Chapter Ten:
Shadows Revealed
Clest sighed in boredom. He had been reclining against a particular tree in Thamasa's town square for well over half an hour, having separated from Relm due to the fact that the young artist claimed to have personal business to attend to. After finding the small town to be quite a dull place, the mercenary had decided to await his companion's arrival at the designated meeting spot near the center of town. He was beginning to doubt that such a course of actions had provided any more entertainment than simply wandering aimlessly.
"Damn it," Clest said quietly. He could no longer bear the boredom, and removed his gunblade from its holster. Despite the attraction of many curious eyes, he began to perform a training exercise that involved swinging the weapon in great, flourishing arcs.
Training. It had always been the single thing that could calm Clest's nerves, but it always caused his mind to wander. And, to be sure, it most certainly wandered; he thought about Luts, the time portal, the robed invaders, his dreams, the past, Figaro, Relm, his very existence-
Clest froze, his arms falling limply to his sides. Did he truly have any purpose in life aside from being posessed by a minion of Chaos? If not, he would gladly end his meaningless life for the good of all.
"No!" Clest cried. He would not allow himself to be overcome by his emotions. Emotions make one weak, yet emotions make one human. Therefore...
"Humans are weak," said the mercenary dryly. Looking around himself, he found that the tree against which he had sat had grown and distorted, now looking as if it were a work of ancient art. All around him was nothing but an endless field, and above him the sky was lit only by a massive, magnified moon that cast light equivalent to the twilight sun across the plains and night-blue sky.
"Humans are weak," repeated a voice from behind Clest. The mercenary spun around and found himself facing a blond, middle-aged man clad in a green cloak who leaned against the surreal tree. "I once believed so, as well," he said, his voice carrying a tone of sadness. "Are you not surprised by your surroundings, Clest?"
Clest simply shook his head. "Nothing surprises me anymore. What are you?"
"I was once a man," he replied, "But I succeeded in killing my emotions to a point that was beyond humanity. Thus, I am what you see, and also what you do not." Upon seeing that Clest did not understand, the man continued. "I am now an eternal mercenary. My ourpose in this twisted existence is to aid the highest bidder for my services unquestioningly, but it seems that I have a new mission now. The Goddesses have taken interest in you, boy."
"The...what?" Clest asked. He was not a religious individual, and knew nothing of such things aside from the legend of Hyne, an old wive's tale of the future.
"The Goddesses. Before I explain them to you, however, I should speak of myself, but you must tell no one of me!"
"I understand," Clest muttered weakly.
"My human name was Clyde Arrowny, and such is the form you see before you. I was a thief, you see, and I suppose that you could call my partner and I the greatest thieves to have ever walked the face of the Planet. However, there came a time when our luck ran out, and my comrade was mortally wounded. He...asked me to kill him out of mercy, for those who pursued us would surely imprison him for his crimes. I could not do as he wished, and left him where he lay. It is thus that I became a wanderer.
"In those days, I never stayed in one place for any great length of time. However, I made many friends throughout the world, including a particular woman who became very dear to me over time. Due to my devotion to her, I eventually settled in this town and attempted to begin a new life as a husband and...a father."
The immortal mercenary paused as if he were too saddened to go on. However, he quickly composed himself, as his mission was one of great importance.
"I could not keep away from the life of a mercenary...the constant torment of what I had failed to do due to my emotions still haunted me. I left this town nearly ten years ago, forsaking my wife and daughter for the road upon which I was doomed to travel for eternity. It is then that I shed my emotions. I called myself...Shadow."
Suddenly, the air beside Clest began to shimmer. The odd man shook his head solemnly as a voice could be heard through the portal: it began as a few muffled words, then intensified into a recognizable voice.
"Relm," said the man softly. "This complicates things."
"...Clest! Come he-...oh..." Relm was stricken silent at the scenery. "Clest?" she questioned nervously. "Where are we?"
Clest shrugged and gestured toward the man who called himself Clyde. "Ask him."
Relm nearly stumbled backward as she examined the mysterious Clyde. Her face had become flushed, then suddenly pale, as if she had witnessed a time-altering event. As she stared at the man, tears began to well up from within her, and she made no attempt to suppress them. "You're...you...," she babbled, "I mean...no! You're dead! Damn it, stay away from me! It's impossible!"
