Less Than Perfect

by Surfingpichu

The story of FFI told through the eyes of some not-so-light, Light Warriors. Chapter 21: Celeste and Stephon may be facing their greatest challenge yet. Celete's family!

14. Chapter 13: There and back again

So you remember that fic a while back with the idiot mages, and the thief girl, and the jerkface, that were trying to kill these other jerkfaces so that they could save the world? Yeah, that fic updated again. Whoopee!!! Isn't that great? It isn't? Well it updated anyway, so there!

So anyway, thanks a whole bunch to Toxo, Emperor Zoron and Zippy Zipper for reviewing. Love you guys! You all get virtual cookies! Yay cookies!

Chapter 13: There and Back Again

Maric was absolutely sure it had to be near to morning after such a long time had been spent on guard. The sun seemed just about ready to peek out from behind the mountains, and the forest, though still dark, seemed just about ready to become flooded with light again. Soon they would be able to eat a light meal and be on their way back through the thick bog, through the Cornerian forest, and back to their home town where they would be named heroes for slaying Garland and freeing the kidnapped princess.

Things couldn't be more right. Maric thought laying back peacefully. Now Rachen will be freed and the kingdom can breathe a breath of relief. On top of that we're all in one piece, not without our cuts and bruises, but not all that bad either.

The only object of worry now was Stephon, who had grabbed the attention of the Light Warriors and held it since Garland's death. Much to Maric's dismay, he hadn't stirred or even moved since they had left the temple of fiends with a rather bedraggled looking Princess Sara in tow. More than once during the night he had crept over to the knight to make sure he was still breathing. Every time he was comforted by the fact that Stephon was indeed still alive, but at the same time dismayed by the fact that he showed absolutely no signs of improvement either.

He'll be fine. Maric assured himself, shaking thoughts of the wounded knight from his mind. He has enough white magic and potions running through him right now to make a mad man feel sane. I don't think there's much of anything to worry about.

Celeste and Shane of course had said otherwise. The two had insisted that the knight be kept under constant watch to make sure he didn't slip back into death's clutches as he had before. Even more insistent was Lady Sara herself, who had flat out refused to sleep until she had Maric's word that he wouldn't leave the knight to his own devices during his shift.

As far as he was concerned, the three of them were overreacting, but of course, if by some sort of cruel turn of events something did happen to Stephon while he wasn't looking or paying attention, he knew he would never be able to live it down.

That wasn't to say that the knight hadn't been taken care of since they left the temple of fiends. Maric had taken the time to heal his wounds near to completely. In the end it had turned out that Garland's sword had missed his vitals altogether, which made healing much easier. Given Maric's skill he couldn't exactly heal everything perfectly, and he was sure that if Stephon ever did wake up, he might have to do a bit of explaining, especially when it came to the one stab wound in his right shoulder that had nearly proved fatal.

Other than that healing had been rather easy, a good sign. Obviously he would come out with quite a few scars, but otherwise whole. The only potentially hindering wounds left were the two large gashed etched into both of his hands that Maric had taken care in wrapping tightly. Maric could only guess the different ways he might have managed to get those wounds, and later concluded that he really didn't want to know all that much. So much blood was already unsettling enough to work with, there was no need for any description of it.

The nights were getting colder now. Maric found himself unable to sleep anyway simply because of the bitter cold, on top of having guard duty that night, and he could only imagine how Celeste felt, being clad in little more than a light brown tunic. The fire they had procured had long died out now, and to conserve mana for the trip ahead, Maric didn't want to start another just yet. On top of that they'd lent their only blanket to Stephon for the night, hoping it would improve his chances of waking up.

At once the sounds of a low, faint voice reached Maric's ears. It was simple sleep talk, nothing intelligible, in any other case not important, but when Maric turned to attach a face to the voice, he was caught a bit off guard. Stephon had rolled to his side now and was talking to himself in a fitful slumber. Relief was the first feeling to hit Maric. At least he's coming around. He thought, approaching the swordsman carefully.

The knight's face was troubled in his slumber, a frown marked upon his features. His body was tense and his breathing was heavy now. Every now and then he would mumble. "N-.. G'rland... not r'dy t.." For a second it looked as if he might wake himself, but he simply shifted, and rolled to his back again.

He still thinks he's battling Garland. Maric concluded, trying to ignore the amusement he felt seeing Stephon in mid-nightmare. Perhaps it was simply how strong he usually seemed, to see him chased by night demons like a child seemed out of character for him.

"Ah... I.. I... can't..." He rolled over, throwing his arms up as if to shield his face from an oncoming blow. He gave a small cry, at once sitting up straight, as if aroused by his own cries. His eyes were wide, though only seeming to half comprehend his surroundings. Maric stumbled back, a bit startled to say the least. Is he awake?

"Stephon?" Maric asked softly.

"Talon..?" Stephon groaned sleepily, rubbing his eyes drowsily, as he let himself lay back down. "What happened?"

"Stephon it's me, Maric." Maric continued. "You're alright, we've got you now."

"Maric..." Stephon echoed, confusion in his voice. "Maric.. what... what did... wait... who?"

"Me, Celeste, and Shane." Maric replied. "The three of us went off to defeat Garland. Sara is with us too."

"Garland..." Stephon murmured, at first not seeming to comprehend the meaning of the name. Seconds later his eyes went wide. "G-Garland?" He shot up straight for a second, only to give a pained yelp and be forced to the ground again.

"It's okay, Garland is dead now." Maric said in as soothing a voice as he could muster. " Princess Sara is alright now, we killed Garland and rescued her."

Stephon seemed to shift, his body relaxing. He drew a shaky breath. Obviously he still hadn't quite recovered yet. With misty, far away eyes he looked up at Maric again.

"Talon?" He began again in the most sincere voice Maric had ever heard him use.

Maric cringed, unable to correct the boy again. He knew by now he wouldn't respond. He's still delirious I suppose. "What is it?"

"Talon I couldn't kill them." Stephon mumbled. "But that's okay. You were wrong, they aren't the way you thought they were. They aren't... the way you said they would be."

Maric faltered, not really knowing how to respond. Luckily he didn't have to, as Stephon went on.

"I don't know now... Garland wasn't evil either." Stephon continued. "You all thought he was, but he wasn't. He was just jealous, he wanted the kingdom and... maybe he could have helped us all if... if..."

Stephon trailed off, his eyes going very dull and soft. "You just wait Talon." He mumbled. "I'll let you meet the rest of the Light Warriors... you'll see... I... I think you'll... see..."

With a shutter he grew silent again, his eyes fluttering shut. Maric slowly drew away from the knight, reclining against a nearby tree. At least he's getting better. He thought, content now. Now at least he could be sure that Stephon was on the way to recovering, that was good. With one less worry on his mind Maric looked to the stars, watching the moon as it slowly traveled across the sky.

In a couple more days this will all be over and done with. He mused. What do we do then. I'll free Rachen, and we'll most likely be rewarded for bringing Princess Sara back home, but what then? Rachen and I will have to leave eventually, the magic shop is gone. I suppose we could rebuild it, but what for? If we do become rich off this quest we won't need a magic shop anymore.

He looked back to the other four who were now resting peacefully beside him. I wonder what will become of them. Stephon and Sara won't have much of a problem, but what of Celeste? Her parents, or siblings, or friends must think she's dead and gone by now. She'll sort it out but... I feel kind of bad for making her go through this like this.

He looked to the little black mage now. And then there's Shane. What becomes of him? He doesn't have anywhere to go at all, unless he decides to come with Rachen and me. He smiled at the thought. Then again, it might not be such a bad idea having someone else around. I think I like that idea.

Maric realized only then that a sleepy feeling had drifted over him. The moon was still rather high, and there was quite a bit of night left, but even so the strain of the fight before had left him utterly exhausted. He fingered the size of his neck lightly, brushing the large, sloppy scar that was now etched into the side. In the end, he couldn't have gotten more lucky. The wound had been shallow. It had torn through muscle nerves and veins but nothing that couldn't be fixed with potion and prayer. If Garland's sword had gone any deeper, though, he'd have been killed regardless. After all, potions can't heal a ruptured wind pipe. In fact, particularly unskilled white mages, have been said to all but kill their patients by accidentally sealing their throats shut. Maric shuttered, trying not to think of what would have become of him, or any of the other Warriors of Light, had Garland's sword slipped another inch.

In the end, Maric had taken Celeste aside, and told her exactly why unless it was a situation much like the one they'd just come out of, she should never try something like that again. She had complied, though Maric had to wonder if she actually had understood a word he was saying, or cared all that much for that matter. Now, however, he didn't have the will to think about that. Even after potions and cure spells had stopped him from feeling like he'd just been all but beaten to death, he still felt rather drained. After all, Stephon wasn't the only one who nearly got killed yesterday.

