Young Writers Society

(This chapter was actually a little boring for me to write, so when I got to the fight at the end I was zoning in and out. But if you want to understand the things that will happen later in the story you have to read this chapter! Without it, it'll seem like I left stuff open for plot-holes, or as I like to call them, "Literary Paradoxes.")

Laguna, Kiros, Ward and Eric are seen walking through a mountainous region. The path is riddle with rocks and weeds. They came to a cliff edge with a path running down the side of the mountain. In the valley below they see a large ruined black and blue structure.

“Kiros, you sure this is the place?” Ward asked.

“Positive.”

“I don’t wanna be patrolling the wrong place, like last time.”

“Knowing our brainless leader that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Eric pointed out.

Laguna faced the others and bowed his head apologetically. “Ahh, sorry… This ain’t the place.”

“I knew it!” Eric yelled. “He always does this to us! I keep telling you guys to let me keep the map but nooooo, you have to let this idiot carry it! I mean come on, how many times is this guy gonna get us lost before the higher-ups kick our asses out of the army!?”

“Calm down, Eric. It was a simple mistake. Give him a break, he’s been pretty stressed out lately.” Eric crossed his arms and started mumbling obscenities to himself. Kiros turned to Laguna and said, “This is it. Let’s go, commander.”

“…Hold on a sec.” Laguna pulled out the map and looked at it. He started rubbing his head, embarrassed. “I brought the wrong map.”

“You see? This is exactly what I’m talking about!” Eric shouted.

Laguna ignored him and looked into the valley at the ruined structure. “Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this. Seriously, I have a BAAAD feeling…! There’s somethin’ fishy goin’ on here!”

Eric mumbled to himself, “It’s called ‘our captain is an idiot’.”

“You know what the old folks say, the unfamiliar always happens…”

“You mean… ‘unexpected’, right?’ Kiros asked.

Ward added, “You only got the ‘un’ part right.”

“Aah, shut up! Stop your clamorin’ and make sure all your gear’s equipped. Now, let’s move out!” Together they ran down the mountain path. As Laguna ran his head was bend over and looking at the ground.

They approached the ruined structure. They entered what seemed to be a factory of some sort. There were conveyor belts here and there that moved dirt and rocks from one place to another.

Laguna stopped and placed his hand on his head. “But seriously… This place sure is strange… What the heck is this big pile of rocks? You think these are natural rocks used for carving tombstones?”

“If I don’t get something to drink after all this you’re going to need one.” Eric warned him.

Kiros sighed and said, “Who knows… or cares?”

“Speaking of strange…” Ward asked, “Why have you been running around so strange?”

“Strange…? What do you mean strange? Just bein’ cautious. That’s the basic rule of thu-”

A loud crash sounded in the distance. An Esthar soldier clad in light blue armour approached. He carried a sword/gun that looked like a scythe. His helmet had big eyes that made him look like an alien.

“…Hey? Looks like we’ve got company. Esthar soldiers. Still wearin’ those flashy uniforms.”

Another crash sounded from behind. Three more Esthar soldiers had snuck up behind them. Eric took out his two katanas and said, “Leave these two to me, I need a fight to help me let off some steam!”

Eric ran up to the first soldier. As he ran his body stayed low. The enemy brought up his weapon to attack. Eric blocked the attack with one of his swords and plunged the other through the soldier’s chest. He pulled away just in time to see one of the other soldiers pointing the gun part of his weapon at him. Because of Eric’s quick reflexes he was able to redirect the bullet with his sword. He ran up to the enemy. He used his first strike to knock the weapon out of the enemy’s hand and the second to rip open the soldier’s chest. The last soldier ran up behind Eric in an attempt to catch him flat footed. Eric switched his grip on his swords and stabbed them backwards just as the soldier was about to attack. Both swords skewered him in the gut.

Eric kicked one of the dead soldiers before he joined the others. He saw more soldiers coming down the mountain. “Great, just great. Here come more of ‘em.”

“Better make a run for it!” Laguna said. Together they went further into the facility.

They came to a passage down into the ground. The only way to go any further was to use the ladder. One-by-one they climbed down. Once on the bottom they found themselves in a large, blue crystalline tunnel. There were metal parts riddling the ground and the walls were lined with machines here and there, indicating that this place had been some sort of excavation site.

Further down the tunnel they came across three closed trap doors. The middle one made a clicking sound when they walked over it. Laguna kneeled down and looked at the door’s latch. “Hmm…? The lever on the hatch is loose… I know! If we use this some stubborn Esthar fool won’t be able to come after us!”

