Next chapter ready to go. There's plenty of action for these next seven chapters. I may alternate between groups in this chapter and the next four, so there's going to be quite a bit of jumping around between perspectives.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was developed by Squaresoft
The Remnants of Chaos
The newly uncovered passageway led to a mysterious, underground ruin with stone steps and platforms. A wall of darkness surrounded the group as they entered the new part of the moon.
"This moon goes even deeper underground than the Lunarians'" breathed Rydia,
"Perhaps is a structure we do not know much about..." Kain trailed off.
"Hey, I see a cave ahead of us" Palom chirped, seeing a cave on the way down.
"What's in there?" Rosa paused.
Ceodore walked ahead into the cave to find another teleporter and a panel like the one where the group had faced off with the Dark Knight. Kain entered with him to inspect the area"Hm. Looks to be another resting spot, and yet another device we could use to return to the Lunar Whale if necessary."
"Good to know there's one every few floors" remarked Palom.
Cecil acknowledged as he listened"That would be a decent spot to rest if needed, we just need to remember to reserve enough magic power to teleport back here if necessary. And if that's some sort of teleportation device, we might be able to return to where we left off without having to waste time backtracking."
"So, now what?" Edge spotted a stairway leading further down.
"Let's move on" Cecil turned and led the way down the next few platforms and staircases. There was also a few indoor complexes they had to navigate, filled with dangerous Chaos Knights and Goblin Princes.
"Monsters, again? We can't just keep plowing through them" groaned Edge.
Rydia stepped forward and summoned Titan to take down a few of the goblins blocking their way with Gaia's Wrath. Ceodore, Cecil and Kain charged to intercept a few Goblin Princes that attempted to attack the summoner in retaliation.
Two Chaos Knights charged at the group, only to get zapped by Palom and Edge. Ceodore, Cecil and Kain dispatched their opponents with little to no effort. The Summoner looked around for a moment. Rosa closed her eyes for a moment and used a magic prayer to restore some magic power to Rydia and Palom.
"Whoever's in charge has set up quite the welcome party" remarked Edge, scouting ahead.
"You call that a party?" frowned Rydia.
The group headed down another flight of stairways, proceeding deeper underground. Eventually, they came to a floor with a central platform and what appeared to be a large crystal blocking the way further. Four pathways leading northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest were also visible.
"Another crystal, here?" Rosa went to inspect it"Its blocking our way."
"Think a spell would help?" asked Palom.
"Something tells me it's not that simple" Rosa replied to the Mysidian Black Mage.
Kain inspected the crystal, seeing that it wasn't glowing as the other ones were, they had not noticed the other crystals before"Perhaps we should investigate each of the other passageways on this floor. We may even find some clues."
"It'll be fastest to split up" pointed out Yang"We do not know how much time we've got left."
"Good idea. Like before, a black mage and a white mage should be in each group" nodded Rosa.
The group went back up to the central platform. Cecil addressed the group"Okay. I will take Rosa, Edge, Rydia and Kain with me down the southeast and southwest paths."
"That leaves five more of us to cover the upper pathways. The rest should set up camp at the central platform for emergencies" acknowledged the Dragoon.
Ceodore bit his lip in thought for a moment"I'll investigate the other two paths."
Ursula nodded"I will accompany you, Ceodore."
"Ursula, I will no longer stop you, but be careful" said Yang, calmly.
"Perhaps I'll add to your group, Ceodore. Anyone else?" Golbez addressed the others.
Palom shrugged"I'm all for it, I'm coming with you."
"That leaves me to fill the 'white mage' position for your team. Let's go" said Porom.
"We'll meet back here" stated Cecil, leading his group down the southwest pathway.
The southwest path led Cecil's group to a large room with a crystal in the middle. The crystal emitted a blue glow as they approached, a voice echoed"You are doomed, for you stand before Kraken, Fiend of Water!"
The crystal shattered as what looked to be a humanoid giant blue squid appeared. Cecil, Rosa, Rydia, Kain and Edge readied themselves as the fiend readied a tsunami. Undeterred, the Kraken pushed the group back with Tsunami. The five stood their ground and hurried to counteract.
"Judgment Bolt!" Rydia summoned Ramuh, who blasted the squid-like monster. Kraken irritably countered by slamming a limb into Rydia, knocking her back before casting Blizzaga on the group. Rosa healed her teammates while Cecil countered the monster with a slash of his sword.
Rosa and Rydia followed up with Holy Burst, staggering Kraken, who countered with Blizzaga and another Tsunami. Rosa healed her group while Edge zapped Kraken with Blitz and Rydia followed with Firaga. Cecil and Kain hacked at their adversary, dodging the monster's physical attacks as best they can.
