Final Fantasy: The Return of the Talekeeper
Zeid was now deep within the wastelands, known as Xarcabard, that had been created during the Great War and was far from any form of civilization for miles and miles, however, he had came to the wastelands to see if the rumors were indeed true, the rumors that the Shadow Lord had returned. If this was true, then he had to destroy him before he could organize his armies. There was a strong snowstorm and there was not much from keeping him from freezing to death. He seemed to be walking through the wastelands for days without so much as food or sleep, but still, he pushed on. He was heading to Castle Zvhal, the Castle where the Shadow Lord was buried in his tomb and his headquarters for the Great War. He finally arrived at the castle, and in front of him, demons of all sorts stood guarding his tomb.
"What is this?" Zeid said, consulting himself. "Could it be…the Shadow Lord has indeed returned? I haven't seen any type of demon like this since the Great War twenty years ago." Removing all thoughts from his mind and consulting the dark spirits of Vana'diel, he gave a great roar. Zeid started manipulating the dark spirits of Vana'diel, as if he were absorbing them. His roar had also gotten the attention of the demons, which were now rushing towards him by command of the demon general. Zeid hurled his Great Sword out of the clasp on his back and proceeded to charge straight for the demons. Although the demon army was strong, they were no match for Zeid, who sliced through their front lines like a hot knife through butter. The general saw how powerful and how desperate he was to get in to Castle Zvhal.
As fast as Zeid had destroyed the demon army, he was blown back by the demon general's dark magic attack. "You foul, ruthless creature," Zeid raged. "It is true then, the Shadow Lord has returned!"
The demon general in front of the castle's entrance, directly across from Zeid, just laughed and said. "You may defeat me, but it is true that the Shadow Lord is back, and he will destroy you!" With these words, Zeid hurled his mighty great sword at the demon general and the sword sliced right through him and the two body parts of the general fell on the bitter snow.
"Not worth my time." Said Zeid, "If the Shadow Lord is anything like you, I'll be very disappointed." And with those words, he re-clasped his great sword to his back and walked into the castle.
When he had entered the castle, he saw before him, many of the Shadow Lord's servants, the Yagudo, the Quadav, and the Orc tribes. Zeid was strong, but not at full strength from his previous encounter with the Demon Army. With great stealth and precision, he made his way up to the top of the castle without being detected. By this time, he had more than recovered full strength and was ready to fight, and right in front of him, stood the door to the Shadow Lord's throne room.
He entered and saw nothing but an empty room. He looked around and saw something on a pedestal of sorts. It looked like a coffin, the Shadow Lord's coffin. He proceeded to the coffin with caution, but after taking only a few steps, the coffin burst open and a dark light emitted from it. Out of that light appeared the Shadow Lord and Zeid looked at him just as he did during the Great War and un-clasped his great sword from his back. The Shadow Lord then pulled up his dark sword from the depths of his coffin.
"I underestimated you in the Great War, Zeid!" The Shadow Lord said. "I will not make that mistake again!"
Immediately Zeid and the Shadow Lord had begun battle, once again. Zeid charged towards him and immediately pierced his stomach area, but the Shadow Lord would not be hurt that easily. He then swung his mighty sword across Zeid's chest plate and the force of the blow blew him back against the wall. Zeid stood up and again called forth the dark spirits of Vana'diel, in which he absorbed. His dark sword, now flaming with energy and clutched in the hands of Zeid, headed straight for the Shadow Lord's head, however, the Shadow Lord blocked Zeid's weapon with his own, thus throwing Zeid straight to the floor. He got up and realized that rage and anger isn't always the best weapon, but that he needed to use his speed and agility to dodge the Shadow Lord's attacks. So, using his new method of thinking, he waited for the Shadow Lord's attack, and then when he gave a vertical slash towards Zeid, he jumped out of the way and stabbed the Shadow Lord in his side. He kept repeating this method until the Shadow Lord fell to one knee.
"Return from whence you came Lord of Darkness!" and holding his great sword above his head and looking into the Shadow Lord's eyes, he realized there was something he had never noticed before. The Shadow Lord most surely resembled Raogrimm, the Tale Keeper of the Galka, and Zeid's lost friend. A blinding light suddenly surrounded the Shadow Lord and when the light had gone, Raogrimm was kneeling where the Shadow Lord had been.
