Filling In The Blanks
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or any of its characters.
Chapter 128: The Dark Lord Kuja
I will wash away all magic from this battle. No more trance, as it is an unnatural, mutated gene that has lasted through the evolution of eidolons into summoners and finally, into humans, many eons ago. I will put out the fires destroying your city, and I will protect those who are here to fight for freedom.
"Will we see you again?" Eiko asked, breathless.
Perhaps in a time. For now, I will continue to watch Alexandria's future unfold. However, I will not be able to intervene again.
"Thank you," Dagger said, though she wasn't even sure what was happening was real. Maybe she was dying. Maybe this was a dream.
I hold you in high regards, Garnet. Just like I did your mother, always. Protect this world like she did and help the future live on.
Time seemed to flow normally again, and those beautiful white wings lifted back into the sky. They looked ominous and gorgeous, lit up like a snowy lantern even though there was no light to reflect off of them, before they fizzled out like the sparks from earier, and the light between the two girls vanished.
Their purple circle of light also extinguished and the dreamers, Zidane and Vivi included, were left feeling drained and exhausted.
What had just happened?
The rain thickened, washing away much of the blood that had been splattered on the cobblestone.
Dagger rose, feeling stronger than before despite the fighting that picked back up around her. Maybe there was hope left, if she wasn't dead. Perhaps that was what the feeling was.
Kuja's biggest advantage in this war had just been neutralized.
The veil of darkness lifted, and for a moment, the entire battlefield fell silent. Where there was once great fire now rose billowing smoke while ash snowed down over the city, mixing with the rain. Before, many beings filled with bright light littered the area, using their fantastic powers to spread destruction, for good or bad.
And now, there was nothing.
Those whose trance were sucked away from them had fallen to their knees, panting with a breathlessness that came with one's power being stripped away. It was clear what had happened.
Others who had been fighting them were frozen in awe.
For a moment, the world was still quiet.
Zidane came to his feet, wobbly, but standing. He pulled another dagger from its sheath, the noise drawing attention from others. Everyone knew who he was – traitor, or hero.
"It looks like the playing field has been evened out," he yelled, raising his daggers. "So come on!"
He dove, spinning his swords as he rolled along the wet pavement and popped up without exhaustion, upper cutting a man in the jaw. Others followed suit, the sound of battle ringing out again.
Eiko let go of Dagger's hands, feeling utterly exhausted. But she whirled around, ready to get back to the battle. "Look!" she gasped, "There's Quina!"
The older girl couldn't stop the grin from widening over her face. She watched for a moment as he, with his spear shaped like a fork, jabbed and dodged with surprising speed. Every time he had a moment, he would try different blue magic spells – which were mostly useless, but distracting enough to help others win their small fights – and every once in a while, he would see someone clad in a piece of armor he didn't recognize and he'd try to eat them.
Alexander ignited a new hope in Dagger, and though her knees quaked with exhaustion as she started forward again, she thought maybe – maybe they'd be okay.
"Dagger!" It didn't take long for Eiko to shake her from her thoughts again, tugging on her arm. The girl's eyes were wide with horror.
The raven whirled around, hair hitting her in the face as she saw Marcus and Ruby, along with Sam and a couple of his soldiers. Marcus and Ruby were supporting a limp looking Cinna, while the others carried someone she couldn't see.
"They need help, now!"
"Who –" she pushed forward and gasped at the sight of Baku.
"We don't know if he's even still breathing but please –" tears stained Marcus' face, even though he still wore the toughest of expressions, "try."
She conjured a quick regenerate spell on Cinna and a hasty cure on Baku, ushering them forward. "We have to get them out of the battle."
"But we can't just leave –" Ruby insisted. "If we leave, there might not be someone to stick 'round and save someone else –" her eyes slid to her team, "- like they did fer me."
"Ruby –"
"I can't leave Blank," she admitted.
Marcus shifted Cinna's weight, "Dagger, if you'll come with us back to the medical lines – we're probably going to need you or Eiko's white magic anyways… This isn't a job for Lady Hilda's freshly learned cure spell."
She nodded, "Of course," turning to the blonde girl, she brushed her bloodied hair from her face, "Stay strong Ruby, everything will be okay. Stay on the battlefield with Eiko and the others."
Ruby nodded, not needing to be told twice. She wanted nothing more to make sure her friends were alright but... maybe she could be the savior that they just were for her to somebody else. She didn't want more people to die because she was being selfish.
"Go," she told them, gently nestling Cinna around Dagger's shoulders. She touched Marcus gently on the arm before waving them away, turning with Eiko to make sure no soldiers followed them.
Eiko glanced at the girl for a moment, seeing her clothing caked in blood. It didn't seem to bother the thief though, and so Eiko reminded herself, as well, to be brave.
Beatrix fought with more ease now. She had vastly avoided the dreamers, besides a few scrapes and bumps here and there, for her body was screaming with exhaustion, pain creeping in tendrils around her back. She wasn't fully healed, and she was feeling it.
With their power, the dreamers were difficult, and she watched as they tore down rebel after rebel. Their numbers had been dropping rapidly and she had been afraid. Afraid that after all of this fighting – that they hadn't done enough to train their misfit army.
However, after the veil of darkness that had swallowed them for some long moments disappeared and she watched the dreamers with no sign of raw power, she knew she was a better fighter – injured or not – than ninety-eight percent of the opposing side. Just knowing this released the tension from her shoulders as she swung her sword.
Her hair curled around her face, sticking to her wet and sweaty skin. The morning was chilly but the heat of the battle – all of these bodies in one spot (not to mention the fire that Dagger had wreaked havoc with) – gave her too much warmth in her armor.
"Beatrix!" the voice sounded hard but frazzled.
She finished striking down the man in front of her, so laden in armor that she couldn't even see his face, before she turned around.
"Lysandra! What's wrong?!"
She shook her head, her bright eyes wide with a fear that Beatrix didn't typical see lingering on her face.
"More of Kuja's soldiers have come – we think they're scouts. There aren't many, but they've come up on the rear side of our forces. Luckily, the medical line has been avoided, but those are all of our weaker fighters. Beatrix, they're being slaughtered!"
