7a - Reversal of Fortune

[ForeverZeroUltima]

Some time had passed. Lynx kept close behind Bax, looking each every way to make sure there was nothing following them...and to keep an eye out for any other black spells. He was still pondering over what had happened; how Silek had managed to switch the effects of the white spells. He was rather positive that none of the black spells had been switched, since the black compass did what it was supposed to.

"Let me ask you something, Bax," he suddenly spoke. "? You yourself said that you would consider me as an ally, but not a friend. And yet you decide to accompany someone such as I on a possible suicide mission. Why?"

Bax turned his head over his shoulder and peered at Lynx for a moment.

"All I said was that I did not expect you to consider me an ally and a friend. Perhaps it is just our previous run-ins, but I thought you did not particularly care for me. Forgive me if I did not correctly interpret your ways." Bax turned back around, stopped for a moment when he felt a shift in the wind, and then continued in a new direction. "But I agreed to follow you because...to tell you the truth, Lynx, even I am not sure why I made this decision. You are unlike most of the other beings of this planet. I feel as though perhaps you will teach me something. There is a great deal I do not know about you and this world." Bax paused for a moment, though he continued walking.

"Besides, I do not abandon my allies. Nor my friends."

Lynx crossed his arms as he continued to follow Bax. "You interpreted my ways correctly," he muttered. He still felt a void in himself, the part of him that refused to let him form any connection with other beings. Teach him something? That depends on whether or not the alien could understand the process that will enable him to learn from Lynx.

Lynx's eyes narrowed as he spotted something on the ground only a few meters away. He tried to push Bax out of the way, but the object rose into the air and revealed itself: a black monster figurine.

Lynx quickly drew his scythe from behind his back. "Prepare yourself!" he shouted to Bax as the object flashed.

A rather large creature formed where the object had been. Its head was like a lion, but from the neck below was a giant turtle's body. Its tail thrashed about behind it like a whip. Three limbs protruded from each side, each paw grasping at the ground beneath it. Lynx recognized it; he had seen it in the Index of Monsters back at the Midgar library. This was a tarasque!

Lynx lept to the side, muttering, "Let's go, Imbrium!" He brought his weapon in front of him, placing both hands on either side, and a brief flare of dark energy emitted from him like an aura. "Bax! You know what to do!"

At the same time, Lynx was thinking to himself. He knew that he still had six spells left, one of which could unsummon the beast. But which one? He had invoked the compass spell, but it instead gave him intelligence. Therefore he would be defenseless against the ignorance spell later on. He couldn't risk using another wrong spell now.

Bax nodded as he drew his swords. They glowed orange and red and were encircled with flames within moments. "Aye. Let's do this." Bax began charging at the beast with his swords ready to move.

Lynx charged from the other side, aiming the blade of his scythe close to the ground. The tarasque noticed him first and lashed out with a forepaw. Lynx side-jumped and re-oriented himself, aiming at the part of the arm closest to the shell. However, the great beast threw its head sideways, bashing into him. Lynx felt the wind knocked out of him as he went spiraling yards away.

Bax leapt up into the air and shouted to Lynx, "We'll take this thing down the old fashioned way. The spells will not likely be able to help right now."

Bax wrenched the swords upward and then screamed as he unleashed two large flaming arcs in a downward stroke. The flames slammed into the creature and Bax continued to sail over it, landing on the other side. He turned around to see what damage he had done.

Lynx groaned and got up just in time to see Bax unleash his attack. He began to believe that this tarasque had massive attacking strength, as well as a very formidable defense from its shell. Without even watching the attack conclude, he had already gotten back up and sprinted forth again, yelling at Bax. "Physical attacks are not going to help!"

The flames exploded and washed over the creature's shell, but did not seem to make it do anything but hesitate a little bit. Bax nodded--he figured as much.

"I get that. So on to strategy."

Lynx pressed the third and fifth finger of his offhand against his scythe, and drew them away quickly. A black arc of energy trailed after his fingers as he spun around in place, sending the blade of energy straight at the tarasque. At the same time, the blade on the scythe glowed black. Without hesitation he spun around again, sending another, bigger, arc of energy at the beast.

The first arc was slightly off-centered, so it splashed harmlessly against the creature's shell. The second strike was more accurate and slammed into the beast's neck. The tarasque reared back and howled furiously, bent on revenge. It quickly changed course and headed straight at Lynx.

Bax ran alongside the creature for a moment before it changed direction and started going towards Lynx. At that point he leapt onto the creature's back to avoid being trampled and knelt down, crouching down low to steady himself. It seemed as though Lynx had pissed the creature off royally. Well then it was time to move in further.

Bax sheathed one of his blades and stood up carefully, still staying low for balance. He was ready to swing down and go for an opening in the shell when he heard something go whizzing through the air. Bax whirled around and saw the creature's tail careening towards him. Bax brought up his sword to block the attack and was quickly knocked off the shell, whipped far to the side.

He hit the desert sand and bounced up and down in it for a moment as he tried to regain his bearings. Did the thing have eyes in the back of its head or something? It shouldn't have been able to feel Bax on its shell..at least he didn't think it should have...

Bax realized that the creature was charging at Lynx and stopped his pondering, racing once again towards the beast. He lifted the sword and aimed in the path of the beast, hoping at least to slow it down. "Draca!" he screamed, unleashing a fireball.

Lynx, meanwhile, was blocking blows from the tarasque with his scythe. The momentum was more than enough to knock his safeguard away, but he managed to keep it intact by shifting his own center of mass back a bit.

Lynx felt the heat coming, and realized that Bax had unleashed a pyro attack. He quickly took one step forth, and leaped backwards. Once he landed, he leaped into the sky and sent another wave of dark energy, hoping that the double-attack would score at least once.

Lynx watched the explosion of energies colliding, and wondered if it did any actual damage. Before he knew it, a gigantic paw reached out and knocked him back to the ground. He yelled out in great pain, and blood began to spurt out of his mouth. That was odd; blood? Him?

He angrily got up and reached into his bag. He had advised against himself from using his spells, but right now he felt there was no alternative. He grabbed a random spell, and, coincidentally, produced the white monster. He knew that it wouldn't be the unsummoning spell, but right now, ANYTHING would help!

"Bax!" he shouted. "I'm going to try something! Stay back!" He brought the spell out before him.

"Lynx, no!" Bax shouted as he saw what was going on from a distance.

Lynx cried out, "I invoke this spell!" There was a bright flash, and then...

Lynx fell to the ground, unconscious.

[Shadow Phoenix]

Bax wasn’t far away when Lynx fell unconscious, and neither was the tarasque. Bax reached Lynx first, speeding towards him as fast as his legs could carry him, and scooped him up in his left arm. He turned to see the tarasque raise a mighty paw, and his eyes suddenly flashed white.
“No,” he said simply, raising his sword with his right hand and barely bracing himself. The tarasque struck down at Bax and Bax met the blow, barely flinching. His feet dug down into the sand an inch or two and the area around rose up in a dust cloud as Bax fended off this creature. Bax’s hair flickered and his eyes flashed again.
“You won’t touch him.”
The tarasque raised its paw again to strike and the ground beneath Bax’s feet began to swirl about, sand mixed with sparks. Bax turned and waited for the tarasque to attack.

Just a moment ago, Bax had been panicking, worried for his friend’s well-being. And now a calm was washing over him and he was able to stand in the face of this colossal enemy without flinching, without worrying for his own safety. What was this?

You are changing…

The hammer fell, the paw swung down to crush Bax. Bax’s sword erupted in white flames, he whipped his right shoulder back and thrust the blade through the thing’s paw, tearing a gash in it as the paw settled inches away from the rest of his body. The thing howled in pain and Bax calmly murmured…

“Get away.”

Bax extended his left hand, palm-open, towards the ground beneath the tarasque, and the air superheated and drastically compressed and expanded as chemical reactions in the air charged the atmosphere with energy and blew the tarasque away. It flipped onto its back and quickly scrambled to get back onto its feet as it howled in pain.

Bax dashed a few hundred feet away and laid Lynx down. He smacked his friend’s face a few times to try and bring him back to consciousness. He cursed and then felt for a pulse—he couldn’t find it. Maybe it was just too weak. Or difficult to feel through the fur. Bax wouldn’t assume the worst—he refused to. None of Lynx’s spells were meant to kill him. But Bax couldn’t figure out which one had been activated.

“Will you be safe here?” Bax asked the unconscious feline. Bax closed his eyes, nodded to himself, and drew both of his swords, turning around to view the tarasque. It was back on its feet, but it seemed to be nursing its wound. It was angry. And soon it would be looking for revenge.

Bax crouched down and took off towards the tarasque, his swords trailing behind him and leaving a trail of flames that continued to grow larger. If it was up to Bax, this would be over quickly. Then he would take care of Lynx.

The tarasque took a step and faltered a little bit on its injured paw, but then began charging for Bax, too, however hindered it might have been. The sand behind them both whipped up high as they neared each other. Bax began zig zagging a little, kicking up even more sand, and then he brought his swords before him in an X. He was a star shooting across the desert sands, white hot and tracing a furrowed trench towards the approaching enemy. And he was ready to strike.

Bax ducked down to dodge the tarasque’s mauling head and his left sword went dragging through the upper part of the beast’s forward leg—the one that was already injured. Bax swung up without tearing all the way through the beast’s leg, and then slammed the right blade into the opening in the shell where the tarasque’s leg was protruding from. The trail of flames that had been arching behind Bax suddenly solidified and began whipping around behind Bax. By now it was at least 100 yards long, an extension of Bax’s aura and those of his blades. And he was about to send it all rushing into the tarasque’s shell.

