Final Fantasy Infinite Loops
Chapter 12
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-
12.1 [Flametusk]
"Well, this is certainly different," Alisaie said as she got knocked back once more by Titan.
"It certainly is. Just what changed this time to make this Titan be able to turn massive?" Alphinaud used Surecast to avoid being flung towards the edge of the Navel, "I mean, we've seen him be able to turn into a car before near the end of the loop, but this isn't some recreation, this is the Kobolds' Titan, and he shouldn't be able to turn bloody massive whether here or on the First!"
IlIlIlIlIlIlI
Later, at the peak of Atlas on the First Shard...
"Well, I guess we know what happened to Eorzea's Titan."
"So it would seem. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few new tricks up his sleeve as well."
"Like what if you may ask?"
IlIlIlIlIlIlI
After the battle...
"The Wandering Minstrel must be an Ascian. That's the only thing that can explain it. Why else would that fight have been just like the Woken Titan from that last song of his in Kugane?"
"Agreed, this time around at least."
-o-
12.2 [tovath]
Firion was liking this loop so far. It was not one in which he had to do any fighting. Here he was just Firion Chere, undergardener at Kew Gardens and brother to Celes Chere, the opera singer. Yes, the damn Tree had made them siblings again, well maybe not 'damn' Tree this time because this was a good thing. They had decided that continue being siblings after that Dragon Quest Loop. It was nice that the Tree had acknowledged that fact. Firion was feeling honored that his new sister had said he could use her last name, even if it had no meaning besides the Cid from her Loop liking the name, according to her.
After they had Awoken in this Loop, they decided to use their hobbies as their professions this loop. They had also met up with Darkwind, from the Valdamar Loop, who had the same idea; He was designing clothing. So far they had not met up with any native loopers.
The head gardener had let Firion take some roses from a bush he had helped tend to give to his sister after her show.
"Oh those are beutiful. Are they for me?" the woman who said this seemed to confident that the answer was yes.
"No, they are for my sister. Don't even know who you are."
She pouted in a way that screamed sex appeal. "Well you are certainly are rude."
"So are you, Miss no name."
"You really don't know who I am. I am Magdalena von Dieterdorf I am the leading star of this opera house."
"No you aren't, my sister is."
"I am better,"Magdalena leaned forward to kiss him and he stepped away from her. Not again why do Femme Fatale and Vamps always, damn Tree … wait was that Ultros? "I have to go find a purple octopus."
Knowing Ultros, the purple menace, he would be heading towards the catwalks. Sure enough Firion found him backstage.
"Ultros, you better not be planning to throw any four ton weights on anyone or I will make seafood soup." He pulled up a fireball for emphasis.
"Making seafood soup is Terra's job, not yours" he failed around a bit. "Besides we have company."
He turned to see two well dressed young woman who he didn't believe were affiliated with the Opera house in any way.
"I don't suppose that you are feeling Loopy?" One of them asked after a moment.
Firion breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he didn't have to come up with an explanation for all this "We are both fully Awake," He pointed to Ultros, "and so is my sister."
"Well we are well anchored. Welcome to the Elemental Masters Loop "
-o-
12.3 [tovath] continuation of 11.2
Sansa came along to Igros Castle. They were not attacked by the Death Corpes like Alma said happened in baseline. This did not mean that Sansa didn't fight any of them.
Sansa looked up to see the point of Milleuda Folles sword at her throat.
"Not bad, you are improving." She sheathed her sword and offered Sansa a hand up. It had been decided that one of them would teach her some of the basics of fighting.
"I have to say this is not what I was expecting when I was asked to help defeat the Lucavi."
Sansa smiled. "I know what you mean, but Ramza did have a good point about the fact that I could be attacked at any time." And Alma had been right about him wanting her to get more weapons training, indeed it was a good thing that she had suggested having a plan in mind.
"Time for some accuracy practice now."
Sansa sighed. "I don't see how throwing stones is of any use."
"Really it is good practice. If you can hit something with a stone then you can hit it with any weapon you might have."
-x-x-
Sephirath found the room rather stifling and the company even more so. He was not a fan of covert ops.
"You might find this to be useful." Dycedarg held out a piece of auracite.
Sephirath leaned back in his chair wishing that people in this Loop would learn how to upholster furniture properly. "What is it?"
"It is the Gemini Zodiac Stone. The world is in peril and it is time that the Zodiac Braves came forth once more."
"That old legend," Sephirath knew three things, one was that the stone had a Lucavi in it, two he could not let Dycedarg keep it, three There was no way he was going to touch it. "Argath, take this stone for me. So who are the other Zodaic Braves? I would like to know who I am working with."
"We have only just begun choosing them. You were one of the first we thought of."
Sephirath tried to find out who had gotten ensnared for a bit longer to no avail. It didn't really matter though, the most important thing was that now one of the stones was out of their control and Leviathan could investigate it.
-x-x-
After Sephirath got the Zodiac Stone, all the Loopers gathered in Ramza's room. Well all the Loopers but one; Leviathan was not here. Sephirath pulled out a red orb. It looked nothing the Zodiac Stone that had be described. "I picked this up in Wutai, lets see if it works in this Loop."
A giant serpent suddenly appeared, and promptly turned into the old man Sansa had met before. "You had better not have stolen that General."
"I promise that I was given it freely. I will be glad to tell you the whole story later."
Sansa figured that this must be related to something in Sephirath's Home loop.
"I have obtained what I was told is the Gemini Zodiac Stone. I have not, however touched it given my history. I am having Argath hold it for me."
"I wouldn't trust him with anything."
"Incompetence is not his failing, besides we don't want someone who we care about getting hurt by that thing, now do we."
-o-
12.4 [Gamer A]
(Based on Final Fantasy 4: Free Enterprise. Also referencing Final Fantasy 4: Unprecedented Crisis)
FuSoYa felt his quest was off to a good start. While the Kingdom of Baron had seemed reluctant to aid him at first, by the end of negotiations, it had agreed to hand over an experimental Airship (for Free, even!), and their best engineer. While this "Cid Pollendina" had been imprisoned for speaking out against the King and was still dressed as a prisoner, by all accounts he knew his craft, and was a stout fighter besides. The Enterprise wouldn't be able to take him back to the moon, but it would serve to help them find other allies to oppose the threat of Zeromus. In hindsight using the Moon's crystals for a one-way teleportation down to the planet was rather foolhardy, but they would surely find a suitable Dark Crystal to reawaken the lost Lunar Whale somewhere.
