Final Fantasy Duo

[DarkEmpress]

In the reflection she could see Terrant standing there, anxiously trying to get her attention. The fact that he was there, was puzzling.

What is he doing here?

"Don't make me carry you, it will complicate matters,” Nerana heard Terrant’s voice. She slowly surfaced and blinked in time to see three young trainees descend on him. She took in the body of the dead guard just outside her cell and the fact that the force field was deactivated.

Is he trying to free me? Nerana thought perplexed.

It didn’t make sense.

She didn’t have time to debate his motivations though. This was a chance to get out of here and she was going to seize the opportunity. She jumped up quickly, and had to sit back for a second as another nauseating dizzy spell took hold of her. After a moment she tried again, motivated by the fight that was playing out before her. She didn’t want Terrant to hurt any of them - they were too young.

She focussed her attention on a spot in the middle of the group of trainees and summoned a slightly bigger whirlwind than she had in the field. The distraction gave them both a vantage point and as the whirlwind started pulling energy, Nerana took Terrant’s arm and pulled him back just before it exploded. It knocked the trainees across the room.

Nerana bent down and took the vitals on one of them. “They’ll live, will just have a slight headache in the morning,” she said softly.

 

[HisPureLust]

“They’ll live, will just have a slight headache in the morning."

He was unsure of exactly what happened, had a plasma crystal in the base of a sword failed? Was that magick? He didn't have time to figure it out, but he was sure Nerana was the key.

"Good," he answered plainly stopping to look at her while she examined the youths. The curves of her body still left on display for all to see due to her outfit. "Glad you've decided to join me. This way."

He took off with great celerity, breaking into a straight run and heading towards the turbolift for the prison block. All was automated and they had to get to the ground level before any of this was discovered. He thought about placing the bodies out of sight, but every second counted. If they got caught in the lift it would be all too easy to catch them.

Finally arriving he again entered a code and the doors hissed open. Inside a guard stood, his hand placed on the wall beside a feminine guard's head as he pitched his whoo to her.

'Dammit, I didn't want this much bloodshed," he said to himself... wondering if Delamica was right, and if he HAD gone soft.

"Where ya headed sir?," the guard asked as the two straightened their bodies to respect Terrant's title.

He rushed in with his elbow closing the distance between himself and the two in the blink of an eye, his blow shattering the female Zenosian's stomach plate and taking the wind out of her lungs. He cycled into a backhand for the male guard and hoped he used enough force to penetrate his helm but not his skull. Turning his attention back to the other he smashed his open palm straight into her temple and was pleased as they both fell to the floor unconscious.

He looked back, undoubtedly the fiasco giving Nerana enough time to catch up.

 

[DarkEmpress]

"Glad you've decided to join me. This way,” she heard him say. Nerana averted her eyes from him. She was willing to fight alongside him to get out of here, but more than that she wasn’t contemplating.

She was however still confused about his motivations. He didn’t have the cruel and vicious look in his eyes at the moment, and when he looked at her a second ago she could swear she saw a glimpse of her Terrant there.

If she didn't know any better, she would swear that he was trying to get her out of here, at the expense of himself. He seemed absolutely set in his conviction of whatever it was that he was doing. Would he give up everything for her? Nerana's hand stilled over one of the young ones as she stole a quick look at him.

No, don't get your hopes up.

He spun around and started running down the corridor at full speed. Nerana jumped up and tried to keep up, but he was easily increasing the distance between them without even trying. By the time she reached the lift doors, she saw two more bodies sprawled on the floor. Her eyes widened again, did he kill them? She bent over them quickly taking their vitals again, they were fine.

She helped him push them out of the lift and then went to stand in the corner, frowning lightly as she gazed at Terrant curiously. She didn’t feel afraid of him, and she should be. Her thoughts went back to the afternoon and she closed her eyes and shuddered at the memories. When she opened them again, there was fear there as she pressed herself closer against the wall. The door to the lift hissed shut.

She watched him punch in a floor number on the panel and then she dropped her eyes to the floor. He stepped back closer to her, and her body reflexively tensed.

“What are we doing?” She asked in a small voice, intently examining a metal panel on the floor.

 

[HisPureLust]

“What are we doing?”

He wasn't sure if it was fear, apprehension or pure confusion that made her voice so nearly inaudible, but it upset him that he may be a source of pain for her.

Of course it all made sense though, he just wished to not see it. He had just tortured her... treating her with less affection than one would give a stray dog, she was in shock, and more than likely unsure of why he was now helping her. He was disappointed that through it all she had believed the facade and had lost sight of what she means to him. To her credit she managed to stay sane through all of it.

