Chapter 17: And Beyond...Chaos
One to be born from a dragon
Hoisting the light
And the dark
Arises high up
In the sky to
The still land.
Veiling the moon with
The light of eternity
It brings
Another promise
To mother earth with
A bounty and mercy.
"Relm!" shouted Edgar. "Why...why are you here?" Edgar stared into Relm's eyes, and saw something changed. Something dark, that he had seen once before.
"Vengeance. Rubicant, now." Rubicant dropped to the ground, and then
leapt up, encasing everyone in fiery spheres. "Thank you, Rubicant.
Now, Edgar, Locke, Cyan, Rubicant, we five are here, united, warriors of
the Light, slaves to the Shadow. Do you understand? It is the light that causes the shadow, but the light that hides it and purges it. Do you understand? It took me many painful nights to, but now I do. It is time, my allies. We go now."
Fire erupted into the sky, illuminating the entire world for a brief moment.
"I see them! Men, to arms, to arms!" screamed Gau. "We must attack
now!" The small guard force rushed forth from the gates of South Figaro, overwhelming the first batch of demons. Where Mog and Umaro were, Gau did not know. Perhaps they slept, undisturbed by the alarm.
"Lance, there, to your left!" Lance spun, only in time to see a huge claw fly into his face, ripping it to shreds. The giant, lizard-like being marched towards Gau, grinning.
"Rage of the Behemoth, fill me!" Gau rushed forward knocking the beast to the ground and slamming his armorred fists into its eyes, blinding it. He screamed, feral, and bit into its neck, ripping out its jugular.
Red glazed his vision, as he fell on demon after demon, but somewhere,
inside, he could see his men falling, one after another, until only he and Kal fought, back to back, hopelessly.
The marble halls of the Prophetess's Temple seemed to be filled with an
evil miasma, and Edgar shuddered, for through an open portal he could see the stars. "Calm yourself, Edgar," muttered Locke. "We have nothing to fear from such things as Zeromus can send against us."
{Is that true,} asked a voice in his mind. {No, you know it is not. Succumb to your impotence, Locke, like your wife did, and Sabin, and your son. And you. You cannot fight. Surrender. Kill them and I shall
spare you.}
"NOOO!" screamed Locke. His eyes rolled back in his head, and when he stared again, at his companions, they were crimson red. "Die!" A huge blast of wind pinned Relm and Rubicant to a wall, and he spun towards Edgar and Cyan.
"Move!" Edgar shouted, running at Locke. Cyan leapt to the side, watching helplessly as Edgar was consumed in a massive fireball.
"Bastard!" screamed Cyan. "For this, thou shalt suffer. For this, thou
shalt die. Sword of Life and Death, strike him down." The Gray Blade
began to glow, preparing to draw forth the life from the demented Locke.
"No, Cyan, stop!" cried Relm, imploringly. "We need him!" Cyan lowered the Blade. "Explain yourself, Locke. Fast."
"I must...kill you...I cannot defeat him."
"You're right," answered Rubicant. "You can't. But we can, Locke,
together. Open yourself, and let us join, and you will see." Locke
lowered his head, and suddenly smiled.
"I see. Then, let Zeromus meet our power." He leaned over to help Edgar from the ground. "I apologize...my friend."
"Shadow, do you hear those sounds?" questioned Setzer. "Something is
going on outside. We must hurry!"
"Very well. Jeharan, mobilize the men!" Darryl quickly barked orders to her troops gathering them into formation. The group rushed forth from the tunnel, weapons aloft. Confronted with a vision of hell.
Corpses of men and demons alike covered the ground, and blood was
everywhere. In the midst of a clump of easily thirty demons stood what
seemed to be some beast, covered in blood and gore, hissing and growling over the body of a fallen man.
"Gau!" screamed Setzer. The man turned, as did the demons. Half broke off to charge the bandits.
"Well, this is it, Setzer. We fight now for our lives." Shadow drew his
katana and saluted the demons as they rushed forward. "For love," he
whispered, stepping forward. "For you."
"How cute," muttered a voice from deeper within the temple. "Come, come, I await you, Locke. You five shall be crushed! Forever!"
