Just so everyone knows, this chapter was completely written by Alex Martinez, aka The Legendary Fencer. All credit goes to him!
The morning sun had risen. It was now a new day in the Withstanding City of Bazaar. The construction crews still worked on the wall that was damaged from Sin's surprise attack from the day before. The guards still stood at their posts at the Crystal where the four Maesters of Yevon, the Summoner, Lord Anthony, and his Guardians resided.
At the white marble balcony of the luxurious hotel that overlooked the quiet empty streets below was Alex, the newest Guardian to join the Summoner and his party. He was out of his crimson armor, wearing only the basic black uniform that he wore beneath it. The young warrior leaned over and against the wall of the balcony with his arms crossed in a nonchalant manner, watching the sunrise.
"Just when I thought my days as Guardian were over...." he thought to himself, "And now I'm given a second chance by Lord Anthony. I swear this time around.....things are going to be different with this pilgrimage. I won't let Lord Anthony meet the same fate as 'she' did. I'll die before I let that same monster get his hands on him."
Alex walked back into his room. No one else was in there with him. He had his armor placed on the other bed, along with his sharp fencing saber. He sat upon his own bed and in that moment he heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" He asked, not wanting anyone to disturb him.
"May I come in?" the person with the gentle voice asked from behind the door.
Alex recognized the voice was that of Anthony's, "Come in Lord Anthony."
The Summoner opened the door and entered. "Good morning," he said as he bowed his head slightly to show his respect, "I wanted to come and get you so we could leave."
"For the pilgrimage?" Alex inquired.
Anthony nodded, "Yes, it is time for us to continue and for you to begin once more Sir Alex." Anthony smiled to the young fencer. He was unbelievably pleased to have him join his quest to save the Earth from Sin.
Alex was still amazed at the fact that Anthony would be so kind to him when he had just met him the day before. There was definitely something about him that made him different from everyone Alex had known throughout his life.
"All right then. I'll be ready in few minutes. Wait for me outside the hotel entrance please." Alex said to him.
Anthony nodded and turned to leave the room, leaving Alex by his lonesome once more.
The other three Guardians were already outside of the Crystal Hotel waiting for Anthony and Alex.
Andre sat upon the steps of the stairway entrance, while Julie stood with her arms crossed, and Jesse had his hands in his pockets. All were patiently waiting.
Anthony had stepped out of the hotel making the Guardians turn to see him.
"Is he really going to be coming with us?" Jesse asked Anthony. Not very thrilled about the idea. Jesse wasn't completely trusting this new and supposedly famous warrior.
"He will. He did give me his word as Guardian after all." Anthony told him. Not long after he had said that, Alex arrived, now in his crimson armor and saber sheathed at his left side.
"Lets go." Alex simply said as he descended the steps and went past the Guardians and Summoner.
"But where to?" Andre asked.
"We don't even know which temple to head for." Julie added.
Alex turned to the four warriors. He seemed to be taking the reigns of the entire operation. "There are two villages that are practically next door to Bazaar. Both have Yevon Temples. The Ruby Temple of Evolu and the Thunder Temple of Shoken, " he informed them.
"Evolu?!" Anthony gasped. "Isn't that the village where the evolution of Aeons are being researched?!" He seemed excited to go to this village, catching Julie, Andre, and Jesse by surprise as they looked at him, bemused.
A sweat drop fell on Anthony's head as he coughed and regained his composure.
"Yes it is," Alex answered, "Its the closest village so we should head there first. That is, if it is all right with you milord."
"Tsk…this guy likes to play leader a lot." Jesse thought to himself.
"Yes, agreed. We should head for Evolu first. Let us go." Anthony said as he descended the stairs, his Guardians followed, and headed for the exit to Bazaar to continue their journey that was briefly put in the dark.
As the Summoner and his friends walked through the streets of the Withstanding City, Maester Dogurasu watched them from on top of a tall building. He sneered at them all, but had his eye on one in particular. The young fencer, Alex.
