Start Date: March 29, 2024
Windwillow
Final Fantasy V: War of the Crystals
Chapter Fifteen: Breaking the Seal (Part One)
Located in the northern half of the world map, the Sealed Castle Kuza was the site where the twelve legendary weapons that had defeated the warlock Enuo were sealed. While it was accessible in Galuf's world, without the Sealed Tome there was no way to access the weapons. Now, however, the four tablets would guide the Warriors of Light to the location of the twelve masterworks, with each tablet able to unseal three of the twelve at one time.
The Warriors of Light piloted the Enterprise to the site of the Sealed Castle, where they used an elevator to descend into the chamber where the twelve weapons were sealed. They chose three at random: the Rune Axe, the Holy Lance, and the Masamune. Although Bartz found himself longing for either the axe or the lance, he knew that he was totally useless in combat with anything but a sword.
Faris, however, took a liking to the legendary katana Masamune. It was a fine example of craftsmanship, forged of mixed Mythril and steel to create a light and sturdy blade capable of cutting through anything its wielder wished would be rent apart. She set aside her cutlass, swapping it with the Masamune and laid the katana at her side in place of her previous weapon. While Bartz was suspicious Krile and Lenna fully endorsed the change. In the meantime, the warriors stashed the Holy Lance and Rune Axe inside the magic sack that they'd received from Ghido.
Back onboard the Enterprise the party met to discuss their next objective. Krile was the first to point out that the Big Bridge had carried over from her world, and had a strange oriental style temple smack dab in the middle of it. Near where the Catapult once stood was a huge tower, but the other tablets didn't seem to be readily accessible. With no other good option, and reasoning that the temple would be a good place to start, the Warriors of Light piloted their airship to the edge of the Big Bridge and began a long journey across it to reach the Sealed Temple.
Scene One
Traversing the Big Bridge took a good six hours. Once there they found a huge pagoda with a staircase leading down deeper into the complex. Down below were the same two Gargoyle statues that had barred their way into the Pyramid, along with the same sealed door as they'd found at that location. Although Lenna grabbed her shoulders and shivered at the sight of the beasts, Bartz and Faris quietly took up position on either end as the Sealed Tome ripped out a page.
Sealed within the Temple of Souls is the tablet you seek. Be prepared, warrior, to prove yourselves in combat.
The page fizzled and burst into flames, prompting the two Gargoyles to come to life. Lenna immediately stepped back in terror, overwhelmed by the negative energy that the monsters were releasing. Bartz and Faris, however, drew their weapons and in unison decapitated the two Gargoyles at the same instant. This caused the statues to vanish in a burst of green flames, leaving the Warriors of Light to prepare for their journey inside. Lenna was shocked at the ease with which the Gargoyles were dispatched, though Krile patted her on the back and reassured her that since they knew the trick they were never in danger.
Inside the Sealed Temple they found a huge complex designed like an oriental garden, with multiple pagodas and artificial rivers, with Kanji characters etched on the walls and on paper banners leading further in. The first encounter they had, however, was with three Numb Blades. The epitome of an ancient samurai warrior, Numb Blades are topped by reed kasa hats and carried a single, long sword known as a nodachi. All three were skilled swordsmen, and all were programmed to kill whomever entered the temple.
As the Numb Blades began to approach Faris' fingers slowly reached for her new weapon, the Masamune. She suddenly tightened her grip on the blade and zoomed forward, and upon drawing her weapon she neatly cut the Numb Blade in half, soon following by quartering it and then dicing it up even further. This made her the target of the next two Numb Blades. They both made their attacks nimbly and efficiently, though with the lightness of her new weapon Faris easily chopped off one of their arms and Bartz and Krile diced the two to pieces with their own weapons.
This both amazed and horrified Lenna. She knew then that she was the weakest link, the one member of the team that had to be protected, and wondered whether all she was good for was her white magic. Faris remarked on the lightness and strength of the Masamune, while mentioning how effortless it was to swing it, almost as if it were her own natural limb. Though Krile praised Faris, Bartz noticed Lenna back away and grip her hands in front of her, totally unsure of how to proceed.
Bartz already knew what she was thinking, and it truly bothered him. He was well aware that Lenna had no offensive powers that they'd discovered yet. Even against Exdeath she'd been a one-hit-wonder. He quietly reached out and laid a hand on the princess's shoulder, startling her out of her trance and drawing her attention to the powerful swordsman who she'd come to love and admire. It was then that she vowed that she would never be a burden again, and as they continued on through the temple she shut her eyes tight and communed with the Water Crystal embedded in her choker, desperate to learn what her true powers were.
As they continued through the Sealed Temple, the Warriors of Light marveled at the wondrous architecture of the place. There were several tiered gates and artificial rivers, with small gardens of grass and other plants leading the way on either side of the bridge that they'd come to make use of. Eventually they passed through a large gate and found themselves inside a huge garden, with rivers and waterfalls interspersed around the massive complex.
