This is going to be something of an alternate universe version of the story of Final Fantasy IV. It is not intended to be a novelization (though parts of it will seem like a novelization), but rather I decided to do a bit of a "what-if." What if the scene in the Village of Mist had played out slightly differently, how would this affect the overall story of the Crystal War?
Comments and constructive criticism are welcomed. Flames will be laughed at.
Book I: The Dark Knight and the Dragoon
Chapter 1
Two soldiers wearily emerged from the Mist
Cave. They had spent most of the day cleaving through goblins and
overgrown bugs, and to top it all off they had to fight a Mist Dragon
just when they thought they had made it out in one piece.
Needless to say, they were exhausted from their ordeal and ready to
finish up this silly package delivery. The warrior wearing jet
black armor hobbled along as best he could, but they were making little
progress. The Mist Dragon had attacked him more since the other
warrior, a dragoon, was in the air most of the time. As a result,
the dark knight managed to acquire quite the collection of injuries in
the places his armor didn't completely cover,
including a leg injury that was slowing him down. The lance
wielding soldier stopped and looked at his friend with concern.
"Cecil," he said, "I think we should stop here for the night so that we can dress those wounds. You're in no condition to be traveling after that fight."
"I'm fine," the dark knight replied, "It's only a little further to the village of Mist, and we'll be able to rest better there than in a tent out here. I'll just drink a potion to dull the pain, and we'll be on our way in no time."
"I don't think so," the dragoon said as he blocked Cecil's path, "Those wounds aren't just scratches, and it's still a few hours journey to Mist. Drinking a potion and just continuing on would just make those wounds worse by the time we got to the village. Besides, Rosa would kill me if she found out that I let you travel in the condition you're in."
The dark knight stopped in his tracks for a minute, apparently thinking. Kain hated when his friend did this during a mission. The dark horned helmet of the dark knights completely masked their faces, masking their facial expressions completely and making them appear like emotionless and fearless demons on the battlefield. At the same time, however, this made it difficult for others to figure out what they were thinking. The dragoon simply waited in annoyance while his comrade weighed the consequences of his intended path.
"I just want to get this over with, Kain," Cecil said in a pained voice, "I want to drop off this stupid package and get back to Baron as soon as I can so that I can get my old position back and maybe begin to make amends for my actions in Mysidia."
Kain was silent for a moment before replying quietly, "Cecil, it's not your fault, you were just obeying the king and doing your duty. The blame for any wrong done in Mysidia rests solely on the shoulders of the king since he's the one who ordered it."
"So what should I do, then?" the dark knight asked bitterly, "Do whatever the king says, even if he orders us to slaughter innocents?"
"You're tired," Kain said with a sigh, "Physically and emotionally. Let's rest here, think about what to do about the strange way the king's been acting lately, and head to Mist tomorrow."
Cecil said nothing to this. Instead, he took off his backpack and rummaged around for a while. Kain watched him curiously, not knowing what Cecil was up to. He breathed a sigh of relief, however, when he saw Cecil withdraw his bedroll from the bag instead of a potion. Kain did likewise, and they worked together wordlessly, setting up their camp for the night.
The cracking fire cast elongated shadows about the campsite. The two knights of Baron lay on their bedrolls around the fire while gazed at the stars. Both of them had removed their armor, leaving them wearing only the standard issue tunics and breeches that they normally wore under their heavy armor, though Cecil sported some linen bandages in several places as well. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since the debate over whether or not to stop for the night. Kain decided that is was about time to break the silence.
"Cecil," he began slowly. Cecil heard this and looked over at his golden-haired friend.
"For what it's worth, I wish I was with you that day in Mysidia. I know you feel guilty over having to assault a town of peaceable wizards and steal their prized possession, and maybe if I had been there..."
"Stop," Cecil said sharply, "Thanks for your concern, but you weren't there, and I alone am guilty for what happened since I was in charge of the mission."
"Sorry..." Kain muttered darkly. He worried about his friend. Never before had he seen Cecil act like this. Growing up, Cecil had made his share of poor choices and was punished accordingly, but he never carried the guilt and shame with him like this before. The way he was acting, it was as if something had died within him that fateful day in Mysidia.
"Kain."
The dragoon looked at his friend, ready to listen to whatever he had to say.
"What should we do now? About the king, I mean. He's always been like a father toward us since we both grew up without our own. But now...now he seems different. He ordered me to attack Mysidia and take the Crystal of Water from them. What should we do if he decides to declare war on other kingdoms in order to take their crystals?" Cecil exclaimed somewhat hysterically.
Kain let his friend calm down a bit before replying, "Cecil, we're soldiers. And soldiers obey the king. I'm not the king, so I don't know what he's thinking, but the king we know would never declare war on other countries without a good reason. Mysidia was once a province of Baron, so he may have had you raid their town to try to bring the place under Baron's control. Besides, possession of the Water Crystal will definately help develop the land around Baron."
"So was I leading a preemptive strike or something?" Cecil asked darkly.
"I don't know, Cecil," Kain said, exasperated, "The king has his reasons. We're just soldiers, we follow the king's orders."
