(I, MATTHEW Schuele, have to contribute this via a family member's mailbox as
mine is down for good.  Kaufmann liked this and was going to post it, and he
says he thinks it reached you, but isn't certain.  And it's not in the recent
fanfic update, unless the update is in progress.  Here is:  "The War of the
Magi.)

I N T R O D U C T I O N
	
	I'm aware that this is only the second fanfic on the site to have an
introduction (Tomm Hulett's is the other,) and that ahuge introduction is
unneccesary for a single fan fiction piece, I'll keep this brief and
succinct.  I'm not a big fan of FFIV (VII and VI are my favorites,) but the
fact that the War of the Magi appears to begin (especially to American
players like myself, as not many of us have played FFV) right after  FFIV
ends (and lasts until the end of the FF Original Video Animation) provided
too many good ideas to restrain.  It was said by someone (Andrew Vestal
himself, I think, though it might have been someone else) that it's difficult
to get good ideas for fan fiction based on FFIV because it's such an open and
shut case.  Actually I found that it seemed to be the opposite way.  
	Because FFVII doesn't establish any major event  (the discovery of Mako
power, maybe, but that isn't all that epic) that could take place with the
characters of the previous games, as FFVI does with the War of the Magi, I
found that it was actually an interesting challenge to try to explain some of
the realities of the later games. For example, why don't the dwarves appear
again after FFIV?  How did Doom, Goddess, and Poltergeist get their hands on
those weapons?  How was Doom Gaze carrying around a Bahamut shard in his
mouth, and what role did he and Phunbaba have in the war?  How about the 8
Dragons?  And, most of all, if Rosa was the queen who kept that diary that
you find in the Underground Kingdom, and in it were entries saying that
whatever queen wrote it was in love with Odin,  what's going on there?!  
(Yes, I did end up making a reference to Camelot  eventually..... apparently
one of the FFVI designers really liked that movie.  That and Return of the
Jedi-  remember the scene on the floating continent?) I hope that this piece
will answer all of those questions to the reader's satisfaction.  Oh, and by
the way, if you find any discrepancies with this story and what was
established as having happened in the Final Fantasy series,  feel free to
point them out.
Matthew Schuele
12-21-97   

	Kain looked upward from his mountaintop perch toward the starry night sky. 
Looking at the stars-especially from such a high altitude, with no clouds to
hinder his vision-gave him an odd sense of peace.  Of inevitability, in fact.
 He wondered if his perception of a fraction only of what else might be out
there simply made him more aware of his own corporeality, mortality, and
humanity.
	Or of his lack of any significance on a universal scale.
	He did find it odd , though, that three stars seemed to be moving strangely.
 They glowed an intense white, and seemed to fall as if in formation .
	How could that be possible?  he wondered.  This is strange.  If they come
from the moon, could they be some remnant of-
	Zeromus?  He didn't want to think about it,  but it could be possible. 
Zeromus said that he fed off of hate and destruction.  Kain remembered how he
had seen Rosa once cause a zombie to disintegrate by chanting the Life spell
in its presence.  He also recalled Tellah's accidental ressurection- with a
dark spell - of the same creature.  Might the same principle be applicable
here?
	The strange celestial bodies were moving ever closer, and he decided that he
would need to get to Baron and inform Cecil and Rosa that their enemy might
not, in fact, have been defeated.
	As he descended to the foothills of the mountain he had called his home for
several months now, an awful realization struck Kain, and stuck in his mind
like the lingering stench of a decaying corpse, a smell that he'd had quite a
bit of experience with.
	What if he has become stronger?
	
	"Rosa, please come here!"  Cecil called form the balcony outside their
chambers.  "Do you see anything strange up there?"
	Rosa stepped through the open glass-paned door to see Cecil gazing up at the
stars.  "Well, no.  I've never been interested in astronomy-"
	"That's not what I meant.  Look at those stars- the ones getting close to
the horizon."
	Rosa peered at the stars Cecil had indicated.  "They're flying- together?"
	The roar of an airship was suddenly present almost directly overhead.  It
gradually dipped over the east wall of the castle and came to rest hovering
parallel with the balcony on which the king and queen stood.
	"Forgive me, sire," an off icer said walking up to the rail of the airship,
"but our passenger insisted that we stop here-"
	Kain stepped from behind one of the towering masts which supported the
airship's propellors.
	"Kain?"  Cecil inquired.  "Are you here because-"
	"Of the stars?  I was about to ask you if you'd noticed them."  A most
serious breach of ettiquite- cutting off royalty in mid-sentence!  A few of
the crewmen got he's-going-to-get-it-now kind of expressions on their faces,
but that had never bothered Rosa or Cecil.  Cecil had once confided in her,
before he had become the king, that he would like to see just how many
regulations the king might repeal if thrown into a survival situation for
several months or a year as they had been.
	"Yes.  Interesting, aren't they?  I'm concerned, though, because no stars
would behave like that."
	Suddenly, one of the flaming spheres roared directly overhead and impacted
just south of the city.  Kain muttered a curse and leapt over the railing of
the airship, landing on the balcony, and took off at a full sprint towards
the castle doors.  Cecil and Rosa followed as well as they could.  Everyone
else in the castle, Cecil noted as he ran, was leaving their respective
positions to see what might be going on out there.  Even Odin, the Esper
captain of the guard, ran to the city to see what was going on.
	The meteor had etched a small crater into the ground in front of the city. 
It was filled with roaring flames.  Then, slowly and menacingly, a black
shape rose from the fire to look over the terrified citizens.  It had a
smooth black hide with sharp muscles.  It stood astride a mount of what
looked like decaying bones and flesh.  Ichor dripped from its jaws, embedded
into a crescent-shaped head with triangular crests on top.  Some people
screamed as the terrifying figure loomed up to a height of ten meters  and
began to speak in a rasping hiss.
	"Who is the leader here?"  it asked.
	"I am," Cecil said, stepping forth from the crowd.
	"Then you should know this.  I and the others who traveled with me have been
fighting sice the dawn of time.  We have found this planet to be a suitable
battleground, and we suggest that you take sides.  For the followers of the
two who die will become food for the victor.  Is this understood?"  
	"And if we choose to oppose you?"  Cecil asked, standing defiant against
what were clearly insurmountable odds.
	"Then I will kill you all before the others.  It will be easy enough.  This
is a warning.  The battle to come will be even closer to your perception of
hell.  You have been warned."   With that, the creature disappeared in a
burst of flame.
	Nobody in Baron or any of the other cities that had been visited got a good
sleep that night.
	And as the people returned to their homes or the castle, Odin watched Rosa
from a dark alley with envious eyes.

