Start Date: June 9, 2024
Windwillow

Final Fantasy V: War of the Crystals

Finale

Chapter Seventeen: Showdown with Exdeath

Scene One

With all twelve of the legendary weapons secured the Warriors of Light returned to the Catapult to discuss their next move. Although a full-on assault on the Rift seemed to be prudent, Faris reminded her friends of a loose end: the Eidolon that they had released during their trip to the Pyramid, the Dragon King Bahamut. Bartz voiced his concerns that it would be too much effort for too little profit, though Krile insisted that they get all the firepower possible before the showdown inside the Inter-dimensional Rift.

So, armed with two potions apiece. the Warriors of Light made for North Mountain, the same place where they'd found Hiryu only a short time earlier. After traversing a notably empty mountain they reached the summit and found... nothing and no one. Bartz at first moved to protest but with a shrill shriek a large object soared down from above and slammed onto the summit, creating a massive shock wave that nearly toppled them all.

They'd met Leviathan, Lord of the Seas. Its larger, angrier brother was the Lord of Dragons, Bahamut. Bahamut was easily twice the size of all four of them combined, a black-scaled, silver-winged dragon that put any dragon they'd ever seen to shame. Despite its fearsome aura the Warriors of Light stood firm as the Dragon King stared at them hungrily, licked its lips, and finally yawned. The intensity of its presence, however, made Bartz wet himself.

"I've been waiting an awfully long time. I'd half expected that you'd all pissed yourselves and decided not to fight me. Good to see that the 'Warriors of Light' have at least enough backbone to show up."

Krile stepped up gingerly and bowed gracefully to the Eidolon, her head low and her deference great. The level of power that it exuded seemed to require some tact. "Great Dragon King Bahamut, we took all the time we could to become strong enough to fight you," Krile said respectfully. When Bahamut spat flame at her, she angrily leapt back and drew her swords at the dragon. "And you did that for what reason?!" she hacked.

"I don't like brown nosers. Let me talk to that blowhard Leviathan... He and I need to discuss a few things."

Shaking her head in disbelief, Krile stepped back and dispersed her blades. The Dragon King was far from the graceful lord that Leviathan had been. Krile sighed and laid a hand to her heart, summoning a circle of flaming green orbs around her that she dispersed to reveal the massive frame of the Master of All Waters, Leviathan, who began to hover parallel to Bahamut. She could tell that they weren't very... fond of one another.

"It's been centuries, Bahamut," boomed Leviathan.

"And I enjoyed every minute of it," droned Bahamut.

"Asshole. We've come to recruit you for the final battle. This bastard is threatening to dissolve all of reality, yourself included, and I expect that you'll do your duty," Leviathan growled.

"I've done my work with that idiot Enuo. It's too tiring to tussle with Enuo lite, so I refuse," shrugged Bahamut. "I don't care if you yell at me, either."

"It's your responsibility as God of Eidolons! You-" Before Leviathan could chew him out any more, the Dragon King spewed a mass of green fire at him that immediately incinerated the Eidolon completely and left only scraps of soot in its wake.

"I have no such responsibility," hissed Bahamut, "and I resent your implications that I otherwise do."

"I don't tolerate infighting with my Eidolons!" Krile snarled as she drew her swords.

"No skin off my nose. I'm not your Eidolon. So, get lost, you little brat."

Forcing a courageous smile on her face, Krile stretched her neck and summoned both her swords, placing the hilts of both together into a single point."Let me show you what the Warriors of Light are capable of, you smug piece of crap!" roared Krile, which only seemed to infuriate Bahamut even more. She slowly struggled to press the swords together, though when she finally succeeded the blades dispersed into a mass of aura that began to encircle the summoner.

"Is that a new technique, Krile?!" Bartz gasped.

Krile shook her head and smiled. "All this is, is a refinement of my original force manipulation. Instead of creating intangible blades, I can manifest an entire aura made of powerful gravitational forces," explained a confident Krile. "Instead of a sword, this is essentially an entirely separate incarnation of my own powers."

"And is that going to be enough...?" murmured Faris.

"No," shrugged Krile.

"'No?!' What the hell do you mean, 'no?!'" croaked Bartz. "What are we supposed to do if you can't tame your own Eidolon?!"

"I am not her Eidolon yet!" Bahamut roared, with such intensity that Bartz nearly stumbled and fell to his back. "Get it straight, punk. I'm only working with you dipsticks if I find you worthy."

Bartz sighed and shook his head. This seemed to be becoming a stupider idea moment by moment. If they couldn't tame it, they couldn't use it. If they didn't survive it, they couldn't use it. With great reluctance Bartz drew Excalibur, put it in both hands, and brandished it in front of himself. "Then we'll all fight together," he said resolutely, "no matter how low the odds of success might be."

"The odds are worse than you think," sneered Bahamut. Faris and Lenna both drew their weapons and slid into a ready position, and as Bartz and Krile similarly prepared for battle the Dragon King spat out a bit of fire from its fangs. "Five minutes. Any more than that and I'll assume you aren't worth the time."

Bahamut let out a loud bellow, flapped its wings, and soared towards Krile with its claw outstretched. To the shock of everyone, Bahamut most of all, Krile swiftly grabbed onto its arm, lifted it up, and hurled it into the side of the mountain. The Eidolon didn't stay down long, however, before whacking Krile with its wing with enough force to blast her off of the mountain. Faris quickly used her magic to freeze her in place, dragged her back onto solid ground, and launched three shock waves of lightning at the Dragon King.

The angry Eidolon slapped the attack away and belched out a massive burst of flame at Faris, though Lenna easily extinguished it and used her own momentum to blast the Eidolon with a strike of her water dragons. When Bahamut staggered Bartz lunged and cut open a deep gash in its chest and Krile whacked it with a massive amount of force that blasted its head backwards. Bartz quickly followed up with two large bursts of wind magic before Bahamut angrily flapped its wings and dispersed the attacks. It had clearly had enough of the heroes.

