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The Crystal Rule	By : QueenDraggyofSwords Category: Final Fantasy Games > Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Views: 956 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: chrystal Chronicles, any of its characters nor am I making any profit off of them.

Chapter List
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Chapter Thirty-Seven

Keiss carried himself and Blaze on the crystal Bike for the rest of the day and well into the night. He didn't stop riding until they were deep into the swamp. He wanted to make sure they made up for the wasted time. Not to mention he felt that if they rode until they were exhausted, they wouldn't notice how hungry they were.
"Of course food wouldn't be an issue if some Crystal Bearer's would listen to instructions…"
"Did you say something, Selkie?"
"Nothing…" Keiss stopped the bike near a large rock formation and dismounted. "Come on. Let's make camp up there. We'll have the high ground, and be safe from sinking into the mud."
The Selkie watched and waited as Blaze made his way up the rocks. Keiss followed suit. Using blaze's power s and a bit of wood the boys made themselves a fire to kept them warm through the night. The crystal bearer lay down, not even waiting to discuss who'd take watch first. Keiss sighed, though he should have expected it. "Nothing but selfish…"
"What's with you and muttering?" Blaze spoke up without lifting his head. "You're not better than my last partner."
"…Your last…" Kiess crossed his arms and eyed the Clavat. "And who was your last partner, Blaze?"
"What's it to you, Selkie?"
"…Just small talk." He nodded.
"…He was no one, Just some punk ass kid. Thought he was better than me. A hot shot." Blaze yawned and rolled over turning his back to Keiss.
"And his name?" Keiss waited but Blaze didn't respond. "Blaze, your old partner's name?" The Selkie waited again. But the only response he received from the Clavat was snoring. The red head shook his head and sighed. "…Layle, what I wouldn't give for you to be here."

Keiss sat up half the night watching the stars and listening to the sounds of monsters moving about beneath the rocks that he and Blaze had used to camp on. His mind was lost wondering where Layle had run off to. He wondered if the Clavat had been caught by the Military and subjected to the cure. 'No, that's not possible. If he had been, Spinosa or Regal would have easily rubbed that in my face. Especially Regal.'
He sighed and let his body slide back to rest on the cool surface of the rock. "And now I'm out here with his idiot. Tired. Hungry. Struggling to complete a simple retrieval mission. Man, Layle, you weren't kidding when you said you were the best…" The Selkie closed his eyes. He continued to listen to the sounds of the monsters moving about. The grass rustled, a monster cackled, something growled, the metal of his crystal bike clanged.
The metal of his crystal bike clanged? Keiss sat up and looked around. 'Crystal's light, if those monsters are trying to tear up the bike I'll blow holes in them!' he looked back to blaze and contemplated waking the Clavat up, but decided to deal with the creature on his own.
Keiss slowly made his way down the rock face. He already had the holy gun drawn, ready to shoot. As he lowered himself, he could make out a shadow near the crystal bike. However, it wasn't in the shape of any monster he had seen. In fact it looked too human to be a monster. 'You've got to be kidding me! Thieves! Out here!?' The red head pointed the gun at the bandit's head and spoke up. "Don't move! Least you want to see what a Holy spell does to a man's head."
"…So I woke you… Such a shame." Keiss blinked a few times as the bandit spoke up. He groaned and hit his palm to his forehead.
"…Please tell me that isn't you, Clockwork. Haven't you got better shit to do?" Keiss jumped down to the ground and landed next to the Lilty woman. She crossed her arms and smiled at him.
"No."
"Fantastic. Well," Keiss raised his gun, "Come on. Give me your hands; you're not leaving this time."
"Oh, Keiss, we both know you can't get the better of me without the gravity bearer."
Keiss kept the gun raised and shook his head. She was right, but she didn't need to know Layle wasn't here. "So I'll just shout and wake him up."
The time controlling Lilty scoffed. "I didn't know you could raise your voice to carry across the land." She watched the Selkie scowl at her. "Come now, Keiss, we both know Layle isn't here."
