Final Fantasy IV

Chapter 1

"It's locked," I say softly after jingling the handle of the armory.

"Ah, big deal!" Karei says with her usual carefree/careless attitude. "We've got our own weapons and armor, so why would we need it anyway?"

I hate it when she has a point. Still, it would be nice to actually get some new equipment. Even so, there's nothing we can do about it here.

"Come on, let's study the route we gotta take at the café," Karei suggests, and I agree, knowing I won't be able to win an argument with her.

The café is in the inn, and seeing as it's still quite early, a lot of people are still snoozing away.

We find an empty table and Karei orders some beer for us both, before pulling out a map. I'm used to Karei drinking, seeing as she grew up with 7 brothers, as well as her father and the other knights at the castle. Mae still dislikes the idea, but like Karei once said, she couldn't stop the younger girl from drinking.

"Okay, Baron's here," Karei mumbles, pointing with one finger at a cross that was Baron and started dragging her finger carefully over it, mumbling this and that. "And… Mist's over here."

"So, what would be the shortest route?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

Karei smirks at me. Oh boy, here it comes.

"Chocobos!" she says, still smirking.

I groan when she says it, and ask: "What do you have with those birds?"

Karei looks at me like I'm crazy and says: "I grew up around 7 brothers who always held matches on Chocobos, and who kept saying I wasn't old enough to ride. Can you help me if I say I just feel like making up for the years I've missed?"

"Sorry, my bad," I say, raising my hands in defense.

I admit, Chocobos are nice to ride on, but Karei always wants to ride one when she gets the chance, and that's starting to get annoying. Chocobos are large yellow birds with long legs and sharp beaks, but with rather small wings. So, they weren't built to fly. Well, safe for Black Chocobos, but you hardly saw those anywhere. It was illegal to keep Chocobos as pets, or breed them, so in order to ride Chocobos, you had to go to one of their villages to capture one of them and just tell them where to go. Problem was, they leave once you get off of them.

While we're chatting, a girl walks over, bringing us our drinks.

"Oh my gosh! Y-y-you're the Dark Knight!!" she stutters upon seeing me.

"Yeah, I am, aren't I?" I ask calmly.

She looks like she's about to faint, but Karei hurriedly gets our drinks, and pulls out her money pouch. She then grabs the girl's hand, and drops a few gold pieces in it.

"Keep the change lass," she says with a gentle smile. "And keep up the good work."

The girl stutters for a moment, then smiles and says: "Yes ma'am!" and she leaves, quite happily.

Karei rolls her eyes and holds up her mug.

"Nothing a good bunch of gold coins can't cure," she mumbled, taking a swig.

I sigh and take a cautious sip myself.

"So, what happened in Mysidia that got you so upset yesterday?" Karei suddenly asks, nearly making me choke.

I look at her in shock.

"Did Mae tell you?" I ask, almost afraid to know.

"No. Why do you think I stormed into the throne room when I did?" she asks, to which I give a small shrug and a shake of my head. "I was standing right outside the door, Ryoku. I had been waiting for you to come back."

For a moment, I can't find any words to use, so I simply stare into my mug for awhile.

"Why were you waiting?" I ask, unable to stop myself.

I already know from Mae that she was worried, but I have to hear it from her myself. I doubt she'll admit it though. Though, the sudden silence that rewards me startles me for a second. I cautiously look up from under my helmet and notice she seems to be thinking of something, not looking at me at all. She's fingering her mug thoughtfully.

"I was… looking for someone to spar with, alright?" she says, but I know it's her way of saying she was worried.

She always says that, but I can tell just by looking at her that she had intended to say something else. But she keeps hesitating at the last second. Was it really that hard to just say she was worried? But I never pressured her. I knew it was probably hard enough for her as it is.

"So, what happened?" she asks again.

I sigh softly, and take another swig of my drink. I should've known she'd figure it out one way or another. Somehow, I can never hide anything from her. I don't know how she keeps doing it. She just does.

"I'll tell you once we leave," I say softly, not planning on letting anyone else but her know.

"Yeah, I'll remind you of that," she says, and downs her beer with utmost ease.

I do the same, and we finally get up, ready to leave.

"Let's go!" she says, grabbing her spear and heading outside, with me following her calmly.

