| "I still can't believe we're taking such a risky route to Doma." Clyde snapped to attention, and looked over at Billy. "After all, it's not exactly my kind of thrill," Billy continued, sounding annoyed. "Would you rather take a chance and reap the rewards, or get impaled on the sword of the king's Samurai?" Clyde inquired, half-sarcastically. "Security is tight, and we can't afford the risk of sneaking in alone. This huge crowd provides plenty of distraction, and an opportunity for us to sneak in unseen." Billy gave an irritated grunt. "Well, when you put it that way..." His sarcasm was not lost on Clyde, who replied, "It's festival week in Doma, after all. The King is preparing the festivities to commemorate the birth of Shyun, son of the kingdom's Samurai, Cayenne. I, for one, would rather not face his wrath. And I'd like to avoid getting tortured, too." Billy gave Clyde a quizzical look. "I see. How do you know so much about Doma, anyway?" Clyde shrugged nonchalantly. "When you've been living this way as long as I have, you learn to stay one step ahead of the competition. And one step ahead of the victim, too." |
| Clyde and Billy: Two train robbers who have been friends since childhood, reduced to stealing just to survive... |
| "So, are the supplies and plans all in order, Billy?" With a sly grin, Billy nodded. "Yeah, let's do this thing." Grabbing their looting bags and arsenal of bombs, the two thieves made their way into the ventilation shaft above their compartment. It only took a few minutes to reach their destination, a compartment that was being guarded by two very bored-looking soldiers. Billy edged close to Clyde. "This looks like the security checkpoint. Probably some big-wig in there." Clyde nodded appraisingly. "Sounds about right. We'll need to work with the shadows to get past them." Billy grinned again. "I've got an idea. Let's head back towards our compartment and block the entrance to the other cars. Then, we'll smoke them out! Then I'll head on into this compartment and take care of our little problem." Clyde nodded. "That sounds like a good plan to me. Just be careful." Billy snorted derisively as he grabbed a smoke bomb and flash grenade. "I'm always careful. Watch for my signal." Clyde grabbed him by the sleeve quickly. "Wait, take one of these with you, just in case," he said, and handed Billy a concussion grenade. "Just in case it gets ugly, eh?" Billy said, then turned and headed back without waiting for Clyde's reply. |
| A moment later, there was a bright flash in the car below Clyde. Knowing it to be the signal he was waiting for, he quickly dropped a tear gas grenade through the vent and backed off. After donning a gas mask, he returned to the vent and watched in twisted amusement as the guards below howled in pain. Then he heard the door at the far end of the compartment open, and more cries of pain reached his ears as the newly arrived guards were also hit by the gas. His desire for morbid amusement satisfied, Clyde finally jumped down into the room through the vent, unseen by the still-suffering guards. He darted quickly into the next car, and found it to be exactly what he and Billy had hoped: the car was loaded with treasures. He loaded up as much as his looting sack could hold, pausing to pick up a case of some sort with his free hand, and left the compartment. The guards were starting to recover, he saw, so he quickly tossed the case into the shaft and dived up after it. |
| Clyde took stock of the situation as he got back into the vent. He hadn't seen or heard any signs from Billy since the start of the heist, which was a bit worrisome. He decided to make his way back to their compartment, being careful to not draw attention from any passengers below to his presence in the vents. Once he reached their room, he decided to find out just what was in the case. One quick snap of a lock later, Clyde had opened it up, and almost wondered if he were dreaming. Inside the previously locked container were rolls upon rolls of freshly minted Gil, all marked with the King of Doma's face. His momentary elation was cut short, however, by a sudden cry of alarm from the next car over. Remembering Billy, he snapped the case shut and stowed it away, then quickly made his way towards the sound of the disturbance. |
| Clyde stopped in shock as he entered the room. Surrounded on two sides, both of his remaining grenade in hand, Billy was slowly inching his way towards the corner as five armed swordsmen closed in on him. Billy spotted Clyde, but said nothing; his still-unknown presence in the car would be their trump card. Subtly, Billy let the smoke grenade drop from his hand, then kicked it over to Clyde, who caught it deftly. The guards turned, but they were far too slow; Clyde had already pulled the pin and thrown the grenade down. In the moment of confusion and panic, Billy deftly tossed the concussion grenade at the feet of the guards, knocking them out before any of them realized that they had been caught in a trap. "The ol' number 6 saves the day again!" Billy said, a mad grin on his face. Clyde returned the grin, then indicated that they should be getting themselves lost before the other guards found them. "Right, right," Billy said, grabbing their last and most dangerous grenade. "I say we stop 'em before they get the chance to stop us, if you get my meaning." Clyde gave a knowing nod, and the two of them quickly returned to their compartment. "Grab the stuff, and I'll set up our little goodbye present," Billy said, finding an inconspicious spot to stick the grenade. |
| "All clear! Let's get the hell out of here!" Billy shouted, and the two of them lunged out the side door of the compartment. Out on the railing, they heard the cries of the train guards as they closed in on their compartment, but neither of them was about to pick a fight with them now. Without a glance back, the two of them leapt from the train into the forest, tucking themselves into balls and rolling safely away. They got up and watched the train continue onward for an instant. And then, in a brilliant burst of noise and light, their car exploded from the force of the final grenade. Had the train not been equipped with safety mechanisms to prevent it, the whole train would've been derailed by the explosion. Instead, it simply came to a sudden and rather violent stop. "G'hahaha! Serves ya right, ya stuck-up bastards! That's what ya get for pointing your swords at me!" Billy shouted, then burst into laughter. "Ah, Billy, maybe we should be getting the hell out of here before they figure out where we landed." Billy stopped laughing immediately, and gave a brief nod. "Yeah, good point. Death's not my thing. Let's get outta here." |
| Several miles of running later, Billy and Clyde finally stopped. "Whew, that was insane. So... What did we get?" Billy asked, curious. Clyde grinned, and snapped open the case. Billy's eyes grew wide, and his mouth fell open in shock. An instant later, he was whooping in victory. "Yahoo! We did it, Clyde!" Clyde nodded, a huge smile on his face. "1,000,000 Gil, all ours! This is great, the robber's life!" Billy nodded, his face taking on a more somber expression. "It'd be a good idea to change our names soon, though." Clyde raised an eyebrow, curious. "Our name?" Billy nodded, looking decided. "Our pair's name, yeah. I've thought up one." Clyde nodded, curious. "What is it?" Billy grinned again. "It's Shadow! Clever, isn't it?" The announcement took Clyde by surprise. "Train robbers of the century, Shadow......?" But Billy had already turned away, and didn't hear. |
| The two friends fled through the rest of the night, intent on putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the scene of the crime. It became clear, however, that they would have to stop in a town before long. In their rush to escape the train, they had left their foodstuffs behind, and neither was particularly well-equipped for hunting. They had just reached a cavern backing a huge mountain range when Clyde called a halt to their journey. "Billy, we can't keep this up for much longer. We need to reprovision, or we're going to be in big trouble." Billy nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I seem to remember there being a village not far from here. Let's head through this cave and see where it takes us." Clyde had serious misgivings with the plan, but they were clearly running short on alternatives, so he agreed. |
