Final Fantasy: Rise of Despair

Well I'm short on ideas for my survivor story at the moment (I haven't abandoned it) so I thought what the heck.

When we last left the group, after a boat journey that was more painful for others and a trip through the desert, Harris raises up more and more questions with himself and now the group is surrounded by an unknown party in Nargai cave. What lies in wait for them? And can they handle whatever it may be?

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, I do own the characters and plot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Laura

Harris and party looked all around them at the silhouettes on the ledges above them. "So… how many are we counting here?" Monty asked. Mendoza whiffed the air for a moment.

"Ten." Mendoza said.

"Well then, are we going to fight?" Hunter asked.

"I just have one thing to say." Harris said.

"And that is?" Gilbert asked.

"Don't kill them." Harris said.

"Not sure what the purpose behind that is but okey-dokey." Hunter said. Instantly four silhouettes leaped down, they revealed themselves to be a viera fencer, two human soldiers, and a bangaa white monk. Heidi fired two arrows at the fencer and with superb accuracy, pinned the fencer to the cave wall. The White Monk tried to jump her from behind, but she disappeared and then reappeared behind him.

"Rock seal." She pressed her palm on his back and petrified him.

"Here I come!" Mendoza didn't wait to get attacked; he jumped up one ledge toward a silhouette that turned out to be a human fighter. The fighter wielded his blade with two hands and the two began an intense sword fight, sending sparks flying with every clash of their blades.

The two human soldiers rushed Harris from two sides. One swung low while the other swung high. Harris jumped slightly while tucking his head, the split second he landed he struck the wrists of the two soldiers with his hands and caused them to drop their weapons. Harris then slammed their heads on to the ground and knocked them out cold.

One more figure, a Moogle Mog Knight leaped down and charged at Gilbert. "Hmph… Become as one that leaps, that is green, and that who croaks." Gilbert chanted. "Toad!" Before the Mog Knight could strike him Gilbert had turned him in to a small frog.

"ribbit."

"Addle!" Hunter fired a glowing arrow made from mana at a Nu mou illusionist and the arrow went through him and came out through a point where the skull and spine connected. Despite no wound being on his body, the arrow had disoriented the nu mou and all his senses felt as though they were scrambled. "Ha ha! Capture!" Hunter fired a mana net at a time mage and pinned him to the cave wall. "This is too easy."

"I agree." Monty said as he used stopshot on a human black mage.

"But who is that last silhouette?" Gilbert asked. The final silhouette stepped forward. He was a bangaa templar. Like most templars he wore long, almost tattered yet regal robes with plates of armor on the body, head, tail, and forearms. However instead of the robes being blue they were yellow in color, the bangaa's skin was orange, and his eyes were green and had a sense of understanding and pride in them. He stood a full 6'1" in height.

"Haste!" The templar raised his hands over him and twelve roman numerals spun around him at high speeds before disappearing. The templar then dashed from his position, leaving only a blur behind him.

"He's fast!" Monty said, obviously startled.

"Grah!" Mendoza and the fighter locked blades; the fighter was beaten up quite badly despite still putting up a fight while Mendoza looked raring to go. "Rush!" Mendoza then shoved the fighter with incredible force and sent him skidding backwards in to a cave wall, leaving a large crack in it. "Ha, too easy." Mendoza said as the fighter fell to the ground. "Whoa!" Mendoza spun around and barely avoided a lance thrust at him from the templar.

"Hmmm… impressive reflexes." The templar said seriously.

"Blitz!" Mendoza took an accurate swing at the templar, however the templar blocked it with his shield.

"Bonecrusher!" The templar slammed Mendoza with the side of his lance with bone crushing force. In fact, that's exactly what happened.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Mendoza screamed bloody murder as he collapsed.

"Fla…"

"Soul Sphere!" The templar cast a spell that caused a purple sphere of mana to surround Gilbert before Gilbert could finish his flare spell. Gilbert's mana had been completely drained.

"!!!" Gilbert could only pop open his eyes in shock. "He's powerful…" He uttered.

