Breath of Fire: Of Time and Destiny
Chapter Seven: Time to take action (2)
Time:Goddess Era 2020
Location:Snowfield outside Windlan
With a battle cry, Nina sliced an ice soldier into two when it tried to jump and attack her in the air. She and Raifel have stayed in the air for the duration of the battle, giving them an advantage against their enemies who cannot fly at all. Those foolishly jump to attack them will only get cut down by Nina and Raifel's swords. And that is exactly the case when the Ice Dragon soldiers did and the result is foreseeable.
Just as Nina has just cut one down, others took its place, but Nina swiftly slice, cut, jab and dice them in the end. Beside her, Raifel fought well by slicing and destroying his enemies, sometimes five at the same time.
"Looks like you don't need my help after all! Your swordplay is much better than we had practiced together! Your moves are pretty good too!" He spoke as he smashed an ice soldier to pieces.
"It looks like my battle sense from 6 months ago has finally come back!" She replied as she swiftly destroy another ice soldier by gracefully avoiding its attack and attack it from its back.
"I believe so too! And it looks like we don't have to worry about our new friends as well! They got pretty good moves too!"
Nina then briefly looks down at the battle below, taking advantage of the brief lull in her fight. There she can see Zeke, the Wing Clan troops and her five friends have fought furiously with the Ice Dragon army on the ground. Zeke is indeed one of the most experience soldiers in the Windlan Army, for he swing his battle staff with deadly moves which smashes down his enemies in his range and those who challenge him.
Stella uses her bat'leth (to Nina it looks like a two ended scimitar) and begin attacking several ice soldiers advancing towards her. The first one tried to hit her with its arm but Stella evaded it and in turn slices its arm with one end of her sword then she swirl around and slice it in half from the torso. She charges the second one and slams her sword hard in the chest, causing it to stumble. With a loud cry, she uses her sword in an uppercut motion, slicing it into two. As she lands, she raised her left palm with her eyes closed and after chanting a word and a glow from one of the colored orbs attached to the sword's handholds, a fire magic blast out from her palm and burn the third ice soldier which comes from her left and melts it.
Bob, using his katar on each arm, begin his dance of death by charging towards his enemies (from Nina's point of view, the word 'victims' seems more appropriate), slicing them in a black blur, instantly disintegrating them into pieces. One of the ice soldiers tried to punch him when he stop his dance of death, but the punch only hit the air and instantly it was in several pieces before it could comprehend what has happen.
"Sorry pal! You're just not fast enough!" Bob said with a big smile.
Elsewhere, Robert gracefully uses his rapier to its full effect, slicing and jabbing his enemies as he goes. Then he stop and chant a single word and the green orb at the hilt of the rapier glows, and a stone the size of a small house slams into a group of enemies, shattering them.
"Perhaps you gentlemen need to be taught a lesson about manners in a battlefield!" He says as he jab an ice soldier with quick succession, effectively turning it into a beehive of holes.
Miyako is swirling her naginata and slash the ice soldiers who came too close to her while protecting Raquel's flank. Using her naginata's range and her skill, she began slashing several enemies in one blow and jab several of them as well. Raquel on the other hand has been chanting, unlike Stella and Robert which just chant one word, and begin firing several fire arrows that decimate the enemy's ranks. Some ice soldiers tried to approach her but they were cut down by Miyako.
"Princess! We've got company!!" Nina looks up from the battle below and destroying an ice soldier just in time. Nina knew that Raifel's right about her friends' ability to defend themselves and she will be sure to satisfy her curiosity about the 'materia' that Stella once told her about after this battle is over.
But after an hour of battle, the tide of the battle has turn for the worse. Just as the eight combatants continue fighting, they all heard a large scream. By the time they turn around to the source, they saw Wing Clan soldiers falling one by one until they are the only ones left standing.
"So soldiers with little battle experience are no match for them….." Zeke took a moment to analyze the situation and make the following comment calmly.
"This is not good! It seems there are only eight of us that can still fight!" Miyako shout to her friends with a hint of panic.
"In that case, it's time to bring out the artillery!!!" Everyone turn to look at Stella who chants and now glows with an aura.
"Hey! Wait a sec-!" Miyako's sentence was left unfinished when Stella cried out a single word.
"IFRIT!!!!"
