Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Final Fantasy

Chapter Thirteen - Demon of Ice?!

"Damn. It is colder inside…" Neal said. As they entered the mysteriously frosted tower, the doors suddenly slammed shut behind them.

"Woah! What the hell?" He said, trying to pry the doors back open. "We're locked in! They won't budge…"

"What is this place…?" Sevrin said, examining the odd room they were inside. The walls were covered in ice. Mist spread throughout the entire room. The stairs and floor were cracked everywhere.

"Why does this place look ruined?" Mirabelle wondered. "Wasn't it just eradicated out of thin air just recently?"

"Yeah. None of this seems right." Sevrin said, raising his guard. "I'm getting some strange vibes… Consider anything inside this tower as a threat."

Midahn gulped. "W-what could be inside?" He asked, frightened. He was shivering now with fear, not just because of the cold.

"Stay behind me, guys." Neal said confidently. He drew his sword, and held it defensively. "And keep a lookout around us, while you're at it."

"Good idea. We don't know what could jump out at us." Sevrin said cautiously.

"N-now you're scaring me!" Midahn said, grabbing Mirabelle's arm tightly. Internally, the other three felt bad for Midahn, since he was a lot younger and more timid.

They began to move. The walls were very dimly lit, so it was hard to see. Each of them kept watch from different angles, ready for an ambush. They didn't keep have the rear covered well…

After a few minutes of wandering around the first floor, they finally discovered a set of stairs that was fit enough to climb. Only a few steps were broken or missing.

"I sense something upstairs." Sevrin said. They stopped at the doorway.

"How many?" Neal whispered. He still kept a tight grip on his sword.

"Multiple. Don't know for sure, but just more than one." He replied. Midahn started to quiver.

Neal patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, buddy. Just stay focused." He said.

They stepped through the doorway. Inside, they saw large, slimy beings crawling around.

Sevrin raised his fist up, signaling them to be dead silent.

"Ew! What the hell are those?!" Neal yelled out, covering his mouth. They stopped moving, and slowly turned toward him.

"Damnit, Neal! Shut up!" Sevrin said. The slimy beings began to squirm towards them.

They were surrounded by the slimes. "Now look what you did…" Sevrin scoffed.

"Sorry man. These things are uglier than hell…" Neal replied, laughing. He then slashed at a group of them. He cleaved through them, and the white slime splattered into a puddle. Suddenly, the puddles began to gather together and reform back to their original states.

"Shit! I can't cut through them!" Neal said, now serious. "How do we defeat them?"

"Here, let's see what these things really are!" Mirabelle said, raising her staff. "Libra!" She casted the spell onto one of the slimes, and a stream of wind rushed over to her head. Her eyes widened.

"What's their weakness?" Sevrin asked her immediately, after swiftly dodging its attack.

"They're called flans. Physical attacks are useless, as they can just reform. These ones are white, so they contain the power of ice. So their weakness is… fire magic!" She informed them.

Midahn raised his staff. "Fire!" A flame engulfed the flan, melting the icy slime.

"Hey, that worked!" Neal said. "But all we can do right now is defend. Keep up your fire, Midahn!"

"Okay!" He replied, raising his staff for another fire spell. The room kept illuminating for each fire spell Midahn casted. Eventually, they burned all the remaining flans to crisps.

"Whew!" Neal said, wiping his forehead.

"Easy for you to say…" Midahn said, hunched over. He was breathing heavily.

"You must have exhausted yourself, casting fire so many times…" Mirabelle said.

"We should probably get some rest." Sevrin said.

"Where? We gotta find somewhere safe." Neal said, looking around.

"Agh… Just standing here is making me even more cold…" Mirabelle said, crossing her arms and shivering.

"Eh... I hate to say it, Midahn," Neal said, and grabbed an extinguished torch off the wall. "But could you cast fire one more time?" He asked. Midahn sighed, and raised his hand up, lighting the torch.

They sat down against the wall, while Neal held the torch around them. Midahn still looked drained of energy.

"It doesn't look like he's getting much better…" Sevrin said.

"He's regained his breath, though." Mirabelle said. "How are you feeling, Midahn?" She asked him.

"N-not good…" He muttered. She nodded.

"I figured. That's why I brought this." She pulled something from inside her white mage robe pocket. It was a blue vial, containing odd, glowing liquid.

"W-what's that?" Midahn asked nervously.

"Drink it. It won't hurt you. It will replenish your magical energy quickly." She said, handing it to him. He held it, and examined the liquid closely. Neal was doing the same.

