Chapter 12

Jade Passage

The Monterosa Plateau, home to the mostly static Galbadia Garden, was still under the dominion of Galbadia, but was more sparsely populated than it had been two decades ago. This was due to Garden formerly departing on its frequent voyages, leading the local economies once dependent on its presence to near collapse. But Garden's departures had become less common as more of the world had fallen to Esthar. Now, the mobile fortress only ventured to southern Centra or northern Trabia when leaving home soil.

There were some old coastal settlements adorning the great white crags to the north as well as a few small towns and villages beneath the mesas to the west and south. The most notable of these was Locomota, located in the natural gap between the western mesas. This once bustling town had once contained the second largest train station on the western continent and was now a shadow of its former self, with more than half of the rail lines abandoned. Also noteworthy was Whitecliff, once a favoured tourist destination with exports of fish once rivalling FH. Rinoa had learned Whitecliff was the birthplace of her predecessor, Sorceress Edea, and where Edea's own predecessor Jadis had died.

The Sorceress, the SeeD and the cadet now stood before the pillared entrance to the Jade Passage. Xu had driven them a hundred miles from the Tomb of the Unknown King, to the nearest settlement on the Gotland Peninsular, where they had opted to take an overnight ferry to Whitecliff. From there, they had hired a new car, which Raine had volunteered to drive to their destination.

The primeval supports of the entranceway to the Jade Passage had a rich green hue. Framing ajar doors of the same colour, the legendary tunnels led to deep within the rock mesas on the north-western side of the Monterosa. The pathway leading within was almost perfectly square. The floor tiles were a hazy grey white, almost seeming cloudy within. The wall and ceiling tiles were a pale lavender and flawlessly set.

'It looks gorgeous!' Raine said gleefully, snapping a few pictures of the pillared entrance with her phone. 'A lot nicer than the Tomb, and to think that it's been here for so long. I can't wait to see inside!'

'It's definitely as beautiful as rumoured,' Rinoa remarked.

'And as dangerous,' Xu said abruptly. 'Keep your phone away, Raine. As soon as we have Cerberus, we need to get the hell out. Let's not let our guard down,' Xu said, taking point, her longer blade held in front of her.

Like the Tomb of the Unknown King, the Jade Passage stood as a wonder of the world, having been there since time immemorial. Legend said it had been fashioned by Sage Vascaroon, whom many had believed to be an outworlder, as its depths supposedly contained the Interdimensional Rift. Having first been historically documented by emigrants fleeing the war-ravaged Centra, there were no factual records as to the Passage's origin.

The Passage was home to some of the world's most powerful monsters. Over many centuries, it had been partially charted by beast hunters or bold adventurers from the Holy Dollet Empire. But to this day none knew how deep it really went, for none other than Sorceress Jadis had ever returned alive from deep within its depths. None of them had ever been here, although they inferred that Irvine potentially had.

With Rinoa once again summoning a quicksilver sphere for illumination, they approached the open doors, having pooled their collective knowledge of the Passage during the journey.

These levels of the Passage were known to be rampant with tri-faces - commonly thought of as the spawn of Cerberus - in addition to grendels, chimeras and jelleyes. It was rumoured the deepest depths were home to marlboros, behemoths, hexadragons and other terrible beasts, from the accounts of a valiant few who had been wise enough to turn back before venturing too far within. The trio did not intend to go any further than necessary, as that was not their objective.

In modern times, the safer upper levels of the Jade Passage had provided suitable challenge to the more promising students of Galbadia Garden. Success here was now a prerequisite for joining Garland. The most adept cadets were able to reach and prove themselves against Cerberus, the three-headed hellhound that guarded the gates to the more perilous depths.

The path took them downward on a gradual slope for several minutes. It was linked by many smaller passages, but they stayed on the main one. Xu and Rinoa watched each approaching corner for fiends, while Raine had the rear with intermittent glances over her shoulder.

'There's no wonder the G-Army leave this place alone,' Xu commented quietly. 'They couldn't fit many of their mechas through here, and they would make that much noise it would probably attract every monster from here to Diablos.'

