This Hand and This Stone
Night had come and gone so quickly. The twinkling stars continued to gleam, but in the east, there was already a hint of the day's rebirth. Light was starting to show itself, though barely a dim sight. Upon a long stretch of land reaching out to sea, like a large nail a mythical deity failed to hammer, General Saber, General Scimitar, Envy, and a hand full of the faction's best combatants awaited the rising of the sun. Saber took out a pocket watch from the inside pocket of his overcoat and observed the time. The watch pointed ten minutes after five a.m.
"How the night passes so quickly." He uttered. "Have we really been so diligent in our activities?"
"It will not be long before the sun breeches the horizon and the first rays of the new day appear over in the east." Scimitar said. "And when that moment comes, the mysterious island bearing the hand of Midas will finally appear."
"And a new power will be in our hands." Saber then glanced at Envy who still had this aggravating look on his face. Saber sighed. "You should really lighten up a little, Homunculus. Enjoy this tranquil calm before the storm."
"I don't understand why I'm still here doing your bidding." Envy uttered. "I was hoping to get rid of Fullmetal! But now I fear he's already dead and I'll never exact my revenge. And why…? All because of you."
"There, there Envy, you still have the philosopher stone to look forward to. And once we obtain the hand of Midas, not only will you be powerful, but wealthy as well."-
"I don't care for such trivial items."-
"Now, now, you're a homunculus. You have no soul. You're just an empty shell, a living thing with no spirit, just like a doll. But if you managed to gain the power of the stone, you will be able to forge a soul and become human. Is that not what all homunculus want?"-
"I don't care about becoming human. If I become human, that means I become mortal. And when I become mortal, I will no longer have my morphing powers or eternal youth. All I wanted was to kill Fullmetal! But as far as I know, he's already dead."-
"Then why bother staying around."-
"It's what you said before. If Fullmetal is still alive, if he did manage to escape his sandy prison, then I will be here to stop him. After everything you've done to him, he'll most likely try and settle the score. So wherever you are, he'll come after you. And that's when I take the honor of killing him."-
"So you shall," Saber said. "Then if the Fullmetal Alchemist does arrive, I will not interfere between the two of you. You can kill him for all I care."-
"Just as long as you're not saying that only to keep my hopes up."-
"I can assure you, you will have revenge against Edward Elric." Saber looked towards the sea. "And what of Mozenrath, has there been any commencement for forging the stone? I have not felt any large surge of energy yet."
"We sent three squadrons of soldiers to oversee the production of the stone and act as security." Scimitar said.
"Did you give them their specific orders?" Saber asked.
"I did, sir."-
"Very good, then all we have to do is sit and wait for out operations to commence."-
Mozenrath stood upon the dunes over Agrabah. Behind him were a hundred of his loyal mumluks, armed to the teeth and ready to do battle.
"The night reaches its end and yet not a stir from the city." Mozenrath said. "The people are completely unaware of their fate." He turned to his mumluks. "Go forth and prevent the inhabitance from escaping, should they find out our scheme." The mumluks obeyed and silently departed, spreading out around the outside of the city. There they would lie and wait and strike down anyone who dared to leave Agrabah prematurely.
"My soldiers are in position. All that's required is to commence with creating the circle."
From behind the sorcerer, like a vast shadow upon the desert, the black sands of Mozenrath's domain accumulated and festered, smothering the rest of the desert. The sands seemed to have a personality of their own. Mozenrath stretched forth his hand, pointing towards the city, and like a faithful pet, the sand advanced, as if alive and wielding a will of its own. At first, this mass of black sand moved as one body, but as it drew nearer to the city, it began to divide into what looked like long strands of hair. It slithered like serpents heading in several different directions. Once reaching the walls of the city, the black sand ascended over its top. The willful sand then began to spread silently throughout the city, not at random, but into the form of an intricate pattern. Mozenrath seemed to control the sand with his mind, orchestrating each little grain into their right full position, into the form that would become the great transmutation circle which would unleash the Grand Arcanum. There was no stir in the city, no sound, no scream. The sand quietly made its way into the city with no one bearing witness. And since it was still dark, the streams of black sand were completely unnoticeable.
"Look Mozenrath," Xerxes uttered as he watched the sands taking form, "The circle is made."
"Yes, my servant." Mozenrath replied. "And within the next few minutes, the stone will be as good as mine, provided that my aids can fend off any trouble that comes to interfere."
Appearing from the darkness, the leader of the faction soldiers appeared. He kneeled respectfully before the warlock.
"The KH team will most likely attack, sir." He said. "But when they do, we'll be ready for them. We will assure the success of your efforts this night, Lord Mozenrath."
"Very good..." Mozenrath awaited the completion of the circle.
Already the new day started to make its presence known as the sky in the east was becoming a lighter hue of blue and the stars slowly began to fade from their sentinels. Within minutes, the black sand found its connections and formed a perfect transmutation circle around and throughout the city.
"The circle is complete." Mozenrath said. "All that is required now is to execute the alchemic reaction. At this rate, we will be successful." He turned to the soldiers accompanying him. "Shall we depart for the city and commence with the operation?"
"Yes sir." The officer replied.
The group steadily made their way to the walls of the city. Nothing, is seemed, would disturb the operations at Agrabah. There was no sign of help, no sign of rescue. The fate of the people was already sealed. Or so it seemed. No sooner had the party made it within one hundred yards of the gates; a lone figure appeared from out of the shadows and placed himself between the sorcerer and the city.
"Who's there!" the officer shouted. "Show your face!"
The man in the shadows stepped forward. He slowly strolled before the group of soldiers and Lord Mozenrath. He was more than two thirds of the way between the advancing faction party and the city gates, at least twenty yards from Mozenrath himself, when his features became more distinguishable even in the dark. His face was slightly illuminated by the nightly atmosphere. He was young and fair and his hair draped down in a long ponytail behind his head. However, it was not the physical characteristics of the man the soldiers identified him with, but rather the weapon he carried. The man wielded a long spear, its golden head wielding three prongs. It was a weapon the faction soldiers knew too well.
It was Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster.
"Well, well," Cuchulain said, "It looks like we managed to arrive just in time."
"So it's you," the officer uttered, "The Hound of Ulster."
"Do not fear him." Mozenrath chuckled arrogantly. "He is but one man. You are thirty times his number and are elite faction soldiers, correct? Then he should be no match for you."
"Men, be ready to battle!" the officer shouted. "First squadron, take out the Hound!"
"Yes sir!" the soldiers replied in unison. They took their stance, drawing out their weapons, making ready to battle. Cuchulain only smirked, as if he knew the outcome already. In most cases, his intuition was true.
"Are you guys really willing to make that call?" the Hound asked. "Are you willing to cross blades with the Hound of Ulster?"
"Don't fear him men!" the officer shouted. "Stay as one and fight as one and not even the mighty Hound of Ulster can stop you!"
But no sooner had weapons been drawn, a second figure appeared, this time from the night sky. He landed amidst the soldiers and cut four of them down with one swoop. The soldiers immediately turned to find the young Son of the Hound crouching amongst them.
"My father is not the one you have to fear." Cunla said, as he stood up, lowering his sword. "He's the one preventing you from getting closer to the city. I'm the one you have to watch for."
"Blast," Mozenrath uttered, "Just when I thought it was an open road to glory, you two just had to interfere." He turned to the soldiers. "Kill them both!"
"Yes sir!" the soldiers replied.
"Take out the Hound and his traitorous whelp!" the officer ordered. "They shall not live to see the sun rise again!"
"Destroy them both!" Xerxes chuckled.
The soldiers stood their grand, prepared to fight to the death against two legendary Celtic warriors. Mozenrath made a hasty retreat, with the officer and his subordinates acting as bodyguards. The rest of the soldiers went straight into battle. But the battle would not take the shape of victory as they had anticipated. Instead, the soldiers found themselves contending with warriors who excelled beyond their own skills. Despite working as one unit, despite being experienced veterans of many bloody battles, they had never once encountered opponents with such strong fighting spirits and ferocity. Cunla easily dispensed with ten soldiers, leaving only six to fight him. With four soldiers guarding Mozenrath, and ten still in a face off against Cuchulain, I seemed as that their simple operation was fondled.
"Come on, you guys." Cunla chuckled. "You think that you can take me down so easily? You should know by now that you can't beat the Son of the Hound."
"You'll pay for what you've done, traitor!" a soldier shouted. He was armed with double blades and commenced battling with Cunla. Another soldier jumped in, armed with a spear and started jabbing away. A third soldier took his stance behind Cunla and drew his sword. The three acted in tight formation, slicing and thrusting in syncopation, so as not to cut each other in the process. But their efforts proved futile against the young boy. Cunla's strength was beyond comprehension.
"This is impossible." Mozenrath uttered. "How could one boy be so skilled as to have the ability to fend of the faction's best soldiers?"
"They don't call him the Son of the Hound for nothing." The officer said. He looked to his troops. "Do not be disheartened. Fight as one and you will be victorious!"
But no sooner had he said that, then two more soldiers were killed. Five of the soldiers who faced Cuchulain, turned to aid against Cunla.
"We don't have time for this." Mozenrath said. "Get me to the circle's edge. I merely have to use the bulk of my magic to activate it."
"Men," the officer said. "Make a hasty advance towards the city. It's only fifty yards or so to get to the circle."
"Yes sir." The soldiers replied. They began their advance. But no sooner had they started their run, the Hound appeared in front of them.
"It's not gonna be that easy." Cuchulain said. "The one you have to worry about right now is me."
