Chapter 9: Spirit of the Sea

Chapter 9: Spirit of the Sea

The Elvaan man and the Automaton slept quietly on the soft thick bed covered in silk sheets adorned with intricate Mithran patterns. Aura slowly woke up, but still laid silently with his eyes closed, thinking to himself about the Animator the Moogle kept in its little brown shoulder bag, "What is its purpose if the Automata are able to think and move on their own -- why restrict their capabilities to a masters control?" With this thought, he opened his eyes, and rolled his head to the side across the pillow. He looked at the hibernating Automaton, peacefully sitting there with its systems on standby. "This tiny machine conjured up a blizzard in my Mog House? It seems impossible..." he thought to himself. 

Suddenly without warning, the entire ship shook furiously, as if the ocean beneath were solid land under the influence of an earthquake. Aura quickly sat up, and said aloud "What was that!?", his voice and the shaking caused Kenbishi's systems to start back up. The Automaton looked up at Aura with its shadowy face and said to his master "We... must be... there." Aura nodded to Ken and stood up, but nearly lost his balance as the ship continued to shake. After regaining his balance, he ran out of the cabin room door, down the short hall and up the stairs leading to the ship deck. Ken hopped off of the bed and followed.

"H-heeelp, kupo!" The Moogle screamed as he held onto the steering wheel for dear life. Aura shouted to him as he ran up the stairs leading to the control room "What's going on, Moogle?" "In front of us! It's... a giant snake, kupo!" Aura looked out over the deck of the ship from the top of the stairs. The ship shook once more, as a gargantuas blue and white serpent with large flowing scale-covered wings launched itself from the ocean over the front of the ship. As it passed overhead, its wet body dripped onto the deck as if it were raining, and its huge figure blocked out the dim light of the sun, giving the feel of a sudden storm. 

Aura followed the serpent with his eyes as it crashed back into the water behind the ship. Ken ran up the stairs, his natural clanking footsteps silenced out by the thunderous sounds of the crashing water engulfing the serpents body as it slithering into the ocean. Ken shouted "Where... did that.. come from!?" Aura looked out over the ocean and saw a towering tree on the land in the distance. "That must be Windurst!" He said before turning around and running into the control room. "We wont make it to the shore if this snake-thing sinks us first, kupo!" the Moogle cried while still tightly hugging the steeling wheel. Aura's face was overcome by a sudden serious look. He quickly reached into the Moogles bag and pulled out the animator. The Moogle looked back at Aura questioningly, but Aura turned around and ran out of the small room before the Moogle could speak.

Ken stood on the stairs in a solid stance to keep his balance from the raging ocean knocking around the ship. Aura walked to the end of the stairs and looked down to Ken, Ken looked up to Aura and saw the animator in his hands. They knew what they had to do if there wanted to survive. Aura and Ken nodded to eachother in sync. The small metal Automaton jumped off of the stairs, into the air and landed in the middle of the ship deck. Aura pressed the green button on the animator, the button with a tiny tornado symbol. The ship shook again, this time the serpent emerged from the ocean on the left side of the ship. As the creature flew over the ship, swells of ocean water crashed into the fragile ferry. Ken, now radianting a pine-colored aura, shot into the air off of the deck. As the Automaton pierced through the air, a vortex of wind spiraled quickly around its frame. Like a bullet, the tiny metal doll slammed into the body of the serpent overhead. It then fell back to the deck, landing on its feet much like a cat.

The now angry serpent turned around in mid-air, with its glowing red eyes looking out of place on its nearly neon blue colored body. The enormous serpent coiled up its extremely long body and tail in the sky over the ship. Aura and Ken looked up as the beast let out a horrifying screech. You could see the fear in Aura's eyes. The Automaton however, held its fighting stance, awaiting its next command. Aura, not expecting a response, screamed at the serpent, "What do you want from us!?", the serpent looked down at the Elvaan man, and spoke in a scratchy, echoing near-whisper of a voice "I am Leviathan... Ssserpent of the sssea. I wasss sssummoned to dessstroy." Without hesitation, the creature screeched again and slithering higher into the sky before diving at high speed down toward the ocean. As the beast crashed into the surface of the ocean, it let off a surge of energy that caused a rumble in the water, unlike the furious crashing waves of before. Aura and Ken looked around, but the serpent was no where in sight. Above the water at least.

