CHAPTER 1: A NEW DISCOVERY
A man stood alone, watching, as if he was waiting for something. He was. He watched the skies, with his arms folded. Whatever he was looking for, was obviously late. But they usually are. Almost always. It annoyed him.
Finally, he smiled. He could see something in the sky. It got bigger by the minute. Soon, the wind began to blow. His black pony-tail flew with the wind behind him. A loud noise slowly began to fill the air. It was the sound of engines.
Very loud engines.
Soon, he began to cover his ears. He forced himself to open his eyes, even though the wind stung them. The great airship landed, its mighty engines blowing the air straight into his eyes, the sound of them roaring blaring into his ears. Soon, the wind died, and the engines quieted, as the airship silenced. The man took his hands from his ears and walked forward to the people beginning to get out.
"You guys are late," he said.
"Good to see you too, Zephyr," the oldest one said. Two others, a man and a woman, and two bodyguards, each armed with a gunblade, joined with the old man. The last one to leave the airship yelled over to them.
"Oy! Zephyr! Avast!" He ran over to Zephyr, beaming. "How is life treating you, Zephyr?"
"It's been treating me ok, Cid," Zephyr said. Cid, the last man of their little group, owned the airship that just landed. It really helps them get to where they need to go fast.
"We're taking a transport to the shore. Once we get there, there will be submarine ready to take us underneath the surface. Are you guys ready?" Zephyr asked with a smirk.
"Ready when you are, friend," the old man said. As they walked over to the transport, Cid remarked, "I hope that this isn't driven by chocobos,"
One of the chocobos squawked at him. Cid sighed. He didn't like chocobos so much. They annoyed him.
"Great. I hate chocobos."
"What, are you scared of them?" the woman asked.
"No, they're just…..obnoxious. And they smell." Cid sniffed the air, and made a sour face. The chocobo squawked again, as if laughing.
"Yeah, haha, very funny."
The chocobos brought them to the shore. This was the largest ocean in all of Lerthalgia: The Cornelian Sea. Here, locals believed that an ancient civilization, Cornelia, was punished by the gods to have their island flooded, disappearing into the ocean, because of a wicked king who did not offer homage to them. Cornelia was where many historians believe that modern Lerthalgia adopted present technologies, like airships, slowly replacing the theocracies led by what they believed to be magic sages. But there was no evidence that Cornelia actually existed.
Until now.
Some archaeologists have recently discovered a huge underwater ruin, believed to be the lost city of Cornelia. These group of scientists, now led by the ex-soldier Zephyr, are going to investigate it further.
As the submarine descended further and further into the water, the scientist unpacked their diving gear. Each got out their oxygen tanks, their wet suits, and their helmets. Cid, piloting the submarine, stayed behind.
"We're now approaching the ruin," he said. Everyone looked out the window and gazed upon it. It was truly amazing. It was humongous; spanning almost a third of the entire ocean, like the ocean itself was an entire continent, or part of a continent. Towers and walls lays cast upon the ruins. What seemed to be the center of the city seemed remotely intact, and was going to be the group's first target.
"Okay, set her down there," Zephyr said, pointing to a spot near the entrance.
As they exited the craft, they stared in awe of the majesty of the palace. They swam towards the doorway, already open. The old man pulled out a light and ventured into the darkness.
"Legends believed that Cornelia was not only technologically but magically dominant in the world as well," he said. "It is said that the gods gave Cornelia the gift of the Four Elemental Crystals, so that they may have government over the world. But a wicked king abused these crystals, and the gods punished Cornelia by destroying it, sinking it into the depths of the ocean and destroying the king."
"Incredible," the woman softly said, still in awe of this ancient ruin.
"The legend then goes on to say that the Crystals were put under the care of Mysidia, who in order to keep themselves from receiving the same fate as Cornelia, built great temples across Lerthalgia, where they became heavily guarded. These Crystals are still here today; after the Great World War, Mysidia was still aloud to protect the Crystals, but they were no longer honored as the keepers of the elements any longer but the Mysidians themselves."
The man, not paying attention, accidentely touched a panel on the wall. The floor began to shake, and the water began to stir. Everyone stopped, and looked down as they saw a passageway begin to form in the wall.
