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THE BLUE SKY
(BASED ON "FINAL FANTASY")
BY
SOPHIE GREEN
CHAPTER THIRTY
The party slowly woke up to find that the figure, the Emperor, and Geevan were all still frozen in time, but that the old man that they had seen was not. It was Tyght who spoke first, “What was that strange world?”
Before the old man could answer Bevern said, “Did you see the same thing, with the guy being turned down by a girl?”
Tyght nodded, and Sianna said, “I saw it too.”
“As did I,” said Gaian, “And Tyght is right, that was a strange world.” He turned to the old man, “What was all that about?”
“That was the world that is outside of this one. Or, to put it more precisely, we are inside him.”
“Inside him?” said Bevern, “Like, in his head?”
“Exactly.”
“So what are you saying? Are we just figments of his imagination?”
“That’s a crude way of putting it, but, in a way, yes we are. When something happens in his world, it is manifested in ours. Likewise, things that happen here can affect him in his world.”
“But... we’re not real...”
“Ah, no, that is where you are wrong. You can see, you can feel, you can think – that makes you real. And who’s to say what lies beyond his world? Maybe he exists inside someone else’s head, and that person exists inside another’s, and so on and so on. That is a question to which we may never get an answer. But that is not our concern at the moment. Because we are here, and now that you know the truth about our world, a decision needs to be taken.
“When he hoped that the girl that he desired would become his, this world was peaceful, bright, and hopeful. But when she turned him down, for him it was the last straw. His last hope had been extinguished. This devastated him, which manifested itself here as the apocalypse caused by the Emperor. But, as you can see, the world has not yet completely been destroyed.
“He made one last cry for help, and so you, the ‘Warriors of Light’, were summoned. Your quest, where you were working against the wishes of the Emperor and that of the figure, was the part of him that was fighting for hope, trying to find a way to go on. What for you would have felt like a few days has only represented a few moments in his world. And now we reach a point where things can go down one of three paths.
“There is the path of the Emperor, who cannot bear to feel any more pain or suffering. This would have him take his own life.
“Then there is the path of the figure, who wishes to fight and to dominate. Whilst this might give him a sense of power and control, this would be extremely harmful to others in his world – and that girl in particular. The things that he would do to her if the figure took control don’t bear thinking about. Needless to say, if there are others like us inside her mind, their world will face an apocalypse just as devastating, if not more so, than the one that we have suffered.
“Or there is the path that you have been treading. A path that would have him fight these feelings, and to work through them, and his other problems. It will not be easy, but things will improve for him when he comes through to the other side.
“So, which path is it to be?”
Sianna said, “I would have thought that was obvious. It should be the third one. Killing himself – destroying this world, won’t do him any good. And the other path you mentioned we shouldn’t even be contemplating. These feelings of his have to be fought.”
“Wait a minute,” said Bevern, “Is it really that obvious? I agree that he certainly shouldn’t harm that girl. But if this situation is causing him such pain as to devastate our world, shouldn’t we just let him get on and top himself? I don’t like the idea of just being part of someone’s imagination. I don’t think I could continue to go on knowing that.”
Gaian said, “But, like this man said, you can think and feel, you are alive as well. Whilst we may be living inside someone’s mind, who in turn might be living inside someone else’s, there could very well be people living inside of our minds, who in turn could have others living inside of there’s. Who knows just how far – in both directions – this thing goes. If what this man has shown us is true, we need to try and help him to fight these negative feelings. If I’m right, and there are worlds inside all of our minds, his killing himself will not just wipe out this world, but the worlds inside all of our minds, and the worlds inside the minds of the people who inhabit the worlds inside out minds. An unimaginable number of people and worlds could be lost. But by helping to save just this one world, saving his life, and trying to help improve it, as well as saving all of these lives and world, it could also improve the world that he lives in, therefore affecting the well being of the mind that his world belongs to. And that feeling could work its way up into other worlds.”
Bevern sighed, “You’re right, it’s all a little much to take in, that’s all. But what do we do now? How can we fight the figure, and the Emperor, and Geevan?!”
The man answered, “You have been given the power of the four Elemental Crystals that govern this world. Use that power to heal this world. Now that you know the truth of this world, I will lend you my power as well.”
“We will do as you say,” said Tyght, “But who are you? How do you fit into this picture? How did you know about the truth of this world?”
“Now, that is a very interesting story, but now is not the time to tell it.” He started to slowly fade into thin air, but as he did so he said, “But, Tyght, make sure that you continue to follow my teachings...”
As soon as he had said this he had faded completely. The world around them started to slowly come unfrozen from time. The party readied themselves.
Gaian looked to the Fire Crystal, blazing through his sword, burning with passion, with dreams and hope.
Tyght held aloft his staff, with the power of the Water Crystal, cooling and soothing, bringing life to all things.
Bevern infused the power of the Earth Crystal in his sword, powerful and strong, solid in its determination.
Sianna raised her hands to prepare to use the Ultima spell once more, combined with the power of the Wind Crystal, light and free, but fast and powerful.
Time reached normal speed as Geevan reached them. Gaian’s and Bevern’s swords, as well as Tyght’s staff, all hit Geevan at the same time as Sianna’s Ultima spell went off. There was a cry of pain from Geevan, followed by the Emperor screaming, “NO!!!!!” Geevan appeared to explode in mid air, and then there was no trace of him.
The figure rose to his feet and said, “Give me your power! I will rule this world!”
The Emperor appeared to gather the last of this strength, and said to the figure, “I may have lost, and now the world will survive. But it is better that it survives with what little hope the ‘Warriors of Light’ can provide, than with you leading it to war!!!!!” He drew his own sword, and lunged at the figure, plunging his sword deep into his chest. There was a bright flash, and, suddenly, they had both disappeared.
A light started to fill the room, dimly at first, and then growing in intensity. It was emanating from the Crystal, which slowly transformed from black, to a shining white light.
Tyght exclaimed, “The Dark Crystal has changed into the Crystal of Light! It’s over! It’s over!”
In the now illuminated room they could see a door. Bevern went and opened it and saw that it led onto a balcony. They all went through it, and outside they could see the dark clouds disappearing, showing a brilliant blue sky. They then saw the sun shining for the first time in days.
They could see people picking themselves up from the ruins below, looking up at the sky with looks of hope on their faces. The land outside of the city was quickly turning green once more. The world, so close to dying, was coming back to life.
Gaian said, “We’ve got a world to rebuild, and we’ve got to make sure that we do all that we can to prevent this from happening again. We’ll work though this, and make this world a stronger place. Never again shall someone like the Emperor try to destroy it, or someone like the figure try to rule it. A new beginning starts today.” He looked around at the party, and the looks on their faces confirmed that they agreed with him.
On that day, the world was reborn.
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