Like A Phoenix
He was dying.
He knew he was dying, and regretted only that he would never see Elfé again. Not her, not her father Veld, not his few remaining Hundred nor even the bloody Turk.
The pain was too great; he couldn’t even open his eyes.
But the fight wasn’t over.
Shears hadn’t been lying when he told the Turk that before Elfé, only the pain from fighting made him feel alive.
With a bellow like a wounded ox, he surged to his feet between the Turk and the thing that had been Fuhito. Words were exchanged; he couldn’t remember what they were even as he said them. And then-- The scythes that served it for arms slashed across his chest, biting through flesh and bone and tearing into his heart--
He drew back his fist and punched the Summon materia with all the rage and hate he could muster--
The materia and his hand shattered at the same time.
Cold swarmed him and, as everything went white, Shears grinned.
The last thing he knew was a primal satisfaction.
For a time, there was peace.
Sensation, like a hand along his jaw.
Sound: “She misses you terribly.”
A woman’s voice, familiar.
It took effort to reply. “Ma...?”
Now a masculine chuckle. “Not quite, boss.”
At that voice, sorrow. “Hobbie? Hoped you’d made it...”
Another chuckle, sadder. “Almost did. Almost did.”
The woman again: “You’re still needed. This isn’t the place for you.”
“She’s right,” agreed Hobbie. “Go back, boy.”
Vision came to him, a stocky dark man and a woman who looked like Elfé, shrouded in pearlescent white; behind them stood several of his Hundred. “Take care of her,” the woman said, and white became blue, rushing down past him, tasting of salt.
Blue rushed past, and he rose higher, faster, until suddenly he was drenched in heat and sun and surf. He breathed in sea air and opened his eyes--











