THE ZODIAC WAR
^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i

Chapter 56: Battle of Destiny

Altima simply sat there, taking in all the things the Braves had said, then a red glow flashed across her feminine eyes.

And with a wave of her hands the throne was gone, and she was hovering, another wave of her hands seemed to transport them all to a strange stone platform, an amalgamation of the Zodiac Table and some sort of devil's pentagram.

"Enough of this prattle! If you're so eager to die then I grant you the first strike!!"

The platform seemed to send red energy up to Altima and her crimson-white wings unfolded to a full battle stance. Her arms strangely lengthened into grotesque claws. Possibly sharp enough to cleave anything in two.

Flying forward in a rage, Cloud was the first to attack, using his Ultima Sword he thrust and cleaved multiple times, but it seemed that the now massive claws of Altima were parrying every blow.

"Have you no more strength, Soldier?"

Cloud was tired, but he wasn't about to lose to her. Charging up his sword, he performed possibly the most perfect Omnislash ever, but Altima sat idly by, bleeding.

The blood flowed across her entire body, coalescing into what appeared to be a form of organic armor. Cloud stared on in shock.

"The sages were correct to call me Bloody Angel, should I ever shed my blood, it becomes my armor."

In an instant her massive claws we grasped around Cloud's throat, not enough to choke him, but to surprise him.

"You are lucky, you know, your death will be first…"

With that, the claws extended to elongated blade tendrils and impaled Cloud right through the abdomen, all the while Altima held him. Blood gushed out in gallons, Cloud's eyes a frozen expression of shock upon them. He was dead. But in the next instant his body seemed to have warped from her very hands.

"I've sent him back to his own era, dead, so the powers of the Phoenix are no threat here. Care to try again?"

It was Aeris this time, in tears, breathing heavily as if a part of her heart was instantly severed. Thrusting her hands into the sky. She performed a lengthy spell. Using the White Materia on her hairband, she cast the most powerful version of Holy.

The White energy was a total contrast to the utter blackness of the battlefield, and the power seemed to hurt Altima severely as she became haunched over.

Suddenly, she to lurched back up, spit up more blood, and licked her lips and bloodied limbs with sexual zest, as if she did in fact drank her own blood.

"Ah, pain, it's been awhile, when I receive pain, though, I tend to be generous in sharing it with others."

In another flash of red demonic light, Altima was gone, suddenly to reappear in front of Aeris. Gently grasping Aeris' shoulders like a light caress, she pressed Aeris up against her body in the most disturbing of hugs.

The Blood-Armor began to move around Altima's body, completely enveloping Aeris' body inside Altima's blood, swallowing her whole.

The blood absorbed lithely back onto Altima's body and Aeris was completely gone. She was absorbed into Altima's body like some twisted succubus meal.

"In case you haven't noticed, this is my beauty secret, I absorb human girls for my feminine figure. Next."

This time two warriors attacked, Sephiroth and Agrias. With his lengthy Masamune, Sephiroth charged forward and cleaved Altima's midsection, sending it flying flawlessly, but to his surprise the blood was very stringy, and she used it to bungy back onto her midsection. No less for wear.

"The concept of death has no meaning for me, don't you know that?"

"Maybe so, but Holy powers might," Agrias yelled, "Destroy all minds of evil, and purge this darkness, Holy Explosion!!!"

A shockwave of light erupted from Agrias sword, aimed straight at Altima's heart, but she somehow sidestepped it.

"I hear that when a man and a woman love each other, they like to embrace…" Altima taunted.

In an instant, it appeared that Sephiroth and Agrias were holding each other. Tearfully, looking down, they noticed that both the Masamune and Save the Queen were impaling both their hearts, each blade slid through both of them.

Stuck in an embrace of death.

In an instant, just like Cloud, they were gone.

"Now you've got me going, I think I'll kill the rest of you just for the poetic tragedy!!"

Beowulf and Reis were next, Reis spoke, "You may take our lives, but you'll never have our hearts!!!"

Beowulf ran forward slicing and attacking Altima with Excalibur II, the attack appeared to be affective, but she deliberately left him openings to attack.

Reis jumped. Perhaps the highest jump ever made in the history Dragon Knights, aiming her spear down toward Altima's heart. Altima opened her arms wide, as if accepting an offering of pain.

The landing thrust was solid with a loud crunch, and Altima stared at Reis and smile evilly.

"Like I said, what poetic tragedy!" she laughed coldly.

In an instant Altima's face faded away, and Beowulf's face appeared, looking down, Reis realized, too late that she had impaled her lover, and that he had impaled her.

"I-I'm sorry, my beloved." She croaked out.

"As am I, Reis," their final words as they faded away. Leaving rage and anger in the remaining braves.