Satisfied with that thought, he consented to close his eyes if only for a moment.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A ship was adrift in a calm sea. A ship with white sails, and an intricately decorated mast. The sea was calm, and blue, lazily swaying back and forth, and rocking the ship gently like an infant's cradle, and the sky was a clear blue, adrift with clouds that were big and fluffy like giant snowballs floating in the sky. The scene was familiar, strangely familiar in a near surreal way. All at once rain clouds gathered above the ship, and the wind began to blow ominously.

Rain began to pour from now gray clouded skies. In seconds the ship would collapse, just as it always did. It was eminent, most likely only a matter of seconds, but this time, in those seconds, man could be seen on the deck of the boat. A white mage, a youth from the looks of it standing opposite from a dark haired menacing looking man. Talon perhaps, it certainly looked like Talon. The two figures stared at each other for a few seconds more before lightning struck. The ship collapsed, and the scene was no more.

"W-wait! Talon!" The scene vanished from sight and at once light filled Stephon's eyes. The dim greenish glow was the first thing Stephon saw as he awoke, sitting straight up at once and looking around to the faces around him. Celeste, Maric, Half-Mage, and even Princes Sara were all huddled around him rather closely. He recoiled a bit.

"Ye gods, the boy lives." The princess was the first to speak, and had a look of awe in her eyes as she spoke.

"Sir Carris! You're alright!" Half-mage followed closely behind Lady Sara, looking both overjoyed and relieved.

"Stephon, are you feeling alright?" Celeste was also hovering above him, and the three were beginning to close in on him. A vaguely claustrophobic feeling swept over him, "We were all worried, you gave us all a big scare back there."

"Is everything alright, Sir Carris? You do look a bit pale yet"

"Perhaps he's still tired."

"You really should get some rest, you know."

"Please leave me be!" At once the three before him stopped talking, and exchanged a couple of worried glances. Presently, Stephon found himself near falling back to the ground after the advancing faces had come far too close for comfort. "Now, will someone please tell me what is going on here?" He looked around a bit fearfully now, "And what on Gaia is Lady Sara doing here? How did all of this happen? Where's Garland?"

"Why, master Carris." Lady Sara looked a bit surprised. "These brave souls are the ones who saved your life, and killed Lord Garland after he imprisoned me at the temple."

Stephon paled. Brave souls? He repeated in his mind. She couldn't mean... oh ye gods, they couldn't have...

"What do you mean they killed Garland?" Stephon near cried, "There's no possible way they could have... not after I... it isn't possible!"

"Well, it wasn't easy," Celeste admitted, "but you could give us some credit you know. I mean, we really had to work hard to catch him off his guard. We nearly lost Maric too, after Garland got a hold of him."

"Garland is never off his guard." Stephon growled, "I should know after he managed to..." at once he trailed off. His breath left him for a moment as the battlefield, still vivid in his mind, came back to him all at once. He could see Garland standing above him, smirking as he retrieved his sword from Stephon's back.

At once he clutched his shoulder where Garland's sword had once protruded. There now was nothing but a hole in his chain mail and a rather sloppy scar. He moved his hand back over his heart, still beating, though now a bit more quickly than before. He looked up at the three before him, pale faced.

"He killed me..." Stephon murmured, shaking his head as he looked upon the three before him once more, Shane and Celeste and Sara. How can this be. He wondered, his hands suddenly shaking. How is this possible? I was sure I'd died there. Unless... Warily Stephon turned towards Maric, eying him cautiously.

"Maric?" Stephon grunted at once, "Come here will you?"

"Why? What did I do?" Maric's eyes widened a bit as he was called out. This entire time he hadn't said a word, and Stephon knew now why that most likely was.

"Maric, exactly what did you do to me?" Stephon asked, forcing his voice to remain even.

"What are you talking about?" Maric frowned. "I didn't do.."

"Out with it now, mage, what kind of foul necromancy did you perform on my body?" Stephon sprung forward now, seizing Maric by the throat. A slight ripple of pain shot up his arms as he grabbed the boy. "Answer me!"

"St-Stephon!" Maric gasped, struggling to pull out of Stephon's grip, and utterly failing. "I didn't... It.. i-it's not... I ju-just used... Stephon let... let go I c-... c-an't... breathe..."

Paling, Stephon dropped the mage, flushing a bit as the boy recovered, though still glaring at him sourly. In retrospect, I should probably stop doing that to the poor boy. I think we've all been through enough in the last few days.

"Master Carris," Stephon winced, looking up at a red faced looking lady Sara bore down on him, "that is no way to treat the man who saved your life."

Stephon paled, at once rising to one knee, faltering a bit as he did. "I.. I apologize, Lady Sara, I meant no harm to him, I..."

"No harm indeed." the young woman huffed, "Why the boy's face turned about as red as his cloaks. Don't bow to me in apology, if anything, you ought to be bowing to him."

Stephon's heart sank, and he looked over at the red mage hesitantly. Maric blushed a similar red color to the one the princess had been describing.

"Ah.. that's... not necessary Lady Sara." Maric dismissed the girl nervously. "Stephon is still recovering, I was never in all that much danger. I could have thrown him off if I'd wanted to, but I couldn't bring myself to hurt the poor devil, and..." A dubious look from both Celeste and Stephon silenced Maric after a few seconds, and the red mage retreated back into silence with a final sentiment of, "Well, I could have..."

Shane blinked, looking a little perplexed, "But... then..." he looked up at Maric questioningly, "Then why did you let Stephon almost strangle you before when..."

"Ahh that wasn't...!" Maric cut the boy off at once, glancing nervously at Lady Sara with a hesitant smile, before turning back to glare at the boy, "That was different, Shane."

Shane recoiled a bit, "Oh," near instantly he was silent.

A guilty feeling gripped Stephon, momentarily. They mean to... to protect me? He frowned. Why? I've been nothing but horrible to them this entire time. Why should they help me? He ground his teeth For that matter, why should I need help from them?

"Enough of all this." Stephon cried, jumping to his feet. "We've lost enough time today, and if you think I'm content to sit here all day, when Lady Sara is still in danger you're all horribly m-..." As the rush of energy that had propelled him to his feet left him, Stephon felt a strange, heavy feeling in his limbs that immediately dragged him back to the hard ground once more. "One moment please."

"Sir Carris," Shane looked over Stephon, predictably, looking rather worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Stephon glared at Shane momentarily. Do I look alright, boy? He thought to ask, but he knew with Princess Sara hovering over him he would have to tame his tongue, if only for the moment. After all, I'll be rid of these filthy commoners in no time at all. The Princess is safe, we've succeeded.

But somehow the prospect of sweet victory didn't taste quite so sweet to Stephon. Where he'd thought before that he would feel accomplished and satisfied after Garland had died, he found only disappointment, confusion, and even more bitterness than before. It was discouraging in a way, the fact that even after he'd been met with success, he still felt absolutely miserable.

Perhaps, it's because I didn't kill Garland myself. He looked to the other three warriors, glaring coldly at the group of them. They were the ones who killed the man, not him. He had only managed to make himself look like a fool, rushing in to meet his death. How had Princess Sara seen him? As a bloody mess on the floor, pierced through like the rotting carcass of a forest imp, left to die on the forest floor? How could he look at her now? Now after he had been humiliated in a way no man should ever be. After failing in the one most important battle he would ever fight.

It'd have been better if they had left me there. Stephon thought bitterly, I was dead enough for them. I don't see why they didn't. After all, what have I done for them? Why am I so important? He spat, turning, They see me as weak, as a child who needs protecting. An arrogant, spoiled child. They think they're better than me, because they killed Garland when I couldn't. He snarled, I'll show them.

"Alright men, I want to be back in Corneria in two days. We lost enough time getting here, and we've waisted enough daylight today as it stands," the other warriors and Lady Sara looked at Stephon with surprise, "I want to be through the swamps by mid-day, do you hear me?"

"Are you sure Stephon?" Celeste looked a little worried, shifting uncomfortably as she eyed the knight. "You haven't fully recovered yet."

"I am absolutely sure." Stephon said at once, "Lady Sara must be returned to the safety of Castle Corneria as soon as possible, do you understand me?"

"Yes sir!" Shane piped up, immediately falling back into his 'ready for duty' stance. Stephon smiled wryly. If only he knew exactly how ridiculous he looked.

"Right then," Stephon sighed, it was if nothing had changed. Shane was still ridiculously strange, Maric was still annoying, Celeste was still sarcastic, the only difference was that now Lady Sara was with them. Perhaps that made all of the difference.

They began their march when the sun was half way up the sky. No meals, they had to conserve food in order to make it back to Corneria alive, and even skipping that, they'd lost a lot of time.