The Moogle finally pryed itself from the steering wheel, and floated out of the control room with its wings fluttering frantically. The pink flying mole floated up behind Aura and asked "I-is it gone, kupo?" Aura turned around to reply to the Moogle, but he saw something behind the furry little creature out in the ocean at a distance. "I don't think that thing is done yet..." Aura mumbled. The Moogle turned around and saw the gigantic serpent slithering through the air above the ocean surface at extreme speeds, a tidal wave twice as high as the beasts distance from the ocean, trailed behind it. "Oh no, kupo!!" the Moogle cried. Aura looked down at the animator as Ken walked up the stairs and stood next to him, the metal doll now without the green aura from before. "How can we stop this creature?" Aura asked. Ken looked up to his master, and tilted its head. "I... can do... it..." the Automaton's voice echoed. "You... can give me... the strength..."

The Automaton set its tiny black hand on its masters pant leg, as if telling the Elvaan that there is always hope. Aura closed his eyes, and slid his finger over a randomly chosen button on the animator. As he pressed it in, the Automaton burst into a radiant white light. Ken's voice rang throughout the area in a sharp deep voice. "Strength of the Warrior... Faith of the Paladin... Soul of the Dark Knight... I can feel the tune-up taking effect." The Automaton, engulfed in a ball of white energy, floated into the air. "Valoredge." Ken said gallantly as he broke apart the ball of light with his limbs, sending beams of energy shooting into the ocean and others into the sky. With the light gone, Kenbishi's new form was revealed as it drifted slowly down onto the roof of the control room. Heavy-looking peach-colored armor, with golden designs and patterns adorning the metal frame. A heavy knight's helmet sporting the same theme as the frame, with a fluffy crimson feather on top. The feather fluttered in the wind as it hung behind the Automaton's helmet. It's arms had become weapons, two sharp blades on the left hand that doubled as scissors, and a thick small shield on the right hand.

Leviathan's screech could be heard once more, as it closed in on the ship and the city of Windurst with the gigantic ocean wave following behind. "Aura." Ken said, in a solid low toned voice. Aura looked up at the Automaton. "Endow me with the esscence of earth." it said. Aura nodded, looked down at the animator and moved his finger from the Light maneuver button to the Earth maneuver button. As he pressed it in, the Automaton, still atop the control room, began to glow a nearly transluscent yellow color. "Thank you, master." the Automaton graciously said as it watched the serpent came up on the ship. Ken suddenly dropped into a low stance and launched itself straight through the air at the creature once more. With its shield extended in front of it, Ken slammed into Leviathan's face, causing the serpent to coil up again. The wave slowly fell back into the ocean as it sped along right under the ship. The ship rolled over the former tidal wave the same way it did over a normal ocean swell.

Ken shouted back to Aura as the Automaton's metal frame dropped towards the ocean surface and the serpent regained focus as it had overcome the stun of the shield bash. "I need offense! Try a combination!" Aura felt like a student and his teacher was a puppet as he did what the doll commanded of him. The Elvaan man pressed in the button adorned with a Lightning bolt, and then the button with the tornado. Ken's aura spiraled with purple and green energy as the Automaton's descent toward the ocean slowed and it began to float upwards toward Leviathan. 

