Here's another chapter coming up. Expect some action here, as the previous chapter barely had any.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IV and its sequel, along with the characters, settings, etc. of both games and the rest of the series were created by Square Enix.
Edge's Tale Part 2-The Pulse of Babil
Back in Eblan a day later, Edge was resting up in bed, pondering what he had seen. Not willing to wait patiently for Gekkou and the rest of the apprentices, Edge slipped through a secret passage to the outside of the castle.
It was mid-morning when he snuck out and started towards the cave where the remnants of Eblen seventeen years prior had taken refuge after Rubicante attacked Eblan and the old king and queen were kidnapped not much longer afterward. The Seneschal was sure to panic when he found out Edge had slipped off again, but the ninja king paid it no heed.
Not long into the cave, Edge stumbled across two Skeleton monsters and a couple cave bats. Dodging the weapons and teeth of his opponents, Edge coolly dismissed the monsters with Flame before proceeding into the cavern which had served as a refuge for Eblan survivors after the brutal attack all those years ago.
A tombstone stood on one side of the cavern. Edge approached the tomb which served as his parents' graves even though their bodies were never brought back, and put his hand on the tomb, speaking quietly"Mom, dad, its been a while. How've you been up there? Its not too good down here in the mortal plane, history may be about to repeat itself."
After spending a bit more time paying his respect to the former king and queen of Eblan, Edge went deeper into the cavern, katana ready in case he had to fight more monsters along the way. Only a few Skeleton monsters and some bats hindered him, doing only minor damage to the ninja king, who healed himself with Heal Pill. Eventually, he reached the stairs leading into the Tower of Babil's upper floors.
"Edge, please turn back" a vision of his parents appeared to warn him.
"What do you intend to do?" Rubicante appeared for a split second after.
"What are you trying to tell me?" grumbled the Eblan king, entering the tower via the underground stairs. The tower's interior hadn't changed at all as Edge used his teleportation technique to enter the tower's main floors through the passage.
Not far into the tower did a couple of Belphegors ambush Edge. Biting back a curse, Edge barely dodged a swoop attack and cast a Wind spell on one monster, slicing off its wing and causing it to fall to its death.
"Master!" a familiar voice called just before another blast of wind and a boomerang killed the other Belphegor.
Edge turned his attention to the direction of the source. Tsukinowa stood in front of him, grinning"Master, you're all right."
"Tsukinowa, you're safe" smiled Edge.
"Mysidia has nothing on us. So, what now? Are you planning on investigating the tower? I saw you go into the cave and followed you in. Didn't want to both you when you visited your parents' graves" explained Tsukinowa.
Edge shrugged"Yeah, something fishy is going on. Come with me if you want, we're too far in for you to go back to Eblan by yourself at any rate."
"All right" smiled Tsukinowa, putting his boomerang away and following his king further into the tower.
The duo picked off a couple more monsters as they went, finding a few treasures here and there. Tsukinowa walked a bit behind Edge in the narrower corridors as he helped kill off a monster bat or two"Geez, what's with the monsters?"
"Try not to let them throw you. It was like the time I came through here, seventeen years ago" said Edge, still keeping his Katana out.
They went down another floor and encountered a pair of flame hounds. Edge cast a Flood spell on both monsters, causing them to retaliate with Blaze. Another flood spell suddenly doused one of them.
"Master, you push yourself too much" remarked Izayoi as she appeared and shot an arrow at the other monster. The Flame Hound clawed at Izayoi in retaliation and was caught by surprise by Tsukinowa's Chakram and Edge's Katana. The monster whirled around to claw and them and was about to prepare another Blaze, when Izayoi shot it. Infuriated, the monster cast blaze again.
"Enough of this" Edge darted toward the monster and stabbed it before casting Flood, vaporizing it.
"Izayoi, how did you find us?" grinned Tsukinowa, relieved.
"Saw you go in after Master Edge. And all I have to report is that the Epopts of Troia built a tower as a sort of training ground" explained the Kunoishi.
"You're safe, Izayoi, that's what matters. We're about to go deeper into the tower and finish this investigation" said Edge with a smile"Why don't you come along with us while you're here?" smiled Edge.
Izayoi nodded"I hope you won't pamper me as a lady anymore, Master. After all, I place my status as ninja above my gender."
Edge shook his head"You've gone crazy, woman."
"Not woman, ninja" smirked Izayoi"Lead the way, master."
After taking a moment to check for injuries and heal a bit, the three headed deeper into another lower floor of the tower. A group of clockwork monsters approached them and fired a series of beams.