	Cecil got the rather distinct impression that something needed to be done. 
Each of the beings had amassed a kind of cult following, from what field
scouts had reported to him.  Their names had also gotten out- the one that
had visited Baron- and Damcyan and Fabul, from what he had heard- was called
Doom.  There were two others, as well, called Goddess and Poltergeist.  In
fact, it was reported that a few minor skirmishes had occured as yet..... and
some onlookers reported seeing terrifying beasts in the thrall of the
travelers from the stars.
	"So," Rosa said one day, as Cecil sat in the throne room musing about what
course of action to take, "it wasn't Zeromus after all."
	"Hmm?" he replied.
	"Remember how Kain said he thought Zeromus might have survived?"
	Cecil shuddered inwardly as he thought of the terrible image that he, Rosa,
the Caller Rydia, Kain, and Prince Edge, the ninja from the underground human
kingdom, had fought in the deciding battle of the previous war.  The current
war wasn't really a continuation of the last one, and so was thought of
seperately.
	"Yes, now that you mention it, I do.  You know, I was thinking-"
	"Oh boy-"
	"-that if we're going to provide direct opposition to the..... beings, we
need to do so in the most direct  way possible.  We need to know where
battles are going to be fought, and then rush in, do as much damage as we can
to both sides, and get back."
	"But wouldn't that bring direct retaliation down on Baron?  I wouldn't want
to see that happen."
	"Rosa," Cecil said with a smile, "you're a brilliant tactician.  Really. 
But I think we may have to take the gamble that they'll be too caught up in
killing each other to try to snuff us out.  I don't like to take risks, but I
don't see that we have much other choice.  Now we need a way to find out when
battles are going to occur."
	"In other words," Rosa said, "we need some convincing spies.  Magically
talented people, too."
	"Correct.  So who would you suggest?"
	A small smile spread across her face.  "I think I know just the people."

	Palom and Porom were escorted into the lavishly decorated throne room by two
officers who promptly bowed deeply and left through the huge, iron double
doors.
	"Cecil!"  Palom said, grinning.  "Uh, sorry..... Your Highness?"
	"You can skip the formalities for now,"  Rosa said, smiling inwardly.  
	"Thank God,"  Porom said, shooting a look at her brother.  "I was afraid
security might have us escorted out the way we came when you said that."
	"It's all right,"  Cecil replied.  "I never cared much about  formalities
anyway.  Of course," he added, "Cid insists.  But we need to get down to
business with all intentional speed.  Baron needs to know when battles are
going to be fought, and you two have been elected as our informants."
	"I dunno," Palom said, fingering his small new goatee.  "Isn't it going to
look a bit suspicious?"
	Rosa re-entered the conversation.  "Palom will be infiltrating Doom's
meetings.  Porom will spy on Goddess.  As for Poltergeist-"
	"That's why I'm here," came a voice from the shadow cast by one of the
room's ornate pillars.  The Caller Rydia stepped from behind it.  Funny, 
Porom thought. Hadn't even noticed she was there.
	"They meet every night," Cecil said.  "Doom is on the plains south of Baron.
 Goddess is on Mt. Ordeal.  Poltergeist's cult meets on the late Antlion's
island.  You start tonight.  I won't tell you exactly what you're being paid,
but it's consistent with whether you get killed or not.  Questions?"  There
was silence.
	"All right then," Rosa intoned.  "You start tonight.  Stay in Baron. 
Airships will drop you off at a good distance from your destination at 11:00.
 All the cults meet at midnight.  Use these rods to retain all of the
information that you possibly can."  He handed them each a crystalline rod
that could retain several hours worth of information.  "On your way now."
	As they turned to leave, it registered in Cecil's mind that Palom had a
small beard, and as he saw Porom from behind he realized that she had filled
out noticeably.  "Look at that," he said once they had gone.  "They're
growing up before our eyes.  It would make me feel old if I couldn't still do
this."
	He drew his sword from his belt and twirled it with increasing rapidity in
mid-air, eventually tossing it upward and snatching it out of the air by the
hilt as it descended.
	"You never do fail to impress, Cecil," Rosa said, chuckling softly.

	The Enterprise   descended softly about a quarter klick outside of Baron. 
Palom, Porom, and Rydia were waiting for it.  The airship was intentionally
traveling light, with the bare minimum number of crewmen possible, the
engines set to low intensity enough to make only a hum rather than the usual
thunderous roar.  Cid, Baron's top mechanic, was waiting for them on board.
	"Glad you could make it," he said.  "I'm always a little concerned when
working with.... less experienced people."
	Heh.  Amateurs, he means,  Palom thought bitterly.  The others seemed to
catch the same tone in Cid's voice.
	"Remember," Rydia said, "that they risked their lives by casting Petrify
spells on each other to save you and Cecil and whoever else was with you-"
	"Tellah, at that point," Cid finished for her.  "Not something I'm very
likely to forget.  And now, let's be on our respective ways.  I would really
hate to see this not work.  Palom, you're gonna be walkin' it.  Make it easy
in an hour.  Due south of here," he said, handing Palom a compass.  "Don't
screw up."
	With those inspirational words ringing in his mind, Palom set off to find
Doom's meeting place.

	An hour later, he stood in the midst of a throng of worshipers gathered to
bear witness to Doom's arrival.  Many of them carried weapons.  The place was
marked only by two slowly burning pyres on either side of a larger fire. 
Fire seemed definitely to be a prevalent motif with everything relating to
the creature.  Could Doom be fire-based?  he wondered.  It would  give us a
huge advantage if he was particularly susceptible to a certain type of magic.
 
	A shadow appeared in the sky overhead, blotting out some of the stars for an
instant.  It descended slowly and began to hover a few meters above the
central fire, casting its grotesque features into light.  It had the body of
a fish - albeit an extremely large fish - the wings of a bat - a really 
large bat - and a human skull - with horns!  - for its head.  It looked like
something out of a nightmare, except it was too real.   That impression was
strengthened by the way it spoke coherently, and in intelligible Standard.
	"The lord Doom will now appear for his followers,"  the flying creature
said.  A dark shape began to rise from the flames,  gradually coalescing into
the terrifyingly familiar personage of Doom.  Palom noticed now that the fire
remained at all times about a centimeter from Doom's flesh, a cloud of mist
sperating the two.
	"I shall begin the night's ceremony with the due reward of Crusader, who
served us well in the battle at Fabul."  That in itself was interesting-
there had been to definite reports of which sides had been involved in any of
the minor skirmishes that had taken place to date.  "Crusader, step forward."
	A man clad in knight's armor stepped from the crowd.  Doom raised a clawlike
hand, seeming to push as if lifting a heavy object, and then Crusader erupted
into a ball of white light.  When the smoke cleared, so to speak, Crusader
was bathed in an aura of brilliant color.
	"Behold,"  Doom thundered, "for I have taken this man an turned him into a
superior being.  Yea, an Esper he is now."
	Palom nearly gasped.  He's creating Espers?  The Espers,  or Summoned
Monsters, led by Bahamut, were self-governing and generally peaceful.  They
also wielded immense power, with the ability to use magic simply by thinking
about it.  If there were evil Espers serving Doom, Goddess, and Poltergeist, 
it was impossible to imagine what kind of destruction might be let loose.
	"Hmm?"  Doom said, seeming to peer into the crowd.  If the towering creature
had had visible eyes, Palom felt that they would be pointing directly at him.
 "I sense some unrest in this crowd."  As people turned to look at him, Palom
knew his cover was blown.
	"Down with the Dark Lord!" someone shouted, charging at Doom while waving a
torch.  He threw the torch at Doom, and while the creature made no sound, a
wave of pain and anguish rolled out over the crowd as it hit.  The flying
creature's eyes went off like flashbulbs, and the man dropped to his knees,
and then onto his face.  Palom magically scanned the man's mind, and found
that the flying creature had simply shut down  his brain.
	"O Master," he said, "what is the name of your powerful servant?"  Palom
inquired , hoping the could be heard through the chants of the crowd.
	"You may call him Doom Gaze," Doom replied to the crowd as a whole.  Doom's
attacker might now be dead, but he had served two important purposes.  First,
he had drawn all suspicion away from Palom.  Second, he had proven once and
for all that Doom was an ice-based creature.  Palom realized that the flames
were, in all likelihood, just to avoid letting Doom's enemies know of his
weakness.
	"Where will we engage our enemy next, O Master?"  Crusader asked.
	"Listen, all of ye,"  Doom said, again speaking to the crowd as a whole. 
"In three days' time we shall march on Mt. Ordeal and will battle against the
followers of Goddess.  We will arrive there at noon.  And we shall be
victorious!"
	The chanting abruptly stopped and a huge cheer erupted from the crowd, one
so loud that it threatened to damage Palom's ears.  Nothing of much purpose
was said for the next few minutes, and then Doom and Doom Gaze disappeared
into the night.
	
