Start Date: March 18, 2022
Windwillow
Final Fantasy IV
Chapter Thirteen
Having taken a detour to the Feymarch, the party has been tasked with retrieving the final crystal and bringing it to the Eidolon homeland. The key is a necklace belonging to King Giott's daughter, Luca.
Before that, Rydia must prove herself against King Leviathan and Queen Asura so as to claim their powers in the war against Golbez.
She won't fight alone.
Scene One
Asura flipped her weapons between her four arms. Cecil drew his sword and lunged, clashing with her sword. With a flick of her wrist she repelled him, whirled around, and swung at him with her dagger.
Edge darted forward and deflected the dagger with his own. Asura fluidly transitioned to another attack with both weapons matched by Cecil's sword and Edge's dagger. They clashed and clanged until they were both repelled.
Sliding back, the two were followed with a lunge from Kain. The spear clashed sparks with Asura's dagger, and he was knocked away with her sword. All three warriors gathered themselves, with some difficulty.
"She's a monster!" shouted Edge.
Kain shouldered his lance.
"Nay, more a God. Eidolons exist on a level seperate from human limits."
Rydia put her fingers together and crossed them.
"Ramuh!"
With a thunderous roar the Eidolon appeared, brandishing his staff. He clashed it with Asura's sword, was matched, and slung a lightning bolt that shattered her dagger. She quickly took her sword in two hands and cut through Ramuh's staff, causing him to vanish in a puff of smoke.
Rydia clapped her hands together.
"Shiva!"
Shiva appeared, and with a wave of her hand sent a titanic spike of ice at Asura. The Queen lifted one hand and batted it away with a barrier, but Shiva deftly pivoted and slammed her foot into Asura's chest.
Asura caught her leg, gripped and twisted it, and evaporated Shiva in a shower of ice.
Rydia slammed her hands to the ground.
"Ifrit!"
From a burst of flame Ifrit slung his claw, wounding Asura's arm and tearing off part of her flesh. Without blinking, she ran another hand along it and it was restored to normal. She slammed all four hands into Ifrit's chest and he exploded in a spout of fire.
Rydia staggered. None of them had made a dent?
"Your summoning skills are remarkable," remarked Asura. "But show us your own power. Demonstrate the strength you hold within."
Rydia nodded slowly. She flicked her wrist and threw a fireball at Asura, and as it was repelled she lashed with her whip twice. Catching one of Asura's arms, she twisted and hurled her into the air.
"Cecil!" she yelled.
Cecil nodded. He charged and leapt, gripping his sword in both hands and dragging it down towards Asura. She erected a barrier that repelled him, but Edge hurled shuriken that she had to take with her forearm.
As she shrieked in pain, Kain leapt into the air and fell with amazing force, skewering through that arm and ripping it off. Edge grabbed his daggers and severed two more arms, and Cecil cut through the final one.
Asura smiled, and a huge flash of light blew the three away. She glowed silently and as her four arms regenerated, she dissolved back into her human form. Asura bowed her head.
"You and your friends are mighty. Summon me as you like."
Leviathan stepped forward. Rydia gasped in horror.
"You're bigger than a ship!" she shrieked. "We can't fight that!"
Glowing softly, Leviathan's body mutated into a huge, serpentine dragon. Rather than being meters across, he was instead the size of a small house.
"I can alter my size," said Leviathan. "This makes it fairer."
Edge shook his head in disbelief.
"Fairer?! You're frickin' huge! How are we supposed to fight that?!"
Leviathan laughed.
"Fighting me isn't as simple as fighting Asura. Your weapons have no effect on me."
Kain shouldered his lance.
"Either you're lying or we have no chance in the first place."
Cecil brandished the Mythgraven Blade.
"I assume nothing."
He lunged and clashed with Leviathan's massive tail, being pushed back with a hard swipe. As he slid back the sword was coated in light, and a massive tower of light burst from it to form what looked like a huge sword.
Cecil took his new weapon and swung. The attack was repelled by Leviathan, but not before ripping off a portion of his scales. Leviathan knocked Cecil back with a lash of his tail. From above Kain drove his lance down and tore off more scales. As the Eidolon King shrieked, Kain twirled his spear.
