CHAPTER 29

EPILOGUE

"Argh..." Alazlam groaned as he woke up in a hospital bed. "What happened?..."

"Ah, you're finally up, sir!" Watson exclaimed as he looked up at his mentor. "You were attacked by Cardinal Gideon."

"Gideon?..." Alazlam asked as he looked around. "Oh, yes... Where is he, anyway?"

"He's gone, sir," Watson replied. "We won't be hearing any more from him, no sirree!"

"Why?" Alazlam asked. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, indeed, sir," Watson said as he handed Alazlam an old, yellowed book. "When I went back to your office earlier today, I found this on the desk. I've never seen it before, but it looks ancient..."

Alazlam took the book and read the title. "'The Stones Of The Ages; A report on Ramza Beoulve's post-Zeratul adventures by Olan Durai.' I've never seen this before, either..."

"We might as well read it," Watson said. "Go ahead. From what I've seen, it looks like Ramza had another big adventure only recently."

"Recently?..." Alazlam asked.


"Well, that's that," Captain Flite announced as he stepped out of the doors of Bethla Garrison. "Delita's crimes are being waived on account of insanity."

"Insanity?!" Agrias fumed. "Leave it to the judge to go easy on that slimebucket!"

"I wasn't finished," Flite said. "His crimes may be waived, but he's being committed to the Bethla Garrison asylum for the rest of his life."

"All RIGHT!" Rad laughed. "We finally put that doof in his place!"

"Ajora's gone, Delita's in the nuthouse..." Mustadio said. "Maybe now, the world will have some peace..."

"Hmmm..." Ramza said. "Captain Flite, may I go and see Delita?"

"Certainly, but I will accompany you," Flite responded.

"I'm coming, too," Alma answered.

Flite, Ramza and Alma walked back into the Garrison and reached a small room with a few guards and one tiny cell. "This is where they're holding him until they clean out the padded room," Flite explained.

Everyone peeked into the cell. Delita was scrunched up in the corner with his hands clasped together. His wild eyes stared at his hands as he muttered to himself. "Teta... I know you'll forgive me... After all, I am your brother..." he murmured.

"What's happened to him?..." Alma asked.

"I guess being possessed by Ajora drove him over the edge," Ramza replied. "He's babbling like a zombie..."

"Ramza, you really feel sorry for him, don't you?..." Alma asked.

"How could I not?" Ramza asked. "He was my best friend for years and years..."

"Sir, the room is ready," a guard reported to Captain Flite.

"All right," Flite said. "Ramza, you had best say your goodbyes now... You won't have another chance."

"OK..." Ramza said hesitantly.

Two guards opened the cell and took Delita by the shoulders. Delita didn't resist as he was led out of the cell.

"Delita..." Ramza said as he looked at his friend.

Delita looked over at Ramza and did the strangest thing: he smiled. "Hello, Balbanes..." he said.

"Balbanes?" Ramza asked. "(He thinks I'm my father?...)"

"It's good to see you again..." Delita chuckled. "Well, I've got to be off, but I'd like you to have this..."

Delita pressed something into Ramza's gloved hand and chuckled. "Thanks for everything. Tell Teta to keep watching over Ramza for me..." He sighed and smiled again. "Good old Ramza... He never gave up on me... He's the best friend anyone could ask for... Tell him 'thanks' for me, will you?"

"...I'll tell him that," Ramza replied as he patted Delita's shoulder. Delita smiled again as the guards took him away.

"Well, that was weird," Alma said. "What did he give you, anyway?"

Ramza opened his hand and looked at a withered piece of grass that was sitting in his palm. "Hmmm..." Ramza said as he smiled to himself and tucked it away.


"Well, what do we do now?" Malak asked as Ramza, Alma and Flite emerged from Bethla Garrison.

"Well, first thing's first..." Ramza said as he pulled out the Rooster Stone. "Some folks have to go home."

Ayla scampered up to Ramza and took the stone. "Ramza strong! Ayla have big, fun adventure! Ayla tell all friends about Ramza! Thank you! Ayla owe you one!" she chattered happily.

"I'll miss you too, Ayla," Ramza chuckled.

