No Choice Left
Chapter 12
Lovely Lucrecia: And now it's
time for everybody's favorite part: the disclaimer! Movitriss, Valagar and Kyro
are mine! Who cares 'bout Sephiroth!? He's a freak… *a strange, frightening
sound can be heard in the distance* …and such a looser!
*Lovely Lucrecia gets struck
by the Meteor*
Sephiroth: Oops, I did it
again… *walks away, whistling*
Lovely Lucrecia (from under
the Meteor): No, I'm too young to… *dies*
Actually, a stupid passer-by
used his last Phoenix Down on me, so I'm alive and kicking!
Author's Notes: Dear Readers,
you're great! Your comments give me the strength necessary to continue this
fic, so, please, keep reviewing! (I secretly dream of hitting 100 reviews one
day…)
I had so much fun writing this
chapter! Did I once say something about preferring dialogues to violence? Well,
this part is slightly different. Lots of blood is spilt in a graphic way, plus,
some characters are profane, but I decided to keep the present rating. C'mon,
how many bloody scenes are there in an average movie?
One more thing: please, read
everything! Everything, I repeat. Even the bits with Movitriss or
Valagar, 'cause they are very important. And try to be tolerant, too. I
was finishing this chapter at
Ah, forget about that and
enjoy the newest part!
* * *
"He's gone, 'Triss. The
fairy-tale's over. I think you should really get it over with…"
"It's none of your
business, Kyro." she glared at him. "I'm sick and tired of your snide
comments, do you hear? Why won't you leave me alone?"
"Hey, I just want to be
helpful!"
"You're making fun at my
expense!"
"No, I'm not!" he
shook his head in a childish way. "I'm trying to cheer you up!"
"I can see you really
have nothing better to do." she sniggered. "Knock it off!"
"You might as well talk
to a brick wall." he gave her a mischievous wink. "I'm not going to shut
up."
"Why!?" she finally
lost her temper.
"'Coz I'm bored." he
immediately answered. "And also 'cause I don't wanna see your long face
all day long. I'm acting for the best. At least you're mad now, instead of
being gloomy. See?" he grinned at her.
"You're impossible!"
she said angrily. "Do you really think you can figure me out that easily!?
You don't understand anything, you're still a little kid who-"
"A kid?" Kyro hated
that word, but he kept his cool. "I'm only eight years
younger than you, besides, I'll be twenty-one next spring! Anyway…" he
shrugged, suddenly becoming serious. "We were never the best of fiends, I
suppose, but I really like you, 'Triss, and I don't want you to cry because of
that son of-"
"Don't call him
that!!!"
"Is there something
wrong, Movitriss?" Valagar's voice called from the behind.
"No." the woman
turned round in the saddle, trying to act as natural as possible. She even
smiled through clenched teeth. "Everything's perfect."
"'Triss!" Kyro
playfully rolled his eyes, still rubbing his cheek where she had hit him.
"You're such a looser…"
* * *
Of course Sephiroth realized
that they were being followed, but he didn't really care. He had to find the
Räelans as soon as possible and that was the only thing that mattered, so he
still rode forward, hardly ever stopping. For the past three days Aeris had
been following him without any complaints, bravely enduring all the
difficulties of the dangerous journey.
I would've never expected
this, Sephiroth admitted in his thoughts, smiling to himself. (In fact, she's
nearly amazing. So persistent!)
<and so beautiful>
(Damn! Stop thinking of her,
you idiot! What's wrong with me? I need to concentrate on the road, or else
we'll get lost in the middle of nowhere!)
"Sephiroth?" Aeris
suddenly asked.
"Yes?" a loose
strand of silver hair fell on his forehead and he impatiently brushed it aside.
"Let's stay together when
everything ends." she said after a small pause. "I wish to settle
down… here, on Sandalya."
Sephiroth pulled the reigns
back, reducing the speed of his chocobo to a mere trot. Then he carefully
looked at Aeris. "I thought you wanted to go back very badly…?"
