CHAPTER 4: Searching for Answers
I do not own square-enix or final fantasy 11, all copyrights belong to their respective owners.
The arid temperature of the jungle was uncomfortable against my skin. I feel naked without my armor, almost defenseless in this state. If a group of beastmen decided to attack me what kind of threat would I even pose.
I have never liked yhoater jungle, it is a wasteland with no easy means of escape. Trudging through the trees surrounded by goblins that would like to kill adventurers, but even in my current state know not to attack me.
As I head deeper through the jungle I see someone laying on the ground not moving, at first I think it is a body but upon closer inspection I see it is a man in tattered clothing.
He looks somehow familiar, but where would I know this vagrant from… COULD IT BE?
"Delius is that you?"
Sitting up the figure turned to me, covered in dirt and cuts, some disturbingly deep I notice his hair that he usually kept well trimmed, hardened with what looked like blood.
"…(incomprehensible mumbling)…"
Chanting in the lost language of the ancients I cast a Cure IV on Delius, probably overkill but I wasn't taking any chances
"Are you ok Del?
Looking at me closely he responds "Do I know you?"
What is going on… something is terribly wrong this is all too coincidental for my liking…
"Del its me Vid are you ok?"
"I don't know I can't remember much…"
Suddenly he begins concentrating hard he begins to mumble in a low tone and than suddenly a blackness surrounds him and he disappears
Well he remembers how to cast warp I… now the only problem is I have no idea where he is, am I losing my mind? Del is dead I saw him die… all those years ago…
A paladin in brilliant white armor is crossing the snowy paths of Xarcabard, with him is a powerful white mage, and a powerful black mage.
The white mage is a blond haired hume with a white cloak, gloves and boots, on her back rests A long stave, there is a quaint beauty about her and she has a kind gleam in her eyes
The black mage is a male hume with long black hair, his black cloak is long and hangs down to his feet. On his back is a long staff with a large and beautiful stone on top of it that looks to be made of jet. He has a look of vigor in his eyes and a passerby can easily tell that he is a man on a mission, with important goals
Wait stop deceiving yourself this is not the real truth, accept the past Viddion it is your only hope to survive this ordeal.
I walked calmly down those paths, back then I wasn't nearly as strong as I have become today, my bright white armor gleamed beautifully off of the snow. To my left walked my white mage friend Yaname and to my right my black mage friend Delius, at the time both much more powerful than me.
I remember how concealed that armor kept me, with a full helm Iron Musketeers concealed almost everything about an individual.
Looking over at Delius I inquired "so where is this monster that supposedly carries with it a legendary club favored by the black mage?"
"You ask too many questions Vid," Del replied "It should be just over the next ridge.
"Yea Vid, replied Yan you ask far too many ques…"
Suddenly a large claw knocks Yan off of her feet and throws her several feet.
Before us I can clearly see a shadow dragon, but this doesn't make any sense at all. All of the shadow dragons were supposed to have been killed ages ago towards the end of the great war
Turning and engaging the foe I draw my sword and attack the beast, Delius begins casting offensive magic on the beast while Yan cures herself.
Suddenly from behind several demons charged us, than looking all around I began to see demons flooding over the hills in every direction. There black leathery skin repulsing to anyone who is not of their race.
Shouting over the noises of the fight I screamed "Yan warp save yourself, quickly"
Agreeing with my words Yaname begins muttering in an ancient tone when suddenly a giant galka like creature comes from behind her and smacks her aside with little effort. Spraying blood and body fluids across the snow with a sickening crunch. Wanting with all of my heart to rush to her side, but the little logic inside me lets me remember that I will certainly be killed.
As if to mock me the shadow dragon lands a solid hit, putting a small dent in the breastplate of my armor, and causing my breathing to become rather painful.
Delius looks at the galka like creature and quickly casts stun on it, confusing it before casting the spell bind, locking it in place.
"Del warp yourself, I will run for it" I pleaded knowing that after the long journey without rest he did not have the strength to warp me and then himself.
I can see Del beginning to cast another spell and assume he is warping himself, with that in mind I prepare to run as soon as he finishes.
