Draco: The problem with not matching III's path exactly is that it's hard to come up with that many dungeons.
Arca: It's a shame too; though at least it's not as generic as the original quest.
Draco: Yeah, the NES-era Fantasies don't exactly have the most fleshed-out of plots.
Arca: Well, at least you can use your imagination.
Draco: {laughs} Yeah. {to readers} Well, Chapter 11!
Final Fantasy III and the Eternal Wind era © Square Enix
"So, this is the land of the dwarves."
In all honesty, there wasn't much land to call dwarven. The Tower of Ice was a tall, narrow structure, glistening in the sunlight like a crystal itself - from the outside, Kyra reckoned three floors, at most. That was in the middle of a wide expanse of jagged, untraversable rock about the size of a one-story building; there was a cave entrance before a small spit of shore, where Haisen had moored the Blue Dragon.
Kimiko's observation prompted a sigh from Malum. "I'm guessing we won't be able to just walk into the Tower of Ice," she theorized, rubbing the back of her neck.
"That's probably not a good idea," Kyra agreed. "Maybe we should ask around with the dwarves."
"Into the cave, then?" Haisen prompted.
Kyra bit her lip, remembering the last caves they had been in that they knew was the residence of a few; then she nodded. "Into the cave," she confirmed.
Their boarding plank was drawn out; then they stepped down from the ship and headed into the dark maw of the earth.
The dwarven cave managed to be at once more cramped and less cramped than the Dragon's Caves. On one hand, once they got through the short entryway, the cave was a much more open place; enough so, in fact, that there was a pedestal in the middle of it, atop which were two horns of glistening ice, surrounded by a small moat that, while not exactly impassable, did make it look beautiful. There were also a few small doors along one wall, with signs set up on each - a quick look at those signs revealed an inn, weapon shop, and item shop - and two other passages in the corners of the opposite wall (although one seemed to be guarded by a dwarf determined not to let anyone pass).
On the other hand, the ceiling seemed uncomfortably low; Malum's tall Black Mage hat kept scraping against it, prompting her to take it off. There was also much less lighting; a torch between each of those doors, to make the signs readable, a torch each on the short walls, two torches on the long wall, and one on either side of that pedestal. The end result was that it looked like there was a lot less space than there was.
A dwarf nearby saw them enter and raised a hand in greeting. "Lali-ho, outside's!" he greeted, stepping towards them. "Wha' brings ye here?"
"Hi," Kyra replied, trying to pick her words carefully. "Um... We heard there were some... researchers, in the Tower of Ice?"
"Ach," the dwarf sighed, "ye mean the Ancien's. They've been watchin' the Fiah Crystal for months now, sayin' they're gonna 'make somethin' tha'll make every un's lives easier'."
Haisen blinked twice, confused by the statement. "I'm... sorry, 'Ancients'?" he inquired.
The dwarf looked surprised. "Well," he mused. "Ye must be from eastahly if ye haven' heard of the Ancien's," he mused, eyeing each of the four.
"Yeah, we're all from the Sasune area," Malum confirmed. Then, she went on to ask what the four of them were most likely thinking. "So, who are these Ancient guys?"
"A bunch o' pricks, is wha' they are," another dwarf called from across the cave.
Kimiko glanced in his direction before turning to the dwarf in front of them.
Said dwarf gave a sigh. "The Ancien's live in a village to the west end o' the continent," he explained. "They say those people were the firs' ones to discover the Crystals, and their blood is 'touched by the Crystals', and they're so much better than other humans, and blah blah blah. It's a pain in the ass the longer ye get to know 'em. They even call this thing the Ancien' Continent, and go' every un else callin' it that."
"I see," Kyra mused. "So, do we have to go through any sort of... procedure, before we go into the Tower of Ice?" she asked.
"Nah, ye can just all walk in if ye like," the dwarf assured them.
Malum scoffed, her head falling forward like she wanted to slam it on something. "You're kidding," she insisted.
