The Origin Of Mount Woe Chapter 15
Shivan
By Nanaki
12,010 B.C.
Vigo watched the Sun stone flicker faintly in Schala's hands as the last of the men Serges had slain wearily got to his feet. Other men quickly helped him off to the medical wing. Melchior's men were already busy at work repairing the lower sections of the city. A forced silence fell over the crowd as the injured man was carried inside. Vigo took the Sun stone from Schala, who backed away carefully. Vigo looked at it for a second, then the closest guards had to duck as Vigo drop kicked the object as far away as he could. "Now," Vigo said in a cold, rumbling voice, "can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" He didn't raise his voice. That fact made the people around him even more nervous.
Masa stepped forward. "Well, yes. I believe so." Masa stepped back as Vigo glared at him. "..Sir. Since you set up your new machine, we have been getting very unusual readings from the planet's center. Now, it appears that these beings are living there, and drawing energy out of the planet has made them very unhappy."
"But what can we do?" Vigo asked the crowd. "We can't use the Sun stone, we can't land, we can't use the planet's energy... Is there anything else we can use?"
"Nothing else from this world has enough power." Schala said with conviction.
Vigo just stared at the ground. "Very well everyone. It appears we can do nothing but prepare for their next attack."
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"I know of no way around this situation except to defeat them." Maro said weakly from where he was propped up in bed. Vigo was brooding on the other side of the room.
"I don't know if I can. I don't know if both of us can. I don't know if everyone in Enhasa can!"Vigo shouted in exasperation. "I barely survived a fight against one of them! Against however many there are down there, I don't know."
"Yes, but that one claimed to be their leader. If he really is, that should mean the rest are weaker than he is. If we can plan an effective strategy..."
"Even if we can defeat them, I'm not sure its such a good idea." Maro looked up with questioning eyes. "What if an occassion arises where we need someone to defend the planet? It would be good to have such strong allies against a common threat."
"What? Vigo, do you really think some alien is going to ride in here and try to use us all for it's own sinister purposes? I think these Weapons have made you paranoid." Vigo decided not to tell Maro about Masa, Mune, and Doreen.
"Fine." Vigo turned to one of the messengers standing ready. "Tell my council to assemble at once. We've got to do something, even if I don't know what." The messenger turned and rushed off.
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Vigo smiled as he watched his councilors file into the room. For once, they were too concerned to talk endlessly, and actually acknoweldged his existence. Last in line was a young man Vigo did not remember seeing before. "Excuse me son, but I don't remember seeing you in my council before."
"I've just been assigned here sire." The young man said modestly. "My name is Sergio." As the young man turned to take his seat, Vigo thought he saw a blue glint in his eye, but he couldn't be sure. Vigo shook his head. It wouldn't do to chase shadows.
"Okay everyone, we have a very serious situation on our hands." Vigo began. What little talking had been going on died down immediately. "As you all know, we have been attacked by a Weapon of the planet. He expressed displeasure, to put it lightly, that we are drawing energy from the planet." As Vigo kept a careful eye on Sergio, he decided to change tactics. "But while in battle, I discovered that the Weapon, and probably all the Weapons, have an easily exploitable weakness. Serges did a great deal of damage, but I believe that is only because he had the element of surprise. If we are prepared for them, we can probably defeat these Weapons with little or no trouble."
The councilors muttered disturbed comments. Most did not consider this to be a wise course of action. Vigo was not watching them. He saw Sergio frown a little. 'I thought there was something odd about that boy.' He began to move through the crowd.
Suddenly, a huge blast of magical energy sent Vigo sprawling into the wall, where he landed upside down. He quickly glared at Sergio, but the boy was standing as open mouthed as everyone else. Vigo looked down from his odd position to see his opponent. One of the crotchety old councilors was hobbling toward him. "Little or no trouble?! I've never been so insulted! You just got yourself a whole lot of trouble Vigo!" As Vigo stared, the old man melted away and Serges stood in his place. Serges seemed small at first, but he quickly began growing until he burst through the ceiling of the council chamber.
Serges smashed his way outside as the councilors scattered, Vigo following as best he could. As he stepped through a gaping hole in the wall, he had to jump aside as a white hot blast of fire smashed into the ground in front of him. Some of the councilors were staring through windows one floor up. Vigo smiled. "So you want another fight Serges? I'll be only too happy to oblige." Vigo and Serges both began to gather magical waves.
"NO!" The King and the Weapon both turned back to the shattered side of Enhasa. Sergio jumped out of a second floor window, landing unharmed. Vigo's spirits began to sink. "No Serges, he knows your weakness!"
"Shivan, you've blown your cover!" Serges growled unhappily.
"You're one to talk!" Sergio replied. Then his tone became more polite. "You must leave now sir. This man is very powerful. If he fights with Shadow..."
Serges thought for a minute. "Very well. Vigo, you're getting the chance to get aquainted with another one of us Weapons! I'm sure Shivan will show you a good time." With that, Serges jumped into the air, and did not land. He ascended so fast, he was out of sight in a few seconds.
Vigo turned back to face Sergio, but saw that the facade was fading away. In his place was a decidedly dragon like monster, although it had vaguely human posture. The body was covered in dark red scales. The lanky arms had extremely long claws, and the head was even stranger than Serges'. "Vigo, prepare to have your little mountain destroyed!" Shivan growled.
