Chapter 15: Angels and Hunters
"Are next contestant is…contestant number ten!" The audience applauds and I find myself on center stage. I walk up to the microphone and begin to sing.
"A chaaange in tiiime. I finally maaaade uuuuuup my miiiind. I raaaaise my haaand from beneath the shiiiifting saaaaaand and embraaaace the wiiiinds of chaaaange.
"Suuuuddenly… everything iiiiis uuuuup to meeee. The paaaaages tuuuuurn flashing full of meeeeeeemoriiiies. I can seeeeee all to cleeear the time has coooome to faaaace my feeeeeeear, and thereee's a fire burning in my heeeeeart. Just shiiiine when all iiiiiiis torn apart, and I will make it through this desert stooooorm safe and waaaaaaaaarm."
"My shieeeld is stroooong. I'll take my chanceees heeere and nooooow. Bring oooooon the fiiiight. I'll find a way to wiiiiiiin somehooooow. No, tomooooorrow's nooo regreeeet. I'll risk it aaaall for this braaaaand neeeeew daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay." The song ended and the audience began to clap.
I took my bow and proceeded to exit stage right. I was now backstage, heading for my room. That's when I saw the figure. He moved so quickly that I barely got a glimpse of him. That's when I heard him "Miiiiiiiiichaaaaaeeeeeeel." I knew it was him. The figure I saw it must have been him.
"Angel…I won't let you get away this time!" I began to run after the shadowy figure. He retreated through a door and I followed after him. As soon as I entered the door though there was a bright flash of light, and all went black.
I woke up from my dream with a start. I looked around and noticed that it was still dark, but I could tell that it was early morning. I got out of bed and rested my face in the palm of my right hand. "So close…I was so close."
I looked up at the ceiling. "Why does he keep hiding from me…WHY!" I yelled, letting my frustration get to me. I quickly closed my mouth with my left hand, eyes wide, and looked around the room.
Zidane was still asleep from what I could tell, and Vivi was still snoring silently. I breathed a sigh of relief realizing that my yell hadn't awakened them. I decided to leave the room so the others could get some sleep.
I walked to the door and opened it; it creaked. I winced at the sound and looked over my shoulder to see if they had heard me. Vivi turned in his sleep, aside from that; there was no indication that they had heard the noise.
Sighing again, I opened the door the rest of the way, and stepped out into the hallway. I slowly closed the door behind me. It creaked again but I finally closed it. I sighed, yet again, walked down the hallway, walked down the stairs, and walked out of the inn. When I exited the inn I noticed that no one was around, yet. I decided to take a minute and appreciate the quiet early morning hour.
Satisfied, I walked off into the town to explore. I knew the shops wouldn't be open at this early hour, so I decided to find a nice quiet place to gather my thoughts. I decided to go to the church that I knew was nearby.
Ifollowed the alleyway and found the church. I walked into the church and saw that they seemed to be setting something up; as they had a scaffold at the front of the church. I saw that no one was around, so I decided to go sit in one of the back pews. As soon as I sat down I pulled out the kneeling bench, knelt down, and started to pray.
I prayed for about five minutes before I decided to go into deep meditation. I was meditating for ten minutes when I felt a presence near me. I opened my eyes and looked over my shoulder at the entrance to the church…it was Vivi. He walked over to the pew I was sitting in.
I was surprised to see Vivi here. "What are you doing up this early, Vivi?" I asked.
He looked at me "I-I heard you leave and decided to follow you." I didn't seem too surprised by this.
"Sorry I woke you" I said.
He shook his head. "Don't be. I wanted to ask you something, anyway."
I was a bit surprised by this "so…what is it you wanted to ask me, Vivi?" I asked, curiously.
Vivi seemed a bit uncomfortable in asking this. I decided to reassure him. "Vivi, what ever you have to say go ahead and say it. You can ask me anything."
He seemed to relax a bit. "O-okay. Well I was wondering…who taught you how to sing?" he asked.
I was surprised by his question. I hadn't expected a question like that. I turned from him and looked to the front of the church, frowning in thought. 'Should I tell him the truth…? Well, I did promise him that I wouldn't lie to him, but I wonder if he'll believe me' I thought.
I looked back at him and noticed that he had sat himself next to me and was staring down at his hands. 'He must have thought that his question had upset me' I thought. I reached out and touched Vivi's right hand. He looked up at me, and I smiled at him. I decided to tell him, or should I say sing to him.
