A Square Deal Chapter 8

Eternal

By Medina

Recap: Edgar Figaro and Cyan Garamonde have set off to retrieve Terra Branford from wherever the magicite has exiled her. Locke Cole and Celes Chere have fallen into the "End of Time," where they find books and a strange man named Gaspar. What will befall our heroes next?  

.

Locke and Celes have just begun reading the first volume of Gaspar's, "The Complete and Correct History of Our World, the condensed version" Volume one, of 1470 volumes, one for every ten years in history, each is jam-packed with knowledge. It's a good thing that Gaspar has directed them to the more important volumes, so they wouldn't have to read all 1470 books. There was the full exhaustive version as well, but there were 14700 volumes of those.

"Chapter One," Celes read aloud. "The universe was created from a square. A very, big, giant, cosmic square. Philosophers and Scientists in our world, in all of the Eras have yet to figure out what the square is, or where it came from. Our Creator, the one outside the square, created the Planet, and the heavens. He created the land and the sea, the plants and all of the beasts. Then, to complete the Creator's final fantasy, he made man, who was to rule over all of the animals and plants," Celes paused.

"I've heard of this final fantasy legend. It has three parts to it. Some people call it the final fantasy adventure," Locke said.

"Oh, yeah. I've heard of that. It's not well known though. Ok, I'll continue now," Celes said. "Man was the Creator's ultimate creation. Woman came shortly after, made as man's equal," she continued on, learning about how good and evil were created.

"Now to volume two. With evil and good now two opposite forces, the good people made a town and called it Remia. The Remians came to be in touch with the Creator, and they grasped his gift to them, which was called "Mana." Mana was the Creator's force that kept everything in the universe in check, kind of like a cosmic glue. The Creator gave his favorite humans the ability to use the force of Mana, which is why the Remians were bestowed the gift. With the power of Mana, the people of Remia flourished. But, within a period of fifty years, the forces of evil saw Mana as something that they desired too.

Upon that winter, the evil nation, who had named themselves the Glaives, had come up with a plan to steal Mana from the unsuspecting Remians. They besieged Remia, and there was a great battle in the city, the Remians fighting off the attacking Glaives, who were trying to make their way to the center of the city, where the core of Mana was kept. Many of the people of both sides gave up the fight, and left, but a small group on both sides kept it up, until they had fought their way into the core.

The core was the place where the Remians went to have fellowship with Mana; they could feel the power closely. It was a building that surrounded a holy spot where Mana itself was its purest form; that was the core. However, none were allowed to go into the core itself. That right was reserved for the people in the prophesy," Celes stopped.

"What prophesy was that??" she asked Gaspar, who was currently etching out an illustration of Celes for his latest volume.

"You missed it. It was probably in one of the parts you skipped. It says that the greatest power of Mana will be reserved for the four chosen. Then the world will change forever. Actually, I did some looking into that prophesy, and the Remians could have sent any four people they wished, at any time, but they didn't want the world to change. Ho ho.. fate sure took care of that." Gaspar chuckled.

"Huh?" Celes said, confused.

"Just continue." Gaspar responded, bemused. He continued with his sketching.

"The people who entered the core were 2 Remians, and 2 Glaives. The Remians were two young lovers, Figaro, who was the greatest swordsman of the Remians, and his wife, Eblana, who was extremely good at wielding Mana," Celes paused.

"Figaro? Hmn.." she went on.

"The Glaives were Kreiger, the Glaives general, and his woman, Pamela, who was extremely warlike and temperamental. The four of them met in the core. As soon as they entered it, a light washed over them, and there, before them stood the creator. He said,

"You four have become the chosen ones by coming into my light. Now that you are here, I will explain to you what I meant in the prophesy. The world will be changed, but not for the worst. People have become too dependent upon raw Mana. It controls their lives too much. I am making Mana into a more general force, with a few concentrated areas. I am going to give Mana a focal point, and the rest of it will just be it's emissions that people can lightly use. I'll let you see for yourselves. And as for you four, now dubbed as the Eternals, as I expected, there are two men, and two women, in mating pairs. You four will be the only ones who will be able to use Mana to it's full extent.

It will make you immortal until you reproduce with your lover from then, you can choose whether you want to remain immortal. The child made from that joining will become a great leader, and will bring upon the world a golden age. The reason that I chose two pairs is that one of your children could become corrupted.

