Realm Legends: Legend 9: The End of the Quest Already? By: Chandra Rooney _________________________________________________________________________ Legal stuff: Sephiroth, Vincent Valentine and all other FFVII characters/likenesses are copy-right of Squaresoft. Used without permission. Natalie Howard is copyright of herself. Sarah Aylward and Lazuli are copyright of Sarah. K.T.E./Jack Mamoru is copyright of KTE. The Green Gibbon!/Midori Saru! is copyright of GG!. Moon Guardian, Zephyr, Xiayou, Nova, Cosma, Erebus, Eien, Akugou, Midori Ryujiin, and Midori Denkou Ryu and all other original Realm Legends characters/likenesses/concepts are copy-right of Chandra Rooney. All the characters and ideas presented are my own, unless otherwise noted. _________________________________________________________________________ "Don't suppose I'll ever know what it means to be a man. I'll live around it"-- "Slide", Goo Goo Dolls _________________________________________________________________________ Prologue: Hello there, confused reader! It is I, your nameless guide. I thought that maybe, just maybe you'd be needing a little background on this Nev'aeh place. I've decided now is as good a time as any to give it to you. So without further ado and hopefully not much ado about nothing... Nev'aeh had been a civilization of great beauty and technology in its time. Fountains of stone had bubbled over with pure water, and the citizens had strolled amongst endless flowers and parks. The uniqueness of the citizens was one of the reason that the civilization had flourished. A Nev'aehian was always in perfect Balance. By combining two actual beings in one, a demon and a seraph, Balance was assured. Especially since at the age of 19 the two halves would assimilate and one being composed of equal parts of the two previous would exist from then on. But once Nev'aeh had fallen the perfect Balance of its remaining descendants faltered. Male seraphians combined with female demons and vica versa. All because of two sisters: Eien and Akugou. Two sister born out of Balance; Eien lacking a demon half and Akugou lacking a Seraphian half. It had been that event which had put the wheels in motion for the fall of Nev'aeh. The two girls had grown up as members of the royal court. They had been educated and pampered as all royalty are. The trouble started when it became clear that no other being was attached to the young girls. The young prince had already undergone his first 19 years in his demon form. It was customary for the demon half to be raised for 19 years, and then the child would return to the age of ten so that the Seraphian half could age and mature on its own. Once the Seraphian half reached 19 the two halves would assimilate. For one thing, both Akugou and her sister aged slower than a normal Nev'aehian should. Although they were the same age as the young prince, they looked to be only seven. Young Sephiroth had become Gabriel, and the whole palace was waiting for some sign of anything happening to Akugou or Eien. Small Eien proceeded to spend as much time as was allowed with Gabriel. He acted like a big brother and protector to her. Akugou became withdrawn and anti-social. She seemed to resent the "disappearance" of her former playmate Sephiroth. Things continued this way for several months. Then the war broke out. Another civilization rivaling Nev'aeh in its beauty and power was the Ryu Kingdom. A mountain chain separated the two civilizations. Both of the peoples had discovered that other 'worlds' existed that were developing primitive peoples. Nev'aeh was the first to colonize these worlds, and to put them under control of local Lords and aristocracy. Trading between these new 'Realms' and Nev'aeh provided excellent opportunity for economic growth. Also with more and more people under Nev'aehian control their military power was growing at an astonishing rate. Ryu had also discovered Realms and began to colonize and open trade routes with some of the more advanced races. But the threat of Nev'aeh was increasing. Nev'aehians had been seen trying to convince Ryu colonies that they wanted to separate and join Nev'aeh's empire. Also the squabbles over newly discovered Realms were escalating to more and more violent outbreaks. The ruler of Nev'aeh, Vincent Kage, arranged a meeting with the empire of Ryu, Midori Ryujiin. The two agreed to talk and see if differences could not be settled. Un beknownst to them, sinister forces were at work. A united group had been working to create the fights and pit the two kingdoms against each other. Their leader was a little girl name Akugou. Having no Seraphian soul, Akugou lacked any sense of compassion or concern for living beings. She existed as pure darkness. An