Final Fantasy Infinite Loops

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: All of the Final Fantasy characters belong to Square Enix. The original idea for the infinite loops comes from Innortal and later codified by Saphroneth. OathtoOblivion started the Final Fantasy Loops thread and was the first compiler. I think that's everything...Oh yes Spacebattles is who hosts the Infinite Loops threads.

-o-

5.1

Admin [Oath to Oblivion]

Madoka blinked as she saw some the new data pop up on her terminal pertaining to the Super Smash Bros Loops. When did that get there?

"Um...Hecate?"

The Greek Goddess of Magic walked up to her younger coworker, and blinked in surprise as well. "Okaaaay, that's bizarre. How'd the data of one of Odin's Anchors get in here?" she asked, seeing the form of a certain blond, spiky-haired wielder of the Buster and Fusion Swords.

"Do you think...something's going on?" Madoka put out there.

Hecate rubbed her chin. "Don't think so. This looks like baseline data. But why did it only appear now?" she wondered.

Madoka typed away, reviewing the data. "It looks like the Hub recovered some data on the backups, which freed the data from variant possibilities and let it resume its place in baseline sequencing," she noted.

"But unlike the issues with some of the others, there's no reason for this data to have been left out," Hecate added.

"...Is it an expansion then?" Madoka asked.

Hecate frowned. "The way Smash is set up, that shouldn't be really possible...or that's what I thought. I wonder...was Smash really as Stable as it had seemed back then?"

"Hecate?"

The Nintendo Admin shook her head. "I need to do some digging. In the meantime, go tell Odin about this, while I make sure it integrates smoothly."

"What's that? Cloud's in Smash?" Odin said, pausing from where he'd been going over some of the coding involving the Digimon Loops' local version of Yggdrasil.

Madoka nodded. "Yes, his coding has been found in new baseline data."

"Well, that's rather bizarre," the one-eyed Admin commented, pulling up the Final Fantasy Loops' data. "Then again, I'm not surprised that more data has been flying everywhere."

Madoka blinked at seeing what looked like a tangled web on the screen. "Is that...the Final Fantasy Branch?"

"Yes. There are so very many smaller limbs that take data from the larger ones. Combine that with the Rift, and it can be rather headache-inducing. Now, let me see..." Odin said, looking through the data links, before finding a tenuous one stretching off from Final Fantasy VII in the direction of the Nintendo Cluster. It would likely strengthen once Cloud's data was reintegrated into the Smash baseline.

"I'm rather surprised that it's Cloud's data, honestly. That section doesn't have a preexisting link with the Nintendo Cluster. I would have more expected Terra or Cecil to have ended up there," he commented.

Madoka simply shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Well, it all seems to be in order. No glaring flaws that I can see."

"Thank you, sir," Madoka bowed, returning to her own terminal. Meanwhile, Odin leaned back in his chair, pondering the situation.

'Something like this wouldn't have been out of the ordinary before the Loops. ...Could it be that-?'

-o-

5.2 [Tovath]

Firion dodged another blow, thrusting the Zenithian Sword though one of the soldiers. This time I'm going to do it. I will defeat these soldiers I start every Loop fighting. He got through the guard of another soldier with a low swing, taking out a kneecap. There was a sound behind him, but he couldn't turn fast enough. Blackness surrounded him.

Waking up in this room after the healers were finished working on him was familiar. Finding Leon standing outside his door with Guy and Maria was not.

"Leon..."

Leon fortunately didn't see his surprise. "How did you ever learn to fight like the, Firion?"

"Um, what happened after I was knocked out?"

"Well, after you took care of most of those soldiers, my sister got the last one with an arrow." He sounded rather proud of her there.

"It was just a lucky shot," said Maria. "We happened upon some members of the Wild Rose Rebellion after the fight. They agreed to help us."

"So, how did you do that?" Leon actually sounded a bit jealous.

"I..." Firion was unsure of what to say. He didn't want to lie, but last time he tried to explain about the Loops had been a mess. "I learned how to control my chi. I wasn't sure it would work or not."

-o-

5.3 [MyrnaMaeve]

They were fighting the Cloud of Darkness, and they were winning, even if they'd run out of Phoenix Downs. Arc couldn't help grinning to himself, just a little bit. If only the kids from Ur could see him now! He certainly wasn't a coward anymore.

