DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any thing related to FFRK or Final Fantasy or anything remotely related to SquareEnix. All OCs belong to either myself or my friends who have allowed me to use with permission. Read at own disgression.
The halls of the old Goulland Archives were drafty and devoided of any life. The only sounds were that of heavy footsteps from a woman dressed in elegant blue robes, followed by a lone knight in a horned helm carrying a girl who was barely hanging on to life. As he laid the girl onto a bed in one of the abandoned rooms, the hood of her robe fell revealing her long, dark blue hair.
"Professor Shiva…Light…I'm sorry…" she said as she closed her eyes. "I've failed my mission. I wasn't able to complete my assignment…I...I couldn't bring him back." Shiva gently placed her pale blue hand onto the girl's head. "No, my star. You did all that you could. Time was simply against you." The Warrior of Light nodded in agreement. "I'm sure Firionel knows that you tried your best my lady."
The girl shook her head. "No it's because I was weak. Because I couldn't handle...not having him by my side…" her breathing was becoming more and more labored, making it difficult for her to even speak. "This is why the Ardent was…able to take hold of me. I…I was not strong enough to resist it."
"Shhh, please Clarisse…" Shiva brushed her hand along her cheek, but Clari didn't react. Clari's breathing started to slow. "Light please stand watch outside." Light bowed as he did as he was commanded. "Professor…I have…one final request…"
"Anything my star…"
"Should…should the Ardent take over…"
"Say no more. If it comes to that, I will deal with you myself."
"Thank you." Clari said as she breathed her last breath. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
Clarisse had awoken in a very dimly lit room. She had noticed that she was laying on a stone slab with a thin veil draped over her. Sitting up, Clari pulled the veil off to get a better view of her location. As she looked around, she saw others appearing from other tombs and sarcophagi. 'These must be others that the Ardent has claimed.' she thought as she climbed down from the dais. "So this is what death is like then."
Clari proceeded to follow the group up to the door that was the only exit in the room. As she exited the room, she was blinded by the light that was pouring from the entry. Once she was able to see again, Clari didn't see any sign of the others that had come before her. Above her dark, ominous clouds swirled overhead.
"The others must've gotten assimilated." She thought out loud.
"You are correct, Archivist." Spoke a disembodied voice. Clari turned quickly to see someone dressed in black robes and carrying a scythe.
"Death." She breathed.
Death slightly bowed its head as it pointed the scythe in the direction of a bridge that she needed to go to. Clari swallowed hard before slowly making her way forward. As she approached the bridge, she could hear the voice of the Ardent booming over head.
"Keeper…."
"That's Archivist to you!" Clari retorted.
"Stupid girl, the time is nigh for you to be judged and assimilated into us…"
"Judged?" she questioned. "On what grounds do I need to be judged? And as for being assimilated, no thanks. I'd rather be stuck in limbo than join you."
"You are to be judge on your sins…"
As soon as the Ardent said that, Clari was chained against a stone slab. The skies themselves parted and down came a large, older man. His beard was grayed and tattered as well as the robes he wore that made him look like a judge. Clari tried struggling to get freed but she soon found out how quickly and tightly her bonds became on her.
"Judgment shall now bare your sin for all to see…"
Judgment loomed over her. He was definitely taller than a King Behemoth. Clari tried to remain calm but the fear in her eyes were clearly evident. She screamed in pain as he pointed his finger towards her that emitted a beam of light.
The light illuminated the entire area, blinding all that was there. Once she was able to see again, Clari noticed that she was unchained and able to move. Looking around, all she could see was white everywhere. Suddenly, in the distance, a shadowy figure appeared before her. Clari stood her ground as the figure slowly started to take the shape.
Clari eyed the figure carefully. "…C-cantirena?!"
"Well, well, well…" The Ardent's voice taunted, but it was Clari's voice that it was using. "Why if it my dear, yet annoying little sister, Cantirena...Always following me around, sticking to me like glue…Bothersome girl!...Always in the way and causing trouble for me! I'm so glad I ditched her when I did…She was only holding me back, preventing me from actually doing anything worthwhile."
Clari looked up to the sky and yelled, "That is a lie and you know it!" She looked back at the figure of her sister. It glared at her very coldly with hollowed eyes. "Why did you abandon me?" Canti asked. Her voice was just as cold as her eyes were. "Was I really that much of a pest to you that you had to just dump me in the middle of the Second Realm?!"
"Cantirena, I didn't abandon you…" Clari said as she took a step forward.
