It was high time I finished this.
Final Fantasy II: The Rebellion
As soon as Firion and the others had safely arrived in Phin, Hilda was immediately informed of the Emperor's return. A small meeting consisting of only her, Firion's group, Gordon, Leila and Paul was assembled almost at once.
"This is no trivial matter," Hilda said gravely. "I have heard many monstrous tales of demonic resurrections associated with Palamecia but to actually have it happen..."
"I always knew that Emperor was no more than a devil in disguise," Leila said, shaking her head darkly. "Nothing new there."
"The amount of power we saw him wield was truly frightening. He seems very near indestructible." Firion honestly had no other way to describe their enemy.
"He will be indestructible here in our world." It was Leon who spoke.
All were silent at the speaker's words. None knew how to respond to him. Since his entering the throne room, the eyes of every participant tried hard not to let their gaze linger too long on him, lest trouble arise between them. The dark knight had wanted no attention and had remained content with standing a little aside from the rest of the group. There was a lack of comfortableness that all must have felt at his presence, though none were so keenly aware of it than himself.
He owed nothing to his allegiance to the Emperor, and everything to these people, to the people who had saved his life from the collapsing castle. To the three who for all rights should be most near and dear to his heart…
"You all cannot hope to stop him as he is right now. The powers that he wields are not as any of you have ever faced with. They come not from this world, but from only the most demonic of sources." As he spoke he was painfully aware of the glares of distrust he was receiving from several of the room's inhabitants.
"Then are we to do nothing?" Maria said despairingly.
"It's hopeless."
Hilda could not be so easily swayed. "I have no intention of giving up the fight. The Emperor must have a weakness which we can exploit. If the old Mysidian legends of Palamecia are to be alluded to, than there have been monsters of this caliber before and they have met their fate at the hands of human beings. Why should such a thing not occur once more?"
It was Leila who spoke up next. "The old legends are more interested in entertaining people and warning them to be good or else. How are we to know what is right and what is made up?"
"An insightful question," spoke up a new voice. "I would very well like to make an effort at answering that, if I may." The entire group turned as one to the new speaker. Rishi had come to Phin and had brought Matoya with him.
The looks of mingled surprise and, on those who so well knew them both, delight, made polite introductions immediately necessary and the next few moments were taken to ensure that everyone knew the others name. Then, without further interruptions, Rishi began: "I would like very much to give an adequate response to this young lady's inquiry..." he took a moment to nod at Leila before continuing: "...and shall gladly do so, provided that no one objects to the rather long elaboration of Palamecia's history."
There was not a single protest to be made and after receiving encouragement from Hilda to continue, he did.
"There are no records telling when Palamecia was first founded, nor any of who the first rulers of that infamous land were. Reliable sources date back as far as seven hundred years for Palamecia. It was a kingdom for many of those years, only recently coming to call itself an empire."
"During the seven centuries of its known existence, the land has seen nothing but tyranny, cruelty, and bloodshed. There were rumors among the other countries of its demonic nature and even those of a rational mind were convinced that it had risen from hell itself, the lands tainted by demonic influence. Though this was never confirmed, the land continued its vicious cycle of violence for many years, all the way up to the current Emperor Mateus."
"During those years many Emperor's rose and fell but one in particular stands out. A vicious man, full of hatred and discontent with any other person's happiness, who grew in infamy over the years to become one of the most hated men in the land. It took much to subdue him and cost thousands of lives in the process. It was here that the spell Ultima was first used to such a devastating effect as to warrant it being hidden away forever."
"But it defeated him?" Firion asked. "That means it can do so again right?"
Rishi sighed. It was Matoya who spoke up next. "The last Emperor had eventually left Palamecia to retire into the Jade Passage through which it was believed that he could make his way to Pandemonium and unleash the hell spawn there."
"Whatever the case, he was not successful in doing so. The passageway was sealed up after his death and has remained so until just now."
"Do you mean to say that it is open once more?" Hilda could hardly contain the horror she felt and indeed she was not alone. As Rishi affirmed this, the horror and wonderment only grew more pronounced.
"If the current Emperor is attempting to raise the horrors of Pandemonium to our world, than the only thing to do is to cut him off before he can return," Firion said decisively. "I for my part will gladly head down the Jade Passage to face him, even if it means my death."
"I will too," Maria said firmly.
"Guy will do his all for his world," was their burly friends only reply.
