Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The chronicles of Four! ❯ There's no rest for BM, is there? ( Chapter 7 )

Alright! Time once again for another odd chapter for the Light Warriors! But first… (opens mailbag) Chad, yeah, Fighter tries hard. But unfortunately, he wasted all of his initial points on strength instead of smarts. Sapphire, I know that on later FFs, Tiamat is a girl, but on the old NES version, the people in Crescent lake referred to her as a guy. But, just think of this. You don't know for sure who Mat really is. That could be Tiamat's brother or something. So, as usual, I don't own FF or 8-bit.

 

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After being thrown out and banned from the Bradford Bar, Fighter was just sitting outside some random person's house.

 

“What's wrong, kid?” the owner of said house asked.

 

“My girlfriend dumped me because I kept talking about swords.” Fighter replied, “But I don't get it! She's a swordswoman! She uses swords! Why wouldn't she want to talk about them?” The guy brought out a huge sword.

 

“Give her this.” He said, “It's my Masamune, and it's the most powerful sword ever.” Fighter's eyes lit up as he repeated all of that.

 

“She'll love it!” Fighter exclaimed, “But how can I thank you? What's your name?”

 

“Auron.” Was the man's reply, “And don't worry about it.” He walked back inside his house. Fighter jumped up with glee and ran back to the hospital like a little kid who took drugs. Black Belt panted when he reached Auron's house.

 

“Give me a break here!” he cried as he ran to find Fighter.

 

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Back at the western castle, the four heroes were tiptoeing through the long, dusty halls of the castle. Since it was abandoned, there were no lights, making it hard to see.

 

“Man, what is it with villains? Why do they have a thing against warm, clean, well-lit dungeons?” Thief coughed through the dust, “Don't they realize how the torture chamber look is out?” Black Mage looked around for a minute, his usual sour look still there.

 

“Thief, I'm not sure if you know this, but these guys practically live in dirt holes.” Black Mage stated simply, “They don't care about fashion and they certainly don't give a crap about cleanliness either!” Black Mage kicked a skull across the floor, picking up more dust to prove his point. White Mage sneezed.

 

“Well, even so, this place was a palace. Surely it couldn't have been in disuse for too long.” White Mage said. Red Mage looked at whatever remains he could see of the portraits. Only the frames seemed to be free of the mold.

 

“I think these paintings would say otherwise.” Red Mage replied, “They've suffered so much damage that I can't even tell if what was in them was animal or human, or even a landscape.” White Mage and Thief stopped to check out the portraits too. Black Mage, however, didn't even care. He just wanted to get out of this place as quickly as he could.

 

“Oh, wow. So some paintings are damaged.” Black Mage began, “Who cares!? Can we please get this over with? I hate it here.” He stomped past the other three angrily and further into the hall.

 

“Geez, we're only trying to see exactly if this is the right place.” Thief mumbled, “But it looks like the right place, so maybe BM is right…” Thief walked away from the paintings to where Black Mage was pounding and kicking angrily at a door.

 

“BM, what are you doing?” White Mage asked as she turned around to see the source of the commotion. Black Mage took out his dagger and started to try and cut the lock off.

 

“This door's locked! I'm going to get in there!” Black Mage said, “ARGH!! OPEN UP, YOU PIECE OF CRAP!” Black Mage then started to cast a Fire spell, but it reflected and burned the portrait behind him.

 

“Whoa! Talk about force feedback!” Thief exclaimed, “Here, let me try.” Black Mage moved out of the way to let Thief pick the lock. Thief tried gently, and then he tried a little harder. However, soon he was using so much strength that his dagger actually snapped in two. “This door is haunted!” he screamed. White Mage looked at a small sign next to the door.

 

“If you two nimrods had even a clue as to read signs, you'd see that this door is locked by the Mystic Key.” White Mage said flatly.

 

“Mystic Key?” Thief asked, “What's that?”

 

“Yeah, I've never even heard of such a thing.” Black Mage added, “In my village, if you can't get a door open, you blow it off its hinges.” Red Mage walked over and examined the large keyhole.

 

“Hmm, the Mystic Key is a very special item. It allows any person who holds it to enter any locked room, regardless of the defense it has.” Red Mage explained, “But its whereabouts aren't known. It seems to have been lost in time.”

 

“Well, I bet a well-aimed Flare spell would knock off any door, wouldn't it?” Black Mage asked. White Mage shook her head.

 

“Don't you remember what just happened when you used Fire? It'll be reflected off of any door locked by the Mystic Key.” White Mage replied, “And since Astos seems to be hindering us with the orbs, and he already has a locked door from the key, there's bound to be many more along our way. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the doors from now on are locked by that key!”

 

“Great… so another piece of crap we need to find in order to progress our journey. This is just wonderful. The only thing that could possibly make this day any better is if we were killed by the weakest enemy in existence.” Black Mage stated sarcastically. To his surprise, an Imp just happened to be wandering down the halls.

 

“Hey!” the Imp cried, “Let me just point out that my people were the basis to some of the strongest monsters around!” Its eyes grew very big and watery as it ran down the hall, crying, “Why couldn't I be a Giant like my cousin!?”

