Final Fantasy VI: Beginning of the End --- Final Fantasy VI is a trademark of Squaresoft (now Square Enix). I do not own the characters, nor do I plan to make a profit off of the game. This is for entertainment purposes only. However, all original characters not seen in FFVI are owned by me, myself, and I. Take them without my permission and you will be one sorry pathetic excuse of a sap. --- Author's notes: So, I've been thinking this over. I've always wanted to write an Alternate Universe version of Final Fantasy VI, so I might as well give it a try. Final Fantasy VI is a game that I love and hate at the same time. Well, it is better than FFVII, but IMO, I thought FFIII, FFIV and FFV were so much better. I loved the first half of FFVI, but was sorely disappointed with the second half. So I decided to spin a new twist on an old game. Here are some things you need to know: It will be more adult and darker than it already is. Just warning you. This series will not only be a FFVI alternate universe story, but a crossover series with shout outs to other Squaresoft games, both one we know and obscure Japan only import games. I thank the super awesome fan hack game, FFVI: The Eternal Crystals for my inspiration. Check it out when you get the chance. It's quite well made for a fan hack. Eidolons (aka Espers, Genjuu) and other demi-human beings in this remake are not a saintly, purity Mary Sue species. There is conflict amongst other Eidolon and demi-humans. I'm so sick of demi-human races in fiction being portrayed as saintly and perfect compared to humans. The main point of my stories is NOT “Humans are the real monsters/Humans are bastards”, but more like “Any life form with human or higher intelligence can potentially be a monster”. Nothing is perfect, not even demi-humans. Terra will not be a saintly, incorruptible little angel heroine. Sure, she still tries to be a nice, kind hearted person, but you also have to remember, she is part demi-human, which means she can be potentially dangerous and nasty under pressure. Personally, Terra was my least favorite character in the game. Sure, she had potential to be an awesome character, but her execution was flawed. She almost came dangerously close to being a borderline canon Sue character. However, unlike Yoyo (Bahamut Lagoon) or Alicia (Live-A-Live), whom were both dead on arrival and crappy characters to begin with, I saw Terra as being salvage-able and needed to be re-worked, so voila! I retooled Terra big time. There will also be some sexual content and heavier language. In case you didn't know, characters like Kefka/Cefca and Relm have some huge potty mouths in the Japanese version. I'm staying true to their characters, which have been sadly censored over the time being. The warring triad gods will have a bigger role in this version (at least the World of Ruin version anyways). I loved their designs and I was disappointed that they didn't have a bigger role in the main part of the game, nor any fleshed out personalities. So voila, they will be given a bigger role. The warring triad will be given names. Fiend will be known as Zephyros, Demon will be known as Xervan, and Goddess will be known as Sofia. Some of the main playable characters will be killed off for good. Not telling which ones are going to kick the bucket, but in this AU, anyone, and I mean ANYONE can die. I also added a trait that makes Kefka even more mentally unstable: He claims to hear the voices of the warring triad in his head and is delusional enough to think he can achieve godhood by resurrecting them. But is he really hearing their actual voices, or is it something completely different? If you are going to flame and/or troll me for those six reasons mentioned above, then I suggest you stop reading and go to a different story. Anyways, for those interested on a different take of a well loved game, I shall present you all with “The Beginning of the End” --- Chapter 01: The Frozen Eidolon A long time ago, in the world, in the world of Midgard, the War of the Magi took place. When the chaos and destruction died down, only a dried out husk of Midgard remained, many lives were lost. It was said that magic died out.... Many millenniums have passed, iron, gunpowder, gears, bolts and steam engines have replaced magic and life slowly returned to Midgard...However....There are those who would re-awaken the forbidden arts of magic and use and abuse its power to fight for world domination. Who is foolish enough to repeat history all over again? --- Up top a snowy cliff, three soldiers in gigantic, monstrous looking magi-tek vehicles were overlooking the coal mining city of Narshe. Two of the soldiers were males named Biggs and