Neo Dissidia: A New World, A New War
Chapter 12
The Clash of Crescent Lake!
Author's Note: ...These recent few chapters have certainly been learning experiences. There was so much to do in this chapter it had to be spilt in two once again. This is both the longest and the darkest chapter I've written yet- I'll warn you of that ahead of time. Not a funny chapter at all...
Regarding last chapter's cookie opportunity, the castle that's now on Mount Ordeals is the Citadel of Trials. The themes are very similar, so I was kind of surprised when no one got this right. Again, there will be more times for cookies... but not this chapter.
That said, sit back and enjoy the bloodshed!
"…Cloud…. Cloud…"
Cloud grunted groggily in frustration, not wake enough to recognize the voice….
…But he definitely woke up when he was impaled bellow his left shoulder by a familiar longsword that made his sapphire eyes widen in horror. He shut his eyes in pain as he was lifted with it into the air, "…S-s-Seph-iroth…"
Sure enough, when Cloud opened his eyes he saw that familiar teal-green gaze sneering at him in a vast black space with the white-green fluid of the Lifestream in the distance behind him. The blood that was pouring turned black and started to clot as the infamous One-Winged Angel told him, "Good to see you once more… Cloud."
Cloud was about to retort had had to cough out a bit of blood in his struggle to speak, "How…? The Nega-a-tive Lifestream-"
"Has been destroyed, yes…" Sephiroth admitted, "But I will never be a memory, Cloud. No matter what you do…" He swung the Masamune to the side and sent Cloud flying off, "I will return…"
The blond-haired man roared in pain as several bands of dark-green energy cut into his flesh- leaving cuts of black, contaminated blood leaking from them. He could only shut his eyes again as his vision became blinded by the light and felt like it burned him some.
"…The light doesn't suit you, Cloud. Even when you die, you'll simply be rejected by it and return to me as long as you keep being you. My shadow is burnt into your heart as a mark that can never be healed…"
Squall surveyed the area from the plane window- trying anything to keep himself from fretting over Rinoa's safety.
Sadly, that didn't work since all that was currently below them was the vast sea. While a magnificent sight, that wouldn't keep you occupied for long.
Laguna was reading an issue of Timber Maniacs before looking back up at his son with a concerned look, "You alright, bud?"
The SeeD Commander merely grunted in reply. "I'll take that as a "no"…" Laguna scratched his head. He sighed, "Look, I know more about this kind of chase than the next guy: I spent who knows how long looking for your big sister way back when…"
Though he didn't move from his spot, Squall did nod to let him know he was listening. The former president continued with a small, sad smile, "Believe it or not, I was in a similar state as you when that started… I had just proposed to your mother and kind of…"
"Made me?" Squall finished for him.
Laguna nodded, "Yeah…" When his technically bastard son stayed silent after that, he took a few moments to regain some semblance of light-heartedness, "I was angry at myself for not being able to stop Adel's men from taking Ellone and for having to put all of those plans I had for the future on an indefinite hold." Making sure he was looking his son in the eye, he added, "I just stayed silent and stewed about it self-hatred just like you are now- not bothering anyone except myself."
When the SeeD Commander raised an eyebrow at that, Laguna waved his hands defensively, "I'm serious- I really AM your father after all!"
Squall looked down at his seat after that with a pensive expression. Knowing his son would need time to think that over, Laguna went back to his magazine.
"Thanks."
The former President of Esthar was a bit surprised to see he answered him so quickly, but smiled and nodded all and the same, "You're welcome, bud."
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the airship's intercom, "Attention, Master Laguna and Commander Squall. Our destination is now in sight. If you want to take a look, please come into the cockpit."
Laguna clapped and rubbed his hands, "That's our cue, bud! Let's go!"
Squall nodded and the father and son moved in.
When they arrived, they could barely see a dot and some mountains in the horizon.
"…What is that?" Laguna asked; squinting his eyes in an effort to get a better look at where they were headed.
"Do you have any magnifying lens?" Squall asked the co-pilot, who granted his request after a few minutes. With them in hand, Squall zoomed in as far as he could and got good view of their target. When he realized just what it was he facepalmed.
"What's the matter, son?"
"…It's like one of those castles from fairy tales: what the hell are we fighting?"
Hearing several footsteps coming towards the throne room, Cecil put on a large, genuine smile. After all the waiting he had to do, everything would finally pay off here and now.
Rosa also seemed happy since it meant her husband's silent bitching was about to end. Ceodore also looked interested- likely wondering if his playmate Ursula was with them.
A quiet knock on the door echoed through halls that had stood silent in anticipation. From behind the grand doors, Rydia asked in a sweet but somewhat strained voice, "Rydia of the Mist with guests and friends; permission to enter?"
Cecil nodded happily, "Granted."
"Just to warn you though…" Rydia spoke up, "We also have some captured… uninvited guests with us as well; are they also allowed inside?"
Cecil and Rosa looked at each other with perplexed expressions. The King of Baron asked, "Any ideas on who they could be? Friends of yours I don't know about?"
He didn't expect Rosa to have any idea, The giant band of honored guests and not-so-honored captives had made to the throne room- where the royal family looked MORE than surprised at the gathering.
Cecil took a headcount of the people that came in. He recognized that Yang, Edge, Edward, Palom, Porom, the Mysidian Elder (whose name Cecil still didn't know even after all these years), and Harley were all accounted for…
…However, he noticed seven other uninvited persons in the room- four of them were definitely not from around here- maybe not even this planet.
The three that didn't seem very alien included a giant of a man wearing sky-blue armor that seemed to barely fit him and held his horned helmet in his arms. The other was a young woman with purple hair- an odd color to be sure, but then again Porom's hair had grown to take a shade of pink over the years. Maybe they were related?
But the third among the group somehow drew more of Cecil's attention… for reasons he couldn't explain, he seemed very familiar.
Ignoring him for now, Cecil examined the other four with curiosity. They all wore clothing he had never seen in this world- the blonde's outfit left little to the imagination and the silver-haired woman dressed in a very masculine manner with the black leather, yet she still looked very much like a woman.
Once again, he found another person that seemed vaguely familiar to him- the dark blond-haired man definitely seemed familiar… even the brunette at his side almost stirred something, but he couldn't so much as grasp what at all.
Cecil's expression betrayed nothing; he had become exceptional at putting on a poker-face as he had become involved in politics. That said, he was dying to know what his connection to those two men was and decided it was best to get straight to the point, "May I ask what events led to their capture?"
The Captain of the Royal Guards that had Firion, Maria, and Guy tied up answered with a salute, "We found these three arriving in an unidentified airship claiming to be representatives of some fictional kingdom called Fynn."
Cecil scratched his chin- eying the three attentively, "I see…" He looked back at the captain, "Did they try anything hostile?"
"Not as such, sire, but it would be unwise to allow unknowns into the castle freely."
Cecil gave a smirk that made the Captain feel proud, "You've done your duties honorably…" Then the King said something that deflated made that pride, "That said, I request their bindings cut off: they're free to go."
The Captain frowned, "Are you certain, milord?"
His King nodded affirmative, "I'm certain." Seeing the disappointment on the Captain's face, he added, "However, you may still stay just in case."
With that, the rope bindings on the Rose Rebels were cut and Firion was free to greet Baron's king; properly bowing to him (they're acting as royal ambassadors- it would be foolish not to) with his adoptive siblings joining him, "Thank you, your highness… Queen Hilda sends her humble thanks."
Cecil nodded, "I see I was right in making that call…" He finally left his throne and personally greeted these ambassadors, "My name is King Cecil Harvey of Baron. May I ask for your names?"
