Author's Notes: Still written long before posting. But hey, what are you going to do? This is the best way for me to bring you content, is it not? If I write it all in one spree, I can have a few months of updates at a time. Who doesn't like that? Now, I believe I owe you a battle, do I not? Oh, and for anyone who was wondering as to the rating, this chapter does earn it in my opinion. And it is not the last time such things will happen either.
And remember: Reviews make the world go round.
Hyne's War: Chapter 12
As always Elijah stood there, his eyes filled with amusement, as he wanted for Nida to make the first move. What was stranger was the fact that Seifer was doing the same thing. For some reason the blond gunblader stood by as well. Seifer had never struck Nida as a defensive fighter, and yet there he was, waiting. Both of them, waiting as it were, for Nida. It almost made Nida want to sigh. Why did everything have to be about him at times like this? If only he could go back to that time when he was a child first at Garden, unnoticed, unimportant, and ultimately free of the pressures that came with it.
Well, Elijah's purpose for waiting was pretty obvious at least. It wasn't likely that Elijah wanted to see Nida injured. Maybe Seifer realized that and hoped to take advantage of it in the course of the fight. Great, for all he knew, Seifer would be using him as a bit of a shield to try and minimize Elijah's effectiveness in the fight. Problem with that was that Nida wasn't too fond of the idea of being cut by either of the two, and he wasn't sure if such a tactic would work considering the fact that his weapon used more range than either of the blades.
At last, tired of waiting, Nida lunged forward, bringing the halberd down in a simple overhead strike that wouldn't have much of a chance of hitting Elijah. Still, it did get the red-head moving, and as he dodged to the side Elijah had to raise Rupio before him to block a quick slash from the Hyperion. Apparently the second Nida had gone into action, Seifer had moved to take advantage of the move. Well, at least Seifer was good enough to take advantage of Nida's fighting on his own.
Elijah quickly shifted back a few steps, even as Nida twisted his halberd to take a swipe at the man's legs. The move didn't trip up Elijah in the slightest, who leapt nimbly over the weapon, twisting to the side as soon as he landed so that the blow Seifer aimed for his stomach only managed to cut his shirt. Nida cursed and moved further forward, lashing out with the end of the halberd repeatedly, aiming for stomach, arm, leg, neck, head, stomach, each being parried away easily and efficiently enough that it left no openings for Seifer to strike at that Nida could see, not with Seifer standing on the same side of Elijah as Nida was.
Still, Elijah hadn't managed to get in an attack of his own yet, and that was enough for Nida to have hope. Maybe the combination of his range and Seifer's strength would be enough to do what Seifer and Squall hadn't, especially with Elijah reluctant to harm Nida.
Of course, no sooner had Nida thought that than he found himself watching as Seifer was driven back by a series of quick blows from Elijah, and Nida saw the first blood drawn from the back of Seifer's hand. The blond cursed briefly, trying repeatedly to block the blows from Elijah, seeking quite likely for some opening presented by Elijah's speed that Seifer could possibly take advantage of. It was all Nida could do just to stay in range of Elijah as the red-head pushed Seifer further and further back. Getting a clear shot anywhere seemed almost impossible, and the few blows that Nida was capable of dealing always seemed to just miss Elijah. At last, though, one of the blows was close enough that Elijah twisted to absorb the blow on Rupio. That was all the chance Seifer needed, and before Elijah or Nida could react, the black blade of Hyperion came cutting across Elijah's back.
Elijah stumbled forward a step, a hiss of pain escaping him, before he turned and slashed at Seifer. The smiling blond jumped back a step, easily avoiding the blow, and Nida lashed out in turn, laying the shaft of his halberd across Elijah's back. That drove another pained groan from Elijah, who crashed to his knees.
Even that, though, only lasted for a moment. Before either Seifer or Nida could do anything to stop him, Elijah was back on his feet, lunging at Nida with his sword raised. The sight of it made Nida freeze. He had thought that Elijah wouldn't try to hurt him, but apparently desperation, the primal desire to avoid pain was more than enough to make Elijah forget himself. Nida's eyes, though, found themselves drawn to his reflection in Elijah's blade, and to the pinpoints of light that seemed to come from somewhere behind him.
"Nida!" Seifer shouted, echoed by the same cry from Elijah.
As quickly as he could, Nida twisted, bringing the shaft of his halberd between himself and where he had seen the pinpoints of light. Even as he got the wood in place he felt as much as saw two throwing knives slam into the wood: one between his two hands and the other at the level of his neck. Nida looked out from the hilts of the knives, following them with his eyes back to the man he now saw, who hadn't been in the reflection on Elijah's sword, probably because he had been directly behind Nida.
