Final Fantasy I, First Fantasy: Z-e-r-o

by Windwillow

We've called them Warrior, Thief, and so on for over thirty years. This is a full-on remaking of the story that started it all, everything being true to the game but with a full, original cast of Warriors of Light. Contains mild language, violence, and suggestive themes.

2. Cleansing the Earth Crystal

Start Date: June 19, 2023

Windwillow

First Fantasy: Z-e-r-o

Chapter Two: Cleansing the Earth Crystal

Astonishingly enough they left it at that, no dramatic cut scene or epic speech. Not that anyone was pleased by it, of course, but since the author couldn't think of a good way to include the scene where the Warriors of Light cross the bridge to a beautiful sunrise in a sufficiently epic way it went the way of the dodo. Deal with it. Regardless, crossing the bridge took the better part of the day, followed by an encroaching night that seemed to bode ill for the party. Owain, however, was fully prepared: he tapped his gauntlet, revealing a large tent (complete with a fire) in the center of the plains they trod on.

"Give me a break!" screeched Erik. "You mean to tell me this all fits on your arm?!"

Owain nodded. "It doesn't make any less sense that we can carry half an armory in a bag, right?" he asked coldly. "Besides, there is a method to the madness. A little while later we get a canoe, and it has to go somewhere. How the hell do you fold up a canoe that fits four people? That makes no sense."

"You don't make sense..." groaned Rosetta, putting her face in her hand. Knowing that Owain already knew so much that he wasn't sharing certainly didn't improve her mood.

Despite a brief argument between the three of them, Zephyr managed to calm her team down and they retreated into their sleeping bags for the night. As the final embers of the fire fizzled out and the four warriors attempted to slumber, there was one holdout. Erik stood above the other four Warriors of Light with a skeptical eye. He was still unsure whether he could trust any of them. As he watched Zephyr mumble in her sleep, he was even less certain that he wanted her as his leader. He plopped down next to her and softly reached out to her silver locks, brushed them aside, and smiled despite himself.

"Y'know what, girl?" chuckled Erik. He laid his Serpent's Tail to the ground, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. Seeing her sleep like a baby, innocent and unaware of any sort of danger that might have come at her during the night, Erik could see now how simple she really was. Simple and clean, just the kind of woman he would love to cuddle up with one day. Even if she was grossly naive, it had its appeal. His last romantic encounter had ended with a black eye and several bruised ribs. As he drifted off to sleep, a soft smile crossed his face.

You're awfully cute when you're asleep...

Scene One

In the morning Zephyr remained blissfully unaware that she'd been watched while she slept. Erik kept that, and his conflicting opinions of her, to himself. The next several hours consisted of a forced march towards the nearby cavern where the witch Matoya lived with her servants and stirred her potions for the people of Elfheim. There was no time to waste, at least according to Owain. Once they'd reached the cave they found that its entrance was covered with banners etched with runes, some of which said things that can't be translated without bumping up the age rating. Matoya had a foul streak. Regardless, as they traversed the caverns they encountered no obstructions or monsters that might have been awaiting them.

Then they found the four golems guarding her inner sanctum. They were muscular, bulky chunks of stone. Well-muscled and covered in strange symbols, the Golems were constructs created by powerful sorcerers and used to defend their strongholds. There wasn't any need for weapons; their fists, strong and tough as mythril, did all the talking that the creatures needed to do. Zephyr and Erik swiftly drew their weapons and struck at one of the golems, managing to detach its right arm and left leg in the process while Owain's mace broke open another's head. Rosetta, meanwhile, deftly lifted her saber and lashed out with several graceful strikes that separated the golem she was fighting into several segments of inert rock that dropped limply to the ground with a loud thud.

"What the heck did you just do?!" exclaimed Zephyr excitedly.

"My lightning slashes with intense vibrations, capable of easily dismantling the structure of these things and rendering them nothing but ugly stone," said Rosetta proudly as she shouldered her saber. "As a Red Mage my element is lightning, though I'm also trained in fire and ice manipulation. I can heal people in a pinch as well, and create barriers... Red Mages are jacks of all trades but masters of none," she said smilingly. "I'm sure Owain can heal much better than I can, and a Black Mage could outdo me with offensive magic. But that isn't the point; I do a little of everything so that the rest of you do what you do best."

While Rosetta and Zephyr conversed the other golems were under no obligation not to attack. The one with two lost limbs hobbled about and bobbed around in an attempt to attack Erik, but when he deftly stepped to the side it fell to the ground and became a bunch of chunks of rock. The wholly intact golem lunged at Zephyr, who promptly swung her sword in an arc and sent out a slicing wave that cut it to bits. The final one, the one with no head, was promptly blown apart by a burst of holy energy from Owain.

"And what about you?" wondered Erik. He sheathed his weapon and adjusted his gloves, idly stretching his neck as he turned towards Zephyr. "What did you just do? I think I caught a glimpse of something like that when you kicked the crap out of Garland back at the temple. You didn't even touch him, same as these piles of rock."

Zephyr sheathed her sword with a flourish and adjusted her helmet, briefly rustling her silver hair in the process. She wasn't able to hide the smile on her face, proud of her skills and happy to demonstrate them to her new team. She hadn't had many opportunities to display her unique abilities, certainly not in front of the kind of people she was entrusting her life to. Not that she wasn't proud; just, how many times do you get to show off like this?