"Now, my friends, we fight for all of Earth. For the past, and the future. For all that have died before us, to quench this black flame. We fight now to kill Zeromus!" spoke Edgar. "Let us attack!"
Forward marched the five, the Chosen of the Light, into the shadows, into the darkness of Zeromus.
The room was a scene from the nightmares of every man and woman.
Tortured victims were depicted in grotesque frescos, showing horror that
would destroy the mind of anyone who ever saw it. Horror that existed only in the most depraved beings, beyond anything Kefka could ever create. Bodies with oozing innards flowing forth from festering tears in
their sides. Mad demonic shapes consuming still living human flesh, and in the center, a shadowy form was drawn.
Almost a man, but with something wrong, inverted knees, no lips, or hair, claws for hands, Zeromus. Evil incarnate. Grown fat and powerful on the evil of the hearts of men. Smiling, standing over the scene of his victory. The death of all hope.
"Welcome, friends," hissed the shadows. And flanked by Terra, and a strange boy, Zeromus stepped forth.
Spinning and slashing, a whirling beam of light and steel, and darkness,
Shadow killed, again and again, in a fury matched only by Gau. Setzer
danced, hurling razor edged cards, and the bandits of Selan fought, killing, with Jeharan leading them in the lethal dance.
But more and more demons poured forth from the rotting leviathan corpses, and the bandits died, leaving only Selan, Setzer, Shadow, and Gau to face them. And fight they did.
Charged with desperation, it seemed that Setzer transformed, executing
killing flicks of his wrist with speed unmatched by anything ever seen.
Shadow seemed fueled with an inner fire, never tiring, and Selan matched him, killing with undying ire. And demons fell. But demons kept coming.
"Do you like your son, Locke. His name is HuInay, the Killing Shadow.
Bow to your father, Hu," the boy nodded towards Locke, smiling.
"Can I kill him, master? Can I feast upon his flesh?" Zeromus smiled,
patting the boy on his head. "Soon, my boy, soon."
"Damn you, Zeromus!" screamed Locke, hurling force jets of energy. Easily blocked by Terra.
"Please. You are nothing to us, Locke!" Terra stepped forward, her face
wrinkled and haggard. It seemed she had gained decades since Edgar had last seen her.
"You are mine, Terra," hissed Relm. "You were the one who sent the mind-sickness that killed my father!"
"Your father was old and useless. I merely inspired him to leave this
world. The ritual was his own." Terra smiled.
"I am here to kill you, Zeromus, and with my mistress Relm, you will not be able to stop me." Rubicant stepped forward. "Now I fight with all my fury! My power, my fire, my life, I give to you, Relm. My soul, it is yours. See that I die not in vain." Rubicant rushed forward, charging Terra.
Two bolts of ice struck him down, but as he died, Relm felt herself filled with inner fire. "Now Terra, let us do battle."
As Terra and Relm began to fire bolts of energy at one another, Locke,
Edgar, and Cyan faced Zeromus and Leo. "See his power, Locke. I have given him forces you would never believe possible. He is so far beyond what you are. Take him, Hu." Hu rushed forward, engulfing Locke in fire. Locke reeled backwards, stumbling and falling.
"NO!" he screamed, standing again, and meeting the fire with his own. It was no match. "NO! So be it!"
{He is taking our powers!} screamed the Dark to the Light.
{There is nothing we can do,} moaned the Air.
{We should have foreseen this. As always, we fail.} This from the Fire.
The crystals shone, silently, on their far off world, as each shattered, gone forever.
"We can't hold them off forever," Setzer called to Shadow. He was feeling his strength fade. He could not last much longer.
"We must try. There can't be too many left." But there were. It seemed
that the demons were limitless, pouring forth from some hidden darkness, some malign source.
The four continued to fight, and kill, but their energy waned. It was as
Setzer said. Nothing lasts forever.
"You have dealt with the others, Zeromus," Edgar challenged. "But that
leave us to battle. Do you really think you can face us?" Edgar drew the AuraLance and bowed. "This shall be the last you see." He and Cyan
rushed forward, hacking at Zeromus. He merely laughed, throwing them back.
From the corner of his eye, Edgar could see Locke tiring, his energy
slowly disappearing. "Cyan, they can't hold out much longer. We must
destroy Zeromus and end the horror." The two rushed again, Edgar impaling his lance into Zeromus's heart. The man fell. Dead. The monster rose, incarnate.