Her heart sunk. Just when she thought they had a shot. "Oh no…" her voice fell as she raised her sword so they could run, "Let's go!"
When they arrived at the back of the battlefield, more into town than in the square before the castle, they spotted Amarant, Eiko and Ruby already there. Eiko was flittering back and forth between fallen soldiers, trying to keep them alive while simultaneously dodging people herself. Amarant and Ruby were covering her the best they could, but they had to remember they were the line keeping the new addition to the enemy side away from their medic line – a place that they all knew was already pretty crowded.
More rebels joined after Lysandra and Beatrix. These scouts weren't quite like the golden armored soldiers, but they were ruthless – known more for speed than brute strength. The others that had joined the elites had lured a couple of dreamers with them, which made the situation all the more difficult.
But more scouts continued to leak in around the buildings as well. Amarant used his long arms to clothesline enemies, stopping them from getting to Eiko, but his dark green eyes kept a close watch on the large, brick building that people continued to creep out of.
There was one particular scout that made him stop completely, staring with uncharacteristically wide eyes.
Lani swung her axe aggressively, knocking down two rookie resistance members at once, ruthlessly finishing them with the gore of her axe. She wore a grin, flicking her mess auburn hair out of her face.
"Is that the best you can do?!" she snickered, plucking another weaker resistance member off who had been distracted by her team.
Amarant abandoned his post and sprinted towards her, hoping to save the newer members of the resistance who hadn't had as much time to train. Finn and Kota were their names; awesome potential but not enough time to reach it. She hit Finn in the back of the head with the brunt end of her axe and he crumpled to the ground. If he wasn't dead, he'd have one hell of a concussion.
Kota, his blonde hair hanging in front of his face tried to leap out of the way. But she lured him back by looking like she would attack his friend again, so Kota shot back forward to come to his aid. Instead of sweeping her axe on Finn, she hooked the blonde as he came forward, slicing deep into his chest. His breath fizzled and he staggered back before collapsing.
"Eiko!" Amarant hollered, hoping the girl would see what he had just seen and save Kota before he died.
His voice got her attention.
Her head snapped up so fast, he thought she might have broken it.
Her chestnut eyes burned when she made eye contact with forest green. With Amarant.
"Still dealing with the head injury of a lifetime, eh Red?" He was relieved when she stepped away from the two boys and even more so when he saw the sparkle of a cure spell fall down on Kota.
"You're the crazy one, Lani," he said, keeping his voice level though his heart was pounding in his chest.
"Crazy? I'd like to think the one who challenges Kuja in his stronghold is the crazy one. Guess that's what happens when you spend too much time with goodies," she gestured to Ruby, "like that mess of a woman there."
It didn't usually take a lot to get Amarant riled up, but this time, before he even knew what he was doing, he was swinging his claws at Lani's face, watching her eyes widen at his sudden movement. He usually wasn't the one to attack first.
"Strike a cord? What? Got something for the tramp?!"
He raged faster, and her face shifted. She grunted as she pushed his claws away with her axe but found it too heavy to be effective against his speed. With a snarl, she ducked and kicked up, only tall enough to be hitting his hand out of the way. His claw came back and nicked him in the shoulder, but that didn't slow him down.
"You shouldn't have left, Red," she taunted, now not bothering to try and attack – only defend. "You wouldn't be on the losing team. You'd still be with me."
"I made my own choice, Lani. You weren't enough to keep me there."
"And who is enough to keep you here?!" she yelled, and he stopped for a moment, startled by her sudden outburst. "Why do you stay!?"
"I found a purpose again," he insisted, though he wasn't sure why he was trying to reason with her. Old feelings, perhaps.
"Oh yeah, to find your pathetic sister?! How's that working for you since you'll be dead by the end of the night?!"
That stung. He didn't mean it to, but it did. She had always been so supportive of him. He could say whatever he wanted about Lani's sanity, but there were often times where she was soft with him, and he let some walls down around her. He explained why he was there with Kuja, and she insisted that it was his best option.
"Dammit Lani, I found her!" he hollered at he, pushing his wrists out so as to not stab her with his long claws and using the bottom of his palm to shove her back. She tripped on some rubble and lost her balance due to the weight of her weapon. "I found her! I have a purpose to protect now! Why are you so angry about that?!"
She hopped right back up and charged at him, "Because I loved you, you fucking idiot!" She swung at him, her speed picking up. He danced backwards, his long legs leaping.
"And you just – you left!" her voice was shrill, crazy. "You left me, and you left the world we were building under Kuja! You left your responsibilities for some pipe dream!"
"Not so much a pipe dream when it happened!" He shouted at her, surprised at himself that she could gather such a reaction out of him.
Lani screamed, her headpiece falling to her neck as she whipped her axe, stepping very predictably in the same pattern to balance its weight. Her eyes were wild with anger.
"I tried to kill you once and I didn't succeed!" she howled, referring to when she had stabbed him in Bermecia. "This time I won't fail!"
"Lani, just stop!" he tried to plead, hating to see what woman she had grown into. When he met her, she was still so young, and so impressionable. It made him wonder what kind of person she would be if it wasn't Kuja she'd stumbled into when she was most lost.
She let out a chuckle that became a full, hyena-sounding laugh. Her hair splayed across her face and her eyes blinked hard. Her mocha skin was slick with the rain but her leather gloves helped her keep her grip. "This is all one big game to you, Red! One that you don't seem to think you'll ever lose!" In a bout of continuousness, she double stepped to the right, right into the direction he was stepping because his anticipation of her going left.
Seeing her opening, she flung her axe, nearly letting go of the handle with her burst of rageful strength.
The contact it made satisfied her, that much she was sure. Her eyes widened like she didn't believe she'd done it, but then she solidified her movement by jerking the axe further to the left.
Amarant coughed, watching blood spat onto the pavement.
"Amarant!" It was Eiko's voice he heard, shrill and hurt and upset. He tried to put up a hand to stop her from coming – Lani was way too dangerous – but he found he couldn't lift his left hand. It hung limply at his side, swinging mildly against the axe wedged into his side and cutting itself in the process. He couldn't even feel it.
