Final Fantasy V: The Novel

Compilation & Additional Scenarios: Celes Chere

Original Characters/Story/Scenario: SquareEnix

Fire. Water. Wind. Earth.

The peace and prosperity of the world is thanks to the power of these crystals. However...that power is nearing its limit.

Not far off is the day when the wind slows...the water stills...

…and the earth trembles and quakes...

…and yet, everyone remains blissfully unaware...

…and the grave secret hidden within the crystals remains untold...

1: When the Wind Calls

Alexander Highwind Tycoon didn't know quite how long he had been standing on the northernmost terrace of Castle Tycoon when the hurried footsteps rang out behind him, shattering the peace that had just begun to settle into his marrow. His azure steel gauntlet-clad forearms were resting comfortably on the parapet as he wordlessly observed the spread of the kingdom before him – he still had a few precious moments before the interloper would arrive, based on what he knew about the length of her stride and the fact that she would be startled, exhausted and stumbling her way through the tower that rose above him – early mornings had never been her strength. She would have been surprised upon waking that he had decided to leave earlier than he had originally communicated: He had done that on purpose for this very reason, but had somehow managed to still be foiled – perhaps one of the well-intentioned maids had blabbed when they serviced his room that morning and had found it empty.

He drank in the rolling stretches of forest were being bathed in a blanket of pink fluorescence, and in the very farthest distance where the sea collided with the bounty of his realm, a rise of snow-topped mountain peaks pierced the horizon – their alabaster shrouds visible even on the hottest of their summer days, of which this one was surely gearing up to be among their ranks, based on the pool of sweat that had already soaked his brow throughout the inception of the dawn.

A meager wind was listlessly toying with his periwinkle floor-length cloak along the dust-ridden stone walkway, and the leather wings affixed to each side of his gold-plated and platinum helmet barely fluttered as he rose to his full height. Turning to the wind drake sleeping next to him, a divine specimen with scales of violet that shone with the brilliance of amethysts in pure moonlight and viridian mainsails that spread the length of three grown men each, he let out a low whistle, and the creature raised his head, blinking the sleep out of its piercing yellow eyes.

"It's time, Hiryu," King Tycoon commanded in his resonating alto. Hiryu the wind drake clicked his ivory claws against the terrace floor as he stretched his limbs, his seven foot long tail swinging behind him anxiously like a cat's.

Even Hiryu can sense something is wrong… Tycoon shook his head, reaching up to slide his crystal-plated visor shut over his face for the flight. When the visor was engaged, one could only make out the tapered slope of his long nose, many times broken, and the tidy trim of his chestnut boxed beard that framed a strong, unrelenting chin.

"Father!" a voice burst out behind him, and the clatter of footsteps came to a sudden halt. "Do you really have to go?"

The king spun around, his eyes adjusting to the sun-dimming properties of his visor as he took in the petite slip of a figure before him – a young woman aged nineteen years that was a full foot shorter than him in height, her shoulder-length platinum pink hair sloppily tied back from her face with what looked like the first item she could find: a tattered ribbon that clearly had been unlaced from one of the sleeves of her cotton shift nightdress, probably tied on as she fled down the castle halls. Dark circles were settled in her ivory complexion beneath a pair of wide-set jade eyes, and her delicate, heart-shaped lips were pressed together in a thin line of disapproval.

As expected, his daughter was not very happy with him.

"You know I do, dear," Tycoon shook his head. "And I need you to protect the castle. Under no circumstances are you to follow me, do you understand?"

She lowered her gaze, her fists clenching at her sides, which he pretended not to notice. "But, Father..."

He held up his hand to silence her; much to his surprise, she actually complied. "My dearest daughter…something is wrong with the wind... I must go to the Wind Shrine to make certain nothing's happened to the crystal. This journey is one that is not optional, and time is of the essence."

She nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself as she cast her gaze toward Hiryu, who was staring at her curiously, as if waiting for her to cut the chit-chat and hop on along with the king.

"Yes...I've noticed it as well. But, to go alone is-"

"Lenna," his voice, no matter how stern in his lectures, always melted into a buttery cadence when her name fell from his lips – she was his most treasured relic, and everyone within a thirty-mile radius of the kingdom of Tycoon knew that fact well. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Have faith."

Lenna knew that was the end of the discussion, and said no more – his trademark motto had been long engrained into her since childhood, and she oftentimes found herself muttering it under her breath when she was faced with a particularly vexing challenge. When all seemed to be at a loss, he needed only to remind her of those words, and she somehow always managed to find her way back to the light shortly after. Tycoon climbed onto Hiryu's back, and the wind drake began beating his wings to initiate liftoff even before Tycoon had settled in, seemingly anxious to get going.

Lenna raised her hand high in the air, waving as she pushed herself as high as she could go on her bare toes. The king looked over his shoulder as Hiryu launched himself over the parapet, flicking his visor back up as his stone-gray gaze locked with hers.

