User blog:Carol of the bells/Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 36

Days of Ruin --- Zen's exile, part 36
Oh my gosh....

I am so, so sorry...

I-I didn't mean to miss last Saturday, I'm sorryyyyy *Sobs*.

I had two tests I was studying for, and I had to finish an essay. But, hey, I got a 100% on both my tests, so yay!

As compensation, here is a Valentines day joke:

Why didn't Mifune and Zen's relationship work out?

.....

.........

.....Because he was always saying "You sound just like your mother."

Huh? Huh? Yeah? Get it? 'Cause Yukino and Zen have the same voice? Yeah?


 * Ahem* Anyway, onto the story~!



"This is it," Tillith said, pointing to a large tower looming over head. "That's where the Juggernaut is, at the top of the Tower of Mistral."

Zen observed the decaying structure, noticing that several monsters where scurrying in and out of doorways and windows. "What should I expect?" She inquired.

The goddess tapped her chin in thought. "I don't know much about it," She mused, "But he's like...this robot machine thingy.....not very smart, but he packs a pretty serious punch. Just don't underestimate him, is what I'm trying to say."

Zeln laughed, crossing his arms proudly. "Zen has nothing to worry about while we're with her!"

The summoner nodded. "Of course. But I will need a few of you to stay behind and keep the monsters away."

"I will," Aem volunteered. Mifune nodded, silently agreeing, as well as Selena.

"Good," Zen turned to enter the tower. "Now, we--"

"Hey!"

A loud, scornful, demanding, and all-too familiar voice interrupted. As she suspected, Zen saw Seria stomping up to them, looking quite cross. Or was this her normal expression?

"Are you an idiot?!" Seria demanded.

Zen blinked. "I thought we already established that."

The swordswoman  grew more irritated. "Obviously, you're head is too thick to recieve any sort of instruction from a sensible person."

Tillith went to Zen's side in defense. "Hey," She whined, clinging to the summoner's arm, "Don't talk to my Zen like that!"

"W-What!?" Seria sputtered, for some reason growing flustered, "She's....she's not 'your' anything! A-and why would I even care?!"

As things escalated, Karl quickly interevened, pulling Seria back gently. "Anyway," He put emphasis on the word, "We're not here to stop you or anything, we're here to help."

Seria clicked her tongue. "You'll need it, you know."

Zen blinked again, slightly confused. "O-okay. I appreciate your help, but weren't you after Graham?"

"Yes," Karl explained, "Our trail leads through here, so we'd thought we'd help out while we were in the area." He smiled. "Don't worry about it, it's no trouble."

"Just don't get yourself killed like an idiot," Seria muttered.

"We will be here to aide you," Aem stepped forward to Karl, and the shook hands.

Satisfied that they seemed that they would work well together, Zen started for the tower. "You be carefull as well, Karl, Seria." She offered a reassuring smile one more time. "I'll come back victorious." She enetered through the archway, Galant, Lira, Zeln, Lancia, and Sergio following behind.

"Now," Seria turned to the mob of monsters rushing towards them, eyeing them in disgust and brandishing her sword. "What will we do about this rabble?"

"Hmph." Mifune gripped the hilt of his blade. "Try not to fall behind, brat."

"I won't lose to a mere unit," She spat back.

Selena laughed. "What a foul-mouthed young woman."

Karl sighed, exasperated by his comerade's antics. "Could you at least cooperate for a little while at least?"

Aem readied his weapon. "After all," He added, "We're all helping Zen."



"Lightining kick!" Zeln dispatched another beast as Lira and Zen cut down the monsters in their path, while Galant and Lancia where protecting their sides.

"There's so many!" Lancia cried out, her pan crushing the skull of an unsuspecting slyph.

Sergio grunted, quickly blocking another oncoming hoarde with a wall of ice. "Zen, find an opening and go on ahead!"

The summoner created a jade beast that tore through a salamander's hyde. "I'm not leaving you!" She protested, impaling a rougue Leon unit. He staggered back, before lunging to attack before he disappeared. Zen hissed in pain as his attack managed to catch her left arm.

