Start Date: August 12, 2023

Windwillow

Final Fantasy V: War of the Crystals

Chapter Nine: To Bridge Two Worlds

They were gone. Galuf and Krile had entered Krile's meteorite - the only one left with any power - and disappeared into their own world. They'd had the decency to let the others see them off, but once that was done there was no satisfaction to be found. The crystals had chosen four of them. Even if their own crystals were shattered, none of them felt any satisfaction in leaving things as they were. The wind would soon cease, fires would disappear, the seas would become polluted and the earth itself would rot. That couldn't be helped. For all intents and purposes their planet was awaiting its own slow, miserable death.

That left the other world. The three remaining Warriors of Light retired to Lix to gather their thoughts. By the next day Bartz was visited by the two princesses in his own room, where he'd been doing quite a bit of thinking. When they opened the door he already knew what was on their minds and the decision that they'd made, because he had the same thing on his mind and he'd made the same decision. As he stared at the ceiling, hands behind his head as a pillow, Bartz refused to make eye contact with either of them.

"I'm guessing we all have the same idea," muttered Bartz.

Lenna nodded and grabbed hold of her pendant, gripped it tight, and said a prayer. Her father had died for them. He'd entrusted them with protecting the crystals, but it was too late. "Even if there isn't any hope here..." Lenna murmured, a new determination forming in her eyes. She turned to Bartz with a resolute grimace and a smile crossed her face. "There's still hope elsewhere. And we have an obligation to see that hope through!" she said proudly.

Faris nodded and massaged her own jewel. She'd found her father, the one she'd sought all her life, and then lost him in the most brutal manner possible. Because she saw him die such a painful, pointless death, Faris intended to make certain that no one else would die without purpose. "I intend to make Exdeath suffer for what he's done," snarled Faris. Bartz felt the same way. For whatever reason his father had sought to protect the crystals, something that his son was unable to do. Now, chosen by the crystals to protect the world, he'd utterly failed. That couldn't be rectified, but there was still one person left to protect.

Bartz shook his head and sighed. "Friends are friends no matter how many worlds apart they are... But I need to ask: Are you two sure that you want to leave everyone behind? The pirates? The whole kingdom of Tycoon? Once we step into that world we'll never see our own again. I'll never come back here, Tycoon will never have a ruler, and those pirates will be waiting for a ship to arrive that doesn't even exist anymore. Are you guys certain this is what you want to happen?" asked Bartz. When he received no response, he quietly lifted himself from his bed, snatched up his sword, and placed it at his hip. "Good, 'cause I was going to go with or without you," he smirked.

"But... how do we even reach Galuf's world?" Lenna asked glumly.

Bartz adjusted his belt and stepped towards the door, silently moving past Lenna and Faris. As he stopped cold at the very end of the room, he turned back with a toothy grin and flashed a thumbs-up. "We all know the answer: Cid and Mid," he said plainly. "We need to head back to the Catapult and get their input."

Scene One

The Enterprise lifted off from Lix, presumably for the last time, and made haste to the Catapult. Once there they docked their airship and hurried to the living area to find Cid and Mid, but found no one there and instead tried the library. Again no one in sight, though Lenna found a note saying that they would be returning the Adamantite to Galuf's meteorite, saying that it was too volatile to be left anywhere else. They made haste to the Tycoon Meteorite and landed nearby, finding that their friends' two Black Chocobos were parked outside of the meteorite. Once they entered they found Cid and Mid trembling at the back of the chamber, with a large tile glowing in the center of the room.

"What the hell is going on?!" Bartz shouted fiercely. Cid, once he gathered himself, adjusted his glasses and tapped the Adamantite. When he did so the tile began to fade, and when he tapped it again the warp again formed.

"We returned the Adamantite to its original location... and everything lit up like a cosmic candelabra," explained Cid. He stepped down from where he stood and pointed at the tile, which had now begun to show a bizarre symbol of some sort, pulsing in and out of existence. "That symbol lit up. When we touched it... well... do you want to try it yourselves?" he asked quietly.

Lenna silently nodded her head and approached the tile. Its light was strong, and despite the potential danger she tentatively stretched out her hand and laid her palm on the symbol on the floor. From around her neck (and on Faris' bracelet) the crystal shards began to shimmer, and the symbol expanded into a three-dimensional representation of a world map. The continents were unfamiliar, the seas an unusual color, so that led to only one conclusion: this was Galuf's world.