While he and Cid were discussing engineering, the captain of the Guard - a Dark Knight with an odd air about him stepped into the room carrying a large hook. "A final gift from the King. Cid will know how to attach it to the airship," he informed them, "Be warned, once you leave, the castle gates will be closed to you. And if you enter regardless, you will likely find a fight waiting for you. The King has not forgotten Cid's accusations... nor should you."
"Damnit Cecil, you know about that damned Wyvern. Why won't you help us?" Cid protested.
"...I must remain here to keep things stable," the Dark Knight responded, before throwing the hook into Cid's arms. "FuSoYa, good luck on your quest. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it will be a frustrating one." He turned away and left before Cid had time to yell at him again.
-x-
Cecil was not only annoyed by this variant, but was worried that something was wrong with his branch. First had been that variant which had seemed normal, until Leviathan hadn't shown up to interrupt his, Yang's, Edward's and Rhydia's boat ride to Baron. After that, the differences had compounded beyond reason. Kain stealing the Enterprise, Palom and Porom accidentally teleporting into the underworld when Leviathan attacked them instead, Tomra being an icy kingdom ruled by the red-clad King Santos, eight elemental fiends...
Now, there seemed to be a rash of variants which randomized almost everything. Every party member he'd met, every noteworthy enemy he'd faced, and many of the things which had been critical to the quest - had all been swapped around. And quite a few notable events had happened ahead of schedule before the loop started. Admittedly, FuSoYa being the one to lead the charge against evil this time made a sort of sense. But there had been other times when, say, the Giant of Babil's CPU became captain of the guard and delivered the Earth crystal to Rydia and Porom on behalf of a disguised Baigan. (At the moment, Rydia had been possessed by an unidentified monster and was sharing a Carrot Juice with Rubicante at the Baron Inn. Cecil would like to do something about that too, but he seemed to be physically incapable of leaving the castle. And she might not be the only Rydia in existence at the moment.) Then there was the time when Edward was inexplicably Octuplets and five of them had faced down Zeromus. Cecil was pretty sure he'd actually looped in as his own reflection - the one which he'd normally needed to face down on Mount Ordeals. (Which might be related to how such a chaotic variant was still stable enough to happen so often.)
Ruefully, he admitted that he didn't have many options. If FuSoYa's group ever returned to Baron, the most he'd be able to do was throw the fight he'd be compelled to carry out, fake his death for a while, and deliver a parting warning about Bahamut's evil twin Wyvern being the one sitting on the throne at the moment.
Well, at least the citizenry was taking things in good humor...
-o-
12.5 [Sir Kald]
-
Locke blinked as he Awoke with a lit candle in hand. According to his Loop memories, he was a part-time actor and semi-professional th- acquisition expert on a mission to kidnap the prince of Alexandria. "Well, this is new. Usually Celes gets the acting parts. Should be fun."
He grinned when his ping received twelve replies. As far as he was concerned, adventuring with all his friends was far too uncommon.
It was then he noticed the tail.
-x-
Sabin flitted through the castle with almost childlike glee as he hunted down the tools he would need to build a proper training room. It had been so long since he'd had a chance to train on a normal level!
Normally he Looped in as the local strong man - most loops had at least one - and that always disturbed him a little. Master Duncan had taught him to work for everything in life; Looping in with another's hard-earned strength, even if he had earned his own in his first life, felt a little like he was betraying that philosophy.
This time, though, he had Looped in as a scholar! Now, he didn't have anything against scholars in general - Edgar was one, after a fashion, and Strago had all the best stories - he just preferred to solve his problems with his fists and ki instead of his mind. Prince Sabin til Alexandros XVII, on the other hand, seemed to have spent his whole life reading and practicing magic while neglecting his body. He hadn't felt this weak since before he left Figaro! He doubted he could so much as lift a table as he was now, let alone hold a crumbling mansion up.
Perfect. The others didn't really get it, they sought strength to protect their ideals and defeat evil, but Sabin considered that side of strength to be nothing more than a useful side benefit. He sought strength because he really liked training and feeling himself get stronger. Starting out again like this, physically weak but otherwise healthy, was ideal.
Hopefully the loop wouldn't get violent until after he had beefed up a bit, though.
-x-
Terra couldn't help gawking as she walked through the city. Everything was so big!
Intellectually she knew that it was really just that she was unusually short in this Loop, but the knowledge didn't really help. Thanks to the Slave Crown she had no memories of when she was a child; this was the first time in her memory that she had ever been this short.
Well, no matter. She pulled her hat snugly over her hair before nodding with determination. She could go find adventure later - for now, she had a play to catch!
-x-
Celes and Cyan watched Sabin from a distance as he alternated between punching a straw mannequin and healing his hands. "So what's gotten him in a huff?" she quietly asked.
"Truly, your guess is as good as mine," he replied. "Sir Sabin was muttering something about weakness, but surely that cannot be the whole answer. He is the strongest person I know, barring Sir Umaro of course; perhaps he is practicing restraint?"
Celes shrugged. "Well, only one way to find out," she said before walking over to the martial artist.
Sabin glanced up as she approached before getting back to work. After a moment's thought she decided to be blunt. "So, what's got you all riled up?"
Sabin grunted. "Body's weaker than I'm used to, I don't feel prepared to go monster hunting like this. As is I'd be a burden or backup at best and you know that's not my style."
"Don't you have some kind of crazy ki technique or another for this? I mean, you did train with Ranma," Celes asked.
"Try grabbing something from your subspace pocket," Sabin said. She mentally shrugged and did just that, only for nothing to happen. Her shock must have been evident on her face as he said, "Yeah, that was my thought too. I think the only out-of-Loop powers that'll work right now are the ping and our native abilities. Can't test the second one yet though, Blitz relies on a stronger body than I've got."
Celes raised her sword and gave him a look. After a moment he blushed and said, "Sorry, forgot about that."
-x-
"What do you mean, it's fake?" Terra demanded.
"Look, it's a forgery and not even a good one. See here, this is for 'I want to be your crow' not 'I want to be your canary'. I'm sorry, but I can't let you in with this."
She sighed. "Well, drat. Can't fault you for doing your job I guess."
Well, that idea's a bust, she thought idly as she walked away. I wonder what else there is to do in this town?
"Psst!"
There were a few curio shops she had passed by on her way in; maybe browsing the wares would be a good way to pass the time?
"Psst, pointy-hat! Over here!"
She could always try and find out where the others were. Then again the easy bet was 'the castle' and her ticket was no good.
"Pointy-hat kid! Over here, in the alley!"
"Hmm? Oh, hello there," she said.
The other person, a street urchin her size that looked like a rat on two legs, gestured for her to follow him into the alley.