extreme that was unnatural and doomed to bring Unbalance and destruction to both kingdoms. Akugou had great ambitions, as most demons do. She wanted to destroy everything. No one had bothered to ever remain with her; her only friend, Sephiroth, had left her. What reason did she have to care about the world or any other? It was well-known of the "friendly competition" that existed between Nev'aeh and Ryu. Only Akugou could see that by putting the right suggestions in the right people's minds, the two kingdoms would destroy each other without her having to lift a finger once the events were put in motion. When Vincent Kage and Midori Ryujiin met, they were assassinated. Both sides blamed the other and a war broke out. Soon the fighting had destroyed not only Nev'aeh but also Ryu. Only a few of the colonies managed to escape untouched by battle. Akugou's power and evil only grew as she got older. She had wanted to be a goddess, and a goddess she became. A goddess of Death and Destruction who would be feared by all. She even used Vincent Kage's death to her advantage. With his Seraphian half dead, his demon half took complete control. Akugou allied herself with the new King of Demons, Erebus. All lower demons, beings who did not join with Seraphians, came under his ruling and they agreed to recognize Akugou as their goddess and supreme ruler. But even in all her planning and preparation, Akugou had over-looked a few small details. Vincent Kage may have died, but his wife Lishia had not. Lishia had escaped, taking Gabriel and Eien with her. A small unknown colony had become their new home. The tribes there had learned magic from Lishia and raised Eien to become as powerful, if not more, than her sister. Gabriel became allies with the prince of the local ruler of warrior tribes in that colony. Dimitrius Kaos Guardian had been his name, and he had been introduced to Eien by Gabriel. Akugou had also over looked the fact that Midori Ryujiin's son, Midori Denkou Ryu had also escaped. When he appeared in the colony realm, gathering the colonies strongest fighters to challenge Akugou, Eien and Gabriel went with him. Young Dimitrius was not permitted to go, and had to stay behind rule in his father's stead as Ashrire-kuh joined Ryu's cause. They gathered other fighters, a young echidna swordsman named Mamoru, and a mage named Ohdessa. Using lost weapons from Nev'aeh and Ryu they captured Akugou and sealed her away in a crystal sphere. But not before her mind-poison affected Gabriel. Sephiroth had reawakened as the boy turned 19 and Akugou had used Erebus to get to him. Sephiroth had become hers before Gabriel even knew that his demon half existed. Then after the warriors returned to the colony realm victorious, Sephiroth took control and attempted to take vengeance in the name of Akugou and the demons on Eien and Midori Denkou Ryu. Ashrire-kuh stopped him from killing Eien, but was killed himself in the process. Eien performed a Soul Separation spell, splitting Gabriel from Sephiroth. Sephiroth was banished, and Gabriel's soul returned to the abyss to await the time when he would be needed to fight against Akugou. Eien and Dimitrius married and MUCH MUCH LATER had three children. A boy named Ashrire, after his grandfather, and two twin daughters; Moon and Star. Mamoru and Ohdessa also married. Generations and generations later, one of their descendants named David married a woman named Lillian and had a son named K.T.E. Sephiroth also married. His wife was a Nev'aehian woman named Lillian. She bore him two children. Twins whom Seraphian halves were named Lirsage and Zephyr, and their demon halves Vance and Xiayou. Then the time came when the imprisonment spell upon Akugou was coming to an end. Gabriel was reborn. Moon and Ashrire met. Then K.T.E. joined them, followed by Lirsage and finally Midori Denkou Ryu. Or the Green Gibbon! as he was calling himself. Did the five of them stop Sephiroth from awakening Akugou? While they must have, ne? I mean, the worlds still exist don't they? Jeez, you read Realm Sagas, didn't you?! Anyway, the story has come full circle now. Moon, GG!, Jack and Natalie have been captured and detained by Erebus's Generals. But where are Ashrire, Sephiroth and Vance? Who's side is Xiayou going to be on? Why has Sarah been taken? What does Erebus want with them? What are these Dragon Scrolls aka the Scrolls of Heaven? So many questions, dear reader! And so many of the answers are secrets! Chapter One: There were worse situations to be in. Moon couldn't think of one just at the moment, but there were plenty that she could cite later. The two human-looking women each held one of Natalie's arms. The one had short purple hair and golden-brown eyes. The other