Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The World of One ❯ Madan Sari ( Chapter 4 )

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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Madan Sari

The void.

All but emptiness.

Just a swirling black matter, which nothing cold be seen.

Just floating in nothingness.

/Is this... death?/

/Just an eternity of night?/

/I..../

/Am I really dead?/

/No.../

/How...?/

/This is just... a game.../

/Then... why does it feel... so cold...?/

/So cold.../

/Is this... the end.../

/No... it can't be.../

A flash of light.

Ths flash became stronger.

The void... the void was drowned by the light.

Slowly, the darkness was lifted, and the light began to slowly display an image.

A ceiling.

/A ceiling?/

He snapped out of his trance.

He found himself awake.

He had been dreaming.

/I'm... I'm alive?/

/But... where is this?/

/This... this is not... my home.../

/Where am I?/

"Oh, you're awake!" A voice, a female's voice, said excitedly.

He looked around his parameters, seeing some sort of well-decorated room. After some time, his eyes found the owner of the voice.

A girl, about his age, was smiling at him, holding a tray of what seemed to be medicinal items: bandages, antiseptic, and creams to disinfect wounds. But, that was not what shocked him. It was the girl.

She had neck-length black hair, and a pair of emerald green eyes which seemed to glisten with the light of a thousand candles. She was wearing a long, flowing white and blue robe that seemed to be lighter than air on her delicate, porcelain skin. She was wearing what seemed to be a tiara, decorated by gemstones of all colors, and from it protruded a small, ivory horn.

"You..." he said. "You're... a... Summoner..."

"Huh? Oh, yeah... You must have guessed by my Summoning Crown. Well, Not exactly..." the girl replied with a serene smile. "I'm what you call a White Summoner. I practice calling both the powers of the legendary Ancients, and utilizing the power of White Magic. And you are?"

"Gee... I didn't know that." he replied. "As for me, I am a Myrmidon... a blade expert."

"No, that's not what I meant." The girl said quickly. "I meant... your name..."

"Vincent." he replied. "Vincent Nomura."

"Vincent Nomura?" she repeated. "What a funny name. Are you jesting?"

"No. That's my real name." Vincent answered. "But you can call me Vincent. I suppose you have a better name."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to introduce myself. How rude." she said. "I am Adriane. Adriane du Mont, of the du Mont monarchial family of Madan Sari."

"Adriane do-what?" Vincent said. "You from the French server or something? And what's Madan Sari?"

"French server?" `Adriane' asked. "What is a French server?"

"What? You're not from France? Then what country are you logging in from?"

"Country? Oh, you mean my place of origin? I am from here, Madan Sari. And from where might you be?"

"This is all a joke..." Vincent said. He then said in a loud voice, "End Session."

Nothing.

"End Session." he repeated.

Nothing. Just Adriane staring at him.

"What!?" Vincent exclaimed.

/Why?/

/Why can't this game turn off?/

/Unless.../

/This is not a game.../

He remembered how Edwards did not disappear when he died. It seemed... so real...

Is it possible... that the world of `Final Fantasy', a world that he had known as fictional, is all but reality?

"Vincent? Something the matter?"

Adriane was looking at him, bewildered.

"This... this is not... my world..." Vincent said.

"Your world?"

"Yes... I... belong to another world... the real world... the true world..." Vincent answered her.

"The true world? What do you mean by that?" Adriane asked.

"This world..." Vincent answered. "Is just a..." he stopped. He didn't want to offend her, so he began to rephrase his sentence. "This world... is not where I belong. I... I need to find my world... and the ones... my friends." Yes, it seemed better to say `friends' rather than `clan that I was supporting'.

"I need to find the way to Bastok..." he said. But as he stood up, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, which made him fall flat on the bed again.

"Relax for now. You have cuts and wounds all over your body, and a large one across you chest. I'm very surprised you were still able to live." Adriane said, holding his hand. "And don't worry. You're safe here in Madan Sari as our guest."

"Thank you..." Vincent said.

"Would you like something to eat?" Adriane asked.

"Yes... but... Adriane...?"

"You can call me `Anne'. It's a lot shorter." `Anne' cut him off.

"Alright. Anne, can I ask you something?" Vincent said.

"Yes, what is it?"

"How... how did I get here?"

"Well," Anne said. "I was playing with Leviathan..."

"Playing... with Leviathan!?" Vincent was shocked. Leviathan was an Ancient, and a very powerful one at that. The Sea Serpent, Vincent was once at the receiving end of Leviathan's Tsunami attack when fought a Summoner at the Tourneys. It was his first defeat.

"Yeah, silly!" Anne answered. "And then we found you. So we brought you here."

"I didn't know you could conjure Leviathan." Vincent told her.

"Conjure?" Anne asked. It then dawned her. "Oh, you mean to say summon its essence to fight in battle? As is, to use its Avatar? Well, yes, I know how to summon Leviathan. But no, it wasn't my work. I was playing with the real Leviathan."

"The `real' Leviathan?"

