Here's the next chapter. I guess I must be losing my touch or something, But I'll try to get this fic finished during this November, for sure. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: FFIV: The After Years was created and copyrighted by square.

The Dark Abyss

While Ceodore, Rosa, Rydia, Yang and Kain had been busy fighting the 'man' who was blocking the way down the next flight of stairs, Golbez was taking first watch at the camp while he and the others who weren't busy facing the guardian of the crystal that was blocking their way.

Cecil, who was taking stock of the rest of the party's inventory to make sure they still had enough ethers, cottages and elixirs to keep going, addressed his older brother"Golbez."

The older half-Lunarian turned to answer the Paladin"Ah, Cecil."

The Paladin hesitantly spoke"I... I am glad to see you back. I meant to say so earlier, but these past two days were very chaotic."

Golbez smiled, slightly"And the same to you, as well."

Cecil was again quiet for a moment before continuing to speak"I cannot say for sure what the enemy was doing to my mind, but it was as though the light within me was slowly fading away. Lost within the darkness. But I had faith that Rosa, Ceodore and my friends would come to my aid. But I had not expected you to be among my saviors."

"Cecil..." Golbez was at a loss for words.

"So thank you, my brother" Cecil acknowledged.

Golbez shrugged"If you need someone to show your gratitude, thank Fusoya. It was he who sent me to aid you, putting his body on the line in the process. We managed to summon the Lunar Whale so that I could return."

"Fusoya did that? I am impressed that he still thought enough about you to do that" said Cecil, surprised.

Golbez nodded"Perhaps, but regardless, I have had enough of hiding."

Cecil smiled"So you're no longer ashamed of your name, Golbez?"

"No. I have to live up to my sins" acknowledged the older Half-Lunarian.

Ceodore's group met up with the two brothers as they finished their conversation. Kain addressed Cecil"The pathway leading further down is clear."

"Excellent, if everyone's still okay, let's continue on" nodded Golbez.

The party took a quick break in the tent before going down the flight of steps where the gold-armored Emperor had been blocking the way from within the crystal. The passageways soon led to a darker area with crystalline platforms.

"The place is like some kind of ninja stronghold" murmured Tsukinowa.

Izayoi shrugged"No kidding."

Another set of stairs was soon visible as they walked, but another dimly-lit crystal blocked their way. Cecil and Kain took note of the four similar diagonal passageways like the ones from previous floors like their current position.

"So, who's going to lead which group this time? And who should go with each one?" asked Luca.

"Perhaps I shall lead one, this time. If we rotate between our teammates, we'll give one another some time to rest up while everyone else deals with the guardian monsters" suggested Golbez. He wasn't sure that the monsters spawned from the crystals were the guardians of this moon, but there was no other plausible explanation for them.

"That leaves me with the other team" smirked Edge.

"Its okay by me. Good luck, Edge" nodded Cecil.

"Edge, take me with you" said Rydia.

"Sure thing" grinned the ninja. Rosa, Yang and Kain elected to join them. Palom shrugged and went over to Golbez's side with Leonora, Porom and Luca. Cecil, Ceodore, Tsukinowa and Izayoi set up another temporary camp for their companions for when they were done.

Edge led his group northwest until they found a Dark Crystal. It shattered just as a monstrous, three-headed dog monster emerged. Edge readied his Katana"Bring it on."

The three-headed monster, Cerberus surprised the group by unleashing Fira, Blizzara and Thundara. Rosa cast Cura and Shell on her allies while Rydia summoned Leviathan to counterattack Cerberus with Tidal Wave. Rosa fired an arrow at one of Cerberus's heads and narrowly avoided getting a nasty bite in retaliation on the monster's part. Edge hacked at Cerberus, staggering It while Yang attacked and wove around the monster's deadly bites. Irritated, Cerberus attacked with another series of elemental spells.

"Heh, time to fight fire with fire. Rydia, ready for some Inferno?" grinned Edge.

Rydia nodded, then focused her energy into a fire spell. The Ninja and the Summoner cast their spells at the same time, so that Inferno staggered the three-headed monster. Edge took the opportunity to attack with a cheap slash. The Cerberus bit fiercely at Edge, who barely managed to dodge. Rosa prayed to rejuvenate her allies while Yang struck hard and fast at Cerberus.

