Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:31:03 -0800 From: Amethyst Rose Subject: FF Rosa Part 9 Disclaimer: All rights for the Final Fantasy series goes to Square Enix. This story is a fan fiction in this franchise universe, categorized under fan fiction. This story is obviously fiction. This story will also involve sexual and intimate relationships between two (or more) males, and if this offends you or it is illegal for you to be reading, then please leave. If you are under the age of consent for your community, please leave. And if it does offend you, I honestly don't know why you're even here in the first place. I mean, seriously. Come on. Final Fantasy: Rosa IX Crashing "Master Winnie." Winnie Sharp turned to look at the brig guard who addressed her. "Yes?" "Your attacker has been successfully apprehended and imprisoned in the brig." She smiled. "Goodie. Have him executed as soon as we return to Windhelm." "Yes, Master Winnie," said the guard before leaving. Winnie walked to the side of Void and General Morta, each observing the frozen helmet man encased in a column of glass, unmoved from the cargo bay. "...so to reiterate," General Morta said, continuing his conversation with Void. "The Rose is alive. We established that. But it has to inhabit a physical body?" "Correct." General Morta smirked and condescendingly pointed to the helmet man. "...THAT"s the Rose"s body?" "You betcha!" squealed Winnie with a wink. "What do you propose we do, General?" Void asked sincerely. Truly lost in thought and lost for words, the General put a finger to his chin as he slowly walked in a circle around the glass column. "...I may relay a message to the Queen. Now, you said that he had great power. Perhaps we can utilize his power in the same way we utilized the Rose"s." "I don"t know if the mechanics are the same, sir. The Rose is entirely spiritual energy. The Body is... obviously corporeal." Void gazed at their subject. "In fact, Master Silver and I theorized that the Body would have no spiritual energy inside of it at all. Soulless in the entire meaning of the word-- hence its attraction to the Rose." "Well-" said Winnie with a flutter of her eyelashes. "I don"t know about Master Void, but... you can bet that I"ll try my hardest to get as much power as we can from this guy, sir!" Before Void could speak in retort, General Morta nodded and dismissed himself with a wave of his hand. As soon as the General was out of sight Winnie spoke through clenched teeth, only looking at Void in the corner of her eyes. "You and that stupid prettyboy sure hid a lot of Ôtheories" from me, didn"t you?" "You never asked, Master Winnie," Void replied curtly. A rather sharp noise cut their repartee short. Both Winnie and void turned their heads in unison. "What was that?" asked Winnie, but she knew Void had no answer. In reality, they both knew. It was the ice encasing the Body that had cracked. -+-+-+- Tori, still petrified, Adrienne, still swooning, and Trixie, still giggling, watched as Silver finally pulled away from Dergus. Dergus fingered Silver"s black vest and tight t-shirt, typical thief gear. "Where... where were you clothed?" It seemed that Tori"s existence was suddenly validated. "Dergus, this is Tori and Adrienne. They saved my life." Dergus nodded grimly. "Yes... we were certainly fearful." He looked at the two of them. "Thank you. Sincerely. The Rebellion owes you a boundless debt." Adrienne blushed, and Tori simply said, "No prob," to which Dergus gave a strange tick. He leaned in to whisper in Silver"s ear. "Vagabonds? Really?" Silver giggled. He met Tori"s gaze with sparkling eyes that made him blush. "Hm." Dergus looked past Tori and Adrienne to Trixie. "Trikitixa. How goes the Quatran front?" "Unfair, and sad, very. My sisters hold the city, but food is little." "I see." Dergus again directed his attention to Silver. "Silver, Val will be happy to see you again. And I think we"ll all be glad to have you back in the infirmary," he said with a smile. Silver, however, shook his head. "I"ve been Fogged." This struck Dergus as odd. Silver clarified. "The rumors of Winnie Sharp"s Green Magic are true." Dergus furrowed his brow, and then turned to Tori. "You never healed him," he stated. Now was the time to be defensive. "H-hey, don"t look at me like that! I can"t make remedy, do I look like I"m made of money? Get off my back!" Tori grumbled. Adrienne seemed similarly offended, but she said nothing. Silver pouted from the conflict that was brewing, so Dergus decided to back off. "I apologize. Undoubtedly, you did all you could. Lily?" One of the white mages turned her head. "You know Esuna, correct? Silver here"s been Fogged." "Yes, sir." The white mage came to Silver"s side and raised a humble oak staff over him. "Heavenly wind, carry us to the fountain of power. Esuna." A sweet aroma wafted in on a gentle breeze, and a pure light swirled over his Silver"s head. White mist suddenly evaporated from his body and dissipated into the