“Be gone, beast.”

The tarasque howled…

[Shadow Phoenix]

“Hey, Lynx, look at the clouds. They look like cats, eh?”
The unconscious feline cupped in Bax’s arms bobbed his head up and down as Bax trotted along.
“Yes, I thought so, too.”
Bax smiled to himself. How long had Lynx been out now? Since the tarasque went up in flames, which…

Bax looked up at the sun and noticed how far it had come since its high sky position when they ran into the tarasque.

It had been about three hours.

“You going to wake up any time soon?”
Lynx’s head bobbed back and forth as if to say no. Bax wrinkled his nose.
“I didn’t think so.”

The sun was hot. There was no way around that. Not that Bax had any problem with that. Auralis was covered mostly with deserts and it was a great deal hotter there than it was here. In fact, Bax felt relatively cool here. But Bax worried a little bit about Lynx. He was completely covered with fur and it was probably easy for him to overheat—at least Bax surmised so. For all he knew, Lynx could keep cool just fine and Bax had no reason to worry. But he worried anyway.

“Well hopefully we’ll come in contact with the next object soon. And maybe you’ll wake up.”

Bax looked up into the sky.

“And maybe I’ll find some way to get off this rock one of these days.”

Bax sighed. Sometimes he just wanted to forget about this planet and everything he had learned here and get home. It would be so much easier than seeing it through—but he had a duty to his people. And the more he became embroiled with the people of this planet, the more he owed them. However much he wanted to leave, he couldn’t…

Another step and Bax found his footing less than favorable. He tripped and stumbled for a moment as he slid into a steep dip in the sand. Bax jutted his right foot out a little bit and skidded along the sand, regaining his balance after a moment. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked up out of the dip.

“Not too steep…I can probably jump out.”

Bax spread his feet apart and took a running start, vaulting himself out of the little pit and back onto the sand…

“Hold it right there!”

[Shadow Phoenix]

Bax landed on his feet and looked straight ahead to find himself confronted by an armed group of drifters. And he suddenly felt as though a number of target-lasers were being pointed at various lethal points on his person. Bax held his breath and quickly scanned the group.

For drifters, they weren’t poorly dressed. Most of them had some sort of light armor along with their protection from the sun, which looked relatively clean and altogether well-kept. They had boots made for the desert, and though they were caked with sand, their quality was undeniable. And then there were the weapons they were carrying—every single gun pointed at Bax was pretty high-end, practically a military issue.

And they all had very green eyes.

Who were these people?

Bax fumbled for his words. How was he to confront these people? He didn’t want to hurt them, and it was doubtful that he could run away. So what could he say?

“Uh…I come in peace.”

Bax smiled sheepishly as he clutched Lynx a little bit tighter to his chest. The drifters didn’t flinch. One, a striking redheaded woman, shifted her stance a little without moving her aim from between Bax’s eyes.
“Let me guess. ‘Take me to your leader.’ Sure.”
Bax cocked his head to the side. “Huh?”

The woman sighed. “Whatever. What do you have on you, drifter?”
Bax was a little surprised. She was calling him a drifter? Then what did that make her and the rest of her little army? Were they trying to rob him?
“Lynx and I are on a journey, so I don’t have much money.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “I don’t care about the money, dumbass. Who are you working with? We don’t like threats around here and you’ve come a little too far into our territory.”
Bax was confused. “I’m not working with anyone but Lynx—“
“And who he is working with?”
“Lynx? He’s very independent.”
“So why are you tagging along with him?”
“He…asked me to.”
That was true…but it didn’t sound very good, did it?

A sandy-haired man stepped forward and addressed the redhead, “Claire, we need to end this now. He’s not with any of the other drifters. The longer we stay out here, the more likely the town will be attacked.”
“And how do you know that, Adam?”
“You wanna pat him down? Make sure he’s got no radio or anything? No bombs, no tattoos or something else? Fine, but my gut tells me we need to get out of here.”

Wait—did that Adam say town? Not camp? Not base? What circumstances were these that these…not drifters…were so different? Bax stepped forward to gain their attention and speak with them.

“I—“

“You stay there!” Claire shouted as the sand in front of Bax leapt up in a quick hail of gunfire.
A few months ago, Bax would have just sat tight and waited for things to play themselves out.
“Listen, Claire, none of us obviously have the time for this, so—“
“No, you listen! You have stumbled in the wrong direction in this desert and become a liability for us. Sorry, but I’m going to make a judgment call and say that your problems are going to second to ours. Screw you.”
“Claire, stop acting like a bitch,” Adam said.
Claire gave a steely gaze to Adam and Adam responded with rolled eyes as he turned away.
“Rohit, Jackson,” Adam called out, “check him out. Then we’re rolling out back to the town. We’ve wasted enough time here.”
Claire huffed. “And if he checks out, he’s coming with us.”

Claire walked up to Adam and stared up at him (not too far, she wasn’t much shorter than he was), and they started bickering off to the side. “Who do you think you are, huh? Undermining me like that?”
“I’m not undermining you, Claire. Just because you used to be above me in Zion, old rank means nothing out here. We’re equal.”
“This isn’t about rank, you jackass. I spotted him first.”
“You’re going to get petty now?”
“It was my situation!”
“And you weren’t handling it well!’
“That’s it! You’re sleeping on the couch tonight!”
Adam coughed in surprise. “What?”
Claire turned back around and went towards Bax.
“Hey, that is not fair, Claire!” Adam said, trailing after her.
The rest of the group snickered, joking amongst themselves.

Rohit or Jackson…one of them…addressed Claire as she came up. “They both check out. Nothing to affiliate them with any of the drifter gangs and nothing that would really pose a threat to us.”
The other one spoke up next. “But I’m getting strange readings from this bag.”
Bax looked and saw that the man had gotten the bag holding all of Lynx’s spells somehow. He froze. “You do not want to trifle with the objects in that bag. Please believe me.”
Claire eyed Bax with another steely glare. Her green eyes were piercing and a little unnerving. Where had Bax seen eyes like them before?
“Apprehend the bag. And the fiery-headed one’s swords.”
Bax shook his head and gave Claire a careful look. “I warn you. If something happens, I will not be responsible.”
“Is that supposed to be a threat, alien freak drifter?”
All of a sudden, Bax seethed. “Don’t you dare call me that. Pyrmand agla…”
Bax took a step towards Claire and she leveled her gun between his eyes again. “I’ll call you whatever I want. You are as of now our prisoner.”

Rohit and Jackson took the swords from Bax’s back along with Lynx’s bag of spells. Bax was tempted to fight back, but…he didn’t want to endanger Lynx. And moreover, he was extremely curious about these people. There didn’t seem to be any better way to find some answers other than submitting for now.
“Sorry, Lynx,” Bax whispered. “We’ll have to put the quest on hold for a little bit.”

“All right,” Bax acquiesced. “I’ll go along with you. But I pray you—do not harm Lynx or try to use the objects we have brought with us. And call me by my name: Bax.”
Claire came up to Bax and looked up (quite a distance—Bax towered over the girl).
“All right…Bax. We’re not barbarians. Just careful. We’ll take care of you. But you won’t be able to leave. We can’t take that chance.”
“Thank you.”

[Shadow Phoenix]

The group of ten not-really-drifters plus their two new captives set off across the desert. They seemed to be nearing a low mountainous range. Bax turned to Adam, who was walking to his right. He felt more comfortable talking to him than Claire—Claire just rubbed him the wrong way.
“Adam—who are you all? If you’re not drifters out here in the Desert of the Dead, then what other explanation is there?”
Adam walked straight ahead without looking at Bax for a few moments. Bax almost wondered if he had heard him, and he opened his mouth to ask again.
“We’re drifters in a sense. Partially self-exiled and partially outcast by society. Most of us are from Zion, but we have a few people from Midgar as well. But now all of us are from Nibelheim.”
“Nibelheim?”
“That is what the town was called. We were wandering away from Zion when some drifters on bikes started chasing after us trying to pick us all off. We searched for a safe haven and happened upon this place with a sign in front that said ‘Nibelheim.’ The buildings were a little run down, granted, and a few had been gutted by fire, but overall the whole town was in good condition. We stayed there for the night, and were awakened by the sounds of bikes revving through the town. We got up and searched for anything to defend ourselves, as we had left almost all of our possessions behind in Zion. We found these weapons—just lying in these crates. It seemed like there was an endless supply of ammunition and…we fought the bikers off. Since then we’ve just tried to live in peace out here. But every now and then, some drifters try to invade us and take what we have. All we want is peace, though—away from the evils of Zion and Midgar. But it is difficult to escape from such evils anywhere on this world.”

Bax listened attentively. Nibelheim must have truly been something amazing—but how significant could a town be out here in the middle of the desert with a few exiled peoples? There might be, what, a few hundred at the most?

The group was rounding a bend through the craggy rocks of the little mountains.
“About how big is Nibelheim, Adam?”
Adam smiled. “Take a look for yourself.”
The group came into a clearing and Bax looked on and saw a bustling town nestled in the comfort of a valley. Not a rundown little camp with gutted buildings and a foreboding atmosphere stinging of death. Not a harsh wasteland of people just scraping to get by. This was a town in every sense of the word. Bax saw the streets busy as people walked about in what was definitely a decently-sized market. There were homes filling a full residential district, and businesses open. There was even a factory closer to the mountains, a little away from the town, but there nonetheless. There must have been thousands of people here, in a completely self-sufficient community. Men, women, and children, dressed comfortably and milling about minding their own business.

