Laguna's Story
Laguna was awoken by the sound of clashing weapons and rowdy cheers. He groggily sat up and saw that a crowd had formed at the center of the courtyard. Everyone was cheering loudly. Wondering what the commotion could be, he got up and dragged his still tired body to the crowd.
He slumped himself on Squall's shoulders and caught side of Cloud and Lightning sparring. It was a fierce battle between the two. And not only was the match exciting, but both seemed to have underwent a makeover within the night.
Cloud was now wearing a fully black outfit with one long sleeved arm and long pants with a partial skirt like flap. He even changed his sword to a more complex looking one compared to his usual Buster Sword. Laguna gave a loud "ooohhh" as Cloud dismantled his sword to create two different sized swords.
But Lightning was the one who went through a more drastic change. No longer wearing her military uniform, she was now clad in silver and gold armor with a skirt of white feathers. She had a shield on one arm and her gunblade had undergone metamorphosis into one that looked more ornate with patterns on it. Zidane gave a wolf whistle as she fired several shots at Cloud, which Cloud blocked.
Equally pumped up watching the match, Laguna cheered on with the others. The match ended with Lightning's gunblade at Cloud's neck and Cloud's giant sword at her abdomen, each a blow away from finishing their opponent.
"Nice," Lightning smirked, withdrawing her gunblade.
"You too," Cloud gave another smirk back in return as he fused back his swords into one.
"Now that Laguna's awake and the match is over, maybe we can set off," Tifa said cheerfully.
"Wait," Laguna said, "You mean all of you were waiting for me?"
"Wake up sleepyhead!" Zidane called out to him.
"Oh I feel bad," Laguna said, blushing as he scratched his head, "You should've just waked me up."
"No one's praising you, you know?" Vaan said, apparently confused by Laguna's reaction.
"Come on," Prishe piped in, "Half of you didn't wake up that early either. You were just woken by the sparring match." Vaan, Bartz and Zidane blushed at her snide remark.
"Let's just get ready to set off," Vaan said sheepishly as he turned to pack up his sleeping bag.
…
Locating the Emperor was no difficult task. He was often sighted at the place they came to acknowledge as the Pandemonium. It was a bizarre palace-like structure, befitting of the self-proclaimed Emperor.
The warriors split into smaller groups of threes and fours as they searched for the Emperor in the huge place. By luck of the draw, Laguna found himself searching the secluded hallways with Cecil and Firion.
"Who lives in a place like this?" Laguna remarked casually as he observed the queer walls of the hallway which was built in hexagonal structures.
Firion smiled weakly at him and said, "Do you really have the time to worry about that?"
"Since we're already here, why not?" Laguna said in his usual carefree manner, but tore himself away from the wall anyway and joined Cecil and Firion who were already further ahead.
Several stairways and hallways later, they found themselves in a strange room. This room was unlike any of the other ones they passed earlier. It was covered with crystal structures, some in the form of upturned pyramids, others in the form of bursting fireworks. Even the color tone in this room is more somber than in other rooms, with its dark blue hue in contrast to the light blue and purplish-pink in the other rooms.
And on the far side of the room, seated on a crystal throne, was their target; the Emperor Mateus of Palamecia.
"So it seems a rat has entered my domains," the Emperor coolly remarked as they entered the room, his view of the doorway unblocked by any of the existing crystal structures.
"We've come to finish you off, once and for all!" Firion exclaimed.
"Or so I've heard," the Emperor calmly replied. With his head propped up against one hand, he looked almost lazy in the eyes of his predators.
His indifference angered Firion. "Why don't you pick yourself up from that seat and we'll fight!?"
"Hmph, you sure act honorable," the Emperor sneered, "For someone who can't fight alone…"
Firion's face flushed red with anger. "If a one-on-one's what you want, that's what you'll get. The others won't intervene!"
Emperor Mateus sat up straight at Firion's declaration and smiled mockingly, "I'm afraid… you'll lose."
…
The sounds of battle brought Bartz, Yuna and Tifa to the crystalline room – the top floor of the Pandemonium. The moment they entered, the sight of Firion dueling against the Emperor greeted them with horror. As they rushed forward to lend him a hand, Laguna blocked their way.
"Firion's gonna be mad if you intervene," he said, his eyes not leaving Firion and the Emperor's battle. Although he sounded cheery and nonchalant as usual, his eyes radiated worry and an unfamiliar seriousness. Bartz could tell that even though Laguna himself admitted that this was Firion's battle, it took a great deal of willpower to stand by as his friend fought to the death.
Gritting his teeth, Bartz watched as Firion fired a fiery arrow at the Emperor at the same time that the Emperor unleashed a number of explosive mines in the air.
It was a heated battle. Time and again Firion got caught in the mines which injured him, but he always managed to retaliate with a move of his own, be it an arrow or the slash of a sword or a reel axe, to injure the Emperor in return.
Soon, all of the wandering warriors had assembled in the crystalline room. All of them worriedly watched as Firion and the Emperor exchanged blow after blow. Tifa, Yuna and Terra all clasped their hands together in silent prayer. Vaan, Tidus, Jecht and Zidane clenched their fists. While the rest all stood alert, ready to pounce on the Emperor if Firion should fall.
Again Firion fired another arrow from the distance, but this time, he was careless. As he jumped and shot the arrow, a mine caught him by surprise from the back, it exploded the moment he touched it and Firion was fell to the ground, covered in burns.
"Stay back!" He shouted at the warriors who had stepped forward.
The Emperor laughed condescendingly at his determination. He raised his staff into the air and spun it round and round, charging an attack while he mocked Firion, "Your pride will be the end of you. If you imbeciles want to finish me off, I'll bring as many of you along with me."
Firion knew he had to act fast. Should that Starfall hit, he knew he had no hope at surviving. Mustering all his energy, he summoned all his weapons and charged it against his bow. The weapons all glowed dangerously red as he released them. As an arrow does, all his weapons flew towards the Emperor. Unable to block the attack, the sword, lance, axe and knives hit the Emperor squarely on the chest in one powerful blow. The charge of Starfall was disrupted and the Emperor fell onto the ground on his arms and knees.
"No…." he groaned, "No…. This can't be!" As he screamed his final outburst of anger, his body disintegrated into purple will-o-wisps, each burning smaller and smaller until it disappears.
Laguna and Cecil quickly rushed forward to support the staggering Firion while Bartz, Zidane, Vaan and Prishe shouted happily, "Three Cheers for Firion! Hip! Hip! Hurray!"
Firion smiled weakly at the rowdy group, silently grateful that he survived to watch the scene.