VOICES: CHAPTER 12

Everything had seemed to happen in slow motion. The moment Ultima fell, finally truly fell, and his Dominant absorbed the last of Ultima's power everything seemed to slow to a crawl. None of the absorptions from other Eikons had felt particularly good, but this was the only one that felt truly sickening. It coated Ifrit's flames like some sickly shimmer of oil and aether and he itched to just burn it until it withered to ash.

But then he noticed Phoenix, hunched protectively over the sliver of her Dominant he had managed to encase in a makeshift shield, and his own discomfort was forgotten. She was still there, across the impromptu fence he'd added last minute to ensure that when he absorbed the rest of Phoenix's power that a portion of it would remain blocked off from his grasp. Just in case.  The relief was palpable, but short lived.

"Joshua…." Clive had muttered, his voice cracked and hollow. Ifrit winced. He had never heard his Dominant sound so broken. Not even those vague half-memories of his first emergence had sounded this lost.

Phoenix had directed him to heal her Dominant's broken body and seemed to have some idea of what to do next, and Clive made no hesitation to follow those instructions. Ifrit had really hoped she wouldn't notice that with Ultima's power now in their grasp, the Curse finally decided to exact a toll from his Dominant, but of course, he was not quite that fortunate.

Luckily he had an idea.

Well…he had a vague notion of an idea. While his impulse to burn away the foulness of Ultima's mark might not be realistic, it did lead to an interesting thought. If there was anything that could burn away the Curse, it would be Hellfire, wouldn't it?

It was certainly worth a try rather than letting his Dominant lilify while he watched. Phoenix's Dominant would never forgive him if he did. And while Ifrit might never have gotten along with Joshua for most of his waking time, this was still the human who carried his sister. Who paid the price when she asked him to help Ifrit after Odin. Clive treasured him as much as he treasured Shiva's Dominant.

And for all Clive had done for Ifrit and the rest of them by proxy, it was the least Ifrit could do in return. He just hoped it was enough.

When Phoenix was ready, the younger of the Eikons of Fire turned back to Ultima's last crystal. The last Mothercrystal that stood between the world surviving and the world ending. The last tether that kept the Eikons bound to humanity. With this thread cut, they would be free.

And their voices would dissolve back into the elemental aether they were born from for the last time.

I'm sorry.

Ifrit snorted at Clive's words while they looked up at the great looming crystal. I know. But that is the price of survival. If we stay, the world will wither, and we will die eventually anyway. At least this way, we will be free, even if we are stripped of our forms and voices.

We will never forget you, Clive said. Any of you. None of this would have been possible without you.

You're damned right, Ifrit grinned toothily, heartened by his Dominant's mental laugh at the haughty response.

Since that first moment when Ifrit's consciousness had been loosened from the inferno Ultima had kept him in for most of his Dominant's life, he had been mildly curious about the goings on around his Dominant, but it had never occurred to him that there could be more to it than simply observing until Clive called for his power. Not until that one night on the promenade overlooking the dead lake of the Hideaway. Thanks to that, in the span of mere months he had gone from a barely there silent presence to turning Ultima's manipulations into a boon more precious than anyone realized. The ability to speak. To be heard. To bond to something beyond their human Dominant.

Ifrit snorted to himself as he thought about it. Clive had always had a habit of forming bonds with everyone…and it seemed everything, if his damned Chocobo was any indication…he came across, and he always prattled on about how it was a strength. How those bonds were what made him stronger, not the Eikons they were inadvertently gathering, nor the prowess with which he swung his sword. Those helped, but it was the connections he always held most sacred. Ifrit hadn't really understood that in the beginning, but as time had gone on and words and questions started being shared between him and other Eikons, either through their Dominants or on their own, he started to realize what Clive had meant.

However short a time they had, the bonds he'd formed with Phoenix and Shiva, and even Bahamut, to a certain degree, were precious and he would never trade them for anything. It was the reason they had fought, defied their maker, and ultimately won.

It was also the reason they were going to disappear. Because despite losing their voices, if they stayed, their elements would eventually die with the rest of the world. Freedom, even if it was silent, still meant they could exist together in some fashion. It was frustratingly bittersweet, but it was still worth it.

