Final Fantasy: Advent of the Second Light
By: Haos Serpent Blade
-Azure Fang-
A/N: This story and another, soon to be started, story were influenced by the story Normalcy? Extremely Overrated written by The Unknowing Herald. This story will be from an opinionated first person view from one of the four protagonists: Ikari, Alvis, Sabrina and Ezra.
Characters:
Ikari- A Paladin in training. Contrary to his noble class, he is quite "unrefined" and has many odd... Talents, but he does his best to honor the Code of Paladins when possible. He has decent swordsmanship and magical potential on par with a White Mage. From Pravoka. Starting Class: Holy Squire(White Mage/Warrior). Holder of the Wind Crystal. Special technique: White Wind, Paladin Techs., Cover
Alvis- A mercenary. Quite cocky and holds a roguish charm that makes him popular with the opposite sex. He is slightly perverted. Despite his heavy looking attire and large weapon, he is quite nimble. He uses a greatsword/broadsword and throwing knives in tandem with black magic. From Cornelia. Starting Class: Mercenary(Thief/Mystic Knight). Holder of the Earth Crystal. Special Technique: Spellblade, Mug, Ninjutsu.
Sabrina- An Alchemy Adept. Quiet around anyone, excluding a certain few people. She is the youngest party member and is the most knowledgeable in regards to monsters and items. Her weapons of choice are black magic, the potions she concocts and a gun. From Elfheim. Starting Class: Alchemist Adept(Chemist/Black Mage). Holder of the Water Crystal. Special Technique: Mix, Study, Focus
Ezra- An Elemental Channeler. Hot tempered and unafraid to speak her mind. Fond of Alvis, but not so much Ikari- however, thse two have some of the best coordination together and do get along decently. She uses dances in tandem with swords and daggars with great precision and can manipulate both black and white magic to an extent. From Crescent Lake, but has lived in Pravoka for seven years. Starting Class: Elemental Channeler(Red Mage/Dancer). Special Technique: Dance, Illusion, Runic
Realm One: Erthys
Node One: The Adventure Begins... Again
When the balance is tipping, the crystals are called upon to save the world from destruction. Alas, the crystals can only be awakened from their slumber by those chosen to bear the crystals. If the Crystal Bearers fail to awaken the crystals and the world is destroyed, all is reset and new Crystal Bearers are chosen. History will be doomed to repeat itself unless the cycle is broken at the beginning, but is it truly possible to prevent the cycle at its origin? Where the power of Chaos is at its prime?
The name's Ikari, Ikari Light. Though, to the guys chasing me it's-
"Ikari, you sunnuva! Stop runnin' an' take yer beatin' like a man," conveniently interrupted the bullish lout leading the group chasing me. I was just about to say that. I guess I'll spare you the introduction until after I get out of this situation.
"Says the one whose afraid to fight me one on one, so he rounds up his posse to do it for him," I shout over my shoulder before ducking into one of Pravoka's main back alleys, one of my personal favorites because of how narrow it was and the fact that it led to the upper portion of the city. I scrambled up the wall, aided by groves formed by a mixture of use and architecture, and reached the rooftops. I looked down just in time to see Ignatius, the bullish lout from earlier, and the six people he called to aid him try to shimmy into the alley I had just gone into and having little luck doing so. Ah, one of the benefits of being "scrawny".
Seeing the group struggle prompted me to leer at them. After all, what was more fun than agitating the people set on beating you to a bloody pulp when they were struggling to catch you? I quickly made my way across several rooftops when I heard a distinct cry of this recognition to my left. Part of me prayed that it wasn't HER of all people, but sometimes the gods love it when you suffer.
"Ikari, you weasel! How dare you peep on me while I was in the washroom," shouted a fiery, white haired woman in a red dress. I gulped and looked at her, thinking about how beautiful she would've been- hell, how beautiful she was now- had she not looked ready to tear off my head. She took a step towards me as I tried to explain how I had incidentally been next to the window while she was bathing, which was true; I may love antagonizing people who did the same to me, but I'm not a pervert in any way, shape or form... Excluding that one day a few years back, which I will not explain lest I want to be castrated by an angry mob.
