Five hundred years ago...
“Do you really think there’s anything important here?” A small man in
a suit of Magitek armor asked his partner, looking out over the small mining
town on the cliff side. He addressed his partner, who was riding in a similar
contraption.
“Definitely,” he told Vicks, “judging from the urgency of our orders.”
Vicks had another question for him concerning the third member of their
team. She was a young and delicate woman with pale golden hair. She also
wore a strange headband that seemed to tether her in space, keeping her
where she was. “And why do we have to bring her along? I heard she fried
fifty of our best Magitek armored soldiers in five minutes. She’s a loose
cannon!”
“Don’t worry. That slave crown on her head robs her of all conscious
thought. She’ll follow orders.” Vicks’ partner looked back toward the sleepy
town as he began his descent from their lookout. “We’ll approach from the
east. Move out!”
Vicks wasn’t very comfortable with this mission. He still wasn’t sure
that there was anything in this small village that was worth fighting over.
He was almost afraid; afraid of whatever power lurked in this town, afraid
of the destructive forces that were suits of Magitek armor, afraid of the
mysterious woman that had formerly been such a threat, and especially afraid
of the cold eyes of his new partner. His eyes hid the countless deaths
of others behind their glassy pits, mostly deaths that had been caused
by his hand. Vicks observed this man’s total calm, as if this was just
a routine mission. He was fully prepared to kill anyone and anything that
crossed his path and not have any afterthoughts of guilt. He was a cold
man, at home in the ice that started to blow over the team.
He was Wedge Chere.
Wedge Chere was not a faint hearted man, but he found himself
fully disoriented when he adjusted to his new surroundings. He also had
a splitting headache, but then again, they were extremely common occurrence
for him these days.
“What happened? Where am I?” Wedge called out through the red haze.
He stood up and suddenly realized he no longer had the protection of his
Magitek armor, and reflexively reached for the magicite shard clipped onto
his belt. No one else really knew that he had stolen it from the facility
at Vector, but then again, he had never felt the need to use it before
and had kept its power hidden. “Can anyone hear me?”
“That little trinket won’t do any good against most here, human.” A
confident sounding voice with a trace of a hiss split through the smoke.
“Or are you beyond that stage? I suspect you are.”
Wedge crumbled inwardly, but kept his expression clear. Who- or what-
ever he was talking to could sense the Magitek technology that coursed
through his veins. “Who are you? Do you know why I’m here?”
The voice called back. “Don’t be so naive. Of course I do. But first,
tell me something. Try to remember back to what you were doing before you
d- I mean, arrived.”
“Magitek armor?! Not even Narshe’s safe anymore!”
“I- I was-”
“Imperial scum!”
“-on a mission-”
“Don’t aim for the shell!”
“-a mission to get a-”
“Is it still- alive?”
“-a frozen Esper.”
“Good. I see your memory still functions.”
“Wait, what are you talking about? Where am I? And who are you?”
“Ah, please excuse me. I see you have some catching up to do.” The
voice paused to clear its throat. “Ahem. You, are I believe, Wedge Chere,
a product of some kind of DNA replication process. Judging from your energy
pattern, I would say that you have been spliced with DNA from-” here there
was a pause, “-the ancient named Golem. However, I see that you do not
have Golem’s magicite in your hand right now, am I not correct?” Wedge
had to agree; this man had done his homework. “Wait, I see that you have
one, no- two of what you would call siblings. It is too late for you to
know about it now, but, I must admit, these names should sound very familiar
to you. Let’s see, there’s a woman named Celes, as well as the boy scout
wonder, Leo. Big names.
“But, I digress. I can’t hide the fact from you any longer; you’re
dead, Mr. Chere.”
This hit Wedge like a sack of cement, or so he thought.
“Accept it. You marched through the town of Narshe, killed several
guards and a Whelk, and were then vaporized by a charge of Mako energy
built up over a millennium. A truly magnificent death, I might add.
“However, the Empire as you know it is now completely dead. It’s not
really important now, but since your death, you have been floating around
in this void called Lifestream. And now, five hundred years later,” the
smoke cleared to reveal a green, scaly, but meticulously cleaned claw that
held Wedge in the air, “I have summoned you.”
