Chapter 41 – Demon from the Past
Glowing bright yellow in the sky, the sun hung just above towering spires in Mushroom Rock. The silhouette of an incidental fiend lumbered in the distance. Rikku watched its skinny tentacles flair around in the air as it bobbled in place. Little clouds of gas burst around it at a steady tempo. Peering below where the fiend slept, a shroud of mist hung in the underbelly of the ravine.
Nooj stood just ahead of Rikku, on top of a rocky mound at the incline to the ravine's path. Rikku watched him while he gazed with a yearning face at the home of his Youth League far in the distance. She could sense the burning desire in his eyes to return with his people. He would give anything to be there but knew for all their sakes he could not return—not yet.
"We're almost done bud," Gippal said, patting his friend on the shoulder.
Nooj sighed, replying with a sad smile. "Yeah, I know. But this won't be getting any easier."
Rikku kicked a small stone with her foot. "So when are you guys going to explain this Den of Woe thing to me?"
Stepping off the rocky mound, Nooj gave Gippal a tense glance. "Once we were a part of the Crimson Squad, a group of elite guardians of Spira. We were the best of the best, specially commissioned by Maester Kinoc of Yevon to investigate this mysterious cave. Entering this Den of Woe was to be a final training exercise."
Gippal continued, "But there was nothing simple about this operation. The cave was filled with madness—pure madness. It was here that we first encountered Shuyin, although we didn't realize it at the time."
"Fear is the persona of this place. We all went mad in there that day." Nooj rested his weight on his cane, staring intently at Rikku. "Most everyone killed each other."
Rikku scoffed. "That's terrible. How could that have happened?"
"Something within that cave possessed us," answered Gippal. "We didn't know it then, but it was all the anguish and hatred seething from Shuyin's spirit just marinating in there for a thousand years."
Nooj meekly frowned. "Can you feel it, Gippal?"
"It makes all the hairs on my body twitch," he replied, nodding.
Nooj adjusted his glasses. "There's no use lingering. Nothing will ready us for what we're about to face."
"Yeah, you're right. Follow me."
Rikku followed Gippal and Nooj into the mist underneath the main path of the ravine which led to the lift to Youth League headquarters. The sounds of the wind and the fiends lurking above muffled under the ravine. She stumbled on a divot in the ground. Grabbing onto to Gippal's arm, she looked up at him with a reluctant grin.
"How could Yevon let something so terrible like that happen? Didn't they need you for the attack against Sin?" she asked.
Nooj paused for a moment to think about what she said. "I don't believe so. Kinoc had already assumed the operation would fail. There was no point in the Crimson Squad being involved. He had other plans for us."
"That's why we were sent to the cave," continued Gippal. "To this day, I have no idea what the true purpose was behind it, but it sure wasn't just a training exercise. He knew what horrors we would face."
"That's just so wrong," whimpered Rikku.
Gippal nodded. "Yeah, it was. That bastard Kinoc plotted for his own gain, even back then."
Rikku stayed silent, but inside she agreed wholeheartedly. This kind of unfair pain resonated deeply with her. Although the adventure she'd been having with Gippal and Nooj had kept her preoccupied, she hadn't come to terms with Yuna's death. As she looked up to find the sky through the fog, she wondered if Yuna held resentments like Gippal and Nooj. She had been used as a tool by Yevon, the truth behind the pilgrimage and final summoning hidden from her for years.
She continued maneuvering her way through the bumpy dirt path underneath the ravine until reaching a small corridor. At the end of the path, she came to a hidden cave, sealed by a gigantic door. In the door were ten small, circular holes. Rikku walked up close to the towering entrance, peering ominously at the holes inset in the door.
"Those holes are for these," he explained, pulling out a Crimson Sphere. "Not your big nose."
Rikku scrunched her face together, giving him a mean expression while she covered her nose. "Excuse me? I most certainly do not have a big nose!"
With a melancholy grin, Gippal wrapped his arm around her. He bent over and placed a little kiss on her cheek. She smiled up at him, becoming willfully entranced by his dazzling eyes.
"Let's get this over with," Nooj said, pulling out the spheres held in his possession.
One by one Gippal and Nooj inserted the spheres into the door. With each sphere placed in its home, a line from them glowed toward the sphere in the center crest. The colors of light radiated into sparkles reflecting in Rikku's dazzled green eyes. Enthralled by the thought of what could be behind this grand door that sealed the cave, Rikku took a step back in trepidation.
With the final sphere in place, all ten spheres glowed in unison. With a thunderous flash, the seal disbanded, and the door slid open. No phantasmic light shined inside to show them the way. Only solemn darkness and the whisper of wind that leaped from the depths greeted them. Rikku flinched back, latching onto Gippal's arm tightly, her skin chilled by the frigid air. He reciprocated and gripped her hand. As much as she was afraid to enter, she sensed Gippal and Nooj felt twice the apprehension.
