Disclaimer: I guess I should have said so at the beginning, but I'll do it now; I do not own Final Fantasy, etc., etc.

Separated

The four friends advanced cautiously through the stone tunnels of the flying castle. The passages were perfectly square, with a few magical lamps sparsely placed on the walls. They opened a few wooden doors, but none of them led to stairs.

"It's odd…" said Maria. "It's like they abandoned it…"

"Yeah…" Firion replied distractedly. He knew that there was something very wrong, so he scanned every facet of the corridors for danger. Suddenly, he found it, but not with his eyes. His foot abruptly sank into the stone floor. The swordsman looked down to see that he had stepped on a concealed switch.

Everyone stood completely still. "I wonder what that did…" Paul whispered.

All of a sudden, the floor under Firion angled downward, dropping him into the darkness below. "Firiooooon!" cried Maria, as a piece of floor under her angled in the other direction, and she disappeared.

Guy and Paul looked at each other. "This is bad," said Guy.

* * *

Firion opened his eyes. He was lying in a deep, dark pit, with standing water sloshing around at its bottom. He got to his feet and looked around the chamber, but could not find any exit. It was a rather large room, though.

Suddenly, a piece of wall to his right slid into the ceiling, and a large group of unpleasant guests shuffled in. "Zombies," muttered Firion, drawing his sword.

* * *

Maria was in a similar room, but it was lighter, with lanterns hanging at regular intervals from the ceiling. She rounded a corner and found that there was another chamber here, only it was vast and had a deep pool of green acid at its bottom. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of gold-colored bricks, and there was a precarious bridge spanning the gap to a round door on the other side.

Maria considered the bridge a moment, unsure of whether or not it was safe to cross. Suddenly, a pack of pit fiends made the decision for her. They raced up from behind, forcing her to dash across the narrow, unsupported bridge.

* * *

Above, Paul and Guy decided to keep going and look for stairs descending into the basement. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes, they encountered a gang of hecteyes. The conical, blue monsters approached menacingly, their scores of eyeballs twitching and roving around in countless directions.

"I'll get them," growled Guy, hefting his axe.

Paul drew his own weapon a little less eagerly. "Here goes…" he said, preparing to meet the incoming wave of enemies.

* * *

Firion slashed left and right, slaying zombie after zombie. However, each time he struck one down, it merely rose again, sans an arm or a chunk of its rotten flesh. He retreated back into the dank pit a little as the swarm of undead advanced, claws outstretched.

The swordsman dodged a lunge by one of the creatures, stabbing it in the head as it toppled onto the cold brick floor. "Why won't you die?" he seethed, watching the foe struggle back to its feet. He lopped off both arms and kicked it in the chest, blasting apart its ribcage and sending it reeling into its fellows, who continued their lumbering approach.

"Yeeeeaaaarrrg!" Firion bellowed, stabbing at the advancing mob. Brown blood sprayed from the undead warriors as they were repeatedly punctured by the mythril blade, but they paid no mind to this; they kept on marching.

Suddenly, one of the zombies rushed at Firion, grabbed him around the shoulders, and attempted to bite his neck. The fiend's hooked claws dug into his skin. "Get off of me!" he bellowed, slashing madly with his sword. However, they evil being refused to let go, even after its legs were severed and its long-still heart lacerated with wounds.

* * *

Maria looked over her shoulder and saw the charging warg pack bound onto the stone bridge. They were frenzied, with wide eyes and their long tongues lolling from the sides of their mouths. She knocked an arrow to her bow, but before she could fire, the bridge collapsed. Large pieces fell away into the acid below, making it hiss furiously.

One by one, the wargs were plunged into the searing pool. Maria, on the other hand, managed to leap away as the last section of the ancient bridge broke free. She landed on the opposite platform, but the largest of the wargs also performed this feat, flying up behind her.

Maria sensed her peril and whirled around, knocking an arrow to her bow. The giant wolf soared at her, its fangs barred and its claws outstretched. She let go, and the arrow shot forth to find itself buried in the beast's chest. It stuck the side of the ledge, slipped off, and fell into the acid.

Seeing that there were no more enemies, Maria turned and walked out the door to a meandering staircase…

* * *

"What's up with these things?" cried Paul, hacking at a hecteyes with his sword. "They don't seem to be resisting!"

Suddenly, the monster turned all of its eyes on the thief and blasted him with a concentrated beam. He fell back, dropping his weapon. Guy saw this and immediately rushed over, swinging his axe down upon the menace.

"Don't let them do that," Guy advised, slaying another one.

Shortly, the magic-using blobs were all killed, but more foes were on their way. "Pit fiends!" Paul shouted as six small, gray-skinned demons with long, sharp fangs and leathery wings rocketed down the hallway, waving spears or tridents in their hands.

Guy made his counterattack, charging forward to intercept the flying creatures. They didn't expect this, and were quickly disoriented and disbanded. This allowed Paul to hurry up behind and stab or slice them out of the air. Pit fiends spiraled around him as he lashed out with his blade. Eventually, they were all downed.

"Let's go," grunted Guy, walking down the hallway…

* * *

"Argh!" Firion screamed as a zombie threw itself on him and bit his shoulder, under the armor. He fell to the ground and rolled, sending the monster crashing into a wall nearby. He got to his feet, but remained kneeling, slashing the creatures' legs as they surrounded him.

Once every zombie was legless, Firion leapt up and backed away. They continued to advance, however. The sight of the gory warriors crawling toward him, their eyes blazing with fury, was thoroughly unsettling.

"Okay! Take this!" the swordsman yelled, preparing a spell. He only knew a couple of them, and was not nearly as skilled as Maria, but he did know what to do now. After a few quick gestures, he raised his arms skyward and called, "Holy!"

Promptly, rays of white light pierced through the stone ceiling, blinding Firion. He covered his eyes until the bright glimmering faded away. When he removed his forearm from his face, he was pleased to see that all of the zombies' flesh had been burned away by the pure light, and they were now only piles of dusty bones. Satisfied, Firion picked his way through the skeletons and exited through the large opening they had opened, rushing up a spiral staircase…

Thanks for reading! For this chapter, I decided to make the Holy spell from Final Fantasy II more like the Dia spell from the original Final Fantasy. Check back soon to see how the party reunites and conquers the Aleens!