The Beginning….
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></o>></o>It was the year 2035; the world lied shattered by wars, chaos, and hatred. Everyone thought that the Earth was doom until the day of January 8, 2042. On that day General Joshua Leridan, better known as “The Dark Blade”, arrived at the cost of Role Playing Central leading an army of one thousand free humans. He attacked the main base of the Shinra Corporation and destroyed the tyrannous empire. In the past few years before this incident, the Shinra Corporation was taken by the cruel Lord Albain after the mysterious disappearance of the former President of Shinra Corp, Rufus Shinra. Lord Albain was a relative to the Shinra Family and that’s why he was able to take Rufus’ place as the new President. Joshua “Dark Blade” Leridan was the son of the murdered Governor of Midgar who was cruelly assasined by a band of thieves. It was presumed that the authors of this crime were sent by Albain. The death of his father was sufficent enough to provoke Joshua's thirst for revenge. Because of that incident, a personal war between Albain and Dark Blade began. The raging war that lasted two years ended in the result that we mentioned at the beginning of our story, the destruction of Shinra Corp and the birth of a new kind of government.
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></o>Dark Blade established the democratic government of the FFF with the help of Lady Aerith Reyshenlad Burrough, Angelus “Sephiroth” Mortanilax and, Laura Mary “Dragon Soul” Van Arnllem. The land was at peace, it was the year 2045 and everyone lived their normal lives unaware of the tragedy that was about to happen. I am Squall True Lionheart, son of Richter True Lionheart Van Greg. This tale of love, betrayal and glory is my story, and I am here to share it with you.....
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Chapter 1- The ascension of the darkness
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>It was a cold night that I could never forget for it was the day that this entire nightmare began. I was a simple man; I enjoyed my happy life in a town that was located far to the west from Nibelheim. I lived with a happy and wealthy family, everything was perfect, but then “that” happened. Suddenly and inexplicably the nearby towns were attacked by a band of thieves that were known as “The Dark Crusaders”. They go from town to town, burning everything to the ground, killing, stealing, and causing chaos all over the land. The call it “Holy Crusade”, I call it cruel massacres. </o><o
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></o>Day after day, a new town was destroyed, chaos spread like a forest fire until it reached my home. In a stormy night, while we were sleeping, the band of devils attacked our town. Many of our friends could not survive, and others were captured by these devils. Among the villagers that were able escaped there were a group of warriors that were planning on attacking the Dark Crusaders in order to avenge their fallen friends. The names of those warriors were Dan Sullivan (DS), “Dark” Cloud, Neo Amon and Gaaramaster. They gathered at the nearby mountain in order to device a strategy that could help them to stop the Dark Crusaders. They waited until nightfall; the Dark Crusaders seemed to have been resting near to the entrance of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
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Aisenfield </ST1<ST1Forest</ST1</st1lace>. DS, Dark Cloud, Neo Amon and GM were capable of getting close enough to their adversaries without them noticing our heroes’ presence……..<o></o></o
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></o>At the sight of the malevolent night, one of the Generals of the “Dark Crusaders”, General Griean approached a cloaked man that appeared out of the darkness. He walked towards the proud general who, with sword in hand, laughed evilly now realizing who this mysterious visitor was. “It was about time you decided to come; what pitiful excuse are you going to use now? What was the reason of this inexplicable delay?” The general said while turning his face to the right, staring at the river whose surface was pitch black due to the madness that consumed this God forsaken forest. The cloaked man grined, only the lower part of his mouth could be seen; his disguise hid well his identity. “O please, let us cut the drama and get to our more important affairs….General, did you brought the crystal?” <o
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></o>The general searched his pocket and from within he pulled a small crystal whose eerie glow could strike fear upon the bravest warrior. “Of course Sir, how would you expect me to forget such an important asset to our little investment?” The cloaked man laughed after listening to the general’s question. We see this mysterious man approaching the general and taking the crystal, hiding it well within his cloak. “O general, you do know what this means, do you?” The cloaked man said while smirking, both men were sealing their pact this night.<o
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></o>“Fortunately, I do sir. This is the first step in order to bring down your lord’s kingdom. Poor Joshua, he will never know what hit him out of the dark. How his glorious kingdom will fall from deep within its very foundation. He is so naïve...” After his words being said, the general laughed, his wicked laughter casts a spell of death upon the kingdom. With this pact, he sealed the first step of our home’s future. But not all hope is lost; no one can fully predict the future without taking the risk of failure. This evil disposition of destroying everything we worked so hard was being herd by our heroes that, not knowing what this would mean to their futures, drew their swords and silently approached the Dark Crusaders’ main camp. Out of this scenery, we see, not so far, a young woman who heard every single part of these men’s plan for conquering this kingdom. Her name was known little by these men. The destiny, if we can fully predict it, of this young girl known as Faith, a girl that left behind her own past, was about to be change.<o
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></o>“This men blinded by greed does not know what truly means the word, ‘loyalty’. O dear brother, if only you could be here to witness how one of your friends has handed in so easily the kingdom of your sworn brother on a silver platter…you would probably die again, o my beloved brother Aiden, whose life was taken away by the darkness…..I will honor your life, by saving our homeland.” She drew her sword and pointed it at the Dark Crusaders’ camp. “Treacherous dogs, you will face the judgment of my blade……” With this words being said, Faith charged towards her enemy, not caring about her own fate.
