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Final Fantasy VI: The Sands of Time
Book 1: The Beginning
Chapter 7 - Confluence
Part 7.8 - The Eldest
"Dune! Come back! DUNE!"
By the time Bismark had found his voice the gate was shut fast once more, and Dune, Sade and Levi were gone in a flash of blinding light. Memories of the Mordic and of Silas came rushing back to the old captain, and he felt now, more than ever, that history was repeating itself. If he had known that Silas had faced an almost identical predicament at the foot of another gate thirty years ago, it would have comforted him little.
Soon his grief gave way to anger, and he whirled around on his wooden leg to look at the rest of the people gathered in the twilit cavern. Dehr, Cruz, Indie, Alex...and one more stranger who had appeared unnoticed behind Levi. They all were still struck dumb by the sudden events and loss of their leaders. He lost Silas thirty years ago, and he almost lost Dune in the Mordic, but he would be damned if he was going to sit here gaping like a newborn babe and let the closest thing to a son he had ever known just walk out of his life. He turned a fierce eye on the old being who called himself Genju, now sitting quietly in a heap nearby, motionless.
"You! What the hell is going on here? Stop sitting there like a useless fool and do something!"
The old man looked up slowly at Bismark, his eyes shining with an inner white light, and for a moment the captain was taken aback by the look of grief in his eyes. The man seemed as torn over the recent events as himself. But what had he lost?
"I have done all that was required of me, and I shall do no more upon this earth." The old man returned his gaze to the ground, apparently in an act of penitence.
"Snap out of it!" Bismark roared at him. The force of Bismark's anger made the others flinch, bringing them back to their senses a little. Even the old man slightly raised his head, but only to shake it in futility. The shining light around him was gradually dimming, and soon he would be as dark as any other mortal.
Bismark had had enough of this man's attitude, though. With three great strides he walked right up to the being and grabbed him by his lustrous robes. Before the old man could say anything against this blasphemy, Bismark had lifted him straight off the ground and stood him on his feet.
"Get up! You let them go in there, and you're going to let us go in after them, do you hear?" Bismark said angrily, but not as loudly as before. His face was right in the other man's, and he could see the look of abject misery in it. He had to get this man past his grief, or they would have no chance of making sense of what had happened, and how they should continue.
At being handled so offensively, the old man bristled with bruised pride. His wings rustled and feathers fell softly around him as he rose higher than Bismark could reach. He straightened himself out almost to his former glory and looked down at the pitiful sight of the one-eyed, one-legged old man beneath him.
"Who are you to lay a hand on a servant of the Holy Master, mortal? I am older than you can imagine, and to touch the sacred raiment of Genju is to invite death! Be gone!"
"Oh, so now you show some backbone?" Bismark retorted fearlessly. "Where was your anger when my friend waltzed right past you and into...that?" He waved his hand at whatever lay beyond the giant gate.
"You understand nothing." Genju said quietly, but with force, like a teacher chastising a child. "Violence only begets violence. If I had tried to stop them with force, they would have been truly lost to the fallen Masters and you would not be standing here so brazenly. Their holy war would have razed this cavern, this mountain, this very world, to the ground. The only thing that saved you was their own humanity holding back the last of the fallen Masters' wills. Now that they are beyond the world of mortals, there is nothing stopping their transformation." The old man again slumped down into his former position, then finished, "It will be some time before they re-emerge from the Nexus. All we can do until then is wait. Wait for our inevitable destruction."
Bismark was not impressed by the old man's speech. "Well I am not going to give up so easily! What is it exactly that we are waiting for? If we've got nothing to do but sit here, then I don't see why you can't start explaining what's going on. God knows we've all been in the dark long enough."
Before Genju could answer, Bismark wheeled around and faced Dehr and Cruz, huddled against a corner of the cavern. "And what about you two? What do you have to say for yourselves? Have you got what it was you were looking for this time?"
Dehr said nothing and continued to stare half-dazedly at nothing, but Cruz straightened and faced Bismark, his ego not allowing him to ignore the man's accusations.
