It has been thirteen years since the final conflict between Cosmos and Chaos erupted.  Ever since the destruction of Chaos, a very fragile peace has followed.  But what awaits the world now, as a new threat beckons at its doorstep?  Will anyone be prepared for the arrival of Shinryu...?  Can the mighty dragon be stopped?  The fantasy begins now...

 

It's a cold and quiet summer evening, and the ocean waves gently crash on the shore.  The moon rides high and the town is ever peaceful, as people go about their daily night life.  Among the crowd walks a lone man, one that you could say, stands out from the crowd.  He seems quiet and stoic and he has clothing that would mark him as a solider.  His name is Lucius Sablewind.  The man always keeps to himself, closed from anyone who tries so much as to make contact with him.  He notices an inn nearby, and as he walks towards it, he sees the name of the inn up top.  "The Blazing Phoenix huh?" he says to himself.  With that, he enters the inn, and then he goes straight to the bartender and asks for a drink.  At the far end of the table, he sees a woman, no doubt a warrior, taking a drink herself.  He immediately took notice of the weapon she was wielding, and he stared at the weapon intently, wondering who could have forged it.

Rabiyu reminded silent for a few seconds before answering."I would say...most of it." She answered. "A few memories, along with a few words are the only remnants that I have of my past."The young huntress' mist cloak, despite not being of solid matter, was flowing in the wind while she walked. Once again she was trying to recall the memories she lost."Words like "Conception" "Reimaging" "Crusade Templar " and "Specint" are some of them." She said flatly. "I do remember about the Crusade Templar and Specint."The white haired girl was looking in front of her, her eyes not focusing in anything in particular, but the road ahead."Special Intelligence, or Specint, is, as you can guess from its name, the special division of intelligence of the Templar assigned to black operations. Although the memory that stand out the most is that of a group of people, a woman in particular...a woman with hair black as night and piercing eyes that can see the light of expiring souls."Rabiyu's face had a stern look and a small scowl, she knew those memories were important, but being unable to reach them made her feel frustrated."I was given the gift to see and feel spirits around me, but that woman...I can feel she is unnatural...her gift is far more powerful than mine and I don't know to what extent."The Huntress shook her head in an attempt to shake her feeling before looking at Joker."What about you?" She asked. "Do you remember where you come from? do you remember your past?"

The Warrior of Light, not knowing what to answer to the charismatic Yuffie, simply cleared his throat.  "Ah, well, yes, it is good to see you in high spirits young warrior.  We will need that kind of attitude when things grow dire.  We need to be ready for anything, and I am glad to know that you will be ready for whatever comes at us.  I'll be counting on you to assist me in aiding our comrades should they lose their way." he said, placing his hand on Yuffie's shoulder and nodding, and with that, he walks ahead, feeling sure that his comrades will be able to survive whatever trials await them.

 

Meanwhile, Lucius had encountered a mysterious individual, and he was wary, trying to figure out what the person's intention was.  Then he noticed it was a girl, and he decided to sheath his blade.  "I am just a wanderer, and I lost my way in this place.  I'm just looking for a way out." he said, trying to sound as casual and calm as possible, for he didn't want the girl to think he was allied with Cosmos.  He didn't want to fight, but if the moment would come to it, he would have no other choice but to unsheathe his blade.

{Joker}

Joker considered what Rabiyu said she remembered. While he knew of the existence of other worlds, but he hadn't been to them. It was...fascinating to hear something about a different world.

"My memories are rather disarrayed, but not because of this war." He answered the Huntress. "My world had a cycle nature. The same story playing over and over, with slight variations. I was taken out of the cycle to watch over it. Sometimes, they run together."

He looked around as the Warriors of Cosmos around him.

"Though, this war isn't all that different."

 

{Lumina}

The pink haired girl shrugged.

"Wandering is nice. I like wandering." She said, pacing a little erratically. "But, that doesn't mean you get to skip out on the war. There is no neutral parties in this."

She grinned at Lucius.

"But the main question is which side are you going to jump on? Boring, unchanging order? Or something fun?"

