Here's the next chapter, ready to go.
Disclaimer: FFIV: The After Years was created and copyrighted by Square
Branch of Nothingness
The next floor the party came across was a narrow passageway leading to a tunnel, ahead. Inside, the group came across two reddish chimeras and a bluish dragon monster. The Chimera Giests blew icy breath attacks at the group.
"Tsunami!" Rydia summoned Leviathan to knock back the chimeras, while Kain jump attacked the crystal dragon. Ceodore followed up by finishing the dragon off before it could counter the Dragoon's attack.
One of the chimeras lunged at Edge, who barely managed to dodge and slash the monster. The chimera was about to shoot forth another icy breath attack when Yang jump kicked the monster, staggering it enough for Cecil to finish the monster.
Ursula, Palom, Porom and Leonora worked together to take down the other Chimera Geist, sustaining minimal magic damage in the process.
"These jokers were nothing completely new" scoffed Edge.
Rydia nodded silently. Rosa took a moment to heal their injured allies before they all proceeded forward. Soon, they came to a room with a crystal standing on top of what should have been a barrier-protected zone where they could camp. Another teleporter was next to it.
"I wonder what's next" Rydia murmured.
The crystal shattered, and a yellow and gold armored warrior with a lance emerged. Ceodore, Kain, Cecil, Rydia and Rosa stepped forward to meet the challenger. Gilgamesh swung his lance at Ceodore and jabbed at Kain. Kain jumped over the lance and brought both fleet slamming down on Gilgamesh. The warrior stumbled, but regained his footing and swung at Rosa.
"Thundaga!" Rydia attempted to stun the warrior, who shrugged it off after a momentary shock and charged at Cecil. The Paladin stepped to the side as the blade barely grazed his side.
"Laser Beams!" The warrior shot forth beams of fiery energy, staggering the group. Gilgamesh rushed forward and got a cheap hit on Rydia. Rosa administrated a Hi-Potion on the summoner, while Cecil and Ceodore drove Gilgamesh backwards while dodging the armored warrior's lance attacks.
Kain jumped once again and slammed Gilgamesh with another aerial attack. Ceodore slammed the tip of his sword into Gilgamesh's armor, knocking him backwards. The group watched as Gilgamesh appeared to kneel over in defeat.
"Oh, no... I'm done for..." Gilgamesh groaned, while really, he was casting shell, haste and protect on himself"Used too much power... Ha! Just kidding!"
Kain readied his lance as Gilgamesh rushed him. The dragoon barely managed to parry and jabbed with his lance. Gilgamesh dodged and threw more fiery blasts of energy, followed by an earthquake spell.
Rosa healed her allies and cast float to render them invulnerable to the quake. Ceodore rushed Gilgamesh with a thrust and narrowly dodged when the armored lancer tried to jump attack him. Kain slashed Gilgamesh with the tip of his spear and pushed him back with a jump attack of his own.
Gilgamesh jumped back and unleashed bad breath on Kain, Ceodore and Rosa. Cecil quickly cast Esuna on Rosa before rushing to attack Gilgamesh to distract him. Rosa healed Kain and Ceodore of the nasty blind, silence and toad spells they were hit by.
The armored warrior threw another deadly barrage of laser beams, which Rosa quickly healed. Ceodore swung at Gilgamesh, locking blades with the 'man.' Kain knocked Gilgamesh with a jump attack while Rydia summoned Leviathan to finish the job.
Gasping for air as he drowned and began to vanish from the Tsunami, Gilgamesh spoke"... Bartz?"
Watching the armored man vanish, Cecil frowned"Bartz? Who is that?"
"He didn't seem all that bad" Rosa commented.
"Wasn't even that much of a monster" Kain murmured.
The rest of their group gathered around. They had no idea how much time they've spent, but the party set up camp for the night. After dinner, which consisted of more fish and some fruit, Ceodore volunteered to take the first watch, though he really had something on his mind.
Kain, who was just doing some light stretches before going to bed in the cottage the group set up, spotted Ceodore and walked over to the prince. It was a bit dark to see his expression.
"Ceodore? Is something wrong?" The dragoon asked.
Ceodore kept glancing ahead as he replied"No..."
"Doesn't having Cecil back make you happy at all?" inquired Kain.
Ceodore turned to face Kain"I am happy he's made a full recovery, its just that..."
"Having a world leader for a father would be a heavy burden to bear for anyone" Kain acknowledged.
Ceodore was taken aback.
"My father was Commander Richard of Baron's Dragoons. He was a good man, but quite harsh at times. I idolized the Dragoons since childhood, but I hated my strict father" elaborated Kain.
"What happened to him?" asked Ceodore, curious.
"He died, when I was around your age" replied the Dragoon.
"Sorry to hear that" said Ceodore.
Kain was quiet for a moment longer before saying"We should get some more rest, we'll be going further down tomorrow."
"Okay" smiled Ceodore.
Rosa, who had been listening from just outside the tent she shared with the other female members of their party, whispered"Thank you, Kain." She was happy her son and her childhood friend were getting along.
Hours later, the group packed up and left after a quick breakfast. The next two flights down were pleasant until they came to a distorted maze. Porom grimaced"This place must have some sort of defensive spell placed upon it."
"Not unlike when Leonora and I were last in the Magnetic Cavern, except it was purely an illusion" remarked Palom.
"We'll just have to find the source of this illusion and end it" mussed Kain.
The group traveled through the distorted maze, which oddly had no monsters to hinder their progress. Another reddish crystal was located at the center of the maze, which the group approached.
"Another crystal" Cecil readied himself.
The crystal shattered, and a purplish monster with a gaping maw with what looked like a void in the center. Rosa scanned the creature with Libra"Doesn't seem particularly dangerous. Hold on, I can sense black magic from it."
