Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Ghost ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the healing items/ summons/ jobs, those are Squaresofts. This is non-profit fun.

AN: *watches Legend * Gotta love that movie, it's soo cheesy and creepy! * Giggles* Anywho, for those delightful ppl who read my story, I present to you another chapter! But I have a small request. That you all read six over, and then continue on to this chapter. See, six and seven were going to be one chapter at first, but then it became FAR too long. So I cut them into two.

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Ashen walked aimlessly through the empty halls, his mind a muss of unanswered questions. It was twilight now; though Tenth and his companions left early in the day, the whole Sect seemed trapped in those moments. Ashen avoided the mess of frightened and questioning worshipers by staying in his room, however, he grew even more restless there. So he walked and walked and walked, keeping no record of time or direction.

She lied... I never asked for sanctuary. She lied to him, why? I'm supposed to die, I was ordered to die... even Tenth told her that. Why doesn't she get it?! She must've known that refusing Ghri results in death, Tenth would have killed off everyone here if he didn't get called back. She put her entire congregation in danger... for what? To save my soul? To add one more to her roster of worshipers? Everyone wants something from someone; she's no different.

The realization that he was thinking too much slipped up from the back of his mind. This had been happening a lot lately, forgetting to keep his thoughts and feelings in check. Ever since he came here... what was it about this place? He was doing it again; he began to resort to training by pushing his thoughts from his mind... as difficult as that was.

"Ashen!" called a sweet voice from behind. He turned to see her running towards him. How the hell do they always seem to find me?

She halted before him, still adorn in the costume from earlier in the day. Aleura took a moment to catch her breath while Ashen cloaked his thoughts with a stone face.

"Hey...," she smiled. "I've been looking all over for you. You missed dinner."

"I wasn't hungry," his voice lifeless.

She giggled, "I thought you'd say that. Kazu is starting to think you're anorexic."

"Why did you lie?" he couldn't contain it any longer.

Her face changed instantly taking on a solemn quality. "Oh... you noticed it too," she sighed. "It's not really something a High Priestess should do. I regret it had to go that far... but it couldn't be avoided. And I will accept the consequences of it fully."

He turned fully to face her. "Why?"

She looked up at him. "I didn't trust him." He saw her shiver a bit and wrapped herself in a loose hug. "That man, something wasn't right with him. His eyes... they were full of danger"

Ashen took a step closer to her so that they were inches apart. She blushed at the sudden closeness as his eyes burrowed down into hers. "And what do you see in my eyes that makes them different then his?"

Her eyes trailed away to the side to avoid his gaze though her troubled look spoke of inner sadness. "I see things differently then other people...."

"That's not what I asked," his voice commanded her eyes back to his. "What is it that you see in me?"

Aleura looked like a scared child in his stare, reluctantly she spoke, her words sincere. "I see kindness…"

A flash of confusion swept over his eyes, but she continued, "That your cold exterior clouds the true nature within...."

His red eyes narrowed, his voice ice cold, "Like I thought... You don't see anything. You live in this idealistic world that caters to your every childish whim. People look to you for truth, but you know nothing."

She gasped lightly as he took her hands firmly in his grasp; he pulled one to each side of his temples. "Do you want to see the truth?" He asked her; she nodded slowly though frightened by his offer.

He held her hands to his temples and closed his eyes. When the energy infiltrated his mind he surrendered to it completely. Every memory, every feeling… since the day he first could remember, scrolled before her eyes.

As a child in Ghri under Meth's tutelage he became an experiment. Trained to fight without emotion, to kill without conscience. A precise and efficient weapon of mass destruction, that would follow every order to the letter. His first order, annihilate his own kin... the summoner race. A thirteen year old boy slaying two thousand summoners in one day. No regard for their gender or age, from there earning the name 'Oni' among his kind.

