Overall, this is just a oneshot detailing Tiamat's assault on the Sky People in FFI. I left out Dissidia's information on Cid and decided to write him my own way because, well, Dissidia's info on him is...pretty damn screwy.
The golden sun rising over the billowing clouds was magnificent, as usual. Agape had made it a point to watch the sunrise every morning since the completion of the castle at the heart of the floating city. While the city itself was an achievement far beyond those of any other civilization, the castle served as the crown jewel. It's highest tower was her favorite place, as it made for the perfect place to watch from. While not everyone was allowed in the structure, her status as a priestess allowed her to come and go as she pleased.
As the wind whipped around her, she thought back to the stories she had heard of her people once being terrestrial beings. Above their settlement, deep within the mountains, scholars and explorers had found a resource of the utmost importance to the now self-proclaimed Sky People: Levistone. For years the quarry had been mined of the rock, it's use being fettered into a grand platform. It had taken the greater part of a century to create the foundation, and that had been slightly over two hundred years ago.
Following the completion of the platform, a town was immediately constructed on it. As some of the workers continued to expand upon the village, others traveled to the west of the Sky People's land based village, erecting a tower in the middle of the forest they found there. With the advent of the floating stone, their technology exploded in growth. With their scientists discovering the process to teleport matter, those building the tower installed a warp panel on its highest floor, serving to be the only entrance to the city. With the responding panel being implemented in the center of the floating city, it was now inside of the castle.
Along with teleportation technology, the Sky People became highly knowledgeable in the field of robotics. Though the originals were far outdated and malfunctioned frequently, the current models were up to snuff, providing an array of services for their creators. The mechanical marvels had been a great asset in the constructions of all the Sky Peoples' architecture, from the floating city and its castle, to the tower used as the entrance to said city. Models had even been modified for warfare, in the unlikely chance of an enemy attack.
Content with the image before her, Agape began to gaze over the vast city, paying attention to the various streets and buildings, all bearing a faint neon blue hue. To the far western side of the city, noises could be heard coming from the shipyard, airship builders striving to add to the aerial fleet. No doubt they were being worked to the bone by Cid, the man responsible for the first creation of the flying miracles.
The street leading up to the castle was lined with guards, one of which was her brother, Heron. While not a soldier of high rank, his skills were sufficient, allowing him to be placed on the elite guard of the castle. Across from him stood his friend and rival, Lysander. The two look as if they were bickering, something that wasn't rare. Lysander had taken the time to study both the sword and magic, as opposed to Heron's strict usage of weapons. However, due to the vast amount of time required to master both aspects, Lysander was limited in each, not being a master spellcaster, and opting to wield a light straight sword, unable to effectively use a heavier blade.
While the castle was meant to serve as an architectural accomplishment, it served various more important purposes, as well. Its first purpose was to be a dwelling for the Sky Peoples' current elder and his or her family. The structure was also intended to hold the collective knowledge the researchers had gathered, in order to preserve their legacy for future generations. The castle's main purpose, however was to house the most important treasure of the Sky People, the Wind Crystal.
Not only did the crystal increase the potency of the levistone, it also served as the source of the Sky Peoples' magic. They were renowned users of the wind element, a fact strengthened with their jewel. So powerful was the crystal that it was a staple of the world, created from the very essence of the air. If its light were to ever fade, the very planet could face grave danger, as the Wind Crystal, along with those of Earth, Fire, and Water, held the world together. As such, the Sky People made it a point to guard the jewel with their lives.
Resting at the heart of the castle and, as a result, the center of the city itself, its alter was unique, as well. A gaping circular shaft had been carved into the floor and subsequently through the levistone below. This allowed the crystal to float in the center, allowing its power to radiate into the core of the enormous floating platform, strengthening its levitation. Grooves had been carved at the edge of the circle, traveling out in all directions, allowing the crystal's energy to dissipate throughout the city, as well.
Being the most important treasure of the Sky People, the sanctum that held the Wind Crystal was guarded by the city's finest circle of black mages. These mages, rigorously versed in the arts of destructive magic, were to protect the jewel with their lives. They were chosen by the elder himself, one member of which was Syntyche, Agape's best friend.
Though a known klutz, the girl had wished to enter the priesthood with her friend. As fate would have it, the girl's clumsy nature limited her in the ability to cast white magic. As such, her application was ultimately rejected. Her unpredictable and accidentally destructive personality garnered the attention of the Magus Circle. When performing a demonstration in front of the Circle, she passed with flying colors, showing to be a prodigy at the destructive arts of black magic. Having been accepted into the group, she now stood guard at the crystal.
