A/N:
Bad News: I HAD TO SPLIT THIS CHAPTER AGAIN. Ugh. (don't even mention the fact that I can't end this story on an even 40, now…I'm very put-out by this)
Good News: We are THAT much closer…but I didn't want to make you guys wait another week for the back-half of this chapter, so you get this that much SOONER.
Um. Also. I'm kind of working through something at the moment, and I might have taken it out on some of the characters in this chapter…Basically, things get worse before they get any better, but we're very close to the end, yes? We can get through this, yes?
After all, SAVE THE EARTH. IT'S THE ONLY PLANET WITH CHOCOLATE.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Maelstrom
The path of bodies Kain had left was substantial, and as he guided them along what remained of the lunar corridor, the walls fell away again to spindle bridges composed of clear glass.
Cecil tolerated the dragoon's lead, but only just; and Rydia hung back by Edge, noticing the thread of unspoken tension that ran from one end of the group to the other.
"You said you knew where they were," Edge reminded the dragoon after a long stretch of silence.
Kain pointed ahead. "When you see what's past that, you'll understand."
Rydia glanced at where he was pointing and saw a portal set into the floor. They hadn't encountered one such as this since they'd entered the subterrane in the first place.
"You went down there?" Edge asked.
"Briefly," Kain replied.
When he failed to elaborate, Rydia exchanged a glance with Edge.
The group surrounded the portal and faltered, everyone staring at each other as if to dare someone to go first.
"Draw your weapons," Kain said matter-of-factly as he stepped onto the portal, disappearing from sight.
The rest of them followed, sensing that the place they'd been transported to was far deeper in the Lunar infrastructure than where they'd been previously.
"Whoa," Edge uttered once he'd taken a moment to look around. "You did this?"
Kain shook his head. "Not me."
Rydia stared with him—at an environment that spoke more of the Lunarian's bent for science than organic design. What was once pristine was now marred by magic. Parts of the floor had been melted and the walls were pock marked and jagged from explosions. Magic, powerful magic, had been used here, and the half-eaten remains of dragon carcasses was good enough evidence of what made this its dwelling place.
"Golbez was here," Cecil said.
"And recently," Rosa agreed, laying a hand on one of the felled beasts. "This kill is still fresh."
Rydia's skin prickled with the sensation that something was breathing down her neck. She wrapped her arms around her chest and shuddered as the first wave of an old headache began to return.
"You sense it, too?" Edge muttered to her.
She nodded.
"Like walking straight into a storm."
She paused while she tried to sort it out. "More like a crowd of screaming voices," she answered.
"That—seems about right," he conceded.
"Where next?" Cecil asked, directing the question at Kain.
The dragoon shrugged. "Follow the bodies."
Cecil bristled, but Rosa calmly rested her hand on his arm. One look and his demeanor calmed; choosing not to interpret Kain's indifference as a challenge.
"Stay close, and Edge—"
"Not a chance," the ninja replied, tapping his temple. "I can't sense anything down here. We must be too close to the core."
Cecil's lips thinned into a straight line. "We travel blind, then."
"Just like in the Lair of the Hallowed Father," Rosa reminded him with a sideways glance before looking back at Rydia and Edge.
Cecil turned toward the whole group. "We're here to kill Zemus, not each other," he told them.
Edge sighed, impatiently tapping his boot on the smooth floor. "Wonderful friendship speech coming from you—can we go?"
Cecil's eyes narrowed. "When we get back to the planet, remind me never to sit in on negotiations with you."
"That requires getting there first—providing I don't kill you all myself," Edge remarked.
Cecil drew his sword and spun away, deciding that ignoring Edge was wiser than engaging him.
"Wouldn't last a day," the prince muttered under his breath as they all followed.
Rydia raised an incredulous brow, and heard a snort come from Kain. She glared at them both. Leave it to Edge to start trouble so close to the end of all things.
The five of them set off through the maze of passages that had been set to confuse and disorient unwary travelers. Apparently Lunarian architecture was designed to be opposite that of human logic. The narrow walkways and bridges were clouded by a constant haze of dense magic, a byproduct from the core no doubt, and further complicated their ability to navigate. The only signs they had to guide them were the corpses of fiends left for them to find.
Rydia stared into the ever shifting space with wide eyes, feeling like the thoughts in her head were hardly her own anymore, like she was seeing things she shouldn't—couldn't. And she heard it louder than ever now—the melody of the spell she didn't dare use.
She had made some measure of peace with trading memory for power, but the kind of power required for Meteor? Why had it suffused her thoughts so completely here, but not above?
Already, the memories she'd given over to the crystals seemed vague and distant; like they'd happened to someone else in some other life. Would there be anything left of the person she was by the time they were through, or was it simply the price of war? No gain without sacrifice.
She clutched onto the Stardust Rod for assurance that it, at least, was real, and saw that Rosa was treating Cecil the same way. In her one hand she grasped her bow, but with her other, she held on to Cecil's arm.
They were the very image of solidarity, but the memory of them in each other's arms…Rydia quickly looked away, feeling sick to her stomach. Instead, her eyes fell on Kain who was walking beside her; the expression on his face, dour.
"We weren't sure if you'd be coming back," Rydia said, hoping to distract him.
Kain pursed his lips. "Because of that?" he asked, nodding in the direction of Cecil and Rosa. "It was nothing."