"A zephyr is a gentle breeze, like I told Garland back at the temple... I control the kind of winds that aren't gentle. I use shock waves and air vacuums with my sword to cut things apart, kind of like Rosetta but not as flashy," explained Zephyr. "My powers don't get to be all sparkly like hers," she sighed. "Still... ugh... I'm pooped..." moaned Zephyr, her head drooping.

Wearily, Zephyr took her knuckle and rapped it lightly against the door to Matoya's inner sanctum. When she received no response she shrugged and opened the door, barely avoiding the blast of flame that shot out at her and incinerated part of the wall behind her. Indignant, she threw open the door and stormed inside to complain. What she found certainly didn't look very intimidating. She was a shriveled old crone coated in red, ragged robes and suspended by a withered wooden cane. As she staggered about her gait was uneven, almost as if she couldn't see anything.

"You almost killed me, you crazy old bag!" snarled Zephyr. When she received no response from the old woman she clapped a hand on her shoulder and whirled her around, saw that she had only one eye (and it was bloodshot and withered) and let out a horrific shriek. "Oh, holy God! What happened to your eye, lady?!" she screeched. She stumbled back and only barely managed to keep herself from falling.

"Simple: the goblin boss Astos pilfered it for kicks," said Owain flatly.

"And I thought the little ingrate was coming back for this one!" growled Matoya as she staggered to a chair and plopped down in it. He'd surprised her with a sneak attack, and literally ripped her Crystal Eye from her face. The eye was made of such precious and powerful crystal that it could be used as a focus item for any number of arcane incantations. "Without my Crystal Eye I can't mix up any proper potions, unless I wanted to blow myself to Kingdom Come when I'd botch the formula. If you guys could get it back, I might be able to make it worth your while."

Once she'd gathered herself, Zephyr wiped the sweat from her brow and nodded. They would get the eye back for her. As she turned to leave, however, her foot slipped on a puddle of green liquid and she fell square on her face to the floor. While she whimpered softly and staggered to her feet unsteadily, Erik slightly opened his mouth before Rosetta slapped it shut.

"What, I can't be concerned that this is our leader?" asked Erik tersely. Rosetta simply stared him down, and he reluctantly retreated. He didn't want to start trouble, especially with someone both capable of and willing to beat the hell out of him.

Scene Two

After Zephyr chugged a Potion to get herself back up to snuff the Warriors of Light left Matoya's Cave, en route to the port town of Pravoka to the north. Pravoka was a bustling city, a paradise for pirates and sailors the world over. Identifying who was who shouldn't take much effort, obviously; look for the eye patch and the cutlass and there you have it. Finding reputable sailors seemed to be next up on the docket. The problem was finding them over the numerous pirates and ne'er-do-wells that populated the town. In particular, there was a notorious miscreant named Bikke who had made a career out of pilfering and plundering the poor saps that were actually stupid enough to fall for his ruse. Then again, how many idiots could there be in the world?

"And where do we find our ship, exactly?" wondered Rosetta.

Owain adjusted his glasses with an unpleasant smirk. He was fully aware of what came next, but wanted to see who ran into the pirates first and started a scene. Despite Erik's irritation at this the party broke up to cover as much area of Pravoka as they could. Zephyr wandered into the western backstreets, where she met a friendly face that offered to give them a ride. The confidence in his eyes was remarkable. Or, rather, the one eye that was displayed. He wore elaborate blue robes covered with straps and buckles, and had a cutlass at his left hip. He'd introduced himself as a merchant and, against all logic and reason, Zephyr bought his garbage and followed him to his vessel.

"You want a ship? Right this way, lass!" tittered Bikke mischievously. He led Zephyr through the streets and onto the deck of a large ship, where he walked to the front of the ship and smiled warmly at her. She tilted her head in confusion, though when Bikke drew his cutlass that little misconception was clearly resolved. "All you need to do," he said coldly, "is give up everything you have and then I won't slit your throat!"

Having been guided onto Bikke's ship, Zephyr only vaguely realized that something was wrong when a group of nine pirates surrounded her, cutlasses directed at her throat. With a stern grimace she lifted her knee and kicked one of the pirates in the nuts, pushed him away, and rolled to a stop near the front of the boat with her sword drawn. The pirate she'd wounded whimpered for a bit before he gave up and fell over unconscious from the pain. Now quite irritated, Zephyr's fingers gripped her sword tightly as she pondered the stupid situation she'd put herself in.

"You tricked me!" snapped Zephyr, lifting her sword to her shoulder.

"Did you not notice the eye patch and the cutlass, lady? I've been dressed like a pirate the whole time!" deadpanned Bikke. Zephyr's face dropped to her feet, something that even Bikke couldn't believe had just happened. He hadn't encountered anyone this oblivious in quite some time, certainly not someone with a sword capable of butchering the lot of them. "What kind of adventurer are you?! You can't take on all of us at once!" he insisted as a horde of pirates hustled onto the deck with their cutlasses raised. True, nine to one weren't the best of odds. What Bikke didn't realize is that if she'd wanted to, Zephyr could have butchered the lot of them, but playing the fool appealed more to her than out and out slaughter.

"Yup. Can I go get my friends?" tittered Zephyr. "I think they'd be helpful right about now."

Bikke was astounded. She didn't have any cojones on her, but she acted like she did. His irritation began to build, but before he could give the order to attack he watched as his crew was launched off the ship with a large burst of energy. To his astonishment he watched as the other Warriors of Light, led by Owain, stood at the entrance to the ship with their weapons drawn. It was Owain who had knocked the whole crew overboard with a single blast of energy, but it was Erik who was most aggravated. He wasn't aggravated at Bikke.