"Is it… natural? It doesn't seem so…" Neal said. Mirabelle scowled at him, silently telling him to shut it.

"It's fine. It's an ether." She said.

Midahn trusted her, so he drank it. Within a few moments, he perked up. "Woah, I feel great!" He leapt up. The color returned to his face. He was bursting with energy.

"See? What did I tell ya?" She said. They all stood up.

"Well alright, I guess…" Neal shrugged. "Let's get going. Hopefully we won't run into more of those flans, so Midahn won't get exhausted again."

They ascended to the next floor. They encountered a few large beasts, with the body of a wolf and the head of a tiger. They also had sharp claws.

"Uhh…" Mirabelle and Midahn shuttered, and stepped back. Sevrin took a defensive stance. He gripped his knives tightly.

"These look more like our cup of tea." Sevrin said, referring to he and Neal. They gulped and nodded, staying right behind the two.

Neal smiled deviously. "Alright! Let's take them out." He said confidently. He wasn't scared at all.

"T-those things are huge… Be careful, Neal." Mirabelle stuttered. She couldn't believe how courageous he was.

One of the four-legged beasts jumped at him. It leapt from a far distance, and it raised its claws as it roared toward him.

Mirabelle's heart began to pump intensely. What the hell are you doing?! You're just standing still! It's going to kill you! She thought. Sevrin was thinking the same thing.

But Neal stood there, waiting. When it was getting close, he lunged at it, swinging his massive sword ferociously. His blade met its claws. The beasts rear legs were raised high, as it leapt high to attack him. Its front paws were pushing against Neal's blade. For a few seconds, Neal was holding the beast up in mid air. The sheer downward force of it began to push Neal into the floor. The ice began to crack underneath his feet. He gritted his teeth, and pushed it off to the side, knocking it onto the ground.

He...withstood its attack! Mirabelle thought.

He was testing its strength… Sevrin thought. I didn't think he was smart enough to do something like that…

The beast kicked back up on its legs, now angry. It snarled viciously at them.

"Looks like…" Neal began to say. They all looked at him. "...I…" They thought he was going to evaluate how powerful it was.

"...pissed them off." He ended.

"Wh...what?" Mirabelle said, confused.

"They look pretty angry now, heh. They're growling at us." He said.

"That's...it?" She asked. "You weren't testing how strong it was or anything?

"Oh...uh...yeah. I was doing that." He said, but it was obvious that he didn't. They sighed.

"You know, sometimes I think you aren't much of an idiot anymore, but you're just an idiot." She said, shaking her head.

"Well say that again after this!" He shouted as he dashed toward one of the beasts, and swung at it savagely. He cut it deeply, sending blood spewing. It reared up, and cried out in pain. The others then lunged at Neal, who was now the closest. He hurriedly scrambled back over to his friends.

"Ah! That was close!" He said, and quickly turned around to block one of their attacks. But he wasn't quick enough, and it clawed into his chest, knocking him backwards five feet. He hit the ground hard. Sevrin managed to block the other beast's attack successfully.

"Neal!" Mirabelle and Midahn shouted. He shook his head and hopped back up. He grinned.

"It's alright. I have this on, remember?" His trusty steel breastplate, recently reforged and back to new, now had three deep gashes in them from the beast's claws. He looked down at it, and sighed.

"Damn, it was just fixed up, too! I'll get you back for that!" He shook his finger at the monster.

"Hey, what are you standin' around for?" Sevrin asked while he blocked and attacked the beasts.

Neal immediately engaged with one of them. Sevrin glanced at Mirabelle and Midahn. Mirabelle's eyes widened. She waved both of her hands.

"W-what should I do?! I'm a healer, and nobody needs healing at the moment!" She protested. Midahn raised his staff.

"Thunder!" He sent a small lighting shockwave onto one as it jumped at Sevrin. He zapped it in mid air, sending it crashing onto the ground. Sevrin took this as an opportunity, and pierced it swiftly in multiple locations, finishing it off.

"Nice job!" Sevrin complimented. He turned to Neal. "Now there's only one left…"

Neal was still fighting it. Constant contact of his sword against its claws was heard, as neither could land a single hit.

"Do it again, Midahn!" Mirabelle said, shaking him by the shoulders.

"No, if I do, I might accidently strike Neal!" Midahn replied.

"He's right. Let Neal finish it off by himself." Sevrin said. She was nervous though. The gashes in his armor were enormous.

It seemed like it was going nowhere. Neal had to come up with something to get through. He came up with an idea.

Since we keep attacking at exactly the same time, I should change the pace, and strike it when it least expects it! He thought.

