Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Beyond The Conflict: Moving On [Dissidia/FF3] ❯ Just another normal day ( Chapter 1 )

Okay, so here's the next chapter of Beyond The Conflict: Moving On ;3 In this one we move from past events in the Dissidiaverse to the present on the Floating Continent (so the world of FFIII) and there are a few things that I need to explain before the actual fic. 1) Luneth and Arc's personalities. I will admit that I haven't played FFIII but I have thoroughly researched how the two of them act in the game and I feel confident that I can write them IC in the game plot line (which occurs pre-Dissidia). However, in this fic they will be acting seemingly OOC in present events and there is a reason for that - I'm basing Luneth's personality on a mixture of how the Onion Knight is portrayed in Dissidia as well as the DS portrayal of him and Arc is... well... complicated XD I love his shy, introverted, quiet self in the third game but I came to realise as I sorted the plot for this out in my head that it wouldn't make much sense for Arc to be the same personality wise post-Dissidia considering what I'm putting him through (I'm so mean *laughs*). So, to quit my rambling, Arc will be less shy, more self confident, more aggressive, more pessimistic and more open towards strangers but he will still have moments where he becomes the easily embarassed quiet bookworm from before :L So no OOC comments about these two please! They act the way they act for a reason *smiles* Oh and 2) this fic is set 2 years after the end of Dissidia however, for Luneth and Arc, it feels like much longer. This is because for every cycle that passed, 1 hour passed in the respective worlds of the warriors so for Luneth (who fought between cycles 5 and 13 in this) it was 9 hours and for Arc (who fought in the main cycles of conflict between 6 and 9 but then had to fight in the world where the fallen warriors went up until and including the last cycle in this fic) it was 8 hours. So, though the two of them probably fought for a number of years for Cosmos, only a matter of hours passed on their homeworld.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dissidia nor FFIII - they belong to Square Enix. If I did own them, Cloud in a dress would have been an outfit for him in Dissidia and Luneth x Arc would have been canon ;3 Lol I'm such a fangirl... *shakes head*

LALIHO! Let's start, shall we? :D

UPDATE (24/08/11): Added an explanation of the FFIII plot, an extra scene and some other stuff. Sorry for all the big plot explanations but I wanted to make sure that those who've played Dissidia and not FFIII and vice versa would understand things better *smiles* Currently working on Chapter 2 whilst trying (and failing) not to worry about my GCSE results - I'm getting my grades tomorrow ;_; Wish me luck? *puppy dog eyes*

A big thankyou to tales rules from http://www.narutoforums.com for helping me improve this chapter :D I love you sweetieeeee ~

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Chapter 1 - Just another normal day

"I can imagine ya get a lot o' travellers here, since this village is so famous an' all."

The inn keeper handed the man a mug of ale with a nod.

"We do get a lot of people coming here due to our village heroes but the roads between villages are safer than they've ever been so people can travel here from anywhere without fearing for their lives. Can't thank fame for everything or we'd get big headed!" the inn keeper said with a chuckle. The traveller shrugged and drank from his mug in reply.

"Were the four Warriors of Light really just children though? Someone told me that the four of them were powerful half-human, half-God beings that were 7ft tall!" another traveller at a nearby table asked, seemingly not hearing the muffled snort of laughter from the corner of the room at what he said. The balding inn keeper shook his head with a laugh.

"Of course not! They were all human and in their early teens I'll have you know."

"Pah, kids that age wouldn't be able to save the world! It's a load of bollocks..." one bearded man with a pick axe by his side grumbled.

"Well I heard that two of the Warriors of Light went off and fought in another war soon after they saved this world and came back as an Onion Knight and Magus! 'The meek Magus of black magic and his courageous yet feminine looking friend, the Onion Knight!' to quote my friend." an old woman near the staircase said indignantly. At that a brunette boy, who had been cleaning tables in the corner of the room whilst idly listening to the talking, burst out laughing. Everyone turned to look at this boy with raised eyebrows. Said boy kept giggling as he tried to keep working, ignoring the confused and curious stares of the people around him. Only the inn keeper and a silver haired boy serving drinks beside him seemed to understand; the inn keeper chuckling quietly to himself and the silver haired boy looking like he wanted to hit someone and disappear into a hole in the ground at the same time.

"Whatcha laughin' at, kid?" the traveller sitting at the bar asked loudly with a frown, slamming his mug (now empty of ale) on the wooden counter in front of him. The boy, who couldn't be older than 16 or 17 shook his head with a chuckle.

"Nothing really... I just find it funny that someone so courageous and brave as the legendary Onion Knight isn't more... manly." the boy explained, looking at the bar with a smirk.

"Pah, anyone who is a knight for onions can't be manly!" the bearded miner replied with a snort.

"Oh, I agree. I heard he even spends his free time growing wild roses," the brunette stated, looking like he was on the verge of bursting out laughing again. "Such a girly un-manly feminine thing to d-"

"Okay, that's IT!"

