Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The World of One ❯ Failure ( Chapter 3 )

Final Fantasy: The World of One

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Final Fantasy, the characters within and all terms with relations to the said game series are registered trademarks of Square Enix. The original characters depicted in this fanfiction piece are copyrighted to the author. Thus, nothing in this fanfic can be used without the author's, or the game producer's permissions.

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This fanfic is rated PG-13 for strong language, violence, alcohol and suggestive themes.

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Failure

"Ah, so you are goodwill ambassadors from Bastok, yes?" a small, mouse-like Elvaan vested in royal uniform asked that following day.

"Yes... um... we were se here to pay our homage to King Edward." Gene answered. "And to see the capabilities of the Dreadnought for ourselves."

Gene, Sarah and Cliff were talking to and attendant of the Saint Ordeals Castle. They were wearing ridiculous robes that Ulrich gave them, which he says are Bastok Republic formal attire.

"Can I take off this cranky piece of stinkin' curtain? It's giving me an allergy." Cliff remarked, which was cut short by Sarah's foot stomp.

"Anyway, is there a chance we can see the Dreadnought?" Sarah asked.

"Ah, yes! The Dreadnought is going on its maiden voyage today, carrying a tribute to Palamecia!" the attendant squeaked as he clapped his hand once. "We can have you board it as Guests of the King! You shall dine with His Royal Highness, and then meet the Emperor of Palamecia himself! Yes, Please DO come this way..."

The attendant began to lead them through a series of corridors, which were filled with paintings and decorations. And with each one, the attendant would never cease to mention its importance of the artifact or of the dead person portrayed.

"Ah, yes! The Cup of Elda, which was used to tell the tales of the old heroes! And the Ayvuir, the sword of King Gaol, the mighty Elvaan king, and this here is Baron Lunais..."

"Man, does this guy ever run out of crap to pull out?" Cliff whispered. "I mean, it's like this and that and this and that and this..."

"I get the pic, Cliff." Sarah whispered back. "But we need to make it to the Dreadnought."

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Meanwhile, outside Saint Ordeals, two shadows moving in sync with each other and at a very good speed.

"It seems that Myrmidons are very fast also." Ryan commented Vincent as they paused and hid behind the a wall to not be spotted by a heavy looking guard. It seemed that the only way to the hallway behind it was to engage it, but to risk the mission.

"We'll need to take down that guard from a distance." Vincent said. "Sleep Spell would work good now."

"Don't worry." Ryan said as he pulled out a slender bamboo pole that was hollowed out in the middle. He pulled out a small dart from somewhere inside his gi and loaded it into the pole. Ryan examined the guard by making small glimpses, and when the guard had its back turned, he quickly aimed the dart and fired.

The dart hit home at the back of the guard's neck. The guard winced a bit and began to clutch the dart, but before he could reach for it, he dropped down on the floor.

"A blow gun?" Vincent asked as they zoomed past the guard and into the hallway.

"Hai."Ryan said. "Don't worry. That dart only contained sleeping venom, and he shall wake up in a few days... if he is lucky." he added with a dark smile.

"You are a sick man." Vincent commented as they soared out of a window and up the parapets of the palace.

"Thank you."

They continued to dash and jump across the rooftops until they reached the Spaceport where the Dreadnought was docked. They hid some crated and began to scan the area.

It was a very large spaceship indeed. Taking the form of a gigantic metal dragon, it was filled with cannons, missiles and guns of all sorts from every possible side. The wind from its thrusters warming up emitted a hot gust that gave an uncomfortable feeling in the air. Vincent could have sworn he heard dragon howls and roars coming from the Dreadnought itself.

"So... this is the Dreadnought?" Ryan whispered.

"A... monster..." Vincent added.

"True..."

"Do you think they'll use it against Bastok and Windurst?" Vincent asked.

"I don't know..." Ryan said. "But, We shouldn't stay and find out. If their agenda was to use this behemoth against us, we are doomed. We should destroy it immediately once we get the Intel."

"Okay." Vincent said.

As they were looking on for a gap to which get inside the spaceship, they spotted Gene, Cliff and Sarah being escorted by a squat, funny-looking Elvaan inside the Dreadnought.