With the crimson mist gone from his sight, Wedge could now gaze upon
the rest of the demon’s scaly physique. His arm tethered the claw to the
rest of his body with strings of sinew and a massive upper arm. Even larger
bulges defined the muscles of his serpentine shoulders and sloped his neck
into a massive triangle. His trunk was overrun with muscularity and his
horned face resembled those of vile lizards, monsters and dragons. He was
covered from head to toe in green and glistening scales, and he donned
a monocle over his right eye that seemed very out of place. Obviously,
not a soul had worked up enough courage to say that to his face.
“In fact, what is very ironic about this is that you did end up coming
here. If any residents from Narshe knew, they would be laughing their heads
off.”
Wedge then looked past the demon and saw the vast walls of flowing
magma and stone that burned red, providing the glow that diffused into
all that was here.
“Congratulations. Welcome to Hell.”
“And my third question?”
The scaled monster quickly dropped him on his rear. “My mistake.” Stepping
back a few steps, he turned to face him. “I haven’t given you a proper
introduction yet.” The demon pointed two clawed fingers at Wedge, and conducted
his power easily. Wedge was pulled up by his feet and hung upside down
before the demon. “My name is Phunbaba, and if you ever expect to get anything
but torture around here, I suggest you learn some patience.” Phunbaba withdrew
his outstretched claw, and Wedge was dropped on his head. He then pointed
to the space behind Wedge. “Look behind you, Mr. Chere. This is why I brought
you out of the nothingness and void of death.”
Wedge got to his feet and turned around. He beheld a great and unfinished
structure, built from glowing red stone and housed in a framework of wood
that supported a squad of laborers. One of them looked down at Wedge, stopping
his work and returning his stare. He was a massive man with obvious power
behind his muscular bulk. He was able to hold a gigantic red stone in its
place on the ramp with one arm while he wiped his brow with the other.
His blue hair was stiff in the hot breeze, tied in a tight queue behind
his head that only moved when he decided to go on with his work. Wedge
found it hard to turn his attention away from that stone pusher.
“He looked right at me.”
“He, he. It’s not surprising. He’s an Ancient.”
“There was something in that stare. It feels so...familiar.”
“Well, this type of thing doesn’t happen very often anymore, but, the
early Ancients used to form those green crystals when they died.”
Wedge unconsciously put his hand back to his magicite shard. It felt
warm now, almost hot. “Tell me, were the Espers really Ancients?”
“Yes. That particular one has an attitude. But that’s not the point.
That structure they’re building is to be my future stronghold. Magnificent,
isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Once it is completed, I will be able to break through to the surface
world and use its resources. You are going to help me do it.”
“Why do you need me? You’ve already got more than enough labor to do
the job.”
Phunbaba adjusted the lens over his eye. “You must be the preventive
medicine.”
“What?”
The demon produced a small crystal orb and floated it to Wedge. “There
is one man- one man in the middle world- that is the key to my plan. In
the right hands, he can be a very destructive weapon... But I can already
sense that he has already disturbed my plans. There is something about
him that can change people, I can see it. He has already succeeded in subduing
two evil influences and is quickly gaining power. You must either stop
him or give him to me.”
The crystal orb shone with a vibrant purple light. “What is this orb
for?”
“A relatively new invention. It is an indicator of power. It will glow
with different colors depending on the type of energy around you. You have
very dark energy, so the orb is a deep violet. The man you are looking
for will have a color almost as brilliant as yours.”
“What color?”
“I don’t know. Probably a very bright hue. He has a very rare frequency,
so you’ll know it when you see it. You are going to have to do some traveling
to get to the overworld, you do realize.”
“Yes, but, why me?”
“You are the only one close enough to this man’s power to match him.
If I could get out, I would, but even if I did, I just wouldn’t be compatible.”
Phunbaba walked up to Wedge and placed a clawed hand on his head. “Here,
I’ll send you off with a nice parting gift.”
Phunbaba summoned up deeply stored energies and poured them into Wedge.
He resisted at first, but as soon as he was aware of what he was getting,
he quickly sucked in the blueprint as fast as he could.
“Power...Incredible...”
“Yes.” Phunbaba withdrew his hand from Wedge’s head, leaving him reeling.
“Now, go north until you find some old train tracks, and climb to the surface.
Use your new power against him.”
Wedge Chere started to leave, but he hesitated. “Wait! What’s his name?”
“The man shares your first name.”
“WHAT? His name is Wedge too?”
“Hmm. Yes. You, Wedge Chere, must bring me the only other Wedge, dead
or alive.” Phunbaba gave a slight chuckle as Wedge Chere proceeded to the
north. “Preferably a little of both.”