"How about no?" she said. "A tourist my size walking into an alley just screams out, 'please mug me, I'm an idiot'."
"Aw, c'mon. Do I really look like that kind of guy?"
She looked him over once more. He was a bit dirty and wearing ill-fitting clothes, but his eyes seemed mostly trustworthy. "Well, okay. Keep in mind I'm a wizard and won't hesitate to burn your nose off if you try anything."
The urchin's eyes sparkled. "Cool!"
She joined him in the alley. "I saw you with the Ticketmaster. Rough deal. I think we can help each other out though. See, I can sneak in, but I need another pair of hands..."
-o-
12.6 [tovath]
Helia Awoke on top of a large bird that went Kwaa, kicked him off and took off a high speed leaving behind only one yellow feather. That was not a good way to start a Loop. He was not in his home loop which might be a good thing at the moment, but now was not the time to think about that. He could see some smoke in the distance, so he decided to go in that direction. He didn't have better idea of do as his mount, which his in-loop memories said was a chocobo, was gone.
The smoke was coming from small collection of stone buildings around a town square. A tiny little farming village that he could hopefully some information and supplies.
An old woman was doing something with some wool and two flat pieces of wood near the edge of town. She looked up at him as he drew near. "Now, I don't recognize you . Where did you come from, sonny?"
"I lost my chocobo."
"Went running off did it? Well, you can find dried meat and other supplies at the general store if you want to continue your travels and if you want to stay here that are a number of families who could use and extra set of hands." So Helia headed in the direction she pointed. He didn't have anything better to do.
"It's a beautiful town isn't it". said a voice "A little bit isolated, but with all the trouble in the world most people here realize that the peace is more important." He turned to see a green haired woman. "It doesn't protect them though, in baseline when Kefka gets ahold of the Warring Triad, the source of magic in this world. Ita and Alfres died when Kefka reshaped the land. That tore off the building on the southwestern part of the village. Coran took in their young son, but he died when Kefka turned his Light of Judgement on the town. Teledina and Nicilla also died from that. Teledina died instently, but it took Nicilla two days to die. By the time I made it here in baseline, there were only three building still standing and Duane and Katarin the oldest people left. The adults all put their children's lives before their own. Smilier things have happened in every other town, and city in this loop."
"Why doesn't someone stop this?"
"I try to every Loop. Only manage to succeed about half the time." She turned to face him, "There is nothing particularly special about baseline. It just happened first."
"Who are you?"
"Terra Branford, Welcome Warring Triad Loop, Helia."
"How do you know who I am?"
"Cloud told me. He is quite annoyed at you trying to hurt his mom."
-o-
12.7 [CrazyCog] Fang's Activation
-
This couldn't be real, it just couldn't! What the heck were they doing back on Cocoon? The last thing that Fang could remember was meeting her friends to talk about a certain reporter when she suddenly found herself standing in the Pulse Vestige housing the Anima Fal'Cie with Vanille. The strangest part was that the situation almost exactly the same as the time they awoke before the Fall of Cocoon.
A worried voice broke her out of her stupor, "Fang? Fang! Is everything alright?"
Turning to Vanille, she grabbed the Dia by the shoulders, "Vanille, what is the last thing that you remember happening?"
The other girl avoided eye contact while replying, "Not much, I don't have any idea why we..."
She was interrupted by Fang lightly shaking her, "I know about Ragnarök, so don't try to beat around the bush with this amnesia stuff. What do you last remember?"
When Fang revealed her knowledge of the event, Vanille's face initially gained a shocked expression before forming into a resigned sadness. "Well, you attacked Cocoon, but we were crystallized before too much damage could be done. The next thing I can remember is waking up here with you."
"There is nothing else? At all?"
"Fang, you're starting to scare me." Vanille shook herself free of the tightening grip. "What else should I be remembering?"
Fang's tone was dry, "I don't know, maybe the whole end of the world incident where we helped kill a god? Does that ring any bells?"
Vanille's next words almost stopped Fang's heart, "No it doesn't." She took another step back. "Something happened to you Fang, maybe you hallucinated during your time in stasis, or perhaps..."
This was more than the Yun warrior could handle. She needed to go and get some fresh air, if only to distract herself from what was happening. Ignoring Vanille's cries, she slammed open the main entrance to the Vestige and let out a small shiver as the cool night air flowed through. Behind her Vanille was still calling out for her to return, but she instead ran forward into the district, not caring where she would end up. Eventually, she stopped running in a wide street, drawing strange looks from those that were still up in out due to her strange clothes and frazzled appearance. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to calm herself down before she did something that she would regret. Fang was no stranger to time not working as usual, but this was different than before, as this seemed to only be affecting her and not Vanille as well.
A high-pitched cry drew her attention behind her, as Vanille struggled against a crazed looking man holding a pistol against her head and an arm around her waist. Cursing inwardly, Fang assumed that he must have grabbed Vanille while the other girl was chasing after her. His trigger hand shaking, the man shouted, "Alright, nobody moves or else the girl gets it! I was locked up once, and I'm not going back without a fight."
Suddenly, time slowed down as Vanille tried to shout something at Fang. Having had enough of her struggling, the man lifted his weapon and brought the butt of it down on the back of her head. The girl slumped forward, all signs of life absent from her limp body. She had been hurt, and it was not known how badly. Seeing this happen right in front of her, Fang's rage and confusion built up until she couldn't take it anymore. Releasing all of the pent up emotions inside of her, she let out a cry of anger.
It was responded to by a roar of epic proportions.
A large blur shot from the sky and slammed into the ground, causing a cloud of debris into the and Fang to fall to the ground. As the dust cleared, she could make out the familiar shape of her Eidolon, Bahamut. Shifting into his dragon mode, the mechanical creature gave a loud roar at the man holding Vanille, causing him to let go and run in fear towards a crowd of gathered bystanders. Clutching her head, Fang could only watch as Bahamut began to stomp towards the man, and by extension, the crowd. While she was fairly certain that he wouldn't hurt the innocents, she feared that he would not be able to prevent collateral damage to them in his pursuit of Vanille's tormenter. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to hang onto some semblance of sanity, anything that could allow her to stand tall and take control of the situation.
A loud crack sounded through the air before a voice rang out, "Bahamut, stand down."
That voice... Opening her eyes, Fang was met with the sight of Lightning Farron standing between Bahamut and the crowd. Off to the side, the man lay in a crumpled heap, the cause of his state most likely due to the new arrival. Noticing that the dragon was still growling, the woman narrowed her eyes and spoke again, "Bahamut, I said to stand down."
