Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shattered Dreams ❯ Scattered ( Chapter 4 )

Thanks to all my reviewers. I like any and all reviews… even if they are just rambling on:

 

?????? (whomever you are)

tee

arora_kayd

LordIckarous

Miko

Jessifer

Twich

I-chan

Cidsa

Drac

 

Warnings for violent imagery and blood and gore. But I am sure don't mind.

 

(Voice in the mind)

## Flashback Scene ##

`Personal Thought'

 

Chapter 4: Scattered

 

In a cave hidden deep beneath the mountains of a forgotten island on the other side of the world, a pair of crimson eyes peeked out from a mass of shadow huddled on a throne of brown stone. A low mocking laughter issued from the strange mass, and many pairs of eyes, all belonging to small bat demons and goblins hovering about the foot of the throne, glowed dangerously.

 

“We found him,” a sinister voice said, cutting through the inherent darkness of the deep cave as suddenly several torches flickered on, illuminating the occupants of the room. Malice dripped from its tongue, and murder was evident in every tone.

 

The cave wasn't unlike many mountain caves. From the ceiling hung spiraling stalactites and from the ground jutted proud stalagmites. The walls sparkled from lustrous stones embedded in the dark brown rock that comprised the main body of the room. Yet, most important were the inhabitants of the forgotten cave.

 

There on the dais, sitting in the plain throne was a mass of collected shadow without form or substance. From the middle of the mass shone a pair of blood-red eyes with blackened specks of hatred and deceit swirling in their maddening confusion. The eyes watched unceasingly, never ceasing even as its formless home constantly shifted in its seat.

 

Standing proudly before the throne was a taller creature of dark blue fur with horns jutting proudly from its forehead. Its mouth was canine in nature with many sharp and blood-stained fangs. Claws protruded from every finger and toe. It was muscular, and a line of red-bristled hair jutted proudly from its chest. This creature also had a tail, but it was mostly obscured by the dark blue cloak that was draped over his broad shoulders and down the well muscled back. It was he who had spoken the first time. This was the famous demon demi-god, Azamat.

 

“He lives then?” another voice questioned, this one more formal and gravelly as if from old age and wisdom. It was coming from the formless mass located on the throne.

 

“Yes, Balaam,” hissed a third voice in a slithering tone. A second strange figure appeared next to the one clothed in midnight blue. “In Gongaga…”

 

This new stranger was cloaked in black, and much of its features were obscured. However, a face, heavily scarred and wrapped in bandages could be seen as well as the metal pole that was thrust quite painfully through its mouth, causing the unintentional lisp. He was known as Mabuz.

 

“Kill him!” the shadow on the throne ordered. “With no hesitation. Take a horde of demons and wipe out that entire town. The body must die!”

 

“Would you like me to go, Balaam?” the third, larger body questioned. He was hidden by a crimson cloak, body thick and stocky. A white mask covered all of this one's face while long, stringy black hair grew from its head and falling over its shoulders.

 

“No,” commanded the breathless voice that was called Balaam. “Azamat is to go. No one stronger is needed.”

 

“How much longer is it?” Mabuz questioned, cocking his bandaged head to the side. “Until you are whole as we now are?”

 

“It doesn't matter. Not until he has been destroyed,” responded Balaam, his voice going cold if that were at all possible. “The knights are still resisting our rule… we cannot have the distraction of the body to contend with as well.”

 

“We understand,” answered the three in unison.

 

“Soon you will be our king,” Daunte responded, the one with the white mask.

 

“Yes,” the formless shadow hissed as it swirled excitedly. “And those worthless beings, who locked us away will be beneath our feet. They will feel the pain they've wrought upon themselves.” Crimson eyes flashed menacingly as a great aura of power shot through the room and bathed all those present with malicious intent. “Issue the summons… it is time we built our army.”

 

* * *

 

“Captain! There's something on the radar!” declared the member of the ship's crew that monitored the many gauges and displays on the main panel.

 

“What is it?” the pilot demanded as he cursed and stormed over to the smaller brunette man's side. Yuffie and Nanaki crowded all about him.