It is only possible for one side of Mana to become corrupted, or else the whole universe would astrophe in on itself. It just can't happen, the Square won't let it happen, I won't let it happen. Otherwise, your futures are in your hands. Go now, attend to your people."

And with that, the light disappeared in the core, and absorbed into each of them. The shock of it all made them stop fighting, and return to their people."

"Can I read now?" Locke said.

"Ok, go ahead." Celes passed the book over to him. Gaspar had finished Celes' picture, and was starting on one of Locke.

"Ahem," he began, clearing his throat. "Eblana and Figaro had no desire to live forever, so they planned to have a child. But, for Kreiger and Pamela, it was a different story. They did not want the Creator's power, as strong as it may be for there was a catch to the Creator's power; It could not be used for evil purposes. And for them, they had no desire to use the power for any purpose that would align themselves with the Remians.

Seeking to find a way to use their awesome power the way they wanted to, Kreiger called a meeting of the remaining Glaives. He explained their problem, and at the end of the meeting, an old man came up to him. His name was Rathchit, and he told Kreiger about how he could use Mana and use it for his own purposes. It was an ancient ritual, discovered by the first evil mind.

"It is complicated," said Rathchit. "First, ye must be rid of those Remian's chances of having a child, for their child would spoil all chances of yur' success. If ye can do that, than you'se ought to proceed to the rest of it. On the first full moon of the year, ye must come together in a bed made of a dragon's egg shell. Then, immediately after ye must make yur' best offerings to the evil side of Mana. Then, after that, ye both rest, and wait to see if you've conceived."

Pamela and Kreiger consented, even though Pamela was upset that she would have to have a child. But first, they needed to find a way to keep the other two Eternals apart, for the reason was, that if their "Golden Child" ever was created, its power would be so great that all of their hard work would be in vain. For it was true even then that the forces of good were always stronger than evil, so evil always had to find some way to impair good's ability to fight back.

It was Pamela who came up with the plan.

"The good side of Mana has essentially two parts," she explained. "One is the bright side, which is outgoing, not always well thought, powerful, charismatic, et cetera. The other, is shrouded in mystery, which they call the misty side, and is introspective, thoughtful, indirectly powerful, passive. Now, like light and dark, these two sides cannot mix. Only a special part of Mana works as an emulsifier for them."

"I see what you are pointing to," Kreiger said. "We find a way to remove that part of Mana from both of them, while they're together, so one will keep the dark, while the other retains the light side. The two won't even be able to touch, let alone have a child. Great idea, my queen."

They found a way to carry out their devious plan, and they separated Figaro and Eblana. Figaro received the side of bright, making him the Light Eternal. Eblana received the side of mist, making her the Dark Eternal. It didn't take them long to figure out what had been done to them, and even less time than that to figure out the solution.

The solution, was not an easy one, nor a quick one. They both knew that there was no way now for them to reverse what had been done to them.

"My love, I have figured out the only way to assure our world of a golden age," Eblana said to him. "The child must be from both of our family lines. The Mana in us wants to come together, and it will strive to do so. But the only way that our missing part of Mana can be returned is by generations of intermixing with normal humans."

"No, Eblana, I don't want to be with anyone except you," Figaro told her.

"We will remain immortal until both of our lines mix, and have the child. Figaro, it is the only way. I don't like it either, but it must be."

"At least let us put a blessing upon our family lines, to guard our beloved world."

"Yes, but we are limited to our own side of Mana."

So the two Eternals went out to find a suitable mate to begin their family lines with. The blessings they bestowed were thus: Because of their extra strong Mana power, whenever the forces of evil became strong, and became an eminent danger, the people of Figaro's family would strongly and directly fight against the evil, as was the characteristics of his side of Mana. Eblana's side would be different; her family could effect the evil anywhere from indirectly, to directly, and they could even be in league with the evil as long as it would benefit the good in the long run.

Meanwhile, Kreiger and Pamela were carrying out their plans. Pamela was already eight months pregnant by the time Eblana and Figaro had made their decision," Locke stopped. "Ack. my throat hurts. Celes, you can read now?" he said.

"Ok," she took the book. "When the child was born, Figaro figured out what they were up to. The child was going to be nothing but a puppet, something for them to control; the thing was, was that this puppet had all of the forces of evil on his side. He knew that he had to stop them before they could fully tap into the kid's power. He traveled to the land of the Glaives, and found Kreiger and Pamela in their citadel.

