Chapter 14: Victory

The four warriors slowly limped out of the castle, with their friend's bodies in their hands. Patricia carried Lucia and Locke carried Cyrus, as they all, including Shadow, walked towards where Glenn's body was at, and set them there. Shadow stood a distance from them, though he felt nothing, he kept his head down in respect. The four warriors looked at him, and then slowly winced at the pain of knowing that Glenn, Lucia, and Cyrus were never coming back. They couldn't shake the feeling off. As they stood silently, the ground began to rumble, and slowly the castle began to topple over. Even when the castle had completely fallen, the rumble continued, as Shadow started heading towards the four warriors.

"Are you guys doing this?!"

"No… it isn't us…" responded Patricia as she looked in the direction of Agon's castle.

The castle's remained shot out in all directions, as Agon's body, only 10 times bigger now, emerged from it, surrounded in a dark red aura.

"I AM ETERNAL!!!" she bellowed out.

With her eyes flashing red, she focused her sights on Patricia. She extended her hand to grab her, but Shadow ran from behind and launched a large attack, that caused her, and all the other warriors to get knocked to the side. As Shadow tried to jump back, he was caught in Agon's grip, as she crushed him with her two hands.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he cried out.

"HOW FEARLESS ARE YOU NOW, SHADOW?!"

With a final tightening grip, she crushed his body, and threw him to the floor, as hell fell, not moving.

"S…Shadow…?" asked Patricia as small tears formed in her eyes. "Shadow… SHADOW!!!"

"We'll mourn him later, Patricia!" said Locke as he took out his dagger, the other which he had lost in the castle. "We need to take care of HER first!"

"We have to win…" said Celes, pulling out her Moon Blade.

Locke launched himself upwards towards Agon, glowing a bright and golden yellow. Celes did the same, as she hurled a large thunderbolt towards herself, and increased her speed. Patricia and Claribel watched from afar, as they were both paralyzed in fear. Claribel slowly fell down to her knees.

"She's… to strong…" she muttered, as she clutched her Slasher. "I won't stop fighting… I"D RATHER DIE THEN BE HER SLAVE AGAIN!"

Then she too followed Locke and Celes, as Patricia stood back, slightly shivering, as slowly, a flash of them all dying appeared before her eyes, as she collapsed to the ground.

"Everything we fought for…" she cried to herself. "How can it end like this… why did the prophet lie to us…"

"GAAAAAAH!!" cried out Locke, as his body became encased in a yellow crystal, and headed straight for Agon's stomach. With a quick slap, Agon knocked him to the ground, as Celes spun around her, trying to confuse her.

"Not this time!"

Agon waited for a few seconds, then pounded her hands on the ground, hitting and crushing Celes's legs.

"AAAAHH!!" she cried out, as she was on the floor, unable to move. "MY LEGS… I CAN'T FEEL… MY LEGS…"

From behind, Celes launched a large green beam, though compared to the monolithic Agon, it was the size of her hand, from behind and made impact, slightly pushing her forward. Agon slowly turned as she saw Claribel holding her weapon, and slowly smirked.

"You traitor…" her voice rumbled. "You call that MAGIC? THIS IS MAGIC!!"

From out of her fingertip, Agon sent a small black bubble, the size of head, at Claribel. Claribel leapt up and launched a beam at it, only the ball absorbed it, and before she could back down, trapped her with in it. Claribel struggled to get out, but the bubble started to glow black, then launched thousands of black thunderbolts at her that struck almost all parts of her body. The bubble disappeared, as Claribel fell to the ground, lifeless. Four small white balls came out from her body and healed the ones who were still alive.

"CLARIBEL!!!!" cried out Patricia from afar, as she had still refused to move. She knew in her mind she had to help Locke and Celes, but what could she do?

Agon turned in the direction of the crippled Celes.

"Your turn!"

