Final Fantasy VI-2: Clyde's Journey

Chapter XXIX – Legion of the People

Jidoor was not a bit different from their last visit only a few days prior. Sure, it was rather cramped due to the sudden population surge from the survivors of Figaro, but everyone appeared to be handling nicely and evolving well with the present situation. The visitors had found their place in the large township and were even securing decent jobs, which helped Jidoor develop even faster than the other cities in the world, with the exception of New Vector, of course.

"Well, here we are again…" said Locke, eyeing Owzer's house quickly.

"Mm, we shall go to my house for a little rest!" Owzer told them all, leading the way through the busy city towards his large mansion.

"Are you sure the airship will be fine by itself?" asked Setzer.

"Relax, Setzer… what's going to happen to it? Some frogs going to get slime all over the thing?" Edgar said with a laugh.

"Those Reach Frogs are rather pesky though," Cyan commented.

Many of the citizens began to watch the odd-looking team as they passed, some of them pointing out that their king was amongst the group. Clyde never liked this attention, but he kind of asked for it when he dressed up in strange ninja garb as Shadow. Still, the others did not appreciate it much either, avoiding the gazes of the curious people.

"I hate when people stare at us like that," said Celes.

"We do look rather bizarre," Cyan whispered.

They were thankful to have reached Owzer's house, all of them piling inside and making themselves at home immediately in the fine mansion. As soon as he entered, Owzer hastily departed for his almost hidden kitchen. Seeing as how they had not eaten in quite some time, now was an excellent time for such. Relm and Terra went along with him, perfectly willing to help out, which cued Edgar to follow. Locke quickly detained Clyde before he could offer his assistance.

"Let's go find that loot," he said quietly.

Clyde nodded and led Locke through the relatively hidden sections of the house, feeling around almost blindly in the dim light it had been left in, navigating the maze-like halls as best they could while avoiding the four who were moving towards the kitchen. He recalled many of the passages and where they led to, but still found it slightly difficult in locating Owzer's room. Finally, after what seemed like forever of searching, they entered Owzer's fire lit chamber, and the bag of loot sat snugly by the bookshelf in the right corner.

"There it is," said Clyde.

"I thought Owzer took that thing down?" Locke said curiously to himself.

Clyde looked up to see that the painting of Starlet made by Relm was hanging up on the back wall. He quickly recalled the events of battling a dangerous demon that inhabited the painting, reminding him of Thomas Geeda's abilities in creating the espers through painting. For a moment, he stopped to admire the beauty of the painted woman, whose long brown hair seemed to flow peacefully against the canvas, and her perfect body draped in a large blue silk blanket.

"Wait a minute… we have to get out of here," said Locke, running to the door.

As he attempted to open it, the locks immediately clicked, sealing the two of them in the room. They both watched in horror as the panting shook on the wall, and the canvas began to ripple like water. The esper woman in the picture reached out, her hand becoming solid as it escaped the art fabric. Soon, her whole body seemed to melt out of the painting and into reality, hovering seductively with her blue sheet held loosely on her otherwise undressed form.

"GUYS?! HELLO?!" Locke shouted, hoping that there might be a chance that he could be heard outside the room.

"We only have one weapon," Clyde said with a fearful look, pointing to his sword that was now on Locke's belt.

Starlet raised her hand high and released a ball of white light, beams of magic shooting out from the white orb and shoving the two men against the wall, pinning them up.

"Agh! Shit!" Locke gasped, writhing in pain as the light began to crush against them.

The light suddenly stopped and they were both dropped to the floor, panting and gasping for air. Starlet grinned and let out a frightening, deep-voiced laugh.

"Ah, I remember you," it said.

"Go screw yourself!" Locke growled.

"Do not speak to me, fool!"

