Start Date: June 17, 2023
Windwillow
First Fantasy: Z-e-r-o
Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage. That's about it for official names for four classes of the original Warriors of Light. Then you have the Monk and the Black Mage, but they didn't fit as well as the other four did in the story line. Sure, you get to name them yourselves... but they're just 2-D sprites on a bunch of colored tiles. So, what if they weren't two-dimensional? What follows is my own personal interpretation of the original Final Fantasy... the first fantasy...
Chapter One: The Warriors of Light
Scene One
The world is a vast place, full of varied characters and wondrous locales. Not much on personality, but hey, this is the start of it all. The Kingdom of Cornelia, situated near the center of the world, was also the center of its civilization. Various towns and protectorates existed in the world, but all of them either took direction from Cornelia or acknowledged it as the prime leading organization on the planet. King Cornelia - naturally, King Cornelia - was the fair and just ruler (naturally, stereotypically, really, really true ruler) reigned over the kingdom, backed by his army of warriors and mages that had been established long ago to bring order to the world.
One of those knights, however, wasn't himself of late. Garland, head of the knights of the kingdom, had been acting strangely for quite some time before abducting the King's daughter Sarah and spiriting her off to the northwestern Temple of Chaos. In exchange for her safe return he demanded that he be given the throne, and if not, he would sacrifice Sarah in an unholy ritual that would destroy the country. Naturally, this was bad, and bad people need to be taken care of. The whole world ending ritual thing sort of demanded someone stop Garland. Accordingly, King Cornelia placed his bets on an old legend, the legend of the Warriors of Light. Four warriors, bearing four crystals, would unite one day to restore the world to its former glory. The King sent out his scouts all across the globe in search of the four heroes, and within weeks he was blessed to learn that they were en route to Cornelia for their briefing. Although they were from four different locations, all of them would come together as one to fulfill their destinies. That was, after all, most of the given reason for everything to happen. Not much on elaborate story lines yet. That came later.
Scene Two
Castle Cornelia, the King's throne room.
He wore long robes, which alternated between purple and gold, and the crown on his head signified his position. In his hand was a long, slender rod that he kept tucked under his right arm. As he paced around the room impatiently with his chancellor positioned at his side, the King's distress grew minute by minute. The fate of not only his daughter but all the world lay on the shoulders of four nameless individuals that were now on their way to Cornelia. It was a less than encouraging scenario to be sure.
"Will they arrive soon?" asked King Cornelia impatiently.
"Yes, Sir," the chancellor nodded.
"And who exactly are these people?" wondered the King. "Where are they from?"
The chancellor withdrew a set of papers and put on his reading glasses. The four warriors had been assembled from all around the globe, and would presumably function as a very flexible unit of the King's military. "One's from Crescent Lake, another from Onlak, a third from Melmond, and the fourth actually lives here in Cornelia. Two men, two women... All highly recommended by the adventurer's guild."
But would they stand up to their duty? Could they do the feats that they were needed to do? As the King and chancellor pondered these important questions, they heard a great ruckus from outside the throne room. The King's personal guards were the finest troops in Cornelia, save the four who'd rebelled. Even so, judging by the noise outside something wasn't going right. Exchanging a brief glance with the King, the chancellor quietly walked towards the door to the outside. What awaited him were four motley individuals, all of whom had beaten the living hell out of the guards for not letting them inside.
While she was neither particularly muscular or sturdy, the young woman exuded an aura of confidence. She stood at about average height, clad in a gold breastplate with gauntlets and matching boots colored blood red. At her hip was a simple looking long sword, contained in a white scabbard with a red and silver hilt. Wearing her silver hair beneath her helmet, the youth's bangs extended over her right eye, almost like a cloak, and a circular buckler was strapped to her left arm.
"Was it really necessary to kick the crap out of them?" she asked flatly, her hand placed on her hip.
He was muscular, although not on the level of a professional bodybuilder. Rather, he had a toned, sturdy frame beneath his green tunic. His auburn hair, which was held up by a leather bandana, matched the color of his boots and gloves, and tucked behind him was a strange sort of sword. It seemed segmented, with several protrusions jutting out like lizard's scales all the way down the blade, ending with a sturdy leather hand grip.
"They're the ones who wouldn't let us in," shrugged the rogue as he adjusted his gloves.
Beneath her red archer's cap, her jet-black hair was worn in a long ponytail that extended halfway down her back. She wore a black tunic and an ornate red cloak, brown boots and gloves, and a sort of sword at her hip that resembled a saber more than anything else. Her cloak was attached to her chest with a blue and green brooch that kept it latched around her person and on her back was a small short bow.
"Yes, but we picked the fight. Fighting back isn't a crime..." sighed the young warrior.
He looked every bit the scholar, complete with rimmed glasses and a black scholar's cap. Dressed in robes alternating between the colors of black and white, the tanned youth held a strange gauntlet over his left arm that was covered in archaic runes and symbols that formed a circular pattern. Although he carried no weapon, he had a mysterious aura about him that suggested he was not to be trifled with.
"Seems we're all a bunch of brutes. Not sure whether the King'll be very happy that we trounced his best men..." muttered the scholar. He adjusted his glasses and glared at the rogue, whose rage only continued to build when the scholar's face twisted into a wry smirk. "My guess? He puts us all in the stockade."
"Aren't you Mister Sunshine! God!" snarled the rogue in the green tunic. He'd traveled across a long stretch of the planet, and it hadn't been for this bookworm to insult him. "I'm not looking forward to working with someone whose head is situated squarely inside of his rectum."
