King Corneria smiled at his daughter, Princess Sara. The two of them were sitting in Corneria's throne room, when Klyde and James entered the room. He turned toward them and beamed with a large toothy grin.

"You both have my humble thanks. My daughter is more precious to me than life itself. I know it isn't much, but here is the rest of your reward."

Klyde stepped forward, pocketing the gil. He nodded at the king, and as he went to turn away, Princess Sara slipped a small note into his pocket with a movement that no one else noticed. Once he turned his back to the royal pair, he took out the note and read its contents.

Klyde.

Please come to my chamber this evening. I would like to give you a more personal award for your heroics.

Princess Sara

Klyde closed his eyes and punched the air, whispering "yes" as he walked out of the throne room. James turned to him. "Um, Klyde…. Klyde?" James ran after him out into the main hall of Corneria castle. "Klyde? What about my share of the reward?…"

Klyde finally gave up trying to do anything with his hair. Since he was a kid, his red plume of hair had always had a mind of his own. He shook his head, slipped on his hat, and gave himself a thumbs up in the mirror. He had explained to James that he had somehow lost the reward money on the way from the throne room to the courtyard, and after getting lectured for several minutes about money and responsibility. Klyde had apologized and excused himself to go off and have some beers. Several hours and many more drinks later, Klyde had remembered about his appointment with Princess Sara.

He stumbled towards Princess Sara's room, and managed two or three drunken knocks. Princess Sara opened the door, grabbed him by the shirt, and pulled him in. Klyde looked around the room, taking in all the details. Pink curtains and pink rugs adorned the walls and floors, and the furniture all had a pink hue. Pink blankets and pink pillows covered the huge bedframe, and the bedspread was… well, think of it this way. It wasn't black.

Princess Sara smiled at Klyde, wearing a long pink nightdress. "Would you like a drink?"

Klyde nodded vigorously. She must be psychic!… this is awesome!

Sara sat down next to Klyde, offering him a glass of wine. Klyde grinned as he downed it in one shot, hiccupping drunkenly. She leaned in close and sighed. "When I got back, I feel into a deep sleep. I didn't have a chance to sleep at all when I was captured by Garland." She shivered and leaned against Klyde. Klyde grinned at no one in general and put his arm around her. She continued her narrative.

"While I slept, I had a dream about you…" Klyde silently thanked whatever god happened to be listening at that moment. "I can't remember much… but…. Something important happened."

"Something important?"

Sara struggled, attempting to remember her dream, every waking moment erasing another section of the vision. "There… there was some sort of evil. It threatened the whole land. And you were in it, somehow…"

Klyde scratched his head. This didn't sound like the dirty sex dream he was expecting to hear about…

Sara reached behind her pillow, and Klyde got excited again. But what she pulled out cast a shadow of disappointment on his face. It was a simple looking lute. She smiled softly and held it out to him. He hesitantly took it, trying to hide the frustration in his voice.

"This… this is why you called me in here? To give me this lute?"

Sara gave him a reproachful look. "It has been in my family for many generations. It is said to hold magical powers, and will help the Light Warrior in his time of need."

Klyde tilted his head slightly. "The Light Warrior?"

Sara nodded, and Klyde couldn't help but follow her beautiful locks of hair up and down like a yoyo. "You know the legend of the four orbs, right?"

Klyde's face lit up in a display of agonized recollection. He hadn't heard the legend for years, and he was drunk enough as it is. Slowly, piece by piece, the story came back to him.

"Wasn't it…? Um… There are four orbs, and they control the world, right?" He looked to her nod to continue. "There was the wind orb, and the earth orb….. and um, the orb of beer?…" Sara shot him a look. "I mean, orb of…. Oh yeah, fire. And water?"

"Right." Sara replied. "Wind, earth, fire and water. And each orb controlled that aspect of the world. As long as they were all charged by the power of the four temples, everything would be okay."

"Okay. So what does this have to do with the lute?"

Sara shoved him playfully. "I was getting to that. Don't be impatient. Well, the legend says that one day the four orbs will lose their power, and they will be tracked down by the forces of darkness. The world will be thrown into turmoil, and the end will be near. But from nowhere, the Light Warriors will come forth, and they shall save the orbs."

Klyde shrugged. "And…?"

