Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long everybody. I moved back to Uni, and a few things have come up lately that meant I lost a lot of motivation. I'm afraid I can't really say anymore about that, at least. Here's the latest update, though, better late than never. I've found it quite difficult to write lately, so it's probably another rubbish chapter, for which I apologise.

In good news, the forums are fully running now, the only FFXI forum on the site too, complete with a few games and things people can do in there, as well as a place for plot speculation (totally not where I'll steal ideas from!) so there's a better reason for people to check it out now. Please do, because otherwise I feel silly, opening an empty forum, and also really big headed too!

Ahem, anyway, I can't think of much else to say, other than enjoy and sorry it took so long, and is a bit sucky!

CHAPTER XI

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS EARLIER

The doors to the San d'Orian Chateau flew open as Olose marched in, closely followed by his crew. Guards readied their weapons, but a quick command from behind halted them. Queen Astra stood outside the doors to the throne room, eyeing Olose.

"Olose Sampson. It's been a while. Why are you here?" She asked calmly.

"The entire world is in danger." Olose replied.

"Obviously. You're involved." Astra almost smirked.

"Somebody has taken Arcadia. I need to find out where. I'm certain they're planning something that's going to be the end of us all, but unless I can find them I can't stop them." Olose explained. He tossed a link pearl to Astra. It was actually Trevia's, since Olose had broken his own. "That is linked to Arcadia's pearl. Phabrizoe reckons you can widen the link, make it into a teleportation spell. Can you?" Astra's eyes became focused on Olose. Astra's magical strength was incredible, far stronger than any being anybody had ever seen. A result of a stunted physical development when she was young thanks to a strange poison designed to incapacitate her as a princess meaning her magical powers had become incredibly accelerated.

"Anything is possible. It's not a question of possibility." Astra smiled.

"Was that you being arrogant?" Olose grinned.

"Just factual." Astra replied holding out the pearl. "I don't know where this leads, and unless I come with you, I cannot bring you back."

"These opponents," Olose began, "Are werewolves. Immortals, like me. Hundreds of them. I have to stop them." Olose turned to his crew. "We have to stop them. I don't think there's going to be a coming back from this one." The pearl began to float, and suddenly it exploding, folding in on itself. A massive blue portal opened, swirling.

"This ride may hurt a little." Astra told them as they stared into what seemed to be a massive spinning tunnel.

"Way to fill me with confidence!" Suse yelled.

"Oh, let's just go." Trevia stated, running and jumping in. Olose shrugged, and ran after her, promptly followed by the rest of the crew.

Arcadia paced in her cell, still frustrated her attempt to escape hadn't worked. She didn't really stand a chance against werewolves, but it was still annoying. And now her link pearl was buzzing crazily. In fact, it was glowing as well. It seemed to be beginning to float. After Olose had smashed his, they had given her it back. She only wished she had thought of contacting him before this whole mess arose. Not that that mattered now. Now there was a floating link pearl in front of her. And it seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter.

Arcadia had the sense to step back just before it shattered, and a swirling blue portal snapped open. She didn't even blink as the all too familiar crew fell out. She knew Olose too well. This kind of thing was to be expected.

"Hello!" He grinned, springing to his feet. Arcadia just rolled her eyes.

"Cap'n." Phabrizoe said simply. "We appear to be in a jail cell."

"Why did I know we would end up being captured at some point?" Jeren sighed.

"Hey. I've already been captured once, thank you very much." Olose shot. "Now, these bars." He touched them. "Not made of silver. Stand back everyone!" He grabbed them, and in a moment, they were no longer attached to the concrete they were supposed to be. Arcadia just watched.

"You sure know how to make an entrance." She grumbled. Trevia suddenly got up.

"Ouch." She grumbled. "If we ever do that again, remind me that going through first means that everybody else will land on top of me." She said, rubbing her back.

"This is why we need a galka on the team. They make good crash dummies." Suse spoke up.

"And how do you know that?" Arcadia asked with slight confusion.

"No reason." Suse said, skipping out of the cell. Arcadia sighed. When things like this didn't surprise her, she knew her life was weird.

Olose marched out, before noticing Suse was frozen. He raised an eyebrow and turned down the corridor.

Werewolves.

Two of them. Olose grinned.

