Chapter 11 is ready to go! A rather somber opening for our heros as we begin with the destruction of Kilika. But all things come to those that wait. An event in Kilika woods will change the way Spira is shaped in the future.
Also, I encourage everyone to go back to the first chapter and re read the fic once again. The facelift on the previous chapters is now complete with some new content added that I felt was necassary. Also I was a bit disheartened to see I only got a few reviews for the last chapter! #Cry#. Hope this chapter gets some good reviews after you read it! Keeps me motivated to write if I think people like the fic.
Chapter Eleven: A Sending At Dusk - The Awakening Of The Soul
"Your a weak pathetic fool Kaiser" spoke the voice.
"And your someone who's gonna get his heart torn from his chest before long" I spit back
"Stern words, and how will you do that exactly? With your duel monsters? Oh wait, you cant use them now can you" laughed the voice.
"Shut up... It wont be that way forever" I reply.
"And all those people of Kilika... Who died because you couldnt help them... You might as well have slaughtered them all yourself... How many more must die before you realise your a failure?" said the voice.
"I swear upon anything that holds true... That I will make you pay for that" I say
All I could hear around me were screams, screams from the people of Kilika, as Sin slaughtered them all like they were cattle. Bodies flying through the air, being crushed under the weight of the tidal wave, and those that were fortunate enough to survive... were quickly picked off by the Sinspawn that Sin left behind. The titanic Sin roared in triumph at its mass slaughter. Images of peoples faces, men, women and children, all lying dead all around me... That was my price for betraying the Fayth.
"When Sin attack Zanarkand, I woke up in Spira. I kept hoping it would wrok in reverse too" Tidus narrates
"How I wished that I could go home. For the first time since I arrived on Spira, I felt myself wanting to leave. I couldnt stay here if this was for real, the deaths of others... Being on my head" I narrate
Feeling my eyes slowly beginning to open, I look upon a red sky at sunset. But in my mind, it may as well have been a sky full of blood. Once more I could feel myself being nursed by Yuna, my head was on her lap as I started to move once more. Tidus and Tara were at her side, looks of relief were on thier faces as they saw me awaken. Tidus lifted up my duel disk arm, and slotted the cards back ontop of my deck that I had tried to use, giving me a smile and a solem nod, all eyes retreated to the front of the boat.
"I was just fooling myself. But for me... It was Kaiser that worried me most" Tidus narrates.
"I couldnt get a break for anything... I resigned myself to the fact that I was doomed to pay for everything. Peace was no possible, not in my own world, and not on Spira" I narrate
"I will defeat Sin…" Yuna suddenly whispered. "I must defeat Sin…" She echoed looking down at me, as she leaned in close to whisper to me. "And your going to help me... Dark Warrior"
All around the ship the entire crew were in mourning over the loss of Kilika. Grown men were crying thier eyes out over the loss of the people of Kilika, no one seemed to be unaffected by the loss. People were just slumped on the deck, drowning in thier own thoughts of grief. Looking to the front of the ship, Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri were standing silently vigil as we began to approach what remained of Kilika. As my three companions helped me once more to my feet, they each gave me a smile each. Hoping that they could ease my pain that I felt... But it was no use. I knew the truth now. I had killed the people of Kilika because of my dark side.
"Maybe it was that day, on the sea or under the burning sun. I started to give up hope. I was in a foreign world, I wasn't going home. This was my new reality and I was stuck in it for good. I know that Kaiser felt the same way... But to be honnest. I think he HAD given up hope. Something in him that day seemed to die... And it would be a long time till he got it back." Tidus narrates.
"Id seen Kilika destroyed before... but not like this. Not when I had a chance to save those people... Yet by my own actions I doomed them to thier destiny of oblivion. Whatever voice inside my head it is, one thing is clear... It was right... I might as well have killed them myself." I narrate
Moving away from my friends, I slowly walk towards the front of the boat, passing by Lulu, Wakka and Kimahri as I do. I didnt even attempt to look at thier faces, I could already feel the entire ships eyes upon my retreating back as I walked. I stood still at the front of the rope barricade for a moment, before taking a step over and moving farther out, to where I had been stood when I tried to summon Cyber End Dragon. Looking out over the devestation of Kilika I could feel my heart beginning to weap once more for all the dead, as well as the survivors that had been left behind.
"Thats it... Im finished" I think silently
Reaching to the underside of my duel disk, I unhook the fastenings around my arm that held it on. Slowly I glide the disk off my arm and hold it at my side, with a heavy heart I fling back my arm ready to throw my duel disk to the waves forever. A collective gasps errupted from all those that could see, and before I even had chance to throw it, I felt a strong arm holding my arm back. Try as I might I couldnt break its grip, turning to my side to see who had stopped me, I was met with the unlikely site of Kimahri.
"I forgot how quick you were Kimahri" I sigh.
Kimahri didnt say a word, rather he simply held onto my arm to stop me throwing my duel disk, after a few seconds, Yuna appeared at the side of the Ronso. Kimahri then let go of my arm, and walked back to the others, who had gathered at the steps below me. Yuna slowly walked towards me, with a small smile on her face. Reaching out, she took my arm and pushed it down.
"Please dont do this Kaiser... It wasnt your fault" She says simply.
I turned away, I couldnt look at the Summoner in the face. In the recesses of my heart I knew that she was right, even if I had summoned Cyber End Dragon, that was no guarantee that it would have affected Sin in any way. Even if it had, all the monster could have done was turned round and destroyed the boat. That was something that I knew couldnt happen... For the future of Spira.
"Only the Final Aeon has been known to stop Sin in its tracks. No matter how strong other Aeons or duel monsters are, they havnt succeeded, so even if you had summoned your dragon, it might not have been able to stop it." She said softly.
"That dosnt make me feel better Yuna... I should have been able to have at least tried" I reply slowly.
The young Summoner gave me a compasionate smile, before stepping forward and placing her hand upon my chest, over me heart.
"You have a good heart Kaiser, despite what you may think. Thats how I know that you would have rather died than see the people of Kilika die, your keeping your promise to the Fayth. Thats why I know your going to help me save Spira" Yuna spoke.
"Of course I love him Kaiser... You got a lotta love for him yourself. He's your brother and your best friend all rolled into one. Id never try and come between that"
Flashes of thoughts and images assail my mind once again upon the touch of the young Summoner. This made me even more confused than I already was, so far Yuna, Tidus and Tara had all triggered thoughts and feelings in my mind. I didnt have a clue as to what they were, but one thing was certain. The connections that I felt already with those three was quite real, that was obvious before these thoughts started to manifest. Taking Yuna's hand with my own, I slowly push her hand back towards her, before slowly letting go and replacing my duel disk back on my arm, to which brings a smile to Yuna's face.
"Thank you Kaiser" She says softly.
"It should be me thanking you Yuna" I say, returning her smile.
Turing on her heel, Yuna walks back to the rope barrier, stepping over it slowly with Kimahri on hand to help her across. After a few more seconds looking towards the ruins of Kilika, I turn around and descend to the ship once more. I decide to sit by myself as we begin to dock at what remains of Kilika, with the entire ship already in mourning, I realise that id just be in the way.
As we arrived in Kilika I made my way to the side of the ship to see what was left, there was practically nothing. Most of the village was gone, only the village that seemed to be closest to the island itself was left, and there wasnt much left of that to be honnest. The rest of the village which had mostly been over the water was now gone, completely destroyed by Sin. Once the ship docked, several of the ships crew disembarked with sorrowful looks on thier faces. Yuna quickly ran off the boat to meet some of the villages survivors, followed quickly by Lulu, Kimahri and Tara behind her.
"Greetings! I am the Summoner Yuna. I have come from the temple in Besaid." She said while performing the Yevon gesture.
"M'lady Summoner!" a woman exclaimed to Yuna.
"If there is no other Summoner here, please allow me to perform the sending." Yuna asked softly.
"Thanks be to ye!" the man added
"Our loved ones. We feared they would become Fiends!" The woman threw in.
"Please, take me to them." Yuna said with a nod. The couple nodded themselves before turning round and escorting Yuna along the docks, followed by her three Guardians.
It was at that time that Tidus and I departed the ship ourselves. Tidus stopped on the gangplank to watch Yuna and the others walking through the remains of the village, I stopped with him to observe them as they made thier way towards the ruins of the village. I knew full well what she was going to do.
"We're going to see what we can do to help in town." Wakka suddenly interrupted, as he ran past with the Aurochs, heading into town.
Following his retreating back, I see him and the Aurochs heading to the nearest are of destruction, just near to the village Inn which for reasons beyond me, managed to survive the attack mostly intact. Looking back up at Tidus, I see him now walking down the gangplank, and with a silent nod of my head, I coax him to follow after me, knowing that im taking him to see his first Sending.
