A/N:
Time to finish this.
Heavy borrowings on the DS script yet again.
And let's not even begin to discuss how this entire final battle and sequence of events really just…doesn't make much sense.
Don't read too much into any of the science, either ;)
And for Moonclaw: Error 404
0-0-0-0-0
Zemus
The portal deposited them into a massive, cylindrical space. Crystalline walls acted as conduits, pulsing with energy from the moon's interior; while enormous shields bound the room—nets of magic that encompassed the core.
Rydia felt a wave of dizziness sear through her the moment she materialized into the room; overcome with information originating from the Crystals. Abstract messages of statistics and protocols flashed through her mind's eye, and she had to clutch her head in her hands to reclaim order.
When she looked up, she saw the source of their fury.
The shields that protected the core were frayed and broken as if they'd been snapped by the blade of some great sword. A pathway of destruction pierced its way inward, and within that….
"There they are!" Rosa cried, directing Rydia's eyes to a platform where three men were standing.
Rydia recognized FuSoYa's white hair and Golbez's dark armor, but the third…a frighteningly tall man hidden beneath a cloak…had to be Zemus. She could sense a dark force exuding from him that reeked of wild, poisoned magic; as if all the power in the room was his.
"They've already broken most of the room's defenses," Kain said.
"Go!" Cecil urged, slipping his sword from its sheath as he ran forward.
Rydia sensed the frayed nets of the room like lashes against her mind as the five of them passed beneath them. The Crystals' voices were raw in these places; furious, and the closer to the core they ran, the greater the Crystals' rage.
She couldn't imagine the consequences if Zemus took control of the core, let alone to be immersed in that much power and survive.
She shivered even as she witnessed a Holy spell arc through the air.
Zemus sent the spell away with a flick of his finger, shooting a tendril of it spiraling back the way it had come. It burst a crystal column beside Cecil and the group scattered to avoid it.
"You'll never breach the defenses of the inner core!" FuSoYa shouted as the five redoubled their efforts to reach the Lunarians.
"You were pathetic in your attempts to prevent me from breaching the first six barriers, what makes you think you will be able to stop me from accomplishing this last?" Zemus sneered.
It was the first time Rydia had heard his voice, and it sounded like the rasping hiss of a serpent that made her blood run cold.
Zemus sent out a wave of power and Rydia skidded to her knees, suddenly sapped of strength.
The Crystals' voices were screaming in unison and Rydia heard every single one.
He must not reach the Core, they clamored. He must not corrupt the collective.
"Cecil!" Rydia cried, managing to catch the paladin's eye.
"Golbez!" Cecil shouted instead, running in the direction of his brother.
They followed him, dodging magic while spells rebounded off of shields as the master sorcerers engaged each other; controlling the very elements.
Flare suddenly went off in the center of the room, throwing the five humans from their feet.
Rydia's back hit tile—hard—knocking the breath from her. She saw stars in her eyes and looked around, trying to regain clarity.
"We must combine our strength," FuSoYa cried to Golbez, having survived the blast.
Rydia glimpsed the two of them amid shimmering heat, and caught Golbez's nod. She watched as magic threads were woven together by the two sorcerers, strands joining and twining until they shone gold and radiated such power that she finally had to look away.
She could only guess at what they were casting, but it held a note of familiarity that set her hair on end.
Yes…use all your strength, Zemus taunted.
Rydia's own nerves fired as she felt the crystals beseeching her to join the song. She resisted, instead watching as two spells miraculously became one.
Holy and Meteor joined and manifested, and such a whorl of energy was created by their union that it seemed to absorb all of the energy in the room. A vortex surrounded and rained down on Zemus like a cleansing fire; plummeting until the room was consumed by curtains of light.
For a moment, time hung suspended and Zemus was lost to sight in the maelstrom.
Rydia held her breath, clutching on to anything nearby as the floor shook violently beneath her.
Crystal shards and debris rose into the air, and the din of destruction was so great that it truly felt like the end of the world.
When the smoke finally cleared, Golbez and FuSoYa were alive but visibly shaken, and Zemus….the platform around him was shattered and melted, and all that Rydia could see were remnants of his dark robe and the steam rising from his broken body.
"Did they-?" Rosa ventured, her voice little over a whisper.
"What a waste," FuSoYa said at last, staring at his fallen foe. "Such incredible power, and all of it warped to evil ends."
"You were supposed to leave him for me!" Edge called out in mock disappointment as the five of them climbed to their feet and drew close to the Lunarians.
FuSoYa turned toward them and blinked. "You've come," he said in amazement, not having noticed their presence before.
Golbez looked at his brother; his lips pressed firmly together. "Cecil…"
Rydia glanced at the paladin and noticed how Cecil's eyes never met his brother's. He was staring at Zemus instead.
"Cecil," Rosa prodded.
Rydia flicked her gaze toward Zemus also. He was dead. He had to be dead, but her spirit was stirred with restlessness.
Something was wrong, not settling into place.
"He's not dead," Cecil murmured, echoing her thoughts as he studied the Lunarian's corpse.
