Chrono Trigger: The Planeswalkers Chapter 29

Of Lavos Born

By Mox Jet

12,000 BC, Zeal Palace

"And that's how it is," Jack said, crossing his arms upon the completion of his story. He had recapped his tale, or at least what he knew of it, from beginning to end. He had left out the part about Magus, though. Jack believed that he owed it to his brother to allow him to operate as he had planned.

Schala took a few moments to take everything in. It was a lot of information and a slightly confusing story. Jack was shocked, however, to see that she looked to understand it. She sighed deeply.

"You were sent through time as a child," she said. "That means Lavos probably had an effect on it, since you know he has the capability to send people through time. Something around here will happen. Mother's plot is coming to fruition…and I'm being taken along for the ride."

"I'm…sorry about Greven," Jack said. "I wish I could have met him. From what I was told, he was a great man. I know he died shortly after I was born."

Schala was silent. "It's in the past," she said, her eyes diverting away from his. "There's nothing we can do about that now."

"That's not true," Jack corrected, pointing at her almost as if scolding a child. "We can get back at that son-of-a-bitch for what he's done." Schala looked at him intently. "Lavos was responsible for the death of Greven and the death of many others. My family in the future was killed by it, along with…many of my other friends and loved ones." He tried not to get caught in his words, resisting the sudden urge to cry.

"I will fight him to the death, Lathain," Schala said ominously. "But his power is unbelievable. I've clashed with it before. I…I couldn't defeat my mother then. I don't know why I would be able to fight her now."

"You've got some help now," Jack said with a smile. Schala returned the gesture to an extent, but found it hard to force the smile.

"Can I ask to hear about the Lavoid's main weapon?" she said.

"The Beams of Fire…" Jack mumbled. "I guess that's what he used to destroy my time. It-" he paused. "It killed so many. It killed my friend Sean with a similar weapon."

"I see," Schala said. "And why do you think YOU can fight such a weapon. As you said, the Lavoid fired its main weapon shortly after your battle with it. How do you wish to destroy him before he does that?"

"I don't even know if I can destroy it, Schala. His power is unbelievable. His combat potential…is much higher then mine, I believe. Even now, I don't know if I can fight him." He started to pace around the room. "But as for when…we need a plan for that. I would guess that he burrows himself deep in the earth."

"The Ocean Palace…" Schala said. Jack raised an eye. "The Ocean Palace is built to be as close to Lavos as we can get. If we could get through that, you might be able to get to the Lavoid."

Jack thought about it. "You would have to get me past the guards. I can't teleport to somewhere that I don't have a visual recognition of, unless it's a living being which I can lock on to the energy signature of."

"I…think I can do that," Schala said. "I don't know about getting past Dalton, though. He's been in bit of a cranky mood since that prophet showed up." True enough, the Queen's Guard Dalton had been a little peeved lately. This was understandably though, as the newly arrived prophet was snagging all of the good jobs from under his feet.

Jack nodded and sat down in one of the chairs that adorned 'his' room. At this moment, a servant with walked in with two glasses of the same drink that Jack had been given in Doreen's room. Quickly allowing Jack and Schala to each remove their drink of the serving tray, she hurried off.

Sipping slowly from his drink, Jack rested his head on the back of the chair. "Do you have a rough estimate of when the construction on the palace will be done?"

Schala thought about the answer for a moment. "We're running on schedule. I would imaging it would be done in a two weeks or so. I trust you would like to go in before it's operational?"

"Yes," Jack said with a sigh. "But I need the structure to be complete. I don't want to be dealing with magic in a structure that could collapse at any time. Plus, I'm sure they won't move that…machine…down until the end. Lavos's influence should be strongest once the machine that harnesses its energy is down there as well. Also, that will give me time to rest."

"I want to help you," Schala said. "But I think the best way I could help is by keeping Mother away from you while you do this. I still don't understand how you'll get to him, though…"

"By the same way I found you," Jack said, smiling.

"I don't understand," Schala admitted.

"I locked on your energy source," Jack said. "Well, actually, I locked onto an energy source that was similar to mine."

"And then you 'ported?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "Now, if I can get an idea of what Lavos's energy feels like, then I can probably teleport to him."

