Final Fantasy Infinite Loops
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: All of the Final Fantasy characters belong to Square Enix. The original idea for the infinite loops comes from Innortal and later was 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-
7.1 [Tovath]
Odin had gathered every bit of code needed to activate the Dissidia part of the Final Fantasy branch. He knew that he was just in time: If this Activation didn't work the the branch would likely disintegrate into a bunch of corrupted data. Needless to say that would be catastrophic to all the active loops in the branch.
He would need to make sure it was well anchored. Fortunately he had some extra options, in the form of the anchors to the other Final Fantasy Loops. He would of course, have to weave the Remember Baseline patch into the activation. He know his loopers after all.
[SUB-BRANCH: FINAL FANTASY I]
[BASELINE COMPILED]
[SETTING ANCHOR]
[ANCHOR SET]
[SUB-BRANCH: ANCHOR: WARIOR OF LIGHT]
[SUB-BRANCH: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[ACTIVATE SUB-BRANCH?]
[YES/NO]
[YES]
[SUB-BRANCH: ACTIVATED]
[LOOP ITERATION: START]
. . .
-o-
7.2 [Tovath]
This loop was a nice change of pace for Terra. She had ended up in the Wild Rose Loop. The lack of any psychotic clowns was nice. Celes' brother, Firion was showing her around. The ability to use Firion's foreknowledge to save his allies in interesting ways, like now, was fun.
"Don't bother going the the tower to obtain Ultima, Minwu," said Terra.
"What do you mean by that?" shouted Princess Hilda "We need the power of Ultima to defeat Emperor Mateus."
Terra started on the story that she and Firion had worked out between them. "The Ultima spell that can be found there is incomplete. The whole place is actually a trap set up to catch those who desire power." It wouldn't surprise Terra to find out that this was actually true, but Firion had not found any proof of that. "The real Ultima spell has been handed down in the family of the sage who created it."
"Then we must find the descendant of this grand sage and ask them to aid us." proclaimed Hilda.
"Gladly," said Firion, with a hint of a smile, and turned to Terra, "Mind helping us out?"
"Of course I will."
-o-
7.3 (krspaceT)
Wedge Antilles, legendary space pilot and hero of the rebellion's Rogue Squadron, eyed his latest challenge.
He had mastered the transportations of 47 different loops.
He had bested unawake versions of Suzaku and Kallen in Knightmare frames (Though the awake ones were still better than he was), successfully captured all four of the Beastman General's person Gunmen for his own use for his last three visits to the world of the spirals, (Then modified them all to combine into a giant mecha to bash the Anti-Spirals with) and had mastered the art of Kart racing with Mario.
He no longer feared the Blue Shells from the Sky!
It was time to begin mastering his 48th, starting with this most dangerous vehicle...
He held out a bag of bird seed to the rather large yellow bird before him, who eyed it curiously.
He would tame and master this 'Chocobo', or he wouldn't master anything here at all!
-x-x-
Cloud Strife's life sucked even before the loops, though they did have the potential to be better.
The loop where Sephiroth had been nothing but a floating geranium in particular stood out to him.
But this time, the dice of fate rolled against him once more, seeing as he had some sort of vicious, two legged reptile choking him like some sort of Sith Lord.
What the hell was going on in those loops!? Who was the idiot who taught this damn thing how to choke people!?
As he continued to struggle against the beast's power, he heard a familiar sound coming towards him.
The sound of a Chocobo.
With a loud yell, a fighter pilot dressed man burst forth from the forest around him, riding a Chocobo with a pair of jousting spears in hand.
The Raptor hissed, dropping Cloud to the ground before turning to the rider in hungered curiosity.
"Your power" It hissed "It is...familiar..."
It then charged right at the dauntless Chocobo Knight, eager to do battle.
-x-x-
"So...who taught the Sith Raptor?"
Wedge Antilles, aired this question to a gathering of his fellow loopers next Eden Bar loop.
They all looked at him in confusion.
"The Sith what?" Luke inquired.
"I have a bad feeling about this" Obi-Wan sighed.
"Wasn't me" Anakin and Revan said in tandem.
-o-
7.4 [LostHereAndThere]
"I refuse."
Charon grimaced. One of the irritating ones.
"Let me make this perfectly clear: should you refuse my offer, you will linger here for as long as it takes for your number to come up. And believe me, mountains will crumble into dust far, far faster than that."
"You ask too high a price, ferryman. And I'm expected in the land of the living. So step aside or fall to my blade!"
Charon sighed as the drunk idiot drew the abomination he dared to call a sword. His own blindness did not disturb him in the slightest, nor did his lack of a weapon. He relaxed, following the blade's song as it cut through the air, rising as the swordsman prepared to put his entire weight in a killing strike at Charon's brainpan. As the sword fell in a perfect arc at his head, Charon sighed and smiled benevolently.
The blade crashed against the ferryman's forehead, and shattered.
The idiot barely managed to catch himself before landing, and stumbled into a crude defensive stance, cursing as he opened his Pocket and drew another of those horrors.
"You understand this means my fee will rise considerably."
Unfazed, Auron charged. Rolling his unseeing eyes, Charon made no move to dodge. Another blade was shattered. After that, the idiot tried hammers. Then guns. Then sorcery. Technology. Blends betwixt both. Charon just smiled indulgently as he kept to his paperwork. Whatever the swordsman did, he failed to damage the already grimy robes of the eternally-smiling ferryman or even shuffle the papers he was diligently filling.