Standing up again, Firion offered, "My name is Firion of Fynn, your majesty…" Looking at Cecil in the face, the rebel's eyes narrowed in a perplexed manner as he stared at the monarch.
Maria and Guy eyed Firion wearily; the giant man asking, "Um… Firion?"
Oddly to the rest of the room, Cecil had a similar look to his face as the rebel did. He seemed more amused than put off that Firion was doing the same, "Do I remind you of someone?"
Firion realized he was staring and looked away to the right, "Forgive me…" Looking at Cecil again, he nodded affirmative to his question, "You do remind me of someone, actually… though I can't for the life of me remember who."
Cecil let out a small, bemused laugh, "It's alright. If you don't mind me saying, you give me a similar feeling." Pointing to where Tidus and company are, he mentioned, "Does the somewhat spiky-haired man ring a bell as well?"
"Wait! " Palom raised his voice- getting the room's attention, "You two know each other?!"
Porom predictably smacked him in the back of the head to shut him up, "Of course not, Palom…" Looking back at the scene, though, she had to ask, "That said, you have a point. Why are they familiar, Cecil?"
The two silver-haired men took a glance at each other.
Cecil answered for the both of them, "No. This is the first time I've met them as well. Just musing, really…"
Yang walked up to where Cecil and the Rose Rebels were standing and crossed his arms, "What should be done about those 'Gullwings'?"
Firion raised an eyebrow at the name, "Gullwings? Are you talking about the other set of intruders?"
"Yes, yes I am. I wouldn't give them as much attention were it not for the alien technology and weapons as well as the fact they tried to fight us."
The Weapon Master ignored Yang's explanation and simply muttered, "'Gullwings'… sounds like a silly name for a group."
"And 'Rose Rebels' isn't?" Rydia, Edge, Tidus, and YRP retorted in unison. When she realized she had said that at the same time as Edge, Rydia turned away flushed in embarrassment to avoid the irritating amused smirk she knew Ninja King's cowl was hiding…
"Fear and shiver." Barthandelus conjured six pearls of light around his staff and fired them at the group of Lightning, Vaan, Prishe, Penelo, and Walz one after another. The group scattered to avoid the blast as Lightning fired a round of bullets at the fal'Cie from her Blazefire Saber's gun-form. Predictably, Barthandelus simply created a dome of light around himself to block the shots (not that Lightning was expecting her attack to work).
When Barthandelus launched another round of orbs, the group spilt off into two: the former-Valkyrie, the Sky Pirate, and the White Monk in one near the wall; the Dancer and the Black Belt in another near the encampment. With this arrangement, Lightning quietly gestured Vaan and Prishe to stick with her and Walz and Penelo to stay near the barracks.
With that out of the way, the real offensive began. Lightning struck first by leaping into the air and slashing at him only for his barrier to knock her away. However, the cool-down let Vaan strike Barthandelus with his greatsword and smack him around twice before another swing sent him flying right into a punch from Prishe that created a green blast of wind that consumed the Ex-Primarch.
"And again!" Not letting up, the Elvaan girl dealt a vicious backhand to Barthandelus followed by throwing him to the ground with an explosion of power.
The fal'Cie in human form didn't even grunt at the damage he was taking as he got back upright. While mildly unsettled by the damage he had taken, he still didn't seem hurt and just continued his assault, "Hrm…" He charged his staff with electrical energy and was ready to swing and release it, "Allow me to reward you for striking me again… by knowing the gales of despair."
"I don't think so!" Vaan flipped back and switched his greatsword for a crossbow, "You're finished!" He fired a storm of bolts accompanied by a swarm of small fireballs from Lightning to strike Barthandelus from a distance. They connected and interrupted his attack- the man frowning at them in annoyance.
Vaan followed up by leaping forward and switching back to his greatsword to strike him, but Barthandelus wasn't going to let that happen. He grabbed Vaan's greatsword in mid-swing and whispered to him, "Let us try this again, shall we? Know the gales of despair."
Barthandelus swung both Vaan and his staff to create a cyclone of electrical energy that trapped the Sky Pirate and sent it off towards Lightning.
The former Valkyrie easily flipped out of the way but noticed a trail of ice that was forming on the ground and crept right under her. When it was directly below, the ice erupted into a giant spike that spent her skyward. At the same time Barthandelus had sent Vaan into a Thundaga twister, Prishe once again snuck behind him with an orb of light in hand ready to fire only for the Primarch to raise the hand not holding his staff behind him and firing a large fireball point-blank.
He turned around so Prishe could see him shaking his head in disapproval, "So insufficient…"
He turned Lightning recover in mid-air just afterwards and raised her hand, "Blizzara!"
The fal'Cie in disguise prepared to make a barrier, but Prishe jumped back up with a greenish glow and punched at the barrier- making it fluctuate and let Lightning's spell condense around him as an ice shard. It shattered then sent him back into the air.
Prishe landed underneath Lightning and caught her as she landed- whispering, "The old bastard's tough- any suggestions?"
Looking back at her first true adversary, then taking a second to see Vaan having slammed into the stone barrier around the town and getting up, then at Walz and Penelo and noting a faint green glow fading from her, she nodded, "Alright throw me at him- let's shake this up."
Prishe grinned and nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan!" With a grunt, she flung the former Valkyrie back at Barthandelus, "Let's get it on!"
Lightning spun at the staggered Primarch slashing, "Try this on!" She slashed at his left shoulder, then spun all around him to hit his right knee, shot him in the back, shot at his left knee, slashed him in the gut, hit his left, shoot his right knee, slash at his right shoulder, and hack at his lower thighs before finally finishing the combo by thrusting at his chest to send him towards the wall, "Get lost!"
Not letting up, Prishe then continued the chain by punching him with a five-hit combo before using magic to charge at Barthandelus again and giving him a hard blow to send flying further to the stone barrier. When Barthandelus saw Vaan run up the wall and jump off it towards him, he knew what was coming and closed his eyes, "Better…"
"You're going down!" Vaan summoned an orange crest in front of himself and charged through it- fire surrounding him as he did so, "Burn up!" He charged at the Primarch's back and sent him flying back the way he came.
Prishe ran back towards Barthandelus and crouched just before he came above her- mockingly saying, "Open your eyes!" before leaping up and slamming him in the stomach with an aura-infused uppercut.
To finish the chain of combos, Lightning jumped and spun Odin's swords. Bolts of lightning lifted him off the ground and got him to grunt for the first time, "Enjoy the view!" With Barthandelus several feet in the air, Lightning slammed her blades down and the lightning sent him face-first into the dirt.
That last attack seemed to have done him in. He started to dissolve into a metallic liquid. Slowly raising his melting head, he noticed Penelo on the sidelines doing a dance- whitish-green magic coming off her staff and radiating off Prishe, Vaan, and Lightning as they watched him fade.
"As I thought…the girl must be dealt with." His remains said before they disappeared completely.
The trio cautiously approached the spot Barthandelus once stood- Walz and Penelo following suite now that the fight was done and the bystanders had been healed. While Vaan and Walz went to where the Primarch once stood, Lightning stopped about a half-yard behind them and focused on examining the forest around the make-shift shelter the Crescent survivors were making.
It seemed that one of the more able bodied men and women had set up a group of tents and patched them together quickly to make a sick tent for everyone. Beds were made from stray branches and twigs for the injured as their families worried over them. Many of the smaller children were in shock and crying- their parents or older peers comforting them.