He sighed, his chest dropping as his features relaxed and his breathing slowed.

'FINALLY' his mind screamed... what he said aloud did not matter, and they were alone.

"We can't begin this way, first you need to know that what i did, i did because others were watching. I would never hurt you unless absolutely necessary. I need you to know that. As far as what we are doing...."

The turbo lift stopped and the interior lights began to flash red.

'Fuck.'

"... I'm getting you out of here."

 

[DarkEmpress]

Nerana saw him hesitate for a moment, before he answered her. Then he let his guard down and he sighed with relief. She could feel the tension disappear.

The cinders in her heart stirred.

"We can't begin this way, first you need to know that what I did, I did because others were watching. I would never hurt you unless absolutely necessary. I need you to know that,” Terrant said.

The realisation dawned on Nerana, and thinking on all the events that happened the last few days, everything suddenly made sense. A wave of relief washed over her, and she could feel the cinder in her heart warm.

It still did not explain why he came back here to give the three pieces of black materia to Dellamica. She was hoping that his time with her and her people, had changed him so much, that he was not willing to live this life anymore … was she insane to hope?

The lift jolted to an abrupt hault, and an ominous red light started flashing.

“They’ve found us,” Nerana whispered, the fear echoing in her eyes. She looked at Terrant, and the tension was back in his face and emblazoned in his eyes. He looked tired, and she could see the strain etched on his face.

If anything, he was the one who suffered the most the past three days. He was forced to watch and participate in something that he did not want to do, something that probably killed a piece of him inside. Everything that Nerana was subjected to ... could heal. But the scars that were left in Terrant's heart would never heal.

Nerana’s eyes softened, the cinders in her heart kindling into a flame. She wanted to wrap him in her arms and make the last few days disappear.

She pressed her lips together, determination and defiance echoing in her body language. She was not prepared to give up on them yet, not now that she’s found him again.

Nerana took a step forward and gently walked into Terrant’s arms, burying herself there for a moment … just remembering how it feels to have him near. “We can get through this … whatever they throw at us,” she said, leaning back and gazing deeply into his eyes with a contagious determination almost tangible in her words.

“I trust you, and I’m sorry I doubted you. I should have believed in you,” Nerana said, her eyes shimmering in the red flickering light. With a teasing smile she added, “I knew love hurt … but you really took it to an entire new level.”

She could see the pain flicker across his features and she instantly regretted saying it. Before he could say anything, Nerana pressed one finger against his lips to stop the regret that was lingering in his eyes. “There is nothing to forgive,” she whispered.

“Let’s get out of here.”

 

[HisPureLust]

“They’ve found us"

She was right, Terrant instantly stiffened up again, everything blacked in around him as his eyes focused and he thought quickly with deep concentration. He looked around, there was the touch pad terminal and several recharge outlets littering the perimeter of the turbo lift. He looked up, deciding on a course of action.

'Bingo'.

His mind again filling in with his surroundings... namely Nerana, he realized a new found sadness on her face that broke his heart to look upon and then she spoke.

The most unexpected thing happened then. She held him, as she had long ago, when their love was young and free from pain and scars and betrayal. He lifted his arm like a dying limb revitalized. Shaking it held her and then strengthened. He leaned his head to rest on hers and sighed contently, the warmth from her nearly naked body stretching to his own like warm tendrils of pure joy. He smiled inside. Reborn.

“We can get through this … whatever they throw at us," she looked up at him while she said it, their eyes meeting, her fire spurning him on. He nodded as his eyes narrowed and he nodded in agreement.

'Yes let them come. I will destroy this entire land to protect you.'

“I trust you, and I’m sorry I doubted you. I should have believed in you....I knew love hurt … but you really took it to an entire new level.”

He wanted to smirk but the truth behind her words fell heavy on him, he almost looked away as he began to spit out an apology but she stopped him, as if she could read his mind.

“There is nothing to forgive, Let’s get out of here.”

He smiled.

A devil's grin.

"As you wish."

He pulled the rifle off his back and checked its plasma meter. Satisfied, he stuffed one end of it under his shoulder and aimed the other at the turbo lift's roof.

"Cover your ears."

The blasts echoed horribly inside the lift and once they subsided most of the roof towards one wall was no longer there.

He leapt grabbing the jagged remains of one end and hoisting himself up as the red flashing light bathed his shadow across her face. Once above the lift he wrapped his legs around a circuit box, hooking his feet together and leaned back in, hanging upside down.

He leaned in his arm outstretched to her, a long lost determination on his face.