"I can smell danger..." mumbled Faris, her hand ever held close to her weapon. Krile reluctantly nodded and followed Faris, with Bartz in the lead. The swordsman kept close tabs on each and every movement on the water and the grassy floor, careful to be prepared to strike, but was unprepared when a Shadow Dancer burst out of the waterfall. Humanoid in appearance, the Shadow Dancer was cloaked in black robes and carried two long katana that it wielded in both normal and reverse grip.
After drawing his sword Bartz nimbly parried one of the Dancer's swords, but had no defense when its second slashed a gash in his shoulder. It took its foot, laid it on Bartz's chest, and forcefully thrust the swordsman deep into a far wall before moving to engage the others. Although both Faris and Krile drew their weapons and parried one blow each, a follow-up knocked both of them away with thick gashes on their torso, leaving the Shadow Dancer to target Lenna. Her breathing quickened and sweat began to pour down her face as she quietly prayed to the Water Crystal for guidance.
I can control water, right? When I fought Exdeath I used something extraordinary... and wounded him. So, clearly I can do more than create a bit of water. It was like I blasted him with the thunderous crashing of a tidal wave, the sheer pressure overcoming his defenses and piercing through his armor. It's a strength as great as the currents that crisscross the sea floor, the power of the ocean itself. If I were to use that strength as a sword again... or rather as two swords, one for each arm... That's it! My power isn't just controlling water! I see it now!
The Shadow Dancer continued on towards Lenna unimpeded, none of her friends being able to help defend her. As it approached Lenna suddenly thrust her palm at it and the Shadow Dancer's head jolted backwards as if it had been struck with a bullet. She quickly threw her arms around the monster, tightened her grip, and slowly a sphere of water formed around them both. While she held the Shadow Dancer tight the sphere swiftly condensed itself and seemingly crushed them both in a massive burst of water.
"LENNA!" Bartz shrieked, desperately moving to her side with his sword drawn. When the water dispersed he found that both Lenna and the Shadow Dancer had survived, although the latter had taken severe wounds from being compressed with water. Lenna, however, emerged totally unscathed. The Shadow Dancer slipped back and prepared to counter attack, but before it could do so Bartz sliced its head off. As both the monster's headless body and his own injured one fell Bartz frantically reached out to Lenna. "What the hell was that?!" he roared.
"I've misinterpreted my powers from the beginning... I don't create and control water! I'm enchanted with the power of the ocean itself!" Lenna rasped, laying her hand to her heart with a wide smile on her face. "The sea is the mother of the world! With her crashing might and violent spirit I can compress and crush anything I wish! I won't be a burden any longer!"
"Unbelievable..." heaved a shocked Krile. A slim smile etched itself on her face as she stumbled to her feet. Although she was still injured, it was nothing that Lenna's white magic couldn't remedy. "You're coming into your own, aren't you? Awesome, girl!"
"Not quite... You're sweating bullets and shaking like you're a leaf caught in a hurricane," groaned Faris. "Say it all you like, but words won't give you the bravery to fight. You need the right mindset."
"Ha ha... You're right! I'm absolutely petrified right now!" Lenna laughed. "But it's thrilling!" At first Bartz chuckled, then he began to laugh, and finally he broke out into full-on raucous laughter at Lenna's audacity. He wordlessly approached the princess and threw his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace with her trembling head laid flat on his chest. Faris had a slightly different outlook.
"Make her cry and I'll butcher you..." she whispered softly.
Scene Two
Traversing the Sealed Temple was a slow, grueling experience. Even with the first wave dispatched there were always new threats looming, hiding behind each door. Through the next several rooms the Warriors of Light went toe-to-toe with even more Numb Blades and Shadow Dancers. The battles were long and difficult, with the monsters of the new world many times more lethal than either the first or second. Each time they pushed through and Lenna mended them with her white magic, but eventually even the strongest of warriors would begin to falter.
With their stamina drained and any expectation of a quick victory erased, the Warriors of Light threw open the next door and found themselves in a very familiar setting. They'd arrived at what seemed to be a crystal room, the same as they'd found in Bartz's world. While they didn't see a crystal there was a tantalizing find in the back of the room: the second tablet. Before they could approach it, however, a thin blue line formed between them that quickly ballooned into a wider bubble of blue light.
"So, you've come..."
The blue light split into four separate beings, each of them azure blue demons that resembled humans in almost every way save the fact that they were hooved and horned. Each of them possessed their own aura of danger, the scent of their vile strength wafting throughout the chamber and into the nostrils of the four warriors. Each of the four demons possessed its own consciousness, apparently.
"You've come to fight the Wailing Wendigo, servant of Exdeath and Demon of the Rift. Be prepared for the fight of your lives."
Bartz deftly drew his sword and placed it at his side, positioning himself between Lenna and the Wendigos. If there were any threats to his friend, he intended to dispatch them. When he laid a hand on her back, however, he was stunned when Lenna stepped up beside him to fight with her arms stretched to either side of her torso. From all of her ten fingertips a thin blue light began to ooze liquid, finally coagulating into a pair of water streams that began to expand from her hands.