Rabiyu listened to Joker with interest, while it was frustrating to not have all of her memories, to learn about a different world was a rare chance."A cycle nature?" She asked. "My mentor, at least I suppose he is my mentor, always said that our world was, and is, made by altering its own history."The Huntress crossed her arms and looked to the sky."I thought that changing history was completely impossible, but my mentor keeps saying everyone is mistaken. He was the one who taught me about the theory of the multiverse...although...I thought he was crazy..."She then looked at the rest of the Warriors of Harmony."I was mistaken...there are other worlds out there, unreachable to us, but they exist."Rabiyu once again looked at Joker."It must be tiring." She said flatly, but with a slightly tone of curiosity. "Watching the same story unfold again, and again, and again."The white haired girl closed her eyes and put her hand in her chest."It would break my heart to see what I cherish destroyed over and over again."

Lucius glanced at the girl, now feeling uneasy.  In other words, she was going to take matters into her own hands and try to finish him off.  But he wasn't going to go down without a fight.  But still, he did all in his power to avoid combat as much as possible.  "Young lady, I do not take part in wars, I do not participate in pointless fights, so step aside.  I'll simply be a bystander.  You have a problem with that?" he said, looking at the girl with a grim face.  He already knew where this was going.  It was all but certain that a battle was going to take place now...

 

Meanwhile, as the Warriors of Cosmos headed out, Cecil Harvey, the Paladin of Light noticed Rabiyu and Joker, and he went over to them and smiled courteously, bowing his head down.  "Greetings my friends.  It seems that you are new recruits.  Welcome to the fight!" he said, and then he looked around Order's Sanctuary, and then he turned to face them again.  "Would you mind if I tagged along?  I think we would be able to form a formidable team should we come upon any foes.  So what say you?" he said, his smile nothing but honest.

{Joker}

Joker remained silent for a moment, then replied.

"We kept telling ourselves that the current one was going to be the last." he said. "That lasted us a while, at least."

He paused again, then shrugged.

"Anyway, that is in the past. We managed to stop the cycle. I was considering how to reinsert myself when I became aware of this conflict."

Joker glanced over as Cecil came over, give the paladin a return nod.

"I don't see why not." He answered.

 

{Lumina}

Lumina screwed up her face as she considered Lucius question.

"Well, I guess it is a problem." She said at last.

She then gave Lucius a small and shrug.

"But hey, I thought of a way for you to be a bystander."

A black mist started to emanate from the girl, scowling extending around her. As it grew, three jackal headed monsters formed around Lumina.

"You could be dead." Lumina said off handedly, gesturing to her sides.

She smiled at the monsters she had summoned.

"My friends can help you with that."

The monsters roared and charged at Lucius.

Rabiyu flinched at Cecil's words, not because she was afraid, but because she was brought back from the deeps of her mind."Would you mind if I tagged along?  I think we would be able to form a formidable team should we come upon any foes.  So what say you?" He said.The Huntress considered  the words of the Paladin for a couple of seconds. Sure, there she was, an amnesic girl in the middle of a conflict between Gods, but hey, what could go wrong."Sure. It would be the best choice if we form teams."She said as she noticed how some of the other Warriors talked among themselves before looking at Cecil."In any case...My name is Rabiyu" The Huntress said before nodding slightly. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister..."

Lucius sighed and shook his head.  "Why do these situations always seem to fall upon me?" he said to himself, and with that, he drew his sword, and he was barely able to block the jackals attacks.  He then took to jumping towards the trees and see if he could find some form of advantage over his opponent.  "Looks like your really intent on having me on your side.  Well, on that regard, I say no thank you!" he said, as he jumped from branch to branch, blocking the jackals attacks and searching for anything that could give him the upper hand in this battle.  He had to win this battle, he just had to!

 

Meanwhile, Cecil was conversing with Joker and Rabiyu, and he heard Rabiyu's voice beckoning him: "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister..." and at that he replied: "Harvey.  Cecil Harvey.  And alright, then let us be off.  We have much work to do."  He then proceeded to walk southwards of Order's Sanctuary along with Joker and Rabiyu, and during the time they traveled, everything seemed peaceful and calm, considering it was war time.  "So then my friends, do you remember any of your previous struggles, do you have any memories of your homeland?" he said, looking at them with a kind smile.

{Joker}

Joker flinched. He had forgotten to introduce himself again. He needed to work on that.

"I go by Joker, mostly." He added in.

He considering telling them his birth name, but was that his true name anymore? Names were funny things. Some believed them to be have changeable meanings that altered along with its bearer. Others believed that the meaning of a name was immutable, and that you could outgrow a name. Joker wasn't sure what he believed on that subject, but he did feel the name "Lean Hampelmann" belonged to a magic student with high hopes. Not what he was now.

