The Key Keeper

This is it, the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed this, whoever out there who might be reading this, whoever out there who might read this story…this very old story that I should have completed sooner.

"So, Ivy, tell us about this 'Key Keeper' person." Rick said, gesturing with his hand to begin.

"Well," she began, "it's not exactly a human…it a monster, one who's can be used as a gate that will cause all the portals to collapse, at one point the Monster Hunters discovered a Giggi agent who could collapse the portals without taking the key…the heart of the monster which would be used during a ceremony, fortunately the ceremony requires the tail of ten demons, so it couldn't be performed, though, even with so many tails, they'd still have to wait until they saw the sun in the depths to begin, as you can see, it's a very complicated ritual, only so many rumors exist, such as the Ceadeus you fought, Rick, it was believed to be a myth, but if they called the Ceadeus 'Shining Giants of the Depths,' then who knows what this is all about, but what's you take on all of this?"

"The demons…how many tails did you say?" Rick asked, disconcertedly.

"Ten, why?" Ivy replied with a shrug.

"What, but we had to cut off and deliver ten Deviljho tails!"

"You don't think…the demons the legends referred to…I would think the Alatreon would be nicknamed that, but it does make sense, what will you do now? I mean, the legends mention the sun in the depths, but they also refer to enchanting the heart of Emperor Ocean, I can't shake this sick feeling in my stomach that they're referring to the Goldbeard Ceadeus."

"There's no doubt in my mind, I have to kill it and destroy its heart, or will marring it do the same, I mean if I could blemish it somehow, would that do anything?"

"I don't know, maybe…what if they take the heart though? Or swoop down and grab it? You need a plan."

"No, I just need Robin to take you and the others to the Observation Balloon and watch out for anything suspicious, find different armors and try not to look together, just act naturally. Cha-Cha, Kayamba, let's go, boys, time to hunt down the Goldbeard Ceadeus!" Rick said as the group split away from him and his team of Shakalakas.

"Hey," the desk clerk said, "here for a quest, I hope."

"Yes, that Goldbeard Ceadeus, if you will."

"Just don't let your ego out of check, pride will do you no good unless you want to end up dead."

He smiled and set his helmet on his head, "This suit is made from a beast that could turn the regular Ceadeus into dinner, and even if the odds were worse, this thing threatens the food chain, this could devastate a lot of people, maybe even the world…this is an important port town, we can't lose that, besides, I have the world's best sidekicks." He added, silently turning his gaze on Cha-Cha and Kayamba, and stood waiting at the desk a while until she filled out the papers and pointed him towards the docks, handing him the papers as well.

He made his way to an airship loading ramp and handed his papers to the Guildmaster, "So, you accepted the quest, eh? Right this way, hunter."

"Come on guys," Rick motioned to the Shakalakas as he boarded the ramp and found himself in the large airship, "so, Guildmaster, what do you think the odds are for my survival?"

"You wouldn't have made it this far if you weren't capable of this great feat, have faith in yourself."

"Yeah, thanks, I think I can do this, if only because I can't let a monster beat me, I have to win."

"And that's why I admire you, you'll do us proud. What's that, captain? We're at the drop zone? I'll let him know, thank you. Well, here we are."

"Here we are. Guildmaster, I have a question…when my parents…before they were killed, they said that hunters didn't just run around killing things, I don't know, I just…there aren't usually two Lagiacruses in the same place, I just wondered if there may have been a reason that you could give me, someone told me…never mind, what do you think?"

"That in their death you found purpose, now go and save the world, I'd join you if I had been a bit younger, but as you can see, I'm not young…I'm old and I see our future in you."

"Thanks, I'll be back, never you fear." As Rick grabbed the rope and stared down at the base camp he thought about the village, and hoped it wouldn't miss him if he didn't come back, and resolved that he would.

The chief stood at the docks, gazing out at the sea, his pipe between two fingers, and up to his lips. The Guild Sweetheart had been giving him a report, and when she ended he sighed, "Is that so then?" he asked sadly, "He was a good one, better than I was…they're sure?"

"Yes, they said he went out earlier, they tracked him from the balloons, they said he's not coming back to us. Should I not tell the villagers, or would that panic them?"

"Ah, may as well let them know he's in that great big wild in the sky…I'll go and do a follow up...Julie, I want you to keep an eye on things while I'm gone."

"Alright, I don't know what you hope to find, though."

"I hope to find a battle in progress."

"Huh? You think…it's false?"

