Spurious Serpent, Chapter 7

[sinnatious]

 Title: Spurious Serpent

Summary: Sequel to Fallacious Deity. With both Chaos and Cosmos dead, the surviving warriors try to find a way home.

Author's Note: Final chapter! It's all a bit abrupt and unpolished but hey, it's an ending which I didn't initially think this fic would ever get. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

 

 

Cid let out the moogle equivalent of a squawk. “Kill ShinRyuu? You can’t! Do you have any idea what sort of power- even Chaos did not compare! He’s a god!"

Cloud stared up at the dull grey clouds swirling in the sky. "Chaos and Cosmos were considered gods, too."

"But they received so much of their powers from the pact with ShinRyuu!"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't believe it.  I've fought too many psychos claiming to be God."

Cid wrung his tiny paws in despair.

Tidus was the first to break the following silence, with a breathless laugh. “I kind of get it now, why you were the first one to take on Chaos.” He slammed his fist into his palm. “So we’re doing this right? Who’s up for some dragon hunting?”

Terra clasped her hands to her chest. “We have to at least try, right? Or nothing will change.”

Onion Knight gave them a shaky smile. “If we truly want to end this, I can’t think of any other way,” he admitted.

Squall looked down at Cecil. “You still want to fight us?”

Slowly, the dark knight shook his head. “I’m… sorry.” He sighed, releasing his dark armour and switching back to his paladin form. “I thought following through would have been what Golbez wanted – what he would have done. But I never wanted him to do that, and yet I very nearly repeated his mistake.”

Satisfied, Squall stepped back, and offered a hand to pull the paladin to his feet.

“If it’s any consolation,” Cid offered, “It wasn’t all you. It’s how ShinRyuu keeps the conflict going. He only needs a thread, a doubt. Something to magnify and influence until you’re not thinking straight, not quite yourself.”

“He has the power to seal memories, after all,” Onion Knight mused. Then, anxiously, “Can he do that whenever he wants? How are we supposed to fight him if he just takes our memories away any time we get close? How can we know that we haven’t already-”

“In all the cycles that have passed, I’ve never seen it,” Cid interrupted. “On a conscious mind, he only has influence.”

“So don’t get knocked unconscious,” Squall said. “Got it.”

“How do we find him, though?” Tidus asked. “Where does he go during the cycles?”

A beam of light pierced the heavens. Purple lightning lashed the clouds, and the wind rose, a tornado rising to meet the parting grey. A flash of light, of fire, the rumble of thunder and the beat of wings, and slowly, the whirling form of an enormous, distantly familiar dragon began to take shape.

“Are you kidding me? That’s all we have to do? Ask where he is?” Tidus shouted against the roaring wind.

“Focus!” Squall snapped, grabbing the blitzballer and pulling him behind the hasty magic shield Terra and Onion Knight were weaving. Cid grasped at Terra’s cape, bat wings fluttering furiously against the raging winds.

The dragon descended, coiling lazily in the sky before them. Then with laborious, painfully slow intent, ShinRyuu turned its head upon them.

As suddenly as it spawned, the wind died to nothing, as though time had stopped on a pindrop. Cid let out a squeaky gasp. And across the distance, Cloud’s gaze met ShinRyuu’s glowing stare.

He found his body frozen, held stiff by the gravity of the dragon’s mere attention. Golden eyes piercing into the back of his skull as though he was locked into glaring at the sun. Weight. Judgement.

Strong.

It wasn’t a voice, not really. It was a presence, meaning without clear words, ideas, pressure and understanding forced into a shape his mind could barely grasp.

It shifted, somehow. Flashbacks, glimpses of memory. Countless warriors fallen beneath his Buster Sword. Cycles and cycles and cycles where he had not returned to the dragon’s embrace. Chaos’s pained, astonished laughter. Cosmos, felled.

A pact, ShinRyuu offered.