She nodded. "I did… at
first. But I've done a lot of thinking recently… You know, I won't be happy
among the Cetra. They can be… pretty arrogant sometimes."
What's your problem?,
Sephiroth thought, giving Aeris a strange look. "Your mother lives
there." he finally spoke.
"I know…" she hung
her head. "…but she has her own life now and she doesn't need me that
much. I spent a few weeks in her house and I felt like an intruder almost all
the time. You see… she has remarried."
The memory of Ifalna made
Sephiroth smile bitterly, but he didn't say anything. Then, against his will,
the mental image of Daniel Gast crossed his mind. He bit his lip.
<sometimes I still wish he
had been my father>
"That guy, Zerkún, is
pretty nice and all, but I guess I don't like him much." Aeris kept
talking in the meantime. "I don't know why, but his presence makes me
uneasy… Strange, isn't it?" she paused. "Anyway, what about you? I'm
sure you don't want to go back, either. You wouldn't feel comfortable in the
Promised Land. Sorry for being straightforward, but we both know it's true.
Here, on Sandalya, we can start everything anew." she looked at him hopefully.
"What do you think? Have you ever wondered what would you like to do next?
In the future?"
He was silent for a long
while. "No." he raised his head. "I haven't."
"You still can't believe
you have a future, can you?" she felt sorrowful all of a sudden.
"I guess." he
shrugged, sighing heavily. "I'm still not used to the fact of being alive…
making my own decisions…"
The both fell silent once
more. Finally, Aeris smiled at him. "C'mon, think of it! We're both young!
Let's not miss our chance!"
* * *
"It's utterly pointless.
This place is huge!" Movitriss said, describing an exaggerated curve in
the air. "How are we supposed to find this damned starship? I wish we had
a helicopter…"
"It's hard to hide a
starship in the middle of a snow desert, ya know." Kyro answered.
"Unless it's white…"
the woman wondered aloud. "Or buried underground…"
"Underground, eh? Then we
wouldn't have spotted it from a helicopter even if we-"
"Whatever."
Movitriss grumbled. "I'll take us weeks to find it…"
"Don't worry." the
younger Cetra shrugged nonchalantly. "We're just looking round. Tomorrow
we'll take Valagar with us. He's got some kind of sixth sense, right?"
The woman sighed. "If it
hadn't been for those regular snowstorms, we would've been able to see their
tracks… I wonder if-"
"Wait a sec!" Kyro
suddenly hissed.
"Kyro?" she stopped
her chocobo as well, momentarily becoming tense. "What's wrong?"
"There!" he pointed
at the distant horizon.
Movitriss frowned. "I
can't see anything…"
Kyro stood up in the stirrups.
Holding the reigns with his left hand, he used the other one to protect his
eyes against the dazzling sun. With some effort he was able to make out several
black spots.
"Räelans." he spat
on the ground, sitting back on the saddle. "Five of them, if I'm not
wrong."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. It's hard to
mistake those shapes for anything else."
"Let's turn back."
"Too late, they've
already noticed us and are running in our direction." the man answered,
shaking his head. "I wonder what are those motherfuckers up to…"
"Try and behave!"
Movitriss rolled her eyes and reached for her weapon. It was a silver axe
strapped firmly to the saddle. She put it in front of herself, careful not to
injure the chocobo with its deadly sharp edges.
Kyro met her eyes with an
ironical smile, pointing at the weapon. "Since when have you became so
hot-tempered?" the woman raised her eyebrows at the remark, but Kyro's
expression quickly turned serious. He slowly adjusted his leather gloves.
"Don't draw your weapon yet, unless you want to provoke them."
Movitriss nodded, lowering the
axe. She visibly tensed as her eyes shifted to the approaching aliens.
"They're fast." she murmured.
"Fast? That's not the
word for it!" Kyro paused. "I wish I could understand their language…
Those bizarre, hissing noises… they don't sound like words at all!"
"Because they're not.
