Final Fantasy Infinite Loops
Chapter 8
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-
8.1 [Gamerex27]
Zest could do nothing but stare at the horde of Manikins flew right at him.
"A curious Variant," he said to no one in particular (seeing as, once again, he was the only Warrior of Light around), "but one I have the means to deal with."
"Come," he yelled at the encroaching swarm of crystal bees, "and face the light!"
-o-
8.2 [Drakohahn]
Marche sighed as he found himself once again repeating his life in St. Ivalice. It's been well over a hundred times already. A hundred times, he helped his friends and brother deal with their issues. A hundred times, he defeated Le Grim.
First, he dealt with the bullies during the snowball fight. They always focused on pummeling his friend Mewt; and it seemed to get easier with each reset, despite not retaining the physical fitness he always acquired from joining Montblanc's Clan. His other friend, Ritz, usually got involved, but not always.
Then, after school, Mewt bought a strange book in an unknown language at a bookstore he liked; the Gran Grimoire. After bringing it to Marche's house to show to him, his brother Doned and Ritz, they left and their combined wish to leave the real world, and thus their problems, behind caused the reality altering book to whisk them away to the land of Ivalice.
It was getting rather tedious.
Once more, his friend brought over the book... Was it his imagination or were the images and script a bit different than normal? Marche filed it away in the back of his mind so his friends didn't start worrying about him.
The evening held no more excitement that day. The young man fell asleep, knowing that he'd be in Ivalice upon waking up.
Well, he was not wrong.
When consciousness returned to Marche Radiuju, he kept his eyes closed for a moment. The young man expected to be on that street in Cyril where he always bumped into a pair of Bangaa and met Montblanc. He expected to hear the murmur of the crowd and the clear sunny sky upon him.
That's not what he got. Instead, he felt the cold rain pouring down around him. He heard an older man arguing with one that sounded closer to his age.
Marche opened his eyes. He recognized the place as the Orbonne Monastery... and there was Ramza Beoulve in his spiky, dark violet armor and blond hair. Next to him, and the one he was arguing with, was Goffard "Gaff" Gafgarion. A man in dark brown armor, trained as a Dark Knight and not a man to be trusted.
The young man could hardly believe it. The Gran Grimoire had sent him to the Ivalice of Final Fantasy Tactics!
Off to one side of the pair of arguing mercenaries were the Lionsguard Knights, Alicia and Lavian. In the game he was familiar with, they could be mistaken for twins due to using the same generic sprite as all other female Knights, but here, they were obviously different. Alicia had brown hair while Lavian was a redhead, for one. Also, if Marche had to guess, Lavian was a couple inches taller than Alicia.
Then the monastery door opened to reveal the honey-blonde Holy Knight, Agrias Oaks. Dressed in blue with polished armor covering her chest and shoulders, she radiated power and determination. She began saying something to Ramza and Gafgarion, but he wasn't paying much attention to them at the moment. He was still occupied by one thing.
Where was Gafgarion's apprentice, Rad?
-x-x-
"Hey, Rad!" Ramza called out to the squire. It was a bit strange that he had hair similar to his own, but that was Variants for you. Of course, the fact that the squire startled at hearing his name -well, nickname in this Loop-, caused the Lucavi slayer to look at him curiously.
"Yes?" the younger male asked back, while trying to appear like he hadn't just jumped. The older blond quickly looked at Agrias and Gafgarion before marching closer for a more private talk.
"You sound nervous, like you're not where you expected to be," Ramza spoke low, but not whispering. "Rad" rubbed the back of his head before giving his reply.
"Would you believe me if I said I was brought here by an all powerful, magic book?"
The blonde in his dark violet armor merely hummed in thought. Then, he asked, "Does the concept of repeating time mean anything for you?"
"How did-?" 'Rad' started, but Ramza quickly held up a hand.
"Not here. We don't have the time or space to discuss it," he said before looking back at the other four people present. The Holy and Dark Knights still seemed occupied with some argument. It always surprised the current Ivalice Anchor just how long those two could go on if he didn't interrupt. Anyway, he focused back on the squire, "We'll talk about it tonight, once everyone else has gone to sleep."
Rad's replacement looked a bit confused, but then nodded his understanding.
-o-
8.3 [Zerorock41]
It was Locke's personal opinion that the Cave to the Sealed Gate was one of his least favorite dungeons in the world. Lava, Ninjas, that random Ultima Weapon, all elements that combined to make this place just plain unpleasant, especially for a Looper as young as him. Not helping matters was that this was one of the few places that, despite Terra's frequent "speed-running tactics," simply had to be done at one point or another.
Currently, the team of four (consisting of himself, Terra, Setzer, and Gau) was resting in one of the many side rooms in the cave. Gau was keeping himself entertained by bothering Setzer, but Terra...
"Are you ok?" Locke asked.
The half-esper was continuously cupping her hands, clearly trying to catch something that was bothering her. She responded, "I'm fine. Just trying to catch this bug that followed us in here."
Setzer looked over, desperate to distract himself from Gau, asking, "How is a mere bug surviving in this place?"
"No idea, but I do know tha-Gotcha!" Terra cheered as she finally caught the bug. "Oh wow. What kind of bug is this?"
Gau hopped over quickly, anxious to see his new friend's treasure. Looking at it, he said, "Gau think it big sucker. Toss. Toss."
"A mosquito, huh? Seems a bit big. I'll be right back guys." Before any of the three could stop her, Terra teleported out of the room. As the treasure hunter, wild child, and gambler looked at each other, Setzer pulled out a deck of cards.
"Anyone up for a game?"
-x-x-
Terra walked in, proudly brandishing the Ultima weapon she had decided to grab by herself, ready to finish her trek to the Espers when she stopped in shock.