"I've changed my mind! Five minutes is up!"

After locking its talons to the ground Bahamut inhaled a deep, heaving breath that nearly sucked the Warriors of Light into its maw. Before that could happen, however, it exhaled with what seemed to be nuclear force and not only struck them, but it also obliterated a good chunk of North Mountain itself. With the four Warriors of Light scattered to the four corners of the decimated peak, Bartz weakly staggered to his feet and brandished Excalibur.

He quickly dropped to one knee, however, totally winded and heavily damaged from Bahamut's attack. Bahamut, meanwhile, casually returned to its roost and belched out a breath of victory. As Krile weakly dragged herself to her feet she quickly dropped to both knees and let out a gasp of exhaustion. Her friends quickly came to her defense and surrounded her while Bahamut opened its mouth again for another breath attack.

While Bahamut charged the final attack Bartz used all the strength he had left and moved in front of his friends to defend them. He was totally winded and mortally wounded, but still Bartz staggered to his feet and lifted his sword in front of his body. Lenna shut her eyes tight and began to cry, but Faris sheathed her blade and clapped her hand to Bartz's shoulder, Krile following shortly thereafter.

With the attack nearly charged, Lenna grabbed onto Bartz's back and heaved her entire body across it, grimly smiling in the face of oblivion. Bahamut then released its final attack, which swallowed the warriors and obliterated what was left of North Mountain. The Dragon King flapped its wings and leapt back to its roost, shook its head and smiled, then slowly began to fade into dust.

"They never had a chance... and that's what made the difference..."

First one of Bartz's fingers twitched, followed by another, and finally he realized that they were still connected to his body. He weakly lifted himself up, though he quickly dropped to his back, bloody and exhausted, and when Bartz turned his head he saw that the others were also alive. Damaged, half-dead, but alive. "What... in the hell..." he whimpered. "Why aren't... we dead...?"

"You're... asking me... you fool...?" rasped Faris, who feebly reached for her sword and found that her fingers were still able to grip the handle. "I have no... concept... of why we're still breathing..."

Lenna, whose body had been damaged the least, dragged herself to her seat but finally fell to her back again. It was when her crystal choker began to glow that the princess realized that she wasn't dead. From the choker a thin beam of blue light zipped towards Bahamut's roost and the Eidolon slowly began to take shape again. "B-Bahamut...?" she gasped. "You... didn't kill us...?"

"I was tamed the same way a thousand years ago... They earned my respect, as you did now. You didn't defeat me, but you still conquered me. Hope is the essence of Earth, and because you never gave it up I saw fit to spare you... regrettably, because it means now I have to actually work. Bastards. I never thought you'd actually do it..."

"Then you'll...?" Krile murmured. The image of Bahamut that had been projected by the choker shattered into motes of light that zoomed towards Krile. The shimmering particles were drawn into her left arm, the same place where the other Eidolons rested, and when they all had vanished the tattoo of a large, winged black dragon formed on her left forearm. "Ha... ha..." she hacked.

"You earned it, kids. Let's kick some ass, chew some bubble gum, and save the world... again."

The scene around North Mountain thus came to a close, though most of North Mountain was no longer there. Bahamut's blasts had ruined the peak and caved it in, reducing it to a massive crater with debris scattered across several meters. The Warriors of Light knew that it would take at least a full week and Lenna's most powerful white magics to restore themselves, but if they could earn the respect of the God of the Eidolons that made it all worth it. At first came a soft "ha..." and then that chuckle turned into full blown laughter, though every breath they took hurt like hell.

Scene Two

It would be a long, agonizing period of recuperation, but a full week later everyone was ready to head to the final battle. Cid and Mid provided them with a parting gift, a rare and treasured Elixir each that could restore both their health and magical strength. Armed with the four Elixirs and the twelve legendary weapons, all that they could really do was jump straight into the Void and pray for an ending where everyone survived.

The Warriors of Light slowly navigated the Enterprise towards the point in space that had once held Castle Tycoon. When they arrived Krile opened the magic sack and retrieved the remaining legendary weapons, laying them together with Excalibur and Masamune in a circular symbol. They laid their hands to their hearts, praying desperately to the gods to grant them deliverance, and as they did so the Enterprise began to shake madly and they nearly lost their footing. Twelve shimmering motes of light zipped from the weapons and into the Rift, slowly forming a clear white tetrahedron that began to twist and warp until finally it produced a solid gateway into the Void. With the issue joined and the hour at hand they stashed the weapons into the sack (minus the Excalibur and Masamune), and after joining hands leapt inside the portal.

They descended down a rabbit hole of unimaginable colors and shapes, the structure of reality itself bending and swirling all across their known existence. By the time their journey ended the Warriors of Light found themselves in a totally silent Desert of Shifting Sands, with a large expanse of sand that stood between them and the next nexus. It would be a long and violent adventure, fighting off Antlions and Sandworms left and right, until finally they reached a massive pit.

There seemed to be no other choice, so hand in hand the Warriors of Light bounded deep into the hole. They passed through what seemed to be a solid minute of utter darkness before finally landing in the center of what appeared to be the Ronkan Ruins. Almost immediately they were set upon, four Ronkan Knights and two Ra Mages, the same that they'd fought in Bartz's world all those weeks prior. The four Ronkan Knights split up to fight one warrior apiece, with the two Ra Mages splitting themselves between Lenna and Krile.

Bartz swiftly drew Excalibur and swung it at his Ronkan Knight, and with remarkable ease he pushed through and cut it in half at the waist. Faris similarly lashed out with the holy sword in two swings and quartered the beast, while Lenna and Krile also dispatched their Knights with remarkable ease. Krile blocked her opponent with a wall of force, cut it into pieces, and Lenna summoned her water dragons, bashed them against the monster, and quickly the Ra Mage was reduced to pixels.