 

When Cid had learned that the three had managed to get onto the Highwind, he accepted their presence with an annoyed reluctance. He ignored them for the most part and pretended as if none of them were there.

 

Their choice to hide that object from him felt like a betrayal in some form, as if they wanted him to forget about Vincent and move on. But Cid couldn't do that… and they just didn't understand.

 

The thin, pale man shrugged. “I don't know. I don't recognize the shape. Could be a flock of birds.”

“Then why the hell bother me?”

 

“Look at how they're flying,” the operator pointed out. “The formation is too perfect.”

 

“There is nothing out there but land and sea,” said Cid, waving his hand dismissively. “Perhaps the instruments are messed up again. It's been a while since Shera took a good look at them, being pregnant at all.”

 

“I don't know, Cid,” Nanaki began slowly. “The movement is oddly uniform.”

 

The blond shot his friend a glare. “I am not taking comments from any of you right now.” He was still angry at the demi-human and the ninja but was reserving most of his fury for Reeve.

 

“Ignore it,” Cid commanded. “For all we know it might be an errant cloud that is about to rain. Nothing to worry about.”

 

“Huh?” Archer muttered suddenly. He looked around as if someone had just tapped him on the shoulder.

 

“What's up?” asked Yuffie, looking at him in concern.

 

The amethyst-eyed man frowned. “It felt like something was just pulled from me… and now I feel like something is missing.” He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Never mind, it will pass. Perhaps I'm hungry.”

 

Nanaki laughed. “You are insane, Kyle.” He rolled his eyes at the dark-haired man and returned to gazing out the window. He failed to mention that the same feeling had passed over him as well. The demi-human's face turned grim as he contemplated the ill feeling of foreboding that was beginning to wash over his senses.

 

Something wasn't right.

 

* * *

 

Zack laughed quietly, while Annalee recounted yet another tale of her childhood. He took a sip of the Gongagan wine and smiled, picturing a child-like blonde Annalee chasing after bull frogs just as she described.

 

“Mother was so upset when I came home all covered in mud again. Father just shrugged his shoulders and dumped a bucket of water over my head. Mom was horrified, but I just laughed and ran and hugged her, getting her all muddy as well.” The blue-eyed giggled female as she dug into her pasta with gusto.

 

The two had met at Aga's as planned when the sun had finally dipped below the horizon. Annalee was pleasant company to Zack, and he found he was enjoying himself more than he had expected.

 

“You're family sounds so loving,” he commented truthfully as he took in his date's appearance. Annalee had dressed in a simple but bright sky blue dress with a grey over-cloak similar to his own. Her shining blonde hair had been brushed out and was hanging loosely down her back in waves. Her eyes sparkled brightly and that perpetual smile was again on her face.

 

“They are,” Annalee agreed. “Father and mother are all I have. I've often wondered what it would be like to have sisters and brothers.”

 

“Me, too,” responded Zack as he cut his cheese-covered chicken steak into sections. “I was an only child my entire life.” He froze in mid-speech when he realized what he had said.

 

“You remembered something!” she exclaimed happily. “Oh, Zack, that is so wonderful!” She raised her glass to his. “We must toast to that.”

 

“But it is trivial, hardly a fact to help me know who I am. There are many out there who are only children,” the grey-eyed man protested, a dark shadow crossing his features.

 

“Nonsense,” Annalee argued. “Every little spark, every little memory, is like regaining a piece of yourself that you lost. Though small, every part is who you are.”

 

Zack chewed thoughtfully on her words before reaching forward and picking up his own wine glass. “You are right. Here's to… remembering old dreams.”

 

She laughed softly and Zack couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. “And perhaps making new ones,” she added.

 

He smiled, and they clinked their glasses together, the sound reverberating quietly through the air.

 

The grey-eyed man brought the glass to his lips and took a sip, eyes watching hers from across the table.

 

(They are coming!)

 

He spat the mouthful of wine on the table even as his eyes widened in confusion. “What? Who's there?” he demanded, eyes darting around the restaurant to search for the voice that had suddenly exploded in his head.

