Back to home page
Back to "The Blue Sky" contents page
Back to previous chapter
THE BLUE SKY
(BASED ON "FINAL FANTASY")
BY
SOPHIE GREEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tyght found himself in the room with the Water Crystal, with the Crystal on a pedestal before him. He looked around the room, but could see no sign of the door that they had been trying to open.
He heard the soft voice of the Crystal in his head again, “Warrior of Light, you have returned with the others. This is good. But your heart is not yet true, I see the darkness that lies there.”
Tyght answered aloud, “I do not understand. There is no darkness in my heart. I wish only to restore the world to its natural order. I wish to carry out the wishes of Lisa, who has chosen me to carry out this mighty task.”
“No, it is not Lisa that you follow, for you carry the staff of Leven.” Tyght started to get nervous, the Crystal obviously knew about the truth. It knew of the figure that now lived within him. “You have been counselled poorly, Warrior of Light. You have been shown a path which you feel is the right path for righting the wrongs of this world, but you are blind to the torments that lie to the sides of that path.”
Tyght regained his nerve and spoke up again, “My aims are true! Only by living in harmony with nature can mankind be truly happy!”
“That may be the end that you seek, but what of the means that you intend to take to reach that end? You intend to fight the war to end all wars.”
“That war has already begun, and it was started by the Emperor! The world has already been destroyed! Who knows how many people have survived? We must take the fight to the Emperor if we are to secure an everlasting peace!”
“You would seek peace by waging war? You intend to use my power, and the power of the other Crystals, for the purposes of waging war?”
“If that what it takes, then, yes, so be it! We must have an everlasting peace, no matter what the cost! Otherwise, if we simply restore the world and then carry on as before, we risk this whole catastrophe being repeated. Surely you can agree that must not happen?”
“Certainly, once the world has been restored we must ensure that the catastrophe is not repeated. But the war to end all wars that the one that lives inside of you desires is not the way to secure it. There is little point in struggling to restore the world if in doing so you kill vast numbers of people who will then no longer be there to see it. Nor will their children, their grandchildren, and countless other future generations doomed to oblivion due to their ancestors being killed in your war.”
“So, what would you have us do? How do you intend to prevent the catastrophe from repeating itself?”
“By changing the hearts of the people, by showing them the light that we protect. Once people see this light, and know it for what it truly is, then they will turn away from their evil paths, and will not seek to destroy the world again.”
“So it’s a simple as that then is it? You will show them some light and then, poof! Everything’s alright again.”
There was a pause before the Crystal spoke again, when it said, “I see you do not yet understand. Allow me to bring others to show you.” A light then shot out from the Crystal into Tyght’s staff, causing it to shudder and glow. A darkness appeared to be slowly extracted from it, and then, slowly, he could see the figure starting to manifest before him.
The beam of light then left the staff, and hit Tyght in the chest. It made him recoil, as he felt its reach go deep inside of him. It then felt as though something was being ripped out of him. The beam left his chest, and he looked up. Next to the figure he could see someone else start to manifest themselves.
“Keela...” He hadn’t seen his sister for five years, not since the accident. “What...? How...?”
“When I passed away in your arms, part of my soul entered your heart and remained there as part of you. The Crystal has brought me out to speak to you at this time.”
“What trickery is this?! How dare you use her image against me! Stop this at once!”
The Crystal answered, “There is no trickery at work here. Lisa has chosen you as a Warrior of Light. Therefore, ultimately, I can not stop you from utilising the power of the Crystals. But before I yield to the power that Lisa has given you, you must make a choice. Before you is the creature that has come to you in the name of Leven and bestowed his quest upon you. And a part of you that yearns for peace within the world. Speak with them now, and choose your path. But choose wisely, for the decision that you make today will have profound consequences later.”
The Crystal then fell silent, and the figure and Keela were also silent. All were waiting for him to speak.
He looked at Keela and asked, “Is it really you?”
“Yes and no. I am Keela in so far that I am the part of her that stayed with you. But the rest of Keela passed onto the next life. Where she is now, I can not tell you.”
“I’m so sorry for what happened. If only I had tied up that dog more securely, it wouldn’t have attacked you...”
“Don’t blame yourself, Tyght. You tied up the dog as tightly as anyone else could have done. But it had become possessed by a beast, increasing its strength. There was nothing you could have done.”
“I should have kept a closer eye on you. I could have fought it off, or at least offer myself in its place, anything to save you.”
“Stop thinking like that, Tyght! You have every much a right to live as I did! What happened... it just happened, and I died. That was just the way of things. It was no one’s fault. You need to accept that it was the way of the world, and move on.”
The figure then spoke, “The way of the world can be changed, Tyght. When there is evil in men’s hearts, true evil, then this alters the balance of the world, increasing the strength of the beasts, causing things like the death of you sister. Men are evil because they do not live as one with nature. We can teach them to do so, we can truly restore the balance to the world. Then they will learn. Learn to treat people properly, correctly. Learn to treat their world with the respect that it deserves. Tragedies like the death of your sister need never happen again.”
“You can guarantee that?”
“I can guarantee that by teaching man how to treat his world properly, it will become a far better place.”
Keela then said, “Don’t let him fool you, Tyght! Remember, he wants you to fight a war! A war that will kill many, many, people. Yes, at the end of it, those that are left may live in peace, but what of those who don’t? And what of their families? How many people will you cause to feel suffering as you have felt it?”
“Yes,” said the figure, “There will be those who suffer. These will be people who have helped to place our world in danger. People who have not respected their world. People who have helped bring about this catastrophe. It is these people who bring suffering onto people like yourself. Once they are eliminated, the world can finally be at peace.”
Keela looked at him pleadingly, “Tyght, please, make the right choice.”
Tyght considered everything for a moment. His overriding aim was to eliminate suffering from the world, so that everyone could live at peace within it, so that they would hopefully never again suffer as he had done. But how to bring about that aim? The figure was offering a way to bring about a permanent peace, but to do so they had to wage the war to end all wars, which in and of itself could bring suffering. If he followed Lisa’s way that war would be averted. But then he reminded himself of the very real threat of things degrading after they had restored Lisa’s peace, which could result in the catastrophe being repeated.
“I’ve made my decision. Keela, I’m sorry, I truly am, but I have to think about the greater good. We have to fight for a peace that will last, a peace that won’t break down and cause another disaster. And if that means war, then so be it. Many of the people who will die in it will have been the cause of it. It must be done.”
The Crystal then said, “Are you quite sure, Tyght? Have you chosen your path?”
“I have.”
“Then so be it.”
The image of Keela, who was now looking at Tyght with pity, slowly turned into mist, and floated towards Tyght before melting into his chest. The figure also slowly turned into mist, only he merged with his staff, which shuddered as he did so.
The Crystal spoke once more, “You have made your decision, and I can not force a Warrior of Light to go against their will. Place your staff upon me, so that the balance of water may be restored, and my power be shared with you.” Tyght stepped up to the Crystal and placed his staff on it. There was then a blinding light that lasted for a few moments.
Once it dissipated he stepped back. He could feel the power that his staff possessed, and he felt good. He was now one step closer to bringing about the everlasting peace the world was yearning for.
The Crystal then said, “May you find the peace that you seek.” There was then another blinding flash of light. When he could open his eyes again, he found himself back in Port Klempt. Gaian, Bevern, and Sianna were also there. They at first appeared bewildered, as they took in the fact of where they were once more. Then all of their eyes fell on Tyght, with Bevern’s looking particularly murderous.
Forward to next chapter
Back to "The Blue Sky" contents page
Back to home page