Fan Fiction ❯ Black Orchid ❯ Ice in the Desert ( Chapter 23 )

Ah: School's out! \/\/007i oh yeah! Unh huh! Anyways, here's the next chap! R&R! And it's kind of a longer chap than most of mine. Plus, a bonus strip:

Dar'ck: Um, hey... I got captured.
Riku: Join the club. -shakes Dar'ck's hand-
Dar'ck: Oh, thanks. -extends a hand to Leon-

Leon: -stares at it-

Riku: Yeah, he's cold like that. I'm eternally in pain, and he's eternally alone. What's your deal?

Dar'ck: Dunno. They took my katanas... and my guns...

Leon: They took my gunblade.

Riku: Ah, well, they can't take the keyblade from me!

Leon: -glares at Riku- I'll get you for that...

Dar'ck: But... i think they said something about "the grey one" or something...

Riku: Sounds ominous...

Leon: Have fun.

Elias: Hey! Less talking, more screaming/wandering/being stuck in a tube-ing!

Eriks: Who are they? and what're you doing to them?

Elias: -nervous- Huh? oh, nothing. Um, you shouldn't be in here Eriks. Now be a nice little boy and go play in some other part of Hollow Bastion. Scoot!

Riku: Don't leeeeaaavee usss....

Elias: SHUT UP!

Riku: -head sags- yes, Elias...

Dar'ck: Is it always like this?

Leon: Yup. Get used to it.

{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!}{!} {!}{!}{!}{!}{!}

"You were awesome, Genie!" said Orchid, happily swinging around her keyblade as they walked through the tunnels in the Cave of Wonders.

"Thank you, thank you very much," said Genie, now with a white jacket, sunglasses, and the appropriate hairstyle for his charade.

"Cool it," said Aladdin, hiding his grin as he brushed past the posing Elvis. Genie's hair drooped in disappointment, then he changed back to normal and walked on.

"Hey, come look at this next room!" Orchid shouted back, having run ahead of the rest of them. Arc and Montblanc ran to catch up with her and joined her in the vapid staring.

"This," said Aladdin, walking up on the staring trio, "is the treasure room."

Piles of gold were everywhere, precious jewels and gems were scattered around like pebbles on a beach, finely wrought vessels of the rarest metals stuck out of the piles. The trio's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets at the sight of such vast wealth.

"I wouldn't," cautioned Genie, causing Arc to stop his trembling left hand from grabbing a particularly large ruby.

"He's right," supported Aladdin. "Take anything from here, and you could cause the cave to close on us and trap us here for any number of years."

Arc and Orchid quickly shoved their hands in their pockets.

"I hear noise, kupo," said Montblanc, from where he was at the far end of the room. Everyone drifted over to the doorway he was at and could hear the cackling, wheedling voice they had heard before. Gali was in the chamber beyond.

They walked through to find a spacious cavern with three raised platforms and what looked like a mound of cooled lava in the center. On the platform opposite them was Gali, holding the Princess Jasmine in his one revealed arm. His eyes stared madly at them from across the room.

"So, you came to rescue her?" he asked. There was a puff of smoke that obscured him and the princess, and they reappeared in similar cloud in front of the platform.

"Give Jasmine back!" shouted Aladdin angrily.

"Just say the word, Al," said Genie, standing next to him. "Your wish is my grantable favor."

"I don't think so," interjected Gali, setting Jasmine down at the base of the platform. He walked forwards, his hand raised, and then he snapped his fingers casually. "Banish."

Genie let out a yelp of surprise as his body began to discarnate. He reached towards Aladdin, but before the prince could grab his hand, Genie was just a swirl of blue, then not even that.

"And since I can only do that once a day," continued Gali, holding out his hand palm out towards them, "Seal."

The cape that concealed his body ruffled in the energy that blasted from his hand and shot past Orchid and the others, to stop and expand into an arcane symbol across the doorway they had just came through.

"Now, no one can leave, and no one can enter," said Gali smugly, his slightly high voice grating on their nerves. "Not even your dear, precious genie."

"We don't need that blue sack of magic!" shouted Arc from above. He came slamming down with his stone fist, missing the lanky man by inches as Gali dodged backwards. Arc swung again and again, but each time, the man simply dodged back or tricked Arc into striking at empty cape.