"What the hell is going on?!" screeched the chancellor, as he threw open the doors and watched as four misfits stood on top of four of his finest men. He stared quietly at the four, each in turn, and his face turned green. "Oh. It's them," he moaned. "Well, isn't this promising."
"Bring them into the throne room, chancellor!" ordered the King.
The four miscreants walked gingerly into the throne room, a place decorated with ornate red and gold banners tied to firm stone pillars all across the room. Each in turn they gathered together, and shuffled into four seats that the King had prepared for them. None of them looked like hero material. The whole ordeal wasn't shaping up to be a positive experience, if these four were the people who they needed to save the world.
"Your crystals, please," said the chancellor curtly.
Each of the four withdrew a long, diamond shaped crystal that was roughly the size of their hands and laid it on the table. One seemed licked with flame, a second with a sharpened edge. A third sparkled like the shimmering water of the finest seas, and the final had a small, auburn core in the center.
"There, happy now?" sneered the rogue in green. Much to his displeasure, his neighbor's fist landed rather roughly on the back of his head, causing him to slam head-first into the table. He angrily extended his middle finger to her and stuck out his tongue. It was bad enough the bookworm insulted him. It was even worse that this woman actually struck him. "What flew up your butt?" he snarled.
"I'm correcting you, you fool," sighed the woman in the archer's cap. She swiveled in her seat, her arm folded over her chair, and a smile crossed her face that only escalated the rogue's fury. "What part of, 'I'm a King, respect me' do you not get from this finely dressed fellow?"
The rogue and the archer lifted themselves from their seats as if ready to fight, but the silver haired warrior quickly put herself between the two. "I really don't want to get arrested by the King, so can we back off on the name calling?" she asked brusquely. "We're here for a reason, guys."
"Enough!" boomed the King, which caught the attention of all four warriors. Interestingly, the scholar hadn't moved an inch during the altercation; he was clearly the level headed one. At least that was promising. One of them had the common sense and common decency to treat royalty as it ought to be treated. "Stand down, now!"
Immediately the silver haired young woman dropped to one knee and bowed her head. "Sorry, Your Majesty. We won't have any other problems, right?" she asked, pointedly glaring at the one in green. As he stewed, the warrior lifted herself to her feet and saluted. "As a citizen of Cornelia," she said sternly, "it is my honor and blessing to be in your presence." She paused, and a sheepish grin crossed her face. "So, can we forget the whole fighting thing? Let's start over. We can do that, right?" she tittered.
"How dare you! Watch your mouth!" snapped the chancellor.
"Aw, shut it. We don't need to get all pissy, do we?" snapped the warrior, smacking the hat from the chancellor's head. As she turned to the King and saw the horror etched on his face, she sheepishly returned the chancellor's hat and gave an uncomfortable smile. The chancellor, flummoxed, stumbled and nearly dropped to his seat in shock. "Sorry. My bad," she whimpered lamely.
The rogue in green lifted himself to his feet and gave a two fingered salute, palming his crystal as if it were an identification badge. "The name's Erik, of Crescent Lake," he said curtly. He reached back behind his waist and tapped his bizarre blade. It was a bizarre construction, looking much like a series of fangs that had been folded into one another in the form of a single sword. "I can carry this thing indoors, right? I mean, I really like it..." Upon dodging another smack from the archer in red, Erik angrily plopped down in his seat with a huff.
With a shrug of her shoulders the archer in red softly lifted her crystal to her heart and bowed her head. "I'm Rosetta, of Melmond. I haven't back in a while, though. Oh, and I'm the polite one," she said confidently. When Erik shot her a nasty look, Rosetta dropped back in her seat and saluted. "Don't worry, Milord. We'll retrieve your daughter soon," said Rosetta politely. "Leave it to us, and... Well, leave it to me, at least."
As time passed it seemed to be getting harder and harder to trust the four of them with his daughter's life. These four lunatics were his best and final hope? It was a very dissatisfying scenario if he couldn't even trust his own 'heroes.' His eye twitching uncontrollably, the King turned to the scholar. "And you are?" he said flatly.
The scholar rose and bowed politely. "Owain of Onlak. And if you don't mind, I'll be taking my crystal back," he said curtly. When he reached towards his gauntlet and tapped it, his crystal disappeared into motes of light, much to the amazement of all those present. He cocked his head slightly, sighed, and sat back down. "Oh, and don't worry about that," said Owain. "All perfectly reasonable, nothing to worry about."
"What the hell did you just do?!" snapped Erik.
Owain put a hand to his chin and sighed, then adjusted his glasses. "This is my gauntlet, naturally. It possesses an artificial intelligence and is linked to my magic. Never needed to name it, so let's just go with 'Gauntlet.' And I assure you, it's done extensive research on what comes next, so you're all in good hands."
"And that means...?" asked Rosetta as she tilted her head.
"It's done extensive play testing of the game," said Owain cheerfully. He lightly massaged the orb on his arm, leaving a tiny streak of blue light dancing on his fingertips as he withdrew them. "We ought to have everything we need to go on our way, any time we like. I've got all the data for our journey right here inside my gauntlet," he said as he tapped his gauntlet.
"Ooh! Do I get super powerful?!" tittered the warrior. Upon receiving the King's glare, she sighed and snatched up her crystal, lifting it to her chest and holding it proudly over her heart. "I'm Zephyr, from Cornelia... But I'd rather you call me 'Z,'" she said proudly. She wasn't fond of her actual name. This was something a bit more tenable.
