Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The chronicles of Four! ❯ Walking around in a Winter Wonderland! ( Chapter 19 )

Time for another crazy chapter for our Light Warriors! But first... (opens bag) JTS, thanks for the encouragement! Actually, I am in the process of writing my own original story. That's why I'm so slow with the fanfics! Tears of Light, who knows? It seems Square is making cults for Cid and Bahamut. Anyway, I don't own FF or 8-bit!

 

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Cyan's contribution to the team really did a number as trees, shrubs, and bricks were carried within 50-mile radiuses. Hardly anyone complained at all, though it was mostly through the fact no one could understand what Cyan was saying.

 

“Thou art so slow with thy wood for thee house!” Cyan yelled as Cecil dropped a large log for the third time. He stormed up to the frightened paladin while screaming more poorly used Old English phrases. Firion looked at Black Belt.

 

“What is that guy yelling about!?” Firion asked, as Cyan bopped Cecil on the head with a stick.

 

“I don't know. Maybe he's mad we cut down so many trees. I mean, just look.” Black Belt replied, pointing to the vast wasteland that USED to be a grove of burnt trees, “Sure, they were dead, but I think we did better with them there.” Firion nodded.

 

“Yeah, didn't you notice how Leon and Auron starting hacking as soon as we cleared the western corner of every twig, branch, and leaf we found?” Firion asked, “What was THAT about?” Black Belt looked over as Sabin had rushed over to stop Cyan's ranting.

 

“Who knows? At least we're getting the job done, Firion.” Black Belt replied, then looked down, “Firion? Are you okay?” Little did Black Belt know that Firion died from loss of fresh oxygen, thanks to the lack of trees, dead or not.

 

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Once again, our heroes were set out for Crescent Isle. But this time, the ride was neither cheerful or ridiculous. Kary's death had shaken everyone, and they knew the time for play was over. Unfortunately, to ensure that they kept the serious attitude, Black Mage voted himself the designated driver.

 

“BM, are you sure we're allowed to drive like this? Isn't this technically against the code of heroes?” Thief asked as Black Mage projected the boat in the air thanks to his Fire3. The boat flew past the flames of burning land as the Fire3 spell successfully burned the strip of an island away, leaving a clean path for later ventures.

 

“Who cares how we're allowed to drive!” Black Mage spat, steering sharply, “The point is, we have to get to that damn cave and get all-powerful before we fight the next two fiends. That way, we can kick Kraken's ass and move on.” White Mage held onto the railing as Black Mage veered sharply to the left to avoid a school of sahagins swimming in a circle.

 

“Even so, I'd rather us be alive when we get to Crescent Isle. At this rate, we might be dead!” White Mage exclaimed, as Red Mage nearly fell overboard. She grabbed him quickly and pulled him up. Unfortunately, she wasn't quick enough to catch Thief, who fell right in.

 

“AAAAHH!! Help! I can't swim!” Thief sputtered through the currents, struggling and splashing about. Black Mage laughed a little. Red Mage through a life-saver into the sea, but it merely bounced off of Thief's head, knocking his lights out. White Mage glared at Red Mage, then turned to Black Mage.

 

“BM, you have to help him! He could die!” she cried, waving her arms at her slowly-drowning friend. Black Mage sighed and shook his head.

 

“That was kind of the point.” he replied tiredly, and then saw White Mage crying a little, “Oh, fine! I'll help the little idiot.” With that, Black Mage slammed the brakes to the ship on. He stormed over to the side of the ship just in time to see the sahagins holding Thief up. “Hey, give him back, losers. You can't eat him.”

 

“Eat him? Why on earth would we do that!?” one of the sahagins asked, disgusted with the thought, “We were going to get him back up! Heavens, we'd NEVER eat a human!” Another sahagin turned to the first.

 

“What about that guy near the old dock!? We ate him!” the second hissed. The first sahagin smiled nervously.

 

“That one was an accident.” he said quickly, noting the worried looks on White and Red Mage's faces, “Rest assured we RARELY eat anyone. Anyway, here you go. We're sorry for the misunderstanding.” Black Mage rolled his eyes, annoyed.

 

“There was no “misunderstanding,” but you should be sorry. It's your fault in the first place!” Black Mage exclaimed angrily, shaking a fist, “Why were you all swimming in a circle like retards, anyway!?” The first sahagin looked at his brethren, and they all nodded and whispered things to each other. The first one nodded and turned back to the warriors.

 

“We're practicing our synchronized water dancing for the annual Water Pageant Kraken throws every year.” the sahagin replied, as the others nodded. Black Mage snorted with a mocking laugh and wiped his forehead.

 

“Synchronized water dancing... Nice.” he mumbled, walking back to the steering wheel, then he realized something, “Wait, who's holding the Pageant!?”