| The cave was surprisingly small, ending less than a hundred feet in, where it opened up again to a cliff. "Well, that's convenient," Billy said, but Clyde hushed him. "Do you hear that?" he asked. Billy perked his ears, then shook his head. "I can't hear much of anything, with all that loud crashing noise coming from the other side of this cave." Clyde nodded. "That's what I'm talking about. I think there might be a waterfall out there. Let's go check." Clyde's suspicion was confirmed as they stepped out onto the empty ledge. A humongous bowl stretched before them, with water streaming down on all sides of the mountain save the one they were up against. "It's like something out of a dream," Clyde commented, but Billy had a concerned look on his face. "Pretty or not, this is a dead end. I have a bad feeling we've just cornered ourselves." Clyde shook his head. "Cornered ourselves to whom? Those idiots on the train we stole this Gil from? Not likely!" Billy shook his head. "This is not a small-time theft we just did. We need to get off of this plateau fast." Clyde shook his head. "Shouldn't we think this through some more?" |
| "Oh, by all means, take all the time you need. It will only make killing you that much more delightful." As one, Billy and Clyde turned to face the mysterious voice. |
| Standing before them was a man like none they'd ever seen before. White-skinned, frail-looking, he had a malicious grin fixed on his face, and was dressed the way that one would normally expect a court jester to dress. "Who are you?" Clyde asked, and the odd man laughed hysterically. "Who am I? Oh, that's rich! As if you couldn't tell! Well, if you really don't know, then there's no point in telling you. You'll be dead in a moment anyway." With that, he tossed something at their feet, which exploded in a puff of smoke. Disoriented, the two friends fanned away the concealing screen as best they could, only to see that reinforcements had arrived. "Imperial soldiers?" Clyde asked, but his question was cut short by another hyena-like laugh from the pale man. "Did you really think you would get away with stealing our hard-earned money like that? Even if we didn't technically earn it so much as steal it ourselves, of course. Oh yes, I know full well what you two did. Who do you suppose was sent to guard that case full of Gil in the first place, hm?" Billy groaned. "Doesn't it figure? The one time we hit it big, the victim hits back." The pasty-skinned man laughed his insane laugh again. "Oh, a witty retort! I'm slain, I say! And you lot will be slain, of course, for your interference. Now how about handing over my money, hm? I'll make your deaths nice and quick if you do. If you resist, of course, I can assure you that your demise will be very slow and painful." |
| "What the hell do you want with this money, anyway?" Clyde asked, hoping to stall the inevitable. The man just laughed again. "Oh that? It was going to be used to pay off a particularly corrupt Doma merchant, who's been working for us to undermine Doma's security. Funny how a bit of gold turns one evil, hm? Of course, he never would've gotten it, but he doesn't have to know that, now does he?" Billy shook his head. "This guy's nuts. What are we supposed to do now?" The pale man shrieked in laughter again. "What now? Now you die! You should be honored, really. Not many get the gracious good fortune to be killed by the one and only Cefca Palazzo, head general of Emperor Ghastra's Empire!" Clyde raised an eyebrow. "This guy's a general? Holy crap, the Empire has low standards." Cefca's face turned into a mask of rage. "You dare question my power!? You won't live to regret that! Open fire!" Clyde showed three fingers to Billy, who nodded. As the soldiers got into position, Billy took a flying leap towards them, twin daggers in hand. Just as he landed in front of the foremost soldier, Clyde's carefully timed smoke bomb went off, obscuring the combatants in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared a moment later, all of the soldiers were knocked unconcious, several badly wounded. |
| "Damn it, damn it, what the HELL are you idiots AIMING at!?" Cefca shrieked as the smoke cleared. "Kill them already! ...Eh?" He stopped talking then, as Billy had grabbed him from behind and put a dagger to his throat. "Not so great now, eh, Mr. Big-Shot General? Should've realized partners in crime always have a plan. Now, you wanna give up easy, or shall I drag this out?" Cefca chortled madly again. "That all you have to say?" Billy mocked, then slashed Cefca's throat. Only the blade never made contact, for Cefca simply vanished when it should have struck him. "What the...?" Billy began, but Clyde cut him off. "Billy, behind you!" Billy turned, too late, and was struck face-first by a blast of fire. Cefca was standing at the cave entrance, his hand ablaze, laughing maniacally. "Oh really now. What kind of general goes into battle and risks his own life? Too bad, so sad, and now you die." |
| Cefca's flaming hand lifted, and there was a great rumbling behind him. "I do hope you like your new face, Mr. Bandit. But I think you deserve a more thorough job. How's about we blast you with a nice big plasma beam, hm?" Billy, his burnt face contorted in pain, looked up in fear and dread. From the cave mouth, an enormous monstrosity of a machine was emerging. Shaped vaguely like a human torso, any resemblance to anything even remotely human ended there. There was no doubt about it that this was a killing machine. "Behold, the Guardian! Now, any last words before I remove you from this mortal plane? Oh, too late! Destroy them!" It was sheer instinct alone that saved Clyde as he dived from the cliff, but Billy was less fortunate. His reflexes slowed from his injury, he took the brunt of the machine's blast straight to his back as he dove off of the cliff. |
| It seemed like an eternity later that Clyde regained conciousness. Slowly he sat up, his eyes blurred, his mind a haze. What had happened? And then, in one terrifying instant, everything came back to him. Cefca. The cannon. The jump. And... Billy! He shook his head, trying to clear his vision, and looked around for his friend. He almost didn't recognize him when he found him, though. Billy was a wreck; his face was charred almost beyond recognition, his back a gaping wound from the cannon's blast. "No," Clyde said quietly to himself, "No, please be alive. Please... Billy, please... Open your eyes!" There was no response at first, but just as Clyde was about to despair, Billy stirred. "What's happened to me?" he asked weakly. "Th, th... This... is my blood?" He held his hand up to his face, seeing it coated red. Clyde shook his head futilely. "It's okay, don't worry." Billy closed his eyes, the pain becoming too great to keep them open. "I'm not blind...... I know......" Clyde shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "Don't talk! Not until we reach a town!" Billy nodded to himself. "I understand now. I've lost too much of my blood... haven't I?" Clyde couldn't bring himself to respond, but Billy didn't need him to. "So, go on! Don't worry about my cumbersome carcass." Clyde shook his head. "But..." Billy sighed. "Just let me be caught!" This outburst caught Clyde off guard, and Billy took the chance to continue. "Before you go...... Put me to this knife." He tossed a dagger at Clyde, who caught it more by reflex than anything else. Clyde shook his head, despair overcoming him. "This thing you ask of me......" Billy cut him off. "If I'm caught, you know the sort of treatment I'll receive? They'll tear my eyes out. Bring your arm down." |
| No, Clyde thought to himself, I cannot do this. How can he think I can do this? After everything we've been through, after all we've done together? "Are you trembling?" Billy asked, "You're like a newborn...... You tremble like a little brat. Come on, stop being such a coward, just bring your hand down, and..." "I can't do it!" Clyde cried out, throwing the knife down. "Clyde!!" Billy shouted, but Clyde just shook his head. "It won't end......" Billy's ruined face contorted in rage. "Clyde!! You coward~!" Clyde turned away, his face a mask of tears. "How would you know, what it's like to be brave in this sort of position? You have no idea what you ask of me!" And without looking back, blinded by his tears, Clyde ran off into the plains before him. |
| As he ran, Billy's voice echoed in his head. "You coward!" He had left his best friend to die, refused to even fulfill his final wish. In that instant, Clyde's life was shattered, and he knew that nothing would ever be the same for him again. |
| Clyde had never seen a woman like her before. Her hair was a striking cornfield yellow. Her face was stern yet delicate, almost angelic. Clyde remained stricken by her beauty for a moment, but quickly recovered his senses. He was in no position to become involved with somebody at the moment, lest he endanger their life. Further, it would weigh heavily on his concience if he didn't at least see that she made it back home safely. Her dog seemed to be leading the way, so he followed the animal's unerring path. It was not long before they came upon a stone entranceway. A few hundred yards before they reached it, however, the dog began to growl and back up against Clyde. He couldn't see what alarmed the beast, but he knew that dogs rarely bark without reason. There was something nearby. |
