Chapter Twenty-Five: The Sword of Kings
Author's Note: While editing, I added a Doctor Who reference. Let us see how many will catch it. Shoutout to my fellow Whovians!
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XII or any FFXII characters. I do, however, own my OC (Celeste von Valen).
"I feel bad for leaving Larsa behind. We can't protect him against Vayne if he isn't in our company. What are we going to do?" I kicked some snow off my shoes. We were back in the Paramina Rift, heading south this time to the Stilshrine of Miriam. Hopefully all our answers would be there, hidden deep within the shrine. "Lord Larsa will be able to stand up to his brother, this I know," Basch said to me as he walked beside me. I nodded. "I mean, Larsa is really strong and intelligent. But I am afraid that he will fall to Vayne's hand just like their father did." I knew everyone was thinking the same thing. If Vayne could kill his father, why wouldn't he kill his brother too? Larsa was, after all, the one who was supposed to take the throne. "We can worry about these things after we retrieve the sword. We are powerless right now, even with our skills and knowledge." Balthier was right. There was nothing that I could do right now to protect Larsa or stop this war. We just had to keep walking towards hope.
.
.
The Stilshrine of Miriam put me in awe. It was hard to fathom that such a place was so majestic and whimsical, unlike the almost 2D effect it gives off when you're behind the controller. Everything was so much better, so much bigger, and so much grander than I could remember. Oh, it was spectacular! I spun around and took everything in. "Wow, the architecture is just phenomenal!" My eyes darted to and fro, trying to soak up all the sights like a hungry sponge. "Why must we be here on a short time? I want to look at this place for hours!" Balthier ushered me along the long path to the doors of the shrine. "We can come back anytime we choose, but right now, we are on a tight schedule." I groaned at his words. I couldn't do anything I wanted to do right now. It was all about trying to save the world from that idiot Vayne. "Are you saying you'll bring me back here someday?" Balthier put a hand to his forehead. "That was not what I meant…" I pouted, "So you're saying that after we save Ivalice from war, you'll disappear into the sky never to be heard from again?" The sky pirate must have felt cornered because he walked past me and hurried us along to the doors. We reached the first flight of stairs, which brought us from the Walk of Sky to the Walk of Mind.
.
.
A Kiltias stopped us in our tracks before we reached for the door. "The Sword of Kings, gift of King Raithwall, rests within. It is said that only one worthy of the title Dynast-King might take up the sword." I looked over at Ashe. Was she really destined to fill those big shoes? "We wish to enter." The two Kiltias moved aside and we pushed open those grand ancient doors. Immediately upon entering the shrine and the Ward of Measure, I looked around. "Well, there isn't much for us to work with here. I don't see any-" I stopped mid-sentence when I noticed the pedestal in the middle of the room. I raced over to it and read the inscription. "It basically says that whoever holds the Dawn Shard will be able to use this pedestal thing." Ashe reached into one of her pouches and plucked the shard from the depths. "Let us give it a try then." Upon touching the pedestal, we were immediately teleported to a different sector deep within the shrine.
.
.
I opened my eyes and saw what was waiting ahead of us in the Ward of Velitation. There were three dragon aevises, stomping around and making the ground shake. "Why does there have to be three?" I asked as I plotted. Libra was an awfully useful technick, and it was coming in handy at the moment. "Just blast them with Blizzara!" Everyone followed my command and three dragons fell after a few minutes. "Alright, what's next?" As soon as the words left my mouth, two statues came out of the wall and advanced towards us. "Uh… Aero will work." Again, my comrades followed my orders and the two statues were defeated. We proceeded through into the Walk of Torn Illusion, where Ashe touched another pedestal after we fought off more statues. These things were beginning to annoy me. Once she touched it, secret passages opened up in the previous area and we high-tailed it back down the stairs. After going down to the previously-hidden doors, we found ourselves in the Walk of Revelation. "What is that green crystal?" Penelo asked as she started towards it. "No, Penelo! Back away! It's a monster!" She jerked her hand back and stumbled on her own feet trying to get away from it. "Tetran told me about monsters that impersonate crystals. We have to be extra careful. He said they're very strong and awaken when you touch them." She gulped and we made our way around the crystal. "Thank you, Celeste. That was close!" I nodded. "Only looking out for you!" I said with a smile.
.
.
