"Is that what I think it is?" Kyle asked worriedly, flinching as the ship lurched. A stiff salt wind flew past, plucking at the Dragoon's face as he stared at the horizon. "Aye." Jil nodded grimly, pointing to the ominous, shadowy bulk of cloud ahead. "That be a storm all right. A big one." "And we can't go around," he said flatly, knowing the answer. Jil shook her head, suddenly looking weary and resigned as she held up the Phoenix Compass. Its needle gleamed, pointing into the heart of the distant clouds. "Nay, lad. We be going in the right direction. The Heartstone is through that storm, maybe inside it. We canna take the time to go around anyway." She paused. "Ye'd better get below. It'll be rough." "Understood, Captain," Kyle said crisply. He might be the leader of their little group, but aboard ship Jil was the captain. And if there was one thing he understood well, it was the chain of command. Suppressing his anxieties, he turned away. He was a Dragoon, after all, and one of the worst fears of any armoured knight was to be on a sinking ship, pulled down by your armour, hundreds of miles from shore-- He looked around for a familiar person, and found her. "Shizuka!" he called. The ninja turned away from contemplating the steadily roughening seas to look at him, keeping her balance perfectly as the ship heaved again. "What is it, Master Cavanaugh?" "Jil says to get below! We're going through the storm!" "This one understands, Master Cavanaugh." Shizuka darted away from the rail and vanished belowdecks before Kyle could so much as blink. As he reached the hatch and started to climb down, though, Kyle turned and caught one last glimpse of Jil, her face set in determination as she gripped the tiller. Somehow, he felt better at that. They'd make it. After all, what was a storm compared to all they'd been through? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- FINAL FANTASY LEGACY Knights of the Round Created by Brian Stricklin This chapter by Marcus Fong Chapter 42: Surprises and Shades -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Let's just stay calm, and no one will get hurt," the Manakyr leader smirked. He gestured, and his half-dozen men fanned out to surround the Spider Walker and Davin, Marcine and Mika. Marcine bit her lip, casting an anxious glance at Davin. If he had been in good shape, she wouldn't hesitate to fight it out; but as exhausted as he was... ...but if they let the Manakyr capture them, who knew what might happen? Her fists clenched... And then the cave exploded into swirling smoke. "Come _on_!" Mika hissed, as the startled cries of the Manakyr echoed off the walls from all directions. Marcine looked around wildly, completely failing to catch even a glimpse of Mika or Davin through the smoke. "This way!" Mika's voice drifted urgently from the haze. Marcine closed her eyes, picked the direction she thought it had come from, and followed. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Where's Marcine?" Davin asked, looking back down the twisting corridor for any sign of her. "That's funny." Mika peered into the semi-darkness as well. "I could've sworn she was just behind us..." Davin leaned heavily against the wall. Mika's smokescreen had saved them from capture, but it had also split them up. "Why did you take off like that?" he snapped. "We could've just gotten back into the Spider Walker and--" "Ha!" Mika snorted. "Could _you_ have climbed back up that thing in all the smoke?" Davin had to give her that one. "Anyway, we've gotta go back and--" "No, we don't," Mika snapped, poking him with a finger. "You need to rest, and we need to wait until those guys leave." Grabbing his arm, she pulled him down the tunnel. "But Marcine--" Mika hid her worried expression. "She'll be fine, Big Brother." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Marcine was well and truly lost. Davin and Mika had been right in front of her just a few minutes ago. Then she'd lost them for a moment in the thinning clouds of smoke, and when she came out they were nowhere to be found. She rounded another corner, hoping to see them, and gasped in surprise. Dull metal decking replaced the rough stone of the cave floor. What _was_ this? She drew back for an instant... Heavy footfalls echoed from up the corridor behind. Marcine hesitated, searching the hallway ahead, then dashed forward and slapped a button on the wall. A door slid open in front of her and she slipped through, quickly readying a spell to silence whoever might be inside-- Her staff fell from nerveless fingers, clattering noisily on the floor. "Welcome, my Legacy." Darovan's expression was smooth and unreadable. Something hungry flickered briefly in his eyes. "I knew you would come." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Are we there yet?" Davin quipped. Mika shot her brother a Look. He grinned, raising his palms defensively. "Hey, Big Brother, if you want to lead, just say so," she grumbled. Davin managed to smile through his mounting fatigue. He really _did_ need rest, and soon. "C'mon, through here." Mika led him down another passageway... They halted, blinking. Davin suppressed a sudden chill. The wide room in front of them wasn't earth, it was metal. And in it was a confusing jumble of complicated equipment, all darkened and silent. "What the...?" "Perfect!" Mika crowed, pulling Davin inside. "No one'll think to look in here. C'mon!" "But--" "No buts!" She dragged him inside and found a roomy space tucked neatly behind several large pieces of machinery. "This'll do just fine," she declared, reaching into her pouch. "Okay, Big Brother, time for your nap. Drink this." "Mika--" "Just trust me. You'll be rested a lot quicker this way," she ordered, handing him a small vial. He made a face, but swallowed it anyway. "Gah. Mika, what _was_ tha--" Mika caught Davin before he could hit his head on the floor, and arranged him in a comfortable position. "'Night, Big Brother," she murmured, and leaned back against the wall to keep watch. One thing taken care of, anyway. After Big Brother woke up, they would have to sneak out and find Marcine, and then get back to the Spider Walker without being discovered... Mika sighed. All this sneaking around was getting on her nerves. _At times like this, I wish I was calmer. More like..._ She wished Shizuka were with her. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Sitting alone on her bunk, Shizuka regarded Griever sadly. "This one wishes Mistress Gilchrist were here," she whispered to the toy. Then she felt momentarily silly. Ninjas were supposed to suppress their feelings, after all. To practice the shadow arts, one had to be perfectly centred emotionally. _But that doesn't mean you can't have emotions._ Shizuka could almost hear Cid's voice behind the thought. She shook her head in frustration. Her path seemed to be more clouded every day. What was her duty now? Where did it lie? Ever since Master Cid had stopped her from expiating her failure... _Master Cid is a good and honourable man, Mika. You should not concern yourself._ Shizuka curled up on the bunk. She'd never met Master Cid before the fight with Gilgamesh in Tienne, but she'd learned a great deal about the legendary Light Warrior from her clan as she grew up. Enough to know all along that he would stop her. Right up until the instant he'd halted her dagger, a second's flash of doubt... She opened her eyes, looking into Griever's bedraggled face. "Your mistress is my duty now," she whispered to the toy. Reaching over the side of the bed, she probed gently into her pack, touching a cool metal object within. . . . "Shizuka, you _have_ to take it! I can't use it. No one else can," Mika argued. The Spider Walker was ready outside, and Davin and Marcine were loading it with supplies for the trip from Tienne to Dwarvenhome. "Mistress G--Mika. Please. This one cannot bear such a mark of failure..." Mika shook her head stubbornly. "That's not what Syeira would have wanted, and you know it." She paused. "We'll need every edge we can get. Or else you'll die, and then without you we might die too..." "Mika..." Shizuka closed her eyes, sorting through her inner chaos. "Mika!" Davin yelled from outside. "Oops, gotta go!" Mika yelped. She grabbed Shizuka's hand and laid the Plume Bracer into it, then looked up with serious eyes. "We _need_ you to have this, Shizuka. Keep it." Shizuka stood there, feeling the cold weight of the Plume Bracer in her hands. She might not have Syeira's skills, but she was still a mistress of the shadow arts. There were a thousand ways she could have the bracer back on Mika's person without the younger girl ever being aware of it... She was still standing there as the Spider Walker hissed outside, drawing long, steaming breaths, and clanked away. . . . Slowly, Shizuka withdrew her hand from the pack. Not yet. She couldn't put it on yet. But when the time came... _What's happened to you?_ she asked herself. But she already knew the answer. And try as she might, she couldn't make herself regret it. Rolling over, she went to sleep, Griever sitting next to her on the pillow. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "W--what do you want?" Marcine stammered, eyeing the Phoen Staff where it lay on the floor. She mentally flicked through her spells, knowing it was hopeless. One-on-one against the legendary Caller? She wouldn't stand a chance. "Merely to talk, child." Darovan's gaze flicked to the staff. "Pick that up, if you like. I have no intention of harming you, my young Legacy." "Stop calling me that," Marcine said, watching him warily as she bent to retrieve her staff. True enough, he didn't even move. "I'm not your anything." Darovan chuckled. Not menacingly, not booming with power as his laugh had echoed across Tienne... just a simple, amused sound. "Very well then... Marcine Cavanaugh, is it not?" He gestured to a chair in the sparsely furnished room, twin to the one he sat in. "Why not sit down?" Marcine tensed... but what else could she do? She sat down, resolving to wait for an opening and then make a break for it. Find Davin and Mika, and get out of there... if they hadn't been captured already. Or worse. She forced down her anxiety. Davin might be exhausted, and Mika not much of a fighter, but the two of them were clever and resourceful. They'd be fine. All she had to do was get back to them-- "I need your help... Marcine." Marcine looked up, eyes wide in surprise. "You--what?" "I need your help," Darovan repeated quietly. "My