Chapter 52: The Four Shrines

After a while, Zidane called a meeting in the bridge. After a few seconds, all of us had gathered at the bridge. Zidane spoke "listen up, everyone. Let's sort out what we found in the castle. On top of this castle is a mural, a map of the world. There were four mirrors on the mural. The writing on the mirrors was in the language only I can read. 'My power is protected under the shaking ground.' 'My power is protected behind a tornado.' 'My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain.' 'My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth.' I'm sure the mirrors are pointing us to the locations that help us break the seal. What the monster said before he perished provided us with a clue about the seal... 'One is all. All is one.' Meaning there is a connection between these 4 seals..."

I spoke. "So, you want us to take the shrines at the same time."

Zidnae turned to me. "I think that's the best course of action."

Eiko was surprised. "We're not going together like we always do?"

Zidane nodded. "I'm gonna drop us off in each location."

Eiko nodded. "I see…hey, I'll go with Dagger!"

Zidane looked surprised and disappointed. "What? Why…?" he paused.

Eiko put her hands on her hips. "It's called 'ladies first' Zidane! And we girls have things to talk about."

Zidane nodded, not quite understanding. "Uh-huh.-" he turned to Dagger "-is that okay with you, Dagger?"

Dagger nodded. "Sure, but...where are we going first?"

Zidane thought for a moment. "Well... The nearest location would be..." he paused. He had no idea.

That's when one of the crewmen spoke. "One of the locations you mentioned is just north of us!"

Zidane turned to him. "Oh, you were listening to us?"

He nodded. "I've been a sailor for a long time! I'm confident in my sense of direction. 'My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth.' The location must have something to do with water; why not go there first?"

Zidane nodded. "Alright... Thanks for your help."

He looked pleased. "Please don't hesitate to ask me if you forget your destination! And please remember to equip yourselves properly while we are onboard!"

Zidane spoke. "You can relax, buddy. You're beginning to sound like someone I know." Steiner gave Zidane a questioning look.

Zidane turned to Erin. "Alright, Erin! Let's go!"

She turned to him, and saluted. "Yes, sir! Now departing!" The airship veered off in the direction we wanted to go.

When we arrived at the Water Shrine, Zidane left the ship, along with Dagger and Eiko. The rest of us stayed on the ship.

Vivi looked up at me. "Will you be going with me when I'm chosen to go to one of the shrines?"

I looked down at him, and smiled. "Of course I'll go with you, Vivi. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Vivi looked happy. "That's good, thanks, Michael."

I nodded. "Hey, what are brothers for?" Zidane came back to the ship, and we departed to the next shrine; the Fire Shrine.

When we got near the volcano, I entered the engine room. It was a sauna in that place. The engine was obviously overheating.

Freya said as much. "Zidane! The heat is going to kill the engine if we get any closer!"

Zidane nodded. "Okay...when we get closer to the volcano, you two head for the shrine's entrance."

Amarant spoke "Why do I have to go with her?"

Zidane turned to him. "Oh, sorry. Did you wanna go with Eiko?" Amarant said nothing. Zidane turned to Freya. "Good luck!" She nodded, and she and Amarant left the ship.

I walked up to Zidane. "So, which shrine is next?"

Zidane thought for a moment. "Our next destination is...'protected behind a tornado.' Pairing up Steiner and Quina seems like a bad idea... I think I'll ask Vivi to baby-sit Steiner."

I looked at him. "What about me?"

He looked at me. "Oh, yeah. You're going with them, too."

I smiled. "Thanks, Zidane." After a while, we arrived at the Wind Shrine.

When we arrived, Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, and myself walked out to the deck. The wind was blowing fiercely.

Vivi spoke. "W-wow the wind is strong…" he paused.

I looked at him. "Don't worry, Vivi. I'm sure it's not that bad." I walked out into the wind. The wind immediately started to lift my cape and robe. I put my arm in front of my eyes to shield them from the dust. The wind really was strong. 'Okay, maybe I spoke too soon' I thought. Steiner decided to walk in front of me. The wind immediately stopped blowing against me.

He looked back at me. "Allow me to go first, Master Michael."

I nodded. "Sure, thanks Steiner." I turned to Vivi. "Come on, Vivi." Vivi nodded, and walked behind me.

Zidane spoke "Michael, you better take this." I turned around, and he threw the wind mirror at me. I easily grabbed it, and tucked it into my robe.

I nodded at Zidane. "Thanks." He nodded, and re-entered the ship. With Steiner leading the way, we slowly made our way to the Wind Shrine.

As soon as we entered the shrine, the first thing I noticed was a long hallway that led to another room. The altar was likely beyond that room. Zidane had given me the Mirror before we left, so all we had to do was go down the hall, enter that room, and find the altar.

