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OU - Relic Missions - Air

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The mountain ranges in the Kingdom of Cornelia stretched across the lands from the sparkling oceans to the grassy plains. The snow-capped peeks extended high above the white puffy clouds, like large hands reaching toward Heaven itself. Winds of varying gales traveled throughout the mountainous dips and valleys and outcrops. Pines and oaks grew along the steep hills, providing shelter and provisions for any animals living amongst the terrains. The atmosphere was peaceful to say the least.

But Alix was not here for the scenery.

Deep within the mountains, located at the highest point, was the Sky Tower, a haven for all manners of legendary winged creatures. No one how or why the tower was built but specialists determined its age to be at least a thousand years old. It was circular in design with spiraling pillars and intricate archways. Spires covered in ivy vines lined the winding, railing-free walkways. She couldn't see the rest of it since the clouds blocked her sight. The tower reminded the Nobody of something she read in a book once. An entire populace built a tower in honor of their unity of one language until God came down and, using His divine power, scattered the people's words, making them speak different dialects, and drowned the world in chaotic confusion. After reading the story, Alix understood the reason behind God's ruling since speaking only one language would probably be boring.

The Artisan approached a long rope-bridge connecting a protruding ledge and a gate entrance to the tower, dressed in the same clothes she wore back in Spira: high-collared olive green vest, a pair of tan shorts, black stockings, and knee-high boots. This time she added a pair of leather gloves to protect her hands and bulky goggles to shield her eyes. Placing a foot on the bridge and pressing down on the wooden board, she breathed in relief when it didn't break under her weight. In a hurried jog, the Nobody made it halfway across before a large gust of wind violently blew across the valley. Her pigtails whipped around her face as she clutched the ropes to steady herself so she wouldn't fall over.

I sure hope the bridge doesn't flip over, otherwise I'll be in so much trouble!

When the wind didn't die down, Alix had no choice but to continue walking; thankfully, the goggles kept any dirt from flying in her eyes and blinding her. The boards started to creak slightly from the gales.

Is it just me or are these winds getting stronger?

With each step she took, the currents increased their force. Pretty soon, it became harder for her to move because each time she did, she was pushed back.

I don't get it. There was barely any wind when I first set foot on the bridge. So how does a light breeze suddenly become a hurricane?

As she took another step, Alix stumbled when a large gust knocked into her. She yelped and flailed her arms when she somersaulted backwards and kept rolling a good few feet away. The winds died down once she was rolled back at the entrance. The Artisan groaned and sat up, rubbing her sore head.

"Okay…that was weird."

Getting to her feet, Alix walked at a quickened pace, stopping at the halfway mark. Right on cue, the gusts returned at full force. Instead of pressing on, she took a few steps back, watching the gale die again.

The wind only appears in the middle of the bridge. Maybe it's a safety mechanism to ward off intruders?

A small pout formed on her lips, her brow furrowing into a thinking pose. She had heard stories of heroes and warriors explore the Sky Tower decades ago and defeat the famed draconian monster, Tiamat, whose eye she was instructed to retrieve. The historical texts and annals she perused in a nearby village's library never told of secret passages either.

How did those heroes enter? This is the only way in. Maybe…

Taking a slow step and another and another until she passed the middle, Alix was surprised to find that no violent squalls push her away. Her eyes widened at realization at the mild, yet big, discovery.

Only fools rush in while those who wait are rewarded. Merci, Père. It looks like your advice helped me after all.

As long as she didn't rush in her steps, she was fine. It took a considerable amount of time to finally crossing the bridge but it was worth it. Alix glanced around the main lobby of the tower to find it in such disarray. Walls and floors were either cracked or charred. Many of the pillars had been knocked over, creating paths to the upper levels since some of the staircases were deemed unusable by rubble. Despite its horrid appearance, she saw a few fresco designs marring the undamaged walls. The artworks depicted beautiful scenes of the mountains and its creatures, the Sky Tower in its former glory, and the mythological beasts which guarded their high-reaching dwelling. She recognized a few creatures, such as dragons and pegasi, except they were drawn to be evil and ominous. Dragons she somewhat understood, but pegasi? The ones on the wall looked nothing like the one belonging to Hercules. Opposed to white, their entire bodies were stained black with the exception of their glowing red eyes.

I sure hope I don't run into those. It would be a shame to kill something I befriended in another world.

Opting to venture up an intact spiral staircase, Alix couldn't help but admire at the tower's airy and open interior. She spotted a few abandoned birds' nest huddled in the many nooks and crannies. Wooden poles long devoid of their colorful banners protruded from the moldings overhead. Statues of finely dressed kings were worn away from weather and the elements, leaving hundreds of hollow faces blankly watching at the wandering Nobody. There were no railings attached to the staircase, prompting the Artisan to be careful not to stumble lest she fall over and plummet to the ground.