Numbness reaches my fingertips and begins to work its way inward, He wouldn't, He couldn't
Just before it was too late I screamed "Don't do it Del"
As my vision began to blur I saw the last memory of Delius that is forever ingrained into my brain, The sight of that monstrous galka raising its giant claw and brining it down with all of it's might upon Delius causing his body to fly like a rag doll, before landing face down in the snow, just as my vision fades to blackness I can clearly see blood soaking into the snow below the position where Delius is laying.
The sounds of birds and animals surround me, off in the distance I see a shimmering crystal. Suddenly I hear my name and reality hits me.
The tall elvaan white mage stands above me and speaks my name "Viddion are you ok?"
Recognizing the elf I reply, "Cendaan what brings you to yhoater jungle?"
"I need to make some money Vid I was teleporting people for gil"
Now in my half aware state I finally realize that crystal is the teleport-Yhoat crystal by which white mages teleport members of their parties.
"Hey Cendaan can you do me a favor and when you get back to Jeuno ask around about a black mage named Delius, He was a friend I once knew before I met you"
Obviously confused by my strange request he replies "Ok, Vid I will ask around the tenshodo, and throw a word to a few friends of mine"
"Thanks Cendaan, well I really have to go, I would ask for a teleport but I want to see if Del is in Khazam"
I wave farewell to Cendaan before turning to the south and running to Khazam.
The jungle always looked the same to me, twisting left and right with tunnels and such, like one giant maze. Trees and foliage surrounds me in an infinite sea of green.
As I saw the number of adventurers increasing I knew I was nearing Khazam, I knew this because the adventurers were foolish and often engaged enemies they could not defeat and when that happened they had to run into Khazam and let the town guards dispatch the threat.
As I crossed through the gates of Khazam I felt chills travel up and down my spine, quickly looking to my left and right I saw no indication of danger but the cold uncomfortable feeling remained.
As I wandered through Khazam looking for Delius I began to here loud screams coming from the Khazam docks. Armed with only this espadon, regardless of its high quality, I worried slightly about what I might encounter.
What could there be, that the town guards couldn't handle in Khazam, that I could take alone in my current condition. Regardless the Galka in Ifrit's Cauldron taught me an important lesson that I had once based my life upon, It was time to give it another shot.
I ran fast and hard like I hadn't in years, because while I value my equipment above the rest of my possessions, running with only a cloak and an espadon was much easier than running in full armor.
As I exited the last tunnel before the docks the feel of dread intensified down to my core, I do not remember having this feeling… except… oh shit…
As I reached the docks of Khazam I knew this would be a fight to remember, for what awaited was certainly the most powerful group of beastmen that still lived in large groups. Demons
As if on que I saw a foul beast swoop from the skies, standing at around eight feet tall it was quite the imposing creature, it had black leathery skin that looked almost scorched as if by some invisible flame. On its hip rested a long jagged blade serrated and sharp as any you would ever find. These cursed edges could only be wielded by the demon for if anyone else made contact with them there skin shriveled and died with the touch, a lesson not so easily learned by many oh so long ago.
Immediately the town guards turned to face the foe, lifting their spears and drawing there swords. The demon began to mumble incoherently and then it happened, flames unlike any I had seen in years surrounded the adventurers, not since… the crystal war
Memories lingered and tried to pull me in, trying to arise and steal my consciousness, but I could not let that happen now… NOT NOW
Snapping back into realityI looked upon the fallen their seared flesh stank and the few that could still move uttered guttural noises as they fought for their lives. As a paladin they were well beyond my ability to heal, maybe an extremely powerful and talented white mage could save some of them, but only if they were here now, and right now none were.
The demon finally noticed my presence, but apparently viewed me as a lesser threat because right now it turned to face a mithra. From the looks of it a monk who was punching and kicking to the best of her ability, her white hair flowing beautifully in the wind.
However the demon seemed mostly unharmed from this feeble attempt and without much apparent effort knocked the mithra from the docks into the water with a simple swipe of its claw.
With the only apparent threat dispatched it turned to another mithra who also had flowing white hair, and appeared to be a resident of Khazam, she was crouched low in the corner of the docks with a young mithra cradled in her arms.
I can run it doesn't view me as a threat, I can easily evade it and escape as I have done in so many similar situations before this.