help." Marcine tightened her grip on the Phoen Staff. "What for? To conquer the world? Or just devastate it again, like you did a thousand years ago?" The words were out of her mouth before she could reconsider; Marcine shrank back as Darovan's eyes suddenly blazed... And then he sighed, spreading his hands in resignation. "I see the Church has taught you well, child." His eyes narrowed. "Just as they no doubt taught you to despise all heretics. All those who use magic to harm... or to help." "I--I healed someone," Marcine retorted. "That was all. I never--not like you--" "I see." Darovan nodded, his face dark and intense. "And since then--since that first noble act--have you never hurt anyone with magic? Have you and your friends never killed?" "I... we..." Marcine faltered. "But they were trying to kill us. We had no choice..." His gaze burned into hers. "You see? Thus does the Church make monsters of us all." Marcine shook her head desperately. "I--no. No. You're twisting it, you're twisting everything..." "Am I?" Darovan's voice was gentle, soothing... but his eyes were shadowed beacons. "Our cause is the same. To share the gift of True Majik with the world... end wars, heal ills... restore loved ones." Loved ones. The words burned as they hung in the air. "Davin..." Marcine whispered. Please let him be all right... "So, you do understand." Darovan raised one hand. "But I forget myself. You must be tired." "N--no," Marcine protested weakly, struggling to rise. "I..." She tried to remember. There was something she had to do, wasn't there? Something important... "Sleep." Darovan's eyes expanded, filling the world as Marcine's vision darkened and faded. And then there was nothing but shadows. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Piette slumped painfully, still tied to his chair. What did D want? he wondered fuzzily. He could barely even remember half the questions; they seemed to blur into a vague mental fog. He knew one thing, though; whatever D wanted, it wouldn't be long before he got it. Piette was already near breaking point. He shifted slightly, prompting a stab of pain from his cramped left shoulder. Piette bit back a moan. Was anyone ever going to come for him? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Marcine." Marcine's eyes fluttered. She sat up, bringing a hand up to her head. "I... Where am I?" The Phoen Staff lay on the bunk by her side. Grasping it, she pulled herself upright. "I was supposed to be doing something, wasn't I?" Marcine said aloud, trying to focus her thoughts. Her head was just so _heavy_... "Yes." Darovan appeared in front of her, an Egg in his hand. Golden flashes shifted and danced across its crimson surface. "I need you to restore my own loved one, Legacy." "Help... you." Marcine nodded slowly. This was what she was supposed to be doing. Wasn't she...? He held out the Egg. "I ask you to use this. To return her to me." Slowly, as if dreaming, Marcine reached out and took the Egg. Heat bathed her hands as she cupped it gently. Her lips moved, the words barely audible. "Immortal... eternal... across the void, I call to you..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- For the first time in nearly a thousand years, it appeared before an empty mortal shell. A piercing cry. A flash of devouring white fire. Silence. And the steady beat of a heart. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Big Brother! Wake up!" "Uhh..." Davin opened his eyes to see Mika's face before him. "Mika? Lemme sleep... s'not time to get up yet--" Whap. "Yes, it _is_!" Mika hissed. "We have to find Marcine and get out of here, remember?" That woke him up fast. Davin sat up hastily, rubbing his eyes. "...hey. I feel a lot better. What _was_ that stuff you gave me, Mika?" He looked around. "And where are we?" "Handy for power-naps, isn't it?" his sister giggled. She pointed to the various heaps of equipment scattered around the room. "This looks like some kind of spare parts storage." Davin looked around, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "If this is spare parts, then I'd hate to see the real thing. These things are huge!" Mika nodded gravely. "I dunno... this place feels kinda familiar. Like I've seen stuff like this somewhere before..." She hesitated. "Only this is bigger." Davin suppressed a shiver. "Bigger." This obviously wasn't just some simple cave they'd stumbled on... Well, whatever this meant, it would have to wait. "Come on," he told Mika, and checked to make sure his sword was ready at his side. "Let's find Marcine--" The room trembled. A faint, shrill cry echoed through the alloy walls, and for an instant Davin thought he saw pure white light flooding past, through the walls... _Marcine--!_ "Wait for me, Big Brother!" Mika yelled, chasing after him. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Ohh..." Marcine swayed on her feet. Calling Phoenix had drained her more than she would ever have expected. "Did... did it work?" she whispered hoarsely. "Yes," Darovan murmured. "Yes..." Marcine's dazed mind registered something odd about his voice. An undertone of... not relief. Not happiness, either... "But there is still much work to be done." Darovan turned to her, his voice resounding with barely suppressed glee. "Come, my Legacy." He extended his hand. "...yes..." Marcine's hand shook as it reached out to Darovan's, inch by inch... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Are you sure this is the right way, Big Brother?" Mika whispered tensely. "Got any better ideas? Okay, now... go!" The two of them crept silently across the corridor, behind the backs of the Manakyr guards, and Davin allowed himself a moment to congratulate himself on how well they were doing. Of course, that meant that they reached the end of the passageway and rounded the next corner only to bump straight into the selfsame patrol. "HALT!" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Alarms shrieked piercingly, filling the room with discordant echoes. Marcine gasped, pulling her hand away to regain her balance. "What?" Darovan barked, his expression suddenly hard. "Who would dare--?" The door slid open, and a young man in Manakyr robes hastened to bow. "Forgive me, my lord. A security patrol reports sighting two intruders, a young man and a girl--" _Young man... girl..._ Marcine's eyes widened. "Kill them," Darovan said coldly. _Mika..._ "Yes, lord." The young mage bowed and was gone. _Davin._ Darovan turned back to her, ignoring the mechanical wails from all sides. "Come, child." He extended a hand. The young mage squeezed her eyes shut. The alarm pierced her brain, over and over... _This one believes he may have attempted to magically influence your mind._ Shizuka's voice drifted up from her memories, warning. Marcine took a step back, shaking her head violently. "No. No, I won't." Darovan's tone turned firm. "Legacy. _Come._" Marcine shook her head once more, trying to organise her thoughts. The siren's jolting screeches were helping a bit, breaking up the flow of Darovan's words. "No. I won't help you. I--I can't." "Why not?" The ancient Caller dropped back into a soothing voice. "Our causes are the same, after all..." "No!" Marcine managed. "You--you want to break the third crystal. Release whatever it is that's being imprisoned. And--" She hesitated a split second. "And you're trying to kill my friends. The ones _I_ love." "You _will_ come with me, my Legacy," Darovan said quietly. Now there _was_ menace in his voice. Marcine paled, raising her staff reflexively as she backed away. "That toy won't help you." He laughed. In that second of distraction, Marcine's hand darted into her pouches; evidently, Darovan had been confident enough to leave her with all her equipment. The first thing her fingers met was a smooth sphere. She didn't need to examine it to know that it was jet black, swirled with deep, dark red. Marcine almost recoiled; then she weighed up her fears and made a choice. "From thy eternal slumber I call to thee! Keeper of the underworld, darkness beyond darkness! In the name of the Manakyr, I summon thee! Hades--!" Marcine fell silent, staring horrified at the sphere as it jumped and rocked in her hand. Darovan stepped back a pace, as the red and black whirled and mingled, throwing themselves against the sides of the Egg... The Egg burst in a rush of blood-streaked darkness, and Marcine screamed. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Davin skidded to a sudden halt. "What's wrong, Big Brother?" Mika asked urgently. "Come on, we've got to keep moving!" "Something's wrong," he breathed. "The spirits are disturbed, I can sense it. Something's really wrong..." Closing his eyes, he reached out to the local spirits, hoping for some clue as to what was happening-- A tidal wave of darkness broke over him, absolute and engulfing. Davin gasped and started to break contact... "no. youuu folloowwwww." The voice was faint, but distinct; the darkness seemed to recede a little. "i guiiddddeee." And with that his normal vision returned, leaving only a faint sense in the corner of his mind. _folloowww shadooowwwssss. thisss waaayyyyy,_ the familiar voice hissed. Davin didn't hesitate. He grabbed Mika, and they ran. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Guardian souls, grant us your defense! Shell!" Marcine shouted. The air before her flared pink just as a hurtling mass of inky shadow struck it and glanced off. The cowled figure floated silently in the centre of the room, the tip of its hood brushing the ceiling. Blots of darkness peeled away from it and disappeared, rushing out through the walls. Shouts and screams filtered back in from outside. Darovan looked thunderously angry as he raised his hands, chanting the words of a spell... only to have to break off and erect his own barrier, as some of the flying shadows sped dangerously close. Marcine shrank back, raising her staff as she fumbled for a spell. What could she use against a Sleeper? "_HADES!_" Darovan roared. "I command you--!" The cowled figure turned, catching sight of Darovan... and all at once the room erupted with a silent, insane scream. _YOU!