"A Demon's Demise"
In a forgotten world of magic, monsters, and many evils, a prophecy stayed alive in the people's hearts:
"When darkness veils the world,
four warriors of light shall come."
And even as the darkness that shrouded the world grew stronger and darker, the people patiently awaited the Warriors' arrival. Unfortunately, as the prophet passed away, his prophecy died with him. However, the four youths whose job it was to bring the world to light were in fact real, and not far from each other…
The people of Cornelia went about their everyday business as a young man in a green tunic entered the city. He was tall, for his age at least, and seemed too young to carry the burden that would soon be upon him. His name was Sasuke. He was named by two poor peasants, his parents, who died when he was almost six years old. He had since lived on his own, usually sleeping in the back alleys. And now, as Sasuke entered the town, he was scratched up, tired, hungry, thirsty, and just plain worn out.
He had been fighting outside the city gates, killing the Goblins that had recently been raiding the city, and then looting their bodies for Gil and other treasure. He did this for his own benefit; there was no reward, but the overall Gil he'd collected was a decent amount, and he didn't have to steal it, which was how he usually got his money.
Sasuke moved through the town, talking cheerily with the guards one at a time as he sneakily stole Gil from their pockets without their notice. As he was walking up to the captain of the guard, he stopped suddenly and frowned. He had tried to steal from the captain before, but was caught and put in prison for what was supposed to be the rest of his life. He managed to sneak out less than six months later, and no one seemed to notice. Surely the captain had noticed, but just didn't have time to care. It seemed as if the man never slept. He was constantly on the move, looking over his shoulder, as if there was some covert operation that he had to keep quiet. For now, he grunted in acknowledgment toward Sasuke and walked into the castle. That man's name was Garland.
As Sasuke checked into the inn and slept in a clean, warm bed for the first time in a long while, Garland was walking the halls in Cornelia Castle, just when he heard the Princess, Sarah, talking to her father, the King.
"When do you plan to leave?" the King asked, some uncertainty in his voice.
"Tomorrow morning," she replied firmly. There seemed to be some argument going on. "Father, I must go! It's not every day that an immortal Elf Prince turns fatally ill!" She was referring to the Prince of Elfheim, a distant city of elves. The elves were immortal, and immune to all (or at least most) diseases, so it was true that one falling fatally ill was strange.
"I know, dear, but it could mean that dark and powerful forces are at hand!" The King almost screamed, but was trying hard to restrain himself.
"Father, I'm old enough to care for myself! I'm going, and you can not and will not stop me!" she shrieked, surprising her father, and partially breaking his heart. Even the guards seemed shocked. The King loved his daughter, and she was the only relative he had; the queen had died not long after Sarah was born, and Sarah's only sister had died in one of the recent Goblin raids. I've heard enough, Garland thought to himself as he walked off.
Garland hated the King. No, not only hate, but despise, loathe, and any other word that could mean the same thing. He was always jealous of the King, but mainly because he wanted the position of power.
Now is the perfect time to put my plan into action, he thought. I can kidnap the Princess while she's not so heavily guarded, and hold her for ransom! Cornelia will be mine, easy as that! No one would dare oppose me. To prove my power, when the King and I finish the deal, I will slay him in front of the entire kingdom! As Garland crept away to his room, the King and Princess Sarah also departed for their rooms, unaware of the events that would soon unfold.
The next morning, as Sasuke walked into the castle, aiming to steal from the guards' quarters, he heard two of the Guards talking. He stopped walking and hid behind a pillar. He had no authorization to be in the castle; if they saw him, he was surely going to go to jail. Again.
"Did you hear about Garland's absence from the Princess's departing assembly?" one of the Guards asked in sort of a whisper, as if it was some sort of secret.
"Yeah," the other replied in the same tone of voice, "and the King's law says that everyone has to be there." Sasuke couldn't help but feel like he was a nobody. He hadn't been called to any assembly. But that didn't matter. Garland probably wouldn't be in his room ,so Sasuke crept into the next hall, then went over to the door, and cracked it open a bit.
He peeked in and grinned; Garland wasn't there. He walked in and closed the door behind him, looking for any signs of where the noble Captain might be. By a stroke of luck, he managed to find Garland's log, and since nobody was there but him, he decided to read it, starting with the most recent entry.
"The first day of the new season, cold, raining, damp. Evening. Tomorrow, I make my move of assassinating the King of Cornelia and taking the kingdom for my own."
Sasuke dropped the book. Assassinating the King? Why would Garland want to do that? He slowly picked up the book and continued reading.
"So it is decided that I will kidnap Princess Sarah and hang her head as a trophy if the King doesn't forfeit the kingdom to me. Then, when I am the ruler of Cornelia, I will kill the ex-King in front of the peasants' eyes to display the glorious victory."
