Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Bahamut & the Guardian Forces ❯ Ultima ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Final Fantasy and all related trademarks belong to Square Enix. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

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Ultima

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

The ancient corridor was dim and gloomy, lit by a row of flaming torches along its walls. Dust and spider webs stirred as a pair of talons clicked against the stony surface.

"Gee, really matching atmosphere." Glenn commented, glancing around. "How come these guys can never be in a brightly lit, sunny...OW!!"

Facing in the opposite direction from where they were walking, Glenn's dragon head had smacked into a low hanging part of the ceiling. Something Bahamut had avoided by lowering his head in time.

"Grrr...you're lucky I didn't feel too much of that. But better watch how you use that thing." Bahamut growled. "I may need your half of the body, but I can't be responsible for what happens to your head."

"Oh, thanks a lot." Glenn muttered sarcastically. "Hey, what's with this Ultima Weapon monster anyway?"

"It's another legend amongst many."

"That's it?!"

"I haven't read too much up on it myself, but if it helps me get out of this utterly humiliating condition, I'm taking any chances."

"I was thinking more of a battle strategy."

"Wow, you have more insight that I expected." Bahamut turned his head to face Glenn's.

"And you only noticed that now?" Glenn looked into his eyes.

"Humph. Well, like I was saying, the..."

Bahamut never got a chance to finish, for the next step they took was not onto solid ground, but instead into a small pit neither of them had noticed.

"RAGH!!"

The dragon plunged feet first into the hole. Being too cramped to use their wings, Bahamut quickly brought up another plan.

"Against the wall!" He ordered.

The two dug their sides of claws and talons into the walls, making long and noisy scrapes down the old stone walls. Fortunately, it managed to stop them inches above the bubbling lava at the bottom.

For a while, both held their positions there, panting.

"This is all your fault!" Bahamut blurted when he finally caught his breath. "You could've gotten us both charbroiled!!"

"Mine?!" Glenn protested. "You were the one distracting me!"

"Grrr...that's my line! You obviously don't know how painful a lava pit can be. Last time I fell into one, I was wrapped from head to tail in bandages for weeks! And that one was far milder than this!"

"Then I wish you'd stayed that way! At least bandages are a cure for your big mouth!"

"GGGRRRR..."

"GGGRRRR...!!"

The two were literally head to head when Glenn suddenly started sniffing.

"Hey, is something burning?" He asked.

"Hmm...seems like..." Bahamut agreed. "Are you controlling our tail?"

"Me? No, you're the one who wanted it...."

Both stared down to find the tail of their combined form dipping into the lava pit and subsequently catching fire.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The duo screamed, scrambling out of the pit like a rocket.

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"Ughh...."

Ashley felt the hot sand beneath her face, and a slight breeze blowing above.

"Kweh? Kweh! Kweh!"

"Ugh...ow!" Ashley felt something poking her left shoulder and rolled over.

A bird's head suddenly shot into her view.

"Huh?!" Ashley sprang up.

Standing before her was a large yellow bird. It excitedly jumped about, flapping its wings and making odd sounds.

"Whoa, what are you?" She muttered.

"Kweh!!" The bird leaned its head close to her, revealing a collar around its neck.

"Boko the Chocobo." Ashley read a tag hanging down from the collar. "So, you're a Chocobo, huh? My, aren't you cute?"

Boko seemed to enjoy Ashley scratching him beneath the chin. However, Ashley soon took note of her surroundings. It was definitely a desert, with nothing but sand in every direction and the blazing sun beating down from above.

"Well, I think I'm not in Kansas anymore." She sighed. "What happened? I remember the battle, the gateway, then that explosion and everything was so bright after that...."

"Kweh?" Boko wondered.

Ashley reached down and touched her pendant.

"Phoenix? You there? Answer me!"

Her partner didn't respond.

"Great." Ashley flopped down. "I'm in the middle of who-knows-where and completely lost, unless you could help me Boko."

"Kweh? Kweh! Kweh!" Boko nodded.

"Is that a yes? Is there any civilized area around? Or could you take me to where you live?"

