Author's note: Now you'll see just how big the scale of this story is, if you thought it was just Tellius versus another country, you're in for a surprise. Also, "Power Hungry Fool" is now the official theme for the Emperor you're going to see, it just suits him too well, sorry Oliver.
Radiant Fantasy
Act 1: What Lies on the Other Side
Chapter Four
Power Hungry Fool
The environment was oppressive to say the least, as much as the yellow haired monarch tried to hide it, for the former tactician and the former fighters it was obvious by the looks, postures and the way the guards held their weapons, that if something went wrong, they had better be ready to fight.
"Lord Eliwood, you seem… troubled." The very same monarch commented, even though he knew exactly why, he was using that to his advantage afterall. The massive throne room filled with exquisite carpets and paintings, what you'd expect from a royal, but the paintings told a story. They were all, without exceptions, paintings of the man in front of them. Wearing gold and purple armor decorated with small spikes, purple and white stripes, and demonic faces including one on his back obscured by his hair. His gauntlets sport extended claws. On his head a purple crown with a snake head emerging from it sat, bright yellow hair that extended into his violet cape.
"It's nothing Emperor Mateus, it's just… is such a full guard really necessary?" He asked of him in the most respectful way he could.
"With all due respect Marquis, I have already told you that the rebels have been growing restless ever since we deployed one of our seven divisions towards one of the new continents and the commander for another is to be executed for High-Treason. I consider this the bare minimum for my well-being." He spoke smugly and you could see that he considered himself to be higher than anyone in the room. Eliwood cursed the day he decided to try a diplomatic meeting with the leader of the continent they had discovered west from theirs, he couldn't have known what he was going to find. First things first, almost as if they were being watched, the day before departure, two mages appeared and offered their services to teleport them directly to the Empire. Eliwood thought of it suspicious so he told the person he trusted the most out of his companions, Lyndis of Sacae, to sneak out of the Inn they were teleported too. The mages did not have power to cover a whole continent with four people, so they nonchalantly left them on the Inn with a coach and a cart waiting for them the next day, good thing they were not informed of their numbers or his gamble would have been mute. They were even forced to wait two full weeks after their arrival for a meeting with Mateus, who was returning from a "treaty" as he called it, with nearby nation Baron. Eliwood would not fall for this, the man could try to hide it, but he was a tyrant, the lust for power was seeping from his eyes and every word he uttered was leading to the question the now sickly hero was intent on refusing. "So, about my proposal, would you grant us passage on one of your piers?" That was it, THE question, Eliwood knew what was hidden behind all that flowered banter, the hunger to rule everything. If Eliwood's experience didn't betray him, rebels normally did have a cause and during the two weeks of living in Palamecia's capital, he had learned more than just about the seemingly impossible constructs. Fear, oppression, torment reigned on the city, the excuse of "rebels" would never warrant the violence he had seen and heard off on the town.
"As I said, Emperor Mateus, I am not one that may decide on that as I represent only a part of the Lycian Alliance, I cannot by any means make such an important decision that may even not concern us, but the entirety of Elibe." Eliwood knew what he was getting himself into, but he had taken precautions to it. Both Mark and Marcus had accepted what could happen the moment they decided to send Lyn away. He just hoped Lyn managed to survive.
"Eliwood, I don't take you for a fool. You see, I care not about the other Lycians, I care only for the entrance to not be barred… the rest will sort itself out. You may even… gain a vast amount "influence" over your continent, if you know what I mean." This was it, Eliwood wouldn't take it anymore.
"Who do you take me for?" He had been holding it in for two long weeks, but no more! "Do you think me to be as corrupt as you? Look around yourself! Your country, behind all the shiny jewelry and technology is nothing more than ruins! But you wouldn't care, would you? Fear is the easiest way to rule isn't it?" By this moment, the guards had all but cut his head off, now threatening impalement by their blades. One of the two seeming commanders, judging by her armor, was a pinkish haired woman, one that had transformed her blade into what they seemed to call a "gun" around these parts, if Eliwood remembered correctly, it could be compared with a bow because with a simple press it would fire a ball of steel fast enough to pierce bones, so he really was one click away from death.
"Marquis, this has long since been out of your control. Just write a letter of permit and we'll kindly let you go AND assure safety for your family… you have a son and a daughter in law, have you not?" The attempt on threatening Eliwood only made him burst out in laughter, confusing the room except for his friends before coughing violently.