The new weapons, which was what they presumably were, expanded from thin ribbons into two long, serpentine streams of water. As Lenna continued to build up her energy Bartz could feel the weight in the room shift as from each of her hands a curled, dragon-like head burst from the water streams, revealing its final form: Lenna was surrounded by coiling streams of blue water, curling up through her arms like oceanic currents. It was almost as if she were wearing the sea itself as a cloak, a mass of liquid that Bartz could feel had what now passed as lethal intent... somewhat. Lenna's inherent gentleness could still be felt within the dragon streams, as they were devoid of malice yet now tempered by her new determination to fight.
As she exhaled a cool, wispy mist from her mouth Lenna turned her attention to Bartz and gave him a rather naughty wink, an action that filled his body with strength and hoisted his sword to his breast in preparation for the next battle. The Wendigos certainly took that bet, bounding towards the four Warriors of Light with actual lethal intent. While her three friends moved to directly engage the demons, Lenna slid into a defensive position near a corner of the room.
One of the four Wendigos loomed above Lenna with its fist raised, and was promptly blasted in the face by one of her water dragons. To the shock of everyone, however, just as the blow connected the Wendigo faded away as if it were a mirage. Lenna watched the act occur and, finding that her friends experienced the same outcome, turned her attention to the feeling of the water in the air.
The moisture is... Wait, what? Something's wrong.
Bartz, having been similarly ghosted, muttered a curse and prepared himself for a follow-up attack. While he contemplated his next move the Wendigo manifested behind his back and slammed a fist into his torso. Taking advantage of his own attack Bartz quickly rebounded and slashed at the Wendigo, only for it to vanish again. He kept his defenses up and managed to sense the next attack coming from behind him and swung, but again the Wendigo vanished in a dispersion of mist.
With Krile and Faris similarly stumped and unable to catch a blow on their opponents, Lenna kept a close eye on the Wendigo that was surrounding her, looking for an opportunity to strike. She could sense it, the water in the air moving erratically, and formed a quick theory. When the Wendigo appeared behind her to strike Lenna lashed out to her left and caught the Wendigo hard in the face, sending it crashing into the far wall and leaving her comrades in shock.
"The Wendigo is using refraction, moving through the air by altering the light it leaves behind," Lenna explained. "When it attacks from behind, it's actually attacking from the side. The solution is, well... if it tries to attack from six o'clock, attack every other mark on the clock - three, nine, and twelve o'clock. That means the illusion is broken and the Wendigo becomes vulnerable."
"And how the hell did you figure that out?!" croaked Faris.
This time it was Lenna's turn to crack a confident smile. If they'd had to pull it off before coming to the Sealed Temple, they would have undoubtedly failed. But when Lenna awakened the true power of the Water Crystal, command over the oceans and currents, the simple fact was that she gained the ability to sense movement through the water in the air. In water itself, she was nearly invincible.
"Ha ha..." Lenna giggled playfully and stuck out her tongue at her startled sister. "Just a thing, I guess."
"So you figured it out, so what?! That girl is too smart for her own good!"
"That means she was right, eh?" Faris chuckled, brandishing her Masamune and assuming a defensive stance. She watched the Wendigo's face drop as it realized that it had confirmed the weakness of its own tactic, unconsciously revealing how to defeat it. "Thanks for the hint! Now you're naked as a newborn baby!"
The four Wendigos glowed and quickly drew together into a single being. Wearing a scowl on its face the demon vanished again and this time appeared behind Faris. The pirate turned on her heel and slashed at it, and it indeed vanished. This time, however, she pivoted and threw a blow at her right, which struck the Wendigo and cut a deep gash in its torso, causing it to retreat in ignominy. Simply looking on the monster's face proved that desperation had taken over.
Again the Wendigo vanished and the crystal chamber fell into a deep silence. As the Warriors of Light perked up their senses in an attempt to catch the Wendigo from any of the four directions, Lenna felt a sudden prickling and deduced that the Wendigo was coming at her from above. It reared back with its claw and swung, but Lenna narrowly sidestepped the attack. As she remained in motion the princess spun on her heel rapidly, each time striking the Wendigo with one of her two water dragons.
As the Wendigo reeled Lenna shifted her attack from horizontal to vertical, lifting both dragons high into the air above the demon. Lenna watched in satisfaction as Bartz shot her a grin and deftly slammed both water dragons onto the Wendigo's skull, and the intense pressure she put into the attack shattered the demon into bits from the head down to its toes and cracked open a hole in the floor. The Wendigo's remains dropped limply to the ground as Lenna dispersed her attack, and as she turned to Bartz, Lenna flashed him another wink and a smirk that chilled his heart and made him swoon. While the two shared an affectionate smile Faris quickly sheathed her sword and headed straight for the tablet in the back of the room, which was their objective in the first place.