"Kweh!" Boko spun round and lowered his body, inviting Ashley to climb on.

"Really? Thanks!" Ashley jumped onto the Chocobo's back. "WWWHHHOOAAA!!!"

Ashley was barely able to hold on as her new friend took off running. For an overgrown yellow chicken, he sure ran extremely fast.

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"Thank heavens it really is a town!" Aldrea gasped.

"Yeah, we were pretty lucky." Cecil nodded, keeping in step with the older girl.

"Cecil, after waking up in the middle of a desert, finding our partners not responding and having this strange guy unconscious near us, I'd hardly say we're lucky." Aldrea muttered, adjusting the stranger's arm.

"But we couldn't just leave him there."

"Yes, I know. Don't mind me, I'm just tired."

The young man they supported between them looked around Brad's age, 20 or so. Like herself, he seemed to be Asian, Aldrea guessed Japanese from the look of his shoulder length black hair and eyes.

He was dressed simply too, in a maroon-colored sleeveless shirt and brown long pants.

However, besides this unconscious fellow, there was no sign of Ashley, Brad, or any of the GFs that had been fighting, both with and against them.

The small town they'd arrived at seemed like what one would expect of a typical desert town in terms of the buildings. The girls brought their companion to the steps at the edge of town and laid him down.

"Can you wait here with him?" Aldrea asked. "I'm going to see if we can find someone to help us."

"Sure thing."

Aldrea broke into a jog and turned the corner....before she crashed into someone, her smaller mass causing her to fall back from the impact.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I...." Aldrea looked up. "Huh? You're a lizard?!"

While that would've been a fairly good description of the humanoid lizard in front of her, it certainly didn't please him.

"What did you jusst call me?" He growled.

"Huh? I....oh....erm...."

"You called me a lizzard didn't you? It takess a lot of nerve to call a Bangaa a lizzard!"

"I..."

"Hey, relax there!" A small white creature jumped between them. "She's not really from around here, so I don't think she's seen a Bangaa too often, kupo."

"Yes, and I'm very sorry I offended you." Aldrea bowed.

"Well, I guesss it'sss OK." The Bangaa shrugged.

"Now, with that settled, I guess we'll be going now." The white creature grabbed her hand and began to drag her away, lowering his voice as he did. "That was a close call there lady, but it turned out all right, kupo. So, what are you really doing here?"

"Hey, hold on there you!" The Bangaa suddenly cut in. "How about a duel?"

"A...duel...?" Aldrea gasped.

"Come on, don't tell me you're afraid?"

"No, it's not that...it's just...that...erm..."

"What?"

Oh crap, what am I supposed to say?! Aldrea thought desperately. What was that Unicorn told me she was before...?

"Because I'm a White Mage." Aldrea blurted.

Argh! Like he's gonna buy that...

"Huh? A White Mage?" Her opponent muttered.

<Urgh...Aldrea...what's going on?> Unicorn's voice sprang into her mind. <That blast hit us rather hard...>

"Well, since White Magess can't fight..."

<WHAT?! How dare you??!!!>

"Unicorn...whoa!!" Aldrea didn't have time to protest as Unicorn suddenly took control and shifted into her GF form.

"Look buddy!" Unicorn began.

"Hey, the name'sss Ssalamander..." The 'lizard-man' waved.

"Whoever. Now, nobody makes fun of my job class and gets away with it!"

"I wasss jusst ssaying that..."

"That White Mages can't fight, huh?" Unicorn snorted. "Well, I'll show you how hard we can kick your scaly ass!"

"I...I..."

"Bright light, shine down on bloody impurity..."

<Uh-oh!> Aldrea realized.

"Holy!"

"Huh? WWWAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Salamander screamed as a beam of white light hit him squarely in the chest.

BOOM!!!

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"Heat...damn...dry...."

<Leviathan, will you just let me walk?> Brad yelled. <The middle of the desert isn't a place for a water elemental like yourself.>

"It's...not yours...either..."

As hard as that sounded, it gave an accurate picture of how Leviathan, despite his wings, was dragging his serpent-like body across the sands.