Rydia looked at him sidelong. "Nothing," she repeated dubiously. "Even though—
At her pause, Kain fixed her with a studied gaze and then caught Edge's eye. The ninja looked uncharacteristically sympathetic.
"I've missed something," he noted.
Rydia's face gave them away before she'd gotten the first words out of her mouth. "Well now that they—not that they're—"
Edge cleared his throat and Rydia clamped her mouth shut as she rushed ahead without another word, leaving the two men to walk beside each other.
Edge rolled his eyes. "Still hasn't learned the art of subtlety," he groaned.
"They seem to have mended their differences," Kain muttered as he watched Cecil and Rosa from behind.
"Noticed that, too?"
"It was only a matter of time," Kain said resignedly as they walked around what was left of a behemoth.
"You fought," the prince reminded him.
Kain grimaced, keeping his eyes on the two in front. "I did."
"She's not for you," Edge said succinctly. "Just walk away."
"Is that what you plan on doing?" Kain asked curiously, nodding in the direction Rydia had gone. "Walk away when this is over?"
Edge contemplated the question in silence, and Kain saw his opening.
"You still haven't confronted her, have you?"
Edge grinned faintly, seeing the other man's point. "It doesn't matter," he said. "There's no future there."
"Sounds like a coward's excuse."
"Are you really giving me advice on this subject?" Edge asked incredulously.
"Chase her," Kain prodded.
"Watching your plight is more than enough," Edge deflected, fixing the other man with a withering stare.
Kain shrugged. "At least by the end of the day, one of us can say he tried."
Edge nodded, frowning.
"Except that there's no fight here to be fought, and challenging my honor won't make any difference."
Kain stared at him. "Right," he said, entirely unconvinced. "I just thought I'd remind you that you're on limited time."
Edge stared back. "Thanks, Kain."
The dragoon offered him a rare, sympathetic grin. "Good luck," he said, clapping Edge on the shoulder before he ducked beneath the tail of a fallen dragon.
"Bastard," Edge muttered.
0-0-0-0-0
As the pathway narrowed, leading them down long corridors and staircases, the bodies of fiends left for them to follow became scarcer. The haze of the core deepened, and the sounds of creatures lurking in the miasma increased with every downward step.
It wasn't long before a growl emanated from ahead; followed by a disjointed flicker of a purple muzzle.
Rydia should have known that the first fiend they'd encounter would be a behemoth.
She sprang for cover as Cecil and Kain sprinted forward. Why would the Lunarians breed a creature that was impervious to magic, she fumed.
The knights raised shields when sharp teeth snapped too close for comfort, but it took Rydia's eyes a moment to find Edge. He had taken advantage of the distraction the other two had provided, running between the beast's legs and causing as much misery as he could with deliberate darts aimed at vulnerable joints.
Enraged, the behemoth spun and lurched in all directions, not sure which human to devour first.
Hoping to help them, Rosa fired arrows at the beast from a distance. All she did was draw its attention, and the behemoth bowled the paladin and the dragoon out of its way as it hurled itself toward her.
"Rosa, find cover!" Cecil shouted at her desperately.
But the behemoth never reached her.
Edge had thrown his sword at the behemoth's hindquarters, and with a bark of pain, the creature was distracted just long enough for Cecil to leap forward and plunge Ragnarok into its shoulder.
The fiend roared and whirled in a tight circle, curling its lip and snarling. Kain aggravated the beast further by brandishing his lance in its face, forcing it back.
Holy followed, but the white magic spell had little impact, singing the coarse purple hair of the behemoth's hide, but leaving it otherwise unharmed.
Rydia watched everyone else's efforts with frustration. At least in an enclosed space, they had the advantage….
Rydia sighed and took time to focus, allowing the Stardust rod to calm the raging storm of magic around her; to at least make sense of it. Her battle skills were useless in this instance, but if she could weaken the creature and give the others more time….
She slipped into a trance state, marveling at how easy it had become. She navigated her emotions and sifted through memories until one in particular stood out. The memory of the day she'd brought a mountain to its knees and buried a valley in rubble. She'd used this memory before—recognized it—and the crystals responded just as they had before. Words poured off of her tongue that were otherwise alien, and Quake split the ground wherever the behemoth's feet touched it. The fiend stumbled as the pathway crumbled apart, and in its moment of confusion, Kain's lance struck deep, piercing its sinuous neck.
The behemoth roared and shuddered, hunkering down in a last ditch effort to retaliate. Its wounds were bleeding badly, but its mouth hadn't lost its bite. It lunged one final time, and Kain leapt out of the way as it unwittingly severed its own jugular, skewering itself on the lance still embedded in its neck as it fell.
It wasn't until the behemoth went completely still, that the five of them cautiously approached.
"Why did Golbez leave this one alive?" Kain asked, walking around the corpse.
"It could be that they never made it this far," Cecil replied, trying not to sound concerned.
"Or they got smart," Edge added off-handedly, retrieving some of his weapons. "They might have found a better way to reach the core."
Rosa's voice softly sang out healing incantations while the others retrieved their weapons. It was when everyone failed to move onward as usual, that Rydia looked over her shoulder to see what was keeping them.
She walked back and saw Kain staring at the corpse with a grim expression of annoyance.
In fact, all of the men were staring at it.
"What are they doing?" she asked Rosa.