"You mean to threaten my son? The man who wields the Sword of Seals and is every bit as powerful as I was before this sickness? Make no mistake Mateus, Roy would DESTROY anyone who you would even think on sending to assassinate him." He replied, brimming with confidence. Still, he was wrong, he just didn't know the extent of the powers Mateus could call upon.
"I see, understandable, for one who hasn't beheld the full might of my army… Still, let me ask you this then, if I am so "corrupted" as you so wrongly accuse, why not leave before you had this audition?" The emperor questioned out of pure curiosity, their fate was already sealed in his opinion.
"I wanted to believe the monarch was being preyed upon by nobility, maybe we could help him regain peace, but the moment I saw the paintings and I beheld your dirty, smug face, I knew, you are a monster! You make Zephiel appear sane! Purging of an impure race is madness, but to attend your own selfish desire for conquest at the expense of the world is beyond that!" Maybe Eliwood was going over the edge a bit, even Marcus and Mark were dumbfounded at his outburst, but we didn't see the city, yet…
"Such misguided lambs… take them away, I care not to what cell." He told the woman besides him, standing up and beginning to walk away. "I must say, if you do change your mind, do it fast, passage onto Pherae would only benefit you." Not even that escaped a chuckle from Eliwood.
"I'm afraid I can't even help you with that, I am no Marquis, Mateus, my son is!" He told him as he voluntarily let himself be cuffed. The twisted snarl on the Emperor's face as he realized he had been led was worth it.
The woman signaled their cooperating captives to follow her, they knew they couldn't do anything to resist, Marcus could hardly carry the weight of a sickly man and a tactician, especially since both him and Eliwood lacked their steeds and Eliwood even lacked his trademark Durandal, the Blazing Sword.
"Why?" She asked in a low tone, signaling for them to keep it low. "Can't you look ahead?" Some guards looked at the group, but one glare from their superior sent them straight back to their duties as they entered the prison.
"I understand what you're implying, and no, having a unified world, if you could REALLY call it that, under such a ruler would cause atrocities far worse than wars." Eliwood replied to the unasked question.
"Tsk, you're just like him, that kind of thinking will get yourself killed." The woman replied as she stopped near a cell, commanding guard to open it. "You got company, Spikes." She said, awakening the man in the bed. He was wearing a black uniform with baggy pants, shoulderplates and a brown, marked belt, what really made him stand out though was his completely crazy hairstyle. There were literally black spikes everywhere, hence the nickname, okay maybe not EVERYWHERE, just from the back of his head until his shoulders, a lone strand coming forth. His eyes were also strangely blue, almost too blue for humans.
"So COLD, Light! Is that anyway to talk with a friend on the death row?" Eliwood and his group were shocked, how could he take that so lightly? He was basically a shining sun in enthusiasm.
"Whatever, you asked for this, now all of you, get in." She ordered, turning back immediately to conceal her sadness, leaving the guard to lock them up.
"Old acquaintance?" Eliwood asked of the man after the guard locked them up and went back to sleep.
"Former comrade. Name's Zack Fair, former God General of the Ultima Weapon division!" He replied, extending his hand.
"Well, that's a surprise, they're all back in shape… And I here was hoping to rest a little." Ike lamented as the group arrived at the camp, now making preparations for departure, it was barely past noon, they could cover some distance till nightfall.
"I'm afraid that can't be so, I even went as far as to use one of my three uses for Ashera's staff for it." Sephiran said, already feeling the comeback.
"You could have waited for me! I'm still ble… wha-?" His arm was back to normal? Come to think of it, Elincia had a profound wound on her stomach on the way there… but when they arrived there was none. "It reaches that far away, huh?"
"Exactly. Now, Ike, I want you to meet our new recruit. Lyndis, she saved your sister from assassination, she's Trueblade by the way, we lack third tier soldiers so we fished her in immediately, I hope you don't mind." He didn't want to send Ike into hyper-protective mode so he changed the subject as quick as he could.
"So you're General Ike? A pleasure." The girl from Sacae greeted, shaking the muscled man's hand.
"Enough with the formalities! Just Ike! Thanks for my sister though." Blunt as he was, Ike replied the only way he knew, this astounded Lyn for one thing only.
"You're not… noble are you?" She asked, still not believing that to be possible.
