The Chronicles of Inferno Mage

[King Fenii]

~ Foreword ~

Welcome everyone,

I'm glad you have come here to view this story. It's written by yours truely and is about a boy that travels through the different worlds of Final Fantasy. This story might explain some things that happened in the blind spots of the FF storylines, so be prepared for a lot of familiarity. Of course these filled in blind spots are just theories.

Anyway, please enjoy the story and remember that I will keep posting new parts now and then.

Signed,

Your friendly neighbourhood mage,

~Inferno~

[King Fenii]

~~~ Prologue ~~~

We find ourselves in the world of Final Fantasy IV, it is 15 years before the true quest of Cecil began.......

This story begins in a town called Mysidia. While other kingdoms were training knights and creating modern machinery, this ancient village was proud of their legendary mages. The mages that were trained in Mysidia were the strongest in the world, simply because they only trained in the arts of Magic. The Mysidians were either White or Black Mages, and they had to stick with that. Only true powerful mages could learn both types of Magic, that person was often the eldest and led the village as The Elder. The young ones needed to train hard in order to use their Magic properly and safely. Seeing the children learned their spells rather quickly, they could only perfect their spells over the ages. Almost all of the kids started to train at a very young age, the average was about four years old. The children could train safely at a river that was running through the town. There were better training places outside of the village, but thise weren't safe due to wild monsters, beasts and bandits. The river was always very crowded:

"Water!" yelled an infant. The child caused a swirling pillar of water to come out of the river, which struck another child. The child began to cry. His cries were so loud, that he alerted a lot of villagers. Almost the whole village gathered around the child. The Elder stepped foreward:

"Tell me, Polir, why are you crying?"
Polir answered dramaticly: ".....<sniff>.....<sniff>.....HE HIT ME!!!!" The crowd began to gasp. The Elder seemed oppressed:
"Now Aquos, Magic is not a game, it has to be taken seriously, or else you could hurt someone you don't even want to hurt." Aquos looked up to the elder with his big eyes:
"I'm sorry Grandpapa, I didn't mean to hurt him, I just wanted to spray him....." The Elder smiled and replied:
"I know, I know, but just be careful not to..." The Elder was interrupted by a male shouting. The man then came running to the Elder. The man turned out to be Sed, Cid's brother: "Magus, uh I mean Elder........It's Rosie, she's......she's been kidnapped......" ~ "What? But.....!" The Elder grabbed a strange looking bell out of his robe and rang it. All of a sudden a large chocobo came running out of the woods and stopped in front of the Elder: "Kweh!" The Elder had a request: "I will get Rosie back, would anyone like to join me?" Sed stepped forward: "I would, after all, I AM her uncle. Cid would kill me if anything happened to her." The Elder shouted out clearly: "The rest of you stay here and protect the village until I am back, do not worry about my safety, I SHALL return." The chocobo they were on started to move its feet and within a few seconds, they were off to chase the kidnapper.

The Elder and Sed followed the kidnapper all the way up to Mt. Ordeals, where they finally had him cornered. The kidnapper turned out to be just a boy: "No, you two fools don't understand, I need this girl, I need to give her to Milon or...." The Elder interrupted him: "Wait, Milon? I think you've been reading to many fairy tales young man. And you shouldn't be so rude. We're not as foolish as you think." The boy seemed very aggitated: "yOU FOols!" The boy was twitching very unnaturaly. The boy was mutating and his skin was turning a pale green color. The Elder and Sed watched how the 'boy' grew in size. The 'boy' still had something to say: "aLL FaLL BefORe mE!" Sed started to panic: "Uhm, Magus..." ~ "Yes, Sed?" ~ "How do you think Cid is gonna kill me if this ugly monster already finishes his job???" ~ "Sed..., shut up!" The Elder began to chant, his eyes gleamed yellow, his robe slightly levitating: "Back off, you zombie scum....Toad!" The Elder sent a cream coloured, puffy cloud to the monster, blocking it's vision but also his visibilty. When the cloud cleared, the monster was gone, all that was left was a little cute frog.....

The Elder and Sed saw Rosie lying on the floor behind the former zombie. Sed immediately rushed towards her: "Rosie!! I couldn't be more happy to see you're okay." Sed started to cuttle and hug Rosie. Other than the laughs of Sed, the Elder heard a baby crying on the background: "Sed, do you hear that?" ~ " What do I hear, you ask? Well all I can hear is a toad, you nagging and a weird sound of a baby crying.......!" ~ "Sed, let me ask you, what on earth is a baby doing way up in Mt. Ordeals?" ~ "I don't know maybe he got lost?" ~ "Sed,...you can't be serious." Then suddenly the Elder got a glance of the baby: "Huh....? Look Sed, he's in that tree!" ~ "Told you he got lost." The Elder casted another spell: "Float......" The baby gently hovered in to the Elders arms. Elder: "Look at you, baby... Strange, he's got yellow glowing eyes." ~ "What's so strange about that? You also got yellow glowin' eyes, sometimes." The Elder answered: "Only powerful mages have yellow glowing eyes, my power is only shown when my eyes are glowing yellow, but with this boy, they kéép glowing...where did you come from boy?" The Elder just stood there thinking afterwards. Sed was all ready to leave: "Hey Elder, you comin' or what?!?!" ~ "Yes, Sed, hold your horses, I mean chocobo's."