Ifrit 'glanced' down at his Dominant's arm, the one Clive favored for magic use, which was slowly starting to calcify from the inside out. You had better take care of them, you know, the hellfire Eikon growled softly.

Clive didn't even have to ask who Ifrit meant.

If I survive this, I will, Clive promised, but there was a hint of defeat in his voice. He could feel the Curse creeping in too, and seemed resigned to his fate.  Which only served to steel Ifrit's resolve to do something about it. Shall we then?

Ifrit turned his attention back to the rancid pulsing crystal hanging over their heads. The last tumor to cut out from the cancer that was Ultima. Clive raised his arm slowly, trying to ignore the stinging pain as muscle turned to fragmented crystallized stone and began pouring the overflow of power into the crystal. This time there was no heart to saw through, this whole thing was a heart, no sword or claw was necessary. They would sunder it with the same greedy power that had tried to use them to remake the world.

Oh they would remake it all right. Into their world.

While Clive focused on the Crystal, Ifirt turned his attention to his own task. He felt Phoenix stirring in the background, gathering whatever aether she could manage as she prepared to do whatever it was she was going to do.

Time to put these powers to some use, Ifrit snarled, and felt Clive focus their power into the crystal.  For all intents and purposes, that appeared to be what was happening, except at the very last moment, Ifrit manipulated his flames away from the stream of other elements and instead directed them at the blackened, blighted patches of Curse that were spreading along Clive's body.  If Clive noticed, he made no mention of it, but Ifrit suspected his Dominant was too focused on bringing the crystal down.

At first it didn't look like anything was happening, the crystallization still spreading steadily as Clive channeled the collective power of the planet, but as Ifrit wrapped his fire around the boundaries of the Curse the spread slowed, until it finally began to stall. But by the fucking flames it HURT.

And that was when Ifrit realized it wasn't so much that he was burning away the Curse so much as redirecting it away from Clive and towards himself.

Well fuck, Phoenix was right, this was a bad idea, Ifrit grumbled watching with morbid curiosity as the cancerous blight started eating away at the stream of Hellfire, but he did not relent. He did, however, felt Phoenix's attention drift to him momentarily at the mention of her name.

What was a bad idea?

Nothing that matters now, Ifrit yelled back.

Oh you did something STUPID again, didn't you?!

How's resurrecting your Dominant going, sister?

Fuck you!

Thought so! Don't worry about me, I can handle this.

He could feel Phoenix's momentary battle between whether or not to yell at him some more before she seemed to huff with a flare of frustration and turned back to the issue with her Dominant. Ifrit took that as a sign to do the same with his.

Well fine, if it eats me instead then let's see what it can handle, the Hellfire Eikon muttered quietly to himself and threw himself headfirst into the onslaught of Curse. Since he'd awoken, burning was almost all he could do, and even as words and will slowly supplanted instinct and rage, that need to burn was always there just waiting to erupt. It was a part of his nature. But this wasn't burning so much as erasing. Boring into his being and clawing away parts of him in chunks. On a whim, Ifrit decided that if he was going to be slowly eviscerated from the inside out, then at least let the Curse core out the parts that felts foreign and invasive first. He shoved Ultima's essence to the forefront, forcing that poisonous oily slick in front of all the other parts of him, offering it up to the Curse gladly.

And by some fucking miracle it worked. The Curse started eating away at the power, consuming it like the Blight had consumed the land.

Ifrit heard a crack and glanced up, noticing that the Crystal was starting the cave.

Phoenix it's coming down!

I know, I just need a little more, I've never truly resurrected the dead before!

I thought you were the Eikon of the Life and Death!

Humans like to exaggerate!

Ifrit growled low and ragged as the last bits of Ultima's power were dissolved by the Curse and it started to search for it's next meal, and he saw it turning towards the threads that connected Phoenix to him.

Oh fuck no you don't, Ifrit pulled the dark hole that was Odin's essence out and shoved it in the Curse's path. Phoenix, you need to go, NOW!

What?

Just trust me, take your Dominant and go, now!

What did you…. Phoenix must have fully turned her attention and looked at what was happening and her words cut off abruptly. The little warm core that was her essence went dim for a moment in shock. Flames….Ifrit what did you do?