Zeid suddenly re-clasped his great sword to his back and knelt beside his friend. "Raogrimm…You're alive! And all these years I thought you to be dead. Tell me, my friend, what happened on the expedition…"
Raogrimm suddenly interrupted Zeid. "No, I can't talk about that now; we have to get out of here! The Archduke of Jeuno, Lord Kam'lanaut and his brother Eald'narche, they're the ones behind this! We must go before they sense I have been defeated and return for me and destroy you!"
Zeid, almost completely ignoring Raogrimm's warning, said. "Raogrimm…what has happened to you, why have you become this…monster?
Raogrimm, calming down now so he could talk to his old friend, replied. "It all happened about thirty years ago when I was sent out on the expedition with Corneilia and Ulrich… I…I submitted myself to the dark spirits of Vana'diel to keep myself from dying, and in return, they gave me the life of the Shadow Lord. Believe me my friend, this is not what I wanted, and I regret everything I have done. That includes starting the Great War and almost wiping Vana'diel off the face of the world…."
Raogrimm was interrupted by the sound of clapping. It was Kam'lanaut and his brother, Eald'narche. "Such a very touching scene of emotion this is, very rare for Galka." Chuckled Kam'lanaut
"You!" Raged Zeid, un-clasping his great sword from his back and charging straight for him and jumping into the air about to deliver a vertical slash towards the archduke. "It is you that is behind this!" Bringing his great sword down, he collided with nothing but an invisible force field around Kam'lanaut and was blown back to the floor.
"Pathetic, try as you might, you will never be able to beat a Zilart Prince!" Kam'lanaut sighed, "I thought you'd be more challenging, after all, you are Zeid, legend among the Galka and Dark Knights." He looked at Raogrimm. "Now you will have to watch as I kill your friend, and then you next. Crystal Warriors come forth and cleanse the world of Vana'diel!"
Lion, hearing also of the rumors of the Shadow Lord, had made her own expedition through the lands of Xarcabard and had arrived in the throne room just as these events were taking place. She watched as the two brothers, Kam'lanaut and Eald'narche, warped away to safety and standing in their place were the five Crystal Warriors.
The Crystal Warriors were created when the explosion that destroyed the Zilart race happened thousands of years ago. When Altana, Goddess of the Dawn, had created the five races, Galka, Hume, Mithra, Tarutaru, and Elvaan, the God of Twilight, Promathia, found it fit to create five opposites using the race's flaws…The Hume's Apathy, the Elvaan's Arrogance, The Tarutaru's Cowardice, The Mithra's Envy, and The Galka's Rage. These five characteristics are the result of Altana's mistakes and Promathia's need to correct them.
The Crystal Warriors, suddenly turned their attention towards Lion, but Raogrimm had let out a great roar. He had been used, and he would not let his friend die because of it. Summoning forth the last of his power, he was engulfed in a dark light and emerged once again as the Shadow Lord. Although his efforts were futile against the Crystal Warriors, it was enough to buy Lion and Zeid time to escape; the Shadow Lord had made his last stand. Lion grabbed Zeid and ran out of the throne room. Just as the Shadow Lord had taken his last blow from the Crystal Warriors, a vision of Cornelia had appeared before him.
"Remember Raogrimm, I always loved you."
With that, the Shadow Lord had fallen and was no more in the world of Vana'diel. An explosion had rocked the land of Xarcabard.
Outside the throne room and safe from the Crystal Warriors, Zeid had questioned Lion. "Why are you here?"
"Why am I here? I just saved your life and that is all you can say!" she said.
"You didn't save my life, Raogrimm and I were doing just fine…Raogrimm?" he looked around, Raogrimm was nowhere to be seen. "So, he really is gone now…"
"I'm afraid so, but don't worry, his death wasn't in vain, he ended up buying us enough time to escape."
"What's your name?" he asked. "You never told me."
"My name is Lion, I…"
Zeid cut her off, "Well thank you for the assistance Lion, but I don't need your help…I must go now and find out what Kam'lanaut is planning. Farewell. He turned to walk away
"Let me come with you!" She insisted.
Zeid stopped and turned his head towards Lion. "No, I work alone. The only other person I've ever come in contact with since the Great War was another Galka seeking the ways of the Dark Knight, such as myself. Who knows where he is now or whether or not he has friends, but I know that I am going to find out what Kam'lanaut is up to and I am going to do it on my own." He then continued to walk away.
"What a grouch, even after I helped him in collecting those Magicite," Said Lion to herself. "I better get back to Norg and tell Aldo and father about this right away."