For my Lord Kuja, the fires eternal reaping!

            Such a swift little primeate… 

              c l a w s deep to the hilt of his daggers,

          and laughable menace pierced d e e p upon his brow…

     “Still your nerves, Terran…” She hisses songfully.

                                  “I’ve actually a… proposition for you…”

Naturally he was at least somewhat pleased to know that she wasn’t there to kill him, but still he could not bring himself to trust her. He was on guard and kept his hands resting against his weapons in the face of her, only mildly annoyed that she referred to him as a Terran.

          W h a t  m e a n i n g l e s s   e x i s t e n c e...

                        Her pride shall be sullied by the question held to her fangs. 

   “I am bound to this mountain... To this corpse, I rot like the body of Terra afloat in the abysmal black of the universe. Take me away from here...”

                       A cat’s purr enters her words,

         “And I will reward you handsomely!”

            Such a swift little primeate... 

              c l a w s deep to the hilt of his daggers,

          and laughable menace pierced d e e p upon his brow...

     “Still your nerves, Terran...” She hisses songfully.

                                  “I’ve actually a... proposition for you...”

As her emotion grew intensity, so did the temperature of the intricately decorated stone chamber. His white sleeves were briefly lifted; raised to his face, shielding it from the blaze and the extra hazards it produced. Any hotter, and he would start to worry about sweating. And if it grows even hotter still, maybe even blistering. Kuja’s teeth lightly grinded against themselves before momentarily clenching.

       ”You don’t.”

Straight honesty isn’t what he’s used to but lying would only make the heat rise. Or if not, he’d really feel the burn later. A saying came to mind. A liar will not be believed even when he speaks the truth. It would be of no surprise if this were to be true when it came to himself and the Guardian.

        "I can only give you my word. There is little I myself will gain from this. You will gain far more than I will. If you doubt me so, then you may reject my offer and I will leave you alone. Never to come back here again. 

If you so decide to come with me, 

         I will give you my head if I should diverge from my promise!

                        My blood will be yours to spill! 

                                                My flesh yours to tear!

                      toying with manipulation. 

   Kuja plays a bargain that ultimately may lead him to death. Maybe she should kill him. After all, was he not a protector of Terra as well, if not moreso? 

           Porcelain skin so pure she recalls its touch is sleeker than the silk she sleeps upon, lips lined into a contemplative pout that allures her fingers to trail upon the skin. She often imagined kissing them...

     toy with him, then soon fill his veins with fiery poison. He would be an interesting lover… fun; but perhaps, that may be too easy. 

       Red lips curl. He promises his head, his blood,

                                --His life--

   Another swarthy laugh bells through the shrine, vacant of the fury that only invaded her body moments ago. He is either very wise, or very stupid. 

      She glides down now, arms asunder within ghostly grace when her bare toes touch the warm stone, her nose inches from his. 

      "You will give me one thing Kuja… just one. With it, I will see if you are true…" A finger pushes a stray hair from his beautiful eyes, so light like the sky.  "One kiss, and I will join you."

It was always so easy to catch her attention. String the correct words together, and she’ll sit nicely in your hand for as long as you need. That was a little something he took note of when he needed to use the woman for his own means. Now there was a bit of a debate whether or not he should do it again. Moving hastily won’t always earn the greatest result, so maybe he could hold off for a while. Kuja’s placed a hand over his chest.

        “The only thing chaining you to this place is yourself. There is nothing here for you but painful memories and disappointments that echo off the stone walls. We have both lost our beloved Terra. It’s crystal won’t find another planet to absorb and the land is as it was in the beginning; a barren rock devoid of life. Soon, what is left of our planet will be no more.

        Both of us have been left with nothing but remnants of a dead world. Cling to it, and your heart will wither. But free the shackles that bind you and you will will have new found freedom. I have the power and means to free you.

    The words sting so deeply, her teeth grit tight and her fists balled. She was hoping, begging, within her heart Terra was left alone, but those words from Kuja's lips crush what little hope she had. 

          That her failure was of little consequence. 

