Duelist of Dawn: Here comes another chapter, I'm really feeling good after the last one.
Ronald: That's because we're finally out of that damn forest! Praise the lord!
Duelist of Dawn: Okay, is anybody but me seeing double around here?
Ronald: Well you're certainly not looking into a mirror are you? (Chuckles)
Duelist of Dawn: Hey, I didn't expect the story version of me showing up!
Ronald: All characters of the story are trying to get into the mix of introducing the reviewers and chapters.
Duelist of Dawn: True, and speaking of reviewers, I like to thank lilypop8 and FF & STH for reviewing as well as Aerith the Evenstar for reading and reviewing my story so far! I glad you like it and yet you've never played the game before!
Ronald: He'll be sure to remember that when your 3rd installment of your Xenosaga stories comes out, he never played that himself.
Duelist of Dawn: My other self is right, I'll check out the game itself when I get the chance! Also, to anyone who loves the Xenosaga series you should check it out on Aerith the Evenstar's page a check it out!
Ronald: (looks irritated)I have a name dude!
Duelist of Dawn: Sorry, why don't you give out the disclaimer so I won't get sued.
Ronald: Sure, Duelist of Dawn doesn't own Final Fantasy or any music he uses for the scenes and battles, matter of fact I need a theme song, I heard other OC characters have one.
Duelist of Dawn: You got it, pal I got one in waiting for ya and debuts this chapter during the boss fight.
Ronald: Well stop talking to me and start typing the story!
Duelist of Dawn: Alright, let's start this chapter!
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Chapter 5
Ron's Mission and the Cold Battle at the Ice Cavern!
"Well that was a good rest!" I yawned out and stretched as I woke up from my rest. I felt 100% again, and even as my back was feeling better! But as soon as my eyelids opened up, I was seeing nothing but darkness. I found it weird because not even the mist could do this and I was cured of being blind. "Hey, is anybody here with me!?" I asked out in the darkness, but I only got the echoes of my question. "Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Garnet, answer me!"
"They're not here." A dark and monotone voice answers, sounding like it was coming from everywhere. "They cannot answer you from inside your dreams."
"I'm dreaming?" I asked the voice, while still scanning the area for some kind of life-form, seeing if it had the same voice as my 'visitor.'
"Yes, I've prolonged your hibernation state so I may contact you from my domain." It answered.
"Okay, but don't you think if you'd show yourself, I'll be able to give you a proper conversation? 'Cause no offense, but I really don't want to just talk out in space." I called out.
It was silent for a couple of minutes before responding……
"Very well, but I think you know who you are talking to." The voice said, confusing me as I heard footsteps approaching my direction. "Despite, never hearing my voice from inside this domain, playing your games, you know my voice from another."
I tried to rack my brain for answers, 'He's from the game?' I thought. 'And I think I do know that voice…..' I was still thinking who it could be as the footsteps got louder, as soon as they stopped the answer came to me……
"You're…." I began and turned around………
(Play Master of Time from Final Fantasy 9)
…..And saw a bald, old man with a white beard. He wore an all black suit with a cape and the thing that stood out about him, was a red jewel in the center of his stomach. This was a powerful man, who goes by the name….
"…..Garland!!" I shouted as I pointed to him, in shock that someone that showed up in a later part of the game, was here now.
"Correct, we meet again Ronald Harris." He said not reacting at all to my shock. But I came out of my shock and went into confusion again.
"Again? You mean when I played the game to fight you at your base?" I asked, seeing if that's what he meant.
"Wrong." He said still in that monotone voice. Suddenly, he raises his hand and blasts a small, white energy ball at me which forces me down on my back.
"ERGH!!!!" I shouted as I landed on the ground, for such a small power shot, it hurt like Hell! I rose up pretty quickly despite my pain as Garland looked at me with acknowledgement in his black eyes.
"Impressive, the plasma extract I've injected into your body as served you well." He said crossing his arms. "Even with a small portion of my power, I was unable to keep you down. Your recovery time is astounding as well."
"Plasma extract?" I asked, mostly to me. "You mean that syringe filled with red liquid!?" I asked out surprise.
"Yes." He said, and then snapped his fingers in my direction. I suddenly felt a sparkle of magic around me, and it was healing me? Just what was Garland's deal here? First, he basically pummels me with shot to the gut, then he starts being nice and cures my pain?
"What are you playing at!?" I snapped at him.
He waves another white energy ball above head, bigger than the last and slams it down on me, knocking me down.