As she dispersed her dragons, Lenna quietly assessed the situation. That had been far too easy. While it could have been because they'd grown so much stronger, that wouldn't explain what lifted up from the floor behind them. The Warriors of Light turned on their heel to find themselves facing a nearly nine-foot-tall mechanical giant with gears and cranks all across its body. Four sets of cannons surrounded its left arm, its right arm consisted of a nasty serrated blade, and its face was shrouded by the helmet of a Roman Gladiator.

The golem fired off all four cannons at once at the group, though Lenna swiftly doused the gunpowder in water and rendered the bullets inert. When the golem changed from gunfire to an electric attack, however, Lenna was forced to break away with her water spell. Faris clashed with the lightning with her own, struggling to fight through it, but the golem added in a massive burst of flame that combined with the lightning to create a maelstrom of destruction that zoomed towards the group.

Krile swiftly threw forward both hands and collided with the double-elemental strike with a wall of force and, as Lenna reinforced it with her water, the attack began to peter out. To the shock of everyone, however, the golem disconnected and reconstructed its body into two beasts, one a large lion that blasted at them with its lightning again and the other a horned rhinoceros that attacked them with the serrated blade the golem wielded on its right arm.

While still blasting the two princesses with its lightning, the golem added in even more power by juicing up the lightning with fire. Since Krile and Bartz were busy with the other side of the beast her wall of force was no longer active, so Lenna and Faris had to double up with their lightning and water elemental attacks just to keep the beast's thunder from striking them. When the battle threatened to become interminable the two princesses switched from elemental magic to dual-casting Holy and Flare, which finally managed to blow the damned thing up.
Meanwhile, Bartz and Krile tussled with the rhinoceros. They struggled to fend off the beast's serrated blade, which struck at them from seemingly multiple angles, never ceasing in its intensity. Finally the golem forced its way through and threw them into the wall, though the two quickly recovered, coated their weapons in their elements, and clashed for the second (and final) time with the rhinoceros, and with a crazed assault from Bartz's Excalibur and Krile's dual-wielded blades they finally managed to tear it apart small enough that it could no longer attack them.

"That has to have been enough...!" Krile heaved, dropping to her knees drenched in sweat. She considered using her Elixir, but knew enough to realize that she had to conserve it. "And this is only the first area..." she rasped. "God only knows how many more there are..."

"M-More?!" choked Bartz, breathless.

"Dummy. We're inside an amalgamation of every single bit of time-space in existence! Forests and caves, sprites and soldiers, there's no telling what that bastard's going to throw at us! I'm guessing that he has a few special surprises, too..." moaned Krile. "This is going to be a grind game. It might take hours... days... even months before we actually reach Exdeath!"

"That is so not fair!" shrieked Bartz.

"Fool. Exdeath isn't fair," Faris muttered.

As her friends bickered Lenna laid a hand to her heart and shut her eyes tight, causing a thin blue wave of energy to surround and swallow them up in a massive ring formation. When the light faded the Warriors of Light found that their wounds had been healed and their stamina restored, though Lenna fell to her knees gasping for breath afterwards. "I can do this several more times... as long as I hack into my natural lifespan..." rasped Lenna. "We can do this. We have to."

"D-Don't be full of it! You can't kill yourself just to beat the bastard!" Bartz roared.

Lenna shook her head and fell to her seat, wiped the sweat from her brow, and flashed her lover a naughty wink. "I have my own stamina, Bartz... I've got a few more in me, but if this starts taking more than a few hours I won't have any choice but to dip into my lifespan..." sighed Lenna. "But I suggest that we try another tactic... Even if the next fight is brutal, we can't heal afterwards."

"That's ridiculous!" Krile gasped. "We just nearly killed ourselves, and you expect us to do it again without rest?!"

"Double up on the battles... heal after every other... and hope that we can tough it out..." Faris groaned. "Then we have a better chance of husbanding our strength. This is the most terrifying and absurd idea I've ever come up with, but I don't see much of an alternative..." she sighed, grabbing onto her shoulders and shivering. "But this is probably the first time this whole mess that I've actually been scared..."

"Showing some of that princess nature, huh? Very feminine of you," shrugged Bartz, shortly before Faris put her sword to her neck. "Or not," he squeaked. "Maybe I'm just an idiot."

"Women are stronger than men, you sexist prick! We can handle childbirth!" Faris hissed. "So unless you feel like crossing me any further, and I strongly suggest you don't, keep your chauvinistic comments to yourself!"

Scene Three

Navigating through the rest of the Ronkan Ruins took another half an hour, during which (thankfully) they didn't encounter any old friends. Once they crossed through a glimmering portal the Warriors of Light found themselves inside a time-frozen portion of the Forest of Moore, where the fauna seemed to be held in suspended animation and no breeze blew. The plants, too, seemed to be slightly withered and drooped. After a bit of trekking they arrived in a large glade similar to the one where they'd fought the Mini Magicians so long ago and were, unsurprisingly, ambushed by a group of eight of them.

Each of the four were responsible for two monsters apiece. Bartz easily carved through his first enemy, then blocked the second's miniaturization spell with a wall of wind before decapitating that one as well. Faris clashed spell-to-spell with the two Mini Magicians and soon cut them in twain, while her sister and Krile easily dispatched their Mini Magicians and with a dim silence the glade fell into a deep darkness. They knew that there was still another fight to deal with.

Bartz dropped his back to the trunk of a nearby tree before he was forced to break off because the tree went up in flames and the swordsman quickly drew Excalibur to face the new threat, Calofisteri. She was beautiful, much like Shiva except more sinister. Calofisteri resembled Shiva in that she seemed almost to be a mirror image (but green). To his shock, however, the demon disappeared as if in a mirage and Bartz desperately darted back and forth to try and find his enemy.

