Author's Note: Final Fantasy and all associated terms, characters, and items are property of Square Enix. Any other references, cameos, or homages from other sources are also property of their respective creators and copyright owners. All of these are used with the greatest respect and affection.

Rating Details: This story is rated for the following elements: Combat sequences, with some blood; explosive mayhem; brief coarse language and innuendo; and instances of potentially triggering subject matter. Feel free to contact me via PM if you have any questions or concerns about any of the above.

The world lies shrouded in darkness.

The winds die…

The seas rage…

The earth decays…

But the people believe in a prophecy,

patiently awaiting its fulfillment.

"When darkness veils the world,

four Warriors of Light shall come…"

Final Fantasy: On the Eve of Darkness

Chapter 1: Four is Company

"I can't believe you got us kicked out of another town."

"Hey, hey, I didn't get us kicked out. We just got invited to leave and not come back for a good long while, that's all."

"Yeah. That's called 'getting kicked out'…"

Night had fallen over the realm of Cornelia. Slight dampness still hung in the air from the recent rain, and clouds billowed up high in the sky, blotting out the stars. Two young men walked through the forest that surrounded the capital city. One, tall and rather muscular with sandy-blond hair, surveyed his companion with obvious annoyance. The other, brown-haired and slightly shorter and more slender than his friend, did not appear overly bothered by this. He just adjusted the green bandana tied around his head and shrugged.

"Not my fault people around here got no sense of humor. You thought it was funny as hell, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you don't owe me for bailing you out again. That's the money and a replacement for my sword, Estel."

The brown-haired man, Estel, just waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah, I'll remember." His friend gave him a look, and he immediately tried to appear more repentant. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Seriously though, you got my undyin' thanks for that, Cen. Really."

"My uncle gave me that sword," Cen grumbled to himself, sounding a bit sullen. He gave Estel a sour look. "The things I do for you…"

Estel raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I said thanks! You heard me say thanks!"

"Yeah, but still…"

Estel poked Cen's arm. "Come on…"

Cen shook his head. "All right, fine, yes. You're welcome."

"See, there you go. Seriously, Cen, I owe you for this one."

"Look, just try not to get into trouble when we get to the city and we'll call it even. This time, anyway." Cen stopped walking and looked around, assessing their location: they had reached the edge of a small clearing adjacent to the main path, surrounded by leafy evergreens. "How about we stop to camp now? It's getting late."

"Yeah, sure." Estel halted as well and leaned against a tree. "So, who're we gonna go see once we get to the city?"

"Some friend of Elend's," Cen said, shrugging. "I forgot his name, but Elend said he runs a kind of pawn shop in the merchant district. It shouldn't be too hard to find."

"And then we get to find out about these things we got, right?"

"Right."

Estel nodded, his expression a little more thoughtful than usual. "Okay."

Cen pulled off his pack and dropped it to the ground, then sat beside it and began getting out his bedroll. Estel watched him for a while, then looked up and stared off into the forest. A moment later, his eyes widened a bit and brightened as he smirked.

"I'll be right back, Cen. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

Estel trotted off without another word, aiming for the small glimmer of ruddy firelight he had spotted among the trees in the distance. Cen glanced up, then, seeing the firelight himself, he straightened with sudden alarm.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

Estel did not stop to answer. Cen, cursing under his breath, grabbed his pack, got to his feet, and followed, twigs and leaves rustling as he brushed through the trees.

"Estel, wait! Stop right there!"

Estel slowed but did not stop. "What?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna go pay you back."

"What? Estel, no—" Cen broke off as he realized Estel was not paying any attention to him, instead just continuing on toward the nearby campfire. Cen sighed, shook his head, and followed him.

"Not a good idea," he muttered.

Estel shushed him, and the pair continued in silence until they reached the edge of a clearing. Concealed by the underbrush, they peered out into the dim light.

By a small campfire sat a figure, both its age and its sex indeterminate due to its long, high-collared blue robes and wide-brimmed pointed hat, which effectively hid any identifying characteristics. Only the figure's eyes could be seen, reflecting the light from the fire. The figure was looking at something bright and glittering it held in its hands, turning the object over in its fingers, and seemed completely unaware of the two young men watching from the shadows of the trees.

Estel blinked in surprise. "Oh."

