Shake and Oddity's CYOA

Beoulve Castle In the shadow of Beoulve castle stood a party of eleven. Beoulve castle, the proud home of Romaji’s royalty, its legacy replaced with that of a demon king. A monster. Chosen by fate and circumstance, the party of eleven now faced the task of ridding the world of this evil. An evil that seemed more and more formidable by the minute. Men and women, mages and warriors, guns and swords. All useless when they had faced the being Id. And now................. Crono looked again. He still couldn’t believe it. He walked over to the man that was pierced through the arms on the fence, body wide open like Jesus to the cross. Gutted, intestines partly hanging out, stripped of all his clothes and pride, covered in his own blood from head to toe. Crono looked intently at the highest tower, the central one, blocked by the energy of ancient Espers, or so Orlandu had claimed. The Beoulve throne room was in there. Kefka is the strongest being in Bhaktar. We always believed that. Now we know......... Magus came forward, passing Crono, stopping when he was just 3 feet short of Id’s corpse. Crono was the only one who heard Magus’ whisper: “It can’t be.................” Magus reached for Id with his arm, Crono felt a shiver along his spine as he saw it. Magus touched the stream of blood that was coming from Id’s open eyes with his gloved hand, as if he still wasn’t convinced by the horrific state of the man. Aeris was still on Crono’s back, and used the only muscles she had any control over, turning her head so she didn’t have to look at the man who would forever haunt her in her nightmares. Edge became impatient, “ So Lord Kefka killed another challenger, I can’t see why you’re all surprised. He will probably do the same to us. I never thought I’d be in front of Kefka’s castle, and now that I am we are standing around gawking at a body in his garden. I suggest we either leave or get on with it. “ Samus was in a state of mind that can only be explained as utter shock. If Kefka did this to Id, what chance do we have against him? A cold wind brushed against her, a foul wind, one that whispered uncertainty into her thoughts. She could feel the malice in these currents, although she couldn’t explain how or why she felt that way. At this moment the wind was doing nothing, except playing with her long blonde hair. Despite all the ominous foreshadowing they had received just now, the bounty hunter felt somewhat relieved. At least now Id is dead and that monster is still in the castle, Snake has to be safe. But he hasn’t come back. Samus shook her head, trying to dissolve all uncertainty. Nothing but the mission. Total focus. It’s just another mission. And that loudmouthed outsider just challenged us. Samus flew so she was right in front of Edge, a few feet taller with the spell, and spoke from her superior position, “Don’t forget you are only twenty, Edge. I do not know you, nor what you can do, but I suggest you leave the decisions to Crono. “ Crono turned around and glared at Edge. Sometimes when you looked hard into Crono’s angry eyes, you could see yourself die by his hands. Or so the legend had spread among the citizens of Bhaktar. Edge took a step back and rejoined the others. Crono softened his eyes and smiled briefly at Edge before positioning himself in front of his team. The man has a point though. We need to get moving, or all surprise is lost. If there ever was any. It seems Lord Kefka left us all in shock, instead of the other way around. Edge was relieved to see Crono’s smile, he was a legend to many. Edge was a gifted young man and he looked up to Crono. He wanted answers from him “If Lord Kefka destroyed this Id that killed Ryu and injured two of your team, what chance do we stand against Lord Kefka in his own castle?” You may be right. But we have to believe it can be done. If we don’t, we’ll certainly fail. Crono took a deep breath and spoke with all the confidence he could muster. “Seems like Id, hard to believe as it is, has died. It probably happened after a struggle with Lord Kefka. That means that now, more then ever, is the right time to challenge him. I refuse to believe Id went down without a fight, Kefka must be weakened , wounded, hurt.” Crono looked intently at everyone separately, one by one. Sabin still held reservations. “What if Lord Kefka just killed him? What if Id was an insect to him, what if we didn’t have a chance from the