"That's stating the obvious." Monty said firing his gun at the templar.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Jump!" The templar yelled and then leaped high in to the air above the party.

"He knows dragon tech as well?" Heidi asked surprised.

"Cover!" Harris teleported to Monty's location and drew one of his swords. As the templar came down with his lance pointed at them, Harris turned his sword so that the broadside of his sword blocked the lance. Although Harris didn't budge, the ground beneath him cracked under the power. The templar then performed a front flip and ended up behind Monty, just within reach of his lance.

"Hiyah!" The templar hit Monty with his lance.

"Gaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Monty passed out.

"That yell from earlier was cheer?" Harris asked himself. The templar then ran around the party and then dashed toward Heidi.

"Not fast enough!" Heidi back flipped in to the air while drawing her bow and firing at the templar. Unfortunately the templar did manage to avoid the arrows.

"Allow me." Hunter said.

"Go ahead." Harris answered.

"Faster!" Hunter fired an arrow that was too fast for the templar to react to and thus the templar had to block it with his shield. "Aim: Legs!" While the templar couldn't see over his shield, Hunter fired a mana arrow at one of his legs and after striking it, disappeared.

"Curses… I can't move." The templar said.

"That's right." Hunter said getting ready to fire another arrow, however Harris put a hand out in front of Hunter. "Huh?"

"That's enough." Harris said with a smile. "So… did we live up to your expectations?" Harris asked the templar. "… Kyle the lance?" Harris finished.

"Yes, in fact you exceeded them." The templar that was apparently Kyle answered.

"That's Kyle the lance?" Hunter asked.

"What's he doing here?" Heidi asked.

"First thing's first." Harris said. Although it took a little time, and several cure-based spells and esuna spells from Harris, Harris brought everyone back to top condition. "So then… what are you doing here?" Harris asked.

"I… am the second in command of Clan Laura." Kyle said.

"So these guys are clan Laura?" Monty asked.

"Is every clan we're going to meet with going to test us like this?" Mendoza asked.

"Let's hope not." Gilbert sighed disinterestedly.

"Anyways, I now need you guys to follow me." Kyle instructed. Everyone did indeed follow Kyle. Once they were up on the ledge Kyle was originally standing on, Kyle kicked a boulder three times lightly, tapped a specific point on the wall twice, then stomped on a part of the floor in front of him five times, and then twist a stalagmite clockwise once and counterclockwise twice, a door opened up.

"That's a rather… elaborate lock." Gilbert noted.

"You really have a knack for pointing out the obvious today don't you?" Hunter asked with a smile.

"What are you saying by that?" Gilbert asked.

"Come on, come on." Kyle urged. The party then proceeded to follow Kyle down a flight of stone stairs. Once they reached the bottom of those stairs, Kyle turned and led them down another flight of stairs.

"Are we going to be walking down stairs the whole time? My legs are sore from all the walking we've done lately." Monty asked.

"Well we can't have too many flights of stairs." Mendoza reassured him.

"There are twenty flights of stairs total." Kyle said seriously.

"Augh…" Mendoza groaned.

"Is there any other way?" Monty whined.

"That's rude to ask like that." Heidi scolded.

"Well, I guess we can take the elevator. Although I wouldn't recommend it." Kyle said. Once they reached the bottom of that flight, Kyle kicked a section of wall a few times and an elevator made of stone opened up. Everyone filed in. "Here goes." Kyle pressed a button, the door closed and…

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Came Monty and Mendoza's screams as the elevator apparently fell. This was soon followed by a loud

CRASH

The elevator opened up, everyone with the exception of Monty and Mendoza was standing as they had when the elevator had closed. "Let's move on." Kyle said.

"Say why did your regular members and elites stay behind outside?" Gilbert asked.

"They're clearing away any evidence of our battle outside." Kyle answered. "Just in case any travelers come by and think they can be in the Black King's favor." As they walked down some hallways, or staggered in Monty and Mendoza's case, they final reached some stone double doors.

"Is this where the clanmaster is?" Hunter asked.

