DISCLAIMER: the following is a fan-based work of fiction. The Shining franchise is wholly owned by SEGA. Please support the official releases. If you are prohibited from reading this under the laws of your country of residence, then I'd advise this being the part where you leave. If you are not prohibited by any such law and are all set to read this, then I hope that you may enjoy this.
Somewhere on Grans…
It was a dark and stormy night on the island of Grans with rain, wind, and lightning raging about everywhere, threatening to harrow any unfortunate soul caught up in the outdoors. Fortunately, most people had enough sense to be inside at a time like this, whether it be their own home or a faraway place such as a temple one's currently exploring. Three such people of the latter choice were a group of two human men and a giant ratman leading them into the darker stretches of the temple they explored. The three altogether looked to be a pack of thieves or a band of adventurers depending on how one saw them, but one thing about them was certain: they were looking for something in this dilapidated temple. Before they made it too deep inside, a harsh flash of lightning struck outside and illuminated the dark room, almost as if it was warning the trio not to venture any further.
"Oof! That sounded pretty nasty!" one of the humans said. "Glad we're in here…"
"Yeah, but we'll be leavin' this place after we get what we came for," the other human replied.
"Alright fellas, our mark's gotta be around here somewhere…" said the giant ratman. "You guys sit tight for a sec; I'mma look around for a bit." The ratman scanned his surroundings for a way deeper in, opting to try the hall to his left. He approached it in the hopes of finding a door, only to find nothing but a wall.
"Darn, it's just a dead end." A part of him told him that he was looking for something that didn't exist, a mere invention of fairy-tale meant to lure gullible travelers like him and his friends into a fruitless endeavor; he had to shake that thought from his head and vowed to keep looking. He returned to his friends who had expectant looks on their faces, but they could tell from his unsatisfied gaze that he came up short even before he shook his head.
"Sorry guys, it's just a dead end over there. I'm gonna try the other hallway; hopefully we'll make some headway here amidst all these mazes." The ratman headed to the hallway to the right and prayed that luck was on their side. Alas, it seemed his prayers weren't answered as he found another dead end. He sighed in dejection; was it simply fate that he—a mere rat—would never find something so illustrious and powerful? The thought made him kick at the ground in annoyance, immediately regretting doing so as he kicked his toe against something. After a few seconds of yelping and hopping to and fro on one foot, the ratman investigated the cause of his pain and nearly gasped in delighted surprise; he stumbled upon what appeared to be a loose slab off stone on the ground, and if he wasn't crazy it looked like it was angled in a peculiar way that implied something hidden underneath. He took his hands and slid them under the slab, lifting it up with some great difficulty and finding a knob underneath. Wasting no time, the ratman grasped the knob and pulled, revealing a hidden staircase at the wall he once thought to be another dead end.
"Hoo-hoo-wee! Check this out fellas! I found a hidden staircase!" In his excitement the giant rat returned to his friends and gestured to the newly found entrance. "C'mon guys, what're we waitin' for?! I'll wager the treasure's just down these stairs!"
"Alright!" the two human men cheered with a chest bump and headbutt to each other, giving their rat friend a sight to face-palm to—albeit with a smile and chuckle. With renewed confidence the three treasure-seekers dashed down the stairs despite the danger of tripping and falling down, which would've tragically cut their adventure too short. Eventually the trio reached the bottom, with the ratman leader peeking about to check the surroundings. One look at the place confirmed that all of the trio's efforts were well spent.
"Wow, look at this fellas…" Stepping from the staircase the trio eyed the chamber with awe. "We did it guys… We finally found the fabled 'secret chamber' of the Ancient Shrine's temple…" The three were set to explore the place simply out of the sense of marvel the place gave; It was the stuff of fairy-tales, myths, and legends, and to have found such an ancient piece of history was nothing short of breathtaking despite its decrepit state. Soon the ratman's bright yellow eyes spotted a dusty (yet hopefully not empty) chest further south.
"Ooh, a treasure chest! Now let's see if they're in here…"
"You've always had a nose for treasure, eh old pal?" one of the human men remarked.
"Small wonder you're so good at this…" the other man mused. "'Course you're a pretty good explorer on your own too. Now I see why they call you Slade the Great Thief."
