Tainted Eyes

Tainted Eyes: part XV: Escapes

A bright light started to flicker throughout the forest. First it was a blinding white... then it dimmed and grew green... and then it was silent for a brief moment before the explosion. Squall felt his body lifted from the ground and knocked through the air from the sheer force. He landed safely in on a mound of soft grass not far from the men who had captured him. The men scattered in every direction now, trying to find the source of the blast. The group was close to the edge of the forest, and seeing that the explosion came from the direction of Livion's second fortress, a few men made their way through the trees to see what had happened. Squall, however, didn't waste a second... and he was already running far from the group.

He cut through the trees, but didn't head deeper into the forest. Instead he stayed along the edge, in case his friends happened to be captured and pulled off towards the castle. After he felt safe enough, he ducked down and crept to the very edge of the forest. The castle was in full view now, but what was more eye-catching were the hundreds of dead bodies that blanketed the massive grass field between the forest and the castle. It looked as though a small atomic bomb had hit. Whatever was in the center of the blast was obviously dead and vaporized, and along the edges only a few men were moving... if they were lucky enough to have their bodies whole. Some of the men screamed in agony, their bodies burned horribly or their limbs blown off. The green grass was either black with ash or red with blood. Squall felt his heart drop when he realized that one of his friends might have been caught in the blast.

After a moment of thought, he slowly made his way back the way he came, hoping he could find the others in the area they had been separated.

~~~~~~~~~~

The explosion knocked Vincent sideways, and he crashed into one of the men who was holding him captive. The man didn't seem to notice or care, however, since he continued his leering and took Vincent's accidental move as an invitation. A few blades were drawn, and Vincent had the feeling that he would have to look at his own insides if he didn't do something quickly. He recognized the blast as Ultima, and deep down, he knew that it was a final, desperate move by either Sephiroth or Aeris. Judging by the range and destruction of the blast, it was Sephiroth. And for that Vincent was thankful, because the young man was the only one who even had a shred of a chance of surviving.

Livion had the keyblade now... and if the others were pulling out their desperation moves, then he might as well do so also.

"I will give you a chance to run," Vincent said calmly. "You will not survive me if you don't run now."

The men only laughed as they approached him. "We already know you're too weak to transform," one of the bigger ones laughed. "Something like that takes a lot of power, and you aren't half as strong as Lord Livion."

A couple of the men pressed their blades against Vincent's throat. They were about to make a few threats when they saw the dark smile spread across his face. His red eyes flickered for an instant before he started to laugh lowly.

"What's so funny?!" one of them yelled, dragging the blade across the skin of Vincent's neck.

"You misunderstand," Vincent said with a grin. "It's not that I can't transform when I'm weak."

The cut from the blade started to heal, and his eyes started to glow as if they were filled with red fire. The men stepped back slightly as his skin started to darken into an obsidian color. Vincent growled in pain as large bat-like wings seemed to rip out of his back and claws formed in place of his hands. It was only a minute or so before they found themselves staring at a demon.

"As I was saying," Vincent said with a deeper, menacvoicvoice. "It's not that I can't transform into the demon inside when weak." He took at step closer to the frightened men. "It's that I can't control it!!!!"

And his red eyes flickered once more before all traces of their human quality disappeared. All traces of self-control melted away, and Vincent soon forgot he was Vincent.

…None of his captors made it back to the castle....

~~~~~~~~~~

Aeris screamed when the explosion sent her and her captors spiraling into a stream. She quickly scrambled to get up, but one of the men grabbed her by the ankle and brought her down into the shallow water again. The other men approached her, not seeming to care about the rocky stream. She looked up as they came to her slowly, weapons in hand.

"Just kill her!" she heard a man call from the back. "If you want to have fun with her you can do it after she's dead!"

She was pulled up into a standing position, her body being pawed at by various men. One of the men slowly cut off her pink t-shirt and bra, leaving her naked from the waist up. She could see him drooling as he fondled her, cupping her breasts in his hands and playing with them as if they weren't attached to her body. He lowered his head to bite on her rose colored nipple, and she whimpered under the abuse. A few men watched, while some of the others were more interested in what had caused the blast. Tears rolled down Aeris' cheeks as her pink khakis were pulled down and the last of her clothing was cut off. She was thrown to the grass at the edge of the stream, and the men dove down on her. She winced as a large finger wasted no time in sliding down and probing her slit. She had no time to protest before it parted the tender lips and entered her warm entrance, sliding in and out roughly as the man laughed at her reaction. And suddenly, rough hands wrapped around her delicate throat. She gasped as the life was being squeezed out of her by one man as the other continued to finger her. Her hands grabbed the wrists of the man who was strangling her, and she tried to pry him away in vain.