"I can...go on..."

<Buddy, you're seeing double. Even from in here your vision is rather foggy.>

"Ugh...." Leviathan suddenly collapsed, hitting the ground with a loud thud, stirring up a cloud of sand.

However, out of the corner of his partner's half closed eye, Brad made out something. A figure, clad in a brown cloak with a hood to shield him from the sands.

Was it that samurai GF who had helped Phoenix earlier? No, Brad realized it was too short to be him.

Slowly, the cloaked man moved towards them and knelt down. As he did so, his hood was blown back by the winds, revealing the face of a bald old man with a long white beard and mustache.

"Erm...Ramuh...?" Leviathan whispered.

That was the last thing Brad saw, because Leviathan's eyes fell shut.

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"So, that friend of your can help him?" Unicorn asked, gesturing towards the closed door with her horn.

The group was now at a waiting room inside one of the buildings.

"Certainly, kupo!" The Moogle known as Mogri nodded, bouncing up and down on the sofa. "Scarlet is the best healer in this town."

"Yea, considering how long I've been out of practice too..."

<Don't blame yourself Unicorn.> Aldrea told her. <Especially knowing where you've been all this time.>

"Only thing is, what are we supposed to do now?" Cecil wondered. "We're in your world now, and the others probably are as well."

"This oasis town is far away from all the wars. It's safe enough here, kupo."

"Unfortunately, the war is not something we can avoid." Unicorn shook her head. "If anything, we've got to set out and find out what the heck is going on here. Hopefully, our new friend in there will be able to tell us something."

<Rragghh...>

"Hey, welcome back Valefor." Cecil grinned, hearing her partner's moaning in her head. "How are you?"

<Paah paddan.> (Been better.)

"At least you're all right." Cecil tapped a mug on the table beside her. "This stuff sure helped."

Mogri hopped over and sniffed the remains of the mug's contents.

"Ah, the old magic restoring remedy, kupo."

"Magic restoring remedy?"

"Yes, the one made up of ground centipede legs, dried cobra skin, spider web, raw fish skin and..."

"Erm...is there a bathroom here?" Cecil suddenly asked.

"Over there, kupo."

"Good!" Cecil bolted for the appropriate door, where the sounds of puking could be heard moments later.

<I don't think you should've told her that.> Aldrea sighed.

Just then, the 'doctor's' door opened, and out stepped the young man, accompanied by Scarlet, who was basically a female elf with white hair and wearing a red cloak.

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"Gargh...urghh...."

"Argh....whew...this is...all your fault Glenn...."

"Oh...shut up...."

After much scrambling and screaming, the two had finally managed to climb out of the pit and put out the small fire on the tip of their tail.

With nowhere else to go but forward, they'd continued along the pathway, evading more traps like swinging axes, collapsing floors and more pitfalls, until it opened up into a much large area.

It looked much like the remains of a castle or temple that they'd been traveling through, except that this was the lowest level.

"What is this?" Glenn wondered. "There's nothing here."

"No, look down there." Bahamut forced them to crouch down and pointed. "Do you see that altar right at the back?"

The hilt of a sword was visible, sticking out of the stone. Above that was a swirling purple vortex.

"I don't like the looks of this Bahamut."

"Neither do I, but we need that sword." Bahamut scowled. "We'll move down there, then you grab the sword and we'll get into position."

"But..."

"Just do it, OK?"

The clicking of their talons against the stony floor were the only sounds as the two-headed dragon approached their target. Taking a firm grip, Glenn yanked the sword out.

Despite its size, it felt surprisingly light, with a beautifully designed silver handle and an almost translucent blade.

Glenn didn't have much time to admire the weapon because Bahamut started running, and he was forced to keep in step. Behind them, the purple portal flashed and from it, emerged a much larger creature.

It had the bottom half, tail and head of a four legged creature like a puma with a humanoid upper body, bearing clawed hands and a pair of eagle wings.

The Ultima Weapon (Final Fantasy 8 style).

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"Your companion is up and running now." Scarlet winked.

"Yes, I have to thank all of you for your help." The young man nodded. "I've heard a lot about you, or rather my partner has, but I..."