"You have to be kidding me!" growled Erik, his hand on his hip. This woman was absolutely unbelievable, not least for the reason that he'd entrusted her with his life. "You never realized that the guy with a pirate coat, an eye patch, and a sword luring you onto his ship might be a trap?" he snarled.

"But he said he was a merchant!" insisted Zephyr. After a few moments of thought, her head dropped and she let out a sigh. In retrospect, it was kind of... embarrassing. Even if it was partially her own mistake, she hadn't acted soberly in three years. The last time she acted serious was at her mother's grave, and that had been the moment where she'd decided to approach life more leisurely. "Okay, my bad..." she whimpered sheepishly.

While Erik and Zephyr argued, Bikke stealthily drew his cutlass and crept behind Zephyr. He lifted his sword to strike, found that it had been ripped to shreds by Rosetta's lightning-charged blade, and dropped to his seat quaking when she directed her sword at his head. As she slowly moved her saber's sparking edge down his body to Bikke's crotch, Rosetta smiled and watched as Bikke's horror began to escalate. When she laid it against his most important place and caused him to begin foaming at the mouth, his horror had clearly peaked.

"Care to be our captain?" asked Rosetta tersely. Bikke promptly wet himself and nodded. Rosetta deftly sheathed her saber and turned back to Erik and Zephyr, who were still conversing back and forth while Owain looked on with amusement, and she couldn't help but smile.

Our leader, ladies and gentlemen.

Scene Three

Riding on Bikke's ship, unfortunately, involved reviving the pirates that Owain had blasted into the ocean. Without them, it wasn't possible to steer and move the ship. They didn't make much of a fuss, though; even though most of them were angry, they were also sore and Bikke had given them explicit instructions not to cross Rosetta. The crew quickly weighed anchor and took off for the southwest, where the party would head to Elfheim. The Kingdom of Elfheim was actually independent of Cornelia and had full autonomy, but still traded with Cornelia and took the advice of its envoys quite seriously. Once safely inside Elfheim's walls the Warriors of Light were greeted warmly and escorted to their regent. Unfortunately, that regent had been put into a comatose state by Astos the goblin leader quite some time earlier.

"If I recall," said Owain flatly, "the Elf Prince has a spell active on the castle's treasury. We need what's inside to continue our journey, so restoring him to consciousness is of the utmost importance," he sighed. He tapped in a few commands on his gauntlet, causing the image of an ugly gremlin to be displayed on the wall. "Astos, the king of the goblins is, to put it in the vernacular, a grade-A asshole," he said flatly. "Finding and beating him up is our next objective."

"Right... Besides, I wouldn't want to leave the Elf Prince in a trance forever," said Zephyr. She flashed a bright smile and folded her arms over her chest with a sigh. If they had to fight some weird-ass goblin to save the leader of an entire kingdom, then so be it. Why wouldn't they help even if they weren't required to? "So, how are we supposed to wake him up? Get a really loud drum or something?" she asked cheerfully.

"We need that old crone Matoya's Jolt Tonic..." sighed the regent's retainer.

Zephyr's face immediately dropped and she gripped her head in both hands in a panic. They may have had to help Matoya anyway, but adding this to the top of the list was a bit distressing. To get the Elf Prince's treasure, they needed Matoya. To get Matoya's help, they needed Astos. To get Astos, they had to find him fast. Under the advice of the regent's men, the party was steered towards the nearby Western Keep. Astos was rumored to have set up shop in the ruins there. Without delay they departed and, when they arrived, they found a whole lot of nothing. No goblins, no Astos, just an empty keep and disappointment.

"Crud... Where do we find this jerk?!" groaned Rosetta.

"Think the King in here might be able to help?" wondered Zephyr, who had already opened the door to the throne room. What they found was an elderly man, dressed as, obviously, a king, sitting on his throne in the back of the chamber. Totally unsuspecting of the king's true identity, Zephyr knelt before him and bowed her head, asking whether the king knew of where Matoya's Crystal Eye was being kept.

"A bunch of monsters stole my crown and spirited it off to the Marsh Cave, which is south of here," explained the 'king.' The Piscodaemons had mugged him and left him with a black eye a few days earlier. Dealing with them and then dealing with these four idiots wouldn't take a whole lot of effort. "If you go to the Marsh Cave and retrieve it, I'll give you Matoya's Crystal Eye. That benefits both of us, doesn't it?" he asked sinisterly.

"And you found the eye where, again?" asked Erik, his eyebrow raised.

"I-I, uhm, er... I beat up Astos and stole it, then the goblins stole my crown!" insisted the 'king.' At this point his story was, at best, tenuous, but finding the crown and retrieving the Crystal Eye was the primary objective. If they could get the eye by trading it for the crown, then so be it. With a warm smile, Zephyr stretched out her hand and the 'king' shook it. By this point Rosetta and Erik had deduced the truth that Astos was lying, although Zephyr was still only suspicious and Owain outright knew who the 'king' really was.

West of Elfheim lay the Marsh Cave, allegedly the home base of Astos' goblin raiders. Reaching it took another day and night in Owain's tent, though when the Warriors approached and found the cavern's entrance void of goblins even Zephyr realized that Astos was the one who had sent them on their way. Erik was a slight bit irritated that it had taken her this long, but a stern look from Rebecca kept him from saying anything. The party entered the Marsh Cave and traversed its long, winding halls, encountering no resistance from any goblins or anything else that might have stolen the crown. By the time they'd reached the cavern's deepest depths and found still nothing, their patience quickly began to evaporate.