This time, when the beast pounced at him, Neal hopped back, dodging its claws. But just after it missed, Neal swung around and cleaved its legs off. It fell to the ground, and he finished it off. He put one foot on its dead body, and raised his sword high.

"Hah! That's what you get for wrecking my armor!" He exclaimed.

Mirabelle breathed a sigh of relief. Although she hardly did anything, she was sweating from the nerve wracking battle they just had.

"I'm surprised none of them actually landed a single attack on either of you…" She said. Neal scowled, and pointed at the claw mark in his armor. "I mean injure you, stupid."

"Hmph. Let's just keep moving then, 'Ms. Useful'." He said sarcastically. He started to walk forward, and braced himself for her to smack him, like she usually does when he jokes around like that.

She gritted her teeth, and prepared to smack him, but stopped. She then looked down in shame, hearing his remark. Her heart ached when he said that, and felt like an anchor was weighing her down.

After a few seconds, seeing that she didn't hit him, he turned around. He saw tears starting to brim in her eyes.

Shit! Agh… I wasn't even thinking when I said that… He thought, as he remembered that she gets depressed about that sometimes. It was just a joke…

"Hey, I didn't mean it, Mirabelle. I'm sorry, I was just kidding around." He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but she knocked it away. She turned around and started to run away, crying.

"Wait!" He called out to her. She disappeared through the doorway. She immediately sat down against the wall on the other side, crying. She buried her head into her hands, leaning against her knees.

Seeing her look so hurt like that, Neal looked down, and balled his fists. "I...I hate seeing anyone look so hurt, especially if it was because...of me…" He stammered. He sounded angry and sad. He then took off after her.

Midahn raised his hand. "W-wait!" Sevrin lowered his hand.

"Don't worry. He's going to go fix things. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings." Sevrin told him.

Neal ran through the doorway and began to look around. The room was a lot darker than the other one, and he didn't hear her, since she was being deadly quiet. When he didn't hear or see her for a minute, he leaned against the wall on the other side of the door, away from where she was, and slid to the floor.

"Damn...Damn! Why did I say that? I'm such a jerk! I can't even believe myself…" He screamed in anguish. She sniffled quiet on the other side of the doorway. He immediately looked over in that direction. "Mirabelle?"

She didn't answer him. He ran over to her.

"I-I'm sorry. Even though I didn't mean it at all, I know how it can make you feel… I'm a jerk." He hung his head in shame. She still didn't say anything to him, but knew how bad he felt about saying it.

"You're far from worthless, you know that? I've said this before, but it's true, and still true. Don't think bad on yourself! You're one of us. You have the power of light hidden inside you just as much as me, Sevrin, and Midahn does. There's no difference." He said.

"I'd probably be dead by now if you weren't here, knowing how reckless I am…" He said, and laughed a little. She giggled a bit. His eyes brightened up.

"Right now, these battles we engage in, make us stronger. All of us. If you think you're not strong enough, then just train harder." He told her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You are pretty reckless." She said. He laughed.

"Oh I see how it is!" He replied brightly. But she understood his words of encouragement. He knew she did too.

She gasped. "You're bleeding!" Blood was dripping from his forearm.

"Oh yeah. That thing actually did get me, heh." He said.

She raised her hand, and began to heal his arm. The wound closed up instantly.

He smiled and offered her his hand. She grabbed it and and he pulled her up.

They rejoined Midahn and Sevrin. "Alright, let's move on. Who knows what awaits at the top, so stay on your guard." Sevrin said. Midahn smiled, seeing Mirabelle back to normal.

"How close are we, do you think?" Neal asked, resting his sword on his shoulders.

"Well, it looked pretty tall from the outside, and we've only climbed a few levels, so not quite close yet." He replied.

"No time to waste, then." Neal said, and he started walking toward the next doorway.

They advanced through the next few floors, facing more monsters along the way. Midahn blasted through them with his fire, and Neal and Sevrin slashed and pierced through the rest. They reached a large door that looked different than the rest.

"Hmm… do you sense anything behind there?" Neal asked Sevrin. He focused his mind. He squinted a bit.

"Uh… it's hazy. I can feel a lot of ice in there, though." He said.

"Oh really. Who would've figured?" Neal said sarcastically. He turned around and faced the door again. They all stood there in silence.

"So what should we do?" Mirabelle asked.

"Well, we should definitely be prepared for anything threatening." Sevrin said. "It could be something different than the rest of them on the way up here."

Neal was staring at the door while they were discussing it. He then raised his foot up, and kicked open the door. Sevrin immediately pulled out his knives.