For a while, neither of them spoke. Kain laid on his bedroll and watched the stars in the sky while Cecil sat upright and gazed at the crackling fire. The scene reminded Kain of the camping trips that the two of them would take to plains and woods around Baron back when they were still boys. Back then, monsters were far fewer in number, so doing such things was still considered somewhat safe. Of course, they had both been training to be soldiers back then, too.
Kain's reminiscing was interrupted by Cecil's voice saying, "Kain?"
"Yeah, Cecil?"
"I don't know if it helped very much, but thanks for at least trying to help me deal with the things I did in Mysidia."
"No problem. I'm you're best friend, remember?" Kain said with a slight grin.
"Of course. Let's get some rest. We still have a day's journey ahead of us tomorrow if we want to reach Mist any time soon."
The fire crackled, slowly dying into embers as the night wore on. The two friends fell asleep under the starlit sky, and for a time managed to forget that they were soldiers of Baron. Instead, they were just two friends camping out like old times.
"Mist..." The dark knight mumbled.
"What was that, Cecil?"
"I said, 'We're almost to Mist.' I can see a bit of smoke from cooking fires of the village from here," Cecil replied.
The two warriors from Baron continued to hike through the Mist Valley, the village growing closer every minute.
"What do you suppose is in the package, Cecil?" the dragoon in iron armor asked his friend.
"Probably a gift of some sort. The king probably just wanted to try to win the favor of the summoners of Mist in case other nations declared war on Baron because of Mysidia."
As they continued their journey, Kain noticed that the amount of vegetation increased as they neared the village. The rocky waste just outside of the Mist Cave became a grassy plain at the bottom of the valley with a few trees here and there. Now, there were almost enough trees for the area to be considered a sparse forest with a footpath in the middle. There was a lot less light here since the trees were blocking the sun and providing a great amount of shade. They hiked along in silence, the vegetation growing thicker and the area growing dimmer as they continued on toward the village.
"Look at that," Cecil said as he pointed to a thick clump of trees up ahead, "Looks like it's a real forest now."
"I think that might be the entrance to the village. A traveling merchant I met back in Baron told me that the village of Mist is built in the middle of a forest," Kain replied.
The two soldiers walked along a foot path that headed through this forest. A few minutes later, they found themselves in a bright clearing. When their eyes adjusted, the two warriors found themselves at the entrance to a village. Cecil took off his backpack and pulled out the small package that the king had given him to deliver.
"Now to find the elder, chief, or whoever of this village and get this blasted mission over with," Cecil said just loud enough for Kain to hear him.
As they stepped into the village proper, the wrapping on the small package that Cecil held fell off, revealing a ring of dull red metal. A few villagers had noticed the arrival of the travelers by now, and watched with curiosity at the sight of the magically unwrapping package. Kain reached over and picked up the ring. As he did so, the ring glowed brightly for a few moments before it burst into flames.
A very surprised dragoon dropped the supposed gift for the village, and watched in horror as the fiery ring glowed brighter, and a number of spherical monsters known as 'bombs' emerged from the shining ring. The bombs flew about the village, spreading flames everywhere. Fire fell everywhere, and before long the entire village was engulfed in a blazing inferno. The two warriors gazed in horror at the madness that they had unwittingly brought to this village.
"My god!" Kain said under his breath in shock.
"...This is it?" Cecil nearly shouted in rage, "This is why he sent us!?!"
"The entire village in flames..." the dragoon said, still amazed and horrified at what the king had ordered them to do.
"WHY?" The dark knight screamed into the raging inferno that was once a village, "Why must I be the one to carry out these missions of senseless slaughter?"
Just then, the two knights heard a muffled cry come from behind a large building.
"Nooo! Mommy!"
The warriors from Baron ran to the source of the sound. Behind the building they found a young girl with green hair crying as she kneeled beside a dead woman. The girl heard the clanking of their armor as they approached and looked up at them. Her gaze was one of pain and shattered innocence.
With a sob the girl choked out, "M...Mom's dragon died, so my mom also..."
The girl couldn't manage to finish, but instead burst into tears anew while she knelt beside her mother among the unforgiving flames.
"What!?!" Cecil muttered, astonished at what he had just heard. The beast they slew the previous day, could that have been...
Kain had the same thought, but spoke it aloud instead of internalizing it, "The summoners... They really exist."
Remorse flooded over Cecil's soul as he realized exactly what he had done.
"Then...her mother died because we slew the dragon," he said while staring at the ground in shame.
Unfortunately, the girl heard all this, and she looked up at the two knights with a look of absolute fury.
"You killed my mom's dragon!?!" the girl shouted at them, furious that people could be so evil.
Cecil didn't quite know how to deal with this, but he managed to stammer out, "W...We didn't know. I'm...I'm sorry."
"So this is the king's wish...to annihilate every summoner in this village," Kain said quietly as he realized what was going on here.
Cecil just looked at him, unable to say anything at all.
"If that's our mission...Then I'm afraid we have to take care of her, too," Kain apologetically told his friend as he drew his lance to bear.