"My faaather once spoke of an AAAAngeeeel. I used to dreeeeeeeam he'd appeeeeeeear. Now as I siiing I can sense hiiiim and I knoooow heeeeeee's heeeeeeeeeere."
I stood up and began to walk out of the pew and into the walkway. I continued to sing.
"Heeeeeere in this rooooom he caaaalls me softly somewheeere insiiiiide hidiiiiiing. Soooomehow I knooooow he's aaaaalways with meee He the unseeeen geniuuuuuuus."
I began to lose myself in the song. I felt the songs melody wrap around me. I continued to sing.
"AAAAAngel of Muuuuuusic guiiiiide and guaaaardiaaaaan. Graaaant to meeee yoooooour gloooryyyyyyyyyy. AAAAAngel of Muuuusic hiiiide no longer. Seeeecret and straaaange AAAAngeeeeel." I stopped singing.
I looked down at Vivi; he was looking at me with surprise. I decided to speak "my father said 'when I'm in Heaven child, I shall send the Angel of Music to you.' My father is dead, Vivi, and I have been visited by the Angel of Music."
He nodded his head. "Yeah, he has. No doubt about it" he said, still impressed with my song. I nodded to him in agreement.
I don't know why, but I decided to tell him about my dreams. "I've seen the Angel in my dreams lately, but every time I get near him…something happens and I wake up. It's like he doesn't want me to see him, but I don't know why."
Vivi looked surprised "I'm sure you'll see him eventually" he said.
I nodded. "You're right. I will see him some day."
I turned to look outside the church and saw that it was getting lighter out. I turned to Vivi "come on, Vivi. We better get back to the inn before Zidane gets up."
He nodded "yeah, let's go." We walked out of the church and went back to the inn.
After ten minutes of walking Vivi and I returned to the inn. The town was slowly starting to awaken. Inside the inn Vivi and I decided to eat an early breakfast before we went back up to our room. Vivi and I sat down at the table to wait for our food to arrive.
While waiting Vivi asked, "So, Michael, what were your parents like?" I thought about this for a moment before responding.
"Well, my mother died when I was born, so I never got to know her. All I know about her was what my father told me, and as for my father we got along great. He would sing and play the violin while I sang as well. He used to call me his 'little Mikey.'"
Vivi looked at me with full attention as I continued. "I was fifteen when my father succumbed to illness and left me in the care of my Master. My Master is Seijuurou Hiko the fifteenth, Master of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. His real name though isn't Seijuurou Hiko, that's the name given to all masters of the Hiten Mitsurugi style, not even I know his real name. He's strict with me, but he does care for me. He played a good role as Master and Father. I first started to learn the style when I was five. My Master and my father were great friends: that's how I managed to learn this fighting style." I concluded what I wanted to say.
Vivi spoke up "wow…sounds like you and your father were pretty close."
This dampened my mood as I looked down at the table. "We were…" I paused. Even after all these years my fathers death still didn't sit well with me.
Thankfully, our food arrived at that point. Vivi and I both dug into our food. After fifteen minutes we were finished. I paid the bill and we went back up to our room.
As soon as I opened the door I noticed that Zidane was awake and out of bed. He turned to us when he heard the door open. I smiled at him. "Good morning."
Zidane nodded at me. "You two are up early." He said.
I nodded. "I decided to go off somewhere and think. Vivi followed me." This seemed to satisfy Zidane.
Vivi spoke up "Lindblum is a really busy place. I've never seen this many people before. I wonder were people go if they want to be alone…" he paused.
Zidane responded, "Lindblum has always been like this. People come here from all over the world. Some of them come here to become airship engineers, sculptors, actors..." he paused.
Vivi looked surprised "wow…" he said, astonished.
I was impressed myself. 'This sounds like my kind of town' I thought, smiling.
Zidane looked to the window. "I don't remember why I came here my first time. Before I knew it, I was living here with my Tantalus brothers."
I spoke. "Are they still here?"
Zidane turned to look at me. "Yeah, our hideout is in the Theater District. I'm going to go there right now. Do you guys wanna come along?" he asked.
Vivi shook his head. "Um, its okay. I'm gonna go look around town." he said.
I turned to Vivi before Zidane could say anything "I'll go with you, Vivi. I've been to this town before, so I know my way around in case you get lost. Besides, I was going to go into town anyway I have to prepare for the Festival" I said.
Vivi looked up at me. "O-okay."