Raine said, 'It's too bad we can't reach the Dark Messenger. He was Uncle Squall's first GF.'

'It's too dangerous, Raine,' Xu said firmly. 'We did consider it. But even if we sent Squall, Rinoa and Quistis and every SeeD we have through here, we deemed the risk too great for just one GF. When your uncle freed Diablos from the lamp, he knew it was a one-shot deal. We're certainly going no further than Cerberus.'

Raine remembered her studies about the collapse of the Holy Dollet Empire, which had happened within living memory for some. After industrialisation, Sorceress Jadis' long dissatisfied subjects had ultimately united to rebel against her rule. Her empire, once extending from Wilburn to the Albatross Archipelago, fractured when Balamb declared independence. Independent republics in Galbadia and Timber were declared, swelling her opposition. It later emerged the rebellion was bankrolled by Esthar.

Jadis was defeated by the rebels and driven into the Monterosa. She lost the Battle of the Yaulny Canyon, her dwindling army fleeing through the verdant forest splitting the mesa, harried further by wendigos and ochus. Emerging onto the Monterosa, with the rebels trapping her force from the west and east, she was pushed towards the Jade Passage. Facing certain defeat, the Sorceress had no choice but to enter the Passage with her surviving retainers and the man who was effectively her Knight; the last Paladin, Heahmund.

Jadis' only chance of survival was to reach the farthest depths containing the Interdimensional Rift. In the end, she did, though all but Heahmund were slain. And only to discover it was guarded by Diablos, as part of his penance for taking no sides during the War of the GFs.

The fallen Empress was able to imprison Diablos within a lamp, but at great cost, as Heahmund was killed, and the feat consumed most her remaining power. Nearing death, without the strength to walk between worlds, Jadis abandoned the Rift, able to flee the Passage unscathed with the Dark Messenger as her hostage. The greatly weakened Sorceress emerged alone, using the power of Diablos to break through the legions camped outside the Passage and flying astride him to the nearest town, which was Whitecliff.

Jadis desperately needed a Successor, but with the rebels closing in, the only female she could identify as a latent Sorceress was a five-year-old girl named Edea. With no other choice, Jadis transferred her powers onto the curious girl that approached her in her backyard. The lamp containing Diablos went into the possession of Edea's family.

The significance of the fall of Jadis could not be understated, as it was the fracture of the western superpower that pre-empted Sorceress Adel's campaign of world domination. An even more devastating, global conflict followed. The entire world would assuredly have fallen under the Esthari banner, had a teenaged Edea not emerged atop Alexander's ramparts, encircled by Cid and Diablos. The conflict became known as the First Sorceress War thereafter.

'We've got company!'

Rinoa's high voice stopped Raine's mind wandering, and they were rushed by several howling tri-faces. They were mostly cut down by Xu, if not torn apart by Rinoa's projectile first, with Raine bashing in an oddly elongated skull of one that darted around Xu's arcing blade. Two more emerged from a side passage further ahead. The first met one of Xu's exploding shurikens, which obliterated all three of its long, thin faces on impact. Rinoa or Xu could have easily dispatched the other, but allowed Raine to strike its sinew-coloured hide with a stiff body blow, crushing its ribs. The cadet brought her staff down on its head.

Looking around for more, Raine said, 'Damn, these things look hideous!'

'Their screeching is even worse,' Rinoa replied.

'So, does Cerberus look like a bigger version of a tri-face, Xu?' Raine asked.

Xu laughed softly. 'No, Cerberus is far more adorable!' She wiped her jian with a cloth. 'Come on.'

The party continued left, into a lavender jade stairway that was just as flawless as the interior they had already beheld. It was at the bottom, in a big square chamber, that they were met by a solitary chimera: a large, winged beast with four heads, the master of four elements. The beast was multi-coloured, but predominantly beige on its feline-like body, and had wings the colour of red wine. The heads were of a lion, hawk, lizard, and goat, as though the Great Hyne had been unable to decide which head should top the beast and had settled for all.