"Impossible," FuSoYa muttered, turning around.
The lights in the room suddenly flickered and dimmed and a warning began to chime from the Core's systems.
"How could he have survived?" Rosa demanded in a panicked voice. "That spell-?"
The body dies…but the spirit lives on, Zemus laughed, speaking with a voice that was neither here nor there as tendrils of magic began to writhe from his body.
"He can't be!" FuSoYa cried, readying his staff. "How did he have the time to allow his spirit to transcend?"
"Transcend?" Cecil demanded.
FuSoYa dismissively waved his hand as if explaining to a child. "He has become energy—his very being has become the substance you might call 'magic'," he said hurriedly.
They watched in horror as a spectral figure emerged from Zemus' physical body—a cloud of vapors that coalesced into a menacing, indistinct form that towered above them. Sparks of energy began to be absorbed into it, remnants of the room's shields being reclaimed and repurposed.
I am the wellspring of darkness, fed by Zemus' unbridled hate. I am He who is called Zeromus. I am He who knows naught but hate!
"I had hoped to avoid this," FuSoYa lamented. "His mind was simply too powerful!"
"Zemus—no, Zeromus!" Golbez snarled, stepping forward. "This time I will finish what I set out to do!"
"We must do this quickly before he integrates with the Core," FuSoYa advised. "Cast Meteor, now!"
For the second time, the song of Meteor filled the room; practically setting the air ablaze. Rydia winced and shielded her face from the bombardment, feeling the spirit of Zeromus growing ever stronger.
When the spell had exhausted itself, the enigmatic form of Zemus remained unharmed.
"It's no use!" FuSoYa cried. "Use the Crystal!"
What good could that possibly do, Rydia wondered as her spirit quailed in the face of Zeromus' overwhelming presence.
The dark knight withdrew something he'd kept at his side, and Rydia blinked, unable to focus on the object in his hand. Light was absorbed and refracted by it; a brilliant prism against a dark void. If it was a Crystal, it was like no crystal Rydia had seen before.
Golbez held the Crystal aloft and it pulsed, casting out a wave of energy that encompassed the entire room.
Zeromus chuckled, unaffected.
You tread the path of darkness, Zeromus laughed. That Crystal will shed no light for you. I broke you too completely—your feeble mind restricts you from accessing its full power. You cannot kill the incorporeal. I am an ideal, and I will never die.
The air suddenly became very close and Rydia felt the heavens gather near. Bells of alarm went off in her mind and she sensed Zeromus calling celestial matter to rain down upon them.
Meteor.
Rosa's shields would be little more than smoke in the face of such magic. Rydia wasn't sure if even Bahamut's mighty wings could spare them.
She closed her eyes and called to the crystals for the strength she needed to draw the king of dragons to her side. She molded her words into the ancient incantation of her people. Words that were like gossamer thread, one strand tied to another to create a web that siphoned the crystals' power to bring the Eidolon into the mortal realm.
She felt her connection to Bahamut form, but couldn't establish a proper bond. It was as if someone else had snapped the tether, sending him adrift and her with him. Explosions reverberated in her ears, heat stung her nostrils, and she opened her eyes long enough to see the crystal platform shatter beneath her feet. Meteor had materialized within the cavernous room once more, ballistic material tearing apart what was left of its architecture. Rydia felt flames scathe her skin and curled into herself against the bombardment. Her enchanted robes buffered her only so far as they were thick, and her skin blistered.
The concussive spell sent the crystalline platform into ruin, and the rest of them with it, plummeting them thirty feet to land hard on uneven, sloping rock. Rydia felt the sickening crunch of her bones against the rough hewn crystal. Above her, Zeromus cackled as consciousness fled and the lunar realm grew ever distant.
Darkness had descended….
0-0-0
Let them destroy each other. Let them claw and beat and ravage—let their lust for knowledge burn their villages and cities to the ground. Teach the humans how to use this power, then let them murder each other with it.
Let their old gods rule them, and level the world to dust. Let them die away and leave the world ripe for the picking.
Know suffering, know death. My hate will not be stanched until it has consumed all else!
0-0-0-0
Rydia wasn't dead. Not yet. But time had no relevance where she was.
Floating in ether, so close to the core of the Lunarian's great ship, it was easy to feel dead.
They had failed. They had been unable to protect their world.
Magic writhed and reeled around her, and it felt oppressive—wanted to shred every fiber of her existence until she was nothing but scattered atoms and scraps of information. She would be a story, deconstructed and inconsequential. Nothing but a speck, a dot, in an infinite sky; if even the sky survived.
Wake up! voices chimed.
They tickled her ears—mind?
She didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't want to encounter reality and find it was a nightmare and she was dead.
Get up! The voices chimed again, and the sound of them was like bells clanging from some distance away.
Rydia began to feel whole again and slowly uncurled her coiled body, cracking open eyes that saw a scene far different from the one they'd seen before.
There was nothing but stars. Stars shining brilliantly in the cosmos and the glow of the moon's core that radiated like a small sun.