"Nope, got to General out of merit and… blackmailing." This earned an honest laugh out f the girl and from her laugh that led to Ike's embarrassed frown the laughing bug spread through the onlookers.
"What a weird world this has become. Commoners being BLACKMAILED into generals!" Lyndis mused. "I wish my… country was like that." She was about to say continent, but thankfully, she held back and could point out that she meant Daein. She didn't fool anyone though, anyone who hadn't heard from Ike was CLEARLY from another place other than Tellius. Still, Ike knew that Sephiran would have figured it out by now, and if hadn't intervened, he was waiting for the opportune moment. He could see why though, this girl, on his and probably Sephiran's eye wasn't evil, so, instead of inspiring distrust before the battle, they would inquire her after, made sense. Now, what he had to explain was…
"OH! You got Ragnell! GIMME ALONDITE!" Mia almost demanded, bouncing up and down in excitement. This was what he didn't want to answer. Mia wasn't the only one who was going to discuss his decision.
"I… kinda gave it away already…" Ike replied, scratching the back of his head just as Mia's face twisted into a frown of Satan-like proportions, immediately kicking where the sun doesn't shine. I swear someone in the camp yelled: K.O! PERFECT! While the men grabbed their privates with an "Ooooooooh", mourning of their brother.
"There goes Ike Junior! God, is there a painter here? Please, let it be!" Shinon BEGGED, to which a person who he didn't know appeared and gave him two sheets of strangely feeling "paper"? Still, they were... beyond reasoning. Perfect captures of Ike's grandest humiliation yet, one snatched the moment of the "strike" and other Ike clutched his groin as Mia stood victorious. How such a degree of quality was accomplished in an instant was beyond him.
"It's called a camera junior, come by the medical tent next time we settle down for a discussion of their price." A grizzled old man using a cane told the Marksman, who swore he would do the picture justice and pay the highest amount he could afford.
"Who. Did. You. Give. It. To?" Mia punctuated very threateningly, turning Ike from his ventral position and threatening another blow you-know-where.
"He gave it to one that excels with the sword better than all here but me and him and maybe Elincia. I cannot say anything about Lyn and Ramza." Stefan's statement was a bold one, but he was Stefan, critical, direct, brutal. "I would know, I crossed swords with her. Mia, your technique based on intuition alone has set you back, you need a teacher and real training to break the barrier you are facing, if you would accept that, maybe Elincia wouldn't have surpassed you in just one year." The news were shattering for Mia, who lived by the sword ever since Ashera was defeated. Her subconscious had known that, deep inside she hadn't improved one bit since then, she had used the same techniques over and over, she wanted to fight! Not train! Was her train of thought, it never worked that way. Still, the normally bubbly and bouncy girl found a lone tear running down her cheek, turning back and mumbling a very weak, "okay" as she dragged herself to the edge of the camp, crying in waiting for the trip. Nobody said anything for they knew that while harsh, Stefan was right 90% of the times, if not always.
"Still, who did he give it to?" Lucia asked, her curiosity picked. Well, she just wanted to confirm it.
"He gave it to me." Terra confessed, showing the Alondite.
Silence.
"Ike… how dare you…" Well, this wasn't good, Skrimir was pissed, and lions aren't exactly the image of fluffy kittens. "After what she did? I don't care if she seems as harmless as a baby! The fact is that she claimed hundreds of lives today, not only ours, which we lost ONE HUNDRED, one sixth of our army, thirty of MY men… but she even cut her army by the hundreds, HER COMRADES! How can you trust her with THAT?
"Skrimir. I only need to say one name." Ike had stood up and shook off the pain, this was a serious conversation. "Micaiah. Think." For Ike to say "think" was a rare occurrence, but let's go over what he meant, shall we?
Micaiah joined the fight with good intentions but, by machinations of evil senators was forced to forgo of her will and fight on the wrong side, even resorting to machiavelic tactics which resulted in the gruesome death of hundreds. Sound familiar?
"Even after what she did we talked to her, understood her situation, accepted her apology and made her an ally. Yes, Terra is a gamble, but she is a war changing one. And, considering what I heard on my travels, she isn't a bad person. I actually met an acquaintance of he on them, I just didn't know if she was Terra Branford or just another Terra." He explained, still more mentions to his journey. This had to end.
