Final Fantasy: Rise of Despair
When we last left the main party; Laura attempted to turn the tide of the battle in her favor, at first she seemed to have won, but Heidi pushed herself to the limit not willing to let Harris down. Heidi managed to pull off a victory by feigning her own defeat and after some words of encouragement from Harris, Heidi and Kyle, Laura decided to lend her assistance. Now the group heads off to Uladon Bog to meet with clan Phantom.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, I do own the characters and plot.
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Tiring journey
"So how long will it take to get to Uladon Bog?" Monty asked.
"Well, we'll need one day to get out of this desert." Harris begun.
"And we still need to cross Aisenfield, which adds another day to our travels." Hunter finished while looking at the map.
"Ugh… couldn't it be a little longer?" Mendoza asked.
"Why?" Gilbert asked.
"Uh well uh…" Mendoza and Monty both began to stammer.
"It wouldn't happen to be because of ghosts would it?" Came an eerie voice from behind them.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Both of them screamed.
"Ha ha ha ha. You two can't really believe in ghosts can you?" Heidi asked as she made herself visible in front of the two.
"Ugh… don't scare Mendoza like that again." Monty gasped.
"Hey! You were more afraid than I was!" Mendoza argued.
"Oh my… what the hell is that?" Hunter asked with an absolutely terrified look on his face.
"WHAT IS IT?!?" Monty and Mendoza screamed as they turned to where Hunter was looking.
"Oh man you guys are gullible." Hunter laughed.
"NOT FUNNY!" They both yelled.
"What an interesting group." Laura said.
"Indeed it is Laura." Kyle said in response.
"…" Harris was practically oblivious to all of this. He was lost in his thoughts. "Each step I'm taking now is just bringing me closer and closer to something I never wanted to deal with ever again. But…god why did I even start this journey?" Harris asked himself.
"Harris?" Heidi took notice of Harris ignoring everything behind him. "Is something bothering you?" She asked.
"Hm?" Harris looked at Heidi. Then sighed while giving a smile. "No, it's nothing." He assured her.
"… If you say so." Heidi said, although clearly still concerned about Harris.
"Right… I promised her that one day the suffering the Black King caused would one day end." Harris told himself. "Although I didn't even think that it would lead me to… no, maybe there is a chance to avoid it." Harris continued to think.
"What did you just call me!" Hunter yelled.
"You heard me." Laura responded.
"Aw man…"
That night…
"This is pretty good considering that this is traveling food." Laura commented. Everyone was around a fire and drinking some kind of stew.
"I try pretty hard." Heidi answered.
"Heidi was always the best one at cooking in our clan." Gilbert said.
"What? I can't cook?" Harris asked, almost joking.
"Wasn't the last time he cooked that time he completely burnt the chocobo meat?" Monty asked.
"Clanmaster Harris, with all due respect how did you live when you traveled on your own?" Mendoza asked.
"Uh well uh… I have my ways." Harris commented.
"Oh well, it's not like you had to suffer through it for long, I mean you couldn't have traveled by yourself for too long." Kyle pointed out.
"I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell these guys, I'm older than I look." Harris stressed.
"You certainly talk like it." Heidi added.
"Hey." Harris retorted. Everyone, including Harris got a good laugh out of that.
"Well, it's getting late." Hunter said.
"Very well, I'll be taking watch then." Harris said as he stood up.
"Not tonight Harris." Heidi asserted.
"Hm? Why not?" Harris asked.
"You've taken the watch every single night since we started this journey." Heidi said.
"I told you that I got some sleep on the boat." Harris said.
"I'm still not letting you go three nights in a row without sleep." Heidi said.
"Alright, fine fine. You win." Harris said giving a defeated smile. He turned around to unroll his sleeping bag, his smile quickly disappeared and turned to a sad look in his face.
A little while later, almost everyone was asleep. The only ones awake were Laura and Heidi. "You know, you're quite lucky to have someone like Harris." Laura said.
"Hm?" Heidi looked at her curiously.
"I can tell that you two can trust each other with anything. How did you two end up meeting, it's almost like you grew up together." Laura said.
