Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

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
- 56
- 57
- 58
Chapter Fifty Seven

Villosie Oides led Keiss and Layle through the city streets, the entire time the Lilty noblewoman held her umbrella aloft smiling and twisting it over her head. Her demeanor was entirely gleeful. You'd hardly suspect she was leading them someplace to plan a break-in and assault on a military facility.
Keiss, on the other hand, followed behind her with a scowl and his hands stuffed into his pockets. He didn't speak to her nor Layle, and he only looked straight ahead. Past the Lilty woman and her umbrella and not at all to the Clavat walking next to him.
"So where are you taking us?" Layle asked her as they made their way through the market streets. "A hotel or something?"
"No," she shook her head. "Hotels have workers, workers see things and talk… We're going out of the city."
"What? You've got a camp set up somewhere?"
The lilac haired woman scoffed. "No, we're going outside the city to the ruins. No one goes there. No one will be about to spy on us."
"The ruins?" Layle slightly inclined his head. He wasn't afraid of the ruins, but it certainly was an odd choice. He didn't believe in hauntings, but that didn't mean the place wasn't full of monsters that capitalized on using dark magic. Skeletons, invisible monsters, dark flan, nightmares… It wasn't really a safe place to sit down for a chat. Though he supposed that the danger it posed did guarantee they'd not be bothered.
Keiss rolled his eyes however at the notion, "You don't think someone won't notice three people walking out into the ruins?"
"Not if we go fast enough." She didn't turn around, but Layle could imply from the smug tone in her voice that the look on her face was more than likely over confident.
The Lilty led them to the far eastern gate of the city. It was there that she request Layle's help in casting a Hastaga spell so they could move out quickly without anyone being able to tell who they were. The Clavat complied giving Clockwork his hand, with a gravity spell wrapped around his arm. She took his hand and then reached out for Keiss, whom crossed his arms.
"Come on, Keiss," Layle urged him on dryly. "You can be bitter later."
The Selkie snorted, he held out his hand, but to Layle. As soon as the Clavat took it, Clockwork charged his gravity spell with one of her own. Before either of them could really get used to the sudden rush pulsing through the Lilty, down their arms, and into each of them, she turned and started running. Layle and Keiss were practically yanked up from where they were standing, and the Selkie did stumble a bit before he fell in line. His partner looked over his shoulder at him chuckling at the sight.
He wasn't the most graceful Selkie, that was for sure.
Clockwork ran, guiding the others in tow for a good five minutes. Layle imagined that by walking it probably would have taken them an hour to reach the ruins, by wagon at least thirty minutes. But with Clockwork continuously hastening their pace, and forcing them to keep up with her wild running, he could already see the outskirts of the once great city. Its stone walls crumpled into gaping structures here and there, weathered buildings that were skeletons of the once proud homes and business that flourished here, foliage and wild life over ran the place; really the only clear building still left as the old royal temple rising up out of the middle of it all.
Villosie came to a halt, turning her feet slightly and practically sliding along the dirt. She let go of Layle's hand as she came to a stop and as a result the Clavat ran past her, his body still working off the momentum of the spell. He had to extend his hand and catch himself form nearly toppling over face first into the dirt. Though he imagined the sight of him stumbling forward and waving his arms about to stop himself from nearly tripping was amusing, it wasn't as funny as Keiss' undignified faceplant into the grass.
The Selkie had run past him, but lacked his own powers to prevent the inevitable crash that would follow such an abrupt stop. He let out a shout as he waved his arms and hit the ground rolling. Head over heels he rolled until he stopped face first in the dirt.
Clockwork threw her head back and laughed, "I though Selkies were supposed to be agile! Hahaha!" She continued to laugh as Layle walked over to his partner and helped him up.
"You okay?"
The red head let out an agitated growl in between spitting out bits of grass. "Do I look okay to you!?" He ran his hands over his face wipping away the earth and looked back over at Clockwork; she was still laughing away. "KNOCK IT OFF!"
The lilac haired Lilty put the back of her hand to her mouth and continued to chuckle, "Come on now, boys…" she started forward motioning them to get up and follow her with her other hand, "Let's find a place to sit and talk." She walked past them into the ruins proper. Layle pulled Keiss to his feet but the Selkie shrugged him off following after the Lilty.
