Final Fantasy

A heavy wooden door swung open, creaking on its hinges. Hyorin stood on the other side, gazing into the vast space beyond for a moment as Bora pushed past her into the old church in Sector 5. Bora ran down the church's main aisle, smiling as she approached the patch of yellow and white flowers that grew up from beneath the broken floorboards. She crouched in front of them, inhaling their sweet scent. As she looked around the church, her eyes fell upon an assortment of camping gear. Hyorin saw it as well.
"Does Taeyang live here?" Bora asked.
"I guess he does..." said Hyorin. The two visitors strolled over to have a closer look. Bora paused before a large box.
"What's this?" she asked.
Hyorin smiled and shook her head, as if to say that it was nothing for Bora to concern herself with. Hyorin's gaze traveled to a patch of white on top of a crate that seemed to have been used as a makeshift table. As she moved close, she could see that it was a stained bandage. Bora, too, approached the table, taking the strip of cloth into her hand.
"It's just like Luhan..." she said with a note of concern, looking up at Hyorin "Is Taeyang sick?"
"Why didn't he say something?" Hyorin wondered.
"Did he leave because he's sick?" asked Bora.
"He just... wants to fight alone," Hyorin told herself.
"Fight?"
"No..." Hyorin said, sadly, more to herself than to Bora, as the reality sunk in, "I don't think that he will..."
"Hyorin?" Bora queried, trying to recapture the woman's attention. Hyorin lowered herself down to Bora's level.
"Let's go home, Bora" she said, forcing a smile. Bora stormed away from her.
"We can't! Taeyang's not here yet!" she shouted. Hyorin, considered for a moment, then picked up the bandage from where Bora had left it.
"I know sweetie," she replied, walking back toward Bora "I miss him, too."
"Yeah!" Bora agreed.
"So... Say he comes back..." Bora said, again crouching down so that she is eye to eye with the little girl.
"We'll all go home together!" Bora replied, firmly.
"But not until he gets a lecture," Hyorin declared.
"Agreed!" Bora cried, happily.
*~*~*~*~*
Back at Healin Lodge, the Turks were on the receiving end of a rather effective beating. Both Xiumin and Chanyeol lay groaning on the floor, in obvious pain. Chanyeol struggled to get up, but he simply no longer had the strength for it, pushing himself up only briefly before collapsing once again. Xiumin lay on his side, one arm wrapped around his middle, gasping.
"I hate lairs, you know," said their attacker as he strolled calmly toward Tao, who sat in his wheelchair on the far side of the room. It was GD.
"I apologize," said Tao, in as calm a voice as he could manage, "This time you'll get the truth. The object you seek fell from the helicopter while we were running from you. I'm afraid we were careless."
Until then, G dragon had had his back to the crippled man, but now he turned ever so slightly toward him, still not entirely looking at Tao.
"Is that so?" he said in measured tones.
"I swear it," Tao replied. G dragon still did not look at him. Instead, he produced two cards from a hidden pocket.
"Fine. Then swear it on these," he said, tossing them casually to the floor. They were SG staff ID cards... spattered with what could only be blood. The faces imprinted on the cards were all too familiar... Lay and Hani. Tao gazed down at them, his mouth set in a grim frown.
"Why did you do this?" he asked after a moment.
"We need Mother's power," GD replied, simply, "We have to have it for the Reunion."
The pupils of his catlike eyes contracted as he finally turned around to face Tao.
"Reunion..." Tao repeated, not certain he understood.
"My brother's and sisters who share Mother's cells will all assemble and together, we'll take revenge on the planet," explained GD, laughing softly, as he raised his arms in a gesture of grandeur, "We've already sent out the invitations..."
The Turks still writhed on the floor, Xiumin now on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Chanyeol had managed to raise himself onto his hands and knees, but only just. He lowered his forehead back down to the floor as if the effort of trying to force himself upright was too much for him.
"But you see," continued GD, smirking at the two fallen Turks with sadistic glee, "Someone's hidden the guest of honor."
"Invitations?" asked Tao. Despite the danger, he was determined to get as much information out of GD as he could.
"The 'Stigma?" G dragon pointed out, turning away from the Turks to look at Tao again. He gaze fell upon Tao' hand, marred with the markings of the disease, and he added, with a sarcastic tone, "But you know all about that, don't you, sir?"
Tao said nothing to the baiting comment.
