CHAPTER 35
AJORA'S WRATH
"Well, we're coming out of the cave, it looks like..." Ramza said as the party neared the exit to the dark cave they'd been walking in for some time.
"Dude, this Realm of the Dead place is creepin' me out big time," Cinna said. "Lots of dead people."
"That's probably why they call it The Realm of the Dead," Meliadoul muttered. "You're not too bright, are you?"
Cinna just chuckled. "What's so funny? You always laugh when I insult you," Meliadoul said.
"It's because you're so good at it..." Cinna said. Meliadoul made no effort to hide the blush on her face this time.
"This is it..." Orlandu said. "Now we face Ajora..."
"We'll save Ovelia..." Agrias added.
"...And restore peace to the world..." Rafa finished.
"Let's go," Ramza said quietly.
The 16 friends walked into a rather large room that looked like part of a temple. There was a large, black rug upon the floor, and the walls were spattered with blood. Horrible bronze statues of demons and humans in positions of torture decorated the walls, their evil and pained eyes glaring down at the intruders. Black-flamed candles were set up in a circle around the center of the room. In the center of the candles lay the remains of the dead Queen Ovelia. As the friends entered, the black candles made their shadows look menacing and ominous on the blood-stained walls.
"Ovelia..." Ramza said quietly.
"Man, this place reeks!" Cloud complained, putting a hand on his nose. "Smells like a dead body."
"There IS a dead body," Rad muttered. "It's right there in front of you!"
"This is a den of evil, for certain," Alma said. "I sense something of pure darkness here..."
"Welcome, my friends..."
Everyone looked around. Ajora's voice had echoed from somewhere in the room. "Ajora..." Ramza growled.
"Where are you?!" Alicia yelled.
"Show yourself!" Lavian challenged.
The shadows the group threw on the wall all suddenly oozed off of the wall and formed a puddle of black goo in front of Ovelia's body. "Nice to see you all made it here," Ajora chuckled. "It seems that not even my resurrected soldiers could stop you. You truly are a brave warrior, Ramza Beoulve."
"..." Ramza said.
"But no one will take away what I worked so hard to get," Ajora continued. "I'll kill you all and take over the world!"
"How do you plan to do that, sludge man?" Mustadio asked. "Mess up our shirts?"
"Just you watch, you insolent whelp!" Ajora laughed as the goo patch slid backwards and entered Ovelia's remains through the mouth and stomach.
The party stood silent, just waiting to see what would happen next.
"What do you think he's doing?" Alma asked.
Suddenly, Ovelia's eyes snapped wide open. There were no eyes or pupils... just blackness. The body lurched upwards and faced the group, tilting at an odd angle and the arms hanging limp.
"Does this look familiar?" the voices of Ovelia and Ajora said at the same time.
"You're sick!" Agrias yelled. "How dare you violate the remains of her majesty!"
"I needed a vessel to bring me out of this accursed Realm," Ajora and Ovelia explained. "What better vessel is there than a royal one? However, in my current form I couldn't enter a LIVING body, so..."
"Disgusting creature!" Meliadoul growled, her Save The Queen ready to strike. "We'll defeat you once and for all!"
"Dunno who he is, but I'll help you all out!" Cinna said, grabbing his lute.
"Time to die, everyone!" Ajora and Ovelia laughed as the body lifted into the air and surrounded itself in an MBarrier.
"Curse him!" Orlandu said. "He's got full control of Ovelia's abilities!"
"GYAAAAARRRRGHHH!!!" Ajora and Ovelia screeched as the body flew down in a dive bomb towards the party.
"Hah!" Beowulf yelled as he cast his Shock attack and knocked the vessel backwards.
"You're going down!" Reis yelled. "FIRE BRACELET!!!"
Reis fiery breath ignited the body and it began to burn to ashes. "Really clever," Ajora and Ovelia taunted. "If you destroy the body, there's no way you can get her back!"
"What?!" Ramza yelled angrily. "You're changing the rules again! LEVIATHAN!!!"
The water dragon appeared and splashed water all over the battlefield, extinguishing the flames and soaking the body. As the corpse stood up, water leaked from its eye sockets and the other holes in it.
"Face it, kids," Ajora and Ovelia laughed. "There's no way I'm getting out of this fine body!"
"I know a tune that binds evil spirits," Cinna said to Ramza. "Want me to play it?"
"Go for it," Ramza said. Cinna pulled out his lute and began to play a vibrant melody as fast as he could. The horrible monster in front of them grabbed at its ears and screeched inhumanly.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Ajora and Ovelia wailed. "WHAT IS THIS AWFUL MUSIC?! STOP IT!!! STOP IT!!!"
"No way, Jose," Cinna chuckled. "Not until you let that queen go!"