"You cannot defeat me. I am the God of the sssea." the creature hissed at the tiny mechanical doll as its glowing red eyes pulsed. Heavy black clouds suddenly formed overhead, and rain began to fall around them. The serpentine creature let out another horrifying screech that seemed to summon giant pillars of water from the ocean surface below. These rising pillars slithered just like the creature who had summoned them. Ken, still rising toward Leviathan, hadn't noticed the towers of water rising from behind. "Look out, kupo!" the Moogle shouted. Ken turned around in mid-air but it was too late, one of the pillars of water crashed into the automaton with destructive force. As the water enveloped Ken's metal frame, another pillar slammed into it from the side of the first pillar. The two jet-streams of water now crossing through eachother, held the automaton in a current while the third pillar of water rushed upwards, crushing Ken in between it and the other two. An echoing cry rang across the moist rainy air. Aura could feel Ken's pain, yet the question of how an Automaton could feel pain lingering in the back of his mind as he cringed, with the animator still in hand. 

Aura suddenly fell to his knees, and let out a pain-filled scream up into the sky. The Moogle turned around to look at Aura, seeing his overwhelming pain confused the Moogle. Aura dropped the animator in front of him and fell forward onto his hands, with his head down and his eyes tightly shut. "Insssignificant creatures. You ssshall not harm Windurssst." Leviathan hissed. The Moogle looked up at the serpent, "Harm, kupo!?" it said questioningly, "We're here to save Windurst, kupo!" Leviathan looked down to the small pink floating mole and screeched. "Decept-sss-ion." the Serpent said as it lifted its massive tail high above its dragon-like head. "I have wasssted enough time here. My duty callsss." it said before whipping its tail downward into the center of the three water jets. The tail slammed into the automaton, knocking it forcefully into the sruface of the ocean.

Aura fell onto his stomach with the animator laying on the wooden floor in front of his face. His eyes opened as he heard the serpent speak once more, "You ssshall be destroyed along with thossse trying to harm Windurssst." Aura sat up, and grabbed a hold of the animator. The giant blue creature uncoiled and slithered high into the sky, before diving swiftly into the ocean. Aura looked up to see the long tail disappear into the surface of the water. He looked down at the animator, slid his finger over the purple lightning bolt button, and pressed it once... then twice... then a third time. He stood up, looked out over the ocean behind the ship and whispered to himself "I... feel your pain..."

The ocean suddenly sank downward, and an enormous pillar of sea water towered over the small ship. The tower of water reached high into the black clouds and doubled the heavy rain. Leviathan emerged from the side of the tower, and wrapped itself around the watery pillar as if it were solid. It let out yet another piercing screech to signal its final attack. 

Aura closed his eyes and whispered in a short breath "Now," A beam of radiant purple light shot up from beneath the ocean and slammed into the serpent, knocking it away and taking a huge chunk out of the pillar of water. The tower began to collapse on itself, the water rained to back to the ocean and high in the sky Aura and the Moogle could see Kenbishi slashing at Leviathan with unbelievable speed. The Automaton's scissor-blade hand was slicing through the so-called "God of the Sea" with electrifying energy trailing behind each slash. 

Ken suddenly stopped, looked into the glowing red eyes of the tore-up serpent, and said in an echoing voice "Be gone..." The Automaton stabbed its dual blades into the serpents body as a chain of lightning bolts fell from the black clouds above and struck the creature multiple times. Leviathan let out one last screech as its body burst into scattering cyan spheres of light. 

Ken began to fall from the sky while the black clouds above the ocean faded away. The automaton leaned forward into the fall to build up speed. As it closed in on the ship, it leaned forward again and rolled over, landing on its feet on the deck of the ship in an impact just soft enough to leave the wooden floor intact. Aura walked down the steps onto the deck and smiled at the Automaton. Ken looked up at Aura and held the scissor-blade hand up to his helmet to salute him. The Automaton's helmet feathers rustled in the breeze emanating from the direction of Windurst, which made both Aura and Ken turn to look at the city. "We're almost there, kupo." The Moogle said from the top of the stairs. "I think we're ready." Aura said. The three of them looked out over the water at the giant tree in the center of the city, as the ship brought them closer and closer to the port. With the silence invoking thought, and the breeze filled with righteousness, Aura said to himself in his head... "Raven... We'll get you back. I promise you."