Five Demons

Scouting reports from Tess revealed the location of the abandoned castle that Vormav was using for a base. It was located in a field between Zeltenia and the Nelvenski Temple. She found all that out from the talk of hired tavern thugs that the Lucavi Demons were hiring following the loss of Deverca's gang. Ramza then packed up the whole camp and began to head towards it.

On the day of December 20th, the party arrived at the castle. It's young leader looked at the stone walls, determination on his face. Soon, they would defeat the demons who were trying to kill them, and then take over the world. When that was done, they had plans to take a ship to a new land, and start a whole new life for themselves, far removed from the problems in Ivalice.

Ramza opened the door, and went inside. The team followed close behind, weapons drawn. Meliadoul watched him from her marching position, which was right behind her leader in line. She would not allow anything to happen to him, even if it involved giving up her life to do so. The Divine Knight shot a look at Izlude, who gave her an encouraging smile. He had confidence in her abilities, and knew that she and Ramza were the only hope the party had for survival in the coming battle.

The corridor was lit by candles on each side of the wall. But suddenly, they saw a large chamber ahead of them, which was pitch black. Not wanting to fall into a trap, Ramza called a halt. He took out his tinder box and flint, and then began the process of lighting a small fire to show what was ahead. If they had enough time, and were outside, he would just ask Meliadoul to cast Fire 1. But charging would leave them open to an attack, as well as the chance of burning the castle down around them.

"Well, well, well," a voice suddenly said, "You have finally come. But now your journey ends, Ramza Beoulve and party. Death has finally caught up with you all. So save yourself the trouble and hand over the Zodiac Stones, then maybe I might just spare your pathetic lives."

Lights came on in front of them. As the chamber began to light up, Ramza could now see all five of his enemies before them. Suddenly, he could see the Scorpio, Aries, Gemini, Capricorn, and Leo stones flying out of his pack, and into the hands of their old wielders. The five began to glow, and then regained their demon forms. Ramza pulled out Paladin, ready for the final battle.

"That sword, it's the Holy Sword Paladin, am I not correct? The blade that Collin Beoulve used to destroy us over twelve hundred years ago. But you have no idea how to use it, I'm sure of that. Fool, the full power of the sword is lost, you cannot repeat the victories of the past," Hashmalum boomed.

Ramza screamed, "You have no idea how much I have learned! Maybe I cannot use the full power of this weapon, yet, but desperation can bring out the powers that humans are unable to tap in normal moments. So if you try and fight me, you will surely lose, Vormav!"

Hashmalum looked in Quecklain's eyes. "Charge him! Kill him! But take the other Zodiac Stones. In the future, we can summon our allies the second they are reborn and grow to a suitable age." With that, Quecklain began to move towards Ramza, ready for the kill.

But the boy knew instantly what to do, the meaning of the words of the voice. Meliadoul gripped his hand, as he held onto the hilt of the blade. Suddenly, the sword began to glow, causing the air around them to distort and turn gold. Magic was beginning to fly from it. The spell headed strait for Quecklain, killing him. The two then turned towards Velius, and began to concentrate again. He too died, as did Zalera and Adramelk in turn. Then, the only one left was Hashmalum.

"Maybe I am the last," he growled, "But I am the strongest. All I must do is separate the two of you, and then you will be unable to cast the spell." He charged, knocking Meliadoul over. But before he could kill the girl, she managed to blind him with a Fire spell right in the face. Meliadoul then feinted to the side, and ran back to join Ramza in casting the final spell on the final demon.

"Strategy is more important than strength. A stronger fighter can fail if his enemy is able to outwit him. For strength is only as good as the amount of times its wielder can get his hand on his enemy," the young Divine Knight stated, quoting an old proverb her mother had told her as a child.

Hashmalum turned around, his vision beginning to clear. He was ready to attack again, to keep the duo apart. But then, he felt a sword in his back, and Izlude holding on tightly. The boy yelled, "Mel, Ramza, do it now! You're the only ones who can defeat him now! Don't worry about me, my mission is nearly done, I will have to return to the afterlife soon. But never let these demons win!"

Hashmalum began to laugh. "You would injure yourself just to win the battle, are you a fool? At least the last time you died on your feet, in the midst of combat. This is the coward's way out."


"You are wrong," Izlude said, "I am going to die doing the right thing, protecting my friends. This is the mission I have been assigned, and I accept that I will have to die once more to win."

Ramza and Meliadoul concentrated as hard as they could. The magic began to spark in the sword, and flew out at Hashmalum. The wicked demon began to scream as loud as he could, in great pain and agony from the power of the sword. Suddenly, he went up in smoke, and was gone.

"I knew you could do it. Finally, it is over. I can rest in peace now, my enemies are gone for good. Unless someone finds the stones in the future, and revives them again. Sister, I was happy to see you again. I wish all of you great happiness in the years to come," Izlude stated. Then, he began to fade, returning to the afterlife. But he had just enough time to wink at Meliadoul before he disappeared.

Ramza said, "Meliadoul, I thank you for your help. You did the right thing for your brother by spending time with him, knowing he'd be gone when this was all over. There's no more things for him to fear, thanks to you and what you did for him." He smiled at her, and blushed.

Meliadoul shook her head. "Not what I did, Ramza, what we did. If it weren't for you, I would never be able to have used the sword like that. We helped Izlude, together."

Just then, a figure appeared. It was that of a woman, with brown hair and blue eyes. She looked at the two warriors, smiling over the victory they had achieved with their powers.

"Who are you?" Ramza asked, "And why in the heck have you come to us?"

- - - -

I'm evil for that cliffhanger, aren't I? It works here, we just won and now we have someone else come to butt in. But is she friend or foe?