_Mistress?_

The call was insistent; and with an unspoken sigh, the 
Guardian Shiva abandoned her rest. Pulling her essence 
around her, she materialised in the forest clearing, where 
Titania and several other faeries knelt.

Titania raised her head before Shiva could ask the 
question. "One here wishes to speak with you, Mistress."

Shiva nodded; the presence was unmistakable, though not 
as strong as she had felt it in the past. But she had been 
stronger then, too...

"Thank you. Please, leave us." The faeries bowed in silent 
assent, and moments later the glade was empty as Shiva 
turned gracefully to regard the old man standing before 
her, leaning on a well-worn staff. "Was this necessary?"

He shrugged, his weathered face crinkling in a half-smile 
which did nothing to disguise concern. "You've been hard 
to find, my dear Goddess. I thought it best to consult your 
faithful."

"I'm still not what I was. Neither are you, Ramuh. And..." 
she trailed off.

The Guardian of Wisdom met her eyes gravely. "Indeed. 
Without the two of us, the seal will hold only so long. We 
must be prepared."

Shiva nodded, and then gasped as her now-tenuous link to 
the seal seemed to explode into a sharp lance of almost-
pain. Dimly, she could feel walls being pushed bubble-thin 
under some unseen assault, stretching and finally 
shredding...

She regained her balance with effort as the feeling ebbed, 
looked up to see Ramuh gripping his staff a touch more 
tightly than before. "It's happened," she whispered. And 
she was so far from ready...

"No. Not fully," Ramuh denied, shaking his head. "Only 
when the third crystal is broken. Now that Darovan is free, 
some power may pass the threshold through him... but no 
more than that."

"Are you sure?" Shiva queried. "Power changes its wielder, 
and this power more than most."

"Perhaps," Ramuh snorted. "But that mortal's mental 
health is hardly _our_ concern. Anyway, have you met the 
girl?"

"Yes. She is the one, I think... I hope." Shiva bowed her 
head, her hair shimmering from white to a rainbow as it 
fell across her face. "But we're not ready to aid them yet."

He chuckled bleakly. "So, back to bed like good little Gods 
and Goddesses, waiting for the Call? And trust in destiny?"

"Trust in the girl," she corrected softly. "And her 
companions. What else can we do?"

A moment of silence, and then a cool breeze swept through 
an empty forest glade.

                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


                   FINAL FANTASY LEGACY
                   Knights of the Round

                Created by Brian Stricklin
               This chapter by Marcus Fong

          Chapter 35: Resurrection and Revolution


                 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Come on, come on, come _on_!" Mika chanted under her 
breath, as the ship edged the last few feet to pull alongside 
the pier.

Davin and Marcine were conferring briefly with the Ryukin 
captain, pausing every now and then to cast worried looks 
at the rapidly darkening sky. More and more dense black 
clouds swirled in with every second, gathering over the 
city's centre. As if something was pulling them together...

Mika turned to look back at Shizuka. The ninja girl stood 
calmly on the deck, to all outward appearances cool and 
collected as always; but her eyes flicked instantly to the 
city, subtly avoiding Mika's.

The young chemist sighed, turning back toward the docks 
herself. What could she say?

A long, rippling roar echoed over the city. Buildings 
shivered, and the ship rocked as the waters suddenly 
heaved. A cloudy pall of dust rose from the middle of 
Tienne.

"The square!" Marcine gasped, clutching at Davin to regain 
her balance. "Something's--"

"If we're going to get in there, we'd better do it now!" Davin 
yelled over the rumbling echoes. "What do you think's 
happening?"

Great pillars of lightning answered him, bathing the 
shadowed city in dazzling sheets of light. An instant later, 
a earsplitting crash of thunder swept over the rooftops, 
staggering everyone on deck.

"I don't know!" Marcine shouted back, her voice faint in her 
own deafened eardrums. "But it doesn't look good!"