"No, best leave it till I am ready to reclaim that life." He thought.

"I do." He answered Cecil. "Most are unpleasant, but they are there."

Joker eyed the paladin. He was a veteran of previous cycles, wasn't he?

"What about you?"

 

{Lumina}

Lumina laughed as her Chaos Monsters tried to attack Lucius from the ground, chopping at his feet and the branches with their weapons.

"You are already fighting Chaos." She said. "Which means, to most of the narrow minded people I work with, that you are as good as a Cosmos stooge already."

She giggled again.

"That's the nature of chaos. You can't avoid it and it always comes for you."

"Yeah, I do possess a few memories of my homeland and my past."Rabiyu then got lost in thought for what felt like minutes to her. Here she was, in a strange world, in the middle of a battle between gods, but the young Huntress was used to conflict, or at least she thought she was. Her days in the Specint division mostly forgotten just like the rest of her life."Although...I don't think they are all that important."Wrong, Rabiyu was so wrong thinking that her few memories were useless for they were the key to unlock her lost past and the reason she had to find the people from her memories."I do.  Most are unpleasant, but they are there. What about you?"" Joker said.At this point the white haired girl looked at the Paladin with interest. Another chance to learn about another world was something she didn't wanted to miss.

Cecil looked at the two young warriors and nodded.  "Yes, I do indeed remember my homeland.  You see, I come from a land named Baron, and I had gone on a journey to find myself, because I had committed many sins during my time as Lord Captain of the Red Wings.  During my journey, I came upon new friends, including those I already knew, but much else seems to be cloudy.  I cannot seem to remember anything else.  But I am sure everything will come back to me in due time.  And something that I remember from this realm is faint but familiar.  I feel like I have been through this field of battle for many times now.  Anyways, that just might be me."  He then looked at Joker and smiled.  "I see that you too have much to find out about yourself.  You seem to be a troubled soul.  I do hope you can be able to find out more about yourself during the time we shall be traveling together." he said, then turning towards Rabiyu.  "And you, young lass, do not discard the memories you possess.  Everything is important, even the smallest detail.  Hang on to those fragments of your memory, and the rest will come in due time." he said, and then he walked forward, heading into what seemed to be a vast valley.

 

Lucius, on the other hand, was facing quite a predicament.  He hadn't been in this place for even a day, and already he was facing problems.  He had no choice but to stand and fight, and if he had to die, then he would die fighting.  "I do not appreciate your petty remarks about Chaos and Cosmos.  None of that matters to me.  If you would have simply walked by, I would have done nothing, but you had to come and pick a fight!" he said, doing his best to keep himself on his toes to prevent himself from getting off guard.  He saw the girl laughing, which made him feel irritated.  "I need to defeat her!" he said to himself.

Yuffie continued to skip near the front of the pack, humming happily. It was a nice day for a battle in the end. Sun shining, just the right amount of breeze. She stopped suddenly to bend down and pick a flower. A dahlia. It's sweet scent only improved Yuffie's mood. Not much could get her down. The situation was poor of course, stuck in an eternal cycle of fighting, but if you accepted this as a fact of life and moved on, then you could make a life just the same as you would have in your own world. Her memory was mostly blasted, but some of the other warriors had looked at her funny, like she inspired a memory in them. She took another sniff of the flower in hand, then tossed it back to the side of the road, and started skipping once more. The White Rose of Wutai was in a good mood.

Firion, another of Cosmos' warriors, had noticed the cheery White Rose of Wutai, and he couldn't help but walk towards her, feeling curious about her cheerful disposition.  He cleared his throat as to not sound rude, and he smiled and waved.  "Um, hello there.  I see your enjoying the scenery.  I am Firionel, and it is an honor to have you as an ally in our fight." he said, bowing his head down and looking at Yuffie, and then assuming his posture.  "So, am I right in guessing that you have an affinity to flowers?" he said, having noticed that she had picked up a dahlia.

{Joker}

"'Find out more about myself'." Joker mentally echoed. "Perhaps. Though not in the sense I think Cecil ment."

"I would have to agree." He said about, supporting the Paladin's suggestion to Rabiyu. "Memories are important for many reasons, most of all to teach one about making better choices the next time around."

Joker scanned the warriors ahead, noticing the ninja girl and...what was his name...Firion, talking together.