"Amarant!" she yelled again as Lani laughed, watching the little girl's face crumple as she ran forward.
Eiko wasn't deterred by the scene – she kept running, feeling her heart beating into her ears. Tears blurred her vision, but that just made it worse. There was so much blood spraying everywhere. Her stomach churned.
"Eiko!" Ruby called out, watching the girl take on a sprint. When her eyes followed Eiko's intended path, they widened when she saw the scene in front of her. Amarant's eyes were half-lidded, his face pale, the axe sticking awkwardly into his side, nearly slicing through his spine. Without thinking twice, she followed the girl hurriedly.
"Oh look," Lani sighed, "your tramp is coming to your rescue," she heaved the axe into him more, the blood spraying up onto her face.
Eiko slid on her knees, tearing up her leggings as she shot an aggressive float spell at Lani. She had been practicing modifying it so that it felt more like an offensive move. The magic sent her staggering back and kept her from finding her footing longer, since she was no longer on the ground. That gave Eiko enough room, casting with all of her might, the best guard and protect spell she had ever conjured.
Ruby slid in just in time. It was like a crystal had formed around them, the dome made up of small, flat surfaces in the shape of a hexagon.
Eiko was shaking, tears falling down her face. The blonde thief collapsed down by the redhead's side, where he had dropped to his knees and then buckled on his side. Eiko started a hasty cure, but Amarant grabbed her hands.
Despite the contorted expression he wore on his face, his voice was very calm. "Eiko, don't."
She did it anyways. He winced as the wound tried to heal, only to be opened again from the axe as he breathed.
"Ruby, we have to get that axe out –"
"Eiko," he breathed.
"And then I'll put a cure on him, a really big one –"
"Eiko."
"What?" she sobbed, looking at him as he held her hands.
"It's too late. Sometimes magic doesn't cure everything."
"No, but it can't be. Cure always fixes everything. It fixed Zidane and it's fixed you and –"
"You heal me with this in my side, I don't survive. You pull that thing out, I don't survive. Eiko…" his voice was gentle and quiet – she'd never heard it like that before. "You have to be brave."
She shook her head. He ignored her as his eyes slid to Ruby. "Ruby."
Ruby grabbed his other hand, and the three of them sat there together, listening to Eiko's muffled sobs. She could hear Lani hitting the barrier with her axe, but no amount of brute strength was going to break a spell this strong.
"Oh darlin'." She didn't know what else to say.
"Lani is watching this. She'll come for both of you. I think you both… need to run."
"Run?" her eyes flashed with revenge, but Amarant gave her fingers a light squeeze. "She won't stop… until she's dead."
"Then we kill her," Eiko insisted.
"Don't talk like that," he said gently. "You're so… little… to be thinking… like that."
"Amarant," she groaned like his name physically hurt her. She looked ill, hardly able to control the sobs wracking her tiny frame.
"I'm so glad… I found you," he told Ruby with a small smile. "I'm sorry… Cierradonna won't… meet me."
Finally, Ruby let out a sob. Tears dripped onto Amarant's cheeks, but he didn't even react. He was paler than she was now. "She woulda accepted you. Accepted you as a son. She still will."
He sighed but winced. The action was causing him pain. She knew it wouldn't be much longer. Blood was staining everything; his blood layered over Cinna's. Her stomach flip flopped at the thought.
"Yer my brother," she insisted, shaking her head though she wasn't sure why. "I accept you. We're family."
"I like that… very much…" There was silence for a moment. "I should… have listened to you… about h-having this conver…sation with Ei-Eiko earlier."
"Don't say that," she whispered, her vision blurred. She unhooked one of her hands from his to wipe her eyes. "Don't say that," she said stronger.
"Eiko," he said sternly. She could barely look at him. "I was searching for… m-my little… sister… all along. B-but I found you… first."
Ruby watched the girl, her purple hair falling in front of her tear-soaked face.
"You are just… as much… a si-ster to me… as Ruby. Please… don't change your… p-perfect, happy… heart. Because… you have the ability –" he coughed, blood spatting onto Ruby's skirt, "- to change people… like me."
His eyes shifted between the two girls. "I die today –" Eiko started to wail. He had to shush her before he could continue, "- with a family… with two… sisters… Take care of each other…" he sucked in an uneasy breath. "Take… care…" he closed his eyes, wheezing.
"Amarant," Ruby said. He opened his eyes again, but it looked like he was unable to keep speaking. But he looked more at peace knowing he'd said what he needed to – what he wanted to. It all felt so surreal.
"No!" Eiko shrieked, energy surrounding her. Her eyes were wide as she was lifted off the ground, still shaking. "No!" she hollered. Ruby shielded Amarant from the light that was coming towards them, all of the rays shooting from Eiko's small form reflecting off of the protect spell.
She was still letting out sorrow-filled wails as her spell's protection cracked and shattered. Ruby felt like she should be ready for Lani's relentless attack, but Eiko's light burned brighter. Waves of color splashed off of her, before her own – her very first solo – summon, was complete.
The sky darkened considerably and rock from all of the debris in Alexandria rose in the air. With ground-breaking speed, it collided together in the air and underneath it appeared a giant lion, her mane braided and falling in front of her face. Her teeth were huge and fierce and pink bat wings sprung out behind her, opening wide and covering the sky for anyone near to them. Blue and green ribbons of light appeared and swirled around the eidolon.
"Madeen!" she cried, remembering her vision in Madain Sari with the eidolon and Bahamut. "Help us win this war! Don't let us lose any more friends!" her sobs still shook her voice.
Madeen didn't answer, but stared with her large, ferocious eyes down at the small summoner for a moment, before letting out a howl and bringing her clawed paws down to the ground, shaking everything around them like an earthquake. The meteor that had been forming out of rubble collapsed down in front of her, capturing underneath it anyone in its path.
Oncoming scouts, their pathway and most importantly, Lani.