"Trying to decide the best way to get Kain's weapon back," the white mage commented.
Rydia looked again and realized the problem. The Holy Lance had gone clear through the behemoth's neck. Its tip protruded several feet out the other side, but its shaft was buried in the monster's flesh.
Rydia watched as the three of them attempted to roll the behemoth to its side with little success. She sighed. At least now her talents would prove useful.
Rydia closed her eyes and envisioned the flames of the underworld. With them, she saw the surly, horn-snouted face of an Eidolon whose name resonated across her thoughts. She called to him, bonding with his energy, and in a smoldering wave of heat, Ifrit emerged at her side.
The Eidolon strode forward without prompting, swiping the men out of his path and practically throwing the behemoth aside like a rag doll. He plucked the Holy lance out of the dead fiend like a sliver, and thrust it into Kain's bewildered hands.
"I take it you lost this," the Eidolon said gruffly.
Kain stared at Ifrit in surprise and muttered his thanks.
"Thank you, Ifrit," Rydia said, to which the Eidolon turned toward her with narrowed eyes.
"You summoned me for this?" he asked contemptuously.
She quailed. "We needed your strength."
"That I should be reduced to this…" he complained. "I refuse to be sent back until I draw blood," he snapped imperiously. "Anything less would be an insult."
Rydia nodded, sensing the others were staring at her. "O-of course," she answered.
"If it's true that Golbez and FuSoYa found another route, the path ahead could be full of fiends," Rosa pointed out. "We're likely walking into a trap."
"When was it ever not a trap?" Edge muttered.
"Come, humans," Ifrit rumbled as he picked Rydia up and threw her over his shoulders. "There are enough fiends for all of us."
0-0-0-Commercial Break-0-0-0
"The environment is infused with magic," Ifrit commented, licking his lips with avarice as he carried Rydia ahead of the others. "I like it."
"The crystals are loud," Rydia retorted, wincing with a headache that was now full-blown as she stared listlessly at the passing corridor.
Ifrit tried to energize her through their magical connection. "Your voice is strong," he told her boldly. "Make yours stronger than theirs."
"How," Rydia muttered, feeling as if the voices of the crystals were overbearing companions she couldn't get rid of. Even the Stardust Rod was beginning to lose its calming effect on her.
"You are not a passive instrument to do their bidding," Ifrit said. "Command them."
Rydia contemplated what he'd said and felt her stomach clench with anxiety. "It's not just that," she confided.
The Eidolon hummed, and Rydia felt the deep vibration through his body. "I thought not."
"The price is higher. I pay for their power with my memories, my emotions."
"Intriguing."
"I feel like I'm losing myself," she said quietly.
Ifrit was silent on the matter for a long time, and all Rydia felt was the steady rhythm of his feet striking the ground. "I cannot feel what you feel; nor can I validate whether your loss is real, but I see the toll this has taken on you," he said at last. "It may be that what you receive far outweighs anything you give up. Some emotions are better channeled elsewhere, even into magic."
Rydia wondered if he might be right.
"Get down, little one," Ifrit said suddenly, shaking her off of his shoulders.
Once she was on the ground, she looked up at him. "Fiends?" she asked.
He growled menacingly, baring his teeth in a wolfish smile. "Fiends," he echoed.
0-0-0-0-0
"Get her out of here!" Cecil shouted much later; his blade covered in gore.
Rydia faded in and out, sensing her heels dragging on tile. Ifrit had been dismissed battles ago; but the fiends seemed to be multiplying in numbers greater than they could keep up with. Magic seared through Rydia's temple like a hot skewer; but regardless, she struggled against the person pulling her arms.
"Kain, go—I've got her," Edge's voice sounded over her head.
"I'm fine," she protested, finally seeing only one of everything.
"I don't think that spell was intended to be cast twice in succession," he snapped back at her.
"Flare," she said, nearly retching.
"I said keep your head clear."
"Killed it, didn't I?" she muttered.
"Don't fall over," he said, propelling her to her feet as he sped off.
Holy illuminated the space, reflecting off of every surface and making strange shadows of her companions. A roar pealed against the walls from somewhere ahead, and Rydia swayed, as if to music.
There had been a dragon. A dragon with red scales and jagged stripes. Its azure twin lay dead on the path already, but this one had proven itself to be a different breed entirely. Faster—meaner.
A curtain of flame rose above the wall separating her from the others. Even from where she was standing, her skin glistened with sweat. Yet despite this, she trudged forward; her mind in several places at once.
The magic of the crystals was so palpable here, that she could practically reach out and grab the strands in her hands.
Cecil had wanted her out of the way, but she clenched her jaw determinedly. They would be dead without her. Ifrit had at least helped them to get this far, and her magic was the most valuable asset they had.
As she walked, slipping her fingers along the shaft of the stardust rod, she already had a memory fixed in her mind.
She gained speed and rounded the corner to the smell of burnt flesh.
Her eyes met the dragon's amber gaze—and then she let loose—releasing her magic like an arrow.
Blizzaga steamed against the heat of the room, plunging swords of ice into the dragon's scales.
Magic sizzled and popped and a feral sound seared through the fog as the dragon gave chase.
An arrow—a real arrow—shot out of nowhere as Rydia ran. It struck the dragon's snout and knocked loose a scale before skittering away; and Rydia pivoted just long enough to catch a gleam of Rosa's bow sticking out from behind cover before she slid to a stop.
