Here's another chapter, The Crystals portion of the novelization begins here. There will also be some tidbits/flashbacks to events from some of the other character tales that happen before the Crystals.
Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series characters, locations, etc. were created by Squaresoft.
Unwavering Faith-Yang
The Falcon flew out of the underworld where Rydia and Edge's groups met up. By then, meteors had started falling from the sky, much to the horror of the blue planet's denizens who witnessed them, and the moon gradually edged closer to their world.
"So who are you?" Edge pressed the man in black, again.
"Look out!" Rydia shouted as a meteor fell toward their ship.
Luca quickly maneuvered the airship away from the meteor before it hit the ship, steering it southward. Without a word, the man in black took the helm and turned the ship, heading north.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" gasped Luca, who got shoved aside.
Edge glanced ahead"We're headed towards Baron Castle!"
The man in black piloted the Falcon close to the castle and landed just a short way south of it. The man in black disembarked first"Let's go."
'What's going on?' thought Edge, suspicious.
Rydia went off the ship after the man, turning to Edge"Aren't you coming?"
"Yeah, someone has to watch that guy" muttered the Eblanese King.
Luca addressed Calca and Brina"You two stay and guard the ship."
The dolls jumped in acknowledgement and stayed behind as Edge, Rydia, Luca and the Man in Black went on ahead towards the castle. The Eblan Four were currently resting below deck.
As the group of four approached the castle, they saw what appeared to be a glowing field enveloping the building. Edge gasped"What the heck?"
"I guess we're not getting in that way" sighed Luca.
"Let's find another way" suggested the black-clad man.
Edge frowned"Why should we trust you?"
"I do not expect you to" replied the man, walking silently towards the town.
The group looked around as they entered the town of Baron. What looked like soldiers patrolled the city, aimlessly walking around, save for a couple of them who were guarding select locations.
"What's going on?" frowned Rydia.
Edge approached a soldier"Hey, what's happening."
The soldier simply groaned"Orders... from the king."
"Hey!" Edge shook the man, which only provoked a sudden sword slash. Rydia quickly cast Fira on the Zombie Infantryman, frying him on the spot while Luca quickly administrated a high potion on the ninja.
"Best stay away from them" acknowledged the man in black, leading the way to one of the small houses to check on things. Rydia ran ahead of him and knocked on the door.
An old woman opened the door and saw the four"My goodness. Rydia, good to see you again."
"You two, is everything okay?" inquired the green-haired Summoner.
The woman shrugged"Not exactly, everyone has gone into their homes and locked the doors. There are monsters roaming around, and the soldiers seem to be wondering aimlessly. But where's Ceodore? And Rosa?"
"We don't know, but I believe they're fine" smiled Rydia.
"That's a relief, I suppose. Well, do be careful, and please find Ceodore and Rosa" said the old woman, going back inside.
Rydia didn't blame Ceodore's grandmother for being worried, the seemingly Zombified soldiers could barely discriminate or anything. That, and meteors had fallen in different directions from the moon. What's more, the air had become colder than usual.
Luca led the way to the northwestern most house and knocked, waiting for a moment. A young man opened the door"Luca! Rydia! How are things?"
"Not very well at the moment. Baron's not doing too good is it?" frowned the young engineer.
The young man shrugged"Well, come in."
The group went inside. The young man's wife met them"Rydia, Luca, is my father with you? I'm worried."
"No, but I'm sure he's okay" replied Luca.
"She's right, grandpa's pretty tough" piped Cid's Grandson, who stood next to his mother.
Rydia addressed the man in black"Should we visit Mist? I'm kind of worried?"
"We're no closer to finding anything about that force field shrouding the castle, either way. Do what you feel you must" replied the man.
"Who are you?" asked Cid's wife, seeing the white-haired man.
The man gave a brisk reply"Just a traveler" before walking away, he did not feel comfortable about revealing his familial relationship with Cecil, at least not yet.
Edge, Rydia, Luca and the man in black boarded the Falcon and flew north to Mist. The village was engulfed in mist as Rydia and her group entered, it even looked deserted, as there was no sign of the villagers.
"Where is everyone?" Rydia wondered.
"Rydia." A voice spoke.
"Mother?" asked Rydia, hearing the voice.
The voice instructed"Rydia, you must free the Eidolons from their torment."
"Mother!" Rydia cried.