The girl shrank back in fear at these words, cowering in fear for her life on the ground beside her mother. The dark knight, however, finally found his voice again
"WHAT!?" he shouted at his comrade.
"I know, I know. I don't like it either, but it's the king's orders," the dragoon simply said with a shake of his head, "When we became knights, we swore to carry out his orders. It's our duty."
Kain turned toward the child and hefted his spear.
"Kain! She's just a child!"
The dragoon turned again to face his fellow knight, a dark looking falling across his face because of the words just spoken.
"You intend to defy the king?" Kain asked coldly.
Cecil looked at his friend, and rightous furvor filled him.
"I refuse to continue this slaughter in the king's name!" Cecil shouted as he drew his sword, ready to meet Kain in combat should it come to that.
The expression on Kain's face dissolved into what seemed to be amusement.
"Damn..." he said with a smirk as he put away his spear, "I was afraid you'd say that. Well, I exactly can't kill you, so I might as well join you."
"Kain," was the only thing that Cecil managed to say as relief washed over him. He resheathed his sword since it would not be needed to prevent any further slaughter here.
"I owe the king so much," the dragoon said gravely, now realizing what the consquences of his actions would have been, "But I can't disgrace the dragoons. Not on my life."
As he said that, a burning beam fell toward Kain, but he jumped out of the way. Cecil saw this and moved away from anything burning as well. The terrified girl stayed exactly where she was.
"I guess we're both traitors from here on out," Cecil told his friend Kain.
"Opposing the mightiest kingdom in the world..." Kain said as he shook his head, "We'll need allies to survive. We have to rescue Rosa somehow, too."
"Thanks, Kain."
"Save it," the dragoon said gruffly, "I'm not doing it for you."
No one could see it behind his helmet, but Cecil's face fell. His silence said it all, though. It was then that the dragoon realized the situation that they were in.
"We'd better get going. What should we do about that girl?" Kain said, pointing at the young girl.
"We can't leave her," Cecil said before reaching out to the girl, "It's alright. We're not going to hurt you. Come with us, okay?"
"NO!" the girl yelled, pulling away from the dark knight.
"Come on!" the dragoon told the two of them, "We have to go now!"
"No!" the girl shrieked in absolute terror, "Stay away!!"
"Wait!"
"I hate you! I hate you! You killed my mom!" the girl screamed in utter rage.
The girl pulled further away from them, and a magical aura unlike any that Cecil or Kain had ever seen encompassed her.
"What is that girl doing?" Kain shouted incredulously.
The knight in the armor as black as midnight began to respond, but the young girl's magic cut him off. The girl faded out of sight, and a muscular giant appeared in her place. The giant slammed the ground with his immense fist, causing an earthquake that shook the entire village. The flames roared to life as wooden beams and rafters fell into the blaze that still engulfed the village. The giant faded away, and the young girl reappeared. She fell to the ground, and the Dark Knight rushed over to grab her unconscious form. That's when the rumbling began. The two soldiers looked up, and saw rocks falling down from the walls of the Mist Valley, heading in the direction of the village.
"Quickly, Cecil! Back to Baron!" the dragoon shouted to his friend.
Cecil did not appear to hear him, though, and stood rooted in place as he stared in horror at the coming avalanche. Kain knew he had few other options, so he ran over to grab his friend and drag him away from the danger zone. He was too slow, however, and the two warriors found themselves caught in the fury of avalanche at the far end of the village of Mist. As the avalanche dragged them all down the slope of the western end of the Mist Valley, the two men from Baron lost consciousness.
When Kain came to, he found himself in a forest clearing. He slowly picked himself off the ground, and the first thing he noticed was that every part of his body ached. Then he saw the prone forms of the young girl from Mist lying on the ground not too far away from him.
"Ugh..." the knight muttered to himself, "Now what?"
Post-Chapter Author's Notes:
Yes, I am aware of the potential plot hole of Rydia's mother keeling over a day after her summoned beast was killed. I did this because of my interpretation of the 'summoner-summoned' connection: by killing the summoned monster, a large portion of the summoner's life force is destroyed, but the summoner is not instantly killed from this. Rather, they still live until they deplete the rest of their life force. Assuming that Rydia's mother was a single mom, she would have continued to try to care for her daughter even though she was severely weakened. The following day, she finally collapsed after using up the rest of her life force.
Personally, I thought that the scene of Rydia crying over her mother's dead body was a plot hole in the original game. It seemed like the amount of time it would have taken to travel from the Mist Cave to the village was probably at least several hours walk, and in that amount of time SOMEONE at least would have noticed a dead body in the middle of the village and taken it into house or morgue or something. Of course, the entire game was like that. Relative distances between places were just not taken into account at all. Just think of how long it really would have taken for Cecil to travel from the Mist Valley to Kaipo while carrying Rydia. In the game, it seemed to be less than a day (since she was badly wounded judging by the scene at the inn) and you'll know what I mean.
Anyway, enough of this rant. Reviews would be most appreciated. Work on the next chapter will commence at once, seeing as I'm still suffering from writer's block over the plotline to an original story that I'm trying to write.