Their language isn't really based on words. They communicate by reading minds
and interpreting images and emotions they are able to find. Those noises are
only gestures."
Kyro looked at her doubtfully.
"And how would you know?"
"…Sephiroth told
me."
Movitriss looked slightly
depressed at the moment, so Kyro gave up further questions, concentrating on
the Räelans instead. He waited in silence for the intimidating creatures to
draw closer. One minute later the aliens came to a halt right in front of him.
Actually, they stopped about ten meters away, but Kyro was sure each of them
was capable of crossing the remaining distance in a single jump.
The young warrior narrowed his
brown eyes, staring the Räelans up and down. Everything about them was
disgusting. Their limbs were disproportionate, their skin did not cover the
veins running underneath, their large eyes were devoid of eyelids… It made him sick
and he nearly flinched in repulsion.
One of the aliens looked at
him piercingly; then it made a quick movement with its tentacle. The other
creatures immediately started to hiss, smack their tongues and gurgle.
"What might they be
saying…?" Movitriss shifted in the saddle.
"Are they…" Kyro
frowned. "…quarreling among themselves? Or maybe they're just ignoring us
on purpose? Hey!" he suddenly turned in the Räelans' direction, trying to
keep his voice calm and polite. "What is it?"
He momentarily regretted those
words. One of the aliens did its best to answer and Kyro almost screamed as the
creature's mind forced its way into his own brain, engulfing it in chaos. The
Cetra moaned, clutching his head in pain, shock and confusion.
"Stop it!" he cried
out. The Räelan let go of his consciousness and Kyro suddenly understood the
sense of the message - it had been a warning - but it was already too late.
Kyro and Movitriss, both
caught off guard, had a little time to react. With an incredible speed one of
the Räelans jumped at the nearest rider. Drawing his sword, Kyro instantly dug
spurs into his chocobo, making the animal leap forward. The alien's claws hit
the bird, ripping its throat with a sickening sound. Trying to escape similar
fate, Kyro threw himself to the side.
Movitriss' chocobo started to
struggle. Terrified, it was jumping up and down and flapping its small wings in
a foolish, desperate attempt to fly away. Movitriss lost her balance and fell
to the ground. Grasping her axe tightly, she managed to roll away from the
animal's massive legs. The panicked chocobo was running in circles now,
trampling everything in its path. However, several seconds later the quickest
alien sent it on its back with a single hit of a tentacle, then it cut the
animal's belly wide open. The bird nearly screamed. Actually, Movitriss
had never heard a screaming chocobo before, but right now she had no time to
ponder it. She barely missed the attack of a third Räelan, which swung its
tentacle at her legs. Miraculously, the agile beast somehow tripped up on the
solid snow, landing flat on its stomach. Movitriss sprang to her feet, bringing
her axe down at the creature's head, putting as much energy into it as
possible. The blow didn't kill the alien on the spot, but it was dazed and
unable to move. Keeping a tight hold of her weapon, the Cetra hit once more,
this time crushing the opponent's delicate skull. Her luck quickly ended,
though. She cried out in agony, feeling something large and sharp pierce her
left arm from the behind.
Kyro was even less fortunate.
A Räelan slashed him with its razor-sharp talons, deeply injuring his chest.
The young warrior ignored the pain, immediately thrusting his sword to the
left, slicing the alien's limb in two. He knew there was another monster behind
his back. Rounding on his heel, he blocked a dangerous blow to his side. A few
moments later he succeeded in stabbing the Räelan's throat, finally getting rid
of the beast.
"They're too fast!"
Movitriss hissed. "We're no match for them in a physical struggle!"
"Cast a spell!" Kyro
growled.
"And how am I supposed to
concentrate!?" she retorted, blocking yet another attack with a lot of
difficulty, since her arm was bleeding heavily. She nearly wept in frustration.
(How can we possibly win!? They hardly ever make any mistakes! It's so hard to
hit them that we'll probably bleed to death first!)
Suddenly hundreds of small
sparks appeared out of nowhere and the air became dense with
electricity.
