty years ago the curse of Old Zwill had resurfaced in all its cruel inevitability. Sampson had not been a Stradivari then, but after the blood moon of thirty years ago, everything had changed. It was the reddest blood moon he had ever seen, as if the gods themselves were bleeding. The Zozo barbarians claimed it had actually rained blood over the mountains. On that night, he had lost his father to Zozo raiders. On that night, he had lost his newborn son as well.

Blood traitors! All of them. Never again will they fool me with their lies of truces and peace.

Thirty years ago, the followers of the Goddess had claimed signs in the sky told them to break the uneasy peace with Zwill that Old Vargas Harcourt had brokered thirty years before that. Sampson's grandfather had allowed himself to be what was supposed to be the final sacrifice to the old, dead gods of the mountain. In return, Sampson was to marry one of their own, just as Old Zwill had taken his wives from the countryside centuries ago.

But it was all a lie. One convenient omen in the sky, and it all fell to ash in my hands.

Nine months after the bloody peace, Mathias had been born. And nine months and one day later, he had died under a blood-red moon. Sampson's wife was secretly a Demon Wife, and the son was chosen as a sacrifice when the blood from the sky came.

It had rained blood that day. And today it shall rain blood once more. The blood of Zozo and Zwill will always be intertwined, it seems.

Sampson had broken his wife's neck effortlessly. She had taken their son to the altar, and then had the madness to return and tell him what she had done and who she was. She was actually proud! Even death had not removed that pride from her eyes, and she was buried with the same self-satisfied smile on her face.

A swift, bloody skirmish broke out after the murder of Sampson's wife, and Sampson's father was killed. But the followers of Astarte were weak in those days, not like now, with their Goddess revived. Zwill had pushed them back to the mountains with such heavy losses Sampson thought they would never return, at least not in his lifetime. In his loss, the Stradivari came to him, as they always do for those with nowhere else to go, and great energies that need controlled. Through them, he found a small amount of peace, and he thought those blood-drenched days were over.

But it never really ended. How could I have been so blind to the truth? As long as Demon Wives are born, the followers of Astarte will never rest.

And now, there sat the newest Demon Wife, even more beautiful than the one he had married, and killed, so long ago. She had not seen him approaching, even with his retinue of wild beasts carving her followers to pieces. Both her and her Esper steed were intent on the helpless prey before them. They looked like they were draining the life from his inert body, but why wasn't he fighting back at all? Surely he had more fight in him than this?

Ole Bull said nothing as he slowed his giant mount. He knew what Servais knew. The weakness was the girl. She was flesh and blood, and Servais had proven she could be wounded, and hopefully killed. The song she had been singing before had ceased the moment she was shot, but the music still hung in the air, like a thousand fireflies slowly blinking in the darkness. Delphino's spell seemed to be working still, but for how long?

I will kill her with my bare hands, just as I did her predecessor. I will kill them all!

The girl never saw Ole Bull standing beside her atop Colossus until it was too late. When her head twisted back in shock at the single large hand reaching for her neck, her eyes were the eyes of a frightened young girl, not a demon. The pupils glowed gold, but her eyes were full of mortal fear.

"So this is the mighty Daughter of Marilith?" Ole Bull said between teeth clenched in a wild grin. He started to tighten his grip, but was thrown off the vomammoth by a kick from the Esper. Another kick sent the shaggy beast tumbling beside its master.

The horse said nothing, perhaps could not speak, but the sparks flaring from its nostrils and eyes were words enough. Ole Bull didn't care. He could feel the girl's soft windpipe giving before his massive hand even as he was thrown backward, and she would be dead before he was.

"For Mathias!"

He squeezed and heard a snap just as he was forced to let go and was thrown to the ground by a hoof the size of a dinner plate. But the sound of broken bones had been his own hands, not the girl's neck. Some force had stopped him from delivering the killing blow. She had deep, purple bruises blossoming on her bare neck and eyes afire with the shock of being touched by such a lowly mortal, but she was still alive.

"Damn you barbarians!" Ole Bull howled. "Give me back my son! Give him back!"