“I never want to see your scheming face here again, Vargas,” Duncan
warned his son. He was being sent away from his home with only his clothes,
a pack of curry ingredients, and a small dirk. “You can go and survive
on your own anywhere you go, just don’t come back here.” Vargas had started
to walk over the top of a nearby hill when Duncan had finished. It was
just as well, Wedge had kept him here for weeks, watching over him as he
trained with Duncan. Wedge had finally decided to let him go when, as Duncan
was sensing was about to happen, Wedge had learned all Duncan could teach
him. Duncan knew Wedge had taken his place behind him with Aeris, and was
ready to let him go as well.
“Master Duncan.”
“Wedge. You’ve been there for some time now.”
“Duncan. I can feel it.”
“Wedge, you know the time has come for you to go. There is nothing
more I can teach you.”
“I know. You have taught me all you could. But..”
“Somehow, you feel that it is not enough.”
“Right.”
“I have taught you minor concepts. You were the one who discovered
the seven Blitzes you now know. But-”
“Hmm?”
“There are more.”
Wedge couldn’t have predicted this. He only thought that he wasn’t
at full power yet.
“You must find my other student. He lives far away, but you must find
him. He can teach you the ultimate power.”
“Where? What is his name?”
“I do not need to spoon feed you all the answers, Wedge. You can sense
his power from here. Can you feel it?”
Wedge moved to the top of the hill Vargas had crossed a few minutes
before. Instead of drawing power, he spread his large store of internal
power across the sky. His mind displayed landscapes as though they were
just fleeting parts of his imagination, but he knew they were very real.
He felt with his mind and searched for the great energy. He felt several
small energies over the surrounding area, not half as large as his, but
still respectable. Aeris was a beacon of purity; Duncan felt like a boulder.
He searched in the valleys, the forests, the towns, and the deserts. He
searched the great plains and bogs, and then found it. The great power
was on a hollow mountain, a large pillar of energy that made his own pale
in comparison.
“Do you feel it?”
“Yes!”
He struggled to regain his focus and withdrew his sensing except in
that direction. He saw a huge man, two full heads taller than Wedge. His
body was packed with muscle, and he had a square face with a flat blond
haircut above it. He almost resembled a bear...
The connection was broken by Duncan. Wedge fell, exhausted by the sheer
effort of the probe. His yellow shirt was soaked with sweat.
“He’s, he’s amazing. He’s unreal.”
“I assure you, he is quite real. His power is incredible as well. In
time, you will realize your own power and add his to your own. You must
seek him out.”
“But, he’s too powerful.. How can I learn from him? He’d crush me!”
“He is more powerful than I am, that is true. But, try to sense your
inner strength as well. You have to believe in yourself.”
Wedge rose and tried directing his thoughts inward. He searched for
his core and probed for any power he could find. He surged through himself,
reaching for his inner core. He gathered up any loose energy he could grab
from himself and searched for his own aura, his own force, but he only
found a void with no edges. “I can’t feel it. It’s no use.”
Duncan was not surprised. He wasn’t really expecting Wedge to realize
what he could see already. “Later, you will understand. You aren’t ready
for it now.”
“I’ll think about that while we’re on our way...”
Duncan anticipated Wedge’s comment. “Something else?”
“I felt other powers. They didn’t seem too important at first, but
they were just odd.”
“What? It’s true. Other people might have middle size energies. In
fact, almost all of them have never even heard of me or undergone any kind
of training.” Duncan’s voice dropped a bit. “However, these levels are
hardly an indication of a fighter’s power. I am not the only teacher in
the world. Some might just be people with conviction or some talent, but
others might have talents that do not require the type of force needed
to use my techniques.”
“I see.”
“As you travel, you will learn new ways of sensing and will find tremendous
powers, and now is the time to do so.”
“I will.” Wedge looked down from the summit and called. “Aeris! Are
you ready to go?”
The girl ran up the slope to meet him. “Yeah. It was nice staying here
for a while anyway.”
“Good luck on your journey!”
The pair thanked Duncan for his hospitality and started making their
way down the hill and toward the hollow mountain.
Wedge, fully recovered, cut a path through the tall mountain grass for
Biggs to follow. Biggs volunteered to lead.
“No, Biggs, if I want to win then I’m going to have to do the work.
That’s been the story of my life.”
“Wrong. You’ve always been working for someone else.”
Wedge was using a crudely carved branch as his machete while he talked.
“I don’t think so. If I can help, that’s fine, but I’ve always been working
hard to get to where I need to go.”