Clyde looked around the room as Starlet continued to hover in front of its painting. If the upper level had better access than the two sets of stairs, Clyde might have been able to reach the suit of armor with the sword on the left side of the room that he had just noticed, but as it looked… he would probably be vaporized in an instant if he tried it. But, when he heard the sound of Locke unsheathing his sword, he did not wait a second before dashing up the stairs and leaping for the other blade. Starlet hissed and dove straight at Locke, slamming him back against the wall before the sword was out of the scabbard. She levitated eerily before him, her blue covering waving in the air as if being blown by the wind.

"You cannot defeat me so easily this time!"

Clyde jumped at Starlet and dealt a long slash to her leg with the polished and refurbished steel sword. The esper yelped in pain and swung its hand right at him, hitting him hard on the cheek. Clyde tumbled into Owzer's table and nearly dropped the sword, gasping at the sting in his back as he landed on the broken wood. Then, Starlet began to transform into the form of the demon that had possessed her painting before, Chadarnook. Chadarnook was still adorned completely in a jet-black cloak with green, smoky and thorny vines growing from its abdomen. It glared at Clyde with its bright green eyes and let out a deep grumble.

"I owe it to Sir Geeda for resurrecting my soul and allowing me to inhabit his esper lady once again," he said.

Locke was now banging on the door, shouting out to their friends.

"They cannot hear you, fool! I have sealed this room with magic!"

"Well then I guess we'll just have to kick your ass to get out!"

Locke ran forward and began stabbing at the demon with his sword that he had finally unsheathed. A few well-placed hits were made, but they seemed to pass right through Chadarnook as if he were made of smoke.

"Sir Geeda has done many things for me!" he said before hurling a green fireball at Locke.

As Locke was thrown into the wall for the third time, Clyde got to his feet and slashed at the monster from behind. Having the same effect, he was knocked into the wall with the painting, letting out a cry of pain as his sore back slammed into the brick. After falling limp to the floor, Clyde looked up at the glowing painting, noticing that it was a completely black canvas, but had a strange purple light shining through random cracks. Then he realized that if he destroyed this painting, perhaps it would weaken the monster.

"Oh no you don't!" the demon yelled, his hand transforming into a solid, black harpoon-looking weapon.

Clyde jumped to his feet and expected a fight, but instead saw Locke jumping around the room, dodging the great harpoon as it busted apart the walls. Clyde saw his chance and was about to jam the edge of his blade right into the blank portrait, but Chadarnook foresaw this and sent a bolt of lightning into the wall in front of him, throwing Clyde backwards. The demon returned its attentions to Locke and hammered his blade fiercely with his own black weapon. Clyde heaved himself up just as Locke was picked up by Chadarnook's free hand and dropped to the floor. Feeling fortunate that his friend was not watching, he quickly hurled the sword in his hand at the portrait. The blade easily tore through the thin material and stuck into the wall.

"What!?" the demon screamed.

As the purple light completely disappeared, Chadarnook's dark exterior began to fade away and Starlet now floated where the demon once did. She glared menacingly at Clyde and lunged for him. Clyde caught her hands just in time and began to wrestle across the floor with the esper. He was able to hold against her strength for a few seconds before being thrown across the entire room and into the suit of armor, sending it crashing down. Starlet spun around and slapped Locke across the face as he attempted to sneak up on her, falling to the floor with a painful jaw.

"What a bitch!" he growled.

Clyde remained still on top of the armor, his eyes wondering frantically for any sort of hope for them. Despite the demon being removed, Starlet was still a powerful esper… but then he saw a sign of promise. Close to him was a broken leg from the table when he had been thrown into it, and only a few feet ahead was the burning fireplace. The esper woman was currently preoccupied with Locke, grabbing him by the throat and holding him up in the air as he scratched and clawed at her arm. Clyde crawled forward quickly and shoved the wooden leg into the fire, catching the flame easily. As Starlet turned to see what he was doing, he launched the burning wood right at the edge of her blue covering. With a victorious clenching of his fist, he watched as the entire blue fabric caught alight and she began to scream in pain, dropping Locke to the floor once again.

