Final Fantasy Nexus (The Pilot Chapter)
Posted: 2008-06-14 09:57am
Chapter 0: Epicenter of Fate
“It's all right. It's been long enough. This is your world now.”
The world around him was a sea of stars, in the distance, the great behemoth known as Sin began to dissipate into oblivion, the aeons too. As Yuna danced before him, completing the ritual dance that would finally free his spirit from the burden of his quest and releasing his soul from the mortal coil, Auron hefted his Masamune sword one last time. He could die in peace.
Briefly, as he crossed towards eternal rest in the Farplane, he saw Jecht nodding over to him, and the two exchanged friendly gestures. Next, he saw Tidus, the one he had looked after in the dream Zanarkand. The boy was diving headfirst into the Farplane, and to his surprise he saw Tidus and Jecht slap hands and smile at each other. Auron was immensely proud of how far the boy had come, although even the former warrior monk could feel nothing but sadness that he had to leave Spira, and Yuna, behind.
“Time to finally see what death has to offer.” he said to himself as his body burst into a cloud of pyreflies, cascading vibrant colors as they flew upwards.
“Your story isn’t over yet.” came a familiar voice.
Auron’s eyes opened, he was completely healed for the first time since his first death at the hands of Yunalesca, the eye she had taken now restored to what it had been. He found himself standing on a small rocky platform in the midst of the Farplane, surrounded by the ephemeral fields and waterfalls that could be seen in the distance from the gateway at Guadosalam.
“Who are you? Show yourself.” Auron said.
From nowhere the image of the child fayth appeared the one who had become the mighty Bahamut, and the one who had helped to guide Tidus and Yuna on their path to defeating Sin.
“Thank you.” The child said. “Our dream has come to an end.”
“Then why are you still here?” Auron asked.
The boy moved closer, until he was right at auron’s feet, looking straight up at him. “Because you’re needed elsewhere, you can’t go to the Farplane. The rest of your story takes place far away from Spira.”
Auron was puzzled, he hadn’t felt quite this clueless since he first left the warrior monks and accompanied Braska on his pilgrimage. “Where?”
“You’ll see, but we aren’t heartless. You can choose not to go,” said the boy.
“It doesn’t seem like a difficult choice, choosing between living or dying.” Auron remarked snidely. “What’s the catch?”
The boy bowed his head solemnly, “If you leave this realm, and choose to be reborn, you will never be able to return to the Farplane when you die. The Farplane doesn’t exist where they want to send you.”
“They?” Auron inquired.
The boy raised his head back up again. “You’ll find out when the time is right, if you choose to go.”
Auron reached to his back, feeling the grip of the Masamune in his hand yet again. The Farplane continued to resonate beneath him, calling out to the souls of the departed hoping to bring them to eternal respite.
“I’ll do it.”
As Auron finished his sentence, the hymn of the fayth filled his ears and his vision went black. Time passed and Auron awoke, his eyes were pointed up towards a blue sky with a sun shining down brightly upon him. Standing over him was a young woman in a red jacket, who seemed to be administering some white magic to him.
“Lie still, the crossing over consumes a lot of your energy. This spell can restore your health.” She said.
Auron complied, he could tell that this woman was a friendly presence. “My name is Auron,” he said groggily.
The woman smiled back at him, “Nice to meet you Auron, my name is Aeris.”
“I Judge Magister, condemn you to oblivion!”
The light blinded Reddas, even through his closed eyelids as the Sword of Kings plunged deep into the Sun Cryst. Every fiber of his being called out to him not to do it, but deep within his heart he knew he could do nothing else. As the unwitting executioner of the city of Nabudis, now a wasteland of horrors and ruin, there was no other way to repent for his crime but to make the ultimate sacrifice.
He fought with every ounce of his will to keep on pushing even as his body began to disintegrate, pushing the blade deeper into the nethicite until it could go no further. With his last thoughts, he offered his best wishes to the Lady Ashe and her retinue. The fate of Ivalice, and perhaps the entire world rested upon their shoulders.
When the light faded however, Reddas found he was standing as if nothing had happened, surrounded by walls of crystals as far as his eyes could see.
As he looked up, he saw a form begin to incorporate itself in front of him, although he had never seen this being before, he could tell from the glowing eyes and blank face that it was one of the Occuria. Remembering what Venat had done earlier back in the city of Archades, he drew his pair of hooked swords and steeled himself for combat.
“Your fears are unwarranted human. I seek to do you no harm.” It said.
“Is that so? Will you still think that when you learn that I destroyed your precious Sun Cryst?” Reddas spat.