She was suspended in the sky, hanging there like a kite. The others were with her-she hadn't been sent here alone. Her hands alighted on clouds of dust, undulating channels of worlds that were. She looked up to see Cecil standing with a crystal glowing in his hand—bending matter around it as it passed. His armor shone with opalescence and a power that she hadn't perceived before. When had the crystal been given to him, she wondered.
Before them hung a great whorl of energy, swirling blue waves of etherea, wrapping the form of Zeromus in a protective cocoon.
Zeromus' visage flickered in her sight, as if he was there but not there. She strained her eyes, having a hard enough time focusing on him in the ever-moving space. She began to think she was mad when other figures shimmered into definition before her.
She blinked.
These were human figures, ones she recognized. How had they reached here? Why could she possibly see them?
Twins in coordinated garb shimmered into her plane of existence. The girl offered her a warm, encouraging smile.
"Here," the girl said, closing her doe-brown eyes.
"Let us help you," the boy, her twin, said.
Their thoughts reached Rydia like gentle hands resting on her shoulders, melting away fear and worry, and giving her the strength to stand.
She did, and saw the others stand with her. She and Rosa exchanged amazed glances, and watched as the twins faded to dust.
Two more figures appeared in their place. Two people who brought tears to Rydia's eyes. How had their companions known that this was their hour of need?
"Have courage!" Edward said to Cecil who was kneeling at Rydia's side. The bard held nothing but confidence in his eyes, a spark of life that belied his once famous cowardice.
And the man at Edward's side…a face she hadn't seen in years rested his eyes on Cecil. "Trust in yourselves," the wise sage Tellah spoke to them from beyond the grave.
Before they began to fade, they imbued the men with the strength to stand and then vanished into air.
Yang and Cid appeared next, the latter with a cocksure smile on his face.
"Keep your focus!" Yang told them.
"You come back to us, you hear?" Cid challenged, pointing a meaty finger at them.
Rydia couldn't be sure how, but their words suddenly gave her renewed determination.
It was FuSoYa and Golbez who appeared last, materializing out of stardust to stand before the five of them.
"Moon, shine your light upon them!" FuSoYa decreed.
"My brother," Golbez said, and then paused, unable to meet his brother's eyes for a moment. "Use the hallowed light within you. Allow it to fill the crystal."
Here, he turned, facing the menacing whorl of energy that shrouded Zeromus' form. "Zeromus!" Golbez challenged, pointing back at Cecil. "Show us your true face!"
FuSoYa and Golbez faded, and the five humans were left suspended in the ether—left with the entity of hatred, greed, and corruption that was Zeromus' incarnation. The Lunarian who had plunged their world into darkness and put his own people in jeopardy in order to dominate all other life.
The one who would not be turned despite his human weakness, Zeromus sneered at Cecil. Even when my servant held the throne of Baron and you wielded the dark sword—you still refused to heed my call. KluYa sired a son worthy of challenging me, after all.
No matter, he sneered, concealing himself in his cloak of magic. Your kind will fall easily enough.
"Not today!" Cecil cried out. "There may come a day when the weakness of mankind leads to its undoing," Cecil shouted, holding the crystal in one outstretched hand and his sword in the other. "There may come a day when our kingdoms are reduced to rubble and dust and have faded to distant rumors, but today will be your end, not ours!"
Cecil held the crystal aloft and it reacted so potently that the whole realm reverberated with its power.
This is how a new Crystal is born, Rydia heard a whisper in her ear.
She watched as the cocoon that shrouded Zeromus began to unravel, spiraling into the Crystal in Cecil's hand until what was left was a twisted, naked thing—a grotesque.
So this is how they mean to tame me? Zeromus snarled. I will not be so easily ensnared!
Zeromus screamed an inhuman cry and began to transform; limbs lengthening and growing crooked; ribs erupting from flesh and eyes bulging into enormous mockeries of their former selves. Wings rose from his spine and shoulder blades; skeletal shrouds.
Nothing remained of his Lunarian body. Nothing resembling the man he once was.
This is what his abuse of power has done to his soul. This is the face of depravity, the Crystals spoke to Rydia. His power and his will, will be contained within that Crystal—a vessel to trap him forever. He will not be welcomed into the collective. He will be imprisoned for his crimes.
But how can we trap him there? Rydia demanded, finding the closeness of the Crystals unnerving.
You exist now in a space between worlds. You exist as spirit only in this place.
What? Rydia balked, trying not to lose focus.
If you fail to destroy this form, he will continue unimpeded to the Core. He will join with the others and corrupt us. We are the wellspring of knowledge. We are the remnants. His intent is evil and we will not allow it. Thus, have we have brought you here.
But the others—our companions, how did they reach us here? Rydia asked.
A gift. A meeting of minds. A meeting of magic.
What can I do? Rydia asked. If my body is elsewhere…
Use our collective might as you normally would. Call us forth into battle.
And the Eidolons?
We will grant them passage.
As Zeromus' true form continued to grow more terrible before her eyes, Rydia was overcome with a powerful sense of dread. Why? She asked. Why us?