Before her sat Locke and Setzer, both down to their most bare undergarments, holding cards and looking at her in horror (Setzer) and embarrassment (Locke). Meanwhile, Gau, who was wearing Setzer's oversized cloak and sitting on top of a pile of clothes, Gil, and equipment smiled at her.
"Gau is good Gambler!"
-o-
8.4 [Facepalmist]
Hub Loops tended to be treated by most Loopers as a treasured chance for a true vacation. While boredom could set in for the more excitable or action-oriented individuals, the fact remained that if one were to Loop into the right place in a Hub Loop (i.e., not into a warzone), the option became available for many varieties of entertainment. Sure, most of them were relatively tame, but that was vacations for you.
That wasn't to say you couldn't make your own entertainment...
'Theo' Bunansa strode from the shop, exerting every last smidgeon of his poise to avoid leaving a trail of drool behind him. There had been so many firearms, so very many truly excellent firearms. The major flaw inherent to this world's range of projectile weaponry was obvious: ammunition was finite, expended with each shot. As well, magick was sadly lacking in any of the weapons on offer, both in make and effect. And yet...
In terms of sheer non-magickal effectiveness, his home world's personal firearms may as well have been the most primitive muskets. There were handguns, 'pistols' and 'revolvers', which could fire bullets with more stopping power than one of his Fomalhaut rifle models. What they called 'rifles' here, were used by this world's marksmen to routinely hit moving targets from hundreds of yards away - and then there were 'sniper rifles', which in the hands of a true expert could perform the same function from half a mile away and with fantastic accuracy. Many of these guns could even fire hypersonic rounds, bullets with firing velocities so fast they broke the sound barrier - and, from the correct distance, actually reached the target before the sound did!
And that was before the many additional innovations were taken into account. Magazines for easy reloading, a must when ammunition was finite. Said ammunition came in a surprisingly wide range of varieties for all their magickal mundanity: scatter-shot, armor-piercing, incendiary, explosive, 'hollow-point'. Silencers for pistols, bayonets for rifles... And all this was just the firearms. Then there were the grenades. And their associated launchers. And the range of marvelously stable 'plastique' high-explosive compounds. And the incendiary mixtures.
...And that was merely the personal weaponry, available to any member of the public in good standing. Airship-equipped munitions compared more favourably, but here too did this multitude of humes develop a staggering range of equalisers in the absence of magick.
Cid would have been in paroxysms of joy to bear witness to it all, Balthier reflected. Certainly Balthier's palms itched to see what of this world's wondrous weaponry could be retro-engineered to his home world's standards of manufacture and available materials. And quite frankly, he had been mightily tempted to buy out the store - he could have fitted at least a large proportion of it within his Pocket.
But then, he had been rather bored. Perhaps a discreet bout of piracy might help with that state of affairs. Yes, it was time to plan a good bracing heist...
-x-x-
Meanwhile, 'Van' was having his own difficulties with drool and shenanigans back in his native Loop. Sure, said shenanigans would probably end up having painful consequences - but in the face of the magazines sitting on the newsagency's shelves, Vaan could only think that it would be so worth it.
It was time for the tale of Hugh Hefner and his awe-inspiring dream to spread to Ivalice...and especially to the viera. Vaan couldn't wait to see the expression on Fran's face, right before she tried turning him into a pincushion...
-x-x A Later Loop-x-x- [tovath] [Sir Kald]
SLAP! Alma Beoulve had put her whole body into that and it rocked Vaan back on his heals.
"What was that for?" he yelled.
"Your Playboy Bunny stunt."
"How did you even know about that?"
Alma held up a leather bound book. "It was in my history book."
"Wait," Vaan said, "let me get this straight. Tens of thousands of manuals for the construction and maintenance of airships and not one of them survives, the whole industry descends into myth and legend, but history verifies one admittedly highly successful porn business?"
Alma nodded, eyes filled with feminine outrage. "That's right. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"How about 'Gee, your historians have a skewed sense of priority'," he complained.
"That's it?" she demanded.
"Sure, unless you're interested in seeing if we can repeat history for Marche," Vaan added.
...
As he slowly recovered from the well-deserved beating, Vaan couldn't help but utter one phrase. "Totally worth it."
-o-
8.5 [Zerorock41]
The resident Anchor merely gaped at the approaching Meteor. Finally collecting herself, she turned to her current Familiar, who was replacing her Saito, and asked, "Really?"
Sephiroth stood proudly, "Of course."
"But why?"
Sephiroth shrugged, "Because most nobles on this world are selfish pricks."
"So that gives you the right to destroy the entire planet, including the innocents?" Louise asked monotonously.
"No, but it will make me feel better after what that Mott character tried to do to Siesta."
Louise facepalmed. Sephiroth continued speaking, "I would start casting that 'World Door' spell that will bring us back to my world right about now if I were you. Unless you'd rather die to Meteor impact?"
-o-
8.6 [tovath]
Terra was reading a bedtime story to the kids of Bredge-On-Brittlam Orphanage. Afterwards as she helped Matron Flirwell tuck the younger kids in one of them asked her "Do you really have ta go off to school again tomorrow?"
"Afraid so, kiddo, but don't worry I'll be back in a few months."
This loop had been peaceful so far, with Harry being very practiced at stopping all the problems in their first year, so Terra and Celes were able to concentrate on their studies of magic. It was hard work. She so hated tests. But after the year was over they had a great place to stay for the summer. The two of them even got to share a room.
Celes looked up when Terra entered and smiled "You would like to stay here wouldn't you?"
Terra smiled back. "A bit, but we are learning important stuff at Hogwarts."
"True, weird to learn magic without fighting." replied Celes, "Don't forget to wear your jewel ring and safety bit this year."
"I won't, though more likely we will just be able to sit back and watch whatever Harry has planned."
-o-
8.7 [Facepalmist]
Vincent awoke, and Awoke, to a windowless apartment. Danger senses failed to detect anything he had to deal with right then, so he silently climbed of bed as he waited for the Loop-memories to kick in...