Lenna…no matter what comes of this mission…you must always remember who you are. You are the Crown Princess of Tycoon, the future heiress of the throne, and by birthright, the protector of the Crystal of Wind…

If…if something should ever happen to me…you must…

"Yarg! Pass me another jug of that rum, would ya?"

"It's near six in the morning, lad! Are you just startin' for the day, or carryin' on from last night?"

"Arr…does it matter?"

"N'ARRRR!"

A raucous round of laughter erupted from the rear of the ship as its captain lifted his head warily, his eyes snapping open upon conclusion of the twisted nightmare he had just experienced, coincidentally punctuated by the obnoxious cackling that was occurring mere yards away. He clenched his jaw as a throbbing pain exploded in his temples – just exactly how much had he imbibed the night before? He couldn't seem to remember drinking that much, but he certainly had a helluva hangover that seemed to prove otherwise.

A queer, fading cry shrilled in the skies above, and he lifted his head, blowing matted locks of hair the color of crushed violets out of his clear, seafoam green eyes that were suspiciously absent of any ruptured blood vessels which normally accompanied a hard night of partying. He lifted a hand to his face to shield his eyes from the glare of the rising sun that was blooming over the sea's horizon, temporarily dying the choppy water the same color as freshly-spilled blood.

It was right away that he noticed the stilling ripple of the sails directly above his line of vision – it was over in such a flash that he had barely registered it – but the full billow of the sun-stained, tawny linen had suddenly and thoroughly deflated, the sail flopping impotently against the mast like a popped balloon.

"The wind just...stopped..." he murmured to himself. "…What's going on here?" A few moments later, the rest of his companions caught on to the strange phenomenon, and a chorus of surprised cries perforated the dawn.

"I've got to hurry!" the man huffed as he made one last check of the glowing indigo crystals embedded in the cavern wall, pressing his palm to its face to ensure the proper amount of heat was rising from its surface. If he was even a single degree off, the entire chemical reaction he had concocted could go haywire, and then…

Well, he didn't want to think about what that might mean.

…Maybe he should had brought his granddaughter along after all – she was always better at this kind of precise, careful stuff. "Delicate matters", she would jokingly call such chores after he inevitably screwed something up, and like magic, she would swoop in to save the day. She always seemed to somehow know he was in trouble, the little scamp – it simultaneously filled him with pride and embarrassment that she was always seemingly far more reliable than he.

But her being by his side at that moment was nothing but wishful thinking – no, it had already been far, far too late before he had realized something wasn't right…

He had grown too lax, too complacent…and now…

He backed away from the crystal slowly, taking in his surroundings for the last time before the teleport pad ignited in a sea of blue behind him, filling the cavern with an otherworldly light that made his eyes water. Counting to three under his breath, he clenched his eyes shut, forcing himself to leap into the teleporter. As the ground fell away beneath him, he felt a warm rush of air tickle his ear lobe, and heard her bell-like laughter echoing maddeningly over and over in his mind…

Grandpa…!

Lenna flicked the last of her tears away from her face, taking a deep breath as she stretched her hands in the air behind her head, forcing an obnoxious yawn that she would normally never dare to do in polite company. But since she was now totally and utterly alone, and had spent the last hour bawling her eyes out…she figured she deserved a moment of private vulgarity, at the very least. Climbing to her feet, she took one last long look over the breathtaking view that spilled beneath her like overturned watercolor paints, pressing her fingers to her lips.

I know that Father is doing what is right...it's all thanks to him that Tycoon has been able to revel in such prosperity for so long – there has never been a time in my life that I have not known peace, and it's because of his relentless dedication to the crystals…

Even so...I wish he didn't feel as if he needed to do things alone. I wish…

A shiver suddenly ran down her spine, and Lenna silenced her mental pity party, her eyes widening as she took a few hesitant steps forward, bare feet slapping against the rapidly-heating stone beneath. At first, she couldn't exactly pinpoint what was wrong – there had been no cries coming from the castle, or any other signs of sudden onset trauma, like fire, smoke or the crash of steel. The land before her had not suddenly collapsed beneath a landslide, or had become ravaged in storm – she couldn't even make out any herds of monsters that liked to occasionally emerge from the western forests and terrorize nearby villages.

And that was when it hit her – the eerie stillness of it all. She gingerly licked the tip of her finger, blinking as she raised her hand in the air.

There was nothing. As she shakily drew breath, a dusty, moldy taste drowned her tongue – almost as if she had swallowed something stale.

The wind's stopped.

...Father!

Before he even had a chance to unbar the mythril-carved double doors, Tycoon saw the seizing light leaking through the cracks in the dirt-streaked, vine-strangled marble walls, staining the chipped and crumbling tiles laid at his feet with disfigured pulses of dancing luminescence. Cursing under his breath, he heaved the rotted wood barricade out of his way, sending it to the floor in a terrific crash as he burst through the doors.