As he pondered over what spell to cast next, he cast a quick glance at Luneth, watching as his childhood friend dodged an attack before retaliating. Arc noticed that he seemed lost in thought, but was otherwise fine. Then he saw that the Cloud of Darkness was charging an attack, and Luneth, distracted as he was, was directly in the line of fire.

Arc didn't think, calling out his friend's name as he dashed forward and pushed Luneth out of the way. Then the Particle Beam hit, and everything went dark.

Arc frowned. This didn't make sense. Nothing made any sense. Why was he back in Ur? Hadn't he died?

"Oh yeah? Ghosts don't exist? Then go there yourself and prove it!"

He was standing in the patch flowers next to the pond on the edge of town, surrounded by three of the kids who liked to bully him. The situation seemed oddly familiar, almost as if...

"Ha! You don't have the guts! You're a coward!"

Now he remembered. This had happened before, after the town of Kazus had been cursed. The bullies had been convinced Kazus was filled with ghosts, and he had disagreed. Had he gone back in time somehow?

"Hey, Arc. What's going on?"

There was Luneth, wearing his Freelancer outfit. Exactly the way he was when everything began.

"It's Luneth! Let's get out of here!"

As the bullies fled, Arc couldn't help but stare. "Luneth…"

He remembered sacrificing himself to save Luneth from the Cloud of Darkness' attack. What had happened afterwards? Had they won? Was the Cloud of Darkness defeated?

"Arc? Are you okay?" Luneth was frowning. "You're acting funny."

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Arc gave Luneth a weak grin. "I'm fine. I just remembered something weird, from a… strange dream that I had, that's all."

A faint glimmer of what looked like hope appeared in Luneth's eyes. "...Do the names Refia and Ingus mean anything to you?"

Arc's eyes widened in shock. "How…?"

Luneth's face broke into a beaming grin. "You remember! Someone finally remembered! I'm not alone anymore!"

"Luneth, what are you talking about!? Remembered what?"

Luneth was practically bouncing with excitement. "The time loops! Time keeps repeating itself, but I've been the only one to remember each time things reset! I thought I was going crazy... what's the last thing you remember?"

Arc froze. How was he supposed to tell his best friend he remembered dying for him? Had there been more of these "loops" between now and when that had happened? Was that why Luneth didn't know? What should he say? What could he say?

"...Arc?" Luneth's excitement had vanished, to be replaced with concern. "Arc, what's wrong?"

"...We were with Refia and Ingus, fighting an extremely powerful monster called the Cloud of Darkness," Arc started eventually, deciding that it would be best to just tell the truth. "Even though we had run out of Phoenix Downs, we were winning. Then..."

"Then...?" Luneth prompted, frowning.

"You got distracted. The monster had a one-hit kill attack, and you... you were directly in the line of fire. I..." Arc looked down at the ground. "I pushed you out of the way..."

"...And you took the attack instead," Luneth stated, his voice torn. "Arc..."

Looking up, Arc saw the distraught look on his friend's face. Wincing, he quickly tried to put Luneth's mind at ease. "I'm alive now, though, aren't I? We'll just... have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

Luneth frowned, then nodded, a determined look on his face. "Right. You're right. We'll be more careful... I'll be more careful. So don't you ever think of doing that again."

Arc gave a faint smile. "I won't. Though I wasn't really thinking when I did it." He paused. "Should we head to Kazus? We need to lift the curse, after all."

"You're right; wouldn't want to keep anyone waiting!" Luneth said, grinning. "Who knows, maybe Refia or Ingus have remembered this time, as well! Let's go!"

Following Luneth as he walked for the town gates, Arc couldn't help feeling that everything would be all right.

-o-

5.4 [Oath to Oblivion]

Cecil's eye wasn't twitching. It most certainly was not. "Rydia?"

"Yeah, Cecil?"

"Why does Whyt look like a bee?" he questioned, pointing to Rydia's personal Eidolon.

Rydia shrugged. "I don't know, why do the Red Wings fly beeships instead of airships this Loop? Why does Kain have bee-themed armor? Why was Scarmiglione part-bee? Why are the Lunarians not Lunarians and instead-?"