During the spiraled ascent, a large shadow from the outside skated past Alix until it looped around and headed for her. A large Dark Pegasus threateningly whinnied before it charged at the Nobody. In a swirl of glass, Alix swung the blunt side of her glaive at the equine, intending to injury it aside from killing it. She managed to clip it in the side, pushing it back to the wall.

The dark creature shrilled upon impact, beating its feathered wings furiously, shooting bursts of air at its opponent. Alix stood her ground in the mini-gales until she bolted up the stairs with the pegasus hot on her heels. The sounds of thudding boots and clanking hooves echoed through the tower. The petite girl panted heavily the more she ran to escape her pursuer.

Why can't any of these missions be easy?! I always seem to be attacked within the first minute!

The chase continued for a good five minutes until the pegasus leapt forward, flapping its large wings, and slammed its front hooves onto her back. Yelping, Alix pitched forward and landed hard on the stairs, her knees roughly hitting the stone. She seethed at the forming bruises as her legs buckled. A guttural whinny sounded above her with the winged equine raising its hooves again and thrusting them downward. Whirling around, she quickly shaped her glaive into a shield, blocking the attack. The dark creature kept up its onslaught, pressing harder and harder.

"Bad horsey! Go find some carrots to terrorize!"

Apparently, the pegasus didn't like that comment too much and gave one large stomp on the shield. Grunting from the force, the Artisan weaved her energy into the glass and made a rod shoot out from the shield's middle. The rod hit the creature in the chest and pushed it back. The equine stumbled in surprise and harshly slam into the wall, creating a large spider web-shaped crater. While recovering, Alix noticed the crater's cracks creep up to the ceiling and loosen a few fractured blocks, which began to crumble.

"Look out!" she shouted, lunging at the fallen horse and pushing it away with all her strength before the rocks could crush its head.

Clouds of dust tainted the air from the tumbling stones. Luckily, the Nobody managed to save the pegasus from an early death. The winged creature stared at the spot where it once was and then at its savior.

"Sorry about that. I sort of acted on impulse," she mumbled, not caring if it understood her or not. "It's just…you reminded me of a pegasus I met before and I couldn't let a gorgeous beast like you to die like that…despite the fact that you tried to kill me," she dryly chuckled after that.

Regaining her footing and brushing the dirt off her clothes, Alix retrieved her weapon, that she dropped earlier, and swiftly continued her trek upwards, leaving the winged horse behind.

~*~*~

The very top of the tower resembled a stone gazebo that reached three stories high and wide with a domed ceiling. Ivory pillars circled around the room, proudly holding up the ceiling. Intricate paintings of different species of birds frolicking in the trees decorated the interior of the dome. Clouds of varying forms and shapes drifted in and out of the gazebo, adding to the mysterious aura. The sky was painted in a bright shade of blue with the sun beaming its golden rays. Like the staircase, there were no railings built between the pillars. When Alix stepped on to the polished marble floor after reaching the top, she spotted the source of her visit. There, in the middle of the room, was the corpse of Tiamat. The once mighty draconian creature feared for its strength and power was nothing more than a withered carcass of its former self. Its blue-green scaled had dulled to a light gray hue. Its hulking body and wings were now shriveled piles of skin and bone. Alix saw that its left eye had already been gouged out, the surrounding skin broken and torn, but its ocular twin was still glowing in the socket.

"At last," she breathed out. "All of these missions will finally be over with."

Before she could take one step, a wall of fire erupted in her path. Recoiling, Alix summoned her glaive just in time to slash at a set of claws rushing toward her. Nail and glass collided together in a flash of sparks. The Nobody glance up to find a massive dragon with dark green scales, ebony spiral horns, and a forked tail snarling at her while rising another clawed paw.

"So that's how you want to play, huh? Fine with me!"

Batting away the first paw, Alix quickly rammed the other with her weapon's curved blade, smirking as it hit skin, and made a beeline for Tiamat. The dragon shrieked in pain and lumbered after her, its crimson blood staining the marble. Searing hot flames were released from its toothy maw. Ducking behind Tiamat's tail, the Artisan avoided being burned alive. She could feel the corpse heat up from the fiery attack.

Shit! So close but still so far.

The dragon savagely roared and took flight, circling the room until it swooped down once it spotted her. Roaring again, with all its teeth and claws and talons out, the winged reptile barreled straight for the silver-haired girl, letting loose another fury of fire. Having no way to escape, Alix shaped her glass into a wide shield that covered all of her body. She yelped when the flames hit and then scream when the entirety of the dragon's weight slammed into her and Tiamat. The resulting force made the floor fracture and collapse in on itself.