"Of all the luck! HE is a Guardian to Lord Anthony!" Dogurasu yelled out of frustration. "That brat will not be so easy to deal with unlike those other three."
From behind Dogurasu, a dark light emerged from the ground. From out of the light, three dark figures appeared. It was the same three cloaked guards from earlier before from when he had first came to Bazaar.
The three bowed to their master.
"Lord Dogurasu," one of them approached him; it was the male guard, "We have returned."
"So I see." Dogurasu replied, turning to face his minions. "And the Summoner?" he asked.
The male guard reached into his cloak and pulled out a small jeweled staff. It was dirty and in very bad shape. The guard then dropped it to the ground. "Summoner Diana of Astar will no longer pose a threat to you," he said as he bowed to one knee for his master, Dogurasu.
"Excellent," the Maester smirked, "Another Summoner dead..." Sadistic and benevolent intentions echoed throughout each word and each breath.
"What are your orders Lord Dogurasu?" The two female guards questioned in unison, bowing to the Maester.
"Do we go after Summoner Anthony?" the male guard asked.
"No. I have someone else that's waiting for them in Evolu. Nazrak has yet to fail in killing any Summoner coming her way. I am sure the time for that to happen is long in coming, but will come in due course," Dogurasu informed the three.
"I see. Then where shall we head to?" the male guard asked as he stood to his feet.
"There is another Summoner heading for Shoken. I want you to get her." Dogurasu smiled evilly.
"It will be done master," one of the female guards said to him.
"Yes. We will get the job done," the other female added.
"I should bring you up to date on what has happened," Dogurasu told them, "Summoner Anthony has recruited another Guardian."
"Another Guardian? Is it the Legendary Fencer you've warned us about?" the male guard inquired.
"Yes, and Shoken is his village, so while you are there killing the Summoner, I have something else planned for you," Dogurasu said as his evil smiled became wider.
The sun was shining brilliantly as the five warriors walked through the grassy plains and headed for Evolu, where the next Aeon awaited them.
Anthony walked slightly next to Julie, but still kind of ahead of her. Alex was not too far behind them. Jesse and Andre were only a couple steps behind him.
Jesse kept looking at Alex, who had a stolid look upon on his face. He couldn't understand the guy at all. To him, Alex was nothing, but a complete mystery. All he really knew about him was what he had learned the night before.
"Legendary Fencer and a Guardian?" he thought, "How can a kid like him possibly be so skilled at his age?"
As the five heroes continued walking, Alex picked up his pace and was now close to Anthony and Julie. Jesse thought this would be a good opportunity to get some information on this guy without having to worry about Alex hearing him.
"Hey Andre. Do you know anything about this Legendary Fencer? Where did he come from?" he asked him.
"I don't know much except from what I've heard from newspapers and rumors," Andre told him, "Why do you want to know? You don't think he's a good guy?"
"He just seems so cold to us, except for Anthony. And don't you find it odd that he's the one that tried to kill Dogurasu back in Bazaar?" he asked him.
"Well...it is a bit odd, but I'm sure that it's nothing but a misunderstanding. Sir Alex is no murderer," Andre stated, "Besides he has his reasons for acting the way he does now after everything that's happened to him."
"What exactly did happen? Whatever happened to the Summoner he first protected?" Jesse asked. His curiosity was getting the best of him.
"I don't know much about the Summoner either. Not even her name. But I hear that she was one of the most powerful Summoners that were ever chosen by Yevon. She was so close to obtaining the Final Aeon, but then..."
"But then...?" Jesse inquired.
Alex knew that Andre and Jesse were talking about him. His instincts were telling him so. He simply went on walking, ignoring the two.
"That's all I know about his first pilgrimage. Other than that, Sir Alex got the title 'Legendary Fencer' by winning hundreds and hundreds of battles in a matter of years. Rumor has it that his sword style is of the 'Knights of Siena' in Shoken." Andre continued to inform his friend.