"Zed? Isn't that the name of an old supervillain?" asked Erik as he lifted his brow.
"It's the proper way of pronouncing the letter 'z,' jackass!" snapped Zephyr, brandishing her middle finger at Erik. Although her friend was unmoved, Zephyr vaguely realized that she was in the presence of royalty and sheepishly slid her hand behind her back with a hesitant giggle. Her people skills were, to say the least, wanting. She hadn't been recommended for her personality, that was for sure.
"This is insane..." muttered the King. These four really did seem hopeless. "Can we get to the matter at hand? The reason I've called you all here is to rescue my daughter Sarah, who has been kidnapped and taken to the Temple of Chaos northwest of here. That is, after all, the point..."
Owain shook his head softly. "Not all of it," he said wryly.
The King grit his teeth and dropped back in his seat with a huff. The whole mess was absolutely unbelievable at this point, but Owain was right. "Yes, yes... There is another reason I've gathered you four lunatics here. I want you to defeat the Four Fiends and restore the four crystals to their full power," he said proudly.
Erik tilted his head. "Don't we have the crystals right here?" he asked flatly.
"Oh, for heaven's sake. The four crystals you hold aren't the actual crystals," groaned the chancellor. By this point he was almost terrified that the princess would never be saved. Even if these four could defeat the royal guard, there was no telling if the imbeciles could actually stand up to the finest warriors that Cornelia had to offer. "They're symbols of their power, and they prove your worth as a Warrior of Light."
"How do you know I didn't steal mine?" wondered Erik.
"Look carefully into your crystal," moaned the King. He put a hand to his face in disbelief, his anger beginning to peak. This fool wielded the crystal and had no idea of what it did? That was distressing, if the warrior didn't know what his own tool did. "What you see there ought to prove my point."
Although he was skeptical, Erik lifted his crystal to his face and stared into it. What he saw chilled his soul: a massive, red demon of some sort, with a serpentine trunk and six arms holding six swords. In his horror, he almost dropped the crystal. "What the hell is that thing?!" he screeched.
"Your target... one of them, anyway," said the King testily. "The legend states that only a true Warrior of Light can look into that crystal and see what awaits where the true crystal reposes. That is one of the Four Fiends, all four of whom await your arrival."
"It's ugly as hell! I'm supposed to fight that thing?!" shrieked Erik. "No, thank you! I'll pass."
An exasperated Owain tapped his gauntlet again and it began to glow bright blue. "Each of the four crystals represent one of the four traditional elements: fire, earth, water, and wind," said a booming voice. "Right now the Four Fiends control all the crystals, which means that their power is steadily weakening. Soon, fire will cease to burn, the earth will decay, water will turn to poison, and the wind will stop blowing. It's your obligation to restore them."
"Only by conquering the Four Fiends will the power of the crystals be restored," said Owain flatly. He was well aware of the abilities and specifications of each of the four demons, and even with his own analysis he knew that he alone had no chance of fighting them individually. If there was going to be any chance, he'd need the three warriors who now clowned about before him. "Each of them represent the darkness of one of the four elements. Once we deal with them, we can turn our attention to their master: Chaos. Chaos is the root of the power that the Four Fiends possess. In essence, he's evil incarnate."
"What does he look like?" wondered Rosetta.
Owain abruptly shut down his gauntlet with another tap of his finger. He was relatively certain that Rosetta didn't want to see Chaos's horrific face before she absolutely had to. He knew what Chaos looked like, and it was even more distressing knowing the power of the devil you've been tasked to fight. Chaos was not to be trifled with. "You're better off not seeing it until we fight him," he said flatly.
"Is Chaos really that ugly?" asked Zephyr. An impatient Owain walked towards Zephyr and pointed into his gauntlet. She stared at it carefully, too carefully, as the horrific face that popped up caused her to drop to her seat and let out an unholy shriek. The face was pure evil incarnate, and definitely needed a very serious dental plan ASAP. Although it took a moment to realize it, when Zephyr discovered she was making a scene she sheepishly bowed her head and muttered, "'Kay, sorry."
By this time the King was all but ready to bash his head on the table, but he managed to gather himself and put his face in his hands in exasperation before lifting an impatient glare at the four warriors that immediately silenced them. It was just to the brink of being too much, though he had his objective and intended on fulfilling it, mainly because that objective was his daughter.
"Garland is the leader of my most elite military unit, and he's the one you need to find and fight," sighed the King. "It was only recently that he began exhibiting strange behavior, but when he kidnapped Sarah and threatened to blow up the world if I didn't make him king, that was kind of the clincher. Deal with him."
The chancellor hesitantly tapped his fingers on the table to catch everyone's attention. "What he means is that Garland and his three lieutenants have gone rogue, and you need to take care of them... Azul the blue knight, Jade the green knight, and Carmine the red knight," he said coldly. "Together they butchered the princess' guard detail and abducted her, taking her to the Temple of Chaos up north. You'll likely have to fight all three of them, presumably to the death."
After a brief pause, Zephyr finally managed to gather herself. "They really have to die?" she wondered, to everyone's confusion. She sighed and brushed the bangs from her face. Her values were different from the picture she painted of herself. For all her buffoonery, when it came to life and death she seemed deadly serious. "What if they're being manipulated?" asked Zephyr. "If they are, they don't deserve to be killed."
"What the hell are you jabbering about?!" snapped Erik.