"I'm no'," the dwarf insisted. "Thing is, though, I can' say them Ancien's are gonna be all tha' welcomin' if ye walk in on their researchin'. They go' a lo' of stuff in that place. Ye might wan' to ask around on the bo'om floor before ye star' climbin'."
Kimi bowed politely. "Thank you for the information," she told him.
"Ach, don' mention i'," the dwarf insisted.
The four Warriors started back towards the entrance.
And a cascade of men in smart attire rushed in through the entryway, meeting them with a crash, four-into-four.
Lying upon the cave floor, Kyra noted that for once, Kimi wouldn't be the only one to have been knocked down by her own actions. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find a multitude of papers scattering around them, each covered in writing. She got to her feet to see several men, dressed similarly to the researcher in Tokkul, trying to collect the papers - there were more than the four that had collided with them.
The dwarves seemed surprised to see them. "Wha' are all you doin' down here?" asked the one who had been speaking with the Warriors, approaching them as the cascade of men tried to collect up the papers. "I though' you lot weren't gonna be ou' of tha' Tower for another year or some such."
"We've got a problem," one of the researchers insisted. "Monsters started showing up in there."
That got everyone's attention. "Monsters?" Kimi echoed.
"Yeah," another researcher insisted, "monsters. Fire monsters, what's more. Bombs, Balloons, Red Marshmallows - we're lucky our data didn't catch fire on our way out of there."
"Ach, ye don' have to worry," the dwarf insisted. "Tha' ice is enchan'ed with the Crystal's magic. A couple mons'ers ain' gonna pose a problem."
"We know that," a third researcher insisted. "I got my tongue stuck to that stuff for a week, and our candles didn't do anything to loosen it up. But we've got our machines and everything still set up around the Crystal. If those monsters start attacking something that wasn't there before-!"
Haisen groaned. "Why did you leave things at the Crystal altar?" he demanded.
The researchers seemed to just now notice the four of them sitting there. "What's it to you?" a fourth demanded.
"What's it to us?" Malum demanded, getting to her feet. "You can't just leave things to mess with the Crystals! Those things keep the world safe!" Her arm gestured to outside the cave, wherever those monsters were.
"Yes, because that had completely escaped us," a fifth researcher mused, his voice thick with sarcasm. "It's not 'messing with' the Crystal. It's just analysing it. The problem is that the monsters might mess with that!"
Kyra sighed. "This is getting nowhere," she muttered. Then, louder; "Look, we need to speak to someone with authority. Who's in charge of your research project?"
That got the researchers panicking. "Elena," a sixth man realized. "Where's Elena?"
A seventh cursed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "Don't tell me she's stuck in there!"
"Don't even think about it!" Kyra shouted when the researchers started turning around. "You're gonna get yourselves killed if you run in there unarmed."
"And you kids are gonna do any better?" an eighth man demanded, turning to her.
In response, the Red Mage drew her knife and then her sword. Malum pulled her casting rod, a flame lighting on the end, and Haisen raised a hand sparkling with Cure magic. Kimi pulled out one of her bronze knuckles, setting her fingers against the rings.
"I reckon, yeah," Kyra admitted.
The dwarf stepped forward as the four of them stashed their weapons. "Look," he insisted, "ye Ancien's have been workin' way too hard to be runnin' back in'o that Tower so quick. Ye all rest here for a bi', and let these four go ge' your boss." Turning to the Warriors; "Ye four migh' wanna stop by the armoury before ye go, we go' a few pieces o' fire-resis'an' gear tha' you'll wanna take with ye."
"Maybe if we can afford it," Kimi admitted.
They couldn't afford all of it.
New magic-enhancing robes and ice-enchanted casting staves for Malum and Haisen; a slightly more durably fighting gi for Kimiko; a shield enchanted with ice magic for Kyra; a restock of potions, and a supply of Gold Needles for reversing petrification. There were better swords than what Kyra had received from the Vikings, but just this much had run the Warriors nearly broke; they elected to call it a gain, and soon the four of them were back on board the Blue Dragon, bringing it around the dwarven coast and towards the Tower of Ice. The tower had a proper dock made of solid ice like the rest of the structure; consequently, the walk off the ship was much less downhill than it had been getting into the Dwarven Hollows.