"At this rate," Galant observed, "None of us will have energy to take on the Juggernaut. That's why you have to go on ahead, we'll be fine!"

She hesitated, watching as the monster's breached the ice wall. "But..."

"Go," Lira urged her, nodding in re-assurance. "Beasts of this level won't kill us."

The summoner nodded firmly. "...Alright." She ran through the ranks of monsters, down the dark corridor. Zeln quickly killed any of the monsters that tried to attack her as she ran, keeping the enemies from pursuing.

The tower had a single spiraling hall, making it easy to navigate. Zen hurried to ascend, a low rumbling soon reaching her ears. At first she thought it might be the battle below, but the higher in the tower she got, the more she realized it was coming from above, like a heavy pacing. The Juggernaut was restless.

The hall ended, a single archway up ahead. Zen created a jade tiger, preparing to attack, hoping to catch the beast off guard. The tiger rushed in ahead of her, roaring hungrily as it dissapeared into the room. Several noises and crashes were heard, but Zen couldn't tell who was making what noise. She skidded to a stop, just inside the archway.

Her breath was stolen away by the sight.

He tiger had been caugh in the grasp of a four-armed giant. It had a face like a beast, and it seemed to be made out of some sort of technology, like Tillith had suggested. The Juggernaut's red eyes locked onto her figure, as it's metal jaw seperated to let out a low, robotic growl. Wheter of not this attack had been hers, he did not appreciate the intrusion. It easily crushed the writhing crystal beast in its grip, rushing forward on six legs.

The ground shook heavily beneath her, and Zen struggle to stay upright. She dove to her right as its fist drove down into the ground, creating a crater. She quickly encased it in crystal, to keep him from retracing his fist. It ripped it out, easily breaking the crystal.

She retreated, vaulting several crystal spires at it, as well as two large crystal bears. She hoped to overwhelm it enough to get an attack in and find its weakspot. It raised its four arms to block the spires, while the bears tackled its legs, biting into the metal. An electronic noise like a roar errupted from its chest as it swatted at the bears, shattering one instantly, and heavily damaging the other.

While it was still occupied, Zen quickly rushed forward, forming a crystal casing over her hand. As she drew closer, she dropped down, sliding under the beast, thrusting her hand into its underbelly. Metal sparks flew and wires were cut as the crystal easily cut through the soft casing. The beast reared up, stomping its feet wildly.

Not having enough time to dodge, Zen lifted her hands and formed a shield of diamond. She hadn't had time to practice her new skill, but she had no choice. Metal foot colided with the crystal, instantly retracting as the crystal adheered to the surface. Zen quickly rolled out from under the Juggernaut. Her eyes flew to her hand where pain had suddenly splintered through her. Diamond was growing where she had created the crystal, and it felt as if it were under her skin. She quickly broke it off, blood squirting from the small wounds.

The beast let out a howl as the crystal quickly  grew around it. Whenever it broke it with its fist, it just grew back, also growing where it had met with its fists. Soon, it stilled completely, completely encased in crystal.

But it didn't stop growing.

The diamond ran into the roof, but didn't stop there, growing larger still, along the walls. Zen hurried to it, pressing her hands to the growing object to destroy it. As expected, it quickly attatched to her skin, growing around her hands. Ignoring this, she focused on breaking down the crystal. She stopped, realizing that if she destroyed the casing, the Juggernaut would probably be released. But if she didn't, the tower would be crystalized, as well as her units, Seria, and Karl.

She had to do it.

Grunting, she began retracting the crystal. It's growing slowed to a stop, before the tips gradually decended from the roof. It had now progressed up to her wrists, but she kept retracting it. If she shattered it with the juggernaut inside, the dust would scatter onto her, which she suspected, would encase her in crystal. As the Juggernaut's head was freed from the diamond, it swiveled its head down to her, growling. It would wait until it was completely freed before it struck.

She was running out of time.



I kind of felt this chapter was hard to write...too many people! Zen, you need to cut back on the units, geez!

Anyway, again, sorry it's late. Thanks for reading~!