"Okay, I'm going to have to cut you off on that last one," Cecil hastily said. Underneath his armor, his wings twitched slightly.

-o-

5.5 Gundam SEED/Final Fantasy Unlimited [Drakohahn]

Mu La Flaga Woke up rather confused. He was covered in a black cloak over mostly black other clothes...but the main thing was a dull golden colored thing on his right arm which prevented him from using that hand for anything. He also wasn't getting much from his loop memories, mostly hazy snippets that he couldn't make out quite right. It was a bit different than his time as Neo Roanoke, but close enough that he could see similarities too. The person he replaced must have had amnesia.

Well, this was going to be a pain. Still, while he didn't have the memories to guide him, he could feel great instinct driving him towards a goal...but what was the goal? What was he trying to remember?

He'd heard a disturbance nearby. Looking towards it, he'd see a giant mushroom thing in the middle of a big cloud of dust. It seemed to be attacking someone...who could handle themselves from how it just got sent flying by some kind of toss. However, it got up after landing, turning into some kind of monstrous humanoid form.

Chaos! Wait, who was it that just spoke into his head?

A servant of Chaos, Unlimited! A different voice, but he still couldn't make out a gender.

Hurry, Unlimited! Slay the fragment of destruction! A third voice...what was going on here? However, the voices didn't like that creature and neither did he. So, he rushed in that direction. Soon, he found himself at the edge of a cliff, staring up at the giant humanoid fungus.

Call IT forth, Unlimited! The winds of judgment that stir the Soil! The Magun! Soil? Magun? He looked down at the thing on his arm, a light now glowing within a section of the dull length. Words came instinctively to his lips.

"It has moved." He was a pilot, so trusting his instinct was second nature by now. So, he let what his body remembered guide him. "SOIL, is my power!"

He brought his arm up to his chest, as a large trio of blades popped out of a different mechanism and started spinning. It was drawing in some kind of power from the surrounding atmosphere. After a few moments, the blades retracted again and he instinctively extended his hand out as the device started glowing across its entire length. Then, it broke into little pieces and reassembled itself into a big triangular gun with three barrels...and a black beating heart in a glass ball near his arm over the pistol grip. Finally, a small cylindrical segment with three covered gaps finished forming the weapon and the energy gathering stopped.

Now heed us, Unlimited! Call upon our power once more to slay the fragment of Chaos! It's not like Mu La Flaga had any choice at this point. He'd listen to these voices that seemed to know him.

Caring Love

Primordial Flame

Living Spirit

The words that came to him conveyed some deep meaning that his body understood as it reached down and plucked a strange glass bullet full of some kind of colored sand.

"The origin of all things, Mother Black."

With a deft flick, it sailed towards the openings in the cylinder, now uncovered. It slid in without issue, causing the cover over that chamber to close again. He then picked up another one.

"A heat that will scorch all creation, Fire Red."

Another flick and it was sent into the next chamber. The cover closed over that one too.

"And finally, the critical point of everything, Burning Gold."

With the last "bullet" in place and covered, the black heart of his weapon started beating rapidly. The golden gun in his hand hummed with incredible power.

"Burn up! I summon you, PHOENIX!"

He pulled the trigger. With the roar of a mighty explosion, a huge billow of smoke exited the barrel. However, the smoke started to twist and out of this plume came three trails of brightly colored substance matching the three "bullets" he put in. They were spiraling around each other in a triple helix that soon smashed into the humanoid thing in front of him.

The thing put up an arm to block the shot, which impacted with some force, but didn't budge the creature. It then looked at the nub at the end, seeing it did nothing. It took a pose, like it was mocking his effort. However, as it did so, it's body started twitching and struggling uncontrollably. Then, its torso rapidly bloated up and turned its body red from the inside. He could hear its cries of pain as whatever was happening coursed through its form.

Then, with a mighty explosion of intense heat, it went up in a gigantic fireball. Out of this fireball came a massive bird of burning flame and red crystal. It sang a beautiful cry before turning into an arrow of flame and zipping into the sky. Oddly, it then CRASH'd through the sky like it was a glass ceiling, which then rapidly reassembled itself. Well, that was fascinating to watch.

