Final Fantasy: the rise of the dark sorceror

Chapter 5: Chaos in the imperial capital

Over at the palace courtyard, Mila and Gunther waited for Samuel and Cherry to come back. But who will they meet is something unexpected, when they saw Samuel and Cherry coming while accompanied by two unusual strangers.

"Welcome back, sis and Samuel!" Greeted Mila.

"Who are these two unsavory characters?" Asked Gunther.

"Unsavory-!? Look pal, in case if you haven't noticed, I have four arms while gramps here is mutated by the experimental serum!" Exclaimed Tsubaki, feeling offended.

"Easy there, Tsubaki. To answer your question, these two men were from the magitek research facility that willingly joined our team. The four armed man is Tsubaki, the sword for hire from the eastern continent. And the small man is Bernard, the black mage from a far off village" answered Samuel, while calming the four armed man.

"Well, at least our team is growing. We should go and report to his imperial majesty, he must be getting impatient" said Cherry

"I'm afraid you're going to say that" said Samuel as he placed his hand on his face.

After this, the group headed inside the palace. Bernard and Tsubaki were amazed at seeing the interior of the palace, especially the banners that decorate the walls. When they arrived in the throne room, the emperor was waiting patiently for them to report.

"I am expecting you all to come, and give me the reports on what you have observed. And let me guess, you've recruited more members of your motley crew, Samuel" said the emperor.

"Yes, your majesty. These two are from the magitek research facility, mutated by the experiments done by the researchers. And I have reported that magicite productions are rather slow due to the espers remaining uncooperative, but the researchers are making progress" explained Samuel.

"Good. Despite the productions being slow, we will be able to acquire more magicite for the army. As for you, Gunther and Mila, I assume your investigation is going smoothly" said the emperor with a smile.

"Right you are, your majesty. We searched each locker and each bunker room throughout the barracks and training areas, but nothing unusual is found" reported Mila.

The emperor gave her and Gunther a confused look, before regaining composure.

"I see, you four have done a good job on the tasks. You may return to your quarters, and await further commands" he said to them.

The group bowed before leaving, and as they exit the throne room, Samuel had to show Bernard and Tsubaki to their rooms. First, he showed Tsubaki the room where the elite guards used to stay at when it's night time or on break.

"Thanks, I could use a bit of armoury for me to store my swords and armor" said Tsubaki with a smile.

Then second, he showed Bernard an old room where guests used to sleep at back when the Aeshopia empire was a peaceful nation. It consists of a wardrobe, a chair, a single bed where the blanket and pillow are surprisingly well kept, a painting of a forest and farmland, and a small table.

"Is this where I'm staying at? It almost look like my old room back in the magitek research facility, and I don't have fond memories there" questioned Bernard.

"Neither do I, this palace is running out of rooms" replied Samuel.

With that said, he walked through the corridor to return to his room. When he got to his room, he can see the twin sisters performing their magic while Gunther watched. Ignoring this, he walked over to the window and stare into the scene of the imperial capital city. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, the magitek exploded as espers come out of the wreckage. The explosion shook the city, even the palace shook, as if an earthquake came.

"What was that!?" Asked Cherry in a panicked voice.

"The magitek research facility has exploded! But how!?" Answered Samuel, puzzled on who could have freed the espers.

The twin sisters and Gunther came to the window to see what was going on, while Tsubaki and Bernard came into the room and rushed over. They all watched as espers begun attacking the imperial capital city, and then they see what looked like a group of people fleeing on a tram that came from the magitek research facility docking bay. Upon closer look, it was the rebels that have freed the espers and are on their way to the palace. Then there was a knock on the door, so Samuel walked over and opened it. There stood a guard that looked like he had been exhausted from running, the way he was breathing heavily.

"His majesty... would like to... speak to you all...!" The guard wheezed.

"Alright, we'll come. Just take a break, soldier" said Samuel.

As much he has grown tired of walking back to the throne room, he had to get everyone in the group to follow him back to the throne room. When they entered the throne room, the emperor was furious upon hearing the news.

"I am not happy with your performances in the tasks I have given" said the emperor in a calm tone, but the group can see that he's trying to hold back his anger.

"Look, we did exactly what you told us to do. It wasn't our fault the rebels might have slipped in beyond our notice!" Said Gunther.

"No more excuses!! The way you have reported to me earlier, I get the feeling that you're too lazy and didn't interrogate anyone suspected of being a rebel! And now the espers are running amok, and destroying the city!!" The emperor shouted, his face is now bright red.

"But we can fix this, send us to deal with the rebels. Please, give us a chance!" Samuel pleaded.

"No, you've had your chance. Now, off to the dungeon, all of you!" Growled the emperor.

The guards came through the doors and grabbed each and everyone of the group, before taking them away to the dungeon. They were taken down the stairs, and the guards thrown each of them in separate cells. In each cells: Mila was crying while her sister comforts her, Gunther sat on the bench feeling dejected, Tsubaki grabbed on the bars angrily, Bernard also sat on the bench, and Samuel has become very angry.

"That's it. That's the last straw, the emperor has pushed me over to the edge. Now he shall pay for this, do you here me? Once I am out, I'll kill him and make sure the empire knows it!" Said Samuel in a calm tone, masking how furious he is on the inside.

Authors note: next chapter is where Samuel is taken to the floating continent by the emperor, but he will get his revenge.