air, taken away by the fading luminescence. The white mage nodded and went back to work. Dergus, in the meanttime, helped Silver to his feet; they were surprised to see him stand with a good amount of strength. "How do you feel?" Dergus asked. Silver thought to himself a little, silently mouthing words. He grinned then nodded with a renewed sense of confidence Tori wasn"t familiar with. "Fantastic. We"ll convene with Val right away." Quite suddenly, the four green-cloaked guards appeared again, huddling around Tori, Adrienne, and Trixie. "Show them to their rooms." "Wha?!" Tori exclaimed as he was rushed out of the infirmary. Silver similarly opened his mouth in protest, but he wasn"t given a chance to speak as they were butted out the door. Silver pouted. "Dergus... I wanted to speak to them," said Silver pathetically. Dergus crossed his arms. "I apologize. But...But I feel like we should take advantage of this chance solitude to converse ourselves." With a bit of hesitation, Silver smiled again and nodded. "I guess we have a lot of catching up to do, huh?" "Yes. Indeed, we do." -+-+-+- "Can"t you just tell them to let us go?" Adrienne asked Trixie with some frustration. "Oh, you can tell them that if you wish, dear." "No, see, these are your people, so they"ll listen to you." One of the guards, a young girl with tufts of brunette hair sticking out from under her mask, turned around in the middle of her stride. "Hey, you can talk to our faces, you know." Adrienne, mortified, shut her mouth. Tori, however, wasn"t so eager to stay quiet. "So what"s the deal, anyway? Are you just keeping us around to kill us or something?" The girl seemed very distraught by this, going so far as to reach over and pat Tori"s shoulder as she continued to guide them. "No! We"re helping you! Believe me, if we wanted to hurt you, you"d be dead before you could even see Alabast"s Courtyard." They abruptly began to march in single file as they crossed a rope bridge, but she continued to talk over her shoulder to Tori. "Master Trikitixa"s our valuable ally... and as for you and your friend, Master Silver owes you his life, so we owe you our lives too." Tori raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and what about Silver? Why"s everyone so in love with him all of a sudden?" "...Hm? That"s a strange question." They stepped onto a platform that teetered on an enormous forked branch, and on it were two separate straw huts. The guards ushered Trixie and Adrienne to one, and the girl led Tori to the other. "So, I guess you"ll have a place to yourself for now... and you two will share that one." Adrienne mumbled something about Trixie snoring, and Trixie simply hugged her with a squeal. "You didn"t answer my question," Tori stated, putting his hands on his hips. The girl cocked her head. "Well, it was a strange question. I guess you don"t know the asset Master Silver has been to the Rebellion. See, Master Silver"s from Mysidia. I"m from there too, so I can tell you firsthand that everyone born in Mysidia is good at some kind of magic. I"m not the brightest bulb, but I guess because I"m Mysidian I can dish out a good level two spell if you ask me to." Tori made a "get on with it" expression. "Anyway. Master Silver"s a bit of a prodigy. He was strong enough to be a White Wizard when he was 10, and at this age he"s mastered Time Magic too. He was a legend in the infirmaries! I heard that he"d use Haste and Teleport to be at three battlefields at once. And no one died under his watch." At this point, Adrienne and Trixie had fumbled into their hut, and their guards left the scene. "So," the girl continued, "you can imagine that the decision to send Master Silver undercover was met with some skepticism. But he was willing, and there was no other way to protect ourselves from the airstrikes than to have an inside man. He entered Altamine Academy, passed with flying colors of course, and got onto the AS Ruby." She sighed. "We"re all glad he"s safe. But now that he"s been extracted, we"re completely blind as to what the Impirium"s planning." Tori nodded. He crossed his arms in thought, then asked the question that was really burning in his mind. "Who"s Dergus?" "Dergus Highwind, huh? He"s been Silver"s friend since they were kids. Dergus took care of him." "What, his parents weren"t around?" The girl blinked. "You really don"t know much about Master Silver, do you? He"s an orphan." Tori"s mouth gaped open. "Yeah, his mom and dad were Black Wizards studying in Calledone at the beginning of the Dostravi occupation. At that time the Black Art Order was the biggest protester against the Impirium, so Master Silver"s parents were detained as domestic terrorists. They were terminated, and Master Silver was left alone back in Mysidia." This was certainly new information. Tori shook his head in disbelief; maybe he and Silver weren"t so different after all. "Thanks for answering my questions," he said after some thought. "No problem." She also departed, but before