"'Oh' what?" Cen whispered, keeping his voice low to prevent alerting the figure to their presence.

"I think that's a mage."

Cen frowned and started tugging Estel away. "Then let's go. Or are you actually going to try to steal from a mage?"

Estel shook his head slowly. "No, but…" He paused, frowning.

Out in the clearing, the mage put the glistening object into his pocket.

"Hey." Estel poked Cen in the shoulder, then jerked his thumb toward the mage. "Let's go ask him about these crystal-things from Elend."

"What?" Cen stopped, looking incredulous. "That would be worse than trying to steal from him. Do you know how stupid it is to just walk in on a mage unannounced?"

"Yeah, I do, thanks," Estel whispered with some sarcasm.

"So why does it sound like a good idea now?"

Estel shrugged. "I dunno. Change of pace."

Cen put his hand to his head. "Estel, no. That is a bad, bad idea. I don't want to startle this guy and end up frozen in a block of ice for my trouble."

Estel snorted. "Oh, c'mon. We could take a mage."

"You think you can throw a knife faster than he can cast a spell? Not a chance. It's not worth the risk. Let's just get out of here, okay?"

"Nah, come on, let's go ask him. These things're definitely magical somehow, right? So a mage's gotta know something."

Cen just looked skeptical and raised an eyebrow.

Estel flapped a hand at him. "Don't look at me like that! Look, if we get hit with Firaga or something, you can blame me. Okay?"

"I'll be sure to," Cen muttered, shaking his head in resignation. Still, it was with obvious reluctance that he stepped forward into the circle of firelight, followed by Estel. "Excuse us," he said, addressing the mage, "we were just—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the mage leapt to his feet, one hand holding a short knife, the other extended in front of him, flames curling between his fingers. Cen and Estel stepped back in alarm.

"Not another step," the mage said, his voice harsh. "I have traveled this far, I will not be robbed now."

"We weren't going to rob you!" Cen said, shooting a stern look at Estel as he did. "We just wanted to ask you something."

Estel nodded fervently, eyeing the mage's outstretched hand with unease.

The mage studied them for a moment with deep suspicion, his eyes narrowed, then he slowly lowered his hand. Cen and Estel sighed in relief, even though the mage did not yet put away his knife.

"Who are you?" His voice was rough, and also deeper than Cen and Estel had expected, given his slight frame.

"I'm Cen Venture, and this is my brother Estel." Cen gestured to each of them as he gave their names. "We're just travelers on our way to Cornelia."

The mage looked them over again, his eyes narrowing a bit more as they flicked over Estel; apparently his suspicion had not been relieved by their willing introduction. "And what do you want of me?"

Estel frowned. "Sounds like your dad," he muttered to Cen. "Old and cranky."

Cen ignored this.

"We just want to ask you a question," he said to the mage. "We got these things a little while back, but we're not sure what to make of them. Do you know what they are?"

He and Estel each held out a hand-length, jagged shard of crystal. Estel's was green, but dull and lusterless, while Cen's was bright red and glowed as though a fire burned within it. The mage's eyes widened as he stared at them, then narrowed again as he looked up at Cen and Estel.

"Where did you find these?"

"We didn't," Estel said.

One of the mage's eyes widened, presumably because he raised an eyebrow. "Explain what you mean by that."

"Cen's, er, our uncle, Elend, got 'em for us," Estel said. "He was out pokin' around at…" He hesitated, looking questioningly at Cen. "Whisperwind Cove?"

Cen nodded, but he looked a little exasperated by Estel's candidness.

"Right. Whisperwind Cove. Anyway," Estel continued, "he found these all froze up in the wall and decided to dig them out and bring 'em back. Almost didn't make it, 'cause a couple of dragons decided to chase him out, but he got back to camp safe with everything. He gave these to me and Cen, and we all got thinkin' there was something weird about them—"

"Why?" the mage interrupted.

"'Cause they felt real warm when me and Cen held 'em, but ice cold whenever Elend or any of the rest of the guys did," Estel said. "Anyway, we decided to go to Cornelia to see if we could find anything out."

The mage looked back at the crystals, then, with some reluctance, put his knife away. He reached into a pocket of his robes, and a moment later he also pulled out a crystal shard, identical to the others except that it was deep blue. Like Estel's, it was dim and dark inside.