"Protect her…" Amarant murmured to Ruby, watching what was going on with dimmed vision. As Madeen continued to build meteors to shoot around the battle, Eiko underneath her with her hands above her head, trying to keep her eidolon in the physical world, Ruby sat with Amarant, her body draped awkwardly in front of his, tears mixing with all of the blood. "And protect… yourself."
"I love you," she insisted to him. "I couldn't have asked for nothin' better when I went lookin' for my father."
He chuckled before moving into a coughing fit. Again, he could not speak. She held his head between her hands, laying softly in her lap before she felt a breath leave him without him rasping in another one.
He was gone.
Sobs overtook her as she held his body close, straining for a heartbeat she knew wouldn't come. Everything from that battle was coming down on her now, her heart clenching in despair.
The one person that Eiko was watching for as she tried to hold Madeen through her sobs was Ruby. She wanted to make sure that the girl, paralyzed on the ground next to her fallen half brother, was not attacked. She couldn't lose the thief too. Not now. No one else.
Madeen threw a few more meteors, howling and raging, still staying close to the mage. But her summon was cut short when Eiko collapsed to the ground, her shoulders shaking as she held herself up, her body convulsing with sobs. Madeen dissolved with a sorrowful howl, her short-lived presence noticed, but unable to vanquish all enemies, she knew.
However, everyone was fearful, the fighting dulling for a moment. Friend and foe alike were afraid of the creatures that kept spawning and despawning, simply because they caused so much destruction. Normal hand-to-hand combat was essentially put on hold while an eidolon was present.
"What are you all doing?!" This time, that wretched voice wasn't just echoing through the air.
Everyone near enough to hear turned their heads, eyes wide with fear – both his soldiers, and the rebellion's.
Kuja was walking forward, General Strand on his right and Elouise on his left. He shot a blizzard spell to his left, freezing a resistance member who was struggling to stand. His face was angry, annoyed that the pitiful threat of the resistance hadn't been snuffed out yet.
"Why aren't you squashing this measly resistance?! Fight!" his voice was fierce and though his appearance wasn't particularly frightening, the way he held himself made the others feel like death was upon their doorstep.
At his harsh command, his soldiers picked up and began to fight again, the resistance members all trying to keep a close eye on this man, shattering their concentration. Everyone would have to be on their toes.
Kuja was furious. He was furious that his dreamers were utterly worthless now, never having focused too hard on their regular powers when they had trance on their side. His scouts were falling, his reinforcements had no way in, and even his golden warriors were having difficulties. When did the resistance get so big? When did it get so powerful?
The soldiers from the South Gate would be coming up the river at any time, and he craned his neck to the side in annoyance as he flicked a few spells this way and that, stopping any struggling fighters from moving – from surviving.
He knew as he watched the battlefield that some of his dreamers had even betrayed him, and his anger soared. His icy eyes flickered around, no one daring to get too close for fear of his magic. Then, his eyes found what they were looking for.
Zidane crossed his daggers and sliced outwards, taking down a soldier who had initially charged him from behind, hoping to get the upper hand.
"You," Kuja growled, picking up his speed. That dreamer brat had been a thorn in his side – ruining every single one of his plans – far too long. He had been outsmarted by Tribal, played by Tribal, and made to fight by Tribal. Today was the day that genome died. "Kill them all!" he commanded behind him to Elouise and General Strand before he flew forward, literally floating off of the ground as his magic, quickened by his rage, crackled around him.
"Eli!" the general and the dreamer turned to see Avalanche kick away a scout and trot forward, his hair knotted behind his shoulders. He had a thin sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. She was relieved to see had hadn't been hurt, but her heart twisted still with indecision.
"Traitor!" General Strand hollered before he chuckled under his breath. "Come Elouise, this shall be a treat." He unsheathed his sword, his red cape fluttering behind his charcoal colored armor.
Out of habit, Elouise produced her own dagger, her eyes wide and her head dizzy. Avalanche took a step back and for the first time, his face wore an expression that said he wondered truly what she would do – whose side would she take?
General Strand started at a trot, picking up his speed to charge at Avalanche. "Argh!" he yelled as he reached up to swing his sword. It came crashing down inches from where Avalanche had evaded, the elf raising an eyebrow at the man's speed. He'd never sparred with the General and hadn't actually any idea how powerful this man was – or wasn't. But something told him it was the former.
He tried the dodging game, hoping to continue keeping an eye on Elouise, but those were too close of chances. His body jerked unnaturally in his fear, and finally, his whole attention had to be focused on the general.
Avalanche brought his longer sword up, swiping quickly from left to right, and then reversing it to stay out of habit. He jumped over the low swipes of the general's large sword, but when it came up, Avalanche, with the sword jutting awkwardly over his body to the right, while his feet were more towards the left tried to deflect the blade with his own. However, Strand's sword swooped through the steel, shattering his nimble weapon.
Strand grinned at him as Avalanche stared back with wide eyes. He still had his dagger, the blade a little thicker, but it was an even shorter weapon – he would never get close enough to use it. He tried to think, but his brain only focused on the fact that Strand would chase him around the battle field until he was dead. His arm nearly dropped to his side with this realization.
In a flash: just like that, Strand was on the ground, yelping in pain. One leg was awkwardly placed behind him, his foot wriggling, while his weight was fully supported on the other leg. Behind him, Elouise was kneeling on the ground, her dagger having stabbed through the back of the general's knee.
He whipped around instinctively and kicked her away, igniting another shout of pain from him. She fell back, hit but unharmed. Shock covered her face more than any trace of pain.
Avalanche smirked as he roundhouse kicked Strand in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground at Elouise's feet. She glanced up at Avalanche.
"We're really doing this?"
He nodded, "Justice or death, right?"
Her face looked pained, still afraid that perhaps he was wrong but willing to trust him anyways. She gave a very small nod and a meek little smile. Her confidence would come. He was sure of it.
Zidane didn't even see it coming.
The man he was fighting in front of him didn't see it either.
They were battling, as was everyone around them. Zidane hopped back, clashing his dagger with the man's sword, metal ringing out in the air. His leg was on fire – his arm for that matter too. But there was enough adrenaline pumping through him – the desire not to let his teammates down – that kept him upright.
