The allies of Chaos had gathered in the Chaos Shine – one a place of worship to a God long forgotten; now it was thoroughly rundown place, with a large hole in the roof above the throne. They had grouped here, so that the leaders could reiterate their ultimate aim, regardless of any personal goals that they might have. The woman with the red coat and two black wings coming out of her shoulders; was the first to speak. "All shall bear fruit in due time. The ultimate mortal conflict-" There was a small pause as they waited to hear what was next.
The man in the gold armour spoke next. "...as well as the absolute end of the world. Perhaps the only thing that is out of our reach - is the whimsy of the gods." Once he had finished, there was a minute of silence, before they all dispersed in separate directions. Garland, however, lingered behind for a moment, to make sure that everyone had gone before he made his move. He didn't want to chance them finding out his secret too early, after all...
After he checked that the coat was clear, as if anyone could guess where he was going, he teleported to an area that no-one but him had been to before. It was a simple area, consisting of a small circle, and a large throne at an edge, with a skull engraved in it. The platform was surrounded by larva, and tall, sharp points of rock. However, sitting on the throne was Chaos himself, lord and master of the Warriors of Chaos. He was a demonic creature, with wavy horns on his head, four arms, and crescent shaped wings. He was naturally in direct opposition to Cosmos, the Goddess of Harmony, who he eternally despised.
When he noticed Garland entering the area, Chaos sensed uneasiness about him. "I am the god of discord - destined to rule this world. Am I not?"
Garland was slightly taken aback by the statement, but didn't allow Chaos to notice. "Indeed. Our objective is all too clear: to defeat Cosmos and bring chaos to the world."
"But the conflict will only be brought to an end as soon as I regain my lost strength," Chaos replied. "It is only a matter of time until all the pieces are in place for the final victory."
Chaos suddenly felt that uneasiness about him again, and felt compelled to ask his loyal servant. "And yet... Something does not feel quite right. Garland, are your words truly worthy of my trust?" There was but a momentary pause, but Chaos noticed it.
"...Of course, my lord."
The Warrior barely started walking when he came to a stop. It took a second to recognise what the feeling was, but when he did, he wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword. "I feel the presence of evil... Does anyone dare stand in my way?!" he shouted at seemingly nothing. In a flash, a Manikin appeared in front of him, ready for battle. It was no match for the Warrior, though, and he dispatched it without hassle.
"I have no time to waste. I must hurry, for Cosmos' sake..." he reminded himself, and continued on his way.
As he was walking at a steady pace, not taking much notice of where he was heading, he thought back to what Cosmos had said to him earlier. "I implore you. Obtain the light that even in a broken world could never fade - the light of the crystals."
The Warrior stopped and nodded in remembrance. "Cosmos... We have heard your wish, and we shall fulfil it. With the crystals in our hands, we will bring a fresh hope to the world-"
From seemingly out of nowhere, there was a voice that the Warrior recognised, and had hoped that he would never have to hear again. It was Garland's. "And where do you think you're going, unnamed warrior?" he enquired.
"Garland, it is you!" the Warrior exclaimed. Garland ignored this outburst.
"Do you dare run from a battle?" he asked.
"I do not intend to run from anything," the Warrior replied, a hint of anger in his voice.
"Then let us start this fight. A great destiny is at hand. We might as well enjoy it while it lasts!" Garland declared, as they both prepared for battle.
In another place entirely, the girl and boy had been walking casually with each other, and they were beginning to get use to the other's presence. The girl had introduced herself as Terra, whilst the boy was called Luneth, although he preferred Onion Knight, as that's what everybody called him back on his home world. They were currently deep in convocation about the crystals that they were supposed to be looking for.
"Crystals...have the power to break through despair, huh? I wonder what they look like," he wondered absent-mindedly, whilst looking over the edge of the platform they were currently standing on. He saw that there was nothing to break their fall, except for a random black portal currently floating in the middle of the bright blue sky.
"Do you think we can find them, Onion Knight?" He turned around, wondering what she was going to ask. "What if we do find them, but we still can't save the world?" asked him inquisitively. Although she was the older of the two of them, she still looked up to him in terms of wisdom. He seemed to have plenty of it, such as when he replied to her.