Sasuke had a thought. If he saved the princess, he would be showered with Gil and praise, maybe even appointed a position of power in the castle. However, he didn't want the reward to be any less than necessary. He would have to save the Princess himself, but he would need money for weapons, armor, and other items. He had next to no money; the inn was a rip-off last night. But Garland was practically as rich as the King, and luckily for Sasuke, Garland hadn't taken his money with him. It was nearly one million Gil, enough to by a thousand of everything Cornelia had to offer. So, with as much money as he could carry without attracting attention, Sasuke walked into town and stocked up.
As Princess Sarah was heading for Elfheim, sailing the open sea, her ship was stopped at the request of one of the passengers. No one knew who had stated the request, but it must have been someone important, to have overruled the Princess's demands. She got up and headed for the captain's quarters, followed closely by her guardian, a tall, strong Warrior called Baron. As she entered the room, she screamed, for the sight she saw was awful. The captain lay dead in front of her, his chest ripped wide open, his insides spilling out, and Garland was standing there, with one of his claw-like hands covered in blood.
At that instant, the ship jerked in a motion that left it pointing in the general direction from where it had come. The ship had begun sailing again. Garland snarled as Baron quickly drew his sword and pointed it at him.
"You will spill no more blood today, you fiend, unless it be your own!" And with that, Baron charged Garland, but was no match for him. Garland lashed out with one of his claws, hitting the Warrior's skull, causing his victim to fall to the floor in front of him, knocked out or dead. The Princess couldn't tell.
"What have you done?" she cried, as Garland walked up to her, stopping only a few inches away. He grinned.
"You'll be coming with me, Princess, and you will die if your father doesn't surrender Cornelia to me!" He grabbed her and pulled her close to him, laughing as the ship was moving toward a new destination. "We will be staying at the Temple of Chaos, my hideaway, and I'm sure you'll find it quite lovely…" He looked down at Baron's limp body and threw it into the sea, for the Sharks to feed on.
Sasuke walked fast in sort of a jog as he headed for the dock just south of Cornelia. When he arrived, realizing that he was too late, he sat down and recounted his supplies. A Rapier and Leather Armor, which he bought with his own money, ten Potions, two Antidotes, a Sleeping Bag, to wrap around himself in case he got cold, a Phoenix Down, all bought with Garland's generous share, and his own possessions, a short knife and a green tunic. He had never seen a Phoenix Down work before, but he knew it only worked on people whose deaths were by an unnatural cause. He only hoped it would automatically revive him if he died. He also had the crystal that hung on a string around his neck, but he paid no attention to that; it was just an accessory he'd kept for good luck.
He took one of the Potions, tired from the battles on the way to the dock, and drank it, feeling his entire body tense, relax, and then go back to how it normally was. He got up, picked up the small pouch containing all the Items except the Sleeping Bag, which he was now wearing, and set off down the cost line. Maybe they got caught in a storm at sea, he thought to himself. If they did, they would definitely end up on the cost. Wouldn't they? He pondered this as he walked, and soon realized that he was being watched. No, not just watched; followed. He was a skilled fighter, even if he didn't look it. He was unusually smart, and had a cunning that went beyond that of any other class of fighter. As his stalker closed in on him, he stopped, threw off the sleeping bag, and turned fully around to stare into the bloodthirsty eyes of a Warg Wolf. He had fought regular Wolves before, and he had to do his best to kill them, usually using a potion right after the battle. So, a Warg Wolf would be quite an opponent, and he knew that he may have to use that Phoenix Down.
The beast charged, and he dodged, barely being missed by the attack. As he was about to turn around, he was tackled, and he landed on his back. The beast's claws dug into his shoulders, making him scream out in pain as his attacker lowered its head toward his neck. He managed to bring his knees to his chest, plant his feet on the Warg Wolf's stomach and kick it off, but he wasted his time trying to get up instead of healing himself. He fell again, and the beast had jumped, about to land on the young Thief. Sasuke managed to roll out of the way, but he still fumbled when he tried to get up. He reached for a potion as the Warg Wolf continued with its relentless assaults. He stood up, drank the potion only partially, and drew his sword. He swung it at the charging beast and then quickly dodged; thanks to perfect timing, he managed to cut its front left leg off and dodge the attack in one motion. The beast stumbled as it landed, but it would not give up. It charged, or rather stumbled toward Sasuke, who swung his Rapier again. But this time, the Warg Wolf grabbed the sword in its mouth, wrung it free from Sasuke's grasp, and dropped it in the tall grass near the shoreline. It then turned to face Sasuke and charged again. Sasuke reached for his knife, realizing that his next move could be his last, if he didn't time his actions perfectly. Right as the beast was about to hit its target, Sasuke ducked low and held his knife up, slicing through his enemy's stomach until it hit directly where he had aimed: the heart. The Warg Wolf fell for the last time in a crumpled heap behind Sasuke and let out a final quivering breath before dying. Sasuke stared in amazement at his accomplishment. Satisfied, feeling better than he ever had before, he drank another Potion, and as his shoulder wounds slowly filled with new flesh and blood, he felt the wave of replenishment he felt before. He walked over to the tall grass, picked up his Rapier and continued down the coastline.