The citadel was built into the side of a mountain. Figaro knew that he could put up a barrier around it, and bury the whole mountain into the ground. There was one catch -- if he was to use up that much power, and keep it maintained, he would have to remain in a state of hibernation for as long as it would take to bring forth the golden child. He did it without hesitation, and Kreiger and Pamela in their home. As he fell into a deathlike sleep, he hoped that Eblana would be alright, and not be too sorrowful.

He had not told Eblana what he had set out to do, so she began to worry when he did not return. She and a few other Remians went and tracked where he had gone. They found him on the ground near a grassy field where there had once been a mountain. Eblana saw the luminescence of the barrier he had put up, and soon figured out what he did, and found him lying on the ground. She was angry, sad, and proud of Figaro all at once.

She had her Remians build a house with a bed in it for him to rest in. Around it she grew a dense forest. She returned with the Remians, for she was pregnant, but as soon as she had the child, she left it with another woman, (who was to be the wife of the child's father,) and went to watch over Figaro. She raised a mist of invisibility around the center of the forest where Figaro resided, and there they waited, for time to pass, for the generations to turn, for the golden child to be born..." Celes closed the book.

"Yes, that is where it all started. The Eternal's descendants can be found today, actually quite easily," Gaspar said, now finishing his picture of Locke.

"How? After all of these generations, you shouldn't even see any resemblance to Eblana and Figaro, except maybe by magic...! Oh, I get it," Celes said, putting two and two together.

"The part of the blessing was also that whenever the heroes from their lines emerged, that was when they would look most like their Eternal ancestor. So to identify the lines of the Light and Dark Eternals, you just need to know what Eblana and Figaro looked like, and a normal amount of common sense," Gaspar finished.

"Hmm," Locke said, pondering in deep thought. "Now, for each side, is the heir to the family line always the same sex as the Eternal they descended from?"

"Good question. Figaro's line has always been from the male of the family. But Eblana's family can have either, so if her heir was a male, he would have certain characteristics, like personality, facial structure, hair, etc. that would be much like Eblana's."

"Ok, and since we just had a major fight between good and evil, they should look just like them... Hey, we should know them somehow, at least Figaro's descendant. We were all decisive in the fall of Kefka! Hmm, Figaro, who could it be?" Locke said.

"If the Figaro line has always been male heirs, wouldn't they have the same last name all of the way down through the generations? Who do we know with the last name 'Figaro?'" Celes said, giving Locke a little bop on the head as if to jog his memory.

"Oh, sheesh! I'm sooo dense sometimes. King Edgar Roni Figaro, and Sabin Rene Figaro. But they're both guys and they're twins! Which one is it? Do you have a picture of Figaro, Edgar and Sabin?" Locke asked.

"Yes, I do," he went and dug through a portfolio of sketches and pictures. "I have a lot of pictures and sketches of you and your comrades. Look through there, see if you can find their individual pictures," he handed them the bundle. Locke and Celes looked through it while Gaspar went off to find where he had filed the old pictures.

"Look at all of these.. How could he see some of these things happening, like here, this is where Edgar first flirted with Terra. I didn't even see that." Celes said.

"I did -- the letch. Here's where I told you that I'd help you. There's even some old pictures. Hmm, this one says, "Edgar Figaro, age 20." Look, it's before his hair grew out."

"Hee hee, what a kid. Oh, I found all of our individual pictures. Cyan, Gau, Mog, Terra- ooh, nice picture."

"Lemme see!" Locke said excitedly.

"No, I don't want you ogling at a pretty girl's picture, especially when she happens to be my best friend. Me, Locke, ah, here we go, Sabin and Edgar," and she had found them just in time.

"Hey. I found Eblana and Figaro's pictures both. Here's Figaro's picture." Gaspar said. He handed Celes the picture. They compared the three pictures.

"Wow, they are definitely related." Celes said. "But, it's hard to tell. Figaro's hair is cropped more like Sabin's, and part of Edgar's face is hidden behind the collar of that silly cape of his. Oh! Locke, where's that picture of Edgar when he was 20?" Celes asked. Locke went and found it. He handed it to her.

"Oh my," Locke said.

"Yikes, they look almost exactly alike! Even -- yes, even that mischievously handsome smile," Celes said with a grin. Locke scowled.

"Then, you know what?" he added.

"What?" she said.