	Cecil, Rosa, Kain, and Cid stood on the bridge of the airship Enterprise  as
it sped toward the inactive volcano that served as the entrance to the Dwarf
Kingdom.  Rydia had reported that Poltergeist made clear his intention of
attacking the kingdom, and Cecil was going to do everything in his power to
inform Giott and try to save the Dwarves from Poltergeist's power.
	The first bad sign came in the form of a pair of Behemoths that suddenly
landed on the deck of the Enterprise  .  How did they get up here?  Cecil
wondered, but didn't  have time to think about it for long.
	The Behemoths prowled toward them, their black manes whipping in the wind,
lond tails lashing back and forth.  Cecil and Rosa turned toward one, Kain
and Cid toward the other.  One of the Behemoths pounced, knocking Rosa on her
back.  Cecil slashed into its side, and it roared in pain and anger, turning
toward him.  As he dropped into a defensive stance,  Rosa,  who had climbed
up onto the creature's back, grabbed its mane and pulled as hard as she
could.  
	The Behemoth reared back, and that was all the prompting Cecil needed.  He
delived a wicked crescent slash to the beast's throat.  Blood sprayed out and
the Behemoth died quickly.  Kain and Cid finished with their beast, using
their spears to push it out over the edge of the ship.  Rosa noticed a fresh
wound on Kain's cheek that extended upward to under his helmet's faceplate.
	"Here, let me get that," she offered, beginning to lift up the faceplate. 
Kain pushed her hand away.  He was very protective about letting people see
his face.  "Well, at least let me do this."  She cast a Cure spell on him,
and the gash closed a few centimeters on either side.  The airship soon
reached the volcano, where Cid handed Cecil a megaphone.
	"People of the Dwarf Kingdom!  King Giott!" he boomed, his voice amplified a
hundredfold by the megaphone.  "Poltergeist is coming to attack you.  You
need to evacuate your city."
	"Evacuate?"  replied Giott's voice from inside the volcano, amplified.  "We
won't run like cowards."
	"Giott, you need to evacuate your city!  There's nothing else you can do!"
	"No one can touch the people of the Dwarf Kingdom!"  he said, and with that,
a stone rose up to block off the top of the volcano.  The airship was
suddenly cast into shadow, and Cecil looked up to see a red and gold
semi-humanoid form hovering over the volcano.  Before anyone could act, Cid
had the ship speeding away.
	"What are you doing?"  Cecil yelled.
	"DUCK!!"  Cid yelled back.
	There was a thunderous explosion, and a wave of bright white light washed
over everything within about a kilometer of the volcano.  Nothing was left
but a smoldering crater.
	As they sped away, Cecil, Rosa, Kain, and Cid tried to comprehend the
magnitude of the tragedy they had just witnessed.  Inspections in later days,
using the Dwarves' incredibly accurate population records, showed that for
every Dwarf, a body was found in the crater that had once been their kingdom.
 Poltergeist had done in five seconds what no tyrant, warlord, or even any
supernatural force in the history of the Planet had been able to do- the
complete and total genocide of a species.  Every last man, woman, and child
in the Dwarf Kingdom was dead.

	As quickly as that, after a long time going without a single battle, with
just the brief encounter they'd had with the Behemoths, Cecil and Kain were
back in killing mode.  It was a state, Kain reflected, that could only be
reached by veterans of many battles- a state where nothing could shock you,
where very little could even surprise you, and it was an extremely paranoid,
analytical, and coldly professional state.  Rosa wasn't affected like this,
and thank God the teens weren't,  but it could be bad enough.  All that he
could think about was the war that was going on all around them,  and he
suspected that Cecil was, at this point, the same way.
	It wasn't a healthy state of mind.  Not that it was a mad rage- in fact, it
was exactly the opposite.  On the battlefield, Kain had seen friends that he
had trusted and respected be killed by the enemy- and hadn't felt anything. 
It was worse than cold.  It was professional.  And he knew that he had been
in so many battles, that even if one of his friends was to die in battle, he
would be mostly emotionless.  It was rather terrifying.
	Now, as he stood in the hall in Baron Castle that had been converted to a
makeshift war room, he realized that it might come to that.  Palom had
reported that an attack would be launched on Mt. Ordeal, and Palom had said
that Goddess- who Porom described as looking like "a one-winged angel
standing on a head with long hair and horns"- had suspected as much. 
Interesting what one could learn with a foot in both camps.  All three camps
actually, but then that would be difficult for people with the usual
complement of feet.  Cecil was planning to have himself, Kain, and Odin act
as gate-crashers for the battle.  Rydia had said that Poltergeist had somehow
sensed that a battle was coming up and intended to send a creature called
Phunbaba in to just generally cause problems for the opposing sides.  This
battle would not be one of the more straightforward ones that Kain had ever
fought in.
	As Cecil, Rydia, Palom, Porom, Cid, and the recently arrived Edward departed
from the war room, Kain hung back in the shadows.  He saw Odin and Rosa talk
for a few minutes, but couldn't hear very well as they were speaking in
rather low tones.  Rosa walked away through one door, and Kain saw her wink
at Odin.  He was tempted to grab Odin by the ebony horns on either side of
his head - some of the Espers were quite odd-looking by human standards - and
demand an explaination, but he decided he had better wait the turn of events
out.