"Fine! But I have one condition. Little girl, you, me, a duel." Skrimir demanded.
"Huh? Why?" Terra was completely taken aback by said demand, even afraid of what the lion could do to her un-morphed.
"Skrimir, that won't do. She can't control her transformation, if you by any chance trigger it, we might be goners. Using her in the war is already a bigger gamble than ever before, don't worsen our chances." Stefan had proven already, he didn't take sides, he just said what was on his mind, maybe reminding people of an older Soren, now that you mention that, where was he?
"I suppose we can design a platoon that either has mobility enough to escape her should her other side surface or just send her in with Ike… and Elincia for healing." Soren added with a smirk. Was he…
"Soren's playing matchmaker? What is the world coming to?" Ranulf whispered to himself. "That's my job!" Now this was more audible, the camp turned to him and he had to come up with an excuse… fast. "I-I've been learning how to heal! But I guess Elincia would be better suited." Now this was a laugh for everyone, was this the best he could come up with? Ranulf the priest?
"Still, I believe we wasted enough time here, we can talk as we walk, Ike, I want to know all about your travels!" Tibarn exclaimed, he HAD to be excited, if was going to walk and not fly.
"True. Well everyone, it's the third time we are here for many, second for the rest. You know the drill, no "general" Ike, just Ike. No rally needed for now, let's just go." Well, what did you expect from Ike? Speeches? Only when everything depended on it. He could even swear he heard a loud "Ye lazy bastard!" from the crowd. He smiled and shouted "I know!" This was the environment he was trying to create. Equality. The army had to be tight as a family. Ramza was astonished at his approach, but it felt so right he played along. Terra couldn't help but smile, for the first time in years, things were looking up for her. Now, if only he was alright… no, wasn't Celes sent with her army just for this mission….?
"Oh no…" She gasped, letting go of the Alondite, clutching to her chest as she looked up to the sky. "Don't let that happen…" Well, while miracles do happen, they are by no means common place…
"The sewers should be our objective…" Verus told the running crowd. "But that would be too obvious." He stated, pushing down one of torches besides him. "Sorry for the intrusion Queen Micaiah, but we scouted the entire castle with Magitek sensors, we knew this was here." He grabbed the torch and signaled them to follow, but Vaan had something bothering him.
"Dude, I need to ask you something." He informed.
"If it's about where this leads, this leads to the catacombs where the previous kings are buried. You can trust me on this, Vaan." He replied, thinking to have known what he questioned, but then he realized what sort of information he had released.
"And how exactly do you know my name, monsieur Verus?" Vaan taunted, grabbing him by his shoulder.
"It's been five years, hasn't it?" Verus suddenly said as he turned back and punched Vaan in the head hard. "And you're as annoying as when you tried to steal from Beoulve Manor." He quipped, playfully rubbing his head.
"Knock it off Shin!" Vaan demanded, trying his best to end his attacker's assault, but Zidane had even taken the torch so Shin could get him in a headlock. "Geez, and you're still a bully."
"I take that to heart…" The Mystic Knight mocked as he grabbed his chest.
"So, how's the gang? I know Locke got into out initiative, but what about Ramza, Celes and… Tewah?" He asked, punctuating the last name since he knew how embarrassing it was for the man.
"I get her name wrong ONE TIME and I never get to live it down… Figures." Shin lamented, shrugging. "Ramza and Terra managed to get out." He finished with a smile on his face.
"So THAT'S why you're helping us, no reason to be in the army anymore is there?" Zidane intervened. "Don't look at me like that, Vaan told me how you four only got in to watch over the girl." He said to answer the looks of confusion he got.
"Yeah… four… We should get moving." Shin told them, grabbing the torch and descending. No one really understood why he had said that until they arrived on the bottom of the stairs. Still, until they did Micaiah was examining her benefactor. Shoulder length brown hair, she sore his eyes were brown too, but his clothes were, like Zidane's and the others', very different from anything she saw in Tellius. He was wearing a black overjacket with an unclosed zipper, revealing an equally black shirt bellow. The jacket had dragon-like patterns inscribed in gold trim and had a golden dragon's wing on the back. The pants and the shoes we're pretty conventional compared to the jacket. The pants seemed to follow the form of the jacket and had a golden line trim stamped on the sides. He as shorter than Ike, but taller than Sothe… give or take 1.80 meters, about 5.9 feet. Now that she compared them, his build was very similar to the one Sothe described when he met Ike. Still, even being an acquaintance of an ally, that reaction had made her weary. And she thought to have that justified as, when the stairs had ended and they had entered the catacombs a woman was sitting on one of the tombs, legs crossed and treating her blade. Micaiah recognized her from her imprisonment. Green armor and a white cloak covering her back, wearing protective plate boots and a bandanna on her forehead. She had long blond hair and sapphire eyes, on other circumstances Micaiah would envy that woman's perfectly curvaceous body, but she wasn't one to sympathize with her opponents, she was one to dispose of them if needed. She was about to question and accuse the man from leading them into a trap but the woman spoke first.