"Doesn't it seem strange that we haven't been jumped by the supposedly rampant goblin horde?" deadpanned Rosetta.

"Yeah, the fact's out: Astos sent us on a wild goose chase," said Owain flatly.

"Wait... wild goose chase?" stammered Erik. As his anger built, he produced his middle finger and angrily screeched in frustration. Although Owain was unaffected by Erik's rage, that only made the situation even more untenable for him in the first place. It was about damned time he was read in on the script. "You mean the God damn thing isn't even here?!" he snarled.

"Oh, no, it's here," grinned Owain. He pointed into the distance and withdrew his mace. Erik shot a nasty glare in his direction, but Owain again ignored him and shouldered his weapon. It wouldn't take too much effort to deal with these goons. "We just need to deal with a few Piscodaemons to get it," he said softly. "Watch out for their psychic powers, just to let you know. The Mindflayers are experts at psionic combat."

Before Erik could curse Owain out more, his eyes turned to the back of the cavern, where he noticed a strange haze concealing his vision of the final chamber. When the veil lifted four bizarre, unholy abominations emerged from their illusionary slumber: humanoid, although inhuman, they were dressed in long tan robes and each of them carried a long staff. Oh, and they had tentacles on their head, but we all know that already. I really hope I can call them Mindflayers without violating any copyright laws, but they're also known as... oh, screw it. Four Piscodaemons approached.

Each of the four Piscodaemons split up and dashed towards an individual member of the party, seemingly confident that they could win a fight with experienced warriors. The party humored them and split into four, though as the two Piscodaemons facing Zephyr and Erik approached their eyes shone with an incredible brightness. When the light faded, each of them had produced a long sword, and they both approached the pair slowly and carefully. Each of the monsters lashed out with their swords and were met with those wielded by the Warriors of Light, and though they put up a considerable fight they both ended up prone parallel to one another. Both Zephyr and Erik lunged at the Piscodaemons with their blades outstretched, charged further on, and just as they were about to kill the beasts the illusion broke and they found that they were attacking one another. It didn't take more than a few seconds to note the position of the real Piscodaemons, and they promptly decapitated the both of them with a single slash. The two landed next to one another and promptly gave each other a high-five. The two remaining Piscodaemons broke down and fled, though Rosetta cut them off and brandished her saber at their necks.

"The crown, please..." she said coldly. The two monsters, drenched in sweat, quickly produced the crown and tossed it to Rosetta, who deftly caught it as the pair scampered off to safety. She quietly examined the crown and, as she expected, she found Astos' name inscribed on the inside of it. "Yep, the damned fool sent us to get his own monogrammed crown..." muttered Rosetta with a sigh.

Owain tapped his gauntlet, causing an image of the Western Keep to materialize as a hologram. "When we return to the Western Keep, we'll be set upon by goblins..." he muttered. Even if he already knew all this, and even if he'd basically lured his friends into the ruse, actually putting the goblin king down would be a bit of a hassle. "They aren't known as the brightest of monsters, so this isn't terribly surprising..." groaned Owain.

"God, what an idiot... and not just him," groaned Zephyr. Her hand inched towards her sword as she turned her eye to Erik. She already had a good idea of what he was thinking. What was worse is that it had taken her until they reached the entrance of the Marsh Cave to realize that she'd been bamboozled. That was, to say the least, a very dissatisfying scenario for a leader to be put in. "Can I deal with the jackass?" she asked quietly, adjusting a kink from her neck. If she was in charge, she had to do the deed. That, and it'd be fun pummeling the snot out of the little weasel. "This has been one big waste of our time, and I feel like dishing out some justice."

"Fine, whatever... I guess I'll throw you a bone..." said Erik softly, a smile forming on his face. Even if it had taken so much time for Zephyr to catch on, the resolve she showed once she realized she'd been tricked was enough to satisfy his own values. A leader, when put in a position of power, must always step up when the time comes to give a certain enemy a bitch slapping, and her glee in doing so etched a smile on his face. "Give him hell for us," he sneered.

Scene Four

Astos' flimsy ruse never held much water in the first place. Once everyone was read in on it, the fact that Astos had actually inscribed his own name on the crown made things even clearer. Although everyone was angry at being tricked - Owain excepted, since he knew from the start - Zephyr's irritation at being the last to realize the ruse sent her into a bit of a tizzy. By the time that the Warriors of Light arrived at the Western Keep, crown in hand, that had blossomed into full-fledged rage. Once at the Keep, they slowly and carefully entered and were promptly set upon by the goblins. They were diminutive tricksters, the scum of the earth. Goblins were thugs that stood at half the size of a human, each wielding a rusty dagger and dressed in dirty garb. As they approached, daggers in hand, Zephyr silently stepped towards the oncoming horde, with her friends taking both sides as a defensive line.

The goblins, roughly two dozen in number, surrounded the four Warriors of Light from almost all angles. The problem was that they forgot the angle that was the beeline towards Astos' throne room, and Zephyr promptly took the opportunity they'd given her to charge forward towards the throne room. As she threw open the doors and vanished inside the goblins rushed towards her, but were met by the other three party members, armed and ready to fight. Given that goblins aren't the bravest of monsters, three nasty looks shot their way sent the lot of them running. The other three shrugged and slowly advanced into Astos' throne room just behind their leader.

The inside of the throne room, however, had changed drastically in appearance. While previously it had been a pale, abandoned hovel the chamber now was lined with colorful banners and a long red carpet leading up to the throne where Astos sat. He was still concealed behind his 'king' ruse, though when Zephyr approached and tossed his crown at his feet a sinister smile crossed his face. The fools had actually bought it! ... Not.