The sooner we're back the better. Stephon quickened his pace slightly. He didn't hesitate to take the lead in the group now. Without having to worry about being stabbed from behind, he found he trusted the four of them enough to lead them from the front, instead of from behind. Honestly it was a little embarrassing, listening to peasants talking to Lady Sara as if she was as common as they were. Somehow the girl laughed and talked right along as if she'd known them her entire life. The entire thing was irking to say the least.

"And when Rachen and I went back in, you couldn't imagine the looks on their faces when they realized we'd been listening the entire time." Maric was laughing, now, and the other three were listing half in intrigue and half in amusement.

"So, what did you do?" Princess Sara's eyes were wide in interested, "Did you get your gil back?"

"Well, yes, of course we did." Maric replied, hesitating a bit at the girl's sudden interest. In another second he relaxed, "But the look on their faces, ye gods." he laughed, "You'd have sworn they had seen a ghost"

Stephon's hands slowly balled into fists as he listen and walked. To imagine a dirty common blooded mage with the brains of a forest imp could think to talk so casually to a princess. It wasn't right. It shouldn't have been, never in a thousand years should the likes of commoners be allowed to walk alongside royalty like this, especially one as fair and graceful as Lady Sara. Stephon scowled.

It was all common talk that he spoke of too. Talk of pubs and bar fights, and men who try to swindle gil. As if it wasn't bad enough that he thinks to talk to her at all. He shook his head in disdain. Well... it could be worse. He could be talking about something like...

"No, no," Maric was explaining something now, "White magic has nothing to do with bringing back the dead, that's what people don't seem to understand. Once a person's body is dead. No pulse, no life, no breath, nothing, I can't bring them back. Now, if it were Necromancy, you would be able to, but you have to sell your soul to some pretty strange gods if you want to get powers like..."

"Maric!" Stephon cried, stopping and turning around to face the red mage. Maric looked confused, a look of apparent innocence on his face.

"What?"

Stephon glared at the boy, but Maric only gave him an even more vacant look than he'd had before. Sighing, Stephon pulled the boy aside.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak of such things in front of Lady Sara." Stephon growled.

Maric frowned, "What? What did I do wrong?"

"Speaking of Necromancy and Selling Souls?" Stephon asked, his voice raising to a harsh whisper, "Those aren't topics fit for a princess to be hearing, you.."

"Master Carris, I think I can listen to what ever talk I wish." Lady Sara's voice interrupted Stephon, " A princess must be entirely aware of what goes on in her kingdom, including the otherworldly things."

"Lady Sara, please try to understand..."

"Understand what, Carris?" a smirk was on the girl's lips, " Need I to remind you that you yourself owe your life to a magician's hand? I think it's fair enough to say that the idea of magic is worth looking into."

Stephon let his hand fall to his sides, defeated. "My apologies Lady Sara." He grunted, turning back to his march.

She thinks of me as a child. Stephon was beginning to feel distressed. She doesn't want me. What if she doesn't see me as fit to be king. After all, I did abandon my subjects in favor of fighting a losing battle alone. I was a fool, of course she sees me as that.

"Come then, men." Stephon's voice was soft now, near humbled, "We're... waisting daylight."

"You're sure you feel alright, Sir Carris?" Shane's voice came once more from behind them. Stephon gritted his teeth, only just stopping himself from drawing his sword.

"Half-mage, I have said before, I'm feeling just fine." he said between gritted teeth, "I got into a little situation. It's over now. I'm fine."

Just one little flick of the wrist and I'd never have to hear that grating voice again. The thought calmed him a little, but even if he could get past the annoying conscience that held him back from running the boy through, he'd never be able to fight off Maric and Celeste in this condition, and even if he did, he'd never be able to face Lady Sara after that. Ye gods, why does everything have to be so difficult?

Whether it was minutes or hours that passed as they walked, Stephon couldn't say. One minute the sun was high over head, and in the next a group of dark clouds had rolled in above them, tinting the sky a dark hazy gray. It wasn't long until Stephon heard thunder in the distance, and was quite sure he'd felt a few droplets of water a few minutes back.

"Well, that doesn't look good." Maric commented, looking a little hesitant at best as he came up behind Stephon.

Stephon saw what he meant at once. The marshlands they'd crossed before stretched out before them now, looking far darker and more foreboding than before. A light drizzle had started now, one that threatened to turn into a full blown storm before the hour was through. Lightning cracked once more against the sky, as if trumpeting the storm's coming. It would be difficult to cross the marshlands now to say the least. The first time around they'd all nearly lost their lives, and that was without the extra princess following them around.

"Maybe we should wait until the rain stops." Celeste looked a bit wary herself, looking out at the swamp, pale faced.

We'll be waisting time. Stephon thought, looking back out at the marshlands, It can't be that bad. We made it through the first time, and I managed to do so on my own for the most part. Besides, with the thunder, those wild horses won't be anywhere for miles.

"We'll cross it now." Stephon said at once, prompting a few dubious looks from the other Warriors of Light.

"Stephon, have you lost your mind?" Celeste nearly cried, "We'll never make it through. If we manage to make it through without getting killed by gray imps or horses, we'll just end up getting stuck anyway."

"And obviously these conditions will magically disappear after the storm is gone, right?" Stephon said flatly, "Come on, we're waisting time."

The rain was beginning to pick up now. Already Stephon could feel the rainwater seeping through his chainmail, and beginning to drench his undershirt. Maric's hat was drooping slightly with the rain water, and honestly he looked a bit like a wet cat with his clothes sticking to him. The sparse thief's outfit Celeste usually wore did little to protect her from the cold rainwater, and already, she looked rather cold and miserable, as did Lady Sara, who was dressed only in a silk nightgown that was presently becoming more and more translucent as the seconds passed.

"Stephon, I really don't think this is..." Maric began now. At last Stephon could take no more.

"Well do you want to know what I think?" Stephon interrupted him, "I think it'd be better if we all stopped talking, and started moving. Come on."

Stephon took a few heavy steps forward now, and for a second, the four others hesitated. They'll follow. Stephon thought, not even giving so much as a backwards glance to his fellow warriors. They have nowhere else to go now.

After a few seconds he heard the sloshing of feet within the wet, muddy bog behind him. One, then two, then three. After a few seconds he stopped, realizing that a fourth member hadn't followed them into the bog. Stephon turned to see a nervous, and rather wet looking Princess Sara standing at the edge of the bog just before the solid ground turned to mud.

"What are you waiting for?" Stephon urged, trying not to sound too irritated. It was difficult when so much seemed wrong with the world.

"Ah... I'm having a slight problem I.. ah...." the girl blushed a little.

"What, you don't want to walk in the mud?" Celeste asked, laughing, "Honestly, you'll have a bit more to worry about than a little dirty water when we get deeper in. This is the easy part."

"Well, I..." The girl took another step back, "It.. it's not as if I..."

Stephon didn't waste another second. At once he strode over to the girl, scooping her into his arms swiftly. Lady Sara gave out a small cry.

"Master Carris, what on Gaia do you think you're doing?"

"If your highness doesn't wish to cross the bog, you won't have to." Stephon said, smiling, "As a knight it is my duty to aid you."

"It's probably the closest he's ever been to a woman." Maric whispered to Shane, who looked up at Stephon quizzically.

"Sir Carris?" He asked rather loudly.

"Shh!"

"I heard that you know." Stephon glared at Maric sourly, who presently was turning a rather pleasant shade of red. After a second he added in a low, bitter voice, "and you're not quite one to talk."

"Now that just wasn't called for." Maric mumbled, looking a little sore.

Half-mage looked confused to say the least, and Celeste simply looked amused. Stephon gave an annoyed huff, reclaiming his place at the front of the line. At least this will be over soon. He sighed, attempting to keep Lady Sara fast in his grip. He'd have to admit, she was rather heavy for a princess, and the rainwater wasn't helping at all.

What was once a drizzle had become a full blown torrent. The wind whipped around them, driving sheets of rain into the five travelers. Stephon felt his face growing numb with the cold, and soon, just about every inch of his body was entirely saturated. He had to feel bad for the other Light Warriors, especially Celeste, who sloshed along after Stephon with her goosebump speckled arms wrapped tightly around her body. There's a possibility that this wasn't such a good idea. Stephon admitted to himself after about twenty minutes of sloshing through muddy water. If we had waited the storm out, we'd at least be a little less miserable, if nothing else. Another clap of thunder echoed through the hills as a strike of thunder shot through the sky. Stephon shuttered. I suppose it's a bit too late to turn back now.

Another flash of lightning parted the dark sky, followed by a sharp cry from Half-Mage. Stephon turn at once, nearly dropping Princess Sara when he instinctively reached for his sword. Shane looked around warily now, looking frightened out of his mind.