Altima appeared once again and gracefully sauntered up to them. "Who wants to die next?"

Seifer sat there, sadistically grinning with hate,"I've killed Sorceresses before, I can kill you." Raising his gunblade to the sky he yelled, "GRIEVER, SOULS OF LOVE AND LIONHEART, LEND ME YOUR POWER."

As he said this a strange silver aura began to glow about him and the Lion Amulet that Squall used to wear appeared around his neck.

Charging forward, Seifer raised his gunblade, Griever's Heart, high, slicing Altima down the middle, as she began to reconstruct herself, he cut again, this time pulling the trigger, blasting pieces of Altima in all directions. Her blood splattering all over his coat and gunblade as he maniacally slashed away at her remains.

"I should have asked you to be the Chaos Knight, you would have been more effective. Too bad, eh, that I have to kill such a handsome boy?" The voice echoed inside his head in laughter.

"Where are you, you witch!!!"

Suddenly, the blood that caked Seifer's coat and blade came to life, wrapping him up in monstrous tendrils, the blood pierced his hands and feet, and hung him high in a distorted crucifix fashion, two massive tendrils pierced his heart and side as he screamed in agony.

"So much for your dream!" The demonic blood chuckled, and in a flash of red light, Seifer was gone as well.

The blood reformed back into Altima, now whole again.

"That was fun!" she said playfully putting a finger to her chin, like a grotesque little girl playing tag. "Maybe I'll go back in time before he died and do it again!"

The rage in Delita's heart was beginning to overflow and escape his mouth as he gripped his Legacy with white knuckles "No more! NO MORE ALTIMA!!"

"Oooh, did I get the Pawadin mad! Oh I am so sowwy!!" she said mockingly. "Maybe you want to be next!! Or should I torture your friends some more!!"

Delita began to growl and grit his teeth with such ferocity, he could've been mistaken for an animal.

It was now Garnet's and Zidane's turn, the two knelt down and prayed for the last summoning. Looking up they saw who they summoned; the mighty Bahamut.

"Ah, so the dragon wants to play, eh?" Altima smiled in contempt. But when her eyes glowed white, Garnet and Zidane noticed that so had Bahamut's.

"Time to turn the tables!" and with that Bahamut swooped blindly toward Garnet and Zidane and with one quick blast of his Terra Flare, both Braves were gone.

"Don't think I'm done with you, Dragon King!!" She smiled and waved her hands. Effectively sealing Bahamut's mouth closed, and he once again attempted Terra Flare. This time the terrible force sealed inside himself had no place to go, so he simply exploded.

Delita could no longer hold back the tidal wave of dispair that hit him. Looking down, he saw his sword Legacy give off an eerie glow that was different, it seemed to reflect the sadness in his heart back at him.

It was Ramza who spoke next, "Delita, you know that we are destined to fight in this battle, even if we lose, it's our fate. Whatever happens, Delita, my best friend, I will always be glad I spent my last days with you. And as for her: SHE WILL DIE WITH ME!!!"

Using all his strength, Ramza raised his sword high, waving the remainder of his allies away. Running off, and at a safe distance, Delita, Alma, and Teta watched in fear and awe as the most courageous of the Zodiac Braves, cast his final spell.

"I call forth the spirit of life within me, the force that gives me strength…and courage…destroy the evil that is Altima---ULTIMA!!!!"

A massive green force erupted from within Ramza's heart and erupted through his body, sacrificing all his life, the most powerful of Ultimas.

"You think that spell of yours will kill me in one shot! I thought I mentioned that I can't die!!! What? What's that energy??? No!! I can't contain it!! The power!!!"

Altima tried to contain Ramza's life force but the immense powerful light was just too much for her and she seemed to vaporize in the blast.

After a long moment of silence, Delita looked about to see nothing but haze and smoke, nothing visible.

Managing to find both Alma and Teta was easy enough, but the sacrifice of his allies was far too great, and he knelt in silent mourning.

A bloody crusted foot stepped where he knelt, and a feminine voice choked out, "…Your friend was strong….I was wondering when I would feel some real pain. And when you would bow to me…"

Looking up he saw nothing but the evil malice of a bloody fallen angel. She stared at him with an insane grin upon her mockingly beautiful face that concealed the monster beneath.

".N...no...," was Delita's desperate response, and he instinctly thrust his sword into her stomach with a wet thrust.

"Hmmm...it seems as though you still don't get it yet? Do you?"

The sword still in her stomach she picked him up by the throat and threw him across the battlefield colliding with Alma and Teta.

"Ironically, you are the only three that have yet to die, the warrior, the lover, and the sister. You know what? I think I'll treasure this 'little war' between you and me. In fact, I think I'll treasure this pain forever, however insignificant it is, I'll keep this sword in my stomach just to remind myself that you had the gall to fight me and yet your courageous attempts fell before me."