"You aren't being serious!" he shouted as he slid back. "If you toy with us we can never prove ourselves, can we?"
The entire party was blown back with a massive shockwave, leaving only Asura standing. She stepped back and leaned on her throne with a smile.
"He was telling the truth," said Rydia as his scales regenerated. "Weapons can't stop him. So..."
Rydia overlaid her hands with her palms facing forward. A massive aura of energy erupted around her body.
"So... It's my mana versus yours!"
Asura nodded.
"Leviathan's Tsunami versus your greatest attack. Show us you're worthy of summoning a King."
Leviathan coiled around himself, a huge wave of water forming around him. He whipped his body forward and hurled the tidal wave at Rydia.
"No, Rydia!" yelled Edge.
Rydia shook her head.
"I'll pour all my mana into this one attack! It's all or nothing!"
A large sphere enveloped Rydia's hands, expanding to surround her entire body. It pulsed, crackled, and a titanic wave of green energy flew forward. Clashing with the tsunami, it split the water and met it head-on.
"This is nuts!" said Edge as he braced himself from the shockwave. "You're gonna die!"
The tidal wave and the mass of mana clashed, neither side having the advantage. Cecil looked on in disbelief. Rydia's aura and the tsunami seemed to cancel each other out!
However, the water spurted past the aura and knocked Rydia back several paces. She slid, dug in her heel, and thrust with all her might, causing the aura and the tsunami to explode in mid-air.
As the waves subsided, Rydia went to one knee. Leviathan's body imploded and reformed as his human form. With a snap of his fingers the room reappeared and everything went back as it was. He wiped his brow.
"You have much mana," he remarked.
Rydia staggered to her feet.
"Was that...?"
Asura nodded.
"You have awakened your powers. You are now worthy of summoning the both of us."
Edge pumped his fist.
"Oh, HELL YEAH!"
Kain shouldered his lance.
"I'm shocked. You actually repelled the tidal wave."
Cecil sheathed his sword. Rosa sighed.
"Good gracious!" she gasped.
Rydia wiped her brow, smiling. She'd poured everything she had into one attack and it had matched Leviathan's power. Admittedly he toned it down, but her magical energy had exploded from deep within her without her realizing it.
"In pushing yourself to your limits," said Leviathan, "you have broken through them. Now, you can release more of your mana as you like. Well done."
Asura smiled.
"Now, you must retrieve the final crystal. Bring it to us, and we shall protect it."
Cecil nodded.
"We depart for the Dwarven Castle at once."
Scene Two
After departing the Feymarch the party returned to the dwarves' castle. There they met with King Giott and his daughter Luca.
"Holy hell!" he gasped. "You mean Luca's had that thing the whole time?"
Luca nodded.
"Queen Asura gave it to me when I was little. I never knew it was that important!"
She untied her necklace and handed it to Cecil. Cecil took it and clutched it tightly. He kneeled, rubbed her head, and smiled back at her.
"We'll be back soon with the crystal. Where is the sealed temple?"
King Giott gestured to the south.
"The sealed temple is in a cavern to the southwest."
Rydia nodded.
"According to His Majesty Leviathan, it's in a cave east of the Feymarch."
Kain shouldered his lance and nodded. Edge did a flip.
"With no further ado," said Cecil, "let's head to the temple."
In the corner Luca continued to stitch Calca and Brina back together, turning gears as she did. The dolls were clockwork mechanisms, and were highly elaborate. She had been brainstorming on how to improve them, as well. Maybe someday they could fight with her!
Scene Three
Having arrived at the sealed temple, the party entered the opening chamber. There was a solid-gold door there, with a small indentation in the center.
Cecil held up the necklace to the hole, and pushed it in. Immediately the door rumbled and the room quaked, until the door slid open to reveal a new entrance.
"Simple enough," remarked Kain.
Rosa nodded.
"Nothing terribly fancy..."
They entered the temple. Finding themselves in a deep cave rimmed with gold and silver, they looked around at the area. There were several rope ladders ringed around a central pillar. Down below they could see a wider area.