"Whoa!" Edge, Tsukinowa and Izayoi dodged and retaliated with elemental ninjitsu of their own.
"Those guys are probably vulnerable to lightning" Edge shot forth a blitz spell, all but crippling the mechanical monsters. This did not stop the monsters, as even though two of them turned on their cohorts, the remaining monsters thrust at the three ninjas, prompting them to dodge.
"Right" Edge cleaved a monster with his katana, only for one of the remaining monsters to strike at him. During the chaos, another blitz spell struck down and shattered the monsters.
"Master, forgive my tardiness" Zangetsu turned up not too far away.
"Zangetsu, you're all right" smiled Edge.
Izayoi breathed a sigh of relief"Thank goodness."
"I may be old, but I am well experienced" said Zangetsu"I have little to report, but may I accompany you if you're here to investigate the tower?"
Edge nodded"No problem, let's mosey along."
The four went further in, stopping as a horde of five Ice Hounds accosted them. Izayoi bit her lip in thought, water ninjitzu would not do much good on these creatures. Tsukinowa rushed at a monster and hurled his boomerang, only to be countered by Frostbite.
"Flame!" Edge shot a fire spell at one ice hound, melting it into thin air. Another flame then melted another, causing the remaining three feost hounds to back off in surprise.
"Gekkou, glad you could make it" said Tsukinowa as he spotted the quiet ninja rushing into the battlefield to his comrades' side.
The quiet ninja nodded, then shot forth another flame spell. The monsters clawed and cast their ice spell in retaliation, prompting Izayoi and Edge to spend the better part of the fight keeping their allies on their feet with healing spells.
"These guys don't quit, what next?" said Tsukinowa.
Edge grinned"I have a plan. Remember Eblan's sacred phoenix technique? Never thought we'd use it, of course. Izayoi, we'll need a distraction, then we work together to invoke Advent of Phoenix."
"Right, let's do it" grinned Tsukinowa.
Izayoi cast blink on her allies to make them harder to hit while putting an illusion spell on the frost hounds to by time.
"Fiery Night lit by Moonlight Wings" Tsukinowa chanted, closing his eyes.
"Bound by the daring, darting sword" continued Izayoi.
"Let us slice through the encompassing dark" murmured Zangetsu.
"And toil the bells of tomorrow" finished Gekkou. Flames surrounded the four as they chanted the incantation. The monsters tried in vain to it them with magic and claws, as Izayoi's blink helped keep them safe. But Blink was wearing off rapidly.
Edge signaled his students to join hands with each other and himself"Now we invoke Eblan's ultimate technique. Advent of Phoenix!"
The flames covered the five ninjas' bodies and formed into a large phoenix, which shot at the remaining ice monsters, melting them into thin air. The flame dissipated, leaving the group a bit tired.
"We'd best find a place to rest for a bit" shrugged Izayoi.
"Master Edge, we are dealing with an unknown enemy" spoke Gekkou.
"Huh. I see" trailed the king.
The five headed toward the deepest levels of the tower, pausing to rest up in an empty room. Edge set up a tent he had packed and the group turned in for the night.
"So what are we up against?" asked Tsukinowa.
"I do not know, I fear that we don't have much to go on" shrugged Gekkou.
"Well, let's just get some shut-eye and continue exploring later" piped Edge.
After a quick breakfast of eggs a few hours later, the five ninjas headed into a corridor and followed that corridor through the nearby door to another chamber. A large chamber awaited the five as they entered.
On a platform on the other side of their location, the teal-haired woman who Gekkou saw was seen emerging from a door on that platform. Edge led his group closer until he heard his parants' voices caution him"Edge, you cannot win against this adversary."
'What's her deal?' thought Tsukinowa, glancing at the mysterious woman.
Edge walked to the girl's location and addressed her"Hey, what are you doing here, miss?"
The girl, with a blank expression on her face, spoke"Rats came burrowing in here, I see."
"Well, you're the one who doesn't belong here for sure" remarked Edge.
"Master, don't provoke her" warned Gekkou, warily keeping an eye on the mysterious girl.
"What do you mean?" inquired the girl, unperturbed by Edge's statement.
Edge proceeded to ask"Are you the one who activated the tower? Why would you do that?"
"I've no need to explain myself to a inferior species" replied the girl.
"Inferior!?" Izayoi and Tsukinowa exclaimed indignantly.
"You dare insult us?" added Gekkou.
Edge smirked"Heh. Maybe we are, but we have the ability to adapt."
"Adept?" the girl raised an eyebrow.
Edge nodded"So what's going on?"
