Return To The Homeland (Sort of)
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds within Square Soft/ Square Enix. I make no claim to them.
Note: To be honest, I've never played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance before, so descriptions on certain things will probably be way off, but hopefully you won't mind to much.
"..."-Indicate speech
'...'-Indicate thought
------
Another place...
"Why am I here?"
The old man says to the empty blackness all around him. His red eyes scan the area.
"This can't be Ivalice..."
He began walking, not being able to judge where he was. He kept walking, for how long, he could not be sure, but his body, being as old as it was, began to suffer from over extertion. He found himself hit the ground, as his mind succumbed to the darkness.
'What has happened...?'
A light pierced his vision. He rose up suddenly, angered when he did, due to the soreness of getting up so fast. He clenched his teeth together to keep from crying out in pain. He looked in awe as light now filled the entire emptiness.
'Nothing is here...what is this place?'
He thought to himself curiously.
"Your in limbo, brother."
A soft, feminine voice said. He turned to it, seeing a young woman with pale skin and long blonde hair. She had a simple white dress that almost blended in with the light. The old man's eyes widened in recognition.
"Alma...but you had died...?"
The young girl smiled.
"I brought your spirit here, Ramza, but your physical body has been destroyed..."
She began, but the man, Ramza, cut her off.
"WHAT?! What has happened to me?"
He started panting heavily before his eyes opened wide upon remembering what had happened to him.
:::FlashBack:::
Germinas Peak, Remote Hut
Ramza had been living out most of his old life in solitude. All of his other friends had died of old age, most of them at the age of eighty seven or a bit higher. His sister Alma had died at the age of ninety four, truly leaving Ramza all alone. He was incredibly strong for his age, now at the age one hundred nine. He had out lived them all.
"All are gone except for me, it seems..."
He had been cutting grain for storage with a long scythe. It was a hot summer day in August. He lived in a secluded area near the base of the mountain, where he made his way through life as a farmer, staying away from the rest of the world.
'I feel my time of heroics are over...Delita...King of all Ivalice, has cursed it with a dark fate...'
Ramza whipped a bead of sweat from his brow on a long sleeved shirt. He leaned against his giant scythe, taking off the large straw hat that adorned his head, and fanning himself off with it. Ramza often took a break at around this time, and pondered Ivalice's fate. Delita seemed to be ageless, his body never growing old and frail like Ramza's. Ramza suspected he had achieved immortality, but how, was beyond Ramza's knowledge.
'I can only hope the next generations produce enough Heroes to slay him...It's a pity. What has happened to you Delita?'
Ramza knew that the world cried out for a warrior to banish Delita, whose tyranny plagued it with war, famine and disease. He prayed upon the weak, only accepting the strong to be worthy of living. Ramza shook his head in disgust. The world he tried to deliver from the darkness ended up being swallowed up even more. He would have to evade all attempts Delita made on his life when he was younger. It was only the last forty years that Delita stopped his heretic hunt for Ramza and his band of Heroes. Ramza felt that he could not fight any longer, since the occasional fight to protect his land from bandits left him to tired and weary of battle.
'Sometimes I wonder if Delita is even conscious of what he is doing...it would be more than enough to leave both Teta and Ovelia turning into their graves...'
Ramza often wondered if things would be different had Delita's younger sister, Teta, had survived. She had been killed before his very eyes. Ovelia, Delita's wife and the Queen of Ivalice, was said to be killed in a bandit attack within the ruins of an old church in Zeltenia, or so it was said.
'The wind has changed...'
Ramza felt today was going to be a grim day. Something in the air was not right to him. He felt the crunching of grass behind him, and the slight clang of armor. He knew who it was, even before the person said spoke.
"I've found you, Ramza."
The voice of Delita seemed calm, but Ramza sensed a deeply suppressed rage within it. He turned to the King of Ivalice, who was dressed in dark black armor and a red cape. It was as Ramza thought, Delita looked the same as he had the day they were still best friends, as close as brothers. Delita's blue eyes were as cold as ice to Ramza.
"You have become obsessed with power, that you would even sacrifice your mortal body to Lucavi for your an immortal one..."