she did she waved to him and yelled, "If you need me, just ask for Candice!" "Oh. Thanks, Candice." And then Tori was alone. He turned around and took a moment to explore his dwelling; structurally sound sure, made of wood beams and thick dry grass walls, but the amenities were spartan in nature, nothing more than a straw bed and an old chair. Tori sighed, opting to lie down on the bed and maybe try to nap. -+-+-+- "You have some visitors." In the dark of the brig, illuminated only by a dank bluish lantern, Seb saw the outlines of two figures, backlighted by the outline of the open door. He smiled, sat up in his shackles, when he saw Biggs and Wedge. "Hey, you two." "Hey yourself. We"re getting out of here," Wedge said. "Oh. Great. Since you were so good at keeping me on a leash, I"m sure you do fine." "You"re one to talk, going off and fucking jumping into Winnie Sharp"s arms! You"re lucky she didn"t slit your throat then and there." Biggs reached forward and peered through the bars, so Seb could see his face. "We got a real good plan, wait till you hear it. They won"t suspect a thing. So first, you have to-" Just before Biggs spelled out the agenda, a cataclysmic shaking cut him off, making the entire ship rumble, turning the floor into jelly. The alarm klaxon went off; screams and shouts echoed outside. The door burst open, and in popped the guard. A wild look in his eye, he threw a ring of keys to Wedge. "Free the prisoner and get the fuck off the ship!" That said, the guard left as quickly as he entered. Strange, to say the least, but they did not argue. After opening the door and unlocking Seb"s shackles, the three of them ran into the corridors of the ship, where technicians and soldiers were already heading, en masse, towards clinics and the observatory, where white and black mages would presumably teleport them to the ground. But it seemed all three of them were thinking the same thing; fighting their way through the crowd, they headed in the opposite direction, towards the cargo bay. By the time they had gotten there, the last of the crewmen had emptied out, and the three of them were free to watch the spectacle uninterrupted: The bay doors were decimated, as though something had crashed through them. For something had crashed through them: something large, monstrous. Wedge, Biggs, and Seb had to restrain themselves from running away as well. Flying outside the airship, in the air outside the cargo bay, was a gargantuan dragon, covered in obsidian scales, 10 glorious black feathered wings that kept it suspended. And on its horns, metal rings, ornate and royal, a silver crown of sorts; the dragon let out a roar that caused the three of them to cover their ears. They noticed, on the floor of the bay, Winnie and Void, their staves abreast, shards of shattered ice at their feet. They heard Void yell something indistinct, and an enormous shard of crystal shot out from his staff like a cannon. The dragon swatted it away as if it were nothing, and responded with yet another scream. It flapped all of its wings at once; a gust of wind like a shockwave swept through the cargo bay, and the Wizards had to brace themselves to stand against it. "What is that?!" Wedge yelled, in case his compatriots would know. They didn"t. Winnie, through the wind, managed to thrust her staff forward. A flock of fiery birds flew out of the tip, fluttering and swirling around Winnie before soaring into the dragon"s head in a storm of crimson wings. The Foxbird surge was enough to break the dragon"s concentration, and after an angry rustle it glided out of sight. Biggs, Wedge, and Seb heard noises behind them. They pressed themselves against the wall as a brigade of soldiers, armed with extremely heavy tubes that Wedge recognized as artillery lasers, rushed into the cargo bay, with General Morta behind them. He himself had unslung his rapier, but despite the chaos that the rushing crowd and klaxon seemed to create, he was very calm in the handling of his weapon. Winnie waved her staff, and instantly she and Void appeared by General Morta"s side. "Report," The General commanded. "That thing we just drove off? That"s the Body," Winnie managed to say in short staccato bursts of breath. "It. Is. Not. Human." Void attempted to clarify, but even he seemed unusually shaky. "It transformed, General. Something that powerful could wreak havoc on the Ruby." The soldiers, meanwhile, continued to rush forward, and once they got far enough into the bay they set up their cannons on small stands. It was just in time; the dragon reappeared, reaching its claws through the hole in the doors and smashing its head in; a light began to accumulate in its open jaws, although General Morta wasn"t interested in seeing what it would lead to. His voice somehow amplified, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "Fire!" All at once, the cannons shot concentrated beams of crimson light, blasting the dragon with the full force of 10 artillery grade lasers. The dragon