Duelist of Dawn: Alright, alright! I'm back with a somewhat filler chapter! Only because I like this place!

Lovrina: Well it's good to see you're back with this story.

Duelist of Dawn: With so much thought going into a story like this, it restricts with other stuff in the way.

Lovrina: I was hoping you didn't abandon the story.

Duelist of Dawn: Don't say that! I love FFIX! I will finish this, it's the summer time!

Lovrina: Great to hear, now let's thank the reviewers.

Duelist of Dawn: Right! Cyrus Truth, Dreylen, butcherthegirl, Katherine the Black Rose, FF and STH, Hiiro Mizutani, Holy Blader, and Darth Mediv! BTW Darth, it's all good, I can tell you appreciate the story in your few words! Lovrina, the Disclaimer please?

Lovrina: Oh yes, he Duelist of Dawn doesn't own Final Fantasy 9 or any music used in the story. He owns my character and Ron's character.

Duelist of Dawn: And I'm glad to have you! Now people, let's start the chapter!


Chapter 42

The Ancient Library, Daguerreo


On board, the Hilde Garde III, I walked around the new airship, taking in what it had to offer. Cid had really outdone himself, being an impressive engineer as well as the Regent of Lindblum. I remember that he used the Alexandrian boat, the Blue Narcissus, as part of the construction. The hull needed work, and I guess that's what the bottom part of the airship was while the upper parts were originally the Hilda Garde II. The bridge was impressive... indoor, a lot of room to walk and Erin was able to navigate it quite well with the sight provided. The engine room was also impressive and a hot considering the heat released. Quina was staring at the engine like it was a giant oven, waiting on something to finish cooking. Freya was also there talking with Vivi, exchanging stories I believe. Also the outside, Lani and Amarant were just hanging out, while Choco was enjoying the breeze against his feathers.

Speaking of that, the last chocobo form of that dream world was golden, allowing Choco to gain his last ability. I hope we find that Chocograph around soon, cause he could use the boost since we're nearing the necessary components to access Terra. I wonder what it's gonna be like for me? Garland's going to be after me as well, if I can survive Eclipse that is... But I couldn't go negative... I improved greatly the past two days, so have the rest of us.

"Kweh?" Choco snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hey Choco..." I greeted. "Never thought a new world would put us on edge like this..."

"Kweh, kweeh." He replied.

"But think about it, we only have one more Chocograph to unlock everything to get you to the Chocobo's Paradise, what do you think?"

"Kweeehh!" He said happily.

"The only thing that's stopping us is that last Chocograph and where it's located." I said.

"We'll find it..." We saw Lovrina walk up to us.

I smiled. "Enjoying the ride?"

"Of course," She smiled back and sat right next to me. "Just wondering where you're off too."

"Talking to Choco about his final transformation." I said. "He'd probably be best at Terra if we found it."

"I wonder what color he'd be?" Lovrina wondered.

"Kweh!" Choco replied.

"A Gold color!" She gasped.

"Yup, and you know, I think he'd be able to fly with that form." I pondered.

"Kweh!" Choco then gasped. "Kweh!"

"If you think about it Choco, you have the ability to climb mountains and then swim in deep waters." I said. "Flying might be the next step."

"And that would be something to see." Lovrina said.

"Kweh!"

Suddenly some static came over the airship, as Erin's voice came over the intercom.

(Attention passengers, we are nearing Daguerreo.) She said. (Please get ready to disembark.)

"Time to go lady and chocobo..." I said getting up and pulling Lovrina to her feet.


The airship landed on a grassy plain on top of a cliff, and it had some room for it disembark. This time everyone got off to disembark, instead of Amarant for some reason... also Quina went on her never-ending quest for food. I just hope she knows what she's doing out here, but then again she's been around the world to catch up with us again.

"Why didn't Amarant get off?" I asked Lani.

"He said he didn't want to waste time, hanging out at a library." She stated.

"You know, Amarant's been pretty distant lately..." Freya said. "I noticed he wasn't talking much after the two day reprieve. Or hanging around you much, Lani."

"Yeah, I even asked him about it, but he just snubbed me off." She said.

"I knew he wasn't talkative, but man that's cold..." I stated.

"Hey guys, hurry up!" Zidane shouted.

"Yeah, slowpokes!" Eiko added.

"Sorry!" I said as Lani, Freya and I walked across the plains to where a waterfall was.

"You there!"

The girls and I turn around to see a black cat walking up to us with a mouse toy attached to its tail.

"Did you say something?" I asked the cat, not sure if it was him I heard talking.

"Of course, I said something!" The cat stated as he stood on two legs. "Humans aren't the only ones who can talk, ya know!"

"Sorry, just never thought I see a talking cat, especially way out here on a mountain plain." I said.

"Well, sorry isn't good enough!" The cat shouted. "You gimme a Diamond, right now!"

