My Little Fantasy

by GuyWhoWritesThings

Chapter 45: When Hope Reaches Zero...

Chapter 45: When Hope Reaches Zero...

A guttural roar emanates from pony-like lower head of Jenova's new form, fangs bare as echoing voices overlap in a strange, discordant sort of harmony. The force of the roar alone requires me to dig my feet in and brace myself, cloak flowing against wind and myself wondering how the rules of physics apply in an aether of Lifestream. I look to my feet, and as if to answer my question, what was once formless green mist is now a small piece of land, littered with sand and rocks beneath us. How?

“Stop daydreaming, Dusk!” Trixie snaps me out of my wonder to look at the towering form of Jenova before us, now taken to the air with its four wings beating in a slow rhythm, matching the steady beat of its heart in my ears and somehow keeping it aloft. The air around it cackles with energy, strands of lighting crossing the spectrum of the rainbow's colors and more, slowly building up energy atop its horn for the first time. Is it having trouble channeling Equestrian magic through its new horn? It didn't use one last time, so why would it choose to now?

There's no need for communication on what we do next - that is, run, the desert-like land below us extending with each step away from Jenova, Trixie's mind surely turning over as fast as mine in an attempt to formulate a plan for fighting something like this. A crack rips through the air, and my instincts flare, telling me Jenova's just unleashed its first true piece of unicorn magic without the need to look - a concussive beam not unlike ones I've seen ponies like Twilight perform, aside from the scale of the casters. Riding that same instinct, I crouch down, wrap my left arm under Trixie, and kick off from the ground, ignoring the pain in my arm as my body flies upward. The blast explodes with a direct hit on our previous location as I leap, the distance something I'd thought lost to my memories. Come to think of it, my first day I traveled with Trixie, I scooped her up like this, too, hadn't I? Though, I distinctly remember her shouting 'Put Trixie down!' back then.

My mind lingers a moment, but there's really no time to consider what's allowed me to seemingly regain the abilities befitting the name 'Cloud Strife', nor to consider why the leap ends with us landing on a metal catwalk. We keep running, taking a sideways glance over the railing to see that Jenova is now below us, while ahead of us is a massive, concrete pillar, with a winding, metal staircase along its exterior, heading further up.

“This is...!” Realization dawns on Trixie, causing a realization to dawn on myself as well - a realization that I'm never getting used to her having access to my memories.

“Keep running!” We turn and begin up the stairs, boots and hooves reverberating off the metal steps. My ears pound with a rapid heartbeat as we scale the structure, but I can't tell if it's Jenova's or my own. This staircase... this pillar... this is some kind of recreation of when Shin-Ra destroyed the Sector 7 support pillar, meaning this staircase should culminate in a large service platform. The disorienting heartbeat becomes the source of a plan as we near the top, the sounds of wingbeats echoing from below making it clear that Jenova isn't far behind.

We finally break the top, the platform being just what I remember as I take a second to orient myself and run for one of the ledges. “The heart!” I yell as my mind races, hoping my words convey my plan to Trixie in the frenzy of the moment. The heart... even if this is technically the 'head', the pounding that echos through the Lifestream means its body still has a 'heart' built onto it somewhere... If we can destroy it, it might cause its entire body to stop functioning. We hadn't seen it from the front, but what we had seen were the distinct tubes that normally connect to Jenova's heart, barely visible as they connected to its back and to its 'mount'. Somewhere in that mess - on its back - must be the heart!

I leap over the ledge, spinning to find myself just in time to jam the Buster Sword's blade into Jenova's right shoulder blade as it ascends to the level of the service platform, and then higher. The upper body shrieks in pain as the sword lodges itself in place, leaving me dangling over the mess of tangled tubes that serve as what I imagine must be this heart's many arteries, sending the Lifestream it's absorbed coursing through its veins. I scan through them all, with the back of Jenova, the back of its lower half, and the arteries all blending together as masses of sickly, discolored flesh, the smell of it overpowering. Amidst it all, however... I see it, pulsing grotesquely, arteries extending from it as it rests against the back of the 'mount', halfway between the start of the tail and where Jenova's main torso attaches to it. I place a foot against Jenova's back, but before I can try to kick off and attack it, Jenova thrashes and rolls itself over in the air, dislodging the Buster Sword from its back and sending me on a one-way trip to the ground... wherever the hell that is.