"Fire monsters in an ice castle," Malum mused. "This is going to feel so weird."
"No kidding," Kimi agreed.
Kyra sighed, rolling her shoulders. "Well, we'll have to put up with it," she insisted. "The Crystal's here. And I'll bet my blade that these monsters are here because something bigger is after the Crystal."
Haisen scoffed. "Come on," he insisted. "No one else here uses a blade."
The Red Mage shot him a glare.
"I'll shut up now," Haisen murmured.
Malum raised a hand to quiet them. "Shh," she insisted. "Do you hear that?"
The four of them went quiet. After a short while, Kimi said, "Hear... what?"
"Nothing," the Black Mage observed matter-of-factly.
"Gods, Malum," Haisen protested. "I was half-ready to throw an Aero to stop something charging at me."
"But that's just it," Malum insisted. "If there was a bunch of crap sitting around everywhere like those Ancient guys said there were, the monsters should be going haywire. Bombs are horrendously noisy when they get agitated, even before they start blowing up. And their boss... Elena? Fire monsters aren't gonna sit there and let her walk through them. We should be able to hear any fighting from here."
Kyra turned to her. "What are you saying?"
Malum drew her weapons - she had decided to keep her Mythril Rod to use in tandem with the Ice Staff from the dwarves. "Either those Ancients are giving us a bunch of B.S. about leaving their stuff behind, and they just wanted to rush back in here for another look at the Crystal... or this place is a twisting, winding labyrinth that stops the noise from getting too far. And that means we can't just rush in there the way we usually do, or we're going to get our asses kicked."
"Do you have a plan?" Kimiko asked.
"Haisen," Malum mused, "you said mages can't be up-and-front on a fight, right?"
"Pure casters can't," Haisen corrected. "Kyra is fine on that front."
Malum bit back the urge to retort against his need to be specific. "Alright, then. Kimi, you take point. If you see something, try and take it down before it sees you. Kyra," she added, turning to the Ur girl, "you're at the back. Keep your hand on your gear and your eyes open. If something tries to sucker-punch you, cut it, cast it, or put your shield between it and you." Then, to Haisen; "You stay right behind Kimi so you can patch her wounds quick if she gets hurt. I'll be between you and Kyra so there's more between you and a sneak-attack.
"Are you worried about me?" the White Mage taunted, a smirk slowly appearing on his lips
"You're our healer," Malum snapped, rolling her eyes at him. "If you go down, we're boned. It's called strategy."
Haisen snickered. "I suppose you gotta make up for it somehow," he observed.
Malum was about to raise her rod to whack him when Kimiko caught her arm. "Let's just go," she insisted.
Kyra drew her sword and shield. "Kimi, lead the way."
The Tower of Ice was indeed a labyrinth - and more than that, every branch of paths was a dead end or circled back on itself. The fire monsters were plentiful - in addition to the Bombs, Balloons, and Red Marshmallows that the researchers had mentioned, there were canine Crocottas, and a type winged, tailed beast that Haisen identified as Myrmecoleons - and advised everyone to stay away from. "If you're unlucky, a touch from those things will petrify you - and Gold Needles aren't cheap." In addition, every so often they would run into a wider room with multiple exits - and an Adamantoise in residence that just did not want to die.
Kimi had about a fifty-percent success rate for 'take them down before they saw her'. They did indeed get back-attacked a few times, and one of them managed to hit Malum without touching Kyra, thus proving the Black Mage's strategy for putting an extra body between the monsters and Haisen.
The bottom floor had a couple chests in some of the dead-ends, with a couple Antarctic Winds within them that managed to stop Malum from getting too annoyed with the labyrinth. Eventually, they did find the stairway to the next floor - and as they arrived at the second floor, they were greeted by a surprising sight.
