The Mysidian Legend: Part Ten
by Winter
All Buffy related things are owned by Joss Whedon, etc, etc. All things related to Final Fantasy are owned by SquareSoft, etc, etc. In short, I own nothing except the idea for this story.



***

"Holy--" Xander was cut off as a beam of energy was shot at him. He smoothly rolled to the side and out of the way as the beam flew past him.

The battle had begun.

Angel drew Excalibur and launched himself at Zeromus, who had emerged from the pitfall and come to stand directly in front of them, on solid ground. The monster was enormous.

The Warriors stepped back and away from the pitfall, so that they would have plenty of room to attack and defend. Zeromus inched closer.

Angel's blow landed nicely across the lower portion of the beast, causing a gaping wound. He immediately withdrew his sword and retreated.

Buffy was the next to launch into motion as she jumped high into the air and came down, spear poised and ready, for an attack to the monster's back. Zeromus howled in outrage as Buffy's spear penetrated his flesh, and he flung her off. Buffy landed with on her back with a thud, knocking Xander down as well.

Giles was in the process of casting an Ice spell to freeze one of Zeromus' tentacles, when Zeromus attacked with a spell he called the Black Hole, which affected everyone.

The spell left the Warriors disoriented and unable to summon their Magick for quite a few moments. Zeromus took his advantage and sent one of his tentacles out to attack Buffy, whom he had seen as the most immediate threat.

The tentacle wrapped itself around Buffy's slender form and began to emit a strange current through her, causing her to shake with pain. Xander, who was nearest to Buffy, unsheathed the Masamune and severed the tentacle that was holding Buffy.

Willow made her way around Zeromus and to Buffy, who was lying on the ground in shock. "I've got her!" she yelled to Xander, who was watching in concern, "keep attacking Zeromus!" Xander nodded his head and went to help Angel.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, "can you hear me?"

Buffy nodded her head and groaned, "Remind me to watch out for those tentacles."

Willow laughed and said, "I think you're gonna be alright." She silently casted a Cure spell to heal Buffy, and within moments, Buffy was back on her feet and had re-entered into the battle.

Willow also got up and grabbed hold of her bow, firing another string of arrows at Zeromus' upper body. The arrows hit in a perfect line across his chest, and Angel took the opportunity to cause him further injury by using his sword to push the arrows even further into the monster's body, then bringing the sword up to slice across his chin.

Giles, whose Ice spell had been interrupted, had begun casting a spell to summon Ifrit. The Guardian appeared in a ball of flame and attacked Zeromus, leaving a stench of burnt flesh behind, then disappeared.

Zeromus felt the Hatred build up inside of him and once more casted Black Hole, following immediately with a Flare spell.

Angel, Xander, and Buffy, who were in the immediate line of fire, were struck down, and Willow ran to their aid. Zeromus noticed that four of his enemies were preoccupied, and his tentacles reached out to eliminate them.

But Giles intercepted with a blast of lightening that stopped Zeromus. He turned his attention to Giles.

Meanwhile, Willow was frantically trying to revive her friends. Angel, who had learned a few of the Cure spells from Willow, had already begun to heal himself, so Willow as able to concentrate on Buffy and Xander. She turned her attention first to Xander, who seemed to have received more of the blast that Buffy.

She quickly wove a spell to revive him, then set about to heal his injuries. Angel stood now, healed somewhat, and figured that Willow could handle the healing. He had to help Giles, who was fighting desperately.

Giles was locked in a battle between three of Zeromus' tentacles, and was slowly losing ground. Suddenly Angel appeared and slashed one of the tentacles, but before he could do any more, Zeromus unleashed Nuke on the three Warriors who were huddled together a little away from him.

Willow felt the energy gather and knew the blast was coming even before she saw it. She turned around and did her best to put up a Wall to reflect the Magick back onto her opponent, but she didn't have enough time. The hit came to her in waves upon waves of pure energy, and knocked her back, unconscious. Fortunately, Willow had been able to keep the blow from hitting Xander or Buffy, but Buffy hadn't been attended to yet.

Xander, though he wasn't at full strength yet, staggered to his feet and cast an illusion spell to hide Willow's body from the enraged demon. He turned and noticed a gaping wound in Buffy's head that was bleeding fiercely, and attempted to cast yet another Smoke spell to conceal her, as well, when a blast of energy hit him in the side.

Xander landed with a harsh crack on his arm, and knew immediately that his right arm was broken. He swallowed his pain and grabbed his sword with his left hand, since Ninja's were supposed to be able to fight with both hands, and turned on Zeromus.

Angel and Giles were losing the battle against the monster's tentacles, and as Xander stepped next to them, he noticed the various bruises, cuts, and gashes all over the bodies of his fellow Warriors. Things were not going well.

Suddenly one of the tentacles reached out and grabbed Giles, encircling him much as it had Buffy, and released its odd form of electricity. Giles felt the waves go through him and thought he was going to die. Light flashed in front of his eyes and he felt blood spilling from his nose. Then he was on the ground.

He saw Angel hovering over him, using Excalibur to ward off the blows as best as he could. Xander was next to him, using his left hand. It was evident the young man had broken his right arm. Giles felt the world around him spin, and knew this was a lost cause. There were going to lose. Where were Buffy and Willow? He couldn't see them, and immediately feared the worst.

"Retreat!" he heard Angel yell. Apparently the vampire had taken a good look at his companions and had come to the same conclusion that Giles had: they were all going to die.

Giles tried to get up, but found that his legs were paralyzed. Suddenly he saw Willow approach, a large gash across her chest, pouring blood onto her clothing. She, too, it seemed, had heard Angel's order and was coming to help carry Giles out of the God-forsaken lair.

Giles held on to Willow as she helped him up and practically carried him out of the lair, the others close behind. Angel noticed Buffy's still form lying on the ground, her body covered in blood, and strained to hear a heartbeat. It was faint. If they didn't get out of there now, she would certainly die.

Angel bent down and scooped Buffy up, running out of the lair with her, right behind Willow and Giles. Xander was the last to leave, as he used his one good arm to fend off the tentacles that were constantly reaching towards them. When he finally exited, Willow was in the midst of putting up a Wall to keep Zeromus from escaping. Thankfully, it worked. The wall effectively sealed Zeromus, who roared in outrage, off, but the question was, for how long? It certainly wouldn't hold forever. Perhaps a day, at most.

The Warriors looked around at each other, taking just a moment to survey their injuries, before heading back to their cave. They had failed today.

But they would try again.


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