How could Zion and Midgar have not noticed this place before?

“By the Ancients…”

“Welcome to Nibelheim, Bax,” Claire said, turning back to him with a smile. “Not so bad, right? It’s no Zion or Midgar, and we like it that way.”
Bax shook his head in disbelief. “This is amazing.”

Then something else caught Bax’s eye. Far, far away from the rest of the town, but still nestled in the valley, was a very large cylindrical object with a cone at the top and tails at the bottom, surrounded by a cage. If Bax didn’t know any better—it was a rocket!

Could this be…could this be Bax’s way off the Earth and a way to finally get to Auralis?

Adam put his hand on Bax’s shoulder, “You noticed the rocket, eh? We’re pretty sure it’s pre-war. Not sure how it didn’t explode during some of the campaigns out here, but its still intact. We’re just not sure how to launch it. We’ve pretty much left it alone since we got here—don’t want to accidentally set off an explosion or anything. There is set to be a vote at the end of the week as to whether or not we should go inside again. The issue was quiet for years, but some of the younger upstarts have been pressing it lately. They’re not thinking of the potential consequences. But then again—it would be nice to have the chance to be able to use the rocket.”

“Yes…yes it would,” Bax admitted.

One of the other women in the group stepped out in front. “Well come on. Let’s go home. I need to wash up—it’s been a long day.”
“Go ahead, Dina. All of you—you’re dismissed.”

[Shadow Phoenix]

Everyone slowly broke up and descended into the valley. After a few moments, only Adam and Claire remained.
“Come on, Claire. These two can stay in the guest room.”
Bax had been so preoccupied that he didn’t even realize that his weapons were gone with the rest of the group. He was going to bring it up, but figured he would just ask about it later. It was getting late and starting to get dark. He decided to just go with Adam and Claire for now.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for any trouble I’ve caused.”
“No,” Claire said. “Nibelheim is fine for now—no drifters or anything. We just need you to stay here.”

Claire had softened a little bit. She was still harsh in her manner, but she wasn’t treating Bax like a prisoner anymore. At least not right now. Perhaps Adam had managed to talk her down. Either way…

Bax followed the two down the face of the mountain into the valley, then through the streets of Nibelheim and into their house. Their house was modest, but roomy and comfortable. It was a home. And it probably had the best conditions Bax had stayed in since coming to Earth.

Adam led Bax up the stairs and helped him put Lynx on a bed.
“You want me to bring in a doctor to check on him?”
Bax wondered if that was a good idea. “I think he will be all right. If anything changes, I might take you up on that offer, though.”
“All right. I’ll have Claire whip you up something to drink, though.”
“Great…thank you.”
“Not a problem,” Adam said with a wink.

Adam started to leave and Bax called back for him.
“Adam—is it necessary for us to remain here?”
Adam came back into the doorway, lightly silhouetted. “Yes, Bax, it is. You’re the first visitors we’ve had in about three years. We need to keep careful. I know it seems awfully calm and peaceful here, but that’s mostly because we keep a low profile and constantly keep the drifters out of our territory. We don’t have much here, but we have more than they do.”
Bax sat on the bed. That didn’t quite answer his question.
“I know, Bax. It sounds like we’re greedy. But if they just came and asked us for provisions, we would gladly give them. But they resort to violence, and that—is unacceptable. So we need to be safe right now—and you and your friend are still liabilities. I’m sure you’ll be able to get back to what you were doing in a few days…or weeks. If you want to leave, that is.”

Weeks?! No, that was just not possible. Days, maybe, but Bax was hoping to…oh no, that would not work.

Adam noticed Bax fretting.
“Don’t worry, Bax. I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner, but please just understand where we’re coming from. Most of us are ex-military and we don’t trust people very easily after…well, perhaps I’ll get to explaining some things later. For now—lie down and rest. You look tired.”

Bax shook his head, “I’m fine. But thank you.”

Adam smiled and disappeared from view again. Within a few moments, Bax heard water boiling downstairs.

“Well, this is quite a mess I got us in, Lynx. I’m sorry. My curiosity got the better of me.”
Bax thought of a funny saying he had heard someone mutter sometimes. Curiosity killed the cat. He laughed nervously.
“At least you’re not dead. Yeah…”
Bax sat there in awkward silence. “By the Ancients, I hope you wake up soon, Lynx. I like these people, but…I’m afraid of what I got us into.”

After a few minutes, Bax heard a whistle of steam. Light steps on the stairs heralded the arrival of Claire, now dressed much more comfortably. She was…quite beautiful. She carried the tea in and set it on a nightstand by Bax’s bed.
“Thank you, Claire,” Bax said quietly. “I appreciate this. I know you don’t trust me yet, but—“
“It’s fine. It’s the least I can do. I don’t trust easily, but I can still make tea.”
Claire laughed a little, the smile on her face easing Bax’s nerves.
“Claire, can I ask—why did you all leave?”

Claire huffed and froze for a moment. She turned and walked towards the door. She stood in the doorway and sighed.
“Why did we leave? Why are we outcast?”
Claire hit the door frame hard with her hand. “We’re failed experiments. And Zion and the Senator didn’t appreciate our complaining. So they made life very difficult for us. And we left. Everything. Our families, our homes, our lives. But it was better than being under the thumb of corruption.”
Claire turned her face to Bax and Bax swore he saw a tear in her eye. If it was there, though, it was gone the next moment as she raised her hand to her face and shook her head.
“Adam and I were in the same platoon, and I was his ranking officer. Our entire platoon was selected for the experiment. Half of them died—the other half left along with everyone else who was in the experiment and a large group of people who were disgruntled with the way Zion was treating its citizens. My dad wasn't happy about it from the beginning, and he tried to get them to stop the experiments, but they kicked him out of the city. I haven't seen him or my sister for years. I hear that he tried to get back at Zion for what they had done, but I don't know how. I tried to convince my sister to come with us, but she barely knew what was going on. I hope she finally left. I’ve been looking in the Desert of the Dead for a long time, whenever I go out on patrol. But I haven’t found Liz…”

Liz…was that…the girl who Zack knew? No, it couldn’t be…

“And Adam left his fiancée. She was working on the technological-magic merging team in Zion, and Adam found out where her loyalties laid when he confronted her about the experiments and told her of his plan to leave. She said that her work was too important and that mistakes just happened sometimes. She admitted to having worked on that very project and that she knew the risks that Adam was taking on by undergoing the procedure. She grew calloused to him practically overnight. Don’t mention her to him…he’s still bitter about that bitch.”

“What was her name?” Bax asked.
Claire looked back at him, obviously uncertain why he would want to know. “Eve.”
A chill went through Bax’s bones. “Did she have…purple hair and eyes?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
Bax looked down at the floor. “I believe I have met her.”
“Really? Small world. Enjoy the tea.”

With that, Claire was gone.

Who…were these people?

[ForeverZeroUltima]

“Lynx…can you hear me?”

“Yes…yes, I do.”

“Lynx, let me warn you. What will come to pass shortly will test everything you have lived for. Everything you suffered for. And ultimately, everything you will die for.”

“I resent that third one.”

“Why?”

“Because I am already dead.”


A brief flash erupted in his eyes. For a moment he thought it was a flashback of when he had invoked the spell, but what he saw was different. He saw a gigantic vortex sucking in four people he did not recognize, but he could have sworn that one of them looked strikingly similar to Mavra, the hot-headed woman he had met before.

He turned around and saw the younger of the two women who had appeared at the oddest of times to advise him. Her fair brown hair wavered forward, possibly because of the vortex’s pull. She held in her hands a sword, an elongated blade with a shining edge that looked like it could slice the vortex itself in half. And her wings. Her wings were somewhat stretched out, flapping in a desperate struggle against the pull of the vortex.

“Hey! I know you! What is going on?” Lynx called out. The woman made no indication that she heard him. She shouted out something very inaudible, possibly calling out the names of the four now-fallen comrades. Lynx noticed a white six-point hexagon forming on her forehead as she turned to speak with someone else.

Lynx stepped around her to see who she was talking to. He recognized the person, who had a black six-point hexagon on his forehead, as well as a familiar weapon and style of clothing, and the way he struggled against the wind.

It was himself, Lynx.


“Oh?” The voice sounded both surprised and unbelieving. “How would you know that?”

“I don’t know it. But I can feel it. There is a deep void within me, and nothing can fill it. I…cannot possibly be alive.”

“Lynx, whether or not you are alive does not change the fact that you have not fulfilled your mission. You must…find them.”

“Find who?”

No answer.

“Who am I supposed to find?”

“You will know in time, Lynx…alive or not, you will know.”


Lynx let out a suppressed moan and his arm twitched slightly as he lay on the bed. He let a small kick against the mattress, but other than that, he made no indication of when – or if he even will – wake up.

[Shadow Phoenix]

“This is good tea,” Bax said out loud. He took another sip and looked over at Lynx. “You should wake up before it gets cold.”
Bax wondered what could have come over Lynx. He didn’t have Lynx’s spells with them, and he didn’t know where they were. He admitted—he had been careless and let them take them away. He should have been more insistent, more covert. But he was sure that they were safe—and if the people here were half as sensible as they seemed, they would not disturb the bag.

