Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ A New Threat To Spira ❯ ... Into The Fire ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Neon Ronin 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.04.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 284 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.04.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.4K | Visits: 284 | Status: Completed
[A/N: Insert standard disclaimer here. Be alerted, all hell has broken loose in Spira. Do not jump to conclusions. Now, on with the show.]
9: ...Into the Fire
Despite the oncoming winter, the sun blazed as fiercely as ever over the sands of Bikanel. The glare of sun on sand was almost as bad on the eyes as staring into the sun itself, and high winds had a tendency to erupt into sandstorms with little prior warning. With the exception of ancient ruins protruding from the dunes like reefs along the ocean floor, there were very few available safe zones where one could make camp. Few people, if any, risked the great expanses alone, not merely because of the climate but because of the great beasts that roamed the sands. In this wasteland, the Al Bhed encampment was a welcome sight as the Celsius descended from the skies.
The ship stayed long enough for the Gullwings to disembark and then set a course for the far side of the island; this ploy had been agreed on as a means to divert suspicion but also to have the ship available if an extraction became necessary. Rikku had also pointed out the dangers of fouling the hover turbines with sand in the eventuality of a storm, and Brother was in no mood to go through another maintenance marathon after the mess in Kilika.
Shortly after their landing, Gippal had greeted everyone in turn and taken them to the primary tent so they would not be interrupted.
"So what it boils down to now is, we've got a set of coordinates where the next signal was coming from; we just need to get to it," Yuna was saying. "We tried to get a lock on a landing site closer to it, but we didn't have any luck."
"I know what you mean," Gippal replied. "It's hard enough finding a place to set a scout hover down, much less that ship of yours." His hands traced idly over a map of the nearby expanses. "You say it's somewhere North of the Oasis?"
"That's what we inferred from Shinra's tracking equipment," said Tidus. "If we can get transportation to the Oasis, we should be able to make it the rest of the way." He scratched his head, causing some blown sand to fall loose. "Though what we'll find there is another question."
"It could be more ancient ruins," Rikku offered.
"Or maybe just a hole in the ground," said Paine.
"Whatever's out there, it's gonna be a little tricky to get out there," Gippal said. "Nhadala says there's signs of more sandstorms coming up, and she doesn't want too many people going on meaningless jaunts, least of all to the Oasis." He tapped the map, scratching his chin in thought. "Although..."
"Although what?" Yuna asked.
"Although... if it were to transpire that some of our weather forecasting equipment in the Oasis needed replacing, and it was a multi-person job, she might let a team out to take care of the problem."
"I didn't know you'd put in forecasting equipment," said Rikku.
"New installation, two months ago. Some of my best work, if I may say so myself." Gippal put his hands behind his head and beamed one of his cockiest smiles. Rikku raised an eyebrow and smirked a bit. Paine just sighed.
"But if it's only two months old, how's Nhadala going to believe it needs replacing?" asked Tidus.
Gippal shrugged. "Maybe a particularly vicious storm chucked a rock into its workings," he said. He reached down into a toolbox by the table and pulled out a hammer, setting it in front of them. "But you'd better bring back some broken bits as proof repairs were warranted, if you get my drift."
Rikku stared at him. "Gippal... You said that was some of your best work, and now you want us to break part of it?" she stammered.
"I didn't say that. I'm just saying it'll look better if you bring back whatever broken thing you needed to replace," he replied, lowering his voice. "I'll give you some replacement parts; just pick a section of the machine and go to town on it, then patch it up. That'll give you an excuse to get out to the Oasis and find what you've got to find."
Rikku blinked. He's actually going to sacrifice something he worked on to help us? I thought he treated the machina he designed like they were works of art! She looked down at the table. And in a way, some of them really are works of art, that motorcycle he designed a year ago was really amazing. Or that time he helped me sketch out the combat claw-gloves I used to use, that was... Oh geez, you're rambling again Rikku, why can't you stop that?!? She shook her head and looked up again. "But... what if we can't fix it once we bust it?"
Gippal grinned. "A machina that you can't fix? That'll be the day!" he said, laughing heartily. Yuna chuckled a bit, while Tidus tried to stifle a guffaw. Even Paine cracked a smile. Rikku blinked a few times, then she began laughing too.
"Thanks, Gippal," she said through her giggles. "I knew we could count on you."
"Hey, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for Cid's little girl," he said, reaching over and mussing her hair a little bit. Rikku pulled back a bit at first, but then smiled.
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< br> "Are you sure we aren't going to get ambushed out here?"
The four were perched on a rock ledge overlooking the Oasis, some distance from the Hover that brought them there. A conglomeration of sensors and radio transmitters had been installed on the far side of the rock, which Rikku was currently sorting through. She quickly located a choice piece of vital workings and bludgeoned the living hell out of it with the hammer, then set about installing a replacement part and rebooting the system. Paine stood on watch for the pilot, while Yuna and Tidus kept an eye on the deserts to the North. All of them wore Al Bhed goggles supplied by Nhadala.
"Don't sweat it, Tidus!" Rikku responded, locking a panel back in place. "I figured we're gonna need to lay low from fiends for now, which is why I brought this along!" She pointed to the Charm Bangle she had slipped on her wrist. "We could wander all over the place and not get attacked!"
"Best be on guard anyway," said Yuna. "That bangle doesn't work on stronger fiends; if any of those Wrathfangs show up, it may not have any effect."
"Ehehe... I hadn't really thought of that," said Rikku. She grabbed the remaining panels and screwed them back into place. "That takes care of the cover story, now let's get to work."
Paine tapped her radio headset. "Hey, driver! This looks like it's gonna be harder than we thought; we'll probably be a while yet." A muffled grunt came back over the line which could have been 'Roger', 'Okay', or 'Whatever'. The four huddled down on the far side of the ledge and examined the map they had obtained approximating the crystal's location. A quick glance of the terrain around them and a direction was decided upon. "Better let one of us take the map this time, Rikku; we might get lost again if you lead," Paine said in a deadpan tone.