Garland and Princess Sarah were approaching the coast. Since there was no dock, Garland planned to get close to the coast, then jump out and swim the rest of the way with Sarah in his arm. He knew the coast well, so he knew of a spot where the rocks were easy to climb; that would be where they would jump off the ship. He didn't want the ship to be damaged, in case he needed to use it to escape.
As they approached the rocky cliffs, however, the ship slammed into the rocks, hard, so he and Sarah jumped overboard and swam to the rocks. When they got there, they climbed up and reached the open ground, all this taking about half an hour. They started off, but Garland stopped himself and the Princess, claiming that he heard a noise.
"I didn't hear anything," Sarah replied angrily, attempting to continue on. She whimpered as Garland came up behind her and covered her mouth with his bloodstained claw-like hand.
"Well, I did, and I don't intend to be seen by the King's lapdogs! If we were seen, I would have to kill who saw us, and the only blood I'm after right now is your father's!" With that, he pulled her with him behind some bushes, and waited to see what it was that he heard.
Sasuke was now jogging down the coastline, part of him saying that the Princess was near, part of him saying that only death awaited him if he continued, but he was going to find out for himself. He stopped as he saw the damaged ship near the rocks. It didn't exactly look like a first class ship; Sasuke figured it was probably just a supply ship or a fishing ship that crashed, and its captain had abandoned it. With luck, it would still sail. So, he climbed carefully down the rocks and climbed aboard, being watched by Garland and the Princess.
"I told you I heard something," Garland said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," Sarah replied. "You were absolutely right." Garland had let his hand slip from her mouth, but when she spoke, he realized this and quickly covered her mouth again. She was staring in disbelief. If only I could get that man to notice me, she thought to herself. But how can I attract his attention? She had no ideas, but suddenly, her body acted outside her mind's will. She bit Garland's hand, causing him to cry out in frustration and pull back his hand. If that wasn't enough, Sarah then let out a long, loud scream that easily reached Sasuke's ears.
"What was that?" the young Thief asked himself. He knew that it was a scream, but he didn't know the cause, which was probably what triggered his curiosity, making him want to look into it. He was already on the ship, however, and soaking wet, so he tried to push it out of his mind and make excuses not to check it out. Excuses like: I have to sail to Elfheim, because the Princess might be there, and I'm probably just a bit shaken up from the Warg Wolf battle. That battle was two hours ago, at least. But Sasuke paid no mind to this as he pulled up the ship's anchor. He had never sailed on a ship before, let alone navigated one, but how hard could it be? He turned the ship around (with minor difficulty) and set sail for Elfheim, which according to the map he found on the ship, was directly south of his current location.
As he sailed away, the Princess began to cry. Garland had cut her cheek with one of his sharp claws, for biting him and screaming like that. Her cheek wasn't bleeding as much as it was before, but it was bleeding nonetheless. When her tears reached the cut, it stung, making her whimper and put her hand up to rub it, but Garland slapped her hand away, making her cry more. Garland was not happy with this.
"Shut up, you stupid brat! One more sound out of you, and I'll kill you, right now!" Sarah's first instinct was to stay as quiet as she could, but she couldn't stop crying. Garland turned to her, with a hint of bloodlust in his eyes. He raised his hand as if to strike. Seeing as how he'd probably kill her anyway, Sarah found her courage (or stupidity) and screamed,
"No, you will NOT!" Garland was shocked by this, but not as much as Sarah had shocked herself. She had to follow that up, though, or she would be dead for sure. "You yourself said that the only blood you were after was my father's!" She had a point, and Garland knew this. He also knew that he needed her to make the deal. But just to scare her, he replied,
"Yes, but his blood runs in your veins." That kept her quiet for the rest of the time, except for maybe a sigh or slight whimper here and there. When they were not far away from Garland's hideaway, the Princess spoke up. They had been traveling for at least three hours after the biting and screaming incident.
"How much further to this hideout of yours?" she asked. "I'm afraid that if I go any further, I'll die of exhaustion-" she stopped and stared up at the huge shrine-like building that stood tall in front of her. Garland grinned at her expression.
"Welcome," he said, "to the Temple of Chaos."
Sasuke was sailing toward an island that was too small to mistake for the Elfheim coast. He thought that the Princess might be there anyway, (or at least that was his excuse) so he decided to stop there. Little did he realize that somebody was already there, but it wasn't the Princess.
Not to far from the approaching ship, Baron was dying. He'd had been lucky enough to float to the island, but the blow to his head gave him a concussion, and the nonstop bleeding would surely kill him soon. Even if Sasuke found the Warrior lying there, he would be too late; Baron would have died of blood loss.
Sasuke threw the anchor out as he approached the island. He jumped overboard before the ship came to a full stop. By the time he reached the shoreline, the ship stopped, and Sasuke continued along the shoreline, with hope of finding Princess Sarah.
