Soory this took so long, the end is nigh!

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Still dazed from the massive release of energy within the Celestial Nexus, my legs wobbled and I couldn't even see straight. The only thing I knew was that I was alone and the tremendous structure in the distance was my goal. The area was the strangest thing I had seen in a while. The air had a blueish cast to it and the ground was transparent. Every step made it bend as if it wasn't totally solid. Like walking on a waterbed or something. My head throbbed and that made the area seem even more bizzare. I didn't walk so much as lumbered towards the far off complex. All the while it seemed as if voices were whispering in my head. I don't know if this was a real phenomena or just a side efect from my heavy fatigue. I was tired. Tired, burnt out and in pain from various wounds I had recieved. I couldn't believe that I was even walking. I had two hopes at the moment: that I would run into my compainions along the way and they would all be safe and sound, or that they were all just as mind-numbingly smart as I and had walked themselves to the cermet building. As a matter of fact I wondered if half of them were even still alive. After the vicious attack by Kam'lanaut I only hoped that Sakaki, Tomo and Leslie hadn't been mortally wounded. Even though it looked as such. All I could do though was stare at the towering structure ahead of me and keep walking.

"What dossst thou want...from thisss sssacred ground?", a hissing voice said from beside me.
"Wha!? Who's there? Show yourself!", I spun in a complete circle yet no one was to be seen.
"What...dossst thou want here?", the voice asked from the air itself.
"I'll tell you when I can see you!", I yelled into the sky.
"Ssssso be it...", it said and out of pure atmosphere coalesced the form a faintly ethereal, glowing, nearly white, but not quite being. It had membranous wings on it's back, but it did not use them to stay aloft. It's legs were short and crunched back into it's body. The arms extended past the legs and ended in claws. It's head was small. Eyes recessed. Mouth, nothing but a slit. It was like some sort of perverted angel.
"I sssshow myself, answer the quessstion human.", it said without moving it's mouth.
I didn't fear it. I was too tired to fear it. "I dunno how I ended up here, but now I'm looking for my friends. That's it.", I said.
"Friendsss..humansss too?", it said.
"Yes! Five girls and one man. Have you seen them?", I was excited, of course.
"I asssk them ssame quesstionss. Ansswer ssame asss you.", it said.
"Where are they!?", I grappled with my emotions. Right now I just wanted to find them and get the hell out of here.
"Gate of Godsss", it pointed one claw finger across the landscape at the towers in the distance.
"They went inside!?", I asked.
"Very important man-friend, let them in.", the being said.
"Azura?", I asked,"The man in the robes"
"No...a young man.Yellow...hairss", the thing answered.
This was bad. The only 'young man with yellow hair' I had met here had be Eald'narche. He was most definately leading them on. Hell of a lot of good that does me. "I need to get there!", I practically yelled.
"Yesss...allow me to..tesst your virtue.", it said.
"Wha...?", I began to question.
At that moment it felt as if my head was being assaulted by an entire colony of Belkirk beetles. It was like a wicked sting to my brain. My entire mind collapsed for a moment before reforming. The haze of my eyes cleared and I looked up at the being.
"You carry much...worry..in your heart.", it told me.
"Cut the shit.", I said, quite purturbed, "Are you going to show me the way or not"
The thing paused.
"As you wisssh.", it slurred.
All I did was blink and I was no longer where I was before. Instead of the vast expanse of ground and the towers in the distance, I was before a massive doorway recessed into the immense cermet building. I began to feel extreme fear, for no apparent reason. I couldn't stop myself from shaking.
"All you need, isss to sstep through the portal.", the thing spoke from the bare air.
I tried to move, but my fear prevented me.
"I..I can't.", I admitted.
"Fear isss powerful.", the voice said.
"H..how do I overcome the fear?", I asked.
"You know the anssswer...", the voice told me.
Strangely enough, I did know the answer. I only had to think of my purpose. My entire reason for continuing this epic travel. If my friends didn't matter to me I wouldn't have gone this far, suffered through so much. Grief, pain, fatigue, uncertainty. All these to end up here. For what? So that I could save someone that I had sworn to protect. I wouldn't let that promise go to waste here. With my teeth gritted I began to move. Far more confident than I was before. I had realized what I had to do. My determination beat out the massive taste of fear. The vestibule of the building was an array of nearly translucent celadon arches. Every surface shined as if metallic. The floor seemed well polished as well. The door at the far end of the small vestibule was open wide, yet I could not see where it lead. Cautiously, I approached. A scream pierced the air and echoed off the arched rafters of the room. The scream was immediately recognizable. Leslie. She was at least alive. For the moment. I pumped my tired legs to reach the doorway. Racing through, I saw that the battle against Eald'narche had already begun. Eald'narche was levitating above the ground, his eyepatch removed to reveal a deep purplish glowing pit where his left eye should have been. He looked ungodly angry as he grimaced at Leslie who was being held standing by Sakaki. The rest of my companions were scattered about the large hall. All standing on their own two feet, so at least that was refreshing. It was then that I noticed the form of Kaorin slumped against an inhumanly tall shining door at the far end of the room.
I screamed, "Your fight is with me"
Eald'narche looked in my direction. "About time you showed up.", his voice seemed doubled, maybe tripled.
"Mista' Prior! Get outta here!", a lilting, familiar voice called out to me.
"Ayumu...?", I looked beyond Eald'narche to see the speaker.
I have no idea why I had not noticed this earlier. The speaker was undoubtably Ayumu Kasuga. Known as Osaka to her friends. Yet, she was dressed like a blue mage. It clicked. She was the Soulforged. Had this not ben so dramatic of a situation, this revalation would have floored me. How could someone so airheaded by the most powerful blue mage ever eluded my grasp, but this was not the time to think about that.
"Leave Mista' Prior! Ah can handle 'em!", she said to me.
Eald'narche grinned an evil grin. What else is new.
"If he says my fight is with him...SO BE IT!!", he yelled the last part as his body released a coloured wave of energy. Strangly, I seemed unaffected by it. My companions, on the other hand, seemed to be having trouble moving.
"Gah! I can't move!", Tomo yelled as she struggled to move her feet.
Eald'narche cackled. "You and me now, Prior...I have enough honour to give you the chance to fight before I finish my ascent to godhood"
I gulped a lump in my throat and gripped the mace that once contained Azura's spirit in my sweaty palms. To thell the truth, I was scared to death, as I'm sure anyone else would be. Yet somehow, I need to do this. I glanced over to Azura. He just looked at me, expressionless.
"This is it then.", I said directly to Eald'narche.
"Yes, Starguard. The end. For you. For your friends. A new age is upon Vana'diel. That age is me!", echoed the voice of Zilart prince Eald'narche.

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stay tuned for the epic conclusion to The Soulforged! Details on the final installment of the Fated to Live series in the next, and final chapter.

-peace-