The red orb that is attached to the handhold of her bat'leth glows brightly and soon a magic circle appeared behind her. Flames began spewing out of the magic circle like a geyser, then a giant red beast appeared with a roar.
Nina looks at the red beast that Stella had summoned with awe (in the case of both Zeke and Raifel slack, jawed). The beast is generally red in color, with a dragon like snout and has blue horns on its head and sometimes spouts out fire from its mouth.
"All right, Ifrit! Do your stuff!" Stella cried out to her beast and points her finger to the army of ice dragon soldiers in front of her.
Ifrit roared in agreement and charged towards them in a ball of flame, flying over them with all the ice soldiers burned by the resulting fire trailing behind Ifrit. Miyako shook her head and put her hand on her forehead.
"Oh well…..might as well let loose for just this time…." She sighed and begins to chant and glow with an aura.
"BAHAMUT!!!"
Same thing happens to her as the red orb attached to her naginata glows brightly as well, only difference is that the magic circle appears high above her head. A mighty roar can be heard and a dark shape falls from the magic circle then spread its black wings and fly. Nina is astonished to see a dragon and it looks like Ryu in Kaiser form but only it is black in color and has two large horns on its head and it has much bigger wings.
"Bahamut! Destroy the ice soldiers in front of me!" The dragon roared in reply and began gathering energy in its mouth and fires it at the ice soldiers, instantly obliterated them.
"Wow! Looks like you've got all of them." Bob commented after the smoke dispersed. Indeed, right in front of them what supposed to be an army there, nothing but plain field sans the snow replaces it. Fortunately, the injured Wing Clan troops are not in the path of the attacks so there are no friendly fire casualties.
Nina, Raifel and Zeke can only stared at the aftermath of the destructive power unleash by two summoned beasts. But they are not the only one. Kruce, who had not cast a single spell in the entire battle, was shocked to see the whole event unfold before him. He knew his army might get annihilated, but from what he had learned about the world since they were sealed, they do not possessed the ability to summon beasts to fight by their side. He was beginning to wonder who these 'pests' are when a shout caught his attention.
"KRUCE!!!"
He looks down and saw Nina, Raifel and Zeke have flied towards him in high speed.
"You won't get away with this!!!" Nina shouted in anger.
"Hmph! I honestly do not think that you all are capable! I thought my advance guard should be more than enough to take Windlan, the country said to be peace loving……I will be looking forward to actually meeting you."
Nina pierced Kruce when he finished his speech, only to find that it was just ice she had pierced, which astonish her.
"Ice?!" Raifel says with astonishment.
"Kruce must have used the ice as a reflection of himself. He was never here in the first place! I thought it was strange for a sorcerer such as him to not cast a single spell….." Zeke explained.
"That bastard! Thinking he can take Windlan with just an advance guard….That's an insult to us! But, then again…." Raifel looked down at his injured comrades at the ground. "I guess I really can't boast when the advance guard gave us such a huge damage…."
Already on the ground, Raquel and her friends have begun helping to heal the injured as best as they could. Both Stella and Miyako have thanked the summoned beasts for their help and the beasts return to their respective materia, ready to be summoned next time. They then proceed to help with the others. It seems luck is at their side after all for miraculously there are no fatalities among the friendly troops, despite the enemies attack.
"Pull yourself together! Your wound is shallow compare to the others!" Zeke put in a commanding tone to one of the wounded soldiers nearby.
"Yes sir….I'll be okay…." The soldier tried to stand up but he winced at the pain and crumpled to the ground.
"Wait! I'll heal you with my magic…" Nina began casting her magic but to her surprise the soldier stop her.
"No….Princess…..There's no need for you to heal these trifling wound of mine….Besides you should save it for Ryu…"
"Huh?"
"Out of deference to the king, we couldn't take your side…..but we all support you, Princess…..Please, go to the Imperial Capital and Ryu….."
Nina felt overwhelmed by their conviction and support of her fellow countrymen, who all wished her to go to the Imperial Capital. After a while, she smiled back to them proudly.
"….Thank you….Yes!! If I meet Kruce again, I'll make him suffer like we have, but only three times worse! Raifel! Stella! Miyako! Raquel! Bob! Robert! Let's go to the Imperial Capital and save Ryu!"