“No,” Cloud gasped, and it felt like speaking the words into a vacuum, as though the mere act of talking sucked the sound away as quickly as his breath. Dimly, he was aware of the others shouting, their words whisked away into formless whispers by the weight of ShinRyuu’s regard.  “I don’t want-”

An exchange, he insisted. An image, then, a ghostly spectre in his mind’s eye. Tifa.

His breath caught.

“For what-?” he croaked, the response nothing more than a reflex, a struck knee kicking out in response to pain.

ShinRyuu didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Vaguely, in the corner of his eyes, he could see Cecil, shaking his head weakly. Terra, hands over her eyes, glowing with the promise of transformation. Onion Knight, desperately tugging at her cape, mouthing words that didn’t reach his ears. Cid, cowering in the dirt at their feet.

At his side, Tidus, teeth clenched and hands formed into shaking fists. Squall glaring defiantly at the dragon.

The memory of Cecil, who had drawn his sword on him mere moments before. Gods reborn without their memories.

Factions. Conflict. Pacts.

Leader, ShinRyuu breathed into his thoughts. Power.

He wanted a replacement. He wanted a replacement for Chaos and Cosmos.

For a heartbeat, for an eternity, he wanted to say yes. It would be easy to say yes. ShinRyuu had found that longing, fed it until the pressure nearly made his head burst. It had been so long, so many cycles before she’d suddenly appeared before him, one of Cosmos’s, and then just as swiftly snatched away.

Snatched away by this dragon, who now dared to offer her back.

“I would never,” he hissed from the effort of replying, “drag Tifa back into this hell. The only thing I want is for us to be able to go home.”

And like shattered glass, the spell was broken.

“There’s no gods here,” he ground out, lifting his Buster Sword from his shoulder and holding it before him. "Our strength is not yours to take."

ShinRyuu roared.  It was an explosion of thunder in their ears, an earthquake that shook their bones. Unnatural.

The following burst of magic turned the sky white. Cloud hit the ground, ears ringing, some last desperate instinct shielding himself with the Buster Sword. The maelstrom of power burned on and on, scorching and freezing and electrifying in equal measure, pressure that crushed the air in his chest, and just when he started to think he could endure no more did it finally abate.

The shattered fragments of Terra and Onion Knight’s magic shields hung in the air, fading shards of glass. Cecil’s dark armour was cracked and smoking – the paladin shed it a moment later, gasping for breath. Tidus and Squall were flat on the ground, covered in spent gunpowder – Squall’s own form of improvised shield.

They’d barely had a chance to catch a breath when ShinRyuu’s maw stretched wide, and a glow grew bright in his gullet.

The blast of light and fire that followed sent them scattering, fanning out and away as the scorching heat licked at their heels and singed the edges of their clothes. “Don’t get knocked unconscious!” Onion Knight shouted in warning.

“Easier said than done squirt!” Tidus yelled back, dashing in, water sword bared, but forced to dance back as ShinRyuu spat an orb of fire at him.  “He’s huge! How are we supposed to fight him when we can’t even get close?”

ShinRyuu was in the sky, casting magic and breathing fire that rent the heavens, while they scrambled on the ground like ants.  If they could at least get even his tail on the ground-

Cloud sprinted, barely keeping ahead of the crackling fireballs ShinRyuu spat at him, each one as wide as he was tall, each hit exploding into a smoking crater at his heels. “The wings! Don’t hold back!” He shouted to Terra.

In response, her form shifted – white and lavender fur sprouting in a ripple of light across her body, hair falling loose and sweeping back like behemoth’s mane. She glowed with power, rising in the air, gathering energy.

“She needs cover!” Onion Knight called, pulling out a staff of his own and throwing a hail of magic towards ShinRyuu. If they couldn’t get close, they were stuck to ranged attacks.

Cloud planted his feet, spun his sword, and called upon the strongest magic he could. Comet.

It wouldn’t do any real damage, not against a monster that size. But, just like Cosmos, it wasn’t something ShinRyuu could simply ignore, either. The dragon twisted midair, to avoid the worst of the hail of fire and earth, turning back, opening his maw, gathering power.