She watched him grow in this violent world he was forced into, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, the years rolled by where countless birthdays were spent in the blood-covered lands of his birth, blood he spilt. Nineteen, a veteran in genocide when he met Tenth. One of the few MAGE's that didn't seem to hate Ashen, but nothing in Ghri is what it seems to be. They were at the final summoner village, his first mission ever given almost complete. The little girl, her teary face, and then pain. Aleura could feel it through her fingers, the intense pain he went through when he lost his ability to summon.

Then the vision changed to the office with Meth, being ordered to die by the man who raised him and made him what he was, in order to save the face of Dynasty and keep it in financial favor with Ghri. Ashen was accepting of this fully, he was to die as simple as that. His fight with the MAGE members occurred and then finally his fall from the iron gates of Ghri where he should have died. The fast-paced scroll of images stopped and Ashen opened his eyes.

In his sight, Aleura was frozen. Her innocent face cast in horror and disbelief. Her turbulent green orbs quivered staring up at him as tears silently fell from her eyes. He suddenly noticed something else in her eyes, something he had not see before. Her pupils were emitting a white light that grew brighter, drowning out the blackness of her pupils. His eyes narrowed in confused to the abnormality, all of a sudden they rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted.

Aleura crumbled to the floor with a soft thud, Ashen hadn't bothered to catch her nor to check on her. He glared at her coldly, her weakness in the face of the bloody reality and what his true nature was. He turned about to leave when he heard a feminine cry.

"Aleura?!" Nara cried from the end of the hall. She turned to the side and shouted, "Yukai!! It's Aleura, come quick!!"

Both of them rushed down the hall to their fallen priestess, sliding in on his knees, Yukai got there first. He tapped her cheek and then opened one of her eyelids; he caught sight of her pupil. The older monk growled, "I knew it... she's infused with Holy. It's been in her far too long. I have to get her to the altar!"

"I'll follow, go now," Nara told him as he picked up the lithe girl in white and run down the hall. Ashen stood there watching this going on, forgetting his plans to leave when he heard Nara sigh aloud, "She was really that worried…"

"Ashen," She turned to see him, "Do you want to know what the true function of the High Priestess is?" He remained silent, but she went on just the same, "The High Priestess isn't only a servant to the congregation or a healer of the sick... she is God's weapon. Not a weapon of destruction, but a weapon of protection. It is her duty to protect us all from danger."

She's a weapon?

"The weapon, called Holy, is in her body right now. If it is in her too long, she could die. But she knew that, and despite the consequences she was willing to use it. Ashen? We were in real danger today, weren't we?"

Ashen nodded, "Yes, you were."

The older woman exhaled, "Then her judgment was right... she risked her own life in hopes that it would save us all."

"So what? That's her duty isn't it?" he growled, sick of the subtext of her words.

"She didn't do it out of duty... Holy is a weapon that could wipe out a thousand MAGE troops easily. It's not something she would toy with. She did it because she cared; she wasn't about to let a single one of us be hurt. Including you, Ashen."

Ashen scoffed, "What am I supposed to do about it?"

"That's for you to decide...." Silence covered them. Ashen stared at the woman intensely, her words starting to take affect on his rage.

"I had better go to her now. Ashen... I would think on things if I were you." The red head turned about face. "Good night."

A cold breeze played on his face as the woman left. The youth turned his eyes to the sky; the stars spread over a deep navy blanket of sky.

~***~

The night came and went like a passing dream. The events of the day before seemed to be a distant memory in the minds of the cheery monks and priestesses. They went to and from their duties without missing a beat.

Ashen walked the halls with his hands in his pockets; he was being lead by Yukai down to where he had been summoned. Yes, he received the news early this morning: the High Priestess was summoning him to a meeting somewhere in the monastery. Guess she didn't die after all....

They came to a rope bridge that hung shortly over cool clear running waters. Yukai indicated that he was to go alone from here on. Light creaks emitted from the wooden boards as Ashen stepped on them. He looked on ahead to the little island in the center of the water, surround by the light rush of the gentle waterfall in the back ground. The little island was alive with vibrant green grass, littered by patches of white daisies with dark violet centers. At the farthest end sat a thin short tree, probably still in the youth of its long life. It had no leaves but clusters of tiny lavender blossoms covered the tree, providing shade for the one sitting underneath.