She faced the dragon head-on, discovering that it, too, had stopped. A nictitating membrane flicked closed, then open, as the fiend raised its nose to take on a new scent. Rosa's.
The dragon peeled off, leaving Rydia where she was; and after a moment of panic for her friend, she realized that Cecil was somewhere nearby. She could hear the unmistakable sound of his booted feet, and the plates of his armor jangling as he ran through the haze of magic and melting ice to reach his love.
She had to wonder—if it had been only her and not Rosa, would he have run to her rescue so quickly?
Rydia saw a glint of Ragnarok from a distance, the dragon-slaying sword, and thought of a way to buy him time.
If only the fiend was a statue.
The image of twins entombed flashed across her mind's eye. Two brave children who had turned themselves to living stone.
She could turn the beast's scales to slate, its bones to granite, she realized; and she allowed the crystals to make of that what they chose.
The Stardust Rod glowed in her hand as words fell from her mouth that she hardly understood. She felt the spell take effect—heard it take effect—and wasn't satisfied until brittle scales shattered under the blow from a sword. Break didn't have the power to transform the entire fiend to stone, but it had done enough for now.
When the spell was spent, Rydia pulled herself from the trance and stumbled through the fog.
Cecil had things under control, but she had to find Kain and Edge. She searched for them, feeling her way forward with her hands.
She tripped over Kain and fell, choking on a gag when she saw what was left of him. Edge was nearby, and no better. She winced back tears and tore phoenix down from the pouch at her hip, laying one on each of them, and closing her eyes as she anxiously waited for time to reverse.
"Rydia," Edge said a moment later, placing his hand on her shoulder. She turned to see his grim, all-business expression lit by the searing glow of another Holy Spell.
She must have looked crazed, because his stare lingered until he seemed certain she was alright.
"We have to go," she said, standing up.
Before she could move, Kain had brusquely shoved her aside as he ran forward with his lance leveled like a skewer.
She glanced to the side and noticed that Edge had likewise vanished. Instead, all she heard of either of them was the clash of weapons against scales, claws, and teeth.
She sighed at being left behind again, and once more summoned her power—If only to remind everyone why they'd brought her along.
Blizzaga answered her once and then again, responding to her as if it was an extension of her body.
By the time the spells were spent, a dragon-shaped ice sculpture stood planted to the glass floor.
Wisps of vapor, smoke, and the disorienting shimmer of magic parted just in time for Rydia to see Cecil drive Ragnarok through the dragon's skull. The ice encasing the beast fell away in sheets, followed by the heavy, crushing sound of the creature's body plummeting to the ground with it.
Weapons were wiped clean and sheathed; wounds given cursory inspection and healed.
"If this keeps up, there'll be nothing left of us," Rosa said wearily while she retrieved arrows from the carcass.
"I think that's the last for now," Kain interrupted her, craning his neck as though listening for something.
"I don't hear anything either," Edge agreed.
Kain pointed. "There's another staircase there," he said, leading the way and seeming unfazed despite everything that had happened.
Rydia followed, but at a staggering pace. She felt thin. Ragged.
Edge sidled up next to her, his shoulder pressing against hers and keeping her upright.
"You alright?"
She nodded numbly and glanced at him. "Hard to say."
"You seem to have things more under control," he commented as they walked down the passageway to the core.
She sighed. "This is control?" she muttered through gritted teeth.
She wasn't in the mood to explain that it wasn't what her magic cost her that bothered her, but in how little she had come to care.
At her silence, Edge gave her a studied look.
"Pace yourself," was all he said, leaving her side once she'd recovered her balance.
She watched him disappear into the mist; feeling that any coherent thoughts she might have had disappeared with him.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Edge kept pace with Kain. He had no advantage here, but he stood a better chance with an armored decoy walking beside him.
He could tell the mental states of the group were steadily deteriorating; everyone driven quiet by fear and anxiety.
Rydia had always been a good indicator of the group's condition; reacting to the ebb and flow of emotions between the members like she was navigating the tides. Now she'd become cold, deadened, like there was ice in her veins. Her sudden apathy was beginning to alarm him.
She was becoming more like one of them, and he'd sensed this about her before.
This might be war, but she was a summoner; a mage.
Not a hunter, not a spy, not an assassin.
He glanced at Kain who walked beside him.
…Not like the two of them…
He cast his eyes about again, curious if the barrage of fiends they'd just encountered had been the last they'd see for a while or only the vanguard.
Zemus was most certainly playing with them. First with physical exhaustion, then emotional fatigue. It wouldn't be long before their sanity suffered completely, and judging by Rydia's condition, it wouldn't take much more.
The path split into two ahead, and Edge glanced down both directions. He sighed at the maddening design of this place, but suddenly paused when he saw something that shouldn't have been there—a flicker of green out of the mist; an impression of nature in what should have otherwise been a sterile environment.
He frowned, wondering how badly his judgment had been compromised. He glanced elsewhere to clear his sight, and saw nothing but a normal passageway. It was when he looked back, that he noticed a change.
And then he heard footsteps—the flutter of a cloak.
Was he the only one who'd seen it? He glanced at Kain but the dragoon appeared unaffected.
Edge took a moment to consider what he'd seen, and then veered away from the others.
"Where are you going?" Rydia asked from behind him.