"The Mammon Machine," Schala said. "That has plenty of Lavoid Energy to it."

"Right," Jack agreed. "If I can get a feel from it there, I can probably transport myself to the area of deepest concentration."

Schala rose from her seat. "And that's your plan?" she asked. Jack nodded. Schala walked slowly around the room. "You think it will work?" she asked, sounding doubtful."

"Well, I can't just NOT do anything," he said, also getting up. He walked over to a nearby window. "And I think you need some time off," he added as an afterthought. "You've had a lot of pressure on you, Schala. We both have. I think we could both use a break."

"Mother wouldn't hear of it," Schala said, "but it's not like that's ever stopped me before." She smiled, which Jack had realized was a rare gesture from her. "What did you have in mind?" It was amazing how fast the two had bonded. It had only taken an hour or so, yet they already felt very close to each other. The fact that they each had such an understanding for the other's situation may have had a hand in it.

Jack gazed out of the window he was near. "What's that?" he asked, pointing outside towards some unseen point. Schala walked over to see what he was looking at.

"That?" she asked, pointing to the mass of land that was floating below the Main Continent, about five miles off to the east. There was a pyramidal blue building on it.

"Yeah," Jack said. "It looks interesting."

"That's the Northern Palace," she said. "They store the elemental weapons there, though I was never told what that meant."

"Well?" Jack asked. "What are we waiting for?"

"Huh?"

"Let's visit it," he said casually. "I'd like to check it out." Schala soon realized that in all of her years, she had never been inside of the Northern Palace and to be honest, it sounded fun. She hadn't had fun in a long time. Not since Greven died at any rate. Now, her younger brother (who was her age now) was back from a future he was sent to through some great disaster and suddenly she wanted to have fun? It didn't really make sense. It seemed like she had been dead inside for so long…

After thinking about it for a moment, Schala agreed. "Okay," she said. "I need to try to get away from this place anyway…"

"Great!" Jack said excitedly. "And there's someone I want you to meet. I think she'll like to come as well."

"The girl you're with?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "She's waiting for me in the room we're using. I'll 'port us there if you hold on." Schala shrugged. People didn't really ever 'port HER anywhere. Wordlessly, she stood next to him. Jack waved his hand slightly before transporting them back to where Sarah was waiting.

.

Same Time

Appearing with a blur and nearly scaring Sarah stiff, Jack and Schala found themselves in the room in Kajar.

"Jack?!" Sarah exclaimed, surprised to see him make such an entrance.

"Hey," he said. "I'm back. And, I brought someone that I'd like you to meet." Jack motioned to Schala who stepped forward and smiled. "This is Schala, Sarah. She's…my sister."

"How do you do?" Sarah asked, holding out her hand. Schala was taken slightly aback, but quickly realized that this was a greeting custom in Jack's time. She awkwardly accepted the hand and shook it.

"Hello," Scaha said.

In an odd new sensation, Jack heard Schala's voice in his head. She's pretty Schala said. Jack turned his head to her. She looked at him and smiled but didn't speak.

Jack made a facial expression as if to ask 'what?' Schala spoke in his head again. Oh, come on! she exclaimed. Don't pretend you don't know! Jack rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," Jack said, outloud, "Schala's gonna take us to some place called the Northern Palace."

"Reason?" Sarah asked.

"I think we need some relax time," Jack said. "And I think some exploration would be fun." Sarah shrugged.

"Okay," she agreed. "That does sound like fun, actually. And we've been working hard for the past week."

"That's the spirit!" Jack exclaimed. He turned to his sister. "Can you teleport us there?" Jack asked. Schala shook her head.

"No, there's a teleportation barrier. It's only accessible with special permission from the Queen."

"Really…" Jack said, grinning slightly. "Well, then we'll have to go the old fashioned way."

"We can't walk there, Lathain," Schala said.

"Oh, I'm not talking about walking," Jack said. Sarah understood but Schala didn't seem to get it. It was expected though. Force Tech was not commonplace in Zeal. "Just take my hand," he said, extending his hand to his sister. Hesitantly, she took hold to it. Jack smiled and nodded at Sarah, who flew out of the window first in a blast of Force Tech.

"Here we go!" Jack shouted, jumping out of the window and flying upwards. Schala gave a brief shout of shock and threw her other hand up to grab onto Jack.

