Once again, I'm going back to school soon. And I'm also trying to put aside a bit of time to write something new: Final Fantasy Four Outtakes! My brother and I came up with it at the beach a few weeks ago, and I'd really like to take a break form this fic to write that. Just so you all know.
But anyways, back to sad scene I left you with last time.
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Chapter 6: Akstaron Explains All
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Exeline suddenly made up her mind to do something absolutely insane.
I'm going to find you, she thought, praying that her fiancé could somehow hear her thoughts. I won't abandon you to death while I yet breathe.
And I'm sure that the Bahamut can tell me where to find you.
With a few quick heal spells from various people, Akstaron was up on his feet. Though he was a bit shaky and still weak, he seemed eager to go on his way.
"Wait!" Sefi called before he could reach the gap in the walls. "What just happened here? Why did that dragon suddenly appear, wanting to kidnap my father and sister, and leave with Kenji and Kaelery instead?"
Akstaron sighed tiredly and turned to face his rather distraught audience. "I suppose that you all do deserve an explanation for what my brother has done to you," he said.
"Brother?" Rydia demanded, coming out of the crowd and staring her summon in the face. "No one ever told me that you had a brother! Let alone an evil one."
"There is still much that you don't know about us," Akstaron calmly informed his mistress. "I have an extensive family; most of which you will never have to meet."
"So why him?" Rydia asked, flabbergasted with one of her summoned monsters, yet again.
"Why ask me?" the dragon questioned. Rydia pouted, but didn't say anything more.
Exeline shouldered her way back to the front line and asked, "Where has he gone? Where has he taken them?"
Akstaron regarded Exeline with much astonishment. "You want to go after those he has taken, do you?"
Exeline nodded eagerly. "Tell me where he's gone, please," she begged.
"Let me tell you the whole story," Akstaron said with a heavy sigh. He sat down gingerly on his still bruised side, curling his long tail about his hind legs and forming a crescent shape with his body. Everyone gathered around him.
"You see," Akstaron began, "a long time ago, my father, Ember-Tooth, was the Lord of Summons; and he was a good king. But when Zeromus found his power, my father stood up to him and paid dearly for it. Zeromus kill him for his troubles; but it's many thanks to him that the Lunarians sealed the villain away for so long.
"But the summons now found themselves with no supreme leader, and began to look for one. They chose my grandmother, Minada, the Lunar Bahamut, to pick the next Lord of Summons out of our big family. So she began to look for likely candidates among the youngsters: strong, brave, confident, good young ones who could follow in my father's footsteps.
"Obsidian was absolutely determined to win and fill the empty position; not for the people that he would rule, not to make their lives better, but to do whatever he wanted to do without having to listen to someone saying no. He longed for power, and was willing to do whatever it took to get there."
Angel raised her hand to ask a question and brought it back down when Akstaron acknowledged her. "So he was always evil?" was her question.
Akstaron sighed. "I'm afraid so," he answered. "He was the oldest of our nest: there was him, then me, and then our sister, Gems."
"So how did he plan on securing his winning your father's place?" Palom asked.
"Well, he decided to start by beating up on anyone else that Minada considered, forcing them out of the running on pain of, er, pain."
"Did it work?" asked Red.
"It did at first. But then Gems got angry with him and stood up to him when he started hurting the very small members of the contest. She was always a feisty little critter, Gems," Akstaron remembered in a vague, floaty voice. "She would stand up to any bully, even if they were five times her size and hundreds of years older than she. She never stopped hating Obsidian for the way he was treating us. Eventually, she rallied everyone that he hadn't already kicked out together and we made a great stand against him. He didn't bother any for a while after that. Such spirit, such heart, such courage... She would have made a fine replacement."
"Akstaron," Rydia asked tentatively, "did something happen to Gems?"
The blue dragon turned his head away and sighed again. Whatever the answer was, he obviously didn't want to say it.
With a stab of sympathy for her dear friend, Rydia suddenly understood why Akstaron was so upset. She came over to stand close beside him and stroked his long, graceful neck comfortingly, wishing that she could have seen sooner.
"Obsidian killed her, didn't he," she guessed.
Akstaron rumbled and turned his head back around to look down at his green haired master. Still silent, he nodded his head slowly, letting a tear fall from his face. It hit the ground and shattered as if it were solid.
"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing away any other tears that threatened to come. "The tears of the bahamuts turn to crystal. Now where was I?"
"Right after Gems led her protest against Obsidian," Rydia reminded him.
"Oh; that's right. Well, after he... After it happened, only the bravest of us stayed in the running, afraid of what Obsidian would do to us next. With Gems, our fearless leader gone, and Obsidian ready to pull a stunt just as bad or worse on those who remained, a lot of us decided to quit while they were ahead."
"But he killed you sister! He killed his own sister! Didn't anyone do anything about that?" Porom asked disbelievingly.
"We, the contestants, all knew that it was him. But when we told Minada about it, he acted like he was shattered by her death and called us jealous liars. Minada said that we were so grief stricken that we were imagining things and sent us away without another sound. For all that anyone knew, she had been attacked by a monster of some kind; and no one would believe us when we said that it was Obsidian who did it."
"So you stayed in the running?" Cecil asked.
"I couldn't let him have even a slight of a chance at my father's throne: not after he'd fallen back on murder to get what he wanted. A few others and I all remained to challenge him. And then, a few months later, one of us, my cousin Blade-Wing, vanished without a trace. Actually, everyone else suddenly started to disappear and no one could find where they went.