He didn't know. He just had an overwhelming need to follow wherever the path led—to see where it ended.
Green sharpened and solidified into tall grass in his periphery, rising up on either side of him. The smell of leaf litter and ancient cedar teased his senses.
It was illogical, irrational, but he could have sworn….
"Edge." Cecil's voice this time.
He raised his hand for some latitude, slid Murasame from its sheath, and kept walking; padding his footsteps.
The path had bends and turns, but instead of the heady magical energy of the moon that distorted his perceptions, he saw trees rise up around him like a forest. Sunlight dappled his face as it speared through the branches. Grass gave way to a stone pathway….
Edge knew the path. Knew the mountain.
Babil would be far off to the west, if this were true, but he was on the Moon. He knew this, and yet he couldn't break himself free of the tantalizing delusion that this might be real.
There would be a shrine ahead…
He saw it. The original and its lunar twin overlapping in his vision. And stranger still, they were standing beside it.
He froze.
He hadn't seen them since Babil, not since the day they'd died.
His father's hands rested on the scabbard of a sword set in a stand that was carved in the fashion of roiling waves. Edge had seen another just like it—years ago. The sword of his clan. His father's sword.
His mother stood to the side of the shrine as well, and her face was calm, determined; as if challenging him to take it.
His father's weapon was lost, no doubt in some long forgotten corridor in the tower, but this—its twin?
A new sword for a new king….
"They're both here," he muttered. "Impossible."
"Edge!" Rydia shouted at him, grabbing his arm as a great wave—a real wave—shot out of the shrine, scattering the ghosts of his parents back into the ether.
He and Rydia fell to the tiled floor. The trees, the mountain—the entire illusion was gone. In its place, a giant serpent rose above a crystalline shrine.
"Leviathan?" Rydia cried out in disbelief.
I am Ogopogo, the dragon snarled at them as it writhed through the air. The ensorcelled blade, Masamune, will never bend its will to that of men from the Blue Planet!
"Move!" Cecil shouted, as another wave, this one larger than the first, erupted out of the waterspout that Ogopogo had gathered.
The wave struck them with the force of a wall, heaving them from their feet.
They slid across a platform supported by roughhewn pillars. It was like being in a fishbowl with no sides as the water poured off of the platform into emptiness, leaving the five of them soaked and disoriented and close to the edge.
"What possessed you?" Cecil shouted at Edge.
But the ninja ignored him as Ogopogo circled overhead. Rosa was chanting as they all climbed to their feet, and Cecil left the question unanswered as he and Kain ran forward with weapons drawn.
Edge had no answer for the paladin as to what he'd seen. Only that he had to reach that sword….
0-0-0
Rydia stared at Edge in bewilderment.
He was dazed, his eyes clouded over.
"Edge!" she shouted at him again.
He blinked, finally looking at her. "He wants me to take the sword," Edge trailed off, as another blast of water swept across the platform.
"What?" she demanded, running out of the way of the water stream.
Ogopogo suddenly dove on Cecil, flying near enough to knock the paladin off-balance. Cecil couldn't escape the dragon's tail, and it sent him and Kain flying with a single flick.
Ogopogo navigated the air as if he were underwater, coiling, twisting, and changing direction with ease. He rose above them, chattering at them with his fearsome beak.
"He's going to dive again," Kain warned, launching into the air with a powerful leap and leaving the rest of them on their own.
Rydia watched the serpent, throwing herself out of the way as it speared its beak straight downward, cracking the tile where she'd been standing. Kain, meanwhile, had caught up to Ogopogo in the air; and in the moment he began his arc of descent, he struck, aiming for the dragon's sinuous side.
Ogopogo raised his head and swam upwards with a roar, his body and fins curving in a graceful arc behind him. As a passing shot, he snapped his tail and threw Rydia and Edge from their feet.
From elsewhere, Rosa's spell finally took effect and a glow took over the beast, causing the lethargic effect of Slow.
Ogopogo hissed and the 15arbells on either side of his face went ramrod straight, glowing with a magic of their own.
He spewed liquid fire from his mouth that struck each of them with the force of a gale. Rydia clenched her eyes shut and clutched her arms to her body as she felt her strength sapped away. Shaky, she fell to her knees and stared at Ogopogo circling back for another pass.
She felt powerless, unable to stand, and didn't feel relief until she saw shurikens fly across her vision, causing it to rain blood.
The dragon was incensed and veered away, only slower than before.
Unfortunately, so were they.
Rosa was chanting again, hoping to restore them to their feet, but Ogopogo was ahead of her. He spiraled out of the air, isolating Cecil from the others.
The paladin was too weak to move as Ogopogo wrapped around him; tightening his grip and coiling around the knight as if to crush the life out of him.
Cecil's armor spared his life just as Rosa's spell took effect. The burst of energy gave him enough strength to drive his sword into the creature's side. Ogopogo snarled and uncoiled, slithering away again with contempt.
The dragon rose high and then turned, churning up another waterspout.
"Get out of the way!" Cecil shouted as he ran.
Ogopogo didn't wait for them to get far, unleashing a deluge to drown them.
It caught them like high tide, sweeping them off their feet again.
Rydia fought the water, swimming against it, and was angry that she couldn't swim and cast at the same time.
A second deluge followed the first, and this second wave propelled them closer to the edge of the platform. Rydia paddled furiously, trying to stay above the surge.