"Shit!" the woman
cursed, forgetting her flawless manners. "Wall!"
A huge pentagram exploded
under her feet, instantly shooting upwards to create a golden cage of pure
energy surrounding her and Kyro. For a split of second nothing happened, but
then the first thunderbolts crossed the sky. However, the magical barrier
targeted them at back the caster, so the spell struck the Räelan instead,
burning it alive. The enraged hiss of the remaining aliens filled the air.
Kyro's loss of blood was
severe and the man's movements became slower and unsure. His opponent instantly
used this at its advantage, hitting the Cetra with its massive claws, tearing
the clothing, skin and muscles on his back, creating a huge, gaping wound. The
blonde warrior stumbled and felt forward, nearly fainting, but in the last
moment he managed to turn around and slice the alien's stomach, just before
receiving a massive hit on the head from the behind. It made him
instantly lose his consciousness.
Movitriss fell on her back.
Her blood ran cold. While the Räelan was slowly leaning over her, she met the
creature's deep eyes for a brief second. He saw pain and hatred in them.
And her own death.
White-lipped, she held her
breath. The alien raised its claw.
<No!>
"The wrath…"
Movitriss shouted, shielding her head with her forearms. She didn't even feel
the pain when talons cut the flesh of her hands. "…of heaven!"
The sky turned black. Summoned
by the spell, large pieces of rocks started to bombard the two Räelans,
practically massacring them. The one that had tried to kill Movitriss fell on
her chest. It weighted half a ton and the woman screamed; she could hear the
sound of at least two of her ribs being broken.
The spell stopped as abruptly
as it had started. Everything grew quiet all of a sudden. Movitriss freed one
of her hands and wiped the tears of out her eyes, smearing blood all over her
face. She clenched her teeth. Each breath she drew was a pure torture.
"Kyro?" she called
weakly. "Please, help me! I'm trapped here!" a few seconds passed and
nothing happened. "Kyro? Are you alright?" she tried once more, but
there was no answer.
Overcoming the pain, she
finally crawled from under the massive body. With her cheek pressed against the
snow, she lay still for a few minutes, breathing shallowly and trying to
concentrate. She knew she was badly hurt and that she shouldn't really move,
but she was also worried about Kyro, which gave her the strength necessary to
go on. "Esuna…" she whispered.
The spell eased the pain, but
it didn't heal the damage. However, Movitriss couldn't just cure herself,
because that wasn't how the magic of the Cetra worked. Every healing
spell was based on the caster's living force: yes, it helped the wounded
person, but it also weakened the healer at the same time, sometimes - though
very rarely - to the point of dying.
Trying not to injure herself
further, she sat up, looking around. The first thing she noticed was Kyro's
motionless form, laying a few meters away.
"Kyro!"
Movitriss half-stumbled,
haft-crawled to the man's side. The comet-like spell left him intact,
nevertheless, he looked horrible. She took the youth's head in her injured
hands, gasping at the sight. Kyro's face was covered with blood; his hair was
all messed up. His brown eyes were wide-open and completely lifeless. He was
not even breathing. Trying hard not cry, Movitriss touched his neck,
frantically searching for a pulse. There was none.
"No! Wake up!"
<This can't be
happening!>
"Revive!" she
cried out, transforming all of her energy into that single spell, even though
she knew it was useless. She prayed for a miracle, but Kyro's chest didn't
move. The young man was dead.
<oh no. not now>
The world became dark for a
few seconds, but she didn't collapse, perhaps due to her incredible
determination. Her mind was blank, lost in despair. Minutes passed and she
still sat next to Kyro's body, weeping herself out till there were no more
tears left. Then she got up to her feet, looking round wildly. Both chocobos
were long dead. The Räelans' corpses lay scattered across the snow. Their
blood, which was obviously much colder that human's, had nearly frozen by now.