"Hey, that's not fair! I only got us lost the first time because I hadn't been back to Bikanel in a while!" Rikku retorted. "And without Home as a landmark, that just made it harder!"
"Just a thought," Paine replied.
"OK, fine! You don't want me to 'mess us up', then I won't!" Rikku stomped her feet, stuck out her tongue and turned on one heel. "Here, Tidus, you can be in charge of the map!" she said, tossing the map card into his hands and folding her arms. Whether it was mock-anger or if she was really upset, she wasn't hinting either way.
"Rikku, settle down," said Yuna gently. "It doesn't matter who has the map, we've got a job to do and we can't be arguing with one another right now. Remember, we're a team."
"I know..." Rikku began. "Still, you know it wasn't all my fault when we got lost the first time we came to Nhadala's, right? I'm not all that bad with directions!"
"We'll talk about this later, okay Rikku?" Tidus piped up. "Right now, there's a crystal with our names on it out there, and the only way we're going to get it is by working together."
Rikku sighed, nodding her head. She looked over at Paine, who gave her a nod and the suggestion of a smirk. "All right, then, let's get on out there you guys!" she said, bounding out towards the desert beyond the Oasis. Tidus quickly followed suit, followed by Yuna and Paine.
It didn't take them too far to realize the path they had plotted was not going to be an easy one. Windswept dunes had cropped up in a completely random pattern, and as they quickly discovered, most of the dunes were not packed sand. One step too far into a mound and the loose sand gave way beneath, trapping a foot or a leg for a few moments. A straight line path would not be possible without some harder packed dunes, otherwise they would spend the entire afternoon trying to climb one hill. Eventually they settled on a zigzag pattern, threading themselves between the dunes and checking their position constantly on the map card. One time they had to retrace their steps because they were heading too far to the East; two times they had to stop and extract themselves from accidental sandfalls. The first time, Rikku had misjudged a path and got pinned up to her waist by part of a dune collapsing. The second time, Paine tripped over the bleached bones of a lupine and collapsed directly into a loose ridge of sand.
It seemed like they had been out pounding the dunes for an hour when the wind started to pick up. At first it felt like little more than a breeze, but the breeze began to pick up dangerously fast, throwing loose sand directly into their faces. The goggles worked to keep them from being blinded, but their noses and mouths were wide open to attack. Yuna coughed and covered her mouth with both hands, while Rikku wound her yellow scarf around the lower half of her face. The wind kept up, getting faster still and blowing sand so hard it began to cut across the Gullwings' exposed skin, causing them all to wince and in some instances drawing blood. A great buffeting arose as the winds beat at the sides of the dunes, producing a sound like sails flapping in the wind.
"How much further do we have to go?" Yuna hollered over the roar of the winds.
"According to this, we should be almost on top of it by now!!" Tidus responded. The four of them glanced around hurriedly; there was nothing of note around them except for the remains of a broken tower off to one side, one of many scattered across Bikanel. It stood at an odd angle, appearing to lean defiantly into the winds that were now pounding it and the surrounding dunes harder still. Its sides were clearly well-worn and battered, with very little identifying markers left on its surface. There was no immediately apparent way to enter the structure; the only windows of any sort were cut several dozen feet above the ground and few handholds were visible in the surface of the tower.
"Well, if it isn't in there, at least we can use it as shelter!" Tidus shouted as he dashed towards the ruins. Holding his left hand over his face, he raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. The crystal glowed bright green as he slammed his hand into the sand in front of him. All at once, a geyser of sand erupted from the dunes around the tower and whorls of emerald light began to spin around Tidus. He raised both hands in front of his face and then flung his arms out to both sides, causing a wave of energy to shoot forward, dispersing the sand away and clearing a path towards the base of the tower. The bolt of energy struck the exposed stone wall, which began to ripple like the surface of a lake. The stone continued to roil and flow, molding itself into the form of a five-foot diameter cavity that reached directly into the interior of the tower.
The crystal's light faded and Tidus took a deep breath. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," he said with a smirk. "Come on, let's go!" He sprinted closer to the tower, beckoning the others with a wave of his hand. In a moment they were all through the hole and out of the sandstorm.
Paine ripped her goggles off and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was a close call," she muttered. "So how did you figure out how to cut a doorway for us?" Tidus shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure. I think Ferro might have been nudging me subconsciously, letting me know how to tap his power just then."
Yuna nodded, shaking sand out of her hair. "That's sort of how it felt when I tapped Naia's power at first," she said. "It wasn't so much that she was telling me what to do... I just sort of knew."
The sand continued to thrash at the walls outside. Paine flipped her radio back on and tried hailing the Hover pilot again, but there was nothing coming through except static. "Looks like we might be spending the night out here if the storm keeps up the way it is," she grumbled.
"Hey, what's that?" Rikku asked. The others turned and looked at where she was pointing. In the middle of the room was a pillar of rough-hewn red quartz, covered with what looked like hundreds of years worth of dust. The pillar seemed to leap from the floor, stabbing upwards like a clawed hand, and set in the middle of it was a small ruby-colored disk. A faint vermillion light was pulsing from it.
"Score!" cried Yuna exuberantly.
"So who gets the crystal this time?" Tidus asked.
"Whoever gets it, we can't use it much until this Fayth-forsaken storm passes by..." Paine responded. Just then there was a low thud from the outside of the tower, causing the walls to shake and dust fall from the upper walls. Everyone paused and looked around expectantly. "I'm hoping that was a sand worm getting blown into the tower," Paine said in a low voice. Seconds later there was a violent crash that shot cracks along the inner walls and sent large chunks of rock plummeting to the ground below. Rikku made a diving roll over the quartz pedestal and scrambled to the other side, barely escaping three falling parts of ceiling. Yuna crouched along the wall, yanking both guns from her belt and staring expectantly up at the tower interior.
