Chapter 85

Staying the Flood

There was no time for sorrow. Not really. All the same, Edea's SeeD were looking at their sinking home with anguish, Thalassa included. Although she should be furious with Gilgamesh – forcibly removing her from her ship had not been his call to make – her feelings had become a chilling void, and she paid the outworlder no thought as one of his six hands tentatively came down on her shoulder. Raiden, her first love, was gone. Tian, Sendo, Amelia and Amos too. Five more White SeeDs dead under her command, lost along with the ship. Ultimately, she believed she had failed them, that she had been unable to meet everybody's expectations. Now, she was a captain without a ship, and held a clear certainty this was the last time she would ever be leading what remained of Edea's SeeD in battle.

Several formations of Temple Knights crossed the distance to engage the nearest White SeeDs that were already trying to stave them off. This was followed by an intense flash of ruby light – one Thalassa recognised all too well, as she had used it herself on many occasions – which seared the retinas of every White SeeD facing it. Thankfully, due to the destruction of the ship, this had only been a minority. Although she soon heard the blood-curdling cries of the ones within that minority, as they were now cut down by weapons they could no longer see; half a dozen more White SeeDs killed in half as many seconds.

In that moment, seeing six more of their number cut down like ripe corn so soon after losing their lifelong home, the survivors knew it was do or die. Many of the White SeeDs achieved limit breaks. For the remainder, simply witnessing this feat was enough to make them believe that they could transcend said limits, and they did. Flashes of golden light erupted all around, one after the other, themselves enough to dazzle the onward marching Temple Knights.

Kintara went first, raising his clan's blow horizontally and notching two arrows, flooding the receptive tips with water and wind energy and letting them rip before immediately following with two others. Their contact was muffled by the wind-propelled infernal dive of their best lancer, Heustienne, which consumed a score of Temple Knights before she leapt deeper into their midst to repeat the feat. The dark-haired Banyc had been Minwu's best pupil, and when he spread his hands, white discs appeared amidst the Temple Knights, holy light pillars consuming any caught within them. The others followed with a variety of staggering elemental attacks that inflicted twenty times the losses they had sustained. All to clear a path to the one who had given the order.

Fujin started conjuring a powerful enough gale to clear a path between the White SeeD and the Centrans down the harbour. As she had been pushed beyond her emotional frontiers a lot recently, the loss of Raijin's son was not enough for her to reach a limit break, but she still had Pandemonium. As the Centrans filled this new gap between them, Thalassa moved to the front of her remaining White SeeDs, about twenty in all.

As for Thalassa, the only time she had achieved a limit break was when she had found out her parents had died. As a child, she had not known what to do with the vast elemental forces suddenly at her disposal and had almost collapsed the pillars of the orphanage in her rage. Fortunately, Matron had been on hand, able to use Alexander to place a veil over her and cut her off from the Aether. In the years since, Thalassa was convinced she had placed such a high emotional bar for herself that she had never been able to reach a limit break again, not even when Ultimecia had taken Carbuncle from her.

Until now.

Thalassa too was encompassed in a golden aura but had retained a sound enough mind to remember one of Kurin's teachings. In some circumstances, if one's GF was depleted, it was sometimes better to siphon a steady stream from the Aether for the duration of the limit break, thereby making the heightened state last much longer. As she were so close to the sea, the element of water was calling to her from that vast ethereal force behind, drowning out the other seven, and her affinity with it allowed her to become one with it that much easier. Her aura then became a light blue one, the same colour as Riptide, and she was flooded with the augmented speed and strength she would ordinarily receive from her GF.

Everyone else's limit breaks had left hundreds of Temple Knights strewn across the street, though now Fujin had expended a lot of her power, Vlahos must have deemed it safe to commit a much larger number to the fray. The ailing Temple Knights were now being bolstered by centuries of imperial troops, who were pouring out from or between every building on the harbour facing street. Thalassa scanned the enemy movements, hoping to use her heightened state to identify their commander. Carbuncle was of the holy element, and the highest concentration of that white force was somewhere in front of her, before the huge doors of the imposing stone pantheon.

'Vlahos is right in front of us!' Thalassa announced. 'Forward!'

