Okay.. a new attempt at fanfiction writing. Erm... this is my first Final Fantasy related fanfic (although I've been wanting to do one for a while) and I'm just hoping it dosn't suck too badly. n.n;;

(For anyone who cares I'm probably not going to be really working on my other fanfics for a while.. basically because I've tryed the ideas out and I've run out of ideas already. I thought I had a plotline... and then it died. I'm really sorry about that... and I'll be more careful about know what is going to happen in a fic before I post it with this one and later on.)

(Note: This fic is rated for gore, blood, and some pretty dark themes. So err.. don't kill me if you get freaked out by anything here.)

"Less than Perfect"

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, the Light Warriors, Gaia, Any of the cities, or pretty much any ideas here. However I do own the characters I made up to play the parts of the light warriors and any add in characters they meet along the way that weren't in the original game. Who are they? If I told you there'd be spoilers. nn Enjoy the fic.

Prologue: End of one Adventure, Beginning of another,

Tall statues and monuments adorned the walls of the huge temple. The gray-blue slate floor, brushed with only a thin coat of dust, and was perfect in design. The walls, windows, pillars, all perfect, flawless, untampered with, and untouched. Not a cobweb hung from the high ceilings, nor a chip was taken from the delicate floors. A young red wizard gazed upon these perfect features and sighed. It was a shame a beautiful place like this would one day become the musty, broken ruins that he and his comrades knew as the Temple of Fiends.(What went wrong?) Shaking his head he looked to his comrades, who were still peacefully asleep. A red haired knight lay with his back rested against a pillar, his sword, the Excalibur, lay draped across his chest, atop his diamond encrusted armor. I wonder how he sleeps in that armor. He mused. Smirking, he turned his attention to another figure. This was a blond girl, dressed all in white, curled up into a little ball on the floor. Her own armor laid next to her, accompanied by a huge mallet. She was a Wizard, like himself, only she had mastered only the White Magics, while he had taken to both Black and White. The last of his comrades was resting up against the wall with his head cradled on his chest and his royal blue hood pulled over his head. He too had taken his armor off for the night, and laid it next to his golden staff, "The Judgment Staff" as he called it. He was, yet another Wizard, and a powerful one at that, only concerning himself with the offensive type, black magics. The four had known each other for a long time, almost all their lives, and each had a special talent of his or her own. That, and their possession of four,huge, almost identical crystals, made them the first to be chosen as the Warriors of Light when the need for them came. (They had been powerful enough. They had everything they needed.) And after a year of hard work, the only task left for them that remained, was to kill the cause of all the chaos that had begun. In fact, the creature that they had to kill to bring balance to Gaia once again was called Chaos. The wizard smirked and turned to his friends.

"Rise and shine Warriors of Light." He called to his comrades. "The wrath of Chaos waits for no man."

Slowly, the three other Light Warriors, pried themselves from sleep, groaning and rubbing their eyes.

"Can it wait for a woman?" Asked the White Wizard, slowly pushing herself up from her reclined position.

"Sorry." The Red Wizard apologized. "But we have to get to this battle. If we wait too much longer we'll be back in present day Gaia."

The Black Wizard had already stood up and begun to put on his armor. "The sooner we get this battle over with the sooner I can get a full night's sleep" He grumbled. "I hate the wilderness so much sometimes..."

"You hate everything sometimes." The Knight commented, giving the hooded wizard a playful shove, causing him to tumble over. The two were friends, but sometimes the knight underestimated his own strength. "Oops.." He apologized.

"Yeah.. and sometimes I really hate you." The Black Wizard muttered, getting to his feet, but he smirked at the knight and gave him a playful poke with his staff.( They were so energetic. So powerful.)

"Come on. Before present day comes again." The Red Wizard said, motioning to the door that led to where Chaos should have been.

The four approached the door, confidently at first, but as the door neared, each became less and less sure of himself.

"Uhh.. Ladies first." The Knight said, motioning to the door.

The White Wizard shot him a glare. "Some knight you turned out to be." She mumbled, rolling her eyes at him.

"I didn't mean you." The Knight said, looking at the Black Wizard. He picked up on the Knight's little joke immediately.

