Angelo raced down the path through the dark forest. He stopped, briefly, to look behind himself, checking to see if any soldiers were still chasing him. A lone Galbadian soldier had managed to keep up with him. Angelo strayed off of the path and began weaving his way through the trees. The soldier began having a hard time keeping the dog within his line of sight; branches flung at him from all directions. Seeing a chance to outsmart the enemy, Angelo crawled through an old, hollow tree trunk. The soldier, thinking about nothing but catching his prey, began crawling through the trunk, only to get the top half of his body stuck. Seeing that he lost the soldier, Angelo concentrated on finding his companions.


"This is the last of him." Tin Man said, as he carried an armful of hay.

Lion worked on putting Scarecrow back together after the sorceress' henchmen scattered Scarecrow's hay all over the area. Lion gathered the rest of the hay from Tin Man and began stuffing the material into Scarecrow's shirt. The two men who were already standing helped their friend to his feet.

Scarecrow patted himself down, putting his hay back in order. At that moment, Angelo came running down the path toward them. The dog stood before the three men, barking and spinning back toward the castle. "What's he doing here?" Scarecrow heard Lion ask. "I didn't think we'd see him again."

"He escaped." Tin Man noticed.

"Hey," Scarecrow began. "Maybe he'll lead us to Rinoa."

Angelo barked once, and then ran back toward the castle. The three men followed as quickly at they could; Scarecrow nearly tripped every step.


The three men followed Angelo on a direct route to the castle; Angelo hadn't wanted them to encounter the Galbadian soldier that had chased him. They reached the castle very quickly, but to their disbelief, the drawbridge was up. So, the party was forced to find an alternate route. They trekked around the castle and before long they came upon a climbable rock face. "Well, this seems like the only way." Scarecrow said.

"But, what if we get up there and there's still no way to get in?" Lion complained.

"We have no other choice." Tin Man said. "We're going to get Rinoa back."

Angelo was the first to begin climbing, jumping from one rock to the next. Lion followed behind him; his strength proving useful for pulling himself up. Tin Man started up after him, keeping him from going back. And Scarecrow brought up the rear.

Once at the top of the mountain, the three men found that they had a perfect view of the castle. They climbed over the top of the mountain and down a little ways to take cover behind a few large boulders. Scarecrow noticed then how big of an army the sorceress had. Hundreds of Galbadian soldiers were marching around the castle. "So, now what?" Lion asked, thinking that there wasn't any way in.

At that moment, three Galbadian soldiers climbed over the top of the mountain behind the would-be heroes. Lion managed to look over his shoulder, only to see a soldier right in his face. He turned back around to warn the others, but the soldier tackled him before he could. At the same time, the other two soldiers grabbed Scarecrow and Tin Man and dragged them behind a nearby boulder. Helmets, clothing, and a tail flew through the air. Before long, Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man emerged from behind the boulder, wearing the Galbadian soldier uniforms. They watched the soldiers down below, waiting for the end of the line. When the end of the line finally came around, the three heroes hurried down and jumped in line. With Angelo sticking close behind, the all infiltrated the castle.


The foyer of the castle was a fairly large room. The room was completely empty, aside from the parade of soldiers marching through and the large wooden chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

The end of the parade entered the castle and the drawbridge was raised. Three of the rear soldier, slowly, broke off from the group. Instead of following the rest through the far doorway, the three soldiers climbed the stairs on the left side of the foyer. At the top of the stairs, they relieved themselves of their uniforms.

Tin Man lead the way on the second floor; gunblade drawn and ready to strike. Scarecrow brought up the rear again, keeping Lion in the middle. They checked each room, discovering that the second floor was empty of soldiers. The Galbadians were all sticking together, marching through the castle.

The three heroes reaching the last door, when they discovered that it was locked. "She's gotta be in here." Scarecrow said.

"Rinoa!" Tin Man shouted, making sure Rinoa was there.

"I'm here!" Came the reply, followed by running footsteps. "Please, you have to get me out! The hourglass is about to run out!" Rinoa explained.

"Get back! Get away from the door!" Tin Man ordered, readying his gunblade.

Rinoa did so. Tin Man raised his blade and struck the wooden door with all of his might. The door creaked, and then fell inwards. Rinoa dashed out, right into Tin Man's waiting arms. She hugged the other two men, as well, and patted Angelo's head, and then the party ran back down the hall toward the entrance.

They reached the raised drawbridge, but to their disappointment, they couldn't find a way to lower it. During their brief search for a way out, Angelo began barking at something behind them. They turned around simultaneously, only to see all of the soldiers there, staring at them. Sorceress Adel stood in front of them. "Well, it appears we have some additional guests." Adel said. "I'll just have to dispose of them, as well."

As the evil sorceress started toward them, Scarecrow began glancing around the foyer, trying to find a way to escape. He noticed that the chandelier was held up by a rope, which was tied tightly beside the entrance. Scarecrow tapped Tin Man on the shoulder, and then indicated the chandelier and the rope. Tin Man caught on quickly and swung his gunblade back, cutting the rope. The chandelier dropped to the floor, pinning most of the soldiers underneath. Rinoa's party used the diversion to make an escape. "After them!" Adel ordered. "Half of you with me! The rest… upstairs!"

The soldiers crawled out from under the chandelier and separated into groups of two; following Adel's instructions obediently.


The heroes were just making their way across the castle's connecting bridge, when they were ambushed by a large group of soldiers. Rinoa's party quickly turned around and ran back the other direction, only to bump into Adel. "It's time to end this." Adel said, smiling wickedly. "How about a little fire, Scarecrow."

Adel held out her hand, palm facing Scarecrow. A small flame began dancing on her palm. The flame gradually expanded, until it became a fireball. The fire spell spewed forth, catching Scarecrow on fire.

Scarecrow began panicking and flailing about, feeling helpless. On reflex, Rinoa jumped into action, grabbing a nearby bucket of water. She, quickly, threw some water on Scarecrow, catching Adel in the flow as well.

Adel flinched from the water smacking her face. Before long, the sorceress seemed to shrink in size, melting away. "Oh, what have you done?" She shrieked. "I'm melting! I'm melting! Oh, what a world!"

The evil sorceress melted down, until only her robes and broomstick remained. The soldiers stared at the remains of their leader, shocked by the fact that she was dead. One of the soldiers looked up at Rinoa and said, "You killed her."

"I was an accident. Honest." Rinoa said. "He was on fire and…"

"The evil sorceress is dead!" The soldier shouted to his comrades. "We're free from her control!"

The soldiers let out a great cheer; offering Rinoa a 'thank you' in between cheers. "If there's anything we can do for in return…" The lead soldier began.

"The broomstick." Scarecrow whispered to Rinoa.

"Oh!" Rinoa exclaimed. "Her broomstick… may we have it?"

The lead soldier hand the broomstick to her and said, "Please, take it far from this place."

"Thank you." Rinoa said, taking the item. "Let's go."

The Galbadian soldiers stood to the sides of the connecting bridge, letting the heroes pass. The heroes left the castle and began walking back to Esthar.


A/N: Sorry about that long delay. I've had a lot of other things on my mind; games, books, ideas for new fics, you know. Anyway, I hope you've all been patient and haven't forgotten about me. Did this chapter seem rushed? Something doesn't feel right about it. Well… review and let me know what you think.