wailed in pain. But before it fled, it struck the ship with its talons, throwing everyone in the air and then making them fall hard against the metal floor. The rush was too much for the ship, and the klaxon now rang at full alert, rapid, bell-like warning cries; they were going to crash. Winnie rushed to the General"s side, immediately Teleporting them out. Void gathered the few still conscious soldiers, including Wedge, Biggs and Seb, who hurried into the range of Void"s spell. "Gods of cosmos, rend space with swiftness! Warp!" -+-+-+- "Tori. Tori! Hey, dumbass!" Tori grumbled as he opened his eyes to Adrienne, her arms crossed, looming over him. "What?" "We"re going! Trixie told us to go to the Meeting Hall." While Adrienne grabbed Tori"s hand, helping him to his feet, Tori asked in all sincerity, "Where is it?" She shrugged. "Beats me. I figure we just follow the bridges until we go someplace that seems right." And they did exactly that. Outside, fireflies flickered in the air, and bustle became apparent in the shops in the canopy and the buildings below. By now, day was breaking, and streams of golden light rained through the leaves, making Alabast glow. After they passed the same weapons shop they had stopped at earlier, the two of them descended a ladder to the forest floor. Groups of soldiers, all dressed in makeshift green capes, nodded at them as they passed by; Adrienne, noting this, drew close to Tori. "Hey. They know us." Tori shook his head. "Naah." Two white mages passing by giggled and winked at him. "...Or maybe they do." They found the Meeting Hall, the biggest building on the ground, embedded in a grove of red trees. Crimson leaves stood out from the rest of the green forest, and they wreathed the steepled Hall like a ring of fire. When they entered, they were greeted by a rush of warmth, hot air from the torches lit on the walls. At a grand, round table in the center of the Hall sat about a dozen chairs. Dergus occupied one, and at his side was Silver; Tori moved to sit next to him, but he stopped when he saw that Trixie already took up the space. Trixie, seeing them, waved excitedly, so he reluctantly did as she told, Adrienne on his other side. "Good to see you," Dergus said loudly. Seemingly from nowhere, three more green-caped figures in masks took their seats at the table; one of them waved to Tori, and Tori recognized her as Candice. "So, um, what"s up?" Adrienne asked. "Good question." Dergus turned to a posterior room, whose door was closed. "Bring it here!" At Dergus" command, the door opened, and in came four rebel soldiers carrying something between them. Tori and Adrienne gasped when they threw it in the middle of the table: it was the shadow that had attacked them on the Meadowland, tendril and all. Tori even spied, with distaste, his knife in its back. "You probably recognize this." Tori narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, we do. Could you tell us what it is?" "According to reports," Silver replied in a professional cantor, "over the last few months sightings of shadowy creatures like these have become more and more common in the Lumiere Woods. At the same time local wildlife, flora and fauna have either disappeared altogether or become dangerously aggressive." One of the soldiers across the table spoke up with a voice like gravel. "So what"s the deal? We gotta take apart this corpse?" "I"m hoping that we don"t have to..." Dergus looked to Silver and simply nodded. Silver, in response, lifted his hand into the air. He chanted in a tongue Tori never heard him speak in before, and it echoed off the walls. Adrienne nudged Tori. "Hey," she whispered, "It takes serious power to cast a spell without an instrument. Most wizards have to practice for years to even scratch the level of what Silver"s doing." A light appeared in Silver"s outstretched palm, perched like a shining sun. "Piercing light, pave the way to truth! Dispel!" The light burst from Silver"s conjured orb like a flood, and it washed over the shadow in a bright deluge. By the time they could open their eyes again the blackness was gone. On the table was the body of a beautiful green woman, her face in peaceful repose. And on her head where a tendril once was: a pink flower, wilted. "Th-that"s a nymph!" Candice exclaimed. "That it is," Dergus confirmed as though it weren"t obvious. "It seems that something -or someone- is responsible for driving the local wildlife to madness." "Any idea what?" The man with a rough voice asked. "Val does. Now that Master Silver is back, she has confidence to act upon it. At the heart of the Lumiere Woods, not far from Alabast, there have been reports of screams, strange sounds and scents, and altogether oddness. We"ve decided to construct a convoy to-" Rather suddenly, a harried guard rushed into the doorway. "Dergus! News!" she yelled. "Go ahead?" "Our observers spotted the AS Ruby over the north end of the Woods. It crashed!" Dergus and Silver both stood out of their seats. "Do you know