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Chapter 11: Help in Unexpected Places
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Almost a whole day of bombardment from Obsidian and his minions had passed, and things were going very badly for the paladins and all their friends.
Once Obsidian finally came close enough to attack, the two paladins and the summoner were able to deal the monster quite a bit of damage by spells and summoned monster. It was where they had begun to tire that they had begun to have problems. Rydia was running out of MP, and being forced to use smaller-scale spells, regressing from –Ga leveled magic to –Ra leveled magic, and finally to basic spells. And when she didn't have enough MP to summon anyone, it was clear that their problems were about to get worse.
As for Cecil and Angel, They were losing the strength to lift their swords after so long. Holy had been doing some damage, which was something, at least, but they were losing MP quickly as well. Soon, they couldn't even cast status spells or heal spells, and then Obsidian unloosed a magic of his own on top of them.
It was like a swarm of broken glass fragment blowing all around them, cutting them to pieces. It was quite obvious that they would have to go back inside, all three of them, and regain their strength. But before they could get inside, the dragon unleashed a blaze of flame over them, trapping them in a ring of 500 degree heat less than five feet from the door, singeing their hair and clothes. Rydia pulled the last of her MP together and summoned the last monster she had in her arsenal:
"Akstaron! We need you!" she practically screamed through the blaze of fire.
Fortunately, the dragon didn't take long to materialize. He came careening around the side of the castle, ready for anything. The slinky, midnight blue bahamut hesitated only for only a moment when he saw his brother once more. Obsidian hesitated too, not sure of where Akstaron had come from (surely, the summoner had run out of MP long ago). They both shook themselves and launched at each other, giving the humans enough time to slip back inside safely.
Once everyone left was inside the wooden doors, Cecil slammed the doors shut and leaned against them heavily, the last of his strength gone.
"This is futile," Angel moaned behind him, leaning against the wall and then sinking to the floor, exhausted. "The dwarves haven't come; our friends and family have abandoned us at the top of the world. We'll all die here, under Obsidian and his yellow ninjas."
Cecil turned to face his daughter, not remembering a time she had looked so weary and ready to give up. It almost made his heart break apart.
"I didn't know you could talk like that," he said quietly, trying to raise her morale. "It's not like you to despair."
"Why shouldn't I despair?" Angel demanded. "We're going to die, hopelessly outnumbered; why shouldn't I despair? Tell me!!" She sounded ready to cry; Cecil didn't blame her. He felt like crying too.
"If we're going to die, at least we've fought as hard as we could," mused Rydia. "I only hope the others are alright…"
Another rumble shook the castle. Oddly, it wasn't as strong as the ones before. And the white mages were all stiff with a vision. Everyone else hoped that it was a good vision; maybe of someone coming to help.
"What did you see?" Rydia asked once they had come out of their trance.
"Good news," Cecil said with a sigh of relief. "The dwarves are on their way. They're coming through the Mist cave; they'll be here shortly.
"I didn't see that," Angel said, managing a hopeful smile. "Everyone who went on the airship, they're returning! And they've got a fleet of ninja ships with them!"
"Ninjas?" One guard scoffed. "I thought they wanted to kill us."
"Perhaps they've been turned to our side," Rosa suggested. "Either way, they're alive, thank God, and they're bringing reinforcements. Perhaps we can still find pull something together and beat Obsidian."
"How long until they're back?" Rydia asked.
"Perhaps and hour," said Angel. "They were still over the water, but they could see land."
"Until then," Cecil advised, "We should find potions and phoenix downs and get our strength back. With the dwarves, our wayward friends, and a fleet of rogue ninjas, we can at least tire the monster out."
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Sefi stood blinking, braced against the mast of the airship, trying to figure out what had just happened. Her vision had suddenly blurred and she began seeing double. She felt like she had had two brains in her head at once, seeing the same thing: a stretch of water, growing smaller and smaller, to be replaced with an enlarging shoreline. It remained this way for several minutes until, as suddenly as it had started, her vision cleared. She also felt very weak, as if she had been battling a tough monster for a while.
What happened? What was that? She wondered. Her head was spinning, and she could hear someone running toward her; she guessed it was either Red or Palom. It was both of them.
"Sefi? Are you alright?" Red asked, pushing a potion into her hand. "You don't look so good."
"I don't know what happened," Sefi mumbled, still dizzy as she opened the bottle in her hand. "It felt like someone was sharing my head; like someone was looking through my eyes." She carefully brought the bottle to her lips and drank the tangy contents slowly. At last, her head stopped spinning.
"It sounds like you and Angel may have sight-swapped," Palom guessed, helping Sefi find her feet again. "Angel may have just had a vibe, and it was showing her what you were seeing. You're her twin, after all; it would make sense. Porom used to sight-swap with me all the time."
"If Angel saw what I was seeing, then she knows that we're coming home. I hope they don't need us too badly."
"The ninjas all seem nervous. Some of them are saying that Obsidian has already attacked Baron. If that's true, our families might appreciate our help right now," Red informed.
"If that's the case, we should tell everyone to mobilize and prepare for battle. If they're battling Obsidian, we need to be ready to rock 'n roll," Palom said firmly, and stalked off to find Edge.
He sounds like a war general, Sefi thought with a smile. He's so cute when he gets like that…
Red animated, as if she had just remembered something important. "I forgot to tell you something," she said excitedly to Sefi.
"What is it?"
"The day that we left the tower, one of the ships landed on a tiny archipelago, remember?"