"Geez! A little warning!" He said.

"Huh. I thought you would sense me before I did that." Neal replied.

"You…" Sevrin said angrily. But then he peered inside the room. The ice was much thicker than the rest of the tower. The mist was extremely thick as well. They could barely see inside. As soon as Neal opened the door, the mist started to pour out.

"Agh, I can feel how cold it is before even stepping in!" Neal remarked.

They cautiously stepped inside the room, and began to look around. They could hardly see anything.

"So… you've made it this far, I see." An voice echoed inside the room. They instantly guarded themselves.

"Who's there?! What're you doing here?" Neal asked. The voice laughed.

"Oh. It could be a little game, for all the matter. That is, if you are who I think you are…" It said. They gritted their teeth.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Neal asked.

"We will find out, if you can get through this alive." Suddenly, the mist began to clear. A large being was standing across the room. It's extremely tall, with white scales, monstrous arms, and two gray horns sticking out of its head. It's eyes were glowing bright red.

"What the hell is that?" Neal exclaimed, gripping his sword tightly.

"That is Tundris. The Demon of the Ice. Let's see how you fare against the power of my demon. Ha ha ha ha ha!" The voice said as it began to faint away.

"Who are you?!" Neal called out, but there was no response.

"Damn. It was a trap." Sevrin said. He was completely focused on the demon. It was just standing there, glaring at them, not moving an inch. Just its presence alone was unnerving.

"Tch. Don't let that guy get to you! We need to kill this thing!" Neal said. Its eyes glinted, and suddenly it started to move. The ground shook with each step it took, as it slowly stepped towards Neal and the others.

"Do you fear me?" It spoke to them. It's booming, unsettling voice was definitely demonic.

They began to quiver a bit. A real demon was slowly advancing toward them. They felt frozen in fear, and not from the ice.

Can't...move! Sevrin thought. He couldn't even clench his hands at all. Midahn was staring at it, his mouth agape. Mirabelle was shaking badly.

"Hell no!" Neal exclaimed, and his face was full of seriousness and determination. That snapped the others out of their trances.

He...really is fearless… Mirabelle thought. She truly admired that about him. He was definitely hard-headed, but his courage was through the roof.

"Hm? You show no fear in the presence of Tundris? How courageous. Regardless, I will kill you all." It spat out.

"You've got that all wrong, you freak! You're going to die by our hand! We'll show you the power of light!" Neal screamed. He charged at Tundris.

"No!" Mirabelle called out. She knew that he was definitely no match for the demon. She didn't think he would just charge at it like that all on his own.

"How foolish! I will just squash you like a bug!" Tundris said. It grabbed Neal violently with its huge hand and slammed him against the wall. Neal grunted in pain.

"Neal!" Mirabelle screamed. Sevrin gritted his teeth.

Tundris laughed evilly. "I'll crush you first, then your friends soon after!" It started to squeeze Neal. He started to scream out in pain. Suddenly, Tundris felt a burn on his side. He turned his head toward the other three. Midahn's staff was raised. He hit Tundris with fire.

"Hmph. You'll never defeat with those puny flames. I think I'll destroy you next!" It said. It then turned back to Neal. "Now, where was I?"

Before it could start crushing Neal again, it felt something strike its side in the same spot where the small fire did. It growled.

"My… You're a persistent bunch… Maybe you just want to die sooner-" It stopped as Neal wrenched himself free out of its grip. He fell to the ground, rolled over and picked up his sword. He then quickly leapt back to his friends' side.

"I'm beginning to grow impatient… I'm going to shred you little ants to pieces!" It raised its arms, and the icy mist began to fill the room again. It was now even thicker than before. It's glowing red eyes even vanished from their view.

"Shit! We can't see it anymore!" Neal said. He turned to Sevrin. "Can you sense it?"

Sevrin shook his head. "Damn. This mist must distort senses in this room. I can't sense anything now…" Neal gritted his teeth.

"Stay on your guard. It can come from anywhere!" He said.

They heard Tundris' laughter. "That's right, little worms! This mist envelopes every kind of presence! You will never know when I will strike!"

"It sounded like it came from over there!" Neal said.

"Don't split up! You'll die if you do! We need to stay like this, so we can have all directions covered!" Sevrin said, pulling Neal back. They could hear its laughter again.

"I enjoy the fear I strike into you! I enjoy getting to rip you apart without you knowing where I am! That makes it all the better!" It said viciously.

"Damn… We need to get rid of this mist somehow!" Neal said.

"Argh… but how?" Sevrin said in frustration.