NO VIDDION YOU WILL STAY DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT THAT BEASTMASTER TAUGHT YOU, REMEMBER WHAT LILLATH TAUGHT YOU ALL THOSE YEARS AGO YOU MUST PROTECT THE INNOCENT, OR ALL IS LOST
With all the rage I could muster I shouted "Your fight is with me Demon"
The demon turned and looked at me with its sword drawn and at that moment, in one fluent motion I pulled my sword from its sheath at my side and it began. Time began to slow down to a state I cannot describe, I can hear my heart pounding in my skull It was time to end this quickly. Without armor I must or death is near certain. Pulling from my inner reserves and screaming a war cry with all of my heart it began
I will remember the technique Vox taught me to use, She always said it could only be used by the samurai or when someone was in a time of extreme emotion. If this isn't 20 years of represses emotions and rage being released, I don't know what is.
Using a technique commonly dubbed vorpal blade, I attacked the demon with four savage and strategically placed strikes designed to be fatal to its enemies. I saw the demon visibly stunned and angered and even a little hurt from this but far from gone.
Focus remember what Vox said, This is my last resort
Then it came a sudden surge of strength and energy burned through me and I knew it was all over, time slowed even more until everything looked almost as if it was a painting. Then I finished what I had started. "Vile Demon this if for YANAME" Using a modified version of vorpal blade taught by master swordsmen, that uses three deadly horizontal strikes to decapitate enemies recently dubbed swift blade. And then when it was finished I used a second vorpal blade technique and then time resumed its normal speed and it was all over, the thud was the loudest noise to be heard as the demons left arm and head left its torso and fell to the ground followed with a louder thud as the rest of the destroyed creature finally fell.
As I looked around me I saw the shocked adventurers looking at me from all directions. Wearing only a travelers cloak and simple pants I felt vulnerable and naked, beyond this I do not especially favor attention. Strangely the white haired mithra looks at me in an almost frightened manner. Realizing I am still holding onto the espadon which is now covered in the black blood of a demon, I quickly wipe the blood off on the demon before inserting it into its sheath.
The mithra puts the young child perhaps 5 or 6 to the side and comes closer to me, heading directly towards me. As she nears me she looks oddly at my chest and pushes the left side of my cloak off to the side slightly, she touches my flesh with her warm hand but not erotically at all, more of a mournful touch as she traces her fingers on my flesh. Interested I look to see what she is doing it is then I see what she is tracing with her fingers, a series of scars that cover most of my body from an incident in the crystal war.
Looking up at me she asks timidly "Who are you?"
Looking slightly down at her white flowing locks of hair, and a fairly beautiful face I reply, "You can call me Viddion"
Looking quizzically at me with a befuddled expression she continued "That Viddion?"
Repressing a sigh I reply "Yes"
Suddenly pulling my face to hers she brings her lips to mine fully interlocking our faces, and for that one moment we truly were one individual. Then as quickly as it happened she pulled away and said only "Thank you"
This made my mind drift to things, things I don't have the luxury of worrying about now, because right now something big is going down and I have to get to the bottom of it.
As the reserve town guards finally arrived the airship employees suddenly emerged from the huts they worked in and around, apparently they had ducked in there when I was to absorbed in more important matters. Two town guards then proceeded to drag the remains of the demon away to be disposed of, while a third pulled an injured mithran monk from the waters.
Ah crap I knew I forgot something sigh
Casting a cure spell that had the highest potency a paladin has been known to master I cast Cure IV on the wounded mithra, and soon she began to breath regularly and looked that when more experienced healers arrived she would be all right. As for the town guards on duty they had all stopped moving, they were forever lost to this world.
The messenger checked his logs and then shouted "The flight from Jeuno will be arriving momentarily" In a tone that I would have preferred to be more somber considering the circumstances, but I can't get everything I guess.
I will get to the bottom of this regardless of how many skulls I have to rattle to get there
The airship employee then shouted "The airship to Jeuno is now arriving"
Stepping away from the burning chaos I boarded the airship, it was time to consult some resources.
CHAPTER 5: Jeuno
(A/N: I have finals coming up so the next update might take a few weeks.)
Also please if you have taken the time to read this work in its entirety throw me a bone and leave me some sort of review good or bad.