"That's right!!!" Raifel shouted with agreement with the others nodding their heads. Raifel then proceeds to transform himself into a great bird so the others can board him and travel.
"Hmmm….So this is the Great Bird we heard about from Gaist….Interesting…." Robert made the comment before boarding the bird with the others. Raifel then flaps his wings and fly along with Nina.
"Princess! I can't approve of you going to the Imperial Capital!!!" Zeke protested to her.
"You're so thick headed, Zeke!!" Nina shouted back then flew off in the distance.
"Wha….The princess is so vulgar…" Then Zeke noticed Raifel and his passengers have flown off as well. "Hey Raifel! You guys!" Zeke began cursing in his native tongue before spreading his wings to fly after them as well.
"Wait! Wait for me, Princess, Raifel!! I'm coming too!!!"
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Meanwhile, at the one of the hills near Windlan, Kruce was standing there and watching Nina and the others flying towards the direction of the Imperial Capital through one of his ice mirrors.
"Until the Ice Dragon King awakes, I will have to play with these insects for a little bit….It seems to be a long time since I have been on the ground…..and those humans…..whoever they are, they will regret opposing us in the end once I have finished with them……"
Then he laughs maniacally.
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At the same time, there is another activity going on in a remote island somewhere in the northern sea. The island is covered with snow like every other land, but the atmosphere is quite different. Near the snow field of the island, dozens of black armored warriors armed with various weaponry, from swords to pikes and to crossbows, are standing guard. Before them are what remains of the Ice Dragon soldiers in pieces, sent to occupy this island but never got the chance to carry out that order.
Behind these groups of warriors, there is a cave where much of the activity is concentrated. There, dozens of black hooded magicians were chanting in front of a huge door which has some sort of seal on it. A distinct purple hooded man is standing behind them and watches the progress unfold.
"Hmph….Finally we have located one of 'them', only to find the stupid seal very powerful that it will take us time to unlock it…..But like that clan, this seal will fall in matter of time….."
"Astral!!!!"
The purple hooded man known as Astral narrowed his eyes and turn to see a big man with a scar on his right eye and donned in black armor walked in, his hammer carried on his shoulder as a support.
"Continue with your task. I won't be long." One of the magicians nodded his head and went to relay the order.
"What is it, Gaster? Can't you see I'm busy?" Astral spoke with an irritated voice.
"Those Ice Dragon soldiers did not present a challenge at all!! They so called most powerful warriors are not here!! I will like to go the mainland and face them in combat!!!"
"Do you have to think about fighting to satiate your battle lust? In case you didn't notice, our presence here must not be found out by anyone, not to those Ice Dragon fools and the eight heroes! Those Ice Dragons are useful only for our distraction and therefore not to be destroy…..Unless you want to complain it to our Masters…..They can 'help' you with that…."
"No…I wouldn't dare….but that witch has went to the mainland though!!"
"Sariana has been dispatched there to observe the situation, not interfere and fighting like you….Now get back to your post, Gaster! You got to make sure those stupid Ice Dragons never make it here alive….."
Just then, a black armored warrior went in and interrupts their conversation.
"My lords! Another wave of Ice Dragon soldiers approaching!"
"See? Now go out there and kill them all. I have a seal to crack." With that, he went to the sealed door and proceeds with the ceremony. Gaster grunted at Astral's back, but went out with the warrior to prepare for another bloodbath.
Time:Goddess Era 2520
Location:Forests near Highfort
A zombie's head has just been displaced by a sword, wielded by a certain blue haired teenager. He breathes out a sigh of relief and look at his friends, who have just finished off a group of zombies and skeleton swordsmen, which they have encountered recently. Ever since they made first contact with the Hybrid when they first entered the forest, they have encounter such creatures again, one of each encounter, besides the usual zombies, skeleton knights and skeleton warriors.
Thanks to the experience of fighting the first one and the fact there is only one per encounter, Ryu and his friends has no trouble dispatching them. Even so, Ryu is still worry about the situation if they encounter more than one. Sure, against one they may have the upper hand, but against more of them he doubt it is going to be easy. He also wonders how his friend Sten is doing. Last he heard Sten has been promoted to General of the Imperial Guard in charge of protecting the Queen, talk about huge responsibility but Ryu believes he is more than capable to do that, despite his occasional quirkiness.