beginning?” “Then my entire life I have been fighting for nothing. If Kefka is that powerful, then everything I have done or will do has been futile. Then Kefka will someday defeat the Alliance, murder every man, woman and child on this planet and claim the world for himself.” Crono said. He could see the confidence level dropping among his team. “But I don’t believe that. We are the world’s only hope, WE WILL defeat Kefka, FOR DANTE!!!” “FOR DANTE !!! “repeated Aeris, Samus, Cloud and Auron. The others looked at each other confused. Suddenly Magus turned around from his position, his cape making a whirlwind swoop.. The new party members had been even more impressed with Magus than with Crono, even Orlandu had fallen to the enigma’s charisma. Kefka is a bug. He doesn’t deserve the power he has been given. I haven’t come all this way, seen my sister DIE only to be denied vengeance because of some madman, and now you all start to behave like little childen. I will destroy Kefka !!! “ Magus yelled with insanity in his eyes. Crono was beginning to worry. “ And I won’t be doing it for Dante......FOR SCHALA !!!!” “FOR SCHALA!!!“ all repeated, Crono most fervently of all. He needed his troops in the right state of mind, and how was not important. Crono nodded at Magus before announcing his decision, “Auron, Cloud, Aeris, Edge, Sabin, and Magus. All of you are going to assault the West Tower. The rest of us are going to the South Tower. Those seem to have the simplest devices on their doors and will probably be the easiest to assault.” The people named to go to the West Tower, nodded at Crono and began their long trek. Orlandu led the way to the South Tower with great reluctance, Killing espers… it should be impossible according to the old legends, I hope we survive this… When they reached the yellow door with the lightning bolt on it everybody seemed to pause. Orlandu tried to open the door but it would not budge. Vivi stood before it and tapped it with his staff. It opened without Vivi even needing to push at it. The party entered the tower and stood on a very small platform. It had 3 edges, when the party looked down all they could see was a depthless darkness. Vivi was alarmed, This gap… this… vacuum… it eats up spells. This was information that he proceeded to share with the group. They needed to know that as long as they were above this gaping hole, his spells would be useless. Crono nodded and looked at the one distinctive feature of the platform. At the center of the platform there was a silvery white staircase that spiraled up and up, farther than he could see. No matter how hard he tried he could not see how high this monolith ascended. And all throughout the tower they could feel a gusting wind. Vivi spoke again, “This staircase… it has… magical triggers at certain points, I don’t exactly know what they do, but I would be wary of them.” Crono nodded, this information was useful. Samus looked over the sides of the platform hesitantly, “I may have this float spell, but I know it won’t work without ground under me, and that looks like a long fall.” Orlandu grew impatient, “We have no time for this. We obviously must ascend this stair case, no matter how high it climbs. This is obviously some sort of test.” Suddenly the platform started shaking, Raziel gasped as he almost slipped into the darkness. The platform was shrinking, “Everybody onto the stair case NOW!” Vivi was the first on, followed closely by Orlandu. Then came Crono and Samus, finally there was Raziel. The party watched as the platform shrinked into nonexistence, only the staircase was left. The staircase was too narrow to switch the order of the party around, so they started off. Not too long after the trek into the heights had begun Vivi stopped, “This is the first trigger. Everybody, get ready…” And with that the mage swung his staff at the fifth step. Quickly it was lit up as bolts of lightning sprouted from the walls to strike it. Vivi remained unaffected however, “Very interesting. It’s a good thing my staff has protective wards on it, otherwise I might be a roasted mage. The trap is triggered, though, it should be safe to pass.” The party traveled along the staircase… up and up. As they went Vivi set off all of the lightning traps. But the higher they went the more fierce the winds became, battering at the party, trying to tear them all away from the staircase. Orlandu had to hold on to Vivi, in order to keep