Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Ninety-ninth Sacrifice ❯ XI ( Chapter 11 )

XI

990 S.A.

 

Jecht looked over a map as the ship he stood on skidded upon the waves. He recognized the land formation of Spira, but not some of the names. Such as, in his time, there was no such thing as the Moonflow or the Calm Lands. Mi'ihen was not noted as a city, but a road, and there were new locations such a Djose. Bevelle, Luca, Besaid, and Kilika were there, but his home of Zanarkand was labeled a ruin.

“So,” he asked, holding tightly to the railing. “We're going to Kilika then? And we just came from Besaid?”

“Yes,” said Auron, sitting on a bench near the cabin wall. The boat was a simple passenger vessel and was made primarily out of wood, unlike Al Bhed ships.

“Geez,” exclaimed Jecht, taking another look at the map. He had a pretty good bearing of the continent, but this map seemed to be slightly stylized. “How far south did I travel?”

Auron took the map out of his hands and gave it a good look over. “You seemed to have traveled the entire length of the continent. A little far fetched, like the rest of your story.”

“And just what are you getting at there?” demanded Jecht defensively.

“It's nothing.” Auron returned to his seat, folding the cloth map. “I was once a timid person, always fearing that I could be cheated. After living with the Al Bhed for half a decade I learned better than to be afraid of my surroundings. I was not afraid, but I was still cautious, nonetheless.”

Suddenly, Jecht felt a feeling of emptiness in the pit of his throat. The only other time he had felt a feeling such as this one was when he was transported to this point in time. It was a sensation that made him feel as though some forbearing presence weighed heavily on his heart. Looking out to sea in hopes of alleviating the odd feeling, Jecht noticed something. Out in the distance of the sea there was a large wave that appeared as an orb of force that pushed the water upwards and forwards.

“Um, Auron,” asked Jecht, his eyes transfixed on the force. “What is that there in the distance? It's coming straight for us?”

Looking up from his small book, Auron's eyes widened in alarm at what he saw. “Sound the alarm!” he shouted. Just as his voice carried to the crew, Jecht saw small pods shoot out from the orb of water. Most of the pods fell in the water, but some still hit the ship, causing it to sway violently. At this moment Auron pulled a heavy sword from its sheath on his back. “Get your weapon ready,” he grunted, running to the front of the ship.

Pulling the sword clumsily from his belt, Jecht held it firmly ready. Above him on the upper deck Sara and Braska emerged from the inside of the ship. Sara already had her rifle out and was shooting. What she was shooting Jecht had only envisioned in his dreams.

From the pods had come monsters of which looked like a mixture between and insect and a fish. The monsters were fighting with tentacles that were sharp on the end. Jecht was in such shock that he could only watch helplessly as crew members were skewered by these tentacles. A tentacle coming straight for his head was what lulled him out of his shock. With one deft swipe of his blade the monster was free of one of its tentacles, only to have another replace it instantly.

Fighting with all of his might, Jecht felt almost overwhelmed, until Sara came to his rescue. With one fatal shot to the head, Sara felled the monster and went onto shooting. When it seemed as though their side of the boat was clear, Sara shot Jecht a glance of appraise. A glance that would prove to be fatal.

Smiling up at Sara, Jecht saw something quite odd. Sara's face, which at one time was beaming with adrenaline, was blank and emotionless. In his horror, Jecht noticed a large tentacle poke out from above Sara's left breast. The monster had hit her heart.

Enraged, Jecht shouted Sara's name and followed the tentacle back to its owner. With one foul swoop of his blade the monster was cleanly cleaved in two. Though, it was not enough to save Sara.

In anguish Jecht ran over to Sara's side. Neither Braska nor Auron were around when Sara fell, only Jecht. Lifting her head with his hand, Jecht cried, “Hang in there Sara!”

Her shirt was covered in blood; the monster having hit the aorta, her life blood was spurting from her chest like a fountain. Pressing his hand as hard as he could on her chest to stop the bleeding without pushing his hand through her skin, Jecht drew his head closer to hers. Her mouth was bleeding from within and she choked on her own blood. Even in all her pain, she attempted to convey one last message while she was on this plane.