After making it into the Ward of the Sword-King, we defeated two Blood Gigas and a guardian statue before taking a breather. "Do the fiends never end?" I asked out loud as I chugged some water. "Obviously we are just getting started." Balthier said. I shook my head in annoyance. "Why can't things ever be easy with you people?" This caused some of them to laugh. We put away our canteens and continued forward, beating four more Gigas and a Darkmare in the process. "That is one big ass blade." I said as my eyes wandered up the Sword of Judgment. "Oh, look. It has an inscription…" I touched my fingers to the words and read them out loud. "To guardians three I trust, that the worthy may pass, all others be shunned." I sighed. "Well, that doesn't make me very happy. Three guardians? What a complete-" A massive groaning sound rung in the air and we all turned to the other end of the ward. "That door is now open. You know, the one we passed by the guardian statue? Let's go see where it takes us!"
.
.
Unfortunately, the Way Stone in the room took us right back to where we started in the Ward of Measure. "Oh, awesome. Back to square one." Balthier clucked his tongue. "There were two locked doors in this room before we touched the pedestal. Maybe one of them is open?" I glared at him for figuring this out before I did. We check the east door, which was still locked, but we found the west door open. "Fantastic. One of them is open. What does it say?" Vaan asked curiously as he looked at the inscription. "It says: In time of strife, the treaty-seeker these doors to unbar... What is with all the riddles?" Three of us pushed against the door and it opened right up.
.
.
"Which way do we rotate this damn statue?" I asked as I looked at the new task. "Clockwise or counterclockwise? Maybe it has to face a certain way?" The rest of the group looked at me with clueless expressions. "Well, how about we try east? So… Rotate it once clockwise," I said as I pointed towards the massive statue that could be seen from where we were standing. "Maybe that big statue is the center and we have to make the statue face it?" Vaan shrugged. "It's worth a shot." He helped me turn the statue and we all heard a faint clicking noise. "Well, I'll be. There must be at least one or two more, and they must all have to face the center." After continuing into the Walk of Reason and battling a few fiends, we found the next statue and rotated it to the center. We heard another faint click before we let go of it. "Now we just need one more. The statues must be the guardians the inscriptions were referring to." We went through the door and into the Cold Distance. "There is a door right over there. Our last chance to find the third statue."
.
.
What we found behind the door was not a statue. Well, we found the statue later on, but it wasn't right behind the door. "I wasn't exactly expecting that…" The Vinuskar, which looked like a massive overgrown bug, floated towards us. I felt my armor getting heavier the closer the mammoth of an enemy came towards me. "Anyone else feel like they're being dragged down to the ground?" A light bulb quickly flashed on and I threw my armor to the ground. "Wow, I feel great! Let's make this quick!" Everyone made the usual tactical circle around the enemy and began slicing, stabbing, and shooting the Vinuskar like it was dinner. It didn't take long for the pesky vermin to crash down into the pit of lava that I had never noticed before.
"Has that always been there? Why did I never notice that?" I asked out loud, without meaning to. Penelo came to my side. "What do you mean? Did you not see the pit before?" I shook my head, "No, well, I mean, I did see it. I just didn't know there was a miniature volcano at the bottom that would erupt without killing us all and engulf that Vinuskar after we defeated it. It was actually really freaking awesome, but kind of scary at the same time." Penelo laughed and quickly dismissed my rambling. "Let's catch up to the others, okay?" I hadn't noticed that the rest of the group had gone ahead through the previously closed door and were already rotating the statue towards the center of the shrine.
"Thanks for waiting for me, jerks." Balthier turned to me with a smirk, "You were taking too long, sweetheart. We had to go on to finish this blasted puzzle." My eyebrows knitted together and I shook my fist at the Sky Pirate. "Oh, hush you! I'm tired of your sassy mouth. Next time you smart off to me, I'll put your head in the sand!" He laughed at me and ruffled my hair. "I'd like to see you try, dear! You don't look so tough." I went to swat his hand away, but the others had finally rotated the statue into place and the whole shrine began to quake. "What the hell did you do?!" I shouted above the rumble and the shaking of the shrine's foundation. "We simply rotated the stone towards the center, just like you told us!" With that, the quaking stop and I heard a noise coming from the massive statue. "The statue's sword moved! The way to the very depths of the shrine is now accessible. Good job guys!"
.
.
"Holy Belias! It's another Esper! I would say it's our lucky day, because these things are powerful, but I don't like battling them. I barely escape with my life!" Ashe charged forward, "It is but a test that we must pass in order to save Ivalice. Come on!" The rest of the group ran forward. "Don't tell me you're scared?" Balthier teased. I cross my arms, "Never!" He smirked. "'Tis what I thought." Oh, that damn pirate was going to drive me nuts! I sprinted after the others and we made our tactical formation. "Attack the elementals first with Thundara! Go for the Esper after they have fallen!" One by one, the five elementals disappeared and we were left with a single Esper. "This is going to get rough!" I cried out as we started hitting Mateus with thunder magicks before it could cast a Reflect spell on itself.
