The Son of Auron: The Ruba Spheres
Chapter 4
The Angel Voice
A red sun was rising by the time I had dug a grave for my mother.
The grave was quite large and deep and had taken me a long time.
I had gathered some roses growing nearby and had lain several of them on the bottom of the grave.
My mother had been wrapped up in cloth and I carefully laid her on top of the roses, which were her favorite flowers.
Stepping out, I wiped the many tears off my face and began to pile the mound of dug up soil over her remains.
The sun was now already well over the horizon by the time I was done.
Before walking away from the grave, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a single seed.
In it was the life to bring out a newborn rose.
I stooped down and planted it over the grave, looked at it again, and walked back into my house, which was now burned to the ground.
I looked around to find little items of use.
I found some of my clothes and some of my toys, but I only needed the clothes.
I found a large blanket to store them in which I did.
I searched my parent's rooms to find almost nothing.
I did find, however, some clothes that my father had once owned such as a deep blue robe, a pair of mirrored sunglasses, a pair of black boots, and a tan colored fisherman's hat.
They were a little too big for me, but I stashed them in my bag anyway.
I was now outside and facing the road out of the place and into the depths of Macalania Woods.
I had to wait for my father at one of the temples when he and Braska stopped by to receive a new aeon.
The only question was which one should I go to and what if he had already been there?
I ignored these questions and decided to think on it later so I set down the winding road and into the shade of the trees.
I took one last look at my former home, turned and continued on.
-
The signal went off and hundreds of warriors dashed into the artificial forest.
Olo was near the back of the crowd and ran as fast as he could to get to the lead so that he wouldn't get the weaker fiends.
He made it past some of the people but not very much.
Over the forest, a projector had been aimed so that words could appear overhead to give rare hints, report injuries and deaths, and to report some of the most sighted fiends.
Olo decided to ignore this for now because he didn't care about hints and the only way he would know who was hurt would be if he were too.
By now, the large group had begun to thin out as many of the people had been separated.
Olo was trying his best to shake off the wimpy looking fighters behind him, but they seemed to be following him. He guessed so that they could take credit for the larger fiends that he slew by himself.
Finally, he became so frustrated that he whipped out his sword, turned, and faced the small group and said, "Continue to follow me and I will soon be seeing your names on that projection up there!"
The group turned in a flash and was gone before Olo turned and continued down the same path alone.
Olo then decided to look at the projector for the most common fiends but instead found a clue listed above which said: ATTENTION! OF ALL FIENDS PLACED WITHIN THE AREA, ONE IS BY FAR THE STRONGEST OF ALL! DEFEAT IT AND YOU WILL BE GUARENTEED A DEFINITE POSITION IN THE CRUSADERS! BUT TAKE CAUTION, FOR THIS FIEND IS PROVIDED FOR EXPERTS ONLY, WE REPEAT EXPERTS ONLY! IT IS HIDDEN IN THE AREA BUT WILL PROVE DIFFICULT TO FIND! GOOD LUCK!
A wide grin spread over Olo's face for he knew what he had to do.
He decided to continue down the same path but found that it had led him to a dead end.
He turned around to find a Maleboro facing him.
"Finally, I was beginning to think that you fiends were too scared to fight me!" Olo said as he raised his sword and prepared to strike.
Then, the beast reared back its massive head and bellowed a dark green gas from its mouth.
Olo charged at the beast as the gas got closer for every half of a step that he took.
-
Now, I had been in the woods several times in my life but that had been with my father.
With him next to me on the walk, it had comforted me and had made me feel safe, but this time, I was alone.
This time, the woods were dark, eerie, and very frightening for a boy my age.
It was cold so I was forced to put my father's large blue robe on, but even with that on, I still shivered.
Everywhere I walked, stray tree branches scratched at me and tore at my clothes, tearing up the blue robe.
I wandered on despite the pain and tears in my eyes.
My only motivation was seeing my father's face once more.