	Cecil and Kain leapt off of their Chocobos onto the green grass of the
Ordeal Plain.  Odin lowered himself a bit more cumbersomely from a strange
mount that he called a 'horse.'  It was rather odd-looking, and definitely
not as agile as a Chocobo, but it was considerably faster at its top speed. 
The new arrivals seemed to catch the already embattled warriors for either
side off guard a bit.  Some of them turned around puzzeledly, as if they
weren't sure exactly who to fight.
	"Just like old times again,"  Cecil said, drawing his sword.  "Think we can
still hold our own?"
	Kain grinned.  "I'd pity them if I were in a better mood."
	"Shall we?"
	"Heh.  Let's."
	Cecil noticed that Doom had sent very few monsters out, and quite a few
humans.  Sacrificing his loyal followers for his own gain.  At least the
others use monsters.
	Then Cecil spied what he was sure must be Phunbaba.  A fat green demon about
two meters tall with a blue, spiky crest of bone on its back and multibladed
paws for hands seemed to fit the description that Rydia had given them. 
Actually, Cecil was kind of suprised that he hadn't noticed it before-
Phunbaba smelled enough like a square kilometer of raw sewage that it was
hard to miss within the aforementioned range.
	Cecil waded into the crowd of monsters and demons, trying to avoid the
humans.  After what he had witnessed two days ago at the Dwarf Kingdom, Cecil
 didn't feel like killing sentients, and certainly not ones commiting evil
only of a power beyond their own will.  Before too much time had passed,
blood soaked his armor and the once-pristine valley had turned into an
open-air mausoleum.  The smell was awful.  Even once the blood and dirt was
washed away, he could never forget the smell.  It was something that, like it
or not, every soldier had to deal with eventually.  Cecil fought on in spite
of all this and eventually hacked his way to Phunbaba.
	A grin broke out across the demon's face, and he swung down with a claw. 
Cecil used his left hand to block with his shield and jabbed just under where
he thought Phunbaba's rib cage might be.  It was rather hard to tell,
actually.  He drew some blood, which was dark-almost black- and Phunbaba
stumbled back.
	The demon began to breathe in, seeming to stretch its lungs.  Cecil hadn't
noticed before, but he actually stood about twenty meters from a rather small
lake.  He became a little more acutely aware of that as Phunbaba realeased
his breath with a whoosh,  tossing Cecil backwards through the air.  He
realized where he was going to land and drew a deep breath-
	-and plunged directly into the water.  He tried to swim upwards- his armor
was light enough- but his shield was weighing him down.  He dropped it and
swam to the surface, where he saw Odin standing over him.  The Esper was
wielding his spear, the Gungir (fondly nicknamed the "Gunge Lance" by Kain
after he used it to hollow out the great majority of a dragon's neck) and
standing over Cecil, with the Gungir pointed directly at the paladin and
king's face.
	"It's over,"  Odin said.
	Cecil quickly assimilated the events of the past few days in his mind.  He
had had a hunch before, but Odin had just reaffirmed it.
	"You're not working for any enemy of mine," Cecil said as Odin prepared to
throw the spear.
	"It's about Rosa, isn't it?"
	This seemed to shake Odin badly.  Cecil saw a glint of sun over the knight's
shoulder, saw Rydia come up from behind him.
	Odin threw the spear lightning-fast.  It hit Cecil in the shoulder and
pushed him under.  It stuck him to the floor of the shallow lake, giving him
no hope of swimming back up.  Then, he saw two red circles- eyes - coming
rapidly closer and something warm enveloped him as he passed out

	There was no way to claim innocence.  Rydia and Kain had both seen him do
it- Rydia even had a recorder rod with her.  There was no sense in claiming
otherwise.  He had to act with all intentional speed.
	Odin mentally called the Gungir back to his hand, and it quickly came to
him.  He leapt high into the air and threw it at the ground in between the
embattled parties.  The ground opened, and Phunbaba and the great majority of
everything else that was still alive dropped into the yawning chasm.  His
spear flew back into his hand.  He had wanted to use that as a last resort,
because it would only seal the monsters off, rather than killing them.  Now
all that was left was himself, Kain, Rydia, and a great number of fresh
corpses.  
	"I'm sorry I have to do this," he said.  He'd brought a rod, a Sleep Rod,
just in case this might happen.  He struck it on the ground and the crystal
at its front erupted into a brief white blast.  Neither Rydia nor Kain had a
chance to act before the rod's spell knocked them out cold.  That was another
reason he had brought his horse- it was actually a monster, hollow on the
bottom, with nothing inside its rib cage.  A convenient storage space,
actually.  He'd also have to cover his tracks, which would be simple enough. 
He dumped his two captives' weapons, armor, and clothing into the lake.  Some
of it was quite rare- especially the Dwarf-forged weapons- and would fetch a
handsome sum, but that was all a part of covering his tracks.  There could be
no evidence that would point to him.
	Once he was sure he'd cleaned out the area of any incriminating details,
Odin set off for Baron with a smile on his face.

	Cecil woke up in a strange, ethereal landscape.  It was a forest, a rather
normal-looking one, but it was cast in a strange light that gave it a surreal
glow.  He wondered what could possibly be going on when he suddenly realized
that first, he was mysteriously bereft of everythng he'd had when....
	....when Odin had tried to kill him.  Second, he hear a voice behind him. 
Turning around, he saw the creature that had saved him earlier floating just
off the nearby shore.
	"I am Leviathan," it said.  "And this Cardia, home of the Espers."
	"Uh....well.... thanks for saving my life back there.  What happened to all
of my equipment?"
	"You can't take it with you," he answered simply.  "My purpose in bringing
you here is twofold, actually.  First, to get you away from the war.  And
since you're a king now, we would like it if you'd meet with our leader
Bahamut."
	A smile spread across Cecil's face.  "When I met you earlier, I thought you
said you  were the king of the Summoned Monsters."
	"Uh.... didn't know that Bahamut was alive then."
	"And that would put you in charge?"
	"Actually, it would put Ramuh in charge.  But you looked like you needed to
be a little more afraid of me."
	Cecil chuckled.  "How do I get to your city from here?"
	"Straight north," Leviathan replied.  "There's a pretty well-established
path to it.  You can get some food and water and shelter and clo-"
	"Yes, I think I get the idea.  How do you get to the city?"
	"The underwater route."  And with that, Leviahan disappeared under the
water.
	Cecil set off to the north.  He eventually arrived at a small stone
structure guarded by a young Esper.  He had green skin, black hair, and a red
marking on his chest.  He wore a brown loincloth.
	"You're Cecil?"
	"Yes."
	"I heard you'd be arriving.  I'm Ifrit.  Come with me- you need to meet
Bahamut."
	Ifrit stepped into the stone structure and towards a teleport plate inside. 
It had been a long time since Cecil had seen one of those.
	"Uh, first- could I get a robe or something?" he asked.
	"I'm afraid we keep everything inside the city.  It's nothing big really-
Espers don't wear much clothing anyway and it's not an issue like it is with
humans.  That's why we don't have nightclubs," he joked, though there was a
certain truth to that.
	They stepped onto the teleporter, and appeared on a corresponding teleporter
inside a huge underground city.  Cecil was fairly sure that the population
was predominately made up of Espers, which proved to be true as he walked
down the main street.  There were very few humans to be seen, and they
generally made a polite habit of not staring. Nice of them.
	Ifrit took him to a building with an "Inn" sign out front.  Inside, Cecil
saw a young female Esper, about Ifrit's age, which he would estimate to be in
the late 100s- of course, from what he knew about espers, they wouldn't stop
looking like eighteen-year-olds for about another one and a half thousand
years.  (That was another reason Espers avoided making human friends for the
most part- the difference in life span.)  She had blue skin and green hair,
and wore a light purple loincloth and top.
	"This is Shiva," Ifrit said, introducing her.  "You could use some
nourishment and some clothing, which she can provide."
	"I'm honored that the king of Baron has chosen to come here,  of all
places," she said, handing Cecil a grey robe which he quickly put on.  "I
suppose I could get you something to eat-"
	"Just something small," Cecil said.  Shiva quickly produced an elixir and
some type of yellow, interesting-smelling meat.  Cecil popped the cork from
the elixir and began to drink.
	"I never will get used to human eating habits,"  Ifrit said.
	"What do you mean?" Cecil asked.
	"We use the elixir for seasoning."
	"Then what am I supposed to drink?"
	"The rest of the elixir.  The meat's flavor doesn't change after the first
few drops."
	Cecil tried the suggestion and found that the meat atually tasted quite good
with a drop of the elixir on it.  It also turned a bright blue where the
liquid dripped onto it.  Just out of curiosity, he took a bite of an area
that was still yellow.  Keeping that bite down was a real effort.
	After he'd finished his meal, Ifrit and Shiva escorted him down the central
boulevard to a towering spire that touched the top of the huge cavern that
the city was located in.  Inside, the spire was completely hollow and wasn't
divided up into rooms- just one huge open space that ran the heigth of the
cavern.  Situated on a throne on the opposite wall of the spire was a huge,
black-scaled dragon who Cecil recognized as Bahamut.
	"King Cecil,"  Bahamut said.  "I'm glad that you have come."
	"At the moment, I'm glad that I'm anywhere.  It was only by the timely
assistance of one of your Espers that I could be here."  He spoke a bit more
quietly.  "Is Odin here?"
	"No,"  Bahamut growled.  "I can sense what Odin did, and he very well knows
it.  He is still at Baron."
	"And what about him and.... Rosa?"
	Bahamut shook his head sadly.  "I'm afraid the news is not good."
	Cecil could already imagine what he would hear.  "Would it be immoral of me
to hope that he gets an infectious disease and dies slowly and painfully?"
	"Unfortunately, yes,"  Bahamut said.  "But it would be justified to use this
instead."
	A man- an Esper- stepped from the shadow of the throne.  He had dark skin, a
long white beard, and wore a white robe.
	"I am Ramuh," he said.  "Normally I would not let a human know of this, but
in this situation, I have to make an exception.  Look at this."  Ramuh
produced a softly glowing green crystal from the folds of his robe.  "This is
Magicite.  An Esper named Raiden has died in battle.  This is what Espers
turn into when they die, and this Magicite can transfer its power to a human
who uses it long enough.  This will be your only chance to defeat Odin." 
	"Why hasn't anyone ever heard of Magicite before?"  Cecil aksed?
	Ramuh sadly looked away.  "Because no other Esper has ever died."