"I think I know who our Dark Eternal will look like."

"So do I. Could we now see Eblana's picture?" she asked Gaspar politely.

"Here, dear Celes," he handed her the picture. Locke and Celes's guesses had been correct. Terra was a dead ringer for Eblana.

"That means, that this is the generation where it all happens!!" Locke blurted out. Gaspar looked at him quizzically.

"Has something happened that I should know about? After all, I need to accurately chronicle every event for my volumes," he said to them.

"Well, um.. It's about Edgar and Terra. Just a few days ago they became engaged to be married!" Celes said happily.

"Oh, this is a momentous occasion. Yes, this will definitely go down in history." Gaspar said with a smile.    

.

Edgar and Cyan found themselves in a strange, dark place. Up above there was no sky, just a bleak darkness, almost like they were in a huge cavern.

"Beeth on thine guard, Edgar. This place might have malevolent monsters hiding behind every rock," Cyan said, deftly drawing his sword.

"That is advice well taken. Let's see, which direction is she," Edgar held out the Time Key and the Magicite together. He moved it around to different directions, and in one direction they glowed together in unison, and the Magicite became warm.

"She must be this way. Come on," They continued for a while, across the bleak, rocky terrain. They saw no signs of life -- hostile or friendly.

"Edgar, couldst thou tell me -- when thou sawest Rantacore hurt Lady Terra, and thou didst display that incredible light show; where didst thou learn it?" Cyan said, for the question had been pressing on his mind for some time now.

"Uh, I really don't know. It was a purely emotional outburst, when I saw Terra get hit by that scoundrel's magic beam I felt as if at that same moment he just ripped into my chest and pulled my heart out. Then I was angry for what he did. I was more angry than I had ever been before, and had to do something.

All of a sudden, after all of that went through, I felt I had this spell in me that just had to get out. So I let it fly, and it worked out well, even though it left me dead tired after," Edgar explained to him.

"Thou didn't seem to be tired afterwards."

"That's called adrenaline. I was more worried about Terra than myself, so my mind forced my body to work against it all. That's why I collapsed later. That little run-in with the wall just put it over the edge--" he stopped.

"What is it?"

"Look, the Key is homing in to another direction," Edgar moved it around again. "Ach, the Magicite is getting really hot now. Ooh, I should put it away," he slipped it into his pack. "It's pointing... Over there," he walked a bit, and found a cave hidden by some big boulders. "I think she's down there."

"Let us go?"

"Ok," Cyan went first, and Edgar followed. All of a sudden, a short, little man jumped down from one of the boulders. Cyan and Edgar drew their swords, and Edgar kept a hand on the handle of his trusty chain saw.

"Who might thee be?" Cyan said.

"What?? Oh, you're a couple of those above-grounders, aren't you?" the little man said. "Calm yourselves. I'm Langan, of Giott's kingdom. Lali-ho!" he held out his hand in greeting.

"Uh, hello, I'm Edgar Figaro, and this is Cyan Garamonde. Lali-ho..?" Edgar shook his hand. The small guy took a better look at Edgar.

"Oh, I recognize you, you're the king of that one country up above! Yeah, King Giott has a picture of you in the throne room. But, wasn't your hair shorter?"

"Cyan, since when have there been little tiny people living beneath the ground?" Edgar whispered to the knight.

"Never, within mine knowledge. I thinkest that he must have thee mistaken for someone else," Cyan whispered back.

"I think you have mistaken me for some other king," Edgar said to the short man.

"Oh, I see... Sneaking about, using a different name. Yeah, ok, 'Edgar,'" Langan said.

"Whatever..." Edgar said, rolling his eyes. "If you'll excuse us, we need to go into this cave."

"Oh, you don't want to go in there. That leads to the world of the Summoned Monsters. Only the Caller girl with the green hair is welcome there," Langan said.

"Green hair? Sir Edgar, might that be Terra?" Cyan whispered.

"Who else do you know with green hair? Come on now, the more time we waste here..." The little dwarf cut him off.

"You seem hell bent on going inside. I could, show you the way to the entrance," Langan said quietly.

"And how wouldst this benefit thee? What might we have to pay thine vertically-challenged self?" Cyan said, with his sword still drawn.

"Woh! Is this brute your body guard? Can I hire him sometime?" Langan said to Edgar, ignoring Cyan.