He looked over at the people the thing had been attacking. They stood in complete awe of his victory. So, seeing as they were his own source of information, he started towards them. Perhaps they'll have a clue as to what he had to do in this loop.

-o-

5.6 [Tovath]

Locke was confused. Narshe was a bustling city again. The Cup and Bowl was even here. This was impossible. There was no way they could have rebuilt the town this well even it there were enough people to do it. How did he get here anyway, last he remembered he was on the Falcon with Celes and Terra and the others. This was making his head hurt, so he headed to his favorite bar like he always did / had done when he was thinking too hard.

The minute Locke entered The Green Dragon the bartender waved him over. "Arvis wants to see you."

Locke struggled to keep the shock from his face. Was he was in the past? that is the only thing that made sense for Arvis was dead. "Did he say why?"

"Likely something to do with the Imperial Magitek Armors that attacked not long ago." Locke pretty much ran out the door after hearing that.

By the time he had finished talking with Arvis, Locke was convinced that he was back in time somehow. Now what should he do with this information about the future. I could tell Edgar about that rich man in South Figaro who is planning to betray the town to the Imperials. That should stop the invasion. He stopped. But what will happen to Celes then. Best case I will have to fight her. I don't want to fight the woman I love. No, I can't let that stop me. I'll find some way to make it all come out right

First he had to find Terra, who should be right though this cave here. She was, but someone else was with her. "Celes, what are you doing here?"

He had never seen such a big smile on Celes' face. "Locke, you're Awake."

"Well I sure hope I'm not dreaming."

"I don't think he knows what that means yet, Celes," said Terra, she was smiling too, "Just to make sure, time has been repeating for you right, Locke"

"Ya could say that."

-o-

5.7 [Facepalmist]

"The hell's goin' on!? I knew somethin' was missing. All my materia's gone!"

Cid looked around. "Ey... where the hell's that damn kid?"

Cloud cut across Barret's incipient M-rated explosion. "Eh, don't care. She'll be back..."

Barret stared at Cloud. Cid stared at Cloud. Further back, coming over the hill in two widely spaced groups to avoid monsters, the others stared at Cloud.

"...Okay, better question," Cid wondered. "What the hell are ya doin' with Yuffie's shorts?"

In response, Cloud started going through the pockets, finding about a third of the filched materia.

"HEY! Give 'em back!" Yuffie's voice shrieked from far ahead.

"You first!" Cloud called back.

Barret and Cid started leaping about yelping and cussing as the thief started returning them at high velocity. Cloud started laughing at them, while snagging the odd materia that turned out to actually be on target.

-o-

5.8 [Chronopie]

"The ground forms up under his feet as if pointing the way."

The voice over the speakers seemed to be narrating, rather than actually talking to him. Whatever. There was clearly only one path.

"Finds his lifelong friend just lying in the road." A sledgehammer, heavy and bronze. Strange memories of things that certainly never happened before the Great Chasm called it a Cael Hammer, and the place he was walking, the Rippling Walls.

"He sees what's left of the Rippling Walls. Years of work undone in an instant. In the Calamity."

After finding a hodgepodge gun, looking like it was made from an actual animal's skeleton, Tiz found a bar. It was only occasionally that he drank, but this was one of the stranger things he'd seen when the world reset.

No alcohol left. Looks like other people looted the place already. Did find a heavy bronze shield though. Memories said it was his... Why his shield was in a bar, and behind the counter at that...

Had a nice mirror sheen on it too. Enough to deflect the security system's bolt back at it.

When the big blue... Gasbags? attacked, one knocked Tiz out a window. Not his finest moment. The fall was further than expected too. Thinking quickly, or perhaps in an act of desperation, he tried to call upon the abilities of the Valkyrie Asterisk. Sure, he didn't have one on him, and he still didn't know how to carry things from one reset to the next, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd used a skill without the matching stone.

It worked. Just for a moment, but for that moment his clothing bleached of colour, and the impact as he hit the ground was far less than it would've been otherwise.

The man behind the voice behind the speakers was here, a man named Rucks. He had white hair and a cane, but the hair color was natural, not a product of age, and the cane compensated for a limp, not just frailty."Proper story's supposed to start at the beginning. Ain't so simple with this one. Now here's a kid whose whole world got all twisted, leavin' him stranded on a rock in the sky."