What I needed to do to save my Dominant, hopefully. Now you go save yours, before the Curse decides you're next.

You…absolute moron. Phoenix hissed, but he felt the warm trill and brush of her beak against his horns just before there was a surge of aether just as the Crystal split. Ifrit dimly felt his sister's presence flee to what it had been before he'd absorbed her, and now he could sense some faint flickering of her in what he hoped was her Dominant's healed body. Now she just had to put him back together. The Hellfire Warden let out a breath of relief as the Curse finished consuming Odin and reached out for its next target.

Leviathan. He never liked that slimy sea snake anyway. Fucking possessive asshole.

While he kept a close watch on where the Curse was spreading to, Ifrit started noticing something he suspected his Dominant did not. They were hundreds of feel up in the air, and none of the Eikons with wings were available. Even if he saved Clive from the Curse, the fall would be the death of him anyway. They needed an out.

Maybe, if Phoenix could get her Dominant up again she could force a prime, but the wild flickering going on in his periphery said that was unlikely. She had not managed to take most of her power back with her, and was going to end up using the last of her reserves to resurrect her Dominant. There wasn't going to be anything left for a prime.

Bahamut just had to go and get himself killed, didn't he? Ifrit growled as the blight spread into Ramuh's essence next.

Who's getting himself killed?

BAHAMUT?!

Great Greagor what have you two done up here?!

Ifrit had never in his life been so happy to hear that nosy religion toting lizard trilling along the threads.

Fuck am I glad to hear you! We're going to need wings as soon as this Crystal breaks. Which…will be pretty fucking soon.

Bahamut chirruped a bit sheepishly at that. Oh…well about that…Dion is…not the most conscious at the moment. Can Phoenix by chance-

Her Dominant died.

Bahamut's voice went quiet very suddenly. Oh.

She's trying to resurrect him but she's in no condition to fly.

Resurrect? What about the two of you together?

Ifrit roared as the Curse tore through Garuda and started gnawing away at Titan. Not an option.

Okay, okay…well to quote our residential blasphemy expert: Fuck.

Yeah, Ifrit winced as a chunk of the Crystal broke off. Another tidal wave of aether pulsed out across the room and Phoenix flared brightly for a moment before she started wavering again. If you're going to do something, do it now, these bridges that allow us to talk are about to go down.

What? How-okay never mind. Just stay alive. We will come find you.

We'll do what we can, Ifrit whined, starting to truly feel the holes the Curse was eating into him.

It was an agonizingly slow process. In reality it was a few seconds between when the Crystal had started to come down and when it shattered into dust and the aether of the world released in a torrent. But for Ifrit it was unending agony, trying to keep the Curse away from his Dominant by letting it consume all the accumulated powers. Shortly after Bahamut's voice had disappeared from the threads, Titan vanished, and it grabbed Bahamut and began it's violent work with those powers. That left only Phoenix and Shiva.

Shiva.

The one Ifrit dreaded losing.

He had told Clive before that Eikons could not fall in love the way humans did, but he was hard pressed to describe his feelings about Shiva in any other way. She was his equal, his opposite, an elemental balance that none of the others could match. He enjoyed bantering with her, and sought out the soothing cool of her ice, even if it could never truly penetrate the core of his fire. If things had been different, he could have found joy in an eternal cycle of seeking her out through lifetimes of Dominants.

If only things had been different.

Bahamut was almost gone, and he had to protect Phoenix as long as he could lest the Curse get a taste for Eikons of Fire and jump to her before her Dominant was returned. If he wanted to say anything, now would be the time. Weakly, Ifrit reached one clawed hand out to the tether that he knew belonged to Shiva.

I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I'm sorry I couldn't come back.

At first there was no response, which did not particularly surprised Ifrit, but after another beat or two, there was a weak plucking along the thread.

What do you mean 'you're sorry' you fucking idiot?! Did you do something pigheaded and stupidly noble?!

Ifrit could not help but laugh happily at Shiva's responding barb. Something like that.

You did it, then.

We did.

So soon we will be freed.  Shiva's voice was resigned, but there was a hint of sadness in her words.

Ifrit was about to respond but it came out as a bark of pain as he tried to keep Bahamut around a bit longer so it wouldn't move on to Shiva's bridge yet. The Curse did not seem to appreciate being denied its meal and tore a chunk out of Ifrit instead.