_ Marcine staggered as the mental shriek blasted into her. Her Shell wavered, fading away under the onslaught, and she started to mouth the words to cast a new one-- The air around Hades seemed to explode as dozens of dark missiles shot away in every direction. Marcine's mystic shield flashed and shattered as a swarm of projectiles smashed through. She didn't even have time to scream as she was enveloped... An iron grip descended on her arm, and she _did_ scream. "come." Marcine looked wildly about, but the darkness was all around her. In the throes of panic, she twisted, getting a glimpse of a battered gauntlet closed tightly around her upper arm. "davvviiiinnnn. yyoouuu folloowww." "Davin?" she gasped. "Where--?" "followw." The grip pulled her along, and there wasn't much else to do. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Sword weave in drunken dance of destruction--SPLIT!--" The squad of Manakyr mages stared wide-eyed at their suddenly shattered rods, and made a hasty retreat out of Davin's way. "Hey, cool! Where'd you learn that, Davin?" "No time for that," Davin panted. "We have to find Marcine." He touched the shadows once again for a reference point-- Darkness swallowed him again. "heerreee." Something warm and soft was suddenly in his arms. "Wha--?" "Davin?" "Marcine?" two voices asked simultaneously. "ggoooo nnoww." Davin broke free of his confusion and looked around, but failed to see anything. "But why?" he called into the blackness. "Why help me again?" "yyoouuu bothh ssstronggg," the shadows hissed back. "mussttt livveee... to sstop darovaannn. "farewell." The light of the corridor was blinding. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- In the control room, all was chaos. "Medic squad to corridor eight B--" "--seal off section forty-six A..." "Two teams to--" "We're rapidly losing control of the situation, sir," one of the Manakyr reported to his superior. "At least one group of infiltrators, and who knows how many of those shadow things--" "Any orders from Lord Darovan?" "No, sir... should we release the Atma Beasts? Or the--?" "No," his superior said instantly. "No, that won't be necessary. The Atma Beasts would only add to the confusion out there. And as for _that_... once we release it, nothing will be able to contain it again." "Understood, sir." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Flames of the earth, fire of the sun, lend your energy to become an inferno... the perfect blaze! TriFire!" Marcine cried, filling the corridor with a sea of flames. Robed Manakyr scattered on all sides as the three darted past. "Are you _sure_ this is the right way, Big Brother?" "No," Davin admitted as they dashed down another corridor. "I figure as long as we keep going up, eventually we'll hit the surface. The walker's probably there." Another twist. Another turn-- "See! I told you so!" Davin cried triumphantly as the Spider Walker came into view... ...along with a squad of Manakyr, who all looked up as the three approached. "Oops..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Piette stuck his head around the corner of his cell. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but the sounds of battle coming from all around him suggested that _something_ wasn't going right for his Manakyr captors. In the middle of it all, something had been kind enough to hurtle through a wall and smash the lock on his cell. It wasn't very safe outside, of course; but then, Piette hadn't been much safer as a prisoner. He moved along as quickly as he could, keeping a wary eye out for Manakyr or any of the other strange things around. All clear. Then he noticed the scroll, apparently dropped by someone running quickly down the corridor. Common sense told him to leave it and hurry to find the exit. But Piette was a scholar. He picked it up and began to read it, silently. _Souls of the restless dead who thirst for vengeance--_ Piette shivered and hastily closed the scroll, recognising it as a magic spell. He wasn't going to make _that_ mistake again in a hurry. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep it with him. Just in case. He peered around the next corner. Which was the way out...? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The cave receded rapidly in the distance, as the Spider Walker trotted away. Davin heaved a sigh. "Man... I didn't think we'd get out of that one." Marcine nodded pensively... then brightened. "You look a lot better, Davin. What happened?" "Oh... right. I had a good sleep, thanks to Mika." Davin looked over to where Mika was fast asleep, leaning against the inside of the walker. He glanced back at Marcine. "Are you sure you're okay, Marcine?" "Huh? I--I'm fine," Marcine told him, privately unsure if it was true. "I--I just, well... in there, I..." She trailed off. Davin nodded seriously. "I guess... we've both got stories to tell." He shrugged. "We've got a day or two, maybe, before we get to Dwarvenhome... so we'll have some time." A pause. "Wanna talk about it?" Marcine thought about it for a second... then nodded. "I think... that would be good." Davin's arm slipped tentatively around her shoulders. "Maybe it'll make you feel better?" Marcine just smiled and leaned her head against him, watching as the shadows deepened on the horizon. Author's Notes: Thanks to Brian and Terence for prereading and many constructive suggestions. Special thanks to Terence for all his help with plot and continuity. ^_^ Finally... since this is chapter 42, I hereby pay tribute to the memory of Douglas Adams. Wherever you are, Mr. Adams, may you never forget your towel. Marcus 26/6/2001