   Lifted high by the mantle of her serpent body, she hides behind the scales, the shadows of the roof. His words penetrate deep, even though she wants to shut them out. 

                ...lost our beloved Terra.

                        ...lost our beloved Terra.

     How they sting.

                 How they fill her with 

                                         H A T E.

        The flames begin to build around them, lifted from the corners of the temple as her wrath grows hot. High they scream, ashes fallen like the tears that so narrowly avoids her eyes. 

             Will she let him free her? When he accuses her to remain here as though she chose to be? His gaul is laughable; a particular reason why she is 

               I N T R I G U E D.

                        Laughter tints the roar of flame with a chill of promise.

                                      A promise of revenge!

         "How do I know I can trust you?"

                  She humbled herself before the guardian, gave her the proper respect deemed in her direction with a submissive bow of her head. She was not afraid because she had her eidolon’s by her side, she was not going to back down when the knowledge of a whole planet rested within the ruins.

                   And it was not that she wished to learn of their secrets for selfish reasons but to better understand the events that had led to Madain Sari’s destruction.

         Stood still by the princess's docile respect, a mockery, a laugh, even a slash of fire dies in her throat, her arms slacken and her serpentine body weighed heavy. 

         Does the girl not understand the damage she caused?

               What her presence recalled?

         Marilis bites her lip, scrutinizes through her memory! She cannot dare show mercy to this girl. 

                She cannot!

    What flickering conscience bade alive is quickly crushed, her fangs exerted with poisonous promise, a hiss which fills the temple with a demons oath to 

                          --Destroy--

         "You do not deserve to know of Terra! Get out…."

                       "GET OUT!!"

Personal space doesn’t seem to exist around the Guardian, does it? This wasn’t the first time that she’d come in so close. Being used to it by now, the silver haired Genome remained unflinching.

        “It saddens me that you’d say that. I didn’t think you were the type to blame other people for your own mistakes. After all, I’m not the one who failed to protect the Fire Mirror. If I understood the situation clearly, they were to storm in and take it, then you were to stop them, no? I also came to understand, that they decided to split up and take on the shrines all at once, rather than one by one like I told you… But then, wouldn’t you have been more prepared, having fewer people to deal with? It’s my trust in you that shouldn’t have remained. 

              even her breath fogged to his cheek,

                                   (stops.)

                   Escape?

             From the prison to which she is forever bound?

          Once more her heart beats wildly, her hands snatched from his person to peer at him fully, her countenance suspicious, her fingers arched in uncertainty. 

                         And hope. 

          Despite his coy tongue, his languish thespian persona...

                    Despite his being a genome...

                              He still deeply intrigues her. 

           "Perhaps I spoke in haste…

                              Tell me how you intend to allow my chains to fall?"

                  It had been instinct, their stirring power rising and begging for their mistress to call upon them so they might protect her. She did not have Carbuncle on her side but the beautiful ice queen could send out as much power as needed to protect her, frosted fingers directing the path of ice and snow to cool the heat of the flames.

                   Garnet sent her a thankful smile, pride and love for her guardians showing forth despite the crackling thread of a fight in the air. Fearful of them she had been, of their power, but with her awakening came an understanding for that power and what it meant.

                    Her pride as a summoner.

                                    ❝Leviathan!❞

                    The grand snake beast came next after Shiva disappeared in a flurry of snow, his waves washing over the last of the scorching heat and adding relief to her heated skin.

                                  ❝Please— I am merely here to learn!❞ she pleaded with the Fire Guardian, hoping to somehow figure out a way to appease her.

           The gold oscillations flicker, a perfect brow creased in surprise. The princess simply wants to learn… It was bafflingly simple, and ultimately unwise to venture back to a shrine which would be wholly 

                                 --unwelcome--

                     To her little band.

        "HA!" Scales clamber across the columns, silently languid as the guardian remains away, cloaked in the night eclipsed by the temple roof. A laugh of mockery chimes across the volcano from voice of rich huskiness, the bell of jewels chimes through ringing ears. 

        "And you thought I'd simply invite you?"