"You are only going to get tired."
As the escapee-wannabe kept pounding at Charon with everything he had, the ferryman himself sighed in exasperation as he kept to his paperwork, barely noting the passage of time even as the minutes passed into hours, which bled into days, after which it all just melted Auron's brain into a sort of porridge. Best for the idiot to get it all out of his system. Next time it would go down easier. It was fools like this that made him regret being such a good civil servant. One did one's best to keep the books in order and then something like this came along. One of these days upper management really has to send someone to fix things down here. How many afterlives were just as horribly mismanaged as this Spira, he wondered. At least this idiot didn't seem as… enthusiastic as those monkey people. Last time he ever wanted to deal with aliens.
Oh well, looks like he finally got the hint.
Smirking, Charon stopped the exhausted Auron's lightsaber mid-swing, and casually extinguished the energy blade just like he would put a candle off. The broken weapon clattered next to the growing pile of shattered artifacts and spent cartridges. Gently, he pushed the swordsman, who fell with a minimum of fuss to the ground.
"I trust this lesson has been productive. I really don't know what kind of mess you're used to, but I assure you I shall not be nearly as lenient. My rules are simple. Pay and leave, or stay until your number comes. No nonsense like challenges, riddles, or unfinished business allowed here. Now, as for the payment…" The ferryman plucked a piece of paper from his robes, scribbled something, and presented it to the wheezing Auron.
Gingerly, the downed swordsman managed to pick the paper. "The hell is this? This ain't a number!"
"No, it's an equation. Far faster than writing the whole number."
Groaning, Auron slid a Bottomless Box at Charon's feet, hissing as the ferryman started fiddling with it. Truth be told, he had no idea of how much the ferryman was going to charge him. Bah. There was enough money and loot in that box to buy all of Spira more than fifty times over. As he recovered on the ground, Charon tossed him a few coins.
"What is this?"
"Your change."
Sputtering, tugging at his scalp, Auron scrambled to catch the money. Not even enough for a decent meal, let alone repair his swords, or get a room for the night… Millennia upon millennia of painfully building savings, all gone in a single blow. And there was not a single blessed thing he could do about it.
So this is what the damn duck felt like all the time.
"Do be careful though. My fees go up every time I do this, and you don't strike me as the tab type." Charon snorted as he deposited the box in his desk. "Now, before you complain, let me ask you: is money really worth that much to you? More than, say, your life itself? Money exists to be spent. What use is it to you gathering dust in the face of death?"
Balling his fists, hissing, Auron choked, even as he felt the familiar tug of the land of the living calling him: "What could you possibly need that much money for?"
Just then, the happy chime of a bicycle rang across the uneven banks of the Styx. A young girl waved at Charon, who gleefully received a package of food. The girl just stood there impassively as Charon loaded sack after sack of coins and gems into her basket. At the end, she oversaw the mound of valuables, nodded in satisfaction, and left the ferryman to his meal.
"…wat."
Charon arced an eyebrow as he sat to dig in as Auron faded into life.
"Do you have any idea of how much delivery costs here?"
Aika's. Anywhere. Anytime.
-o-
7.5 [Facepalmist]
[SUB-BRANCH: FINAL FANTASY XII]
[BASELINE COMPILED]
[SETTING ANCHOR]
[ANCHOR SET]
[SUB-BRANCH: ANCHOR: VAAN]
[SUB-BRANCH: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[ACTIVATE SUB-BRANCH?]
[YES/NO]
[YES]
[SUB-BRANCH: ACTIVATED]
[LOOP ITERATION: START]
All told, Vaan liked to think he actually reacted pretty calmly to Ivalice's entry into the Loops.
...Okay, absolute truth be told, Vaan hadn't reacted all THAT calmly - not at first, at least. When he'd blinked and Awoke for the first time, only to be confronted with a somewhat familiar trio of dire rats in a rather more familiar enclosure under the Dalmascan capital with an very familiar voice calling out to him to hurry up, only the two facts that (a) he was in combat, and (b) these were dire rats and so weren't particularly noteworthy otherwise, had postponed a well-deserved round of freaking out.
Vaan had absentmindedly stolen from and killed the rodents, then stumbled through the following conversation with Kytes pretty much on automatic. (The mental refresher-course which he would find out much later from a certain time-travelling avian was called 'Loop-memories' did help with this immensely.) It was after the younger streetrat had split for Migelo's and Vaan had stood there wondering what was going on and what exactly he should be doing about this that he'd realized something important.
That realization really did help put things into perspective. It ran thus:
"Hey, a guy's still gotta eat."
-x-x-
One trip to the Bazaar, two purloined fruits (one for Penelo...hey, it might work) and one gratuitous pickpocketing of an Imperial soldier later, things had become a bit clearer. If nothing else, it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before... literally. (That thought merited a snicker as he legged it from the scene.)
Tossing the extra fruit to Penelo worked...for about three seconds, until she realized how he'd got it. At least she ate it, even if she ate it while carrying off the laden, liberated pouch. And at least he'd managed to take a bit of gil out of said pouch and stash it elsewhere on his person before Penelo could swipe it off him.
Feeling that small bulge in the hidden pocket helped steady him. Things were happening like he remembered them happening before. But on the other hand, nothing said he couldn't take advantage of it!