"So," the mage said quietly, "three have been gathered…" He looked back at Cen and Estel. "It seems, then, I have been expecting you."

"Er…" Estel exchanged an uneasy look with Cen. "You have? Why?"

"Because of these." The mage gestured to the crystals. "There are four of these crystals in existence. We now have three of them here, and it would be wise to locate the fourth. These are very important objects." He returned his shard to his pocket and sat down beside the fire, staring into it thoughtfully. "We must find whoever has the fourth crystal," he muttered, almost to himself.

Cen raised an eyebrow. "'We'? How come we've been drafted to help you all of a sudden?"

The mage gave Cen an annoyed and slightly incredulous look. "Because it is imperative these crystals remain together. It therefore stands to reason the bearers of the crystals must remain together as well."

"Oh, really." Cen folded his arms across his chest, frowning and looking good and ready to dig in his heels. "Well, we already had plans for what we were going to do next, so it looks like you're out of luck."

"Cen, don't be an ass," Estel said. "We just found out what we wanted to know, so why not go along with him? It won't kill us."

"How do you know?" Cen asked, turning to Estel. "We don't even know if he's telling the truth. Besides, he's making us give him letter and verse about us but hasn't even told us his name."

"I assure you, I am telling the truth," the mage interrupted, regarding Cen with dislike. "And I have not given my name because you have not asked for it. Not all are as free with information as is your friend."

"So what is your name?" Estel asked.

"And why do you figure we're going to go along with all this?" Cen added.

The mage looked them over again before he answered. "My name is Rath, and I do not 'figure' you will go along with anything. Indeed, you have every right to be skeptical of me and what I have said to you. I am none too sure about either of you myself." His gaze flicked to Estel again, his eyes narrowing.

"Then why try to convince us?" Cen asked, frowning.

"Because you are the proper bearers of those shards; their reaction to you proves that. Were you merely on your way to deliver them to others, I would not be so insistent you accompany me."

"Well…" Estel glanced at Cen. "We might have sold them in Cornelia if they'd been worth enough." He looked back at Rath, whose eyes had widened. "But if they're one of a kind like you say, then the shop would've just screwed us over on the price, so we might as well hang on to them."

This struck Rath speechless. He stared at Estel with absolute incredulity for a moment before he managed to regain the use of his voice.

"You would have sold them?"

Estel shrugged. "Yeah. Why not?"

"Is that a bad idea?" Cen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Evidently, Rath could not comprehend this and remain seated at the same time. He got to his feet and began pacing back and forth on his side of the fire. He withdrew his own shard again and looked at it, turning it over in his hands. Cen and Estel watched him for a moment and exchanged glances with each other.

Rath finally stopped his pacing and looked back at them, his eyes narrowed. "That," he said, "is a very bad idea."

"So, tell us why," Cen said.

Rath was silent for a moment, tapping his shard against the palm of one hand.

"These shards are connected to the four forces which control the world," he said at last.

"What?" Estel looked down at his shard, holding it so the firelight shone through it. "They are? No, they're not. Are they?" He looked at Cen, then at Rath in confusion.

"Yes, they are," Rath said. "They are part of the altars from which the forces flow, and as such are of immeasurable magnitude. To sell them off to a random merchant could very well mean the destruction of the world."

Estel opened his mouth to say something, stopped, and looked at Cen.

"Um?"

Cen stared down at his own shard, his brow furrowed slightly in concentration. "And if we kept them?"

Rath did not answer at once. "That depends upon whether you were telling the truth concerning how the shards reacted to you."

"We were," Estel said. "No reason for us to lie about it."

Rath glanced at Estel, and his eyes narrowed slightly again. "Then that is proof enough. The question still remains, however: are you willing to accompany me in the search for the fourth?"

There was a long pause. Rath resumed his seat by the fire, returning his shard to his pocket and watching Cen and Estel. Estel looked fully convinced by Rath's words, but Cen continued to frown at his shard, his eyebrows drawn together in thought.

"Where were you headed?" he asked.

"The city of Cornelia," Rath said.

Cen nodded slowly.

Estel looked down at his shard again with renewed interest. "Been lookin' for these for a while, then, huh? I mean, if they're that important." He glanced at Rath.

"Yes," Rath said after a short pause. "I have. These crystals are of vital importance. So, as their bearers, are we, and for that reason I hope you will heed what I have just said to you."