"Whoa! Fire!" he yelled, scooting back as best he could while the esper flailed around in the air.

It was almost too easy of a victory when she fell motionless to the ground, her wonderful body and perfect skin blackened and smoldering, the blanket reduced to ashes. But, to ensure her defeat, Locke thrust his sword downward right into her chest, Starlet letting out a last pained shriek before dying on the floor.

"Damn, I can't breathe!" Locke coughed, running for the door and throwing it open as smoke began to cloud up the room.

Clyde crawled over to the wall and retched the sword from the painting. Then, he approached the bag of loot and grabbed hold of it, exiting the room with it slung over his back. As small bits of smoke began to fill into the dark hallway, the two of them fumbled around wearily, the pain from the battle steadily creeping up on them again, along with the smoke that started to invade their lungs.

"Where are we going? We can't just run out with this bag of stolen things!" said Clyde.

"Shit! I know! Ugh! Put it in one of these other rooms!" Locke wheezed in reply.

"Maybe the fire was a reckless idea…"

"Hey, at least we killed the monster. I just gotta lie down now…"

After Locke and Clyde were found collapsed on the floor of one of Owzer's guest bedroom suites, they were quickly moved back to the main house. No one seemed to take heed of the rather large bag that was set next to Clyde, much to his relief, and when he and Locke regained full consciousness thanks to some curing spells from Terra and Celes, Locke gave him a quick thumbs up.

"What the hell did you guys burn?" asked Edgar.

"Thank goodness the kitchen was spared from the smoke! Oh, I hope my chambers are ok!" said Owzer, frantically running around his house.

"Seriously, what happened back there?" asked Celes, stroking Locke's hair as he lay on the floor in the entry hallway.

"It was that bitch! Starlet! Her painting came back!" Locke shouted.

"What?!" many of the others said simultaneously.

"An esper woman, and a black-robed demon…" Clyde said weakly.

"I say, that was your painting wasn't it, dear?" Strago asked.

"Noo… my painting? It was still evil?" Relm sobbed.

"How could it have returned?! It was taken along with all of the others!" Owzer cried.

"Thomas has something to do with this," said Cyan.

"Magical paintings? Quite intriguing," said Siegfried.

"Yeah… Thomas Geeda painted all of the espers for Owzer, but in reality he was bringing them back to life," said Setzer.

"Perhaps we should destroy these paintings then? They could weaken the magical beasts."

"If we knew where they were, I'm sure that would help a lot!" said Sabin.

"Well, we did take care of Fenrir, Shoat, and Starlet now," Owzer said.

"Geeda has to have some sort of base that he has secured his paintings at," said Terra.

"Wait a minute…" Locke said blankly.

"Where would Thomas Geeda call home?" Gogo wondered.

"Locke! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Edgar with a stunned expression.

"If you're thinking about that village he was funding near Figaro, then yes!"

"Oh my… I nearly forgot about that," said Celes.

"Uwaoo! Bad village?! We go stop evil man?" Gau said excitedly.

"Kupo! Village is right by an island!" said Mog.

"How do you know that?" asked Locke, with a very puzzled expression.

"Umaro and I saw it from Narshe! Strange lights came from the southwest, so we went to investigate. When we reached the edge of Narshe's continent, there was a city being built just south of a small island! Kupo!"

"There is an island right next to the desert, and that is northeast of the castle," said Edgar.

"Well, could we put that matter off for a moment so that we might eat a bit, friends? The ladies and I have cooked a wonderful dish! The smoke will clear up on its own," Owzer said confidently, trying to put his worries behind as his frantic attitude dwindled away.