“What the heck are you up to?” Kiros asked.

“Something stupid again, I bet.” Ward added.

Eric crossed his arms and sighed. “Knowing Laguna that’s exactly what it is.”

Laguna stood up. “You guys… You’re gonna regret sayin’ that. They say, one who makes fun of a genius will end up cryin’ in the end.” They all stared at Laguna, confused.

“Please don’t say stuff like that. It sickens me.” Eric told him.

“Erghhhhhh! Just shut up! ANYWAY! The lever for this hatch is broken. So if we just loosen it a bit more…”

“When they come after us from that side and…” Kiros said.

“YES! Youuu guessed it! They’ll walk over it without expecting a thing! Then, all of a sudden, WHOOPS! …And down they go.” Laguna placed his hands on his hips in a proud gesture. “I have to admit, I really am a genius.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Eric said, “but that is the first thing I’ve heard you say all day that didn’t sound completely idiotic.”

“…Hah…” Ward said, “like Esthar soldiers are really going to fall for a trap like that.”

“We won’t know until we try! And those who never try will never know!”

“I told you to stop talking like that!” Eric shouted.

Laguna ignored him. “So… I’m gonna do it! Just remember, if we tamper with the lever, we won’t be able to make it back on this side. It’d be idiotic to fall for our own trap…” Laguna pointed at Eric. “Not a word!”

“…Spoil sport.”

Laguna kneeled down beside the latch. “So, here it goes. You guys, stand back.” Laguna fiddled with the latch until he loosened it as much as he needed to. “There!” He joined the others. “Now let’s get going!”

Together they went further into the tunnel. About half a minute later they heard the trapdoor snap, followed by a surprised yelp. Eric looked over his shoulder and said, “Well, what do you know? He actually did something useful for a change.”

A few minutes later they came across a large boulder and a device stuck to the floor. Laguna stopped to look at it. “The heck’s this? A blue and red switch, and two fuses…?”

Kiros crossed his arms. “A detonator? You know…”

“Ohhh, I get it. The short blue fuse is for that boulder…” he pointed to the boulder beside them. “And the long red fuse is for the boulder we passed earlier?”

“Hey, man…! Are you crazy!?” Ward exclaimed. “You don’t even know how powerful that thing will be!”

Laguna reassured him, “Ahh, I bet it’s not all that. The detonator’s right here, so as long as we stay behind it, we’ll be all right.”

“Well…, I guess so…”

Eric warned Laguna, “Just remember, if you get us all killed I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Laguna kneeled down to inspect the fuses. “Let’s see… What to do…” He pressed the red switch for the boulder further down the path. He stood up and said to the others, “The bomb blast won’t reach us here. Just stay put.”

KABOOM!!!

The explosion was so loud it shook the entire cave. Laguna fell over because of the vibrations in the ground.

When it was over Kiros said, “That was… awfully loud.”

“Lucky we were here.” Ward pointed out.

Laguna got back to his feet. “That’s what I told you before! You should always check how powerful the thing could be…”

Eric glared at him. “Ward said that, you idiot.”

Laguna rubbed his head, embarrassed. “…Uh…Ah…Hm… Anyway, we’re all still alive, right!?” Laguna kneeled down beside the detonator. “Now let’s do the next one.” He pressed the switch. Quickly he got back to his feet and shouted, “It’s gonna blow! Run for it!!!” They all ran as fast as they could further into the tunnel. They found a small formation of rocks they could use as shelter from the blast. They jumped behind it and covered their ears.

Boom!

The blast was so small they could barely hear it. They boulder rolled slowly through the tunnel, gaining speed after each rotation. Screams could be heard further in the tunnel as the boulder chased away some Esthar soldiers.

Ward: “I was expecting a blast of some sort…”

Kiros: “That was… awfully quiet.”

Laguna pointed at them “See! I told you! I told you it wasn’t all that powerful!”

Eric just looked at him. “…You’re an idiot.”

Further in the tunnel Laguna stopped when he saw a boulder sticking through the wall. He curiously pushed it with his finger. Laguna jumped back when the boulder rolled away into the small tunnel in the wall. Further away they could hear the shouts of the Esthar soldiers.

“Phew, that was close…” Laguna said.

Ward crossed his arms. “Geez… You have to go around touching everything like a kid, don’t you?”

“If you do one more thing like that so help me, Laguna, I’m gonna kill you!” Eric warned him.