"Is this your decision?" She asked flatly, not even sparing a glance on the group.
"You knew this day was coming Celes." Shin replied, drawing the Lightbringer. "I have no reason to remain loyal to such a broken system!" He exclaimed, pointing his blade at what seemed to be a former companion.
"Well then, you know what that means." She gazed upon the group, they were so cold, it was like the blue in her eyes came from them being to frozen glaciers, the room even began to go chilly, but they soon fund it not to be an illusion. "Capital punishment!" As soon as she boomed those words, the exit became blocked by a huge chunk of ice, even so, the sensation of looking into Celes' eyes was still colder than any ice.
"Did she just… freeze the air? Without a tome?" Sothe exclaimed, completely out of his mind trying to find how magic had just been used without a tome or a staff, but then he got an idea. "Is she… branded?" His question fell into deaf ears as the room became even colder. "Don't tell me that these two…"
"Well, what would be to expect from THE Ice Queen? Your judgment is just as cold as your magic." The entire room was now being encased by ice as a bone-chilling aura encompassed the two. "Vaan, get the queen and the others out of here as fast as you can, and…" He grabbed a little box and gave it to Vaan, along with a whistle. "If you see Terra, give her these." He finished, walking up to the woman and staring her in the eyes.
"Micaiah, you know your way in these tunnels?" Zidane asked, grabbing her by the wrists and running towards the tunnel.
"Sort of…" She replied, well, it was true, she didn't exactly like to give midnight strolls on the catacombs containing thirteen dead bodies. "Still, they taught me to use this to take advantage of the secret passage behind the first king's crypt, it should be this way-y-y-y!" As Micaiah turned to point the direction, she was met with the upside down face of none other than her captor, the clown known as Kefka Palazzo. This caused her to reach for the nearest vase and smash it in his face. The jester faked pain and looked at her with a hurt reaction.
"SO RUDE!" He exclaimed in an extremely over the top way. "First you try to go away without saying goodbye and now this? Nonono, girlie, I can see you're just like my former kitty… let me adopt you!"
"Micaiah, out of the way!" Vaan demanded, fearing just what Kefka was going to try, sure enough, pulling out his gun proved to be the better decision as she was able to shoot off Kefka's hand his Slave Crown.
"Pesky mongrel!" Kefka's tone had taken a 180 degree turn, now murderous and cruel. "I'll eviscerate you and show Terra and Ramza your remains!"
"Micaiah, run!" Vaan told her, reaching for his pocket and grabbing a cylindrical object, taking off a circular addendum and then throwing it bellow Kefka's feet. She did what he asked of her and they all ran as fast as they could I the direction she thought the passage to be, a flash of bright light erupting from the flash bang, blinding their pursuer.
Shin landed on his feet on the vertical wall, smiling as he froze the very air in front of him to block the flying shrapnel of ice that Celes had sent to hound him. Not stopping there he slammed his blade against the wall of ice and sent it flying on the blonde's direction. She broke it in order to avoid collision, only to see him emerge from it with an overhead slash. Thinking as fast as she could, and considering how her breaking of the wall had set her sword too high for a block, she cloaked her hand with ice and a protect spell and grabbed the blade with it. She then saw his other hand shinning with a chilling aura, she knew what she had to do.
"Runic!" She screamed, her blade begging to suck the very essence of the aura as she blocked the blow. She prepared for a disengage as they were seemingly on a standoff, but she forgot one thing. She barely managed to react as she saw Shin pulling his head backwards, she did the same as to diminish the impact from the headbut but it didn't help much. Before she knew it she was on the floor. She couldn't however, let it end just then, so she chanted: "Teleport!" Warping herself to the other side of the room, getting up as fast as she could.