Tiz sat up slowly, shaking his head. Where was the goblin? At least a hundred times now, he'd punched that goblin in the snout. More like a thousand times.

"He took his time. Perfectly understandable, when everything you know and love has gone, scattered like so much ash in the wind."

And where was that voice coming fr- Oh, there was the loudspeaker. Curious, Tiz walked over to the sole doorway of the room. For the most part, there was nothing but a desolate emptiness.

Even so, the sight of someone else - even if it was a stranger - was a great relief.

"Welcome, kid, to the Bastion. Name's Rucks, I'm glad to see another survivor."

"Name's Tiz." The silver haired kid looked around at the devastation. Even this... Bastion, looked like it was on it's last legs. "Just Tiz."

The crystalline core he'd picked up wasn't some kind of strange Asterisk, even if it had the same sort of... echo, he guessed, of stored power. No, instead it was a power core that stopped what little was left of the world from crumbling any further.

Doing as Rucks directed, he set the core in the central point of the Monument in the center of the floating island...

And just like that, the Bastion comes alive. Starts growing again… Growing stronger. The power hums through the island, and part of the island shifts, growing outwards. More than that, it grows upwards, into the beginnings of a building.

It's almost organic, the way it shaped itself into a perfect copy of the Arsenal building Tiz saw out on the Rippling Wall.

As celebration for the first step towards rebuilding the Bastion - didn't that have shades of Norende - Rucks handed Tiz a shotglass.

"Fetching Fizz. The benefits are worth the taste."

Rucks downed his shot in one. Tiz imitated him.

It tasted like a mouthful of nails. Rucks broke into gales of laughter at the look on Tiz's face.

Taking the Skyway, essentially an empowered leap, Tiz's gear again flashed white just long enough to avoid faceplanting into the pavement.

The workman's ward. Over to the East, judging by his airtime, was a large-ish building, looking like a blacksmith's forge. The core looked like it was in the northern quadrant. Better to check out the smithy first, in case taking the core brings the place crashing down...

There's a strange, quiet man at the Hanging Garden, goes by the name of Zulf. Reminds Tiz of Lord DeRosso, only with more brooding and less awesome 'vampire' powers. Say what you will about his imitations of monster skills, but some of them could be downright deadly. Bone Crush was particularly devastating when used right,

But that's a matter for another time.

Zulf is one of these 'Ura' folk. They have, or at least had, their own customs, language, and culture. They were also the losers of the war with Caelondia, failing to penetrate the Caelondian defenses, and overwhelmed by the superior technology.

Zulf was supposed to be one of their peace ambassadors. And now the world's gone to smash.

Pyth's Shrine serves to remind Tiz that this place isn't anything like home. Different people, different religion, different culture... But it all still seems so real, even as different as it all is.

Cinderblock fortress lived up to its name, but it yielded a crystal core and a nice new musket. it was funny really. Even with this reset throwing an entirely unfamiliar world in his way, there was a cataclysm that destroyed his home, and he was on a quest for the crystals to try and repair what was broken.

The Langston river though. Whoo. That was a ride and a half. Peckers, Windbags, and turrets galore. The ferry, Weeping Nellie, served him well enough. It was more like an Eschalot than a Grandship though, and Tiz didn't mind leaving the broken ship behind, though not without a pat in farewell.

Prosper Bluff held another surprise. A fourth survivor, another Ura, this one female.

"Oh, it's that time again... So who might you be?"

The songstress, by the name of Zia, had a great deal to say. Oddly, one of the first things she told Tiz was the most absurd. "Imagine a Tree..."

-o-

5.9 [Drakohahn]

"Sir Rusty!" A young woman with long brown hair in an orange one piece bodysuit with a long sleeved poofy shirt underneath it declared in admonishment of her protector. He flinched at the name, since he had managed to avoid it being mentioned until now.

"Not one word, Thief." The robust knight in his clanking armor stated in warning. Zidane merely smirked in response. After all, there was going to be plenty of time teasing him about it later.

-o-

5.10 [Joy22]

Tidus sighed.

He had fair shares of weird loops in his life.

This is the first time he looped into his dad's era.

At first, he thought in was just the standard Pilgrimage loops, that is until his drunken father punched him in the face.

"D-d-dad?" Tidus squawked .

