Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The chronicles of Four! ❯ Unexpected twists and hints of a new pairing! ( Chapter 29 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own FF or 8-bit. Thanks for the support, everyone! I'm not sure if this is the last chapter, there's tons to cover, including the aftermath, but we're getting there.

 

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“So, we've managed to destroy all of the Mad Oscars with Lulu's help, and now we need to get construction back on track!” Black Belt said, leading the group of fellow cameos along the road, “Thankfully the Oscars didn't destroy any houses, so we can just pick up where we left off!” He stopped as he walked into the city, only to find Fighter sitting there alone, looking for something he obviously couldn't see.

 

“Fighter? Is everything okay?” Sabin asked, walking up to him. Fighter nodded, but paid no further acknowledgement to the other man's existence.

 

“Well, yeah, but I can't find Lulu anywhere! She said she wanted to stay and talk for a while, but then when I started talking, she left!” Fighter exclaimed sadly. Zero put down his sword and looked around towards the unfinished restaurant.

 

“Maybe she just went to the bathroom or something.” he suggested.

 

“Well, yeah, I thought that too, but she's been gone for over two hours! That's a lot of time to be going to the toilet.” Fighter stated, and then gasped, “What if the poor soul has constipation!?”

 

“I'd highly doubt that...” Black Belt said suspiciously, “Fighter, what exactly did you say to Lulu?” Fighter grinned a goofy grin as he answered.

 

“Well, I asked her if she liked to use swords! It seemed the best topic for conversation!” Fighter boasted proudly. However, a large drop of sweat rolled down Black Belt's head.

 

“ANYTHING involving swords seems like a good topic for everything you do!” Black Belt snapped in frustration, and turned to the rest of his crew, “All right, enough dilly-dallying. If we ever hope to get this town up, we'd better move now.” With that, everyone except Fighter scrambled to get paintbrushes, chain saws, lumber, tiles, and flower seeds to finish construction...

 

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Now was the moment of truth as the four heroes walked down the stairs, into the slowly darkening hallway. Every step seemed to be slower as they got closer to the final doors, and Red Mage felt his heart thump with every breath he managed to take. Any second, when they opened those cold stone doors, they'd be faced with a newer, stronger Kraken, and possibly even Chaos itself. But even knowing this, they marched forward.

 

“...so, this is really it?” Black Mage asked, when they came to a stop outside the door, “After all of our trouble, through these doors is where the last battle takes place?” White Mage looked at the doors as she spoke.

 

“It must be, unless there's something the fiends didn't tell us...” White Mage replied, “Though, it's still hard to believe... that even when we had to fight Lich, he was leading us to Kary all along, and through her, we found Tiamat and ended up here... It all feels so... planned.” Thief patted White Mage's back.

 

“I know... but we can't go back and ask them. Now we gotta move, even if it means we die.” Thief said sternly, and turned to Red Mage, who was holding the handle to the door, “Open it.” Red Mage nodded, and began to pull on the stone doors.

 

“Here goes nothing.” he said, and slowly, with enough force, the doors began to open. Light started to shine through, and for some reason it surprised everyone. As the doors opened more and more, Black Mage peered through and realized that the room was bathed in light, but whether it was natural or not wasn't known to him. Finally, the doors opened completely, flooding the hallway, and even the upstairs with light. The four ran in with their weapons drawn, but nothing was there.

 

“Uh... hello? Kraken? You in here?” Thief called, arching an eyebrow and looking in every corner he could. There were tables and chairs set up as though it were a cafeteria, and lights hung from the ceiling. The walls were a polished silver, and the floor reflected everything. But besides them, there were no signs of life.

 

“Stand still... he might be hiding.” Red Mage commanded, and they did so. Minutes passed, but nothing stirred. Red Mage gently let his sword drop to his side, and walked over to a table to investigate. There were slight coffee drippings, and a few crumbs here and there, but unless Kraken was a cookies-and-milk kind of fiend, Red Mage doubted he even came through here.