Oh. There they were. He sighed mournfully even as he sent out the customary reply Ping to reply to the solitary one that he'd just registered.
Really, it wasn't as if he'd ever actually been called a vampire in his world's baseline. And yet for some benighted reason Yggdrasil just seemed to love putting him in these situations - whether as vampire, as ravenous beast, or as some local manifestation of Chaos. He had to admit that some worlds, such as his tour in the Branch known as 'Underworld', had been surprisingly appealing to his old Turk sensibilities. Arriving in Avernum had at least placed him deep within a dungeon full of undead monsters for him to clear out, which did wonders for his temper at the time. On the other hand, he was purely dreading the inevitable visit to the Twilight Branch... or Planet help him, the Anitaverse.
In the meantime Vincent went through his apartment, finding blood packets in the fridge. And a large bottle of mouthwash in the bathroom, where memories of the uniquely ensouled blood-drinker he was Replacing informed him that letting it warm in the shower under hot water helped make the taste more amenable.
...He snorted, bit the bag and drained it chilled - best not to linger on the unpleasant chore. As such, he also didn't bother with the hair gel that this vampire seemed to favor.
Fortunately his Pocket was accessible, so it was easy enough for Vincent to dress as he found most comfortable. Given the way parts of it stood out in an otherwise Hub-like world such as his Loop-memories were informing him, dressing such might have been inadvisable if not for his current circumstances - if nothing else, their tastes in clothing were more than a little similar otherwise. But then, he was a vampire (even if, to a man who already had three demons and (sometimes) a WEAPON grafted to his soul, a blood-demon could be regarded as not much more than a great annoyance). In a town crawling with dangerous monsters. He wasn't going to fit in with mundane society anyway, and he certainly wasn't going to pander to that society's mores with his clothing style only to leave himself dependent on his Replacement's...negligible skills and malnutrition-atrophied strength when he could help it.
Which reminded him: 'I wonder how well Fire materia works on vampires?' Vincent wondered with a smirk.
-x-x-
Later that night...
"Don't worry..." There was a rustling, and what sounded like liquid shifting in a skin of some sort. "I don't bite."
Interestingly to the approaching hunter, the voice he had heard was far deeper and rustier than would have otherwise been expected. That meant there'd been a Replacement. Piqued, Xander quickened his steps toward the ongoing confrontation.
"You know..."
Buffy jumped as a familiar voice called out from the street behind her. The strange vampire's arm moved so fast it blurred, tucking away the IV bag of blood and pulling out the...three-barrel revolver? from its holster and pointing it towards the voice before she could even think about reacting.
...only to lower it slightly as the boy she'd met earlier today stepped around the (Unawake) Slayer. "That outfit looks mighty familiar."
Much of the Replacement's figure was draped with a threadbare, tattered cloak of a shade of red that looked like it really shouldn't blend so well in the dark of the alley as it obviously did. The black leather pants looked mundane enough, as did the black silk shirt, though there were a daunting number of buckles and straps crisscrossing the ensemble. The red strip of cloth holding back the vampire's traditionally ridiculous hair was another clue, for all it worked well enough in obscuring that prominent forehead. Really though - it was the pointy armoured boots, the clawed forearm-length gauntlet and the gun that were the biggest clues.
...To him, anyway. The first video game wouldn't be released here for another couple years, after all - let alone the one which went into more detail about the Replacement's appearance.
The newcomer grinned sardonically, secure in the knowledge that his Ping had been recognized. "You wouldn't happen to know Cloud Strife, would you?"
"I would," the vampiric gunslinger quietly confirmed, letting the gun aim at the ground. "I would assume you are the one Looping as well, mister..."
"Heh, drop the 'mister'. It's Xander Harris - Anchor for the Hellmouth Loops." Xander turned to the increasingly confused Slayer. "Buffy, I'd like to introduce you to Angel, or 'He of the Angelic Face' - the only vampire," he paused to cram down what Buffy thought might have been a snicker, "in all the world with a soul. Also known as..."
Xander gestured to the vampire...the vampire with a soul? How did that work? What was even the difference?
"Vincent..." he rumbled, holstering the gun. "Vincent Valentine, of the Lifestream Loops."
...And Xander knew uncomfortably hot vampires by name. And they were talking about loops like they meant something. What the hell was going on?
-o-
8.8 [Chronopie]
Yggdrasil data recovery report.
Branch: Luxendarc.
File name: Bravely Second.
Type: Expansion.
Warning: Multiple instances of mutually exclusive temporal data.
Warning: Major temporal divergence. Some data will be inaccessible during individual iterations.
Caution: Significant modification to entities "Tiz Arrior, Anne."
Execute y/n?
"What do you think Grandpa?"
"It means Yggdrasil is fixing itself, and that can only be a good thing. Have you looked into the warnings yet, Thrud?"
"Mostly just minor changes, but I can't work out how the hel the major divergence even activates. It requires for a non-looper to use a read-only artifact that they shouldn't even have yet. And then it draws people from another iteration!"
"Well... Try running the new Expansion anyway, and we'll fix any bugs if and when they appear."
-o-
8.9 [Chronopie]
When the loop didn't end, following Tiz falling into a coma, Agnes was surprised. Becoming the Pope of the Crystal Orthodoxy was pretty much by default though. There were precisely two people able to commune with the Crystals. Her, and a young Vestaling, Sylvie, in the care of the Matron of Florem.
The return of Gathelatio was a shock, though, as Eternia descended back to the sea, and the mountain range isolating it sank into the depths. The spells shrouding Al-Khampis from sight and mind dispelled almost overnight, as did the one protecting Yunohana, and the shock there was that she'd forgotten them at all.
But with the return of Gathelatio came the revelation that the Orthodoxy was not reduced to a religion of two.