Everyone in the inn turned towards the silver haired boy behind the bar who had shouted, noticing the slight embarassed flush on his cheeks and the annoyance in his eyes.

"What, can't handle the truth?" the brunette boy replied with a smirk. The silver haired boy glared at him.

"Number one, I am NOT a knight for onions, it's just a stupid title! Number two, the roses remind me of Firion and you know that! And three, like you can call me feminine of all people, Arc! You spend your free time sewing!" the Knight argued.

"Hey, it means our clothes get mended, right Luneth?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! You you... gah, you're hopeless." Luneth said angrily, turning back to the mug that he'd been cleaning. Arc gave a triumphant smile. The people in the inn stared at the two of them increduously.

"Wait, you're the feminine looking Onion Knight that that old crone was talking about?!"

"I AM NOT FEMININE!!!"

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2 hours later, Luneth was still fuming.

"Kid, lighten up! Arc was just joking around," the inn keeper chuckled, giving Luneth a hearty (and rather hard) pat on the back. Said boy huffed and pouted in reply.

"Hey, we wanna story!"

Both Luneth and the inn keeper looked up as the now rather drunk miner stood up and swung his pick axe eagerly, nearly decapitating a nearby customer. Arc, who had been giving the old woman another glass of wine, gently took the pick axe away from the man and sat him down.

"If my dear feminine friend by the bar will stop sulking for a minute and cheer up a little, he may tell you about our travels as the Warriors of Light." the Magus stated with an innocent smile, ignoring the glare from said 'feminine' friend. The bearded miner nodded and looked expectantly at the silver haired boy at the bar.

"Fine..." Luneth grumbled in reply. The drunk man cheered, knocking over another man's mug in the process. Arc rolled his eyes. As he started to clean up the alcoholic mess dripping onto the floor, all the people except Arc and the inn keeper crowded around Luneth, who was now sitting on top of a table in the centre of the room. With a dramatic cough that made Arc roll his eyes again, the Knight began.

With an eagerness that he didn't hide very well, Luneth told the customers of the inn all about the mysterious earthquake that started everything and the hole he 'jumped' into (or rather fell down into, which Arc didn't hesitate to point out). In a dramatic whisper he continued, describing the monsters he fought and the giant Land Turtle he defeated before the Wind Crystal spoke to him and told him to find 3 others and restore the other crystals in order to save the world. In awe, the people listening gawped as Luneth explained how he, Arc, a girl called Refia from Kazus and a knight called Ingus from Castle Sasune lifted the Djinn's curse from the people of Kazus and King Sasune's castle (with the help of Princess Sara) and became Warriors of Light. He then went on to tell them about all the new people they met - Cid and Desch from the town of Canaan, King Argus, the Priestess of Water named Aria, Prince Alus (now King Alus) from Saronia, Doga and his moogle bodyguards; so many new friends who helped them and they helped in turn during their travels... And then there were the enemies, fierce and extremely strong - Medusa in the Tower of Owen, Gutsco the Rogue at the Dwarven Hollows, Hein at Tokkul, Kraken at the Cave of Tides, Goldor at Amur... And then their final opponents - Xande and the Cloud of Darkness in the Crystal Tower, or rather the World of Darkness to be exact. When Luneth mentioned how he and his companions were killed by the Cloud of Darkness and then brought back by the Warriors of the Dark, the old woman snorted as she took another sip of wine.

"You can't die and then come back, silly boy! That's impossible." she said indignantly. Luneth laughed and shook his head.

"Then how come I'm here right now then?" he asked with amusement, leaning forward and smirking. The old woman said nothing.

"And I think it's almost closing time!" the inn keeper announced, ending the Knight's story telling and making the men in the room groan and complain. Smiling, Luneth sat down beside Arc (who had been listening and giving a few of his own inputs to the tale every now and then) and folded his arms.

"Happy now?" the silver haired Knight questioned. Arc chuckled and rolled his eyes.

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As the clock struck midnight in Ur's inn, the inn keeper (who was known to most as Ike though it wasn't his real name - he had forgotten it/left it behind long ago) ushered out the customers who weren't spending the night in the inn and said goodbye to the two boys who had helped him that evening. It still baffled him, why they wanted to work in his inn instead of doing more heroic things like being bodyguards for King Sasune. But he couldn't really complain - any help was better than none. Plus the two kept things entertaining, be it by bickering or telling stories about their adventures (like that particular evening).

Though it was pitch black outside, Luneth and Arc easily made their way through the sleepy village, walking past the Elders' home and the Weaponry Shop and up the path towards the lake. As they passed the spot where Arc had decided to go to Kazus and prove to the bullies that the people there had been turned into 'ghosts' by the Djinn all that time ago, they both smiled. It had been the start of their first major adventure; one that had them fighting so many monsters, meeting so many new people, obtaining so many new skills. In amiable silence they walked up the pathway that led to their home. The villagers had been more than happy to help the two of them build a house and create a path through the woods to connect the house to the village centre - though it had been nearly a year and a half since then, it still felt like it had happened only yesterday. But that didn't surprise them. Time passed in strange ways for the two heroes and it had been that way ever since they came back from the War of the Gods.