The ruins of Rebena Te Ra were probably the only ground the three tribes could agree should never be touched. There was something eerie about the place. Whether because of the history it held, or the mysteries that went unexplained, but the Lilties in all their advancement of the world, never tore it down. Some surmised because of the 'hauntings'. Ghosts, not monsters clad in dark magic, but actual ghosts that were rumored to roam the grounds at night. Adventurers had tried to make their way into the old temple, attempting to discover why it never eroded away like the rest of the city; some never returned. And the ones that did came back were shaken and horrified, telling tales of ghosts from the past, unreal magic that still hid away within the walls, and a terrifying monster waiting in the middle of it all. Some claimed it was the spirit of Rebena Te Ra's last ruler, tethered to this world after the city was destroyed by the meteorite. Some said it was a collective gathering of what was left of the old miasma that once plagued the world, that it had possessed the bones of the people and crafted itself into a giant monster. There were hundreds of rumors about what it was, but nothing definitive.
If anything Layle noted that the air around the ruins didn't feel haunted so much as it felt humid. On the other side of the decrepit city there was the norther most stretch of the Jegon Strait. And across the waters a marsh emptied out into the body of water; the outer ends of Conall Curach, and its waters made the air around the place moist, sticky and bug infested. It was hard to believe that the newer city, just an hour away had such a temperate climate. He wondered if it had been this muggy in ancient times? Though he supposed it wouldn't have surprised him if it did. It was after all once a Selkie ruled city. And they thrived in the warm climates.
The woman walked around the buildings a few times before she settled on a little ruined square. One side of what was once one of the building's walls was high enough to conceal them from anyone looking from the outside, not that there would be, while there was enough rubble to sit on and a good area of dirt free from overgrowth.
"Take a seat…" She motioned to the rocks and turned her umbrella upside down to start drawing out a map on the ground.
The boys took up a spot along the taller wall. Keiss sat down on a protruding stone and Layle leaned up against it. He put his hands behind his head and looked off in the distance at the large building ominously watching over the ruins.
"Hey, Keiss," The Crystal Bearer spoke up not taking his eyes off the building, "When this is all over, what do say we-"
"Absolutely not." Keiss looked up at him shaking his head. "If you're about to suggest you want to go poke around in that ruin, the answer is no."
"Come on…" The Clavat smiled at him and teased, "I bet if you solved its mysteries, they'd let you into the military."
"Haha. Very funny," Keiss turned his eyes upward toward the temple, "We're not going in there, Layle."
"Why not?"
"Several reasons: one, it's full of ancient Selkie traps to kill intruders; two, there are no secrets to it, just treasure, which I will not touch because of three, the temple itself is important to my tribe, and I will not trespass on its grounds."
"You forgot the ghost," Clockwork spoke up from where she was drawing on the ground.
"…Don't tell me you believe in ghosts…" Keiss frowned at the Lilty.
"After our little aerial fight, you better believe I do." She looked up at him and nodded. "If not for a ghost, I wouldn't be here."
"Are you trying to tell me an actual ghost saved you?" The red head continued to look on in disbelief.
"A ghost of whom?" Layle asked.
"Not of who… Of what," she looked up at them, "It pulled me through this weird, purple mist… summoned me from the brink of death and spat me back out. I want to say it was a living thing, but living things aren't made of metal."
"…I'm…confused?" Layle shook his head.
"You expect us to believe ghosts are made out of metal now?" Keiss rolled his eyes. He was unamused by this story.
"No," she looked back down at her map, "No, I expect you to mock me. But I know what I saw. They do not exist in this world anymore, therefore it had to have been a ghost."
"But why would a ghost save you?" Layle shook his head at her.
The Lilty woman chuckled, "I have no idea… Perhaps it was a mistake. Or perhaps, it feels like I do…" she closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her fingers to the middle of her abdomen. Lost in thoughts, the action meant nothing to the two boys watching her, but she imagined a crystal there; shinning in the darkness, "Maybe it knows that the Lilty are doing terrible things to the Crystal Principle."
Keiss and Layle looked at each other shrugging.
"Anyway!" She snapped open her eyes and raised her umbrella to point at the ruin, "The last reason you shouldn't tread foot int here is that they say the ghost will only welcome the next king of Rebena Te Ra. That is the spirit that dwells there, waiting to pass on the crown of this once great city."
"But every Selkie from the royal family is dead," Keiss raised his hand and twisted it around in the air, "Hence no Selkie enters. It's sacred ground."
"There's no proof the blood line is all gone. After all, they did mingle with Clavats. However, that temple is supposedly all the proof that's left of when they once ruled the world."
"So I'm not going to let you go stick your nose in there, got it, Layle?"
"Yeah… yeah… The cool ruins are off limits." He put his hands back behind his head and muttered, "So long as you're with me..."
"What was that?" The red head glared up at him.
"I, uh, so!" He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the Lilty, "What's the plan for the break in Clockwork?"