"You idiot!" Elijah shouted, finally coming to a stop, but oddly enough it was between Nida and the man who had thrown the knives. "Don't you know who you were throwing those damn knives of yours at?"
"That so-called 'heir' of yours," the person responded, something in his hands flashing as he strode forward. "Your point?"
"Boyce told us to bring him back, unharmed," Elijah said, still standing before Nida, Rupio raised defensively. Nida could see the blood readily flowing from the cut that Seifer had dealt Elijah across his back, and yet here Elijah stood, trying to protect him.
"Boyce and you are too caught up in the idea of this pathetic person being important. You're obsessed with the idea of him, and Boyce is chasing after ghosts. There is no such thing as an heir, and it won't be the power of Hyne's magic that gives us mastery over this world, Elijah, and you know it."
"If there is no such thing as the heir, then how did Nida know to come here? He's guided by the dreams, just as it is said."
"Get over yourself," the man said, finally getting in range for Nida to really see him. Short black hair, blue eyes, and all the look of a Galbadian military man, right down to the hair cut. Joshua.
"Dissent in the ranks, then? Interesting. But that doesn't mean that we're letting either of you get away," Seifer said. "Come on, I'll take both of you."
"Hardly," Elijah said, standing up a bit straighter. "You got lucky hurting me, Seifer. But your concern right now should be for Nida's health, right? I'm sure Squall wouldn't want you getting him killed like this, right?"
"All I have to do is kill you two and I won't have to worry about Nida," Seifer pointed out. "Besides, Nida can take care of himself, right?"
Likely that was true enough, but Nida wasn't sure what to do. He'd come here to stop Elijah, not to kill him. Well, that hadn't been the intention at the start. It sure didn't seem like what he wanted either, because he'd had the chance, ever since Elijah had stepped before him, to cut the man down. Yet he hesitated. Maybe it was the hope of talking Elijah down that stayed his hand, but that didn't change the fact that his heart wasn't in the fight.
"Nida could have killed me himself by now," Elijah pointed out, and Nida knew he had to be smiling. "Seems he's less bound on our deaths than you are, Seifer. We'll win him over yet."
"Hardly," Joshua spat. "Why would we want that outsider? We are strong enough without some damn figurehead."
"All of you shut up!" Nida shouted, and surprisingly, they seemed to listen. Once he had an extra deep breath under his belt, he continued. "I'll give you another chance, Elijah. Yield. Give us what we want, and you won't be harmed further."
"I can no more do that now than I could then," Elijah said with a sigh. "It is my responsibility to take you to Boyce."
"Nida," Seifer started, but Nida shook his head.
"Dammit. Damn all of you."
With that Nida raised his halberd again, ignored the ping of a knife striking the head, and brought it down towards Elijah. It wasn't enough to even catch the swordsman off guard, instead prompting Elijah to roll forward with his blade, turning as he came up to point the sword at Nida.
"Fine, I'll take you by force if I have to," the red-head said, but there was something akin to reluctance in his voice.
"No," Nida said, reaching into a pouch for one of the spell stones. "We'll take you."
That, though, was stopped by the sound of whistling in the air, another knife, and Nida returned his hand to the halberd, stabilizing it against yet another attack. Yet, with a red flash from Rupio, Elijah easily knocked the unseen weapon from the air. Nida barely had time to breathe before Seifer was lunging forward, Hyperion raised, and slashing Elijah. This the swordsman barely parried, and Nida was left for a second hesitating over whether to go for the opening that left him or not. It was a second too long, and the opening was easily closed again by Elijah, leaving Nida still stuck outside of the fight, and yet the center of it. No longer could he bring himself to wish harm on Elijah, not after the actions of the man had protected him, not after Elijah had willingly stepped between him and harm, just like he would have only a month ago. Part of Nida had to wonder if Elijah even truly believed what he said, but the sheer fanatic edge to his words could more than quell that idea. Which left Nida more than confused about what to do regarding the former SeeD.
Luckily, Elijah wasn't the only target now before them. The dark haired, blue-clad Galbadian stood outside of Seifer and Elijah's best reach, leaving him the biggest threat to Seifer and Nida. Those knives wouldn't be easy for Seifer to deal with if he was fighting Elijah, and Joshua had made no effort to disguise his dislike for Nida. Here, at least, was a target that Nida could handle.
Nida waited for another knife from Joshua to fly at him, and quickly twisted aside from its path before reaching again into the pouch of spell stones. Quickly his fingers felt over the runes inscribed in them, selecting by feel alone one of the few Ultimas Seifer had been able to acquire. Then, with the small rock clenched between his fingers, Nida ran towards Joshua.