"What's wrong?" of course Maric was the first to ask. When it came to Shane, he always was. You'd think he's the boy's mother or something. Ye gods.

"I... I..." Shane stuttered, looking around, after a second, he lowered his hands, "I thought I saw something."

"What kind of something?" Celeste asked now, suddenly seeming worried, "Ye gods, if it's those horses again I'll..."

"It isn't going to be the horses." Stephon dismissed the girl, "I said before, they wouldn't be about in this weather. Half-Mage scared them off with a lightning spell before, now the entire sky is filled with it. They're probably miles from here by now."

"I... but I'm sure I saw it..." Shane said looking about, "A dark figure in tattered cloaks, with bright glowing eyes like... like..."

"Like you?" Celeste finished for the boy at last, eying him dryly.

"N-no not like..." He looked around, "Well... I guess you could say... it wasn't like that though, it appeared in a flash of thunder, and in the next it was gone. It was like... Like those spirits you were talking about, Maric."

They're real? Stephon paled, stepping back. Maric had told them about the spirits before, but Stephon had taken it in jest. I suppose from the same boy who talks about Necromancy...

"There aren't any spirits, Shane." Maric laughed, "don't worry, I was just trying to scare Celeste a little. It's just a story."

"What?" Celeste cried, "You made them up?"

"Well of course not!" Maric laughed, "They're real, they're just not around here. I told you that before. And they don't actually steal souls. You're probably just seeing things in the rain. Are you sure it isn't just the lightning?"

"I'm not afraid of lightning." Shane mumbled, looking a little defensive. With that another peal of thunder boomed through the heavens. Shane gave a little yelp, flinching. "err.. not much anyway." He amended.

"How can you be afraid of lightning?" Celeste laughed, "You're a mage. I've seen you use thunder spells before!"

"Well spell casting is different in a way." Shane explained, "When you cast a spell, you have control over it, you usually won't get hit with your own lightning. I've never seen it happen anyway. With live lightning, you could, and... well I've seen exactly what it can do. The effects can be devastating sometimes."

"It'll let up soon enough." Stephon sighed, smirking, "Come along."

"Quite a crowd you've managed to find, Master Carris." Lady Sara looked a little amused.

Stephon nodded, smiling. It was nice to see the princess smile. "They're an interesting bunch." he agreed, "Never a dull moment."

Another thunder strike cut through the sky. This time it was Maric who cried out.

"Stephon, I think we have a problem."

"Oh what is it now?" Stephon sighed, turning around again.

"I think there really might be some... ah..." Maric looked a bit embarrassed as he spoke, "Well, some spirits. I think Shane might be right."

Shane nodded vigorously.

"Maric, that's incredibly juvenile." Stephon said, shaking his head.

"What?"

"You just said there were no ghosts."

"Well I.." Maric looked around, looking a bit distressed, "I was wrong, there really is something."

"You probably saw Half-Mage or something." Stephon dismissed him, turning around.

"Stephon that isn't funny. I'm being serious, you know I..."

Maric never got to finish his sentence. Instead he trailed into a terror stricken cry, followed by Celeste and Shane. Stephon turned to see the three of them staring wide eyed at a floating shadow faced creature. It had a tattered, smoke like appearance, and seemed to be only just a little less than solid. It's eyes, were as Shane had described, bright and yellow, and yet, unlike his. These eyes were emotionless, staring out from a blank abyss. Stephon felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw the creature, hovering above a terror stricken Maric, who sat before the thing shuttering in fear.

At once Celeste lunged at the creature, driving her knife into what would have been the creature's flesh. Where Celeste's blade had been, the spirit disappeared, shriveling into nothing. Stephon stared at the three of them, wide eyed.

"Was... was that...?" Stephon could barely stop himself from shaking long enough to form words.

Maric nodded, righting himself shakily, "There's more, we need to be ready for..."

Stephon lowered Sara to her feet, drawing his sword. The other three were armed as well. All except for Maric, who looked about, suddenly looking rather helpless.

"Here." Celeste had drawn a rather large ornate looking sword from her belt. Ornate, yet somehow familiar. Stephon frowned, studying the sword carefully.

"Where did you get this?" Maric asked, studying the blade. He struggled a bit to heft the blade into the air, but ultimately failed.

"Temple of Fiends." Celeste said softly.

"Wait..." Maric looked at the blade again, "is this...? Celeste you didn't..."

"Well after Garland died, I figured he wasn't using the sword." Celeste said, a little too casually, "It seemed like such a waste so I just figured..."

"Oh ye gods, Celeste!" Stephon cried, "You can't just... that isn't... ye gods, did you bother to steal the armor off his body as well?"

"No! No I didn't!" Celeste protested, looking a bit red in the face, "Although I... he did have a bit of gil on him..."

"Celeste! How could you?" Stephon cried, "Stealing off of a dead man? That's like..."

"Well I took the gil while he was alive." Celeste defended herself, "Most of it anyway."

Another thunder strike interrupted the two of them, and at once Stephon found himself face to face with a spirit's tattered form, yellow eyes piercing into Stephon's. The knight cried out, flailing with his sword, and slashing wildly at the spirit. His sword slid right through the creature's vapor like body. The spirit's blank, glowing eyes turned on Stephon. A small ball of black energy formed in the thing's hand, pulsating and sucking at itself as if it were alive. Even looking at it, a cold feeling rushed over Stephon, as if contained in that small black ball was all the misery and anguish of the world, and suddenly, he found that the small black ball was flying towards him.

A chill rushed down Stephon's spine. For a second his breath left him, and he staggered to his knees, gasping. A pain hit him like a dagger in his chest, stunning him for the moment. This isn't going to work, we can't fight them like this.

"Maric, Half-Mage, start up on some magic!" Stephon cried, righting himself shakily, "If physical combat won't work, we're going to have to try something new."

"Shane is trying!" Maric called back, while making a blind swipe at another spirit, "I think the lightning is distracting him, he's having some trouble casting!"

"Well what about you, you have spells." Stephon called back, "Make some use of yourself."

"I tried!" Maric cried, "Fire spells won't work in the rain, I tried it, they go right out. I don't really know the thunder spell either. What am I supposed to do?"

"Get on healing, I don't know!" Stephon cried, "Put them to sleep or something, be creative!"

"Healing..." Maric's words were thoughtful, as he dodged out of the way of another attack, "Stephon, you're a genius!"

"What? What are you talking abou-.." another attack caught Stephon off his guard, as another dark missile hit Stephon's arm, making his entire hand go numb. He cried out, clutching his limb as his sword dropped to the ground, useless.

"Cure!" Maric's voice rang out above the pounding rain. Thank the gods, Maric is on healing. Now maybe I can get some respite. Much to Stephon's surprise, however, the pleasant, cool feeling of a healing spell never came to him. Instead he looked up to see the blue tendrils of calm light drifting about one of the spirits. Near immediately the creature exploded into a fine dust and was no more.

"What?" Stephon didn't quite know what to say to that.

"The ghosts are undead." Maric called over to Stephon, "If curative spells help to heal the living, they must do the opposite to the undead."

"That makes no sense!" Stephon cried back, swinging his sword wildly at one of the spirits.

"It worked didn't it?" Maric called back, raising his arms as if to prepare another cure spell, "I don't argue with what works."

Stephon shrugged, dodging out of the way of another spirit's lunge. I can barely keep this up. Stephon thought wearily. With his body still recovering from near death, he wasn't quite at speed yet, and this battle was demanding every bit of strength he had plus more. I wonder how lady Sara is doing in all of this.

A shrill cry answered Stephon's silent question. The knight turned, gripping his sword as tightly as his hands would allow him to, to see Princess Sara standing on a rock surrounded by the demon like beings.

"Lady Sara!" Stephon cried.

He reached for his sword with his good arm now, charging headlong for the group of ghosts. One sweep should have cut through all of the creatures' shadowy forms, and all at once they all disappeared only to reappear around Stephon. The knight paled, looking around frantically. Those things'll kill me in a second if I don't do something. He thought, looking around at the apparitions. But if I try to attack, they'll all jump at me. What do I do?

A sudden splash of liquid slapped Stephon in the face. Celeste stood before the knight now, with a now half empty potion bottle in her hand. Before her the spirit burst into a pile of ash, floating away on the wind. The girl turned, splashing the rest of the ghosts with potion as well. Relief flooded Stephon as the last ghost melted into a fine mist and floated away.

Stephon sighed, smiling lightly. Thank the gods. He thought looking to the skies, If that lasted any longer, I'm sure I'd have died right here.

"Lady Sara." Stephon looked to the princess now, bowing slightly, "You are unharmed."