Once it had casted Reflect, I ceased the magicks and we immediately started on the physical attacks. "Just slice and dice, everyone! Even Espers have a limit!" I assumed that the magicks had taken down half the HP bar, so we were left with another half to whittle. I could tell we were getting close, but I was running out of stamina. I fished through a pouch and pulled out a potion, popping the cap off and chugging it all down. The effect I felt was similar to when Mario, the little Italian plumber, eats one of those red mushrooms. I felt on top of the world! Swing left, swing right, up, down, diagonal! My movements could be compared to someone playing Dance Dance Revolution while hyped up on energy drinks and sugar. This was the push we needed and Mateus fell in defeat. "Wow, what a rush!" I exclaimed as I practically bounced off the walls. "No wonder you aren't supposed to drink the whole thing at once!" I jumped in the air and grabbed the Esper card, but as soon as I did, I felt my energy drop to normal levels and I collapsed.
Vaan rushed over to me and helped me back up. "I might have overdone it just a little, but at least we won." He laughed. "Just don't hurt yourself, okay? We need you!" As soon as he said that, I felt a warm fuzzy feeling deep inside that I couldn't explain. It was so nice to be needed, and back in the real world, I never really felt that. I was always just there, I guess. Mom and Dad were always too busy with trying to help Bethany that I guess I had gotten used to being ignored. I mean, don't get me wrong. Mom and Dad loved me, but I always felt like they were meant to have just one girl and not two. Chelsea and Dylan really only needed each other, because I always felt like a third wheel when I was with them. Of course, both of them were too stubborn to realize that they were soul mates in disguise. I smiled at the thought of those two bickering back and forth, and I didn't really mind the fact that I had always been that extra person after I had introduced them to each other. I felt bad that I would leave Daisy and Perry, but they would understand eventually. A few tears started to splash down my face, but I quickly wiped them away and pushed myself to keep going.
.
.
I followed everyone into the Vault of the Champion, and oh, was it a beautiful sight to see! The pillar-tops glowed a beautiful blue and I could see a majestic clock-like structure up the flights of stairs. Many of the different pieces turned and my eyes followed their speed. The whole room was simply magically. We trudged up the first set of stairs and looked around in amazement. "It's so… So beautiful," I exclaimed as I looked upon the scene. I dashed up the other flights to get a closer look at the clock-like edifice. I turned to look at the others, and saw Ashe clutching the Dawn Shard in her hand. "Ashe, it's glowing!" I cried out as I pointed to the stone. "It must be reacting to the sword!" Suddenly a noise from behind startled me. I jumped and saw the clock structure halting in its tracks. The blue glows flickered off and all the pillars powered down.
"What's going on?! Who turned out the lights?!" I looked up to see the center of the clock, the Sword of Kings, detaching itself from its place in the cog. The sword lowered itself into Ashe's hand and she quickly dropped it after the magick dissipated. The blade hit the floor with a loud metal thud. "You should try it on the Dawn Shard. See if it can destroy Nethicite or not." Vaan offered as he looked at the heavy sword. "What?!" Ashe asked as she jerked her head toward him. "He just may be on to something," Balthier chimed in, "The Dawn Shard's no use to us, after all." Ashe took this into consideration, and a few minutes later, she placed the stone on the floor of the shrine. "The Stone bleeds Mist," She said as she backed away from it. "It has been roused. It fears the sword." Fran told us as she looked upon it. Suddenly, a yellow glow emitted from the Dawn Shard, and Rasler's apparition appeared once more. "It's Rasler…" I murmured almost inaudibly as I took a step forward. "Ashe…"
She ignored her name, and simply stared at the prince as he shook his head. He disappeared in the blink of an eye and Ashe stood still for a second. "Ashe, what are you going to do?" Without saying a word, she lifted the heavy sword above her head. She hesitated for a few seconds, but brought the sword down in one swift move. I craned my neck to see around her feet, and saw the Dawn Shard still there. She had swung and missed, hitting the floor right next to it. "Ashe, what are you-" Rasler appeared once more, but this time, he smiled and approvingly nodded. He did not want her to destroy the Dawn Shard. "The stone is quiet," Fran said. "This is the sword. The Nethicite destroyer." I nodded at her obvious remarks. "Should it find its mark," Balthier sassily replied. I gently shoved his shoulder and turned back to the princess. Everyone else walked away, but she called Vaan back. "Tell me. Did you see him again?" Vaan shook his head. "I didn't. Not a thing. Not even my brother. Not… Not anything." He turned and walked away. "Ashe, I saw him." I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "I saw him," I told her, "I wonder why he doesn't want you to destroy the Dawn Shard?" She looked at me and sighed, "I know not either. But I am sure we will find out soon." I nodded and gently released her hand.