The Elder and Sed returned to the village and showed the baby to the villagers. One of the villagers approached the boy. "Aww, he's so cute. Hey Elder, watcha gon' call'em? Awww, lok'at hiszface, so cjut, goochiegoochie goo. Hey the'e baby, I am your auntie Oplaya, goochiegoochie goo!!!!"
The baby started to cry, the boy gave off an odd heat, catching everyone's attention. All of a sudden he unleashed an ember right in Oplaya's face. Her face turned black because of the fire, she sighed and said: "Nowdat'z not very nice." The Elder laughed and said: "Well, I guess I know what we're gonna call him. Let's call the boy.....Inferno."

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 1 ~~~

As Inferno grew as a child he astounded many folks with his incredible skills. He seemed to master almost every Fire based Magic as if it were nothing. By the time he was 7 years old he had already mastered Firaga, his other Black Magic skills were not as good as his Fire Magic though. His Elder kept training and training Inferno. His 7th year swept by, his 8th year passed as if it were nothing, his 9th year seemed rather short. It was after the age of 10 that Inferno would really experience his life...

The Elder was training Inferno intensely, just outsied the village: "More Inferno, more!" Inferno had a fierce glare in his eyes: "Double Fira!" Inferno unleashed a massive fire attack consisting of 2 Fira attacks which spinned around the Elder and eventually engulfing him. The Elder seemed rather untouched and laughed: "Hahaha, come on Inferno, I know you have more!" Inferno felt as if he had to prove himself: "Turbo Firaga!" Yet another earthscorching attack was unleashed, now concisting of a tweaked version of Firaga, increasing it's normal strengths. The Elder still seemed unimpressed: "I know that's not everything you've got! Give it your best! Don't hold back!!!" Inferno's eyes then turned red, his hands were glowing as if they were on fire. A fiery glow started to surround Inferno, he hesitated a moment: ".....Firaja!" The skies turned orange as if the sun were setting. Fire sprouted out of the ground in a huge circle around the Elder. The fire around The Elder gathered closely towards him, knowing that it would soon reach it's full power: "What have I done? I can't dispel this immense power.....incredible." With that said, the Firaja attack reached its full strength. The blinding flash could even be seen by the villagers.

When the intense flames were densing Inferno could see his Elder, lying on the floor: "Ha, ha, ha, that's it boy, that's the spirit." Inferno rushed to the Elder: "Elder, are you all right?" The Elder coughed and said: "Haha, well I've been better...listen boy...I guess it's my time to go. I want you to know...I want you to know about. There's a rod I have hidden...I want you to have it. Ask my wife about it...she knows. And also...tell her...tell her I love her...okay?" The Elder was on his last breaths: "You did well boy...you did well..."

Saying that, the Elder shut his eyes, never to open them again......

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 2 ~~~

Inferno had killed the Elder, with him knowing it was an accident, the villagers didn't know. How was he going to explain? Was he going to go back in the first place? Inferno felt guilty and confused. He didn't want to go back to the village, but he felt he had to. Not just to obtain the rod the Elder was talking about, but also to innocence. Eventhough he was guilty of killing the Elder, it was still an accident. He wanted to get the rod first, because the risk was to big to talk to the villagers first, seeing they could banish him. So Inferno waited until nightfall to slip in to his own village.

Once the night fell, Inferno sneaked silently between the houses until he had arrived at the Elders house. He checked if the door was open...and indeed, it was open. Inferno then started looking fot the rod: "Ok, ok, a rod, a rod, hmm...." Inferno looked for the rod in the closet, under the tables, in all the cabinets, but he couldn't find it. Suddenly he heard the sound of a match lighting, then the lights when on. He then heard a female voice: "Who are you?" Inferno turned around and recognized the Elders wife: "Inferno? What are you doing? Where is my husband?"
Inferno was considering of covering the Elders death up, but he didn't want to, he thought it wouldn't be the right thing to do... "Your husband...is dead...he was killed by uuuuh wild bear." The Elder's wife turned pale: ".....noooo....." Saying that, she passed out. Inferno then heard another voice, this time a male voice: "Hey kid! where's the Elder?" Inferno remained silent and turned his head to see who was speaking to him. "Hey kid, don't ya recognize me? It's me Sed, remember?" Inferno looked away shamefully: "The Elder's dead, I couldn't help him..." Sed couldn't believe his ears: "WHAT?!? Ooow, tzhahahahahaha, that's a good one. For a kid you don't tell bad jokes you know that?" Inferno remained silent once again. Sed was frightened by the silence: "Wait?...YOU'RE NOT JOKING??? Owww, poor Irene, why, she's a widow now, and there she is layin'on the flo'...!" Sed looked stunned..... "K, kid, why is the Elder's wife on the floor?" Inferno: "She passed out after the news" Sed seemed ticked off: "Why do I find that hard to believe...? I'm sorry kid, I don't know where ya were born, an' I don't know your parents, so I can't judge you..." Sed walked out of the house, after that you could here him running away.