Agape turned away from the city with a chuckle, having seen Heron and Lysander engaging in one of their rivalry fistfights, the other guards attempting to pull them off each other. Turning her eyes back to the horizon, she noticed a patch of clouds in the distance taking a strange shape. Her eyes widened with wonder at the image. Though she watched the sun rise each morning, and enjoyed doing so, the scenery was usually quite similar to the previous day's.
The billowy formation continued to swell, growing steadily larger. Reaching its breaking point, the fluff burst upwards, and inhuman shriek following in its wake, causing those roaming the streets to stop in their tracks. Heron and Lysander glanced around, perplexed.
The source of the shriek quickly revealed itself. Soaring high above the blanket of clouds, a blue with a light violet underside six headed dragon emitted another ear-piercing scream. Observable jetstreams streaked from its giant leathery wings as they carried the creature towards the floating city. Passing over the city, the dragon sent out pulses of lightning, carving gashes into the network of streets and cleaving through buildings.
Agape watched in fear as the monster flew off and began to circle back, hearing sirens wail in the process. As she turned, looking over her shoulder, she could see a few airships pulling out from their docking. The aerial fleet had been mobilized. More and more of the ships peeled out, making a beeline straight for the dragon.
Running down the tower's spiraled staircase, Agape would occasionally take chance to look out one of the many windows that followed the curve of the steps. The airships weren't able to make the split second turns that the dragon could, and the creature was easily able to get into their blind spot. Each time she glanced out a window, less and less of the ships could be seen. By the time she looked out the last window before exiting the tower, the last airship was falling out of the sky, black smoke trailing from its severely damaged hull. The dragon had begun making its way back to the city.
Stepping into the outside streets, Agape met up with her brother and Lysander, who were in the process of directing fleeing and screaming citizens. As shadows passed over them, all three gazed up to see the second unit of the Airship Corps flying towards the beast. Alongside the ships were a group of aerial robots, given by the propellers attached to their outstretched arms.
Though the three friends' view was obscured by the buildings in front of them, the cacophony of noise gave them the impression that the fighting was fierce. The assumption was reinforced when an adrift airship came crashing through the obscuring building, forcing the three to flee quickly to avoid being crushed. Now having a full view of the battle, they could see that most of the aerial fleet had been decimated, suffering the same flaw as the previous one. The robots, however, were putting up more of a fight. Designed strictly for warfare, the machines were using the plight of the airships to their advantage. With the dragon occupied, the mechs organized themselves into formation, combining their individual firepower into one single charged laser. Missing the beast's six heads due to it dodging, the beam caught it across the back, severing its outspread wings.
The monster plummeted to the ground, kicking up a wave of dust and debris in the process. From within the castle, Syntyche came running out, frantically looking around.
"Agape, what was that?"
Agape pointed to the sky. "The robots managed to take the creature down. I don't know if it's dead or not. None of us do."
The group pressed forward, deciding it was best to see if any survivors could be found in the wreckage around them. Fishing through the debris, a great rumbling sent all of them toppling as the dragon emerged, roaring out in pain and anger. The robots came closer, some landing on the ground, others remaining in flight, preparing another assault on the creature.
"I am Tiamat, ruler of the wind!" the dragon exclaimed in a serpentine female voice, all six heads speaking in unison. "You are all trash!"
With a fierce scream, the creature unleashed a barrage of lightning bolts, encompassing the war mechs within their blast. The attack created a blinding light and kicked up much debris, forcing those near it to turn away and do anything to shield their bodies.
Upon turning back, those in proximity saw the utter destruction wrought upon the robots. None of them were in operable condition, with a few of the machines reduced to piles of charred scrap metal. Most of them had been completely disintegrated.
With the smoke cleared, Tiamat turned her focus upon what she regarded as ants in the street. The dragon opened all six of its mouths, stretching them as far as she could. The group of four watched as from each mouth, a greenish tinted gas began to pour forth, slowly flowing into the street in front of the monster, them being on the street to her left.
The citizens were confused as the dragon simply stood still. They noticed the green vapor approaching and were even more baffled. Only when it was far too late did they realize the monster's intentions. Upon breathing in the rising vapors, their lungs immediately began to burn. When it became harder and harder to draw in air, the victims knew the cause: poison.
Agape, having erected a shell around the party, kept the few fumes that had been windblown towards them from actually affecting them. After the vapors had passed, Agape chanced to let the shield down. What the group next heard chilled them to the bone. All they could hear coming from the other street were the sounds of inhuman screams and gurgling noises.