Finally, I came to an are that I had never been to before.
It was a path that branched off from the crossroads in the center of the woods.
I followed it in curiosity and I soon began to hear music.
The tune was sweet and melodic and I was lured down the path to a sparkling tree and what appeared to be a frozen pond.
For some reason, it looked familiar even though I didn't recall being here once before.
I saw a shiny glint in the corner of the chamber and I dashed towards it in curiosity.
When I reached it though, I found it only to be the glint of a tiny pool no bigger than my own head.
That was when I remembered that I had not had any water for the longest time and I found my face gulping the clear water before I even realized what I was doing.
As I was nearing my fill, I heard a high pitched moan from somewhere behind me.
I turned and hid behind a large root to spy on the voice's owner.
I found myself looking at what appeared to be a trio of brightly colored creatures who resembled musical instruments.
One was a graceful looking creature with a low harp connected to its arm.
The other was a very fat thing that beat the large gut with its large hands making a deep metronome.
The third was a little smaller than the fatter one and had several musical horns around it, which it blew.
Quietly, I listened in.
The one with the horns spoke first, "Oh my goodness, oh my dear my, he's been gone so long, I think I may cry!"
"Do not fret, Pukatak, for I am sure he knows of his doings," said the creature with the harp.
The fat one responded, "But he left us no sign of his leaving, even if he is meeting with the mighty spirit of the woods, it wouldn't hurt him te at least send us a message."
The harped one sighed, "What do you think we should do Pukatak?" it asked.
"I have no clue, what should we do?" said Pukatak.
"We must do something or else, we may be without him forever," said Donga.
Bayla continued to sigh.
I realized that they were in trouble and that they didn't look like a danger so I stepped out of the brush.
Pukatak and Donga were in a deep argument but Bayla noticed me first.
"Look! It's a young boy, be on your guard, he may be a spy," he said.
The other two looked up at me and Donga said, "That little shrimp, how could he poise as a threat!"
I was about to turn away when Bayla said, "Do not be afraid, young one, for we do not wish to harm you. Please come here so we may only talk."
I turned back, and slowly, I edged towards them.
"Who are you?" asked Bayla with concern.
"I'm J-jack," I said nervously.
"There's no need to be afraid, now why would such a young boy be out here in such a dangerous wood what with the fiends?" Bayla continued.
"I was looking for my dad," I said despite the fact that I didn't know these people.
"Please tell me, who might that be?" Pukatak cut in.
"His name is," I started but continued, "Sir Auron."
At that name, all three of the creatures went still, and Bayla stammered, "THE Sir Auron? The legendary warrior who is considered by many to be the greatest swordsman in Spira?"
I nodded in assumption that he was and asked, "Who were you talking about a while ago? Is he lost?"
Bayla kneeled down and explained to me about the magic of the woods bringing he and his companions to life. He told me of a fourth addition to their group who had served as the vocalist who was in charge of the party. One day, the leader had been summoned by the ruling spirit of Macalania Woods to discus something important and that he hadn't returned for a week.
"You see, without our brother, we are going to fade. We rely on each other for each other's existence," Bayla said.
I offered to help them look and they graciously accepted it.
The four of us split up and we began looking.
I had been looking for hours and hours at a time and I began to notice some similar markings where I had previously been.
I stopped near the entrance of the woods connecting to the Thunder plains.
I sat on a small bolder nearby to ponder where else to look.
-Why do you help those low-life creatures?- echoed a dark voice from within my head.
I shook it off and began to ponder once more.
I looked around the entrance for some kind of sign but all I saw were a bunch of glimmering trees.
I was just about ready to give up when I felt some unknown force pulling at my mind.
For some reason, I allowed it to pull me to my feet and guide me towards one particular tree.
Upon reaching it, the force vanished and left me staring at the trunk.
-Something must be here- I thought to myself.
I felt with my hand around the silver bark but I found nothing.