I can see some people look at us with the same stares that Karei always gives Mae and me when she leaves us alone to talk. People know Karei and I are best friends, but that's all we are. A lot of people in the city we've known for years have been trying to hook us up multiple times, but it just wouldn't work. She's my best friend. I admit, we worry about each other a lot, but isn't that what best friends are about? Worry and care for each other?

And besides, I just don't feel those kind of feelings for her.

We're walking toward the near Chocobo Village, seeing as Karei wants to ride those birds so badly. And besides, it beats walking anytime, so who am I to complain?

It doesn't take long for us, or should I say, Karei, to capture two Chocobos, seeing as she's much faster than those birds. Even so, she intends to save her energy for jumping, which she'll most likely do a lot. So, we mount the Chocobos, and we're off for Misty Valley.

"So, what happened in Mysidia?" Karei asks again.

Couldn't she wait any longer? Nonetheless, I begin to tell her what happened. Karei doesn't speak a word throughout the entire story, and just stares ahead, watching the road, but I can tell by her face that she's beginning to get a little mad.

As we get out of a rather large forest, I finally finish my story, but still, Karei says nothing. Silence befalls us as we continue on toward the Misty Valley. Karei doesn't look at me a single time during the entire trip.

Finally, I take a nervous gulp, and ask: "Karei?"

"Hmm?"

Uh oh… She's angry, I can tell.

"You… you're not angry with me… are you?" I ask softly, trying not to anger her any further.

But when she turns to me, nothing on her face shows she'd been angry about anything.

"No! Of course not!" she says, smiling reassuringly at me. "How could I possibly get mad at you? You know me!"

I smile back at her, when the Chocobos suddenly come to an abrupt stop.

"Hey!" I cry out in surprise.

As I look up, I suddenly realize where we are, and Karei does too.

"Well, this's our stop!" she says, and gets off of her Chocobo, which runs off the second she releases her hold on him.

I get off of mine as well, and watch as it runs off after its friend. We stand there, watching them run off, until they've vanished from sight.

"Come on! Let's go!" I say, and together, Karei and I enter the Misty Valley.

As the name suggests, the valley is completely shrouded in mist, making it harder for us to see. That's why I grabbed Karei's hand early on, so as not to lose her in this wretched fog. Karei didn't bother, and just followed my lead.

"Hold up!" Karei suddenly says, pulling me back with a gentle tug on my hand.

I look over to see her squinting her eyes against the fog, as if she saw something. A strange, clapping noise, like that of wings sounds somewhere up ahead, and Karei releases my hand to grab a hold of her spear with both hands. I quickly pull out my Dark Sword, already having a faint suspicion of what might be up ahead.

The fogs start separating, caused by the wingbeats of the large Sand Moth that is coming our way, steadily. Sand Moths are large moth-like creatures with a body the size of an average human, while their wings are about five times their width, each. The wings have glaring eyes on them, and it makes all the more frightening.

"Be careful, Ryoku," Karei whispers. "He's not alone."

She carefully points the tip of her spear to right behind the Sand Moth, where another has already appeared, and two large Larvas are crawling over with anger in their beady little eyes. Great, just what we need.

Karei is studying the entire situation, and finally says: "You take the Larvas, I got the Sand Moths."

And with that said, she bends through her knees, and launches herself into the air in no time. The fog above my head makes it impossible for me to see her, but I've got other things to do. One of the Larvas scurries over to me, releasing a screech, but I'm faster, and lash out with my Dark Sword before it could even do any damage. It gives a screech as the wound on its head bleeds violently, but I've already turned my attention to the other, who won't go down as easily. I manage to get a few hits on, but I have to dodge a lot to avoid the large creature.

This definitely isn't going as planned.

I suddenly trip over something, causing me to fall back, rather clumsily. I shake my head and look up in shock, as the Larva is about to crush me. I grin, jab my sword into the ground by its hilt, and hurriedly roll out of the way.

After the Larva died, I somehow manage to extract my sword, and look around for Karei.

The Sand Moths are already gone, so the fog's drifting back into place. I'm getting a bit worried. Karei can take care of herself, but where is she?

"Ouch!" I exclaim as something hits my shin, quite hard.

"Sorry," Karei's voice says. "I was afraid you'd leave without me!"