I turned to Zidane "so, where will we be meeting for the Festival?"
He smiled. "We'll meet in the guest room at the castle at three o'clock, okay?"
I nodded my head. "Okay, Vivi and I will be there."
Zidane smiled. "Go find yourselves some cute girls, alright?"
I laughed at this "we'll try." Vivi and I turned around, left the room, went down the hall, went down the stairs, and left the inn.
We decided to head to the shopping district. Needing a new shirt, again, I decided that we should go to Dragoo's Armory first. We entered the Armory and I began looking around for a new shirt. That was when I found a blue-colored 'Leather Plate' along with a few 'Mage Masher' daggers and a few other assorted items. I decided to buy the two Mage Mashers and the 'Leather Plate.'
I walked up to the counter. "How much for these?" I asked, depositing my load onto the table.
Dragoo gave the items a quick look over before responding, "That will be 1,530 gil." I handed over the money and placed my new 'Leather Plate' on. It felt great now that my chest wasn't so exposed. Vivi bought some Glass Armlets and we exited the shop.
Our next stop was Alice's Item Shop. We entered the shop and I decided to purchase a few potions for the upcoming Festival. After making our purchases, Vivi and I decided to head on over to the last shop; Torre's Synthesis Shop. We entered the shop and I decided to have the owner make us 'The Ogre.' I handed over the two 'Mage Mashers' required for the item to be made. It was going to take a few hours so Vivi and I decided to walk around town while we waited.
As we walked around Vivi and I noticed some kids playing in the street. The two boys ran off, apparently having a disagreement about something. Vivi and I walked over to see what they were playing with. They were little figurines, one appeared to be broken.
Vivi spoke "'Royal Action Figures'...?" He squatted down to get a closer look. He continued, "Those black mages were like toys... being controlled by someone..." he paused.
I placed my hand on Vivi's shoulder "don't worry about it so much, Vivi."
He looked up at me and nodded "I'll try."
I smiled at him. "Good, let's go get our weapon, Vivi. It should be done by now" I said.
He nodded "okay, and by the way, Michael; nice ring."
I was confused by what he said…then I looked down at my left hand and saw that he was right. I was wearing a ring, but not just any ring; it was my father's ring.
'Have I always had this on? I don't remember ever wearing it' I thought, confused. The ring was a men's ring and is made of silver. It had an engraving of an eagle with a shield covering its chest on both sides of the ring. The engravings were surrounded by a pearl filling, and in the center of the ring was a large rectangular cut pearl. When the sun's light shined down on the pearl; it gave of a comforting glow.
I looked at Vivi "how long have I had this ring on?"
Vivi shrugged. "I don't know. You always had it on ever since I met you. I just never had the time to comment on it, and when I did; I always forgot. Why? Is something wrong?"
I shook my head. "No, nothings wrong. It's just that…this ring belonged to my father."
Vivi looked surprised. "Your father?"
I nodded. "Yeah, my father gave it to me when I turned thirteen. He said the ring was handed down to the families first born son when he or she became a teenager. He said that his father had given it to him and that now it was his turn to give it to me. He said the ring has some kind of magic, but I don't know about that."
Vivi spoke "we better head back to the shop, Michael. We don't want to be late. I nodded and we both went back to the Synthesis shop.
When we arrived the owner handed us the weapon. I tested it out to see if it was of good quality. Satisfied, I handed him the 700 gil. Vivi and I left the store.
I looked up at the clock and saw, to my shock that it was 2:50, Vivi and I only had ten minutes to get to the castle. I grabbed Vivi's arm "Vivi we gotta get to the castle fast or we'll be late" I said.
I decided that it would be faster if I ran. I picked Vivi up and ran down the street, into the air cab, rode the air cab to the castle, got out of the air cab, entered the castle, trampled over a guard who was in our way, and made it to the guest room.
I placed Vivi on the ground and bent down to catch my breath. "What took you guys so long?" said a cheery voice.
I looked up and saw Zidane. I was still out of breath. "sorry…Zidane. I didn't…know what time it…was and I got…us here as fast…as I could" I said, breathlessly.
Finally catching my breath I stood up and noticed that someone else was in the room. I smiled at the familiar face "hey, Freya."
Freya nodded at me "hello, Michael."
I also noticed that an elite guard was here. "All right, let's get started" he said.
He handed each one of us a piece of paper that had the rules for the competition on it. The only difference on the rules was that the time limit was two hours rather than twelve minutes, other than that, it was all the same.