 

“Zack?” questioned Annalee, her brow furrowed in confusion.

 

(There's no time. You must go! Now!)

 

The raven-haired man slammed his glass down to the table, breaking the slim base. Small shards of glass littered his hand. His head pounded with the oncoming of a migraine and flashes of memory suddenly raced across his mind.

 

##”Do not push me. It is getting harder to drown them out. And I can't say what I will do.”##

 

##A man with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail and glasses, laughing with glee and something glowing green in his hands.##

 

Zack groaned and grabbed his head.

”Zack?” the blonde again pushed, her voice now heavy with worry. “Zack, are you all right?”

 

##Cigarette smoke… engine grease… calloused hands running over the inside of his thighs and a rough voice, raw with need... “You can trust me.”##

 

##A fluttering cape of a bright crimson color, an item to hide behind, an item to lose in guilt…##

 

“Stop! I don't understand,” Zack muttered. “I don't remember. I don't know what they mean!”

 

“Laris, call the doctor, quick!” Annalee urged snatching the arm of the waiter she knew by name. Laris looked down at the thrashing man and nodded, rushing off quickly.

 

The blonde female stood up from the chair and came to Zack's side. Her hand reached out to offer him comfort when suddenly the world around them exploded.

 

Fire raced through the restaurant, as if had a will of its own, even as the foundation shook and cracked. Beams from the ceiling began to fall, striking customers and employee alike.

 

Zack looked up through a haze of pain to see a piece of the support beams heading straight for Annalee and him. He pushed her out of the way and dove off to the side moments before the beam crashed down onto their table.

 

Another explosion and more fire raced through the building. Smoke began to cloud his senses. His mouth and nose was filled with the thick gas and his vision was hampered by the bright glow of fire and smoke.

 

`What is going on?' he wondered in his mind. `Has Aga blown up her kitchen again or is it something much worse.'

 

“Annalee?” Zack called out, trying to shout above the noise around him and the pain that was pounding in his skill. He pushed himself up from the ground and tried to see through the haze of smoke and fire.

 

He coughed. His throat was burning and his eyes were stinging, but he had to find Annalee. He couldn't abandon her to the flames.

 

He pushed through despite the face he could not see and tripped over a fallen beam. He crashed to the floor, his hands shooting out to catch himself. Zack hit the ground hard, his breath momentarily knocked from his body. But it was what his blistering fingers had landed on which caused him to look up in confusion.

 

Soft cotton lay beneath the fingertips. Through eyes gone red-rimmed and teary through spoke, Zack could see Annalee lying on the floor of the restaurant, bleeding from a gash in her forehead and pinned beneath another section of the roof. Crimson fluid was trailing slowly out of the corner of her mouth, but he dared not look at her abdomen where the beam had surely crushed her.

 

Grey eyes widened in horror as Zack scrambled to his feet and raced to her side, tentatively touching her face. She seemed so lifeless.

 

“Annalee! Wake up, Annalee, we have to get out of here,” he said on a croak, hardly able to breathe thanks to the roaring fire and smoke. He could hear someone screaming faintly and smelled burning skin, not a pleasant scent to be sure.

 

He reached out with one hand and struggled vainly to find a pulse in her neck. He could feel no life beat however. Groaning with frustration and pain, Zack coughed loudly and stumbled to his feet. Fire licked at the edges of his cloak, and he frantically wrapped the fabric around him tighter.

 

But there was no escape for him. Only fire and smoke, everywhere he looked.

 

(Head right. There is a window you can escape through.) Again the voice in his mind spoke. Zack entertained notions of just ignoring his own madness but decided that he had nothing else to lose.

 

Bracing himself, Zack ran blindly through the fire, feeling it reaching out for him, blistering the skin on his face and hands and catching onto his cloak. He stumbled without seeing, tripping on objects but heading completely off to the right.

 

Through teared vision, he barely saw the flicker of reflection before he crossed his arms in front of his head and dove towards the glass. He could feel the window breaking around him as he pummeled through it.