"AHHHHH!!!" I shouted again as I laid on my stomach.
"Watch your tongue, boy." He said, obviously miffed at me, but that's putting it lightly given his actions. "I currently hold all the cards here, a false remark and your soul will be ripped from your body before your proper time of death."
I gasped for air as I forced myself to stand, and I know this guy could end me due to being so far away from the actual time I fight him.
"Care to answer now how you've met me, now?" He asked as he charged up another, larger energy ball; one that could kill me on contact. He then narrowed his eyes and said, "Beware, your next wrong answer."
'Wait! He knew about that syringe that gave me more power!' I thought. 'That's means…..'
"You're…… the voice…. T-that…. brought me into….. the game!" I managed to say.
"Finally, you understand." He says, snapping his fingers to heal me again. I felt absolute relief as the healing magic surrounded me and I was able to stand without fighting the pain. "Yes, I've brought into the world of Gaia to fulfill a purpose."
"A purpose?" I asked, not knowing is it a game complex or something entirely new.
"A chance to help this world and my own from the destruction." He tells me.
"You mean Terra?" I ask him again.
"Correct, you must be the one to preserve as much life as you can during your time here." He says walking away a bit, and his back turned against me.
"So, you want to save a lot of lives from wars and battles?" I inquire.
"Exactly, and do you know why I have you, of all people, do this?" He asks.
"Because, I know the game." I tell him.
"Very good, here you reward." He responds. He waves his left hand and from it, strands of light and dark enter my head and disappear in a shine. I had my eyes closed during that time, and after the strands entered my head, I saw that aura again but this time Garland's aura. It was a dark blue aura, like Zidane's.
"You know have the power to see aura outside of your Trance state, use it well." He informs me.
"Thanks." I said after opening my eyes. Suddenly, he appears right in front of me. "Whoa!" He picks me up by my shirt and says.
"But be forewarned, I will still play my original part in this game, be ready." He says.
"Got it." I say. Then a white light appears behind him and then he drops more major news to me….
"Also, if you are killed in this world, you cannot be revived." He says. "To put in game terms, it will be game over…. Permanently!" Then he throws into the light, blinding me.
(End music)
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(Mist Continent-Campsite outside Evil Forest)
"Ahh!" I shot up with a start, breathing heavily. I then check my surroundings seeing the familiar sight of mist and the petrified remains of the Evil Forest Entrance. "I'm finally awake." I whisper, making sure I don't wake up anybody. I check to see Vivi sleeping peacefully, the tent's still closed meaning Garnet hasn't woken up yet, and Steiner standing up looking over the clearing opposite Evil Forest. I decided to walk over and relieve from watching out for danger.
"Steiner, you can….huh?" I called to Steiner, only to find him sleeping standing up, drooling as well. I chuckled a bit at the sight of it and decided against waking him up. Instead, I hauled him over my back like when he was sick with those seeds and laid him down in spot I was sleeping. "Rest easy, solider."
I then walk over to where he was standing guard and stretched out my body. Then I started to exercise, I started with 20 jumping jacks, then went to 15 push-ups. I would do more, but everyone would be waking up soon so I had to cut some of them short. Finally, I do my favorite exercise: squats. It's my favorite ever since the Final Fantasy 7 series where one side-quest was to do more squats than the other guy, it made it look fun despite the work. I did them until I heard a rustling sound from the tent, signaling that Garnet was up. She zipped down the tent and crawled out, yawning and stretching as he stood up.
'She's really pretty, no wonder Zidane's after her.' I thought. 'And it's kind of cute between those two, like Aladdin and Jasmine.' Yes, despite being a guy I am big softie when it comes to a good romance story. Garnet then notices me and starts walking over, smiling.
"Good morning." She says.
"Good morning, sleep well?" I ask.
"Quite well, thank you." She responds politely, I think it's the fact that I am older than her by five years, plus she is a princess. "How did you sleep?"
"It was alright, never slept on the outside ground, plus my back feels fine after a good nap." I say, earning a giggle from her.
"Well, I'm glad mister…" She trails off trying to remembering my name.
"Oh, sorry! I never did tell you my name! It's Ronald Harris, but call me Ron and no 'mister' please, I'm not that old." I introduce myself, chuckling a bit.
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Ron." She responds while bowing. "I am Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII."
"Pleasure." I say giving a slight bow, respecting her high authority. She then takes hold of my right hand with both of hers.