Zephyr's fingers inched towards her sword and, with a single flourish, she drew it and shouldered the blade. Astos stared dumbly at her as she slowly lifted her left hand and smilingly displayed her middle finger. Furious, Astos immediately began to change into his true form. The creature seemed to be a shadow ripped out of a child's nightmare, its lanky green limbs protruding at odd angles from its warped torso. With vicious claws and similarly intimidating fangs, its aura was of the unnatural and unholy. In a flash Astos flew from his throne and lunged at Zephyr, who calmly gripped her long sword with both hands and swung down with a massive slash that sliced the gremlin clean in half. As the remnants of the beast's body dropped inertly to the ground, Zephyr deftly sheathed her sword and stared back at her friends in triumph. They'd done it.

"Did it ever occur to you to ask where the moron hid the eye?" deadpanned Erik. They'd still have to search the entire Keep to find Matoya's eye. The realization slowly came to Zephyr as her face steadily dropped, prompting Erik to angrily extend his own middle finger and scream out in frustration. "You freaking idiot!" he snarled. "This is our leader?! This is the one I'm entrusting with my life?!" Erik screeched.

"Uh, yeah... 'Kay, sorry..." muttered Zephyr sheepishly. Erik stewed as Rosetta barely managed to contain her laughter, while Owain silently pondered his fate; she was their leader now. What would come next time someone tricked her?

Scene Five

It was a long voyage back to Matoya's Cave to deliver her Crystal Eye to her once again. Once everything was firmly in place and she was able to see again, the old crone mixed up what she called a Jolt Tonic and handed it to the party with a crooked smile on her misshapen face. Even with the second eye, she looked creepy as hell. The Warriors of Light hurried back to Elfheim, where they used the Jolt Tonic to revive the Elf Prince. Astoundingly he was rather ungrateful. When he brusquely demanded a couple of pills to relieve his pounding headache and insulted the party, Erik angrily grabbed him by the collar and was promptly placed at the point of several swords from the Prince's retinue. Although he was livid, he had no choice but to back down and apologize.

Owain managed to convince the regent to undo the magical seal on his castle's treasury, where they intended to retrieve the item that he said was vital to their mission. Zephyr threw open the treasure chest in the expectation of finding... well, treasure. What she found instead was a tiny sack of red particles that was quite clearly not treasure. Zephyr was irritated and Erik followed suit, but when Rosetta kindly asked for an explanation Owain guaranteed her that he would provide ear protection for the team. This raised a number of other questions, of course.

The party departed by ship to the far western lands, on the edge of the Aldean Sea. There they found a large settlement in Mt. Duergar, the home of the dwarves. As is typical of fantasy settings they were masters of blacksmithing and science, but everyone probably already knew that. Once there they headed to the back of the mountain to visit a gnome named Nerrick and handed off the Nitro Powder. Nerrick gleefully snatched up the item and hurried to the far western edge of the mountain, excitedly stating that his experiment would finally bear fruit. When Rosetta asked the nature of the experiment, Owain silently produced four sets of earplugs and handed them out to his teammates.

Nerrick's experiment was to test a special kind of explosive that the dwarves had been working on for quite some time. Given that the target was the mountain itself for some reason the party and the dwarves quickly hunkered down as Nerrick lit the fuse. The resulting explosion nearly toppled the party, their ship, and the mountain itself when a titanic explosion ripped open a hole in the western side of the sea, leaving nothing but ruin in its wake.

"And that was?!" snapped Zephyr, her patience at the limit. Her words were directed to Owain, who silently removed his earplugs and stashed them inside his gauntlet again. Agitated, Zephyr grabbed Owain by the collar, was promptly whacked by his mace, and quietly retreated to safety as Rosetta tended to the shiner on her head. "What the hell just happened?! Damn, man!" she cursed, rubbing the wound with all the care she could manage. Owain silently tapped his gauntlet, which swiftly came to life and began to glow bright blue.

"The dwarves needed the Nitro Powder to blow a hole in the mountain," said the gauntlet plainly. Seeing Erik's disgust at having been left out of the loop again, the gauntlet sighed and a face appeared that they saw for the first time. It was a thick, nearly shapeless face that had only a nose, mouth, ears, and eyes, but they could tell that it wasn't pleased at being bothered. "Let's put it this way: without the hole, we wouldn't be able to keep going..." it said testily. "We would never be able to reach Melmond," said the gauntlet flatly.

"Melmond?!" gasped Rosetta, her hand going to her mouth in shock. It had been months since she'd been home. As the excitement on her face began to grow, however, Owain's went ashen gray. Clearly he knew something she didn't. Again. "Okay, pony up," she growled testily. "What aren't you telling me?"

Owain remained silent, quietly shut off his gauntlet and turned to leave. Rosetta could see the pain in his eyes, something that filled her to the brim with dread. She got nothing more out of him during the rest of the trip, which took the ship west to the town of Melmond. Once there they found the town deserted, not a single soul in sight. As they continued further into town, however, they saw the remains of several desecrated corpses with large bite wounds on their bodies. Zephyr stared out at the wasteland with sheer horror, and only vaguely gathered the energy to choke out a few nasty words. The entire scene was out of a horror movie.

"This is your home town?" groaned Erik. One nasty look from Rosetta quickly activated his self preservation instinct and he quietly snapped into line. While traveling through Melmond they found only a single figure wandering the town. Wearing long green hair the individual staggered around drunkenly as if she were intoxicated. "What's her problem?" snarled Erik.