As we arrived at the scene of the sending, I could see that quite a number of villagers had gathered. I wasnt suprised to be honest, this was to be a mass funeral, chances are that every surviving villager was here. I could see Yuna stood on one of the lower platforms, which then lead out onto the now open sea, the blazing setting sun in the background set the scene for the sending that was about to take place. I could see Tara and Kimahri stood on either side of Yuna, while the young Summoner conversed with an elderly villager. Several blazing torches had been set up on high pedestals to commemorate the sad occasion, and I could just see on the surface of the water, bouquets of flowers along the water. The horrifying thing was that I knew what was under them... The dead of Kilika. I spotted Lulu stood on a raised platform to the rear of the group, Tidus and I made our way over to her, Tidus looking quite puzzled as to what was happening
"Uh, what's a Sending? Are we going somewhere?" he asked to either of us.
Lulu simply gave a deep sigh, voicing her contempt before looking at Tidus. "You truly are clueless. Are you sure it's just your memory that's the problem?" She says.
"Come on Lulu, you know he dosnt remember anything" I offer in Tidus's defence.
"Very well" She says, sighing once more, before turning and looking back out towards the sea. "The dead need guidance. Filled with grief over their own death, they refuse to face their fate. They yearn to live on and resent those still alive. You see,they envy the living. And in time, that envy turns to anger, even hate."
At this point, Lulu turned her whole body to stand before Tidus before continuing. I could see that her gaze was piercing, the conviction in her words was obvious.
"Should these souls remain in Spira, they become Fiends that prey on the living. Sad, isn't it? The sending takes them to the Farplane, where they may rest in peace." Lulu concluded .
"Summoners do this?" Tidus inquired, to which Lulu nodded in reply.
"You see why Summoners are so important now Tye..." I say solemly, to which Tidus turns and looks at me.
"They are the hope of all Spira. A means of which to defeat a monster that ravages this world, and guiders of the souls of the dead to thier eternal resting place" I say.
Lulu raises an eyebrow at my speech before unfolding her arms.
"You seem to have a deep understanding of the Summoners despite being near Sin and being affected by its toxin. What other secrets do you hide I wonder?" Lulu inquires darkly.
"Errrr. None that I can think of!" I say quickly.
Giving a 'hmph' as her only reply, we all turn to look down at Yuna on the lower area. For she has finished talking to the elderly villager and seems to have begun walking towards the water, with the staff that I had given her in her hands. As she steps onto the water's surface, I hear Tidus gasp slightly at the sight that he is witnessing. Yuna is walking out on the surface of the water, almost as if it is solid ground. Looking quite startled he turns to me and Lulu quickly, hoping for an explanation.
"Just watch" I say quietly.
After several steps, Yuna stopped in the middle of the water. The dead of Kilika, all wrapped up in what looks like ceremonial guard, all are floating in the water under her feet. Looking around briefly, Yuna prepared herself for what was to come, then with a deep breath she began. Yuna began to twist and turn her whole body as well as her staff around in a majestic dance, almost like that of a ballet dancer. The reaction of the villagers were instantanious, crys of anguish could be heard as the remained of the village seemed to begin to weap for their lost ones. Reamainders of familys held onto each other for comfort as Yuna was dancing. Yuna continued to dance, unpeturbed by the crying of the villagers as her dancing continued... it happened.
Under the surface of the water, pyreflies became to slowly come forth from the dead of Kilika. Slowly they emerged from the bodies and broke the surface of the water, thier number increasing rapidly by the second. The pyreflies began to circle around Yuna as she danced, all the while she continued on, never one deviating despite the changes around her. Suddenly the golden fire ontop of the torches changed into a fiery blue as the magic of the sending continued. Yuna herself was then elevated into the air by the water herself. The pyreflies had swirled around Yuna's feet as the water itself became a pillar of water, pushing her into the air as she still continued to dance on.
Villagers were now breaking down and falling to thier knees as the pyreflies began to dissperse into the air and moving away, thier loved ones were on thier way to the Farplane to rest in peace. But despite the knowledge that they were going to a better place. They were all still upset through loosing thier friends and family. Turning my head slighly, I see Tidus staring out at Yuna, truly captivated by her, not taking his eyes off her dancing for a second. Looking slightly down from my friend, I see Kimahri and Tara stood on the lower docks where Yuna had been. I see that despite Kimahri now initially having his arms folded, one massive arm is around Tara's shouder, as she is holding onto him for comfort. Retreating back, I watch the last minute of the sending, but I feel a strange sensation. Reaching up, I rub a hand across my face, and realise that a stray tear has fallen down my cheek.
"I never realised that a sending would bring back memories for me. Last time I felt like this was at... at... my nana's funeral. I remember it was like this, seeing people crying all around me... the feeing of loss from everyone. Its been nearly ten years... and still I remember it like it was yesterday" I think
Almost as quickly as it had started the sending was complete. The last of the pyreflies had since departed into the sky, on thier way to the Farplane, the pillar of water lowered slowly back to the water, and treading lightly once more, Yuna made her way back towards the docks. As she stepped back onto the docks, Kimahri and Tara stepped apart, standing on either side of her shoulders, as Yuna was confronted by the villagers. Many of them were extending thier thanks for the sending to Yuna, who did her best to accomodate them.
"It must be tough, being a Summoner." Tidus said suddenly.
"You have no idea" I say with a sigh.
"Yuna chose her own path. She knew from the beginning what it meant." Lulu added "All we can do now is protect her along the way. Until the... end."
"Until the... end?" Tidus said shocked. He leaned forward towards Lulu in order to get his answer. "What's the end?" He asked frantic, looking back at me also.
I didnt realise how loud he had asked that question, until I saw that Yuna and the villagers on the docks had all turned to look in our direction. Turning my head away, I couldnt look at Tidus when he asked that question, even when I felt him looking at the side of my head, wanting an answer, I didnt have the heart to tell him. Fortunately Lulu interveened.
"Until she defeats Sin." Lulu spoke, starting to walk down to Yuna.
"Oh…" Was all Tidus could say. Although he did take another look at me, hoping id say something. But I still knew that I couldnt, it was hard enough to think about anyway, let alone say to him.
Lulu had since stopped on the lower docks, as Yuna stood before her. "I hope… I hope I did okay…" she voiced softly as I could hear Yuna beginning to cry.
Reaching forward, Lulu took Yuna into an embrace holding onto the young Summoner to comfort her. Tara slowly moved up between Yuna and Lulu and joined them in the embrace.
"You did very well!" Lulu praised proudly. "They've reached the Farplane by now. But…no tears next time, hm?" Lulu added.
"Lulu's right sis... you did really well, the people of Kilika can sleep easier knowing thier loved ones are happy and safe in the Farplane" Tara said.
Standing there looking down at them comforting Yuna, I realised in some way how horrifying it must be being a Summoner. You must have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Charged with defeating a monster that brings death to the world, and having to perform funerals for those that it slaughters. I didnt envy her at all, this was a job I really wouldnt have wanted.
"I wished there would never be a next time. No more people being killed by Sin. No more sendings for Yuna. Everyone stood there watching her. It was strange, and somehow…horrifying. I never wanted to see it again." Tidus narrates
"I didnt realise how powerful the feeling was when Yuna was performing a sending. It brought back less than pleasant memories for me. At my nana's funeral, the feeling I felt then and now were one in the same. No wonder I couldnt stop crying. I could see now why Yuna always managed to keep a brave face on things. For if she faultered for even a second... then she would break down forever." I narrate
Night fell quickly in Kilika, and some time later Tidus and I found ourselves in the village Inn for the night. Everyone had been pretty silent after the sending, and as well all made our way to the Inn I could feel that no one wanted to talk after the events of the day. After we had checked into the Inn, I was handed a key by Tara for a room for me and Tidus to share, with a smile she left us at the door of our room while she headed down the hallway to join Yuna in thier room. With a sigh I open the door to the room, which wasnt too bad considering the damage that the building had taken. Sitting down on the bed I simply hang my head forward and look at the floor. Moments later I could hear Tidus sit down on his bed opposite, and I could almost feel him looking at me from across the room.
"You know I can almost feel you looking" I say, still facing the floor.
"Am I that obvious?" Tidus replies.
"Yeah" I reply weakly.
Sitting back up, I stand up for a second to remove my coat, sword and duel disk, and lay them down on the bed, taking a step towards the window, I take a look out at the open sea, that is lit up by the moonlight.
"So I guess you want to ask me something?" I say with my back still turned to Tidus.
"Well..." He trailed off, as if unsure. "Just what exactly did we see tonight with this Sending? And whats this Farplane that Lulu mentioned.?" He asked.
Breathing out heavily, I take a moment to think of my answer for him. Its not that I didnt have an answer to him, its just how do you explain reasonably a defintion of an afterlife or souls?
"Do you believe in an afterlife Tidus?" I ask him simply.
"Not really given it much thought" He says sheepishly.
"Well thats sort of what you just saw today with Yuna's Sending." I reply
"Oh..." He says, starting to put the pieces together.
"You saw the pyreflies that seemed to come out of the peoples bodies as Yuna danced?" I say, turning around to look at him.
"So thats what they were?" Tidus asked.
"Yes, those were Pyreflies" I say, realising that he had never actually had them explained to him. "Pyreflies are present in just about everything in Spira, they are in people, Fiends, even my duel monsters, as you might have noticed by now" I say.