"Yes, but before we enter, I must warn you that clanmaster Laura can be quite… difficult if you haven't been around her." Kyle warned.

"We have business to discuss and I can't be daunted." Harris answered.

"Very well." Kyle opened the doorway. The room they entered was quite expansive. It was almost like a football field in both size and shape, only made entirely from stone. At the other end of the room, there was a set of stairs leading up to a stone throne that had someone sitting on it.

The figure was a viera; she was dressed like most red mages are with a pointed hat, short sleeved shirt and drapes over her lower body with black shorts underneath, however the clothing was purple in color. The long boots and shoes weren't any different however. Her rapier was sheathed on her left side, and her ears were pierced with gold rings. She had brown eyes, and had a very bored look on her face. She was probably 5'5" in height.

"Clanmaster Laura, I have brought guests." Kyle bowed.

"I suppose you tested them." Laura guessed completely bored. "How were the results?"

"They all managed to defeat our elites and normal members with ease. I was able to take care of three of them. The viera was fast enough to dodge me while I was under the influence of haste, the paladin was able to block my lance without any effort, and the hunter was the one who disabled me." Kyle said.

"Fine then…" She sighed.

"I didn't think she'd be interested in the results." Kyle thought.

"Okay does this girl care about anything?" Monty asked.

"She's certainly… I am actually at a loss for how to describe her besides disinterested." Heidi thought.

"So why are you here?" Laura asked them.

"Didn't you receive my letter?" Harris asked stepping forward somewhat.

"I do remember getting something from that mail service, but I don't ever read what little mail comes my way." Laura said.

"Kyle was right, she will be tough to deal with." Harris thought. Harris cleared his throat and continued. "I'm traveling Ivalice looking for powerful clans. Clans that the Black King considers a threat so that we may unite and have a chance at defeating the black army once and for all." Laura passed him a bored glance. "So… will you help us?"

"Hmmmm… no." She answered.

"What?" Was the reaction from everyone except for Harris and Kyle.

"But why?" Heidi asked.

"I hate the black army as well, but if I did help you, you'd all just slow me down." Laura said.

"What! Are you calling us weak?" Mendoza demanded.

"Quite frankly, yes I am." Laura answered.

"Oh that does it! Insulting me is one thing, but no one insults clanmaster Harris!" Mendoza began running toward Laura, however Harris reached out a hand and grabbed Mendoza by the tail, basically making Mendoza run in place.

"Alright that's enough." Harris said to him.

"Yeah we don't want to start trouble." Hunter said.

"That weakling has a point." Laura said while looking at Hunter.

"What did you just call me?" Hunter shouted. He started running toward her as well, but Heidi grabbed him by the shirt collar and was making him run in place as well.

"What did you just say?" Heidi asked Hunter with a sigh.

"We could really use your assistance. Your powers will be a vital asset to helping to bring down the black king." Harris urged.

"No means no, what is the point of adding my strength to yours when you'll just weigh me down trying to help you?" Laura asked.

"Oh that does it!" Monty yelled.

"I see that we are wasting our time here." Harris sighed. Before Monty or Mendoza could do anything else, Harris grabbed them both and literally dragged them toward the door. "We'll just prepare ourselves for the trip back and be on our way." Harris said. "Come on." Harris told the others.

"Very well." Gilbert sighed and came along. Hunter and Heidi were reluctant at first, but they nonetheless followed Harris through the door.

"I warned them… but still… even I'm finding it hard to believe that clanmaster Laura would turn them down so flatly." Kyle thought. He took a deep bow to Laura and left the room.

Harris and group were in another room. "Man, who does that girl think she is?" Monty asked in a very steamed up manner as he took a drink of water to try and cool down.

"Insulting clanmaster Harris and Heidi-sama like that? That girl has got some nerve." Mendoza fumed.

"I can't believe she called me weak… I was the one that beat that Kyle guy wasn't I?" Hunter moaned.

"Well this could be a problem." Harris said.

"We came here to get her help and she won't give it. There must be some way to convince her." Gilbert said.