-x-x-
Of course, once Vaan got out into the desert and realized that all his stuff he'd collected over the past year-and-a-bit was missing...again, he was kinda annoyed. But it was gratifying to feel those old skills he'd picked up back then coming back. That much was a relief - it was bad enough having to repeat everything as a weakling, but at least he wasn't an unskilled weakling...
So, he'd just have to start building himself up again. Vaan talked his way back into the city and visited the shops like he should've done the first time...for all the good that did him. He'd forgotten how bad the selection was in the early days. Then it was back out to the desert and settle down for a serious bout of looting...again, for all the good that did him. There was an escutcheon in one of the coffers this time though, so he helped himself to that.
Eventually, a lot more winded than he would have been at his prime, Vaan picked off the last living beast in the area: the Rogue Tomato Mark. Spotting a familiar clump of flowers, he approached and regarded them with a bittersweet smile.
"Galbana lilies... Huh. That takes me back..."
...Things really were a lot simpler back- now, weren't they? Back when Reks was still a seeping wound for the Occuria to pour their poison into, when Basch was Dalmasca's most heinous traitor, when all the Archadians were just faceless bastards with funny accents-
"Hey, there's an idea!"
Not the one about rescuing Basch. He'd be fine until Vaan and Balthier and Fran got there - which come to think of it, would give him a good excuse to try robbing the treasury again. Neat! No, this idea was more...immediate. Vaan picked the galbana lilies as a souvenir, and headed for the Outpost.
-x-x-
"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Vaan, representing Clan Centurio. Just to let you know, that pesky Mark that was blocking your way into Rabanastre? I just took it down. Along with everything else that could've given you trouble."
Even the wild saurian - which had not been fun to deal with in his currently weak state. Vaan had needed to resort to status effects he hadn't had the first time round to get the job done, and burned through most of his magick reserves to make them stick and stay alive long enough for them to take their toll. The task had not been made any easier by the fact that while his old magick skills were still there, they didn't always flow as smoothly or come to mind as effortlessly as he remembered them.
...So he was rusty. Oh well, just something else to brush up again.
"I was heading back to Rabanastre anyway," he continued, "so if you'd like to make ready and join me? The coast is completely clear for once, so there's no better time."
-x-x-
Attaching himself to the supply train? Now that worked. Kytes nearly ruined it by running up, but fortunately the younger streetrat caught the wave-off and the guard didn't spot it. The company Vaan was keeping, the Writ of Transit and the Clan Centurio Badge, all at once, got him past the gate. Not that it would have really mattered, what with Migelo coming in and pulling his 'brown-nose 'n throat-wetten' routine for Kytes' benefit. But it was nice to get through without his late brother's favourite flowers being stomped on by a smelly bird.
Just a little change, wouldn't really do anything. But still... somehow, it sunk in more than that extra bit of gil he'd managed to hide from Penelo. It meant more.
Honestly, most of the great sweeping movements of historical import had flown right over Vaan's head (apart from the ones that attacked his head on their way over). Ashe and Balthier and Basch and even young Larsa's minds had all moved in stately circles that Vaan had only the vaguest idea even existed. And for all that he'd felt left out of the loop a lot of the time... well, occasional complaints to the contrary, he didn't exactly care. All Vaan really wanted was to be in the sky - everything else would probably take care of itself.
But he'd still help out, because they were good friends to have...and helping them would also help get him back in the sky all the sooner. He could take the little victories in the meantime...
Oh, and maybe look less like a fool. Keeping his foot out of his mouth this time would be good.
-x-x-
Lady Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca, Dalmascan crown princess-in-exile, couldn't help but worry as she glanced over at Vaan. The apprentice sky pirate stared at the smoking tower of the Pharos, his visage twisted with such fierce emotion as she could never recall witnessing from him.
Vaan was truly a mystery to the princess. To all appearances he was nought but a streetrat of Rabanastre, an orphan among many - his sole dubious claim to prior renown lay in being the younger brother of one Reks, the short-lived Dalmascan Knight of the old Order who had survived barely long enough to relate his tale of Basch fon Ronsenburg's seeming treachery in person. Brash, ignorant, reckless, occasionally suffering a severe dearth of tact... and yet somehow, nothing ever seemed to faze him. He reminded her a great deal of the elder sky pirates Balthier (or was it Ffamran...? no matter - whoever he was, the native of Archades had embraced his alias in a way that Ashe herself never truly had) and Fran the viera, in that he could be surprisingly level-headed when local events turned for the worst.
...And then there was his daunting level of skill. As demonstrated the very first time they met. A more fortuitous first meeting she was hard-pressed to think of; even much later, having come to acquaint herself with the hunter and his many, many imperfections far better, the memory of how Vaan had stared into her eyes from less than a foot away even as he aimed a Darkga spell at her pursuers without even gracing them with a glance... Ahem, moving on from wasteful daydreams. His companion Penelo had been heard to speak with Basch of her childhood friend, and of how he had returned to Rabanastre a changed man following his maiden Hunt - a matter of mere hours before she herself had encountered him.
Ashe could not but feel thankful that the youth had decided to lend her his aid. Clearly Clan Centurio had recognized the boy's potential early and invested a great deal of effort into his training - his encyclopaedic knowledge of weapons, spells, technicks and tactics showed ever clearer as their travels progressed, and greatly eased said passage with the aid of his expertise in battle...and in geography of all things. And she could almost swear the boy had a treasure sense sometimes! And yet...