Painfully, Lightning noted that there seemed to be a few 'beds' where people were weeping over- it seemed that even some of those that survived the initial attack had perished to the billowing smoke that must have emitted from the flames.
Her face remained stoic, but she couldn't keep the small doubts regarding her mission in her own world from her mind when she saw the scene.
"Is it over…?" Walz wondered aloud- he and Vaan poking the spot in case any trace of the man would appear again.
"No idea…" Vaan answered, "I don't know what his deal is… but he was definitely strong- there's no doubting that."
Penelo nodded from her place behind Prishe (who was a few feet behind the right of Lightning), "Yeah… I may not have fought, but it looked like he's probably close to the likes of Mydia in power… though I'm guessing more like Feolthanlos if he took the fight seriously."
Lightning turned around to face her, "You noticed it too, then."
Prishe realized where the other two women were going with and cursed, "Aw hell, don't tell me…"
"He's not dead?" Walz finished- a quizzical look on his face.
To both his and the others' dismay, Lightning nodded yes, "I know from experience he doesn't die easily. I don't think we ever fought him with the monster using his full power. Like an old friend of mine said…"
To Vaan and Prishe's blunted surprise and Lightning's complete lack of it, Barthandelus walked back from the trees- finishing the strawberry blonde's statement, "Fal'Cie don't die as easily as men. Congratulations. You passed my first test."
"Geez… you're a glutton for punishment-"Vaan cut himself off; turning around to Lightning and asking, "What did you say this guy's name was again?"
"My name is Barthandelus: the fal'Cie Lord Sovereign of the floating haven of Cocoon." The man himself calmly answered, "But if you wish, you may call me Galenth Dysley since this is this form's name."
Prishe pounded her fists together- glaring fiercely at the fal'Cie Primarch, "Alright, 'Dysley', what is your deal with attacking these people? What's the damn point?!"
"Bait." Barthandelus answered simply with a smug grin.
This answered rightfully pissed everyone off.
The White Monk cracked her knuckles, ""Oh, screw you- you old fart! Time for a knuckle sandwich ala Prishe!" She charged forward- ignoring the warning Lightning just gave for seemingly reckless aggression.
The Primarch raised a another glass-like barrier to block her charge only for Prishe to spring back at the last second; a move that got a rare raised eyebrow from Barthandelus. Prishe smirked, "Try stopping this!" After the barrier dispersed as usual, Prishe leapt forward with a battle cry to deliver a dropkick charged with a white magical aura.
Barthandelus merely raised another shield and her offensive was bounced back again a burst of light. However, it did break the barrier apart. This amused the ancient nihilist, "Clever, I'll admit… but not quite clever enough."
Prishe had landed on her back, but flipped back up again squatting down- Penelo healing her, "Damn it- I thought I had him…"
"The test I mentioned earlier will not be game, o Abhorrent One." The false Primarch answered back- surprising Prishe with the use of her old, cruel nickname, "And you don't have much choice in the matter; because even if you refuse, we fal'Cie have ways of making you obey…"
Lightning's eyes widened in horror, "Gods no…"
Vaan braced himself- switching his greatsword for a standard sword and shield. He turned around to Lightning with a raised brow, "You know what he's talking about?"
The pink-haired woman said nothing and got into a fighting stance- whispering to her short-time allies, "Run. Now."
But it was too late, "Witness the true power of a fal'Cie!" he thrust his staff in the air and golden flash fell over the five.
"No… not again…"
"Taste the flames of blood!"
Gill flipped back as Astos fired another Arcfire at the Red Mage that made the forest fire spread even faster. While in mid-air, Gill cast a flurry of sickly dark green bubbles of deadly poison at the Dark Elf, "Take this: Scourge!"
"Hrm…" Astos fired another Arcfire and clapped his hands when they lit on fire but didn't change course, "Impressive!" aiming his staff again, he continued, "But try THIS: Break!"
A gray light shone from the head of Astos's staff that glowed on the bubbles and Gill. Knowing what was coming, she flipped to the right just in time before the light intensified and vanished- the poison bubbles turning into stone and breaking into pieces.
"Thundara!" Gill raised both hands and dualcast the spell- two blue bolts of electricity in each hand zigzagging in a wide area before striking Astos; the dark elf crying out in pain when the dual casted spell hit him.
As the Red Mage narrowed her eyes in concentration, her arms shaking from the effort she was putting in- to increase the spells' durations as long as she could, Astos glared murder at his foe and said through gritted teeth, "Gah! You think your CLEVER! Don't you?!"
Gill gasped in shock as the bolts stopping hit the dark elf and instead diverting into the glowing staff he was raising into the air, "What…?"
"Wrong…: Thunda-JA!"
The staff's glow subsided and a mighty storm of lightning appeared a few feet to the right above the Red Mage and tore through the grotto- shredding it asunder as it neared Gill.
Seconds before it did catastrophic damage to the heroine, Gill raised her hand and desperately cried out, "Nulshock!"
A yellow barrier shone around Gill and seemed to decrease the spell's tremendous impact… but not deflect it since the Red Mage felt half the pain a (to her unfamiliar) Ja-tier spell could bring.
She grit her teeth when she felt her nerves cry in agony- barely able to think to herself, 'A… Thundaga… spell would hurt… it's… familiar… but this… is something… new… ugh…'
When the spell ended, Astos humped his back slightly and panted in exhaustion. The new spell was unfamiliar to him as well and yet he cast it.
Gill fell to her knees and cast a Cura spell on herself to shave some of the damage of- feeling relief when that whitish-green light glowed off her. That didn't mean she was fine, but she was able to raise her knees and starting getting back onto her feet, "What… on earth was that? Blood Magic?"
Astos let out one more deep breath and stood up with a vicious smirk, "THAT was something only your Black Mage friend could ever hope of casting… THIS is Blood magic-!"
Before he could cast something, Gill cast another storm of ice to bombard the Dark Elf King only for him to chuckle at the effort and counter by conjuring a medium-sized whirlwind to divert the snow and ice from his path and send it to back to sender.
"Clever… but not clever enough, fiend!" Gill fired a stream of small fireballs from her right hand that went into the ice tornado and dissolved it into a veil of steam that obscured their view.
Astos merely smirked himself, "Clever…" The he mocking added, "But not clever enough, my pretty!" He then spun his staff around and cast the same spell he had before around himself, "Wilderwind!"
The wind funnel sucked the steam veil right into it and cast it up into the air where it would collide with smoke clouds. When the process was done, the Dark Elf looked over the burning grove and cursed, "Damn that little red whore!"
Knowing she must have run off to aid the Warrior or rescue whatever villagers were still alive and trapped, he calmly walked back towards town, "It's my own fault, I suppose. I WAS the one who trained her first…"
Blinking her eyes, Lightning found herself right where she had been earlier- as were Vaan and Penelo to her left and Walz and Prishe to her right.
So was Barthandelus, though his staff was crackling with energy.
"Um…" Walz scratched the back of his head, "Was something supposed to have happened, or…?"
"What was with that lightshow, Super-Pope?!" Prishe questioned more forcefully.
Ignoring her, the villain turned to Lightning, "I'm certain you know what I implied I would do. Give you all the brand of a l'Cie."
"A l'Cie?" Vaan asked, "What's that?"
"Fortunately for you, I already have my pawns in place…" The Primarch pointed to the encampment and adopted a sadistically sinister smirk upon seeing the looks on their faces:
Everyone they had been defending was gone- replaced with a bunch or grotesque, crystalline monsters with deformed limbs, hands in places they shouldn't be like their faces, and what appeared to be a beige symbol of some sort on their chests.