Now he hopes he and his friends could get to Highfort without trouble and assess the situation. That way, as Jack suggested, they might also find out who is the culprit behind all this and put a stop to this. Highlanders may be warrior clan but they are still living beings who needs food and rest while their enemies compose of only undead and they have no need for such things…..
"Something on your mind?"
Ryu jerked his head up and relaxed when he sees it is Jack who was talking to him.
"Just thinking about the current situation…….Wonder if everyone at the castle is ok…."
"Hey! Don't worry! You say the Highlanders are warrior clan, right? Besides with some of the veteran rangers and your friend Sten there, I believe they probably kick those undead asses by now!"
"…." Ryu tried to smile back but his worry look still betray him.
"If you're still worry about them, then we should double time and get to Highfort then! After we find out who the hell is behind this, we'll kick his ass back to the hole he came from!"
"You just put my thought out of my mouth but thanks for being considerate, Jack." Jack then gave him a wink and a thumbs up.
"Anytime Ryu! But speaking of Highfort, are we there yet?" He looks around of his surrounding. "I feel like we have been walking in circles lately."
"Unfortunately, you were right. We have been walking in the same place at least seven times now……" Everyone then turn to look at Xing Long who walks toward them with his katana unsheathe.
"Huh? How do you know about that?" Katt asks.
Xing Long then pointed his katana at the nearby tree that has seven straight line marks on it. "See that? I have already marked it on this particular tree since I find it familiar the first time around. I believe we are here for at least 2 hours now….."
"What!!! Why didn't you say so in the first place!!?" Yua shouted at him with a disbelief expression.
"You guys are too busy killing monsters and frankly I couldn't find the right time to say it until now." Xing Long replied with a straight face, which made Yua tapping her foot in frustration.
"So, in other words, we are lost….." Nina spoke softly. Zack immediately glare at Xing Long.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place? Now you made Nina worry because of you not telling us!"
"You basically ask the same question like Yua did…..and are you deaf? Haven't you heard what I just said to Yua?"
"Why you…!"
"Stop it! That's enough! Save your anger for the undead!" Selphie stop them before an argument broke out.
"She's right. Getting into an argument with each other will not change the fact we are lost. Blaming Xing Long as well is useless." Nina spoke as well, which Zack lower his head in shame.
"Yeah…I guess you're right. Sorry for lashing out at you, Xing Long." Xing Long, Jack and Selphie looks at him with shock since Zack never easily apologise after insulting someone even though he is the guilty one. Diana just laughs softly to herself.
"Apology accepted." Xing Long quickly recovers and responded to Zack.
"Now that is out of the way, what should we do, buddies? Damn it, if Spar is here, we would be out of this forest in no time!" Bow spoke.
"Spar? Is he one of your traveling companions you guys told us about? The one with Treeman Clan?"
"That's a Grassman Clan, Zack. And yes, he is. He can communicate with trees to know what happen in the area and he can navigate forests better than anyone else. Someone you definitely want especially in our situation." Bow explained.
Before anyone can say any further, there was a cracking sound and Ryu is the first to turn to the origin of the sound, only to find something sailed towards him. He quickly snapped his arm up, catching it before it could connect. Everyone gaped with disbelief while Ryu have a crooked grin on his face for he held a vine-like whip.
"Nice try, Spar."
Ryu then look at the direction where the other end of the whip originate and a figure began to materialize out of it. Jack take a good look at him and just as what Ryu and the others have described to him, his face does look like feminine and his cloths seems to made up of leaves, giving him a perfect blend in with the environment.
"Wow….We were just talking about you and you just came out….What a good way to say hello to your friends…" Bow shrugged to his friend.
"I was merely testing Ryu's ability to react and it seems that three months has not weakened you at all." Spar spoke logically.
"Well, I'm still as fast as I was before. Oh yeah, I need to introduce you to…."
"I know. This is Jack, Selphie, Zack, Diana and Xing Long. And to answer your question of how I know your names, the forest have already told me while you were here." He spoke with a straight face to the shocked said group.
"So you already know, good old Spar. Then you should know by now the seriousness of the situation." Ryu spoke with a tone of seriousness.
"Indeed I do, Ryu. Highfort is indeed in need of assistance. Come! I shall show you the fastest way to reach there." With that said, he turns towards the path. The others then follow him shortly.