"Still think I'm not worthy of being second-in-line for general?" He asked in a triumphant tone.
"Lucky shot, in forty seven fights you never beat me." She replied angrily. "You only managed to get that spot because you're an amazing tactician, I'll give you that." She had to concede that, maybe Cid was a better one, but a person that could change tactics when the battle he participated in was already underway was an invaluable asset.
"First ten times I didn't even touch you. The second you didn't even try, by the thirties it was just "easy", the last seven fights incapacitated both of us. See where I'm getting?" He had just said all of that as he dodged her sideward slash, grabbing her by the hand easily.
"You couldn't have held back all those times!" Celes exclaimed breathless.
"No." Shin admitted, planting his right foot on the side of her torso, making her fly against a nearby wall. "This time, it's not a spar!" He exclaimed, sinking his sword on the ground, causing a line of icicles to come out of the ground in the female captain's general.
"Runic!" She exclaimed, but the spikes didn't fade and she barely managed to jump out of the way. "Forgot you can't absorb Spellblade…" She cursed herself before noticing the blade that was assailing her. She blocked it while using her free hand to get leverage on the ground. Unfortunately, as one of the Seven Treasures of the Empire, the Lightbringer's power was to condense the power behind the blows it gave and unleash it in a Holly blast at its master's will. At this range and as sudden as it was, Celes couldn't even think about her Runic absorption and took the full brunt of the explosion.
"This time, I have something to fight for and you… don't know which side you're on. That's the difference." He had lowered his sword and held out his hand to her. "What do you say, for old times' sake?" Instead he got a sword swooping right next to his neck.
"Celes, you stay here and take care of Terra, okay? If you manage to get her out, you know where to find me."The young male voice resounded in Celes' head, that would be the plan until…
"You make me so proud Celes! I'll be waiting for you to climb higher!"This voice was older and more collected. At first she had been thorn, these two men had changed her life, but…
"When I find that BITCH I'm going to burn the steel from the crown right into her head!" Climb higher on a ladder like this one?
"For old times' sake you say…? Tsk, just go!" She ordered, throwing him back towards the way Micaiah had ran.
"But…" He stuttered, that was not what he wanted to hear.
"I said, GO!" She was hearing them, the footsteps of tens if not hundreds of soldiers. Without thinking, she blocked the way forward with her ice.
"Wait, Celes, what are you trying to pull?" He screamed desperately.
"My own little revolution." She replied, entering the stairs. "Take care of Terra he said, you know where to find me he said… what part of it did he want me to follow?" She wondered as she climbed upwards. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Once Kefka knows what I did I'll probably be his next guinea pig, might aswell try my luck here." She told herself , the clutter of steel stopping just after.
"Captain, what ha-" The soldier began before beholding the flash-freeze of the pathway behind the woman. "You too? Why? You had everything to become a God General!"
"Wherever we are, no matter how much we change, we'll look out for eachother, forever!"
"I never break a promise…" She replied, dauntlessly challenging the entire palace guard. "Come, sleep in death's cold embrace."
"I was so naïve! Of course the guard would know that I would lead them the "less obvious" path!" Shin cursed, punching the wall in frustration. "I just hope they try and give her the same fate as Leo…" A small smile crept on his cheek. "We all know how well that execution turned out." Maybe the smile was out of place, but one must embrace hope and the good side of things once in a while. He knew that, as strict and ruthless the Emperor could be, there was nothing that he loved more than to create a spectacle, he wouldn't let someone as influential as Celes die here, if she did, heads would roll, any soldier knew that. He would want to set an example. At least he hoped so. All his thoughts however were interrupted by the mad cackle he heard resounding down the wretched halls. "HE'S HERE? DAMN IT!" He shouted, quickly making his way through the passage he had seen two days ago. Kefka knew where the exit was, they weren't going to lose him. "But… if I read those blueprints right…"
"Come out come out wherever you are!" The voice resounded through the halls as Micaiah led the through the catacombs.
"How much further?" Zidane asked as he frantically looked back in search of the deadly clown.
"We should be… AGH!" Micaiah screeched before being muffled by a tight grip.