<Erm...sorry to interrupt.> A telepathic voice rang out as his body glowed, changing into that of the feline GF Leviathan had seen chained up previously.

<Hey, Madeen, will you not do that next time?>

"Sorry, but this is important." Madeen said, spreading his red leathery wings. "Unicorn, I presume? It's an honor to finally meet you. Father often spoke of you and your group, what you did and how you've been missing for a long time. It's good that you've returned."

"Madeen?" Unicorn wondered. "Of course, you're General Maduin's son! You were still pretty young when we left, but I've heard about you nevertheless."

"Let's just say dad and I never had a good relationship." Madeen sighed. "But here's the thing, the forces of Darkness have grown much stronger. The two governmental fronts we once had are no more. Now, it's just a bunch of rebels against an Empire. And my father's been heading the resistance."

"I would say it's a familiar sounding story, just that it's no fairy tale now." Cecil spoke, leaning against the bathroom door. She'd apparently recovered in time to hear everything.

"But how did this Empire become so powerful?" Unicorn queried.

"Through Diablos apparently. He appears to be the head of things, but we still suspect there's someone behind him pulling the strings."

"Who?"

"If we knew that, do you think we'd be sitting here talking?" Madeen snapped. "Sorry, I'm just worked up."

"Hmm...a lot is starting to make sense now." Unicorn muttered. "But wait, we know a GF, Siren, obtained the Aeon's Soul and brought it back to this world."

"Yes, and they have been trying to revive the Legendary Beings." Madeen answered. "We'd all be dead now if it had worked."

"But it didn't?"

<Erm, how about explaining things for those of us who are a little lost?> Aldrea cut in.

"The 5 Legendary Beings were sealed within 5 temples scattered throughout our world. But in order to open each one, just the Aeon's Soul and the magic of this world was not enough. They needed a connection to the human's realm, bringing both a mixture of different magic and the power of two worlds."

"So, we have a temple in this world connect to a specific location in the human's world?" Unicorn asked.

"Indeed." Madeen nodded. "That's what Hades and his cronies were doing while you guys were messing around with them. I learnt about all this during my spy mission, when I went to the human world, partnered up and..."

<Which also didn't turn out very well.> Madeen's human partner interrupted.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me."

<You're welcome.>

"Grrr...nevermind. OK, see my father has most of the other details, but we suspect being able to travel easily in the human world will be a necessity in the times ahead. We're gathering what forces we have to meet up with dad. And we want, no...we need you to join us."

<Hey, can we trust him?> Aldrea sent a private message to Unicorn, Cecil and Valefor.

"Maduin was a great commander, he trained the four of us." Unicorn turned her head away and whispered. "He's trustworthy, I know it."

"I know you have doubts, but..."

"No, it's all right. We'll go with you." Unicorn gave a firm nod to Cecil and Valefor. "But we have to find Leviathan and Phoenix first."

"Yes, and we should also hurry." Madeen replied. "Wait...wasn't Bahamut with you too."

"Bahamut...he's...has been slain in battle." Unicorn hung her head.

"I...see. I'm sorry."

"However, with or without him, we will still move on."

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"Stop looking back and move it!" Bahamut ordered.

"No, get down!" Glenn stuck the leg he was in control of out, tripping up Bahamut's side.

Whilst both hit the ground hard, it also caused a Pillar of Light, fired off by their opponent, to fly over their heads, blasting their only escape route shut.

"Dammit!" Bahamut cursed, perfectly aware that Glenn had just saved both their lives.

However, the Weapon had enough time to run forward and was nearly on top of them.

"Swing us over!" Glenn ordered.

Bahamut complied, turning their body over onto their back. Glenn lashed out with the sword, only to have the monster snatch it with its upper arms. The 'puma' forelimbs then clawed at them swatting the two aside.

Both cried out as they were slammed roughly into a wall.

"Ow...we were supposed to attack it from above..." Bahamut growled.

"Here he comes again!" Glenn warned.