"For what?" I shrugged.

"For your lack of knowing talkative cats! Now gimme!"

I groaned at the annoying cat.

"Ron, let's just go..." Freya told me.

"Yeah, let's leave this cat to himself." Lani said. "He's just annoying!" And we walked off... big mistake...

"Annoying, huh?" The cat grunted with a busted vein on his forehead. "That's it, I'm mad!"

"What's he going to do, scratch us?" Lani shrugged as we kept walking.

"No, this!"

We felt magic being conjured up behind us, and we turned around to see the cat throwing a fit.

"That's one weird temper tantrum." I said.

"No, he's casting something." Freya said.

"And it's up there!" Lani pointed to the sky to see three boulder shaped meteors come from the sky.

"Taste Comet magic!" The cat screeched.

"Move it!" Lani shouted as we jumped to various places to avoid the comet collision.

"Stupid cat!" I shouted.

"You want more! Aera!" The cat blasted me with air tornado knocking me down as well as placing a few cuts on me.

"Helm Splitter!" Lani called out her attack, almost hitting the black cat.

"Lancer!" Freya dashed over the cat almost scoring a hit of her own.

"Electric Blade!" Turning my arms to thunder-based blades, I kept swiping at the cat, making it fall back.

"You're too slow!" The cat taunted.

"And you're too dim-witted!" Lani said. "Aera!"

Jumping out of the way, Lani's wind magic blasted the cat right off the cliff.

"AAHHH!" The cat said, off the cliff. When we looked over the cliff, it was hanging on a few inches below us. "Help!"

"Should we?" Freya asked.

"Have you learned your lesson?" I asked.

"Yes, please!" The cat pleaded. "I can't land on my feet from this height!"

"Alright Freya, use your lance." I said.

The Dragon Knight nodded as she extended her lance for the cat to grab onto and pulled it up. When it was almost there...

"Suckers!" The cat struck again and tried to scratch at us.

"Big mistake!" Freya threw up her lance, knocking the cat into the air and then swung at it knocking it over the cliff again.

"I'll be bacccckkk!" The cat declared as it dropped down the mountain.

"If it actually has nine lives, I'll believe it." Lani said. "Come on, everybody else is waiting."

"Yeah..." I said as Freya and Lani followed me into the waterfall entrance.


(Daguerreo Entrance)

The inside of the place was incredible! It was the biggest library I've seen as wall to wall bookshelves lined the far reaches. It looked ancient in a way like the remains of a civilization, long forgotten. Maybe it used to be a part of Atlantis due to some of the areas submerged by water at foot level. But it was just like what Dagger said; it was a place to worship Leviathan seeing miniature statues of it plus a stone mural of it straight across from the entrance.

"Wow, this is great!" I said.

"No kidding." Lani said.

"Think of all the knowledge we could gain from this place." Freya said. "We could even learn more about this Terra world."

"Sounds like it." I nodded. "I mean, I got a history lesson from it during my time in Oeilvert, but mainly describe its downfall and something about two worlds combining to make one."

"Well, you guys can check out the books, I'll go score some treasure if there's some..." Lani said as she left.

"I guess I'll check out the books." I said. "Freya?"

"I see to that in another spot." The Dragon Knight nodded. "Some of the others are doing that elsewhere."

"Some?"

"Do you expect Zidane to pick up a book?"

I laughed at that. "I see what you mean, anyway see ya later!"

"Right." She nodded as she left.

I walked up to the stone mural first and examined the figure of Levianthan, the water eidolon.

"There's an old legend in this region about a dragon god and his divine protection." I turned around to see a man around my age. I think he was an adventurer by looks of his gear. A plain shirt and shorts plus some packed items on his back. "I think it may be true."

"How so?" I asked.

"I mean, look at this place." The adventurer waved his arms around the place. "We're surrounded by mountains, in the middle of nowhere, and the water here never runs out. It has to be the work of a dragon god."

'I guess that's Leviathan after all...' I thought.

"Many people have come and settled here because of the water." The adventurer continued. "I came here because I believe there's some kind of treasure... you know, with the legend and all."

"Well, I get the settlement of the many people because of the water." I said. "And you could be right about treasure; even though I just got here." But when I turned around, the guy was gone. "Wow, I guess the guy split." I then looked more closely at the mural and saw an inscription on it. "Let's see... 'Dragon god's blessing to the stone'? What does that mean? Offer a stone to this mural?" I pulled out my stash of 20 ore stones. "Maybe there's a use for these things after all since I haven't seen any more of those friendly animals wanting these things anymore. But the question is where to put these things?" Suddenly, a pedestal rose up out of the water in front of me. "I'm supposed to put a stone here? Well, guess it couldn't hurt..."

