Start Date: July 28, 2023

Windwillow

Final Fantasy V: War of the Crystals

Chapter Three: The Water Crystal of Walse

Scene One

Castle Tycoon was in chaos. Its king was missing, its princess absent, and the retinue that they'd sent to the Wind Shrine had only barely escaped with its life when monsters began to flood out of the temple. Even in these troubling times, however, the spirit of the people remained strong and steadfast. That was augmented when a single wind drake descended from the skies carrying its princess and her friends. Hiryu landed in the center of a castle filled with cheering citizens and Lenna was greeted by the chancellor, who was relieved beyond words that his princess had returned.

"Thank heavens you've returned! In the absence of the king, you must take to the throne of Tycoon! We need your help, Your Highness!" begged the chancellor. When Lenna shook her head, the chancellor's face dropped. He clearly wasn't expecting that answer, and he certainly didn't welcome it. When Lenna curtly explained the situation with King Tycoon and the crystals, however, the chancellor was forced to yield. He did, however, insist that the party stay the night as their castle's honored guests.

During the night, a restless Lenna departed her room to feel the night air on her face. What she found was, to her astonishment, Faris staring out at the kingdom from the balcony that joined their two rooms. Having her suspicions, she quietly approached the pirate captain with a cautious eye. If she were right, then the chancellor had twice the reason to be concerned for the kingdom.

"You're up late..." muttered Lenna. Faris shook her head and leaned further against the balcony. Lenna quietly stepped forward and laid a hand on Faris' startled shoulder as she produced her pendant, the same as the one Faris held. "Sister..." she murmured. Faris immediately startled.

"You must be daft! Ain't no chance in hell I'm royalty!" croaked Faris. Lenna tilted her head and smiled.

"How do you explain the pendants we share, Sister?" asked Lenna sweetly. Faris angrily grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently, hard enough that Lenna immediately ceased to speak.

"Don't call me that ever again. You're a princess, I'm a pirate. Get that through your thick skull, girl, or I might put a hole in it!" snarled Faris. As she stormed off Lenna silently took hold of her pendant and grimaced. The sister she suspected was hers wanted nothing to do with her, or even entertain the chance that they were related. It was... painful.

Faris hurried back into her bed and threw the covers over herself. It was hard to deny the pendants, but there had to be a mistake if Lenna believed that she was her sister. She'd been raised as a pirate, was a pirate, and would likely remain a pirate. Even so, as she shut her eyes tight and allowed the night to take her again, her sleep came only reluctantly as a single thought echoed through her head.

"How long has it been since I called myself a woman...?" she whispered.

Scene Two

In the morning the team gathered around Bartz's bed, which when he woke up he promptly fell out of. Although he was a little irritated, he was hard pressed to say that it wasn't funny. Again the chancellor asked Lenna to stay but, when she refused, he reluctantly asked that she be given assistance before she and the others left. All four Warriors of Light were provided with mythril vests and bracers, as well as a mythril choker for the princess. They were provided potions, antidotes, and a healthy supply of traveling money before they set off. As he watched his princess fly into the distance, the best the chancellor could do was hold his monarch's helmet tight and pray for a positive outcome.

A day later the party arrived at the Water Metropolis of Walse, which was easily identified by its many waterways and ornate fountains that stretched high into the sky like skyscrapers. While Lenna stayed with Hiryu, her three friends decided to explore the town themselves. Bartz traversed nearly the entire town, using elevators and walkways that seemed to be powered by the Water Crystal. It was an absolutely breathtaking view, a testament to man's ingenuity and prowess. He stopped at the fountain in the center of town, which was ringed with lines and lined with rods of glowing blue light. One of the villagers met him there as he stared out at the city's surroundings and smiled.

"Walse is the greatest metropolis on the planet! Karnak and Tycoon are nothing compared to us! Everything in our great city is powered by the peerless energy of the Water Crystal! Without doubt, we're sure to dare to dream even higher... and climb higher than that!" boasted the city-dweller. Bartz simply narrowed his eyes as he looked at the lighted fountain and had a very different opinion.

"More like it's gonna be a nightmare..." he muttered darkly.

Galuf entered the port of the city and found, to his astonishment, that it was bustling with activity. Rather than sailing ships powered by wind, however, they used vehicles fueled with the power of the Water Crystal. Even if they only operated within Walsean territory, it was still remarkable. Because the crystal is enhanced, the vehicles required constant refueling at special fuel depots scattered about the city. As he stared out at the wondrous developments created by the Walseans, Galuf could only shake his head and sigh.

"You know what, people? Hubris is a bitch," said Galuf firmly.

The town library was the destination Faris chose. She found a detailed description of the machine augmenting the Water Crystal - who made it, how it works, and what it does. According to her research only the Earth Crystal wasn't augmented like the other three were, but only because its location was unknown. Even so, the ancients almost certainly developed the same technology, so it was likely boosted as well.