"I know so, you told me you had that strange dream of an Ivory Lagiacrus facing off with a golden whale…he's too good to go down, even in the water."

"I hope your right, I miss him."

"Me too, he was—no, is a part of this village, and while pride is a character flaw that resurfaces…I'd like to think the Ivory Lagiacrus taught him a thing or two about pride."

"Good luck on that end." She said, smiling slightly at the chief's lighthearted words.

Rick was hit by a beam of water as he attempted to maneuver to some underwater ballistae that had been up since ancient times.

He swam close to the great golden beast and drew Takemikazuchi, and sliced deep into the beast's hide. The Goldbeard Ceadeus roared furiously and the hunter swam away swiftly as the Shakalaka danced to heal, and the other supported. Rick smiled under his helmet and felt the soreness of the Goldbeard Ceadeus' attacks leave his body. He didn't know how long he had been there, but knew that he had no more than twelve minutes left until quest time was ended, and he was confident that he would win this battle and not fail the quest.

He eventually made it to the ballistae and used up the last two shots on the monster, staggering it as it swam towards him. Rick felt his heart rate increase as he wondered if the monster wasn't about to fall, and his hands felt cold when he saw something small swim up from the entrance to this arena.

What is that?

He swam up quickly and avoided the path of another water beam, and lost sight of the figure once again.

I must be seeing things…that wasn't real, it couldn't be real.

He refocused on the monster when he saw suddenly stunned, suspended in the water, and he heard a voice inside his head, "Not another stroke of your blade, he is weakened well enough…old friend."

"Jack!" Rick yelled, he found himself in a volcanic area and saw Jack floating up above and away from him, the Goldbeard Ceadeus floating with him, trapped in a small lake of water, "Jack, what are you doing?!"

"Ivy told you about the Key Keeper to the Magic Circles, didn't she? I knew she was undercover, not that I could tell anyone as my physical body was in…sad shape to say the very least."

"Jack, what are you doing? Jack?!"

"What am I doing…how to start at the start? I was, as you know weak…but I became stronger…stronger than you. I used my magic and disguised it as highly advanced weaponry, 'Pleasing Sea Sniper' was the best I could come up with on such short notice, but you'll excuse that, I know. You were a good hunter, Rick, like your parents before you. You were competitive, the Guild liked that, but so too did the Brotherhood of Giggi. They watched through my words as you grew in strength, and they also knew that you'd need friends to survive, or so I told them…in truth, I merely needed a group of people who would need your help, they got you away for a while so we could set things up, remove the actual Guildmaster and the desk and arena clerks, replace them with our own. We grew in power and numbers once more, and as soon as I unlock the Heart of Gold here…the 'key' as you hunters call it, I shall overthrow the old reign of gods. This is the surpasser of gods, and we don't call it that for nothing."

"What are you planning on doing?"

"I'll tell you…once I combine the Circles, they will return this land to the way it was…the Sacred Realm, where the Great Giggi first formed these portals…once the Circles merge, the gods will fall, but they won't fuse by themselves, that's where the key comes in; it'll provide all the power I need to fuse them into one large Circle, though it'll be quite, and they'll burn a hole through this dimension, and force this place to reveal the inhabitants, who even now hide from me…tell me, Rick, what will the people do when there's no one to pray to?"

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but if you burn a hole through this dimension, then…won't the monsters stop coming into this world?"

"Stupid! Now who's the brilliant hunter? If I burn a hole through this dimension—or when, rather, it's merely a matter of time—then the monsters will be free to run rampant through this world wherever they please! And I'll hold the rein, that's the best part!"

"If only I knew…I never would have gone on this quest."

"That's the thing, though, you couldn't know, that's why I had you visit your old friends…the ones you trained with…funny, Jasper was actually the one you fought with, I guess he felt threatened with you talking to Robin and thought you'd beat him again, he found your style was similar, though couldn't address this."

"What…how would you know, anyway?"

"I heard them through the Ivory Lagiacrus you fought…I can do that, sometimes."

"Where were you all this time?"

"In a Giggi prison, the Great Giggi there thought I couldn't be trusted, he was right…but he left my weakened corporeal form with two Giggi who were in a convenient predicament, one had to vow silence or be slain, as is the way of all who would join the ranks of Great Giggi, while the second was to be punished. I had one reveal the weak spot of the Giggi uniform, it was in the same place it had been for millennia…much to my surprise, I could have guessed, like you hunters they are so traditional."

"And what is Giggi armor, anyways?"

"Have you ever worn Gigginox Armor before?"

"What, but…isn't that Gigginox armor?"