"Here I come! But which one will it be?" Tundris said maniacally. They were all sweating in anticipation and anxiety.

Shit...what do we do now? Neal thought. Suddenly, its evil laughter began to come closer and closer.

I...won't let you do this to us! Mirabelle thought. Seeing Neal being suffocated by its hand made her angry. She raised her staff, and screamed out. Light began to emerge from it, and a gale of wind swept all around them, clearing away the mist. Tundris became visible. He was targeting… Midahn!

Neal quickly turned to his right. Midahn was next to him, and he raised his sword. Tundris' huge fist slammed into the blade, sending all of them flying back. He blocked most of it just in time.

That spell… How did I...? That was Aero, the wind spell. I didn't even learn it from a spellbook of it… Mirabelle thought.

"That was great, Mirabelle!" Sevrin said. Tundris grunted.

"You're still alive… You've really ridded my patience, now!" It said angrily. It began to lunge straight for them again. But Neal swung his sword straight it, stopping the demon completely this time.

"What the-?" Tundris exclaimed. "How are you different now?"

Neal slowly looked up at Tundris. He was smiling maniacally and unsettlingly. "That's...enough!" He said harshly. He sounded more rough and edgy. Neal began to go on a rampagical blitz, swinging furiously at Tundris. The demon was blocking all of his attacks, but was actually on the defensive, now.

"Rgh! This kid…" Tundris said, still defending itself against Neal's barrage. "That's not enough to defeat me!" It said, and swung its arm toward him, intending to clobber him to the side. He swiftly leaned back and dodged it perfectly. As soon as he leaned back, he leaned back forward and continued to wildly swing at Tundris, as if the arm wasn't thrown toward him at all.

"What is with Neal…" Mirabelle said. It was just like the time before. He became so cold, and almost...evil.

"He's scary…" Midahn said, edging away from them. Sevrin was watching him, confused as well.

He changed completely...in both personality… and strength. He thought.

Neal began to laugh madly as he slashed furiously at Tundris.

"Tch! You think this is a game…?!" It exclaimed. But his power… it changed so rapidly…. Urgh!

Neal landed a blow onto the demon's chest. He made it stagger backwards. His intense display of swordplay came to an end, as he fell to his knees. He dropped his sword, and grabbed his head.

"Agh… My head is aching!" He said, sounding normal again. His friends rushed over to him.

"A-are you okay?" Mirabelle asked him. She was still frightened by him, keeping a little bit of distance.

"Huh? Yeah. What just happened?" He asked. Sevrin, Mirabelle, and Midahn looked at each other uncertainly. Neal was confused, but just shook it off.

"Where'd the demon go?" He asked. Then he saw it lying on the ground, with a deep gash across its chest. "Woah. When did that happen?"

"You… did that." Sevrin told him. He tilted his head.

"What? How?" He asked. Then the demon slammed its fist onto the floor.

"Rgh! I've enough of you ridiculing me! I will end you here!" It said, getting back on its feet.

Neal scowled, and picked back up his sword. "I don't really know what happened just now, but it looks like we stand a chance against that thing now. So let's take it out together!" He said.

Tundris was definitely weakened by the rage driven Neal's crippling strike. It slowed down in order to avoid opening up the wound further. What the hell is this? It thought, looking down at the wound. Light purple steam was rising from the wound, and it stung. Poison?!

"He's weak!" Neal shouted, and advanced toward it quickly. "Guard Breaker!" He slashed across the demon's chest again, making an 'X' from the wounds. But, his Guard Breaker attack's wound was smaller than the first one.

What?! His Guard Breaker was weaker than the other one?! Sevrin thought with disbelief.

Tundris cried out in pain. He staggered backwards. Neal turned to Midahn. "Now's your chance! Hit it with as much fire as you can!"

Midahn raised his staff. "Fire!" He blasted the ice demon with fire, sending it crashing into the ground. It began to fade into ashes.

I...can't believe this… Was all the demon said, with the image of the insane Neal slashing at him as his final thought.

"We...did it!" Neal exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. They all fell to their knees. It was an exhausting fight.

"No… We need to get out of here. It's too cold…" Sevrin said. If they were to rest there for much longer, they would be frostbitten. They descended the tower. A crow, who was watching them through a tiny slit in the wall flew away from the tower.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! I checked out some stats on the story, and I've hit 200 views! Thanks again! There's more to come every week! A mysterious man had lured the Warriors into his Tower of Ice to...test them? Also, we saw that one side of Neal again. His cold insanity that is unleashed if he gets mad enough. That will play an important role later on...