The jungle rose up around us, embracing and entangling us in its thick green foliage. Only Lance's skill brought safely through the canopy down to the ground. The bushes and creepers around the landing site were torn and blasted by the Formulas powerful engines, creating a small crater in the middle of the forest. "Alright everyone," Lance said from over the comm. link, "everybody off." The glass canopy opened up and I climbed out to stretch my legs. Seto had a bit more trouble wriggling his way out of the small compartment and by the time he was out and ready to go Lance was already exploring the edges of the site. "Hey guys," he called, "come over here." We walked over to where Lance was standing.
"Be careful Lance," said Seto, "this jungle is incredibly old and many things lurk in its branches that we have no want to meet." That set a little chill through my spine as I remembered the giant specter from Cosmo Canyon.
"Forget that man," Lance said in a more subdued voice, "what do you here?" The truth was we couldn't hear anything, not the twitter of a bird, not the buzzing of an insect, not even the trickling of a stream.
"I can't hear anything," I replied, "it's completely silent."
"As I said before," stated Seto, "the forest is one of the single oldest places on the planet. It is the birthplace of the Cetra and is the sacred hunting grounds for my tribe…there are things here that are older than time…things that we really don't want to run into."
"Speaking of things we didn't want to run into," said Lance, "just what was that giant specter back in Cosmo Canyon?"
I smiled as I realized Lance and I had been thinking about the same thing.
"That was the chief of the Gi Tribe," replied Seto, "they originally came from this forest as a great horde intent on the destruction of Cosmo Canyon, the first village to ever grow up in the shadow of the Ancient Forest. They wanted to destroy the mortals that had invaded their land but my tribe defended the village and destroyed the Gi. Only a few of use survived the carnage, my own mate died in the defense of the front gate. My son was attacked by an overwhelming force and was forced to flee into the night. Thinking I had lost everything I ran to the back door as my wife and I had planned. There I met the second attack force and fought them to a bloody stalemate. Their leader met me in single combat but I defeated him as well. They were so terrified that the few survivors ran out into the canyon. I no longer cared to live and let the poison in the Gi's arrows take affect, turning me into stone." He left off as the silence began to pervade our world once more. I thought that he was finished and made to rise but he began once more. "I stood there for many years, guarding the back door to the village through the fear I had inspired on that one night. Then one day I felt a new presence in the canyon, one that seemed familiar but I did not recognize. It was my son and some of his friends. An old friend of mine led them but before they reached me Gi Nattak attacked them. Gi Nattak was the Shaman of the Gi and a powerful magic user before he was killed in the battle. My son, a man with blonde hair, and a girl wearing a pink dress destroyed his undead spirit once and for all. Knowing that my son was still alive gave me the strength I needed to survive and I will find him once more!" He trailed off once more, this time for good. He turned around and motioned for us to follow him down a series of trails. Lance and I walked behind him, sometimes jogging to keep up.
"Hey Seto!" I called up to him, "just where are we going anyway?"
"To the heart of the forest where the Arena of Rites lies," he replied without turning around. I wanted to ask what the Arena of Rites was but I could see he was in a bad mood so I decided to wait and see.
We continued along the way, staring in awe at the giant sharp-toothed pods that lined the path. Thin streaks of light touched the jungle floor after penetrating the thick canopy above. After walking far into the late afternoon we came up onto a grove in the forest. Grass grew in the nearly circular area and skulls were placed around the perimeter on carved wooden stakes. However, the most alarming part of the secret grove was the large grass covered mound with a large gold chalice sitting on a carved stone column that poked its head out of the grassy mound. Skulls of all shapes and sizes were piled around the stone column like offerings to some ancient unknown god. "Enter the Arena of Rites."
"Wow," replied in Lance in a sort of referent whisper. Everything about the ancient grove seemed old, even the air here seemed to had not moved for centuries. I could feel that there was great power in the earth hear, I could almost sense something breathing below the surface…something powerful.