Scene Three
The second tablet having been secured, the Warriors of Light returned to Kuza again to retrieve more of the legendary weapons. They selected the Fire Lash, the Sage's Staff, and the Yoichi's Bow, all of which were stashed inside the magic sack. After returning to the Enterprise they began to plan their next move. Once inside the airship they discussed whether to seek out the other two tablets. Instead, they realized that there really wasn't anywhere for them to look. Most of the landmarks were either already visited or consumed by the Void.
There was a notable exception, however: the two-pronged tower located just above where the Catapult was positioned in Bartz's world. The Fork Tower lay in a small stretch of land near the island of Crescent, With their objective determined the Warriors of Light piloted the Enterprise to the Fork Tower and docked inside a small bay at the bottom of the tower before entering the tower proper at the base of the structure. Upon entry, although it didn't seem to be a tablet sanctuary, a page ripped out of the Sealed Tome and floated in front of the center of the two doors leading up.
Sealed within are the ultimate magics of Black and White. To the left is the Black Tower, where powerful magicians await invulnerable to weapons. To the right is the White Tower, which holds monsters invulnerable to fire, frost, and lightning. Only by taking both scrolls at once will their power be unlocked. Doing so otherwise will cause the tower to consume you, crushing you and throwing your remains to the winds. Proceed carefully, warriors.
That seemed to prove a bit of a problem. Presumably only Lenna and Faris could scale the Black Tower, as they alone had the magic to fight with. Faris would be useless in the White Tower without her magic... but what if the monsters were invulnerable to Bartz and Krile's powers? Were the beasts of the White Tower invincible to wind and force, the two warriors would be walking into a death trap.
Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much of a choice. All they could do was cross their fingers and hope for the best. Though Krile was suspicious of their chances she divided up a patch of Whisperweed between the two parties, so that they could keep in close contact with one another. When Krile beckoned Bartz to join her in the White Tower, Bartz turned his eyes to Lenna and began to fret.
Lenna had only recently awakened her offensive powers. There was no way to tell whether she could put up enough of a fight to make it through the tower. In addition, she was the only white mage in the group. If Bartz and Krile were injured, without potions they would be totally unable to heal themselves. Bartz briefly opened his mouth to protest but Lenna curtly shook her head and gestured for him to join Krile in the White Tower, and against his better judgment they parted ways and began their ascent up the Fork Tower.
Scene Four
The left tower of the Fork Tower, the Black Tower, was a realm where physical weapons had no use; weapons simply had no effect on the monsters within. It was for this reason that Lenna and Faris had been sent up this route. When the princesses entered the first level of the Black Tower they entered into a huge, sprawling library filled with ancient tomes, several nooks and crannies, and a number of pillars seemingly used to hold the structure together.
By reflex Faris' hand hovered around her Masamune, though she quickly lowered it upon realizing that her sword would be useless here. She turned to Lenna and, finding that she was still relatively calm, smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Better be cautious..." she murmured, and Lenna nodded. "There's no telling what kind of mucked up monsters are inside."
The princesses carefully advanced, finally reaching a large chamber held up by four large pillars. Lenna was the first to realize that they weren't alone and, upon exchanging glances with Faris, cautiously put up her defenses just before two monsters emerged from behind the pillars. The Chrono Controllers were hideous abominations, a twisted mixture of an insect and a human cloaked in ornate golden robes. Each of them were masterful spell casters, specializing in dark magic best left forgotten by modern man.
Lenna and Faris prepared for battle, Lenna by summoning her water dragons and Faris by charging her hands with magic. The two Chrono Controllers split up and attacked the princesses from both ends, converging on them from the left and from the right. Faris narrowly dodged a frost spell from her monster, then countered with a bolt spell that was absorbed by some sort of barrier. The Chrono Controller followed up with a lightning bolt of its own that Faris barely dodged by ducking behind one of the pillars.
The Chrono Controller blasted the pillar to bits with another lightning spell, but found that Faris had escaped. It swiftly checked both left and right to find her, but the pirate princess was already behind her. Faris threw out both hands and released daggers of white light that punctured the monster, freezing it solid, and then followed up by blasting it with a healthy dose of fire magic that eradicated it completely.
Unfortunately, the spell went out of control and ignited the entire chamber into a hellish landscape of fire. As she dodged and weaved to avoid the spells of her opponent Lenna realized that the room had caught fire and swung her arms in a wide arc, spraying massive amounts of water around the chamber that doused the flames and put them out. When the second Chrono Controller loomed above her the princess pivoted and coated it in water, after which Faris electrocuted it with a bolt spell.
Faris moved to apologize for setting the library on fire, but Lenna shook her head and smiled. The princess gestured to the next staircase and winked. The pirate princess nodded and stretched her leg, briefly fondling her bracelet in preparation to use it for the second floor. There were certain to be more enemies, but at at least they'd made an excellent showing of the first wave.