"…And what makes you say that?"
"Because I saw him."
"You what!" Keiss lowered his gun startled. "Where!? When!?"
Clockwork chuckled, "A while ago… We had a bit of an argument. But I'm not here to talk about Lay-"
"Oh yes you are!" Keiss raised his weapon again, "Tell me everything."
"…Will you stop this mission if I do?"
"Depends on if I like what I hear."
The Lilty scowled. "Keiss, you need to stop this mission. It's dangerous. Not just for you, but for Layle as well."
"…How is a ship dangerous for him?"
"It's not the ship. It's the power. No man should possess such a thing. And you should not aid the Military any longer. Just look what your efforts have done! Look where it has gotten you now…"
Keiss hesitated, but he tightened his grip on his weapon. "That's why I have to keep going. This far in… I need to get to the bottom of it. I need to finish this, to stop it. To stop someone from trying to 'cure' Layle."
"Is that what you really believe? That you can stop it? After all the damaged you've caused Crystal Bearers everywhere."
"…Yes."
Clockwork laughed at him. She covered her mouth and turned her head, but she was still obviously laughing. "You can't help anyone, Keiss. If you could Layle would still be he-" Her words were cut off by Keiss firing his gun. The bullet whizzed past the bridge of her nose and struck the rocks. "…"
"Clockwork, don't test me. I'm not Layle. I don't have to listen to your speech-" Keiss looked around. There had been a flash of gold light, and just like that the girl was gone. "Damn her!" He kicked the bike angrily, and was surprised to find a bag fell of the seat. Why hadn't he noticed that before? He reached down to pick it up and dug through the bag. It was filled with rations with a note that read 'Just enough to get you home. So leave.'
Keiss closed the bag and shook his head. 'That Lilty…She said she saw Layle. Was that just a trick to get me worked up…? But then again, how else would she know that we weren't together for this mission?'

By morning, Keiss was exhausted. He hadn't slept at all. And not once had Blaze woken up to take a shift of watching he camp. He hated the fire bearer. And now his old partner was on his mind more than ever. Had Layle really gone to see Clockwork? If so why not come to see him? What had they talked about? What was going on? Where was he?
"…Maybe I shouldn't have shot at her…"
"What did you say, Selkie?" Blaze was digging through the bag of rations Keiss 'found'. He was picking out what he wanted to eat and scarfing away while Keiss drove them through the swamp.
"Nothing…"
"I swear, what is it with you mutterers. You never just come right out and talk!"
Keiss shook his head. He didn't care what Blaze had to say. All he cared about was finishing this mission and getting home. He had to track down Clockwork next, he was certain of it. If he could find and talk to her, maybe he could keep his cool long enough to get her to talk. He'd catch up to Layle just yet.

It took another half a day of riding to finally reach the farthest end of the swamp. Out here, the murky waters consumed everything. The ground was nothing but mud and muck. The duo was forced to leave the crystal bike behind and make their way to the downed airship on foot. The entire time Blaze complained about the mud and the filth.
"How could Selkies even live out here? What a horrid place!"
"They had not choice…" Keiss glared as he marched on. "The other tribes forced them into exile. They build floating platforms to go from one end of the swamp to the other… But they didn't want to be here. They did the best with what they could. Hoping that they'd find something to call their own…"
"…Ancient Selkies sound like a bunch of idiots!"
Keiss sighed and shook his head. It wasn't worth getting upset over. Blaze was just full of hot air. Hot air and complaints. And it was at least another hour of marching through much and dealing with 'ghost', that Blaze continuously freaked out over, before the boys found the downed ship.
It was half submerged in a bog surrounded by tall reeds and mounds of muck. Near it a small circular piece of land rose up out of the ground. Keiss looked on at the ship and smiled. "Finally! We can get out of this place!"