"Maybe if we kept asking, maybe if we tried appealing to here sense of pity for the others that are suffering." Heidi suggested.

"You won't even scratch the surface of it." Kyle said, just walking in.

"Oh! Kyle." Heidi said, a little surprised.

"Huh? She doesn't have a sense of pity either? Man she is wicked." Monty said.

"Don't you dare say that!" Kyle raised his voice while pointing at Monty.

"urp…" Monty sunk under the table.

"So… did you come here just to tell us that?" Harris asked.

"No… I came to give you an explanation. That much is owed to you." Kyle said.

"An explanation?" Hunter asked.

"Clanmaster Laura wasn't always like this." Kyle began. "Let me start from the beginning."

Flashback…

An eight-year old Kyle was wandering Cadoan by himself. He was an orphan, his clothes were dirty, and he was hungry, very hungry. Finally he collapsed and everything was starting to go black.

"Oh my! John! Come quick! A bangaa child just collapsed out here!" A female voice called.

"Hang on, I'm coming…" Everything then went dark as the voices faded.

A while later Kyle woke up, he was cleaned off and there was delicious smelling food at the side of the bed he was laying on. "Huh… where am I?" Kyle asked.

"You're in our home." Came a young voice. It was an eight year old Laura. Only she had a very happy expression on her face. "Mom made you this food. Why did you pass out? Where are your parents?" She asked.

"… I have none…" Kyle said.

"Oh…"

Laura's parents took Kyle in and raised him as if he were their son, he and Laura grew up as if they were brother and sister. But then two years later…

"Kyle! Laura! Run!" Laura's father urged.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked.

"What's wrong dad?" Laura asked.

"The new king has sent his men to terrorize Cadoan. If they get to you they will take you away for good. So run now!" His dad urged. He didn't wait for a response, he took them to a hidden panel in the floor and ushered them in. "Take this tunnel, it will take you out of the city to a hidden spot, wait there until I come to get you." He instructed as he grabbed a sword.

"But dad…" Kyle said.

"Go." He ordered. They had no choice but to go. They waited at some kind of oasis, they waited for hours, but then Laura went back to town on her own after a while of waiting. They reached their house and found both John and his viera wife dead.

"Why…" Kyle asked was the tears leaked down his face.

"They… weren't strong enough…" Laura said with tears in her eyes. Finally a single teardrop fell from her face to the ground.

Back to the present…

"After that, many more things happened, we went our separate ways and then met back in Cadoan by coincidence. However she wasn't the Laura I knew." Kyle said. Almost everyone had tears in their eyes except for Gilbert and Harris, but both of them showed signs of pity. "Apparently she had sought to grow stronger because she thought her parents weren't strong enough. Thus that became the only thing she cared about was her own strength." Kyle said. "Since then she has had the mindset that she is superior to whomever she sees and thus far, that has proven true, as she is far stronger than I am." Kyle said.

"That's… so sad…" Monty said with tears welling up in his eyes.

"That… oh man…" Mendoza said while choking up. "Oh Monty!"

"Oh Mendoza!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" They both hugged each other with tears streaming out of their eyes rather comically.

"I hope I never have to see that again…" Hunter sighed as he wiped away a few tears.

"Now I hope that you understand." Kyle said.

"Hmmmm…" Harris was now deep in thought. "Heidi, may I talk to you alone for a moment?" Harris asked.

"Of course." Heidi said wiping away a few tears.

Several minutes later…

Harris walked back in to the stadium/throne room, this time however, the elites and regular members from outside were sprawled throughout the room doing various exercises while Laura meditated on her throne. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at Harris. "Are you here to ask me to help you again?" She asked.

"No actually, I come with a challenge." Harris said. Everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing immediately and stared at Harris wide-eyed.

"A challenge? You're challenging me to a duel?" Laura asked.

"Actually…" Harris began.

"I'm the one that will be your opponent." Heidi said as she entered the room.

"You? Hmph… that's even less interesting than that paladin." Laura said. She looked at the two for a moment. Gave a not so friendly smile and then said, "Very well then."