At first, the dragon just stared down at the one who dared command him. In her dazed state Fang thought that it would be so easy for the Eidolon to snap his jaws down on the person standing in front of him. In the end though, all he did was give an annoyed huff before appearing back to whence he came, leaving the destroyed street as the only sign of his presence there. Turning to the crowd, Lightning called out, "Guardian Corp business, nothing to see here." Despite some grumbles, the crowd slowly disbursed, leaving just the two of them. Lightning bent down and pressed her finger to Vanille's neck. After a few seconds she nodded, causing Fang to release the breath that she didn't even know that she was holding. Standing back to her full height, the pinkette walked up to her before holding out a hand, "It's about time that you made it Fang."
Fang tentatively took the other woman's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. "Lightning?"
"Yes, it's me." The soldier nodded before gesturing a short distance away. "The local Guardian forces were pursuing a criminal and neglected to keep him isolated from the public." The small amount of warmth in her eyes grew smaller. "I made sure to get here as fast as I could when I heard the description of his hostage." She shook her head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't make it faster, I was..."
Her speech was interrupted by Fang throwing her arms around her body and holding her tight. Lightning initially tensed, but slowly relaxed before patting Fang on the back. Not knowing exactly what to say, she said the first thing that came to mind, "It's going to be ok, I'll explain everything."
Half an hour later, she found herself sitting at a quaint seaside café run by Snow's NORA group listening to Lightning finish her explanation (it seemed as though Lightning was on much better terms with Serah in this timeline, although she still punched Snow at least once since they got there). Vanille had been brought into one of the back rooms to get examined by Lebreau (of course after some convincing from Fang that she could be trusted), and she had been sat down by Lightning at one of the more private tables. Placing down the cup in her hands, she spoke to the pinkette, "So time is broken and you're the one holding it together?"
Stabbing her fork into the cake in front of her, Lightning took a bite before responding, "Yes, apparently time crashes if I die before the loop ends, and if I do it purposefully, I run the risk of being punished."
A grin crept onto Fang's face. "So do they just give you a swat on the behind or...?"
Lightning shook her head. "There are certain loops that are used mostly for punishment. While I have not experienced too many of them, the ones that I got dragged into by the idiotic actions of others were not pleasant." A small shudder wracked the soldier's body as she seemed to remember some past incident.
Noticing this, the Pulse born woman could only raise an eyebrow. "I guess that I'll take your word for it." Inwardly she was dreading the inevitable time that she would end up in a punishment loop. Lightning was not easy to shake, and something that could make her shudder was not something to take lightly. Hopefully a change of subject would get her mind off of it. "And I'm one of these loopers?"
"Yes, you're actually the second person to activate in our branch." Lightning's eyes glanced over to Serah and Snow talking by the bar, "I was told that it would most likely be you, Hope or Serah, and it seems as though that prediction is correct."
A twinge of guilt ran through Fang as she glanced towards Serah, "I'm sorry Lightning. I know how much she means to you and..."
A hand was held up. "It's okay Fang, you didn't have any control over this, and I have been assured that she will probably be Awakened sooner rather than later." A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Besides, this gives me more time to prepare for her activation. After all, I don't want it to go as poorly as yours."
Fang laughed, "I'll have you know that I was in complete control of the situation the entire time." Both women knew that this was a lie, but Lightning did not speak it out loud, something that greatly Fang appreciated. There was a moment as they both sat in silence, but it was not an uncomfortable one.
It seemed at this point that Vanille had been released from Lebreau's care, as she was standing awkwardly in the doorway to the seating area. While the girl was usually able to keep up her mask, Fang could tell that everything that had happened in the last hour had caused it to crack slightly. Noticing the direction of Fang's sight, Lightning gestured over to the girl. "Go to her, we can talk later."
Nodding, Fang slowly made her way over to her fellow l'Cie, who at this point had been accosted by Serah, with Snow giving the slightly overwhelmed girl an apologetic look. Back at the booth, Lightning was just content to take a bite out of her cake and watch. It was small moments like this that kept loopers sane, and she was going to make sure that Fang could cherish each one.
-o-
12.8 [Chronopie]
When Tiz awoke, he was surprised to see the rafters of Karl's inn, rather than a sneering Goblin.
He was less surprised to see Anne though.
"What's up," Tiz asked as he sat up, yawning, "you don't usually make an appearance here? Celestial Realm missing again?"
She shivered. "DeRosso's been replaced. Red hat, coat, and eyes. Yellow Glasses. Kept sending the Crystal Orthodoxy threatening messages about a 'fear turkey.' Well, before Eternia slaughtered them."
Tiz's head thumped back down onto his pillow. "I don't think we should let Airy link the worlds this time Anne. Alucard wouldn't sacrifice himself to seal away Ouroboros. He'd eat him. DeRosso's immortal enough, but he plays up the vampire stereotypes as a role. Alucard's the real deal."
"This Alucard's that powerful?!" Anne squeaked.
"The looping one at least. He'd finish with Ouroboros and then start looking for desert. Probably Diamante... Actually, that's a great idea. Set Alucard on the Ba'al, and then Providence."
"Yeah... I'm not going to summon Diamante this time. I mean, what's the point? If I summon Diamante to redirect the Holy Pillar to the moon, it shatters the colony up there on the way down, then moon girl turns up, and you get woken up, and I have to use Geist's kid to mind control Pope Agnes, and then when I win, and send the moon to the far end of space and time, you somehow time travel without the Holy Pillar and undo everything anyway!"
"Not going to use the Norende Chasm, I hope. I live there."
"Providence won't care if I take a few years to accomplish his goals... So I figured I'd take a vacation loop. Leave Denys alone too. He hasn't come up with the whole Kaiser Oblivion persona yet, so it should be alright."
"So... Mess up Airy's plan and take a holiday?" Tiz switched Asterisk and hopped out of bed. "I have an Airship in my pocket, but how difficult will it be to break a crystal without a Vestal?"
"Let's find out!"
-o-
12.9 [Harmony Choas] (The Takeover)
"So you want us to be evil next Loop?" Vivi asked Zidane, twirling the Oak Staff in his hands as he, Zidane, and Steiner were in the meeting room of the Invincible.
"Yeah. I've noticed that you're all getting bored with the usual stuff so, why not?" Zidane said. "Besides it'll be nice to cut loose."
"I do not care how many Loops I go through, I will never hurt the Princess!" Steiner roared at him.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down there Rusty." Zidane said, trying to get him to calm down. "I'm just trying to get you all to wind down, this'll be therapeutic. I talked it over with Dagger and she agrees we should do it. Besides, you don't have to hurt Dagger to be evil, just make the Queen have an accident and don't let anyone near Dagger... or you can be Dagger's minion."