Ramza could sense the power of the Zodiac running through Delita, all eleven stones that Ramza had thrown in different reaches of the ocean were in Delita's body, how it was unknown to Ramza, but he also sensed the Leo Holy Stone, the one Ramza never found. Delita smirked as Ramza grit his teeth in rage.
"You were always better than me before, Ramza, but now, with this new body, I'll crush you like an insect under my heel...or you can just bow down to me like all others."
Ramza spat at the ground at Delita's feet. Ramza decided that angering Delita would be the best way to impede his judgment.
"Please Delita, your nothing more than a peasant boy dressed in the royal clothing of the King but you play your role so disgustingly. I'd sooner die than bow to a tyrant like you."
Delita's eyes flared with anger at the insult.
"THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!!"
Delita rushed at the old man, drawing his sword, intent on cutting the Ramza in two. Ramza stayed put calmly. Delita grinned when the blade was about to tip Ramza in the mid section, but his eyes widened in surprise as he swerved off in a different direction, as Ramza deflected the blow with his scythe blade, before using the wooden shaft to strike Delita off his feet, before twisting again, striking Delita with the back of his blade, sending Delita colliding with the soft dirt. Delita groaned.
"Even in your old age, your certainly impressive with all that experience you've obtained through the years. If I had known you picked up such useful tricks out here in the world, I would have tried it myself some time. It really doesn't matter though. With my immortal body, it's only a matter of time before you tire out."
Ramza knew that Delita was right, he couldn't out last Delita's youth. He brought the scythe up.
"That may be so, Delita, but it won't easy for you."
The two began battling in earnest. Ramza used his length advantage to attack Delita with the scythe. Delita could hardly touch him. Delita would often times try and cut the wooden shaft of the scythe, but Ramza made sure he guarded with it's blade. Delita started to move faster and faster, his moves starting to penetrate Ramza's defense. But Ramza held, counter attacking with the scythe when he could. Finally Delita slowed to a stop, not a moment out of breath. Ramza, on the other hand, was panting heavily and leaning against the scythe.
"You've been doing well Ramza, but it'll end here. Let me show you a new Summon attack Lucavi has bestowed upon me. With it, I can pretty much destroy the world."
Delita said, with an insane glint in his eyes. Ramza growled.
"So, your going to resort to magic over a physical duel, huh? You really have changed, Delita...you could easily finish me off if we kept fighting like we were, so why don't we continue."
Delita laughed at Ramza's words.
"You've got plenty of fight left in you, Ramza, and your the strongest opponent I've ever faced, but Your petty attempts at surviving bore me. That's why I'm gonna finish you off with my ultimate attack."
Ramza scoffed at Delita.
"Your just a coward, Delita, who doesn't want to stain his sword, and have others do your dirty work...your a sad man."
Delita narrowed his eyes in anger, but quickly calmed down.
"Enough...now then, let your fury scorch this land black with unholy fire. BAHAMUT ZERO!"
As Delita said that, Ramza's eyes widened as he saw a massive six wing dragon fly down from the clouds.
"This is not good..."
The dragon let loose a giant beam of light down upon him. Ramza's vision went white.
:::FlashBack:::
"I remember now..."
Ramza looked at his old hands, before clenching them into fists.
"So I am dead now...that dragon he summoned...it was far greater than the original."
Alma nodded.
"Your physical body is dead, brother, but you can be revived. By the time you see the world it may be a very different place. You should use this time to recover what remaining strength you have..."
Ramza looked at her oddly.
"Why can I be revived? If my body is destroyed, there are no means by which I can come back."
Alma shook her head.
"You are a warrior with hundreds of years of experience. The Gods believe you to be the only one who can stop Delita, but your physical body must have a long time to restore to what it use to be. Until that time, you will be sent to a place where the Gods have not touched, where there is no influence from the Gods. A place where humans have influenced the world."
Ramza looked at her in confusion.
"Wait, a world without a higher influence within it...can such a place actually exist?"
Alma smiled.
"You'll see it soon enough. For now, just rest..."
Ramza did not hear anything else as he slipped into darkness once more, his vision of Alma becoming distorted.