But what were the spells again? There was the skull, the shield, the eye, the doll, the compass, the beast figurine and the mask. Lynx had already run into the black compass and used what turned out to be the eye. He was lost and confused, but he was intelligent. He had also run into the beast figurine, and used…something…

The skull would bring him back to life—but he wasn’t dead. Could this spell have taken him to a higher plane of life? Bax couldn’t be sure…

It wasn’t the beast figurine. It had looked like the beast figurine, but Bax still had to kill the tarasque. As much as Bax had hoped that Lynx was wrong about the spells being mixed up, he was right. This confirmed it, at the very least.

It wasn’t the compass. Bax was almost sure of that. Why would Lynx have fainted for suddenly not being so lost anymore? It was possible, but…not plausible.

It wasn’t the shield either. Lynx wasn’t protected from any sword or anything else. Bax protected him from the tarasque with a sword. And Bax certainly was no shield.

The mask was a possibility—but what trait could have been raised to cause Lynx pass out?

That left the doll. Which was supposed to transfer…Lynx’s spirit…to the closest body. Which meant that…no…could Lynx have been transferred suddenly to the tarasque? And if that was the case, then…

If that was the case, then…

Lynx was dead.

And when his body woke up, it would be the tarasque…

Bax stared over at Lynx. This could have just gone from bad to worse…

For a moment, Bax swore that he heard Lynx moan and saw his leg and arm twitch. But it was so brief—Bax hadn’t slept in quite a long time. He was probably just hallucinating, wishing that Lynx would awaken.

Bax sipped his tea again. “At least the tea is good.”

[ForeverZeroUltima]

Lynx saw, once again, brief flashes. The flashes occurred in intervals, showing bits and pieces of scenes he did not recognize.

A determined-looking woman with a staff and a black and green hexagon on her forehead. A stern man with a white and yellow hexagon on his forehead, holding a bow and nocking an arrow. Two more men, with swords of fire and ice, with retrospective hexagons on their foreheads. A woman with a pure white hexagon, and a shining sword. A dark figure with a black hexagon, raising a wicked scythe. A green-and-blue figure raising one hand, causing a tidal wave to erupt. An avian monster, stirring up a monstrous wind. A construct with enough firearms to cause a living inferno. A bold warrior, holding a sword that strikes the ground and splits it in half. A cloaked figure, drawing out black and white energies from two other figures. A chromatic dragon, letting out a mighty roar that is both deafening and inaudible. And a dark object, threatening to destroy all of the above.

"These are memories of your past, Lynx. Remember them. Remember who you lived with. Remember who you fought. Remember who you killed."

"I...cannot. I am sorry, but my only objective right now is to finish my mission. And if memory serves correctly, you yourself told me to do so."

"Yes, but first you must realize the truth behind it. It is not what it seems, Lynx. You will find that out when you recover--".

"When I recover, or when I recover something?"

No answer.

Lynx's body began to change...

"There is something I must understand. Why am I here? Why did that last spell knock me out? None of them were supposed to do that."

A loud and sickening snap of sinew sounded out as Lynx's breast heaved upward. His ribs began to poke out against the sides as his chest expanded. There was a crunch of bone as his wrists and ankles snapped in the opposite direction. His legs quivered as his knees bent backwards.

"Indeed, they weren't. But, one of them has an effect so profound, so deadly to you alone, that your body could not handle its full effect all at the same time. Therefore, your body has decided to stop functioning and slowly absorb the full magnitude of the spell. When your body has taken it all in, you will wake up and regain control of your body. By then you will have figured out which spell you activated."

As his body muscles expanded and his fur grew, his dark clothing began to rip and tear apart.

"A spell with a magnitude so great that I cannot withstand it?"

And all the while, strange white markings began to form over his face, arms, and legs.

"Indeed, yes, Lynx."

The only things left on him that remained unchanged were the pieces of jewelry he crafted.

"Which spell couuld possibly be so great that its effects will..." Lynx stopped speaking. Effects? "The mask!"

Lynx slowly opened his eyes. At first his vision was blurry, but his eyes focused quickly, almost too naturally, and he lifted his head from the bed. He felt...pain. In his arms and legs. In his chest. In his head. Irritated, he swung his head around and glared at anything and everything in sight. During that time, only one thought formed in his mind:

Must...find...and kill...

[Shadow Phoenix]

After getting some rest, Bax decided to leave Lynx to rest and explore Nibelheim a little bit once morning dawned on the little town. The streets were already starting to get a little busy as businesses opened up and cries from the market went up into the air. Many were still asleep, but Nibelheim was already up to be certain. Bax had found a note downstairs offering him to take anything from their cupboards, but not really knowing what anything was, he decided to go out and try to find something at a café or something. He liked steak—the first thing he had had on this planet—but he got the idea that a T-bone wasn’t your standard breakfast fare. And he couldn’t cook anyway, so he went out.

Within a few blocks, Bax came to a little shop on a corner that smelled like…coffee. Bax went weak in the knees at the smell. Since his first run-in with the addictive liquid about ten years prior, he had learned to control himself with coffee and not ride the caffeine roller coaster. But he couldn’t resist partaking in at least a cup or two of the java he so craved on Auralis. He had forgotten that they had coffee here on Earth.

Bax went past the threshold and heard a bell hearken his arrival. He smiled and went in. The people in the café regarded him with some strange looks at first, but after a few side comments amongst themselves, the entire mood seemed to change. Apparently word of him had gotten around.
“Welcome, visitor. What would you like?”
Bax smiled and then took a deep breath. “Coffee,” Bax said with a deep sigh. The person behind the counter chuckled a little, “They’ve got coffee wherever you come from too, huh? One cup of jo, comin right up. How would you like it?”
Bax stared at the person for a moment and cocked his head to the side. How would he like it? Bax stared earnestly at the person, then relaxed a little. “Hot.”
The person turned around with a laugh and went to making his coffee. “No cream, no sweeteners, no espresso, just black?”
“And hot.”
The other patrons, reading newspapers and clacking away on little computers all snickered a little. Bax sheepishly grinned. “Sorry, I am not from around here. I did not know that you could have coffee in more ways than one.”
“Sure thing, my fiery-headed friend. Would you like to try one of our specialty coffees?”
Bax shrugged. “I will try to be a little more adventurous. What is your recommendation for a first timer to something other than black and hot?”
“Cappuccino,” came the quick response. “I won’t force any extra shots of espresso on you. You look like you could use it, but if you were that drawn in by the simple smell of the coffee, you haven’t had enough caffeine lately to handle that. I’ll have it ready for you momentarily.”
Bax thanked the man and then wondered if they took the same currency here that they did in Midgar. Bax still had money on him from when he left. But if they didn’t take it, then…

“Excuse me—do you take this currency?” Bax asked, holding up a few Midgar dollars. With a quick glance back, the coffeemaker laughed and said, “I can, but this cup is on the house, just for you. I want to show you all the hospitality that Nibelheim has to offer.”
Bax was glad this person was being so nice to him…it was a little strange, but pleasant nonetheless. Most of the people Bax had run into in Midgar seemed to have an agenda and were generally rude, but these people…they were set aside and had their own lives apart from the chaos of the rest of the world. It was strange. Some like Claire were more on edge than the others, but…life seemed to proceed here much like it did…on Auralis…

While Bax mused, the coffeemaker set his hot cup of coffee on the counter and Bax took it gratefully. “Can I also have something to eat?” he asked.
“Sure. What’ll ya have?”
Bax shrugged, “What is good?”
“Lemme get ye a cinnamon roll. Those are pretty popular around here.”
Bax nodded and the coffeemaker turned all-around server put on a glove and reached below the counter into a windowed area with plenty of baked goods that Bax hadn’t noticed. Bax licked his lips as the man grabbed the one that did indeed look the tastiest. Bax nodded and followed it back up with his eyes. He took it in his hands and smelled the cinnamon and coffee together. He could really get to like Nibelheim…

Bax shook his head. No. He had to finish his missions and get home. This place was wonderful, but it still wasn’t home. Home was far away…home was…

“Hey, you…Bax, right?”
Bax turned around and saw a woman sitting down on the other side of the café. He recognized her as one of the women who was in the party that brought him to this town the previous day. She was no longer dressed in her battle fatigues, and was instead in a light blue afternoon dress. Her curly black hair fell down behind her, loosely secured by a few pins. She looked much different than she had the day before. What was her name again?
Bax nodded. “Yes, I am Bax. You are…Dina, right?”
Dina nodded. “Good memory. Glad to see you’re up an about. Want to come sit with me?”
Bax shrugged. Why not? He walked across the café and noticed a few more strange looks as he passed, but he ignored them. He put his things on Dina’s table and took a quick sip of the cappuccino. He shuddered at the warmth. It was just as good as he remembered it.
“This is delicious,” he commented. “Like coffee, but…somehow different.”
“I prefer Macchiatos, personally. You might want to try one some time.”
Bax nodded. “I’ll do that.”
Dina took a sip of her own drink and looked out the window.
“So, Bax…where do you come from anyway? We were all a little on edge yesterday, so I guess no one got to ask you. I get the impression you’re not from Earth.”
Bax nodded. “You are right. I am from Auralis.”
“Oh? How far away is that from here?”
Bax thought for a moment before he responded. “About three and a half light years, give or take a few billion miles.”