why, soldier?" Silver asked. "No. We just told Val the news ourselves. She says to send a team right away." "Then it appears we have a change of plans," Dergus told the group. "I originally intended for us to explore the Lumiere Heart together. However, the eight of us are the most capable agents that Alabast has to offer, and it is up to us to carry out our duties separately or not." "Hey, since when were we Rebel agents?!" Tori yelped, although his question went unanswered. "I will lead the expedition to the Lumiere Heart, accompanied by Master Silver, Candice, and Master Cinders. Meanwhile Master Trikitixa will lead Tori, Adrienne, and Dayheart to the Ruby"s crashsite." Trixie uncomfortably crossed and uncrossed her legs. "If we find Imperium soldiers alive, it would be unfortunate and sad to kill them where they stand. But," she said, looking at Tori solemnly, "it must be done." "I don"t know about you, sweetheart," the rough voiced man named Dayheart said to Trixie, "but whether the kids over there can kill shouldn"t be a problem. Between the two of us it"ll be a bloodbath." To this Trixie gave a luminous laugh that made both Tori and Adrienne nervous. Tori saw, in the corner of his eye, Silver whisper something in Dergus" ear. Dergus stopped for a moment as he listened, then nodded. He addressed the table again. "I"m afraid we"ve decided on a slightly different group arrangement. I shall take Master Silver, Master Cinders, and Tori with me. Candice will accompany Trixie and her party. Please take no more than an hour to prepare, and we shall reconvene in the Courtyard. Meeting adjourned." Although Adrienne got up to catch Tori"s attention, she was surprised when Tori got up before her to catch Silver. He stopped him before he could follow Dergus out the door, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! Silver!" Silver turned and smiled. "Hi, Tori." "Would you-" Tori shook his head, bit his lip, and put his hands on his hips. "What"s going on?" "You mean the mission. I"m sorry for getting you involved, but when I told Val everything that happened she was so impressed, and... I can talk to her, maybe, so you and Adrienne could just leave." "I don"t care about that." Silver raised an eyebrow. "You don"t?" "No! Why"d you put me in your party?" As though in confusion, Silver widened his eyes, opened his mouth before responding. "Well, um, I figured we could keep you safer if you were in our party." "Safer. So Adrienne doesn"t need to be safe." "No, I mean, because," Silver stuttered. Tori waited expectantly, but Silver still couldn"t get the right words out. He cleared his throat and still said nothing, opting to avert his gaze instead. "You"re weird." Dergus suddenly reappeared in the doorway. "Is there a problem?" "No, Dergus." "Go away!" Tori grunted. Dergus, who seemed amused if anything, smirked and did as Tori asked. Silver frowned. "There"s no need to be rude." "Why do you kiss up to him so much?" "I don"t kiss up!" Silver seemed offended now, which the first Tori had ever seen of him. "You obviously don"t get it, but he"s a friend of mine!" "Why? Is it cos he"s tall and strong a-and, and smart and whatever?" "Maybe because he"s tactful! And considerate!" "Yeah, and I"m none of those... Fine! So then I guess I"m not your friend!" Silver shut his mouth. Tori did too. Adrienne, relegated to the sidelines with Trixie, was quite confused by the redness in both of their faces. Silver hung his head. "...I"m sorry." Tori, unsure of why he had said that himself, scratched the back of his head. "Uhh... wait, uh, Silver, I didn"t really-" "Master Silver." Silver looked up to see Dergus, yet again. "We require assistance in renewing the blessings around Alabast before we leave." "Alright." Without again glancing at Tori he walked out the door. Tori, mouth agape, almost ready to slap himself silly, stared simply at the spot where Silver once was. Adrienne furrowed her brow, asking Trixie, "What was that all about?" "Jealousy." The clarity of Trixie"s answer was unexpected and a bit uncharacteristic of her, yet Adrienne knew that she was perhaps very very right. -+-+-+- To be continued... "Fun" fact for fans!: Dergus, our resident Red Mage, is the brainchild of Brad, another author on Nifty; check out his awesome story, Another Day, in the high school section :)! By the way, does the last name Highwind ring a bell to anyone? ;) Hey hey hey hey, Ah, happy new year! Granted about a month late, but better months late than years late, I always say! ...Although I guess I am a year late this time :P. Thanks for reading this far ^^. Questions? Comments? Recommendations? Fan Mail? Hate Mail, maybe? Wanna just chat? Email me at ThePleiadesCall@gmail.com . Love to hear from you! If you like FF Rosa, maybe there's the very vague possibility you'll like other stories I've submitted: Charmed Reborn (Celebrity), Pokemon: Amethyst (Celebrity), Teth (Fantasy), Diana Celes (High School), Hallow (Sci-Fi/Fantasy), and Starlight 7 (Sci-Fi).