Summons, Espers, Guardian Forces, Aeons.
Chapter 3.
By Sir Diddimus
(I do not own the rights to, nor did I create, the names, characters, or anything about Summoned Monsters, Espers, Guardian Forces, or Aeons. The makers of Final Fantasy and/or Squaresoft own them)
Doomtrain was bound for nowhere. It could not tell where it was, and couldn't see where it was going. Darkness. It was on tracks of some sort, very ancient ones by the feel of them. And there were monsters here, too. In these… tunnels.
The engine roared passed them. Monsters fell to the ground, sick with poison, blind, and soon dying. Doomtrain liked what it was capable of in this world. Liked it a lot.
It was a very large Esper, with countless cars attached to it's engine, which served as the face and head of the creature. But Doomtrain hadn't always been that shape. It had been trapped in an impious little materia at one point, taking the incarnation of a humanoid. "Hades", the humans dubbed it. They had not called it the ancient name of Esper, which defined Doomtrain's kind. That was a word of the language the Espers had spoken when they were once human. Before the three goddesses became angry.
"Slaves of the Goddess," Doomtrain spoke aloud. The tunnels were not bringing him anything but more twists and turns. Focusing its power, Doomtrain tried to turn itself into a more suitable form.
Nothing happened. Cursing its bad luck, Doomtrain sped on, searching for an exit of some kind. Searching for light.
It had awoken in the tunnels more than five days prior, and had found nothing since. The Calling had brought him there. It was thankful that it wasn't trapped with one of the monsters, as some of the other Espers had been.
'Curse the Calling!' it thought, 'and curse these damned tunnels!'
Since no progress was being perceivably made, (And since the cursing wasn't either) Doomtrain slowly stopped and sat still, thinking. If it could focus it's energies upward, it might be possible to break the surface. The drawback would be not knowing what was above.
It shined its lights brighter upon the tunnel ahead. Nothing. If it couldn't get out of this place soon, than it might not be able to find a Summoner. It was believed that if an Esper didn't serve its purpose after the Calling, then it would be destroyed.
Doomtrain didn't believe these superstitions, of course. The Goddesses were long gone, and whatever Force powered The Calling wasn't a malevolent one. But lending its powers was better than doing nothing.
Curse not being able to change form! It had not been able to do so completely since it had mistakenly undertaken the form of Hades. Being a machine, Doomtrain lacked certain intuitions and abilities. More often then not, changing form was a complete and utter accident.
Just when it would have helped. Doomtrain's body didn't permit acrobatics like turning around in small places. All Machine Espers had this problem. Alexander, for example, was not necessarily long and obtrusive so much as massive and bulky. Even in it's smallest form Alexander was the same size as a large house. Golem, another Esper, had restrictions in moving at all, thanks to it's poor design in legs.
A worshipper of the Goddesses had created the Machine Espers in the olden days, lending his craft to the greedy and malicious beings. Doomtrain had been made for the Goddess of Death, Doomgaze, the train painted in her colors, and sculpted to her fancy. She altered the machine and made it her personal transport for the dead, sending it to pick up lost souls, running on Tracks built of sorrow.
The Train of Suffering shut off it's lights. The Calling did not mean for It to be found in it's whole form. It toyed with the idea of breaking the surface anyway, but thought better to remain where it was.
Shifting the focus of it's powers once again, Doomtrain utilized an ancient method of communication into a red-jeweled ring. The ring was then psychically connected to Doomtrain's consciousness, and thrown into a minor time flux, sending it six months into the past. Where the ring had landed, or who had it, Doomtrain did not know.
When all other forms of communication fail to reach a summoner, the common thing to do was send an object out into the world, hoping that it would reach good hands. The object made it possible to bring the Esper to the summoner, instead of the other way around.
Doomtrain considered the action laziness, but anything was better then sitting around in the dark. Being a machine, It had patience, but not much use for the wasting of time.
The Train shifted it's attentions to directly above its head. Someone or something was coming. How? Risking a move, Doomtrain slowly let it's eyes trail up.
An old man had lifted a latch in the world above, letting sunlight stream in. He was throwing a rope ladder down from the opening, and from the look of his dress was an explorer. The man was whistling and talking to himself in between unwittingly dropping mining equipment onto Doomtrain's body, and finally lowering himself.
The man had not noticed the train yet. He was on top of Doomtrain's head now, lighting a torch to see in the darkness.
"Now what do we have here?" the man said aloud. He was picking up his tools, and noticing the new texture of the ground.
"Something sticking out of the…?" The man was leaping down from Doomtrain's form now, and bringing his torch to It's body.
"Some kind'a landslide, I see," he said, poking at the Train. He walked around to the front or it, where Doomtrain's ghastly metallic face was. When the old man lifted the torch, revealing the face, its wearer let loose a loud blast of steam.
It didn't take but four seconds for the man to pass out.
Later, Doomtrain had successfully altered the space around the old man, lighting it with poisonous green fissures and stone shapes. It's plan was to use the man to get information on its current surroundings, and hopefully about the world above. The man had been out cold for three hours now.