"Do you think we wanted this?" Cruz burst out with anger, but also with real fear. "We're stuck here just like you. We don't have any more idea of what's going to happen than anyone. That damnable Sade dragged us here with his lies, just like he dragged all of you here. Do you really think we have Karn's wife? Really? We aren't petty criminals, we're businessmen, politicians, human beings! We have no idea where his wife is, and if Dune think's he is saving his wife by following Sade then he's as big a fool as the rest of us. Sade lied to you the way he lied to us, the bastard!"
Cruz's outburst was unexpected, and it woke everyone out of their stupor with its harsh truths. They had all been played by the man, and now where were they? Exactly where Sade wanted them, apparently. But why?
Dehr looked at Cruz in surprise, seeing their position clearly for the first time. Alex and Indie looked at each other and at Bismark, wondering if Cruz was right. Why were they here? After his outburst, Cruz checked himself and sat down on the cold ground petulantly. Dehr quietly followed his lead and sat down, to wait for whatever it was she had let herself be brought here to find.
The stranger that had entered the cavern quietly behind Levi said nothing, but merely hovered in the background, waiting. He knew more than anyone about the terrible powers at work here, and it was that very terror that kept him silent, like a ghost.
Genju raised himself up and spoke now, with sorrow in every word. He saw these pitiful people for what they were now. Pawns, just as he was.
"Ah, my brothers and sisters, we are all naught but vessels for the gods to drink from as they please. Even I, two thousand years removed from humanity, am not immune to our shared plight in this world." Genju raised two of his hands outwards, as if to embrace everyone before him. "Come, let me ease your troubled minds as best I can in this trying time. Perhaps we can soothe each other, and find some peace before the end. What is it you wish to know?"
The dim cavern was silent for a moment, while everyone thought about his words. Alex was the first to speak, his scientific mind carefully considering what to ask this being of dying light. First, he must know who exactly it was that would be answering their questions.
"Who are you? You look like a holy priest of the Order of the Pearl, and talk like a member of the Order. But you're obviously not human."
Genju's face twitched at this question. It could have been a smile, but his endless white beard covered most of his facial expressions.
"I am Genju, the Eldest," he said simply, restating his former assertion. "I was once human, long ago. I was a great teacher of men and seeker of truth in my time. I look and talk like one of your Order's priests, because I am the Order. I am the founder of the Order of the Pearl."
"What?" Alex interrupted, in shock. "The Order of the Pearl is thousands of years old, and it certainly wasn't founded here. According to all historical records, it was formed on Phoenix Isle. Even the Order itself concedes this."
Genju's beard twitched again in amusement. Talking with people once again after being confined for so long was a wonderful feeling, and it almost made him forget the tragic fate ahead.
"History has a way of being twisted, forgotten, and re-invented. The river of time has many bends, my young seeker of truth. You splash for answers on the surface, but I have traveled the river's deepest currents, and know more than your books could ever tell." Genju paused as he stood up and began to pace. His wings twitched with interest at having someone to converse with, and the dim light that had been fading around him began to shine once more. Once again he was the teacher, and here were his newest batch of students.
"What you call the Order of the Pearl is simply the current incarnation of our religion. Before Phoenix Isle was Crescent Isle, and before that...well, before that man was but an animal squirming in the darkness, untouched by the benevolent light of the Holy Master."
Now Indie spoke up for the first time, his interest piqued. "Are you saying this place is the birth of civilization? Are your people the original inhabitants of this island?"
"We are," Genju replied, pleased at his pupil's interest. "We called ourselves the People of the Moon, and I was their leader, three thousand years ago."
"Three thousand years? You're telling us you're three thousand years old? Granted, you look even older than me, but not that old!" Bismark scoffed, but not unbelievingly. Now was not the time for a lack of faith.
"Mortal years mean nothing to me anymore, for I count time on a different scale now. But even by my own standards, I am indeed ancient. However, if things were different I may still live for a thousand years to come." At this statement Genju's face once more showed the deep sorrow he felt and he stopped pacing. If things were different.
"No human could live that long, so spit it out. What are you?" Bismark asked forcefully. He had a hidden suspicion that this being was like Sade, or Levi. Somehow warped by the crystals to something not completely human anymore.
"I see your fears plainly on your face. Do not worry yourself." Genju started pacing again, the teacher returning to form.
"I am similar to the Vessels, but my source is completely different. I was once a human, but because of my accomplishments in life, and devotion to the Balance, I was chosen for a great honor. I was visited by the Holy Master Altimus himself as my natural death approached, and given the choice to transcend my mortal body. I walk this path voluntarily, and was given my power by the divine benevolence of Altimus, not the evil will of the fallen Masters.