None of them wanting to hurt the large man's feelings, and all of them having a rather large appetite at the moment, the entire group crowded themselves into Owzer's large dining room that was adjacent to the kitchen. It was a charming room with a nice long table, beautiful cabinets of antique silverware and glassware, and even fine, ancient candelabras as a light source. They spread about the room with plates full of delicious roast beef, potatoes, and cooked vegetables. It was a generic meal, but it made them all very happy to finally be able to relax and enjoy some real food, and Interceptor had finished his plate on the floor within seconds, panting satisfyingly while the others ate in a more civilized manner.

This occasion marked the first moment Siegfried had taken off his helmet, although Gogo refused to do so and developed his own way of eating. Once the legendary mercenary had removed his sturdy, blue head gear, they observed a weathered and seasoned face of someone who had obviously seen a lot in his day. He looked to be around the age of 40, and had short and messy black, but graying hair with black stubble all around his chin. His eyes were a deep and calculating shade of gray that gave a look of incredible wisdom behind the façade of a simple mercenary. None of them remarked on his appearance, however, and continued as normal, eating their food in peace.

"You ladies and Owzer sure hit the spot!" Sabin said happily, devouring his meal quicker than anyone else.

"Yeah, be sure not to choke on our efforts, Meathead."

"Now Relm, it's not the time for your chatter," Strago scolded.

"Oh gramps don't be such a fuddy-duddy!"

Some of the others began to chuckle, finding that now was the best time to appreciate each other's company and security, as this peaceful moment would most definitely run afoul the when they departed on the airship, which Setzer still worried about constantly. When they had all cleaned their plates, the group returned to the main part of Owzer's home and began to prepare for whatever might be waiting for them at Thomas Geeda's village.

"Looks like we'll have to wait for the smoke to filter out of the house before we can get that loot…" Locke explained in a whisper to Clyde.

"Very well… his majesty will just have to deal," Clyde replied.

After a few minutes preparation, they departed Owzer's house and headed straight for the weapon's dealer in Jidoor, which had a brimming business today. There, Terra purchased a gold-hilted saber, Mog found a gold spear just like Edgar's, Gogo bought a chrome-colored rod, Strago found a metallic blue staff, and Locke kept Clyde's former sword while Clyde kept the sword from Owzer's house. Once they were ready to rumble, Setzer led the way back to the forest and on board the airship, which was completely undisturbed.

"Looks pretty good to me, Setzer," said Edgar as the pilot disappeared below deck to check on the fuel.

It was a few minutes and some shouted 'Dammits' later that Setzer's head finally popped up from below.

"Well, you know… everyone has their worries!" Setzer said in defense, approaching the helm and starting the engines after successfully refueling... apparently the empire was well prepared.

As the people of Jidoor crowded around outside the city, watching the airship lift off from the forest slowly, they cheered loudly for the heroes, many of the Figaro citizens screaming out Edgar's name. It was a touching moment for the group as the roars of the people reached their ears, feeling like the world was beginning to stand behind them again in the dark hour of Thomas Geeda's evil plans… whatever they may be.

Elsewhere…

It was a lovely day in South Figaro. Everyone seemed to generally be in a great mood, and had little worries in the world. The citizens felt better than they had in a long time, especially as they began to develop further since the defeat of the mighty Kefka. It seemed like today was the first day that things actually started to look better, and that things would be all right forever.

"Hey! You guys are doing such good work on that house! How about a spot of lemonade with my family?" called a young father to a group of carpenters who hammered tirelessly in the hot sun.

"We'd love to!" said the foreman, who directed his boys to the company of the happy family and enjoyed the cool, freshly squeezed lemonade.

All across town, generosity seemed to be brewing from everyone. All of the shops decided to post discount prices. The Chocobo Keeper allowed anyone and everyone to take a look at his new birds, also letting them pet the chocobos as much as they wanted. The pub gave out free drinks. The citizens were so polite to each other. It was an anomaly that had never even been considered in so many years.

"Gah, I feel so good today!" said an elderly man as he took a heavy swig of ale.