Unfortunately, as Sasuke was walking casually along the shoreline, Baron finally gave in to the pain in his head and died. It was hard for him to accept, for he was too honorable a man to have died from such a short battle, if you could even call it a battle. Luckily for him, a young Thief named Sasuke was approaching his lifeless body with a Phoenix Down. However, Baron wouldn't be entirely happy to be revived.
For one thing, death was death. People died when they were supposed to die, no matter how dishonorable the death was. And another thing, Baron hated Thieves, so being stuck with one right after dying would be horrible. Baron didn't like Thieves because they were so much faster and more agile than Warriors. And Baron, for one, knew that strength was useless if you couldn't catch your opponent.
Baron and Warriors everywhere seemed to be the only class of fighters that felt threatened by Thieves, but all other classes had their individual dislikes. Most Black Mages hated Warriors for having great physical strength. Warriors, of course, hated Thieves, not only for combat reasons, but also because Thieves were constantly stealing from Warriors, simply because Warriors couldn't catch them. Thieves hated White Mages, because the White Mages had a protective barrier around their village, preventing Thieves from stealing their valuables. And White Mages hated Black Mages because Black Mages could use magic to attack anything, but the only offensive Magic that White Mages could use was against the undead.
So, as Sasuke was walking along the coast, he saw the Warrior lying on the ground, dead in a sandy pool of his own blood.
"Well, well…" Sasuke said, walking toward the body. He stopped and knelt next to the corpse, observing the huge indent in the Warrior's skull. He bowed his head in silence, saying a short prayer in his head. He would have used the Phoenix Down on the Warrior, for it was obvious that he had not died of a natural cause. But the Warrior looked too strong. The last thing he needed was a Warrior trying to kill him. Best not to go there.
However, as fate would have it, the Phoenix Down slipped from his pocket and landed on the Warrior's chest. Then, as if by Magic, the cap of the bottle sprang off and flew at least seven feet before landing in the sand. The liquid poured onto the Warrior's chest armor, and then slowly sank in. His eyes sprung open, he jolted up, looked around, and stared at his reviver, the young Thief.
"Great," Baron said bluntly, "not only was I dishonorably revived, but it was by a filthy Thief like you!" Sasuke pretended to be shocked.
"In case you didn't notice," he replied with fake annoyance in his voice, "I just restored your life! Unless you Warriors are too ungrateful and full of pride to appreciate when someone does something good for you!" He said this pretending not to know about Warriors' prejudice against Thieves. Baron, however, could tell that he was perfectly aware of his feelings and thought that Sasuke was making fun of him.
"You stupid Thief! You think you're confident enough to mock me, Baron the Warrior!" Baron shouted, rising to his feet. He now stood next to the Thief, a lot taller, and obviously stronger. But that wouldn't stop Sasuke.
"I am NOT a STUPID THIEF!" Sasuke replied mock-angrily. "I am Sasuke, and I am on a quest to save the Princess!" At the words: 'save the Princess', Baron drew his Longsword, which was sharper and more durable than Sasuke's Rapier, and pointed it at the Thief's throat.
"You do not deserve to speak of Princess Sarah, let alone save her." So people are already going after Garland, Baron thought. The news couldn't have spread that fast; I must have been dead for some time. Sasuke carefully pricked the Longsword away from his neck as he said,
"Under the authority of his Majesty, the King of Cornelia, I will not stop until I have accomplished my goal of rescuing and returning the princess."
"His Majesty sent a Thief?" Baron asked. "Preposterous."
"The King said that he would have sent his best Warrior, but, his Warrior wasn't there." Sasuke looked up at Baron. "I'm assuming that's you." Baron couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at what the Thief had said. Sasuke smiled inwardly; his false words had taken the desired effect.
"Well, then," Baron said in a much less angry voice, "I suggest we get going." Sasuke turned around and said,
"Agreed." Unfortunately, turning around was a bad idea, for Baron then knocked him over the head with his Longsword's sheath and immediately started searching throught his belongings. I didn't think so…Baron thought to himself. Wait, what have we here? Baron saw the crystal around Sasuke's neck and gasped. A Thief? Why! Baron sighed and began to carry the limp Thief back to the ship. Well, it's definitely a crystal… I guess he's the last one…
As the Princess and Garland walked into the Temple, odd noises began to be heard. Suddenly, as if the strange noises weren't enough, a dark voice reached Sarah's ears. It was a horrible sound, but the Princess was more afraid of what the voice said than the voice itself.
"Ah, I see you have brought some fresh meat with you this time," the voice said.
"Back off, demon! This is not food!" Garland replied. He seemed annoyed when he spoke. Maybe he and the voice didn't like each other?
"Demon?" Sarah said after analyzing Garland's previous statement.
"Yes," the voice replied slowly, causing the Princess to shiver.
"Cut that out!" Garland demanded. "If you say anymore, you'll scare her to death! And I need this one alive..." He turned to Sarah. "...For now..."
While Sasuke was unconscious, Baron had hauled him onto the ship, turned it toward the dock south of Cornelia, and started sailing. He had made it about half way, when Sasuke began to wake up.