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As Faith ran through the camp easily defeating those weak soldiers who were unfortunate enough to meet her blade, an evil entity watched from afar Faith’s movements, as if the mysterious person were waiting for something. The mysterious person, sensing the inevitable outcome of this battle, took off his black coat and revealed to those tyrannous stars his true identity; after all he was not as evil as we thought. Now we see a young man whose face looked rather young, and his silver hair made him appear as if he were an ancient elf. His blue, razor eyes were cold with regret against his past, he no longer forgives himself for what he has done. <o
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></o>“It has been a long time Faith, I wonder if you remember me….” With his words being said, he rushed through the blazing fields that were scorched as if by hellfire. Without noticing, our mysterious warrior was getting involved in a battle between the Dark Crusaders and our group of heroes. After arriving at the presence of Faith who was easily defeating knight after knight, it is, as if she were the goddess of war and they, just normal pawns of fate’s will. Furiously turning around to face her newly found opponent, Faith was shocked when she discovered that the man standing in front of her was the very man who lost his soul a few years ago, when he fought against his inner darkness.<o
></o>“You?! What dishonorable vile excuse do you have this time to show your presence here? The man that stands at my presence is not the friend I once knew. Leave and let Riku’s soul rest in peace!!! Be gone evil spirit and trouble my friend's soul no more! ” After replying to what it seemed to be Riku’s presence, Faith charged towards him with sword in arms he tried to release her friend’s soul once and for all.<o
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></o>Noticing his opponent’s movements and her swift attacks getting closer, Riku drew what it seemed to be a giant “Key” like sword, and with his weapon now drawn, he challenged Faith to battle. “Accept my battle and let me redeem my soul from my own terrible past. The dark self of this tainted man is gone, only my forsaken heart and tormented mine lies within my body…with my keyblade, the Way to Dawn, I shall test your strength. En garde!”<o
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></o>Of course, neither Riku nor Faith noticed the presence of Garamaster and his troops who were approaching the enemies’ camp from the rear, using the pitch blackness of the night as their ally. While both Riku and Faith resumed their fight under the beautiful moonlight of that night, no one noticed the ascension of the darkness. In a few moments, the beautiful night that was disrupted with the malevolent evil that began to consume the soldiers that were part of “The Dark Crusaders”. Faith noticed the change in the weather, but she didn’t cared at all, for the most important thing that crossed her mind right now was to put an end to Riku’s suffering, a man who was deeply tormented for his past sins. As the ferocious storm began to get intense, we could hear the devastating swords of both Faith and Riku clashing against each other, the sounds of the colliding blades gave the impression of witnessing a typical fight between Good and Evil, but of course, Faith didn’t knew that in Riku’s heart lies no darkness at all, only pain and suffering.<o
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></o>After enduring Riku’s powerful upward slash that scratched across the ground leaving a fiery trail of light energy. The attack sent Faith’s sword, the Crimson Fire, spinning away from her hands and crashing down on the ground. The sparking edges of Faith’s sword turned the blade red, the power of the Crimson Fire began to be fully aroused. Faith stood calmed in front of the tip of Riku’s blade who was aiming at her chest and, with a confident grin, she stepped back and graved the hilt of her Crimson Fire while dodging Riku’s attacks. Quickly she retook her offensive position and blocked Riku’s blade with her sword. Both blades clashed once again, a power so great was bursting from within those swords causing a raging storm of lights which moved all around these fine warriors.<o
