Legend of the Seven Swords Chapter 1
The Gathering
By Ybrik Metaknight
Glenn’s Masamune rested in Melchior’s able hands as he examined it along with the rest of the team’s weapons.
“This is indeed the sword I made 13,000 years ago,” Melchior told Crono, Marle, and Glenn, as he examined the Masamune, the Rainbow, the Valkyrie, the Wondershot, and the Star Scythe. Magus and Ayla, too impatient to wait on the Guru of life, were out training in the woods on the other side of Medina, Lucca was busy adding three more seats to the Epoch for easier travel, and Robo could not be contacted. In fact, no time travel or contact could be made past 1999 A.D.
“Honestly, I had wanted to make a sword out of dreamstone similar to Crono’s katanas, but I never got the chance,” Melchior continued. “And after the whole Ocean Palace disaster happened, I never saw dreamstone again until I saw Marle’sa pendant at the fair that day.” Once Melchior finished with all the other weapons, he requested a little more time to further examine Glenn’s sword. Leaving the Masamune and all the other powerful weapons there, the three went to look for Magus and Ayla, so that they could resume their quest to locate Schala.
Unable to find their companions in the woods, Crono, Marle, and Glenn searched town. They finally found Magus and Ayla in the bar in Medina. The bar was divided, humans on one side and mystics on the other, although for once it wasn’t because of racial issues.
On the left side, Magus was trying to defend himself from a large group of indignant mystics who wanted to maim him for attempting to impersonate “The Great Magus,” although he wasn’t having much luck.
“All right, listen you mystic freaks, I AM the real Magus, not some two-bit impersonator,” Magus insisted, “and if you choose not to back away, you can have a taste of this!” And with that, he grabbed his spare Doomsickle and sent a bolt of lightning from it to the counter top, causing the wooden top to be set ablaze.
“Maybe he is really Magus…” one mystic mused.
“No, it can’t be!” another stubborn fiend insisted, followed by a general consensus with the rest of the mystics in the bar.
Just as Magus was getting ready to incinerate one poor fool and freeze another, a spiky-haired teenager intervened.
“Whoa, Magus! You can’t just kill these mystics,” Crono said, as he and Glenn unsheathed their spare weapons. “Glenn, and I will help you with your self-defense.”
On the other side of the bar, a large number of men of all types of professions were whistling at a very scantily-clad Ayla.
“Come on, baby!” one carpenter said. “Why don’t you give us a little bit more attention?”
“Yeah! Take it off!” cried another man, a very foolish accountant who was now considering breaking his ten year streak of being faithful to his wife.
“Ayla only do that for KINO!!!!” Ayla screamed as she hurled the poor fool across the bar, narrowly missing Magus, Crono, and Glenn, but hitting the last mystic that the trio had yet to fend off.
Marle managed to drag Ayla away from the now-silent crowd of men, following the magician, the frog-knight, and the Hero of Time out the door of the bar.
Returning to the Guru of Life’s house, the quintet of warriors encountered Lucca standing in front of the Epoch.
“I just finished adding three extra seats to the Epoch!” she exclaimed, obviously quite proud of herself. Then, throwing in some of her infamous false modesty, she added, “However, it might be too cramped to hold anyone but Fr—er, Glenn.”
“Oh Lucca! Why don’t you just admit to taking great pride in your work? These seats are just fine, see? I can easily fit in them, and so can you,” Marle said. “Now, where’s Melchior?” she added.
“I am right here,” said the old wise man, “and I have your weapons here in my hands.” And with that, he handed over the Masamune, the Rainbow, the Valkyrie, the Wondershot, and the Star Scythe. As each hero took his or her weapon and climbed into the vehicle, Melchior added, “Good luck, and bring Schala back to see me when you find her!”
“All right, Melchior, and thanks for all your help!” Crono yelled as he helped his fiancée, Marle, into the time machine and then got in himself.
Just as Glenn hopped in, he noticed something wrong with his sword.
“The Masamune! ‘Tis glowing!” he exclaimed, holding the blade above his head.
Before anyone could do anything about it, the sword emitted a bright flash, and suddenly they were gone, Epoch and all, leaving a brown-cloaked man chortling at their misfortune.
* * * * *
The Ultima Weapon sat very still on a table next to a very upset Tifa Lockhart.
Tifa was crying because of how hopeless their mission had become.