He got up and flailed his two broken limbs at the beast, tears streaming as he let out thirty years of repressed rage. But it was an impotent rage, and one massive bolt of lightning sent him sprawling just as it had before. But this time Delphino was not by his side, and this time, the Demon Wife was not leaving without a kill.

The girl struggled to speak, but could not. He face contorted in pain, but only a gurgling rasp came from her beautiful mouth. One hand went to her ruined throat and clutched at her loss.

Do you really want your son? The Goddess can grant all our desires. Let her light bless you, unworthy as you are."

The voice that had spoken was not the girl's, not a human voice at all. Ole Bull heard it in his mind as he lay in the dust and blood. And then he heard a new voice. A man's voice.

"I am here, my Master. What is your desire?"

Ole Bull turned his face to see a man wearing one of the glowing masks standing next to him. He looked like every other warrior of Zozo Ole Bull had seen, if not a bit more bulky than the rest.

Speak your name, brother.

"Mathias."

There was no emotion in the voice, and Ole Bull could not see his face behind the mask. But he knew.

Jupiter growled and leapt at the man, but Ole Bull gave a quick whistle and the hound stopped mid-strike. The man never moved, did not so much as flinch even as the crimson-stained teeth snapped shut inches from his face.

Here is your son. He has grown into a fine follower of the Goddess. What will you do with him? His life is yours, but remember - his soul belongs forever to the Goddess.

Ole Bull was struck speechless. He could barely move, but he had to get on his feet and look at this man who had once been his son. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his two bears loping towards them, eager for easy prey in their hunger. One whistle would send them careening towards this man, and he would be dead in a moment. Just like his mother.

I am a Stradivari. I do what I must. But this...!

"Mathias, do you recognize me? I..."

The man said nothing. He was nothing but a mindless follower of Astarte now. And nothing could undo thirty years of brainwashing. Nothing.

Yes, you are a Stradivari, do what you must. Do it!

The cruel voice of the Esper could see all his internal struggles, and toyed with Ole Bull mercilessly.

I give you this as a gift from the Goddess. You see, she is not without mercy, even to her enemies. Take you revenge on the barbarians, and embrace your son at the same time! Hahaha!

The girl looked on, rubbing her throat in silence. If the scene moved her, she did not show it. The only look in her gold-tinted eyes was one of petulant hate for the man that had destroyed her greatest power.

The bears pawed their way closer, sniffing the central area. They knew their master was here, and hoped he would give them something to sate their hunger. But their training with the martial arts master ran deep, and they would not attack now without his command.

"We do what we must."

The clear, sing-song voice called out, and for a moment Ole Bull thought Lilith had regained her speech. But it was not Lilith. No, it was something for more heartless than a Demon Wife.

Ole Bull yelled out for her to stop, but it was no use. A dagger whistled through the air and struck the man in the chest. Without a word, the last son of Zwill slumped down, and died.

"No weaknesses. Your words, Lord Ham." The Lady Blunt's face was cold and frowning as she stood just out of range of the horse's hooves. But her tongue was playing on her lips all the same, and there was no doubt in the old man's mind she had enjoyed the kill, as she always did.

"Enough! No more." Ole Bull was struggling to rise, but he simply could not. His arms where so much jelly, and the wounds on his sides and back were crippling him with pain. Jupiter sat at his side and licked his face, eager to fight, but not daring to leave his wounded master's side.

"Stay down." The Lady Blunt turned away from her fallen superior with a look of disgust, and looked at Maduin's form, still frozen on the ground in a look of dumb blindness. His eyes were clouded with a darkness that did not look at all natural, and his body occasionally spasmed as small bursts of electricity coursed over him. He seemed to be locked in a prison of light, blind and paralyzed.

"Men, all it takes is a pretty face to lay you out. Now I'll find out if this one bleeds like the other one did."

A flick of her fingers sent two daggers hurtling towards their targets. The girl stopped the dagger with the same barrier that had saved her from being crushed by Ole Bull, but it did not stop the dagger completely. The tip still managed to pierce the barrier slightly and reach her skin, drawing blood right over her bare breast where her mortal heart beat. Unlike Servais, the Lady Blunt would not have missed.

The other dagger struck the great horse directly in its eye, but seemed to pass right through the brilliant orb and dissolve, as if it was made of pure blazing light.