“No you don’t!” Tidus crowed, slamming a blitzball so hard it caught fire mid-air. It rocketed into ShinRyuu’s jaw like a bullet – a pockmark of damage, but enough to snap his jaw shut in reflex, to buy those extra few seconds for Terra to act.

The whine of magic died, and for half a breath, there was silence. Then- “We want to go home!” Terra cried, and the esper let loose a blast of white-hot energy that sent shockwaves knocking the rest of them to the ground.

ShinRyuu screamed.

The light faded, and the ground shuddered as the dragon crashed to earth. His wings torn and smoking, and for the first time the fire and light had faded, leaving behind only burnished blue and purple scales.

Squall coughed amid the rising dust, clambering back to his feet. “Like this, you’re not so impressive. Nothing but an oversized dragon.” He armed his gunblade, and took off running for the fallen dragon. ShinRyuu hissed, enormous claws swiping at the swordsman, but his size worked against him now. ShinRyuu was slow.

Cecil and Cloud exchanged a glance, and a nod, following in Squall’s wake.  Terra and Onion Knight covered their approach with a hail of fireballs – Cloud swerved at the last second to avoid one of Terra’s, heels smarting from the heat. A wild swipe of ShinRyuu’s claws sent Cecil tumbling head over heels, but the paladin took only a breath to right himself before he was scrambling up the dragon’s leg, sword shining with light as he plunged it into a gap between the scales.

The dragon roared, and writhed, and Cloud stared at the enormous tail sweeping towards him, tearing up earth as ShinRyuu thrashed. It slammed into him like a tidal wave – Cloud grit his teeth and latched on with his free hand, even as the earth fell away beneath his feet.  Distantly, to his right, the snap of gunshots cracked the air. Squall.

Ignoring the ache in his ribs, he pulled himself up, dragging himself along the dragon’s tail to his back. ShinRyuu snarled, opening his mouth, beams of magic spilling from it like homing missiles. His crawl had to abruptly turn to a run, as he leapt and rolled to avoid the piercing streaks of light. One caught the edge of his legs, and it sliced and burned all at once. He stumbled, but then Squall was there, dragging him out of the way of the next as they ran across the iridescent scales of ShinRyuu’s body.

They needed to get to the head.

He caught Onion Knight’s eye down on the ground, pointed to himself and Squall, and then the back of ShinRyuu’s neck. The small knight’s eyes widened, but he nodded swiftly, saying something to Terra before dashing in towards the dragon.

Bait and cover. Distraction. ShinRyuu might have an apparently inexhaustible well of power, but even he could only split his attention so many ways at once.

Terra sent a barrage of icy spears towards the dragon’s eyes – ShinRyuu spat a ball of fire towards her in response. Cloud and Squall scrambled along the dragon’s back while he stayed distracted.

Onion Knight dashed underneath, following Terra’s attack with a burst of lightning at ShinRyuu’s neck. As soon as the dragon’s head swung down to combat that new threat, Terra unleashed another hailstorm of ice. Two elements, two directions, staggered attacks. No way for ShinRyuu to counter both, much less worry about what the rest of his opponents were doing.

Until ShinRyuu raised a foot, glowing with power, and smashed it into the ground.

The earth shuddered and split, blasting waves of dirt into the air from the force. Onion Knight, caught in the blast, went tumbling to the ground. He laid still for several breathless seconds. Cloud froze.

With a groan, the small knight sat up. Dazed and bleary, but still awake. But slow, too slow-

“Squirt!” Tidus put on a burst of speed worthy of a SOLDIER, snatching up the small knight and pulling him clear moments before ShinRyuu’s jaws could snap shut over them.

They’d reached the neck, where a trail of fur broke the pattern of scales. Squall darted forward, a step ahead of Cloud, racing for the head while their distraction still held. He raised his gunblade, preparing to the plunge it in the back of the dragon’s skull.