"What about me?" Vivi asked. "What will I do?"
"Well, since you know how to make Black Mages, why not not build an army?" Zidane said. "But I won't tell you what to do, all you need to do is be evil and use your baseline powers and weapons. So Vivi, no white magic, and Steiner, no Magic Sword without Vivi."
"Okay, what about you?" Vivi asked.
"Me? Well, I've been debating on that." Zidane said, before the trio was interrupted by Amarant bursting into the room, carrying someone. "Is there trouble Amarant?"
"Yeah... and it's with all of you Loopers." He said, tossing an unconscious Dagger on the table. "Why exactly do you want to take over the world? Especially if everything will just reset in a year?"
"Eh, it'll just be something to do." Zidane said, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, we're not starting until the next Loop." He then glared and jumped to the door, slamming it shut. "Now, what have you done with Dagger!?"
"Knocked her out..." he looked at them all as he got into a battle ready stance. "Just like we're going to do to all of you."
"Wait, 'we're'?" Zidane said before the door opened, knocking him down as the rest of the party rushed in to help Amarant against the three.
(Pandemonium, same time.)
Zidane glared at Garland as the man dodged his attack. He had hoped that revealing the Loops to Garland would stop him without having to battle him. Unfortunately the success rate of that was only about 1% of the time.
"You might beat me this Loop, Zidane, but future ones will have Terra replace Gaia, it is inevitable." Garland said, casting Flare on Zidane, who dodged it.
"Already happen- OW!" Zidane yelled as Vivi hit him with a Thunder spell. "What the hell Vivi!?"
"Kill!" Vivi yelled as he tried to cast Doomsday.
"... you aren't Vivi... are you." Zidane said, attacking the mage, dodging Steiner's sword.
"The puppets have served their usefulness as your allies." Garland said, casting Drain on Zidane. "I wish I could take credit for the creation of them, but the truth is that I found them coming through a weird distortion that had sprung up, after I sent Kuija through it. They're a lot like the Genomes in some ways. For one, they don't have a soul." Zidane dodged Quinna's attack. "For another, they come from another world entirely. I've already made some improvements to them, such as removing the echo to their voices, and adding some color to them."
"You have Manikens!?" Zidane shouted as he cut Eiko down... only to see an army of her ready to fight. "You idiot! They're here to spread destruction wherever they go! Both Terra and Gaia will be lost!"
"They are subservient to me, and me alone, so only the destruction of Gaia will come. The souls of Terra will replace that of Gaia whether or not you can stop it. That is the law of the multiverse."
"Let me guess, you replaced me with one of them?" Zidane asked as he attacked Dagger.
"How else would I have been able to deceive your friends?" Garland said, as he casted Mini, it missed, hitting an Amarant Maniken. "Hopefully by the time they Awaken next, you'll have forgotten this conversation so the plan can move smoothly."
-o-
12.10 [Unknown]
Sora was looking at Tidus intently...then rolled his eyes. "Well, that explains the experienced sword combat," he said.
Tidus nodded. "Thanks for believing me," he said to Sora, walking around Destiny Island. "I thought Auron threw me outside Spira until you confronted me."
"No problem. It's a change of pace to deal with a traveling partner from the beginning. Besides, the Blitzball thing might come in handy when we run into certain monsters."
Tidus chuckled. "Kind of wish Wakka was awake...or Yuna was around."
"Well, Yuna IS around, but...you might have to wait and see if she's the Yuna YOU know first. Heck, I ran into Cloud and SEPHIROTH being Awake once, and they treated their grudge match as a spar." Tidus gave Sora a look. "Yeah, I know. I couldn't believe it either. Still, we're going to deal with a Darkside...and I have to endure a fragment of Xehanort in my system later...so if we both end up in Traverse Town, look for a humanoid dog and a duck. If you find them, you'll be on the right track to finding me."
Tidus nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," he said to Sora. "Other than that, you need help with the raft?"
"Well, I know that Kairi and Riku are Awake," he said. "And training while building said raft. I could probably convince them to let you travel with us."
-o-
12.11 [Chronopie]
-
"Tiz. Tiz Arrior! Wake up!"
The grey-haired youth groaned, then opened his eyes. Perched on his nose was a fairy. A fairy in a black leotard, wearing thigh-high black boots, and with black butterfly wings.
He closed his eyes.
Opened them. Still there.
"Hello Anne."
"Well it is you, this time. The last two yous had no idea who I was."
"I told you about Yggdrasil, right?"
"About how the... Admins were above Providence in the same way Providence is above humans? Yeah. Doesn't mean I'm changing my mind though!"
Tiz chuckled. "No, the bit about Anchors and Loopers. Anchors are always awake, Loopers aren't? And I'm a looper, not the anchor of our world. Anyway, what's up?"
"I can't reach Providence! That's 'what's up'! I went looking around Al-Kampis, and Sagitta Village, and there's no sign of Altair either!"
"How did you even find out about about... Nevermind. I suppose you can't talk to the other one either? What about Deneb?"
"Who?"
"Deneb? Silver hair, blue eyes, red costume, hat, has a fox companion?"
"I have no idea who that is."
"I'm fairly sure she's a celestial. Knew Altair and Vega at least. We usually see her deep in dungeons, at the end of caves, places like that. Then again, she can teleport, and I've been told that she can time travel, though I haven't seen it myself. Maybe she's been avoiding you?"
"Maybe I'll look her up another time. But what do I do now?!"
Tiz tried to sit up, winced, and lay back down. "I guess you could come with us, help us stop Airy... But right now, I have a hole in my soul. Pass me the hourglass would you?" A hole in the air opened up in front of Anne. "Should be on the left."
-x-x-
"My eyes are blue. Why are my eyes blue?"
"Oh hush," Anne's voice sounded in Tiz's head, "you're not complaining about the hair. And you're sure no one will notice?"
"Eh, I had worse after two and a half years in the white magic tank. But my eyes are supposed to be brown. And to answer the question, Mephilia usually notices that I'm housing something, and Sage Yulyana might be able to tell, but he won't act on it. Your sister won't. Anyway, shouldn't Ringa- Alternis be somewhere around here?"
"I diverted Alternis Dim about half an hour before I woke you up. So what's the plan?"
"Well... Airy's opened the Holy Pillar to this world, which means that Ringabel should be somewhere in Caldisla... But Agnes won't be for a few days. The Eternian Sky Knights might be here already, but we can't be sure. I guess we go to Caldisla."