Dina nearly spit out her Macchiato. She coughed and sputtered, apologized for her manners as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, and shook her head. “Good grief, you really aren’t from around here.”
Bax shook his head and bit his cinnamon roll. Once again, his taste buds were pleasurably assaulted. But he responded to Dina instead of concentrating on the amazing sweetness.
“No, you’re in the Falann system and we’re in the Jerredis system.”
For a moment, Bax wondered if Developmental Sanctity really applied in this situation. Bax’s race had been introduced to the concept around 400 years ago and they had told other major races in this corner of the galaxy in recent years as well. Basically, if a race has not had contact with other races or developed warp capabilities, then they would not be disturbed by any other civilizations until they could. He decided, however, that the people of Earth were well aware of the existence of alien life, even if many of them were hostile towards it. It was just that they did not have any warp capabilities now—they may have at one point, but it had all been lost during the wars. As such, Bax could safely talk about such things with this woman without breaching the laws that governed his society’s interstellar travel.

“The Falann system? What other planets are here?”
Bax wondered. “To be honest, I don’t know of any other habitable planets in this system. This is one of my first times through here. My brother came through here before…12 years ago and 14…but I haven’t been here until now.”
“Your brother?”
Bax almost felt like he was playing 20 questions. But he didn’t mind. “My brother, Drax, the king before I was.”
Bax’s eyes widened almost as much as Dina’s did before he covered his mouth. He had said too much.
“King?!” she exclaimed. “You’re a king? Like how big of a king?”
Bax shook his head and looked off to the side. “I’ve already said too much.”
“Let me guess—you’re the king of the whole damn planet, eh?”
Bax took another sip of his coffee and nodded.
Dina gasped incredulously. “Geez, I’m really in the presence of royalty, huh?”
Bax nodded, then shrugged and continued on with the conversation, having torn down some of the walls.

After about 15 minutes, Bax and Dina were both done with their respective meals and began to walk about Nibelheim. Bax was finding a surprising friendship with this human. Until he came to this planet, he had never been one to suspect people of ulterior motives, but the past few months had changed him somewhat such that he looked for a person’s true motives when dealing with them. Dina’s behavior was unnecessary, but not unwanted—and it seemed innocent enough. Bax felt comfortable speaking with her about all sorts of things. Nibelheim, Auralis, Midgar, Keldira—Bax didn’t go into much detail about his mission or the identities of his many other allies (and enemies), but the two had plenty to talk about as they traversed the streets of the comfy valley city.

After a little tour of part of the city, Bax and Dina started heading back towards the residence of Adam and Claire. Bax wanted to grab a few things and check up on Lynx. As they walked, Bax found out a little bit more about Dina.
“How long have you been here at Nibelheim?”
“Since the beginning,” she answered easily. “I came with the first group, after we all left Zion.”
“So a while, then.”
Dina smiled, “My happiest memories are here. I won’t deny it was really rough early on, but we’ve managed to piece together a nice existence over the past few years. Life is still hard, but it’s better here than in Zion. Or Midgar for that matter.”
“Tell me about it,” Bax breathed. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and mused, “Midgar was a pain in the ass.”
Dina laughed at the stilted, accented way Bax said that, and turned towards him, smiling. “You know, what, you’re a lot cooler than I thought you would be. Everyone is always so wary about visitors around here, so we always have reservations about those we let in. But you—you’re a nice guy, Bax.”
Bax was touched…he felt that a simple thank you wouldn’t suffice here, but his vocabulary was limited. He nodded and thanked her with a heartfelt expression of his own language. “Eru tinosta heri.”
Dina wrinkled her nose, “Come again?”
Bax laughed. “It is a Phoeniyan expression of thanks used between friends. A simple ‘thank you’ doesn’t seem define it correctly.”
Dina smiled again, the confusion disappearing from her face. “Friends, huh? I’m glad.”
Bax nodded and then posed a question he hoped wasn’t too forward.

“Dina—I’ve been meaning to ask one of you since I got here. Why—why do you all have green eyes?”
Dina closed her eyes in response, but the smile didn’t disappear from her face. She just took a deep breath, and tentatively responded. “We don’t talk about that much. Most of us have green eyes, but very few of us had them before fleeing Zion. We got them as a result of a Zion program…we were guinea pigs.”
Dina opened her eyes again and her green eyes sparkled a little in the rising sun. “And so we’re…different from other soldiers. Other humans. Other people in general.”

Different. Bax could understand that well enough…he didn’t want to press her anymore to tell him too much.

“I’m sorry, Dina, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s just—”

A scream disturbed their conversation and Bax’s ears immediately adjusted and picked up the sounds of combat. Very close. In fact, it was just around the corner. Bax was amazed he hadn’t picked up on it before. Had he been that intent on the conversation that he let his guard down?

“What’s that?” Dina asked. Obviously, she could hear the combat as well, not just the scream. The two of them began moving towards the corner to see the cause of the commotion when two figures came rapidly into view. One Bax recognized as Rohit (he had finally differentiated between them) and the other was…not human. It was moving quickly, but it was obvious to Bax that it wasn’t human. Could it possibly be…Lynx?

Rohit had a large four pronged gash across his chest bleeding freely, along with a few other knicks around his person, and he was on the defensive. He was armed with a relatively small dagger that seemed to not be doing him much good. It was much more suited for cutting wood and skinning small animals than defending against a mammoth of a creature. His eyes were searching for other objects in the area to better help him, but he wasn’t having much luck. People were hanging out their windows and a crowd was already gathered to find out what was going on. But all were unwilling to come too close for fear of being injured by the creature.

“Rohit!” Dina called out, lunging for the fighting pair ahead of Bax.
“Dina, wait!” Bax spat, reaching out for her as she accelerated beyond his grasp and drew two much more suitable daggers from a concealed spot on her waist. She leapt towards the beast and plunged one into its left shoulder and attempted to take the other one into its back. The creature was distracted for a moment, during which time Rohit slipped to the creature’s right side and cut into what looked to be softer hide. Ignoring Rohit, the beast wrapped its left claw around Dina and pinned her to the ground. She dropped her other dagger almost immediately and cried out in pain as she made impact. She visibly grimaced and grit her teeth together, but struggled to get free, not willingly succumbing.
“Get away, Rohit! Run!”
Rohit ignored the protestations of the girl and went in once again to attack the beast. This time, however, all focus was on Rohit. Before Rohit knew what hit him, the beast had lashed out with his right claw and cut deeply into Rohit’s own right arm, nearly severing it. Bax watched in horror as the creature withdrew this attack and brutally put a large claw through Rohit’s stomach and tossed him hard into a building across the street, where he collapsed in a bloody heap, leaving a mess of blood trickling down the wall to meet the nearly dead warrior.

“NO!!!” Dina shouted, tears in her eyes as she witnessed this. She would be next…

But Bax wouldn’t allow that. The Auralisian king quickly regained his senses and reached to his back to retrieve the Diroxauralis and Valermos…

Which weren’t there…

The beast snarled and quickly raised its maw above Dina, ready to kill her, and Bax decided now wasn’t the time to worry about the absence of his swords. He would regain those later. For now, he had to save this woman at all costs.

“Hey!” Bax shouted as he charged the beast. He bent down and jutted out his shoulder, planning at first only to offset the balance of the beast so that he could move this fight away from these innocent bystanders.

The beast looked up at Bax when he shouted out and snarled. Bax saw the face behind the strange appearance and shook his head. This was Lynx. He looked completely different, but it was Lynx. “Sorry, Lynx, but I have to stop you,” Bax spoke up.
“This is Lynx?!” Dina shouted incredulously.
Lynx raised one of his arms to Bax instead and lashed out powerfully. Bax ducked beneath the blow and plowed into Lynx’s chest, knocking him off of Dina. He stopped where he was and allowed Lynx to stumble back a few feet. He stood there for a moment, then grasped his shoulder in pain and winced.

“By the Ancients, Lynx, when did you pick up so much weight?” Bax cursed and rolled his shoulder, cracking it a little, then turning around to Dina to help her up. She was injured, too, but she was in much better shape than Rohit and she could still stand.
“Get out of here, Dina,” Bax said as he turned to see Lynx crouching down and eyeing Bax angrily.
“I have to help my boyfriend,” Dina said.
“Rohit? All right, let me get Lynx away from him, and then you get everyone around here out of the way and get out! Understand?”
“Right, I’ll get back up. Damn, of all the times to forget my gun. No place to hide it in this dress.”
Bax noticed the dress was ruined, but made no comment on it as he took a few steps towards Lynx. He flexed his wrists and cracked his knuckles. “All right, Lynx. I do not know when you woke up or what happened to you to make you like this, but I have to stop you.”
Lynx snarled and held up his claws, which seemed to lengthen before Bax’s very eyes. Bax cursed again. “Degodi gres degoda,*” he sighed, shaking his head and clenching his fists. He spread his feet apart and crouched for balance. “You asked for it, Lynx.”

Bax’s hair suddenly erupted and waved much more wildly in the wind the coursed naturally through the valley. His eyes glowed visibly redder and his skin took on a much darker shade as flames began circling around him. His fists erupted into flames and he put them together, palms open.

“Let’s go!”

*Note: Roughly translates to “measure for measure.”

[Shadow Phoenix]

OoC: Continuing on from the fight. Read said fight before continuing.

Bax’s eyes groggily and painfully creaked open. He couldn’t see out of his right eye, and the vision in his left was dreadfully blurry. Everything else hurt, too, from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. There were a few spots he couldn’t feel anything at all, where he was too numb to notice the searing pain of still open gashes and holes. He raised his arms weakly and tried to lift himself up to a sitting position. It took a few minutes, but he finally made it up. And then his head nearly exploded in pain, his right eye throbbing and sending jolts of electricity coursing throughout his body.