A woman in similar garb to the Ancient researchers, with blonde hair that nearly reached her waist, was surrounded by five or six Red Marshmallows. She wore a pair of fingerless gloves, and as the Warriors watched, she rushed up to one of the flans, landed a hit, and leapt away. None of the monsters looked particularly wounded, and the woman looked tired, as though she had been at this fight for a while now.
Malum was the first to act. Leaning to the side so Haisen and Kimi weren't between her and the monsters, she raised her Mythril Rod and shouted, "Blizzara!"
Her voice got the monsters' attention as the magic began; the Red Marshmallows were all mid-turn when icy blades ripped out of their bodies, causing them to fade out. One, two, three, four, five, six shots of Blizzara; the woman they had surrounded turned towards the Warriors as they stepped out of the stairwell, Malum spinning her Mythril Rod in hand.
"You can't whack a flan," the Black Mage insisted, "they're too soft."
A cry that sounded like something boiling caused them to turn; one of the Red Marshmallows had survived Malum's Blizzara. Her rod was half raised when Haisen held his hand before her to stop her; then he tapped the base of his Ice Staff against the floor, causing the head to glow. The flan started towards him... and was interrupted when a chunk of Blizzard appeared halfway into its head, causing it to fade out like its bretheren.
"What was that?" Malum demanded.
"The staves," Haisen insisted. "If you channel their power, you can cast a base-level Blizzard without using your own magic."
"That would have been nice to know before that sneak attack," Malum muttered.
The woman approached them. "Thank you," she insisted. "I was in a bit of a bind."
Kimi stepped forward. "You must be... Elena?"
"Yes," the woman confirmed. "You are?"
"I'm Kimiko," the Monk offered; then, beckoning to her teammates in turn, "This is Malum and Haisen, and that's Kyra."
Elena crossed her arms. "You picked a fine time to visit the Tower of Ice," she observed.
Kyra shook her head. "We were in the Dwarven Hollows when the researchers came in, having forgotten about you," she explained. "We told them we'd come in and get you."
"They didn't forget about me," Elena insisted. "I told them to go on ahead. I need to shut down our analytic system at the Fire Crystal before the monsters attack it. We were halfway out the bottom floor when I realized we had forgotten about it."
Malum groaned. "How many floors does this thing have?" she protested.
"Three," Elena assured her. "Ground floor, this floor, and the next floor. The Crystal altar is in the middle of the floor, and you have to circle the whole damn floor like a snail shell before you can get to it - it's a little higher-up than the rest of the floor, but it's just the one room."
"Lovely," Malum mused, glancing up above her at what awaited them.
"Would you like an escort?" Kyra asked the researcher.
Elena looked relieved. "Would you? Thanks. I've got some Cure magic, and these," - here she raised her hands, revealing her gloves to be adorned in metal knuckles - "but no spells offensive enough to handle the Marshmallows, and I keep having to run from the Balloons before they blow up in my face."
Kimiko looked surprised at the sight of her weapons. "What... are those?"
"Sonic Knuckle dusters," Elena explained. "A little more defense than bronze knuckles, and they don't limit your fingers - plus, they speed up your punch."
The monk glanced at her own bronze knuckles, which she had decided to keep locked on her hands for the trip through the Tower. She had already started to regret her decision before they had found the Ancient; her fingers were getting sore from the metal pressing against them.
Elena noticed her look; with a soft chuckle, she pulled the dusters off her hands. "Here," she insisted, "they'll do you more good than they're doing me."
Kimi raised her gaze, and a particular glint in her eye that expressed thankfulness. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah," Elena assured her. "Knock yourself out."
"That's a distinct possibility," Haisen murmured.
Malum elbowed him in the ribs. Kyra decided to let it slide. Kimi, if anything, didn't seem to notice what was said.
"If you've got some healing magic," the Black Mage insisted, "we'd appreciate an extra hand in keeping us up and going. Here, get between me and Haisen."
"You lot certainly know what you're doing," Elena mused.