A loud whine shrilled through the air, becoming steadily louder and higher in pitch every second. Everyone within the tower winced and covered their ears, hoping it would die down, but the sound continued to drum away. The walls began to quake and crumble under the barrage of the sound, shaking even more chunks of stone loose. A jagged block broke away from the top of the tower and descended upon the quartz pedestal, crushing it into thousands of shards. Yuna gasped and Paine cursed under her breath. Just at that moment, the tower reached its limit and succumbed to the sound that was battering it. The turret quite literally exploded, torn away from the base by the roar of the wind and the shrill whine whose source was still unseen. The four hit the ground as fast as possible, shielding themselves from the rain of rock, metal and debris that had commenced. Tidus threw himself over Yuna and shot his right hand up in the air, unleashing an eldritch green shell that enveloped all four of them, deflecting dozens of rocks that were hailing down into the chamber. Rough blocks of stone showered the desert around the base of the tower, leaving an eight-foot circular wall as the only evidence there had been an ancient tower here.
A few moments passed before they realized the sounds had died down. Slowly, the Gullwings opened their eyes and looked upward.
From their vantage point, it appeared as though they were in the eye of the storm- sand still appeared to be whipping across the desert, but all around the tower was calm. Directly above them, perched on what was left of the tower wall, was a massive Zu with mottled violet-black feathers. It ruffled its wings a bit and looked down on the four with a petulant squawk. Some of the feathers along its back rose and fell in a peculiar manner.
Rikku looked down at the bangle on her wrist and wrung her hands. "I thought this was supposed to keep fiends away..." she said in a small voice.
"Guess this is one of those that ignores charms," growled Paine as she hefted her sword. Tidus raised his sword as well while Yuna brought both guns to bear on the Zu's head. Just then an unexpected sound broke through the roar of the wind around the ruins. The sound of laughter. Low, vicious laughter.
"Well, well, well..." came a baritone voice from atop the Zu. "So you're the ones who have been pursuing the Four." A figure stepped into view along the Zu's left wing, a black-haired man clad in a sleeveless blue off-the-shoulder robe, black trousers and boots. He wore gold bracers on each arm and appeared to have a sword slung on his left hip. "Even after all these many years of imprisonment, I see there are still people foolish enough to resist the inevitable." His crimson eyes glared down at them and a slow smirk crossed his mouth.
Yuna gasped. "It's him..." She lowered her guns slightly and stared at the man. "You're Malar, aren't you??" she shouted.
His gaze turned to her, lingering for a fleeting moment, and his smile grew wider. "There are some who would know me by that name," he replied. "Though few alive today would be aware of my name lest they had awakened the Four, as you have. But rest assured, all Spira will be aware of my presence soon enough."
Rikku's hand flew to her radio. "Brother! Get your butt over here now!! We've got an emergency!!" Static crackled over the earpiece as she shouted her hailing, then shouted it a second time. The vortex of sand seemed to be rotating faster outside the ruins.
"Don't bother trying to call for help on that thing," Malar chuckled. "It's doubtful anything will be heard above that little breeze outside. And don't expect anyone to come running on one of those metal carriages, either." With a swift motion, he reached over beside his right foot, grabbed something and hefted it down at the four of them. It landed with a sickening squelch; Tidus gasped and Rikku screamed as they realized they were staring at the Hover pilot's severed head.
"You... You monster!!!!" cried Yuna in a choking voice as she glared up at Malar.
"Monster? Heh," he replied. "Oftentimes, mankind will give the name monster to that which, by all rights, is a god. They merely refuse to accept the reality and place an ugly label upon that which is clearly superior. But enough of this; your pursuit of the Four ends here."
"Not as long as we're breathing!" Tidus shouted, Spherechanging into his Gunner clothes and training his sights on Malar's chest. Bullet casings fell to the ground like rain from his and Yuna's guns as the two of them unleashed a deadly hail of lead towards Malar. Several slugs began to slam into his chest, but instead of crying out or staggering, Malar began to laugh. His left hand shot up and a violet shell encased him, causing the remaining oncoming slugs to ricochet in all directions. Lowering his hand, the shell dispersed; a faint glow emerged from a point on his sternum as the bullets he had been struck with popped out of his flesh and the holes sealed faster than the eye could follow. "A spirited attempt, but worthless," he chortled as he thrust his right hand forward, raking the enclosed area with lightning bolts from his palm. Everybody was knocked backwards from the force of the spell except for Rikku, who was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Malar glanced in all directions but could not see her, until he heard the sound of running feet to his left. He twisted around just in time to see Rikku jumping towards him with both daggers, having climbed the wall and dashed along the broken edges to greet him on his own level. One dagger gouged his upper arm but before the second could strike, he thrust forward with his right hand, punching Rikku in the gut and sending her headfirst to the ground again. The gouge on his arm rapidly sealed over and vanished.
Yuna struggled to her feet and brushed a hand along the side of her head; thankfully, the White Lore she had clipped to her hair beads was still in place. She shoved one of her guns into her belt and concentrated on the party as a whole. "CURAGA!" she cried, sending a soothing aura in all directions and sealing up the flash burns the lightning had caused. Malar raised his hand again and siphoned a wave of sand from the storm around them, bringing it down upon them all as a smith brings a hammer down on an anvil. Tidus holstered his guns and slammed his right hand down on the ground; the crystal shone bright green and two curved sheets of rock erupted from the ground around them, taking the brunt of the sandblast before breaking into nothingness. Malar blinked once as the rock shield disappeared, then noticed Yuna raising her right hand rapidly. The crystal on her hand shone blue-white and a concentrated beam of energy leaped forth. Malar's right arm shot up over his chest, but the beam veered lower and pierced his abdomen, tearing a horrific hole in his side and out his back like a powered drill through soft wood.
Yuna dropped to her knees, breathing heavily, and glared up at Malar... and her eyes went wide. He was still standing there, despite the hole in his stomach the size of a Blitzball, his eyes set in a vicious scowl. A glow emerged from his torso as new tissue began to form in place of that he had lost. Sinews, bone and organs were replaced right before the Gullwings' disbelieving eyes, until finally the skin sealed over and the glow faded. There was no scarring, no change in skin color, nothing. Malar's face relaxed slightly and he looked at Yuna with a dispassionate air.
