AN: Welcome to another exciting chapter of the story. When we last saw our
heroes, they were fighting a terrible monster when a blinding light
interceded. Let's find out what's going on, shall we?
**********************
Chapter Two...Friends or Foes?
Rosa was the first to recover her sight. She found herself sitting on the grass, still in front of the castle. She looked around, stunned by what she saw. The giant had been vanquished. In its place were a group of strangers. There were five of them: three men and two women.
One of the women had green hair, just like Rydia's, though the woman's hair was a bit longer and in a ponytail. The one closest to her was a young man with rugged clothing and wearing a bandana around his head.
The other woman donned a cape and had blonde hair. Another man was very muscular with blonde hair that was short on the top and pulled into a quaint ponytail in the back.
Rosa noticed the fifth person only because she heard footsteps. She turned to see a man. He had longer blonde hair that the previous man, though he looked almost looked exactly like him. He donned a royal blue armor with a blue cape flowing behind him. But the queen of Baron took all this in quickly, for then she noticed he was holding a sword in his right hand.
She immediately panicked when she saw him bending in her direction. She let out a blood-curdling scream...
Cecil heard his wife scream, but was still without his sight and unable to help her. "Kain, can you see?" he whispered desperately to his friend, as he knew Kain was beside him.
"Almost. Give me a second."
Kain's vision was just returning. He looked around quickly and spotted Rosa. She was in a sitting position on the ground. Standing over her was an armored man carrying a mighty fine sword. Suspecting the worst and acting on instinct alone, Kain performed his most powerful technique. He swiftly jumped in the air and prepared his spear to strike...
"NO! Edgar, look out!"
The armored stranger leaped out of the way. Kain's spear struck deep into the ground where he once stood. Then the man turned and swung his sword, only to clash with the Crystal sword. Everyone else had regained their sight as well, and it appeared as though a standoff was inevitable.
Edge and Yang faced up against the muscular blonde, who seemed impressingly calm. He even sneered at his opponents, which infuriated Edge. But the ninja underestimated his opponent, and wasn't prepared for the fighter's power. The stranger brought his hands up in a diamond shape and closed his eyes. There was a glow, then he unleashed a devastating attack that knocked the ninja and martial artist several yards.
Meanwhile, the rugged foreigner faced off with Rydia. She cast a powerful fire spell, but she didn't realize that the man had a magic wall around him, so she found the spell coming at her instead. She managed to get out of the way just in time.
Polom and Porom went up against the blonde haired warrioress. They cast one of their twin spells, but to their amazement, the spell was absorbed by the woman's sword. She hadn't even been affected by the magic. She took a step forward, sword raised for attack.
Edward and the green-haired woman looked at each other. Edward was a little worried about facing the woman. He knew he wasn't the best fighter in the world, and he really didn't like the idea of battling this woman, of whom he knew nothing about. She might be able to destroy him with a simple gesture.
She looked at him and smiled slightly. "You don't really want to fight me, do you?" she asked suddenly. Edward shook his head. "Then we won't. I don't want to fight you either. Violence only leads to the loss of innocent lives." This made sense. Edward nodded in agreement.
"We should stop them from fighting, too," he suggested.
"Right. Allow me." The woman raised her arms to the sky and closed her eyes. Suddenly there was a bright glow surrounding her body. As Edward stood gaping, the woman...changed. Then she flew through the air. She knocked the muscle and the rougue to the ground, took the other woman's sword, and then came to a stop between Cecil and his opponent.
"What the—" Cecil exclaimed. By this time, everyone came to stand next to their friends. Rydia looked on in total shock, as did Rosa. The twins looked like they were scared stiff. Edge, Yang, and Kain looked at the woman with awe.
"Why did you do that?" the muscle man demanded to know.
"This fighting is pointless. Think about it. Why fight when we can work together? We are on the same side, for goodness sake!"
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Edge demanded.
"Where saving your tail, it seems!" the muscled man retorted. The two glared at each other for a second before Rosa spoke.
"Then why did you raise that sword at Rosa?" Cecil asked the caped figure.
"My lady, I was not raising a sword at you. I merely had it in my hand. My intention was only to aid you in standing." The man sheathed his sword. Cecil gazed at him for a second, then followed suit. Everyone seemed to relax a little bit.
"How...how is it that you can do that?" Rydia asked, coming to stand by the still glowing woman.