The Elder's wife was regaining consciousness. Immediately she asked: "What are you actually doing here?" Inferno replied: "I came to tell you what happened, also the Elder told me he had a staff for me."
Irene: "Why, thank you Inferno, don't worry, you couldn't help him, it's not your fault. And about that staff, don't you mean a rod?"
Inferno: "Yes, rod, that's what I meant, I'm sorry, I'm a little shocked myself."
Irene: "Magus was always talking about his prized rod..."
Inferno: "Wait, Magus?"
Irene: "Yes, that was the Elder's name, anyway, he said that the power of the rod was to much to handle for him, so he stashed it away somewhere safe. Come, follow me...."

Irene led Inferno to the kitchen. There she took off a painting from the wall, behind it was a key. Irene told Inferno that he should travel to Mt. Ordeals: "In Mt. Ordeals is a room filled with red gems, do not remove any of those gems or the room will collapse. Somewhere in that room is a chest containing the rod. That's all I know..... Don't be sad Inferno, there was nothing you could do. Just return safely, but make sure you take someone with you. It's dangerous all by yourself you know." Irene kissed Inferno on his head. "Good luck Inferno."

With those words the door behind Inferno closed, leaving him alone with only a key, and a huge sense of guilt. He decided to go to Mt. Ordeals alone, seeing he had nothing more to lose, or so he thought.....

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 3 ~~~

Inferno was heading for Mt. Ordeals, to find the rod that Magus, The former Elder of Mysidia had left him. Inferno felt really down, and didn't see the point of living. He also felt guilty because he had killed Magus himself, and lied to the Elder's wife and Sed about it. At this point, all he wanted to do, is find that rod, no matter what.

3 days and 4 nights, that's how long it took for Inferno to reach Mt. Ordeals. He was weakened from all the battles with all the wild monsters, he was drowsy and out of focus. Even though it was morning, Inferno decided to take a quick nap, just a stones throw away from Mt. Ordeals. Inferno woke up the next day, he could see the sun rise. He was all rested up and feeling fit, he was ready for anything.

At the bottom of Mt. Ordeals Inferno saw a group of bandits rushing towards him. Fortunately, they weren't trying to attack him, they just ran past him. Inferno ignored them and was trying to find an entrance to the mountain. He eventually found a way in through a small passage that lay behind a huge boulder, and wandered in and out of the rooms inside the mountain.

After a while, Inferno was getting tired of strolling endlessly and he decided to have a seat. His eye got caught on a rat who was crawling trough a narrow hole. Inferno took a peak...and saw...another dull room. "<Sigh>, Where is this stupid room?!?" Inferno let himself drop on his back, while he was looking up, he saw a red-coloured gem in the ceiling. "Wow, what a beautiful jewel, I gotta have one of those." Then it occured to him: "Wait a minute! That's the room!!!" He quickly rushed up to the next floor to find nothing but a solid rock wall. "Aaaaargh! How the, how am I gonna open this stupid room up? And what use is this key of any use if the room is closed!" Inferno pulled out the key. "Stupid little dumb key...nghhhhh...huh?" The key started to glow red. The wall started to glow red as well, and in a split second, the wall shattered into bits and pieces.

Inside Inferno found a beautiful room filled with ten-thousands of red rubies and red coloured gems. "Wooooow!..........Preeeetty" Inferno laid eyes on the chest. A huge smile appeared on his face. Then suddenly, a hand grabbed his foot. The hand was actually coming out of the floor. Another hand appeared that grabbed the floor firmly to pull itself up. It turned out to be some sort of zombie. More of them joined around Inferno, leaving him cornered between almost a dozen of undead monsters. Inferno then started to value his life: "Oow, no, I've come this far...I can't, I WON'T!" Inferno unleashed a Fira attack. Suddenly all of the red gems started to glow intensely. It seemed that each gem was reflecting the spell, creating huge amounts of Fira attacks. The gems first filled the room with only a flash, Inferno closed his eyes to avoid the blinding light. After that he felt an intense heat around him and he decided to open his eyes again. They were all gone, all that was left were a few places that were still burning, but here was no trace to be found of the monsters. Inferno looked around as if he were impressed: "Wow, these gems seem to have an infinite power. They're all still here and they have the same glow as before. It must have something to do with the mountain." Inferno turned around and opened the chest he was looking for. Inside was a beautiful rod, on top was something you could compare with a crystall ball, filled with fire, but emenating a holy light. Inferno picked up the rod. He was speechless. The rod was as light as a feather, although Inferno felt that the rod was filled with an amazing power.