"This is where the rite of passage takes place…when a cub becomes a warrior and where our dead are buried. Other ceremonies take place at our shrines in the canyons…only the most important meetings and rituals are done here," said Seto as he stood before the stone alter.
"This is amazing," I replied, "I mean this is really amazing, but why did you take us hear?"
"You said that you were looking for the ruins of an Ancient Temple…well I guess it would easier to show you." With this Seto leapt up onto the mound and approached the alter. He reached out with one of his huge paws and turned the chalice around and then back several times in a certain pattern, which I did not catch. When he was finished he jumped back down to level ground as the earth started to shake and a rumbling filled the grove with its vibrations. I fell to the ground while Lance supported himself by grabbing hold of a tree, Seto stood his ground stoically as the earth exploded and covered by face with dirt. When I had wiped away the fresh earth from my eyes a doorway stood where the mound once was. On closer inspection I saw that the mound had only been the top to a large circular building that had been hidden under the ground. I approached the portal and could see strange writing over the door. I looked into the building and could barely see in the fading light a spiral staircase leading deep into the earth below the grove.
"How did you know this was here?" I asked Seto in complete bewilderment.
"This is place is for the rites of passage as I said before…did you think we simply chose this grove because it was pretty?" Seto asked with that queer look on his face again that I took for a smile. "The cub had to enter this place and bring back the head of one of the monsters that lives down there…only then would they be full warriors. However, the complex has never been fully explored, more out of reverence then any other reason. When you told me about a Cetra Temple being located in this forest I knew that these ruins must be what you were talking about."
All I could do was shake my head, "Aeris sure wasn't lying when she said we'd need you Seto…I don't know how we could have done all this without your help."
"Thank you Zack, but now is not the time. I am thinking we should be entering the temple to look for the artifact Aeris told you about."
"Yah…lets get going," Lance called out as he walked through the dark portal. We heard a muffled cry and several bumps and ran in to see what had happened. Lance was gone and all we could hear were some muffled cries coming from farther down the staircase. Lighting a Flare to light the way we ran down the stone staircase, staring at the strange hieroglyphs that covered the walls while trying not to trip. Finally we came to the bottom floor only to find Lance lying prostrate on the ground, covered in bumps and bruises.
"What happened?" I asked in confusion, having expected some huge monster to be at the bottom holding my friend hostage.
"I tripped and fell down the stairs," he replied. "Man it was dark…ow!" He rubbed his sore head and neck before getting up. The Flare had illuminated the room we were standing in and revealed it to be some sort of huge antechamber.
"Hmmm…" Seto mussed, "we are only allowed to stalk in this chamber and a few others off to the two sides, but the door near the end of the chamber is off limits to us so we should probably check there first."
"Ummm…" Lance hesitated, "isn't there a reason why that door is off limits?"
"Of course," replied Seto, "its off limits because everyone who's ever approached it has never come back."
"O…" said Lance, "so what else is knew…I guess we should be moving." We made our way across the gigantic floor, but when we were about halfway across my Flare flickered and died. I was about to spark a new one but Seto held me back.
"Wait…there is a better way," with that he used his Mastered Fire with his Mega-All to cast a huge level 3 Fire attack that lit up the room like the sun. When the sparks had settled and the embers died out we saw that the attack had lit hundreds, even thousands of oil lamps that lined the walls. With our newfound light source we returned to our trek to the forbidden door. As we approached it I could see it in more detail. It was made out of some metal and looked to be almost unbelievably strong. The face of some huge monster was carved in the stone over the gate.
"Be careful everyone," I said, "don't forget that Aeris said there'd be a guardian of some kind."
They nodded and we continued. Finally we were directly in front of the gateway and with nothing left to do I pulled back the huge iron knocker and let it fall with a clang that seemed to shack the very chamber. As the noise died away the three of us stood still in the silence, listening for something…anything that might herald disaster.
Lance finally broke the quite, "do you think that was such a good idea Zack?"
"Well nothing seems to have happened has it?" I replied. We both stared at Seto and waited for him to say something.