-x-x-
"Is it always that easy to gain an audience with the King?"
"Pretty much, yeah. We never had any problems talking to the people in charge. Well, except for Braev trying to kill us."
"And what about his offer to let you rebuild Norende?"
"I usually take him up on it, but it's not like I spend much time there. And I have enough items, weapons and armour that I don't need to go back there. I'd like to source some of the Unearthly Buns though, those are hard to find, and the effects don't carry over between loops."
"Oh I know how to make those." Anne remarked offhandedly.
"Teach me sensei."
-x-x-
"Time to go save Agnes from Barras and Holly." Tiz stated, even as he wandered up the path towards the Grand Chasm, barely paying attention. He'd walked this path so many time that he could do it in his sleep. Complete with punching a Goblin twice in the face the moment it popped out of cover, the red flare of a Brave not even registering.
"Hmm... Deneb's missing." Tiz noted. "Usually she'd hand me the hourglass here."
"Not that you need it."
"Not that I need it."
-x-x-
"Say Tiz." Ringabel started. "Have you seen The Adventurer at all this loop?"
The pair were just settling down to bed on the Grandship, one of the only times they could guarantee Airy wouldn't be listening in.
"Deneb? No, not this time. It's odd..." Tiz cracked a yawn. "Maybe we could discuss this when I'm properly awake some time."
-x-x-
"How many times now have we seen this light?" Tiz commented, as they prepared to enter the Holy Pillar. Again. This would be the final crossing, mere moments before Airy's sudden but obvious betrayal...
"Okay everyone!" Airy called. "Don't forget to watch over me! This is going to work this time, you'll see!" She rose higher into the air. "Oh wondrous and beautiful First Light, my broach awaits your divine radiance!" And she began to glow, followed by the world going white, then everything faded back into visibility.
And Airy's wings were, again, free of numbers.
"Hee hee... Hee hee hee... I did it. I finally did it!"
"You did what Airy?" Edea asked. Tiz, Ringabel and Agnes shared a glance, and began shuffling asterisks.
"The Great Chasm's closed?" Edea asked again. "Oh I can't see it from here. To the deck everyone!" She rushed out, and the others dutifully followed.
Edea rushed to the railing, trying desperately to see land, just as Airy began communicating with something.
"What? You have a reward, for me?" Everyone turned to watch her. "The Dark Aurora above the Chasm? Right away! I'll just tidy up here!"
"The... Chasm?" Edea asked, "But didn't we close it?"
Ringabel just handed her the Knight Asterisk as a reply.
"You've all been deceived!" Airy crowed. "By yours truly, no less! I had you going the whole time!"
Tiz yawned widely. "Saw it coming worlds ago." Ringabel nodded. Agnes shrugged. Edea was confused.
"I suppose you need some convincing," Airy directed to Edea, "and I can't do that in this form."
Then she shifted from her cryst-fairy shape to her monstrous larval form.
Tiz snorted. "Anne does it better. Bravely Second!" Time stopped. "Firaja, Firaja, Firaja, Firaja." Time resumed, and Airy was engulfed in flames.
"Bravely Second!" Agnes cried. The world stopped for a moment, and then Airy was engulfed in flames.
Ringabel shrugged. The world stopped for a moment, and then Airy was engulfed in flames.
She molted into her pupal form, somehow even more revolting, and fled.
"That was anticlimactic."
-x-x-
They reached the Dark Aurora with little fuss, and dispatched the monsters wandering around with ease. Only find Airy, back in her cryst-fairy form, begging her master Ouroboros for aid.
"You know, I think Anne wants a turn." Tiz remarked, and slumped down against the cave wall.
"Thanks Tiz!' Anne chirped, as she materialized, already in her golden monarch form.
"Wait, isn't she..." Agnes started.
"Airy's older sister, usually manipulating Yew's brother Denys? Yup. Oh, by the way? She's looping too."
"What."
"What?!"
"Airy~" Anne smirked. "Now you see me."
Five illusory copies appeared around her.
Airy cast Flare.
"i'm over here!" After stabbing Airy with her foil a few times, her smirk got nasty, and she was surrounded by the red flare of a Brave. "Superbia. Undermine. Acedia. Dark Flare. Goodbye sister."
"Master..." The dying Airy called out weakly. "Please..."
Ouroboros ate her. Then it dragged everyone else into the Infernal realm.
"Immortal god-dragon versus party. Fight." Tiz snarked from the floor.
The immortal Lester DeRosso promptly appeared, and sacrificed himself to seal away Ouroboro's immortality.
"Mortal god-dragon versus party. Fight."
It didn't take long, because the loopers weren't having any of it.
-x-x-
"Right." Tiz yawned. "I think it's time for a three year nap. Have Magnolia wake me up."
-o-
12.12 [tovath]
By now Ashe was sure that the dream of the future she had was true. Before now she wasn't sure if she had wanted it to be true or not. She had regained her throne, but at the same time she had suffered many betrayals. She had been going though events the same way, but that had just led to the Resistance being ambushed and her trying to escape though the Garamsythe Waterway. She had been cornered by Imperial forces. If her memories were correct, Balthier would be showing up soon.
"Hey, jump down."
That was right on time, but after Vaan caught her he just said to come on rather then talking about what he just stole from 'her' palace.- and then led the party off in a different direction than she recalled.
Ashe realized where they were heading when Vaan picked the lock on the door the door to the Barheim Passage. "This might not be the best way to go."
"Only way to avoid the Imperials."
That might be true, but Zalera, the Death Seraph was no small problem. It was fortunate that this repeat of time meant her magic was stronger then it had been. That might end up being their saving grace.
"Ashe you and Fran take care of the skeletons while we take care of the big guy," yelled Vaan as he shot a bunch of needles at Zalera with the 1000 Needles technik. Ashe was pretty sure she had not given him her real name, but now was not the time to worry about that. She started casting Curaja on the skeletons to get rid of them.
"Wait how-"
"Vaan later."
Entering into battle with the Esper was easily a match for the harrowing experience of Ashe's prior entanglement, yet for all that, Zalera went down surprising quickly. The first thing Vaan did was ask, "Is time repeating for ya, Ashe?"
"How did…this is happening to you too, then?"
"Yeah, it confused me at first, but don't worry PenPen explained the whole thing."
"Who is this... 'pen-pen' you speak of?" Vaan could not refer to his partner with that term, surely? On second thought, she would not find herself surprised to learn of it.