The Train blasted steam with Dispel magic mixed into it, hoping to wake the man up. Hopefully soon, as the Dispel was making It weak. Slowly yet surely the old man came to. He looked up to see Doomtrain staring right at him. He let loose a howl that would make Fenrir proud, and tried to run.
The Stone magic stopped him. He desperately wheeled about for minutes, trying every possible escape. Finally the Train lost it's patience, and cast Stone up to the man's neck. He now had no choice but to look at the pained metallic face in front of him.
Doomtrain spoke first.
"Do you know who I am?"
The man tried to shake his head no, but found he couldn't. He uttered a cry that sounded like a negative response.
"I am Doomtrain. I am an Esper. Have you heard of Espers? Do not be afraid, I will not harm you so long as you answer my questions truthfully and promptly."
The man looked like he understood.
"They call me Bav, uhm, Mr. Doomtrain."
Doomtrain knew how to look malicious.
"Hello, Bav. You may call me Hades. It is a shorter name. Now then, have you ever heard of Espers? Magical beings called upon by Summoners?"
Bav squinted. His face revealed an old man who had found himself lost in a nightmare with a demon made of iron. But in his state he let all he knew come forth, fearful of the strange machine.
"Espers? Magical…. OH! You are one of things Doc Odine utilized, right?"
Doomtrain let it's steam erupt into a howl.
"I am no creation of a mere man, Bav! Look you to respect the ancient thing in front of you!"
'Ah, dramatics,' the machine thought. It had the desired effect. How Doomtrain loved leaving effects on things! Bav was stammering apologies immediately and offering all sorts of answers.
"Forgive me, Lord Hades. I do not wish to anger you." The old man looked like he was crying.
"I meant… well that is to say, I thought you were one of his 'Guardian Forces'."
Doomtrain was intrigued.
"Guardian Forces? Tell me more."
Bav nodded as best he could in his present state of head and rock.
"Guardian Forces are… well they are Beings that have been bonded with a human host. The bonding is what Doc Odine created, see. He made an easily accessible way to 'junction' your strength to them."
Doomtrain could guess who these "Guardian Forces" were.
"Where do these 'Guardian Forces' come from?"
"No-no-nobody knows. Many believe they come from Hyne."
Hyne? Well, best save that name for later.
"LET ME ASSURE YOU THEY DO NOT!"
Bav was nodding and crying like a baby again. Doomtrain found an odd satisfaction in that.
"Now, where am I? What are these tunnels?"
Bav gave Doomtrain a look like one gives a child asking where babies come from. Remembering himself, he spoke up.
"The abandoned mines of Esthar, Lord Hades. These were the first design of the train system between the continents, but many years ago the Lunar Cry destroyed it."
Esthar, continents, Lunar Cry….
Doomtrain had had enough. It was time to get out of this prison of rock.
"Bav, what I am about to tell you is more important than your life. If you do not follow me, then I shall send my devils to take you!"
Bav whimpered, but showed signs that he understood.
"I have sent a magical ring into your world, one that lends my power to whomever finds it. Make sure you find the person who finds the ring. You must tell them that they need SixSixSix items to summon me. Are you listening? Good. Tell them the items will be alloy of blades and armor, angel's healing tonic, and the arms of Bad Breath."
Bav looked more puzzled then he normally would at seeing a talking train. When he got back home, he would never touch alcohol again. Not even Winhill Port.
"I can do that," he said, as smoothly as was possible.
Doomtrain let go it's hold on the poor old man. He scrambled to the rope ladder.
"Bav?"
The old man stopped and winced, scared of what would happen next. Doomtrain let itself glow in shades of green and red.
"Do not forget that Espers are no man's slaves."
Bav nodded copiously, but did not understand in the least what Doomtrain meant. In seconds he was gone, his tools forgotten on the back of the Train of Lost Souls. It thought about humans for weeks after that, and how he could never seem to understand them. It guessed that the reason was It had not been human when It had been transformed. It had been a machine.
Doomtrain didn't have that vague memory of humanity that other Espers did. It had always taken on the opinions and feelings of the Espers that surrounded It, trying to emulate what an upstanding, strong Esper should be.
And like many it felt the need to repent for sins made earlier in life. Although It had had little say in what Doomgaze had made It. That didn't matter. In every free moment of silence that Doomtrain had, It was reminded of the souls of the dead inside of It's body, writhing in grief and agony. The Train of Death had always wished that It was carrying it's passengers to a better place, but It could never know.
Weeks later Doomtrain felt enlightened suddenly, a feeling akin to a tug on the clothing of a parent by an anxious child. It was being brought forth. Someone had found the ring and had solved the puzzle. Soon the Train of Anguish would be reunited with fellow Espers, and share and relate the tales of this strange new world.
Doomtrain felt the tunnel slide away, and felt Itself in the presence of an open world, filled with light.
"You Called?", It asked.
More Tales of the Espers to follow….