"Can this carry us to the next world?" asked Lenna softly. When Cid shook his head, she silently hung her head in despair. "Damn... There's no way that this can carry us?" she choked, with an intensity that shocked her friends. She turned her eye to Bartz and gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry... I got caught up in the moment," she said cheerfully, back to her old self.

Bartz simply smiled in response, and Cid stepped up to the projection, tapped a few commands into a console that had formed before him, and the image of Galuf's world split into two globes. One was Galuf's, though the other was familiar. He input a few more commands and four locations lit up on their world map: the location of the four meteorites. "One meteorite, no. Four? That's a possibility," explained Cid quietly.

"You've honestly thought it through?" Mid asked. Bartz shook his head, and Cid's expression became one of disgust.

Damned fools and they knew it. "Nonsense!" Cid growled sternly. "You'll never see your friends and family again! We'll never see you again! You'd have to be off your rocker to even consider this kind of thing!" he snapped. Bartz folded his arms over his chest and sighed. It was ridiculous.

"If I have to give up seeing Lix again, if I can help Galuf I'm fine with it," said Bartz firmly. "I owe it to Galuf. We're partially responsible for all this, even if that old bat was the one who brought the monster here in the first place. I don't intend to abandon my friend..." he sighed.

Cid turned his attention to Lenna, who nodded. "I'll renounce the throne," she said firmly. Cid looked at Faris last, hoping that she would be the one with some sort of reason, but he found nothing but resolve.

"The boys will find a new captain," said Faris plainly.

"You three fools have gone insane..." croaked Cid.

"Will we still help?" Mid wondered. Cid adjusted his glasses and smiled.

"Damn straight we will," Cid said plainly.

Lenna's face immediately lit up and she broke out into a beaming smile. "Is there anything we can do to help?" Lenna asked excitedly. Mid adjusted his own glasses and nodded.

"We'll collect Adamantite from all four meteorites, and then we can make it work," said Mid. "We should start with the last meteorite, the one that Krile came on..." he said softly. With more resolution he flashed a thumbs up. "One down, three to go!" cheered Mid.

Scene Two

With the first meteorite's Adamantite secured, the next step was to visit the Gohn Meteorite, the one that Krile had come on. When they arrived in the ruins of the Ronka complex, the band found that a large chunk of meteorite was still jutting from where it had first landed in the crystal room. Cid and Mid departed to secure the Adamantite, but when they failed to return the Warriors of Light hurried inside. They found the pair huddled in a corner, pinned down by a large beast. The chimera was an unholy mixture of various beasts: goats, lions, even serpents all cobbled together in a single, deadly body.

"H-Help..." squeaked Mid weakly.

Bartz wasted no time and drew his sword. The blade began to shimmer like a mirage as the vacuum formed, and with a single lash of his arm the vacuum soared through the air and towards the Manticore. The strike immediately severed its lion head, and the Manticore turned on its heel to reveal blood-red eyes and a nasty set of fangs on all of its remaining heads. The monster took in a deep, deep breath and began to quake. When it breathed out a large torrent of water burst from its mouths and zoomed towards the three Warriors of Light.

Faris immediately threw out her hands and blasted the water with a pulse of magic that froze the water from start to finish. Bartz deftly vaulted over the ice and landed squarely on the Manticore's back, lifted his weapon, and drove it deep into the Manticore's heart, killing it instantly. As Faris melted the remaining ice using her flames Bartz sheathed his sword and turned to Cid and Mid. Still trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, Mid feebly hoisted the Adamantite into the air and gave a nervous smile.

"Next is the Karnak Meteorite!" tittered Cid. As the two scientists hurried from the chamber, Lenna turned to Bartz and tilted her head.

"We follow them, right?" Lenna asked softly. Bartz nodded and put a hand to his face.

"Otherwise... This kind of crap's going to happen again..." he moaned.

Scene Three

By the time they exited the Gohn Meteorite, Cid and Mid had already left using their Black Chocobos. The Warriors of Light followed them, this time flying towards the meteorite that had linked Walse and Karnak several days previously. They landed nearby and found the Black Chocobos once more, though Cid and Mid quickly joined them when they fled from the meteorite as quickly as their feet could carry them.