"Oh yeah, you wouldn't know him." Him? Not Penelo, then. "But what he said seems to be true, so I'll explain when we got time. Now we won't want the Imperials following." Vaan went and relocked the the door to the Waterways, "So do you want to go save Basch or we could just free everyone in Nalbina? Bet they would all join the Resistance."
"Leave me out of your revolutionary plans, please," said Balthier.
Before she was able to make him an offer for his services, Vaan said "You'll find out what Doctor Cid and Venat are doing if you come along," That caused Baltier stop and look thoughtful.
The thought of increasing the numbers of the Resistance and getting rid of Vayne was an appealing one, but, "I think first I would like to have an explanation of what is going on first." The explanation that she was given by Vaan was…complex. And truly rather unbelievable but for the fact that time was repeating
"Would that this happened two years ago."
"I know right, I betca Maduin thinks the same thing, well except for the number of years,"said Vaan,
"Who prey tell is Maduin?" That name seemed a bit familiar. She seemed to remember it from when she was studying about espers, but surely he couldn't be talking about that Maduin.
"Oh he's an Esper, In one of the other Final Fantasy Loops he fell in love with a human." said Vaan, "His daughter is the Anchor for the Warring Triad Loop."
"Wait you mean she's?… How is that even possible?"
"Yes she is half Esper and if you ask how that is possible to any of the Loopers from there you will get a snarky answer about how you should already know where babies come from. Oh and, um, be careful about using the term magicite around them," Vaan grimaced, "It can be painful." One had to wonder what had happened to cause him to say that.
-o-
12.13 [CrazyCog]
The dimension was just as Lightning remembered it, the throne of crystal being in the same position as usual with a familiar figure lounging upon it. Leaning forward, the enigmatic existence known as Lumina spoke, "So, you finally decided to address the elephant in the room?"
Steeling herself, Lightning stepped forward. "Yes, I've realized that I have been avoiding this ever since my first loop with you. During that meeting I accepted you without a second thought, wanting to free Serah from within you." She shook her head before continuing, "However, during my travels I have noticed that I have been avoiding the question of exactly who you are, and how I am still able to function as an anchor without you. My soul was wounded in baseline, and by all accounts that should have caused me to be disqualified from holding our reality together. Despite this, I have been repeatedly assured that this is the role that I bear. Is the part of me that is Claire not important enough for The Tree to count as myself, or am I some strange being that exists differently than others? I tried seeking guidance on the matter, but all those I sought out to tell me why did not answer.
The other girl adopted a thoughtful expression, "Oh yes, I do remember that conversation with you and Jack. He went through a similar thing if I am correct, yet it was not nearly as pronounced as me."
Lightning nodded. "Yes, he said that he had an idea of what happened, but decided that it was something that I must discover on my own."
A finger was daintily placed on Lumina's chin. "The Jedi weren't of much help either if I recall correctly."
"While no answers were given, they helped me come to the realization that the only person who could give me answers was myself, and by extension you." Lightning looked up, meeting the other girl's eyes. "To tell the truth, I have been avoiding this topic for the last few loops, always choosing to prevent things from getting this far, holding on a little longer to my ignorance. However, since I awoke in this loop after you left me, I have come to the conclusion that this would be a good as time as ever to talk."
A smile spread across Lumina's face and she wiped away an imaginary tear. "Well look at you taking the high ground! It makes me so proud to see how far you have come since you first started looping." Hopping off of the throne, she approached Lightning. "Well, the first thing that I think we should go over the distinction between a soul and a heart."
"A heart?"
Lumina clasped her hands in front of her chest. "Yes, while a soul is the essence of who you are, a heart is what allows you to interact with the world to the extent that you do. When Serah's soul was ripped from you, it had the unintended consequence of ripping out something else as well, your heart. With the combination of her soul and your heart, I was born. A shell that held the essence of your sister, but also all the emotions that you rejected. I am Serah but not, as well as Claire but not. I express the being that is Serah through the lens that is Claire. You are still Claire, but you can only express the part of you that is Lightning, the part that you had mostly detached from your emotions."
Tendrils of chaos slithered out of the area around them and formed into a Shadow Heartless, "I would actually say that the closest analogy would be to call me your Heartless," Lumina waved her hand and the Shadow dispersed, "but that does not mean that you are a Nobody. Like Sora, you can lose a part of you while still existing, yet I am still needed for you to feel fully complete. While my separation from you does not change who you fundamentally are, it does change how you interact with the world. You can still be a selfish person but be unable to show it. You can still wish to depend on others yet rely mostly upon your own strength to get through troublesome times. A heart is not needed for a soul to function, yet it helps to define who you are with respect to others. However, you are always interacting with others even to a minimal extent, which means that there is always some bond between your soul and your heart. How else do you think Nobody's and Heartless can reform back into a full person if the two are not even barely connected? The reason why you are not wounded by my absence is because we are still connected, you just need to fully accept me."
Lightning stood in silence for a few moments before speaking, "So while we may have been separated, we still are one being."
The other girl clasped her hands behind her back and bounced on her heels."Correct! You lost your heart, but not your soul. By extension the person that is Claire has not been wounded, as it would require the full destruction of both of us to actually accomplish."
With this resolved, there was only one more question to be asked from Lightning, "So where does that leave us?"
A shrug was her reply. "I'm part of you. If you don't know what to do, then how should I?"
"Perhaps it is better not to know, as it is something for both of us to discover," Lightning held out her hand, "together."
This time, the tear that ran down Lumina's face was real. Taking Lighting's hand, she spoke in a soft voice with a small smile on her face, "Together."
Then, they were whole once more.
-o-
12.14 [BlueStatOfTheSouth]
-
Arthas looked at the medallion, a simple circle made of metal with the markings of Lordaeron on it, that Alexstrasza had given him. A gift, she had told him. He sometimes wore it during Loops away from Azeroth, a simple reminder of his home.
He had mixed thoughts concerning the other Azerothian Loopers. One the one hand he wanted to accept their offers of companionship. On the other he wasn't sure he deserved what them. He was sure he would know one day. But not know.
This Loop had been interesting so far, despite the fact that the Anchor was nowhere to be seen, Arthas was a Dark Knight working to atone for his sins (he tried very hard to ignore the parallels to his own life). To that end he had arrived at Mt Ordeals, something about passing the trials and winning forgiveness.
Once he arrived at Mt Ordeals he found a mirror. Approaching the mirror he was met not with himself, but the image of the Lich King. Was he meant to just speak, speak to a manifestation of his wrongs?