"Aw, c'mon, you guys flatter me. Anyways, let's see what's inside…" Slade could hardly contain his excitement as he cracked the chest open little by little, though his joy had quickly soured into comical disappointment when his eyes laid upon the contents of the chest.
"H-Hey, what's up?" The curious man who asked eventually got his answer; the irked ratman pulled out a vial with bright red fluid swishing inside of it. Though the two human men were impressed by what Slade had picked up, the rat himself wasn't so wowed.
"Is that…power water? Slade, you lucky dog! Er, rat… This baby outta come in real handy one of these days!" The man laughed and was about to high five his friend, but he held himself seeing the pure annoyance on the rat's face.
"Look, I'm sure that this could come in handy, but we really don't need this. Besides, you guys are all the muscle I'd ever need, and I'm your main rat for getting us all outta fixes. Maybe we'll come back for it after we've found our mark, but until then we're ignoring this. Got it?"
"Aww…" Slade placed the glass of power water back in the chest and closed it, letting out a disappointed sigh at not having found their mark so easily.
"Man, I wonder where those jewels could be…" one of the human men said.
"I'm none too sure, but in hindsight they probably wouldn't be in such an 'obvious-to-look-for' spot like right here, and we haven't explored the whole place yet. How's about we make good on that right now?" The two human men nodded in response and followed their friend further into the room, glancing back and forth at the walls as they crept about. Slade did the same with the added bonus of his nose discerning the many different scents present; there was a lot of dust and mold, but then his nose picked up on something that was pristine. Following his nose to the direction of the fresh smell, Slade found himself standing before a wall with two shining objects secured in it.
"Hey, fellas, check this out…" Upon closer inspection the shining objects turned out to be what looked like a red jewel and a black jewel right next to each other.
"Heh, so much for not being in such an 'obvious-to-look-for' spot."
"Here they are…the Jewels of Light and Darkness…" Finally, after searching so hard and for so long, the group of three had finally come upon their bounty.
Meanwhile in Castle Granseal…
"Hrmm… Quite the storm outside tonight, is it not?" an elderly king observed from his throne. He wasn't so bothered by storms—having gotten used to them long ago, but something deep in his soul told him that there was something not right about this particular one.
"I'm…sorry, I beg your pardon your Highness?" a man garbed in green asked, unsure if his king was speaking to him.
"It is storming heavily outside, Minister." The holy man in question turned to the glass windows and could see the rain pattering against them with such force that he feared it would shatter them from continued assault. He could hear the harsh howling of the winds scraping against the glass, and not just one but two flashes of lightning blinded the room for very brief moments.
"Hummm… This is very strange your Highness. It's not like this time of year to be having great tempests, let alone this severe…" Like the king he too had a bad feeling about why this was happening in the first place, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the voice of another.
"Excuse me o' great Minister and your Majesty," a soldier announced. "I have been wondering about this storm for some time, and I've only bad feelings about it. It feels so…unnatural…" So it wasn't just himself who thought similarly about the storm the Minister thought. If even the common foot soldiers could tell something was wrong, then it would be best to prepare for the worst.
"I've been thinking about this, and…I think we should investigate the Ancient Tower. Something tells me that whatever's going on has to do with that place, so would it be reasonable for me to investigate the tower?" That was actually the Minister's first thought concerning the storm. It was long believed that if something terrible was currently or about to happen to the tower, nature itself would twist into existence a fierce omen—a warning of sorts of one could call it that. Not wanting to take any chances, the Minister gave the soldier a solemn nod.
"Yes. You may go to the Ancient Tower if you so desire. However—do be careful, and take someone along with you just in case." The soldier saluted the Minister and made his way toward the Ancient Tower, leaving the two elderly men to themselves to dwell on the storm raging outside their castle.
"Hrrmmm…" The more the king thought on it, the more it seemed to make sense. The more it made sense, the more it distressed him, the more it seemed reasonable to send not just one, not just two, and not even just three or four, but potentially their entire force into the Ancient Tower to discover what was transpiring.
"Your…highness? Are you alright?"