He sighed in slight frustration and annoyance. She always sounded so pessimistic. "Gods always seem to have a habit of sounding pretentious, don't they? Admittedly, there's no proof that Cosmos is telling the truth, but we don't know that she's wrong, either. Anyway, our only choice at the moment is to believe her and move forward in that belief. Let's start with what we can do, rather than with what we can't."
Terra nodded in agreement. "Mm-hmm... You're right, of course."
"Alright, then. Standing around here isn't going to give us any answers. Come on, let's get moving. You don't need to worry, as long as I'm around. I'm going to figure this all out," the Onion Knight replied, somewhat arrogantly.
Moving on ahead, they saw that much of the path that they were walking on was empty. This made Terra nervous again, although she continued walking.
"Look...the path ahead is hidden. Could enemies be hiding there? Or..."
Luneth cut in before she could finish her sentence. "There could be an ambush, could be treasure, and could be anything. Until we know for sure, we'll have to be careful, and try to work out where we're heading. As for the enemies themselves, you just have to take a good look at it before going into battle. Based on their equipment, you can figure out their strengths and weaknesses - the spell or the sword."
She formed her mouth into a bright, illustrious smile, and directed it at him, and the Onion Knight realised that he liked her a lot more than as just a good friend. He had a strange feeling when he was close to her, something that he didn't feel around Refia. He couldn't work out what it was, only that it was getting stronger with each passing day they spent together.
Once the villain's meeting had been disbanded, the Emperor and Kefka had gone off to discuss about some matters privately in the Emperor's stronghold from his home world – Castle Pandemonium. "What does he know? What is he after?"
Kefka gave a cackled laugh in response. "Who knows, who cares? He's just another sadist with a god complex...like THAT'S something special!" he shouted as he grinned and moved erratically about. The Emperor ignored the movement, and continued.
"Sephiroth took his own life during the last battle, right in front of my eyes." This caused Kefka to stop moving about, and look at him in shock.
"Seriously? What did he do THAT for!?"
"I do not know. He must have had some ulterior motive. We'd best keep an eye on him..."
Kefka nodded dumbly, not really believing what he was hearing.
At the same time, Cloud and his group were making steady process, defeating the Manikins as they appeared. They worked particularly well as a team, working together to take them down quickly and efficiently. Cloud was slightly ahead of the others at the moment, and this gave him time to think about things – things that he had done, and had happened to him, before he entered this place.
As he was walking, he suddenly got a strange feeling that passed as quickly as it had come. "I felt like something was...calling me. A crystal, possibly? No, something...much darker..." he pondered curiously and cautiously.
Continuing onwards, the group encountered yet more Manikins. "Enemies, everywhere I look... Is this the way it's going to be forever?" he speculated internally to himself. He sure hoped that that wouldn't be the case. He had done enough fighting on his own home world, and he just wanted a break from all of that.
Cloud found himself walking alone and so came to a stop, to allow time for the others to catch up. Eventually, Cecil, Tidus and Firion did manage to join him. Firion was the first to speak. "Well? Any clues on where the crystal can be found?" Cloud turned to look at them as he shook his head. Why did Firion expect him to know something like that?
"No, nothing..."
"So, these crystals can save the world, huh? I wonder how we're supposed to find them," asked Tidus. Cloud found that he didn't like him much – he was far too optimistic for his liking. A strong sense of realism was what was needed on a journey like this. Firion responded with words that Cloud certainly didn't want to hear at the moment.
"We'll probably have to fight more. Just defeat every enemy we encounter-" Cloud interrupted quickly before he could continue.
"Don't know if we should be running into battle without knowing what's going on. After all, most people can't win every fight," he said quickly. He knew that from personal experience. It was only by fighting together, when their friendship was at its strongest, that they had managed to beat Sephiroth once and for all. And Zack couldn't win in the end, when he had been protecting Cloud. He shook his head at the memory. Tidus took notice of this.
"I guess...we gotta rest up sometime," he reasoned. Firion and Cecil nodded in agreement.
"There is some truth to that," Firion agreed.
"It's good to have you with us, Cloud. You've the sense to think things through," Cecil responded with kind words.
Then Tidus spoke up, his slight stupidity showing through. "You could learn something, Cecil." Cloud internally sighed, and was about to say something, but Firion wittily beat him to it. "Look who's talking!"
