Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The chronicles of Four! ❯ Everything is woven together, right? ( Chapter 6 )

It's that time again! Time to check on our four heroes to see how they're doing. Aw, so no one reviewed last chapter… Anyway, by now you ought to know, I don't own any FF games or 8-bit.

 

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Fighter was sitting next to a bed which indeed held Terra, heroine to FF6. He had put the flowers in a vase, but Black Belt hadn't come in yet.

 

“So, sorry I knocked you over.” Fighter said, trying yet again to start some conversation. Terra stiffly lifted her cast hand to signal something.

 

“I'm glad you were nice enough to visit me.” She replied, “It's not everyday that someone drops by to give me flowers.” Fighter smiled happily.

 

“That's me! A giver!” he said, his grin growing, “So, wanna talk about swords?”

 

“That's ALL you've been talking about!” Terra cried, “Can't we talk about… I don't know. Espers? Alchemy? The dangerous O-Zone effect? ANYTHING OTHER THAN SWORDS!?” Fighter's face went blank.

 

“Why would we want to talk about that?” he asked, genuinely confused. Terra sighed and pressed a red button on her bed.

 

“Nurse, I have a stalker in my room. Can you please get rid of him?” Terra asked. The next thing anyone knew, Fighter was tossed out into the street headfirst.

 

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Meanwhile, in Elfheim, our heroes were asking around the city as to where they should head next. But no matter what, they all got the same response. Black Mage was getting pretty restless too.

 

“Man, what is with these people?” he asked, kicking a rock, “It's like they're robotic drones! `Oh, please save the prince!' Thbbbt! How the hell are we going to do that?” Red Mage stopped for a minute, looking westward.

 

“It's simple, really.” Red Mage replied, “Where does the prince live? A castle, so we should ask there. Someone there surely knows what's going on.” Black Mage, however, was still very much annoyed. He placed his hands on his hips in an irritated manner.

 

“But what about saving the orbs and becoming Light Warriors?” Black Mage asked, “We still have that gig, remember?” Thief stopped next to Black Mage.

 

“Yeah, and we still have to help Matoya.” Thief added, “At this rate, we'll never find the orbs.” White Mage looked gently at her three friends.

 

“Don't worry. We have all the time we need.” White Mage replied, “In the beginners class for the White Mages, the first basic lesson is to know that all things within themselves are connected. So, even if it looks like we won't get to the orbs now, just remember that in time, we will.”

 

“I like that lesson!” Thief chirped, as the foursome began to walk aimlessly towards the palace. Red Mage seemed to like the idea as well, and even Black Mage didn't make his usual wisecrack remark about it. White Mage felt relief at being able to calm her friends down…

 

…until they reached the castle. Everything was an utter mess! People and elves were running everywhere, basically in a state of panic. The group found it very hard to get through the halls of the castle. Just getting through the castle gates was a chore.

 

“Hey, watch where you're going, moron!” Black Mage screamed as a servant knocked right into him, “Geez, these people are acting like it's the end of the world already!” He pointed to three people and a huge pile of what looked like very expensive dishes, only now they were shattered.

 

“Well, judging by what the people in town said, I'm not surprised.” Red Mage replied, moving out of the way of a chef, “The Elven prince has been alive for nearly 1000 years, and his father is on the verge of death. With no heir to the throne, anyone could take over.”

 

“Is that another reason we have to beat Astos? Does he also want the throne?” Thief asked, “Matoya said he was the leader of the dark elves.” Everyone thought carefully about this as they slowly made their way into the throne room itself. Once inside, everyone was relieved at the sudden silence in the room. Almost no one was around save for the sleeping prince and a servant next to his bed.

 

“May I help you?” the servant asked, a hint of worry in his voice. Black Mage nodded in slight annoyance.

 

“We're looking for some answers here. Where the hell do we find Astos?” he asked simply, but White Mage nudged his side angrily. The servant's eyes widened at the mention of Astos's name.

 

“W-why on earth would you go looking for him?” he asked, his voice now more shaky than before.

 

“Trust me, man. It's not like we want to look for him.” Black Mage replied, and again got another unfriendly nudge. Red Mage decided he should do the talking.