"Daaaaad?" he slurred "Whatever are you talking about? I have a son but he was...this...tall." Jecht took a good look at the person he just punched.

"So! You're Jecht's son huh?" Braska chirped "Also from Zanarkand?"

"Yes sir." Tidus replied to his would-be-father-in-law, grimacing as he saw his future girlfriend, still a child, clinging to her father, and memories of their honeymoon.

It doesn't mix well.

"Please, just call me Braska." he chuckled affably "You seems to be capable," Braska continued, unaware of his inner turmoil "How about it Auron? Why don't we let him join us?"

"He doesn't seem to be a drunkard like his father, he can come if he promises not to spout things about the Holy City," his non-looping mentor stated.

So, he has a chance to made Eternal Calm ten years early. Now, if he could find a way to break the news that they have to fight Yu Yevon, who is still a respectable, god-figure. And keeping his father in line, judging from the look Auron gave him.

Tidus huffed. It's gonna be a long loop. I hope my Anchor wakes up soon. I don't want to deal with a stealth Looper.

-o-

5.11 [Drakohahn]

Ow, was the only thing Kira could think at the moment. That's kind of what it feels like to get steamrolled. Sometimes, sticking to native Loop abilities hurts.

It had been going relatively well up to then, though definitely not what Kira would consider a good time. The Tantalus performance ended up with the Queen shooting a fiery Bomb monster at the airship, causing it to crash into the feral bog called the Forest of Evil. Rescuing the Princess that had tried to stow aboard from the forest's controller, the Plant Brain, resulted in the entire area becoming petrified; which included Athrun, who had been caught by a monster after taking a hit meant for Kira. After that, Kira and his group had to fight their way through the Ice Cavern, which was even colder than its name sounded. Especially with the crazy Black Waltz that had been trying to kidnap the princess.

While it got rather crazy at the village they had stopped at, they made it through there just fine. Even the arrival of successive Black Waltzes didn't slow them down too much. The Festival of the Hunt at Lindblum was next and oddly, rather enjoyable despite the fact that it was a bunch of people going around and slaying vicious beasts released all over the city. Kira had ended up winning it after defeating that Zaghnol creature.

Then it all went to hell when a wounded soldier came limping in. The Burmecian soldier died shortly after arriving and asking for help as his kingdom had been attacked. The Regent of Lindblum, Cid who was currently transformed into a giant native insect creature, insisted on everyone enjoying the banquet while his military forces gathered. Princess Lacus put sleeping weed in the food without anyone noticing... somehow... and ran off while everyone dozed with her knight, Sir La Flaga, in tow. Kira found himself rather annoyed that they weren't awake yet and they had managed to pull one over on him.

So Kira and his companions, Vivi the Black Mage and Unawake Murrue Ramius the Burmecian Dragon Knight, gave chase. They tried at a Chocobo's Forest, but the moogle there hadn't seen the young woman Kira described to him. He tried again at the Qu's Marsh, but found no lead while picking up the gourmand, Quina, as a traveling companion. With no other leads, the group of four headed towards Burmecia through the Burmecian temple, Gizamaluke's Grotto.

He got ticked off when they discovered the massive, winged serpent, Master Gizamaluke, had become dominated and they had to fight him. It made him swear to look into ways to break mind control as they defeated him. Kira couldn't tell if the battle had killed Gizamaluke or not, but they couldn't stay to find out as the group needed to check on Burmecia.

They rescued the survivors of the City of Eternal Rain while dealing with the enemy soldiers, mass produced Black Magi. But then they reached the palace and fought against the people responsible. Alexandria's Queen Brahne stood with her greatest general, an Unawake Natarle Badgiruel, and someone who Kira recognized as Canard Pars; a man with long, black hair and greyish eyes, though this one seemed more... effeminate than usual.

Anyway, to defend a Burmecian soldier who had confronted the invaders, Kira and his companions rushed out to engage them. The four of them put up a good fight against the one-eyed general, but eventually, she just blew them all away with a single attack. So they got to witness the Queen and her benefactor gloat as they all walked off.

Kira struggled to his feet after they left with only one thought in mind, Next time, I don't hold as much back.