 

“Kraken is. He has been for the past 200 years.” A sahagin replied, “Anyway, we'd love to chat, but we have training to do! Good luck, folks!” With that, the group of sahagins dove into the water and swam away. Everyone, with the exception of Thief, stared at where the sahagins once were in disbelief.

 

“Kraken throwing a pageant? Do you think he's the same guy as the fiend we're supposed to kill?” Red Mage asked, raising an eyebrow. Black Mage slumped into a deck chair, and he looked a bit worn out from the oddness of their experience.

 

“I don't know what to think.” Black Mage sighed, “I do think the fiends seemed to have lost whatever minds they had. Did anyone but me notice that?” White Mage agreed while laying Thief on a blanket.

 

“We have. But maybe it isn't the same person. I've heard that some people like to give themselves really odd names to add some pizzazz to whatever they do. Just think of Guns `N Roses.” White Mage replied, sitting down next to Black Mage and opening a newsletter on current events in Pravoca. Red Mage walked over to the wheel and took hold.

 

“Well, we'll never know just sitting here talking about it.” he said, and moving the boat forward. Black Mage looked at him for a second, unable to find a description for the scene he was watching as Red Mage steered the ship across the seas. Finally, he managed a snide remark.

 

“Great, the idiots succeeding the morons. Next thing we know, we'll end up in Mexico while it's Mardi Gras...” Black Mage mumbled, as the ship moved through the waters. Thanks to Red Mage's suave navigation, or maybe because of the lack of land thanks to Black Mage's Fire3, the group reached Crescent Isle before they knew it. In fact, Thief was still out by the time they docked near the town.

 

“BM, wait up! Shouldn't we bring Thief?” Red Mage asked as he climbed out of the ship. Black Mage had gone ahead a bit, trying to take advantage of his friend's mishap to get away from the others as quickly as possible. But he somehow found himself answering Red Mage's question as he skidded to a halt and turned around.

 

“No, we'll get the info more quickly without the idiot to lag behind!” he snapped, and began to walk into the town again. Red Mage simply shrugged and, with White Mage, ran to keep up with Black Mage. He nearly smashed into a tree as Black Mage made a sharp turn around a corner to a secret path towards the Circle of Sages. The eldest of the sages looked at Black Mage.

 

“Ah, you warriors have returned. I suspect all went well?” he asked. Black Mage shivered as he stared into the sage's beady eyes.

 

“Yeah, it went fine.” Black Mage replied impatiently, conveniently forgetting to tell them what Kary had said or that she had joined their side at all. The second sage peered at the small group through his glasses.

 

“Oh, but were there not four of you? What happened to the young thief?” he asked with an eerily squeaky voice. Red Mage was about to explain when Black Mage covered his mouth.

 

“He's sleeping.” he replied bluntly, then hissed at Red Mage, “If they don't know about these cracked-up monsters, we can go faster.” But Red Mage was struggling to point behind Black Mage. Black Mage turned around again and nearly screamed. Thief was standing there, still soaking wet, but alive and well.

 

“Hey guys! Did I miss the party?” he asked. The sages all chuckled and nodded with approval, and Thief stood next to Red Mage. The eldest sage coughed and stepped forward.

 

“Within any rate, it appears you have defeated Kary. The volcano gave a mighty surge, but we've felt no disturbance since then.” he said, smoothing out his robes, “Therefore we have some more information to reach Kraken, demon of the seas.”

 

“Let me guess, he lives in a sealed temple only skilled warriors can go into, and we need some freakin' dragon to help us get that power.” Black Mage sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. White Mage glanced at him nervously, and the sages seemed more than astonished at the news. They all whispered and murmured nervous conversations, but the elder found the tongue to speak again.

 

“Yes. Yes, that is right.” he explained, “But to find the dragon, Bahamut, you need the airship.” Thief tilted his head in confusion.

 

“So where's the airship?” he asked.

 

“It is in the desert just southwest of here, but you must get the Floater, or more commonly known, the Levistone, from the Ice Cavern.” the eldest sage spoke, “But as you know, it is in unreachable territory.” Black Mage smacked his forehead.

 

“So then how will we get it!?” he asked angrily, trying to resist the urge to burn every single sage in the circle. The elder sage stepped back.

 

“We can teleport you there to retrieve the stone, and hold the circle so you can come back.” the sage replied, “Now, please, step into the circle.” With that, the four warriors walked into the small glowing circle as the sages mumbled and chanted spells. Suddenly the circle flared up, and everyone felt the sensation that they were being pulled into a different world. Within seconds, they vanished out of Crescent and ended up on a small platform outside a cave.

 

“W-where are we?” White Mage asked, shivering from the sudden cold. She looked up and realized it was snowing out. Red Mage gave her his cape as he explained his thought.

