Disclaimer: I do not own Final fantasy, materia, airships, summoning monsters, or chocobos. This all belongs to Square Soft or Square Enix as they like to call themselves now. Although the characters in this little tale are MINE. Actually I'm not all that possesive of things since anyone can think up a name but they're still MINE. Well the ones I made up anyway are...MINE.

FINAL FANTASY

Spirit Union

Prologue

A DRAGON'S TALE

Existence…this word, its definition gives humanity the ability to tap into its strongest power, 'the will to live.' Ever since my own existence has long since passed what the humans call a millenium, my own understanding of their universal nature, thoughts, and beliefs has evolved, died, and been reborn anew. One could ask me why I believe existence to be what humans value over anything else. Set aside the beasts they become when their existence is threatened. Set aside the bloodthirsty monsters they become when the existence of their blood kin is threatened. To understand the nature of a thing as intelligent as a human being you must observe them in their most serene moments of life. When they are calm…when they are still. A human, uneducated, untamed, and uncivilized will create interesting things. A house to shelter itself, weapons to defend itself, and clothes to cover the sensitive areas of its anatomy. So interesting…with every brick he lay or log he stack the shapeless tools soon claim artistic characteristics. Now safe from the harshness of the world this human now requires food. I sometimes forget how amusing it is to watch humans eat, they try so hard not to rip their meals to shreds like the predators outside the safety of their homes. Humans are above them after all. Why else would they need them for nourishment? Their own existence is more important than that of a few plants or animals. These beasts must have been created for the sole purpose of keeping humans alive. Rain and snow are at first harmless to a human's protective skin but if enough seeps through it could kill the master of plants and animals. This fact means nothing to humans who have reduced the elements of the planet to a mere annoyance a nuisance that disrupts their daily existence. Of course…without rain the poor superior creatures' cores would dry up and no longer function.

If you are still listening then I assume you are waiting for an explanation of my claim that humans value their own existence over any other. It's simple really if you think about it. Even when humans become the bloodthirsty monsters with boundless strength and limitless courage all in the name of protecting a mate or their offspring, none of this could be done if they themselves did not exist. Even when ending their existence without an inquiry of violence, they would have to exist long enough to end their existence, ensuring the existence of whomever they are trying to protect. This next step which most humans find debatable has summoned my presence into their realm more times than I'd like to remember...existence after existence. When I first came into contact with humans the belief of existence after existence was strong in their minds and culture. They clung to this belief not because they were afraid of nonexistence…no…they weren't afraid…at least not at first.

The belief was that inside of their flesh, bone, and blood shells, a soul existed. I'm not familiar with the story that sparked this belief, something about a burning bush. Men and women alike who truly believed in this soul performed great and powerful acts over the elements of their world. Oh…did I forget to mention there were two forms of a human? Male and female…without one the other could not exist, but you knew that already didn't you? However, even though proof of their soul theory lay in front of the nonbelievers they continued to deny the idea that there was something more to existence than their own universal nature, thoughts, and beliefs. How could there be? To believe in the soul is to believe in the creator of the soul. This creator to my understanding demands that humans obey him. Every rule he creates they must follow or be doomed to an existence of pure torment in a lake of fire ruled by one who once tried to overthrow this creator of the soul. This, humanity could not accept…who wants to follow rules anyway?

With their creator denied, humans created their own explanations for the abilities of the faithful. Witches, demons, freaks, whatever classification placed down upon them it was obvious these people would not be accepted. A millenium or two later it seemed the creator found distaste with what his creation had become. The abilities were gone and replaced by things the humans call machines. These machines, although lacking in power performed the incredible abilities that was once on the tips of humanity's fingers. History had forgotten the long lost magic of the past. It was impossible for a man to part an entire ocean to save his people. Impossible for him to create a wall of fire to block an army of thousands. No man had such abilities and no god existed to grant them to him.

By this time humanity had separated itself from itself. The once common teachings of the creator were passed down weakly through the generations until vaguely any reference of him was left. Except however for a book that was later deemed false since it too was written and rewritten through the years. The words of those who still believed became mere propaganda. Yes the humans had effectively destroyed god and all reference to him and yet something was still not right. Because of their own intelligence their existence was threatened. If the soul did not exist then god did not exist and if god did not exist then what would happen to them after their existence on Earth ended? Yes Earth, you didn't think they would leave their home world unnamed did you? A simple answer to a simple question. They reclaimed their souls but still left god to his rules. It was now common knowledge on earth that if you lived your life for what humans thought was good then after you die you would reawaken in heaven reunited with your loved ones and live peacefully for all eternity. The belief that you would have to serve an all-powerful being regardless of the good and love he stood for to reach the gates of heaven was just too hard to accept. Even harder to accept was the belief that no matter how kind you were in your existence on earth you would still go to hell unless you surrendered yourself to god's will.

I can remember when the humans thought of me as a god. Pitiful thing the human mind is. They view what they can't understand first as a god, an all powerful being, then as a threat to their existence and finally as their wonder fades all things they can't understand become tools used to discover their next tool. What fools…or at least that's what I want to believe. All of their knowledge and technology allowing them to explore the heavens and yet even after all this time they still can't make up their minds. They cannot decide as a whole whether they will accept the existence of their own souls or not…

…I suppose now you're wondering if I believe in the human soul? You must be human if that question is swirling in your mind. Only a human would ask a spirit if he believes in spirits.