"What in blazes...!?"

The Crystal of Wind, a brilliantly-polished tetragonal jewel imbued with the just the slightest hint of a cerulean sheen, was spinning wildly in place upon its throne: a vine-engulfed, mirror-plated dais that had long ago lost its patina and was now mottled with tarnish. A piercing light was shining through the crystal's core, bathing the surrounding chamber in a deluge of pearlescent radiance that pierced even the visor shielding Tycoon's face.

This isn't right…! Tycoon gasped, raising his arms to his face. The crystal…it's out of control!

Without warning, the glowing heart of the crystal dissolved into nothingness, steeping the shrine in a veil of obsidian shadow. As the final motes of light suffocated in the darkness, Tycoon saw a vicious fissure race its way up the face of the crystal, the shriek of the glass splintering forcing a chill down his spine.

No…this cannot be…

…Why now, after all this time…?

The shrine fell into a suffocating silence as the Crystal of Wind shuddered over the dais and shattered into hundreds of pieces, drowning the chamber in a glittering squall as holy terror rained upon Tycoon's stunned form from the skies above.

Meanwhile…

"Come on…almost there…!"

The young man licked his lips in delight as he leaned in closer over the fire blazing before him, rubbing his hands together. Across the way, a golden-feathered chocobo cut him a suspicious side-eye as he pecked at the pile of greens unceremoniously presented to him as lunch by his owner just a few moments before. The man made a face at the chocobo through the leaping flames, blowing a lock of thick mahogany hair out of his blue-gray eyes. A few seconds later, it flopped right back into place – no matter what he seemed to do, his copper-streaked hair always looked as if he had just walked through a windstorm.

"What's that look for?" the man exclaimed. "I can't just pick a few juicy leaves off the trees and call it a meal like you can. I've been dying for something I can actually chew for the last three days – it was a miracle the fishing here was actually good! I mean, just look at this beauty…aren't you jealous?" He arched his eyebrows in the direction of the glimmering rainbow trout that was roasting on the spit he had erected out of a fallen tree branch not far from where they had decided to set up camp for the day. The chocobo, being a vegetarian (as if there were any other kind of chocobo), let out a disinterested "WARK!" and turned back to its greens. The man snorted, drumming his fingers over his crossed legs impatiently as he once again took to admiring his fabulous catch.

It didn't take much to make Bartz Klauser happy at any given time – he prided himself on being one of those rare spirited types that always seemed to find the silver lining in a storm cloud, the ray of light at the bottom of Pandora's box, the gold among the dross…you get the idea. Even when his best friend and traveling companion, Boko, gave him sass, Bartz could only laugh and take it all in stride – having Boko by his side was a million times better than wandering alone, after all. And better yet, in less than a few minutes, he would have a belly full of delicious fish, and he had scouted out the perfect tree under which to take a well-deserved nap to laze the rest of the day away – until he needed to hunt for his next meal, that was.

But for the last three years of his life – he had just recently celebrated his twentieth birthday on the pearl-sanded coasts north of Castle Tycoon – Bartz had made his life philosophy to just live in the moment. He had limitless futures, limitless potential for happiness – why whittle any of that away with the constant fear of what tomorrow might bring?

This is what you wanted, isn't it, Father? Bartz smiled slightly to himself, ignoring the pained twist in his chest as his memory was flooded with the last conversation the two of them had ever had. I was scared at first, but…now I think I finally understand. Any day on this planet can be our last…why not enjoy each of them to their fullest?

He reached for the spit, his eyes glittering in anticipation, when a sudden quake ripped across the clearing floor, knocking the spit out of the hole he had dug into the dirt with his knife and sending it flying into the fire pit. Bartz's jaw dropped in protest as he watched the fish erupt into flames, the perfect toasted sheen of its pearlescent scales quickly swallowed by a scourge of black. Boko lifted his head, blinking in confusion as the trees around them quivered, their branches slapping precariously against one another. The nostrils slit within the sides of his big, orange beak flared as he spun around in place, finally stretching his neck to full length and releasing a panicked screech.

"WARK! WARRRRK!"

"What is it?" Bartz gasped, leaping to his feet and immediately grabbing hold of Boko's reins. Boko fluttered his (flightless) wings, kicking up dust with his massive three-toed feet and frantically jerking his head toward the sky. Bartz's gaze followed Boko's upward, and what he saw nearly turned his legs to flan.

A massive cratered lump – it almost looked like a charred moon that was falling from orbit – was careening straight for them, growing larger in size with every second that passed. It was so close that Bartz could feel the extreme heat rolling off of it in suffocating waves, sending the trees into a shivering frenzy all around him. But then, in the blink of an eye, the object disappeared from sight over the eastern stretch of the forest, and Bartz and Boko were greeted with another quake, this one far more powerful than before. Bartz clung to Boko for dear life as the world around him seemed to upend itself – shallow rifts were blossoming in the patches of dirt and wildflower clusters beneath his feet, and in the far distance, he heard the sickening crash of several trees smashing into each other.

