Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The chronicles of Four! ❯ Learning new things everyday! ( Chapter 25 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own FF or 8-bit.

 

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“Hey! BB, check it out! We're done with the town hall!” Fighter's voice boomed across the city towards Black Belt, who was busy managing the construction of a clinic. Putting down his clipboard, Black Belt walked over to where Fighter was and gasped. It was completed! The first floor was made of stone, but the rest was wood, and it was indeed a castle. A beautiful iron fence surrounded it, and gardens were off to either side.

 

“It's beautiful...” Black Belt murmured, “You guys did a good job! I'm impressed!”

 

“See? I told you I knew some people who could take care of this!” Sabin said proudly, dusting his hands off. And for once, Black Belt agreed.

 

“So, what do we do now? Should we start moving our furniture in?” Fighter asked, as he pulled around a box full of his swords. Black Belt shook his head.

 

“No. We need to start building some business establishments. I've already gotten a clinic started. Sabin, you should work on building a gym.” Black Belt suggested, and Sabin was off to find recruits, “And you, Fighter... you should start on the weapon/armor shop.” Fighter's face lit up like Rudolph's nose.

 

“Really? Me!?” Fighter squeaked with joy, “I get to build a sword shop?”

 

“Not a sword shop. A weapon store. You'll be selling all kinds of weapons.” Black Belt corrected, “I thought you'd be able to handle this job best.” Fighter ran up and hugged Black Belt happily.

 

“Don't worry, buddy! I won't let you down!” Fighter said zealously, shaking Black Belt, “So, what should I do first? Gather recruits? Find wood?” Black Belt's face began to turn a slight blue color as he coughed out his response.

 

“Trying not to kill me is a good idea...” Black Belt wheezed. Fighter let him go and immediately ran off to find anyone who could help him, leaving Black Belt to go back to his clinic, “Soon, we can start living here! I'm so excited!”

 

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“I see it! I can see the volcano!” Thief's voice came through the speaker as Red Mage steered gently, “Just a few more feet and we'll be right over the crater!” Red Mage nodded and turned behind him towards the open door.

 

“Did you hear that, BM? We're nearly there.” Red Mage repeated, and heard Black Mage get up and grab something that he was sure was the bottle filled with Kraken's ash.

 

“I'll be heading up onto the deck then. You do remember that you just have to stop above the crater, right? We don't need to land.” Black Mage reminded, and when he saw Red Mage nod, he opened the door to the deck and walked out. As he walked towards the railing, Black Mage saw Thief talking into the speaker, telling Red Mage to stop the ship for a minute. The ship came to a slow stop, and Black Mage opened up the bottle.

 

“So long, sushi master.” Black Mage said, grinning. He was about to dump the contents when he put the lid back on, “On second thought, let's make sure nothing remains.” With that, Black Mage threw the entire bottle down into the volcano and watched as the lava melted the glass. Feeling proud, Black Mage walked back into the ship with Thief and poked his head into the control room.

 

“Everything's done. Let's head to Lufenia now.” Black Mage said. Red Mage gave the thumbs-up and began to steer the ship farther north and just a little past Pravoca. Black Mage returned to his seat and grabbed a can of soda. Thief had sat down over by the windowsill.

 

“So, where exactly IS Lufenia?” Thief asked, “I heard it's just a legendary city.” White Mage put the book she was reading down.

 

“It's a town of White mages like myself.” she said, “But most of the people there don't like being publicized, so we've had to hide the city with charms and spells.” Suddenly, that struck a chord in Black Mage.

 

“Wait... Lufenia... Don't you also have some weird language you speak in!?” Black Mage asked, “I've heard about a city with a similar name, and they also kept intruders out by composing a language crossing that of standard Japanese and an ancient language of the ancients.”

 

“Yes, that's true.” White Mage replied, “Most of the elders speak this language, so communication might be a problem for you.” Thief moaned.

 

“So then what do we do? How can we learn this language?” he asked, smoothing out his bandana. White Mage looked thoughtfully towards the window.

 

“I'm not sure. There was a stone tablet that depicted the entire dictionary of my people, but I heard that after a misunderstanding, the tablet was banished to the deepest part of the ocean so no one could find it.” White Mage explained. Red Mage, who'd been overhearing everything, shook his head grimly as he walked into the room.

 

“But the deepest part of the ocean was the Water Shrine, and it's in ruins now.” Red Mage said, “It's suicide to go back there. WM, do you remember any of that language?” White Mage sighed heavily as she tried to think.