 

Zack landed on the ground hard, amid pieces of broken window pane and glass shards. He felt his body snap tightly and hoped no bones were broken even as he frantically rolled around in the grass to put out the fire. Within seconds he had his cloak smoldering, but he wasn't in danger of burning to death. Coughing horrifically, spitting up soot and ash, the grey-eyed man peered around, dimly registering the screams of the dying and the smell of burning high on the air.

 

He looked up, trying to get his bearings and stared straight into the coal black eyes of a demon which was leering down at him, blood-stained teeth bared. In the creature's clawed hand was a rusty blade that seemed destined to sever his head from his body.

 

The demon leered, and its muscles twitched. The dark-haired man knew without a shadow of doubt that it was about to attack.

 

Instinct took over. Zack rolled out from under the demon's attack and ended up behind it, bouncing up to the balls of his feet before springing at the winged creature. He wrapped his hands around the demon's neck and gave a violent twist, breaking the dark beast's neck. It crumpled to the ground beneath him with a shudder, weapon falling uselessly from its hands.

 

Panting slightly and surprised at what he had done, Zack moved back in horror at the dead body, feeling his back to the wall of the burning restaurant. His eyes darted around at the destruction everywhere. More demons prowled the streets, screams filled the air and the smell of burning flesh… that stench was everywhere.

 

He had one thought on his mind. He had to check on Granny and Gramps. Zack steeled himself for the ordeal to come and swiftly started to steal his way through the town.

 

His heart was aching as he watched the homes and businesses of his town burned down. He was still coughing, trying to get the acrid burn of the smoke out of his lungs and his mouth. Grey eyes gazed around worriedly as he wondered how he was going to get back to his home on the edges of Gongaga. The demons were in full attack mode, nearly everywhere he looked.

 

But something deep within him… an old training he scarcely remembered… gave him all the instinct he needed to avoid them.

 

Zack slowly made his way through the town, having to duck into shadows and press himself against the walls of houses occasionally. He tried his best to drown out the screaming, yelling, and crying that he could hear from his fellow townsfolk.

 

He pressed himself up against the nearest wall as the sound of approaching feet neared to him. Grey eyes darted around wildly, hoping to spot the enemy before it spied him.

 

Suddenly a rough pair of hands grabbed him and threw him away from his hiding spot. He flew through the air and crashed into a smoldering pile of wood, what used to be a small shed of sorts. Zack groaned as pain raced through his shoulder and pushed himself up with his arms, shaking his head and struggling to look up.

 

Zack looked up from the wreckage and idly noted the three goblins that had gathered around him. All of the monsters were winged it seemed, perhaps indicating their method of attack. He eyed the bloodthirsty creatures warily even as he searched for a weapon, his hand wrapping around a piece of slightly smoldering wood which still seemed strong enough to sustain a hit.

 

The grey-eyed man stood shakily to his feet, trying to ignore the aching in his muscles or the fresh hot fire racing through his shoulder.

 

“He's too skinny for even a taste,” one of the goblins commented, fluttering its wings. He licked his lips and grinned ferally at Zack.

 

“But we can have fun,” hissed another. Without further adieu and long monologues, he leapt at Zack, determined to play with his prey.

 

The raven-haired man braced himself for the attack and swung his weapon in a wide arc in a well-timed instant. The demon wasn't prepared for his enemy to fight back and looked up in horror seconds before the wooden plank cracked over his head and split it open. The goblin demon dropped to the ground with a wet sound and lay there unmoving.

 

The goblin that had spoken before let out a screech of anger and tackled Zack before he could recover from the first attack. The two went down, Zack landing on the bottom, his back crashing into the debris.

 

“Gah!” exclaimed the dark-haired man as shooting pain raced through his back. He grappled with the goblin, dimly noting that the third and final one was approaching, determined to aid his companion.

 

With a strength born of determination and fear, Zack drove his knee into the fleshy area of the goblin's waist and jammed a finger into the creature's eye. The goblin howled in agony and pulled back far enough that Zack could grasp another stick of wood and crack it over the side of the creature's head.

 

The goblin dropped like a sack of potatoes, sliding sideways off of the dark-haired man and trapping him momentarily beneath his heavier weight.

