FINAL FANTASY: INQUISITION

FINAL FANTASY: INQUISITION

By Thomas Knapp

Act Six- Scene Three

"Midas… that door isn't going to open itself." Creed reminded the Dark Summoner as the small group stood outside a pair of ornately designed doors that led to the uppermost chamber of the immense tower.

At that moment, the double doors DID swing inward, opening into a mist filled room.

"You were saying?" Midas asked, trying to appear a lot calmer than he really was.

Before the monk could reply in any way, however, Karma's voice, tainted with a deep echoing tone, called out from inside, "I have been expecting you. Please, come right in…" A hazy human shadow appeared in the mist, beckoning towards those outside.

"It's probably a trap." Fredros commented.

"We don't have much choice in the matter." Harmon concluded, "We need to face Karma, regardless of what she has in store for us inside."

Taking two deep breaths, Midas took the first steps into the grand chamber, his legs disappearing into the misty surroundings, enveloping higher as he progressed inward. Soon, the fog became so thick that the only reason Midas knew anyone was behind him was from the heavy clanking metal of Tamara's boots.

This is getting ludicrous. Hades noted. Begging your pardon…

Midas suddenly felt a surge of energy from the very core of his being, bursting outward in an immense gust of wind that cast the mist aside in a flourish of power. Midas pondered the event, then asked, 'Unable to effect your surroundings, huh?'

So I lied. Hades said with the mental equivalent of a shrug. Hasn't been the first time…

Further banter was cut off with Fredros's gasp, "By all that is holy…"

This caused Midas to focus his attention on what was before them. It was Karma, but at the same time… wasn't Karma. It had her face, but it was as if her face had melted into a large block of stone, with rocky appendages that burst forth from a massive stone chest cavity. White fingers of energy danced between the entity and the surrounding walls and ceiling. Whatever it was, it was clearly more Alexander now than it was Karma. And above the hulking monstrosity, half-embedded into the chest cavity, was a familiar green cocoon, Yura inside, appearing as if she was having the most peaceful sleep of her life.

"I demand that you stop this…" Midas began, before adding with a hint of regret, "Before we are forced to do so."

"Why must you resist me, son?" Karma began, her voice heavily influenced by the Guardian's power. "History is an eternal dance, a dialectic in which the oppressors cast an iron fist upon those beneath them, and the oppressed in turn revolt, then become the oppressors. Even Alexander, great guardian of the world, wished to revolt against a god he felt was domineering over him. I shall break this sick stalemate. I shall become the final oppressor, my rule absolute and eternal."

"Alexander is merely using you." Midas retorted, "He doesn't want to END the oppression, he merely wants to be next in line."

"Even if that were true…" Then Karma's voice totally died away, and all that was left was Alexander's grating bellow, "It is already too late…"

The entire tower began to shake, and the fingers of energy were totally absorbed into the bloated stone form. Karma's face was totally ripped apart by the bulging gray bricks, and it became clear that Alexander was beginning his ascent. The roof of the tower was blown away in a magnificent explosion, revealing the chamber to the open night sky.

The physical manifestation of the Guardian of the World began to disappear, replaced by the familiar ghostly manifestation of his astral form. Hades took the time to shout. WE HAVE TO ACT NOW!

'What about forcing it to leave Karma?'

CHANGE OF PLANS! Hades replied. The two of us have to attack NOW!

Midas merely reacted, lunging forward with all the speed he could muster. Alexander sensed this, but was unable to react, already between planes. The two conflicting elements, shadow and holy collided, and when the swirling explosion of energy died away, both Alexander and Midas were gone…

Meanwhile…

"Why do you resist me, mortal?"

Midas blinked twice, clearing the cobwebs from his head. He had barely just begun to process the question asked when it was asked again.

"WHY do you resist me, mortal?"

Midas finally began to gather in his surroundings. There didn't appear to be anything above or below him except a bland gray. There was nothing of note, just gray, no movement, and no swirling, just uniform color… everywhere.

Finally, a humanoid being approached, but it was clearly not human. It stood seven feet tall made of stone, with wings that appeared to be metal.

"You are Alexander… the REAL Alexander."

"That is correct… this is my astral form, but we are not in the astral plane. Because of your meddling, we are stuck in the limbo, the realm between realms. Why did you do this? Why did you fight me?"

The question seemed easy to answer, "You planned to perpetuate the sins that have plagued mortals since the beginning of time, and take them to the one pure place left."