“If that’s what you think. You know what your problem is? You’re too
generous. You just work and work to help everyone else, but you don’t give
yourself any time. That’s why you’re here.”
Wedge didn’t respond to that last statement, not because he couldn’t
argue against that, but because he felt movement in the grass close by.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Wedge lied. He decided to hack his way through at a different
angle, keeping track of the strange movement. It kept its distance, but
maintained its position. After ten or twenty yards, Wedge could tell it
was creeping closer to them, but Biggs had no idea what was going on. Wedge
didn’t dare reveal that he knew; he could sense that whatever was lurking
in the thick grass would pounce as soon as it was discovered. Their only
chance would be to push forward and keep it away as long as possible before
it struck. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Wedge?”
That small amount of paranoia triggered the hunter. Wedge heard a small
rustle as Biggs was abducted from the path in a blur.
“BIGGS!” Wedge, brandishing his wooden blade, turned and ran down the
path trampled by the kidnapper. He dodged left and right through the twisted
trail until he heard Biggs cries.
“Wedge! It’s Var-” His shout was cut short by a sharp thump, silencing
him.
“Vargas! You coward! If you’ve done anything to him..”
Wedge suddenly ran out of grass and skidded to a stop on rocky soil.
He looked at Vargas, the kidnapper, holding an unconscious Biggs with one
arm around his chest and a Shinra pocketknife at his throat.
“I haven’t killed him yet, I just-” Vargas let out a small chuckle,
“made him quiet for now. I wouldn’t want to attract any attention to myself.”
“Right.” Wedge took one look at his helpless friend and thought about
what he had said. He was right, but this contest was about a job, not life
and death. “What do you want?”
“Well, I’m actually quite lucky here. I want both of you out of this
contest, and I won’t hesitate to kill you to do it.”
“Wait!” Wedge started to move closer to Vargas, but stopped as he inched
the blade closer to Biggs’ throat. He threw his stick aside. “Don’t kill
him.”
“Hmm. Let me think about it. No.”
Wedge was getting desperate. He slowly removed his pack and kicked
it over to Vargas. “There’s my pack. If you don’t kill him, I’ll, I’ll-”
“You’ll what?”
“You can keep both of us here. I’ll surrender.”
“He’s worth that much to you?”
Wedge admitted it. “He’s my best friend.”
Vargas softened a bit in his triumph. “Agreed.” He dropped Biggs, who
slumped to the ground in a heap. He placed his boot on Biggs’s neck.. “Empty
your pack.”
Wedge reached to his pack and slowly dumped out the contents. He had
his map, compass, rations, pocketknife, canteens, and rope strewn on the
ground. “Here, this is all I have.”
“Good. Bring me the rope, and don’t try any funny stuff. You pull anything,
I crush his spine.”
Wedge beaded with sweat as he made the walk over to Vargas with the
rope. It was a small distance, but it felt like hours. He kept a close
eye on Biggs, who was breathing, but unconscious. He hated to think of
what he would say when he came to. “Here.”
“Good. Now turn around slowly and put your hands behind your back.
Slowly.”
Wedge moved almost unconsciously as Vargas wrapped the cord around
his wrists, scraping and grinding his skin raw. When he was sure he couldn’t
move his arms again, Vargas wrapped the cord around his chest, binding
his arms. “Now what do I do?”
“On the ground.”
Wedge kneeled down and Vargas pushed him over into the dust face down.
“Make this go a bit faster, I haven’t got all day.” He tied Wedge at
the ankles and then dragged Biggs’ limp form beside him, tying him in the
same manner and binding the two together by wrapping the remaining rope
around them. He rolled his neat little bundle so that Wedge was on top.
“There. Go, finish the race.”
Vargas boxed his head a little, but Wedge was in no position to complain.
“Yeah, as much as I’d like to stay here and watch you sweat in this desert,
I’d much rather take your supplies and leave you in the, ahem, dust. You’re
good, but too good for your own good.” Vargas gathered up Wedge’s pack
and the pack he had removed from Biggs and dashed back through the beaten
path without looking back.
Wedge’s eyes stung; he wasn’t sure whether or not it was because of
the sweat on his face or what he had just done to both of them. “Great.
I am too good, Biggs.” He thought about the man face down in the dirt under
his bulk, and managed to roll toward the sun.