"Lathain?!" she called up to him, somewhat in disbelief. "Are we flying!?" Jack looked down and smirked at her. Picking up speed to catch up to Sarah. He had already distributed energy to surround his sister, allowing her to fly without keeping direct contact with him, but she could figure it out for herself.

"That island over there," Jack said to Sarah, pointing to the island of the Northern Palace.

"What are we really going there for?" Sarah asked him.

"I don't know, Sarah. I just wanted to go there. Almost like I'm being called," he admitted. "And plus, I've been working hard for the past week or so, you know?" She smiled.

"No one deserves a break more than you, Jack."

"I can here you two," Schala called from below. "It's rude to exluce someone from a conversation," she said in a mock-scold.

"Then come up here and visit!" Jack said, pulling her up and letting her go. Her eyes went wide as he released her, but she soon realized that she was flying on her own.

"How am I doing this?" she asked.

"You're not," Jack said. "I'm doing it. Just relax and let me take care of it!" The trio flew through the sky of Zeal. They were flying about the clouds, save the few higher level ones which filled the sky like balls of cotton. The air was surprisingly crisp and clean, and the bad weather of the Earthbound Kingdom could only be view from above.

The Island loomed in the distance, growing larger in their vision as they came up on it. It looked to be simply a large plain with the building on one side. As they floated over the island itself, the blue building proved to be much more intricate than it looked from farther away, the detailed constructions now coming into view. An odd sense of energy was being emitted from around the building. Jack noticed it. Schala noticed it too. It felt very much like the energy Jack had associated with the Zeal family, judging from the energies that both he and his sister gave off.

Finally floating down and landing on the plain about two hundred yards in front of the Palace, Jack released Schala from his Force Tech 'envelope' and released his excess energy. Dusting themselves off, Sarah grinned.

"You don't do that every day, do ya?" she asked Schala. Schala slowly shook her head, the rush of the moment seeming to have passed through her already.

"Now what do you want to do?" she asked Jack.

Jack shrugged. "Let's check it out," he said, grinning. "I feel strangely attracted to that building."

The group walked forward across the empty plane. A cold wind blew across the land, causing Jack and Schala to shudder temporarily. Jack's hair, nearly waste length, kicked up rapidly in the wind.

"The Black Wind howls," Jack said, rubbing his arms.

"Worse then usual," Schala commented. As the got closer and closer to the building though, the Wind increased, highly disconcerting both of the royal children.

"Jack," Sarah said with a sudden intensity. "Would you mind explaining what you meant when you said you were being called here." Sarah was quickly assembling the potential importance of the situation.

"I'm not sure," Jack said. "I just looked at the building from Schala's room and I felt as if I had to go there. You know, like I was being pulled there?"

"Anything like the force that pulled you everywhere else you've gone?" Sarah asked, now getting worried.

"…Maybe," Jack admitted.

"What does she mean, Lathain," Schala asked. "Would you mind explaining?"

"We think Sarah's got a knack for fortune telling," Jack said, slightly jokingly. "And we've both seen this trend before."

"Where you're being pulled somewhere?" Schala asked.

"It's like something totally unexplainable has some goals set out for me," Jack said. "I…I just can't explain it."

"You'll know soon enough!" Blasted the deep and seemingly villainous voice of some unseen origin. The voice seemed to echo everywhere. It had no point of concentration, it just seemed to fill the heads of the trio. The quickly examined their surroundings to find what was going on, but this proved a useless task.

"This whole 'voice from nowhere' bit is getting a little old!" Jack yelled to no one. "Why can't you people just come out and talk like regular humans!"

"Because, I'm not human…Lathain!" There was a snicker in the tone of the voices. Then, a figure appeared before the group. He was human looking, aside from his blue-tinted skin and lack of a nose. His hair was replaced with studs of flesh that ran down his back. A wry smirk spread across his face.

Hand shot to weapons in an instant, and the Dreamblade was quickly out of it's sheath. Its metal blade was glowing the light that reflected off of the Northern Palace.

"Who are you," Jack asked dimly, narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow as he readied his blade. "And what do you want with me?" Jack's companions remained silent. Jack quickly scanned the new presence. His energy…its signature…they're almost identical to… His inner monologue was cut off by the creature's voice.