"LIAR!" Canti screamed as she summoned her spear. "You never wanted me around! That's why you left me there, you selfish bitch!"
Clari stood there and look at her sister. "Yes, I am a selfish bitch as you say. But what I did, I did for the greater good!"
"Greater good?! You actually expect me to believe that?!" Canti spatted. "You're just using that as an excuse! You just wanted to get away from me! You never cared whether I needed you or not!"
"You're wrong, Cantirena!" Clari shouted as she moved toward her sister again. "I DID care! I cared enough that I HAD to leave."
"You're lying!" She pointed her spear directly at Clari's heart. "You're nothing but a damn liar Clarisse!"
"You want to stab me in the heart and watch me bleed out?!" Clari yelled as she continued to walk towards her sister. "Then come on and do it! But know this…I do love you Cantirena. I did not leave you because I wanted to. I have never considered you a pest. "She took another step forward, and then another. Clari continued to step forward until the tip of Canti's spear was pressed right against her chest.
"If I'm as horrible as you believe I am, then push the rest of that spear into my heart…But I have thought of you every single day that I left and not a day goes by that I wish that I was able to see you again, little sister."
Canti was hesitant. Her spear shook in her hands as she stood there looking at Clari who had just dared her to kill her where she stood. She was ready to die at the hands of her own sister. The spear fell to the ground with a loud clang. Clari wrapped her arms around her now crying sister. "I'm sorry that I had to leave like I did. I never meant to hurt you. Not like that."
Canti sobbed in Clari's arms. "Clarisse, please come home…"
Clari shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. But I swear we will see each other again." She gently wiped the tears away from her sister's eyes and kissed her on her forehead. "That I do know for certain."
The figure that was that of her sister nodded as she slowly faded from the area, leaving Clari alone again in the vast open white room. Clari stood and looked around. "Well, what next?" she shrugged.
No sooner had she spoken her words, another figure appeared across the room.
"Ah, so here is my Hero, Firion. The one I have been pining for since the day I read about him back in the Archives. Strong, handsome, superior weapons master…too bad I only used him as a crutch. Drinking in all the praises and attention he gave to me. And how did I repay him? By letting him sit in crystal while I wallowed in self pity…guess I didn't love him enough to prevent him from getting encased like that. I only used him to make myself feel better." the voice laughed.
The only thing Clari could do was stare at the now hollowed eyed hero with her fists clenched tightly. Suddenly, a knife with a rope attached wrapped around her binding her where she stood while lightning surged through, shocking her. Clari screamed out in pain from the sudden attack and fell to her knees.
"Firion…"she breathed weakly.
"All I am to you is some sap you can run to when you want attention…" Firion spoke quite harshly.
"No, Firi, you mean more to me than just that!" she pleaded to him.
"Lies!" Firion yelled as he shocked her again causing her to slump over.
"It's…true…"she panted, trying to recover from his attacks. "I swear…"
"If I truly meant that fucking much to you, then why haven't you gotten off your ass to release me yet? Why am I still sitting in that damn crystal cocoon?" he spatted as he drew his bloodsword and pointed it directly at her neck.
"I ran out of time."
"You're just full of fucking excuses aren't you, Claire?" He raised his weapon above his head.
"Perhaps I am full of fucking excuses. I ran out of time. I was in the process of freeing you when I died." Clari closed her eyes bracing for when his sword would cut her down. "My only reason as to why I did not release you sooner was that I am fucking weak. I depended on you for so damn much that when you were taken away, I….I couldn't handle it. I didn't know what to do, where to go. I was forced to be independent of you. To re-learn to work without you cheering me on and encouraging me."
Firion brought his sword down upon her, but instead of ending her life, he released her from her bonds.
"If you're as weak as you claim to be, then I should be able to finish you off without you being confined."
Clari got to her feet. The shade was actually challenging her honorably? Whatever was going on, she knew that she was going to have to fight her way out of this one. But to be pitted against the weapon master himself…she's going to have to give it her all.
Firion charged at her, thrusting his sword at her. Clari quickly dodged to the side, as he rushed past her. Summoning her katana, the Masamune, she poised herself ready for his next move. He rushed her again, this time the weapons clashing together. The sound was loud enough to ring throughout the room.
"Is this really all you got, Claire?" Firion growled as he pressed closer to her, their swords sliding against each other as he did so. "If this is all you have, then killing you will be easy."
Clari narrowed her eyes. She was not about to let some Ardent ridden shade get the best of her. She summoned up what strength she had and pushed Firion back while spinning around to slash at him. He quickly dodged, but not before she managed to cut nick part of his armor. Changing tactics and weapons, he jumped back a ways and charged up an arrow before allowing it to fly towards her.