After being amazed by the rod, Inferno stepped outside, ready to return home. A dark voice startled him: "Where do we think we're going, boy?"
Inferno's eyes opened wide and he looked frightened, very frightened, as if he had seen a ghost: "Wh, Who are you?" Inferno was standing before Magus:
"Who am I? Why, I am Milon Beta, I needed one more body to get me in a normal form, and you gave it to me. One more body like that, with that much energy, and my true form will be ressurected! Could you take care of that, eh, boy? Could you help Uncle Magus turn into Milon Alpha? Hahahaha!" Inferno was furious: "You mean, mean man. You won't be mean ANYMORE!!!" Inferno shouted and yelled all sorts of chants.
Clouds gathered above Milon. Inferno's eyes burned red, he was infuriated and determined to get rid of Milon: "FLARE!!!"
Milon found it hard to believe: "What?!?....NOOO!!! How could he..." The clouds were splitting open, and a huge pillar of light and fire engulfed Milon.

After Inferno's attack, Milon was nowhere to be spotted. Surprisingly he heard something behind him:
"HA, HA, HAHAHAHA, oow that tickled"Inferno was no longer furious...he was now terrified: "How'd, gh, uh...nooo..."
Milon felt like explaining the situation: "This Magus guy had some magical resistance, and you killed him? HA! If he were a few years younger, he wouldn't have even felt it. Your Fire Magic might be good, but with a body that has a high magic defence as this one and mine combined, you don't stand a chance with your puny Magic. You did well giving me this body, it's full with energy! But I doubt you can give me another one like this, thus you are of no more use to me, boy. Time to say goodnight! It's time for your nap, little boy !" Milon started to charge up an attack.
Suddenly Inferno's rod started to glow. A red light shot up in the air. A strange man-like figure appeared. The man was wearing a huge red cape that was covered with big blue spots. The man wispered something in Milon's ear. Milon grumpled and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The strange looking man spoke: "I, am Rubicant. You have freed me from the rod. For that I thank you. That rod will summon me at your command from now on. So if you ever need my help, feel free to call me." Inferno looked confused: "Uhm...okay. Well, uhm Mr. Rubicant, can you help me get back to Mysidia?"
Rubicant found that in some way amusing: "Hahahaha, sure kid, hang on. SCORCH!"
A fire-red tornado surrounded Inferno, eventually warping him to another place.....

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 4 ~~~

With his Rubicant Rod obtained, Inferno then wanted to return to Mysidia. Rubicant had aided him by using his Scorch ability to warp him to another place. Inferno was shook when he had arrived and passed out on the floor. When Inferno finally woke up, it was night. He was warped on a hill looking over Mysidia not far away from the village.

Inferno found a few red-glowing gems in his hand. There were six to be exact, they looked familiar to him: "Hey these are the same gems as I saw in Mt. Ordeals." Inferno took his eyes off the gems and looked down the hill that he was warped on. "Hey that's Mysidia! I'm home!" Suddenly his joy was disrupted by loud screaming. When he looked closer at the village, he could see women and children being slayed. Inferno couldn't see who the culprits were though.

Inferno rushed down the hill, he kept on hearing the horrible screams, which made him to go faster and faster. When he had finally arrived at the village, he didn't hesitate one second: "FIRAGA!!!" But something strange happened. His attack was unfocused, because of this he hit some villagers and houses by accident. It quickly made sense to him: "Aww!!! How could I not guess that this rod gives more power to my Magic!" Nontheless Inferno had hit the culprits. He looked at the killers, who were laying on the floor. They were severely injured, but not dead. Inferno recognized them, they were the bandits he saw at Mt. Ordeals. The same ones he could've stopped. He started to feel guilty again and he started to realise what was actually happening: "I could've stopped them...if I did...this nightmare wouldn't have been so real." The flames were raging troughout the village. You could here the voices of dozens of villagers trying to put out the fire with Water Magic: "WATER!" Water had no effect. "WATERA!" Watera barely helped. "WATERGA!" Waterga DID have effect and the fire began to shrink. The cracking sound of burning wood slowly vanished. The fire was eventually extinguished. Inferno was standing on the village square, motionless and staring at the ground. Some villagers were rather upset, but most of them didn't know how to react. But some made clear of what they thought.

The Black Mage Commander felt like reacting: "You bafoon!, how could you do this? You stupid kid, you should be thrown in the river and drown!"
The new Elder spoke: "Silence, Quadras, have you no heart?"
Quadras: "Hmph, we won't discuss this any further here...I'll see you and the others at the meeting!"