Zephyr vehemently shook her head, her silver locks cast side to side like curtains that concealed her eyes. "Unnecessary killing is something I refuse to do..." she said darkly. She angrily brushed the hair from her face and stared resolutely at the King. The King, stunned, was unable to react or respond. Even if she had acted like a lunatic up until now, he could see the wisdom and maturity in her eyes. "Even if you order me to... if they're being manipulated, I won't kill them," said Zephyr resolutely.
"Does that mean you intend to fight, or not?" asked Rosetta quietly.
"If they attack us, we'll defend ourselves," said Zephyr firmly. Fighting was best if it could be avoided, but life and death was literally life and death; mercy only went so far before it turned into idiocy. "But I want to try and convince them to return to the King's service before anyone starts talking death and destruction. Killing someone who isn't guilty is just outright murder, and I don't want anything to do with that."
"And if they won't?" wondered Owain.
"Then they'll be dealt with to protect the princess, and for no other reason," said Zephyr resolutely. She turned to the King with a dead serious look on her face, though a smile soon replaced it that filled him with warmth. "We won't kill them just because they're disobedient. Either they agree to protect the princess or they don't, whichever one is their choice. And they'll need to deal with that choice, in the end. Fair, Your Majesty?"
The King was stunned. Zephyr's behavior was outright insulting to royalty, and yet the simple, pure determination she showed was infectious. He looked to each of the other Warriors of Light and, finding the same look in their eyes, he bowed his head and smiled. He was willing to at least give these four a chance to prove their worth. If they failed everything was over anyway, so any chance is better than no chance at all.
"Innocence is priceless. I haven't had it in ages," he said softly. "Do as you like, and I'll support your decision..." said the King proudly. Staring into Zephyr's eyes, her naive eyes that refused to bloody her hands without reason, he couldn't help but finally begin feeling confident that these were the warriors who would rescue his daughter. "The Warriors of Light," he said, "are my only hope. And I'll seize that hope."
Scene Two
Traveling to the Temple of Chaos took nearly a full day. Once they'd arrived, the Warriors of Light found a ghoulish locale that chilled them to the bone. As one might expect from the final resting place of utter evil, the Temple of Chaos was decorated with bone-like protrusions all across the door, with the image of a large skull acting as the doorknob. The more they looked at the place, the more they understood why they called it the Temple of Chaos... the architecture was dreadful, certainly fitting for the devil's stronghold. As the Warriors of Light stood before the Temple's entryway, Owain clicked his gauntlet and the same blue light from before began to shine, bright enough that Zephyr could have sworn she saw a face inside.
"The Temple of Chaos was once the capital of a lost civilization devoted to the teachings of Chaos," explained the gauntlet. "While it's long since fallen and its name forgotten, this civilization prided itself on its cruelty, which included human sacrifice."
"Why would anyone worship pure evil?" wondered Rosetta. She crossed her arms over her chest and shivered. She'd been through a lot of strife in her life. The idea that anyone would lift their hand against their neighbor for no good reason infuriated her. If she were ever forced to decide whether she would do the same, she prayed that she already knew how she'd respond: indignant rage.
"Not everyone's morals are the same," stated Owain flatly as he pressed his gauntlet and the light vanished. As it did he adjusted his glasses to hide his own disgust. "There are some people, who we call evil, that would fight to the death for the people they cared about. They would also butcher anyone whom their god ordered them to butcher. Devotion to evil as opposed to devotion to good doesn't necessarily mean that a person can't protect someone they love. People are all sorts of shades of gray..."
It was truly disgusting to all of them, that love would mean protecting the wicked and slaughtering the innocent. Even so the idea made sense; someone could fight to the death for his family while not caring about anyone else. To Erik, however, this was anathema to him. Although he wasn't the most polite person, he had his values. The people in his life who'd died had truly affected him, but the thought that he might disregard every other living thing save for them etched a vicious grimace on his face.
Sickening. But what sickens me the most is the idea that I might agree...
The inside of the Temple of Chaos was just as cheerful as the outside. Meaning, it was ghoulish as hell. Its dark halls were lined with the image of crucified victims of the lost civilization that had inhabited it, combined with paintings of the most disgusting creatures that any of them had ever seen. It seemed that the deeper they dove into the temple, the darker their hearts became. Seeing this architecture certainly screamed evil, and the thought of the numerous sacrifices that had to have been made here was enough to chill their souls. At last they passed through the halls of the temple until they reached a wide open area, large enough for a ritual to be held, but what lay behind the door at the back of the room was surely the place where the sacrifices were made. The more they approached the deeper their despair and anger built; all the evil, all the suffering, all for the ends of an unholy deity sickened them to their cores.
"Just to confirm: If they aren't brainwashed, you'll kill them, Z?" asked Rosetta. If she were in Zephyr's position she wouldn't be so merciful. And, if the knights posed a threat to the people she'd come to respect, they would be dealt with without an ounce of remorse. "If they truly are the kind of evil that protects their family and slaughters the rest, do those morals merit their deaths? What extent will you go to in order to justify your beliefs? Waiting until your head is separated from your shoulders is a poor way to live your life. If they've made their choice, are you prepared to kill them?"
Zephyr said nothing. Her own morals were one thing, but the thought that the other knights would kill Sarah or slaughter her comrades was enough to make her waver. Of all the people in her life that she'd lost, creating more misery for the families of the guilty wasn't anything that appealed to her. While she struggled with her emotions, she silently walked towards the inner sanctum and prepared to enter it. It was when her heart was weakest that they struck. Three knights, dressed each in differing colors of armor, emerged from seemingly nowhere and set upon Zephyr. All three were armed separately. The blue knight wielded an eastern blade, the red a battleaxe, and the green a long lance. They all, however, held their weapons at Zephyr's throat, even as the other Warriors of Light rushed to her aid.