"AAAAARRRRRRGHHHH!!! CURSES!!!" Ajora and Ovelia screamed. Suddenly the goo flew out of the corpse and landed on the floor. It molded around and took the shape of Ajora. His silvery hair glistened in the black candlelight and his piercing yellow eyes eyed the party with pure hatred. Ovelia's cadaverous form crumpled to the ground behind them.
"Good, we were able to get him out of her body," Rafa said. "Let's defeat him now!"
"You'll never defeat me!" Ajora yelled. "Come on... Let's finish this!"
"Battle formation!!!" Ramza yelled. All sixteen party members ran to different positions in the room and surrounded Ajora.
Ajora looked around at his assailants and chuckled evilly. "Oh, I'm sooo scared," he mused. He held out his hand and produced a large sword. It was about as long as he was tall. "I introduce you all to Chaltier, my sacred blade!"
"Get ready, everyone!" Agrias shouted.
"Arm Aim!" Mustadio yelled, firing his gun.
"Stasis Sword!" Alicia and Lavian shouted as they launched their new attack.
"Dash!" Rad yelled as he charged towards the psychotic man.
"CYCLONE!" Ajora shouted as he spun around and deflected all the attacks. Rad flew backwards and collided with Worker No.8, who was knocked back a few feet.
"Are you all right, master?" Worker No.8 asked.
"I'm fine, tin man," Rad said as he got back down onto the ground. "Just a bit rattled."
"SHOCK!" Beowulf commanded.
"Holy Bracelet!" Reis said in her usual soothing manner.
"LIGHTNING STAB!!!" Orlandu and Agrias yelled at the same time as they swung their swords.
"Fools," Ajora said. "BLAZER SWORD!!!" He surrounded himself in fire and flew upwards. He then plummeted back to earth and his fire attack swept through the room, blowing everyone backwards.
"You're asking for it now!" Meliadoul yelled. "HELLCRY PUNCH!!!"
The destructive attack shattered Chaltier. Ajora turned on Meliadoul in a blinding rage. "YOU LITTLE!!!-" he yelled.
"Time for the finale!" Cloud yelled. "OMNISLASH!!!"
"MBarrier!" Alma yelled as she surrounded everyone with the holy net.
"Crush!" Worker No.8 blipped as his chest compartment opened and a barrage of missiles flew out.
"SKY DEMON!!!" Rafa cried.
"SKY DEMON BACK!!!" Malak yelled. Both attacks hit Ajora and knocked him backwards.
"I've been savin' this attack for a long time..." Cinna said. "GOLDEN VOICE!!!" Cinna sang a high note and gigantic notes lined with poisonous barbs that flew out and buried themselves in Ajora's skin.
"AAAAHHHH!!!" Ajora wailed.
"Time to end this once and for all," Ramza growled as he drew his Chaos Blade. He ran up and slashed Ajora across the chest. Black blood flew everywhere.
"KYYYYAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHH!!!!" Ajora wailed as he dropped to the ground. Suddenly, he emitted a bright flash. Everyone looked around in confusion.
"What just happened?" Meliaodul asked.
"I don't know..." Rafa said.
"Heh heh heh..." Ajora chuckled. "You're all dead..."
Suddenly, Ajora stood up and lightning bolts shot out of his hands and flew everywhere. Ramza was blown backwards and knocked against the wall. When he stood up again, the most horrible sight appeared before his eyes.
"No..." he gasped. All of Ramza's friends were gone and replaced by blue crystals.
"It seems like you have run out of luck," Ajora said, advancing on Ramza. "Ready to join them?"
"You... You killed them all..." Ramza cried as he sank to his knees. Wet tears began to fall from his eyes. "...Alma... Rafa..."
"Yes..." Ajora laughed. "Go ahead and cry. It won't do anything..."
Ramza glared up at Ajora and stood up. "You monster! I'll never forgive you!!!" he yelled.
"What is this?!..." Ajora asked, a look of horrific surprise replacing his smirk of triumph.
"ULTIMA!!!!" Ramza screamed. The holy detonation caught Ajora completely off guard and disintegrated him. An inhuman scream split the air, and there was a bright flash.
"Unghhh... Ramza, what happened?"
"Huh?" Ramza asked as he looked up. All of his friends were getting up and brushing themselves off. "...You're all alive?" he asked with surprise.
"Why wouldn't we be?" Agrias asked.
"But... Ajora... he..." Ramza stuttered.
"Talk slowly, Ramza," Rafa said.
Ramza told the group what he saw happen. "I see..." Orlandu said. "Ajora must have cast an illusion spell over you. All that lightning attack did was knock us all out for a bit. He wanted you to despair and give up. It's a good thing you didn't."
"Right," Alma said. "I know you'd never let us down, big brother."
"...Ajora!" Ramza said. "Where is he?!"
Suddenly, the whole room began shaking. "What the hell?!" Cloud yelled.
