Chapter 13: The Crystal War
"Give me your powers, and I shall slay your foe," whispered Locke, hatred burning in his heart.
{He will be useful,} the Dark told the others.
{Must you always use? 'Twas our power that created Zeromus.}
{Given to this Mortal, might it not do the same?} moaned the Water.
{Does it matter? This time, we shall destroy him before he gets too powerful,} answered the Dark.
{It must be done,} answered the Light. And so it was. As the had done
only once before, the Crystals of Light and Dark allowed their power to
be drained into a mortal. And under the light of the moon in Kohlingen,
Locke Cole began to laugh. His revenge was at hand.
"The Goddess Poltergeist has sent me, King Edgar, to aid you in the
preparation of your armies. The city of Figaro has been destroyed," at
this Edgar wept and moaned, for with the death of Figaro was the death of his love. His dream of a kingdom in which everyone could enjoy freedom and happiness shattered.
"Then what armies do I have!" shouted Edgar, slamming his fist into the
wall. "None! Who attacked! Who?" Edgar's eyes scanned warily around the room. Umaro sat picking his teeth with a carved piece of bone. Mog was merely listening. Silent.
"The forces of Zeromus."
"I have heard that name before. A voice told me of him. So he is to blame?"
"Some would say his is to blame for all evil in this Universe. My
mistress did not think this. Zeromus lives off pain, suffering, and
hatred. He would see this world thrown into anarchy and live off its
agony. With that power, he could conquer the world that was once his. And wreak vengeance on his brothers of old."
"These brothers? Where are they now?"
"They fly through the cosmos, searching, some say, for a world in which
they can live alone with their sins."
"What sins?"
"Let me tell you about Zeromus..."
An icy wind whipped over the small outpost. Word had just arrived, the
unknown forces had ravaged their world. FuSoYa stared into the darkness of the monitor. He knew what had happened.
The crystals of Light and Dark. Why had they brought them together? In so doing, they had already condemned themselves to Hell. But
then...Zemus. Something in the crystals connected with him. He had
never been strong, not for one of those in Lunar Station. Lunarians,
they called themselves. Once that had been funny.
Zemus had been allowed to study their crystals. He said they spoke.
Everyone had laughed. FuSoYa had dismissed it as the ramblings of a mad man. But Zemus kept working, through the night. And one day the
crystals stopped shining.
FuSoYa had ordered Zemus sent back to the homeworld. The ship came to take him away that day. Three days ago. Now the homeworld was
destroyed. Such power as FuSoYa couldn't believe existed had been
unleashed. The world was dead. And the ship was returning. Returning
with Zemus. 'Zemus' meant joy in their language. How ironic.
Zemus arrived that evening. He destroyed the primary lunar base with the raise of a finger. FuSoYa tried to fight him. Even with the aid of all
of the others, FuSoYa only slowed him down.
He sent CluYa, his assistant, to go to the Blue Planet they orbitted.
He entrusted his disciple with the crytals, and told him to safeguard
them, to scatter them across the face of the planet, and beneath its surface.
Then FuSoYa realeased the spell of Sleep. All who were upon that cold,
red moon fell into slumber. For one thousand years...
"You are telling me Zeromus only just woke up?" asked Edgar, still pacing nervously.
"No, he attempted to regain the crystals on that world. But he was
defeated by warriors of Light. Rosa, Kain, Cecil, Rydia, and Edge.
Apparently Zeromus fled here and killed my mistresses, sometime after
Kefka caused so much misery."
"But he was defeated?"
"Yes."
"Tell me."
And through the night, the dragon told Edgar everything about the first
Crystal War. About the trials of Paladin Cecil, and his love for the
white mage Rosa. And of how they fought Zeromus. And as the ship neared South Figaro, Edgar began to develop a plan.
The rider lifted the veil. Behind was the face of the most beautiful woman Setzer had ever seen. A little older than he had remembered,
but..."DARRYL!" he screamed, rushing towards her.
A group of three scimitar-bearing soldiers dissuaded him. "Darryl, I have missed you so. Oh Goddess, how I have missed you." Setzer took a step forward, hesitated, seeing the look of incomprehension on her face.
"Who are you?" she asked, staring at Setzer. "I am Jaharin Selan. I am
the ruler of this band, and ruler of this desert. You are foreigners. Why are you here?"
Shadow moved forward. Soldiers stepped before him, but he ignored them.
"We are here to find you. Do you not recognize this man, Setzer Gabianni?"
"I have never seen you before, either of you," she replied, wary.
"Don't you recognize this pendant?" pleaded Setzer, raising his finding
to her. "It was ours! Don't you remember anything?"
"I have never seen you before!"
"Damn it, you have! Can you remember anything more than twelve years ago! Can you?"
"I was left here by the god of the sky twelve years ago. He brought me
down in his solid cloud."
"NO! That was your airship! Don't you remember?"
"No."
Setzer fell to his knees, sobbing. The soldiers looked on him with
disgust. They could not understand his agony. To have finally found his
love, only to find she did not remember him.
"Will you at least listen?" he asked. She nodded, tersely, and replied,
"Follow us to our camp. You dark friend fights like an ifrit. He will be a welcome addition to our band."
And off they went.
The dreams came on Relm from nowhere. Shadowy dreams, of...something... something evil, calling her. But the voice was so soft, like Terra's, that she couldn't help but follow. Yet the voice was always just a bit ahead, leading her farther and farther into the darkness.
The place she arrived in was filled with the dead. Her dream could not
be broken. She found herself trapped within the confines of a mausoleum, all alone, and frightened.
That was when she saw her mother. Illuminated, glowing, like an angel,
she beckoned. But just as Relm reached out to touch her, the image
disappeared. A cackle filled the hall. She recognized the laugh. Kefka...
Gau and Cyan stood alone before the onrushing throng of undead. Despite his attempts to send him off, Cyan could not convince Gau to leave.
"I'll not leave you to face them alone, my friend," said Gau, smiling
lopsidedly. "And if anything goes wrong..."
"Naught shall go wrong, that I know," said Cyan, turning away. {Art thou ready?} he asked the Blade.
{Always. You realize what you seek to do?}
{Aye.} Cyan raised the blade, and corpse upon corpse began to fall.
"Gau, it is, so, cold, Elayne...oh Goddesses, Elayne help me." The specter of his fallen wife seemed with him, somehow. For her, he knew he must do it.
"Blade of Life and Death, give me your power!" he yelled into the
onrushing wind. Beams of energy sprayed forth, destroying the legions of zombies. Cyan laughed, a cold, angry laugh, and turned to Gau.
Gau looked into his eyes. They were no longer pale blue. Now they were Gray. "My friend?" asked Gau, looking away.
"I am here. And I am not. I feel so strong," he mumbled, as he collapsed to the ground. Gau bent down. He was not dead, only fainted.
But Gau had to wonder if that was good, or bad.