"Yes, well, this armor drains stamina, I use stamina and convert it into magical energy, so being able to drain this monster and use it to absorb the Golden Heart's power and fuse the Circles…is all quite convenient, as you might image-" he was cut off as a bullet pierced his armor and exploded, and with no one to halt the flow of magic, the Magic Circles that had gathered released many powerful monsters.

Rick turned around to see Ronald lowering the barrel of the gun, the rest of the group was standing around him, they watched silently as they were returned to the undersea lair, where Rick's battle resumed. He knew he had little time left to kill this huge monster, and was surprised that the monster didn't aim at his friends, arriving at the conclusion that Jack, to some extent, controlled the large beast, and didn't wish to be harmed by the large beast.

"Rick? This is Robin, for some reason, using the telepathic links is harder than usual, so communication won't be easy, but it's not as tense as it was back in the place we just left…it's almost as though you knew we needed to hit the armor's weak spot, like you knew we were there, listening."

"Nope, I was just curious…to be honest, that was a welcome surprise."

"You can thank Jasper for that." Robin thought, and they turned to Jasper.

"I was bored…we caught the imposters and rescued the Guildmaster and the sisters that work with him, and I wanted in on any carves there might be…honestly, I thought you'd be done by now, grandpa."

"Whatever you say, kid"

"You must all stop this!" Jack's thoughts echoed throughout the valley, "This is the end of the old order, the new one will rise and I will lead it! When I was born I was given a name that meant 'Tragedy' I was made for this moment! Where I would become something, and even if for just a day, I will make the grandest accomplishment of all time."

"That's what it's all about!?" Jeanette erupted, "Just for fame…even if the explosion of the portals kill you!?"

"Oh, they will most certainly kill my body, but my soul shall be infused with them and I will become the most powerful human, even if but a mere imitation of those I tear apart, I will be the first god of a new order, I will be forever remembered for a single moment in time."

"Sounds tragic to me." Mike said glumly, "With all that you think you'd live up to your name anyways."

"Fools! I was named that because I was the only one of a set of twins who didn't die before the day's end…I was abandoned, a sign of misfortune which was forbidden to kill, and so they would let the elements take me…I survived, somehow…I do not remember…but I lived throughout centuries of anguish and eventually took up the name 'Jack' and feigned as the worst hunter ever born, and I died by a Qurupeco's flame it was perfect, and you all…especially Rick…played your parts perfectly."

Rick fought sliced at the belly of the huge monster and dared check the quest clock he was given, "Twenty seconds…nineteen eighteen, seventeen," he gazed at the skin where a beard once was and went deeper into the furry mane, until an exhausted shriek rang out of the monster and it went still, the relieved and jubilant thoughts of the hunters reached Rick's ears and he smiled as he hacked through the monster, eventually seeing a large heart in the monster. He signaled for Cha-Cha and Kayamba to come to him and pointed at the heart. Cha-Cha tried to light the mask's flame, and though the flame never lit, the mask grew white hot and he swam forward and began scalding the huge organ, while Kayamba launched some barrels at it, all this while Jack watched in horror.

Jack began to swim towards the monster and having rubbed some dash juice against his lips he far outpaced the others, and soon reached the large body of the Goldbeard Ceadeus, suddenly ten severed tails floated around him and a laugh exploded throughout that underwater valley as he held his arms up, victorious, and tried to speak, but his voice was garbled, and he choked on the water as a bright flash became a large white orb, and the tails were consumed in the light. As Rick made short dash forward through the water, the bright white flash of light became much larger, and the heat from it boiled the water, and the hunters swam away in terror, but a stalactite fell in front of the way back, and the farcasters didn't warp them away as the water boiled around them.

They found themselves in the Sacred Realm, a Goldbeard Ceadeus floating above them. Rick yells angrily as he shakes his blade at the monster, "Jack, what are you doing?! I can't allow it!" the group gasped as he began floating up towards the monster, and suddenly he realized he was floating. At first he was awkward, but he began to soar as his blade splayed lightning across the sky as he and the Goldbeard Ceadeus floated through the sky, "Give it up, Rick," a voice like thunder exploded in the air, "We both know how this will end!" the monster inhaled heavily, and shot a blast of air from its mouth, but Rick was already upon it, slashing away at the monster that Jack had fused with as the Magic Circles danced around them, fusing and decaying as they formed bonds and collided with others, never able to maintain a certain size as they clashed. Rick and Jack fought furiously, sometimes getting slammed by the Circles, sometimes dodging them in time to guide the other into one, and eventually Jack hit Rick with a blast of air that sent him falling away from the battle, and they found themselves across from each other, high above the others. Rick dodged a blast of air, gazing at Jack's mouth to see where he should be to continue dodging, but was soon hit again, and watched in horror as the Circles fused slowly together, his friends pummeled by various monsters that had been appeared while they were underwater.