Sadly, I slumped to the ground leaning against the tree.
"I am lost, I need help," I said out loud.
"Why didn't you say so?" echoed a deep voice from the treetops.
I stood up in surprise and look up to see nobody there, but when I looked down, I saw a new shining silver road before me leading up into the higher regions of the woods.
Cautiously, I walked up the path with a firm, yet steady pace.
Something in my heart told me that I needed no fear on this path so I let some of it go.
Soon, I arrived at a split in the path, one, continuing on to the other end of the forest and the other leading to a large crystal and a circle of floating butterflies.
I approached the crystal in curiosity and as I passed through the butterflies, a bright circle of light erupted around me and soon, I found myself looking at a tall, graceful looking creature.
It looked exactly like a human only that instead of skin covering it's body, it was covered in diamonds with emeralds for eyes.
It looked down at me and said in one of the most beautiful voices I had ever heard, "I know why you have come here, Jack, son of Auron. You wish to return me to my fellow musicians for I am the singer of the quartet, I am Maraso. Let us go now to them so their worry may be undone."
I was about to turn and walk back down the path when he continued, "I can see that you have gone through much trouble to find me so I reward you as best as I can."
At that moment, I felt my father's robe leave my back and fall into his hands.
He strolled over to the large crystal and held it up saying, "O' Great Spirit of the Macalanian Woods, bless this blue garment with your light and power."
At these words, the crystal began to glow and soon, so did my robe.
After several moments, the two faded and my robe reappeared on my shoulders.
Maraso then said, "The spirit has given you robe the power of life. As long as you are alive, that robe shall be indestructible. Now, we must go." Finishing these words, he raised his arms and I found myself next to him once more, only we were with Bayla, Pukatak, and Donga at the sphere tree.
"My friends," began Maraso, "I apologize for my lateness for the spirit and I had much to discuss. It lightens my heart to see you once more but it saddens me to tell you that it will be the last."
"What de you mean?" asked Pukatak.
Maraso continued, "The spirit told me that my time in this wood was over and that I was to fade and join with the ice god Shiva."
"If that was their wish then you must go, but we shall miss you with all of our hearts," said Bayla.
Maraso's for began to fade but he nodded and said, "Farewell my friends, but remember, all isn't lost." He looked down at me and said, "I know you look for your father, just so you know, he was last seen in Kilika with Braska. Good luck and thank you."
The next instant, he was gone.
I looked up to see the other three musicians showing no signs of sadness.
"Why don't you act like you miss him, I thought he was your brother," I said.
"He was and still is," said Bayla. "We do sincerely miss him, but we couldn't stop his fate, for nothing can. We will always be with him as he will always be with us. We cannot be angry at the spirit and take vengeance because it will not revive our friend."
I knew that their words were true and I gave them a smile.
I was soon brought back to reality and said, "It was an honor to meet all of you and I wish I could stay, but I must find my father, or my life will be lost. I must get to Kilika."
"We would be happy to send you to the thunder plains if you would like," said Bayla.
I nodded in thanks and I watched the trio lift up their arms.
A flash of light blinded me momentarily but when I regained sight, I was in the shade of a lightening tower.
I pulled the robe over my head, and trudged out into the pouring rain.
-
A/N: It took me a while to finish this one as you can tell by how long it has been since I last updated. I am sooooooooooooooooooo sorry for this. I had to study for finals a lot until the end of school, I was grounded some more, and I went on summer vacation for a couple of weeks. Please forgive me if you can. Over the past couple of days, I have been playing some of my square soft games and I have finally beaten FFX-2 and FFIX. Hallelujah. Anyway, as an apology for taking so long to update, I am going to update another chapter of the Son of Auron: The Hope of Spira. So I'm gonna work on Chapter 13 of that and chapter 5 of this fic. I hope you review this fic, and I will up date this fic faster. More reviews, more updates! Thank you for the reviews I have received from you already.