I pull the Buster Sword in front of me, drawing my eyes along the Materia lining its blade, hoping the added visual stimuli will help me will a course of action into my mind. As one begins to form, however, I feel a tug along the back of my cloak and find myself pulled into a dark room, a door slamming shut in front of me as I topple against the floor. I take a moment to catch my breath, the sound of Jenova's heartbeat temporarily replaced with that of wooden wheels grinding their way along a dirt path. “What the...?”

“It's my old wagon.” Trixie's voice explains from behind me. “I think I figured out what's going on, Dusk.”

“What do you mean?” I ask as I draw myself up to a sitting position and lean myself against one of the wagon's side walls, realizing just how cramped this thing must've been to live in, even for a pony of Trixie's size.

“It's the Lifestream.” She says as I turn to face her, her having taken the moment I was adjusting myself to sit next to me. “I think it's trying to help us. It's pulling things from our subconscious, our memories, something, and reconstructing them in a similar manner to the way Jenova made the illusion of Ponyville. I leaped after you when you went over the ledge to land on Jenova - because of course I did - but I was too slow. Instead of falling, though, I landed on a trampoline I used in one of my first magic acts and then on top of this thing, and noticed little wisps of Lifestream around them. It'd also explain the catwalk and the support pillar, wouldn't it?”

It would - thinking back to when we landed on the catwalk now, I'm not sure how I hadn't noticed. It had been the same catwalk that I fell from before landing in the Sector 6 slums and meeting Aerith for the first time, pulled right from my memory then connected directly to the Sector 7 support pillar. Is this really the work of the Lifestream we're engulfed in, asserting whatever bits of will and consciousness it has to rebel against Jenova and protect the planet?

The sounds of the wagon's wheels are joined by not only a pulsing heartbeat, but also the stomps of hooves and paws. Another question without the time to ponder it - Jenova's coming again. On a three-count, I kick open the wagon's door and we both leap out, a dirt path extending both forward and back as we touch our feet to the ground, and a forest extending in all other directions. We leave the wagon to roll along its path, running into the trees without a look back, the sounds of wood shattering joining the rest behind us.

Trixie squints her eyes shut as we run, face distorted in concentration. Is she trying to will something to appear...?

The trees burst open without warning, leaving us to run out into a massive dirt clearing. Rocks are both piled in mounds and laid out in rows, and what I recognize to be a pony-drawn dirt tiller is left abandoned in the middle. As we reach it, Trixie skids to a stop, turning on her hooves to face the treeline, further heavy hooffalls and cracks of tree trunks telling us our pursuer is coming close.

“Trixie-” I turn the second I see her stop, confused, but she cuts me off before I can get another word out.

“I'm done running!” She declares, widening her hooves into a four-legged fighting stance and lowering her head. “I'm at least giving this thing a black eye before I go down!”

The final row of trees breaks, and we're left face-to-face with Jenova as it steps into the field, as I realize it must be the 'rock farm' Trixie worked on. It smirks at us with its pseudo-human head, visible eye glistening, like a predator smug that it's found its prey trapped in a corner with no escape. A hint of green escapes from under Trixie's lapel as she wordlessly calls forth magic from the Materia, but... nothing happens. Jenova's smirk widens, but as I turn my glance down to Trixie, I see she's wearing a smirk of her own, growing to match.

The rocks around us rumble, and as I turn my head I see the wisps of inky Gravity magic around them, tendrils seeping through every rock in the quarry. In a burst of sudden movement, the rocks begin to launch themselves from the ground at a breakneck speed, firing like missiles at Jenova, aim true - as if gravity's shifted to draw them to Jenova instead of the ground without warning. I'm reminded of the time Twilight Sparkle flung the mine cart from the Crystal Caves at the clone of Sephiroth, and find myself impressed despite the situation we're in that Trixie's somehow discovered a way to replicate a unicorn's levitation spell with the Gravity Materia, and on such a scale.

Jenova wraps its arms and faux-feathered wings in front of its upper torso defensively, the horn on its lower head lighting in an attempt to summon some sort of defensive countermeasure. Its magic reaches a peak, first in a ripple, then in a burst, a flow of color that might've been beautiful from any other source sending Trixie's rock-projectiles back where they came from. Except...