"We'll use her body when she's dead," she heard a man say. "It's a pity though. They're always tighter when they're screaming in pain."

She wouldn't let them win. With what she felt would be the last of her strength and the last move she could make in life, she gathered what power she had left. It would kill her, but she preferred to do something rather than just let them strangle her to death and then rape her dead body. Her lips moved only slightly as she chanted, and she closed her eyes as the last of her power started to flow.

But she was too late....

She had no more energy to cast any spell. There was nothing she could do as the finger was pulled out and something much bigger pressed against her virgin entrance. She started to black out, with only her prayers to give her comfort now.

I couldn't do anything to save any of you. I'm going to die, and there wasn't one thing I could do. I couldn't even get rid of a few of them, just to see that you'd feel a bit less pain. I'm worthless. Please... someone... God... nature... protect them. Help them return home!

"...eathe...."

They think I'm dead already. Part of me wishes they would make sure before doing this to me.

"...ris...."

I can hear them. I can feel their lips on me. Why...? Why do they like to hurt others? Why aren't I dead?

"Breathe!"

What?

"BREATHE! Aeris please!"

Aeris opened her eyes slowly, a blurry face coming into her view. She thought one of the disgusting men was kissing her, but she felt no force or pain. She felt air filling her lungs, and she opened her eyes completely.

"Squall?" she murmured softly, seeing the handsome brown-haired young man staring down at her after reviving her with mouth-to-mouth. He grayish-blue eyes looked full of concern, and she smiled up at him gratefully. She shifted slightly and felt her clothes covering her body like a blanket.

"Take a minute to relax," he said gently.

She nodded and turned her head to see the men who had attacked her all lying lifeless on the ground. "How?" she whispered.

"I caught them off guard. And I found this in the hands of some idiot on the field where the explosion occurred." He held up a large weapon to show her what he was talking about. Aeris took a good look, and then it finally focused.

"Your gunblade?" she whispered. "You got it back...."

"They didn't know how to use it."

"Will it fire?"

"Yes, which is good. These men thought it was an ordinary blade... until it shot them in the face." He looked down apologetically, realizing that she probably didn't want to hear. "Sorry."

"I'm glad," she smiled.

He looked down at her for a moment. "Don't worry. They didn't... you know. Your body is unharmed...."

"Thank you, Squall."

