CHAPTER 7
STERONN RIVER
All was dark.
Alma stood alone in the blackness. Sounds of fighting and death were echoing from every direction. She began to run, but no matter how quickly she moved her legs, she couldn't escape the sounds, nor did she seem to be going anywhere. The sounds grew louder and louder, surrounding her on all sides...
She stumbled into light. Confused and disoriented, she stumbled and fell on her knees, giving her shins a nasty scraping.
Alms bit her lip in a futile attempt to shake off the pain. She began to stand up, but was stopped by the sound of a loud crashing noise. She looked forwards and gasped.
A little ways off, Rafa stood over a fallen Ramza. There was a wicked glimmer in her eyes as she clutched the downed warrior's Chaos Blade in her hands. She lifted it up and readied it for one final blow.
"No, Rafa! No!!!" Alma cried as she tried to run towards the girl, but she found that she was anchored to the ground by some unknown force. "Please, Rafa!" she wailed. "DON'T-"
Rafa thrust the sword downwards, and...
"Aaiiiigh!" Alma shrieked as she woke up. Someone put a hand down on her shoulder. She moved to grab onto the body, but halted her actions when she saw who it was.
"E...Everhart?..." she asked quietly.
"Your sleep was restless," Everhart explained. "I came to find out what was wrong."
Something moved behind him. Alma gave a startled yelp and shrank back. "Behind you!" she cried.
Everhart stepped to the side so Alma could get a better look at what was behind him. A tiny implike creature was writing about on the ground, pinned down by Everhart's black spear. It sent out high-pitched snarls every once in a while.
"It's called a Knightmare," Everhart said. "They're only native to the canyon we just traveled through. They invade their victims dreams and torture them with horrible visions to induce fear. They absorb the fear the victim radiates and grow bigger. It's truly a disturbing creature."
"Are they real?" Alma asked. "The... the visions, I mean."
Everhart remained still. "Some of them are, some are not," he said. "Mostly they are visions of possible future events."
"Oh..." Alma said. "Oh, dear..."
"Is something wrong?" Everhart asked. "Would you care to discuss the vision?"
Alma blushed for a moment and turned away from the dark Lancer. "N-no, I don't want to," she said.
"As you wish," Everhart said. He started to walk away.
"W-wait!" Alma said.
Everhart silently turned around and looked at her, his left eyebrow raised.
"What if another one comes?" Alma asked.
Everhart shook his head. "It's too close to dawn. Also, I'm leaving that one," he paused to point at the critter under his spear, "as a warning to others. You'll be fine."
Alma obviously wasn't convinced; she was trembling all over. Everhart walked over to a log nearby and sat down. "I will keep watch," he said after a pause.
Alma shyly eyed him under her eyelashes. "Don't you need to rest? You've kept watch every night since we met you."
"..." Everhart said.
"...Well?" she pushed.
"I will be all right," Everhart said. "Rest."
"OK..." Alma said with a yawn, already getting tired again. As she sank back down in a half-sleep into the grass where she had been lying, she imagined Everhart brushing away a lock of her hair that had fallen out of place.
"Ever...hart..." she whispered as she nodded off.
Everhart had brushed a blonde curl away from the girl's eyes. For a split-second, his stone face actually cracked a small smile as he pulled his hand back. Suddenly and by accident, his arm brushed against her hand. He jerked back suddenly, and his experession grew cold and hateful. "Bloody Angel..." he hissed. Instinctively he reached for his spear, but he remembered what it was holding down.
After a tense pause, he removed his hand from his spear. He shook his head and looked at Alma again. She looked so calm and peaceful when she was asleep. Everhart walked over to the log and stared at her for a while. "(No... You couldn't be...)" he thought. "(And yet when I thouched her I mistook her for the Bloody Angel...)"
Everhart glanced back at the rest of the party. Ramza and Orlandu leaned heavily on Worker No.8. Cloud and Tifa were propped up against each other (Tifa was snoring lightly), Ovelia snoozed with her back to a tree and Amarant was propped up against the canyon wall; it was hard to tell if he was asleep or not.
Everhart turned and looked at Alma again and frowned. "(Perhaps this will not be as simple as I once planned...)" he thought.
"(YAWWWWWWN)" Ovelia groaned as she stretched and stood up. "What a night! This outside air is really good for the system!"
"We must continue towards our destination as soon as possible," Everhart said as the rest of the group began to wake up.
"Ooooogh..." Ramza yawned as he got up. "Good morning, everyone..."
"What's for breakfast?" Tifa asked as she stretched and her shirt ripped. Worker No.8 reached into his chest compartment and gave her another of Ramza's shirts while everyone covered their eyes.
