Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Ghost ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

Barely stopping to park, he hopped off his bike, ripping the black helmet from off his head. His heart sickened, the helmet dropped loosely from his grip He had seen the smoke rising from the trees as he drove up, dread hit him at that moment, but he never imagined…this.

The blackened trees stripped and broken as flames still clung to their now dead, hanging branches. The welcoming arch spilt in two, crushed underneath it's rubble some unfortunate monk and priestess. He knew them, but not closely and now he never would. Violently, he rushed up the long stretch of stairs in hopes that this wasn't real, that it was all a lie and the monastery would be fine when he got to the top. He reached the top, but his breath stopped in his throat.

The majesty of the monastery, it's curvaceous and peaceful elegance, were now marred and gutted ruins. Countless bodies bloodied the ground, their familiar faces cast in horrific stares. Unconsciously, Ashen walked forward, wide eyes scanning in a trance the destruction that was all too familiar to him. It was unreal, like walking into a nightmare waiting to wake up. The crystal clear creeks carrying limbs and bloody clothes in a murky red stream. Beautiful green gardens full of flowers and life now reeked of the dead and raged with fire. Spacious halls he used to walk in were compacted with debris from the upper floor that no longer existed.

He wandered aimlessly, lost in this vast death, confused if this was the past or really the present. Suddenly, his foot snagged on something and he crashed to the ground, bringing him back into reality when he came eye to eye with a pale familiar face.

"Kazu…" He uttered aloud in a slow hoarse whisper. It was a second later that he realized that it was Kazu's head…only. On his hands and knees, Ashen skittered back a foot staring aghast at the perfectly severed head of the good-hearted humorous monk; his body came into view a few feet away. Right next to Kazu's body was another slumped to the side against a tree and missing his right arm all the way to the shoulder, it was Sesshin. It looked like they died defending each other.

Ashen forced himself to his feet, never taking his eyes off the two which were the closest thing to friends he's ever had. The way he was reacting made it seem like he had never seen things like this before, but he had, he was the cause of scenes like this before. Yet he scampered around this devastation like a war victim, traumatized and lost.

He came upon the crumbling innards of the sanctuary, his legs lead him here with a will of their own. Incense was still burning and by the way the dead were dressed, it looked like they were in the middle of a ceremony. Trailing the tattered floor to the altar his red eyes fixed on two particular bodies. He came closer seeing one body drooping over the other.

"Nara… Yukai…" He whispered their identities to himself. Eyeing the slash across Nara's back as she covered Yukai protectively. His sight trailed her clothing, odd garments he'd never seen her in. Lavender and gold dress with an iridescent shawl. Where has he seen those? The question plagued his mind.

Her image came to mind.

"Aleura!" he gasped, his mind crisp and clear to his purpose for being here, only to be sickened with a foreboding sense. With the speed of a crazed demon, he ran from the sanctuary.

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He ran through the grove to where he knew the outer altar to be, a place she would pray by herself when troubled. It was the first place he thought to look for her, yet the last place she might be. Despite this he ran on, his breathing came in ragged puffs but he didn't care. She was all he cared about right now.

His running came to a halt upon the sight of her golden waves. The momentary relief of finding her washed away as he saw her unnatural sitting position. Sitting on the ground her back against the stone altar, her hair covering most of her face that was slumped to the side, and a large puddle of blood underneath her.

His heart throbbed in his ears as, inch by inch, he stumbling awkwardly towards her still form. His breathing in long drawn out shallow breaths, while his eyes kept an unblinking vigil waiting for her to get up and giggle at accidentally falling asleep or something. He never noticed his body shaking uncontrollably nor the silent streams that involuntarily escaped from his eyes.

He fell to his knees beside her, yet she didn't stir. His hand shakily touched her shoulder. "Aleura?" His voice was almost inaudible. She did not answer him, she did not look at him, she did not move at all. Gingerly, he reached for her other shoulder, laying both shaking hands on her he gave her a slight jolt in frail hopes it would jar her awake and they could leave this bad dream together. But sickening reality hit him as her head rolled back with unnatural ease. Uncurtaining her face from beneath her golden locks and revealing a cold trickle of red blood from the corner of her mouth.

All his fears and dread had been correct, not able to lie to himself now…She was dead.

Staring unblinking into nothingness, still unaware of his shaking and of the tears he was shedding for the first time in his life, he pulled her cold body into his embrace. Lacing his fingers through her hair to hold the back of her head, he buried half of his face in her soft tresses. The sweet smell of jasmine incense that permeated her form still present yet now mingled with the scent of her blood.

His mind struggled with disbelief: She was dead; Aleura was dead. The woman he loved, the one person in this entire world who he loved and loved him, was dead. She would never laugh again, She would never sing again, she would never open those beautiful green eyes again, she would never smile for him ever again. She was dead. His Aleura was dead.

Gently, he slid her into a cradling position, with his free hand he touched her face. Tracing the line of her jaw slowly, lovingly, longing as his fingers caressed the icy flesh. Thankfully, her eyes were closed, unlike many of her fallen comrades. She was still so beautiful even under the white wash of death, the mendi and face paint exchanged for make-up that enhanced her natural beauty. Gazing at her with pained eyes that slowly fluttered shut; he bent down and left a soft kiss on her cold lips. He left his mouth hovering an inch above hers.

"I kept my promise…" he whispered to her as if she could hear him. His face twisted slightly in pain as he willed himself to sitting up again. Red eyes washed over her body, unable to look at her face any longer. He noticed she had on different clothes then he was accustomed to seeing her in. A reddish brown short skirt and blazer, a white collared shirt, and a pair of reddish brown flats. She dressed this way for him, in anticipation of their new life.

She looks like an average girl…she died an average girl.

His jaw clenched at the thought. Then his eyes saw it while trailing her body. A bloody stab wound about two fingers width of a hole, it was a little down and to the right of where her belly button should be. He knew that kind of wound, knew what kind of death that would produce. It was not quick and painless. He ground his teeth in seething rage, his eyes burrowed in on the fatal blemish that marred her perfection and eventually stole her from this world. Learning that it went all the way through when his fingers graced another hole in her back.

He shut his eyes tightly to get the leering image of the bloodstain out of his head and embraced Aleura once more as if she could comfort him. But it remained, there mocking him in his minds eye, telling him all the things he could have done to prevent this until it escalated into a thousand garbled high-pitched voices. His throat felt dry and scratchy.

One primal scream twisted with anguish and rage, cut through the dead silence like a knife. Ashen was unaware that the screaming was his own.

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AN: SOOO SORRY it's taken forever to get this up, had problems with compy!

* sniffles * It's always hard to kill off one of your characters…let alone five. * braces herself for the readers wanting to kill her for Kazu's brutal death. * Sorry, sorry, but it's all a part of the story…yeah. Anywho…does anyone need a tissue? Well say what you think, rants are welcomed just as much as raves. Hope you all read again next week!