Then, a massive shadow loomed over the entire city, blocking out most of the sun. Everyone looked up and saw the fearsome shape of a great blue dragon. The town guards immediately poised their weapons, and the citizens screamed in fright, dashing into their houses. Panic covered the whole town as the giant beast descended. Bahamut landed softly atop a flat-roofed building that had just been completed, and it stood idly while the shape of a man appeared behind it. The soldiers watched curiously as this man walked to the edge of the building and spread his arms wide.

"People! Please do not fear me! I promise you that I bring no harm to you fine civilians!" Thomas Geeda called out with a smile.

After a moment's hesitation, doors began creaking open as the townsfolk peered out of their houses. Today was such a fine day, they did not expect it all to be brought crashing down by the sight of a dangerous esper, something half of them did not even know existed. Minutes later, the people were pouring out of their homes and places of business, crowding in the streets to see what this mysterious man had to say. He had a charismatic and proper look about him, and he appeared trustworthy to most.

"I must compliment your progress ever since the despised rule of Kefka! This town has certainly complimented this land with such beauty and perfection! You should all be proud of your hard work as honest citizens!" he said, continuing to smile widely.

"Who are you!?" a random punk shouted.

"Hah! Pardon my rudeness! I am Sir Thomas Geeda, a humble philanthropist and protector of humanity. I come here to speak of a great problem in our land!"

"Are you with the empire?" asked one of the soldiers, all of the sentries being private troops from Figaro Castle.

"No, no, no! I do not associate with that… faction in any form! You see, the New Empire is what I am here to discuss. The New Empire is large talk these days, and ever since the initial collapse of the former Empire, it seems that this New Empire has taken it upon itself to take control of this world."

"Control? The New Empire doesn't control us!" said an old lady.

"Oh, do they not? You have built this town up yourself, yes? You did not receive any aid from another source?" said Thomas, dealing a slight smirk.

"Well, we had to wait a few days before the New Empire handed us the supplies," said one of the workers.

"Ah hah! The New Empire made you wait! The restoration of your very city was in their hands, because after the terrible reign of Kefka… supplies were scarce anywhere else. And what of Figaro Castle? King Edgar Figaro seemed rather hesitant before even thinking about sending help to your precious city," he explained as he began to pace across the edge of the building, still facing his audience.

"He was being celebrated for his bravery!" a patriotic girl shouted.

"Yes, how responsible of the king of this area and this city to spend time being awarded a few words about his brave acts… instead of returning home immediately and seeing to the needs of his people. He did not return to the castle until at least two days after Kefka's defeat, so I hear," he replied.

No one seemed to have a response.

"What a pity… to be controlled by a power-hungry faction of aristocrats and to be at the mercy of a spoiled monarch who appears rather indifferent to your situation," Tom mused amusingly.

"He's got a point!"

"Don't listen to him, Bernie! He's just trying to scare us into hating the New Empire. What's your story, Geeda? Did they not spoil you enough?"

"Yeah, you got a little personal grudge?!"

"My good friends, do not get me wrong. I am, in no way, trying to persuade you towards any specific idea. I am merely attempting to introduce to you the thoughts of a very reasonable critic… one who has watched the horrors of greed consume so many men. You are all aware of the fate of the town of Mobliz?"

"It was destroyed by Kefka!" many of them shouted.

"No, they started rebuilding it after he was killed!"

"Mobliz is empty right now though! The Empire sent a band of troops there just yesterday!"

"Hey, yeah! That's what my friend from New Vector said too!"

Thomas gave a satisfied grin as the citizens began to buy in to the story.

"And did the Empire state any particular reason for going there and emptying out the town?" he questioned.

"It had to be something big! They apparently took two airships!"

"Two airships… yes. But why would the Empire not make a public statement about their intentions? What do they have to hide from the people? News in New Vector travels quickly around this world, and messenger pigeons are considerably more useful in this day. If any certain statements had been made concerning New Vector's mission in Mobliz… you would have certainly heard about it now, yes?"

