A Paladin's Promise

Chapter 17: Moon Monsters

Come morning, or whatever time it is in the outside world, we have fully recovered and are ready to tackle the next phase of our quest to find Zemus. I awaken intertwined with Rydia.

"Rydia, my love? Are you asleep?" I whisper to her. She smiles and her eyes flutter open.

"Hi, Adrienne."

"You sleep well?" I kiss her nose.

"Yes." She smiles, then frowns. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. Why?" I sit up. She also sits up.

"You were out late."

"Oh, that. I have a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I... I shouldn't."

"Why?"

"I don't want to make you sad. I love you." I hold her face in my hand.

"And I love you. I don't want you to be sad."

"Maybe we could be sad together."

"And until then, we can be happy together in our final moments."

"I'd like that." I smile. Rydia smiles back. We embrace each other, then wake up the others. After taking down the cabin and making sure we are ready, we leave the save point and round the corner. A massive wyvern similar looking to Bahamut greets us. The room darkens.

The power of this sword which Master Zemus detests shall not be released!

"Arm yourselves, friends," I tell the others. They nod.

Before we can even begin to do battle against the Wyvern, it casts Mega Nuke on all of us. I scream in pain as the hellfire scorches my skin. I drop to the ground, dying. Cecil, Rosa, and Kain have all died. Luckily, they can be revived, but as for me? I still don't know.

"A-Adrienne..." Rydia calls out weakly. I immediately revive Rosa. Rydia revives Cecil with a potion and Edge does the same for Kain. Rosa then casts the highest-level healing spell on the whole party. The wyvern's attacks are sporadic, giving us ample time to prepare our next moves. Edge slashes at the wyvern's thick scaly flesh with his dual blades. Wyvern then casts Wall on himself. All magic against him will prove fruitless. I direct the others to strike with only their weaponry. Cecil, Kain, and Edge continue attacking as normal. I switch over to my sword and hack into the wyvern's body. Rosa stays on as our healer. Rydia attacks with her whip. In between our attacks, the wyvern casts Nuke on himself which reflects onto us. Rosa heals us all after every lick of flame. Eventually, Cecil, gripping his sword in hand, thrusts the blade into the wyvern's skull, killing him.

Just as the wyvern dies, a ringing clang sounds in our ears. Where once Cecil's old sword was now lies a beautiful crystal sword made of polished gemstones and shiny mithril.

"It's beautiful..." I murmur, my deep blue eyes wide with wonder.

Cecil raises his sword to the sky and then swings it downward. He smiles.

"Would you like to hold it, Adrienne?" Cecil asks.

"Oh, um... a-are you sure?"

"Of course. Here." He holds out the sword to me. With trembling fingers, I grab hold of the sword's hilt. My magic suddenly flows through my arm and into the blade, causing it to glow with color. My eyes widen.

"Wow..." Rosa says, mesmerized.

"I-I'm sorry!" I hand the weapon back to Cecil.

"You're okay, Adrienne."