"You may have his sword," Alma said, "But that's not the only weapons we have, let's hit her!!"

And as the two women raised their hands to the sky, they cast a powerful combination spell, unheard of in the laws of balance, the most powerful of black magics, mixed with the most powerful of white magics, seconded only by Ramza's Ultima, the Holy Flare!

As the spell connected it seemed to have a double effect, it burned away at Altima's beautiful skin, and the holy light engulfed the evil blood that coated her body. Making her reveal what kind of creature she really was.

"NO!! My Beautiful face!! My body!!! YOU WITCHES WILL PAY FOR THAT!!!"

The now undead-looking fallen angel warped in front of both women and grasped their necks like rag dolls, flying upwards the demon-queen smashed their bodies together repeatedly until a rain of blood and body parts poured upon the stone floor.

She silently floated back down, as if to retain her feminine grace and so-called composure. "What a pity I had to destroy such beautiful women, I could've used them for my cosmetics!!"

Delita was heart-broken, and a single tear fell from his eye as he spoke, "You will…SUFFER…for the pain you've caused me and my friends."

"Of course I will...as long as I get to be with you."

"WHAT?"

"You think Teta was your sister? You think you're human, just a Black Knight-turned-Paladin? I just got rid of them for the both of us, I lied when I said I wanted to make you suffer…"

"What are you saying?" Delita said, dumb-founded.

"You don't remember do you? How you and I used to play in the Palisades and Glades of the Heavenlies? You promised me you'd come back once you helped win the war, but you never came back, HE said he had a greater purpose for you. I HATE HIM! I HATE HIS JUST CAUSES! I HATE IT THAT YOU HAD TO LEAVE! WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST COME BACK TO ME?"

"Are you saying that we knew each other? In heaven?"

"Yes, you and I, we are Angels! The highest ranks! We could have succeeded God himself! Come join me! Please, don't leave me again!"

"Angel? Me? How can I be an angel? I grew up on a Horse Breeder's ranch? And how could I ever love you?!!"

Altima seemed to start to cry, but since she was beyond tears, they didn't come.

Instead a red mark appeared upon her forehead and a small beam hit Delita's mind:

Images of a bright place, a beautiful woman, falling, a farm, a little girl named Teta, serving the master's horses, training in the Academy with Ramza, graduating, finding Algus, Teta killed by Algus, striving to be a king, killing killers, killing innocent, shaking hands with the only man he trusted, being crowned king Hyral, the hatred for guilt and God. The five lonely years and the quest meeting up with all his friends that brought him to the present.

"I...know… Now. I remember!"

"Do you remember our love?"

With those words, Delita's eyes flashed a bright white, and golden angelic wings erupted from his back. Standing back up, a golden aura about him, his eyes opened and he spoke.

"I…did…love you once, but being human for a time has granted me a new sight, a new view where I was blind before...before I was hungry for power….Now I have humbled myself and I swore an Oath to God. That I would defeat all evil."

"But, my love, you can't forget me! I'm the only one that ever loved you!"

"You might have been, but God showed his love for me…and so did my friends who you butchered, and I don't think you know what the meaning of love truly is."

Stretching forth his hand, his sword, Legacy glowed white hot in Altima's stomach. The burning caused her to screetch inhumanely. Then with a quick movement of his hand, he telekinetically pulled the sword out of her.

Enraged, Altima charged up her powers to their maximum. "I may have loved you once, Dear Delita, but it seems you have betrayed me for the lowly humans! I will not forgive you for that!!!"

"Father forgive her…she doesn't know what she's doing." with a wave of his hands, he trapped Altima in a green Earth crystal. The crystal glowed an even brighter color as it obsorbed her power.

"Her spirit was as a bright flame, Lord, I cannot kill her, so I will trap her in the Life Crystal, so that she can sleep for all eternity while her spirit becomes pure again, such blindness must not be unleashed upon the world. And God help me, neither must my power…"

Closing his eyes, the golden wings disappeared. And he returned to normal. Marching alone he stepped outside the black hole that was the dimension, and all the evil that filled his old castle seemed to flow out, but the structure was collapsing. Still marching down the hallway, everything was falling around him and not on him.

Stepping outside the gate, it was now apparent that the entire castle had collapsed.

"So, I'm alone again, and yet…not so alone…"

"Sire! Your castle! Are you alright!" came a voice. It was Gildenstern.

"Sire! Where are the other Braves? What happened!!!"

As the airship landed, Delita stepped aboard, all the crew was silent.

Looking around, Delita said, "Don't worry, I know where they are…"

On to Epilogue >>>>

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