"And here I was thinking this would be boring." He laughed. "Weapons! Ready!" The team unsheathed their silver weapons (even Olose had a silver sword with a wrapped handle). The werewolves' eyes went wide, and they let out a howl. One turned and retreated as the other attacked. It leapt at them, but fell from the air as Phabrizoe blasted it with a fireball. Olose was on top of it before it could get back up with a silver sword through its heart. It let out a gurgle, and died.

"Those two had already transformed." Trevia observed coldly. "They know we're here."

"Naturally." Olose replied.

"They're going to stop us from escaping, that's for certain." Jeren told his captain.

"That's fine by me, because we're not going to escape." Olose smirked.

"This is the stuff I like to know before I jump into big swirly things!" Suse snapped.

"Don't worry. When this is done, whatever they're planning will be stopped." Olose decided. "It's time to save the world again." He grinned.

"I know it." Arcadia told him. "I know what they are planning." The crew turned to her, and she began to explain.

FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY EIGHT YEARS LATER

"Viv. What you're saying doesn't make any sense." Bootus said simply.

"I know!" Vivli cried. "But it's what happened. He started making funny noises, then this electricity came up around him, then he disappeared!"

"Sounds like some kind of old voodoo magic." Remasa said curiously. "But that would require some extremely emotional object tied to him."

"Like his old ship?" Voldos suggested.

"That would do it." Remasa replied. "Even then, this is old magic. Forgotten magic. It means your enemies could be even more powerful than you thought."

"More powerful than being immortal?" Zinkata asked skeptically. "We always get the short straw when it comes to enemies."

"And white mages." Bootus grinned. "Get it? Short?"

"Yes thank you!" Vivli snapped. "Now, we need to save Olose!"

"Voodoo magic like that would have teleported him to the object. In this case, his ship." Remasa explained.

"Then we keep going where we were going anyway." Zinkata decided. "We'll board the ship, and save him."

"Me saving Olose, eh?" Vivli pondered. "He's never going to live that one down."

"No, Viv, we're gonna save Olose. You're gonna stand there and do whatever it is you do." Bootus smirked.

"Heal. I heal." Vivli pointed out.

"Of course you do." Bootus said in his most patronizing tones, ruffling Vivli's newly blonde hair. Vivli just folded her arms and grumbled to herself.

"Hey! I think we're approaching the target!" Cid cried from behind the controls. The Light Warriors rushed across the deck, preparing themselves.

A young looking immortal girl walked into the room and saluted Leanne.

"Ma'am, the Light Warrior's ship will be approaching us soon. They will doubtlessly try and free Olose." She delivered.

"Ready the cannons." Leanne ordered. "They can't sink us if they know we have Olose on board. But we can sink them. What direction are we coming from?"

"We don't know. We can't see them anywhere." The girl replied.

"Fine. Ready the weapons all the same. I'm coming up on deck." Leanne decided.

She marched up on deck angrily and looked around. They were right. Even with sharpened senses, she couldn't make out an incoming vessel anywhere. Surely they hadn't gotten lost? No. The Light Warriors must be coming. They wouldn't abandon Olose. She could hear something too. A repeating thudding coming from-

-the air!

"They're in an airship!" She bellowed. "All cannons! Aim upwards!"

The Raven III soared downwards towards the Destiny.

"They've spotted us!" Zinkata warned.

"Readying cannons!" Voldos yelled back, preparing the Raven's incredibly mobile cannons and aiming them downwards with ease.

"Fire!" Zinkata ordered.

Leanne's eyes opened wide as shots came down from above far before they could ready their own defenses. The cannon balls slammed into the ancient deck of the Destiny, smashing through the magically repaired wood with ease.

"Return fire!" She bellowed. "Blast them out of the sky! Now!"

"Firing all cannons." Came the calm response as the werewolves set about their job.

Cannon balls hurtled into the air, and whizzed past the Raven III, unable to hit effectively. A few slammed into its hull without damage.

"They can't harm us." Cid said casually from the controls. "The cannon balls arc back downwards. They're ineffective to fire upwards at us."

"Keep firing, Voldos!" Zinkata ordered, smiling.

"Be careful!" Vivli cried. "Olose is down there!"