Whether she was impeded by Temple Knight or legionnaire mattered naught to Thalassa. The extended limit break gave her a serene state of mind she had never known before, and her sword arm moved autonomously and fittingly in the mizu no katachi. The despair of the loss of eleven comrades was now buried so deep it was as though she had had years to come to terms with them, her mind was now a frightening vacuum nothing extraneous could pervade. She was conscious of every individual sound happening around her, even though they were as far from distracting her as the call of a bird on the other side of the Planet.

The White SeeDs kept up with her as Fujin and the Centrans covered their rear. They were soon joined by Noctis, Ignis and those White SeeDs of Centra who had recently been discharged, their tunics and berets now died charcoal; in time, these 'Black SeeDs' would become the model for the New Royal Army's special forces. Gilgamesh, having never had much in the way of military training in this world or in his own, soon became separated and surrounded by the enemy. While those conscript soldiers could not get within his awesome sword, Thalassa soon lost sight of him and only knew where he was from the maiming wedges of his intermittent blade beams. Fujin's swirling gusts surrounded everyone else at a safe distance, preventing this impressive vanguard from being overwhelmed.

Before long, Thalassa acquired the waiting Selena Vlahos, her broad form now identifiable by the distinctive scarlet and indigo colours of her armour that marked her as a high officer. It was the first time Thalassa had seen her in the flesh, though the accounts were true. She was a head taller than her with fair colouring, as brawny as a female powerlifter, not needing an axe to speak of her highlands ancestry. There was no warmth or kindness in those ice-blue eyes that were a lighter shade than Thalassa's own, only a ferocious determination. The elongated scar Rhodry had once given her started at one angular cheekbone and tapered at her powerful jaw.

'Leave Vlahos to me!' Thalassa said calmly. 'Kintara, you've got command now!'

'Show her no mercy!' Kintara called back.

Hearing them, Vlahos went into a fighting crouch, glowing with the emerald of Carbuncle in anticipation. Thalassa took her own crouch and opened her sustained floodgates to the Aether but a fraction more. Zell Dincht had named all of his patented attacks, largely for the benefit of the manga artists of the bestselling – and now banned – Armageddon Fist series from before Balamb's annexation. This one was had been called 'My Final Heaven' and was Thalassa's personal favourite, though as a gunblade wielder her variation of it was somewhat different. The trickle of increased force manifested itself in a narrow, eerie current that propelled her forward, Vlahos' eyes widening as it did. Rather than delivering a cross powerful enough to capsize a behemoth, Thalassa struck with the flat of Riptide, instinctively stemming the Aether back to its small trickle as she did so.

The axe was the only thing that saved Vlahos, as she had just enough time to brace herself with it held out before her. Surprisingly, the haft did not split as the thickset Colonel was knocked from her feet and through the open doors of the pantheon, landing in a heap in the pillar of sunlight that entered through a circular hole in the roof, looked on by the statues of the Guardian Forces that lined the muraled wall.

Except Vlahos regained her feet before Thalassa could follow and raised both hands. Expecting some sort of magical offensive, Thalassa flared up a mana-ward from the otherworldly weave that had been propelling her forward, though a telling noise behind informed her that Vlahos had just cut off her escape route. They would be fighting one on one, which was fine by her, the new imperial high commander versus White SeeD's captain. They started their dangerous dance, the half-moon axeblade the cutting edge of the lethal whirlwind that was Selena Vlahos.

Despite her timorous nature, Thalassa's mother had been a samurai, and a good one at that; the first Kotetsu had been lost along with her. This was why Thalassa's original gunblade had been modelled after a katana rather than a western sword, and it had become the original Kotetsu's spiritual successor. Thalassa weaved, each brisk counterstrike flowing into the next, her movements continuous and seamless in the mizu no katachi – or form of the water. When Kurin had first assessed her with a katana, he had determined Thalassa was the most attuned to the water stance of the all the katana disciplines. The precision and balance it necessitated had worked wonders for her other passion, and while she had never attempted to learn any other katana stance, after a dozen years she was unrefutably a master of one.

No matter how innovative her offense was, Vlahos could not strike her. When her axe came round in a high arc, Thalassa rolled under it, scoring a drawing slash that was but an inch above an opening in Vlahos' brassard. Instead, the mana-loaded axe cut through the marble bosom of Shiva, whom Vlahos had been trying to usher her towards, completely shattering the polished marble above the navel. Sacred and Ramuh met much the same fate as they moved around the circumference of the hall, then Carbuncle, Vlahos with blatant disregard for the ancient masterpieces in her relentless hacking and swinging.