"Ezra, I promise you, I was not intentionally looking at you nor did I mean to stare. It just happened by accident and will not happen again for as long as I live," I squeaked as I took several steps back. Once again the truth: as a Paladin in training, I am obligated to always tell the truth to increase my honor and esteem along with a ton of other things like not peeping on the girl you've had a crush on since you met her seven years ago and not breaking a vow without a good reason.
"You're right, you won't since I'm going to break every bone in your body," she purred, possibly hissed, viciously before taking another step towards me. I groaned before taking a few more steps back, now at the edge of the building. I then do the expected, jump off the roof and land gracefully... as gracefully as Goblin slipping in the Ice Cave. Thank the gods that the Paladin Code had nothing in it about profanity or I would've just been kicked out for swearing foul enough to make a sailor look like he or she had a clean mouth.
I slowly picked myself up and began to hobble away when I saw Ignatius and company round the corner. Needless to say, I picked up my pace to delay a confrontation I didn't want even if I could take on all seven of them. The odd thing was that I still able elude them in my injured state and thanked my lucky stars until I ran smack dab into Ezra, who still looked like she wanted to brutally maim me- which she did admit to wanting to do.
"Nowhere to run, weasel," she hissed, taking a few steps closer.
"Nowhere to hide," snarled Ignatius as he and his group stalked in behind me. I was completely and totally screwed if I didn't think of something to get me out of this situation and I think I did. I would've laughed at my idea if I wasn't in such a pinch, but sometimes you have to be desperate to experience genius.
"You're both right," I said, sighing in mock defeat as I concentrate mana into my right hand, "I can't run or damn well hide, so I can only do what White Mages do: see the bright side of everything." The eight of the tilted their heads in confusion and I smiled in return before releasing the mana in my hand in a simple spell called Dia.
Fun fact about the Dia chain of spells: Everything, but eyeless beings and light based beings are affected by Dia. Why? The Dia chain of spells are essentially different amounts of concentrated, holy light, emphasis on the 'light' part. Dia spells are the bane of undead beings because of the fact that the undead are typically weak to objects and spells related to the holy and/or light affinity as they are cursed beings of darkness. This combination often kills the undead with ease because it essentially breaks the curse of Undeath, but when applied to humans something much different occurs: a massive amount of disorientation of the eyes due to the amount of light. This was the case with Ezra, Ignatius and the others, allowing me to resume my escape until I ran into the one person I dreaded more than Ezra in this situation: my father, Hikari.
"Ikari... Why must you cause mischief with your gift," he asked, clearly irritated. I quickly explain my situation and notice an amused grin spread across his features. "I see. Unfortunately for you, miss Ezra will be returning home with us to discuss something very important that relates to the future of you both. Also, your mother is back from the lab with a new invention." I felt all of the blood drain from me at his last words with good reasoning: my mother, Ai, was a White Sage, one of very few, as well as a scientist by trade. Her experiments often created items that had positive, but limited effects on the rotting earth and stagnating air or had some sort of other benefit to either people or the world as a whole. The only problem: Father and I were her testers. I gulped and contemplated allowing myself to get beat up by Ignatius and company, but mother would only heal me and still have me test her invention. I shuddered and still do shudder at the memory of the Fire Absorbing Stone that ignited the wearer after ten minutes.
"Any chance to postpone the trial by, I don't know, forever," I asked tiredly only for dad to smirk.
"What's wrong? Afraid of what Ai brought back," he asked teasingly as he picked up Ezra, still blinded by the Dia spell.
"You already know the answer to that, dad," I replied stiffly, ignoring Ignatius's curses and hobbling home, having forgotten I could have healed myself with Cure because of the dread I felt. It took several minutes to reach our destination, the Light family manor, and set down Ezra, who had finally recovered from Dia and was now brooding. Unfortunately, that did not stop her from trying to strangle me when dad left. This only worsened when mom entered the room and caught her in the act.
"Hello, Ikari," she said in a sing song voice, "Are you re- Oh, am I interrupting something? Children these days sure are forward." She smiled mischievously and I glared daggers in response. Ezra blushed in realization of how suggestive our current position was and jumped off me, allowing me to breath and teaching me to appreciate the ability to breathe naturally.
