Bloodstone lay in front of the statue, wheezing heavily. Eventually the four people near him had all left, and he pulled himself up off the floor. It took a huge effort, and he almost fell over straight away again. Stabilising himself on his sword, he gulped in the crisp evening air and rearranged his cloak before limping away in the direction of Balamb Town. It was close enough for him to walk, there was a decent hotel there, and he knew a few of the locals. He would search for Zidane in the morning, once he had cleaned up his wounds.
In the morning, Zidane woke up to the sun’s rays illuminating the room. Blank had fallen asleep in a ball on the sofa. Looking over at Rikku, though, Zidane could tell she hadn’t been to sleep at all. He shook Blank awake quickly, eager to leave, and they packed up and checked out. In the courtyard outside, they bumped into a healthier looking Bloodstone. They saw him from behind, and so Zidane wanted to sneak away before he noticed them, eager to avoid any unnecessary confrontations at the moment, but Rikku had another idea.
Rikku sprinted over to Bloodstone, drawing her blades as she ran, and forced him against a wall, her daggers crossing over where they touched his throat. He was trembling and pale, but she barely even noticed through her anger. “I bet it was you, wasn’t it!?” she yelled. “I reckon you saw how weak and stuff he was, and you murdered him. You did, didn’t you?” She was crazy with rage. “Look, Rikku, it can’t have been him. He was really injured, and besides, we were with him until we left to come here.” Zidane tried to reason with her, but Rikku didn’t care. “Shut up! You don’t know anything! Don’t try and get involved; this is my fight!” she bellowed, readjusting her blades beneath her hands and steeling herself for her first kill.
Tiger Eye tried frantically to scrabble at the ice around him, but he couldn’t move any of his limbs. He couldn’t breathe…soon enough, he gave into the fact that he was going to die here…the last thing he saw was the smirking face of the Emperor…and then he was slipping away…fading…gone.
Moonstone could feel Zidane in his soul, he knew exactly where Zidane would be. He flew his dragon in the direction of Balamb, and began drumming his fingernails on the sides of his long boots. Funny. The Emperor had wanted an outfit like this, once. The dragon lowered itself, gliding swiftly through the clouds and soon Moonstone could see rooftops. Balamb was a small town indeed, but he could already hear the shouts that grabbed his attention. “Shut up! You don’t know anything! Don’t try…” Moonstone focused his attentions on preparation. Mental energy at peak levels. Dragon in top, stable condition. He was ready. The dragon dropped to the ground, landing with a loud crash as its feet hit the earth. Moonstone jumped to the floor, holding one hand in front of him. “KUJA!” Zidane cried, and ran at him, blades ready. Moonstone jumped to the side, and threw a blast of energy at the wall where Rikku and Bloodstone grappled. Perfect Hit. Rikku was thrown across the street by the blast. Bloodstone lay on the floor. Or rather, parts of Bloodstone lay on the floor.
Pearl turned the corner and saw two figures silhouetted by a Golden light. It was them “I only…exist… to kill!” She cried, and shot at the figures. One figure fell. Thump. She heard cries, but she couldn’t make out the words. It was a voice… male or female? She couldn’t tell, and didn’t care. She dragged herself along the wall, living only by her sheer force of will, she hadn’t eaten for months, hadn’t drank for years, and it was only by her immense sense of duty that she was still alive. The standing figure was dragging along the second. The second wasn’t moving. Bingo. The white mage was down. Garnet had fallen.
Demyx cried out. “Garnet! No!” she had a bleeding wound in her neck, and Demyx feared the worst. He didn’t want to go to the Golden Chamber, he knew what would await him, but he had no choice. Another shot rang out. He felt nothing. Pearl had once again aimed at Garnet, and her breathing had stopped. Demyx sobbed. He couldn’t save her. He had to go on alone. He began to walk once more, hoping, praying that Pearl wouldn’t shoot again. But she didn’t. All Demyx heard was the sound of a dead woman finally laying to rest, satisfied with her final kill, and collapsing to the floor as her body gave way. Pearl was dead. Demyx heard people talking, and continued down the passageway towards the light. He entered the chamber, dazzling gold blinding him momentarily, before he blinked a few times and realised who he was standing in front of. “Okay, you got me. I clearly have no way of beating all of you. So you win, yeah? I give up. Truly gutted…”
Rikku coughed, spitting up blood as she did so. It hurt so much…every part of her was crying out in pain…she just wanted to give up. But she couldn’t. She had to go on. She thought of Seifer, and ignored the way the pain was eating away at her as she rose. Blank was shouting; Zidane and Kuja were interlocked in battle. “Just hurry up and die, do us all a favour!” Zidane yelled. Kuja laughed irritatingly and shot out a fireball, knocking him to the floor. Rikku rushed forward as Kuja turned Zidane’s own dagger on him. She scooped her own blade off the floor and used it to deflect Kuja, forcing him to take a few steps back. “Stay away from him,” she growled menacingly. “Fight me.” She wanted to hurt something; anything to take her mind off Seifer.