“WHATEVER-MAN!” Laguna shouted. “Thanks to ME, those Esthar soldiers and that rock are history. It’s like killing two pigs with one stone. I am just so awesome… Genius, I tell you…”

“Pigs…?” Ward said, questionably.

Kiros asked, “Don’t you mean… birds?”

After what seemed like hours of setting traps and running from Esthar soldiers they finally made it to the other side. In front of them they saw the ocean stretching miles and miles away over the horizon.

A group of Esthar soldiers came up behind them, their weapons drawn.

Laguna: “Don’t tell me…”

Kiros: “Of all the worst possible…”

Ward: “…Predicaments?”

Eric: “Lets just kill em’ already!”

Everyone picked out their targets. There were two targets for each of them, except Eric who had to fight three. Eric brought out his swords and charged up to the first enemy. These soldiers were trained much better than the others they had encountered. The enemy blocked the attack, causing Eric to lose his balance. The soldier lifted his weapon and pointed the gun part at him. Eric moved just in time to avoid being shot in the head, but the bullet glazed his arm and took off a piece of his armour.

The other two aimed their weapons and started shooting, too. Eric quickly dashed to the right. Each of the bullets came very close to hitting him. He felt one of them wiz past his face. He jumped and planted his feet into a nearby rock formation. Before gravity pulled him back to the ground he pushed off and flew over the group he was fighting. He landed in the middle of the three of them.

He brought his swords up into the first soldier’s chest. Blood shot out of the wound like a sprinkler. He spun around and kicked the second enemy’s weapon out of his hand. With the same motion he brought his sword up and through the soldier’s shoulder. A loud crack sounded from behind Eric.

White-hot pain shot up his back and through his body when the third Esthar soldier shot him. He looked over his shoulder at the soldier. He pulled his sword out of the other guy and faced his new victim. Eric’s body was engulfed in a golden light. He held both swords to his side and yelled, “Demon Killer!”

In a flash of light Eric had disappeared and reappeared on the other side of his enemy. Thousands of cuts exploded all over the soldier’s body. He fell limply to the ground and lay motionless.

Eric dropped his swords and fell to his knees. He was left weak from the attack and the bullet wound in his back caused him a great amount of pain. He saw the others had finished fighting and were suffering from similar wounds. He weakly crawled to join them.

They all lay on the edge of the cliff over looking the ocean. In the bay below they saw boats.

“Look, the ocean… We’re saved!” Laguna announced happily. “Lady Luck is on our side! We can escape to Galbadia!!!”

Kiros smiled as he said, “One would say we’ve been run down… That’s what they’d normally say…”

“Don’t say that. It might come true. Didn’t your grandmother tell you that?”

“…If you say something bad… It will come true… yeah, I think she did.”

Ward groaned in pain as he tried to say something.

“What’d you say?” Laguna asked.

Kiros told him, “I think… his throat… was injured… He lost… his voice.”

“It…wa…fu…you…” Ward wheezed every word.

Laguna kneeled beside him. “Say again?”

“It…was…fun…you…guys…La…guna…Ki…ros…E…ric…It…was…fun…”

“Ward, that’s way uncool. It’s not cool to say things like that. Just for that, you’re getting’ the cuchi-cuchi treatment!” Laguna started tickling him. “How’s that, huh!? Want more!? Well!?”

Ward stayed silent.

“WHOA!!!” Laguna gasped as he finally noticed the boats. “Check it out, a boat! We’re getting’ on!”

“A…vessel…They’d…normally…call…it…” Kiros told him.

“Boat, vessel, whatever. We’re going back to Galbadia!” Laguna helped Kiros to his feet, and then he pushed him off the cliff into the water below. He picked up Ward and did the same. Next he went to Eric.

“You’re not throwing me off that damn cliff!” Eric warned him as he got back to his feet.

“Suit yourself.” Laguna looked over the cliff edge and shouted to his friends, “You guys… sure have guts! You know how high this cliff is…!?” He kneeled down and looked for a safe way to climb down.

Eric heard a noise behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the Esthar soldier he stabbed in the shoulder was still alive. Eric looked back at Laguna. He began to think of all the times he had gotten them into trouble, how he almost got them all killed. For the first time, he began to feel real hatred towards him.

Eric ran up to Laguna and pushed him off the cliff. “Oh shi- no way! AHHHHHH!!!”

Eric watched as Laguna hit the water. He turned around and went over to the Esthar soldier. He grabbed the front of his armour and pulled him to his feet so he could look him in the eyes.

“If you value your life you’ll take me to your superiors.”