Hilda thanked them but warned them from rushing to their deaths. Her warnings unfortunately fell on deaf ears. There was nothing to be said that would change the minds of all three. They had been through hell and back time and again. If they did not go, then every sacrifice they had made would be for nothing. They had to go.
Hilda sighed. "I have faith in all three of you. I know that whatever you put your minds to you all have thus far accomplished. I am not entirely comfortable with allowing this; however, I know there is very little to stop you from doing this, so I will do my best to help you all. There shall be new weapons and armor at your disposal as well as any curative items you could possibly need."
"I for my part will guide you to the Jade Passage," Rishi added. "It is not far from Palamecia Castle."
"I'll go with you," Leila added. "Another fighter along can't hurt none."
"Then I will be that fighter instead." Leon ignored the inquisitive looks he was receiving. It was only Firion he had eyes for at that moment. "I have experience as a knight in the Emperor's service. Surely I could put that to good use in the fight against him?"
"Or for him," Leila snapped. "What's to stop you from joining him in killing us all?"
"A perfectly legitimate question," Gordon agreed. "I too would like an answer to that question. What interest have you in helping us?"
Leon ignored them. He was still staring at Firion. "I have no interest in your rebellion but I have interest in him. I want the chance to kill him. I have been working towards that chance for many months now. Let me have that chance."
Firion averted his eyes. "I have no idea what you expect me to say," he answered slowly, "I am not interested in your revenge against him, if it is revenge that you seek. I'm interested in doing my part in ridding the world of a horrible monster that wishes to destroy it." Leon flinched as Firion's eyes met his. "I don't give a damn for your revenge. I'm for the life and safety of the world, not vengeance against something you chose to join willingly. Join if you will but if you betray us, you will die." He turned to Hilda for conformation. "If that is all right with your Majesty?"
"Of course it is," Hilda told him. "Everyone has a chance for redemption. I will allow his involvement in this mission, provided he does nothing to deliberately endanger any member of this rebellion."
Maria looked about to cry. She couldn't even begin to fathom what had ever made her brother join Emperor Mateus in the first place and she was unsure if she even wanted an answer to his treachery. All she wanted was for the Emperor to be defeated and what was left of her family to be left intact. She bit down on her lip while her eyes watered. Guy notice and placed his arm around her.
"Please," she begged her voice breaking. "Let's not discuss this now. I just want to end this as soon as possible before things get worse."
"If they can get worse," Paul said darkly.
"This meeting is adjourned, you are all dismissed." Hilda got up from her chair. She then paused and added: "If you would all join me for dinner later, I would be delighted."
Firion turned to look at Leon. He didn't feel right admitting it, but he didn't like the idea of Leon joining them. Leon had never gotten along with him since Firion had first come to live with Leon's family after losing his own parents. There was a strong amount of animosity that had always existed between them and Leon's betrayal had not done wonders for improving their relationship.
Leon had headed out as soon as Hilda dismissed them. He didn't seem interested in fraternizing with the others. If Firion had been feeling forgiving he would regard it as humility on Leon's part that he couldn't bear to be around the people he had helped to persecute.
Firion was not in a forgiving mood.
Several days later, Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon entered the Jade Passage. They were stocked up with as much equipment and items as they could carry. Rishi had taken them to the entrance and now they were on their own in finding Pandemonium. Miles of grimy, monster filled tunnels stretched out before them, twisting and turning more and more downwards to their destination.
Every step taken seemed to bring forth more monsters, who seemed to be everywhere at once. They charged at the unsuspecting party in large numbers, growls erupting from their throats and their limbs aiming wildly for the small group's heads. The spells and weapons barely held them at bay as more and more added to their overwhelming numbers.
Firion spent more time casting Cure than he did fighting, inwardly thanking Hilda for all of the Ethers and Elixirs she had sent off with the party. Spells were shot back and forth between the group and their enemies, cracking the tunnel walls. Firion soon found himself tossing out Potions, unable to charge his magic fast enough.
Guy took on as much damage as he could, his burly figure blocking his family from as much of the enemy attacks as he could manage, while Maria cast as many spells as she could and Leon slaughtered as many as came within reach of his sword. Getting to each new floor was a test of endurance more than anything else.
The monsters seemed unconcerned with the efforts of the four. They erupted from the walls and from underneath the ground, and often escaped back into their hiding places when they had sustained enough damage. The party may run out of magic, but their enemies did not run out of steam. The assault continued as they descended lower and lower, through dry ground and through wet.