“Trixie... look.” I say, trying to get her to notice as well. Its spell had been just a little too late, allowing the first volley of rocks to connect and tear against the flesh of its wings. The flesh of its wings, which...

“Its not healing.” Her smirk from attacking Jenova widens into a proper grin. “We can kill it.” As she says it, her body trembles. However, an onset of panting betrays what could've otherwise been construed as excitement for its true source - the Materia usage is catching up with her, if it hasn't already.

“We need to make a plan, though...” I eye Jenova down as I feel tugging on my cape, a familiar weight sprawling up it and wrapping her hooves around my neck.

“The plan right now... is run!” She says in-between sharp breaths, clearly doing her best to collect herself as the magical exhaustion from the Materia hits her body in waves. Her plan isn't any better than the complete lack of plan I have, though, so I turn tail once more, pushing both my body and my Time Materia for everything they're worth to make some breathing room between us and our pursuer. The rock farm disappears, as do the trees, allowing us to break into a recreation of the Crystal Caves, its namesake crystals each aglow with the soft, green light of the Lifestream.

“The longer we take, the more adept it gets at magic...” I muse, mostly to myself. “If we're going to beat Jenova, we need to do it soon.” I turn down all-too-familiar paths in the Caves, knowing they won't help us lose Jenova for long.

“Did you... find the weak point?” Trixie asks, her panting only getting heavier. “That's what you jumped off the platform for, right?” Behind us, Crystals crumble and shatter, massive hoofbeats making the Caves tremor. Jenova's taking the direct route.

“...Its heart is on the back of the lower half.” I reply after a moment, not sure what she's planning. “We don't have a good way to reach it, though.”

“Shiva.” She replies, drawing up either a second wind or an excellent mask to push her previous panting and trembling away. “I'll summon Shiva. It can fly. You distract Jenova for a moment and I can have Shiva move in and attempt to strike it directly with its ice magic from behind. That'll work, right?”

“Trixie, if you-”

“It'll work, right?” Her voice is firm, decisive.

“...It has a better chance of working than any of my ideas.” I admit hesitantly.

“Then put me down, Dusk.”

I stop, digging my feet into the cave floor, and turn to face the impending form of Jenova, steeling my resolve. “No.” I place my left hand against the hooves crossing my neck, gripping them tightly to prevent her from getting off.

“Dusk!” She protests, doing her best to wriggle free from me. “We both know it's the best plan! Put me down already!”

“No!” She stops struggling as I lock my hand tighter around her hooves, my body starting to tremble. I'm done feeding into your self-destruction, Trixie. “We're both coming back from this. Being able to see them will make those stained-glass windows a lot more enjoyable, won't it?” I can see wisps of the Lifestream trailing up from the ground around us. It must intend to try and change the scene before Jenova reaches us.

“Dusk, you-”

I cut her off, forming what plan I can on the spot to head off her protests. “This form of Jenova is as slow as it is large, it seems. So, I'll rush it down with the Time Materia, circle around it, and attempt to get in position to strike its heart directly. You just hold on and cover me the best you can with your less straining Materia, Trixie.” As I finish reciting the certainly-suicidal plan, my body trembles, not in fear but in anticipation.

“Dusk-”

“It'll be fine, Trixie. I trust you.” I squeeze her hoof tighter still. I feel like I've tapped into some sudden well of power. Whatever trepidation I had is gone, replaced with a singular determination. “It won't-”

“Shut up, idiot.” She cuts me off with a disapproving monotone before her voice softens. “...You're glowing.”

Glowing? A quick look down confirms that I'm indeed giving off a mist-like, sky-blue glow. Well, that explains the sudden well of power, the anticipation, and singular determination. Much like the jump from earlier, this is another feeling I thought would be lost to my memories - the strength of the Mako pumping through my veins, reaching an emotion-fueled crescendo to push me well beyond my normal limits. Of all the times to feel this again... “I guess I am.” There's more than just the glow, though, as I notice threads of Lifestream circling my feet as well. The strands of energy reach their way up, gently encircling the hand grasping Trixie's hooves.

“Let's get her, Dusk.”

“Yeah. Let's.” The cave around us dispels, returning to its natural state of flowing Lifestream, leaving nothing between us and Jenova's monstrous form. Without hesitation, my feet begin to move, and I feel Trixie's hooves grip tighter around my neck, my own hand not leaving them as we rush into battle. Jenova's visible, rainbow-hued eye glistens maliciously and its smirk widens as we approach, jeering wordlessly.