“Disht,” he murmured, tossing his hand up to his head and shuddering even more. Bax opened his left eye as far as it would go (his right eye felt like it opened, but he couldn’t see anything), and he scanned the room. This was not Adam and Claire’s house. The decorations were different, and the view out the window was completely different. But it also wasn’t a prison, unless the prisons here in Nibelheim had all the amenities for its guests. Nor was it a hospital. So—where was he?

“Hello?” he called out, his throat dry and scratching, making his voice sound husky and painful. “Is anyone there?”
A few whispers erupted just outside the door, followed by some quick shuffling of feet on the hard wood floor. “Ah, so you’re finally awake.”
Bax didn’t recognize the voice. Whoever he was, he didn’t sound threatening. But the door wasn’t opening—it seemed that he and whoever else was out there with him didn’t plan on letting him out. Besides, Bax hurt too much to get up and try the door. “Finally? How long have I been out?”
There was a pause, and then a different voice responded. Also a male. “About 12 hours. The other one is still sleeping.”
The other one? Lynx. So he was alive—good. Bax hadn’t meant to kill him, but he had to stop him, and Lynx wasn’t going down. He had looked so…unnerving during the fight. Not at all like he usually looked. Bax wondered if he was still in his altered form, and if he had regained control.

Bax was thirsty, and his stomach was rumbling a little, too. “Can I…get something to eat and drink?”
More murmuring, then the first man responded, “Sure. What would you like?”
Bax closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “Can I get a Cherry Coke and a Cheeseburger with no puckles.”
They both laughed. He supposed it was amusing—an alien asking for a fast food meal. Puckles also sounded wrong. But maybe it was just him.
“Sure, coming right up.” Footsteps echoed down the hall and Bax was left alone again. No, wait—only one set of footsteps had gone. There was still one person here.

“I suppose you’re not letting me out.”
The man remaining was quiet for a moment. “Sorry. It’s nothing personal, but you and your friend caused some serious problems. There was significant property damage and half a dozen people are injured because of your exploits—one of them might die.”
“Rohit?” Bax asked warily.
Another moment of silence. “Yes.”
Bax sighed and leaned back again. Damn it, he hadn’t acted fast enough. He would have to find Dina and apologize to her…by the Ancients, how could this have happened? “I’m sorry. Lynx wasn’t acting like himself.”
“And I’m sure out leaders will understand that. But for now, we have to keep an eye on both of you. Please don’t try to get out the window either. Just…trust me. We don’t want to hurt you, but we can’t afford any more incidents.”
Bax understood, but that didn’t help things at all. He needed his swords…and he needed Lynx to recover and get back to normal so that they could finish his quest. And that was the big problem…

“And when will we be seen by your leaders?”
“…tomorrow.”
“All right.” Bax turned his head and looked out the window—the sun was beginning to set. “What’s your name, by the way?”
“Gabriel,” replied the voice, happily. “And you?”
“Bax…Bax Firago.”
“Nice to meet you, Bax Firago. I hope you’re found innocent of charges.”

Bax hoped so, too…

[Shadow Phoenix]

The guards were kind enough to Bax throughout the rest of the evening. They brought him his simple meal (without his “puckles,” which Bax learned were actually pickles) and he devoured it quickly. It was good—not the fast food kind, but a nice juicy burger. Much more like he was used to on Auralis…

Auralis—good grief, it seemed like it had been a week since he had really sat and thought about home. His wife, Galandia. His son, Jax. All his friends and family, his people. How were they all doing? Surely they thought by now that he was dead…what would they attempt to do about the leadership? The legislature could handle things for a while, but they would probably try to move someone in to take control of things for now. Jax was still too young at 10 to even be considered eligible for the throne, even if he was technically next in line. Trenix, Bax’s nephew, was just behind him, and much closer in age. Gosh, how old was he now? Bax was getting close to 29, so Trenix would be 16 in a few months! Everyone was growing up while he was gone…

Bax stared at his mostly empty plate (a few crumbs dotted the surface, looking like inverted stars) and broke into tears. Here he was, a mere three and a half lightyears from home, but he had no way to get there. His ship had been completely destroyed several months ago when he had crashed, and Bax knew that Earth wasn’t anywhere close to reaching warp speed yet. They may have been before the war, but all those advancements had been lost. Nibelheim had a rocket, and that was all that Bax had seen. Earth was still off-limits to travel because of their lack of advancements, so no one would be coming to see if he was here. It was illegal. He was stuck here…

For months, he had tried to figure out a way to find a way off this rock while staying alive and out of the way of the Holy Order of the Magi. And though he had resolved to destroy Necrostiana…all Bax wanted to do was go home.

Bax’s tears burned into the floor, sizzling quietly. He had tried to go through all the options, tried to do all the research. He had tried to hold the fact of his imprisonment here off to the side for as long as possible, but he couldn’t deny it anymore.

Bax opened his eyes and looked at the window, out at the moon high in the sky. The yellowish light cascaded into the room through the glassy portal, casting Bax’s shadows in eerie directions. Off in the distance was the rocket…

What if Bax could take the rocket and rewire the systems, then send out a call for help? Someone would be there before he knew it and he might be able to leave! It would be a couple days of waiting at the most. He just had to figure out a good direction to transfer the signal and he would be set!

A light smile crept to Bax’s face. That might be the answer, mightn’t it? It could be, couldn’t it? If he could just get out the window and run to the rocket. Could he handle the launch procedures by himself? Certainly they would be primitive, but could he figure it out and handle everything himself?

The resounding answer was no. Bax’s face fell. There was no way he could launch something that big himself. He had only had basic training in flight maneuvers. This was a rocket. It was dangerous, unstable. And Bax had never been trained to use such ancient technology. They hadn’t been used on Auralis for flight purposes for several centuries.

But what if he could escape anyway?

What if?

…what…

“Gabriel,” Bax called out, “Are you still there?”

On the other side of the door, Bax was met with snoring, loud and obnoxious. Bax sighed and got up to try the lock. He was still locked in. Bax held his hand up before him and turned his palm to his face, sprouting small flames along his fingers. It would be so easy to just break out of here, wouldn’t it? He would be out before they could muster up a decent force, and just take off. Forget Lynx and his quest. Lynx would wake up and be tried, be released, and go off to finish his own silly errands. And Bax would be one step closer to…

Nothing. Midgar and Zion had no such flight capabilities that Bax could use.

But maybe I can break into their facilities…

Bax froze and his eyes narrowed. Realization washed over him in the shadowy dark and he clenched his fists.
“Shut up,” he whispered with an acidic hiss.
Shut up? But it’s been so long.
“Get. Out.”
I can’t. This is my head, too.
“I got rid of you…I know I did.”
You’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Want me to take care of it?
“What do you think?”
Exactly what you think. Remember?

Bax whirled and faced the mirror. He snarled and his reflection showed that action.
“Leave me be.”
You’ll have to let me out eventually, you know.
“Oh no I won’t…”
You know you want to get out. Get us out.
“In time.”
How much time? Haven’t you been here long enough?
Outside the door, Gabriel snorted in his sleep, knocking Bax from his reverie for a moment. He supposed he was beginning to get a little loud. He sighed and turned away from the mirror, heading over to the bed and flopping down on it.

“Just go away. Please. I just want to sleep.”
And go dream about Galandia and Jax, right?
“If I want.”
Or Hodia, maybe?
Bax twitched and moved his wrist over his eyes. “Please, no…”
About when things were good, eh?
“Drop that now. She was my best friend. And now she’s dead! How dare you!”
It’s your mind, Bax. I know what you think late at night.
“Then you know that was all in the past. I’ve moved on.”
Oh, Bax…

Bax flipped over and lay on his stomach, his eyes clenched tight. Why drag these memories up? These thoughts. Bax had just hoped to bury these, ignore them for now…damn it!

At least give me one thing. I did take care of Rivel, didn’t I?
Rivel…Bax hardly remembered what happened with Rivel. He was fighting all three of them, Rivel and his cohorts, and then he was on the ground. Suddenly Rivel was above him, clutching his hand painfully and murmuring about Bax, asking what he was. That was all he remembered…
“What did you do?”
You don’t remember? Ha, don’t worry, I made sure he wouldn’t bother us anymore. After all, he traipsed into my domain.
A shiver ran down Bax’s spine. That wasn’t possible. “And what happened?”
Well I didn’t kill him. Just—almost. A little dose of what you’ve seen—that’s enough to drive most people crazy. He’s just a human. According to the laws of Legoda, if you recall, I was more entitled to assault him for invading.
Bax shuddered again. He didn’t even remember any of that…

Just letting you know—I am here if you need me.
“I won’t. I haven’t needed you for years.”
That’s what you think…

Bax’s eyes opened, flickering to an even deeper red that pierced the darkness of the room. “Leave me the hell alone.”

Silence. Blessed silence reigned over the room, over Bax’s mind. It felt so good…

Bax’s muscles gave out to exhaustion and he rolled over, quickly losing consciousness. All he wanted was quiet sleep…

[Shadow Phoenix]

A sharp knock at the door roused Bax from a dreamless sleep. He opened his eyes, but could not bring himself to get up. He gazed out the window, taking in the dim light of the early dawn. Sunlight filtered in from the outside, delicately grazing Bax’s face with kind warmth. But no warmth would be kissing Bax today…

“Mr. Firago, are you awake?”
Bax shifted in his bed and nestled his head into the pillow a little deeper, staring out the window with sullen eyes. He was awake, but he could scarcely raise his voice to acknowledge the presence of those at the door. He barely cared anymore.