"Summoners call on the mere essence of the Ancients, known as the Avatars." Anne explained. "The true Ancients were once scattered all over the world. But then, the Dark Lord enslaved them, destroying many people in the process. After the Beast Men had been driven back, the Ancients chose to be either sealed, or to stay here, in this island, and live in this secluded paradise. Here, we lived with them and studied the ancient magical arts with them. Everything here is self-sufficient. And that, my friend, is the untold true nature of the Avatars, and of the Ancients."

"You mean to say, the other, `Ancients' as you call them, are here with you?" Vincent asked.

"Yes." Anne replied "This is after all, Madan Sari. The Lost Village of the Summoners."

"The Lost Village of the...!" Vincent remembered Edward's last words. He quickly sat up straight and told Anne while gripping on her shoulders, "Where is your leader!? I need to talk to him! It's important!"

"Ouch, okay! But first, please let go of me." Anne said, a bit irritated. Vincent slowly loosened his grip and relaxed. "Madan Sari's leader, or what we call the Praeter, is my father. What is it you want with him?"

"This..." Vincent took out the crystal necklace from his pocket. It began to glisten and emit a powerful light.

"No... it can't be... the other half..." Anne gasped.

"What is this?" Vincent asked. "And why is it glowing?"

"Please wait here." Anne said. "I shall look for my father."

It was a while before Anne returned. Behind her were three others. One had long white hair, that was coupled with a long white beard and moustache, oak green robes, and was carrying a staff made out of something that reminded Vincent of worn-out wood. The other was a voluptuous maiden whose skin and hair were a shade of light blue, and was wearing some rather revealing clothes. The last one was a man had short, black hair, and was vested in what looked to Vincent like a nobleman during the Roman times, with a Summoning Crown similar to Anne's, but slightly larger, and the horn was made of gold, not ivory.

"Is this the one you are talking about?" The one with the Roman outfit asked.

"Yes, Father." Anne said. "He has the other half... of the Spiritstone."

"Spiritstone?" Vincent asked, standing up. "What is the Spiritstone? And who are you guys?"

"First things first." The old man said. "First of all, we would like to know who you are. As for us, I am the one they call Ramuh."

"Ramuh? The Lightning Avatar?"

"Not quite. As you may have known, Avatars are just mere illusions of us Ancients. Shiva here may have an avatar of herself, but her true Ancient self resides here in Madan Sari." Ramuh explained quietly, as `Shiva' bowed a bit to Vincent, as if showing courtesy.

"I see..." Vincent said. After he introduced himself, he remembered he did not know the person who had the Summoning Crown like Anne did. "Excuse me, sir, but, who are you?"

"Me? Oh, yes. I am Vinzer du Mont, the Praeter of Madan Sari. I would like to ask you, where did you find that crystal?" he asked, pointing to the crystal necklace in Vincent's hands.

He then narrated to them his failed mission, how Edward died, and how Golbez attacked him.

"So... the heir to San D'oria's throne was killed by this Golbez?" Vinzer asked.

"Yes..."

"Fate has played its hand, Vinzer." Ramuh said. "You know fully well what it means should the other half of the Spiritstone returns here to Madan Sari. It is time to fulfill that fate."

"Yes... I know what it means. The Great War... shall begin again." Vinzer sighed.

"Great War?"

"The war that tore this planet apart." Shiva replied. "The was against the Beast Men. This world, Terra, is a dying world. This may be the last war to be fought here, before it is gone."

"Gone?"

"Everything shall be revealed in due time.." Ramuh answered. "For now, let us take the other half of the Celestial Key, and request Lord Masamune to create it into one unified Spiritstone again. Vinzer, this man will find his abode here for the time being, until he recover from his wounds and is strong enough to venture on his own, yes?"

"Of course, Lord Ramuh." Vinzer answered. "Vincent is your name, right, son? Well, Madan Sari shall temporarily be your home, until you wish to leave, which may be anytime. Is there something you wish to ask before we leave?"

"Yes... is there... a blacksmith in town?" Vincent asked.

"Blacksmith?" Anne asked curiously.

"Um... I sort of lost my gunblade while I was out at sea. Wish to have a new one. I shall pay for it, anyway." Vincent replied.

"What is a gunblade?" Anne asked again.

"You've never heard of a gunblade? It's a sort of broad, single-edged sword that has a handle like a revolver pistol. The gun aspect is used to feed heat into the blade, allowing it to cut through solid steel."

"A gun? What is a gun?" Anne asked for the third time.

"You've never heard of a gun either?" Vincent asked in surprise.

"I'm really sorry, but we are a bit far from either the Vana `diel or Palamecian mainland." Vinzer replied. "We don't know much about technology, so we don't know any of the modern war weapons you use. What we do have, though, is Lord Masamune, a legend when fashioning blades of all shapes and sizes. I believe he will be more than willing to forge you a weapon."

"And where is this Masamune right now?"

"He resides a few houses away." Anne said. "If you wish, we can visit him later, after we have found you some decent clothing to wear."

