We're walking in the air
We're floating in the moonlit sky
The people far below are sleeping as we fly
We're holding very tight
-Lyrics to 'Walking In the Air' performed by Chloe Agnew
Elements of Great Design Part 43
Perfectly reflected in the sky above them, the Alliance and the dragon steeds they rode looked onto the perfect images of themselves approaching with wide eyes. In a startling moment, the reality hit that they were not actually soaring higher into the heavens, but into a glistening sheen of glassy ice instead. And that thick material stretched out for miles.
"Turn!" Trowa bellowed to the giant beast beneath him that had taken the lead in the charge. "Turn now!"
Its wings making an upward tilt, the blue-gold reptile turned himself completely upside-down at the last second before making a deadly collision with the solid surface. Fast on his tail, the other mounts followed suit, their bellies and raised claws' likenesses shooting across the sheen that was not beneath them.
At the abrupt turn, those that had been gripping onto raised scales and wing edges held on with everything they had to keep from falling off their carriers as they shouted and cried out in surprise. Half-hanging off, fingers dug in and gripped as tightly as they could while they shot through the cold air and avoided the falling bodies of monsters that slipped through the occasional crack caused by Wufei's quake.
"How much longer before we're over this thing?!" Duo shouted, struggling to hold onto himself and his scythe at the same time. His braid whipping violently behind him, he shouted, "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!"
No sooner had those words left him than the clouds reappeared over his head and the reflections disappeared. At the first opportunity of righting themselves, the dragons did just that... the swift shift in direction shaking loose their charges at the last of their strength to support themselves.
Falling into the free air, the Alliance warriors screamed until their voices were cut off in their abrupt landing against the solid floor of the same sheen material that they had nearly flown straight into.
Momentarily stunned, the 'brothers' groaned and slowly pushed themselves upright and then to their feet. Quickly righting himself, Wufei opened his arms at the same time that the dragon carrying him flew overhead and turned its torso towards the Monk. The vines securing Anna's body in place slipped away at their master's silent command so that the thief dropped the few feet down into her husband's care.
Taken aback by the sight that greeted them when they assessed their surroundings, their hands froze in rubbing where they ached the most and their eyes grew anew.
For as far at they could see, what stretched out before them was like a whole new land all on its own high in the heavens. Flat in its base, the miles upon miles of white were capped with endless rises of shimmering juts of sharp-tipped, glass-like ice. [1]
The breath in his lungs rushing out, Heero whispered, "Dear Creator. We have to find the Air Stone... in this maze?"
A thought suddenly coming to him, the Fighter scrambled to remove the compass from the purse at his hip. Once he felt the gem enter his armored hand, he removed it to cast the brilliant light around them though when a sudden surge of energy nearly ripped his arm from its socket in a violent blow that he never saw coming.
Reeling in shock with a startled cry of pain, Yuy's wide cobalt eyes spun along with the rest of him to watch in horror as the clear gem that he had been entrusted with bounced off the icy floor to slide several feet away from the team.
When the compass finally came to a stop near the ledge that they had just cleared, the young men continued to hold their breath that was released in a collective sigh when it did not continue over to plunge from the sky. His injured arm locked in a tense clasp across his chest, the soldier cradled it with the other and slowly turned around to raise his head in the direction from which the blast had originated while his brothers did the same.
Hovering a half-mile over head was a half-man-half-beast of red and gold highlights with tall horns that came out of his temples to curl toward the clouds above and arching wings that stretched out at either side of himself for several feet. The monster, now curling its black mouth back in a smug smirk that revealed its dripping fangs, was the very image of what Heero had imagined Abaddon to look like.
Despite how chilled the air was, the Fighter could feel the sweat that had beaded on his brow roll down the sides of his face in light of his growing panic. It took all of his resolve to work his right arm around so that his hand could grip the hilt of his long blade.
"So, you are the Alliance. My name is Chaos, the Lord of the Lost's most trusted messenger. Though you will be dealing with one of my personal creations, I could not resist the urge any longer to finally be making your acquaintances," the monster spoke in a low tremor, lips snarling as his glowing gold eyes appraised each member of the team beneath him.
There was nothing 'happy' about this meeting in his voice, only hatred and mocking. Coming to a stop when his gaze lastly settled on the Earth Keeper cradling the Fire Keeper's body, he chuckled darkly, "Well... most of your acquaintances as one of you is... indisposed at the moment." The Monk growled deeply under his breath just as he would have in his wolf form.