"I'm perfectly fine, master Carris." the girl affirmed, "and you."

"Just fine." Stephon nodded, "Shall we be off?"

The girl nodded. Stephon approached her slowly. In truth he was a bit weary himself from the fighting.

"I can't believe that worked." Maric was laughing, "Curative spells to kill the undead. Who'd have thought?"

"You were talking about Necromancy before, Maric." Shane offered, "Necromancy is just a form of dark magic. Curative magic is a form of white magic, one of the lightest forms of it. Just like the way the rain water killed your fire spells, white magic helps to banish dark magic like necromancy. You understand, right?"

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Maric cried.

"Well, I was trying to cast." Shane defended himself, "And I was distracted by the..." A crack of thunder cut the boy off, and small yelp replaced whatever he had been about to say.

"In any case I think we've learned exactly how much Maric knows about the likes of Necromancy." Stephon smirked.

"What?"

"Well, you said there weren't any ghosts here." Stephon said at once, "You were so sure of yourself on that that you made up stories about them to spite them, and then the next thing you know they were here."

"Well I..." Maric started,

"If you know so much about Spirits, why couldn't you tell if there were any in the swamp?"

"I-... I knew." Maric said at once, "I-.. I just didn't want to scare you all is all. I really didn't think they'd attack us like that, I was just.."

"Sure." Stephon laughed, "Right, as if I'm that much of a fool."

"I'm telling the truth!" Maric cried. A dubious look from Celeste and Shane made him suddenly look a little less confident, "Well, I was..."

The red mage leaned over onto the sword that had once been Garland's, sticking the tip into the muddy ground. It was a large blade, nearly twice the size of his last one, and he seemed to be having trouble carrying the thing, much less wielding it.

"Would you rather use my sword instead?" Stephon asked. Maric looked up suddenly.

"No I think I'll be fine with..." the red mage trailed off, looking at the weapon he now held, and then at Stephon's relatively small sword, "On second thought, maybe I should."

Stephon unsheathed his blade. It was an older sword, nothing all that valuable. Garland's sword was much more meaningful than his own, and Stephon couldn't say that Maric would do the great swordsman's blade justice by swinging it around like a savage. Stephon found that the large ornate blade was actually quite a bit lighter than he'd expected. Still gripping it in both hands made arcs of pain shoot down his arms. The healing spell Maric had cast on his hands were wearing off now, and in the last battle, one of the wounds had reopened. Blood was oozing down the side of his hand now, mixing with rainwater. Lovely.

Maric held Stephon's sword up now, testing the balance of the blade. "This is a lot easier to wield. Thanks." Maric smiled slightly, "Are you... sure you can handle that. With your ah..."

"I'll be fine, I'm sure." Stephon replied, "I'll take another potion if I need to, but honestly, I think I'll be fine. Just make sure you don't break my sword."

"I won't." Maric nodded, sheathing the blade.

"Well, we should be off now?" Stephon looked around. The rain was coming down even harder now, and didn't show any signs of letting up. At this rate we'll sink into the swamps. We ought to be out of here as soon as we can.

"I'm surprised, Lord Carris." Lady Sara smiled, as Stephon approached the girl, "The way you get along with the other Warriors, I could almost mistake you for a commoner."

Stephon felt a chill run down his spine. He faltered for a second. Commoner? The word seemed to cut him life a knife. Garland's words from the day before washed over him. "This mission of his was tailored for you, wasn't it? To get his bastard son out of the way so that his ruddy blood line could run on into royalty."

The man was mad, don't take his words to heart. Stephon instructed himself. Just the ramblings of a jealous old lout. After all, I was to be king. Any merit he could take from me before my death, he would certainly take. Well hear this, Garland. I won't believe it,I'm not dead, and you will not have the crown. There, I've defied you three times. Even so, the victory didn't taste all that sweet. Probably because it was easy enough to defy a dead man.

"Stephon?" Lady Sara's voice was soft as it called to Stephon, "What's the matter, you look pale all of a sudden."

"What.. what's the matter?" Stephon echoed, his throat suddenly dry, "Ah nothing... nothing's the matter. Nothing at all Lady Sara, I'm perfectly fine."

"You look awful, Stephon, what are you talking about?" even Celeste sounded slightly worried, "You're going to run yourself into your grave. That is, if you don't run us to ours first."

"For the last time, Celeste, I am as well as I'm going to be." Stephon cried out, "The only thing that will make me more ill, is having Lady Sara out here, in constant danger, in the middle of this vile swamp. Now if you would please..."

"Master Carris, she is only concerned for your health." Princess Sara interjected, "You were almost lost once, and none of us wish to lose you again."

"I'm sure I will be fine, Celeste," Stephon said coolly, "And even so, my personal health is little concern of yours."

"But it is, Carris." Lady Sara cried, "Is she not your teammate, your loyal follower?"

"Loyal?" Stephon laughed, "Her, loyal? Excuse me, Lady Sara, you've misread me. These men follow my word, but I'm no more their leader than I am yours. These aren't my men, Lady Sara. It's a wonder they even follow my word up to this point, though I suppose they would otherwise have a lack of words to follow. No, I'm not their leader. Did you truly believe they were sent on this quest for nothing more than the glory of the crown? These are the likes of thieves and criminals, nothing more than street urchins, scrambling for one last shot at their pathetic lives. Why the two mages here were set to hang on the gallows within a day's time. The girl faced life in prison. These men only went on the quest in the first place to save themselves, not to free you. They're no more my allies than they are yours, and the minute we set foot back in Corneria, I'd like nothing more than to never have the misfortune to meet any of them again."

There was silence for a second. Only after a few seconds did Stephon notice the saddened, and accusing looks the other Light Warriors were giving him.

"Sir Carris..." Half-Mage was the first of them to speak, "Do you.. do you really think of us that way?" The boy looked close to tears.

Stephon's mouth hung open. He looked from Princess Sara to the mage a few times, his mouth opening and closing a few times. "I.. I..."

"Well... it's good of you to let us know how you feel." Celeste's voice was icy as she stepped forward, "Come on then, I'd feel dirty if I had to invade your personal space with my presence for all that much longer."

With that the girl began striding away, taking large steps that showed marks of how far the swamp water rose up her legs. Stephon stood as if stricken, watching as Maric and then Half-Mage passed Stephon with saddened looks in their eyes. What have I done? Stephon couldn't help but wonder.

"You're right, Stephon." Princess Sara's voice was just as icy and low as Celeste's now, "It is a wonder they follow your words. I wouldn't."

"Lady Sara, I..." Stephon began helplessly, but the royal girl cut him off.

"I think I'm well enough to walk on my own, Master Carris." With that Lady Sara strode away.

Stephon lowered his arms in defeat. Perhaps I spoke too harshly. He thought watching as the other Warriors of Light strode away. No.. no it isn't a matter of 'perhaps', I had a good thing going, and I managed to crush it within an instant. This goes beyond foolish, they must think I'm a baffoon, or worse, a heartless master who holds no love for his subjects. I'd be dead without them, of course I cherish their loyalty. I should have never questioned it. Ye gods what is wrong with me?

The three Warriors of Light were drawing away from Stephon now, slowly fading into the rain. Stephon took a couple long steps to catch up with them, not wanting to be left behind. There was a nervous tension that lingered over the five of them now, and a tacit hostility that seemed to be directed towards Stephon entirely. Of all of them, Lady Sara seemed the most disgusted, shooting a cold glance towards Stephon every so often.

"I honestly don't see why you follow him." the girl was whispering to Celeste. Of all of them, Sara seemed to have connected best with the thief girl, if only out of a common gender and the fact that both of them were otherwise alienated, "All this while he's been treating you all like common servants. As if he could care less what becomes of you. What if you all get into a situation like he was in, would you really rely on him to risk his life for all of you?"

A pang shot through Stephon's heart. They couldn't, could they?I could never have pulled a rescue like that off. As it stands, they went to lengths that bordered on miracles and necromancy, and on top of that they risked everything to finish a fight I couldn't win. At that point, I'm sure I would have run.

"That's not entirely true." Celeste's words made Stephon look up, "Stephon is... complicated in a way. He talks big a lot, and in truth he is a little too overbearing and demanding at times, and sometimes I do wish he would lighten up a bit and stop being so bitter. And.. he is a bit selfish, and cruel, and ye gods when he and his brother betrayed my trust, I could have sworn he was the most vile creautre ever spawned to Gaia."

Stephon flushed, Well, I suppose I do deserve that. he smirked, After all, I can't exactly deny it.

"But, given all that I... I really can't say he's all that bad." Celeste's voice was soft suddenly, "He's not a bad leader, much better than you'll give him credit for, and despite his demands, despite all that, there have been times when push came to shove that I honestly doubt we'd have made it through if he wasn't there."