Clari, seeing the glowing arrow sailing forth, had just enough time to unleash her Dark Moon attack. The amount of force she placed behind it had caused a shockwave to form and take out the arrow. As well as knock Firion on his ass to boot. Seeing her opportunity, Clari rushed him. She jumped, bringing her sword overhead to swing down upon him.
Firion turned just enough to block her overhead attack with the targe on his arm. Clari jumped back as he pushed against her. As he stood he reached down and took the daggers that were strapped to his ankles and threw them at her. Clari barely dodge the first one, but the tip of the second one scratched her face, just enough to cause her to bleed a little.
"Watch the face you fucking jerkface!"
Firion came at her again, this time spear in hand. Clari parried the charge. The flat side of her weapon pinning the tip of his to the ground. He forcefully lifted the spear off the ground causing her to stagger back a bit. Firion thrusted the spear at her again, Clari jumped high in the air to avoid the attack. She landed gracefully on the blade of his weapon, taunting him slightly. He stared at her growling, but before he had a chance to shake her off, she had not only cut his weapon in two but also jumped behind him in the process.
Firion spun around to face her, reaching for his last weapon, his axe. Realizing that it was not there, he frantically looked around for it.
"Looking for this?" Clari called to him as she held his missing weapon in front of him.
"H-how?..." he staggered back.
"I just happen to know a few tricks…" she tossed the axe in the air and broke it in two with a single swipe of her katana.
"You haven't won just yet…" Firion sneered as he started channeling all of his magic ability into his hands in front of him.
"Oh….shit…"
Clari braced for impact as her opponent unleashed his Ultima ability upon her. The blast itself was as blinding as the light from Judgment's ability, if not brighter.
Firion laughed as she was hit. Once the spell dissipated, his laughter stopped. He stood there in horror upon what was in front of him.
Clarisse stood there in front of him. Not a single scratch on her aside from the one he gave her earlier.
Firion stood there in disbelief.
"I told you, I learned a few things…" she spoke as she walked towards him, her blade at her side.
Firion slowly backed away from her, until he tripped over his own feet and fell onto his ass. Clari made her way to him and knelt down to him.
"I swear I will release you from your prison. You just have to wait until my work here is done." She whispered into his ear before she kissed him. As soon as she broke the kiss, Firion vanished just like Canti did. "I'll be waiting for you. So hurry the hell up woman." She heard him chuckling as he faded away. Clari sat there for a moment. She needed a moment to ready herself for whatever the ardent had planned next for her. She didn't have to wait long before the third and final figure appeared before her.
Clari's eyes widen in fear as she saw who the third figure took shape of. "No…no…anyone but him." she said as she hung her head slightly. The figure was of a little boy dressed in pajamas with bandages around his head and arms.
"And then we have this kid…Yes, I would go to see him everyday even though he was comatose…and after he came to, he would just sit there and stare blankly at me until one day he actually said something…only to make me make a stupid promise that I wasn't going to keep…I already had one brat clinging to me, I didn't need another…"
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Clari screamed with tears in her eyes. The Ardent's words had cut her far deeper than any weapon would have. "That is not true…" When she looked at him again, the boy was dress the garb of a black mage. The little mage started casting a fire spell and launched it at her.
"Hey! Watch it!" Clari yelled as she dodged his attack. "And why do I sound like a little kid now?" She just happen to look at herself and noticed she had been reverted to back when she was a kid herself. "Guess it's only fair…ACK!" she yelped as she barely dodged another fire ball aimed at her.
"Will you cut it out?!"
"You broke your promise."
"What?"
"You broke your promise!" he yelled as uncontrollably let loose a blaze of fire that surrounded them both. Clari could tell that not only did the boy have no control over his ability but was obviously trying to hurt her the way she had him. "You said…you said you wouldn't leave me alone…you promised!" he yelled at her.
"It wasn't my fault!" Clari pleaded.
"You said you wouldn't leave!" he said as he charged up his uncontrolled fire attack before flinging it at her.
"I had no choice!" she grunted as she charge up and countered with an ice spell of her own. Their respected spells collided with each other as they hit, exploding on impact, causing them to get knocked back. Clari quickly stood and looked over at her opponent as he glared back at her.