"Leave now," ordered the blue knight Azul, "lest you be slain."
Quicker than any of the knights could react, Zephyr reared back with a punch that staggered one of the knights, followed up by a kick that knocked another off balance, and drew her sword all in nearly an instant. Her celerity and grace, as well as the strength behind her blows, stunned and impressed both her friends and her foes. As she held her long sword to Azul's throat, her eyes narrowed with an intensity that betrayed the kindness she had felt and shown before.
"Yeah, yeah, she's impressive..." muttered Erik.
"I suggest she be our leader," said Rosetta with a smirk.
Erik indignantly gave Rosetta the middle finger, something she replied with by smacking him over the head again. As his anger built, Erik quietly began to stew. He wanted to be the leader. While he believed that he was the strongest of the four, it was hard to argue with Zephyr's acrobatics. Even so, even he might not have been able to escape that lock. And it was that thought that forced him to grit his teeth and glare at Zephyr. Her personality seemed lacking to say the least. If her morals really were all smoke and mirrors, he could never respect anyone so weak, let alone call her his leader.
I ain't ready to call you Boss yet, girl.
Silently, Owain tapped his gauntlet and the knights' information was displayed. The leader was Azul the blue knight, regarded as the greatest swordsman of the Cornelian army; the green knight Jade, the head of security for the castle of Cornelia and one of the finest soldiers in the kingdom; and the red knight, Carmine, said to be one of the most bloodthirsty members of the royal army. He quietly shut down the gauntlet and looked closely at the three knights. They certainly seemed to have their wits about them... They followed Garland of their own accord, and it stoked Owain's interest.
Will she do what she says... or will she choke? Before I call her leader, I want to see what kind of woman she really is.
"I'll say it once: Clear a path. If not, you take your fates in your hands," said Rosetta coldly. Pausing, she tilted her head towards Zephyr, who still had her blade at Azul's throat. Zephyr had proved her martial might, but without the will to apply that power she was a glass cannon that was capable of firing off a loud explosion that did nothing but try to frighten away the weak with an empty display of power.
I want to see what she'll do as well before I decide on anything. Whether I'm right or wrong determines whether I can choose her to lead me.
Slowly Azul's hand reached towards the grip of his sword. Just within her ability, Rosetta drew her saber and parried the blade and drew it to her side. When she slashed at the knight a long streak of white lightning accompanied her sword as it dug a deep gash in Azul's armor just near his chest. As the blue knight reeled, Rosetta lifted her saber in front of her and pulsed a stream of energy that literally oozed from her blade.
"I'm a Red Mage, capable of both offense and defense," said Rosetta firmly. She ran her hand along the blade of her saber and a streak of colored runes covered the edge of the sword. She'd been well trained and well prepared to both fight and kill in defense of that which she valued, and wouldn't back down like Zephyr seemed likely to. "Retreat now, or I'll cut you to pieces and sever your head with a bolt of lightning. I won't ask again."
Undaunted, Azul drew his weapon over his chest and swung horizontally at Rosetta. The eastern blade was parried by Rosetta's saber, and after a series of vicious and beautiful strikes he reared back his hand and slashed at her. Like a blade of fire, a thin streak of flames burst from his fingers and slashed Rosetta's cheek, leaving a thick stream of blood from where she'd been struck. Flinching, she drew her hand up to the wound and slid her fingers through the blood, felt the heat, and indignantly flicked it from her face.
"You aren't the only Red Mage in the room," smirked Azul.
Quicker than Rosetta was able to react to, Azul charged and lashed out with his weapon, aiming at her head. Before he could connect Erik lashed out with his segmented blade, parried the blow, and kicked Azul far away. The green knight, Jade, twirled his lance and lunged, but Erik again parried and this time smacked Jade hard in the face with a brutal right hook. Jade staggered, overwhelmed by the force and passion from the punch. This one would be troublesome.
Erik slid to a stop and reached behind him, then palmed a long, thin dagger that he held between his fingers. He wasn't armed only with his primary weapon, and carried a suite of throwing daggers that he could draw and toss at a moment's notice. "You jerks are in my way..." he snarled. "I have business with Garland. It involves cutting off the son of a bitch's head."
While Erik was distracted by his conflict with Azul, Carmine lifted his mighty axe and lunged for him. As he swung down, however, he was knocked off his feet by a mysterious force. Enraged, he staggered to his feet and stared at the source of the attack: Owain. Again he lifted his weapon and charged Owain, but as he swung down he felt a strange pressure that repelled his attack. When he removed his axe, Carmine discovered that Owain now held a sparkling blue mace in his hand. Owain's gauntlet slowly ceased to glow as he shouldered his weapon, and he stretched out his left hand to reveal a shining burst of light surging from between his fingers. With great care he lifted his finger to his glasses and adjusted them, somehow not blinded by the amazing amount of light that he'd exposed his face to.
"I'm a White Mage... a wielder of holy magic," smiled Owain. He tapped his gauntlet with his shimmering fingers and it shone a bright blue before he lowered his mace to his side. His power, which extended far beyond healing and barriers, belied his weak appearance. The holy energy he wielded was just as capable of being a sword as it was a shield. "Oh, and I keep my weapon inside this little baby. Who needs to lug around a big ol' mace when you can carry it on the back of your arm, eh?"