"No…" That was all Penelo could say at the scene- looking ill as she watched them stumble about mindlessly, "How could you…?"
In any other case, Prishe would have been the first to say something or attack, but she seemed somewhat distracted after looking at them. Whatever it made her think about must have bothered her as she took a glance at her chest nervously. Only Walz noticed since he was right next to her, but was clueless as to why.
Lightning and Vaan were the first to march towards Barthandelus off quickly. Vaan roared at the evil priest-like man, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Barthandelus laughed at him, "The purpose of these bait have been fulfilled… but even if they had no purpose to us, that doesn't mean they couldn't have no Focus for me."
Prishe shook out of her trance and joined Lightning and Vaan in front of Barthandelus, "What the hell does that mean?! What kind of twisted shit did you do to these people?!"
"He's sentenced them to a fate worse than death." Lightning answered Prishe. When she and Vaan cocked their heads at her in confusion she shook her head, "I tell you later if I stick around you after this crap is done with." Looking back at Barthandelus she declared, "You're from my world, Barthandelus, so you're my problem. Stop being my problem, or get bent."
The evil Primarch only grinned in amusement at her threat, "I'll make the exposition your responsibility this time, child." The malicious Primarch raised his staff and lifted himself into the air, "For the rest of you, just know that you've failed to save these insignificant bystanders from their fates. Speaking of insignificant…"
He pointed his staff at Penelo- who had her staff held ready to cast or dance when needed with Walz standing guard, "I believe you will suffice."
Vaan turned around in horror, "Penelo!"
Barthandelus charged a large orb of light from his staff and launched it speeding towards her.
"NO!"
Vaan pushed Walz and Penelo out of the way and took the blast in her place- rolling away in a heap upon impact. A large hole had been burnt into the front of his shirt- a deadly burn festering where the fabric once was.
"Vaan!" Penelo cried out over the laughter of the ex-Primarch- quickly sprinting over to heal her boyfriend. Closing her eyes to focus the magic she was calling up, she chanted, "Curaga!"
As a green glow accompanied the curative magic that began sealing the blow, Vaan looked at Penelo with a grateful smile…
…The smile turned into a look of horror when he saw a horde of orange, flat, rectangular metal plates come soaring towards them.
"Look out!" The Sky Pirate cried, but Penelo was too late to turn around. The plates swept her way and over to the Cie'th hordes in the encampment.
Walz ducked out of the way when he saw a plate coming for him and punched another one off course. Seeing a horde coming after them, he gestured them over in challenge, "You want me? Come and get me! I'm right here!"
Apparently, the plates chose to take the challenge personally as they all came swarming at him. The monk punched and kicked at them in a frenzy- none of his blows missing by even a centimeter. However, the plates were too durable to be destroyed quickly enough and too many to avoid being swept up by. Walz soon joined Penelo in the Cie'th encampment.
Lightning and Prishe tried to go after them, but an entire army of plates joined the rest and surrounded the encampment like a barrier.
For a minute or two, Prishe pounded away- infusing her fists with bits of light magic just to enhance their strength, while Lightning hacked and slashed and shot at them. Both soon found that they were facing the same problem Walz was facing minutes ago and that there was nothing they could do about it.
The former l'Cie aimed her gunblade at her nemesis, "Let. Them. Go."
Barthandelus chuckled at the threat- shaking his head, "Do really think you two could defeat me on your own?" Barthandelus's expression lost humor as he continued, "Six of you tried oh so many years ago and I still had to let myself die for you to succeed. Besides…"
He pointed towards where Vaan was sitting- only just starting to stand up and recover from the shock of losing his girlfriend. Suddenly, a new figured warped behind him and summoned a fan-shaped wave of seven of those plates to dive down at the Sky Pirate.
Vaan heard them zooming at him and got out a katana- slicing the center of the wave and glaring at his attacker, "Alright, who are you…?" When Vaan got a good look at him, he tilted his head in confusion, "…Huh?"
The assailant seemed to be a young blond-haired boy with an eye-patch over his left eye and wearing blue and black robes with yellow linings. The boy smirked as Vaan, Lightning, and Prishe grouped together to face him down, "You called for me… Barthandelus?"
The Sky Pirate just stared at him, "…Why is a little boy attacking us?"
Cue a massive eye-roll from Lightning.
Prishe looked more closely at him- putting a hand to her chin in thought, "Hey… aren't you the Duke of Jeuno's little brother? Eald'narche, was it?"
Said ancient child rolled his eyes. He turned to her, "You're not the only one who's ages older than she looks, Abhorrent One."
"Seriously, what's with everyone using that name..."Prishe mumbled distastefully to herself.
Back in town where the battle between the Warrior of Light and Garland had moved since we last saw them, Crescent had become a living hell. Flames were starting to consume everything. Homes were reduced to cinders now with only the Inn still standing. The only places still somewhat safe for whatever victims were still alive in town were the homes at the sides of the stone walls that barred the town from monster attacks since they had basements dug beneath them.
But soon they'd be death traps when the supports in the cottages gave out and the cinders buried the exits. Whoever was inside would be smothered by the heat and choked out by the smoke.
Garland quickly thrust at the Warrior, who parried the larger blade and tried to make a thrust of his own at Garland's shoulder. But the Fell Knight counted by using his thrust's momentum to do a heavy spin that the Warrior blocked at the cost of losing his guard, and then shifted his sword, the Heart of Chaos, into axe form and swung upwards to knock his opponent into the air and into the back of the Inn near the entrance to town.
Lying in the middle of the local Inn, the Warrior shook his head to rid himself of the daze impact can bring and looked at his surroundings. He couldn't be sure of the rooms, but it seemed that the flames were only recently bringing their damage into the main room- indicating the fire was started from the second floor. Looking behind him, he noticed that he was leaning on the main support beam for the building.
The Warrior rolled to the side and onto his feet as a piece of ceiling crashed down where he had been sitting moments prior. Turning around behind him another chunk fell down in the south-east corner of the Inn- breaking a table nearby.
'Far from a fitting battleground…' He turned towards a window left of where the that last ceiling chunk went down and readied himself to charge, 'Garland isn't the type to collapse the building right on top of me from outside since it would 'make for a poor fight'. However, I still need to hurry in case he-'
Garland came crashing through said window with a crazed grin the Warrior knew to be under his helmet. Upon landing, each section of the Heart of Chaos lengthened before he charged forward at his rival.
'Yes… before he does that and risks the entire building collapsing during our duel.' The Warrior raised his shield to appear as if he would intercept but prepared himself to roll to the side.
However, realizing that if he moved, Garland's charge would hit the support beam (which he noted was likely the villain's intention); he was forced to brace himself as the now-lance struck the Warrior's shield and staggered him. This then left him open when the Fell Knight jumped into the air and slammed his sword (in standard form) down at the Warrior and slammed him down onto his back.
The force sent more burning chunks of the ceiling falling to the floor around them. The Warrior tried to get up, but Garland's armored boot held him fast and made it even harder to breathe than it normally would in a burning building. The first villain of the series looked down on the first hero that was struggling underneath his weight in what seemed to be disappointment, "Pathetic… I would have a thought it would take more than a hazardous setting to bring you to this. You've gone soft since our last encounter, it seems."
At the Fell Knight's words, the Warrior stopped struggling and slowly retorted, "May… maybe… or maybe not!"