After a few harrowing beats, the earth settled back into itself, and Bartz glanced up at Boko, eyes wide.

"That thing – whatever it was – must have landed somewhere nearby."

"Kweh?" Boko tilted his head toward the east, and Bartz nodded, effortlessly leaping onto the chocobo's back in one elegant jump, his long, lithe legs clutching Boko's sides as he leaned forward.

"Of course we're going to check it out! Let's mosey."

Boko kicked a pile of loosened dirt behind them, putting out the fire (and destroying what little may have remained of Bartz's lunch) in one fell swoop, and broke into a fierce run that even startled Bartz. In moments, they were free of the central clearing of the woods they had been occupying, and without the cover of the trees, Bartz could now clearly see a smoking monstrosity half-buried in the meadowlands ahead, a mess of flattened trees and plants spiraling outward from its core. Boko made a beeline for it, leaping over the gaping chasms that now littered the land without any instruction from Bartz.

Holy smokes, Bartz gulped as the shadow of the…thing...began to extend closer and closer toward them. Where the heck did this come from!?

When they reached a makeshift rim of jagged plates that had erupted from the earth below thanks to the foreign object's cataclysmic impact, Bartz gently tugged on Boko's reins, and the chocobo came to a stop, glancing back at him curiously.

"Boko, wait here, okay?" Bartz asked, hopping down to the ground and giving his knuckles a quick series of cracks. "I'm going to climb up and see if anything is there."

Boko nodded, a flurry of feathers fluttering loose as he hopped in the air and did a little shake.

Here goes nothing, Bartz thought as he jumped up, grabbing the first hold he could reach and shimmying his way up the shallow crater wall. His well-worn, sage-dyed suede boots weren't exactly ideal for the job, but they had enough tread to at least give him a little leverage. When he finally reached the top, he threw himself to the ground, gasping for breath and grinding the dust out of his eyes.

"Kee kee kee..."

He heard the patter of clumsy footfalls, and lifted his head, only to see a pair of goblins dragging something away that he couldn't quite make out – miraculously, some of the tall prairie grass hadn't been decimated upon impact, and was doing a stellar job of concealing whatever they had sniffed out around the object's base. Goblins were nasty little creatures – not exactly the most terrifying beast you could encounter in the wild, but clever enough that they could be a threat to an unseasoned squire or child. They were mostly attracted to shiny things – be it jewelry, weapons, or even garbage – and were prone to sneak attacking unsuspecting travelers, snatching whatever caught their eye, and shoving it into their tattered pants and stocking caps as they ran off. They were usually disgusting enough that once your treasure was spirited away, you didn't exactly want to go after it – greasy, lice-ridden blue hair was their trademark, and it usually concealed most of their features save for their beaked noses and pointy, crooked ears that stuck out several inches.

Bartz slowly lifted himself from the ground as to not cause a distraction, his hand hovering over the broadsword tucked away in the sheath hanging from his hip. The two goblins were carrying whatever it was they found between them – one hand on each side slumped over their treasure. As Bartz inched closer and got a better look, he felt all of the air flee from his lungs. The thing they were dragging away was actually a girl – and she was out cold, totally unaware of her current peril.

Best make quick work of them, Bartz smiled slightly, withdrawing his blade.

Luckily for him, or unluckily for the goblins, depending on your perspective – he was neither a squire nor a child.

He dashed forward, his blade raised in the air as he released a rallying cry to distract them from the girl. It worked – both goblins whirled around in shock, the girl flopping to the ground as Bartz took a flying leap and impaled one directly through the chest with one clean motion. The monster stumbled back, gurgling obscene curses (well, obscene in goblin-speak, whatever that was) bursting into a cloud of smoky ash before his body could hit the ground. The other goblin shrieked and tried to escape, but Bartz never left a job unfinished – he snatched the goblin by his oil-slicked hair, shuddering at the stench that he feared wouldn't wash off of him for months – it smelled like a mix of hot garbage and chocobo dung – and making quick work of the little beastie with a sword through his back.

When the dust had (literally) cleared, Bartz quickly sheathed his weapon and kneeled before the girl, gently pulling her into his arms. She was pretty in an almost odd, otherworldly way – her complexion was as white as freshly shaved ice, and tendrils of shoulder-length hair glowing with a hue that reminded him of the pink-stained clouds of a sunset were tumbling over her cheeks, a golden hairpin haphazardly hanging loose over her ear. She was wearing an orange sundress, loosely belted around the waist with a flowing pink sash. Upon her feet, she wore white and sky blue sheepskin booties with ties half-done and coiled at her ankles. Bartz couldn't quite put his finger on it, but her manner of dress seemed to have a queer juxtaposition as compared to the regal aura he could feel radiating from her very pores.