"It's simple," The woman marked off a few points on her map. "Here are our entry points, and here is where we'll break in…" She circled an area on the map. "Just like leaving the city, we'll use Hastaga to get in, and we'll go once it's dark. By then Regal will have left and they'll be down to a skeleton crew."
Keiss leaned forward watching her mark off areas on the map, "But what do you need us for?"
"You Selkie, will get everything you can on the place. I want every record you can store… Layle and I will focus on taking it apart. After tonight there will be no more facility to admister this higher version of the cure… Now," she turned to another part of her map, "Here's the floor layout-" Clockwork started going over the attack plan with Keiss. Telling him where to go and what to look for. The place was just too big for her to handle gathering information and taking it down on her own.
Layle started out listening and then turned his gaze upward towards the ruins. His mind was still on metallic ghost and Selkie royalty. Clockwork had mentioned a strange purple mist…
Hadn't he seen something like that right after he crashed as well?
Had ghost tried to summon him to the edge of death?
"Layle!" The Clavat blinked and looked back down at the two plotting their break in, "Are you listening to me?"
"Sure," he shrugged and Clockwork shook her head.
"On the upper three floors, that's where they keep the Crystal Bearers. That's where you and I will start."
The Clavat crouched down, now interested in the plan, "You think Phelia is there?"
"…I can only hope."

By the time night fell over Rebena Te Ra, the trio was waiting in an alley way across from the medical facility. As Clockwork had promised, the security seemed to have lightened, but that did not change the fact that there were still guards present.
The Lilty woman had long since changed out of her noble clothes and was sporting something more fitting her conniving nature. She wore boots and stripped stockings, accompanied by a pleated skirt and a fringed long sleeve jacket. Her usual ensemble when she caused trouble, a cross between Selkie and Lilty clothing.
"Alright, are you two ready?" She held out her hands to them.
Layle looked at Keiss and the Selkie nodded. They each took a hand and together the Crystal Bearers cast their magic. This time the boys were a bit more prepared for the Hastaga spell that over took them. In a flash, Clockwork was running out of the alley; the boys right behind her. Their assult was all about timing; it was a matter of getting up and over the gate for the few split seconds that the guard wasn't looking. Layle reached out with his free hand and hooked the top of the gate, he pulled the trio upward and Clockwork kicked them off the top of the gate onto the ground. She dragged the boys behind her in a golden flash around the courtyard to the side of the building and out of sight.
As soon as they were around the corner she slowed her pace coming to a stop. This time no one fell.
"Nice work," she let go of Layle's hand. "Now, if you would," she bowed and motioned upward. Right above them, two stories up was a window.
Layle cracked his knuckles and raised his right hand, "Just leave it to me." He pulled himself up to the window and with a tug of his powers opened it up. The Clavat slid inside and looked around the dark room making sure no one was about before leaning out the window to pull the other two up.
Once inside, Clockwork shut the window and smiled. "Alright… Now we split up." She turned to Keiss, "This floor is all of the offices… Piper's office should be just down the hall from here, I suggest you start looking there."
"I know how to steal information, thank you."He dismissed her orders quickly.
"Layle, you and I will continue upward, we'll find the Crystal Bearers and let them out."
"Yeah, about that, once everyone is out, what about the guards?" The Clavat asked.
"We'll fight our way out. We're taking this place apart remember? As long as we stay in the middle of the angry mob, no one should spot us."
Keiss looked at Layle pointing at him, "And as long as you don't pull anything risky, this should be fine."
"Why are you pointing at me?"
"Just keep your cool, Crystal Bearer. I know how you feel about these guys…" Keiss turned away from his partner and ran for the door. He stopped as he turned the handle and looked back over his shoulder, "And, Layle, keep an eye on her. Got it?" With that, Keiss left.
The Lilty snorted, "You know, you'd almost think he doesn't trust me."
"With justification," Layle started for the door and motioned for her to follow, "Now come on. Let's go."

Keiss made his way down the hall of the scientists' offices. Each of them had a name plate outside and a designation of what they were in charge of. He knew he was to head right to Piper's office, but he couldn't help but stop short of his goal when he noticed that the office across from it had the name plate removed.
"Someone was fired…" he muttered to himself. The Selkie looked back at the door before him, his destination. The pepper haired Lilty was sure to have everything he needed about this place, but curiosity got the better of him. Or maybe it was intuition.