We required an interface.
Suddenly, Rydia understood.
He wanted us to destroy him, she realized. He couldn't interact with you directly unless he became like you; you had safeguards in place to prevent him from physically accessing the core.
Yes.
So this is how it ends, Rydia thought, finding the Stardust rod in its familiar place against her back.
Stop him, the Crystals beseeched her.
Rydia brought the Stardust rod before her, allowed it to center her, and closed her eyes.
"We can fight him, now!" she called out to Cecil, opening her eyes again.
The paladin looked back at her resolutely.
"This form, this…thing, is his true self," she explained. "Defeat him now, and it's over."
He nodded with a grim smile, not bothering to ask how she knew. His own eyes shone with a gleam of understanding, and she imagined the Crystals had already related to him their plan.
"Are you still with me, Summoner?" he asked.
"Always," she replied.
"All of us, Cecil," Rosa seconded, throwing a look of reproof at Kain.
"Ready to prove your quality, Highwind?" Edge goaded.
"Are you?" Kain shot back.
Meddlesome fools, Zeromus roared at them. You are but ants waiting to be crushed beneath my feet. I can lay bare your secrets like gaping wounds. I could tear your minds apart piece by piece until all that remained of you was your deepest fears. All of your whims and secret desires, all your sorrows and joys—
"Enough!" Cecil shouted, brandishing his sword. "This ends now!"
Rydia's thoughts exactly. She glanced at Rosa and found a sense of solidarity there that she had grown to miss. Arguments and doubts had become distant memory, and the white mage was looking at her now with a gleam in her eyes.
Rydia felt the magic of the realm sluicing past her, streaming through her hair and teasing her fingertips. A spirit of defiance rose within her—every raw nerve wanting to be set loose.
Two human women think they can out-cast the greatest mages of the Lunarians? Zeromus scoffed, angling his multi-faceted eyes at them as he discerned their plan.
Rosa was not one to back down from a challenge, and before Zeromus' sneer had faded, the white mage had already enveloped them with an armory of spells.
Rydia followed suit. Enduring Meteor had only made her angry, and now she had every intention of inviting a guest she knew would make Zeromus quail. She closed her eyes and focused, attempting the same summoning that had failed her before being drawn into this world. She called out to Bahamut in the language that only they shared; of magic and memory, and purpose.
She needed wings. Dragon wings.
The fabric of the realm split open and a roar pierced through it.
Rydia heard the beating wings long before she saw them; sensed the formidable presence of the being she had called to her side.
You! Zeromus cried, beating his own skeletal wings. How could you have possibly been granted passage? You have no power here!
Bahamut alighted on clouds of dust and shadowed the humans with his mighty wings.
I go where my summoner goes, he snarled.
You would bow your head to a mere mortal?
Better than a tyrant who fancies himself a god.
You are a slave, regardless, Zeromus taunted. And you are no match for my power.
Bahamut laughed. No match? The very same power you claim I lack is the power you fear. The same power you had to bind with chains to keep me from tearing out your miserable, treacherous throat!
The two beings sized the other up.
The dragons are finished. You are nothing but a living relic I will take to heel soon enough, Zeromus snarled.
Bahamut curled his lip into a sneer. Yet you craved our power for your own—you've even wrapped yourself in our form. But look at you—a twisted, broken thing. You disgrace us. No dragon would allow his image to be thus polluted.
Zeromus growled. You are in my path, he snapped. At long last I have the pleasure of dispatching you. You, and the half-breed son of a fool.
Zeromus rose high in the air, an ungainly creature of such bizarre proportions that Rydia had no accurate description for him. Bahamut was faster, a being of supreme power and grace, and the beating of his wings swirled up great channels of dust that unsettled the ever-shifting space. Dragon fire poured from his mouth and flames of every color encircled Zeromus in a blazing inferno.
There was a snarl, and with a great effort, Zeromus had thrown apart his cloak of flame, scattering Bahamut's fire into red embers before soaring upward. The Lunarian's grotesque body glowed and pulsed from head to tail, his wings expanding to their full size.
Impressive, Zeromus remarked, leering down at them. But not enough. I am newly born and my power surpasses yours.
Rydia sensed something like a shift in the winds—a sudden storm gathering. All the energy in the realm seemed to turn against them, starlight churning into dangerous eddies.
Bahamut dove and wrapped his wings around the five humans as the entire realm ignited.
Rydia's connection to the Hallowed Father wavered—began to slip away—while every ounce of stardust seemed to set itself ablaze.
Dark Matter, Bahamut roared as he bore the brunt of Zeromus' attack.
Rydia felt her heart begin to skip beats, felt the danger of what would happen if Bahamut continued to shield them.
It's tearing you apart! She cried out. I have to release you!
No! Bahamut roared, straining beneath the Dark Matter's power. His wings began to weaken and tear and Rydia felt the dragon's physical pain in her psyche.
It's too much! She screamed at him.
Your weakness. Zeromus taunted as the storm intensified. If you die, she dies, and you need her yet.