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Armand Cavanaugh staggered with everyone else, throwing 
up his hands as the plaza erupted in a choking mass of 
earth and stone. He squinted into the square, trying vainly 
to pierce the blurred veil of dust. What in the Gods' 
name--?

"Cavanaugh!" Armand jerked, half-turning to see the High 
Priest's hand gripping his arm. "I've signalled the 
GOLeMs," Lambert snapped over the shrieks from the 
square. "Attack, now!"

Armand stared at Lambert for a second before gathering 
his composure. "Attack--who? Where?"

"Look!" Lambert gestured sharply, and Armand followed 
his eyes to stare into the enormous thunderheads still 
crowding over the city. He blinked, unable to make out 
anything against the sheer expanse of cloud--

A cluster of flak bursts lit up the sky in livid orange 
flashes, and then he saw them, great silver hulls looming 
over the square.

Manakyr airships. Had they been hit? For a faint yellow 
mist was already streaming from their bellies, riding dense, 
storm-heavy air down into the plaza...

"They're dropping Soft!" Lambert hissed.

"Soft? But--" Armand's jaw dropped in dismay. A sizable 
portion of the Sinners' Wall lay underground... where the 
Church had stored the most dangerous of its prisoners, 
lest the Manakyr infiltrate and carry off their petrified 
forms.

And the most dangerous prisoner of all was Darovan, 
whose resting place was right underneath the great 
square. The great square right in front of them, which had 
just been dug up by Manakyr magic--

He felt the blood drain from his face, saw his expression 
reflected in Lambert's just as deep, mocking laughter 
boomed hideously through the plaza.

The Manakyr airships were dipping now, hovering close by 
the roofs near the square. Mixed swarms of humans and 
monsters floated or leaped down into the streets of Tienne.

And Armand felt a deep, weary chill enter his bones as he 
drew a long breath. They were all dead now, he and 
Lambert, the Holy Guardsmen and the people of Tienne. 
But by the Three Gods, he would die performing his duty.

He looked around him, gathering in groups of Guardsmen 
by eye as they stood, stunned, looking to him for direction. 
His sword swept out, gleaming dully in the faded, dust-
choked light.

"_Charge_!" he shouted.

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Zarela Grenados reined her chocobo in, peering into the 
distance toward Tienne. The city wasn't too hard to find, 
silhouetted as it was by dozens of flickering fires. Every few 
minutes, hungry forks of lightning arced down from the 
clouds into the city, to be answered by the angry puffs of 
bursting flak shells.

"They've started the party without us, Nikolai," she 
murmured, glancing fondly at the sword sheathed at her 
side. "All the better, though. The more confusion there is, 
the easier it will be to hunt _her_ down, won't it?"

Flicking the reins, Zarela started toward the embattled 
city, an icy smirk spreading across her face.

Her goal was once again in sight.

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

From a different direction, two travellers observed Tienne's 
plight with considerably less enthusiasm.

"So what do we do now?" Pearl asked. "Ride in there and 
get pounded by the Church _and_ the Manakyr?"

"Actually, I think that's what we'll do," Cid replied, still 
watching the city. "Except for the part about getting 
pounded, that is."

"You can't be serious!"

"It _will_ be dangerous," Cid conceded. "But can you think 
of a better opportunity to infiltrate the city?" His 
expression hardened. "Besides... if Madonna really has the 
secret of Soft, I can't just stand by. If Darovan were to 
reawaken..."

"You're right," Pearl agreed glumly. "Let's go."

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The battle raged in the middle of the city.

The Holy Guardsmen in and around the square were 
drastically outnumbered at first, but circumstances soon 
conspired to even the balance. Many of the newly freed 
Manakyr still wore magic-suppressing Rune Manacles from 
their captivity, rendering them effectively useless until 
their comrades could remove their restraints.

Add to that the sheer chaos of the fleeing citizens, the 
uneven, blasted rubble of the plaza and the stone dust 
which coated friend and foe alike, and the result was that 
the Church forces were lasting longer than anyone would 
have expected.