"I am truly sorry," said Clyde. "You may not believe that I was watching over you as I said I would always be, but you are sorely mistaken. You see, my human name was Clyde Arrowny, and the name of my...emotionless shell...was Shadow. I was always with you."
Relm could scarcely believe what she heard. She made no attempt to talk; rather, she simply threw herself into the arms of her dead father. "This isn't what I expected to find in Thamasa," she said weakly.
"Clyde and Shadow I am no longer," said Relm's father, gently releasing her from his grasp. "By the immortals I am now called Yojimbo, and it is as Yojimbo that I have been given the mission of guarding Clest from his internal foes and leading him along the path of the warrior. Therefore..."
A bright, blinding flash seemed to radiate from the body of the immortal mercenary, and Clyde Arrowny ceased to exist. In his place stood an odd, twelve-foot-tall man clad in ceremonial armor and a flowing red cloak. The face of Clyde had been replaced by a mask that closely matched the oriental appearance of his armor. Without warning, a red bulldog-like creature clad in a mask similar to his owner's own approached Yojimbo from behind the tree, which had returned to its normal shape. In fact, Clest noted that he, Relm, and the mysterious Yojimbo stood in the town square of Thamasa as Clest had before being confronted by the interplanar mercenary.
Clest looked around nervously, for a rather sizeable crowd had gathered round the mismatched trio. "What are you all looking at?" he could not help but exclaim.
Yojimbo raised a hand. "No, it is fine," he explained. "I must speak to them all of the impending destruction of this town."
Clest shrugged confusedly. "Impending...destruction?"
"People of Thamasa!" cried Yojimbo, acting as if he had not heard Clest. "Though your inner magic is strong and will become stronger now that the Espers have returned and are freed from their former bonds, you have no hope of standing up to the threat that approaches even as I speak to you. It would be best if you flee your town as soon as possible."
"Rubbish!" came a voice from behind the crowd. A large group of people parted, making way for an old man who hobbled into the circle of spectators. He leaned upon a heavy staff, giving the impression that he could barely support himself. "I don't care what you are or what kind of threat is coming," he said to Yojimbo, "We're not leaving."
"Strago Magus," said the eternal mercenary. "You are likely the most wise man in this town. However, you would be a fool not to listen to my words. I have been sent here by the Goddesses themselves."
"Goddesses? I helped kill the Goddesses!" Strago refused to listen to the warnings of the immortal.
"You are wrong. You merely destroyed the corrupted avatars of the Goddesses, over which the Glorious Three had lost control. What you 'killed' were merely pawns of Kefka. You must remember that I aided you in the quest you are mentioning."
"We never had an Esper that looked like you," Strago said suspiciously.
Relm hurried over to her grandfather, as he was suddenly stricken with a fit of coughing. "Grandpa, you should go home...you're sick."
Yojimbo laughed. "You honestly do not remember me? I was once your son-in-law, before my soul became a shadow."
Strago's eyes widened. "You are...Clyde? How could you leave your wife and child as you did?"
"I left no one!" Yojimbo cried angrily. "As the assassin known as Shadow, I protected both my daughter and her senile grandfather! If you would step back, old man, I would like to address your fellow townsfolk, who will likely take the advice of one with the wisdom of millenia!"
Strago reluctantly exited the circle, followed by Relm. Clest began to follow, but the young woman shook her head solemnly at his attempt, causing him to simply wait within the circle and listen to Yojimbo's words.
"Your only hope lies in the act of abandoning this town," cried Yojimbo, "But fear not! Your time to strike back at the invaders will soon come. As I mentioned, your inborn powers are returning to you all, and, indeed, you will become a formidable force when your magic has been restored to its full strength. For now, you must allow me, this young man before me, the old man, and his granddaughter to keep the dark ones at bay long enough for you all to flee. Now go! Prepare yourselves and spread my message, for we have little time!"
Clest merely observed the crowd as they broke away into a wild frenzy, running to their own homes and the homes of their friends. To them, the appearance of an Esper after the supposed disappearance of magic was enough to convince them of the truth behind Yojimbo's words.
"Retrieve my daughter and father-in-law, and bring them to me," the immortal said. "We must face the attack here, then flee to the airship that awaits us. A messenger has been sent to the gambler, as well," Yojimbo added. "Thus has our escape route been secured."
