- Final Fantasy III - Final Fantasy VII - Breath of Fire III - Megaman X - The Little Mermaid -

Chapter Five

The Handwritten Book

Goloros needed a new edge.

With access to Nicholi's books, Terra and her cohorts knew everything about Rei and Vincent. They had access to all their powers. They knew how to defend against them and counterattack if needed. Yet none of his followers knew about the Magician's crew. He needed an enemy of theirs. Someone who could warn him of their capabilities.

Goloros knew, of course, that Terra had enemies. The problem was that Terra's enemies weren't fictional, at least not to her. So they couldn't be used. Even if they could, Goloros wasn't sure if his skills in drawing these fictional characters into reality were honed enough to the point that he could "pick and choose" his followers.

Rei, Ariel, Vincent, and X were chosen quite randomly out of Nicholi's book collection.

If he found the right character, though, in a piece of literature, Goloros was sure he could draw them into reality... complete with knowledge of his foes.

Suddenly Goloros had an idea. He remembered Nicholi talking about Strago's memoirs, a recount of his adventures 12 years ago against Kefka and his magicite army.

Goloros walked up to Strago's small Thamasian house and walked "through" the door- being the Esper of Mu this was nothing difficult. Once inside, it was only a matter of locating the memoirs.

Kefka watched the Falcon approach his tower. He could have thrown the Light of Judgement at them, he could have blinked them out of existance. He could have killed them any number of ways. But that would have been too boring.

Goloros picked up the stack of handwritten papers, and turned to the end, where this "Kefka" was an omnipotent, insane Esperian being. "Kefka... I need your help."

Suddenly, a voice cleaved into Kefka's mind:

Kefka, I need your help.

At first, nothing happened. Maybe Goloros did it wrong.

"Who said that!?" Kefka screamed, paranoid.

Who said that!?

It was Kefka...! Goloros sneered and began chanting the spell. The pages of Strago's memoirs turned bright silver.

A silver light began surrounding the tower. The Falcon made a sudden landing to come under it.

"Kefka. Succumb, and you can help me rule the world..."

Kefka, succumb and you can help me rule the world...

"Hmm... that sounds like a good laugh..."

Hmm... that sounds like a good laugh.

"Excellent," said Goloros, as the spell completed. Suddenly, Kefka was standing before him, covered in purple robes that mocked an old king.

"Kefka, my friend. Welcome aboard."

Oceanic Death

Upon mastering the art of dragging anyone into "reality" instead of just random people, Goloros began to search the books remaining to him for a monster so deadly, so disastrous, that not even Terra and her Esper magic could stop it.

He had thought of many things: namely the arch-nemeses of the so-called heroes. At first, he thought of bringing into existance the demon goddess Myria, which Rei had a major problem with. Goloros began to object to Rei's "minor problems," but decided it would be best to keep hostilities among his henchmen down to a minimum.

Second, he thought about simply bringing the Espers back into the world... but Kefka pointed out that many of the Espers had sided with Terra. And, even if they did side with Goloros, what would happen after they started bringing the "real" Espers back into existance? Some cataclysmic event...?

If he would have had Nicholi's books at hand, Goloros would have considered bringing Ariel or X's archenemy into the world... but he had no idea how, not if the books weren't in his grasp.

Finally Vincent spoke up. "Goloros, I have the perfect being to summon. It will attack anything and has the power of the Earth itself. It is the epitome of blind strength."

Goloros sneered. "I see. Point me to it."

The Magician continued its solemn flight. Powerful as he was, Goloros couldn't touch them this high above the ground. Terra leaned against the wooden border of the deck, looking into the vast ocean below her.

"Oh," she said, as if suddenly pricked by a sharp needle.

Locke looked over his shoulder. "Terra? Are you okay?"

"Just the strangest feeling. Like the earth suddenly... changed."

A second passed. The people aboard the deck crowded around Terra suspisiously. Everyone peered over the edge of the airship, but all that was there was the ocean. Vast and endless. Everyone (except Ariel) wondered what lay down there... what the ocean held for humans to fear.

"It's a vast energy. Like the ocean was just displaced. Like something so large, something alive, has appeared that the oceans all around the entire world gave way to support it."

"What kind of energy, Terra? Can you... feel it?" Locke knew that Terra's Esper side had some kind of connection with the Earth.

"It's a power... not unlike what I felt coming out of Vincent's book. Or, rather, from the world that Vincent is from."

"How odd..." said Ariel. "What kind of sea monster is so enormous to displace the water of an entire ocean?"

Just then, an enormous blast of water shot up and hit the deck of the airship. Relm, Locke, and Ariel were swept right off their feet. Terra and X somehow were able to remain standing, but were thouroughly drenched.

The airship leveled out pretty quickly, giving Ariel enough time to scramble to her feet. Locke, however, had slipped to an area dangerously close to the edge. He stopped himself from sliding off the edge by catching a small, loose board in the airship deck.