	Rydia woke up to the unpleasant sensation of something hard and cold rubbing
against her back.  It was dark, and she felt cuffs fastened around her wrists
and ankles.  She quickly remembered what had gone on.  Well, if Odin had
killed Cecil to get to Rosa, then logically the place he would go after a
battle would be-
	Baron.  She remembered suddenly that there was some sort of secret passage
behind the dungeon- there were quite a few in Baron Castle and the city that
surrounded it.  And that seemed to be where she was.  Well, at least the
chains had enough strain to allow her to sit down, which she was doing.  She
knew that the passage wasn't airtight, but it was reasonably close and the
carbon dioxide level in the air would get dangerous soon.  Even worse was the
fact that there were very few people who knew of the passage.
	The cold stone rubbed against her skin, and once, reaching out her hand as
far as she could with the cuffs attached to chains on the wall, she touched a
pool of water.
	Hmm?  Rydia wondered.  For there to be water here, I would have to be....
	Right under the aqueduct.  Oh,  no.....

	Edge knew that he'd arrived a little late to the battle when all he saw was
corpses littering the grass.  He had heard that there was a battle going on
here, but travel by hovercraft had its distinct disadvantages.  He checked
all of the corpses to make sure that none of them was Rydia, God forbid. 
Fortunately, none was.  He was about to leave when something caught his eye-
a dark shape floating in the lake water.  He reached in and pulled it up,
seeing that it was a rod that had apparently gotten caught in some seaweed. 
It had the distinctive tip of a recorder rod- a newer type of magical rod
that could record a few hours' worth of information.
	Edge turned it on, and saw the entire battle.  Saw Phunbaba sweep Cecil into
the lake, saw Odin finish him- and everyone else, for that matter- off, saw
Odin cast a Sleep spell on Rydia and Kain, and saw him dump their clothing
and equipment into the lake, which must have been how the recorder rod had
gotten down there.  The recording ended when the rod had automatically sealed
its tip to prevent the water from damaging the recording crystal.  He also
saw, in the recording, Odin riding off toward Baron with the unconscious Kain
and Rydia in tow.  He had a pretty good idea where he had taken them.
	
	Rydia was tired, light-headed from carbon dioxide inhalation, and cold, but
she didn't intend to give up now.  Casting magic was ineffective- Odin must
have used a Silence spell, which wouldn't wear off for a few days unless
treated with a Remedy or Echo Screen.  She was on the verge of giving up when
the wall that connected the secret passage with the other cells was kicked
in.  Light streamed into the room, and as the warm air touched Rydia's body
she felt some of her strength return.  A familiar figure stepped into the
doorway.
	"Edge!"  she cried.  There wasn't anyone in the world who she would rather
have seen at that moment.
	"Nice to see you again," he said with a chuckle.  "I brought along something
else too."  He took a lockpick from the assortment of tools and weapons on
his belt, and began unlocking the cuffs attached to the chains that anchored
her to the wall as he visually scaned her.  She looked down at herselfand
immediately became a bit more self-conscious.
	"Um, Edge, as much as I'm sure you must be enjoying this...."
	"Actually, I thought of that already," he said.  Kain appeared in the
doorway, dressed as a black mage.  He tossed her a white mage's robe as Edge
unfinished locking her restraints.
	"Devious," she said with a sly smile.  "I was afraid royal duties might have
taken away your ability to think like a ninja."
	She stood up, put on the robe, and folded the hood over her hair.  Callers
had sometimes ended up with distinctive hair colors, and her green hair was
probably one of the more noticeable examples of that.  The only one, after
what happened at Mist,  she thought with a twinge of bitterness.  But that
wasn't the thing to dwell on right now.  She- they- had to tell Rosa what had
happened.  
	"This just reminds me so much of when we were all up on the moon together," 
Edge said.  "Ready?  One, two, three!"
	They charged up the stairs, and two guards turned to face them.  Kain
knocked both on their backs with his spear as they ran past.
	"Hey,"  Rydia said.  "Why didn't I get a weapon?"
	"Couldn't find anything to suit your tastes," Edge replied.  "Besides, how
many mages carry weapons?"
	She was about to reply that she wasn't a mage any more when she remembered
her disguise.  Well, it wasn't much of a disguise, as it turned out.  Her
hood had come loose as they had made their very fast and aggresive exit from
the dungeon.  They weren't far from the throne room now.  Baron Castle had
white stone walls everywhere,  including the dungeon, so it was extremely
difficult to get lost inside.  As they burst into the throne room, they found
that it was empty.  So where had they gone?
	"I suggest we leave for the Grand Hall now,"  Edge said.  "This is not a
situation where we have a whole lot of time to lose."  
	"Wait,"  Rydia said, noticing a book with a jewel-encrusted cover lying on
one of the thrones.  It was marked in Rosa's simple, elegant handwriting on
the front-  "Queen's Diary."
	Rydia flipped through, reading aloud at certain parts.  "I realize now that
I am in love with Odin..... love between a human and an Esper.... this breaks
every rule of our society.... oh no!  Why don't we get to the hall with all
intentional speed?"
	They ran.

	Odin carefully measured with his eye the row of wooden dummies lined up in
front of him.  He was practicing his sword technique- after all, the Gungir
worked better thrown, and he needed a close-range weapon.  He dropped into an
offensive stance, and then dashed forward, slicing aprt all of the dummies
from one of their shoulders to the other side of where their waists would be.
 The two halves slid apart, and Rosa looked on in admiration.
	"I'm ready for the battle,"  he said, referring to the planned meeting
between the different armies later that day.  "We are going to win.  I can
feel it."
	The double doors at the end of the hall swung open, letting a cold chill
into the room.  A stranger in a gray robe, his face obscured by a hood,
walked into the room.
He silently advanced toward Odin.
	Rosa couldn't see his face, but Odin seemed to be able to.  "No!"  he said. 
"Not you!  It can't be you!  I killed you!"  He drew his sword. 
	The stranger quickly pressed two fingers on his right hand onto Odin's
forehead, and the Esper let out a scream.  "You can't turn me into Magicite!"
he said.  "You can't...." Odin's words trailed off as his body congealed into
a glowing green crystal.
	"I don't know who Odin thought he killed,"  Rosa said, drawing her bow, "but
I'm going to finish the job!"  She was about to fire when two things happened
simultaneously.  Edge, Rydia, and Kain burst into the room, and the stranger
threw back his hood to reveal the face of-
	Cecil. 