Agon extended her hand, causing everything surrounding Celes to go dark. Small sparks began to form in her hand, as she was about prepared to shoot it out. Celes turned her head to look at her beloved once again, and for the last time. As she looked to Locke, he was running towards her. He threw himself in front of her, as Agon launched a large lightning bolt that hit Locke's stomach, pierced through it, and still hit Celes. They both collapsed next to each other, and slightly shivered, as the pain would soon end, signifying their death. They both, with what little energy they had left, looked at Patricia.

"HA!" laughed Agon. "What a worthless gesture."

"Patricia… you're our last… hope… don't… give up…" said Locke weakly.

"Don't… lose faith… you must… fight…" whispered Celes.

"Good… luck…" they both said.

Locke and Celes slowly dropped their heads and closed their eyes, dead. From out their bodies, two white balls lifted from each of their bodies, totaling four. Two headed and healed Patricia, giving her some extra strength, and the other two floated away in the other direction. The last hope for the world, the last remaining warrior was Patricia.
"Celes… Locke…" she whispered. "I'm sorry… I won't run…"

"You have seen me slaughter each and EVERYONE one of your friends. Even your 'fearless' leader, Shadow! What hope do you think you have?!"

"Shut up… SHUT UP!!!"

In anger, Patricia ran towards the monolithic Agon, and took out her Valkyrie. As Agon pounded her hands to the ground, Patricia leaped up and jumped on them, and ran up her arm. She turned and launched the arrows, lighted with Ice Magic, as they connected with Agon's hand, freezing and numbing it. She continued up her arm, jumped on her elbows and jumped up into Agon's face. From her hand, Patricia threw an ice blast at her left eye, also freezing it. Agon cried out in pain as Patricia dropped down, softening her landing by creating an Ice path. Patricia landed behind the pain distraught Agon, and formed large icicles behind of her. Agon stepped on them and quickly fell to the ground, still shrieking in pain, as Patricia launched herself up into the air.

"DIE AGON!!!" she cried out. "CLARIBEL! CYRUS! LOCKE! GLENN! CELES! LUCIA! SHADOW! THIS IS FOR YOU!!"

She focused all off her magic into one, as five large beams shot out of her body and struck Agon hard, as a large explosion arose and knocked Patricia away. She landed on the ground and looked up at the cloud of smoke, waiting to see Agon on the floor, dead. Patricia's eyes shook in terror, as Agon appeared from the cloud, though scathed, still alive and enraged.

"No one…" she said. "NO ONE HAS EVER HURT ME IN THIS FORM!!!"

Without warning, a large beam, twice the size of her own five beams but together, shot out from her hand and struck Patricia, until she was unable to stand and just collapsed.

"The prophet…" she said to herself. "He lied to us… why did he…"

"The true prophecy was that you were MEANT to lose. THAT is your fate."

"You… you're nothing but… a monster…"

"You call me a monster? No… Your wrong… I'm the devil."

"Everything… that we fought for… why does it have to end… like this…"

Patricia slowly dropped her head and closed her eyes softly, as she too died, along with the others. It was over, the last remaining warrior has fallen. Strangely, a white ball, intended for healing, lifted up from Patricia's body and drifted to the opposite side.

"Just as I had told them all… there is none alive… NONE alive that can beat me!"

With a certain pride, Agon lifted into the air feeling victorious, as slowly she headed into a random direction, to cause chaos on the first place she saw. As she began to float away, she was knocked to the ground by three large beams, a blue one, a red one, and a green one. Agon stood up and saw Shadow still standing, his hand extended towards her, his body battered and near broken, as he stood there breathing heavily.

"I won't let you get away…" he said with determination.

"You should have died along with your friends. Forget it, Shadow, you've lost. END OF STORY!"

"I'm taking you down…"

"Pathetic humans… you do nothing but struggle to survive so weakly! Why do you rebuild things when you know they will be destroyed again? Why do you cling to life when you know you can't live forever!? THINK OF HOW MEANINGLESS EACH OF YOUR LIVES ARE!!"