Inferno overheard Quadras and thought about what he meant with the 'others': "(Yes, I remember, Mysidia is being runned by five persons, the Elder, the Black Mage Commander Quadras, the Black Mage Elder, The White Mage Commander Protesa and the White Mage Elder. The Commanders were leading the other mages in times of battle, if mages had problems they had troule solving, they could always go to their Elders. Of course if they didn't know what to do, they could always ask the town Elder. Hmm...)"

Inferno decided to eavesdrop on the meeting, which was being held in the new Elders house.

Elder: "We shouldn't be to hard on the boy, he DID defeat the bandits."Quadras: "Yes but he almost burned down the whole village!"
White Mage Commander Protesa: "Houses aren't as important as lives! Tell me Quadras, did you lose your wife and children? I did, so did the Elder, and so did a lot of people. As a Black Mage Commander, why didn't you tell your mages to attack? My white mages can't protect the whole village you know!"
Quadras: "I didn't want to hit any of the villagers, that wouldn't be responsible!"
Protesa: "OW, AND LETTING THEM DIE IS!??!?!"
Quadras: "SHUT UP YOU FOOL, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"
Elder: "Gentleman! Silence! What's done is done, the boy didn't mean any harm.."
Quadras interrupted him: "No.., he just set ablaze the whole village. We should execute him, the stupid kid, and to think that HE is a mage? HA, he's not even half a mage, he's a mutant, with his stupid yellow eyes. I know that that Vivi kid also has yellow eyes, but at least he doesn't set fire to the whole village!"

Inferno was hurt by those words, although he felt as if Quadras was right: "He's right... I don't belong here...." Inferno then ran away, upset. He then bumped in to someone, it was a girl: "Hey there, little Inferno, how are you?" Inferno looked questioned. "Ow, don't you remember me anymore? I'm Rosie! But they don't call me that anymore, since I've grown they call me Rosa" She saw that Inferno was upset and wondered what was wrong: "What's the matter, little one? Aww, I guess you're still upset that you tried to hard aren't you? Hey, it was an accident, don't worry."
Inferno: "I...I wanna go away....I don't belong here....."
Rosa: "Hey! Don't say that, it wasn't your fault, you didn't KILL anyone, don't worry."
The death of the former elder kept replaying in his head.
Inferno: "NO, I don't want to hurt anybody... NO MORE!!!"
Rosa: "You're serious about leaving aren't you? I wish I could invite you along my journey, but it's a slected program....I'm going to Baron, back to my dad! Ow....I'm sorry I wish I could help you, but I can't...But I think I know someone who CAN help you. You know that other mage with the yelow eyes? You know, Vivi. He's only 4 years old but he as an expert Black Mage, I'm sure he and his brother can help you. They just traveled to another dimension and back, well, that's what I've heard anyway. You should drop by their house, they live on the edge of the town, on the other side of the river."
Inferno: "...When are you gonna leave?"
Rosa: "Not too soon, I'll be gone in about 2 years. Be sure to kiss me goodbye then okay? Hey, Inferno, do you actually have a real name?"
Inferno: "Yes, although I'm not sure. My...my name is...Cristi...Cristi Malfecius."
Rosa: "Awww, what a cute name! But anyway Cristi...." Meanwhile Inferno was frowning. "...I hope you will fulfill your dreams, and don't let anyone get you down, okay?" Rosa gave Cristi a peck on the cheek, Cristi began to smile.
Rosa: "Well, see you later, Cristi!"

Cristi then just stood there, thinking. Not knowing what he could expect, he then went for Vivi's house, hoping that he could find freedom.....

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 5 ~~~

Inferno was now heading towards Vivi and his brother's house. After revealing his real name to Rosa, he felt different, he felt as if Rosa was the only one he could trust now. With the smoke and ashes still in the air of Mysidia, he knocked on Vivi's door.

<KNOCK>.....<KNOCK>

Vivi's brother answered the door: "Hey Inferno! How are you, eh?"
Cristi: "....." ~ "What? You don't know me? I'm Vivi's older brother, Valeron."
Cristi: "....." ~ "Riiight...So, what brings you here, Inferno?"

Cristi: "I came to visit your little brother, Vivi."
Valeron: "All this fuss about my little brother, I hardly get visited, hahaha, but I can understand why."
At that time, Valeron was old as Rosa, 13 years old. Valeron brought Vivi in the room. "Look at him, he's cute, eh?" Cristi remained silent again. "Yup, and he's even a better Black Mage then me, can you believe it? He's 9 years younger then me, and he can kick my butt. Yeah, my baby brother is really cool. Funny thing is, Vivi isn't really my actual brother. We found him on Mt. Ordeals. My parents decided to adopt him, but they recently passed away. I'm all of the 'family' he has left, so I treat him like my very own brother." After a brief moment of silence, Cristi finally said something: "...I heard you went to another dimension with him?"
Valeron: "Yeah, we did! Yeah, we.....hey wait, who told you that?"

Cristi: "Rosa told me, she said that maybe you could help me."
Valeron: "Ow, do you want help? For what? What kind of help, eh?"
Cristi: "I want to leave Mysidia, I don't belong here, I've caused to much sorrow."

Valeron: "...Well, sure, if you want that. Personally, I think it's a bad idea. But if I don't help you, you'll probably do something stupid and get yourself killed..."
