[Thread, Pandaemonium]

[heartofheaven]

Characters: Tifa, Warrior of Light, Rydia, Terra, Celes, Mateus, Auron, possibly Lufene (let me know if I forgot anyone)
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: The group travel to Pandaemonium to retrieve the Fire Crystal. Little do they know that an old enemy is waiting for them, let alone the undead denizens of the island. No tagging order for this one - tag

Comments

[heavenslament]

Terra exited the Lunar Whale after Tifa, hand on the hilt of her sword. She was wary enough already, thanks to what she had heard about Lufene, but the army of undead was more than she expected. Her eyes widened as she stared around at the vast army in shock. That only lasted for a moment, though; snapping out of it, she drew closer to Tifa and fired off several bolts of Holy to drive back the nearest undead. "Let's find the crystal, before they converge on us!"

[magitekrune]

Celes was right behind them, storming out of the ship with her shield raised and her sword drawn. She didn't stop to think about what they were seeing before she dug straight into the closest undead monster, taking it down in a few quick chops.

"I'll take the rearguard! Keep moving forward!"

[for_cosmos]

As soon as the Warrior left the airship, he was striding forward as well, shield and sword in hand to attack one of the undead that came too close. "The longer we fight these monsters, the more time Lufene has to notice our arrival and counterattack." He said, already stepping forward to advance through the army of zombies toward Pandaemonium.

Perhaps it was reckless, but the Fire Crystal had to be retrieved from Lufene- if it was not, it was essentially in Garland's control, and he could not allow that to happen.

[divineemperor]

The pilot he'd hired to take him to the island almost turned away at the sight of the undead and monsters swarming before his chosen destination. However, a few carefully chosen words and one display of just why it would be in the man's best interest to land, ended that and shortly afterward his feet were finally on solid ground once again and he could actually see Pandaemonium in the distance.

"Quite the welcome." He said to himself as he cast several spells on himself before going on the offensive toward the approaching enemies.

He would see about meeting those he had agreed to meet with at the palace entrance, if they couldn't make it there by themselves...it wasn't worth his time in dealing with them in the first place.

[heartofheaven]

They had to make a run for it, which was what Tifa did, knocking aside the closest monsters and avoiding the biggest ones as she dashed towards the fortress.

Then, abruptly, she skidded to a halt. There was someone blocking their way to the entrance, someone Tifa didn't recognise, but perhaps the others would.

[heavenslament]

Terra did as Celes ordered, attempting pure speed over defense. For the most part, it worked. She only had to fire off Holy a couple of times, when those monsters just wouldn't get out of her way.

Upon seeing Tifa skid to a halt, Terra caught up with her...and froze. The person before her was not in familiar garb, yet he wasn't completely unrecognizable either. "...you?!"

[magitekrune]

Celes didn't know who was waiting for them at the end of the line, but she didn't take the time to find out. If Terra didn't like him - and the sound of that particular word from her companion and friend signaled there was something more to be understood - then her guard was up. Still, she wouldn't leave her self-appointed position as rearguard, so she turned to see behind them and make sure nothing could get past her to do harm to her companions who were focused on whoever was in front of them. She remained silent, letting the others do the talking.

[unsentmonk]

Auron held his blade in both hands, wary of the situation at hand. He had easily sliced through several weak monsters and sliced through the larger, more ruthless monsters only when they refused to move out of the way; it would be clearly useless to waste energy at this point. He stayed a bit behind Terra and Tifa, furrowing his eyebrows.

Whoever it was, the enemy was clearly a bad sign. No fiend would stop them, not if he could help it, but what was to be done was not up to him.

[for_cosmos]

The first reason the Warrior recognized the man in front of the group was from speaking to him over the Mooglenet. There had been a few brief conversations over time, and each had left him with a sense of familiarity that he had merely brushed aside, because there could be any number of reasons for him to seem familiar.

In person, though, the man was much more familiar. It only took Terra's reaction for him to remember, and when he did, he pointed his sword toward Maetus. "What are you doing here?"

[divineemperor]

Mateus gave the party a bored look, he had half expected this to happen and thus was prepared to deal with the vermin before he turned his sights toward his actual goal here. However, he did need a moment for his preparations to be ready to be useful to him. If anyone cared to notice some monsters were now attacking the undead, while others were drawing into area that was being cleared between the people before the palace and the undead army.

"Why shouldn't I be here? I did promise to help you gain possession of that crystal you so desire from the lady whom has it."

Not that it mattered any longer, once the Cosmos warriors made their move toward him; he'd make his own. It was rather simple really, divide and conquer. He would see just how well they could face both him and his own monstrous army at the same time.

[heavenslament]

"We don't need anything from you!" Terra glared at him, then turned to Tifa. "You can't trust him. The Emperor served Chaos; he's Firion's enemy, and enemy to all those who serve Cosmos."

Terra moved in step with the Warrior, ready to use her magic against their old enemy if need be. One thing was certain; she was not allying with him, not even for a moment. She knew better than to trust the one who opposed everything Firion held dear.

[magitekrune]

Whoever this guy was, pissing off Terra was not a good idea. It put Celes automatically on the opposite side. Whoever Terra opposed, so, too, did Celes. The ex-general turned, noticing that other monsters were attacking the undead assailants. Her guard remained up, however. She wasn't stupid enough to relax in the middle of something like this.

She trusted Terra to cover her back, as she was trying to protect everyone else's.

[unsentmonk]

Auron gave the Emperor a good, hard look, sizing him up. He wasn't about to attack unless they attacked the party head-on. He found it rather odd that the monsters were ravaging the undead. If these fiends didn't trust them, much less should the party. All this talk of Cosmos, however, was lost upon him but he didn't much care. They were here to get the stone and get out.

"Watch your backs," he growled quietly. "We can't get caught in the fray between the monsters and the undead."

[heartofheaven]

Tifa raised her fists, staring in growing alarm at the scene around her. They were practically surrounded - not good.

"Do you know where it is?" she asked Mateus. The Emperor had gotten here before them. Maybe he'd seen something, although Tifa didn't hold out much hope that they'd get the truth out of him.

[divineemperor]

Mateus watched as the group readied themselves to attack on a moments notice and silently renewed the same spells he'd cast on himself before he'd begun his fighting here as he answered the woman's question. "No. Not that I much care either really."

The time for games and facades was at an end for them unfortunately enough now that he'd made it to his goal. A silent order was given to the monsters near by as he raised a hand which was now holding a small blaze that was slowly but steadily growing over the his palm. The wolves that had been slinking into the area between the hero's and the undead now numbered easily three times the number of hero's before him and they were all staring at the said hero's and ready to move the moment the signal to move had been given.

"Besides, would you actually believe anything I told you now?"

[heavenslament]

Terra didn't bother responding to The Emperor at this point; the time for words was quickly coming to an end, anyway. There fore, she quickly cast a spell of her own--Teleport. It wouldn't take her allies too far away but at least they could get a head start....