After a little while they reached their home - a two storey brick house with walls painted white, flower baskets filled with roses hanging on either side of the blue front door as well as beside the small bench in front of the house, their fragrant smell filling the glade where their home had been built (Luneth had insisted on the roses and for a long time he stubbornly refused to tell Arc about Firion and his dream, his excuse being that he didn't want to talk about his old comrades). It had taken months of hard work to build this house but the effort had been worth it for the two of them knew for sure that they'd never live anywhere else. Entering through the front door and taking their boots off in the wood panneled hallway, they quietly walked past the doors leading to the kitchen and dining room and the study and made their way up the carpeted stairs to the second floor, pausing only to shut the window in the bathroom along the way to the bedroom that they shared (though Arc occasionally slept in the spare room, simply to annoy Luneth). The brunette Magus undid the neckerchief at his neck and shrugged his green overcoat onto the floor with a yawn.

"Are you going to get undressed or are you just going to be a lazy slob?" Arc asked sleepily as he stripped down to his underwear, rolling his eyes as he noticed that Luneth had already fallen asleep fully clothed on the bed in the corner of the room. With another yawn Arc got into bed beside his friend, slipping his hands around the silver haired Knight's waist and nestling his face into his neck as he fell asleep. 'Just another normal day...'

To the west of Luneth and Arc's home, past mountains and forests, lay a giant castle; the castle of King Sasune. In the dim light of a 3/4 moon, the same moon which shone over the home of the two boys, the turrets and grey walled towers of the King's abode seemed to glow silver, reflecting the wealth and power of the man who ruled all the lands surrounded by the Parmeni Mountains. All seemed quiet within the castle; guards silently pacing back and forth on the higher levels, eyes wary of any suspicious noises or figures, members of the army sleeping undisturbed in the main square in their dark green tents. It was peaceful - more peaceful than it had been for many a year. However, this peace was completely and utterly shattered when every living person in the castle woke to a piercing scream.

Guards jumped to attention immediately, following the source of the screaming which was coming from the eastern tower, running up the flights of stairs to the top floor of the tower - Princess Sara's room. As the first guard reached the top of the last flight of stairs, he saw what was making the Princess wail and scream. A dead body was lying in the middle of the floor, dark crismon blood seeping into the furred rug on which the body lay, a pale clammy hand held tightly by the weeping girl kneeling beside it. It was her father, the King. And the King was very surely dead.

Soon after this guard reached the top floor, another guard sped up the concrete steps, his bedhead blonde hair in his eyes as he skidded to a halt at the top. As soon as he saw the King, he froze.

"I-is that..."

Princess Sara looked up with bleary eyes at the quavering voice, the tears sliding down her face and falling onto her white nightgown soundlessly. "I-Ingus... Ingus, he's d-dead. H-he's r-really..." the girl sobbed, letting go of her father's hand and pulling the blonde knight towards her, hugging him tightly. "He c-can't be dead! O-Oh god, I..."

Ingus, though severly conscious of the arms around him and who exactly was hugging him, patted the Princess' back gently and murmured soft words to her - words that were really lies (for not even Refia and her powerful white magic could have brought the King back) but words that comforted Sara nonetheless. After what felt like an eternity, Sara pulled away from the blonde Knight and rubbed her eyes. Looking up at the other guards who had simply stood in shock at the top of the stairs, she stood up.

"Captain?"

"Yes my lady?" Captain Vakrae answered with a salute.

"Call forth ten of your most trusted men alongside Ingus and prepare them to leave for 10 minutes time. The man who killed my father can't have gone too far." the Princess commanded.

The Captain bowed. "Of course my lady. Did you see who this man was?" the man asked, tying his long brown hair into a ponytail. The Princess nodded.

"Yes. Tell your men... tell your men to look for a man dressed as a clown."

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Who killed King Sasune I wonder? Well, you'll find out soon :P Or maybe not *laughs evilly* One thing I forgot to mention at the beginning - in this fic people will activate their jobs instead of being a White Mage, for example, 24/7. Luneth's is an Onion Knight, Arc's is a Magus, Refia's is a Devout and Ingus' is a Karateka (a.k.a. Black Belt). Hope you liked this chappie and reviews are welcome <3

--xrowa-chanx--

UPDATE (24/08/11): I hope this chapter is better somewhat :L For those who don't know, a Magus can cast very powerful black magic, a Devout can cast very powerful white magic and a Karateka is a very powerful hand-to-hand combat fighter *smiles* Thanks again to tales rules for the help with this chapter <3