| "Who approaches the gates of the forbidden village?" a voice called out, seemingly from nowhere. "'Tis I, Cylde. I was ambushed by the Empire not far from here. I must speak with your elder immediately!" The voice chortled unkindly. "And we are to believe that you're not of the Empire yourself? What proof have you?" Clyde's patience began to slip. "Because if I were one of them, why would I be returning this Magick Warrior to you?" The voice chortled again. "What's this Magick Warrior nonsense you speak of?" Clyde's annoyance with the disembodied voice was becoming unbearable. "You cannot hide the truth from me. Even as I speak, the Empire is poised to attack your village." The voice took on a sarcastic and demeaning tone. "Is that so? Hah, I bet you're just trying to trick us into letting you in so you can do the dirty work yourself. Begone, now!" Clyde shook his head defiantly. "I will not. At least allow me to speak with your Elder." |
| Whomever the voice belonged to, they had clearly heard enough. "Fine, then. There's no point in continuing this conversation. Away with you, now!" A low growl emenated from behind Clyde, and he quickly turned to find himself looking upon what may well have been a nightmare made flesh. Before him stood a beast like none he had ever seen before, an amalgam of lion, eagle, serpent, and goat haphazardly joined into a single beast. From its four mouths issued growls, bleats, squawks, and hisses, as the monstrosity advanced towards him. There was no question of this chimera's intent, and Clyde quickly realized that he would need to get the girl to safety before the inevitable fight began. "Take her and get her out of here, now!" he shouted to the dog. The beast seemed to understand, and gently but firmly grabbed the girl by her leg. Clyde quickly turned back to the monstrosity as his canine companion carried the young woman to safety, and drew forth his sword. The beast lunged suddenly with its serpent head, but Clyde was far too agile to be caught by it. In a single fluid motion, born from his trained cat-like reflexes, Clyde leapt over the beast's outstretched head and landed on its back. |
| With four cries of fury, the Chimera took to the skies, its massive eagle-like wings beating furiously. The beast began to buck and sway wildly, and it took all of Clyde's attention to stay on the beast without being knocked off of it. The goat and lion heads began making feints at him as he struggled to right himself and get his blade into a useable position. Just as he loosened his grip slightly to sit upright, the monstrosity made a particularly vicious turn, and he was flung off of it. In desperation, Cylde tossed his small grappling hook at the beast, praying that it would make purchase. The scaling tool hit its mark, burying itself deep within the lion's maw. With a roar of pain, the lion bit down upon the grappling hook, driving it deeper into its skull. In a rage of blind pain, it began shaking its head about wildly, and Clyde was swung about like a rag doll. |
| Slowly, Clyde began to edge his way back up the rope, hoping to catch the beast off-guard while the lion head was so occupied. Unfortunately, however, the other heads were catching on rapidly to their sibling's pain, and beginning to work at freeing it from the grappling hook lodged in its jaw. The serpent head, fed up with the slow progress on liberating his bretheren, spat out a stream of venom at the rope that held the hook in place. The poisonous fluid narrowly missed Clyde, but hit its mark and burned the rope away. Clyde desperately grabbed for his dagger, but it was far too late. The rope snapped completely, and he began to fall freely. The Chimera, spotting its advantage, made a dive for Clyde. In a move born out of fear, he lobbed his short blade at the beast, but he never saw if the blade hit. Just as the blade left his hand, he felt himself slam into the unmerciful ground. There was a moment of immense pain, and then the world went black. |
| Clyde felt himself drift back into conciousness slowly. He cautiously opened his eyes, unsure of what to expect. It was apparent immediately that he was in some sort of bedroom, and a rather messy one at that. A sudden surge of dull pain came over Clyde's head, and he struggled to regain his focus. With an effort, he began to take stock of his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was an artist's easel, sitting in the corner next to the bed he was lying in. He took note that the paints appeared to have been used recently, and then focused his attention on the illustration on the easel itself. Depicted was a gray-haired and red-cloaked man, who had an unmistakable rougish aire about him. The painting was striking in its detail, so much so that Clyde mistook it at first for a photograph. The doorknob on the far end of the room rattled slightly, causing Clyde to finally look away from the painting. His intuition told him not to give away that he was awake just yet, so he quickly closed his eyes and feigned sleep. Just as his eyelids dropped, he noticed that Alicia was standing in the doorway, facing away from him, and talking to a man that he had never seen before. |
| "You should not have brought him here, Alicia," the man said, his voice vaguely familiar to Clyde. "He's dangerous. Did you see what he did to my Chimera? We're lucky it doesn't have to be put down!" Clyde heard a short sigh, and then Alicia's voice. "I know. But you didn't see what I saw earlier. They certainly didn't seem to be getting along very well. I think he really does know something that we don't." The man's voice piped up again. "Be that as it may..." There was a pause, and then a deep sigh. When the man's voice continued, he sounded resigned. "Very well. He's in your custody for the time being, then. But as soon as he wakes up, I want to know about it." Alicia's voice had an unmistakable aire of relief as she responded, "Yes, elder Mithos." Clyde heard footsteps unmistakably walking away, and heard the door to the room being quietly closed. |
| "You can open your eyes now," Alicia said. Surprised, Clyde did as she instructed, and found himself gazing with rapture into her deep, misty blue eyes. "So, how did you know that I was awake?" he inquired, trying without much success to break out of the trance he felt himself slipping into. Alicia chuckled softly. "Most people in our village have that ability, at least when they're paying attention to it. It comes in handy for a lot of things, like keeping track of what's happening around our village." Clyde sat up carefully, the pain in his head returning as he did so. "You mean Thamasa, right?" Alicia nodded, apparently unsurprised. "Yes. I was out doing some reconnaissance with my dog Corot here, when I came across you talking about us. Is it true, what you said about the Empire coming after us?" Clyde closed his eyes, partially to help fight the pain, but mostly to focus his thoughts. "Yes, but I think we may have bought you some time. In the chaos of the battle, the bridge was destroyed. The water is far too deep in that area for them to cross safely." Alicia nodded to herself, then sighed. "That's good, I suppose. They can still cross via the ocean, but that will take them longer, and will be much easier to spot from far off. All we need to do is set a watch along the southeastern shoreline, and along the mountains, and we'll have a thorough alert system." |
| "You're familiar with this sort of procedure, I see," Clyde responded, impressed. "Yes, ever since the Empire raided the Phantom..." She broke off suddenly, unmistakably distressed. "What is it?" Clyde asked. "I'm not sure if I should..." she said, her face conflicted. "If you really want to know more, you need to speak with Elder Mithos," she said finally, an unmistakable resolve settling over her features, "He wants to talk with you, anyway." Clyde grinned in spite of himself. "Yeah, I bet he does. Am I going to have to fight another Chimera to meet him, or is that just standard greeting procedure?" Alicia's face looked stricken, and Clyde quickly regretted his words. "I'm sorry about that. One of the village watch saw an explosion to the south. When they saw you walking away from it, they thought you had done something to me. Fortunately, I was roused while you were fighting, and managed to use my magic to heal you just in time. Had it been much longer, you would've been lost to this world." Clyde nodded, wincing from the pain it caused. "I was wondering about that, actually... Thank you." Alicia nodded, her face looking much brighter than before. "By the way, what were you doing with the Empire out there?" A sudden surge of memories struck Clyde. He saw his life of crime flash before his eyes: the looting of the rich and poor alike, the raids on the innocent, the betrayals committed, and... Clyde shut his eyes against unbidden tears as he remembered Billy, left on the riverbank to die. They had believed themselves set for life, and they had finally gone one step too far. Their atrocities had finally caught up with them. Now he was suffering the consequences of that life of crime, with the Empire after him and his own best friend left for dead... |