When the green-haired figure lifted its head and revealed that its face had been eaten off, Zephyr nearly wet herself. The zombie's twisted maw opened and it lunged towards Zephyr, though a single slash from Rosetta's saber decapitated it. As the zombie's skull rolled towards her, Rosetta sheathed her sword and quietly noted the precise color of its hair, and it immediately chilled her soul. She choked back a gasp of horror, her hand to her mouth, though Owain quietly clapped a hand to her shoulder and turned her to face his ashen gray countenance. Through her pained expression Rosetta's eye twitched; Owain had known the entire time who it was, that son of a bitch.

"You... rotten..." croaked Rosetta, indignant. Owain silently shook his head and turned to leave. He wasn't happy that what had just happened had to happen either, but knew that if Rosetta had known who the zombie was she'd have let it munch on her face.

"The Fiend of Earth, the Lich, has inflicted a swarm of the undead on Melmond..." sighed Owain. "Anyone who is infected is turned into a zombie, which is then left as a rotten example of the Lich's malice. It has no more personality. Remember that," he said darkly. Zephyr turned to Rosetta for an explanation, but she was silently brushed aside as Rosetta hurried towards one of the homes in town: her home. Inside they found the remaining, uninfected members of the populace, where they'd huddled together to hide from the undead.

One of them in particular look strange: You could tell he was the bookish type. Although he also had glasses and wore robes, this professor dressed slightly differently from Owain. His glasses were actually more like some sort of goggles, stretching out and covering the entire length of his head before latching around at the back. The robe he wore was much sleeker, skin tight with long, flowing white streaks all across the length of his garb that ended in a sort of cape on his back. This was someone that Rosetta knew well: the professor of Melmond's historical society, a man named Unne.

"You folks look like the adventuring type..." said Unne in a thick, nasally voice that grated on Zephyr's nerves. Just listening to him made her think of all the pleghm in her nose that had been denied its due time in the sun. None of it, together with anyone else's, could compare to the snot that stuffed up Unne's nose. "Do any of you think you can find the Rosetta Stone for me?" he asked stuffily.

"Rosetta Stone... Wouldn't Rosetta have it?" asked Zephyr dumbly. Unne shook his head and explained that the Rosetta Stone contains the knowledge of how to read the ancient Lufenian language, which the ancients spoke centuries ago whose mechanics had gone untranslated for all of those years. If the team could find it, Unne could decipher the language and translate a series of texts that he had found on several topics of interest. "And this applies to us how?" she said flatly.

"We'll need it later," said Owain plainly. Although Erik and Zephyr were characteristically exasperated by Owain's secrecy, they could see the pain on his face as they noticed that Rosetta was nowhere to be found. "Give her time..." he murmured, to his friends' confusion. "She needs a few minutes alone."

While her friends discussed matters with Professor Unne, Rosetta reunited with her parents. They filled her in on the disasters that the Lich had caused, including the undead plague, but noted that they were unharmed. It had been months since they'd last seen each other and though they were happy to be reunited, they could see the pain in Rosetta's eyes and immediately suspected the worst.

"Rosetta, you-" stammered her father. Rosetta shook her head.

"She isn't here," said Rosetta flatly. Rosetta's mother silently shut her eyes tight and shook her head. Rosetta's teeth grit and she lifted herself unsteadily to her feet, soon falling into another chair with her face in her hands. "God damn it..." she murmured.

"What's wrong, Rosetta...?" asked Zephyr tentatively. When Rosetta's quaking reached its breaking point and she began to cry, Zephyr immediately took her in her arms to comfort her. It wasn't working very well, unfortunately. "Rosetta... What's wrong?" she repeated. Through Rosetta's tears she lightly brushed them away with the back of her hand, and grasped on tightly to Rosetta's shaking shoulders.

"Razzly," said Rosetta plainly. As her friends wondered in confusion, her thoughts turned back to her best friend, whom she'd played with many times as a child. She'd always admired Razzly's silky, emerald green hair and often stated that she wished her hair was similarly colored. Once she realized that the zombie she'd killed was what was left of Razzly, Rosetta found herself shaken to the core. She knew now that Razzly had become infected by the Lich's plague, succumbed to it, and had begun to wander the town in an undead haze, void of memory or personality. As she began to stabilize Rosetta's fingers inched towards her saber, which she grabbed tight with both hands as her face contorted in fury. None of her friends knew what was happening, but they'd also never seen her so full of hatred.

You're mine, Lich. I'm going to make you regret you were ever born.

Scene Six

Elegantly clad in a deep purple robe, its hair seemed to be made of fire, or at least was colored the same. The Vampire's muscular frame was topped off by nasty looking claws and talons, with the face of a demonic gargoyle. It was the undead master of the Terra Cave, far to the southwest of Melmond. Its army of skeletons and zombies lay prone on the floor of the cavern, personally destroyed by Rosetta, and her lightning imbued blade now lay at the Vampire's throat. Swelled with rage, as the Vampire cowered Rosetta glared it down with an intensity that none of her friends had ever seen her display.

"Take me to the Lich. Now!" snarled Rosetta.

When the Vampire suddenly attacked her instead of responding, Rosetta slashed its head off and kicked its headless corpse to the ground. As she stood over the Vampire's dead body, Rosetta continued to quake with anger that seemed as if it would reach a fever pitch. When that happened, all bets were off as to how she would act from there on out. From around the neck of the Vampire a small, ruby red gemstone fell to the ground at Rosetta's feet as she slowly lifted her heel above the Vampire's decapitated skull, prepared to crush it.