Oh you did something INCREDIBLY fucking stupid didn't you?

Why does everyone keep assuming that?

The magnitude of your stupidity is as vast and endless as the abyss. If anyone did not assume such the shame they should feel would topple creation.

It's why you love me.

There was another pause, and then Shiva's voice drifted gently around him like fallen snow. It may be, yes.

Ifrit snarled as his grip on Shiva's bridge started dissolving under his grasp.

Our Dominants will need help. Bahamut may not be able to land them before…before we're gone.

I will let my Dominant know, Shiva's voice cracked slightly, though it might've been the bridge collapsing. There was a momentary pause and then in a perilously weak voice he heard her whisper, I will find you again.

And I will know you again, Ifrit replied. And then the bridge went down.

---

Bahamut couldn't quite tell what was going on up in the Crystal chamber, but whatever it was, it had Ifrit roaring and snarling in pain, had killed Phoenix's Dominant but not enough that she had returned to dormancy, and had the very foundation of this massive structure shaking. None of that boded well.

Alright, I'm sorry to do this, little one, but it's time to wake up. Time is something we do not have.

It was a seldom used trick Bahamut had learned when Dion was a child and being especially obstinate, where he would gently prod Dion's consciousness in order to rouse him or get his attention. His prior Dominants had told him it was like something smacking them in the face and then grabbing their head in a vice, so he did not employ this tactic too often, but he needed to get Dion moving if they were to make a difference. He just hoped Dion would wake up.

For a moment, Bahamut feared his Dominant was too weak to wake, but after a few more forceful nudges, he felt the muzzy fog of unconsciousness lift from around Dion.

"Ungh…..what…" Dion grumbled half awake, more reaction than conscious action. Slowly Bahamut felt his Dominant's mind come back to itself. Too slowly. The floor was actively starting to crack now.

Ifrit what is— Bahamut began, but stopped when he realized that the thread he had been using to communicate with the other Eikons was gone. In fact…all of the threads were gone. That must have been what Ifrit had been trying to warn him about. It surprised Bahamut how empty the aether felt all of a sudden, but another jolt of the ground beneath them put his mind back to the task at hand.

Dion, you must wake up. We must move!

"Bahamut? How…are you…am I dead?" The crowned price lurched a bit as the structures around him shook. The sudden moments seemed to make his head spin and he grabbed onto one of the chunks of debris out of sheer reflex. The solid rock under his hand and the jolt of pain from his broken bones seemed to add to Dion's clarity of the situation. "Oh, not dead then. How? We were falling."

There is no time to explain. Ifrit and Phoenix need our wings, Bahamut hissed urgently. He did not like disregarding the boy's clearly delirious state, but they were rapidly running out of time. Compassion had to wait.

Dion blinked in confusion. "Where…how do you know….wait, you're injured! How did that even happen?!"

Bahamut 'rolled' his non-existent eyes. Of course his noble caring Dominant would noticed the wound that Bahamut had more or less forgotten at the worst possible time. It does not matter. What does matter is that this structure is coming down, and we all will fall with it.

That seemed to help focus Dion's meandering thoughts, and it occurred to Bahamut what would be the best possible way to get Dion up to speed without losing too much time to questions and confusion. A goal.

Ifrit and Phoenix are in danger and we are their only way safely down.

Dion went still and the Eikon of Light could feel the shift in his Dominant's demeanor. This was a battle, and they had their part to play yet. "Then…once more unto the breach?" Dion said after a moment.

Bahamut crooned affectionately. Once more.

It would be tricky, priming again. Dion's body was weak from the fall and the Curse was rapidly spreading, but if they were careful and quick….

But that was when the tidal wave of aether hit and Bahamut felt the strands of their bond start to fray.

The mothercrystal was gone. And with the aether released, it seemed so too were the bonds Ultima had fastened them to humanity with.

"Bahamut?!" Dion yelled, understandably panicked by the sudden shift in his bond with his Eikon. Their hold together had been tenuous before, already strained by not having the full amount of Bahamut's power to strengthen it. Now it was also fraying apart from the inside out.

It…seems we have less time than even I thought, the great wyrm hissed.