***TBC***
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds within Square Soft/ Square Enix. I make no claim to them.
Note: To be honest, I've never played Final Fantasy Tactics Advance before, so descriptions on certain things will probably be way off, but hopefully you won't mind to much.
"..."-Indicate speech
'...'-Indicate thought
------
Another place...
"Why am I here?"
The old man says to the empty blackness all around him. His red eyes scan the area.
"This can't be Ivalice..."
He began walking, not being able to judge where he was. He kept walking, for how long, he could not be sure, but his body, being as old as it was, began to suffer from over extertion. He found himself hit the ground, as his mind succumbed to the darkness.
'What has happened...?'
A light pierced his vision. He rose up suddenly, angered when he did, due to the soreness of getting up so fast. He clenched his teeth together to keep from crying out in pain. He looked in awe as light now filled the entire emptiness.
'Nothing is here...what is this place?'
He thought to himself curiously.
"Your in limbo, brother."
A soft, feminine voice said. He turned to it, seeing a young woman with pale skin and long blonde hair. She had a simple white dress that almost blended in with the light. The old man's eyes widened in recognition.
"Alma...but you had died...?"
The young girl smiled.
"I brought your spirit here, Ramza, but your physical body has been destroyed..."
She began, but the man, Ramza, cut her off.
"WHAT?! What has happened to me?"
He started panting heavily before his eyes opened wide upon remembering what had happened to him.
:::FlashBack:::
Germinas Peak, Remote Hut
Ramza had been living out most of his old life in solitude. All of his other friends had died of old age, most of them at the age of eighty seven or a bit higher. His sister Alma had died at the age of ninety four, truly leaving Ramza all alone. He was incredibly strong for his age, now at the age one hundred nine. He had out lived them all.
"All are gone except for me, it seems..."
He had been cutting grain for storage with a long scythe. It was a hot summer day in August. He lived in a secluded area near the base of the mountain, where he made his way through life as a farmer, staying away from the rest of the world.
'I feel my time of heroics are over...Delita...King of all Ivalice, has cursed it with a dark fate...'
Ramza whipped a bead of sweat from his brow on a long sleeved shirt. He leaned against his giant scythe, taking off the large straw hat that adorned his head, and fanning himself off with it. Ramza often took a break at around this time, and pondered Ivalice's fate. Delita seemed to be ageless, his body never growing old and frail like Ramza's. Ramza suspected he had achieved immortality, but how, was beyond Ramza's knowledge.
'I can only hope the next generations produce enough Heroes to slay him...It's a pity. What has happened to you Delita?'
Ramza knew that the world cried out for a warrior to banish Delita, whose tyranny plagued it with war, famine and disease. He prayed upon the weak, only accepting the strong to be worthy of living. Ramza shook his head in disgust. The world he tried to deliver from the darkness ended up being swallowed up even more. He would have to evade all attempts Delita made on his life when he was younger. It was only the last forty years that Delita stopped his heretic hunt for Ramza and his band of Heroes. Ramza felt that he could not fight any longer, since the occasional fight to protect his land from bandits left him to tired and weary of battle.
'Sometimes I wonder if Delita is even conscious of what he is doing...it would be more than enough to leave both Teta and Ovelia turning into their graves...'
Ramza often wondered if things would be different had Delita's younger sister, Teta, had survived. She had been killed before his very eyes. Ovelia, Delita's wife and the Queen of Ivalice, was said to be killed in a bandit attack within the ruins of an old church in Zeltenia, or so it was said.
'The wind has changed...'
Ramza felt today was going to be a grim day. Something in the air was not right to him. He felt the crunching of grass behind him, and the slight clang of armor. He knew who it was, even before the person said spoke.
"I've found you, Ramza."
The voice of Delita seemed calm, but Ramza sensed a deeply suppressed rage within it. He turned to the King of Ivalice, who was dressed in dark black armor and a red cape. It was as Ramza thought, Delita looked the same as he had the day they were still best friends, as close as brothers. Delita's blue eyes were as cold as ice to Ramza.
"You have become obsessed with power, that you would even sacrifice your mortal body to Lucavi for your an immortal one..."
