Zidane and Quina walked down into the entrance of the Earth Shrine. The other three groups had probably already made good progress by now, and Zidane knew they should hurry as well.
"Let's get going…" Said Zidane.
"Ah, Zidane. You want go with me!"
Zidane turned to his Qu ally.
"Well… I sort of got stuck with the leftovers…"
Oddly, this comment made Quina seem even happier.
"You no have to explain!" S/he said. "I so happy."
"Huh?"
"There old saying in my tribe…: 'Leftovers good!'"
Zidane turned back to the hall of the shrine that stood before him. He would never understand him/her…
"...Let's hope we find good things in this cave."
"Is probably full of good food!"
The tailed thief sighed quietly, and the two of them made their way into the shrine.
After walking forward for a few moments, Quina spoke.
"Is no one here… is empty."
"Yeah…"
Zidane was about to continue onward, when he felt something shift below him.
"Huh?"
"What wrong?"
"Did the ground just shake…?"
Suddenly, the floor directly below them and the wall to their right started closing in. Luckily, Zidane had the agility of a thief (He was one, after all.) and leaped out of the way as soon as he felt the floor move again, with Quina following right afterwards.
Eiko and Dagger continued to move down the hall of the Water Shrine, encountering absolutely nothing so far, nothing but dead silence. It was Eiko who broke the silence.
"This place is empty…"
"It's too quiet…" Dagger said.
Eiko stood in a somewhat-proud manner. "They probably got scared of us and ran away!"
"I hope so…"
"Aaargh!" Eiko turned to face the princess. "I hate it when you fret like that! That's why I always worry about you!"
Dagger stood, confused. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
Eiko turned away. "Oh, nothing. I just have a lot of things on my mind…"
Dagger too faced away, before looking up at the ceiling and noticing something- the hall was not barren of anything after all.
"Look out!"
Just as a crystal of ice as about to fall onto Eiko, Dagger rushed over and pulled them both out of the way.
Freya leaped out of harm's way as a geyser of lava erupted where she previously stood. While the Fire Shrine lacked in monsters- something Amarant was clearly disappointed about- it made up for it with traps of fire and magma. However, as a Burmecian Dragon Knight, she had little trouble dodging whatever trap was thrown her way. Amarant, on the other hand, just simply blocked whatever form of fiery death was thrown at him with his claws. Perhaps he had equipped the Rosetta Ring that Zidane had found earlier…
"Firaga!" Vivi called out as he fired off the spell at the Grand Dragon lying in their path. For unlike the other three shrines, the Wind Shrine indeed had monsters within it.
"Master Vivi, now!" Steiner held his sword high.
"A-alright!" Vivi cast Blizzaga onto Steiner's blade as he rushed forward, delivering the killing blow to the beast.
"Aiyaaa! We almost flat like pancake!"
Zidane and Quina had made it past the last of the moving walls, barely clearing the last one before it slammed against the ceiling.
"I hope there aren't too many more of those. Dagger… please be safe…" Zidane said, the last part mostly to himself.
The pair of Summoners quickly recovered after dodging the falling crystal.
"W-What the-"
"It's a trap!" Dagger said. "Be careful…"
"Aah!" The duo stepped back as another crystal of ice crashed to the ground.
"Let's go, Eiko!"
With that, the two of them ran through the rest of the shrine, dodging falling chunks of ice and water as they went.
Zidane and Quina walked into the final chamber.
"Aha! Is place to put mirror."
The blue mage ran forward and stepped to the side, allowing Zidane to approach the place where the Earth Mirror was to be put.
"I'll place the mirror right here…" He said.
Before he could though, a voice was heard.
"I've been waiting for you…"
Amarant and Freya stood before the temple-like structure within the shrine, where the Fire Mirror was to be placed.
"That was too easy… It must have been disappointing for you." Said the Dragon Knight.
Amarant said nothing, meaning it was probably true. That, or he didn't care either way.
"Now, I'll place the mirror here…"
Amarant suddenly became completely alert, sensing an enemy nearby- directly below where Freya stood.