 

“That… was almost sad.” Thief said, as they still heard the Imp's wailing from outside the castle.

 

“Yeah, but now that we've established that we're definitely on the right track, maybe we should try to find the throne room.” Red Mage suggested, beginning to walk down the dark hallway again. Black Mage gave an icy glare.

 

“But I kept suggesting that while you three were staring at pieces of mold!” Black Mage cried angrily, “And just because we found some locked door which needs the Mystic key, doesn't mean we're on the right track, Dumbo.”

 

“Well, if that didn't convince me, the fact that there are monsters around here do.” Thief said, “Besides, when has RM ever steered us wrong?” Black Mage began to twitch as the memories of them falling off the bridge, getting lost in every forest they've passed, and having to do a quest for Matoya came back quickly in his mind.

 

“It was just a coincidence…” Black Mage told himself, “It's not RM's fault… He's just a moron… Must resist urge to kill him for his idiocy…” Red Mage was up ahead, looking at the bigger formation of mold growing on the walls.

 

“If we take a look at the survival guide, it says we should follow the path of the mold. The throne room should be this way!” Red Mage concluded, as he began to walk so confidently towards his set path.

 

“Ah, screw it!” Black Mage shrugged, “DIE, RM!” He aimed his trusty new Fire2 spell at Red Mage, but Red Mage picked that exact moment to turn the corner, therefore avoiding the fireball and his doom entirely.

 

“GAAAH! I HATE YOU! WHY WON'T YOU DIE!?” Black Mage asked, kicking and punching air. Red Mage, completely oblivious to Black Mage's murder attempt, poked his head back around the corner.

 

“BM, come on. Thief found the throne room, and we're going in without you!” he exclaimed. Black Mage choked another screaming frenzy of angry insults, and instead stuffed his hands into his pockets, his way of “resisting the urge to kill Red Mage.”

 

After Red and Black Mage caught up to Thief and White Mage, Thief began to pick the lock to the door. White Mage looked at the sign next to it, then back at Thief, raising an eyebrow. Black Mage moaned.

 

“Don't tell me that door's locked too!” he groaned, frustrated.

 

“Not by the Mystic Key, but I can't pick it open!” Thief replied, just as annoyed. White Mage sighed and opened the door by turning the knob.

 

“You should really try common sense next time and first check to make sure it really is locked.” White Mage said, both amused and slightly irritated. She and the other two mages walked into the room, leaving Thief out there to figure out what she said. After a few seconds, Thief ran in to join his friends.

 

And lo and behold, there was a king sitting on the throne.

 

“Hey, do you think that's Astos?” Thief whispered, pointing to the king.

 

“I doubt it. He looks too human.” Red Mage replied, as the four slowly made their way up to the throne. The king began to sigh and moan in frustration when he saw them approach, which didn't fail to get on Black Mage's nerves very quickly.

 

“What's your problem, you old fool?” Black Mage asked, narrowing his eyes. The king stopped and looked at Black Mage, then sobbed again.

 

“It is an utter disaster!” the king said, “Astos has ravaged my beautiful kingdom! And he stole my prized Crown! Without it, I am no longer king of this region!” The king began to sob pathetically again. White Mage looked around, unconvinced.

 

“But if that's so, why haven't we come across any dead bodies yet?” she asked. The king stopped crying and gave a cheesy smile.

 

“Everyone was on vacation when Astos attacked.” He said, coming up with probably the worst excuse anyone's ever heard. Thief just shrugged.

 

“Works for me.” He said, not even beginning to question.

 

“Yeah, well, get in line if you want us to cream him because we have a bunch of other things to do that involve kicking his sorry carcass.” Black Mage said, waving his hand as he spoke. The king hopped off of his throne.

 

“There is no need! If I have the Crown, I'll find Astos myself. My Crown is my power.” He said, proudly.

 

“Once again, get in line if you have some kind of idiotic quest for us because we already have at least 5 of those lined up. We're busy.” Black Mage stated, praying to Chaos that this old man didn't want them to find his Crown. But to BM's horror, he did.

 

“Oh please! You must find my Crown! It is the only way I can fight Astos!” the king cried, “But… I understand if you can't find the time… to help an old man like me!” The king's eyes watered up and he began to cry again.

 

“I don't freakin' think so.” Black Mage said, “We will not be swayed with tears. Right, guys?” Black Mage turned around and nearly screamed. The other three were looking sympathetically at the king.

 

“Of course we'll help you!” they all chorused. The king looked overjoyed, but Black Mage certainly wasn't.

 

“WHAT!?” he screamed, “What about the billions of other quests we have to finish first!?” Thief, however, had the answer.

 

“If we get this guy his Crown, he'll beat Astos for us and we can get the Crystal for Matoya and save ourselves a lot of time.” Thief replied. Black Mage shrugged, he seemed to like the idea well enough.

 

“Just a question, though.” Black Mage said, “Where is the Crown?”

 

“Astos has hidden it deep in the Marsh Cave to the south.” The king answered, “Please, go there as soon as you can.” The four nodded, and left the throne room to the world outside.