I placed the pile of ore stones onto the pedestal and stepped back. Next thing I knew, the eyes of the Leviathan started to glow and it's light enveloped the stones, blinding me. When it was over, I looked and saw not the 20 ore stones, but 5 five blue jewels. "They transformed!" I took a closer look and could confirm the identity. "Aquamarines! I gotta find Dagger!"


(3rd POV) (Right Library)

Dagger, Eiko and Lovrina took a lift up to the rightmost library. Being summoners, they thought they could find more about eidolons and their origins. They figured Leviathan would be the easiest to locate considering who the place worships. They also heard some old scholars reading some books.

"Most people believe that moonlight is a reflection of sunlight, but some astronomers have refuted this theory with the fact that moonlight is visible even during a dual lunar eclipse."

"How unfortunate that most scientists and engineers concentrate on airship development and marine studies when the theory of the underworld is so popular..."

"The theory of a second world, an 'underworld,' has existed since ancient times, but the scientific community still regards it as folklore."

"Wow, who knew there would be more nerdy guys here!" Eiko exclaimed.

"Eiko, behave..." Lovrina chuckled.

"I do wonder if Dr. Tot's been here." Dagger added as she looked at a giant book. "He'd love being here."

"Of course he would!" The youngest summoner stated. "There were a lot of books that took up his house space."

"It's how he keeps up with his studies." Dagger said. "Hey, I just found a book on Leviathan!"

"Let's see..." Lovrina held the book for her, Eiko and Dagger could see.

"Leviathan: a sea serpent with power over the water. It was seen as a guardian god to a small village called Wutai many years ago during its time of prosperity. This mighty sea serpent began its life as the Eidolon King of the parallel plane of existence in the Underworld, known as the Feymarch. He was first born of the Northern Sea itself, first called the Lord of All Waters, and unchallenged champion of the Eidolons. During the course of time, the place that crossed between the Feymarch and Gaia is now the place Daguerreo before the building was built."

"So, we're standing at the Feymarch's closed portal, that someone built this place over." Dagger pondered.

"There's more to it after him." Eiko said, reading the next part.

"Asura, queen of the Eidolons...Lady Wife of the Eidolon King, and gatekeeper to all who would address him. Only those possessed of wit enough to turn her strength against her, and so overcome her challenge, may address the king himself."

"Asura, is Leviathan's Wife!" Eiko gasped. "How did they get married!"

"You do know they have human-like forms in their realm..." Lovrina told her.

"Oh right..." The youngest summoner rubbed the back of her head.

"Hey, there's something about the Feymarch." Dagger said as she read on.

"The Feymarch is located in the Underworld, and it is here where all Eidolons live. Some of the ancient people call this place "The Land that Lies Between". The Eidolons are guided by their Queen Asura and King Leviathan. Due to the immense magical power located on the Summons' plane, time flows faster in the Feymarch."

"Now I know where they come from..." She said. "I never thought the Underworld played a part of this."

"So much of the eidolons we've learned." Lovrina pondered. "Sad that we can't take it with us..."

"Then let's continue reading more about these guys!" Eiko said.

"Are there anymore books?" Dagger asked.

Lovrina took out some more books and passed them along. "Let's get reading!"


(Ron's POV) (Left Library)

I started to go to the left side of the place to see how the rest of the place looked. No water took over here, just a place with more bookshelves and pillars across from the stairs. Right there was Freya and Zidane talking to each other.

"Hey guys!" I greeted.

"Oh hey Ron!" Zidane said. "Freya just got done telling me how you, her and Lani fought some freaky cat."

"Yeah, the cat was quick and even shot off Comet magic!" I stated.

"It was a shame that he didn't put up much of a fight." Freya stated. "But I wonder if he'll make due on his threat, in the event he does comeback?"

"Then we'll give him more of the same and something different!" Zidane pounded his fist into his hand.

"Zidane! Ron! Lady Freya!"

We turned around to see another person wearing a green and gray priest clothing with veils covering his face. It was a Cleyrian!

"Kildea!" Freya exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"And it's very wonderful to see you again!" Kildea replied.

"Likewise, I'm glad to know everyone escaped Odin's attack." I said.

"And it was thanks to your warning that the King of Burmecian and our High Priest are safe and sound!" He said.

"So he's still safe..." Freya said, smiling. "Thank the Gods!"

"I'll say..." Zidane nodded. "So, what brings you here?"

"After Cleyra was destroyed, I realized how isolated we Cleyrans have all been." The oracle replied. "So I decided to broaden my horizons and came here. It's wonderful here. I am constantly learning something new from these books. Someday, I hope to contribute to the restoration of Cleyra."

"And I'll bet it'll be a great day for that." I said.

"It will be." Kildea nodded. "Well, I must be off. It was great seeing everyone again!"

"You too, goodbye." Freya said as Kildea waved and walked down the stairs.