Just as Bow said about Spar's ability to go through the forest, he has help led the group out of the forest in half an hour and reach the gates of Highfort itself. But there are no guards visible at the post and the gate is retracted, making it impassable through the wide chasm.
"All right….so how do we get in if the bridge is not down and no one to help?" Selphie noted to her friends. Ryu sighed at the situation.
"Well, time to put my dragon power to good use. Stay back, everyone!" Ryu began to concentrate as an aura began to envelope him. Then he cried out and soon the aura dissipates to reveal 15 foot tall dragon.
Jack and his four friends stare at Ryu with awe and Ryu began gesturing everyone to climb on his back. Everyone complied and the dragon soon flaps his wings and flies over the wall, landing softly inside the fortress. After he has made sure his passengers disembark, he changed back to human-looking Ryu.
"So? What do you guys think?" He pointed that question with a grin to Jack and the others, who are still speechless.
"That will have to wait. Have you all seen or hear anything yet?" Spar spoke and everyone look around them. Indeed, once Jack observes the town, he found that there was evidence of life all right with baskets of fruit and carts abandoned in the now deserted pavement. No sound can be heard as well, making it looks like a ghost town.
"I didn't hear anything….Do you guys think we're…." Selphie says timidly.
"Don't say that, Selphie. Don't." Xing Long spoke with a tone of neutrality.
Suddenly, a bell rang several times in a distance and a voice, amplified by magic artifact, began to announce in an urgent voice.
"All available personnel to the east section immediately! We have a breach of defense perimeter! I repeat! All available personnel to the east section now!"
"That was Trubo's voice! The leader of the Highlander's elite shock troopers!!" Nina spoke with a hint of surprise.
"If he sounds urgent, that means the situation can't be good! We've got to help them." Zack immediately unsheathe his boomerang swords.
"So buddy, what do you say?" Bow cocked his crossbow with a grim expression.
"You don't have to ask me about that." Ryu replied grimly as he unsheathes his sword as well.
"Then let's go!" Soon everyone began racing towards the section, eager to help the defenders repel the undead threat. On their way there, they saw several Highlander soldiers and rangers heading to that direction as well. Some of the soldiers look at them with a surprise expression, probably wondering how these people get in the castle. Just then Ryu and Bow recognized one of the rangers who head there as well.
"Ranger Kale!!" The said ranger stops, turns around and faces them. He is a man with short black hair and black beard, with streaks of grey hair. His face, though age, has show that he is a wise and skillful warrior.
"Ryu! Bow! Since when did you…Oh never mind that! We have bigger problems at hand! You can fill me in later!" Kale says as they all race to the section.
"How bad is it?"
"Worse. Those creatures managed to dig their way through some sort of underground cavern right under Highfort and smashed their way out. We've managed to contain them but they have kept up the pressure on these two important points. I doubt we can last much longer if this keeps going."
"The creatures you mentioned….Do they have spider body at the lower torso and has human body with a snake tail?" Bow asks.
"So you met them…..Yep, never seen anything like it. These creatures are the worse things I ever seen in my years as a ranger and quite an effective killing machine too." Kale replied grimly.
The conversation ended when they reach the scene of the battlefield and Ryu and his friends are horrified at what they saw. They are corpses everywhere, ranging from Highlanders, Hybrids and some rangers to zombies and skeletons. Wailings of injured and dying, call for assistance, help and war cries can be heard in the background and there are various fortifications being build around a giant hole, presumably where the undead attacks from.
"Woah! You guys are probably the last people I expected in this hell hole." Everyone turn to see a monkey with higher ranking (judging from its armor Jack noted) jumping down from a nearby wall, fatigue and exhaustion has taken a toll on him with his shoulders drooped as evidence.
"Trubo! We heard the situation is bad! Is everything ok now?" Nina asks with concern.
"Yeah, for now. We managed to beat them back for now, but I don't know when they will attack again."
"When did this attack happen?" Ryu asks as he looks at injured soldiers and rangers alike being taken by medics to nearby shelters and other soldiers and rangers running around doing their tasks.
"About a week ago. These creatures just suddenly break through the ground in this pavement you saw and started attacking. Fortunately we managed to contain them and keep them bog down. But these creatures and undead have been attacking us through night and day, we barely have enough time to rest, let alone seal the hole they make. We may hold them off now, but there's no telling how we can keep defending with the condition my men in."