"You have what you need for the task. Once you're done, please return" requested the voice.
After a moment's silence, Edge spoke up"So where to?"
"Let's check on Damcyan, first. Its closest to Mist" said Rydia, heading back to the Falcon. The group took off and soared northeast, landing a short distance from Damcyan Castle.
The courtyard seemed to be overrun with worm-like monsters. Edge groaned"The heck is going on?"
Rydia grabbed Edge's arm before he could draw his blade"The moon must be really affecting them, they're not the ones at fault."
"All right, I'll spare them if possible" grunted Edge as the group went into the castle hall to the throne room.
Most of the people of Damcyan, along with a few guards and their king's secretary were in the throne room. Three of the guards intercepted the group"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Its me, Edge" said the Ninja, impatiently.
"What's going on?" A woman with dark hair in a bun, glasses and black clothes addressed them.
Rydia addressed the woman"I'm Rydia. We're here to see King Edward."
The woman was taken aback and instructed the guards to let them pass, saying"I'm afraid to say that King Edward is not with us at present."
"Where is he?" asked the Summoner.
The older woman bowed her head for a moment, worried"He left somewhere and hasn't come back. However, I have faith that he would not fall into our enemies' hands. We've had some minor monster attacks recently, and a citizen from Kaipo came to inform his majesty that strange, fairy-like creatures are roaming the town."
'Fairy like... The Sylphs!' Rydia realized before saying"We'll find Edward."
The woman smiled"Thank you. May I be permitted to come along?"
"This isn't the kind of thing a Secretary should worry herself over" remarked Edge.
Ignoring him, Rydia smiled"We'd love to have you along until we find Edward."
The older woman acknowledged"Thank you. Oh, and my name is Harley."
"Do come back safely" the Chancellor said to Harley.
The secretary nodded, then began to follow Rydia's group back to the Falcon. The group boarded and headed south to Kaipo. Rydia, Edge, the man in black and Luca docked the airship at the edge of the desert region where Kaipo is at and headed for the town while Harley stayed with Edge's four apprentices.
"So, the moon's most likely affecting everything" mussed the Man in Black.
"Seems that way" Edge agreed, grudgingly. He still didn't trust their black-clad companion.
Rydia's active group landed near Kaipo and went to investigate. The outside of the village were empty much like Baron was, but they saw several Sylphs aimlessly wondering around. Luca guessed that the villagers of Kaipo were also forced to stay in the safety of their homes. Rydia frowned"They might attack if we approach them directly, I don't want to kill them."
"Let's sneak past them, then" suggested the man in black.
The four, careful not to provoke the Sylphs, went for the northeastern-most building. They went inside to find an older woman"Did you four just come in? Its horrible outside. Oh, and before you came in, a lone father carried his daughter inside. They're resting in the room, ahead."
"Huh? Who could it be?" Rydia raced ahead. Edge, Luca and the man in black followed. A young couple were tending to two people in a bed to the right.
"Hey, how are you?" The young man tending to the two greeted the four as they approached"Those two were shipwrecked, the father barely managed to carry his daughter over here."
Rydia looked at the two people in bed, the man was partially bald save for one blond-brown lock, and girl other had a lighter shade of blond hair. After a moment, she recognized them"Yang! Ursula!"
Yang gave no response, simply muttering in his sleep, though just barely.
"Would be nice to have Rosa around at times like these" remarked Edge.
Rydia shook her head"But all the white magic in the world would mean nothing if his consciousness is gone. Once someone is dead, they can't be revived, no matter what. Right now, Yang's still alive, we'll have to go to Fabul and find out what's happened."
"Lead the way" the man in black said.
Rydia's group headed out of town, back to the airship and flew northwest. It took little time to reach Fabul as they disembarked and approached the entrance to the castle's interior. Three monks guarded the gate, one of them spoke"Who are you?"
"Its me, Rydia" replied the green-haired summoner.
"Oh, Lady Rydia, its good to see you. You may enter" acknowledged the monk, standing aside to let them through.
Edge took the lead and went up the stairs, to the west tower of Fabul castle. They went to the third floor which served as Yang's family's quarters. Edge approached a woman cooking in front of a nearby stove"Excuse me."
The woman turned"Yes?"
"Sheila, right? About your husband, he's pretty out of it, so is his daughter. They're in Kaipo" explained the ninja.
