Chapter 13: Eternal Sleep
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  Scarecrow let out a wild whoop as he soared through the skies.  It was
great to be flying again, to feel the wind whipping past his body.  Flight
was indeed a wonderful thing.
  Part of his mind tried to work out where he would go next.  Perhaps he
would go and pay a visit to Sascha and Akfek.  Or he could steal one of those
orb shards that Celes and her friends had.  That could certainly be useful.
  Scarecrow half smiled to himself as he soared over the open sea.  He could
go anywhere.  He could do anything he wanted... no.  That wasn't quite true.
There was one thing he wanted more than anything else, that he would never
do, not anymore.
  Depression rose up in waves against him.  He looked down at the world below
him.  *How easy it would be to just leap off,* Scarecrow thought.  *End all
my worries just like that.  Perhaps it would save everyone a lot of trouble.
Maybe they would all be better off without me.*
  Suddenly his bird shook up and down, threatening to throw him from his
seat.  Scarecrow blinked, looking up.  And then his eyes went wide.
  Where it had been a clear, sunny day only moments before, storm clouds were
now moving in from every direction.  Moving in quite fast.  Only magic could
move them that fast.  But what really amazed Scarecrow was that he hadn't
seen it coming.  Even in the deepest loneliness, he had trained himself to
notice things.  Now, he seemed to be losing his edge.
  A second wall of turbulence slammed into them, then a third.  Rain poured
down, hard enough that it hurt.  Scarecrow counted himself lucky that he had
just finished strapping himself onto his chocobo.
  Below him, Scarecrow could see only the ocean.  They must've flown over it
while he was thinking.  There was no land in sight, especially not through
all that rain.  Lightning crackled around them, but didn't hit... yet.
  "Did you really think it would be so easy to escape me?" a voice laughed,
the harsh words echoing even through the deafening downpour.  "Did you really
think I'd let you go so easily?"
  Scarecrow knew who it was.  He didn't even need to ask.  "Well, 'Worm', so
good of you to join me."
  The booming voice laughed again.  "I would advise you to be more courteous
to those who could kill you."
  "Well, when I find someone who could kill me, I'll take your advice."
  That earned him another laugh.  "I have only allowed you to live this long
in hopes that you might... reconsider my offer.  As it seems you will not, I
must destroy you."
  "Actually, I've been thinking about your offer.  I'd like to change the
deal just a tad.  You join me, and maybe I won't kill you."
  "Your pathetic excuse for humor will not help you, Scarecrow.  You could
not even touch me, using your greatest powers.  Expending only the tiniest
portion of my power, I can utterly annihilate you."
  Scarecrow didn't bother responding.  Something had suddenly occured to him.
He set his chocobo into a dive.
  "Whatever you are trying to do, Scarecrow, it won't work.  You are too far
away from land or shelter for you to survive this storm."
  Scarecrow looked down at his bird.  It was getting tired, fast.  It
couldn't hold out against the storm forever.  Hoping that his chocobo had
enough energy left, he set it to head almost straight up, using the momentum
of it's dive to speed it along.
  The clouds were only a short distance away.  If he could just break through
the cloud cover, he would be out of this accursed storm.
  Apparently the 'Master' also realized his plan.  The rain came down even
harder, the wind buffeted them about like a reed, and lightning crackled
against them.
  Scarecrow held up his sword, using the power of Runic magic to gain energy
from the lighning.
  The wind and rain still took their toll, however.  Scarecrow wasn't sure
how much longer his chocobo would last.
  And suddenly they were out of the clouds, staring up at clear blue skies.
The world seemed so peaceful up here.  It was like magic.  One moment, they
were in the midst of a raging storm, and in the next they were in the most
tranquil place Scarecrow had ever been.
  The chocobo, exhausted with the effort it had taken to get here, fell
unconscious.  They plummeted back into the storm.
  Booming laughter surrouded them, echoing the sounds of the thunder.  They
were in a dive, now, a vertical drop that would only end with dashing into
the sea.
  <Cure2!> Scarecrow spent most of his reserves of magical energy into the
spell.  The chocobo was still unconscious.
  <Cure!> Nothing.  <Cure!>  Scarecrow spent the very last of his power into
the spell.  For a moment, nothing happened.
  Then the chocobo's eyelids fluttered.  Looking down, it suddenly realized
what their situation was.  It didn't even need Scarecrow's signals to know
that it should pull up... hard.
  The water loomed up before them.  Scarecrow gritted his teeth, hoping to
the Goddesses that his bird had enough strength to get them out of this one.
Gravity pulled against Scarecrow, threatening to rip him out of the saddle.
His straps snapped.  His hands barely grasped the pommel of the saddle.
  The chocobo glided level with the water for a moment, then managed to pull
up, just barely.  Scarecrow heaved himself back into his seat.
  "Damn you!" he shouted up at the clouds.  "At least give me something I can
fight, coward!"
  The clouds seemed to laugh right back at him.  "If you insist."
  Scarecrow barely saw the bubbles in the water in time.  "Aquilan!" he
shouted, veering left hard.
  The creature's head shot up out of the water, spraying a mist of deadly
fire.  Scarecrow's right arm was scorched, but he would live.  He swiveled
his neck around to get a good look at the creature.
  The Aquilan's reptilian head stared right back at him.  Scarecrow could
swear that it was grinning.  It breathed out another jet of flame.
  The chocobo swooped low just in time.  Another jet, and Scarecrow pulled
his bird into a barrel roll to the left.
  Scarecrow cursed.  There was only one way he could think of to get rid of
that head.  After they dodged another blast of fire, he stood up on the back
of his chocobo.
  Scarecrow had only seen that 'Tellah' do it once, but he figured it was
worth a shot anyway.  He prepared himself for one of those jumps he had seen
the young man do.
  It should be noted here that Scarecrow's jump went a foot farther than he
could usually manage.  However, a foot farther was not nearly enough to reach
the Aquilan.
  Scarecrow plummeted toward the water, tossing a grappling hook back, toward
his chocobo.  It caught onto something, pulling him forward.
  He turned around, then saw it.  A huge, white, serpent-like head loomed up
before him, mouth open.  As he plummeted into the mouth, the last thing
Scarecrow wondered was whether his chocobo would survive.