Old Enemy

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind Ramza, "Might you be Ramza Beoulve? I haven't seen you in over a year and a half, but you haven't changed one little bit. Face me, boy. By killing you, I will attain vengeance for what you have done for me." It sounded male, and malicious.

Ramza turned around to face his opponent. The man was wearing a cloak, and held a sword in his hand. Suddenly, he struck without warning, giving the boy only a little time in order to bring up his Golden Escutcheon. The sword struck the shield, and sung a shrill note in Ramza's ear. But that didn't stop the man, if anything it increased whatever rage was driving him onwards.

"Who are you? If you are attacking me, I at least have the right to know why. What did I do to you in the past to cause you to need to fight me now? Please, tell me," demanded Ramza. Not that his pleas did anything. The man attacked once more, as quick as lightning. He knocked Ramza's Chaos Blade out of his hands, and it landed on the floor a few feet away.

The man stated, "You do not need to know any of this. For you are going to die here and now. My vengeance is finally going to be carried out. If you had only paid more attention to your weapon, you would still be fighting. Sad, you were quite the swordsman. To die without even showing me your full power, that's not the way I wanted it to happen. But, beggars can't be choosers, and now you die." He raised his sword high above his head. Ramza was about to bring up his shield, to block the shot. But suddenly, he heard the man screaming, and the feel of cloth against his exposed arm.

He opened his eyes to see who his rescuer was. Before him, stood Meliadoul, Save the Queen wet with the man's blood, and Agrias, a Ruin Blade in the ready position. Both women were apparently relieved to find him alive, as if they knew there was going to be an attack at that time and place.

Meliadoul turned around. "Thank God you're all right. I had a run in with those eight annoying thieves only a few minutes ago, and one of them accidentally let slip that their boss was planning to assault you. So I called Agrias, and the two of us came together to save you."

The man had begun to laugh. His shoulder was bleeding from Meliadoul's sword, and as he looked up, his eyes shone red, just like those others who had been in contact with Lucavi. It made the three back off a bit, but only a little, in shock from what they had seen. Then, the man put his left hand to his hood, and pulled it off. A collective gasp was let out by the trio.

"Wiegraff!" exclaimed Ramza, "But we killed you at Riovanes, when you were in the body of Velius. How can you be standing here before us now." He readied the Chaos Blade, in case the former Death Corps leader, and current demon decided to charge at them instantly.

"Simple. When Bloody Angel came back to life, she revived all five of us, in the depths of an abandoned mine, where the Leo Stone was originally found. We kept to the shadows, waiting for our master to return to us. Then, we learned that she had been killed, and Murond Death City was destroyed. So the five of us are now here to keep you from ending our plans once more. For without the Death City, there is no way to bring Altima back to life anymore," Wiegraff told them.

Meliadoul held up her sword, and yelled, "Demon! I will never forgive you for all of the death you have caused. Both you and Vormav are to blame for the Riovanes attacks, the same battle that led to that beast murdering the most important person to me in cold blood."

Wiegraff looked her in the eye. "Vormav's daughter, you still hold that against us? Figures, you humans are such simpering fools. I have gotten over the death of my sister, once I became Velius. I no longer need to fight Ramza to avenge her, but to avenge my own death at his hands."

"I am no longer his daughter!" screamed the woman, "He lost the right to call himself a father once he contacted Lucavi! If not then, when he murdered Izlude. I can never forgive a man who would murder his own son, transforming into a demon knowing the boy would fight him in order to stop the beast he had become. You will die by my hands, as long as my friends are by my side."


She used her Shellbust Stab on the opponent. Agrias followed up with Crush Punch, and Ramza began to charge up Ultima. Both women knew that they had to protect their leader while he was casting the spell. For he was completely defenseless, couldn't bring up his shield in order to parry attacks.

"You women, you wouldn't have died had you let the boy to me. But now, I have no choice but to destroy you as well. Pity, you're both still so young, and haven't even had much time to be women, only the whores you really are," Wiegraff stated, all while glaring at them maliciously.

Agrias informed him, "You should really look up the definition of whore in a dictionary. Both Mel and I are virgins, neither of us has had time to sleep with any men. And I suggest you look behind the two of us, you're going to be in for a surprise." She pointed to Ramza.

Wiegraff looked strait ahead, just in time to see Ramza finish charging. The Ultima Spell then struck the servant of Lucavi, burning him badly. But his superior powers kept the spell from killing him, and he glared at the group menacingly. Ramza and the girls put up their weapons. "You fools are much better than I though. Must come from working together. But the next time we meet will spell your death." Then, he sheathed his blade, and ran off towards the east.

"What should we do now?" asked Ramza, "This must be the battle Izlude was revived to fight. We will have to take care, we don't know if he's gained any new powers due to this revival."

Meliadoul looked at him, and nodded. Agrias did the same. Both girls were ready to battle at any time, knowing that the future of their group, and the rest of the world, rested in their hands.

- - - -

I just love the red eyes. Yeah, usually associated with monsters or demons, it makes sense for the people's eyes to turn red while under the influence. Heck, you can't see the eyes anyway in the game. Well, as to how the Zodiac Demons are back. Well, I remembered what Vormav and Elmdore said about Altima reviving them and allowing them to come and go without stones or suitable bodies. But since she died, the last two parts are no longer possible for the demons. Thus, they need the stones back from Ramza.