An hour before the sun rose over the horizon, Reed Amend threw off the covers to his bed. With a wince he tenderly rubbed his left shoulder, sometime the day before he must have strained a muscle clearing away that stump in his new grazing field. But that was no matter and Reed got to his morning ritual. Bowed on one leg, before the Holy Tri-fan, he recited his morning prayers the way he had learned decades ago in the Seminary. In his early life his Father had hoped that he'd join one of the three priesthoods but a lack of funds, along with the untimely death of his Father, had forced Amend, an only child, back to the farm. Still, his time at Seminary had not been without its lessons. As the sun began to rise, Reed finished his prayers and, with a strain that seemed to grow in recent years, shuffled to his feet for a quick breakfast; ten minutes later he was out in the fields. A quarter past nine, just after he had inspected the new fencing the McGovern twins had thrown up the day before, his neighbor Anne Fredrick came by with a sampling of her new crop of Gray Corns. "Good 'ay Anne," he greeted her. She nodded, "To you as well Reed." He sauntered around her horse carriage to the storage compartment. A quick inspection confirmed that Anne had indeed pulled off another good season with a hard a crop as the Gray Corn. A taste sampling soon confirmed his suspicions. "I'll 'ake three 'ozen cobblers," he grunted. "Very well." "'ho is the rest of the village 'hese days?" She grinned, "Why don't you ask widow Atkins?" He squinted at her even though she meant it in jest, "I'll 'ave none o' that." She chuckled pleasantly, "Same as always. The town's fine, except..." "Except wha'?" She shook her head; "The Thomson boy came into town earlier and was spouting off crazy talk. The Constable nearly cracked his head open he did." "Nonsense. I've known Owen 'homson since I 'ame back from seminary, his son seemed no 'ifferent." Anne brought a hand to her cheek, "I know. But the boy swore he saw a giant steaming spider in his fields." "A spider?" "I know, crazy. And here's the best part: he said a dwarf, two men and a small girl fell out of its mouth and then climbed back in after poisoning his water well. Course now the spider's gone and all he says are left is holes in his field. Thinks it's the end of days, he does." "Crazy." "Yeah. I mean, giant spiders? What's the world coming to?" ---------------------------------------------- FINAL FANTASY LEGACY Knights of the Round Chapter 47 – Spiders and Whales FFL Created by Brian Stricklin This Chapter by Doublemint ---------------------------------------------- Bolgan Valecrest warily eyed the hull of the battleship Excelsior; a once familiar sight now studded with heretical magic stones, heretically enchanted Starsilver bindings and retrofitted with Gods knew what else. Edrin Greenhill, who was using heretical magic to escape the pull of gravity, gave Bolgan a hearty slap on the back. "She's a marvel to behold, if I do say so. Quite unlike I'd ever hoped to see, let alone work on." Bolgan cast a free eye to the man who was a (ex)heretic in the eyes of the Church. Sighing, he turned back to face what had become his life's work. "She'll only be a marvel if we can get her off the ground." Kalya, who was wiping away oil from her hands, cut into the conversation, "That, and provided she doesn't snap it half doing so." "That too." Edrin shook his head sadly, "Always the realist, eh?" "Someone in this unit has to be." Valecrest looked back down at the mathematics neatly inscribed on the paper in his hands and shook his head. "It'll never fly, even *with* magic, the steam engines just can't put out the power need." "What about if we strap some-" "No. Absolutely no more magic." Kalya arched an eyebrow, "Why not?" "Look," Bolgan threw an arm at the grounded battleship. "I cannot - I simply cannot - entrust *magic* of all things to protect the lives of the soldiers of the Church and the best of the Mystic Academy during the worst case scenarios." Edrin stood arms akimbo, "Why not, good sir?" "Because it's magic!" He exploded. "Bad enough High Mother Cecilina made me use this, but if magic is needed to simply keep it *in* the air then...then...I'd...well, I'd rather have it rot on the ground!" Kalya put a hand on his shoulder, "I understand how you feel, but magik is something you are going to have to trust. I don't see you, outside of getting another Crystal of Wisdom, finding something that can continually power the Excelsior. Even the Cult of Manakyr, much as I hate to admit it, came to the same conclusion with their airships." Edrin clapped happily, "Give me two days and I'll figure out how to cast TriFloat!" "Read my lips. No. More. Magic." "But-" "Excuse me," an elderly man in a brown cloak, who had snuck up on him during the intense discussion, poked Valecrest in the ribs with a staff, "but you are in charge of this operation, are you not?" "Yeah," he groaned, "who wants to know?" Bolgan turned around and at once identified the man, who, by now, was smiling knowingly at the Master Engineer. "Master Benedict of the Mystic Academy." "Master! My apologies, I didn't realize-" Benedict hushed the man with a wave, "It's alright. I've come on more important matters than a social call." "You have?" Benedict nodded, "I understand you have a problem with your wonderful airship, Master Engineer." "Ah...yes. The