"When I was human, I was known by the name of Solomon, and I led my people with fairness and righteousness for many years. We lived in peace with the planet, and followed what was then only called the Balance. There was no religion, no Order of the Pearl then. The way of Balance was all we knew, and it was enough for our simple way of life. But Altimus in his infinite wisdom foresaw the time when our ever-growing people would need Order as well as Balance, and he came to the wisest of our people with a great purpose. I was deemed that person, unworthy as I turned out to be.
"He entrusted me with the task of keeping order in the world throughout the ages. I was given great power and longevity, and transformed into what you see before you. I am what is known as the Dreaming Awake, or as we came to be called, an Esper, a mortal being infused with the power of the world of the gods - what you would whimsically call 'Magic' in these times of machines and science."
Bismark, Indie, and Alex gasped. They had talked amongst themselves about "magic" after the things they had seen defied scientific explanation, but it was only their pet theory, their placeholder while they worked out the mysteries of the world. To see its power in the flesh right in front of them was a completely unexpected surprise.
"So, this is real magic?" Indie whispered. "We have come a long way from home, indeed."
"Yes, I am a being of magic," Genju continued. "I am the original Esper, the first of my kind, but not the last. I lived among men for a thousand years after my transformation, and took the name Genju, the Eldest. I continued to lead my people, now with the knowledge of the Holy Master to guide me. Along with my power, I was given five sacred relics to guard with my life. Three of them you are familiar with, no doubt."
"The crystals..." Bismark said quietly.
"Yes, the gravity crystals were once my burden to bear, and with the holy power of Altimus, I withstood their warring influence for a time. I was also given the Pearl of Order, a physical manifestation of the state of Balance in our world. The other relic was the Nacre, an artifact that brings the light of hope into even the darkest times. Both the Nacre and the Pearl were taken from me, and I know not of their current fates, except that they still exist."
"We have seen your Pearl," Alex said. "It is still safe as far as we know, even though the Order has been corrupted by Sade's influence."
Genju breathed an audible sigh of relief. "It is good that even in these dark times some things still remain sacred. If the Pearl were ever to be destroyed, the world would be plunged into the darkness of chaos. I fear that fate may be upon us soon regardless, though. During that time, the Pearl will turn from white to black, then crumble, and the Balance will be lost. For now, though, I feel the light of the Pearl shining still, however feebly. This gives me hope for the future, but once the Ultima Gate opens again and the Vessels return, nothing can stop their power from destroying this world."
"Nonsense!" Bismark said hotly. "Whatever happens, we'll stop them. We came here to stop Sade's plans, even if it costs our lives. With all your power, you should be fighting alongside us, not giving sermons about peace and cowardice! Stand up and fight, man!"
Genju only shook his head again. "I understand your devotion to your cause, but my way is no longer of war and violence. That very passion is why I was exiled to this place, and why the holy relics were taken from me. I created the Order of the Pearl and moved my people to the center of Balance in this world, Phoenix Isle. Although it was not known by that name until the second Esper, Phoenix, was created to maintain and transform the island to fulfill the needs and wants of our people. For a millennia I kept the Balance and the Order prospered, and Phoenix Isle became the center of civilization in the world. The great and powerful Phoenician Empire was born.
"Many great things were accomplished during my thousand year reign, but I was not content. I wanted to spread the word of my people to every corner of the world. I felt it was my duty to teach the way of the Order to all peoples, and I used my powers to force many to submit to my will and the will of the Holy Master. I had thought those wills were one and the same, but I was but a child even then, and my Master showed me the terrible price for assuming to know the mind of a god.
"Because I chose pride, violence and subjugation over humility, peace and tolerance, I fell from the grace of my Master's watchful eye, and the three fallen Masters of Fire, Ice, and Lightning, known by our people as Moloch, the Vengeful Poltergeist, Chemosh, the Doomed One, and Astarte, the Goddess of Desire, came to me as they came to your friends."
"Levi is no friend of mine," Bismark muttered. Genju paid him no mind, and continued with his sad tale.