Clest nodded and rushed off after Relm as he was ordered. As usual, it was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Clad in full black body armor, Garland knelt before his lord, who appeared to him as simply a great, shapeless wall of darkness. "It was quite difficult, but I have managed to retrieve what you desired, almighty one," he said, displaying a perfectly spherical crystal orb.
"Good," said a voice that eminated from the very darkness itself. It was a voice that defied human comprehension, and posessed the ability to dauntingly fill the mind of even the inhuman Garland. "Now release him."
"What?" Garland asked. "Are you positive, my liege?"
"Do it!" commanded the voice in a tone that affected Garland to the point of physical pain. Clutching at his chest, the dark knight dropped the sphere upon the indistinguishable "floor" of the black void in which Chaos awaited his moment of triumph over humanity. Though Garland had not so much as tossed the item, it shattered into an uncountable number of crystalline splinters that were quickly drained of power and assimilated by the empty void. Where the crystal had come into contact with the ground there stood an odd, translucent figure with blond hair clad in flamboyant green robes. His blue eyes seemed to pierce the very darkness that was the closest to a physical form Chaos had been able to achieve in the void, and he spoke as if he were a contemporary of the god.
"Why have you awoken me?" asked the man. "I sense that you have great power. However, it is not capable of granting you power over me."
"I do not wish to command you," Chaos replied. "Rather, I wish for an alliance. Of all the great evils of times past, you are the only individual who managed to gather power sufficient to allow godhood to be obtainable. None were able to achieve the level of power that you managed to reach; even the mighty Sephiroth and his later incarnation Ajora could not become immortal. It is true that some have been granted immortality as Espers by the Goddesses, but you have reached a form of true godhood without any aid from a higher power. Thus, I propose an alliance."
"An alliance? I have no physical form and no followers of my own. How can I aid you in whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish?"
"You are wrong," Chaos interjected. "You have followers, who, though they are mortal, can aid my cause greatly in the past. Why, these very mortals of which I speak literally worshipped you as god before the defeat of your body."
The odd man laughed, prodicing a low, whooping sound. "The Cult! They shall be relieved to know that their god has not abandoned them."
"Correct. Will you join my crusade?"
Kefka nodded. "Of course."
Shadows Revealed
Clest sighed in boredom. He had been reclining against a particular tree in Thamasa's town square for well over half an hour, having separated from Relm due to the fact that the young artist claimed to have personal business to attend to. After finding the small town to be quite a dull place, the mercenary had decided to await his companion's arrival at the designated meeting spot near the center of town. He was beginning to doubt that such a course of actions had provided any more entertainment than simply wandering aimlessly.
"Damn it," Clest said quietly. He could no longer bear the boredom, and removed his gunblade from its holster. Despite the attraction of many curious eyes, he began to perform a training exercise that involved swinging the weapon in great, flourishing arcs.
Training. It had always been the single thing that could calm Clest's nerves, but it always caused his mind to wander. And, to be sure, it most certainly wandered; he thought about Luts, the time portal, the robed invaders, his dreams, the past, Figaro, Relm, his very existence-
Clest froze, his arms falling limply to his sides. Did he truly have any purpose in life aside from being posessed by a minion of Chaos? If not, he would gladly end his meaningless life for the good of all.
"No!" Clest cried. He would not allow himself to be overcome by his emotions. Emotions make one weak, yet emotions make one human. Therefore...
"Humans are weak," said the mercenary dryly. Looking around himself, he found that the tree against which he had sat had grown and distorted, now looking as if it were a work of ancient art. All around him was nothing but an endless field, and above him the sky was lit only by a massive, magnified moon that cast light equivalent to the twilight sun across the plains and night-blue sky.
"Humans are weak," repeated a voice from behind Clest. The mercenary spun around and found himself facing a blond, middle-aged man clad in a green cloak who leaned against the surreal tree. "I once believed so, as well," he said, his voice carrying a tone of sadness. "Are you not surprised by your surroundings, Clest?"
Clest simply shook his head. "Nothing surprises me anymore. What are you?"
"I was once a man," he replied, "But I succeeded in killing my emotions to a point that was beyond humanity. Thus, I am what you see, and also what you do not." Upon seeing that Clest did not understand, the man continued. "I am now an eternal mercenary. My ourpose in this twisted existence is to aid the highest bidder for my services unquestioningly, but it seems that I have a new mission now. The Goddesses have taken interest in you, boy."
