Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Turned On	By : blackwaltz0 Category: +M through R > Phantasy Star Views: 2172 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Phantasy Star, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
How could they have been aware of a monster they initially couldn't see? It was not there anyway, had never been there in the first place until it pulled apart the fabric of space and time as it stood and ripped itself open an entranceway for it to peek through, staring out with milky clouded eyes that had not come from this dimension. It wore the fabric of reality as both a cloak and a curtain, protecting and shielding it from hostile adversaries. It's battle technique was a cowardly one, to pop up, swipe or grab at a potential victim or prey, then to disappear again behind its curtain, rendering any possible retaliation as useless. The dimension worm's defense capabilities were practically perfect. Practically.

There had been three altogether functioning as a unit, or maybe they had been the different violent segments of the same worm. Rika had seen to the unmasking of two of them using an amazing amount of speed and zeal, catching the edge of their dimensional curtains with her claws and then slashing them to ribbons. Once their delicate bodies were exposed all Kyra had to do was run them through with her laconia slashers, ceasing their thirst for flesh and blood for good. The problem was that she simply couldn't keep up with Rika, the numan girl just moved too fast.

By the time that Rika had exposed two of the worms and had moved onto dispatching the third, Kyra had only slain the first worm and the second one had a clear path to Rika's back. Long tentacles with hooked claws on the ends lashed out at her from the naked mass of slimy flesh, raking her across the back and drawing free diagonal splashes of red blood. The force of the claw striking her body shoved her forwards and into the path of the third worm, all the grace in Rika's body leaving her at once. The girl cried out as she was handled like a dropped doll, stumbling towards the ground.

"Rika!" Kyra yelled and dove at the second worm while holding one of the slashers in her hand like a dagger, fingers in and edged blade out. She cut a trench two feet long and an inch deep into the body of the dimensional worm, puncturing its skin that was like very taut yet gelatinous goo. Without its shroud it was utterly defenseless. The monster wailed out its pain and dropped to the floor in a stinking writhing pile, leaking transparent blood like so much spilled water.

She still wasn't quite fast enough to help her friend. Rika braced her fall with her hands and knees and gritted her teeth hard, her back aflame with burning pain. The claws had ripped through her armor like it had been made of simple cloth. She heard Kyra cry out and the whistle of her slasher in motion but it was all muffled by the pain that she felt and the warm sensation of blood trickling down her back and sides. There was a heavy thump to her right but she could not see what it was, for she had her eyes tightly closed. It was to prevent herself from crying, because she could not cry now.

Kyra saw Rika try to stand on her own and the tentacle claw of the last worm left snaked out and swatted her across the face to knock her to the ground again, then proceeded to wrap its claw about Rika's right arm. Kyra dug her slasher out of the body of the dead worm with a meaty slurp and stared with horrified fascination as she wondered what the heck it was trying to do to her. It wasn't hurting her anymore as it was, it only seemed like it was trying to gain a better grip on her body. Rika looked unconscious now, the last blow having knocked her completely out of her senses.

The blood smeared on the blade of her slasher touched her skin and bit at it like corrosive acid. Kyra hardly noticed, for the truth came crashing down upon her like a bolt of lightning. The dimensional worm was preparing to drag Rika off into its own world, to a dark dimension far away where it would gladly feed. As soon as this idea touched her mind the tentacle began to slowly retract, dragging Rika along with it. The numan girl was leaving a wide vibrant trail of blood behind her as she was moved, so much like a piece of rare meat.

In case of an emergency, what were they meant to do? Kyra opened her mouth and shrieked, a scream so loud and resonant that it made her eyes water and the cartilage of her nose ache, her vocal cords hurting afterwards from the effort. Kyra was a warrior and did not scream in fear no matter how deeply she felt it, but what she desperately needed to do was to call for aid. If Rika was carried away into that monster's dimension they would never see or hear from her again.

She leapt from the corpse of the monster's fallen friend and brought both of her flat palms together in almost a clap, barely a centimeter apart from one another. "Hewn!" Kyra shouted and concentrated her esperine powers into an incredibly narrow margin, no greater than the width of a single air particle. It gathered between her hands in a rush of magic and blind faith, the spell sucking at the air around her and making her pale clothing billow. It was a blade, a saw made from the wind. Kyra brought her body back in a practiced manner and flung the spell at the worm like it was one of her very own slashers, keeping her aim as perfect as she could.