But he was tired.
The man rounded his dagger, sliding his weapon off of Zidane's, flinging them both apart. Zidane sprung back a few steps, bouncing, attempting to keep his energy high and his mind on alert.
A huge icicle drove through the man's chest, the tip coming within inches of Zidane. They stared at each other, equally shocked. Blood seeped from the other man's mouth as he coughed. His blood spatter hit Zidane in the face and the genome flinched.
As the man crumpled to the ground, the blonde saw Kuja a few yards behind him, his hand extended and the icicle melting away from it. He wore rage on his face – more so than Zidane had ever seen. He took an immediate jump back.
"Are you afraid, Tribal?!" Kuja boomed at him, stepping forward with each step back the genome took. "Afraid because you know you're going to die?! Because everyone knows you're going to die?!" He shot a fireball from his palm with stupendous speed. But Zidane was just a smidge faster.
"Four years, Zidane Tribal. Four years you've been evading my capture – or escaping it. You've been running amuck over my plans and quite frankly, it's time you pay with your life. Your final hour is upon you."
The movement was fast and the movement was unexpected. His hand reached into his pocket and whipped throwing stars at the dark lord faster than anyone could keep track of, and though Kuja moved for most of them, one caught in his shoulder.
He didn't even seem to process the pain. His frown deepened and his eyebrows quirked up as he plucked the piece of metal from his shoulder. He stared at it with some fascinating that had Zidane stepping back again, before he threw it like a toy to the floor, abandoned and forgotten.
"You're going to die, Tribal. I hope you know that."
He gulped, knowing very well if he was going to die, it was going to be this man in front of him who did it. He wouldn't have his trance to fall back on this time around, sparring with Kuja. He was inches from death the last time they fought even with his power. Now, he wasn't sure what would happen.
The remembrance of his exhaustion lingered in the back of his mind, but he forced it to go away. He couldn't be thinking about how tired he was when this was the first appearance Kuja was making – and he was making it for blood.
There was the mildest lull. Steiner dropped to his knee to rest for a moment after taking down another soldier. He knew the battle was far from over, but nobody was immediately swinging their sword at him, so he was taking a rest.
His charcoal eyes swept the battlefield. Some had run off to block the scouts coming in, and the last time there was a mild break in fighting was when an eidolon was summoned. He wasn't sure if it was Eiko or Dagger – he hadn't seen either of them in a while, but it was good that he could recognize their power; that meant that at least one of them was okay.
He visibly shuttered at the thought of losing Dagger now, after all this time of keeping her safe. He knew she shouldn't have come. He knew he wouldn't have been able to stop her.
There were so many bodies around him. And perhaps that's why nobody – friend or enemy – had noticed him kneeling on the pavement. He was so tired. His body ached, especially his shoulders from continuously swinging his broadsword. They hadn't fought like this in an awfully long time.
Even so, he knew he had to keep going.
Steiner was in that awkward spot between the two battlefields, having taken down those who were connecting the two. He could see how many lay dead, and he flinched when his mind noted that it was more resistance than Kuja-spawn.
It took hearing Kuja's voice pounding to his right to realize that his break was over. Steiner hurried to his feet, but it was easier said than done. He was more exhausted than he thought. Or injured. He couldn't tell.
The self-proclaimed dark lord was raving on about Zidane and how he was going to die. Steiner shook his head. He couldn't let that happen. Sucking in some much-needed air, he lifted his sword and began to trot back to the forefront battlefield to assist. He couldn't let his team perish. Not when they were so close.
But he stopped on the way, hearing the strangest noise behind him. He turned, his eyes squinted. It was still storming, though hardly anyone was noticing the thunder, lightning or rain anymore. It was still too dark outside to see much of anything. But he could hear. Around the thunder and heavy patter of rain, he heard propellers.
Just outside the walls, there was an airship, and it was dumping clumps of people out from its half-lowered ramp.
His heart jerked in his throat.
More soldiers.
Beatrix watched Lysandra bar her weapon forward. She was stunned that the woman still had so much gusto left. She didn't even look tired. Lysandra's thin lips curled into a smile. They had heard the airship, they had seen people leaping from it.
She was ready to slaughter them all.
Well, the ex-knight was glad someone was ready to slaughter the next round of Kuja's soldiers. She glanced around her for a quick assessment. Eiko and Ruby hadn't moved in awhile – not since the eidolon was summoned and then dismissed. She couldn't see over a few mounds of rubble to know if one of them had been hurt, and that's why they weren't moving.
She had seen Dagger briefly before she disappeared again to somewhere else and had watched as Freya slowly fought her way up behind them. She'd seen Steiner briefly in the distance, but now he had disappeared too. She hadn't seen the others in quite some time.
"Get ready!" Lysandra shouted, pulling Beatrix's eyes back to her, "Here they come!"
When the group got close enough to see in the poor lighting of the storm, a breath left Beatrix that she felt like she'd been holding for years.
Leading the charge was Fratley himself, spear in hand, the Bermecian Rebels they had fought with a lifetime ago behind him, along with a large band of Cleyrian warriors. And behind them still were more people she recognized, the most prominent being none other than Nathaniel Steiner himself.
She covered her mouth in disbelief.
Any of Kuja's warriors left in that general area quickly fell back, hoping for safety in numbers towards the castle, because with reinforcements they would soon be outnumbered, if only by a little.
"Nate!" Lysandra cried, her voice cracking as she ran forward. The bermecians were all eager to move for her, running forward with new energy to add to the battle. "Nate!" she cried again, letting down all of her walls for her lover she hadn't seen in two years.
His shoulders sagged, "Lys," he breathed capturing her in a hug. "God, I'm so glad we made it in time. I'm so glad after all this time, you're alive."
She let out a sigh if disbelief. "How… how did you get here?! Why did you... come?"
He shrugged, "We received a letter from a woman named Mikoto. She explained that you were driven out of Madain Sari – did you know that was still even a place? – and would be heading into the final battle and that any help we could give would be necessary. She explained in her letter that in Terra, there would be a few theater ships, and who to talk to, to borrow one."