"So, how do you judge our position now, Cecil?" The Watcher asked.

 

 

{Lumina}

"Well, you should!" Lumina countered to Lucius's declaration. "This war is going to trample anybody trying to stay on the sideline. A little white flag can't save you."

Two of Lamina's summoned creatures kept trying to attack Lucius on the ground as the third climbed a tree two over from Lucius.

"Case in point, me trying to kill you now." The pink haired girl said with a shrug.

The chaos monster in the trees jump from one tree to another, then jumped at Lucius's tree, its weapon raised in attack.

Edited June 17, 201411 yr by rikunobodyxiii

Cecil thought for a moment and then he folded his arms.  "Well, it would seem that now we are at a fairly balanced stage in the conflict.  The enemy hasn't attempted anything yet, and we are also staying on the defensive.  Clearly something is amiss, but we need to take extra precaution.  Come, let us go through this trench, and perhaps we will be able to find something that will give us a clue as to where our enemies are hiding." he said, as he slowly climbed down the trench that was before them.

 

Meanwhile, Lucius was barely able to keep himself alive.  He was trying to disorient Lumina, doing everything in his power to find an opening and escape...but unfortunately, no such opening was present, leaving Lucius with little options.  He stood his ground and he fought valiantly, fending off Lumina's creatures as long as he could, and then, all of a sudden, the ground started to tremble.  "What is this?" Lucius said to himself, now feeling ever more wary.  As he was in a daze over what was happening, the ground opened up below his feet, and he fell down the bottomless fissure that had appeared.  Lucius was now falling.

Rabiyu was thinking about the words of her two traveling companions."Teach one about making better choices, uh?" She thought to herself. "It seems that I need to hold to these memories in order to find my true purpose."It seemed strange that even when they were at war, no enemy was around to start a conflict. The Huntress was following both Cecil and Joker while her senses were working at their max level in order to catch any signs of the enemies, her body ready to fight if needed.

Yuffie smiled back at Firion, and curtsied dramatically. "Yuffie Kisaragi, the White Rose of Wutai! Glad to meet you Firion!" She said, retaining her cheer. She nodded to Firion, before continuing her conversation. "I suppose you could say I have an affinity to flowers. Flowers are in my title," She didn't include that her title was self-imposed. "And I could be like a rose too. Beautiful on the outside, but if you try and touch me I'll prick you with my thorns." Yuffie continued, iterating the clichè line. As they walked along the path, Yuffie posed a question to her comrade. "And yourself? You wouldn't have asked about flowers if you didn't have some connection to them yourself." Yuffie may act stupid most of the time, but she still knew how to pick up on the nuances of body language, dialogue, and her environment, like any good ninja.

As they continued going through the trench, Cecil started to feel something strange.  He had the sensation that they were being watched.  He knew instantly that someone was monitoring their movements.  With silent expressions, he alerted Joker and Rabiyu of the impending threat, and thus he prepared himself for battle. As soon as he heard a twig snap, Cecil quickly transformed into his Dark Knight form, as he propelled himself forward, firing dark spheres to draw in their mysterious assailants, and then he swiped them off one by one with his Shadow Bringer attack.  "Manikins..." Cecil said quietly.  He glanced over to Joker and Rabiyu to see if they were doing alright, and seeing their combat skills, he was confident they were safe.

 

Meanwhile, Firion was walking with Yuffie, as the two were in blissful conversation.  "I'll be sure to keep that in mind oh great Rose of Wutai." he said, bowing down his head cheerfully, and then he smiled and was caught a little off guard by her question.  "Well yes, you see, I have a deep connection with the wild rose.  It's a memento that I have from the memories of my homeland.  See?" he said, as he showed Yuffie the Wild Rose he possessed.  "It is very precious to me, and it always reminds me that there is hope that all war will eventually stop in this world, and then the world can be filled with all kinds of flowers! Heh, but I bet that's a ridiculous dream, isn't it?" Firion said, blushing a bit and feeling embarassed.

{Joker}

Joker followed Cecil into the trench, weighing in what the Paladin had told him with his own observations. His considerations were intrupted by something jumping out at him. His sheathed katana appeared in his hand, which he drew and slashed out with his other hand. He cut through the manakin in the attack, then replaced the weapon in its sheath with a flurish.

"I thought these things were no longer a factor." He commented as he saw a few more moving in.