"Didn't you hear the dark tin guy over there?" Amarant asked. "We need to be on the move. We can't stop for breakfast."
"That's OK," Orlandu said. "I've got just the thing for eating and traveling."
"What would that be?" Cloud asked.
"These," Orlandu said as he pulled out some oddly-wrapped bars. "They're bars of cereal and powdered milk. Aren't they cool?! I carry them around all the time!"
"Oi..." Cloud said as he sweatdropped.
"Unghhh..." Alma moaned as she sat up.
"Wow, she got up... and without any bacon incentive!" Tifa exclaimed.
"Alma, you look terrible," Ramza said. "Is something wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"
Alma looked over at Everhart, who shook his head. "...No..." Alma said. "I just had trouble sleeping, that's all."
"Oh," Ramza said. "OK..."
"Here," Orlandu said as he tossed a cereal bar to each person.
"Mmm," Ovelia said as she bit in eagerly.
"What kind of cereal is this?" Amarant asked.
"Bran," Orlandu said. "Why did you think I'd carry that stuff around?"
Everyone glanced at everyone else. All of them but Orlandu, Everhart and Worker No.8 dashed off into the bushes.
"What? What's wrong?" Orlandu asked.
"..." Everhart said.
"The digestive tracts of younger humans are more sensitive than yours," Worker No.8 said.
"Huh," Orlandu said as he shrugged. He bit into his bran bar and sighed happily. "Ahh, that hits the spot."
"Are you sure you heard this rumor correctly, Locke?" Celes Chere asked Locke Cole as Locke, Terra Branford, Gau and she walked through the Phantom Forest. It had been a year since Kefka had been destroyed, and magic was supposed to be wiped from the face of the planet.
"My contact said he saw something strange in this place," Locke reassured his lover as he led the way through the trees and shrubs. "He says it was like a glowing hole in the ground."
"I guess that could be an Esper," Terra said. "But I've never heard of one that looked like a mole or an earthworm."
"Gauuuoooo! Gauuuooo!" Gau howled. "Gau hear something strange! Listen!"
Gau was usually the comic relief in the group, but he sounded serious on this, so everyone stopped and listened. The sound of moving water could be heard from somewhere closeby.
"A stream?..." Locke asked. "But there aren't any streams in Phantom Forest..."
"It actually sounds like it's getting closer..." Terra said.
"REAL close," Celes gulped.
"Oooogauuuooogauooo!!!" Gau exclaimed as a pink hole opened up underneath him and he fell in.
"Gau!" Terra cried.
"Let's go after him!" Celes declared as she leaped into the hole.
"You next, Terra," Locke said.
"Right," Terra said. She hopped at the hole, but it closed up before she could land. She crashed into the grass. "Hey, where'd it go?!" she asked.
"CELES! GAU!!!" Locke shouted out through the forest.
"Urgh," Ramza grumbled as the group returned to the camsite. "This is why I always bring a spare pair of undershorts."
"Thanks a lot, Uncle," Ovelia muttered.
"Sorry," Orlandu said. "When you're 62, you'll be able to stomach it too."
"We must go," Everhart said. "To get closer to our destination, we must travel downstream on the nearby river."
"More rivers?" Alma asked. "Oh, boy..."
"Where's the river, Everhart?" Cloud asked. Everhart silently pointed off east. Cloud went that way and saw the river; it looked pretty gentle from where he was standing. "...Oh," he said.
"Don't worry," Tifa said. "We'll just make a raft and float downstream! It's easy as pie!"
"We've done that twice already," Orlandu muttered. "Someday I hope they invent an easier way of traveling rivers."
"We can make a raft pretty easily," Amarant said. "I'll go cut down some of those trees over there."
"We'll help him," Ramza said as Cloud, Orlandu, Worker No.8 and he ran to catch up with Amarant.
"We'll just wait here," Alma said as she sat down on the ground again. Ovelia and Tifa did the same.
"HAH!" Amarant grunted as his claw went through another tree. It fell down and Worker No.8 grabbed it. He dragged it over to the side and plopped it down next to the other six trees Amarant had felled.
"Sensors indicate that we have enough wood to construct a raft capable of holding all of us," the robot beeped.
"OK," Ramza said. "Amarant, that's enough."
"Whatever," Amarant said as he stopped short of knocking down another tree.
"Cloud, Orlandu, it's time to get back to the others!" Ramza called.
"Ramza, you've gotta come see this!" Cloud's voice came back. Ramza, Worker No.8 and Amarant walked over to where Cloud and Orlandu were squatting down in the grass in front of a large tree.