Chimeras were rare, mostly residing in the Dingo Desert, and just one could pose a great threat to any SeeD, let alone a cadet. Raine's father had once boasted that he had killed one with his bare hands. With his immense strength and Quetzalcoatl at his disposal, Raine supposed that may have been possible. But she had once asked her Aunt Fujin about it, to which Raijin's close friend had just given a harsh bark of laughter and said, 'Lies!'

Raine was forever grateful for her other aunt's presence as Rinoa summoned a reflective barrier to rebound the trails of fire and ice breath spouting from two of the chimera's mouths. The two narrow concentrations of elemental force were fired back upon their caster. The chimera cried and recoiled, its tail rising high into the air. Looking at it, Raine realised that the tail's end was the head of a viper, whose venomous jaws opened to reveal bloodstained fangs. Rinoa fired her elegant pinwheel at the snake-tail, cutting the viper's head off, resulting in an even louder roar.

'Forward, Raine!' Xu cried, and they both charged.

The veteran SeeD impaled the lion's head as it staggered back, and her new protégé swung with all her strength into the head of the lizard on the bottom left. With two of the frontal heads out of commission, the chimera seemed to lose faculty, staggering sideways as it tried to evade. Lightning appeared in the gaping mouth of the goat's head, firing at Xu, who preparedly met it with a round shield summoned from her own para-magic of the same element.

Raine scooted forward as she swung again, crushing the goat's skull, and splitting a horn in the same strike. Xu cut through the eyes of the hawk with a wide slash, finally rendering the beast brain dead. The chimera collapsed onto the beautifully tiled floor, tainted with its ruby-shaded blood.

They barely had time to catch their breath as they were sallied by a large pack of tri-faces, drawn by the bellows of the dying chimera. About a dozen of the three-headed beasts bounded toward them, complete with those awful yelps that coursed through Raine to the bone.

Xu and Raine both took stances, Rinoa shooting down the pack leader while simultaneously summoning Sacred and Minotaur without an audible command. The two GFs were eager for a good scrap after spending two decades back within their lair. Brothers swung their maces at the tri-faces with such force that two of them were lifted from the cloudy tiles, crashing into the far lavender walls. Another two met the same fate, Rinoa and Xu killing two more from afar, while Raine bashed another's head in. The remaining four were dead in as many seconds, and they were able to take a breath.

Raine predictably looked the least at ease, looking at the bodies around them. But she held her staff stoutly, both ends smeared with the blood, bone, and matter of the beasts. She knelt and wiped it on the twitching hide of one of them.

'How you holding up, Raine?' Xu asked her, once she was sure there were no more immediate threats.

'I'm good,' the cadet replied. 'It's make or break. I couldn't show my face back at base if I turned back. I've gotta be strong, especially for Edea!'

She referred to her little sister, who was named after the late Sorceress.

Rinoa did not need to reach out for Cerberus, as Brothers could sense the energy from their fellow Guardian Force. 'We've got a while to go, yet,' the Sorceress informed them.

'Let's go, then,' Raine said, walking around the bodies to the narrow passage opening ahead.

Save for a couple of jelleyes, they did not meet any more resistance for a short while. Xu allowed Raine to deal with them. Wind magic being ineffective against the floating creatures, she battered them into a pulp, pounding one toward the wall and catching the second with a broad sweep of her staff. The cadet drew a dagger to finish the second off, as opposed to her much noisier firearm.

Raine desperately wanted to record some media of their journey but remembered Xu's instruction to keep her phone pocketed. It was technically a SeeD exam, and the cadet was still being assessed. Although her valued impression of the Jade Passage began to wane after a time, as the similar pathways and steps continued joining unto one another without any real distinction. Raine was almost grateful when they sighted a couple of grendels in the distance, which glowered at the women as they approached.

Grendels were squat, sand-coloured monsters with reptilian hides and dragon-like heads. They had stubby, indigo spikes along their arms and shoulders which were a precious commodity in crafting. As were their curved fangs and the small wings clearly incapable of supporting their weight, looking more like fins. Raine was surprised to find they were thunder-elemental. One of them crackled with electricity as it moved, its large, emerald claws hard against the smoky tiles.