There was another brief moment of silence which was ended by Valeron: "Fine, I'll help you, but first hear me out. Me and Vivi warped to this other dimension, but the funny thing was, we had a very hard time warping back...in fact, we couldn't! We were stuck in the woods until we found a village. It was called the Black Mage Village. There we were further trained in Black Magic, not for too long though. The weird thing was, my magic was acting strange, I couldn't even cast a Level II Magic you know, Fira, Watera, that kinda Magic, but Vivi, ow Vivi was suddenly casting frightening Magic such as Ultima, Flare and...Level V Magic. Also, Vivi's outfit was glowing a gentle white colour. I've heard that ordinary Mysidians couldn't cast anything that was stronger then Level III Magic, it was even rare for an Elder to cast a Level IV spell. Anyway, the Mages decided to warp us back after that incident."

Cristi: "A Level V Magic? But how's it called then?"
Valeron: "I wouldn't know, I've never seen, heard or read anything about it. Aside from that, we tried to warp again about 2 days ago, this time with a different warp spell. Strangely enough, we ended up at the same spot we had warped to before. My guess about that is that you warp to a place where your skills match your surroundings."

Cristi: "Hmm...but was it fun in the Black Mage Village?"
Valeron: "Not really, they were living a dull life, and it seemed that they were frightened by the spells Vivi casted. Why'd you think they sent us back, eh?"
Cristi: "I don't want a dull life, I want action, adventure, to be real strong and to have no fear of harming anyone I don't want to."
Valeron: "You sound like a real die-hard fighter. I'm guessing you have to train in sword combat if you want to warp to places were people aren't dull. I'm thinking you'll find at least ONE swordsman in every dimension, or maybe a whole race, who knows, eh?"
Cristi: "Yeah, but where will I learn sword combat?"
Valeron: "I heard that those bandits had swords on them, the villagers tied them up, and have put them in the basement of the new Elders house. Maybe they'll teach you some swordskills, eh."
Cristi: "Thank you Valeron, I'll return here someday, you still gotta teach me HOW to warp."
Valeron: "Owh, no it's easy. I can teach you right now, eh."

And so he did, Valeron had learned Cristi how to use Warp, and indeed, Cristi found it a simple task and they were finished before they knew it.

Cristi: "THAT'S IT?!"
Valeron: "That's it. Told you it was easy, you can try now if you want, but my guess is that you'll just end up in Black Mage Village."
Cristi: "And I AM kinda tired..."
Valeron: "Ow, do you want to rest? You can sleep here if you want. It's no problem at all, eh."
Cristi: "Sure, I'd like that!"

And with that, they both went to sleep. Cristi had a dream that night, he dreamt that the former Elder came back from the dead, and had told the villagers that Cristi had killed him. The villagers were upset: "You! You killed our beloved Elder." "Yeah someone should kill YOU!" Quadras: "No, I have a better idea, let's throw him in the river and let him drown! Hahahaha! Drown Inferno! Drown Inferno! Drown Inferno, Inferno, Inferno...."
"INFERNO!" Cristi opened his eyes.

Valeron: "Wow, you're a deep sleeper, eh."
Cristi: "I'm sorry, I had a bad dream...I think I should leave."
Valeron: "Hey, don't worry, you can stay if you'd like."
Cristi: "No, I should really go, who knows what the villagers will do with those bandits, I gotta go before it's to late."
Valeron: "Ok, suit yourself, but just wait one more moment."

Valeron went in the back of the house, you could hear him searching for something: "Here, this is for you...Well don't look so stupid, it's a Hellfire stone, I don't know what it does, all I know is that it's hot, eh."

Cristi: "Thanks! I'll see you later okay? Thanks for everything..."
Valeron: "Sure, Inferno, take it easy, eh."
Vivi entered the room to say goodbye: "Take...it...easy."

Cristi opened the door, he now knew what he wanted, and how to achieve it. He headed for the new Elders house, to ask the bandits if they could help them. Cristi had a good feeling about this and smiled while he frisked out of Vivi's and Valeron's house.

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 6 ~~~

Cristi kept thinking about the dream he had earlier in Valeron's house. He still had a guilty feeling that kept haunting him. His mind was set on leaving Mysidia. Cristi felt unwanted in his village, so the bandits seemed like the obvious answer...

Because he was afraid of being caught, he decided to climb through the window of the meeting room, and sneak into the basement. Lucky for him, there was nobody home, so he made it to the basement without to many problems. When he opened the door to the basements, he heard some sort of mumbling. He went down the stairs and saw a group of bandits tied up and gagged. He ungagged one of the bandits: "Hey kid, can ya le' me ou' kid?"
Cristi: "I CAN, but I want you to do me a favor."
Bandit: "What's that kid?"
Cristi: "You guys are skilled with a sword, right? Teach me how to be a good swordsman and I'll let you go. "
Bandit: "How ca' I teach ya how to be a swordsman if I'm tied dow' here? Listen, ya le' me and my buddies go, and we'll teach ya eeeeeeeeverythin' the' is to know about sword.. stuff"
Cristi: "Hmmm...Okay." Cristi cut them all loose with one of their swords.
Bandit: " Okay, kid thanks. Listen we can't train ya here, can we? Lis'en come to our (uhm) training camp near Mt. Ordeals, there we'll train ya. Okay?"
