A/N: Hey, guys! I took a little break because I still didn't feel like leaving right away with another fanfic, and I'm ready to go! This fanfic is based on Final Fantasy VI, one of the greatest video game masterpieces on the SNES and of all time. If you haven't read Celes Chere's fanfics about Final Fantasy IV, its sequels Final Fantasy IV Interlude and Final Fantasy IV The After Years, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, I recommend you read them, they are very well done, especially the latter one, which inspired me to write my own version. If you haven't figured it out from my fanfics so far, I don't own any of the characters, but Squaresoft does, and I'm not going to use this project for money. End of the premise, let's get started!
Chapter 1: The Mysterious Girl
(''Prelude- Final Fantasy IX OST-s'')
Let us guide you in this story of tyranny, personal redemptions, hope, life, but especially the key word of everything: magic.
It all started in a coal mining town located in the mountains north of the World of Balance, in whose mines lived the Moogles, small white-furred creatures with tiny bat wings, a red nose and a red pompom antenna. Or rather, more that one Moogle lived there, as today, there is only one left(1), Mog, particularly intelligent and able to understand and speak the language of humans. ''Hi, kupo! I'm Mog the Moogle, and if you've come to hear this story, then you've come to the right place! Have you ever wondered what happened to our world? So let's start from the beginning.'' Mog said, starting to tell the story. ''Once upon a time, there was the Warring Triad, made up of the three gods of magic, the Goddess, the Fiend and the Demon, who fought each other, and the mortals involved became magical creatures known as the Espers, forced to fight for each of them as slaves. At the end of the conflict, the gods realized what they had done and deliberately petrified themselves. Even today, their position is very important, since placing them in the wrong direction would distort the whole world. Espers and humans lived in peace for a while, until humans waged war on them to gain their power for themselves and create the Magi, humans who specialize in magic. The war, known as War of the Magi, was extremely bloody, even after its end: the dead Espers became magicites, and some of them scattered, while the surviving ones fled to a world they had created, and humans persecuted the Magi and executed many of them, holding them responsible for that extreme conflict. The surviving Magi escaped to an island in the eastern continent and there, they founded the village of Thamasa, where their descendants cautiously guarded the secrets of magic, with the prohibition of using it in public. Thus it was that the magic died out almost completely, becoming a legend. A thousand years after the war, there was an intense industrial revolution characterized by iron, gunpowder and steam engines, but about twenty years ago, the Gestahlian Empire, headed by Emperor Gestahl, who wanted to reawaken magic and use its power to conquer the world, kidnapped Esper from their world and used them as a source of energy for a technological process to artificially infuse magic into humans, Magitek, created by engineer and chief scientist Cid Del Norte Marquez, while the Empire was slowly conquering the southern continent. Our story begins in the Empire's third military campaign, when Gestahl attempted to conquer the rest of the world.''
(''Prelude- Final Fantasy IX OST-s'')
(''The Mines of Narshe- Final Fantasy VI Advance OST'')
Narshe was a neutral city in the ongoing conflict, but the Empire broke the truce, and to protect the city, the guards bred wolves and mammoth-like mammals, the Megalodoth. Three large armors empowered by magical energy piloted by Imperial soldiers, the Magitek armors, stood in front of a cliff, from which Narshe could be seen.
On one of the Magitek armors, there was a mysterious 18-year-old woman. A strange and suspicious brown crown-like band was attached to her forehead, and her green eyes were blank, her gaze focused on what was on the other side, even though she said nothing. She was slender, with pale skin and emerald green hair tied in a ponytail, and wore a ruby red tank top, long fingerless gloves that reached from the elbows to her wrists and boots of the same color with a golden high heel, a purple beaded sash tied at the waist, a pink cape attached to her body via a beaded strap, white tights, all with a flower pattern, a pink hair bow and red earrings, in perfect contrast to her emerald green eyes and hair. With her, there were Biggs and Wedge, two Imperial soldiers in brown armor. ''Hey, Wedge, there's the town.'' Biggs said.
''It's amazing to know that 1000 years after the War of the Magi, that frozen Esper is here.'' Wedge added.
The strong icy wind made the two soldiers shiver, but the girl did not react at all despite her clothes not covering her much. Other than that, Biggs was very nervous about the girl herself. ''Our witch makes me nervous. We all know she killed fifty of our best soldiers on Magitek armors in less than three minutes. That really makes your skin crawl!'' he said. This event was so unheard of that rumors about that girl, the witch of the Gestahlian Empire, spread across the continent, and sparked alarm like never before.
''Keep calm. The Slave Crown deprives her of any conscious thought, so she will not rebel. Come on, according to our sources, the Esper is in the north passage of the mines, the newest one.'' Wedge replied.
All that could be heard in the silence of the night were the metallic sounds of the Magitek armors, and the Imperial soldiers knew that, with the beams of fire, ice and electricity and the weapons equipped on the exoskeletal armor, they would have no problem, and after reaching the city without being seen, they thought about what to do.
''Let's leave her in the front line, we must not take any chances.'' Wedge said, backing up behind the mysterious girl.
(Objective: Enter the Narshe Mines and get to the Esper.)
Characters:
Mysterious girl
Biggs
Wedge
''Go forward!'' Biggs ordered.