Estel nodded, then looked back at Cen, who was still debating with himself. "Well? You gotta admit, he makes a good point."

Finally, Cen sighed and nodded. Estel grinned at him, the expression more bolstering than anything else, then planted himself next to the fire, across from Rath. Cen sat more slowly. Rath studied their faces as they drew nearer to the firelight; his eyes widened slightly as he looked at Estel, but neither of the others noticed. Now that they were closer, though, and the firelight fell more directly on what very little was visible of Rath's face, Cen and Estel could see that he was not as old as Estel had suspected. In fact, if the look in and around his eyes was any indicator, he was only a year or two older than Cen, if that.

Rath, noticing their scrutiny of him, pulled his hat farther down on his head.

"I take it this means you have decided to stay."

Estel nodded. "Yup. So, why're these crystal things so important, anyway?"

"I think any further discussion of them should wait until we have found the fourth shard and its bearer," Rath said. "We should sleep now. It is a day's journey to the gates of Cornelia, so we must be able to start as soon as possible in the morning."

"Okay."

Cen looked down at his shard again, frowning thoughtfully, then looked at Rath. "These really are that important, right?"

"Yes," Rath said. "They are."

"Right. Just making sure…"

Rath woke the others at a painfully early hour the next morning. The clouds of the previous day had dissipated, leaving the sky a very deep, clear blue. Only a band of pale grey light along the eastern horizon gave evidence of the impending sunrise. Estel rolled over in his bedroll, squinted up at the still-dark sky, groaned, and pulled his blanket over his head.

Cen, already awake and ready to leave, nudged Estel with his foot. "Come on, it's time to go."

"No. Go 'way."

"Well, I would, but we need you to come with us. Come on."

"Leeme 'lone."

Cen shook his head, then reached down and pulled Estel's blanket away. Estel snatched after it but missed, seizing only air, and tumbled into the dirt. Cen laughed, and Estel glared up at him.

"Not funny."

Cen just continued to laugh as he tossed Estel's blanket back to him. Estel caught it before it could hit him in the face and, grumbling about how much he hated happy morning people, started packing up his gear.

Rath, who had completely ignored this little exchange, led the way on the day's march, continuing along the same path Cen and Estel had been following the night before. This did not go over very well with Cen, but he was too busy trying to drag Estel along to complain about it. As they walked, Rath kept peering from side to side into the light-dappled forest as though looking for something. Sometimes he would pause and glance behind them. He looked decidedly odd doing this rather eccentric searching, given his serious demeanor and rather impressive mage's attire, his eyes gleaming slightly beneath the brim of his hat. The hat was itself an oddity, in fact, as Rath had yet to remove it; he had even slept with it on.

Estel, once he was awake enough to care, found Rath's behavior very peculiar.

"What's he doin'?" he muttered to Cen. Cen shrugged.

Yet somehow, for all his vigilance, Rath still managed to walk right into a white-robed figure who emerged from around a bend in the path just in front of him. The collision knocked them both to the ground in a tangle of robes. The other person regained her feet before Rath did and immediately offered a hand to help him up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, her blue eyes wide and worried. "I should have been watching where I was going. Are you all right?"

Rath, however, did not look at the young woman; he was staring at a yellow shard of crystal which lay on the packed dirt. At length, he allowed her to help him to his feet.

"Thank you," he said.

The young woman smiled, then stooped to pick up the glittering crystal.

"Where did you find that?" Rath asked.

The young woman froze, then looked at the shard she held in her hand. "I was given it," she said. "By my temple. I was meant to come to Cornelia to ask about it."

Estel was barely taking this in, being rather involved in staring at the girl. Almost unconsciously, he stood a little straighter and attempted to tidy his clothes. Cen noticed this and snickered.

Rath cast the pair a contemptuous look, then turned his attention back to the young woman. "What is your name?"

The young woman stowed the shard in a pocket of her robes. "Sapphire."

Rath nodded. "Sapphire, you should come with us."

Sapphire started to say something, then she stopped, blinking and looking confused. "I…should? Why?"

"Because it appears we have a common purpose."

"Yeah," Estel broke in, earning another irritated look from Rath. "We all got crystals like that too."

Sapphire looked at him, her eyes widening. "You do? You've found the others?"