He nodded. And they waited a while longer for Aeris to gain the strength to dress and look for the others.

~~~~~~~~~~

A hard blow landed on Cloud's cheek, and then a swift kick hit him in the stomach. He wavered there, but didn't double over until another blow to the stomach. When he opened his eyes, she saw a knee right before it hit him hard in the face, and he fell back onto the muddy ground. He clenched his teeth as a hard booted foot kicked him in the back.

"Too much fucking trouble since you got here!" yelled a man before kicking him in the stomach.

They were right at the edge of the forest, and a sudden burst of light blinded them before they could hit Cloud again. Cloud was thankful to be on the ground when the explosion came and threw the men around him against the trees. After the explosion had cleared, Cloud was already gone. But rather than running into the forest, he ran out into the open along the edge of the forest. The smoke cleared almost instantly and a loud thundering sound could be heard as the air rushed to the spot were the explosion had occurred. Cloud saw that he wasn't far from the edges of the blast, which were very precise. The grass was perfect until it hit the exact edge of the blast, and inside that blast circle everything was black and charred, and bloody bodies covered the area.

It was as if Cloud's feet were moving on their own when he started to run to the center of the charred circle. He stepped over body after body, looking for some clue. He wanted to see either a faint green glow or the flash of long silver hair. Anything. But when he reached the center of the circle, he found nothing but ash. He sank to his knees, not believing that Sephiroth could possibly be dead. Or rather, not wanting to believe.

Not wanting to be captured again, he made his way back to the forest, looking this way and that... still looking. He reached the edge of the forest and stood there for a moment, not wanting to stay or leave. He turned around once more, and this time he did see something. He raised a brow as a little white rabbit nuzzled one of the bodies on the ground. Cloud watched it, thinking it both ridiculous and interesting. The pure white rabbit nuzzled the body, which was a contrasting pure black with all of it's ash. Suddenly a hand raised to pet it, and then the gentle hand dropped once more. The rabbit turned to face Cloud for a brief moment, and it was then Cloud realized that it wasn't a rabbit at all. It was a rabbit-like creature, with what looked like a bright red gem on it's forehead. In moments it was gone. It faded into a cloud of stars, and then it seemed to enter the body on the ground.

A summon creature! Cloud thought, as he ran to the body. He knelt next to the person and quickly pulled away the debris and ash from the face. Slowly, glowing green eyes opened to meet his own.

"I think I'm going to die...." Sephiroth said, his voice hoarse. The words sounded odd to Cloud. They were words that one would never think to hear from the young general. But now Sephiroth looked more his age... and Cloud could even see the youth in his face as he lie there, his skin and hair colored black now.

"You aren't going to die, Sephiroth," Cloud said, using his thumb to clear more ash from his friend's face. "You'll be fine, and we'll escape. I'll help you."

"I can't stand... can't move. I cast... five spells at once...."

Cloud sat there, his eyes wide. No one, not even Sephiroth, could live after using so much power. And no one had been known to sustain so many spells at once.

"What were they?" Cloud said, swallowing hard.

Sephiroth drew in a sharp breath to keep from crying out. His face immediately regained it's composure, however. "Ultima... Shell... Protect..." he said softly. He stopped for a moment, his eyelids slowly closing.

"Stay with me!" Cloud yelled, shaking him gently.

"I was... going to use the Exit spell... but I didn't want to carry the explosion elsewhere...."

"You also summoned that creature. The white one. What did it do?"

"Reflect.... It placed a reflect spell on me.... Stronger than... normal...."

"So you summoned the creature to cast reflect on you, and then you cast Ultima on yourself...."

"Yes... but... Ultima is too big.... I still took part of the blast.... Reflect couldn't deflect the whole thing away from me...."

"What was the fifth?" Cloud said, desperation in his voice. He prayed it was something that would do some good for Sephiroth's life.

"Another summon...."

Cloud's heart sank. "Two summons and three simultaneous spells?! How is that possible?"

"Apparently," Sephiroth said with a faint smile, "I'm supposed... to be really good at things...." He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. "I'm actually... not surprised that... I'm dying on a battlefield. How else would I die?"

"We're supposed to die as old men who complain that everything is stupid and that kids need to stay off the lawn."

"Old age.... Never thought of that...."

Cloud brushed the ash covered bangs from Sephiroth's forehead. He could see how his friend was trying to bury his pain. His blue eyes traced the outline of the soot covered face and the glowing green eyes, and he noticed when Sephiroth's attention was caught by something in the direction of the castle.

"It... calls...." Sephiroth said. "It calls...."

"What calls?" Cloud asked, following his gaze.

But there was no answer. The green eyes closed, and Sephiroth was still. His last breath slowly escaped his lips, and he lie there as if he were simply asleep. Cloud could only stare down in disbelief. Sephiroth was supposed to be invincible. He couldn't die! Cloud sat there shaking his friend gently, calling to him, yelling to him, begging him. But his eyes didn't open. Shouting men suddenly poured out of the castle, but Cloud didn't care. He only stared down at the still face. He would kill every single one of those men or die trying....

A burst of fire and red light broke his train of thought, and he felt Sephiroth's body growing very hot. But he refused to let go... refused to move. And then... the glowing green eyes shot open once more.

"It calls to me...." he said softly. Cloud watching in amazement as Sephiroth rose to his feet.

Cloud blinked at the young swordsman, who seemed to have a gift for understatement. "What the hell just happened?!" he yelled.

"I suppose the second summon worked," Sephiroth said. "But that doesn't mean I have my energy back. If I cast anything again it will be the end of me."

"What summon?! What the hell was it?!"

"Phoenix," Sephiroth smiled faintly.

Cloud stared blankly. "You bastard! You scared me half to death!"

"Cloud," Sephiroth said, staring at the ground. "I didn't want to worry you in case it didn't work. Phoenix has the power to bring back those who have died… instantly after death. And most people die in the process of summoning it anyway. I shouldn‘t be alive now, Cloud."

Cloud stared at him again, his eyes growing troubled. "You mean.... Just now...

"You stayed with me while I died just now. Thank you."

Cloud stared again, bothered by this realization. He almost lost his friend again. He DID lose his friend. It all seemed to be chance that they could speak to each other now. He watched as the silver-haired young man moved closer to the castle.

"They couldn't move it inside the castle," Sephiroth said softly. "Evil can't hold it, so they left it in the courtyard. They can't touch it.... People must have died bringing it here."

Cloud walked beside him and stared at the castle. "You mean, it's right there? Can we get close enough to get it?"

"It has served me well, so I must retrieve it." the young swordsman said as he continued to walk towards the castle. And the two young men approached the castle bravely, to answer the call.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sora ran into the clearing and the scent of blood slammed into him like a hot wave. He staggered back when he saw the trees and the grass and the rocks... everything... covered with blood. The blood was spilled over a wide radius and it was splattered high up onto the leaves of the trees. He grimaced when he saw intestines hanging from the branches like decorations. He slowly made his way into the clearing, seeing a finger here, a foot there, an eyeball.... If he weren't already burning with the hatred and the want to do this to Livion and his men, he would have vomited.

A loud roar erupted behind him, and he turned around slowly to see two red eyes peering down at him, blood covering the creatures claws and mouth.

"Vincent?" Sora asked, taking a step closer. "Are you alright?"

The creature roared again, and Sora found himself backing away slowly. "Vincent.... It is you, isn't it? I don't have time for games! We have to find--"

The creature suddenly charged at him, and Sora jumped back and tripped. He felt himself falling, but it was only a short distance. He found himself in a shallow stream, and he quickly jumped up and ran alongside it. He heard the creature behind him, closing its distance. Sora silently cursed at everything and everyone as he ran for his life. He turned as the stream did and found a group of Livion’s men lying dead on the ground. Thinking fast he grabbed one of the dart guns and shot at the creature.

The creature roared suddenly, then wavered. Sora watched as it slowly shrank, and the demon skin and mass seemed to melt away. Soon Vincent sat there, his clothes torn and hanging on him. He breathed heavily and quickly pulled the darts out. He looked at his reflection in the stream to see the sticky dark blood that covered nearly every inch of his body, face, and hair.

"Please tell me I have not killed any of our friends," Vincent said, looking to Sora with worried red eyes.

"Not that I know of yet," Sora said, keeping his distance.

Vincent nodded and closed his eyes as the drug from the darts began to take its course. His moments as a demon had already burned off much of the drug, but he still felt tired. Sora finally gained the courage to step forward and help him up.

"We have to find Riku NOW," Sora said, sounding more cold than Vincent had ever heard a boy his age sound.

"Lead the way you feel is best then," Vincent said softly as Sora supported him as they walked through the trees.

