As sentient beings, we are all creatures of habit. Throughout our life we all face problems, situations and though each occurrence may seem individual and original on its own they all share similarities and they’re all dealt with in similar means. This of course, varies from person to person. Few of us actually realize and identify with this – it takes a certain level of self-awareness to notice and in most cases, even come to terms with it. Those of us that do take notice to these patterns, take notice for a very specific reason. We haven’t always known. Nor did we just wake up one day and have a sudden revelation. No, we make these discoveries in retrospect, looking back on a very specific time, a very specific moment when circumstances force us to act outside of our comfort zone and deal with a problem in a way we had never dreamed.
My brother has become a very different person. Since that day I rescued him from the Oubliette, he has been strange and foreign to me. However, I never once, not even for a moment dreamed I would be the one to send him from this world to the next.
Not until he took the one person who meant more to me then my own life. Once he did that, once he put her in harms way – everything changed. I didn’t even think twice about what I would do to get her back.
I was not about to lose her, not like this. Not after what I’d done to her. I’ve failed her so many times for as long as we’ve known each other, loved each other. But never have I doubted her love for me. There was so much more at stake that I wasn’t even aware of at the time. All rational thought had left my body, all reason and logic was completely devoid – I had only a single objective. I had to get her back, and he had to pay.
“Tell me brother!” Akeem howled down the corridor as he made his way out of the caverns and back into the archaic halls of the Ruins, “How does it feel? Knowing your last words with your beloved kitten tasted so bitter?”
I was seething with so much anger, so much rage I clenched my jaw shut. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of getting inside my head. As I came around a large bend into an open room of the Ruins I saw Akeem standing at the top of several sets of stairs. I was on a platform surrounded by a large open pit. Below, in the pit were several clear cylindrical tubes descending far down out of sight. Akeem was grinning as he held Tara, she still looked unconscious.
“She’s so beautiful, isn’t she?” Akeem said, “…I never wanted to hurt her. I didn’t. That much you can believe.”
“Then let her go…” I managed to spit out from behind my clenched teeth, “Let’s just settle this, you and me…”
“No, no. I can’t do that…no, no, no…” he half laughed, “This isn’t about settling. It’s not about who wins or loses. This has never been about that. It’s only about losing. I lost. Now you lose. Now, you…you feel what it is I’ve been feeling. All this time…you can feel…you can live with it…” his eyes were like stone, completely fixated on me, “…you think you can do that?”
“…I don’t think I’ll have to…”
Akeem was so focused on me, that he wasn’t aware of what was happening around him. To be honest, I wasn’t either until it was too late. Tarawath wasn’t unconscious at all, and Akeem realized that as the walls beside him began to crack and fracture. The water just on the other side started to seep through and thrash on the outside wildly. His eyes went wide with surprise as Leviathan’s mammoth body slammed hard against it, screeching in anger.
I took this opportunity the instant it opened. I bounded forward halfway up the first set of stairs, landing on the rail with nimble feet – arms to the side for balance I raced forward in very few steps and leapt upward with all my might covering nearly the entire set of stairs. Tarawath’s eyes were open now, she elbowed Akeem in the gut and pushed herself away as I landed on the corner of another railing then propelled myself forward. Akeem leveled his hexagun at me but he wasn’t quick enough. I collided into him, knocking him backwards onto the ground causing his gun to slide away. My hand had never been quicker to the hilt of my dagger – I raised it high just as the clear wall to my right burst open sweeping both of us away. Tarawath nearly lost her balance on the edge of the stairs but Leviathan swept her up. As Akeem and I were washed over the side along with the water we were filtered into one of the tubes. The last thing I saw was the archaic walls of the room shifting and sliding to stop the incoming water. As we were falling I felt a sharp pain in my left, lower back. I felt Akeem’s hand grab my shoulder pulling my body against his as he sank a blade deeper inside of me.
I ground my teeth in pain as I writhed in mid fall. I heard him whisper into my ear.