The Time Materia's magic comes as second nature to dodge the gnashing maw of Jenova's lower head with a weave to the right, and a stomping paw with a weave to the left. We dart below it, and aim for our first target: its left-hind leg. I draw the Buster Sword behind me, guesstimating the correct spot and unleashing a horizontal strike. Its slow, but not completely immobile, a fact I'm looking to change before it can regain its full magical prowess it wielded at the Ghastly Gorge. The lower head lets out a pained howl, but there's no time to see if the hit landed true as we pull out from beneath it, heel turning and leaping to attempt to get onto its back. We soar up, reaching heights above the entire creature, and quickly scan its back, identifying the target. I turn the Buster Sword to plunge down on it and end this fight quickly-

“Tail!”

Trixie's warning comes a bit too late as the tail strikes me clean in the chest, swatting us away like a pair of bugs as we soar through the air in a new, horizontal direction. “I forgot about that...”

“Leave it to me, Dusk!” Trixie says as our momentum stops, and I can feel my body being rotated around, as if the pull of gravity itself is rotating. I've got to wonder if being naturally creative with magic is a unicorn thing, now. “Ready?” She asks, as I look up, seeing Jenova now directly 'above' us, its own gravity unaffected. Its body is turning to us, limping but not completely immobile, and its wings beat, taking it slightly off the ground. Seems like we did some damage to it, at least. “Go!” And now to do more!

This time, I'm what's launching as the projectile for Trixie's modified Gravity spell, Buster Sword at the ready as the distance between us and Jenova closes even more rapidly than it did under the influence of Time. The horn of the lower head lights, but it soon realizes whatever spell it's readying won't finish in time and takes a swipe at us with a massive, draconic claw. I prepare for the full impact, with flesh-tearing action, but our course seems to correct itself, lowering my trajectory enough to fly under the swipe and have a clear path to land directly on top of of Jenova's lower half.

There's no way I'll be able to slow myself and take proper aim at its heart at this speed, so as my boots land on its leathery hide, I run with the flow, aiming for the next best target. I dig the Buster Sword's blade into the base of one of its bat-like lower wings, using both my strength and the force of my current speed to cut through, severing it from the main body a single slice. I jump, kicking away from Jenova in order to avoid the tip of the scorpion-like tail skewering us like a kabob, and feel Trixie's Gravity magic adjusting my trajectories already.

“Tail?” She asks.

“Tail.”

We launch forward as Jenova whips its heads around to face us, the spell from before now glowing atop its horn, now fully-charged-looking. It's too late, however, as I bring the Buster Sword down along the midsection of its tail and-

My ears are rocked by a disorientingly loud version of a certain, signature pop sound, and Jenova is gone. Did it just teleport? I twist in the air in time to see that not only that it did, indeed, teleport, but its now behind me with a massive fist aimed directly at my face - as well as the rest of me. I pull the Buster Sword up defensively, and in front of that, a distinct, diamond-shaped Barrier erects itself, but it only takes a split second to learn how useful those are as the impact shatters the spell and sends both myself and Trixie on a one-way course to eating some dirt.

I hit the ground and tumble, losing grip on both Trixie and my Buster Sword as I eventually roll to a stop, my everything flaring in pain. I scrape myself up to my knees, then my feet, shaking my mind clear and scanning the ground, only one thing on my mind.

“Trixie!” I run, seeing the crumpled form of azure-and-purple amidst the Lifestream. I check her over quickly. Breathing, but not moving... dammit! “Trixie!” I yell, shaking her and trying to jar her back to consciousness. “Trixie, wake up!”

“Urgh...” She murmurs, her eye fluttering open after a moment. Behind me, I hear the landing footsteps of Jenova, but right now, all my attention is focused forward.

“Come on, Trixie, you need to wake up!”

She grumbles and pulls away. “The flowers are too comfortable...”

Flowers? I look around and indeed, the green that was once Lifestream is now a small bed of flowers, growing spitefully in the face of the monster behind us. I shake her again. “Now who's being the idiot? You know you can't sleep on the flowers.”

She stretches her legs, yawning and rolling herself onto her stomach. “Shut up.” The stretching makes me notice something, though. The bangle of Materia I gave her, one of the Materia along it is glowing a bright red.