"Is it too much to ask!" Mozenrath shouted, "Kill him!"
"Wicked Hound," Xerxes hissed, "You shall die!"
Two of the soldiers took their stance, but before they could raise their blades, the Hound rushed in and dispensed with both.
"Impossible…" the officer uttered.
"Don't stand there, you idiots, deal with him!" Mozenrath ordered
"Kill, kill!" Xerxes wailed.
"Sir…" The officer and his last standing subordinate faced against the Hound, taking the place of their downed comrades.
"You shall die, Hound!" the officer shouted. The two attacked in unison, keeping a tight formation against Cuchulain. Their coordination was excellent and their movements graceful, but no such talent could surmount the power of the Hound. Cuchulain was one to dodge and evade with very little effort. While the scuffle was going on, Mozenrath saw his chance.
"Now's the opportunity to finish my task, with both of those warriors distracted, I can finish my work and forge the stone." However, no sooner had Mozenrath advanced ten paces, two death screams were heard. Mozenrath turned to find both the officer and his subordinate dead. Now, no one was left to protect the sorcerer. "Impossible, how could you have killed them so quickly?"
"As I said," Cuchulain explained, "You're not dealing with your average heroes. You're dealing with the Hound of Ulster and the Son of the Hound."
"My mumluks," Mozenrath rose his voice "Mumluks, come to my aid!"
"Mumluks…? Oh you mean those mummy guys who were guarding the city's perimeter? Cunla took care of them all before we started fighting the faction soldiers. I'm surprised you didn't notice."-
"What?" Mozenrath looked about. What Cuchulain said was true because as hard as he looked, not a single mumluk was around. He turned to the Hound. "You think you're pretty clever don't you?"
"The game's over, Mozenrath."-
"On no, Hound," Mozenrath's magical gauntlet began to glow. "On the contrary, the game has just begun!" He aimed his gauntlet and fired and energy wave at the Hound. Cuchulain quickly dodged the beam and lunged forward. But Mozenrath suddenly levitated himself and began to move about, hovering only a few feet above the ground. "Fool, you are not dealing with your average sorcerer. You are dealing with the Lord of the Black sands! And all elements will bow to my whim!" The sorcerer suddenly created a large fireball over the palm of his gauntlet and threw it at Cuchulain. The Hound dodged, but the explosion was so great it nearly blew him away. Cuchulain skidded across the sand.
"Where the heck did this power come from?" he wondered. "Just a minute ago, this guy was relying on the strength of the faction soldiers. All of a sudden, he's throwing fire balls at me." Cuchulain saw two more fire balls rushing towards him. He dodged one, feeling the heat on the back of his neck. The other fire ball came rushing at him, but the Hound was quick to deflect the fireball. The heat grew intense as he repelled the attack back at Mozenrath. The sorcerer saw his own sphere of flames redirect itself in his direction. He quickly evaded a head on strike.
"What a nuisance." He uttered. "Pesky little bug, I'll show you!" Mozenrath lifted his hand. Suddenly, the sands began to rumble from beneath the Hound's feet. Then, like a breaker upon the surface, a giant wave of sand breeched out from behind the Hound and threatened to crash itself upon him.
Cunla, by this time, had managed to defeat the last of the faction soldiers when he saw the save of sand crashing upon his father.
"Dad!" he cried.
"This is the end for you, Cuchulain!" Mozenrath shouted. "Prepare to meet your end!"
"You think it's that easy to be rid of me?" Cuchulain said. He twirled Gae Bulga and then thrust upward and sideward. The impact of energy those two swings made, broke up the sandy wave, diminishing it within seconds. Clouds of debris and sand bellowed into the air as the wave crashed to the ground harmlessly. "Your sorcery is a mix of energy manipulation and alchemic reaction, using the gauntlet as a conductor. From what I can sense, all of your power resonates from that gauntlet. It's the only way that you're able to unleash your aura in a physical form."
"Very clever, very clever indeed, but such an assumption will not be enough to defeat me." From his gauntlet, a dark shadow appeared. "I summon forth the power of darkness, I summon forth the Heartless!"
Mozenrath waved his hand over the area where Cunla and Cuchulain stood. A dark shadow appeared upon the dunes. And from that massive shadow, the Heartless appeared. They completely surrounded the due.
"Dad," Cunla cried as he ran to his father's side. Father and sun stood back to back as the thousands of eyes suddenly appeared around them. The heartless took their shape and encircled the two.
"It looks like we'll have more trouble with this guy than I thought." Cuchulain uttered.
"Those two are your enemies!" Mozenrath declared. "Their hearts are open for you! Destroy them!"
The Heartless pounced upon the Hound and the pup like and army of fleas. But such numbers were nothing to the two Celtic warriors.
"Are you ready, Cunla?" Cuchulain asked.
"Let's do this!" Cunla shouted. Both began to slash and strike at the heartless. The heartless, though superior in number, their individual strengths were nothing compared to the Gaelic duo. It was the reason why so many heartless appeared on the scene.
"That ought to hold you for a while." Mozenrath chuckled. Mozenrath turned towards the city. "Not even those two can fight off that many Heartless. So long as the sky is still dark, there will be no end to the Heartless numbers. Eventually, they will tire out and their hearts will be consumed by the darkness."
However, fate would play its trickery upon the evil sorcerer once again. As he gazed upon the walls of Agrabah, another figure made himself known to the warlock. The figure appeared to be floating on some sort of tapestry. He was armed with a scimitar.
"Not so fast, Mozenrath." The figure said. "You're not doing anything with this city."
"Show yourself, foe." Mozenrath demanded. The figure descended from the wall. Immediately, Mozenrath recognized him.
It was Aladdin.
"You thought that Cuchulain and Cunla were your only foes?" Aladdin asked. "We knew you would be coming to Agrabah to create this philosopher stone of yours."
"Well, if it isn't the street rat, Aladdin." Mozenrath chuckled.
"Street rat, street rat," Xerxes chuckled.
"Or perhaps you would prefer going by your current title, Prince Aladdin. Well, don't think that I'd show any respect to you, a mere boy not worthy not lick the grime from beneath my boots."-
"I could care less about how you address me." Aladdin replied, putting his blade on his shoulder while stepping off of Carpet. "The only thing that I'm here for is to stop you from harming a single person in this city. So long as I am the new found prince of this kingdom, I will not allow you to harm a soul here!"
"Be gone with you, you wretched boy, you have no power to contend with the might of a sorcerer like myself, a warlock that surpasses even Jafar." Mozenrath's gauntlet accumulated a dark shadow. Like with Cunla and Cuchulain, he waved his hand before him and a great darkness appeared on the sands. And from that shadow, thousands of Heartless appeared. "You cannot possibly stop me now!"
"You are dead." Xerxes uttered.
"Go forth, Heartless, and destroy the prince of Agrabah!" The Heartless began their advance towards Aladdin.
"Don't underestimate me," Aladdin said, "I didn't come alone."
Suddenly, from the walls of Agrabah, hundreds of bright lights flashed on, illuminated the entire battlefield.
"Stand where you are!" a voice shouted. From behind Aladdin, hundreds of blue genies appeared in military fashion, like British Commandos or Green Berets. "Do not attempt to resist or you will be fired upon!" Also, pouring out of the gates were one hundred of the sultan's soldiers, led by Razoul.
"This is as far as you go sorcerer!" Razoul declared.
"Alright," Iago shouted, as he and Abu sided with Aladdin, dressed in combat fatigues and armed with some of genie's automatic weaponry, "Let's get this party started."
"You fools," Mozenrath chuckled, "It will take more than this to defeat the Heartless!"
"It's you and me, Mozenrath." Aladdin said, "One on one."
"Impudent fool, you shall die for you insolence."-
"Let's go!" Almost instantly, the Agrabah defenders went in at a full charge.
"Kill them all!" Mozenrath declared. The Heartless began their advance.
"Okay guys!" Genie said to his self made army. "Let's pump some lead!" There was a volley of gun fire coming from the genie line and the first wave of heartless was struck down almost instantly. But the charge did not let up as the second wave rushed forward.
"Do not fear the shadows!" Razoul shouted. "Defeat them and protect this city!"
The sultan's soldiers rushed into the fray, slashing and cutting at the Heartless. The entire front of the city was in an uproar now as the summoned heartless clashed with the band of defenders. Aladdin flew upon carpet, engaging in aerial warfare with Mozenrath, who hovered about throwing fire balls at his opponent. Aladdin would swoop in and attempt to strike the sorcerer, but Mozenrath would always counter with some type of spell, whether it was elemental or some form of energy beam.
"You'll have to do better than that if you wanna get rid of me." Aladdin chuckled.
"You just watch yourself boy." Mozenrath replied. "You'll be regretting your insolence to me!" Mozenrath quickly glanced at the sky in the horizon. The new morning was peaking over the mountains, its new found light making the sky bluer with every minute, blocking out the stars one by one. "The morning comes. Soon the hand of Midas will be achieved, but what of the stone? With this wretch confronting me, my efforts up to this point have been placed in jeopardy."
Little did Mozenrath realize that the entire battle was merely an illusion. The reality of the situation was that there was not a single living soul left in the city. Every man, woman, and child had been escorted out of the city through the secret passage way in the palace. The people were encamped on the rocky outcrops on the other side of the mountains that protected the rear of the city. Alphonse Elric remained behind to help guide the people to safety.
"I think that's the last of them." He said to himself. Al looked to the horizon, seeing the first rays of the sun peak over in the distance. "It's morning already?" His thoughts wandered to his brother and Winry. "I hope that my brother and Winry are okay."
