Purity Amidst Madness

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Chapter 9

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At this point in my tale, it should come as no surprise for you to learn that Ramza saved the four of us who remained by his side. As I fell, feathers drifted into my vision, enveloping me, Agrias, Orlandu and Mustadio, our plunge towards death slowing dramatically.

His magic depleted, Ramza collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, but only for a second. The dark void eating at the platform underneath him, our leader jumped towards Agrias, herself not much higher than he was, and caught in her midsection, crashing with a loud clang of metal on armour as Ramza drove her into the wall of the room, the pair falling to the ledge which surrounded it.

He was not done. Before Agrias could get her feet underneath her, Ramza had rolled and grabbed the ledge, flipping over it and bracing his feet on the lip to jump towards Orlandu. The blond Beoulve had aimed high, catching the old bastard's outflung hand and used the transfer of momentum to throw him towards the edge while aiming himself at the wall. A sword flashed out to crash through the stone giving him time to orient himself and orient on myself and Mustadio.

Despite the fact I was a little lower than the ponytailed engineer, Ramza hurled himself towards the young man, grabbing him briefly and hurling him towards Agrias as his feet hit the ceiling. His face was grim as it turned towards me, his legs uncoiling as he leaped towards me, grabbing me and dragging the both of us towards death far faster than the float spell would have drawn things out.

Ramza landed on a chunk of rock no bigger than my shield, compressing and extending his leg in the blink of an eye, hurling us into the top of the room, tiles shattering beneath (or perhaps, in this case, above) his back as he shielded me from the worst of the impact, the pair of us falling to the ground. Agrias was already chanting a healing spell as Ramza forced himself to his knees with a cough.

"Alma..." He groaned, his sheathed katana working as a cane as he pushed himself to his feet. He took a step towards the door, and stumbled against the wall, resting there for a moment until Agrias finished the chant for the third domain Cure spell, revitalizing the battered young man.

He turned to us with a grin, wiping the blood from his lips.

"Well, we've got two to go. Let's go finish this," he said, stalking towards the exit.

In that moment, I knew I'd marry him. Whatever happened, he would be mine.

"See that? You're not like that. In fact, you're the opposite. That's why I don't care about you getting me perfume," Agrias noted to Mustadio with a blank look. The Romandan turned to the woman with an outraged glare.

"My god, what does it take to impress you?" Mustadio demanded, scratching his head as he glared at the honey-blond sword mistress. "We are here, in Hell. I'm actually, despite all rational excuses to the contrary, okay with the fact I am in Hell! This is actually part of what I expect of being Ramza's best friend! Yet I have the massive, yet debilitating advantage over him of being, y'know... Sane!"

"Sanity is overrated," Agrias muttered, walking past him to follow Ramza out of the room.

The three of us stood there for a moment, silent.

"Do I smell funny? Is that why she keeps acting like this?" Mustadio demanded of me, lost.

"All I know is that I've staked my claim already, and I've got what it takes to beat her one on one," I replied with a grin, moving along.

As I left the room, I heard Cid walk up to Mustadio and pat him on the shoulder.

"Now you know how I felt, putting myself beside Balbanes and being compared to him," Orlandu noted glumly, though not sympathetically.

I did my best to stifle my chuckle.

It escaped anyway.

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Our good humor ended as soon as we got to an old temple, the only way across a narrow area of land over a terrifying blackness. We'd only taken a few steps in when Ramza stopped, gesturing for the four of us to halt as well.

Kletian stood in our path, flanked by two ninjas, two mediators, and two monks. It seemed that despite the poor planning of my former teacher, Kletian was determined to make up for it.

"Move aside," Ramza ordered, taking a step forward as he drew his katana. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the troops flanking Kletian. "We both know that these few troops aren't enough to stop me. Move aside before I'm forced to kill you."

"That's your problem, Ramza," Kletian confided, his grin growing as he observed us. "You only see the broad strengths of your opponents, while I... I prefer to work with the synergy of the troops under my command. For example, did you know that each of these ladies has an affinity for geomancy?"

At his word, the six women slammed their hands into the ground, flooding the temple with water.

"And... Did you know that I've taken black magic farther than it's ever gone?" Kletian demanded, his eyes narrowing. "Say goodbye, Ramza."

The katana that had been in Ramza's hands rebounded off of a protect shield inches from Kletian's throat as he knelt into the water.

"Ninth domain of Ice!" Kletian screamed, crystals forming from our opponent's hands to instantly freeze the water around us, limiting our mobility. Ramza looked down and shattered the ice at his feet in an instant, which is probably the only thing that saved him.

God knows it wouldn't save us, for Kletian wasn't done.

"Third domain of Ice, Impale!" The young mage screamed, a visible corona of energy surrounding him as spikes grew from the ice at our feet. Unlike Mustadio or Agrias, Orlandu and I managed to dodge them, though I could tell the two were dead. When spikes grew from the spikes, I only had time to flinch as a cold lance impaled me, leaving me twitching.

Even Orlandu fell, his eyes widening as thin stilletos of ice penetrated his armor, holding him in place as he slumped, held aloft only by the lances through his vitals.

Our leader, separated from this madness, grew desperate at our plight. He began chanting a spell even as droplets gathered on the icy spike which had gotten me. I knew more spikes would be growing from them momentarily.

My last perception in that battle was Ramza screaming a slow spell, of all things, somehow hitting all four of us.

As consciousness fled, I firmly believed that this would be my last battle. In the center of Kletian's spell, I saw our bleeding leader. He was about to be beset by the troops arrayed against us, not to mention Kletian himself. I knew that even the most powerful resurrection magics could only bring someone back if they'd been dead less than a minute.

It was to this knowledge that I felt life leave me.

I thought our quest doomed.

Yet what felt like only seconds later, I felt warm fingers grasp me, entreating me to open my eyes. When I did, the first thing I saw was a gloved hand hovering inches from my face. I instinctively reached out for it, and, wonder of wonders, Ramza was pulling me to my feet.

I looked at the blond youth. His face was a mass of bruises, and ample pain had been inflicted upon his frame, visible through the damage to his clothing. Holes, presumably from gunfire, marked his tunic where it wasn't slashed to ribbons. His left arm was an unsightly collection of burns, and horror prompted me, in that moment, to remember that Kletian felt that anything less than a Flare was not good enough.

"Seems to me like it's only Vormav left, now," Ramza commented simply, slowly turning to Agrias. "Hey, do you have any ethers? I'm feeling a little drained."

I felt numb.

Somehow, Ramza had managed to bring us all back. I was amazed as I took the headcount, noting that all five of us were still here. Battered and broken, with all his allies killed, our leader had not only managed to turn the tables on the ambush, but done so in a way that left him with enough time to bring us back from the brink of death.

And so we pressed on.

The shattered corpses of our enemies behind us and the unknown terrors of hell itself ahead of us, we journeyed deeper into the world of darkness that surrounded us.

I felt secure, knowing that the man who led us was more terrifying than anything this realm could dream up.

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Author's Notes:

A little short, but... These things happen. On the bright side... Balk 2, Vormav, Ajora, and the Epilogue. And then everything is finished! Part of it was that I wanted to impress on everyone that the the guys the group is facing are badass in their own right... With the spells at his disposal, Kletian should have represented a near total party kill, not a wuss battle.

I also made a Vonnegut reference. I'm sure you know what it is.

I swear to god, as soon as I have the good sense to remember I need a full, proper keyboard... It'll happen. If I could take a sledgehammer to this laptop keyboard without breaking the awesome computer underneath, I would.

As for why I didn't write up the Gift of the Magi scene? Well, Meliadoul wasn't there for it. :P