"Hey, are you all right?" Bartz whispered, gently tapping her cheek with two fingers. The girl let out a stifled moan, thick black lashes fluttering open to reveal a pair of rich jade eyes that made Bartz's heart pause mid-beat as he drank them in – they shone with such a radiance that he could see his own stunned reflection blinking back at him.

Whoa…hello there!

"Y-yes... I believe so..." she blinked a few times before sitting up under her own power, making it a point to quickly put some space in between them. He couldn't help but blush as he sat back, immediately taking the hint, and watched as she absentmindedly reached up and undid the golden hairpin that was currently serving her no purpose. A shimmer of white gold caught the sun's light over her collarbone, and he saw a chain running down the length of her chest and disappearing into the sweetheart neckline of her dress. She didn't seem to notice his inadvertent staring as she brushed her fingers through her hair, snapping the accessory back into place to properly pin away her fringe. "I give you my thanks. My name is Lenna. And you are...?"

Bartz didn't realize she was talking to him again until she leaned in, giving him a little wave. He blinked away his scattered daydreams and plastered a smile on his face as he quickly replayed their conversation in his head to catch himself back up. "Me? Call me Bartz. Me and my chocobo just go wherever the trail leads us..." He nodded backward toward the ledge of the crater. "Boko's down there."

Lenna nodded as she pressed her fingers to her lips, and he couldn't help but blush deeper as she took her time fully evaluating her savior. Travel-worn boots of no particular fashion...taupe cotton slacks tucked into the boots and belted at the waist with a blue and gold-threaded tunic layered over a high-collared white shirt...

Yep, he appeared to be exactly what he said he was – an utterly average in every way vagabond – although maybe freelancer was a more generous term.

For some reason, this brought her a great comfort…sitting here before her was a living, breathing example of how the world had not completely gone weird and submitted to chaos – not quite yet, anyway. Maybe she still had time…

"Bartz..." she trailed off, testing his name on her lips, and he nodded, smiling more.

"So, Lenna…do you remember what happened? What are you doing in a place like this?"

She turned away, biting her lip as she stared at the massive, pocked invader that was looming behind them. "This rock suddenly fell from the sky... The impact must have knocked me out."

"I guess it's a meteorite," Bartz frowned, following her gaze. "Although those usually burn up in the atmosphere before they get this far."

"A meteorite..." Lenna shook her head, sighing. "I wonder if it has a connection to the wind stopping?"

"Huh?" Bartz blinked, but she was already rising, brushing herself off and tapping the toes of her boots on the ground to shake off the dust from being dragged around.

"Again, I give you my thanks. I wish I could do something more to show my appreciation, but I really must go..." She offered a quick flutter of her fingers before walking away, and Bartz stumbled to his feet, reaching out after her.

What did she mean by that? The wind…stopping?

"Whoa – hey, hold up a sec...you didn't answer my…"

"Ugh…"

Lenna froze in place, her ears perking up as both she and Bartz spun around to face the meteorite in unison.

"Bartz... Did you hear something?"

He nodded slowly, not wanting to reply in case the strange sound surfaced again.

"Oohhh... Ughhh... Help...me..."

"There's someone else here!" Lenna gasped, and Bartz nodded toward the east – it was the path the goblins would have continued down with Lenna had he not intervened. Were there more of them, or had they ambushed someone else along with Lenna…?

"Over here!" Bartz motioned. Lenna slid behind him, peering over his shoulder as he raised his sword. As they snuck around the front of the meteorite, using it as cover, they came upon another fallen figure sprawled out in the grass, face-down. It was an older man – Bartz guess he had to have been at least in his sixties thanks to the crown of snow-white hair that was hanging half-way out of a nub of a ponytail that just barely brushed the nape of his neck – but even collapsed on the ground, he had a formidable presence. He wore a form-fitting knit bodysuit that revealed an athletic build, golden plates woven over his shoulders and chest. Bartz could spy a bulky utility belt armed with more than a couple of weapons, and ornate leather boots with metal-plated soles. A knee-length emerald gilet was twisted over his back, streaked with dirt and torn in several places.

"Oh!" Lenna gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth. "He looks like he's hurt!" Bartz lowered his blade as she bolted past him, sinking to her knees and frantically shaking the man's shoulders. "Are you all right?" Another pained groan matching the sounds that had drifted over to them earlier discharged from the still figure, and Bartz watched as the stranger began to stir beneath Lenna's aggressive rousing.