"I wish to thank you for protecting from that plant." She says sincerely.
"Hey, I would have done that for anyone, who's unconscious." I smile at her, not feeling the least embarassed.
"Well, let me thank you properly." She says then starts to rub the knuckles on the hand she's holding. Then she pulls out a pair of black gloves and places them in my hand and closes it. "You really need to learn to take better care of you hands while fighting."
"I will, thank you very much." I thank her while putting on the gloves. I form fists to see how they feel and shadowbox a bit to get the edge with them on.
"Um, what were you doing, if you do not mind me asking?" She asks politely. "I heard some noises before I left the tent, wondered if you knew?"
"Exercising. I have to keep it up to stay my best!" I responded cheerfully as she giggles again.
"I see." She says, and then looks around. "Where is Zidane?" I look around as well, until I see him over at the Evil Forest Entrance and point in that direction.
"Thank you." She says before walking towards Zidane. As she talks to Zidane, Vivi starts to wake up and I walk over to greet him. He sits and yawns before looking my way. I give him a short 'hi!' before he ends up screaming a bit, not enough to wake Steiner though, heavy sleeper ain't he?
"R-Ron! Don't do that!" He tells me. I smile softly at him, the little guy has amazing power but still a little kid learning about his world.
"Sorry, I didn't think I'd spook ya." I told him, trying to console him. "Just came to say good morning."
"Oh, good morning." Vivi says and stands readjusting his outfit. "Is your back still hurting?"
"No, I feel like a million b….gil!" I say, trying not to say 'bucks.' 'Although, Garland showing up and giving me a beating, wasn't on my vacation brochure.' I thought to myself.
"Great, I'm glad you're okay!" Vivi says with happiness in his voice.
"You and Garnet, both. After all, I put my life on the line to protect her and I was blind doing it." I added with a slight chuckle.
"By the way, where is she?" He asks, looking around for the princess.
"Over there, talking with Zidane." I point in the direction where Garnet left. And sure enough, Zidane and Garnet walk back to the campsite.
"Morning guys!" Zidane says.
"Morning!" Vivi says.
"Hey there!" I add in.
"Well, we should pack up the camp and head to higher ground above the mist." Zidane says walking over to the tent. Steiner must've put out the fire while we slept. And Garnet proceeds to wake up the knight.
"Steiner, wake up please, we are about to leave." Garnet says shaking him a bit, before Steiner shoots up in his sleep, startling her. "Oh!" She says covering her mouth.
"Wha? Huh?" Steiner says, still drowsy. He then looks to Garnet and suddenly he was wide awake. "Princess! I am happy to see that you are well!" He says bowing down on both knees. All of us, except Garnet laugh at the sudden wake-up call Steiner just gave himself.
"Steiner, please get up, we are leaving." Garnet sighed, embarrassed seeing one of her knights behaving this way. Steiner just got on his feet and proceeded to leave.
Vivi spotted something coming from the left. "Look! There's something coming!"
We all got ready to fight whatever was coming, but instead it was just another moogle.
"Wait! Wait! Kupo! Don't attack!" The moogle said in frenzy. We all relaxed from the surprised as the moogle continued to talk. "Phew! I'm impressed, kupo! First time I've seen anyone escape from Evil Forest. You all must be strong, kupo! But don't get cocky, kupo. Lots of stronger monsters ahead."
"Well we'll get more experience so that we can take on the stronger monsters." Zidane said, pounding his chest. "By the way, who the heck are you?"
"Zidane, how rude!" Garnet scolded him.
"Oh, it's okay, kupo!" The moogle said. "I should've introduced myself, kupo! My name is Monty!"
"Hello." Garnet greeted.
Monty then pulled out eight vials of elixir. "I have a gift for you, kupo." He handed to Zidane and he put them inside a bag I never noticed he had. "Happy trails! Kupo!"
"Thank you." Garnet and I said. And we were on our way.
Monty jumped up said. "Kupopo!" I think he meant to say 'you're welcome.'
"Bye." Vivi waved to Monty before following us.
"Kupoo!" Monty saying 'Bye.' Then I saw something funny, Zidane slaps Steiner on the back and walks off with the rest of the us. Steiner then looks around the area unwittingly, seemingly like he was think before being brought back.
"!!! What the... Who goes there!?" Steiner says unintelligently.
Monty walks up to him. "Your friends already left, kupo." He tells Steiner.
