Subj: [ffml] Re: [MW] Ascension, Part I (revised) Date: 99-02-05 22:53:46 EST From: RaumKatze2@AOL.COM Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com To: ffml@onelist.com From: RaumKatze2@aol.com "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine." -Obi Wan Kenobi The next morning - 2:33 AM - At the Moogle Camp... Kumar, as always, was diligently guarding his post. He was relaxed. He knew that the human army would not dare attack the Moogle Camp, after what Drugga had done to their leader in the battle the day before. He daydreamed about the good times that the moogles would have after the war. His concentration was broken by another moogle, babbling incoherently, shaking violently, and generally panicing. It was Kufym, another sentry. Kumar: 'Fym, what's going on? Why aren't you at your post? Kufym: I-I-I-I-Mog's-he-he-he-h... Bacca! Aghh! Kumar: Pull yourself together! What about Mog? What about Bacca? Kufym (panting rapidly): I-I-I-I.... Kumar: Calm down, tell me what happened. Why did you leave your post? Kufym took a few deep breaths. Kufym (Somewhat calmer now): Okay, I had been guarding the halls of the makeshift fort. I was in the hallway between the Room of the Horny, and the chamber of Emporer Mog. I saw Mog when he walked from the horny room to his chamber. He looked very depressed. After that, it had been an uneventful, very peaceful night. Leaning against the wall, I had nearly fallen asleep when I could have sworn I saw a human figure walking in the direction of Mog's chamber. At first I assumed it was one of Mog's new prospective queens, Tojo Mojo, but he... yes, it was a male, I'm sure of it. He looked to be of stronger build than Tojo. So anyway, after I thought I saw this shadowy figure, I went toward's Mog's chamber. His door was locked, and there was no human in sight. I thought maybe I had imagined the whole thing in my state of half-sleep. But it had seemed so real, so I knocked on Mog's door and said, 'I'm sorry to bother you, Sir, but are you alright?' I waited for a moment, but there was no responce, so a wrapped at the door again, and called him again, louder this time, but I still got no responce. At this point I was very fearful for the safetey of or leader and-and-and... Kumar: Slow down, tell me what happened, slowly. Kufym: I'm sorry. Okay, so I kicked the door open, because I feared for our Emporer's life. And what I saw...... Kufym became faint. Kumar could see that he was about to collapse. He caught Kufym in his arms and layed him down, and gave him a sip of water from his canteen. Kufym: Oh God... I don't want think about what I saw... Just go there and see for youself! Then Kufym went into an uncontrollable fit of weeping. Kumar told him to shut up, but to no avail, so he bashed him over the head with a nearby rock, not hard enough to kill him, but enough to knock him out, so that he wouldn't wake any sleeping moogles. Kumar went off towards Mog's quarters. The closer he got, the more frightened he got? What sight could possibly be so horrible that it would turn the normally calm and quiet Kufym into the babbling lunatic he had just dealt with. He arrived at the hallway leading to Mog's room. Kumar walked nearer, closed his eyes, and braced himself for whatever awaited. He opened his eyes and nearly did not beleive what he saw. Mog was nowhere to be seen. There were scorch marks on the wall, smoldering, and there, on the floor, was Bacca, dead. Bacca was cut and bruised. There was a look of absolute shock on his face. Kumar was so frightened. He turned away, and ran back to where Kufym was. He was still out cold. Kumar splashed him with the remaining water in his canteen. Kufym awoke, he was grogy. Kufym: Ahhhh..... Wha.... Wha' happened? Kumar: Kufym, Mog's missing! What will we do?! Kufym (with regained composure): I don't know. But we can't let anyone else know. If the moogle army finds out, they will surely panic and riot. Kumar: Not only that, but if the Dark Alliance finds out, one of them would surely try to take Mog's place as ruler of the moogles. Kufym: That would be an outrage! We cannot allow that. Kumar: Then what do we do?? Kufym: I don't know... I don't know.... ------- 53 minutes earlier, in Vector... Bacca lay alone in his room. He wished LP was at his side, but he knew that it would be selfish of him to keep her to himself when she should be healing soldiers wounded in battle. As he was thinking about this, he realized that he was not alone. There was someone else in the room with him. It was a soldier, not a Henriksen, but one of Bacca's non-Henriksen troops. He looked to be badly hurt, but his facial expression and the way he carried himself didn't show it. Bacca thought he locked his door, but he assumed that he must not have. Bacca: How did you get here? And for that