"…This is for certain a sign of bad times. I can feel it… But…there is naught I can do but send soldiers and hope for the best." The Minster grew concerned with the king's words; he knew that—although the king was a simple man at heart and at times could be forgetful in his advanced age—the man was certainly no fool. He could take one mere glance at someone and correctly deduce their personality and intentions, even if he does not initially remark on it. If he had a bad feeling about anything, he was never to be ignored.
"Ooof!" A harsh gust of wind burst into the throne room and nearly toppled the Minister from where he stood, though the king remained serene and unmoving atop his throne.
"O' great Minister, may I task you with ascertaining that all of our doors and windows are shut as tight as possible? I would not want for a malefic maelstrom of wind to tear our kingdom apart from the inside out."
"Of course, Your Highness. I'll see to this right awa—" At that moment the candles that had kept the throne room alight were blown out, casting a deep darkness upon the area that was kept from going pitch black only by the moon's light and the occasional flash of lightning from outside. The sudden blackout gave the minister a start and the holy man froze in place where he stood, almost too afraid to take another step as if merely walking would set off the storm outside. The king's features remained stony in a gentle way, though they betrayed the intense feeling of dread hidden behind them. He could only pray that whatever this storm heralded wasn't so grave an omen, but a deep feeling in his very core knew otherwise.
'O' Mighty Gods, if you can hear me, please let this storm be exactly that and naught more…' He knew it wouldn't do him any good, but a small part of him continued to place hope in that fancy. Only time would tell if anything would come of this…
Somewhere on Grans…
"You think you got it man?" Slade asked his struggling friend, only getting the reply of "Ugh! URRrrgghhh!" Despite the man's best efforts, he couldn't wrest the two jewels from their resting places.
"Geez…! I-It's like someone used some super-glue or some crap to keep these things in here…"
"Aw, move over ya' big wimp! I'll get these babies outta here!" The other man shoved his friend aside and cracked a few of his bones into work, much to the lack of instilling confidence in anyone. Giving it a spin the other man took hold of the two gemstones and heaved as hard as he could, but after a minute of tugging the jewels weren't budging. The man turned to his friends with an embarrassed face, clearly not having impressed anyone. "Eh heh heh, er… Looks like I need to work in a bit o' elbow grease…"
"Yeesh, you two lummoxes are hopeless… I'M the thief, remember? It's basically my job to pry valuables out of their little comfort zone, but thanks for loosening them up for me." 'Though, I'm not sure how I'll be able to pull THAT off if they couldn't do it one after the other.' Slade walked up to the wall with confidence in his stride, placing both hands firmly upon one of the jewels like his friends. He thought that this would surely wrest the jewels from the wall, but he found himself unable to budge the rocks by a smidge much like his friends. Cock-browed and mouth in a lopsided frown, Slade simply returned to his friends having made no apparent progress either. "Well, crud. That didn't work." The group of three looked amongst themselves, hoping to come to a conclusion that would net them their loot. After some time thinking, Slade's brain whipped up a moment of inspiration.
"Hey, so, we all pulled on the gemstones one at a time right? Well, maybe they're designed to be taken at the same time! I know, I know, it sounds corny, but perhaps it might just work…?"
"Hey man, you're the brains of our group. If it's your idea, it's bound to be a good one"
"At the least it's certainly better than what I came up with. Why not, let's give it a shot?" Slade nodded with a cock-sure grin and tried freeing the gems again.
"Let's give these babies a countdown eh?" With the ratman's hands firmly grasping the jewels, he and his friends began their countdown.
"One!" Slade gave an initial tug to get a feel for if he was making progess. Call him crazy, but he could've sworn that he felt the gemstones moving.
"Two!" Another tug and the feeling came back, but he couldn't tell if he was actually pulling the gemstones out.
"THREE!" With a final yank, Slade had tugged at the wall so hard he found himself slammed against the opposite side of the room. Immediately his friends rushed to his side, nearly panicking seeing their friend downed by some invisible force.
"Holy shit man, are you alright?!"
"Here, let us help you up." The human men helped their ratman friend up, noticing him clutching his chest tightly. "Hey man, you need to lie down for a bit? Here, you take a breather, we'll get the—" All they found were two empty cavities in the wall from where they knew the gemstones should have been. Did they vanish somewhere or…?