"You're a tricky son of a..." rasped Carmine, his fist tightening.
As Owain spoke to Carmine, the green knight, Jade, twirled his spear and lunged at him. Before his attack could connect, however, it was repelled by Erik's blade. Jade swiveled about to counter, but to his shock Erik remained where he'd been standing. Instead, his sword had broken up into blade segments, like the tail of an scorpion, and lashed out from Erik's own position. When the segments clicked back into place, Erik flashed a nasty grin and gave Jade the middle finger.
"I hate fighting dirty. Fight your own fights, you piece of crap," snarled Erik. He shouldered his bizarre weapon and slid into a ready position, his face twisted into a grimace. Fighting against a prone opponent was one of the many things that infuriated him. Trying to land a low blow only proves that you're weaker than the one willing to fight upfront. "My weapon is called Serpent's Tail, capable of fighting at both close and long range. Oh, and for the record? You're mine now," he hissed darkly.
In a flurry of attacks the six combatants launched their offensives, blades dancing with the grace of a world-class dancing troupe. While they were engaged in the melee, however, Erik vaguely caught sight of a shadow pass by him: Zephyr had thrown open the door to the sanctum of the temple and hurried inside. Enraged, he attempted to follow but was forced to parry Jade's attack, and threw a punch at the knight's face that threw him backwards. Before Jade could fall he caught himself, but received a slight nick to his cheek from where Erik had tossed a dagger at his face.
"What part of 'you're mine now' did you not get, idiot?" Erik growled, shouldering his Serpent's Tail with a snarl on his face. He was still furious that Zephyr had taken it upon herself to head towards Garland, and with his mood cross it didn't bode well for his opponent. He had every intention of mauling the knight, leaving his body in the dust, and departing to deal with both Garland and that upstart girl at the same time.
While Erik and Jade bickered, Rosetta and Azul had engaged in a vicious exchange of blows that threw sparks of fire and lightning from their blades as they clashed. They were equally matched, each strike parried and a follow-up countered, as their melee continued to escalate. Azul deftly sheathed his blade and drew it to his hip, braced himself, and launched an attack that drew sparks from his weapon as it slid from its scabbard in a flash of fire. Rosetta, however, deftly evaded his strike, charged her saber with white lightning, and cut open a gash near Azul's heart. Sliding back and clutching his injury, Azul grit his teeth and said something nasty that can't be printed. He swiped his bloody fingers from his chest and used them to grip his weapon as he lunged forward with a two-handed strike that he intended to end the fight with. Rosetta, however, dropped her saber and snatched up her short bow. She quartered an arrow, narrowed in, and released a shot that struck straight through the injury she'd caused near Azul's heart that killed him instantly. As he fell Rosetta coughed up blood and only barely managed to keep herself from falling to her knees. She lifted herself up unsteadily, and her fingers brushed the wound that Azul had left on her cheek.
"It'll leave a scar..." she muttered. "Damn."
Erik and Jade slashed viciously at one another, their blades clashing with increasing intensity as their battle continued to heat up. As Erik prepared a blow, however, Jade knocked him off balance by swiping at his legs and knocked him prone to the ground before rearing back for the final blow. Erik's teeth grit hard enough to make them hurt as he rolled out of the way of Jade's attack and leapt to his feet and slid to a halt a few yards away, drew his weapon and lashed out, the Serpent's Tail's blade severing Jade's head cleanly and leaving Erik to swipe the blood from his weapon before he shouldered it. It was unsightly to leave liquid cowardice on one's blade.
"Bastard. You've wasted my time!" snarled Erik. "I'm not done with Garland yet!"
While his fellow warriors finished their fights, Owain and Carmine were viciously exchanging blows. Each of Carmine's swings was either evaded or parried by Owain's mace, and when one blow was dodged Owain hurled a bolt of light energy that knocked Carmine off his feet and left him prone. Carmine, however, quickly recovered and delivered an overhead slash that Owain only barely blocked, though it dropped him prone to the ground. Scenting victory Carmine reared back for a second strike that he intended to end the fight with, but when he felt a searing pain in his right eye he dropped his axe and dropped to his back writhing in agony. As Carmine desperately clutched at his eye, he was able to feel that it had been totally destroyed, leaving a large gash in his face where the attack had landed. While writhing in horrible pain he turned his one remaining eye to Owain, who stood above him with his fingers shimmering like daggers that he'd used to lash out and destroy his eye. Owain grimly placed his weapon to his gauntlet and it dissolved into motes of light, then he adjusted his glasses with his shining fingers and stared down at the agonized Carmine beneath him.
"Don't expect me to kill you," said Owain coldly. "The royal executioner will do that for me."
During her friends' fights Zephyr had managed to slip past the three knights and hurried into the temple's inner sanctum. What she found was a large, arcane circle of runes on the floor and a figure chained to a cross on the back end of the room. Her immaculate white and violet robes and the tiara atop her long, blue locks indicated royalty, and with a beautiful face to match it wasn't hard to judge this woman as not only royalty but an exceptional individual altogether.
"Your Majesty, we've come to rescue you!" exclaimed Zephyr, quickly advancing towards the princess.
As she struggled against her bonds, however, Sarah managed to let out a slight whimper that alerted Zephyr to an attack from her flank. She lifted her shield and used it to parry the blow, albeit barely, and skidded to a stop several yards away from where her assailant stood. Clad in thick, obsidian black armor, the knight's sturdy body was firmly held aloft by thick, black boots of a color even darker than his armor. He wore a long, white cape behind his breastplate and carried what seemed to be a simple broadsword at his left hip. Clearly he was at least as potent as his comrades, if not more so due to his seniority.