"Yeah, whenever we fought Fiends they always seemed to come out of thier bodies, and they seemed to appear when you and Tara were dueling" He says.
Nodding I continue on. "Pyreflies are like the souls of Spira, they are responsible for many things in this world. But in regards to a Sending..." I trail off.
"The Sending sends them to thier next life" Tidus finishes
"Good one Tye. The Sending allows the pyreflies to leave the bodies of the person who has died and go to the Farplane, where they can rest in peace forever." I add.
"Think I get it now" Tidus says rubbing the back of his head.
"Thats why the Summoners are the driving force of Spira, without them, the souls of the dead couldnt move on and well... well you heard what Lulu said would happen if that arnt sent." I say.
"Yikes" Tidus says.
"Yikes is right... Dont ask me how the Summoners actually do these things though... Because I dont have any idea. I guess that its something that the powers of the Fayth give them..." I say as my mind casts back to what ive lost.
"Like the power that I had... the fact now that I couldnt use it killed the people of Kilika. Putting Yuna through that awful task of sending the people of Kilika because I couldnt save them... because im a failure" I finish.
Looking out at the pale moon in the sky, I slowly hear Tidus stand up from his bed and walk towards me, his feet echoing slightly on the wodden floorboards. In the end he was stood by my side looking out of the window with me.
"Kaiser..." He began. "It wasnt your fault, being able to summon a monster or not just think about it. Both Tara and Yuna used thier strongest monsters attacks and it didnt even seem to do much damage. As much as your Cyber End Dragon is a total bad ass monster, it might not have done much good either." Tidus summises.
"At least I should have tried" I say slowly.
"Right thats enough!" Tidus says quite sternly. Suprised I turn to look at him.
"Sorry... But its just you cant keep blaming yourself for this... You have to move past it, otherwise you'll never get your power back." He says.
Looking out of the window once again I sigh. "Your right I guess" I say.
"Course I am, not only am I an ace Blitz player but a leading wiseman too!" He says with a grin, to which I laugh. "Hey Kaiser" He then says.
"What?" I ask
"What is it you promised the Fayth anway? I heard Tara ask you when I was on ship, but I didnt hear what you said I as I was walking over to you all" He asks.
"I promised... that on my honour as a duelist that no harm would ever come to any of my friends again" I say, then place a hand on his shoulder. "And not to any good friends of mine, especially since ive already made a promise to my best friend once already on the beach of Besaid" I say.
"Thanks man" He says.
"Meh, you know me, alls well in a good old promise" I say, as we both chuckle "Anyway, time for my sleep I think, we have a big day tomorrow" I say, heading to my bed.
"Whats tomorrow like?" He asked, to which I facepalm.
"Never mind getting your eyes checked, how bout your head... dont you remember? We're going to the Kilika temple for Yuna to pray to the Fayth there." I say
"Oh yea... got it!" He says.
"Why am I surrounded by idiots?" I say still facepalming.
"Is that a trick question?" Tidus says smirking
One small fist fight later...
"Not a trick question then" Tidus says, after I had finished throttling him.
"Good" I say smiling. Within a few seconds we are both laughing hysterically at both our antics. Once we calm down I sit down on my bed.
"Thanks Tye" I say.
"For what?" He says.
"For making me smile again after today... and just for being you ya daft sod" I say.
"Anytime" He says before starting to settle down for bed. "Night Kaiser" He says.
"Night Tye" I reply, before I quickly settle down onto my bed. The bed was more comfy than the one in Besaid had been, and it didnt take long for me to drift off to a peaceful sleep.
"And there I was thinking you were actually going to have some spine for once and throw your duel disk in the sea today... How wrong I was for giving you that little amount of credit" Spoke the voice.
"What can I say, I have good friends that support and care for me... not that you would know anything about that" I reply
"Hmph... Power is all that I need. Besides would your friends treat you the same way if they knew who you really were?... Yes... I know who you really are" Taunted the voice.
"Your not going to get under my skin this time" I reply sternly.
"By that reply it looks like I just did" Laughed the voice.
As soon as I seemed to have closed my eyes, I opened them again almost instantly. I could see that it is late morning outside the window, looking across the room I see that Tidus is still snoring lightly in bed. Taking a few minutes to freshen myself up and get myself together, I then go and wake Tidus who isnt exactly a morning person as ive come to realise. Around twenty minutes later we are both leaving the Inn, refreshed and fed after a hearty breakfast that the landlady had offered. As we exited the Inn I could see a person in yellow running in our direction, I recognised him as one of the Aurochs.
"Hey! You awake? Cap'n Wakka's waiting for you!" he said, before running off quickly into the remains of the village.
"I guess that means we follow him?" Tidus says.
"Guess so" I reply. "Come on" I say, as we both head off in the direction that the Auroch went.
As we walked off through the village, I couldnt help but notice that some of the village was already being rebuilt. The citizens of Kilika sure could work fast, but then again in retrospect, chances are that they were used to attacks by Sin. Eventually we managed to track down Wakka to one of the side streets, or what was left of it. He seemed to be overseeing the demolition/construction of the sideroad itself. Seeing us approach he turned round and gave us a grin, although I would have to have guessed that the grin was mainly, if not purely for Tidus.
"Ah, there you are!" He began, before turning round to his teammates still at work. "Besaid Aurochs! Huddle!" Wakka commanded.
The team that were busy in the constrcution area, quickly dropped what they were doing to gather before thier captain.
"Onto the temple, where we pray for victory!" Wakka proclaimed folding his arms across his chest.
"Yeah!" The Aurochs echoed, punching the air for emphasis. Without another further word, they shot off like lightning towards the Kilika woods.
"High Summoner Ohalland used to live in the Kilika temple here! Yep, Lord Ohalland was once a great blitzer, y'know?" Wakka said, already starting to walk away.
"Wakka…" Tidus breathed slowly
"Hm?" Wakka asked, puzzled
Tidus gave me a glance before speaking, almost hoping he wouldnt say anything out of turn to the older Blitzer. "Praying for victory's all good... but is this right?" Tidus asked carefully.
"Somethin' wrong with enjoying Blitzball?" Wakka quizzed.
"Is this really the time?" Tidus continued
"What he means is Wakka, after what happened yesterday, is it right to continue on like it didnt happen?" I add.
"This is the only time! The players fight with all their strength, the fans cheer for their favourite team. They forget pain, suffering…Only the game matters! That's why Blitz has been around so long! Least that's what I think." Wakka says, then he looks at me.
"Asked for what happened yesterday? You havnt got the right to say anything ya? Least everyone else did try to help, unlike you! Only thing you did was stand and cry like a baby cause you couldnt summon something... which was your own fault if you dont remember!" Wakka said very sternly.
I was absolutely stunned by what Wakka had said, I could feel my blood starting to boil, I clenched my fists hard to try and calm myself, but it wasnt working. Chances are I could have cut off the circulation in my hands I was gripping that hard. Still Wakka stood there with a smug look on his face, arms folded across his chest knowing that he had pushed my buttons. I could see that Tidus had almost gone white in the face after what Wakka had said, it was Tidus that broke the rather tense silence.
"Wakka... that was really low" Tidus said slowly.
"Low ya? But the truth" Wakka said.
Gritting my teeth I take a step towards him so that we were almost nose to nose. Despite him having a size advantage on my I didnt care, I was far too angry to care about that right now.
"GO FUCK YOURSELF WAKKA" I say, voice dripping with venom.
With that I turn and storm off in the direction of Kilika woods, still fuming over my encounter with Wakka. I could hear Tidus and Wakka talking as I left, but I wasnt really paying attention to what they were saying. Right now I felt like killing someone I was that angry. The destruction of Kilika had almost cut me up completely inside after I couldnt summon a monster to help them. Yet he throws that back in my face? To say I needed to cool down was an understatement. I could see Kilika woods just up ahead as the wooden platfrom met the mainland I quickly stepped down towards the seawater. Cupping some of the water in my hand, I quickly rinse my face and feel a quick shock as the cold water hit my face. But it did the trick, I felt like I was cooling down, in more ways than one. Satisfied that I wouldnt have a face like thunder when I met the others. I take off into the woods.
As I entered the woods I could hear the wildlife beginning to stir as I moved along the trail, various animals emitting noises and insects buzzing around in thier daily business. Despite the fact that it was known as Kilika woods, the place was more like a jungle. Various tall exotic trees were growing all around in various states of growth and decay. The heavy leafs from the tall trees shielded the sun out of most of the woods, creating a nice cool place to be in. Although some sun rays still shone through the canopy top, and despite not having too much sun, other plants and fauna had no trouble flourishing in the woods. Looking down I see the cobbled stones of the trail leading off into the distance before me.
"Pity these stones wernt yellow" I say to no one in particular.
Smiling to myself, I continue onwards along the trail. After about a minute or so I see the others waiting up ahead, Lulu was stood by herself with her arms folded looking rather more serious than usual, although I knew full well why that was. Slightly behind her, Tara and Yuna were stood chatting away with Kimahri stood just behind them almost covering them with his shadow alone. Upon seeing my arriving, Lulu took a step forward still with her arms crossed, and stared me down with those cold eyes of hers.