The feet outside the door shuffled and their owners talked in hushed, frustrated tones. A more impatient knock accompanied by a lower, gruffer voice called out.
“Bax Firago, are you awake?”

Bax turned his head to the door and saw feet obscuring the light coming from the slit between the door and the floor. He heard an aggravated sigh and swung himself up just as the knocking started again, allowing his feet to lightly touch the ground.
“I’m awake.”
“Good. We are coming in.”
Bax sighed and stared at his feet. His light brown skin almost melded in with the wooden floor. He raised his eyes to a mirror on the door and was struck by how haggard his appearance was and how his reflection stared back at him with half-drooping, puffy eyes, deep circles, and a clearly unkempt face. He rubbed the stubble on his jaw and began to yawn, but stopped for the nagging pain in his jaw. He still looked horrible from his fight with Lynx days prior. The wounds he had received in the fight had closed and begun to heal thanks to Bax’s unique family physiology, but the clothes he had been given were now caked with blood and had holes in them. He hardly looked in any condition to go out in public. On Auralis, he would never have even considered appearing like this before anyone.

The lock in the door clicked and the knob turned slowly. The first two people inside were Bax’s two guards (Gabriel looked particularly weary), who both moved to the sides of the door to make sure Bax didn’t try to make a run for it. They shouldered their guns casually, though—they obviously did not perceive Bax as a threat to them, even if he was about to undergo a trial. Bax appreciated that at least…

The next person to come into the room was someone who Bax immediately perceived as the owner of the lower, gruffer voice. He was a tall, distinguished man, with slightly thinning white hair that was a stark black around his temples. His beard was cleanly cut and accented his chin to give him a fierce appearance. His eyes were green like everyone else’s eyes here, but his had a battle hardened dullness to them—still sharp, but those of one who has been disillusioned by the events in his life. He carried himself proud and tall, and wouldn’t let anyone think otherwise for a moment.

Right on this man’s coattails were Adam and Claire, surprisingly not dressed in their military uniforms and camouflage, but instead appearing rather casual. Bax’s eyebrows perked up to see them and he sort of cocked his head to the side as if to question what they were doing here. He would receive no answer, however.

“Bax Firago, I am Elder Birmingham. You will come with us.”
Bax rose to greet this new man and extended his hand in the standard human greeting, “I am pleased to meet you, sir.”
But the Elder turned away and began walking back outside. Bax stood for a moment with his hand extended limply before him. He cast an eye towards Adam, but Adam shrugged and shook his head. Then he held his finger up and nodded.

Bax didn’t get it. But he assumed Adam would explain something later if there was time.

“Can I changed into something less—ruined, please?”
Gabriel dove out of the door behind the Elder and called out to him. After a moment, a curt “fine” and a few scattered steps, Gabriel popped his head back into the room and pointed to the closet.
“There should be something in there for you, Bax.”
“Thank you.”

Bax retrieved a simple, sleeveless white t-shirt and some black jeans from the closet to replace his spoiled attire. He brought it back out and cast a glance towards the four remaining in the room. Would they allow him a moment of privacy to change, give him some dignity, or were they still under orders not to trust him?

They all stared blankly at him, and Bax sighed. He supposed it was the latter.
“May I change?”
“Certainly.”
“Without all of you in the room?”
Gabriel looked at his guard counterpart and sighed. “Orders are orders, but the Elder is outside waiting. Make it fast, please.”

And that Bax did. He was outside again to greet them in his new garments as fast as possible. The Elder still seemed impatient, but that just seemed to be an effect of his general disposition.

As Bax walked along with the group, he decided to hold his head up. There was no need to feel ashamed. He had done nothing wrong. Still, he noticed as he walked past that Nibelheim was quiet. As he walked past, some people closed their doors and windows, then clambered over to their hiding places to watch as he went, hoping that he wouldn’t notice. How could he not notice such overt actions? He tried not to care, though—some of these people were ignorant. Still, he supposed that they had some reason to fear him.

It made him ache inside, though, to know that people feared him.

No, let them be afraid. They’ll see…

Bax closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Not today,” he whispered under his breath.
Adam swung back around and looked at Bax. “Did you say something?”
Bax bit his lip and took the opportunity to ask, “What seems to be wrong with Elder Birmingham?”
Adam sighed, “You mean, why is he so cold?”
Bax nodded, “I suppose that is my question.”

“The Elder was a leading commander with the Zion army back when we were all there, and he encouraged all his underlings to undergo the…experimentation by the Senate. He was one of the first to take the treatment, and he went into a coma, one even longer than the rest of us. He was out for weeks. When he awakened, he was informed of the death of most of his sub-officers when they were subjected to the treatment—they weren’t strong enough to survive it. He took it…very hard, to say the least. Ever since then, he just wants to lead us all properly. He doesn’t want anyone else to die. So he’s grown recluse, detached.”
Bax got the impression that that was the short version…he didn’t press the issue any further. Still, he looked up at the Elder, with his sharp beard and prominent features, and his eyes filled with sadness.

Bax heard the commotion of the crowd before he even saw the building. A large chunk of Nibelheim’s population had gathered before the Town Hall.

The Town Hall was not the biggest structure in Nibelheim, but it was certainly the kind the commanded respect. It wasn’t overly fancy, nor was it simplistic. It just loomed there, looking as dignified as Elder Birmingham, hewn from stone and giving off a calming vibe. The crowd before it, however, stood in stark contrast to it.

Bax could have described it best as a mob. Dozens of people stood in front of the Town Hall, talking loudly with their faces fixed in snarls of anger and disbelief.
“Have you heard? They’re going to give him a trial!”
“He’s guilty as far as I’m concerned. Did you see what he and that other one did?”

“I don’t care what happens as long as he leaves us alone.”

“Why did they bring him here in the first place?”

“Have you seen his hair? I think he’s a demon.”
“He’s surely from hell.”
“Or from Zion.”
“Zion is hell.”

“Mommy, when is the scary fire man going to go away?”

Every word was like an arrow to Bax’s heart, ripping into him and tearing away. He took it with each step, though, hoping it would all be over soon.

Suddenly someone in the crowd saw him approaching and shouted, “There he is!”
The commotion which Bax had originally perceived as loud doubled almost simultaneously with the end of the revelation and continued to grow. Now the shear volume was making Bax cringe, possibly more than the hateful words.

Why did they hate him so? What had he done to deserve this? He was just trying to protect them—it wasn’t his or Lynx’s fault that Lynx had undergone some strange transformation and gone mad. Or was it?

But they hated him without even knowing him. Were they afraid of his appearance? Bax’s eyes grew weary and nearly laden with tears, though he would not allow his exhaustion and emotion get to him. He refused to let these people see him as weak.

“Why did you come here?”
“We don’t want you here, demon!”
“Zion puppet!”
A shrill, high voice pierced over the others, “Go back where you came from!”

Bax’s vision blurred and he felt a throbbing in his right temple as something slammed into him right next to his eye. His neck snapped to the other side and he stared down at the ground with wide eyes as warm, sticky blood began to leak from the wound. Everyone in the crowd stopped shouting and gasped.

Bax looked down at the object which had just been thrown at him and found a curious thing. An apple. It was perfectly whole—not a single bite taken out of it—and not the slightest bit rotten. Bax looked up and saw a young girl standing on top one of the walls with her arm arched out and her face petulantly twisted in frightened anger. She was breathing heavily and looked like she would burst into tears at any moment.

Bax bent down slowly and picked the apple up. He stared at it with weary eyes and the crowd began whispering again. A few silently scolded the little girl, who was whimpering and trying to find the courage to jump down from the wall so that Bax couldn’t see here.

An apple…

Bax dusted the sand off of it and closed his eyes. For the first time since getting here, he raised his voice.

“I would if I could,” he said. “But I can’t right now. So I will just have to ask you to bear with me.”
Bax opened his eyes and looked at the little girl with solemn eyes. She jumped and began to stumble off the wall. The girl’s mother fainted dead away and Bax leapt over the heads of all the onlookers to catch the girl. She screamed as she fell and didn’t stop for quite a while until she realized that she hadn’t hit the ground and was save. She opened her tightly clenched eyes and took one look at Bax. Her lip began to quiver and she clenched her eyes shut again and bodily shook, taken by terror tremors.

Everyone around Bax began backing away cautiously. The little girl continued to shake.
“Please don’t hurt me!” she squeaked, looking at Bax with her glistening, tear-stained green eyes.

Bax lightly set her down on her feet and knelt down before her.
“I think you dropped something,” Bax said as he produced the apple and gave it back to her. “Be careful next time.”

Bax stood up and looked past the crowd to Elder Birmingham, who was standing there, silently stoic and observing. Bax nodded, and turned towards Town Hall. It was time for the trial to begin…

[Shadow Phoenix]

Bax was taken into a large room on the second floor of the Town Hall building, where he was given an audience with a dozen of these elders. There was nothing special about the room—but each of the elders carried a similar distinguished appearance (though elder Birmingham appeared to be the oldest by a good many years). Adam and Claire were called in as well to serve as liaisons for Bax (and to give testimony to their own actions concerning Bax and Lynx and their interactions with them). They all sat at a large round table, though Bax, Adam and Claire were significantly far away from the elders.