the poor little mage from being swept away. As they reached the last legs of their tremendous climb, the wind became even fiercer. However, curiously it all blew straight up, no longer was it trying to knock them off. This did not stop them from being grateful. Finally they reached the top. Vivi stopped in front of another door, but this one was blue, with an ice crystal glistening on its surface. Vivi was puzzled, ‘This door I cannot open. You have to trigger its opening but… I do not know how. It’s almost as if the trigger is a creature…” At that moment they all heard a chilling screech. They looked up to see what seemed to be a man sized falcon. But the falcon’s feathers glistened and shone like steel. No sooner had they seen it than it poured lightning down upon Raziel from its mouth. Raziel was blasted off of the stair way and began to fall, miraculously, he managed to catch on to the staircase on the spiral immediately below his previous position. Samus used her float spell to its maximum potential, trying to reach Raziel in time. The fantastic bird swooped past the rest of the party and held level with Raziel, its eyes glittered as it flapped its mighty wings once right at Raziel, instead of to keep itself aloft. Metallic glittering feathers buried themselves in Raziel’s flesh like daggers. The force of the impact along with the shock of the attack caused the poor warrior to let go, and he plummeted. Samus tried to reach for his hand but it was already too late. “DAMN YOU FELL BIRD! DOOM OF A PLANET… CRUSH PUNCH!” Orlandu screamed. Red light erupted from his sword to strike the bird. The falcon’s metallic feathers deflected the red light, causing it to be directed harmlessly into the black abyss. The bird ascended so it could look down on the helpless warriors, its gaze was merciless. Samus trained her arm gun on the beast and fired missile after missile at it. The bird was enveloped in a sea of fire. The companions had to shield their faces to protect themselves from the amazing heat. That was for Raziel… Samus thought as she watched the inferno fade. But as the smoke cleared, two beady eyes could be seen, still suspended in midair. The steel falcon was very unhappy, it opened its mouth to let forth its fury upon the helpless party. Then it faltered, seemingly having to catch its balance in midair. The party looked around in confusion as the bird flew higher and started circling, as if searching for something. Crono looked down and gasped. Raziel’s sword glowed with green energy as he flew up on horribly mutilated wings to meet the bird in battle. Raziel was not flapping his wings at all, they were too wounded for that, but the wind seemed to be enough to support him as he sailed up to do battle. The steel falcon shot lightning at him but he dodged skillfully. Then he slashed thin air in the direction of the steel hawk and the hawk flew wild. Crono was puzzled, “What the heck is he doing?” Vivi responded, “You may not be able to see it, but whenever he slashes the air like that, an intense miniature cyclone is generated and hurled at that thing.” The party watched as Raziel skillfully maneuvered around lightning blasts while blocking showers of steel feathers with his Soul Reaver. Every so often he shot another blast of air at the thing, all while he drew closer and closer. Finally he was near enough to engage the thing in melee combat, it fought with its claws against his emerald blade. Finally he plunged the Soul Reaver into the beast’s foul heart, using his momentum he pinned it to the staircase. As it lay dying a blue energy escaped from its body and entered the door. Raziel got back on the stair case and retrieved his Soul Reaver as the party looked at him in wonder, “I cannot fly, but this wind… it was so strong. When I infuse my Soul Reaver with the power of the wind, I am lighter and am able to shoot whirlwinds from my sword at my opponents.” They all nodded. Finally Crono barked a command, well, let’s get moving, we still have an esper to kill.” Vivi opened the door and they entered a passage of ice. Central Hub The Stranger leaned against the wall in an empty corridor. Idly he tossed a knife into the air and caught it by the hilt or blade at his whim. He seemed like the very picture of a man simply killing time. But The Stranger was not killing time, he wasn’t going to be here long and he had to make use of every second. Right now he was waiting. Max strode