Cristi responded exited: "Yeah! That sounds like fun!"
Bandit: "How'd ya get in here by da way? We don't wanna draw any attention, now do we?"
Cristi showed them the out and the bandits led him to their camp.

The journey didn't take long, they were there after only one day and one night. When they had arrived, the bandit got straight to business: "Well, here we are. Come with me inta tha' cabin over there, I'll show ya our sword an' dagger collection.....after you..." Cristi opened the door, as he walked in to the cabin he was surprised that he didn't see a single weapon. He heard a lock closing behind him.
Bandit: "Sorry kid, rememba' you were the one who got us caught in tha fi'st place? We missed on SOME loot becuzza ya! Now we'll let ya fight the beast!!! Hahahahaha!!!"

Cristi heard a sound of a switch, suddenly the floor started shaking. Planks started to fall out of the floor one by one. Very soon Cristi had nowhere to go but down...and there he went. He didn't fall a long way, but eventually he landed in a big pile of soft sand, meant to break the fall. Though he didn't endure much pain, he didn't have a lot of time to recover. Cristi was astounded by the size of the cave he fell in. The hole he fell trough seemed to be the only place the light shined trough, in the center of the cave. A snake-like tail sweeping by his face suddenly caught his attention. The beast turned around and looked Cristi straight in the eyes.
Cristi then heared the bandit's voice echoeing through: "Chimera is sooo very hungry, why won't ya feed 'em?, hahahahahaha!!!"

Cristi was facing Cimera, the two were staring each other deep in the eyes. By now, Cristi had noticed Chimera had three heads, one had the shape of a lion, one the shape of a bull and the last one was a dragon's head. Chimera ended their moment of staring with a fierce growl. It was ready to attack. And indeed it did, Chimera instantly rushed forward. With Cristi barely being able to dodge the attack, Chimera caught Cristi's robe with one of his horns, ripping it apart. Cristi, who had barely recovered from the fall, was in no condition for this struggle: "I don't want to fight, leave me alone..." Chimera was filled with rage, it's bull's head had smoke puffing out of it's nose. Chimera roared and unleashed a ball of fire. Quickly after the first one, it unleashed a second. Chimera repeated the same attack over and over again while Cristi kept dodging the attacks. After a while, they both began to get tired. Chimera stopped attacking. The dragon's head roared vigorously as he unleashed a high-powered water ray, hitting Cristi directly in his face. The powerful attack knocked him down.

Chimera saw Cristi laying on the floor, it growled once again, this time more taunting. Cristi pushed himself up, he was ready to fight again, although he didn't have much power left: "Okay...you wanna fight...okay...let's fight!" Cristi unleashed a Fira attack.....with no result. Chimera made a mocking noise. Cristi became slightly aggitated: "Okay....you want more, uh? Triple Fira!!" Cristi unleashed three blasts of fire at Chimera. The beast was hit head on, Chimera was shook, but once again it proved to have no serious affect. Chimera had now realised Cristi was out to injure the beast. It became furious and stormed towards Cristi. He was to tired to budge, and Cristi was pierced by Chimera's horns. Cristi was knocked down again, fataly wounded. He thought about how his Magic, the same Magic that had killed Elder, couldn't get him out of this situation. He thought about how he could've been so stupid to trust the bandits. He thought about why he didn't stop the bandits in the first place. Cristi looked at his rod. He was still amazed by it's beautiful glow.

Suddenly Cristi remembered that he could call forth Rubicant: "Mr...Mr. Rubicant...help...help me..." With that the rod started to glow intensely. Cristi felt a gush of energy riding through him. He finally stood up, again staring Chimera straight in the eyes, this time Cristi didn't want to fail: "You think you're tough, uh?" Chimera looked surprised. "A beast like you shouldn't stop me...Mr. Rubicant will help me!" Cristi's hands went ablaze, his rod was now producing an immense glow, Cristi spinned his rod multiple times: "You...beast...feel my fury! Firaga!" His voice echoed in the cave, shortly thereafter he unleashed an incredibly Firaga attack. Strangely enough it was followed by four other attacks, although that didn't bother Cristi. Chimera was hit head on by the first attack, but the four other attacks als got a good shot at him. Chimera was set on fire, and was walking very slow. After a few paces, Chimera growled with his last strength and collapsed. The beast was defeated...

Eventhough Cristi received some energy from his rod, he used it all up with his attack, he was weakened once again.
The bandit witnessed the death of Chimera: "How the.....aaaAAWGH!!... It don't matter, you're gonna die in there anyway. You're gonna rot away kid, and nobody's here to help you! Boo-hoo.....mwhaha, mwhaha, mwhahahahahahahahaha!"
Cristi: ".....Nghh...He's right...what am I going to do? Owh...I know! Mr. Rubicant!...Mr Rubicant!!" Cristi didn't get any response: "...Nghh...what now!?..."

Rubicant had helped Cristi before, but this time he would let fate decide. Was his fate to die in that cave? Or would fate inspire the young one, and lead him out of the cave...

[King Fenii]