The action, apparently, didn't surprise Joshua in the slightest, and instead of pulling more throwing knives from the small belt at his waist, the Galbadian pulled two longer knives from his hips. They were fighting blades, and the edges on them looked more than sharp enough to shave with. Those things would be deadly in close range, and enable Joshua to move more than fast enough to deal with Nida's superior range. Good thing, then, that Nida had no intention of a melee.
Just before he entered his normal combat range, Nida yanked the spell stone from his pouch and flung it with all of his might at Joshua's feet. The stone exploded readily at Joshua's feet, releasing the magical energy pent up inside. A green mist seemed to flow from the broken stone, expanding as Joshua stared down in horror. Before the man could even move the mist started to form into a brilliant ball of light above his head, growing larger and more radiant faster than the eye could really follow. Nida was forced to look away as the light grew too bright to handle, and when he looked back, the ball of light had exploded outwards in the characteristic wall of emerald light and fire. Nida waited just long enough for the light lessen to the point where it wouldn't harm him, then stepped into the blast radius of the spell, hands tight on his halberd once again.
He found Joshua on his knees, knives dropped uselessly at his sides. The spell had done its work of weakening the man, and Nida was thankful for that. The sheer force of the spell had even ripped Joshua's clothing. Still, at least the man was weakened and would be far easier to deal with. Nida moved forward, and laid the blade of his halberd at the man's throat, making sure to keep far enough away that even were he to pick up his knives they would hardly be any use to him.
"Surrender and you'll have your life."
Joshua knelt there, his head down so that Nida could not see his expression. Then, unexpectedly, a sound started to rise from Joshua, something that was almost amused. The sound grew into a chuckle, then full on laughter. It was enough to make Nida consider pulling his weapon back, lest it cut the man that was so obviously hysterical.
"You really think you've won?" Joshua said, amusement still plain in his voice. "A little spell is all it would take to stop one of the best trained combatants of the Zebalgan people? Do you really think that Gardens are so talented as to make you the best warriors known to the world? How foolish."
The laughter was back then, stronger than ever, and Nida could feel an ache in his hands from how tightly he was gripping the shaft of his halberd.
"Those of us like myself and Elijah, we train from the time we're old enough to stand without help. The ones who can't cut it are sent to other training. Some become the story tellers and historians. Some trained in intrigue so they can someday take positions of power. Some lead normal lives. But those of us who succeed, who are strong..."
A sharp, hot pain cut across Nida's leg, and Nida found himself kneeling before Joshua before he could really understand what was going on. Then he saw it, a flash of silver that went with the savage grin on Joshua's face.
The knives, Nida suddenly thought. Sure enough when he looked for them at Joshua's side, the weapons weren't there. Instead he found one of them in the Galbadian SeeD's hand. The other Nida found with some searching just behind himself, wet and glistening red from his own blood.
When did he throw that? Or pick it up? I was watching him. I didn't see...
That didn't matter, it had happened, and now Nida was sporting a bad cut along the outside of his leg, just below the knee. What did matter, though, as the clean blade still in Joshua's hand was raised before him, and the smile on Joshua's face seemed to grow. If he was quick enough to grab his knives and cut Nida's leg with a throw, then he was more than able to throw the next through Nida's neck. In the position that he was now, Nida would hardly be able to get his halberd in place to protect him. This would be the end of him, then, killed at the hands of a member of the same group who seemed intent on honoring him for things he could hardly understand.
Nida watched as the blade flew from Joshua's hand, slower than should be possible. Maybe that was just something in his mind, stretching out his final moments. The blade grew closer and closer, and all Nida could find himself wishing for was the chance to apologize to Elijah. To beg him to relent.
The knife suddenly changed course, as if flitting away across some barrier. Even as that happened Nida came to notice the odd tingling over his skin that always came with a protect spell. Someone, Elijah or Seifer, had saved him at the last moment with the spell. Joshua had come to that realization as well, and with a look that was more snarl than anything else, raised his hand before him, a very obvious motion for casting. Quickly Nida began to rise, using his halberd to help him to his feet. At the same time Nida reached into the spell stone pouch. There was no chance he would find a curative stone, none had as of yet been created, but he could hope for a shell stone. Instead his fingers brushed over another rune that he hadn't been expecting, and a welcome one indeed. By the time he pulled out the stone, though, and crushed it against his leg, Joshua seemed to fade out of existence before Nida's eyes, with a whispered word on his lips.
Not a spell, then, Nida thought, all but cursing it in his mind. Apparently the Zebalgans had just as much access to Guardian Forces as a SeeD. Or maybe Joshua's GF had come from SeeD.