"Firaga!" Rydia blasted Kraken again, who retaliated with another Tsunami. Rosa healed herself and her allies again while Kain used a jump attack on the monster's head, staggering him, momentarily.
"Kain, use your jump attack while I cast Holy" Rosa requested.
"Very well" Kain jumped again, holding his lance in a downward position. Rosa cast Holy to imbue Kain's spear just as the dragoon brought it downward onto Kraken. The monster collapsed, dead.
"The fiend of water was no archfiend" Cecil remarked.
"No kidding" shrugged Edge, who administrated a high-ether to Rydia and Rosa.
The group headed out of the room, seeing no other pathways.
Ceodore's group headed northwest to come upon a large chamber with a crystal that shone with a yellowish light. Golbez had an inkling that meant that another monster was going to emerge.
"Say, couldn't we just shatter the crystals before the monster emerges?" Ursula inquired.
"I fear its not that simple" Golbez felt a sense of deadness coming from this crystal's aura. As the room around them darkened, the crystal shattered, and a shadowy monster emerged.
"What the heck is that?" Palom gasped.
"Dunno, but the air felt dead for some reason" Ceodore readied his blade.
Porom cast Libra on the monster"Hm. It seems to be vulnerable to fire. And the spell reveals that the monster's name is... Lich?"
Palom smirked"Well, I'll just blow him away with Firaga, then."
The Lich was having none of it however and cast a Quake spell. The group staggered and shortly recovered. Porom hurried to cast Float on herself and her companions while they attacked the monster. The Lich attempted to cast Doom on Porom when Palom intercepted with Firaga. Ceodore struck the monster with his own blade, while the Fabulian princess struck at the Lich's pressure points. The Lich cast Quake and used blind on Ceodore and Urusula.
"Firaga!" "Quake!" Golbez and Palom attacked the Lich with their own spells while Ceodore used Esuna to cure him and the blond.
The Lich staggered, but tried to cast Silence on the mages while using Quake, again. Palom angrily threw a Echo Herb to Porom and used one himself before throwing a Firaga. The Lich attacked with Quake again and threw another blind spell on Ceodore. Ceodore used some eyedrops, while Ursula jump-kicked their opponent. Golbez staggered the Lich with Quake, stunning it. Ceodore took the opportunity to run it through with his sword, taking the time to charge up, first.
The apparition staggered from the impact of Ceodore's blade long enough for Palom to finish the job with a burst of Firaga. Succumbing to the pressure of the group's attack, the Lich faded into thin air.
"That wasn't so hard" boasted Palom.
"We're not done yet, we should check the northeast passage, now" said Golbez, leading the way out. Ceodore took a breath and almost collapsed, prompting Porom to use an Elixir on the baron prince.
"You seem to have a bit of trouble with whatever spell you used to power yourself" Ursula frowned, concerned.
"I'm fine, let's just head out" breathed Ceodore, walking past Golbez who had turned to check on his nephew, as the rest of the group hadn't started following him, yet.
The southeastern path led Cecil's team to another large room with a crystal. This time when the crystal shattered, a blue dragon-like monster emerged: It was the Wind fiend, Tiamat. Cecil braced himself for another tough battle.
The creature summoned forth Thundaga and followed up with Tornado. Rosa kept her group alive as usual while Cecil and Kain attacked the dragon. The monster clawed the two men and cast Bolt on Rydia. Edge used Heal Pill on the Summoner and rushed to attack Tiamat with his Katana. The Tiamat countered with another Tornado, which Rosa quickly countered with Curaja.
"Enough of this. Rydia, up for trying a Inferno on this guy?" Edge grinned.
"Okay" Rydia began to cast a fire spell at the same time Edge began to cast Flame. The spell exploded onto Tiamat, stunning it long enough for Cecil to get in a cheap slash. Tiamat countered with Heat Rays, staggering the party. Rosa used a prayer to call forth a radiant light to restore energy to herself and her allies. Rydia summoned Leviathan to attack Tiamat with Tsunami, while Kain jump-attacked the wind monster.
Tiamat reared back and cast another Heat Ray, which Rosa swiftly countered with Cura. Kain jabbed at the Tiamat and readied himself to jump attack. Cecil swung his sword, slashing Tiamat. Kain plunged his spear into Tiamat the same time Rosa cast Holy. Rydia followed it up with Titan, staggering the Tiamat. Edge and Rydia finished the job with Inferno, incinerating Tiamat.
"Such a fearsome dragon, hope Bahamut Is okay" muttered Rydia, watching as Tiamat went up in flames.
"Let's go rest up back at camp" suggested Cecil.
The rest of the group nodded and followed the Paladin out of the room.
The northeast room contained a crystal that shone with a reddish light. A feminine voice addressed Ceodore's group as they approached"You dare disturb me? I, Miralith, shall send you to an early grave."