"My mother got worried and wanted to hide Obsidian and I away from whatever was causing the disappearances. But he was bigger and more independent than I at the time, so she just took me away. She never even told Obsidian what she had done; she just hid me in the caves and he thought that I'd run away.
"After a few years had passed and no one was left but him, Minada had no choice but to elect Obsidian as the new Lord of Summons. She didn't want to do it, but there was nothing else she could do. But I finally made a reappearance and she chose me instead."
"I bet that he didn't really like that," Yang mused.
"No, he didn't. He stayed on the moon with everyone else, but he treated both Minada and me with great hostility. You see, we both wanted revenge on each other now: on him for killing my sister, and on me for stealing the throne that was going to go to him after he had worked so hard to annihilate the competition.
"He was finally banished to the Blue Planet after he attacked me a few months after I was coronated. That was all about a thousand years ago. I warned Minada not to banish him: he'd just gather his strength and try to take over this world."
"Guess you'll be rubbing that in Minada's face for a while," Edge suggested.
"I should do that," Akstaron agreed, "But right now, I have to go and find some way to stop him." He slowly rose to his feet, ready to leave once more.
"I know that paladins are a rare order," Cecil stated, "but there are more than just Angel and I running around. If we all band together—
"You are the only paladins left," Akstaron informed.
"Uh... Come again?" Cecil asked.
"Obsidian has been going around killing off the handful of paladins on this planet. If there were enough of them together, their holy powers would surely topple him. That is why he wanted to take you: you are the last two paladins left in the world."
Faces fell all across the room.
"Hey!" Exeline stopped him. "If he was banished here, where did he go?"
"I don't think I'm going to tell you. You'll get yourself hurt or worse if you try to save your friends. They've done us a great service this night; just accept it and move along with your life," Akstaron advised.
"But, if you must know, think about it for a minute: if you were a banished villain, and wanted to gather your strength before launching a campaign for world conquest, where would you go?" he hinted.
"By the way, I would get back to your base if I were you. Baron would be a wonderful stage for a battle, but your people all need you. You'll have to come back with an army to keep it safe anyway. All of you get as much sleep as you can and go back to Mysidia in the morning."
"How'd you know about the base?" Palom asked.
"Rydia told me. How else?" Akstaron answered, leaping through the wall and flying into the black night.
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Angel was woken again by someone gently shaking her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes to a blob of purple and gray.
"What are you doing, Sefi It's not even dawn yet," Angel complained, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"We figured out the only place in the overworld where Obsidian could be hiding," Sefi answered proudly.
"Really? Where?"
"You know those volcanic islands up near the top of the map?"
"Yeah; they're devoid of life because there's too much lava and no water to the friendly eye."
"That's got to be where Obsidian is hiding."
"Good for you. Can I go back to sleep now?"
"A bunch of us are going after him," Sefi informed.
Angel was suddenly bolt awake. "You can't go! What are you thinking?" she screamed as softly as she could.
"Look: there's still a chance that we can save Kenji and Kaelery, and we're gonna take it."
"Who's 'they'?"
"Edge, Edward, Red, Palom, Exeline and me. Wanna come?"
"No thanks. I chose life," Angel said, standing up and starting to walk away.
"Wait, Angel, where are you going?"
"To get someone to stop you, that's where," Angel answered over her shoulder.
"Angel, no. You can't tell anyone. We've got to do this: if we go now, we could save our friends," Sefi begged.
"Why's Exeline so serious about this anyway?" Angel asked.
"She and Kenji were supposed to get married in the spring. That's why," Sefi explained.
"Really? I didn't know," Angel said, feeling very sad for both of them but still skeptical about the mission.
"Look, Angel, remember what Cid told us about the tower of Zot?" Sefi asked.
"Yeah, I remember."
"This could be a similar deal. If Exeline really cares about Kenji, she should go and at least try to save him. Don't you think?""
Angel nodded. "She's very lucky to have friends who are willing to help her. This is going to be a sticky job."
"Sure you don't wanna come? Sefi asked. "We've always got room for one more you know."
"I'm needed here. If mom and daddy wake up and find both of their daughters gone, they'll be more upset than if it's just you."
"You won't tell them where we've gone, will you?" Sefi pleaded.
"I'll take it to the grave; promise," Angel assured her sister.
"Just in case I don't come back, you'd better be as good as KluYa thinks you'll be. I might now be here to back you up," Sefi said, walking away to go join her group.
"Oh, you'll come back," Angel told her. "You always do, you know."
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Yoi! Now we're getting somewhere! Off we go, to the top of the world!
So, how about Akstaron's troubling past, eh? Isn't it fun, giving backgrounds to stand-in characters? Giving the Lord of Summons such a disturbing and traumatizing history was fun; I had always sort of pictured him as a very regal and forceful god, but benevolent to those whom he loved, like Rydia and her friends. I also figured that the seeds of greatness come from a rocky plot of land. We all know where Cecil started out...
Next update will most likely be either this weekend or early next week; Monday or Tuesday, likely as not. If you've got anything to say, rough spots to point out, problems for me to correct, you know where I'll be:
In my office, giving raises and promotions to my employees where they aren't due! Off to squander my finances on my incompetent staff for their lousy performance!
(loud crash in the distance)
Joey! I keep telling you to be careful with that priceless, one-of-a-kind vase! Now I'll have to buy a new one...