"People struggle to live… to survive. It's hope. It's what makes the humans what they are. Their hopes are what keep them alive…"

"Hopes, lives, dreams… I will destroy them ALL!"

"There will always be hope, Agon! There will always be dreams…"

"NO! I WILL FIND THEM! I WILL DESTOY THEM ALL! DESTOY DESTROY DESTROY!"

"Why do you do this Agon… why use your power to inflict nothing but hate…"

"For the fun of it!"

"Fun!?! What fun do you get out of it!?!"

"The sounds of a thousand voices screaming in unison are reason enough. You just witnessed it! What is the point of destruction if no precious lives are lost? Causing destruction is fun, to see humans fleeting away, yet deep inside of their hearts, they know they will soon get slaughtered."

"The only sounds of screaming and running away will be those of your own voice, Agon…"

A light shot out from the sky and came down and hit Shadow, surrounding him in a large white pillar of light. When it disappeared, Shadow was standing there, his Shadow Blade in his hand, followed by a white aura.

"Agon… your time has come… I'll slaughter you like you have slaughtered the chosen ones!!"

"You… you… you…" Agon stuttered in fear. "You're… the white knight…"

Agon started charging up a large black energy beam on one of her hands, as the other was still frozen.

"White Knight or not… YOU WILL STILL DIE BY MY HANDS!!!"

She launched the large blast at Shadow, the blast almost twice the size of her castle. In response, Shadow retaliated with a blast of his own, equal in size and diameter, as both of them clashed against each other. They each started placing all of their energy into them, to overcome one another. This alone would decide the fate of the world. Shadow continued to place all of his energy, even the new powers he had gain by the pillar of light, but his power was no match for her, as his blast was slowly being taken over by Agon's.

"YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR ME! YOU'RE SLIPPING!!" replied Agon, putting more and more force into hers, almost swallowing up Shadow's blast.

Shadow stood there, continuing to fight, gathering all his energy, but knew he was no match for her.

"I… I can't do this… I'm sorry…"

"Don't give up…" a voice whispered.

Shadow slightly turned his head over to see who it was. He saw an image of Claribel standing next to him as she placed his hand on his back.

"Don't give up, Shadow… we are counting on you…Shadow!" she said.

"It be'th up to thee. Do not fail us!" said another voice.

Glenn's image could also be seen standing next to him, as he too placed his hand on Shadow's back. "Never give'th up! You have the power! Be of strong mind and soul!"

"Don't let her win…" said another voice.

"Fight. This is our last chance. She can't win!" said a different voice.

The spirit of Cyrus and Lucia could be seen standing behind him.

"We're rooting for you, Shadow!" said Lucia.

"Stay strong Shadow!" said Cyrus. "We know you can do it!"

They also placed their hands on his back.

"Stay focused…" said a voice.

"Don't lose sight of your enemy… you can do it!" said another.

Celes and Locke's spirit could also be seen.

"You are our last hope…" said Celes.

"Hand in there, Shadow… we're with you…!" said Locke, as they both placed their hands on his back.

The last warrior was seen, as she stood next to Shadow, smiling. It was Patricia.

"For the world, Shadow…" she said. "Don't give up. We're with you… just keep fighting!"

"I… I…" Shadow was at a loss of words. He had, for the first time, felt something inside of him. Something that wasn't hate, sadness, or solitude. He couldn't explain it. "Thank you…"

He felt the power of the other warriors with him. He used it and released it, along with his own, and quickly began over taking Agon's energy blast. Agon looked at his eyes, no longer filled with hate or darkness, and trembled, as the flashes of the beams kept flickering, and she saw the images of all the seven warriors behind him.

"WHO… WHO ARE YOU!?!?!"

"My name is Shadow… and that's the LAST name you'll EVER HEAR!!!"

Finally, his blast overcame hers and struck Agon, as she slowly began fading away into the blast.

