:O How can this be true! Two chapter sevens!? *looks*
...
By Laanx! You\'re right! Thanks, I had absolutely no idea. I\'ll fix the numbers right away. I think it must have happened due to my habit of copypasting the chapter seperations when I start a new one in my notepad file. Sometimes I forget to knock the number up.
Well then, I give you, chapter THIRTEEN.
(For anyone who\'s played FF9 before, the second section can be thought of as one of those \'Active Time Events\', funny little things happening in other places while the story goes on somewhere else.
)
Chapter 13.\"Ah, there you are, my little demon,\" came the man\'s smug voice. His dark red robes were different from the rest of the cultists; the edges were lined with a golden hem, and a belt of sapphire gems sewn on a thin strip of leathery material hung around his waist, loosely tied at the front. Like all of the Strangers, his hood was up, his face hidden in shadow, but his eyes shone a deep blue so bright that they could be seen in the darkest of rooms.
Moogie watched him approaching for as long as she could, untill the cage had climbed too high up for her to see. Her nerves were again on edge. She wondered whether he had come to order her execution, or whether he suspected Camazotz was aiding her to forfill the prophecy. Camazotz stood calmly by the lever below as the cultist stopped infront of him.
\"Heh heh, teasing the prisoner are we? Good, good. It is all the more sweeter to see them suffer a little beforehand. You have proved quite versatile in your uses, Camazotz,\" the man praised, his voice sounding old, but steady and unwavering. He held his hands behind his back as he talked. \"We are making preparations for her sacrificed. The Black God will be pleased to have her soul at last.\"
Camazotz remained silent as the man stepped forward, showing him the palm of his hand. The Xacha saw a Glyph resting there, pulsing with its own dark aura.
\"Take it,\" the Stranger commanded. Camazotz picked the object out of his hand and pocketed it. \"You will use it tonight to drag the soul from her feeble body. Once they are seperated you need no longer hold it; her circle will do the rest.\" His hand returned behind his back.
\"And then?\" Camazotz pressed.
The cultist chuckled. \"All in good time, Callicantzaros.\" He turned to walk away.
\"Strethos, our deal was-\"
He stopped and turned to face the Xacha. \"Watch yourself, Camazotz. You are in no position to be making demands,\" he chided firmly. \"Your new purpose has already been set to the circle that binds you. You will do this regardless of your loyalties.\" He glanced up at the suspended cage suggestively before turning to leave again.
Camazotz silently watched him as he left the bridge and exited through the archway. The man told the truth; the Xacha could already feel the shift in his mind. His logic faught to disapprove of what he had to do, but somehow it was the only thing that made sense. He took a deep breath and decided to lower Moogie again.
The chains clattered, and the cage thudded once again on the bridge. Moogie swung the door open, cautiously peering at both ends of the bridge before she stepped out.
\"Great to know I\'m going to die tonight,\" she mumbled. \"It\'d be nice if I knew what time it is. How do these people keep track down here?\" She dusted herself off from the dirt in the cage.
\"I have to kill you...\" Camazotz uttered.
Moogie turned to him. His eyes told her he was trying desperately to disagree, but she knew he couldn\'t.
\"Do you know where your circle is?\" she asked.
\"Yes,\" he replied, matter-of-factly. \"The circle I took you to. That is mine.\"
Moogie looked suprised. \"Yours?\" she repeated, gasping. \"So you mean if I had succeeded...\"
\"I know,\" he interrupted apologetically. \"But I\'ve not come this close to freedom in a long time. To see you so close to it, all I could think about was...\"
\"Was leaving me here in the middle of nowhere after I unknowingly killed you?\" Moogie finished his sentence vexedly. He sighed, crossing his arms. She sighed aswell, turning away from him. \"You really don\'t care, do you...\" she whispered.
Camazotz observed her. \"I\'m trying to,\" he said quietly. \"What do you expect from a tortured spirit trapped in a dead body? I think I\'ve done pretty good, if you ask me.\"
\"It\'s not good enough...\" Moogie sighed.
\"Maybe you don\'t realise how much I\'ve had to fight myself to keep control.\" he argued back. \"I\'m not perfect. There are some things that can\'t be helped. Things that don\'t matter to me, like the people in the Gondola, or Leilani\'s brother.\"
Moogie turned to him, her expression brimming with anger.
