Chapter One
Keeping The Faith
"These lands have changed much since my time. The places I have seen are long since gone, worn away by time. For it has been long since my end."
"When was your end?"
"You would not remember it, but it would be better if you would ask me in person."
"Where are you? Maybe I will."
"Good. But I don't think you would like it there."
"You've led me this far."
"OK."
*************************
There was a dull thud as hammer on chisel and the surroundings came sharply into focus. A small boy looking no more than twelve sat up from the flat rock he had been snoozing on. A few loose strands of his thin brown hair fell over his dull blue eyes. He flattened his hair to his head as much as he could, though the back still stuck up at an odd angle, it seemed to curl around completely before returning to his head.
He was clad completely in shapeless grey overalls, they were too baggy and fell over his knees in bundles that touched the floor. He wore thick brown gloves on his hands that were still pointed at the top and bottom and rough around the edges. His feet could not be seen.
"What news?"
An aged looking woman with one or two long thin lines across her face called from across the room where she was digging out a small green globe from a layer of thick rock. Her hair was exactly the same, right down to the curl at the back of her head and her eyes looked like a wizened version of his. She wore the same overalls and gloves, though they looked somewhat less modern.
"We're close. Whoever it is wants us to find them," he said in reply,"but it doesn't think we'll like it there. It says it's dead and it's been a long while since it was alive."
"Well if it wasn't we wouldn't be digging around to find it. We must be getting close, it's pretty rare that you ever find any of these things but they seem to be in excess here. This looks like a rare one too."
She looked a little closer with a small hand-held microscope as if it were a precious piece of diamond.
"I've never seen one like this before."
From her pocket she pulled out a small map showing lots of green globes like the one she held with labels pointing to small symbols inside.
"I can just see a blue.....looks like a candle. No, it's a staff on fire, that one would be.....Comet. Never even seen one before."
"Do you think these were from its time?"
"Well I don't doubt it, but we can't be sure. Come on Donovan, there's a yellow one a bit further up I need some help with."
*************************
They continued on along a freezing cave, where the walls were cracked from dryness, not seeing any rocks anywhere along the way. Donovan was being led along a thin passage where they couldn't walk beside each other. This tunnel lasted for several hundred yards until they finally came to rest in what looked like a hollowed out cave. All along the walls were green stones and to the far side of the floor there was a yellow stone.
"Aren't any of these any good mum?" questioned Donovan as they got there at last.
"Not one," his mother replied, looking vengefully at many of them, "most of these are seals, the amount of times they've made me fall asleep in here.Thank god they're new or they'd have stopped me even getting close to any of the others."
Donovan sat against one of the lesser gemmed walls and rubbed his boot, feeling several blisters inside.
"You said it was only a little farther in."
"And you said you got a B+ in your written exam."
*************************
It took many minutes of "loosening" the outer rocks to finally get a crack in the rock face nearest the stone. At this gap they hammered chisels in for at least an hour, breaking a hole into it before Donovan could fit his hand into the hole and roll the stone upwards. His mother continued to loosen the rocks, no doubt hoping to find more beneath it but there was nothing for at least two feet.
The task of identifying the stone fell on Donovan, who had never identified before. He knew for a fact it would be difficult to identify it but he also knew experience would do him good. The chart was not as big as the green, for there were fewer types of the yellow. That would help.
He looked into the chart, layed out on the floor before him. At the top was the title in glowing gold. "Command Materia". He ran down the chart before looking into the stone with his microscope. The inside looked like treacle but there was a perfect golden piece in the middle. It was a stag, definately a stag he could see the antlers. He looked down the chart, there was no stag. There was a reindeer though. That could fit perfectly.
Deathblow, now that sounded vicious.
"Mum, check this, I think it's Deathblow."
His mother stopped digging and came over, taking his microscope she looked into it.
"Wrong, it's sense. You're meant to look all the way down the list first, Unicorn fits better than Reindeer."
Donovan glanced up at her, shamefaced, before looking down again.
"Anywhere else?"
*************************
"Why did I ask?"
For an hour he had been walking up and down the tunnels, carrying a thick bag getting heavier and heavier with the lesser stones. He had had enough of them already.
"We could send them back," came the tired reply, "we'll get Drew to sell a few of these to keep our funds going. If worse comes to worse we'll sell the Sense. If we run out of money then we might die down here. Thank god Drew doesn't sell them and take the money for herself. She wanted to come along of course but she was needed."
"Can't we stop to get something to eat?"
"Once we've got these last few."
She had stopped to chip off a few green stones from a wall when she stopped.
"A red one."
Donovan dropped the bag. It was red. There were only a few reds in the world, and they were legendary. They dissappeared from legend years before their generation and there were no charts. But if you looked deep enough into the "Materia" you could see the creature that inhabited it. That would be summoned from the Materia.
Donovan's mother began to hack at the rocks viciously, this could be worth millions and she wasn't going to let it go.It fell from the rock and she caught it carefully in her palm. She used her microscope and stared into it.
"It's Bahamut."
A large crack opened in the rock instantly and it fell downwards, smashing against what seemed to be a downward ramp. The ramp fell steeply until at the bottom could be seen a bright green pool. The roof of the area cracked level with their eyes and fell down into the pool, which rippled outwards and rose almost into their caves. Just across from them hung a huge green stone, not round but seeming a shapeless blob, like it had wrapped around something. They looked closer and something was inside. The blob was tinged with red, and once it had cleared, a dark face loomed ahead.
"My god," his mother was shocked.
"I don't like it here."
"This is it! This is what we've been getting led to. He wants freeing."