Mist filled the space where Joshua had been, before it all swirled together and froze into the pale body of a woman. Color rushed into the ice and became red armor on the body of a woman that looked nothing like Shiva. Another unknown GF, then, and this one obvious ice-aligned. The ice that seemed to compose the woman's body started to spread, forming great wings and a trident of red. The weapon was almost bigger than she was, and when she thrust it out before her, her wings flared wide to maintain her balance. Yet the thing that caught Nida the most was the way that as the trident was thrust before her, a wall of ice seemed to form behind it and flow forward like a wave. Like an avalanche the thing moved, crushing and rolling over everything in its pat bearing down unerringly towards Nida. Quickly he closed his eyes, letting the cold wash over him, not that he had too much of a choice.
The cold hurt, making every bone and muscle ache unbelievably. Yet, as quick as it came the cold receded. Nida was left shivering and staring at Joshua, who was panting harder from the strain of the summoning. Still the man was smiling, gloating at the damage he had done.
Nida couldn't help but smile in response as he felt the warmth infuse his body, a rather useful side-effect of the aura spell that gave energy to his body. The spell stone had been more helpful than Nida would have expected, and already he felt the adrenaline rushing through his body as aura made it do. Not that reckless kind of energy that a normal rush gave you, but focused, powerful, harnessable in the way that SeeDs learned and referred to as 'limit breaks.' Sure, they learned how to harness those normal adrenaline surges that came when you were weak and fearing for your lives, but it was much easier to do with an aura spell, and not one of the more focused ones used by medical centers to stimulate a weak or irregular heart.
Without hesitation Nida lifted his halberd and rolled his shoulders for a moment, and watched in near delight as realization touched Joshua's eyes. Then, before Joshua could react, Nida was rushing forward, closing the minimal distance between them and bringing the ax-head of his halberd down before him in an overhead strike. There wasn't time to revel in the successful blow, though, before Nida pulled the blade back, letting it cut more into the man's shoulder where it had struck, before twisting the blade and twisting it so that the hook could rake across Joshua's chest. The man tilted his head back to avoid anything more than a shallow cut up the side of his face, but Nida wasn't stopping there. Once the weapon was free from Joshua, Nida raised it above his head, twirled the weapon twice, and then moved to strike at the man from the side.
Normally Nida avoided using his 'limit' on people. While the way he performed it would vary depending on whether he used a bladed weapon or not, he hated using the bladed version on people. It was something Nida couldn't help but remember now as his adrenaline supplemented strength drove the ax-head easily through the side of Joshua's neck, parting skin and muscle easily, and being only momentarily slowed by the man's spine. By the time Nida had returned the weapon to his side to lean upon, he was watching, almost sick, as Joshua's head tumbled from his shoulders.
Against beasts and monsters it was hardly something that bothered Nida, but to look upon the ragged flesh left on Joshua's shoulders, the deep red welling forth from the heart that was still pumping, not yet noticing that there was nothing left to pump to. Joshua's body seemed to sag, unstable now without the mind to keep balance, before at last falling forward, slowly like a felled tree.
Hyne, forgive me.
Nida could not bring himself to turn his gaze, to meet the dead eyes of the man.
Does it count as murder when you're saving your own life? Nida found himself wondering. Surely he could have diffused the situation in another way. Earned them a captive instead of a corpse.
The thoughts quickly killed the little bit of warmth left over from the aura spell.
"Fuck," Nida heard hissed behind him, Seifer's voice though the words could have just as easily come from Elijah. Nida had never even let Elijah seen the attack. He'd been ashamed, almost sickened by the near blood-lust that came at that time, the relentless cruelty of the attack. Yet as much as Nida hated it, he could not deny the effectiveness of the attack. Few things survived it when he managed to hit, save for the ones with truly thick hides, armor, or really a lack of the weak spot of the throat. Sure, the swordsman had seen the attack combination Nida used with a non-bladed weapon, one focused on breaking bones, disabling the opponent, but this...
"Better he die in battle then face Boyce for treason," Elijah said, and Nida could hear the shaking in his voice.
Slowly Nida turned to face the other two, not sure if he was looking for their pity or their judgment. What he found, though, was a temporary truce. Sure, both were still armed, and obsessionally casting distrustful looks, but something had stopped the combat.
Elijah must have seen the confusion, for he shrugged a little and offered an answer without Nida having to ask. "When we caught sight of you on your knees, hurt, and Joshua looking ready to summon, we both acted. I got off the Protect spell, and I believe Seifer threw in a Shell spell, though you might not have noticed it under the Aura you gave yourself."