It emerged from the forest floor, head first as if rising through a pool of water, and grabbed onto Bartz's ankles. The demon literally dragged him chest-deep into the ground, burying Bartz deep into the earth and quickly prepared a fire spell to finish him off. Although Bartz attempted to break free it was in vain, though when Calofisteri attempted to hurl the spell it was brutally assaulted by Lenna's twin water dragons and beaten multiple times as if it were a punching bag being victimized. Pivoting on her heel, Lenna ruthlessly battered the demon with blow after blow, angered at its audacity of threatening her beloved Bartz. The Calofisteri shattered to pixels, seemingly defeated, but Lenna saw through the ruse and surrounded herself in a bubble of water to block the demon's attack from above. Unfortunately, the Calofisteri simply laid a hand to the sphere and froze it into solid ice, preventing Lenna from further interfering in the battle.

Enraged, Faris drew her sword and slashed at the demon. It caught her blade, lifted her up, and slammed her onto the forest floor, but Faris quickly tucked and rolled, using the momentum of her fall to slice open a deep gash in the Calofisteri's chest. The monster didn't take kindly to that and kicked Faris hard into a faraway tree, nearly knocking her unconscious. As the Calofisteri drew back its hand to deliver an attack it felt a soft tap on its shoulder, turned to find a very dissatisfied Shiva staring back at her, and lost a tooth to the Eidolon's vicious right hook.

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery... but I don't feel too flattered to be mimicked by a two-bit hack of a monster. Buh-bye."

Shiva threw forward her hands and a chilly wind surrounded the demon, encased it in a massive iceberg, and immediately frosted over what seemed to be half of the forest in the process. The Monarch of Frost curtly snapped her fingers, shattering the Calofisteri to bits, and shared a smile with Krile before disappearing in a flurry of snowflakes. Krile summoned Ifrit to thaw out Lenna and the party continued on into what seemed to be a mockery of the Library of the Ancients.

Noting that there was a book on the table Krile quickly summoned Ifrit, who nuked it with a massive burst of flame. From the ashes a monster appeared, a very familiar one. It was a large, angry Byblos. This time, however, it was colored blood red. Ifrit promptly whacked the Apanda in the face with a flaming punch but the demon responded by opening its jaws and snapping off a good portion of Ifrit's forearm. With his limb destroyed Ifrit attempted a follow-up, but the Apanda nuked him with dark energy and caused him to vanish in a burst of green flames.

As Ifrit's remains sizzled the Apanda turned towards the others but was met with a hard whack to the face from Ramuh's staff. When the Lord of Lightning fried it the Apanda promptly blasted him to bits, turned to Faris, and belched out a large blast of flaming breath. Faris easily froze the fire solid, but was shocked when the Apanda broke out of the glacier and prepared to consume her with its monstrous jaws.

Faris narrowly jumped back to avoid the attack and only barely evaded being eaten. Her fingers crackled with nuclear energy as the pirate princess nuked the monster with Flare, but it pushed through and blasted her deep into a faraway bookshelf before turning to Lenna. She hurled Holy after Holy at it but the demon continued on and when it opened its maw to consume her Lenna flinched and shut her eyes. She opened them slowly, just in time to watch as Bartz's Excalibur brushed against the Apanda's lips, which then ended up in a vicious decapitation of the demon and the incineration of its remains.

"I almost didn't make it...!" Bartz gasped, dropping to one knee and using his sword to keep himself upright. "This is the second one... Can you heal Faris now?" he heaved. "I do not want to fight another battle without resting..." As Lenna did so Bartz slumped to his back, punched the floor, and let out a curse. "I'm already running on fumes... God..." Bartz rasped. When a large black portal formed at the point of the Apanda's demise, Bartz brushed the sweat from his brow, staggered to his feet, and gestured towards the gateway. "This is nuts..." he hacked.

Scene Four

Past the portal from the Library of the Ancients, the Warriors of Light found themselves inside a huge waterfall cavern resembling Istory Falls. They navigated a number of caves and chambers, though one of them contained a bizarre spider-like machine the size of a small dragon. Although Faris hesitantly drew her blade Lenna held her back and curtly shook her head, the implication being that they didn't have to kill every single monster they saw to get to Exdeath, and besides that it looked pretty damned formidable.

After escaping Omega the party entered a large, medieval castle resembling Castle Karnak (minus the flames). While they fortunately didn't find themselves fighting any Fire Elementals, the downside was that the Warriors of Light encountered what seemed to be a good thirty armed soldiers staring back at them hungrily, so they quickly drew their weapons and prepared for a fight. The numbers were wonky, and none of them wanted to kill anyone, so it would be an awkward battle.

The Warriors of Light and the soldiers first clashed at the center of the chamber, and when the first one went down it became clear that they weren't fighting humans at all... Upon the first casualty the soldier dissolved into a mass of acid and re-emerged as an armored skeleton, with its foul pus nearly nailing Bartz and Faris when it first revealed itself. It took some careful positioning and a good amount of care, but they eventually dispatched all thirty skeletons and continued until they reached what looked like a dead end with a large tower far in the distance. There didn't seem to be any way to reach it, however.

"Great, we need to waste even more magic to cross..." Bartz droned. "Stupid Exdeath. At least give us something to stand on..."

Bartz vaguely realized that he was being attacked and barely managed to evade being struck by a black-clad warrior wielding a long katana. Masters of shadow and death, the Ninja were cloaked and hooded, armed with long curved swords. To actually dodge, however, Bartz was forced to leap out into the emptiness, and to his shock he found that he was actually able to stand on solid ground as if the path was simply invisible.

The Warrior of Light drew Excalibur and lashed out at the Ninja, clashing inconclusively with it for several blows. To his surprise, however, he was nearly set upon from behind by another class of monster. Like their male counterparts Kunoichi were also so dressed, though rather than a katana they carried two small daggers. Their specialty, however, was a form of magic called ninjutsu.

He managed to narrowly evade the two monsters' attacks as the others fought similar battles, but when Bartz moved to escape the Kunoichi he ran head first into a solid plane of what seemed to be clear air and reasoned that the path and walls were there but only irritatingly invisible. After clashing with his two nemeses, Bartz dispatched them with a blast of concussive wind and turned to help his friends, but dropped to one knee from exhaustion and cursed his weakness.