"We'll see about that" Palom readied himself.
A slightly oversized lamia with a blade in either hand emerged, casting Firaga and confused on the group. Ceodore and Porom busied themselves with Esuna while Ursula struck the monster with a punch and a roundhouse kick. Marilith slashed at Ceodore, who barely dodged and got a scratch. The Baron prince administered a potion before counterattacking.
Marilith countered with Firaga and slashed at Ceodore. The prince narrowly dodged and slashed at Marilith again. Ursula followed with a Jump Kick while Palom and Golbez cast Blizzaga. Marilith irritably cast Firaga and slashed at Golbez, who retaliated with another Blizzaga and used a Hi-Potion on himself.
"Blizzaga!" Palom attacked Miralith with his spell while Golbez followed through with Quake, staggering Miralith long enough for Ceodore and Ursula to land a couple cheap blows. Miralith drove them back with her blades in aggravation. Palom countered this with Blizzaga, freezing her long enough for Ceodore to attack, shattering the ice and destroying Miralith, who disintegrated.
"Well, shall we go back to the others?" prompted the Mysdian White Mage, checking her allies' injuries. Golbez nodded and turned around. The group headed back to the central platform just as Cecil's group arrived back.
"How did it go?" asked Edge, seeing Ceodore's group.
"We ran into two powerful monsters, but we bested them" reported Ceodore.
"Same thing happened on our end" shrugged Rosa.
Cecil turned his attention to the crystal in front of them, which now shone a sinister purple aura. Ceodore shrugged"I guess defeating the four monsters in the side chambers triggered something."
"That would be correct, let's get to the bottom of this" Golbez led the way. Ceodore, Ursula, Palom and Porom followed him downstairs towards the crystal that was blocking the way forward.
The area darkened a bit as the crystal shattered. A greyish armored man with a purple came emerged, carrying a giant blade"So, you seek to end the eternal strife of chaos? I, Garland, will crush you!" he spoke in a mocking voice.
Porom cast Protect on her group while Ceodore and Ursula attacked, only for Garland to block and swing his blade, knocking the two backwards. Golbez angrily cast Firaga, burning Garland a bit while Porom healed Ceodore and Ursula. Palom used Bio on Garland, who retaliated by sending fiery laser beams at Palom. The black mage narrowly dodged most of them and was hit in the shoulder.
"All right" Ursula gritted her teeth and lunged at the weapon, knocking it out of Garland's hand. The rogue retaliated with a punch before reclaiming his blade and swinging it at the princess. Golbez quickly shielded her while Palom blasted Garland with Bio and Firaga. The rogue knight staggered and swung horizontally and vertically. The group dodged and barely managed to avoid serious injury.
Porom healed her allies while Ceodore powered up and lunged at Garland, locking blades with the former knight. Surprised, Garland jumped back and swung vertically at Ceodore, who dodged and countered with a thrust. Golbez intercepted with Quake, staggering Garland long enough for Ursula to get in a jump kick. Garland swung horizontally, barely grazing Ursula's head as the blond princess dodged. Porom kept up with her white magic while Ceodore, Palom, Kain and Ursula chipped away.
Irritated, Garland lashed out with two slashes and a tornado. Porom countered with healing magic, while Palom and Golbez cast their attack spells at Garland. Ceodore slashed Garland just before powering down and getting exhausted again. Ursula had to take a hit for the prince as Garland attempted to take advantage with a slash. Porom healed Ursula and Ceodore with a Curaga spell.
Ursula and Ceodore got back up and darted to either side of Garland. Garland turned to block a sword strike from Ceodore, only to get punched by Ursula. Golbez and Palom powered up and sent Firaga at Garland, blasting the rogue knight. Garland's armor had a whole burned through it, which provided a spot for Ceodore to deal the final blow. Garland collapsed and vanished in wisps of smoke.
"Who was that knight?" Ceodore breathed, putting his blade away.
"We sure fried that armor" smirked Palom.
"Such a pitiful prisoner of a never ending time loop" Golbez shook his head.
"There was an intense darkness about the man" whispered Porom.
Ursula shrugged"So scary..."
Golbez addressed the group"The way is clear, let's go let the others know and rest our strength."
The others nodded, and they all went back.
Finally, I got this chapter ready. I hope I'm not godmoding too much with the characters. The next four chapters will be somewhat like this, but with different party setups for variety.
The final party for the last two chapters after the next four will likely be Ceodore, Kain, Rosa, Rydia and Cecil. That's the party setup I used for my playthrough of the final segment of the Crystals, but everyone has their preferences.
I'll see if I can't get the next one up by tomorrow or Wednesday. If not, maybe the weekend. We'll see. Sorry this chapter didn't turn out as long as the last one. Ceodore/Ursula seems like a good pairing, no? Nothing serious, though.