heretical magic works better than I hoped, when it does work that is. We just don't have a-" "Power source? I think I can be of assistance." ------------- Eileen Zadkiel had been hated and hunted all her life. All because when she was a child she got so excited playing in the autumn leaves, so excited that one summer day she imagined flying up to the trees and playing in those fields of green and, impossibly, she did. She thought it was a dream, a wonderful dream. Then her local pastor found out innocently from one of her friends and her dream became a nightmare. She was stoned by her neighbors, chased by the Church's guard and even disowned by her parents. They disowned their only child! She might have been cast into the Wall of Sinners had it not been for kindly old man Hunter. He had smuggled her out of the village in his cart and got her passage to a 'safe place' with 'lots of good friends'. Eileen had been sad at first but her new family reminded her how everyone, even her own parents had treated her like a leper. She was safe with them and she would have 'all the trees you can dance in'. Now, fifty-some-odd years later she command the new flagship of the Manakyr fleet; the Enterprise. The newest, most advanced model airship in the fleet; based off the last known blueprints to the Church's pathetically underpowered Excelsior. It might have been better for her had her promotion done more with recognition of her own ability than the death of everyone preceding her in the command structure. Still, she had no regrets. She served the cause any way she could. Many likened her to the Atma Beasts for her fidelity and awesome capability for rage. "The Lord Darovan wishes to see me?" The young acolyte nodded, "Yes. Immediately." She stood up from her bunk, "Then I shall return with you." The acolyte nodded and she headed off to the chambers of their master with him. Today would be her day of recognition, of her devotion finally acknowledged. She was sure of it. ------------- Benedict had dragged Bolgan down to some sub-vault to see something. What exactly? Benedict wouldn't explain, Bolgan only hoped it was worth the time. "So tell, me again, what is it you wanted to see?" Two sets of feet impacted the grounds outside the ancient vault. Coming to a halt at the large iron door. "They're called Sun Stones." The giant iron door creaked open; Bolgan Valecrest and Master Benedict entered the vault. A stone gargoyle seemed to be pouncing at them as they entered but it was a trick of the shadows, nothing more. "I've never heard of...wait...are they related to Moon Stones?" "Supposedly, the theory is that if you leave a Moon Stone in a constant beam of sunlight for millennia they become a Sun Stone." "But how do you account for the rotation of the planet if you need constant sunlight to charge the Moon Stone?" "No need to, considering where they were located by my Geomancers." "Let me guess..." he quieted for a moment before answering, "the Starsilver Mine in the Yahl Russa?" "You're the first person to get that on the first try. I should ask you back to instruct my students on non-magic solutions." "Gee, thanks. I guess." "You're welcome. Now, which Sun Stone do you want to try?" Bolgan looked at the two stones sitting on a nearby pedestal. One was the size of a man's fist and the other the size of a child's. Both cast an unearthly glow about them. The Master Engineer turned warily to Benedict. "You're *sure* these aren't heretical?" "Aside from the fact nothing seems heretical anymore, yes. Sun Stones would fall in the gravity of the Mystic Academy. That's why they're here; they were to undergo further study for possible applications in the GOLeM Program." "All right," Bolgan grabbed the bigger of the two Sun Stones, "let's test this thing out. If your Geomancers are right, this may be the solution to my airship problem." "No time like the present." And they both left. ------------- Tienne was a city broken; a carcass carved open for all the buzzards of the world to pick away at. Or so Cid hoped it would look. "So your telling me that you feel the new squad of Dragoons is ready for combat?" The captain nodded, "Yes sir, aside from their relative inexperience with the latest generation of Boost technologies their combat skills are top-notch." The old mystic ran a hand through his hair, "But you have some reservations, don't you?" The dragoon captain sighed, "It's nothing personal, but I don't feel that the new squad would be...responsible in combat." "Meaning you think they'll turncoat." "Look sir," he cut back, "I'll train them, I'll equip them, and I'll even help them put their magics to use in an aerial sortie, but to ask me to put my faith in-" "I understand," Cid put a hand on the captain's shoulder, "but you need to learn to trust theses people. We need all the help we can get. The Manakyr are going to come back." This caused the captain to grin, "And when they do, are they in for a surprise." ------------- Kayla gazed at the Sun Stone, which seemed to pulse organically in the midday's sunlight. Aside from a golden glow surrounding the misshapen rock some sort of optical illusion made her think that the stone was both pitch black and blazing white at the same instant. In short, it was the most fantastic thing she had ever seen. Edrin coughed behind his descendant, "I think you've seen enough. Let the other children have a