As the sun peaked over, Riku, Sora, and Fullmetal roamed the Arabian coast looking for the so called finger where the sea turns white.
"Where the heck is this thing?" Ed uttered.
"Well, the oracle gave us a description of the coastal feature," Sora uttered, "but it was never really specific about where this area was located."
"We better hurry." Riku said. "By now that mysterious island might have appeared." It was at that moment, a transmitted message entered the cockpit.
"This is the Tiger, this is the Tiger," the voice said, "Riku can you hear me, over?" Riku picked up the intercom.
"This is Riku speaking," he replied, "I hear you loud and clear, Tiger, over."
"We've confirmed presence of faction soldiers near the coastal cities. Donald and Goofy contacted us earlier. They confirmed the same thing, over."-
"How many soldiers have you confirmed, over?"
"At least one hundred, four groups of an estimated twenty-five soldiers, they're definitely trying to catch us off guard, over."-
"It's too bad they're not aware of the information we received, over."-
"Be more discreet, they might have intercepted out link, over."-
"Roger that, over."
"Have you found the place along the coast yet, over?" Ophelia asked.
"Not yet," Riku replied. "Our information was a little vague, but it shouldn't be long now, over."-
"Alright, we'll maintain patrol, over."-
"Roger that, over and out." Riku ended transmission and resumed his flight along the coast.
"Well, what's happening so far?" Sora asked.
"The faction is trying to give us the slip." Riku replied. "They've sent out soldiers to the four major coastal cities to make it look as though they're planning to initiate the Grand Arcanum, so Ophelia's party and Donald's party are hovering over the coastal cities, pretending to scout."
"Too bad they don't realize we already know where they're planning to create the stone." Ed said.
"The only problem right now is trying to find that geographical feature the oracle mentioned." Riku looked to the horizon. He saw the first beams of light from the morning sun break through. He then looked to the moon and the morning star that were still present. "We have to hurry. I'm sure that the faction has already reached the point and is simply waiting for the island to appear, if it hasn't appeared already."
"We better step on it!" Sora said.
The first beams of the morning sun began to stretch over the land, touching everything upon the land and sea. The night had faded and the sun in the east began to pop its smiling face over the hills. Saber looked to the sun, this great egg yoke, glimmering in the distance.
"The night ends," he uttered to himself, "as the sun rises in the east. Its illuminating presence brings the world to life again, ending a period of tranquil death. The warmth of its rays creates joy upon the world. Here, it amuses the crescent and the final night jewel above. The sun brings light to me and this finger of the coast. Here, the destiny of the faction will rise and a new era shall begin."
"General Saber," a soldier shouted, overseeing the waters of the sea, "Look there!" Saber and his band turned to the blue. In the middle of that calm tide, a strange white patch of bubbling liquid began to rupture with a silent moan.
"Behold," Saber said, "The Island emerges." From the white water, a large dome like structure appeared from the surface. Upon it were the remains of a city, a civilization long since forgotten. There was a roar coming from the island as the ruins of the city breeched the surface. As Saber looked to every detail of the spit of land that appeared before him, he soon realized that the island was not at all a make up of any kind of geographical substance, but of a living biological creature. The ruins were in fact built atop a very large and possible very old sea turtle. The turtle's head looked about slowly.
"Are you seeing this, sir?" Scimitar asked.
"I see now." Saber chuckled silently. "That is the reason why the island never emerges in the same spot twice. The ruins are built on the shell of a turtle." Saber drew his hand before him, with palm and fingers vertical. "Then let us board the marine reptile before it submerges again." Saber's hand began to shake as in a boiling rage. His energy increased. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he released its force.
It was the energy that caught the attention of the key bearers, who felt the massive surge of shi arising in the distance.
"Did you feel that?" Sora asked.
"It was an immense power." Riku added.
"What are you two talking about?" Ed asked. "What was it?"
"Something's happening. This power, could it be General Saber?"-
"It can't be." Sora uttered, "It's too powerful to be Saber's."
"Well the signature seemed really familiar. It's no more than a few miles from where we are."-
"Hurry…!" The gummi increased in pace towards whatever it was that lured the key bearers.
Before the faction's band, the water began to rise above its natural level, lifting in columns as if a hundred natural spouts from the headland to the ruins suddenly came to life. The water converged into a tight formation, like that of bridge.
"It's a bridge…" Envy uttered. "But how…who did you to that?"
"Most impressive, general." Scimitar applauded.
"Shall we continue on our way?" Saber asked.
"This water bridge is firm is it not?"-
"Why would I take the liberty of forging it if it weren't?" Saber walked over the edge of the headland's cliff and upon the bridge and strolled about as if there were nothing to fear. He looked back at the members of his party. "Shall we?"
Scimitar stepped foot upon the bridge. She pressed her foot to the water. Despite being a bridge made of liquid, its walkway was a firm as steel and in no way wavered when she walked upon it. She knew there was nothing to fear and hastily joined with Saber.
"Double quick time you men!" she replied, "We have to accomplish this mission!"
"Hurry up!" Envy added, still enraged within. He too did not hesitate and sped across the bridge. The soldiers followed him briskly and the party continued on their way across the water bridge. It had not been long before the party successfully reached the other side to the giant turtle's back. As the last man crossed over safely, Saber relinquished his energy and the bridge came crashing down into the form of loose water again. The tumbling of the water created a loud roar as it descended to it original state. The water became a torrent for a few minutes before diminished altogether.
"To think that such a thing could be created out of mere water." Scimitar uttered.
"Enough of this footling about," Saber said. "Let us continue to the temple." But as the party began their search, something caught Saber's eye. In the distance he saw a flying object heading for them. The minute he laid eyes on the object, he immediately knew who it was. "Well, well, we have company." The rest of the band looked up to find the lone gummi hovering over head.
Riku, Sora, and Fullmetal looked down in awe at the mysterious isle that lay before them.
"Look at that." Fullmetal said. "That must be the island."
"Riku, look," Sora pointed to the edge of the island, spotting the faction party. "The faction is already here."
"I'll take a few shots and soften them up a bit." Riku said. He made ready to aim the gummi's arsenal, but Sora stopped him.
"Wait a minute. Don't fire anything."-
"Why not?"-
"Look at the island. Its basin isn't made out of rock," Sora then saw the giant head of the turtle. "It's…it's a sea turtle…"
"A sea turtle? It can't be. That's too big to be a sea turtle."-
"He's right though." Ed uttered. "I see its head moving about. No wonder they call it the island that never emerges in the same place twice. The ruins are built on the turtle's shell. It must be really old if it can grow to that size and support the ruins of a lost civilization."
"We should just land on it." Sora suggested. "Otherwise, if we shoot at it, we might spook the turtle and it'll submerge."
"At least that'll prevent the faction from getting the hand of Midas." Riku implied.
"Yeah, but they'll only track it down again at a later date if the hand is still stationed in its place. Perhaps if we could get the hand safely into alliance custody, or maybe lose is someplace, then we won't have to worry about the faction trying to retrieve it."-
"That's true. Alright, get ready you two, we're going down." Riku eased the altitude descent towards the ruins.
The faction watched as the gummi hovered around the turtle like a fly.
"It's the KH team." Scimitar uttered. "I'd recognize that gummi anywhere." Scimitar then remembered seeing that same gummi stationed at the mouth of the entry way to the cave of wonder. "That's the same vessel we left unmolested near the cave of wonders!"-
"Is that so?" Saber said, watching the gummi pass over them. "Then I take it the key bearers have survived."
"We can't confirm that for sure, sir."-
"Oh yes we can. Nothing can deter those boys from accomplishing their goals." The gummi flew out of sight, to the other side of the turtle's back. "They plan on touching down no doubt. Very well, if they plan on landing here, we'll be ready for them." He turned to his men. "Lieutenant, have your men stealthily make their way to the other side of the ruins and hold off the KH team."
"Yes sir." The lieutenant turned to his men. "Move out you men!" The soldiers quickly followed them.
"Envy," Saber said, "Go with them and give our enemy a proper faction's greeting. If it is the key bearers, then Fullmetal may also be accompanying them. Knowing that brat, he'll be after Scimitar and I for our betrayal. You can finish him off then."
"How do I know Fullmetal is with them, after you said how you buried them?" Envy asked. "How do I know you're not planning to us me for some further means?"
"Damn it Envy! Must you always change your opinion every so often? First you had faith, then you didn't have faith, then you had faith again, and now you doubt my words furthermore. Make up your mind on whether you believe Fullmetal is still alive or not. But if you don't go now, there's a chance you'll miss your hope of taking revenge. Then again, I'm only giving you an order. I could care less about your trifles."-
"Very well, but you better watch your back if you lie to me."-
"I'll hope of drowning myself if I be false" Envy sneered, not trusting of Saber, but did as he bid of him. He followed the faction troops close behind. "That Homunculus has been an irritant since the moment I took him in. It all has to go his way. He expects us to sacrifice our own time and efforts for his own wishes of vengeance. Well, maybe this time, he'll be pleased and be done with it. Then, I can kill him myself and end this menagerie."
"I'll be happy to see him dead and buried."-
"God willing..." Saber sighed. "Well, shall we continue to the temple?" The two Blade Generals thus continued their advance towards the temple where supposedly the hand of Midas resided.
In the meantime, the little gummi had landed on a flat stone structure that at one time might have been a harbor where ships took port. The key bearers and the Fullmetal Alchemist hopped out of the gummi and headed towards the ruins.