You've hardly won! Bahamut challenged, imparting a thought to Rydia.
Rydia, I will bestow upon you a gift.
Rydia couldn't imagine how the Hallowed Father had the presence of mind to do so, but her own mind suddenly swam with secrets so old they made her short, human life feel insignificant. She saw what he had seen—saw the secrets the dragons had learned from within the belly of the earth.
He had given her dragon fire.
She shrank within herself and fell to her knees as the spell loosened its grip and the winds of magic began to abate. When she opened her eyes again, Bahamut had gone, but she saw Zeromus in a light she never had before. All of the magic that bound his spirit together wavered in her sight. It was as though she were looking at old scars; alteration upon alteration to his form until its original state could no longer be determined.
How had he gotten this way, she wondered.
"Rydia, your eyes!" Rosa said in shock.
Rydia turned to look at her friend, feeling like time was standing still again.
"Flames," the white mage murmured.
"We have to end this quickly," Rydia said back in a daze.
Zeromus settled back onto the clouds of etherea, and Rydia's hair whipping across her face was the only indication she had of Kain and Edge leaping past her.
"I want the two of you to stay behind me," Cecil told the mages. "Rydia," he began, looking at her sideways. "What was that?"
"Old magic," she answered with a secretive smile.
Zeromus suddenly lunged toward them, hoping to finish off the three who remained.
Cecil struck back with Ragnarok, and an explosion of energy accompanied the impact that neither was expecting. Tendrils of white, pure light escaped the blade in Cecil's hand, piercing bone and sinew and boring holes into the Lunarian's mutated arm.
Zeromus howled and withdrew, and the realm shook again.
That sword! He spat. I thought it was sealed.
"You thought wrong," Cecil shouted, readying to strike again.
Zeromus lurched backwards with a hiss of displeasure, but Kain descended just then; the Holy Lance plunging beneath his exposed shoulder blade. Another explosion greeted the impact and Zeromus reacted like a feral creature, ducking and writhing to get away from the magic of the dragoon and the paladin.
Those accursed weapons should have been destroyed, Zeromus snarled, his eyes searching for the ninja who remained somewhere out of his sight.
"Holy," Rosa realized, looking at Cecil. "No wonder he hates those weapons."
"We've found our advantage," Cecil answered, rushing forward.
Not for long, Zeromus mocked as the whole space slipped forward, then back; the stardust spiraling out of control again.
"He's using Dark Matter!" Rydia shrieked, feeling her hair whip about as the air became charged with magic.
I call it the Big Bang—the beginning and end of all things, Zeromus shouted smugly, beating his wings until the stardust spun into dangerous clouds, lightning arcing and flashing across the realm.
Rosa cast her magic at the precise last moment, just before Rydia saw everything around her explode through the veil of a shield.
It didn't last. It took mere moments for Zeromus' spell to breach their defenses. The air in Rydia's lungs felt as though it was on fire, and her limbs convulsed; her mind retreating into itself to ward off the overwhelming pain.
Rydia's consciousness slipped in and out as the spell loosened its grip and the wild torrents of magic abated.
She sensed she was being knitted back together again after a while, but for several minutes her body was unable to move under its own power. Sounds reached her from what seemed a very great distance away, until finally everything snapped back into place.
She looked up and saw Cecil standing beside her, still speaking words of healing. Rosa had fallen, she realized as she pried herself to her feet.
She teetered for a few moments, trying to discern what had happened.
Rydia watched as Zeromus attempted to fend off both Kain and Edge while Cecil busied himself with Rosa. Everything looked different to her eyes. She witnessed tendrils of raw magic spiraling past and around her. They were all different colors, hues, and tones; and she sensed them like strings of an instrument waiting to be plucked. She realized belatedly that she was seeing magic itself.
And she suddenly knew how to play it.
She clutched the Stardust rod in front of her and allowed her mind to take control. She wove the threads into tangible magic, watching the tendrils bend and react to her like a living thing. It was beautiful. It was terrible.
Flare burst in Zeromus' face, flames engulfing and propelling him backwards as Kain and Edge harried him from a distance.
Zeromus responded. The realm shifted again, Zeromus causing everything to be consumed by an intense wave of gravity. Everyone fell to their knees, weapons became too heavy to hold, and all existing spells were drawn into the gravity well and vanished, like all the air had been sucked from the room.
Any defenses they had, had been neutralized.
If ever there was a time for Meteor, this was it.
Rydia rallied her memories with the Crystals' magic, allowed herself to be taken over; to become one with the spell so that she could direct its every facet.
She had no thoughts to spare on Kain or Edge, they would have to fend for themselves, as she summoned celestial matter down upon Zeromus.
Meteorites were drawn into the realm like furious, fiery darts; pummeling Zeromus from all sides. They blazed and tore into Zeromus' mutated form until the air glowed from the heat and smoke. She saw him in silhouette, lit by the light of the flames.
When the last of the meteorites fell, Zeromus seemed to cower, unable to shrug off the effects of the potent magic as he had before.