That's when I remembered that I had no idea what the trap was that was in here. I looked up at the ceiling of the hall, and noticed that it was lined with sharp spikes. 'That must have something to do with the trap' I thought.

Steiner spoke. "Look" he pointed down the hall. "I'm sure if we go to that room, we'll find the altar. This is too easy." He moved forward, but I stopped him with my hand.

I looked at him. "Be careful Steiner, it could be a trap." He nodded, and moved ahead cautiously. Before he entered the hallway, however, he sneezed.

That was when part of the ceiling descended down on a chain, and smashed against the ground. Then, another section of the ceiling followed suit, and another, and another, and another. Then all of them returned to their spot at the top of the ceiling.

All of us were shocked. I walked up to the hallway. Steiner put his hand out. "Wait, Master Michael, it's too dangerous."

I looked at him. "I just want to test something." He looked skeptical, but allowed me to pass.

I walked up to the edge of the hallway. I quickly thrust my hand forward, and pulled it back. Sure enough, the ceiling traps descended again, one right after another.

When they reset themselves, I tried something else. I leaned my head towards the hallway, took a breath, and blew. I quickly got my head out of the hallway, and just in time. The ceiling pieces made their descent again.

This time, when they reset themselves, I slowly extended my hand into the hallway. I kept it there for a second, and then I slowly retracted it. The trap didn't activate.

I decided to throw caution to the wind, and slowly stepped into the hallway. I made sure that I was breathing normally, and moving as slow as I could. After a few seconds of walking, I realized that the ceiling pieces weren't making their descent. I slowly walked back to the others. As soon as I got out of the hallway, I turned to the others.

"I think the trap is activated by the displacement of the air. It seems that we're okay, as long as we move slowly, breath normally, and don't talk." Steiner and Vivi both nodded.

I looked at Vivi. "Vivi, I want you to get on my back."

Vivi looked surprised. "What? Why?"

I spoke. "It'll make things easier for us." truth was, I was afraid he might trip and activate the trap.

Vivi nodded in acceptance, and climbed onto my back. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and I put my arms under his legs. I stood up, and turned to Steiner. "Alright, let's go." He nodded, and we entered the hallway.

After a few seconds we reached the middle of the hallway. Suddenly, Steiner stopped. I slowly turned to look at him. My eyes widened, he was going to sneeze. I shook my head slowly, but it was no use.

"AAACHOOOOOOOO!"

That's when the first ceiling piece descended at the entrance to the hallway. 'So much for being slow and quiet' I thought.

"RUUUUUUN!" I yelled. Steiner and I started running as fast as we could down the hallway. I could hear the sound of the other ceiling pieces crashing to the ground. With each fall the sound got closer, and closer.

Vivi and I made it to the end of the hallway, and I let him down. I turned back to see that Steiner hadn't made it out yet, and the ceiling trap was catching up to him. "COME ON STEINER, MOVE IT!" He started running faster. I could tell that he wasn't going to make it. I extended my hand and cast a Haste spell. Steiner sped up, instantly.

He had reached the last few feet, and was about to make it out of the hallway, but he tripped. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly grabbed his arm, and pulled him out as fast as I could. The last ceiling piece descended towards his foot, but I just managed to pull him out at the last possible second. We all made it.

I was breathing heavily, and was looking at Steiner. He looked up at me. "I'm sorry."

I sighed. "It's okay…at least we're…all alive." He nodded, and stood back up. After that, we walked further into the shrine.

Finally, we reached the altar. I approached the altar, and was going to place the mirror in the indentation, but I felt a dark presence approaching us from above. I jumped back from the altar, and narrowly avoided getting slashed by a large clawed hand.

I looked at the creature that had almost clawed me. It was a dragon like creature with three heads; it was Tiamat. It didn't look to friendly. It spoke. "Kuja said I should expect intruders."

I spoke. "So, you know Kuja. What are you?"

He spoke. "I am one of the four guardians of Terra, and I don't chat with mortals. Prepare to die." I unsheathed my normal sword, and the others readied their weapons as well.

I jumped into the air, and executed a 'Ryu Tsui Sen." That was when he used his Snort technique, and blew me into a wall. I hit the wall, hard, and fell to the ground. I dropped my sword, from the impact, and almost lost consciousness. 'Okay, that was dumb' I thought.

I slowly lifted my head up, and saw that Steiner and Vivi were fighting him. Vivi cast a Thundaga spell, but Tiamat dodged it. Despite his large size, he was fast. He flew at Vivi and tried to claw him. Steiner jumped in front of Vivi, and took the hit instead. He was sent flying through the air. He hit the wall, and fell to the ground. Vivi was distracted, and Tiamat took advantage of it. Tiamat swung his tail at Vivi, and Vivi was knocked into the wall as well.