"Brute! Why I'll have thou knowest, I beest not any soldier-for-hire! I was retainer to the Lord of Doma for most of my life...!"

"Calm yourself, Cyan. Don't let the little man get to you," Edgar said.

"Well, about my motive. Beside being just a really nice guy, I kind of lost something down there the last time I went. I haven't been able to find some warriors strong enough to protect me to go back down. You two look like seasoned warriors, especially you, king. Why, I've heard about your great battle against the evil, and with your brother and all... Well, I'm going off subject. Let's go, king," Langan stood in front of the cave, waiting for them to go in first.

They went in, and had not gone far when..

"Ouch! That hurt!" Cyan bellowed.

"What hurt?" Edgar said. Cyan pointed to the ground.

"Ah, yes, the floor. It has a spell built into it. It just saps the strength right from you! We had a float spell before, but I doubt that you two can use magic," Langan explained. Edgar was still checking the floor.

"Ah-ha! I thought so, this is no spell, but a clever contraption! I see that there is a metal panel built into the floor, and when you touch it..." he touched the floor with his finger. "Ow! Yes, it zaps you. It's an electrically charged panel to deter people from visiting. And since I have no desire to tire myself by using unnecessary magic, we'll use the non-magical solution," he dug into his pack.

"I hope it isn't a machine. I hate machines," Cyan said.

"No, its much more simpler than that. Here, put these on." He handed Cyan a pair of galoshes.

"Rubber boots? Oh of course! Electricity cannot pass through rubber! Splendid idea, King Edgar," he put the boots on.

"So you really are a king?" Langan said while putting his pair of boots on.

"Yes, I am that, but I really don't think I'm the one you're thinking of," Edgar told him.

"Hmm. Well, I guess you don't look that much like him as I thought. His hair is lighter, shorter, oh, and he wears a Paladin's crown all of the time! No, you're not him. Sorry, King Edgar," Langan said. "Come on, we've got a long way to go."

"I'm glad that mix-up is through," Edgar said to Cyan.

They continued on through the cave. It kept on getting darker and darker. The only light was the iridescence of the electrified panels on the floor.

"Beware, King. The monsters lurk around this darkest part," warned Langan. He now followed closely to the two bigger men. Cyan kept a finger on his sword. Edgar was at point, and he was the first to notice the creature.

"Look out, here it comes!" he said, drawing the rainbow sword. It was a Mobol and an Epee girl together.

"Mobol, look! We've got lunch down 'ere today! C'mon, boy, let's get 'em!" The monster-girl said to the tentacled creature. The Mobol licked it's chops.

"Not today, wench! These two are warriors! They'll chop you up into small pieces!" Langan shouted, while trying to find a suitable place to hide from the fracas.

"Well, let's see 'bout that!" the girl and Mobol broke out into an attack.

"Cyan, take the back!" Edgar yelled, readying his attack. They took both sides around the two enemies. The battle continued... Edgar took a slice out of the Mobol.

"Hah! Got the monster down!" and with that, he plunged the sword all of the way down. The creature screamed and collapsed.

"Mobol! Why you-!" the girl screamed.

"Well done King Edgar! Now I believe that thou has been training!" Cyan said, while defending off the attacking girl. Edgar's sword was stuck inside of the dead Mobol, and he was having trouble getting it out. Also, his shirt sleeve had gotten snagged to the hilt of the sword, so he was stuck as well. The Epee girl noticed this, and turned her attacking to Edgar. She was equipped with a claw, much like what Sabin uses.

"Oho, pretty-boy, I've gotcha now!" She ran over to him fast, and struck at him. He moved out of the way, and tried to grab his chain saw with his free hand. "Ah-ah, we'll be 'avin none o' that!" she grabbed his pack and threw it away.

"Hold on, Edgar! I'm coming!" Cyan called out, trying to come to his aid, though he was detained in a slick of goo that the Mobol had left earlier.

"What a morsel you are! Let me sample you!" she grasped him, and kissed him wildly while she took his armor off. In anger, he bit her lip.

"Get off of me, you slut," he growled when she pulled away. He pulled on his sleeve again and it ripped off, all the way to his shoulder. He jumped at her, and pummeled her with a punch. (He had taken a few lessons from his brother, Sabin.)

"Ow! Why you, that'll be yur last mistake!" she grabbed a hold of him again, but this time she pushed the spikes of her claw into his unprotected abdomen. She pulled them out again, and saw Cyan running towards her. "Ta ta, blondie. Ha ha!" she got up, and leapt off into the darkness.