"That's the ship!" Blaze cursed and glared at Keiss, "There's no way that thing will fly! Damn you, Selkie! We're going to be trapped out here! In this horrible swamp! And we'll be murdered by those ghost-"
"I keep telling you! They aren't ghost! Their monsters! Are all Clavat pilgrims this freaking superstitious!?"
"Oh yeah, if they're not ghost, then why can't we see them!?"
"You can't see them because-" Keiss shook his head, "Never mind." The Selkie made his way over to the solid piece of land and set his bag down. He started to dig through the supply bag until he found a set of long ropes. "Look, just find something to tie this around. I'm going to swim out there and hook the ship. We'll have to pull it up some more before I can get the engine working."
"Are you serious? Just the two of us are going to pull that thing out!?"
"Yes! Look will you just do what I ask for once?" Keiss tossed one end of the ropes to Blaze and tied the other around his waist. He walked away from the fire bear grumbling. 'I'm so glad that this is almost over…' He carefully walked out into the water and jumped forward with a tiny splash. Keiss swam out to the ship while Blaze trudge back and forth with the other end of the rope.
"Find something to tie it to! Ha!" He looked around the area. "I should let it go and let him drown! That will show him! Arrogant Selkie!" The crystal bearer made his way across the risen land to a dead tree and started to walk around it. "Or maybe just tie it up and leave him. Let him pull it out himself…"
As Blaze tied the rope around the tree he felt the wind blow. His pilgrim robes whipped up a bit and he grumbled. The Clavat let go of the rope to tie up the blue robe he always wore. As he looked down he noticed his shadow was growing larger. "…What in the-?" The wind blew again, this time harder, and faster. And then a third time. Blaze looked up baffled, only to realize the wind wasn't blowing, but being pushed down and out by a large set or wings. Wings he could just faintly make out from the dark aura surrounding them and the monster they were attached to. The fire bearer let out a scream of fright followed by one word.
"DRAGON!"
Keiss looked back at the plot of Land just as he reached the hull of the ship. He looked horrified to see what Blaze was screaming about. He could just barely make out the shape of a dragon landing on the ground. Like the rest of the monsters of the swamp, it concealed itself with dark magic, however it was so large, and emitting so much of it he was still partial visible. "Oh for the love of… Can't anything be easy?"
Blaze took cover behind the tree; however the monster had already seen him. The dragon turned and roared and let out a gust of air from its mouth. The tree bent and cracked under the force. It split in two and Blaze had to duck down to avoid being hit over the head. He reached around from the tree and fired spell after spell at the creature. But they had no effect. "DO SOMETHING SELKIE!"
Keiss shook his head and climbed up the side of the ship. He kept looking back at Blaze who was steadily losing cover as the dragon swiped and bit at the tree. "Albright, Oides! I hope these things work on big monsters too!" Keiss took out the holy gun and fired. He hit the monster square on its back, and he could see the spells start to react; however, the creatures shield did not fade. Instead the monster turned its head and roared at him. "…Shit."
Keiss scrambled to slide down the other side of the ship and use it for cover. The dragon raised its head and from its mouth this time let loose a beam of light. The Selkie fell to the other side of the ship just as it shot over head. He watched as the light continued forward until it collided with a tree in the distance, petrifying it. "Oh, fantastic, another stone caster. This mission is my favorite."
The red head noticed the ship and the water were shaking around him. He scrambled around tot eh side of the ship to see the monster charging at him. "Fuck…" He was about to run when just beyond the dragon he noticed Blaze attempting to escape. "That son of a…BLAZE!"
The Clavat turned his head; he looked startled, and shook his head back and forth ready to run.
"The rope Blaze! Get it around the dragon's tail!" Keiss pointed toward the rope, "IT'S TAIL!" The red head looked back and pulled away from the sides. The Dragon was not half in the water and was using his gust attack to push the ship, trying to sink it and Keiss. 'Is this monster what made the ship crash?'