| A long moment later, Clyde opened his eyes and looked upon Alicia. He felt his lips utter the words, knowing them to be true: "Being repaid." |
| A short time later, Clyde and Alicia departed from her home. Looking about, Clyde realized that it was easily the largest in the tiny village, and indeed, that there were only a handful of other houses to be seen. Outside of the village square and a few small shops on the outskirts, Thamasa's residences took up a space barely larger than a city block. Clyde rubbed the back of his head idly, noting that the physical pain at least had subsided. Unfortunately, now his head was pounding for a much less tangible but more dangerous reason. How was he ever going to explain what he had been doing out at the St. Tidus Bridge with the Empire? He looked at Alicia's face, determined and strong as it was, and drew some measure of strength from it. It was time to stop running from the truth about his life. He was through running, he decided, through hiding from everything and everybody. Even if it meant he would have to lose Alicia's trust, he would reveal everything about himself to the elder. |
| "We're here," Alicia said, and Clyde snapped out of his reverie. They were standing before another, different house, this one smaller than Alicia's but somehow more imposing. He nodded absently, and Alicia gave him a critical look. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Clyde sighed. He wasn't sure he'd felt ready for much of anything since this whole mess had begun. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said, even though he knew deep down that it wasn't true. |
| Clyde couldn't help but notice that there were a lot of people gathered in the elder's house as he and Alicia entered. Though, he reasoned, it did make sense that the village would turn out to see the proceedings. Depending on how badly Clyde botched things, he thought morbidly, they might even get to enjoy a hanging. The elder stepped forward, and cleared his throat. Alicia nodded and led Clyde forward to meet him. "Elder Mithos," she said formally, "I have brought the outsider to you, as requested." Mithos nodded, his eyes never leaving Clyde. Clyde became very self-concious of his ragged appearance, having had no opportunity to change his clothing or even shave in several days. "Very well, thank you, Alicia. Now then, everybody, please be seated." The villagers all complied, and Alicia took a seat near the front of the procession. Mithos turned to Clyde, who was feeling more nervous by the minute. "Now then, if you would be so kind as to take a seat right here, in front of me," Mithos said, and Clyde complied, taking a seat at the table in the center of the room. An unreasoning desire was running through Clyde to do something, anything, to block out the minds of those around him, to keep them from seeing what he was thinking and feeling. Somehow, he was sure, they could read his mind, and so he did his best to keep it blank. |
| Mithos cleared his throat again, and Clyde looked up at him. "Now then," the elder stated in a formal tone, "your name is Clyde Arrowny, is it not?" Clyde nodded, slightly surprised. Perhaps they could read thoughts after all. "Yes, that's correct," he said, feeling foolish. Mithos nodded, and continued. "And is it true that yesterday you were sighted engaging the Empire, and were rescued by a villager named Alicia, whom you recognized, against all reason, as a Magic Warrior?" Ah, here we go, Clyde thought to himself. "Yes," he replied, hoping things weren't about to turn as foul as they promised to. Mithos smiled, quick and somehow cold. "And just how, exactly, did you come to possess such knowledge, which has been lost to the people outside of this island for centuries?" And so it's out in the open, Clyde thought. It was time to test his resolution to tell the truth, he realized, and suddenly the task seemed far harder than it had only minutes ago. As he sat there pondering, the crowd began to mutter uncomfortably. Finally, Mithos decided to make an ultimatum. "Tell us," he stated imperiously, "or you shall never leave this village alive." The threat was not lost on Clyde, and so he began his tale, making a note to himself to keep Shitan's involvement in it as hidden as he could. |
| "For most of my life," he began, "I have lived off of the misfortune of others. I suppose you could call me a bandit." He gave a deep sigh. Now that that was out in the open, he figured, they would probably not want to hear much else. The crowd was already muttering loudly, and Mithos banged a small gavel on the table. "Order! Hm, I must say, this doesn't surprise me. Your appearance alone..." Clyde huffed. "Not a very fair way to judge a man, by his looks. Actually, we were pretty well off." Mithos raised an eyebrow. "We? Just how many of you are there?" Clyde sighed, and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. And so he began, telling of how he and Billy had met up, of their exploits, their adventures, and their ultimate downfall in stealing from Cefca. He left nothing out, held nothing back, and realized that he really no longer cared what they thought of him. He had been a thief, plain and simple, and no amount of embellishing was going to change that. Finally, he reached the point in his tale of the Beast Plains, and found himself at a standstill. "So you arrived upon the Plains. But that does not explain how you got here. A chance meeting, perhaps, with an old friend of the village?" Not sure if he should be relieved or worried, Clyde went on to speak of his meeting with Shitan. |
| Finally, his story came to a close as he described the ambush at the St. Tidus Bridge, and his fateful encounter with the Chimera. Mithos seemed particularly uncomfortable, and cut Clyde off in mid-description of his battle with the beast. "Ahem, yes, well, I do believe we all know what happened there. Now then..." Alicia sighed, shaking her head, and Mithos looked livid. "Oh, alright, I'll tell him! That was my Chimera you were fighting! And you almost killed it, I hope you realize!" Clyde's eyes went wide, and he had the sudden irresistable urge to laugh. "Quite a fine first line of defense you have there. So what's its name? Fluffy?" The elder's face contorted in rage. "It's not funny!" he shouted, but the rest of the room had burst into laughter too. "Oh, alright, maybe it is funny. Ha ha, look at the old man whose pet monster can't even get rid of a wandering vagrant. Can we move on? I only sent Valgarde out to attack you because I thought you had harmed Alicia. My apologies." Clyde nodded. "Quite understandable. But you're right, we need to get back on subject. Such as what we do now, seeing as the Empire has a vested interest in seeing Thamasa wiped off the face of the planet." The mirth that had overtaken the villagers' faces faded immediately, and mutterings of concern over a possible Imperial attack began to fly about. |
| "That will be enough of that!" Mithos shouted, bringing the crowd to an
uneasy silence. "We have important matters to attend to, and panic will not get us anywhere!" The crowd quieted down, and Mithos cleared his throat. "Anyway, that seems to cover what happened to you. Though I am a bit concerned about Shitan now. It is true that we exiled him from our town, but only out of necessity for our own safety. He was well-liked here, and easily one of the most powerful magic users we've seen in centuries. We have his efforts to thank on more than one occasion when the village was attacked by roving monsters..." Clyde nodded solemnly. "I had hoped to go back and check on him, but now that the bridge is gone, that's essentially impossible." Mithos sighed wearily. "Verily... Well, let us get back to the matter at hand, shall we? If you'll pardon my bluntless, I would very much appreciate it if you could help us give the Empire a thorough beat-down. It's high time somebody paid them back for all of the evil they've purpetrated." Clyde raised an eyebrow in amusement, as Mithos broke out into deep-bellied laughter. He recovered quickly, but Clyde was left with the distinct impression that Mithos wasn't nearly as serious as he appeared to be. Best not to bring that up, he figured. |