Tiamat laughed. I got back up to my feet, and retrieved my sword. I jumped over to Vivi, and Steiner. Both of them got back up to their feet. I spoke. "I suggest we pull back for a bit, and come up with a plan." They all nodded, and we ran out of the room.

Tiamat spoke. "Finished already? Such weaklings." Steiner looked infuriated.

I looked at him. "Steiner, ignore him. We need to come up with a plan."

We huddled together. "Alright, he's a fast one, that's for sure, but I think I have a plan."

Steiner looked at me. "Well, what is it?"

I smiled "well, here's what we do…" I told them my plan.

After telling them my plan, we entered the room. Tiamat spotted us instantly. "Back for more, eh. Didn't learn your lesson last time, did you?" he laughed.

I smiled. "You won't be laughing for long." I sheathed my sword. He looked surprised. I assumed a fighting stance. "Let's fight." He laughed, and flew at me.

I jumped towards him. We were on a collision course. He saw my tactic and just laughed. I smiled. 'You're laughing now, but once I'm close enough…' I thought. That was when I felt I was close enough.

I extended my right hand towards him, and cast a Waterga spell. Tiamat didn't have time to dodge my attack. He was incased in a large orb of water. I quickly landed on the ground.

I turned to Vivi. "Now, Vivi!" Vivi nodded, and cast a Blizzaga spell on Tiamat while he was still trapped. The water orb froze, along with Tiamat.

I turned to Steiner. "Alright, Steiner, finish him." Steiner nodded, and executed his 'Stock Break' technique. The ice orb shattered and Tiamat's body shattered as well. We had won.

I looked at them, and smiled. "Good work, guys. The plan worked." They all nodded.

Steiner spoke. "That was a good plan, Master Michael."

I nodded. "Thanks. Now, let's put this mirror in its place." They nodded, and I walked up to the altar, and placed the mirror in the depression.

Once it was set, I turned to the others. "Let's get out of here." They all nodded, and we left the Wind Shrine.

As soon as we got out of the shrine, I noticed that the wind had stopped, and that the Hilda Garde 3 was already outside waiting for us. Zidane got of the ship, and walked towards us. He smiled. "Hey guys, so things went well?" We all nodded.

His smile widened. "Good, well everyone else is back, so our next stop is the Shimmering Island. Let's go." We nodded and got back onto the ship.

We approached the Shimmering Island. As soon as we got closer, a crewman spoke to Zidane. "Mister Zidane! I'm showing abnormal readings!"

Erin spoke as well. "It feels like the ship is getting sucked in!"

Steiner turned to Zidane. "Zidane! It might be dangerous to keep going!"

Eiko turned to Zidane. "Are we gonna bust in on the airship?"

Zidane spoke. "All we know is that this is the entrance"

I spoke. "Maybe it's a teleporter. Like the one in Kuja's hideout." Zidane gave this some thought.

Erin turned to him. "Mister Zidane! We're going to get sucked in! What shall I do?"

Eiko turned to Zidane. "What now, Zidane? We may not be able to turn back!"

After thinking for a minute, Zidane came to his decision. "Keep moving forward! We're going out on the deck!"

Eiko looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

He turned to her. "If Michael is right, we can jump into the teleporter."

Dagger looked shocked. "From this height?"

I spoke. "We'll be fine. Considering all that we've been through, this is nothing!" They looked skeptical, but agreed. We went out to the dock, and approached the Shimmering Island.

As soon as we approached it, a huge whirlpool appeared over the island. I could also see gold forms flying down to the center of the whirlpool. They looked like birds. My guess was that the gold forms were the spirits that were heading to Terra. 'Guess we're joining them' I thought.

The ship approached the whirlpool, and entered it. As soon s it did, I started to levitate off the ground; I was flying, in a way. I looked around, and saw that the others were flying as well. I saw Zidane fly off the ship. I looked at Vivi. "Let's follow him." He nodded, and we flew off the ship towards Zidane.

That's when we were falling towards the teleporter. After descending closer to the island, I felt a familiar falling sensation, and a bright light surrounded me. I was being warped.

When the light faded, I found myself standing on the side of a ledge. I was looking out at a blue world with weird structures sticking out of the ground. I smiled, we had arrived at Terra.

Vivi and I have a new combo attack

Water/Blizzard

I cast any level of Water spell, and Vivi casts any level of Blizzard spell that he knows. The Blizzard spell freezes the orb of water, and also freezes the creature/creatures inside the orb. Then, either I or someone else shatters the orb, along with the creature/creatures trapped inside it.