 

“It's obvious we're in front of the Ice Cavern.” he said, “I guess the spell worked then.”

 

“Yeah, now let's hope we can get back.” Black Mage mumbled angrily, walking up to the frozen doors, “RM, shall we combine our Fire spells?” Red Mage nodded, and immediately, the two mages pooled their power to create a large fireball to blast down the doors. But instead, all that happened was that the doors thawed. Red Mage carefully walked up and pulled the doors opened, and walked inside. The other three followed.

 

“Whoa, so this is what it looks like...” Thief said in awe. Black Mage, however, wasn't too impressed as he walked down the frozen stairs with care.

 

“You're surprised? What did you think we'd see other than ice? A party?” he asked, looking into a very detailed ice sculpture. White Mage chuckled.

 

“With these monsters, you never really know.” she reminded, smiling warmly.

 

“Well, if there IS a party, we shouldn't miss it!” Thief said, and foolishly jumped down the stairs, forgetting everything was frozen solid. He slipped on the ground and slid across the ice, colliding with another sculpture. A loud BOOM signaled that he managed to get buried in snow.

 

“Don't worry, I'm okay!” Thief called from under the snow as Red and White Mage skated over to find him. Black Mage, on the other hand, was too busy laughing his butt off until another thing of snow fell on his head. When he wiped it off, he saw Red Mage was the one who conjured the snow at him.

 

“So, playing rough, eh!?” Black Mage asked as he hurled an ice ball at Red Mage. Red Mage got hit square in the face and fell into the pile of snow, making Black Mage roar with laughter. White Mage decided to end their feud.

 

“Enough!” she called, “I admit this is cheerful, but we need to hurry up on getting the stone!” Gently, she tapped Red and Black Mage on their heads with her staff and set about carefully skating down the hall. Red Mage and Thief followed, but Black Mage rubbed his head for a minute before moving.

 

“Does she have to be such a wench?” Black Mage asked, getting up off the ground and following his friends, mumbling the entire way. Thankfully, going through the halls of the cavern wasn't as hard if they kept their balance as they slid through. But as the group made their way down the steps into the lower hall, they saw their obstacle.

 

“Aw man, is this one of those places where we'll need a plan to get through!?” Thief cried, throwing his hands up in frustration as cracks and splinters of ice stood before the befuddled quartet. Red Mage tilted his head, and walked onto the last step carefully.

 

“Maybe not. The ice might be thick enough to support our weights.” he replied, and draw his sword. Very gently, he poked at a nearby crack, testing how hard he could go. To his surprise, the ice shattered immediately with very little force, spraying him with tiny icicles. He jumped back in shock, “I stand corrected.”

 

“Out of my way, peon.” Black Mage commanded, and pushed Red Mage to the side. He looked hard at the ice, as if maybe getting into a staring contest with it until he finally said, “There's an easy solution to it. Make it thicker.” With that, he began to cast Ice2 on the floor, focusing all his energy into one shot. But, as with Red Mage, all that happened was that the ice shattered again, sending even more icicles cascading down on the warriors.

 

“Nice shot.” Red Mage sneered. Black Mage gave him a death glare as White Mage examined the ice next. There was almost no floor left, instead it showed the floor below. White Mage looked across to the other side of the room. There was nothing over there except a chest, and a ghoul sleeping next to it, magazine in hand.

 

“It's pretty obvious that we're supposed to hop down.” White Mage stated plainly, “Just look. All that's up farther is a chest guarded by a monster.” Black Mage squinted his eyes to look and saw she was right. But that didn't convince him to risk potential suicide.

 

“But what if there's another way?” he asked. Red Mage peered around the room, scanning everything for another way out. But, he didn't find one.

 

“There's no other way.” he replied, shaking his head.

 

“Fine. But either you or Thief is going first.” Black Mage mumbled. Thief, who had only been listening to Red Mage, jumped down into the hole and landed with a thud on the floor below. Black Mage turned around to look as a loud crack signified Thief landed.

 

“Thief, are you okay!?” Red Mage asked, jumping down to help his friend. Thief, however, just got up and dusted himself off.

 

“I'm fine. White Mage, come on! Are you and BM coming?” Thief called. White Mage didn't answer, instead she jumped after Red Mage, and he caught her as she fell. Huffing with boredom, Black Mage brought up the rear and landed on his feet.

 

“Okay, so now where do we go?” Black Mage asked, smoothing out his crinkling robe. Red Mage put White Mage down and assumed the leader's position again. He walked around the room, looking and feeling for a secret passage. Finally, he found a switch to the door and it burst open.

 

“I guess we just go in here.” he said, walking down the hall. The others followed quietly. They tried to be as gentle as possible on the ice, as they didn't want to make noises and wake anything up. But that soon became impossible as Thief once again slipped on the ice.