"I can morph into this form at will. I am part esper." Seeing Rydia's confused look, she quickly explained about espers. Then she took a deep breathed and changed back to her original form.
"I think we should all go inside. We have A LOT to talk about," Cecil suggested.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A few moments later, they all gathered in the conference room. "Alright, I suppose the first thing to do would be to introduce ourselves," Cecil said. "I am the King Cecil of Baron and this is my wife Rosa."
"I am Edge, King of Eblan," Edge stated flatly, not removing his eyes from the muscled stranger's.
"I am Kain," Kain said simply, not one for long introductions.
"My name is Rydia," the caller introduced herself.
Yang bowed deeply and introduced himself, "King Yang of Fabul."
Edward introduced himself in turn, "King Edward of Damcyan."
"I am Porom, white wizard from Mysidia, and this is my brother, Polom. He's a black wizard," Porom said politely.
"And don't you forget it!" Polom stated matter-of-factly.
Cid, who had been watching Edge glare at the stranger this whole time, finally spoke up. "Oh, stop looking at the lad, you ol' fuddy duddy," he said. This made the strangers laugh out loud. "My name is Cid, Master Engineer."
The caped man stood. "We are pleased to meet you all. I am King Edgar from Figaro, and this is my twin brother, Sabin."
"Sabin, eh?" Edge said, still not relinquishing his gaze.
"Yes. I am Sabin. You got a problem with that?" Sabin stated coldly. Edgar gave him a harsh look.
"Brother..."
"Ahem. If you three are quite finished now." The blonde woman stood. "I am Celes."
"I am pleased to introduce thyself. My name ist Cyan." The warrior bowed when he stood.
"My name is Locke," the rugged warrior with the bandana said.
"Did we miss anyone?" Edge asked.
"Ahem." The green haired woman stood and smiled.
"Oh...sorry," Edge apologized almost immediately
"Terra."
"Terra....that's a pretty name," Edge stated.
"Thanks." Terra smiled again.
"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way for the time being, we should get done to business," Edgar said, taking almost immediate charge of the situation. Cecil looked up at him. "Of course, that is, with your permission, King Cecil."
"By all means. I was hoping for an explanation." Edgar looked the part of a born leader, like Edge. Cecil almost felt out of place in his own castle. He concentrated on what Edgar was saying.
"Very well, then." Edgar moved around the room as he spoke. "We came here from the future. In pursuit of a very powerful demon by the name of Shefiel who has wrecked havoc on the countryside, toppling buildings, scaring people and such. That giant you saw was only one of the demon's minions. We are looking for the leader itself."
"The problem is that we don't know who the demon is just yet. We have a sinking suspicion we won't like him though," Sabin added. "But that won't stop us from stomping him into oblivion."
"Truth be told, we could use your help. We don't know this particular country, or for that matter, this continent. Our home is pretty far away," Edgar continued.
"We aren't just going to be tour guides! We want this demon, too!" Edge stated, standing and looking at Edgar fiercely.
"Calm down, Edge," Cecil said.
"If that giant was only the beginning, then this thing is not only a threat to you, but to us as well, and I for one am not going to sit around and watch. I demand that we fight, too!"
Edgar looked at Edge and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." That seemed to calm him down a bit. Edgar turned to Cecil. "King Cecil—."
"Just Cecil will do."
"Cecil, we have friends that are arriving soon. They dropped us off and had to leave again. Is it alright if they land near Baron?"
"But of course."
"Thank you."
"So we should be expecting an airship landing?" Cid asked. Edgar nodded. "Alright. I guess I'd better go clear some space outside." He stood and left the room.
"Cid takes care of the airship landings here," Cecil explained.
"So you have airships here?" Terra asked. "I thought the Falcon was the only one."
"I should say not, Cecil's Red Wings are here as well," Kain said, finally speaking after a long silence.
"Great. Now the Falcon can take a break," Sabin chuckled.
"Yes. Setzer will think he's in heaven," Edgar smiled at his brother.
"King Edgar—," Rosa began.
"Please call me Edgar," Edgar said cheerfully to the queen.
"Okay. Edgar, I want to thank you for helping us."
"No problem at all, Highness." Edgar bowed.
****************
To Be Continued...
****************
AN: That concludes this chapter. Looks like almost everyone is getting along in this calm before the storm. How long until our heroes face another batch of monsters? Find out in the next chapter! Review please. I love to hear your comments. :o) .