"I'm too old for this garbage!" screeched Cid. He and Mid hurried off to find a corner to hide in, leaving the other three to contemplate what had just happened. Clearly there was something else inside that they'd have to deal with.

"Yes," Faris said plainly, before Lenna could even open her mouth to ask the question. She shrugged and adjusted her belt, ready to fight.

They hurried inside the meteorite and found in the back another chunk of Adamantite, though in the center a large form awaited them. It was the Eidolon of Earth, resembling like Forza the titan Atlas. Its body was humanoid, but hulking with muscle and wearing only a thick brown loincloth as its clothing. Although Lenna slowly retreated Bartz snatched up his blade and charged, only for Titan to slam its fists onto the ground, unbalancing him. The resulting shock wave upturned the floor and a bed of spikes formed all around the room, barring their path from Titan. The spikes were tall, easily a foot off the ground, and surrounded the entirety of the chamber from the entryway to the location of the Adamantite.

"Crud! We can't even walk now!" choked Bartz.

"We can if we don't fall," Faris said plainly. Although her companions had no idea what she meant, Faris lifted her left arm and clutched her bracelet tightly. Dust and dirt began to kick up around her and a thin white aura coated her entire body as she slowly lifted up off the ground and began to float just above the spikes. To their shock Bartz and Lenna quickly followed suit, and all three of them began to levitate off the ground and above the spikes.

"Amazing..." Lenna croaked. Bartz drew his sword and clapped a hand to her shoulder, finding to both their relieves that it didn't lower Lenna's body at all.

"We still need to kill that thing," Bartz snapped, prompting Lenna to realize that the situation was more than stepping over spikes; if they tried to pass by Titan, it would likely just swat them onto the spikes and kill them outright. Lenna silently nodded her head, wiped the sweat from her brow, and assumed a defensive position. Even if she wasn't much of a fighter, she could at least provide some sort of backup.

Bartz tentatively took a step forward atop the spikes. He found, to his satisfaction, that he didn't fall onto the spikes and confidently drew his sword, soon followed by Faris drawing her cutlass while Lenna remained behind and shook. Both Bartz and Faris slowly moved towards Titan and split up, Bartz taking Titan's right while Faris moved to its left side. The Eidolon made no obvious attempt to stop them, so they felt comfortable enough to gather themselves and took in a deep breath, preparing for what would come next. Bartz lifted his sword and Faris her cutlass, and together they swung down at Titan. From Bartz's blade a vacuum of air shot forward, a storm of flame coming from Faris' weapon. Titan was undaunted, and simply slammed its hands down again, causing the spikes around it to lift up and absorb the two attacks.

"So long as the spikes are there we can't touch it..." murmured Faris.

Both warriors shared a brief glance, nodded, and lifted up their weapons vertically before driving them deep into the spikes. The resulting shock wave of wind and fire blasted the spikes to bits and left Titan as a sitting duck in the center of the chamber. Titan instead lifted its right arm and slammed it down, this time sending a long shock wave bursting through the earth at Lenna. She was forced to take the attack, though she used her water to cushion the impact, and was thrown into a crater in the back of the room, where she lay prone as Titan again lifted its arm.

A furious Bartz gripped his weapon in both hands and soared towards Titan, then delivered a single slash that took off the Eidolon's right arm entirely. Titan promptly whacked him in the face with its left fist and sent him careening through the air to land in a crater similar to Lenna's. This time it lifted its left arm, preparing to swing at Bartz. The Eidolon never had the opportunity to do so, as Faris lashed out and severed its left arm, allowing it to fall limply to the ground. With a cocky smile, Faris shouldered her cutlass and slowly stepped towards Titan, prepared to finish it off.

"No more arms. Guess you can't do that again, eh?" asked Faris confidently.

Faris failed to realize that most human beings have four limbs. Instead of using its now-severed arms, Titan lifted one of its mighty legs and slammed it down, with the resulting shock wave blasting Faris into the back of the chamber, ending in a similar fate to those of her companions. As the Eidolon lifted its leg once again to attack, Bartz dug himself out of his crater and swung in a wide arc, sending out a vacuum that severed both of Titan's legs and dropped its torso limply to the floor.