 

“Guys!! HELP!” he screamed as he slid down the path. He grabbed Red Mage's cloak by accident and pulled him down too. Red Mage, in total surprise, drew his sword to cut himself free. But as he was pulled down, the sword fell out of his hands and landed right near Black Mage, who jumped and accidentally cast a Bolt2 spell on something unseen. White Mage cowered behind Black Mage as the thing woke up.

 

“Who dares to cast that?” it said with a raspy voice, getting up. Thief and Red Mage, who'd finally crashed into a wall, said absolutely nothing. Black Mage was about the only one who wasn't afraid.

 

“That was me, pops.” he replied, casually, “But I'd like to say Dumb and Dumber over there started it when they decided to play ice football instead of focusing on this stupid cave.” The thing walked over to the two scared warriors, and it turned out to be a Wizard. Or, more likely, a Wizard in a purple robe.

 

“Hmm... you wouldn't happen to be the warriors who rid my cousins of the Crown, would you?” he asked, and everyone seemed a little less afraid. Thief nodded.

 

“Yeah, why?” he asked, and brought out the Crown, as they still had it from Astos, “Did you want it? Here, take it! Just let us go free.” The Wizard-like creature sniffed the Crown, and gave an old-man kind of chuckle.

 

“No, no. You see, my cousins, the Wizards, sent me a message saying that you all helped them to get rid of that piece of junk. They told me to help you if you came this way.” he said, all the while the four warriors stared in disbelief, mouths agape, “So, what is it you need? Why are you here?” It took Red Mage a minute to recover, but he found his voice.

 

“Well... er... we heard the Levistone was held here, and we need it to get an airship.” he replied, retrieving his sword from the ice. The Wizard-like creature thought about what he said for a minute before replying.

 

“Ah yes! The Floater! Yes, I shall take you to it.” he said, clapping his hands... er... tentacles together, “But be warned that the Evil Eye guards the stone. While we were hoping to give it to someone in the future, it's grown rather senile and paranoid in its old age.” Black Mage laughed hysterically at what the Wizard was saying.

 

“Oh please, what can a curse possibly do to us?” he asked, slapping his knee. The Wizard, and Red Mage, looked at him seriously.

 

“The Evil Eye is no curse, boy. It's lived for hundreds of thousands of years, guarding that stone like a hawk guards its food.” the Wizard snapped, instantly shutting Black Mage up. Red Mage pulled out a Highlights Magazine and held up a picture of what looked like a large rock with an eye in the center.

 

“That, and it has the power to kill the unworthy almost instantly!” Red Mage added, “BM, I wouldn't take this thing so lightly.” Thief shivered.

 

“Can't you just tell it that we need the stone?” Thief asked nervously. The Wizard shook his head.

 

“Afraid not, boy. It won't listen to me, thinks I'm out to get it now. That's why I built the room all around it, so it doesn't hurt what it can't see.” the Wizard replied, “It won't leave its post, but it puts up a hell of a fight if you go near it.”

 

“So then we have to fight it for the stone?” White Mage asked. The Wizard nodded wisely. But Black Mage still wasn't fazed by such a story. He stormed up to a door.

 

“You all are sissies! I don't get what the big deal is! It's just a stupid eye! All we have to do is poke it with a stick and it'll pop!” Black Mage whined, throwing his hands up in frantic poking motions. The Wizard chuckled.

 

“Well, if you're so confident, then let's get going.” he said, and tapped his staff on the ground. The door behind Black Mage opened, and the Wizard waddled in, followed by the warriors. It began to grow steadily colder as they walked deeper into the halls, and it was darker now too, as the torches of light were soon replaced by shining gems of black and purple. Thief looked to the left as they passed a staircase and tapped the Wizard on the shoulder.

 

“What about there?” Thief asked, pointing to the stairs.

 

“No, we mustn't go there. That is a shortcut to the outside. THIS is where we need to go.” The Wizard said, and stopped at a pair of huge stone doors. Symbols of an ancient language blazed on them, making even Black Mage sigh with awe. As they looked at the door, the four could feel waves of magical energies flowing through them.

 

“So, the eye's in here?” Red Mage asked. The Wizard nodded and touched the doorway. It slowly opened up as he turned to look at the warriors.

 

“Beware, for in here will be a beast unlike any other. Prepare to meet the Eye!”

 

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Hooray! This story is officially half done! Anyway, our heroes made it through the Ice Cavern for the most part, but what awaits them in the room they must enter? Is the Evil Eye as bad as the Wizard claims? Is it just for drama? Can the four retrieve the Levistone? And did everyone in Cherry Town die? Find out next chapter, so click that Review Button!