"Unnnhhhhh..." he uttered, trying to get a clear focus on his surroundings. "Wh- unnnhhhh..." He couldn't even seem to talk straight. After a little while, he could finally see well enough to realize that he was on a ship. No, not just a ship. His ship. Well, he found it, he sailed it; he figured it was his. Moving. His ship was moving. But if he wasn't sailing it, who was?
"Oh, wait..." he said finally, realizing that there was only one other person with him when he fell into that 'sleep'. "Baron!" he shouted, expecting the Warrior to answer. No reply. "Baron!" he said again, this time moving toward the door. Sill no reply. He was about to call again, but stopped, realizing that the last thing he remembered was Baron standing behind him, and then he went Sasuke. Baron must have knocked me out, Sasuke thought. "That bastard!" At that moment, Baron popped his head into the open doorway.
"You rang?" he said sarcastically, laughing at Sasuke 's surprised expression.
"You hit me!" the Thief screamed. "No, more than that, you knocked me out!" It took the Warrior a while to say something, partially because he couldn't think of anything, partially because he was still laughing.
"Yes, but do you know why?" he replied, expecting Sasuke to know exactly why. But Sasuke 's memory was still a little fuzzy.
"What explanation would you have!" the Thief shouted. Baron sighed.
"You probably won't believe me, but I guess I'll try anyway," Baron said. "Surely you've heard the prophecy, right?" Sasuke gave out a quick laugh.
"Yes, and it's a bunch of garbage. Four heroes saving the entire world! Not a chance." Sasuke looked mockingly into Baron's eyes, and saw that he was shaking his head, almost in disapproval.
"Well," Baron said, "I suppose that crystal around your neck is a bunch of garbage too, then?" Sasuke looked confused, and Baron laughed. "One of the many other parts of that prophecy says that each Warrior of Light carries their own crystal. See?" he finished, holding up his own crystal, which he also wore around his neck.
"Sure…" Sasuke said unbelievingly. "Well, if that's the case, you'll be disappointed to know that I stole this crystal off a merchant a while ago…so you want the merchant, not me." This was a lie; Sasuke had had that crystal for as long as he could remember. But he didn't need to get involved in saving the world. All he wanted was the gold for saving Princess Sarah, which would be all he needed, if he played his cards right.
"Well," Baron said, "I suppose none of that matters now. We need to save the princess." And when the time comes, and the King congratulates us for saving the Princess, I'll tell him you have a crystal, he'll tell you to help us, and you won't say no then. You can't deny the King.
"Yeah, you're right," Sasuke said simply. And when the time comes, I'll ditch you, take her back to the King, get my rewards, and leave before you even wake up. Both Sasuke and Baron pondered their own thoughts as they became closer and closer to the dock south of Cornelia.
Garland was sitting at a table-shaped rock while Sarah was sitting in the corner, writing on the wall with a rock.
"What are you doing?" he asked, noticing the scribbles on the wall.
"Writing my last statements," she replied, not turning from the wall.
"Relax, I said I'm not going to kill you yet!" he said while stuffing a dead Wolf's leg into his mouth, pulling only the bone out.
"That may be so," the Princess replied, "but it's possible that killing myself would be better than living here. Plus, my father wouldn't have to die because of me."
"How would he know that you were dead?" Garland asked with a grin, having just finished the Wolf's third leg. Sarah stopped writing for a moment, then shot Garland a nasty look and huddled up into a ball in her little corner, dropping the rock. "That's what I thought..."
Every now and then that mysterious voice had spoken, but usually not long enough for the Princess to know what it said. Now the voice had come back, and it spoke in a loud, dreadful tone.
"You're becoming weak, Garland." Garland snarled as he finished the fourth leg and went for the torso. "That bodyguard of hers is alive." Garland jerked his head up.
"What? How! It isn't possible! "That indent in his head was far too big for him to survive!"
"It seems that he no longer has an indent in his head," the voice replied.
"Damn it all, he must have been revived!" Garland snarled as he headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" the voice asked calmly. "If you leave, there will be no one to keep the girl here." Garland turned around.
"You'll be here, you fool!" He turned around again and continued walking.
"Yes," the voice said, "but I am naught but a spirit." Garland had been beat, and he knew it. But the voice wasn't through. As Garland was walking back in, the voice said, "And, if you stay here, anyone who tries to fight you will be tired from fighting the monsters on the way here."
"I guess that's true..." Garland said, knowing that it was. He sat back down at the table-shaped rock. But realizing that he no longer had any food, he got back up and walked toward the back of the cave. "Oh, Princess!" he said. His words were just barely audible. "You can protect yourself for five minutes, right?" The Princess was shocked; wasn't the voice going to try to stop him?