around the corner, going a little faster than was necessary, like he was trying to bottle up some deep emotion, “Back from Mario’s shop I see,” The Stranger observed. Max’s response was curt and he barely slowed, “Yep.” Max was about to pass The Stranger, “Did you kill anybody?” That stopped him cold, he turned to face the man, “I did.” The Stranger raised his eyebrows, “Did you enjoy it?” Max was boiling inside and his resentment was plain, “Of course not!” The Stranger ceased his daggerplay, “You killed because of Link’s orders, yes?” Max hesitated and looked away before responding, “Yah… it was because of Link’s orders…” The Stranger’s eyes widened He killed the wrong person…. “It’s disgusting isn’t it? All this useless bloodshed, and for what?? Order… peace? Is that what it’s really for?” Max was despairing, “What can we do? Link will never change…” The Stranger examined his dagger very carefully, “Link is overweight and a little bit past his prime. People like that are particularly prone to… heart attacks.” Max immediately turned is full attention on The Stranger. “… and if he were to have a… heart attack. Why… I’d expect that I might be up for a sizable promotion. I am the most capable successor after all… Fox has no imagination, Sigma can only see as far as his pet projects, and 028… well… 028 isn’t leader material anymore, now he’s just a killer.” Max looked around to make sure nobody was listening, “He’s a bit young to have a… heart attack. Isn’t he? He still looks like he’s in great health.” The Stranger put a hand on Max’s shoulder, “You’d be surprised how war can age a man. What about you, Max, where would you be if Link were to have an… unfortunate accident. You’re a useful man, Max, only a fool wouldn’t want to make use of your skills.” Max smiled, “You’re a very resourceful man. A person could hardly ask for a better companion. I’ll talk with you a little later, though, right now I have to report.” The Stranger nodded, “Of course, do not let me keep you a moment longer.” As Max walked away The Stranger smirked That was too easy… South Tower The passage seemed like it belonged in a cavern of ice. It sloped upward slightly and it was freezing. Vivi was relieved to have the use of his magic back. The party trudged onward, hoping to find the Esper at the top of this god forsaken tower. As time passed Raziel grew more and more restless. He became jittery and furtive, the others could not tell why. Finally they came to an enormous room, at the other end was a brilliant crimson door with a flame branded on it. The room was shaped like a dome of crystalline brilliance. “Stop, we must not go further,” Raziel looked up nervously. The others cautiously looked up as well, two glowing red eyes stared out from the darkness of the ceiling above. A vile, jeering chuckle came from the darkness, “You have done well to come this far, my unfortunate friends. But your journey ends here. Lord Kefka does not wish you to disturb the Esper, even I fear that one. But disturbing its peace would upset Lord Kefka greatly.” Orlandu, Vivi, and Samus strode to one side of the chamber, well away from the spot the eyes were centered over, “We shall not pass, eh? Is that so, are you too cowardly to face us with more than empty threats?” Again that mocking laugh, “You cannot hope to defeat me, fools. But if you wish to press me…” An enormous monstrosity descended from the ceiling at incredible speed. Before any of them knew what had happened it had propelled Orlandu, Vivi and Samus into a wall at incredible speeds using a bony wing. The beast was a dragon, a dead dragon. It was only bones but it still had impressive skeletal wings and powerful claws. Orlandu and Vivi were unlucky enough to hit the wall with their heads and fell into unconsciousness. Samus hit the icy surface with her chest, stunning her. Immediately it breathed some ghostly flame at Raziel and Crono. Raziel muttered a word and the Soul Reaver lit up with a golden light. Using this magic he cut the flame so that it went to either side of Crono and himself. Crono leapt over the one of the twin jets and proceeded to charge the immense beast. Frustrated it discontinued its breath attack and instead uttered a single, harsh syllable. Dark bolts of energy flew out of seemingly nowhere and struck Raziel in the chest, hurling him far down the Icy path. Crono slashed at the undead abomination, cutting one of its ribs in two. Contemptuous, it