| "I suppose we do owe you a debt of gratitude for protecting Alicia and bringing her back safely," Mithos continued, unabashed. "Still... I have a request of you. I ask that you take the Sacred Oath before this assembly, that you swear to never reveal what you know of us, nor anything you learn of us, to anybody outside of this village. Despite the information leak that led to the Empire discovering us, we remain a hidden village to the majority of the world. And we wish to remain that way as long as we can, for surely the Empire would not be foolish enough to risk a riot by revealing our presence to the world. If it were discovered that we live... The mistakes of a millenium past would simply be repeated." Clyde nodded. "I understand. I will take the Sacred Oath, then." Mithos rose from his chair and took a very old leather-bound book from a nearby shelf. "This book documents the history of our people, from the time of the Great Demon War of yore to the present. As such, it is our most sacred text. I would ask that you place your hand upon it during the Oath, to seal the pact." He placed the ancient tome on the table before Clyde, and looked expectantly at him. Carefully, Clyde placed his left hand on the old book, and looked Mithos in the eye. |
| Mithos nodded. "Do you, Clyde Arrowny, swear to renounce your former life, and to abide by the laws and traditions of Thamasa Village, withholding them from those outside our boundaries, to the best of your abilities, for as long as you shall live?" Clyde did not hesitate. "I swear it," he stated fiercely, feeling as he did the weight of his previous life on his concience lessen greatly. All about the room, the villagers cheered in celebration. Clyde looked at Alicia, and found himself glad that she, too, was smiling and cheering with the rest of the crowd. This moment marked a turning point in his life, he knew. And he could only hope that it would be a change for the better. |
| At last, the applause died down, and Mithos cleared his throat. "Now that we have taken care of that matter, let us resume the discussion of the task at hand. As you are well aware, we rely heavily on magic to aid in our struggles, and have few actual weapons beyond our innate powers. Thus, we will need your help in matters of more mundane combat. Such as keeping the Empire's troops at bay long enough to build up our defenses. We will need your help in this matter. But then, there is the difficulty of how to give you an edge over your enemies..." Alicia spoke up suddenly. "Why don't we simply use Valgarde? They don't know that Clyde and I survived, but they'll probably assume he did and will be looking for him. But they'll be searching the ground, not the skies. With Valgarde's help, Clyde could get the drop on them." Mithos chuckled. "Ah, that's what I like about you, Alicia. Always quick to make a good battle plan." Clyde nodded. "Alright, I can do that, assuming Valgarde doesn't try to rip my head off for what I did to him earlier. But that will just start our attack. We need something more solid for after I've caught them off guard. And we need to keep them from surrounding us." Alicia piped up again. "That part shouldn't be difficult. With the St. Tidus Bridge destroyed, the river is too deep and too dangerous to cross. The northern mountains are difficult to traverse and easy to post a watch over. That leaves only a very narrow approach from the south." |
| Mithos frowned. "Still, that would require a lot of manpower, manpower that we lack. We do need to have some support for Clyde, so that he's not overwhelmed." "Perhaps we can help with that," a voice declared from the door. Everybody assembled turned towards the voice, surprised. Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man with wild long hair and a frightful countenance. His robes, Clyde realized, were typical of the Monks who trained in Figaro. Mithos frowned. "Bannan. A surprise, seeing you in our village." There was no warmth or concern in his voice, only a vague suggestion of a threat. Bannan sighed. "Come now, Mithos. Just because I chose to work for the Empire does not mean that I harbor an ill will toward the Majick Warriors." Mithos gave an unkind chuckle. "And what proof have you that you no longer serve their cause?" Bannan raised an eyebrow. "What proof have I? A fair question." He nodded to himself, then closed his eyes in concentration. A faint green glow began to spread over the room, and Clyde felt the lingering aches and pains in his body simply fade away. It was Mithos' turn to look bemused. "Was that a magic spell?" Bannan shook his head. "No, nothing so complex. It is a manifestation of willpower, channeled for healing purposes. No Imperial soldier could ever hope to use such a skill." |
| Mithos nodded, satisfied. "I'll have to take your word, and trust you, for now. Though I am not completely convinced, I hope you realize. So then, why have you returned?" Bannan blinked. "You were not the only one to witness the melee on the St. Tidus Bridge. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Since I left, I have been training a group of fellow ex-Imperial soldiers to spy on and fight against the Empire. We were doing a training exercise in the mountains upon the Beast Plains, when one of my men spotted General Cefca leading a battalion of Imperial soldiers towards Thamasa. We watched what happened, and there was no mistaking it: he was using Magic." A collective gasp rose up from those present, Clyde being the only exception. Mithos was livid. "How could that have happened!? Has the Empire kidnapped one of our own, or even...!?" Bannan cut him off. "I don't know how he did it. The point is, Cefca is a force to be reckoned with. He's likely already back at Vector by now, and the odds of him preparing an attack force at this moment are phenomenal. We need to prepare for this inevitable assault immediately. As a mark of trust, I give you my men to deploy as you see fit. We have little time to debate this. Will you accept my help?" |
| Mithos shook his head. "This is too lofty for one person to decide. I place this decision to a vote. All those in favor of accepting Bannan's help, raise your hand." A flurry of hands rose up from the crowd, as almost every single villager showed their support for the proposition. "Out of necessity, I suppose we have little choice," Mithos conceded. He turned to Alicia. "See to it that Valgarde's wounds are treated, Alicia." Mithos turned to his people, his face a mask of stoic courage. "My people, rest well this day, and prepare yourselves. For tomorrow, we go to war." |
| As dawn broke over Triangle Island the next morning, the inhabitants of Thamasa Village were on the move. It had been decided during the discussions the afternoon before that the best place to mount their defenses would be the mythical Phantom Beast Mountains. These revered peaks were said to be the origin point of all magic, and had once acted as the village's savior long ago. But as for how much reassurance old tales were in the face of the most powerful magic in a millennium... |
| Tension was thick in the air, though everybody did their best to ignroe it. Even the children, brought along for their own safety should the village be overrun, could tell that something big was about to happen, something terrible. They didn't know just what, but soon, their mettle and resolve would be tested just as much as their parents' own. |
| In the midst of this tense situation, at the makeshift camp at the base of the mountain, a meeting was underway between Clyde, Alicia, Mithos, and Bannan. They all jumped when the flap to the tent rose, and breathed sighs of relief as they realized that it was just a Returner soldier. |
| "Enter," Bannan instructed, and the soldier complied. Bannan reflected briefly on his little band as he noticed how his subordinate held himself with an unmistakable air of fear. Though some of the Returners had been with Bannan during his time in the Empire, and were battle-hardened soldiers like himself, many were little more than children. Young teenaged boys with an overbearing sense of responsibility to their families, and no real understanding of what war meant. Well, they were learning all about the fear that war instilled now... |
| "Master Bannan, sir," the soldier said shakily, trying to keep his composture and failing, "the target has been sighted, 5 miles out and closing fast." Finally the poor lad managed to get a hold of himself and continued more assuredly. "Something's strange, though. Their numbers are less than we estimated. It..." He paused again, and shook his head. "It's like they're toying with us, sir." |
| Bannan nodded, contemplating. "How many ships?" he asked. The soldier snapped to attention, obviously not sure about procedure just yet. "Yes sir! Um... Well, that's the weirdest part, actually. We only spotted the Emperor's flagship, and a handful of Gunners, probably no more than a half-dozen." |