"I didn't mean to break my promise, *****!" Clari shouted across the field. She noticed that when she spoke his name, her voice had gone silent. The untrained mage once again was on his feet and preparing to attack again. Clari, thinking quickly, cast Silence on him in an effort to gain the upper hand. Before she could cast it, the boy wildly flung another fire spell in her direction. Barely dodging, Clari attempted again to cast silence on him, this time getting it off and silencing him.
"Maybe now you'll listen to me." Clari said as she walked over to him. She knew the spell wouldn't last long so she had to act quickly. "I don't want to fight with you, *****, I want you to forgive me. "
"Why should I forgive someone who can't even keep a simple promise?" The little mage scoffed as he kept attempting to charge his spell again. "Because, I am unable to keep it." she said softly as she knelt down in front of him. "I didn't have time to come and tell you goodbye or as to why I had to leave."
"That's no excuse!"
"You're right. It isn't. I should have done all that I could to get word to you. To explain my reason. " Clari bowed her head. "I can't keep my original promise to you, but I wish to make amends for my transgression."
The mage stared at her for a moment, as if trying to decide if he should trust this oath breaker in front of him. Clari look at him nervously. She knew that her spell didn't have much time left before he would be uncontrollably flinging fire spells at her again.
"If you wish to make amends…then make a new pact with me." he said as he smugly looked at her with his arms crossed in front of him. "Otherwise, you may as well just bloody well die right here and now."
"You certainly don't pull any punches…" Clari mused as she stood. "Alright then, seeing as how I don't know if or when I'll see you again, how about this…we should meet again, I vow to stand with you for as long as you want me to. Does that sound reasonable?"
"What if I want you to stay forever?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Then, so be it…Do we have a deal?" she asked as she extended her hand to him.
"Fine…" he agreed as he begrudgingly shook her hand. Clari, now back to her normal self, pulled him in and embraced him.
"Hey! Sod off! "he scolded as the mage tried to wiggle out of her arms before vanishing like the others.
"Thank you….*****"
The ground started to shake all of a sudden and Clarisse heard a loud, ominous roar coming from out of nowhere. The white room suddenly started to fall apart, like pieces of a stained glass window. As the room shattered around her, Judgment himself appeared before her, and none too pleased that she was able to get past those she had sinned against.
Clari stood but suddenly found herself dropping to her knees, panting heavily and feeling weaker than what she should.
The voice cackled again. "Heheheheheh, looks like Judgment is not pleased with you…seeing how he casted Inevitable Doom onto thee...now not only are you to fight against the clock but in a MUCH weaker state as well."
"What the hell are you blabbing about?!" she yelled to the voice. Suddenly she hear a faint ticking sound that grew louder until it was almost ringing in her ears. "Where is that damn ticking coming from?!" she asked as she looked around. Clari suddenly noticed the obsidian hourglass that had been set in place in front of Judgment. The azure sand was trickling quickly to the bottom of the glass, indicating that Clari didn't have much time left.
"Tick Tock, Archivist. Tick Tock. The more you fight, the less is on the clock." The voice of the Ardent taunted.
"That hour glass…" she breathed as she stepped forward only to stumble and fall onto her knees. "What the hell?" She found it became rather difficult for her to stand again. Clari leaned against a boulder that was next to her seeing as how she was swaying upon actually getting to her feet.
"I…will not…be beaten…that easily!" She panted as she attempted to move forward. Her steps, continuously heavier than the last.
Summoning her sword, the Masamune, she gathered all strength and made a mad dash towards the hourglass. Clari was half way to it when Judgment sent out hundreds of light beams in an attempt to finish her off himself. She barely managed to dodge and maneuver between the hundreds of thousands of beams, deflecting some with her blade when possible.
Sliding underneath the last beam in order to avoid it, Clari sat panting trying to muster up what energy she could to push forward to take out the timepiece. Looking over at it, the sand was half way gone. She had to hurry if she was live through this.
Before she could stand, a shadow fell over her. Looking above her, the monstrous hand of Judgment loomed over her, ready to fall upon her.
'So this is how it will end?' Clari closed her eyes tightly. 'Crushed by the hand of the Ardent? To be assimilated and used like the others?...I…I can't allow that!'
Judgment's hand came down with mighty crash. As he raised his hand, Death noted that Clarisse wasn't beneath his palm. "Where is she?" it growled.
As the dust quickly settled, they noticed Clari was standing just on the other side of the monster's hand. Blinking, she looked at herself. "How did I get here?...I should be crushed by now…" She didn't have time to contemplate a theory before Judgment reached for her again. Before he could catch her, Clari teleported again out of reach.