The others had their own fights, of course. Faris and Krile exchanged both sword and spell with their monsters, blades and wizardry dancing in elegant harmony, while Lenna was confronted by three Ninjas. She desperately held them off, downing two, though when Lenna's back met an invisible wall her remaining monster, scenting victory, raised its blade high and lunged at her.

Lenna skittered to her back and watched as the Ninja approached, only for its body to be rent asunder by the blades of her comrades. Despite nearly hyperventilating, she quickly recovered and allowed herself to be lifted to her feet by her beloved Bartz, and steadily began to breathe again. The next several chambers were empty, devoid of enemies. Unfortunately, the rooms themselves became their nemeses and when the Warriors of Light entered a large chamber a thick wall dropped from above that separated them into two groups; Bartz and Lenna watched as a humanoid shadow began to form before them, while a far more bestial enemy began to take shape for Faris and Krile.

Scene Five

Lenna desperately banged her fist on the wall separating her from her sister, but when she felt a firm hand grip her shoulder the princess was turned and forced to face a monstrous enemy. The Azulmagia was a corrupted version of the Omniscient that they'd fought at the Fork Tower, appearing the same though in red and blue robes rather than silver and gold. Krile and Faris, meanwhile, met their own foe. The creature was entirely black, and was a bizarre mixture of multiple tentacles and a single, mutated eye in a large black shell.

The Azulmagia slung a ball of flame at Lenna, who quickly retorted by swinging her water dragon and extinguishing the fires instantly. The princess swiftly formed her second dragon and slid into a defensive position, with Bartz swinging his drawn blade at the monster. Unfortunately he whiffed and hit air, with the monster reappearing above and behind him. Before it could strike Lenna blasted it in the face with her water dragon and knocked its head backwards.

With the Azulmagia staggered, Bartz and Lenna engaged a double attack that any warrior would be proud to manage with their fellow. While Lenna bounded high into the air and swirled around her weapons, Bartz drew Excalibur to his hip and, with a single fluid motion, their two attacks connected with the monster and chopped the Azulmagia to bits before Lenna and Bartz mixed their wind and holy elements into a single, powerful blast that scattered its remains to the winds.

The other monster, Catastrophe, lashed out with one of its tentacles and nearly nailed Krile in the face. She deftly stepped away and avoided the attack, then pivoted on her heel and hurled her swords at the beast only to find herself in an unfamiliar position. Krile quickly realized that she'd somehow shifted from in front of the monster to above it, her feet positioned on the ceiling where they should have been on the floor.

Krile's feet were dragged from the ceiling and her body dropped down straight into the path of the Catastrophe's tentacles. Again she narrowly evaded by spinning out of the way, though when Krile found herself prone on the floor below the monster her face broke out in utter horror. Before it could strike Faris froze Krile solid with Time Magic and literally dragged her on her back away from the massive blow before it struck her, though it damaged the floor severely.

This time both Krile and Faris were shifted to the ceiling and dropped down towards the Catastrophe. However, before they could fall prey to the beast they instead dropped through a gap in space using Faris' Time Magic, evaded its attack, and re-emerged parallel to the monster safe and unharmed. Before the Catastrophe could recognize that its prey had eluded it, both Krile and Faris battered it with a multi-strike combination of force and Flare that finally crushed it to bits.

Bartz dug his sword in the floor, with Faris similarly bracing her knee on the ground, to keep themselves straight, and the wall slowly dissolved to allow the team to reunite. Even then the battle wasn't over, though, and when the Warriors of Light continued on through the castle they reached an open courtyard, where a tetrahedron of energy gave way to reveal yet another boss. Although it resembled some sort of bull, it was clearly mixed with some sort of unholy creature as well. It was equal in size to the Catastrophe, with dark leather skin and a mouth caked in flames.
The Twintania breathed in and exhaled a vicious barrage of energy blasts from its maw that the team only barely managed to avoid. With its Flare attacks accelerating in speed and intensity, when dodging became impossible the Warriors of Light tried something new - four barriers of four elements managed to cancel out the Twintania's Flare.

Barely stopping to breathe Lenna infused Holy into Excalibur and Faris imbued Flare to her own Masamune, and with two quartering attacks they chopped the beast to bits before dropping to their backs drenched in sweat.
After coughing up blood from the sheer strain she'd put on her body, Lenna dropped to her knees and let out a violent curse, using a word that her father would have flayed her for using. Out of the corner of her eye she suddenly caught sight of a warrior clad in blue and, expecting to find King Tycoon, excitedly lifted her head to greet him. Instead she found a sword above her head and narrowly bounced away from the attack.

Lenna slid to a halt and cursed her own weakness, and upon seeing her father she quickly realized that he hadn't come back from the dead. What they'd first thought was King Tycoon warped into a more reptilian mutation of said ruler. While it was similar to King Tycoon, it had fangs and warts all across its face like a toad. Enraged that her father had been mocked, Lenna pivoted on her heel and slammed both water dragons into the Halicarnassus' face. The resulting blow shattered it to bits and Lenna quickly dropped to her knees, covered in sweat and residual water.
Even then the battle wasn't over. As she fell Lenna watched as the Halicarnassus rematerialized above Bartz with its sword raised, and she let out a loud yowl that alerted him just in time to evade the vicious blow. Both swordsmen slung their swords at the monster's blade and, after a brief struggle,

Faris cut off its head and removed its skull from its neck. Even as it died again the monster again reformed itself behind Lenna and she quickly realized that it was using the same refraction technique that the Wendigo had used before, with a few notable tweaks. Pivoting on her heel, Lenna deftly avoided the coming blow and spun around like a wildly spinning top. The volley of blows she unleashed in all directions battered and finally blew apart the Halicarnassus, and as it reformed behind her Bartz and Faris imbued their elements into their blades and finally quartered it, then slashed it to bits again before Krile trapped its body in a cage and crushed it to bits from all directions.