After climbing down the ladders the party came to a sprawling cavern. There were chasms and stalagmites all over, and below there was a deep abyss.
Edge examined the walls.
"I don't see anything special. Are we sure this is the right place? For a temple, they went pretty minimalistic."
Cecil shook his head.
"I guess... Eh?"
He drew his sword and cut through a huge bat, and several more swarmed the area. Edge and Kain readied their weapons, and Rydia drew her whip.
"Spring cleaning?" asked Edge.
Kain shouldered his lance.
"If you count the chimeras from behind us, it's a bit more troublesome."
Indeed, two manticores - chimeras with scorpion tails and freezing breath - had appeared behind them, crawling up from the darkness below. As it lunged Rosa slapped it away with a barrier, and followed up with a light arrow that skewered it.
Edge twirled his daggers and cut through the horde of bats, his blade fluidly dicing them to shreds. Cecil slashed through several, but stumbled.
"Watch the edges!" he shouted. "If you fall in, you're dead!"
Kain skewered a bat and crouched.
"Noted."
He sprung high into the air, and as his feet touched the ceiling he pushed himself down and pierced through a manticore. Gripping his lance and sliding, he agilely hurled the monster down into the abyss.
Rydia lashed through several bats, but found herself in the range of the manticore. Reacting instinctively, she thrust her hand out at it. A wave of green energy burst from her palm, and in a brilliant light the manticore disintegrated.
"Wow!" she breathed as she examined her hand. "I didn't know I could do that!"
Edge and Cecil had mopped up the bats, and so the battle ended. The party continued into a long corridor rimmed with stone spikes, with a long bridge. At the back was a sealed chest, latched tight and bound with ropes.
"Looks juicy!" chirped Edge. "Don't mind if I do..."
As he reached towards the chest Cecil dragged him back just in time to keep the trapdoor chest from ripping off his arm. Edge angrily slammed his hand to the ground and engulfed it in a sphere of water, which he compressed into dust.
"Hmph!" he snorted. "Glad the crystal wasn't in there."
They continued into a new area, where Cecil examined the wall.
"It seems to be a dead end..."
Kain laid his hand on the wall and pushed, causing it to cave in and reveal a new door.
"Or not..."
Scene Four
Now they entered a crystalline chamber, where they found the final crystal. As he stepped up and snatched it, Cecil looked around suspiciously.
"Well, that was too easy... Watch for traps."
They exited the crystal room, and as they did the far door locked tight. A rumble sounded and they turned, finding a huge stone head and claws emerging from the door. It was moving fast towards the bridge.
"Damn!" cursed Kain. "Run!"
Down the bridge they went, but the demonic wall followed. As he skidded to a stop, Cecil turned and drew his sword.
"Any ideas?"
Rosa and Rydia nodded, and laid their hands on the wall. They created a green barrier that held it back, until Rydia blew off its head with an explosion. She turned around, but as the claws converged she shrieked. They tore at her shoulder, ripping open her flesh, and continued on towards her.
Cecil angrily severed the claws, and proceeded to blast the entire wall open with holy energy. He turned to find Rosa healing Rydia.
"Are you alright?"
Rydia gripped her shoulder and nodded. She rose to her feet and brushed off her robes, her wounds having mended.
"I'm adequate..."
The journey back to the entrance was uneventful. As they exited the golden door Cecil examined the crystal and smiled.
"Lord Leviathan will take good care of this."
Kain's eye twitched. As he turned, Cecil reached for his friend, but the dragoon snatched the crystal and ran from the temple.
"Kain?!"
Though they followed, Kain managed to evade them. As the party dashed towards him they saw a Red Wing ship, which Kain nimbly vaulted up into. He looked down and narrowed his eyes.
"Damn that Golbez!" yelled Cecil. "He's seized him again! KAIN!"
The airship broke off and zoomed into the distance. Cecil clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood.
"God... DAMN it...!"
He slammed his fist to the ground and knelt. As he ground the bloody knuckle into the dirt, Rosa turned her eyes to the sky where Kain had departed. She narrowed her eyes.
Was this truly the man Kain was...?