'Why are you looking at me?" he asked, "I've never gone this far…I've never approached the door…how should I know how to open it." As he said this the ground began to shake again.
"Alright," Lance called out as he tried to keep his balance, "now I could have told you this was going to happen…o boy, another battle."
"I think its coming from the door!" shouted Seto. We faced the huge door and waited for our enemy to show itself when the floor beneath us suddenly and violently exploded in a shower of stone and dirt. I was on my feet again in seconds and saw that both Lance and Seto were in battle positions.
"Good!" shouted Lance, "we have it surrounded!" I had to laugh grimly as the 'it' he was revering to happened to be a giant snake-like creature that hissed and showed fangs big enough to impale a grown man. It rose up out of the hole in the floor, it's diamond shaped head and glittering red eyes hung high above the three of us while it used its two stunted legs to keeps it's balance on the floor while the rest of its round body was lost in the abyss. "Guys!" Lance shouted again, "we have more company!" We looked to see where he pointed and saw the floor crawling with hundreds of monsters both big and small all coming to the aid of their leader. "I'll hold these guys off just keep big guy over there off me!" With that he leapt into the fray, gun blazing. I looked back just in time to jump out of the way as those huge jaws snapped shut right next to me. The head reeled back and prepared for another strike.
"What is this thing!" I had to yell to Seto over the gunshots and cries of angry and wounded monsters.
I saw him close his eyes in concentration and I guessed he was using his Sense materia.
"It's called the Gate Kraken and its extremely powerful…we need to be careful!" he yelled as he jumped clear of the fangs.
"Alright!" I yelled back, "wait for it to strike then go for the head!" As I said this it attacked Seto a second time, but this time he was ready. He jumped back and lashed out with his huge paw, leaving long claw marks across its face. The Gate Kraken screamed in agony and flung its head at me like a flail. I jumped to the side as the head smashed into the metal door, leaving it in shambles.
"Go on Zack!" cried Seto, "we can take care of this! You go and find that artifact…whatever it is!" He cast Fire 3 on the monster and then leapt onto its side tearing a large hole in it's side before jumping off to find a new point of attack. I knew he was right…someone had to go and find the artifact and since he and Lance were otherwise engaged and seemed to be handling themselves fine I turned and ran down the dark tunnel that would hopefully bring me to the treasure spoken of by Aeris.
"Be careful Lance," said Seto, "this jungle is incredibly old and many things lurk in its branches that we have no want to meet." That set a little chill through my spine as I remembered the giant specter from Cosmo Canyon.
"Forget that man," Lance said in a more subdued voice, "what do you here?" The truth was we couldn't hear anything, not the twitter of a bird, not the buzzing of an insect, not even the trickling of a stream.
"I can't hear anything," I replied, "it's completely silent."
"As I said before," stated Seto, "the forest is one of the single oldest places on the planet. It is the birthplace of the Cetra and is the sacred hunting grounds for my tribe…there are things here that are older than time…things that we really don't want to run into."
"Speaking of things we didn't want to run into," said Lance, "just what was that giant specter back in Cosmo Canyon?"
I smiled as I realized Lance and I had been thinking about the same thing.
"That was the chief of the Gi Tribe," replied Seto, "they originally came from this forest as a great horde intent on the destruction of Cosmo Canyon, the first village to ever grow up in the shadow of the Ancient Forest. They wanted to destroy the mortals that had invaded their land but my tribe defended the village and destroyed the Gi. Only a few of use survived the carnage, my own mate died in the defense of the front gate. My son was attacked by an overwhelming force and was forced to flee into the night. Thinking I had lost everything I ran to the back door as my wife and I had planned. There I met the second attack force and fought them to a bloody stalemate. Their leader met me in single combat but I defeated him as well. They were so terrified that the few survivors ran out into the canyon. I no longer cared to live and let the poison in the Gi's arrows take affect, turning me into stone." He left off as the silence began to pervade our world once more. I thought that he was finished and made to rise but he began once more. "I stood there for many years, guarding the back door to the village through the fear I had inspired on that one night. Then one day I felt a new presence in the canyon, one that seemed familiar but I did not recognize. It was my son and some of his friends. An old friend of mine led them but before they reached me Gi Nattak attacked them. Gi Nattak was the Shaman of the Gi and a powerful magic user before he was killed in the battle. My son, a man with blonde hair, and a girl wearing a pink dress destroyed his undead spirit once and for all. Knowing that my son was still alive gave me the strength I needed to survive and I will find him once more!" He trailed off once more, this time for good. He turned around and motioned for us to follow him down a series of trails. Lance and I walked behind him, sometimes jogging to keep up.