Firion generously tossed out Potions, while Maria burned through her magic and began using her spear to attack. By the time they had reached the eighth floor, all of their magic was burned through and they were all nursing injuries. Firion had no more Potions and began digging into the Ethers. He had thrown Maria several and was beginning to take one himself when he was knocked to the ground by a large slimy looking creature. The Ether spilled onto the floor, instantly wasted.
Before Guy could get to him, Firion had cracked the monster on the head with the empty bottle. The glass shattered in his hand, cutting into his skin. Ignoring the pain, he jabbed his broken glass into the monster with one hand, while drawing his sword with the other.
"Fire!" Maria's spell hit the slime dead on and it withered up. More slimes began emerging from the depths of the water surrounding the party.
"Magic works best on them." Maria downed an Ether before casting several more Fire spells. It was the first time any of them had really said anything in several hours. There had been an unspoken oath of silence between them all since they had entered the Jade Passage. They hadn't much chance for conversation anyways due to the constant attacks by monsters. The slimes vanished under her magic and for once the party was free from monsters. Firion used the free time to heal up himself and everyone else.
"There can't be much further to go," Firion said. "If we've managed this far, we should be able to ride it out the rest of the way."
Maria and Guy agreed. Leon merely wiped slime from the edge of his sword before sheathing it. The group made their way down another floor before they were attacked by any other monsters. This time dragons started appearing out of the woodwork. Fire filled the room, repelled only by Maria's ice magic. Guy and Maria held the monsters at bay while Leon and Firion sliced at them with swords. Several floors went on like this until they finally managed to make their way through the dragons.
"Pandemonium isn't far from here," Firion said as he cast a group Cure spell.
Pandemonium remained perfectly within their reach, no longer closed off from the rest of the world. The closer the party made it, the colder the air became. Maria started casting Fire spells in a vain effort to warm the air as the entrance to Pandemonium came into view. A slight wind began to pick up as they headed forward, intensifying as they reached the newly risen Hell.
The whole party froze in their tracks at the forbidding sight that soon lay before them. It looked more like a haunted fortress looming in the horizon. Several giant towers were situated in the forefront, seemingly stretched out for hundreds of feet into the air. The almost labyrinthine structure was situated amongst a backdrop of ice, from which came forth blasts of cold air. Nestled somewhere within the imposing structure was the Emperor and it was with him that their destination lay, and as such they had to pass onwards. Into Pandemonium they went, ignoring their eerie surroundings and the intense cold that enveloped them. Their weapons were out and ready, all four of them alert and silent.
The interior of Pandemonium was far brighter than any of them could have expected. The walls and floor were bright dazzling silver that was as clear and gleaming as glass. Tall, marble statues towered over them all, depicting dragons, lamias and ogres, among other creatures that they did not recognize. There were no torches, no fires, and no light gleaming from anywhere they could see and yet everything was so bright.
For as far as the eye could see everything appeared to be quiet and still in their surroundings. The party remained tense, prepared for anything to spring out at them at any time. Firion led the way, his eyes taking in the halls with an attentive look. Maria was right behind him, rubbing her hands nervously over her arms, where goose bumps had risen.
A groan to their far right broke the silence. Firion spun around, casting a Protect spell over himself and his comrades as he did. An ogre was approaching them slowly. It wasn't the only creature that had been alerted to their presence. Several of the marble dragons were starting to come alive, their heads tossing as they awoke.
Maria readied a Fire spell for the first creature to attack while Firion cast more curative magic. The ogre was not long in making its way towards them and when it did they were ready. Guy had intercepted it before the ogre could land an attack on any of them. Leon took advantage of Guy's quick success and sliced its head off with an ax. Wiping away the blood that had dripped onto his face, Guy charged at a dragon approaching them. Maria's Fire spell struck it right in the chest, leaving it roaring in pain. Before it could retaliate, Guy had cut its head in half with his own ax. The next spell thrown out was a Lightening spell, which struck the heart of another dragon approaching Guy. Leon made quick work of a third dragon nearby, while Firion backed him up with a strong Cure spell.
