Author's Notes: I'm sorry! It took me forever to find the motivation to write! I'm so sorry about the slow updates, I'm trying to keep up. I finally got this chapter done though. It has some problems, for one, I feel Vivli's trauma has been pushed too far into the background, so I'm going to explore that in the next chapter hopefully, because she's not just going to forget it, but this chapter is also a bit of fun. Big battles, the return of all the characters, the usual Light Warriorish comments, and so on.

On a side note, I'm no longer allowed to reply to reviewers in notes. Apparently I have to use the 'reply' button. That's lovely. But as general points addressed to everyone, yes, Olose's monster fight scene was a rip off of Star Wars. One time I didn't admit it and the one time I got caught! Ahem. And to me Gustaberg is a desert! At least, I always thought of it as one. For really flimsy excuses, the end of the FFXI Chronicles 3 hinted Vivli is writing these, so maybe she, having grown up in Windurst and never seen a desert, thinks of it as one?

Wow. That is a flimsy excuse.

Anyway, sorry for the slack updates. I'll try and do better! And yes, I know I still did kinda do replies, but it was so everybody could see my response to some issues raised in reviews. That's allowed, right?

CHAPTER VII

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS EARLIER

"Okay. Look. Maybe we got off on the wrong foot." Olose decided, the silver arrow still pointed at him.

"That was an impressive feat down there, Olose. You proved your agility, and your ingenuity, but you didn't defeat the monster." Leanne observed. "So it's hard to tell whether your him or not."

"Sorry. Who?" Olose tried to sound as casual as possible as he questioned Leanne in confusion.

"How were you so successful anyway? That monster down there is no tougher than anything else you've faced." Leanne seemed to ignore him, which Olose found to be, quite frankly, rude.

"Through us." Leanne's eyes went wide as she felt the tip of an arrow against the back of her head.

"Hi Trevia." Olose said cheerfully. Leanne cursed silently.

"Just how did you sneak up on me?" She growled.

"Deodorize!" Suse exclaimed cheerfully, a bow and arrow readied (poorly, Olose was hoping their opponents wouldn't notice that she was unsure of how to use one).

"Well, we had to use items because somebody doesn't know the spell." Jeren casually commented, holding two bombs in his hands; a threat to anybody who dared approach him.

"I'm a black mage." Phabrizoe replied, lightning crackling around him for emphasis. "Of course I don't know white spells."

"Okay. Cut the chatter." Olose quickly slammed upwards, knocking Leanne's bow and arrow out of her hand as soon as he had spoken. Leanne reacted quickly, jumping into a roundhouse kick, knocking Olose down and causing Trevia to jump back. Trevia fired her arrow, but Leanne was too fast, and it missed. Trevia drew a katana, Olose took a fighting stance, Suse pulled back on her bow, Phabrizoe began to cast and Jeren lit the bombs as the multiple thugs around them began to advance.
"We're outnumbered sir." Trevia observed.

"Outmatched too." Phabrizoe pointed out, as the thugs drew swords, staffs and bows.

"Business as usual then." Olose sighed. "ATTACK!"

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS LATER

Bootus could barely find the will within himself to speak.

"W-what are you doing here? I-I never thought I'd see you again!" He exclaimed.

"Usual business. Save the world." Zinkata said smugly.

"Dammed world, always getting itself into trouble." Bootus grumbled. "It-urrrr-it's good to see you again." He paused, turning to Vivli. "Yes, even you." He added as she smiled. Their smiles suddenly faded as a loud piercing noise shrieked through the air.

"What's that?" Vivli exclaimed.

"It can't be." Voldos whispered. The other warriors turned to him. "That's an elvaan warhorn! The sound of San d'Oria's army!" The five turned to see crossing across the sand a huge platoon of elvaan warriors, dressed in the armour of the San d'Orian military.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Olose said simply to the others.

"I'm thinking that if those are from San d'Oria, then I'm weaker than Vivli!" Voldos growled.