matter, why are you here, and not with Lady Paladin and the other healers? You look like you could use a healing. The man stepped closer to Bacca. On closer look, the man's wounds looked worse than Bacca first thought they were. Bacca: My God, man! How are you still alive with wounds like... The man put a hand on Bacca's forehead. Bacca felt fear. Then he felt nothing. Nothing, that is, except for purpose. Purpose to deliver the culmination of all of his heritage, and to assist the one who was responsible for the fact that he was still alive. Not Schala, or even Lavos, but the one who acted with them, the one who gives and takes the essence of life as some people run out of time, and others need more. The man dropped dead at Bacca's feet. Bacca left. --------- The next morning, when Lady had finally finished healing the scores of wounded soldiers, she came back to Bacca's room and unlocked the door. General Scotts came running when he heard her scream. He looked into Bacca's room and saw the dead man. "I know that man," he said, "I saw him die in battle yesterday." Subj: [ffml] [MW] Ascension, Part II Date: 99-02-06 00:19:19 EST From: RaumKatze2@aol.com Lady Paladin stood awkwardly outside the house. Several Jidoorians were already staring at her, wondering what the outsider was doing in their town. She felt awkward because of the bizarre question she was about to ask the woman who she would also have to give the terrible news to. Scotts had wanted to come too, but Lady told him to wait outside of town in the airship that brought them there, because his presence might alarm and disturb the woman. Lady wanted to talk with her, woman to woman, widow to... no, it couldn't be. Not wanting to dwell on that thought any longer, Lady Paladin knocked on the door. "Coming," said a weak, yet cheerful voice from inside. Soon, a smiling woman breastfeeding a newborn baby came to the door. "What can I do for you," the woman said. "Hello," Lady Paladin said awkwardly, "Are you Sheron Deets?" "Yes I am," said the woman. "My name is Lady Paladin, I am a healer with the army of High Lord Bacca." The woman became excited. "My husband Thomas serves in that army. Have you seen him? Have you seen my husband? I haven't seen him since last night? Is he okay?" said the woman. "May I sit down with you inside?" asked Lady Paladin, "I think we have much to talk about." "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me," said Sheron, "Come in, make yourself comfortable." Lady Paladin came inside and sat down with the woman. "Now, you say you saw your husband last night. Please tell me about what happened," said Lady Paladin "Well," said the woman, "Days earlier, I had given birth to my son," She glanced down at the suckling infant, "And ever since he was was born, he had been sick, terribly sick. The midwife told me there was nothing we could do for him. Well, last night, when I didn't know whether my baby had minutes or hours left, I realized that there was someone else in my house. It was my husband." A tear came to the woman's eye. "Go on," said Lady Paladin. "So anyway," Sheron said, sniffing, "I hugged him and I told him how much I missed him. Then I let him meet his son." Her eyes were tearing more now. "As he was holding the baby, I saw the wounds. My husband was wounded very badly. I offered to get him some bandages, but he said that wouldn't be necessary. Thomas held the baby and told him that everything was going to be alright. I was about to ask him how he got hurt, and how he got here from the battlefield, but I forgot about all of that when I noticed something about our son." "What did you notice?" said Lady Paladin, very intriguid. "What I saw was a miracle. The baby had stopped coughing and gasping for air. The color had returned to his face. He wasn't sick any more. Then my husband gave the child back to me. I told him that I was going to name the baby Thomas Jr., after his father, but my husband told me instead to name the child after Bacca, for one day our son would carry on the High Lord's legacy. And then..." the woman was crying at this point, "He said to me that he had to leave, because there was one more job he had to do. He walked out into the night and I haven't seen him since." "Sheron," Lady Paladin said, "This morning, your husband was found in the chamber of High Lord Bacca, dead. Bacca could not be found." The teary-eyed woman looked up at the Lady Paladin. "They have found their peace," she said, "both of them." Now Lady Paladin was trying to hold back tears. Subj: [ffml] [MW] Ascension, Final Part Date: 99-02-08 00:20:48 EST From: RaumKatze2@aol.com In a remote part of the world, untouched by the war, there lived two people in a cabin: Penelope and Emanuel. Penelope had a gift, a gift that sometimes was more like a curse. She often fell into