You, he uttered angrily, trying to steady himself. How can you, a human, cast this magic?
Cecil didn't give him the chance to hear the answer, and sped forward. The paladin took advantage of the moment, and delivered two well-placed blows that the Lunarian wasn't fast enough to prevent. Ragnarok acted as poison, breaking down the magic that bound Zeromus together until he stumbled to his knees with a furious roar.
Kain and Edge went with him, aiding Cecil while their foe was downed. Edge had remained well hidden until that moment, but now he attacked Zeromus with projectiles of every size and kind. His last struck Zeromus in one of his eyes, burying itself all the way to the hilt.
The strike made Zeromus desperate and angry enough to whip his tail in all directions. Kain leapt out of the way, but Cecil was thrown backwards and Zeromus took the opportunity to plant all four of his skeletal feet as a tell-tale glow coursed from his head to tail.
Rydia knew what came next. She couldn't allow it.
She sought out a memory—a new memory. One borrowed.
Zeromus was drawing all of the threads of magic to himself, joining them strand by strand into a sphere of snarled magic. Rydia hadn't noticed it before, but she did now. He was readying the Dark Matter. Every element was bending itself toward him—but Rydia had a weapon all her own.
She only hoped everyone got out of the way in time.
Ancient magic, dragon magic, took hold of her mind. Bahamut had gifted her with his own power before departing. Mega Flare.
Her hair rose on an invisible wind, her robes with it, and for a moment she felt like an empress of powers unimaginable.
This was no Crystal magic. This was the wild magic she had felt calling to her since she was a little girl—once, a small almost imperceptible voice—now, a great and terrible roar.
Zeromus readied the Dark Matter to ignite, but Rydia was faster.
The Stardust Rod became a blazing torch, dissipating out of her hands as it re-manifested as pure magic.
Mega Flare erupted, billowing in wave upon wave of unfettered fire. Flames of every color smothered Zeromus, only now he hadn't the strength to repel it.
The sound of the spell was overpowering—sounded like the roar of the Hallowed Father himself, and the Dark Matter all but fell apart in the face of it.
I know the tang of dragon fire! Zeromus screamed. How dare he!
Rosa interceded, wasting no time. The heat from the fire had barely died, and she had already sent Holy spiraling through the air, plowing into the beak-like maw of Zeromus.
The Lunarian stumbled—appeared brittle, battered, but no less dangerous.
He stretched what remained of his wings and howled.
Rydia saw with dragon eyes, noticing a change in the magic around him. He wasn't summoning Dark Matter, but something else.
Meteor.
I have grown weary of playing games with mortals, Zeromus snarled, glowing with power as he gathered magic together.
Rydia imagined she had wings. Great, scaled wings. Wings of protection.
Even as the flaming rocks rained down from above and the cries of her companions reached her ears from far away, she fed her thoughts into a magic she didn't know she possessed. This was Rosa's domain, not hers.
A dome spread out from her outstretched fingers, expanding until it encompassed her and the others. Meteor struck her shield and simply bounced away, ineffective against her perfect defense.
Impossible! Zeromus cried, lowering his head and lumbering forward, intending to ram them instead.
Edge and Kain were still far afield and Rydia had lost track of them, but in the span of a breath, a flash of silver streaked across her vision. A dart. A dagger had flown from Edge's hand and struck the beast at the base of his skull.
Zeromus staggered and went down with a scream, sliding to an ungainly halt before them. He howled with such fury, that the whole environ shook.
Everyone stared in shock. He had finally fallen, and by something so small…but he wasn't finished yet.
Cecil charged ahead, out of Rydia's protection; leaping with Ragnarok clutched in his two hands. He meant to end things once and for all.
This wouldn't be the first occasion that time had appeared to stand still since their battle began, and the arc of Cecil's descent seemed to take years.
It will take more than brute force to stop me, Zeromus vowed, as Cecil's sword fell closer to its mark.
Ragnarok came down between Zeromus' eyes; cleaving his skull in two as time started again. The magic of the blade exploded on contact and tore into Zeromus' flesh, writhing its way inward and ripping apart the bonds of magic that held the Lunarian together.
No!
Zeromus lurched and screamed before falling silent, his body convulsing as a chain reaction took hold. Strands of magic unraveled and unbraided from the inside out, traveling down the length of his body, and scattering him into shimmering atoms.
With her newly acquired sight, Rydia saw it all. Unimaginable colors flashed across her vision, raw elements being shed like old skin.
When it was finished, Kain landed nearby onto nothing but etherea, and Cecil's sword was plunged into stardust; Zeromus, gone.
Gone, except for a small, glowing core. The last sliver of soul left to him.
"Cecil!" Rydia cried out. "The Crystal!"
In a stupor, Cecil drew the Crystal from the pouch at his side and held it up.
For the second time, it radiated and pulsed, encapsulating what was left of Zeromus and drawing him into itself.
A bright flash of light followed, and then the realm began to destabilize; like sand pouring from an hourglass. With Zeromus gone, there was no reason for this place to exist. No reason for any of them to be there. Everything began to fall apart and spiral into the Crystal—being devoured by it and disappearing from existence.