"Cecil!" she screamed, as the water started to fall off the sides. She was able to scrape her feet against tile, but she was rapidly running out of platform with no way to stop herself.
A hand grabbed hers at the last moment, keeping her from falling. As the last of the water rushed over her head and then slowed to a trickle, she glanced up and saw that it was Edge who had caught her.
She stared at him, breathing hard.
He said nothing and lifted her up; and as she grappled with the platform's side, she saw that he had driven a knife into the tile as an anchor to keep them both from falling.
Why had he even gone looking for this place? What had he seen? She wondered.
They each took a moment, trying to ignore Ogopogo's shriek overhead. No doubt Kain was harrying the beast long enough to give the rest of them time to gain their feet. He was the only one who seemed able to do battle with the aerial dragon.
She and Edge locked eyes.
"Can you stand?"
"Can you?" she asked breathlessly.
Rosa was already up somewhere and chanting as Edge pulled her to her feet.
Holy spiraled through the air above them, sending Ogopogo into an enraged frenzy.
No one had time to move as the dragon roared and spewed out more liquid fire as he swept across the platform.
Rydia felt like she'd been crushed under a heavy weight, and as Ogopogo circled back, choosing who to end first, she felt time slow down.
She lay on her back, wishing to put an end to this nuisance of a Guardian once and for all. She had already given up so much; what was a little more?
No.
But the crystals were screaming insistently in her ears. The song—its melody. She saw the entire spell laid out like music she could read. It was so easy to her, now; all she needed was the strength to cast it. She looked at her companions, at how battered and weary they were—how full of distrust. Were they worth saving? Were any of them worth saving?
They were—to her.
Rydia took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, seeing threads come together in her mind's eye whether she willed them or not. Her memories of the Feymarch flooded her mind. Every face, every building, every sight and sound. All of the people she loved and was protecting. Her fears of losing them altogether. She saw ten years pass in quick flashes—the entirety of the Feymarch like a tapestry of another life.
…What you receive far outweighs anything you give up….
Tears streamed down her face when she realized the price she would have to pay. The Eidolons were her family, her most treasured memories. They had made her strong—and now they would provide her the strength to survive this.
It was like two strands of a braid meeting and twining, how her mind interacted with the crystals. The memory and magic wove together in equal amounts, an invincible rope.
And then the Stardust rod exploded in her hands. Its crest glowed so brightly that it overwhelmed the platform as it vanished, and in its brightness Rydia lost sight of her companions. For all she knew they weren't even there; consumed as she was by the words she was speaking.
Buoyed by the crystals, Rydia stood as the magic she'd summoned enveloped her and stirred up a wind that whipped her garments and hair around her in a maelstrom.
Meteor.
The highest of all spells.
The first rocks to fall were small, but they quickly grew in size and speed; flaming rocks that scorched and pummeled everything in their path. Without the rod in her hands, Rydia moved her arms in deliberate gestures, operating under pure instinct as the Lunar Crystals whispered their secrets into her ears. She could control where the rocks fell, who they struck and didn't. It was like being a conductor of a great and terrible orchestra, and for all of Ogopogo's grace, he couldn't escape her.
The meteorites beat and tore him to pieces as if he were a kite made of paper; but there was nowhere for him to flee. All around them there was nothing but the fiery and deadly rain; shattering glass and buffeting the Lunar architecture until it nearly ceased to be.
Ogopogo writhed through the air, attempting to dodge the projectiles as the entire space was consumed by fire. Nothing was visible through the unrelenting curtain of flame and stone, but Rydia felt the moment that Ogopogo's life expired—heard him screech once—before plunging into the darkness below.
At last.
Meteor began to lose strength and wane , but even with their foe destroyed, it hungered for more fuel. Rydia found herself unable to detach from it—drowning in her own power and in the images the crystals were planting in her mind. Images of Zemus; of Golbez and FuSoYa; and of a great chamber protected by several luminous barriers. The core.
Use our power, the Crystals begged her. Don't let him reach the Core.
People were moving around her, but she paid them no heed. Her mind was screaming, but no one could hear her.
It took all her concentration to break herself away, grappling with the spell and the visions until all of Meteor's fuel was spent and the last of the rocks fell from above.
The Stardust Rod rematerialized in her stunned hands, and she stood, robes steaming, breathing hard. She swayed, teetering on the edge of consciousness.
In a moment of despair, she realized that someone had come back for her; had thrown her over their shoulder and was carrying her to safety over what was left of the ruined platform.
She was set down beside the others, and lay for a long while with her eyes closed, trying to keep the madness at bay. Somewhere nearby Rosa was quietly chanting, and the sound of it comforted her frayed mind as she caught snippets of another conversation.
"—The hell?" Kain cursed.
"Must have been Meteor," Edge said, sounding amazed if not a little alarmed.
"I'd forgotten…" Kain muttered, trailing off in a haunted voice. "The force of that spell."
There was a long pause.
"What possessed you?" Cecil demanded of Edge.
Rydia cracked her eyes open and saw Edge nearby, staring at the sword in his hand. She stared at it, too; how it seemed to have bestowed a heavy burden onto the prince that hadn't been present before. When had he found the time to liberate the sword before the platform collapsed, she wondered?
"Masamune," he said slowly and frowned. "I've seen another sword just like this."
"We never would have found it, if you hadn't gone off on your own," Cecil said.