**********************
Chapter Two...Friends or Foes?
Rosa was the first to recover her sight. She found herself sitting on the grass, still in front of the castle. She looked around, stunned by what she saw. The giant had been vanquished. In its place were a group of strangers. There were five of them: three men and two women.
One of the women had green hair, just like Rydia's, though the woman's hair was a bit longer and in a ponytail. The one closest to her was a young man with rugged clothing and wearing a bandana around his head.
The other woman donned a cape and had blonde hair. Another man was very muscular with blonde hair that was short on the top and pulled into a quaint ponytail in the back.
Rosa noticed the fifth person only because she heard footsteps. She turned to see a man. He had longer blonde hair that the previous man, though he looked almost looked exactly like him. He donned a royal blue armor with a blue cape flowing behind him. But the queen of Baron took all this in quickly, for then she noticed he was holding a sword in his right hand.
She immediately panicked when she saw him bending in her direction. She let out a blood-curdling scream...
Cecil heard his wife scream, but was still without his sight and unable to help her. "Kain, can you see?" he whispered desperately to his friend, as he knew Kain was beside him.
"Almost. Give me a second."
Kain's vision was just returning. He looked around quickly and spotted Rosa. She was in a sitting position on the ground. Standing over her was an armored man carrying a mighty fine sword. Suspecting the worst and acting on instinct alone, Kain performed his most powerful technique. He swiftly jumped in the air and prepared his spear to strike...
"NO! Edgar, look out!"
The armored stranger leaped out of the way. Kain's spear struck deep into the ground where he once stood. Then the man turned and swung his sword, only to clash with the Crystal sword. Everyone else had regained their sight as well, and it appeared as though a standoff was inevitable.
Edge and Yang faced up against the muscular blonde, who seemed impressingly calm. He even sneered at his opponents, which infuriated Edge. But the ninja underestimated his opponent, and wasn't prepared for the fighter's power. The stranger brought his hands up in a diamond shape and closed his eyes. There was a glow, then he unleashed a devastating attack that knocked the ninja and martial artist several yards.
Meanwhile, the rugged foreigner faced off with Rydia. She cast a powerful fire spell, but she didn't realize that the man had a magic wall around him, so she found the spell coming at her instead. She managed to get out of the way just in time.
Polom and Porom went up against the blonde haired warrioress. They cast one of their twin spells, but to their amazement, the spell was absorbed by the woman's sword. She hadn't even been affected by the magic. She took a step forward, sword raised for attack.
Edward and the green-haired woman looked at each other. Edward was a little worried about facing the woman. He knew he wasn't the best fighter in the world, and he really didn't like the idea of battling this woman, of whom he knew nothing about. She might be able to destroy him with a simple gesture.
She looked at him and smiled slightly. "You don't really want to fight me, do you?" she asked suddenly. Edward shook his head. "Then we won't. I don't want to fight you either. Violence only leads to the loss of innocent lives." This made sense. Edward nodded in agreement.
"We should stop them from fighting, too," he suggested.
"Right. Allow me." The woman raised her arms to the sky and closed her eyes. Suddenly there was a bright glow surrounding her body. As Edward stood gaping, the woman...changed. Then she flew through the air. She knocked the muscle and the rougue to the ground, took the other woman's sword, and then came to a stop between Cecil and his opponent.
"What the—" Cecil exclaimed. By this time, everyone came to stand next to their friends. Rydia looked on in total shock, as did Rosa. The twins looked like they were scared stiff. Edge, Yang, and Kain looked at the woman with awe.
"Why did you do that?" the muscle man demanded to know.
"This fighting is pointless. Think about it. Why fight when we can work together? We are on the same side, for goodness sake!"
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Edge demanded.
"Where saving your tail, it seems!" the muscled man retorted. The two glared at each other for a second before Rosa spoke.
"Then why did you raise that sword at Rosa?" Cecil asked the caped figure.
"My lady, I was not raising a sword at you. I merely had it in my hand. My intention was only to aid you in standing." The man sheathed his sword. Cecil gazed at him for a second, then followed suit. Everyone seemed to relax a little bit.
"How...how is it that you can do that?" Rydia asked, coming to stand by the still glowing woman.