"Where am I...?" he muttered, a pair of deeply-lined dark brown eyes fluttering open as he lifted his chin toward Lenna. He had an authoritative, square jaw, with thin, pale lips clenched together beneath a mustache that resembled a painter's brush. "Oh...my aching head!" He rubbed the back of his neck, wincing as Lenna withdrew her hands. A stain of black and blue was spidering down the right side of his face, and a dried streak of red ran over his forehead, disappearing in a shock of hair.

"You're on the outskirts of Tycoon," Bartz offered, sheathing his sword. "At the impact site of a meteorite. You're lucky to be alive, quite frankly." He raised an eyebrow, turning to Lenna. "You both are!"

The man shook his head, his arms shaking as he planted his palms against the ground and started to haul himself up. Lenna offered her assistance, but he smiled gently, brushing her off. Bartz wondered if this guy was the type to never want to trouble a woman for anything, even when he was in deplorable condition. "Sakes alive...that's what happened? I don't remember..." He blinked a few times, his eyes widening as he clutched his head on the side containing the bruise. "Ehh...? I-I can't remember anything!"

"Looks like you hit your head pretty bad..." Bartz frowned. "Maybe you got amnesia."

"Amnesia!?" Lenna gulped, rising along with him. "You really can't remember a thing? What about your name, or where you're from?"

The old man pursed his lips, crossing his arms across his broad chest. "Oh! Something came back to me just now when you said that... My name is…Galuf!"

"That's a start!" Lenna clapped her hands together. "Anything else?"

Galuf gently knocked on the side of his skull, laughing apprehensively. "...Nope, just the name! Other than that, my memory's a blank slate..." His laughter quickly faded into a low groan, and he lowered his fist, staring despondently at the ground. "Damnation…"

Poor guy, Bartz thought. To suddenly wake up and lose everything you've ever known in your life…I can't even imagine that kind of misery.

Although, on the other hand…maybe to some people…it would be a relief? A way to start over…

He could feel a vexatious stinging in the back of his eyes. How many times had he wished to forget…?

Lenna bit her lip, glancing back and forth between Galuf and Bartz before taking a few hesitant steps backward, her eyes dulled with contrition.

"I'm very sorry to do this…but you must excuse me, I have no time to waste."

"Where're you going?" Bartz tilted his head, wondering if she would answer this time. "If you don't mind me asking."

Lenna's hands fluttered to her breast, and Bartz watched as she nervously toyed with the chain hanging around her neck. "I must go to the Wind Shrine..." Galuf's head suddenly snapped up, and Bartz and Lenna yelped in surprise.

"The Wind Shrine! Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure that's where I was headed!" He nodded to himself, slamming his hands together. "It's decided, I'm going with you!"

"B-but..." Lenna blinked, and Galuf danced to her side, grasping her hands in his.

"I could never let such a sweet girl go all by her lonesome. Plus, I know I've gotta get to that shrine...I feel it in my bones. You've gotta take me with!"

Oh please, Bartz tried not to laugh. That line is never gonna work.

But Lenna merely nodded in agreement, her eyes darting to Bartz just in time to see his jaw hit the ground.

Seriously!? Just like that, she agrees to take him along?

"Bartz, what about you?"

The Wind Shrine, eh? Bartz lowered his gaze. I've never been, but…it's so far up north – within spitting distance of Lix. You'd eventually need to go through Tule to hitch a ride out there… He could feel Lenna's stare penetrating through the flop of hair that had fallen over his eyes, and shook his head slowly. No…I'm not ready to go back…not quite yet.

"...Sorry, I'm gonna bow out on this one. Good luck, though."

Lenna and Galuf shared a look, his bushy brows arching inquisitively. Lenna shook her head as if to say "it's not worth arguing over", and pasted on a kind smile as she extended her hand toward Bartz. He smiled back, grateful she wasn't going to push the issue, and took her hand in his, shaking vigorously.

"Bartz..." Lenna's eyes sparkled as she breathed his name, and he felt a shy blush crawl up his cheeks. It was odd…he had never gotten a floaty feeling like this in his stomach when anyone else had ever said his name out loud like that. He feared if she asked him once more to come that he might actually comply…but alas, she did not. Dropping his hand, she bowed her head quickly, her hair tumbling over her shoulders. "Thank you again. Farewell..."

"Godspeed, and all that whatnot!" Galuf grinned, slapping Bartz on the shoulder. The surprising burst of strength from the old man nearly knocked the young adventurer on his face.

"Er, right!" Bartz coughed, raising his hand as they both started to walk away. "Nice to meet you both!" He watched them until they disappeared over the western ledge, sighing and waiting patiently for the butterflies in his stomach to settle – or maybe it was just gas? He still hadn't eaten…

Well…that was weird. He glanced back at the looming meteorite, involuntarily shuddering. Even now, he could still see middling trails of smoke rising from its surface, the smell of sulfur permeating the air. I suppose the soldiers from Tycoon will be swarming this place soon to see what happened. It might be a good idea to make myself scarce, just in case.