"I can't explain it," Edge muttered.
"Doesn't matter," Kain interrupted them. "Listen."
They did, and heard the familiar growls of fiends sounding out from some distant corridor. Their battle with Ogopogo had drawn the attention of others.
"Behemoths," Edge groaned, readjusting swords and scabbards and finding a home for Masamune at his side.
Rosa finally finished her spell and Curaja enveloped the five of them, healing their wounds and bringing everyone to their feet. Everyone but Rydia, who had to struggle just to stand. She didn't have the energy to follow them, dazed as she was.
"Rydia," Rosa said, walking closer until she had her hands on Rydia's shoulders.
"I—" the summoner murmured. "I had no choice—"
"We need to move. Now," Cecil ordered.
"How are you still here?" Rosa insisted of Rydia more quietly. "That spell once killed a man."
Rydia didn't know what to say. She certainly felt burned out inside; but the white mage was right—it was a miracle that she was alive.
"I just had all the pieces…"
"Come on!" Edge prodded, leading the group back the way they'd come.
The five of them started running, Rydia practically being dragged. The sound of the behemoths giving chase, however, blessed them with a speed that only panic inspired.
"You saw something, didn't you?" Cecil asked Edge while they ran.
"I said it was hard to explain," Edge snapped back.
"Have you lost your mind?" Cecil said instead.
"Cecil, this isn't the time!" Edge shouted as he withdrew a knife, turned, and whipped it through the air.
The knife soared past Rydia's shoulder and made contact with something. A howl of pain revealed just how close the behemoths had come, and Rydia glanced over her shoulder to see it was not one, but two of the great fiends in hot pursuit. Close, and getting closer.
Rydia began chanting again. Meteor had left her drained and fragile, but she had some strength left; misguided as the effort probably was.
Quake split the passageway behind them—Rydia hoping that the obstacle would be enough to deter the beasts. There was a pause and then the sound of paws landing on tile. The behemoths had simply jumped the gap.
A wave of anger flooded her and Rydia was casting again. This time, Flare.
She fought to keep her voice level while she ran, operating on an insane high of magic that had taken hold of her again.
Flare cascaded down the corridor behind them, enveloping everything in its path. The behemoths were swallowed up and lost to sight.
Rydia heard howls and snarls, but it hadn't been enough to stop the fiends completely, and she had nothing left. Spent, she fell to her knees.
"Are you insane?" Edge shouted as he ran back for her.
She said nothing as Edge scooped her up and threw her onto his back.
The behemoths' claws scrambled on the tile as they resumed their pursuit, but Edge ignored them. He sprinted past Cecil and Kain, allowing the knights to cover their retreat as he caught up with Rosa.
"We'll both die if you carry me," Rydia murmured against Edge's shoulder, noticing the lead that Rosa had gained already.
"You're light," Edge argued with her, getting a better grip on her legs.
"I don't think I can do this," she contradicted, suddenly overwhelmed by thoughts that had nothing to do with their present circumstances.
"What?" Edge asked.
"Get home."
"Giving up so soon?" he asked, sliding underneath a pillar that had been knocked over in a previous battle.
"Maybe there's nothing waiting for me, there," she said, hearing the sounds of battle and the tearing of claws on the smooth floor behind them.
"There is," he answered, out of breath.
"How do you know?"
He didn't answer her, straining as he fought for more speed.
Rydia had no idea how far they'd come let alone how far they had yet to go, but the behemoths were unrelenting, and Cecil and Kain couldn't hold out indefinitely.
"Mist will be nothing but ghosts," she said despairingly, feeling darkness encroach on her thoughts again.
Edge remained silent, bounding up a flight of stairs, and all she could hear was the sound of his heartbeat and breathing.
"Hurry up!" she heard Kain shout behind them.
Edge sprinted with renewed effort, lurching Rydia with each step. The portal was so close, now. Rosa was well ahead of them and went first; disappearing through it, but Edge suddenly lost his footing and stumbled. Rydia quickly glanced behind them and saw Cecil and Kain guarding the stairs.
Kain was using himself as a human shield, but one of the behemoths leapt over him, sprinting toward Edge with alarming speed. The ninja scrambled back to his feet, hoisting Rydia with him. Out of reflex she began to chant again; her mind already swimming with death. She felt so numb to the world, hardly felt part of it, when a face rose to the front of her mind. A person who'd stepped out of the world of his own free will long ago. The last person to cast Meteor.
She spoke the words to the arcane spell that the old sage's memory evoked, feeling her will and the crystals' power begin to converge again as she saw the whites of the behemoth's eyes. The fiend lunged for them just as she said the final words.
Death left her and entered the beast. It was like black mist that flowed from the darkest parts of her mind into the beast's nostrils and mouth, choking it until it stumbled and slid across what was left of the floor. The force of its fall propelled Edge the last few feet toward the portal. He lost his footing again and they both fell, rolling onto the portal and emerging nearly unconscious on the other side.
Rydia groaned. Everything in her vision was dark.
Beside her, she could hear Edge breathing hard.
"I thought the others were right behind you," Rosa said anxiously.
"They are," Edge muttered with a curse as he slowly pushed himself up.
The portal blazed with life, and Kain finally went through with Cecil behind him.
As Rydia's vision returned, she saw everyone standing wearily around her—breathing deeply.