As quickly as he flew, he dreaded that he would be too late, but Jack glared back, daring to float in the air as he hurriedly fused the Circles, and once they were complete, three red gems appeared and locked into the disk. He lifted it to block Rick's attack, but Rick stabbed forward and barreled through it, the breach backlashed and pulled them both into its dark world.

"Three red gems…that quest…everything lead up to this…a battle in the void of space, so this is how it ends." Rick noted, and saw that he was above the world, and could not find where he had been. Suddenly a large body slammed into him, but instead of spiraling away he merely shifted, and felt that he was large, and felt electricity dance along his back.

"What, an Ivory Lagiacrus!? You must be stupid to think that you stand a chance, I'll crush you!" Jack's thoughts echoed as he acknowledged Rick's newfound form.

Jack launched another blast, this time of water, from where, he knew not, and as it came to him he launched lightning at the beam and it tore through the blast and hit Jack in the face, "Very good, you know the beast's power well, of course you had to go so far somehow, perhaps I can chalk it up to talent." Rick watched as the Goldbeard Ceadeus glided on a short arc, and then charged at Rick, Rick's heart was steel as he charged forward as well, and the space around them was torn to shreds, a death toll that went unheard to everyone involved.

The Guild Sweetheart walked up to a group of hunters gathered at the quest desk, chatting amongst themselves, "Ah, just in time, Julie," Rick said, "the Guildmaster finally got enough caffeine to grace us with his presence."

"Yeah, sorry about that, hunters, I just needed to make sure I was presentable, is all."

"So, you summoned them, Guildmaster?"

"Yes, Guild Clerk Julie, I heard an awful lot about your exploits during the Dragon Crisis, very daring, but the Guild disapproves…but as you well know, the Ceadeus could have wreaked havoc on the ecological…whatever. Anyways, so I finally got the other people whose opinions matter to agree that you may have very well saved a lot of businesses and property. Now on to the rewards! You young hunters were bold enough to go after your former instructor, that's worth a lot in the eyes of the Guild, we could use more like you, so we're thinking that you technically helped out our friend Rick on a quest, which you were eligible to join, and so I've decided I'll have higher ranked quest-"

"You can't do that!" the sisters exclaimed, "They haven't gone on every key quest, and it was under highly unconventional circumstances!"

"And they technically didn't join!"

"And they technically arrived in time for the last three minutes!"

"And-"

"No, no, no, you're right, bravery in the face of highly unconventional circumstances…I say that also deserves a reward!"

"No!" the sisters yelled, once again in unison.

"So, Rick," Jasper asked as Rick got up to leave, "look, I gave you a rough time, and you taught me a lot, so yeah, Robin told me I should listen more, and I guess I'll do that more often, so thanks for the lessons…but I'm still going to become a better hunter than you, some day, and if this entirely too long, and much too stupid trip taught me anything…it's that life's too short to try to become the best ever…but at least I'll surpass you. I'm not taking the Guildmaster's easy way out, either, I'll claw my way up to the top and crush you then."

"Well, that's…well, it's intriguing…are you something of a fan of mine?"

"No, I'm just taking the same path as you, that's all."

"His brother," Robin began, looking to Jasper for approval, and continued when he waved his hand, "his brother was all he had after a while, and they weren't always on the best terms, so he left while they were good and hasn't gone back since, apparently that's what had him so upset this whole time, I always knew he'd never let me down…at least not for long."

"So, you didn't break up? That's nice to hear."

"Yes, but I did give him a very large piece of my mind the other day…we've been back on talking terms since."

"Well, I'm just glad everything worked out in the end."

"Yep!" Robin said happily.

"Except one thing," Rick began ominously, "ahem, I've recently inquired about a Hunter's Armor for G-Rank, and discovered that it's available to female hunters only."

"That's terrible." Mike said sarcastically.

"Yes ,such a travesty…but I did find one thing out from smithy, and it's that if I bring him enough pieces of a Great Jaggi, I can have some armor that has some certain magic that allows the wearing to consume raw meat without experiencing any otherwise adverse side effects."

The group at the table mutter in disgusted about forging such an outfit.

"Well, I guess I'll eat well done steak and see what happens to me."