"You saw him, didn't you? Like at the king's tomb."
"So you did see him. But...why?"
Vaan stared into the distance, towards Rabanastre, for so long that she thought he would remain silent. But then: "...Vengeance. That's the one thing we have in common. Not the others, just us. Something wants us to take our vengeance. I'm sure of it..."
...How right he had been.
Perhaps it was that this was Vaan's first true loss amidst these new troubles. He had been surprisingly amiable in his dealings with not merely Larsa Solidor - understandable, after befriending the incognito 'Lamont' as they travelled into the mines of Lhusu - but Basch as well; one might have imagined far more initial friction between the boy and the man who had reportedly killed his brother. Words of vengeance aside, Ashe could only think that the passage of time must have soothed his ails well to have him reacting so calmly then.
In any case, his reaction to the loss of Reddas was certainly not calm. Perhaps it was but this, and not some new strangeness from this paradoxical youth to plague her thoughts. Perhaps..
-x-x-
To put it plainly, Vaan was kicking himself. He couldn't believe it - he'd actually forgotten about Reddas!
The top of the Pharos tower had once again been chaotic, what with Ashe turning away from revenge at the last minute, and Gabranth turning up for a fight, and 'Judge Magister Zecht' going the big reveal, and that asshole Cid cutting in, pinching the Dawn Shard and using it to fire up the Sun-Cryst. Really, it wasn't so much he forgot Reddas, as he forgot about that Dawn Shard. If only he'd remembered to grab the damned thing before Cid and Venat could get their hands on it...!
By the time Reddas had stayed Ashe's arm and stole the 'kill', and Vaan realized his mistake, it was already too late.
Vaan sighed. "Reddas..."
-o-
7.6 [Tovath]
Hermione Granger woke to one of the biggest headaches she had since that one loop with Naruto. She tried to check her in-loop memories, but the only thing that happened was that her headache got worse. Beside the bed she on was someone, an old man; saying something about mind control and that her memories would return in time. Before she really had the chance to grasp that she was in a new loop, one that she hadn't seen before, she had to run away from soldiers through some caves. She hated having headaches; They made her miss obvious things. That being said she really should have been paying enough attention to not fall down any holes.
When she woke up, there was a young man man in a bandana leaning over her. "Ya ok? Feeling a bit loopy?"
"I'm fully Awake, but for some reason I don't have any loop memories." It was weird but she had less of a headache now, despite the fact that she had likely had hit her head at some point during her tumble.
"That would be 'cause Terra has amnesia. You're replacing her."
"Terra, that name seems familiar," had Cecil mentioned it during that loop they had together. "What is the name of this loop?"
"Warring Triad Loop."
"I've heard of this loop, so...did you Ping yet?" Hermione didn't think she heard one but having a headache did funny things to her on occasion
"Opps, I forgot." He said shaking his head "Haven't been looping long."
"Well than let's get that taken care of." She sent out a Ping, but there were no replies. "We must have a stealth anchor. I guess we should get introductions out of the way and head out to wherever. I'm Hermione Granger."
"Heard of ya." he said "I'm Locke, we usually head to Figaro." Hermione was surprised to get so little reaction, not that she minded.
-x-x-
Hermione wondered what the reason for Figaro castle being in the middle of the desert was, for it did not look like a big trade city, but there were more important things to worry about now. Figaro had a library, so she would finally get to read books she hadn't read a hundred times before. She started looking through the titles, but it was impossible to tell what they said. Some of the words seemed familiar, but had different endings than what she was used to. Other words were complete nonsense. She then realized a possible reason for this and went to look for Locke.
She found him stuffing his face in one of the guest rooms. "Could Terra read?" she asked.
He was polite enough to swallow his food before answering."She never did in baseline. She's learned since though."
"That explains why I can't read this," she held up the book from the library. "but not why I feel like I am trying to read German when I only know English." Great, I bet he doesn't even know what those languages are.
Locke was looking out the window. "Well you are going to have to wait a little while to figure that out. Kefka is coming, so we will be busy for a bit."
"Will it cause any problems if I get rid of him now?"
Locke raised an eyebrow "He'll probably cause fewer problems dead."
-o-
7.7 [Bardic_Knowledge]
Cloud didn't often Awaken before the Nibelheim mission, but if he did he knew it was an easy way to give himself a peaceful Loop by keeping Sephiroth's body from falling into the Lifestream if it came to a fight, or talking Sephiroth down from madness if he could. Zack was Awake, too, so that meant things would go even smoother than normal. The truck-ride to his hometown, though, that could get pretty boring. Even the dragon attack was just part of the routine at this point. So, to spice things up, Cloud had gotten some lessons on pick-pocketing from Yuffie and tried to see how close he could get to stealing Sephiroth's Materia. He had yet to actually succeed in stealing any Materia, but it was an amusing diversion.
That is, until he found himself with a mastered Restore Materia in his hand and Sephiroth not even glaring at him. A glance at Zack revealed that his friend had no idea what was going on either. Since Cloud was technically just an infantryman, finding out what was going on fell to Zack.
"Um, sir? General Sephiroth?" Zack started. Sephiroth gave no indication he had heard. "Sir? What's wrong?"