For a monster to be properly hewn it all depended on the accuracy of the spell caster. This move was Kyra's specialty due to the nature of her physical weapons. Hewn screamed like a buzz saw and cut into the flesh of the worm's claw with scalpel-like efficiency, effortlessly severing the tentacle from its body. With no brain to control it the limb went dead and lax immediately, loosening about Rika as her body came to a stop.

It screamed as blood spurted from its stump and the dimension worm yanked its limb back as quickly as possible, snapping its rip in space and time firmly shut. There was no telling if it was gone for good or merely in hiding, but Kyra ran to her friend anyway and fell to her knees, raising her hands in preparation to touch the worm's slimy limb. She reviled creepy crawlies and ugly slimy things of any description, but she still had to do this. Grimacing visibly, Kyra clamped her hands down upon a length of the tentacle, tugging and pulling on it until Rika's body was free.

Up close the wound was deeper and more horrible than it had first appeared. Rika's face was as white as a ghost, the girl possibly in some kind of shock. Kyra cursed herself for not being able to keep up with her, then began to unlatch the tight straps that kept Rika's armor clamped firmly to her undersuit. It had been mutilated by the attack as well but she had to remove it on order to have better access to Rika's wounds. She needed to properly treat them. Kyra pulled away Rika's small cape and the armor, making a gesture in order to cast the ancient spell of medice.

But the worm struck first, from behind. Two claws whipped out to hold its dimensional cloak open, then a third claw extended and crackling arcs of blue magic leapt from each hooked nail, casting a spell of its own making. This had gone beyond the worm's simple sense of hunger and the desire to feed, the pain that it felt in one of its many tentacles had bled down into a deeper emotion, a deeper need. Revenge. It wanted Kyra's carcass as a trophy.

Gravity intensified around the two girls, increasing nearly a hundred-fold, cracking the tiled stones below their bodies and forcing them to the ground. Kyra moaned as her raised hand dropped to the floor as if it had been turned into lead and an invisible force slammed her against Rika's body, pinning the pink-haired girl against the stones. Kyra knew this technique well; she herself possessed the power to cast it against her enemies. So, of all people in the world it was Kyra who knew just how deadly this gravity spell could be.

It was only a matter of time until the dimensional worm managed to use the spell to crush her internal organs into a messy pulp. Kyra could feel it beginning to happen to her even now. Blood rushed up her throat in a gurgle and when she coughed hard she splattered the light purple floor with droplets of red. Her hand fought against gravity to press against her stomach, wondering what the damage looked like on the inside. She glared at the worm and its raised claw hatefully, wishing that she had the strength to stand.

"Kyra! Rika!"

The claw bristling with gravitational energy disintegrated before her eyes. It was lost in a burst of superheated yellow plasma. The monster held itself there for a moment, not understanding what had happened, then screamed like a harpy and flung the stump about like a whip, turning towards the source of the blast. Kyra choked as the gravity spell was neutralized and air rushed back into her lungs, closing her eyes and trying to breathe through the parts of her body that had begun to hemorrhage.

Wren lowered his plasma cannon and cursed the fact that he and Chaz seemed to be late. Kyra and Rika were on the ground and both appeared to be bleeding. He slowed down a little and allowed Chaz to race ahead of him, determined to cover Chaz's back. The android followed Chaz and made a stand between the two girls and the monster, acting as a shield. He had no clear knowledge of what the monster was or could be, but he would not let it get another swipe at his friends.

Chaz was not as calm and collected as Wren chose to be, but he sill kept his head pretty well despite the situation. He could see Rika lying there, bleeding, and it filled his young body with rage. Where the hell had he been when Rika had needed him most of all? Chaz held his sword up in an attack position and slashed diagonally at the enemy, hoping to cut it cleanly in two. Half a second before Chaz acted the two claws holding the dimensional rip open pulled it closed, so that the young hunter struck nothing but air. "Kyra!" He shouted again. "What's happened?!"

Still holding an arm about her stomach Kyra tried to stand, groaning softly all the way. She couldn't quite manage it by herself but Wren offered her his hand, gently pulling the esper girl to his feet. She accepted the aid gratefully, then watched helplessly as he moved on to inspect Rika, laying her out in a prone position, slightly on her side, with her hands supporting her head. "We were ambushed. We killed off most of them, but there's only one left. I thought we were done for."

Maybe splitting off into three groups had been a dumb idea in the first place. Chaz was holding his sword tightly in both of his hands, waiting, anticipating the monster's next move. It was just like fighting an invisible enemy. He caught a flash of movement in the corner of his eye and swung his sword up to deflect the strike of a tentacle, the clash of laconia striking against otherworldly claws resounding in the air. There was a rustle and the monster was gone again, retreating into nothing.