Steiner runs up to us yelling, "Princess, wait!" His armor clacks all the way as he reaches up. Zidane takes the chance to make a smart remark…
"Man, Rusty you're slow!" He says while smirking. Steiner turns red from anger.
"It's because you refused to wait for me, you dolt!" He jumps up and down as he yells at Zidane.
"Steiner, calm down! He's just joking around!" I told Steiner trying to stop him from jumping.
"Ron is right; you really need to control your anger!" Garnet scolded him, putting her hands on her hips. Steiner then calms down and turns to me and Garnet.
"My apologies." He says without anger.
"Good now, let's keep going." Zidane says looking at the map. "There's a cavern that's supposed to get us to higher ground."
I also look to the map then point in the direction we should go. "We go north then." I say walking towards our destination, with everyone else following behind me. It took us about twenty minutes before reaching the cavern in question. We see light-blue ice from the insides of the entrance. Also, a cold breeze blows through us, slightly giving us the chills. Zidane and I look at the map and he puts it away.
"This must be the cavern..." Zidane ponders out loud.
"Yup, I think so." I answer as Garnet, Steiner and Vivi move up behind us.
"U-Um..." Vivi stammers a bit. Zidane and I turn to face him.
"What's up, Vivi?" I ask.
"Have you ever heard of the Ice Cavern?" He asks us.
"Sure..." Zidane answers and then asks. "Is this the place?"
"I think so." Vivi says giving the cave a once over. "It's supposed to be near Evil Forest."
"...I've heard of it." Garnet says, gazing inside the cavern. "It's supposed to be a beautiful place, covered in ice."
"My grandpa told me about this place." Vivi informs us. "He said the cavern takes travelers to the top of the Mist."
"Bravo!" Steiner applauds. "Master Vivi's grandfather must be quite a scholar! We must thank him upon escaping the Mist!"
Vivi looks down a bit. "My grandpa used to teach me lots of things, but he passed away..." I could relate to his brief sorrow, I lost both of mine; my father's side for reason unknown. All I remember was his face. I took the one on my mother's side better when he passed; I was able to remember a lot of the things we had done together.
"Oh... Forgive my indiscretion." Steiner says.
Vivi perks up a bit and tells him, "Don't worry about it."
Zidane walks up to the cave before saying, "Well...why don't we go inside?"
We all nod, and then walk in. If you thought feeling the chill from outside was cold, the inside was like being stuck in a giant freezer. And considering my current clothing, you can guess how I felt. There were a lot of plants frozen in bloom near the ledges inside. It was like stepping inside a picture book to me. For Garnet, it was like a dream come true.
"Oh...! What a beautiful place!" She gushes. "Seeing the actual cavern is so much better than reading about it!" She then kneels down and checks out a frozen flower at a ledge. "Oh, how pretty... I wonder, what kind of flower this is?" She reaches out to touch it when……
"Princess! Please, don't touch anything!" Steiner tells her.
I walk over to Steiner and say, "Lighten up, man! She finally gets to see the world outside her castle and you go bummin' her joy!"
"Have you forgotten we are all in grave danger still?" He questions me. "There could be more vile monsters afoot!"
Zidane jumps in as I was forming a rebuttal. "Can we get moving? I'm freezin' here."
"Uh, sure." I say as the gang and I follow Zidane deeper into the icy cave. We reach a curve around the corner and see five yellow and jell-owly creatures flexing around and blocking our intended path.
"What are those things?" Vivi asks everybody.
I have a looking of disgust on my face as I answer Vivi's question, "Flan, yuck!" I respond in a distasteful tone.
"I take you're not fond of the guys." Zidane looks to me. I shake my head in response.
"Plus, I never like the taste of one." I narrowed my eyes, still directing my attention at the living custard monsters. "Delicious, my ass!"
Everybody starts to sweat-drop at my reaction. "Okay, okay they're nasty, let's just whack before they notice us." Zidane says shaking me from my bad experience.
"Right!" Everyone charges in and attack the flans in our first pre-emptive strike. Zidane attacks one with his daggers, slicing it down into pieces and off the path. Vivi casts his fire magic at two of them melting into yellow puddles. Steiner power slashes another one down the middle.
And finally, I kick one into the sky and then, while it's in mid-air, I say, "Sorry, nasty……" Then I back hand it into a wall. It makes a squish noise before sliding down off the path. "….I'm an ice cream man myself!" I chuckle with a hint of evil.
