Realm Legends: Legend 11: Options Run Out By: Chandra Rooney ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Legal stuff: Sephiroth and all other FFVII characters/likenesses are copy-right of Squaresoft. Used without permission. Natalie Howard is copyright of herself. Sarah Aylward and Lazuli are copyright of Sarah. K.T.E./Jack Mamoru is copyright of KTE. The Green Gibbon!/Midori Saru! is copyright of GG!. Moon Guardian, Ashrire Guardian, Zephyr/Xiayou Kage, Sephiroth/Gabriel Kage, Erebus, Himitsu and all other original Realm Legends characters/likenesses/concepts are copy-right of Chandra Rooney. All the characters and ideas presented are my own, unless otherwise noted. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ "Nothing really dies so long as it's not forgotten"-- from L.J. Smith's The Forbidden Game Volume III: The Kill ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Prologue: Troubles upon troubles; problems upon problems. Not only do I feel just a smidge of concern that Fuun is attacking in such quick succession, but also my plan of playing "Lir" while I gathered the remaining six scrolls has fallen through. But fear not, tense reader! I have many an ace up my sleeve. Probably why those fellows refuse to play poker with me... Just how do I plan to go about infiltrating their little group? Ah, that is a secret! Chapter One: Lazuli sat at the table with her favorite drink: a Bloody Mary with two celery stalks. She stirred the drink, and stared at the blond with the spiky hair. After a moment he looked back at her. Lazuli went into action. She put a stalk in her mouth and began to suck the vodka/tomato juice from it as she stared at the boy. He burst out laughing. "You look so funny!" Her face fell. It was not the response she was used to receiving. She turned her back to him. Ash continued to chuckle. Gabriel and Zephyr didn't join in the laughter. Zephyr had returned to his state of imposing silence. Even Gabriel's spirit seemed to be broken. Ash didn't know whether it was completely due to what Zephyr had told them, or maybe from the incident that had caused all the new bruises on his face. "Hey, you okay?" he asked Gabriel. "The bruises will heal," Gabriel replied, wearily. "Just a little reminder of how it hurts to be alive sometimes." "Nothing dies so long as it's not forgotten," Zephyr said. "But I barely knew him." Leave it to Zephyr to take a seemingly positive remark and put a depressive spin on it. "Lirsage is one hard bastard to forget," Ash said. "Trust me, you don't have to know him well to know that." Zephyr stared at him. "He means it in the nicest way possible," Gabriel said. Then slowly, a small smirk formed on his face. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you actually cared, Ashrire." "Of course I do," Ash replied. "But don't let it get around. It will ruin my reputation of being careless and out-of-touch." "Where's Natalie and Jack?" "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I think I'm going to lie down," Zephyr said, standing. "You'll wake me when we've decided further what to do?" Gabriel nodded. Zephyr walked out of the room. Ash spoke. "Poor Moon." Another nod. Xiayou walked in and sat down where Zephyr had been. Gabriel shifted suddenly, and his eyes seemed to change colors. "Are you upset about Vance?" Xia looked up. "A little. I don't really remember him that well." "Ashrire, have you met Xiayou?" "No," Ash extended a hand. "Ashrire Guardian. It's nice to meet you." "Xiayou Kage," she shook his hand. "I wish it was under different circumstances." Ash nodded. "You knew Vance?" "Yes. From when we were children. But it's been so long since I've seen him...I guess I won't get the chance now." She looked away. "Oh, excuse me, I'm just an emotional girl..." "No, it's all right. You can cry if you want. It might make you feel better." "Not likely." She cleared her throat. "There isn't going to be much time for grieving." "Why would you say that?" he asked. "Ah, excellent," Erebus entered the room, commanding attention, "all the important figures are here. Lazuli, my sweet, your dress is exquisite." Gabriel was on his feet in a second. "What do you want? Come to torture us some more, *father*?" Erebus was unmoved. "Calm yourself, Sephiroth. I doubt I'd have to beat Lazuli or Xiayou to near