"Damn unnatural beasts," the Lady cursed under her breath, readying two more daggers in her other hand.

The horse neighed in mocking laughter, and the girl raised her hand to summon a bolt of lightning to strike her enemy down. The Lady Blunt never gave the girl a chance, nor did Ole Bull.

Just as the two daggers whistled through the air, Ole Bull whistled a quick staccato set of trills that sent the two bears into a mad frenzy. Jupiter leapt up as well, and his teeth sank into the flesh of the girl's dangling leg before she thought to defend herself. She screamed with her grasping voiceless throat, and tried to shake the dog free. But the bears were already on her by then.

The daggers sped past the girl, past the horse, and landed with well-placed thuds into the softest parts of Maduin's rock-hard flesh. One in his old battle scar from Bahamut, and one in his left eye. Blue blood oozed from the open scar, and his eye shined with an odd blue light, just like the gold light from the horse's.

Maduin felt the intense pain from deep in his tomb of light, and thought he was surely being killed by the Esper horse. He heard a horrible laughing that sounded like the horse's, but then the pain overwhelmed him, and he lost consciousness. But unbeknownst to him, he was free from the horse's spell, and it was real, mortal pain that was dragging him under now.

The Lady Blunt continued laughing her harsh laugh as she watched Maduin's body spasm at the touch of her blades. Even more enjoyable was the sight of the girl and her horse struggling to fend off a giant wolf, two giant bears, and an extra-giant vomammoth. Such a wild free-for-all was more than even the Esper could keep track of, and he seemed very careful to keep the girl safe. It seemed he would not risk electrocuting the beasts surrounding him and the girl as well.

"No weaknesses, hee!" The Lady saw her opportunity, and took it. She rushed up to Maduin and slapped his face hard with the flat of one her daggers. "Wake up you bloody idiot!"

Maduin shuddered from head to toe. His eye was still bleeding, as was the re-opened wound, but he was alive and slowly coming to.

"You have the worst habit of getting knocked out when we need you, Esper."

Maduin slowly opened one eye, and saw the last person he had wanted to see staring down at him, grinning madly. The look in her eyes truly was the same as the warhorse. What kind of frightful Esper might a human like her spawn?

"What's wrong, you look startled to see me. Did you really think I would let anything keep me from this battle?"

"Ole Bull said...ugh, my head." Maduin reached one claw to his face, and winced. His eye still had the dagger in it. What...what did you do to me?"

"Nothing you didn't need, like always. And Lord Ham should know better. He thought keeping me from this battle would be a suitable punishment, but I choose my punishments, thank you." The Lady Blunt looked back at Ole Bull as she said this, smiling her most wicked smile.

"You...killed...Mathias," Ole Bull struggled, his strength finally beginning to ebb.

"He died thirty years ago and you know it. That was a shell. A living zombie raised just to expose your weakness, if it was really even him at all. You should know that."

"He was...my son..." Ole Bull struggled to climb back onto his knees, and managed a half stumble, half hop that got him standing. "I will...remember what you have done...Fey."

The woman said nothing, a toss of her flaming red hair her only reply.

A burst of lightning lit up the battleground and the group saw Ixion standing alone, the girl tossed to the ground, unconscious. One Ipooh was dead, and the other creeping away with an ugly wound in its side. Jupiter still hung on the girl's leg, refusing to let go despite a gash across his face. The enormous vomammoth Colossus lay near the girl, unconscious as well.

Enough! The girl is only a burden, even if she is the Goddess's chosen. I will not be hindered by mortals any longer. Die!

The storm clouds rumbled in answer to Ixion's call, and lightning swirled down from the clouds in a twisting tornado. Ixion disappeared in the swirling maelstrom, then his jagged horn appeared from the wall of light, crackling with magical power. It was raised like a hammer, ready to swing down with all the might of a god.

"Get down!" Maduin shouted, grabbing the Lady Blunt and turning his back to the foreboding sight. A massive ball of lightning exploded from the horn as it fell, sending tendrils of energy shooting in all directions like missiles. The entire field lit up, and the remaining soldiers on both sides of the fighting dropped like puppets with their strings cut. Ole Bull, too, dropped from his precarious stance as soon he felt the shock of the attack.