"I am more alike you then you know, Lathain," came the arrogant, creepy speech of the funny looking creature. "But don't worry. All will be explained. You could say that this explanation is my sole purpose, in a way."

"What do you want?" Sarah asked.

"I was sent here to deliver a message, my good Farseer," the creature. Sarah did not understand the title, but ignored it. The creature continued to speak. "The message is from my creator. After I deliver this message and you," he pointed to Jack, "make a choice, your fate will be determined!"

"Again," Jack said, now growing annoyed. "Who are you?" The creature began to walk towards him.

"Oh ye of Lavos Born," the creature addressed him. "Do you know what happens when a human gives himself to a Lavoid?" Jack slowly shook his head. The creature continued. "One who was once human can be overwhelmed with Lavoid energy, warping his body and mind into what you see before you!" he exclaimed.

The Group was taken aback. "But why?" Schala finally said. "Why would you want to become that?"

"Power!" the creature exclaimed. "To become one with the immortal Lavos! Do understand the power involved with that! Neither you the Farseer or the one of the Nooze can understand, but you!" he pointed to Sarah, then Schala, then Jack in succession as he spoke. "You understand! You understand more than any of us!"

"What the hell do you mean," Jack said with his teeth grit. He was now prepared to strike at the moment this creature made a move.

"I am the result of a fusion between a once-human and a Lavoid. Did you ever wonder where all of the Earthbounders disappeared to? I'll bet you just thought they were constructing the Ocean Palace!"

"You were being sacrificed?" Schala asked.

"Sacrificed?!" the creature shouted. "I am a Farilii! I was not a sacrifice. I was a choice to be given to Lavos in the creation of a mighty soldier!"

Jack stepped forward. "Okay, buddy. You're annoying me. Tell me what you have to tell me so I can kill you and get it over with."

"My, my, what a temper," the creature said, laughing again. He began to float and hovered around them. "Did you ever stop to wonder what 'Of Lavos Born' meant, Lathain?! Did you think it just meant you were born in the time of a Lavoid?!"

"What are you getting at?!" Jack yelled at the floating beast. "What do you mean?!"

"You live with the Immortal Lavos! His very life courses through you. The Lavoid energy of his existence gave you life!" he shouted at Lathain. "You are his son!!"

Jack too a moment to try to comprehend what the Farilii could be saying. He cocked his head sideways in confusion. "W-what?! Impossible!" Jack yelled at him. "That doesn't make any sense! I'm a human! How the hell can I be the son of a such a thing!?"

The Farilii laughed maniacally. "The rest…is for you to figure out, Lathain, son of Lavos, Destroyer of Worlds and Walker of Planes!"

"Impossible…" Jack said again, not understanding the situation at all. "You're insane!!"

"Am I, though?" It laughed again. "Come, Lathain! Fight me! Show me what such a creature can do! Show me the energy of the Lavoid that courses through you in almost the same way it courses through your dead sister!"

Same way?! Jack said to himself. We have the same energy? What does he mean 'dead sister?' What has Schala not told me? And why does this creature's energy match the energy of Schala?!

"Should we attack, Jack?" Sarah questioned. Jack finally snapped out of it, lifting his sword again and beginning to gather Winds of Magic to his command.

"No," Jack said, holding out a hand. "Leave it to me. This one is mine…"

"Good! Good! Show me what you can do!" the creature shouted at him, flying higher up from his floating position and preparing to attack.

"All right, punk," Jack mumbled. "No on insults me like that and gets away with it…" Lifting his hand into the air, a large stream of wind spin around him. "Giga Volt!" he shouted. The sky around his opponent began to turn black as clouds began to form and swirl in a spiral. The Black Wind howled across the plain and massive amounts of Lightning fell from the sky to strike his enemy. The Farilii went into a violent fit as the bolts struck him. When the spell dissipated, he was still flying in the air above, smoking, but otherwise unharmed.

"You'll have to do better than that!" He screamed diabolically before firing a spell of his own. "Burst Rondo!" he screamed as millions of shards of light shot down at Jack, leaving him with little chance to dodge.