He had known Biggs since their early days as children in Junon. Biggs
had been the first kid to say hello when he moved in. Biggs had always
been there for him when other, meaner kids teased or poked at him. He was
the only one to comfort him. They helped each other out, and when he was
left behind by other kids, Biggs was there to play with him. Wedge was
naturally larger and stronger than Biggs, so he always threw his full power
behind every punch when Biggs was in trouble. He even took responsibility
for many things they did together, balancing their friendship. Now the
little loudmouth and the gentle giant were together again, and Wedge decided
that he had done the right thing after all.
“Ugh...” Wedge could feel Biggs moving and groaning.
“Biggs! You’re okay!” Wedge strained the ropes in his position, but
decided to conserve his energy. “You’re okay!”
“Wedge! What happened?”
Wedge wasn’t about to make any excuses. “I surrendered.”
“Why?” Biggs screamed, straining his voice. “I told you! Now both of
us are out of the race.”
“Look, this wasn’t about the race. I had no choice. He..was going to
kill you.”
“Wedge...”
“I couldn’t let him do it,” Wedge sobbed. “I wasn’t going to leave
you to die. I couldn’t let him, so I gave myself up.”
“Why?” Biggs stopped his friend’s outpour. “You could have ran! You
could have beat him, I know that. I told you, I was ready to push you all
the way.’
“Well I wasn’t! He had you, Biggs. You were unconscious and he had
a knife at your throat! I couldn’t resist, I just..”
“Wedge! I was willing to sacrifice myself to get you ahead! And now
look at us! Both of us are being left behind to be eliminated, and it’s
your fault! You should have gone ahead!”
“Listen to me!” Wedge told him, racked with emotion. “I was not ready
to sacrifice you for this thing! We might be out of the race, but now we’re
both alive!” Wedge paused as he regained his composure. “You are my best
friend, and I would never let anything happen to you, no matter what happens
to me. No matter what you say, I saved your life. I did it because we’re
best friends, Biggs.” Nothing came from Biggs. “I don’t care if you’re
mad at me for as long as I live, I’ll still be there and I’ll still protect
you.”
“Wedge, I-”
“Please. Don’t be mad at me anymore. I know, you wanted me to leave
you, but we’re in this thing together. I’m sorry.”
“I-”
“What happened to you two?” A strong feminine voice and a rough shadow
covered the two friends. “You must really go way back.”
“Elena!” Wedge strained his neck to look at the familiar face, but
turned to the ground. “Don’t look at me like this, I, I’m the one that
got us into this mess.”
“Vargas tackled me, knocking me unconscious as he ran here. Wedge came
after me, and he used me as his hostage. Then,” Biggs gulped, knowing how
much he had hurt his friend, “Wedge saved my life by surrendering himself
to Vargas.”
Elena was shocked. “Is this true, Wedge?”
“It is,” Wedge cried. “I- I’m a coward, Elena. I should have kept going.”
“No!” Biggs and Elena said it at the same time. Elena went first, carefully
cutting their bonds. “That was a very brave thing to do, Wedge.” She herself
couldn’t believe that he had done that, but lately, she was finding out
more and more about this man named Wedge. “Wedge, it was the honorable
thing to do. You saved a life and did the right thing. Nobody else I know
in this world would do such a thing.” She sat Wedge up and gave him some
of her water. Taking his bandanna from his head, she revealed his tousled
and unkempt black hair while she wiped away the sweat and the tears from
his face.
“I know, I don’t like it, but she’s right, Wedge. I admit it.” Biggs
stood up, watching Elena care for the big man.
A new tear flowed from Wedge’s eye. “Can you ever forgive me, Biggs?”
Biggs put his hand on Wedge’s beefy shoulder. “Yeah. I mean that, as
your best friend.”
Elena wiped the last tear away and tied the bandanna back over the
black spikes. “I have never met anyone like you two in my entire life.”
Looking into Wedge’s dark brown, salty eyes, she told him, “Especially
you. You are a very...” strange wasn’t the right word, “...unique man to
be around, I must admit. You aren’t like other men.” She then turned
to Biggs, who was watching them. “And I am not about to let that creep,
Vargas, take this chance away from us. What about you?”
Biggs couldn’t have agreed more with her. “I’ll personally make sure
that he gets what’s coming to him.”
Wedge’s demeanor had slowly, but completely, changed. Without the regret
fueled by Biggs and with the support of Elena, Wedge was energized with
fiery determination. He slowly looked toward the gray peak ahead of their
shadows and burned. His premonition was clear.
“We’ll get him.”