She knew she was too exhausted
to drag Kyro back to the village; she even doubted she would be able to get
there herself. She couldn't bury him, either, for the snow was very hard and
she had nothing but a pair of bleeding hands to dig with. It meant she had to
leave her friend here. What about scavengers?, she wondered. (Are there
any on this desert? Kyro… It's so helpless…)
Unfortunately, she had no
choice. Looking round her shoulder every so often, she began the hardest
journey of her life.
* * *
She didn't remember much of
the things that happened later. With an inhuman effort she somehow made it back
to the village of Báchar. It was already past midnight when she finally crawled
to the nearest house, passing out in the doorway. Just in time, because she was
already purple with cold and the effects of esuna were starting to wear
off.
She woke up eleven hours
later. The first thing she noticed was a faded flower painted above her bed.
Then she saw Valagar's dark eyes. His face was calm, but she knew him well
enough to realize he had been frantic with worry. In a few sentences she told
him about everything.
"I see." the man spoke,
lowering his head in pain. "…So they cannot be trusted…"
Movitriss' head fell back
against the pillow. She didn't have the strength to stay awake much longer.
Have they killed Sephiroth as
well?, she thought just before passing out.
"Don't worry." Valagar
said, covering her pale hand with his bony one. "I will take care of
everything, I promise."
* * *
Ignoring the blizzard, Aeris
and Sephiroth stubbornly rode forward. All right, so maybe they didn't really ignore
it, because it was impossible. Covered in snow from head to foot,
Aeris sighed and bent lower. Her fingers were stiff with cold, so she tried
burying them in chocobo's feathers. The bird was wonderfully warm and also
visibly tired, but it kept struggling through the endless snowdrifts.
"Maybe we should turn
back!" the woman's words were drowned by the howling wind.
"No way! We are too close
to give up! The cave lies right ahead!" Sephiroth shouted back. As a
former soldier, he was used to such weather, but it didn't mean he liked it
very much. At least he knew what he was looking for, for he had seen the
hideout of the ship in the Räelan's mind.
"We won't find it in this
storm!" Aeris nearly scowled.
"We will!"
"But how!? Can you see
anything!?"
"No, I can't!" he
admitted. "But I'm not following my eyes! Don't worry, I can already sense
their presence! Besides, the blizzard won't last long, believe me! Just don't
give up now!"
"I won't." she
mumbled. "You know I won't."
* * *
Sephiroth had been right. The
violent storm ended about twenty minutes later. Drenched to the skin and
chilled to the marrow, the two riders crossed a frozen stream, entering a small
valley. Suddenly Sephiroth stopped. "There's an entrance." he
pointed at a small hole visible in the nearest slope.
Aeris sighed. "Are you
sure you know what you're doing?
The man jumped down from the
saddle. Patting the exhausted bird on the head, he looked up, meeting Aeris'
worried eyes. "Would you wait here for me?"
She shook her head. "No,
stupid. I'm going with you."
Resigned, he closed his eyes,
resting his forehead against the chocobo's soft neck. "Don't you
understand? It's too dangerous." he let go of the bridle. "You're a
Cetra. They may not tolerate you."
"So what?" she
replied. "They don't tolerate humans, either, and you're a human, after
all."
He frowned, raising his head.
"Not exactly. More importantly, that not what they think."
"I'm not leaving you
now." Aeris' eyes were equally hard.
Sephiroth was silent for a
long while. "Stay here." he finally told the bird and the large
animal warked in an answer. "See?" Sephiroth said with his usual,
ironical smile. "Even a chocobo is more obedient that you."
She grinned at him, jumping
down as well. "A chocobo cares about you less than I do." she
answered smoothly.
"Are you ready?" he
ignored the remark, since it made him feel a little awkward.
"Yeah." she
answered. "Let's go."
* * *
The entrance to the cave
seemed surprisingly small to Aeris. "How did they manage to put a starship
here?" she asked Sephiroth as they were both walking down the
narrow corridor.
"This is simply one of
the many holes leading underground." he explained. "They used another
tunnel, most probably."