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></o>“Dark embodiment of evil; traitor and harvester of souls, leave my friend Riku alone! O loyal blade, pure of all corruption, may you serve me as the instrument of my enemy’s downfall.” With her words being said, Riku moved his hair away from his face using his left hand while he held his keyblade with the other. He closed his eyes for a few moments, the stormy night and the hard rains seemed not to affect his determination. He smiled, even though Faith new that it was a fake smile. “O dear Faith, protector of the innocent and carrier of great wisdom. Such a pity to realize that your knowledge serves no purpose, for someone as wise as you doesn’t have the sufficient knowledge to realize that only my body emanates darkness, not my heart. This dispute over which should be known as either Good or Evil is pointless, it serves no purpose at all. I beg you; please do not judge me so hard without knowing the reason of my actions. I was tainted by the darkness and feel as a naïve boy, inexperienced about the dark passages of life. My honor, now tarnished, needs to be restored to its former glory. ”<o
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></o>Faith was shocked, she couldn’t possibly believe that his friend was no longer under the control of the dark entity, but even though he seemed to speak the truth, Faith couldn’t forget how much suffering Riku’s possession by the darkness has caused. “My mind does not trust you and yet, my heart does….” With her words being said, Faith lowered her sword and stared at the ground, the rain flowed through Faith’s face and her hair fell over her forehead, hiding her eyes. Just before Riku could reply to her, Gaaramaster and his group of freedom fighters attacked the camp and prevented the battle between Faith and Riku from going any further. Suddenly, Gaaramaster noticed the Riku’s presence and redirected his sight stare at this ghost from the past. <o
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></o>“YOU!? How’s this possible?! You are supposed to be dead! Damn you cursed darkness! I know you are hiding under that child face, you can’t fool me!!!” It seems that Gaaramaster didn’t know that Riku was no longer under the control of the Seeker of Darkness. The dark entity was destroyed a long time ago during a fight deep inside Riku’s heart. Of course, that last showdown against his own dark self left Riku on the verge of collapse, both his mind and heart were weakened greatly, shattered, and he had no other choice than to hide among the shadows. Without giving his newly found opponent enough time to attack, Riku disappeared while leaving his last words echoing through the air: “I have not time for neither your needs for revenge not for your blinded rage Gaaramaster. If you wish to fight me you must first find out about the truth, until then my friend…farewell…”<o
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></o>Gaaramaster took his sword and tossed it against the ground while yelling. “OHHHH I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT!!! RIKU!!!!!! I WANT MY FIGHT!!!” As the battle began to end, Faith graved her sword and sheathed it. “I have no interest for such games my friend The darkness seems to be fully aroused, and Riku could know something about it….I must find him...” After this, she stepped back and disappeared among the flames. <o
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Chapter II<o
></o>~The Assault on the Promised Land~
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></o>It was a cold morning of September; Squall was getting ready to meet with Darkblade at the Castle Courtyard for a little training, which was more like a personal battle. On the other side of the castle, in the Library we see both Koloth and Adamant. Adamant was a master scholar, there was not a single thing about spells or history of the ancient world that he didn’t knew, and Koloth was a strategist, he could take out a whole army of one thousand men with the right idea. Both of them were placed in charge of the Weapon Development Team, a fact that make these two argue a lot about what should be done, and what is useless when it comes to new ideas.
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></o>As Squall walked through the hallway, he heard a voice calling him, it was Vegyna. Vegnya is a spell caster, even though she prefers peace than war and will not use her powers unless if it’s necessary. Both Vegnya and Faith came from the same school of ancient magic, the only difference is that Vegnya is an expert on white magic while her sister Faith is a Master Black Mage. There were times in which both Vegnya and Faith would end up destroying a whole section of the castle, something that made Lady Aerith really upset, because she had to lecture them through the rules all over again about “Not using spells near the castle”. It was not that Vegnya or Faith wanted to do that, it’s just that sometimes they couldn’t control their power.