"Don't worry. We're just softening them up." Zinkata replied. "Bootus! Prepare the rope ladder!"

"Oh, I hate that thing!" Vivli moaned with a stomp of her foot.

Leanne jumped aside as another cannonball smashed through the deck.

"What are those fools doing?" She snapped. "What are you fools doing? Shoot them down!"

"We can't!" Somebody shouted in reply. "Our weapons are ineffective!"

"Prepare my ship. I can deal with them myself." Leanne said simply, before marching to the small boat docked along side the Destiny. "Olose may think it was clever taking an airship, but he wasn't the only one that thought of that."

Propellers began to extend out of the small docked boat, and it took into the air. A one-person airship, evidently, constructed by the werewolves.

Zinkata raised an eyebrow.

"Things are getting interesting." Remasa observed.

"Too true. Vivli! Remmy! Adjust the other cannons. Let's get rid of that vessel coming after us. Voldos, keep firing on the ship below. Bootus, prepare to board!" Zinkata quickly ordered.

"Who put him in charge?" Bootus grumbled sarcastically as he tied the rope ladder to the edge of the deck. The ship rocked slightly as it got hit from below, and Cid leaned over the controls to shout to the others.

"We've just been hit. We're getting too close. We can't stay here for long." He explained calmly.

Vivli ran to the nearest cannon and grabbed the nearest cannonball. Her eyes went wide.

"Who makes these things?" She asked as she uselessly tried to lift it. "I can't move it!" She said helplessly. Remmy struggled by holding a cannonball that wasn't much smaller than she was, obviously struggling. She managed to get to the front of the cannon and stick it in.

"Just aim it. I'll load it." Remmy said simply. Vivli blushed. Tarutaru weren't supposed to be very strong. Especially not mages. Yet Remmy showed Vivli up easily.

"Y-yes." She stuttered, before trying to shift the heavy cannon about. She grunted and sighed. "Clearly whoever invented these things didn't have me in mind." She groaned.

"I invented those, and yes I did." Cid yelled from the controls. "Use the lever to aim it!" Vivli nodded, and grunted as she grabbed a lever and moved it that automatically aimed the cannon at the incoming smaller airship. She lit the fuse and fired. The cannonball whizzed by the enemy ship, completely missing.

"That's quality aiming, that is." Bootus nodded. "The ladder's ready, by the way."

"Then you get here and aim this thing!" Vivli cried. Bootus shrugged, and wondered over, taking a cannonball off of the struggling Remmy and stuck it in the cannon. He walked back, aimed, and fired.

Leanne was surprised as a cannonball slammed into her little ship with perfect accuracy. She just spat in anger, and took a run up.

Vivli couldn't hide her surprise, or how impressed she was.

"Urr, lucky shot!" She cried.

"Whatever you say, Viv!." Bootus laughed triumphantly.

"Stop gloating and get down the ladder!" Zinkata ordered. "We're boarding now!" Bootus turned away from the smoking attacking airship, and ran to the ladder, Vivli and Remmy close behind. Voldos and Zinkata had already begun to climb down. Bootus jumped over and grabbed onto the ladder, causing the whole ship to shake slightly. Remmy climbed at and began to climb down the ladder as Vivli looked at the drop nervously. She had a bad habit of falling off rope ladders. She gulped, and went to climb down it just as she heard something land on the deck.

She turned around to see Leanne marching towards her. Vivli gulped and tried to climb over the side, but got pulled back and screamed.

"Help!" She managed to bellow, but the other warriors were already half way down the ladder with many angry immortals gathering below. It was too late to save Vivli, so they just let themselves fall off the ladder onto the deck, and draw the silver weapons they had prepared.

Vivli kicked and squirmed uselessly, held back by Leanne.

"Are you all that's left?" Leanne asked with a smirk, throwing Vivli back across the deck. Vivli crashed down painfully. "I'm a little disappointed." She continued to walk towards the little mithra, who was too badly hurt from being thrown to get up. "And I thought you were supposed to be a Light Warrior." Vivli cured herself and got up angrily.

"I am a Light Warrior!" She spat.

"Prove it, then." Leanne smirked. Vivli unclipped her staff from her belt and stared angrily at Leanne. Leanne held out her hands in a fighting stance. It was now or never.

Vivli was going to prove herself.