Lysandra's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "I didn't even think…" she trailed, "she communicated all of that to you?" She knew Mikoto, but not very well. She knew that the genome was very professional and bland, but she had no idea how intelligent she was. "We should have thought to contact you…"
He smiled and brushed her hair lovingly behind her ear, "You had enough on your plate. Her letter said to take the ship to Cleyra and made sure to add that she'd sent letters to Bermecia and Cleyra explaining more or less the same thing. We waited until we saw all of the fire."
Lysandra grinned, "Dagger's eidolons."
He shook his head, "Incredible."
"Why did you come?" she asked, "You were so certain…"
"I couldn't let you fight alone. I couldn't let Adelbert fight alone… Not after the rest of our family…" he sighed and looked away.
She nodded, her composer returning. She squared her shoulders, "Then let's go show Kuja what he was missing by not capturing us as dreamers!"
He grinned at her and followed, not another word shared between them.
Fratley found her instantly. She looked battered, but still standing. Her hat was long gone and her jacket was ripped; one of the sleeves was missing, but then he spotted it tied around her left thigh. Her spear looked as though the very tip had broken off, and there was a long scrape down the right side of her face.
But she was still there, blinking at him in a daze. He walked forward with purpose. His road had not been easy – staying in Cleyra was more frustrating than trying to form and help manage a rebellion, or protect the king like he'd been doing up until some years ago. However, he knew in his heart as soon as the rest of the resistance had left that he should have gone with them.
But now, all of that aching had paid off, for he had nearly half of Cleyra and almost all of what was left of Bermecia behind him.
He knew though, with all of her stubbornness but despite her professional and logic side, Freya would still be upset.
Fratley approached her warily, and at first she made no movement – her eyes didn't even flicker over him, like she didn't even realize he was there.
It was a tense moment. Both of them knew that this wasn't the time – there was a battle to be fought, after all. And yet, all they did was continue to stare.
"I am angry at you," she said after a long while.
Fratley prepared to move away, but then she flashed him the ring she still wore on her finger.
"But I have never been so happy to see you here, alive and unharmed."
He sighed, not caring then if she was angry or not, before moving forward to wrap her in a hug. She returned it slowly and he felt her muscles spasm in her shoulders as she moved. He knew just from that feeling that the battle had been long.
Producing a potion, he insisted she take it from him before they headed to the battlefield. Feeling too tired to argue, she did, and immediately she felt a bit of her strength returning. She nodded to him. He put a hand to her cheek, touching the long scratch gently, before pushing her hair behind her ear.
"I missed you Freya, and I know now is not the time… but I am so sorry. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you."
She turned away, but not without a cocky smirk. "I shall hold you to that, you know."
A lopsided grin overtook his solemn face before he gestured her forward; they were here to help the battle.
Reinforcements they hadn't been expecting had arrived.
Zidane hadn't bothered listening to the constant provoking Kuja was trying to inflict. He had to keep focused. The man had made countless threats to the genome's life, but so far, Zidane's heart was still beating.
He was panting as his knees shook, bent underneath him. Both of his daggers were pointed outward and he had a sharp eye on Kuja. The silver haired man had taken a small break to brag about how many resistance members were dead.
That much was sure. And with already one occurrence of reinforcements for Kuja (for Zidane did not know about the new rebels that had joined them), there were bound to be more. The blonde tried not to think about how many of his friends could be gone – he hadn't seen anyone in his group in a long while and while Rama's group was holding up okay, Sam's group had been all but depleted, besides Sam himself and a few others. He couldn't imagine what the newest recruits were looking like now. So much regret. There should have been so much more training, even though it had been years.
With a sudden cry, the two facing off whipped to their side, seeing a new wave of enemies clash with a new wave of resistance members. The scouts that had been stopped from entering the city before by Madeen had finally found a way in, but Eiko had done them a tremendous favor by giving the others enough time to get there.
Zidane spotted Fratley and a large grin sprouted on his face. As luck would have it, the new group of warriors – both friends and enemies – swallowed the current battleground, temporarily shielding him from Kuja.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly tripped springing forward.
"Back up and take a rest," Steiner commanded; though his voice had to raise above the reinvented battle, it was still gentle. "You're going to need it when this distraction disappears and Kuja is after you again."
While Zidane wanted to argue, he knew Steiner was right and shot him the most thankful look before slipping back behind him, the ex-knight covering him as he went.
Steiner waited until the genome was out of sight before he propelled himself forward. Where had all of these people come from? There was a plethora of Bermecians and a handful of faces he'd never seen before. Yet some of them…
Some he could swear he'd met before.
He spotted Lysandra's unruly black hair before she backed up into a lean back connected to strong arms wielding a general broadsword. But it wasn't the sword that caught his attention. It was the way it was swung.
With a quick flick of his eyes, he spotted his older brother just as he kicked back and sliced at one of Kuja's soldiers, using Lysandra's familiar body behind him for support.
"Nathaniel!" he yelled, not really hearing himself.
But the man did, and his eyes turned towards Steiner. For a moment, the two brothers stared at each other, matching charcoal eyes saying everything and nothing. Adelbert plunged into the sea of people around him, driving his sword this way and that.
He would make it to Nathaniel.
Now wasn't really the time, he knew.
But he had to say something.
The tides of the battle shifted too quickly already, and he wanted to be there – wanted to say anything to his brother, in case the last of his family perished.
Steiner pushed forward, at this point shoving people away with his sword, dismissing the battle around him so he could get through. It was more like pushing through a crowd than fighting with his weapon.
"Enough of this child's play!"
The ground beneath him shuttered. There was a flash of light and then thick, ragged and sharp icicles were coming towards him – no, just in his direction – fast and plentiful. One caught him in the arm and he staggered back, eyes snapping to the side. A few resistance members around him stumbled, having been hit. Two staggered and dropped to the ground, the blizzaga spell piercing their head and heart. The self-proclaimed dark lord had soldiers that collapsed as well. He didn't care where his spells were going.