"Balus Wall!" Jack shouted, pushing his arms forward and then spreading them apart as he created a wall which deflected the magic off to either side. He quickly countered. "Shadow Flare," he said, drawing a rune in the air with his left forefinger as a tremendous quantity of shadow energy gathered into the beast, exploding outward. Once again, though, he was not bothered.

Flying towards the Farilii, Jack drew his hand back, gathering a bluish glow into it. "Balus Rod!" he yelled, using a technique similar to the defensive spell he had just cast, this time to create a rod which functioned as a whip. The blue 'rod' formed in his hand with a cackle of energy. Flying quickly at his enemy, he snapped the whip out, latched onto the Farilii, and then threw him into the ground as the spell dissipated.

"Explosion Array!" Jack yelled, pointing to the ground with his forefinger and middle finger and then spinning his hand around pointing up. He attacked with an Earth spell which caused a small section of the ground to explode upward, just as the Farilii was crashing into it. The creature was blasted into the air where Jack launched yet another spell at it.

"Rune Flare!!" he screamed. As a modification of the original Flare spell, Jack launched a concentrated spear of pure fire energy at his opponent. The air around the spell buckled under the heat as the spear careened towards the Farilii. The Farilii simply put up one hand at the last minute to block. Upon contact, large concentric circles of expended energy exploded outward, creating a heat wave which Jack was able to feel even at the distance that he hovered away from his enemy. When the explosion cleared, the Farilii floated. He was singed, smoking, and panting, but his magical resistance had held up. Jack floated back to the ground, breathing slightly heavy.

"Still not good enough!" it said, flying off to the right and swinging his right arm upward, causing the ground beneath Jack to shoot upwards. Jack took flight and avoided the attack, now finally gathering Force Tech energy. The only way left to bypass his magical resistance seemed to be a direct attack.

"You know," Jack said, buying some time as the glow around him increased in intensity. "You're not bad…but I can't figure out why my attacks aren't working on you." The Farilii smiled an arrogant smile. Jack continued as the glow around him shifted from bright blue to dark blue to dark purple. "So I figure I'm gonna need to draw from some higher power source…or power my spells a little more." Gritting his teeth, he prepared for the next level in Force Tech achievement.

"Oh no," Sarah said, while she was watching from the ground. "He's going for the next level! Damn it, Jack!" she yelled at him. "You can't do it! You'll kill yourself!"

Jack looked down at Sarah and gave her a smirk of assurance before gathering the final amount energy. He clenched his fists and screamed loudly as the wind that was blowing away from him began to push the Farilii away. The bright purple color pulsated as it increased in intensity. Then, he reached the final point. The light he was emitting suddenly flashed bright white, causing a momentarily blinding flash. The Farilii covered his eyes, as did the spectators on the ground below. When they reopened their eyes, Jack was still floating above them, except it hurt to look at him. He was emitting a color which Sarah had never seen given off by a Force Tech user before. To stare at him was similar to looking at a sun, the white-hot heat given off by his body mimicking that of the stars themselves. Ultra-violet light. Jack McKlane had gone 'white.' The Force Tech degree of 50.

Unknown to Sarah, though, he had actually far exceeded 50. His current Force Degree stood somewhere in the area of 85, a combat factor multiplier of over 20. Jack confidently lifted the Dreamblade and touched a small button. Then, grasping the metal blade and removing it, he tossed it the ground below. He the focused on the blade and the channeled some of that 85th degree of Force Tech energy through the weapon. The ruby-red blade came to life, pulsing with power. Every now and then, waves of black shot through the blade, as the inner magic of its user were focused there.

The Farilii stood confused, staring at his opponent for a second. Then, with a blur, Jack was no longer there. Looking around frantically, he couldn't find his opponent. By the time he finally did see Jack, it was too late. The human had reappeared above him, coming down with the blade. The Farilii tried to avoid the attack, but was unable to get completely away. As Jack brought the blade down, he completely severed off his enemy's left arm, ripping the blade from the shoulder down through where the stomach of a normal human would sit. Black slush gushed out of the open wound as the Farilii screamed.

After passing by the Farilii, Jack looked upward and jetted back at his enemy. Again, he was too quick to be avoided, this time cutting the lower portion of the monster off of it's upper portion. The dead legs fell to the ground below as blood and spinal fluid dripped out of the wound. Again, the Farilii screamed.

