Final Fantasy VI - Dawn of Power

Chapter 1: Revival

The night was absolutely still at the town of Thamasa. No wind. No Sound. No movement. It was giving 12 year old Relm Arrowny the chills… of course, she wasn't going to show it.

Relm was busy looking out into the distance, painting a beautiful night's landscape showed the most wondrous view of the mountains and stars, humming to herself just to hear something. It still didn't calm her down, though. Especially when she heard a rustle in the bushes behind her. Her head darted around to see where the noise came from, but she saw nothing save for a few moving shrubs. She moved over to inspect the bushes.

"Relm!"

Relm shrieked only to turn around and see her grandfather, Strago Magus standing behind her.

"Young lady, are you going to stand there screaming or are you going to come help me set the table for dinner?"

"Alright, Grandpa…" she said.

Strago went back into the house.

"Fuddy-Duddy" she continued.

As Relm set the table she felt a sense of boundless uneasiness.

"Relm, why do you look so nervous?"

The girl looked at her grandfather and said, "I can't help but feel like we're being watched."

"Relm," said Strago "Stop being so ridiculous!" He turned around to retrieve the meal from the oven. When he had his back turned he got flipped off by his angry granddaughter.

Two taps at the window. Relm spun around and saw a shadowy figure ducking out of view. "What was that?!" she shrieked.

"Relm, stop acting so paranoid and help me with this!"

"Grandpa, there's someone outside our house!"

"Young lady, I've had it with your lies! I don't want to have to ground you a-"

Loud thumps came from above their heads

"What the devil is that racket!?" said Strago.

"I told you!" yelled Relm.

"Relm, I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this!" Nevertheless, he grabbed a kitchen knife off of the knife rack and held it at the ready.

Relm moved to grab one herself when the door swung open. Relm screamed and literally leaped behind their couch. Strago moved to attack when he realized that the person who had been stalking around their house was the ever cheerful practical joker, Locke Cole, who currently was laughing his lungs out on their front step.

"Hahahahahaha! Oh man you guys were so freaked out! Hahahaha!"

Strago put the knife down and glared at Locke, which caused him to laugh harder. "Get a grip, man!"

Relm stormed out from behind the couch. "That wasn't funny, Jerk!"

Locke just kept laughing. "Hahaha! And Relm! You're eyes were as big as dinner plates! You FLEW across the room! Hahahahaha!"

Relm started shaking with rage. "You son of a-"

"Relm!" Said Strago. "You never call anybody that!"

"-bitch" she whispered under her breath. She growled.

"Well now, if everyone's done disturbing the peace, we have a request for Mr. Strago." Said a feminine voice from seemingly nowhere. Everyone but Locke stopped what they were doing and watched as the lovely form of Celes Chere materialized from out of the shadows. She looked down at her fiancé. "Locke, stop it."

"Eheheh, sorry, sweetie."

"Ah, Celes!" said Strago, suddenly a gentleman again. "It's wonderful to see you again! Come in, please! Relm and I were just about to sit down to dinner. Why don't you join us?"

Locke jumped to his feet. "Gee thanks! I'm starving!"

Relm got in front of him and pushed him back outside. "Not you, Assho-"

"Relm! When did you get so foul mouthed?!" Strago looked at Locke. "You can come in if you stop the idiotic shenanigans."

"Hmph!"

Although Relm and her grandfather usually had dinner in complete silence, tonight the dining room was full of sound.

"So, Locke" said Strago, "What brings you to Thamasa?"

Locke grinned. "You could say I'm in town on 'business' I'm teaching my fiancée the art of treasure hunting"

Celes leaned over to Relm and whispered in her ear, "Thievery!" They both giggled.

Locke scowled at them.

"Celes, you said you had a request for me?" said Strago.

"Yes, we're going to be quote unquote 'treasure hunting' in a cave to the south of town tomorrow. Locke and I were wondering if we could spend the night here. There's no vacancy at the inn."

"Certainly, Celes. There's a guest room upstairs. You'll have to sleep in separate beds, though."

"I wouldn't have it any other way… yet."

That night, Celes couldn't sleep at all. Locke, of course, was snoring. She got out of her bed and went downstairs to see if Strago was still awake. Sure enough, he was busy writing something at his large mahogany desk. He looked up and saw her coming down the stairs.

"Can't sleep, Celes?"

"I'm a bit concerned about Relm." She said.

"Why?"

"Well, back a year ago, she was always so brave and courageous, ready to literally rip up anything that came after her, but when Locke pulled that prank on you two she got so scared she jumped behind the sofa. What happened to her?"

Strago sighed. "Relm was born a descendent of the Magi. Since her early years she was always naturally able to use magic. But since we defeated Kefka last year and all the magic was taken from the world, she's been like that. She simply can no longer defend herself with her magic and has lost all confidence in herself."

"Oh." said Celes.

"She's so sad all the time, too. She used to be able to literally make her art come to life, but now it just stays flat on the canvas. I hear her crying at night all the time over that."

"That's too bad."

Strago nodded. "If I could have just one wish granted, it would be for the magic to come back to us, just to have the old Relm back."

***

That night, in a cave to the south of Thamasa, the same cave that Locke and Celes intended to explore the next day, three green robed figures made their way through the winding tunnels. They entered a large chamber. One motioned to the walls and the other two began to light over thirty torches circling the outside of the room. Illuminated by the torches they could see that the room was filled with mountains of gold and treasure. Not saying a word the whole time, two of the men made their way to a large stalagmite in the middle of the room, while the other walked over to a large, gold statue of a winged man with an emerald in his chest. The man put his palm on the surface of the emerald and a stone shifted in the floor by the stalagmite, opening a hole in the ground. Silently, the men entered the newfound cavern, making their way deeper into the earth.

The Cult of Kefka had returned…

The three robed men strode through the pitch black tunnel, not saying a word. They came to a large chamber lit by a torch with a green flame. On the walls there were pictures of humans and espers. On the ceiling there was a picture of the warring triad. In the center of the room, there was a pedestal with a blue crystal at its center.

One member of the cult turned to the other two and spoke. "My brothers," he said, "today is a glorious day for our people, for though our god was lost, we can now return him to us, so that his glorious light can shine once again upon the world. We now will make the ultimate sacrifice for the ultimate cause!" He turned to the crystal "Today we revive our god of magic! The people of this world will witness his dawn of power!" He put his hands upon the crystal. Yellow light transferred from the man into the crystal. The other two cult members put their hands upon the crystal as well and yellow light was sent into the crystal from them too. As their life was siphoned away from them, the crystal began to glow yellow.

And just like that, the men vanished, leaving nothing but their robes. The glowing crystal then turned blood red and began to levitate. A ball of rainbow colored energy began started to swirl around it.

"Uwee hee hee!"

TO BE CONTINUED…