Bartz fell flat on his face from exhaustion and was joined by his comrades. He slowly dragged himself to his seat and, deciding that this was as good a time as any for the Elixirs, the Warriors of Light chugged the sacred potions and restored both their stamina and magical power. Lenna watched as a large blue gate began to take shape behind where the Twintania had been felled, but before any of them could react they were drawn into the portal and sucked towards their final confrontation with Exdeath.

Scene Six

The Warriors of Light emerged from the gate they found themselves inside a starlit wonderland, colored blue as the sea with multiple platforms and hills separating them from what in the distance appeared to be the Guardian Tree. As they exited the gate and raised themselves to their feet, from behind them the Azulmagia and Catastrophe materialized from behind them in a final attempt to stop the warriors.

Quickly switching parties so that Bartz and Lenna tussled with the Catastrophe and their friends with Azulmagia, the four Warriors of Light quickly managed to deduce their enemies' tricks and slew them again just in time for another gate to open that showed a familiar occupant - Gilgamesh. The eight-armed monster dropped flat on his face with a loud splat, though he quickly recovered in time to find the party looming above him with their weapons drawn.

Gilgamesh desperately skittered away like a spider on its back, and quickly realized that he'd narrowly avoided his own painful death. "Ugh! You folks are way too energetic!" Gilgamesh hacked. "What's with the brat, and where did Grandpa go?" he heaved. The party's averted eyes quickly opened Gilgamesh's, and as he stumbled to his feet the demon dropped to his knees from exhaustion and slammed the hilt of his weapon on the ground to keep himself aloft. "I'm sorry..." rasped Gilgamesh, to Krile's surprise. She could feel legitimate regret tinge the demon's words. something she certainly didn't expect to find. Even if he was normally a dipstick and a loser, he at least had some principles to his name. "I shouldn't have-"

From behind Gilgamesh another gate opened and its occupant kicked him far into the distance before alighting to take the battle to the Warriors of Light. Resembling a human, though mixed with an undead wizard, the lich Necrophobe was dressed in clean blue robes that were interspersed with steel bindings. The Necrophobe lifted its hands and its fingers danced as if it were a puppeteer, its strings binding the party in place as four portals opened with the deadly payload of a flaming blaze as its threat to the Warriors of Light.

Lenna and Faris only barely broke free of the strings and slung their most powerful magics at the oncoming attacks, which managed to negate them. As the Warriors of Light slumped to their knees, the Necrophobe materialized again behind them and raised its fingers as it had before. Bartz was having none of it and swung at the demon, but again the barriers held them fast in place and this time shackled their wrists and ankles so that they couldn't resist further.

Before the Necrophobe could finish its finishing attack, Gilgamesh launched himself at it and severed its left arm with his weapon. Gilgamesh threw out a barrage of blows, all of which were neatly parried or evaded, though when it turned back to the Warriors of Light and prepared to attack again to the shock of everyone present Gilgamesh dropped his pole arm and threw his arms around the Necrophobe so tightly that it was unable to fight back.

"G-Gilgamesh...?!" Bartz hacked. "What are you-"

"You can do it, right? Beat Exdeath?" rasped Gilgamesh. "Then go do it!"

Shutting his eyes tightly Gilgamesh struggled to recreate the spell that had thrown him into the Rift, and as he struggled with the Necrophobe he finally managed to cast it and disappeared from sight by being sucked into a black hole. Bartz dug his sword into the ground to keep himself aloft, and though he struggled to rise he did so with a smile on his face that was echoed with all of the other Warriors of Light. Before they continued on to the final battle Bartz turned around to where Gilgamesh had sacrificed himself and saluted the demon for the final time.

I'll see you again in another dimension, buddy. Then we can wrestle again a bit and I can whip your sorry ass for being such a stupid hero.

Scene Seven

The Warriors of Light passed through the final gate and found themselves on top of the Guardian Tree... except it was Exdeath. Well, it was Exdeath. The notable change was that he was now at the top of a massive, monstrous tree with dozens of branches that seemed to pulse with blood. When they turned their eyes up at the top of the tree Exdeath stared back down with all his usual malice and overconfidence, though this time that was partially due to the fact that he'd won.

"Exdeath!" Bartz roared as he drew Excalibur. The warlock stared down at him with a mixture of pity and contempt, leaving the swordsman to tighten his grip and brandish his weapon at the massive tree. "Get ready for some pain!" he snarled. "We're gonna chop you down just like you did the Guardian Tree!"

"I welcome you to the center of the Void, brave Warriors of Light, where time and space return to zero and reality comes to its end," sneered Exdeath, standing high above them with his hand outstretched. "The Void is absolute, it is unstoppable, and you are nothing more than crumbs to feed to its mighty power!"

Krile lifted her swords and brandished them, her undying contempt blossoming into the blades she now bore to avenge Galuf. She had no intention of letting her grandfather's death be in vain. "Your reality ends here and now," she hissed. "It's time to kick your sorry ass from here to oblivion!"

Exdeath threw back his head and laughed at the insects' ignorance. They had no comprehension yet, no comprehension that the Void had already consumed them. There was no hope left. "Without the Crystals, Enuo's Void cannot be contained!" Exdeath cackled. He quietly lifted his hands out in front of himself, made a sliding gesture, and clenched down on something that seemingly wasn't there. "I'll show you hell! Or, rather, the absence of it all..." he hissed. "It. Is. Over."

Almost without them realizing it, the air around the Warriors of Light began to stagnate and took on a foul odor. By the time the team understood that they were already inside of Exdeath's Void, it was far too late - all sensation came to zero and every one of their senses went null. They languished in the darkness for what seemed to be an eternity, slowly succumbing to the despair of loss, and as the Warriors of Light lost consciousness the last sound they heard were the thunderous and boisterous laughs of Exdeath.

"Eh...?" croaked Bartz.

Bartz slowly realized that he was alive and tentatively opened one eye to find his father staring back at him, caked in a radiating aura of light. Further examination led to the realization that his friends were staring at him as well, in addition to the other Warriors of Dawn - Kelger, Xexat, and Galuf, as well as King Tycoon. All of the fallen souls were similarly coated in light, just as his father was, and Bartz for a moment considered that they'd reached the afterlife.