The Ancient's healing magic certainly made the trek through the icy labyrinth easier. More chests waited in some of the dead ends, including a sword enchanted with ice magic that Kyra gladly strapped on. The top floor's snail-shell spiral made things much, much easier - and yet, there were more monsters than on either of the other floors, leaving all five of them exhausted by the time they arrived at the stairs to the Crystal altar.
"Kyra," Malum panted, while the team stopped for a break, "please tell me you've got something optimistic to say about this."
The Red Mage reached into her pocket, drawing out the Antarctic Winds they had picked up on the bottom floor. "Worst-case scenario, these will do us some good if we take cover before they go off," she admitted. "Other than that, we're gonna have to put up a fight."
"Put up a fight?" Elena inquired. "What are you talking about?"
Kimi spoke up. "We figure all these monsters are here because something's after the Crystal," she explained. "And anything after the Crystal is going to be big."
Now the Ancient was intrigued. "After the Crystal?" she asked. "What are you talking about?"
Haisen chuckled. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you."
"No, I think I would," Elena insisted, looking around at them. "You four... are you... Warriors of the Crystals?"
"Yeah," Kyra confirmed. "You know about them?"
"I think so," the researcher admitted. "So, you four... you've fought monsters trying to take the Crystal's power before?"
"Kyra has fought one," Haisen corrected. "The rest of us, not so much."
Elena sighed. "Incredible," she observed. "They say the last set of Warriors was a few thousand years ago. I never would have thought I'd get to meet the Warriors of the Light."
That cast a quiet across the four of them. This was a new problem that they hadn't seen coming - knowing that the Crystals would choose Warriors, people would suspect their power to be that of the light. Kimi and Malum exchanged awkward glances; then the Monk got to her feet. "In any case," she insisted, "you're going to want to get out of here. The last Crystal monster Kyra fought ate the only other guy in the area."
"I can't do that," Elena insisted. "Setting aside the fact that I wouldn't make it out of the tower alive on my own, the system is multi-purpose - we've just got it set for analysis right now. If something hits it the wrong way, it could risk damaging the Crystal. Whatever you guys need to fight, fight, but I need to shut the system down before I go anywhere."
Haisen sighed. "Fine," he insisted. "But if anything goes wrong, you get the hell out of there, okay?"
Elena angled her head. "Well, yeah," she admitted. "I can do that."
The Ancients' system took the form of four massive plates on a rotating ring surrounding the Fire Crystal, connected to a large sequence of levers and switches. As the five of them stepped up - Kimiko, Haisen, Elena, Malum, and Kyra - they saw the bright crimson glow of the crystal, almost blinding.
Elena sighed in relief. "Good," she sighed. "The Crystal is alright."
The Warriors exchanged glances. The shine told them all they needed to know: the Crystal was most certainly not alright.
Without a second thought, the researcher stepped towards the control panel.
And a roar shook the altar, prompting the Warriors to draw their weapons.
Flames of bright blue began to appear around the Fire Crystal; they started immediately before it, circled it for one loop, and continued forward before they could close the circle, expanding. As they grew, Kyra realized it was forming a creature; tail, body, four stout legs, and... two long, jagged necks ending in a pair of heads with the mouths open wide.
Then the flames faded - and there was a dragon standing there, covered in green scales, and roaring with such power that Kyra had to raise her shield to stop herself from going deaf.
Elena stumbled back against the wall. "What is that thing!?" she shouted.
"Never mind!" Malum shouted. "Just run!"
The researcher ran, all right - but not out of the altar. Kimi realized she was running towards the control panel - and saw that the dragon was following her with the gaze of one of its heads. The Monk quickly rushed forward, only to trip - the timing of her stumble was such that the other head, rushing forward to take a bite out of her, snapped on air. Kyra quickly swung her Freezing Blade into the side of its head as Kimi got to her feet, rushing towards the head following Elena; and as it opened its mouth in preparation to lunge, she slammed a punch into the corner of its mouth.