Estel nodded and drew out his own shard as evidence. "See?"

"Oh!" Sapphire blinked in surprise. "I didn't…I mean, I was told to be looking, but I didn't expect to actually find you so soon!" She looked around at the others with a pleasant smile. "Where are you headed?"

"Cornelia," Cen said. "Just the same as you."

"Oh, but…" Sapphire went a bit pink. "I was actually just there. I had wanted to speak to…" She hesitated, looking concerned, before continuing. "…someone about my crystal, but he wasn't in the city."

Rath stared at her. "He is not there?"

Sapphire shook her head. "No. One of his colleagues told me he had 'gone to seek the crescent moon', but I have no idea what he meant by that."

"Oh, splendid." Rath shook his head, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Estel raised his hand to attract some attention. "Question. Who're we talkin' about here?"

"Sage Lukahn," Sapphire said. "He's the prophet and soothsayer of the royal family of Cornelia."

Cen, frowning, began to ask something, but Rath cut him off.

"We will go to Cornelia regardless. Though Lukahn is gone, there will most certainly be information there which can aid us. We will need to rest there before setting out again, at any rate."

"Wait a moment," Sapphire said, looking slightly dismayed. "I can't go back yet. I was just starting off on another errand, a very important one. Can't I at least finish that first, before we go back?"

Rath shut his eyes for a moment. "And where is your errand?"

"North of here, just a few days' journey across the bridge."

"Then I am afraid you are out of luck," Rath said. "The bridge is currently undergoing repairs; the Cornelian Guard is allowing no one across."

"The port's out too," Estel added before Sapphire could contest Rath's point. "Pirate attack. Whole place got blasted to tiny little pieces. We're all kinda stuck here for a while, that way."

"It seems, then," Rath said, "you have little choice but to accompany us to Cornelia, if only to wait for some manner of transportation to become available."

Sapphire nodded slowly. "I…I suppose so. Yes, of course you're right. That's all we can do right now."

"Precisely."

Rath started back down the path, dirt crunching beneath his boots, before any of the others could reply. Sapphire, after casting a quick glance at the other two men, hurried after him. Cen and Estel gaped after the pair in confusion before they began walking themselves.

"Where does he get off putting himself in charge like that?" Cen said, sounding a bit prickly. "Just because he's a spell-casting know-it-all…"

Estel tisked Cen and waved a reproving finger at him. "Now, now, don't be so touchy. What's the problem, anyway? If he knows what he's doin', I don't see why he shouldn't be in charge. Just like with us before, right? You got to be leader because you always knew where we were goin'."

"Yeah, but I wasn't such a jerk about it."

"Well, yeah." Estel glanced up the path at Rath and Sapphire, then straightened his bandana a little. "So," he said, trying to sound casual, "what d'you think of that girl?"

Cen's annoyance evaporated instantly, and he gave Estel an amused look. "Oh, I don't know. She seems pretty nice, but I don't think she's really your type."

Estel spluttered. "I…you…that isn't what I asked!"

"I know," Cen said, trying not to laugh. "It's true, though. I mean, if she's from a temple like she says…"

"Hmph." Estel scowled but quickly recovered. "I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Good for you. Defy the odds, attaboy."

Estel told Cen to go do something anatomically impossible, then he trotted ahead to walk beside Sapphire.

"Hi," he said.

Sapphire started a little and looked up at him with surprise. "Oh. Hello."

"Hi. So, looks like we're all in this crystal thing together, huh?"

"Yes, it does…" She trailed off, frowning a bit. "I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."

"Oh, right. I'm Estel." He pointed back over his shoulder at Cen, who had moved forward to listen to the conversation. "That's Cen." He pointed up the trail at Rath. "And he's Rath."

"Ah." Sapphire nodded and smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

Estel grinned. "Nice to meet you, too. So, er, it's kinda weird, you bein' out here all on your own like this. Weren't you worried about gettin' attacked or anything?"

"Well, maybe a little. It's not too dangerous this close to the city, though."

"Yeah…" Estel paused, then added, "Well, still pretty lucky you ran into us like you did, though."

Sapphire nodded.

"So, why were you headed up to Pravoka, anyway?"

"Well…" Sapphire paused for thought. "Actually, I think where I was going is still on Cornelian land. That border changes so much, though, that it's hard to keep track of where things are sometimes."