"That hurt," he said in a dull monotone.
"This is looking really bad, Yunie!" said Rikku, who was holding her hands over her face and backing away.
A massive form akin to that of a Gigas suddenly emerged from the back of the Zu, glaring down at the battlefield with fire in its eyes. "Shall I deal with them, Master?" he rumbled. Malar turned to his servant and shook his head. "No, Neogas, we have other ways of dealing with them. As for our plans..." He turned his gaze back to Yuna. "We will be changing them slightly." He raised both hands in front of him with fingers flexed in an arcane position, and began to chant in an ancient tongue.
*Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, hear me...*
A feeling akin to a bolt of fire shot through Paine's head; she dropped her sword and clutched at her temples, teeth gnashed and a low groan coming from her throat. "Paine!!" Rikku yelped as she rushed over to her side. "What's going on? What is that maniac doing to you?!?" Paine said nothing, but collapsed to her knees and gasped for breath.
*The oath I imprinted long ago was never broken by my absence. Hear the voice of your ancestor and OBEY!! *
"Yunie, I can't tell what's going on!!" Rikku wailed, turning back to the others. "I can't tell if she needs healing potion or an Antidote; what do you..."
There was a sudden flash of metal, and Rikku's eyes went wide.
All was silent for a moment. Then, Rikku's arms went limp and she dropped to her knees, falling forward onto the sand. A wound gaped across her back as Paine rose up from behind her, poised in a battle stance with vermillion light glowing in her eyes.
"RIKKU!!!!" Yuna screamed.
Malar laughed malevolently. "Now dance for me, children." Paine took a quick step and lunged towards Yuna, sword arcing around preparing to strike. Yuna stood in shock, unable to move away from the approaching blade when suddenly there was a loud clang. She blinked and shook her senses back in order; Tidus was standing in front of her in his regular clothes, his left arm in front of his face. Paine's sword had caught in the ridges of his armored glove and the two of them were locked in a contest of strength to try and push the other back.
"Paine, what the hell do you think you're doing??" Tidus bellowed as she broke the lock and swung at him again, a quick swing which he only barely parried with Caladbolg. "I'll handle this, Yuna, make sure Rikku's alright!" Yuna nodded frantically and dashed over to Rikku's crumpled figure, digging into her equipment pouch as she did so. She dropped to her knees and noticed that Rikku was still breathing, but the gash that ran parallel to her spine would be fatal if not treated. Quickly she pulled out a prepared Phoenix Down and crumbled it to powder along the wound.
Tidus and Paine circled each other, swords flashing in the light. The clash of steel became near-deafening as Paine pressed the attack, swinging her blade with the force of a hurricane. Tidus remained on the defensive, parrying each successive strike without attempting to draw blood. "Damn it Paine, get a hold of yourself!" he shouted as she dove at him, breaking a fallen stone slab in half with her sword. He circled back around, making every attempt to keep her away from the others; she spun around and struck at him four times. Three strikes he parried with his own sword, the fourth with his glove. I really don't want to have to do this, he thought to himself; he'd seen enough instances of magical confusion where the only way out without a remedial potion was to smack the other person in the face. His doubts in the matter were quickly settled when she swung her blade in a downward arc, trapped his sword for a second and drove the heel of her boot into his stomach, kicking him against the wall. Hell with it, I've got no choice!! As she drove the attack further, he locked his sword with hers, forced the blade over towards his left, pulled back his left arm, muttered a quick apology and smashed her across the face.
Paine dropped to her knees and immediately glared up at Tidus, the glow still raging in her eyes. He stared for a moment and then doubled over as she drove the pommel of her sword into his solar plexus. Yuna was helping Rikku to sit back up and gasped as she saw him fall backwards. Paine lifted her sword high and brought it down, but Tidus swung Caladbolg in front of him at the last second, blocking her blade. "Yuna, this is no ordinary confusion she's under! We've got to try something else!" he gasped, trying to hold her back. Yuna nodded, focusing the energies within the White Lore and raising her hands. "ESUNA," she cried, channeling rays of golden light towards her. The spell enveloped the warrior but did nothing to change her course of action. Yuna shook her head in anguish and started digging through her equipment pouch when a beam of white light enveloped her. She glanced around worriedly and felt her eyelids growing heavy; she tried desperately to fight it off but before she knew it she had collapsed on the ground in a deep sleep.
The white beam from Malar's palm turned a violet hue as a grin spread across his face. He raised his hand and the light coalesced around Yuna's unconscious form, raising her off the ground and pulling her towards the Zu and its riders. Rikku's eyes went wide and she tried to get up, but her legs gave way beneath her and she collapsed to the ground once again.
"No... No!!" Tidus jerked upwards, planting his feet on his sword and shoving Paine off of him. He scrambled up just as Malar brought Yuna's body over to the back of the Zu. "You bastard, Malar, give her back to me!!" Malar whipped around and thrust his right hand at Tidus, producing a beam of total darkness that tore a wicked gash across his chest and knocked him to the ground.
"Boy, you had best learn your place in this world. This day's victory is mine, and I have already claimed my trophy," Malar laughed. "My beloved Wrathfangs should have completed work on that encampment by now, so I shall bid you a fond farewell. And you..." He pointed at Paine who was gazing up at him with a vacant look on her face. "You have done well. Your service is no longer needed," he said as he snapped his fingers. The crimson light in Paine's eyes disappeared and her face relaxed as she collapsed forward onto the sand. With a furious beat of its wings, the Zu and its cargo lifted away from the ruins and out of the eye of the storm which was rapidly beginning to wane.
"No... it can't be... Yuna... Yuna!" moaned Tidus as he rolled over and slowly dragged himself to his knees. Tears were rolling down his face as he stared at the sky above, the sky in which the Zu was rapidly getting smaller. The winds were dying down, blowing stray grains of sand and dust into the ruins of the tower. He clenched his hands and beat the ground he was kneeling on. It couldn't be true. He didn't want it to be true. But it was.
"YUNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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To Be Continued...
9: ...Into the Fire
Despite the oncoming winter, the sun blazed as fiercely as ever over the sands of Bikanel. The glare of sun on sand was almost as bad on the eyes as staring into the sun itself, and high winds had a tendency to erupt into sandstorms with little prior warning. With the exception of ancient ruins protruding from the dunes like reefs along the ocean floor, there were very few available safe zones where one could make camp. Few people, if any, risked the great expanses alone, not merely because of the climate but because of the great beasts that roamed the sands. In this wasteland, the Al Bhed encampment was a welcome sight as the Celsius descended from the skies.
The ship stayed long enough for the Gullwings to disembark and then set a course for the far side of the island; this ploy had been agreed on as a means to divert suspicion but also to have the ship available if an extraction became necessary. Rikku had also pointed out the dangers of fouling the hover turbines with sand in the eventuality of a storm, and Brother was in no mood to go through another maintenance marathon after the mess in Kilika.
Shortly after their landing, Gippal had greeted everyone in turn and taken them to the primary tent so they would not be interrupted.
"So what it boils down to now is, we've got a set of coordinates where the next signal was coming from; we just need to get to it," Yuna was saying. "We tried to get a lock on a landing site closer to it, but we didn't have any luck."
"I know what you mean," Gippal replied. "It's hard enough finding a place to set a scout hover down, much less that ship of yours." His hands traced idly over a map of the nearby expanses. "You say it's somewhere North of the Oasis?"
"That's what we inferred from Shinra's tracking equipment," said Tidus. "If we can get transportation to the Oasis, we should be able to make it the rest of the way." He scratched his head, causing some blown sand to fall loose. "Though what we'll find there is another question."
"It could be more ancient ruins," Rikku offered.
"Or maybe just a hole in the ground," said Paine.
"Whatever's out there, it's gonna be a little tricky to get out there," Gippal said. "Nhadala says there's signs of more sandstorms coming up, and she doesn't want too many people going on meaningless jaunts, least of all to the Oasis." He tapped the map, scratching his chin in thought. "Although..."
"Although what?" Yuna asked.
"Although... if it were to transpire that some of our weather forecasting equipment in the Oasis needed replacing, and it was a multi-person job, she might let a team out to take care of the problem."
"I didn't know you'd put in forecasting equipment," said Rikku.
"New installation, two months ago. Some of my best work, if I may say so myself." Gippal put his hands behind his head and beamed one of his cockiest smiles. Rikku raised an eyebrow and smirked a bit. Paine just sighed.
"But if it's only two months old, how's Nhadala going to believe it needs replacing?" asked Tidus.
Gippal shrugged. "Maybe a particularly vicious storm chucked a rock into its workings," he said. He reached down into a toolbox by the table and pulled out a hammer, setting it in front of them. "But you'd better bring back some broken bits as proof repairs were warranted, if you get my drift."
Rikku stared at him. "Gippal... You said that was some of your best work, and now you want us to break part of it?" she stammered.
"I didn't say that. I'm just saying it'll look better if you bring back whatever broken thing you needed to replace," he replied, lowering his voice. "I'll give you some replacement parts; just pick a section of the machine and go to town on it, then patch it up. That'll give you an excuse to get out to the Oasis and find what you've got to find."
Rikku blinked. He's actually going to sacrifice something he worked on to help us? I thought he treated the machina he designed like they were works of art! She looked down at the table. And in a way, some of them really are works of art, that motorcycle he designed a year ago was really amazing. Or that time he helped me sketch out the combat claw-gloves I used to use, that was... Oh geez, you're rambling again Rikku, why can't you stop that?!? She shook her head and looked up again. "But... what if we can't fix it once we bust it?"
Gippal grinned. "A machina that you can't fix? That'll be the day!" he said, laughing heartily. Yuna chuckled a bit, while Tidus tried to stifle a guffaw. Even Paine cracked a smile. Rikku blinked a few times, then she began laughing too.
"Thanks, Gippal," she said through her giggles. "I knew we could count on you."
"Hey, there isn't anything I wouldn't do for Cid's little girl," he said, reaching over and mussing her hair a little bit. Rikku pulled back a bit at first, but then smiled.
******************************************
< br> "Are you sure we aren't going to get ambushed out here?"
The four were perched on a rock ledge overlooking the Oasis, some distance from the Hover that brought them there. A conglomeration of sensors and radio transmitters had been installed on the far side of the rock, which Rikku was currently sorting through. She quickly located a choice piece of vital workings and bludgeoned the living hell out of it with the hammer, then set about installing a replacement part and rebooting the system. Paine stood on watch for the pilot, while Yuna and Tidus kept an eye on the deserts to the North. All of them wore Al Bhed goggles supplied by Nhadala.
"Don't sweat it, Tidus!" Rikku responded, locking a panel back in place. "I figured we're gonna need to lay low from fiends for now, which is why I brought this along!" She pointed to the Charm Bangle she had slipped on her wrist. "We could wander all over the place and not get attacked!"
"Best be on guard anyway," said Yuna. "That bangle doesn't work on stronger fiends; if any of those Wrathfangs show up, it may not have any effect."
"Ehehe... I hadn't really thought of that," said Rikku. She grabbed the remaining panels and screwed them back into place. "That takes care of the cover story, now let's get to work."
Paine tapped her radio headset. "Hey, driver! This looks like it's gonna be harder than we thought; we'll probably be a while yet." A muffled grunt came back over the line which could have been 'Roger', 'Okay', or 'Whatever'. The four huddled down on the far side of the ledge and examined the map they had obtained approximating the crystal's location. A quick glance of the terrain around them and a direction was decided upon. "Better let one of us take the map this time, Rikku; we might get lost again if you lead," Paine said in a deadpan tone.
"Hey, that's not fair! I only got us lost the first time because I hadn't been back to Bikanel in a while!" Rikku retorted. "And without Home as a landmark, that just made it harder!"