"What is happening?! Bahamut?!"

Ultima's works are being undone. Including my bonds to you.

Dion was silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, it was with a heavy sigh and a sad but fond tone. "Then let us fly one last time while we can."

Bahamut looked at his Dominant closely. Most of the bones on Dion's left side were broken, and he was bleeding slowly from the wound on his forehead. If he channeled a prime now, his body and mind would likely shatter, especially with their bond this damaged. The wyvern king glanced down at his wounded side and chuckled.

Thank you, Ifrit.

"Ifrit?"

Promise me one thing, Dion.

"Promise?"

Be the fool who hopes.

"What are you-"

Do you swear to it?

Dion paused, but eventually nodded. "On my honor."

Then let us fly.

And with that Bahamut grabbed the frayed bond and fully coiled around the link, forming the bridge that allowed his physical form to manifest in a flare of light and wind.

BAHAMUT?! WHAT- Dion screamed physically roaring as he scrambled to take control, only to realize that he wasn't the one bearing the brunt of the channel.

Fly, little one. Fly and get them out, Bahamut hissed through clenched teeth as the light threatened to tear him apart. And remember what you promised.

Something in his voice must have struck the young prince, because without another word, Dion launched them into the air upwards, through light and wind and crumbling architecture. Two weakening flickers of flame. That was their goal. Bahamut could not even spare a moment to direct Dion, but thankfully the prince was quick and wove through the deadly maze of debris towards their goal. Bahamut could feel the link fraying as Ultima's bonds began to dissolve, hastened by the forced prime ripping him apart from the inside out. He just had to hold out a little longer, keep his will from fracturing until Dion could grab Ifrit and Phoenix's Dominants and get them to safety.

It was easier said than done, especially when one of the twin fires went out.

---

This was it. This was the last chance she'd have.

Phoenix hadn't been able to gather enough aether to resurrect Joshua the first two times the aether wave had rushed through.

This is why I never let my Dominants resurrect the dead. Nearly dead is one thing…. Phoenix trilled angrily to herself. She heard the heavy crack and the final groan as the crystal began to crumble and she braced herself for the tsunami of aether that was to follow. After she'd had to jump back early thanks to Ifrit's incredibly stupid yet incredibly noble attempts to save his Dominant from the Curse, that second wave of aether was almost enough, but it lacked the raw power it needed to cast a spell of this magnitude. And Phoenix wasn't sure she could control her powers well enough anymore to channel that level of power. Most of her strength had been left back with Ifrit, she'd only managed to take back what he'd sectioned off during the initial absorption.

If she could just manage to divert enough to her Dominant to resurrect him without channeling the full brunt through him, maybe, just maybe this would work. So far the shield had held, but once that crystal came down her ties to her physical form that held Joshua in stasis would break and he would dissolve along with her unless he was back in a proper human form.

The time for Eikons is over, my friend, Phoenix said fondly to Joshua's shard. She wasn't even sure he could hear her let alone understand what he was perceiving, but it made her feel better saying it anyway. Now it's up to you.

With a cacophony of splinters, the crystal shattered and the aether hit her like a brick wall. Trying to direct the power was like attempting to control water, it just kept slipping around her, threatening to drown her, and if by chance she could get enough of a hold it threatened to pull her under with it.

It was too much. She didn't have enough control left to keep the aether focused. She could not do this alone.

I'm so sorry, my friend. I cannot do this by myself. I'm not strong enough.

Well it's a good thing you're not alone, isn't it?

Phoenix dared to poke her head above the flood of aether and glanced behind her to see the lumbering form of her brother. Ifrit?! Your Dominant - Phoenix started, but her brother snorted out a plume of ash and faint embers.

He's unconscious, but alive. I've…done all I can, the horned visage of her twin glanced down at where Phoenix suspected his Dominant lay. The rest is up to him.

Phoenix trilled sadly. Her brother was barely standing. Half of his body was dead and blackened, the flames snuffed out and dead volcanic rock falling away from him like shed skin. One of his horns was broken off and an eye was dead and lifeless. He'd taken all the damage he could from the Curse, and yet he still was offering to push himself further for her Dominant's sake.

Flames, brother…

Twin Flames, remember?