"The Light Warriors. Like the Light Warrior?…" She waited for recognition to dawn. She was in for a long wait. Finally she grew sick of it and sighed. "Basically, I think that the Light Warriors from the legend of the orbs are the same as the Light Warrior in my family's heirloom!"

"Ohhhhh…."

Sara shook her head. "Well, that's what I wanted to give you." She said as she handed the lute to Klyde. He took it in his hands, and hesitantly stood up.

"Umm. That's it?…"

Sara tilted her head to the side. "Yes…. Why?"

Klyde hung his head. "Oh, no reason. I guess I'll be going, then?…"

Sara nodded, standing up and leading him to the door. "Yes. I need to rest. I'm still tired from that ordeal with Garland. Thank you very much, Sir Klyde."

Klyde's face met the closing door, and a sigh escaped as he turned away. "Dammit…" he mumbled as he slunk away to finish off his drunken evening.

The rest of the week found Klyde in the Corneria Library, researching the legend of the orbs. The first four nights after Sara had been rescued, she had dreams involving Klyde and some sort of great evil. After the fourth night, Klyde decided to find out more about the tale. Three days of research had no result, and the easily distracted fighter was beginning to lose hope.

"Crap! I haven't found anything new about these damn orbs!"

James came up behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Still at it, huh?"

Klyde buried his head in his arms and sighed. "This is friggin pointless. Everything I'm reading, I already know."

"Well, its time for you to take a break. The king wants to talk to us."

Klyde took the book he was reading and threw it at a wall. The librarian gave him a dirty look from around a shelf. He stood up and stretched, several unused joints cracking. Then the two heroes struck out into the sunlight.

King Corneria gave the pair a frown as they entered the throne room. "Good, you're both here. We have a grave situation. There was a distress message from the town of Provoca, to the north east. Apparently, some sort of evil has taken over the town. I want the two of you to infiltrate the town, find out what the problem is, and neutralize it. I'll give you two thousand Gil to buy supplies, and whatever is left over will be your reward. I'm sure the people of Provoca will be happy to reward you as well."

James met the king's stare and smiled. "You know I'm willing to help."

Klyde nodded. "That sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Count me in." He stopped and scratched his chin. "Hey, how are we gonna get there? Isn't the bridge out?"

"Not anymore. I had my men fix the bridge during the past week. Everything is prepared for your departure."

One of the king's men handed Klyde a pouch. The pouch clinked, heavy with golden Gil coins. James went to take a grab at it, but Klyde deftly pulled the bag to the side, waving to the king as he walked out of the room. James followed after him, intent on not getting gypped out of his reward.

Princess Sara shook her head as she watched him go, worried about where Klyde's travels would take him.

Klyde and James walked into Maurice's general shop, the small bell once again going off, alerting the elderly shopkeeper to their presence. He emerged from the back room, a tired look on his face.

"Ah, Klyde… is there anything I can do for you?"

Klyde selected a thick leather tunic, and a small dagger for his right hand. Two blades were always better than one, he had reasoned.

James decided to try out the nunchaku, and bought himself a light green headband. He also insisted on picking up potions and a few antidotes.

Klyde counted the leftover Gil, a grim look on his face. "Well, we've got about 400 Gil left. That's 300 for me, and a hundred left for you."

James shook his head, resigned to his fate. Klyde waved to the old shopkeeper as they departed on their quest. "Catch ya later, Maurice!"

The two adventurers began to walk across the newly fixedbridge. The sun was setting, causing the sky to light up in a panorama of pinks and grays. The water reflected the sky, creating a painting of a landscape normally only seen in movies and video games. James turned to Klyde.

"Do you feel like, I don't know… like…. These are the first steps of a grand adventure or something?…"

Klyde shook his head as they trudged on.

"No. You're just a moron…"

Final Fantasy

AN- Well, we've finished the epilogue. That's why the chapters were so short. But now we begin the real adventure, and things might just get interesting. For those who've played the game, the bridge thing should seem familiar. When the bridge is crossed in the game, the panorama I mentioned is shown, along with some nifty music. After a small intro paragraph, the title of the game is finally shown. Hence why I wrote "Final Fantasy" at the end of the chapter. Eh, you guys know what I'm talking about. No need to explain. I hope you all enjoyed this story setup. Next installment, we've got Matoya's cave, and the assault on Provoca. See you guys soon!