 

{Lumina}

Lumina looked surprised at the ground that opened up under Lucius. The creatures she had summoned dispelled as she walked to the edge of the pit and she looked down to see what had happened to her opponent.

{Rabiyu}It was somewhat sudden but Rabiyu stopped walking before an arrow passed right in front of her."Missed." She said.In a quick motion the Huntress took her bow and an arrow from her quiver while looking for the source of the attack."Manikins..." Cecil said quietly.Rabiyu shot the arrow at a clone of herself that was above them and once the arrow hit its target the manikin fell to the ground."Interesting.  Magical constructs made from crystals?" She said. "That's why I didn't felt anything. They aren't alive."The white haired girl began to shot arrows at the manikins she had in sight.

"Quickly, we must not let them surround us!" Cecil shouted, holding off the manikins at bay as long as he could, alternating between his Dark Knight and Paladin forms, shooting light beams and dark spheres to destroy the lifeless manikins.  He then ran forward, and he signaled Joker and Rabiyu to follow behind.  With the two young warriors in tow, Cecil kept clearing a path while the two young warriors took on the manikins from the sides.  The battle was going in their favor for the present time.  It seemed that things would go smoothly for them.

 

Elsewhere, Lucius suddenly woke up, and instantly he rubbed his head, for it seemed that the fall he had taken when the fissure opened did quite a number on him.  His head hurt and his body was aching, but thankfully, he didn't have broken bones.  He slowly stood up and then looked around him, wondering where he was.  He seemed to be in some vast channel of tunnels, as if someone, or something had been digging paths here.  It was practically a maze, and Lucius sighed to himself.  "I would have preferred to die at the girl's hands..." he thought, feeling annoyed by his current predicament.  But, with no other choice, he pushed on.

{Joker}

Joker slashed through another manikin with a quick slice of his blade. He eyed a few more, then disappeared in a blink. For careful ears, his footsteps were still audible as he ran towards the crystal creatures, his personalized invisibility spell keeping him from sight. He began methodically attacking the manikins, appearing for just an instant to strike, then turning invisible again. When Cecil signaled for him, he followed along like a ghost, striking down any enemy who got in his way. Only brief glimpses of him and bodies he left in his wake showed his path.

 

{Lumina}

Lumina grumbled fora few minutes, then turned her back on where Lucius had disappeared. She wasn't entirely sure what that was, but maybe that didn't matter. Either he was doing something some side would hate him for or he was dead. Either way, the pink haired girl felt satisfied.

Rabiyu was shooting the manikins around her and the two other warriors. Some of her own copies shot arrows at her, but by using her space-bending abilities, she managed to return the attacks back at their owners."So many in so little time." She thought. "If the necessity arise, I will try summoning.""Quickly, we must not let them surround us!" Cecil shouted.The Huntress, while attacking, saw how well Cecil and Joker fought against the lifeless manikins. By the look of things they were going to win and the summoning wasn't going to be needed. 

Cecil constantly looked back to his comrades to make sure that they were all right.  As he shifted through the numbers of manikins, they suddenly disappeared, and then the ground started to shake, almost as if the world itself was breaking.  "What is this?" Cecil whispered, and suddenly, a short distance away, a giant Antlion appeared before them, it's pincers sharp and ready to impale anyone who would get in it's way.  "My friends, we must fall back, we need to get to higher ground!" he said as he started jumping from side to side, finding an opening in the trench to go through.  "This way!" he said, as he ran through the opening.

 

Lucius, on the other hand, was quite lost, traversing the vast underground caves, trying to make sense of where to go.  "Ugh, if there's one thing I hate, it's staying in closed spaces like this." he said to himself, as he kept walking along.  He was starting to get thirsty, so now his priority changed from finding a way out to finding water. He suddenly felt the ground shake and he fastened himself, hand firmly clasped on his sword, and when the shaking subsided, he started walking faster.  "I better not take any chances.  I should keep moving before something else here traps me." he said, as he kept walking into the unknown.

{Joker}

Joker reappeared back to back with a manakin as he stabbed it through its stomach with his katana. He forcefully pulled his blade out, twirled it, whipped it clean and slid it back into its sheath. He snorted when he felt the ground shake beneath him.

"Always a bigger fish." He muttered to himself.

As soon as the Antlion appeared, Joke used a Watera spell on it.

"Rabiyu!" He called. "We'll leap frog out of here, taking turns slowing this thing down!"