"And I want an explanation! Now!" ordered Zephyr, grabbing her friend by the shoulders and violently shaking her back and forth. As Rosetta's anger began to stabilize, Zephyr's eyes began to quake with fear for her friend's well being. Rosetta could clearly see the intensity of her friend's emotions, a seriousness that she'd never seen from her leader before. Her teeth gritted, Rosetta angrily sheathed her saber and leaned back against the wall with her face in her hand.

"That zombie that I killed in Melmond was an old friend of mine," she said coldly. She sighed and slowly lifted herself to her feet. "The Lich did that to her. And I intend to make that thing regret ever doing it!" hissed Rosetta. Zephyr immediately took her in both arms and put her friend in an embrace, something that Rosetta only reluctantly accepted. Zephyr's tender embrace confirmed what she'd seen earlier in her eyes: she wasn't always playing the fool. When it came down to it, she really was someone that Rosetta could respect. As the two embraced and she could feel her friend's pain, Zephyr silently vowed to make the Lich pay.

"We'll be needing this, the Star Ruby..." explained Owain. He reached down to the ground where the red gemstone had fallen and took it in his hands, tightening his fist around it. "Once we're through the Giant's Cave, we can speak to the Sage of Earth. He'll have something that will lead us to the Lich..." he said softly, just loud enough for Rosetta to hear him. Knowing in advance that she'd decapitated her friend certainly didn't do anything to his mood, either. He'd been reluctant to tell her, though of course he had to eventually.

The party departed the Terra Cave, where they left both the Vampire's corpse and the bodies of its undead army. They headed to the northwest to the Giant's Cave, where a tribe of (you guessed it) giants reside that value jewelry among all else. In exchange for the Star Ruby they were allowed passage through the giants' cave and far to the south to the home of the Sage of the Earth. The Sage explained that the Lich's nature is one of unending darkness, fueled by its desecration of the Earth Crystal. It would only be by killing the fiend that its curse would be undone.

"Does that just mean that the curse will be ended, or...?" wondered Owain. The Sage shook his head, and Rosetta could see the relief in his eyes. Owain cracked a smile of his own and leaned back in his seat with a hand to his face. "Fascinating..." he chuckled. The Sage's smile faded, however, and so did Owain's.

"The Lich is the archfiend of the forces of earth. Killing it won't be simple," said the Sage darkly. "It's nature is one of unending darkness, fueled by its desecration of the Earth Crystal. You can't expect to slay it without a considerable amount of force and willpower... normal emotions can't pierce its barrier," he said softly. He'd seen Rosetta's eyes and deduced her emotions, and it troubled him. Fighting for vengeance and hatred would only strengthen the Lich. As Rosetta grit her teeth, she suddenly felt a hand clap to her shoulder and whirled around to see a somber Zephyr staring back at her.

"Then we'll use abnormal force and willpower. All of us are in this together, and I intend to make that bastard suffer for making you cry..." snarled Zephyr. Through her troubled emotions, Rosetta cracked a fragile smile. The person she'd chosen as her leader was more than a clown and a screw-up; she was now her friend and partner. She silently nodded her head and pulled Zephyr into an embrace. As he stared at the two, the Sage smiled and withdrew a small stone etched with arcane symbols.

"This is the Earth Sigil, which will allow you passage through the Terra Cave and into the Lich's lair," explained the Sage.

Although he was reluctant to give them the Sigil, afraid of the darkness in Rosetta's own heart and her hatred of the Lich, the resolve shown by both Zephyr and Rosetta was enough for him to surrender the sacred item with a solemn warning to never allow the darkness of the Lich seize control over their souls. Once back inside the Terra Cave, the Warriors of Light advanced to the back of the cavern, where Rosetta had killed the Vampire. They laid the Earth Sigil on the back of the wall, which caused it to fade to nothingness and unveil the path to the final area of the Terra Cave, where they were set upon.

Although vaguely human, these creatures had clearly crossed the final thresh hold of mortal life. They seemed to be swelled with sickness, open sores and melting flesh all across their bodies, though the evil, red light that shone in between their eye sockets indicated their diabolic nature. The servants of the Nosferatu, the zombies had long since forfeited their lives in exchange for an un-life. There were dozens of them, and though they were mindless they knew no pain and so would never retreat. The only way to proceed would be to put the poor souls to rest at the edge of a sword.

"The Crystal should be behind these doors... along with the Lich. I'll deal with it myself," said Rosetta coldly.

This was her fight and hers alone. Even as she stared at the door marked with runes, however, her heart began to waver. What kind of beast would she be facing? If it was one of the four greatest demons in existence, could she take it on alone? After a few moments' hesitation she approached the door and slammed the Earth Sigil to it, which opened up a large gateway through a black portal to where both the Lich and the Earth Crystal resided. Rosetta gathered up her courage and, her eyes shut tight, she passed through the black barrier. The barrier sealed up behind her, leaving the Earth Sigil to fall limply to the floor.

"Ain't no way I'm letting you go in there by yourself!" declared Zephyr, drawing her blade with a single, deft flourish.

As the zombie horde began to advance, however, she was forced to defend herself and was horrified to find Rosetta gone from the room. She grit her teeth angrily and turned to face the undead enemies, her grip tightened and she turned to her friends, each in turn. When she saw the same resolve in their eyes as her own, she lunged forward and lashed out at the zombies with all the strength she had. She would take the rear, and Rosetta would take point. This was her fight, after all.