A few minutes later…

Heidi and Laura were standing on opposite sides of the expansive battlefield. Everything and everyone was cleared out. Harris and group, and the rest of Clan Laura stood by the side of the arena. Harris and Kyle near the center while Harris' elites and Hunter were sitting right beneath them.

"Well then… shall we begin?" Laura asked, drawing her rapier, taking a straddle stance and pointing her rapier at Heidi.

"I'm ready." Heidi said drawing her Katana and holding it in front of her. The air seemed to grow tense as they stared at each other. Finally, they both dashed toward each other. "Hiiiiiyaaaaaaahhh!"

"Hiiiiiiyaaaaaahhh!" The two of them met somewhere near the middle and began sword fighting with each other. Heidi was taking rhythmic slashes while Laura was using perfect fencing form with blocks and thrusts. The two kept clashing blades and dodging attacks at high speeds for what felt like a long time despite the high speeds the two were moving at.

"Man, for a red mage she's keeping up with Heidi-sama quite well." Mendoza said.

"Even though close-range combat isn't her specialty, she exceeds me in close combat by a small margin." Kyle commented. "But clanmaster Laura hasn't even begun to fight yet." He thought.

"Double-slash!" Heidi used a close-range version of double-shot and took two quick slashes at Laura, however she ducked under the first one and spun backwards to avoid the second one, she then stepped forward and thrust her rapier forward and managed to catch Heidi at the waist.

"Heh." Laura scoffed.

"Augh." Heidi leaped back a few feet from the second slash.

"Although I don't use lunge techniques, I'm still more than proficient at fencing." Laura said standing straight up and holding her rapier vertically in front of her face.

"This will be interesting then." Heidi said. She dashed at Laura and disappeared using conceal. Laura stood in wait for a moment, then spun around and deflected Heidi's wrist knife and continued with a roundhouse kick to Heidi's abdomen.

"Gah!" Heidi slid backwards a bit.

"Thunder!" Laura cast a thunder spell that caused several lightning bolts to drop toward Heidi.

"Grrr…" Heidi recovered her footing and leaped back to avoid the bolts. She put away her katana and pulled out her bow. "Double Shot!" Heidi fired two arrows at Laura. Laura sidestepped the arrows and turned to face Heidi again.

"Doublecast! Blizzard!" Laura attempted to hit Heidi with icicles from below, but Heidi back flipped away from that. "Fire!" Laura then caused a small fireball to fly at Heidi. But Heidi drew her Katana and swung it in a fashion in which the fireball disappeared. "She's a tad better than I thought she'd be… but still not good enough." Laura thought.

"Double Shot!" Heidi fired more arrows at Laura, but she deflected them with her rapier.

"Doublecast! Thunder!" Laura caused small bolts to fall toward Heidi's location, but Heidi leaped away.

"Doubleshot!"

"Blizzara! Gah!" Laura was hit by two arrows, but not before she cast a spell that caused slightly larger icicles to rise from where Heidi landed and strike her.

"Ah!" Heidi screamed.

"Fira! Thundara!" Laura then cast two more powerful spells. Heidi dodged to the side to avoid the medium sized fireball, but she still received a slight burn in the side, but she managed to completely avoid the medium sized lightning bolts. As she dodged to the side she fired another arrow.

"Beso Toxico!" Heidi fired a poisoned arrow that struck Laura in the shoulder.

"Heh, nice try but my ribbon prevents poisoning." Laura sneered.

"Augh… if she keeps Heidi on her toes like that Heidi won't be able to win." Hunter groaned.

"Don't worry." Harris said.

"I would worry, despite using stronger spells, clanmaster Laura still isn't taking her seriously." Kyle thought to himself.

"Cura. Blizzara!" Laura first healed herself and then caused icicles to erupt toward Heidi at an angle to keep Heidi at a distance, Heidi wasn't able to completely avoid damage and received numerous scratches as she shielded her face.