| Clyde scoffed. "Yep, they're definitely toying with us... They sent more soldiers after me and Billy just for robbing a train. Hell, we fought more than that at Barren Falls. They're up to something, something big, if they think that little a force is going to be enough to do the job." |
| "I agree," Mithos said, standing up. "I have an idea," Bannan said, also standing up, and everybody turned to face him. "During our recon on the surrounding areas, we came across some curious plans in the village of Mobliz. They outlined an underwater breathing device. As it seemed a useful device for reconnaisance and scouting, we kept a copy of those plans for ourselves." |
| Clyde stood up now. "So you want to use it to check on what the enemy's up to, right?" Bannan nodded. "And send a detachment to keep the Empire distracted, naturally." Clyde shrugged. "Sounds like a plan. Shall I do the recon, then?" Bannan balked. "Are you mad? You've never used the device before, and in case you forgot, they're looking for you in particular. If they spot you, your chances of survival are essentially zero." |
| Clyde laughed. "Yeah, I know the odds. But look at it this way: I owe these people a lot for taking me in, especially when you consider my background. Don't you think it'd be a bit heartless of me, after all that, to let somebody else risk death on this mission while I sit here twiddling my thumbs? I couldn't live with myself if I did that, it'd make my shame over Billy's death..." He stopped, unable to continue, but Bannan obviously had gotten the point. |
| Regaining his composture, Clyde continued. "Anyway, I want to do this. But I do have one request: I need to borrow Valgarde for it. Is that alright, Mithos?" The elder pondered for a moment before answering, "I suppose, but... To go alone is surely suicide, you realize..." Mithos closed his eyes, looking as though the world was weighing particularly heavily on him. |
| "We have no choice," Clyde pointed out, "I'm the most expendable one here, having no ties to the village and no real importance to the effort. Don't try to claim otherwise," he said quickly as Alicia started to speak up. He shook his head. "I just can't let this task fall on anybody else's head. I've seen enough suffering, and I don't want to see any more happen when I can do something about it. Especially not when young lives are at stake..." |
| Clyde turned towards the entrance of the tent. "I'll be outside getting my supplies and my wits together. Let me know when it's time to move out." Without a backwards glance or another word, he stepped outside and left the tent's occupants to their own lingering thoughts and worries. |
| Breathing in the fresh mountain air, Cylde felt strangely at ease. It wasn't like he was tense before or anything, he reasoned. But deep in his subconscious, a doubt was worming its way into his brain, making him wonder if he really was doing this for the right reasons. He wanted to avenge Billy in this battle, to right the wrong he had committed on the shores of that river, and yet... |
| "I'm not an idiot, you know, Clyde." Clyde jumped, feeling the clamminess that had settled over him in his ponderings at last, and turned sheepishly to face Alicia. "Er, what do you mean?" he said, hoping she didn't mean what he thought she meant. "In case you didn't notice, spying is kind of ingrained in Thamasan culture. I know what you're planning to do. I know about your plan to avenge Billy." Clyde's heart sunk, and a chill ran down his spine as he realized that yes, she really did mean what he thought she meant. |
| "Clyde, listen," Alicia began, looking uncharacteristically nervous, "did you stop to think about what Billy was asking of you? Did you consider that maybe it was a bit... selfish? That he asked you that out of fear, maybe, knowing you couldn't do it?" Clyde realized he had no idea what Alicia was suggesting, but it didn't sound very nice. "Just what are you implying?" he asked, a hint of threat in his tone. |
| Alicia sighed, and Clyde immediately felt guilty as her face fell. "My mother..." she started, choked, and then continued, "My mother did the same thing as Billy did when she... when she was attacked by beasts on the Veldt." Clyde reeled. He'd had no idea... Before he could say anything in condolence, however, Alicia waved her hand and continued. "No, please, don't apologize. When... When I found out about how you went through the same thing as I did, I had a lapse of judgment. I opened up to you, more than I should have. Please forgive me." |
| Cylde shook his head, not sure what to say, but Alicia wasn't finished. "My mother, she... Her death was slow and painful, nobody would step in and liberate her from her suffering. They just couldn't bring themselves to commit such an act. We didn't even know what had happened, here in the village. By the time we found her, she was almost..." |
| Alicia sobbed, and Clyde put a hand on her shoulder in concern. "I'm alright," she assured him, and continued. "She... She had time to tell us one last thing, though, before..." Again she stopped, but regained her composture more quickly. "She told us that she didn't blame anybody for not helping her, that she knew it was too much to ask of anybody. She said that she was afraid to die, but that she would never hold it against anybody for not sparing her the pain, because she would have done the same..." |
| Alicia stopped again, tears running down her eyes. Clyde could tell that this was not easy for her, and some part of his brain registered that it must be costing her a great deal to speak to him of such painful memories so openly. "So..." he said hesitantly, "Are you saying that, if you'd had a choice in the matter, you wouldn't have saved me?" Alicia shook her head, and Clyde realized guiltily that was a terribly selfish thing to have asked after such a painful recollection. |
| "I don't know," Alicia said, "I don't know, but... I'm so confused, Clyde... About what's happened, about why we're here, about what's going to happen, about..." She stopped again, her tears renewed, and looked up at Clyde with an intensity that frightened him. "Is this... all my fault?" she asked, and Clyde could only gape mentally at what he was seeing, what he was hearing. He wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that it was his responsibility alone, but his mouth refused to work, and all he could do was look down in shame at his inability to express anything. |
| Wordlessly, Alicia took Clyde's hand gently from her shoulder, gazing once more into his eyes (why did those eyes scare him so much?, he wondered), and then she slowly walked away with her back to him. Clyde stared after her, a million things running in his mind of what he should have said, but his mouth still paralyzed. |
| Clyde's mind was buzzing, and he knew he had to do something about it, to digest everything he'd just seen and heard. He turned and walked up to the top of the nearest cliff, with what felt to him like somebody else's legs. Sitting himself down in a careful position, he tried to meditate. When that was obviously not working, he just focused on clearing his mind, just getting his head back on task. |
| "Sir Clyde!" A brief burst of anger bubbled up in Clyde. So much for meditation, he thought uncharitably, and stood up slowly. "Elder Mithos requests your presence in the strategy tent. The operation will commence shortly." Clyde sighed, and nodded curtly to the Thamasan who had interrupted him, then stretched his tired muscles. Things were not going well so far, he noted mentally, and gave a deep sigh. Not wanting to tempt fate to make things worse, he decided to get himself straight to the tent. As he entered, Mithos stood up and looked directly at him. |
| "It is in your hands," the elder said, a hint of defeat in his voice and more than a little stress apparent on his countenance. Clyde didn't like the sound of this statement, though he wasn't quite sure why. Still, he reasoned with himself, there was no reason to pass the opportunity up by questioning it. "Thank you," he said tersely to Mithos, nodded politely to Bannan, and quickly made his way out of the tent before his lips betrayed his thoughts and no doubt made things worse by asking what was wrong. |
| Casually, Clyde strode over to the paddock where Valgarde was being kept, and started undoing the ropes. "Well, old buddy, looks like we just can't keep away from each other, huh?" The Chimera gave a screech from its eagle head, but it was obviously not feeling confrontational with Clyde now, for which he was quite thankful. He'd have to remember to ask Mithos later how the elder had managed to convince the beast that Clyde was not, in fact, a tasty snack. |