“Don’t worry, Tifa, we’ll find him and drag his skinny white ass back home,” Barrett Wallace said, attempting to comfort her in his own way. However, even he was beginning to doubt his own words. He realized that perhaps Cloud Strife could not be found.
Three weeks ago, Tifa, Barrett, and Cloud, along with Cait Sith, Red XIII, Cid Highwind, Yuffie Kisaragi, and Vincent Valentine, had defeated the greatest threat that their world had ever known: Sephiroth. The partying had lasted for days, and had been interrupted, at least for the world’s newfound heroes, by the sudden disappearance of their spiky-haired leader. Cloud and Tifa had just gone outside for a stroll to talk when he just vanished into thin air with a flash. Two weeks ago, Tifa and Barrett had finished gathering the team, minus Cait Sith, who had been deactivated by his controller, Reeve, and Yuffie, whom no one had expected to see. However, just as Cid and Vincent finished repairs on the Highwind, Yuffie showed up with no explanation for her lack of punctuality. Soon afterwards, the team began looking all over the world for their missing comrade.
“So, where do we start?” Vincent asked Cid on the bridge of the airship.
“How the hell should I know?” the pilot replied in his usual brusque manner. “Dammit, Vincent, I’m a pilot, not a miracle worker!”
“All right, then, let’s go downstairs and see what everyone else thinks,” Vincent responded. “Come on Yuffie!” he added to the green-looking young female ninja.
Cid turned the controls over to his full-fledged assistant pilot and he and Vincent dragged a very airsick Yuffie into the room where Tifa, Barrett, and Red XIII sat around a large, circular table with Cloud’s gigantic sword on it, trying to think of a plan.
“Hey, what about the Turks’ headquarters?” Barrett suggested. “Those assholes always were trying to capture him.”
“No, we already had Reeve check there,” Red XIII reasoned. “And besides, they aren’t even after us anymore, since Rufus pardoned us.”
“Well then, what about Don Corneo?” Vincent prompted. “I heard he recently recovered from his rather nasty fall, and he most certainly would want revenge.”
“But where would he get the technology capable of making Cloud disappear like that?” Tifa asked.
“Who the hell cares? We should just look there anyway, just to make damn sure that Cloud’s not there,” Cid told everyone.
“Hey, guys,” Yuffie weakly said, “couldja pleeze make a decision so we can get out of the air soon? Oh god, I’m gonna puke!”
However, before the girl could begin blowing chunks, the Ultima Weapon began to glow. As soon as everyone noticed it, it emitted a bright flash. When the flash was gone, so was the Highwind, along with everyone in it, much to the delight of one plump sugar daddy and his hired special agents, who were watching from afar.
* * * * *
Ramza Beoulve’s pair of Ragnaroks tore into the flesh of the Bloody Angel, Altima, as his sister, Alma Beoulve, began charging up for another Ultima spell.
He thought to himself, This battle, like the rest of my life since breaking off from the Hokuten, is one huge, confusing mess. I mean I’m trying to stop the resurrection of St. Ajora Glabados, a figure whom I and countless others have worshipped for my entire life!
As Alma completed chanting the Ultima spell, Mustadio Bunanza went around to other party members, treating their wounds as needed. He had to use a Phoenix down on Cidolfas Orlandu, then turn around and make his way to the other side of the battlefield to the petrified Beowulf Kadmus.
Having been resurrected, Orlandu got up, immediately using an elixer on himself. While doing this, he watched the blue ray of light from Alma’s spell explode with fury on Altima and thought, This has turned into a living Hell! I wish that I, or at least Ramza or someone else (anybody at all), had better control of this situation.”
While casting Ultima, Alma tried to grasp her current situation a little more coherently. For the past year Alma drifted in and out of consciousness while Vormav prepared her for the sacrifice to Altima. During her semi-coma, she learned of the true nature of Ajora, a person who had been worshipped as a savior for centuries.
Agrias Oaks put away her Excalibur and her Save the Queen to cast haste on Mustadio, who was resting right next to Ramza. She yelled, “Layer upon layer, make your mark now!” This hit Mustadio, revitalizing him with a burst of speed, but missed Ramza. “Damn!” the Holy Knight exclaimed as Mustadio approached Beowulf, throwing a soft at him.
As soon as he was back to normal, Beowulf ran to the Archangel, pulled out his Chaos Blade (which he was actually borrowing from the injured Meliadoul), and struck. Teach you to turn me to stone, bitch! the Temple Knight cried out mentally, too full of rage to actually speak aloud.