The next two years were filled with new experiences, learning how to run a religion amongst them. The heads of the families of the Crystalguard were a great help, even if they weren't as subtle as they thought with their ulterior motives. Braev Lee and Sage Yulyana offered their aid too, and they even managed to work out a peace treaty with the Duchy of Eternia.
-x-x-
Then some strange monster fell from the sky and cratered the land bridge between the lands of Harena and Florem, and the Sage went off to battle it alone.
Edea was again part of the Duchy's command structure, Ringabel had disappeared entirely, and Tiz was still in his coma, while she had her duties as Pope. If there had been anyone else that could have taken her place, she would've been right beside the immortal lech.
-x-x-
Then, at the signing of the peace treaty, Kaiser Oblivion struck. Him and the Cryst-Fairy Anne. And Agnes froze. In the end she managed to snap out a weak thunderga spell, but it didn't even scratch them.
The Kaiser called down first meteors, then called forth a Blinding Light. And that was the last thing she remembered.
-x-x-
The only things that she knew after that were a single room in the Kaiser's Sky Fortress and the intermittent contact with a shard of her pendant, carried by Yew Geneolgia, one of her bodyguards.
He met up with Edea, then a young lady from the moon of all places, then, finally, they managed to wake up Tiz!
Just the sight of his face looking back at her through the crystal was enough to bring a tear to her eye.
She couldn't be there in person, so Edea just hugged him enough for the both of them.
-o-
8.10 [Facepalmist]
"Those...were your zombies."
"Yep." The seven-strong party walked on past the dispersing pyreflies and deeper into Zanarkand.
"Those...were - well, definitely an improvement from back home," reflected the 'Legendary Guardian' Sir Carl, as he strode through the shell of what had once, according to Tidus, been a 'blitzball' stadium. His Loop Memories had him taking the lead, which worked well with the weapon he was currently using (on loan from Yuna, courtesy of her Pocket).
"I dunno..." Tidus replied. "Have you tried Phoenix Downs on your home-grown zombies yet?"
"I'll get back to you on that one," Carl said. It was a fair question, but he hadn't traded for any with other Loopers and he didn't think anyone else from his Branch had either. "It might be a different story if these guys' guns weren't so crappy, mind you..." This was certainly a turnaround, having the zombies carrying the guns while he lugged around a big flocking sword. But then, at least he had better options at his disposal - options that didn't even rely on his out-of-Loop arsenal or powers.
On that subject: the fully-unlocked Masamune sword twitched on his back, its First Strike capability kicking in as always to warn of another ambush. "Oh look, more zombies," Tidus noted as three 'fallen monks' burst out to confront the party. Carl flicked a Mega-Phoenix at them, and watched them all collapse and burst into pyreflies. Sure it was a little wasteful, but that didn't stop it being morbidly amusing... and more than a little ironic, what with Carl himself being another type of undead in this Loop. (And somehow still missing an eye. Figures.) Tidus continued as they kept walking, "Hey, you remember that wyrm we fought back on the approach to Bevelle?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"We run into Evrae again in the Via Purifico - me, Wakka and Rikku." Tidus glanced over at Carl, his blue eyes glittering with humour. "That one takes two Phoenix Downs."
Carl snorted, then unlimbered his sword again. This time it was a Defender Zero, so he just stood by as Yuna dashed past and bonked it on the leg with her staff with an adorable "Ha!" The way the hulking blue golem crumbled with the force of that little lovetap was, if anything, funnier than dealing with the 'zombies' here.
...He had to admit, this was a nice little vacation. Sure, there was that nagging pull at him to lash out in jealousy of the living, lose himself in despair and bloodlust and so on - but this was something he could reasonably fight against, and had fought against. For long enough, at least, for Spira's Anchor to Send Sin - and Carl along with it. (Oh, and apparently Tidus too, except he just didn't wanna go so he didn't.)
Even better: apparently the Farplane was a lot like some of his home's tales of heaven - and assuming Yuna and the others dealt with this 'Vegnagun' thing in timely fashion, he'd be kicking back in true vacation mode for the next two years. Now that...that was something to look forward to.
-o-
8.11 [Flametusk]
It was time. After a great amount of time, Eos was finally stable enough to loop.
[SUB-BRANCH: FINAL FANTASY XV]
[BASELINE COMPILED]
[SETTING ANCHOR]
[ANCHOR SET]
[SUB-BRANCH: ANCHOR: NOCTIS LUCIS CAELUM]
[SUB-BRANCH: INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]
[ACTIVATE SUB-BRANCH?]
[YES/NO]
Odin could only hope that it wasn't too late.
[YES]
[SUB-BRANCH ACTIVATED]
[LOOP ITERATION: START]
-x-x-
"Finally, it's over." The last thing that Noctis Lucis Caelum remembered was him sacrificing himself to defeat Ardyn and end the Starscourge. Next thing he knew, he was in Leide, pushing the Regalia, with Stand By Me playing on the radio. The shock of him being alive, seemingly ten years in the past and, if he remembered correctly, heading to Hammerhead for the first time on his way to Altissia to marry... "Luna..." He said aloud, realizing that this may be his second chance to see her.
"Noct, I know you want to see Lady Lunafreya, but the Regalia isn't going to push herself," Ignis said from the front.
Noctis simply shook his head, thinking that it was all just a bad dream caused by the heat.
-x-x-
When the four got to Galdin Quay to get on the boat to Altissia, Noctis saw a sight that had haunted his nightmares whenever they slept in camp since Noctis had what he thought was a dream.
"I'm sorry, gentlemen, but the ferry's not running at the moment." The immortal Daemon in human form said.
"You- You- You killed Luna! How are you still alive?! I killed you! I fulfilled my duty as the chosen king! Is this what I get? Having to relive my life?! Is this what's going to happen?!" Noctis shouted at the one who would take Luna from him, before the world froze.