The Occuria remained emotionless, moving only slightly as it floated above Reddas. “Although we are displeased with the Lady Ashe’s decision, the fact that the Heretic Venat and his allies will not be able to acquire any more undeserved nethicite is acceptable. However, a more important situation arises. The battle being fought in Ivalice is but an insignificant skirmish in history, this new battle is far more consequential to us. Because of your sacrifice, we have chosen to send you in our stead.”
“Just what are these damned Occuria up to?” thought Reddas. “What could be so important that you would have a human act in your stead?”
“Were it possible, then we would.” The Occuria said, this time sounding almost irritated. “However, circumstances prevent us from doing so, and we are forced to make do with a representative. Your sacrifice at the Pharos demonstrated to us that you will make any sacrifice when necessary, a quality lacking in your species yet one that is urgently needed.”
Reddas was becoming quite anxious, and started to reach for his swords but felt his hands sieze up and freeze has he did so.
“Stay your hand human.” The Occuria said. “Know this, the fate of your friends, your species, and infinite others across existence, that is what is at stake. Do not fail.”
Reddas relaxed his arms and he felt them drop to his sides. He began to raise his voice to shout out a question but his eyes were once again blinded by bright light, as if he had been returned to the explosion.
When his eyes cleared up he found himself shaky, and tired. It only took one step before his foot sank into the soft ground before realizing he was in the midst of a swamp. In the distance, he heard what sounded like people talking.
As he moved further into the swamp he found a small clearing, and in the clearing were a series of huts. He could see people up ahead, talking and moving from place to place, each of them wearing a pointy hat. But when he approached he was startled when he saw that the beings, although human in appearance, had the same bright eyes and featureless faces as the Occuria, but as he went to draw his sword the little men started to scream in fear and ran away, as they did, and even smaller one holding a staff moved forward and approached him.
“What are you doing?” the little one asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Reddas said. “You Occuria are the ones that brought me here!”
The little one cocked his head in bewilderment, but after a few seconds he figured out what was going on. “Ohhhhhhh I get it.” He remarked. “Hey you guys! It’s safe to come out; he came here just like us!”
Overcoming their fear, the strange men began to re-emerge from their hiding places. Reddas could feel the tension in the village slip away and he re sheathed his weapons in a show of good faith. “It seems like there has been a misunderstanding,” Reddas said, “My apologies.”
“It’s okay”, said the small one, “Welcome to the Black Mage Village, I’m Vivi.”
Kefka leapt out of the way as the powerful flare of energy lashed out at him. He let loose a string of curses as he threw a volley of lightning at his attacker. To him it had seemed like yesterday that he had stolen the power of the Warring Triad and lorded over the world from his tower.
Now he was fighting for his life in an unknown castle against a powerful woman who seemed to be taking a delight in tormenting him, as if he were nothing but a mere toy for her amusement.
“Make one mistake you wench and I’ll show you what it’s like! If that Esper witch hadn’t got so lucky I’d would have crushed you by now!”
The woman raised herself in the air, and Kefka noticed that she had an adornment on her robes that spread out like sharp demonic wings. She raised her arms up to the air and began creating a large orb of energy.
Just then a powerful voice boomed loud enough that both opponents were taken aback. “Adel that is enough! Kefka is our guest.”
Kefka couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but that wasn’t enough to keep him from trying to get a response from it.
“Hey you disembodied bastard of a voice! I’m talking to you! Nobody manipulates me and gets away with it! I’ll burn everything you hold precious if you don’t start telling me wha….ack!”
A force of unseen energy blasted Kefka off of his feet and compressed him to the stone floor.
“I see even death wasn’t enough to curb your arrogance and recklessness. Perhaps I should have kept your fate as it was.” The voice threatened.
Realizing that he was powerless against the unknown being’s will; Kefka did something he had not done since he was at the beck and call of his former Emperor. “No! I can’t die! Please I beg of you, spare me!”
The Sorceress Adel began laughing hysterically, which insulted Kefka to no end as he lifted his head off of the ground and cursed at her. “Quiet you! Don’t think for a second that I’ll just let you off the hook for attacking me like that!”
The Sorceress simply grinned and lowered herself to the ground. “You’re welcome to try.” She said with a perverse smile.
“Spare me your bickering,” said the voice menacingly. “You are both here for the same reason, serve me and I will restore each of you to your own realms with your former power and abilities. Fail me and I will make sure your deaths become permanent.”
Kefka and Adel nodded their heads in agreement; neither allowing their animosity to ruin the one opportunity they had for redemption and revenge.
