Chapter 6: The Way Into Light

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"I don't like the idea of staying here for the rest of the day," Cecil complained. "There's still so much daylight left; we could make great time if we kept going."

"True," Tellah agreed, "but the children are tired and more than a bit shaken. And, at any rate, we did just beat an elemental archfiend; we deserve a good rest."

"Maybe, but I can't help but think about Rosa. How much time do I really have to spare for her?"

"We'll get her back, Cecil. Don't worry about that," Tellah assured the knight. They both looked over at the twins to ease their minds.

The brother and sister were practicing their magic near the edge of the mountain. Somehow, they had discovered that if they focused their minds and energy on the same target, they could cast a strange kind of magic on their target. It wasn't black magic, but it wasn't white magic either; it was like a mix of the two: gray magic.

Tellah said that this was amazing; any twin-mages could do this, but the fact that they had figured it out on their own, just then, and were practicing with no difficulty meant something spectacular.

"I had forgotten about this ability," the sage mused. "If I had remembered it, I would have told them about it when we met. They just stumbled over it by accident half an hour ago, and now they're performing the Twin-cast at a third-year level. It's astounding!"

"I had my doubts when we started out; mostly because they were so young, and because they seemed to be prone to bickering," Cecil recalled. "But I feel that we've done well together."

"The Faraxhaes are all masters, all extra-talented, all prodigies; they certainly are given over to bickering. I mean, one is great with black magic, one with white magic, one with both, one with thunder spells, one prides herself on her fire spells, not to mention all the outside social connections and adventures—well, pretty soon you wind up with a circus."

"Sounds like you've known these people for quite sometime. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were from this family; you certainly seem to have a temper to match."

"Well, uh—"

"Wild, huh? I guess knowing a person enough rubs off, eh?"

"Yes, it certainly does," Tellah agreed.

By the ledge, Palom and Porom were frying every wildflower and blade of grass they could find with their Twin-cast ability. The whole ledge was covered in scorch marks and small craters.

"There's nothing left to practice on," Porom whined when the last flower had been incinerated.

"Let's try that little flower patch over on that ledge," Palom suggested, pointing to another ledge, several hundred yards away that had a cluster of yellow flowers on it.

"It's kinda far away," Porom said doubtfully.

"I think we can make it," Palom insisted. "We'll just have to aim this time." He sized up the distance once more. "We can definitely make that; it's not that far."

"It might attract attention from monsters."

"It might scare them away. And if we practice on farther targets, we can attack long-range monsters."

Porom finally agreed that aiming at these flowers might prove advantageous.

They both focused at the ledge and began chanting their spells: Palom chose his Fire spell, and Porom chose her Cure spell.

"FIRE!"

"CURE!"

Between the two, a large ball of white and red-orange light materialized and grew until it was as tall as they stood. A lightning-bolt of white light, braided with fire shot out of its center at their target. The bolt hit the ledge perfectly, leaving the ledge charred and the flowers burned to ashes. With their long-range experiment successfully complete, they turned to see what Cecil and Tellah would say.

"Did you guys see that? Did you see what we did?" Palom asked excitedly, bouncing up and down and clapping his hands. The two men were staring at the twins, dumbfounded.

"That was…" was all that Cecil could manage.

"That was incredible!" Tellah exclaimed, jumping up on his feet with a vigor that even he wasn't aware he possessed. "Look at you two! You just found this ability half an hour ago, and look at what you can do! I've never seen someone learn Twin-cast that fast!"

The twins both blushed deep red.

"I'm a little tired from all this practice," Palom admitted, resting his hand casually on the back of his head. "I guess we've broken a record or something, huh?"

"Surely you have," Tellah insisted. "We have to find out when we get back to Mysidia."

Cecil smiled at the old man's sudden antics.

You'd think he was no older than the twins, he thought. He had a tendency to act like a child around Rydia as well; it always put her nerves to rest when she was nervous.

I wonder if there's something I can do for them?

"You're awfully quiet," Porom said, bringing Cecil out of his reverie.

"Hm? What?"

"I said you're awfully quiet; you look a little sad again, actually," Porom repeated.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how silly Tellah was acting just now," Cecil teased.

Tellah's face turned red. "I, I was not!"

The others all began laughing at him.

"He was acting kinda funny," Porom admitted, trying to hide her laughter behind her hands.

"You should have seen the look on your face!" Palom added. Porom whacked him again.

"Don't laugh at your elders! Show some respect!" she scolded.

"Tell yourself that sometime," Palom retorted. Porom's face turned redder than Tellah's when she realized that her brother had a point. Now the two men laughed at them.

"What a marvelous pair you kids make!" Tellah bellowed. "I'm amazed that you haven't torn each other to pieces yet!"

I love kids, Cecil thought to himself. Always an adventure. I can't wait to have kids of my own.

