Chapter 14: 45:56 (2 Hours, 4 Minutes Remaining)

For a minute, all those who witnessed the scene were stunned. There were thousands of demons milling about the entrance, as if watching out for intruders. Some had wings and made brief flights out into the air beyond the cave mouth, those that didn't jostled for space here and there.

"L - look at them all!" Orko finally stuuttered, breaking the silence. 'I've never see so many, even when they were attacking us!"

"Is Calan in there?" Vivi asked, stunned. How could they possibly get through all those demons in time? It all seemed hopeless. All he could think of was that his son, his firstborn, was in there somewhere, alone, being turned into a mindless Black Mage puppet. No one had any comfort to offer, none could see any ray of light this time.

"no..."

Everyone looked over at Kuja curiously, having heard his whispered denial. He was staring at the sphere, an odd look in his eyes. He repeated again, "No," more intensely, and his eyes grew wide. With a final shout, "NO!" everything about him changed. His hair became red and almost feathery in appearance, floating about his face. His clothes vanished for the most part, and instead he 'wore' red fur like a loincloth, on his legs like pants, and on his arms and chest as well. His tail, what was left, was red as well. Those native to Gaia knew what had happened.

Kuja had become so emotional, he had Tranced.

With another shout of rage, Kuja burst into a glowing yellow-white flame, sending everyone in the room scattering for cover. A beam of the light shot out of his hands, and out the window, soaring across the sky Westwards. Zidane jumped up, as his brother collapsed to the carpet.

"Kuja!" The Genome only moaned softly in response, as Beatrix ran to look out the window.

"I don't see it," she reported.

"Look at the sphere!" Savander exclaimed, pointing.

They saw the beam of light appear in the orb's view, streaking into the cave mouth and obliterating every demon in its path, which was quite a few. Quite a few.

"Whoa!" Mr. 288 gasped, as demons fell and vanished.

"That's our chance!" Zentarou said quickly. "Whatever Kuja did, it killed a lot of demons. C'mon!" They ran towards the airship, Zidane scooping up Kuja in the process.

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Demons screamed, scattering away from the painful, killing light. It streaked through the corridors of their lair, twisting and turning like a snake. It almost seemed intelligent, as if it had a destination, and knew exactly how to get there.

Which in a way, it did.

The light burst through the door leading to the room Cal was in, and hit Cal. The Black Mage sat up with a scream, though of pain or surprise neither demon present knew. They had barely had time to dodge to the side, and now watched as the mage flailed, jerking out tubes and breaking free of his restraints, dark fluids from the process spilling everywhere. The instant the light faded, they jumped up, pinning his back down until he could be restrained again.

"Dammit! How much was lost?" one snapped at the 'doctor' demon.

"Not too horribly much. It'll put us back maybe three quarters of an hour at most."

"Well, hurry up! I've got a funny feeling we're expecting company soon."