Of course, fresh, combat-ready Manakyr were pouring 
down from the airships... but they had their own problems. 
Not least of which was a very uncertain chain of command.

"M--my lord?" a Manakyr mage stammered, approaching 
Darovan's floating figure. All around them, a thick ring of 
Manakyr kept the enemy back with scorching blasts of fire 
and lightning.

The ancient Caller turned, his eyes burning with blood and 
darkness, and the younger man shivered.

"Ah--" he hesitated, "--our clairmancers have detected a 
substantial contingent of Church troops approaching the 
city. They'll arrive in two days, possibly sooner."

Darovan's gaze did not falter, but the young mage's voice 
did. "Freeing those trapped within the, ah, Wall and getting 
them to safety has disorganised our own units, my lord. 
The airships are sustaining heavy damage from Tienne's 
anti-aircraft defences... our commanders recommend a 
temporary retreat."

"Retreat? From the _Church_?" Darovan's laughter rose 
like a dark, frozen wind... then died abruptly. "Perhaps you 
are right... but not without a parting gift for my dear 
_hosts._" His expression suddenly sharpened. "Where is 
Madonna?"

"Sh--she informed us that she would go ahead into the 
city, to deal with the High Priest and his GOLeMs," the 
other mage said nervously. "We've heard nothing from her 
since..."

The young Manakyr would have sworn thirty seconds ago 
that Darovan's gaze could not have become more 
unsettling... but somehow it did. "Find her. _Now._"

"Y--yes, lord."

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"That's odd," Cid frowned. "They're suddenly spreading 
themselves awfully thin." He considered this for a moment. 
"A search pattern, perhaps--?"

He quickly flattened himself back against the wall, Pearl 
following suit, as another squad of Manakyr moved quickly 
past. Too quickly, and far too carelessly; a mixed group of 
Holy Guardsmen and Dragoons suddenly leapt from the 
shelter of a nearby house, tearing into the mages from 
behind.

"So, how did you plan to find Gilgamesh again?" Pearl 
panted, as they left the dwindling shouts and screams 
behind.

"Well--" Cid answered, just as the clank and whine of 
heavy machinery sounded from around the corner. _Very_ 
heavy machinery.

Cid stopped cold. "That sounds like... but no, the Church 
shut them down--"

It rounded the corner, casting a monstrous shadow over 
the pair. Its metallic roar resounded from the heavens, 
challenging the thunder pealing overhead.

"What the--?" Pearl gasped.

_Gaz, Leda... when will the Church learn?_ "Be careful," 
Cid warned, his expression suddenly cold. "It's KALI."

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Are we there yet?" Mika whispered. The four of them were 
crouching in a narrow alley near the docks, trying to plan 
their next move. The battle hadn't quite reached them yet, 
but it was only a matter of time now.

"Mika," Davin whispered back, "we don't even know where 
'there' is."

"Ah." Mika considered that. "So are we there yet?" She 
squeaked as Davin turned to glare at her. "Lighten up, Big 
Brother! I was kidding!"

_We're in the middle of a war zone, and she still has time 
to make jokes..._ Davin fumed. Then, in spite of himself, he 
shook his head, a faint smile touching his lips. That was 
something you just had to admire.

"Gaia said Gilgamesh was entombed by Tienne's builders," 
he said. "And we know that happened a long time ago. So... 
the oldest buildings would be around the city centre, 
right?"

Marcine nodded, looking unconvinced. "Yes... but that's 
still quite an area to search."

"But," Davin held up a finger, "they wouldn't have just 
stuck him under any old sidewalk. If I were the Church, 
and I wanted to imprison someone I thought was a threat, 
I'd put them under a building I controlled. Make sense?" 
He watched them nod slowly. "Okay then, I guess we've got 
a plan... sort of."

Shizuka flicked a glance around the corner. "This one 
believes we should be on our way now. The streets seem to 
be empty for the moment."

Davin nodded firmly. "Right. Let's go."