"Oh-ho-ho-ho… Off, that hurt a lot more than I thought it would…" Slade groaned out. "Aw hell, did the jewels disappear to somewhere?" It was just then that Slade realized that he was still tightly clutching his hands to his chest, holding something in them. One of his friends knew right away what had happened.
"Dude, I can't believe it, you actually did it! You pulled out the legendary jewels! Wa ha ha ha ha ha, what a day!"
"I… I did…?" Finally the ratman fully took in the objects in his hands, both shimmering a brilliant ruby and obsidian sheen: the Jewels of Light and Darkness. "Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo, you're right! I did it! Three cheers for Slade the Thief and his Merry Crew! Huzzah!" The male trio pumped their fists into the air to a chant of "huzzah" thrice and broke into uproarious laughter before joining hands with each other like drunken dancers at a tavern.
"He who hath no fear of the road ahead~!"
"He'll plunder your heart's desires in your stead~!"
"No penny or trinket scurries from his sight~!"
"He'll have all the treasures at first rise of night~!"
"Slade the Thief, Slade the Thief, a man and a rat of both cunning and beef~!"
"Slade the Thief, Shade the Thief, his exploits are both a man's joy and pure grief~!"
Nearly caught up in their happy dance and singing, the plunderers almost failed to notice the faint yet present shift in the room's atmosphere, grinding their singing and dancing to a complete halt to examine the change in the air.
"Uh, you guys felt that right?"
"Did you really need to ask us that?"
"…Now's a good to get outta here." Having agreed on the subject, the trio made to leave the temple having finally acquired their mark, but the entire place began rumbling and quaking, causing them to lose sense of balance for a second.
"Aw geez, what now?!" The shrine continued to tumble to and fro with the explorers still inside it.
"Hey you two hulkbodies, we got what we came here for so let's scram already! Come on, this way!" Despite the constant shaking, the three of them found themselves able to stand again and mad dashed toward and up the stairs from whence they came, ignoring the power water they discarded earlier. Out through the secret entrance they found, they kept running even when it felt their legs would give out and doom them to a death trap, and they had nearly made it out without incident until one of the human men tripped and fell.
"Yeowch!" Though he quickly tried to get back up, he was too winded from the fall to stand in time.
"Hang on man, I got'cha!" The other human male ran toward his partner and hoisted him up onto his shoulder right before a boulder would've crushed them both to death.
"This way!" Slade shouted, having hung at the entrance for his friends. With the Jewels of Light and Darkness in tow, the group found themselves grinning like idiots despite the close call with death they had just encountered.
'Yes, I can't believe we actually found them! Man, this is surely going to be a day to remember: Slade the Thief and his Merry Crew secure another rare treasure, the very Jewels of Light and Darkness of myth! I can see the headlines now…'
Meanwhile in Castle Granseal…
"Goodness gracious, it's too dark in here to properly see anything!" the minster griped. "Someone, anyone, please a reliable fetch source for His Majesty's chamber at once!"
"O' Great Minister, with all due respect, I fail to see how candles or torches would be feasible with this wild wind gusting about in the chambers." The king had a point: even if the wind wasn't so fierce, the blowing of flames around the throne chambers would have set something on fire, so perhaps it was best to rely only on the light coming from outside. And speaking of outside light, in a short moment a bright light completely whited-out the chamber with a mighty crashing sound, completely unlike how normal thunder should sound. For once, the king rose from his throne and observed the room with a discomforted expression.
"What in all of Grans was that?" The minster walked around the room to find anything out of the usual besides the deep darkness. He spared a glance outside of the now ruined glass windows, finding a sight he hoped he wouldn't find.
"S-Sire, th-the Ancient Tower…"
"What is it Minister?"
"S-See for yourself!" In a speed one wouldn't think the king capable of, he whisked himself over to the minister and peered outside, his stony mask finally giving way to bewildered surprise.
"Is the tower…collapsing…?"
"P-Perhaps it was struck by lightning Your Majesty?" The king observed the tower more closely and his expression grew grim at the sight.
"No… This is not the work of mere lightning…"
"What do you mean…?"
