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Final Fantasy VI: The Sands of Time

Book 2: The Goddess War

Chapter 9 - The Wanderer

Part 9.2 - Alone

A mournful howl echoed through the icy mountains of Narsille, startling Maduin from his slumber. It was still the middle of night, and once again Maduin had been forced from his lonesome dreams by the piercing sound in the distance. Every night for the past month he had heard this howl, but it still made him uneasy whenever it woke him. The haunting cry was like nothing of this earth, filling the night sky with the sound of an entire pack of blood-thirsty hounds. Despite his formidable frame, Maduin still felt fear every time he heard it. Part of this was atavistic, but part of it he knew was because of the direction of the sound. It was coming from the south, dangerously close to Antissa.

The town of Antissa lay to the south of the once-great city of Narsille. It was a tiny hamlet, only a few thousand strong, but it held a special place in Maduin's heart. This sleepy village was the birthplace of Mae, the woman he had called his wife in another life. H suspected that this was where she had escaped to after the destruction of their home, but he was far too afraid to find out for sure. His heart ached deeply for her, especially up here in his frozen exile among the wilds of the Narsillian tundra, but he knew there was no going back to that time, or back to Antissa. Dune Karn might have been able to arrive out of the blue and sweep her back into their life together, but for the beast Maduin, there was no hope. He knew if he took one step into that village, he would be run out of town like the monster he was.

Maduin listened as the strange howl sounded again, like a clock tolling the hour. It was no use. Until the howling stopped, he would not be able to sleep. Not that he slept much these days. When he had first come here three months ago, badly injured and exhausted, he had slept almost constantly. Once he had recovered from his wounds, though, he found it almost impossible to sleep. The freezing temperatures didn't faze his equally cold body in the least, and the ferocious beasts that roamed the area knew they were no match for the giant that had invaded their territory. The only creatures that even tried to intimidate him were the prickly vomammoths, great bear-like creatures with tusks like a mammoth and the temperament of a wild boar. After a few scuffles that Maduin won handily, they learned to keep their distance from him, and the other animals of the region followed suite. Now, everything living left him alone, forgotten.

No, Maduin found it difficult to sleep because the only things he dreamed of were either the lost times from the past, the impossible hopes of the future, or the frightful reality of his present condition. How many times had Mae's face, contorted with fear and loathing at the sight of him, rose up to remind him how much she despised the monster he had become? How many times had he watched his own hand mortally wound his closest friend, Captain Bismark? How many times had he felt the searing pain of raw magical energy rip through his seemingly impenetrable flesh as his former ally Draco, now the dragon Bahamut, attacked him with a hatred he would have though impossible from the loyal knight? And worst of all, how often had he seen his own hideous visage appear before him, taunting him with its inhuman features?

The tired Esper rose up from the snow drift he had used for a bed, and wandered through the wilderness, a dark-skinned phantom in the pale moonlight. There would be no more sleep for him tonight, and perhaps that was a good thing. His body did not need much sleep, and even less nourishment, and that made for a very boring life alone in the mountains.

Curious to see if he could spot the source of the incessant howling, he slowly made his way back towards the steep hill that overlooked the valley where Narsille once lay. Along the way, several floating blue clouds of gas latched onto him, apparently attracted to the magical energy his body exuded. He swatted them off his back with an annoyed swipe of his claw. These were the only things that paid him any attention now, and he wasn't sure what to make of them.

The blobs of glowing gas seemed alive, and moved with a primordial instinct that reminded Maduin of the single-celled organisms he had studied back in school. As a former archeologist, he knew all the creatures, both modern and ancient, that inhabited the region, but to these entities he could give no name. For the time being, he simply called them "vaporites" since they seemed to be made of nothing more than wisps of vapor. The way they seemed to feed off his magical energy disturbed him, though. He had the feeling they had only started manifesting themselves after the catastrophe at Crescent Mountain had released the uncontrolled power of magic into the world. If this was true, then who knew what other side effects may be disturbing the balance elsewhere in the world?

One place that had already felt the hammer of magic unleashed was the ruined land that now spread out below him. Even through the thick haze of smoke that covered the valley, Maduin could easily make out the devastation of his homeland. Only a scant few of the famous mythril towers of Narsille remained standing above the smoke, and all of them were half-way to collapsing, blackened with the soot, and completely uninhabitable. The very air of the city was now a poisonous smog, and the streets nothing but hardened lava, with the occasional river of fire snaking its way from one pit of molten rock to another like a glowing web.

Ash many layers deep covered everything that wasn't on fire, masking the carnage just underneath and giving a smooth desert-like appearance to the landscape. Massive pillars of fire would gush from the giant pits every so often, reminding Maduin that the landscape was not completely dead, and that something insidious still lurked beneath the surface. The demonic Esper, Sade, or as he called himself now, Crusader, had turned the beautiful paradise of Narsille into a nightmare of death and despair. The entire region had been transformed into a tribute to Crusader's unseen god - the Master of Fire, Moloch, or as he was known by the Order of the Pearl, the Vengeful Poltergeist.