| The beast lowered itself so that Clyde could mount it, and the two were airborne seconds later. Clyde allowed himself a wry grin as he noticed that the activity on the various Gunner ships had suddenly multiplied itself the moment he had risen into the air. Fun times ahead, he thought to himself, feeling both foolish and exhilirated at the prospect of what was to come. Picking the biggest of those ships, he guided Valgarde on a collision course. |
| "Let's give them a little shock, eh, Valgarde?" he said to his mount, and the Chimera roared with its lion head in response. All of its heads aimed themselves at the nearest Gunner ship, and a stream of boiling-hot super-pressured water shot out like liquid breath at the vessel. On deck, soldiers scrambled to grab hold of something, anything, as the water blasted the deck and knocked them off their feet. "Wee-ha!" Clyde shouted enthusiastically, laughing as he saw a few soldiers fall off into the sea. "Bring on the big guns, I'm ready for 'em!" he shouted, hoping that Cefca noticed, wherever he was. |
| He obviously had. A flurry of cursing and loud crashing could be heard as somebody obviously in a great hurry and without much concern for their own safety was rushing up through the decks of the ship, hitting what sounded like roughly everything on it in the process. Clyde couldn't help but laugh as he watched Cefca emerge from belowdecks with a bronze chamberpot stuck to one foot and a metal bucket stuck on the other, cursing his head off and swearing death to anybody who commented. "Looking dignified there, aren't you?" Clyde shot down at Cefca, grinning. |
| Cefca looked up from shaking off the metal nuisances from his feet, and stopped dead. A grin that wouldn't look out of place on a circus clown spread across his face, and he began to cackle. "Uehehehehehehe!" Clyde gave a mock salute, his grin almost as big as Cefca's. "Well, I didn't think you'd actually come back for me, especially after what I heard from your little friend." Clyde's smile faded in an instant. "Oh yes, he was quite, ah, verbose about your cowardice. Had quite a lot to say, after he'd finished soiling himself. Sure was hard to understand him, though, with all that blood in his throat." |
| Rage boiled through Clyde's blood, but he did his best to hold it back. He couldn't play into Cefca's hands. "Shame, really. All that hype, and I never got to have my fun. I was so looking forward to hearing a symphony of screams, too! Ah well, I suppose I can settle for a little dirge of death from you instead. Uehehehehehehe!" That cackling was really getting to Clyde, and he couldn't hold himself back any longer. |
| "It's not going to be like that today, you bastard!" he yelled in defiance of the cackling madman below. If anything, Cefca seemed to be laughing even harder now, much to Clyde's irritation. "I'm not running this time!" he declared, to even louder laughter. "We're both going home today, but your trip back will be in a coffin!" Cefca was literally rolling on the deck laughing now, and Clyde couldn't take it any more. |
| With a quick urging, he sent Valgarde straight at the clown, who suddenly straightened up. Realizing he'd made a serious mistake, Clyde banked off just in time to avoid taking the brunt of the impact from the magic barrier that Cefca had just erected. As he veered off, he felt as though the world was suddenly moving a lot faster than it should, or maybe it was him who was moving a lot slower than he should. Whatever the case, he knew he was in trouble. |
| In a desperate move, he forced Valgarde around to face Cefca's ship again, and urged the beast to unleash its aqua breath again. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Cefca had seen the attack coming and had begun to charge his own counterattack. Just as Valgarde, in painfully slow form, let out his jet of pressurized water, a blast of lightning emerged from Cefca's hands, and the two forces of nature met head-on. |
| In an instant, the world went blindingly white, then blindingly black. Clyde felt as though his body were being tossed about by a maelstrom, and he struggled to regain control of himself as he writhed in agony. As his vision cleared, he noted with satisfaction that Cefca was twitching painfully on the deck of his ship, muttering to himself. "Son of a... bitch! You'll... pay... for this!" His crew seemed genuinely afraid to approach him, and Clyde hoped darkly that he'd die there, writhing uncontrollably on the deck like a fish out of water. |
| It was at about this point that Clyde realized something was very wrong with Valgarde. He barely registered that Cefca had crawled off towards the belowdecks area again, as his steed was now bucking uncontrollably. Looking down, Clyde realized with a sickening feeling in his stomach just why: Valgarde had taken the brunt of the water-enhanced electrical blast, and was barely still in one piece. The poor beast was screaming from all of its heads in pain, and rapidly losing altitude. The water of the bay was quickly gaining on them, and Clyde actually found himself cursing the fact that Cefca's mysterious time-slowing magic had worn off now, as he could have used the extra time to think of a way to handle this. |
| Beneath him, Valgarde gave a final heave, and then crashed violently into the water. Clyde felt himself black out again with the impact, and struggled to bring himself to consciousness as he realized that he was sinking, still strapped onto Valgarde's now dead body. He struggled to free himself, but the shock that had killed Valgarde had also weakened him significantly, and he could not undo his bindings. The pressure was building quickly around him, and his efforts to stay awake were failing. A passing morbid thought went through his brain: so this is how it ends... |
| Something was pulling at his arm, but he couldn't see what. His mind was going, he was done for... But the pressure was fading, he noticed vaguely, and it seemed to be getting lighter... With a burst, he emerged into the light and air above, and gasped for breath. He was alive! But how...? Looking over, he saw a strange metal bowl surface, and he realized that there was a window on it, and that Alicia's face was staring out at him from it. Aha, he thought feebly, so that's what the diving apparatus looks like, and then passed out. |
| He didn't stay unconscious for long, as Alicia slapped him awake. "Come on, Clyde, hang in there! You're going to be alright now!" she was shouting, the window over her face open now so she could talk to him. He slowly felt his wits returning to him, and looked around. They were in the middle of the bay, pretty far from land, but they were alive, at least. The worst, he figured, was over. |
| Just then, a booming voice came from the ships behind them, making Clyde regret both his previous thought and his having ears. The voice was loud, and it was clearly not happy. "Citizens of Thamasa!" it declared, making Clyde's ears ring unpleasantly. "I know you can hear me, I know you are nearby!" Way to spot the obvious, Clyde thought uncharitably, was the flying monstrosity with the water breath what gave it away? The voice continued. "I, Emperor Ghastra, ruler for life of the Empire of Vector, have come to offer you what you have sought for so long!" What, Clyde wondered idly, could this lunatic be talking about? "A final battle, once and for all, to settle who shall live and who shall die, to determine who shall shape the coming age!" |
| Well, that's just swell, Clyde thought to himself, and feeling decidedly lightheaded still. All this while, Alicia had been trying to get them back to the shore, but Clyde had barely noticed until now, when he realized with a start that the Gunner ships were quite a ways further away than they had been before. The booming voice was speaking again, he realized. "Know this, people of Thamasa! It is our divine right, and ours alone, to take this mystic power and use it as we see fit! We shall reshape this world, and none who stand in our way shall be allowed to impede us! Reveal yourselves now, or you shall suffer the same fate as your ancestors: death by your own powers!" This, Clyde figured, could not end well. Also, he was beginning to suspect that he might have a concussion, which didn't improve his mood at all. |
| What happened next gave Clyde a splitting headache on top of everything else: all of the ships in the bay opened up their cannon doors and began firing, as waves of magical energy also began blasting out from the mountain that those cannons were aiming at. The noise was, to put it mildly, extraordinary. Clyde could tell that something strange was happening in this exchange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was at first, until he noticed that he couldn't see much difference between the fire going over his head one way and the fire going over his head going the other way. |