The Weapon charged and slammed its sword into the spot they'd been standing on, creating a shockwave that tossed them aside again. With frightening speed, their opponent followed up by with a fray of slashes.

Each one they weren't able to dodge left large, bleeding wounds across their body and arms.

Bahamut managed to fire his breath weapon, which Ultima deflected with his blade. It spun and swung its tail, knocking the two-headed dragon down.

Bahamut and Glenn managed to rolled away from a following sword slash and counter attacked with their breath weapons. The monster let out a hideous scream, but immediately turned and knocked them into yet another wall. Only this time, some large debris from the ceiling fell, crushing their tail beneath.

Both sides of the dragon howled as they desperately tried to free themselves, to no avail. The tail was stuck beneath tons of rock, and their foe was rapidly approaching.

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"Are you sure you want to go, kupo?" Mogri asked, having taken a seat in Scarlet's lap. "This oasis is safe enough..."

"No, I see they have made their decisions." Scarlet stood up. "We will help you make preparations for leaving on your journey. It's the least we can do."

"You've done a lot already, but we thank you once again." Madeen smiled.

"If we could get that sandcraft running, I think you guys would be able to travel much faster, kupo."

"Hmmm..."

"Yes, that's right!" Madeen snapped his fingers. "You're a mechanical expert."

"All right. I guess it's best that you get acquainted too." Madeen nodded, reverting to the form of his human partner.

Unicorn reverted too and the girls gathered round, introducing themselves.

"Chikamatsu Daisuke." Their new companion bowed. "Pleased to meet you."

"Rather hard to pronounce, no offense." Aldrea blushed.

"Many of my Western friends think so too. But they have a nickname for me, Cid. Please use it as you wish."

"Sure thing Cid, it's great to have you." Cecil continued.

"Well, let's get started on the sandcraft." Cid decided.

"I'll show you, it's this way, kupo." Mogri flew towards the door.

However, as the group left the building, Aldrea happened to glance across a junction and spotted a figure on top of a roof.

"Hey Unicorn, I think you should've gone easy on that Salamander guy." She commented. "Looks like he's still up there."

<I held back.> Unicorn huffed.

(Scene cuts to a shot of Salamander, lying on his back on a rooftop, with a blank look on his face, tongue hanging out and 'anime-style' swirly eyes.)

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"RRRAARRRGGGHHH!!!"

By some small miracle, Glenn and Bahamut managed to pull away from the near fatal sword strike. The price they paid for that was having a bloody stump left of their tail. Yet, they were barely given a chance to recover, having to dodge miniature meteors being summoned by the Ultima Weapon.

"Restore lost time in the spiral line...Quick!" Bahamut chanted hastily.

With the added boost of speed, they managed to get around the Weapon and leapt into the air, firing off both their breath weapons at its back.

The creature stumbled, but didn't seem badly affected.

"Go from below!" Glenn decided as their opponent slowly turned around.

"Got it!"

Folding their wings, they dropped out of the sky, hitting the ground and breaking into a sliding maneuver on their backs. The monster fired another Pillar of Light, which missed, but also helped to propel them forward with the shock of its impact.

"NOW!!" Bahamut ordered.

As they slid beneath the Weapon's underbelly, Glenn and Bahamut both fired and clawed at what should've been their opponent's weakest section. However, even when they emerged from the other side, the Ultima Weapon simply turned and swiped at them with its sword, taking off a large piece of their right wing.

Another claw attack from its lower half hurled the badly bruised warrior across the room.

"It's...barely even...dented..." Glenn gasped, struggling to get to his feet.

"Its back, its underbelly...I can't think of anything else." Bahamut stared, equally shocked.

"You think he's gonna kill us quickly or completely dismember us first?"

"Will you shut up? Think positively for a change!"

"Hey, that was positive. I could've said that he would also decorate that sword with our heads."

"Dammit will you...wait! The sword! That's it!" Bahamut snapped his fingers, wincing at the pain. "The sword, it's a tremendous source of magical energy!"

"You've got a hell of a crazy idea, right?" Glenn managed a slight smirk. "Well, crazy is my middle name."

"Follow my lead, cause here he comes!"