"We have to hurry." Riku said. "The faction might have already reached the place where the hand of Midas rests." The three ran across up a flight of stairs towards the main domed temple that towered over them like a watcher.
"The hand must be in there." Sora pointed. But no sooner had they reached the half way point, the faction soldiers appeared and began to fire their blasters and their guns at the team. There was a series of explosions that erupted around the trio.
"Great," Ed mumbled, irritated, "Of all the times for these guys to appear." Ed clapped his hands and sent an alchemic surge through the stone. The soldiers were suddenly caught by large hands that formed from the rock and held them in place. Some of the soldiers were even knocked out. "That ought to take care of them for a while."
"Let's keep moving." Riku said. The three continued their advance. But no sooner had they almost come to the top of the staircase, Envy suddenly appeared, leaping into the air and ramming his fist downward, hoping to strike his enemies.
"Take this!" he shouted.
"Watch out!" Sora cried. The three scattered just as Envy crashed his hands into the stone, forcing the slabs of masonry to upheaval. As the three regained their stamina through the falling debris, Edward came face to face with his old foe.
"So it is you…" he uttered.
"My, my," Envy chuckled. "So the good general was right after all. You did manage to escape the cave of wonders. And now I finally get to settle the score with you."
"Who the heck is that?" Sora asked.
"Oh, and you must be the key bearers, Riku and Sora. I understand that you've been giving the faction a hard time. Don't worry; I'll deal with you as soon as I finish off the Fullmetal pipsqueak."-
"Who are you calling a pipsqueak!" Ed shouted.
"And still as aggravated about your short height as usual I see."-
"Shut up!"-
"We don't have time for this." Riku said. "We have to get to the hand of Midas before Saber does."
"Sora, Riku," Ed shouted, "You go on ahead! I'll take care of Envy!"
"But Ed…" Sora uttered.
"Don't worry about me. The only thing that matters right now is to get to the hand before the Blade Generals."-
"Right," Riku said, "Then let's get going! Are you ready Sora?"
"Yeah…" Sora replied.
"Sorry boys, but I can't allow you to go any further than this." Envy said. "I won't let any of you pass me."
"Then again," Riku implied with as smirk, "We won't have to." Riku drew his keyblade over his head and summoned the whiff spell. From the spell, the little white rabbit appeared and transformed into the black wings of the legendary phantom thief. They latched onto Riku's back and spread out to their full extent. The sight left Envy speechless.
"Black wings…?" he uttered.
"Let's go, Sora."-
"Gotcha," Sora drew up his keyblade and summoned forth the Flying Nimbus, "Come to me, Nimbus!" The little cloud puttered along and allowed Sora to top its fluffy surface. Again Envy was stunned.
"A cloud…?" he said.
"Let's go!" Riku ordered. The two lifted off, but Envy was not about to let them fly off.
"You're not going anywhere, key bearers!" Envy lunged prematurely, but was stopped by a make shift wall created by Edward Elric. Envy struck the wall and shattered it into thousands of tiny pieces.
"You two better get going now!" Ed said.
"That was too close." Sora uttered. "Thanks Ed."
"Come on." Riku implied. The two ascended into the air silently and not giving off any energy signal for the Blade Generals to sense. Within seconds, they were within reach of the main temple.
At the same time, Envy stood back up, clutching his fist tightly. He turned to watch the key bearers ascend higher and higher into the air until they were too far to reach.
"Damn it," Envy uttered, "They got away." He sneered at Edward. "And I have you to thank for that, Fullmetal." But the cringe of the homunculus transformed into a smirk. "Oh well, forget them. I have what I want."
"So you and I finally get to settle the score, eh?" Ed said. "This day had to come sooner or later."
"I'm going to enjoy tearing you limb from limb, Fullmetal."-
"Fine," Ed transformed his automail arm into his infamous grappling blade. He then lunged at Envy, commencing their private brawl. "Prepare yourself!"
In the meantime, the key bearers had stealthily reached the top of the temple. They entered through one of the windows and looked about. Landing safely upon a high platform, they dismissed their summoning spells and began their exploration of the temple. Looking about, they beheld the grandeur of the old temple. The temple was tall and round like a cylinder topped with a magnificent dome. At the temple floor, giant waterways gushed out seawater which swirled about in a torrent below. The walls covered with mosaics and old paintings which were not covered by barnacles and sea weed. And in the four directions, stone palms gave offering to the temples center.
"Not a bad looking place." Sora said. "But I wonder if this is the right temple?"
"Sora, look." Riku uttered, "Over there." He pointed to the level below them. Between the four palms, there was another palm, rotating in a clockwise direction. It looked like it was made of solid gold. The hand hovered in mid air, sustained by some kind of magic or energy. And there, on the giant rotating hand, an erect statue stood, itself spinning in a clockwise direction, indicating that his had been perfectly centered to the force that turned it and the palm.
"Is that it?" Sora asked.
"It has to be." Riku replied. "This is the temple where the hovering palm resides." The two stepped down off the platform to the level below. They gazed at the statue upon the golden hand, observing it closer. The statue wielded tightly in its clutches another golden hand. This hand was smaller and had a wooden base and handle for one to grasp it. "There it is, the Hand of Midas."
"How do you know?"-
"No mistake, this is the place that the oracle said it resided. Therefore that has to be what the faction is after."-
"Well then, if that's the hand of Midas," Sora walked over to the edge of the directional hands and leaped as far as he could. He made it by a couple of inches, landing on the fingers of the hovering mass, "Let's take it before the faction gets here."
"Wait, Sora," Riku advised. "Grab it from its wooden handle."
"Why?"-
"The hand of Midas has the ability to turn all things it touches into gold. So if you touch the golden part of the hand yourself, you'll turn into gold too."-
"Good point." Sora cautiously grabbed it by the handle and gazed at its beauty. "To think that this little thing can turn everything into gold."
"Come back over, Sora. And be careful that the golden palm doesn't touch you."-
"Right…!" Sora leaped back over to Riku. They both gazed at the palm. "Now that we have it, what will we do with it?"
"I have it." Riku took off his trench coat. "We'll wrap the hand in my jacket."
"Okay."-
Sora placed the palm in the jacket. The minute the golden hand touched the cloth of Riku's trench coat, the fabric of the jacket was turned into gold leather. Riku wrapped the hand tightly in the jacket.
"Look at that." He said. "I just might be the first guy in the world to have a gold trench coat like this."
"But how come the hand's magic didn't affect you? It turned the jacket into gold."-
"I guess you can handle the golden part of the hand of Midas, so long as you don't touch the bare hand itself."-
"You're lucky, Riku. You get to have a golden jacket to wear now."-
"That's a kind offer, but no thanks. Dressing in glittery gold is not really my thing." Riku tied his coat in a knot so the hand wouldn't fall out. "Now that we have it, we can get out of here."
"Right…" Sora replied. But as they turned to leave, their simple mission became more complicated. Accumulating in the air, there was a high pitched squeal of spinning steel. It was a sound that the key bearers knew all too well.
"I know that hum." Sora uttered.
"Sora, look out!" Riku cried, throwing Sora to the ground. Just as they fell, the familiar form of a chakram appeared, dashing over their heads. It then hovered about in mid-air like a hungry predator thirsting for blood.
"Well, well," a voice shouted from the area on the opposite side of the temple, "I never would have guessed that you would have made it here before we did, even though we had a head start." The key bearers looked to find both of the Blade Generals. It was General Saber who was addressing them. "I see that you successfully retrieved the Hand of Midas for us."
"We retrieved it," Riku shouted as he and Sora stood themselves back on their feet, "but we didn't do it so you could get your mitts on it."
"I beg to differ. You will be handing that treasure over to us now."-
"And if we refuse?"-
"You don't have another say in the matter. You either give it to us, or we take it by force."-
"You can have the hand of Midas only when you pry it from our cold dead fingers!" Sora declared.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Saber raised his hand, giving Scimitar the signal. Scimitar maneuvered her chakram to cut down the key bearers.
"I'll cut you down for sure this time!" she shouted.
"Not this again." Riku uttered as he and Sora dodged and evaded.
"Sorry, Scimitar," Sora chuckled, "Not this time!" He drew his keyblade into the air. "Wind!" Sora unleashed the Aeroga spell and created wind shields around both he and Riku. Now, when Scimitar would strike with her hovering chakram, the blade would be repelled by the wind shield.
"Damn it," she uttered, "The little bastards caught on!"
"Not surprising." Saber said. He folded his arms in front of him. "Shall I do the honor of finishing them off?"
"Let me finish them, sir. It is not worth your time and effort to deal with such mindless snipes. Besides, the key bearers still have me to defeat if they want to rescue their precious little rodent king."-
"Do as you will." Saber replied. "I will wait for a precise moment to take the hand of Midas away from them."
"Very well…" Scimitar leaped into the air, landed on the hovering palm in the center and leaped again over to the side of the temple where Riku and Sora awaited her.
"Here she comes!" Riku shouted. "Sora, hold onto the hand of Midas. I'll take her on!"
"But Riku," Sora said. Before another word was spoken, the Blade General had deployed her other chakram at the same time summoning the second back to her hand. At the same time, Riku's wind shield had slowly diminished, leaving him vulnerable to open attack. He swung his keyblade at the general, but Scimitar quickly blocked. She pushed him away and tried to slice at his abdomen and his chest. The young key bearer evaded by only a few inches. He ducked and lunged his weapon forward. Scimitar threw herself back, just as the shaft of the blade flew by her throat. She caught the blade between her chakrams and slid them down the keyblade's shaft, hoping to sever Riku's arms or perhaps his fingers. The key bearer used the blade's wrist guard to block the ring swords and pulled away. Back and forth the two did battle.