"Knights of Siena?" one new question kept coming after another for Jesse.
"It's a school where Fencers, Samurai, Dark Knights, and all other type of swordsman are trained to fight. It's one of the best schools to go to become a warrior." Andre stated.
"No way!" Jesse softly yelled, "But he's just a kid. He's a baby compared to us all!"
Alex heard that remark and sneered with hatred, "This kid nearly wiped the floor with your ass back at Bazaar...."
"Yeah, well, it's also rumored that he was taught by a veteran swordsman himself who is actually Sir Au..." Andre was about to say when Alex turned around and cut off his sentence.
"What the hell are you mumbling about?" he asked irritably. He had had just about enough of their muttering and lack of pace.
Anthony and Julie stopped for a moment.
"Hurry up! You're slowing us all down!" Alex ordered.
"Hmph...There he goes again…" Jesse mumbled as he crossed his arms and began to pick up the pace.
"Sorry Sir Alex...." Andre apologized as he scratched the back of his bald head, embarrassed.
"Not as sorry as you would have been if there was a fiend attack and your Summoner had ended up dead." Alex scolded them.
"What is your problem kid?" Jesse asked him, getting frustrated with all of Alex's snide comments.
"First of all, I am NOT a kid. Second, my problem is I don't like wasting time while people are afraid of the next time Sin attacks while we, the Summoner and Guardians, are not doing a thing about it because you're slowing us down." Alex told them. He was definitely taking a demanding leadership role in the group. It was only due to his experience in the field.
"Sir Alex does have a point you guys," Julie added, as a way to make sure things didn't get worse between them, "We shouldn't worry about anything else now, but vanquishing Sin."
"Yes. We should get to Evolu as soon as possible," Anthony also added.
"We're very sorry Sir Alex." Andre apologized again.
"Let's just keep going." Alex said as he turned around and started to walk again, "The Aeon may be waiting for us, but Sin isn't."
Jesse gave Alex a dirty look toward the Legendary Fencer and thought. "Urgh!! I can't stand that guy!!"
Anthony looked down, nodding his head slowly as Julie sighed and stated "Its going to be a LONG pilgrimage..." The two then followed Alex.
Andre did the same as well. While Jesse stood where he was, still in thought.
"What the hell is it that makes him so mean?!" Jesse felt like he wanted to finish the fight that they had back in Bazaar and see who'd get the last laugh, but he put it aside and eventually followed everyone else.
"How much longer to Evolu?" Anthony asked Alex, who was slightly ahead of him.
"Not that far milord. We should arrive soon enough." Alex answered. However, he stopped his walk and turned to the Summoner. "Lord Anthony, when I mentioned Evolu to you, you seemed very excited about it? Why is that?"
Anthony smiled as he continued walking, this time getting in front of Alex, while answering, "Well I've heard that there are scientists from all over the world that research the evolutions of Aeons. While I was in school back at Orlami, I've always read the books that had their own theories as to how it works and I've always wondered if it was true."
"Ahh I see." Alex said, catching on to Anthony's story, "You want to know more about it and see if it's true with your own eyes."
Anthony turned to his Guardians. With his hands behind his back and a gentle smile, he said, "Yes! I would! I want to learn everything I can while at Evolu and...." Anthony's smile turned into a face filled with fear as he yelled, "Sir Alex! Look out!"
"What?!" he gasped, as he then saw something large leap at him from the sides out of the corner of his eye. He swiftly jumped out of the way and unsheathed his saber. "We've got company!" Alex yelled as he stood and looked to the other Guardians.
The Guardians looked to the side to see a fiend that they had encountered before; the fearsome Duel Horn.
"Oh great! Not another one of those!" Andre yelled as he took out his deadly lance and went into his fighting stance.