"Nothing harmful I hope," Ronald began, "though I admit it'd be quite a boon to live like a Great Jaggi and feast on raw meat without any illness as a probable result."

"I'm sorry, but I'd never be hungry enough to bite into a slab of disease." Came a voice from behind them.

"Junior, what brings you here?"

"Well, I just wanted to drop by and see how business was here, apparently people are putting honey on everything."

"Except raw meat; but that might all change soon, as soon as I get some Great Jaggi pieces for a new armor; anyways, I was just about to leave, Julie's down over at the quest counter, apparently the sisters are old friends of hers." "Yes, well, onto village related matters. I'm young and unexperienced, I realized, and pops was a hunter, so I figured that shouldn't change…and yet he won't select any other successor, I was hoping you'd snap him out of it."

"Huh, actually, he's already convinced me to take on a pupil…you're training starts next week, if you're interested, otherwise I'll go up there myself and argue your case."

"Next week? Aren't you busy?"

"No, why?"

"Because, Julie said you were going to be taking it easy after that clash you had with Jack."

"Jack is old news now…I'm left only with bitter regret, but I suppose if it makes her feel better I could stick around Moga for a while before going on the G-rank harvest tour to the Deserted Island, there's a chance I'll find the Great Jaggi pieces I'll need in that quest, as the environment's unstable."

"Hmm, a Great Jaggi hunt, an unstable environment, wouldn't that be a bit close to what you left behind?"

"Hmm, some things you carry with you anyways."

"Which is why I think you should be Moga's Chief."

"No, if I retire now, I'll not be able to see where I could go, the limits I can push through, I'll retire from hunting later."

"You're living life on a razor's edge daily, don't let a moment slip away."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, the Guild needs me to work on some secret missions, Julie showed me the files before I left, there are still plenty of Giggi Brothers out there, that should keep me busy for a while."

"Uh-huh, sure, as long as you're in good company, I guess. You know my dad meet his limit, when you think you've met your match, it might be time to throw in the towel."

"I don't know, something tells me that the world is full of other monsters, and people who need help…now, I'm off to visit Julie." As he said this he stood up and headed down the steps, "Hey, I'm about to head home, alright?"

"Ah, me too; I've got to make sure you don't push yourself too hard, in fact, there's a request for you to not hunt monsters for a week."

"From the good people of the Hunter's Guild personally?"

"The Guild? No, they'll push you until you're dead; it's from me, though not much of a reward…I still hope you'll accept it though."

"Well, if you feel so strongly about it, I'll stay out of danger, though you can't keep me out of the woods."

"I wouldn't try to, thanks."

"I should probably thank you, actually…I hear this from the chief a lot…you are the best at what you do and maybe I'm a lot more like Jasper than I'd care to admit…but I've really been too focused on just one thing, and that might be to become the greatest hunter ever, I'm letting that go a bit, though."

"Umm," she muttered quietly, pulling her cap lower on her head, "aren't Jasper and Robin together?"

"I didn't mean that I feel like I'm in the same situation, but I just mean…that one aspect."

"Oh, yeah…I just mean. Look, alright, I understand that you've only been around for a little while, and I respect that, but…I feel like we've been through a lot together, so at least consider your options."

"Yeah, about that, are you sure, because I live a very dangerous life, and while I may be a good hunter…tear away the armor, and I'm still a man, and I can be killed, it's not just some distant nightmare, it's a possible reality."

"Is that it?" she asked, patient as she waited for the end, when he nodded she shook her head, "It's going to take a lot more than that to scare me away from you, in fact, I'd run down four or five Nargacugas if I had to."

"Well, that's really flattering." He said as he began walking towards the gate back to the port, he turned around and watched until she started walking next to him to continue the journey.

"Not just that, I'd hunt you through the Flooded Forest, fungi capitol of the world, I'd catch you with a shock trap and drag you back to Moga with me."

"Sure you would, sure you would." He said and laughed happily.

"I'd run across the ocean to catch you!" she said and they shared a laugh, while the others looked on from above.

"Hmm, I forgot to tell him, but Uragaans are omnivores." Jasper said, shrugging.

Alright, I'm sure we were all waiting for the end, and here it is! I have to say, that was a different ending than the one I had in mind from the start, originally I was going to have an epic showdown with the regular Ceadeus, and though Jack was still going to be the mastermind, there were no Magic Circles…that's new, and highly non-canon. Anyways, I'm pretty happy with the way this ended, though I'm considering continuing the story of Rick, for whatever reason. KHH out!