"Yuna says she wants you as her Duelist" Lulu said calmly.
"What?!" I ask in shock, not expecting this revelation.
"Exactly what I said... considering that you cant use your duel monsters anymore for a start." Lulu replies.
Turning and looking at the young Summoner I cast her a perplexed look. "Why Yuna? You know I cant duel, and besides Tara is your duelist" I almost protest.
"It was Tara's idea" Yuna replied softly.
Once more my expression was that of puzzlement as I turned to the fair Kisara. "Why Tara?" I ask once more.
Tara for her part turned to her sister who gave her a nod, before she slowly walked towards me. Standing infront of me she took my hands in hers.
"Because we need you with us Kaiser. Your the Duelist of the prophecy regardless of whats happened. It would be selfish of me not to say you should be her Duelist if it meant we could defeat Sin once and for all..." She trailed off. "Besides... Yevon never actually states in the teachings how many Duelists a Summoner can have" She says with a wry smile. "So ill be along the way with you... consider me your partner!" She says with a grin.
I had to admit, her logic was quite sound. I wasnt meaning about me taking her place or whatever either, it was true that it was never stated how many duelists a Summoner could have, just seemed typical for a Summoner to have one. Looks like we were all exceptions to that rule. But still there was the fact that I couldnt duel, which was a major problem obviously.
"I... I dont think I can..." I say slowly.
"Why?" Yuna suddenly spoke up.
"Because I cant duel or use my monsters Yuna... and I dont know when ill be able to again, if at all. I dont want to drag your pilgrimage down because of me" I say.
It was now Yuna's turn to move towards me, standing side by side with her sister she gave me a sweet smile.
"We talked it over just about all night yesterday" Yuna began. "Tara and I both agree that even if you cant duel now, that you will be able to again sometime. So we can wait for that day and hope its sometime soon" Yuna said.
Looking at the two girls infront of me, I couldnt understand why they had so much faith in me. I didnt mean that fact that I was supposed to be the duelist of the prophecy or whatever. I meant the pure fact that they had faith in ME, not someone who I was supposed to be, but me as a person. That was something that I had never really experienced, and the feeling of that faith right now was wonderful. But still there were doubts.
"Ill make you a promise... Which I seem to be making a lot of lately" I say with a grin. "When im able to use my monsters again, then ill accept Yuna" I say to the pair.
Looking at each other for a second, it dosnt take long for the pair to reach a decision. "We accept" Yuna says with a smile. "Long as there are no objections?" Kisara adds, looking at Lulu and Kimahri.
"I have no objections... provided he meets his terms" Lulu says darkly.
Looking over at Kimahri, I see him simply nod his head in repsonse. Looks like it was settled, except chances are for one detail. "What about Wakka?" I ask
"Forget Wakka" Tara exclaimed. "He dosnt have a choice in the matter" She said with a malicious grin.
"And I doubt your friend would object either... especially" Yuna trailed off.
It was at that time that Wakka and Tidus appeared on the scene, walking up together from the parth leading back to Kilika. Seeing the scene before them, Wakka was looking a bit confused.
"What's up?" He enquired
"Kaiser has just agreed to be Yuna's duelist along with Tara when he is able to duel again" Lulu says flatly
"WHAT!" Wakka almost screams. "Yuna! What in the name of Yevon are you thinking?" He added.
"She's made up her mind Wakka, deal with it" Tara says, to which Wakka turns his attention to Yuna.
"Yuna?" Wakka pleads to the Summoner
"Yes Wakka, its already been decided, once he can duel again he will be my duelist, along with Tara." Yuna states.
"Ahhhhh man" Wakka groans. "I cant believe this is happening" Wakka moans.
"Yuna has made up her mind, the matter is closed Wakka" Lulu says firmly, before she takes a step forward. "Anyway... Yuna's saying she wants you with us too." She said, her ruby eyes now looking at Tidus.
"Huh?" Tidus exclaimed, unprepared for such a statement.
Turning away from me, Yuna looked in Tidus's direction before speaking. "I want... to ask you… to become my Guardian." She says slowly.
"Yuna! What?" Wakka interrupted moving to stand behind her. "We've already had one joke today in an announcement ya? He may be a blitzball whiz-kid, but up against Fiends, he's a newbie."
Yuna slowly turned round to stare up at Wakka "Not a Guardian, then... I just want him nearby." She continued, to which Wakka seemed to recoil in shock.
"What? Whaddya mean?" Tidus suddenly said, who had suddenly appeared next to the young Summoner.
"It's just that, well…" Yuna stuttered.
"We're all going to the temple anyway. Can't this wait till later?" Lulu suddenly butted in, interjecting herself into the group.
"I'm sorry." Yuna suddenly said, looking at Lulu. "I shouldn't have…" She added, now addressing Tidus
"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just not really sure what's going on." He admitted, shaking his head
"My apologies." Yuna finished with a slight bow.
An awkward silence now befell the group as everyone was looking round, just trying to gauge everyone else's reactions. It took Kimahri to break the silence, stepping forward, he simply pointed in the direction deeper into the woods, indicating they should move on. Very slowly the group began to move, and started to follow the cobbled path beneath our feet. Tidus and I were left straggling at the rear, walking side by side. I could tell that he seemed troubled by something, his usual carefree smile was not present, it took a few minutes of walking before Tidus spoke up.
"Kaiser..." He said slowly.
"Yes Tye" I reply.
"What Wakka said in the village... I thought it was really low man... just sorry you had to hear it" He said.
"Thanks... but it dosnt matter, im passed it. Although I would have like to have given him a little present courtesy of my fist at the time" I say.
"Well either way... Once you left I spent the next few minutes arguing to him about it... He wasnt really taking me seriously but least I let him know that I didnt like it" He said.
"Thanks Tye" I say with a smile, giving him a slap on the back. "What would I do without you?" I say. Tidus smiles, and moves to open his mouth but I interrupt him. "Actually dont answer that" I say.
Giggling slightly, Tidus spoke once more. "Good call... anyway, congrats on being Yuna's Duelist and all" He says.
"Not quite yet..." I say. "Ive still to keep my promise to the Fayth before I said id agree" I say.
"But your gonna agree right?" Tidus asks.
"Of course, there isnt a higher honour. Plus Tara is being my partner in it so at least I would have shut her out of it" I say
"How did she take the news?... Not good?" He says with a mock gulp.
"Actually it was her idea" I say grinning.
"Really?" Tidus asks suprised.
"Yeah really" I say.
Tidus suddenly gets a malicious grin on his face and I realise that he's gonna poke fun. "Well for her to do something like that... she must dig you man... hehe" He smiles, fortunately I was ready for him.
"Yes Mr Yuna wants them as her Guardian" I counter, his face falls at my statement. "She just wants you near? Yeah right" I snigger.
"You win" He conceeds rubbing the back of his head.
"Thats what im such a black clad, bad ass" I say with a grin.
Laughing it off, we quickly rejoin the main group as we walk along the trail path. It didnt take long for us to come to an obstacle on our path. Rather a large plant like obstacle, as we all stop at a bridge, I see that a large purple plant like creature with four large tentacles for arms is stood on the opposite end of the bridge, as if on guard. Stood on either side of the bridge stood two figures who I recognised immediately. It was Luzzu and Gatta, the Crusaders, Gatta immediately lurched forward to block our path. But considering I knew what they were about to say, I quickly approached Lulu and took her to one side as they began to speak...
"Company halt!" He commanded, Luzzu then quickly steps before his young prodigy.
"The Fiend before us is Ochu, Lord of the Wood! We've had trouble with this one before. Remember, discretion is the better part of valor" He says, indicating the Fiend over his shoulder.
"Not today it isnt!" Tara suddenly exclaimed, hands on her hips.
"Excuse me?" Luzza enquired.
"You got a whole group of seasoned warriors on your hands here, we can take down the Ochu for you!" She squealed.
"It would be a huge help sir" Gatta added.
Folding his arms, Luzzu lost himself in thought for a moment. "Well... I cant ask you to take on the Fiend, and I know I couldnt stop you even if you want to... So..." Luzzu trailed off.
Nodding to Gatta, the two Crusaders simply stood aside on to allow the rest of us passage.
"So what do you think sis?" Tara said turning to Yuna.
"Well..." Yuna trailed off, before nodding her head for emphasis. "Lets do it!" She said.
A quick unsheathing of weapons later, we had all prepared for battle on the bridge just before where the Ochu was. Once again taking point were the three men of the group on the front lines, while I stood slightly back from them guarding the women on the back lines. Kimahri instantly took to the attack, roaring loudly, he charged the Ochu, slashing at it with his spear widely. The Ochu responded by lashing down at the Ronso with its four plant like arms, trying to smack Kimahri out of range. Kimahri however was far too fast for the Ochu, and manged to dodge the Ochus attack, before finally coming up close to its body, where he impaled it wtih his spear, causing the Fiend to shriek in agony. Kimahri withdrew his spear and jumped back to avoid the Ochu's now wild strikes. Tidus immediately followed it by weaving his way towards the Ochu, intended on attacking its body also. But by now the Ochu had learnt from the previous attack and was attacking with two of its arms while defending its body with the rest. As it made a slash Tidus raised his sword and slashed back, severing the end of the Ochu's arm, making it roar in pain. Seconds later it had another thing to worry about as Wakka had threw his blitzball at the Fiend while it was distracted, the bliitzball connected square in the Ochu's head, rocking it from the impact.