Typically Karei. But still, she's my friend, and I never want to lose that. I couldn't bear it if she would suddenly leave. I just want her around all the time! Do I sound possessive? I am. When I was a kid, I could have whatever I wanted from the King, but there was nothing I wanted that could be bought with money. The King said he could give me anything I wanted, but what I wanted, was someone besides the King to believe in me. To aid me whenever I needed help. And that was the one thing I couldn't get.

Until I met Karei.

My life had been gloomy until I met her. After that, my life seemed so much better. You can kind of say, without her, I most likely would've died somewhere in my teen years. Not of any decease, or… maybe you could call it that, but hadn't she showed up and handed me the cure when she did, I would've died for sure.

Karei believed in me, even when she didn't know who on Earth I was. But why? That's something I've never been able to understand, but since I met her, I never wanted her to leave. It feels good to have someone believe in you, even when everything looks like it can't get any worse.

But… would she really stay my friend forever?

"Hey, Karei," I say hesitantly.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" she asks, looking at me a little oddly.

What's wrong? Oh, nothing. Just thinking that I never want you to leave me because I always want to be your friend. So will you? I know. Sarcasm, but crap. How to say this? Oh, God, I don't know. But I'll try anyway.

"We… we'll always be friends… right?" I ask.

Karei rolls her eyes and says: "Ryoku, I already made that promise to you! You know that!"

"I want to hear it again! Please," I plead, really needing to hear it.

If she left, I don't think I'd be able to survive on my own. I really need to hear it from her.

She looks at me, most likely seeing the need in my eyes, and finally says with a sigh: "Oh, fine. No matter what happens, even if the world goes to hell for all I care, we'll always be friends. And it's gonna need one tough monster to tear us apart!"

I smile gratefully at her, and say: "Thank you, Karei."

"You're welcome, Ryoku," she says, returning the smile.

I sling my arm over her shoulders, which startles her for a second, before she smiles and holds on to my hand, and we start walking again. I really don't know what I'd do without her.

"Mope around for god knows how long," Karei suddenly says, and I flinch.

"Did I say that aloud?" I ask.

"Yep."

"Shoot."

Karei chuckles, then turns serious.

"Look, we're both in the army, you know that. There's always a 50% chance that either of us will die in battle. You have to stop being so emotional all the time. I know the chances, Ryoku, but if I ever die, you shouldn't mope about it."

I look at her in confusion. I suddenly get the feeling like she wouldn't cry if I ever died, I don't know what gave me that idea, but it suddenly popped into my head.

"But just because of that, doesn't mean you can't be sad. Hell, if you were to die right now, I'd bet I'd cry for a few hours."

I swear, she's a psychic.

I smile and say: "As if."

"No, I'm serious! I mean---"

"Turn back…"

We both stop dead in our tracks and hurriedly grab our weapons.

"Who's there?!" I demand, looking around.

No response.

"Karei, just what was that?" I ask.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Karei asks in return. "I hardly get here myself!"

We stand there for a long moment, backs pressed together and both on the alert, but nothing shows up.

Karei finally says: "I think it's gone now."

I nod and put my sword away.

"Come on, let's move. This place gives me the shivers all of the sudden," Karei says, grabbing a hold of my hand again.

For once, I agree.

We start to make our way through the valley, making sure to avoid any gaps in the floor. If there's one thing we don't need, it's falling down a hole.

"Bridge!" I say to Karei as I put my foot on the seemingly steady bridge.

"I hear ya," she says softly, looking past me at the bridge.

After I made sure it was steady enough, I started walking over it, Karei right behind me.

"Leave now…"

There's that voice again! Louder this time.

"Is this a Phantom Beast talking?" Karei asked.

"Hope not."

We continue onward, and I keep my hand on the hilt of my sword. Just incase, you never know.

"You're from Baron, aren't you…"

Yep, there it is again.

"Who's there!?" Karei demands, holding her spear tightly in her hands.

"If you turn back, no harm will come to you…"

What kind of answer is that??

"Show yourself!!" Karei shouts in anger.

"You don't intend to go back, do you…?"

I look at Karei, who only nods at me.

"We must deliver this ring to the village of Mist!" I say to whatever's talking to us.

"Then I have no choice!"

Uh oh… this can't be good. The fog begins to gather, forming something in front of us. Something that doesn't look all that friendly.