Speaking with great pain in his voice, the Farilii spoke. "You are what they say," the Farilii said, wincing in pain but not dying. "He was right when he said you could destroy one of my kind easily. You're…too fast."

Jack deactivated the sword and hooked the silenced handle on his belt. He stood in the sky, float across from the Farilii, waiting patiently for the thing of Lavos to make its next move. The Farilii did move though, letting out a short shout and in an instant, his arm and legs were suddenly there again. Through a sickening slush, the previously dismembered limbs seemed to grow out of the remains of its body.

"But," the Farilii continued. "The only way to destroy something that courses with Lavoid energy is to summon the power of something even more powerful! That is why your spells do not effect me, Lathain."

"What the?" Jack said, reaching to the Dreamblade again but instead being nailed by an oncoming hail of lightning from the Farilii's hands. The bolts nailed him dead center in the chest, electrifying him. His body convulsed as the spell resolved and small tendrils of steam rose from his torso.

The Farilii quickly followed up his attack. "Flare Bit!" it yelled, launching a series of round balls of energy at Jack. The youth jetted off to the right, trying to dodge, but the spell eventually caught up with him, sending him careening into the ground.

"Dug Haut!" the Farilii yelled, raising his hand into the air. The earth below Jack submitted to the Farilii's will, causing great spikes of stone to shoot up from the ground. After being nearly impaled, Jack rolled out of the way. Unfortunately, he rolled onto another spike which tore through him neatly in the right shoulder. He screamed in pain as the stone continued to rise with him nailed to the top of it.

Ripping himself off of the stone and clutching his shoulder, Jack managed to finally fly away before being nailed again by a Fire II spell, then a Wind III spell. Soon, he found himself blasted into the ground again, smoking, smothered and smashed.

"Damn…" Jack muttered. "How am I gonna beat Lavos if I can't even off his little punk…" he held his hand to his open shoulder, muttering some magic words and forming the Winds into a healing spell. The wound was deep, though, tearing completely through him, and it would take a bit to completely heal. "I'm gonna have to play hide-and-seek until I heal." Quickly, he eyed a small hill off in the distance and teleported himself there. Ducking low to the ground to avoid detection, he continued to heal.

"Where are you, Lavos Born?" the Farilii yelled in taunt as he searched the landscape for the hiding Jack. Floating around in the sky, he tried to draw Jack out. "You know, if you don't come and fight me, I'm gonna have my way with your lady friends over here!"

Jack winced, knowing he was putting Sarah and Schala in danger. He would have to come up with something to do, and quickly at that. Continuing with his healing, Jack jumped out of cover. Holding one hand to his shoulder, he lifted the other into the air.

"Lighting!" he yelled. Usually used to light dark passageways, Jack compacted the light spell to a high powered light flash that was only momentary. Closing his own eyes, he also managed to temporarily blind the Farilii. As the Farilii covered his eyes with his hands, Jack drew the Dreamblade with his free hand and launched himself at his enemy.

Jack rushed the enemy, now channeling all of his Force Tech energy into the blade. The blade pulsed with the sheer power, fluctuating in color as all of Jack's absorbed Force Tech was poured into it. The glow around Jack quickly diminished in color as the energy entered the Dreamblade. Growing to nearly six feet in length, the Dreamblade howled as Jack drew it into striking position.

The Farilii finally uncovered his eyes, but it was too late as far as Jack was concerned. Its eyes opened to only see the flash of the Dreamblade come across its field of vision. Then, its vision went blank as the Dreamblade passed through its neck and the head was sliced off in a bloody fountain.

Jack flew past the decapitated Farilii, coming to a rest a few feet behind the body. Jack sheathed the Dreamblade and turned around. He looked at the headless body, and realized that it was still floating in the air. Then, he could have sworn he heard someone laughing. He gazed in horror as the head of the Farilii regenerated just as his legs had regenerated before.

"No way!" Jack cursed. The Farilii laughed.

"Not that easy, friend," the Farilii said. Jack suddenly felt faint. He clutched his not-completely-healed shoulder as he struggled to stay in the air.