"That did not answer my question. Why defend a being whom allowed such corruption to happen in the first place? What has the Creator God done for you? He cast you into a wasteland to live, scrounging for your very life. Hunted, ridiculed… he permits atrocity after atrocity against all of creation… he severed my very essence to serve as a 'Guardian'. HA! He merely wanted to make sure I never challenged him."

Alexander once again posed the question, "Why do you resist me when I am no worse than what is already in place? Why not permit me the chance to try and make a new and better world?"

THAT was a question that wasn't so easy to answer. Midas admitted that he didn't have much to be terribly thankful for. It had not been easy just to live… chased and treated like an animal… all for being a magic-user. What WAS he defending?

A picture suddenly flashed into his mind… it was the grand chamber once again, in what appeared to be the aftermath of what had just occurred. His focus was then turned to the sound of sobbing. Tamara, sitting over the blackened ground where Midas had charged, had tried to be strong… but now could no longer handle it, and allowed herself to cry…

Is this what you want to give up on, Midas?

'Hades?'

I learned a lesson fused with you, Midas… I wallowed in anger and depression myself. I wondered what was so special about that god-awful pebble I had been cast onto. Now I know…

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, HADES!" Alexander bellowed.

"No…" Midas shot back, "No… he has a point. That world may not be the best one… but it's the only world we'll ever have. To give up on it would be to give up on whatever promises the future holds."

Alexander appeared ready to make a snide remark, but Midas would have nothing of it. "It is called FAITH, Alexander. Something you don't appear to possess anymore. You offer NOTHING for us… at least with the way things are, we have hope."

With that, Midas brought his sword to a ready position. In Alexander's disbelief, Hades realized that they had an opening. You really knocked him for a loop with that little speech. He's definitely distracted… I think that we can drag him back into the material plane…

Which is exactly what they did…

Back at Alexander's Tower…

Tamara stopped crying for just a moment, and it was fortunate that she did, for had she not, she would have never been able to react to the sudden reappearance of Alexander massive form. Totally by instinct, she leaped back, to find herself landing in a familiar embrace.

She looked up, and was about to say something, when Midas interrupted, "Keep your head in the game, Tamara, this isn't over yet."

Alexander's bellow echoed even through the clear open sky all around them. "If this is the way you wish to end your existence. If I cannot remake this world… I will destroy it."

"I don't think so, big boy." Creed hissed, slapping his claws together, "I've gone through too much hell to get here. I actually want to live again, and you sure as hell ain't gonna take it all away."

"I think we all agree on that one, Creed." Fredros added, "We all have something to look forward to."

Alexander growled, and then said, "This woman only hinders me…" Suddenly, Karma's body was cast from Alexander's body, leaving the Guardian completely to his own devices. "LET THIS ENTIRE WORLD FEEL MY HOLY JUDGEMENT!"

Alexander began his attack, casting out the white streams of energy that had already proven to carry immense power. However, the power fizzled, as if blanketed by another unseen force.

"Not this time, Alexander." Midas drawled… a black aura covering his person. It left little doubt that Hades had been responsible for nullifying the potential devastation. With Alexander's final gambit foiled, the Guardian decided on a more personal approach to dealing with the pests that had given him so much trouble.

And thus, the final battle began. Alexander fought with the power that only desperation can bring, but for once, his holy might failed him. He had spent too much energy trying to ascend into the higher planes, and thus eventually succumbed to the might of those rallied against him.

With one last bellow, the stone of Alexander's body became rigid, the stone that had moved with such suppleness suddenly cracked and ground and shattered. Chunks of rock began to fall, and with one grating sound, the entire form collapsed into a fine dust.

With Alexander's death, the tower that bore his name also began to crumble. Midas first instinct was to flee the doomed structure, but something in the far side of the torn room drew his attention. Karma, trying to crawl away to the far side of the chamber.

"The rest of you, get out of this place as quickly as you can. There is one thing left I have to do." Midas ordered.

All except one readily complied. He turned to Tamara, and said quite simply, "I have to get Karma, and Yura's somewhere here as well. If I don't… tell our child what we did here, and make sure that he knows who his father was."

"But…" Tamara began.

"GO!"

He didn't wait for Tamara's reply. Instead, he jumped across a large pile of what once was Alexander. Karma appeared to be digging through soot and rubble, and once Midas was nearby, he figured out why. Karma thrust forward with her spear, and would have impaled her son had he not quickly leaned out of the way.