 

“Well?” Black Mage asked.

 

“Nothing. There's some food, but it's not from Kraken...” Red Mage replied, sounding somewhat disappointed, “This is weird. If this is the final fight, where is he? And, what do we do until he gets here? Do we look for Chaos and stop him now or what?” He walked back to his friends, who'd taken seats at a small table in the corner. Black Mage urged him to sit down.

 

“Well... we could, but he might be waiting.” Black Mage began, “So, I think we should rig the room in case he comes in.” Thief grinned as an interested expression crossed his face.

 

“You sound like you have a plan, BM.” he commented, folding his hands on the table. Black Mage nodded and took out a large fishing net.

 

“I do. See, I've noticed that Kraken can only attack at a close range. Therefore, if we can somehow immobilize him, we'll gain an upper hand.” he explained darkly, laying the net on the table. White Mage looked at it skeptically.

 

“But with a simple net? BM, he might be too strong for it to hold him off for long.” she stated. Black Mage gave a small laugh.

 

“I don't need it to last long. Just long enough for me to get a few spells in on him. Namely, Flare and Bolt3. RM, if you can, you should use Bolt3 too.” Black Mage explained, “As for you, WM, you should focus on keeping us healed. If he gets a swing at us while trying to get out of the net, he could finish us.” White Mage nodded, but Thief wrinkled his nose.

 

“What about me?” he asked, “I can't use anything above Bolt2, but that won't help much, will it?” Black Mage smiled.

 

“You're the most important part, Thief.” he said genuinely, “Speed's the most crucial factor in my plan, plus you can run up walls too. Therefore, we need you to keep on the ceiling and hold the net, waiting for anyone to pass through that door over there.” Black Mage pointed to a large double-door on the other side of the room, “Even if Kraken doesn't pop out, whoever does can be used as leverage. His pawns play the big part of bringing Chaos back, and with even one missing, it could mean his failure.” Red Mage looked at the floor as he calculated the plan and considered everything into it. Finally, he smiled.

 

“Great plan. I can't see anything wrong with it.” he concluded, and the four got up from the table, “Well, without further ado, let's get on with it.”

 

About half an hour later, everything in Black Mage's plan was set up. He and Red Mage were behind the table closest to the door, and White Mage was farther away, but still within healing distance. Thief was on the ceiling, net in hand. Red Mage charged up a Bolt3 spell for quick casting, and Black Mage was preparing to do the same. They waited a bit, but it wasn't long before the doors opened and darkness greeted them.

 

“THIEF, NOW!” Red Mage yelled, and without a split second to spare, Thief dropped from the ceiling and threw the net on the unlucky victim. He thrashed about wildly, and both Black and Red Mage hit him dead on with two fully-charged Bolt3 spells. Thief continued with Bolt2, and the victim stopped. However, as they tiptoed to see their work, everyone was shocked to find that it wasn't Kraken that had walked through the door, but instead...

 

“Garland?!” Black Mage shrieked, jumping back, “Idiotic, bumbling, princess-keeping Garland!?” The armored knight dizzily stood up and his cape was fried to crisps as it fell off. He held his helmet to stop his head from spinning, and he looked at Black Mage.

 

“Yeah, that's me...” he said faintly, “Ow... why'd you attack me!?”

 

“We thought you were Kraken.” Red Mage replied plainly, “But what are you doing here!?” Garland waddled over to a chair and plopped down.

 

“I'm not really sure. One minute I was running away from my temple before the roof crashed on me, the next minute, some scary... thing in a cloak is dragging me through this dark tunnel, mumbling about Chaos.” Garland explained, though he sounded very confused, “Was that the guy you're looking for?”

 

“Depends. Did he have eight tentacles and smell like rotten fish?” Black Mage asked sarcastically, placing his hands on his hips.

 

“I don't remember...” Garland said. Red Mage sat down across from him.

 

“Garland, listen to me. This is important.” Red Mage said, “We need to know exactly what happened between the time the world was covered with darkness to now. Can you recall that?” Garland thought for a minute before slowly nodding.