Sora and Saber watched at the fight intensified between the Warrior Queen of Connaught and the Child of Darkness.
"Come on, Riku." Sora thought to himself. "Hang in there."
"The boy has certainly gained momentum since the last time I saw him. But still, neither he nor Sora are any match for Scimitar. Then again, they're no match for me either." Saber then turned his attention towards Sora. "Speaking of which; now that Riku has his hands full with Scimitar, the opportunity to take the hand of Midas away from Sora presents itself." Saber slowly approached on the temple walkway, biding his time and waiting for the proper moment to strike the key bearer.
The battle continued between the Heartless and the defenders of Agrabah. As Aladdin did battle with Mozenrath above the heads of the combatants, Cuchulain and the others slashed and struck at their opponents without pause and without mercy. He and Cunla were cut off by the countless Heartless.
"They have us completely surrounded." Cunla uttered as he and his father pressed backs against each other. "
"Are you complaining?" Cuchulain responded with a smirk.
"I guess not. I haven't fought like this for a while now."-
"You do have a point though. We've been battling here for too long. We can't have that sorcerer reach his transmutation circle now can we."-
"Where is he anyway?"-
"He and Aladdin are fighting over our heads." Cuchulain pointed upward. Cunla looked up to find the dark sage engaging against the prince of Agrabah.
"Man, that guy just won't go now."-
"We may have to deal with him personally."-
Mozenrath continued to unleash powerful elemental attacks at Aladdin. But despite unleashing these great amounts of power, his strikes were too slow and cumbersome. Thus, he was not able to strike at the young man upon the flying blue tapestry.
"You miserable street rat," Mozenrath shouted. "Don't you ever die!"
"Come on, Mozenrath," Aladdin mocked. "I thought you said you'd let me pay for my insolence, so much for the feared lord of the black sands."
"You keep aggravating me, boy. You'll soon regret your declarations!"-
Mozenrath continued his barrage, but time after time, Aladdin was quick to dodge. This frustrated the sage whose temper grew with every passing second.
"This boy won't stand still." Mozenrath thought to himself. "I must somehow trick him and throw him off his tapestry. He shall fall to the ground and be mine for the taking." Mozenrath formed three balls of fire in the palm of his gauntlet. "Yes, I have it." He threw the flaming spheres at Aladdin. But as before, the young man dodged the fireballs.
"Hey," Aladdin said, "That same old trick again? Don't you think it's getting a little bit old now?"
"Not this time!" Mozenrath chuckled.
"Boy die, boy die!" Xerxes added.
"What?" Aladdin uttered. He felt heat approaching from behind. He turned to find the three fireballs rebounding back at him. The fireball his sword and Aladdin was struck off the flying carpet, descending towards the ground. Carpet was struck too by the fireballs. He was crippled and plummeted to the ground, his end patterns and rear tassels charred from the attack. Aladdin in the meantime, tumbled about on the dunes, far away from the rest of his friends. He slowly got up, staggering at first.
"Al," Genie cried. "He's in trouble!" He rushed in to rescue his friend, but he suddenly was caught in a strange hold, suspending and paralyzing him. Genie had been caught by Mozenrath's force grip.
"You're not going anywhere, you blue oaf." Mozenrath said. "Aladdin won't be needing you to aid him any longer." The sage pulled out a bottle and maneuvered Genie into the vial. Once Genie was secured in the bottle, Mozenrath placed a cork on the top. The moment his magic was sealed in his glass prison, Genie's makeshift army vanished, decreasing the number of the city defenders to less than half its original capacity. The sorcerer gazed at the little blue genie in the bottle. "You're not as tough now are you? And without your little army, the city defenders are as good as dead and I am as good as victorious."
"Um…could it be possible for me to have a bigger bottle?" Genie complained. "My left leg's caught behind ear and it's starting to cramp."
"Silence, you idiot!"-
"Let Genie go, Mozenrath!" Aladdin demanded.
"Look at you," Mozenrath scoffed, turning his attention towards the young prince, "You give demands like a spoiled child. You no longer have your carpet to help you fly out of danger and your friends are too far away to aid you." The sorcerer swung the vial containing the genie about like a top. "Your big blue numbskull has been confined in this vial, not able to escape. So who will you look to for help, Aladdin? Your monkey ad parrot friend could seldom stand up against the numerous ranks of Heartless still present. The good captain of the guards could care less about what happens to you. You don't even have a sword to defend yourself with." The heartless numbers continued to swell as more arose from out of nowhere. "And from this vantage point, you are completely surrounded by Heartless with no way out."
"Man," Aladdin uttered silently, "Mozenrath's right. I have no way of breaking out of this one. There are too many heartless around me. Carpet was severely crippled, so he won't be able to fly, much less carry my weight. And Genie's been captured. This does not look good right now."
"Now, only glory awaits me. And the great Philosopher stone will be mine at last!"-
"Do you really think it'll be that simple?" a voice bellowed out from below. Mozenrath looked to find Cuchulain unleashing his Morrigan Slash. The head of the Gae Bulga glowed brightly before deploying a powerful energy wave into the air. A bright turquoise wave, shaped like a crescent moon, came bellowing straight at the sage. Mozenrath dodged, but not fast enough. The powerful force influx struck him downward as if a pointblank shot with a twelve pound Howitzer. Mozenrath and Xerxes fell to the sand, much like Aladdin did before. The sage and his servant fell amongst the heartless. At the same time, the power gauntlet fell to Aladdin's feet.
"It's his gauntlet." Aladdin thought to himself. He quickly retrieved it. "This is the source of all his power."
Mozenrath stood up realizing that his gauntlet had gone missing.
"My gauntlet," he uttered, panicked. He quickly covered his right had is if naked without his glove. He searched the sand ad amongst the ranks of the heartless that stood about like mindless drones. "Where is my gauntlet?"
"Hey," Aladdin shouted, "You looking for this?" He swung the glove around without care.
"Give me back my gauntlet, boy!" the sage demanded.
"Now look at who's making demands like a spoiled child? Without this thing, you're powerless."-
"I warn you, give it back to me. It's of no use to you."-
"Nah, I think I'll hold on to it for a while. In fact," Aladdin gestured as if he were about to put the gauntlet on himself, "I think I'll use it against you."
"Go ahead, but be forewarned, you will suffer the consequences if you place that leather around your palm and your fingers."-
"Like what? You can't do anything to me now."-
"It's not what I'll do to you, but rather what the gauntlet will do to you. But of course, I've already been consumed by my ambitions. And to wield that gauntlet came at a price." Mozenrath threw his right hand into the air. Aladdin's reaction was that of fear and shock as he gazed upon the hand of Mozenrath, or at least the remains of it. The mage's hand was no longer flesh and blood, but rather only bone. The skeletal remains of his hands for some reason continued to function as if the muscles in his hand still functioned though they were not present.
"You're hand…" Aladdin uttered.
"That's right," Mozenrath replied. "Trying to wield that power cost me the flesh of my right hand. Now nothing remains of it, but the skeletal structure of what used to be my fingers and palm. However, it was my ambition that prevented the gauntlet from taking the rest of my arm. However, since you are not one to do evil deeds, the cost for trying to wield the gauntlet will come at a higher price."
"Man…" Aladdin uttered. But suddenly, from behind, Xerxes appeared and snatched the gauntlet from his hand. "Hey, give me that back!"
"Master," Xerxes uttered as he slithered back to Mozenrath with the glove.
"Very well done," Mozenrath praised quietly, "You have retrieved my gauntlet Xerxes." Mozenrath placed the glove over his protruding bones. "Now, where were we?" Mozenrath began to levitate himself up in the air. "Your efforts were all in vain, Aladdin!"
"Mozenrath…" Aladdin uttered, angrily.
"Now don't be so frustrated. You should have remembered that I still have my faithful servant Xerxes with me. He managed to take my glove from you without much trouble."-
"You won't win, Mozenrath!"-
"You truly are a fool. No one can stop me now." He turned his attention to Cuchulain who by this time, he and his son eliminated most of the Heartless around them, causing the others to either flee, or stand back. Both father and son paused in their battle for a brief moment.
"Damn it," Cunla uttered, "He managed to remount himself back into the air."
"Nice try on your part, Hound," Mozenrath mocked. "But it'll take a great deal more than that to stop me!"
"Not bad, mage," Cuchulain replied. "Not bad at all!"
"Why do you praise him?" Cunla asked.
"It's the least I could do for a worthy opponent."-
"You see, even your efforts were futile against me!" The sorcerer chuckled. "Not everything is as it seems though, wouldn't you agree!"-
"Oh yes I do." Cuchulain suddenly gripped his Gae Bulga as if ready to throw it. "You're very clever, Mozenrath, very clever indeed. However, it's not good enough!" Cuchulain then thrust the Gae Bulga at the Mozenrath, the spear screaming out in a terrifying war cry. But the sage only dodged the spear as if it were not threat at all.
"You fool Hound! Could you be more desperate! The only weapon you were armed with and you waste it trying to strike me down from a long distance away!" Mozenrath formed a giant fire ball in the palm of his hand. "How pitiful for you to die in such a miserable fashion!"
"You first…"-
"Have you lost your senses, Hound, how do you expect me to die when your spear clearly missed me!" But the Hound continued to smirk.