"...Earthquake?" Mustadio offered as an explanation.
"Get real!" Agrias huffed. "It's Ajora!"
"Where are you, Ajora?!" Ramza yelled.
"Ah ha ha..." Ajora's dark voice echoed through the room. "...THIS BADDLE HAZ JUSD BEGUNN!!! I... AM... KAISER AJORA!!!!"
"What?!" Cinna exclaimed. "The dude's gone nucking futs!"
"I think you did something to his brain with that Ultima spell of yours," Malak said to Ramza. "Sounds like all he remembers now is revenge and hatred."
"DIE, R-R-RAMZAAAA!!! JUSDIE, RAMZAAAAAAAA!!!!" Ajora's distorted voice shrieked through the room.
"Sounds like he's REALLY mad!" Alicia said.
"Get ready!" Lavian growled.
Suddenly, the eastern wall exploded, and concrete and plaster flew everywhere. Ramza and his friends shielded themselves to protect from the onslaught of stone. When the dust cleared, a truly horrific sight awaited them.
The entire wall was gone, and outside of it, the cold void of outer space could be seen. The planet lay below them like a huge ball. A gigantic, mechanical version of Ajora dangled in from the outside, his arms loaded to the brim with weaponry and his face a metal skull. Ovelia's corpse hung from the top of the skull like one might wear a headband or a crown.
"Why are we in space all of a sudden?" Meliadoul asked.
"Come on!" Rad said. "All big final battles have a space backdrop! Would you settle for anything less?"
"Look at all the different colors of metal on him," Mustadio said. "He must have assembled himself from all the pieces of the Mechannites."
"DIE!!!" Kaiser Ajora roared, his mouth opening to reveal a gigantic laser cannon.
"Look out!!!" Agrias shouted as she shoved Mustadio to the side. A huge, rainbow-colored beam fired from the cannon and blew a hole in the other side of the room. The green mists of The Realm of the Dead swirled about outside of that wall.
"See? The space backdrop's just for effect," Rad concluded.
"DEATH MISSILE!!!" Ajora screeched as he fired a barrage of explosives at the group. They were all knocked backwards and hit the floor.
"I'm not letting this walking can opener get the better of me!" Meliadoul yelled as she ran up and slashed at Kaiser Ajora's arms. A few of the launchers snapped off and dissolved. Ajora raised his mighty hand and sent Meliaodul flying.
"I've got ya, Mel!" Cinna yelled as he ran under Meliadoul and caught her. "Are ya OK?" he asked.
"You've saved my life twice now," Meliadoul said, blushing.
"Ahh, I'm just always in the right place," Cinna chuckled.
"ULTIMA SKY DEMON!!!" Rafa and Malak yelled at the same time. The sacred explosion ripped away pieces of Kaiser Ajora's shielding, but it didn't hurt him much.
"TERMINAL CLAW!!!" Kaiser Ajora roared as his left hand became a gigantic saw blade. It came down hard at Rafa. If Ramza hadn't grabbed her and leaped out of the way, it surely would have split her in two.
"Lights out, buddy!" Beowulf yelled. "I'm sappin' your powers! ASPEL!!!"
"Machines dislike electricity," Reis noted. "Thunder Bracelet!"
Both attacks damaged Kaiser Ajora significantly, but he still kept attacking. "DOOMSDAY SPHERE!!!" he screeched as he fired a tiny, purple ball out of his mouth. It flopped to the ground in front of the party.
"What's that supposed to do?" Agrias snorted mockingly. Suddenly, the sphere grew to almost the size of the entire room and started firing huge blasts of plasma every which way. This knocked everyone down.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Orlandu wailed as he hit the ground.
"I won't be beaten that easily!" Cloud yelled. "FINISHING TOUCH!!!"
Cloud's massive wind attack launched Kaiser Ajora out of the room. After taking significant damage, he crashed back into the room and smacked Cloud against a wall.
"He's really kicking our butts..." Rad commented. "What do we do now, Ramza?"
"Keep fighting, tooth and nail!" Ramza yelled. "SCREAM!!!!"
Ramza screamed and increased his stats before he rushed at Kaiser Ajora with his sword. Kaiser Ajora just laughed insanely and punched Ramza backwards. He crashed into a wall and fell to the floor.
"Ramza!!!" Rafa and Alma yelled simultaneously.
As Ramza struggled to get up, he noticed that the planet below was getting bigger and closer every second. "What... What's that?..." Ramza asked.
"SOON THE REALM OF THE DEAD WILL EMERGE IN YOUR WORLD, RAMZA..." Kaiser Ajora roared. "AND I SHALL BE FREE!!!"
"That's... your plan?..." Ramza asked.
"NO ONE SHALL DENY ME MY DESTINY!!!" Kaiser Ajora yelled.