\"Perhaps you would expect a normal living thing to feel... compassion for those people. Moogie, I am nothing more than a demon. I promised the girl I would save her brother so that she would follow us. Did you actually believe I wanted to help him?\" he snorted contemptuously. \"I don\'t have time for such pointless diversions. Asking it of me is too much. Even in life I doubt I would have cared. The dead have more use to me than the living anyway.\"
The feline could stand no more. Her hand came around and slapped him hard across the face, knocking off his slouch hat. Her claws drew four thin strips of dark blood from his cheek. Her seething eyes were drained of anger as she watched his demeanor darken; perhaps it wasn\'t the best of ideas. She backed away, anticipating a retaliation.
A growl from behind took her by suprise. She dropped to the floor just as the other Callicantzaros dived for her, colliding instead with Camazotz, who had spotted it moments ago. Moogie realised his reaction had been stirred by the creature, and she retreated from them as they exploded into a fight of claws and teeth.
This isn\'t good, she thought as she watched them. The gargoyle threw itself at him again, its claws ripping through his coat as he defended. He grabbed it\'s foot and powerfully swung it over the edge of the bridge. It\'s wings burst into action immediately, saving it from the endless drop below.
Moogie could only look on as the winged demon dived at the Xacha, throwing him through the stone railings as it slammed into him. Camazotz reached up and grabbed the demon\'s leg splitseconds before he fell, but their combined weight was too much for the Callicantzaros\' wings, which fluttered desperately as they plummeted together into the abyss.
\"NO!!\" Moogie shrieked, running to the side of the bridge. She could do nothing as she watched them, still clawing at eachother, as they disappeared into the darkness. Their growls faded quickly from her ears, and soon, there was nothing but the creaking of chains and the sound of a distant breeze echoing in the hollow void.
Her heart sank. \"Camazotz...\"
She waited for what seemed like forever, but they didn\'t return. Not even the winged demon alone, having shaken off its enemy. Nothing.
Eventually she decided she had to leave. She had to get out of this place. But she had no idea where she was or how big the Strangers\' underground lair could be. She glanced from one end of the bridge to the other, wondering which way to take, but then suddenly she spotted Camazotz\' dejected hat still sitting on the bridge. Her eyes saddened as she approached and picked it up. She prayed that he had somehow survived, though she couldn\'t see how it would be possible.
Moogie had to think logically. Whichever way the Stranger left was probably deeper into the cave, so she took a deep breath and began trotting nervously towards the opposite exit. As she reached the archway, she glanced down at the hat again. With a despondant smile, she placed it over her head, before disappearing through the exit.
***********
Leilani lay on her stomach behind some large rocks near the cave. She crunched another hole through the stalk of a flower with her fingernail, and then picked another from the patch of colour infront of her, stringing the new flower\'s stalk through the seperation. The chain of tiny flowers was already four foot long. An empty, forlorn patch of grass watched her sadly from nearby. It\'s colour all but picked clean by her ineffable boredom.
She sighed.
I\'m soooooo bored...The girl rolled onto her back, watching the flowers bunch together on her chest as she lowered the long string down onto it. She gazed at the sky for a while, yawning sleepily.
Booooooooored...Her eyes began to close. She hadn\'t realised how tired she was. She wondered how long Moogie would be and what they were doing in there; she hadn\'t heard anything but the howling of the wind from the cave entrance, and it was way too dark and scary to go inside.
She felt something tickle her leg. \"Silly bugs,\" she mumbled, blindly brushing it away with a hand.
\"Oof!\" came a little squeak. Leilani paused.
Oof? She sat up slightly and looked around. Seeing nothing, she decided she was more tired than she first thought, and rested her head back on the grass.
The daylight was starting to wane and dark clouds gathered overhead. The girl drifted peacefully in and out of sleep.
\"Food?\" cheeped a distant voice.
\"Mmh?\" Leilani half-mumbled.
\"Food?\" it repeated in its tiny, high-pitched tone.
The girl frowned, becoming slightly annoyed. \"There\'s... no food... here...\" came her groggy, sleeping response.
Something clambered onto her stomach, rousing her from her sleep. Lifting her head up, she spotted a tiny white ball of fur, with two tails and beady little eyes looking up hopefully at her. She squealed, jumping to her feet and fleeing towards the cave in hysterics, ignoring another little \"Oof!\" as it plopped onto the grass and was buried in a snow of soft white and yellow flowers.