"OK guys, the manlihood contest is over," Ramza said. "Time to go."
"No, look," Orlandu said. "This tree has some strange things implanted in it..."
"Strange things?" Ramza asked. Cloud moved over so Ramza could hunker down and take a look himself.
Three metal tubes were sticking out of the ground and connecting to the trunk of the tree. They had flashing lights and dials on them, and a quiet humming sound was being emitted from them.
"What is this?..." Ramza asked.
"I haven't got a clue and I'm from a highly advanced time," Cloud said.
"Allow me to look," Worker No.8 said as he walked up behind them. Everyone got up so the humongous robot could observe the metal tubes. After about thirty seconds, Worker No.8 looked at his friends. "These tubes are connected to the trees photosynthetic cycle," he said. "They are taking energy from the tree and converting it to electric power."
"But what are they connected to?" Orlandu asked.
"Unknown," Worker No.8 said, shaking his head. "However, data in my memory banks shows that this technology was used approximately 1200 years ago, and the process was an important part of the field of biotechnical energy synthesis."
"Twelve centuries ago?" Amarant asked. "Those things look newer than the tin man here. How can it be 1200 years old?"
"Twelve centuries ago..." Ramza said. "These things must be remnants of the civilization that Ajora lived in."
"Ajora..." Orlandu growled.
"It is a very remarkable process," Worker No.8 said. "If we were to begin implementing it now in our cities, we could surpass the age of burning fossil fuels altogether."
"Well, take notes, Worker No.8," Cloud said. "If we ever oust Delita for good, Captain Flite's gonna be very interested in this stuff."
"Hey guys, what's taking you so long?" Ovelia asked as she showed up behind them. "C'mon, we're waiting!"
"Oh, well..." Ramza said. "All right. We're coming."
"We're back!" Ramza said as the group emerged from the bushes. Worker No.8 had constructed the raft from start to finish during the walk back to the campsite.
"I have to admit, the clunker's pretty useful," Amarant said.
"Good," Everhart said. "Put it in the river and we'll be on our way."
"Worker No.8," Ramza instructed. "Put the raft in the river and let us all get on. Then you get on, too."
"As you wish, master," Worker No.8 said as he lumbered over to the river and dropped the raft in. "Please hurry," he said. "The current is strong. I cannot hold it here for long."
"You heard the metal guy," Amarant said. "Let's beat it."
One by one, the party members hopped onto the raft. Finally, Worker No.8 let go and jumped on too.
"Whaaaahhh!" Alma cried as the front end of the raft tilted upwards.
"My apologies," Worker No.8 blipped.
"Why don't we all sit in front and he sits in back?" Cloud asked.
And so, they rearranged themselves so Worker No.8 was alone in the back. The raft sailed gently down the river.
"Ah, so this is what traveling by raft feels like..." Ovelia said as she put her hand in the water and let the cool liquid swish between her fingers.
"Mmm, what a nice day for a raft ride," Tifa said as she leaned back and gazed up at the clouds. Cloud sat upright and watched the shoreline.
"Hey Amarant," Ramza finally said. "Can I ask you a question?"
"..." Amarant said.
"Do you have many friends where you come from?" Ramza asked. "You seem kind of cold."
"I have friends," Amarant said after a long pause. "They're strange, but OK."
"I was just wondering because you haven't been the most talkative person I've ever met..." Ramza said.
"I talk when I want to," Amarant muttered. "But this river ride is pleasing. In fact..."
Everyone was surprised when the mercenary pulled out a banjo. "It makes me feel like playin' my banjo and singin' a river song!"
"AAAAAAGHHHH!!!" everyone screamed. They all grabbed their heads and writhed in agony as Amarant began to play songs that sounded like they should have died out during Davey Crockett's time.
"It may be interesting to point out that Davey Crockett didn't exist at this point in history," the network censor noted from her desk on the shoreline. Just then, a tow truck fell from the sky and crushed her.
"...Was that a tow truck?" Cloud asked.
"The space-time continuum is really being distorted," Everhart said.
"No," Alma said as she sweatdropped. "This is normal for us."
As the raft went downstream and Amarant continued his awful singing and banjo music, the party became aware that the raft was traveling faster than it had before.
"Umm... Everhart, is this river smooth?" Alma asked.
"Mostly," Everhart said. "There are the rapids."
"Rapids?!" Tifa yelped as she sat up. "Why didn't you say something earlier?!"
"You wouldn't have boarded the raft," Everhart explained. Tifa sweatdropped.
"Speaking of rapids..." Ramza said as he looked ahead. "...I think we're at them now!"