"Freya, stand back!"
Freya jumped backwards as a lamia of some sort appeared before them, blades crashing into the ground where Freya had just been.
The thief and blue mage ran back towards the entrance of the room they stood in, as a skeletal monster in a red cloak descended to meet them.
"It's just as Kuja said…" The monster spoke. "He said I should expect intruders."
"Are you under Kuja's command!?" Zidane demanded.
"He not good person! Why you work for him?" Quina said, much less angrily.
"No… We are the guardians of Terra..."
Zidane gave the creature a questioning look.
"Guardians of Terra…?"
"Yes, we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra itself…"
"What is Terra!?" Freya could already sense a fight, and clearly so could Amarant.
The Fire Guard turned to face them.
"We did not become guardians to chat with mortals… We derive pleasure from ending your worthless lives…"
Amarant already knew where this was going, how could he not understand fighting solely for the sake of battle?
"Just to prove how powerful you are…" He said, finishing the monster's thoughts.
"So you understand. But will that knowledge help you?"
"Foolish."
Amarant walked to the other side of the guardian.
"What?"
"Picking fights with strangers in a place like this… I used to know someone like that. He was a loser… He refused to find beneficial ways to use his power, instead he'd seek out people to fight."
Freya looked at Amarant almost in disbelief. Perhaps Zidane's influence had finally gotten through to him...
The Fire Guard spoke again.
"What...are you talking about?"
Freya drew her lance.
"We'll show you what he means!"
Amarant got into a battle stance, claws at the ready.
The guardian looked the pair of warriors with slight amusement.
"Interesting… but you'll regret this!"
"Ahhh!"
"Grahhh!"
Vivi and Steiner retreated down the corridor from the monster that opposed them. A large green dragon unlike those they have ever seen- the Wind Guard.
"Finished already?" It spoke. "Such weaklings."
Steiner glared angrily at the fiend. "You…!"
"He's too fast! I can't target him with my magic. We can't take him on with just the two of us..."
Steiner turned to the young Black Mage.
"Master Vivi! A true man never gives up in a fight!"
"But…"
"We can defeat this monster if we work together!"
The Wind Guard slowly approached them, almost as if mocking the knight and mage.
"So? Which one of you will perish first?" It said.
Steiner walked to the end of the hallway to meet it, his blade ready.
"Silence! I shall vanquish you!"
"What!?" Vivi could hardly believe that Steiner was still ready to fight on, even after they were almost defeated moments ago.
"...Master Vivi, I shall attempt to hold him down. You attack him with your magic while I hold him down!"
"But...what if I miss the target…?"
"I trust you, Vivi."
"...Okay."
Steiner shouted a battle cry as he charged forward, with Vivi using this chance to charge up a spell.
"So… my only opponents are two little girls? I was expecting some strong warriors…"
The Water Guard was possibly the most grotesque monster Dagger had ever seen, and that was saying something.
"What can you possibly do to me?" The Kraken taunted.
Safe to say, it didn't last long against Bahamut and Maduin.
"Kuja told us there'd be eight rats…" Said the Earth Guard.
"Sorry, it's just the two of us. Did you have a feast prepared?" Zidane taunted.
"You no worry! We eat everything." Quina chimed in.
"Ah, so you're attempting to conquer all 4 shrines at once… How futile."
"We'll see about that!" Zidane reached for his daggers and unsheathed them.
"Must try eating before we give up!" Quina said, preparing his fork.
"What will you lower life-forms do on Terra?"
Zidane got into his signature battle position.
"We won't know until we get there!"
"Must eat to find out what taste good! Is my lesson from travelling around world."
"Good…" The Lich said with a sneer. "I shall show you the true meaning of fear!"
With no more words, it dived onto the two combatants, and the fight began...
Oh boy, first story complete. Sorry if the spacing is a bit weird, still not used to the format.
This was always one of my favorite parts of the game, I just wish more focus was given to the other groups, so that's why I added in a few extra scenes.