"Are they gone? Oh my, King Edgar, what happened to you?" Langan asked as he came out of hiding. Edgar fell to his knees, holding the wounded area.

"My liege, thou'rt wounded!" Cyan said. Edgar squinted and looked at him.

"My liege? I didn't know that you were retainer to Figaro now," Edgar said, trying to make the situation seem more casual.

"Oh, sorry... I forget myself sometimes. Lie back, and let me look at it," Cyan said apologetically. Edgar leaned back slowly. Langan found Edgar's pack, and put it under Edgar's head. "Pull up thine shirt," Edgar pulled it up. "Langan, give me your water bottle," he did. Cyan washed off the wounds and found that they were pretty deep, all four of them. "Didst thou bring any bandages?"

"Yeah. I stuffed them in your pack, since mine was full," Cyan went to find them. "I'm still strong enough to use a cure spell, I think."

"Try it, but don't strain thyself. I don't want to see another young life fade away into the night. I know a cure spell also, but it is not as strong as yours are," Cyan said, while preparing the bandages. There was a little flash of green light. "Did it work?" Edgar asked, panting a little.

"It hath only staunched the bleeding."

"I can't do it again. I'm too tired." Edgar said, moving his head to the side so that he could see Cyan.

"I'll try mine," Cyan concentrated for a second, and then a lighter green light flashed. "There. How does that feel now?" He asked. Edgar sat up with more ease.

"That's much better. Still a bit tender, but better."

"I'd best bandage it anyway, as a precaution," Cyan wrapped the bandage around Edgar's midsection. "When we find Lady Terra, thou couldst have her help you. Her magic is very strong."

They continued on, now that Edgar was in better condition.

"Well, I think that we're through the worst of it." Langan said.

"That was the worst?" Edgar asked.

"It seems that there are not many monsters attacking anymore. Those two seemed to be the last of them. They were pretty tough you know, I've seen many battles down here, and I've seen groups of five beaten by lesser monsters than those. I'm quite lucky to have such great warriors to escort me down here," Langan answered.

"Escorts?" Cyan said to him.

"Well, you know what I mean. Oh look, we're at the entrance to the land of the Summoned Monsters. Let's see, I must have left her around here somewhere," Langan went off looking for something.

"What, Sir Langan, didst thou leavest down in this unholy place?" Cyan asked the dwarf.

"It's not what, but who. Seana!! Are you here?" he called out.

"Daddy! You came back!!" a little dwarf girl came running out from the shadows.

"You, you mean you left your daughter down here? What kind of father are you?" Edgar asked.

"I would have never left my son down here..." Cyan said quietly.

"I didn't mean to leave Seana down here. I was with another exploring group, and she came with me. We ran into trouble, and since we had no decent fighters, they just used a warp spell. But she was too far away, and I told them to wait, but it was a little late. That was a week ago. Luckily, we also left her down here with all the provisions. Are you ok?" He asked Seana.

"I'm ok, Daddy. I wanna go home," she said to him.

"You shouldn't go back through there. That Epee girl might still be roaming around, and god knows what else," Edgar said.

"You mean you really are going into the Land of the Summoned Monsters? Wow. I mean, you are ready to sacrifice one of your own lives to get in. There must be something really important on the other side," Langan said, surprised.

"What?" Cyan said.

"Oh, I would guess most people don't know about it, since it's new. Yeah, since there are less monsters lurking around in the cave, so they put this guy in front, and he can only let you by if you have the dead body of a friend with you. And, to add to that, before you have to kill your friend in front of the brute," Cyan and Edgar looked at each other.

"This puts a little wrench into our plans. Hmm..." Edgar sat there, and stared off into space.

"What is he doing?" Langan asked.

"He's putting his high IQ to task," Cyan said.

"Who's Ike Yoo?" Langan asked again.

"I meant that he is trying to think up a plan to get us through without killing anyone!" he retorted.

"Cyan, check in my pack and see if I brought the Relic Ring," Edgar said to Cyan. Cyan went and looked. He dug through for a few moments, and came back with a black ring in his hand.

"Good. Now, I have one of Sabin's old claws. This is gonna be a bit painful on my part, but if it works, we'll be seeing Terra in no time," Edgar said to his companions, a smirk coming to his face, signifying an idea being born.