"Hey, voice! Where are you?" she asked, waiting for a reply. None came, and so for a while, she was alone. It took a while until Sarah actually realized that this was her chance to escape. She got up slowly, and realizing that there would be more monsters outside the cave, she picked up the Longsword to her right. As she headed toward the door, she paused. "Voice, are you there?" She had the feeling that it was. No answer. It wasn't there. Now was definitely her chance. She walked to the door, and then stopped, looking to see if there were any monsters between her and the exit. None. Perfect. She started in a walk, but soon began running, for she had heard a Wolf's howl behind her. She was running her fastest, but it wasn't enough. When she was about three fourths of the way there, the snarling Wolf jumped in front of her, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. She was no fighter; she would not survive if she actually had to battle this Wolf. She drew the Longsword anyway, hoping to scare it off. She was planning to shout something at the beast, but before she could open her mouth, it charged right at her.
As Sasuke and Baron arrived at the dock, they noticed a large group of monsters waiting for them. There were at least nine Wolves, three Warg Wolves, twelve Goblins, and maybe a Goblin Guard or two. To Sasuke, this was surely suicide, for he could barely handle that one Warg Wolf, let alone this hoard. But to Baron, this was a warm-up. The Warrior had done so much training, and he usually came out of his sessions barely alive. He trained until he was almost dead, then rested up and trained even harder the next day. Now, he was always ready to show the results of his training in combat.
"Damn," Sasuke said, blinking at the restless crowd awaiting his arrival. "You sure we should even try to get off here, Baron?" The Warrior turned to him and nodded.
"Relax, kid. I got this. You just sit back and watch." The Warrior hoisted himself up onto the ship's side, and then let himself fall down to the ground. "You might learn something!" With that, he charged at the hoard of monsters that was already charging him.
For a group of reckless monsters, they were in a smart formation. Nine of the Goblins were riding on the backs of the Wolves, three on top of the Warg Wolves. The two Goblin Guards were at either side of the hoard, with their Scimitars in the air, ready to spill some blood. However, the only blood that they would spill was their own. As Baron was about to make the first kill, a Warg Wolf that must have been hiding pounced on his back, knocking him to the ground. Or at least that's what Sasuke was expecting. But Baron, who didn't fall, managed to plant one hand at the throat of the beast, and the other below its stomach, and throw it into the oncoming crowd, knocking out two of the Goblins, and hitting another off his Wolf.
"How'd you do that?" Sasuke yelled, completely taken back by the Warrior's strength.
"Aw, come on! Don't give me that!" the Warrior replied, killing a Wolf and knocking two Goblins out all at once. "I'm sure you could have done that, too!" Sasuke wondered if Baron was trying to flatter him by saying this, but there was no way that Sasuke actually could do that.
"No way!" I'm nowhere near as strong as you! I definitely see that now!" Sasuke shouted, slightly catching the Warrior off guard. If he can't handle a squabble like this on his own, Baron thought, then maybe he really isn't a Warrior of Light. He pondered this as he took out his sword and killed two more Wolves and three Goblins all in one swing. Maybe the Warrior race has just been paranoid? Two Warg Wolves were now upon him, and he had dropped his Longsword. "Damn!" Sasuke shouted as he threw himself onto the battlefield. His landing was a little off, but he managed to get up in time to see Baron shove his left arm through one of the beast's stomachs, and his right arm through the other. "No..." Sasuke said with his mouth dropping. "...Way..." Baron threw the beasts' carcasses at three of the Goblins, who were too scared to move. They all fell back, and their ribs cracked under the weight of the dead Warg Wolves. Three less Goblins to worry about. Sasuke was just staring in disbelief. "No..." he said again. "...way'..." He can't be that strong, can he? "...in Hell..." Are all Warriors this strong?
"Hey!" Baron shouted, not paying any attention to the three wolves all biting into his now bloody left arm. "You gonna say something or what?" He pushed one of the Wolves off of his arm, and then picked his Longsword up and stabbed it into another's skull, killing it. This scared the third one off his arm, but Baron still was able to cut its head off as it tried to run away. "Well?" he said, awaiting the Thief's reply as he stabbed his sword completely through one Wolf and half way through another, killing them both.
Now slitting a Goblin's throat and kicking another in the head, knocking it out, Baron actually looked like he might be trying. Maybe. "I told you that I was strong, didn't I!" The two Goblin Guards were now on top of the two remaining Warg Wolves, but the last two Wolves were nowhere to be seen. Must've run off, Baron thought. He swung his sword in an upward motion, slicing all the way through the first Warg Wolf's head and the mounted Goblin Guard's entire body. They both died, and Baron turned toward the sea, running parallel to the second Warg Wolf and Goblin Guard. He then jumped on the Warg Wolf, kicking the Goblin Guard off, who was then crushed by the Warg Wolf's stomping feet. The beast was charging straight for a cliff, but had his head turned toward Baron's distracting hand on the left. At the last moment, Baron jumped off, and the Warg Wolf kept going. When it was too late, the beast realized that it had fallen for the Warrior's trick.
After a short pause, Baron turned to face the Thief, with a grin on his face.