As Altima began the incantation for All-Ultima, Ramza saw his opportunity. He suddenly struck with first one Ragnarok, then, whirling around, the other, dealing the killing blow.
Altima screamed in anguish, and Ramza yelled, “We have to get out of here!” Just before the Bloody Angel exploded with a convulsion of magical energy, the six warriors, Ramza, Agrias, Mustadio, Orlandu, Beowulf, and Alma, jumped off of the airship they were on, the Hilda Garde, and onto another one, the Blackjack, where their eleven comrades were waiting.
Once they all reached the inside of the ship, which was for some reason decorated like a casino, all were silent until one person, who hadn’t fought in that final battle, spoke up.
“So, what now?” asked the amnesiac newcomer, Cloud Strife, expressing everyone’s concerns. All heads turned to their well-established leader, Ramza.
But before he could answer the soldier’s query, he noticed one of his Ragnaroks glowing faintly. Beowulf noticed the same thing with the Chaos Blade. Suddenly, those knight swords flashed brilliantly, and the wrecked Blackjack, along with all of its “passengers,” were gone, leaving a green-hooded divine knight, the only shrine knight left alive, chuckling, his laugh crescendoing into a full-fledged howl. A white knight next to him echoed the laughter with a chortle of his own, accompanied by the insidious silence of the black knight standing on the other side of him.
* * * * *
Terra Branford’s Atma Weapon waited peacefully in its sheath for the next time it would be used, as she passed by the legendary Excalibur hanging on the castle wall while on her way outside.
Terra had been visiting Edgar and Sabin Figaro at Figaro Castle for the past week and was currently thinking about moving in permanently. In the two years since Kefka’s defeat, many of the destroyed towns had been rebuilt, including Terra’s home, Mobliz. People had moved back there, many adopting the children orphaned by the Light of Judgment that destroyed the town in the first place. Duane and Katarin now had two little children of their own and a third on the way. The town had even fallen under the protective jurisdiction of the recently re-established kingdom of Doma, which had a distant cousin of the last king as its ruler and, once again, the honorable Cyan Garamonde as the leader of its royal knights.
This place, however, was a sharp contrast to the serenity of such villages as Mobliz, Kholingen, and Tzen. Figaro Castle was bustling with activity. The king, Edgar, and his brother, personal adviser and bodyguard, Sabin, were always looking for ways to improve living conditions in the lands of Figaro, which, in addition to the castle, included South Figaro, Kholingen, and the newly re-inhabited Narshe. The captain of the royal guard, Celes Chere, kept herself busy defending the kingdom, and occasionally visiting with friends such as Terra and, when he wasn’t off “treasure hunting,” her would-be lover, Locke Cole.
So where do I fit in? Terra wondered as she walked around the exterior of the castle, kicking around sand with her feet. I am no longer needed back in Mobliz, yet here I have very little to do. My comrades-in-arms seem to have very little time for me. Even Locke is never around.
Just as she was about to go inside to further ponder her conundrum, she noticed a familiar black figure collapse off in the distance, and another familiar figure drop at his side, attending to his companion's wounds.
“You two, get off of those chocobos!” she yelled at the nearest two guards.
“What? We don’t have to follow your orders! You aren’t our commanding officer!” the lower-ranking soldier replied, indignantly.
“Just do it, dammit!” Terra screamed back at him, causing him and his partner to dismount the large yellow birds as quickly as they could without spooking the poor creatures. Getting on one chocobo, Terra added, “Go find the king, his brother, and your highest commander, Celes, and tell them to clear out a bed and get a doctor for our unexpected visitor—Shadow!” And with that, she rode out towards the ninja and his companion, leading the other chocobo beside her.
.
Soon, Terra, Edgar, Sabin, Celes, and Locke, who had been helping Shadow get to the castle, stood around Shadow’s bed in the guest room in the east wing of the castle, waiting for him to regain consciousness. As the other three questioned Locke, Terra noticed how handsome, yet aged, Shadow’s unmasked face was.
“I’m telling you, I was just out treasure-hunting around Figaro Cave when I found him like this, badly injured,” Locke insisted to three of the most important people in Figaro.
