Alternative Chapter 1 -- The Retreat

Disclaimer: Squaresoft of Japan owns this game, Live-a-Live, and all the characters in it. I am not involved; I'm just a fan.

Author's Note: First of all, SPOILERS! The beginning of this story contains spoilers for Orsted's scenario. From a certain point, it changes to my version of the story, eventually leading up to the spoiler-filled alternate ending. But don't worry, that's not until several chapters later (

With one last, powerful stroke, Hash sliced the demon in two. He grinned as the two chunks of monster fell to the cavern ground, and quickly deteriorated, soon leaving only dust. He watched as puddles of blood evaporated and joined the murky atmosphere. "Goodbye, Demon King." He said sarcastically as he slid his large blade back into its scabbard.

Orsted was gasping for breath, holding his broken arm, amazed at his companion warrior's superior fighting skills. He turned to look at Uranus and Straybow, the two mages, who were standing at a distance. Neither looked harmed.

Hash walked over to the young warrior. "That couldn't have been the real Demon King." He said aloud, so his two other companions, who were steadily approaching, could also hear. "Too damn weak."

Uranus approached them. "Everyone okay?" He glanced at Hash, who flashed him with a lopsided grin. Then he turned to Orsted, and a frown burrowed his face. "Are you alright, boy?"

Straybow rushed over to his best friend's side, and examined the wound. "A broken arm. Can you heal it, Uranus?" He asked, with a tint of concern in his voice.

The healer nodded. He chanted some words for a moment, then shouted, "God bless!" And pointed his palms toward Orsted. Bright energy waves, a merge of yellow, white, and red, flowed and surrounded the young fighter. Soon Orsted felt alive again, as the pain in his arm faded away. When the healing light faded away, he felt as if he had just woken up from a long, comfortable sleep. He turned to the healer.

"Thank you, Uranus." He said, smiling. He was about to say more, but something in another room caught his eye. The foreboding, cold statues, scattered throughout the room before them, were shaking. His companions turned to see what he was looking at, and their faces, too, grew troubled. Soon a low rumble, growing steadily louder, emanated through the cave walls. Soon everything was violently vibrating.

"Dammit, what's happening?!" Cried a frustrated Hash.

Uranus looked around, head moving from side to side rapidly. "It appears that that monster, obviously not the Demon King, was holding the wards upon this cavern together. With his death, these protection wards must have collapsed." The others seemed to understand what he was saying, but he continued anyway. "Therefore, this cave will be collapsing on our heads in moments."

All in unison, they started running. Orsted led, with Straybow behind him, Uranus lagging behind somewhat, and Hash in the back, slowed down by his heavy armor. They ran through the room with the statues, and continued into a long tunnel. They ran and ran, but no end seemed to appear in front of them. Suddenly, a deafening noise broke out above them, as a piece of the cavern top crashed down onto the middle of the tunnel. Orsted turned to watch the destruction, and saw that the fallen rock had completely covered the tunnel path. He checked to see if everyone had managed to bypass the obstacle. Straybow was only a few feet behind him, also staring in shock at the destruction. Uranus had either stepped back to examine the fallen piece of ceiling, or had only barely made it. In the second case, that would mean...

"Hash!" Orsted called out, despite his inside instincts to stay calm. The hero had either gotten crushed under the boulder, or was stuck on the other side. Even if he was still safe, he probably couldn't hear his voice. There seemed to be no way for him to escape death...

Orsted wiped away unfallen tears. He turned and stared at the cavern maze in front of them. He knew that if he and his surviving companions did not get out fast, they would meet the same fate as the hero. "Dammit..." The warrior whispered, before turning once more to his comrades. "Straybow, Uranus, we must go."

Uranus turned to him with despair in his eyes, but nodded. "Let's run."

And run they did. They ran through halls, and long tunnels, and spaced out rooms. Many times, in his haste, Orsted (who was leading the group) had made a wrong turn, and after a few more minutes of running had come to a dead end. Then they had had to turn around. It seemed that they wouldn't make it out, but finally in the distance, as the whole cave was crashing down behind them, Orsted noticed light in the distance. He increased his speed even more, seeing as rocks were crashing down even around the entrance. He feared a larger one may have blocked it off. He could hear Straybow and Uranus's footsteps pounding on the cave ground with increased force, as well.

The last few moments in the cave happened very fast. Orsted heard a large rock letting loose right above the entrance, and knew that if he did not act fast, they would all be killed. He made one large dive and slid right beneath the falling rock and into the soil and dirt outside. Then he heard an extremely deafening noise, as the entire mountain collapsed on itself.

Once his ears recovered from the blast, he turned to look at his companions. Straybow was right beside him, covering his ears with his hands and cringing. Uranus was not to be seen, though. Orsted forced himself onto his knees and looked back at the destruction. The healer was not there. The young warrior was about to fall into despair when he heard a familiar voice.

"Looking for me, boy?" The voice was coming from Uranus himself, Orsted noticed when he turned to look where it was coming from. Orsted jumped up in a wave of happiness and rushed to embrace the older man. The magic user was surprised, but then understood the boy's emotions and smiled.

Soon, Straybow was with them, too, a large grin on his face. After everyone calmed down, Orsted asked, "How did you make it?"

Uranus only widened his smile. "Do not underestimate my magical powers, boy." The two best friends looked confused, so the older man elaborated. "I knew I was not going to make it, so I used up all my energy to teleport out. I may be old, but I'm not willing to die yet." He sighed, then, clearly exhausted. "I have used much of my magic power, and needed to draw some that it was not in my strength to take. I may not be able to use magic for a few days."

Orsted and Straybow did not care. "It doesn't matter. What's important is that you're alive!" Straybow was saying. Orsted felt exactly the same.

Then Uranus's face saddened. "About the princess..." He began, but Orsted shrugged it off.

"There was nothing we could do. Even Hash perished in trying to escape, there was no way we could find Alicia, as well." His appearance was composed, but inside he was torn apart. My betrothed... and Lucretia's greatest hero... both dead, just because we defeated some minor monster. But he knew, too, that it wasn't entirely his fault. The king would understand. They had been trying to help, not harm.

Straybown and Uranus were looking at him, concerned. The young swordsman broke the pressure by laughing. "Don't worry about me." He said, meaning every word. "Let's return to the castle and tell all this to the lord king."

His two companions nodded, and the three survivors walked steadily away from the rubble and destruction behind them.