"Damn…" he muttered under his breath. "He's good. I'm gonna have to fry his entire body at once with a spell more powerful than his own energy source. To top that off, I don't know where I'm gonna get that energy, unless…"

"So how will you kill me?" the Farilii asked. "To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I figured that a great Son of Lavos would be stronger than this!"

Jack smiled weakly. "You know, I just remembered something I read somewhere?" he asked the Farilii rhetorically. "You see, I used to think that 'shadow' magic was the same thing as 'black' magic." The Farilii almost twitched at the mention of 'black' magic. "Anyway," Jack went on. "As it turns out, 'shadow' magic is simply the use of the Black Wind in a form of elemental magic."

"What are you getting at, Lavos Born?" the asked.

"Patience, my poor test subject," Jack said, wincing in pain and breathing heavily. The Farilii wondered what he meant by 'test subject.' "Anyway, did you know that beyond this world exist something which could only be described as Gods? Now, there are good Gods and there are bad Gods, as there is a 'good' and 'bad' everything. To continue with this, I learned from a book which I recently acquired that you can draw from the power of these good and bad Gods, forming it into a magic spell. Hence, this leads to what you may have heard of as Black and White magic."

"What did you mean by test subject?" the Farilii asked.

Jack smirked, speaking again after coughing up a spatter of blood.. "Simple. Now, I became quite interested in this Black magic, the magic of drawing on the Dark Gods. So, I decided to learn a particular spell. Apparently, it was used in eras past to slay Dragons, giving it the name Dragon Slay. However, over the years, it's name became muddled from Dragon Slay to Dragon 'Slave.'" The Farilii's eyes went wide.

"You know the Dragon Slave?" it asked in betrayal of his fear. "How is that possible? I didn't think there were any recordings of it on this planet."

"Seems your master was uninformed," Jack said. "To finish my speech, the downside to these spells is that they typically require the chanting of magic words, which adds to their casting time. But, I'm sure you know these words by pretty well, eh? You see, to destroy something like you, one needs to possess energy from a more powerful source. This, to say the least, would provide such a source."

"No!" the Farilii shouted, now actually showing fear. "You don't know what your doing!" Does he really know this spell? Can he cast it in his weakened state or is he just bluffing? Jack ignored him, chanting the words which he had committed to memory over the past days.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of Time, is where your power grows." Jack lifted his hands above his head and a small ball of energy began to accumulate there.

"No!" the Farilii pleaded again, fully aware that Jack was not bluffing. He would have to try and dodge it. Jack continued.

"I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand, before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Now, may the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"

"Oh God!" the Farilii shouted, cowering in fear, holding up arms to defend as he flew off to the right.

"Dragon Slave!!" Jack shouted, trusting his hands forward. Aiming to where the Farilii would be by the time the spell traveled the correct distance, the ball of energy he was forming suddenly exploding outward into a larger ball. It briefly began shooting out streams which circled the ball for a moment before finally converging and blasting outward in a stream of red and black energy.

The stream exploded forward, energy streaming from his hands as the beam scorched the sky, contacting the Farilii at the exact point that Jack had predicted and burning through him easily. A large explosion ensued, creating a ball of fire which grew outward until it finally dissipated into nothingness. Highly drained of energy from the casting of such a new and powerful spell, Jack collapsed to the ground, somewhat less then gracefully. Sarah and Schala came over to him.

"Jack!" Sarah shouted. Jack was kneeling on the floor. Sarah reached down and hoisted his right arm over her shoulder, helping him to get up. "Why did you go and do that?" she asked.

Jack smiled weakly. "I…I just wanted to try that neat little spell out."

"It's awfully powerful," Schala said. "Better then anything I've created or read much about."

"It will be mighty useful when I can use it with out draining so much of my energy…" Jack admitted. "But," he said. "Schala, I need to know a few things. I need to know why he called you my 'dead' sister."

Schala sighed. "Of course. I'm a little surprised that Doreen didn't tell you, but no matter. Let's get you back to Kajar, and I'll tell you all about it." Jack nodded.

"And speaking of the Finori," Sarah said, "we should get her to anchor the weapons. Not that it looks like you need it, but it will still be useful." Jack nodded again. Then slowly, Sarah carried both of them into the air and back to Zeal.

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"So, you've got other, smaller spells besides that overkill Dragon Slave thingy?" -Gourry Gabriev

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