"Mother's memetic legacy lives on in the Lifestream and makes it happen. She does so much for us," said G dragon, "And yet we... We don't even know to find her!" he added, incredulously, as he began to pace, "But what can we do?"
"We're just remnants... Merely remnants of Mother's legacy," he continued his tone becoming more and more maniacal, "Until we find Mother and receive her cells, we can't be whole again. Geostigma and a legacy aren't enough! Not for a true Reunion..."
"... what are you talking about?" asked Tao, becoming gradually more and more unnerved as GD grew more and more unbalanced. GD smirked.
"Sir... Surely you've noticed..." he replied, taking a few steps toward him, before lowering himself to one knee, casting his gaze to the floor. When he looked up again, there was something in his eyes that wasn't their before... something that Tao recognized. GD changed, momentarily becoming something entirely different. The partial transformation seemed to stir the planet's notice as the whole room trembled, and Tao knew that whatever suspicions he may have formed before now were undoubtedly confirmed.
*~*~*~*~*
Taeyang, having returned to the cliff that overlooked the battleground where he'd first fought Seung-ri and TOP, restored the sword to it's former position. It was an old and worn, but familiar sword. One that once belonged to a friend. Taeyang stepped back and looked at the blade.
"I said I'd live out both our lives" he said, quietly, "Easy to make that promise."
In his mind, he relived days long past.
-----
"You wannabe in Soldier? Hang in there!" says a uniformed man with spiky black hair... Kris.
-----
"Hey, you doin' ok?" Kris asks. He is looking down at Taeyang now, concern etched on his features...
-----
And then they are in the bed of a yellow pickup truck. Kris is gazing at the blue sky above them as the truck rumbles along the road. "What are you gonna do when we get to Midgar?" he asks, conversationally, "We're friends, right?"
-----
Daesung disappears into the flames as Nibelhiem burns...
-----
"Taeyang, run!" Kris shouts.
-----
A vision of GD at Healin Lodge also flashed before Taeyang's eyes, and Taeyang suddenly dropped to his knees as pain assailed him again. He clutched at his arm, gasping at the intensity of it, fingers clawing into the dirt. More visions appeared, alternating between G dragon and the more fearsome figure of his old enemy, Daesung.
*~*~*~*~*
Bora hummed quietly to herself as she played in the little flower garden at the church. Hyorin stood off to one side, watching her.
Without warning, the doors flew open, and both of them turned to look. Bora rose, assuming that Taeyang had returned and and began to run to greet him. But Hyorin, sensing that something is not right, quickly stopped her.
A tall figure entered the church and strode down the aisle toward them, coming to a halt beneath a beam of sunlight that shone down through the broken roof.
"Wanna play?" TOP asked, extending his hand toward them. When neither Hyorin nor Bora responded, he sighed and lowered his hand, "I guess that's a no. Ah well..."
He advanced on them, asking, "Where's Mother?"
He looked down, finding that he was standing in the middle of the patch of flowers. TOP's face contorted into a look of disgust as he raised a hand to his nose.
"Ugh... It stinks," he said, sounding offended, "Where's Mother?"
"There's no one here!" Hyorin quickly replied, shielding Bora protectively.
"Fine... Play with me," TOP said with a cruel grin. Hyorin urged Bora to take cover, and the little girl ran to the safety of a stone pillar. TOP watched her go without much interest.
Hyorin pulled a pair of black gloves from her back pocket and put them on, raising her fists in a battle stance. TOP laughed, and mirrored the pose.
"Hmph... This'll be fun!" he stated.
Hyorin rushed forward scoring the first blow, as well as the second, sending TOP reeling back in surprise. She continued with a barrage of punches and kicks, driving the man back, ending with a painful kick to his head.
TOP, realizing he had underestimated his opponent somewhat, resorted to using the weapon mounted on his arm, delivering a shock that sent Hyorin flying.
She recovered just in time, landing on her feet and skidding to a halt in the patch of flowers. TOP laughed again and and raised his weapon so she could see it, a smug grin on his face. Hyorin flexed her hand as a residual charge from the weapon surged through her fingertips.
She charged forward again and tried to sweep his legs out from under him, but TOP easily avoided her attack. Hyorin her second attempt was marginally better, this time slamming TOP into the wall, following it up with a kick to the chest, and finally a backflip that delivered another painful kick to the chin.