 

“Yeah, I can! Let's see... well, when I first saw the darkness on the horizon, I got on Ruby and flew to Cornelia to warn the king about it. But on the way back, I heard explosions from the temple. It wasn't ruined, so I went in, thinking that maybe one of the imps had cast a spell or something.” Garland began, “But then all of the sudden there was this mighty blast of wind, and it began to shake the temple. Suddenly the roof began to fall apart, so I ran out. Thunder crashed, and a bolt nearly hit me. I fell into the ground, and then I heard this voice...” White Mage's eyes widened.

 

“A voice?” she asked, “What did it sound like?”

 

“I don't know, but I didn't trust it. It was dark, and it seemed to suck the very life out of you.” Garland replied, shivering, “Anyway, he told me that it was my destiny to help him with something, and he helped me to my feet. But when I asked what he meant, he just started chanting these words... and this portal of darkness opened up. I went to ask what he said, and he just dragged me through. We saw everything through the passages of time... I saw ancient warriors, my own parents... I even saw the world when it was first created.”

 

“What happened when you came out of the portal?” Thief asked. Garland sighed, rubbing his forehead as though he may have had a headache.

 

“After I came out... the man I was with led me through the hallway and down to this very room. He kept muttering something, but I couldn't even understand what he was saying.” Garland began again, “Anyway, we walked through that door over there into the elevator...” At that point, Black Mage cut him off.

 

“Elevator!? There's another floor down here?” Black Mage asked suddenly, clenching his fists. Garland gulped before nodding.

 

“Y-yeah... it's like a big control room down there. There were all these test tubes and buttons and devices. Anyway, once we got down there, the man let out a spooky laugh, sort of like what you'd hear if you were with the Grim Reaper, and he took off the cloak he was wearing.” Garland said, and the four leaned a little closer, “He did have the head of an octopus, but he didn't tell me his name...” Red Mage looked over and Black Mage, and judging by the look on his face, they were thinking the same thing.

 

“Kraken...” they both said together. Garland nodded slowly.

 

“Yeah... anyway, I asked Kraken what exactly I was supposed to do, but he sent me up here to kill off the other three fiends. I asked why... and he said that they're trying to stop Chaos from being revived.” Garland explained, “I asked Kraken what Chaos was, since I'm not sure of it myself, and he said that Chaos will save us from a lifetime of hatred.” White Mage blinked as she slowly began to understand what Garland was saying.

 

“A lifetime of hatred...” she said slowly, “But Garland... Chaos is evil. He'll destroy the world if he's revived. Don't you know what he is?”

 

“Yeah! I know you're stupid, but are you really that stupid?” Black Mage asked, “All bringing Chaos back will do is get you killed.” Garland, however, looked very confused.

 

“But Kraken told me that Chaos has the power of the four elements. He said that Chaos can help repair what he started. What you all stopped.” Garland replied calmly, “He told me all about it. And he told me that water is the source of life. Without water, the earth can't get the nutrients it needs. Without water, rain will never fall.”

 

“But what Kraken didn't tell you was that he plans to drown the planet into water. He plans to destroy it to make it a haven for himself and himself only.” Red Mage stated fiercely, “He... he killed my father just to further his own plans.” Garland seemed to consider this, but he still didn't seem to understand the whole story.

 

“Wait... so, the whole thing about saving the world was a lie?” Garland asked, “But... he told me that Princess Sara wanted me to do this... was that also a lie?” Thief nodded sadly.

 

“You've been officially duped, buddy.” Thief replied, patting Garland's back, “Sara's in danger right now from the darkness in our own time. She's the one who asked us to stop Chaos in the first place. She's the one who gave us the Lute to get here, even.” Garland's eyes watered up as he looked at the floor in shame. He'd been so stupid, now that he thought clearly about what happened. He began to understand why the king had dismissed him so quickly as a soldier.