"Whoop! Almost forgot..." Ayla said. "Ioka Tribe Hug!!!" She grabbed Ramza and squeezed really, REALLY hard. Ramza gritted his teeth and tried to keep a smile. "You now member of Ioka Tribe!" Ayla said. "Come visit! We dance! Eat! Fight! Fun!"

Ayla held the Rooster Stone out and a blue portal appeared. She gave Ramza the stone back and leaped into it. It sealed up behind her.

"Hmmph," Amarant mumbled as he sauntered up and snatched the stone from Ramza. "Can't say it's been good... But I can't say it's been bad, either," he said. "You guys're pretty cool."

"See you around, Amarant," Ramza said. The two men shook hands and then Amarant summoned a portal to his own world and disappeared.

"It's been really great, Ramza, but I'm really looking forward to going home," Celes said as she walked up and took the stone.

"I bet your friends are waiting for you right where you left them," Ramza replied. "Say hi to that Locke fellow for me."

"You bet!" Celes replied. "...Hey, where did Gau go? Gau! Come on!"

Gau was talking to Ovelia. "I'm glad to have met you, Gau," Ovelia said as she patted the wild boy on the head.

"Gauooo Auooo!" Gau replied. Just then, he reached into Ovelia's hair and pulled out one last tick.

Ovelia giggled. "I'll have to learn your grooming habits," she said as she hugged the lad.

"Auoooo! Thank you for great trip! Gauuooooo!!!" Gau howled as he bounded up beside Celes. Celes created another portal and Gau and she vanished.

"Hmmph!" Seifer snorted as he walked up and snatched the stone from Ramza's waiting hand. "I don't buy into that mushy stuff," he said.

"OK, Seifer," Ramza said. "Goodbye."

Seifer looked at Ramza for a moment and then rolled his eyes. "Oh, what the hell," he grumbled. He grabbed Ramza and gave him a big hug. "You guys are the nicest people I've ever met!" he laughed. "Come visit sometime, huh?! If anything, it would probably make for a better plot than what I have to put up with!"

"Yeah, we'll miss you too, Seifer," Ramza said. Seifer grinned, created a portal and disappeared.

"Well, I guess it's time for us to go again," Cloud said as Tifa and he approached Ramza.

"You've been on all of our adventures, Cloud," Ramza said. "You're almost family to me."

"Oh, go on," Cloud chuckled embarassedly.

"Anyway, I'd like you to have this," Ramza said as he gave Cloud the old, cracked Rooster Stone that Gideon had brought from the future. "I mean, you're from the future anyway, right? You might as well take it."

"Well, OK..." Cloud said.

"Actually, come to think of it," Ramza said as he fished out all of the Zodiac Stones from the future and dropped them in a sack. "Take all of them. Put them in a museum or something. Just never tell anyone about their secrets, or we'll have another crisis on our hands, OK?"

"You can count on us, Ramza," Tifa said as she accepted the sack. "It was great to meet you. You're just as cool as Cloud said that you were!"

"Heh heh heh..." Ramza chuckled as he blushed. "Don't mention it!"

"Farewell, guys!" Cloud said as he created another time portal and Tifa and he stepped through it.

"Whew..." Olan said. "Well, what do we do now?..."

"I'd say that we could go home, but we've no place to go..." Meliadoul said.

"Oh, yeah?" Davis asked. "How 'bout your airship? You guys can go anywhere you want!... And I'll fly ya there, free of charge!"

"Oh, yes!" Rafa exclaimed. "I had completely forgotten!"

"What do you want to do, Ramza?" Orlandu asked.

"Well," Ramza said as he scratched his chin. "Remember what we all set out to do a long time ago? I'd like to actually do that."

"You mean that we should go and make a new start in Steronn?" Balmafula asked.

"If that's all right with all of you," Ramza said.

"I'm cool with it," Malak chuckled. "Heck, I'd enjoy some country livin'."

"We'll be the Swiss Family Beoulve!" Alicia laughed.

"It'll be great!" Lavian chimed in.

"All right," Ramza said. "But let's all take care of any business we have before we go."

"Hee hee hee... That would be where I come in..." Lede giggled as she stood beside Ramza and blinked cutely.

"Heh?" Ramza asked.


"Ramza and Alma were able to claim their family inheritance and donated it all to charity. Igros Castle became Igros University, the first major post-secondary school in Ivalice. Captain Flite offered Ovelia her place on the throne, but she declined, saying that Flite was a better ruler than any kings or queens that she had known. All of us who had living relatives went and bade them farewell, and then Davis flew us all to Steronn to begin a new start of it.