Callik
Chapter 4
The Angel Voice
A red sun was rising by the time I had dug a grave for my mother.
The grave was quite large and deep and had taken me a long time.
I had gathered some roses growing nearby and had lain several of them on the bottom of the grave.
My mother had been wrapped up in cloth and I carefully laid her on top of the roses, which were her favorite flowers.
Stepping out, I wiped the many tears off my face and began to pile the mound of dug up soil over her remains.
The sun was now already well over the horizon by the time I was done.
Before walking away from the grave, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a single seed.
In it was the life to bring out a newborn rose.
I stooped down and planted it over the grave, looked at it again, and walked back into my house, which was now burned to the ground.
I looked around to find little items of use.
I found some of my clothes and some of my toys, but I only needed the clothes.
I found a large blanket to store them in which I did.
I searched my parent's rooms to find almost nothing.
I did find, however, some clothes that my father had once owned such as a deep blue robe, a pair of mirrored sunglasses, a pair of black boots, and a tan colored fisherman's hat.
They were a little too big for me, but I stashed them in my bag anyway.
I was now outside and facing the road out of the place and into the depths of Macalania Woods.
I had to wait for my father at one of the temples when he and Braska stopped by to receive a new aeon.
The only question was which one should I go to and what if he had already been there?
I ignored these questions and decided to think on it later so I set down the winding road and into the shade of the trees.
I took one last look at my former home, turned and continued on.
-
The signal went off and hundreds of warriors dashed into the artificial forest.
Olo was near the back of the crowd and ran as fast as he could to get to the lead so that he wouldn't get the weaker fiends.
He made it past some of the people but not very much.
Over the forest, a projector had been aimed so that words could appear overhead to give rare hints, report injuries and deaths, and to report some of the most sighted fiends.
Olo decided to ignore this for now because he didn't care about hints and the only way he would know who was hurt would be if he were too.
By now, the large group had begun to thin out as many of the people had been separated.
Olo was trying his best to shake off the wimpy looking fighters behind him, but they seemed to be following him. He guessed so that they could take credit for the larger fiends that he slew by himself.
Finally, he became so frustrated that he whipped out his sword, turned, and faced the small group and said, "Continue to follow me and I will soon be seeing your names on that projection up there!"
The group turned in a flash and was gone before Olo turned and continued down the same path alone.
Olo then decided to look at the projector for the most common fiends but instead found a clue listed above which said: ATTENTION! OF ALL FIENDS PLACED WITHIN THE AREA, ONE IS BY FAR THE STRONGEST OF ALL! DEFEAT IT AND YOU WILL BE GUARENTEED A DEFINITE POSITION IN THE CRUSADERS! BUT TAKE CAUTION, FOR THIS FIEND IS PROVIDED FOR EXPERTS ONLY, WE REPEAT EXPERTS ONLY! IT IS HIDDEN IN THE AREA BUT WILL PROVE DIFFICULT TO FIND! GOOD LUCK!
A wide grin spread over Olo's face for he knew what he had to do.
He decided to continue down the same path but found that it had led him to a dead end.
He turned around to find a Maleboro facing him.
"Finally, I was beginning to think that you fiends were too scared to fight me!" Olo said as he raised his sword and prepared to strike.
Then, the beast reared back its massive head and bellowed a dark green gas from its mouth.
Olo charged at the beast as the gas got closer for every half of a step that he took.
-
Now, I had been in the woods several times in my life but that had been with my father.
With him next to me on the walk, it had comforted me and had made me feel safe, but this time, I was alone.
This time, the woods were dark, eerie, and very frightening for a boy my age.
It was cold so I was forced to put my father's large blue robe on, but even with that on, I still shivered.
Everywhere I walked, stray tree branches scratched at me and tore at my clothes, tearing up the blue robe.
I wandered on despite the pain and tears in my eyes.
My only motivation was seeing my father's face once more.