Bartz retraced his path back to Boko, who was pecking and clawing at the ground, trying to dig up any traces of grass he could find that hadn't been burnt to a crisp or flattened into dust. He patted the chocobo on the head gently, mounting him once again. "Come on, Boko, let's go!"

"Kweh?" Boko chirped, and Bartz pointed north of the forest from which they had previously emerged.

"There's a little mountain path where we might be able to find some berries…"

"WARK!" Boko hopped happily, speeding off before Bartz could even finish his sentence. Clinging to Boko's neck for dear life, Bartz lowered his head, his amazonite earrings bouncing erratically against the hollows of his cheeks.

"I wonder what Lenna meant by the wind stopping…?" Bartz asked out loud. "I guess I can't really remember if it was windy today or not…"

"Kweh-kweh-kweh!?" Boko replied, tossing his head. ("If you don't remember, how do you expect me to!?")

The ground beneath Boko's feet began to get rockier, flecks of sliced grass sacrificed under his razor-sharp claws being replaced by flying pebbles and the scratch of hardened protein dragging over slate. As Bartz gently nudged Boko with his feet toward the cluster of blackberry shrubs at the base of a shallow cliff, Boko instead lifted his head higher, fluttering his wings excitedly and suddenly darting in the opposite direction.

"W-wait!" Bartz cried. "Where are you going? Food's over there, you know!"

Boko replied by promptly bucking Bartz off of his back, tossing him over the bird's shoulders into a crumpled heap of limbs alongside the cliff face opposite of the berries. Bartz managed to cover the back of his head just before crashing, his raw knuckles seething in pain as he flopped down face first into the dusty mountain path.

"Ow! Boko! Bad, bad chocobo! What are you doing, stopping like that!?" Bartz cried, lifting his head and wincing as he tasted something wet and metallic in his mouth. He could feel the beginning sting of a nasty cut on his lip – no doubt that was where the blood was coming from. Boko tilted his head, digging at the ground anxiously and swaying his bountiful tail feathers toward the path he had abruptly deposited Bartz upon.

"...Now don't you give me that look," Bartz moaned, turning his head to quickly spit out some blood.

"Kweh! Kweh, kweh!"

"...I know, it's just a girl and an old man... And with all those goblins running around..."

"Kweh…Kweh…WARK!"

"Fine, I got it, I got it," Bartz smiled weakly, clutching his stomach as an obnoxious gurgle let loose. "Lunch can wait a little while longer!"

Suddenly, the world around them began to shake once more, a massive fissure ripping open only steps away from the twisting path. Boko dove forward and Bartz hurled himself back on, the chocobo releasing a mighty screech as he leapt over the widening fissure, his wings snapping open to help ease them to the other side. As Bartz bounced dizzily from the action, two distinct screams ripped across the sky – both of which were unfortunately now very familiar.

"Lenna, Galuf!" Bartz gasped, his heart sinking into his stomach. If they already reached the mountainside when the quake struck…

"Boko, come on!"

"Kweh!"

As they raced up the collapsing path, Boko occasionally being forced to jump over gaping pits and widening crevices, a small pack of goblins emerged from the ledges of the valley – about four of them total, from what Bartz could see – and they were all brandishing their rusted and dented weaponry with malice glittering in their coal-like eyes – it was as if they somehow knew what Bartz had just done to their brethren back at the meteorite.

"Now's not a good time, guys!" Bartz sighed, withdrawing his blade with his right hand while desperately clinging to the nape of Boko's neck with his left. "Did the meteor shake you out of hibernation or something?"

He made quick work of the monsters as they launched themselves into the quaking valley, kamikaze-style – Bartz had barely broken a sweat by the time the last goblin flopped to the ground, a gaping wound blossoming across his chest for his efforts as his friends dissolved into dust. A sudden cascade of rock came crashing down from the neighboring slopes just as Boko escaped another pit, barricading the path ahead of them that would have served as their exit. Pivoting and fleeing up the sharp incline of a collapsing cliff face to their right, Bartz could make out two still bodies fallen over the crest of the next hill among a pile of rubble that had made its way down the mountain – there was no doubt thanks to the flash of orange he saw peeking out of the yellowed mountain grass that they belonged to his new acquaintances.

"Slow down!" Bartz ordered, and Boko chirped in affirmation, lowering his body as he jogged the rest of the way up the hill. Bartz swept down, first grabbing an unconscious Lenna around the waist and hoisting her between himself and Boko. Boko then darted to the left, and Bartz snatched Galuf's outstretched hand, the old man stumbling for a few paces before he managed to climb onto Boko with the aid of Bartz's strength.

"Ugh…" Galuf moaned, promptly collapsing against Bartz's backside, his hands half-way around the boy's waist.

"Hang on!" Bartz gasped, clutching hold of Lenna so that she wouldn't fly off. "We're almost to high ground!"