Next, the statue they approached was of Leviathan, and his curved body and trailing tail would provide somewhat of an inescapable cage which Vlahos sought to cage her into. With nowhere to go, Riptide nearly came from her hands when she tried to stop the Colonel's next berserker onslaught. Not knowing how much longer her limit break was going to last, Thalassa had no choice but to open those floodgates a fraction once more. With raw energy suffusing her, she crashed into Vlahos' cuirass with her shoulder, forcing her back, narrowing her internal dam again as she dived to her side. She rolled over her shoulder and rose up facing her. As chunks of white marble increasingly peppered the floor, they ended up back in the centre, in and out of that pillar of sunlight, crisscrossing the sun and moon-spangled mosaic in the centre.

This time, Thalassa stayed out of her range, beyond the reach of that tornado of death. As soon as she saw the opening she needed, she took it, leaping forward and forcing the slender blade of Riptide between the axe and Vlahos' armour. Her elbow shot up into the General's strong jaw. With her blade still between them, Thalassa swivelled, using her shoulder to force distance and jerk the axe from her grasp. Still in motion as it dropped to the mosaic, Thalassa sought to sweep Vlahos' chunky leg out from under her. After all, it was rare she fought a human opponent smaller than her, and she was an expert of using one's momentum against them. But the larger woman was ready, too much a veteran to lament the loss of her primary weapon, bringing a meaty hammer fist down on top of Thalassa's head.

Vlahos drawing her gladiuses gave Thalassa the time she needed to back up, and as she did so, she kicked the axe across the floor, toward the jagged pieces of marble that had been Carbuncle.

I'll free you from her, Buncle! she vowed.

Yet as she made the promise, her prolonged limit break came to an end. Thalassa felt the energy draining from her, leaving her feel chronically fatigued. Riptide, normally weightless to her, was suddenly heavy in her hand, and her shoulders noticeably sagged. Though Vlahos did not advance, and for the first time, she addressed her.

'The stories about you are not exaggerated, Dincht,' she endeared her simply, then continued. 'I met your father, during the Cry. The inner city was on the verge of falling, and my own father knew we couldn't hold back the hordes. We had half a day left, maybe. The defences would have lasted until nightfall at most. When your father appeared with Sorceress Edea, he rallied-'

'Shut up, Vlahos!' Thalassa snapped. 'I've heard it all before. He, Edea, Quistis and Irvine were there to help the initial city defence. My Pop took command, rallied your troops and stopped the presidential palace and the inner districts from falling. And if he had known how your citizens would repay him, he would have let you all die! He should have let you all die!'

Vlahos looked unfocused for a second. Perhaps she had never quite looked at it that way before. That the one many held responsible for stopping their city from falling during the earliest, most nightmarish hours of the Lunar Cry had been left to bleed out agonisingly on the Alcauld Plains. After death, Zell had his severed head paraded around the conquered Albatross for weeks, as Ultimecia had 'treated' with all the influential indigenous clans, before she had scornfully thrown it from Balamb City's harbour on his nameday. Grandma Dincht visited that section of harbour every morning, and the thought of it made Thalassa's adrenaline spike, dispelling some of her weariness.

Vlahos sighed. 'And yet your father and his friends murdered Empress Adel while she was still in cryogen. Following orders from the Cowardly Lion.' She tutted. 'How heroic. Sorceress Edea must have poisoned their minds.'

Thalassa's mouth parted. 'Hynedamn it, are you serious? Is that the behemoth shit Ultimecia has been feeding you all for the last twenty years? Adel was awake, and she junctioned Rinoa to herself! Even lethargic, it was a hard-fought battle Pop and the others barely won!'

While it had been theorised Adel was being possessed, Odine had alternatively suggested that Adel's consciousness may have won over, or become one with, that of her daughter from the future. After all, it had taken Ultimecia several attempts to gain complete mind control over Edea. Exactly what had transpired between Adel and Ultimecia before the Children of Fate's arrival at Lunatic Pandora, and how much Adel had been acting of her own free will, had never been established. Either way, Thalassa refrained from mentioning this or anything about Time Compression, believing it would just cause unnecessary confusion.