"Amazing!" The old man said. He immediately began to change direction and go into the passageway, which led deeper into the darkness. Zephyr and everyone else swam after him.
" We'll split into parties. Zephyr, you, me, and Kuros the bodyguard will come this way. You three will go in that direction." Everyone nodded and got into their groups and split into the two different directions.
Zephyr, the old man, and Kuros met a great door with inscriptions all over it. The old man tried deciphering it, but couldn't make anything out of it.
"I can't read this. It might show us a way how to open it, but I don't know," he said.
Zephyr pushed the door. "Or, we could open it the normal way," he said, as the door opened. The old man stared at him blankly. Zephyr smirked. "After you," he said to the old man. The old man shook his head and swam in.
The other three swam along the corridor. It took forever, it seemed, until they reach two more paths.
"Oh, great, this is exactly what we need!" The man looked down both pathways.
One corridor, however, seemed much more interesting. It led to a room that seemed to be filled with equipment. The other one led to complete darkness. The three swam to the room, and were amazed at what they saw.
The room was circular, and somewhat large. A single light lit up the center of the room, and with that light they could barely see…..faces.
Sleeping faces.
These faces, and the bodies attached to them, seemed suspended in glass tubes from the ceiling to the floor. The liquid inside each tube was green.
"They're all identical," the woman whispered. "Every one of them…..the people inside these tubes…..they're all the same!" Nobody noticed the doors slowly beginning to close.
"It's like…..they're clones…..of somebody……could this possibly be a cloning room? Could you possibly believe the ancient Cornelians were capable of cloning?" The bodyguard said.
"Oh, I do enjoy intelligent people. Their company is so much more…..pleasant," an unknown voice said. One of the tubes began to crack. The man turned around, in fear, to see that behind the glass there was a face staring at him with cold, yellow eyes.
"Good afternoon," it said calmly.
Zephyr, the old man, and Kuros walked out of the water. They came upon a strange, silver tiled room devoid of water. Emerging from the water, they took off their breathing helmets. The old man nearly fell down, he was so bewildered.
"Easy there, Reyus," Zephyr said, holding him up.
"Of course, of course," Reyus said, "but, to believe….we have actually found the city of Cornelia! It's amazing! I can't….." he could not even speak. He looked around. The room had four pedestals, as if you could place something on each one. One was colored green; another, blue; another was purple and the other red.
"Could this be…..Reyus, could this be the room where they kept the legendary Crystals?" Kuros asked.
"No doubt," Reyus said. Zephyr walked over to one of them. He could only imagine the four Elemental Crystals, gleaming in all their light, shining upon the pedestals so many years ago. What he would do to have been there, to see all four lights intermingle in a symphony of beauty. If only…..
"Ah. Even more visitors? I do love company," somebody said. They all turned around, to see a man magically appear in the center of the room. The man's skin was pale, his hair long and blue. His ears were pointed, like an elf. But his eyes…..they were cold and yellow.
Kuros drew his gunblade.
"Oh, please. I hope you're a much better swordsman than your friend. He was such a bore, it's as if he wanted to die. Now, the other two…..they didn't wanted to die…..however, all they could do is scream…..now that doesn't save you….."
Kuros lunged at him with his gunblade. A gigantic fireball burst out of the man's hand, throwing back the burnt and dead body of Kuros. Stepping over the incinerated corpse, the man advanced towards Zephyr and Reyus.
"What do you want? Who are you?" Zephyr yelled.
"Who am I? I am Azarius. I am your king. Your ruler. The true lord of the earth, and the rightful keeper of the Elemental Crystals, which you worthless ants took away from me!" His once cynical face turned to rage.
Zephyr took that moment to throw a detonation bomb at Azarius. The bomb burst in his face, and filled the room with smoke. Zephyr grabbed Reyus, thrust his breathing helmet on his head, and dove into the water.
Azarius emerged from the fire, unharmed.
"Insolent cur," he said softly. "You anger me." He held out his hand, and before him, four Sahagins emerged from the magic light that issued from the ground.
"My pets," he said to his summons, "Kill both of them."
HERE ENDS CHAPTER 1
Stay tuned for Chapter 2!