"We arrived in Steronn and built a city between the seashore and the foot of Mount Ghaleon. We named the city Garnomm at Meliadoul's request... Actually, she won the city-naming raffle, but who cares?

"It's been ten years since our adventures came to an end, and we're all doing fine...

Thanks to Orlandu's Priestly skills, Ramza and Rafa married and have two children; Cinna and Sora Beoulve. Those little tykes get into everything, but they're very kind... just like their parents.

"Beowulf and Reis are also married, and they live out their lives peacefully on the far side of town. They're the most active couple that I know, if you catch my drift.

"Agrias and Mustadio live together. Agrias keeps pressuring Mustadio to propose to her, but Mustadio wants to finish a few of his inventions before he pops the question. She hassles him a lot, but it's obvious that they're deeply in love. Worker No.8 hangs around their house a lot and helps Mustadio with his inventions. Mustadio reprogrammed him to think for himself, so he's a lot more helpful now. He's even got a sense of humor; he got Agrias with a whoopee cushion the other day.

"Malak has taken up woodworking. He carved Ramza and Rafa a magnificent table as a wedding present, and he currently makes decorations and lawn ornaments for his friends. I hear that he's gotten a few offers from the mainland. His crafts could turn into our chief industry.

"Rad, Alicia and Lavian are Malak's assistants in the woodshop. They've gotten older and wiser, but they're still as rambunctious as ever. Alicia and Lavian both have crushes on Rad, though... I'd say that it would be a tough fight, but with no church here to condemn multiple romances, I have a feeling that those three will sort things out just fine.

"Orlandu is retired and happy. He spends most of his days out on his porch's rocking chair, telling everyone stories of the Lion War and other adventures. He's Cinna and Sora's favorite babysitter.

"Meliadoul, Alma and Ovelia all room together in the same house. They spend most of their time cleaning everyone else's houses (not for free, of course) and knitting blankets and clothes for the children. Ovelia says that she's never been happier. Alma was a little lonely at first, but Malak and she have been seeing a lot of each other lately... Who knows? Meliadoul has offered to teach the kids how to use swords when they're a little older. She's happy and headstrong and steadfast as ever, but every so often someone catches her gently plucking at Cinna's lute.

"Sometimes Cloud and Tifa use their Rooster Stone and come in to visit. If you hadn't already guessed, they got married, too... What a happy couple. And yet, Cloud STILL hasn't smoothed out his hair. I guess some things never change.

"And Balmafula and myself have been hard at work writing these reports so all the world can learn the truth about the Lion War and its aftermath... Balmafula's a great assistant. In fact, I think that I'll follow my friends and propose to her when the job is done.

"Ramza Beoulve has settled down for some well-deserved rest, but who knows when the next adventure will appear? The world is full of possibilities... But for now, the peace is long, good and well-deserved.

"And now, I have said my piece. May all who read these works take note of Ramza and his friends' escapades. Heroes such as he don't come around very often; everybody could learn from his examples. But for now... to peace and prosperity!"

August 23, 869 AD

Olan Durai


"Ah, it was good to be on the winning side, wasn't it, Lede?" Celia asked as she sat back in her recliner and sipped her wine. "I've got to hand it to you, I thought your little infatuation was pretty dumb, but I was wrong."

"You bet," Lede giggled as she ate another cracker. "This is great! Oh, Rammy-Wammy! Would you be a darling and get us some more wine?"

"All right, Lede honey," Ramza said as he looked out at the girls from the kitchen.

"Boy, that clone does absolutely everything," Celia chuckled.

"I knew he had some hidden feelings for me," Lede chuckled. "And this proves it! Besides, I gave the stones back to the real Ramza... Rammy-Wammy! After you bring the wine up, you can suck my toes again!"

"You bet, sweetie," 'Ramza' said as he walked out to the side of the swimming pool and kissed Lede on the cheek before handing her the wine bottle.

"Heh heh heh..." Celia chuckled as she sat back in her chair and rubbed some more suntan lotion onto her arms; the beach house was great, but she wasn't looking to get a tan. "You know, Lede, we should fight for the good guys more often!"

THE END