“Braska … where …” she heaved a painful breath. “Yuna …” Sara coughed dryly and blood spattered all over Jecht's face. Her eyes were wide, the green of her irises almost gone for how deeply her pupils were dilated. The bleeding was so severe that it was even being sucked out of her skin, making it whiter than her eyes.

Having heard the shout from Jecht, Braska sped over from where he had been fighting. His staff was that of which was full of magic so he had not incurred any physical damage. When he saw Sara, he dashed to her side. He did not touch her fearful that he would only do more damage, but pressed his face in as close to hers as he could without touching her. “Oh, Sara,” he cried, tears streaming down his sweat covered face.

“Braska …” she gasped, lifting her hand to touch his face. “Don't cry ….” Braska took her hand and squeezed it lovingly. With her last breath, she said “finish this … love ….” She closed her eyes and her hand went limp. Jecht could no longer feel the pressure of spurting blood on his hand.

Kissing Sara on her forehead, Braska stood up defiantly. Jecht, covered in Sara's blood, positioned her body so that she looked like she was sleeping. He just stayed there, kneeling on the ground, watching Braska. The man was furiously shouting at the orb of water. Then he thrust his scepter up into the air. Closing his eyes, he twisted the scepter about in a well practiced fashion.

In one movement, he thrust the scepter forward and opened his wet eyes. In a strong voice Jecht had never heard him use, he said, “I summon thee, Bahamut!”

Jecht had only once seen a summons before, but this was much different. There was no land around from which the creature to emerge from and this summons was much stronger than those he witnessed in Zanarkand. In the sky pyre flies drew together from the dead bodies of the people and the monsters on board, as well as from the sea. When they were all congregated in a highly concentrated ball, they disappeared to form a creature in the sky.

This creature was more majestic than any other Jecht had ever seen. Its huge body, wings, and tail were all covered in thick, metallic looking blue feathers. It had the form of both a man and a drake, with the wings of a bird attached to its back. Above its back floated a spinning metal disc.

This creature, this Bahamut, in its entire majestic and powerful splendor, still obeyed the man who summoned it. From its position in the sky, it flew down to float behind Braska on the boat. Patting the Bahamut on the knee, as it was so much taller than Braska, the summoner ordered, “Kill all of the Sinspawn.”

Nodding, the creature flew off and began a slaughter of all of the monsters left on the boat. Auron, seeing that he was no longer needed, clambered on up to their level. When he saw Sara's body, he bowed his head for a moment, and then watched the creature do its work.

“If you don't mind me asking,” said Jecht, still covered in Sara's life blood, “Why didn't you just do that in the first place?”

Braska glared at Jecht with reproachful eyes. “Do you know what these monsters are?”

“No, I have no idea!”

“They are called Sinspawn, they are offshoots of that monster out there in the sea. That is Sin, and it is the reason we summoners go on our journey.” Braska heaved a heavy sigh and fell to the ground. “Summoners are the only thing that can stop that monster, and if he knows one of us are around, there's no telling what it might do.” Braska proceeded to sob quietly in his hands. “I knew it would be my fate to die on this journey, but it was not hers.”

Auron crossed his arms and watched Bahamut's slaughter. The creature was so blood thirsty that it had even proceeded to kill the Sinspawn who were waiting to ambush from the ocean. “Be glad that she died the warrior's death, in the heat of battle. And that she died. If the tentacle had hit only a few inches to the north, she would have died all the same, but she would have been in much more pain.”

“They say that when your life is taken away from one hit that you're so shocked that you don't feel yourself hurting,” added Jecht. “You just feel yourself slipping away.”

Auron felt a small smile on his face when he noticed the orb of force drawing away from the boat. “Look, Sin is retreating. It's not yet bold enough to take on Bahamut.”

Braska did not look up, he only grabbed his scepter. “Good, the sooner we get to Kilika the better.”

Once all of the monsters where killed, Bahamut disappeared into the sky. Braska then proceeded to twirl his scepter in a different way. He stood over Sara's body, his face stoic in its expression.

“What's he doing?” Jecht asked Auron in a quiet voice.

“A sending,” answered Auron. “He's sending their souls to the farplane so that they won't turn into fiends.”

“Oh,” said Jecht, watching Braska's movements. “I see.”

 

 

 

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