"Well, you forgot about us! HOLY EXPLOSION!!!" Agrias yelled as she launched her strongest attack. Kaiser Ajora took damage, but then he zapped Agrias with a laser and knocked her down.
"I... won't... be... beaten... by... the likes of you..." Ramza wheezed as he tried to stand up. "Ovelia's counting on me... Rafa's counting on me... Alma's counting on me... everyone's counting on me!..."
"Ramza..." Rafa said as she looked up at him with more love than ever before.
Suddenly, a strange thing happened. Everyone started to glow. The glows then turned into rays of light that launched themselves at Ramza. He became engulfed in a wash of sacred illumination.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" Kaiser Ajora roared.
"Your time's up, Ajora!" Ramza shouted. "This is for everyone you've ever hurt! HAAAAAAIIIYAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
As all his friends watched, Ramza charged up to Kaiser Ajora and sent his Chaos Blade straight through the huge skull. A horrible, eardrum-shattering scream rocked the entire Realm. Kaiser Ajora leaned backwards and began to explode.
"It is useless!" he roared. "IT IS USELESS!!! YOU KNOW IT IS, RAMZA!!!"
"Shut up and die..." Ramza growled. "No matter how many times you come back, I'll defeat you!"
"AH HA HA!!!" Ajora laughed. "I'LL REMEMBER YOU SAID THAT... IT GIVES ME MOTIVATION TO COME BACK SOME DAY!!!"
"Just die, you filthy monster," Ramza said as he yanked his sword out of the robotic madman's head.
"I'LL BE BACK, RAMZA!!!" Ajora shrieked. "I WILL... UWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
With a supersonic explosion, Ajora was gone. The entire room reverted to what it had been before. The candles were back where they had been, and the walls were repaired. Ovelia's mutilated body still lay in the center of the circle of candles.
"Whoo..." Alma sighed. "...Is it over?"
"I think it is," Malak said.
"We beat him..." Cloud panted.
"Nice job, Ramza," Cinna said. "You saved us all."
"Thanks," Ramza said as he sheathed his sword. "But what about Ovelia?..."
"I don't think that's a problem," Rafa said as she walked up and put her arm around Ramza's shoulders. She turned him around towards the candles. "...Look!"
As everyone watched, the putrid remains of the dead queen started to put themselves back together to form a body. Skin began to reform on the bones, and the clothing began to stitch itself back up.
"Unbelievable..." Rad gasped.
"Amazing..." Orlandu said as his aged eyes widened at the sight.
After everything reassembled itself, Queen Ovelia lay in the circle of candles, restored to her rightful youth and beauty.
"Your majesty!" Agrias cried. She was cut off by Mustadio.
"Shhh!" Mustadio hissed. "You'll wake her up!"
Everyone watched Ovelia's eyes flutter as she awoke. "Ohhh... Where am I?..." she asked in her usual soft voice. She slowly picked herself up off the ground and brushed herself off.
"...Your majesty?..." Agrias asked quietly.
"Huh?" Ovelia asked, turning to face the party. Everyone knelt down on one knee and lowered their heads.
"Welcome back, your majesty," Agrias said.
"...Stand up," Ovelia ordered in a matter-of-fact voice. Everyone did as they were told. Ovelia's eyes spilled over with happy tears as she ran to the group. "Agrias!!!" she cried as she flung herself on her bodyguard.
"Your majesty, I'm so glad to see you..." Agrias sighed as she hugged Ovelia back tightly.
Ovelia then ran to Orlandu. "Uncle!!!" she cried happily as she wrapped her arms around him.
"My niece... I'm so happy..." Orlandu chuckled as his voice cracked and tears began to form in his eyes.
"Alma!!!" Ovelia cheered as she hugged her best friend.
"It's nice to see you, too," Alma cried as she squeezed back.
Finally, Ovelia broke off the hug and turned around. "Ramza!!!" she yelled happily and threw her arms around his neck.
"There, there..." Ramza said, patting her on the back. "It's all right now..."
"How... how long have I been away?" Ovelia asked.
"About three months," Agrias explained. "A lot has changed since then, your majesty."
"Agrias," Ovelia said. "Please stop calling me that. Because I died, I'm not the queen anymore. Just call me Ovelia."
"All right... Ovelia," Agrias said.
"Please, you must tell me everything!" Ovelia begged Ramza.
"All right..." Ramza said. "But let's get out of here. This dead atmosphere isn't good for anyone's health."
The party turned around and walked out of the chamber. As they left, Miluda, Zalbag, Izlude and Balbanes materialized in the room.
"That Ramza's become a great man," Izlude said.
"Yes, he's wonderful..." Miluda agreed.
"I couldn't be more proud of him," Zalbag added.
"Well done, Ramza..." Balbanes said as his aged face cracked into a warm smile. "Well done, my son... You're a true Beoulve... A hero."