"Are you done ending your war with frozen foods?" Zidane says in a bored tone. I turn to see him and Steiner with a bored tone, Vivi eyes widen a bit, and Garnet staring at me strangely.
"What, I said I didn't like that stuff!" I raised my hand in defense.
"And I need to change MY habits?" Steiner asks me, raising an eyebrow. I chuckle a bit nervously at that statement. After that awkward moment, we continue down the road. On the side of the path ahead, there was a weird-looking wall. Zidane was the first to react…..
"Huh? What's this...?" He ponders while looking it over. He then pounds the wall and says, "What a strange wall... There's gotta be something behind it." He then turns around and says, "Hey, Vivi!"
"Y-Yes?" Vivi asks, while shivering.
"Can you break this wall down with your magic?" Zidane asks him pointing to the wall.
"I...I'm coming." He says, and walks over to the wall. Vivi then melts the wall with fire magic, revealing a treasure chest.
"Hey, would you look at that!" I say, surprised by the present the cave left us.
Zidane was more surprised seeing his suspicions confirmed, "I knew it!" He says excitedly then opens the chest, revealing a couple of iron knuckles. "There might be other walls like this...I'm counting on you, Vivi!"
"S-Sure!" Vivi says, shivering still. I notice that air was beginning to get a lot more colder than normal, but I dismissed the cause as staying still during the last few seconds. Pretty soon, we came across another wall soon enough. Vivi destroys it and we get a leather bracelet. Later on, we see a stump covered in ice making a bridge to another chest. Zidane walks across and gets a leather vest. I notice another treasure chest below him but no way to get there. Garnet notices my expression as Zidane walks back over to us.
"Ron, is there something wrong?" She asks me. I point to the treasure chest on the ledge below the other.
"There's another chest over there." I tell her, grabbing Zidane's, Steiner's and Vivi's attention.
"How do we proceed, there's no path down there?" Steiner inquires. Suddenly, an idea pops into my brain.
"We make one using the same stump." I say pointing to the stump this time. Then I turn to Vivi, "Vivi, could you aim your magic at the stump against the farther ledge?"
"Y-Yes!" Vivi says and focuses on the portion in question and then let loose the fire. "Fire!" A piece of the ledge melts a bit, allowing the stump to slide down and land on the ground nearest the chest.
"Good job, Vivi!" I say patting him on the back.
"T-Thanks!" He says. There were a few moments of silence before I notice everyone's eyes are on me.
"What's up?" I said, looking uneasy at the stares. Then they all had smiles on.
"We're waiting for you to go get the treasure?" Zidane says.
"It was your brilliant planning, Mr. Harris." Steiner adds.
"So you should have the honor of retrieving the item for us all!" Garnet encourages me.
"She's right!" Vivi says. I smile back at them and nod.
"Be right back!" I say sliding down the stump and grabbing the weapon inside the chest. I walk back up carefully and reveal to them a Mage Masher dagger. "I believe you should use this, Zidane." I say, handing him the blade.
"Thanks, oh and here are these knuckle guards I found earlier!" He says giving me the iron knuckles and I put them on over the gloves Garnet gave me.
"Thank you!" I say back then we all start to walk towards another cavern and it leads to a forked path. The left side lead to a dead end, but we freed a moogle from a frozen block. Then we took the right way, having some weird, cold mist. We all try to keep warm, but Vivi straggles more against the blowing mist.
"Vivi, hurry up, or you'll be left behind!" Zidane says.
"I...I'm coming." Vivi struggles out to say. But as he walks he starts to stagger over a ledge….
"Oh no!" Garnet cries out. Vivi was about to fall over the ledge, but I run over and grab by the collar of his coat and pull him into my arms.
"Vivi, you alright kid?" I ask him, but I notice his eyes shut. "Hey, don't fall asleep you'll die in the cold!" I yell to wake him up, but to no avail. Luckily, he's still breathing. Then Steiner walks over...
"Master Vivi! Are you okay?" He asks but gets no response from the young black mage. But then, Steiner almost collapses over the ledge, but I grab in another quick reflex.
"Hey! Not you too!" I grab him as I pull him up. But I pull him a little too hard…..
*CLACK!!!*
I send him over Garnet's head and into the wall. "Eee! I got remember my strength!" I said looking over to see Steiner stuck head first into the wall.