"Shall we continue to Cornelia?" he asked, smiling at Sasuke 's surprised expression. As they joined up, the Warrior drank one of Sasuke's Potions. Sasuke turned to Baron and finally said,
"How are you so strong?"
The Princess was terrified. She had fought (and won) many verbal battles before, but a physical battle was definitely not in her department. Especially against such a foe as a Wolf; she knew she wouldn't come out alive. Or at least she thought that. But Garland, watching and waiting in the shadows, was ready to jump in and kill the Wolf at any time. He knew that she would try to escape, so he thought up this little gig to test the Princess's true strength in a desperate situation. He also set this up to let off some steam from when he heard that Baron was still alive. He watched as the Princess held up her Longsword and stood her ground.
The Princess was holding the handle in her right hand, and part of the blade in her left, in a position so that if the beast tried to bite her after a straight charge, the sides of its mouth would split open. As it charged, she felt a rush of courage (or again, stupidity) and likewise charged at her enemy. Right before the contact, the Princess dodged to the left, completely losing her courage. She felt a wave of embarrassment, as if she was trying to impress someone but was screwing up badly. The beast turned to its right and charged again, this time hitting its target. The claw wounds were deep, and they caused a wave of pain and panic to take over the Princess's body. She screamed, but not in a high-pitched tone, more of a painful, bloodcurdling scream. It ripped at her throat, spilling her blood all over the floor.
"DAMN!" Garland screamed out, as he jumped down from his ledge, landing in a perfect stance. He sprinted toward her body, but didn't reach it in time. The Princess had died, and Garland had let it happen. Somehow, telling himself that no one would know didn't make him feel any better. "You stupid, UGLY, WRTHLESS-" He stopped as he saw a demon's eyes in the Wolf's body, looking up at him in such a rage, that even he felt a bit uneasy. It took him a second to realize who it was. "Chaos, you BASTARD!" he screamed angrily. "What the HELL do you think you're DOING?" The beast growled even louder, and that didn't help Garland's mood one bit. He began to charge at 'Chaos', as he called the beast, but the beast didn't move. It let Garland hit him, thinking it would take no damage. How wrong it was. Garland dismembered the beast as easily as he could have, and as the beast died, a black, floating cloud appeared out of thin air, and as it slowly disappeared, Garland heard it say,
"Damn you to Hell with me, Garland!" The cloud was gone now, and Garland looked down at what was once the Princess. He couldn't help but feel weak and stupid; he had never felt these feelings before. He felt... so helpless... so... hopeless. But wait! That's it!" Garland almost shouted, an idea just coming to his head. "Phoenix Downs, of course!" He picked up the Princess's body as he headed toward the part of the cave in which he normally stayed. When he arrived, he picked up a Phoenix Down that he had stolen from a village (he didn't remember which). He poured it down the Princess's throat, and before long...
"Hack! Cough, cough cough. Huff, huff, huff." The Princess looked up at her reviver. "You cough FOOL! You're supposed to pour it on my cough skin!" Garland's mind was surprised that the Princess would scream at him, but his body was thinking about other things.
"Well, would you have preferred that I had taken off your clothes to pour it on your skin?" He grinned at her surprised expression. She slapped him and shrieked, returning to her corner of the cave. "I didn't think so..."
After that, the Princess noticed that the voice never came back. She was unaware of the fact that Garland had slayed the body in which the voice was taking residence, killing both the voice and the body. She was always expecting it to come back, but it never did. Some time afterward, Garland was thinking both about how bored he was and how he had revived the Princess. As an idea began to form in his head, he looked in the corner where most of his supplies were. He saw at least seven Phoenix Downs amongst the pile.
"I've got an idea..." he said so that he attracted the Princess's attention. "Let's play a game."
"What kind of game?" Sarah asked in a scared sort of way. Garland looked at her and stood up. He began to walk toward her and she whimpered, thinking of what he might be about to do. He stopped a few inches away from her face and held one of his claw-like hands in the air. "What are you do-" the Princess began, but was cut off by a sharp blow to the head. She fell to the floor, blood spilling everywhere. Sarah was dead; again. Garland strolled casually over to the pile of Phoenix Downs and picked one up. He strolled back to the Princess's corpse and emptied the bottle. She sprang back to life and began screaming at him.
"Relax, my dear, for all is well..." he said as he killed her once again. "This is going to be fun..."
The tall city gates seemed to smile as two tired, hungry men walked through them. Sasuke and Baron had finally reached Cornelia. They walked in, noticing that the townspeople were in a state of chaos. They did happen to overhear some of the peoples' words over the screams and shouts.
"What could have happened to her?"
"Where could she be?"
"Is the Princess even really missing?"
"Why would the King lie, you idiot!"
"Hey, where's Garland?"
"Who cares?" The Princess is missing!"
Baron shook his head and headed for the weapons shop. Sasuke turned around, noticing that the Warrior was no longer by his side. He caught up, and stopped in front of Baron, causing the Warrior to stop as well. "Well, should we tell them?"
