To the readers: I apologize for my grotesque errors and I thank those who have informed me. It is as I have said, I have no Beta Reader so all planning, writing, and editing were done by me.I am still looking for one. Before you continue reading, please reread chapter one as it has many revisions, the edited chapter one was uploaded along with chapter two. Chapter one has been reedited for reasons such as missing information and missing scenes. And sorry for the long update. I had writer's block and issues with my own life.
Before I forget, check out my profile. I have uploaded Toma and Rina's profiles. Remember to preview their bio as it will be updated constantly per new chapter.
I will be using a lot of common Final Fantasy terms and names in later chapters, all of which will be original except the names. You'll understand my point later.
Chapter Uploaded: December 22, 2005
The rising sun casts a red glow over the coastal city of New Palmacosta. The morning started out warm and pleasant. "Are you certain?" Lieutenant Hale's ruby red eyes met her subordinate's sea green eyes.
"Yes Ma'am! The civilians claimed to have seen a man that fits the description of the target."
After a few seconds, she closed her eyes contemplating the best course of actions to take. "Search the entire city. If he indeed is located in this region, capture and bind him. And if he resists," she opened her eyes, "I grant you permission to shoot." The soldier only stared back. "Dismissed."
"Ma'am." He saluted and sped off, with a few other soldiers, into the town.
Three days, she thought to herself. Clever. He destroyed the bridge between our forces and this city so he could recover from the wound I inflicted on his leg. She soon followed her men at a slow pace. And hiding in a highly populated area to limit military movement. The wind ruffled the bangs of her blonde hair and swayed her military uniform. But not clever enough. Her eyes resembles a hawk; sharp and fierce.
Chapter 2: A False Reality! The Imperial Military Strikes.
There were a few bandits lingering around a grassy field beside a small lake. They were celebrating another successful raid from a nearby village. Most of these mend wielded swords and crossbows, others were muscle bound men carrying giant iron hammers.
The apparent leader wielded a giant axe still tainted with human blood. He sat on a boulder beside their plunder, cackling loudly and drinking wine. "Tonight, we attack the next town!" His men hollered a cheer.
An eerie wind began to pick up, carrying the acrid scent of death and destruction across the plains. The axeman shifted his gaze upon a blue haired woman slowly walking with her eyes closed. "Hey, who the hell are you?" His voice was harsh and demanding. "Are you from the village?"
She said nothing nor did she acknowledge the man's existence as she continued down her path. "Bitch, I'm talking to you!" A small orb of light manifested in the hands of her limp arms. Her eyes opened, revealing a deep ocean blue and empty eyes; a void of eternal darkness and despair. The man gave a horrified gasp, which quickly transformed into a gurgle as the light's intangible form transmuted into a long and sharp dagger piercing through the flesh of his neck.
"How dare you strike down our boss!" His men, shocked and quickly enraged, gathered their weapons and charged for the woman standing beside the still-warm body of their leader.
The dagger transformed into a wavering whip of light extending outwards towards her attackers. The sound of their painful screams sang a tune of terror and death as their bodies were being sliced into pieces with each lash of the whip. Blood began seeping into the soil but she remained untarnished with their bloodshed.
Later back in New Palmacosta, here and there white clouds sailed in an ocean of blue sky; and a seagull drifted lazily in an updraft to join its comrades in the air. People who bustled about the streets began to whisper about the military clad in blue carrying unique artillery. Two old ladies stood at the moth of an open alleyway chattering about the entire situation and all the rumors they've heard. "I hear they are searching for an escaped convict for the past few hours."
Both of them watched the men hasten throughout the streets on a manhunt. "I'm a little worried about this."
At the intersection, a soldier spat out a bunch of orders amongst a group of men. They saluted and split into three groups trying to cover as much ground as possible. "I hope there isn't a war coming."
"Still, I haven't seen anyone where something like that before. I wonder where they came from."
Back at the small building, Lloyd awoke with a stiff neck as it took him a moment to realize he had been sleeping on the floor with only a sleeping bag beside Noishe who was curled up to keep warm. He particularly slept on the ground to give Toma his bed and he couldn't let Colette sleep on the floor despite her efforts to convince him to take her bed. He glanced over to where he originally intended to sleep and noticed Toma sitting up in the same position from their last conversation. "Don't you sleep?" Lloyd managed to say through his yawn.
"I've already slept." His eyes were closed still, but he was still sitting up with his arms crossed. "You wake up really late, you know that?"