unconsciousness before they'd submit to assimilation." Xiayou stood. "You're not assimilating me against my will. You...bastard! You used the information you had about Vance's death against him!" "Indeed," Erebus smiled. "I have plans for all of you." "I don't like the way this sounds," Ash said, standing too. "I'm enlisting the aid of the Realm Protectors in retrieving the remaining Scrolls of Heaven." "What if we don't want to help?" Ash shifted his feet, getting ready for a fight. "You aren't being given a choice in the matter." "The Scrolls are written in a dead language," Gabriel said. "Only Vance could read them." "That is where you're wrong, Sephiroth," Erebus smiled. "Stop calling me that! My name is *Gabriel*!" Erebus ignored him. "Allow me to present my top scribe of Nev'aeh. He has already used the combination of the three scrolls we received from you and the three we already possessed to decipher the location of the next scroll." He gestured to a boy of 18 or so who stood staring at the ground. Blue hair hung about his face, and glasses perched on his sharp nose. He wore a beige tunic and pants with a red scribe's robe. "My name is Himitsu," the scribe said softly, shyly. "It's a pleasure to be working with you." "Himitsu will decode the Scrolls and keep a record of your progress. You'll start off tomorrow morning." "Himitsu?" Ash eyed him suspiciously. "Sounds like a spy's name." "It means 'secret'," Xiayou nodded. "So, Scribe, you're to act as a spy?" "Oh no, ma'am," Himitsu protested. "I'm just to decode the message of the Scrolls and keep progress records." "What do you think a progress record is, baka? It's a spy report!" He waved his hand. "Nonsense. I'm a scribe. It's my sacred duty to record the progress of great heroes on important quests." "Great heroes and important quests?" Ash's eyebrow raised. "So, what the hell are you doing coming with us?" A scream interrupted the response. They turned to see Sarah struggling to hold up the silk dress she was wearing. "What am I doing here?!" Sarah demanded. "And why am I wearing a dress 3 sizes too big?!" "Funny, I'd like to know that too," Ash said. Erebus looked unimpressed. "Hrmph. I'd expected Lazuli to be stronger." Sarah looked about frantically. "Where are we?! Ash...how'd you get here?" "I can see you have much preparations to make for tomorrow," Erebus cleared his throat. "Sephiroth, you and Xiayou shall accompany me." "I'll take Sarah and find the others," Ash whispered. "Ehhm," Gabriel nodded briskly. "It was nice meeting you, Xia," Ash smiled. "C'mon, Sarah, let's go find Natalie and Jack. Knowing Jack, they're probably lost." Chapter Two: GG! was wandering around outside with the barest of hopes that he'd find someone. Actually, it would be best if he didn't find anyone before he had the chance to practice his "I'm-all-distraught-by-this-turn-of-events"-face. Right now he was wearing his "well-this-turn-of-events-is-almost-too-perfect"-face, and somehow he doubted that Moon would be impressed if she knew that. It's not that he didn't like Lir...well, actually that's exactly what it was. "Hey, Gibbon!" Ash yelled, dragging Sarah along with him. "We've been looking for you. Have you seen Jack and Natalie?" "No, but I was looking for them too. Moon was attacked." "Goddess...what a time for it to happen," Ash shook his head. "She's okay? Managed to fight?" "From the snatches she'll tell me, it sounds like some guy appeared from nowhere, and then disappeared before she even had the chance to react." "WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL IS GOING ON?!" Sarah screamed. "I WANT TO GO HOME! YOU PSYCHOPATHS WON'T-" Ash clamped a hand over her mouth. "She's a little intoxicated. We think that she's had quite a few Bloody Marys." "What the hell?" GG! asked. "I don't know," Ash replied. "Even if I did I still couldn't explain it. Just help us look for Jack and Natalie." "Fine." Jack and Natalie wandered into view arguing. "I'm telling you! The palace is this!" Jack was saying. "You moron!" Natalie yelled. "This whole place is the Palace grounds!" "Hey, where you guys been?" Ash called. "Looking for you!" Natalie replied. "Where have you been?" "Looking for you," Ash replied. GG! nodded. "What the freakin hell is going on?" Natalie demanded, jabbing a finger into Ash's chest. "We'd