This caused everybody to chuckle at the friendly banter. They were all having fun with each other. Why couldn't Cloud join in? "Is it because I don't know them?" he wondered. "No, that can't be it. They haven't known each other for very long, yet they're getting along just fine," he thought to himself. Firion's next words snapped him out of his self-inflicted trance.
"I guess we all need some of that common sense every once in a while!" he said. The convocation clearly over for the moment, the other three began to walk off, but Cloud stayed in place for a moment, thinking about what Firion had just said.
"Common sense? No, that's not it. I'm just-" he thought, letting the words trail off into nothingness.
The battle that the two had fought had been an intense one. The Warrior had been hit a number of times by Garland's unexpected sword changes, but he had been beaten in the end, which is what the Warrior had wanted. Garland was now kneeing whilst the Warrior walked towards him, grunting from the inevitable pain.
"You truly think that you can save this world, Warrior?" he bitterly said.
"That is precisely our mission. Our hopes have not been crushed yet, nor will they ever be." At this, Garland began laughing quietly to himself, although still loud enough to hear.
"What a fool you are. What you hope for is nothing but an illusion. Pursue it, and it will run from you. You may ever draw near, but never truly obtain it."
"What do you mean by that?" the Warrior asked; a hint of worry in his voice. Garland picked up on this.
"Eventually you will see... the truth behind this conflict..." Garland answered as a black substance began coming off his body. "...and the world will betray you!" he finished, ending in a fit of laughter, which continued even as his body disappeared from sight. The Warrior continued to look on the spot when the man had formerly been.
"No, Garland's words surely cannot be true," the Warrior thought to himself. "I will not let them unnerve me. I must continue to be strong, and find my crystal as soon as possible."
Aloud, he said in a confident tone. "No matter what becomes of the world as we know it... the light will always be with us," he asserted as he walked off to his next destination.
The group of four had made good progress so far, or so they believed at least. However, there hadn't seen any sign of the Crystals so far, and the number of enemies they had to fight were beginning to increase. But it was still early days yet, so they were keeping somewhat optimistic. They paused to rest for a minute. After a period of silence, Cecil was the first to speak. "We're beginning to see more enemies as we progress. We can't let them wear us down..." he trailed off.
Cloud gave some advice in that monotonous voice of his. "Just watch them closely. Strike when they're off-guard, right after an attack. The manikins here are weak. The trick is not getting too caught up in the brawl."
The rest of the group nodded in agreement.
"Got that, Firion?" said the ever arrogant and boastful Tidus.
"Yeah. I wish I were as calm as he is," replied Firion. They moved onwards, leaving Cloud to his thoughts again.
"...I'm not calm at all. I think...I'm more scared..." he thought miserably, and then walked quickly to catch up with the others.
The group had stopped for the night, to get some sleep and have something to eat. As they were setting up camp, so to speak, Tidus asked the question that they were all privately thinking about. "Can somebody tell me what the heck these crystals are, anyway?"
Cecil followed this up with an even more doubtful question. "Once we've obtained them, will we be able to defeat Chaos?" he asked. No one spoke, and then Firion found a suitable and somewhat predictable response.
"If that is what Cosmos wishes, it is up to us to fulfil it to the best of our abilities, right," he said confidently. Except Cloud didn't want to think of it in that way. Where was his personal motivation for doing this? He wasn't sure, so he decided to ask the others about it.
"But what are we - What exactly are we actually personally fighting for?" Everyone turned to look at him, and Firion had a shocked expression on his face.
"What do you mean? Isn't it to defeat Chaos and bring back peace to the world?" he asked. Cloud responded immediately.
"Cosmos only said that we had to get the crystals. There's no guarantee that defeating Chaos will bring peace. Nobody knows for sure what's going to happen to the world," he finished on a downer. That didn't seem to stop Tidus, however.
"I think we just have to keep faith!" he affirmed. Firion nodded in agreement.
"That's right. We don't need to know much in order to fight, do we?" But Cloud still had some doubts.
"I just...need some convincing. I don't want to find myself swept into more battles... without knowing why I'm there," he added. He thought back to the day before him and Tifa had made love under the Highwind...before they had gone into the Northern Cave and defeated Sephiroth...how he had spoken to his friends, encouraging them to go back to a place that was special to them, and to think of a reason for why they were doing this. He had done well there – everybody had come back, after all, so now shouldn't be much different. Should it?