"My three lieutenants... Where are they?" hissed Garland.
"They're being dealt with by my comrades!" declared Zephyr proudly. Even if they hadn't been together long, she was able to judge their combat worth just by the fire in their eyes. They could take care of themselves. "If we can convince them to return to-"
"All three will fight to the death for me," smirked the fallen knight. "And all three of their bloody souls will weigh on your conscience."
"If they've made their choice..." murmured Zephyr. She grit her teeth and deftly drew her blade. She'd hoped and prayed that the three knights would surrender. Now that she knew that they wouldn't, there was only one thing left to do: thrash them. "Then so be it," she said firmly.
Angered, Garland lifted up his mighty sword and launched himself towards his opponent. The first blow struck Zephyr's shield and staggered her, though the next series of attacks were equally met by Zephyr's sword and the two clashed inconclusively for several more blows. Both of them seemed evenly matched, their swords dancing in beautiful choreography with blow after blow delivered with amazing force and grace. As the two exchanged strikes they continued to converse.
"You're fine with your own men dying? God, what an asshole!" snarled Zephyr.
"The three of them fight for me! They won't just give up when I order them to fight!" yelled Garland. "The four of us are comrades! Together, we-"
"Jackass! You're using them!" said Zephyr as she struggled with her foe. "If you actually gave a damn about them, you'd have gone to help them by now!" Using all her strength she managed to repel Garland, throwing him far back into the distance and crashing into a large pillar. As he staggered to his feet, Zephyr shouldered her blade and gripped it tightly with both hands. "You've made your choice, too," she said softly. "Now you have to live with it!"
With a mighty roar Garland lifted his weapon and charged Zephyr using all his might. She took no action as he approached, but then she gripped her sword as tightly as she could and swung down. The result was a large slashing vacuum that struck Garland and blasted him off his feet, breaking through his armor and leaving a mortal wound. As he dropped to the floor and the other Warriors of Light entered the sanctum, Zephyr again shouldered her sword and tapped it to it.
"A zephyr is a gentle breeze. That wasn't a gentle breeze," smiled Zephyr.
"God damn it! You were supposed to leave him to me!" snarled Erik. He was rather roughly whacked over the back of the head by Owain, and though he angrily gave him the middle finger he took no further action. Rosetta was bad enough, but now she had backup?
The Warriors of Light holstered their weapons, save Zephyr, who stepped towards and stood above a mortally wounded Garland. He struggled against his injuries, but was unable to stand and only barely managed to hold his weapon. He'd taken a severe wound to the center of his chest, and would soon bleed out if he didn't receive medical attention.
"The King will decide what comes next..." said Zephyr coldly.
Garland cracked a deranged smile. "No," he said plainly. "I'm not leaving here except in a body bag."
Without warning Garland bounded to his feet and smacked Rosetta in the face, sending her into a nearby pillar. As she struggled to recover, Rosetta vaguely realized that there was a sword just in front of her face. She flinched for the blow but never received it, and opened her eyes to see Garland receive another vicious wound to his back from Zephyr. As Garland's body dropped so did Zephyr's weapon, falling prone to the ground as it struck the final blow. The final result was a corpse with a sword smacked firmly on the back of its skull.
"I was supposed to be leader!" growled Erik. "I-" Before Erik could finish cursing, he watched the obvious distress in Zephyr's eyes and quickly clammed up. He could see the pain on her face, both grief and rage, and he slowly came to a complete and silent halt. Her display of power was one thing. Another thing altogether was the maturity she now showed at the death of her foe; she didn't take his life lightly.
"Are you alright, Z?" asked a weary Rosetta.
Zephyr shook her head. "When someone makes their choice and bets their life on it, they have to either live with the consequences or die with them," she sighed, to the amazement of her friends. She quietly picked up her sword and sheathed it, and turned to Garland's corpse with a silent sort of reverence. Even if it had been his own choice to die, it was a waste of life. She had no joy in ending Garland the way she did. As she bowed her head, the other Warriors had made their choices as well.
They had their leader.
Scene Three
There was no way to transport the corpses of Garland and his two dead lieutenants, so they were forced to leave them in a corner of the temple where they could at least vaguely, perhaps, find rest. The Warriors of Light bound up Carmine and carried both him and Princess Sarah back to Cornelia, where the former was taken into custody and the latter returned to her father, where they tightly embraced each other in the throne room where King Cornelia had first met his four champions. At last the King broke away from his daughter and, with tears in his eyes, turned to the four Warriors of Light with a smile.
"You may all be lunatics, but I do thank you for returning Sarah to me..." said the King proudly, perhaps too proudly given that he'd just insulted all four of them. In the end they'd proven their power, and perhaps even the validity of their status as Warriors of Light. There may have been hope, after all. "Please, let me know if there's ever anything I can do to help the four of you."
Owain silently tapped his gauntlet, which activated it and its booming voice. "Our next task is to head north, where we can find a ship," said the gauntlet. "There's a ship in Pravoka that we'll need to secure, and then we head for Elfheim... Oh, and we need to stop at Matoya's Cave while we're on our way."
"How the hell do you know all this?!" snapped Erik.