had longer, braided green hair. Both were dressed in short black dresses. Moon was having trouble understanding how they could fight in tight clothes and platforms, but there seemed to be a lot of that sort of thing in animes so she just let it go unquestioned. "At least tell us who you are," Jack said. "I want to know the name of my opponents..." he turned to the Green Gibbon!. "That's not too much like stock dialogue, is it?" "It was pretty lame. Better try again," GG! replied. "Say something original." Jack looked thoughtful for a long time. "Okay. Say, do you ladies like Slayers?" GG! sighed. "That wasn't exactly what I meant..." "You must be Generals Nova and Cosma," Zephyr said, clearing her...his...uh...Zephyr made that noise one does when one is clearing one's throat. "How did you know that?" General Nova asked, stunned. "Nexus talked about you from time to time," Zephyr replied. "So, let's get this pointless and probably poorly written battle scene over with already. I'm tired." "Okay, skip the pleasantries," General Cosma yelled, attaching a metal prong to her one wrist and then the other. "What are those things?" Moon asked. "Whips?" Sarah suggested. "Metal whips?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "Hey, there is a talking green fox, and two Spice Girl drop-outs here. Nothing is impossible." Nova did the same as Cosma. Once the prongs were attached they flicked their wrists and razor-sharp metal wings extended. "That's new," Jack noted. "Don't think we've seen those before." "Seraphian Feather Blades," Zephyr told them. "Not the nice fluffy connotation that feather implies, ne?" "Bet nobody would go making pillows out of those things," GG! remarked. "We must secure the hostiles and return to base with the cargo," Nova told Cosma. "Make sure the cargo is not damaged. Lord Erebus had specific instructions." "Affirmative," Cosma nodded. "You get the renegades. I will grab the other." They dropped Natalie. Nova rushed forward, and slashed at Jack. Cosma came at GG!. Jack blocked with his sword, barely getting it up in time. Cosma knocked GG! over and grabbed Moon's arm. "Come along quietly, Cargo," she said. "If you resist you may be injured." Jack was keeping Nova busy, and Zephyr had drawn her gun. "There is too many to engage in hand-to-hand combat with," Nova said, between sword blows. "Cosma, eliminate the weaker souls." Cosma nodded. She threw Moon to the ground and raised her metal wing to the sky. "Angelic Slumber!" Moon slumped to the ground. Jack and GG! did the same. Natalie passed out. Sarah looked at Zephyr. "What's happening?!" Zephyr had her own problems to deal with. A thick hazy fog had seeped into her brain, making it very hard to think. "I'm so tired..." "Not you too!" Sarah yelled. "Snap out of it! They're going to kill us!" "We're not going to kill you," Nova said, smiling. "We're simply here to awaken you and help you attain your full potential." "A-awaken?" Sarah asked. "Yes, you must be strong to serve Lord Erebus," Cosma nodded. "Who?" "Did it ever occur to you that maybe she can't be awakened?" a girl asked. Sarah turned. A girl about her age was leaning against a nearby fence post. Her black hair reflected the moonlight like a mirror, and green eyes peaked out from amongst her long bangs. The clothes she was wearing looked familiar. "Where'd Zephyr go?" Sarah wondered out loud. "And who are you?" A little smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know." Cosma pointed her wing at Sarah. "You will be awakened! Lazuli, I command thee to arise!" Sarah felt weak. Her knees started to wobble, and she tumbled down into blackness. Chapter Two: Her name was Xiayou Kage. The tight black boots, and short black shirt were on loan from some girl she hadn't bothered to get the name of. The white blouse was her own...sort of. <> Zephyr's angry voice echoed through her head. She sighed and flicked a piece of fuzz of her chest. <> Zephyr calmed himself. <> Xia replied. <> > He sighed. Xia smiled and brushed her silky black hair behind her shoulder. "I love upbeat people," a voice behind her said. "They're just so easy to work with." She turned and saw the guy that was leaning against the wall, grinning. He had longish hair. Maybe the same chin length of her Other Half. It was a dark purple-black color, and very shiny. He had dark purple eyes, that glimmered slightly blue. That was when they weren't shut while he smiled. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, and blue pants that covered his ankles. A dark- red cloak covered his shoulders. "Priest's robes?" Xia wondered. "You're no priest." His grin didn't fade. "Sure I am. I'm just a very special type of priest." "What do you want?" "Ah, a woman who gets straight to the point. You remind me of my sister." "I repeat: what do you want?" she put her hands on her hips. "I expect an answer this time." "Just checking in on things," came the reply. "Take care, dear." And with that, he disappeared. "Weird..." Xia muttered. "Wouldn't you agree, Zephy?" There was no response. Her Seraphian half must have been sleeping. The door opposite her opened, and an armed guard entered the room. "His majesty will see you now. This way." Chapter Three: The woman stood about 5'10". She had long, curly orange hair, bright green eyes and skin the color of alabaster. Even though she was very slim, she was quite...well developed. Maybe even enough to make Xiayou jealous. "These clothes," the woman was continuing, "are dreadful. They're are simply too small. I do say, you don't know where I might find some pastel pink silk? I must have a dress made. I cannot be seen like this!" "I'm certain that can be arranged," the tall man said. He had long silver hair, and green eyes. His features were sharp and very handsome. The small smirk he wore never left his lips. <>Zephyr's shocked voice thudded through Xia's head. She grimaced. It seemed he wasn't sleeping after all. "Sire," the guard saluted. "I present the Lady..." "Xiayou," Xia said. "Yes, right. I present the lady, Xiayou," the guard finished. "Xiayou?" the man turned. "Indeed...what are your parent's names?" "Sephiroth Kage and Medea Chikara." He smiled. "Sephiroth? Indeed. How very interesting." He took her hand and kissed it. "Allow me to introduce myself, dear Xiayou. I am Erebus Kage. All that remains of the Royal Family of Nev'aeh. Or so I thought until now." "Erebus...?" Xia pulled away. "No. You're not Erebus. You don't look like he does. You look like...like-" <> "-Vincent. The Seraphian. I heard he had died." "Ah, but I am-was assimilated. I posses physical traits of both halves. As you will when you undergo the assimilation process." "Yeah, about that..." Xia said not wanting to say the words, but saying them anyway. Zephyr had taken momentary control. "Uh, there's a little problem that might affect assimilation." "Indeed?" an eyebrow raised. "And what might that be?" "The little darling has a male half," the other woman laughed. "But that shouldn't be a problem. Not since he was turned into a girl!" "Well maybe he's unturned!" Xia yelled. "Who the hell are you anyway?" "Lazuli," the woman replied in a bored tone. "Imagine. Being attached to a man. How...inconvenient. It must interfere with your seducing of males." "At least my clothes fit me." "If you can call those rags clothing." Xia was enraged. How dare some miscellaneous person insult her fashion sense? "Ladies, please," Erebus stepped between them. "You're both quite lovely." <> "Now," he put an arm around both of them. "Lazuli can go and have this dress of hers made, and dear Xia and I can discuss assimilation. We do want to have it done as quickly as possible." <> <*Your* associates. Probably in the dungeon.> <> Chapter Four: Jack had been in a few dungeons before. They were usually dark and dank with rats, drafts, and other must-have creepy props. But this one had to be the weirdest one he'd ever seen. It was an old house, furnished stylishly, and very comfortable. "If this is a dungeon," he looked around, "I'm..." This comment went without reply for a few moments. Natalie looked at Moon, who shrugged and looked at GG!. "Okay, okay, I'll bite," the Green Gibbon! said. "What are you, Jack?" "What do you mean?" the younger boy asked. "You said...'if this is a dungeon, I'm...'. So if this is a dungeon, you're...?" Jack shrugged. "I forgot." GG! smacked him upside the head. Natalie finally spoke up. "So, what exactly are you?" GG! turned, and decided that she must have been speaking to him. For waking up in a locked room with a bipedal, two-tailed green fox she was pretty calm. "Well that's complicated," GG! replied. "I am who I am!" He munched on a drano cookie. "I'm an echidna!" Jack exclaimed, smiling broadly. "That's what I am." "Great, Jack. Thanks for sharing that," Moon replied. "Who are you people?" Natalie asked. "I mean you're obviously more than you seem to be." GG! looked at Moon. Moon looked at Jack. "What?" Jack asked, looking behind him. "We're...uh..." GG! trailed off. "I'm the Sacred Green Gibbon!, but please call me GG!. This here is Moon, and that's Jack. Unless someone switched him for somebody who just looks like Jack..." "That's not what I meant," Natalie frowned. "You know what I mean." "Not really. I very seldom understand women." He paused. "Hey, can you explain to me why you girls always have to go to the bathroom in groups?" "GG!..." Moon began. "Wait a minute," Natalie looked at him. "You're