"Right…" Estel glanced back at Cen, who was smirking broadly, then returned his attention to Sapphire, leaning forward a bit to try to catch her eye. "Still, whoever has it, that's some rough land. Pretty brave of you to wanna go up there by yourself."

"No, not really. It's more of a necessity than anything else, not because I want to go. Being brave or not doesn't really have a lot to do with it."

"Oh."

Behind them, there was a muffled choking sound as Cen struggled to keep from laughing. Estel tried to ignore this. He bit the inside of his cheek, glancing around at the surrounding evergreens and trying to think of something to say. In the silence, Sapphire adjusted her pack, and one of the straps slipped off her shoulder. Estel reached over and pushed it back into place.

Sapphire gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." He hesitated for another moment. "So, you're a mage…er, healer, right?"

There was another choke, and Cen had to fall back a few paces to try to get control of himself. Sapphire glanced back at him with concern before replying to Estel.

"Yes, I am."

"How long have you been trainin'?"

"Nearly ten years." Sapphire frowned a little. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You know, since it looks like we're gonna be travelin' together for a while and everything."

"More than just a while, if we all have the shards," Sapphire said with a smile. "This is going to be a very large task."

"Oh, er, right. Yeah. Exactly. Big important stuff, that."

Cen could no longer contain himself; he snorted with laughter and had to stop walking as he fought to stifle it.

Sapphire glanced back at him, then at Estel. "Is he all right?"

"He's fine," Estel said, shooting a quick scowl back at Cen.

Rath, who had been doing his utmost to ignore the discussion going on behind him, shook his head and increased his pace, putting some distance between himself and the others. Sapphire stared after him, looking slightly chastened.

"Maybe we should stop talking," she said to Estel. "I think it's bothering him."

Estel looked as though he wanted to protest, then he changed his mind, looking a bit crestfallen. "Yeah, okay. I'll just…I'll go check on Cen." He dropped back to walk beside Cen, who was still chuckling.

Sapphire hurried along the path to catch up with Rath. Once she was out of earshot, Estel scowled and punched Cen hard on the arm. "Cut that out!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Cen said, not sounding very sorry at all. "It's just—"

"Don't. Just don't. I don't wanna hear it."

Cen nodded, attempting to look appropriately apologetic. After a few moments, though, he said, "But, really, I've seen trolls with better moves than that."

"Dammit, Cen! You—"

"Hey, watch your language," Cen said, smirking a little as he spoke over Estel's tirade. "There's a lady present now, remember."

Estel fumed in silence for the rest of the day.

The group reached the city of Cornelia that evening, just after the sun had set; the high outer wall cast its long shadow out over the streets and buildings, and only the tallest spires of the gleaming Castle Cornelia still had light falling upon them. An unusually large number of guards, their leather armor embossed with Cornelia's crest, stood at each gate in the city's wall, and more patrolled the cobbled streets; Estel, keeping close to Cen, tried to project an air of innocence as they passed. Rath led the group to an inn near the merchant district while making a point of avoiding the other people who were about.

"We do not want to attract any attention or be questioned yet," he had explained in a low voice. "We must discuss something first."

The four now sat around a table in a corner of the inn's common room. The room was large, though at the moment occupied by very few other patrons. A bar stood at the far side of the room, the wall behind it lined with bottles of a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Red-shaded lamps hung from the ceiling, sending up thin trickles of smoke to pool among the soot-stained rafters. A fire crackled in the fireplace.

Rath stared down at the table, his fingers steepled in front of him. Cen and Sapphire sat on either side of him, waiting for him to speak, while Estel sat on the opposite side of the table, chair tipped back on two legs as he stared at the sooty ceiling.

"You realize," Rath said after a moment, "this is not a coincidence. There is a purpose to us possessing these shards, and to our meeting each other as we did." He lifted his head to look at the others, his eyes gleaming from beneath the brim of his hat.

Sapphire nodded, and Cen and Estel exchanged glances.

"So, if it wasn't coincidence, what was it?" Estel asked, settling his chair onto all four legs with a thud.

"Destiny," Sapphire said softly. The others turned to look at her. "Many years ago, Sage Lukahn made a prophecy: 'When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come'…"

Cen looked slightly incredulous. "So you think we're these Warriors?"