spun around at incredible speed and smacked Crono with its tail. He was sent flying. Suddenly it took a shock from behind, Samus began a constant barrage of energy blasts. The dragon tried to slash her but she was too quick, leaping over its clumsy attacks and landing with the help of her float spell. Finally frustrated with her, he put his head to the icy ground and seemed to concentrate. A pillar of ice shot up out of the floor, slamming into Samus. It quickly pushed her up and then using its momentum steadily turned itself towards the wall. Using the pillar the fell dragon crushed her into the wall near Vivi. She broke the ice with a blast but fell to the ground, lying down in midair. She was in no condition to fight. “Spincut!” Crono charged the beast and used a spinning move that sheared off various bones. The beast didn’t even slow though, as it began to dodge and slash at him. It was incredibly fast for something of its size. Crono fought like a demon, his speed with his katana was incredible. Samus noticed Vivi stirring. She whispered, “Cast an intense fire spell on Crono’s sword, quickly!” The mage looked at her doubtfully, “JUST DO IT!” Vivi nodded and muttered his word of power under his breath. A hellish inferno raced towards Crono and he somehow instinctively knew what to do. He held out his sword to absorb the fiery blaze. Vivi was amazed that his entire spell, which originally was at least twice as tall and four times as wide as Crono was fully absorbed into the blade. “Fire Sword!” Crono screamed as he leapt into the air, the dragon brought up its claw to block his blow but as soon as the blade touched it, flames spread all over it. The spell had somehow intensified the spell into 3 times its initial strength simply by being in Crono’s sword, the burning fury raged across the dragon, consuming its bones greedily. All that remained of the abomination was ashes. Crono was exhausted, “Thanks Vivi, that’s just the edge that I needed.” Vivi was curious, “What did you do with my spell? Or I suppose the better question is… HOW did you do it?” Crono chuckled, “This Rainbow Katana of mine. It has the ability to absorb elemental spells so I can use them against the enemy. However, it takes years of training to learn how to do it. Sometimes I even charge it myself with thunder magic… but I sensed that would not have helped against this monster.” Vivi only nodded. After that he immediately went to Orlandu to wake him up, before he could reach the man, though, a chilling cackle was heard, “Do you really think you can destroy me?” Crono turned around to see a black emptiness above the ashes of the dragon. In the emptiness glowed two crimson eyes, “I can never die, fool. Lord Kefka made a pact with me, all I have to do is serve him. My soul is eternal, it can never be destroyed!” “Is that so?” Raziel stood in the entrance to the chamber, his sword of light still drawn. The eyes turned to him, “Yes, that is so. Do you doubt me?” Raziel snickered, “I don’t think you are eternal. Care to prove it to me?” He held his Soul Reaver in both hands in front of him. The dragon laughed, “It’s your death wish!” The emptiness charged at Raziel, desperate to consume him. Raziel let go of the Soul Reaver with one hand and used it to pull down his scarf.; the scarf he always wore to obscure his mouth, never once had he taken it off in the companions’ presence. But Raziel had no mouth, all that lay beneath the scarf was a void. As the dark presence saw this it panicked, “NOOOOOOOO!” The void pulled at it, like a vacuum. Desperately it tried to sail away, but it had come much too far for that. The dark presence rushed into Raziel’s void like a moth to flame. Raziel pulled his scarf up again, concealing the ghastly sight. The others were stunned and could only gape at him. He looked at them, “There was a time long ago when I needed to feast on souls to survive. Those were dark times, I was a dark man. Then I heard about this,” Raziel raised the Soul Reaver, “this Soul Reaver of mine. It sustains me, so I don’t have to resort to that… vileness. While I feasted on souls, I was slowly losing mine. Darkness grew in me by the day. This sword… it saved me.” Crono and the others accepted this. Everybody had a past, secrets that they wanted to keep. They were no different. Crono woke Orlandu and said nothing of what had transpired between them and Raziel. After his recovery the party opened the