"Well, let's go," Nooj spoke after what seemed like an eternity of silence.
The brisk wind which blew in her face dissipated into a stagnant, damp air. The smell of age-old blood still held a rancid aroma within the den. Swallowed by darkness, Rikku took out her flashlight, as the faint light from the wandering pyreflies barely illuminated the cave. Skeletal remains of more than just former Crimson Squad members littered their path. Whatever deaths or murders had been committed here, their presence of still very much alive.
"How terrible," Rikku whispered, seeing the mound of bones lying together. "What could have possibly happened in here?"
"An unspeakable truth," Nooj said simply, his face as frigid as the air.
Gippal spoke equally sternly. "This is what happened to the Crimson Squad."
As Rikku continued through the cave, the ghastly reality of the events that unfolded only worsened. The dank smell of long decomposed flesh sifted through her lungs. There no longer was any flesh left to decay. Whatever the smell emanated from, it hid from view, but not her senses.
"What do you possibly hope to find here?" Rikku asked while kicking a clump of bones with her foot.
Gippal turned his head toward her and looked straight into her eyes. "I don't know for sure, but we will find something."
Nooj stopped moving. "Shuyin spent an unnatural amount of time in here. If any remnant of his plan exists in Spira, it does here. Hopefully, it's just his remnants. These pyreflies are drenched with his rage and despair."
"I understand," Rikku announced to him, trying to hide her fear. "Spira is in danger because of him. I do realize it wasn't just Kinoc."
Gippal put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. You don't have to be any braver than you feel. We all know how dire this all is."
Nooj nodded his head and resumed walking. Rikku felt a bit relieved; she didn't want to seem as if she didn't understand the gravity of the situation. She knew in her heart that this was a petty thought. Perhaps the cave and its past horrors led to her misplaced feelings. After knowing what had transpired here, her stomach churned at the sight of each pile of skeleton remains. A long-dead son, daughter, father, or mother, slaughtered in darkness for one man's lust for power.
"Stop!" yelled Nooj suddenly, pointing to a blurry figure in front of them.
Rikku and Gippal both jumped back and watched as a shimmering, ethereal figure neared them. The form to shook as it emerged from the darkness into that of a soldier. He readied his gun and pointed it at them. Rikku waved her hands at him.
"Wait! We're here to help!" she shouted, but Nooj pushed her out of the way.
"That won't help! He's already dead!"
Rikku noticed pyreflies spinning around the soldier. She gasped and realized this man was unsent. He continued his blank stare at the group, still holding them at bay with his rifle.
Nooj instantly recognized the man. "I know him! We trained together. In the cave, he was shot dead by one of our comrades during the bloodbath."
The man breathed life no longer; no more did he have blood swelling through his cold, blue veins. His vapid moans betrayed him as nothing more than a mindless ghost. Rikku wondered if he perhaps wasn't mindless, but soulless—a spirit seeking some sort of meaning from his utterly pointless death. Yuna had explained to her the unsent didn't go to the Farplane because they endured a traumatic event at their death.
With the shadows clouding their view, neither Gippal nor Nooj could tell if his gun posed a real threat or a ghostly illusion like their former comrade. Gippal leaped from his standstill and lunged at the fallen soldier. Wrapped in the head by the butt of the rifle, he yelped before stumbling backward. Nooj engaged the soldier with his sidearm, firing two shots at his chest. Striking harmlessly to the cave wall behind the soldier, the spirit dodge them as if he knew they were coming even before Nooj thought to pull the trigger. A burst of grimacing laughter erupted from the endless darkness, and the soldier slumped inanimate to the ground.
"Oh, how little you have changed," the detached voice cackled, turning Rikku's face white.
Gippal gasped, darting his eyes around sporadically. "No, it can't be! He's here?"
From the barricades of darkness, Shuyin materialized, his eyes sharply focused on Nooj. "Yes, these pyreflies which swarm around this place entwined themselves with my memories. This is why I'm still here. I wanted to rest forever, but the pyreflies make me relive that moment . . . again, and again, and again!"
A whirlwind of chilling air burst from all around the cavern. Nearly overwhelmed by the indescribable intense surge of emotion enrapturing her, she covered her ears and clamped her eyes shut. It was as if a thousand years of suffering formed into a tangible being, catapulting itself into her soul. The very presence of Shuyin drove fear into her heart.
"You! You were the one who caused the Crimson Squad to go mad!" belted Gippal, pointing his finger sharply at him.