The guard addressed us again "what do you wish for your hunter's reward?" he asked us all.
Zidane responded first "I'll go with gil all the way."
Freya was next. "I'll take an add-on." The guard turned to me.
I thought about this for a moment 'the gil could come in handy later. The add-on would be useful, but mostly for Freya. And the theater ship card would either be good or bad' I thought. I decided not to chance it "I'll go with gil as well" I said, making up my mind.
The guard turned to Vivi "and you, Mr.Vivi?" he asked.
Vivi's eyes widened in surprise at this. "WHAT? I never signed up!" he yelled.
Zidane spoke. "I thought you would do pretty well, so I signed you up. Don't worry. With your black magic, it'll be a piece of cake."
Vivi didn't look very comfortable. "I…I don't know…" he paused.
Freya spoke. "That was very inconsiderate of you, Zidane" she said in a reprimanding way. Zidane had a sparkle in his eyes as he realized something.
He walked over to Vivi and began to whisper in his ear. I already knew what he was saying and this was confirmed by Vivi's raised voice. "Me and the princess!" he yelled. Zidane tried to signal for him to keep it down, but it was too late; Steiner had heard it.
"What was that!" he yelled from the guest room balcony.
I decided to stop him before he came down. "It's nothing, Steiner. Vivi just wanted to know if you and the Princess were going to be at the Festival." I said, covering up Vivi's mistake nicely.
Steiner responded, "Yes, we will be."
I smiled. "Good, cheer for us, alright?"
He responded, "We will, Master Michael."
I turned to look at Zidane. He gave me a thumbs up for helping him out of that situation. I nodded to his gesture, smiling. The guard addressed Vivi again "so, what would you like for your reward?" he asked, again.
Vivi looked at the guard. "Oh, um…I'll take a card."
The guard nodded his head and addressed us all. "Okay. Two Gil's, an Add-on, and...a Card" he said; we all nodded in agreement.
He continued to address us. "The festival will begin shortly. You all have different starting points. Hunter Zidane will start in the Theater District, Hunter Freya will start in the Industrial District, and Hunters Michael and Vivi will start in the Business District." We all nodded in agreement and took off.
Before I left, however, I turned to Zidane. "Here Zidane, this is for you." I said handing him 'The Ogre.' He gave it an experimental twirl and tested it out a little.
He looked at me. "A gift for me…and it isn't even my birthday. You're always thinking of me, Michael."
I shook my head. "I'm just looking out for my friends."
He placed the weapon on his back. "Thanks, anyway" he said, and took of down the stairs.
As soon as he left I called out to Steiner "hey, Steiner!" I yelled.
He came down the stairs. "What is it, Master Michael?" he asked.
I removed my robe and threw it to Steiner. "Could you hold onto that for me while I'm hunting? I don't want it to get any dirtier then it already is."
He nodded in acceptance. "I shall take care of it, Master Michael." I nodded to him and turned around to head to the air cab dock.
I arrived and we all boarded the air cab. The first stop was the 'Industrial District' so Freya got off. The next stop was the 'Business District' so Vivi and I got off. We waited in the station, readying our weapons, waiting for the bell to sound to start the hunt.
I looked down at Vivi and noticed that he looked nervous. I decided to talk to him. "don't be nervous, Vivi. You'll do fine."
Vivi didn't seem convinced. "I don't know about this." he said.
I knelt down to his level. "Look, if you get into trouble come find me, okay?"
He nodded. "O-okay, I will."
I nodded. "Good." That's when we heard the bell, the hunt had begun.
Vivi and I ran out of the station and decided which way to go. Vivi decided to go uptown while I went downtown. I ran down the street, normal sword drawn, and searched for any monsters…it didn't take me long to find one.
A Trick Sparrow swooped down at me from the sky. I saw its attack and immediately stepped to my right side and performed a "Ryu Kan Sen" cutting the sparrow in half. I didn't have time to celebrate and I knew that there were bigger creatures to hunt. I continued my way down the street.
I eventually ran into a woman who was being harassed by a Muu. I quickly ran up to the Muu and, before it could react, decapitated it. The women said her thanks and ran off to find shelter. I continued my trek through the street and saw a Fang jump out of an ally right at me. I quickly readied my sword and attacked. The Fang charged at me and I thrust my sword into its head, effectively killing it. I dropped its body to the ground and kept going.