red door, and looked into hell. Central Hub Sigma was pleased. The Twin Terror Project had entered the construction phase and things were looking good for him. Zero was going to be a brilliant tactical officer as well as an incredible warrior. Robo was a veritable tank, with massive weaponry at his beck and call, he would make an incredible field officer. Now he had the disdainful task of telling Link about it all. He wanted progress reports, the man doesn’t even appreciate the work… soon… soon his time will come… Sigma smiled as he strode down the hall. Once he turned the corner his smile was wiped right off of his face. He froze in midstride. What is HE doing here? The Stranger immediately stopped tossing his dagger and leaning against the wall in order to stare at Sigma warily. Sparks seemed to jump between them just from their gazes. Tension ran through the corridor like water. Sigma completed his stride finally and stood to face The Stranger, “So… you have finally returned! It has been so long, what… 5 years? Why… some might wonder why you even bothered coming back when your long absence obviously proves you to be a traitor.” The Stranger smiled, “How would you know, Sigma? I don’t remember anybody ever telling you what my mission was! If I recall correctly… you didn’t have the security clearance… still don’t I might add.” Sigma’s smile was like stone, “I’m sure you are most valuable in Lucavi Sector. But even for a mission such as that it is a long time to be away,” The Stranger’s smile disappeared in an instant, “Oh yes… I discovered your little mission! I had so much free time on my hands because that idiot CATS never gave me anything important to do. I hacked your file. A robot has to keep busy, you know?” The Stranger’s eyes glittered like blades, “And how many upgrades have you had, Sigma? I don’t think Link ever authorized you to use Alliance resources on yourself,” Now it was Sigma’s turn to lose his smirk, “You really should be more careful about covering your tracks you know. A blind man could follow the trail you leave behind.” Sigma tensed, readying himself to storm out of this place in a maelstrom of blood and fire, “Don’t worry, though. I forgot to mention that to Link. Seemed to just… slip my mind.” Sigma relaxed and even managed to regain a grin, “How convenient…” He wants something… but what….? “Tell me, Sigma… don’t you think Link’s rule has been rather…. ineffective? I mean look at the Alliance, he can barely hold it together! He still hasn’t managed to quell all the rebellion.” The Stranger’s cold eyes caught Sigma’s metallic ones. Possibilities sprouted in Sigma’s mind like a garden, “Well, yes, now that you mention it… it does seem to be a bit… inefficient…” The Stranger smiled, “Maybe it’s time for new leadership…” An ALLIANCE?! Unbelievable, I never expected it from him…. Sigma’s mechanical brain went into overdive as it analyzed all the possibilities. Very carefully Sigma considered the offer put before him. South Tower A great chamber greeted them, putting the dome they had previously been in to shame. It was immense. Lava poured from the walls on all sides, ringing the room in crimson death. The black rock that made the floor was cracking from the heat. Above it all was a miniature sun, radiating incredible waves of heat with every second that passed. Merely to enter the room was a trial, but it was all nothing compared to what was in the center. There was the esper, a winged serpent, nay… it was too big to be a serpent, a winged dragon closed its eyes in the center. The wings had feathers instead of scales. They approached it with great caution. Suddenly it’s eyes fluttered open. ”I am Tritoch, ruler of the elements. Why have you disturbed me? Kefka has forced me to create this force field for him, I will not endure the mockery of his minions as well!” “You mistake us!” Crono shouted, “We are here to destroy you, not to mock. You are blocking our path!” Tritoch boomed with laughter, ”You think to destroy me? Puny mortals, you have not the power to defeat me, much less Kefka! Though to get here does show some impressive strength. Come back when you’ll be a challenge!” Orlandu was insulted, “Absorb power in the sky and strike! Lightning Stab!” An immense ball of lightning formed above the Esper’s head and then crashed into the creature with violent force. Tritoch didn’t even seem to feel it. In fact, he looked amused, “Is that your greatest