 

“A little, but I haven't spoken it since I was little.” White Mage answered, “After my parents moved to Cherry Town, I didn't have a need for it.” Thief got up and walked over to White Mage. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

 

“WM, please. You have to remember! You're our only hope now.” Thief said, “Unless we can find a way to contact some kind of scientist, you're the only one who knows the language!” White Mage looked very doubtful as she stared at the floor.

 

“I know... but I can't remember much.” she said quietly. Red Mage walked quickly back to the control room.

 

“I'll see if I can get the radio to work. Maybe we can call Dr. Unne up back in Melmond. He said he was working on something about Lufenia.” Red Mage said. Black Mage went inside to help him, leaving Thief to calm White Mage down.

 

“Let's hope he can get it working.” Thief said, sitting on the couch. White Mage sat next to him.

 

“I'm sorry...” she said, “I didn't think we'd have to go to Lufenia, and if I knew I would've said something.” Thief patted her shoulder comfortingly.

 

“It's not your fault.” he reassured, “Besides, RM is going to fix the radio so you won't need to worry! He always comes through for us!” White Mage smiled, and looked towards the control room. Black Mage came out a minute later, and judging by the look on his face, the radio was fixed.

 

“We got it working! He's on the phone with Unne right now.” Black Mage said, and gestured for the two to come by and listen to the conversation. It sounded like Dr. Unne was trying to explain something to Red Mage.

 

“That's really all I can do for you, Relik.” Unne said through the radio, “I haven't been able to decode everything through text, so that device will just have to do.” Black Mage saw Red Mage roll his eyes in frustration, but he tried to keep his control as he spoke to Unne.

 

“I suppose, but what happens if it breaks while we're trying to speak to someone? WM doesn't remember much about Lufenia, and none of us know anything about it either.” Red Mage protested, slumping into a chair, “Isn't there a safeguard?” Everyone could hear Unne giving a heavy sigh over the radio.

 

“You're lucky if I can get it to go through the Teleporter to you. That's the best I can offer.” Unne finally said after a minute of silence, “It's a delicate machine, but it's not hard to figure out. I'm sure the son of Cid Highwind Cratton, the world's greatest inventor, could easily fix it if it breaks.” Red Mage jumped back in mild surprise and Black Mage was sure he was about to rip out the radio and throw it into the crater below, but he didn't. Instead, he spoke frantically into the radio.

 

“But Doctor, what if I don't...” Red Mage began, until Dr. Unne interrupted him by saying he had an appointment he had to keep. Then everyone heard the radio click off, and they scrambled back to their seats as Red Mage came stalking out, an uncharacteristically angry look on his face.

 

“So, what did he say?” Thief asked casually, as Red Mage fell into a recliner.

 

“He's sending over a prototype device so we can understand and speak Lufenish.” Red Mage mumbled, “Only problem is that it's incredibly unstable. One shock, even a static touch, and it could break.”

 

“It's better than nothing.” Black Mage stated simply. Red Mage gave him a suspicious glance.

 

“That's exactly what he said...” Red Mage said slowly, “Did you listen to my conversation?”

 

“And what of it? Point is, we at least have something to help us. Plus Unne is right, RM. You're a technological genius compared to us. I'm sure whatever problems we do have CAN be fixed.” Black Mage replied calmly, “It's just a matter of if you want to fix them.” Red Mage nodded slowly. Black Mage did make a lot of sense, but he still had an inkling of a bad feeling. And that inkling grew as a small glass tube glowed blue for a second. Thief looked and saw that a small device, which looked like a cross between a stopwatch and a set of headphones had been teleported.

 

“I think this is from Dr. Unne.” Thief said, as he opened the case and took the device out. He handed it to Red Mage, who examined it thoroughly. The front had a monitor with some sort of scanning LED screen, and the back had a battery-pack and a few wires coming out of it. He laughed when he was done.

 

“Dr. Unne was right. This isn't hard to figure out at all.” Red Mage said, “Look here, the wires are all exposed. If I can just find a covering, maybe some electrical tape, then we don't need to worry about a short-circuit.” Black Mage walked over to a desk and looked inside the drawers. There was nothing useful in the first three, but the fourth held a small roll of duct tape.

 

“Will this work?” Black Mage asked, throwing the roll to Red Mage, who caught it and nodded. He began to tape the wires to the back, making sure to leave the battery-pack clear and to cover every wire. Finally, he put the device down.

 

“It's done. Now to just sit back and wait for the auto-pilot to get to Lufenia.” Red Mage said, sitting back down in a chair. White Mage looked at the device with confusion.