Wedge. Biggs was short and stocky, while Wedge is tall and gaunt. Both wore brown and black armor with tufts of blonde hair sticking out under their helmets. The third soldier was a young female with greenish blonde hair, blue-violet eyes, and wore an outfit consisting of pink shoulder pads with white and pink puffy sleeves, red bikini like armor with a purple and pink sarong wrapped around her mid section and wore red and gold boots that matched her bikini like outfit. She also seem to be wearing some sort of copper hued circlet on her head. “There's the city of Narshe!” Wedge exclaimed as he stood up in his magi-tek and pointed to the cityscape. “Are you sure that there is an Eidolon being held there in the mines?” Biggs asked, feeling a little skeptical about the whole situation. “They have said to have vanished after the War of the Magi.” Wedge scoffed at the whole situation. “Pah! Probably just some old wife's tale.” “Hmmm...” Biggs was starting to get more curious as he eyed the cityscape of Narshe. “I'm not sure, but I know that our Emperor Gestahl would never lie to us about something as big as this.” Biggs turned over to the woman and started to feel goosebumps prickling his skin. “Gack! This little hag....I heard rumors that she vaporized over fifty magi-tek soldiers in three minutes. Kinda makes my stomach queasy thinking of this.” Wedge laughed at his friend's reaction. “Oh ho ho, no need to worry Biggs, with that slave circlet on her head, she's a mindless husk of a creature. The girl wouldn't even need to blink unless we command her to.” “Whew, thank goodness.” Biggs sighed in relief. “Come on, let's go!” “Right.” Wedge replied as he and Biggs commanded the girl to follow them. The girl followed the lead of the two soldiers as they made their way east to the city of Narshe. If it wasn't for their magi-tek vehicles, it would have been a long, treacherous and tedious journey in the freezing sub zero regions of Midgard. --- Many hours have passed and the three Magi-tek soldiers finally found their way to Narshe. As they arrived they decided to put the girl up front to lead them. “Let's put the girl up front. And don't waste time screwing around. Remember what we're here for. Let's go!” As Biggs and Wedge commanded the girl to lead them through the streets of Narshe, they were being ambushed by rebels. “Shit, we meant to prepare for this.” Wedge thought to himself. They were all ambushed by rebels and their horde of trained monsters. “Imperial magi-tek vehicles?! Now not even Narshe is safe!” “Die bastards!” More rebels protested as they were trying to attack the soldiers. But it was all in vain. The magi-tek knights were far more powerful than a group of rag tag rebels. One by one, the rebels were being burned, fried or frozen to death by the mouths of the magi-tek vehicles. Their screams of agony echoing throughout the city. “Why....why?!” One of the dying rebels gasped as he lays there, vomiting up his own blood before he lost his life. “Come on, we have no time to lose!” Biggs cried out as he and Wedge commanded the girl to lead them to the mines. As they headed up the stairways that lead to the mine's entrance, more rebel warriors and their trained monsters started to ambush them, blocking the entrance to the mine. “End of the line, imperial dogs!” “We must defend the mines with our lives!” More rebels yelled out as they started to ambush the Magi-tek soldiers. “Kya ha ha! Is this some sort of joke?” Wedge laughed and rolled his eyes at the ill prepared rebels. Biggs commanded the girl to use a bio blaster beam on the rebels, poisoning them and making them drop like flies. As the rebels and their monsters were staggering and gasping for air, the three Magi-Tek soldiers continued their way into the mine, feeling no remorse for the dying rebels. --- Inside the mine, it was cold, icy and somewhat damp. There were mice scurrying about and a few moogles peaking around the corner, desperately trying to hide from these fearsome imperial soldiers. “According to our royal sire, they unearthed a frozen Eidolon in a new mine shaft they were digging. It must be located here. I just know it.” Biggs said as they marched down the dark, foggy corridors. While they marched on, the group arrived at a gate blocking their path. Wedge commanded everyone to stand back as he broke down the gate with his Magi-tek vehicle. “There! Our problem is solved...all we have to do is....” Then, as they entered the new path, a guard started to charge at them, yelling and screaming out orders. “No! We are NOT handing over the Eidolon! Ymir! Seize them!” Right there, the soldiers had to deal with a giant snail like creature, known as a bolt snail. The