“Good, within the next few days I will have brought more like you to this world, and from there we shall begin the task of rewriting the history of existence itself.”
“It's all right. It's been long enough. This is your world now.”
The world around him was a sea of stars, in the distance, the great behemoth known as Sin began to dissipate into oblivion, the aeons too. As Yuna danced before him, completing the ritual dance that would finally free his spirit from the burden of his quest and releasing his soul from the mortal coil, Auron hefted his Masamune sword one last time. He could die in peace.
Briefly, as he crossed towards eternal rest in the Farplane, he saw Jecht nodding over to him, and the two exchanged friendly gestures. Next, he saw Tidus, the one he had looked after in the dream Zanarkand. The boy was diving headfirst into the Farplane, and to his surprise he saw Tidus and Jecht slap hands and smile at each other. Auron was immensely proud of how far the boy had come, although even the former warrior monk could feel nothing but sadness that he had to leave Spira, and Yuna, behind.
“Time to finally see what death has to offer.” he said to himself as his body burst into a cloud of pyreflies, cascading vibrant colors as they flew upwards.
“Your story isn’t over yet.” came a familiar voice.
Auron’s eyes opened, he was completely healed for the first time since his first death at the hands of Yunalesca, the eye she had taken now restored to what it had been. He found himself standing on a small rocky platform in the midst of the Farplane, surrounded by the ephemeral fields and waterfalls that could be seen in the distance from the gateway at Guadosalam.
“Who are you? Show yourself.” Auron said.
From nowhere the image of the child fayth appeared the one who had become the mighty Bahamut, and the one who had helped to guide Tidus and Yuna on their path to defeating Sin.
“Thank you.” The child said. “Our dream has come to an end.”
“Then why are you still here?” Auron asked.
The boy moved closer, until he was right at auron’s feet, looking straight up at him. “Because you’re needed elsewhere, you can’t go to the Farplane. The rest of your story takes place far away from Spira.”
Auron was puzzled, he hadn’t felt quite this clueless since he first left the warrior monks and accompanied Braska on his pilgrimage. “Where?”
“You’ll see, but we aren’t heartless. You can choose not to go,” said the boy.
“It doesn’t seem like a difficult choice, choosing between living or dying.” Auron remarked snidely. “What’s the catch?”
The boy bowed his head solemnly, “If you leave this realm, and choose to be reborn, you will never be able to return to the Farplane when you die. The Farplane doesn’t exist where they want to send you.”
“They?” Auron inquired.
The boy raised his head back up again. “You’ll find out when the time is right, if you choose to go.”
Auron reached to his back, feeling the grip of the Masamune in his hand yet again. The Farplane continued to resonate beneath him, calling out to the souls of the departed hoping to bring them to eternal respite.
“I’ll do it.”
As Auron finished his sentence, the hymn of the fayth filled his ears and his vision went black. Time passed and Auron awoke, his eyes were pointed up towards a blue sky with a sun shining down brightly upon him. Standing over him was a young woman in a red jacket, who seemed to be administering some white magic to him.
“Lie still, the crossing over consumes a lot of your energy. This spell can restore your health.” She said.
Auron complied, he could tell that this woman was a friendly presence. “My name is Auron,” he said groggily.
The woman smiled back at him, “Nice to meet you Auron, my name is Aeris.”
“I Judge Magister, condemn you to oblivion!”
The light blinded Reddas, even through his closed eyelids as the Sword of Kings plunged deep into the Sun Cryst. Every fiber of his being called out to him not to do it, but deep within his heart he knew he could do nothing else. As the unwitting executioner of the city of Nabudis, now a wasteland of horrors and ruin, there was no other way to repent for his crime but to make the ultimate sacrifice.
He fought with every ounce of his will to keep on pushing even as his body began to disintegrate, pushing the blade deeper into the nethicite until it could go no further. With his last thoughts, he offered his best wishes to the Lady Ashe and her retinue. The fate of Ivalice, and perhaps the entire world rested upon their shoulders.
When the light faded however, Reddas found he was standing as if nothing had happened, surrounded by walls of crystals as far as his eyes could see.
As he looked up, he saw a form begin to incorporate itself in front of him, although he had never seen this being before, he could tell from the glowing eyes and blank face that it was one of the Occuria. Remembering what Venat had done earlier back in the city of Archades, he drew his pair of hooked swords and steeled himself for combat.
“Your fears are unwarranted human. I seek to do you no harm.” It said.
“Is that so? Will you still think that when you learn that I destroyed your precious Sun Cryst?” Reddas spat.