Before anything more was said or done, the clouds that had temporarily covered the sun passed by and the compass came to life. The powerful, violet beam that had led the warriors to the hidden land in the skies now shot through the rises of ice to their right before it disappeared from their sights. His widened eyes narrowing at the display, Chaos screamed at the top of his lungs, "Attack!"
And what had appeared to be a nearly vacant island had suddenly become a mass of demons that came out of every nook and cranny, howling and roaring in their charge for their enemies.
Shoulders sagging and onyx eyes wide, Wufei's skin paled as he murmured, "It appears as though I missed taking out a few of those." Carefully lowering Anna's body onto the surface beneath him, he unsheathed the Chef knife at his waist and shouted to the Fighter, "We will be your cover! Get the compass!"
Not needing to be told twice, Heero was the only member of the Alliance to run back for the ledge when they all broke off in a scramble.
The first to center his attention on the red demon, Duo glared heatedly up at it and spun his scythe so that it was raised with its blade aimed right at his target. Violet eyes glowing, he sent off a blast of black energy intent to send Chaos back to his Master's realm where he belonged. Chuckled menacingly to himself, the winged monster faded from sight into thin air at the last second.
Gasping sharply, the Black Mage watched as his power ricochet off the tip of a sharp ice tip to break into several beams that bounced off and around. "Get down!" he shrieked to the others, diving himself when a few trickles of his gift reached them.
All of the soldiers collapsed onto their stomachs and held their heads in near misses of having their lives claimed. Fortunately, the recoiling bursts claimed over a dozen beasts that were fast upon them in the next rebound. Jumping back to his feet, Maxwell turned back to his 'family' with a sheepish grin as he yelled, "Careful where you're aiming your powers up here, everyone!"
"Yea," Quatre grumbled, curved blades in either hand and a frustrated glare on his fellow Gifted, "we know." Instantly looking up to where their unpleasant host had been hovering, he frowned deeply, "Where did Chaos go?"
Wufei shook his head, "He mentioned something about dealing with a creation of his. Whatever that might be, we have our work cut out for us now." And so ended their discussion as the hoard of monsters was about to fall upon them.
From that moment on, every bit of attention was centered on the battle. Between the waves of demons that were moved closing in on the Alliance, there was more than enough to keep the young warriors occupied. However, there was a great equalizer for the humans in the form of the heavens opening up to scores of fire-breathing, snapping dragons that shot down to have their own shots at Mariemaia's army.
Trowa lowered his hand at the end of the wind tunnel that he had used to send a dozen screaming beasts over the ledge and yelled up to their scaly reinforcements, "Send them all back to their Master, friends!" There was no hesitation from the fold that had easily evened out the scales of the fight.
Bracing into a sliding halt when he neared the ledge of the ice, Heero strategically fell forward onto his side with an open, armored hand stretching out for the compass. "Come on," he muttered under his breath as the gem came closer to his reach, "come on."
Only inches remained to claiming his prize when the last stretch of 'land' exploded in a blinding light of white-blue. Reeling his hand that had nearly been blown off back, the Fighter cried in surprise and scrambled to dig both his fingers and feet into the slick slope beneath him before he could be hurled forward into same the open air that he helplessly watched the compass fall through.
His sword in his other hand was raised, Yuy had just enough time to make a last effort to keep himself from joining the stone. With a grunt of effort, he hurled the wide blade down deep into the rough surface while the momentum of his slide sent him forward over the ledge.
The violent change in direction that his body was flung educed a sharp yell of pain, but the Fighter managed to swing around, half-dangling out into the sky and gripping onto the hilt of his weapon. Staring over his shoulder, he watched the last glistening sign of the compass before it disappeared in the clouds below as he screamed in frustration, "NO!"
After finishing off a Behemoth with a direct hit of his scythe between the monster's glowing eyes, Duo spun around at the sound of his lover's voice. "Heero!" he shouted in panic at the sight of his partner struggling to pull himself up onto solid ground. Another white-blue burst of light rained down to make a wide hole in the ice that the Back Mage had nearly crossed in his desperate attempt to run towards the soldier.
Being close enough to see that display, the whole Alliance slowly looked up overhead to see a machine flying silently as it appeared to watch them with every bit as much interest as they had in it. Two round, glowing plates of blue spun at the center of the otherwise oval-shaped contraption. And at its glistening base of silver metal, it bore the turning eye-hole of a laser.
"What in the Creator's name is that?" Trowa breathed, arms falling lifelessly at his sides along with his staff and his visible emerald eye wide.