"Just a thought," Paine replied.
"OK, fine! You don't want me to 'mess us up', then I won't!" Rikku stomped her feet, stuck out her tongue and turned on one heel. "Here, Tidus, you can be in charge of the map!" she said, tossing the map card into his hands and folding her arms. Whether it was mock-anger or if she was really upset, she wasn't hinting either way.
"Rikku, settle down," said Yuna gently. "It doesn't matter who has the map, we've got a job to do and we can't be arguing with one another right now. Remember, we're a team."
"I know..." Rikku began. "Still, you know it wasn't all my fault when we got lost the first time we came to Nhadala's, right? I'm not all that bad with directions!"
"We'll talk about this later, okay Rikku?" Tidus piped up. "Right now, there's a crystal with our names on it out there, and the only way we're going to get it is by working together."
Rikku sighed, nodding her head. She looked over at Paine, who gave her a nod and the suggestion of a smirk. "All right, then, let's get on out there you guys!" she said, bounding out towards the desert beyond the Oasis. Tidus quickly followed suit, followed by Yuna and Paine.
It didn't take them too far to realize the path they had plotted was not going to be an easy one. Windswept dunes had cropped up in a completely random pattern, and as they quickly discovered, most of the dunes were not packed sand. One step too far into a mound and the loose sand gave way beneath, trapping a foot or a leg for a few moments. A straight line path would not be possible without some harder packed dunes, otherwise they would spend the entire afternoon trying to climb one hill. Eventually they settled on a zigzag pattern, threading themselves between the dunes and checking their position constantly on the map card. One time they had to retrace their steps because they were heading too far to the East; two times they had to stop and extract themselves from accidental sandfalls. The first time, Rikku had misjudged a path and got pinned up to her waist by part of a dune collapsing. The second time, Paine tripped over the bleached bones of a lupine and collapsed directly into a loose ridge of sand.
It seemed like they had been out pounding the dunes for an hour when the wind started to pick up. At first it felt like little more than a breeze, but the breeze began to pick up dangerously fast, throwing loose sand directly into their faces. The goggles worked to keep them from being blinded, but their noses and mouths were wide open to attack. Yuna coughed and covered her mouth with both hands, while Rikku wound her yellow scarf around the lower half of her face. The wind kept up, getting faster still and blowing sand so hard it began to cut across the Gullwings' exposed skin, causing them all to wince and in some instances drawing blood. A great buffeting arose as the winds beat at the sides of the dunes, producing a sound like sails flapping in the wind.
"How much further do we have to go?" Yuna hollered over the roar of the winds.
"According to this, we should be almost on top of it by now!!" Tidus responded. The four of them glanced around hurriedly; there was nothing of note around them except for the remains of a broken tower off to one side, one of many scattered across Bikanel. It stood at an odd angle, appearing to lean defiantly into the winds that were now pounding it and the surrounding dunes harder still. Its sides were clearly well-worn and battered, with very little identifying markers left on its surface. There was no immediately apparent way to enter the structure; the only windows of any sort were cut several dozen feet above the ground and few handholds were visible in the surface of the tower.
"Well, if it isn't in there, at least we can use it as shelter!" Tidus shouted as he dashed towards the ruins. Holding his left hand over his face, he raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. The crystal glowed bright green as he slammed his hand into the sand in front of him. All at once, a geyser of sand erupted from the dunes around the tower and whorls of emerald light began to spin around Tidus. He raised both hands in front of his face and then flung his arms out to both sides, causing a wave of energy to shoot forward, dispersing the sand away and clearing a path towards the base of the tower. The bolt of energy struck the exposed stone wall, which began to ripple like the surface of a lake. The stone continued to roil and flow, molding itself into the form of a five-foot diameter cavity that reached directly into the interior of the tower.
The crystal's light faded and Tidus took a deep breath. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," he said with a smirk. "Come on, let's go!" He sprinted closer to the tower, beckoning the others with a wave of his hand. In a moment they were all through the hole and out of the sandstorm.
Paine ripped her goggles off and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was a close call," she muttered. "So how did you figure out how to cut a doorway for us?" Tidus shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure. I think Ferro might have been nudging me subconsciously, letting me know how to tap his power just then."
Yuna nodded, shaking sand out of her hair. "That's sort of how it felt when I tapped Naia's power at first," she said. "It wasn't so much that she was telling me what to do... I just sort of knew."
The sand continued to thrash at the walls outside. Paine flipped her radio back on and tried hailing the Hover pilot again, but there was nothing coming through except static. "Looks like we might be spending the night out here if the storm keeps up the way it is," she grumbled.
"Hey, what's that?" Rikku asked. The others turned and looked at where she was pointing. In the middle of the room was a pillar of rough-hewn red quartz, covered with what looked like hundreds of years worth of dust. The pillar seemed to leap from the floor, stabbing upwards like a clawed hand, and set in the middle of it was a small ruby-colored disk. A faint vermillion light was pulsing from it.
"Score!" cried Yuna exuberantly.
"So who gets the crystal this time?" Tidus asked.
"Whoever gets it, we can't use it much until this Fayth-forsaken storm passes by..." Paine responded. Just then there was a low thud from the outside of the tower, causing the walls to shake and dust fall from the upper walls. Everyone paused and looked around expectantly. "I'm hoping that was a sand worm getting blown into the tower," Paine said in a low voice. Seconds later there was a violent crash that shot cracks along the inner walls and sent large chunks of rock plummeting to the ground below. Rikku made a diving roll over the quartz pedestal and scrambled to the other side, barely escaping three falling parts of ceiling. Yuna crouched along the wall, yanking both guns from her belt and staring expectantly up at the tower interior.