"Micaiah… No… that's impossible." Sothe said, losing his breath just as he understood what his eyes beheld What should be a mummified corpse of Ashnard, the Mad King held his wife. It even held his Gurgurant, one that he didn't hesitate in using to try and cut down the group. Zidane and Sothe were the first to react, ducking bellow said slice and swiping their dagger's at the Mad King's neck. He dodged… but oh so strangely. It was as if he had no bones, his neck twisted backwards in an impossible angle. Same as when Aran tried to slice his stomach open, his torso bent backwards in a completely impossible way… It took Bartz's intuition to send a bolt of fire above the King, revealing the ethereal strings that held his body.
"They're using him as a… puppet!" Bartz deduced, followed by HIS bone-chilling cackle.
"OH! You found out so soon! I'm impressed!" Kefka remarked, pulling the strings once more to saw Zidane and Sothe into a wall like flies. "Now, why don't you surrender, or else little birdie here goes… caput!" What made him so eerie was how his voice went from cheerful to into such a dark tone for such one word. The way the Gurgurant's curved edge wrapped around the young woman's neck could have something to do with it also.
"Sothe… don't… at least one of can get out!" But Sothe had already put down his dagger.
"Good, good, now for the others ." Kefka told them, he was hearing a little rumbling but it wasn't that… okay not a little rumbling, it was getting bigger by the second. "Christ, can't a man have some peace and quiet while he subjugates… OH WHAT THE-!" The wall besides him had, quite literally, exploded as a giant Ice Dragon emerged from it, engulfing him and freezing the joker to the wall.
"I was right. A lot easier to just… blast through." Shin commented before seeing the damage he had just done. "Did I just…"
"You didn't even plan it?" Vaan exclaimed, dumbfounded how lucky they just got.
"Nope. Well, something good had to come of reading those blueprints, didn't it?" The man replied, removing the giant man's body from the top of the girl.
"Even in death this guy screws us." Sothe spat, kicking the face of the man who had once tried to subjugate the continent beneath his heel.
"Well, not going to waste a perfectly good sword though!" Vaan stated, picking up the massive Gurgurant and tying it to his back.
"Am I the only decent person here?" Micaiah asked, considering she WAS surrounded by thieves.
"I'd say no, but I kinda stole one of my countries most prized treasures half-an-hour ago so that would be hypocritical." The former captain said.
Crack.
"We better get out of here… fast!" Zidane exclaimed at seeing the ice holding the clown crack.
The group nodded and followed Micaiah and Shin to a double door on the ceiling, stairs leading up to it. They had been running for a surprising amount of time though, five full minutes. This also meant that the ice wouldn't last much longer. That was an understatement. They opened the door, full of hope and relief…
"'Sup." Kefka greeted. Surrounding the "secret" doorway that emerged from a small hill on the outside of the city was a complete platoon of ninjas. Figures, only those could cut them off even with their time advantage. "Now, the escape? Funny. The jar? Annoying, but somewhat amusing. Finding out my Lieutenant was tearing up my army from behind while a person who only joined to slobber over my kitty froze me into a wall? Let's just say… IT MAKES ME WANT TO PUKE MY GUTS OUT! Well, the consolation prize is that this girl over here." He lifted a fragile looking girl with shoulder length black hair and a simple beige robe.
"I'm sorry… Queen Micaiah… Aran." The girl barely managed to say before falling unconscious.
"LAURA!" Aran screamed, trying to run u to her only to be tackled down by five ninjas.
"Yes, Laura. As I was saying, THIS girl, likes THAT guy, so that means that if I make HER puke HER guts out, the expression on HIS face will be… HILARIOUS!" No matter how sick and twisted that was, anyone who knew Kefka knew that this was a light hearted joke compared to what he sometimes did. They couldn't anything even, surrounded by a mob like that. "Now… without further ado…" He created a sphere of fire on his right hand. "Let the party begin!" As everyone tried to get to her, bodies covering their way, as Aran roared in despair, as the sphere got ever closer, the ground just split open, from it arising a giant that quite literally punched the crap out of Kefka, sending the jester flying a good twenty meters backwards, not forgetting to grab Laura. The ten meter giant then turned to the ninjas and with a swing from his arm dispersed them.