"We have to get out!" Rosa shouted as her body slowly began to disintegrate.
Rydia glanced at her friend; watched as she blew to dust and vanished.
"Rosa!" she screamed.
Kain was next, then Edge…all of them, gone.
"Cecil!" she cried desperately, catching the Paladin's eyes before hearing a voice in her mind.
It is done.
She felt herself disappearing, being deconstructed.
We helped you! She shouted at the Crystals. And this is how you repay us? By trapping us with Zeromus in his prison?
You have our gratitude, she heard in reply. Allow us to show it.
Rydia couldn't even manage a scream before she faded altogether, falling out of time and space yet again.
When she came to, a small cry was all that burst from her lips—her real lips. She sat up and gasped, patting her body, and slid on a bit of loose rock.
She was back in the chamber of the moon's core, still in the place where she'd fallen when Zeromus destroyed the room with Meteor.
Everything felt slow, felt…ordinary. The constant movement of the space she'd just been in caused everything around her to appear as though it was moving backwards. Her dragon sight was gone. The wild magic that had coursed through her not moments before was already fading like a distant memory. Its purpose served; all recollection of it, gone.
The others were nearby, and beside Cecil was the Crystal, newly born.
I will never die, she heard with her ears. As long as there is darkness in the hearts of men, you will never have rest from the likes of me.
It was Zeromus' voice, she was sure, but no sooner had he spoken, that the Crystal ceased glowing altogether and the voice fell silent.
She let out a sigh of relief and closed her eyes.
"What was that?" Rosa asked, looking at Cecil sharply.
"A last breath," Cecil answered, taking the Crystal in his hand.
"Is it done?" a different voice inquired from above them.
Rydia peered upward and saw FuSoYa's whiskered face looking at them from what was left of the platform above.
"It's done," Cecil replied.
"You've truly done it!" the Lunarian cried out with a hearty chuckle. "I had no idea there was such strength in you. Your people may have finally grown as powerful as we of the moon."
"It does rather look that way, now can you get us out of this pit?" Edge shot back, unsatisfied with their hero's welcome.
FuSoYa sobered immediately and pursed his lips at the prince's impatience.
"Of course," FuSoYa replied off-handedly, encircling the five of them in magic and transporting them onto the platform beside him and Golbez.
Golbez eyed the Crystal in Cecil's hand.
"Is it really finished?" he asked.
Everyone stared at the Crystal—at what it represented.
"It's finished," Cecil answered.
"But what of the final words Zeromus spoke?" Kain asked, removing his helmet.
"As long as there is darkness—" Rosa quoted, glancing at Cecil.
"I heard him also," FuSoYa reflected, staring at the crystal. "There will always be evil in men's hearts. We, all of us, bear a touch of darkness, just as surely as we bear light. Much as with the twin sets of Crystals, or the darkened underworld that rests beneath your planet's brighter surface."
"But is this enough to contain his malice?" Kain asked.
"Zemus was a powerful man in life. His mind was like few others, but I fear he grew…bored; thirsty for more. There will always be men like him, but as long as there is darkness, so will there always be light. Just as the light within you rose to overcome the shadow cast by Zemus."
"That's us—bastions of holiness," Edge said smugly.
Rydia looked at him sideways. "Are you joking? It's a miracle Zemus didn't use you for a puppet instead."
His grin was wolfish. "It was my love of justice that kept him at bay; unlike…some others," he replied at Kain and Golbez' expense.
"Well then," FuSoYa cut in. "I believe the time has come for this matter to be put to rest for good, and for me to rejoin my people in their sleep."
He extended his hand to receive the Crystal from Cecil, but Cecil paused before relinquishing it.
"I will take care of it," FuSoYa assured his nephew. "This Crystal will be retired to a place where no one will speak, even think of it, again."
"How can I trust you? How can I know you have my people's best interests in mind?" Cecil asked. "We've seen what your kind is capable of, after all."
FuSoYa appeared pleased by Cecil's answer. "I see you're learning," he replied, and then turned contemplative. "You have nothing to fear from us. When this is done, you won't be hearing from us again. It is time we go our separate ways. Unless, of course, you care to join me."
Rydia frowned, looking at Cecil. It was unlikely, but these were his father's people. She couldn't blame him for being curious, but to leave without him...
"We'll be returning to our planet. All of us," Cecil answered, causing Rydia to exhale in relief.
"Our friends are waiting," Rosa added, taking Cecil's hand.
"I see," FuSoYa said, nodding. "You are lucky to have such friends. I only wish we could have learned to understand each other—for you to have learned where you came from."
Cecil finally placed the Crystal in FuSoYa's hand.
"That's not my path," Cecil replied. "I have my own people."
"Might I…accompany you instead?" Golbez asked.
"You?" FuSoYa inquired curiously.
"I have made enough enemies," Golbez explained. "There is no home for me where they're going, and I, for one, would like to meet my father's people."