Rinoa summoned a perfect sphere of water that surrounded both grendels, lifting them into the air. They screamed as their lightning intensified within that sphere, their bodies unable to take the strain, fierce steam coming from the water. The Sorceress brought her arms back and the water instantly vanished, leaving the grendels writhing on the floor, smoke coming from numerous splits in their hides.

Raine tried to block out their agonised cries. Xu mercifully killed the one that she passed, with Rinoa firing Angelwing at the other's head.

'Is Cerberus nearby?' Raine allowed herself to ask.

'Yes, he's just ahead. You've done great, Raine,' the Sorceress said.

The cadet thanked her aunt. 'Gotta make my folks proud.'

Xu said, 'Just keep it up, Raine. As far as I'm concerned, you've already passed.' The SeeD smiled then. 'As for being good enough for Liu, I'll have to see,' she said as she headed for the large stairway ahead of them.

Rinoa giggled as Raine felt colour rising to her cheeks. She had only been seeing the taciturn martial artist for two months, and Liu had still been debating whether to tell his mother. Battleship Island must have cameras more cleverly placed than Raine had thought.

The large stairway lead to the largest chamber they had seen. They could see Cerberus curled up below, amid dozens of his hell spawn. The Gatekeeper doubtless knew of the trio's presence long before they reached him, but one of its heads stirred as they cautiously descended. The tri-faces became overly excited at the prospect of fresh meat, their grating cries a crescendo that reverberated around the great chamber. Cerberus cleared one of its throats with a rumble, silencing the lesser tri-faces and forcing them to clear a path for the three adventurers.

Cerberus was a stone-grey colour, laced with a contrasting red. Much of its mass was around its upper torso and neck to support its three colossal heads, its maws all closed now. The Gatekeeper rose on his forepaws, reaching his full height as they approached.

This time Xu led the way as confidently as Rinoa had back at the Tomb of the Unknown King. Raine was fearful but refused to show it as she followed the SeeD. The eyes of Cerberus' other two heads opened, all six of them now beholding its former summoner.

'Xu,' all three heads said the Torama Fang's name in unison. Then the left head spoke, followed by the right. 'Things must be grave for you to walk the Jade Passage. Furthermore, to bring a Descendant of Hyne and the Two Halves of Gaia into my presence.'

During the Battle of the Gardens, the Children of Fate detached from their forces, infiltrating Galbadia Garden to confront Seifer Almasy and Sorceress Edea. They encountered Cerberus in the enemy Garden's atrium. Its three minds warped by the possessed Edea, it was in a feral state, attacking Squall's party on sight. Their own GFs reached out to Cerberus' mind, able to pacify it. But it did not seek to junction with the young heroes, for they had all acquired their own GFs by that stage of the war.

Instead, Cerberus entered the fray raging on the outside. Xu had naturally been left in command of the battered SeeD and cadets fighting the larger Galbadian force. Though outnumbered and outflanked, they were nearing defeat. The Gatekeeper charged the Galbadians, eviscerating many and destroying most of their heavy weaponry with missile-like rays from his jaws. Xu's force was given a vital respite, and Cerberus sighted the Torama Fang at its head. The two junctioned, and Xu led a bold counterthrust on a wave of renewed morale, turning the tide of battle.

The Seventh Hero, Xu was rightfully remembered as, following that decisive battle. She remained Cerberus' vessel until the threat of Ultimecia had passed, commanding Balamb Garden after the Children of Fate journeyed to Esthar.

'I need your strength once again, Cerberus,' Xu said. 'Much has transpired since we parted ways, and the maleficent Sorceress that warped your mind marches upon us. As Adel's successor, she is Rinoa's match, and has amassed the largest army the world has ever known.'

The heads of Cerberus spoke alternatively again. 'Very well. I would ne'er gainsay your necessity of my power, Torama Fang. It shall be an honour for us to become as one, once again.'

Thankfully, that was all it took. Cerberus and Xu quickly junctioned, and with his presence, the three of them had a much more leisurely return to the exit. Their next destination was within the forests of Timber, deep behind enemy lines, and they would have to travel a good portion of the way on foot.