I found an old couple that was under attack from another Fang. I rushed in, jumped into the air, performed a "Ryu Tsui Sen," and brought my sword down on the Fangs neck, decapitating it. The old couple thanked me and went off to find shelter as well. I had reached the end of my road and decided to head back and see how Vivi was doing.
I was running back to Vivi when I sensed something behind me. I turned my head while running to see what it was, and immediately dove into a roll as a Trick Sparrow was swooping at me. I got back up to my feet and readied my sword for its next attack. The sparrow turned and dove at me again. This time, though, I executed a "Ryu Sho Sen" and targeted its neck, decapitating it as well. With that pest out of the way I continued on my way back to Vivi.
It took me only a few minutes to reach the uptown Business District. The first thing I noticed were a few ash piles and frozen bodies. 'Vivi's handy work no doubt' I thought as I began my search.
It didn't take me long to find Vivi. He had just barreled around a corner, heading straight towards me. The reason why he was running came around the corner just as quickly as he did; he was being chased by four Fangs. I jumped into the air and performed a "Ryu Kan Sen Arashi" and aimed for the lead Fang. I tore into him, getting covered in blood in the process. I landed on the ground and looked at the three remaining Fangs.
I readied my sword and prepared to fight them. That's when seven more Fangs came around the corner. One was bigger than the others, 'probably the alpha Fang' I thought. I could sense that Vivi was right behind me, staff at the ready. 'At least I won't be fighting alone' I thought. I charged at the nearest Fang while Vivi cast a thunder spell on another Fang.
I brought my sword down on the Fangs head, splitting its skull and slicing its brain. I sensed another Fang to my left side and immediately brought up my sword to block its attack. The Fang ended up bighting the blade of my sword, and released it as quickly as he bit it. The Fang recoiled, its own blood dripping from its mouth. I didn't have time to finish it off as I sensed another Fang behind me. I spun around to face it…only to see it get fried by a lightning bolt.
I looked over at Vivi and nodded my thanks; Vivi nodded back. We both returned our attention to the battle at hand. I quickly took count. 'Vivi killed two; I killed one and wounded another, so that leaves us with seven Fangs' I thought. I jumped at the next one and executed a "Ryu Tsui Sen Zan" and pierced its head, killing it instantly.
I spun around to face the next Fang and saw that it was frozen solid. I smiled at this and returned to the battle. 'Two down, five to go' I thought as I chose my next target. I saw the Fang I had wounded earlier and decided to put it out of its misery. I charged at it, swung my sword vertically downward, and cut it in half.
I turned to face the remaining four…and only saw three. It didn't take me long to see the remains of the fourth one; it was completely burned to ashes. I turned back to the targets and chose the one closest to me. I ran at the Fang, but both that Fang and the Fang next to it pounced at me at the same time. I quickly stopped and stepped to the side.
When the first Fang touched down I quickly used a "Ryu Kan Sen" and severed its head. The other one jumped at me after seeing what I had done. I quickly ducked under the attack and slashed its underbelly. It hit the ground hard and slowly bled to death. I turned to face the last target, the alpha Fang, only to see that it was already up in my face.
I couldn't react in time. It slammed into me and sent me falling to the ground. It jumped on top of me and tried to rip my throat out…at least that's what it would have done had it not suddenly frozen over. Seeing its frozen body I immediately kneed it in the gut, hard, shattering its frozen body.
I got up, brushing the frozen remains off my clothes, and looked at Vivi. I smiled at my little savior. "Thanks, Vivi…looks like I was the one that needed rescuing."
Vivi responded, "No, if you hadn't shown up when you did…I would've been killed."
I continued to smile. "So we saved each other. That's fine with me. I knew I could count on you, Vivi." I could see the smile in his eyes.
That's when we heard the scream "AAAAAHHHHH!" It wasn't just one scream it was two, and they sounded like kids. Vivi and I immediately ran to where we heard the screams.
We ended up back in the shopping district, and saw Zidane and Freya taking on a Zaghnol; a giant warthog like thing. I noticed two kids were near the Synthesis shop and were probably the ones that screamed. I turned my attention back to Zidane and Freya. They looked like they needed help. Vivi and I rushed to there aid.
I quickly jumped into the air and saw Freya do the same. I executed a "Ryu Tsui Sen" and aimed for the Zaghnol's head. The Zaghnol moved its head, however, and I missed my target. I hit the ground and rolled out of the way when the Zaghnol tried to hit me with the side of its head.
