Chrono Trigger: Dare Chapter 35
Unis
By Crono_12
I felt the world go dark, then brighten again, my point of view changing, all in the span of a millionth of a second. Now, instead of looking directly at Ibleess, I could sense him above me and to my right, exactly where Marle was an instant ago.
Hello? I thought.
Hello. Seven other voices answered my call.
We are joined. We are one. We are Unis. We are ready? It seemed we all asked the same question at the same time.
We are ready. We all answered our own question at the same time.
Then let we begin. The conversation occurred at speeds beyond that of thought.
"What-" Ibleess, surprised at seeing seven of us disappear, never finished his sentence; Unis stood up and backhanded him, sending Ibleess flying. Without missing a beat, Unis crossed the distance between it and Ibleess in less than a second. Mercilessly, it delivered another crushing blow, bringing Ibleess to his knees.
"What are you?" Ibleess’ voice wavered.
"I am humans. I am Unis," Unis spoke.
"You all joined into a single entity? How?"
"The spell is used to bind people together. The first part gives the key all the casters’ power. The second part physically binds the casters to the key. We think as one. We are one. I am one," Unis answered.
"The spell...it can do that?"
"It has already done so. It is my final fortune."
"...He said...I would win...."
Unis didn’t answer. Instead, it put it palms in front of itself, facing each other. A ball of white light formed, bobbing lazily in midair.
"Wait! If you kill me, you kill Tsern too!"
Unis lowered his hands.
"Explain," it ordered. Ibleess started to crawl away from Unis slowly.
"Ah, so you finally want to know the truth. Well, here it is. Tern created me from himself. You see, he had an ulterior motive as well. He wanted to be perfect. In doing so, he separated the evil in him from the good, thus creating me. Like any god, after creating such an imperfect being, he gave me a purpose: to provide energy to other ‘lesser’ beings. But, and here’s the kicker, he and I are one. We’re two halves of the same coin. In killing me, you kill him too."
"How can I trust you?"
Ibleess grinned as he crawled even further away.
"You can’t. But whom can you trust? Tsern has manipulated you from the very beginning. He has lied to you and kept the truth from you. I have not done anything of the sort. Ironic, isn’t it? I tell the truth, and yet I’m the evil half. He moves people around like pieces on a board and he’s the good guy."
Unis thought for a second, then turned away.
"You are defeated. You can’t do any more harm. Leave. Now."
Ibleess stared silently at the towering figure, then stood up and turned around.
"One more thing," he began. "I don’t give up, either!"
Spinning around, the monster pointed a finger at Unis. But he was far too late. Unis had brought his arm up, from which a beam of light lanced out and smashed Ibleess to the ground. Unis then drew the Deus Moon, but instead of unsheathing metal, it unsheathed a beam of godly light. Unis then brought it down upon Ibleess, severing his head from his body.
"You’re still evil," Unis muttered to the dead Ibleess. When it got no answer, it walked away, scanning the place for an exit. It didn’t need to look long; a pitch black hole appeared in the ground on its own accord. Unis wasted no time in leaping down the hole. Blackness slid by, as dark as pitch and as menacing as Ibleess himself. When the world finally lightened, Unis found itself staring at a multitude of huddled, cowering creatures. They all looked exactly like Ibleess, but none had that perfect, menacing quality around them that jarred the depths of one’s soul.
"Who are you?"
"We are Lavos. Who are you?" One huddled creature shifted itself into a better position to speak, although he, if he was a he, was still cowering before Unis.
"I am Unis. Do you know Ibleess?"
"Ibleess is our protector. He is protecting us from the humans," the Lavos said.
"I am the humans. I have killed Ibleess."
"Killed Ibleess? How? And does that mean you’re going to kill us?"
"I don’t think I will kill you, if you are willing to talk."
"Then why did you kill Ibleess?"
"He was trying to kill me," Unis explained. "It began with the Kingdom of Zeal." The next few hours were spent explaining the history behind the conflict. In the end, a deal was made. In exchange for the planet Betrise and being left alone, the Lavoses (or whatever the plural of Lavos is) agreed never to leave the planet. Evidently, when Ibleess was designated the defender of their race, they transferred all their power to him, leaving themselves more or less defenseless. They were not even a shadow of the superpower that Ibleess was. There was no threat that they would ever leave the uninhabited planet anyway. Procreation was also out of the question; they lost the ability after the last time Tsern tangled with them. Unis felt sorry for them, a lost and nearly extinct race being punished three times over: once by Tsern for creating them, once by Fate for existing, and once more by Ibleess himself.
"Do any of you know how to leave? My home waits for me," Unis said.
One of the Lavoses walked to where Unis entered, touching his hand to the air. Instantly, another dark hole opened, this time appearing into thin air. Unis stepped through it with a backward glance at the lost race, then shook his head. They had given up. In this world, giving up meant death and despair and defeat. None were acceptable.
Suddenly, the blackness was thrown back, revealing the real world. Images flashed by, and then the eternal darkness claimed me. It promised it would do its best not to let me go, this time. I told it to prepare for a fight, that I never give up. It laughed and tightened its hold.
.