All six of the monster's heads rocked violently as she shrieked with laughter. The dragon then turned her attention to the group of four standing near her.
"How does it feel to watch your civilization fall into ruin?" the monster taunted.
Fireballs began to rain from the sky on the creature as Syntyche held her arms in the air. "Firaga!" she shouted. Lysander stepped forth, adding his own firaga to Syntyche's. The monster became swallowed up by the searing flames.
As the grand fireball began to condense, Tiamat's harsh laughter resounded all around the street, echoing off the surrounding buildings. Each of the fiend's heads emerged from the inferno, energy charging in their mouths. Upon their release, Agape made every attempt possible to set up another shield, but the beams of electricity were far too strong, breaking through the barrier. The group of four were forced to dodge out of the way to avoid being turned to ash.
While the other three were regaining their bearings, Heron had begun a charge at the dragon. Dashing between slabs of the street that had been upturned in the monster's assault, the warrior managed to remain undetected. Revealing himself beside the creature, he struck out at her left leg, slicing a clean cut across it. Enraged, the beast snapped at him with all of her mouths. Heron was able to dodge all the attacks at the cost of his footing. When he stumbled, the dragon seized the opportunity, slamming her massive tail into the young man with incredible force, propelling him into a building across the street.
While Agape ran to aid her brother, Lysander and Syntyche remained behind, working to hold the dragon at bay with their spells. Before getting halfway across the street, a slab of stone was sent flying from the building. Heron emerged, sword at the ready, blood streaming down his left arm. Agape did her best to heal him as he ran by her, hurrying to join the two currently fighting the monster. She followed closely behind.
The two spellcasters had resorted to using ice magic against the creature. Syntyche was blasting the dragon with her blizzaga while Lysander used blizzara, the most powerful ice spell he had taken the time to learn. Hitting the monster with the frigid blasts, the two of them were able to freeze her legs to the stones of the street, causing her to fall forward, furthering her anger. Heron, now back to the battle, took the chance to run up the dragon's back, slashing out with his sword multiple times.
The monster's back head made a swift turn, coldly staring down the warrior. Heron only had a moment to throw up his sword, attempting to ward of the blast of electricity fired at him. He was successful in deflecting the charged beam at the cost of his footing. The force of the blast's impact on his blade sent him reeling off of the dragon, clattering onto the stone street below.
Tiamat followed up by stomping on the man lying before her, using her multiple heads to snap at, fire off electric blasts, and release poisonous vapors at the other three opponents, effectively holding them at bay. Heron cried out in anguish as the dragon crushed him repeatedly. To add further injury, removing weight from the man, the monster launched another electrical blast at him, one that he was unable to defend against.
Heron's body rested there, charred and nearly lifeless. The whites of his eyes were clearly visible, his eyes having nearly rolled into the back of his head, widened in an unfading shocked expression. His breath was coming in short, sharp rasps. Trickles of blood were flowing from his mouth, bubbling up at both corners from his exhales.
"Heron!" Lysander shouted, running to help his friend, his red hat falling off and being blown away by the wind. Tiamat quickly moved in his path. Acting quickly, Syntyche extended her hands, releasing jolts of lightning from them. "Thundaga!" she screamed, the bolts arcing towards the dragon.
Tiamat, multiple headed as she was, found it easy to divide her attention among the pests before her. Using her three heads on the right, she reflected the black mage's attack back at her, simultaneously adding her on thunderbolt attack to it. Syntyche was hit with the full force of the backlash, while a few bolts ricocheted, resulting in decreased power, hitting Agape nearby.
Lysander had been attempting to fend off the other three heads of the dragon in order to reach Heron. Caught off guard by Syntyche's scream of pain, he hesitated, lowering his defenses slightly. Obvious to the monster, she capitalized on it, using one of her many fanged mouths to clamp down on the man's left arm. Amused by his cries of anguish, the dragon became ecstatic at the sounds escaping Lysander as she tore his arm from him, blood spurting from the stump left behind. Growing bored with his screams, she followed up by slamming her massive tail into him, rocketing him across the street until he came to a stop, motionless.
Syntyche was standing completely still, her entire body horridly charred, smoke rising from it. Pain was echoing from every cell in her body. Her legs had gone numb, and she was on the brink of falling.
"SYNTYCHE!" Agape choked out a scream to her friend. Though not as powerful as a direct hit, the reflected electricity was still powerful enough to cause light burns. It was also painful to boot. Syntyche struggled in turning to face her. Agape stared, wide eyed, as her best friend offered her an "it'll be alright" smile.