After a few moments of silence, Sephiroth spoke. "I thought it was a dream..." Cloud and Zack looked at each other in confusion. "I had a family, friends, and I believed that I had somehow fallen asleep for a moment and had a strange dream. That I was the son of heroes. That I was going to be a hero. I did my best, but people still feared me, even as I was saving lives. I cut down someone whose whole life revolved around me to save a city. I killed a president to save my fellow Powered humans from losing themselves forever. To save my parents." A bitter laugh left Sephiroth's lips. "I met her again, the girl whose whole life was about me. I went into her mind and saw that the dream I had had was similar to her life in so many ways. That the two of us were so alike. She was dying, we all knew it, but I fell in love with her. And when she died, I was devastated."
"Tell me, Zack. Cloud. Is this the dream? Or was that? Will I wake up to find my parents depowered, Victon victorious, and Jenny dead? Or will I never see them again?" Sephiroth looked up at Zack, then over to Cloud. "Does anything I ever do, truly matter?"
"Sephiroth..." whispered Cloud. He had hated the man for so long, killed him so many times, but the empty look in the general's eyes chilled Cloud Strife to the bone.
"Of course it matters!" said Zack. "Because you're alive. And as long as you remember her, she lives with you. And on top of that..." Zack scratched the back of his neck. "This might take a bit of explaining. Y'see, there's this thing called Yggdrasil. Apparently, way back before almost anyone can remember these days, it kept reality stable. The guys in charge could pop in from time to time and pal around with all us mortals. Sometimes if a mortal got strong enough they could go out and join the Admins. But then something... happened, nobody's sure what and the guys upstairs haven't said anything one way or the other, and reality got broken."
Cloud picked up the thread. "To try and keep things stable, they started putting the various smaller realities into time loops, with one person always remembering every Loop. We call them Anchors. Eventually, other people started to Awaken to the Loops as well, and they helped keep those worlds even more stable. At times, rare times, two Loops can fuse, and elements of each are present. But things are still broken. They can't come in without possibly ripping the world apart, and we can't Ascend without doing the same with certainty."
Sephiroth looked curious, which was a vast improvement over the emptiness of a few moments before. "So... I have 'Awoken?'"
"Yes," nodded Cloud. "And, really, it's up to you to decide how you want to live your life in the Loops. Most people in your position wind up becoming friends with their mortal enemies. Some keep fighting, or have fun with being evil, but without malice."
"And if I just want to rest?"
Zack smiled, and placed a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder. "Then you can rest. The two of us have been Looping long enough that we can probably keep Hojo and ShinRa off you. If you just want to take off after we get to Nibelheim, we'll tell the higher ups that you were KIA or something."
A small smile graced Sephiroth's face. "Thank you. I think... I know exactly where to go."
-o-
7.8 [Facepalmist]
"Squall," Quistis called as the SeeD candidate began to stride away from the Balamb Garden gate, "you're forgetting something...your GF."
Squall hadn't forgotten. He'd actually planned a no-magic baseline run to hone his gunblade skills this time; being the only one Awake gave him the opportunity for once. Nonetheless he turned back around to face his instructor...
...Who was cupping something in her hands. Something that looked like a tiny, white-glowing shrimp with way more antennae than what looked standard. Something that rang alarm bells in his head for some reason, though not for any reason to do with his Loop-memories.
"Wait a second." Squall pulled a PADD out of his Pocket and started searching, ignoring Quistis's puzzlement regarding the unfamiliar technology. Nearly a minute later found him staring down at the relevant entry, his eyes flickering warily between the PADD entry and the thing in Instructor Trepe's hands which was apparently a GF this Loop.
"..." Noticeably pale, he put away the PADD and drew his gunblade. There was only one thing to do.
-x-x-
One rage-quit and Two Loops later found him in Eden Hall via Eiken, this time with an Awake Quistis in tow.
"...turns out I can behead myself."
"What the hell?" Quistis asked.
Squall showed her the PADD, which portrayed two pictures. On the top was an example of the aforementioned glowing shrimp-thing. On the bottom was a book cover.
Quistis adjusted her glasses and squinted. "...The Host, by...Stephanie Meyer... Oh." She looked up at him. "Wuss."
Squall shrugged uncomfortably. "Whatever..." he mumbled, going back to his drink - which, this being Eden Hall, was one of the best he'd ever tasted. "At least they weren't Goa'uld this time."
"What?"
"Nothing."
-o-
7.9 [Tovath]
The oglop somehow was holding a sword with it's two forelegs. It would be comical if it wasn't for all the soldiers it had cut down.
"Guess we're having a Cid Switch this loop" said Zidane
"You mean he is from..." started Princess Garnet
"One of other Final Fantasy Loops, yeah. None of the Cids are Awake, but every once in awhile something like this happens. I think he is from-"
"Heaven's wish to destroy all minds... Holy Explosion!"
"Ramza's part of the Ivalice Loop."
-o-
7.10 [Facepalmist]
An anticipatory hush lay over Mushroom Rock and the beach far below, as the sea began to swell and a leviathan shape to rise from within. Atop the highest plateau for which the locale was named, between the nervous cannon crews and the command centre personnel, an Awake Yuna kept the temporarily defeated Sinspawn Gui visible from the corner of her eye as she gazed down at the scene below.