~~~~~~~~~~

He opened the crystal door once more….

He opened the door… and then returned to the spot in the forest where he chained the object of his lust to the ground. Livion's black eyes lookewn awn at his prey. He was in his human form once more, but that was no more comforting to the nude silver-haired teen who stared up at him from the cold forest ground. Riku’s wrists and ankles were bound by tight chains that were secured by metal stakes in the ground. He was spread wide, and he was completely vulnerable. He closed his sea-green eyes and waited, part of thi thinking that he deserved the punishment after losing the keyblade. Livion knelt between his legs and stared down at him with a fiery rage in his eyes. Yet he said nothing, because what he wanted required no words. His previous transformation already saw to it that his clothes were torn to bits and removed.

He grabbed Riku's waist roughly and moved in... just as the explosion hit from the direction of his second fortress. Riku's eyes snapped open, and he saw Livion glaring in the direction of the blast.

"It is done," Livion said, beginning his lie. "All of your friends are dead. A spell was cast to make them feel what they made my men feel when they destroyed part of my castle! What you just saw was the explosion that was only to occur once they were all captured and placed where we could kill them all at once."

Livion smirked as Riku closed his eyes again and turned his head to the side. He could see the grief in the teen expanding. Riku believed his lies, and now his will to even sustain his own life was gone.