better get some answers, buddy!" Ash blinked a couple times, then looked at Jack. "What?" Jack asked, looking behind him. GG! sighed. "C'mon, ladies, I'll take you all back to the room. With any luck we can get Soup Broth to explain things." "Isn't Sephiroth dead? I mean I'm pretty sure we killed him," Jack said helpfully. "I think he means Gabriel," Ash explained. "But didn't Sephiroth kill Gabriel a long time before we killed Sephiroth?" He blinked. "You're absolutely correct, Jack. We'll have to ask...Zephyr maybe?" "Zephyr...that's the nice girl who threatened to shoot me and never does her shirt up all the way, right?" "Yes, correct once again, Jack. Only now Zephyr is a boy." "Oh." Jack nodded. "You understand?" Ash asked. "Nope! Not a bit!" Jack smiled broadly. "Well," Ash rubbed the back of his neck, "neither do I." Natalie stared at them. "Let me get this straight...Zephyr is a boy? Was he just in drag or something?" Ash and Jack looked at her blankly. She turned to GG!. "Zephyr is seriously screwed up," GG! offered in explanation. "Shows nare shoo!" Sarah said, and giggled hysterically. "Smut nas din dem winks?" "Could someone take Naga back to the room before she puts her hands anywhere else?" Ash asked. "No...wait, on second thought-" Natalie slapped him across the face. "Sarah would want me to do that." She took Sarah by the arm. "Come on, Sarah. Time to go rest." Sarah gurgled, then giggled. " 'Tachi mukau saki ni kawaita kaze...'" "Gods...she sings the Slayers theme when she's drunk?" GG! asked. "Um, Jack, do you remember the way back to- What the hell am I saying? Ash, you'd better go with them." "What are you going to do?" Ash asked. "Look around and see if I can't find out what happened to the freaks that attacked Moon." "Kay." They left with Ash leading the way. GG! sighed. "Morons..." Chapter Three: Zephyr was waiting outside the throne room. Angry shouts came through the closed doors. It seemed Erebus had it planned to begin assimilation as soon as possible. Thank Gods Gabriel was arguing against it. Ash walked up from behind him, and nearly gave Zephyr a heart attack. He asked Zephyr to come look for GG!. Apparently the gibbon was outside somewhere. "I don't like the thought of him running around out there," Ash explained, after chuckling about the way Zephyr had jumped. Zephyr nodded, still a little pissed off. "I don't trust that dragon." "I've noticed that." They found their way outside. Stars winked above them, and a west wind danced across the Palace grounds. "I find that hard to believe," Zephyr said. "You don't seem like one to notice anything that doesn't directly concern him." Ash flashed him a conspiratory smile without missing a step. "Indeed? Does Xiayou agree with you on that? Maybe you should ask her. It can't take very long." Zephyr actually stopped walking. "How did-" "I know? Simple really. It's an easy enough conclusion to reach." "That doesn't answer my question." "Let's just say it's a secret." He considered this new change in Ash's attitude. "What do you think about the Scribe?" "I dunno, Zephyr...I'm not gay." There was that weird smile again. Zephyr wondered if Ash was high on something. "I'm not either." "Really? Well, that's too bad. It might have been nice to have someone to represent the minorities." "Why? Are we holding some sort of panel discussion?" Ash leaned against a nearby tree. "I tend not to involve myself in political issues. They're more trouble than they're worth." Zephyr took out his gun, and began to absently check it. "Who said it had to be political?" "What isn't political these days?" "That would tend to limit what you could involve yourself in," Zephyr checked the ammunition. "Would it?" The grin didn't fade. "Are you planning to shoot me, Zephyr? That certainly wouldn't be very friendly of you." "Who said I was friendly?" Zephyr raised the gun. "In fact, *Ash*, who said you knew a damn thing about me? What's to stop me from killing you right here?" "Ahhh, *that* is my little secret," Ash waggled a finger at him. "But since we're out here, let's put that eagerness to cause physical harm to some use. Follow me, if you would." "Why?" "Don't you want to learn who killed your brother and tried to kill Moon?" Zephyr followed against his better judgment. Ash lead him to a prime vantage spot where