It was a scene she had never particularly enjoyed before, given that this was the site of a great many deaths that (until recently, in the Loops at least) she had been unable to do anything to prevent. As far as the aeon trapped within the colossal fiend was concerned, it was time for his little crybaby of a son to learn a lesson about Spira.
This time, she devoutly hoped, would prove to be a most entertaining exception.
Next to her, said crybaby (also Awake) had put away his sword for the moment and was munching on a tub of popcorn, completely ignoring the quizzical looks he was getting from Wakka, Lulu and Kimahri (none of them Awake). She snuck a handful from the tub, sharing a quick grin with the blitzballer.
"This is gonna be so awesome," Tidus muttered, quietly enough for the others not to hear him. Having them harping on about disrespect to those here to fight and die today would just ruin the moment.
Down below, the Crusaders had formed ranks along the cliff-face, as far from the water as possible. With the sudden and vastly appreciated addition to their battle plan, the soldiers were hopeful that they wouldn't have to fight today - but they had to be there, just in case something went wrong or there was a need for clean-up. The fact that they had a front row seat for what must surely be one of the coolest things they would ever see was just a bonus - something which was wholeheartedly agreed with by the Al Bhed manning the scavenged heavy energy weapon down the coast.
At the water's edge, at the epicenter of the waiting tableau, stood the figure of a certain Guardian, equipped with something decidedly unusual for him. The Looper stood staring stoically out to sea, regarding his old friend as Sin breached the surface.
With deft hands, Auron removed the armored piece on which had been mounted the quartet of mirrors angled for best line-of-sight over his shoulders. As it slid into his inventory, he looked up at the looming Sin...whose eyes (or at least several of them) swiveled to fix Auron in their sights.
From the gigantic fiend came a high-pitched warble, which to many of the onlookers sounded suspiciously like 'aw shit'. Auron shrugged, turned around and started walking away.
And behind him, Sin started exploding.
The Crusaders cheered wildly as great building-sized chunks of Spira's bane sloughed away. That cheering abated only momentarily as they realized that a number of said chunks were actually latticeworks of sinspawn, and only for long enough for the shed sinspawn to also start exploding.
Auron had barely walked ten paces from the water's edge - which, notably, was nine more paces in a row while walking forwards than he had made since Awakening in Luca - when Sin's whale-like bulk was torn asunder both from without (by the explosions) and from within. Shouldering its way out of the ruined leviathan, the mammoth, bestial form of Braska's Final Aeon furiously waved its massive sword at the uncaring samurai...
...before promptly exploding. Then lighting on fire. Then exploding again.
At sixteen paces, a three-metre-long form resembling a bloated tick tore itself out of the messily dying aeon and headed at top speed for the horizon, the millenium-old immortal summoner Yu Yevon exploding several more times and trailing a multicoloured line of fire as it sped away. At nineteen paces it exploded one time too many and expired with a massive conflagration that blanketed the sky in motes of light.
Yuna promptly took the chance and began dancing to send on the souls of those departed. Tidus promptly put away the popcorn (and the camera, a tiny little thing which had been unobtrusively hidden in the bottom), pulled out a sniper rifle from his Pocket and shot Maesters Seymour and Kinoc while everyone else was occupied. (His accumulated experiences made him plenty real enough to stick around until time reset, which might complicate things - but hey, why not see what happened next?) Meanwhile, Auron came to a halt after a few more paces and redonned the mirror assembly; even with the extremely low likelihood of re-manifesting before the end of the Loop, it was still better safe than sorry... especially considering the singular, horribly destructive quirk of this particular iteration.
As the legendary guardian and single coolest individual in the history of Spira let himself fade into the Farplane, no-one witnessed his quiet utterance, his last words until his next Loop began anew:
"Kamina must never hear of this."
-o-
7.11 [Wildrook]
Shirou then cringed.
"Now I know how Ranma felt as the lone male Mithra," he said to the redhead who was chuckling at his predicament.
Marche was surprised.
"A Male Viera? I've heard of male Mithra," he muttered.
"Marche, right?" he asked him. "One question...why the heck are the Viera after me women I know from my home universe?"
Marche and Ritz were surprised as they looked at the Viera horde.
"I didn't know they had different ear colors," Ritz said.
"They usually don't," Marche replied.
-(One loop later...)-
Shirou can be seen in Eden's Hall.
"We never speak of this again," he said to Marche and Ritz.
"Agreed," they both replied.
That's when Fran decided to walk in.
"Evening, Dr. Frank-N-Furter," she said.
There was a face-fault from Shirou, Marche, and Ritz. Fran gave out a chuckle.
-o-
7.12 Final Fantasy IX / Digimon Frontier [Opus J]
Part 2...
Dagger was quite confused at the way Steiner and Zidane seemed to get along. They had been quietly conversing with each other after the trek down the slopes and into Dali. The cute bundle of fluff, Tommy had talked to them at the beginning as well, but it was obvious that the trip had begun to wear the boy out, even though they hadn't spent more than a few days in the caverns behind them. (She was exhausted too, but refused to admit it.)
Still, she'd never have guessed that Steiner could be so gregarious, especially when it was with one of her kidnappers! Perhaps, though, it had something to do with Zidane's friend, the one trapped in the awful forest that had tried to kill her...
"The town ahead of us is Dali." Zidane said confidently ,looking directly at Tommy. "We'll stay here until the Airship shows up..." His eyes trailed towards her, "...and we'll catch a ride to Lindblum. The Clockwork City is huge - you'll love it." He grinned back towards Tommy, and the boy grinned back, though she could see that he wasn't as confident as he was trying to portray.