Kuja laughed. “Very well, then. You’ll be a nice distraction before I kill Zidane.” Rikku smiled slightly. She was no distraction: she was always the main feature. She lunged forward, trying to catch Kuja off guard. Kuja put his arm up quickly to block her, and she sliced his forearm. He sneered, and brandished Zidane’s dagger at her. She slashed at him, over and over, until she was exhausted. Rikku was so fast, and Kuja couldn’t do anything but wait for the barrage of blows to end. Once she finally finished, he stood there, swaying slightly, exhausted. A smile was still affixed to his face, and he threw his arm out.
A thunderbolt flew down, crashing right onto Rikku. She flew backwards, crashing into the wall of a nearby building. Propped up by the bricks behind her, she grinned as she saw Zidane stand up. “Finish him off for me, will you?” she asked quietly. Blank rushed over to her and crouched down, feeling her pulse. He could tell her life force was ebbing away; she was simply giving up. He looked back at Zidane desperately, who nodded. Blank stayed with Rikku’s motionless body as Zidane fought Kuja, using Rikku’s sacrifice to keep going.
Zidane’s thoughts ran wild as he slashed at Kuja, or Moonstone as he was now titled. Rikku had always hated lightning, had Kuja known that? Or was it just some sick, ironic coincidence that he had finished her off with a Lightning attack? He slashed and sliced at the man who had killed his new friend, determined to get his revenge. All of a sudden he felt a scream, felt a sudden rush of darkness in his heart… He faltered, and Kuja forced him to the ground. Kuja glared into his eyes. “Foolish little Zidane. Never knowing his PLACE!” He punched him. Zidane spat out the blood as he tried to figure out the cause of his inner pain… and then he realised. Garnet. Something had happened to her. A scream? Was she okay? He had to find out. He raised his left arm slightly, as much as he could due to Kuja forcing it down. Grabbing a dagger (Dagger…) he sliced at Kuja, cutting a gash down his left cheek. Kuja screamed (Scream…) in pain, and clutched at his face. Zidane knew not to fall as his friends did, knew that to show mercy to Kuja was to throw oneself into the abyss. He sliced again, this time catching Kuja’s neck. Throwing Kuja’s now dead body off of himself, he ran over to Blank, who simply shook his head. Blank gasped. Pointed. Kuja was dead. But his dragon was not, and his dragon would serve him till it died. The Silver Dragon roared.
Zidane coughed slightly, and more of his blood splattered onto the floor. He was in no condition to take on the mighty beast, and so Blank stood up. He pulled his own sword off his back, steeling himself, and charged forward until he stood before the great creature. It growled slightly, and the ground beneath Blank trembled. Blank thought fast. Rikku and the others may be dead, but he and Zidane still had a duty to protect the Golden Chamber, and it seemed someone didn’t like that. So having this Silver Dragon on their side could be a huge asset. Blank felt a stinging in his ribs, and was thrown back. The dragon, tired of waiting, had clawed him.
Blank pushed himself up quickly, and launched himself at the dragon. Running around to its back, he grabbed the tail and started to shimmy up it like a rope. He was about halfway up the tail before the Silver Dragon reacted, thrashing its tail wildly. Blank clung on, still climbing upwards, terrified of the pain that would flare up if he was thrown off. Eventually he was on the dragon’s back, and sprinted up to its great head, stumbling slightly ever so often. He skidded to a stop on the dragons head, and pulled a blue bottle out of his back pocket.
Zidane was watching the battle from the ground, next to Rikku. He almost laughed when Blank produced the bottle; he had a potion for every occasion. Meanwhile, Blank used his teeth to tear the cork out of the bottles neck. Now for the tricky part. Breathing steadily, he jumped, grabbing the dragon’s large ear, and swung down, grabbing onto its nostrils as he threw the contents of the bottle into the dragon’s mouth. The Silver Dragon roared softly, and folded forwards. Waiting for the right time, Blank let go of the dragon’s nose, and landed in front of Zidane, who finally laughed at the sight of the gooey snot covering Blank’s right arm. Blank retched, but turned to face the dragon nonetheless.
“Take us to the leader,” he commanded.