"You think!? Zidane yells at me along with a stern look from Garnet which I turn my head to the side to avoid. Zidane walks over and pulls out Steiner and sidesteps before being caught under him. "Yo, Rusty! You're...not alright, are you?" Zidane asks the sleeping/frozen knight. He looks to Vivi still out of it then back at Steiner again. "What happened to you guys? Hey, Rusty! Move it or lose it!" He kicks Steiner with nothing happening. "Get up!" He gives a harder kick, still nothing. "...It's no use." He says giving up. Then, Garnet collapses to the snowy ground when Zidane wasn't looking.
"Garnet!" I yell grabbing Zidane's attention. He runs to her.
"Oh no! Garnet! Not you, too?" He exclaims, trying to shake her awake. "Garnet? She's out cold..." Then, he himself starts to sleep. "Shoot... I'm falling asleep..."
"Zidane! Get up!" I cry out. I almost do the same thing until I hear something…….
*Jingle!*
"Huh? A bell?" I ask.
"What's that sound...?" I hear Zidane suddenly start to wake up.
"You're awake!" I say glad he didn't stay down long.
"Yeah. Did you hear something?" He asks me.
"Yeah, sounded like it came from over there..." I answer pointing to wear the mist is blowing from.
"Is somebody there...?" He asks out loud. I stand up, putting Vivi on the ground.
"Only one way to find out!" I say. "Let's go!"
Zidane and I walk over to the next cave and it leads to the bottom of a frozen waterfall. And then we hear a squeaky voice
"Why didn't you fall asleep?" It said, sounding shocked.
We look up to see another black mage, but this one had icy blue wings, pointy leather hat, holding a tiny bronze bell and was as short as Vivi.
"You two should be dead by now..." It says to us.
"Are you the one causing this blizzard?" Zidane asks in hostility, drawing his daggers. The black mage jumps off the ledge
"Hee-hee-hee... That's right!" He cackles swinging his bell around.
"Who the hell are you!?" I ask, assuming the boxer's stance.
"I am the almighty Black Waltz No. 1!" He says raising his hand to the sky. "The master of blizzard magic! Now behold!"
(Play Ronald battle music-Otherworld from Final Fantasy X)
The newly dubbed Black Waltz waves his left hand over his bell and ice magic and chants, "Ice Giant, Sealion…Come before me!!!!" And next to him, a wide and giant icy pillar shoots up from the ground and it seems to have something in it…
"What is that?" Zidane blurts out, seeing what appears to an icy blue sea lion that was ten times its normal size, also it has a blue circle center in the mid-section of the body.
*ROAR!!!!*
The ice pillar breaks freeing the giant and it moves near its master.
"Sealion! Kill the men!" Black Waltz commanded its frozen beast. With another roar, it slides towards trying to slap us with its giant flippers.
"Zidane, get away!" I yell and he flips over the flipper and strikes it with his new Mage Masher. I follow up with a fist to the Sealion's face. It crawled away from us looking like it was standing down.
"Ha, your pet's biting off more than it can chew!" Zidane yells getting cocky.
"Zidane, it's not over yet!" I tell him not taking my eyes off the giant monster.
"Your friend's right!" Black Waltz says then turns to its beast. "Sealion, now!" As soon as the command was given, the Sealion sparkled with magic then directed it toward us. Zidane and I felt a sudden chill from below us and then we were locked in place by chunks of ice on our feet.
"Aw man! I can't move!" Zidane yells trying to stab his daggers into the ice in an attempt to free himself.
"Me neither." I say sounding hopeless, and then I sport a grin on myself. "For now…."
"Huh?" Black Waltz looks at me and then finally sees what I'm about to do. I raise my hand in an attempt to karate chop the ice on my feet until… "Sealion, strike them down!" The Sealion then slides over and uses its massive flippers to smack us over in our sides to the opposite walls.
"AHH!!" Me and Zidane shouted in pain as soon as we made contact against the wall.
"Now smash them!" Black Waltz gives his final command as Sealion raises his flippers then smashes them down on our bodies. Black Waltz looked in awe of its beast's power. "Well done, my pet! Now collect the corpses for our masters!" He tells the giant monster.
Only to find out that the monster couldn't lift up its flippers….well one of them, actually. It raises its left flipper up but out of pain!
"Sealion, what's the matter!?" Black Waltz asks his monster, looking nervous now. He checks the left flipper and sees it cracked! "WHAT!? But how!?" He looks under the flipper and see Zidane holding on by the daggers that are stuck to the flipper!
"Hi there!" Zidane waves at the startled Black Waltz. It then points accusingly at Zidane.