Scene Five
The right half of the Fork Tower, the White Tower, was a dungeon where the cardinal elements of fire, frost, and lightning were totally useless. Only pure, physical might could help the Warriors of Light in their journey, which posed a notable problem. Bartz may have had his sword but without his wind magic he was half as effective, while Krile had no physical weapons in the first place. There was a fifty-fifty chance that the two were scaling the tower to find their own violent, grisly deaths.
Inside the White Tower was a huge dungeon, literally. Rimming the path forward were numerous jail cells occupied by ravenous monsters, beasts with such ferocity that were they turned on the two they would certainly be ripped to bits. The monsters ran the gamut from ones encountered in both Bartz's and Galuf's world to totally original chimeras, cobbled together constructs of several monsters mixed together with perverted science.
As they passed through the corridors of the tower, careful not to come too close to the cages, Krile quietly poked Bartz in the back and startled him. "What do we do if our spells don't work?" she whispered nervously.
"I suppose we're walking towards our own agonizing, morbidly cruel deaths," Bartz shrugged. Krile grunted a curse and whacked her friend over the head, knocking his face forward and nearly into a nearby pillar. When he recovered Bartz frantically grabbed hold of Krile's shoulders and shook her. "Hey! Why the hell did you do that?!"
"You're supposed to be the optimistic one, dumb-dumb!" hissed Krile.
"What, you aren't cheerful all of a sudden?!" Bartz growled. "Why should I be the one happy to be here?!"
Despite their argument, the two quickly buried the hatchet and continued forward. The second floor was the same as the floor below, with the notable exception of a monster awaiting the Warriors of Light in the back of the room. Dressed in both armor and robes, the Dueling Knight carried a long broadsword in its right hand though it lacked a shield. According to the code of the warrior, only a sword was the proper weapon to battle with. The monsters inside the White Tower were nearly peerless in their martial might and would be a true nuisance to deal with, especially with their numbers cut in half.
Deciding that it was now or never Krile formed a sword in her left hand and Bartz coated his left arm in a vacuum of wind. The Dueling Knight made a mad dash at the pair, each step heightening their trepidation, and when it finally swung down at Krile she narrowly blocked its sword with her own, though she struggled to keep herself from falling backwards. Bartz swung his left arm and cut a deep gash in the monster's torso, though it caught him with its free hand and hurled him into the monster-infested cages.
Bartz narrowly avoided being drawn inside the cage by shoving off from the bars, nearly being caught on the sleeve by a rather nasty looking creature with fangs dripping with purple venom. He scowled at the Dueling Knight and swung at it, but it parried his blade and kicked him hard in the gut. Staggered, he narrowly blocked the monster's sword with a shield of wind as Krile used her force sword to sever its left arm at the elbow. The Dueling Knight let out a shriek of pain and swung its massive blade at Krile, which struck her on the shoulder and nearly toppled her before Bartz cut the beast's head off with a vacuum blade. With the battle over Krile dropped to one knee and grabbed onto her injured arm, though when Bartz tried to help her she waved him off.
"It's just a flesh wound!" insisted Krile.
"You're full of it!" snarled Bartz. "That nearly chopped your arm off!"
"I said that I'm fine, okay?!" snapped Krile.
Sheathing his sword, Bartz carefully examined her wound and saw that the blow had badly damaged her muscles and tendons in addition to taking a chunk out of her shoulder. "Lenna will need to heal it, but... she isn't here," lamented Bartz. "All we can do is try and stop the bleeding until we get back, but you won't be able to use your left arm anymore."
"We'll be fine!" Krile shot back. After tying up her injured shoulder with a scrap from Bartz's tunic she unsteadily stumbled to her feet, grabbing onto her aching left arm. It hurt like hell, but she knew it wasn't anything that they couldn't fix. "I'm fine with one arm... I still have both of yours," she retorted with a smile. Bartz smirked and drew his sword, gestured towards the next staircase and patted Krile on the back to push her towards it.
Scene Six
Lenna and Faris had made it through the third and fourth floors unscathed, having encountered no monsters. It was on the fifth that that record was sadly broken. Cloaked in all black and resembling the Grim Reaper, Flaremancers were the ultimate culmination of the dark arts and wielded long cudgels tipped with flame. Situated behind the counter of a large lobby, the Flaremancer quickly hopped over the counter and swung at them with its rod.
By reflex Faris drew her Masamune and tried to counter, but the monster smacked it away and jabbed at her with a harsh blow to the gut that winded her. The Flaremancer lifted its rod and charged a fire spell, but before it could release it Lenna bashed its chin with one of her water dragons and blasted it high into the ceiling above with a harsh uppercut. Faris and Lenna exchanged a smile before the Flaremancer's body began to stir from where it had been knocked into the ceiling.