“All right,” Edgar began, “we’ll wait until he wakes up to find out anyth—”
“WhereamIwhathappened?!? AND WHERE’S MY MASK?!?!?!?” Shadow yelled, bolting up out of his bed in a panicked fury.
“Rest easy, my friend,” Terra said, handing Shadow his mask out of respect for the man’s wishes. “You’ve been through a lot, obviously. Care to tell us about it?”
“Ahhhh, that’s better,” said the enigmatic warrior as he once again covered his face. “That face belonged to a person who no longer exists. I would tell you, but it would be easier to simply show you. I was attacked by an unseen assailant outside of Figaro Cave and was knocked me out. After I regained consciousness and used what few potions I had on myself, I noticed this note pinned onto the tree I was slumped against.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his belongings on the table next to his bed and showed it to the others.
“Shadow, gather your friends and family and search for me where you last saw me. Love, your dear brother”
“Just as I was about to come here, to the castle, Locke here found me and came to my aid,” Shadow added.
“This note, what does it mean by ‘family’?” Celes asked him.
“And your brother, who is he?” Sabin demanded
Hesitating, the ninja answered their questions. “I...I don’t know. My family is long dead, and I never even had a brother.” If the five heroes had been able to see his face, they would have realized that he was lying through his teeth, as his eyes darted to a self-portrait painted by a very talented young artist from Thamasa hanging in the corner of the room. He had said one partial truth though: he’d never had a brother, not in blood, anyway, and the only person he ever would have called “brother” had died nearly two decades ago.
“That’s all right, Shadow. You don’t have to tell us anymore right now,” the ever-compassionate Edgar responded. Turning to Terra, Celes, Sabin, and Locke, he said, “Come, my friends, let us gather the remainder of our team while Shadow gets his rest.” And with that, the five entered the room to make preparations and send a carrier pigeon to find the Falcon, the world’s only airship, belonging to Setzer Gabbiani.
.
They began gathering the team members five days later, as soon as Setzer arrived in the Falcon. The seven already assembled were dropped off in different places around the world, to deal with those others separately, so as to save time. Locke and Celes went into the Narshe Mines to attempt to find Mog and Umaro, while Edgar and Sabin stopped by Doma Castle to recruit Cyan and his adopted son, the berserker Gau. Finally, Shadow insisted on going to Thamasa personally to recruit Relm and Strago, and, of course, his alleged reason for going, Interceptor. Terra had gone with him since he was not yet fully healed. Meanwhile, Setzer checked out the Triangle Island to look for Gogo, who had not been seen since the destruction of the Tower.
After one additional day of preparation (and searching, in some cases), the Falcon arrived at each location to pick each set of warriors up.
Locke and Celes had only managed to find Mog themselves, who happily led them to Umaro’s new cave. However, Umaro refused to come, as he had found a female yeti and it was now their mating season (a sickening thought to both Locke and Celes). They had then stocked up on various items such as potions and antidotes, and spent the night in the house of Arvis Bjorgens, an old friend from the Returner days. The Falcon showed up at Doma Castle to find Edgar, Sabin, and Cyan, along with a more mature and much more civilized Gau, obviously showing influence gained from his adoptive father. Finally, Setzer arrived in Thamasa to pick up Terra, Relm, and Shadow, who was obviously quite happy to be reunited with his dog and, perhaps, with someone else. Strago had opted not to accompany his granddaughter and his comrades due to his age. Setzer had been unable to find Gogo on the Triangle Island, or anywhere else, for that matter.
The eleven fighters were fully armed and ready to begin searching (for what, nobody knew) aboard the Falcon. As Setzer took off, Terra unsheathed the Atma Weapon to make sure it was still sharp, and noticed it glowing.
“Hey everyone, there’s something wrong with my sword!” Terra cried, looking around frantically.
“Now Terra, my dear,” Edgar replied, laying on the charm as thick as he always did, “I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with…well, I’ll be damned. The Atma Weapon’s actually glowing!” he finished with alarm.
“Watch it brother,” Sabin said to Edgar, “your blade is doing the exact same thing!”
Edgar pulled out the Excalibur and noticed that his sibling spoke true. Not only was the sword glowing, but it was resonating with Terra’s sword. He and Terra looked at each other, bewildered.
“All right,” Locke began to complain, “just what the hell is going on, and why do we have to deal with it now?”