Chaz had to buy them some time for now. Wren hoped that the boy was up to the challenge. A second strike from the worm clipped Chaz across the ear and almost knocked the youth down, but he held his ground bravely and swung his sword like a baseball bat when the claw came straight at him again, cleaving it in half. Squealing, the worm drew back but came on strongly again after only a few seconds, this time with two claws instead of just one. How may tentacles did this dimensional worm have?

Rika was not doing as well as she outwardly seemed to be. She had only been wounded before, but the gravity spell had pushed her to the very edge of her limits. Wren detected that her heartbeat and pulse were very faint. "Kyra," he said, standing, "you must treat Rika and then yourself. She is dying. Chaz and I will terminate this beast." Kyra looked at him seriously and then nodded, wiping traces of her own blood from her mouth. It was her fault that Rika had fallen, she needed to make amends somehow.

When Wren walked into the fray Chaz had several rips in his bodysuit and a heavy dent in one shoulder plate, while a cut to the side of his face bled down along his left temple. Three or four severed worm tentacles lay all around him, lifeless and dead. He and the worm were caught in a stalemate, neither one besting the other. Chaz fixed Wren with a commanding glance, his usually confused green eyes hard and yet sparkling with excitement. In the end, this was his element. "How long are you going to keep me waiting?" He asked, wiping blood off his chin with the back of his hand.

In battle Chaz had plenty of confidence. If only he could find a way to reproduce that confidence in other areas of his life. Wren extended his gun arm and disconnected the cables that coupled his weapon to his electrical system. The energy in his plasma cannon immediately went dead. He let the weapon drop uselessly to the floor of the Air Castle. Wren needed both his hands free in order to do this right. He regarded Chaz very steadily. "Not any longer." He replied.

They had not exchanged a word between one another regarding battle tactics and yet they both seemed to know exactly what to do. Wren walked forward and Chaz gave him space to move, catching one of the other waving tentacles using the flat of his blade and his hand, trying his hardest to hold the claw back. The second claw struck Chaz's armor heavily and the boy grunted as the air was half belted from his lungs, feeling his knees weakening from the strike. All he could do was endure it. Abruptly the second tentacle lost interest in Chaz and dove straight for Wren, who was approaching the body of the dimensional worm with caution, waiting for the correct moment to rush forward. The claw gouged at his side but Wren didn't seem to feel it at all, he didn't even notice what had happened.

He knew that he couldn't hold onto this tentacle for much longer. It was shaking itself about so violently that eventually Chaz was going to be thrown into the air. His hands bled as he grabbed onto the curved nails of the claw, like a man holding onto the horns of a bull, feeling the tentacle lifting him off his feet. "Githu!" Chaz cried and slashed off the top of the tentacle using an old hunter technique, calling forth a focussed light that had come from somewhere inside of himself. It had acted just like a laser. The remaining part of the tentacle shuddered in agony and hurled him to the side anyway, shoving the youth hard against the castle wall. There was a strident thump and Chaz slid to the ground, hurting.

Wren took this distraction and used it to its fullest opportunity. When the worm's buggy eyes were fixed on the beaten form of Chaz Ashley Wren lunged forward and lashed out with his strong metal hands, clamping them down on the two large claws that were holding the worm's rip in space and time open. His grip was less than perfect but his sheer strength made up for that, forcing the rip to split wider and wider, exposing the worm hidden within. As long as he held on like this the heart of the fiend could be attacked.

The major flaw in Wren's plan however was that he had no way to launch that attack himself, because both his hands were full just keeping the monster at bay. The angle was all wrong for him to unleash a flare attack, and if he activated his burst rocket unit in such a confined area there was a greater probability that he'd burn his friends to death. He was stuck. Wren turned his head towards Chaz, who was leaning against the wall with his eyes wide in shock. He looked unreachable. "Kyra!" The android yelled, calling out to the only other person who could fight.

Kyra rose from where she had been sitting beside Rika. She did not have enough time or indeed the concentration to cast her medice spell anymore, she hurt too much to find the peace of mind that unlocked her esperine powers. Her hands were smeared with the dimate that she had been using to treat Rika's wounds, but with the silence and stiffness of a robot she shakily climbed to her feet. She was trembling, hardly able to stand. "I'm coming�" She whimpered and raised her slasher faithfully, as proof of her intentions.