"No that's not the case." Heidi answered.
"Well come on, tell me a little more. You told me that Harris has had a lot of influence on you." Laura pointed out.
"Oh very well then." Heidi said. "We met eight years ago. I was a mercenary for hire and Harris was a wandering swordsman. I ran in to him on a job." Heidi's eyes kind of watered up a bit. "A little while after I met him, I began to question what I was doing for a living." Heidi said.
"What do you mean?" Laura asked.
"During my time as a mercenary, I was hired mostly for assassinations. After I met him I started questioning just who my victims were. I began to wonder just how many good people I had killed believing what I was doing was the right thing since it would help me protect someone important to me back then."
"That sounds…" Laura started.
"I soon started to doubt myself completely. I began to realize that what I thought was a few sacrifices to do the right thing was just completely wrong. I felt like that I had been telling myself a great lie all my life." Heidi said as she started to tear up. "But, I found Harris again, he offered to help me. And after he helped me out, he offered for me to travel with him. He has taught me a lot since then."
"That's so… romantic really." Laura said.
"Uh well… it wasn't anything like that." Heidi said, you could tell that she was probably blushing underneath her mask. "He taught me how to refine my swordsmanship, he taught me to be more effective with my archery, he taught me a lot of morals as well." Heidi said.
"Hm… you must know a lot about him. Did he ever tell you what his parents were like, they must have been great parents." Laura said.
"Well…" Now that she thought about it. Harris had never once mentioned any family or any past relations that he had. He may have mentioned a friend once or twice when he was referencing something but never who that friend might have been.
"Oh! How stupid of me! It's none of my business to pry. I should just get to bed." Laura said. "By the way… you could have gone a lot harder on me in that fight than you did. Couldn't you?" Laura asked. Heidi just gave looked at her; Laura smiled and then pulled out her own sleeping bag and crawled in.
"She's been a lot more friendly since I defeated her." Heidi said. She surveyed the sleeping bags, and then noticed the one Harris was in. "Wait a minute…" Heidi walked over and pulled the sleeping bag off. Most of Harris' equipment and outer clothing was in a wad beneath it. "Where did he go?" Heidi looked around and noticed a small area of boulders and such a little ways away from the camp.
Heidi walked over to this area and peeked around a boulder and opened her eyes wide open in surprise.
"245… 246… 247…" Heidi saw Harris in his work-out shorts with weights strapped around his arms and legs doing handstand push-ups while balancing a boulder on his feet.
"Why is he doing this at this time of night?" Heidi thought to herself. She thought about going over there and trying to convince him to get some sleep but she decided against it and kept watching.
"…I need to think of another way. Oh, but I'm only fooling myself there really isn't another alternative is there?" Harris thought to himself. He let the boulder crush the ground behind him, he sprung off of his hands and landed on top of the boulder he just dropped.
"Something must be bothering him." Heidi thought. Harris had now put his hands up while taking a certain stance. Harris began doing punches and kicks in rhythmic succession while keeping the weights strapped on to him.
"Hiyah! Hiyah! Yah! Ha!" Harris yelled with each punch and kick. The sweat was finally starting to drop from his face as he continued to do this routine for countless minutes, finally finishing by punching the boulder he was previously balancing and causing about half of it to crumble. "Ha… ha…" Harris stopped to catch his breath for a moment. "So… how long have you been standing there?" Harris asked as Heidi walked out from behind the rock she was hiding behind.
"For a long while." Heidi simply answered. "Harris, something is bothering you." Heidi said.
"…" Harris stayed silent.
"It has something to do with this journey doesn't it?" Heidi asked.
"…" Harris closed his eyes for a moment, and then let out a heavy sigh. "After that battle you had with Laura, at that moment that made it look as though you had been killed, for that one moment that even fooled me, I began to question myself." Harris began.
"Harris…" Heidi started.
"As someone who holds the title of being a leader has many responsibilities thrust on to their shoulders, and as this journey goes on we'll be facing things much worse than what we have so far." Harris said looking at the moon above them. "Will I be able to make the right decisions? Can I really be responsible for everyone's lives?" Harris asked.