A few minutes later, Boko finally came to a rest when he reached a spot on their new path that had leveled out and was no longer shuddering beneath his feet. The chocobo lowered himself to the ground, and Bartz hopped off, first pulling Galuf down and rolling him into the tall grass for safekeeping, and then returning to fetch Lenna. As he hoisted her over his shoulder, she let out a weary moan, and he could feel her jaw starting to twitch against his back.

"Ohhh..."

Bartz kneeled down next to Galuf, gently propping Lenna up against a flowering cottonwood tree and mimicking the dainty wave she had given him the first time she had tried to run off.

"G'morning."

Her opulent lashes parted like the house curtains on a grand stage, and much to his surprise, she greeted him with a sunny smile that reached her eyes. "Bartz! It seems I cannot escape being in your debt..."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Bartz winked. "I'm just glad to see you're OK." She nodded, peering over his shoulder, and he followed her gaze, a low sigh escaping his lips.

"But...a bit of bad news. The shockwave from the meteorite's impact caused landslides... The northernmost road's covered in rubble. I don't think you're gonna be able to make it to Tule that way, if that's the direction you were heading."

Lenna stared at him, the blood draining from her face, and he could feel his heart breaking alongside hers when the realization of their situation dawned upon her.

"But...if I can't get to the Wind Shrine, then..." She lowered her head, and Bartz could tell she was trying to hold back tears. "My father…!"

"Uhhhh..." Galuf grunted. "What's goin' on…?" Bartz and Lenna turned to him, and he rolled over, rubbing his forehead and clenching his jaw. "Wind Shrine...gotta hurry..."

Lenna's…father? Bartz looked away. She seems serious about this shrine…if even this quake has not deterred her, then...

"The old guy's still pretty dead set on getting there, too..." Bartz murmured, standing up. If she's doing this for her father…who am I, of all people, to deny her aid?

I don't understand why…but suddenly, I feel like our meeting wasn't an accident.

What could this possibly mean…?

"Bartz?" Lenna blinked. "What's up?"

Bartz scratched his head, laughing a little. "Sorry, just got lost in thought – that happens with me sometimes. But it's decided, as Galuf would say. I'll go with you two and personally see to it that you get there safely!"

"Oh!" Lenna gasped, scrambling to her feet. "R-really?"

"Yeah!" Bartz smiled slightly. "You know, it was my dad's dying wish that I go out and travel the world..."

"Your dad's…?" Lenna trailed off, biting her lip. Bartz nodded, pressing his palms together and closing his eyes. He didn't know why in the world he was telling her this, but…

"…Plus, this time, it feels like…like the wind is calling me. Does…that sound too ridiculous?"

"Not at all," Lenna whispered, her eyes widening. "I…"

"What a sweet-talker!" Galuf suddenly snorted, and Bartz's eyes snapped open, the hair on the back of his neck rising as he turned to glare at him. Galuf had risen to his feet and was slapping his knee gleefully. "As if you don't just have the hots for the little missy."

"What!? Y-you're insane! I think you hit your head too hard again, old man!"

Galuf puffed out his chest, wagging his finger. "Don't sound so surprised – Just because I'm a little older than you doesn't mean I'm not extremely perceptive, you know. This old dog is always ready for anything – you'll see that soon enough!"

"A little older…?" Bartz made a face. "You could easily be my father – no, make that grandfather!"

Lenna averted her eyes, trying not to laugh. Galuf crossed his arms, pointedly ignoring Bartz's observation. "Still, if the road is blocked, that makes things a sight more difficult..."

"Hrm..." Bartz frowned. "I suppose we could just keep on this path and see where it takes us. If there are more monsters, they shouldn't be a challenge for all three of us."

Lenna nodded, clutching her fist. "I won't give up. There must be a way to reach the Wind Shrine!"

"Right!" Galuf grinned. "And we'll find it with lover-boy here as our guide!"

"And that is quite enough of that," Bartz flushed, gesturing toward his chocobo to take the glaring spotlight off of him. "Everyone, meet Boko – he's gonna be our ride! Boko, this is Lenna and Galuf."

"Kweh!" Boko lifted a wing, and Lenna jumped in the air, clapping her hands.

"Oh, you are the cutest thing! Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Boko!"

"My word, this is quite a beast," Galuf grinned. "Have you ever had fried choco-?"

"Not a good idea," Bartz interrupted, and Boko raised his head, snorting angrily. "Much like you, he's extremely perceptive."

"I'd expect nothing less of the noble steed belonging to our knight in shining armor," Galuf laughed. "Carry on, then – lovely to meet you, Boko."

"Kweh…" Boko nipped Bartz in the shoulder, cutting him a fierce side-eye. Bartz leaned in as Galuf helped Lenna climb up, whispering in Boko's ear.

"Hey…just remember…this was YOUR idea!"