look." "Hush," she snapped, "I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate this into the master drive engine. Let me think." "Oh," he sighed with defeat, "you mean besides having a Master Geomancer rework into a suitable shape and then pop it into the energy alternator for a baseline power examination?" "...Uh...well...um...no." Bolgan sighed, "Kayla, let Edrin have his turn." ------------- The attendant had stopped at the double-doors leading to Darovan's Chamber, saying he hadn't the status or permission to enter. Eileen didn't argue, instead accepting his explanation and entering alone. When you grow up learning about someone like Darovan, the common Manakyr would sometimes wonder how a god among men would live. Most said that Darovan lived among the clouds, others in a common field soldier's tent. Zadkiel had expected something along the lines of the later, being that was the way she lived and she, by the accursed Gods, tried to live like Darovan would want her to. She wasn't expecting an empty room. Eileen wanted to run her hands through her short pepper-colored hair. Why was she suddenly nervous? Darovan, her Lord, called to her, "Come Admiral, I have something of great importance to discuss." She hurried to his side and crouched there, "I obey, my Lord." "I understand the preparations for the launch are almost complete," he started. "Yes, my Lord." "When can we get underway?" She looked up at Darovan, bewildered, "My Lord?" He spoke again, agitated, "When can launch the base?" He wanted to launch? Now? There was still so much work to be done. There must be some logical reason. "At sunset, my Lord. If you so order." Darovan chuckled darkly, "The order is given. You are dismissed." "I obey," she swore faithfully and began to hurry out of the room. Before she could, she slowed and turned around. "My Lord?" Darovan's head snapped around to meet her eyes, "What?" "I mean no disrespect, but the base's defensive systems aren't fully operational yet. So why are we launching now?" "Because the offensive systems are," Darovan snapped back. A flush filled Eileen's face, "Of course." She rushed, though dignity, out of the room. As the double-doors closed behind her, and she let go of the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, a strange thought took up residency in her mind. A thought that felt alien and wrong to her. Maybe...her Lord didn't have the best intentions of the troops in mind. ------------- Bolgan, Kayla and Edrin sat at their 'special' table. Wanting to keep an eye on them, Bolgan had ordered them to eat with him at every meal, mostly to keep tabs on the two (ex)heretics. He had learned to regret that decision. "But I've never seen a Master do that kind of stuff before!" Kayla clenched her teeth, "He's just reshaping a rock, no need for spectators." "But it's a Sun Stone! Come on, I saw how you were ogling in before!" The woman's voice rose to a higher pitch than she would have preferred, "I was not *ogling* the rock!" "Come now granddaughter, maybe its time we had a talk about the birds and bees." "I'm not your granddaughter, I merely an out-of-the-ways descendant. Besides, I don't need you of all people lecturing me on the 'birds and the bees'." "What's that supposed to mean?" Bolgan Valecrest sighed; it was going to be a long lunch. ------------- Cecilina tightened the knot against the cries of the barer, "Make sure you change this bandage every nine hours. Do you understand?" "Yes," the small child moaned. Mother Cecilina put a hand on the child's shoulder, "Look, I know things aren't going well but you have to keep a good chin up. Right?" The boy nodded slowly. She smiled, "Good. Now let's get to meal, shall we?" "You'll have to go on ahead of her child," a strong voice called out, "I need to barrow Cecilina for a moment." The child looked hesitantly at her. "It's alright," she said softly, "I'll catch up." "Ok," and the boy limped off. Cecilina turned to face her brother, her bright smile fading, "How go the preparations?" "Better than I hoped," he smiled, "when the Manakyr come back looking for easy pickings they're going to get a nice little present." "And you want me to put on the bow?" "I know you have little time with running the orphanage," he said solemnly, "but I need this last small favor. Please?" "Cid," she chided her brother, "if you knew half of what it took to run this place your head would explode." "Me? Run an orphanage? I'd probably turn them into magik wielding soldiers-of-fortune by the end of the week." The thought seemed strangely funny to the woman, "Knowing you...heh...alright. I'll help the war effort." "Good," Cid responded in a chipper manner, "does tomorrow morning sound good?" "Sure." ------------- "Fantastic really, I mean, imagine it: an amazingly speedy airship that never needs to land. Well, I suppose it would need to eventually. You know, for repair or re-supply or crew shifts or-" Kayla sighed, "Enough Edrin. Just let Valecrest do his job." "Besides Greenhill, we still don't know if the it will produce the kind of power we need for the engines." "But isn't that what this testing is for?" "Yes-" "So are you worried-" "Quiet." Bolgan said sharply, ignoring the mage and instead speaking over the intercom for the Excelsior. /This is the Bridge calling; begin the test. Over./ In the Engine Room, various engineers and technicians mentally nodded and went