With that, he closed his eyes and six glowing red swords appeared next to his head that made Garland's eyes widen beneath his helmet in surprise, "When did you lear-!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the swords fired into him and knocked him back away. Making his move, The Warrior threw his shield forward at Garland and knocked him closer to the window (using his power of light to let him extend his range and briefly control it telepathically) and then brought it up to bring him into the air. The Warrior attempted to strike him in the air with a sword combo only for Garland to block the blows with the Heart of Chaos.
However, this still sent him in the air and close to the ceiling where the Warrior jumped up behind his exposed backside. The Warrior threw his shield upwards to hit Garland but he turned around and shifted his sword into axe-form to strike him down. The two blows collided and staggered them in mid-air, but the Warrior was able to use the shield attack's momentum to spin and stab the Fell Knight downward near the support beam.
Getting himself back up, Garland held his sword up to block a sword strike from his fated rival with an energetic chuckle as he pressed down on their interlocked blades, "Now THIS is more like it! This is the Warrior I've been itching to battle once more!"
"You were right that it would take more than this environment to impede me for long…" The Warrior commented with a bit of strain- putting most of his strength into pushing back.
Hearing the faint sounds of panicked cries fleeing the town from beyond the crackling of the flames, the Warrior knew Gill was nearby and could aid him if needed.
"…But I can't say the same for you." The Warrior infused his sword with a little light to finally push Garland back a few feet. Using this distraction, the Warrior used a Blue Fang and cast a rain of icicles at his nemesis.
"Oh, really?" Garland swatted the ice away- though grunted when one slipped past and hit his helmet, "Then let us see how well you hold up to that boast!" The Fell Knight separated the Heart of Chaos into twin swords and started swinging back- pushing the Warrior back to the wall with his onslaught.
In a house not too far from the Inn, Gill blasted the back wall away with a Blizzaga spell and let the small family composed of a sturdy black man, his beautiful wife, and they're two kids (one small boy and a baby girl) out of the hellhole that was once their home. The Red Mage led them through the trees bordering the stone barrier around the town towards a hole that had been made during the Warrior and Garland's battle.
The normal gate into town seemed to have been sealed off and turned to stone by Astos before the heroes arrived to minimize the number of survivors. Thankfully, after seeing an impact crater in the wall from where Gill assumed Garland had crashed into at some point, she blew this dent all the way through with a well placed Firaga and provided the remaining survivors with some safety.
They reached the relatively small crevice in the stone wall separating the town in the cover of the trees that hid it from view. The husband led the scared boy into the hole and turned to face his rescuer with a shake of the hand, "Thank you, Milady. I'd never have thought the Warriors of Light from myth would return, but I'm grateful you did."
Gill shook her head in distaste, "Don't be: had we gotten here sooner we could have spared you of this hell…" The two looked back and saw the sorry state Crescent has degraded to. At this point, all that could be done for anyone still alive had been done. Everything had caved in, valuable possessions destroyed, and sadly many lives lost forever.
The wife voiced her disagreement while passing the baby to her husband, "That's not important now, milady. What IS important is that you're here now and helping us. I thought we were doomed when that knight and the dark elf killed off the town guard and our mages off so quickly…"
Gill didn't seem convinced, but decided not to address it further. Taking a quick but through look through their surroundings to see if Astos had returned, she went back to the matters at hand after confirming he wasn't. She pointed to the hole, "Quickly- that dark elf may return soon. While your son was able to walk through this easily, you and your husband will be required to crawl through."
"Got you, milady…" Beckoning his wife over, he passed the baby back, "Rose, you're going to need to be the one to take little Stephanie over since I'm too big to do so… that, and she needs her mother more than anything right now." He crouched down next to the hole, "Ladies first."
"Too slow- WARP!"
Before anyone could even react, a black tear in space was forged between Gill near the trees and the family near the wall.
The husband braced himself for the hell to come and cried out Rose, "CROSS- NOW!"
As the tear expanded rapidly with electrical sparks emanating from the distortion in space, the man was stunned by the electricity and unable to escape and was consumed. Gill was barely able to hear his wife's cry of: "ALBERT!" over the pressure of the Warp spell before she, Rose, and the baby Stephanie were taken as well.
Gill closed her eyes for a moment before looking at her hand. She had a golden ring with a blue jewel inserted in a socket shaped like a lion's head. The gem glowed and Gill felt the pressure lessen on her as the Protect Ring did its magic. She was going to be fine…
… But the same couldn't be said for the family. Gill looked in horror as Rose and Stephanie spaghettified into the Warp spell. The tear closed and the Red Mage found herself back in normal space laying knees-down on the ground.
Taking a few seconds to collect herself, Gill got back to her feet and drew her sword, the red Sun Blade, and got into a battle stance. Sensing something from behind, Gill skipped out of the way of yet another Arcfire from Astos as he came from the other side of the wall through the crack.
The twisted wizard clapped his hands with a smile on his face, "Good job! Good job! Good to see you haven't lost your touch since you were under my pupilage…"
Gill snorted, "The honor is all yours. You may have taught me the basics, but I learned most on my own… like you being the Dark Elf King." She briefly charged a large orb of flame in her right hand and threw it out at her foe.
Astos merely fired out another Arcfire to cancel it and wagged his finger at her, "Now, now- you can't play that card little missy! You KNEW I planned to take over the world with the Master Crown and Crystal Eye- you were my SPY!"
Gill grit her teeth, "That was a long time ago!" sparks cracked from her hand and an intense blue bolt fell down towards. Astos reached out his own right hand and summoned multiple yellow bolts to overpower the Thundaga spell with his Arcthunder- sending stray bolts striking around the pair.
The Dark Elf King grinned wider: knowing he was getting under the usually calm and in-control Gill's nerves, "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday thanks to Garland. You stabbed your friends in the back to deliver it to me personally only to use the completed Master Crown's power to seal most of my magic away so those friends could kill me- that wasn't very nice…"
Gill closed her eyes to remain calm, "I never intended to really betray them; it was only a ruse-"
"A ruse that was going to be your plan all along." Astos countered. He used both hands to grab the skull-head of his bloody staff, "You cannot deny neither your own misdeeds or your failures… For example: all of those villagers you "saved"?" He tapped the bottom of the staff to the ground- making an unholy dark-purple aura emanate from both it and its wielder, "They fell to my power since you wouldn't continue fighting me!"
The Red Mage's eyes widened in horror and she stumbled a few steps before regaining her composure. She murmured to herself in disbelief, "No…"
"OH YES!" Astos screamed in malicious glee- pumping his clenched hands in the air, "It was glorious to know your hand delivered those you tried to save to little old me who tried to kill them in the first place! Even now, you're still obedient to your master…" Seeing the fury Gill's jade eyes, the Dark Elf King put his arms back down and added, "You don't want to see the mess that used to be that child-!"
That was it for Gill. She snapped and quickly moved to thrust Astos with her Sun Blade only for him to easily sidestep the charge and kick her away. The dark elf shook his head- his smile having regressed to a frown, "Pitiful. Never let your opponent control your emotions like that! That was the first of my lessons from Day 1. I'm disappointed in you, my dear."
He didn't need to see her face that "...B-b-bug off!" Gill suddenly leapt off the ground and did a back-flip to get behind Astos, who quickly turned around and summoned chains to wrap around her in midair. When she in landed in a heap the chains disappeared but were replaced by static that held her in place. With her restrained, he cast a spell that made clouds of dark energy form from his hand and surround Gill- hitting her multiple times and leaving burns on her signature red Protect Cloak.