"I won't let them have you again, i promise."

 

[DarkEmpress]

"I won't let them have you again, I promise," Terrant said in a determined voice, his eyes encouraging her to take his hand.

Nerana looked up at Terrant with awe in her eyes. She jumped up and grabbed his hand, placing her entire life in the palm of his. He pulled her up and set her down next to him. She held on to the cabling around them as the rest of the lifts in the shaft zoomed past them at a frightening speed.

There was one lift stationery, a floor or two below them in the adjoining shaft. Nerana could hear the hissing sound of breaks releasing as their turbolift started moving downwards again, slowly picking up speed. There was no time – they had to do something now!

“We have to jump,” Nerana said, pointing at the stationary lift that was getting closer and closer. They both waited until it was within reach and then jumped. Nerana closed her eyes not wanting to consider the alternative if they missed their landing.

Her feet made contact a second after Terrant and she breathed a sigh of relief as her hands clung to the cabling once again. She was looking down at their lift that was speeding back to the bottom again, the red lights flashing from it bouncing off the metal walls.

Whoever is waiting at the bottom will be coming up shortly again, they needed to get away from here.

“Any ideas?” she asked panting slightly from the excitement, her heart racing.

Her words were barely cold when they could hear someone get into the turbolift below them, the doors hissing shut and the turbolift starting to move up. Nerana’s eyes widened as she looked at Terrant.

 

[HisPureLust]

“Any ideas?”

He smirked.

It was hardly the time or place for a dirty thought, but he couldn't help it. He had been without her for so long.

"Yes plenty, but that will have to wait."

Still grinning he again took his rifle from off his shoulder as the lift was now moving downward. He stepped back... fearlessly and almost grazing the metal walls flying past at a blinding pace, without touching it. Aiming the rifle down in front of his feet he looked up to her and nodded... knowing she would know he meant for her to be careful and not get hit by the shrapnel or blast.

Once near a corner of the lift he again opened fire in the dark hall, standing atop a flying metal monstrosity.

Quicker than before and without offering anything to Nerana he lept in the smoking hole he had just created. Several we cracks and loud bangs resonated up and into the turbo lift hall. A few shots fired and then nothing.

"Hurry, jump down," Terrant shouted obviously now in charge of the situation.

Catching her in mid air at her waist, he hoped it didn't knock too much wind out of her.

Three more Zenosian guards were now lying in bloody pools along the floor. He input a bunch of numbers into the pad next to the turbo lift's exit and it stopped.

He took a moment and looked at her...his finger hovering over a large red button.

"Stay close to me. This floor should be relatively quiet. We'll take a telepad back up to the surface."

He pushed the button and the doors opened...

 

[DarkEmpress]

Nerana just needed a glimpse of the white marble floor to realise exactly where they were. She shuddered. Horrible memories filling her mind, ones that she’d rather forget.

That oversized banshee was stalking around here somewhere … does she even sleep? Nerana wondered. She looked at Terrant for a second. “We have to get the black materia back, we can’t leave it here with her … it makes her too powerful.” She didn’t need to say anything; he was already thinking the same thing.

Nerana followed Terrant and she stayed never more than a few steps behind him. Her eyes were flicking across every room, every corner. Alert.

He was right; this floor was much quieter than the others. She supposed that Dellamica did not expect a great deal of ‘visitors’ on this floor. Somehow she didn’t think that Dellamica would be the type of person to sneak up to … she was right.

Without any warning, Terrant collapsed in front of her groaning in pain. He closed his eyes tightly, helplessly gasping his face drenched in perspiration. Ahead of them Nerana could see Dellamica step forward, idly toying with the necklace that was clasped around her collarbone.

“Did you really think you’d get this far without me noticing?” she asked as she cackled evilly, sauntering closer to Terrant.

Nerana’s eyes burst into jade flames of fury. Her entire body started shimmering in a bright white light as she shook her hair to release three small pieces of glowing white stones that started circling around her waist in a sphere.

Nerana closed her eyes and clapped her two hands in front of her and lifted her hands above her head, summoning a furious ball of light energy that she hurtled at Dellamica. The whirling sphere looked alive with white energy as it collided with the serpent-like creature sending her flying into a wall with an overwhelming amount of force, releasing Terrant from her grip.

For added measure, Nerana summoned eight whirlwinds around Dellamica that started humming and drawing energy from around Dellamica, exploding in a sequence.

Nerana bent down placing a hand on Terrant’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” Fear echoing in her voice. At the same time she summoned her healing power, letting a glistening sheen of light run over his body, to take the pain away.