	"Well,"  Cecil said, as he, Kain, Rydia, Cid, Rosa, Palom, and Porom stood
on the bow of the airship, watching the sun set over Mt. Ordeal, "I've been
through a series of long and difficult battles.  I was made a king. I got a
new knight captain from a faraway country.  And then he tried to steal my
queen.  Proposition.....?"
	"Huh?" Rydia asked.
	"This humor is just wasted on you people,"  Cecil said, half-jokingly. 
"Edge, have you found everything?"
	Edge's head appeared above the surface of the lake.  "Yeah,"  he said.  "How
am I going to get it up to you, though?"
	Kain soundlessly tossed a large net over the side.  "Hilarious,"  Edge said.
 He proceeded to fill the net with Cecil, Rydia, and Kain's equipment that
had ended up in the lake a few weeks ago and brought it up to the Enterprise
.  Kain, Rydia, and Cecil went into their respective living quarters below
deck to change (they still had the pirated mages' robes,) and the Enterprise 
began to lift from the ground.
	A few moments passed."So where do you think they are now?"  Rosa said,
referring to Goddess, Doom, and Poltergeist.  "Wait- forget that, I suppose
we'll find out soon, won't we?"
	The sky lit up brilliantly overhead.
	"Oh no,"  said Cecil, emerging from below deck.  "They're already here!  Or
they're going to be!"
	Suddenly, several small beads appeared on the horizon.  They came
progressively closer, eventually becoming recognizable as-
	"Friendly airships!"  cried Cid.  
	"All right!!!!" intoned Palom and Porom together.
	The Enterprise  went up to its cruising altitude, as familiar shapes began
to fill the skies behind them.  
	"Espers?"  asked Rosa.  "But how-"
	"Don't worry,"  said Cecil.  "While I was with the Espers I made a few
deals." 
	"Um, Cecil," she said, "there's something I need to talk to you about."
	They stepped away from the others on the airship, walking behind the
propellor column.
	"Cecil," she said.  "I'm sorry about what I did when.... when I thought you
were dead.  Can you forgive me?"
	"Actually , I should be asking you that same thing," he replied.  "I was the
Dark Knight, remember?  I was responsible for the deaths of three innocent
people on my last mission alone.  My hands are probably the most bloodied of
any "hero's" in the history of the world.  If Golbez could reform after
killing almost an entire kingdom in a bombing run, then there is nothing that
you could have done in my absence that's beyond forgiveness.  Rather,  I
think I  need your   forgiveness."
	"But.... oh, it wasn't as bad as you might have been led to think but....
I'm sorry.... and I forgive you....  I could never make a mistake like that
again...."
	"Then it doesn't bother me.  I was angry for a long time, but now I realize
I can't blame you for acting without knowledge of what had happened."
	"Then...."  Rosa said, leaving the rest of her sentence unfinished.  They
had an understanding, she realized.  Nothing more needed to be said.
	They embraced for a brief moment, before Cid yelled something to the degree
of, "Oh," (several indistinct expletives,) "here it comes!"
	Doom, Goddess, and Poltergeist were certainly adept at making grand
entrances.  Each appeared in a rolling cloud of fire, seemingly bringing with
them their demonic troops from every angle.  The two sides clashed together
on the ground an in the air, and the battle had begun in full.  That got all
of their respective adrenaline flowing.  Cecil noticed something interesting
on the plains below- a group of dragons surrounding an Esper knight.  The
knight fit down to the last detail the description that Palom had given of
the Crusader.  The dragons- Cecil counted eight of them- were a mystery,
though.
	Cecil cast a float spell on himself and vaulted over the railing of the
airship, gliding to the ground in front of the dragons and Crusader.  Drawing
his sword seemed to catch their attention- all  of their attention,
unfortunately.  Cecil didn't know if he was up to taking on eight dragons at
once.  From what he had heard from Palom, Crusader would be difficult enough
to defeat by himself.
	Suddenly, several other figures glided onto the grass with the help of a
float spell as well.  Cecil could clearly see Kain, Rosa, Rydia, and Edge
descending from the Enterprise.  Now the odds would be a little more even-
they might still be outnumbered, but not for lack of trying!
	"I'll take Crusader,"  yelled Cecil.  "The rest of you get the dragons!"
	Cecil made a quick thrust at Crusader, who blocked the attack with his
shield and swung back.  Cecil ducked and swung in an overhead arc, trying to
knock away his opponet's weapon.  Crusader made another thrust;  Cecil
parried it and swung in an overhand slash.  Crusader made a deft block with
the flat of his sword and kicked Cecil in the stomach.  The king staggered
backwards, faked high with his sword, and ducked low for a quick slash. 
Crusader leapt over his attack, but Cecil quickly put up his shield to block
the Esper's retaliatory slash.  
	And then all hell broke loose as magical energy blasts and bombs began to
rain across the flatland, causing small explosions with each hit.  Cecil and
Crusader continued their lightning-fast series of thrusts, blocks, slashes,
and parries while jumping and ducking to avoid explosions.  Cecil had never
felt more alive.... or much more exhausted.  Very few blows actually landed,
something one saw a lot when two fighters of great skill fought.  Crusader
wasn't using magic, and as a point of honor Cecil refrained from doing so as
well.
	And then Cecil's concepts of honor and fair fighting all took a different
direction when a shaft of green light split the sky, shooting down directly
in front of Crusader's feet.  Cecil could only give a wild guess as to what
might happen, but if previous experience was anything to go by.....
	The explosion that occured directly beneath Crusader and his dragons brught
to mind something like the detonation of the world's largest underground
explosives cache.  The explosion was fairly muffled, but it looked as if a
brand new bottomless crater had been dug out in an instant, one which the
Esper and the dragons tumbled into.  Cecil saw with relief that the others
had thought like he did and avoided the blast.  But what caused that?  he
wondered.
	A new shape descended majestically from the orange clouds, swirling them
into a stormy funnel.  It took them all a moment to recognize the new arrival
as Bahamut- the dragon's skin had taken on a blue-gray tone, and he now had
six wings rather than the usual two.
	Cecil looked at the others.  Rydia had collapsed, bleeding from a gash on
her left arm.  Edge kneeled beside her, applying a bandage to the wound. 
Kain's armor had splotches of dark blood all over it, and Cecil, looking
down, realized that his did, too.  Rosa's hair was matted with dirt and
blood, and the front of her dress was soaked with sweat.
	No matter how high or low a person's stature in life is,  Cecil thought, we
all bleed, sweat, and die.  And none of them had died in that battle, but
they had all come out looking pretty close.  Amazing what an intense fight
could do to one's perceptions of caste and status.  The pain left over from
his own fight hadn't really had time to register in Cecil's mind yet, and now
it hit him full force.  And the pain was intense, as well.  It wasn't so much
a burning sensation as it was an aching, throbbing one- like a full-body
headache.  
	He could take it though.... they all could.  They'd fought too long and too
hard to ever seriously consider giving up.  Now it was time to rejoin the
battle in the air.