He thought he must have had a spaced-out look on his face, because Cecil calling his name brought him back to the world with a bump. "Cloud..." he said worriedly. Cloud continued on as if nothing had happened.
"Can any of you guys tell me? If there's a good reason to be here fighting, I want to hear it," he demanded. Cecil was the first to speak up after the inevitable silence as they thought about what he had just said.
"A reason to fight, huh...I suppose I've never really thought about that before," he mused. Then it was Tidus' turn to say his piece.
"I'm settling things with my old man! But that's a very personal issue, I know..." For the first time since Cloud had met him, he felt that Tidus had spoke with a true sense of seriousness. He thought he ought to acknowledge it.
"Good for you, Tidus," he said encouragingly. He then turned his attention over to Firion, who hadn't said anything yet. Cloud saw that he was walking over to him, as if wishing to say his wish privately. But he did no such thing.
"Could you give me some time?" he asked Cloud. Cloud was shocked at this, but didn't let it show in any way. Firion continued. "I just want to come up with an answer that would convince you." Cloud guessed that the others saw him as being the group's leader, as he always managed to remain cool and collected. So he nodded his head as a sign of approval for Firion to do so.
In the place that represented her the best, the Cloud of Darkness felt truly at home. This was the place where she had first been created by Xande being killed by those Onion Knights, and where had controlled him from. Of course, it was the place where she had been destroyed, but she had great confidence in ignoring that memory. She was speaking to Kefka, who was scheming to kidnap Terra, and make her work on their side. She had some doubts, however. "Is that girl truly worth the trouble?" she asked dubiously. Kefka laughed with glee.
"Ab-so-lute-ly! Her powers are the real deal!" he shrieked loudly.
"Then we will take your word on it. We shall soon see how strong she is."
"You won't regret it...as long as she performs as well as she did before," he said as he pranced around, but covered his mouth when he realised what he had said. The Cloud of Darkness looked at him suspiciously.
"Before?" she questioned. But knowing his mistake, Kefka wasn't going to say anything else about the subject, so she gave up trying.
"Oops, just talking to myself! Before, after, now, all the same thing! Now, off you go! Happy fighting!" he shouted as he skipped away. The Cloud of Darkness set of herself, intent on finding both Terra and they boy.
The Onion Knight and Terra were walking in a place that had a lot of crystals surrounding two large platforms, also made of crystal. In the distance, they saw a large, jagged crystal floating in the sky, with a ring surrounded it. They had begun talking about something when Terra suddenly stopped. Luneth hadn't noticed, and continued on walking.
"Wait a minute, Luneth..." He paused and turned to look at her.
"What is it?" he enquired. At this rate, they would never get their crystals.
"I feel something... Something very powerful from that direction..." Terra said, facing the direction they were heading in. The Onion Knight got very excited at this.
"Do you think it's a Crystal?" he questioned curiously. If it was, then he was extremely lucky! If it wasn't, then it had to be a powerful Manikin for him to pummel into the ground.
Terra responded with "I can't tell. It's just a strong presence." The Onion Knight's previous enthusiasm fell slightly. If she couldn't tell what it was, then it wasn't likely to be a Crystal, he reckoned.
"Let's check it out, then," he said as he began to run ahead. When he noticed that she wasn't following him, he turned round to face her again.
"What's wrong?" he asked. If they didn't get going soon, then the presence might disappear, and then they might not be able to catch to it again.
"Something about this doesn't feel quite right," she said. "I don't think we should get any closer." That wasn't what the Onion Knight wanted to hear. So he moved towards her to confront her about the issue.
"Look, Terra, even if it isn't a crystal or enemy, we might be able to find some clues. It'll be alright. I can handle anything that comes our way, OK."
She began to protest at the prospect. "But..." she started. Before she could continue, however, he interrupted her.
"Chaos's puppets may be strong, but they're just big lunkheads. And I've got something they don't... Right here, if you know what I mean," he said as he pointed towards his helmet. "Brains. I can strategise plans of attack that'll keep them off-guard, so you have nothing to fear, as the hero's here," he boosted as he pointed his thumb at his chest. Terra giggled at this display, and responded.
"You're so strong. I envy your courage."