"No," Baron replied, as he pushed Sasuke out of the way, walking once more toward the weapons shop. "We only need to tell the King. If the people learn that Garland has her, then they'll be in a state of far more panic than this." With that, he stopped in front of the weapons shop, realizing that it didn't have any sword better than his Longsword, and turned for the armor shop. Sasuke once again had to catch up with the Warrior to actually make himself heard.
"But won't the King be just as upset?" he asked, causing the Warrior to stop and look at him. He felt the gaze pierce his eyes and stab right into his very soul.
"Not when he sees the four of us together," Baron said, holding his crystal up so that Sasuke knew what 'the four of us' meant. Sasuke sort of frowned as he followed Baron into the armor shop. He obviously wasn't believing Sasuke's false story about stealing the crystal.So the other warriors of light were in Cornelia the whole time, but who could they be? The King was too old, and no one else had made themselves known as strong fighters. Baron bought Chain Mail and left more than enough money. Sasuke figured that Baron knew the clerk.
As they walked out of the shop, Baron (with his new armor on) said,
"Only two stops left." Sasuke looked at him.
"Two?" he asked. "What else is there besides the castle?" This made Baron pause for a second. He continued then, leaving Sasuke in short suspense.
"Well, yeah, three if you include the castle..." Sasuke looked at him again, this time more surprised.
"Three?" he asked, not knowing that he was walking with Baron into the black magic shop. When he realized this, he asked yet another question. "What are we doing here?" Baron ignored him and instead began talking to the Black Mage behind the counter.
"Hey, Moriil! Long time, no see!" he said as he shook hands with the Black Mage. Sasuke was confused. Don't Black Mages hate Warriors?
"Hello, Baron! And, uh..." The mage paused. "Baron, who's the Thief?"
"Moriil, I'd like you to meet my newest ally, Sasuke." Sasuke shook hands with the Black Mage, who looked just as confused as he was.
"Baron, didn't you say that you," he paused. "You know..." He paused again. Sasuke finished the sentence for him.
"Hate Thieves?" He laughed with Baron at that statement. Sasuke didn't say anything after that; he would let Baron do the talking.
"Well Moriil, Warriors used to mainly hate Thieves for being fast in combat. That was back when the world was at war with itself. But eventually, that reason was lost, and Warrior children were brought up to hate Thieves for no reason. I was one of the few who remembered that reason, and now I realize that it's no big deal." Moriil looked at Sasuke for a moment. Baron leaned close to Moriil's ear and whispewred something that Sasuke couldn't hear. As he did so, Moriil moved his gaze from the Thief's eyes to his chest area, where the crystal hung from a string.
"I see..." the Mage said. Sasuke looked back in confusion.
"Hey, don't Black Mages-" This time Moriil finished the Thief's statement.
"Hate Warriors?" Sasuke nodded. "Well, most do." Moriil said sadly. "It can't really be helped. I don't hate Warriors, though. I certainly don't hate Baron." Sasuke noticed Baron smile slightly and stand a bit taller than before. Moriil continued. "Baron is one of the nicest people I've ever met. If he has it in his heart to go against what his parents taught him and be kind to Thieves, then he has to be nice." Sasuke nodded in agreement. Baron did seem nice, especially for someone who would normally hate Thieves. Moriil walked over to the open door through which baron already exited. Sasuke followed and closed the door behind him. Moriil locked it and they caught up with Baron.
The trio headed for the white magic shop, and as they were about to enter, the door burst open, and a White Mage, who was in quite a hurry, flew past them toward the castle.
"Hey, wait, Luca!" Baron shouted as he followed the White Mage. Sasuke and Moriil followed behind him, and not long after the chase began, it was over. The guards wouldn't let Luca into the castle, and the trio of heroes finally had her cornered.
"Huh?" she said as she finally noticed her three followers. "Baron! Moriil! Where were you guys?" Sasuke decided to speak up.
"Right behind you," he said, causing Luca to jump.
"Oh! You scared me for a second." The White Mage held out her hand, and Sasuke shook hands with her. "My name is Luca," she declared. "What is yours?"
"Sasuke," the Thief replied. The White Mage nodded. Moriil decided that it was his turn to speak up.
"We have to get to the King!" he said. Luca looked at him and frowned.
"I'm afraid they won't let anyone in," she stated. "They say it is an emergency situation." Moriil nodded.
"Well, we'll just have to sneak in, then," he said. They all walked behind the white magic shop, and Baron was the first to jump over the wall. It was about fifteen feet high, but after using Luca's secret route onto the roof of the shop, they merely had to jump onto the wall, and then let themselves down on the other side. When the time was right, Luca asked Moriil in private,
"Why is Baron traveling with a Thief?" Moriil turned to her.
"Did you notice his crystal?" Moriil asked. Luca slightly gasped, but kept it quiet to prevent attracting the Thief's attention to her.
"You mean…?" she said slowly. The Black Mage knew what the rest of her question was.
"Yes," he replied. "He's the last one."