	Bahamut clawed, breathed fire, swung his tail , and roared in an attempt to
drive off the creatures swarming around him.  His scales glowed an intense
red, and blood dripped from several open wounds.  His wings had been severely
torn up, but he didn't intend to give up.
	The great majority of the attackers were irritating things called Bombs,
ugly, grinning, balloon-shaped red demons with flames coming from their
heads.  When killed, they exploded and left painful welts on his body.  He
tried to ignore them as much as he possibly could as he flew at Doom Gaze. 
He saw the Enterprise  reappear, slowly lifting into the skies.  He saw the
awful, grinning visage of Doom Gaze.  A red haze clouded his vision, and he
knew what was going to happen.
	Bahamut, the King of the Dragons and the Espers, the most powerful being of
any race native to the Planet, was dying.  And there was nothing he could do
to stop it.  But he could at least take one of them with him.

	Cecil looked at Bahamut and saw that what he had feared might happen was
happening.  Bahamut was dazed, now, simply swallowing up the Bombs that he
flew past on his way to Doom Gaze.  Rydia looked up at the majestic dragon,
her hands clasped in silent prayer.  Whether it was to stop Doom Gaze, save
Bahamut, or simply because she hated Bombs ever since they had destroyed her
hometown, Cecil didn't know.  As Bahamut approached Doom Gaze, the latter
simply bit off   the dragon's head.  Bahamut's body crystallized and then was
sucked into Doom Gaze's mouth.  Rydia was crestfallen, and Cecil began to
steer the Enterprise  toward Doom Gaze to finish it off when suddenly, it
occured to him that Bahamut's punch-drunk stupor might not be entirely that.
	"GET DOWN!!!!" he yelled as he sent the airship speeding in the opposite
direction.
	"What?"  Rydia asked.
	"Remember the fight on top of Mt. Hobs?"  Cecil asked.
	"Yes, but-"
	The biggest explosion any of them had ever seen erupted from inside Doom
Gaze's body.  What was left of the flaming creature plummeted toward the
ground and buried itself deep in the lake.  A plume of white smoke rose from
the water and arched into the sky.
	"I've got a theory I thought you might want to hear,"  said Kain, adressing
all of the others as the Enterprise  went back to the battle.  "I don't know
if we can exactly kill  Doom, Goddess, and Poltergeist.  But it might be
possible to do something to seal them off.  Of course, it would take a spell
of tremendous energy, like...... well, like Meteo.  And that requires the
sacrifice of someone's life.  And for three  Meteo spells.... it seems like
the only way."  He turned to Rosa.  "If you could make a rod that I could use
to do it..... I would gladly sacrifice my life to finish this."
	"Well,"  Rosa said, "I have this.  I've been carrying it around ever since
Tellah used it.  I don't think he  knew the spell..... or at least he might
have used this to help him."  She handed a small, black, glittering orb to
Kain.
	There was the sound of another airship pulling up nearby.  Yang, the karate
fighter they had met on Mt. Hobs early in their adventure, stood at the stern
of the ship, looking as powerful and serene as ever.  
	"Let me go,"  he said.  "Kain's the best fighter on the Planet, and we can't
afford to lose him."
	"Yang," Kain began.  "You have a family.  You can't sacrifice yourself, no
matter what is at stake.  I have no one."
	Someone else approached from the bow of Yang's airship-  Edward, the prince
of Damcyan ( a rather hollow title, since Damcyan had effectively become a
ground zero after a bombing run long before.)   
	"Let  me  go," he said.  "Anna is waiting for me.  You two have lives ahead
of you."  Kain relented him and handed him the black orb.
	A shadow fell over them all as another shape descended from the sky.  It
didn't come down level with them, though- a figure floated out over the edge
and slowly descended.  Cecil recognized FuSoYa, one of the Lunarians and his
father KluYa's brother.
	"I am the only other who can invoke Meteo without the use of some kind of
artifact,"  FuSoYa said.  
	How did he know what we were talking about?  Cecil wondered.  FuSoYa always
has been very mysterious, though.  So are all of the Lunarians, in fact.
	"So,"  Cecil said, "we need someone else who can invoke black magic.  I
somehow doubt we have Meteo rods just lying around here."
	They all thought of someone- the same person- immediately, but unfortunately
none of them wanted to say it.  Cecil's training in Baron's army had hardened
his heart to this type of thing, but since then he found giving up someone
else's  life- even when it was absolutely neccessary for the greater good-
was much, much more difficult.  He  wanted to put his days as the feared Dark
Knight behind him, and this type of terrible decision would bring him closer
to that.
	"I know what I have to do,"  Rydia said.
	"But-"  Edge started.
	"Don't try to stop me.  I'm the only one who can do this.  Please."
	"But Rydia," he said, more softly this time.  "I was going to consent
to...."
	"Nothing more," she said.  "There is no other solution."   
	"All right,"  Edge said.  "But I want to talk to Edward before you do this."
	"Yes?"  said Edward.
	Edge gave a crooked half-smile and grabbed the black orb out of Edward's
hand.  "Outta my way," he said.  "You've got a kingdom to rebuild, and that's
what you need your life for.  There is nothing left of my kingdom, but there
are still people in Damcyan.  There is still what's left of Damcyan.  You
have a life to live and a purpose to fulfill.  And this is my purpose."
	The Enterprise  pulled up to Mt. Hobs.  There was a thunderous roar as Doom,
Goddess, and Poltergeist began to advance toward them.  Work fast,  Cecil
thought, but didn't give voice to it.  This was a situation where putting on
the least pressure possible would be a good thing.
	FuSoYa, Edge, and Rydia stepped onto the mountain.  FuSoYa turned to face
Doom, Goddess, and Poltergeist, and Rydia and Edge stood behind him on either
side.  No words were exchanged.  There were no tears.  FuSoYa raised his
hands into the air as Rydia and Edge stood resolutely behind them.  There was
a crackling of electricity, and suddenly Cecil's sword, Kain's spear, and the
short sword at Rosa's side began to glow softly.
	"What.....?"  asked Kain.
	It occured to Rosa first.  "Don't be analytical, just throw them!!!!!"
	Cecil threw his sword at Goddess, Kain heaved his spear at Poltergeist, and
Rosa threw her sword at Doom.  The weapons flew in a powerful arc and each
pierced the heart of one of the creatures and sent them spiraling down to
earth as their servant creatures howled in pain and rage and vanished.Cecil
did a bit of a double-take when he saw what had happened.  Doom, Goddess, and
Poltergeist had turned to stone.
	But the still-standing bodies of FuSoYa, Rydia, and Edge had become solid
gold.