The Flaremancer, upon dropping to the floor, hurled a large burst of fire at the princesses that would have easily engulfed and consumed them. Faris threw forward her left arm and used her Time Magic to stop the inferno cold, while Lenna doused the Flaremancer with water. With the monster coated Faris zapped it with her right arm and electrocuted it, but unfortunately the monster erected a barrier that reflected the bolt back and struck her in the shoulder.
Faris dropped to one knee, winded from the force of her own spell. A follow-up attack smacked the pirate princess hard and slammed her into a far stack of books. As the Flaremancer turned to finish Faris it found itself surrounded by currents of gleaming blue light that circled around it and converged to crush it into tiny bits of flesh and bone. Lenna swiped the remains from her cheek and hurried to heal Faris, who had reclaimed her sword and sheathed it. After having her wounds healed Faris turned to leave but suddenly shouted out in pain and dropped to one knee, grabbing hard onto her shoulder.
"Ouch! It hurts!" cursed Faris. "Didn't you just heal me?!"
"I think when it reflected the bolt it infected your arm with some sort of poison... You need treatment," Lenna said plainly. Seeing her sister's determination to continue on the princess shook her head in disgust and dusted off her pants. "It's potent... I can't heal the poison on the fly... We'd need to have a good amount of time to do it, which we don't have. All I can do is lessen the pain."
"Then do it!" choked Faris. "We can't stop now!"
Scene Seven
Bartz and Krile ascended the tower to the sixth floor. There they encountered another batch of enemies, a pair of Berserkers. Unlike the Dueling Knight the Berserker was simply a huge, hulking brute armed with two battleaxes, one for each hand. Bartz swiftly drew his sword and Krile did so with her right arm, but flinched long enough for one of the Berserkers to close the distance and swipe at her. Before the blow could connect Bartz kicked it in the face and dented its nose, but unfortunately the monster hit Krile as it fell and the two both fell to the ground.
"You shouldn't push yourself, dammit!" Bartz snapped.
Gripping onto her injured arm Krile shot back: "I can still fight! And they aren't done yet!" She gestured towards the two Berserkers, one of which had been uninjured and the other that had risen to its feet and brandished its two axes. "We both have one apiece, and don't you dare tell me you're going to take both on at once!"
As Bartz smirked and coated his sword in a vacuum he stepped up next to Krile and positioned himself to protect her left side. The two Berserkers attacked, one swinging at Bartz and the other at Krile. Bartz neatly parried the first axe as Krile blocked the second's double attack, but the monster had a second axe... which it used to hack into Bartz's right arm, damaging it badly before Bartz blasted it away into a nearby cage.
"Damn it, Bartz!" shouted Krile, shortly before she cut down her monster and Bartz used his good arm to kill the other Berserker. She used her right arm to smack her friend over the head, her left arm not functioning at all. "Now we both have only one arm!"
"Yeah... Sorry... Guess we'll need to coordinate: my left arm, your right arm," groaned Bartz weakly. "The only chance we have is to stay together and attack in tandem."
Biting her lip, Krile smacked Bartz again and grabbed him by the collar. "You do realize," she snarled, "that if we die here Grandpa's going to kick our sorry butts in the afterlife, right?!"
"Ha ha... I'd expect nothing less from the old bat," chuckled Bartz, which seemed to calm Krile down somewhat. "Then we just have to not die, plain and simple as that."
"You're an ass..." Krile growled.
Scene Eight
By the time that the princesses had ascended the Black Tower, Faris was in sore shape. Her poisoning had steadily grown worse, and though they hadn't had any more monster encounters they were both running on fumes as they stared down the sealed Flare Tome and its guardian. The ultimate sorcerer it was. The Omniscient was just as large as the Sekhmet had been, dressed in robes that alternated between silver and gold. It needed no weapon, for its mastery of magic made it the final and optimal spell caster. Faris wearily withdrew the Whisperweed she'd been given by Krile and lifted it to her lips.
"This is us... We're at the top," she heaved.
"So are we. Sad news is that we're both injured. How are things on your end?"
"I've been injured, but Lenna's alright... and you?" Faris asked softly.
"Um... We're both kind of down one arm..."
That was too much for Faris to take, and she violently ground the Whisperweed between her fingers as she began to shake. "Back down! Now! It isn't worth it!" she ordered. It took only a few moments for her to realize that the line had went dead, and her confidence immediately melted. "Talk to me, God damn it!" Faris screeched. "Say something... anything!"
When the Omniscient began to rise from its throne, however, Faris was forced to stash the Whisperweed inside her clothing and prepare for a fight. The Omniscient raised its right hand and then laid it on the floor, causing several tendrils of shadow to form that zipped through the room and towards the princesses. Faris quickly drew her blade and severed the tentacles, which drew the boss's attention to her.
The Omniscient stretched out its left hand and its fingers began to glow. From its hand a barrage of fire, frost, and lightning erupted and zoomed towards Faris, who narrowly evaded the first wave. The second wave, just as potent as the last, forced her to roll out of danger but she was stunned when the Omniscient jabbed her in the gut with a lightning bolt that struck and winded her.