"As soon as my soul was found tainted by the fallen Masters, I was stripped of my position by my true Master, and the holy relics were taken from me and scattered. I was exiled to this place, and the three crystals were hidden from all mortal eyes for fear of their irresistible influence. Without my guidance, my Empire collapsed against its own bloated weight, and Phoenix Isle was punished for my sins with destruction."
"We know this part of the story." Indie said sadly. "But, the island was not completely destroyed. It was reborn every hundred years, and humanity was given another chance to atone for their crimes. As long as our best representative was still found worthy of your Master's protection, the world remained safe from his counterpart, the Dark Master, at least for another hundred years until we were tested again. Am I right?"
Genju was surprised to hear these words from a man he thought was just a scientist, a worshipper of machines. He lifted his thick eyebrows enough that his bright eyes could be seen looking fixedly at Indie. "Indeed, you are correct in your assumptions. How is it you know so much of the secret penance my Order is forced to pay for my sins?"
"Because we were there for the last ceremony," Indie said, recalling the great events of thirty years ago. "Our friend gave his life so that the poison mist that covers your homeland would not spread beyond the island. I fear your Order's choice must not have been found worthy enough, and his sacrifice was in vain."
Genju digested this unexpected information for a moment and remained silent. Alex took this opportunity to ask the Esper a question that had been bothering him since the mention of the holy relics and Phoenix Isle.
"Genju, sir, will Phoenix Isle ever rise again, now that altar has been destroyed and the Order corrupted?"
"My brethren still watches over the island even now, deep inside its fiery core. As long as the Esper Phoenix lives, the island will rise again, and all will be reborn from the ashes. Even if the altar was destroyed last time, the island will still rise in seventy years just as it was before, to wait for the next sacrifice."
"But who will complete the ritual?" Alex asked. "Sade doesn't look like he cares one bit about saving the world, and I doubt there are any followers of his that would be deemed worthy to continue the tradition."
Genju thought about this carefully, then replied, "You said that it was one of your friends that completed the ritual last time. If there are men among you who are still righteous enough to continue the tradition when the time comes, I feel they will be led to the island, even without the Order. I fear we will not need to worry about that time, though. The world will not be around for the next time of judgment if the fallen Masters have their way."
"Enough of that talk!" Bismark snapped. "Just what is these fallen Masters' plan, anyways? You talk like there's nothing that can be done to stop them now, but I don't believe it. Dune is still Dune, no matter what some evil spirit says, and I have faith in him. He won't let this happen without a fight, do you hear?"
"Such conviction!" Genju said, smiling despite himself. "I know first hand the power of the fallen Masters, and it is not something that can be kept at bay forever. Your friend was strong of spirit, that much I could tell when he stood before me. He fought his demon much more fiercely than the others, but in the end Chemosh won. Now he is lost beyond the gate, where the power of the gods is much stronger."
"What is behind that gate?" Alex asked nervously. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know this much of the truth, but his curiousity was insatiable.
Genju saw his fear and understood it all too well. He had gone beyond that gate once before.
"This gate is known as the Ultima Gate, the final door between the mortal world and the world of the gods. Beyond is the Nexus, a formless place of dreams and desires that acts as the bridge between worlds. It is only through the half-world of mortal dreams that one may enter the world of the gods. That is why we Espers are known as the Dreaming Awake. We all have passed beyond this world and into the Nexus, where our dreams and desires become real, and our mortal flesh is transformed to reflect our deepest desires, and fears. Once a mortal has been touched by the powers of the Nexus, they can never return to their original state. They will forever be halflings, borne of mortal flesh, but infused with the eternal magical energy swirling through the Nexus."
"So what will happen to Dune?" Indie said with concern. Just who would step out of that door?
"Your friend is no different," Genju said without pity. "In fact, his transformation began long before he stepped through that gate. The moment he bound himself to the gravity crystal, the dreams of Chemosh began to shape his mortal form through the crystal. In time, he would come to look more and more like an Esper. Look at the Vessel of Moloch, the one you call Sade. That was no armor he wore, but the crystal itself. He has carried the burden of its power for a long time indeed for its power to consume him so!"
"So what are these crystals, then?" Alex asked. "If they're so dangerous, why did you not destroy them? Why do they exist at all?"
Genju sighed. These were deep questions they were asking. Normally mortals had no right to such forbidden knowledge, but soon it would not matter, and Genju relented, answering whatever they asked of him.