He turned his to the other door and tested the handle. Locked of course. He dug into his pockets and pulled out a pick and went to work. It was easy to open, more than likely due to the fact the Lilties were confident in their guards' abilities to stop intruders. He pushed open the door and entered, slowly shutting it behind him. The redhead crept into the room looking around, it didn't look like it had been entirely cleared out yet. He smirked as he started rummaging around the desk on the far wall for clues.
He pulled out papers and notes, all written in familiar handwriting. "This office belonged to Oides…" He read over the notes, "Why would he be removed from this place? It's his cure…"
He closed the desk drawer and made his way over to the filing cabinet. Again he had to pick the lock to open it and started rifling through what was stored within.
"All of these… Cautionary notes?" He pulled one out and started to read it to himself. It was a warning about the excessive use of treatment. Piper wanted to increase dosage intake and crystal shard usage to increase the potency of the medication. Apparently Oides objected, sighting over exposure to Crystal Shards could cause health problems even in Crystal Bearers. He put that folder away and grabbed another one. Again a notice, though this one was more an inquiry. Oides writing Regal taking note that some of the shipments of his stasis fluid leaving the facility were unaccounted for.
"Materials meant to be deposed of harmlessly due to their over concentration of crystal matter are going undocumented and uncatalogued… I believe the shipments are being diverted or tampered with…" Keiss flipped through the papers for Regal's response, which was simply to brush the doctor off and assure him his numbers were wrong.
Keiss put the files back and closed the door, "It seems even the poor old Doc was in the dark about this place." He looked around frowning, "I guess he asked one question too many…" Keiss made his way back to the door, making a note to go see Oides once they returned to Alfitaria.
He made his way back across the hall and broke into Piper's office. The first thing Keiss started to pick through was the filing cabinets. He knew Clockwork had told him Piper had an office here, but the oddity was not lost on him that someone in charge of weapons development had an office in a facility tailored to medical treatment.
"And shipments are missing… Being sent out to Kilanada…What are you making, Piper?" He flicked through the files and pulled out a report Crystal Shards.
"…Estimation to Crystal Shard depletion is fifty to seventy five years… Without a proper enhancement or replacement system, energy will become scarce…" He thumbed through the file twisting his lips. "A stronger Crystal Reactor maybe? Cid would know… He worked on that before he retired." He started taking pictures of all the files he could combing over in his mind what he knew about Crystal Shards and reactors. As he made his way through the files he found an update of a familiar report.
"Ah, the ship again…" He spread it out across Piper's desk taking pictures of blueprints and notes, "The due date says within two months on this thing…" Keiss turned the files on the desk and read over the notes scribbled in the corner, "Presentations to accompany 'Flagship Revival Request'; Fitzroy: Materials and construction; Du Blanc: Hardware and Systems, Spinosa: Weapons and Powercore." Keiss pulled back from the paper his face scrunching up with curiosity. He took another picture of the blueprint and then stopped. There was another new notation in the corner.
"One of fifteen?" He looked back over at the cabinet and started to pull out more files spreading them across the desk. He kept thumbing through them nervously until he found a message with Spinosa's handwriting. "It's not a ship. It's ships. …To back up a new Flagship?" He shook his head and looked out the window, "There's no Lilty Flagship that I know of." He started picking through the rest of the files looking over the weapon systems. He found a blueprint of the Miasma Directional Field Controller attached to the bottom of an air ship. Labelled as a small scouting vessel or front runner of the lines to swarm the area with unreasonable monster attacks. He looked over Piper's notes designating that even with the Kingdom's approval after the first few battalion ships are brought before the council, there would not be enough Crystal Shards to power it all.
"…Alternate power sources must be found. It would take a majority, if not all of the Military's shards to power the revived Flagship without the experimental reactor. Unless ways of recovering lost shards is found, there is no way to properly construct these vessels. Suggestions in Blueprint E-3001."
Keiss took the note and folded it up to stick in his pocket before he started digging around for the blueprint listed. He found it tucked away not in the filing cabinets but in a notebook in Piper's desk.
"Analysis of Crystal Shard distribution among the population… Upon reviewing my collegues' work and research, the elemental properties that provide Crystal Shards with their power are precisely the same as the resonance of power found with the Crystals that grow within a Crystal Bearer. If extracted and harnessed, it would have the same affect upon a reactor core as feeding it Crystal Shards stored within the Idols." He flipped ahead a few pages, "The depowerization of Crystal Shards is shown to be exponential to the growth in Crystal Bearer population. The overexposure to reactor energy among the populace is filtering out creating a broader spread of this disease. The halt of Crystal Reactors would curb the spread, however as the energy is dispensed among the populace it only makes sense to reclaim it…" He stopped reading and turned towards the end.