An angered Lenna directed her attacks at the Omniscient, though when it zapped at her with lightning she quickly realized that she had to abort her attack. She nimbly dispelled her water dragons and jumped to the side, though the Omniscient threw a fire ball at her that she only narrowly rolled away from. Unfortunately the light from both attacks coalesced into a single ray of light that punctured Lenna through the chest and froze her in a massive iceberg, leaving her prone to attack by the Omniscient.
Suddenly disregarding her wounds, and the theory that weapons were useless, Faris charged her Masamune with all three elements and lashed out with a blow that severed the Omniscient's right arm. She followed up by attempting to charge a finishing spell but floundered and dropped to her knees as the Flaremancer's poison began to flare up. From high above the Omniscient leered, its arm raised for the final attack.
Just as its arm flew at Faris, Lenna leapt in front and took the brutal strike, which knocked her into a far wall and into a large crater. Faris stared in horror for a moment and took in the situation. Her right arm was toast, Lenna was heavily wounded, and the Omniscient was nearly totally unscathed and fully prepared to end the fight once and for all. One final salvo would end both the princesses for good.
She wouldn't allow that to happen. She couldn't. Faris thrust out her left arm and seized the Omniscient with a powerful Stop spell. While the monster struggled Faris similarly fought through her own pain, though she finally tapped into a new level of power that she hadn't realized that she possessed and blasted the Omniscient with a wild volley of fire, frost, and lightning that totally eradicated it and cast its remains to the winds.
"Lenna!" Faris shrieked, moving to Lenna's side. She was suddenly stopped cold when Lenna stumbled to her feet and weakly wiped the blood from her mouth. "Lenna, what are you-"
"We have to be ready to take the book!" heaved Lenna. She feebly clapped her hands over her gut where she'd taken the blow from the Omniscient and began to pulse her healing energy through her body. As she felt her white magic take effect she gestured towards the sealed Flare Tome and Faris wearily stumbled towards it with her hand outstretched.
Scene Nine
The top of the White Tower held their ultimate goal, the Holy Tome, as well as its guardian. Nearly identical to the Sekhmet of the Pyramid of Moore, the Minotaur was blue skinned and armored in silver trappings. Like its brother, the Minotaur wielded a mace nearly as long as it was, studded with nasty spikes. As it slumbered Krile and Faris gave the same discussion as discussed above, though when Faris started to yell at her the Minotaur rose up and Krile was forced to disconnect.
The Minotaur jabbed at Krile with its huge mace, forcing her to drop the Whisperweed. It followed up with an overhanded swing that Krile barely escaped by rolling away from the point of impact. Said impact shattered a large portion of the floor where it had struck, leaving Krile to stumble back towards Bartz and activate her force sword with her good arm. Bartz gestured towards Krile's right arm and she quickly moved to stand next to him with their good arms facing one another.
Another charge and another swing were parried by the duo, but they were unable to keep the Minotaur from pushing through and tossing them into two large craters at the far wall. The Minotaur laid its mace to its side before blasting them with a huge shock wave from its weapon. Bartz narrowly blocked by dropping his sword and using his good arm to strike at the attack with a shield of wind. This, unfortunately, allowed the Minotaur to charge at him with its weapon raised.
As the Minotaur closed in Bartz weakly reached for his sword. Before he could grab it the Minotaur loomed above him and swung down, only to be blocked by Golem. With great effort the Eidolon managed to force its way through, blocking the attack and pushing the Minotaur back several yards before vanishing in a flash of light. With the Minotaur distracted Bartz snatched up his weapon and stumbled into a battle position next to Krile.
The Minotaur let out a violent bellow and charged again with its mace raised. Bartz and Krile exchanged a brief glance and nodded, then prepared for the attack by remaining stationary. When the mighty blow came they quickly rolled underneath the monster's legs, braced themselves, and finally used both their swords to sever the Minotaur in half at the gut, killing it and allowing its attack to harmlessly falter.
Bartz coughed up blood and gestured towards the Holy Tome. Krile grabbed hold of the Whisperweed and, after conversing with Faris, grabbed a hold of the book just as Faris took the Flare Tome in the Black Tower. When they grasped the tomes the Fork Tower immediately began to break down, sending the Warriors of Light spiraling down into a huge empty void... one that led to their final salvation.
Scene Ten
The Warriors of Light descended far into the chasm, presumably falling to their deaths. This was prevented when they landed on a huge trampoline that sent them jolting high into the air. When they descended they watched as Cid and Mid waved at them and cast a large cloth atop the trampoline that caught them and saved their lives. With the danger passed the Warriors of Light joined Cid and Mid inside the library of the Catapult, which had been sealed beneath the Fork Tower.
"And now... What the hell was that all about?!" shrieked Faris. "Why are we here?!"
"When the worlds merged that huge tower formed on top of the Catapult and sealed us in!" sighed Mid. "It superimposed the Fork Tower over the Catapult. When you guys took out the tower, you broke the seal and brought us back out!"