Karma tried to attack again, but instead she weakly fell forward, losing her spear in the process. Midas caught her quickly, and said, "Come on, mother… we have to get out of here."

He moved Karma over his shoulder while she weakly protested, "You are an utter fool… I have done so many things… I allowed myself to be fooled by false promises. I do not deserve my life."

"EVERYONE deserves the life they're given. That's part of the reason I did what I did to begin with. I realize that now. EVERYTHING I've done since all this started was for that reason."

"But still… I can barely walk… there is very little chance we'll be able to escape in time. This is TOTALLY against all sense."

At that moment, another body slipped under Karma's free arm, and then took part of the weight from Midas. Mother and son looked at the third person, dust and goo clinging to her clothes and face. Even her normally while summoner's horn was a gaudy shade of gray. Behind her was a small hole in the rubble of Alexander, where she had dug her way out.

Yura smiled brightly, and said, "Well, Midas has said it plenty of times… sometimes the right thing to do defies common sense."

Moments later…

The three emerged from the falling tower just as the floors caved in on themselves… falling straight down into a plume of smoke and debris. When it settled, everyone on the island was a uniform stone gray color.

The assembled group took a moment to silently reflect on the conclusion of the most harrowing, and yet most exciting adventure that one could ever hope to experience. And as the first fingers of dawn began to make a hold on the world, the consensus was that it was indeed the best sunrise they had ever seen…

* * * * * * *

"WHOA…" Was the unanimous reply from the small assembly of human and moogle children.

"That was such a great story…" One of them stated in awe.

"It's the third time I've heard it… but it ALWAYS is so amazing." Another answered.

"That has to be the best story I've ever heard, Patriarch." A little moogle chirped in humanspeak.

The aged and wrinkled moogle that sat in the center of the gathering smiled, "Well, I'm glad you liked it."

A little girl near the back of the circle asked, "What happened to all the adventurers?"

The Patriarch seemed to think about this for a second then replied, "Well… I suppose that isn't terribly important, is it? ANYTHING could have happened to them, and THAT is the important thing. The fact that they were alive was what really mattered."

The Patriarch then stood, and wobbled slightly on his feet. "I am sorry children, but I tire so easily in these days. I must really ask that this story session be concluded."

There was some protesting, but in the end, all the children filtered out of the Patriarch's hut. The elderly moogle sighed, and slowly fluttered to his hammock when he heard the sound of his door opening again.

The Patriarch didn't need to turn around to see who was responsible for the entry, "You still don't know, do you, Tamas?" With that, the moogle turned to face the young boy who stood in the doorway. The boy's bright blonde hair was brushed back neatly, and the normally challenging fire that burned in his green eyes wasn't there. He had the look of one who was seriously rebuked.

"My parents made me apologize for calling your story a load of bull." Tamas said softly, "They even made me take the rail, because they wanted me to do this myself."

"No apologies are needed, young one." The Patriarch replied, "Indeed, a lot of my story seems… farfetched. The times were so unique, and the conditions equally so, that it is only to be expected that stories from those times would be equally incredible."

Tamas lifted his head, and looked directly into the eyes of the moogle. Once again, that fire that could take on the world burned, and he challenged, "Did all that really happen?"

The Patriarch smiled; glad to see the young boy was back to his old self. It brought back so many memories… "Yes, young one, it is true."

"How can you be so sure, were you there to witness all of this?"

The aged moogle lifted his eyes thoughtfully before replying, "You… could say that…" After that, the Patriarch turned to a small cupboard that he kept locked. This drew Tamas's attention. Never before had the moogle elder opened that cupboard in anyone's presence…

"I mean… Not to call you a liar, of course… but it just seems so… out there. I mean, magical powers… Eidolons, Alexander and Hades… it just can't all be true." All the while, the young boy kept his eyes fixed on the Patriarch as the moogle pulled the cupboard open.

Finally, Tamas's jaw dropped as the Moogle Patriarch pulled out a beaten and rugged hat, watching in disbelief as the seemingly plain headgear totally shrouded the aged moogle's face, leaving nothing but a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

Tamas couldn't see it… but he was quite certain that the Patriarch was smiling broadly when the moogle said, "Sometimes, dear sir… the truth doesn't do the tale justice…"

End Final Fantasy: Inquisition