No!

The whole dome shattered into pieces of cascading rubble and debris. Tiamat's body was also amongst the broken chaos. The dragon was excluded and safe since it unfurled its large wings in time, but Alix wasn't that lucky. She fell alongside everything else and still made an attempt to grab the glowing eye. She stretched out her arm the best she could, her gloved fingers barely scraping the scaled skin.

"Come on…come on!" she grunted.

Just before the Nobody could clasp on to it, a large rock clipped her in the shoulder and sent her plummeting further down; her shield was knocked from her grip in the process. Scrambling to grab her glass weapon, Alix was snapped back to reality when she saw an oncoming boulder hurtled toward her.

"MERDE!" she shouted, closing her eyes on reflex.

The boulder was inches away when suddenly a black blur snatched the back of Alix's shirt and pulled her to safety. Since she didn't feel the crushing weight of the rock hit her, she slowly opened an eye and saw what saved her.

"Monsieur Pegasus?!"

Said creature whinnied in response to her confusion while dodging the falling wreckage with Alix's shirt clenched between its teeth.

"Merci!" she smiled. "Now…do you think you could fly me over to Tiamat?"

Snorting proudly, the dark equine flapped its feathered wings harder, speeding toward the draconian monster. The Artisan grabbed her temporary companion's mane and swung a leg up and over its back before lifting her body and settling into a comfortable riding position. Fisting her gloved hands tighter, she watched as she got closer and closer to Tiamat.

"Just a little further!"

The deafening roar in the air made the Nobody and winged horse freeze up. Alix cursed in French when she saw the dragon from before make a beeline toward them.

Damn it, I thought it left after destroying the dome. "Monsieur Pegasus, veer left!" she quickly instructed.

The dark creature did as order before a ball of fire completely roasted them. Now, not only did they have to avoid getting crushed, but they had to avoid getting scorched and possibly eaten. The dragon kept shooting off fireball after fireball as it furiously caught up.

"Mon dieu! Hurry!"

Letting out a loud whinny, the black pegasus flew way up into the clouds as opposed going down. Alix bit back her pained cries when her eardrums starting popping or when the air began to thin. Her equine companion seemed unaffected by the change and continued climbing higher and higher. Below them, the dragon struggled to follow, blowing out puffs of smoke rather than flames since the oxygen level was low. Giving one last roar, the winged reptile turned back, heading back down to the mountains. The pegasus whinnied happily as it gliding on the winds but Alix didn't share its enthusiasm when she passed out and slid off the horse's back, falling back toward the earth.

~*~*~

Alix was roused awake by something nuzzling her cheek and warm breath tickled her hair. Her eyes opened up to find the dark pegasus worriedly looking at her.

"Monsieur…Pegasus? Ah, you saved me again, didn't you?"

A light whinny was her answer.

"Thank you very much. I owe you."

As she sat up, the Artisan noticed that she was lying on the ground, surrounded by the ruins of the tower's domed top with Tiamat's body strewn in front of her. Thankfully, the eye was still lodged in the socket. With the equine's help, she staggered to her feet and walked over to claim the relic.

"All this trouble for such a small thing," she muttered under her breath.

A low neigh sounded to her left as the pegasus trotted forward to glance at the eye. Alix smiled, reaching up to pet its muzzle.

"I wonder if Vendox will let me keep you~"
We have just received Intel on various artifacts which need to be procured in our collection. Each not only has a different location, but different creatures in need of a good smack-down...oblige them won't you?

:bulletwhite: AIR – In the skies high above the Kingdom of Cornelia is the Sky Tower, an abode for creatures of flight and myth. Inside laid the remains of the dreaded Tiamat...specifically its eye. As it has lingered, its dark influence has possessed the creatures that inhabit the tower. Traverse the tower and claim the eye while managing to fight or dodge various Dragons, Dark Pegasi, and giant birds.


~*~*~

*skids to a stop* DONE!! I'M DONE!!! May I die now? :iconimdeadplz:

I seriously had to rush to finish this and submitted it before midnight. Started this a week ago and this is what I came up with.

The countdown:
7 days ago - Lalala! Writing my final mission~
4 days ago - Okay, four days left to finish. I can do it! >:3
2 days ago - Typetypetypetypetype.
24 hours ago - OMFG!!!!!! IT'S NOT FINISHED YET!!! *rageragerage, typetypetype* WORK, FINGERS, WORK!!
Five minutes ago - Load faster!! DX

Warning= I didn't proof-read this and I apologize for any mistakes.

---

Alix (c) Me

Tiamat and the Kingdom of Cornelia (c) Final Fantasy
© 2011 - 2024 Kyuubi-no-Youko
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echelonangel15's avatar
Congrats on completing them all:)!