"I'll get him!" yelled Orchid, having run over. She lunged with the keyblade as Gali dodged a punch from Arc, but he danced out of the way of her strike also.

"Water!" chanted Montblanc. Gali whooped in surprise as a ball of water exploded where he had just been, and then danced away form the trio's blows, cackling. His laughter was suddenly cut short as he felt cold steel rake across his back.

"Take that!" yelled Aladdin. Gali disappeared and reappeared a safe distance away from Aladdin, no longer smiling.

"I guess I'll actually have to get semi-serious," he muttered dangerously, his single exposed arm reaching back into his all encompassing cloak to pull out a saber. He charged at them.

Even with all four of them ganging up on him, Gali easily held his own. His thin, lanky, but well muscled form let him dodge their blows, gave him a better range, and inflict an enough damage that he couldn't just be brushed off lightly. It was when he began taunting them again that Arc snapped.

"That's it!" he shouted, standing up straight, raising his left hand towards the ceiling of the cave. "IFRIT!"

A giant ball of flame came slamming down behind him, shaking the whole cavern. As the dust cleared from the rocky crater, a large, horned demon stood up. He was somewhat hunchbacked, with a dark brown hide and tufts of fiery red and orange fur on his arms and legs, and a similar mane down the his head and back. Two enormous and curved horns came from his head and went down his back, framing his muscle bound figure. His coal black eyes stared at Gali, his golden bangles jangling on his wrists as he crossed his arms.

"WHAT IS YOUR WISH, MY MASTER?"

"Get him," commanded Arc grimly.

"HELLFIRE."

The demon floated upwards effortlessly, arms still crossed. He then took one hand, and made an upward slicing movement, and a pillar of fire shot up around Gali. Orchid, Aladdin and Montblanc stared as they tried to make out Gali's form amidst the flames. But Ifrit wasn't done yet. Hands extended outwards, long claws slicing the air, giant orbs of fire formed around each of Ifrit's fists. He swung them both at the column of flame, and they crashed into it, causing an explosion the likes of which Orchid had never seen. Dust and sand filled the air along with the smell of newly made glass. Arc peered into the cloud, and jumped back as three sabers, all glowing blue, flew past him, brushing his shoulders and leaving a sensation of searing cold. He turned to see them all strike Ifrit square in the chest, then go flying off back into the cloud of dust. Ifrit fell to the floor ungraciously, then faded into a spark of red light, which drifted weakly back to Arc, who turned to look back at the epicenter of the blast. The dust was clearing, and Gali was still standing, though most of his cape that had covered him had been burned away.

"That really hurt, you little punks," growled Gali, his eyes more crazed than ever. Though, it wasn't his eyes that had the group's attention. It was his arms. All four of them, all holding sabers. "I'm going to have to take this seriously."

"Something… feels hot," commented Orchid, staring at her hands.

"Kupo… I think," replied Montblanc, staring at the end of his rod, "it's because of Ifrit's having been summoned here. He is a fire elemental…"

The fire blooms to burn away the blight

That voice. It was starting to creep Orchid out.

"Fira!" they both exclaimed, releasing the energy that had been building. Twin comets of fire shot from them at Gali, who narrowly escaped being hit. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't escape what happened next.

The fireballs had loosed the cavern floor, and cracks snaked out across it. In moments, the floor gave way under Gali, and he fell into the ever-spreading hole. But not before grabbing Jasmine, taking the unconscious princess down with him.

"Jasmine!" yelled Aladdin, dashing to the hole in a futile effort to save her. He could only peer into its gaping darkness, and had to be pulled back by Arc as more of the rock gave way and fell down.

"So he's down there now?" asked Orchid, peering into the gloom.

"I guess so, kupo."

"Then let's go." Arc jumped down into the pit, quickly followed by Orchid and Montblanc. Aladdin hesitated, then jumped in.

"Be careful, the chamber down there is full of-" he started landing and rolling to divert the impact. He was shocked to look around the lowest chamber of the Cave of Wonders. "-lava…"

The entire chamber glittered and sparkled with ice. They could see their breath freeze as they sighed in awe of the cold beauty. In the middle of the room, which Aladdin knew to once have been filled with moving slabs and lava, was a podiums of ice, crystallized like a glorious matrix of power, a bright, bluish glow coming from within it. Next to it stood Gali.