Finally, I came to an are that I had never been to before.
It was a path that branched off from the crossroads in the center of the woods.
I followed it in curiosity and I soon began to hear music.
The tune was sweet and melodic and I was lured down the path to a sparkling tree and what appeared to be a frozen pond.
For some reason, it looked familiar even though I didn't recall being here once before.
I saw a shiny glint in the corner of the chamber and I dashed towards it in curiosity.
When I reached it though, I found it only to be the glint of a tiny pool no bigger than my own head.
That was when I remembered that I had not had any water for the longest time and I found my face gulping the clear water before I even realized what I was doing.
As I was nearing my fill, I heard a high pitched moan from somewhere behind me.
I turned and hid behind a large root to spy on the voice's owner.
I found myself looking at what appeared to be a trio of brightly colored creatures who resembled musical instruments.
One was a graceful looking creature with a low harp connected to its arm.
The other was a very fat thing that beat the large gut with its large hands making a deep metronome.
The third was a little smaller than the fatter one and had several musical horns around it, which it blew.
Quietly, I listened in.
The one with the horns spoke first, "Oh my goodness, oh my dear my, he's been gone so long, I think I may cry!"
"Do not fret, Pukatak, for I am sure he knows of his doings," said the creature with the harp.
The fat one responded, "But he left us no sign of his leaving, even if he is meeting with the mighty spirit of the woods, it wouldn't hurt him te at least send us a message."
The harped one sighed, "What do you think we should do Pukatak?" it asked.
"I have no clue, what should we do?" said Pukatak.
"We must do something or else, we may be without him forever," said Donga.
Bayla continued to sigh.
I realized that they were in trouble and that they didn't look like a danger so I stepped out of the brush.
Pukatak and Donga were in a deep argument but Bayla noticed me first.
"Look! It's a young boy, be on your guard, he may be a spy," he said.
The other two looked up at me and Donga said, "That little shrimp, how could he poise as a threat!"
I was about to turn away when Bayla said, "Do not be afraid, young one, for we do not wish to harm you. Please come here so we may only talk."
I turned back, and slowly, I edged towards them.
"Who are you?" asked Bayla with concern.
"I'm J-jack," I said nervously.
"There's no need to be afraid, now why would such a young boy be out here in such a dangerous wood what with the fiends?" Bayla continued.
"I was looking for my dad," I said despite the fact that I didn't know these people.
"Please tell me, who might that be?" Pukatak cut in.
"His name is," I started but continued, "Sir Auron."
At that name, all three of the creatures went still, and Bayla stammered, "THE Sir Auron? The legendary warrior who is considered by many to be the greatest swordsman in Spira?"
I nodded in assumption that he was and asked, "Who were you talking about a while ago? Is he lost?"
Bayla kneeled down and explained to me about the magic of the woods bringing he and his companions to life. He told me of a fourth addition to their group who had served as the vocalist who was in charge of the party. One day, the leader had been summoned by the ruling spirit of Macalania Woods to discus something important and that he hadn't returned for a week.
"You see, without our brother, we are going to fade. We rely on each other for each other's existence," Bayla said.
I offered to help them look and they graciously accepted it.
The four of us split up and we began looking.
I had been looking for hours and hours at a time and I began to notice some similar markings where I had previously been.
I stopped near the entrance of the woods connecting to the Thunder plains.
I sat on a small bolder nearby to ponder where else to look.
-Why do you help those low-life creatures?- echoed a dark voice from within my head.
I shook it off and began to ponder once more.
I looked around the entrance for some kind of sign but all I saw were a bunch of glimmering trees.
I was just about ready to give up when I felt some unknown force pulling at my mind.
For some reason, I allowed it to pull me to my feet and guide me towards one particular tree.
Upon reaching it, the force vanished and left me staring at the trunk.
-Something must be here- I thought to myself.
I felt with my hand around the silver bark but I found nothing.