"Harris, I believe that you can do it." Heidi said. "I know I can believe in you. Just like you believed in me." Heidi said. Harris paused for a moment and let that sink in. He then turned around and gave a comforting smile.
"Thank you Heidi."
"Your welcome." Heidi said softly. "Now promise me you'll get some sleep." Heidi said.
"All right." Harris sighed. As they walked back, Harris began to think to himself. "Well Heidi, I'm glad that you do believe in me." Harris thought with a smile. "…but I wish that was all that was troubling me. Heidi, I'm so sorry, but there is something about me that you must never know." Harris thought as his face turned to a frown.
The next day…
"We are finally out of that blasted desert!" Monty shouted happily.
"I was getting kind of used to it." Mendoza grumbled.
"Are you nuts kupo? I couldn't stand that place." Monty said back to him.
"Hey, that desert is practically our home." Kyle said.
"Sorry…" Monty said.
"Ah… sweet grass…" Hunter sighed happily as they entered Aisenfield.
"I take it that you don't get out of the forest much do you weakling?" Laura asked.
"Gah! Will you stop calling me that?" Hunter asked angrily.
"Only if you can prove that you are strong." Laura said rather simply.
"Ugh… How about I fight you." Hunter challenged.
"No way, with my mana I'd easily cast enough spells to beat you." Laura said.
"Augh, I'm getting tired of this. Just what the heck is mana?" Monty asked. Everyone stopped walking, turned around and stared at him in silence. "What? Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"Of all the most common pieces of knowledge there is you don't know about mana?" Heidi asked.
"Uh well…"
"Very well, I'll explain." Harris said. The group started walking again. "Mana is an essential magical element inside everyone's body." Harris said.
"So it's a part of your body." Monty guessed.
"Well, it is, and it isn't" Gilbert said.
"Huh?"
"If you were to cut open a body you wouldn't be able to see mana flowing through someone's body." Laura continued. "Although you can't see it mana is present in everyone."
"Okay, so what's the big deal?" Monty asked.
"Mana is used by nearly everyone to perform certain actions." Heidi continued with the explanation. "Most prominently, magic users use mana to cast spells. Each time they use a spell they lose a certain amount of mana that depends on how the powerful the spell is and how well the user controls their mana." Heidi explained.
"Control?" Monty asked.
"Well you know my spellblade techniques like firesword and such?" Mendoza asked.
"Yeah."
"Well those techniques are the best example of mana control I can think of. If I don't control my mana properly then I can't maintain any of my magical sword skills." Mendoza said.
"It is possible to use too much mana while casting a spell and exhausting yourself, so therefore mana control is quite essential." Gilbert continued.
"However there are many other uses for mana." Kyle said.
"Like what?" Monty asked.
"Well if we took the time to explain them all to you we'd need a farther away destination." Harris said. "Although spells are the most widely used way of using mana, mana can be used to enhance your senses, to give weapons a different property momentarily. Various methods really. You use mana when you use your special gunmanship abilities." Harris explained.
"Oh, I never realized." Monty said.
"That's because gunmanship doesn't drain mana when you use it." Harris said.
"If you want to know something interesting it is possible to tell how much mana a person has." Gilbert said.
"Really, how?" Monty asked.
"That takes a fair deal of meditation. It also has a lot to do with someone's natural ability." Kyle said.
"How much does everyone have?" Monty asked excitedly.
"Well let me see…" Harris seemed to be in thought for a moment. "Monty, you have the least."
"Aw…"
"Hunter has the second to least amount." Heidi said.
"Mendoza has third to least." Kyle said.
"Kyle has more than you three." Gilbert said.
"Heidi has more than Kyle." Harris said.
"I have more than most of you but…" Gilbert started to say.
"I have more than you do." Laura said proudly.
"And… Harris has the most." Heidi said. "Which might I add is quite unusual for a paladin." Heidi said.
"Hey, I spent a lot of time studying white magic." Harris said.
"What about how fast you are?" Kyle asked.
"I spent a lot of time studying Ninja skill." Harris said further.
"Clanmaster Harris, I am in awe at the time you found to be able to study such a variety of skills." Mendoza said.