The three-headed monster cast Fira again before lunging with several bite attacks. The group barely dodged and kept on their toes. Edge and Yang counterattacked Cerberus, driving it back a bit.

"Time to put that hellhound away" Edge threw a Shurikin, staggering one of Cerberus' heads.

Rosa and Rydia concentrated their magic at the three-headed monster"Holy Burst!" The spell exploded with holy magic against Cerberus, causing it to collapse and disintegrate.

"Heh, one down" grinned Edge.

Golbez's group headed to the northeastern most crystal, which shattered to reveal a orb-shaped yellow monster with wings, fangs and talons. Palom cast Bio on the Ahriman, prompting retaliation through a Doom Spell.

Golbez bit back a curse"This spell will remain intact until it falls or we die. We'll have to hurry, but don't cast Haste, it would only escalate the situation."

"Good idea" Porom cast Slow on Ahriman and began casting it on herself and her allies to slow the death spell's progress. Golbez drove Ahriman back with his sword, prompting retaliation from its talons. Leonora fired an arrow, staggering it. Palom pitched in with Firaga and Thundaga, albeit in slow motion due to the slow spell's effect. Ahriman cast haste to try and speed up the doom spell it had cast.

Palom cast attack spell after attack spell on the flying monster. Leonora fired an arrow or two while casting an occasional high-level spell on Ahriman. The flying monster countered with Talons and teeth as it waited for the doom spell to take effect.

Palom could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes as he struggled to bring down the monster quickly enough to negate the doom spell"Leonora, we should try our combined spell."

"Okay" nodded the Epopt.

The Ahriman was having none of it however, and cast Haste on Leonora. This prompted an energy implosion in her body, causing her to collapse. Golbez angrily used a Phoenix Down to revive Leonora before attacking the Ahriman with his sword and following it up with Thundaga. Confused, the Ahriman cast doom again, resetting the group's internal clock to allow them more time to finish the battle.

"Sucks for you. Leonora, ready?" said Palom, cheekily.

Leonora nodded after she'd gotten back up and readied her spell, just as Palom started casting. The two mages launched a Particle Bomb at Ahriman's face. The spell connected with enough force to knock Ahriman out of the air, allowing Golbez to put an end to a tiring battle by casting one more Thundaga. The group felt a bit light-headed for a moment as the Doom spell lifted with Ahriman's death.

"So much for that flyboy" remarked the Mysidian Black Mage.

"We're not done yet" Golbez began leading the way to the southeastern crystal.

Edge's group reached their next target, a two-headed dragon that stomped towards them as the crystal shattered. Rosa cast Protect on her allies while Edge and Yang attacked the Two-Headed dragon.

The monster reared back and cast a slow spell before attempting to attack Edge with its fangs. Edge narrowly dodged, and retaliated with a slash at one of the twin-headed dragon's heads. The monster retaliated with one of its claws, prompting Edge to flip backwards, but not without receiving a gash. Rosa healed Edge while Rydia summoned Titan to attack the twin-headed dragon with Gaia's Rage.

"Take this!" Edge shot at the dragon with blitz. The staggered monster retaliated with claws and fangs, driving the group backwards. Rydia cast Blizzaga on the Twin-headed Dragon, freezing it. Edge leapt and landed on the dragon's back, plunging his katana downward. The dragon writhed from its injuries for a moment before collapsing, dead.

Edge removed his katana from the monster's back and cleaned the blade"Hoo boy, that was nothing."

"It was pretty fierce, though" Rydia mussed.

Edge's group headed back to the campsite to rest.

Golbez led his group to the southeast crystal, which shattered as a large green demon materialized, hanging from the ceiling. Echidna grinned wickedly and attacked first with Flare. Palom jumped in front of Leonora to absorb the blow, while Golbez shot Thundaga.

Echidna cast Meteor, which Porom managed to partially block with Shell before healing her allies. Echidna drained some of Porom and Palom's magic power before attacking again with Flare. Golbez took the blow and cast Blizzaga, staggering the monster. Luca followed up by throwing her tomahawk, staggering Echidna. The monster retaliated with Holy and Meteor. Porom healed her allies while Golbez and Palom cast their own black magic spells.

"Palom, let's try one of our twin casting spells on the monster" Porom suggested.

"Alrighty" Palom began channeling magic energy at the monster.