"Titan? That's an Esper… but how? Summoning has been completely forgotten… the only bozos that still accomplished it were…" A think mist confirmed his suspicions. "The people of Mist…"
"Oh, I am honored, you still remember the people you slaughtered… Well, next time, be more thorough!" The voice came from Micaiah's side, not that she could SEE anything with that mist surrounding them, but it soon lifted. It belonged to a long green haired woman wearing a matching green dress that only covered the top part of her body, leaving her legs on the open, her boots green boots reaching to her knees almost, all of her wardrobe was adorned by golden and intricate markings, even her hair had two intricate pieces of jewelry on the sides. Well, it was safe to say that, after the danger was over, Zidane would completely freak out, this was, even on his standards, a complete bombshell. "Now, why don't I… return the favor? Ifrit! Shiva! Ramuh! Titan! Mist Dragon!"
"Ike, would you…" Elincia began. They had already settled down, and were in fact dinning. Well, most had ended by now, but there were three main offenders for them to still be at the table. Ike of course, Skrimir since he WAS a lion and… Terra. Strange? The strangest part was that she as in fact, out passing Ike and Skrimir…
"I know, I know, where do I begin?" Did Ike just… eat less than a girl? Skrimir's look of shame also proved that. "Well, nothing really happened after we left Mastus, we just walked over a mountain, it was though, but we managed. We did however, find a burned down village right dab in the center… never found who lived there. But oh well, we arrived at a new continent! Imagine that!" Everyone eyed him deadly. "Fine, fine, no more sarcasm. It didn't take long to find a city and, by Soren's suggestion, we became mercenaries to learn more of the country. We spent four months from city to city in order to do that. The learning wasn't much however… we knew it was called Baron and that it was ruled over by a King named Cecil, but the rest were details… in four months." He let out frustrated sigh. "We couldn't reveal where we came from after all, so asking it directly was suicide. We were about to give up and come back to inform you, but then we were contacted by some people that had heard of our deeds." Something told them this was about to pick up. "They came and explained to us that they were part of the "Returners" a group that was fighting against the corruption a neighbor country that was going on a conquest spree. Apparently, the reason why people spoke so little was that one year back, Baron had been assimilated. Most of the army annihilated." Terra stopped eating.
"It was me… it was the first time they took off my limiter." She confessed. "My memory is blurry, but Ramza and Shin told me."
"Shin?" Ike asked, curious.
"My other friend." She replied.
"Well, that's for another time. As I was saying, that's why people didn't talk, the walls have ears as you know." Ike continued. "The contract they gave us was huge. There, they don't use gold, they use Gil, which is basically the same thing. Regardless, the pay was One MILLION Gil. Why so much? We had to stop a PUBLIC execution of an Former-Imperial who had protested against the now five year old and formerly secret "Project T-E-R-R-A" no brainer now I know, but they kept shut about what it was, they didn't trust us enough, which was understandable. The execution was going to be held on Dalmasca's capital Rabanastre, the country that the Empire had "peacefully" gained control off. It was made to set an example for anyone who even voiced opposition. Now, the man was a VERY valuable asset for the Returners but what made them pay so much was that… the man presiding the execution was one of the two most feared men on the CONTINENT, one of the two men that never lost one fight, ever. Masamune Division's God General… Sephiroth Crescent."
Next Chapter:
The Clash that started the war. When two unstoppable forces collide, what could possibly be the result?
The queen of ice wakes to find herself on the care of an improbable ally as her and Terra divulge her past life to their companions.
A convict reveals that the very foundations of the Empire's power aren't as solid as one could think.
The Daein Liberation Army is struck with a new breath as the new heavyweights join their ranks.
Finally, Crimea and Begnion's armies join forces again as they approach Nevassa.
Next Time: Heroes to Their People
"Just how many of the God Generals are on the active after recent happenings?"
"You mongrel, I'll cut you down in front of Mother!"
"General Leo Cristophe, it's an honor to save your rear!"
Post-Chapter Note:Well, how did ya like it? Quite a few characters introduced and still many more to come. Now, people who read my other fic would know, Shin's not what you'd call an OC, at least completely, but you'll see what I mean when this progresses, for now, you can treat him as one if you want. Celes might have seemed to take decisions a bit too quickly, but next chapter you'll get an exposition about the "group" that met at Beoulve manor so look forward to that and, if you like it OR have question, don't forget to review, I'll do my best to answer.
PS: By the way, before you go apeshift on this, the reason why nobody mentioned Yune was that she is in bird form until the armies unite, she's basically too lazy to introduce herself twice or even three times.
