Final Fantasy: the rise of the dark sorceror

Chapter 8: fighting and betrayal

It wasn't long until the rebels arrive at the floating continent, riding on their airship. When they got off the airship, they saw multicolored lights in the distance, where the warring triad are at.

"So, they have begun to break the seal. We have to stop them!" Said the rebel leader.

"Right, but I got a suspicion that they're not going to let us stop them" said Wayne.

"Enough chit chat, let's be on our way!" Said the commander.

The rebels ran through the path, eager to stop the emperor from breaking the seal on magic. Despite seeing the ruins and flowers, they literally have no time for sightseeing. Upon reaching the fork that splits into three paths, they don't know which path to take.

"Which path do we take?" Asked the commander.

"Hmm... I have a feeling that regardless of paths, we will end up in a fight against some goons" replied the rebel leader.

"We could split up, that way, one of these paths can be less dangerous" suggested Wayne.

"Good idea. Wayne, you take the middle path. I will take the right path, while Emily takes the left path" said the rebel leader as he points at each path.

"Are you nuts!? What if there's some ancient traps, or powerful monsters waiting for their chance to ambush!?" Exclaimed Emily (the commander), in a panicked voice.

"Don't worry, one of these paths may have a weak guard that can easily be taken out. Or some enemies that has weaknesses to be exploited" the rebel leader reassured.

Without a single word of protest, the trio split off and go into the three paths. However, what they didn't know is that both the right and left path have a pair of Samuels group, while the middle path is where a familiar character that Wayne has met before.

At the right path

The rebel leader walking down the dirt path, but he can feel that the rock walls that separates the paths are closing in on him. Then he heard giggling from the fog, so he draw out his sword while looking around.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"Yoohoo~! Over here, handsome hunk!" Said the female voice in a sing song voice.

He looked at the path in front of him, and the fog dissipates, thus revealing a pair of twin sisters that carries both a wand and a fan.

"Who are you two?" He asked.

"Don't you even know? We're the Amazing Veldt sisters!" Questioned Mila with a smile.

He still doesn't know who they are, but he watched as they waved their wands and started shaping the fog into a big monster.

"Shall we begin? Don't worry, we will go easy on you" said Cherry as she giggled.

At the left path

Emily walked down the dirt path, and she can see that there's barely any vegetation on the rock walls, except for an occasional tree. Then she saw two figures standing, blocking the path. One is a man wearing armor and wielding a sword in each of his four hands, while the other is a hunchbacked mage that is rather short and bald.

"Oh? I'm supposed to fight a lady? Fair enough, at least it'll be fun" said the four armed man.

"Who are you two? You seem to be very strange" she asked.

"How rude! But of course, you have the honor of facing your opponents for this path. I am Bernard, a mage from the village where descendants of magic users have lived. And this is Tsubaki, a sword for hire from the eastern continent. Both of us have been mutated by the empires experiments, but it can't hinder our fighting performance!" Explained Bernard as he raised both hands, preparing to cast a spell.

She drew her sword, imbuing the blade with lightning magic. She charged toward the two the moment she saw Tsubaki gesturing her to bring it, eager to end the fight as soon as possible.

At the middle path

Wayne walked through the path, and he can see the stairs up ahead. But he saw a figure standing at the path, blocking the way as if to guard it. The figure turned out to be a man with yellow hair, and wearing only a cloth that wrapped around his waist.

"Remember me?" Asked the man.

"Sort of, but I can hardly recall" replied Wayne.

"It started back in the port town at the kingdom of Meontis, I was a lowly soldier patrolling the crime scene. Then you came, and I tried to stop you, but you stole my armor and uniform for a disguise! Embarrassed, I fled until my fellow soldiers caught me. I was about to be executed by the generals command, until the emperor's right hand man managed to persuade the general to spare me. After that, I harbored a grudge on you for that act! Now, remember this name: my name is Gunther, and I will have my vengeance!" Explained Gunther.

Wayne paused for a brief moment, before laughing at him. Finally remembering him, but couldn't take him seriously.

"All that because I stole your armor and uniform? Just so you know, I had to give it back without your buddies noticing" said Wayne as he wiped the tear from his cheek from laughing too hard.

"I'm serious! I never forgive that act, but I no longer care about getting my armor back. Now, on your guard!" Said Gunther as he raised his fists in a fighting stance.

Meanwhile, at the top of the platform

The emperor mutters an incantation on the three statues, but nothing really happened besides causing them to emit a multicolored lights. This has gone for three hours, until Samuel has decided to move the goddess statue to the left in order to break the seal.

"What are you doing!?" Asked the emperor.

"Breaking the seal. To do so, move the statues from their original position in order to keep them from countering their powers!" Answered Samuel as he smiled.

"Fool! Doing so would cause a chain reaction that can destroy us!" Said the emperor in a worried tone.

"That's the idea, smartass!" Said Samuel, before casting the thunder spell to electrocute the emperor.

The emperor was knocked to the ground, feeling electricity all over his body. He was furious about Samuel attacking him, so he tried casting the meteor spell. Unfortunately, nothing happened.

"You have gone too far, Samuel! I will not stand insubordination, do you hear me!?" He yelled.

"Shut up, old man. The reason why you can't cast your powerful spells is because the warring triads aura is causing interference to magic, you can cast all you want but it won't do you any good!" Explained Samuel, while smirking.

Then Samuel moved the fiend statue, which causes bolts of lightning to strike the ground. The shockwave from the lightning shook the ground, causing the emperor to lose balance and slid almost to the edge of the floating continent. Then he started to reflect his actions, about making Samuel into the sorcerer and abusing him.

"The world... will know true fear...! My empire... is now a dream, a memory...!" Groaned the emperor.

"Are you still alive? It's time for you and your precious "empire" to vanish!" Declared Samuel as he let out a harsh laugh.

Samuel casts another thunder spell, knocking the emperor off the ledge and falling down through the sky. He chuckled to himself, knowing that he's finally freed from the abuse.

Authors note: next chapter is where magic gets freed, but Samuel ends up absorbing the power of the warring triad.