“Where are you from, Bax Firago? You are obviously not of Earth unless you are one of the Senate’s creations.”
Bax felt no need to hide anything. “I am from the planet Auralis, three and a half light years from this planet.”
“And what is your business here?”
That was slightly more complicated. “Here in Nibelheim or on Earth?”
Two different elders responded, but both came back with opposite responses. Bax almost chuckled—the elders were not of one mind obviously—that would hopefully make things fairer at least.
“I was helping my friend, Lynx, with a quest of an unknown origin (at least to me) in the Desert of the Dead when we came too close to Nibelheim and were found by Adam and Claire.”
“Explain,” said Elder Birmingham simply, motioning to the two Nibelheimians standing behind Bax.

“We were just doing a routine search of the area and brought them in according to our safety measures,” responded Adam.
“We gave them a place to stay for the night. We didn’t hear about the commotion until it was almost over—more routine searches of the area.”
“But I can guarantee you that any damage was unintentional!” Adam said quickly.
Another of the elders cut Adam off, “We did not ask you, young man. Please deign to remember only to speak when spoken to.”

Bax shivered. Ouch…

“That explains why you’re here in our town. But why Earth, if what you say is true?”
“My ship crashed. You probably thought it was some kind of Senate satellite, right?”
Silence filled the room for a moment. One of the Elders chuckled, others talked themselves for a moment, and then Elder Birmingham growled and slammed his fist into the table they all sat around.
“Ladies and gentlemen, can we please get down to business?”
Bax was unsettled by the Elder’s reaction. Another Elder commented this time, though.
“Pardon me, but your story sounds like a conspiracy theory to me. How do we know you’re not with Zion?”
Bax thought about that for a moment. “If I was with Zion, you all would be dead by now. Why would I have tried to save you at all?”
“You call injuring a dozen people and causing immense property damage trying to save us?!”
Bax sighed at the exaggeration, but responded anyway, “Would you have preferred I let my friend in his manic state go around and kill even more people?”
Silence.

“I still don’t buy this,” said the nonbeliever Elder. “Sounds like a bunch of crap. He’s just trying to lure us in.”
“Think things through one in a while, Weiler. You’re just dismissing what he says!”
Bax sighed. This had just turned into a disagreement between the Elders. And it was rapidly turning into a waste of time.

This was no trial…

It was a zoo!

Bax stood up while the Elders argued, and he solemnly shook his head before screaming at them.

“SHUT UP!”
The Elders all turned to face him, their mouths hanging open and staring incredulously at Bax. One of the older ones (though not as old as Birmingham), raised a finger and pointed it at Bax with his brow furrowed in confusion.
“If I may,” Bax said, “all I want to do is get out of here. Lynx is in bad shape, from what I hear, and I don’t think there is much you all can do here for either of us. I was not expecting to be gone this long on what sounded like a simple errand. I just want to get back to what I was doing so I can possibly find a way off your planet and back to mine. All I ask for are my effects—then I will be on my way.”

It took a few seconds of all of them staring at him, but they all began talking at the same time again. They threw their arms up in the air, waved scolding fingers in his direction, and screamed at him and each other with a renewed vigor.

And Bax thought things with his legislature back home got bad sometimes…

Bax sat down and buried his head in his hands. It was useless now. He felt Adam and Claire both put a hand on him, “Its okay, Bax. These are all military men. They’re not used to acting like judges; all they generally know is war and what they’ve learned in our few years here.”
“You would think they might know how to have some tact at least.”
Claire laughed, “They have been described as tactless when you get them all together like this.”
Bax sighed.

And then the windows of the room exploded in a shower of dust and shattered glass. Bax’s eyes opened wide and all of the Elders instantly pulled out weapons and whirled around to see what the disturbance was. The building shook and trembled…they were under attack.

Someone swung the door open and stumbled in, shouting, “It’s Zion! They’ve sent in Special Forces! They’re attacking!”

Bax heard the screaming outside and knew the carnage was already beginning. Zion was launching mortar shells at them from a long distance and would soon be upon them, killing the citizens. Luckily, most everyone here was trained in combat. They would be able to hold their own—but against Zion Special Forces…

That was it. Bax had to find his weapons.
“Adam, Claire, do you know where my weapons are?”
“I believe so,” Claire came back quickly. “I can take you there. But we need to hurry!”

[Shadow Phoenix]

Adam and Claire both ran out of the room, pulling concealed guns from their boots and pants as they went out. Bax followed after them, turning only to give a brief glance of pity to the ridiculousness of the Council of Elders as they bickered and tried to figure out what to do. Much to his surprise, though, they looked like they were beginning to organize somewhat to prepare for this situation. For some reason, Bax figured that they would be fine in time.

But he still had to fight.

Bax took the steps a few at a time, nearly soaring all the way down behind his two friends and racing out into the streets with them. The crowd had dispersed by now—everyone was running back to their houses or to a weapons storehouse. At least that was Bax’s hope.

They stopped for a moment and Claire assessed their situation, looking around and plotting a map in her head. Her hand twitched around her gun—she just looked nervous.
“Something’s wrong,” she said.
Bax closed his eyes as he heard a high whining whistle coming from above. He cocked his head to the side and strained for a moment—what the hell was that?

The Phoeniyan looked up and searched the sky for the source of the sound. Adam saw him looking up and joined him. Then they noticed the trail of smoke growing rapidly larger and coming straight towards them.
“Shit,” Adam breathed as he dove towards Claire to try to get them out of the way.
Bax saw the bomb approaching his exact position and he raised his hands, crouching only slightly.

Adam tackled Claire to the ground just as he heard the concussive explosion. He screamed more obscenities and expected to feel the flesh being peeled of his back at any moment. As he lay there, trying to protect his lover from the worst of the explosion, he thought of the strangest thing—his ex, the girl he left back in Zion: Eve. Why was he thinking of her? He hadn’t even given a moment’s thought to her in years—especially not since he and Claire had hit it off. So…what was this…emptiness?

Adam shook the thought from his mind and turned his head over his shoulder as he felt a strange warmth—instead of a massive explosion which would have surely killed them all, Adam saw the alien standing there with outstretched arms and a massive thin shield of flames extending out before him to contain the entire blast. He looked determined—not the slightest bit panicked. Who was this guy?

“Come on,” Bax said, looking over to the two lying on the ground. We need to hurry, right?”
Bax helped the two of them up and they took off through the streets. Only a minute passed before Bax heard the shrill screams of death. It was official—Zion was in Nibelheim.
“How did they find us?” Adam screamed out.
“Anyone’s guess,” Claire responded, pressing a button on her weapon. “We obviously couldn’t hide for too long. But I thought we were doing well not being seen.”
“The Senate has eyes everywhere…”
“And so does the Order,” Bax thought.

Bax didn’t have time to let his mind wander—but as he ran, so did his mind. He traipsed back into his memories—to more than ten years ago. Back when life was simple. Or so he had thought.

* * *

Photonia…

Photonia was one of those girls that defied expectations. The pretty girl at school, so pretty that every guy wanted a chance to date her, but those that did were so intimidated that things didn’t ever get much further than the first date—even the guys who were only interested in one thing (and it wasn’t hard to tell) lost their nerve. She had that kind of effect on you. She was so beautiful, so innocent, that you couldn’t think of anything bad happening to her. To be around her made you feel like you mattered. To look into her eyes made you feel like everything was all right. To hold her hand made you feel like you could truly be strong. And to kiss her…

But she was a strong girl. Despite her delicate, almost fragile appearance, she had that fun, edgy streak in her. Bax was actually one of the first people to bring it out. She liked getting her way, and she was certainly no pushover. But she was still respectful, elegant, dignified, without once being snobby.

She was named after the moon—and appropriately so. She glowed in that moonlight, like something holy. Her eyes were a soft, kind, inviting red, and they glimmered and shone so amazingly in the moonlight. That was the first thing that Bax noticed about her when he met her—her eyes. He actually first met her shortly after his parents died. Her eyes were kind, and she smiled at him when he saw her accompanying her parents in the court. They eventually became friends through their interactions in the palace, and found common comfort in their loss. Photonia’s brother died when she was 14.

It had been so strange to see her kind eyes blurred and scratchy with tears…Bax just hugged her and wished for everything to be all right. And it wasn’t for a while. Bax’s brother died when he was 16, on that trip out towards Earth (ironic as that seemed now—Bax’s nephew Trenix would be 16 soon). Bax took the news hard—but he was no longer a whiney child. Photonia spent a lot of time with him in those first weeks after Drax’s death. And then…

Bax worked up the courage and asked Photonia out. Unfortunately…

She said no. She already had a date for that weekend.

But the next week was all open.

Bax’s spirits soared to hear that and he waited until just after she left to go racing through the halls, whooping and hollering.

They dated for a few months, but only really got to “go out” a handful of times with their busy schedules, though they saw each other much more often. But they enjoyed their precious time together so much—after a few months, Bax took her out to a bridge just outside of the palace and finally worked up the courage to tell her that he loved her. And then he kissed her…

It seemed so childish and innocent looking back on it now—but that was the kind of girl that Photonia was.

Things got a lot more serious after that—more dates, more time together. They dated for about a year and a half until Bax proposed to her on a vacation to Auralis’ sister planet, Kisenia. How amazing things were back then—so surreal. So innocent. So in love. Bax just wanted to go back to those days sometimes…