trances. Sometimes these trances could last for months. Emanuel could grow very lonesome, in this place where the only other person near him was not even concious much of the time. But he was patient. He loved Penelope. In these trances, Penelope often spoke of things that had happened, that were happening, and that were to happen. Emanuel made it a point to write down anything she said while in these trances. Sometimes it was clear, and sometimes it was nonsence, but it always had meaning, they were both sure of that. One night, in the wee hours, while they were in bed, Emanuel was almost asleep when he heard Penelope start to say something. He became sad again as he diligently reached for the paper and pen. He wondered how long she would be away from him this time. She may have physically been right next to him, but her mind was somewhere else entirely, seeing through the eyes of another... ----- ...I leap from one host to another. Now I make a physical leap... I see Mog. Now I shall assist Bacca in fulfilling his destiny... ----- "...Living on borrowed time..." Penelope mumbled, "but the prophecy? The ancient prophecy?" Now her point of view moved to another... ----- Goddammit, I am frustrated. I thought I just wanted to kupo again, but as soon as I stepped into the room with the prospective queens I knew that isn't what I needed. God, what is wrong with me? It's that bastard Bacca. He is so thick-headed and pompous. And the worst part is that every time he gets killed because of his own stupidity, someone who cares about him gets him ressurected. I used to just want world domination, well, that and sex. But now the only thing I want is to see that jerk groveling at my feet, begging for mercy. I know exactly what I would do to him. I would... Hey! It's him!! "How the hell did you get here?!" I demand. "Your time on this earth is up, Mog," he says. That pompous ass. "Look who's talking!" I say. "My time has been renewed," he says, "but it is also nearly up." "Listen!" I say, "I don't care how or why you are here, but pretty soon you're gonna wish you were a million miles away from here. I am gonna kupo you so bad..." But I don't really want to sexually torture him to death. I realize that all I want to do was beat him senseless, so I reach for my crowbar. I swing at him, hitting him on the side of his neck. He falls to the floor. As he just sits there, I hit him again, even harder this time. I hit him again! And again!! And AGAIN!!! AND AGAAAIN!!!! ----- Penelope broke a sweat. "No! Stop hitting him!" Her body convulsed as if she were being violently bludgened herself. Emanuel dropped his paper and pen. He was very frightened, for he had never seen her like this before. Penelope's viewpoint had shifted again this time she was an invisible observer of the violence. ----- Mog, frothing at the mouth, repeatedly swung at Bacca with his weapon. Bacca made no defensive movements. Then, when Mog was about to make the final blow, Bacca grabbed Mog's wrist with a strength not characteristic of a man who has just received a beating as brutal as the one Mog had been administering. Then Bacca squeezed, breaking Mog's wrist and forcing him to drop the weapon. "Ow! What the fuck?!" said Mog. "As I was just telling you, Mog, your time is up, and I am here to reclaim your soul." Mog began to realize what was happening. He looked into Bacca's eyes, but saw someone other than Bacca. "I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!!" Mog screamed. "You had a deal, but not with me. I am just doing my job," said Bacca. "DARK ONES! ASSIST ME IN THIS TIME OF NEED!!" demanded Mog. "The Dark Ones have done all they can do for you. Now, I must act." Bacca held out the palm of his hand, and from it came the light of death. Mog dissapeared in the flash, and Bacca's weary body began to give out. As Bacca began to slip away from life, he felt at peace. But then he felt something awful, the presence of Mog. "Have I died in vain," thought Bacca, in his last moment of life. ----- "No," said Penelope, who was now calm in her trance, "He did not die in vain. The essense of Mog does remain on the earthly plane, he did prevail over Bacca, as the ancient prophecy said he would, but Bacca did not die in vain. Without Bacca, there would be no human race. There would be no hope. But the hard times are not over. The threat of Mog still exists. The Dark Gods transformed the essence of his existence from being mind and matter to being pure energy. He has become one with the forces of the universe. We don't know how long it will take him to adapt to his new state of being, it could be days, or it could be millennia. We don't know how much he will discover about the powers that come along with that state of being either. But we do know that the world has not heard the last of Mog."