"We'll see about that. Bio!" Palom shot Atmos, which retaliated with Meteor. The group barely withstood the powerful magic and took a moment to recover.
"Shell!" Rosa and Porom cast defensive spells on their allies, while Kain and Ceodore attacked Atmos' sides. Leonora fired an arrow at the monster's maw. Atmos cast another meteor, which was countered by a Curaja from Rosa.
"Diamond Dust!" Rydia summoned Shiva to blast the monster. Another meteor was cast in retaliation. Annoyed, Porom healed her allies while Rosa prayed to rejuvenate her allies a bit.
"We'll need to take out that core" said Kain, glancing at the center of Atmos' maw.
The monster was having none of it, and cast Meteor, again. Rosa and Porom healed to prevent the collapse of their allies, while Rydia and Palom pelted Atmos with high-level black magic spells.
Kain assumed his usual jump attack stance, taking the time to address Ceodore"Let us attempt a double jump attack, together. You'll need to aim your weapon for best efficiency."
"Understood. But I've never tried this, I can't jump nearly as well as you" acknowledged Ceodore, uncertain.
"Its simple enough, but normally it would take several years of training to become an accomplished Dragoon, just follow my lead. It takes more than strong legs to make a Dragoon" instructed Kain.
Ceodore and Kain held their weapons upright and darted at Atmos. The two leapt and brought their weapons down on the core, cracking the monster's 'maw' slightly. Atmos was about to cast another Meteor when Rydia summoned Titan to shatter it with Gaia's Wrath.
Around them, as the monster collapsed and disintegrated, the room flashed brightly for a moment before reverting into a more normal chamber. Luca frowned"I guess Atmos was just a machine... An illusion generator of some kind..."
"Now we can continue on" said Cecil, gazing ahead of their current location.
The next flight of stairs leading downward was blocked by a large, white crystal. It shattered just before a voice rang out"Mawhohohoho, fools such as you are, no one can stop the eternal void... And now... You sink into the void as well!"
"Who is it this time?" Rydia frowned.
"No idea, but we can deal with it" Edge stood beside her.
Rosa, Ceodore and Ursula stood near the ninja and the summoner as a white, gold and blue armored man with a cape appeared, holding what appeared to be a golden sword. Edge readied himself"Blitz!"
The magus, Exdeath shrugged off the blow and cast Flare and Meteor. Rosa healed the group, while Ceodore and Ursula countered Exdeath with attacks of their own. Exdeath coolly blocked Ceodore's sword and teleported backwards to avoid Ursula's jump attack, retaliating with Blizzaga.
"Holy!" Rosa blasted Exdeath with her attack magic spell, while Rydia summoned Leviathan. Exdeath shrugged off the tsunami, but staggered from the holy spell. The magus countered with Firaga.
Rydia summoned Sylphs to try to absorb some of Exdeath's vitality to rejuvenate her allies, while Rosa cast Shell. Ceodore slashed at Exdeath again and locked blades, while Ursula darted to the side of the magus and jump kicked him. Exdeath retaliated by slashing at Ursula, driving her back. Ceodore took the chance to stab Exdeath. Staggering for a moment, Exdeath cast Thundaga on the two.
"Judgment Bolt!" Rydia summoned Ramuh to zap Exdeath, while Ceodore slashed at Exdeath again before jumping out of the way so that Ramuh's attack didn't hit him by mistake.
Ursula darted up to Exdeath and delivered a powerful series of punches and a kick. Exdeath blocked most of the blows before being hit by the kick. Rydia zapped Exdeath with Blizzaga.
"Enough of this" Exdeath growled, summoning forth a meteor spell. Rosa countered the attack by healing her allies while Edge darted at Exdeath and slashed twice with his katana.
Rosa considered casting reflect to redirect Exdeath's spells, but decided against it since meteor can't be deflected, instead shooting an arrow, staggering the magus. Exdeath retaliated by casting Thundaga at Rosa and using Firaga on the others.
"Flare!" Rydia cast a high-level attack spell and took a moment to use a hi-ether on herself. Rosa used an ether on herself before firing another arrow at Exdeath. Exdeath smoothly blocked the arrow and swung his blade at the White Mage. Rosa jumped back, barely taking the blow. Ursula used a potion on Rosa before darting in with a jump kick to Exdeath's chest.
"Let's give this all we got" Rydia began to channel in her black magic.
"Okay, let's combine our spells. Ceodore, Ursula, do your best to distract him" Rosa channeled White magic in.
Ceodore and Ursula kept Exdeath on his toes (or roots, should I say?) by attacking frequently, keeping Exdeath from casting his spells. Exdeath teleported backwards in irritation and cast Firaga on Ceodore and Ursula. The Baronian Prince healed himself and the princess with Curaga.
"Holy Burst!"
The combined attack spell slammed Exdeath in the chest, knocking him down on his knees. As he succumbed to his wounds and began to fade into nothingness, Exdeath spoke"Yes... This sensation... As these bones brittle and dissolve into nothingness... So, too will your pitiful and pathetic planet..."
"Eternal Void?" Ursula was confused at Exdeath's earlier words.
"That guy had his helmet thingy on too tight" remarked Edge while Exdeath faded completely away.
"Such a dark man, whatever he was" Rydia murmured.
"Of what does he speak of?" Rosa frowned.
"I hope we're able to save our planet, in time" shrugged Ceodore.
Cecil approached them"At least you're all okay. Let's move onward."
The group walked down the next flight of stairs to the next floor.
I finally got this one up, thank again Infinite for your ideas. Oh, and I decided to just have Exdeath be in his first form, since Neo Exdeath resembled the final boss of FFIV: The After Years to an extent, if you're wondering.
Please feel free to review, if you want.