attack puny creature? You are not even worth my time!” The Esper spewed forth a tremendous gout of fire, which caught Orlandu full on. Orlandu’s scream was short lived as he fell to the ground, charred beyond recognition. Even as Orlandu fell Crono’s blade bit into Tritoch’s flesh. The Esper screamed in rage and breathed a freezing blast of ice straight into Crono’s face. He was flung into the air and landed hard halfway across the chamber. Raziel’s sword, charged with a dark power, bit into the serpent’s tail as it flew into the air on its wings. Enraged it breathed lightning down upon the warrior. Samus shot waves of energy at the beast. They connected with impressive impacts. Tritoch became enraged and rained more lightning down upon Samus. The warriors were hurt badly and trying to recover in the oppressive heat. The serpent grinned at Vivi as if daring him to make a move. Vivi knew that he had to time this right… his friends needed to recover in time for his move… that would be the only chance to defeat it. He waited for the beast to initiate it. ”Are you scared little man? All of the sudden thrust into the big world of REAL magic!? Your powers are nothing compared to what I am. Go ahead… try your pathetic spells! Tritoch sneered at the pathetic being before him. The time was right… they had all recovered as much as they needed… Crono was looking to him… hoping he would somehow pull the battle in their favor somehow. Vivi was ready, “FLARE!” A miniature hell surrounded Tritoch. The heat involved in this spell outclassed simple spells such as fire with ease. The very air erupted in flame around the Esper; even if he was resistant to fire… that much heat would surely incapacitate him. And for the first time during the battle, Tritoch felt real pain. He bellowed in agony as the spell did its incredible work on him and fell to the ground in misery. Crono looked at Raziel, who nodded and they charged at the dragon from different directions. “X Strike,” Crono whispered and by some odd magic trails of red followed the two warriors, increasing their speed. Crono slashed with his katana while Raziel slashed with his Dark Reaver… again Tritoch felt immense pain. Even as the warriors passed the dragon, Samus unleashed missile after missile on the dragon. The explosions kept their vision obscured but Vivi and the rest could only hope that it was dead. When the smoke cleared, Tritoch was laughing maniacally, “Is this the best you can do!? I am impressed, truly I am! You have wounded me very badly, but you are still no match for me, puny humans! TRI-DAZER! A storm of lightning, fire and ice poured from his mouth encompassing the entire room, beating down upon the helpless warriors. One by one they passed out from the incredible pain that they were experiencing. When it was over Tritoch could only laugh. The beast ignored the horribly charred figure lying next to him. But Orlandu was there… barely alive yes… but this creature was making him angry. He stirred, and rose to his knees before the serpent, gritting his teeth against the incredible pain. Seeing this only amused Tritoch all the more, “You still think to resist me!? Look at you, you can’t even stand, let alone face me… what do you think you can do!? You are worthless!” Rage provided Orlandu with strength, “Master of all swords, cut energy! NIGHT SWORD!” With that Orlandu plunged his sword into the laughing dragon, who gasped in pain. The life force in Tritoch was incredible, it flowed into Orlandu like a raging river, completely healing his burns. His armor and cloak were still intact thanks to their enchantment and now he was up to the challenge. Fast as a whip the winged serpent backed away from him, rage burning in its eyes. It was still full of life, Orlandu’s wound was deep, yes… but not enough to destroy it. Lightning barely missed Orlandu as he dodged. This is my chance… “Life is short… Bury, Steady Sword!” A bubble of distorted space time flew from Orlandu’s sword and crashed into the mighty Tritoch. In its weakened state, not only did the beast feel pain but it also Stopped. For once Tritoch knew fear. Orlandu strolled up to it with contempt in his eyes, “What was that you said? Come back when we can give you a challenge? You are NOTHING before a true Beoulve!” In a swift stroke Orlandu chopped off the mighty serpent’s head ending the cruel king of elements forever. The miniature sun winked out in an instant, as if it