"Hey Seto!" I called up to him, "just where are we going anyway?"
"To the heart of the forest where the Arena of Rites lies," he replied without turning around. I wanted to ask what the Arena of Rites was but I could see he was in a bad mood so I decided to wait and see.
We continued along the way, staring in awe at the giant sharp-toothed pods that lined the path. Thin streaks of light touched the jungle floor after penetrating the thick canopy above. After walking far into the late afternoon we came up onto a grove in the forest. Grass grew in the nearly circular area and skulls were placed around the perimeter on carved wooden stakes. However, the most alarming part of the secret grove was the large grass covered mound with a large gold chalice sitting on a carved stone column that poked its head out of the grassy mound. Skulls of all shapes and sizes were piled around the stone column like offerings to some ancient unknown god. "Enter the Arena of Rites."
"Wow," replied in Lance in a sort of referent whisper. Everything about the ancient grove seemed old, even the air here seemed to had not moved for centuries. I could feel that there was great power in the earth hear, I could almost sense something breathing below the surface…something powerful.
"This is where the rite of passage takes place…when a cub becomes a warrior and where our dead are buried. Other ceremonies take place at our shrines in the canyons…only the most important meetings and rituals are done here," said Seto as he stood before the stone alter.
"This is amazing," I replied, "I mean this is really amazing, but why did you take us hear?"
"You said that you were looking for the ruins of an Ancient Temple…well I guess it would easier to show you." With this Seto leapt up onto the mound and approached the alter. He reached out with one of his huge paws and turned the chalice around and then back several times in a certain pattern, which I did not catch. When he was finished he jumped back down to level ground as the earth started to shake and a rumbling filled the grove with its vibrations. I fell to the ground while Lance supported himself by grabbing hold of a tree, Seto stood his ground stoically as the earth exploded and covered by face with dirt. When I had wiped away the fresh earth from my eyes a doorway stood where the mound once was. On closer inspection I saw that the mound had only been the top to a large circular building that had been hidden under the ground. I approached the portal and could see strange writing over the door. I looked into the building and could barely see in the fading light a spiral staircase leading deep into the earth below the grove.
"How did you know this was here?" I asked Seto in complete bewilderment.
"This is place is for the rites of passage as I said before…did you think we simply chose this grove because it was pretty?" Seto asked with that queer look on his face again that I took for a smile. "The cub had to enter this place and bring back the head of one of the monsters that lives down there…only then would they be full warriors. However, the complex has never been fully explored, more out of reverence then any other reason. When you told me about a Cetra Temple being located in this forest I knew that these ruins must be what you were talking about."
All I could do was shake my head, "Aeris sure wasn't lying when she said we'd need you Seto…I don't know how we could have done all this without your help."
"Thank you Zack, but now is not the time. I am thinking we should be entering the temple to look for the artifact Aeris told you about."
"Yah…lets get going," Lance called out as he walked through the dark portal. We heard a muffled cry and several bumps and ran in to see what had happened. Lance was gone and all we could hear were some muffled cries coming from farther down the staircase. Lighting a Flare to light the way we ran down the stone staircase, staring at the strange hieroglyphs that covered the walls while trying not to trip. Finally we came to the bottom floor only to find Lance lying prostrate on the ground, covered in bumps and bruises.
"What happened?" I asked in confusion, having expected some huge monster to be at the bottom holding my friend hostage.