"Who said anything about it missing you?"-
Just then, the same screaming war cry came up from behind, louder than before. Soon after, Mozenrath felt a strong force strike his back and pierce through his body. He tumbled forward. Looking only once, he saw that the three prongs of the Gae Bulga had pierced straight through him and were now exposed in his chest.
"It can't be…?" he uttered. The mage fell to the sand, his black blood flaring out from the wound like a geyser and turning the sand crimson red. The sudden loss of energy caused the summoned Heartless to withdraw back to their shadowy world. Now only the defenders of Agrabah remained. The staff of the Gae Bulga, like a flagpole, stood erect out of the sorcerer's back. Blood spewed from his mouth. "But how…how could I be struck from behind?"
"As you said," Cuchulain replied as he and Cunla walked up to him, "Things are not always as they seem. In this case, the Gae Bulga, once aimed at a target, will never miss, no matter how hard the prey tries to evade."
"How can this be…?" Blood trickled down the chin of the villainous warlock. "How could it have ended like this…?"
"Your downfall was due to a fatal mistake."-
"What…? Tell me."-
"You chose pride over duty…"-
"Damn my vengeance…" Mozenrath laid down his head. His eyes dilated, indicating that he took his final breath. He now lay dead before the Hound and his son.
"Lord Mozenrath…" Xerxes uttered. He then looked up at the Hound. Not willing to test the might of Ulster's great hero, the slithering eel withdrew from the battlefield in shame. Cuchulain and Cunla watched as the eel vanished from sight, leaving the body of his late master to lay in the sands of the desert.
"It's over." Cuchulain said.
"Hey," Aladdin cried, approaching them, "Are you guys alright?"
"We're fine," Cuchulain replied. "How are you though?"
"All thanks to you two, I got out of that without a scratch." Aladdin looked down at the lifeless body of the mage. "So it's all over then."
"That's right. The faction's attempt to forge the stone has failed. It failed from the start when they decided to stick with eradicating Agrabah. They would have been better off trying to attack some other city. But then again, this is good for us. We managed to halt the Grand Arcanum."-
"He chose pride over duty?" Cunla asked, pondering his father's words. "What does that mean father?"
"Mozenrath had an opportunity to forge the stone all this time." Cuchulain walked up to the mangled body of Mozenrath and pulled out the spear. "He had all that time to create the stone and gain absolute power soon after he struck you down, Aladdin. There was an open opportunity for him to activate the Grand Arcanum, but for that period of time, Mozenrath preferred to spend his efforts mocking you instead, thus letting his only chance slip out of his fingers. He chose to see you in humiliating defeat instead of fulfilling the task given to him, which is why this is the result."
"Is that so?" Aladdin wondered.
"So it was all for pride?" Cunla asked.
"You and I have done that before, my son. We all have, including Riku and Sora. Even the faction chose pride over duty when its superiors decided to target this city to forge the stone. Despite us knowing, they went ahead with trying to end Agrabah's existence for good. However, even if Mozenrath did succeed in activating the Grand Arcanum, the stone couldn't be forged without the key ingredient of human lives. And with everyone evacuated out of the city, the Grand Arcanum would have only acted as a fancy light show." There was a pause for a moment or two, "And all that just because of pride over duty. We have in one time or another wished to get our point straight and would at times lay down our duty and our guard for our own accomplishment."-
"That sounds like what I did." Aladdin uttered, remembering how he mocked Mozenrath when fighting him atop the flying carpet, or when he seized the sorcerer's gauntlet. "For a time, I wanted to rub it in to for my own satisfaction."
"So we have to avoid pride over duty then. Otherwise, our one chance would be lost forever."-
"Not all the time though. If we act too hastily, though the task would be accomplished, our matter with that person remains unresolved, especially if that person is no longer amongst the living." There was another pause. "Perhaps we do this because we want to rub it in. Perhaps we make too large a monologue so we can cause some kind of reaction out of our opponents, to see them sweat in fear or cringe in hatred, knowing that they are helpless against us. Or perhaps, we take pride over duty because we think we can some how persuade our antagonists to miraculously turn in out favor."
"I see…"-
"Well," Cuchulain wiped the blood from his weapon, "There's no use dwelling on the matter now. We still have General Saber and General Scimitar to defeat."
"But how are we gonna get to the others?"-
"Carpet was badly injured by Mozenrath's attack." Aladdin said. "He won't be able to take off with all our weight on his back."
"There is one way." Cuchulain began to levitate himself into the air. "We'll have to fly. But it will take a lot of energy out of me."
"But I can't fly father." Cunla said. "Not for the substantial distance between us and the others."
"That's okay, Cunla. I want you to stay here and help the others."-
"But father."-
"The faction could retaliate when we least expect it."-
"Still…"-
"I'll be alright. Remember, duty over pride." Cunla looked down for a second or two before gazing back at his father who landed back on the dunes. Cuchulain put his hand upon the boy's shoulder. "I'm depending on you, Cunla."
"I understand."-
Cuchulain smiled and ruffled his son's hair. He levitated himself into the air and sped off in the direction of the other powers. Cunla could only watch as the Hound disappeared into the horizon.
"There he goes again." Aladdin said. "He never ceases to amaze me."
"Be careful, dad." The boy uttered to himself.
"Just between you and me kid, how did you manage to confirm the faction would attack Agrabah?" Cunla looked at Aladdin curiously.
"Well…" Since the battle was over, why not tell Aladdin of what happened.
The Hound in the meantime pondered at the possible outcome of events that might occur now that he took the option of flying. He knew what kind of predicament he had on his hands and knew the outcome.
"Flying to where Riku and Sora are will take up over fifty percent of my energy." He thought to himself. "So I mustn't engage in an all out battle if I encounter Maeve or Saber. To top it all off, the amount of chi I give off may attract the faction and allow them to attack me prematurely, so I better keep a sharp eye out for any trouble." The Hound sped on his way to aid his comrades.
The Hound's streaking energy caught the attention of the faction alright, whose mother ship picked up the strong energy signal on their sensors.
"There's a large energy source heading towards the coast." One of the operatives in the main control room said.
"A large energy source heading for the coast?" the commander asked. "Do you know what's causing it?"
"By its signature, it's an organic energy source."-
"It must be one of the KH team members. They must be using their flight abilities to reach the coast."-
"What should we do?"-
"There's nothing we can do. We're still picking up survivors from the outposts that were assaulted." The commander turned to all the operatives present. "Send out word to the squadrons still on patrol. Have them pursue this energy source and eliminate it."
"Yes sir." The operatives replied. They contacted the small units of faction soldiers who still meandered about somewhere in the desert.
The faction was not the only power to detect Cuchulain's movements, Ophelia picked up his power level on the sensors of the gummi ship.
"There's a large power level heading for the coast." She said.
"A power level…?" Winry asked as she looked at the monitor.
"Only one person can accumulate that kind of strength, it has to be Cuchulain."-
"Where's he headed?"-
"He's making a direct path to the coast." She watched the energy signature heading for what was a long headland strip just off the coast. "He must be attempting to aid Riku, Sora, and Edward."
"Should we help too?"-
"That's exactly what we're gonna do." Ophelia programmed the Zero Shift. "We're within ten miles of intersecting his present path. We'll use the Zero Shift to meet up with him and give him a lift. Knowing his present flight distance, it may take up at least half of his energy to reach his destination, wherever that may be along the coast." Ophelia set the coordinates and the power consumption. "You might want to buckle in."
"Wait…!" Winry quickly ran to a seat and fastened herself in.
"Here we go, ready or not!" The zero system was activated and the little gummi made a quick maneuver to its destination.
Cuchulain, by this time, was reaching the halfway point, but already the effects of fatigue began to wear down on him. It was faint, but he could feel it.
"I'm almost at the halfway point." Cuchulain said. "I'll lower my energy and glide for the rest of the way. That only uses up a quarter of energy needed." But before he could use the Super Glide technique, Ophelia's gummi appeared before him, diminishing out of the Zero Shift phase. Cuchulain stopped just short of slamming into the hull.
"Hey there, handsome," Ophelia said, "You need a lift?"
"Miss Billiard…" the Hound uttered.
"Get in."-
"Right, open the hatch for me."-
The rear hatch of the ship opened and the Hound hovered in. He ran to the cockpit.
"Glad to see that you're alright." The Tiger chuckled. "I take it by your presence that you were successful."
"That's right. We managed to prevent the faction from unleashing the Grand Arcanum and forging the philosopher stone."-
"That is good news." Winry said.
"How did you know where to find me anyway?" Cuchulain asked.
"Hey, the faction wasn't the only one lured by your power level." She looked down towards the desert sands. In the distance, a faction patrol unit was heading for them. They aimed their blasters and fired away at the stationed gummi.
"It's a patrol unit!" Cuchulain said.
"They're shooting at us!" Winry cried.
"Sorry, boys," Ophelia said, "We don't have time to play with you right now. We have other matters to attend to." She activated the zero shift drive. "Next stop, the Arabian coast!" The gummi's energy increased and within seconds it shifted into overdrive, vanishing before the eyes of the faction pursuers.
It took no more than five seconds for them to reach the headland strip.
"What a rush." Cuchulain uttered.
"Thank God for the Zero Shift." Ophelia said. Cuchulain looked out the cockpit window and spotted lone island off the coast.
"That must be it."-
"Hey," Winry uttered, as she saw the island, "That's a giant sea turtle."
"You're right. I guess that explains why it disappears and never reemerges in the same place twice."-
"Turtle or not," Ophelia said, "We're touching down." Then a transmitted message reached them.
"Hello," the voice said.
"It's Donald."-
"What's going on out there?" he continued. The colonel picked up the intercom.