Shuyin chuckled at his stinging remark. "Madness you say? You would go mad as well if you were condemned to suffer for all eternity."
"This is what destroyed the squad," remarked Nooj, peering angrily at Shuyin, his gaze deadlocked on him. "A soul that's lingered in this world for far too long."
"One could say the same about you, death seeker," remarked Shuyin.
"He may seek death," raged Gippal in his friend's defense. "But at least he never gives it to the undeserving!"
Rikku stood frozen in apprehension, staring at Shuyin. She had come face-to-face with the man from a thousand years ago. It was he who set Kinoc free; it was he who split the depths of Bevelle to unleash the apocalyptic weapon, Vegnagun. This same man constructed all the chaos that eventually killed her beloved cousin. Pure rage bubbled up in her deepest reaches. Her eyes glowed with a fury she never knew herself capable of.
Without thought, she sprinted toward Shuyin, screaming, "It's all your fault!"
Slicing wildly with her curved blade, she attempted to cut Shuyin down, but he disappeared before she the edge of her blade could slice him. Looking around in all directions, she couldn't locate him. She yelled to the pyreflies swarming around her.
"Come out! I'm going to kill you!"
In reply, she received a distraught laugh from her right side. She quickly spun around, only to see it came from Nooj. Again the devious cackle spouted from his lips. His posture had shifted. Instead of his hunched-over self with a limp, he stood unnaturally erect. Even his eyes leered with a heavy, unsettling stare.
"Nooj, what are you doing?" she asked, unknowing as to why his demeanor suddenly changed.
Gippal nearly choked on his breath. "No, not again. You didn't—"
Nooj roared a ghastly chortle. "Once again I reside in this friend of yours. This time I will make sure you rest here for eternity!"
Bursting from his stance, Nooj's body leaped at Gippal. With a hard swing, Gippal nearly had his head swiped off by Nooj's silvery cane. Gippal continued dodging, unwilling to strike back at his friend. Yet the wrath of Shuyin inside remained in control. With a quick thrust, he knocked Gippal to the ground. Realizing it was all he could do, Gippal swept with his leg, tripping Nooj to the ground.
He bounced up, and lashed at Nooj, but was met by a hard swing from Nooj's fist. The impact of his knuckles sent Gippal stumbling. Both men fell to a knee. Gippal could see the madness of Shuyin searing inside of Nooj. Clenching his hand into a fist, he now was ready to unleash a buildup of rage.
Rikku stood behind the two, only capable of watching them duel. She knew it was the spirit of Shuyin pulling the strings and causing Nooj's attacks, just as Shuyin had done two years ago. She felt utterly powerless to stop Shuyin's possession of Nooj without killing him. Gippal would never forgive her if she maimed his friend. Frozen still, she merely stood haplessly while the two men fought and bloodied each other.
Gippal managed to knock Nooj's cane away, though it did not leave Nooj weaponless. Before Gippal could lunge once more, Nooj pulled his pistol from his side. The barrel fell straight onto Gippal's forehead, barely inches away from his skull. He stared into Nooj's tormented eyes; only the sound of the two men's breaths cast any noise in the cave.
Nooj finally broke the silence, whispering, "While I've been trapped in this cage for far too long, I will have my revenge. It's your blood that will stain these dark walls forever."
His finger gripped the trigger, pulling back. Gippal closed his eyes, hearing the shot fired. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rikku, her hand shaking fiercely. Nooj lay on the ground unconscious. Before Shuyin could kill the man she loved, Rikku had knocked Nooj out cold with the hilt of her blade. She refused to endure any more deaths. Kneeling by Nooj's unconscious body, she shielded her face with her arm. Huffing loudly, she calmed her racing heart. Left with no choice but to hurt Nooj to save them both, she knew for all their sakes she had no choice. She prayed Nooj could come to forgive her.
"That was too close," she spoke in relief. "I couldn't possibly live if—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she felt a ravaging pang in her side. Flying against the cave wall, she yelped at the harsh wound inflicted on her ribcage. Her sight blurred, and when it cleared, she saw Gippal standing in front of her. He lumbered with a maniacal smirk plastered on his face. His eyes sparked with a feeling of sorrow and anger she knew could not be his.
"I will kill you! I will see you all suffer under my hands!" shrieked Gippal, his eyes bulging.
Rikku stood up, wiping off the blood trickling down the corner of her mouth. Her hands tremored, and tears rolled down her cheek as she shuttered uncontrollably. The worst possible nightmare that she could ever imagine since the death of her cousin stood before her. Inhaling deeply, she pulled out her two blades and spread her feet apart into a battle stance. Shuyin and his insanity were embedded in the man she loved, and now she would have to fight him.
