Onigetsu
A Final Fantasy Story
Prelude
Indulgence
It's been fifty years since Hilda's rebellion had finally overthrown the Emperor of Palamecia. This couldn't have been accomplished without the valiant efforts of Firion, Maria, Gus, and various others who gave their lives for the sake of world peace. The whereabouts of these heroes remains passed away through the transcripts of time. Though Hilda reclaimed the land, Leon reclaimed Palamecia's seat as Emperor. The World Council debated and came to the conclusion that the world cannot be lead by a single person. As such, Hilda controlled the regions surrounding her while Emperor Leon controlled the regions surrounding him.
The underground cavern in Mysidia still stood. The White Mask placed on the statue standing in the far back center in all its glory was beginning to show the wrinkle of time. A lone man descended the stairs carrying some kind of artifact. He wore a black tunic with black slacks covering the most of his steel-toed boots. A black trench coat only made this man seem worse news. His face was concealed by a hood covering his head and face.
As this man neared the statue wearing the White Mask, a Wizard Guard ran up to the statue ever-vigilantly.
"Why do you come and terrorize this town and its residents?" the wizard hissed, seemingly ready to blast the man with some spell.
"I come for the Mask," said the trespasser flatly.
"What would you need to do with the White Mask? It's powerless without the Black Mask!" explained the wizard coldly.
"I realize that," the man said, reaching into his trench coat and pulling out another mask.
"The Black Mask!" the wizard gasped, "But how did you..?"
"I will be taking the White Mask now."
The wizard's staff brimmed with a mysterious magical force, "I won't let you!"
A shining ball of force erupted from the wizard's staff. The hooded man pulled an orb from one of his pockets and the gem brought the magic to a halt and the force simply sucked the magic inside and letting off a low hum.
"What in the world?" the wizard muttered in surprise.
"Behold the future of magic casting, wizard," the man said, placing the orb onto a crimson red sword.
"The future of magic casting?" the wizard asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Instead of going through the trouble of studying magic scrolls day-by-day, I attach this to my weapon and with a swing, I can cast magic! Now watch as I cast an Ultima spell without studying the forbidden scroll!"
"Ultima! The forbidden magic?" the wizard couldn't believe it. He was still trying to put together how such a strange man would get his hands on Ultima, much less contain it into the orb.
The wizard's thinking would mean his death as a surge of energy lifted him from the ground. A line of energy pierced out of his torso. The spell appeared as if it were being cast from inside the wizard. More lines of white hot energy pierced out the wizard until he completely imploded. The man grinned and advanced toward the White Mask, removing it from the statue.
"At last... Jade Passage will open once again and the world will know that peace is inevitable. I will gather an army, overthrow the higher ups, and keep this whole world under my thumb. I know I can do it... with the discovery of this orb; ...this materia..."
The maniacal man tucked away the mask underneath his trench coat and began ascending the stairs as the wizard's pointy hat fell lightly upon a puddle of its former owner's blood...