 

“We are here on the behalf of the Grey Witch, Matoya. She has lost a dear item, and rumors be told that Astos holds it.” Red Mage explained, “But in order to get the item, we must know where to find Astos first. Can you tell us anything?” The servant gulped hesitantly.

 

“Unfortunately, no one knows where Astos lives. He hasn't been seen for at least 50 years. But there is an old castle to the northwest. Although we have never sent anyone in there, it might lead to some clues.” The servant replied, “There is a scholar who might be able to help you. I believe he is in the library.” The four nodded, and left the throne room.

 

“So, let me get this straight.” Black Mage whined as they made their way down the once-again crowded halls of the castle, “We're looking for some crystal, and a guy with probably the worst name I've ever heard, and then we have to wake up a prince from his nap? This leads us to the orbs in what way?”

 

“I haven't figured that out yet, but it doesn't hurt to look into this.” Red Mage replied, as they finally came to a huge door. To the side was a small sign that said “Ye Old Library. Enter at ye own risk.” Red Mage ignored the warning as he opened the door to a rather large study. Books were piled almost as high as the shelves there.

 

“Well, if we're going to find anything, this would definitely be the place to start!” Thief exclaimed, and began looking through some books. Red and White Mage began to do the same. Black Mage, however, was tired of working, so he sat down in a chair.

 

“Who's touching my books?” came the voice of a rather old man. A figure hobbled slowly from the back to reveal an older man with white hair and a height problem. He tapped at the floor with his cane, “Hey, get away from those!”

 

“S-sorry!” Thief replied as he dropped the book he had been reading. The old man picked up the book and placed it gently on a very unstable shelf.

 

“What do you youngsters want!? This is no place to play!” the old man snapped.

 

“We're sorry. It's just that we were told to come here for information onto where Astos is.” White Mage replied, trying to straighten the books out. The old man groaned from discomfort, and sat down, rubbing his temples in thought.

 

“Well, that's a topic I don't hear often.” He said, “Yes, Astos is a dangerous person. He likes to manipulate people into doing his dirty work. But why would you need to know?”

 

“Point is, we have to kick his sorry butt, so either tell us or we'll leave.” Black Mage snapped back, which made the old man laugh.

 

“Okay, I'll tell. No need to lose it now.” The old man chuckled, “50 years ago, a war between the Light Elves and the Dark Elves began. You know Astos is the leader. Angered at his loss, he poisoned the prince into a very deep sleep.”

 

“He… he poisoned the prince!?” the four heroes asked at once.

 

“Yes.” The old man replied, “Now, Matoya was the only one who knew the ingredients to a tonic to wake him up, but Astos knew this as well, and attacked her. Because of her loss of sight, we've not been able to receive her tonic.”

 

“So then why can't you guys just go and get it?” Black Mage asked, raising an eyebrow. Were elves this lazy?

 

“We haven't any boats to get to Pravoca, so we can't travel to that region.” The old man replied. Suddenly, Thief got an idea.

 

“Matoya said she'd give us a reward if we gave her the crystal, right?” he asked. The other three nodded, “Well, what if we ask her for the potion as a reward?”

 

“That's a good idea.” White Mage replied.

 

“We would be most pleased if you did!” the old man exclaimed, actually smiling now. Black Mage was the only one who hated the idea.

 

“BUT WHY!? WHAT ABOUT MONEY!?” he screamed, stomping his foot and basically throwing a temper tantrum, “Ever since we started this stupid quest, we've been broke, and have barely survived! I'm sick of it!”

 

“If a reward is what you need, we will happily give you anything you wish.” The old man said calmly. Black Mage stopped his little hissy-fit and nodded.

 

“That's what I like to hear.” He agreed. When things had settled down enough, the four heroes bid the castle and Elfheim goodbye. But things still weren't peaceful.

 

“All right, RM. I'm pissed off so you'd better not get us lost.” Black Mage ordered. Red Mage didn't seem too daunted though. He took out a small map the old man had given them, and looked around.

 

“The old man told us to go west, so it's this way.” Red Mage decided, heading into the small forest. As they walked, Black Mage remembered the horror of Red Mage looking at every single piece of moss to determine where they were. His insides boiled. `This whole quest is RM's fault!' he ranted in his mind. Out of anger, he kicked a tree.

 

“Uh… BM, I don't think you should've done that…” Thief said worriedly.