"What a piss ant. You've never read the game's script, so shut up and take your medicine," boomed the gauntlet. Although Erik was absolutely furious he knew better than to argue with an inanimate object, so he remained silent. What was this script?! Being left in the weeds during a battle that could very well kill him left Erik quite cross.
The King put a hand to his chin in thought. "To get there you'd need to use the bridge, but that's been out of commission for quite some time..." he muttered. "It's decided. I'll send out a crew to repair the bridge for you all."
"What will happen to the red knight?" asked Zephyr softly.
"He'll be executed later today," said the King plainly.
Zephyr quietly shut her eyes, as if in deep thought. When she'd opened them, she had no doubts. "Can you give him life instead?" she asked firmly, to the surprise of everyone present. She folded her arms over her chest and held her face in her hand, clearly distressed. "Three people are dead. Killing another one would just make us as bad as Garland. We shouldn't sink to his level and throw anyone else away."
Stunned, the King retreated into quiet thought. Such naive kindness wasn't anything he'd expected from someone swinging a chunk of iron. The idea that Zephyr would kill Garland and spare his subordinate resonated with the long-lost idealist in the King, so with a soft smile he nodded his head and agreed.
"We have one final request: Sarah's Lute," said Owain plainly. Although confused, Sarah quickly nodded and hurried off to retrieve the item. Owain alone was aware of the Lute's importance in breaching time and space to fight Chaos.
"And why do we need that?" wondered Erik. Everything had gone over his head more than enough times. This had to be enough."You say this is all written down. I want in. Show me the script!"
Owain shrugged. "It's more of a flowchart than a script, actually..." he sighed. He put a hand to his face and smiled. The tale that would unfold wasn't so much an elegantly orchestrated odyssey so much as vague, chaotic potential.
"I'm also curious. How much do you know about what's going to happen, exactly?" asked Rosetta.
"We'll leave it at that," said Owain plainly, to the fury of both Rosetta and Erik. There was no point in spoiling everything. If the players knew every twist and turn, and were ready for every contingency, how exciting would that be? "Everyone reading knows what's going to happen, so why spoil it for you guys? Show some curiosity."
Scene Four
The King was as good as his word, as any good king ought to be, and within a week the northern bridge had been repaired. His finest workers made the bridge as strong and sturdy as would be needed, even at risk of monster attacks. This was a request from their saviors, and refusing would have been outright out of the question. That, and it was an order. If anyone wanted to examine the stockade they were free to, but no one accepted the offer. Sarah had retrieved her Lute, and promptly handed it over to the party. Although she wasn't sure what use it would have, she proudly handed it to Owain. Rather than stuff it away in a pack, however, he tapped his gauntlet and the Lute broke into motes of light, then flowed inside of the bright blue orb with a soft shimmering light.
"And your explanation for that is?" wondered Rosetta, her eyebrow raised.
"We won't need it for a few chapters, so I put it away," shrugged Owain. "Incidentally, I've stocked up on Potions and Tents, so we won't need to go shopping for quite some time."
"Oh, come on! What kind of crazy ass mechanic are you using?!" snapped Erik. "Don't we at least have a big sack or something?!"
Owain sighed and shrugged. "The author thought this was cooler," he said plainly. "Don't read too far into it or you might strain your feeble little brain."
"You son of a..." rasped Erik. Even so, he gave up and allowed the matter to drop.
Rosetta stepped up to Zephyr, and to her shock she clapped her hand on the warrior's shoulder. "We've decided, back at the temple. You killed Garland, and you will be our leader," said Rosetta cheerfully.
"What... me? Me?!" choked Zephyr, shocked.
"It should have been me..." muttered Erik, shortly before Owain whacked him over the head. "Stop doing that!" he screeched.
"I must admit that I'm curious," said Owain. "Why spare the red knight?"
"The higher power I follow would never let me just kill him," shrugged Zephyr. "That would be a really negative ending."
Erik tilted his head. "And this higher power is?" he pondered pointedly. "I'd like to know what church you follow... just as an idle question."
A smile crossed Zephyr's face, slowly blossoming into outright laughter. Once she'd recovered she brushed the silver bangs from her face and patted Erik on the shoulder. "The author's too soft for his own good," she said plainly. Indeed, the author holds a strong distaste for unnecessary suffering. Even if something catastrophic might happen, for example, there's no telling if the deed might be undone. Meaning, it happens next chapter.
Although Erik stewed for a while, the Warriors of Light soon departed the castle to prepare for their journey. After a few hours of travel they arrived at the northern bridge which, to their amazement, was lined with soldiers saluting them to send them off on their way. They formed a long wall of steel, swords raised and shields laid squarely at their sides. This was also an order.
"They never even did this in the remakes..." muttered Owain.
"Am I destined to do something great, then? I certainly hope I am. Debonair as I am, I ought to have a few shining moments, right?" wondered Erik.
Owain smiled. "The only things set in stone are actions, not results," he said plainly.
"And that means what?" asked Rosetta impatiently.
"It's been recorded what we do, not what actually happens," sighed Owain. "It's well within the realm of possibility that we'll meet horrific, gruesome deaths somewhere along the way. Ripped apart by a troll, eaten by a dragon... any number of ways for us to meet our ends. For all I know we might end up dead on the bottom of the sea once we get the ship. I've packed plenty of Potions in case something untoward happens, but who knows?"
"Oh, my God!" screeched Zephyr, gripping her head in both hands. "Why the hell are you telling us this now?! Don't we get to have some sort of epic cut scene where everything says, 'everything goes alright and we save the world'?! The hell happened to that?!"