"Exponentially power drops off at an alarming rate. After one to two uses Crystal Energy tapers off worse than a free born shard. There is no way currently to use a Shard born within a person separated from said individual. Potentially, a power source of limitless use could be used if subject was kept whole."
Keiss shut the book and stuffed it into his pockets. He didn't bother cleaning up the desk or looking any more. Honestly he didn't want to know anymore about this place. He just wanted to find Layle and Clockwork and help them take it apart.

Layle and Villosie on the other hand made their way up to the third floor. In her research, the Lilty had seen the rooms were labeled as 'hospital rooms' for the visiting Crystal Bearers. And maybe at one point in time they were. But there were not hospital rooms that she knew of that required pad locks on the outside of them. The time controlling Lilty walked up to the first door on her right and put her hand on it.
"…Look at this place… It's a prison…" She looked back at Layle who was still standing at the end of the hallway. "…Come on Clavat, I need you to break these locks open before the guards make their way through here."
"Right… right," Layle walked forward and put his hand on the lock. He encased it in a gravity field and in one swift motion tore it off. From the other side of the door the two heard a startled response.
Clockwork pushed the door open to find a male and female Clavat inside. They were wearing long white shirts and white pants. Simple hospital attire. There were three beds in the room, despite the fact that there were only two of them. The man had a very visible crystal on the back of his right hand.
"…Get out," Clockwork took a step back and motioned toward the door. They stared at her confused, "Come on now, I said get out!"
"No!" The woman replied and she clung to the man's arm. "We're not leaving this room! You can't make us!"
Layle stood behind Clockwork in the doorway confused, "You don't want to leave…"
"Who doesn't want to leave this place…?" The man shook his head, "But we won't go. When they come for you at night, you never come back."
"Do we look like this they you're so afraid of?" Clockwork motioned to herself and Layle, "We are like you. Crystal Bearers, we're here to break you all out."
"Are you? That one man… That one man's a Crystal Bearer. He's not on our side."
"Who is a Crystal Bearer?" Layle spoke up now leaning in the door way over Villosie's shoulder.
"…That one that casts Silence…" The woman muttered rubbing her forehead. "When you fight he Silences you… There's nothing you can do. There's nothing you can do…" She looked at the beds, pressing her lips together. "It's terrible."
Layle and Clockwork looked at each other. The female Lilty was biting the thumb of her right glove, "Shit." She muttered.
"You got a plan for a Silence caster?"
"Yeah, I've got one. We get as many as we can and we run. All of us, on Hastaga."
"Can we cover this many people?"
"We have to. If that asshole shows up and gets you or me-"
"Right, don't give him the chance…" Layle walked into the room holding out his hand. "Look, we need your help. We have to get everyone out of here as soon as possible. If you come with us, and they see faces like their own, they'll move a lot faster. What do you say?"
The man and woman looked at each other. They started murmuring to one another and Clockwork sighed.
"Come on, Layle, let's try the next room. Someone will help us, if nothing else their door is open and they can run-"
"Wait," The man turned to them, "Did you say his name was Layle?"
The woman raised her hand and pointed, "Then that makes you.. 'The Lady' of the house."
The two intruding Crystal Bearers glanced at each other then back at the two Crystal Bearers being held within the room. "You know who were are, then that means-"
"That girl… Phedra," The woman looked at the third bed, "She was here with us. She said, her Lady and her friend Layle would come put a stop to this place."
"Phelia was here!" Layle walked into the room further. "Where is she now? What happened to her!?"
The two took a step back startled by how quickly he raised his voice, "Phelia? Who is-?"
"Layle, remember," Clockwork tapped the side of her head, "Phedra was captured. Not Phelia. Even here, she had to keep that up."
The blond lowered his gaze for a moment and shook his head before looking back up at the two. "Where is Phedra now?"
"We told you. That man… She threatened to poison him if he took us. So…He took her instead. That was a few nights ago."
"Where do they take you, when they take you away?"
"To-to the highest floor we think."
"Great," Layle turned around and walked past Clockwork.
"Where are you going!"
"To find Phelia!"
"Layle, you'll run into the guards-"
"I don't care."
"I need you to open the locks!"
"Get them to help you!" He motioned to the two in the room. "I'm going to go find out what happened to her. If I can still save her-"
"-Layle, we both know that what you find up there… You're not going to like."
The Clavat looked at her and then looked ahead, "I don't care." With that he took off running down the hall. Clockwork sighed and beckoned the other two Bearers to follow her. They had a lot of work to do and now Layle had put them on the clock sooner than she wanted to be.
- 56
- 57
- 58
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Crystal Rule