 

“I'm so sorry...” he whispered, “I've done nothing but cause trouble for Cornelia... for the entire world... ever since I was a kid. Even in my younger years, I used to get into so much trouble... I'd accidentally kill plants, I'd ruin someone's water... I once even accidentally drove my father's tractor into a factory and caused an oil spill...”

 

“Wow, you ARE an idiot.” Black Mage commented, arching his eyebrows. White Mage, however, smiled comfortingly at Garland.

 

“It's okay. It's not your fault. Kraken would stop at nothing to achieve his twisted plans.” White Mage assured gently, “Besides, it isn't too late to turn over a new leaf. As long as we're still breathing, there is hope for good.” Thief gave the thumbs-up when Garland glanced at him.

 

“Yeah! You could help us kill Kraken and stop Chaos!” he added cheerfully. Tears still ran down Garland's face, but this time he was smiling.

 

“You... you mean it?” Garland asked, and everyone nodded, “Then... then I'll help! I'll finally prove myself to the world that I, Garland Fortesque, can be a soldier!” The five cheered happily as Garland took off his dark helmet to reveal a rather young man. His hair was a light brown, and his bangs were all spiked in different angles. His blue eyes shined with the deepest hope anyone had seen, and they knew it wasn't a mistake giving him a second chance.

 

“Then should we go kick Kraken's ass?” Black Mage asked. But Garland didn't move.

 

“No... there is one last thing I need to do.” Garland said, “After I was dismissed from Cornelia, I turned to the darkness, thinking that all I could ever do was destroy. But if you said Chaos is a being of evil, then my darkness will only make him stronger. Therefore, I'm giving up for the light... I will become the light.” Garland closed his eyes as he let the helmet drop and smash against the hard floor. As they looked, the heroes saw that every ray of light began to bend in order to envelop Garland in light. His black armor began to change color, from the black scales they became a beautiful white, and the dark gray edges shone gold. His cape, which was the darkest purple they'd ever seen, began to turn into a light blue, and to replace his helmet was a halo over his head. His dark sword turned into a light saber, which shone with the colors of the rainbow. And the transformation was complete. There, Garland stood as the soldier of the light.

 

“Whoa...” Thief gasped quietly, as the light slowly began to fade away, “You are one snazzy dresser.” Garland chuckled, and walked to the door leading towards the elevator.

 

“I know. Anyway, now I can fight Chaos.” he said, “Let's go.” With that, Garland opened the doors to reveal a dark room, illuminated only by the flashing lights on the elevator. It opened up to let the five into its cold chamber, and before even a button was pressed, the doors slammed shut and the elevator zoomed into a lower level. The darkness became thicker as they went down, and soon it was all they could see until the elevator opened its doors again. A blinding flash of light welcomed the five, but it wasn't a light that made them comfortable. In fact, it blinded Red Mage and Thief, who were in the lead.

 

“I... I CAN'T SEE!” Thief panicked, as he walked into a wall. Garland helped him out and used a Lamp spell to cure him and Red Mage.

 

“It's okay. I should've warned you about that.” Garland said apologetically, “Anyway, Kraken's this way.” He led the group out of the room and through another dark corridor. Again, the only light was from the flashing buttons along the walls. It made Black Mage very uneasy as he walked down the halls. Finally, they'd reached the far end, where a lone door sat. And, even though the door was closed, the feeling of despair and hatred bled through it, making everyone shiver with fear.

 

“...he's through here. I can feel it.” Garland said quietly, “Is everyone ready? And do we all know what to do?” Red Mage nodded.

 

“Yes. Garland, we'll fight Kraken. But we need you to stop whatever is keeping Chaos asleep for now.” Red Mage told him. Garland nodded with complete understanding, and he pushed on the door. It swung open with amazing force, and it took most of Garland's strength to keep from falling over. They rushed inside, and it was as close to a final battlefield as anyone could've hoped. There was enough light to see everything, and as Garland had said, there were test tubes and devices on either sides of the room. In the very middle was a huge machine with a huge black orb on top, and inside the orb was a tall winged creature with huge bird talons. Its tail whipped around as though it was trying to break the glass. And in front of the machine was none other than Kraken himself, staring at the warriors. He cackled as they approached.