"There is no speculation involved," Rath said. "We are the Warriors."

"How do you know?"

Rath gave Cen an irritated look. "We have the crystals. That is proof enough."

"Not only do we have them," Sapphire added, "but we also all came here because of them. Right? That's part of the reason I came to Cornelia in the first place. What about the rest of you?" She looked around at others. "Estel? Cen? Why were you coming here?"

"The shards," Estel said. "Elend wanted us to find out what they are. I don't think he figured they were anything special, though."

"And you, Rath?" Sapphire asked, turning to him. "Were you here because of your shard?"

Rath nodded.

"There, you see?" Sapphire looked back at Cen. "We're all here because of the shards. Even just that is proof that our meeting was supposed to happen."

Cen shrugged and nodded, allowing the point.

"What's with that 'veil of darkness' bit?" Estel asked. He leaned back to peer out the window behind him, then turned back to the others, looking confused and skeptical in equal measure. "Doesn't seem any darker than normal to me."

Rath gave Estel a rather unflattering look. "It is not referring to a lack of sunlight. It means the order of the world is in danger. The flow of the four forces is being disrupted. It has been prophesied the Warriors of Light will restore the flow, and so prevent the destruction of the world."

Estel blinked, then laughed and shook his head. "You're kiddin', right? There's no way we could do that. Come on…" He looked around at the others. "People who do big important stuff like that? They're supposed to be older, and they're supposed to know what they're doin'. I mean, I don't think any one of us is more'n twenty. How can we save the world?"

Rath did not reply. Estel, frowning, turned to Sapphire instead.

"Is that why you were comin' here to talk to that sage? To ask him about this prophecy thing?"

Sapphire nodded. "Yes, that's why. I knew about the prophecy already, but I needed to talk to Lukahn about something that happened recently." She took out her shard and stared at it thoughtfully. "This piece of crystal used to glow, as though it had a tiny ember inside it. A few months ago, though…its light went out. We were worried about it, so I came to ask Lukahn what had happened. But, since he's not here…"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group, broken only by the clink of bottles at the bar and the murmur of conversation from the other patrons.

"So what do we do now?" Cen asked finally.

"Sleep," Rath said. "Tomorrow morning we will attempt to gain an audience with the king. Even if he knows nothing of Lukahn's whereabouts, he will still be able to provide aid for us before we leave again." With that, he stood and strode out of the room, not even checking to see if the others were following him.

Estel stared after him. "Is that it? You gotta be kiddin' me." He turned to Cen. "Fat lot of help that was; he hardly explained anything. You were right before, Cen. I don't think he should be in charge either."

Cen nodded. "See, I told you."

"Don't say that," Sapphire said, looking a bit wounded. "At least you know more now than you did when you first got your crystals, right?"

"Well, yeah…" Estel glanced away in embarrassment. "Still doesn't make a ton of sense, though. I mean, us? Heroes? Doesn't seem quite right to me."

"Are you sure he was right about that?" Cen asked.

Sapphire nodded. "Very sure. I grew up hearing about this prophecy, so I have no reason not to believe what Rath just told us."

"Where did you grow up?" Estel asked, watching Sapphire with interest as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

Sapphire looked surprised. "Oh, um, here in Cornelia, actually, at least when I was young."

Estel grinned. "Seriously? That's funny. I lived here when I was a squirt too."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yep. Where about did you live? Maybe we met each other before."

Sapphire looked away from Estel for a moment as she put her shard back in her pocket. "A little north of where we are now. Nearer to the castle."

"Oh yeah?" Estel's eyes widened, and he gave an impressed whistle. "No kidding. That's upper crust area up there."

Cen, who had been listening to this exchange with no small amount of amusement, got to his feet. "I'm going to go get a drink. You two have fun talking."

"Oh, hey." Estel twisted around to look at Cen as he started walking away. "Get me something too, huh?"

"Yeah, sure." Cen stopped and looked back. "Do you want anything, Sapphire?"

Sapphire shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm fine."

"Okay." Cen started off to the bar again, weaving his way between the tables and chairs dotted around the room.

Estel watched him go with a bit of a smirk, then he turned back to Sapphire. "So, anyway. Lived by the castle, huh?"

"Oh, um, yes." Sapphire nodded. "What about you?"