Aeris nodded and started to
look round. Devoid of sunlight, the cavern would have been jet-black, if it
hadn't been for the strange, luminescent ferns, mosses and lichens that grew
inside. The plants radiated light, filling the tunnels with a gentle, eerie
glow.
"Strange…" Aeris
felt a shiver running down her spine. "I always thought that the sunlight
was necessary for all plants to live… even my flowers in Migdar needed some.
…But these things here are alive. How's that possible? There must be some kind
of energy coming from-"
"Wait." Sephiroth
suddenly stopped, grabbing Aeris hand. "I can hear footsteps behind
us." he frowned. "Human footsteps."
Aeris looked at him
questioningly. "But how?" she turned around, but much to her
irritation she couldn't hear or see anything.
"I don't know." he
took a few steps back, pulling Aeris as well. They both hid behind a large pile
of some loose rocks.
"Gods…" Aeris' voice
trembled.
"It's just one
person." Sephiroth said, lowering his voice. "Either very brave or
very stupid to come here. We'd better stay careful, though."
Aeris held her breath. She
could also hear the footsteps now. Sephiroth said that this person was a man
and she trusted him, but her vivid imagination still told her to expect a demon
of some sort. She suddenly noticed a dark shape in the distance; a shape that
was growing closer with every second.
"What!?" Aeris
whispered. "It's Valagar!"
The intruder stopped abruptly,
raising his staff. "Who is there!? Show yourself!" he demanded.
Sephiroth let go of Aeris'
hand and stepped into Valagar's field of vision. "What are you doing
here?" he asked calmly.
The Cetra's face remained
expressionless and it was impossible to tell whether the man was surprised or
not. "I came here to solve the problem once and for all."
Coming to a halt next to
Sephiroth, Aeris shook her head. "What do you mean?"
"The Räelans proved to be
unpredictable and extremely dangerous. They cannot live in peace with the
Cetra. Therefore, they have to be eliminated. It is the only possible option
and I will see to that."
Aeris was speechless.
Sephiroth stared at Valagar in fascination. "You want to kill them
all?"
"And you've come here
alone?" the woman added in shock.
Another imbecile, she angrily
thought. (Just like Sephiroth! Does he really think he can fight them alone!?)
"Why?" Sephiroth
asked, regaining his composure. "Why do you think there's no other way?
Why won't you let me talk to them instead?"
Valagar's face was still
blank, but the hint of pain in his dark eyes wasn't lost on Sephiroth.
"Yesterday they killed Kyro…"
"What!?" Aeris
exclaimed, grabbing Sephiroth's arm.
"…and Movitriss is barely
alive. Had I been with them, perhaps I would have been able to prevent this
tragedy from happening…" he trailed off.
Aeris was at a loss for words.
She frantically looked round, as if expecting the aliens to emerge from the
shadows any second now. Sephiroth said nothing.
"Why!?" Aeris got
her voice back.
"Movitriss does not
really know. The Räelans had attacked them first. She swears they had not done
anything to provoke them."
Sephiroth lowered his eyes.
"Is she all right?"
"She is. However, nobody
will be safe unless we take care of the Räelans." Valagar said. "That
is why I finally decided to act. Do not worry about me; I can handle them
myself. You do not have to come with me, though I would appreciate your help.
Follow me or step aside."
Sephiroth tensed. "You're
kidding."
"I know what you intended
to do, but it is over now. I make decisions here. If you are not going to help
me, step aside." Valagar repeated in a low, threatening voice.
"Don't you
understand?" Sephiroth wrung his hands in frustration. "You can't
just kill them! It's useless! You won't achieve anything but more
bloodshed! Seeking for revenge, they will send yet another starship…"
Aeris shook her head rapidly.
"Who gave you the right to start a war!?"
"I am the head of the
Cetra Council." the man said coldly. "Your superior."
"Not mine."
Sephiroth hissed. "I'm afraid I can't let you do something very foolish.
You'll have to kill me first."
"I am a patient man and I
can tolerate your anger." Valagar was serious. "But I cannot risk the
fate of the entire universe because of your obstinacy."