about their work. Manually connecting power cables and cooling lines, the Engine Room stormed with activity as the engine block was connected with the power siphoned off the Sun Stone. As the first tendrils of power flowed into the engines, an almost hazy glow was emitted in the resulting steam pumped in the turbines. A mid-level technician flipped a switch on the wall, opening a line to the Bridge. /This is the Engine Room. We have power connection, no problems here. Over./ On the bridge, the trio looked at each other with an unspoken thought running through each of their heads: this is it. Kayla, "How do the gauges read?" "Good." Edrin, "And the power supply?" "Not what I'd hoped." Both, "In what way?" Bolgan tapped the gauge reading of the power emitted from the Sun Stone, "If these readings are right, it's putting off just under 37% of the Wisdom Crystal's capabilities." Edrin mashed up his face, "So?" Kayla was a little more enthusiastic, "So it still puts off the needed power, with our modification, to get us going _and_ to stay in air. Right?" "Anyway," grinned Edrin, "I think that the Excelsior can finally get underway and, might I add, with a new vengeance." Kayla nodded deeply, "That it-." BOOM! "What was that?" Kayla asked bewilderedly. Bolgan practically threw himself at the intercom switch, "Engine Room! Status?" A voice crackled over the speaker, /Sir, *cough* the turbines blew! The mages say the Sun Stone interacted with the starsilver bindings and just...I don't know! *Cough* We're evacuating, I don't see anyone seriously hurt but, Master Bolgan, the Number One and Four turbines are just _gone_ and there's damage to Three and Five. I *cough* have to g-" Bolgan stared at the line as the speaker poured out white noise and went dead. He looked over at his colleagues, "It's over; we can't use the Sun Stone." Edrin, "Why not?" "Because when you try to pass siphoned energy from it near starsilver it BLOWS UP, that's why!" Kayla glanced nervously out the cabin window, "I think a Shell spell might do the trick next time, starsilver tends to receive it rather well." "Maybe a Slow spell to reduce decay time?" Edrin suggested. "Whatever," Bolgan sighed with disgust, "I need to see how my men are doing." "Look at it this way," Edrin shrugged, "at least this day can't get worse." Edrin suddenly found himself on the receiving end of two *very* powerful glares. "What?" ------------- With a stained handkerchief to his brow, Reed Amend finished another day. All in all it had been a good day. The fence to the new grazing land was ready and his best cattle were ready for breeding. Now he could wash up and boil some of that fine Gray Corn he had purchased earlier. On the walk back to his ranch the crazy talk of the Thomson boy that Anne had told him echoed in his mind. "No need 'or that sort o' stuff," he muttered to no one in particular, "'specially with all 'hem rumors floating 'bout." Strange rumors indeed: talk of the Cult coming back, attacking Tienne, and the Mystic Academy, of it taking over port towns and whatnot. Not to mention the strange beams of light shooting into the sky for no reason at all or the merchants from down south saying the Church was repealing its ban on the true magics. Reed shook his head, 'what is the world coming to' indeed. A shadow arched across his field, blotching out the sun. This perked the rancher's interests, after a lifetime on the ranch he could time to an instant in his head when the sun would rise and set. It was about a hundred and three seconds too early and there were no clouds in the sky. Curious, he twisted his head to determine the source of the blockage and, promptly, fell to his knees aghast. A mountain was blocking the sun. From the great distance Reed could see massive clumps of rock and dirt shake off and plummet to the earth below. This was no ordinary flying mountain, not there was such a thing, but that it looked like a city was creeping over the mountain's horizon, like lichen on a river stone. What's more, giant flying...somethings were all around the mountain. It was as if the numerous dots were schools of fish following in the wake of a flying whale. It was impossible. It was insane. He cried out, "'homson boy was right, 'tis the end o' days! The end o' days are 'ere!" ============= Author's Notes: God. Good. God. This was a very fun but very draining experience. It's my first Impro and only my fourth or fifth published fan-fic. I can only hope I didn't screw up anyone's plans or anyone's characters; I've found I'm not too good at writing villains. The Sun Stone was from Chrono Trigger. Yes, it's not Final Fantasy, but its still SquareSoft. Also, there's no continuity issue because even though the stuff came from the Starsilver Mine it was only when the processed energy was pumped by the mystic metal did it go boom. The character of the farmer is a throwaway, not meant to ever really be used again. Just to provide a sort of common-folk viewpoint of world events. I'd like to give a whole-hearted thanks to my prereaders, Kate Malloy and Terence Furgusson, who without they're much needed commentary and plot suggestions this fic would get me flamed faster than a sinner in hell. No joke. Lastly, I'd like to give thanks to the creator of this series, Brian Stricklin, who without this series would not exist. Until next time, Doublemint (10-03-2001) doublemint2000@hotmail.com