TOP recovered quickly, however, and glared at her, but Hyorin wasn't through with him. She aimed a punch at his face, but in one fluid movement, he captured her arm and retaliated with a kick that knocked her back several paces. He attacked with his weapon again, and Hyorin had only seconds to duck. The tip of the weapon slammed into the wall, crackling with energy, and Hyorin took the opportunity to punch TOP in the stomach. He flew backward as Hyorin leapt on top of him, driving her feet hard into his chest, gripping the collar of his shirt with both hands and using her momentum to slam his head into the floor.
TOP grunted in pain, but still managed to catch Hyorin by the ankle as she tried to leap away from him, and swung her in a wide arc. Her body made contact with several of the church pews as he did so. At last TOP released his grip, sending Hyorin careening towards the far wall.
Hyorin however, had no intention of going down so easily. She deftly caught herself, turning her body so that her feet planted themselves firmly on the wall, glowering at TOP, who was looking up at her smiling in amusement. Flower petals from the garden that were sent airborne by Hyorin's unexpected flight descended like snowfall.
Hyorin pushed off the wall, catching TOP by the throat and knocking him to the floor. Her momentum carried them both down the church aisle. TOP freed himself and leapt into the air, intending to renew his attack, but Hyorin was too fast. She, too, leapt, and caught him again, throwing him to the ground. TOP landed with a thud in a pile of demolished pews. There was no movement from the pile as Hyorin dropped to the ground several feet away, believing herself to be victorious.
"Hyorin!" Bora called out, running over to her, smiling.
Suddenly, music rang out... The Victory Fanfare. Hyorin and Bora looked around for the source. The song played a second time, and TOP emerged from the rubble. Hyorin watched in dismay. The music sounded a third time, and this time, midway through, TOP pulled out a cell phone and flipped it open.
"She's not here," he answered, ignoring Hyorin and Bora for the moment, pausing as the person on the other end of the line responded.
"I'm not crying!" he growled, turning away from Hyorin and Bora, embarrassed. He glanced back at them, scowling as he listened to the caller.
"No, I got it," he said, "I'll bring the girl..."
He put the phone away.
"Where were we?" he asked Hyorin, sounding almost bored. Hyorin resumed her fighting stance, and TOP hurled a broken church pew at her. Bora cowered behind Hyorin as the heavy object flew toward them both, but Hyorin easily smashed it to pieces with a single strike. But the attack was just a diversion. TOP was suddenly behind her, having moved faster than Hyorin could see, revealing that he possesses a power he had not previously revealed.
He laughed wickedly, as he drove his weapon into Hyorin's back. Bora watched, here eyes wide in fear as Hyorin fell. TOP grabbed her by the front of her shirt and slammed her into a pillar before giving her another shock from the weapon and tossing her into the flower patch. Hyorin landed hard, in obvious pain, and TOP strolled over to her calmly and straddled her, snatching her vest and using it to lift her half off the ground so that he could look into her eyes. He raised his weapon again, preparing to deliver a final blow.
Suddenly, a softly glowing green orb struck him in the side of the head with a sharp crack. TOP dropped Hyorin to the ground and turned toward the source of the rather pathetic attack, more annoyed than anything else. There, he saw Bora, standing beside the box she had been so curious about earlier. It stood open now, and inside was a large quantity of materia.
Bora looked are him defiantly, but with obvious fear in her eyes. TOP then caught sight of the contents of the box and grinned, rising to his feet and moving toward Bora. He towered over the little girl, and she backed away in terror.
"Taeyang..." she called out, futily, clutching Taeyang's bandage in her hands.
"Run!" Hyorin cried.
*~*~*~*~*
Luhan was suddenly roused from his stupor. He sat alone, on the steps outside the door of Hyorin's bar. A little girl in pigtails, carrying a moogle toy, wandered down the alley, stopping in front of him.
"You've got Geostigma, too, don't you?" she asked. Luhan didn't immediately look at her. His gaze lingered on her doll. At last he looked up into her face.
"Come on... He says they're gonna fix us," the girl continued, as she took Luhan's hand and pulled him to his feet, leading him off down the alleyway. Moments later, they reached their destination. A group of children had gathered around an old truck. Some of the older ones had already climbed into the back. Luhan was cautious at first, but eventually his curiosity overpowered him, and he joined the other children.
At the front of the truck, Seung-ri stood silently, supervising. Satisfied, he turned and walked away to seek out and collect others afflicted with Geostigma.

Notes

Thanks to ffrepublic!