“Deal with the pain…I’m not going to kill you yet…” he said, “You will feel my pain…my loss…so don’t die on me yet…”
As we fell we passed through several red beams of light and the tube began to widen and flash with more lights. Just as our descent seemed to be at the end we found ourselves in a large dark room I could see the floor coming fast but our bodies suddenly jerked to a stop in the center of the room, as if something was holding us up. The entire room lit up with blue lights and the walls seem to come alive. Archaic gears lined every inch of the wall and started to vibrate and gyrate creating some type of artificial gravity in the room making us weightless. I grabbed Akeem’s hand from my shoulder and with the weightlessness of the room easily threw him over me. I groaned in pain as he had a tight grip on the dagger and it was yanked out of my back.
He seemed to regain his balance very quickly as he landed against one of the gears with quite a bit of grace. Bending his legs in he shot himself off the gear with amazing velocity as he propelled back towards me, bloody dagger readied. Because my reflexes had always been superior to him, and I was able to catch both his wrists in my hands. The fact that he was still a Dragoon made his jumps massive in power and caused both of us to flail uncontrollably through the air until we crashed against the other side of the wall into the gears. He had me pinned me down and was slowly overpowering me as the dagger inched neared and nearer to my face.
“Just a scratch…” he whispered, “I don’t plan on killing you, remember…” he grinned wickedly at me, “But we’ll see how many women you charm without that pretty face of yours…”
I couldn’t seem to overpower him at all, so I let go of his hand and jerked to the side. His strength and momentum caused him to drive the dagger straight through one of the prongs on the gear. It hissed and whirred as power faded from it. The weightlessness of the gravity suddenly changed. Along with a large clump of gears we fell hard toward the floor. I was able to grab a hold of a still functioning gear and swing myself back up, landing somewhat gracefully on a larger gear, through the pain in my lower back nearly caused me to lose my balance. I watched as Akeem hit the ground and the gears toppled down around him. He moaned in brief pain then stood kicking the gears away.
That’s when we both noticed it – several yards away from him was his Hexagun, laying on the ground. He broke into a run. I knew I couldn’t make it there in time, so I decided to try a little improvisation. The gear I was on wobbled a bit under my weight so I stood up and then threw all my weight down causing it to dislodge from it’s place on the wall and crash down past more gears.
They all whirred and whizzed before they shut down, shifting the gravity of the room again. The Hexagun, Akeem and Myself all became weightless once more. As he scrambled through the air towards his fire arm I launched myself off the wall and collided with him in mid air. He flailed past his gun as I reeled my arm back and sank my fist into his lower back.
He recoiled in pain then brought his elbow backwards into the side of my jaw with immense force causing me to loose my grip on him. He spun around and grabbed my harness pulling me back to him as he pushed his fist into my gut, then landed a solid hit against the left side of my face. I pulled my feet up and planted them firmly on his abdomen kicking him away as hard as I could.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was kicking him. As he regained his composure he noticed his gun now within arms reach. He grasped it firmly in his hand and took aim at me.
As all this was happening the entire room was bathed in a green aura, before Akeem was able to pull the trigger Garuda came down through the entrance in the ceiling, Tarawath mounted firmly on her back.
The Avian Avatar howled loud as it reared back and then thrust it’s arms and wings forward creating a strong gust of wind that propelled Akeem against the wall of gears with a loud thud. His body went limp and he lost grip on the Hexagun. The gravity too, was once again altered as he slowly drifted toward the floor and I also began to ascend.
As I touched down lightly on the ground Akeem’s limp body landed softly as well. Garuda touched down and Tarawath climbed off.
I turned to her instantly, but before I could take another step…
“Kallo watch out!”
The entire room rattled with the sound of gun shot. I felt my back explode with pain, my chest erupted in anguish as my entire body was lit a blaze! I turned to glance over my shoulder and Akeem was on his knees, Hexagun in hand, the barrel smoking. My eyes started to blur from the agony. Then, however, it slowly began to numb away. There was a soft glow in Tarawath’s direction. I looked down at my chest as the wounds closed and the skin faded back to normal. The pain quickly receded, but I found myself suddenly very winded and short of breath as I collapsed to the ground.