"Oh yeah. We thought that the ship had malfunctioned or something. Did you find out what happened?"
"They found a castaway. They landed to pick him up."
"A castaway? All the way out there? What on earth was he doing there?"
"He claims that it was a teleport spell gone wrong, nearly three years ago."
"Who is he?"
"Edge and Daddy went to go ask him a while ago. They should be back soon."
"Teleport spell gone wrong, eh?" Sefi mused. "Think he's a mage? If he is, he can help us out."
"We don't know. But we will before we get back to Baron," Red assured.
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The tremors of the castle were getting steadily progressive, shaking stones and mortar loose from the walls. On any other day, this would have instilled panic in everyone; today it meant a miracle: the dwarves were on their way, in their heavily armored tanks, just as Giott had promised.
"They'll make it in time," Rosa breathed, sounding as if she were trying to reassure herself.
"Giott has never let us down before," Cecil reminded. "He won't fail us now."
"He'd better not," Angel remarked. "I'm daring to hope a little bit here…"
A loud bang sounded, not far off, but not hitting the castle. A loud cry of surprise, confusion, and maybe terror rose up outside.
"That was a shot from a dwarven tank!" Rydia exclaimed, letting out a sigh of utter relief. "I thought they'd never come."
"Should we go back to the battle now?" asked Angel.
"Not yet. Let's rest a bit more, while the dwarves do some damage, and while the other ninja army shows up," Cecil advised. "Perhaps, we'll have recovered enough to hold weapons and cast spells."
Everyone agreed.
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As the king, Giott commanded and drove the best tank in the dwarven fleet. Dwarves love to fight hard; as he fired into the army of ninjas he let out a whoop of pleasure. He liked justice a lot, and loved to dispense it wherever possible.
"Watch, Luca," he said to his battle-trained niece beside him. "This is how a real dwarven warrior does it!" He fired again at the ninjas, clearing them out of the way for the parade of tanks behind his own.
"Very impressive, uncle," Luca agreed coolly, not really interested at all. She cared not for battles and fighting; she was far more interested in her position as princess, and future queen. To Luca, nothing was more important than looks, and it showed even through her low-cut, tight-fitting military uniform.
"Get your mind out of your wardrobe and onto the battle field," Giott commanded his niece, not taking his eyes off the battle field. "If you don't know how to fight, you're nothing."
Luca rolled her eyes and directed her gaze back to the tank's control board, pretending to pay attention. She wondered if, perhaps, she would find Palom after the battle. She wondered vaguely if he was still alive at this point. She also wondered what might happen if she found Porom first (if there was one person she really feared, it was Porom and her painful staff blows).
"When will this battle be over, uncle?" Luca whined.
"Oh, soon enough, my dear…" Giott mumbled, his full attention on how many yellow ninjas he was blowing away. "We'll be through here soon enough…"
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Palom's jaw had dropped so hard that everyone thought it would fall off his face. Quite frankly, no one blamed him: the identity of the castaway had shocked them all.
"The Elder's been missing for over three years!" the black mage exclaimed. "He vanished when the sharks attacked Mysidia; after Mammoth, the crazy shark king, was killed, we never saw another trace of him; we always thought the sharks had got him."
"Not so," Edge informed, shaking his head. "He's been alive, and miraculously surviving, on the archipelago near the tower."
"You see," Edward explained, "He told us that Mammoth had, in fact, tried to eat him. So he cast a teleport spell."
Palom cocked his head slightly. "He teleported to the top of the world??"
"No, no, no, he didn't know what he was doing," Edward corrected. "He panicked and teleported to, quite literally, to anywhere but where he was. So that's where he wound up."
"And then that one ship at the back of the fleet saw a flare that he sent up. They landed and picked him up. Aren't you surprised?" Edge said with a grin.
Palom was speechless… mostly.
"I want to go see him right now," he said quickly and started off to find a white mage to teleport him to his long-lost teacher. Edge grabbed hold of his arm before he could get very far.
"Slow down there, tiger," said the ninja. "You can see him when we land; we're only 15 minutes away from the shoreline. I can almost see the bahamut from here."
"That's true," Sefi chimed in from near by. "We'll need you in the front."
"But I—"
"She's right; you're one of the best mages in the fleet," Edge agreed. "You're staying here, with us. That's an order, understand?" he added when Palom tried to yank away.
"You'll all do fine without me," the mage insisted. "It's not like I'm leading or anything."
"Would you like to?"
Palom quieted, intrigued by the ninja's offer.
"Come on, son," Edge said in a practical tone. "You're a natural leader. I've watched you, and heard about what you've done before. You're good at it; I'm willing to let you give it a try."
"Are you serious?" Palom's eyes were wide with interest, but he was torn between staying and leaving.
"You have to stay," Red begged. "We can't do this with you gone."
Palom nodded. "I guess I have little choice, huh? I'll stay then."
Exeline had watched all of this from her doorway. Pleased with the situation, she gripped the hilt of her sword until her knuckles turned white.
Vengeance, hurry to me. I will not be at rest until Tiamat's Claw lays buried in the monster's soft heart. I swear it, on this precious ring. She looked down lovingly at the engagement ring, still on her left ring-finger.
I'm going to enjoy this.
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This could be my last update until summer; grades come out tomorrow, you know?
So, only two more chapters to go, I think. It will definitely be wrapping up very soon. I'm so excited! But at the same time, I feel kinda sad. I've worked so hard; I've had so much fun.
Well, let's get to it, already! R&R!!