"Yes, our blood flows in your veins, too. But you understand this will be a long slumber?
"I do," Golbez answered, then looked at Cecil. "Brother…."
Cecil's eyes once again fell to the floor, and Rydia wondered at Golbez' words. There had been a stretch of time that she'd missed, after all.
"I suppose I can expect no more than that," Golbez acknowledged. "All you've suffered until now has been because of me."
"It's time to go," FuSoYa intervened. "I will pray for the peace of your planet, but there is nothing but unpleasantness in dwelling on the doings of the past. Come," he beckoned to Golbez. "Let us put all of these things behind us."
Golbez nodded silently and turned, walking away.
"Cecil," Rosa admonished, facing him.
"Is this all right—letting him go like this?" Kain asked.
"You're brothers," Rydia added. "If you don't settle things now, when will you?"
"I will show you the way out," FuSoYa said to the five of them. "It's up ahead, but beyond that, you're on your own."
"Farewell, Cecil," Golbez called back from farther ahead.
"Cecil," Edge prodded. "He's family."
After a long moment, Cecil finally stepped forward.
"Golbez!" Cecil called out, causing the other man to turn briefly. "Farewell…brother."
A faint smile spread across Golbez' lips and he nodded, "Theodore," he said. "My name was Theodore."
Cecil stared at his brother for a long moment before Golbez finally turned and disappeared around the other side of the Core.
"Shall we go?" FuSoYa asked the humans. "It has been a long journey, and I'm sure you're anxious to return."
"Give us a minute," Cecil said, putting his uncle off.
"Of course. When you're ready," his uncle replied, following Golbez.
When he was gone, Cecil turned toward his companions.
"We did it," he said, looking at each of them in turn. "It's over."
The rush of adrenaline was still making it hard for Rydia to grip reality. With Zeromus defeated, their whole purpose was gone. The bond that had unified them was now encased in crystal, only a memory.
"Why do I feel…" Rosa began, "That going home will seem too ordinary after this?"
"I'm more curious about the people we left behind. Was I the only person who saw them?" Kain asked.
"Not the only one," Edge confirmed. "I'm glad to know I wasn't alone."
"How were we able to see them?" Rosa wondered. "And Tellah…"
"A gift, I think," Cecil said. "The work of the Core. We were in the presence of raw magic, it stands to reason that we would experience the unexplained."
"Do you really think that Crystal will hold Zemus forever?" Kain asked. "That the Lunarians will honor their word?"
Cecil crossed his arms. "We'll have to take it on faith."
"FuSoYa said we'd never see him again," Rosa mentioned. "What do you think he meant by that?"
"I don't know," Cecil replied. "If he returns to hibernation with the others, it's possible that he won't awaken again in our lifetime."
"Or that Zemus could awaken again in our lifetime," Kain muttered.
"We did what we came here to do," Edge interrupted. "We can't see the future, we can't control future lives, and we'll kill ourselves worrying about it. If the Lunarians return, and even if someone lets Zemus out of his box, someone will simply have to carry on our work. We'll have to take that on faith."
"Should we go?" Rosa asked, looking in the direction FuSoYa and Golbez had gone.
"One thing first," Cecil said, taking Rosa by the hand and pulling her close.
He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her soundly.
"Now," he said, keeping Rosa's hand firmly in his. "Let's go home."
0-0-0-0-0
A/N:
Wow. Writing this entire chapter has been like a bad dream, haha.
I started writing it in 2013, actually…and then came back to it after several brain waves throughout the year.
AT LAAAST it's done!
I tried to at least make it satisfying.
Right. On to the magic. Depending on which version of the game you have played, there exists W. Meteor or Twin Meteor when Fussy and Golbby combine their powers. Given how W. almost always stood in for "White/Holy" it intrigued me that it might be the two most powerful spells combined to create a whole NEW one. And then the complete collection came out and they decided…oh, we'll just make it twin, like…y'know…a band or something.
….Whatever. I made it Holy Meteor anyway. Because I'm me. And…as a bit of a throwback to Katmillia for a story she wrote way back in the day.
As for the environment of the final battle…it never made sense to me. The whole damn moon makes no sense whatsoever. Therefore, mind battle in incorporeal magical space.
Also, the fact that their companions appear holographically is ridiculous.
Zeromus is pretty ridiculous. Evil crustacean. Yes, I took some liberties and decided he was REALLY going for dragon, and screwed up the DNA.
The whole final battle is pretty ridiculous. As is Fussy's reaction afterwards: "well, that was fun, time to go take a really long nap. Thanks for all the help!"
….Capricious Lunarians…..
I've had some questions about "The Knife" from Sheila's kitchen. I'm still going there ;)
As for what comes next, "Myth, you didn't write them getting back to the planet, what gives?"
THERE WILL BE A CHAPTER 41. I'M WRITING AN EPILOGUE, DON'T WORRY. I'll start drafting this weekend
And with no battles involved? It might not take me two years!
The parting of the ways comes next chapter. Thanks everyone for sticking around ;)
Till next chapter,
~Myth