Phoenix couldn't help but chirp out a broken fizzled laugh. They were both going to fall, so they would pick each other up together. Together then. Whatever we have left, maybe it will be enough.

So it was together that they tried. Ifrit as her foundation, while Phoenix drew on the tidal wave of freed aether and began the work of integrating the splinter of Joshua back into his body. It was a painstaking spell, a delicate balance of power and finesse, and it seemed like even together they would not be enough. Their bindings to this world were unraveling too fast. But just as Phoenix felt the last vestiges of her bond to Joshua falter, she felt Ifrit forcibly hold them together at the same moment there was a sudden snap and the globe of fire dissipated into Joshua's chest.

Phoenix couldn't see clearly anymore to sense whether this meant the spell had worked or fizzled. But she felt a flush of warmth for a moment just before she felt the bond dissolve out of Ifrit's grasp, and she knew her time was up.

She would have to believe that there at the end, when the last of her awareness faded back into the flames, that the tiny echoing noise she heard was her Dominant's voice.

And just in case it was, she said, Farewell, my friend.

And then, as as it was in the beginning, everything was fire.

---

Phoenix was gone. Ifrit felt it the instant her bonds broke in his claws. The keen of mourning would be heard by no one, but he could not have withheld it if he'd tried. Most of him was hollowed out and dormant, like a volcano devoid of the magma meant to run beneath it, but it was only when Phoenix's fire went out that he truly felt it. All the pain and abuse he'd suffered finally came to collect when his sister had died.

He now truly understood his Dominant on a level he really wished he never had. This was loss, on a personal level, and even though half of him was numb with death, it stung worse than any injury he'd known.

Ifrit might have stayed there until he too finally dissolved, staring at empty claws, if it hadn't been for the faint groan from his Dominant who appeared to be stirring out of unconsciousness. His Dominant. Phoenix's Dominant. They were still here. Bahamut hadn't found them yet. He wouldn't be able to talk but he could sense them.

No. Him. Bahamut could sense him. Phoenix was gone.

The dragon needed a guide. One of them had to stay here long enough for him to find their Dominants and this fact was enough for the few sputtering parts of Ifrit that stubbornly clung to existence to hang on. But the floor did not seem to care. It sundered under the two humans and they all began to fall.

This was it then.

Ifrit's vision was blurring and he could no longer clearly see anything as his own bonds began to dissolve, all he could feel was the wind and the dull thuds as debris knocked against them as they plummeted. One of the thumps was rather abrupt and rougher than the others.  Something heavy and solid had collided with his Dominant, and Ifrit strained to see what it was but now his vision was almost entirely gone.

Wait…the rock hadn't moved away as the others had. It had…closed in? Squeezed?

Talons. His Dominant had hit some talons.

Bahamut?

Maybe that had been the wyrm's screech he heard as whatever was grasping his Dominant held tighter and the wind changed direction. He couldn't tell if Phoenix's Dominant was there too, everything was too fuzzy, fading too quickly. Words were becoming hard to remember.

Clive was still mostly unconscious, knocked out from the initial blow back from the Crystal's destruction, but he was alive and coming back around. The Curse was still slowly, ever so slowly advancing up his arm where it had begun its work earlier, but there was a chance it would stop before it claimed anything humans deemed important for living. Maybe Ifrit's incredibly stupid idea had worked.

Maybe they could get their Dominants out of here after all.

Of course, that was when he felt the sudden dips and erratic drops in altitude, fast, then slow, the faster, suddenly stopped. Thrashed around wildly, dragged upwards like the heaviest stone. Bahamut losing the same battle Ifrit was.

He would have to hope it was enough. He could feel the last desperate strands of his bond to Clive snapping. His time was done. He just had to hope Bahamut would be close enough to the ground when his own bond finally broke.

They had done everything they could to save their Dominants. Their humans. Their family.

Ifrit turned to his half conscious Dominant and let out a weak growl, not really caring if Clive could understand him or not. What mattered was that he said it.

If you survive to tell our story, I don't know how we will be remembered, as beasts or weapons or myths. But that part isn't important. What is important is that we mattered, and we had voices of our own. If nothing else, let that be the part that is remembered.

With that, the last thread snapped, and finally, for the first time, Ifrit knew what it was to be free.

---

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