A loud whine shrilled through the air, becoming steadily louder and higher in pitch every second. Everyone within the tower winced and covered their ears, hoping it would die down, but the sound continued to drum away. The walls began to quake and crumble under the barrage of the sound, shaking even more chunks of stone loose. A jagged block broke away from the top of the tower and descended upon the quartz pedestal, crushing it into thousands of shards. Yuna gasped and Paine cursed under her breath. Just at that moment, the tower reached its limit and succumbed to the sound that was battering it. The turret quite literally exploded, torn away from the base by the roar of the wind and the shrill whine whose source was still unseen. The four hit the ground as fast as possible, shielding themselves from the rain of rock, metal and debris that had commenced. Tidus threw himself over Yuna and shot his right hand up in the air, unleashing an eldritch green shell that enveloped all four of them, deflecting dozens of rocks that were hailing down into the chamber. Rough blocks of stone showered the desert around the base of the tower, leaving an eight-foot circular wall as the only evidence there had been an ancient tower here.
A few moments passed before they realized the sounds had died down. Slowly, the Gullwings opened their eyes and looked upward.
From their vantage point, it appeared as though they were in the eye of the storm- sand still appeared to be whipping across the desert, but all around the tower was calm. Directly above them, perched on what was left of the tower wall, was a massive Zu with mottled violet-black feathers. It ruffled its wings a bit and looked down on the four with a petulant squawk. Some of the feathers along its back rose and fell in a peculiar manner.
Rikku looked down at the bangle on her wrist and wrung her hands. "I thought this was supposed to keep fiends away..." she said in a small voice.
"Guess this is one of those that ignores charms," growled Paine as she hefted her sword. Tidus raised his sword as well while Yuna brought both guns to bear on the Zu's head. Just then an unexpected sound broke through the roar of the wind around the ruins. The sound of laughter. Low, vicious laughter.
"Well, well, well..." came a baritone voice from atop the Zu. "So you're the ones who have been pursuing the Four." A figure stepped into view along the Zu's left wing, a black-haired man clad in a sleeveless blue off-the-shoulder robe, black trousers and boots. He wore gold bracers on each arm and appeared to have a sword slung on his left hip. "Even after all these many years of imprisonment, I see there are still people foolish enough to resist the inevitable." His crimson eyes glared down at them and a slow smirk crossed his mouth.
Yuna gasped. "It's him..." She lowered her guns slightly and stared at the man. "You're Malar, aren't you??" she shouted.
His gaze turned to her, lingering for a fleeting moment, and his smile grew wider. "There are some who would know me by that name," he replied. "Though few alive today would be aware of my name lest they had awakened the Four, as you have. But rest assured, all Spira will be aware of my presence soon enough."
Rikku's hand flew to her radio. "Brother! Get your butt over here now!! We've got an emergency!!" Static crackled over the earpiece as she shouted her hailing, then shouted it a second time. The vortex of sand seemed to be rotating faster outside the ruins.
"Don't bother trying to call for help on that thing," Malar chuckled. "It's doubtful anything will be heard above that little breeze outside. And don't expect anyone to come running on one of those metal carriages, either." With a swift motion, he reached over beside his right foot, grabbed something and hefted it down at the four of them. It landed with a sickening squelch; Tidus gasped and Rikku screamed as they realized they were staring at the Hover pilot's severed head.
"You... You monster!!!!" cried Yuna in a choking voice as she glared up at Malar.
"Monster? Heh," he replied. "Oftentimes, mankind will give the name monster to that which, by all rights, is a god. They merely refuse to accept the reality and place an ugly label upon that which is clearly superior. But enough of this; your pursuit of the Four ends here."
"Not as long as we're breathing!" Tidus shouted, Spherechanging into his Gunner clothes and training his sights on Malar's chest. Bullet casings fell to the ground like rain from his and Yuna's guns as the two of them unleashed a deadly hail of lead towards Malar. Several slugs began to slam into his chest, but instead of crying out or staggering, Malar began to laugh. His left hand shot up and a violet shell encased him, causing the remaining oncoming slugs to ricochet in all directions. Lowering his hand, the shell dispersed; a faint glow emerged from a point on his sternum as the bullets he had been struck with popped out of his flesh and the holes sealed faster than the eye could follow. "A spirited attempt, but worthless," he chortled as he thrust his right hand forward, raking the enclosed area with lightning bolts from his palm. Everybody was knocked backwards from the force of the spell except for Rikku, who was suddenly nowhere to be seen. Malar glanced in all directions but could not see her, until he heard the sound of running feet to his left. He twisted around just in time to see Rikku jumping towards him with both daggers, having climbed the wall and dashed along the broken edges to greet him on his own level. One dagger gouged his upper arm but before the second could strike, he thrust forward with his right hand, punching Rikku in the gut and sending her headfirst to the ground again. The gouge on his arm rapidly sealed over and vanished.
Yuna struggled to her feet and brushed a hand along the side of her head; thankfully, the White Lore she had clipped to her hair beads was still in place. She shoved one of her guns into her belt and concentrated on the party as a whole. "CURAGA!" she cried, sending a soothing aura in all directions and sealing up the flash burns the lightning had caused. Malar raised his hand again and siphoned a wave of sand from the storm around them, bringing it down upon them all as a smith brings a hammer down on an anvil. Tidus holstered his guns and slammed his right hand down on the ground; the crystal shone bright green and two curved sheets of rock erupted from the ground around them, taking the brunt of the sandblast before breaking into nothingness. Malar blinked once as the rock shield disappeared, then noticed Yuna raising her right hand rapidly. The crystal on her hand shone blue-white and a concentrated beam of energy leaped forth. Malar's right arm shot up over his chest, but the beam veered lower and pierced his abdomen, tearing a horrific hole in his side and out his back like a powered drill through soft wood.
Yuna dropped to her knees, breathing heavily, and glared up at Malar... and her eyes went wide. He was still standing there, despite the hole in his stomach the size of a Blitzball, his eyes set in a vicious scowl. A glow emerged from his torso as new tissue began to form in place of that he had lost. Sinews, bone and organs were replaced right before the Gullwings' disbelieving eyes, until finally the skin sealed over and the glow faded. There was no scarring, no change in skin color, nothing. Malar's face relaxed slightly and he looked at Yuna with a dispassionate air.