"No, mom," I sighed, partially out of relief, "you weren't-"
"That's good. That means you're free to test the Mana Drops and Nitro Ether with Ezra," mom exclaimed happily, much to my chagrin. Ezra looked confused at this statement and voiced it.
"W-what!? Test out," she sputtered, "I thought I was brought here to discuss the Cr-"
"That's later," mom replied, pushing her bifocals up from the bridge of her nose. I swear for a split second I saw a mad gleam in her emerald eyes, as she started casting Teleport on the three of us- Wait, three? Where was dad?
"Where's da-," I started as Teleport had finished being cast, being cut off by a mixture of feeling like a Beretta was pulling me apart and taste of bile when the spell activated. The sensations only worsened when I felt my body leave the main room of the manor and continued to worsen as my body moved further away from my point of origin. Eventually I lost all feeling in my body, having reached my pain threshold, and nearly fainted, but by that point we had arrived at the testing facility mother had gotten made years ago.
"That was fun," said Ezra. Had I not known that teleportation only felt painful to me from years of being teleported, I would've called her a masochist or at least commented about her having nerve damage.
"Ikari would disagree," mom replied, "he's never been a fan of the spell." I nodded in agreement. Feeling like vicious monster ripped you apart in a gruesome fashion when traveling was not on the top of the list I labeled "Fun". Hell, that was currently the very top of my list titled "Crap I Hate".
"Teleportation spells are very annoying," I grumbled.
"Why so," asked Ezra.
"Long Story. Will not explain," I growled before facing mom, "Can we get this over with? I'd really prefer to get home before I regain the ability to feel anything." Mom looks at me quizzically, but I ignore it and hold out my left hand. She understood the gesture and produced a crimson potion and a blue, ball shaped gel and placed both in my open hand before doing the same for Ezra. Ezra looked hesitant, so I offer her a pat on the back before looking down at the potion. It looked unappealing at best, but more appealing than an Ether, which was a sickly yellow. I gulped before opening the bottle and drinking the red potion as quickly as possible.
Immediately I felt like I did the time mom cast a condensed version of Hastega on me- meaning I felt like I was on an extreme sugar high and could run over water. I smiled like a mad man before darting around the testing area followed by Ezra who was giggling madly. I slowly began to calm down, but instead of being anywhere near out of breath I was fully revitalized and could feel my body. Damn my luck, I mean seriously! I sigh and try the gel based potion, which I immediately regret.
I suddenly became aware of every single, individual particle of mana in the area. The redundant emphasis was intentional, that was how aware I was on the mana. I snap my eyes shut because of the sudden change in my vision, but I can still feel the mana coiling around me and in the air, making it difficult to breathe. I begin to feel dizzy and collapse before I realize what happened.
"Ikari are you alright," exclaimed Ezra, rushing to my side with my mom. "Miss Ai, is he alright?"
"No, I'm not," I choked, the agony from the sensory overload increasing, "my head feels like it's going to fucking explode!"
"Get back Ezra," mom yelled before chanting a spell I hadn't heard before, "Oh cleansing spirit of light, I beseech you to lend me your power and remove the aura blighting this mortal soul. Dispelga!" I felt the mana around me condense, then the sensation vanished and with it my extreme mana perception.
"What was that," I croaked without opening my eyes.
"A Mana Drop," mom replied in a worried tone, "It was supposed to increase your mana reserves and increase your control over it, not expand your mana perception! I thought I tested that out months ago because Hikari and I were unaffected by the more concentrated version that I made when I finally fully developed these... I'm so sorry Ikari." I slowly opened my eyes and saw mom tearing up. I gingerly sat up and hugged her- hugs were the best cure to sadness beside compassion and understanding.
"It's alright, mom. I'll be fine," I reassured before glancing at Ezra. "Sorry for the Dia and the incident earlier. I mean it, Ez."
"I forgive you. I got so caught up in the moment that I didn't think about how you stay true to your word and respect others of the opposite gender more than the other guys our age," she replied, "just don't do it again or I'll make you wish I had broken all of your bones when I had the chance."
"Will do, Captain Nachtrosen," I chuckled lightly, letting go of mom and receiving a hard punch to my shoulder from Ezra. Mom cleared her throat before I can tackle Ezra and ruffle her hair.