"This is the Tiger." Ophelia replied. "We hear you loud and clear, over."
"We sensed a power signature and there's been a rise in faction activity. What's up, over?"-
"We successfully managed to stop the Grand Arcanum. Now, we're after Saber, over."-
"Give us a few minutes. We'll join up with you, over."-
"Roger that. We'll land on the island and head in to help Sora and the others, over."-
"We'll be with you shortly, over and out." The transmission ended.
"Okay, we're heading in." Ophelia said. The gummi made a quick descent towards the ruins.
At the same time, Edward and Envy were dishing it out on each other with a substantial amount of energy. While Fullmetal was using all possible techniques of Alchemy, Envy unleashed his physical strength which caused several of the ruin structures to fall and crumble.
"Give it up, you worm," Envy chuckled, "You'll never be able to defeat me, I'm stronger than you are!"
"That proves nothing!" Edward replied. He slashed away with his grappling blade. But his attempts were futile against Envy.
"Is that so? Then why is it that you haven't been able to lay a finger on me yet!"-
"Stop mocking me!"-
"Admit it, little man, you're outclassed. There's no way that a mere human can stand a chance against a Homunculus."-
"Is that so? Then why is it that you're taking orders from Saber like a lap dog!"-
"Don't get the wrong idea, Edward." The two continued to grapple. "I'm only siding with the faction because they promised me to opportunity to kill you!" Envy lunged at Edward and threw him to the ground. He straddled the young man and pinned down his arms. "There might have been a few delays, but I'm happy with the results now. And after I'm finished with you, I will take out Saber as well and confiscate the stone from out of his hands." Edward kicked and squirmed, but the Homunculus had him submitted. "Which gets me to wondering, Fullmetal. Why are you here? Are you after the philosopher stone as well?"
"No… I was brought here against my will by the faction."-
"What was this?" Envy was somehow shocked, yet not all surprised of the declaration. "So you were working for the faction as well? Then this is a rather strange twist of fate. Who would have thought that you would side with the faction too? And I didn't even know about it until now."
"I'm just as surprised. I never would have thought the faction to hire a Homunculus to do their bidding."-
"I guess evil attracts evil. But you're not really the evil type." Envy released Fullmetal's arms and quickly clutched his hands around the boy's throat. "Was it the promise of the philosopher stone that lured you to the ranks of the faction?"-
"Never…" Edward gagged as he continued to kick, but still all in vain. "The reason why I sided with Saber was because he was threatening to kill my brother and Winry. I had no other choice."
"I see, so the faction gave you the promise of freeing you if you did as they said only to turn their back on you and betray your trust. Oh well, not a big loss. I guess in the end, they couldn't really trust someone like you to go free. That treacherous Saber might have pulled a few stunts to end your life prematurely, but he always said you weren't that easy to get rid of. And now I have the chance to deal with you once and for all."-
"You forget, though," Edward clapped his hands together and placed them on Envy's chest. Using a powerful alchemic surge, he blew a hole through the Homunculus. Envy was blown back and hit the wall of the temple, his blood splattering about the ruins in puddles. Edward quickly got back up to his feet. "I'm not that easy to get rid of remember."
"Quite impressive," Envy said, regenerating himself "But even though you're not easy to get rid of, I can't be disposed of, period!" the Homunculus came charging at Fullmetal.
"We'll just see about that!" Edward clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. The alchemic reaction formed a wall between him and his attacker. But the physical strength of Envy was no so easily thwarted and he crashed through each wall with ease.
"You are a fool, Fullmetal. You can never hope to defeat an immortal!"-
In the meantime, Riku had his hands full battling against General Scimitar. Back and forth around the temple, both clashed.
"You can't keep your efforts up forever, boy!" Scimitar chuckled. "You battle the invincible Warrior Queen of Connaught. There's not hope for you!"
"Don't underestimate me, Maeve!" Riku replied. "This fight won't go the same way as last time I assure you!"
Sora could only watch on as his friend battled head to head in a solo manner against the ever more powerful Blade General. He clutched his keyblade tight in his hand, urged to join the fray. But he had a duty to fulfill. He had to protect the hand of Midas from being taken.
"Stay I there, Riku." He thought to himself. But from the corner of his eye, a dark image appeared. Sora quickly turned to find General Saber standing there smiling at him. Sora instantly put his guard up. "Saber…"
"Since Riku and Scimitar are engaged in their own duel of fates," Saber said, "it'll be just you and I in this fight." He noticed Sora tensing, gripping his keyblade tightly around his fingers. "Don't make this any harder than it already is Sora. You know as well as I that you don't stand a chance against me. If you couldn't even battle me in Maleficent's castle, and later on the dunes of Agrabah without Riku's help, what makes you think you can battle against me by yourself and succeed?"
"I'll find a way." Sora said, "Even if I have to use the rage against you!"
"Aw, the rage, like what the Hound uses. But of course you know the effects that will have on your way of thinking."-
"That's why I seldom use it. I used it before when confronting the faction. I had thought I overcome its effects. But I find myself to be consumed by inner hatred for everything. That's the reason for my negligence to rely in on its power, even if it does unlock the mighty Saiyan Devotion."-
"Saiyan Devotion, well, then I guess you have to power ability to unleash power equal to that of a Saiyan warrior. But you must realize how destructive you would become."-
"Which is the reason why I will refrain from using it," Sora made ready to battle against the general. Saber smirked.
"Now you have me curious of this power." He said. "I must see if you can truly become as powerful as a Saiyan Warrior."
"No, I won't use it. If you fight me, you will fight me as I am."-
"On the contrary, you have given me something to work at." Saber looked at Riku who still fought hard against Scimitar. "Yes, you have given me a goal to achieve, my own personal goal, to unleash the true potential of you and Riku. I had heard about your power of Saiyan Devotion. From accounts, that was the same power that you used to battle against His late Excellency, Master Cavendish. I understand that you used that same strength against General Kai of the Cavendish Shinobis." Saber suddenly clutched his fist as if some harsh idea ran through his mind. "I would like to see that power of yours. So that will be what I strive for. It will be my second goal to coincide with unleashing the power of Noctin Tilandir." The general stepped forward, towards the young key bearer. "But that goal will be made in due time. Right now, I have a task to accomplish for His Excellency, Lord Sirius Viicous, to retrieve the hand of Midas."
"I will never let you have it." Sora said.
"And how do you plan on stopping me. You don't stand a chance against the strongest of the Blade Generals."-
"That was last time, but I'll win for sure this time!" Sora unleashed the Corona Flash Barrage. The flashes interrupted the fight between Maeve and Riku, caught off guard by the attack. Sora lunged forward and struck at Saber. The light barrage ended within seconds and Sora crouched opposite Saber. Saber was still standing in his place.
"Very well done," Saber uttered, "but your skills are still miniscule compared to mine." The Blade General turned to face Sora and in his hands was the wrapped package bearing the hand of Midas. "Thank you for the hand of Midas."
"But how…?" Sora uttered. He checked his back, feeling and hoping that the package was still strapped to him, but there was nothing there. "How could you have…?"
"Our mission is fulfilled, Scimitar. I have the hand of Midas. Now let us withdraw back to the ship."-
"It'll be my pleasure." Scimitar chuckled.
"Thank you for you time, Sora, Riku, but I'm afraid we really must dash."-
However, no sooner had Saber uttered those words that fate turned again. To Saber's side, the wall of the temple broke apart and a large block of transmuted masonry rushed at the general. Saber was struck and sent reeling to the other side of the temple. He dropped the hand of Midas in the process which fell just short of falling into the watery torrents below. Sora quickly grabbed it and held it firmly in his arms. He then looked up at the block that charged in.
"What the heck caused that?" he uttered. Then from the falling rubble, a body descended upon him. Sora quickly dodged out of the way, just as the body hit the floor. He turned to find that it was the mangled body of Envy that lay on the ground.
"How do you like that!" A voice shouted from the hole in the wall. A top the block's shaft, young Edward Elric appeared. He jumped onto the temple walkway.
"Ed…?" Sora uttered.
"Oh, Sora, I didn't you know guys were here already. How did you manage with the hand of Midas? It's right here." He showed the gold package to Ed. "And what about you, how's your fight doing with Envy?"
"Well what do you think?" Envy uttered as he stood back up, his body rejuvenating again.
"You never find it in your best interest to stay down, do you Envy?" Ed uttered.
"Why should I quiver before a weak child like you?"-
In the meantime, General Saber slowly staggered to his feet. A drop of blood dripped from his lip. He wiped it with his finger. He sneered at whoever it was that caused him blood to be drawn. It didn't take long for him to realize who entered the temple with them.
"Envy," he shouted, "I had it in my clutches, you idiot! I was this close to withdrawing successfully!"
"What are you talking about?" Envy asked.
"What do you think! The hand of Midas! The gold package the key bearer wields!" Envy looked at Sora who held Riku's now golden jacket.
"I see, don't worry. I'll get it back for you. But first thing is first, I have a pesky alchemist to be rid of." Envy glanced at Sora. "Don't worry, key bearer. I'll deal with you in a minute, just as I finish off the Fullmetal pipsqueak."
"Stop calling me a pipsqueak!" Ed demanded.
"Silence you!" Envy rushed in and struck Edward in the gut. The young alchemist fell to the ground. Envy kicked Edward in face, knocking him on his back. He once again topped over the young alchemist's stomach and grasped at his throat. Edward again began to struggle as before. "This is it for you."