Sadly, I slumped to the ground leaning against the tree.
"I am lost, I need help," I said out loud.
"Why didn't you say so?" echoed a deep voice from the treetops.
I stood up in surprise and look up to see nobody there, but when I looked down, I saw a new shining silver road before me leading up into the higher regions of the woods.
Cautiously, I walked up the path with a firm, yet steady pace.
Something in my heart told me that I needed no fear on this path so I let some of it go.
Soon, I arrived at a split in the path, one, continuing on to the other end of the forest and the other leading to a large crystal and a circle of floating butterflies.
I approached the crystal in curiosity and as I passed through the butterflies, a bright circle of light erupted around me and soon, I found myself looking at a tall, graceful looking creature.
It looked exactly like a human only that instead of skin covering it's body, it was covered in diamonds with emeralds for eyes.
It looked down at me and said in one of the most beautiful voices I had ever heard, "I know why you have come here, Jack, son of Auron. You wish to return me to my fellow musicians for I am the singer of the quartet, I am Maraso. Let us go now to them so their worry may be undone."
I was about to turn and walk back down the path when he continued, "I can see that you have gone through much trouble to find me so I reward you as best as I can."
At that moment, I felt my father's robe leave my back and fall into his hands.
He strolled over to the large crystal and held it up saying, "O' Great Spirit of the Macalanian Woods, bless this blue garment with your light and power."
At these words, the crystal began to glow and soon, so did my robe.
After several moments, the two faded and my robe reappeared on my shoulders.
Maraso then said, "The spirit has given you robe the power of life. As long as you are alive, that robe shall be indestructible. Now, we must go." Finishing these words, he raised his arms and I found myself next to him once more, only we were with Bayla, Pukatak, and Donga at the sphere tree.
"My friends," began Maraso, "I apologize for my lateness for the spirit and I had much to discuss. It lightens my heart to see you once more but it saddens me to tell you that it will be the last."
"What de you mean?" asked Pukatak.
Maraso continued, "The spirit told me that my time in this wood was over and that I was to fade and join with the ice god Shiva."
"If that was their wish then you must go, but we shall miss you with all of our hearts," said Bayla.
Maraso's for began to fade but he nodded and said, "Farewell my friends, but remember, all isn't lost." He looked down at me and said, "I know you look for your father, just so you know, he was last seen in Kilika with Braska. Good luck and thank you."
The next instant, he was gone.
I looked up to see the other three musicians showing no signs of sadness.
"Why don't you act like you miss him, I thought he was your brother," I said.
"He was and still is," said Bayla. "We do sincerely miss him, but we couldn't stop his fate, for nothing can. We will always be with him as he will always be with us. We cannot be angry at the spirit and take vengeance because it will not revive our friend."
I knew that their words were true and I gave them a smile.
I was soon brought back to reality and said, "It was an honor to meet all of you and I wish I could stay, but I must find my father, or my life will be lost. I must get to Kilika."
"We would be happy to send you to the thunder plains if you would like," said Bayla.
I nodded in thanks and I watched the trio lift up their arms.
A flash of light blinded me momentarily but when I regained sight, I was in the shade of a lightening tower.
I pulled the robe over my head, and trudged out into the pouring rain.
-
A/N: It took me a while to finish this one as you can tell by how long it has been since I last updated. I am sooooooooooooooooooo sorry for this. I had to study for finals a lot until the end of school, I was grounded some more, and I went on summer vacation for a couple of weeks. Please forgive me if you can. Over the past couple of days, I have been playing some of my square soft games and I have finally beaten FFX-2 and FFIX. Hallelujah. Anyway, as an apology for taking so long to update, I am going to update another chapter of the Son of Auron: The Hope of Spira. So I'm gonna work on Chapter 13 of that and chapter 5 of this fic. I hope you review this fic, and I will up date this fic faster. More reviews, more updates! Thank you for the reviews I have received from you already.
Callik