The Occuria remained emotionless, moving only slightly as it floated above Reddas. “Although we are displeased with the Lady Ashe’s decision, the fact that the Heretic Venat and his allies will not be able to acquire any more undeserved nethicite is acceptable. However, a more important situation arises. The battle being fought in Ivalice is but an insignificant skirmish in history, this new battle is far more consequential to us. Because of your sacrifice, we have chosen to send you in our stead.”
“Just what are these damned Occuria up to?” thought Reddas. “What could be so important that you would have a human act in your stead?”
“Were it possible, then we would.” The Occuria said, this time sounding almost irritated. “However, circumstances prevent us from doing so, and we are forced to make do with a representative. Your sacrifice at the Pharos demonstrated to us that you will make any sacrifice when necessary, a quality lacking in your species yet one that is urgently needed.”
Reddas was becoming quite anxious, and started to reach for his swords but felt his hands sieze up and freeze has he did so.
“Stay your hand human.” The Occuria said. “Know this, the fate of your friends, your species, and infinite others across existence, that is what is at stake. Do not fail.”
Reddas relaxed his arms and he felt them drop to his sides. He began to raise his voice to shout out a question but his eyes were once again blinded by bright light, as if he had been returned to the explosion.
When his eyes cleared up he found himself shaky, and tired. It only took one step before his foot sank into the soft ground before realizing he was in the midst of a swamp. In the distance, he heard what sounded like people talking.
As he moved further into the swamp he found a small clearing, and in the clearing were a series of huts. He could see people up ahead, talking and moving from place to place, each of them wearing a pointy hat. But when he approached he was startled when he saw that the beings, although human in appearance, had the same bright eyes and featureless faces as the Occuria, but as he went to draw his sword the little men started to scream in fear and ran away, as they did, and even smaller one holding a staff moved forward and approached him.
“What are you doing?” the little one asked.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Reddas said. “You Occuria are the ones that brought me here!”
The little one cocked his head in bewilderment, but after a few seconds he figured out what was going on. “Ohhhhhhh I get it.” He remarked. “Hey you guys! It’s safe to come out; he came here just like us!”
Overcoming their fear, the strange men began to re-emerge from their hiding places. Reddas could feel the tension in the village slip away and he re sheathed his weapons in a show of good faith. “It seems like there has been a misunderstanding,” Reddas said, “My apologies.”
“It’s okay”, said the small one, “Welcome to the Black Mage Village, I’m Vivi.”
Kefka leapt out of the way as the powerful flare of energy lashed out at him. He let loose a string of curses as he threw a volley of lightning at his attacker. To him it had seemed like yesterday that he had stolen the power of the Warring Triad and lorded over the world from his tower.
Now he was fighting for his life in an unknown castle against a powerful woman who seemed to be taking a delight in tormenting him, as if he were nothing but a mere toy for her amusement.
“Make one mistake you wench and I’ll show you what it’s like! If that Esper witch hadn’t got so lucky I’d would have crushed you by now!”
The woman raised herself in the air, and Kefka noticed that she had an adornment on her robes that spread out like sharp demonic wings. She raised her arms up to the air and began creating a large orb of energy.
Just then a powerful voice boomed loud enough that both opponents were taken aback. “Adel that is enough! Kefka is our guest.”
Kefka couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, but that wasn’t enough to keep him from trying to get a response from it.
“Hey you disembodied bastard of a voice! I’m talking to you! Nobody manipulates me and gets away with it! I’ll burn everything you hold precious if you don’t start telling me wha….ack!”
A force of unseen energy blasted Kefka off of his feet and compressed him to the stone floor.
“I see even death wasn’t enough to curb your arrogance and recklessness. Perhaps I should have kept your fate as it was.” The voice threatened.
Realizing that he was powerless against the unknown being’s will; Kefka did something he had not done since he was at the beck and call of his former Emperor. “No! I can’t die! Please I beg of you, spare me!”
The Sorceress Adel began laughing hysterically, which insulted Kefka to no end as he lifted his head off of the ground and cursed at her. “Quiet you! Don’t think for a second that I’ll just let you off the hook for attacking me like that!”
The Sorceress simply grinned and lowered herself to the ground. “You’re welcome to try.” She said with a perverse smile.
“Spare me your bickering,” said the voice menacingly. “You are both here for the same reason, serve me and I will restore each of you to your own realms with your former power and abilities. Fail me and I will make sure your deaths become permanent.”
Kefka and Adel nodded their heads in agreement; neither allowing their animosity to ruin the one opportunity they had for redemption and revenge.
“Good, within the next few days I will have brought more like you to this world, and from there we shall begin the task of rewriting the history of existence itself.”