"We aren't dead yet, jackass!" scolded Galuf as he put his hands on his hips. "Save the preaching and choruses of angels for another story! This isn't over yet!"

"You've done so well, son... I've been watching you," Dorgann chuckled. He watched as his precious son stared at him dumbly, and when Bartz's emotions reached their pinnacle Dorgann clapped a hand to his shoulder and shook his head with a smile on his face. "Despite the fact that we're all talking, none of us actually exist. Right now we're in the depths of Exdeath's Void. No light can penetrate its emptiness."

"Well, then why are we talking now?!" Bartz snarled. "Why aren't we... you know... gone?"

"It's... complicated," shrugged Dorgann. "Let's just say there isn't a whole lot of logic to it and leave it at that. The universe works in mysterious ways."

"We can't let it end like this! He's killed so many people, so many people that we cared about!" Bartz roared, his grip on Excalibur tightening painfully as he felt the hard leather dig into his palm. He quietly loosened his grip on the sword and turned his eyes to Dorgann, who seemingly had no fear at all and no worries in the least, and Bartz etched a sly smile on his face. "You still have a card to play, don't you?"

"Even if the Dawn has faded, a new Light will hearken its return," Dorgann said proudly, stepping up to throw his arms around Bartz. "Relax... we have this on lock."

"Sarisa... Lenna... You've fought admirably, and you're far from the docile young things I'd once thought you to be," King Tycoon said smilingly. Although his daughters bit their lips and began to tear up the dragoon grabbed a hold of the spear behind his back, clutched its grip, and with a flourish brandished his lance in the form of the legendary dragoon Kain's battle position. "In death, I've become an equal even to the Warriors of Dawn. Do not cry... Cry when it's all over if you need to."

"The crystals of the Warriors of Dawn still echo in your hearts, the parallel to the crystals of Light that gave you your own powers. Because we're not really here, we don't necessarily have to play by the rules right now..." Galuf chuckled, his fists tightening. "And screw Exdeath's game! The crystals of darkness and the crystals of light can be united into a single force capable of thrashing that rotten bastard from here to yesteryear!"

"D-Does that mean that you guys will...?" croaked Krile.

"The end of the world can't keep me from my beloved granddaughter!" crowed Galuf, which seemed to relieve Krile's worries. He smirked and ruffled Krile's hair, just like he'd done for her entire childhood. "Go. The Dawn and the Light will always be connected."

The Warriors of Dawn and King Tycoon detached from their loved ones and moved around the Warriors of Light in a circular formation. Galuf bowed his head and laid his hands to his heart, an action soon mimicked by his fellows, and they slowly began to fade away. Although this horrified their families, when they reached out to catch their hands reality seemed to shatter and they found themselves back before an incredulous Exdeath, their weapons raised and their power reserves filled to the max.

"This must be some sort of wicked illusion...!" Exdeath rasped.

"Oh, believe it, baby! For illusions, we can certainly kick some serious ass!" Bartz cackled, his sword lifted to his breast. "Dad... Galuf... Everyone is telling us to beat the living daylights out of you, and you know what? It sounds like a damned good idea!"

Brandishing Excalibur, Bartz lifted it high above his head while his friends similarly raised their own weapons. They all shut their eyes tight, felt the power of the crystals of light and darkness pulse through their hearts, and when they opened them a flurry of multicolored lights burst from their bodies. The beams were aimed at Exdeath, and though he struggled to dispel them the barrage became overwhelming, enveloped Exdeath's torso, and converged to create a massive hole in space.

The Warriors of Light breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to their knees, simply thankful that the war was finally over. Unfortunately for them, what began as a gap in the air quickly condensed into a singularity, and with a thunderous roar that black hole expanded and broke open to reveal their final opponent. This was the final culmination of the Void's control over Exdeath, having consumed him entirely to create a being capable of obliterating all of reality with its monstrous power.

This was the stuff of nightmares, even more so than the original Exdeath. It seemed to be an amalgamation of multiple creatures, ranging from dragons to giants, with Exdeath's torso represented as the center of the creature. The beast was multi-limbed and easily several meters tall and wide; fighting this demon would take far more effort than simply battling a single Exdeath. This was the final battle, one that had to be either won or... Put it this way: they couldn't lose.

Neo Exdeath let out a violent roar that shook the warriors and pushed them backwards, but the four fighters dug their heels into the invisible earth below them, drew their weapons, and prepared for the final battle. The abomination stretched out its arm and lashed it at Bartz, though the swordsman leaped high into the air and evaded the blow. While Bartz lingered in the air Neo Exdeath inhaled a deep gust of air and then belched out a monstrous blast of fire at Lenna and Faris.

The princesses, undaunted, stretched out their hands and flattened their palms, their arms facing towards the impending cataclysm. Light shone from between their fingers, white for Lenna and a vibrant red for Faris, and when the attack arrived the two released a volley of their strongest attacks, Holy and Flare, that held back the blast and steadily pushed it back towards Neo Exdeath. Once the flames were dispersed the four Warriors of Light lifted their weapons and charged towards the demon's inner core.

From Neo Exdeath's body a small army of twisted, evil abominations surged into being - Gargoyles, Apandas, all the monsters that he had sent against them in the past, but they had become too strong with the union of the crystals for the demons to make any difference. While her friends engaged the army in close combat Krile smirked and stretched out her left arm, pulsing the power of the Earth Crystal through her veins.

When Krile clenched her fingers into a fist her small army of Eidolons manifested before her - Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh and even Leviathan emerged from the summoning circle, and all of them began to lay waste to Neo Exdeath's minions. Krile quickly drew both blades and joined the assault, assisting her friends in slaughtering the onslaught of monsters that stood between them and their ultimate enemy.