         ”I see a pathetic excuse for a woman, really, who knows not the delights of a touch…”

She lithely floats above the visitor, her back arched as she exalts her chamber by the ghostly raise of her arms. 

             ”All who come here,

                       -Die-

                             here.”

-Conveniently ignoring the obvious insult to Zero’s sensibilities, she began to pour over her options.  Most of them involved a bloodletting, naturally, though any movement she made that would suggest such would be given away.  As much as she hated to admit it, the snake woman had the advantage of terrain.-

-That would not stop Zero from putting on a brave face, nor continuing on her mission, seeing as how lingering her would no longer provide any results.-

           Her body coils through the columns like a red ribbon, until she surrounds both the girl and herself, the tip of her flamed tail in between them like a candelabra.                

"You’re one to talk!" he shot back, in annoyance.

                  “—Consult—”                      ”—Taunt—”                         “—Talk?”

                 Garnet stood her ground, heel grinding into the stone. ❝I— I have come to do none of those. I just—❞

                  The temple was a curious place still, how it still stood after so many centuries on Gaia, how life, energy, magic still collected there and never left even when the Shimmering Island had lost its spark.

                  ❝—wished to explore the land that once stood upon Terra.❞

                      Terra...

                               Terra!

 "What do you mean 'once'…" There is no taunt now. Only malice of pure intent. 

              And a hint of f e a r… "We still stand upon Terra, even if you little lot stole what was 

                           --RIGHTFULLY OURS!!"--

      Fire erupts the surrounding shrine, coils of scales and armor outlined in the wrathful blaze, but not a stone is scorched, as she protects it with devoted ownership. The little wretch remains unharmed as the fires subside.

                     Blasted eidolons...

     Golden irises burn through the shadow, a burning glare furrowing deeply as they stare long into the princess's own eyes. 

                           "I should kill you where you stand!"

       His chin is traced, his neck perused as her florescent eyes rest upon his gaze, so cool

            -treacherous-

       It tingles her,     

                    If not aggravates her. His secrets are well hidden…

            "I am worshiped by my fires, and I’ve little entertainment here… Everything which enters always dies too quickly." A voice deep and seductive, her mantle pulling her above the man to hover her toes afloat from the stone of the sacred shrine. "And I’ve nothing to protect…" A hiss of anger, for the mirror had been apprehended by a 

                           rat and a giant!

           reapingwar:

His hands raised up towards the guardian as he addressed her.

             "Ho! A suggestion, you say…?" A gold tipped nail graces her red bottom lip in morbid curiosity. "So far, your suggestions left me flat, my dear Lord Kuja…" A long, husky sigh trails from her lips when she surrounds him, her head on his shoulder, her hands clasped to his chest. 

              "I'm curious...

                    especially when you think my trust in you to have

                                                                                              remained…" 

         A hiss and a whip of flame!

                Her nose hovers inches before the filth of Queen Brahne’s offspring, her long teeth aquiver to rip out her throat. 

 "Do not speak to me of that day, worm…”

The defeat wears poorly like a brand of shame, constantly embattled against her pride as Fire Shrine Guardian…

                       A finger adorns of jewels, nail tipped with gold, roughly takes her chin. "The question is-

                        -How do I make you suffer…?”-

                  She would not stand for such handling as she forcibly tugged her chin out of the guardian’s grasp, further taking steps back to place more distance between them and ready her weapon.

                   They called her name.                    Urged her to release them on the other but Garnet hesitated.

                    ❝I did not come here to fight but I will not hesitate to defend myself if fighting is your only intent.❞ Her fingers gripped the handle of her stave tighter, gloves straining against the force.

              --Not Yet--

                  Only little strength has returned, and to fight the supposed summoner is quite 

                  u n w i s e.

            "Why have you come, little princess? Perhaps you though to consolt with me?"

              Her voice crawls through every pillar, every crevice. "Taunt me?"

 Without a sound, she hovers upside down, reverse of the girl's vision. If she weren't so aware of their strength differences, she would have though to rip her apart then.

                         Alas.

      And elegant hand cradles her chin, her eyes perusing.