"Well…" Estel sat up a little straighter, shifting in his seat. "You know, when you come in the south gate, and you look to the…" He paused, looking down at his hands in an effort to remember which was which. "To the left," he finally said, lifting his left hand a bit as he looked back at Sapphire. "And there's that kind of grungy-lookin' place with the 'three walls and a ceiling' sort of houses?"

Sapphire nodded.

"Right. I lived back there."

"What?" Sapphire's eyes widened in surprise. "You grew up there?"

"Yup. Had a pretty good setup, too. House had four whole walls and everything, and two rooms."

Now, Sapphire looked absolutely baffled. "But—"

A shout of alarm from the bar cut off her reply. Sapphire and Estel both looked over, Estel grinning broadly, and saw Cen just as he spun around to glare at them.

"Estel, what did you do with my money?!"

Estel laughed. "Finally noticed, huh?" He untied a coin pouch from his belt and held it up where Cen could see it, shaking it a little so the coins clinked around inside. "Right here, pal! You really gotta be more careful!"

Cen stomped across the room and snatched the pouch from Estel's hand. "I told you to cut that out. Steal from someone else the next time your fingers get itchy."

"Aw, but no one else reacts as good as you do, Cen," Estel said, still grinning.

Cen scowled and went back to the bar without replying.

"What was that about?" Sapphire asked, looking at Estel with confusion. "Do you do that to him a lot?"

Estel nodded. "Yeah. Supposed to keep him on his toes, all alert and everything. 'Cept he hasn't caught me at it even once." He shook his head in mock-disappointment.

"And was he serious when he told you to steal from someone else instead?"

"Nah, I don't think so. He wants me to actually behave myself while we're here, see, 'cause I owe him for bailin' me outta trouble in the last town we were in."

"Oh…" Sapphire had a slightly undecipherable expression on her face, looking torn between curiosity and unease. "I see…"

Estel shrugged. "It's no big deal. But, anyway, looks like we were at opposite ends of things, doesn't it? So, where'd you go after here? You did say you were only here when you were a little kid."

"I…" Sapphire hesitated. She looked down at her hands, then out the darkened window behind Estel. "You know, it…it's getting a bit late. I'm going to go to bed."

"Huh?" Estel blinked in surprise. "Oh…"

"I'll see you in the morning."

Estel nodded. "Okay."

"Good night, Estel." Sapphire got to her feet and left the room.

Estel blinked after her, slightly perplexed and disappointed. After a moment, he frowned and folded his arms on the table, resting his chin on them and looking very woebegone, his brow furrowed.

Just then, Cen returned, carrying two large tankards. He plunked one down in front of Estel before sitting down and taking a long drink from the other. He set his tankard down with a clunk and looked at Estel.

"Got knocked down, huh?"

"No, I didn't. I'm fine. Nothing happened. You don't know what you're talkin' about. Go away."

Cen gave a snort of laughter. "Okay, sure. I did warn you, though." He nodded to the tankard. "Come on, drink up. You'll feel better."

"Doubt it," Estel muttered, but he sat up and took a drink all the same. He glanced at the doorway that led from the common room, frowning. "I'm not givin' up."

Cen sighed. "And again, the ghost of mule-headedness raises its mule head."

"Shut up."

They sat in silence for a while, nursing their drinks.

"So what do you think about this crystal business?" Cen asked eventually.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah."

"I'm startin' to think we should've told Elend to keep the damn things."

Cen raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"Why?"

Estel shrugged. "Just doesn't seem like a real good setup to me."

"What, because of what just happened?" Cen asked with some amusement.

Another shrug.

"I don't know." Cen took another drink, looking thoughtful. "If that is all true, what Sapphire and Rath said, then…" He trailed off and shrugged. "I mean, saving the world. That's a really big deal. If we could do something that huge and important, why shouldn't we try?"

Estel took a drink. "Point."

There was another pause.

"Well, come on," Cen said. He drained his tankard and set it back on the table with a thunk. "Let's turn in. We don't want to be hungover and half-asleep when we go talk to the king tomorrow, right?"

There was a pause, then Estel nodded. "Yeah. Right." He finished off his drink as well and got to his feet. "But if the sun ain't up before we are, I'm not gettin' out of bed no matter what you have to say about it."

Cen shook his head, smirking. "Whatever you say, Estel."