Maduin could only guess what unspeakable atrocities were being committed under the fiery lash of this Poltergeist, just beneath that world of ash, but he had had a brief glimpse once, and knew the fallen Master was readying himself to wage war on the other two would-be gods that had been banished to the mortal realm by the true Masters of this world. One of them he was intimately familiar with; the Master of Ice, Chemosh, or as Maduin had come to know him - Doom. This foul demon had once controlled his mind and body, and was the cruel tempter that had led him to the wretched fate as an Esper that he now found himself in. The third member of this triad was the Mistress of Lightning - Astarte, simply called the Goddess by the foolish souls who worshipped her. Fools like Jonah Levi, now the Esper Leviathan.

Together, they were preparing to bring an end to this world, in the hopes that the victor of their petty quarrel would be able to fashion the mortal realm as they saw fit - a monument to their own power and essence. Maduin was unsure of the details, but he knew that in order for the god-like triad to manifest themselves in the mortal world completely, they needed sacrifices of living bodies to craft their mortal flesh - a great many sacrifices. If Crusader's words were to be believed, many thousands of people must be given up to the inert statue-like forms the banished gods now resided in before a proper vessel could be created for their immense power. The magical might these false gods would possess if fully revived would dwarf even the power of the Espers, and Maduin shuddered to think what kind of havoc they would bring if allowed to complete their bloody rituals.

Even Espers like Maduin were not exempt from this gruesome rite, and Maduin knew he, too, might be attacked and captured at any moment, to be fed to the dark god Moloch. He had escaped from Crusader's clutches once, but he knew the vengeful Esper would never allow Maduin to remain free for long. Every day Maduin expected to see the horrible trio of Espers that made up the full might of Crusader rise up from the cloud of ash and finish what they had started deep under the streets of Narsille. So far, nothing had stirred from the valley below except that ghostly howl.

The holy relic known as the Nacre that Maduin always wore around his neck had saved him on the day he had escaped, but he had felt nothing from the string of glowing pearls since his escape from the burning city months ago, and feared the words of the mighty Esper known as Adamastor were true. Maduin was free from the control of the gods now - both the corrupt ones that currently plagued the lands, and the true ones that had guided him in his journey up to this point. Without the support of such powerful allies as Elia, the Maiden of Water, Altimus, the Holy Master, and even Uranos, the Master of Storms and Gaeus, the Master of Earth, Maduin felt he was hopelessly outmatched against the Esper armies of the fallen Masters. What could one lone Esper do against the hordes being assembled throughout the world now?

Nothing. I am worthless. Maduin thought as he gazed out over the valley of death beneath him. I was unable to do anything as a human, and I am unable to do anything even as an Esper. I wasn't able to save any of my friends. Bismark is dead by my hand. Alex, Indie, and even Draco are all monsters like me now, under the control of the fallen Masters. And Mae...Mae couldn't even stand to look at me without being horrified. Now I think I am beginning to understand why Genju exiled himself for so long. We Espers will never have a place in this world. We are truly alone...

Maduin fingered a small stone as he though of his predicament. This stone was the remains of another Esper, a piece of what was called magicite. This was the magicite of the Esper known as Titan, dead now for almost a thousand years. According the Genju, Espers could still communicate through their magicite even after death, but Titan remained silent to Maduin's touch, just as he had for Genju. Sometimes when Maduin was feeling especially lonely, he would talk to the magicite, hoping it would respond, but it never stirred. Genju might have been mistaken, or perhaps Titan felt Maduin simply wasn't worthy enough to waste his time with. Maduin couldn't argue with that idea.

As Maduin stared dejectedly into the softly glowing red core of the magicite, he heard a strangely familiar sound nearby. He glanced around, but only saw the mass of vaporites that had been bothering him, bubbling close by. The muffled sound continued, but Maduin couldn't place it. Looking back down at the magicite, he wondered if this wasn't Titan finally trying to speak from the other side.

"puuuh..."

No, that did not sound like a mighty Esper of Earth. It sounded like a small child crying, or...

"puuh...kupeh..."

Maduin listened, and realized that the sound was coming from the growing cloud of vaporites. Suddenly, it hit him.

"Hel...p...puuuu.."

There was no doubt now. Maduin rushed at the vaporites and yanked them away, revealing an unexpected surprise.

"Kumiro?"