After the group had recovered from the defeat, they made their way to the maniacal's Queen's next target, the giant tree city of Cleyra. Normally, it was protected by a devastatingly powerful sandstorm that could abrade exposed flesh in seconds. However, it seemed like the sandstorm had gotten weak enough that Kira and his friends could enter it without much protection required.

It took all day, but eventually the group of four made it passed the sand and monsters to reach the city in the massive tree's canopy. They were greeted kindly by the inhabitants and were directed to the inn where they got food to eat and a place to sleep for the night. In the morning, the Burmecian Murrue went to the King to inform him of the impending attack by the Alexandrian Forces. Everyone else went about trying to find things to do while there: Viva sat down by the city's small lake and its waterfall, Quina went looking for more food... and Kira had to rescue Quina when s/he jumped into the swirling sandpit near the entrance of the city.

So yeah, he found some treasure thanks to that, but it was just him and the strange glutton had to fight their way back up the trunk again. By the time they made it back, the Antlion whose pit Quina jumped into was agitated something fierce by something. Kira wasn't sure what was going on, but he fought back when it attacked everyone present. Defeating that beast caused it to sink back into the sandy hole it lived in.

"This is an ill omen indeed," The Burmecian King worriedly stated. "The Antlion is a peaceful creature. For it to get so aggressive as to attack people..."

He let the implication hang in the silent air. Kira stepped forward a moment later.

"Alexandria's attack will be imminent. Is there any way to enhance the defense?"

The King looked to a giant harp with a glimmering red stone suspended over it.

"The Desert Star powers the sandstorm, which weakens overtime. To restore the flow of power, we shall perform the dance ritual that first called the swirling sands forth."

Several Cleyran maidens dressed in matching pink dresses entered the room, one of which took position by the harp.

"Lady Murrue, please join in the ritual," the King asked Murrue. "The power of a Dragon Knight added to the ritual will make the sandstorm stronger than ever."

Murrue nodded her consent at the request. Everyone else walked off to the left side of the room to avoid getting in the dancers' way. The replaced Burmecian took the position in front of the dancing formation, looking out of place in her red armor but obviously familiar with what she had to do. Then the music started.

Kira was blown away at the sheer skill of the dance and how easily the Sleeping Murrue integrated herself into the routine despite having never trained with the other dancers. With how close they had to get, any mistake could easily involve more than just the one who tripped yet despite the last minute replacement, they moved like they had trained together for years.

However, in the middle of the breathtaking ritual, the harp's strings abruptly snapped and the music stopped. The sandstorm outside disappeared in streams of bright light. As Kira watched, he had a very bad feeling about the situation.

-o-

5.12 (Chronopie)

"Tiz, can I talk to you, man to man?"

Agnes looked back at the two boys, concerned.

Tiz just waved her off. "Sure Ringabel, what's up?"

The older blond threw his arm around the younger man's shoulders "In private."

"What's wrong Ringabel?"

"You. Me. This. Airy. Everything!"

"Ah."

"At first I thought someone had tampered with the crystals again, set off the Holy Pillar. Then I thought it was Airy somehow, since I went from beating her down back on my world, to back in Caldisla, and that little... rragh ... abomination was back. But you. You're different."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, it was little things at first. You can cook better. You know where to go before we ask around. You're a little less shocked at the revelations. More confident in yourself, and less with your nose in Agnes' skirt. I didn't even notice initially." He sighed. "But while we spend four years together, before it all repeats itself, I have the memories of another eight months of following you three around, thwarting your plans and generally getting in the way. Do you get it? The way this you acts isn't the way the other you acts. So what's really going on?"

Tiz was pale. "Well, that's a long story. But if you've noticed, do you think Airy has too?"

Ringabel went white. The implications... "No. Well, I hope not."

"Phew. Anyway, I'll try keep this simple. It's not just our world, stuck in a four year loop. It's every world. Right across the universe. See, there's a tree..."

-o-

5.13 [ThanosCradik]

Tifa and Aerith were leaning on each other trying hard not to laugh, though a few giggles slipped out. Cloud, the target of their mirth, could only cover her face as the Anchor tried to disappear.

"Come on, girls. It's not that funny."

Tifa was the first to gain control. Kind of. "S-sorry, Cloud. But the fact that you're such a cute little girl is just too funny, especially considering that all the SOLDIERs this Loop are girls." And then she dissolved into giggles once more.