"Well, you seem to know a lot. But, whatever do you mean by me killing your dear Lunafreya? And now you try to kill me? How rude. If you must know how I didn't die whenever you killed me - when was that by the way? I don't recall ever dying by your hand, - I'm immortal. Yes, I was planning on killing the Oracle before I got my revenge on the line of Lucis, but you know too much, so I'm just going to need to kill you now. I wonder what the world will think? "Prince Noctis Killed by Chancellor of Niflheim Empire" has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Yes, I think it will do quite nicely," Ardyn monologued, as Daemonic forces held Noctis at bay, "Now, it was nice to talk, but I think I'll call this conversation to an end."
Ardyn then proceeded to stab Noctis in the stomach with his knife.
The next thing Noctis heard, were the opening chords to Stand By Me, with the feeling of his muscles being strained pushing the Regalia.
-o-
8.12 [Tovath]
Vaan looked around at the walls of Garamsythe Waterway, again. He always ended up back here no matter what. He used a Thundaga to get rid of the Dire Rats. He then turned around to see not Kyles, but a strange creature.
The strange creature waddled up to Van flapping it's wings, or maybe they were flippers. It had a beak of a bird and it had feathers, but that was about all it had in common with one. If it's feathers had been yellow he might have been tempted to call it a messed up chocobo, it's feathers were mostly black with white ones on its belly. It was standing on it's two feet more like a hume or a moogle though. It had also just pulled a sign that said "Looper?" out of nowhere
"What the hell is going on now?"
The strange creature looked at him, cocked its head and pulled out a piece of paper that said "Is time repeating for you?"
Vaan nodded too shocked to form a reply to this. This thing knew about...why did it have to be something that couldn't talk?
After a moment the strange creature handed him a bottle and a note that said "drink this."Vaan looked at the black and oily looking liquid in the bottle and shrugged. What's the worst it can do to me? I'll just come back from death He uncorked the bottle and drank it down.
The stuff was awful. Both horribly bitter and fiery. He was handed a cup and told to drink. He did and most of the bad taste coating his mouth went away. "What was that stuff?"
"Dragon's blood. It gives people the ability to talk to animals. Couldn't give you the welcome to the multiverse speech without it."
"What's that and what are you?" said Vaan, finally realizing that the creature was talking.
The creature flapped it's flipper wings. "Do you mean species wise or metaphorically?" It didn't wait for Vaan to answer, "Species wise I'm a penguin. Name's PenPen. I'm also a looper, which is what you are too."
-o-
8.13 Final Fantasy IX / Digimon Frontier [Opus J]
Part 3. More Moogle madness might make me Malleable...
The trip to Gizamaluke's Grotto wasn't immediate. There was a lot of danger ahead, traveling through the mist ahead, and even with preparations made, and time spent readying for the journey beforehand, they required a lot of time spent paying attention to landmarks. Time Freya hadn't wanted to waste at first - which meant now they were lost in a soupy cloud bank that seemed to stretch forever. While the dragoon was fretting, Zidane was calm and composed - He already knew that no matter how quickly they got there, it would be too late. Truthfully, the first time he had prepared and rushed over... only to discover, time after time, that it was impossible to stop the destruction of Burmecia. Personally, Zidane suspected that Kuja had spent some time softening up the defenders and structural integrity, because there was just no way that the well defended watch should've fallen. Getting lost did produce some benefits, however.
As the group walked into the little stand of trees, a burst of yellow feathers could be seen, and Tommy froze as the Chocobo stepped into the light. The look of wonder on his tired face was definitely grin worthy. The fact that a moment later the bird was eating out of his hand made Zidane wish deeply that he had a camera. Freya, worried as she was, was moved as well. With the mood at a temporary lull, he spoke. "Why don't we stop here for the night?" He desperately tried to bite back a howl of laughter as a miniaturized version of Vivi came out to talk about the Chocobo. "I'll scout out the way to the Grotto after a quick nap - and we'll be ready for battle with a good night's sleep." Freya seemed torn for a moment, then nodded her accent.
Zidane took a moment to get Tommy settled, letting him know he'd be back soon, then he rode off. He had a lot of things to set up, with only a little time to do it.
-x-x-
Freya shook her head as the four (and when and where had he met the odd Qu from the marsh anyways?) of them dismounted from the now sky blue Chocobo and moved into the Grotto. The thief looked tired, but pleased with himself, and she couldn't blame him. He had come back with a ton of new equipment from who knows where, and it was more than a little freaky. Still...
The thought was cut off with brutal sharpness as they finally got a good look at the damage. Awful simply didn't cover it. Agonizing might have worked, because it appeared that the destruction was total. They began passing corpses riddled with the same kind of holes Tommy's guns made, and though she was shocked at the crushing hole in her heart, she also noticed his small hands clenching into tight balls around his weapon.
"What is this? Survivors? This cannot be!" The speaker was a bizarre looking jester, with face paint that was smeared and white, giving the red dressed man a bizarre, almost inhuman appearance.
"This cannot be! Survivors! They must be destroyed!" Though this jester wore blue, he still radiated the palpable sense of hostility and twisted corruption his apparent twin did.
"On this we agree, Thorn!" Spoke the red clown.
"To their deaths they must go, Zorn!" Thorn, apparently, replied.
Then, together as one they screamed. "Moogles!" The response took only a moment, as four large, furry, white golems strode out of a hole in the nearby wall, armed with guns. Freya paused for a moment, selecting a target - that abruptly was dispatched by the roaring of Tommy's cannon.
Zidane was a moment ahead of her as she reached the remaining three, but he took one of the left goloms while she hit the central one with her spear, burying it in the creatures head. She turned, ready to deal with the final one - just in time to see Quina's lower jaw dislocate itself, and the Qu consuming the creature whole. Even Zidane looked a little green after seeing that.
Zorn and Thorn were no different. Both now looked white under their face paint. "Defeated, our creations have been!" Zorn said in a strangled voice.