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The hall was almost deserted, its occupants having either 
fled or joined the desperate struggle outside. The mingled 
sounds of battle filtered only faintly through the building's 
marble walls.

In a few minutes, it was likely to be completely deserted; 
the single person remaining lay where she had finally 
collapsed, a trail of crimson testifying to her valiant 
struggle to reach the entrance.

A faintly glowing globe swung around the corner, paused, 
and as if coming to a decision dropped low to circle the 
downed figure.

"In here?" a voice echoed from a nearby corridor. "It went 
in there!"

A babble of other voices, drawing closer. "Why can't these 
stupid Seekers go in a straight line--?"

"Took those blasted clairmancers long enough to conjure 
the thing--"

"--how many men we've lost while they dawdled--"

A quartet of red-robed figures hurried around the corner, 
three of them fanning out to secure the room with 
practiced ease while the leader skidded to a halt next to 
the unmoving person on the floor.

"Damn it... she was here all this time?" The leader eased 
Madonna's limp form over and cursed at what he saw. 
"Inform Lord Darovan!" he barked to one of his 
subordinates, then bent over the fallen Wind Knight, 
already beginning his chant.

"Soul of the living world--"

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_I knew things were going too well,_ Davin thought 
irritatedly.

They'd been making good time through the streets, aided 
by the thick overcast which allowed only thin trickles of 
light down to the city below. Thanks to Shizuka, they'd 
managed to skirt around several minor clashes, and 
everything seemed to be going smoothly.

And then, of course, a Manakyr airship had neatly dropped 
a squad of mages practically on top of them.

It was, Davin reflected, nothing short of a minor miracle 
that they'd managed to scramble to cover before the 
Manakyr got organised enough to start looking around 
them. They'd had to split up in the process, but that was a 
small price to pay.

He peered through the window of the abandoned house he 
and Marcine had taken cover in, saw Mika give him a tiny 
wave before Shizuka pulled her back from the window of 
the house across the street. A quick glance at the Atma 
Beast striding up the pavement, and Davin ducked back 
hastily as well.

"Well, I guess we wait it out," he said quietly, sitting back 
against the wall next to Marcine. She nodded, and there 
was a brief silence.

Davin glanced over at her, to find her looking straight back 
at him; they both looked away at the same instant.

"Um, Davin...?" Marcine began.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say... thanks. For rescuing me in the first 
place, and then helping me, and... and everything else 
you've done."

"Ah..." Davin cast about for words. "It's... it's been a 
pleasure," he said at last, feeling the words fall flat as they 
left his lips.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" she said quietly. 
"Halfway across the world and back..."

He chuckled. "Hey, didn't I promise you'd broaden your 
horizons?"

Marcine smiled slightly at that. "So you did." She glanced 
over at the Phoen Staff, leaning against the wall beside her. 
"You know, if you'd told me all that would happen to us, 
back when we escaped from Tienne..."

Davin made a rude sound. "I'd have said it was crazy, 
myself."

Marcine nodded, contemplating her knees. "Davin..." She 
hesitated, not looking at him. "Do you ever think we're... 
avoiding a subject?"

Davin frowned. "Like what?"

"I--you, I mean, how we..." She trailed off, and Davin could 
have sworn she turned a touch pinker in the dull light. 
"Never mind."

Davin's own face was a touch warmer; he had a pretty good 
idea what she was talking about, after all. To cover it, he 
turned his head away from her to peek out the window. 
"Man, how many of these Atma things do they--?"

He stopped short as he felt a hand slip into his, cool and 
soft. Turning back, he saw Marcine suddenly shift her gaze 
to study the wall opposite her. But she didn't let go of his 
hand, either.

Davin gently parted his hand from hers, smiling as he 
caught the flash of anxiety on her face; and then he 
reached out to put his arm around Marcine's shoulders, 
drawing her closer.

Marcine let out a quiet breath, and Davin could feel her 
relax. "So, about us...?" She trailed off, tilting her head to 
lean on his shoulder.

"Yeah," he answered fondly.