Bored with the scene before her, Tiamat raised her enormous right foot. Hovering it into place, the dragon brought it slamming down on Syntyche with a sickening crunch. The pool of blood oozing from below the monster's foot made Agape wretch.
Agape was completely paralyzed by fear. Syntyche was dead, the status of Heron was unknown, and Lysander, though struggling back to his feet, was certainly in absolutely no shape to fight. The dragon's six heads all smiled evilly at the girl, taunting her. She caught her breath in her chest, attempting to tell Lysander to run away when the monster reared her heads to attack.
A metal sphere came flying from across the street, striking Tiamat in the chest. Upon impact, the metal ball exploded on the fiend. A middle aged man came running from one of the nearby alleyways, chucking more of the metal orbs at the dragon, much to Agape's surprise. "Cid!" she exclaimed.
"What are you waiting for, miss? Hurry up and get to the shipyard! There's one last airship waiting there to get the survivors out of here!" the man shouted. "Now go!"
From the corner of her eye, Agape noticed that Lysander had somehow managed to get Heron onto his back. Though he was shaky, he was able to hold his friend in place with the arm he had left. Seeing the girl staring at him, he looked at her, giving her a stern nod. He immediately followed by limping in the direction Cid had stated the airship to be, escape now his only concern.
Cid unleashed another volley of explosives on the monster.
"Cid, what about you?" the girl inquired.
"This damn thing took out everything I've worked to build. There's no way I'm leaving this spot!" he replied. "Don't worry about me, just go!"
The priestess reluctantly complied, running to help Lysander.
This was the first time Agape had felt the ground beneath her feet. They had quickly fled to the village that the Sky Peoples' ancestors had once resided in before taking to the clouds. Upon living in the sky, the village had been reserved for exiles and outsiders. Now it would once again serve as a home for the collective group.
While the airship had been fleeing the Floating City, she had frantically used her white magic to staunch the bleeding from Lysander's stump where his left arm used to be. Seeing it had finally clot, she spent the rest of the trip tending to Heron. She had done all that she could, and it seemed as though he would make it. He was currently residing in a makeshift hospital set up in the village that was created to aid the injured. She had taken a a brief respite while the other white mages and healers remained at work.
She looked down at her right hand. Clutched in it was a small glowing cube that had belonged to Syntyche. When rushing to aid Lysander, she had nearly slipped upon stepping on the little object. Warp Cubes had a long history of being given to those in high standing, as they allowed their bearers to be teleported between the warp tower and the floating castle.
Agape glanced up to the sky. There were still sections of the city falling to the ground. If the levistone wasn't capable of holding up the buildings, it was obvious that the power of the Wind Crystal had faded. The priestess knew that it had been wise to flee when Cid had ordered her to do so. If Tiamat had the strength to quell the power of the Wind Crystal, there was absolutely no way that Agape and her friends could have won.
An incredibly small collective of robots had been salvaged and were now roaming the village. Agape motioned to one of them, beckoning it closer. When it stopped in front of her, she popped open a hatch on its chest, accessing its controls. Upon manual manipulation, she instructed another smaller compartment to open, within which she placed the Warp Cube.
Lysander softly walked up beside the priestess and the mechanical being.
"They say that Heron should be alright," he announced. "He took quite a bit of damage, though. They say it will be quite some time before he fully heals," the red mage added. He turned somber. "I'm...sorry that I couldn't help Syntyche..."
Agape lowered her head. "No, it isn't your fault," she said, looking back up to the sky. "It's that dragon's."
Lysander nodded, remaining silent for a few moments. His next words caused Agape to stare at him, eyes wide.
"I heard some of the members of the Magus Circle talking. They...say they've seen something. A prophecy, I think. They said that sometime, I'm not sure when, a group of warriors will come. They will be bearing shards of the world's crystals, and will travel the lands, dispelling the darkness and renewing hope. They will cause the crystals to shine once more."
Agape struggled to calm down before speaking. "Does...does this mean that the other crystals have grown dim, as well?"
He shook his head. "I don't think they have yet, but I think their prophecy says they will eventually."
The priestess turned back to the robot. "Then you must endure and survive," she said to it. "That cube will allow them to ascend to the castle and defeat that monster." The machine announced its confirmation of her message in its electronic voice.
"So...I guess there's nothing we can do but wait," Lysander stated blandly. "It's all going to be up to these...these..."
"Warriors of Light," Agape added, silently offering her prayers to the sky, as the last pieces of the once grand city fell to the earth, leaving only the castle floating above the clouds.