It was Kuja's voice he heard boom over the rest, and Steiner could only imagine that something had happened to tick him off – tip him into this stupid amount of magical power. That's how the man had won the war thus far, right? Zidane flashed through his mind; he hoped the blonde had found somewhere safe, and that reaction wasn't aimed at the genome.
When he found himself upright again, he saw Nathaniel, but his face was twisted in grief. Steiner continue pushing forward, only to shove a wounded soldier to the side to find Lysandra, having been stuck in the abdomen with a large shard of ice.
"Fuck," she coughed, lulling her head to the side. She tried to cast a crude cure on herself, but it did little to help. Blood leaked down the corner of her mouth. "Fuck," she said again.
"Lys, come on, let's get you out of here – where are your potions?"
"Aw Nate," she shook her head, her face pale, "I gave 'em all to a group of kids earlier. They're so young, fighting in this war y'know?"
He shook his head, brow furrowing as he fumbled for his own potions. The world around them slowed, everyone too worried about the second round of spells from Kuja and their current enemies to care about the two that had collapsed to the ground.
"No, I certainly don't know, Lysandra."
She shook her head, coughing a little bit, touching the shard in her stomach before wincing. "Sure you do. That's why you're here, remember?" She wrapped a brave hand around the shard, cutting into the skin of her palm in the process, "Ah, fuck."
"I just got here, Lys. This can't – you can't."
Her eyelids began fluttering as she stared at Nathaniel. "I wouldn't regret the last couple years, you know. I know you want to say I told you so but," she closed her eyes and hummed, her breath leaving her slowly, "I felt like I make a difference Nathan."
"Lys –"
"Don't be mad," she murmured to him, her face peaceful contrary to the situation. But despite her shallow breaths continuing, she didn't open her eyes again.
Steiner stared, his body frozen. Blood leaked from his arm onto his dirty armor as he watched the two. What had happened? They were just fighting together. Steiner was just on his way over to see his brother.
These tides weren't swirling quickly – they were a flash. One moment someone was there, the next, they weren't.
"Lysandra," Nathaniel murmured to her, shaking her a little bit.
She didn't answer with words, but one big sigh left her mouth, and then Steiner stopped seeing her chest rise.
More icicles shot in their direction, and a soldier unintentionally shielding the duo on the ground, not noticing that they were still living bodies, got hit and he stumbled back. He tripped over Lysandra's legs, the shard of ice in his chest as he crashed on top of her. Nathan started back, his eyes wild. The man couldn't move, dying himself.
"Nathaniel –"
Hearing his younger brother's voice, he looked up. There were unshed tears in his eyes as Steiner reached him, grabbing him by the arm and herding him away from the bustling about around him. Lysandra was lost under the man who passed away in a similar fashion to her.
"No!" he cried, shaking away from Adelbert and shooting forward, terror and tears and anger in his eyes. "No!"
But when Steiner expected him to go back to his partner's body, Nathaniel continued pushing forward and disappeared in the crowd.
Despite the new flood of rebels, nobody stayed near Kuja for a long period of time. He'd lost sight of Zidane and that really ticked him off.
But what was more annoying now, as he tried to hunt down the genome, was the rage of battle all around him. He couldn't get very far without shooting a firega or thundara and his anger was rising. His dreamers had been taken away from him, and this threat that Strand had insisted would stay small had become more than just a nuisance. People weren't outright challenging him, and the less experienced fighters were jumping out of his way – whether they were his soldiers or not – but he was still amidst it all.
Strand had fallen off somewhere while Kuja went after Zidane, but after the wave of people came in, he found himself only with a dedicated, mindless black mage to his left flank. The mage was shooting fira spells, but that was all.
His eyes flashed red when a man tripped in front of him. Seeing the man, despite the makeup and skimpy clothing, he tried to clamor away, fear shaking his body. He recognized the armor as one of his own, though he'd never seen the boy before. He flicked his fingers, an icicle forming and zapping into the boy's back, rendering him dead on the spot.
"Stay out of my way," he grumbled, stepping over the body.
His eyes flickered around, surprised (though not startled) that there were so many bodies. Despite the battle feeling small, the resistance had turned a couple hundred people into Alexandria, met with Kuja's triple the size army. With disgust, he saw many of his own men dead.
In his quest to find Zidane, he saw one of his more powerful dreamers – Daen was her name – get hit with a rock to the head. She crumpled to the ground unmoving. Though, this wasn't what resparked the anger in Kuja.
When Daen's body collapsed to the ground, he saw her killer. It was none other than Elouise – his first in command dreamer. Her wavy blonde hair hung wildly around her face, and her face was smudged with blood and dirt. Against her back was the unmistakable form of Avalanche, his long blonde hair behind him as he battled with his opponent.
He locked eyes with the blonde woman – the one who had sat in on all of his meetings, who had trained the other dreamers, one of the first to achieve the trance power he had been teaching. She had loved her city and swore allegiance to him with justice to her friends she lost – vengeance against the resistance.
She had betrayed him.
"You!" he growled at her, floating forward. He produced a dagger from his billowing sleeve, but she deflected it easily. His hand-to-hand combat left something to be desired, though he would never openly admit that. "You betrayed me!"
"You want to talk about betrayal?" she asked, emphasizing her words with the force behind her weapon. She pushed him back, though he did not stumble, suspended by his spell. "You lied!"
"Are your feelings hurt?" he feigned sadness before his snarl ripped away the clumsy façade. "You could have been a leader in ruling the world. You could have made whatever changes you wanted!"
"You tore this city down in the first place!" she yelled at him, throwing her weak blue magic at him. Her skills were subpar, but enough to anger him. The electric blue lightning that extended in tendrils from her hand singed the bottom of his robes.
"You didn't even live here," he told her matter-of-factly, acting much like a child. "I abducted you and your mother from Treno! I remember everywhere that each dreamer came from, because I wanted the most elite to rise up in the world!"
Her eyes were wide, and the fight was temporarily knocked out of her. Whether he was lying or not she couldn't be sure, but with a cry of anguish as he confirmed the suspicions that Avalanche had been trying to convince her of for weeks, she plunged forward, swinging her dagger at him.