"Why is it that we have to be so damned greedy...?" wondered Faris as she shook her head and shut the book.

Once everyone had finished exploring the city, the Warriors of Light were led into the castle and granted an audience with King Walse. Dressed as a proper king, King Walse was a sturdy former warrior in his forties whose long black hair was worn in a ponytail that flowed down the back of his robes.

"It is most unfortunate that King Tycoon has disappeared. Perhaps we can pool our resources to search for him?" wondered King Walse. Lenna shook her head firmly. That wasn't the point, or the problem.

"We come with one request: remove the Water Crystal from its augmentation machine," said Lenna politely. King Walse received the idea as if he were being told the world was flat and that the globe he'd spent thousands of Gil on was worthless as a basketball in an aquarium.

"Preposterous! Walse depends on the augmentation machine to fuel its prosperity! I'd sooner dirty my robe and sweep the bathroom floors!" scolded King Walse. Lenna, whose patience had quickly waned, angrily produced her crystal shard.

"Prosperity means nothing if there's nothing left to prosper! The Wind Crystal was also augmented, and this is all that's left of it! If you don't disconnect the machine immediately, the same fate that the Wind Crystal suffered will be delivered unto the Water Crystal! This is not a request any longer! It is a necessity!" protested Lenna testily.

Although the king remained reluctant, a great rumbling disturbed the negotiations. When a massive crash shook the room and nearly toppled everyone present, Lenna nearly fell to her knees but managed to catch herself, same as her friends. King Walse, however, was jolted back into his throne. As the din receded, a Walsean soldier hurried into the throne room, armed and armored.

"A meteorite has just landed near the Tower of Walse! And the Tower itself is under attack by unknown forces!" announced the soldier frantically. King Walse staggered to his feet and snatched up his sword, and moved to leave the chamber but was stopped when Bartz grabbed him by the back of his robes and grappled on tight.

"What part of this don't you get, you old fool?! Disconnect the damn machine! Now!" Bartz insisted. King Walse grabbed his robe and wrenched it free, then turned to Bartz with indignation on his face. Even if he was being insolent, the king hadn't the time to scold him on his manners.

"The machine and the crystal are in the Tower!" growled the king. The king broke away and hurried from the chamber with his soldiers close behind, leaving Bartz to slowly come to a deadly realization.

"Aw, crud. We're screwed!" screeched Bartz.

Scene Three

The vehicles used by the Walseans gave them the advantage in the time it took to get to the Tower of Walse, so unfortunately by the time the Warriors of Light rode Hiryu to the tower they arrived to find the king and his men maimed and laying crumpled in heaps of blood on the first floor. The king himself had taken several deep lacerations from the enemy swordsmen, and now lay prone on the ground.

"I beg of you, protect the Water Crystal!" insisted the king desperately.

"You're responsible for it in the first place! Blame yourself before you beg us for anything!" scolded Faris angrily. The king only feebly nodded as he was taken up by his soldiers and carried from the tower. Her teeth clenched, Faris produced her middle finger to the king as he departed. "Dirty old coward!" she snarled.

As they charged up the stairs, they were met by an unwelcome sight: enemy troops. Several of them were armed soldiers. As a creature of the ice element, their bodies were a frigid white and they wielded both a sword and a shield. Then there were the sorcerers. An evolved offshoot of a Mani Wizard, the Ricard Mage was far more human in appearance and looked like a simple sorcerer dressed in auburn robes. The Warriors of Light tangled with three soldiers on the first floor, two and a mage on the second, and so on. By the time they reached the final floor they were running on fumes.

"Who sent these punks?! Whose army is this?!" snarled Bartz. It was inexplicable. None of the nations of the world would dare launch an assault on another country's crystal, and then there was the fact that none of them were actually humans. They were simple, armed monsters.

At the top of the stairs inside the crystal chamber, they hurried into the room to find two figures, one a man and the other a monster. The man was a soldier in strange garb, armed with a sword and shield. The creature was a woolly abomination on four legs. Thick limbs and an even thicker torso, oddly enough its ridiculously shaped nose would have made it cute if it wasn't devoted to maiming the Water Crystal. Despite his best efforts the soldier was rammed and thrown to the side, and the Garula hurled itself against the crystal's barrier as it attempted to break through it. The soldier feebly attempted to lift himself up but failed, though when he spied Galuf his eyes widened like dinner plates.

"Your Majesty?! Why are you here, My Lord?!" choked the soldier, shortly before he fell unconscious. There was no time to ponder what the soldier meant when he addressed Galuf as royalty; all the time they had needed to be devoted to slaying Garula and rescuing the crystal. Bartz and Faris both drew their weapons and lunged, though their blades were unable to pierce its thick skin, and they were soon thrown aside.