Lying in the snow at Maduin's feet was a sorry sight. It was the moogle Kumiro, Professor Indie's faithful companion, but he was in dreadful condition. He was half-starved and his fur was singed in multiple places. Small bites and scratches that Maduin knew were from the silver lobos that lurked in the area covered the still plump body of the poor moogle. One bite mark in particular stood out on the moogle's side, far too large to be a lobo's. Something even larger than a vomammoth had gotten a hold of the poor creature, and had left a nasty wound that needed dressing badly. And perhaps most disheartening of all, his bright red pom-pom had been cut clean off, giving the moogle a wretched appearance even his normally upbeat facial expression couldn't mask.

At the sound of Maduin's rumbling voice, the frightened moogle tried to jump up and fly away, but was too weak. It merely flopped back into the snow and rolled away from Maduin slowly. The vaporites gradually began to surround the moogle again, their delicate blue tendrils gripping any part of him they could reach. Why were they so interested in the moogle, and not Maduin?

This moogle must be partly magical in nature, like an Esper, and the vaporites are trying to feed off of him like they did with me. Indie always said this little guy had mysterious powers. And hadn't Kumiro known Maduin was dangerous before anyone else?

As his scientist's mind pondered the sight he was witnessing, Maduin continued to bat the annoying bags of gas away from the defenseless moogle. He could tell the vaporites were taking their toll as he watched Kumiro's struggles grow more feeble with each passing moment. Finally, he grew tired of trying to wave off the pests, and created a large chunk of magical ice a short distance away. As he suspected, the vaporites flocked to the source of pure magic, throwing themselves at the ice in a frenzy.

"Ku..."

"It's alright, I'm here Kumiro," Maduin said as softly as he could, remembering the negative reaction the moogle had displayed the last time they had seen each other.

The moogle opened one of its swollen eyes and looked up into the face of its rescuer. It closed its eyes tighter, and tried to crawl away from Maduin.

"Pu...b.a.d...baaad...not...Du...ne..." the moogle sputtered in broken sounds, struggling to form human words to get his point across.

Maduin sighed, not surprised. Why should the moogle trust him now any more than he did before? It didn't matter, though. If Maduin didn't help Kumiro, he would surely die out here, either sucked dry by the relentless vaporites, or devoured by the lobos...or by whatever else may be lurking out there.

"Sorry, pal, but you're coming with me whether you like it or not," Maduin said as he plucked the beaten and battered moogle off the ground as gently as he could. He cradled the tiny thing in his arms like an infant, and ran back to one of the caves he used on occasion. He could hear the howling of the lobos behind him, and above them, the demonic howl of the unknown creature of the night. Maduin didn't have time to think about those sounds at the moment, and rushed his patient back to the safety of the caves, where he could hopefully do something to help for a change.

Over the next few days and weeks, Maduin did his best to nurse the moogle back to health, but it was slow-going. The wounds had begun to heal, and Maduin could even see a tiny bud of red beginning to form at the end of the long hair where the pom-pom once stood. Unfortunately, the moogle was not gaining any strength back, and still feared Maduin for the demon he once was.

Maduin continued to care for the creature, but he was beginning to suspect the problem was beyond something physical. The vaporites had drained magical strength from the moogle, and despite the steady healing of its physical wounds, it remained weak and listless. If Maduin's theory was true, he had no idea how to restore lost magical energy. His own power seemed inexhaustible, and even after the fierce battles in Narsille, all it took was a few nights of solid rest and he had felt energized again. What was the difference with the moogle?

"Kumiro, you have to trust me," Maduin pleaded after several more weeks with no improvement, "I'm not the same Maduin as before. I am Dune. You have to let me help you. What do I need to do?"

Kumiro shrank back from Maduin's rough voice, but not quite as sharply as he used to. The vile persona of the original Maduin had done a good job of impersonating Dune, and it was difficult for the moogle to believe that entity was gone forever. But hour after hour, day after day, the new Maduin had chipped away at the wall Kumiro had put up, and was slowly rebuilding the trust they had once shared.

"Ku...po...?"

"Yes, that's it. You have to trust me, Kumiro. The old Maduin is gone, banished back into the shadows it formed from. All that's left is...me. Dune."

"Duuuuune..." The moogle slowly opened its eyes to look closely at the towering Esper standing watch over him. His growing pom-pom twitched reflexively, as if it were tasting the aura around Maduin. The moogle twitched this way and that, turning its head in every direction as it studied Maduin inch by inch, hunting for even the slightest presence of the cold, heartless aura it had felt before.

"Well?" Maduin asked after almost an hour of watching the ball of fur twitch, flutter, and dance its way from the tip of his horns down to the talons on his feet.

"Kupo!" The moogle yipped, and flew around Maduin rapidly, landing right in the nook of his spiked shoulder like a resting bird. It was visibly exhausted from all the movement, and rested comfortably against Maduin's neck.

Maduin smiled, the first time in a long while. "I'll take that as a yes." He carefully petted the resting moogle, relieved that it let him touch it without cringing.