creature had a green, slug like body hiding away in a beautiful, metallic shell that resembled the fabled Orichalcum metal. These creatures are valued for their beautiful shells and their potent slime harvested from their bodies. “What the hell? This beast....? The rebels must have trained it to guard the minds.” Biggs wondered as he observed the monster. Wedge went over and got a closer look at the creature. “You even know what kind of creature this is?” “No, I don't.” Biggs replied in fear. “What the hell is this wretched thing?” “It is a bolt snail. They are called that because they absorb lightning and store its energy inside their metallic shell.” Wedge added. “So, whatever you do, don't attack the shell!” “Yes sir!” Biggs shouted as the trio started to attack Ymir. They shot all sorts of elemental beams at the beast, trying all they can to find the creature's weakness. Every time they shot a beam, the creature would eject it's slime on them, making the soldiers struggle and move slower in battle. Just as they got ready to attack Ymir again, the creature growled and slid back into its shell. The men commanded the girl to heal them in battle and not attack the creature while it is hiding in it's shell. As they thought the creature was never going to emerge, Ymir growls and slides back out of its shell. Seconds seemed like minutes...and minutes seemed like hours...Indeed the bolt snail was a formidable beast. Biggs started to feel rather impatient as they were attacking Ymir. “Damn it, die already you slimy piece of shit. This is getting boring.” Then, as the girl shot missiles at Ymir, the shell has exploded and pieces of Ymir's slug-like body was scattered on the ground. All Ymir's master could do was huddle in a corner and weep for his beloved bolt snail's death. “No...no....*sob* It's over!” While the guard left the mines crying in sadness, the magi-tek soldiers made their way towards the Eidolon. The knights felt nervous, while the girl stood there expressionlessly, unaware of what was going on around her. The frozen Eidolon resembled a feathery, three headed dragon. It was quite fearsome. Now only imagine what it would do if it were thawed out. “So... is this the frozen genju the Emperor was talking about?” Biggs asked nervously. “Ummmm...uhhhh...” Wedge stuttered in terror. “This is one creepy thing. Errr....I sense something fishy here....” The girl stood there, showing no emotions what so ever. Then, a huge beam of light shot from the creature. The light engulfed the room and the two men started to panic. “W....where is that light coming from...? Gaaaaaaah!” Wedge scream out as he vanished from sight. Biggs felt rather frightened and confused. “What the hell...? Wedge? Wedge?! Where's are you? H...hey...what the....?” Now Biggs disappeared from sight and the girl stared the Eidolon in the eyes. She was engulfed with so much light, that she fell off of her magi-tek and was knocked unconscious. --- “Where...am I?” The girl wondered as she regained consciousness. She found herself inside a warm, cozy house under the covers in bed. “What is...what is this place?” Oh my..!” An old man sighed as he held up a circlet. “I removed this circlet while you were sleeping.” The girl clutched her head in pain. “Ah...a headache...owww...owww....!” The old man went over to the girl to comfort her. “Easy there young lady. This is a slave circlet. It was robbing you of your thoughts, thus making you their mindless slave.” The girl lets out a groan of pain. “I don't remember what happened. Ugh!” The old man pats the girl on the back. “Don't worry young lady, your memory will come back, slowly, but surely.” “Mmgh!” the girl grunted in pain. “What is your name young lady?” The old man asked. The girl pondered this and now, one piece of her memory has come back. “My name is...Terra...Terra Valentina Branford! Ack!” “Amazing!” The old man exclaimed. “I'm impressed you remember your name. You must be one tough cookie.” . Then suddenly, some rebels with their dogs came knocking at the door. “Open up old man! We're here for the Magi-tek vehicle pilot.” “Hand over that hag!” a guard shouted in rage. “She is a soldier for the Gestahlian Empire!” “Empire? Magi-tek...?” Terra pondered. But her pondering was cut short when the old man beckoned her to follow him. “There's no time to explain. Come, follow me!” the old man whispered as Terra followed him. “I'll distract the guards while you make your way out of town. Hurry...it's now or never!” “Yes!” Terra exclaims as she fled the back door. As Terra escaped and fled from the guards, little did she know that she was about to be a part of a huge epic adventure, and she would be a big part of the picture.