I got up and saw Freya hurl her javelin at the Zaghnol. She managed to hit the side of the Zaghnols head, and would have hit the top of its head dead on; if it hadn't moved. Zidane rushed in with his new weapon, 'The Ogre,' spun it over his head, and brought it down on the Zaghnol, giving it a deep cut on its snout. The Zaghnol was enraged and attacked Zidane with a heave attack, knocking Zidane off his feet.
Vivi quickly cast a fire spell to try and help Zidane. The spell hit and it was effective…but not effective enough. The Zaghnol turned its attention to Vivi and rushed at the little mage. Vivi couldn't get out of the way in time, so I quickly ran up to him and shoved him out of harms way. Unfortunately, doing so put ME in harms way.
The Zaghnol was bearing down on me and I didn't have enough time to move or prepare a counter attack. Instead, I braced myself for impact. The Zaghnol head butted me into a door. I smashed through the door and landed on my back hard. I was completely winded and had splinters sticking in my back. Speaking of my back it was in so much pain I could barely move.
I reached into my pocket, pulled out a potion, uncorked it, and drank it. My back started to feel better and the cuts I had were healing up. I still had splinters in my back, but I didn't have time to get them out…my friends needed me.
I rushed out through the broken door and rejoined the battle. The Zaghnol looked like it had taken some pretty good hits from Vivi, Zidane, and Freya, but the damn thing was still standing. I decided to try and put an end to this. I jumped into the air and executed a "Ryu Tsui Sen Zan" and aimed for the Zaghnol's back. I succeeded in piercing its back, but, unfortunately, I didn't know it had electrocuted itself.
The electricity coursed up my sword and went into my arms. The force of the shock was so great that it blew me and my sword right off the Zaghnol's back. I hit the ground hard and gasped in pain as I had hit my back and forced the splinters deeper into my skin. I slowly got back up to my feet and regained the feeling in my arms again. 'I swear if my arms lose there feeling one more time…' my thought was interrupted by a loud roar.
I looked up and saw that the Zaghnol was running at me again. I prepared myself to attack when I saw a fireball coming at the Zaghnol from behind. I also saw a javelin coming from above. Both attacks hit and the Zaghnol was effectively stopped. I took advantage of its distraction by executing a "Ryu Kan Sen Arashi" and went straight for the head. Before I hit it, however, someone shouted "No!" and then my sword tore into the creatures head as I turned into a living buzz saw.
When I landed on the ground I looked at the Zaghnols body; it was lying on its side dead, its head was completely decimated. I saw Freya run over to the two kids to see if they were all right. I saw Vivi running up to me "are you okay, Michael?" he asked, concerned.
I smiled at him "I'm fine Vivi, but who was the one who shouted 'No!' before I hit the Zaghnol?" I asked.
"That would be me" said a voice behind me. I turned around and saw Zidane; he didn't look to happy. "Michael, why did you kill it! I had a date with Dagger on the line. Now I'll never get to go out with her."
That's when I remembered 'oh yeah, stupid me' I thought. I looked at Zidane "uh…sorry."
He nodded his acceptance. "It's okay…oh well; I'll find another way to go out with Dagger."
I shook my head in disbelief. 'Nothing gets this guy down' I thought.
Freya walked over to us, and I turned to her. "Are the kids alright?" I asked.
She nodded "yes they're fine, a little shaken, but fine."
I nodded my head. "Good." That's when we heard the bell ring signaling the end of the hunt.
The announcer came on "alright people here are the results from fourth place and up. In fourth place with 160 points…Vivi Ornitier!" the announcer announced. The crowds cheered for Vivi and the little mage turned his head down in embarrassment, fixing his hat. The announcer continued "in third place with 230 points…Zidane Tribal!" The crowds cheered and Zidane took a bow. The announcer continued "in second place with 240 points…Freya Crescent!" The crowds cheered and Freya bowed her head.
The announcer continued "and in first place with 257 points… Michael!" the crowds erupted with cheering and applause as my name was said. I held up my sword over my head in victory. Then I felt something warm drip onto my head. I looked up and saw that my sword was dripping blood. I looked back down, irritated 'note to self, always clean your sword BEFORE you hold it up over your head' I thought.
The song at the beginning is "Advanced Wind" from Wild Arms 3 and it's the one from the game not the soundtrack. The second song is "Angel of Music" from The Phantom of the Opera.