I grasp the hoof bearing the bangle and pull it up slightly, calling her attention to it. “Trixie... what are you doing...?” I ask, trying to mask the panic in my voice. There's no way her body can handle using a Summon Materia at this point.

“That... I'm not doing that, Dusk.” She looks up at me, the full extent of her exhaustion now etched on her face, but her eyes meet mine. She's definitely not lying, but-

My half-finished thought is answered by a roar that echos through the Lifestream, snapping up even Jenova's attention as we all turn skyward. At first, it looks like merely a speck, but the speed its approaching is beyond incredible. Within seconds, Jenova's hand-like claws are locked against another set, belonging to a new, sleek, but distinctly dragon-shaped attacker. Blue-white scales glisten against the soft green of the Lifestream, layered with those of glistening gold along its shoulders and chest. Its arms, legs, and tail are both as familiar and powerful as they'd ever been despite their new colors, pressing back the massive form of Jenova. Its neck is thick, lined with scales like armor that crest into its head, which still sports its distinctive but now-white horns. The snout is plated with what may as well have been a piece of pointed armor, reminiscent of a large beak. Two new horns extend from the back of its head, as well, glistening in the same gold as its chest and shoulders, curving back and then up. Its last new feature, however, is also its most prominent - six massive wings, lacking their clawed tips but distinctly powerful. Its a form that exudes both power and elegance. And on its back, gripping its neck and barely distinguishable, were six forms I'd come to know all too well. But, is it really...

“...Bahamut?” The last word escapes my lips as I watch it wrestle Jenova in disbelief.

“Not late, are we?” Shining Armor? I turn to see him and Princess Luna descending into the Lifestream, him holding her front hooves much like I had when her and I had rushed off to the Ghastly Gorge.

“The cavalry has arrived, dreamer.” Princess Luna sets herself down next to us after placing down Shining Armor. With a glow of her horn and a pop, I see my Buster Sword floating in her grip. “Dropped something?”

“Thanks.” I nod as I take it in my good hand. “But, Trixie is-” I turn to her, only to see her now completely passed out.

“Fear not, dreamer. Shining Armor shall guard her.” Her wing waves at the stallion behind her, cutting off a protest before it could start. “And we shall fight. Miss Lulamoon has already gone above her station in this conflict.”

“It's not that.” I grip the hilt of the Buster Sword to calm my nerves. “I'm guessing you used those Elements of Harmony to pull Bahamut from Jenova's influence... but, they restored his connection to the Materia on the bangle I gave Trixie. If this doesn't end quickly, then-”

“Then we end this quickly, dreamer.” She says, stepping forward and flaring her wings.

My emotions begin to take hold, my calming exercise of gripping and un-gripping the Buster Sword's hilt no longer enough. “But how?” As I ask the question, I realize how little I've come to care about whether we defeat Jenova, and how much I care about just getting Trixie out of here alive. “Its regained use of most of its magic, we'll be lucky if even Bahamut can-”

“Quit your foalish blubbering,” she cuts me off, back to me, “Lest you wish all Miss Lulamoon's suffering in this quest to be for naught!” After a pregnant silence, she continues. “We fight.” Her voice is solemn as she steps forward, taking to the air. “No matter what happens.”

I pull up my Buster Sword, eyes scanning the blade as I grip the hilt one last time.

No matter what happens...

Comments

[Black_Knight]

Very happy to see this story back and even if I must wait till the end of the year for the next chapter, I'll wait.

May I just ask how many more chapters there left? Cause I see the conclusion drawing closer.

[RTStephens]

It's too bad Cloud and Trixie were already tired before the fight even started. Still, they were doing pretty good despite that. I think if Trixie had a little more time, she'd have used the Lifestream in even more creative ways.

Bahamut leveled up!

Sounds like things are going to get dire for Jenova. It's about time.

[SRXwarrior]

Aww snap! Bahamut ZERO gonna bust a Tera Flare up in here!

[liger090]

I love this story so much!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sad this battle is marking the close of the story though.

[GuyWhoWritesThings]

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Thanks! I really appreciate the sentiments!

I can't give a specific projection of how many more Chapters we're looking at, I can say there's one more plot thread dangling that needs resolution before things are truly finished. The end is definitely in sight as the tables turn against Jenova, but there's still a bit of road left to travel.