-x-x-
Zidane swore as he dashed out into the town, swearing rather vile oaths involving Chocobo, Flan, and the probable parentage of most of the town. The proprietor of the inn had paused to freak out, which had all but confirmed his fears, but Tommy had passed out before he could talk it over with him. Dagger had soon followed, and after a brief, quiet discussion, the pair had gone to sleep as well.
Tommy had been awake in the morning, but mindful of Zidane's warning had waited for him before they had gone to breakfast. He had managed to let him know that they needed to talk, and Tommy had made a quick trip to take care of his necessities... and hadn't returned. Thirty minutes later, and one use of his lock picking skills, and it became obvious that the morons of the town had taken their youngest member hostage, just like Baseline. Or not, as a few obvious signs of a scuffle were clearly visible.
Steiner had been quick to notice, but not quick enough to stop Dagger from noticing as well. Now the three of them, after grilling the incompetent Inn manager, were on their way into an improbable situation - Dagger was going to have her eyes opened in a rather less pleasant manner then Zidane preferred, having had a few other ways to help ease her into this, most of which would no longer work. Steiner, being Awake, would and could help, but it was going to be painful for him.
The script deviated again when they reached the room Tommy used to be in - and found four unconscious guards instead. While Dagger was startled by Alexandria's emblem on the cask, Zidane darted ahead, hoping to catch Tommy before -
A startled 'Kupo' from ahead wrecked that hope, and he walked into a scene he hated as the little Moogle in front of him fell back in shock at the sight of the mass production of the many, many large Moogle Golems, being created in a mass factory setting. While it wasn't as disturbing as it had been the first time, he knew how it was likely affecting the boy in front of him.
The Moogle noticed him a moment later as he briskly walked over. "Zidane..." Tommy called out obviously confused, and feeling hurt.
Zidane dropped to his knees beside him and pulled him into a hug. For a moment, he froze, then moments later he went all but limp holding on to him. A few moments passed before Zidane spoke up. "You have a soul." Tommy pulled back, but Zidane held on to his shoulders. He looked him in the eyes as he continued, "Vivi, the Looper you're replacing, has spent most of a dozen Loops contemplating souls, and most importantly, his own. But he was certain, and so should you be, that you have a real soul, and a right to exists that nobody should ever doubt." He ignored the sight of the boy's eyes getting watery. "Loops or no loops, I hope you know that."
Tommy nodded, not quite willing to trust his voice at that moment. They pulled apart a moment later, as Dagger stormed in with Steiner hot on her heals.
-x-x-
The fight against the second Sonata was just nasty. Fighting a berserker with a pair of nasty cannons? Difficult, but not impossible. Fighting a teleporting sniper, who seemed prescient to damage? The only reason this Loop hadn't ended early was because Zidane had given them equipment from other Loops that gave them major stat boosts. Some of the 'optional' bosses he'd fought had been easier than this! Tommy wasn't able to do much damage, though he had managed to freeze him long enough for Steiner to get in one good blow. Unfortunately, the second Sonata had taken it personally, and the boy was now target number one - meaning Dagger was spending a lot of her magic healing him. Steiner wouldn't pull out anything too exotic while Dagger might see or be hurt by it, a guard dog instinct that was ingrained into him, so this time it was up to -
The golem froze as Tommy finally managed to shoot him again, once again freezing him in place. Leg-Shot his mind reminded him, an ability that was awesome. A moment later Zidane was on it, tearing through it with stunning ferocity. For a moment, it's scream seemed to pass through him - then Steiner finished it by taking off it's head.
Dagger all but dropped to the ground now that the battle was over. Tommy looked like he wanted to join her, but wasn't sure if it was safe. It was Steiner that finally spoke. "All for staying one more night at the inn?"
There were no objections.
-x-x-
Zidane pulled Tommy to the side on the way to the inn and handed him a new pair of guns. "We got these for you." Indicting Steiner as well as he handed over the peacemaker revolvers. "You should have a few new abilities with these... since we learn from equipment this loop, as usual." He grinned at the momentarily startled lad. "Trust me, this isn't the strangest thing you'll ever see." He grinned widely. As Steiner distracted Dagger, he spoke again. "Let me give you a quick recap of a normal loop, so we don't do something like this again." Tommy firmly nodded, sending his Pom-Pom flickering back and forth. It sounded like a solid plan.
-x-x-
The final Sonata appeared as they were riding upon the Airship. It was the first time Steiner had seen a Moogle that actually radiated hostility as much as a madman like Kefka. It was extremely creepy - and it made it all the worse when the drones, just at the edge of sentience, stepped in front of Tommy, shielding him from a hail of gunfire pouring from a pair of tommy guns.
It wasn't surprising to him that the little Moogle went berserk. What surprised him was that Tommy was using his guns to fire shots of a strange metal that were ripping his opponent apart. Then again, size wasn't always the most important thing in a fight.
As the Sonata was blasted off the ship, Steiner made a mental note not to piss the kid off if he went into Trance. That wasn't something he wanted pointed in his direction.
Dagger took them to the Lindblum Gate, but it appeared that the third was just as tough as any Waltz, as it chased after them in the Airship. While it had lost one of its guns, it was still capable of damage - and only Tommy was still on deck. The Moogle dived for cover as a hail of bullets slammed into the deck, then popped up for one long moment, sighted his gun, and fired a single bullet.