Lloyd scanned the room and noticed Colette sitting at the table smiling at him cheerfully. She found it amusing. Lloyd sweat dropped.
"By the way," Toma began, standing out of bed, "didn't you say that once I feel better, we can leave this city?"
"We did say that," Colette glanced Toma's way. "And we did say we would help you." A thought struck her, like a brick had been thrown at her head. "Come to think of it, did we ever ask him what the trouble was?"
"Oh that's right." Lloyd forgot to ask when they first made this vow to assist him. Both he and Colette looked Toma straight in the eye as a silent question.
Toma felt uncomfortable with their stares but answered nonetheless. At some point in time, he knew, he would have to say it anyway. "I'm being hunted down by the Imperial Military."
"Why is anyone chasing you?"
Toma continued to speak. "I'm not sure, but I remember seeing a face tell me Don't get caught or the hope of freedom and justice will be lost." An image appeared in his mind, an image shrouded in shadow from the intense brightness above. It appeared to be a female with shoulder-length hair. "Unfortunately, I did not see who that person was nor do I even know where that place is. But right after I was told those words, I blacked out."
"An Imperial Military," Colette began to think. "Are you from Tethe'alla?"
"No, never heard of that city before."
Colette then concluded that he was born in Sylvarant and that he has never heard of Tethe'alla, but she knew something was a bit off with her own assumption. If he was born in Sylvarant, he would have at least known that the moon was called Tethe'alla unless he thought she was crazy for thinking he came from the moon.
"Anyway, when I came to, I found myself in a grassy area. And a few hours later, I got chased."
"Hmm. Did you do anything to provoke the military?" Lloyd queried.
"Not that I know of."
"That's strange." Colette was very interested in his story as she hadn't blinked since he started talking. Noishe sat beside Lloyd scratching a flea that had been tantalizing it behind its ear.
Without realizing it, Toma scratched behind his own ear as if the flea had jumped to him. "Anyway, where are we going to go?"
"How about Mizuho in Tethe'alla? We can see Sheena there, and maybe find some cluse from their people about that place you told us about." Lloyd told him. For once, he was using his brain, even if it is temporary.
"Fine by me," Toma said, then asked, "What's Tethe'alla? Is it a city or a country?"
It didn't surprise Lloyd that Toma didn't know about Tethe'alla, since not very many people in Sylvarant knew it was a world instead of it being the moon. "Well, it's an world directly connected to Sylvarant."
Another silence before Toma spoke. "And what's Sylvarant?"
"..." This question caught everyone off guard. Someone who doesn't even know where he lives?
Before they could contemplate on this any further, a shot rang out outside. It was like the sound of thunder, but there wasn't a single dark cloud in the sky. "What was that?" Colette inquired, turning her head towards the glass less window.
Toma sniffed the air, catching the scent of grease and gunpowder. "Her again."
Lloyd cocked his head a bit but quickly shook out of the thought. "What's going..."
"This is First Lieutenant Rina Hale of the Lenore Imperial Military!" she interrupted. "Toma Akatsuki, Target Number Seven, you cannot escape."
Inside, Toma, his back against the wall adjacent to the door, grasped the hilt of his katana tightly. "Toma, are they...?"
"Yeah." He growled as he glanced over to the two. "How well can you fight?"
"I can hold my own," Lloyd answered. "But we are not going to kill them."
Colette however stared at Toma's face noticing something that Lloyd did not. Dog fangs?
"Whatever you say. I won't kill them then. But these people are dangerous. Careful not to get hit by their firearms."
"Wait, what?" Lloyd didn't even know what he's dealing with, nor what weapons they wielded. The way Toma described it, it wasn't a crossbow and they didn't have the ability to use magic. He had only been in this city for four days, and already he's involved in something big once again. It's like he is cursed, entangled in a web filled with unanswered questions.
Outside, Rina was pointing her gun at the door, but also kept close watch on the window incase he could flee from either. She was highly aware of her surroundings and she was prepared for anything. However, her men felt edgy. Even with their great numbers, they knew that Toma was a clever swordsman able to use anything that would aid in his escape.
Thanks to one of the civilians questioned by a soldier, they were able to locate their target with ease.
"Ma'am," her direct subordinate called out from the jeep as he came to a halt. "Our radars have detected massive energy readings approaching our current location."