More dragons and ogres approached them by the minute. Firion lunged into the fray with Maria beside him, his sword slicing into the eye of a nearby ogre while her Fire spell set it ablaze a moment afterwards. Guy charged forward time and time again, his ax in one hand, chopping down whatever he could get a chance to hit, and punching out whatever came near while his ax was occupied. The group came across lamias, golems, wolves, devil's bloom and giants. They could barely hold off the hordes long enough to heal their wounds and more than once were left retreating from their foes, wolves teeth snapping at the heels and golems smashing their fists at the air nearby. The beasts were nasty and relentless but even they could not hold a candle to what came next.
Tiamat was far stronger than any of her babes, her body ten feet tall and five feet wide, with four large snarling heads breathing down at them. The sight of her voluminous jaws and glowing orange eyes were enough to make the most dedicated adventurer's blood run cold. Firion was thankful that he had been able to recharge his magic. The dragon rushed upon them before any battle plan could be decided, her teeth gnashing open Firion's arm, her second head breathing out flames that set afire Maria's hair. With a rush of adrenaline, Guy threw himself between the group and the dragon and made an almighty swing with his ax. A glancing blow struck her scaly chest and with a throaty cry she reared back and struck him hard across the chest sending him spiraling into a nearby wall.
Leon and Maria took advantage to the situation and cast up their magic. Ice formed from Maria's hands and landed straight into the eyes of the second head while Leon's flare engulfed the first and third heads. Firion cast up a strong wall that kept back for a moment the advancing heads while the rest readied themselves. The dragon was not done, however, and grabbed Firion and Maria in its grasp, digging into claws into them. Guy was up again by now and this time his ax struck a clean blown knocking off one of Tiamat's heads. Leon followed with his sword, slicing off the head that Maria had blinded with her ice magic. Firion and Maria were released from the beasts grasp and hit the floor as Guy lunged again and took down the last two heads.
"Guy's our hero," Maria mumbled tiredly several minutes later as Firion was patching up wounds. Guy, who had a large purple bruise forming on his face beamed at the praise. The party were beyond tired by that time and barely able to keep to their feet by the time they were next accosted. Luckily their next enemy was not nearly as tough though far more familiar.
"Borghen!" Leon exclaimed as the little man crept towards him; a scimitar in hand. It was definitely him, his beady little eyes bright and a lopsided leer on his face as he advanced towards them all. "I've been waiting for you all to arrive so I'd have another shot at you all." His gaze settled unpleasantly on Leon. "Especially you, you little upstart. You think you were smooth the way you took over my spot like that, making me look bad in front of the Emperor. I'll carve you up and serve your body to my dark lord."
Firion glared at him. "To hell with you, you killed Josef you worthless bastard!"
Borghen laughed. "Kid, we already are in Hell and I'm calling the shots around here, not you!" His scimitar flashed through the air as he aimed at Firion. Leon swopped in and chopped his arm off with his own weapon, blocking his attack in the meantime. A horrible howl sounded as Borghen clutched at the gaping hole where his arm had been. Firion's blade, Maria's lance and Guy's ax followed, leaving Borghen a bloody lump on the ground.
"Well that was anticlimactic," Maria observed, nudging at his bloody corpse when the toe of her boot.
"He always was a scumbag," her brother said contemptuously as he cleaned the blood off his sword. "Let's keep going."
0
If they thought that Tiamat was a tricky adversary then they had not anticipated Astaroth. The highest ranking demon in Pandemonium, she was also the most human looking foe they had faced so far besides Borghen. Her proportions were those of a tall, finely made female, her hair a long mane of dark blonde waves. Her skin, however, was a blotchy purple color and her fingers were like claws. Out of her back stretched blues wings that kept her afloat and several inches higher than the group. She gazed coldly down at them all.
"Mortals…still alive and yet come to call on the new ruler of Hell…" Her white eyes bore into one after another, her thin fingers tightly gripping a long scepter. "I have yet to have the pleasure of your names."
No one answered her. After a moment of uncomfortable silence she swung out her scepter. A jet of light hit Firion, doubling him over. "Your name Mortal…"
"F-Firion," he gasped out, his eyed watering over in pain. Maria and Guy helped him to his feet where he swayed slightly between them. Astaroth turned her eyes to Guy next and then to Maria and Leon. Not a one of them hesitated to give up their names at her demand, their eyes wary.
"If you want blood, then continue onwards, but I would suggest you turn back. I will not allow such foolish creatures to challenge Hell's leader without besting me first."
"Then we will fight," Leon told her, his grip on his sword tightening.