"You monster!" she howled at him.
"Oh please, like I care what some little girl thinks about me!"
Her eyes narrowed, and she lunged downward – something he wasn't expecting. Her dagger sliced across his knee and he crumpled for a second, coming face to face with her.
"This little girl cares what you did to the world," she said to him darkly, before smacking his face backwards with the rise of her foot.
He felt the blood pool around his pursed lips from his nose in seconds. Kuja glanced down, seeing his robes torn and his legs exposed. His anger rose from annoyance to rage. This girl in front of him was trash – trash that had abandoned the winning side. She would pay.
"Enough of this child's play!" he hollered, letting a powerful blizzaga spell consume him. It lit up his body, freezing snow over his skin as ice shot not just from his hands, but from his entire body in three-hundred and sixty degrees around him.
The ground beneath him shook as his power rumbled, finding an outlet in his feet. He let another spell consume him and launch, and another. The feeling was addicting, his life force tingling as he pushed his magic level higher and higher.
He knew he was killing his own men.
He didn't care.
All he wanted was for these traitors to be dead.
For the resistance to be wiped out.
He launched several more spells, cackling to himself as he raised his arms.
He numbly noted that Avalanch had pulled Elouise back and was shielding her; there were two large shards of ice protruding from his back. That made him push harder. Good, he thought, let them all die!
"Gaaah!" Kuja turned at the yell next to him, only to have a sword cleaved into his shoulder.
His magic hiccupped, repelling on him as it blew him backwards, the nerves in his arm severed. The limb was limp, power circulating through it with no outlet. It swirled oddly in his skin. He glanced up from the ground, anger contorting his face.
A man he didn't recognize stood, breathing heavily. Four icicles protruded from his chest, and blood ran down from each wound as he heaved. He was hunched forward, his weapon loose in his hand, eyes angry.
Kuja laughed, insanity sprinkled in his voice. "My do we have a courageous one here!" But the action of gesturing to the man sent an unfamiliar spasm of pain through his arm, and so he hissed. A couple black mages behind him stepped up, continuing to shoot off spells.
"Naghnn," Nathan collapsed to his knees, still staring with steely eyes at the insane ruler in front of him.
"Nathaniel!" his's eyes turned to the side, seeing his younger brother finally catching up to him. Steiner skidded to a halt, fear in his eyes when he saw the last member of his family on his knees.
"Adelbert," he grumbled, gesturing to the man.
Steiner slid to his knees, catching Nathaniel as he went.
"Steiner!" he heard Beatrix from not too far away and glanced over his shoulder to see her and Fratley fighting their way to him, hoping to give him the cover he needed.
Feeling as though this was more important than having his back covered if they didn't make it to him, he turned back to his brother. "Nate, why'd you go do that?!"
He ignored the ex-knight, "Kill that son of a bitch. Make sure he's dead."
"Nathan –"
"I want justice. Justice for father, for Alexander, for the lives lost today – for Lys."
"Nathaniel."
Finally, the older man looked at his brother. He saw the fear in his little brother's eyes – not something that was often there – not something he'd seen in a very long time. They matched his own, but more acute, holding more wisdom and probably more pain than Nathaniel had seen in his own lifetime.
"Brother," he gave a mild shake of his head. He shifted, grabbing one of the icicles and yanking it from where it had stabbed him in the leg. Blood poured out of it. Steiner glanced at it, hastily making a move, but Nathaniel stopped him. "Adelbert, this is important."
"But you're –"
He shook his head. "Lys is waiting for me."
"You can't just –"
"You would too," he nodded, gesturing to Beatrix, who had her back turned slightly toward them. "You would want to go too."
Steiner glanced back at the woman for a moment too, anguish and understanding in his eyes as he squinted them.
"I wanted to fight with you," he continued, not waiting for Steiner to answer. "I wanted you to know how sorry I am for running, when I should have been there with you. I thought that this would make amends."
"Nathaniel –"
"Just shut up for once, Adel."
He clipped his mouth shut as Nathaniel yanked another shard of ice from himself, this time from the upper shoulder. More blood. He groaned, but the uncomfortableness of the freezing cold in his body was fading. That's why he was pulling out the shards.
"Live the life our whole family wanted," Nathaniel told him. "Live. Not in regret. Not like me," he shook his head. "I don't hate you for bringing Lysandra here," he hastily said. "I just wish I would have been less stubborn… come with her… you know? I'm… so sorry."
"You don't have to be sorry for wanting to protect those you love."
"But, you do it with such bravery. A bravery I never had. Don't screw it up, B is a wild one. She deserves more than either of us can give."
"You're a good brother," he said to Steiner, his expression fading fast. But his eyes were still locked on to matching grey ones, "I'm glad… you're my brother."
"You're a good brother as well, Nathaniel," Steiner told him as he tried to rip out another shard. The younger one stopped him, however, settling him more comfortably on the ground.
"Lysandra is waiting," he repeated and Steiner nodded, laying him on the ground. He shuddered. "Pull the rest out. I don't want to die with these things in me."
Steiner knew not to argue. It wasn't in his nature to do much of it anyways. He squeezed his brother's good shoulder before standing and yanking the remaining two icicles from his brother's body.
He watched Nathaniel close his eyes and breathe, and he knew from the amount of blood pouring out of his lean body that he was gone.
His misted eyes glanced up at Beatrix, who stopped what she was doing for a moment, tears sliding down her own cheeks. He turned away from her, towards the mages that stood between him and a recovering Kuja.
"Justice," he reminded himself, unsheathing his sword one more time. "Justice."
A/N: I wasn't going to stop it there, but this chapter started to get a bit long and I have so much more to say about the battle.
I am not entirely happy with my transitions in this chapter, but I hope the small details of the fight make up for it. I know I am not capturing a very good hectic battleground, but better the details than the atmosphere? Right? Maybe?
Leave me your thoughts. That was a tough one to write. I never like character death. Sorry I couldn't give a warning in the beginning, but I didn't want to spoil anything.
-zesty-