 

“So, how does it work, exactly?” she asked, “How can it affect all of us? Or does it only affect the wearer?”

 

“I'm not sure. It looks like the antenna might produce something that causes everyone's brainwaves to connect to each other and somehow make it so we all can understand each other, no matter what language we speak.” Red Mage explained, “Of course, this is just speculation. I'm not sure how this sort of thing would work.”

 

“Hey, if it does work, couldn't we just negotiate with the last fiend and see if they might be interested in a truce?” Thief suggested, but Black Mage frowned, “Oh, just hear me out, BM. Think about it. Lich just wanted to get some sleep, and Kary tried to help us out. Only Kraken proved to be a real threat. I'm starting to wonder if the fiends are really evil or not.” Black Mage raised a suspicious eyebrow.

 

“And you think they're good at heart?” he asked, in the most unbelieving tone he could. Thief shook his head.

 

“I'm not saying that. I just mean, think of the odds. Kary was a good guy, and Lich wasn't too evil, either. Even Garland wasn't too bad. Granted, he was stupid, but not evil.” Thief reminded him, “The sages said the fourth fiend was a dragon, and dragons also have their own language. What I'm saying is, if we can use this device, we can talk to the last fiend. It might be like Kary.” White Mage bit her lip and looked down, trying to think of a gentle way to talk Thief out of such an idea.

 

“Thief...” she started calmly, “I'm not saying you're wrong. Enemies have surprised us before, but the chance of another Kary is highly improbable. You've heard the sages. The fourth fiend is also the oldest. For all we know, it might be the one who started this mess in the first place.” Thief looked down as well.

 

“I know, but it was just a thought.” he said, folding his hands in his lap. Red Mage walked towards the door and opened it.

 

“And it's a valid one. I see your point, Thief.” Red Mage admitted, “If all else fails, we'll attempt a negotiation. But as of now, we need to find a way to get into the Sky Tower at all, and the Lufenians are the only ones who know. So, to Lufenia!” Red Mage walked out onto the deck as the ship landed in a small clearing surrounded on all sides by forests. He jumped off the deck as the other three warriors walked out, and they followed suit to keep up.

 

“Well, this is convenient...” Black Mage mumbled, as he dusted off his robes and looked about, “This must be how the Lufenians keep intruders out.” Everyone nodded in silent agreement. From the forests, they could see shadows, and they were definitely sure enemies were lurking around. Bravely, Red Mage took the lead, drawing out his sword. Thief came in second with his katana, and the two mages brought up the rear.

 

“Anyone know which way to head?” Thief whispered, as they came to a small lake. Red Mage gulped as he tried to think. The shadows crept slowly closer, and he heard rustling in the bushes. Finally, he threw logic aside and just ran south like his guts told him. Everyone else ran to keep up, for fear they might get separated. But after a few minutes, that fear was replaced with a fear of getting lost entirely.

 

“RM, are you sure this is the right way!?” Black Mage asked, “It's getting darker!” Red Mage was about to answer when he slammed into someone. But as he looked up to apologize, he nearly screamed. The person he'd run into was a ZomBull, who were only more vicious than the Bulls he remembered in the Earth Cave. The other three came to a screeching halt as they saw him. The ZomBull looked down at them all.

 

“Well, this is a surprise. How'd humans get into our forest?” he asked, “Hey, Bob, check it out! Some humans got lost here!” The warriors turned and saw that Bob was a troll who obviously had a bad hair day. He walked up to them and took a good look at them.

 

“Well, I'll be! We haven't had any visitors here for... Chaos, it must've been nearly 50 years now!” The troll exclaimed, “How'd you all get here?” Red Mage scrambled to his feet and sheathed his sword.

 

“We're looking for the town of Lufenia.” he said, trying to keep their mission from slipping out. The ZomBull looked thoughtful for a minute, and then turned to his friend, the troll. The troll seemed just as confused, and then snapped his fingers.

 

“You mean that town full of those mages? Well, we can take you there!” he said enthusiastically, “Of course, there's not much there now, the fiend of wind accidentally crashed into the city the other day.” Black Mage raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

 

“Accidentally? How can you accidentally destroy a city!?” he asked angrily.

 

“Something's been going on with her for a while, she can't see where she's going.” the ZomBull replied, “I think she might be going blind, or even senile. She keeps wanting us to call her Mat or Matti. Anyway, we'll explain the rest on the way, so let's go.” With that, the two monsters led the party through the forest and explained as best as they could about the fiend of wind. Apparently, Thief's instincts about her were right.

 

“Wait a second. You mean she's trying to help us by restoring the wind?” Red Mage asked, “She's trying to get the crystal to shine by herself?” The troll nodded.