"I still don't know how to restore your lost magical energy, though." Maduin said, watching Kumiro struggle to breath as it rested on his shoulder.

"Po..." Kumiro sighed softly, turning over so that its face was looking directly into Maduin's. His little claws fingered the Nacre around Maduin's neck and his pom-pom twitched as he inspected each individual glowing pearl.

"Kuku!"

"I don't understand you. Can the Nacre help?" Maduin shook his head. "I haven't sensed anything from it since I escaped Narsille. I think its power has left me."

"Kukukuku!" The moogle scrunched up its face, and formed the word it was looking for very carefully. "Maaamaaa..."

It was always strange to hear human words come out of that little mouth, but there was no mistaking what it had said.

"Mama? Mother? I still don't understand." Maduin said, scratching his head.

"Give!" Kumiro blurted.

Maduin didn't know what the moogle was getting at, but shrugging his shoulders, he took the string of pearls from his neck and passed it into the eager little hands.

As soon as the Nacre was in Kumiro's hands, it began to glow brighter, bathing the moogle in a soft white light. The moogle placed it around his own neck, despite it being far too large for him. The light continued to flow around him, and Maduin could see it was flowing into the moogle's body. Somehow the moogle was transferring the magical energies locked deep within the pearls into his own body.

"Kuku!" Kumiro said happily. For the first time since Maduin had seen him here, he was looking like his old, bubbly self.

"How did you know the Nacre could restore you?" Maduin asked, not expecting to get any kind of answer that would make sense to him.

"Mama!" Kumiro repeated, leaping off Maduin's shoulder and flying around the cave it had called home for almost a month.

Maduin smiled, not understanding the mysterious creature one bit. A riddle for another day, he supposed. All that mattered was that they were both back to full strength. A nasty scar remained where the great arc of the bite wound had been, but beyond that the moogle was almost fully healed.

"How did you get that bite, Kumiro? Nothing around here is large enough to do something like that."

Now the moogle shuddered, as if he were looking at the evil Maduin once again. "Baaad...big!" He covered his eyes with his claws, hiding from the unpleasant memory.

"Big, bad what?" Maduin prodded, hoping the creature's limited vocabulary could give him some idea what might be lurking out there.

Kumiro struggled to find the words he was looking for, but eventually murmured in a slow squeaky whisper, "Dog! Big dog!"

"A dog? You mean the lobos? They couldn't do something like this. The animal that attacked you would have to be the size of a small house to leave marks like that!"

"Big! Big! Big!" Kumiro said louder, getting more comfortable with the word. "Big bad dog!"

Then it hit Maduin. The howling in the night that sounded like an army of wolves coming from the south. That must be the unknown beast.

"Kumiro," Maduin said carefully, wanting to make sure the moogle understood him. He still wasn't sure exactly how smart this unusual creature was, but it seemed he always underestimated it. "Did you come from the south? From the village of Antissa? Is that where the big dog is?"

"Kupo! Bad dog! Kupo!" Kumiro pointed directly towards the village of Antissa, due south, nodding its head.

Maduin knew the moogle had an uncanny sense of direction, and so he wasn't surprised that it could pick out the direction of the village as easily as pointing at the moon, even inside the cave. Now he was wondering if this "big bad dog" wasn't another consequence of the wild magic, like the vaporites.

"Is it attacking the village? What's happening down there? Are the villagers safe?" A growing feeling of dread was rising in Maduin's chest. What if Mae was in danger again? Was there anywhere in the world that was safe now? What if she was already...

"Tell me!" Maduin almost shouted before Kumiro could put his response together. He flinched at the bestial voice, and said nothing.

Maduin slumped down, worry gnawing at his stomach. He had been hearing the howling roar for nearly two months now, and had done nothing. If he were to go to Antissa now, would there be anything left to save or would he find another smoldering ruin like Narsille?

"I'm sorry...please, tell me anything you can. Mae might be down there, and I have to know that she is alright."

Kumiro gathered his strength back up, and nodded, trying to look brave. "Kupo. Dog come...night only." The words were difficult, but the moogle forced them out. "Dog take...people."

"And Mae?" Maduin pushed, fearing the worst.

"Mae...kupo..ku..." Kumiro struggled to find the word he was looking for. "Kupo! Mae there. No take."

Maduin breathed a huge sigh of relief before realizing that the moogle had been stuck in this cave for a month, and anything could have happened in that time.

"Kumiro, I have to get down there and find out what's happening. I should have done it a long time ago, but I had given up. Lost my way."

Maduin stood up and turned towards the mouth of the cave. "Stay here and keep out of sight. This time, I'm going to put this Esper body of mine to good use. Whatever this creature is and whatever it's doing, I'm going to stop it."

Stay safe Mae. I'm coming.