"What are you talking about? That's stupid!"

"Completely irrelevant!"

"What do you want from us?"

"Perhaps you will explain to me why Maranda has been wiped off the face of the earth?" Geeda asked.

"It was burned down!"

"I heard it was a band of mercenaries!"

"Some say it was a monster!"

"There were no survivors!"

Soon, the crowd grew into a loud roar as they began to shout out responses to Thomas' question that he knew well what the answer was. He stopped pacing and spread his hands out to the people, gesturing to hush them down as he ran into another explanation.

"Of course there were no survivors! The Empire did not want there to be any survivors! It has been several days since the town's destruction, and the Empire has made no move to even step a few feet closer to its singed remains, no matter what the cause. We may never know what truly happened there, but do you really want to be left in the care of an Empire that does not care at all? Why were they so hasty to fly to Mobliz instead of the completely flattened town of Maranda? Why has the town of Narshe not been repopulated, despite its wonderful coal deposits? Even the village that I have attempted to create up north has ceased to grow because of the Empire and King Figaro refusing to supply me. They are obviously afraid that I will build up a suspicion about their actions!"

"What are you getting at?"

"Shh! Let him speak! I think he's brilliant!"

"Yeah, keep talking, Geeda!"

"Listen, friends… the New Empire is corrupt. They are trying to steadily control this world entirely… piece by piece. Sure, they may be initiating their plan down south, but soon enough they will approach your town and ask to station a few hundred soldiers here, just like the previous Empire did this past year. And what, with King Figaro's apathy for your precious village, do you honestly think he would do anything to stop it? Please! The New Empire praised him as a hero, for crying out loud! I am a modest man and I do not claim to hold any superior knowledge over any… but I feel that my ideas have delved deeper into the minds of humans better than any, and that if things continue to run the way they are… the minds controlling the New Empire will stop at nothing to take this world into their own hands. They will stop at nothing to have control of free citizens like yourself!"

"Yeah… I think he's right! Why would they leave a poor town like Maranda to rot some more? King Figaro hasn't even been seen in over a week!"

"This guy knows what he's talking about!"

There were maybe five or six people who disagreed with him from the start… but they were inconsequential to the large grouping that hung on to his every word and listened to everything he had to say. The crowd began to grow wild as they reflected on how 'bad' the Empire was going to turn out, and even the soldiers began throwing down their helmets and weapons, removing themselves from the forces working for Figaro. None of them seemed to mind Bahamut anymore as it leered over the cheering people, grumbling in response to its master's satisfaction.

"Yes! Join me in my quest, people! Join me in the quest to uncover the darkness behind the Empire! Join me in fighting those who fight against me… simply because I disagree with their cause! King Figaro has, in fact, rallied his former comrades to hunt me down so that he can preserve his precious imperial ally… and we cannot allow such tyranny to plague this world! You must fight with me against this unlawful response to my opinions… you must embrace the power that I possess and take up arms alongside my servants and me! Come on my journey… come topple the villainous reign of the oppressive empire! Join me in my new village! Help me continue my work where greedy ways have halted my progress! Join… the Legion of the People!" he shouted victoriously as the entire town of South Figaro grew into a trembling frenzy, raising his hands up high as his dragon esper let out a roar of success.

Author's Notes: Yes, yes, yes, Geeda does have a plot! It's unfortunate for the heroes that he is rather persuasive… and that people are willing to listen to anything that will make their lives apparently easier, although Thomas is just another Hitler. What lies in store for our brave warriors now? O, the intrigue! (By the way, Celes WILL use Runic again. She's not totally defenseless, but when you're taken by surprise sometimes it's difficult to think fast even for a group of heroes who saved the world from ultimate, deity-empowered evil.) Also, I am actually far ahead in my writing and have up to Chapter 33 already written... I'm just giving the story some time to accumulate hits for a few days before I continue to post.