"Yeah, there's-" Vivli began, before realizing what he said. "HEY!"

"What do you think?" Zinkata asked, turning to Olose.

"It's a trick." He stated. "We've seen people trying to start a war, this is the next logical step. A fake assault by San d'Oria. Bastok will be quick to respond."

"Then what do we do?" Vivli questioned hopelessly.

"There's too many of them." Zinkata decided, taking on his role of leader once more. "We can't stop them all. Save as many lives as you can. It's all we can do. We'll get to the bottom of this quickly."

"I wish I knew what was going on." Bootus grumbled.

"There'll be time for explanations later!" Vivli cried.

"Vivli's right!" Zinkata agreed.

"Heh. There's something you don't hear everyday." Bootus interrupted before Zinkata could say anything else.

"HEY!" Vivli managed to protest.

"They've been together five minutes and already they're at it." Voldos grumbled.

"As I was saying, Vivli's right, we need to deal with this for the moment." Zinkata drew his sword and smiled. "Guess we're back together again."

"I feel the need to say something poetic." Voldos decided. He paused. "Ah hell, I suck at poetry! Let's kick their butts!" The four reunited Light Warriors, with Olose at their side, charged the attacking army, planning to take as many out as possible before they reached the city.

A sudden loud roar made them reconsider. The five halted, and began to look around.

"Now what?" Vivli almost sobbed in exasperation.

"Oh, I was afraid of this. This is not good!" Olose cried. "Dragon!" He pointed to the air, where a massive dragon swooped down at them. It was huge, with wings spanning out so far that when it flew in front of the sun it blocked it out completely. The monster shimmered with light blue scales, and icy eyes.

"Now I'm certain it's not San d'Oria. We don't have one of those." Voldos commented.

"I've never seen anything like it." Vivli whispered in awe. "That's not any recorded monster in Vana'diel!"

"Believe me, if there's something I've learnt over the years, there are a lot of unrecorded monsters." Olose sighed.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS EARLIER

Olose raised an eyebrow, and then lowered his stolen sword.

"This seems to be going well, sir." Trevia told him.

"This is no time for sarcasm!" Olose snapped. The crew had become completely surrounded by their opponents.

"Why won't they just die?" Suse asked in frustration.

"Because they're immortal, like me." Olose growled. "It makes life a little more difficult."

"Sir, that's the kind of information we could have used before we got into this battle." Trevia commented dryly.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I was a little captured when you planned this rescue!" Olose pointed out.

"Oh, stop bickering." Phabrizoe sighed. "We've been in worse."

"Like?" Jeren asked.

"Urm. I'm not good with examples." Phabrizoe replied. Leanne raised a hand, signaling for her troops to halt.

"Now, Olose, you avoided the last test. Let's see how well you fair against this one." She began to explain, before a massive gate in the cave was raised a huge blue dragon burst out into it. "We never named it, but be assured, it is powerful. A creature we constructed magically using the power of elements and the birth of a dragon. Let's see just how powerful, shall we?"

"I'm really beginning to hate that girl." Olose growled as the dragon rocketed towards the heroes.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS LATER

The dragon roared, opening its mouth and rearing back its head.

"Look out! It's going to breath-" Vivli began, before it roared and water sprayed out of its mouth, covering the tiny mithra and sending her rocketing back across the now soaked sand. "-water?" She finished, confused, standing, dripping wet.

"A water breathing dragon?" Voldos questioned. "I mean, I know it's a little hot out here, but that's excessive."

"You alright Viv?" Zinkata yelled to her, getting ready for a second attack by the dragon.

"Y-yeah. It didn't hurt." She said oddly, standing up, dripping with water. "Nice and cooling though."

"Viv! The sand!" Olose cried. Vivli looked down too late, to notice the wet sand had quickly morphed to quicksand.

"You had to stand in the sandy area of Gustaburg, didn't you?" Bootus grumbled.

"I didn't realize there was a sandy area of Gustaburg." Voldos commented.