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Rai stared out the window in the direction of the mountain. He wondered if he stared at it hard enough, if he could see his niece and nephew or a spell they were casting. He knew he could see their spells: those blasts of energy that he saw near the summit could only be the Twin-cast at work. He vaguely wondered how they figured it out, but decided not to; they were clever enough to figure it out on their own.

He missed the Twin-cast himself; with his twin unavailable for so long, Rai hadn't been able to use it for years and years. He missed the sensation of white-on-white, black-on-black, and black-on-white smashing into things. He missed the sensation of being so one with another person.

He knew that Palom and Porom would treasure the Twin-cast for ever.

He also wondered why the blasts remained in the same spot for so long. They remained on the right side of the mountain, on a path that inevitably led to the very peak.

There's a safe spot around there for a campsite, Rai remembered. But I didn't expect them to stop so soon. There's still plenty of light out…

I hope they're okay, or I'll have cost myself another sibling.

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The next day, the four friends were traveling steadily to the summit. They were almost there; Tellah said so, he had been up the mountain before.

Palom sighed. "Man, I wish I was big and strong like Cecil," he said. "Then I could use a big cool sword and magic. I could be the best mage who ever lived!" He twirled an imaginary sword in the air.

"I could give you some lessons sometime," Cecil offered.

"That would be awesome!" He thrust his invisible sword forward so hard that he nearly fell on his face. "That was deliberate," he claimed.

"Sure it was," Cecil mockingly agreed.

"I can still be a good sword fighter," Palom insisted. "I wish I had a sword, instead of this stupid fire staff…"

"Stick to your staffs for now, my boy," Tellah advised. "The mage's forte is with magic; that's why we're called mages."

"But swords are so much cooler!"

"Wait a minute…" Tellah froze, as if feeling something in the air. "Something's not right. I can feel it."

"What is it?" Cecil asked.

"Oh, I feel it too," Porom agreed, looking around for something to attack.

"I don't feel anything," Palom stated.

"If they say something's not right, I'm prepared to believe that something isn't right." Cecil drew his sword and gazed around warily.

"There's nothing around here now; perhaps up yonder stairs?" Tellah wondered, pointing at a tall staircase carved into the rock up ahead of them. If not for the stairs, they would have been blocked by a ten-foot ledge.

"Let us climb it and see," Cecil said gravely and started for the stairs.

"Stay behind us," Tellah advised when Palom tried to get behind Cecil.

"I'll be fine," Palom insisted.

"Please, just do as I say," Tellah asked forcefully. The boy didn't dare argue any more and got behind the sage instead.

At the top of the stairs there was a small mesa; another small mesa was separated from it by a 12-foot chasm and a wood-and-rope bridge. Aside from the bridge, there was nothing in the immediate area.

"How much farther to the end, Tellah?" Porom asked.

"Just across that bridge. Do you see that small shrine on the other side?" Tellah said, pointing to a cluster of pillars and a small stone alter on the other side of the bridge. "Cecil's test lies there. But I have a bad feeling about the bridge…"

Cecil's clear blue eyes searched for anything that could cause trouble, but he saw nothing. "Let's hurry and cross it; perhaps we can evade whatever is following after us."

"I pray so," Tellah mumbled.

Cecil took the first step onto the bridge. It swayed unsteadily under his weight and he stepped back with a gasp of surprise. He took a deep breath and tried again. The bridge creaked and the wooden planks gave a little, but they held him up well enough. Slowly and cautiously, the three mages followed him across.

All were happy to reach the other side intact, and there still didn't seem to be anything around. It was a ridiculously straight shot to the little shrine.

And that was what concerned them.

"Let's just try it," Palom suggested. "Maybe we got a lucky break this time."

"I wouldn't count on it; this is way too easy," Tellah rebuked, but they walked toward the shrine all the same.

To their horror, another mist began to gather; it smelled of decaying flash, just as before. There was a gargled, evil laugh from inside the mist.

"Ha, you fools! My true strength lies in death! Join me as for a great feast in my house in the netherworld; come, like sheep to their shepherd, follow me into hell!"

The mist vanished to reveal Scarmiglione once more.

At least, it had been Scarmiglione the last time they had seen it. The hood of its cloak had been cast back, and now they saw its face: a great grime-covered skull with thinning blonde hair; one side was long, the other cut short. The monster had also grown a tail of pointy vertebrae. Its cloak still bore tears and scorches from its previous battle.

And, unfortunately, he appeared behind them, facing the twins instead of Tellah and Cecil as they had planned.

Porom gulped. "It looks even worse than last time," she whimpered.

"I'm sure glad we figured out the Twin-cast in time for this battle," Palom added.

"Tellah's spells and your Twin-cast will do a lot of damage," Cecil reminded, readying his sword for battle once more. "You kids will have to work harder to keep him at bay; in the front, the two of you will be easier to hit than if you had been in the back."

"Thanks for the encouragement," Palom groaned and began his Fira spell.

Scarmiglione laughed at Palom. "Your little fire-spurt won't do anything against my newfound powers!" it cackled.