The Warriors of Light, aided by the Eidolons, steadily progressed further and further towards their enemy's heart, cutting through demons and devils with unimaginable force as they dashed on an unseen road forward. Neo Exdeath, sensing that its existence was in danger, cracked open and a bizarre, seemingly organic maw emerged from its head. As the mouth continued to expand the devil exhaled a monstrous blast of black energy at the warriors that could easily consume and destroy their bodies completely.

Krile's tattoo, the black dragon's image, broke open in light as the attack approached and in a flash of brilliant energy Bahamut alighted before them. The Dragon King took in a deep, heaving breath, and then exhaled a breath attack that matched and eventually destroyed Neo Exdeath's most powerful attack. As the Warriors of Light continued forward, cutting down the demons that the devil himself had put between them, their bodies' light became radiant and nearly blinded the untrained eye.

The closer they came the brighter their light became, the shining heart of the dawn piercing the darkness to put an end to the sleepless night. With their bodies engulfed in multicolored splendor, the Warriors of Light soared towards Neo Exdeath's core and lifted their armaments for a final attack. Bartz swung Excalbur, Lenna and Faris wielded the ultimate magics of White and Black, and with Krile's direction Bahamut breathed out an even larger wave of energy than he had used to dispel Neo Exdeath's attack.

Each of the attacks, empowered by the spirit of humanity's will and the full fury of the crystals, battered at Neo Exdeath's core with unrelenting force. The blows came mercilessly, on and on, their cumulative effects steadily demolishing Neo Exdeath's abominable form. When its power reached its limit Neo Exdeath's body flashed and flickered before exploding in a titanic blast that nearly swallowed the Warriors of Light, but at the final moment their bodies disappeared and left the demon to tear open its own pocket dimension and shatter the essence of the Void to scatter to the endless depths of the universe.

It was finally over.

Scene Eight

The Warriors of Light reappeared on the deck of the Enterprise as the Void began to collapse. With the realm steadily breaking down into nothing they piloted their intrepid airship around the chunks of space-time that threatened to swallow it, and finally broke free from the point where Castle Tycoon had been consumed. They tentatively cracked their eyes open to look below and found that the castle once more stood amongst the forests of Tycoon.

With an ecstatic Lenna and Faris embracing each other in joy Bartz quickly navigated around the world, each time finding that the ruins left behind by Exdeath had again seen the light of day. Everyone, even Lix, emerged from the darkness to breathe the newly freshened air once more. As they passed by the Forest of Moore the warriors watched as the Guardian Tree glimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.

Four lights burst forth from the Guardian Tree and surrounded the Enterprise, darting and weaving around it before scattering to the four winds of the earth. From each shimmering star the four Tablet temples burst into light, and with a shrill screeching four crystals re-emerged from the darkness to be guarded by the new temples of Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth. With their battle ended Bartz smilingly piloted the Enterprise towards the Catapult to begin their celebration.

When they entered the library Cid and Mid emerged with bottles of champaigne and the finest snack cakes they could rustle up, greeting the Warriors of Light for their final meal together. The team toasted their victory and liquored themselves up before departing to Castle Tycoon. There they were greeted by a raucous welcome party and the true celebration began, a long festival of meat, booze, and showers of gold and silver brightening the broken world's darkness in a titanic party that lasted for days on end.

Their celebration over, the Warriors of Light returned to the Enterprise and departed for the Guardian Tree to watch over it once again. When they arrived the tree began to cycle through a cacophony of wild colors, flashes of the faces of their loved ones interspersed between the brilliant light show. Krile and Faris shared a mug of beer together, disregarding Krile's underage status, and toasted their victory before completely sloshing themselves drunk. Bartz would have to take the wheel to return home.

In the midst of their frenzy the two turned away for a moment and saw their two friends embracing each other on the bridge of the airship. Both Bartz and Lenna were engaged in a passionate kiss, their lips mingling with the joy of young love. Though Faris angrily moved to break them up Krile snatched her by the back of her tunic and dragged her back to their party. Faris grumpily returned to liquoring herself up, but when Krile flashed her a devious smile the pirate princess raised a toast to her sister and new brother-in-law.

Author's Notes

The piece was finished on June 29, 2024, and I'm glad to be rid of it. This was an enjoyable endeavor for me, and I hope that you all got something out of it as well. By the time you read this The Andromeda War will have concluded, leaving only Final Fantasy IX and my Chrono Trigger remake to be on my docket. I haven't stopped thinking of new projects, however! I've started notes on a novelization of Metroid Dread, and I'm planning on trying either Golden Sun or Final Fantasy X next. Please continue to read, and hopefully you all enjoy my work! Read and review if you have the time and inclination! I'm always ready for feedback, positive and negative... hopefully positive, but if it's negative I'll undoubtedly deserve it, so I can't complain too much.

Oh, and the golem they fight in the Ronkan Ruins is a shameless reference to the Ancient Gear Golem from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I couldn't think of any other robot to use, so I went with the Ancient Gear Golem, so sue me. I adapted it a bit, but it's still pretty blatant...

This wasn't in the original notes, but I may as well write it. I can't upload new chapters directly, so I have to copy and paste them and bold everything in the story, as well as separating paragraphs. This is a pain in the ass on a level I don't want to explain, so chapters might not come quite as quickly from now on. It might be one chapter one day, another the next day or two. I have zero clue why this is happening, but whatever. The Magus Cut will be coming in a day or two, and I don't want to even think about FFIX with all its dialogue and paragraphs.

I've started work on Chapter 6 of my Chrono Trigger remake, Chapter 5 is finished, and I have two full chapters of FFIX to post until I start work on Terra next. Even if it is a pain, I intend on continuing writing all this, so expect that I won't be done yet for a while. After these, though, it'll be a dry spell before I post anything else. I'm going to novelize Metroid Dread and Golden Sun first, while also throwing out the odd One Piece story every now and then. I've started work on an overarching organization like Baroque Works for the One Piece stories, and they'll extend from before Water Seven to the present time. Everything is tentative, though, and I haven't started work on anything for the most part.