Everyone's attention was focused on the Burmecian with demon eyes that was stood just before the harp. The Cleyrans were cowering; the Dragon Knights had their lances ready. The demon had focused its attention onto Blaine, and was growling angrily at him. Blaine looked back with a look of anger in his eyes whilst Kildea was shaking with fear and hiding behind him.
"Blaine...who is that?" Kildea managed to stammer. "Why is he growling at us?"
"He is the curse of the jewel..." Blaine replied quietly.
"So you restored Cleyra..." The figure hissed. "I knew something was up when I sensed your energy..."
"What are you talking about?" Frato asked in a slightly confused tone.
The demon glanced at Frato, his eyes narrowing. He then gave a grin and turned back to Blaine.
"They don't know about you do they?" The demon asked curiously. "Why don't you tell them who you really are? They'll find out soon enough anyway..."
Everyone then turned their attention onto Blaine, who was looking a little intimidated by this prospect. He sighed, and his ears flattened for a moment before he addressed them.
"I'm afraid I have been keeping secrets from you." Blaine confessed. "I am more than a humble Burmecian Priest. I am the manifestation of the Holy Spirit of Burmecia. I am Burmece."
The Cleyrans and the Dragon Knights formed some odd expressions on their faces. Many were wondering if this was actually true. Frato looked extremely sceptical of this and decided to speak against it.
"Have you got any way of proving this to us?" Frato asked. "Or are you just being a heretic?"
"Yes I have..." Blaine had a grin on his face as he turned to the demon. "Why don't we prove it to them?" He then looked at the Cleyran who was quivering behind the harp. "You there, young maiden, go to the-"
"Do you think I'm stupid?" The demon hissed at Blaine, before turning towards the shrine maiden behind the harp. "If you so much as breathe on that jewel then everyone in this room will feel the sensation of being burned alive a second time!"
The Dragon Knights readied their lances and were now in battle positions. The demon heard them getting ready for battle. He turned and noticed their battle positions and began to chuckle.
"You think you can stop me?" The demon laughed, amused by the scenario. "You obviously don't know who I am..."
"We won't stand idly by and let you harm the Cleyran citizens!" Fratley responded angrily.
"Yeah, we'll send you back to hell, where you belong!" Frato added.
"You think you can defeat the great demon Aryelc?" The demon replied, still grinning.
At the mention of the demon's name, a shiver went up the spine of the Cleyran High Priest. Eek! The legends were true! I'd heard stories of a powerful demon resting in the jewel, wanting to destroy the Burmecian race, but I never wanted to believe it was true! Our end is coming!
Aryelc noticed the lack of reaction that his name had on the Dragon Knights and sighed. "I guess you Burmecians have forgotten me in my absence. Oh well, I suppose I'd better refresh your memory! You will fear my...Ack!"
At that moment, a large fireball slammed into Aryelc, catching him off guard and knocking him over. Everyone turned to the source of the fireball and saw Blaine with his palms thrust out.
"Don't just stare at me like that! Get out of here while you can!" Blaine shouted at the group.
The Cleyrans and the Burmecian King wasted no time in fleeing from the cathedral. The Dragon Knights stayed where they were, eager to assist Blaine in his battle. Kildea stayed where she was for a moment, worrying about what might happen to Blaine, but Blaine looked at her once again with a stern expression and she decided to follow the other Cleyrans. Blaine then turned to the Dragon Knights.
"What are you still doing here?" Blaine asked incredulously. "I told you to get out!"
"We won't let you fight this creature by yourself." Freya replied. "We shall aid you in this battle."
Blaine knew he wouldn't persuade them to leave, and gave a little sigh of defeat. "Fine." He responded. "Just don't prove yourselves to be dead weight, and don't hold back."
The demon growled fiercely as he quickly got back onto his feet. "You bastard...I never thought you would do something so low..."
"This is coming from a creature who will go to any lengths to destroy the Burmecian race." Blaine retorted. "You have the nerve to call me low? You've resorted to dirtier tricks than that..."
The demon grunted. "Well soon I will have no need of such tricks. I will have my vengeance on you and I shall achieve my goal! I will make the first step towards creating the zero world!"
The zero world? Freya recalled the words. He is after the same goal as Necron?
"I will never understand why you would want to go back to nothing." Blaine replied. "But I know that I will never let you achieve it! The Burmecians enjoy their lives and care for each other. Why do you want to get rid of that?"
"Because that is the only way to truly get rid of the suffering and pain of existence." Aryelc hissed. "The Burmecians suffered at the hands of the black mages and the Alexandrians in the war. Your kingdom was put into ruin. I thought I was winning when Cleyra was destroyed, but you refused to let the Cleyrans rest peacefully in the true sanctuary of the afterlife and you left them in limbo before bringing them pack to this painful life!"
"The Cleyrans were thankful for this second chance at life!" Blaine retorted. "The survivors suffered, and poor Kildea suffered because of the pain at the loss of their friends. Even children, who had yet to understand what life is, died in the attack! I put things straight!"
"You brought them back so they could continue suffering in life." Aryelc growled. "Hate will stir amongst the nations and war will happen again. Cleyra will be destroyed again, your people will be slain a second time. History will repeat itself."
"It was your friend: the Demon of Alexandria who started the war that destroyed Cleyra! The Alexandrians didn't want it!" Blaine roared.