never were. The lava flowing down the walls ceased. All that remained to illuminate the room, was the remaining ring of lava. With the hellish conditions lifted, the party recovered quickly. Everybody had scratches here and there… but nobody was seriously injured. Raziel surveyed the drastically changed landscape while the others prepared to go, “Orlandu,” The warrior turned to him, “What is that energy over there?” He pointed to the opposite end of the chamber from the fire door. Vivi was already looking in that direction curiously. Orlandu’s eyes widened, “No way. It survived all that heat? That’s amazing.” Orlandu walked in that direction and as he neared the point Raziel had shown, a part of the wall began to gain a silvery radiance, “This is the portal that we used,” The others looked at him in bafflement, when he noticed their bewilderment he explained, “I used to live here a long time ago. We were a proud family. It was our ancestors who hunted down and captured these Espers all those years ago. Then Kefka ruined this sector,” His eyes were hard. But then he passed over it as if it were nothing, “anyway.. back then there were these… portals in special chambers near key locations of the Manor, only members of the family could activate them. There were four to be exact, and they were used to enter these chambers at the tops of the towers so our family could witness the might of our ancestors as well as acknowledge that our charges were still imprisoned. This was Tritoch’s portal. So… that would mean it would come out…” Orlandu racked his brain for a moment, calling up old memories, “Right near our throne room. I would just bet that is where Kefka is. We wouldn’t have to enter immediately of course, we could wait for your friends!” Crono thought it over carefully before giving his assent, “Very well. We shall use this portal to our advantage. You will take the rear guard so the portal doesn’t close on us suddenly, alright people move out!” Crono was the first through as he leapt over the “moat” of lava to pass through the portal. Samus quickly followed with no need to jump thanks to her float spell. Raziel picked Vivi up and made the leap, finally Orlandu followed. Orlandu flashed into existence only to meet Crono’s cold gaze, “I thought you said we’d be near the seat of power…” There was no portal behind Orlandu, nor were they even in the Manor for that matter. They were in the courtyard, right outside the Esper towers’ lines. Orlandu cursed himself for a fool, “I should have known he’d tamper with the portals. Damn that man, delaying us at every turn! I will have vengeance Kefka…” Crono looked towards Kefka’s central tower, That feeling of waiting death. It’s gone… I wonder if the others killed that other Esper… Vivi and Raziel directed their attention elsewhere.. Their eyes were only for the corpse of Id. Raziel voiced his concern, “His armor… it should be shoddy and busted, most of it was stripped off him before. But now… it’s not.” The rest of the party turned their attention on Id’s corpse as well. They watched as a blue aura surrounded the mighty warrior. They shivered as he took his arms off of the spikes and dropped to the ground. They knew fear as his incredible energy washed over them in waves. Even as they watched, his wounds closed. They never saw his stomach heal but the wounds on his arms closed as he strode towards them. “I see you’ve brought new friends to play! Maybe these will be more of a challenge!” he mocked them. Crono shouted back, “You’re Kefka’s lackey, now, eh? How the mighty have fallen…” Id’s cruel grin didn’t ever leave his face, “Yes… I am Lord Kefka’s servant now. I serve him now in death as I was never able to in life.” Crono couldn’t help but wonder if he was as powerful in death as he had been in life. Choice 1: How should Sigma respond? 1) Agree to the alliance whole heartedly and conspire to destroy Link. 2) Agree to the alliance but Sigma should hold back his true secrets so as not to become vulnerable to The Stranger. CHOSEN 3) Brush him off politely and then undermine his position in the Alliance. 4) Sneer at The Stranger, say something curt, and then walk away. Choice 2: What should the party do? 1) Try to bring out Id’s true spirit so that he can exact vengeance on Kefka. 2) Flee from Id into Kefka’s domain. 3) Engage Id with Raziel leading the attack. 4) Engage Id with Crono leading the attack. Authors: Shake & Oddity Back Home