The gigantic demon, the true Zeromus, the Hatred, rose, its green flesh
stinking, its hideous face smiling. This was the final horror. This was
the true darkness.
"Please, Terra, stop this madness," implored Relm, dodging to the left,
and firing a Merton wave of fire at her.
"Never. The Dark Lord gave me my life. He is my master."
"The Goddesses gave you life! Your father and mother did! Remember, you were a being of peace!"
"NO! I am a being of darkness! EVIL! HATE! HUMANITY!" Terra raised her arms, and shot forth pure darkness. "NOW YOU WILL DIE!"
"No Terra, I cannot. I must destroy you, if you will not cease." Relm, too, raised her arms, and prepared to use the powers given to her by Kefka, the mad one. Preparing to kill.
"My son, please, help me destroy Zeromus," begged Locke, as his energy was slowly pushed back towards him.
"You are not my father. I am of your flesh, but of his soul. He is my
lord." Leo, HuInay, pushed forward. "I hate you! You couldn't save me,
but he did. He saved me from the burning Light. I despise you. I will
destroy you."
"Then let me be destroyed." Locke lowered his head, smiling. All that was Locke was gone, destroyed. Now, only Vengeance remained.
Cyan dodged to the side, catching a claw across his ribs. He was bleeding from multiple wounds now, but so was the demon. He felt Elayne with him now, giving him power. He slashed again, severing a hand from the demon. He smiled.
Edgar plunged the Lance into one of Zeromus's eyes, watching as black
ichor oozed forth, staining the shaft, and burning the steel. He pulled it out, regaining his balance, and prepared to strike again.
The chance never came. The world suddenly twisted under him, as if
everything started moving backwards. He toppled, and watched Zeromus bend down and grab Cyan, crushing him in his one remaining claw. Edgar screamed as blood gushed from Cyan's open, silent mouth. Zeromus dropped Cyan's tortured body, and Edgar could swear he heard the words "I'm coming at last, Elayne. At last we can be together."
The demon only smiled.
Locke suddenly seemed to catch as second wind, forcing back Leo, slamming him into a wall. He cackled madly, screaming "DIE, DIE, DIE!" as Leo groaned for air, rolling to the side, barely evading death.
"You will not kill me, Father, I am too powerful." Leo fired, back, but Locke deflected the blow, charging again, and again knocking Leo to the
ground. "DIE!" he screamed again.
"For you, Celes," he hissed, filling himself with all the power of the
crystals. "For you." And streams of light began to pour from his hands.
Relm collapsed to the ground, drained of all power. The spell was cast,
and Terra lay crushed, blackened and burned by her side. How could she
have done it? How could she have killed her friend, one of her companions of old.
Relm wept, tears running down her cheeks and cutting little ravines in the ash that covered her face. She would have seemed very young, if
anyone were watching.
Edgar dropped to one knee, letting go of the dissolved Lance. He had no
other weapon, so he rolled, grabbing a hold of Cyan's fallen Blade. A look of recognition and terror appeared in Zeromus's eyes, as he saw Edgar rise from the ground.
"Now, Zeromus, we shall truly battle." Edgar leapt into the air, hacking
off one of Zeromus's putrid legs. He smiled, seeing Zeromus fall back in
agony. But Zeromus would not be bested so easily. He slashed down with his arm, slamming Edgar into a wall and knocking the air out of him.
Edgar felt ribs shatter, crushed to powder under the force of Zeromus's
attack. But he stood back up, swinging with the blade, this time slicing off the arm that had just struck him. Zeromus screamed. Edgar laughed.
Now Zeromus fell to a defensive posture, trying to shield the myriad of
blows that fell upon his massive body. It was a futile gesture, and both
could see who was to be the victor in the battle. Zeromus rose, howling,
as Edgar slashed through his throat.
He fell, blood gurgling forth, and Edgar smiled. But some life seemed
left in the demon, some power, for across the world, the words "As long
as there is evil in the hearts of men, as long as there exists pride, hatred, greed, as long as men possess their humanity, I shall be Zeromus! I shall live again!" And with that, the black flame of Zeromus was quenched.