A dragon!

The large, white dragon rears up, roaring viciously at us.

"This, is, NOT, good," I hear Karei say, right before she bends through her knees and launches herself into the air.

The dragon lunges out at me with its large mouth, but I jump aside and managed to give the creature a good gash across its cheek. This caused the creature to rear up with a roar, exposing the vulnerable throat. With a yell, Karei's sharp heels were embedded in the dragon's neck, making blood trickle from the creature. Karei drops down on the ground, but manages to stay unharmed.

She quickly twirls her spear around between her fingers, before it's sent flying straight at the dragon, at the exact second I rush over and lash out at the creature's neck. Right after my lashes, the dragon suddenly disappears into mist, circling wildly around us. Karei's spear lands only inches away from my foot, and I can see Karei wincing as if it actually hit me.

"Woops," I hear her say.

"Don't worry!" I shout at her. "Did we get it?"

"…Nuh-uh! Here it comes again!!"

Just as she says this, the mist morphs back into the dragon, and lungs out again -- from behind me!!

With a yelp, I jump away, and lash out at it, but my sword gets knocked clear from my hand. Well, this isn't good…

The dragon rears up, roaring at me. I gasp in shock, and I stumble back, only to end up tripping and landing hard on the ground. Yep, this isn't good…

And without a moment's notice, the thing lunges down, mouth opened to swallow me whole. Karei… where are you?

"HEY DRAGON BOY!!! SWALLOW THIS!!!" a booming voice shouts, and something suddenly whooshes past me.

The dragon roars, amidst loud gargles as blood starts dripping out of its mouth and down its neck, while rearing back in agony. Karei instantly runs past me, goes through her legs, and catapults herself at the large creature with a yell. She flips once she's close enough, and buries her heels deep into the dragon's skin, making it roar louder and louder. It echoes through the valley, and it's starting to hurt my ears.

Finally, Karei lands back on the ground, her spear in hand and dripping with blood, as are her heels, and the dragon collapses to the ground with a loud thud. Within mere seconds, the dragon vanishes into fine mist, vanishing without a trace.

Whoa… talk about close calls.

"Ryoku! You alright there?" Karei asks, running over with my sword in the hand that's not holding her spear.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I say softly, getting up.

Karei hands me back my sword, which I sheathe calmly. I look around, searching for the dragon, but it's nowhere to be found.

"I think we got 'em this time," Karei says softly.

"Okay, then let's go before it proves us otherwise," I say and carefully grab her hand, guiding her through the valley again.

After we exit the valley, it doesn't take us long to reach Mist. Somewhere outside of the village, I pull out the ring, and study it a little from all sides. The red gem on top only allows me to guess whatever it's for. And of course, the King hadn't said a thing about the ring. I sigh, thinking that he did it so I would have a harder time.

"Ryoku, you okay?" Karei asks again.

I nod mutely, still holding the ring in my hand.

Finally we enter Mist, and we look around. There are quite a number of people out, but I still wonder to who we have to give this ring.

"OUCH!!!" I suddenly cry out, dropping the ring after it burns my hand.

"Ryoku!!! Be careful with tha--holy mother of!!!"

I look at the ring together with Karei as the ring is glowing, before becoming engulfed in flames, burning up completely. I'm about to open my mouth, when the fire shoots every which way, igniting houses and trees and hitting people who were still there. Screams of pain are heard across the valley, as the villagers are being burned alive. We stand there, shock written across our faces and unable to form a single sentence.

Only once the screams have died, do we manage.

"What is this?!" Karei demands in anger.

"This is why we were sent here…!" I start, but I'm unable to finish.

"To burn the village…!?" Karei finishes instead.

I step forward, watching the flames engulf what's left of the once beautiful village. Tears start to form slowly, as I shake my head in disbelief. Why? Why did the King want me to do this? Killing people who've done no wrong at all… that's just… just… inhuman!!

I clench my fists as anger starts to seep in. No more! No more, I've had it!!! This has gone too far!! I'm going to have a serious word with His Majesty once we're back!

"Mom! NO…!!"

"Huh? Who's that?" I question, and start to make my way toward the sound.

I hear Karei following behind me.