| Alicia, however, clearly could tell the difference. He felt her shudder when she looked up, and as the battle wore on and they swam laboriously closer to the shore, he thought he might understand why. The fire coming from Thamasa felt a lot more... well, natural, really. Ghastra's ships were firing what felt like an imitation version of what the Thamasans were firing, an imitation that felt very intimidating for some reason. Finally they reached the shore, and Clyde gave his head an experimental shake which he quickly regretted doing. "Uh oh, should've noticed that sooner," Alicia muttered beside him, and he felt something warm settle over him. He blinked, and realized that not only did his head and body not hurt any more, but also that he wasn't feeling incredibly silly any more. |
| "Healing magic," she explained tersely, and urged him up. Obviously it wasn't out of concern for being hit, however; honestly, it didn't seem like either side had noticed them. During the mad scramble, Clyde couldn't help but notice that something was wrong with the Thamasan troops, and he quickly realized what. "Weren't there a lot more of us before?" Alicia stopped in her tracks, took off her diving helmet and looked for a moment, then gasped. "Hey! Half of our forces have gone missing!" |
| They hurried much faster after that, and reached the camp not long after. A Thamasan soldier ran up to them, clearly concerned. "Ma'am! Are you alright?" Alicia nodded, and asked, "What happened? Where did half our forces go?" The soldier shook his head. "Emergency dispatch, milady. Bannan's troops received a distressing summons from Mobliz from their lookout stationed there, and they departed immediately." Clyde swore angrily. "A decoy, obviously. Looks like they weren't so unprepared after all." Alicia shook her head. "But how could they have known...?" |
| Just then, a jarring blast sent them all to their knees, and they looked out at the fleet. The ships were assembling close to each other, appearing to rally for a concentrated shot. "Damn them," a trembling old voice said behind them, and Clyde looked up into the face of a very concerned Mithos. "To think that they would dare use something like those cannons... Such foolishness. If they knew of the history of our world, they would never dare. Such firepower was used once before, during the battles of the Warring Triad. They have revived Majick..." |
| Clyde was utterly lost. "Warring... what? And Mah-jeek? Is that different from regular Magic?" Before anybody could answer, the ships in the bay unleashed their concentrated fire, and only a quick casting of a powerful barrier spell by an attentive elderly mage spared them from being vaporized from the force. "We will explain later, Clyde. Obviously we cannot hold out long with assaults like that. We must retreat for now, and plan a counterattack. Quickly, to the summit!" |
| In a mad rush, all of the Thamasans save the elderly man who had cast the barrier spell began withdrawing into the central caves of the Phantom Beast Mountains. "What about him?" Clyde asked, concerned about the mage. Mithos chuckled. "Oh, don't let old Stragos bother you. That man has more mettle than anybody half his age. He'll follow when he's good and ready." Clyde wasn't reassured, but he figured that Mithos probably knew better than he did, and hurried to catch up with the rest. |
| During the laborious climb, Clyde heard the massive discharge of the Empire's cannons three more times, but each time, it seemed that the old man below had managed to erect a barrier in time to prevent it from hitting them. He hated to admit it, but Mithos definitely had been right: that old man had more mettle than all of the rest of them combined. When they had all finally reached the top, Mithos motioned him and Alicia close. |
| "Our normal spells are no match against this power, as you have noticed. At best, we can hold it at bay for a little while. We need something more powerful to deal with this threat, something with finality. A spell of great power is needed, one which only a legendary beast possesses. Unfortunately, I am the only man alive who has learned that art, and I am far too feeble to pull it off well at my age..." Alicia gasped. "You mean you know the spell of the mythical Hidon?" Mithos nodded, and Alicia smiled. "Try anyway, Mithos. We'll all help you." She smiled wanly. "Trust me." A look of astonishment, then of understanding, crossed the old man's face. "Yes, that might work... Alright, everybody gather near!" |
| Clyde wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn't get the chance. Suddenly, a massive blackness had opened up in the sky over the ships out in the bay, as all of the Thamasans extended their hands in concentration towards Mithos. The force channeling into him became audible, and then visible, as the energy passed from the Thamasans into Mithos. As this happened, Clyde looked back as another volley fired from the Empire's ships, again stopped by the barriers being thrown up by the old man below, and wondered how they hadn't noticed the now-massive blackness that had settled directly over their ships. |
| "Ancient and forbidden power, drawn from the land, sea, sky, and void, manifest your terrible power! Grand Trine!" Clyde heard Mithos shout these words, but he did not look back, for what he saw before him had captivated him. In a burst of terrible noise, a massive shard of darkness, shaped like a wedge, had descended literally into the ships. A second, and then a third triangular form descended into place, and formed a delta around the ships. And then the void opened, and all hell broke loose. A horrible fury of sound emerged as the ships were torn apart and sucked into the black hole in the center of the trine, screams of soldiers barely registering over the loud tearing and ripping of metal plates. It seemed to go on for an eternity, until suddenly it stopped and collapsed inwards upon itself, the magic spent. |
| The devestation was immense. Littered about the sea were the ruins of almost every single Gunner ship. Clyde noted, with a bit of fury, that Cefca's Gunner ship had somehow been spared from the brunt of the attack and was already retreating. Even the Emperor's flagship looked decidedly worse for wear, though it was in much better shape than any other Imperial vessel. The voice of Ghastra sounded once more, but with far less force now, presumably because it was coming only from his flagship and Cefca's retreating vessel. |
| "Extraord... Incred... What in... Unbelievable!" Ghastra was clearly at a loss for words. "To think, such power in the hands of ones we believed to be so weak... Attention all Imperial forces! Retreat and regroup!" This seemed a silly order to give when so few Imperial forces had survived, particularly since the only other ship still afloat was well on its way out of the bay, but Clyde supposed that one must maintain the illusion of authority even after one has had one's athority so challenged. The Imperial flagship turned about face and retreated too, and the Thamasans breathed a sigh of relief. The battle was, at last, over. |
| "A pity we lack the power to put an end to them for good," Mithos mused sadly. Alicia smiled. "Oh, I don't know about that..." With one deft motion, she pulled a paintbrush from her pocket. Mesmerized, Clyde watched as she quite literally painted the air with the brush, and gaped in amazement as a carbon copy of Mithos stood before them. The image of Mithos then shocked him further by repeating Mithos' previous speech and unleashing the horrible power of Grand Trine upon Ghastra's flagship again. Throughout the ensuing carnage, Clyde could have sworn that he'd seen a propellered vessel of some sort fly off of the flagship into the distance, but he wasn't quite sure of anything he saw any more. |
| "It looks like he got away," Mithos said, confirming that Clyde hadn't been the only one to see the flying machine. "Damn it!" he muttered, punching the ground. "One of these day's, I'll..." He stopped mid-sentence as Alicia turned to him, smiling, and couldn't help but smile himself. All things considered, he realized, it had gone pretty well. Ghastra could wait for another day, he decided, as the Thamasans all gathered around him, Alicia, and Mithos and cheered in celebration of their victory. Before long, they had a roaring victory party going. |
| After a bit, Clyde realized that Mithos had walked off from the celebrations, and decided to find him. He found him sitting on a nearby rock, looking exhausted yet thankful. Alicia walked up just then too, and smiled as Mithos looked up at her. "I suppose," he said in a deadpan voice, "that I can no longer accuse you of not keeping up with your artwork." The three of them all broke into raucous laughter, and Clyde looked over at Alicia fondly. There would be other conflicts, and probably soon, he knew, but it didn't matter now. The day was won. Tomorrow's problems could wait for tomorrow, he reminded himself as he walked over and took her hand. |
