The Siege of Evermere: Invasion

"Who gave you permission to enter this place?"

Hearing the Goddess' voice - as familiar as it should've been - sank Itsuki's heart through all fifty floors of the tower beneath him. 

Thirty minutes - that was all the time that had passed since Lucca let him enter this portion of the Archives. He felt like he had barely scratched the surface, but he had gotten more than enough information to act on...

And now - knowing what he knew - surviving to escape Evermere was his top priority.

He turned his head slowly, doing his best to compose himself as he turned. He forced his expression towards indifference, and focused his gaze towards her feet.

It seemed strange, but it was one small bit of crucial information he had learned about his new foe. 

-- In this state, with her strength reduced, she can only read my mind with direct eye contact...

"Guess I just couldn't sit around and do nothing while Yuna was risking her life..." he admitted. "I tricked Lucca into giving me access. Not many people would know about the Jibson Cafe, after all."

The Goddess walked towards him. Running would be stupid - it'd be far too suspicious. He had to act like he knew nothing. She reached a gentle hand out and placed it under his chin. She lifted it, trying to bring Itsuki's eyes to hers. 

He did not resist, but he blinked before eye contact could be made. He then immediately averted his gaze towards the ceiling. 

The two of them stood there and faced off for a moment. Itsuki's heart raced while he tried to predict what her next move was. To his surprise, she simply sighed and began marching away from him. 

"We can deal with this later," she called behind her. "We have a much more immediate problem to deal with..."

"What would that be?"

"The Directive's army has begun advancing... and Starbeasts are appearing in the streets."

***

From the viewing are of the tower, Itsuki could see that everything had gone to shit. 

Far off in the distance, he could see that the Directive forces had indeed begun closing in on the perimeter wall of Evermere. It appears that almost every capable solider - outside of the Royal guard - had been summoned to the defense. It was going to take every soldier available to have a chance to hold off this assault. 

Which left the city itself - the area behind the wall - completely defenseless against the spawning Starbeasts. 

"What is going on?" Itsuki questioned, watching in horror as the streets filled with red. "I thought the Cataclysm couldn't reach Evermere!?"

He asked it aloud not because he needed an answer, but because he had to keep up the facade of knowing nothing. In reality, he had already ascertained the truth from the Archive's tomes. 

"My powers are what keep the Cataclysm from reaching Evermere," the Goddess confirmed. "Even if a Cataclysm tried to start in Evermere, I could easily eradicate the Starbeasts without a single casualty. It just so happens that this Cataclysm was conveniently timed for this exact moment..."

Which, Itsuki knew, confirmed beyond a doubt that the Directive could control the Cataclysms. An unsurprising truth, given everything he had learned. 

"There's no time to dawdle farther," she insisted. "Given what's transpiring, I would say it's clear they have no intention of cooperating. I hate to be the one to say it, but I'm certain Yuna has been detained as a hostage or killed. You need to unchain the tome and pass judgment, Itsuki..."

It was a logical next step. He would've been all over it a few hours ago - assuming the the book would exactly respond to his desires. 

Now, though? There was no chance. He had far too many questions that needed answering. Even now - with Starbeasts rampaging in the streets and Directive soldiers warping onto the battlefield by the dozens - his conviction just wasn't there.

"Right!"

He feigned decisiveness, and pulled his chained tome from beneath his cloak. There he stood, his back turned towards the Goddess and her half-dozen royal guards. He fiddled, fidgeted and pulled at the book with earnest effort. As he expected, the tome would not open. 

"It's...not budging!" Itsuki exclaimed with exertion as he legitimately tried to open the book. "I don't know why...but it just...won't!"

He collapsed to his knees and dropped the book in front of him. He continued to try to peel the book open even while it was on the ground. Anything to convince her that he was earnest. 

But his acting was terrible. 

After about fifteen seconds, two guards had grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him off the ground. They turned him towards the center of the room, where his gaze was forcefully locked onto her eyes. 

The information and terror flew out of him in a split second. He watched helplessly as the Goddess's expression shifted with every revealed piece of intelligence. 

Itsuki swore he saw every possible emotion on her face at least once during the brief exchange. After all was said and done, the emotion it finally landed on was rage and murderous intent. 

"Treasonous!" she yelled out, a small amount of divine eminence leaving her tone. "He's in league with them! Kill him before he can assist them in assaulting the tower!"

"What? I wasn't..."

There was no chance to plead his case. The guards immediately slammed him into a kneeling position and held him steady. A third guard approached with calculated precision. He pulled a large sword from his back and raised it above his head as he drew closer. Itsuki was too weak to struggle out of the situation. 

This was going to be it, then. Bahamut's retribution might be swift, but Itsuki apparently wouldn't live to see it transpire. 

Or so he thought. 

"What in the hell is that?!"

The words barely escaped one guard's mouth before the glass behind Itsuki exploded into thousands of tiny shards. He couldn't see anything from his kneeling position, but whatever had just arrived had bathed the viewing area in a neon blue glow. 

Guards unsheathed their weapons, but it was to no avail. There was a systematic popping sound, like a gun with a silencer was being fired repeatedly. With each noise, a guard went limp and dropped dead to the ground. Within about three seconds, the entirety of the royal guards present had been dispatched. 

Three more pops, each slamming into the Goddess' body. They did not kill her like they did the guards, but it certainly had an effect. She dropped to her knees, blood pouring from her mouth and wounds. 

But there was no scream. 

"Of course it's you..." the Goddess instead growled, radiance once again flaring up in her tone. "It'd have been too easy otherwise..."

Itsuki, no longer wanting to play charades, turned himself so he could see the blue luminescent being that had arrived and begun assaulting the tower. 

Blue wings - more robotic than angelic. A full-body black suit that was skin tight and left very little to the imagination. Eyes glowing like blue fire, and a long gun-blade in each hand - barrels pointed directly towards the Goddess. 

These features were entirely different than what he remembered, but Itsuki would never mistake her for anyone else. 

"Let's go, Itsuki," Yuna's voice carried a similarly divine eminence. "It's now or never..."