"Do you worst," Riku said finally. "I'm not afraid of you...."

Livion laughed lowly as he grabbed the teen's waist once more and pressed his cock against the tight entrance. He slowly sank into Riku's body, allowing him to feel every inch that would torture him mercilessly. Riku winced in pain, his body wanting to rid itself of the intruder. His body tensed up, which only made the pain worse as the walls of his anus tightened around Livion's thick cock. Livion shoved himself in so that he completely filled the squirming teen beneath him.

Livion looked down at Riku, whose face and body were flushed red. He saw his tight muscles tensing up and straining. Livion let his hands glide over the toned biceps for a moment, then down the teens chest to the well-formed abs. The teen's chest rose and fell as he gasped for air, and the burning sensation inside of him was unbearable. Livion stared for a brief moment before his dark eyes met Riku's sea-green gaze. That pure, determined, strong gaze....

Livion suddenly felt the anger boil inside of him as he looked into those eyes. Those eyes that refused to give in or be defeated or show even a hint of taint from the darkness around him. Livion snapped Riku's chains with his inhuman strength and pulled out of the teen's body. He sat down on a large chair-shaped stone and pulled Riku onto his lap to face him. Once again he slowly impaled the teen with his cock, causing Riku to grunt with pain. Riku was forced to be face to face with his tormentor now, and Livion kissed him with a burning passion. Livion's strong hands remained at Riku's waist, allowing him to pull the teen up and down on his cock.

"Sora loved it when I took him like this," Livion said with a dark smile. "He loved it rough. You should have heard him moan when he took man after man inside of him."

Riku only shook his head as Livion spoke to him, their lips barely touching.

"Now that the door is open again," Livion continued, "Maybe I'll retrieve the dead bodies of your three friends. My men have no problem fucking corpses." He shoved into Riku hard, causing the teen to gasp. "And in the last moments of your death, perhaps you'd like to see them fuck the burnt corpses of your new little group. I'm sure they're having fun with Sora was we speak!"

"Let me join them..." Riku whispered very softly. He opened his eyes and stared at Livion, wanting to be set free.

Once again, Livion felt anger growing. "And let you go without pain?! To release you from your suffering?! Never! Either I or my men will come to you every night and use your body. We'll spread you open and make you suffer more than any human being as ever suffered!!!!"

"Why do you hate me so much?" Riku asked, his eyes rolling back and his body growing too weak to even remain tense under the abuse.

Livion stopped pounding into the teen for a moment. Riku groaned in pain as he was pulled onto Livion's cock completely. He opened his eyes to see Livion staring at him with rage.

"I will have you..." Livion hissed. "I will taint every part of you. And you will come to me begging for more. Your innocence... the purity in your soul... your strength... it will all crumble before me."

"You may have taken my friends from me..." Riku said softly. "But I can't... give up my heart and soul if it's not for someone I love.... So do what you will to me.... Either way, I win...."

Livion caught a sudden flash of light in Riku's eyes and turned to the place where he had set the keyblade down. It was gone, and Livion knew that Riku had taken it back into his heart.

"THE KEYBLADE! RETURN IT TO ME!" Livion roared.

"...Never...."

Riku felt the burning sensation growing, and he gasped at the white hot pain that overtook him. Livion held the teen down, fully impaled on his lap as he started to transform into a demon. Riku felt like he would split in two and Livion grew inside of him, stretching him until his insides began to tear. Riku squirmed and tried to lift his body to ease the pain, but Livion held on, laughing as Riku's blood started to coat him. Finally Riku's body slumped forward against the demon, his forehead resting on Livion's shoulder. Livion remained still, enjoying the sensation of his cock engulfed with complete warmth.

"I can see..." Riku whispered softly against his shoulder. "...I can see inside your heart...." And then he was still....


~*~*~*To be continued*~*~*~

(I felt like this was another one of my more imformational chapters. I’ve intentionally pushed Sora and Riku into the background for a few chapters to give the other characters some glory. I didn’t know that introducing Vince, Seph, Cloud, and Squall would have such a huge impact with people… but the fan following for these guys is amazing. But don’t worry, I know how to balance my characters! Let’s see, what else? Oh yes… I never expected such a big response to my first fanfic, so I’ve decided to start writing more soon. Thanks for the reviews and emails! Please keep them coming!)