"Let's get back to the manor, we still have important matters to discuss," she stated before casting Teleport and returning us to the manor. The return trip was just as painful as the starting trip, but faster and less desensitizing overall. I cringed upon arrival because, unlike last time, I still could feel the whole being ripped apart sensation and I wasn't numb.
"Ai, Ikari, Ezra, you've returned. I take it something happened, judging by your expressions," said dad upon our arrival. I nodded and explained my reaction to the Mana Drop, earning a grimace from him. "That shouldn't have been possible... Maybe it has to do with your inherited mana awareness." I shrugged, not wanting to continue the conversation.
"Can we talk about the Crystals now," asked Ezra, gaining dad's attention.
"Ah, yes," he sighed before growing serious, "Follow me to the dining room, away from open ears." Dad led us away from the main room to the dining room in the center of the manor and gestured for us to take a seat. I take a seat near the wall and waited as mom entered the room with an ornate box. She sat the box near near me and told Ezra to come closer. She did so and mom opened the box, revealing four dull crystals the size of my sword's hilt.
"These are the four Crystals of lore," began mom, her voice heavy and emotionless, "The two of you and two others are the ones chosen to bear the Crystals and return their light, healing the damage to the world caused by an unknown forcein the process."
"This is a heavy burden to bear," stated dad, "If you fail, you doom the world to damnation and death." Any humor I would've had in this situation died at that, with good reason: if I royally screwed up, everyone would suffer and, as a Paladin in training and myself, I could NOT allow that.
"Where do we need to go," I asked, inspecting the Crystals and noticing a slight gleam in the crystal that looked somewhat green. Before I realized what I was doing, I grabbed said crystal and saw a faint glow emanate from it in response. "Besides finding which Crystal is belongs to who?" Dad answered after a moment.
"Go to Cornelia. The King should be able to assist you in your search for the other Warriors of Light," he replied, nearly tempting me to say that not all of us would necessarily be White or Red Mages or aligned with light if we were going to be a versatile team.
"You should set out tomorrow," mom said, "Both of you get some rest, we'll prepare some supplies, Gil and equipment for you." Dad nodded in agreement before leading Ezra to a vacant room and following mom to the family armory. I grabbed my sword and walked out of the manor to the courtyard. I drew my sword and began practicing my form for an hour before moving onto something much more difficult: Paladin Techniques.
"Paladin Tech 30: Aura Burst," I chanted as I gathered mana into my hand then fired it as a sphere of light that burst a moment later. That was the easiest Paladin Technique beside Conversion, which converted energy into mana. From Aura Burst, I moved to Light Blade, which was like casting a damaging version of Dia, called Spark, on my sword and sustaining the spell for as long as it was needed, Shining Spiraling Edge, which was an extension of of Light Blade that fired said spell from the blade in a horizontal wave that spiraled around the user, and Aura Armor, which involved me charging myself with the power of Aura Burst to boost my own defense against physical attacks and damage anything that did. I thought about practicing Paladin Technique Nine, Heavenly Bolt Blade, but was too afraid to; I wasn't supposed to even know about that technique at this point in my training, let alone try it out. At that point, I had finally grown tired and retired to my room for the night.
I was very tired when morning arrived and I mean very tired. With a groan, I literally rolled out of bed and had to pick myself up before I finally decided to leave my room and head to the washroom. I was halfway there when I saw Ezra. In a towel. While normally I would've commented, but I was practically brain dead and focused on my task at that moment so, I ignored her as we passed by each other. Once in the washroom, I quickly bathed myself and completely woke up. Afterwards I dried myself and put on a simple tunic followed by boxers and trousers, then left the washroom to look for mom, dad and Ezra. That turned out to be easier than expected because the three of them were waiting in the dining room- Well sort of waiting.
"Just try on the dress, Ezra," smiled mom, holding a red dress with golden trim out to Ezra, who seemed adamant on doing the exact opposite.
"Anything, but that," she wailed and took a step back. Seeing me, Ezra lit up and... used me as a human shield. Of course, use the paladin in training as a shield, not- ya know- a distraction. He might have been willing to guard you from his mad scientist mother and the red dress she held, albeit very confused as to why a dress scared you, but still.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this," I whispered to myself before crossing my arms and clearing my throat, "Holy squire Ikari on the job. I'll cover your escape as best I can." Ezra flashed a smile that I tried to return, but she had already fled the room... Gods, she was fast. I turned to mom, who looked at me skeptically, then beamed.
