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I touched the sphere hesitantly, and as I did she opened her eyes. The hateful look in them was what surprised me first, and I stepped back as a huge tremor went though the entire building. I was nearly knocked off the pier, even though I kept my footing.
Her eyes were a pale blue, and she reached her hand, palm open. She was looking above me, at the top of the spherical room and quickly closed her fist. As she did, a huge division of the ceiling in front of the door exploded and the chunks of stone poured down. I tumbled away from a huge rock falling down in front of the exit, and managed to get away with only a few cuts from flying stones.
I got the feeling she was just showing off her power then, because if she really viewed me as a threat she’d already of done something to finish me off. She proceeded to destroy the rest of the ceiling over the spherical room, even though most of it fell down into the abyss. One large rock fell on beside the one in front of the door and a large crack appeared in the pier. I looked down and watched the stone disappear from view, even though I never heard it hit bottom.
The veins that lead up to her bubble were pulsing harder than ever, pumping power into the sphere. She looked to be gaining more strength by the second, reflected by the continuously strengthening power of the quakes. She pointed at my heart, and I moved just in time so her ‘attack’ only skimmed my shoulder. I wasn’t fully surprised, but it was unnerving how much it felt like a bullet wound. The only difference was that it burned with more heat upon impact that bullets did.
Avoiding her follow-up attacks was easier said than done because I was on a small pier that was cracking more by the moment. The crack that was between by feet finally reached the far end of the pier and it broke in two. The right half fell away and the boulders fell with it. The remaining half was hardly ten inches wide.
I decided on a whim to charge forward, the Soulslayer outstretched. At first, by the way the side of the bubble collapsed in I thought it had pieced, but it instantly threw me backwards. I hit the wall with a thud, the air knocked out of my lungs. I expected to hit the floor, even though in a split second I realized there was no floor below me.
I grabbed to the side on the pier, dangling over a dark abyss. The glow of the veins didn’t glow enough to reveal any walls, either. I was hardly handing on, and the difficulty I was having catching my breath only increased as another earthquake started. When I heard the metallic sound of a sword sliding, my eyes widened as I saw the Soulslayer’s hilt leaning off the pier six feet away from me, hardly a foot away from Ariest’s bubble.
I was still trying to pull myself up on the shaking pier as I watched the sword fall downward into the abyss. I just hung there a moment, completely cold inside. I looked up, and grabbed a jut of uneven stone from this side of the pier. I grabbed on, but the stone fell away in my hand. I dangled there for another moment before I grabbed another uneven stone and managed to pull myself up, and scrambling back onto the pier. As I did, I saw one of the two pistols in my holsters fall out and disappear into the abyss.
When she saw I was still alive, the quakes strengthened. I got to my feet slowly, but didn’t advance. She pointed at my heart, and moved her hand sideways in a slashing motion. I held up my right arm for protection, and the thin but deep wound went all the way up to my shoulder. I pulled out the small four-shot pistol I had hidden in my boot and fired one shot at the bubble. It made a hole, and even went though Ariest’s arm but healed instantly. She wasn’t even fazed.
What in hell do I do? Without the Soulslayer, I’m as good as weaponless! There’s nothing a normal katana is going to do for me now!
“Believe in yourself.” I heard Skyevi’s voice echo around the room. “I warned you this time would come, you possess the power, Akhy. You always have. Your power draws from Armayon, too. Ariest has her own power. Drawn on that Akhy, and you cannot lose.”
“Skyevi…” I muttered.
She’s right. I can’t die like this, I won’t go down without a fight! Skyevi, Akiko, and everybody…they’ve sacrificed too much for me to let them down now.
I took aim left-handed and fired one shot at one of the three veins leading up to her bubble. I used the other two shots to hit the same vein. This, effected her. She went rigid, her left arm exploding with a flash of light. Although the crimson blood pouring from her shoulder wasn’t pleasant, I continued and pulled out my other pistol. This one was a twenty-shot, and I proceeded to fire at the other two veins.
The earthquakes has subsided a little in her time of weakness, making it easier to aim and hit the veins, not the bottom of her bubble. The first vein poured red blood, the second blue, and the third purple. Ariest’s right arm that had been disintegrated was regenerating as her left exploded.
She’s regenerating…there’s still a flow of blood. Right now is my best chance, I can’t completely destroy those veins with no more ammo.
I drew my conventional katana, and gained enough balance to charge forward. I didn’t try simply piercing the bubble this time, I lunged forward, colliding with the bubble and slicing it open. The expression on her face was sheer horror as I ran her through, tumbling toward into the abyss with her.
I felt the explosion, I felt my body being torn apart, but just ‘feeling’ something afterward was what surprised me. I couldn’t open my eyes, and I felt myself falling, but it wasn’t like I was plummeting downward, for it felt more like I was floating on water.
“Thank you.” I heard a voice, Akiko’s, echo. “It’s your turn, Akhy. It’s your turn to live the life you want to.”
Is that possible? I though, having no control of my body.
“Yes. This is goodbye, I’m afraid. Thank you for everything, little sister.”
When I opened my eyes, things were blurry for a moment before I was able to focus. The first thing I saw, although it wasn’t surprising, was Cloud kneeling down beside me.
“You’re alright…” He said shakily, embracing me.
“What…happened?” I muttered, looking around the destruction. The dust had hardly cleared.
“The entire Twi-LIGHT building exploded. But you’re…alive. What happened?”
“I’ve got no screwing idea.” I replied, peacefully nodding off.
I didn’t remember much of being driven off in an ambulance, but I did remember seeing Maaya openly crying, Rikku looking teary, and Rei being the only one who didn’t get completely emotional when they saw I was alive. Niketa and Nea shared similar looks, even though Niketa was surprised at first but smiling. I remember my eyes meeting Nea’s, and her nodding approvingly as if she’d known all along I’d survive.
The third time I woke up I was in a hospital room. I guessed it was fairly early in the morning because sun was pouring in through the window.
“Be quiet, let her rest.” I heard Cloud say irritably.
“She’s been asleep for days.” Kairi complained. “She should be awake by now. Besides, I was only bringing flowers.”
“She does have a good intention, though.” I heard Rikku add, a little quieter than Kairi but not much.
“Both of you act like immature kindergarteners.” Cloud sighed, sounding exasperated. I smiled getting the feeling the argument had been going on a while.
“I’m already awake.” I said opening my eyes. There was a night stand beside the bed, and I saw a vase of multicolored lilies.
“I told you so!” Kairi said, smiling brightly. She noticed me glancing over at the flowers, and added, “I figured you’d like the colorful ones better than the white ones. White ones were mommy’s favorite, but white is a sad and bleak color. The rainbow’s better.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement.
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