 

“So, I see you have made it to the party.” he said darkly, “Very good. I expected nothing less from the Light Warriors. But you're too late if you think that you can stop Chaos. He's right in there, just waiting for me to press the button to release him.” Kraken pointed up to the dark orb. The creature inside was pounding the glass in desperation, but Red Mage could see something in its eyes that he hadn't expected. It wasn't hatred. It was sadness. The creature was sad.

 

“We'll stop you.” Red Mage said, “We'll fry you up as we did last time, and we'll save that creature.” Black Mage snapped towards Red Mage in disbelief.

 

“Save it?! Are you nuts!?” Black Mage asked, his pupils becoming small dots, “That's CHAOS! It'll kill us!” Red Mage shook his head.

 

“No, it won't. BM, look at it. Look in its eyes. It's not trying to kill us. It wants to get out.” Red Mage said calmly. Garland drew out his light saber.

 

“I can feel it. It doesn't want a fight.” Garland added, and turned to Kraken, “What are you going to do!? If that isn't Chaos, then who is it!?” Kraken laughed.

 

“That is Chaos. But he is without the darkness inside of him. Once I press this button, his only need will be to kill everything in his path.” Kraken explained, grinning, “But what does it matter? You still have me to contend with, and you'll be dead long before Chaos even makes it out the door.” Red Mage drew his sword and growled fiercely.

 

“You sick monster! There WAS no Chaos, was there!? You were just going to take an innocent life, no matter what it was, and infuse it with evil!” Red Mage yelled, his eyes beginning to glow red, “Chaos is simply the name of your plan, not the being you're going to make! I will not let another innocent life fall into your path! I, Relik of the Red Mages, will make sure you die at the mercy of my blade.” White Mage, Thief, and Black Mage also drew their weapons. Kraken, who seemed unworried by the threat, threw back his cape and stepped forward.

 

“Then come at me with all that you've got!” he laughed, and the battle began. Before he could control himself, Red Mage threw a Bolt3 spell directly at Kraken, as did Black Mage. But it did nothing as Kraken warped out of the way.

 

“Damn it.” Black Mage spat, looking around as Garland snuck behind a pillar to get to the large machine, “He's much faster now... but I'll slow him down! Slow2!” Immediately, small white clocks appeared near Kraken and he slowed down considerably. Thief, using his speed, dashed up and unleashed a fury of cuts from his daggers onto Kraken, and Red Mage used another Bolt3 in combination with slashing Kraken. White Mage watched Garland carefully to make sure he was okay. He was, after all, the most important part of the plan now. Black Mage immediately slammed a Flare spell into Kraken as Slow2's effects stopped, causing even more damage to the fiend. When the smoke cleared, he laid on the floor, his cape in rags.

 

“Did we get him?” Thief asked, when neither Kraken nor Red Mage moved. Red Mage inched closer to get a better look.

 

“It looks like we did, but...” Red Mage turned around to look over at Thief, and Kraken seized the minute to lurch up behind him. Thief gave a small scream, and soon Red Mage saw why as Kraken wrapped his eight tentacles around Red Mage and began to squeeze him like a plush.

 

“RED MAGE!” Thief and Black Mage both screamed as they saw him. Red Mage choked a bit, but he gestured to keep attacking. Thief took his daggers and tried to cut Red Mage free, but Kraken's muscles were as hard as stone. Black Mage hesitated at attacking, fearing his spell would kill Red Mage as well as hit Kraken, but what Red Mage said next confirmed what he had to do.

 

“Do... it...” Red Mage wheezed, “Kill... him... save... the world...” Black Mage nodded stiffly, and he let a tear escape his eyes as he saw Red Mage. He was in bad condition. His voice was raspy and his breaths were shallow. His skin was turning pale from lack of oxygen. Black Mage began to cast the one spell he knew would stop Kraken. And everything in that instant seemed to go so slow. Thief could barely move as Black Mage screamed...