 

A pair of claws gripped him by the foot and yanked with great strength. Zack struggled to find a purchase even as he was pulled out from beneath the goblin's body. He was picked up by the clawed hand on his feet and swung into the side of a crumbling building.

 

“Ungh…” groaned the dark-haired man when his back struck hard, knocking most of the breath from his lungs. His head swam, and his muscles protested every moment, but Zack struggled to push past the pain. He stumbled unsteadily to his feet with his back braced against the burning building. Smoke tickled at his throat, and he started coughing again.

 

He peered with red-rimmed grey eyes and had scarce seconds to react before the goblin that had gripped and thrown him attacked.

Rusty sword upraised, the demon rushed at the swooning Zack, convinced he had an easy target. Yet, he was wrong. Though Zack could not recall his past, his body and instincts certainly remembered their training well enough.

 

He stood his ground, waiting until the last possible second to move, staring unflinching into sickly yellow eyes. In the last moment before the rusty blade could thrust into his unprotected abdomen, Zack twisted his body to the side.

 

The demon, unable to stop its forward momentum, plunged its weapon into the side of the building.

 

Zack completed the maneuver and stood facing the building as he placed his hands over the demon's on the weapon's handle. He quickly kicked backwards at the winged creature in the same instance that he gave a great yank on the stuck handle. The demon staggered backwards a few steps but that didn't matter. The rusty sword was now free in Zack's hands.

 

“Damn you!” the dark-haired man hissed as he whipped around and expertly twisted the blade towards the goblin's weak abdomen. He felt the sword bite flesh and couldn't suppress the grin of victory from breaking out over his face.

 

Blood splattered everywhere from the wild swing. The cheap and rusted blade broke inside the goblin's body while the creature gurgled very unattractively. It fell to its knees, hands clutching uselessly at its life's blood pouring from its body.

 

“Balaam was right,” wheezed the demon, fixating its yellow glare onto the bewildered Zack. “You must die.”

 

The now broken sword hilt fell from nerveless fingers as Zack stared horrified at the blood that was splattered over his hands and now stained the ground beneath him.

 

##So much blood… terror… and destruction. Fighting against the demon within, she is an innocent, a child, do not touch her! It was his own voice screaming at himself… or more honestly something within him, hoarse with the cries and furious with the entity.##

 

##”You will be the ultimate weapon. The perfect soldier, my little monster.” The bespectacled man grinned as squeezed the pale globes before him. “And when I am done using you, I will throw you out like the dirty used trash you are.”##

 

`What am I? What was I?' His mind whirled with questions even as his heart thudded loudly in his chest, worry for his caretakers overshadowing even his own safety.

 

He stumbled blindly past the body of the fallen monster, barely registering that it had been he that killed the creature.

 

He had to find Granny and Gramps. He had to make sure they were safe.

 

And deep inside his soul, something was trying to call to him, but was being ousted by the swirling memories attempting to break free.

 

* * *

 

Erebus sighed angrily and tried again to reach his animus, but the saddened grey-eyed man was currently beyond his communication. Something needed to startle him from the memories pushing at his subconscious.

 

The demi-god struggled in vain, wanting to break free and help his animus before it was all too late. They needed him, if the world was to be saved and the Apocalyse to be stopped before it even began. The spirit of the Guardian Force could do nothing to stop the rising evil unless it could rebond with its respective animus. But as deaf as most inhabitants of Planet Gaia had become to their inner subconscious… the future may have been lost.

 

The demi-god sighed and tried again, calling louder and wishing that he could talk to Baal. However, the winged bat demi-god had been secreted in another portion of the grey-eyed man's subconscious and could not hear his closest friend.

 

So much blood and destruction… so much pain. That was what Erebus could see looking through the eyes of his animus. The humans were in need of the old ways… now more than ever before, but unless he could get his own animus to hear him… all was lost.

 

* * *

So, does anyone have any clue what is going on?

 

Leave me a review with your guesses, and I will tell you if you are right or wrong…. perhaps a prize is in order? I'll have to think about it…