Tidus quickly jumped a few steps back just in time as the Fiend roared in pain and anger at loosing one of its arms. Taking a deep breath it exhaled a large green cloud at the three men who had attacked it, they didnt have time to react as they were all engulphed in the cloud which quickly dissapated. But now they were all on thier knees coughing and spluttering.
"Its poison!" I shout. "Yuna! They need your help now!"
"Already on it!" Yuna replied, who was quickly preparing a barrage of Esuna spells to cure the poison effect.
Tara had already taken the initative as the front line were now incapacitated, her duel disk was active and she had already drawn a few cards, slotting one in the disk, she held two cards aove her head.
"Go Polymerization! I Fuse Elemental Hero's Avian and Burstinatrix together!" She shouted. The two monsters briefly appeared before jumping into the fusion vortex above her head, emerging came a monster. "Come on out Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Tara cried.
The mighty dragon armed hero descended to land on the floor on the front lines, staring down the Ochu. Lulu in the meantime had been charging up a spell, and with a wave of her hand the Fiend was engulphed in flames as Lulu cast her Fire spell, the Ochu screamed a horrible cry as it tried to douse the flames out with its remaining arms quickly. In the confusion I turned to Lulu and gave her a nod, with a wry grin she raised her hand in the air to cast another spell. In the meantime I had raised my sword above head, Lulu then cast her spell, only this time at the sword itself, charging it up with magical fire energy. With a wry smile I turned back towards the Fiend, before running to the front lines to join Flame Wingman.
"Hey Lulu" I say. "You couldnt help me out could you?" I ask.
"Help you out how?" Came a short reply.
"Well im not too good with a sword, so I wont be much help against Fiends, so I was wondering if you could give me an edge in battle?"
"What do you propose?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Well you could enchant my weapon with your magic, something a Fiend would be weak against?" I say.
"Hmmmm" She considers for a moment. "Ill try... but no promises. Its not something ive done before" Lulu says.
I give myself a inward pat on the back for remembering the idea of a magic sword technique, now my blade was infused with Fire magic that I knew the Fiend was weak against. Looking slightly to my left I see the Flame Wingman with his arms across his chest, waiting for the command to attack. Turning back to Tara, we exchanged glances and she gave me a nod of understanding. Turning to look at the Wingman again, I see that it is also llooking at me.
"Cover me there buddy! Im going in!" I shout.
"Go Flame Shoot!" Tara shouted
Nodding in reply Flame Wingman drew back his dragon arm and thrust it forward, unleashing a torrent of flames from the dragons arms mouth, completely incinerating the Ochu. Seizing my chance I rush forward as the Ochu was starting to recover, and slashed across the Ochu's body, and to my suprise the Ochu ignited once again as the Fire magic Lulu had placed in the sword was dispelled onto the Fiend. Running back for cover I could see that the front line crew were back on thier feet as Yuna had finished casting the Esuna spells on them. But thier recovery was short lived as the earth seemed to move violently beneath our feet.
"Whats going on!" Tidus shouts.
"Earthquake!" Wakka shouted.
Everyone was off thier feet within a few seconds as we saw the cause of the earthquake. The Ochu was jumping up and down on the spot, causing the earthqake. The Ochu for its appearance looked like a wilted flower, as most of its leaves and its green like colour had now turned a rather dark shade of brown after all the fire attacks it had suffered. The Ochu's attack was interrupted as it was attacked from above by a creature using its sharp tail claws, looking up I see that the creature is actually Valefor. After getting back on my feet, I see that Yuna is on hers, and still concentrating after summoning her Aeon. Valefore seemed to be concentrating himself while hovering gently in the air, and I instantly knew what was coming.
"Use Energy Ray!" Yuna commanded.
Valefor gave a roar before unleashing his Overdrive attack, sending the laser beam at the Ochu it was struck dead on, and with one final shriek, the Ochu died in a cloud of pyreflies. With the battle over Yuna dismissed Valefor with a wave who in trun retreated back into the clouds, while Tara replaced her cards back into her deck, as Flame Wingman dissolved into pyreflies. As everyone was regaining thier breath, I saw that the two Crusaders were now heading over the bridge towards us, Gatta gawping at us all the while with quite an open mouth.
"A Summoner and her Guardians. Very impressive!" Luzzu announced.
"Sir, we should fight, too!" Gatta exlaimed
"We'll get our chance soon enough." Luzzu said quitely. Turning he gave a the Yevon prayer sign to us, before turning and leaving the area with Gatta who was singing along the way.
"Young Crusaders gather round! We'll beat Sin into the ground!" Gatta's voice echoed, as the two Crusaders faded from view into the woods, the group began to move through the woods once more on the trail to Kilika temple.
"Well that was fun!" Tara said cheerily.
"Say that for the people who didnt get smoothered in poison" Tidus said sarcastically.
"I dont know... Green looked your colour" I say wryly, earning a few chuckles from some of the group.
"Haha" Tidus adds.
"Hey Lulu" Yuna suddenly says. "How did you come up for the idea of enchanting Kaiser's sword?" Yuna asked the mage.
"Ask Kaiser" Lulu replies dryly. "It was his idea, I just did as he requested" Lulu finished. Eyes in the group immediately turned now onto me for an explanation.
"Its no big" I say rubbing the back of my head. "Just until I get to use my monsters again I thought I should contribute a bit more to the group, so I asked Lulu to help me out on that one" I say.
"Either way it was cool!" Tara squealed.
"I try" I say with a smile.
A few laughs later and a small hmph from Wakka and we were heading quite quickly towards the vicinity of the temple. Aftera few short minutes with us all walking along side a river, we came upon stone steps, that would lead up to the temple. With Yuna leading the way we ascended the steps towards the temple.
As our group asscended the first section of the stone steps, I could see that two of the Besaid Aurochs were already at the first break in the stairs, I recognised them as Datto and Letty, there were on a leveled off area where people could stand before the next flight. The pair seemed to be stretching thier legs and performing other warming up type exercises. Stopping after the first flight with the Aurochs, we all gathered together as Wakka stood before the next flight of stairs, his arms folded across his chest.
"These stone steps have a history, y'know?" Wakka began, I noticed that Tidus seemed to be looking up the large flight of stairs as Wakka recounted his tale. "Yep, Lord Ohalland trained here at his peak." Wakka finished.
The two Aurochs began to chuckle slightly in the direction fo Tidus and I. I could see him give them a gaze as he caught onto what they were after, looking in my direciton, he gave me a smile as I knew what was coming
"A race, huh?" he began "Think you can beat us?" He said putting a hand on my shoulder while pointing at himself with his other hand.
"Whos we?" I ask, giving him a look.
"Oh come on! It'll be fun! We can totally whip these guys!" Tidus says with a goofy grin.
"Fine" I say defeated.
As well all line up at the stairs, I initially stood next to Tidus with Wakka on the other side of me. However I quickly scratched that plan as Wakka seemed to be taking up a bit too much space next to me, which I guessed he was doing on purpose. So with a sigh, I went and stood on the far side of the steps next to the edge. Wakka turns to the side shortly after towards Yuna and Tara.
"Yuna, Tara, if you would." Wakka called.
The Summoner and Duelist stepped forwards graciously with a mischevious twinkle in thier eyes.
"Ready?" They both said, holding up thier arms. she held her arm up and after giving each other a knowing look... they both sprinted up the stairs with a loud giggle!
"Hey!" Wakka shouted, running up the stairs closely followed by Datto and Letty, Tidus and I on the other hand were still stood on the bottom step.
"Wha? Hey!" Tidus gasped, to which I facepalmed.
"You really didnt see that one coming?" I say
"Well dont just stand there!" Tidus exclaimed. "Lets get after them!" He said, beginning to run up the stairs.
Giving the remaining Lulu and Kimahri a look, to which they both responded with a solemn nod, I quickly ran up the stairs after Tidus. Catching up to him after a flight of stairs or two, we both quickly were bounding up the stairs as we headed towards the summit. But within a few more seconds screams of terror errupted from the further up the stairs, an icy grip of terror engulphed my chest as I knew why there were screaming.
"L-Look out!" Datto shrieked as he and Letty practically threw themselves down the stairs to escape the source of thier fears.
"Everyone quick!" Wakka cried from the top of the steps "Sinspawn!" He shouted.