"I'm glad that everyone got through okay." I said. "With the current situation of getting to Terra at hand, I forgot about the Mist Continent for the time."

"It's alright." Freya said. "As long as everyone still lives."

"Good, now..." Zidane looked upward to a shop. "How are we gonna get up there?"

"To get around this place, you'll have to use the lifts, which are powered by water pressure." A person overheard us, pointing to the levers,

"Quiet! Can't you see I'm doing research here!" A scholar yelled.

Ignoring the outburst, we fiddled around with levers that adjusted the settings of the pillars, but didn't get us anywhere.

"There's gotta be a better way to do this..." I thought.

"Hey..." Zidane started to inspect a metal bar leaning against a bookcase. "What's this bar doing here?"

"Don't know..." Freya said. "I don't suppose we could use it to get up there."

"Yeah, but..." I turned around to the adjusted pillars, and saw that the left pillar was all the way down revealing a hole behind it. "What is this hole?"

"Hey! Maybe I can fit this in that hole!" Zidane said as he handed me the metal bar, Let's see if this'll fit."

"Let's..." I took the metal bar and jammed into the hole, which fit perfectly! "Perfect!"

"Oh, I see..." Freya figured. "That should increase the water pressure to raise the remaining lifts."

"Time to see if it works." I pulled the lever down; since the bar held the first lift down, the middle and last ones only moved. The middle was moving as high as it could, while the last went low enough for us to stand on. "Going up!" As soon as we all stood on it, the lift was able to go all the way up to the top, in front of a weapons shop. As soon as we got off, we met up with the weaponsmith, who had a grateful expression on his face.

"Hey, thanks for fixing the lift!" He said. "I always moved equipment and materials up and down on that lift until it broke. Now, I won't lose all my business to that old geezer at the synthesis shop!"

"Uh, you're welcome?" I said.

"Since you're here, wanna buy something?" The store owner asked.

"Sure!" Zidane said as he set to work.

I started to skim through books and found one in particular.

"Gilgamesh, the Legendary Swordsman. Once an ordinary man, Gilgamesh started as an avid sword collector and a powerful swordsman who worked for an evil wizard known as Exdeath. Guardian of the Big Bridge connecting his master's castle to the world, Gilgamesh stood in the way of armies seeking to harm his master, and granted the power to master any sword he wields without practice. But one faithful day, he met his match to a small group with the power that exceeded his mastery of swords. Fed up with his failure, Exdeath cast Gilgamesh off into the void, not realizing the cursed sword Excalipoor is what led to his right hand man's ultimate defeat. During his time in The Void, the swordsman was met by the Eidolon King, Levianthan; he spared the man's life in exchange for eternal servitude as an eidolon as he saw the power Gilgamesh wield and gave him more. It was then, Gilgamesh morphed into a six-armed man who could wield more swords and master any one. In that time, he continued to serve the eidolon royalty, decimating more than normal."

"Wow, I felt lucky that someone could keep him in check, and even luckier that it's my girlfriend doing that." I said, after reading the history of one of her eidolons.


(3rd POV) (Third Floor Library)

Steiner, Vivi, Lani and Choco were scoping out the middle library, which was larger than the left and right libraries, put together.

"These books are extraordinary!" Steiner said reading a book on various swords.

"Excalipoor is a sword once wielded by Gilgamesh, who has confused it with the original Excalibur. When he uses it in battle, he is seen by the evil wizard Exdeath, who banishes him to The Void for his incompetence. The sword looks similar in appearance, and when wielded gives an amount of power, but when used to fight, only deals next to no damage."

The next entry:

"The mighty sword Excalibur was crafted by a synthesis master years ago with the help of an item the Magical Fingertip. The sword was used numerous times by great swordsmen such as Arthur of Camelot, and sought out by Gilgamesh during his time as a human. No one knows about the location of the sword now."

"If I could find the sword for myself, I'll be able to stand up to even the mightiest of foes!" The Pluto Knight exclaimed.

"Did you say you were looking for the legendary Excalibur?" And old man in a white robe walked up close to him.

"Yes, sir." Steiner replied. "I could defend my comrades in combat and my kingdom to prevent further invasion once I've returned."

"Hmm..." The old man examined the knight more closely. "You have seen much combat, gradually become more powerful in strength and mind... yes, I think you are worthy of Excalibur..."

Suddenly, the old man reach behind him and revealed a jeweled sword with a metal that seemed harder than stone.

"It's Excalibur..." Steiner gasped.

"Yes... only, I shall part with this sword on two conditions: the first, is to find the item Magical Fingertip and bring it to me in exchange for the sword." The old man stated. "The second is to find a successor worthy of wielding it after you obtain a more powerful sword."

"A sword stronger than Excalibur!" Steiner exclaimed. "Is there such a thing?"

"Yes, but it is not of this world," The old man replied. "We call it Excalibur II, crafted by the legendary synthesis master in another dimensional world."