The Dragon Knights couldn't quite believe this. There is more than one demon! Brahne was a demon?
"The four demons are usually the main cause for any war on Gaia!" Blaine argued. "You try to stir up hate and fear and cause a path of destruction. The people of Gaia are all happy to live out their little lives. Yet you insist on killing them all. You are the suffering of this world! You are the ones who should be non-existent!"
"Enough of this blasphemy!" Aryelc roared back. You can't deny the fear of death and the torture of existence!"
"Our will to live and our bonds of friendship can overcome any fear!" Freya joined into the argument, remembering Zidane's words. "We shall defeat you and prove you wrong!"
The demons eyes flared at Freya's words and he turned to glare at her. She was one of the so-called Gaian heroes who defeated both Kuja and Necron. Still, she is no match for me...
"Prove me wrong?" The demon repeated, itching with rage. A fireball began to form in his left hand. "You don't know who you're talking to... You'll never beat me!"
Aryelc hurled the fireball at Freya with those words, and managed to jump away from the projectile before being hit. The fireball made a small blast and formed a little hole in the floor.
The demon merely grunted at seeing Freya dodge his attack and decided to focus on his next spell. Frato charged at the demon whilst the other two knights charged up the energy for Dragon Knight techniques.
"Here, this should help." Blaine said as he finished preparing his spell. "Shell!" He chanted, and blue spherical barriers formed around him and the three knights.
Frato reached the demon and swung his lance at him with all of his might. Aryelc was still focusing on his spell, and he gave a slight grunt of pain as the lance slammed into his torso. Frato was shocked to find that unlike his appearance suggested, the demon had a strong resistance to physical attacks. His spear had barely made a dent in the creature's torso; it only pierced a small amount of flesh.
The demon had felt the attack and growled at Frato. The Dragon Knight felt a little afraid of the creature's power and wondered how strong his counter-attack would be. The spell that the demon had been charging was ready, and Aryelc thrust his hands into the air.
"Demi!" The demon roared.
A large, black shadow ball of magic appeared in the centre of the cathedral, in the centre of all the warriors. The ball grew as purple waves flew into it, and the ball exploded. A wave of dark energy washed out and hit Blaine and the Dragon Knights, the gravity pulling at them and sapping some of their strength.
Frato gritted his teeth as the gravity attack damaged him from behind and he then gave a yelp as Aryelc smacked him away with his hand. Frato fell to the floor and his lance clattered by his side.
Fratley gave a worried glance at Frato as he and Freya finished charging up their abilities. Freya was the first one to unleash the power of her technique.
"Rei's Wind!" Freya chanted, and green and white energy flowed from her lance over Blaine and the Dragon Knights. Fratley smiled at her when he saw the technique take effect on his adopted brother.
The arrogant warrior Frato picked up his spear and got back onto his feet. The magical effect of Regen slowly restored his strength.
Fratley then unleashed his attack. "Dragon's Breath!" He shouted. Energy gathered at the tip of his spear and formed a fearsome dragon head. The dragon opened its mouth and fired blue energy balls at the demon. Aryelc saw this coming and brought his hands over his head to try and block the attack. The balls of energy slammed into him, one after the other. Aryelc grunted before he was pushed back by the energy.
The attack finished, and the demon looked a little shaken by the attack, but he wasn't seriously damaged. This disturbed the three Dragon Knights; that was one of their most powerful energy attacks. The demon had taken it head on and only received minimal damage.
Aryelc noticed the worried looks on their faces and grinned wickedly. "Do you see now? You can't hope to defeat me..."
Blaine unleashed his second spell at that moment, whilst Aryelc was busy taunting the knights. He thrust his palms out and yelled "Holy!" Streams of bright blue and white light fired out of his hands and exploded onto the demon, causing him to scream in pain and collapse. Blaine took the moment to speak to the Dragon Knights.
"Aryelc's main weakness is against magic. Spells work well against him. Dragon Knight abilities should work if you hit him hard enough and if you catch him off guard." Blaine explained.
The Dragon Knights listened to his advice and began preparing various abilities to try and defeat the demon. A loud growl came from the demon, who was getting back onto his feet, his face filled with rage. "Damn you Burmece...can't you wait your turn! I'm sick of you stabbing me in the back!"
The demon began charging up another spell, red and black energy gathered into his hands. Blaine knew what was coming, and he took up a defensive stance. In a few moments, the demon had finished preparing his spell and pointed towards Blaine.
"Today you will meet your end..." Aryelc growled, before roaring the chant for his spell. "Flare!"
The energy from his hands was released and an intense fireball formed around Blaine, covering a good half of the cathedral. The fireball grew smaller and hotter as it condensed to a single point. Aryelc grinned as he saw Blaine get engulfed by the flames in his defensive stance. However, his smile faded as he noticed that Blaine was smiling back at him, it was then he heard another voice.
"Dragon's Crest!"
Aryelc twitched, and turned his face to see all three Dragon Knights focusing on him and ready to fire their abilities. Freya had made the chant, and there was already a magical dragon emblem forming underneath the demon...
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except Frato, Burmece and Aryelc. Everything else belongs to Square.
Author's Notes: It's been a long while since I updated, but no-one seems interested in this any more. Please give me some constructive comments and let me know you're reading this.