Then their time had run out, and their diversion had failed. In one violent jerk, ShinRyuu tossed his head.  At the last second Cloud grabbed the mane of fur sprouting along the dragon’s neck, holding on for dear life as ShinRyuu roared and twisted angrily.

Squall, though, was sent flying. Through the air, in front of the dragon’s eyes. In front of his jaws.

“Squall!” Onion Knight shouted.

The gunblader twisted mid-air – a spread of gunpowder, the click of a trigger – and an explosion bursting in ShinRyuu’s eyes.

The blast threw him back, even as ShinRyuu screeched in agony, blinded. He hit the ground hard, body tumbling, and went still.

Cloud waited.

He didn’t move.

Unconscious.

There was no more time. Cecil was thrown clear. Onion Knight and Tidus too far away. Squall down, ominous motes of light already beginning to drift around him. Terra exhausted, spent from matching the dragon’s inexhaustible magic.

Only one chance.

He moved on pure instinct. Buster Sword raised, pouring all of his energy into it, breaking all of his limits, until the edge of the blade shimmered pure white.

“We’re done with your war,” he said, and slammed the blade into the dragon’s head.

It was an old technique, the blade beam. One he’d spent ten cycles mastering.

It cleaved ShinRyuu in two.

The dragon fell as though in slow motion. Silent, enormous, and strangely weightless.  The body seeming to dissolve beneath Cloud’s feet, parting like a cloud of light.

He leapt clear, and landed hard, sword at the ready even as his arms trembled with fatigue. He’d put everything into that attack. If this wasn’t-

But ShinRyuu collapsed to the ground, body glowing. Dissipating.

Dead.

“You did it,” Cid said, fluttering over to them – the quiet awe in the scientist’s voice nearly masked by his moogle squeak. “You actually did it. I don’t believe it.”

Cloud dragged in a painful breath, blearily checking the others. Terra, back to human form, exhausted but unharmed. Onion Knight wearily accepting an elixir from Cecil. Squall, blinking awake, using his gunblade to frantically lever himself back to his feet before realising the battle was over. Tidus flat on his back, chest heaving as he caught his breath.

Burnt and bruised and bleeding and aching with weariness from pushing beyond their every limit – but they were alive. And free.

“Wasn’t even… that bad… really,” Tidus panted.

“There was six of us fighting together this time,” Onion Knight reminded him. “He never had a chance!”

“Easy… to say now…. Squirt… but more than once… I was sure we would be toast.”

For several long minutes, none of them did anything more than stare at where ShinRyuu’s enormous body had fallen, leaving no remains beyond some lingering motes of light and its impression in the ground.  Just breathing. Being alive.

A cool, gentle breeze rolled across the plain.

“What now?” Cecil eventually asked.  “Chaos, and Cosmos?”

They looked to Cid. The scientist seemed to shake himself. “Without ShinRyuu’s power they’ll stay sealed for some time, and even if they still want to fight when they eventually break out… they won’t be able to bring anyone else into it.”

“Is it okay, though?” Terra asked softly. “To just leave them imprisoned like that?”

Squall scowled. “They didn’t have to accept the pact with ShinRyuu. They can take responsibility for the consequences.”

It was clear by their faces that the others agreed, but equally clear none of them felt particularly good about it.

“It may seem harsh to you,” Cid offered, not unkindly. “But truthfully, it might be the most peace and freedom they’ve ever had. No one influencing them, or using them. They can finally just… be. Without being tools for those who fancy themselves a higher power. Myself included.”

Cloud stared out over the ruined battlefield. Smoke drifted from dying fires to join the endlessly grey clouds above. This world was empty but... in light of their origins, maybe it really was what Chaos and Cosmos needed. An empty world, to make theirs.

Cloud didn’t intend to stick around to see it.

“We’ve done enough,” he said, hefting Buster Sword onto his shoulder. “…Let’s go home.”