	"So,"  Cecil said as he, Rosa, and the Esper Ramuh stood in Baron Castle's
Grand Hall, "what's going to happen now?"
	"We've lost too many Espers,"  Ramuh said.  "Some of them to war.  Some of
them to hate.  Many people have claimed that the Espers started the war. 
Crusader's attack on Baron is being called an Esper  attack.  Historians are
writing now that Espers were created only for the war, only by the travelers,
that none existed before, even though it's an established fact that less than
half of our Espers were created in the war.  Humans even drove Tritoch and
Terrato into a glacier.  We presume that they're dead now."
	"So what does that mean for you?" asked Rosa, getting back to the original
question.
	"We are going to create a gate and seal it in the cave that housed the Dwarf
Kingdom.  The humans have to be cut off from the Espers forever."
	"And Baron," said Cecil.  "There's too much power here.... we have to seal
it away from the rest of the world."
	"The last remanant of an Esper in this world is Raiden,"  Ramuh said.  "When
Cecil defeated Odin by channeling Raiden's power into him, Odin and Rosa's
souls were so close that a part of Raiden entered Rosa's soul.  This part of
Odin and Raiden is what keeps alive your feelings..... your sadness for him. 
Odin was not evil..... but he tried to corrupt true love between two people
for his own pleasure.  He is a good man at heart, but he will never be a part
of your world."
	"Then,"  said Rosa,  "will I have to die too, to rid this world of Odin and
Raiden?"
	"That will not be necessary,"  Ramuh said.  "We simply have to remove that
part of them from any living being.  That is the real danger- for a human to
harness their power."
	A swirling cloud of light came from Rosa's body.  It moved a few meters away
and then coalesced into a stone statue..... of Rosa.
	"There,"  Ramuh said.  "It is done."  With that, he glided from the hall and
out of the castle. 
	"Oh, and one more thing,"  Ramuh said, turning as he reached the exit. 
"When all of this is over, magic will disappear."  And with that, he left.  
	And about thirty seconds later, the mammoth, ancient, wooden double doors
came flying down the hallway.  Cecil could make out two distinct shapes in
the smoke that filled what was once the doorway;  a tall spindly shape that
resembled a serpentine dragon (albeit with arms and legs)  and what looked
like a samurai with a horned helmet.
	"Dammit!" exclaimed Cecil.  [Author's Note: I don't usually have my
characters curse in stories, but it just seemed appropriate here, to be
honest.  I'm using it to convey Cecil's surprise and emotion at seeing this.]
 "With all the guards away for the clebration- they'll take the artifacts! 
We can't let that happen!"
	The effects of several months of combat interspersed with travel and very
difficult survival took their effects.  Rosa didn't need to be told to run-
soon after the war began,  Cid had come up with an idea that would be of use
in a situation like the one currently facing them.  Cecil quickly moved aside
the ornate marble pillar in a corner of the room, revealing the staircase to
the basement.
	"Wait here,"  he told Rosa.  "Remember the voice command that gives the
evacuation signal?"
	"Yeah...."  she said.
	"Use it.  Then get out of here.  I'll be right behind you."
	Cecil descended the stairs to the huge room in the rock foundation of the
castle.  Each of the castle's supports was rigged with explosives activated
by voice.  He armed each one through its voice activation code, and hurried
upstairs.  They'd of course had the foresight to move everybody to the city
limits in case something should go wrong and the castle fall on the city, but
that was rather unlikely.  Cid had set up the explosive system and he was the
best mechanic Cecil had ever known.
	Cecil stepped on the teleport plate at the far end of the chamber from the
staircase.  He blacked out for a moment,  and then regained consciousness to
find himself standing waist deep in the aqueduct surrounding the castle. 
Perfect.  Cid and Kain stood at the castle door, trying to close it via the
turning of a rusty crank.  Finally it gave, and the door slammed shut,
sending a resonating boom  throughout the area.  The samurai, the dragon
thing (turns out it was blue in color) and a strange amoebalike creature
rushed out to investigate the noise- he could see them through the
twenty-four-by-three inch slit in the door that was created for bowmen (or
women as the case now sometimes was) to shoot through in the event of a
direct frontal assault on the castle.   
	The three of them joined Rosa and the townspeople at the edge of the city,
where Cecil gave the voice code for detonation.  
	"GV-CP-756."
	There was silence at first, and then a muffled explosion, a chorus of
further explosions, and finally the master support collapsed in on itself
with a screech audible even from where they were.  There was one final
explosion, and Baron Castle began to sink into the ground.  As it got lower,
dirt and rocks rained onto it from above.  After about twenty minutes, it was
covered almost completely.  At the end of a half hour, there was no trace
left of Baron Castle except a square kilometer of fresh soil.
	"The war isn't over,"  said Cecil, as much to try to remind himself as to
remind Rosa.  "There are still fanatics, aspiring warlords,  and people who
are trying to use magic for their own gain."
	Rosa put it simply.  "You're saying.... we may be fighting this war for the
rest of our lives.  But without an obvious target like the Castle,"  she
added,  "they don't know where to look.  They don't know where to take relics
and artifacts from.  In reality, Baron is just more spread out now-  it's
become no less organized."
	"And,"  Cecil said as the sun loomed low over the mountains to the north, 
"no matter how long we end up having to fight, we'll be together for the rest
of our lives."
 	"So now,"  Rosa said,  looking towards the north,  "how about we see how
Edward is doing with the rebuilding of Damcyan?"
	Cecil smiled.  "I'm on my way."

	With one final, agonized scream, the plant-man disappeared in a flash of
light.  There was nothing left after the intense flare- it was as if he had
simply packed up and gone to hell.
	But wherever EXDeath had gone, he seemed fairly intent on taking Cleft of
Dimension with him.  Similar bright flashes began to crop up around them,
mottling the starry sky of the Third World.  Butz couldn't see the others for
a moment; he could only assume that they were still there.  Surely they must
be- he'd struck the final blow, and EXDeath's destruction hadn't harmed him
in any way from his own close range.
	Someone took his hand- Faris?  It really wasn't worth bothering to try to
change now.  The reality in which they'd fought EXDeath was collapsing in on
itself- as he thought about it, he realized that Cleft of Dimension might not
be affected at all.
	As he ran for the way out, the others following behind him, two thoughts
filled Butz's mind.
	It's not over yet.  Lenna... and there are more things that need to be done.
 There are more things-
	But we  WON!

	Ramza Beoulve and his sister Alma sat on the hill, watching the sun set over
the horizon.  Ramza could detect a presence nearby.... felt like Beowulf.
	The Temple Knight approached them, but stood behind them.  He didn't try to
catch their attention; Beowulf was well aware that his aura could be felt by
anyone in his vicinity.
	"They thought you were dead, you know."
	"Heh," replied Ramza.  "Probably Funeral's money talking there.  They'll
find out soon enough.  I'm going to get on with my life."
	"Actually," said Alma, "I was meaning to talk to you about that.  What are
you going to do?"
	"Go to one of the average-sized cities... Goug or Dorter, or maybe Gariland,
though it's bigger than 'average'...  see what kind of work I can get there. 
Maybe see if I can get a job in Delita's army.  Think I might settle down
eventually."
	"See?"  another voice came from behind them.  Ramza recognized it as that of
Reis, Beowulf's companion who had been turned into a dragon for a while. 
"Are you kidding?  Delita would be more than happy to have a war hero in his
employ.  You know how good that is for political power."
	They were interrupted by the descent of another shape from above.  Clearly a
Summoned Monster from the silhouette it created against the setting sun.  As
it approached, Ramza recognized it as that of Bahamut.
	"So now it is ended,"  Bahamut said solemnly, in his booming voice.  "The
Summoned Monsters will be forever seprated from the humans.  The Summoners
will lose their power.  Magic will disappear in a matter of years.  You ,
Ramza, have ended the war in which you partook.  But more than that, you have
ended a centuries-old conflict, the scope of which you cannot even begin to
imagine.  I- and Delita- ask that you give this long war a name."
	Ramza thought for a few moments.  Magic had factored into just his part of
the war so much, and throughout the entire war....
	"I'll call it the War of the Magi,"  said Ramza.
	"Very well,"  was the dragon's reply, and with that he flew off toward the
now-almost-gone sun.  Ramza watched him until he was over the horizon.
	"Yeah," Ramza said after a moment of thought.  "I guess I will be needing
some kind of source of income, now that the war is over."  He climbed onto
the back of his Chocobo.  "I'm heading to the capitol.  If you want to come,
Alma, you're welcome to.  Delita'd be glad to have you too."
	And with that, he rode off into the night.