"I'll bring the ceiling down on the bugger! That'll stop it!" growled Galuf. As he placed his hands together, however, Lenna tackled him and knocked him to the floor. "What are you doing?! We need to kill that thing!" yelled Galuf.

"By killing us all?! Bring down the ceiling and we all die!" protested Lenna angrily. She pulled herself to her seat and dragged Galuf by the collar close to her face in an uncharacteristic act of aggression. "Stop speaking nonsense! We need to protect the crystal, but we have to protect ourselves as well!" choked Lenna.

With all its effort Garula finally broke through the crystal's barrier and hurled its mighty body into it, cracking it open. In desperation Bartz and Faris launched a final assault that killed Garula, but it was too late. The crystal cracked and cracked even more, before finally shattering. Lenna fell to her knees in horror and screamed, though one of the crystal shards zoomed towards her face. She deftly caught it, though when she listened close and heard a voice speaking to her the shard embedded itself inside her mythril choker and she dropped limply to the floor.

"Lenna, get a grip!" begged Bartz. He gathered Lenna and got her to her feet, but by this time it was far too late. The entire tower had begun to submerge. Even though it seemed to be the end, one of the walls cracked and then shattered, and a familiar sea serpent's head jutted out from the hole, much to Faris' relief.

"Syldra! You came!" Faris gasped, although the joy was soon washed away by the tower's collapse. When Syldra opened her mouth wide Galuf quickly understood and ushered his friend inside her jaws, and Bartz did the same to Lenna. By the time the cataclysm had passed, only four weakened souls lay on a deserted beach. Faris quietly opened her eyes to find Syldra's face staring back at her, but quickly realized that Syldra had been mortally wounded by the attack. "Don't you dare leave me!" she screeched.

Faris clasped her arms around Syldra's neck and desperately attempted to drag her ashore, but the sea serpent had already succumbed and began to drag her along with it into the depths. As Syldra's body began to drift deep into the depths, Faris frantically dove into the sea and chased after her. With all her might she swam, faster and further than she thought she could withstand, though finally she realized that she could no longer follow Syldra. Swelled with anger, she zoomed towards the surface and broke open the waters with a heaving, desperate breath, and croaked out her friend's name just before she fell backwards, unconscious.

Scene Four

The cataclysm had been absolute. In addition to the outright loss of life, all the wondrous machinery that powered Walse immediately ceased to function, leaving only hulks of steel and stone as a testament to their hubris. In the aftermath a bedridden King Walse met with the Warriors of Light, his breath haggard and his pulse quickened. All his hopes and dreams had been shattered, leaving only a husk of a man.

"Everything has come to naught... all of our wonders have stopped functioning. You were right..." croaked the king. Galuf angrily stepped up and, ignoring all politeness, flipped the king off.

"Hubris is hubris! You brought all this on yourself!" snapped Galuf. The king was unable to find an adequate answer, and so fell to his back with a distressed cry. After a brief bit of thought, however, he dragged himself to his seat. They still had one card left to play.

"At least take our Eidolon with you!" begged the king. Bartz titled his head, confused. King Walse laid a hand to his face and groaned. "Shiva, Monarch of Frost, is sealed behind the castle. Tame her and you'll gain an invaluable ally. Her might could make the difference between victory and defeat. Please, take her!" he said forcefully.

"And that helps us how? Why would this thing listen to us?" groaned Bartz. After a bit of thought, Galuf nodded his head. There was another power granted to the chosen of the Earth Crystal: the summoning of ancient spirits... summoned beasts, Eidolons. There was still a chance to bolster their forces, and they had to take it.

The king's word was kept; behind the waterfall of the castle was a large cavern. By following it to its end they found themselves in a grand temple, with large sculptures of ice and pillars of frost lining the walls of the glorious chamber. Far in the back was a majestic throne, and a red carpet led from the entrance to the throne. Breathless, Lenna slowly lifted her hand to her mouth in awe.

"It's so beautiful!" breathed Lenna.

"Beauty can cut as easily as it shines. The blades of the northern wind can rend you asunder, should I command them to."

From far in the back a figure emerged on the throne, and blue flames lit the way down the carpet and to the entity. She was beautiful, an idealistic rendition of a winter sprite wreathed with the crown of a queen. Shiva, the Eidolon of Ice, reclined in her throne with a seductive look in her eye. To her side there were four creatures, Ice Soldiers, just as they'd seen at the Tower of Walse. These, however, were the attendants to Shiva and not the servants of an unknown evil.

"Leave. I won't ask you again."

"Sorry, but you're coming with us. You're on our side, now," said Galuf firmly. Apparently too firmly, as Shiva angrily rose to her feet and lifted her hand, then swung it down sharply.