"Interesting..." Steiner pondered. "Very well, I shall find the item you request, do you have any leads?"

"The last I heard of the item is that it was seen at a shrine before it closed away. Maybe if you find the trigger to unseal, you can begin your search there."

The knight gives the old man a salute. "Thank you for your assistance, kind sir!" And with that he left.

"Not of royal lineage..." The old man said. "But a soul worthy of wielding my sword..."

On his way to meet up with the others, Steiner saw one of Regent Cid's engineers looking over lizards.

"Excuse me, aren't you one of the Regent's engineers?" He asked. "Zebolt, right?"

Zebolt turned around. "Oh yes, you're one of the Alexandrian knights. Nice to see you again." He said. "I came here to research a new source of power. Some of the systems here are rather complicated. The source of all this water is a mystery as well. Maybe it really is the work of the dragon god..."

"Dragon God?" It was then Lani decided to show herself. "You mean Leviathan?"

"Leviathan?" Steiner asked.

"I thought it was that eidolon that Dagger got from that weird tree, awhile back." She said. "She tried to save the Queen Brahne with it, but after hearing that it uses tidal waves to attack, it was no-win."

"I've heard about what happened..." The Pluto Knight said. "But it wasn't her fault that Kuja's attack could not be stopped."


(With Vivi and Choco)

Vivi and Quina were looking over a lot of books, but couldn't find one to settle his eyes on completely.

"There are all kinds of books here, Choco." Vivi said to the chocobo.

"Kweh." The chocobo agreed.

"Some of these books I haven't seen before..." Vivi looked at a stack of books and read off the spines from bottom to top. "'...Bell Echoes' 'Beyond the Mist' 'Mist Engine Illustrated' 'The Eidolon and I' 'Gaia' 'Book of Magic'..."

"Kweh!" Choco alerted him to the final book.

"Yeah, I could read that... maybe learn some new magic..." The black mage thought. "Can you get that for me?"

Choco dragged the book from the top for the little mage to open up.

"Thanks Choco!" He said as he got to reading. "Let's see, I already know most of these..." It wasn't until he reached the last few pages that he found a spell unknown to him. "Flare... non-elemental magic... It is often among the most powerful of the Black Magic spells and is a counterpart to the White Magic Holy." The black mage looked happy about this. "A power rivaling Holy magic, wow!"

"Excuse me young man..." A scholar walked up to the mage. "Have you seen the book entitled 'The Eidolon and I?' I've looked everywhere, but can't seem to find it..."

Vivi pointed to the stack of books where he got his... "I saw that book over there."

"Oh, really? Thank you." The scholar grabbed the book and begun to read. "A good book lasts forever. It will always be there, in your memories. I've asked to be buried with my favorite book."

Vivi and Choco decided to leave the person to his book and thoughts and walked around until he heard two people in the item store arguing...

"Oh come on!" The first was the store clerk lady. "I read the book, Cornelia died to be with Marcus in death!"

"No way!" The other one was a young man, probably a customer. "I went to see the play in Alexandria; she took the sword for her father to prove she loved her father and Marcus both!"

"That's not true!"

"Yes it is!"

"Um... excuse me..." Vivi said, putting away his magic book. "Are you talking about the play 'I Want to Be Your Canary'?"

"Yeah, you've seen it?" The store clerk asked.

"I was there with some friends of mine." Vivi stated.

"Well, we're having a debate about it right now." The young man said. "In 'I Want to Be Your Canary,' why do you think Cornelia had to die?"

"That was the only way she could be united with Marcus-in death." The store clerk stated.

"No! It was to prove that she loved Marcus just as much as she loved her father." The young man retorted before turning to Vivi. "What do you think?"

"Actually, since Cornelia died before Marcus did, it would have to be because of she wanted to show how much she loved both Marcus and her father." Vivi claimed.

"Heh, heh, heh! I told you!" The young man stated. "You know kid, I like the way you think!" He then pulled out a Tetra Master card of a magic circle with a red and white symbol on it. "Here, you can have this Flare Card-as a token of our acquaintance."

"Wow, thanks!" Vivi said as he pocketed the card.


(Ron's POV)(Second Floor Library)

After parting ways with Zidane and Freya after buying some armor, since the weapons were not as new as the previous shop in Esto Gaza, I checked out the Second Floor Library. It wasn't anything much aside from the bookcases, so I never thought of it much,

"Geez! So many books! What should I read first...?"

"I love books, especially the old ones. I appreciate everything about them-the authors, the publishers, the readers..."

"Wow, I never thought I'd seen people who loved books this much..." I said. "I usually just stick to my preferred genre and stick to it. Yet, I'm already living the adventure story."

"Excuse me sir..." I turned around to see another scholar coming to me. "I overheard you talking about 'living the adventure story,' what did you mean by that?"