Porom started casting at the same time as her brother. Luca, Golbez and Leonora diverted Echidna's attention, blasting it with spells and the Tomahawk. Echidna retaliated by using Meteor, prompting Leonora to heal her allies with Cura.

"Twinflare!" Palom and Porom's joint spell pierced Echidna with a burst of fiery magic, disintegrating it.

"Everyone still okay?" Leonora checked on her allies.

"Never better" smiled Porom.

The group rested for a couple hours in a tent before proceeding southward from the campsite. The crystal at the passageway was glowing when it shattered. An ominous wave of darkness consumed the area.

"As light is consumed from your planet, everything fades into darkness. It all now belongs in our arms" spoke a creepy, female voice.

"Who's that?" Palom frowned.

"Look!" Luca gasped and pointed as what looked like a green-skinned woman with long hair and yellowish snakes protruding from her shoulders emerged from the dark abyss that swarmed the five.

"Now that's an image I'll never get out of my head" groaned Palom.

Leonora fired an arrow at the wraith, which merely intercepted with a 0-Particle Beam before sending a wave of Particle Beams at the group. Porom healed her allies while Golbez cast Quake on the Cloud of Darkness. The two snake creatures attempted slow, stop and silence on the party, only for it to be countered with Remedies.

"She's not fooling around" Luca tossed her tomahawk, staggering one of the snakes. Leonora shot the other one with an arrow. Hissing in aggravation, the Cloud of Darkness cast Particle Beam on the group again. Porom healed her teammates and proceeded to cast Shell and Protect.

Leonora and Palom attacked the Cloud of Darkness with Particle Bomb, staggering it slightly. The Cloud shot forward a Zero-Particle Beam and swiped at the party. Porom kept up with her magic while Golbez slashed at the COD with her sword. The COD swiped at Golbez in retaliation before shooting forward another Particle Beam.

"Particle Bomb!" Palom and Leonora countered with their combined spell. Golbez attacked the Cloud of Darkness with Thundaga before swinging at It again with his blade. The Cloud of Darkness staggered and swiped at Golbez. The Half-Lunarian dodged and cast Thundaga in retaliation. Leonora healed Golbez while Palom shot Bio at the COD.

"Leonora, Luca, I want to try something. Luca, toss your tomahawk as low as possible while I jump on it. Leonora, hit me with Thundaga. Sis, you can handle the healing, right?" suggested Palom.

"That's awfully risky, but I suppose its worth a try" shrugged Porom.

"Okay" said Leonora, feeling slightly unsure.

Luca tossed her Tomohawk while Palom jumped onto it for a moment before leaping at the Cloud of Darkness. Leonora zapped him with Thundaga, creating a human spark which slammed into the COD. Palom landed just in front of the Cloud of Darkness while Porom healed him. The slightly burnt Palom powered up and tossed Thundaga, penetrating the Cloud of Darkness.

As it succumbed to its injuries and started to fade, the Cloud of Darkness whispered"... When you awaken from this dream of darkness, you will know true despair..."

"Pathetic wraith" muttered Golbez as the Cloud of Darkness dissolved into nothingness and the area around them was purged of the dark abyss.

"Dream of darkness? What the heck is that?" said Palom, perturbed.

"So much darkness, she clearly wasn't human" frowned Porom.

"Those snake-like things on her were weird" shivered Luca.

"Everything will return to darkness? I don't like the sound of that" shrugged Leonora.

The group went to meet up with their comrades. Cecil spoke"The crystals in this area have been purged, I take it?"

Luca nodded"Yeah."

The combined party headed downstairs, which was previously blocked by the COD's crystal.

I finally got this chapter ready. Sorry again for the wait. I'll see if I can't get this wrapped up within the next week or so, should be done by the end of November. Oh, and the COD was actually the abbreviation of the Cloud of Darkness' name in case you're wondering.

Also, in case anyone can't figure out what type of attack I had Palom, Porom, Leonora and Luca use on the Cloud of Darkness, it was the Palom in the Sky band attack.

Feel free to review. Sorry if it seemed shorter, but Ahriman and the Twin-Headed Dragon cameo bosses are nothing compared to the Iron Giant and King Behemoth cameo bosses from the After Years. Gilgamesh, Atmos and a certain armored magus should be more epic.