"Alright… here I come!" Heidi disappeared completely this time. Harris noted that some dust was being kicked up very very slightly in a circular pattern around Laura, no one else seemed to notice. However Laura noticed that and aimed a spell behind her.

"Fira!" A medium sized fireball crashed behind her and hit nothing. "What? Ah!" Laura quickly brought up her rapier and quickly blocked a slash from Heidi. Heidi then spun around to deliver another slash but she promptly disappeared again. "Now what is she…"

"Double-slash!" Heidi appeared behind Laura and delivered a quick slash across her back. Laura groaned and spun around to attack Heidi, but Heidi disappeared again and just as quickly reappeared at Laura's side and delivered a slash to her side.

"Gah!" Laura managed to strike Heidi in the shoulder before the two leaped back again.

"Thunder!" Small lightning bolts were about to land where Heidi was landing. Heidi however stuck her sword in the ground and swung around and landed in a different spot before disappearing again. "All right, where's she coming from?"

"Doubleshot!" Heidi fired two arrows from above that caught Laura off guard and all she could do was shield her face. Heidi disappeared in mid-air before she even landed.

"Whoa! She's putting up a fight." A normal member stated.

"Unbelievable…"

"Alright! Sock it to her Heidi!" Hunter cheered.

"That's the way to do it!" Monty cheered.

"Way to go Heidi-sama!" Mendoza cheered. Harris, Gilbert, and Kyle remained silent, although Harris and Gilbert were smiling.

"This is a surprise… this Heidi girl is beating clanmaster Laura in close combat but…clanmaster Laura still won't take her seriously." Kyle thought.

"Hiyah!" This time Laura intercepted a slash from behind and the two resumed a furious sword fight with each other, both of them striking at each other harder than before with the sound of metal clashing with metal ringing through the air. Laura dodged an attack and began thrusting at Heidi rapidly, creating the illusion of multiple rapiers thrusting at Heidi, but Heidi simply jumped back and dashed around her a few times before charging at Laura to take a slice.

CLANG

The two dashed past each other. Despite their swords having met, the two had both succeeded in hitting slashing each other in the side. Heidi's mask and hat had fallen off in the fight and the look of determination was more evident than ever in her face. "Well done…" Laura said smiling.

"?" Heidi looked at her curiously. Laura turned around and faced Heidi.

"I will now show you how I earned my alias, the queen of espers." Laura stated.

"What's an esper?" Monty asked.

"Espers are… spirits." Gilbert said.

"Spirits?" Mendoza asked.

"The espers live in a world parallel but separate from ours. These spirits posses tremendous magical power, and can be called from the other world through a special form of magic." Gilbert explained.

"What kind of magic?" Both Monty and Mendoza asked.

"Summoning magic." Harris said. "A form of magic that only viera can perform due to a special connection they have to this spirit world. They can call a spirit to aid them in battle." Harris said, as his tone grew grimmer.

"?" The two were fairly confused.

"Spirits are supposedly infinitely more powerful in magic arts than anyone in this world, but they only use as much of their power as they feel the summoner deserves." Gilbert said.

"And the espers acknowledge clanmaster Laura highly." Kyle added in. "Now clanmaster Laura will start to take this battle seriously."

"Heidi…" Harris thought to himself with concern in his face.

"I call upon thee! Ramuh!" Laura pressed her hand to the ground, a magical circle that glowed yellow in color appeared on the ground. A bright flash of light then rose up from the circle.

"Ah…" Heidi gasped in awe. The room seemed to grow darker, the air began to cackle with energy. From the light came a floating entity. It resembled an ancient old man with a long white beard dressed in yellow and brown robes holding an oaken staff. His eyes were glowing red and lightning was cackling all around him and making the room shake under his magical power.

"Ha ha ha ha ha…" Laura laughed. "Face the judgement of Ramuh!" Laura cried as the lightning around Ramuh grew more intense and Heidi stood in place staring at this sight.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's right! I'm going to leave it here. Read and Review. And yes I have added a few spells to the red mages arsenal. Just Thundara, Blizzara, Fira, and Cura.