"How did I do that?!... " she looked at the hourglass again, noting how much time was left. No time to figure it out…I need to destroy that thing first." Clari smiled as she plotted her plan. Judgment roared again as he assailed her again with the light beams. Clari easily phased and dodge the beams, quickly attempting to make her way to the almost depleted timepiece.
Once the beams were gone, she fell to one knee. All that movement was not helping her already greatly weaken state. She only had a few moments left and if she was to stop this curse, she needed to do so now.
"You're really a pathetic creature of the Ardent if you can't even hit a little girl like me!" Clarisse taunted as she wanted to get its attention. Enraged, Judgment quickly turned in her direction and swiped at her but missed as she had phased again.
She whistled to him as she was on his other side now. "Over here turtle!" Clari teleported yet again as he slammed his fist down where she once stood. This continued for a couple of times more until she landed on top of a platform.
"Aw come on, I know you can hit me! You slow ass piece of shit."
The monster roared in blind fury, turning quickly to where she was and brought both fists down upon the platform on which she stood, smashing it to hundreds of pieces.
Clari had just barely moved in front of the creature at the last moment. She boldly stood and faced him as she had a smugged look on her face. "For an Ardent creature, you're really fucking stupid. Thanks for taking care of that clock for me. 3 "
Death and Judgment look over at where its fists still rested, noting how the hourglass was nothing more but onyx shards now.
"Clever girl…" bemused Death.
Judgment on the other hand was not as amused as it proceeded to attempt to stomp and smash everything around them to get to Clari.
Clari maneuvered out of the way, parrying and blocking rocks that were flying around her. She teleported behind the massive giant as he hurled a large boulder at her. "I'm tired of this game." Clari teleported once more to a ledge just above the beast and began to quickly start casting a spell. Just as it turned around to find her, Clari just finished casting and unleashed all her power into her spell.
"METEOR!" she yelled as the giant red, plant sized rock fell from over head.
The towering sentient attempted to block the massive rock hurling toward it, only to have it come down upon it with a devastating explosion, knocking it out of commission. Death raised its scythe and swung it down upon the fallen giant.
Clarisse just watched as Judgment broke into pieces of shattered glass and slowly dissipated into nothing. A few of the smaller shards remained. They floated up to where she stood and fitted together to form an obsidian card marked in silver runes, which fell into her hands.
"Well played Archivist." Death spoke to her. "Never have I've seen someone who face the tyranny of Judgment and actually defeated him."
Not turning to face Death, Clari asked, "So, what is to become of me now?"
Before it could answer, a brilliant light flashed, followed by the cry of a bird flying in the distance.
"It appears the Phoenix is ready to give you its blessing, brave one." Death spoke as the phoenix flew over them and landed on Clari's shoulder, its long tail feathers wrapping around her. Clari looked at the beautiful creature, red and gold, the color of burning flames. As she reached to touch it, she felt her left wrist starting to burn.
"Ah!" she winced as she looked at her wrist. A tattoo of the phoenix appeared there.
"You are now protected by the phoenix. Even though you are of Darkness, it can never claim you. You are of Shadow now. Neither Light nor Darkness. Free to roam as you see fit."
The phoenix spread its ruby wings as it ignited itself and its flames engulfed them both. Returning them to the world of the living.
The night had been a long one. Professor Shiva had kept a diligent eye on her star Archivist. She could only watch as she had see black flames engulfed her, only to quickly settle as they had appeared. Soon she heard the cry of the phoenix as it flew in and landed on the bed besides the deceased Archivist.
Resting its head onto hers, its tears fell upon Clarisse as it once again ignited and disappeared from sight. Slowly, Clari opened her eyes. She laid there for a moment staring at the ceiling before rising up and looking over at her companions.
"Professor…Light…."
"Praise Cosmos, you're alive." Shiva hugged her tightly. Relieved that the one she considered a daughter to her returned to the living world.
"My Lady, are you alright?"
Clari nodded. "I think so, at least none worse for wear."
She carefully stood. Looking at the card that she still held in her hand.
"Clarisse, what is that?"
'I'm not sure, I received it after I defeated this thing called Judgment…"
"Judgment?!..Then that means, you defeated one of the Arcana."
Clari cocked her head to the side. "Professor, I don't understand…what's the Arcana?"
"I'll explain everything once we're back at the Archives." She smiled. "For now we should leave this place."
Both Light and Clari nodded in agreement as the trio proceeded to leave. Clari wasn't sure as to what was to happen from here on out, but whatever lay ahead, she knew she would be able to face it head on.