"I was talking about the journey that I'm taking with my friends." I replied. "I really got put into some things that would normally be way outta my head if I didn't get used to it. Why do you ask?"

"I'm doing research on a group of legendary figures. They had the power to cross over dimensions." He said.

"Like Gilgamesh?" I asked.

"Not just him, I'm talking about ordinary people who lived in a modern world of their own and then somehow transported to other worlds such as Gaia." He said.

I raised an eyebrow at that statement. But on the inside, I was surprised. 'He couldn't be talking about me from a different world... how does someone like him know about stuff like that?' Out loud I asked... "Has there been any other leads?"

"Actually, I've heard rumors about such stories..." He stated. "But I became intrigued by this book which I believed had some meaning to it..."

He read an excerpt aloud...

In times of future strife among dimensions,

Warriors from modern realms will be called,

Ones with knowledge of things to come,

But carry the burden of that same knowledge to themselves...

Even withholding that information,

There will be changes that involve those warriors,

Some good,

Some bad,

But by danger's end,

They are granted one wish...

"Wow..." I whispered. "Wait..." 'It does sound like me...'

"So you see..." The scholar said. "And by your style of clothing, you don't seem to be from this world, are you?"

That's when I bugged out... I had to keep this secret until the right time, and here's someone who was able to figure it out because, by some twist of fate, a book about it was stationed here in the largest library of this world.

"Yeah..." I said. "Weird that a book having something like that would be in another realm."

"But this is great!" The scholar exclaimed. "It means that the stories are true, and you prove it! This a great find in research! I could become a legend in research!"

"But wouldn't it sound farfetched?" I asked. "I mean you could lose recognition..."

"Right..." The scholar said. "And you have a journey of your own as well, correct?" I nodded. "Oh well, at least I know the truth. Though, it would have been nice to prove my theory to truth."

"Yeah, but at the expense of my social life?" I asked. "You know what I have to do, right?"

"Of course, well I guess you have to moving onto your journey now, thanks so much for having this time to talk." He shook my hand. "Take this..."

In his hand was another Stellazio coin of a goat, Capricorn. Also, another Chocograph!

"Thanks, I'll see ya around." I said walking away. I sighed afterwards, "Now it feels harder to tell now, but eventually it'll happen..."


Later on...

I decided to wait by the entrance for everyone while reading another book on an eidolon.

"Bahamut... The Hallowed Father...The First Sire, Hallowed Father to all Eidolons, watches over his children from on high. So indomitable is His strength that He has never known defeat. None could hope to emerge victorious against Him, save perhaps a warrior capable of rising to the heavens in order to deliver the felling stroke. As a God he orchestrated the creation of the Feymarch, giving Leviathan and Asura a dominion to live and protect. Over the years, no one has ever defeated him in battle on top of his home the Red Moon, until a brave summoner took up the challenge, becoming Bahamut's first master. Since then, he had lived on amongst the descendants and also became the King of all Dragons."

I closed the book after that. "Wow, a God among the Eidolons? He must have become somewhat weaker during the time Brahne and Kuja got to him. Maybe if Dagger would be able to join up with him again, he'd be more powerful being that a summoner knows more about eidolons than anyone."

"Hey Ron!"

I turned to see the gang, minus Amarant who was still on the airship, walk up to the airship.

"Read any good books lately?" Lovrina asked me.

"Quite a few, actually..." I replied, waving the book I had before putting on the shelf. "Everybody ready to go?" Everyone gave their own agreements as they headed on out, before I did who looked back at the Leviathan mural pondering on what I found out, also the events to come suddenly back into my head. I then felt a soft hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Lovrina with a worried expression.

"Ron, you okay?" She asked.

"Close to getting to Eclipse," I replied. "Knowing him, he's gonna want me alone so, I gotta be ready for when that happens."

"You will and we'll back you up when that happens." Lovrina said as she hugged me. "Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to you..."

"And I wouldn't let anything back happen to you, or the rest of you guys..." I smiled and hugged her back.

"Hey, will you two lovebirds get a move on!" We heard Zidane shout.

"Be quiet!" I shouted in mock anger. I turned to Lovrina. "Time to go."

"It is..." She said as we walked out.


(Outside Daguerreo)

We all got to the outside where Zidane and Dagger were waiting for us just outside the entrance.

"What took you guys so long?" Zidane asked. "Everybody is on the airship."

"Just talking about our next location..." I replied. "Not gonna be an easy thing coming up."

"I know..." Dagger said. "Not only we have to worry about Kuja later on, we have to worry about Eclipse even sooner."

"And he's probably grown stronger by now..." Lovrina added. "And we're going to his stronghold, which he knows inside and out."

"Then, we'll just have to gang up on him and slap him do..."

"Hello again!" I heard the annoying voice of that black cat again and groaned while Zidane, Dagger and Lovrina had a look of indifference on their faces as they looked upward.