GG! was visible, grinning like an idiot at some young kid with white hair and pale blue skin. "What's he so happy about?" Zephyr asked, then added: "So help me Goddess, if you say 'that is a secret'..." "Well, if you're going to be *that* way," Ash frowned. "Ruin all my fun, why don't you?" "Answer the question." "Pushy, aren't we?" Ash tapped a finger against his cheek for a moment. "How shall I phrase it?" "As quickly as possible," Zephyr advised, "I'm losing my patience." Ash grinned. "GG! never liked Lirsage and is quite pleased that he's dead." "Bastard would be, wouldn't he? Clean shot at Moon....ignorant little-" "Now, now," the finger waggle again. "It's very rude for a lady to use such language." "Blow me," Zephyr snapped. "Sorry, dear, you're not my type." The maniacal grin returned. "Oh, it appears the show is about to start." Zephyr decided against asking him what he meant. "Chibichibi-chan doesn't like you, Mr. Rude Man! You look at Fuun in mean and nasty ways!" Fuun declared. "Chibichibi-chan says you have to be punished!" "Punish away!" GG! beamed. "Break out the whips and handcuffs!" "Fuun has a better idea," the little girl said in an evil tone. "Kaze mo Sora mo Kitto!" The explosion of raw dark power surged towards GG!. He blinked, and jumped out of the way. "Here's the plan," Ash whispered to Zephyr. "You shoot that little doll she has, understand?" "I can do that...but what for?" Zephyr asked. "That's a secret." He turned to yell something at Ash, but found he was alone. Chapter Four: "Gosh, Fuun, you sure must not want me to get any sleep tonight!" A cheery voice called, as GG! rolled over. "YOU AGAIN?! HOW COME YOU ALWAYS SHOW UP AND RUIN FUUN'S FUN?!! YOU DUMB PRIEST!!!!" Fuun yelled, enraged. "FUUN HATES YOU! HATE! HATE!! HATE!!!" "Now, Fuun, that's no way to talk to your elders, and what have I told you about trying to unwrite people? It's not very nice." GG! looked up. The boy with the dark purple-black hair was dressed like a priest. He wore blue pants, white shirt, and dark red cloak. He sat contentedly on the branch of a nearby tree. "Weirdo..." GG! muttered. Fuun, the little girl, screamed and grabbed her hair. "HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!!" He grew concerned that this little babe's temper tantrum might not be something he wanted to see. As he debated whether or not to make a run for it, a bullet planted itself in the forehead of the Chibichibi doll. "CHIBICHIBI-CHAAAAAAN!!!!" Fuun wailed. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Who hurt Chibichibi-chan? Who HURT CHIBICHIBI-CHAAAAAAAAN?!!!!" "You're the one who came after Moon," Zephyr snapped, coming out from the trees. "You probably went after my brother as well..." "What is this? The gathering of the freaks?" GG! asked. The boy with the purple-black hair turned. "It would explain what you're doing here." GG! glared at him. "Great, the freakin Cheshire Cat is insulting *me*?" The grin grew. "Jump Jive and Wail. It's a regular Zoot Suit Riot." "Freak..." "Now you die, Priest!" Fuun screamed. "Kaze mo sore mo kitto!" The boy was knocked from his casual perch up in the tree. He hit the ground with a thump. Fuun turned to Zephyr. "Now Fuun kill you again!" she shouted, turning on Zephyr. "Help me fight her," Zephyr called to GG!. "If we hit her simultaneously-" "Count me out," GG! replied. "Beat her yourself." "Kaeru!" Fuun screamed. Zephyr leapt out of the way, barely. "Daemon Mist!" A dark shadowy mist settled in the clearing obscuring vision. GG! heard a voice chanting, and he strained to make out the words. "Hear me, One who dwells within the Golden Waters; I pledge myself to thee, I promise my mind and soul shall obey no other; By my great devotion let your will become my own; Gather thy elements to my hand and Let our foes be cast from our Realms By the Power you and I hold..." There was a scream, and the darkness cleared showing the Priest had run Fuun through with a golden staff. "I've had enough of you for tonight, Fuuny-dear. We're all going to get some sleep now." She gurgled. "Fuun must...