"That hurt," he said in a dull monotone.
"This is looking really bad, Yunie!" said Rikku, who was holding her hands over her face and backing away.
A massive form akin to that of a Gigas suddenly emerged from the back of the Zu, glaring down at the battlefield with fire in its eyes. "Shall I deal with them, Master?" he rumbled. Malar turned to his servant and shook his head. "No, Neogas, we have other ways of dealing with them. As for our plans..." He turned his gaze back to Yuna. "We will be changing them slightly." He raised both hands in front of him with fingers flexed in an arcane position, and began to chant in an ancient tongue.
*Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, hear me...*
A feeling akin to a bolt of fire shot through Paine's head; she dropped her sword and clutched at her temples, teeth gnashed and a low groan coming from her throat. "Paine!!" Rikku yelped as she rushed over to her side. "What's going on? What is that maniac doing to you?!?" Paine said nothing, but collapsed to her knees and gasped for breath.
*The oath I imprinted long ago was never broken by my absence. Hear the voice of your ancestor and OBEY!! *
"Yunie, I can't tell what's going on!!" Rikku wailed, turning back to the others. "I can't tell if she needs healing potion or an Antidote; what do you..."
There was a sudden flash of metal, and Rikku's eyes went wide.
All was silent for a moment. Then, Rikku's arms went limp and she dropped to her knees, falling forward onto the sand. A wound gaped across her back as Paine rose up from behind her, poised in a battle stance with vermillion light glowing in her eyes.
"RIKKU!!!!" Yuna screamed.
Malar laughed malevolently. "Now dance for me, children." Paine took a quick step and lunged towards Yuna, sword arcing around preparing to strike. Yuna stood in shock, unable to move away from the approaching blade when suddenly there was a loud clang. She blinked and shook her senses back in order; Tidus was standing in front of her in his regular clothes, his left arm in front of his face. Paine's sword had caught in the ridges of his armored glove and the two of them were locked in a contest of strength to try and push the other back.
"Paine, what the hell do you think you're doing??" Tidus bellowed as she broke the lock and swung at him again, a quick swing which he only barely parried with Caladbolg. "I'll handle this, Yuna, make sure Rikku's alright!" Yuna nodded frantically and dashed over to Rikku's crumpled figure, digging into her equipment pouch as she did so. She dropped to her knees and noticed that Rikku was still breathing, but the gash that ran parallel to her spine would be fatal if not treated. Quickly she pulled out a prepared Phoenix Down and crumbled it to powder along the wound.
Tidus and Paine circled each other, swords flashing in the light. The clash of steel became near-deafening as Paine pressed the attack, swinging her blade with the force of a hurricane. Tidus remained on the defensive, parrying each successive strike without attempting to draw blood. "Damn it Paine, get a hold of yourself!" he shouted as she dove at him, breaking a fallen stone slab in half with her sword. He circled back around, making every attempt to keep her away from the others; she spun around and struck at him four times. Three strikes he parried with his own sword, the fourth with his glove. I really don't want to have to do this, he thought to himself; he'd seen enough instances of magical confusion where the only way out without a remedial potion was to smack the other person in the face. His doubts in the matter were quickly settled when she swung her blade in a downward arc, trapped his sword for a second and drove the heel of her boot into his stomach, kicking him against the wall. Hell with it, I've got no choice!! As she drove the attack further, he locked his sword with hers, forced the blade over towards his left, pulled back his left arm, muttered a quick apology and smashed her across the face.
Paine dropped to her knees and immediately glared up at Tidus, the glow still raging in her eyes. He stared for a moment and then doubled over as she drove the pommel of her sword into his solar plexus. Yuna was helping Rikku to sit back up and gasped as she saw him fall backwards. Paine lifted her sword high and brought it down, but Tidus swung Caladbolg in front of him at the last second, blocking her blade. "Yuna, this is no ordinary confusion she's under! We've got to try something else!" he gasped, trying to hold her back. Yuna nodded, focusing the energies within the White Lore and raising her hands. "ESUNA," she cried, channeling rays of golden light towards her. The spell enveloped the warrior but did nothing to change her course of action. Yuna shook her head in anguish and started digging through her equipment pouch when a beam of white light enveloped her. She glanced around worriedly and felt her eyelids growing heavy; she tried desperately to fight it off but before she knew it she had collapsed on the ground in a deep sleep.
The white beam from Malar's palm turned a violet hue as a grin spread across his face. He raised his hand and the light coalesced around Yuna's unconscious form, raising her off the ground and pulling her towards the Zu and its riders. Rikku's eyes went wide and she tried to get up, but her legs gave way beneath her and she collapsed to the ground once again.
"No... No!!" Tidus jerked upwards, planting his feet on his sword and shoving Paine off of him. He scrambled up just as Malar brought Yuna's body over to the back of the Zu. "You bastard, Malar, give her back to me!!" Malar whipped around and thrust his right hand at Tidus, producing a beam of total darkness that tore a wicked gash across his chest and knocked him to the ground.
"Boy, you had best learn your place in this world. This day's victory is mine, and I have already claimed my trophy," Malar laughed. "My beloved Wrathfangs should have completed work on that encampment by now, so I shall bid you a fond farewell. And you..." He pointed at Paine who was gazing up at him with a vacant look on her face. "You have done well. Your service is no longer needed," he said as he snapped his fingers. The crimson light in Paine's eyes disappeared and her face relaxed as she collapsed forward onto the sand. With a furious beat of its wings, the Zu and its cargo lifted away from the ruins and out of the eye of the storm which was rapidly beginning to wane.
"No... it can't be... Yuna... Yuna!" moaned Tidus as he rolled over and slowly dragged himself to his knees. Tears were rolling down his face as he stared at the sky above, the sky in which the Zu was rapidly getting smaller. The winds were dying down, blowing stray grains of sand and dust into the ruins of the tower. He clenched his hands and beat the ground he was kneeling on. It couldn't be true. He didn't want it to be true. But it was.
"YUNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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To Be Continued...