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></o>“Time to face defeat again Squall. Why you just don’t give up?” Darkblade said while he drew his gun and readied his right arm claw for his battle against Squall. Squall unsheathed his gunblade and aimed the tip of his sword at Darkblade. It was a normal training session; Darkblade was usually wearing his red cape, his black metal armor, and his red headband which he used to keep his hair from falling over his forehead. Squall was wearing his normal trainee uniform which was an iron breastplate, his leather pants and his armored boots. “Defeat? Again?” He laughed sarcastically and then he kept talking “I don’t think so Darkblade. I will win this time. Now that I have Koloth’s new gunblade model, I am sure that I can beat you”Darkblade laughed and then he replied “DS said the same thing when he first showed up talking about his new sword, which was…another gunblade…he was hopeless”
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></o>“This time it will be different. DS was unprepared and you knew that he was too confident on his new sword, which ended up malfunctioning because he overused the crystal shards…ohh well…So Squall, are you read or should I declare myself the winner already?” Squall said while he aimed his gunblade again at Darkblade. “Whatever, I care not if you say that I will lose Darkblade. If you think that you can win so easily, then there’s only one way to find out…”
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></o>Suddenly, one of the royal guards arrived at the courtyard reporting an important message for Darkblade. “Lord Joshua, there is trouble nearby, the city is under attack!!” Darkblade sheathed his sword and, with eyes wide opened, he reacted surprised to the resent report.“Impossible!! Who could be attacking us at such a time? The Peace Treaty should prevent other countries from attacking my kingdom, who could be possibly defying the standards of our noble agreement and threatening to disrupt the peace of our land?” Then turning to where Vegnya and Faith were standing he ordered them to bring everyone to the War Room. “Vegnya! Faith! Bring everyone upstairs and report for duty. We must discuss our current situation right now!” Then Gaaramaster arrived bringing his report on the Dark Crusaders’ attack, but he was quickly interrupted by Darkblade who was deeply worried because of the possible attack. “You Gaaramaster, bring both Koloth and Adamant to the War Room too, I need those two. Make haste everyone! The city is in peril! We must device a strategy and defend our home at all cost!!!” <o
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> </o>At the War Room….<o
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> </o>Adamant arrives furiously telling everyone that he really expected this to happen but not so soon. Suddenly Koloth arrives and smacks him lightly on the back of his head. “O come one Adamant, you are just overreacting.” Adamant then turns around, seeming that he was most likely to explode at any moment, but he suddenly found out how to control himself. “Overreacting?! Overacting you say Koloth?” Then he raises his arm and points at the window. After Koloth looked through the window, he witnessed the horrifying fact that the city was going to be attacked by the Empire’s Largest Air Flee, commanded by one of the Judges whose name was unknown at the moment. Koloth, amazed by this revelation, stepped back and sat on his chair, resting his face on the palm of his right hand. “Dear God, the city is not prepared to face such an attack…Darkblade we must be ready evacuate the city if by any reason the energy shields fade.”<o
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> </o>Darkblade stands up and walks towards the balcony. “I know Koloth……” Then he remains silent while closing his eyes. “Adamant, Koloth….I want you both to take care of the emergency procedures if by any reason the Fortress of Elenshia. Gaaramaster, I will put you in charge of the Royal Fleet’s Second Unit. Your orders are to take citizens of Nibelheim to a safer place….do not turn back…” Garaamaster steps firmly and bows “Yes Sir!! I won’t fail our homeland!! These morons will learn what happens when they mess with our home!!!” then he steps away and heads towards the hangar.<o
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> </o>Squall suddenly arrives at the War Room; he was wearing his royal armor, for he was the captain of the King’s Personal Royal Guard. “Lord Darkblade! The preparations are complete. The armies are ready to depart to the Fortress of Elenshia at your command.” Darkblade takes his sword and attaches it to his belt, and then he unsheathes his blade and aims it at the Fortress of Elenshia. “Good Captain Lionheart, we are ready. Make sure you bring both Vegnya and Faith with us. We might need some of their firepower….” After this, Darkblade smirks and laughs confidently as they prepare for departing to the Fortress of Elenshia. <o
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