Aerith decided to add her opinion. "And hey! Now we have an excuse to dress you up in cute little dresses!"

"That never stopped you two before."

They ignored her as they started to talk with themselves. "Hey, you remember that dress we get him to wear during that mission? I beat that it would really look good on him now!"

"Hey, you're right! we'll need to remember to keep that after we deal with Don Corneo."

Cloud sighed as the two kept going. "Zack must never know about this."

-o-

5.14 Final Fantasy Senshi Part 2

The next day, after Cecil was done with school – Firion was unsure why he bothered with that when there were enemies to fight – they went to the Hikawa shrine to recruit another Sailor Senshi. He knew that Cecil was hoping that it was one of the native Loopers, but Firion had his doubts about that happening. There was no way that the loop was going to make things that easy, after all the loop had already stuck him in this stupid cat form.

Annoyingly, there were a whole bunch of stairs up to the shrine. He did find it was easier to climb stairs with four legs then with two, but still it was a lot of steps. At the top of all those stairs were two pillars with statues of some sort on them. What the statues were of he couldn't see, because they were so far up. Stupid cat body being so low down.

Cecil,who had no doubt seen this place many times before, had approached a young woman with green hair. "Are you feeling quite Awake?"

"I'm feeling a bit Loopy," she replied. "There are some benches over by the trees that are are fairly quiet. We can talk there."

Cecil nodded and they headed over. Two crows looked up from the seeds they were pecking at by the bench. One of them cocked his head in the direction of Firion looking at him sharply then they both flew off.

"I'm Terra Branford, Anchor for the Warring Triad Loop."

Cecil nodded courteously. "I'm Cecil Harvey, Anchor for the Mysidia Loop and this is is Firion."

"I'm the Anchor," Firion had no idea what his loop was called, so he just blurted out, "Wild Rose, the Wild Rose Loop."

"Alright, This is the Sailor Moon Loop," said Cecil "Yes, Sailor Moon is one of the Original Seven. I'm replacing her right now. This is not the first time this has happened, so I know a bit about this loop. First,Terra I should ask if you have anything you want to do this loop?"

Terra shook her head "Not really, I wouldn't mind finding out what I can about methods to get rid of mind control that my in-loop memories mention."

"You have problems with mind control in your loop, I take it."

Terra smiled without so much as a trace of happiness in it. "It won't be much help with the main time it is used though, because it happens right before I Awaken."

There was a formless sound and a man came flying out of nowhere – literally nowhere – skidded face first on the ground twice before colliding with a tree. Firion prowled over to the fallen man. The man had brown hair and was dressed in a blue shirt, a blue cape and even had a blue mask. He was mumbling something about getting the number of the chocobo who had run him over.

"Hey, I think he's a looper," Firion called out before deciding to see if he could cast cure in this form. He could. By the time Cecil and Terra got over there the man was mostly coherent.

"Where am I now?"

"Hikawa shrine in, I believe it is, the Sailor Moon Loop," said Terra.

"I didn't understand any of that," said the man shaking his head.

"Is time repeating for you?" asked Cecil.

The man's eyes went wide. "Yes are you... do you know why?"

"Well you see..." Cecil started giving the man the Welcome to the Multiverse Speech. Firion didn't need to hear that again, so he turned to Terra. "Celes mentioned you when we had a loop together."

"Oh, you were her little brother in that loop where she got the Zoom spell, weren't you?"

"Hey, we were twins you know," said Firion deciding to set the record straight.

xxx

"... So anyway Celes ended up recovering in bed for two weeks while me and dad went off to defeat Grandmaster Nimzo. Both Mom and Grandma were determined to teach her proper manners while she recovered."

Terra giggled. "She must have hated that."

Cecil came over. "There seems to be a possible problem. You see Bartz here is suppose to be Sailor Pluto. Him being here now means that we have broken from the baseline."

"Good," said Terra, "so what's the problem?"

Cecil looked rather surprised at Terra's reaction, but Firion remembered what Celes had said about her home loop and completely understand it. "Didn't you say that Pluto could be a problem herself if she wasn't Awake?"

You're right Firion, Guess I'm overthinking this."

"Well you are the leader. It's kinda your job."