"Ruined, our plans are!" Thorn said with a little more composure.
The two looked at each other for on brief moment. "Run Away!" They cried as one, both shooting away further into the newly ruined halls of the Grotto. They were chased by a shot from Tommy's cannon, and the unhappy look on his face spoke of much pain if he ever got his hands on the two of them.
Freya felt much the same. "Get back here!" She cried, furious, and claimed through the hole after them. The other three followed - though Freya hoped Quina stayed far away from her.
-x-x-
Tommy shook himself out in the fading evening light, shaking off the water that seemed to have gotten everywhere on him. The others were also soaked, as the leviathan that had attacked them had left the whole group drenched from repeated water attacks - and also from the slime excreted from its once living body. It had been driven mad, and though it had been beautiful, it had to be put down.
As he finished shaking off his hat, Tommy sighed to himself. The warnings about the other Moogles, and eventual fate had not been pleasant, but had reassured him that Zidane did know what was really happening. The explanation had taken hours... including the shot the two had given him. Apparently Vivi had created it to stabilize any black mage, and used it to extend his life to the end of the baseline. The 'Pinocchio Serum' as he had called it was, though not perfect, was supposed to allow him the time that had been stolen by 'Kujo' the monster who seemed intent on watching this world burn. Tommy had decided he wanted to pound the jerk to pieces, especially if the serum didn't work, since Zidane wasn't sure if it would work on a 'moogle golem'. And if it didn't...
The boy shuddered at the thought of dying like that. It sounded... unpleasant.
Zidane walked over. "Ready to go?"
Tommy pulled his hat back on, threading the pom-pom through a slit. "Definitely." He gave him as much of a weary grin as he could, considering the deaths he had just seen.
Zidane pulled out another cannon as Freya moved on ahead to scout terrain. "Try this one." He said, handing it over.
"Sure." Tommy said with a smile, sliding the other into a bag - that disappeared a moment later. He let his mind feel out what the cannon would teach-
The Cannon flew through the air almost on instinct as he hissed in horror. Zidane was startled for a moment. "What's wrong?"
"I am Never going to use that... Thing." Tommy said with much heat.
"And why are we not using the better weapon?" Zidane said with a little annoyance, picking the gun up and dusting it off.
"It teaches something called 'Charm Shot' ". Tommy said with an underlying horror in his voice.
Zidane was curious. "Why is that a bad-"
"Zoe used it!" Tommy said fearfully, wrapping his arms around himself. "They said no, I said no, but she... she..." Tommy shivered, though he wasn't cold. "She was our friend, but she wasn't, and she was bad and hurt us... and she's sorry for it... and I want to be her friend again..." Tommy couldn't look at the Anchor as it spilled out of him, the fear of a friend who had been driven mad by time.
He looked up as Zidane pulled his hand on his shoulder. "I understand." He said quietly. Looking into his eyes, Tommy believed him. "And I think you have every right to be mad - but you're forgiving her. It's no wonder you replaced my best bud." Zidane said with a firm smile. "He's forgiven a lot of people who have wronged him as well."
They were quite for a moment, then Zidane put the cannon away and pulled out a pair of magnums. "These ought to be better."
"Definitely." Tommy said with a smile. As he got used to the new weight, and the pair joined up with the others on the way to Burmecia, Tommy also realized nothing needed to be said to his newest friend.
-x-x-
Zidane struggled to rise again. Fighting Beatrix was, even from years of fighting, something that was all but impossible - unless he wanted to kill her... and he didn't. Otherwise, she tended to wipe the floor with all of them, no matter how strong he was. Kuja had appeared, as usual, taken one scornful look at them, and flown off, quoting that blasted play again. Why his data kept pulling up 'Loveless' instead of 'I Want to be Your Canary' just bugged him.
Finally on his feet again, he stumbled over to the Moogle. "You o.k. Tommy?" The groan that answered him wasn't very pleasant, but it did show that he was alive. He moved to Freya next, getting her moving, before moving to Quina, though with a bit of trepidation. She had repeated the trick with her jaws a few times as she had eaten several other enemies, and it still creeped all of them out.
That was another thing he wished could be fixed up. Quinoa didn't seem to 'eat' creatures the same way during any Loop. To learn blue magic, one loop she licked monsters and consumed their souls. In another, they turned to dust motes and she sucked them up. This was one of the more extreme versions, almost like Kirby had been grafted into her, and pieces of Orichimaru had been sprinkled on top. Needless to say, it creeped everybody out.
S/he (once again, nobody knew what sex it was) actually got up fairly quickly, and the foursome began to quickly heal their wounds. Soon enough, they were off to Cleyra, the city nestled in the giant tree.
-x-x-
The Summon, Odin, had utterly annihilated the tree, almost down to the roots. Tommy could only stare in horror at the destruction wreaked by the single casting of a lance. Zidane, though, was horrified by How they had summoned him - a blood sacrifice of a golem. Queen Brahne had done it with her own elephant hands, and that seemed to shake him almost as much as watching all those lives snuffed out shook Tommy.
When they got to the teleportation relay, they paused. "Are... are you guys ready?" Zidane was just a little off balance, they could see. Once again, the prior warnings about what was ahead appeared in his mind. But there was only one response he could think of.
"We are ready."
-x-x-
The Castle of Alexandria was still a sight to behold, even after all of the many loops Steiner had been through. It's dungeon was less so. Unfortunately, unless Princess Garnett, or Dagger as she often preferred, was Awake, he tended to spend far too much time here. The cage they had chosen to put him in along with the thief, was insultingly easy to escape from, and a few minutes after waking up, the two were charging up the stairs and into another hall, where they split up.