"I can morph into this form at will. I am part esper." Seeing Rydia's confused look, she quickly explained about espers. Then she took a deep breathed and changed back to her original form.
"I think we should all go inside. We have A LOT to talk about," Cecil suggested.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A few moments later, they all gathered in the conference room. "Alright, I suppose the first thing to do would be to introduce ourselves," Cecil said. "I am the King Cecil of Baron and this is my wife Rosa."
"I am Edge, King of Eblan," Edge stated flatly, not removing his eyes from the muscled stranger's.
"I am Kain," Kain said simply, not one for long introductions.
"My name is Rydia," the caller introduced herself.
Yang bowed deeply and introduced himself, "King Yang of Fabul."
Edward introduced himself in turn, "King Edward of Damcyan."
"I am Porom, white wizard from Mysidia, and this is my brother, Polom. He's a black wizard," Porom said politely.
"And don't you forget it!" Polom stated matter-of-factly.
Cid, who had been watching Edge glare at the stranger this whole time, finally spoke up. "Oh, stop looking at the lad, you ol' fuddy duddy," he said. This made the strangers laugh out loud. "My name is Cid, Master Engineer."
The caped man stood. "We are pleased to meet you all. I am King Edgar from Figaro, and this is my twin brother, Sabin."
"Sabin, eh?" Edge said, still not relinquishing his gaze.
"Yes. I am Sabin. You got a problem with that?" Sabin stated coldly. Edgar gave him a harsh look.
"Brother..."
"Ahem. If you three are quite finished now." The blonde woman stood. "I am Celes."
"I am pleased to introduce thyself. My name ist Cyan." The warrior bowed when he stood.
"My name is Locke," the rugged warrior with the bandana said.
"Did we miss anyone?" Edge asked.
"Ahem." The green haired woman stood and smiled.
"Oh...sorry," Edge apologized almost immediately
"Terra."
"Terra....that's a pretty name," Edge stated.
"Thanks." Terra smiled again.
"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way for the time being, we should get done to business," Edgar said, taking almost immediate charge of the situation. Cecil looked up at him. "Of course, that is, with your permission, King Cecil."
"By all means. I was hoping for an explanation." Edgar looked the part of a born leader, like Edge. Cecil almost felt out of place in his own castle. He concentrated on what Edgar was saying.
"Very well, then." Edgar moved around the room as he spoke. "We came here from the future. In pursuit of a very powerful demon by the name of Shefiel who has wrecked havoc on the countryside, toppling buildings, scaring people and such. That giant you saw was only one of the demon's minions. We are looking for the leader itself."
"The problem is that we don't know who the demon is just yet. We have a sinking suspicion we won't like him though," Sabin added. "But that won't stop us from stomping him into oblivion."
"Truth be told, we could use your help. We don't know this particular country, or for that matter, this continent. Our home is pretty far away," Edgar continued.
"We aren't just going to be tour guides! We want this demon, too!" Edge stated, standing and looking at Edgar fiercely.
"Calm down, Edge," Cecil said.
"If that giant was only the beginning, then this thing is not only a threat to you, but to us as well, and I for one am not going to sit around and watch. I demand that we fight, too!"
Edgar looked at Edge and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." That seemed to calm him down a bit. Edgar turned to Cecil. "King Cecil—."
"Just Cecil will do."
"Cecil, we have friends that are arriving soon. They dropped us off and had to leave again. Is it alright if they land near Baron?"
"But of course."
"Thank you."
"So we should be expecting an airship landing?" Cid asked. Edgar nodded. "Alright. I guess I'd better go clear some space outside." He stood and left the room.
"Cid takes care of the airship landings here," Cecil explained.
"So you have airships here?" Terra asked. "I thought the Falcon was the only one."
"I should say not, Cecil's Red Wings are here as well," Kain said, finally speaking after a long silence.
"Great. Now the Falcon can take a break," Sabin chuckled.
"Yes. Setzer will think he's in heaven," Edgar smiled at his brother.
"King Edgar—," Rosa began.
"Please call me Edgar," Edgar said cheerfully to the queen.
"Okay. Edgar, I want to thank you for helping us."
"No problem at all, Highness." Edgar bowed.
****************
To Be Continued...
****************
AN: That concludes this chapter. Looks like almost everyone is getting along in this calm before the storm. How long until our heroes face another batch of monsters? Find out in the next chapter! Review please. I love to hear your comments. :o) .