Rosetta passed through the portal and into a shimmering paradise, although it was coated in an eerie darkness. The walls and pillars were coated in pure, unsullied crystal, as were the floors and ceilings. In this wondrous land she lifted her eyes and came upon the sight of a huge, brown crystal that was easily twice her size. On the inside was a small, dull black core that she assumed was the true Earth Crystal. This was the home of the Lich, and this was the objective she had been sent to purify. She wordlessly withdrew her own crystal and lifted it to the Earth Crystal, but there was no reaction, much to Rosetta's frustration. Would the damned thing do anything, or was it just a pretty chunk of rock?

"Only the holder of the Crystal of Earth can cleanse the true Earth Crystal... Meaning, you are my prey."

To the side of the Earth Crystal another portal opened, and from it a huge form emerged. If it wasn't dead, it was certainly attempting to look dead. Standing fifteen feet tall and clad in purple robes, its skeletal breast and accompanying limbs stretched out menacingly, ridged with bones. Atop its head, which of course was a twisted, demonic skull, the creature wore an ornate silver crown made of warped bone. Easily as large as the Earth Crystal, the Lich was the final barrier to restoring the world's earthly spirit. As she looked at it, Rosetta found her left foot inching slowly backwards, though she quickly put an end to that and drew her saber defiantly.

"Only the holder of the Earth Crystal-"

"Stuff it!" snarled Rosetta, with enough intensity that the Lich stopped cold in the middle of its own speech.

Rosetta took in a deep breath, inhaled the musty air of the corrupted chamber, and exhaled sharply, forceful enough to cause a small cloud of dust to spout from her mouth. With a wry smile, and as her three companions appeared through the portal Rosetta shouldered her blade briefly before brandishing it and charging it with as much lightning as she could muster. As angry as she was, Zephyr's compassion had proven to her that she wasn't fighting alone. If her leader was willing to fight as hard as she was, then there was only one thing to say.

"There are four Warriors of Light!" she said sternly. "And all of us have just as much right to maim you as I do!"

"Nothing you three can do will touch me! My battle is solely with that wench!"

"Bite me," Rosetta said smilingly.

The Lich's eyes glowed with a sinister light before it stretched out both hands and opened its fingers with a sudden flourish. From the energy created by the movement a large group of skeletons and zombies appeared in front of the Lich. As their flock began to grow to unacceptable numbers, Owain stretched out both his hands and clenched them shut. With a crack of lightning and a surge of holy energy the undead immediately dissolved to dust, much to the Lich's shock. Now knowing that a White Mage was among their ranks, the Lich immediately shot out a huge blast of flame that soared towards Owain.

Before the fire could touch Owain, Rosetta tightened her grip and lashed out with her blade, and cut the flame straight down the middle. As the horribly heated flames split side to side, Zephyr and Erik both leapt over them and soared towards the Lich with their swords outstretched, then lashed out with all their might and severed the Lich's arms from its skeletal body. The Lich screeched out in pain, its mouth opening wide to reveal an empty, pulsing darkness. Rosetta immediately dropped her sword, quartered an arrow, and fired a lightning imbued shot that pierced straight through the Lich's head and caused its entire body to vanish in a burst of unholy fire.

The air in the crystal room began to change, its musty stench slowly freshening into the scent of a field of flowers. With a smirk Rosetta lifted her crystal into the air again, and this time both it and the Earth Crystal began to resonate with a blinding light. Immediately the darkened room lit up as if swelled by the sun's light, and the Earth Crystal's dead core glowed and gloriously encompassed the entire crystal in a bright, white light. With that the deed was done, and the world's land would no longer decay as the Earth Crystal had been fully restored. One down, three to go.

"Are you alright?" wondered Erik softly. Rosetta nodded and smiled, replaced her crystal inside her vest, and sheathed her weapons with a satisfied smile.

"I am now," said Rosetta proudly.

The Earth Crystal, now rejuvenated, began to glow as bright as the sun with its oppressor eliminated. Rosetta, as she turned to leave, cracked a fragile smile. Even if Razzly wouldn't be coming back, she'd been avenged. The four Warriors of Light returned to Melmond, where they were greeted by throngs of villagers who were now free of the Lich's curse. One member of the crowd in particular caught Rosetta's eye, and as it flowed with tears she burst through the throng and leapt to Razzly's embrace. As the two shared a tearful reunion, the sun began to shine again through the cover of the clouds that had masked the town's sunlight.

"And how is this possible?" wondered Zephyr breathlessly.

Owain adjusted his glasses with a smile and felt a pang of satisfaction. Because the Lich had been slain its victims had been freed, even the ones that had already been put down. The release of its sinister soul broke open its curse and released the innocent spirits it had consumed, and now with its death Rosetta could finally smile again.

"Satisfaction can be such a wonderful word..." murmured Owain with a soft prayer. Seeing Zephyr step up like she had seemed to prove his faith in her, so now for the first time in quite a while she'd proven herself a capable leader. He had no qualms left in following her. "Now all we need is for Erik to pull his head out of his ass..." he muttered darkly. "Well, he'll be getting a taste of his own medicine soon..."

Author's Notes

The tone of this chapter was originally much more comical. I figured after writing the rest of the fic, however, that it needed to be reined in a bit on the nonsensical humor. Originally Razzly came back because "the author wanted a happy ending, even if it was cliché," and that was basically verbatim to what the fic read as. But because that was a bit too... gimmicky... and I wanted to add some more force to the events I rewrote it the way it ended up. As I write these notes it's a good time after the draft was finished, and since the fic ends up becoming much more serious I needed to rein in the humor.