"So you made it. Your princess is over there," conversed Gali, pointing casually with one arm behind him. Jasmine lay by an icy gate on the wall, dropped unceremoniously in a pile. "But you'll have to get past me."

Gali brought his four sabers in to ready, each arm waving in a slow and intricate dance around him. Their speed quickened, until they were a blur, then suddenly stopped. In one hand, he held a blade of fire. In another, he held a blade of ice. In a third hand, he held a blade of lightning. In the last hand, he held a blade of wind. He began twirling them around in his hands, slowly walking towards the group as the sabers became spinning circles of red, blue, yellow, and white.

"You talk big," grinned Arc, readjusting his yellow shades, which had slipped down in the fall, "but can you fight with those toys?"

Gali's eyes took on an even wilder look at the taunt, and he sprinted forwards, waving his blades about wildly. Montblanc backed away while casting barriers of air around himself, Orchid, and Aladdin, while those two both rolled out of the way of Gali's enraged onslaught. But Arc merely stood there.

"I'll kill you!" screeched Gali. The blades flashed and there was an explosion of flames, ice, and lightning. When it cleared, Gali was standing there, a smirk on his face, blood dripping from his blades. Arc was pierced in the right leg, the left arm, and the right shoulder. But he was grinning smugly. Gali's eyes widened. "What…?"

There was a sickening crack as Arc easily broke one of the man's twiggy arms in the grasp of his stone gauntlet. Gali screamed in pain and backed away, the arm that had held the windy blade swinging limp at his side. But he still had three others, and Arc was bleeding profusely.

"Water!" shouted Orchid, and Gali reeled from the blow as the high-pressure sphere of water that had formed around him exploded. While fending off Arc and Orchid distracted Gali, and Montblanc used support magic, Aladdin made a dash for the princess.

"I don't think so!" cackled Gali, turning his head towards the thief. There was a puff of smoke, obscuring him from Arc and Orchid, and he reappeared in another puff between Aladdin and Jasmine. "You bother me. Die."

Gali swung, and Aladdin just barely managed to parry the blow with his scimitar. But he took the next blade full in the side. Aladdin cried out in pain as it cut deeply into him, and screamed even louder as he was struck again. Gali stood with a sadistic smile on his face as cut after cut rained down on the prince, a flurry of steel, all happening in the time it took Arc, Orchid, and Montblanc to turn and start running towards them. Gali finally stopped as Aladdin fell to his knees, only to raise one of his blades, preparing for the finishing blow.

"Damn it! We can't make it in time!" shouted Arc as they sprinted to them, almost to the crystal podium, which was halfway across the room.

"I can," said Orchid grimly, bracing herself. "Moonlight Rave!"

She became a blur of motion, then exploded forwards in a burst of speed. All Aladdin felt was a rush of air. Gali felt much more. He yelled in pain as his arm, which had almost completed its path to Aladdin's throat, twisted in an unnatural angle, struck by the keyblade. Orchid skidded to a halt behind him on the ice, Nearbloom held tightly in her hand. "Step!"

She disappeared once more in a blur of speed, slamming into Gali from behind, two of his arms swinging loosely as he flew past Aladdin, who had thrown himself flat. He came crashing down on the hardened ice as Orchid came back into view ahead of him, turning once more in a graceful motion as he stood up. "Step!"

She disappeared again as she reached the supersonic, the realm where all that existed was her and the target. Gali reeled as she made contact with him again, and came briefly into view when she turned. "Step!"

Gali cried out as one of his two remaining sabers was knocked away.

"Step!"

He yelled in frustration as his other saber was knocked in the other direction.

"Step!"

He cried out in pain, as one of his arms was broken.

"Finale!"

Explosions rang out all around Gali, and he fell to his knees as the smoke cleared and Orchid came to a halt behind him and turned. She walked slowly up as he turned pitifully to face her, barely able to hold himself up with both legs and his remaining useful arm. He flinched as Nearbloom came dangerously close to his face.

"We want to know what's going on," growled Orchid vehemently, "and you're going to tell us."