"The...what?" Clest asked. He was not a religious individual, and knew nothing of such things aside from the legend of Hyne, an old wive's tale of the future.
"The Goddesses. Before I explain them to you, however, I should speak of myself, but you must tell no one of me!"
"I understand," Clest muttered weakly.
"My human name was Clyde Arrowny, and such is the form you see before you. I was a thief, you see, and I suppose that you could call my partner and I the greatest thieves to have ever walked the face of the Planet. However, there came a time when our luck ran out, and my comrade was mortally wounded. He...asked me to kill him out of mercy, for those who pursued us would surely imprison him for his crimes. I could not do as he wished, and left him where he lay. It is thus that I became a wanderer.
"In those days, I never stayed in one place for any great length of time. However, I made many friends throughout the world, including a particular woman who became very dear to me over time. Due to my devotion to her, I eventually settled in this town and attempted to begin a new life as a husband and...a father."
The immortal mercenary paused as if he were too saddened to go on. However, he quickly composed himself, as his mission was one of great importance.
"I could not keep away from the life of a mercenary...the constant torment of what I had failed to do due to my emotions still haunted me. I left this town nearly ten years ago, forsaking my wife and daughter for the road upon which I was doomed to travel for eternity. It is then that I shed my emotions. I called myself...Shadow."
Suddenly, the air beside Clest began to shimmer. The odd man shook his head solemnly as a voice could be heard through the portal: it began as a few muffled words, then intensified into a recognizable voice.
"Relm," said the man softly. "This complicates things."
"...Clest! Come he-...oh..." Relm was stricken silent at the scenery. "Clest?" she questioned nervously. "Where are we?"
Clest shrugged and gestured toward the man who called himself Clyde. "Ask him."
Relm nearly stumbled backward as she examined the mysterious Clyde. Her face had become flushed, then suddenly pale, as if she had witnessed a time-altering event. As she stared at the man, tears began to well up from within her, and she made no attempt to suppress them. "You're...you...," she babbled, "I mean...no! You're dead! Damn it, stay away from me! It's impossible!"
"I am truly sorry," said Clyde. "You may not believe that I was watching over you as I said I would always be, but you are sorely mistaken. You see, my human name was Clyde Arrowny, and the name of my...emotionless shell...was Shadow. I was always with you."
Relm could scarcely believe what she heard. She made no attempt to talk; rather, she simply threw herself into the arms of her dead father. "This isn't what I expected to find in Thamasa," she said weakly.
"Clyde and Shadow I am no longer," said Relm's father, gently releasing her from his grasp. "By the immortals I am now called Yojimbo, and it is as Yojimbo that I have been given the mission of guarding Clest from his internal foes and leading him along the path of the warrior. Therefore..."
A bright, blinding flash seemed to radiate from the body of the immortal mercenary, and Clyde Arrowny ceased to exist. In his place stood an odd, twelve-foot-tall man clad in ceremonial armor and a flowing red cloak. The face of Clyde had been replaced by a mask that closely matched the oriental appearance of his armor. Without warning, a red bulldog-like creature clad in a mask similar to his owner's own approached Yojimbo from behind the tree, which had returned to its normal shape. In fact, Clest noted that he, Relm, and the mysterious Yojimbo stood in the town square of Thamasa as Clest had before being confronted by the interplanar mercenary.
Clest looked around nervously, for a rather sizeable crowd had gathered round the mismatched trio. "What are you all looking at?" he could not help but exclaim.
Yojimbo raised a hand. "No, it is fine," he explained. "I must speak to them all of the impending destruction of this town."
Clest shrugged confusedly. "Impending...destruction?"
"People of Thamasa!" cried Yojimbo, acting as if he had not heard Clest. "Though your inner magic is strong and will become stronger now that the Espers have returned and are freed from their former bonds, you have no hope of standing up to the threat that approaches even as I speak to you. It would be best if you flee your town as soon as possible."
"Rubbish!" came a voice from behind the crowd. A large group of people parted, making way for an old man who hobbled into the circle of spectators. He leaned upon a heavy staff, giving the impression that he could barely support himself. "I don't care what you are or what kind of threat is coming," he said to Yojimbo, "We're not leaving."