not...Gibbon, are you? I mean he's not here and-" "Hey, let's play strip poker!" GG! interrupted. "Actually, I don't know the rules to poker. Let's play Strip Go Fish instead!" "Strip Go Fish?" Moon blinked. "Um, yeah, you guys play. I need to think about someone er something for a while." "Party pooper! Sissy!" GG! yelled. "Oh, well, we can play with three." "Do we have any cards?" Jack asked. GG! blinked. "Oh yeah...that could be a problem. Oh well, let's play monopoly instead!" "You cheat at monopoly." The sound of the lock in the door of the room interrupted GG!'s reply. "Sanity at last," Natalie muttered. The guy who walked in had shortish silver hair, much like Sephiroth's, and demonically bright green eyes. In fact, his silver-ish skin and sharply pointed ears were trademarks of a demon. The brown suit jacket, pants, and white shirt looked vaguely familiar but no one was able to place his face. "It's..." Jack trailed off. "I'm sorry, who are you again? I forgot." "We don't know him," Natalie told Jack. "He kinda..." GG! had his best "not-thinking" look on his face. "Lir...ya! He kinda looks like Soup Broth, doesn't he?" "Lir?" Jack looked blankly for a moment then grinned. "Oh yeah! Hey, Lir, when did you get here?" "I'm not Lir..." the boy said. "Gosh, Lir, are you sure? It sure looks like you..." "Jack," Moon came back in, "it does not. Point one, Lirsage does not have silver skin. Point two, he doesn't have demon ears. Point three, he'd never wear brown. Lir hates that color." "How do you know he hates that color?" GG! asked, suddenly angry. "You seem to think you know an awful lot about this guy!" "I don't want to talk about this right now," she sighed. "I don't want to fight, okay? That's not Lir. It's not tall enough to be Sephiroth. So it must be Zephyr." "Isn't Zephyr that nice girl who threatened to shoot me?" Jack asked. Everyone stared at him. "Sometimes I worry about you, Jack," Moon said. "So you're just going to sit there?" Zephyr asked. "I thought maybe you'd like to end this little house arrest." "Where's Sarah?" Natalie demanded. "Resting," Zephyr replied, but his eyes didn't leave their fixed spot on the wall behind Moon's head. "He probably killed her," GG! said lightly. Zephyr folded his arms and assumed a rather "Zelgadis of The Slayers"-like pose. "I have better ways to pass my time than through acts of senseless violence. I may look like Sephiroth, but the physical aspect is where the resemblance ends." GG! blinked. "Yah huh...well...you're all weird and stuff!" "This from *you*?" Zephyr asked scornfully, eyebrow raising. "Isn't Zephyr that nice girl who didn't talk much?" Jack asked. "I mean when we were going to that Chicken Farm? What ever happened to her?" "And I thought that Ashrire was stupid," Zephyr muttered. "Hey, don't call Ash stupid..." Jack trailed off. "Where is Ash? I mean I know we were supposed to meet him somewhere...but I don't think this place was it." "If they got us, they'll be bringing Lirsage and the others, too. It's like a package deal. The Realm Protectors aren't much use if you don't get the whole set." "Well, congratulations, that was *almost* a joke," GG! scoffed. "If you want to stay here," Zephyr stopped leaning against the door jamb, and turned to leave, "be my guest." "Zephyr wait!" Moon ran up to him. "You obviously came here for a reason. What is it?" "The Lord of Nev'aeh wants to speak with you," he replied. "The Lord of...?" "Lord Erebus of Nev'aeh." Zephyr repeated. "As for what he wants, you'll have to take that up with him. Are you coming or not?" Moon looked back at GG!. "It would beat staying here." "All right," GG! nodded. "Let's get on with it. Lead on." "But I thought Zephyr was a girl..." Jack protested, following. Natalie just shook her head and hoped Sarah was all right. to be continued in Legend 10 First Draft completed at 8:57 pm Feb. 25th 1999 Second Draft completed at 9:47 pm March 2nd 1999 Final Draft completed at 8:21 pm March 4th 1999 Notice anything different about Legends? Uh, no I didn't all of a sudden learn how to do HTML. So how did I make these super shiny HTML files then? Well, "Sore wa himitsu desu". But since we're all friends, I'll tell you. I used my Netscape Communicator Editor feature to create HTML files without using any code. Each of Legends is now HTML format. I think they look better than the text ones. What do you think? I don't plan to put Sagas into HTML tho. Too much work. ^^ So, now you see that there is a new character, yes? He referes to himself as "I" and will be dropping by to give little background info and confuse us with interesting ramblings. 8.5 or Mini Legends confuse you? Good, then he accomplushed his job. Any guesses as to what his role might be? ~Moon~