Instead of attacking further, the dark elf sat down next to the Red Mage with a small, oddly sentimental smile. He pat her back in a mock-friendly gesture, "Now, now; don't worry. I'm not going to kill you today… you've already lost. The survivors that fled in other ways are being dealt with by a few of Garland's- and by extension my- allies that arrived in response to reinforcements that have arrived for your front."
Even though Gill was tasting dirt from her position, Astos knew she was be A: pissed and B: confused. He continued, "You won't need to worry about them: they'll be dead by the time you get there." He got up back to his feet and walked a few steps away, "As I said: I'll let you live today out of respect for our past… but you've forfeited "Story Time with Astos" for this."
Turning back towards her with a more vicious smile, he waved her off, "Fair well, my old apprentice! I'll be looking forward to what you do next. Try not to disappoint me then…"
With that, Astos vanished in black flame as the Bind spell wore off. Taking a moment to glare hatefully at the spot the Dark Elf King had been moments before, Gill chugged an elixir and prepared to sprint off through the crack in the stone barrier.
Astos himself brought out parts of her past she would rather forget about- mistakes of naivety, and betrayal that the lightest tap from him could disarm her. She hadn't had to deal with that in the old timeline since she'd turned the tables on him, but after letting him kill innocent people she failed to save brought that pain out with gusto.
CRASH!
Garland swung the right blade and was parried by the Excalibur. The Warrior tried to bash him with his shield only to be pushed back by a solid punch that nearly made our hero lose balance. Garland followed up with crossing of his two blades that DID make him loose balance and then smashed him left through what remained of a rocking chair and almost through a wall connection to another room.
Getting back to his feet, The Warrior jumped back when Garland broke the remaining wall down using his sword in axe-form with no regard for his own safety as more of the ceiling stated falling off from the impact. Looking upwards, the Fell Knight commented, "It seems our time in this battleground is coming to a close."
The Garland returned the Heart of Chaos to its base form and slammed the tip down challengingly, "Ready to end this round here and now?"
The Warrior held his shield and sword close to his chest and rolled out of the way of an axe-form swing from Garland that sent a bed from upstairs falling towards the combatants. Garland shifted the Heart of Chaos to its base form and knocked it towards the Warrior, who retreated back into the main room to dodge the flaming heap.
Garland followed him there and spilt his sword into two to unleash an onslaught of sword swings. The Warrior blocked his flurry with sword and shield in hand with focused determination. They seemed to block and parry their blows in a swift, majestic dance of war.
The two fighters spilt off and prepared their next blows. Garland spun his two blades in the air, crying out; "TO ASH!" before launching four missile-like flares that homed at the Warrior.
The First Hero, however, had other plans. Stabbing the Excalibur into the ground, he sung it forward and sent a wave of light in Garland's direction. Garland hopped out of its path…
…Only to let it crash into the main support beam.
Garland turned around and saw the Warrior make a jump through the window just before the beam broke completely. The Fell Knight wasn't enraged by this tactic, though…
'Heh… clever, Warrior of Light… not that clever, but still a decent strategy…'
The Warrior took some time to catch his breath after that quick escape- the Excalibur and shield dropped to his sides while he crouched down onto his knees panting.
The dense heat inside that inferno didn't do him very well given the suit of armor he wore, and since his life wasn't in immediate danger for the time being he felt safe to lower his guard some and literally let himself breathe.
After a few minutes, his breathing got to a level he deemed satisfactory and grabbed a Blue Fang (its description should be self-explanatory) from his pouch, 'That… was a close one. It's not as bad as Mount Gulug to be sure, but my armor wasn't fashioned into Ice Armor like it had been then.'
"Give me strength!" The Warrior cried out, and let the cool of the ice spell passing and melting just above his head sink in
"I see we're using Ice magic on ourselves again?"
The Warrior wasn't surprised to find Gill standing next to him, "It would be unfortunate to die of heatstroke when there are still battles to be fought." The Warrior got back to feet and put the Excalibur back into its scabbard before grabbing his shield. He faced his friend directly and questioned, "But what of you? I didn't get to ask before, but how did your fight with Astos fare?"
Seeing the Red Mage look away in shame told him what he needed to know.
The Warrior decided to leave it for now, "I see… very well- but is there anything I do need to know?"
Gill cleared her throat and dust herself off before looking back at her friend with her composure back in place, "Astos informed me of another front of in this battle outside of town that requires our assistance."
"Understood. Which way?"
The Red Mage pointed to the entrance of town, "It's beyond there- past the gateway Astos has turned to stone."
With Penelo and Walz, cut off from their allies, were forced to fight and kill the monsters their rescues had become.
Walz kicked one Cie'th on its brand and forced it away while Penelo stabbed another in its… 'face' with her staff. One tried making a swipe at Penelo only for Walz to tackle it and rip off its 'head' in one fell swoop.
Another hulk fired a large tornado of wind at the monk that he blocked by using the beheaded one's body as a shield. He swung the headless Cie'th around at its kinsmen a club- thrashing them around until it finally broke apart.
Walz wiped the sweat that had piled up on his brow, "Ho, boy… I'm dazed as he-!"
A Cie'th socked him in the gut and slammed him against the swirling exoplate barrier- which beat him around even more. A couple more Cie'th ganged up on Walz and began beating the bloody pulp out of him.
With their main threat out of the way, the remaining five Cie'th (the ones not beating on Walz) started to gang up on Penelo. Two fired fireballs at her that she batted away with her staff, but another one fired another Aeroga spell that flung Penelo onto the barrier- getting tossed around just like Walz did. The Cie'th advanced on her, and one flung a swift punch at her.
"Go away!" Penelo lifted up her staff and aimed the point right at its brandwhile Penelo succeeded in defeating one with a swift thrust using a tip of her staff, the other four closed in on her (one randomly decided to target Walz instead). One knocked Penelo's staff away with a blow to her arm while another beat her down to the floor.
Very few among the Final Fantasy cast were proficient with hand-to-hand combat besides the monks and those with military training (or something like it). Penelo's usually polite demeanor did not reflect her thoughts regarding this development.
'**! Why couldn't I have the opportunity to bring a sword for melee along before this started?! **!"
She attempted to kick them away, but while that would have worked for Walz, it only encouraged them to break her legs. When punching and scratching were tried, the former resulted in her starting to break her knuckles and the latter was ineffective… and just drew their attention to breaking her arms.
Meanwhile with Walz, he was holding out better than his fellow captive. His trade meant his body itself was a weapon… but not an invincible one. He was heavily bruised, but still alive.
Being restrained by two monsters, he took a few minutes of punishment before kicking them both back. When he tried flipping back to his feet, the pain he felt with the muscles flexing distracted him just a moment for him to fall to the floor on his back and for the Cie'th to blast him with dual Aeroga spells. They wailed out- dazing both Walz and Penelo so that the beasts could continue their assault just a little longer.
As their punishments continued, Penelo could feel them slowly break what felt like every bone in her body- her ribs, her legs, her arms, her nose… anything they were able to hit. The thing that was keeping her alive and keeping her from dying of internal bleeding was the Cure spells she was able to mutter in order to shave off the damage. Even then, she was still coughing out blood until a small puddle started forming.
Penelo used her last bit of mana for a Curaga spell to shave any mortal damage off. However, this wasn't enough for her to be in any condition to successfully fight off the Cie'th (though what attacks she did pull off did some damage to piss them off more). Once she was only slightly worse off than Walz was at the moment (which isn't as bad as earlier, but not able to handle it as well as the monk), the monsters prepared blows meant to shatter her ribs and pierce her heart…
Walz finally managed to defeat his captives and came racing to save Penelo. Taking a swing of a hi-potion, the restorative liquid gave him just enough strength to keep fighting. He charged at one of the Cie'th behind the leading three Cie'th that were in front of the dancer and knocked it into its fellows. While two of the Cie'th still dealt heavy blows to Penelo, they quickly turned to face the greater threat in Walz.