"Don't tell me..." I looked behind me and saw that black cat again, but this time he had wings! "When did you start flying?"

"I've always known how too!" The cat grinned. "Just never thought I had to resort to it!"

"Who is this kook?" Zidane asked me.

"A cat that crossed my path, and got his butt kicked off a cliff." I answered.

"What did he do?" Dagger asked.

"Shot off Comet magic at me, Lani and Freya for no apparent reason." I said.

"Well that wasn't nice..." Lovrina commented.

"I've come to get some payback and I've brought a friend to shut you up!" The cat retorted.

"Bring on your little cat brigade!" Zidane taunted bringing out his daggers. "I ain't afraid!"

"RRRAAGGGHH!"

"I don't like the sound of that..." I said.

Suddenly, appearing behind the flying cat, wasn't another flying cat, it was a giant green dragon! I can't say if it matches Bahamut in size, but it's a pretty close match. Now I know how it feels for the knight staring them down in the stories...

"He has a Grand Dragon for a friend!" Zidane shouted.

"Oh yeah!" The cat grinned. "So, I hope you say your prayers!"

(Play Majora's Wrath from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask)

The Grand Dragon let out a thunderous roar and charged at us, claws outward and sharp teeth bared.

"Ice Tomb!"

I slammed the ground creating the ice pillars going for the kill but the dragon flew back to escape being impaled.

"Ninja Art: Ice Needles!"

Lovrina created the swarm of ice shards with her jutsu, still the dragon paid it no mind as it blocked with its massive wings. It then came at us again with a flying charge.

"Let's meet it head on!" Zidane said as he took his blade and charged.

"Right behind you!" I said charging in after him.

Once the dragon got close enough, it moved its forelegs for a slash, which Zidane and I did a rolling dodge to get past it. Zidane was able to get up first and deliver a cut to one of the hind legs, making the dragon roar in pain.

"Electric Blades!"

I let the electricity turn my hands into sharp blades and rushed at the other hind legs giving a spinning slash, causing another painful roar from the dragon.

"That's should keep him from being steady..."

I was interrupted by another roar of the dragon as he lashed his tail at Zidane knocking him into me, but was lucky enough to brace myself to catch him. After hopping out of my arms, we felt magic being cast from the dragon and felt the clouds covering sky. With another roar, a lightning storm rained down on us making us scream in pain and a resulting explosion knocked us over to the girls.

"My God!" Lovrina shouted. "Are you two alright?"

"Not... much..." Zidane groaned.

"No... way..." I said as the Electric Blades faded, but still felt the electricity around my arms. "That was a Thundaga spell..."

"Hahahaha!" The flying cat cackled. "I'm loving this! There's no way those losers can recover from that!"

"Cura!"

The cat growled as Dagger cast her White Magic over us, healing the pain, but not completely.

Then the dragon decided to go on the offensive again as it inhaled the air.

"Here comes the fire..." Dagger said as she built up her magic. "Shell!"

A blue light covered us, preparing to take the flames when needed. Plus after seeing it cast magic, I'm glad that Dagger used Shell on us. But the strange thing was that the Grand Dragon never exhaled any flames, it exhaled a mixture of green and yellow smoke that looked like...

"Venom!" I shouted as everyone scattered and dived away from the attack.

"Aw!" The cat whined. "He almost had them!"

"Girls..." I said as we all got up. "I think we need some help..."

"Right!" Lovrina said as she bit her thumb and performed her hand signs.

"Wielder of the swords of legend! Show your art of the six blades! Appear now, Gilgamesh!" Lovrina slammed her hand on the ground, making a cloud of smoke appear. And coming out of the smoke, was the six-armed swordsman, Gilgamesh.

"What brings you the trouble, Lady Lovrina?" Gilgamesh asked as he drew his six swords.

"We need your help in subduing this dragon while we recover." She stated.

"It shall be done!" The swordsman stated.

"Wait, I bring out another!" Dagger said as she focused her thoughts.

"Beast of the flames, bring the power of Purgatory to my oppressor! Come forward, Ifrit!"

From the sky, a fireball dropped from the sky in front of the dragon who tried to use its Venom Breath on it, but was scorched by excess flames before it could inhale and backed off. Once the fireball dropped to the ground, it produced a brown skinned demon with a muscular physique and large curved horns on his head.

"Now that's impressive!" Zidane exclaimed.

"Attack the dragon!" Dagger ordered.

Ifrit pounced onto the dragon's back and started to punch him.

"Gilgamesh, now!" Lovrina gave the signal.

"Right!" The six armed swordsman charged in and aimed for an open spot on the dragon. "Slice Thrice!"

Three slices cut into the Grand Dragon's back with the amazing speed the eidolon had.

"Flames of Hell!"