Tidus and I had stopped for a second on the steps when Datto and Letty passed us, but within half a second Lulu and Kimahri were now passing us heading up the stiars, weapons in hands. Quickly drawing our swords, we bound up the stairs after them. As we reach the top of the stairs, the entire area seems to open out, into a large sized area, roughly equal in size to half of a football field, the area itself is still all paved like the steps. This must have been the are where Lord Ohalland trained as Wakka had recounted. However the creature that now resided there was certainly not the High Summoner Blitzball legend, it was a Sinspawn.
The creature seemed to have errupted from beneath the pavement itself, sending the surrounding earth and debris around it to lie in piles of rubble on the, two extremely large, what looked like hands had emerged from the ground. They were green in colour and had what also looked like four finger appendages, each one seemed to split down the centre to form another type finger. They could only described simply as tentacles. Yuna and Tara were already in conflict with the tentacled hands, the latter of the pair had summoned Elemental Hero Wildheart to attack the hands. However the sword wielding hero was hard pressed in fending off a total of eight tentacle attacks at once.
As we all gathered in the center of the area, the ground began to shake, as the pavement seemed to move near the other side of the tentacled hands. Debris and dust were then errupted into the air as something else emerged from the ground. As the duest settled, a large cocoon shell seemed to have appeared and was currently innert. I knew that it was the Sinspawn Geneaux, and it was a mighty beast, formed from Sin itself. I knew that we had to take out the shell frist to release the true form of the creature, however there was one complication, we were all currently stood in the middle of a triangle shape based on the position of the beast and its tentacles. The Sinspawn could attack us on all sides, which didnt make the odds good, considering we were all stood back to back in a small area that was left, we wouldnt have much room to move in.
"Go for those tentacles!" Wakka suddenly shouted. "Get rid of those first before we go for the Fiend!"
Our battle position immediately shifted as we turned to attack the tentacles first, the tentacles seemed to pre-empt our attack first however. Each hand began to lash out with its tentacles at us, Wildheart was the first to be attacked, an entire hand of tentacles attacked the hero, who managed to dodge a few shots, but there were simply too many to deal with. The monster was lashed across the chest hard and sent flyying through the air to land on his back with a thud, Tara immediately screamed in pain as the monsters pain affected her, falling to one knee, Yuna was by her side instantly, preparing a cure spell. The next to be attacked was Wakka, he managed to dodge a head on strike but a sneak attack from another tentacle for his legs tripped him up, making him fall flat on his back and grimace in pain.
Lulu fired off a Fire spell at the attacking tentacle, causing it to falter for a second under the attack, but the other tentacle now struck in its place. It lashed out this time aiming for Kimahri, the ronso roared in rage and swiped with his spear at the tentacles, forcing them back, then with a mightly leap, he flew through the air towards the tentacles, and sliced a 'finger' or one of the hand tentalces clean off, green coloured blood started to spurt from the wound as the hand began to thrash in what seemed like pain.
"Lets turn up the speed!" Tidus suddenly shouted. All of a sudden with a wave of his gauntleted hand, he was surrounded by a magical red light, and he seemed to be moving a lot quicker. I realised that he had managed to cast Haste on himself. "Lets finish what you started big guy!" Tidus said towards Kimahri.
As Tidus then made a sprint towards the same tentacle Kimahri attacked, I turned to look at Lulu, who seemd to have once again anticipated my plan. With a wave of her hand, she cast a Fire spell at my sword enchanting it once more. Making a sprint towards the other that Lulu had stunned with her spell earlier, Tidus and I were on a co-ordinted attack to strike them both at once. The hand with one less tentacle had no chance of hitting the blitzer, he was simply moving too fast for it, effortlessly dodging and weaving each one of its strikes, executing a cartwheel and then a graceful flip, Tidus slashed his sword down hard on the hand, perfectly executing his Spiral Cut Overdrive. I wasnt faring as good as he was, the hand I was attacking had recovered and was lashing at me with its tentacles rapidly. I managed to avoid most of them, but the last one missed me by a hairs breadth, looking up I see a tentacle lashing straight for me that I knew I wouldnt be able to dogde. However the attack didnt come, the tentacle suddenly was ripped in two with blood spurting everywhere.
Looking up I see Elemental Hero Wildheart, landing on the ground after an overhead slash attack. Looking over my shoulder I see Tara who is back on her feet giving me a smile. Realising I wont get a better chance than this I stop just short of the lower are of the Sinspawn. Closing my eyes, I grab my sword with both hands and draw it back over my shoulders.
"Hope this works" I think.
Leaping from my feet, I suddenly feel as if I'd jumped higher than I actually could, looking down for a second, I see that Kimahri was where I once stood, who seemed to have given me a boost with his spear as I jumped. Sailing high in the air I see that im just about leavel with the tentacled hand, bringing my sword down in a downwards cleaving arc, I slice into the palm of the hand as the Fire magic dispells into the Fiend. The resulting Fire magic engulphs the tentacles and my sword actually splits the hand clean in half, as my movement descent slows as I cleave though the Fiend. Finally as my sword touches the floor, the Sinspawn splits in half as it dies in a shower of pyrelies before disintegrating. Turning round, Kimahri is still there, the Ronso gives me an ackowledging nod as he runs back to help the others with the other arm.
"Thanks for that one Cloud" I begin to think. "Hope that was a Braver attack you could have been proud of" I say, thinking of the spikey haired soldier. "Glad Kimahri helped me out with it"
Rushing back over to the goup, I can see that they are making short work of the other tentacle. With seven against one odds, regardless of how many tentacle's it had, the odds were in our favour. Wakka launched his blitzball at the hand section of the creature, hitting it square on, while Lulu immediately cast a fire spell at the creature, causing it to thrash in pain. The rest was all academic as Kimahri, Tidus and Wildheart attacked again, each one slicing off the remaining fingers of the creature. After so much punishment the Sinspawn began to slump forward and die in a sea of pyreflies.
"We arnt outta the woods yet! The real Fiend is coming!" Wakka shouted.
Sure enough the cocoon began to convulse, and within an instant the monster appeared. It looked like a small plant, with the cocoon shell still remaining on its back, almost like a shield for its rear. Green in colour like the tentacles that we had defeated, I could see that that it almost was covered with circular pads from its shoulders around the side of its body. It didnt seem to have any eyes, but rather had a large mouth and more of a note once again... it had two arms that had four tentacles on each that were swishing around on thier own accord.
"Great, more sodding tentacles!" I say.
"Not for long!" Tidus replies.
The Sinspawn however seemed to have other plans, it immediately lashed out with its tentacles straight for Lulu. The mage never saw the attack coming, and was lashed full across the body to be sent flying through the air to land on the floor with a sickening thud.
"Lulu!" Yuna screamed.
The young Summoner, immediately run towards the fallen body of her friend to check on her. Tara on the other hand was gritting her teeth in rage.
"You monster!" Tara screamed. "Wildheart! Slash that Fiend in two with Scimitar Slash!"
Wildheart responded to his duelist instantly, leaping high into the air wioth a loud warcy, intending on cleaving the Sinspawn in half with its sword, but the Sinspawn was prepared for such an attack. Using one of its tentacled arms, it flung them up towards Wildheart, and caught him in a vice like grip, squeezing the hero maliciously. Tara instantly grabbed hold of her chest, as she felt the same constriction her monster felt. With a loud cry of evil intent, the other tentacled hand proceeded to slash the Hero around the head as it was trapped. Tara screamed in pain at the attack, in the end Wildheart began to dissolve into pyreflies as it was defeated. Tara instantly fell to the floor after the punishment she had felt through her monster, Yuna instantly sprung towards her sister trying to use her Cure spells on her sister to ease her pain. Looking across I could see Lulu was still down, she must be unconscious... hopefully not anything worse.
Kimahri and Tidus began to counterattack, the pair sprinting forward to attack the beast. The Sinspawn responded with its tentacles once more, slashing at the pair, however the Ronso and blitzer were too fast for it as they dodged its attacks, and they both made a simultaneous strike on the body of the beast, making it roar in pain. The Fiend now enraged opened its mouth and shot out a green slime towards the pair, Tidus managed to dodge the attack but Kimahri was no so fortunate, he was hit dead on by the attack and was dazed slightly. Following it up, the Fiend made a double swipe at Kimahri hitting him with every tentacle full on, sending the Ronso skidding away to land on the floor unconscious.
Wakka now went on the offensive, I saw him start to spin his blitzball on his finger which ignited in a ball of flame while he was spinning it. Throwing it into the air he gave it a hard kick which rocket at the Sinspawn and engulphed it in flames. Wakka gave himself at satisfied smiled after seeing the damage his Overdrive Element Reels had caused but it was shortlived. As he jumped up to catch his blitzball the Sinspawn using one of its tentacles flung up and hit the ball hard, sending it hurtling at Wakka who wasnt quick enough to catch it, his own blitzball him full in the stomach winding him, falling to one knee gasping for breath he didnt have time to stop the Fiends next attack as it smacked him square across the face, knocking him out instantly.