"Go on, King Edgar. What must I do to get Lady Terra back," Cyan answered.

"Ok. Here's what I had in mind..." suddenly Edgar felt very dizzy for a moment. The next thing he knew he was being held up by Cyan.

"Edgar, mayhap should we go back and return when thou hast fully recovered from before, and now with thy new wound --"

"No, I need to be a bit disheveled for this to work. So he wants a dead man, eh? The Relic Ring can make the body cold, like death. It does that by stopping the natural metabolic functions and animating the person by magical means. It also keeps the person alive if they happen to get wounded, because the person is not counting on their own body-life to sustain them.

Since I'm already in bad shape, I'll volunteer for the sacrifice. I'll have someone use a claw on me, re-opening the wound I already have, since I already have the cure spell on me, it will help keep me from infection or something like that. Then, I'll take a dive, and you guys can carry me in, then I can take the ring off, have someone cure me, and I'm as good as new, and we'll have Terra too. Isn't it the perfect crime?" Edgar said, then almost collapsing again.

Cyan looked at him. "I don't know. Thou seemest to be very weak right now, and who wouldst have to do you in with the claw?" Edgar looked at Cyan. "No, not me?"

"You'll be able to save Terra. You'll probably see her before I will. C'mon, I need someone who I can trust with a weapon, and who won't stick me too hard. I don't want Langan to do it. If I felt that this were any danger to my life, I wouldn't be doing it," Edgar put on his best 'Let's Make a Deal' smile.

"Ok, but thou must be careful! You know I consider you one of my closest friends, even in spite of what befell us earlier," Cyan said.

"Emotions can make us do things that we wouldn't normally do. You shouldn't beat yourself up about it. We all make mistakes," Edgar said understanding.

They continued on, and along the way, stopping every now and again so that Edgar could catch his breath. Edgar was putting a lot of trust into Cyan, and he knew what a risk it was. All that Cyan had to do was stick him with the claw in the stomach, but if he wanted to he could kill Edgar very easily with another swift upward movement. It was a great risk, but he had to do it. He had a feeling that things would turn out fine.

When they got to the entryway, there was a big brute standing in the doorway. Since Cyan was at point, it spoke to him, assuming that Cyan was the leader.

"In order for you to pass into the world of the Summoned Monsters, you must kill one of your companions. Choose now, or turn back," it said to them.

"Langan, don't let Seana watch, ok?" Edgar whispered to Langan before they went into their little planned discussion, and Edgar stepped out.

"My companions and I have come to a decision, that I will be the one to die," he said.

"Now, someone step forward with a weapon," the brute said. Cyan stepped out, and Edgar handed him the claw. Cyan noticed the Relic Ring in Edgar's hand, so he tied the claw to his fist and got ready. "Now, stand before your companion, and hold the claw to him," the brute bellowed.

Cyan saw that Edgar had the ring ready to slip onto his finger. He could see him mouth something to him: "Gently, on the count of three."

Cyan nodded.

"Do it now!" It seemed that even the titanic brute before them had a bit of interest in this; probably because no one was ever that desperate to get in to go as far as to kill someone.

Cyan looked at Edgar. "One... Two..." Edgar mouthed. "Three."

On three Edgar slipped on the ring, and Cyan forced the points of the claw into the indentions from the previous wound, then swiftly drew it out without another word.

Edgar felt a whirl of pain and disorientation. The Relic Ring caused a shock, for it stopped everything in the body that was supposed to go on. Then he realized that that spot was especially sensitive because it was already wounded. Nonetheless, he did his part of the job, and collapsed to his knees. He caught his breath again, then stooped over, and put his hand to the ground, trying to keep himself up. He then proceeded to slowly collapse again onto his arm.

But something was wrong... He felt like passing out again as he did when he was walking.

"This isn't good..." he thought right before he blacked out, and flopped onto the ground heavily. The ring suppressed his breath, and he seemed truly dead to the big brute.

The brute bent down and checked for a pulse. He shook his head.

"Having now paid the ultimate price, you may now enter," he moved out of the way.

"Might we take our friend's body back so that he might receive a proper burial?" Cyan asked.

"Go ahead. To tell you all the truth, you are the first group of people to actually kill one of their friends. There must be something really important inside," it said.

"Yes, there is," Cyan said, picking up Edgar and proceeding into the World of the Summoned Monsters.

.

Chapter 9

Crossover Fanfics