Ifrit roared and slammed his fists to the ground, creating an eruption of fire right the dragon as Gilgamesh jumped to our side.

"Yeah!" Zidane cheered. "One broiled dragon to go!"

"Hehehehe..." The cat grinned.

"Now what..." I groaned.

"It's not easy to kill a dragon!" He shouted.

As if it was dramatically performed, the Grand Dragon erupted out of Ifrit's attack and pushed him back!

"What!" We all shouted.

"Comet!"

The cat decided to get in the game as he fired off his magic, taking advantage of our astonishment. Lucky for us, Dagger's Shell magic was still functioning, more so that the Comet magic became just another small rock to the head; painful, but easy to get up from and knock out whoever threw it.

"I think we should get the cat first," I said.

Dagger nodded and turned to her eidolon. "Ifrit, take him down!"

The cat screamed. "I'm outta here!"

"Gilgamesh, don't let him get away!" Lovrina commanded.

The swordsman dashed behind the cat's line of escape and shrieked again as it turned around.

"Burn!"

Ifrit launched a fireball at the cat, burning up the flying beast to ashes.

"Good, now let's take out that dragon!" I shouted. "Dragon Kick!"

I shot my foot in the direction of the dragon, releasing a flame pillar in the shape of a dragon, pushing that dragon back.

"Damn, that dragon's resilient!" Zidane shouted. "If we had a big enough blast, we could kill that dragon in one blow!"

The dragon roared with a flap of its wings, blowing us up into the air. It then charged at us, ready to strike with its claws, but...

"Ifrit!"

"Gilgamesh!"

The two eidolons took the blows, leaving them hurt badly as the rest of us dropped to the ground.

"You've done enough, Gilgamesh." Lovrina said.

"You too, Ifrit." Dagger added.

"Dismiss!"

Both eidolons vanished by the summoners' command. It was then I got an idea and pulled out the aquamarine stones I got from Daguerreo.

"Hey Dagger, here!" I ran over to her and gave her the stones. "I think you should summon Leviathan!"

"Why him?" She asked.

"Oh..." I guessed Lovrina figured it out. "Remember what we've read on Leviathan? This is his element and domain! He could take down that dragon with its force!"

"What's going on?" Zidane asked.

"I'll explain later, just summon Leviathan!"

Dagger nodded as she focused her mind.

"Serpent of the deep! Wash away the evil! Arise, Leviathan!"

The ground turned to ocean letting the giant serpent eidolon arise from the depths. Suddenly, the waterfall from Daguerreo shined suddenly and enveloped the eidolon in its light.

*RASSSHAAA!*

The eidolon let out a mighty hiss and gathered the water from the air itself and set it up right around of the dragon. The water then sealed it in a sphere, locking it in place. Then, Leviathan charged into the sphere along with its signature tidal wave attack, letting the suffocation and pressure kill the dragon and wash it over the mountain pass. Leviathan then dismissed itself right on the spot.

(End music)

Zidane gave a whistle after seeing the dirty work that the water serpent did. "That was brutal!"

"And it was more powerful than the attack inside Kuja's castle..." Dagger pondered.

"Maybe, Leviathan went into a Trance like Mog did when she became Madeen." Lovrina thought.

"If eidolons can have a Trance, that's probably what happened." I said.

"At least it got rid of the dragon..." Zidane stated.

"Hey!"

We saw Vivi riding on Choco.

"Where were you guys?"

"Sorry, we got held up by a giant dragon." Dagger said.

"Kweh!" Choco said.

"It was tougher than any dragon I've fought." Lovrina said.

"Well, everyone's waiting for us." Vivi told us. "And they said it won't be long to get to Eclipse's Castle seeing as it's on the same continent."

"Then, let's climb aboard and find that place!" I said.

We all boarded the Hilda Garde III and told Erin to head on to Eclipse's Castle. Let's just hope we're ready for him when we run into him.


And we're done! Now we can get to Eclipse's Castle and raid the place! I'm glad I did this chapter as well; Holy Blader, again, thanks for the help! Also, I hope all Final Fantasy fans saw where I got the info for the eidolons from, I thought it'd be cool to have them for this universe as well! And to all people with Self-Inserts in FF stories, I think that little paragraph sums up the finished works I've seen. Not sure on the last line though...

Next Time:

We finally make it to Eclipse's Castle... (Scene of a castle that seems right side up and upside down at the same time)

But Amarant decides to cut lose by going solo... (Scene of Amarant walking in the castle alone)

The place is strange as our power seems to have flipped-flopped. (Scene of Ron struggling against a Cerberus)

Hopefully the keys to unlocking the seal... (Scene of a map of the world with four mirrors attached...)

Plus, Eclipse has his own subordinates waiting for us... (Scene of large clawed monster facing the party)

Next Chapter: Eclipse's Castle: Amarant's Independence