The explosion was instantaneous, and glorious. Steiner watched dispassionately as the monster crashed in a flaming wreck.
The Clockwork City lay ahead.
-x-x-
The hunt had been great fun - and Zidane had been overjoyed to find Freya there. The Dragoon had steamrolled him at first - until Tommy had killed the giant monster with a lucky shot. The Dragoon had laughed, but had turned all business when word came of the invasion.
Zidane had waited for Dagger to pull the sleeping weed trick, then pulled Tommy aside. "If you want, we could leave you here where it's safe." The offer was sincere, since he wasn't sure if the kid would be up to this. "It's not going to be safe-"
"I'm going with you." Tommy said with conviction. "Just because it might be dangerous is no reason for me to stop. Besides, I've got to try this baby out." Tommy caressed the cannon he was now holding, having run into a new weapon in the Synthesis Shop. While it was only one gun, it honestly ranked as a mini cannon in Zidane's book, half as large as the Moogle. "And... I've learned from my adventures in my loop that I've got to face my problems. I can't run away from them." He was much more serious as he spoke.
"Alright then." Zidane said. " Off to the Grotto."
-o-
7.13 [Dragonraptyr]
[SUB-BRANCH: FINAL FANTASY XIII]
[BASELINE COMPILED]
[SETTING ANCHOR]
[ANCHOR SET]
[SUB-BRANCH: ANCHOR: CLAIRE "LIGHTNING" FARRON]
[SUB-BRANCH: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[ACTIVATE SUB-BRANCH?]
[YES/NO]
[YES]
[SUB-BRANCH: ACTIVATED]
[LOOP ITERATION: START]
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, somewhere out beyond human cognizance, Odin pressed a button on an unassuming computer terminal.
Lightning took a breath. Blinked her eyes. And had to promptly reorganize everything that she knew about the world, when she looked out of the train window, and watched the world curve upwards.
Cocoon. As it had been a thousand years ago - before Ragnarok, before Chaos and Valhalla. Before the end of the world.
The world that had been created had melted away into nothingness, replaced by a dream of what was.
Hanging Edge came into view.
Lightning clenched her fist as the train slunk under the mountains towards the Hanging Edge. Few people had the power to do such a thing. Fewer still would dare. This world could only be the work of Bhunivelze, that cruel god who dared to play with humanity without understanding. An illusion created to mock and torment her.
She looked about the train. Most of the faces were foreign to her, the memories faded to oblivion after an eternity. But she still caught sight of NORA, and her fellow L'Cie. She gave a shallow smile.
If god thought that she would bow, would give in to his game and submit to being his pawn, he was wrong. Lightning had defied his will before. She could do so again.
Lightning gave a grim smile. "Get ready, Bhunivelze." She spoke to herself softly. "I told you before. Turn on me, and I will tear you down."
-o-
7.14 Final Fantasy Senshi Part 4 [Tovath]
Terra was finding school to be the hardest thing to get used to in this loop. Yesterday they had a test. Today she she had ended up in a "discussion" with the teacher about why she had failed the test. The truth would be too unbelievable. She had been able to come up with the excuse of having to help train the shrine's new assistant, which was true enough to pass, as the shrine did have a new assistant, Bartz. Hopefully Cecil would be able to give her some advice on dealing with school, she thought as she started doing some chores around the shrine. He should be here soon.
"Hello"
There was a blonde haired girl who Terra vaguely recognized from school. "Did you come to see the shrine?"
"Yes, I..." She trailed off as she saw Cecil coming up the shrine steps with an oddly dressed Umino over his shoulder. Cecil smiled awkwardly and asked for help getting rid of his friend's possession. Terra pulled out a paper seal and focused her magic though it as she had been practicing the last few days.
It worked. As Umino thanked them and apologized to Cecil for all the trouble, Terra noticed that Alma looked shocked and amazed.
"Could I learn to do that?" She asked quietly.
"Um,maybe, I'm still learning myself." replied Terra, then deciding that sounded rather indecisive she continued with "You are welcome to come back at any time."
"I might do that." she looked at her watch. "I have to go now, my brother will worry."
-x-x-
The walls were draped with purple cloth. From the placement of the curtains and pillars, the boss monster would have stood right over there. For it was obvious that this had been a lair of the Dark Kingdom. It was also obvious that someone had gotten there before them. The only clue to who this might be was a rose imbedded in the floor.
-o-
7.15 [tovath]
"I said I was sorry" said Celes. It was not often that she looked awkward and uncomfortable, normally one couldn't tell that she was feeling any emotion.
"That doesn't help" replied Cloud
This was much to interesting to leave alone, thought Balthier as he strolled over to their table. "What happened?"
"Just finished with an 8 bit Theater punishment Loop because, she-" Cloud gestured at Celes.
"I forgot what the Meteor spell did in the Lifestream Loop."
"That crashed the loop, I take it."
-o-
AN:
In case anyone is wondering here are the names I am using for the different Loops.
I Dissidia
II Wildrose
III Gulgan Prophey
IV Mysida
V Rift Divided World
VI Warring Triad
VII Lifestream
VIII Soresses Garden
IX Geia
X Spira
XII/Tactics Ivalice
XIII ?
XV Eos