Realising we were onto a loosing battle, I take the initative and run forward and try to attack the Sinspawn, I manged to move at the beast at an angle and must have been in its blindspot as it didnt stop me at all, I managed to get in a free strike across its body, not badly injuring it, but unfortunately enough to alert it to my prescence. In a screech of rage the Sinspawn lashed at me with its tentacles, I raised my sword in time to block, but its strength was enough to send my flying back through the air to fall flat on my face on the floor. My sword clattered on the floor beside me a second later as I tried to get my barings.
Looking up from the floor, I see Tidus, stood infront of Yuna and Tara, desperately parrying the attacks of the Sinspawn the best he could. The Sinspawn seemed to have focued its attacks on them seeing as they were the only ones left that it hadnt physically attacked. Everyone else in the group was down, Lulu, Wakka and Kimahri seemed to all be unconscious. Despite the pain in my body, I reach over to grab my sword and haul myself back onto my feet. Looking over Tidus was fighting a loosing battle, the Sinspawns attacking with its tentacles was simply too fast for him, he couldnt keep up. In the end it slapped his Brotherhood sword from his hands and he was defenceless, screeching in triumph it began lashing at the young blitzer with its tentacles, slapping him across the face and body.
"TIDUS!" I scream.
Tidus slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes after that punishment, Yuna and Tara began to cradle him, but there was nothing they could do. The Sinspawn retracted all its tentacles and screeched loudly, in that horrifying instant I realised its plan, it was going to strike all three of them down at once. Gripping my sword I sprint across to the trio just as the Sinspawn launched its attack. Tara and Yuna saw the attack coming and screamed in fear and closed thier eyes. A loud crashing sound brought their eyes back open as they see me, standing before them, sword in hand, parrying the Sinspawns attack. Pushing back with all my might, I throw back the tentacles from the Sinspawn, causing it to scream in anger at my defiance.
"Kaiser..." Tidus said weakly, to which I look over my shoulder briefly at the fallen trio. Both Tara and Yuna are staring up at me, with tears in thier eyes, while Tidus is giving me a weak smile. I could see blood running out of the corner of his mouth, he must have suffered internal injurys after its attack.
"Save yourself... its too strong" He said weakly.
Smiling at the Blitzer, I simply give him a thumbs up with my free hand.
"No can do, this thing isnt going to make me break a promise of mine..." I say as I turn to the Sinspawn. "YOU HEAR ME!" I roar. "I MADE A PROMISE THAT NOTHING WOULD HURT ANY OF MINE EVER AGAIN! YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST! SO BRING IT YOU OVERGROWN FUCKING FREAK!" I yell.
The Sinspawn responded with a war cry at my demand, throwing wave after wave of its tentacles at me. I parried the attacks as best that I could, slashing and takingh the brunt of the attacks on my sword, but I already knew I couldnt win. I didnt have the skill or energy to keep this up for much longer, the Sinspawn for its part was relentless, even though it only had two arms, the many tentacles it had on each, were a separate weapon, and with only one sword in my hand I didnt stand much of a chance. In the end the Sinspawn spotted and opening, it slashed at my leg with a tentacle that I couldnt parry, slicing through my jeans legs, it cut open my leg, causing me to loose my balance. In the next second the Fiend had batted my sword out of my hands, looking up for a second, I realise that its over.
The Fiend lashes out at me, striking me hard across the face, twisting my head around in the process. My head felt like it was going to explode as I could feel blood beginning to seap into my mouth. Falling to one knee for a second, I look forward to see my three charges on the floor before me. I could hear them saying things to me, yet thier words never reached my ears. Only I knew what they were saying, Yuna and Tara were frantically pleading with me to get to safety, while Tidus had managed to sit up almost, telling me to run for it. Shaking off the pain now racking my body, I summon up whatever strength I had left and lurch foward, trying my best to wrap my arms around the three of them, shielding them from the Sinspawn.
With the four of us, now almost within a hairs breadth of each other, I could see each of thier faces, mixed emotions trying to manifest themselfs, as they new what I was doing. Sacrificing myself to shield them from the Sinspawn. With a loud roar I could hear the Sinspawn resuming its attack, I then felt white hot pain running through my back, and quickly moving to the rest of my body. The Sinspawn was lashing at my body, striking my back constantly, almost like a whip, lancing at me with all its power. I could feel my senses starting to fade as the pain was taking hold... my breathing becoming shallow... my heart slowing. I look to the three one last time, before I fell into the blackness of oblivion.
Tara and Yuna were in disbelief as Kaiser's body fell foward onto them, holding him with an arm each, he was still slumped foward. Tidus frantically tried to sit up more to check on his friend. The Sinspawn was giving a roar of triumph at its handywork, but it didnt last long, as within a second a lance had imbedded itself within its body. Screaming loudly in pain, the Sinspawn tried to remove the offending weapon. However it didnt get far, Kimahri was now back on his feet and had sprinted forward and grabbed his lance, pulling it sharply out of the Sinspawn. Standing in a fighting pose, he began to fight with the Sinspawn once again, now enraged after it had knocked him out earlier. Yuna desperately put her hand over Kaisers chest, feeling desperately for something, her face quickly turned white in realisation.
"He's not breathing!" She screamed. "He's dead!"
Tidus immediately grabbed his friends body by his shoulders, and started to shake him hard, shouting at him all the while.
"Dont you dare die on me! We made a promise to each other in Besaid! I know you arnt gonna break that promise!" He yelled.
Tara still had one arm around Kaiser as she was holding onto his body, tears flowing down her face when Yuna had said that he was dead. Taking his face in one of her hands, she turns it towards her, Kaisers face still had the faint smile on his lips that he had given them before he fell forward, his eyes however were clamped shut. Leaning foward she kisses him on the cheek briefly before pulling away.
"I know you cant die here... we all need you... please come back to us!" She pleads.
"The four of us make quite a little grouping dont we?"
"A blitz player, a Summoner and two Duelists. With all that it makes us quite the crew!"
"I just hope that we never have to go our separate ways"
"The seals on your soul have been released... Finally after over a thousand years... Ive been set free... Thank you master"
The Sinspawn had just sent Kimahri flying to land in a heap on the floor after it had taken his attack previously. Roaring in triumph, it looked down back at the forms of Yuna and the others, who was huddled around the fallen body of thier friend. Giving a roar of malicious intent, it readied its tentacles to attack once again, but before it had the chance to attack, another roar errupted in the air. The Sinspawn stopped its attack at once, looking around for the new enemy. However nothing was there. Back on the ground, Lulu and Wakka seemed to have stirred to consciousness after the roar.
"What in Yevon was that!" Wakka exclaimed, holding his head.
Lulu took a look around at the scene, until she noticed that Kaiser was slumped forward over Yuna and Kisara.
"Wakka look!" She shouted. "Yuna! Is he?" She asked fearfully, Yuna tearfully nodded her response.
The roar came again, this time louder, causing everyone in the area to search for the cause of the noise, even the Sinspawn was searching around frantically looking for the source of the noise. There was only one word that could describe the way it was feeling right now... fear. In the end something happened. Tara and Yuna suddenly felt a strange sensation beginning to run through thier bodys. Looking across at each other, they were unsure of what was happening. But something did happen, in a heartbeat Kaiser's body was enveloped in a blue and white shining aura, a moment later a pair of magnificent blue and white wings seemed to sprout from Kaiser's back, opening to thier full length majestically in the air.
"Whats happening to him!" Tidus shouted.
He didnt have to wait long, for a second later he got his answer. Kaiser's eyes began to twitch, then within a second they had snapped open, no longer thier brown colour, but now a beautiful blue colour, radiating light all on thier own.
"Kaiser?" Tidus said unsure.
Clenching his fists, Kaiser slowly stood back up to full height, his wings closing slowly behind him, as he turned to face the Sinspawn that had attacked him. Tara and Yuna were both too stunned to speak or move, in the end Yuna did manage to utter two single words.
"He's alive..." She said weakly.
Tidus managed to get to his feet, despite being weak, holding onto his battered body, he hobbled a step closer to Kaiser, who was still in a staredown contest with the Sinspawn, which from the looks of it was quivering in fear at the sight.
"Kaiser... is that really you?" He asks.
Kaiser didnt respond, he didnt even seem to move at first, then very slowly, he turned his head slightly round, so that he took a second to look dead at the three people behind him, finally his gaze finished on Tidus.
Kaiser gave Tidus a small smile, and slowly gave him a thumbs up. "I dont break promises I make to friends" Kaiser said simply.
Kaiser's statement brought an overwhelming smile to the three people around him. Tidus immediately slumped to the floor, and was quickly joined by Yuna and Tara who tired to see if he was ok once again. The Sinspawn however was not impressed, it already had killed thier prey once, and it was going to make sure to do it again. In an instant it threw its tentacles at Kaiser, joining them together like two giant needles. But it wasnt meant to be, Kaiser's simply caught the tentacles in his hands, earning a gasp from everyone as well as a roar of anger from the Sinspawn.