"Strago Magus," said the eternal mercenary. "You are likely the most wise man in this town. However, you would be a fool not to listen to my words. I have been sent here by the Goddesses themselves."
"Goddesses? I helped kill the Goddesses!" Strago refused to listen to the warnings of the immortal.
"You are wrong. You merely destroyed the corrupted avatars of the Goddesses, over which the Glorious Three had lost control. What you 'killed' were merely pawns of Kefka. You must remember that I aided you in the quest you are mentioning."
"We never had an Esper that looked like you," Strago said suspiciously.
Relm hurried over to her grandfather, as he was suddenly stricken with a fit of coughing. "Grandpa, you should go home...you're sick."
Yojimbo laughed. "You honestly do not remember me? I was once your son-in-law, before my soul became a shadow."
Strago's eyes widened. "You are...Clyde? How could you leave your wife and child as you did?"
"I left no one!" Yojimbo cried angrily. "As the assassin known as Shadow, I protected both my daughter and her senile grandfather! If you would step back, old man, I would like to address your fellow townsfolk, who will likely take the advice of one with the wisdom of millenia!"
Strago reluctantly exited the circle, followed by Relm. Clest began to follow, but the young woman shook her head solemnly at his attempt, causing him to simply wait within the circle and listen to Yojimbo's words.
"Your only hope lies in the act of abandoning this town," cried Yojimbo, "But fear not! Your time to strike back at the invaders will soon come. As I mentioned, your inborn powers are returning to you all, and, indeed, you will become a formidable force when your magic has been restored to its full strength. For now, you must allow me, this young man before me, the old man, and his granddaughter to keep the dark ones at bay long enough for you all to flee. Now go! Prepare yourselves and spread my message, for we have little time!"
Clest merely observed the crowd as they broke away into a wild frenzy, running to their own homes and the homes of their friends. To them, the appearance of an Esper after the supposed disappearance of magic was enough to convince them of the truth behind Yojimbo's words.
"Retrieve my daughter and father-in-law, and bring them to me," the immortal said. "We must face the attack here, then flee to the airship that awaits us. A messenger has been sent to the gambler, as well," Yojimbo added. "Thus has our escape route been secured."
Clest nodded and rushed off after Relm as he was ordered. As usual, it was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Clad in full black body armor, Garland knelt before his lord, who appeared to him as simply a great, shapeless wall of darkness. "It was quite difficult, but I have managed to retrieve what you desired, almighty one," he said, displaying a perfectly spherical crystal orb.
"Good," said a voice that eminated from the very darkness itself. It was a voice that defied human comprehension, and posessed the ability to dauntingly fill the mind of even the inhuman Garland. "Now release him."
"What?" Garland asked. "Are you positive, my liege?"
"Do it!" commanded the voice in a tone that affected Garland to the point of physical pain. Clutching at his chest, the dark knight dropped the sphere upon the indistinguishable "floor" of the black void in which Chaos awaited his moment of triumph over humanity. Though Garland had not so much as tossed the item, it shattered into an uncountable number of crystalline splinters that were quickly drained of power and assimilated by the empty void. Where the crystal had come into contact with the ground there stood an odd, translucent figure with blond hair clad in flamboyant green robes. His blue eyes seemed to pierce the very darkness that was the closest to a physical form Chaos had been able to achieve in the void, and he spoke as if he were a contemporary of the god.
"Why have you awoken me?" asked the man. "I sense that you have great power. However, it is not capable of granting you power over me."
"I do not wish to command you," Chaos replied. "Rather, I wish for an alliance. Of all the great evils of times past, you are the only individual who managed to gather power sufficient to allow godhood to be obtainable. None were able to achieve the level of power that you managed to reach; even the mighty Sephiroth and his later incarnation Ajora could not become immortal. It is true that some have been granted immortality as Espers by the Goddesses, but you have reached a form of true godhood without any aid from a higher power. Thus, I propose an alliance."
"An alliance? I have no physical form and no followers of my own. How can I aid you in whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish?"
"You are wrong," Chaos interjected. "You have followers, who, though they are mortal, can aid my cause greatly in the past. Why, these very mortals of which I speak literally worshipped you as god before the defeat of your body."
The odd man laughed, prodicing a low, whooping sound. "The Cult! They shall be relieved to know that their god has not abandoned them."
"Correct. Will you join my crusade?"
Kefka nodded. "Of course."