"The gravity crystals were born from the Crystal Forge that swirls at the heart of the Nexus, each one fashioned by the gods themselves. They are the physical embodiment of the Nexus, a mortal cage to bind the immortal powers of the fallen Masters. Within each crystal is a smaller representation of the Nexus itself, each one a separate world unto itself, with no way out or in. Inside these prison worlds the fallen Masters were banished, and inside they were meant to stay for all time. But something changed at some point. The fallen Masters found a way to communicate with the mortal world through the dreams of men. Perhaps the ever darkening desires of mankind as it grew called out to them, and soon they heard, and responded in kind.
"The crystals cannot be destroyed through the hands of man, and certainly cannot be destroyed from within by the fallen Masters. This is why they needed to find Vessels who's dreams and desires strongly aligned with their own, and bind themselves to those unfortunate souls. Once in control, they could guide the Vessels and their crystal prisons to the one place in the mortal world where they could free themselves."
"Here." Bismark said, disgusted with his complicity in these twisted plans.
Genju sighed again, and lowered his head. He knew Bismark's feelings quite well.
"Yes, here, at the Ultima Gate. This gate was the bridge the gods created to allow their power to flow into the unformed space of the void and create this world. It is their power that formed this world as we see it and all life on it, and it is their combined power that maintains the Balance required to keep reality as we know it from vanishing back into the dreams of the gods. Even the fallen Masters were once a part of this great flow of elemental power, until they were banished from the world of the gods. Once they return to the Nexus and the Crystal Forge, their dreams will be made real, and their cages will be broken."
"But if they were sealed away, how is the world still here? How has balance been maintained all this time without them?" Alex's questions were some of the deepest questions ever asked by mortal man, and Genju was almost visibly afraid to answer them.
"These questions are forbidden even for me to ask, young one," Genju said quietly, as if he may be struck down for even thinking about them. "I know not the minds of the gods, or their problems. The exiling of the Masters of Fire, Ice and Lightning was long before my time, long before time as reckoned by any living being. Why they were banished, or how the world still exists without them is not for lowly beings such as us to concern ourselves with. Please, do not dwell on such things, it only leads to madness."
"Then what about here and now?" Bismark said impatiently. "I don't care one bit about the problems of these gods. I care about my friend who's trapped in there, and I want to know everything that I can do to help him."
"We can do nothing, as I have tried to tell you." Genju said, weary of Bismark's hopeless struggle. "The gates can not be opened by beings such as you or I. It is only to the voice of the gods that they will listen. Inside the world of the Nexus, the Vessels will be subjected to the full might of the fallen Masters. Unless your Dune can find a way to keep his sanity before the naked power of the gods themselves, he will lose himself and be transformed completely into an Esper, to do the bidding of his freed Master here in the mortal world."
"Dune will be fine, I believe in him." Bismark said simply and surely. "That fool is as stubborn as anyone, and I doubt he'll even believe those Masters exist, as logical as he tries to be. And as for Sade and Levi, we'll stop them if they come back out, no matter what kind of monsters they turn into."
"Fool!" Genju said with anger and impatience, rising again to his inhuman height. "You have no notion of the power of an Esper! If I chose, I could destroy all of you with one sweep of my hand! An entire army of mere humans could not stand before me in my wrath. Remember, I once ruled the entire civilized world with my power. And I was a kind and fair man, who's power was crafted by the dreams of peace of a kind and fair god. The Espers that will come out of that gate will be terrible beasts of pure destruction and malice. They will spread across this world like a wildfire, consuming everything in their mindless hunger. And we will be their first meal, I assure you!"
Genju said no more, and immediately sat himself back down in the position he had taken before Bismark had deigned to disturb him. The time for teaching was over. Now he would wait as gracefully as he could for his own death. He only hoped these foolish humans, with their futile dreams of a happy ending and the reuniting of hopelessly lost friends, would accept their own deaths as quietly he did.
Bismark did not back down from Genju's anger, though. He stood his ground and said with heartfelt emotion, "I believe in Dune. His father fought the demons and won, and so will he. You'll see, you old coward."
Alex and Indie nodded in agreement. This was the son of Silas, after all. The three old men stood together in solidarity and waited for their friend to return safe to them, as they knew he would.