"You should've been crushed like that other human!" It yells, shocked now at the still living bandit. Zidane then laughs out loud then speaks to the startled mage.
"Is he?" He asks, seeing the Black Waltz's eyes widen once again at the question, before Zidane turns to the other flipper. "Let me check…Hey Ron, you dead, man!?" He asks with a big grin. In response, the right flipper rises up a bit, revealing myself holding the flipper!
"Hell naw, crazy!" I yell at my friend. "I'm still alive!" Then I start asking him a question. "What hell are you doing up there man!?" I ask in mock anger.
"What's it look like, I'm hanging around!" He yells at me in the same mock anger voice. "What the hell are YOU doing down there!?"
"Chillin', working out with my new weights." I say sounding laid back.
Then we both share a big laugh before we're interrupted…..
"SHUT UP!!!" The Black Waltz yells. "Sealion, smash them and this time harder!!"
"Shouldn't have said that…" Zidane say in a sing-song voice. And on cue, my foot ignites and I do a back flip yelling: "Dragon Kick!" as I kick and burn of the flipper I was previously holding. Next, Zidane pulls one of his daggers then slams it back on the flipper, shattering it. Zidane lands gracefully on his feet and runs toward me giving me a high-five.
"That was good!" He said.
"Hey, I'm becoming a man with a plan!" I say to him.
"Heee…hee…heee…" We both turn around to see the Black Waltz moving towards its wounded beast.
"Why's he laughing?" Zidane says.
"Maybe he's having delusions of grandeur." I shrug.
"BLIZZARA!!" The Black Waltz casts a powerful ice magic over the Sealion which heals its broken flippers. The Sealion rises up and roars in praise of its rejuvenation. "You see, break my toy if you want, I'll just fix it!" It cackles. "As long as I'm alive, my beast is invulnerable!" It laughs again before noticing the killer looks Zidane and I are giving him.
"W-Why are you *Gulp!* looking at me like that?" It asks stepping back slightly.
"You just gave us the perfect game plan!" I say giving an evil smirk.
"W-What are you talking about!?" He demands.
"Sure your Sealion's guaranteed to last….."Zidane starts
"……but only if you're still standing!" I finish Zidane's sentence. It was then, the Black Waltz put two and two together….
"NO! STAY BACK!" It yells at the top his lungs, and then turns to Sealion. "KILL THEM QUICK, I WANT TO LIVE!!!"
The sealion charges at us, only to hit the wall as Zidane and I flip over it and advance quickly towards the scared mage.
"BLIZZARD!!!" It cried out casting magic, but the casting was so quick, it only shot a small ice block, which I knocked out of the way. Then I gave it an uppercut and jumped after yelling: "Aerial Drive!" and send an elbow to its gut ramming the body down to the ground…… except he didn't land on the ground.
*SLISH!*
It landed on Zidane's daggers that he held up.
"Urrrgh…." It gasped out, turning to Sealion. "Sealion…..kill them…for…me…." It then falls limp, lifeless.
Zidane throw the Black Waltz to the ground as it disintegrates into thin air.
"Now let's get that sealion!" Zidane yells out. The Sealion rises up again but the blue circle on its abdomen turn blood red. It gave a much louder roar as it summoned a giant tsunami towards us.
"Oh hell!!" Was our only words as the cold wave of water slammed us against the wall. By a miracle, we survived, barely.
"It's…freakin'….pissed!" I gasped out. "Any thoughts?" I turn to Zidane, only to see him glow as he reached the Trance state again.
"We take him down with my new power!" He says charging up power before seeing fire appear right in front of us, and it rises in a make-shift wall as the Sealion summons another tsunami at us.
Unlike that last one, the tsunami fizzled out as soon as it reached the fire wall, reduced to steam.
Zidane raised his hand and says: "TIDAL FLAME!" and the fire wall turns into a flaming tidal wave and melts the Sealion on impact.
(End music)
Zidane returns to normal and sinks to his knees, I do the same.
"Man that was tough!" I said catching my breath.
"Yeah, but we had some laughs!" He says passing me an elixir and opens his own. We drink them up and instantly spring up to our feet. We also notice that the air was warmer and the waterfall was unfrozen, flowing again.
"Hey, everyone should've woken up by now!" I realize.
"Yeah, let's get back!" He says as we start to walk back to our friends. Just then, a squeaky voice yells:
"You two defeated No. 1, but No. 2 and No. 3 will reclaim the princess!" It says. We both look around for the voice, but no one is there.