While Titan futilely writhed around in agony it watched as Bartz nonchalantly stepped past it, claimed the Adamantite, and gave the beast a fiendish smile. "Game. Set. Match," Bartz smirked. Although Titan found no humor in the situation, Bartz honestly didn't give a damn.

Scene Four

Once outside the meteorite the three Warriors of Light propped themselves up against the asteroid, wounded and exhausted. Though she was still winded Lenna clapped her hands on her friends' shoulders, and began to heal their injuries. Once she'd finished, she dropped to her seat herself and snatched up a potion from her belt, downed it, and let out a sharp breath as her own wounds began to mend.

"It's my last potion..." muttered Lenna idly.

Bartz stumbled to his feet and tossed the Adamantite at Cid, who caught it and stored it with the other two pieces. The two exchanged a silent nod and the two scientists mounted their Black Chocobos, and then lifted off high into the sky. All that remained was the Walse Meteorite. As Faris also hoisted herself up both she and Bartz snatched up their own final potions, exchanged a brief glance, and quickly chugged the nectar to return them to their full strength. After landing near the Walse Meteorite, Bartz found that the two Black Chocobos were still outside of the meteorite. That left Cid and Mid in precisely the same pickle that they'd been in through the last two meteorites.

"You're kidding me, right?!" snarled Bartz, taking off just ahead of the two princesses. "What are the odds that this happens three times?" he croaked. He made good time and quickly reached the center of the meteorite, where six monsters had begun to rotate around Cid and Mid. They were large purple orbs of flame with fangs and claws that resembled some sort of warped demon. "You two are going to be the death of me..." Bartz choked.

Bartz gave out a sharp whistle to get the attention of the Purobolos, which succeeded. He drew his sword swiftly just as Lenna and Faris arrived. While Faris hurried to join her companion, the six Purobolos began to rotate clockwise in their direction. After a few rotations they suddenly came to a halt and all six of them belched out a huge burst of flame that flew directly towards Bartz and Faris. Before they could react, Lenna dashed forward and threw out both hands at the oncoming flames. A large amount of water burst from both her palms and extinguished the fire, further dampening the Purobolos themselves and covering them in water.

"Do it! Now!" called Lenna.

After exchanging a brief glance, Bartz and Faris threw out their hands in unison at the Purobolos. The resulting blast of freezing air froze four of the six solid, and as they began to shudder and fall the two remaining prepared another burst of fire. As the four frozen beasts fell to the ground and shattered, Bartz and Faris neatly diced up the remaining two and left their remnants to fall to the ground.

Once the fires had faded, Mid slowly waddled to his feet and then dropped back to his seat. "I so did not sign up for this!" moaned Mid.

"Do you have the Adamantite or not?" Bartz groaned. When Mid feebly produced the mineral, Bartz sheathed his sword and dropped to his seat in exhaustion. They'd been through four meteorites and three different breeds of monster, but they'd done it. Everyone returned to the Enterprise, Cid and Mid in tow, and gathered around the bridge to stare at the four pieces of Adamantite. "Okay, what now?" asked Bartz.

"I'll ask one more time: Are you sure about this?" asked Cid. When he received stony silence, the old scientist threw up his hands in disgust. "Fine, whatever, they're your lives..." he muttered. Reluctantly he placed the four pieces of Adamantite together, where a chain reaction began that ended with a searing beam of light that struck far into the distance. Cid frowned and folded his arms over his chest.

They really are a bunch of unmitigated fools...

This was so insane. But if that's what it would take to satisfy them, why interfere? "That area is only reachable by airship... Go whenever you want..." Cid sighed. After a bit of thought he reached out his hand, and Bartz took it and shook it. "We'll go about telling your loved ones about your stupid decision... so don't worry about that... and I guess all that's left to say is: Godspeed!" said Cid, perhaps a bit reluctantly.

After departing from Cid and Mid, the three remaining Warriors of Light piloted the Enterprise to the location that the four pieces of Adamantite had pointed. What they found was a large mass of whirling, multicolored light, seemingly a storm contained beneath a series of rock layers. This was the time of decision, as there was still time to back down. Tycoon would lose its royal family, Faris' pirates would be out of both a ship and a captain, and poor Boko would end up who-knows-where. The resolve they showed in their eyes, however, dismissed these concerns as they linked hands and leapt inside the vortex.

Author's Notes

Brief as they were, I hope I did the three mid-bosses some justice.