 

“ULTIMA!” Black Mage said, until a snake's tail hit him on the face. He recoiled and saw Kary, “Kary?! What are you doing!? He'll kill Red Mage!” Kary looked at him.

 

“I know, but so will you, and I won't allow that.” she said, and turned to Kraken, “Feel the wrath of my FLAMETHROWING ESCAPADE!” As she screamed the last part, flames blew up around Kraken, dancing around him violently. Shards of crystallized fire pelted Kraken, attempting to rip his tentacles apart.

 

“AGH!” he screamed, dropping Red Mage, whom Kary caught quickly, “Damn you, Kary! I should have known you'd try to stop me from killing him.” Kary smirked.

 

“Then I guess you should be glad I trusted you for the while. It gave you a chance to explore my weakness... until now.” She said, “As long as I have someone I care about, water can't hurt me. My heart burns too strong. Your power will simply turn to steam, like you will in one second.” She slithered back with Red Mage in her arms as Kraken recovered only slightly from her attack.

 

“What do you mean?” Kraken croaked, and got his answer a minute later as, not only did Black Mage cast Flare, but it was joined with Holy, Bolt2, Bolt3, Fire3, Quake, and Ice3. All seven spells hit Kraken at once, and the sheer power began to destroy some of the walls. Kary could hear Kraken screaming, and although he couldn't see it, Red Mage knew Kraken was dying from all of the attacks. As the smoke cleared again, everyone opened their eyes and looked around the room. White Mage saw that now Tiamat and Lich were in the room, and realized that was where the Bolt3 and Quake spells came from. Garland panted heavily, and walked over to Kary.

 

“How is he?” Garland asked, referring to Red Mage. He was just starting to get his color back. Kary smiled.

 

“He'll be fine... but what of Kraken?” she asked worriedly, but Tiamat seemed cheerful.

 

“He's dead. For good this time.” she replied simply, “He has no time to return to anymore.”

 

“Does that mean our quest is over?” Thief asked. Red Mage stirred as he lifted himself out of Kary's arms.

 

“Not yet...” he said weakly, and heard a laugh from the hole in front of him. Kraken appeared again, ghostly, but still very much there.

 

“You bet it isn't, not by a long shot!” he cried, “In fact, I wish I could stay to see Chaos kill you all! Tiamat, you were foolish to go against me! Lich, you were a weak man, and in death you only became weaker! As for you four, I am happy to see you defeat me only to die at the hands of my creation!” And finally, he turned to Kary, “As for you, you weak little girl... it's sad to see you finally falling in love just to have him ripped from your very hands.” Kary stiffened as Kraken laughed, until something caused his ghost to explode. Red Mage looked to see Chaos standing there.

 

“Chaos...” he said, leaning on his sword. Chaos nodded and spoke in a voice that was oddly gentle.

 

“Thank you all...” he said, “You freed me from Kraken's horrible plan... but there is still much to be done... You see, I am still an evil being now. We must fight.” Black Mage threw his staff on the ground.

 

“WHAT!?” he asked furiously, “But why!? You don't even sound like you want to kill us!”

 

“Because I don't.” Chaos said sadly, “But I cannot fight this darkness off forever. You must kill me. This is... how it must be. And I ask the three fiends to stay to the side.” Obediently, the fiends walked towards the side of the room and sat to watch the final fight. Thief turned to Red Mage as White Mage healed him.

 

“You up to this, RM?” he asked. Red Mage nodded.

 

“Yes. We have to.” he said, “Now let's go!” Chaos smiled and looked up into the now-revealed sky.

 

“May this fight end with grace.”

 

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Well, now it's the final fight between the Light Warriors and Chaos! Who will win? Will the world be saved even if Chaos can't be defeated? Was Kraken's plan to keep Chaos sane, even with the evil infused into him? And what of the fiends? Note that the next chapter is the final chapter, so to answer these questions, tune in next time and click that Review button!