As it to answer his question, the strange weapon's spheres turned and gathered up a gust of air, churning and shifting it into the blasts that it gave off. The laser took aim at the heart of the team below while the nozzle sparked to life.
Chang gasped and took the brief moment to stomp his right foot. The quake that came from his power was enough to knock the demons and soldiers alike off their feet as he bellowed to his brothers, "Get down!" Reprieved from the next onslaught from their enemies on foot, the Keepers and son of Shinigami dove onto their stomachs once again to narrowly avoid the next explosion.
Both violent tremors were enough to send a series of cracks into the ice that raced for the ledge and the Fighter's sword was shaken free, his heavy weight from his armor sending him hurling backwards into the sky.
Struggle as he did to grip some measure of the remaining ridge, his fingers came up empty until he realized that he had completely fallen away from reach. And he was sailing downward into oblivion, screaming.
Duo rushed to his feet and completely ignored everything else around him, leaving the Keepers to protect him, as he rushed for the edge, shrieking, "HEERO!" Barely managing to keep himself from toppling over the weakened ridge, the braided gifted stared down with wet, violet eyes as he saw the briefest glimmer of red armor, heard the last strains of his lover's screaming voice before both were lost to him.
"Heero!" Maxwell wailed, collapsing to his knees and coming completely undone over being too late to save his best friend. "NNOOOO!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs that were soon cut off by violent sobs while he gripped the jagged ledge for something solid to hold him together.
Lost to his unimaginable grief, the son of Shinigami remained curled up like that... mentally preparing himself to find the courage to throw himself over to join the Fighter. Then he would be able to make good on handling his father, to work out whatever arrangement needed to be made so that Life might be spared.
Half-leaning off the edge, Maxwell held himself fast when he noted a large streak of red flying upward through the clouds. Narrowing his burning eyes, he followed the growing entity, more and more certain with every second that he was not seeing things as the strange shade only grew before him. Then, with a fierce roar, a red-and-gold streaked dragon sailed into view with Yuy secured onto its shoulder blades.
Tears born out of relief and sheer joy now filled the Black Mage's vision and he let out a howl of a laugh, arching back as the scaled creature and his lover rose high over him. Another roar from the familiar steed brought Trowa's attention away from the ogre that he had cut down to focus his widening eyes on the new arrival.
"Scarlet!" the Dragoon cheered up to his long-time friend and circus accomplice. A grunt of acknowledgment was all the time that the dragon had in response before she turned herself in a steep tilt during her fly by so that Heero could jump down from her back. Landing easily onto both feet, the soldier was quickly enveloped in Duo's arms for a fierce embrace and kisses were rained on his grinning face.
Over his shoulder, Barton winked to the reunited couple as he smirked, "See. I told you that they wouldn't let us fall."
Reluctantly breaking away from his partner, Yuy opened his right hand to reveal the compass secured in the center of his palm once more. "Thank the Creator that Scarlet would not allow this to be harmed, either," he stated.
Capturing the sunlight, the gem cast its guiding beams off to pierce through a gap between two tall ranges of ice at the Alliance's far right that were a good fifty yards off. "We need to come up with how to proceed from here and fast."
His powers more than doubled thanks to the presence of his Elemental Stone at his waist, Quatre sent off a surge of power that locked the next two lines of the offensive in ice that reached up as tall as the natural sheets around.
Lowering his hand when they had a momentary break once again, the White Mage frowned to his teammates, "I could have this whole land melt away by manipulating the water to thaw, but the Air Stone could be damaged if the integrity of the terrain is completely washed away."
A few feet away, Wufei fought to catch his breath after fiercely defending himself as well as protecting his wife's body. "My own abilities will only cause us more harm than good up here since the mountain holding this up might come apart completely with enough quakes," he thought aloud.
His onyx eyes enlarged at the sight of Chaos' machine making another round to work its way back towards them. Not wasting another second, the Monk centered on his braided brother and announced, "We need Anna to help finish this. Now."
"Right," Duo nodded firmly. folding his palms together, he closed his violet eyes for a long blink and had his hands fall away from the glowing spark of a soul that he had captured. To his humming charge, he smirked, "Get going, sis." Fading from sight in its dart for its body, the flicker of light brought the archer's whole frame to glow brilliantly for a heartbeat.