Instead, she said, 'And your people knew how horrible Adel was! Your whole population was overjoyed when Laguna imprisoned her! Except you're not allowed to remember that now, are you?'

Selena's brow was furrowed. 'And you know this, how? Your father told you?'

He had, and it had been enough, though Thalassa decided to bluff.

'Ellone showed me all of his great battles!' she said.

Vlahos shook her head, as though this would rid it of all the things she did not want to hear.

'Enough talk, Dincht!' she said. 'Power up so we can finish this!'

Thalassa looked over her shoulder. There was a translucent emerald wall over the double doors to the pantheon, denying entry and exit. Through it, she could see her White SeeDs embroiled in battle, though none were in a position to help her. Holding the barrier must have been draining Carbuncle's power, but Vlahos showed no signs of slowing down as an emerald aura exploded outward from her. Reluctantly, Thalassa took her one-handed stance. Even though Leviathan was not within her, Riptide signified the ever-increasing strength of their bond.

'I can't,' she admitted. 'Your defences did a number on Leviathan. I was using a limit break.'

This made the Colonel falter, but only for a second.

'And I suppose that now, you will try and appeal to my better nature.' Vlahos shook her head again, albeit with a pained expression. 'I am truly sorry, Dincht. Never mind your father, you have become a hero in your own right, and I admire you for the adverse path you have walked. But I have fallen so far out of favour with the Empress that only killing you and imprisoning your GF will suffice. I cannot spare you!' She took her stance. 'At the very least, I will make it quick.'

Thalassa was resigned to her fate as she fell into the water stance. Her only chance was to draw Carbuncle from his magicite, but she doubted there was enough time. She raised her free hand, feeling for that holy essence she was so familiar with. The process was much the same as feeling for a draw point, and she located the magicite concealed within a utility pouch, starting to draw it out with all her will. Vlahos' gasped as she realised what was happening, and begun to sprint, her guard opening a fraction as she closed the distance. Thalassa titled Riptide's blade a hairsbreadth, ready to strike. Against all odds, this might actually work.

Jump into the plume! she heard in her mind.

Leviathan!

The sunbathed mosaic in the centre exploded from beneath, a column of water pluming to reach that hole the ceiling. Vlahos stopped cold, looking behind her for a split second. While Thalassa might have trained as a samurai, she did not hold to the bushido, swiftly deciding after her parents' death that there was no place for such a thing in the Third Sorceress War, and that had not changed as she entered adulthood. The hint of an opening she had noticed before was now wider, and she lunged. Her blade pierced underneath Vlahos' arm, in that small weak spot above the joins in the cuirass. While her range was not ideal, it penetrated at least a few inches, Vlahos crying audibly as it did. Thalassa now moved past her, withdrawing her blade. She slashed for the throat with the next movement, but despite her wound, Vlahos was able to check it.

Vlahos breathing was ragged; she was clearly in pain, and Thalassa wondered if she had pierced a lung. She did not know how much power Leviathan had but knew it could not be much. Thalassa realised his essence had simply remained in the water; on the ethereal plane, the proximity to his element would have sped his recovery. Rather than try to finish the High Commander off, she ran and dived into the jetting water, as Leviathan had bidden her to. She was swiftly raised towards the hole in the ceiling and shot through it, finding herself landing on his scaled form. She needed no prompt before grasping one of his neck fins with her free hand.

Thalassa took a deep breath as she steadied herself and they hovered above the pantheon, the familiarity of their junction flooding her being, soon dispelling the tiredness she had been experiencing. As she flew over the fighting, the emerald wall over the pantheon entrance was suddenly expelled, and she heard the Esthari nearby shouting for medics. Vlahos did not emerge.

Below, the Esthari and the Temple Knights were falling back down the harbourside road, evidently overwhelmed by the Noctis' sortie with the junctioned tonberries. Without Vlahos, the two arms of enemy force had not been able to coordinate a defence, and the appearance of Leviathan in the skies led many of them to assume that Vlahos was dead. Seizing upon this, the Centrans launched a new chocobo charge, and the enemy was successfully routed, driven from the harbourside in their entirety.

Before the day was out, Redwood would belong to the Allies.