"These lands have changed much since my time. The places I have seen are long since gone, worn away by time. For it has been long since my end."
"When was your end?"
"You would not remember it, but it would be better if you would ask me in person."
"Where are you? Maybe I will."
"Good. But I don't think you would like it there."
"You've led me this far."
"OK."
*************************
There was a dull thud as hammer on chisel and the surroundings came sharply into focus. A small boy looking no more than twelve sat up from the flat rock he had been snoozing on. A few loose strands of his thin brown hair fell over his dull blue eyes. He flattened his hair to his head as much as he could, though the back still stuck up at an odd angle, it seemed to curl around completely before returning to his head.
He was clad completely in shapeless grey overalls, they were too baggy and fell over his knees in bundles that touched the floor. He wore thick brown gloves on his hands that were still pointed at the top and bottom and rough around the edges. His feet could not be seen.
"What news?"
An aged looking woman with one or two long thin lines across her face called from across the room where she was digging out a small green globe from a layer of thick rock. Her hair was exactly the same, right down to the curl at the back of her head and her eyes looked like a wizened version of his. She wore the same overalls and gloves, though they looked somewhat less modern.
"We're close. Whoever it is wants us to find them," he said in reply,"but it doesn't think we'll like it there. It says it's dead and it's been a long while since it was alive."
"Well if it wasn't we wouldn't be digging around to find it. We must be getting close, it's pretty rare that you ever find any of these things but they seem to be in excess here. This looks like a rare one too."
She looked a little closer with a small hand-held microscope as if it were a precious piece of diamond.
"I've never seen one like this before."
From her pocket she pulled out a small map showing lots of green globes like the one she held with labels pointing to small symbols inside.
"I can just see a blue.....looks like a candle. No, it's a staff on fire, that one would be.....Comet. Never even seen one before."
"Do you think these were from its time?"
"Well I don't doubt it, but we can't be sure. Come on Donovan, there's a yellow one a bit further up I need some help with."
*************************
They continued on along a freezing cave, where the walls were cracked from dryness, not seeing any rocks anywhere along the way. Donovan was being led along a thin passage where they couldn't walk beside each other. This tunnel lasted for several hundred yards until they finally came to rest in what looked like a hollowed out cave. All along the walls were green stones and to the far side of the floor there was a yellow stone.
"Aren't any of these any good mum?" questioned Donovan as they got there at last.
"Not one," his mother replied, looking vengefully at many of them, "most of these are seals, the amount of times they've made me fall asleep in here.Thank god they're new or they'd have stopped me even getting close to any of the others."
Donovan sat against one of the lesser gemmed walls and rubbed his boot, feeling several blisters inside.
"You said it was only a little farther in."
"And you said you got a B+ in your written exam."
*************************
It took many minutes of "loosening" the outer rocks to finally get a crack in the rock face nearest the stone. At this gap they hammered chisels in for at least an hour, breaking a hole into it before Donovan could fit his hand into the hole and roll the stone upwards. His mother continued to loosen the rocks, no doubt hoping to find more beneath it but there was nothing for at least two feet.
The task of identifying the stone fell on Donovan, who had never identified before. He knew for a fact it would be difficult to identify it but he also knew experience would do him good. The chart was not as big as the green, for there were fewer types of the yellow. That would help.
He looked into the chart, layed out on the floor before him. At the top was the title in glowing gold. "Command Materia". He ran down the chart before looking into the stone with his microscope. The inside looked like treacle but there was a perfect golden piece in the middle. It was a stag, definately a stag he could see the antlers. He looked down the chart, there was no stag. There was a reindeer though. That could fit perfectly.
Deathblow, now that sounded vicious.
"Mum, check this, I think it's Deathblow."
His mother stopped digging and came over, taking his microscope she looked into it.
"Wrong, it's sense. You're meant to look all the way down the list first, Unicorn fits better than Reindeer."
Donovan glanced up at her, shamefaced, before looking down again.
"Anywhere else?"
*************************
"Why did I ask?"
For an hour he had been walking up and down the tunnels, carrying a thick bag getting heavier and heavier with the lesser stones. He had had enough of them already.
"We could send them back," came the tired reply, "we'll get Drew to sell a few of these to keep our funds going. If worse comes to worse we'll sell the Sense. If we run out of money then we might die down here. Thank god Drew doesn't sell them and take the money for herself. She wanted to come along of course but she was needed."
"Can't we stop to get something to eat?"
"Once we've got these last few."
She had stopped to chip off a few green stones from a wall when she stopped.
"A red one."
Donovan dropped the bag. It was red. There were only a few reds in the world, and they were legendary. They dissappeared from legend years before their generation and there were no charts. But if you looked deep enough into the "Materia" you could see the creature that inhabited it. That would be summoned from the Materia.
Donovan's mother began to hack at the rocks viciously, this could be worth millions and she wasn't going to let it go.It fell from the rock and she caught it carefully in her palm. She used her microscope and stared into it.
"It's Bahamut."
A large crack opened in the rock instantly and it fell downwards, smashing against what seemed to be a downward ramp. The ramp fell steeply until at the bottom could be seen a bright green pool. The roof of the area cracked level with their eyes and fell down into the pool, which rippled outwards and rose almost into their caves. Just across from them hung a huge green stone, not round but seeming a shapeless blob, like it had wrapped around something. They looked closer and something was inside. The blob was tinged with red, and once it had cleared, a dark face loomed ahead.
"My god," his mother was shocked.
"I don't like it here."
"This is it! This is what we've been getting led to. He wants freeing."