"Sound like they got in with not so much difficulty. We should get moving." Ryan said. In the blink of and eye, he ran swiftly, constantly dodging behind crates and materials in the Spaceport to conceal himself. Vincent followed suit, but he found that his speed was no match for Ryan's.

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"Welcome to the Elvaan's Pride, the Dreadnought!" The attendant squeaked as he lead the trio inside the spaceship. "With the Dreadnought in out hands, we will no longer fear the threats of the Beast Men. In fact, thanks to this advanced technology from Lord Golbez of Palamecia, we are confident to rid this world of the Beast Men once and for all!"

"That so?" Cliff asked. On a mental note , he thought, /Dang! And I enjoyed making those stupid orcs dance by shooting at their toes.../

"I see..." Gene remarked. "But, who is this Golbez? And why did he come here?"

"Ah, Lord Golbez? Yes, he is a good friend of the King." The attendant replied. "He came from Palamecia, telling us that there is no need for Tarutaru and high magic knowledge when we have such great technology from the empire. After that, Lord Golbez helped us create the Baron fleet. With the completion of the Dreadnought, we are now ready to assault Pandemonium Island, the Beast Men's largest fortress. This shall be the final battle. We need no support from both Bastok and Windurst. The Holy Kingdom of San D'oria shall make history by defeating the Beast Men alone!"

"A fleet of spaceships to destroy the Beast Men?" Sarah summarized.

"Yes. Forgive us for not telling your government, but it is an interior matter."

"Peace. We're just here to see the strength of this weapon of yours. Can you show us around some more?" Gene asked. He was quite a speaker when he was a high school student, and he was always branded as a good leader for activities.

"Why certainly."

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"Good job, Vincent." Ryan whispered as they soared past a few guards and towards another flight of stairs. "I am very impressed by your performance."

"Shut <pant> up and <pant> get going <pant>" Vincent said. They were halfway across the hall when they heard footsteps.

"Rats..." Ryan whispered. He looked around for someplace to hide, and found a ventilation shaft on a nearby wall. "Over here!" he called out to Vincent. He opened up the shaft and they both crawled in.

It was pitch-black darkness inside. If a guy was claustrophobic and he went in here, he would have died.

"NV gogs." Ryan said. Vincent immediately whipped out his Night Vision Goggles and put them on. They crawled through the vent, peering at openings they encounter on the way. They have no idea what it is they are looking for, but they continued to look for it. While peering into the vents, they saw eerie-looking suits of armor lined up like a battalion in some rooms. In some rooms, they saw that the suits were moving(!). In other rooms, they could see some imperial officers plotting and planning strategies.

"Beast Men?" Ryan asked. "They are building this to destroy the Beast Men?"

"Distant dream." Vincent said. "That is only suicide."

Finally, they reached a dead end, where they found something very interesting.

It was a large room, decorated with flags of San D'oria. It had a bed, a table and many other furnishings. At the chair paired to the table sat a young Elvaan man, probably in his late twenties, facing a towering man clad entirely in a suit of black armor, with a helmet that had two large ram-like horns protruding out of it. The armored man was had its back turned to them, so they were not able to see his face. However, the Elvaan seated had golden blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"King Edward." Vincent muttered.

"King Edward?" Ryan repeated.

"Yes. I saw his photo on the Vana `diel Tribune." Vincent said. "Tat is no doubt King Edward."

And they paused to listen more intently.

"Ah, Golbez, I take it that we are ready to leave and pay the emperor a visit?" Edward asked

"We shall grace the emperor with you gifts." Golbez answered. Vincent did not like the tone of his voice at all. There was something about it that gave him shivers whenever Golbez said a word.

"I... see..."

"You are on your way to becoming a great king. Much greater than even the fabled King Lionheart himself."

"I see... and when shall I meet the emperor?"

"You shall not meet the emperor."

"What do you mean?"

"Thank you, Edward. You have graced the emperor with your gifts of treasures, the Dreadnought, and your very essence!"

"This is a joke, right?"