Once she had finished, he became serious again. "Come on, then, let's keep going onwards," he said as he walked onwards, with Terra following on behind him, thinking about what he had said.
Zidane and Bartz had started out their journey quite well. They had learnt each other's names, and a bit of background on the other, such as how they had saved the world. They had managed to reach the place where Cloud and the gang had stopped earlier. Bartz had started talking about his pet chocobo when a Manikin had ambushed them. They hadn't prepared for something like that so soon into their journey, so they had been defeated easily. However, before they could do anything, a man wearing a black leather jacket and trousers, held up by a lot of belts, had saved their lives, defeating the Manikin in the process. They were currently running up to the man to thank him properly.
"Whew! Thanks, man, you really saved our hides. Thanks again!" said Zidane thankfully. Bartz, however, had noticed something strange.
"Oh. Are you all by yourself?" he queried. The man replied in the affirmative. "Yeah, I am. What's it to you?" Zidane had no answer, but Bartz did. "Then you can come with us. Let's look for our crystals together!" he exclaimed. But Zidane wasn't sure that that was such a good idea.
"Dude, we don't even know the guy's name. Besides, he might want to work on his own. He looks the kind of person to do so, don't you think?" Bartz paused a minute, and agreed that that was probably correct. However, that didn't stop Bartz from trying his luck.
"Fell free to follow us, if you want. We'll be a little ways ahead, if you want to catch up to us." So they began to walk ahead, leaving the man to his thoughts.
"Why does this happen to me every time?" he moaned internally. He hated having to make such decisions when he was around people he knew, let along people he didn't, such as these two. He thought he'd better say as much, before they missed him.
"No offense to you guys - But I'd much rather be by myself."
At this, Bartz and Zidane stopped and turned to look at each other, before then turning to look back at Squall. Zidane spoke up this time.
"But doesn't it get...lonely sometimes?" he speculated. The man nodded in the affirmative.
"Well, I guess if he wants to go off on his own... At least tell us your name first," Bartz quizzed.
"It's Squall," he replied monotonously.
"Okay. Our names are Bartz," pointing to himself, "and Zidane," pointing to the companion next to him. "Well, if you do want to catch up to us at some point, we're heading that way," he said, gesturing with his hand and head in a vague direction.
"I guess we'll meet up later - after we get our crystals, of course!" Zidane exclaimed. Squall defiantly thought that they weren't the kind of people that he wouldn't like to be a part of – even if they did have a personality like Rinoa.
At that, Zidane and Bartz then ran off to wherever they were heading to. A moment later, however, Bartz had come running back to Squall a few seconds later, with something clutched in his hand, slightly out of breath.
"I'd almost forgotten about this-" Squall wondered what it was now – he really wanted to get onto his journey.
"What is it now?" he asked.
"I thought you should have something, something to remember us by," Bartz stated as he pulled out a yellow chocobo feather from the pouch he carried with him. Squall looked at it in disdain - it looked dirty, like it had been recently plucked.
"Here, take this! It's a good-luck charm, one I took from my chocobo companion, Boko." At the mention of the name, something stirred in Squall's memory, despite the fact that he couldn't think why. Although the disuse of Guardian Forced had been rigorously enforced since the defeat of Ultimecia, there were still some holes in his memory, and this was properly one of them.
"What's the deal with that nasty-looking feather?" Squall asked nastily. Bartz took obvious offence from the comment.
"Hey, watch your mouth, now!" he exclaimed. Squall internally cursed himself. Why did he have to say a thing like that to a fellow comrade? The man was just trying to be friendly, that's all. "That feather's been my trusted companion. Whenever I've found myself in danger, this good-luck charm saved me."
"This is a fierce battlefield," Squall belated. "It's not the place to be concerned about others."
Not that Bartz seemed to care. "I'm just looking out for you, that's all. I should be alright, though. I got Zidane with me. As a companion, and a friend. Just be sure to give it back the next time we meet, alright," he said as he forced the feather into Squall's unwilling hand before the latter could protest.
"You promise, okay?" he continued before running off to catch up with Zidane. Squall was left by himself, speechless at the developments that had just occurred. He had only one though as he set off.
"Who said anything about a promise? This feather... It must be important to him. But if that's the case... Why did he give it to me?" he pondered.