"I tripped and fell down the stairs," he replied. "Man it was dark…ow!" He rubbed his sore head and neck before getting up. The Flare had illuminated the room we were standing in and revealed it to be some sort of huge antechamber.
"Hmmm…" Seto mussed, "we are only allowed to stalk in this chamber and a few others off to the two sides, but the door near the end of the chamber is off limits to us so we should probably check there first."
"Ummm…" Lance hesitated, "isn't there a reason why that door is off limits?"
"Of course," replied Seto, "its off limits because everyone who's ever approached it has never come back."
"O…" said Lance, "so what else is knew…I guess we should be moving." We made our way across the gigantic floor, but when we were about halfway across my Flare flickered and died. I was about to spark a new one but Seto held me back.
"Wait…there is a better way," with that he used his Mastered Fire with his Mega-All to cast a huge level 3 Fire attack that lit up the room like the sun. When the sparks had settled and the embers died out we saw that the attack had lit hundreds, even thousands of oil lamps that lined the walls. With our newfound light source we returned to our trek to the forbidden door. As we approached it I could see it in more detail. It was made out of some metal and looked to be almost unbelievably strong. The face of some huge monster was carved in the stone over the gate.
"Be careful everyone," I said, "don't forget that Aeris said there'd be a guardian of some kind."
They nodded and we continued. Finally we were directly in front of the gateway and with nothing left to do I pulled back the huge iron knocker and let it fall with a clang that seemed to shack the very chamber. As the noise died away the three of us stood still in the silence, listening for something…anything that might herald disaster.
Lance finally broke the quite, "do you think that was such a good idea Zack?"
"Well nothing seems to have happened has it?" I replied. We both stared at Seto and waited for him to say something.
'Why are you looking at me?" he asked, "I've never gone this far…I've never approached the door…how should I know how to open it." As he said this the ground began to shake again.
"Alright," Lance called out as he tried to keep his balance, "now I could have told you this was going to happen…o boy, another battle."
"I think its coming from the door!" shouted Seto. We faced the huge door and waited for our enemy to show itself when the floor beneath us suddenly and violently exploded in a shower of stone and dirt. I was on my feet again in seconds and saw that both Lance and Seto were in battle positions.
"Good!" shouted Lance, "we have it surrounded!" I had to laugh grimly as the 'it' he was revering to happened to be a giant snake-like creature that hissed and showed fangs big enough to impale a grown man. It rose up out of the hole in the floor, it's diamond shaped head and glittering red eyes hung high above the three of us while it used its two stunted legs to keeps it's balance on the floor while the rest of its round body was lost in the abyss. "Guys!" Lance shouted again, "we have more company!" We looked to see where he pointed and saw the floor crawling with hundreds of monsters both big and small all coming to the aid of their leader. "I'll hold these guys off just keep big guy over there off me!" With that he leapt into the fray, gun blazing. I looked back just in time to jump out of the way as those huge jaws snapped shut right next to me. The head reeled back and prepared for another strike.
"What is this thing!" I had to yell to Seto over the gunshots and cries of angry and wounded monsters.
I saw him close his eyes in concentration and I guessed he was using his Sense materia.
"It's called the Gate Kraken and its extremely powerful…we need to be careful!" he yelled as he jumped clear of the fangs.
"Alright!" I yelled back, "wait for it to strike then go for the head!" As I said this it attacked Seto a second time, but this time he was ready. He jumped back and lashed out with his huge paw, leaving long claw marks across its face. The Gate Kraken screamed in agony and flung its head at me like a flail. I jumped to the side as the head smashed into the metal door, leaving it in shambles.
"Go on Zack!" cried Seto, "we can take care of this! You go and find that artifact…whatever it is!" He cast Fire 3 on the monster and then leapt onto its side tearing a large hole in it's side before jumping off to find a new point of attack. I knew he was right…someone had to go and find the artifact and since he and Lance were otherwise engaged and seemed to be handling themselves fine I turned and ran down the dark tunnel that would hopefully bring me to the treasure spoken of by Aeris.