"I don't see Galuf..." mumbled Cid. Krile bowed her head and bit her lip as she remembered her grandfather's sacrifice. If he hadn't given her the power to fight they would never have managed to win the fight with Exdeath, and Krile's apprehension and tears clued Cid in on what had happened. "I'm sorry, guys..." he sighed. "I take it you're here for a reason?" Bartz withdrew the magic sack and laid it on the table, soon followed by the Sealed Tome. Cid anxiously seized the book and began to read it, and once he was finished his eyes were lit up with determination.
"Why are you so chipper?" groaned Bartz.
Cid, whose eyes were lit up as if they were fueled by lanterns, turned to a page in the Sealed Tome that displayed a large map of the world. It wasn't Bartz's world, or Galuf's, so it had to be the original world - the one that they now resided in. Cid pointed out the two points on the planet that they'd been to before: the Pyramid and the Sealed Temple, both of which were marked with gold stars. There were two other locations marked with stars, both of which were in out-of-the-way locations. Judging by the topography, they would need a submarine to reach them.
"Just great... We need a submarine, and Xexat's has to have been destroyed in the world merging," Krile lamented.
"We have something just as important: us!" Mid cheered, who retrieved another book and laid it on the table. The pages seemed to indicate that there were ships capable of moving underwater. "We can refit the Enterprise to go underwater like in the book! All we need is a little of this, a little of that... and we can find it here!"
"Oh, thank you!" Krile rasped. She took her arms and threw them around Mid in a giant hug, an act that caused the young scientist to blush. "You might just be what we need!"
"Aw, shucks... 'tain't nothin'..." Mid swooned. "No way we can turn down a request from a pretty young girl."
Bartz smacked Mid over the head and dragged him to meet him eye-to-eye. "She's off limits, got it?" he growled. "Galuf would have our heads if someone felt up his granddaughter and we couldn't stop it."
"I didn't say I was interested!" protested Mid. As Krile's eye began to twitch Mid felt another source of danger brewing in the room.
"What, I'm not good enough?!" she hissed.
"I didn't say that either!" Mid screeched, grabbing his head in both hands and letting out a shrill shriek of terror. "We'll rework the Enterprise, so just stay here and do whatever! I am out of here!" he choked. He grabbed hold of the book in one hand and Cid's arm in the other and began to drag him towards the hangar. "Let's go before I say anything else that might get me killed!"
"Let me show you around, Krile!" Lenna tittered as she grabbed hold of her sleeve and tugged at it. "We can have a nice cup of coffee while we wait for them to finish."
With Lenna leading Krile around the Catapult in a tour and Bartz headed off to make a pot of coffee, Faris quietly leaned against the wall and smiled. "We'll take care of her for you..." she murmured. She suddenly felt a hand touch her back and whirled around to find... nothing. The realization struck immediately and Faris smilingly gave a two-fingered salute before heading off to join her friends. He was still with them.
Author's Notes
Yeah, I broke my promise that I made at the beginning that Lenna would never be a bad ass. There are two reasons for that: the Fork Tower and the final battle with Exdeath. Having her do nothing but swing a tiny little dagger and heal injuries didn't make any sense to me. For the Fork Tower she had to at least pull her own weight while her partner did the fighting. I am content with the end result, though... I think it's pretty cool. Picture Hinata's special lion-headed technique from Naruto and you'll find a vague inspiration for Lenna's water dragons.
In the game, the Sealed Temple is just that - a temple, plain as any in the game. But, with the eastern influences of the monsters there I decided to spice things up and instead it became an oriental garden of some sort. Hopefully I described the refraction thing correctly... I did a quick Google search, as is usual, and just sort of went with my initial interpretation. If I pulled it off, I think it's pretty cool. If I flubbed it, which is far more likely, I just made myself look like an idiot. Wouldn't be the first time, won't be last, I can guarantee you that.
In the original notes I hadn't planned for Lenna's power-up, so instead I was going to give her Yoichi's Bow. I wanted to give her something, but when the plan for her water magic began to take shape it had more appeal to me than giving her a bow and arrows. So, as with everything else I've ever written, everything is totally pulled out of my butt. My planning abilities are apparently nigh nonexistent. The only parts I wrote before I started this project were the character and monster descriptions, to cut down on my time in writing and also to make sure that they were adequately described. In FFVII I didn't do that. The method I used here is the same I used for FFIX and will be using in future works, though.
Originally I wrote the chapter names before I wrote the chapters themselves, and in the original idea this chapter and the next would have been the same one combined. I've changed this before as well, with FFIX and the Treno/Cleyra arc. Originally I'd made it one chapter, then I split it up... and then I combined it again. And then I split it again. What passed as Chapters 6 and 7 started as 6, split up into 6 and 7, combined back into 6 and then ended up 6 and 7 again. And then it became 6 again, presumably for the final time. God, what a mess I am.