"You really think so?" taunted Gali, the fear in his eyes quickly being replaced with his crazed and cocky attitude. "Then think again."

There was a puff of smoke as he disappeared, Orchid lunging just barely too slowly to catch him. He reappeared by the Princess Jasmine, and a dark portal opened behind him. Orchid could see high, vaulted ceilings, stonework, and gloom as she looked through. He picked up the unmoving girl in his one remaining good arm, and stood weakly.

"Later, little blossom!" he said, then stepped through. Aladdin and Orchid both scrambled towards it, but the portal closed before either could reach it. Orchid stood there silently as Arc and Montblanc ran up to her, and Aladdin knelt on the icy floor, cursing as tears trickled down his face.

"I can't believe he got away!" raged Arc, swinging his fist around.

"Kupo…" said Montblanc softly, looking up into Orchid's face. To him she looked more shocked than angry, which struck him as odd. "What's wrong?"

"I…" whispered Orchid, here face blank, "I thought I felt him nearby…"

-!-!-!-

Elias stared at the pitiful, broken figure before him.

"I brought the princess, Master Elias," groveled Gali, kneeling on the floor, his broken limbs in a mess around him.

"But you didn't destroy the keyblade master," said Elias coldly, his revealed face an opposite of the stylized smile on the mask that covered the other half of his face. He turned to the boy standing beside him. "Eriks, take the princess to the Great Hall." He turned back to Gali. "As for you…"

"Master! Master, please!" pleaded the man pitifully.

"Light. Dark. Obliterate."

Eriks stood there, still staring blankly as Gali screamed. He continued to stand there motionlessly even after the tainted soul was gone.

"Eriks?" questioned Elias, turning back to the boy. "What's wrong? I told you to take the princess."

"I…" he whispered, his eyes distant, "I thought I felt her near…"

-!-!-!-

"So why's it all like this?" asked Arc, wandering around the icy room.

"I don't know…" muttered Aladdin, "and I really don't care."

"Maybe, kupo… it has to do with this crystal formation," supplied Montblanc, looking at the podium of ice in the center of the room.

Orchid walked forwards to it. It seemed to draw her, and it pulsed brighter as she came closer. Like something was calling her, and she was calling it.

Release me.

Orchid started suddenly, surprised at the voice in her head. She looked around, but the other three showed no sign of having heard it. She looked back to the ice formation and edged closer.

Free me from my prison, and I shall be yours, my master.

Orchid stared hard at the ice. She knew what to do. She reached her hand in among the icy shards and grabbed onto the pulsing crystal in the middle. It pulsed strongly in her hand, radiating cold.

Thank you.

She quickly put it in a pocket, then began walking back to the others. She was brought up short when the cavern began to shake.

"What's happening?" demanded Arc.

"The lava!" exclaimed Aladdin, pointing. Sure enough, there was a reddish glow building up beneath the ice. In everyone's opinion, it looked rather foreboding.

"How do we get out of here!?" panicked Arc.

"Genie here, how may I be of service?" asked the overly animated being as he appeared besides them, stepping aside as various rocks and icicles fell.

"Get us out of here!"
"Sure thing, Al!" shouted Genie, now shaped like a cartoon toy plane. "Hop aboard!"

They all quickly climbed onto Genie, only sighing in relief when he got airborne and headed for the hole in the ceiling.

"Thank you for flying Magical Airlines, I'm Genie, and I'll be your captain, stewardess, baggage man, and plane for today. Please buckle your seatbelts and take note that I've put on the no-smoking sign. Thank you, and have a nice flight."
"Just get us out of here already!" they all shouted.

"All right, all right… sheesh."

-!-

"Well, it's too bad we couldn't help Aladdin," sighed Orchid, looking down on Agrabah from space as the gummi ship prepared to launch.

"Yeah, well, some things can't be helped," said Arc, pressing various buttons and pulling different levers as he checked all the systems.

"Kupo… who was that, that you saw down there, kupo?" asked Montblanc timidly, wondering if Arc was ready to talk about it.

"It was… an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while…" said Arc softly, pausing in his work. It was silent for a moment, then he went back to setting the ships course. He obviously wasn't going to say more.

"What's his problem?" muttered Orchid.

What was he hiding?