The girl obeyed the orders, and stiffly moved a lever like a robot, pushing her Magitek armor forward. After a few steps, however, they were caught by three armed Narshe guards, and there was also a wolf with them. The wolf attacked first, lunging at Wedge to bite him, but the Magitek armor was too tough, and it got killed in response by a fiery beam when the Imperial soldier pressed a red button. The mysterious girl then pressed a blue button that emitted a beam of ice, and one of the guards, frozen to death, died instantly, then the ice broke.
''If Magitek armors are there, Narshe is not safe!'' exclaimed one of the remaining guards, and his ally called for help. Two more guards arrived, three wolves and two Megalodoths, and one of the latter sent out a snowstorm, then gored Biggs's Magitek armor with its fangs and struck the girl's with its sharp claws, but she pressed a white button, opening a hatch that fired a devastating missile and annihilated it. Her Magitek armor was more advanced than her companions's, possessing more devastating attacks, and when she pressed a purple button, it emitted a toxic cloud that enveloped all remaining enemies and made them suffocate, then, they all advanced, and the guards they faced were no match for them.
''This must be the mine where the Esper is located. Let's go in.'' Biggs said, glimpsing the mine.
(''The Mines of Narshe- Final Fantasy VI Advance OST-s'')
Inside the Narshe mines, there was nothing noteworthy other than a few trolleys where coal was transported, and there was no danger except for wererats, but they were so weak that a single Fire spell from the mysterious girl was enough to take them out. Shortly thereafter, they came across a gate blocking their way.
''Stay back!'' Biggs ordered, and everyone walked away. Fiddling with the controls, he had his Magitek armor charge against the gate, destroying it, but before they could enter, they were found by three guards.
''You will not take the Esper! Get them, Ymir!'' yelled a guard.
(Objective: Defeat the Ymir!)
Characters:
Mysterious girl
Biggs
Wedge
(''Battle 2- Final Fantasy III DS OST'')
There was a loud roar, and the three Imperial soldiers were surprised at what they were about to face: it was a kind of large brownish mollusk, with a purple shell covered with spikes. The young woman fired a beam of fire, but the Ymir took cover in its shell and then fired a powerful bolt from its antennae, hitting Wedge's Magitek armor, so, in response, she pressed the green button on the controls, releasing a healing energy that nullified the damage on the exoskeletal armor.
''Hold on! Remember what they told us in the briefing? The Ymir controls the thunder and stores its energy in its shell!'' Biggs exclaimed.
''Got it! So whatever you do, don't attack the shell, both of you!'' Wedge ordered.
Since the Ymir had not yet retreated into its shell, Biggs had a chance to hit it, with a icy beam combined with a fiery one fired by his companion, and the monster retreated into its shell. They all waited for the monster to come out of its shell, but to their surprise, it charged at Wedge.
''Finish it off, girl! Use the Magitek Missile!'' Biggs shouted, and the witch of the Empire obeyed, firing missiles at the Ymir, causing severe damage, and Narshe's guards were neutralized. Despite this, the huge mollusk resisted the attack.
''That thing's tough! Ymirs are hostile creatures in their own right, but it seems Narshe's guards trained it to keep us from taking the Esper!'' Wedge exclaimed. He pressed a yellow button, firing an electric beam, and managed to hit the Ymir again before it took cover inside its shell for the second time. The Imperial soldiers waited, and when the opportunity arose, all three pressed a yellow button, hitting the monster with three bolt beams, then, Biggs's Magitek armor hit it with a series of three punches, and another Magitek Missile fired by the girl destroyed the giant mollusk.
(''Battle 2- Final Fantasy III DS OST-s'')
''Good. Now that the Ymir has been defeated, let's get the Esper!'' Biggs said, and the group moved forward, reaching the room where the frozen Esper, a large creature similar to a large bird, Valigarmanda, was. Its body was of various colors, with sharp talons on its feet, wings spread wide, and a yellow beak open as if it were about to attack. Suddenly, the ice began to glow, as if the Esper was interacting with something.
Though she had not received any orders, the mysterious young woman advanced her Magitek armor, her eyes strangely wide as if she had noticed something peculiar, with the light reflecting off her pale skin.
''What is it? Do you happen to know something we don't know?'' Wedge asked, but she ignored him. The light became blinding and swallowed him, making him scream. He disappeared, dead, and his Magitek armor exploded.
Biggs felt pain as if his flesh was burning. ''What the hell?! Wedge! Where are you?! What's going on?!'' he yelled, ending up like his companion.
The only one left was the woman, who was not only unharmed, but indifferent to what had happened. She seemed almost curious about the light, and it was as if the Slave Crown, for once, had stopped blocking her feelings, and she took her Magitek armor one step further, and then another one, until she touched the block of ice in which Valigarmanda was imprisoned. Suddenly, blue lightning came out of the ice and hit her, causing her to glow in the same way: they were interacting with each other. Her Magitek armor exploded, but more than pain, she felt a dizzy sensation as the world around her began to blur and go black. She fell unconscious, enveloped in the cold of the mines of Narshe.
She didn't know, however, that someone was coming to get her.
A/N: Apparently, the siege of Narshe has failed, as the Gestahlian Empire failed to get hold of the Esper, who reacted with the mysterious young woman who accompanied Biggs and Wedge. Why was there this reaction? What happened to the woman? And who is it that is coming? Find out in the next chapter! I hope you enjoy this novelization and I'll see you in the next chapter! See you soon!
(1): In the World of Balance, shortly after the prologue, the Narshe mines are inhabited by Mog plus ten other Moogles, including his girlfriend Molulu, but in the World of Ruin, Mog is the only one left, implying that all the other Moogles died.