"There are two behemoths between us and the core," Cecil muttered.
"How are we supposed to reach Zemus, if we can't get past the fiends?" Rosa seconded.
Kain looked at Edge. "You're the master of stealth—how would you do it?"
Edge doubled over, wincing. "If it was me alone I wouldn't fight them at all."
"Is it possible?" Kain asked Rosa.
She looked perplexed. "I can try to hide us, but the illusion works on sight, not on smell."
"Can we not race back into disaster for a few minutes at least," Edge complained. "We're down a summoner, and the rest of us have been beaten all to hell."
Rydia glanced at the ninja. He had been quick to leave men behind in his pursuit of Rubicante, but was unwilling to leave any of them behind. Her specifically. He'd come back for her despite all the things they'd said to each other….
She swallowed hard, feeling her senses slowly snap into focus. An ether. She needed an ether.
Numbly, she fumbled for her pack and found it, her fingers searching for a particular glass phial. She raised it to her lips and allowed the cool, refreshing liquid to slide down her throat.
She laid back down and closed her eyes, allowing the effects of the ether to restore her reserves. It wasn't much, but it was something.
Cecil, Rosa, and Kain were busy discussing something, but when she opened her eyes she saw Edge kneeling beside her.
He studied her seriously. "It might not be my place to ask, but how did you cast that spell?"
She was sure he meant Meteor.
"You're right…it's not your place," she muttered.
"Sorry," he said. "But with how you've been…" he observed, studying her face. "You were saying a lot of nonsense before."
"I thought—" she said, trying to hide the nervous quiver in her lip. "Today…just reminded me how short life is."
"Only just?" he said, frowning.
"I had no choice—I had to cast it or we'd all be dead," she murmured.
"You don't know that."
"I lost…" she said, trailing off as she blinked away tears. "You don't understand. I lost my entire childhood. I lost the people that I loved, my mother—ten years of my life. I couldn't lose all of you, too."
"Ten years," he repeated. "You've never spoken of your time in the Feymarch as time lost before. Why start now?"
She chewed on her lip, feeling ashamed. "It may as well be."
Edge leaned forward, trying to catch her gaze. Her tone had implied more than she'd meant it to, and he seemed to have detected as much. "All this time I had it backwards," he said, his tone wry.
She sighed, hoping to cover her tracks. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
She was suddenly flooded by a surge of unchecked emotion; anger, disappointment, sadness, hopelessness….
"I spent my life doing what—training for war?" she said. "Everything I held dear was taken away from me, and I just thought…that I would have had…had more to show for it by now!" she said, looking up in anguish.
He stared back at her.
She sighed, stealing a glance at Cecil and Rosa.
Edge followed her gaze, and then looked back at her knowingly. "Ah," he said.
She frowned. "'Ah', what?" she asked.
"You're jealous of Rosa," he answered, taking a guess.
"I—" she burst out indignantly before swallowing the words.
He hummed, unconvinced.
"I'm not jealous of Rosa," she objected. "I'm…"
Edge's eyebrows quirked upwards expectantly.
She sighed. "I had at least hoped to find…what the two of them have," she answered with a vague gesture in their direction.
"Love?" he supplied with a flat tone.
She made a pained expression. "Love," she repeated, testing the word. After a moment, she shook her head. "I was just hoping I could…experience the kind of loyalty to someone that the two of them have for each other."
He stared at her disgustedly. "O-kay…is that it—what you're so afraid of missing out on?" he asked.
She glanced at him and blushed.
"What?" Edge asked.
She cleared her throat and stood up, but Edge reached out and pulled her back down again, giving her a penetrating look.
"What?" it was her turn to awkwardly ask.
He simply held her gaze and then stood up himself. "You're not dead yet," he said ambiguously, patting the top of her head.
She stared at him as he walked away.
"Edge," she said.
He turned.
"Thanks for coming back for me."
"Any time."
0-0-0-0-0
A/N:
Darn it. I truly didn't want to have to split this chapter, all. But at least now it's a shorter, more manageable read.
Word count for next chapter is over 2k already, and the outline is primed and ready to go. Tying up a FEW more loose ends and then we can proceed….
CRAZY MILESTONE! This story has FINALLY surpassed the 300k mark. HOLY. CRAP.
And man, I'm tired…
More facts:
Meteor is a PAIN to write. Took like…three hours to figure the stupid spell out and figure out how to describe it…lol.
Everyone's going insane…are you sensing a theme?
Ogopogo. Dislike. Intense dislike.
What's the deal with Edge and Masamume and his whole vision quest? It's me. And I'm all about ninjas. You all know this.
Did I mention they're all going insane?
Circling back to Meteor, here…with the price that Rydia paid. The poor girl has now given over all of her memories. What does this mean for her? What does this mean for her psyche? Wellllllll that's what ch39 is for ;)
Thanks for waiting for this chapter again. At least it was less than a month this time! I will seriously be pounding away at ch39 this evening even as I post this and work on it this weekend. I am…running out of days before the school year starts back up again and I've found myself in OMG I HAVE NO LESSON PLANS mode once again (lol). This said, I will be TRYING MY VERY HARDEST to get these last chapters up and away before too much crazy piles on.
Thank you readers and reviewers!
AND TO I'M A TUMOR FOR TWO AWESOME ILLUSTRATIONS from last chapter! So awesome!
Until next chapter…
~Myth