The red head turned to face the ship and started to pull at the cockpit door. He had to hope Blaze would do as he asked or he'd down in the muck along with the Spinosa's precious ship. As he crawled into the cockpit he grabbed the radio and struggled with the water logged controls. He banged on the console as the dragon continued to try and sink him. Finally the system turned on and he shouted into the radio broad casting his voice.
"Blaze! Get the rope around its tail and shoot at it! Shoot at it and them fucking run!" Keiss waited a moment; the dragon was still attacking him and the ship. It didn't falter in its pattern of using its breath and its stone spell. "DAMMIT BLAZE! Can you hear me! Its tail!" Keiss looked around as the water was slowly rising up to his chest. He couldn't wait much longer. The Selkie dropped the remote and started to try and start the engines.
"I'll leave that bastard to die here!" He pulled open the top of the panel and bit his lip. "Either I'm going to electrocute myself…Or I'm going to drown. Either way…" He slowly pushed his hand into the panel and tried to get the engine to start eh could feel the wires heating up and sparking as the water filled the cockpit. He was certain he was going to die either by his own hand or the monsters when he felt the ship jolt. At first Keiss though he's electrocuted himself as suspected. But instead the ship was moving. Or rather being dragged.
He grabbed on to the seat and looked around as the ship was yanked and started to skid backwards. The dragon was dragging him out of the swamp. Blaze had actually done what he asked. Keiss laughed magically as he reached back into the control panel. The water was slowly draining out. Outside he could hear Blaze screaming for help. The red head worked fast to reconnect the wires. However as he worked he felt his body rise up form the chair and tilt forwad. In an instant Keiss found himself smashed against the cockpit glass and looking at the world below.
"Oh shit…" He tried to get up on his hands and knees and slipped and slid across the glass. The dragon roared and attempted to shake the ship free of its tail. Keiss bounced around in the cockpit screaming and trying to hold on for his life. He landed on the floor and grabbed onto the base of the chair. "Son of a Fenrir! It's going to toss me and kill me!" Keiss looked around frantically. On the underside of the control panel he could spot the weapons control. Steadily the red head grabbed onto what he could and pulled himself over to it. Keiss pried the underside of the panel open ready to shoot at the creature with the ships guns, but instead what he saw made his heart skip a beat.
The usual wiring was there, but in addition to it all there was a tube hooked up to the system... A clear tube filled with the blue stasis fluid in Oides' lab.
"Power…Magic…The weapons!" The ship was jerked again, and Keiss's face was slammed into the panel. He groaned as he heard the machine come back on. He clumsily reached into the panel and pulled the tube out. "You're gone!" He twisted the lid tossed it to the side. Keiss dumped the fluid on the floor, and it slid around and sloshed in the shaking cock pit. He dug into his pockets to pull out the ammo container. The Selkie struggled to break a few of the glass pellets against the container's sides and let their fluid ooze out into the canister before jimmying it back into place.
Keiss let go of the panel and let his body slide back. He got a look out the window for the first time in minutes. He had no idea how high up he was. He could barely see the swamp. "Dammit!" He pulled himself into the pilot's seat and took hold of the controls. The world outside was spinning as the dragon tried to shake himself free of the ship. The Selkie fired the weapons, not bothering to target the creature; he just wanted to see if he could shoot it.
And as he hopped the weapon fired a Holy spell. And what a spell it was. Keiss watched as giant ball of light whizzed toward the ground and caused an explosion. His jaw dropped. 'It's dangerous.' Keiss' attention was snapped back to the monster. The dragon was now in front of him, dragging him long into a nose dive. The Selkie grabbed the controls and fired again.
This time the spell connected with the monster and it roared. Its dark spell and the holy spell twisted and sparked together shattering the monster's shield. Much to Keiss' horror, once it was visible the dragon did not look right. It looked disgusting. Like its body was rotting way, revealing pink under flesh and bones and veins.