Akeem growled, “Those shots weren’t meant for you…” he stood up and walked towards me. Tarawath closed her eyes and put her hands together. Garuda howled again as she began to glow with power.
“Shut up!” Akeem pointed his Hexagun at Garuda and a burst of Ice exploded from the barrel and blasted the avatar. She was thrown back against the wall of broken gears as she winced in pain and slowly faded away.
Just as I was about to stand Akeem grabbed me by the hair and pulled me up, “I need you to stay down for a moment…” he kneed me in the stomach, pulled me back up straight and slammed the hilt of his hexagun down onto my face before dropping me to the floor, spattering blood out. “And now you darling…” he walked towards Tarawath.
“Get the hell away from me…” she hissed.
As he reached for her arm she swatted it down and delivered a nasty hook. His head snapped to the side and he spat red onto the ground. He growled and swung his arm at her but she ducked under the swipe with ease and planted another of her small Mithran fists against his chest. He coughed and staggered back in surprise.
Tarawath put her hands together concentrating deeply, but rushing her casting. A large dark, shadow-encrusted emblem of the moon appeared on the floor as a large canine began to emerge and take form.
“Aarg…not this time!” Akeem raised his Hexagun, aiming right for Tarawath.
“Tara!” I shouted as I reached out in vain.
The barrel of the gun exploded! The single shot rained through the room as my lover’s eyes shot wide open. They were filled with such surprise and electricity, as she staggered back they slowly began to drain of all emotion and life. She looked down her hands covered in red as she fell to her knees.
Akeem smiled as he glanced over in my direction, “Do you feel—” the room suddenly started to shake and stir throwing everyone’s balance off. The still functioning gears all around us started to fail and fall away.
“Tara!” I called out to her as the entire room seemed to vibrate. She seemed so disconnected, she looked around blankly. Her eyes met mine for only a brief second, her lips began to form some words – but at that moment the floor all around us opened up and she vanished, as did Akeem. Before I could move, I too was suddenly descending down some long twisting passage. It didn’t last nearly as long as the previous fall. I landed on the hard, rocky ground of an underground passage.
I scrambled around pushing myself to my feet, breathing hard, still in a complete panic. My surroundings, the situation – it all began to slowly set in. Everything was so quiet…so still…I heard nothing. My entire body felt so weak, my knees wanted to give out. I wanted to just give up.
“Tara…” I whimpered. That look in her eyes. That emptiness. “No! …no…Tara!” I shouted. I heard nothing. I started to walk around the corridor carefully, there was no way those drops in the floor could’ve been that far away.
I was suddenly yanked back to reality as the entire halls of these caves was rocked by the sound of gunshot. I stood completely still, dreading the worst. Then I heard another shot followed by a faint heckling. Something told me he hadn’t found her first – even if he did…as much as it hurt to think about it, he would want to kill her in front of me. I just knew it.
“Kallo?” a voice suddenly appeared in my head, “Come to the north Kallo…she needs you…” I recognized the voice.
It had to have been Carbuncle, he was trying to lead me to Tarawath. I closed my eyes and everything slowly stood still, as though it was locked in stasis. The dust falling from the walls stood still, the water trickling down froze. As everything around me seemed to stop I took off with incredible speed as a I fled through the caverns in the direction I was being called too.
After a few seconds my surroundings began to speed back up as I slowed down and the world around be returned to normal. As I rounded a corner, I saw her…my stomach turned over, my gut sank and my heart broke.
Haphazardly strewn about the ground in a thick puddle of standing water and her own blood lay the limp body of my Tarawath. I quickly knelt down beside her gently turning her over. Her hair was matted to her face with blood.
“…Tara?” I whispered as I carefully pulled her into my lap.
There was silence around me save for the dripping water from the ceiling.
“…Tara?” I rocked her gently in my arms, nudging her body. “T-tara?” my eyes started to blurred from the tears I was holding back, “Wake up, baby…please…” I pulled her closer to my body, “I need…” I started to gasp for air, my chest was tightening up, “I need you…” I whispered as I held her closer, “Please…please don’t leave me…”
“…tiger…?” her lips barely parted as she spoke softly.