"YOU MAY HAVE WON!!!" she shrieked out. "BUT KNOW THIS! THERE ARE OTHER BEINGS LIKE MYSELF IN THIS WORLD! DON'T THINK YOU'VE WON!!"

And with a final shriek of pain, Agon had disintegrated into the blast, as the flashes had stopped, and the images of his friends had disappeared. He saw everything as it was, the broken down castle, and his friends all slaughtered on the ground. Dead.

"I… I did it…" he said. "But at the cost of my friends lives…" he clutched his chest tightly. "And… mine…"

The energy he had put into the blast had gone past his own limits, and started taking his life energy. Soon, he will dead. Another light shot down from the sky and hit the ground in front of Shadow, where the image of a man and woman was seen.
"You have done well, son…" the man said, who stood tall and proud, with his spiky brown hair, wearing the same armor as Shadow, and a bandana on his head.

"Who… who are you?" asked Shadow.

"My name is Edgar. Your father…"

"That can't be… I was brought to this world alone…"

"We had to abandon you…" said the woman, with green hair and wearing a long blue dress. "I am your mother, Fiona…"

"I… I don't understand…"

"Five hundred years ago, A woman named Zeal was terrorizing this world…" said Edgar.

"I… I know this story…." Said Shadow. "About the other chosen ones… It's the only thing I have been able to remember since I was small…"

"Well, what you don't know is that after me and the other Chosen ones had destroyed Zeal, since I had save Fiona from near dying… she felt a need to thank me…"

"We made love that day and nine months later…" said Fiona. "I had you…"

"Wait… it doesn't make sense… if that was true… I would be over four hundred years old…"

"After you were around four, you had slowly developed your magic powers, which ran strong in our family. We didn't know at the time, but Zeal had a daughter, which she named Agon. Agon was fully-grown and annihilated our town, to avenge her mother… everyone, except this one baby girl who managed to survive. Even the other warriors had died, and the only ones left were your mother, you, the baby girl, and I. That baby girl is her…"

Edgar lifted his hand and pointed at Claribel's dead body.

"Before Agon got to me and your mother… your mother had enough time to put you and her into a cave, which would stop time, meaning you nor her would age in there until the barrier was broken. I had left my sword and armor for when you were grown… and your mother had put a name on the girls leg, so you wouldn't have to name her when the barrier would be down. You were to remain there until five hundred years later, where you were both to grow up together, and maybe take down Agon…"

"But I did something wrong…" said Fiona. "Something went wrong, and the barrier broke before it was supposed to… Agon found the girl but she must have not seen you… you grew up so cold… and dark… The caves side effects were that they would wipe your memories… you don't even know your own name… Your name is Cl…"

"My name is Shadow…"

"It's time for us to go now, son…" said Edgar.

"Son… remember… we will always love…"

"Stop… those words will leave me with pain…"

"But…"

"Just… leave me be…"

Edgar and Fiona started to fade away, but before they had disappeared, a tear fell from Fiona's eye. The tear had fallen on a blade of grass, and had turned it brown. Shadow limped over to Claribel's body and lifted her up, and slowly pulled up the armor covering up her leg. The name was there. The name 'Claribel' was written on it. He set her down then slowly walked away, then stopped and pulled out his Shadow Blade.

"It's time, my friends… I leave you with this…"

He raised it up and closed his eyes, as he started to whisper a small incantation.

"Levante… Intero… Ferteo… Eterio…
Levante… Intero… Ferteo… Eterio…
Levante… Intero… Ferteo… Eterio…
LEVANTE INTERO FERTEO ETERIO!!!"


A small beam came down from the sky and hit the tip of his blade. The beam split into seven white beams. They headed for each of the seven warriors, struck them, and then lifted them up. They all opened their eyes, as they fell to the ground, and landed on their knees. All their warriors had been revived, and had been recovered to full health.

"Ow…" said Cyrus.