"Don't listen to it," Porom said to her brother. "Just keep up your chanting; it doesn't know what we can really do now. That's an advantage."

"I know," Palom agreed. He almost seemed to be glowing with this knowledge.

Scarmiglione leapt past the twins and went straight for Cecil, who slashed it across the skull. The sword clashed against the bone, scraping the outer layer of ick off it and leaving a streak of slightly less grimy grime. Once again, the undead thing didn't scream in pain. Instead it laughed its gargled laugh.

"You all think you're so grand, with your pitiful attacks," it hissed. "Breath this, and walk as the living dead!"

It exhaled sharply, emitting a cloud of noxious green vapor at the party. Tellah tried to warn everyone to cover their mouths, but was a little too late. The cloud swept over them all, choking them. They all keeled over, gagging and coughing.

"I feel sick…" Porom moaned, clutching at her stomach.

"I can't see anything," Palom added, groping around for something to hold onto.

"I can't move. Tellah, what is this?" Cecil asked, trying to struggle to his feet.

"I've got it under control," Tellah insisted, and he began chanting a spell.

"ESUNA!"

Each person saw a flash of light and instantly felt their hurt bodies get lighter. The poison, blindness, and paralysis had all vanished.

"To your feet, quickly! You're all cured! Palom, Porom, pick up where you left off with the Twin-cast; it hasn't been too long, the spells should still be good."

"What will you do?" Palom asked.

"I'll stall for time," Tellah informed and began the Fire spell.

"FIRA!

"CURE!"

The inferno between grew between them once more, until it was a little bigger than they were. Once fully charged, it let itself loose and struck the monster square in the chest. This time, the scream it let out was of pure pain.

"Well done," Tellah praised. "Another one of those should put him to sleep; I'll cast my Fire spell to give you a little more time."

"FIRE!"

More fire rained down like a mist, compared to the big Fira spell they had been using. It certainly distracted Scarmiglione while the twins worked on their Twin-cast, but not for long.

"I see your little friends are working on a little something again," it noticed with an evil spark in its voice. "Not for long!" It raised its claw-like hands and prepared to attack the twins.

"Wait!"

Scarmiglione turned to see Cecil standing behind it, brandishing his sword.

"It was me that you wanted, wasn't it?" the knight reminded. "Or has your brain rotted so much that you can't remember what your priorities?" he taunted.

Scarmiglione snarled and lunged for the knight, distracted once again.

"Will we be able to take him down with this one shot?" Palom asked his sister.

"'Course. I remembered all the words to a new spell," Porom informed proudly.

"Really? Then let's cast it!"

"FIRA!"

"CURA!"

The inferno grew again, only much larger than before with the new power behind the Cura. The bolt that shot into Scarmiglione's back was larger and brighter than any of them had seen.

"YAAAAAAAAGH!" the monster wailed. Its cloak was set ablaze once more, and it began flailing about wildly.

"You can't have done it again! I'm an elemental archfiend! We will meet in hell, mark my—"

It didn't get to finish: it fell off the side of the cliff, screaming with pain and rage.

Tellah touched his hand to his heart. "I do believe that is the last we will be seeing of Scarmiglione," he breathed.

"That last Twin-cast was the most amazing thing I've ever seen," Cecil told the twins as he put his sword away. "Nice one with the Cura, Porom."

Porom beamed. "Want me to cure you all with it?" she asked eagerly.

"Sure!"

"Of course!"

"That'd be awesome!"

Porom blushed and giggled shyly. "Okay, then! Let me chant the spell…"

"CURA!"

A flash of white light appeared and dissolved over the four like fairy dust, and they were all healed of their minor wounds. Once the spell was complete, they ran the short distance to the little shrine.

"What happens now?" Cecil asked, looking for his long-awaited test.

"Well, er, to be honest, I'm not sure," Tellah admitted, scratching his head.

"My son, is it you who goes there?"

The four all jumped. Cecil and Tellah made sure the twins were sandwiched between them and then raised their weapons.

"Yes… Yes, you are my son, come to me at last."

"Who are you?" Cecil demanded of the air.

"My light is for you, saved for these 20 years."

"Wait! What are you talking about?" Cecil asked, looking for something to stab.

In place of an answer, there was another flash of light. When the light subsided, the four friends stood in a large room. The floor and ceiling seemed to be made of blue and green marble, but they highly doubted that it was such a simple material. Everything glowed and shined with an ethereal light.

And the far wall was made of a single, flawless mirror.

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I'm so pleased with how quickly this story is coming this far!

My brother got frustrated with his DS and hit the top screen. Now there's this big splotch on the screen and you can't see much on the left side of it. He's so mad right now… --0 Have we all learned our lessons??

Amanda, hold up the queue-card!

(A little pink salamander holds up a queue-card with red lettering.)

"PUNCH A PILLOW, NOT YOUR DS!" ;)