"Foolish boy... did you not notice? All the Royal Knights of old have been replaced with superior beings... the Dread Knights! I used the fund of the Kingdom to create them, and they shall serve me properly. I was sent there by the emperor to take San D'oria. Then, to use its power to take Bastok and Windurst. Pretty soon, the world shall crumble at the power of Palamecia! All shall bow to the emperor! And what better way to take it than to report your ASSASSINATION, and then succeed you king?"

"What!? But... no you cannot succeed me king... only Elvaan..."

"Thank you, Edward. But that is not of your concern anymore. You may rest." Ryan and Vincent's eyes were not too fast to see it, but they say Golbez whip out something quite heavy, and it struck Edward, who was trying to stand and grasp a rapier, in the abdomen. The king fell, bleeding heavily.

"Why? I... "

"You, a great king? You are nothing but refuse from this world! Unlike me, or the emperor, who are but perfect beings. This world will be better without you imperfections. Now fade and turn to dust!"

Golbez's laugh rang across the room as he left. After he did, Ryan quickly popped away the grills covering the vent and to the kings's aid.

"Damn it, where's a White Mage when you need one?" Vincent swore. As of the time, Ryan was administering an Elixir to heal the king.

"Who... who are you..."

"We're your allies." Ryan said. "Who was that?"

"G-Golbez... a... demon... he tricked me... a...fool...."

"Shh..." Vincent calmed Edward down. "Save your strength."

"No... I shall live no longer..." Edward said. "Take this... crystal... and look for... the Lost Village of Summoners... take it to them... you are the hope for Vana `diel... do not fail!"

"We shall do it." Vincent said, taking the crystal in his hand. It looked like the broken half of a crystal, attached to a silver chain, which remarked that it would be worn around the neck.

"Tell... my people... and everyone... forgive..." Edward breathed his last.

Ryan let down his head, and stood up. "Vincent, let us go. Time runs short. If we continue to stay here, Vana `diel is doomed."

"Yes..." Vincent stood up, but he continued to look at Edwards' body. At once, a deafening alarm blared, and the continuous message of "Intruder Alert!" sounded through the PA.

"How..."

"Not the time to think." Ryan said. "Just run."

They tried to climb again through the ventilation, but found that is became electrocuted. "An impregnable space fortress..." Ryan said. "We'll have to run."

"Ryan, did you see that?" Vincent asked.

"See what?"

"Edward did not fade away and disappear after his death."

"And your point is?"

"Normally, a person or a CPU character would disappear in a flash should it die, like the monsters." Vincent explained. "But, he didn't what happened...?"

"We'll think about that later..." Ryan said. "Let's run while we still can!"

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"What was that?" Gene asked as they heard the alarm blare.

"Oh, dear me... someone has broken through and attacked the king...:" the attendant said. "I'm afraid we'll have to postpone the..."

He stopped as another Elvaan, a soldier came and whispered something to him.

"Ah... What!!! Oh... dear me... Yes... I see..." The attendant then faced the three and said. "You are all accused of high treason and are guilty of plotting and successfully assassinating the King Edward."

"Whadya mean?" Cliff asked.

`Do not play dumb with me, boy!" the attendant said. "I know you are all part of an assassin team to kill the king. You shall not leave this place alive!" Behind the attendant rose large suits of black armor, only they are moving, without anyone inside them!

The suits of armor started to walk towards them, carrying swords, axes, spears and many other weapons.

"Damn! Too many of them!" Gene said, firing as many spells as he could muster while the three of them made a run for it. But, as he took down one, three took its place and a while later, that one would rise again.

"You will not leave this place alive!!!" The attendant howled. "We are currently hovering over the Sea of Alfheim, and are a hundred miles from shore! There is no escape! Fall prey to the Dread Knights!"

"What a nice time to not have a weapon!" Cliff pouted. They continued to run until they stopped at a brick wall.

"Dead End!" Sarah said.

The Dread Knights were looming closer, and Gene was getting tired.

"No... it can't end like this..." Gene said. "I... sorry... everyone..." He then fell and fainted in front of Cliff and Sarah.

"Gene? Gene!" Sarah tried to wake up his big brother.