"Now is not the time!" Vivli screamed in panic, having already sunk to her knees. She struggled uselessly to escape, and was clearly very afraid.

"Olose, pull her out." Zinkata ordered. "Voldos, take that dragon down!"

"Yes sir!" Voldos started firing arrows, but the dragon pulled back its head and chucked out of its mouth huge chunks of ice that crashed down by the elvaan, making him have to jump aside to avoid certain death.

Olose ran to the edge of the quicksand pit (where Vivli was now up to her waist, and screaming for help), but before he could do anything an arrow thudded into his heart.

"Hey! Just because I'm immortal doesn't mean that doesn't hurt!" He growled as the invading 'San d'Oria' army reached them. He drew his twin swords and began fighting them back, but was totally surrounded, and that meant he couldn't help Vivli.

Bootus had problems of his own, now being what felt like several miles above Gustaberg in the talons of the dragon. He grumbled several curse words to himself before reaching for his scythe and jabbing it into the underbelly of the dragon. The dragon just tightened its grip on him causing him to drop the weapon. He cursed again.

"Time to fall back on that monk training I guess." He sighed. "Do dragons have pressure points?" The dragon roared as if in response. "I wasn't asking you!" He snapped, smashing his mighty galkan fist against the dragon's joints. The dragon yelped, and its claws released slightly, Bootus scrambled out and climbed up onto the dragons back, rather than allowing himself to fall to his death. "Okay, now the tables have turned." He smirked, clinging to the monster's back and edging himself towards its neck.

Zinkata spun his sword, cutting into the attacking troops with expert precision. His attacks were deadly strokes, but they weren't falling down.

"Olose?" He yelled. "Is there a reason these guys aren't dying?" Olose ducked under a sword and drove his sword up into another one of the troops. He got stabbed in the back as he did so, he was so totally surrounded, but it didn't harm his immortal body.

"Cut off their heads! It's the only way!" Olose replied. Zinkata nodded, spinning around and decapitating one of the attackers. He fell down.

Voldos spun his own sword, attacking with firm precision strikes. He spotted one of the attackers leaping at him and twirled his sword. His attacker landed without limbs.

"They're not much good without arms either!" He laughed. Voldos suddenly lowered his weapons, noticing that the attackers were ignoring the Light Warriors and still charging the city. They had run straight past, engaging them when they could, and now continued on to Bastok.

"I guess we had better follow." Zinkata decided, before there was a sudden loud crash, like a meteor slamming into the ground. He turned slowly to see out of the dust Bootus roll off the corpse of the dragon.

"That. Hurt." He managed to say. "Where's our white mage?" He grumbled, swaying dizzily.

"Oh crap! VIVLI!" Zinkata yelled, running over to the patch of sand. Vivli was squirming, up to her waist in wet sand.

"Urr. I guess it wasn't that deep." She shrugged.

"Thank god you're alright." Zinkata sighed. Vivli couldn't hide her smile at his concern, followed by a slight flash of anger; she knew he didn't mean it in the way she wanted him to. "Quick! Heal Bootus!" He ordered.

"I can't!" She told him. "I'm not sat waist deep in sand because I like it! I'm stuck!" She squirmed hopelessly to emphasize this point. The Light Warriors smiled slightly.

"Can we leave her there?" Bootus suggested. "I'd rather be injured than miss out on the comedy potential of watching her trying to free herself."

"We have a city to save here." Zinkata pointed out. "No time for games!" He bend down and gave Vivli a hand, his own feet sinking slightly at the edge of the sand. He hauled her out and she sighed.

"My dress is ruined." She moaned.

"Girl." Bootus taunted.

"Hey!" Vivli cried, before pausing. "Well, yes, I am. Why? Something wrong with that?"

"Well, since galkas are by far the most superior race in Vana'diel, and we have no girls, obviously there is." Bootus grinned.

"A race with no girls. It's like a nightmare." Voldos muttered to himself.