"You can't just forget his cruelties because he's a good leader!" Sara cried now, "Ye gods, why, he tried to strangle the boy who ended up saving his life."

Celeste smirked, "There are some points when I think we'd all like to strangle Maric."

"Hey!" Maric cried, looking back at Celeste. The girl waved him off, laughing.

"Anyway, you shouldn't be so quick to judge him. He's a little rough, and honestly, I think he's a little put off that he had to be the one getting rescued, but he's generally not a bad guy once you get to know him." Celeste smiled at her royal companion.

She really thinks that way about me? For a second, Stephon felt almost happy, Even after I said all those things? I thought she all but hated me, even before, with the way I betrayed her, and all the rest of them. With the way I treated them before...why does she defend me now? I don't understand.

"And of all things Miss Sara," Celeste said softly, "I think Stephon cares for you most of all."

The girl looked confused suddenly, "What?"Stephon blushed slightly.

"It was on your account that Stephon led us out here in the first place. Honestly what Stephon said wasn't entirely false. Maric and Half-Mage and I aren't quite out here for glory. We didn't have a choice. I myself wanted to run away, and I only kept up the quest with the prospect of earning some sort of reward." She smiled, "Don't get me wrong, as it turns out I like you as a person, but you have to understand, I don't do charity all that often. Stephon was the only one here who went out here to find you only to ensure your safety."

"Really?" The girl's eyes were wide suddenly.

"Really? It was just about the only thing he'd talk about!" Celeste cried, "Ye gods, if he didn't care about you, why would he have tried to fight Garland one on one?"

"He had a duel with... Garland?" the girl's face was pale now. She looked back at Stephon for a second with awe before turning back to Celeste. "Didn't you do anything?"

"He didn't want us there when he fought Garland." Celeste admitted, "We almost left him behind."

"Maybe he didn't want to share the glory of victory with any of you." Sara pointed out.

"That's possible, but that's not what he said." Celeste looked down. The royal girl gave her a quizzical glance, urging her on, "He told me that he didn't want to see any of us get killed, so he wanted to go alone. He said he didn't want us to throw away our lives on something like this."

"Then why did you come back?"

Celeste smiled suddenly. "I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know why I came back for him. I just did. It didn't feel right to leave him to die." Celeste folded her hands behind the back of her head, "and in a way, I'm glad we did. I'm glad Stephon isn't dead, to be honest."

Stephon smiled. I'm glad too. I rather like being alive He thought, nearly laughing. He'd have interjected, but right now, he figured he'd said enough for the moment.

After all, I have some mysteries of my own to solve now. The light hearted feeling left Stephon now, and he left off listening in on the two girls' conversation. When we get back to Corneria, I have to speak with my father about all of this. Stephon knew it shouldn't have been all that important. Honestly Garland's words were probably nothing more than a mad man's rambling, but even so, they shook him. Young women often had love affairs with other men in their more tender years, especially with so many persuasive fiends around. Stephon's mother wasn't exactly a chaste woman by any means, if he was a bastard child, it wouldn't come of much surprise to him. This could be my ruination. A child born a bastard isn't fit to rule a kingdom. And if Garland knew about my lineage... he did know my father as a young man, perhaps he knew my mother too. Perhaps he was...

Stephon swallowed hard. No.. I'm not going to think about those kinds of things right now. Garland's dead now, he doesn't matter. I'll just have this matter cleared up and that will be all.

Again a terrible thought struck him, as he remembered Garland's other words concerning his father. What if it was his idea to begin with? Stephon chewed the inside of his lip, Maybe he sent me out here to get killed. Except it was the king who sent me. Unless father told the king to send me but... how would he have even known about the quest? Ye gods, what am I supposed to think? He shook his head now, No, I'm thinking too hard on this. It's not even a fact that I'm not my father's son. This could all be a trick of the mind. It's probably just a mad man's talk. He was mad, after all.

Stephon sighed, looking out at his four companions. I wonder if they'd ever accept me? He sighed, Probably not. Not now at any rate. There was a point when they might have, but I ruined that a while ago. Even so, I do hope they end up happy. It was strange to think that the end was drawing near. In two days he would wake up in his own bed at his father's manor with Talon at his side. Celeste would be in the streets, hopefully back with the thief clan Stephon had nearly ended up destroying, and Maric and Shane would be somewhere far away, perhaps Pravoka or Melmond.

In the last few days Stephon had grown accustomed to his new surroundings. He'd become accustomed to waking up under a canopy of trees, and he'd grown used to his companions, and had nearly come to rely on magic as an aid. It would be difficult to get used to doing without it. And I'll have to get used to killing mages again, won't I. Another thing Stephon had grown used to was the way Maric and Shane acted. Shane, though a little strange at times, had enough tolerable qualities to make him seem almost an endearing figure to Stephon, and since all black mages looked more or less the same, Stephon would have to imagine he would project Shane's personality and habits onto the mages he caused the deaths of. In effect, it would be like having to kill the young Half-Mage over and over again. The thought made Stephon's stomach lurch.

Ye gods, going back is going to be difficult. He realized at once, Now that I've gotten to know a couple of mages I've learned that they're just as human as I am. How can I go about sentencing them to death now? I've seen magic, it's not as treacherous as people think, and even less so because of all the silly limits mages have. I've been naïve, we were wrong. We've been wrong for all this time, and I almost let it go. When I return, I must set things right. For them if for nothing else.

"Maric! Look out!" a cry startled Stephon out of his musings at once, and he looked up to see an ever growing group of specters looming above the Red Mage like a black curtain.

"There's more of them?" Princess Sara looked mortified.

"Get behind me!" Stephon cried, drawing his sword, "Everyone get behind me! Now!"

"What are you doing, Stephon?" Maric cried, as Stephon shoved him out of the way, "You can't fight them with a sword, you'll get massacred like before!"

"That's why I want you and Half-Mage starting spells. I'll buy you some time by distracting them. This time, don't let Half-Mage screw up. Maric, I want you to cast a cure spell on my blade as soon as you can. That should do some damage on it's own." he turned to Celeste, "Take Lady Sara and get her to safety. Try to defend her as best you can. Use any potions you need to to keep them away."

The two mages wasted no time in launching into preparing their own spells. Sara's gaze lingered on Stephon for a second more. Stephon gave the girl a small smile, as if to assure her that he would be alright. In the next moment Celeste had led her away, and the flurry of ghosts descended upon Stephon in a frenzy, near blending in with the pouring rain. Stephon gripped his sword tightly, his knees for a second feeling weak. No, I can't be afraid of them. That's what they want. They want me to panic so that my movements are jerky and slow. I can't let them have that satisfaction. After all, I've got magic on my side this time. Maric and Shane will come through for me, I'll be alright.

All at once a cry escaped Stephon's lips as he dove head on into the swarm of specters. He swung his sword wildly, catching the creatures all along the middle. From his sword's swipe they would for a second dissipate into a fine mist, only to reform seconds later and swoop at him once more, completely unphased.

There couldn't have been more than ten ghosts. Stephon counted them, they didn't come in huge groups, but with the way they reformed, it seemed like there were hundreds. After Stephon successfully cut down one, another would appear and intercept him. A shadow like ball of dark energy would form in the thing's skeleton like hand, and it would be sent flying into the knight's chest, knocking his breath from him and stilling his limbs. What ever it was, it hurt like mad, and with every blow, Stephon felt his body becoming more and more numb.

"Cure!" The first of the spells to finish was Maric's. The white tendrils of light wrapped around Stephon's blade making it glow with a white light. Stephon smirked, cutting into one on the spirits. With a cry the creature began to writhe and vanished in a puff of smoke. A cry of "Thunder!" pierced the air a second later, and another ghost melted into the mist.

Now there were two down. Stephon felt the energy rapidly leaving his limbs, and for a second, he fell to his knees. His breath came in gasps now, he'd never felt this fatigued before in his life. Maybe I'm not as well of as I thought I was. He thought for a second, only to one more find himself faced with another two ghosts. He sprung to his feet once more, putting his sword through one and then whipping it around to catch the other one. At last the cure spell's pleasant glow died, leaving Stephon without protection once more.

All at once the onslaught of blows ceased. Again, Stephon rose back to his feet stumbling slightly. He looked about. The ghosts had all but given up on him, and were now all hovering about Shane and Maric, beating at the two of them mercilessly. Maric had drawn his sword and was batting wildly at the creatures, his blade cutting air more than it cut them. Half-mage gave a sharp cry as a barrage of dark energy was hurled upon the boy's slight form. He'd collapsed after a few seconds of it.