"And now the fight resumes?" Nida couldn't help but ask, unable to quell the sorrow in his voice.
"There isn't any other choice," Seifer pointed out, far from reluctant. As ever, the blond seemed intent upon a fight.
"Seifer, we came here to protect Winhill, because of my dream. So please..."
The blond sighed and moved a step away from Elijah, shaking his head the whole while. Elijah, though, stood as he had, frowning as he met Nida's gaze.
"Words aren't going to solve this," Elijah pointed out, but it was something that Nida well knew.
"That doesn't mean I can't try, does it?"
Elijah seemed to consider this for a moment, before nodding in agreement.
"Speak your piece, but know that I have every intention of taking you back with me."
"No, Elijah. You will return to Boyce, alone. You will tell him what happened here and give him a message from me."
"You don't understand what he will do if..."
"You fail again? No, I honestly don't. I also don't care. What happens is upon your head, not mine. You chose to betray Garden, to go over to that man. Be happy that you are being given any mercy at all. I might not be able to kill you myself, but with Seifer at my side we could, or at least stall you until the Ragnarok arrives. You know well how fast that ship moves, and Squall will be here soon enough to deal with your allies. So just shut up and listen for once in your life, Elijah."
Nida waited for a moment, and when he was sure that Elijah wasn't about to speak, he nodded and quickly tried to come up with a message for Boyce.
"Tell him that I will not be his pawn, and that his plan is purely foolish. SeeD will not stand for this, I will not stand for this. I would sooner find myself dead than a pawn of your pathetic plans, and if I was capable of leading you to the power of Hyne, I would never do so. Some things are not meant to be in the hands of mortals, and the power of a god is right up there. Even were it to be in the hands of mortals, never would I want it in hands such as his. Cowards, and only cowards, use innocents as pieces in their battles. Threatening those we have contracts to defend from monsters is the worst kind of cowardice, and to do it because you wish to have the head of Seifer or a Sorceress on a platter. What evils has Rinoa done? What evils Edea Kramer when not under the sway of Ultimecia? And while Seifer has done wrong, even he was moved to help us after your kind stuck your heads out to threaten the world. We will face you, all of you, and we will win."
Okay, so maybe it was a bit more complex then he had intended, but Nida couldn't help it. He wished he could tell it to Boyce himself, but there was no chance for that, and even less that Elijah would give the message word for word. So Nida had to be happy enough with the spirit of the thing.
"As for you," Nida said, moving closer to Elijah, and shaking his head. "You, Elijah, I pity. How could you be drawn so astray by a single man? I know you didn't get along with everyone, but surely it wasn't because you were told to do such by Boyce. You acted the way you did because you cared. You cared that Irvine didn't like you, you cared that Quistis didn't see you as attentive or caring. Most of all, you cared what I thought. And now... Now I don't know what to think about you. I had faith in you for so long. You were my first friend. My first relationship. And now...I don't even know how to think of you now. You betrayed more than Garden, hurt more than those children you cut down. You hurt me, you betrayed me. Something you swore never to do."
Pain, Nida could only see pain in Elijah's eyes. At least something in his words was getting through to the other man. In the end, maybe that was all that he could expect from Elijah to this point. Clearly Elijah was no longer the same man he had been. Or maybe the man Nida had known had never really existed. Maybe Nida had always been a target, one that Elijah had been long ago assigned to.
"Nida," Elijah said at last, reaching out towards him with his free hand, as if longing to touch Nida. That, though, wasn't happening. Nida pulled further back, shaking his head.
"You lost that right, Zale. Lost your right to everything when you tried to take me from Garden that night... Now get out of my sight."
Both Seifer and Elijah looked shocked by this dismissal. Well, Seifer looked more outraged then anything else, but that was something Nida was willing to let go of.
"Come on, Seifer. Squall will arrive soon, and I want to be there when they get Andria. I hate the idea that someone has been lying to me for my whole life."
Seifer considered this for a moment, then shrugged and moved towards Nida. "Squall isn't going to like this."
"Of course he isn't. That is a concern for when we get to him, though. And use one of those tarps we brought with your bag to cover Joshua's body. Squall will want to see it."
With that, Nida turned his back on Elijah and the sunset, orienting himself towards Winhill. The walk wasn't going to be fun, but if they were lucky they would be able to slip around the Esthari patrols that were surely present, and still come in behind the town so that they could end up close to the mayor's home. Who knew, maybe they could even make it to there and see Andria before Squall showed up.
"Nida," he heard, the words almost faint as they reached him. "I love you."
It was a sentiment Nida wasn't even sure if he could share.