"Wait," Aleura told him before he could take another step. She sat under the tree; dressed as she was the day he first laid eyes on her. Her bare legs folded underneath her, delicate hands sat lifelessly in her lap, she was the picture of peace and tranquillity. "This is a holy place... you have to take off your shoes before you enter."

Ashen eyed her for a moment, pondering her request. Then he conceded to her will by reluctantly taking off his boots. The grass was soft and warm to his skin as he walked over to Aleura. He took a seat across from her; sitting crossed legged, similar to what school children do for their patient teachers.

Her lips spread into a warm smile, though he could tell that the cheery nature behind it was not to be found. It was a weary smile despite its warmth. "First, I want to apologize for yesterday. I didn't faint because of what I saw."

"I know...," he interrupted. "Nara told me it was because of Holy."

"Yes." She closed her eyes. "I foolishly kept it in my body too long." Her green eyes opened, a hint of her former giddiness appeared in them. She gave a light giggle, "Though I am paying for it today."

"You're tired...." It was in between a question and a statement.

"Yes, I am tired, so much so that Yukai will probably have to carry me back to my room." Her voice began to trail off, "But... I had to speak with you."

She seemed to struggle with her words, "I had to tell you... my opinion of you... what I saw in your eyes.... It hasn't changed, despite what I've seen... what you've done in the past. That's not you, it's what the Ghri made you do."

He watched her wrestle with her emotions, letting out a sigh. "... You still don't see it...."

"No, Ashen! You don't see it!" she let out in a shaking voice. "You don't see what they did to you... What they robbed you of. They tried to kill your humanity, Ashen! Make you into a machine, use your powers, and let you loose on your kin, just to see if they could! You didn't even have the chance to know who you are, but it's there, hidden under all that. I feel this with all that I am."

Aleura panted, her passionate outburst obviously winded her. Unfortunately her words didn't register for him, they were like abstract art pieces... pretty, but the true meaning lost to the onlooker. She continued on, quieter then before and calmer, "I lied to Tenth to give you a chance Ashen.... I knew that if I let him take you, he would have killed you. In our faith, we teach that all people are deserving of life, deserving of a second chance... no matter what the crime. Everyone should have the chance to change for the better, I believe this, like I believe that inside you are a kind hearted person."

She looked at him with pleading eyes, "Ashen... I would like it if you would stay here at the monastery. I'm giving you a chance to take back what they stole from you... please, take it?"

"Why?" he scoffed. "To add another body to your list of worshipers? To save my soul?"

She shook her head, her words quietly sincere, "No... I can't force you to do anything you don't want to, nor would I. I only want to see you free to be who you are inside. You don't have to die because they ordered you too, Ashen... but you have to realize that for yourself. You have to want this for yourself."

"Is that all?" he asked curtly, getting to his feet. She looked up to the site of his back, his black clad form steadily moving away. A warm breeze danced in the trees and swayed the daisies. Wearily, she slumped in defeat.

The soft crunch of the grass under his feet lessened to a halt. His face inched slightly over his shoulder as if to look at her, but kept aligned with his chin, making his face unreadable and his aura distant. He emitted a sigh, masking the uncertainty with exasperation, "...I'll stay."

His voice was so low Aleura almost missed it, "What?"

"I said... I'll stay," he reiterated in a firm voice. "Don't misunderstand me. I don't believe that little speech you gave me. But I'm already dead to the Ghri, if I show up alive they'll lose faith in Dynasty and that would ruin the purpose of my execution. I lost my chance to die, and here is better then starving."

Aleura giggled, "Well... at least I got you to think." Her rosy lips spread into a warm smile of relief, "As long as you're staying, I am relieved."