Try as it might, the Sinspawn was pulling its hardest to get its arms back from Kaiser's grip, but the human wasnt moving an inch despite the pressure that it was exerting. Narrowing his eyes slightly, Kaiser suddenly pulled hard on the Sinspawns tentacles with inhuman strength. pulling it forward, with a hard crack, the Sinspawns head impacted hard onto the stone flooring, cracking it with the force of the impact. Slackening his grip slightly, the Sinspawn started to bring its head back up. But then again Kaiser pulled hard, cracking the Sinspawns head on the floor, again, and again, and again with a sickening thud each time. Kaiser then let go of the tentacles, as the Sinspawn began to thrash about, rather stunned after hitting the floor so many times.
Reaching out with his right hand towards where his sword lay on the ground a distance away, the sword began to convulse on the floor on its own, a second later the sword flew though the air came to a stop with the hilt in Kaiser's hand, who closed his hand around the hilt. The sword seemed to undergo a transformation as it stopped in Kaisers hand. The normal dark red colour the sword was now changed colour, to a blue colour with white stripes alond the edges of the blade, just like his wings.
Gripping his sword in both hands, Kaiser suddenly lurched forward with lightning speed, he almost looked like he was sliding along the floor he was moving that fast, stopping just infront of the Sinspawn, Kaiser slashed his sword across the body of the Fiend twice, in an X shape, then almost as if he hadnt moved at all, he turned around and lunged back to where had been standing before. Tidus, who was still on the floor, looked confused, but then he noticed that there was green blood dripping from Kaiser's sword.
"He really sliced that thing up bad!" Tidus thought.
The Sinspawn suddenly screamed in pain as two deep gashes appeared on its body, forming a large X shape on its body. Blood began to seep from the wound as the Sinspawn keeled forward slightly due to the mortal wound.
"Holy Yevon!" Wakka cried. "How did he do that!"
Tara in the meantime was still sat tending to Tidus with Yuna, but with a small grin across her face. "He's tapping into it... the monster that lives inside his soul... but it dosnt feel like its a monster like his Cyber Dragon type monsters... yet why do I get the feeling ive seen those wings somewhere before?" She wondered
Sheathing his sword, Kaisers wings then suddenly opened out once more, and with a mighty flap, he suddenly acsended several meters in the air, and just hovered. Reaching into his inside jacket pocket he pulled out a single card and held it aloft in the air, as it began to glow with power, drawing in the very light of the sun. Back on the floor, Tidus was looking up at his friend and smiling.
"Took him long enough to remember about that card" He said.
"But I thought he couldnt summon anymore?... What kind of card does he have?" Yuna asked.
"I dont know, he had it on the ship to Kilika... It wasnt blank like the others... its some sort of white dragon with blue eyes I think" Tidus said.
"WHAT!" Both Tara and Yuna gasped.
"Whats the big deal?" Tidus asked.
"Dont you remember what I said when he dueled Tara?" Yuna exclaimed
"A soul monster is a creature born from the very depths of a duelist's soul. Its something that connects thier physical and mental forms together. Thier strongest creature." Lulu began.
"Tara's monster is said to have powers rival to Sin itself... but there is only one other monster that is stronger than Rainbow Neos..." Yuna trailed off.
"If its the monster what I think it is... no, im certain... then theres no doubt anymore that he is truly the Duelist of the prophecy" Tara said.
Back in the air, the card in Kaiser's hand was glowing a magnificent light now, its energys now fully charged, with a click, his duel disk had activated once again. Kaiser looked down upon the form of his enemy, that was now starting to recover from the painful attacks made against its head and body.
"FIEND! HERE ME! I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WOULD NOT HURT ANY OF MINE! THAT I WOULD DIE FIRST! WELL NOW YOU WILL FEEL THE FULL WRATH OF THE DARK WARRIOR! FOR THEY HAVE REALEASED THE MONSTER OF MY SOUL!"
Slapping the card down onto his duel disk, blue and white crackling energy seemed to emante from the duel disk, a small tear then fell from Kaiser's face, to fall onto the ground below him, right infront of Tidus, who noticed it immediately. Looking up once more, Tidus smiled at his friend, who seemed to be looking down, returning the gaze.
"Go for it... lets see that bad ass dragon of yours" Tidus thought.
"NOW AWAKEN MONSTER OF MY SOUL! ALMIGHTY BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!" Kaiser cried.
In a blast of light that seemed to appear from Kaiser himself, a bright blue energy ball shot into the sky, after a few more seconds the energy ball began to take shape, in the form of a mighty dragon. The dragon was huge, massive blue and white wings that spread out almost on an epic scale, a scaled body that extended down to a long tail, with a mighty pair of legs ending in sharp taloned feet. It had a pair of arms that although were small in length, were ended similary in massive razor sharp talons. But its head was the dragons weapon, a long scaled neck ended into a large blue head, filled with a large mouth of razor sharp teeth and with its blue eyes staring down at the Sinspawn, anyone in the world right now could tell that the dragon was pissed off.
"Thats it!" Tara screamed. "Thats the strongest soul monster of them all! The Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Tara cried.
"By Yevon its true!" Wakka exclaimed nearby.
"It seems I was right in thinking Kaiser had quite a few hidden secrets" Lulu added.
Tidus and Yuna didnt say anything, they simply looked up at Kaiser, who was still hovering in the air.
"You did it... You kept your promise to the Fayth and proved that your the Dark Warrior of destiny... Seeing you up there makes me feel... safe." Yuna thought
"You must have kept your promise to the Fayth if you can summon something like that... that thing is a total bad ass! I never had any doubts, but even if I had... After seeing you come back like this... I know that your gonna get me to Zanarkand." Tidus thought
Kaiser still hovering below his dragon in the air, was still staring down the Sinspawn, with his dragon slightly above him, roaring and hissing at the Fiend, the Sinspawn almost seemed to shrink away in fear. Jabbing a finger towards the Fiend, Kaiser spoke.
"ALRIGHT BLUE-EYES! LETS DO THIS OUR WAY AND WIPE THIS SCUM OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH! HOROBI NO BURST STREAM!" Kaiser roared.
Roaring once again, the dragon began to shudder as it drew energy towards its mouth, forming a white energy ball infront of its mouth, a second later the energy was expelled straight at the Fiend. Upon contact, the Fiend gave a loud scream of agony, before vaporizing a cloud of pyreflies, completely ahnialated by the awesome power of the dragon. Turing his head up slowly to look at his dragon, it seemed to do the same thing, looking down at its duelist. Kaiser reached up with his arm, while the dragon seemed to move its head towards his arm. They both met in the air, as Kaiser slowly run his hand across the dragons cheek, the dragon responding with an almost purring sound. Then a second later it was gone, transforming into an energy ball, which slowly moved towards Kaiser before entering his chest. Slowly Kaiser descended back to the ground, once his feet touched, his wings slowly started to retract towards his body, until they disappeared completely, as if they had never been there in the first place. Tidus slowly took a step towards his friend, he could see that Kaiser was starting to sway slowly. Tidus grabbed him once more by his shoulders to steady him.
"You ok man?" He asked.
"Kicked its ass..." Kaiser said with a smile, before slumping forward, unconscious into Tidus's arms.
"Your friends helped release me from the depths of your soul Kaiser... Ive been buried in your soul for what seems like an eternity... Now that im free always know that ill be here for you... Your eternal Guardian and servant Kaiser... Call upon me whenever you wish..."
"No my friend" I reply in my mind "Guardian and servant are not titles worthy of what you are to me... You've kept my soul burning its light for as long as I can remember... even before I knew what you were, you've been with me all the way, guiding and shaping the light in my heart... So no my friend... A title more worthy is... Saviour"
So the Blue-Eyes makes its appearance in the trials of the dark warrior as Kaiser's soul monster! Chances are that most of you may have saw that one coming, but believe me it will hold more significance along the way! Also dont expect to see attacks like that from Kaiser again for a while, the same goes for Tara when she sumoned Rainbow Dragon on the ship to Kilika. Summoning monsters that are uber in strength like that are gonna be reserved for their 'Overdrive' type attacks, unless its in an actual duel though.
Also, sorry to any Wakka fans out there if im being a bit too harsh towards his character so far. But being with how much of a stubborn person he is and a firm Yevonite a wee know, I decided to take it down this road for the time being.
Also im wanting a few opinions on this chapter, for some reason I found it really hard to write battle scenes against the Ochu and the Sinspawn. I dont know why considering I wrote the script for the duel with Kisara and Kaiser as if I was standing on my head it came that easy. But with the Fiend battles, inspiration wouldnt come for some reason! So was just wanting to know if everyone thought it was ok?
Plus a bit of trivia for you again! As Kaiser entered Kilika woods he made a simple comment, where was it inspired from? The same goes for his magic sword that he devised with Lulu. Bonus points if you guess!
After a stunning display of power by both Kaiser and his dragon, the aftermath of this battle with be earth shattering as the group move onto the Kilika temple. Also, the thoughts that seem to plague Kaiser when he was with Tidus and Tara now seemed to have extended to Yuna as well. Not only that but a group connection took place before Kaiser summoned his dragon. Also, now that it appears Kaiser can use his monsters again, will he formally honour his promise to Yuna and become her duelist alongside Tara. Mysterys seem more apparent so wait for the next chapter to find out!
As always! Review please!