"Very funny..." He muttered, and slowly,and he pushed the door open. (They may have acted childish, but they weren't fools in combat)

A groan resembling that of a dying animal was emitted from the door as it opened, and slowly the four, led by the black wizard, tiptoed into the room. It was as silent as death. No-one dared to move, or breathe a word. The room was sparsely lit, and the end of it was shrouded in shadows darker than the night itself. Slowly the Black Wizard stepped further into the room until at last a figure emerged from the darkness. However, that figure wasn't Chaos. The Light Warriors had never seen Chaos themselves, but they did know that that wasn't him. The figure before him wore white-blue armor, with a matching helmet that covered his face completely.(Maybe they thought too highly of themselves) Two long spike-like horns protruded from the helmet, and helped to make his figure more menacing, and a cape was draped down his back. Immediately each of the Warriors realized who that were looking at.

"Garland..." The Red Wizard breathed, staring in complete awe at the figure before him.

"H-how did you..." The Knight started, but his voice caught in his throat. He was shaking violently, and his eyes were wide, and displayed in them was an emotion his comrades had never seen in him before, fear.

Garland them gave a small harsh chuckle. "So, you do remember me.." He said. His voice smooth, and leathery, unlike it had been the first time they'd met, what seemed like a lifetime ago, on the bottom floor of the Chaos Temple, fighting over the life of a young princess.(Maybe they relied on each other too much) Now the stakes were higher, and he was at the top of his game. "I was once known as a knight of Corneria."

The dark knight now began to advance on them, forcing them to back away from him.

"Two-Thousand years from now... you killed me." He said with a cruel chuckle. "Garland... thats what I was called. Thats the name you knew me by"

From under his blue-white helm, a twisted smile appeared on his face.

"Oh you did kill me then." He said in almost a whisper, but just loud enough so that the four could hear him.

Now the Red Wizard was getting nervous. He could feel his heart racing and his palms sweating. Garland had gone mad, and now he and his comrades were at the mercy of a madman. The very notion disturbed him greatly.

"But the four great forces saved me by sending me back through time." Garland pressed on, his voice now rising, as if he was getting to the climax of a great story. "And once here, I sent the four fiends into the future."

The Red Wizard heard the White Wizard give a stifled gasp(Maybe they trusted each other too much.). Not that she was surprised that he'd sent them back, but that she'd come to the realization that all four Warriors had just grasped. Everything they'd done was in vain.

"There, they shall once again use the four great forces to send me into the past." Garland finished, but his story could have gone without saying.(Or maybe not enough) Each of the Warriors knew what he was going to say. Garland turned in a gust, and took a few steps back, but the Warriors stayed pressed against the slate-brick wall. "In Two-Thousand years, I will remember none of this."

None of the four Warriors dared to move, speak or breathe, and for a second, all was still and quiet. But suddenly there came an unexpected, abrupt flash of light, causing each of the Warriors to jump slightly. A small point of light formed just before Garland's breast. But slowly, the point began to expand into a ball of pure energy that soon had engulfed him completely, until the Warriors couldn't even see each other in its brightness.(They weren't ready) When the light finally died down, before them stood, not Garland but a terrible winged beast. It was sandy brown in color and had a strong, muscular build, only looking a bit human. The details that had once marked that of Garland's armor now seemed to create the very flesh of the beast, and even the horrible devil horns that sprouted from Garland's helm had melted into the head of the beast.

"I will be reborn here" The beast said in a horrible, deep voice, contrasting the voice Garland had held before. "So even as you die again and again I will return. Born again into this endless circle that I have created."

The Red Wizard's blood ran cold.(Even with their extensive trust and friendship, they could never have won) Could this be Chaos? If that was true, and Garland was Chaos, then there would be no way to end the chain. No way that is, unless they were to cut him down now. The Red Wizard put his hand to the sheathe of his sword, and drew it slowly, holding it on end, and the other Warriors followed suit. There was no need for words, each of the Warriors knew what the other was thinking, and each knew they were thinking the same thing. Chaos would die here and now.

The beast, Chaos gave a smirk, characteristic to that of Garland. "So you dare to challenge me?" He questioned them. He gave a flap to his mighty wings. "Very well."

With that Chaos took to the air, gazing down at his opponents with almost pity, as if he saw a future of pain for them.(They were missing something) But the Red Wizard was confident in his own abilities, and the abilities of his comrades. He smirked back at the winged beast, holding his sword poised to attack. He gave a glance to the Knight, and gave a little nod. The Knight nodded back and gave a small gesture to Chaos. Only the Red Wizard himself knew what he'd meant by this. To any other, even to the Black and White Wizards, this was just a small mental conversation, but in fact this was an exchange of plans. Quickly, he began to mutter an incantation under his breath, still holding his sword poised as if ready to attack. The Black and White Wizards began to breathe the words of their own spells, seeing their comrade begin. The Red Wizard slowly felt himself drifting from the battle field, his own words engulfing him, the power of the spell rushing through his veins as if it was his own blood.