A tiny giggle. "This really isn't the time, is it?"

He had to chuckle at the truth of that. "Well, we haven't 
exactly had much time for quiet strolls in the park." 
Carefully, so as not to dislodge the comfortable weight on 
his shoulder, he twisted to check the window again. "Damn 
it, why did they all have to leave _now_?"

"Time to go?" Marcine asked, her tone turning crisp as she 
straightened and reached for the Phoen Staff next to her.

"Yeah." Davin pulled himself to his feet... then turned, and 
offered her a hand, grinning. "My lady?"

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Are they gone yet?"

A pause.

"Are they gone yet?"

Another pause.

"Are they gone yet?"

"This one respectfully advises Mistress Gilchrist to keep 
her voice down."

"Shizuka..." Mika sighed, her attempt to maintain a 
cheerful air sagging and collapsing. "It's Mika. Remember?"

"This one apologises... Mika." Shizuka's face was carefully 
expressionless.

"And quit apologising, will you?" Mika hissed. "I don't 
understand you."

"This one believes that is correct," the ninja replied 
neutrally.

"You're scaring me, Shizuka," Mika whispered after a short 
silence. "When you talk about 'doing the honourable 
thing'..." She blinked rapidly. "I've lost one friend already. I 
can't--I _won't_--lose you, too."

"Mika... this one has been your friend, so far as duty 
allows." Shizuka drew a breath. "But duty must always 
come first."

"Your family swore to protect Master Cid," Mika said 
quietly. "You don't have any duty to me."

No reply. Mika looked up to meet the Ryukin girl's eyes. 
"That's what set this off, right? You not being able to save 
me, when I fell out of the airship. Everything was okay 
before that..."

"Mika..." Shizuka sighed. "No. It was not 'okay'... but this 
one had allowed herself to... to not think about her duty, 
for a while." The ninja's gaze dropped to the floor. "This 
one's most recent failure only served to remind her of 
that."

"Shizuka, I--"

"Mika." Shizuka's voice was soft, but suddenly there was 
an edge to it as sharp as any shuriken. "This one will not 
take her life. Not unless Master Cid requires it."

"But--"

"Master Cid is a good and honourable man, Mika. You 
should not concern yourself." Shizuka suddenly cocked 
her head. "This one believes that we should go now. Your 
brother and Mistress Cavanaugh have just left the house 
opposite."

Mika got to her feet. "If anything happens to you, 
Shizuka..." She forced a weak smile. "...I'm gonna find this 
Cid guy and kick his butt. Understand?"

"This one has already asked you not to interfere," Shizuka 
answered calmly as she walked past toward the door. 
"But... thank you," she whispered as she passed, so quietly 
it seemed she was afraid of hearing it herself.

And Mika allowed herself a tiny smile as she followed her 
friend out of the house. It wasn't much... but she felt a 
little better about it. For now.

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Siegvin snorted in disgust, sheathing his sword as he 
looked around at what had recently been a Manakyr patrol 
and an equal number of Holy Guardsmen. "Pathetic."

So the whelp Darovan was loose, was he? Yet another 
nuisance.

A great burst of magic lit the horizon, coming from the 
centre of the city. The Fallen One chuckled dryly, turning 
unseeing eyes toward it. Darovan had barely bested one 
teacher, even with help. He would be wise not to challenge 
another.

Everything was coming together in Tienne, it seemed; 
Darovan and his Manakyr lackeys, the Cavenaugh girl and 
her companions, Gilgamesh and that fool Lambert... and 
Siegvin would be there.

He nodded to himself, still chuckling, and strode off. This 
would indeed be interesting.


Author's Notes:

My apologies to the next author; I didn't get nearly as far 
with the plot as I'd wanted. Hopefully, I haven't left too 
much of a mess. ^_^

Thanks to Terence and Ardweden for prereading, and to 
Brian for ideas and suggestions. Particular thanks to 
Terence for a great deal of continuity and plot advice.

Marcus
17 January, 2001