"….I-It can't really be…Dead…" The dragon pulled out of its nose dive and Keiss screamed. He fired up the engine to keep the ship moving forward and pulled on the control stick. He just narrowly avoided crashing into the ground. But the ropes finally snapped. The dragon circled around attempting to turn the ship to stone as Keiss flew low to the ground.
"…Another spell should put it under." He grabbed the radio and broadcasted his voice again. "BLAZE! Shoot out a fire ball! I need to know where you are!" Keiss scanned the ground before he caught site of a few fireball launched into the air. "I'm coming at you! Fire up that volcano of yours and take this thing out!"
Keiss turned the ship and pushed it as fast as he could toward Blaze. The dragon followed behind him still trying to take him out with is stone spell. The Selkie pressed forward, turning the ship this way and that to avoid its spells. Just as he was certain he flew over where Blaze had been he pulled up, the dragon followed ready to fire its spell again. However this time the ground beneath the creature erupted and a pillar of magma shot up from the ground engulfing the monster. It roared and screamed as its body was consumed by flames, and its ruminants crashed back to earth.
Keiss circled around watching the sight and started to laugh. He pumped his fist into the air and cheered. One mission down. Now he just had one partner to find.
By the time Keiss and Blaze had returned to the Conall Curach research base the sun was setting. He and Blaze hardly spoke the entire flight back to the research facility. To Keiss surprise, when they docked the ship, Lieutenant Spinosa was there waiting for them.
"Keiss, I see you've retrieved the experimental ship. Excellent work. I knew I could count on you." Spinosa extended his hand to Keiss waiting for him to take it.
The red head crossed his arms and frowned. "Why does this ship come equipped with magic weapons?" He watched as the Lieutenant's smile faded. The plum haired Lilty crossed his arms behind his back.
"How did you know?"
"I had to sue them. Against a dragon-"
"A zombie dragon at that!" Blaze climbed down from the cockpit. "You didn't tell me about having to face the undead! I knew I'd get stuck with a useless partner, but ghost! Zombies! Dragons! You'd better double my pay, Spinosa!"
"…Useless?" Keiss ground his teeth together. "It was my plant hat got rid of the dragon. My bike that got us to the ship. Me. I did all the work. You just- just kept blowing things up!"
"Can it, Selkie! I'm the one-"
"No!" Keiss pointed at Blaze, "You can it! I am in the middle of something important here! Your mindless self-indulgences can wait!"
Blaze cursed and raised his hand, "It was my powers that took out the monsters! And the dragon! All you did was get in my way and get us lost!" He got up into Keiss' face, "the only thing of importance here is compensating my pay for all the trouble you caused me!"
Keiss shoved the Clavat backward huffing. He turned to Spinosa, "I'm coming to your office tomorrow to talk to you about this ship, Lieutenant."
"I'm afraid that information is classified, Keiss. You're not part of the project, just a hired hand to help complete it."
"And a lousy one at that!" Blaze snorted. "Hell, I could have done a better job with my old partner. At least with his powers, I wouldn't have had to deal with a dead weight non-bearer trying to keep up with me. As lousy as Layle was, at least he could do something."
Keiss clenched his fist and before Blaze could react swung around and connected his fist to the Clavat's jaw. The Lieutenant and the men at the airship dock that were inspecting the ship all turned and stare in shock ad Blaze reeled back and hit his head on the back of the ship. The all looked on as the Keiss slowly lowered his hand and snorted. "You can give him my half of the pay for this mission as 'compensation' for the inconvenience." Keiss turned and started to walk away. "And for the record," He looked back at Spinosa. "That clown isn't half the bearer Layle is! He can't even keep his powers under control!" The Selkie turned on his heels and stormed off, fist still clenched.
Blaze slowly pushed himself up off the ship and sucked in on his jaw. He moved it left, then right and then spat out a tooth. He opened his mouth to reveal a gap in his upper tooth line along the left side. He started to whine as he poked at the gap with his tongue. The Lieutenant turned his head to watch Keiss leave. His eyes glaring at the Selkie's back.
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The Crystal Rule