She laughed coldly, her eyes gleaming as she stared him down. "Foolish little boys like you need to be taught a lesson." Leon felt his legs give out from under him and he collapsed to his knees, his breath coming in short gasps as she continued to mercilessly gaze on him, her face one of pure malice. Firion and Maria pulled Leon to his feet while Guy stepped up, blocking her path.
Her next flash of light hit Guy head on and he fell backwards in pain. Firion and Maria both aimed spells at her that went sideways, flying uselessly into the walls. She leered unpleasantly at them all as Guy got to his feet.
"Is that all?" She looked almost disappointed as she deflected another spell. "Typical, foolish humans." Her next jet of light was just barely dodged. "Arrogant, deceitful…" She knocked back Maria's fire spell, Guy's ax and dodged Firion's sword. "Always the same…"
"No," Leon stepped in front of the rest of the party. His aim was surer than Firion's. "Not always." His sword sliced into her arm, cutting through the purple flesh like a knife through butter. He barely winced as she dug her claws into his flesh. His blood began to seep over and drop onto the ground. "I'm not done!" His eyes had a look of fire to them.
Firion began to join in. He drew his sword and began hacking at her while Maria cast fire spell after fire spell and Guy swung his ax. She was ruthless though, her light blazing hot enough to burn, and her arms encircling Leon, who had her in his grasp and was attempting to take off her arm.
Astaroth's eyes blazed. "I am not alone!" she snarled in fury. A giant, clawed creature with glowing eyes with heading towards them. Beelzebl. She cackled in answer to their looks of horror. "We both serve a new master!"
Maria just barely dodged its clawed hands. Her spear tried in vain to fight the demon back. It was a fierce battle and Guy had to abandon Astaroth to help her. Firion and Leon, however, kept the fight going.
"You cannot defeat me," she leered unpleasantly at the dark knight. "There is too much darkness in your soul."
"That may be," Firion told her, "but I can." Then, before she could respond, he cast the Ultima spell.
The whole hall fell silent for an instant, and then began to vibrate in response to the spell. The magic, ancient, unyielding and unblockable, tore through the demon's flesh, boring hot and white as Astaroth began to cry in vain. Maria and Guy dropped to their knees from the force of the spell; white light assaulting their eyes, its vibrating tone humming in their ears even after the light was starting to fade away.
She was dead and so was Beelzebl. Silence reigned through the hall briefly, and then was broken by Leon's harsh breathing.
"I've never used that spell before," Firion whispered. He looked at Maria and Guy. They looked awed at the force of the magic. The moment was then broken by Maria's sharp gasp. "Leon!"
For Leon had sunk to the floor, the remains of Astaroth's arm clutched in his grasp, while his own right arm hung bloody and useless by his side.
"We need to go back." Maria was saying tearfully twenty minutes later. Firion had tried everything he could, but had only been able to stem the flow of blood. The arm was still hanging on by hardly anything. "Your arm, it's almost completely torn off."
"We can't do that." Leon got weakly to his feet. He wobbled for a moment before righting himself. Leaning against the wall, he yanked his helmet off. His face looked unnaturally pale, his eyes sunken and bloodshot. In spite of his anger at him, Firion couldn't help but feel a little ill. He had never wanted this.
"We need to go on, and defeat him before he kills anyone else." At Leon's words Firion found himself growing angry. As though Leon cared about anyone else's lives…
"Like you did before, you mean?" He could not contain himself; it burst out of him in spite of his wish to remain calm. "When you were busy being his man it didn't matter to you a bit who he was killing. Your own parent's deaths weren't enough to stop you from joining him."
Maria and Guy didn't join in but they didn't stop him either. He continued to rant, his words, now that he had begun, kept pouring forth: "…and all those towns destroyed, those people dead…they meant nothing to you…it was all about you…your own wish for dominance, your obsession with being great kept you from doing what was right!"
"Yes." Firion froze. He had not expected Leon to admit it so quickly, if at all. "You're right. I've hated you for years Firion. I've hated our town," he looked a little sadly at his sister, "I've even convinced myself that I hated our parents. I've wanted to be better than you, than Phin, then everyone and everything and I lost myself. Help me Firion. We have an Emperor to kill and no time to lose." His voice was very firm despite his ghastly appearance.
Maria was crying quietly beside them and Guy looked sadder than Firion had ever seen him. Firion hesitated, and then placed an arm around the heavily injured Leon. Guy placed a comforting one around the pale, teary Maria. Sad, shaky and injured, the little group of four made their way to the throne room where Emperor Mateus awaited.