 

“Why? It's not like the tree's moving, is it?” Black Mage asked. He gave a cold laugh as the other three backed away slowly.

 

“Look behind you!” White Mage shouted. Black Mage sighed heavily and looked back, only to scream in deathly horror. The “tree” was actually the club of a huge ogre, who'd lifted it out of the ground. It roared violently.

 

“Another one!? Where the hell do these things come from!?” Black Mage asked angrily. Red Mage drew his sword, his cape billowing from the wind of the club.

 

“If you've read Brady Games lately, you would've known that this place is an ogre's breeding ground!” Red Mage replied. Thief dropped his dagger in disbelief.

 

“You mean these guys are all over the place!?” Thief asked, “That's not good.”

 

“Instead of debating where these freaks live, why don't we just kill it and get it over with! …or rather, why don't we let it kill us?” Black Mage whispered the last part as Thief and Red Mage charged to attack. White Mage cast a Shield spell, which reflected the blow of the ogre's club.

 

“GAH! It's no use!” Thief panted after a few minutes of unsuccessful slashing at the enemy, “Why aren't our attacks working!?”

 

“Physical tolerance.” Red Mage replied, equally as frustrated, “His defense is much higher than our attacking strength. We do no damage to him.” Thief and Red Mage jumped out of the way of the swinging club, which smashed into a tree.

 

“FOG!” Red Mage yelled, casting a thick cloud of fog over the ogre, “That'll buy us some time.” White Mage looked over at Black Mage, who did absolutely nothing.

 

“BM, use your magic!” White Mage cried, as the club nearly hit her.

 

“Please! The spell will wear off any second!” Red Mage shouted, exasperation and fear in his voice. Black Mage nodded, and prepared his Ice spell. He slammed it right into the ogre, who jumped back in shock. He landed near a cliff that couldn't even support him. It crumbled, sending the ogre to its watery doom.

 

“HA! In your face, loser of the deep!” Black Mage shouted, doing a sort of victory dance. Suddenly, the four heroes started to glow, “W-what's going on!?” Black Mage hopped around nervously.

 

“We're leveling up!” Red Mage exclaimed happily.

 

“About time, too. This'll make it somewhat easier to get to the western castle.” Thief added, although it wasn't needed. The foursome began to once again walk through the large forest around Elfheim.

 

“Man, I sure wish Mat was still here.” Black Mage complained after half an hour, “My feet freaking hurt!” He sat down on a log.

 

“Yeah, but who do you think he was?” White Mage asked, “I've never heard of a dragon named Mat before.” Thief thought about this for a minute.

 

“He said his nickname was Mat. Maybe he goes by something else?” Thief suggested. Red Mage interrupted the conversation.

 

“For now, it doesn't matter. We can figure who he was later, but we need to focus in case there are any more ogres out here.” Red Mage said, dead seriously, too. White Mage helped Black Mage up and they all started walking again. Luckily for them, nothing more threatening than a few snakes attacked them, so they had reached the rusty, ruined gates to the Western Castle.

 

“Think we should go in?” Red Mage asked, although he wasn't remotely touching the gate.

 

“We don't have much choice, moron.” Black Mage hissed, annoyed once again. Thief inspected the gate, pulling his hand back as it touched the rusted metal.

 

“I don't know. It seems unsafe here…” Thief said, backing away.

 

“Safe to assume that no one wants to touch this gate.” Red Mage speculated. White Mage got an idea, and walked over to the gate. She picked up her hammer and proceeded to smash the gate right off of its hinges.

 

“Are you three babies coming?” she asked mockingly as she walked through the dead courtyard. All of the trees were dead and the flowers were wilted. The benches were rotting, and lamps were bent.

 

“What do you think happened here?” Thief asked as they walked past the courtyard quickly.

 

“Looks like Chaos himself came by for a visit.” Black Mage replied, as Red Mage opened the giant stone doors leading into the castle.

 

“Everyone ready?” he asked, although all four of them knew the answer.

 

“It's now or never…”

 

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So, our heroes are at an abandoned castle in the middle of nowhere. Can they save Elfheim and its prince? Can they get Matoya's crystal back? And did Chaos really come for a visit? Find out in the next chapter, so click that Review button!