"Never! You cannot defeat us!" Vigo answered. The two combatants raced toward each other. Right before they met, there was a blinding flash. The two staggered back, dazed. Apparently they had cast exactly opposite spells, and had canceled each other out. Shivan swiped at Vigo with his claws, tearing a ragged gash in Vigo's shoulder.
Then Shivan stared at his arms. "Oops. I forgot one little detail. Weapon size, engage!" Shivan folded his arms, and a red light surrounded him. Instantly, Shivan became almost forty five feet tall. Vigo jumped back, the blood streaming freely from his shoulder. He launched a simple water spell at Shivan, to test his defences. Shivan was hardly affected.
Shivan pointed a claw at Vigo, and a rain of blazing pearls streamed across the land. As Vigo was recovering from that, Shivan cast Flare. Vigo screamed as the spell burned away his skin.He quickly cast Cure 2 on himself, but he knew he couldn't stand this kind of attack for long. "So Vigo, you wanted to play with Shadow?" Shivan growled with glee. Vigo's eyes widened as a huge black triangle and a smaller white one raced toward him. He braced himself for the impact, but suddenly he saw a weak point in the waves that Shivan was drawing in. To Shivan's horror, the black triangle turned white, the white one turned black, and they began to meld together. In a few seconds, they had formed a bright yellow hexagon that came to rest in Vigo's hand. Shivan assumed a defensive position, not knowing what Vigo would do next.
"Yes I did." Vigo smiled. "But since you seem to like it too, this will be much better." Vigo held up his hand, and a huge beam of light shot out of the hexagon, smashing Shivan into the ground. The hexagon faded away.
Shivan got up, leaving a small impact crater. "What was that?"
"Call it the thinking mage's version of brute force." Vigo smiled. "Now, since you don't like light too much, how about some lightning?" Shivan drew himself up. Vigo saw a slight yellow shimmer flash across Shivan's scales. Vigo quickly stretched out his arm and cast Ice 2. Shivan collapsed to the ground again. "Oh Shivan, you actually believed me? You must remember, I'm a politician! Lying is my trade!" Following that smug statement, Vigo cast Luminaire.
Shivan roared, little bits of Shadow energy leaking from his ripped scales. Vigo noticed a severe disruption in the magical waves around Shivan. If Vigo was reading them right, it meant that Shivan could no longer counter attack with magic! Vigo needed something to finish him before he could recover. 'Luminaire is pretty powerful, but I don't think that will do it. Wait! He didn't like that light thing very much. If I can combine...' Vigo let his thoughts drift off. He closed his eyes and began to hover in the air. It was extremely difficult, but Vigo managed to cast the light spell and Luminaire at the same time. He was very pleased with the results.
The spell Serges had used on him not very long ago now smashed into Shivan. The Weapon cried out in agony as the spell blew his claws off. When the dust cleared, Vigo was amazed to see Shivan shrinking back to his original size. Soon the Weapon was only about six feet tall, slunched over, his long claws lying next to him on the ground. Vigo grinned rather sadistically and drew his Dreamstone dagger.
Shivan saw Vigo charge his way and picked up one of his claws. Or at least, he tried to. But his claws had not shrunk with him, since they had been severed from his body. Shivan was dismayed to find he could not lift the claw above his waist. Vigo leaped forward, and sliced off the hand that was holding the claw. Shivan pulled back his other hand and punched Vigo with all his might, but it was no use. Vigo crouched down, and then jumped up and stabbed the dagger deep into Shivan's chest. Shivan froze in place, his arms twitching. "Serges!" He yelled. "Help..." but then, speech failed him. Vigo stepped back, waiting for Shivan to collapse, but then thought better of it as he realized that Weapons might not have their hearts in their chests. Vigo ran forward again, swinging upward with all his might.
The dagger took Shivan's head. An inky black liquid squirted up from the severed spinal column, and then Shivan's body exploded into millions of tiny black pieces. Vigo stood panting, the black inchor dripping from his dagger. Finally, he turned to face the shattered wall of Enhasa, where as many of the population as could fit at the windows were watching, every mouth open, every set of eyes staring wide. "See?" Vigo said in a hoarse whisper. "They can be defeated with little or no trouble."
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Serges: He killed Shivan! I mean, he killed Shivan!
Violen: Serges, please...
Serges: HE KILLED SHIVAN!!!
Jade: Look Serges, we're all upset...
Serges: I never should have left that boy there alone! Vigo was too powerful. Vigo!
Violen: What would you have done if you had stayed? You might have been killed too.
Serges: Vigo! Let me at him! Right now! Oh... THAT LITTLE RAT FACED BASTARD KILLED SHIVAN!!!
Jade: Violen! Hold him back!
Violen: Please Serges! We need a plan first! Vigo will slaughter you with Shadow! I don't know how, but he can read our weaknesses!
Serges: Hmmm. You have a point. But I assure you all, it will not be long before Vigo breathes his last.
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Serges: What's this? No quote? You kill one of us off, and you can't even think of a quote?
Nanaki: Hey sorry. I haven't been able to think of any good ones lately.
Serges: Well get your super genius brain in gear, and pay some respect to Shivan!
Nanaki: I said I was sorry. Look man-
Serges: You do realize that you're talking to yourself.
Nanaki: Okay everyone, if you can think of some good Squaresoft quotes that deal with battles and death, I'd appreciate it if you'd e-mail them to me. Because the next few chapters are going to have a lot more battles and death. I've said too much already. Stay tuned for Chapter 16, this is far from over!
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