Falling forward onto his forearms and knees, Wufei let out a low hiss of pain through his teeth as his flesh was quickly covered by thick, black fur. Hands and feet shifted into massive, clawed paws. From the handsome face of its true form, a long muzzle stretched out with long daggers for fangs behind its sneering lips.
Quatre ran forward to remove the white robe from the Earth Keeper in the last stages of the transformation and secured the cherished material into the pack on his back.
Blue eyes slowly blinking open, Anna took in a deep breath of chilled air and took in the clouds that seemed less than a mile over where she lay on her back.
The sounds and sights of the ensuing battle that continued to rage on around her quickly brought the archer's memory back leading to the time she last drank Duo's concoction. Springing to her feet, she scanned her surroundings in the same wide-eyed and slack-jawed wonder that her brothers had when they first stepped onto the raised land.
Time was short in being able to assess everything when the ensuing army of Mariemaia's demons scaled over the frozen tombs of their own brethren.
Glaring at the dozens upon dozens of enemies working to close in, the Fire Keeper slipped her bow from her shoulder and pulled back on the drawstring to create one great arrow of flames. Upon the release, the burst of fire dissipated into hundreds of smaller, thinner arrows all with pin-point accuracy in taking out specific targets while leaving the ice around intact.
"Well, this is going to be fun," Chang murmured under her breath as she scanned the terrain anew. Frowning deeply in worry at the strange device floating towards the Alliance, she gulped roughly. "Um... would someone mind bringing me up to speed on what that... thing is?"
Heero kept his own cobalt gaze on the very near danger as he warned, "Just get clear from that laser eye when it begins to spark. The blast that it makes from shifting the air did that." He gestured to the wide gap in the 'floor' just behind them.
A quick glance back was enough make the archer let out a low whistle. "Got it," she replied. Wufei walked up beside her to lean briefly against her leg.
Unconsciously reaching down to bury her fingers in the fur at the top of the wolf's head, Anna greeted softly, "Hello, my heart. I believe that your suggestion as that we hold our ground here, then." Raising his muzzle and lowering it in a nod, the animal grunted in the form of an answer that she understood all too clearly.
"I trust your call," the redhead smirked. Freeing her hand once more, she raised her bow and pulled back to call upon another burning arrow. "Too many of us running after the stone is only going to draw unwanted attention," she said in a calm deadpan. "Trowa and Heero, you follow the compass while the rest of us divert our challengers here. We won't be far from either of you in case the trouble gets thick, but you will have to move before that laser gets its next shot off."
Barton and Yuy exchanged concerned gazes, neither one of them wishing to leave the others behind. Though there was merit in the plan, not being around to guarantee the safety of their loved ones was not a concept that sat well for them.
Resolved in their 'sister's' strategy, Duo and Quatre moved in to flank her and Wufei. "You heard her," the braided Mage smirked specifically to his lover. "We've got this. And you're almost out of time." By the end of his comment, the hovering device had positioned itself only a few feet ahead of them and its spheres began to turn in opposing directions so that it could gather up as much air as possible.
In a growl under her breath as she continued to glare heatedly into the eye of her glowing mark, Anna ordered, "Go!"
Only having the chance to see her burning arrow fly from her hold, the air rushed from Heero's lungs at the force that caught him up to carry him away in a blur. When the world around him materialized once more, the scene around was a very different one from that which he had just left.
Turning when the arm that had caught him under his own slipped away, he blinked in surprise at the Dragoon beside him. Only then did the Fighter realize that the Air Keeper had carried them between two columns of the tall ice rises to there they now stood in a deserted isle of the ice.
A series of shattering blasts filled the air, raising Yuy's heart rate as well as his concern as he spun back to face the way that they had come... wishing desperately that he could see if Duo and the rest of his family were alright.
Resting a hand on his brother's shoulder, Barton frowned, "We are just going to have to trust that they will be able to hold their own." And there was no question that the Dragoon, so similar to the Fighter in their shared upbringing to always look after those who needed help, was struggling with that harsh reality.
But in the end, there really was no other way.
With a deep breath, Heero nodded firmly, "Yea." Taking up the compass once more, he opened his hand to call upon the violet beam that shot straight down the column where they stood. "Let's go."
And as they had been instructed, they ran without looking back.
TBC...
[1] Taken from an actual image of the game to show what the boys were looking at when they reached the top of the Air Stone's hiding place that I created: http://firsthour.net/screenshots/final-fantasy-8/final-fantasy-8-shiva-diamond-dust.jpg
[2] The Air Cutter in action from a Final Fantasy game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz0-514TCmI
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