"Roooggghhh!!!!!!!" the roar of other monsters could be heard around them. They were surrounded by a pack of menacing fiends. Each one different. There was the Duel Horn, two Fangs, a creature that looked like an Element, but it was white completely all around. Not to mention that there were two new monsters of a different species.
These monsters were the same in appearance. They were as big as a full sized Komodo Dragon and also seemed to resemble the animal itself. They had scales all over themselves to serve as armor. They were both colored in silver and brown all over.
"What are those things?!" Julie asked pointing at the lizard-like monsters.
"Whatever they are, they're going down!" Jesse said as he charged against one of the two creatures with his sword.
"You idiot! That won't work!" Alex yelled at him.
"Hii-yahh!!!!" Jesse cried as he slashed down with his sword against the monster's neck. The creature however, barely even flinched. "What?!" Jesse gasped.
Angered, the monster delivered a head butt at Jesse in retaliation.
"Ahhh!!!!" Jesse groaned as he was pushed back to where the others were standing.
"Jesse!!" Anthony cried as he rushed over to him and helped him up.
Jesse rubbed the side of his face where he was hit. He was bruised and there was also some blood dripping from his lip. "I don't get it! I made a direct hit and nothing!" he grimaced.
"Those fiends are called Vouivre!" Alex told them, "They're fiends with strong defense due to their armor! Just leave them to me! Sir Andre, deal with the Fangs!"
"Right!" Andre nodded as he headed for the fiends.
"Madam Julie, deal with the Element! This one is weak against fire!" Alex informed her.
"I'm on it!" Julie responded as she rushed over to her opponent.
"Sir Jesse, you and Lord Anthony deal with the Duel Horn!" Alex finished briefing the party and went to fend with the armored fiends.
"He just loves to hear himself talk doesn't he...?" Jesse whined. He put it aside and went off to battle against the Duel Horn with Anthony.
The White Element cast a spell that was exactly alike from Julie's Blizzara spell. Dozens of sharp and pointed icicles formed in front and behind it to then shoot out and strike the Black Mage.
Julie narrowly avoided a few of the icicle by jumping away from each one, however she had been struck by one that passed her face, leaving a small cut on her right cheek.
"That does it..." she hissed as she saw more ice spears coming at her. Julie decided to counter it with a spell of her own.
"Fire!!" she pointed her palm forward, unleashing a sphere of flame at the ice spell.
The Fire and Blizzara spells collided against one another, canceling each other out, but at least Julie hadn't gotten hit by more icicles. She then incanted another spell.
She swiped her arm to the side as she yelled, "Fira!!!" With the spell having been said, several pillars of thick orange flames struck up from beneath the White Element. Within seconds, the fiend was no more. It had dematerialized into pyreflies and ascended to the Heavens above.
Andre did battle with the agile fiends, Fang. He had attempted to slice through each of them with his lance, but unfortunately, both monsters were too swift for the Lancer.
"Damn it all!" Andre cursed. He then decided to take a different approach.
Both of the Fangs slowly approached Andre, acting like a stalker intimidating its prey before it strikes. Both Fangs then pounced toward him in unison, in an attempt to pin him down.
But this time Andre was too fast for them. He had leaped high into the air to avoid their assault. He held his lance high above his head as it glowed with orange energy. "Breaking Slice!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs as he descended from the skies with high speed and slammed the blade of his lance into the ground, unleashing the orange energy and rid himself of his enemies.
The Fangs fell to the ground lifelessly. Their bodies morphed into pyreflies, floating up to the skies as well.
The Legendary Fencer, Alex dealt with the Vouivre monsters.
One of them had breathed a ball of flame toward the young warrior. Alex was able to dodge it by rolling out of the way. "Too slow." he smirked confidently as he rushed toward the fiend with his blade and performed a fencing lunge attack, landing the edge of his saber into the throat of the monster. The armor in the area began to crack, bit by bit, like it was glass. Alex removed his saber from the creature and watched it fall and become nothing more, but pyreflies.