"Kill them! All but the old man!"

To Galuf's shock the four Ice Soldiers lunged and charged past him, towards his friends. Bartz and Faris immediately took up arms to defend both themselves as well as Lenna, and although Galuf prepared to join them Shiva appeared in front of him, coated in a frosty blue aura. He could feel the anger from her, the rage. Clearly, she didn't take kindly to Galuf's request.

"Best me and I will serve you. Fail, and I'll kill you."

"Nothing I've got can help me here! Gadzooks!" exclaimed Galuf. He took up a defensive stance and parried Shiva's first blow, as well as the second, the third, and the many subsequent attacks that she hurled at him.

Finally he was forced to his knees. Scenting victory, Shiva drew a long, silvery sword made of ice and prepared to strike. On sheer impulse Galuf raised up his hands and swung downwards with what he quickly realized was nothing but air. To his shock, however, a massive shock wave shattered Shiva's sword and rocketed her backwards and into her throne, ruining it. As she fell into its crumbling remains and the others moved forward having bested the Ice Soldiers, Galuf quietly stared at his hands. He could feel gravity itself warp around them, twisting space itself into a massive reservoir of pure energy.

"No one told me I could do that..." moaned Galuf.

"The crystal shard gifted you a temporary boost. You'll not see it again unless you protect the Earth Crystal."

Galuf fell to his seat in shock as Shiva slowly dragged herself out of the remains of her throne. She stormed towards him, her gait filled with fury, and when she reached him she reared back her hand as if to slap him. Naturally he flinched, but when he opened his eyes Galuf was stunned to see that Shiva had bowed to him. He stared up in shock as the Eidolon lifted her head and presented him with a smile.

"Accidental as it was, a deal is a deal. I give myself to your servitude, Chosen of Earth. Pray, prove yourself a deserving master."

At that Shiva began to shine and then shattered into thousands of snowflakes, that then whirled around Galuf and coated his skin a deep, frosty white. As the cold began to overtake him, Galuf gripped his shoulders with both hands and uttered a nasty word. Even if he did get Shiva, it was so damned cold.

"That was amazing, Galuf!" cheered Lenna. Faris stepped up and examined Galuf carefully, and after assessing him she scowled and folded her arms over her chest. That simply wouldn't do.

"It was also a one-off deal. Apparently finding Shiva was so vital that the Earth Crystal pulsed its full power through his crystal shard and gave him the pinnacle of his power. He couldn't do it again even if he prayed to half a dozen gods," said Faris plainly.

"Yeah... but there is a silver lining..." groaned Galuf. He stretched out his hand and energy began to flow into his palm, and when he clenched tight a long sword of sparkling energy formed in his hand, shimmering all the colors of the rainbow. "I back-hacked the sword deal and created a new one out of air particles drawn together by magnetism. Now, I have a weapon. But the damned crystal should've just told me this when I first got the shard..." he muttered darkly.

Back at the castle infirmary, the party gathered around the mysterious soldier who had attempted to hold off Garula. One of the Walsean soldiers had dragged him out of the tower just in time, and now he lay bedridden. He was only semi-conscious, fading between deep slumber and what could pass as awareness, though as he slept he mumbled: "The meteorites are linked."

"He said that the meteorites are linked... Maybe if we go to the meteorite that fell near the Tower of Walse, we can find a clue to the next crystal!" tittered Lenna. Bartz sighed and nodded. It was worth a shot. They may as well give it a shot.

"Not too happy that we're relying on this guy... but whatever. Let's head out," said Bartz quietly. The idea that they were basing their entire strategy off a few ramblings from some soldier from who-knows-where, who they no idea who he was, and that somehow he knew Galuf and referred to him as if he were royalty. "Got to be a mistake... the old codger can't be a king..." he muttered.

Author's Notes

If any of you have read "The Jenova War," you'll know that I'm a diehard One Piece fanboy. If you haven't: I'm a diehard One Piece fanboy. Walse's architecture is based pretty much squarely on Water Seven, from the Paradise half of the Grand Line. Hopefully I haven't broken any copyright laws with all these references, 'cause at this point I'd be sunk. Sunk, get it? Bad joke... But whatever, my humor sucks. If no one thinks anything I write is funny, I couldn't blame you. My sense of humor is... Whatever, no one cares.

Like in my other fics I want to give everyone their own time in the sun... Just, this time it might not necessarily make sense. Why take the time to dawdle in town when the Water Crystal's in danger? Whatever, not my problem anymore since it's written. I guess I just wanted to world-build. Next chapter Lenna's crystal shard comes up again... a power-up. I'll be telling you guys what the upgrades are as they appear in the actual story. As in, after the Fire Crystal for Faris and after the Earth Crystal for Galuf.