Everyone looked ahead. All that could be seen for a few hundred meters was white water. "Oh, crap..." Cloud said.
"HOLD ON!!!" Orlandu shouted as he anchored himself to the raft with Excalibur.
"Good idea," Amarant said as he jammed his claw into the wood.
The raft took a dive and rushed head-first into the rapids. "WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" everyone on board screamed.
"Worker No.8, use your body to steer!!!" Ramza shouted.
"As you wish," Worker No.8 said as he plunged his hands into the water and began to steer the raft back and forth.
"Right! No, left! Right again! Left again!" Cloud yelled from up front. "AAAHHH!!! Look out for the rock!!!"
Worker No.8 leaned to the left and the boat tilted enough to miss the rock.
"I'm scared!" Alma cried.
"That makes all of us," Ovelia said. "Hurry, Worker No.8!"
Suddenly, the rapids died down. "Whew..." everyone sighed as they slumped down.
"Is it over?" Amarant asked.
"We haven't gone over the waterfall yet," Everhart said.
"...WATERFALL?!" everyone yelled. They all looked ahead and saw a huge cliff with water falling down it in torrents.
"We're screwed," Cloud said quickly.
"Well, Amarant, it was nice knowing you," Orlandu said.
"Oh, goodie," Amarant muttered. "I get sucked into a time warp and go over a waterfall. Not the way I envisioned dying at all. Life's full of uncertainties..."
The raft teetered and went over the top. As it began to tumble towards certain death on the jagged rocks below, Ramza spotted a large tree branch hanging over the side of the falls. Within the course of a millisecond, he reached up and grabbed it. Alma grabbed his legs, Ovelia grabbed Alma's legs, Cloud grabbed Alma's legs, Tifa grabbed Cloud's legs, and so on. The next thing Ramza knew, everyone was hanging from him over the huge waterfall. The raft was reduced to splinters the second it hit the rocks.
"We made it!" Ovelia cheered.
Just then, the branch broke.
"You HAD to say it," Tifa growled. With a scream, everyone landed in the drink.
A few minutes later, they hauled themselves up onto the shoreline. They all lay there, gasping and panting and soaked head to toe. Everhart stood still, looking at their surroundings. "We made it," he finally said.
"Oh?" Ramza wheezed. "Good..."
"I hate water," Tifa concluded.
A small piece of driftwood was floating past the party's resting spot. As it approached Ramza, it began to glow strangely.
"Huh?..." Ramza asked. Suddenly, he could feel the Rooster Stone acting up in his pocket. A bright flash shot through the area, and a pink portal opened up on the shore. Celes and Gau tumbled out in a heap.
"Ouch!" Celes yelped as she came down on her butt.
"Oooogauooogauooo!" Gau said as he landed on the grass and began sniffing around. "Where this? This not like any place I in before..."
"What the?..." Alma asked as she sat up.
"More out-of-town guests, I presume..." Everhart said.
"You don't seem angry, Everhart," Tifa said.
"Only two beings can emerge from a portal at once," Everhart said. "Since two came out, no demons will emerge."
"Well, that's good news," Cloud said as he got up and walked over to the new people.
"Oh, hello," Celes said as she stood up and brushed herself off. "Who're you?"
"Well, I'm-" Cloud started, but he stopped when he noticed Gau was sniffing him all over. "Uh..." he said.
"Gau, stop it!" Celes said. "Come here, Gau! Heel!"
"Gau just saying hello," Gau sulked.
"I'm Celes and he's Gau," Celes said. "Where are we?"
"My name's Cloud," Cloud said. "And this is Ramza and that's Amarant. Let me ask you a question; what year is it?"
"It's 1845, 102 years after the War of the Magi," Celes said.
"Yep," Orlandu said. "More time travelers."
"Time travelers?" Celes asked.
"The year here definitely isn't 1845," Ramza said. "You've been pulled into a time warp."
"Hmm..." Celes said. She looked Ramza, Cloud and Amarant over. All three were dressed in strange clothes, some more primative than her armor, some more advanced. "...OK, I believe you," she said. "Heck, I've seen weirder things..."
"Aoooo!" Gau howled. "Strange people! Did Esper do this?"
"Esper?" Amarant asked.
"A magical being," Celes said. "We heard rumors of an Esper where we were looking before we came here. "
"Sorry, no Espers here," Ramza said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Rooster Stone. "This is what brought you here."
"Ooh!" Gau said as he sniffed at the stone. "Shiny, shiny! Shiny shiny shiny!"
"It's not THAT shiny," Celes said. "Is that Magicite?"