~~~ Chapter I: The Burning Flame ~ Part 7 ~~~

As Cristi sat in the cave filled with despair and heavily wounded. He was wonedring what would've happened if he had told the former Elder's wife the truth. Would he have been banished? Would he have been executed? He just sat there...wondering and thinking. Cristi took a look at his rod. He still couldn't believe that Rubicant didn't help him out: "Feel free to call me...yeah right! Now I reeeally need you, Mr. Rubicant, but you won't show up." Cristi sighed and stood up. He realised that, even without the help of Rubicant, he HAD to find a way out. So he started to check the walls, but all he could find were huge, solid, rock walls. He looked up and saw the hole he fell through, but knew he couldn't get up there. He searched in the sand, but again, with no result. He noticed a piece of a wall that was reflecting. The image of himself was blurry, so all he could see of himself were his eyes. They reminded him of Vivi. Thinking of Vivi made him think of his brother, and that reminded him of...warping. Cristi focused all of his remaining energy on one point, below him. That point started to expand and slowly drawed Cristi into it. After a while, he was completely swallowed by the warp.

He vanished from the cave. But where would he end up? Will he warp The Black Mage Village like Valeron and Vivi? Or will he find himself elsewhere? Or did something go terribly wrong and had he just disappeared?

"INFERNO!!" Cristi found himself in another cave, but this looked more like a tunnel. He was no longer bleeding and his robe was no longer ripped. He faced someone. He had a dark posture, he spoke: "I am X-Death, the strongest Black Mage of these dimensions. What business do you have here?"
Cristi didn't respond. X-Death was aggitated by this: "So, the silent type, hmph! Off with you!" X-Death held his right hand before him and unleashed a devistating wave consisting of...nothing. You could only something ripping trough the air, it was heading towards Cristi, very slowly... suddenly it gained tremendous speed...Cristi closed his eyes.

Cristi was hit by the wave, his head tilted back. He was hyperventilating. He opened his eyes. As his vision was recovering he saw an odd figure with yellow eyes and a tipped hat, he couldn't see his face though.
Cristi: "Wh....where am I?" The strange figure answered: "Why, you're in Black Mage Village of course!" Cristi: "WHAT?!?!?"

He then realised he was in a bed. Cristi lifted his head, but experienced an extreme amount of pain. He cried out loud: "WAAAAAW!!!"
Black Mage: "Easy, sir, you still have to recover."
Cristi: "Thank you, mister. What's your name, by the way?"
The Black Mage answered: "My name? My name is No. 92"
Cristi: "That's strange..."
No. 92: "What is, sir?"
Cristi: "Your name is a number....I think that's strange."
No. 92: "Really? Around here that's perfectly normal. Everyone in this village has numbers as names, but that's not important. The important thing is that you get your rest, I can sense that you are a talented Mage with a lot of potential. Me and my master wish to train you tomorrow. Is that okay?"
Cristi: "Sure, no problem there, but...hey, where is my equipment?"
No. 92: "You mean your rod and all those funny stones you were carrying? Their fine, don't worry."
Cristi: "Okay, thank you. And mister, are you sure one night of rest is enough?"
No. 92: "Of course, we gave you Pure Elixir, it will start having effect as soon as you fall asleep."
Cristi: "What? Pure Elixir? I've never heard of that. And ae you sure it works, I mean..."
No. 92: "Just rest, Cristi, you need it. Tomorrow is going to be a heavy day."
Cristi: "Okay, hey! How did you know my name?"
No. 92: "Us Black Mages can also read minds, how do you think we survive in a battle. Sheer Magic isn't enough you know. You have to be one step ahead of your enemy, so he can't possibly surprise you. Well, enough chit-chat sir, you should really go to sleep. I'll wake you in the morning."
Cristi: "Thanks Mr. No. 92, good night."

Cristi had now found himself in the Black Mage Village, in a different world. While he lay in bed, he was worrying. Worrying about his dream he had before he woke up in the village. Was that even a dream? And was he able to return to Mysidia one day? These questions kept repeating themselves in his head. After a while, he didn't want to worry anymore, he just wanted to rest. To think about the next day, about the special training he would receive...