*gurgle*...complete her job...KAERU!!!!" Energy slammed into Zephyr, and threw him against a tree. "...Kiniro no Kagayaki!" The Priest finished his incantation, and power flowed down through the staff. The staff glowed with a white light, as other colors swirled amongst the white. Fuun screamed, her cries piercing the night. "Good night, dear Fuun," the Priest said softly as she screamed a final time and vanished. The black ooze covered the golden rod like some sort of primordial blood, it slid down and collected into drops which fell down upon the ground. The Priest abandoned it, and walked to Zephyr. GG! watched as the staff continued to hover in the air, black ooze dripping from it's tip to the puddle on the ground. If he had a weak stomach it might have sickened him, but since he didn't it just kinda creeped him out. Creeped the hell outta him to be honest. "Can you move?" the Priest asked Zephyr. "Yeah, I just had the wind knocked out of me. I'll probably be sore tomorrow, though," the female voice replied. After a pause she added, "dammit..." The Priest tapped a finger against his cheek. "Interesting...this is a mildly disturbing development. The fact that Fuun can alter you with her own power does not sit right." Zephyr moaned. "Here I thought I was cured..." The Priest stood again and waggled his finger. "Now, now, let's not go all Zelgadis-like! The important thing is that everyone came out of this little squabble relatively unharmed." GG! blinked. "The Cheshire Cat's watched Slayers?" "As for you," The Priest turned, "next time when you are asked to help, you will do so, understood? Unless of course you plan to become the villain of this piece." "Well, excuse me! But it's Zephyr. It's not like it would have been a big loss." The Priest took the hovering staff from its place in the air. It was now completely cleansed of the black goo. "That's not for you to decide." He nodded to Zephyr. "I thank you for your help on behalf of my Master." He vanished. Zephyr stood, brushing herself off. "So that was the Priest of Chaos." "What are you blabbin about now?" GG! demanded. "Hrmph. I guess you wouldn't know about the Him, would you?" "You're such a bitch," GG! muttered. "Later. I've had enough mind games for one night." "Suit yourself." Zephyr snapped, walking away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Chapter Five: Zephyr knocked on the door to the house everyone was bunked-up in, as it opened his suspicions rose. Ash yawned, leaning against the door frame. Was it really him this time? "Been sleeping long?" Zephyr asked. "'Bout an hour, maybe," the blond boy rubbed at his eyes. "I conked out after we got Sarah back here." He blinked. "You want in?" "Such a gentleman," Zephyr muttered, stepping past him. "Hey," Jack looked up from a game of cards with Natalie. "It's..." a *long* pause "I'm sorry, who were you again?" "Jack," Ash shut the door, "you remember Zephyr, don't you?" "Oh, the nice girl who threatened to shoot me." Jack grinned. "Didja come all the way from the Chicken Farm? It sure took you a while to get here." Zephyr blinked. "Uh..." "Hey, you know what? There's a guy with the same name as you. It's funny; you wouldn't think 'Zephyr' would be a common name. Gee, it must get confusing. People would always have to say 'no I wanted to talk to the *girl*'. Does it happen a lot?" Another stunned blink. "It's like I've walked into the freakin twilight zone..." "But I'm glad you're back," Jack concluded. "You're much nicer than the boy Zephyr anyway." "I had a somewhat normal life before I got caught up with you people," Zephyr snapped sitting down. "Holy Goddess of Creation! Is this what the rest of our time together is going to be like?" "Pretty much," Ash nodded. "Realm Protector business tends to keep a guy...er...girl...er...person busy." "And what exactly is Realm Protector business?" "Slaying Big Bad Things. Saving all of Existence. The usual hero business." He went back to sitting on the couch. His blond hair was still unruly, but somehow less Cloud-like. "Speaking of big bad things," Zephyr cleared his throat, "I think I've seen the one who's coming after us. I think it was who killed my brother." "You have a brother?" Jack asked. "Gosh, that's awful that he died. I 'm real sorry." "Jack..." Ash began, then stopped. "Nevermind. Who is it? Anyone we know?" "No," Zephyr stood. "I don't think so. I'd like to talk to Moon first, though. To make sure that it's the same person who attacked her." "She's in there," Natalie pointed to a door. "Thanks," Zephyr went in. "Realm Protectors?" She