"Half-Mage..." Stephon bit his lip. If one of his spellcasters was down, he was down to one left. If both of them were taken down, then they were done for, and now the spirits appeared to be targeting Maric and Shane alone. Sara and Celeste were near entirely unharmed. Smart little devils. For beasts they know how to use their tactics. Then again, they seem to be human spirits. At one time these may have been men.

"Shane!" Maric looked back, horror crossing his features as he found his friend laying among the reeds in the swamp water.

"Maric, you have to keep fighting!" Stephon cried at once, darting in front of him, "Here go... go help half mage, I'll do all I can to keep them away from you."

Maric took off at once, not even giving so much as a nod in response to Stephon's words. Stephon gritted his teeth as another shot of dark energy hit him in the chest. In a couple of minutes he feared he would pass out. It hurt to breathe. After this, we break camp, I don't care what I said before. This is insane.

"M-... Maric..!" Half-Mage's soft, strained voice came from behind Stephon. For a second, even he had to stop to look over to the young mage. Miraculously, he was alive and well. Celeste had rushed to his aid with potion, using some of it to ward off on coming ghosts. The boy looked weakened, but for the moment he was safe.

"He's fine, Maric, focus on them!" Celeste cried, fear in her eyes.

"We can't do this..." Maric shook his head, looking back at Stephon, "Call off the attack, we have to retreat."

"We can't retreat!" Stephon cried, looking at the boy, near astounded, "How can we? We're all but trapped."

"I can't cast enough spells on my own to get rid of all of them!" Maric cried, "What do you want me to do? We can't win like this."

"Listen, as far as I'm concerned this whole cap on how much magic you can use is a load of rubbish." Stephon growled, "We didn't come this far to be torn to shreds by dead things. We've killed Garland, no, I misspoke, you've killed Garland. I can't do a bloody thing to ward off these spirits, but you can. You mages act like preforming magic is something anyone can do. It isn't, I can't and I'm glad most of the people I know can't. The power to use something like magic is amazing, it's devastating, and it's just about the most powerful thing I've ever seen. It can preform miracles, and at the same time, it can create roaring destruction, and right now, either of those things are just what we need." Another ball of black energy hit Stephon, bowling him over, but he shook off the blow, ignoring the numbness in his limbs, " Listen, you might not think magic is such a great power, but I'm telling you it is. If it could bring me back to life, then it can send these miserable spirits back to where they belong. There has to be a spell, some kind of spell."

Maric stopped dead in his tracks for a second. For a moment he looked stunned, his breath coming hard in the pouring rain. For a second, Stephon had to wonder if he had gotten gored from behind while he was speaking.

"Maric are you..." Celeste's voice came soft, but at last the Red mage spoke, cutting her off.

"There is a spell."

He looked around to Celeste and Stephon once more, as if he expected that stunning revelation to quiet the spirits on it's own. Unfortunately it did not. Stephon waited impatiently for the boy to continue, as he continued to cut the unsuspecting specters in two, keeping them away from the red mage.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Stephon cried, "Don't just stand there!"

The boy shook his head, smiling ruefully, almost laughing "I can't cast it..." His words were soft, near inaudible. Stephon's eyes went wide.

"What do you mean you can't cast it?" Stephon demanded, "You know it, don't you?"

"I know of it." Maric said at once, looking up. His eyes were suddenly hard and serious, " And I know that it's not a spell I'd be able to cast. White magic, it's white magic in it's purest of forms, and can only be used by mages of the purest of hearts. I don't think I have to go into why I shouldn't be able to cast it. And even if I could, I don't know the entire spell. I've tried it before but... ye gods I never thought there would be a time when I actually needed to use it. It seemed so useless at the time..." He cut down another spirit near idly, laughing at himself.

"You know the incantation?" Stephon demanded.

Maric nodded, "But it's not as simple as knowing it. Even if I could prepare it, I couldn't... it would require more mana than normal for me to... I might not be able to..."

"It'd do us more good than your idle chatter." Stephon cried, intercepting another basll of shadow with his sword. Another one hit him in the shoulder, around where he'd been wounded, and for a second he was stunned. He fell to the ground with a pained cry. "Hurry up!"

At once the boy started into an incantation. This one was hesitant, and his words didn't flow as naturally as they did with other spells. Every so often he would hesitate, and then, start over. Oh ye gods, he'll take forever.

All at one the spirits seemed to take notice of Maric's now helpless situation. All at once all ten pairs of yellow eyes turned on him, and they left Stephon, all not circling about the red mage menacingly.

He can't see them. Stephon realized with a start, He has to concentrate to pull off the spell, they'll be able to hit him before he can even think to defend himself. He'll be killed before he can even come close to finishing.

At once Stephon shot forward, his sword brandished. His blade caught about three of the specters down, and he managed to intercept one of the dark missiles with an outstretched arm. The other hit Maric square in the chest, and he was knocked to his knees. A look of despair crossed the boy's face, and he looked up to Stephon helplessly. Wordlessly he shook his head, his breath coming hard.

Ye gods, he can't do it, can he? Stephon felt the life draining from his limbs. Helplessly he looked over to Shane, who still lay in Celeste's arms as the girl work desperately to revive the young spellcaster. Her attempts were in vain, the boy was entirely unconscious. Without Phoenix Down, he might be down for the next day or so.

All at once the thief girl looked up, her eyes wide, "Stephon behind you!"

Stephon turned , crying out as he came face to face with a large looming spirit, it's yellow eyes piercing into his. In the next moment, it withered away, dissolving into a fine mist, and behind it, Princess Sara stood with an empty potion bottle clutched in her shaking hands. Her face was pale with fright, but there was a smile on her lips, as if she was rather pleased with herself. Even Lady Sara is fighting with us. I have to do whatever I can to help too. Everything. We didn't come this far to fail now, and by the gods, I'll make sure we make it back to Corneria alive.

All at once he heard another outcry. Behind him, he found that Maric had collapsed to his hands and knees, his eyes wide, and fixed upon the ground. For a good few moments he remained motionless. Celeste had come up behind the boy, relieving him of two of the ghosts that now plagued him with a few swipes of her knife. Miraculously, one of them disappeared. It was then that Stephon noticed the girl dipping her blade into a bottle of potion. The three remaining ghosts turned their attention to her now. One ball of energy knocked her from her feet. Then another, and another once more. Within seconds she'd fallen, the potion bottle knocked from her hands, spilling it's precious contents into the swamp water.

"Get up, Mage, you can't give up now!" Stephon cried.

The group of spirits continued to circle him. They knew he was their spellcaster, the only one of them that they had to fear, or at least, the one they had to fear the most. One by one each of them began to form another ball of shadow, each one aiming to strike at the boy at once. If that kind of blow didn't kill him, Stephon didn't know what would.

"Maric! Get out of there!"

"I-... I-..." the boy's voice was strained, and frightened, "I c-.. can't... move!"

Stephon felt a chill. That last blow must've been enough to paralyze his nerves. He realized with a start. They aren't targeting him because he's a mage. They're targeting him because he can't defend himself. Stephon gritted his teeth, The bloody cowards. They're taking advantage of his postion. That's why they targeted Half- Mage, and Celeste! A cry irrupted from Stephon's lips as he charged into the circle, knocking Maric out of the way. All at once, one million bursts of cold agony buffeted Stephon. He felt his knees buckle, and at once he was borne to the ground, unable to move. The cold rain water splashed upon his face, but he couldn't move to wipe it away, in fact, he could barely feel it. He felt like he was drifting in a dream, light, and numb.

"Ste-.. Stephon..." Maric had risen to his knees, looking at him with a horror struck gaze, "Stephon! Can you hear me Stephon? Get up!"

Go, boy you're waisting time! Stephon was sure that's how he would have replied if he could speak, but for the moment, his lips wouldn't obey him. He could see darkness beginning to cave in around him. No, not this time. I won't succumb to this, not now. He drew a quivering breath, focusing on the forever falling rain, willing himself to stay conscious.

"Oh ye gods! Master Carris!" Lady Sara had knelt down beside him, shaking him, "What have they done? What have they done to him?"

"He's alive." Maric drew away suddenly, his eyes narrowing at the spirits, dancing in the wind, "He'll be alright. I'll make sure of it."

"Maric, what are you doing?" Celeste cried. The girl had righted herself now. She was alive, but weakened considerably "Be careful, you're still hurt."

The red mage ignored her, righting himself shakily. At once he started into a spell incantation, this time with confidence in his words.

The darkness had begun to cave in around him once more, but now he found that he could prompt a movement in his fingertips. With a bit of a struggle he managed to blink a few times, looking up to Maric who was now locked in a chant. Two of the spirits lunged for him now. Celeste gave a cry, lunging for one, the swipe of her knife causing the ghost to pause, disappearing for a second only to reform a second later. The second hit Maric square in the chest. For a second the mage was knocked from his feet, but he never stopped his chant. Two more missiles hit Celeste in the back, and she was knocked to the ground once more.