The girl only managed three small steps before she keeled over and coughed up more blood. The broken tentacle that had sent Chaz across the room retracted sneakily back into its rip in space and time, then was replaced by the dimension worm's trump card. It was a long thick length of scaly forearm that was tipped with five separate stubs and nails, each one resembling something of a palman's finger, but much deadlier. It began to scratch and shove at Wren's body, trying to push the android away and force him to let go. Wren watched Kyra pass out on the edges of his vision with a growing feeling of dread.

His armor was taking the abuse rather well, given the circumstances. The claws grated and squealed against his body, creating sparks of friction. Slowly Wren started to feel his hold on the dimensional rip slip away. The worm was succeeding in forcing him back. The edge of a claw pressed against his vulnerable face and slashed it open like a knife wound, pain flaring up in his neural matrix like a bright beacon. "Chaz, wake up!" Wren shouted as a thick dark fluid seeped out of his wound and began to drip down along his jaw and audio sensor. The worm's basic yet practical mind understood that it had found its enemy's weak spot. Its arm rose to strike again.

"You must stand! I require aid-argkh!" Wren spoke again but his words were silenced as the monster slapped him hard, hard enough to effectively shut him up. Meanwhile Chaz had fallen over onto his hands and knees, breathing slowly yet steadily. It felt like two or three of his ribs were broken. The monster's limbs might have been made of nothing but goo, but that blow had made it felt like he had been hit by a fully grown sand worm. Chaz groaned and tasted blood in his mouth, but was able to get his hand around the grip of his sword. Using it as a crutch he eased up his hurt body and stood. He clutched at his front, almost doubling over again. Dear God, it hurt.

Wren was yelling something at him but Chaz had stopped trying to make out the words. He hurt too much to pay attention. Weakly he started to stumble towards Rika, lying unconscious on the ground. What had that horrible monster done to her? Why hadn't he been there to stop it? Chaz's eyes began to burn, preparing for the tears to start. "Rika�" He said.

His reply didn't come from the right person or direction. Wren had only been shouting blandly before, without much emotion up until the point he was hurt. Now the android was beginning to sound desperate, almost pleading. His face was a bloody mess, covered in cuts and scratches. The worm's claws were flecked with whatever it was that passed for Wren's blood. "Chaz, please!" He cried. "I need you!"

Chaz came out of his daze like a man awakened from a very deep sleep. For a second his mind had tricked itself into believing that they were Rika's words, because he honestly wished it was so, but then he turned slightly and saw Wren being beaten down by the worm, holding onto the dimensional rip just barely. The great arm had cinched its stubby thumb and index finger around Wren's neck and was beginning to squeeze. He had tried to pull away, and failing that, he resorted to the very last thing he could do. Wren tried to lean away from the nails and then sunk his teeth into the giant scaly thumb, the monster screaming more out of anger than pain.

I need you.

Those words hit him harder than they were ever supposed to. Words that he wanted to hear so very badly from Rika, coming from Wren. And was it true? Did Wren really need him as much as Rika did? Was now even the right time or place to consider it? Yes, because it only took him a second to figure it out in his mind.

Yeah, maybe they both did. Chaz lifted his sword.

"Let him go!" He roared and moved like a bullet, running towards the worm and effortlessly jumping over Kyra as if she wasn't there. Pain exploded down along his ribcage and felt like liquid fire, the knowledge that something felt slightly out of place in his body being pushed to the back of his mind. His footsteps were light, as if he were treading on clouds. Chaz did not sever the thick dangerous arm that was holding Wren captive, instead he went straight for the death blow. He ducked a free flailing tentacle and popped up again in front of Wren and under the girth of the arm, bringing his own right arm up in a strong stabbing motion. He was going for the creature's face.

The sword met practically no resistance at all. Chaz buried his laconia sword all the way up to the hilt in the creature's brain, stabbing it between the eyes. This time it did not scream. It was already dead, so it had no time left to scream. The dimensional worm's hold on Wren loosened and the arm dropped lifelessly to the ground, nearly smacking Chaz in the head as it did so. The boy moved away just in time. The spare tentacle followed it and Wren finally let go, the hole in time and space sealing itself within a few seconds, trapping the dead worm inside.

Chaz took a tired step away and nearly tripped over something at his back, but that something turned out to be Wren and he gently held the hunter steady, knowing that he was hurt. Chaz dropped his sword on purpose for the second time that day and let out a deep sigh of relief, glad that the fight was over. He watched the closing rip slice off the two extended limbs of the dead monster that was gone, or had never been there to begin with. Chaz would hardly believe it either, save for the puddles of transparent blood slicking the floor and the piles of severed limbs all around them. Suddenly he became grateful that Wren was holding him, because he might have fallen over from the sight alone.