Eventually, we find a young girl near the edge of the village with light lavender hair, which is combed to the right side of her face. Even so, it doesn't hide her peculiar white eyes, which seem to have no pupils. The girl is sitting on her knees near a woman, who is probably her mother, if the resemblance is any indication. She's trying to wake her up, but I can tell even from the distance that she's already passed away.

When the girl takes notice of us, she blinks her tears away and sniffles.

"Hey, what happened, little girl?" Karei asks with a gentle voice, kneeling down before her.

She sniffles again, and whimpers: "Mom's dragon died… so mom did too…"

"Dear God!" I manage to get out

I can see Karei stiffen immediately, and she slowly gets up, facing me. Her face has turned pale and her eyes have widened.

"I've heard of this. People with the power to call monsters…" she says. "They're called Summoners!!"

Oh no! I've heard of those too. But I never knew where they lived.

…But I do now.

"No… It can't be that us defeating that dragon caused this girl's mother to die…?" I whisper, unable to believe it.

The girl hears and stumbles up and away, looking scared and angry at the same time.

"You guys killed mom's dragon?!" she shouts, tears streaking past her cheeks.

"We didn't know! How could we?!" I say, but the girl won't listen.

She keeps backing up, still crying.

"The King sent us here to wipe out the Summoners…" Karei mumbles softly.

"But why?" I ask, confused.

"I don't know, but I'm not taking this any longer!"

I look at Karei in confusion and shock, and see anger has appeared on her face.

"The King's been ordering me to kill innocent people as well, but I refused every order. I owe him much, but I will not disgrace my family. Something's wrong with him, and I'm going to have a serious talk with that guy once we get back to Baron!" she hisses, punching her palm with as much force as she can, without breaking her wrist.

"Then… we're in this together?" I ask hopefully.

"Yes, we are," Karei says. "But Baron is the strongest military power in the world. Just the two of us opposing it would mean nothing against their might. We must let the other countries know about Baron's power and enlist their aid."

"Thank you, Karei," I whisper, ultimately grateful that she was with me on this.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, it's too dangerous for us to stay here. We've got to get out of this village. What should we do with the girl?"

"Only one choice! She goes with us!" I say, and walk toward the girl. "Come on, it's dangerous here," I say calmly. "Come with us. ……Okay?"

"No!!" she shouts, and backs up again.

"For crying out loud!!!" Karei shouts in anger, and stomps toward the girl. "Listen kid!" she says, grabbing her arm in a tight grasp. "Do you want to die out here!? All your moping won't bring your mother, or anyone back from the dead! They're gone and they can't come back!! Do you understand that!??!"

"Let go of me!!!" the girl cries out, trying to struggle from Karei's grip.

Karei's too powerful for her though, and won't let go that easily. She starts punching on Karei's arm, trying to make her let go, but it just doesn't help.

"Hey, cut it out!!" Karei shouts.

"I can't stand it! I hate you! I hate you all!!" she shouts, and suddenly something materializes behind her.

Karei releases the girl in her shock, and grabs hold of her spear, right before getting swatted aside by a massive hand of the large titan like creature.

"KAREI!!!" I scream as she crashes into the ground, her spear impaled in the ground beside her face.

She's unconscious, but still breathing.

I turn to face the titan, and notice it pulling back for a massive punch -- aimed at the ground!!

I take another moment to study the surrounding area. The village is surrounded by mountains, and if that thing is as powerful as I think it is, then we're in a lot of trouble.

As fast as I can, I run toward Karei, hoping to whatever's up there to make it.

Too late…

The titan slams its fist into the ground, making the ground tremble and causing me to topple over.

Karei leans onto her arms, shaking the grogginess from her head, and turns to face us. Her eyes widen drastically.

"RYOKU!!! LOOK OUT ABOVE YOU!!!!" she screams, and I whip my gaze upward.

The earthquake has caused an avalanche, which is heading straight for us.

Things suddenly start to go in slow motion before my eyes. The earth suddenly cracks open, and Karei tries to jump away, but she's a millisecond too late and is sent down the endless abyss, screaming in fear, which is barely audible above the roaring avalanche. My own scream of denial is almost inaudible as well, as I run for the place where Karei fell into the earth. A huge chunk of falling rock blocks my path though, and I'm left with no escape.

I suddenly get hit in the back of my head, and drop down onto the ground.

The darkness engulfs me…