Maduin felt the magical power flow over him and through him, and he could feel the Lady shuddering in pain as it went through her as well, like electricity along a wire. There was no stopping it from coursing through every living thing on the battle field in a massive chain reaction, and when the light finally dimmed, there were only two beings still able to stand. Maduin and Ixion.

The blast had been powerful, but Maduin had felt the same strength from Cerberus's fiery breath, and he knew his own magical ice-based energy could do the same. Remembering Ole Bull's fascination with his ice-forms, he leapt forward in a blinding blue ball of light, a gleaming sword of ice in his hand. It was exceedingly sharp, but fragile, and he would only get one shot.

The weapon shattered into water the moment it struck the still hot surface, but the watery blade did its work with sharp efficiency. Ixion staggered back in pain and surprise, its horn cut off with a melting blade of ice and water.

Water. That is why there is no rain, despite the clouds. The water interferes with his magic, weakens it by conducting it away from him. Lady Blunt was right about weaknesses, but she had the wrong one. I can win this.

Maduin smiled. "I can win this! Do you hear me, Ixion?"

Ixion said nothing, but continued to stagger backwards, away from Maduin. The eyes were dimming now, the insane lust for victory fading as the young Esper realized he just might be outclassed, alone as he was.

Impossible! But, you will not win! Not yet!

Electricity rippled from the Esper's mane and eyes, and he readied another burst that would paralyze Maduin. But Maduin would not fall for the same trick twice, and he knew what was coming. The blue aura around him grew outwards to match the electrical aura around Ixion, and soon ice crystals formed in the air like snowflakes. Wherever they met with the static energy, they instantly melted, and sent the energy dissipating in all directions in a shower of harmless sparks.

"It's no use, surrender, and I will still let you live." Maduin knew he could overpower the horse now, and he knew his magical powers were superior to the horses. He may not be a trained warrior like Ixion, but he was a Herald. And that was enough.

No! Not yet! Never!

Ixion continued to stagger backwards, and Maduin continued to push him further and further away from the center of the battlefield, which was now dark and silent. Maduin had lost his earplugs, melted away by the heat of the lightning blast, and he listend around him. Total silence, everywhere. No singing, the clouds were no longer rumbling, and there wasn't a soul conscious outside of Zwill except for them. The only faint sound was the waters of the ocean lapping against the shoreline to the east in the throes of high tide under the full moon.

Ixion was steadily moving back towards this shoreline as he was forced to retreat from Maduin's icy barrier. Maduin kept walking in that direction as well, thinking the water of the ocean would only further weaken the lightning-based Esper. He could probably rush Ixion and subdue him now, but it was better to be safe and ensure the Esper was at its weakest. Cerberus's death had been an accident caused from sudden decision and confusion, and he did not want to repeat that mistake here.

Not yet! Not yet, I say! I can do this! I don't need any help...

Maduin was confused at Ixion's mental voice now. It sounded more pleading than vengeful, and the way the horse continued to stagger directly towards the open bay southeast of the city was extremely odd. Surely the Esper knew there was a massive body of water behind him?

Heralds, bah! Damn them all! I will have my chance for glory, no matter what!

Ixion's eyes suddenly flashed and he stopped retreating just shy of the lapping waves. A new fire filled his frame, and he began to charge towards Maduin again, heedless of being slowed by the moist air around him. Maduin braced himself to grapple with the powerful warhorse once more, but he never got the chance.

Ixion gave a horrifying shriek as a loathsome maw reached out from the sea behind him and completely surrounded his middle section in one blazing whip-like snap. With a metallic crunch Ixion's armor was split and crushed by the glistening teeth of the mouth as he struggled to free himself from the trap. Wordlessly, the mouth lifted Ixion off the ground and snapped back under the waves as fast as it had struck, vanishing out of sight with its meal.

Maduin could only see the gaping mouth, wide and full of teeth, for the brief second it was visible, but that was all he needed. There could be only one thing in all the ocean as gruesome and traitorous as the fiendish apparition that had appeared before him. The true Herald of the Goddess had risen from the depths, and no one was safe from his pitiless black heart.