looked at Ash. "Okay, start explaining." "Moon?" Zephyr asked. "Who is it?" a little voice asked timidly. "Zephyr." A sniffle. "It doesn't sound like Zephyr." "I'm sorry about the way Xiayou treated you, Moon. I should have told you myself." He stopped. Xiayou! He hadn't even sensed her since that weird girl had blasted him with energy. No answer. Zephyr tried to give in, to black out and let his demon half take control, but nothing happened. Oh...shit. "I just miss him so much," Moon was saying. "I know how you feel," he said softly. "It's hard for me...I've gone from having nothing to suddenly being submersed in people. It's not easy. But for you...to have always known him..." "Zephyr? Could you just stay for a while? I just really need someone to talk to me right now." "Sure. I'll stay." A pause. "I'm not much of a conversationalist, though." "Can you explain what's going on at least?" "I could try. Where do you want me to start?" "I don't know..." Zephyr thought for a long time. "I'll tell you about Nev'aeh." "I know about Nev'aeh. I've been thinking about it a lot. My mom used to tell me stories. I always thought they were myths, but I guess they were true." She paused. "So, you're a Nev'aehian? I figured Gabriel must have been. The whole thing about how he was connected to Sephiroth makes more sense to me now." "Yes, I...well, I hope I still am Nev'aehian. I haven't been able to sense my demon half." Zephyr paused. "Moon, do you know who this Priest of Chaos is?" "He saved me from a little psycho girl named Fuun. Well...he saved me and then he annoyed the hell out of me." "Yeah, he seems to be good at that." They sat in silence for a little while longer. Zephyr felt awkward. He'd never been good with the opposite sex...girls always made him shy. It was even harder to know what to say or do when you technically were a girl too. "Has Ash been here since you got back?" he settled on finally. "Yes. No one left. We were all supposed to wait for GG! to come back. Why?" "Well...I think this Priest was impersonating him." "It's possible. Zephyr?" "Yeah?" "I want to get away from this place. When can we leave?" "I think Erebus plans to send us off in the morning." "I'm worried about Gabriel." "He'll be all right. Oh, there's something else. Erebus is sending a Scribe named Himitsu with us. To help decode the Scrolls, and to send back 'progress reports'." "I don't like the idea of having to work for Erebus. Or being spied on. Why does everyone want these stupid scrolls anyway? If they're so important we should have heard about them sooner." "I know. There's something not quite right about this." "By the time we're all together it'll take forever to get everyone caught up with what's going on. How are we going to explain it to Sarah and Natalie?" "Let's get out of here first, and explain later." Zephyr fell back on the bed with a whoosh. "This place gives me the creeps." He lay there with his eyes closed for a few minutes. "You know what I liked about Lirsage the best?" Moon asked. "Nuh uh," he mumbled. "I felt safe with him. No matter what happened...I just always felt like I'd have him with me. Stupid, huh?" "That's cute." Zephyr said softly. "I wonder what it's like to be that much in love." "Did you say something?" "I said," he sat up, and hope she didn't noticed the blush on his cheeks and ear tips, "I'd better be going. I've got to tell the others about what happened. Get some rest, Moon. We're moving out tomorrow...whether or not we know where we're going." Zephyr stood and walked out. At the door he paused to say, "sleep well." "You too." Moon blinked. Why would Zephyr have any reason to blush like that? to be continued in Legend 12 First Draft Completed at 10:54 pm March 15th, 1999 Second Draft Completed at 3:06 pm March 16th 1999 Well, someone said I peaked at #10, but I certainly hope that isn't true. This was just a transition fic, and was meant to mostly tie up loose ends (or attempt to) so I could restart the action. #12 is hopefully another BIG EVENT fic and I've got a rather radical idea I'm going to try. Oh well...if it flops I can guess I can always *cringe* rewrite...ick. Sorry, but I've not got much to say, except to thank everyone who's emailed me so far about the series. I really appreciate your comments. ^_^ ~ Moon ~ cdrmoon@uniserve.com