While the monk fought off more of their attackers, Penelo took the chance to spit out a chunk of blood that had been building up in her throat. Feeling more and more faint, she felt tears come to her eyes as she saw how much blood she was losing. While she felt some happiness in hearing that despite hearing him cry out in pain a few times, the death moans of the Cie'th did give her some hope things would turn out okay…
…Until she tilted her head up and saw that Walz had collapsed with only one Cie'th remaining. And instead of trying to kill him, it had chosen to finish her instead.
'Looks like this could be the end…' Penelo looked to the skies- a tiny, sad smile on her face as she thought of the man she loved, 'Vaan… if I don't make it out of this, I just want you to know that I-'
Slice!
Upon hearing the death moan of the last Cie'th standing, Penelo let out a small, surprised gasp of relief. She willed her herself to move up to greet her rescuer- coughing up a bit more blood before faintly crying out, "T-Hank you… so much… you saved my…"
When she saw just who her savior was, the grateful smile she was prepared to give him or her was replaced by one of petrified fear.
"Unfortunately, I am not here as your savior…" None other than Judge Gabranth- in full armor and all spoke to her- his combined blade clasped with both hands, "But as you're executioner."
Things really weren't looking good for the team of Lightning, Vaan, and Prishe. Their prolonged struggle with Barthandelus and Eald'narche was coming to its end and in the villains' favor. The three heroes were down to their knees the verge of defeat.
"S-s-shit…!" Prishe cried- down to her knees pounding on the ground, "They're good…"
"N-no kidding…" Vaan mumbled, "Were we even able to hit them…?"
Eald'narche crossed his arms, "Was there really any other possible outcome? You're dealing with an ancient, advanced race far greater than anything Humes and Elvaan are capable of."
Lightning snorted derisively at his comment, "It's those cheap as hell exoplates that gave us a hard time- not you, schoolboy. And we still destroyed almost all of them in the fight."
The Zilart Prince marched up and tried kicking her in the face, but the former Valkyrie swiped her gunblade at his leg when he tried. Eald'narche gave her a cold glare, "Schoolboy, is it?" He charged up an intense orb of magic from his hand.
Barthandelus shoved the ancient boy's arm away from Lightning and made him dispel the magic he was about to cast, "Restrain yourself, Eald'narche: the time for their end hasn't come just yet…"
The glare the Primarch was given by the boy told him what he thought of this, but he nodded and submitted to the fact anyway, "Very well, Barthandelus… as long as our mutual ends to these means are reached."
The sound of a gun being cocked was heard. The two villains turned around and saw Vaan about to make one last shot at them.
Barthandelus laughed at this act of resistance, "Really, now? Do you truly think you could finish us off in your condition?"
No response came from the Sky Pirate.
"Of course…" The Primarch pointed his staff over at the exoplate storm, "Even if you could do anything I'd find it key to remind you we hostages. Going further, we also have a sacrifice…"
Eald'narche snapped his fingers and the exoplate barrier began to disperse and disappear- revealing a sight that got Vaan's blood boiling:
His personal enemy, Judge Gabranth, had returned from the dead. In his outstretched right arm, he held a bloodstained, battered, and unconscious Penelo by the collar of her top and held his Chaos Blade at her neck.
Though he fought alongside the future Sky Pirate briefly when he, Ashe, Penelo, and the others once when his master proved to have become dangerous and seemed to realize his errors upon death, that was quickly forgotten when lives were in danger- particularly his girlfriend's, "Leave her alone!"
Gabranth just seemed to stare at Vaan in a way that made him feel uneasy.
"….What?"
Gabranth pointed at him, "Who are you again?"
Vaan was dumbstruck, "What the hell do you MEAN who am I?!" Scowling indignantly, he tried to explain, "You killed my brother, Reks, just to frame yours!"
While he seemed to acknowledge that event, the Judge Magister shook his head, "Still not clear- I recall Reks, but I don't quite remember you or your lady here,"
Vaan glared at Gabranth's continued dismissal of both his and Penelo's presence during the struggle for Dalmasca's restored sovereignty. Deciding a more direct reference was needed, Vaan added, "I used your sword to nearly do-in your former master?"
Gabranth finally seemed to recognize him, "Ah, yes… that one street rat who tagged along with Princess Ashelia..." Looking at Penelo, he continued, "and the cleaner partner of said street rat."
Lightning was able to get a good look in Vaan's furious expression at Penelo's capture and knew where that was going, "Kid, don't-"
Deciding not to wait any longer, Vaan tried to make a desperate surprise rush at Gabranth to free his girlfriend only for a nasty shock to strike him mid-step and make him fall flat on his face only a few feet from where he laid before.
"Tut, tut, tut little street rat…" Turning to the forests, the Sky Pirate saw the grim, grinning fiend Astos walking out of woods, "Don't waste your energy any further- or YOU TWO." Astos raised his staff and blue bolts of electricity disabled Lightning and Prishe- who were just about to get up themselves.
Looking at her foe more closely- Lightning deadpanned, "Great; first elves, now dark elves. It's official: I'm fighting fairytales."
"Now then…" He turned to Barthandelus, "Come. Garland says it's time to unlock the first Soul of Chaos and he wants you three and of course, your captive present."
Eald'narche nodded, "It's about time."
"Good." Spinning back to our heroes, he mockingly offered a hand as black particles of dark energy started coming from the Dark Elf, "Come along now- everyone's invited…"
With a hard thump of his staff against the ground, a glowing purple circle began expanding along the ground. While starting at Astos's feet, it expanded to include everyone in the scene (except Walz). The circle faded and black particles of dark energy floated around the air in its place.
"Why do I feel like I'm in Twilight Princess all of a sudden?" Prishe wondered out loud before everyone burst into those particles and disappeared.
The gate was only a yard or two away from the Inn, so it only took a minute for them to come right next to the petrified wooden gates.
"So… anyway across it?"
As he said that, the knight was certain his friend was grinning cockily at the challenge she found in those words as she face the wall, "I've an idea, yes." Her grin faded as she continued, "While we could simply break it down, that would alert the enemy to fast to our positions. As such, I'd recommend go-"
"…Yes…!"
The Warriors of Light turned around back to the ruins of the Inn and the saw the rubble itself tremble.
Gill facepalmed, "You've got to be kidding me… already?"
Suddenly, a massive pile of the burnt/burning wood was raised into the air- a knight in shining silver armor and a white cape with blue runes lifting it up with a deep, heavy grunt.
While at first sight he seemed to be the image of a White Knight, the small cracks in his armor that let dark, chaotic energy leak out greatly contrasted that image.
Garland was grinning madly behind his helmet, "YES! This is a taste of the sort of thrill I've been dying to know this last time, the sparks of conflict that will continue for all time!"With a mighty roar, the Fell knight threw the pile at them and forced them to dash away to the sides as fast as they could.
The flaming chunk instead destroyed the petrified wood and cleared the exit from the town once more.
"…Well, that worked out nicely." Gill deadpanned, "So much for the element of surprise."
The Fell Knight chose to ignore that comment as he fetched the Heart of Chaos from the remaining wreckage. Once he had it back in his grasp, he questioned, "Did you really believe a little thing like being crushed under several hundred pounds of flaming wood and brick would be enough to kill me?"