"Too easy." Alex said. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the second Vouivre making its assault by lashing out its long scaly tail at him. Alex ducked away in time, barely avoiding the attack. He then leaped away and began one of his fencing techniques.
Alex raised his saber to the air, it began to glow with blue energy. He ran toward his enemy and made a quick slash. The fiend became trapped in a cage of ice. To finish it off Alex made a lunge, in a fencing type manner, with his weapon and cracked the ice, "Freezing Cut!" This destroyed the monster as well.
Meanwhile, Anthony and Jesse dealt with the strongest creature of the pack, the Duel Horn.
Jesse held his sword in front of him horizontally. He ran his other hand across the blade, creating a yellow light around it. Just as he does for his Gusting Wave attack, Jesse held his sword back at his side. "Tornado Spin!!!" he yelled, while beginning to spin around. As each second passed, the speed picked up. The increasing velocity was so fast, that a tornado was being to be created. Soon enough, Jesse swung his sword, launching the cyclone at his opponent.
The tornado enveloped itself around the Duel Horn and lifted it up in the air, making it vulnerable to another attack.
"Now Anthony!" Jesse yelled to him.
"Right!" Anthony responded as he prepared to summon.
Anthony held his lunar staff, with both hands, in front of him, as he closed his eyes. He then pulled his arms separately away from another; the arm with the staff held high into the air as the other pointed forward. In that instant, four round violet colored magic circles appeared, rotating around him. Magic was emitting from the ground below him. Out of the four circles, four comets shot up straight into the sky, coming together as it hit the clouds. They created an opening in the clouds, where an immense being flew downward.
The Winged Lord of the Skies, Valefor flew down from the skies and to his Summoner.
"Valefor! Perform your Overdrive! Energy Ray!!" he ordered him.
"Very well…" Valefor nodded. Valefor lifted into the air, back somersaulting. He pulled his head back, as beams and rays of purple and golden light began to come together within his beak. He then jerked his head forward, releasing an immense beam at the monster. A huge explosion occurred, leaving the Duel Horn eradicated.
The heroes all gathered together, along with winged Aeon, Valefor. It was another battle won gloriously.
"They wasn't so tough," Andre smirked.
"With each battle won, we only grow more powerful," Julie commented.
"That was an excellent strategy you came up with Sir Alex," Anthony complimented his newest and youngest Guardian.
"It was nothing, Lord Anthony," Alex brushed it off, "But something bothers me though."
"What is it?" Jesse asked.
"Some of those fiends we fought are not of this region," Alex informed him, "The Vouivre are usually found in warmer areas like in Arjuna. And White Elements are always found in the Frost Alps near Juno. There has never been a case where fiends like that are found in this region."
Julie and Andre looked at the young warrior amazed at his knowledge of fiends and locations.
"Wow...." was all Andre could say.
"He really has been everywhere." Julie commented.
Jesse couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was getting a little tired of hearing his friends praising him. "If what you're saying is true, than what is it exactly that you are implying?" Jesse asked him, hiding his jealousy.
"I really don't know what to make of the situation. I suppose it was just a rare coincidence," Alex shrugged.
"There is no such thing as coincidence…" Valefor spoke to Anthony, "…Only the inevitable."
Anthony looked up to his Aeon, "Hmm…"
"Let's just keep going. Evolu is only a few miles away from here."
However, little did any of the heroes know, someone watched them from a distance far away.
A silhouette figure levitated in the air. One could tell this figure was female for the dress that she was wearing was long and as was her long hair which was blowing to the side due to the cool wind.
"Those must be my newest victims," she said, "Such power they have to be able to pass my first trap. And that Summoner...he has the greatest power of them all. That must be the one that Lord Dogurasu informed me about. This should be fun. I haven't been able to enjoy myself for so long! Hehehehehe!!" The woman snickered as she vanished into the darkness.