“Tara! Oh, thank Atlana…oh, god…” I put my hand on her wound, applying pressure as best as I could. My heart was racing so hard, so fast. The desperate thumping was deafening to me. Accompanied by her pale, shallow breaths. I pushed her bangs out of her eyes and she looked up at me, just like she did every morning she woke up back in Windurst.
“…you haven’t looked at me like that in a long time…” I whispered, my lips quivering as I held back tears.
She smiled softly, then winced in deep pain.
The silence was quickly shattered as the caverns were lit by the sound of gun powder igniting. I pulled Tarawath closer to me as though to shield her from the menacing cackles of Akeem, his voice could be heard a bit clearer now as the gun shots disturbed the caves.
“Here kitty, kitty, kitties!” he crowed, “Come out, come out wherever you are!”
My attention was brought quickly back to Tarawath as I felt her cold, shivering hand touch my cheek, “Kallo…” she spoke shakily as she gasped for air, “…please, y-you need to go…” the words she spoke were so soft. “…please…leave me and go…” her eyes were so peaceful.
I pulled her closer to me and kissed the top of her head, “You know I’d never do that.” I whispered, trying to be calm but she could easily hear the fear in my voice.
She smiled weakly, she tried to laugh but didn’t have the strength, “Liar.” She grasped my hand and gripped it tightly, “You just can’t…c-can’t…can’t flee so quick…after doing it once…” her words slowly dwindled and trailed off as her breathing became more shallow.
I tried to laugh with her, but it was all to apparent in the tears I was trying to hold back that I was weeping instead. Her grip began to fade on my hand, I shook her gently as I stared down into her eyes, she grabbed my arm tightly as her body convulsed. She tried to whisper again, but her lips produced no sound.
I could still read what she had said, “…please. Go.” I shook my head, and at that time noticed the gun shots had stopped. In their place I heard the presence of boots splashing through puddles of water that had collected on the ground of the cavern.
I swallowed as hard as I could, but my mouth was so dry. I wiped the tears from my face. “I am coming back for you…” I said, clenching my jaw tight. “I promise…”
She nodded as she closed her eyes.
Letting go of her in that moment, was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do. It was also the worst moment I’ve ever felt. I knew at that time I was letting go of a piece of my life that I could not live without.
As I set her down and stood up straight, I turned to where I thought the source of the sound was coming from. I drew my daggers, gave one last look at Tarawath…she was so silent, so peaceful…I could barely see her chest rising. I had to tear my eyes away from her and even though my body felt like it weighed a million tons…I forced my legs to carry me away from her.
The funny thing about enclosed spaces like this, is that sounds can play nasty tricks on you. One moment the boot steps can seem like they’re right around the bend. The next second…
There is a gun shot from the direction you just came…
In the brief few seconds it took me to get back to where I left her, our entire life flashed before my eyes.
When we first met, I came across her in Tahrongi Canyon. She was training against Yagudo’s using only her fists. Not many people know about that. Tarawath Jayles, the Great Summoner of Windurst started out as a Monk.
Our first trip together to Jeuno through the Merphitaud Mountains. She was so worried and concerned for me, she wouldn’t let me get three steps ahead of her unless I was silent, invisible and deodorized.
The many nights we spent sitting on the docks in Norg, seeing who could skip the pebbles closest to the docking boats after just getting lost in Sea Serpent Grotto.
The time we faced off against Shiva – before her and Tarawath pledged an eternal bond to each other.
The night I proposed to her, sitting behind the Rhinostery in Windurst Waters…always in the glow of the flowers.
I collapsed down where her body should have been. I fell to my hands as I wept, my tears adding to the pool of her blood. I caught a small glint of red out of the corner of my eye. My hand sought it out, trembling I picked it up and opened my palm.
It was her necklace…her Carbuncle’s Ruby.
It’s glow was gone.
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