"What do you mean.." Vincent then found out why. He was wearing nothing but his pair of torn black pants, and he was naked from the waist up. Well, not actually naked, since most of his upper body was covered in bandages, and when he reached out to feel his head, he found parts of it also covered in bandages.

"Well, I shall take leave of you." Ramuh replied. "I am after all a teacher, and my duty is to educate young boys and girls."

"I shall leave you as well. I have some duties to fulfill also." Shiva said as she glided away after Ramuh.

"Anne, please forgive me, but I need to be in a conference with the Ancients later this afternoon. Can I entrust you to help Vincent out?"

"Yes, father."

And with that, Vinzer left the room.

"Here..." Anne handed Vincent a pair of light brown trousers, a white shirt, a red vest and a pair of sandals. "Wear these... they were my father's when he was my age. I shall meet you outside of this room."

Vinncent thanked her before she left the room. He then put the clothes on(which were a bit baggy, but nonetheless a good fit) and went out of the room.

"Hey, Those are quite the fit, eh?" Anne commented him.

"Well, kind of. Speaking of which, where are we anyway?"

"We are at my house. Lord Masamune's house is a short walk from here. Come, let's go." Anne said as she led the way towards. Vincent looked around at the house, and it looked like something from a 19th century movie. Fireplaces, wooden tables, rugs and some antiques htrown here and there. She then opened a door that led outside of the house and beckoned him to join her..

Vincent looked around for a bit when they were walking. The area would have passed as a rural community that was near the shore, of which they built most of their houses on some good elevations facing the sea.

Most of the houses were also like Anne's: wooden and somewhat concrete framework, of which seemed to convey some strange sort of tranquility. Vincent was thinking absentmindedly when Anne stopped at what looked like a Shinto Shrine from one of his dad's video recordings.

"Hey, Vincent, this is Lord Masamune's house. Hey, before we go inside, I would just ask you to be very polite. Lord Masamune is very old, and he seems to be very sensitive about etiquette."

"Alright."

"Lord Masamune? Are you home?" Anne called out.

"Ah, Adriane? Is that you, child? I'm here at the smithy." A voice called out. It had a firm, confident tone to it.

"Here, c'mon, let's go." Anne said as she practically dragged Vincent to a small hut that was at the side of the shrine-like area. The hut looked pretty much like a smith's work area, except this one seemed more like a Japanese smithy rather than the smithy he normally found in Bastok. Inside was an old man roughly 5 feet in height, with features similar to Ramuh's, hammering away at a piece of heated metal, and a boy about 14 years of age, helping the old man.

"Ah, Adriane, you did not tell me you were visiting here today. And who might your friend be?" the old man asked.

"Oh, this is Vincent, Sir Masamune. He's the one we found washed ashore last week. He happend to be a Myrmidon, a blade expert." Anne replied. "Vincent, this is Lord Masamune, one of the greatest smiths this world has ever seen, and that over there is his grandson, Hikoichi."

"I'm pleased to meet you both." Vincent said.

"Yes. I am pleased to meet such youth." Masamune replied. "Now, is there anything you wish?"

"Yes, sir." Vincent answered. "I... wish you to please forge me... a weapon."

"Ah, a weapon." Masamune answered. "Yes... I have heard of Myrmidons and their mastery of weapons called gunblades. However, since I have no knowledge of forging a gun, I cannot make such a weapon."

"No, I don't need a gunblade." Vincent said. "The gun aspect I don't care about. I just wish to have a blade."

"And may I ask why you wish to have a blade?" Masamune asked. His eyes seemed to look within Vincent's soul.

"I... I don't know..." Vincent said. "All I know is that I need to get back home. I just need something to help me find the way. I'm sorry if I don't have the money, but I will find another way to pa you back."

"What do you think, Hikoichi?" Masamune asked the boy who was helping him.

"Y... Yes. I think he has virtue enough to hold one of your creations, grandfather." Hikoichi timidly answered.

"Children find it hard to lie." Masamune said with a smile. "Yes, I see it in your eyes that you will not use it to spill innocent blood. Very well, I shall forge you a weapon, under two conditions."

"And they are?" Anne asked.

"First, I want Vincent to teach Hikoichi the ways of a swordsman. Or at least, the basics."

"Me, a swordsman?" Hikoichi asked.

"Yes, grandson. We have to find a way to unleash that potential of yours. Me, I'm not really a swordsman, just a smith. Anyway, will you do it?"

"Yes." Vincent said. "And your other term?"

"Well..." Masamune answered. "Lately, it seems I have used up most of the metals used to forge good weapons. Yes, It seems fitting that I send you to find me some material to forge your weapon."

"And that would be...?" Vincent asked.

"Adamantine."

"Adamantine? From an Adamantoise? But, Sir Masamune, that is..." Anne asked.

"Yes. To create the best weapons, Adamantine is required. There is a cove nearby where there is a large deposit of Adamantine. If you can bring some to me, then I shall be more than capable of forging your desired weapon."

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