Celes turned to scold him, but didn’t get the chance. Before she or anyone else could do anything more, the Atma Weapon and the Excalibur each emitted a brilliant flash, and the Falcon and all those aboard disappeared into thin air, leaving the only witnesses, a figure shrouded in odd clothing and a woman with white-blond hair, laughing in the distance before opening a portal of their own and stepping into it.
* * * * *
The Master Sword waited serenely in the Temple of Time for its next use.
It had been ten years since Link Kokiri had traveled back in time after defeating Ganondorf Dragmire, the Gerudo thief who now possessed the Triforce. The young Link had since had many adventures, in far off lands such as Termina, and had gathered many friends, but none as special to him as Malon Lonlon, the beautiful redhead from Lonlon Ranch who had stolen his heart.
The two now stood in the very same Temple of Time in which the legendary saber rested, in front of family and friends, including Princess Zelda, who would soon succeed her father to the throne of Hyrule, on what they would perhaps one day call “the happiest day of their lives.”
“Do you, Link Kokiri, take this woman, Malon Lonlon, as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” the old priest, Rauru, said, reciting the vows as if from memory.
“I do,” Link replied.
“Do you, Malon Lonlon, take this man, Link Kokiri, as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” Rauru repeated, turning to the young woman.
“I do,” responded the beaming redhead.
“Then by the powers vested in me by the Triforce, the King of Hyrule, and Nayru, goddess of wisdom and love,” Rauru stated, “I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride!”
Link turned to his bride, lifted her veil, took her in his arms, and swept her off her feet with an incredible kiss, the likes of which neither of the newlyweds had ever experienced in all of their seventeen years. And there was much rejoicing.
“Yay!!!!!” cried the congregation.
.
Hours later, after many of the guests had gone home, Malon’s father, Talon, his longtime assistant, Ingo, Link’s best friend, Saria, and Princess Zelda’s own personal bodyguard, Sir Robin, and her servant, Impa, were cleaning up the courtyard of the temple, where the reception had been held. Zelda was taking her turn saying goodbye to the pair as they prepared to ride off into the sunset on their horses.
“Goodbye, and be safe!” Zelda said, worrying very little, since Link was more than capable of defending both himself and his new wife, and had also been training Malon in the use of a boomerang, a bow, and a staff.
“Thank you ‘my queen,’ and I hope your coronation goes successful,” Link joked.
“Oh, c’mon, Link! You know we’ll be back in time for her to be crowned,” Malon “scolded” her groom, but without even a hint of condescension.
“Thank you, Malon,” the princess told her. “You’re going to have to continue keeping him in line, I can already tell. Have fun on your honeymoon! And may Farore be with you!”
As Zelda took a turn at cleaning up, Saria walked up to her friend. She, unsurprisingly, still looked the same as she had for ten years, although a little bit taller.
“Yoo-hoo, Link! I hope you aren’t thinking about leaving without talking to me first,” she told her best friend.
“Of course not, Saria,” replied the Hero of Time, kissing her on the cheek, “and take care of yourself and the rest of Kokiri Forest.”
“Mamamia! Look at you, my daughter!” Talon cried as he hoisted Malon up in the air and onto her horse by his arms. “So beautiful, and about to go on a long journey with the man she loves! I’m so proud of you, Malon!”
“Thank you, daddy!” Malon responded with one of her trademark giggles.
“Now Link, you’d best take care of my little girl,” Talon told his new son-in-law, “or else you’ll be very, very sorry.”
“I understand,” Link solemnly told the man. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he heard three small voices wish him good luck.
“Navi! And Tatl and Tael! And the Skull Kid! Thanks for seeing me off!” Link happily said to them.
“Oh, Link,” Navi replied, “do you honestly think that we would let you leave without a goodbye?”
“Yeah, especially after all you did for us years ago?” Tatl echoed Navi’s sentiments.
“So good luck with her!” Tael told Link as he mounted Epona and began to ride off.
Suddenly, Zelda called out, “Link, there’s something wrong with your sword!”
Stopping his horse, Link pulled out his sword and examined it.
“What in Din’s name? This is the Master Sword! How did it end up in my sheath? And it’s glowing, too!” Link exclaimed. But before he could do anything else, the Master Sword emitted a bright flash, consuming him, Malon, their horses, and everything they were carrying, causing them to vanish without a trace. All witnesses of the event were left fully speechless, except for two old hags, who cackled from their far-off vantage point.
“Hold on to your butts!”
--Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) in Jurassic Park