The dragon's heads roared, one-two, turning on the Warriors; Malum and Haisen both slammed the base of their Ice Staves to the ground, causing Blizzard magic to form in their jaws. This trapped their mouths open for a moment; Kyra used the advantage to slash across the eyes of one head, while Kimi only landed another pair of punches on the bottomside of the other. Both of them managed to crush the ice inside, the shards flying out as sharp projectiles. Kyra guarded against the shower with her shield; when they cut across Kimi's arms, she only lashed her legs forward in Retaliation, knocking the head towards its other.
Elena was working with the machine at this; now she pulled a lever nearby, prompting the plates to rise up from around the Crystal. "It's safe!" she shouted.
"Then get out of here!" Haisen shouted, casting Cure magic around Kimi's arms.
Malum used the opportunity while the heads were stunned - and together - to throw a quick rain of Thundara around them. Kyra had to leap aside as the voltage danced between the two faces. Upon seeing the Black Mage with the afterglow of magic surrounding her, the dragon proceeded to stomp forward, its tail uncurling from around the Fire Crystal as it did so. Malum's heart sank, and she stepped back in shock.
Haisen quickly swept his staff forward, Aero magic forming between the heads with enough suddenness to force them apart. Elena, who had been running back towards the altar exit, couldn't act before one of the heads slammed into her, throwing her back towards the machine; she slammed into the side (fortunately, without hitting any levers) and fell to the floor, dazed. Kimi quickly slugged that head before it could notice the Ancient there; then she and Kyra ran back towards the mages, sliding to a stop (the floors in the Tower of Ice had much more friction that they had expected from such an immaculate surface).
Kyra dug out the Antarctic Winds, handing one to Malum and one to Haisen. "I've got a plan."
"Name it," Malum insisted, casting a Firaga over both heads - she had realized quickly that guarding the Fire Crystal did not make the monster resistant to fire itself.
"I'm gonna distract that thing," Kyra explained. "When its mouths are open, you throw those in. While it's stunned by the ice, I'll try to land as many hits as I can."
Kimi grabbed her shield arm. "You're not doing that alone!" she insisted. "I'll lend you a hand."
Kyra turned to her. "You sure?" she asked.
"Of course I'm sure!" Kimi insisted.
The dragon roared, prompting the Warriors to turn back to it.
Malum adjusted her grip on her sphere. "Three."
Haisen drew his arm back. "Two."
Kimi raised her knuckled hands. "One!"
"Now!" the four of them shouted in unison.
Red Mage and Monk rushed forward together, each for one of the heads. Kimi hit the ground, digging her Sonic Knuckles into the ice to stop her slide as one head lunged forward, finding her just out of reach; Kyra simply leapt when the other head approached, landing on top of it with enough stability to keep running. Malum and Haisen both hurled their Antarctic Winds, landing them inside as the dragon closed its mouths; the moment the surfaces of the casting spheres broke, ice exploded inside it, causing its body to frost over. Kyra leapt from her neck as the ice raced across the surface; then she dug her sword into the join as she landed, causing the ice to crack as she dragged it forward.
Too late did she realize why the dragon had stopped advancing on Malum before it reached her; its tail was dug into the floor of the altar.
Right below the Crystal!
"No, shit!" The Ur girl leapt off the dragon's body, but the damage was done, the monster was freezing over and cracking, and as she watched the ice sealed it onto the floor of the altar.
And the cracks followed it, tearing open the tail and the floor it was dug into.
Elena opened her eyes as the floor of the altar tore open, and the Crystal fell further into the Tower of Ice.
Arca: Ohoho, things are getting serious now!
Draco: Yeah, Mulch tends to get real when things start going wrong with the Crystals. {sips cola} Of course, that doesn't mean Mulch getting real is a GOOD thing.
Arca: It never does, I'm afraid. Though it makes for good drama. *sipping tea*
Draco: {laughs} Well, here's hoping anything bad can be reversed.
Arca: Here's to hoping indeed. But...we got to wait for that! *turns to reader* Until the next chapter, folks!