"We're back!?" asked Celes.

"This… be'th impossible…"

"Ah… life sucks…" said Locke. "Death is even worse…"

"This is amazing!!" cheered Lucia.

"We really ARE back!!!" said Claribel.

"Shadow… Shadow!!" cried out Patricia.

The seven warriors broke out of their jeers of coming back to life as they saw their hero, their friend dying slowly, as he clutched his chest.

"Are you ok, Shadow?" they asked.

"I've… been better…"

He fell to his knees, as he couldn't get up anymore. All the seven warriors focused their energy and attempted to heal him, to no avail.

"Why isn't this working!?!" asked Celes.

"It's just… my time…"

"Don't talk like that!" responded Claribel.

"Shadow… you can't leave us…" said Locke.

"Glenn…?"

"I'm here, Shadow…" said Glenn as he stepped forward.

"I want you to… lead them…"

"Waste not such precious words on me…"

"Glenn… your strong… brave… and a fine knight… please, Glenn…"

"I… I…" Glenn said in a stuttered manner. "Thank you… I will do my best…"

"Shadow…" said Claribel as she placed her he hands on Shadows. "Don't leave us…"

"We need, you, Shadow…" added Celes. "You have helped us so much… you can't just…"

"I'm not needed… here anymore… You have found your true powers… and have found each other as well… Lucia… you and Cyrus love each other… far more than friends… Patricia… your fear of frogs shouldn't stop you…. From loving Glenn now… Locke… don't be afraid to love Celes… as long as she is with you… she will be safe… and Claribel…" he said as he looked up into her eyes, remembering the words that she said on the previous night. "You'll find your true love… in time…"

"Shadow…" she responded as tears strolled down her cheeks.

"Don't forget, Shadow…" said Patricia. "You will always be remembered… and we will always lo…"

"Stop…" he had interrupted hearing that word once again. "Those words… will only leave me with more… pain…" his heart began racing, as his eyes slowly began to close.

"Farewell…" they said as they raised their weapons into the air. "Great… Shadow…."

"Farwell… my f…r…i…"

His eyes fully closed as he fell to the ground, lifeless, his Shadow Blade falling from his grasp. He had died. The warriors all dug a hole deep into the forest and buried him. They covered it up, and placed his Shadow Blade over it, as all the seven warriors had their heads lowered. Nothing but tears fell from Claribel, Patricia, Celes, and Lucia's eyes, as Locke, Cyrus, and Glenn balled their fists tight. Though they all showed it in different ways, they all felt the same way. Sad and angry, for they had lost their leader, and they knew that he would not be back.

"It's over… its really over…" whispered Celes.

"So the Prophet didn't lie…" said Cyrus. "Everything came out as he said. We won, and one of us was lost…"

"He protected us… all of us…" cried Patricia. "He even saved my life…"

"We all thought of him as heartless… yet he… he sacrificed his own life for us…" added Claribel.

"So deep down inside of that armor… he wasn't that bad…" said Lucia. "If only we were stronger…"

"Lucia… don't blame yourself…" said Locke. "We all fought as we could. Even Shadow did… but he had all of our will to help him… we helped him win…"

"So this is how it ends?" asked Patricia. "We just turn back and try to rebuild Albrook?"

"No!" said Glenn. "Shadow may be gone, but as Agon said… there are other beings like her in this world. We must do all that we can to stop them… We can't rest till all of them are destroyed… This isn't the end of our journey… it's only the beginning! Farewell, Shadow!"


They all agreed, as each of them headed into the forest, following Glenn. They all would keep fighting till they lost their lives. The destruction of Albrook and the death of Shadow will be forever in their minds, but they knew they had to move on. They would approach whatever came upon them, knowing that Shadow would be watching over them, but from above or from below? They will be destined to fight again, though Agon was their first enemy, it was their step up, and they will face their next battle with a new determination, a new strength, and a new unification.

The End?

By: Shadow

C.A.U