It was only a several lifetimes, and a few unlifetimes, of battle experience that allowed him to keep his head from the Rune Blade that nearly cut through his throat. Looking towards the mirror from where he had jumped backwards he saw the Lich King walk out of the mirror, Rune Blade at the ready.
Drawing his own sword Arthas prepared for the fight.
-x-x-
The Lich King, despite what some might say, was actually pretty fast with his blade. He had to be really, his opponents didn't exactly stand still after all. This meant that Arthas, who only had a sword himself, was hard pressed to survive against the onslaught of attacks.
Deciding that he needed some room Arthas grabbed at the air with his off hand, twisting to lash out with the gunbai that he pulled from his Pocket, letting a wall of wind chakra throw the Lich King away from him. Unfortunately he barely had time to breath before he had to roll out of the way of an unholy bolt of death.
This would be tricky.
-x-x-
Tricky was an understatement, Arthas had lost. Turns out the Lich King had more than his share of Arthas' abilities that he had picked up from the Loops. Arthas was flat on his back, his sword in shatters, with the Lich King's foot on his chest.
"Weak." The Lich King hissed at him, the cold tip of Frostmourn at his throat. He was right. Arthas was weak, too weak to save his people, too weak to resist the temptation of the Rune Blade, too weak to fight against Ner'Zhul. His weakness had brought about not only the ruin of his home, but the deaths of countless innocents.
Arthas watched as the Lich King pulled back his cursed blade, holding it upside down in two hands, so as to run Arthas through.
"Die. Now." With that command the Lich King brought the damned sword down on Arthas' chest, and directly onto the medallion that hung around his neck. When Frostmourn tried to pierce the medallion something unexpected happened: it exploded. The explosion sent the cursed sword flying, embedding it into a wall. Luckily the force of the blast went up, directly into the Lich King's face, and not down towards Arthas.
Taking advantage of the opening Arthas got back to his feet, striking the Lich King in the face. He immediately regretted that, seeing as how the Lich King was wearing the Helm of Domination. The metal of the Lich King's crown nearly broke his fingers, but it did disorientate his foe.
The Lich King, recovering quickly, charged at Arthas, slamming him into a wall.
"Failure." Arthas' foe named him. "Traitor."
It was hard to do with one hand, something that he needed to do seeing as the Lich King was pressed to close to allow both of Arthas to use both, but Arthas managed to let lose a bastardised fire technique, one of the few things he had learned from Kakashi. The close range meant that he didn't need to aim, something that meant the fire burned at both of the combatants. The burst of fire knocked the Lich King back a fair way.
Arthas stood back up, leaning against the wall. His opponent seemed alright however, their state of unlife allowing them to keep fighting.
"You are a failure, Menethil. You led your people to their deaths, and for what? Revenge? You will never be worthy of redemption, and you know it." Arthas didn't remember being this chatty in Baseline. But something that the Lich King, who was know recovering his weapon, struck a cord with the Looper.
"Maybe I won't be worthy, I know that. But I've been given a chance, a lot of chances, to try to be. And my... my friends, they'll help me. I want to be better. I don't want to be you." Maybe it was the fact that there was no one else around, maybe it was the visage of the Lich King, who Arthas hated and feared in equal measure, maybe it was the few knocks to the head. Whatever the reason Arthas didn't bother keeping his words behind his teeth.
"And who would be, if not me?" The Lich King asked, before suddenly striking. The sword, the Lich King's sword, Arthas' sword, pierced the flesh of his right shoulder.
"I.. I would... be Arthas Menethil, Prince of Lordaeron. The man who burned... Stratholme." The blade in his shoulder made it hard to talk, but this felt important. Once the question was raised, about who he wanted be, he knew. He didn't know how to get there, probably never would know, but he had a goal now, something to move towards, instead of running away from.
"I would be... Arthas Menethil. Paladin of the Order... of the Knights of the Silver Hand. The man that cast aside all... friends and allies... for my pride." The pain from the sword felt lighter, easier to manage, with each word.
"I would be... Arthas Menethil, Death Knight. The man that killed my father, and I will carry that pain forever." The pain was near nonexistent now, something that Arthas didn't even notice.
"I would be Arthas Menethil, the Lich King. The man that nearly destroyed Azeroth." Finding strength that he didn't know he had Arthas struck, once again separating himself from his foe. "But I will not be you. Never again."
The faux king charged again, intending to run him through, and in a moment of instinct, instinct that was so engraved that even now it was his first response, Arthas acted.
The would be king slammed into a barrier of golden Light, his blade shattering on contact. Both stared for a moment as the shield that Arthas had called up vanished. Why now? Why had the Light returned to him now? He knew why he had been unable to call upon it before, so why now? Did he truly think himself worthy, deserving of the Light? As he thought about it he realized that yes, yes he did. He was trying to be a force of good, to rise above his faults and failings. And that was a noble goal, one worthy of any paladin.
"Thank you." His voice whispered. The Light settled down, moving to rest in the spaces that he had unknowingly left for it. When he spoke again his voice was stronger. "You are a relic, a remnant of a time long past."
"We are one. We could be so much more than you alone." The relic claimed.
"No we. Now there is only I. I am the Lich King. And I am ready." The words, once said to Ner'Zhul, feel right on his tongue. He is the Lich King, he had claimed as much mere moments ago, but that didn't mean he had to be the monster in front of him.
The strength of the Light turned the fight, his wounds were healed, and his blows burned the unholy beast on contact. It didn't take long, less than two minutes, but eventually the faux king was defeated. It was done, the reminder was gone. As for Arthas...
Arthas Menethil, Prince, Paladin, Death Knight, Lich King, fell to his knees and wept.
-o-
12.15 [Flametusk]
Noctis Awoke, and found himself in a cart, in a forest, and had a reptilian tail, some dark blue scales, and horns.
Going through his loop memories, he saw that there was magic consistent with the other Final Fantasy loops in this loop.
"So, I'm in one of the other sub-branches, it seems. I wonder if this one is Looping at all."
Continuing, he discovered he was something called an "Au Ra", was skilled with something called Conjury, and at one point had decided to become an adventurer, and so was on his way to a city called Gridania.
-x-x-
Seeing what he was up against, Noctis knew what to do.
"Don't worry guys, I've got this!" He told the archer, thaumaturge, and marauder that had also been proven immune to Ifrit's effects.
"You? You're a Conjurer. Just focus on healing me. It's all you're good for, anyway." The marauder scoffed.
"Oh, really, then what do you say about this!" Noctis shouted the last, while throwing a Freeze he had taken out of his Pocket.
He was met with silence, as he had also frozen the other members of his party.
"Oops. Well, I'm not a healer for nothing."
-o-