"Galkas aren't strictly male either!" Vivli cried, marching over to him, her sand soaked dress sticking to her body in ways that made her shiver. "And you're being sexist!"

"Guys!" Olose snapped. "Now is not the time, remember?"

"Oh right. The city!" Bootus clicked his fingers almost sarcastically.

"We need to get to the President's office." Zinkata decided. "We need him to realize this is not San d'Oria."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Him seeing you reunited?" Olose asked.

"Plus I'd have to see him in a ruined dress." Vivli added.

"Girl." Bootus mocked again.

"Dammit! Stop saying that!" Vivli yelled.

"No." Bootus commented confidently.

"AH!" Vivli screamed in frustration.

"We don't have a choice." Zinkata stated. "This goes beyond us. If Bastok attacks San d'Oria in retaliation the entire land is doomed. Civil war will erupt and thousands of lives will be lost."

"He's right!" Vivli input, feeling the need to state her opinion.

"Right. We fight to the President's office!" Olose agreed. "Let's move!"

The city of Bastok was in chaos. The military had been utterly unprepared for an attack, let alone against seemingly immortal opponents. The Light Warriors and Olose arrived just in time to see a grand airship rising into the sky.

"Dammit. That's the President's airship. They're evacuating him!" Olose told the others.

"What do we do now?" Vivli screamed, being more than a little afraid of the battle raging around her.

"What we do best." Zinkata decided. "Fight."
"That's not what I do best." Vivli muttered.

"Right. Like you said, we save as many as we can, it's all we can do." Voldos agreed with a nod, readying his bow. "Just like old times, right?"

"I'm humiliated, embarrassed, and scared. So yes." Vivli replied. Voldos grinned.

A figure from long ago stood overlooking the battlefield with concern. Her hair hung down over her face, but was quickly blown back by a gust of wind. Leanne.

"The four fight reunited." She said, sounding nervous. "Surely now we-"

"It is of no concern!" Snapped a second figure, cloaked in black, with a hood hanging over his face, clouding what could only be seen as ghastly features. "Soon our plan shall come to fruition and Olose Sampson shall no longer be a threat. He is the only one that can stop us, not these 'Light Warriors'."

"My Lord, for all our faith in prophecies, it is said that the Light Warriors are the four that shall defend Vana'diel and keep it safe in the ancient texts. They are just a larger threat as Olose. And we learnt before not to underestimate people like that." Leanne explained. The cloaked figure turned an angry eye to her.

"Do not question my judgement, or you shall die long before they do." He stated, before focusing in on the battle below. "The mithra. She's small. Weak. Break her. Without her, they are not four. They are no threat. That is your solution. Now carry out my will." The figure decided.

"As you wish, my Lord." Leanne bowed.

"My dear, we shall take our rightful place yet. These four and that pathetic Sampson cannot stop us. The trap is almost set." Leanne began to walk away before the robed figure held up a hand, signaling for her to stop. "Recall the armies. The damage has been done. If they discover they are immortal, then they shall not suspect San d'Oria. For now, any stories of soldiers not dying shall remain insane stories of battle scarred soldiers. During the retreat order them to drop bodies from the elvaan patrols we slaughtered, that should make for a convincing aftermath."

"It will be done, my Lord." Leanne bowed for a second time, taking in her new orders. The robed figure smiled as she departed. This time, his plan was working, and Olose Sampson was being delivered directly into his hands.

Vivli looked up with a smile as she noticed the troops were retreating.

"They're running away!" She exclaimed, before deciding to come out from her hiding place behind a large amount of crates, and try to pretend she hadn't been curled up hiding since the fight began. She didn't want to dwell on it too much. She had completely lost her nerve, and knew that it could only be a bad sign. She didn't want to focus on it. Thinking about her losing her nerve would get her thinking about why, and thinking about why would get her thinking about that, and how she would have been better throwing herself off of the airship. And she had been so happy, reunited with her friends, but now it all came crashing back down upon her.

"Right." Bootus growled, watching them retreat. "Now will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?"