"He's just tired. But what about us?" Cliff told Sarah.

Suddenly, the Dread Knights cornering them fell down with a CLANG sound, and then they saw Ryan and Vincent running towards them.

"Guys..."

"No talk. Just run." Ryan said. Vincent and Cliff supported Gene up, and they began to flee to another way. Behind them was a large hoard of Dread Knights on their pursuit.

They kept on running until they reached the deck. There, they found no escape but to jump below.

Suddenly, a missile shot and hit a huge group of Dread Knights. They looked around for the source, and saw a rather small airship(compared to the Dreadnought) from where they saw Xu and Ulrich waving from the deck. They quickly shot cables to connect thier ship wiht the Dreadnought.

"Here are you weapons." Xu said, throwing them their arms: Sarah's Power Staff, Cliff's Bismarck, Ryan's Murasame, and Vincent's Flame Saber gunblade. "Use the cables to get here. Abort this mission at once."

But, the Dread Knights have once again rose and are after them. They were determined to fight, but Vincent stopped them. "Take Gene to the ship and get out of here. I'll draw their fire."

"But Vince..." Sarah said.

"No buts. Get out of here, NOW!"

"Promise we'll see each other again, okay?"

"Yes." Vincent then ran the opposite way and waved to the Dread Knights. "Come and get me rust buckets!!!"

Stopping at a certain point, he knew he couldn't run no longer, so her began to run towards them and attack. This was the challenge he was looking for, the escape from the average. He didn't care if he was dispatched that day, or even deleted from the players' files, but to him all was good.

He lashed out his gunblade, taking down many Dread Knights with each slash. But, they were no end. Even as he crashed down a few, the flow of black metal was unstoppable.

He was getting fatigued, and there were still many of them. Then, a strange thing happened. The Dread Knights stopped their advance. They began to move aside, and Vincent didn't have to wonder why. Golbez stepped up and leered darkly at him.

Golbez's face was not in view, as his helmet hid most of it, but his eyes were the most striking feature. He had inhuman eyes, ones that were of yellow in color. Vaguely resembling human eyes, they reminded Vincent of that of a serpent's.

"Hmm... very heroic..." He said in the tone that seemed to remind Vincent of drowning in freezing water. "To offer you life so friends could escape... but I doubt they'll live."

"What... What... do you mean...?"

"The king is dead." Golbez said. "And I shall preside as the ruling body. As such, I shall need to see to it that the king's murderers are brought to justice. The human assassins who killed King Edward."

"No... you wouldn't..."

"Oh? Let me tell you something, my boy." Golbez replied with malicious pleasure. "There are two kinds of people in this world: Those who are perfect, and those who are but refuse. In order to be perfect, refuse must be taken away. Those who are weak enough not to accept power are but nothing... and are useful only for sacrifice."

"You... you are to use them as scapegoats for the king's death?"

"Why, certainly."

"B... B... B... BASTARD!!!" Vincent had never known much hate in his life. He rushed forward, his anger focused on his weapon and attacked with his most powerful deathblow.

"OMNISLASH!!!" Vincent cried as both his blade and a massive reserve of energy was brought down upon Golbez.

"Fool..." Golbez said. He grasped the blade in one hand, with three fingers, and knocked it out of the way. Vincent himself was thrown away together with his blade, near the edge of the spaceship's deck. His prized Flame Saber had been split in two.

"What..."

"You are but weak, human." Golbez said. And before Vincent could even stand up, he felt a blast of energy hit him and sent him flying, which Vincent knew was away from the deck.

He was falling, and he was going to plummet down on the sea below.

/At least, this is not real./ He thought. /This is just a game.../

He continued to fall, until he felt himself being enveloped in water. He had no energy to try to swim, and he didn't even have energy to even move. He was even unable to feel the pain of Golbez's attack.

Water started to enter through his mouth and nostrils. He knew this was the end.

/At least... I have done something good.../

And he closed his eyes, and waited for the server to automatically revive him, and bring him back to his room in Bastok.

But it never came.

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Okay, so far no additional reviews. I wish someone would view this, please?