"I…can't breathe…"-
"I'll suffocate you." Edward struggled, but his thrashing began to die down. His eyes started to roll to the back of his head.
"Sora…" Ed tried to turn his head to his comrade. "Help me…"
"Edward…!" Sora cried.
"Stay right there, Sora. My fingers will find their way around your throat after this."-
Sora sneered, but through his mind, he had a brilliant idea. He quickly unwrapped Riku's jacket, revealing the hand of Midas. He picked it up by its wooden handle and held it before the Homunculus, who ceased his strangulation of Ed Elric.
"The hand of Midas," Saber uttered. "The item in its purest beauty."
"And what is it that you plan on doing with that?" Envy asked in a sarcastic manner as he stood back to his feet, letting Edward cough and gag.
"You plan on going after me next and confiscate this?" Sora said, "How about I save you the trouble! If you want it so badly, then you can have it!" Sora threw the hand of Midas at Envy. Envy didn't bother dodging. Instead, he caught the item in mid-air. He started to chuckled maniacally.
"You idiot, you give it me freely." But he noticed at Sora's expression was not that of worry, but of a sinister smirk.
"It is you who is the idiot."-
"What do you mean by that!"-
"You fool, Envy!" he heard Saber shout. "You're not supposed to touch the bare hand of Midas itself!"
"What…!" Envy looked at his hand. His fingers had grasped tightly around the golden palm itself and already his entire forearm had been transformed into gold. "What is this!" The gold took over his entire right arm. "What's happening to me, what have you done to me, key bearer!"
"It's simple," Sora replied. "I've turned you into gold."
"Not even a Homunculus can escape a gold prison created from the hand of Midas." Saber uttered.
"You little bastard," Envy cried, grabbing hold of the wooden handle. "This can't end for me!" Envy struggled, but already, his chest area had been transformed into gold. His entire arm and chest turned cold, as if they had somehow been detached from him, though they weren't. His left hand still clung to the wooden handle, but it too began to turn to gold, taking the handle with it.
Edward coughed and gagged as he watched Envy slowly turn into a glittering statue.
"Envy…" he uttered. Despite Envy being one of his arch enemies and rivals and despite him wanting to kill Fullmetal, Edward looked away. He could not bear to see such a gruesome sight. "Not even a Homunculus deserves that kind of demise. Now he truly is immortal, but forever a prisoner of alchemy's foundation. Everything, no matter whether they are mortal or immortal, is still susceptible to the effects of the hand of Midas, the thing to which all original alchemists hoped to forge. As long as something has form and is made of some type of element, they will always be transmuted into gold."
"I'm a Homunculus! I can't die!" By this time, Envy's right leg had turned to gold and now he hobbled about. With only his left leg still able. "I can't die!"
"You're not going to die, Envy," Edward declared, his head still turned away. "You're going to live, but forever cased in gold. So long as you hold on to the hand of Midas, you will never be freed from your prison."
"You bastard son of Hohenheim!" Envy stumbled as he upper right leg turned to gold and the extra weight of the gold caused him to plummet over the walkway edge and into the watery torrents below. "Damn you to hell!" After his final fiery, but futile declaration, Envy's head was encased in the creeping gold. He was now forever immortalized and in his final moments of terror and anger. The hand of Midas was still clutched in his hand and was lost for all time, being of no use to anyone. The gold figure of Envy plunged into the water and immediately sank into the darkness of the torrents. No one moved after that, both sides had ceased hostilities as they beheld the submerging of the glittering idol.
"It has ended in failure." Saber uttered to himself. "All of our efforts were a waste."
"So it ends for the last of the Homunculi." Edward said.
"And with him, the hand of Midas meets its final resting place." Sora added. "It now exists only in myth." He then looked up to Saber. "So Saber, all your efforts were a waste. You came all this way, had it within your grasp, and now the hand of Midas is no good to anyone."
"Wretched key bearer," Saber uttered. "You dare to mock me with such annotations?" The general clutched his fist for a moment in anger, but eased his rage for a simple smirk. "Oh well, though the effort here did not bear fruit, there is still one other item we have yet to achieve."
"Are you talking about the philosopher stone?" Sora asked. "If you are, then you might as well forget that too."
"What do you mean by that?"-
"We already now that you were planning to use Agrabah as a conductor for the Grand Arcanum." Edward said. "Cuchulain and Cunla were already headed for Agrabah to stop Mozenrath from activating the circle."
"You foolish whelp of an alchemist," Saber chuckled. "I might have mentioned that Agrabah would possibly be targeted, but do you really think that I would be so foolish as to use such an obvious target when I know you would only interfere?"
"Yes you would."-
"Really; and how did you come to that conclusion?"-
"We consulted the spirit of the oracle scepter." This statement caused the general's eyes to widen.
"How could you have known about the oracle scepter?" he uttered.
"We overheard you friend Mozenrath talking about it to one of your subordinates while they were leaving the cave of wonders." Sora implied.
"Curse that blathering sage."-
"Your mistake was that you didn't destroy the scepter after you were finished with it. But you didn't destroy it, perhaps believing that we had no knowledge of what you were seeking for. The reality was we were concealing that bit of information from you, so you wouldn't catch on to what we already knew."-
"To add," Edward continued, "Miss Billiard and Winry caught up with us while we were exiting the cave of wonders, due to the help of my alchemic skills. They told us on how you sent Envy in to kidnap the sultan and the princess. You must have taken them from the palace for your own purposes."
"Also," Riku announced, "We know how significant Agrabah is, not only to this world, but to the legacy of the KH team. Agrabah is a significant link in the legends of the KH team and their dealings with the Heartless and the former Order. And since we've been a thorn in your side for too long, you thought it best to destroy all traces of our existence here."
"So, when we connected the oracle's prediction with Miss Billiard's report and the significance of what Agrabah symbolized, we knew that your target had been confirmed."-
"It's not that easy to defeat a sorcerer as skilled as Mozenrath though." Saber explained. "Success is not guaranteed a hundred percent."
"On the contrary," Riku continued, "Even if Mozenrath did succeed, there wouldn't be anyone in the city to contribute to the stone's power."
"What do you mean?"-
"Miss Billiard and the others had the people evacuated from the city ahead of time."-
"I highly doubt such a thing would occur. We already took that matter into account. In case a reversal such as that ever came to be, Mozenrath would have guards placed on the outside of the city, ready to smite anyone who tried to escape."-
Now a burden was placed upon the minds of the key bearers, who knew not whether the evacuation was truly successful. But their doubts were erased, when distance voices were heard, coming from the upper halls and stairwells leading to the temple.
"Riku, Sora, Edward," a voice shouted, "We're coming!"
"That voice," Sora uttered, "That sounded like Miss Billiard."
Sure enough, through one of the four corridors Cuchulain and the others appeared to aid them.
"Cuchulain," Riku shouted, "You guys made it."
"Mission accomplished!" Ophelia replied.
"Mozenrath has been successfully thwarted!" Cuchulain added.
"Well," Edward said, "There's your proof of success, so all of your efforts in their entirety, within this world, were a waste, Saber."
"You failed in retrieving the hand of Midas and you failed to retrieve the philosopher stone." Sora said. "It's over for you in this world." Every eye in the temple came to bear upon the general, who was flustered and agitated.
Saber sneered, his fists tightly clutched as if meaning to draw blood, using his own fingernails for scalpels. But again, his rage settled to a simple smirk. The team was in question behind the smile.
"You truly are fools." Saber chuckled. "Do you really think that such trifles are of any concern to me? You think that you have deprived the faction of all its goals? You forget that we did not leave empty handed and we still have a beneficiary to ensure a safe withdrawal from this world." Saber put his arms behind him. "However, I can't just turn my back on these failures can I. You have inflicted damage to my morale. Therefore I must do the same to you. Is that not the way of the alchemist, Edward, the concept of equivalent exchange, an eye for an eye?" Edward sneered. "For the failure that you have bestowed upon the faction's efforts in this world, for depriving His Excellency of his goals, my vendetta shall rain upon you a hundred fold. If the Grand Arcanum was not able to seal the fate of Agrabah, then I will unleash an even greater devastation upon the city, by using the destroyers beam cannon to obliterate it down to its foundations. The entire city and everything within ten miles of it will be atomized." Saber suddenly opened a doorway to the darkness. "Let us withdraw to the ship, Scimitar."
"Sir…" Scimitar replied. She quietly withdrew.
"Stop there," Riku shouted, "We're not done here."
"Oh I'm afraid we are." Saber chuckled. "The significance of the hand of Midas and the philosopher stone no longer have any relevance to us, but I can't have the grief you bestowed upon us to go unpunished. You'll receive the full mark of my retribution."
It was then that a roar was heard coming from below them and a mild rumble beneath their feet. The team looked own to see the water level slowly rising as torrents rushed into the temple from their access points.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"I do believe that the island is submerging again." Saber chuckled. "Perhaps I shouldn't be too hasty to withdraw. But I must think of my duty to His Excellency above my own pride for the moment, until the next time. Adieu."
"Oh no you don't, Saber!" Edward shouted. He clapped his hands and created a speeding bridge towards the other side of the temple. "We still have a score to settle! Come back and fight me!" But Scimitar and Saber vanished into the door of darkness and the pathway sealed itself behind them. Edward came too late. "Damn you, Saber! Damn you!"
"Never mind Saber," Ophelia shouted, "Let's get out of here before the island retreats to the depths of the sea!"
"Right," Cuchulain added, "Let's go you guys before the gummies are lost!"
The team quickly withdrew from the ruins back to the port where they stationed their ships.