It was just a few minutes later that he ran into the others, who had teleported into the castle from Brahne's Airship, and the action really began. Many of Beatrix special forces stood in their path, though they were less dangerous than some of the other monsters they had run into in the past. To be perfectly honest, Tommy was actually more useful than Vivi at this point, as his attacks were able to blind and slow the many enemies in their path.
As they passed into the hidden alcove that led to Zorn and Thorn's secret laboratory, Steiner slowed and stopped, allowing his friends a chance to pull ahead and get the job done. Instead, he closed the secret passage, and turned to prepare himself. Drawing his sword, he took a deep breath to steady himself. In a few moments, his lover, his friend, even his wife once, was going to pass through the door. This was almost always the first moment he would have to not simply impress her, but to change her mind and allow her to see that the woman she was serving was not the same one she had sworn her oath to.
Beatrix arrived a moment later, and spent one fraction of a second being startled by Steiner standing at the ready, sword held high. "Stand Aside!" The order was barked out with a force that was palpable.
Steiner was unmoved. "No." He watched as her hands drew the sword, 'Save the Queen' ringing out as it was pulled from it's sheath. "I swore an oath to serve Princess Garnett, and Alexandria."
"And your Queen has ordered you to stand aside!" Beatrix shouted furiously. "She has ordered-"
"Her own daughter put to death?" Steiner interrupted, venom in his voice lashing her to a halt in surprise. "To throw the kingdom into chaos? To start a war that will cover this kingdom's hands with generations of blood as atrocity and counter-atrocity tear the world apart?" He graced her with a look of distaste. "I swore to serve Alexandria - to protect it! And I will - by protecting the only member of the Royal line who retains any semblance of sanity! If you wish to harm her," his sword seemed to tense in his hand, "You'll have to go through me."
For a minute, Beatrix stood, frozen on the razor edge of doubt. But he knew her, and knew that she wouldn't be stopped that easy. It took a few moments, but her own sword came up to the guard position. He could see the doubt in the way she held her sword, but her voice was frozen crystal. "Then you shall be moved." For a moment, the room stood in silence. Then, as one, they moved.
Beatrix was a raging fire upon the battlefield, who swept all in her path away. Steiner had faced her many, many times, and found himself wanting. The Loops he had been through, however, had changed him from a rough, barely worthy knight into something that could and would stand through the refiners flames. The force warned him of blows he needed to block. His sword was able to parry without damage as he reinforced the blade with his own power. He let her spend a few blows wasting her strength on his defense, then let his mind flow through styles he had learned long ago as Tam 'al Thor. The Wind Rushes Through the Trees. The Change in pace threw her off for a moment, but she compensated admirably. The Quicksilver Threads the Reeds. He repulsed a charge as she tried to force him back. The Boar Rushes Down the Mountain. An all out attack broke through her defense, and scored a thin cut upon her ribs.
"Enough!" Shock and surprise that she had been injured forced her to put it all on the line. "Climhazard!" She cried, even as her sword flashed with the force of her magic channeled through the blade.
Steiner had known it was coming. "Shock!" His own sword burned red as he threw the might of most of his Magic into his own weapon.
The clash of the blades froze for a moment with a keening noise that sawed through the ear into their bones. Then the backlash blew them apart, sending Beatrix into and splintering a nearby dresser, and Steiner flying on and across the large bed.
It took a moment, but Beatrix rose to her feet, a bit unsteady. "If only you were stronger." She intoned sadly, as she crossed the room to the bed. "Perhaps you might have-" She was interrupted when the bed was suddenly thrown at her, and her sword flashed as she cut the furniture in two. And then froze as she discovered Steiner's sword tip at her throat.
He was bleeding, but that wouldn't stop him. "I have sworn to protect Alexandria." He said in a clear voice. "Please. Renew your oaths. Help me." He slowly pulled the tip of the blade away - then let his sword droop. The next move would be hers to make.
-x-x-
Zidane shook his head as Tommy pointed his gun at the Princess again. The first time he had done it, the thief had freaked - until he realized the new ability he was using as they rode the Gargant towards Treno. Cure Shot, he called it, and it had begun to heal the unconscious Dagger, along with 'regen shot' . In fact, she should-
"Zidane? Tommy? What's... what's going on?" A brief recap of their adventure so far was interrupted by the arrival of the snakelike monster, followed by the ejection into the swamp. Ramah spoke next, and soon enough they were out of the swamp - and just in time to watch Brahne unleash her newest summoned creature upon poor unsuspecting Lindblum. Dagger and Tommy both were nauseated at the horror the elephant woman unleashed in her gluttonous quest for power.
Entering the wounded city always lit a fire of fury in Zidane's heart. It was bad enough that she destroyed nearly all of Freya's race because she found them 'hideous'. To attack an ally, who had lived in peace beside her, and had aided her people time and again... if she managed to survive the coming storm, he would kill her himself.
-x-x-
Dagger was all but numb. The journey through Fossil Roo had been tiring, but emotionally, she was wrecked. Her mother had tried to kill her! She had drained her like a potion or salve, and had ordered her killed. And when she had been rescued from Zorn and Thorn, and had the gall to survive, her mother had hired assassins to steal the last gift of her father's, and to finish the job.
Needless to say, as they exited the craggy outcrop of stone, she found that she was almost pathetically grateful that she might have a way to end this conflict.
Also, as the Queen devoured another monster, she wanted a salad. Because eating meat after watching that felt wrong.
-x-x-
"Huh." Zidane said with a bit of humor. "That's new." The mountain fortress, normally manned by the rowdy dwarves, was instead being lived in... by graceful, serene, woodland elves. Rather than fight the local custom, he kept one hand softly on Tommy's shoulder, indicating that he wanted a chance to talk to him "Mellon" His voice intoned, Tommy following his lead with a stutter and an unintended kupo.
As the elves let them pass, Tommy quietly spoke up. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you a little bit." He led them off to one of the nearby tables, paying for a quick snack. "Have you had a chance to practice your Pocket?" He asked, indicating the subspace pocket that he had been teaching him to create.