"The Ancient Tower, if I recall correctly, is totally impervious to any blight dealt by natural disasters such as windstorms, hail, eruptions, the list goes on. This is clearly the work of some supernatural force at play here." The minister had actually forgotten that little detail, mentally slapping himself for such a thought. Before The king could ponder the situation any further, a new voice interrupted his and the minister's thoughts.
"O' Great Minister!" The soldier from before had returned with a flushed face and completely out of breath.
"What is it? Have you discovered anything about the Ancient Tower?"
"Th-The S-Sacred D-Door… Th-The Ancient T-T-Tower…"
"Please, do go on young soldier. What about the Ancient Tower?"
"I-It's open!" At the mere utterance the minister took a step backwards in disbelieve of what just said.
"Th-That should be impossible…! The Sacred Door can't be opened by mortals like us!"
"I-I know that, but… I swear that it was closed right before that powerful lightning struck…"
"That's…that's just…"
"Strange…" the king answered for the minister.
"Sires, if it is of no severe consequence, I would like to return to the Ancient Tower to investigate it further" The minister could see the distressed yet determined look on the soldier's face and considered his options; he could send the lad back out to gather information they sorely need about what is going on, or they could look into it themselves. After making his decision, he stood before the king and leveled with him eye-to-eye.
"Your Majesty, I feel that we should finally learn the whole truth about this tower…We've been here for quite some time, and yet that tower is such a mystery to even us. Perhaps I'll allow this lad to go investigate the Ancient Tower, but he'll not be alone. If it is alright with you, I shall accompany him there and look into matters myself." A simple nod was all the minister needed from the king even with the verbal approval afterward.
"You may go, but do be careful. You never know for certain what mystery surrounds that tower."
"I will Your Majesty." The minister gave a bow and met up with the soldier. "Alright then, we're leaving for the Ancient Tower. I must see the Sealed Door for myself and figure out what's going on."
"Yessir." Together the two men departed for the Ancient Tower, leaving the king to his lonesome. Despite the newfound solitude, the king was not afraid. Perplexed by the recent events, but not afraid in the slightest. The thought of lightning occurring at the Ancient Tower was certainly among those recent events, and a strange sound in the middle of the emptied throne chamber was about to be added to that list.
'A sealed door that is now open, an unusual natural disaster, and now strange sounds in an empty room…' Then it happened again, though this time it was as if the king's hairs stood on end anticipating someone's presence. "Hm? Is someone there…? It must be my nerves I suppose." Had the king been looking to his right when the lightning flashed, he would've noticed the shadow of something ominous watching over him. The feeling never went away though, and the king dared a glance up at the shattered windows, and he found nothing. Damning evidence of nothing being there after all if there ever was, but still the king was not convinced. The suspicion continued eating at him, and his eyes took to scanning every inch of the darkened room. Again he found nothing, that is until lightning flashed again and he finally caught the ghost of a shadow in the window stalking him.
"Who's there?" the king asked with regal command in his tone, turning his gaze to the window. In his eyes he caught a green-skinned demon cloaked in heavy magician robes. The demon did not answer him with a sound, rather a devilish smile on his face as his pure yellow eyes rapidly flashed. In an instant he was gone from his spot, reappearing right in front of the king. Before the royal could do much of anything, the demon spoke a chant and extended his hands forward, unleashing rings of magic energy hurtling at the king. The king was hit dead-center and spun out from the overwhelming strength, collapsing onto the floor with no strength of his own left in him. The devil, pleased with his work, simply laughed at the king's misfortune before fading away into the night sky's lightning flash.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I really had fun writing this chapter despite the difficulty getting certain parts the way I wanted them. With my job in fast-food eating away at my free time, I don't have much to do nowadays except sleep, go to work, rinse-and-repeat. I decided that instead of publishing yet another Fire Emblem story, why not write one off of something else; admittedly, Shining Force II is essentially SEGA's answer to Nintendo's Fire Emblem, so… Hey, I like how it plays and I kinda wish Fire Emblem and Shining Force came together one of these days. Anywho, that's about all I can really say. Leave a rating and/or review if you like; I always read them, and if you have an inquiry feel free to ask me. Peace!