"Magicite?" Amarant asked. "We're speakin' the same language, but we ain't communicatin'."
"This is a Chinese Zodiac Stone," Ramza said. "Its magic brought you here."
"Oh," Celes said. "Well, uh, not to sound rude, but do you think it could send us back? Terra and Locke are probably worried sick about us."
"You cannot go back now," Everhart said as he walked up behind Ramza. "We must retrieve the Chrono Stones before any of the travelers can return to their own times."
"Well, I-" Celes started to say. Suddenly, a huge burst of water shot up from the river.
"What the heck?!" Cloud exclaimed as all of them ran over to look.
A huge blowfish was in the river, glaring up at the party. It had a big bandage on its head, and it didn't look too happy.
"What IS that?!" Alma gasped.
"That's a Puffer," Everhart said. "They're giant blowfish native only to Steronn. I think part of our raft hit it and it's not too happy."
"Uh-oh..." Ovelia said. "We're sorry, Puffer. We didn't mean to-"
"BLOW FISH!!!" Puffer responded. It spewed needles every which way, creating a wall of needles that split the group up. Ramza, Cloud, Amarant, Gau and Celes were the ones Puffer turned its attention on.
"Now what?" Cloud gulped.
"Now we fight it!" Celes said as she pulled out Illumina, her trustworthy sword.
"Gau! Gau go!" Gau growled.
"Can we trust 'em?" Amarant asked.
"Why not?" Cloud asked. "Let's get that fish stick! BLADE BEAM!!!"
Cloud swung his sword and the laser fired out. It hit Puffer and made it float back a little, but it didn't stop attacking.
"HOMING NEEDLE!!!" Puffer roared. It launched a huge needle at the group.
"Get outta the way!!!" Celes yelled. Everyone ran in different directions. The needle came down with a sickening CRUNCH on...
"NOOOO!!!" Amarant wailed. "My banjo! You destroyed my banjo!!!"
"YES!!!" Cloud and Ramza laughed.
Celes didn't understand the joke, so she started attacking. "Ice 2!" she shouted as she pointed at Puffer. A huge block of ice shot up around the blowfish and damaged him. Celes looked at her finger in surprise. "I thought the magic disappeared when the Espers did..." she said.
"New world, new rules for magic!" Gau offered as an explanation. "Retainer Rage! Leo's SHOCK attack!!!"
Gau produced a powerful-looking sword and swung it. A huge blast of energy blew Puffer out of the water and onto dry land.
"He's on land now!" Cloud cried. "Get him!"
"DEMI SHOCK!!!" Amarant shouted as he hit Puffer with a gravity ray.
"DASH!!!" Ramza yelled as he collided with the blowfish. Puffer exploded with a loud KABOOM. It was raining fish for a good six seconds.
"Ewww..." Cloud grumbled.
With Puffer gone, the needles that separated the parts of the party disappeared. "Ramza, are you OK?" Alma asked.
"We're all fine," Ramza said.
"So, that's your story..." Ramza said as Celes and Gau finished telling of their adventures. "Sounds like you guys have seen a lot of action."
"I'd really like to return home as soon as possible," Celes said. "Locke must be really worried about me."
"We'd like you to be able to, but until we get those Chrono Stones back, our hands are tied," Tifa said.
"How about it, Celes?" Ramza asked. "Will you and Gau come with us to get those stones back?"
"..." Celes said.
"It beats staying here until the rest of us find 'em," Amarant said.
"Kicking Delita's butt won't be easy," Cloud responded. "You guys would be a big help!"
"Aooo!" Gau said. "Gau join you! Gau help beat up bad man!" He leaped up onto Ovelia's shoulders and started running his fingers through her hair.
"Hey, what're you doing?!" Ovelia asked.
"Heh heh heh," Orlandu chuckled. "He's pickin' bugs out of your hair and eating 'em."
"Well, if Gau likes you, I think I can come along too," Celes said.
"Then we'll have fun!" Ramza said as he held out his hand. "Welcome aboard, Celes."
Celes smiled and shook Ramza's hand.
"So, how's it feel to be allied with a band of wanted fugitives and heretics?" Alma joked.
"It's worked for me before," Celes chuckled. "How do you think I met Locke?"
Everyone looked at each other and laughed. Amarant was standing off to the side, building a little mound out of river mud.
"What are you doing?" Everhart asked.
"I'm giving my banjo a final resting place..." Amarant said as he stuck a makeshift cross over the mound. He stood up, saluted, and then lumbered back to the rest of the group.
"Weird," Everhart said as he shrugged and followed Amarant back to the others.