Relm was having problems as well. She could have easily have gotten to her feet, but the initial blast of water sent her reeling into unconsiousness. Terra tried to rush to Locke's side, but X coaxed her to the safety of the stairwell. Ariel tried the same thing. "No!" screamed X. "You'll be killed! I'll rescue Locke and Relm!"

X scooped Relm into his arms and raced to Locke. A second before he reached Locke, however, the board snapped and Locke went flailing over the edge. X ignited his jet boots and flew after him.

With Relm flung over his shoulder, X let gravity carry him to Locke's side. Once alongside him, the Reploid flung his arm around Locke's shoulders and began to ascend back to the Magician.

"Holy mother of God..." Locke mumbled, beholding their assailant for the first time.

X looked down and was instantly terrified. Floating inches above the ocean surface was a biomechanical being (X also sensed intense spiritual energy). It stood so tall as to be on eye level with the Magician, which was a good distance away from the ocean itself. Its entire upper body was loaded with laser cannons of al sizes and colors. And it had two enormous claws, each one bigger than the Magician...

The being let out a ghastly wail as it began to sink back into the ocean. As it did, though, the ripples it created (which were nearly the size of tidal waves) crashed into X and his companions.

Terra and Ariel rushed back to the deck of the Magician after the ordeal was over. A few small ripples marked the place this enormous entity once was, and it was silent.

X, Locke, and Relm were nowhere to be seen.

Rei's New Boss

"...other than that, Strago is nothing to fear"

And that concluded Kefka's analysis of Goloros' foes. He still had no information of use against X and Ariel, but none of the others posed a threat with this new information.

Nicholi, Rei, and Vincent sat across from Kefka and Goloros in Nicholi's Thamasian home.

"This is intriguing. Not only do we have the inside dirt on Terra and her little lackeys, but we have the vast power of the Emerald WEAPON as well!"

Goloros stood up. "Sirs, I believe our brigade is complete. I set Kefka in charge- as he knows more about this world than the two of you."

Nicholi stood up. "And me, sir?"

Goloros sneered. His glowing white eyes turned a pale red. "I have special plans for you, one of Alexander."

Goloros whipped his cape around Nicholi and...

...a crack of thunder. Nothingness.

Kefka, Rei, and Vincent were alone in the small room. The fire sat crackling over the hearth.

Kefka cackled in delight. "You hear that! I am your boss! You two little henchmen gotta do whatever I say!"

Rei snorted. "Why everyone gotta be my master? I always play the fool."

Kefka stood up, his idiotic-looking purple robes falling around him like a child's doll. "Shut up slave! Now douse that fire! I'm hot!"

"I ain't no slave," Rei said calmly. Something in Kefka snapped. He pointed his scrawny, ghost-white finger at Rei and shouted: " Slave!!! "

Suddenly, Rei stood up and doubled over in pain. He tried to speak, to breathe, to do anything, but couldn't. Pure, unabridged pain coursed through every microscopic nerve in Rei's body- pain like he had never experienced.

Vincent, instantly frightened, used the materia attached to his gun to douse the fire.

Kefka kept the spell rolling for a full five minutes. Rei fell to the ground groaning. He was concsious, but he couldn't see. Or hear. He could scarcely breathe.

"You will obey me you lousy little punk! And if you don't I shall set a spell upon you to torture you for eternity! Death is too good for viscious little brats like you! One more word of disrespect towards me and I will tear every solitary hair off your gringy little body, one by one! You fool! How dare you disobey me, your complete and utter master!"

Rei coughed. "Doesn't this just beat all..." he muttered.

Vincent held back a laugh. "Just finish him off," he thought. "Rei doesn't deserve the life Master Goloros has in store for him. Just kill him."

Kefka walked over to Rei and gave him three swift, hard kicks in the stomach. "If I ever hear you speak again without my order, I will sap every bit of life out of your body and thrust you into such torment you will be begging me to die!"

Rei coughed up a mouthful of blood. He thought of Ryu...

Kefka grabbed the fire poker from the hearthstand, held it out in front of him, and said, "Let this be a lesson well learned..."

The poker shot out of Kefka's grasp with the force of a comet, piercing through Rei's skin and pinning him to the far wall of Nicholi's house. Rei hung there, trying to muster enough strength to morph into his weretiger form... not for a counterstrike, but pain was easier to bear in his monster body...

With another flick of Kefka's wrist, the poker turned into a knife of pure vorpal, slicing upwards through Rei's shoulder and leaving him laying on the ground, panting and gasping for air. The tiger grabbed his shoulder and winced in pain.

By this time, Vincent had cowered into a corner.

Kefka knelt by Rei's side, grabbed his ear, and whispered into it, "That is just a fraction of the eternal torment you will succumb to if I hear one more disrespectful word out of you. You are working for me now, you miserable son of a bitch!"

Kefka said the word "bitch" in an almost deafening tone. One more swift kick into Rei's face and Kefka sat back on the couch.

"Vincent, dear, it's rather chilly in here. Would you mind lighting up the fireplace?"