"Then the army of undead that now surrounds the area…."
"Possibly choking off more reinforcements from helping us or preventing us from escaping. I'll tell you, if we don't find a way to stop them, we might be overrun anytime soon."
"Where's Sten now?" Ryu spoke with a hint of desperation in his voice; consider he heard so many bad news in one day did not help at all.
"He's at the north section where there is another hole has been opened up. The fighting is the most ferocious there……"
Before the commander could finish his sentence, a ranger cried out from the wall has everyone turn their heads to him.
"Heads up!!! Incoming second wave!!!!"
Ryu give a quick glance at his friends, as if conveying his orders to them wordlessly. Everyone began springing to action, with Bow and Diana climbing up to the nearest wall, Nina flying to another wall, Jack, Zack, Xing Long, Spar, Yua and Katt spread out along with Ryu to the frontline. Both Kale and Turbo began barking their command to their troops and they all prepared their weapons.
Jack noticed that Highlanders never seem to arm themselves with heavier weapons, for they are equip with daggers and katar, some with short swords as their melee weapons while instead of bows and arrows, they are armed with slingshots as ranged weapons. The rangers on the other hand never wear heavy armor, relying on agility to compensate in battle. Their weapons consist of long swords, pikes, spears, long bows and crossbows.
The loud inhuman cry sound cut Jack's thought short as the Hybrids, along with zombies and skeletons, began climbing out of the hole. Both Kale and Turbo have ordered their men to open fire and soon rains of fire arrows and bombs flying towards their targets, blowing a good number of them. But that was soon replaced by more and in a few moments later, the combatants have entered melee combat.
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Meanwhile, on top of the forest's airspace, the Great Bird has been flying at the same area for some time, wondering how Nina and her friends are doing and whether they have already left the forest or not.
Without warning, a sphere suddenly fired out from somewhere within the forest and immediately encased the bird inside, giving it no time at all to react except a squark in surprise.
Mina tried to free itself from the magic sphere but to no avail. Soon the ball flew towards back to a field in the middle of the forest, where three black armored persons are waiting there.
"Ah yes….Finally I have caught you, little bird. It is a good thing you flew in the same place so that I could easily find and capture you. After all, I did invest some time and effort to make sure the Destined Child and his allies to bring you here, not the usual teleportation spell that will have you obsolete."
"Grrrr….If you have finished mumbling to yourself, Sindri….We should quickly finished this 'errand' as soon as possible."
"Don't be so impatient, Lord Bale. This is a precious 'cargo' in this era where she is the only one in the whole world. I wouldn't want to 'damage' her in some way that will displease our ally."
"Forgive me for asking, Sindri. But why is this bird useful to our ally? I failed to see the logic of that in terms of tactical." The two men turn to see the third warrior who is clad in black armor, has black beard and hair and his spear is slung behind his back.
"My dear Ptolomea (1), this bird of course does not have strategic value of any kind. But our ally has more use of her since this bird was once a human. More precisely a Wing Clan Princess who have sacrificed her humanity to help the Destined Child and his allies to defeat St Eva Church." He turns to the bird who is still struggling against the magical bind.
"And now our ally wants to use her to….how should I say….to advance their knowledge on a certain experiments….."
"It pains me to use this individual for a lunatic experiment of a mad man, even though it is for our long term benefit…..She has already sacrificed enough……"
"Because your honor will not allowed it? Ptolomea, you must be careful on how you use that honor, it might become your downfall in the end. We are here not to judge someone who is nothing but a tool but to fulfill a greater purpose set by our Masters which even these lunatics will never dream of. You should know that by now."
Ptolomea looks as if he is not satisfied with the decision but he remains silence. Bale then spoke in an irritated manner.
"Now that it is decided, we should go now and deliver this bird. That way our ally will not have to bug us all the time."
"Agreed, Lord Bale. Now shall we all go?"
Sindri then raised his staff up and began chanting some arcane magic, then a black light soon engulf them all in a flash and disappear, leaving only a few rainbow-colored feathers behind.
(1) Ptolomea – A villain from Wild Arms 2, probably one of the rarest enemy that still has the sense of honor in every game you could think of.