"Ugh… I'm older than I look." Harris stressed again.
That night…
Heidi once again forced Harris to sleep this time, although she herself was quite tired. It only made her wonder how the heck he managed to do this so many nights in succession. Heidi looked over all the sleeping bags once again to make sure that everyone was asleep. Yep, everyone was in his or her sleeping bag. "I'm glad Harris is finally getting some rest." Heidi thought to herself. "Who's there?" She asked as she ran in to some bushes.
While Heidi was away, Harris started to breathe harder in his sleep. He turned over, his face was covered in sweat as his eyes closed tighter and his lips tightened. Harris then awoke with a start, a few teardrops falling from his eyes. "It was… only a dream…the same one since… that time…" Harris thought to himself as he wiped away his tears and dried up his face. Harris looked at his bandaged arm, and then gave a saddened sigh.
"Harris? Why are you awake?" Heidi asked coming out from the bushes.
"Hm… oh. Uh… rough time sleeping." Harris answered.
"By the way… I caught a little rat following us." Heidi said as she held up non-other than Brently the Joker by the arm.
"Ow ow ow ow! Let me go darn it!" Brently said.
"Sheesh, you again. Are you stalking us or something?" Harris asked.
"Nope. I just swam up close to here when I fell in to the canal last time." Brently said.
"Well, we're going to have to… aw he did it again." Heidi sighed as she looked at the doll replica of Brently. "How does he keep doing that?" Heidi asked.
"I don't know." Harris sighed.
The next day…
The group was finally in Uladon bog. It was rather foggy that day. "Aw man… fog." Monty moaned.
"That's a sure sign of ghosts." Mendoza groaned.
"Oh for crying out loud. There are no such things as ghosts." Laura stressed.
"Although there are zombies and vampires." Hunter said oddly cheerfully.
"Oh that's comforting." Monty said sarcastically.
"Relax, we just have to meet with clan Phantom and get them to lend their support." Heidi said.
"That's what I'm getting worried about, but it looks like there's no turning back now." Harris thought. "Hang on a moment." Harris said. Everyone stopped. "Does anyone else feel that?" He asked.
"Now that you mention it, something does feel odd." Kyle said.
"Gyah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Came a sinister echo.
"What was that?" Monty asked. The fog thickened, making the damp ground and pools of water around them very hard to see.
"You have entered the spirit's bog, and now… you will reap the consequences." The voice continued.
"Oh man…" Mendoza said.
"Oh please, it's obviously an advanced form of ventriloquism." Gilbert sighed.
"Oh really? What do I look like to you then?" The voice asked. A transparent image of a very vague and blurry figure appeared and moaned. "Uwooooooooaaaaahhhhh…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! A GHOST!!!" Monty and Mendoza shouted. They quickly ran for the nearest pool of water and dived underneath it.
"Oh please." Harris sighed. "Cure." Harris cast a white aura on the transparent figure and nothing happened. "Monty, Mendoza, come out." Harris said. Monty and Mendoza poked their heads out of the water. "If that was an undead creature it would have reacted negatively to my white magic spell."
"Oh." They said as they climbed out of the pools.
"You see guys, nothing to worry about, it's just an illusion." Hunter assured them.
"So, you doubt my power. Very well then, I shall demonstrate my might!!!" The voice shouted. Suddenly the water pools around them erupted with water. Soon the water started to form a wave that was about to crash on our heroes.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The two screamed.
"Oh relax, this isn't undead magic." Laura said.
"Oh… phew." Monty sighed.
"So it's just another illusion." Mendoza said in relief.
"Hm… oh she didn't say it wasn't a magic spell though." Harris said.
"What?"
"This is indeed a magic spell, and a very well done casting of the spell if I do say so myself." Harris said.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Damn… no way of avoiding this." Kyle said.
"This… is not a great start." Heidi said as the waves were about to crash on them all.
"We'll be crushed with this much water!" Gilbert uncharacteristically shouted.
"This… is a problem." Harris sighed.
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Yep, I'm leaving it here for now. Man I've been evil with my chapter endings lately. Mua ha ha ha ha ha.