The girl simply replied"There is no need for you to know." With that, she threw Firaga at them. Edge and Izayoi healed while Tsukinowa, Gekkou and Zangetsu attacked their opponent. Edge pitched in with flood.
The Mysterious Girl calmly summoned a familiar looking fire Eidolon. Edge recognized it"Ifirit! ... What have you done with Rydia?"
"Enough" The mysterious girl cast Thundara.
Gekkou swung his axe while Tsukinowa hurled his boomerang, both attacks hitting their unknown foe, knocking her back. Edge, Izayoi and Zangetsu attacked Ifrit. But the Fire Eidolon merely countered with fire, shrugging off their blows.
"You are wasting my time" The girl cast Blizaga. Edge and his ninja apprentices barely survived and concentrated on healing while doing their best to shrug of Ifrit and the Mysterious Girl's attacks.
Ifrit pitched in with fire attacks, severely burning Izayoi and Tsukinowa. Edge healed the two while Izayoi attacked both enemies with Flood. The Mysterious Girl aimed Blizzara at Edge, which the Eblan king survived and countered with Blitz. Zangetsu attacked their female enemy with blitz and spark, which were countered by Fira. Izayoi healed the elderly ninja while Edge blasted the Mysterious Girl with Blitz.
Just as it seemed like Edge and his group were winning, Ifrit charged up and used Hellfire on the five ninjas, knocking them back. Edge checked his injuries and those of his companions before signaling them to follow him into the next room. Eight empty pedestals stood there.
"A dead end" murmured Gekkou.
"What next?" inquired Tsukinowa.
The Mysterious Girl followed them in"Have you finally accepted your fate?"
"Sorry to disappoint" Edge taunted, jumping down a trapdoor. The other four ninjas followed him.
It was a long fall, so the group staggered as they hit a floor on the lower half of the tower. Tsukinowa looked around the new room with amazement"This place is like some ninja stronghold."
"Master, Ifirit!" Gekkou warned as the Eidolon appeared.
Izayoi stunned Ifirit with Flood and ran for it. Edge, Tsukinowa, Zangetsu and Gekkou ran alongside her. The group ran through another series of corridors and doors, turning to slow Ifirit down every eighty feet.
Soon, they came to an empty airship hanger. Edge glanced around, reminiscing the time he, Cecil, Rosa, Kain and Rydia found one of the enemy's airships and took it to escape the tower before.
"There's no point running any further" said a voice as the Mysterious Girl caught up to them"Your fate is inevasible."
The Eblan four tensed. Edge, however, said rather smugly"Perhaps not. On the other hand, your kind may not know it, but we have a little something our kind call instinct."
"Instinct?" frowned the girl.
Edge just jumped off the edge of the platform. Izayoi, Gekkou, Zangetsu and Tsukinowa followed. The Mysterious Girl stared after them, confused"Choosing death on their own volition, incomprehensible."
But unknown to the mysterious girl, Edge and his group fell quite a ways until they landed on the deck of a familiar-to-Edge airship. The group was rendered unconscious for a moment.
"Edge?" a familiar voice addressed the ninja king.
Edge slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of familiar brown eyes glancing at him. The green-clad frame of the girl before him was staring worriedly and shocked to see Edge and four strangers fall right onto the Falcon.
"Rydia?" Edge breathed as he stood"We're not dead are we?"
"Is that all you can say?" a dwarven woman demanded.
"Hey, Luca. You're doing quite hot, yourself" grinned Edge.
The Eblan four recovered and overheard the discussion between their master and the green-haired Summoner. Izayoi looked around, they were in the underworld. She looked at the vessel they were flying on"An airship?"
"So, that was a complete gamble on your part?" Zangetsu asked Edge.
"How can you be so reckless with your life!?" exclaimed Tsukinowa.
Edge paid them no mind as he stared at the front of the ship, a white-haired man in black clothing was watching the exchange. Edge addressed the man"Who the heck are you?"
"I'm sorry, but we have no time for a reunion party" the man replied, simply.
"What do you mean? Just who are you and what are you doing here?" persisted Edge.
The man in black paid the ninja no mind, his thoughts drifting elsewhere. Edge had escaped the Mysterious Girl and reunited with Rydia, but the pair was about to get caught up along with their companions into another world-saving adventure.
Finally got this chapter up. The next few chapters will include individual characters and possibly snippets of the other tales in the After Years. I'm including Ceodore's group in a separate chapter from them. I may not be a hundred-percent accurate with the dialogue, but the story should match the game.
Please feel free to review.