"I won't let you
pass."
"Then you are leaving me
no choice." Valagar's answer was cold. "Out of my way."
"No! Don't!" Aeris
shouted, but her voice was lost in the hiss of a fire spell.
Shielding her head with her
forearms, she instinctively fell to the ground, trying to crawl away from the
fight. At least she knew she wasn't Valagar's main target. She stopped when she
touched one of the mossy walls with her back. Frightened and completely
helpless, she observed the two men that were apparently trying to kill each
other.
No, she moaned in her
thoughts, they're making too much noise… (The Räelans will become alarmed
pretty soon! And then… will they attack us? Gods…) She paled. (No, please, not
now! Not when they're fighting…)
<and why the hell are they
fighting!?>
(Sephiroth…)
Unlike Aeris, Sephiroth didn't
feel afraid at all, actually, was sure he would win. Valagar annoyed him,
because he was a surprisingly tough opponent for his age, even though the magic
he used wasn't very dangerous. It's nothing I've never seen before, Sephiroth
thought, destroying several bolts of energy with a mere wave of his left hand.
He simply waited for the Cetra to become tired.
In fact, he had seriously underestimated
his opponent. And it was a very serious mistake, for Valagar was not going to
hold back any longer.
The old man didn't like being
disregarded and finally grew impatient with Sephiroth's nonchalance.
Wordlessly, he broke an unfinished spell and threw his staff to the ground.
Sephiroth snickered. (What,
giving up so easily?)
The Cetra's gray robe started
to move, as if pulled by some invisible wind.
(Ah. I'll take it as a 'no'.)
The ex-general frowned,
wondering if he should launch a direct attack now and end this travesty.
Shrugging, he decided to wait and defend himself when necessary. Unsure of what
to expect next, the man concentrated and started to draw a protective sign in
his mind.
Valagar's eyes snapped open.
From behind his back a
magnificent dragon erupted. Born of the holy light, the brilliant,
half-transparent beast had no real body, but it was still one of the most
dangerous creatures alive. It made an unearthly sound and rushed forward with a
lightning speed, nearly destroying the entire cavern in the process.
How bloody interesting,
Sephiroth thought, throwing the magical barrier in front of himself. Everything
turned much more difficult than he had expected and he knew he had to get ready
for some serious trouble. However, he definitely wasn't prepared for the thing
that happened next.
The white serpent crushed his
barrier with ease.
<WHAT!?>
Sephiroth's astonishment
wasn't long, though. The impact of the hit was so powerful that the man fell
backwards as if he were a mere doll. Upon hitting a stone wall, he instantly
fainted. His inert body sank to the ground.
"Sephiroth!!!" Aeris
broke into a run.
End of Chapter 12
* * *
Author's Notes: What's going
on!? Is everybody going to die!? Sephiroth & Aeris included…!? I don't like
cliché happy endings, so you may as well expect it… I love Sephy, but it
doesn't mean I can't kill him in my fic… Actually… *a very long pause* why
not…? Let's make everybody suffer. Movitriss will be the only one to survive! I
might be completely serious this time…
Still breathing after all
those shocking news? Please, review, or you'll never know the end of this
story! Do you have any suggestions concerning Sephiroth's fate?
Last thing: Movitriss' weapon
is… an axe!? Yeah, I know she's a delicate woman, but I decided to be slightly
original, even though I personally prefer swords (gunblades too, for that
matter!) to anything else.
Oh, and by the way: Yay, two
weeks ago I somehow made PlayStation games work on my PC! Yeeees! Now I can
play such titles as Grandia 2, Valkyrie Profile or Xenogears!
And, most importantly: Final Fantasy IX!!! I've already finished the
awesome Chrono Cross! Yeah! I'm so happy! ANIME RPGs FOREVER!!! No more
stupid things like Baldur's Gate or Might and Magic!
A voice from the audience: Who
cares!?
*a strange, frightening sound
can be heard in the distance…*