Ramza could sense the power of the Zodiac running through Delita, all eleven stones that Ramza had thrown in different reaches of the ocean were in Delita's body, how it was unknown to Ramza, but he also sensed the Leo Holy Stone, the one Ramza never found. Delita smirked as Ramza grit his teeth in rage.
"You were always better than me before, Ramza, but now, with this new body, I'll crush you like an insect under my heel...or you can just bow down to me like all others."
Ramza spat at the ground at Delita's feet. Ramza decided that angering Delita would be the best way to impede his judgment.
"Please Delita, your nothing more than a peasant boy dressed in the royal clothing of the King but you play your role so disgustingly. I'd sooner die than bow to a tyrant like you."
Delita's eyes flared with anger at the insult.
"THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!!"
Delita rushed at the old man, drawing his sword, intent on cutting the Ramza in two. Ramza stayed put calmly. Delita grinned when the blade was about to tip Ramza in the mid section, but his eyes widened in surprise as he swerved off in a different direction, as Ramza deflected the blow with his scythe blade, before using the wooden shaft to strike Delita off his feet, before twisting again, striking Delita with the back of his blade, sending Delita colliding with the soft dirt. Delita groaned.
"Even in your old age, your certainly impressive with all that experience you've obtained through the years. If I had known you picked up such useful tricks out here in the world, I would have tried it myself some time. It really doesn't matter though. With my immortal body, it's only a matter of time before you tire out."
Ramza knew that Delita was right, he couldn't out last Delita's youth. He brought the scythe up.
"That may be so, Delita, but it won't easy for you."
The two began battling in earnest. Ramza used his length advantage to attack Delita with the scythe. Delita could hardly touch him. Delita would often times try and cut the wooden shaft of the scythe, but Ramza made sure he guarded with it's blade. Delita started to move faster and faster, his moves starting to penetrate Ramza's defense. But Ramza held, counter attacking with the scythe when he could. Finally Delita slowed to a stop, not a moment out of breath. Ramza, on the other hand, was panting heavily and leaning against the scythe.
"You've been doing well Ramza, but it'll end here. Let me show you a new Summon attack Lucavi has bestowed upon me. With it, I can pretty much destroy the world."
Delita said, with an insane glint in his eyes. Ramza growled.
"So, your going to resort to magic over a physical duel, huh? You really have changed, Delita...you could easily finish me off if we kept fighting like we were, so why don't we continue."
Delita laughed at Ramza's words.
"You've got plenty of fight left in you, Ramza, and your the strongest opponent I've ever faced, but Your petty attempts at surviving bore me. That's why I'm gonna finish you off with my ultimate attack."
Ramza scoffed at Delita.
"Your just a coward, Delita, who doesn't want to stain his sword, and have others do your dirty work...your a sad man."
Delita narrowed his eyes in anger, but quickly calmed down.
"Enough...now then, let your fury scorch this land black with unholy fire. BAHAMUT ZERO!"
As Delita said that, Ramza's eyes widened as he saw a massive six wing dragon fly down from the clouds.
"This is not good..."
The dragon let loose a giant beam of light down upon him. Ramza's vision went white.
:::FlashBack:::
"I remember now..."
Ramza looked at his old hands, before clenching them into fists.
"So I am dead now...that dragon he summoned...it was far greater than the original."
Alma nodded.
"Your physical body is dead, brother, but you can be revived. By the time you see the world it may be a very different place. You should use this time to recover what remaining strength you have..."
Ramza looked at her oddly.
"Why can I be revived? If my body is destroyed, there are no means by which I can come back."
Alma shook her head.
"You are a warrior with hundreds of years of experience. The Gods believe you to be the only one who can stop Delita, but your physical body must have a long time to restore to what it use to be. Until that time, you will be sent to a place where the Gods have not touched, where there is no influence from the Gods. A place where humans have influenced the world."
Ramza looked at her in confusion.
"Wait, a world without a higher influence within it...can such a place actually exist?"
Alma smiled.
"You'll see it soon enough. For now, just rest..."
Ramza did not hear anything else as he slipped into darkness once more, his vision of Alma becoming distorted.
***TBC***