 

“Yeah. She polishes it, cleans it, hell, she even tried to move it outside to see if that would work. But she can't do anything.” the troll explained, “She told us that there are four heroes who can help her, so we're starting to think that's you guys.” Black Mage wasn't the least bit convinced, even as White Mage and Thief smiled happily.

 

“But why would she help us? Wasn't she the one creating these problems in the first place?” Black Mage asked, annoyed. The monsters helped the party across a large ravine before answering.

 

“Yeah, but that wasn't because of evil. That was all an emotional rampage.” the troll replied, “A while ago, she was traveling with friends of her own, but something happened. Some kind of fight broke out and they all left. Out of frustration, she let loose a bit of her power, not realizing she'd be hurting people.”

 

“And now that she knows she is, she wants to fix it...” Red Mage concluded, “Makes sense...” At that point, the monsters stopped and turned to the warriors.

 

“We gotta stop here. A pact between us and the humans says that we can't go into town.” the ZomBull said, “I hope you guys can help the fiend of wind.” With that, the two monsters ran off. Red Mage nodded in silent promise as he walked into Lufenia with his friends. And, just as the monsters said, it was in near ruins. Houses were smashed, shops had been taken out, and only the town square remained in one piece. Before going in, Red Mage put on Dr. Unne's device, and walked up to a random mage.

 

“Excuse me, but could you tell us what happened?” he asked. At first, he was sure the mage wouldn't understand or even answer him, but he was surprised when she turned around.

 

“It was horrible, sir. The fiend of wind crashed right into town.” she explained, “We're sure we've angered her, but the odd thing is, she left suddenly. She didn't take any prisoners.” She saw White Mage behind Thief and exclaimed, “Anna, is that you!?” White Mage nodded.

 

“It's good to see you too, Maria.” White Mage said, “But I must leave soon again. We're here to find out how to get into the Sky Tower.” Maria's eyes widened.

 

“So you really are a hero now... Amazing!” Maria said, “I'm sure the elder can help you.” With that, she grabbed White Mage's hand and dragged her towards a rather old man. Thief, Red, and Black Mage all ran to keep up, and stopped as they heard the elder speak.

 

“I see, Anna. You've come quite far, and I shouldn't stop you.” he said, taking out a small trinket, “But it's quite dangerous, my dear. Few have been able to return from Sky Tower once they've gone in. Are you sure you want to try?” White Mage nodded sternly.

 

“I have to. Besides, I have my friends with me. We've already defeated the other three fiends.” she replied, and held out the lit orbs to prove it. The elder examined them, then reluctantly gave White Mage the trinket, which was actually a small chime.

 

“You must travel to Yuken Desert to the south and ring this chime as you get there.” the elder explained, “This is the key into the tower's base. Once inside, you must find the warp cube to activate the road to the castle above it. Good luck, Anna.” White Mage nodded and turned to reunite with her friends.

 

“We're all set then.” she said, “Should we go?”

 

“Hold on, I still have some questions! Like, what the hell is going on with the fiend!” Black Mage boomed angrily, but White Mage begged him to quiet down.

 

“I know. I want to know too, but the elder is getting old. We'll find out at the tower anyway, so let's just go.” she said. Black Mage stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked out of the city with his friends. The journey back to the airship proved to be a peaceful one, mainly because no one was attacked. Red Mage ran up into the ship as soon as he saw it and ran into the control room. He started the engine up as Thief was the last to board, and closed the door to the inside.

 

“Everyone hold on. Next stop, the Yuken Desert.” Red Mage said, as Thief picked up the microphone and talked into it.

 

“So, for your safety, please fasten all seat belts and make sure everything is securely bolted into the ground. Turn off all devices and cell phones, and we here at RM flights encourage you to stop reading, as any distraction may screw up our current mission. Thank you, and enjoy the ride!” Thief added, laughing as he finished. Black and White Mage both threw pillows at him, knocking him into the couch.

 

“You really shouldn't be a commentary.” Black Mage teased, taking the microphone away.

 

“I'm just trying to lighten the mood!” Thief cried. Everyone laughed, as they felt the trip to the desert would be a peaceful one. Despite the fact that they had the last fiend to deal with, no one felt nervous. Maybe that was what they needed...

 

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Well, there they go towards the Sky Tower! Can they get inside? And if they do, can they find the cube? What's wrong with the fiend of wind? Is she another ally like Thief wanted? Or is she trying to trick our heroes? Anyway, find out the answers next chapter, so click that Review button!