"My boy is protecting his girlfriend," she exclaimed happily before teleporting out of the room. Okay, that was just plain cheating! I fumed at mom's action before taking her words into consideration.
"She's not my girlfrien-," I was interrupted by a shriek and a bright flash of red light from behind the door. Mom's smug laughter followed then more red light... Sometimes the fact that we were related was very questionable and frightening.
I turned to dad, who shrugged before presenting me with a set of armor. It was grey mixed with peach in color. Various runes decorated the gauntlets and greaves, none recognizable by me. The breastplate was stony, held a few scratches, signs of prior usage and possibly age, and connected to flexible silver plating that protected the lower torso region. A pair of belts wrapped around the waist guards, most likely to secure or adjust it if needed. Lastly was the silver circet with a tiny, emerald center piece.
"That's the Rustic Armor, a heirloom and relic of the Order of Paladins," he explained, "When I became a Paladin, I wore this armor and wielded the Rustic Shield and Rustic Sword. Unfortunately, both are undergroing repairs so I cannot bequeath them to you, Ikari. Instead, I shall give you my sword, Light Seeker, and my shield, Minerva's Defender. Use them wisely." Dad produced a round shield made of what looked like silver and was emblasoned with the image of one of the patron goddesses of the Paladins: Minerva, the Just. He then passed me his rapieresque sword with a blade that expanded into a rhombus near the tip. I stood speechless for a moment before thanking my dad- no, Paladin Highlord Hikari in this case- graciously. He brushed it off lightly as mom and Ezra returned to the dining room. Notably, mom was carrying a large bag and Ezra was wearing the dress mom picked for her with red coat that cut off at her midriff and a red hat with a grey plume, beet red for reasons a slightly closer look, I noticed that the dress enhanced her already great beauty.
The dress was more form fitting than the previous dress she wore, bringing more attention to her slim figure and chest area. The left side of the dress lacked a seam to connect the front and back below the waist, showing off her legs, which bore white leggings and red heels. On her arms rested golden bangles that poked out of her coat sleeves and a rectangular gold earring dangled from her left ear, normally hidden by the way she styled her ivory hair which was swept back in a simple, but elegant pony tail. Lastly was the dress's high collar that stopped just short of her chin, forcing her to look up and, in conjunction with her hat and coat, gave her the semblance of a regal witch or hunter- Moreso a hunter because of the sword strapped to her waist and the daggers strapped to her right leg.
I nearly told her that she looked amazing, but stopped myself with much effort. Instead I gave her an approving nod and prepared to don my armor when mom snapped her fingers andautomatically suited me up in the Rustic Armor with a few additions: pauldrons that connected to armlets and increased armor for both of my legs. I thanked her before accepting the bag and pulling out the Green Crystal.
"Both of you are ready, correct," asked father. Ezra and I nodded our answers before he continued. "As we discussed yesterday, head to Cornelia and seek an audience with the king. While normally, you would be sent off by boat or horse, all of the ships are currently away to explore, study and trade with all of the nations with ports and the large bridge that connects us to Cornelia has been destroyed by the Cornelian government or one reason or another. This means you'll have to travel via teleportation to reach the land nearest Cornelia and travel, by foot, from there to Cornelia." I sighed at the last sentence then told both of my parents goodbye before mom cast Teleport on me and Ezra. One pain filled trip, for me at least, later and we ended up in the middle of a green field, one of very few left.
"Ikari, do you know where Cornelia is," asked Ezra, reminding me that she hailed from Crescent Lake. I answered "loosely" before opening the bag and rummaging through it for a map. I find one and pass it to Ezra, who looked at it for a moment before passing it back to me. "Alright, our destination is to the south west." With that, the two of us begin our trek to, as it turned out, nowhere near Cornelia.
A/N: That ends chaper one of Ikari and the other warriors of Light's story. Where will the duo end up? When will Alvis and Sabrina appear? Find out next chapter!
Yes, I know Ikari's father's name means light in Japanese. It's a pun and maks the title a bit of a play on words.
Also, a little feedback would be kind.
-Haos Serpent Blade