"No." The Warrior answered as he redrew Excalibur from its sheath, "But I had hoped it to slow you down longer than this."
Apparently, Garland found that hilarious as his deep, booming laughter filled the air.
His opponents didn't know what to think when the Fell Knight started struggling for breath from laughing so much.
"…Do I dare even ask what you find funny?" The Warrior asked, a tad disturbed by this behavior.
Garland settled down after a minute and answered, "If anything, you merely made this more entertaining for me rather than truly impede me…" He opened the armored hand that didn't carry his sword and a dark, fiery red orb of energy was summoned forth, "…For my comrades and I have already won."
"…What?"
The Warrior eyed the red orb in Garland's hand critically, "That orb… is that-?"
"The essence of Marlith, yes." The Fell Knight answered, "The corrupted essence of fire my hatred spawned upon my first death and the energy the present Marlith herself was draining from the Fire Crystal. I like to call it the Flames of Chaos."
Gill gave her foe a cold, half-lidded glare when she noticed what must have been used to form it, "That was what the genocide was for, wasn't?"
"Astos!" Garland yelled out- ignoring the Red Mage's query "Is the sacrifice ready?"
The Warriors of Light saw black specks of dark energy float throughout the square as Astos's voice answered, "Right on schedule, sir!"
The black specks of Astos's warp magic materialized the Dark Elf at Garland's left, then an old man in white robes to his right along with a boy in blue robes in front of that man. Astos put a lanky arm on the Fell Knight's giant shoulder and casually added, "I hope you don't mind me bringing a few guests for the festivities, do you?"
Sensing something behind them, the Warrior and Gill turned around and saw a strawberry-blonde young woman in alien-looking clothing, a light-blonde haired man in a black vest, and a lavender-haired young elf appear. They all looked drained and beaten and had sparks binding them in place.
Seeing the Warrior, Lightning closed her eyes for a moment and said something about "really fighting fairytales" under her breath.
Vaan looked at his new surroundings with a frown on his face, "Where's… Penelo?"
Though the Warrior didn't recognize any of them, he got a strong feeling of nostalgia from Prishe… but he put that aside to accuse Barthandelus and Eald'narche, "What did you do to them?"
"We showed them just what they were dealing with when they tried to defy the Warriors of Chaos. " Barthandelus coldly answered with a small, nasty smirk, "Speaking of which..."
Joining his 'allies' in front of their leader, a seconded armored figure in Gabranth materialized with an unconscious Penelo still in his clutches. The former Judge Magister kept silent and still- not looking anyone in the eye.
Gill stared the new entry down- whitish-green magic charging in her fingertips. The Warrior pointed his sword at the newcomer and demanded with a strong tone, "Let the girl go. I thought you above hostages by now, Garland."
Garland snorted at the Warrior's accusation, "I never called her a 'hostage' Warrior; though should you interfere, her death is assured."
Vaan was about to yell at them for Penelo's release again, but both Lightning and Gill made him keep quiet.
The Fell Knight continued, "But now that everyone has gathered here; it is time to demonstrate what it means to defy the will of the God of Discord."
At those words, Gill released the Curaga spell she had hidden up her sleeve and renewed Vaan, Lightning, and Prishe's strength. Back on his feet, Vaan brought out his greatsword and threatened once more, "Leave. Her. Alone."
As he said those words, Penelo herself began to regain consciousness and her eyes immediately fell upon her boyfriend, "Vaan…"
"Kill the girl." Barthandelus ordered.
Before Vaan could say anything; just as Gill was about to fire a lightning spell to force the judge to let go; before the Warrior could prepare a thrust, Lightning make a slice, or Prishe rush at him… it was over.
Penelo fell to the ground on her chest- light fading away from her dark blue eyes and blood pooling from the wound where the Chaos Blade dug deep into her heart.
Vaan completely froze up- unable to believe what he had just witnessed. His childhood friend and recently girlfriend he had known for so much of his life- that one constant he could always rely on… gone just like that.
"Perfect…" The red orb of flame in Garland's right hand flared up quickly and continued to grow more fiercely, "Our business in this town is through. The first Soul of Chaos, the Flames of Chaos, has reawakened…"
The sheer heat generated by the flames quickly began to overwhelm the armored Warrior. The knight collapsed slowly to his knees and holding himself up with his arms as he struggled to breathe with his armor on- likely close to suffering the heat stroke he had tried to avoid earlier. His allies didn't take it quite as badly, but it was starting to get to them.
The wind started picking up and went around the orb. The flames still burning in the town and the surrounding forests seemed were pulled into the orb as searing jets of flame- forcing the heroes besides the armored Warrior to duck to the ground to avoid being burnt (except Vaan, who was still standing there completely lost). Garland roared as the orb's blaze grew volatile and burst into a scathing red ball of dark fire that surrounded the Warriors of Chaos like a shield.
Though the heroes couldn't make out any of their foes at this point, Garland was definitely feeling the strain of the raw power that was produced by the Flames of Chaos explode with their starting power. He clenched both his teeth and the central ball of fire still in his grasp tight and charged up the intensity of the flames further, "So allow me to fulfill the wish of fiend this essence formed and raze this town forever!"
"Everyone, fall back to me!" Gill commanded, charging a light purple orb of magic into her right hand while dragging the Warrior over to her.
Seeing Vaan still standing there in shock, Prishe rushed over to the Sky Pirate and roughly shook his shoulders, "Don't just stand here- we need to get out of here, now!"
Vaan couldn't bring himself to move, though, as he watched the flames quickly burn Penelo to ashes in a matter of seconds as if she was never there at all. Prishe followed his gaze and closed her eyes at the sight.
Garland's allies left him again as he roared out from the effort controlling the very forces of nature required. As his version of Chaos, this direct method of creating this power wasn't necessary.
Lightning ran up to the two and quickly saw what the problem was. Sighing partially in sympathy, partially in exasperation, the ex-PSICOM walked over to Prishe and the two of them dragged Vaan towards Gill- who had turned her light-purple orb of magic into an energy field of the same hue.
Garland stopped roaring and the fires seemed to focus into the more intense form of a slightly larger orb from the one it had started out as. The strain he felt earlier gone, he grinned underneath his helmet, "Farewell, Warriors of Cosmos…"
Garland released the ball and detonated into a massive explosion of bright, chaotic red fire that consumed everything in its path in a matter of seconds….
Wondering the streets of Baron, a lone, out of place figure walked along the townspeople.
He appeared to be a middle aged Caucasian man with a bit of stumble on his chin and somewhat unkempt black hair with gray streaks in it tied into a ponytail that hung over his left shoulder. He wore black sunglasses and a deep red hapi kept closed by a thick black and blue strap with two brown belts wrapped around it. Adding to the hapi's appearance was a brown shoulder pad decorated with tan, green, and blue patterns on his left shoulder. He wore black pants, black shoes, and a black shirt with gray collar with intersecting brown straps
His left arm was tucked into the front of his hapi and made it look like it was in a sling. A large scar had been left on the right half of his face that rendered his right eye unusable and permanently shut- leaving him with only one amber eye that could be seen beneath his sunglasses.
The man looked tired, but resolute in purpose. His eyes were dead-set on the castle as he marched through the streets…
Like I said... no cookies. If you've read Happy Birthday, Terra!, you'll know that Penelo's death has just caused a major continuity error. I'm aware of that. Know that this means no one is safe here.
Next chapter will be much lighter- don't worry about that. There's still plenty of action to be had, but not nearly as dark as this.
Be sure to review! Criticism is appreciated so long as it is constructive!