Tommy nodded - And his previously used cannon suddenly appeared in his hands. "It's weird, but cool." He admitted.
"Keep practicing." He said with a grin. " It can help you out much more than you realize." Zidane pulled out a couple of odds and ends from his own pocket, and enjoyed the look on Tommy's face. "But also because we're coming up on what's probably a village of Moogles, and I wanted to make sure you'd be o.k.."
"I should be fine, Zidane." Tommy said easily. "I've had a few rough spots, but nothing worse than anything my own Loop has thrown at me." He let his eyes sweep out across the beautiful Conde Pette. "And it has definitely expanded my world view."
"True, true." Zidane laughed. "My own first fused loop was shocking enough for me too." He stood up. "Well, let's go. We can definitely buy some of the new gear for you."
-x-x-
The forest of illusion had nearly confounded them, but entering the village of Golems that had gained souls had been an experience that Zidane found worth repeating over and over. Tommy's reaction to the simple, friendly Moogles had been heartening, just as Vivi's had been so long ago. These people were amazing, more for what they had gained than anything they had created.
It was moments like this that sustained them. He had learned that lesson as he had looped time and again. Hope could sometimes feel far away, but seeing life triumphant once again made all the risks worth it.
-x-x-
The Marriage was great fun. Even if it wasn't real.
And much blackmail was collected as Tommy was married to Dagger. Besides, he hadn't known a Moogle could be so red.
-x-x-
Meeting Eiko went like usual. Though it was sad she wasn't awake, she remained a member of the strange family they had become. Letting her lead them to her hometown, ruins populated only by black mages, had been slightly surreal. Madain Sari, the ruined city of Summoners, was upon them.
One meal later, and they spent the night in the ruins. Cleaning up had taken too long, as usual, but she had promised to take them to the Ifia Tree in the morning, and to remove the barrier. She would be a lot of help, though...
"Zidane?" Tommy's voice echoed through the ruins, though he was obviously nearby.
"What's up, kiddo?" Zidane asked, letting himself turn to look at the boy. However, he felt himself grow worried at the look on Tommy's face. "Something wrong?"
"Not really... it's just..." He trailed off for a moment, showing his age rather well. "I'm feeling a bit small tonight."
"Small? Doesn't sound like the kid who uses cannons to shatter his enemies that I know." Zidane paused, letting Tommy catch his thoughts.
The Moogle grabbed his hat, tugging it off before playing with it in his hands. "...it's just that tonight, I'm looking out at the stars, and thinking about all of my adventures in other worlds... And realizing that I've spent maybe a month with my mother over the space of a year. Or that Takuya is who I find myself thinking of when I think about my brother." He turned away, hiding eyes that were becoming suspiciously moist. "Or even that I can't remember what my father looks like anymore, despite the fact I could probably draw Lucemon with my eyes closed. I just... feel small."
Zidane understood far better than what was bugging Tommy, though it wasn't something he would've admitted to. After all, their had been times he felt the same. He did know, however, how to help.
He pulled Tommy into a firm hug. "You're not alone, Tommy. Always remember that."
When Dagger woke him with her giggling the next morning, even if his arm was asleep, he decided it was worth it. Besides, friends didn't let friends get Sakura Syndrome.
-o-
8.14 Final Fantasy Senshi Part 5 [Tovath]
Bartz was sweeping the steps of the Hikawa shrine. He was glad that after his unusual arrival, he was able to find a place to live so quick; They didn't like people sleeping in the parks around here for some reason. Terra's grandfather – and she told him it was very weird to have one – had offered him the job of assistant as soon as he showed up. So he helped with the temple upkeep and learned the rituals, some of which were actually magic. Both Terra and him found that little fact very interesting.
It looked like there were a couple of people coming up the steps. The first one was a young woman, ah it was Alma Beoulve. She had been coming here ever since she had seen Terra deal with the mind control, or was it possession, of Umino. She was also in Terra's class at school. "Here again, Huh?"
This earned him a smile from Alma "Hopefully we can get through the review for our upcoming test quickly, so we can get to more important things."
"So what ofuda are-"
If you don't mind," interrupted the man who Bartz had seen coming up the stairs, "I'm Jed and I want to become an assistant here."
Jed, isn't that the name Cecil said one of the bad guys uses? Bartz glanced over at Alma. He couldn't get into a fight with a normal person around; too much chance of her getting hurt. "I'm afraid that that position has already been filled, by me in fact."
Alma spoke up. "Even if the was an open position, I doubt the head priest would want someone as discourteous as you.
Bartz tensed. He should be able to get between Alma and Jadeite before Jadeite could get off an attack.
"Very well." Jedite turned on his heel and left.
-o-
8.15 [Flametusk]
Every. Single. Time.
It didn't matter what Noctis did, time still reset. The one time he went back to before he left Insomnia, he tried to warn his father about Ardyn and the Empire. Regis had believed him, and precautions were taken, but Insomnia still fell.
It wasn't all bad, though. Noctis had gotten better at fighting Ardyn, and seeing through his tricks. It was amusing to see the look on his face when Noctis pushed him off the train, instead of Prompto.
Sometimes, though, the repeats didn't perfectly repeat the previous. Such as the time where Ardyn was the King of Lucis, or the time where Luna met up with them in Lestallum.
The only thing that always stayed the same was the fact that time reset about ten years after he met Bahamut, or when he died.
The last time, Noctis learned how to actually mountain climb, so he could reach those buildings that have the same style as Costlemark Tower, or Steyliff Grove, without needing the flying version that the Regalia sometimes was. This time, Noctis would get through that maze, even if it took until the reset! What would it matter if one time, he just ignored the problems of the world? Worst comes to worst, he could always just try to fight Ardyn without the ring.
'Pitioss Ruins, prepare to be completely explored!'
-o-