Yang's wife frowned, not too surprised to hear Yang's predicament"I see." She went through her utensils and handed over a frying pan"Yang will need this, then. And the ladle is for Ursula."
Edge took the items and frowned"No knife this time?"
"Oh, you need another one? Sorry, but I'm nearly fresh out. I have one left, but I need it to cook with" said Sheila, apologetically.
Edge shrugged, stored away the items he borrowed and headed back to the airship with his group. Again, they parked the Falcon at the desert's edge and crossed back into Kaipo. Yang and his daughter's condition hadn't changed when they returned.
"Now what?" Luca asked.
Edge took out the frying pan, walked over to Yang and banged him on the head. Much to Luca's surprise, the Fabulian king stirred"Ugh... Five more minutes..."
"Yang?" Rydia pressed him.
Yang sat up"Rydia, Edge, good to see you again. I was on my way to baron with my daughter when our ship was attacked. I swam all the way here, carrying Ursula on my back until we got to shore. I then carried her in my arms on the way to Kaipo. I shudder to think why, but the thing that attacked us was Leviathan."
"No... The Eidolon King was enchanted, too?" whimpered Rydia.
"Never mind that, where's my daughter? Where's Ursula?" inquired Yang, worried.
"She's next to you" replied Rydia.
Edge walked to the Fabul princess's side of the bed and took out the ladle. Hesitant, Edge slowly turned to address the summoner"Rydia, could you help me with this? I don't have the nerve to hit a lady."
Rydia frowned, but didn't remark on Edge's chivalry and took the ladle. She walked to the younger girl and gently smacked her head with the ladle. The princess, like her father, stirred from the impact"Is it training time again...?"
"Ursula" Yang, relieved, hugged his daughter.
Luca was confused"What's with that family?"
"We were headed for Baron, ourselves" Rydia addressed Yang.
"As were we, after the Wind Crystal was stolen by Kain during an unexpected attack from Baronian troops. Will you allow us to go with you?" inquired the Fabul King.
"Yes, but why would Kain, or rather Baron do such a thing? If Cecil's still king, that shouldn't make any sense" asked Rydia.
Yang removed the covers from himself"I was under the same impression."
"But anyway, sure you wanna come? You're barely in any shape to move, don't think about leaving your daughter behind" piped Edge.
Yang smiled"I assure you, we'll be fine."
"Besides, I'm coming too" piped Ursula.
"All right, but you two might want to rest and save your strength in the airship" said Rydia.
"Well, there you go" a familiar, female voice spoke.
Three sylphs appeared before Yang"You truly are magnificent, Yang."
"My sylph friends..." murmured Yang.
One of the sylphs smiled"We'll be coming along as well. We sensed your love for your daughter, which somehow broke me and my fellow sylphs free of that nasty teal-haired mystery girl's control. Rydia, you can summon us anytime."
"Thank you" smiled Rydia, glad to see the Sylphs return to their senses.
The leader of the Sylphs nodded, then addressed Yang"We're rooting for you. And for your daughter and friends."
The two monks acknowledged and followed Rydia's group back to the falcon, thanking the couple who took care of the two Fabulian royals. The Sylphs became invisible and flew to the falcon as Yang took the opportunity to explain what happened before he got to Kaipo"My Chancellor feared that Cecil had fallen to the dark side, but I believed it to be impossible. That's why I was going to find out the truth of these matters."
"We're in this together, we'll snap Cecil out of it if he has somehow fallen into enemy hands" said Edge, confidently.
"First, we should find the rest of your friends, ensure they're safety and free the other Eidolons" said the Man In Black.
"I do not believe Cecil would be so easily manipulated, and I am sure Rosa and Cid would've already done something. If Prince Ceodore's there, too, I am sure he wouldn't wish to lose his father to evil" shrugged Yang.
They returned to the falcon, with the Sylphs giving Rydia a new orb to summon them with while Yang and his daughter went below decks to rest.
Finally got another chapter up. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to think of the fact that Ursula is the name of Yang's daughter in the After Years, it almost reminds me of a certain Disney villain. Not that it really bothers me.
Anyway, feel free to review if you'd like. There should be a bit more action next chapter. Oh, and I think I will include Ceodore, Kain, Rosa, Cid and Edward's confrontation with the Mysterious Girl, Odin and Cecil in a separate chapter than the next three or four.