"Maric!"

"Dia!"

All at once the clouds in the sky parted. A beam of blinding light shot from the heavens, white hot and blinding. Stephon found he had to look away, he couldn't keep his eyes on the blinding light. At last the light died. The ghosts were gone, as was the rain, and Maric collapsed to the ground, and Stephon's vision finally tunneled out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"So, you mean to say you've all been living in the streets?"

"Honestly, it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. We don't have a whole lot, but at least we're all together, and to tell the truth, we don't do all that badly."

"I've never heard of anything like that."

"What? A band of thieves?"

"Never one so big, or entirely comprised of women."

"Corneria isn't exactly a fairytale land. There are a lot of us. It didn't do any of us any good when we were quarreling among ourselves, and we bring in twice as much gil as we did when we were all on our own. It works well this way."

"Have you ever thought to remarry?"

"Nah. Marriage tied me down too much last time. Besides, I'm barren."

"Oh come off it, you were fourteen years old."

"That doesn't make a difference."

Stephon gave a light groan as he slowly drifted back into consciousness. It was dark now, and the moon was high over head. How long have I been out this time? He wondered vaguely.

He put a hand to his head, sitting up. It hurt to move, but a pounding headache wouldn't allow him to stay dormant anymore. He looked around blearily, looking over to Celeste and Lady Sara who were currently sitting around a large fire.

"Stephon!" Celeste looked a bit startled to see the knight conscious once more, "Thank the gods you're alright. We got worried when you collapsed like that."

"I told you I would be fine, Celeste." Stephon said, crossing his arms, "Though I... do admit I underestimated those spirits that we fought. What happened anyway?"

"Well, Maric managed to cast that spell." Celeste explained, "It took out all but one on the ghosts, and I managed to take that one out with a potion. The problem is, we're out of potion now. We'll just have to be careful tomorrow."

"Well that's good." Stephon noted, "How's Half-Mage doing?"

"He's sleeping right now, I think." Celeste said, "He and Maric took a hard beating, you shouldn't try to wake him."

Maric.. Stephon bit his lip, Maric collapsed after he cast that spell. He still hasn't woken up?

He looked over to where the red mage lay. His face was white as a sheet and he lay in a fitful looking sleep, a pained expression on his face. To Stephon's surprise, his forehead was dotted with sweat. Ye gods, what did that spell do to him?

"Don't worry, Sir Carris, Maric's alright." Shane's small voice startled Stephon as he realized the boy was in fact very much awake and sitting right next to him, "He used too much mana with that last spell and went into a very mild bout of mana depletion. He'll be fine with a bit of rest."

Stephon looked from Half-Mage to Maric once more. The boy didn't look alright, he looked as if he'd caught his death in the plague. In fact, he looked quite a lot the way Talon had the time he was bedridden with a fever for nearly a week. Their father had been in anguish, and as far as Stephon could tell, he'd nearly died. It was considered a blessing when after 7 frightful days, Talon's fever broke and he finally came to his senses, dazed, but miraculously alive.

"Are you sure?" Stephon frowned.

"Absolutely." Shane nodded confidently.

For the first time Shane really did seem confident in his knowledge. As strange as it seemed, Stephon had to believe him, since under any other circumstances, Shane would be in hysterics over his fallen friend. I suppose just because he doesn't do very much magic doesn't mean he doesn't know a lot about it. He knew about white magic vanquishing dark magic, so I'd imagine he knows what's wrong with Maric as well.

Stephon nodded for the moment, pacified, "And Lady Sara is unharmed." He looked to the young woman expectantly. The girl averted her gaze uncomfortably.

"Don't worry." Celeste gave the knight an apologetic look, "She just needs time to get used to you is all."

Stephon nodded, though somehow, he found it hard to believe the thief girl's words. I've ruined my chances with her, absolutely ruined them. He thought sighing, And how can I expect her to agree to marry me now? I'll be a burden to her, a bane even. I don't want to be that to her.

"I'll go talk to her." Celeste said at once, noting Stephon's worried expression.

"No." Stephon said at once. The thief looked up at Stephon quizzically, "I'll go talk to her instead."

Celeste smiled, "I think she'd appreciate that."

Stephon nodded. He righted himself on shaky legs. It was only now that he noticed that they were no longer in the swamps. In fact, they'd reached the Cornerian forest. Stephon near smiled They came through after all.

"Ah, Lady Sara," Stephon began hesitantly as he approached the princess, "Could I maybe speak to you for a second."

"Oh, Master Carris you know I.."

"Please, just allow me to talk to you. I promise I won't ask for any more."

The girl looked up to Stephon now, her wide blue eyes hesitant, but soft. She nodded, standing, "Actually I... there's something I've been meaning to say to you, I..."

"No please," He took the girl's hands in his, "Listen, I know I haven't been much of a leader, and I know I have a terrible temper, eventually I'm going to fix that, but the point still stands..."

"Master Carris, I.."

"Sara..." Stephon's words were soft now, and for a second, he winced. He'd never called the girl only by her first name before, and it felt strange on his lips, but even so, she didn't seem to take offense. In fact, she blushed a bit, " You know I care for you a lot, and... and I know you don't care much for me at all, and I'd never want you to be unhappy so... if... if you'd like for me to find you another man to wed you I can..."

"To wed? You knew about that?" Lady Sara's eyes went wide all at once.

"Why, Lady Sara of course I knew!" Stephon cried, "You didn't think I knew we were to be wed?"

"Well, I hadn't thought... after Garland and I ran off together..." Sara's voice went soft.

Sara's words hit Stephon like a knife. He gaped at the girl, "Y-.. You and...."

"Garland..." Sara nodded, "I... I'm so sorry Master Carris, I didn't know... I hadn't thought that... oh he seduced me with his wretched lies, and I was so nervous and.. I didn't want to be married! He made it seem like he loved me, but oh the way he started talking, he was a mad man Stephon, a mad man. I didn't know what to do! He... he..."

The girl broke down into sobs as she fell to her knees. Stephon took a step back, surprised. He'd never known a girl of royalty to show her emotions so clearly. A pang hit him, She is just a girl, after all. No older than Celeste it seems.

"Don't cry." Stephon whispered, embracing the girl softly, "I forgive you."

"How can you forgive me?" the girl asked wildly, looking up. Tears streaked her fair face, now reddened from crying, " I've put you all in danger for my petty fancies, I almost cost the kingdom everything. I've been selfish and terrible and wretched and... and..."

The girl threw her arms around Stephon's neck, burying her head in his chain link armor. For a second, there was silence, save for Sara's soft sobs. Stephon didn't dare speak. He didn't need to now, words wouldn't do him any good.

"Stephon, I'm sorry for all this, I mean, how I've treated you up until now." the girl whispered after a few moments, "I... I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was wrong. I wanted to hate you, I wanted to still believe that you were just the other part of an unwanted arranged marriage and after you woke up, I was sure that I did but... the other warriors just had such confidence in you and I... I realized that I... I do want to marry you Stephon. I do..."

Stephon was sure he felt his heart soaring. He felt like laughing, jumping for joy. For once in his life things were going right. She favored him. She, this wonderful, beautiful gem of a woman, on top of being on of the most powerful people in Corneria, favored him and him alone, over Talon and any other suitors that might be chosen for her, and this was the woman he would spend his life with. This lithe gem that he now held in his arms. He closed his eyes, embracing her warmly as if to wrap his spirit around hers and shelter her.

"Do not worry, my queen." he whispered, stroking her silked hair with the tips of his fingers, "I will do all I can to protect you, and hold you up like a pedestal, to make you all that you should be. I will always be with you. Always."

The knight and his queen fell asleep like that, arm in arm in a tender embrace. And the thief girl who sat some ways behind them couldn't help smiling and hoping that for them, that pure and naïve moment could last for eternity.

Ugh mushy scenes. I never really have gone for love scenes much, and don't care for romance, so if that one sucked, don't worry, there isn't very much of it. Anyway, I know I broke the rules a little since Red Mages can't use Dia in the games, but that's why he got so drained from using the spell. Also, that would mean that Maric has 4 spells, which is also against the rules (His spell list SHOULD be Sleep, Fire, and Cure) but eh, it's fanfiction, and I've already broken enough FFI rules already.. like you remember the part when your team members try to kill each other in FFI? Neither did I! Ah well, it probably happened in my brain at one time or another.

For now, keep reading, and if you like, press the shiny green button at the bottom of this screen, and make Surfingpichu a happy little freak. n.n

Until next time, Surfingpichu over and out!