"Haste!" He pointed his sword to the Knight and a rush of hyper energy burst from his veins and into that of his friend.

The Black Wizard followed suit. "Temper!" As his own, smaller burst of energy rushed in to fill his comrade.

"Holy!" The first true offensive spell was unleashed by the White Wizard.(Compassion) The battle was on. And it was with that the Chaos creature unleashed his first attack.

"Blaze" The creature muttered in a cold voice, and with that word the very ground around them turned hot. The Red Wizard gave a small cry in pain as a steaming hot liquid filled his shoes. The floor itself had melted.(They cared for each other enough to do everything in their power to save each other) Pillars of melted slate billowed up into the air, and the white hot liquid rained down upon the four, causing each to cry out in the blinding pain. And with that the floor grew solid again, and the intense heat dissipated.

The Red Wizard withdrew in pain, the attack hindering his ability to think for a few seconds, but it didn't stop the Knight, who immediately flew in for a physical blow, his body practically glowing with the magical energy that had been forced into him, and the blow he delivered seemed enough to even cause Chaos to wince in pain.(But they didn't attempt to do things they thought were above them) Chaos however wasn't at all stunned from the overall blow, and retaliated with a swift swipe that could even cut through his diamond armor. There was a sickening crunching noise as the beast's long claw collided with the Knight's chest, and flung him across the room landing limply in a heap.

"Flare!" The voice of the Black Wizard was heard just as the Knight hit the floor, and a blinding flash of light engulfed the Chaos creature, and then was sucked into small black point, only to emerge in a burst of flames and light a second later, showering it in the white hot embers of pure energy.

However despite the intensity of the blow, Chaos seemed to brush the hit off easily.(They didn't value each other's lives above all else) It gave a grunt, and glared at the Warriors, now not mocking, but enraged. "Tsunami." It growled, and with that word water began to flow right into the room, and Chaos flew up to avoid the water.

The Red Wizard exchanged a frightened glance with the White Wizard, knowing it would be impossible to avoid the blow, and then looked ahead to see a giant wave above them. It came down with a crash, sending a spike of pain through the Red Wizard's body.(And thats worth more than any battle strategy) He looked up weakly, only to see another wave, and then another, and another, each one crashing down on the party until the were all submerged. Water filled the wizard's lungs, and he struggled to find the breath of air he so longed for. And all at once the water receded, leaving the four Warriors on the floor, gasping for air and coughing up water.(But how can you create something like that?) Or at least, the Red and Black Wizard were. On the floor the White Wizard lay, crumpled and drenched, not moving or breathing, and a few feet away lay the Knight, still laying in a relatively similar position to the one he'd been laying in previously.

"No..." The Black Wizard breathed, looking out at his fallen comrades. Immediately he shook himself of the shock he'd received and scoured his blue, and now drenched cloaks for a phoenix down. But as soon as he averted his gaze from his foe, a long, muscular claw swooped down and collided with his fragile body, flinging him across the room.(Maybe it just happens by chance) The Red Wizard looked on in horror as his last standing comrade was taken from him, now laying in a steadily growing puddle of crimson fluid. He could feel his stomach turn backflips. His three comrades, three best friends, all gone in a matter of minutes, and he hadn't done anything to stop it.

He closed his eyes, and tried to somehow, somehow get away from the situation, to concentrate on his spells, so that he could revive his friends, but shock and fear gripped him.

Just leave it all behind He told himself, and slowly forced his fallen comrades and his foe from his mind. He began to mutter the incantation to the life spell momentarily, the only spell that would be able to save him and his friends now.(Then the only way for Chaos to come down, is to take that chance) But his words didn't come swift enough, as another word, dripping with hatred, pierced the air. "Thundaga"

The Red Wizard's eyes shot open as he spun around just in time to see the enormous peals of lightning headed straight for him. And then it hit. Electricity burned flesh as the lightning pulsed through the wizard's body, making even fiber in his body scream with more pain than he'd ever imagined. He could feel himself falling... falling.

He'd failed.

He'd failed his comrades who had fought so hard to get there, he'd failed Corneria, Princess Sara, everyone he'd promised to help, to save Gaia from it's certain doom.(Maybe then, things will turn out differently) He'd failed all of Gaia. The pain was gone now, and the last thing that passed the wizard's lips, were two words, strung as one, meaning every feeling that he could feel at the moment. "I'm.. sorry..."