His mind working on auto pilot now, Chaz pressed his bleeding hand against his broken ribs. He involuntarily made a weak squeaking noise at the raw burning feeling that flowed forth from it, then he used one of his gires techniques on the wound and the pain lessened a little. It was enough to allow him to think clearly now. Chaz became aware of how Wren was holding him and blushed. He was probably only doing it to keep him from falling over, but still�

"I can stand. You can let go of me now." Chaz said. Wren obeyed that command silently and dropped one hand from Chaz's waist, while the other came up to mask the more ruined side of his face. Chaz turned around and saw that Wren was heavily bleeding that strange dark blood of his, and from the parts that Chaz could see his friend looked like he had been in the midst of a barroom knife fight. Concern surged over him like a strong tide. "Oh my god, does that hurt, Wren? Do you need a bandage or something?"

Wren shook his head carefully so as not to agitate the scratches. "It is not as bad as it looks. Come on, we must tend to Rika and Kyra now." Chaz almost jumped. The others! He had nearly forgotten all about them! How could he? Wren kicked a dead tentacle aside to make room and knelt down beside Kyra, easing her up into a sitting position. Tentatively he placed his hand on her stomach to check for internal injuries, then moved up to her left breast to clock her heartbeat. After only a few seconds of diagnostic analysis he removed a dimate from their inventory and began to treat her wounds.

Chaz didn't know how to handle Rika properly. Several times he reached out to her but ended up stopping midway, giving in to anxiety. Somebody had already gotten halfway through treating her before they had been stopped. Poor Rika, those slash marks looked terrible. Absently Chaz brushed his lips with the tips of his fingers and proceeded to cast gires after gires over the numan girl, wishing her well again. He was so very sorry that he had not been there to save her in time.

"�Thank you for your aid." Wren said softly as he treated Kyra with the dimate, the esper girl groaning and beginning to stir. She was not quite conscious yet, so it seemed to be safe for them to talk. Wren had been in deep danger and he felt that gratitude was in order. He was glad that Chaz had been able to prevail in the end. In fact, he almost felt proud of him for it.

The hunter looked up and met Wren's serious grey eyes. They had always reminded him of blankness and steel, possibly because of the nature of its owner. Yet now they reminded him oddly of rain clouds, of something good that was just waiting to happen. Rain clouds were rare on Motavia, they were something to be treasured. Chaz quickly looked away before his train of thought advanced any further. "Don't mention it." He answered, embarrassed. "You're my friend. I couldn't let anything bad happen to you."

There was an awkward silence. After a time Wren spoke. "Chaz?"

Rika's wounds had stopped bleeding. The slashes needed to be bound in bandages and disinfected, but overall it looked like she was going to be okay. Chaz was thinking about how they were going to carry her without touching her wounds. It was going to be a difficult task. The blond hunter petted her pink hair fondly, lovingly. "Yeah?" He said.

The android was trying to wipe the dark blood from his face. He didn't have anything to wipe it off on, so he was using his hands. Once his hands were thoroughly bloodied he then tried to wipe them on the floor. Chaz could see all the wounds now. They looked awful. Wren didn't even seem to mind it that much, it was only a footnote to him. When he touched Kyra again he accidentally left a damp handprint on her pale clothes. "What did you mean when you said that you liked me?"

He asked this casually, but even Chaz could see that there was some kind of eagerness behind it. Wren really wanted to know. Perhaps it was bothering him as much as it bothered Chaz. The youth shrugged noncommittally. "I don't know. I barely understand it myself. That's the thing I really need to figure out. But not here. Definitely not here."

For the first time in a long while Wren looked visibly hesitant, almost troubled. Whatever it was he was about to say disappeared from his lips. It didn't take much to change Wren's mind when it came to unstable matters such as that. "I see. Never mind, then." He stood, picking up Kyra and holding her carefully in his arms. He smiled distractedly, something that came off as extremely forced. "Rika is slightly heavier than Kyra, but I believe you would prefer to hold her, correct? Please be gentle with her. Let us go back to the courtyard and wait for Rune. He should be there soon."

Chaz nodded and gathered Rika into his arms, feeling giddy and at the same time strangely flushed. She was heavy, yes, but she was also warm, and that pleased him. He wrapped one arm underneath her legs and the other supported her shoulders, trying his hardest not to touch her wounded back at all. They needed to retreat and come back better prepared, but they had to find Rune as well.

As much as Chaz would have liked to abandon the arrogant esper on this dead asteroid, he was still a friend, and they needed him.

Just as they needed one another.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Turned On