"Massive energy...?" Rina repeated with a slightly open mouth. "Oh no." She growled, grinding her teeth tightly together. "Alright! We don't have much time. Capture him quickly!" She pointed to five soldiers. "You five, split up and evacuate the civilians immediately."
"Ma'am," they confirmed and rushed in different directions and began their tasks.
She then heard the sound of a door crashing as she shifted her attention back towards the building. Toma had apparently charged out without a battle plan, grasping his katana with two hands ready to slice and dice his foes.
"Reckless as ever," Rina mumbled. She was the first to open fire, shooting three shots directly at Toma's arms and leg. He countered by deflecting each bullet with his katana. His target was Rina, but two of her men stepped in his way guarding their Lieutenant.
Their fingers barely pulled the trigger when a chakram screams across the battleground knocking their artillery from their hands. Toma then lashed across their chests with a single swing. The two men yelled out stepping back a bit while holding their chests as they wince from the wound.
Rina directed her attention behind their objective at the two standing at the door. A red-clad swordsman wielding two steel swords and a blonde female holding two golden chakrams. "Lieutenant, they...!"
"Yes, I know." She, once again, sharply glanced at her opponents. "I'll handle this."
"Uh, Lieutenant?"
She ignored him, unsheathing a second gun she kept with her. Apparently, she's challenging all three of them to attack her at once. Toma accepted this challenge without a single thought and lunched towards her. As he was about to strike downwards, she quickly evaded him and counters with a foot sweep to topple him over. "Damn you!" Toma yelled.
He quickly jumped to his feet as Rina hopped a few paces back to avoid a possible counter from him. He charged once more for another try. The lieutenant radied herself as she heard the screaming sound of a chakram whirling towards her. "I never miss." She fired a few shots at the chakram, changing it's course and directed it at Toma.
He noticed what was coming and defended himself with his katana, deflecting it in a different direction. Colette rushed to retrieve her weapon. "Oops, sorry Toma!"
While Toma was disorientated, Rina took this opportunity to do a high kick him right in the face.
"Damn, she's good." Lloyd was unable to move from where he stood. If he charges to atack her, she could easily counter him and if he tried using long distance attacks, she would divert it to a new target. But if he just stood there, he wouldn't be able to help his new friend. Before, he left all the battle plans to Regal or Presea, but those two are not around to give him any strategy.
He glanced off to his side and noticed a few soldiers evacuating the civilians from the city. He didn't have any idea of what was going one or what was going to happen. Lloyd figured that these people are evacuating the civilians because of this battle taking place right now.
Rina fired a barrage of bullets at Toma as he deflected as many as he is able to, a few had nicked him on the ear and on the arm. The lieutenant quickly reloaded her gun, then shot a few more rounds. She didn't look one bit exhausted nor worried. On the other hand, it seemed like Toma was tiring and not once did he even land a single hit on her.
Overhead, the sky begins to darken but very little paid heed to it. A single shot rang out as Toma once again deflected the bullet. The bullet drove itself into the concrete ground beside Lloyd's feet. "This is..." The image of the wound on Toma's leg manifested in his mind.
A soldier evacuating the city spotted a young woman running the wrong way. "Miss, it's dangerous this way, please follow the others."
"But my son is missing, I can't find him anywhere!"
"I'm sorry miss but this area is being evacuated." He glanced towards the exit of the city, widening his eyes as he saw a bright light rushing towards them. He covers the woman with his entire body, but inevitably they were both engulfed in light and flames.
More were streaming towards the city, engulfing buildings and people. Rina ceased her barrage of bullets as she diverted her attention at the painful screams of those dying around her. "No," her eyes were wide and horror-filled, "my men."
Toma had also ceased attacking, also in shock of the events transpiring in front of him. "What the hell?"
"There being killed!" Colette covered her mouth with her hands.
"No..." Lloyd watched as those people evaporate in the strange anomaly and those that survived burn in the flames of death and destruction.
Amongst the flames and burnt corpses stood a woman shadowed by darkness, her eyes glowing an eerie red, eyes filled with pure despair and malice.
Final Notes: Please pardon my horrible writing skills. I really need two Beta Readers. Remember to view the character profiles on my profile to get an idea of what the characters are like. The woman however won't be up until the next chapter.
Next Time: The flames that stain the sky. The echoing sounds of gunfire. Could they be the signal of something awakening? What is hidden behind the eyes of the young warriors who meet? Next time "Her Name is Shikyou! New Palmacosta Destroyed Once Again."