"Wh-Who's there?" Zidane was spooked a bit at the sudden voice. Oh, whatever... We've gotta go back and check on them!"
Back where the rest of the sleeping party was, Zidane and I see that everyone's waking up now that the strange blizzard has stopped. Garnet first notices us as we approach her.
"Zidane! Ron!" She yells.
"Hey, there. Everybody okay?" Zidane says with a smile.
Steiner walks up to us finding our happy and calm demeanors suspicious "You two! What just happened?" He asks us.
"Nothing much." I say, stretching out my arms.
"It was no big deal." Zidane says trying to wave off the question.
Steiner wasn't convinced. "You're hiding something!"
"Hey, nothing happened. You heard me and Ron." Zidane retorts back.
Steiner then got a look of fear on his face. "You two...didn't touch the princess, did you?" I lost my temper and forced him down on the ground giving him an ankle lock.
"I never touch a woman like that, you maniac!" I yell at him, increasing the pressure on the ankle.
"Ronald, stop that!" Garnet yells at me. "This is unnecessary; I know you and Zidane did not do anything!" I release Steiner and tell both him and Garnet, sorry. "And Steiner, they said nothing happened. Why are you being so rude?"
Steiner looks down "...My apologies, Princess."
Garnet nods and turns to Zidane. "Well, I'm glad everyone is safe. Shall we move on?" She notices Zidane staring out into space. "Is something bothering you?"
Zidane turns to her. "No... It's nothing." He responds as he leads us to the next room. We all head out to the exit and emerge into the mountain air, completely mist free.
Garnet sighs happily. "We made it through the Mist! Oh, the sun feels great!"
Zidane sees a town further from the mountain base. "Look, there's a village."
I check the map and see the name of village. "The map says that's the Village of Dali."
"I think I've been there before..." Zidane says to himself.
Garnet looks impressed. "It sounds like you've been everywhere before, Zidane." Then looks at the village. "The only other worlds I've visited are in books. You may have been to that village. Let's go visit." She tries to walk down the mountain, only to be stopped by Zidane.
"Wait. Hold it." He says, getting her attention. "You're a princess! You can't just go rushing in there. People are looking for you. You need a new identity."
Steiner walks toward Zidane. "Insolent fool! He then pushes Zidane which causes him to drop his dagger and Garnet picks it up. "The princess need not sneak around! Besides, we're heading back to the castle. You leave her alone. And you will address her as 'Princess' from now on, you silly peasant!"
Zidane gets angry. "Dammit, Rusty! Why don't you just shut up? Who do you think you are? I don't take orders from a stuck-up jerk like you!"
"You guys!" Vivi says trying to quell the fighting, I sit back and watch the scene unfold. After my last outburst, I don't think I should get involved right now.
"Stop it, you two!" Garnet says as Zidane and Steiner step away form each other. "...Steiner, I do not intend to return to the castle. And I do see Zidane's point. I need a new name..." She ponders looking at the dagger. "Zidane... What is this called?"
"That? That's a dagger." He informs her, and then goes into a big explanation, "All knives of that length are called daggers. Short swords are a bit longer. The big sword you hold with both hands is called a broadsword. And..."
"Oh, okay... I understand now." Garnet cuts off, to Zidane's dismay and my humor. She then looks closely at the weapon. "So this is called a 'dagger'..."
"Princess! It's a weapon! Please be careful." Steiner warns her.
Garnet turns to us "I've decided! From now on, my name is...I will be called Dagger from now on. What do you think, Zidane?"
"Is that okay with you?" He asks her.
"Yes." She responds.
"Great, Dagger." Zidane says, making use of Garnet's alias. "Now, let's work on your speech... Try to sound more casual. Like me."
"I shall try." She responds still in her polite tone.
"No, no, no..." He corrects her. He looks at me and Vivi for a moment, leaving us puzzled. "Just say... 'Alrighty.'"
"A-Alrighty!" Dagger stammers a bit.
"You're getting the hang of it!" Zidane congratulates her, to Steiner's dismay. "Well... Let's go." We all follow Zidane down the path to Dali, unaware of any other threats approaching.
*************************************************************************************************************************
Another chapter done, good people! A real strain on my fingers, but it's worth it! Now for the big closing statement.
Next Chapter: Ron and company visit the town of Dali, quiet little place….but they'll soon learn that not everything as it seems. The Secrets of Alexandria. Do you know? Stay tuned. And please R&R! Later people!