 

“Is it me, or did something seem really wrong with that guy?” Black Mage asked, as they once again were on the road to adventure.

 

“You think something is wrong with everyone, BM.” White Mage replied with a bored tone. Red Mage looked back at everyone.

 

“I agree with BM here.” He said, “Something about that king makes very little sense. I mean, he said his power came from the Crown, right?”

 

“And he said Astos hid the Crown after the attack.” Thief added, “So you're wondering why he didn't use the Crown in the first place.”

 

“Precisely.” Red Mage said, “And is it really possible that no one except the king was around? It all seems odd to me as well.” Black Mage did a touchdown kind of move.

 

“See, WM? I knew something fishy was going on, and RM and Thief believe me too!” Black Mage exclaimed proudly. White Mage, however, wasn't exactly convinced.

 

“So then what do you think is going on?” she asked, stopping and leaning on her hammer. Black Mage looked at Thief, who looked at Red Mage. Red Mage scratched his chin, obviously trying to come up with something.

 

“I think maybe he knows more than he's letting us on to believe.” Red Mage answered, darkly, “I'm not saying it's a big deal, but it is possible that he too may be another enemy of ours even if he's against Astos too.”

 

“Another minion to Chaos?” White Mage asked. Red Mage shook his head.

 

“I doubt it. But at any rate, we can't get anything from him until we get the Crown, so in the meantime, we can plan our strategy as we find it.” Red Mage said, as the group finally came out of the forest.

 

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Thief agreed, as the sunlight hit him. Black Mage nodded, and White Mage smiled encouragingly. For a while, silence followed the group as they headed south per the king's instructions. But that silence was broken when Thief saw a shadow glide through the trees.

 

“Did you see that?” he asked, nervously. The others looked around, but they couldn't find anything.

 

“Maybe you need to rest or something.” White Mage suggested gently. The shadow Thief saw stopped next to her, which made Thief's eyes pop out of his head.

 

“Yeah, nothing out here can possibly hurt you.” it said, making everyone turn around sharply.

 

“Who the hell are you!?” Black Mage demanded as everyone except Thief drew their weapons. The shadow thing shrugged with confusion.

 

“I'm just a wraith. Nothing harmless.” It said, “I run the local item shop for out-of-the-way travelers.” This made our heroes very confused. “So, what brings you all out here?” it asked.

 

“We're looking for the Marsh Cave.” Red Mage replied skeptically.

 

“Oh, well it's this way.” the Wraith said, leading our heroes south again, “You're lucky. It's not too far from here. See that hole? That's the Marsh cave.” The Wraith pointed to a big hole, but the four were looking at what was above the hole. A huge flashing sign was above it, saying “Welcome to Marsh Cave!”

 

“This is an attraction site!?” Black Mage asked angrily.

 

“Well, to us monsters, yes.” The Wraith replied, “It's dark, dank, and really creepy.”

 

“Oh… well, thank for your help.” Black Mage said as the Wraith turned to leave, “And by the way, FIRE2!” Black Mage aimed another fireball at the Wraith, who died instantly. The other three stared in horror as Black Mage just went along as though nothing happened.

 

Inside the cave, however, was much different than the cheeriness of the outside world. It was really dark and creepy like the Wraith said. Not to mention there were bats everywhere too.

 

“Go away, you little pests!” Black Mage yelled as he tried to bat one away with a stick. Red Mage walked a little further ahead, and looked both ways.

 

“Which road to we take?” he asked, “North or South?”

 

“Gee, because it's not like monsters aren't around no matter which way we go.” Black Mage said sarcastically, “I say we go back outside and pretend the king is just a liar.”

 

“We should go South.” White Mage said, “After all, the deeper parts of this place may be where the Crown is.” Red Mage obviously agreed, because he started walking south. Thief and White Mage followed. Black Mage gave a heavy sigh and followed. Sure enough, they'd gone down a ladder, and landed in a hall with only about 50 different rooms in it.

 

“Okay… now which one has the Crown?” Red Mage asked. Thief looked around carefully until he spoke.

 

“Eeny, meeny, miny, mo. Catch a tiger by the toe.” Thief started to sing, pointing to different doorways. Black Mage took another stick and threw it at Thief.

 

“I say we bust down all the doors until we find the right one.” Black Mage said. So, they did that with every room until they came into one with a very mysterious altar with a chest sitting on top.

 

“I think we found it…” Thief whispered. Black Mage grinned and stepped forward.

 

“This wasn't so hard.” He said, and he walked closer to the chest. White Mage looked at the tile in front of it and screamed.

 

“BLACK MAGE, STOP!” she yelled. But it was too late. Black Mage stepped on the tile, and a soft rumbling was heard.

 

“What is that!?” Thief asked nervously. Red Mage drew his sword, and poised for an attack.

 

“Quiet… maybe it was nothing…” he said. But something inside him told him he was wrong, “We can only hope…”

 

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So, our heroes finally made it to the Marsh Cave! What did Black Mage unleash? Be it friend, or foe? And is something really wrong with the king? Or is it just nerves? And will Fighter ever win Terra's love? Find out next chapter! So, click that Review button!