Chapter 11: The Way Out of Total Destruction
We made it back to the castle where we found Edea sometime later on. I sighed "My mother has beaten us to it once again... I cant say i wasnt ready for this but still." Edea nodded and said "We need to save that sorceress without getting you caught... remember, if she gets you its really the end." i replied worried "I know..." Yaru asked "Edea, you have any idea where Thasma might be keeping her?" Edea paused to think, then answered "There is a much larger castle near upper Esthar, floating above the ground rather high... It also has a strange magic mist surrounding it that seems like some protective magic." Seifer asked "Any idea how we get through it?" Yaru added "Not only that, but we cant fly. If its too high up only Sorceress Ultimecia can get in." Seifer hardened his expression "Dang it.... but we cant let her go in alone. So now what?" Edea sighed and shook her head "Its clear that this particular castle is Sorceress Thasma's primary stronghold. Protective magic mist and it floats high enough to make it near unreachable. And dont bother driving any aircraft even close to it--it will immediately self destruct and you will die before you can jump out on time." I hardened my expression "She only wanted me to be able to easily get there. Its so obvious..." Edea nodded "Thats definitely true. Its not safe to approach the main stronghold right now... we need to change course and come up with a plan around these obstacles." Yaru grew disappointed "Oh man... and i thought we might actually have her." Seifer replied "We will, but not going there. No way we can even try to go there right now." Edea agreed "Yes. But if we bring Ultimecia close enough to it she might know what we can do later on about this problem." I looked at Edea and said "Me?" Edea nodded "I think you might know what type of magic mist it is better than i would. You are her daughter after all, and youre both time mages." I nodded and decided to follow Edea's lead with everyone else.
We made it to upper Esthar by the time it was night. Once Edea led us below the floating castle of my mother, i looked up and saw the white-blue color mixture that was the magic mist Sorceress Edea described. Yaru cried "Its huge! And that mist looks kind of... hazy..." I replied "For sure. Not that id expect anything else in terms of style from my mother... as for this mist so to speak..." I gently flew a bit above the ground a bit, and explained "Its impossible to get through this stuff by ordinary means. This mist is composed of magic particles that manifest during time compression. If you try to get too close using conventional means such as aircraft, it unleashes a strong pulse that will destroy it in the blink of an eye." Yaru worried "So what do we do...? Is there some way to counter it..?" I sighed, carefully landing "I dont know... it is possible for me to safely phase through it myself..." I went on as the others listened in silence "But if i take someone else with me, theres no telling if any of you wouldnt disappear on the way in." Seifer hardened his expression "You cant be serious... is this called make everything impossible or what?!" Edea sighed "So it does trigger on the interior... i shouldve known..." I sighed and turned to Seifer "There is but one certain way through that temporal mist without the risk of being erased... a sorceress with the mastery of spatial manipulation." Yaru cried "Really?! So we can still get inside!" I nodded "Technically, yes... but i havent seen a sorceress with such a power in all the generations ive lived." Edea suddenly grew worried "So why was that other sorceress taken...? Was it really just for power...?" I turned to her and shook my head "Im not sure. To tell the truth i barely know anything about her myself. She called herself Matron claiming to be my sister... but the thing is i dont remember having a sister." Seifer suddenly suggested "Wait... do you think Thasma took her because she has the power needed to stop her?" Edea panicked "Oh no...." Suddenly i was also worried "Oh god... you might actually be right...!" Yaru asked "What do we do now then...? We cant go inside if Thasma has her in there..." Edea paused calming down, then said "While we obviously cant go in with said risks at hand, we might be able to lure her right towards us and hopefully with Matron as well." I nodded "Yes, but my mother is very, very dangerous. We cant approach this idea lightly whether its our only option or not." Yaru nodded and so did Seifer and Edea. I explained "The soldiers with those strange uniforms that we encountered back in Delling City and Dollet? They were mere powerful apparitions created by my mother." Yaru and Seifer cried out in shock "What?!" Yaru panicked "But if she made all those people... theres no way we stand a chance against her!" Seifer tightened his fist and looked down trying to hide his fear. Edea added "Sorceress Thasma has monstrous power... shes even stronger than Ultimecia is. Most likely all those soldiers were conversions of the fallen Galbadian soldiers from last year bent and adjusted by time compression and her strong willpower." Yaru worried "But doesnt it take infinite power to do so many large scale and dangerous things like this....?" I shook my head sadly "It takes great power and even grief... i want to believe if i were to go back to her as requested that she would cease this madness but..." I realized i was crying all of a sudden "Shes just.... like i was when i compressed time in my faraway era..." Edea grew concerned "Ultimecia..." Seifer suddenly seemed to feel bad too "Man... im really sorry Ultimecia..." I went on "I wanted to see her again but... not like this...!" I sat on the ground hurt and trying to calm down. Seifer sat close to me and put his arms over my shoulders to comfort me. Edea shook her head sadly "Sorceress Thasma is most likely grieved and hurt about the hostility of people towards sorceresses... thats why she wants to rewrite everything on the temporal line to meet her desires. The fact she had to risk her own life to protect her child has likely scarred her for eternity... and now shes back in this time trying to get revenge for what very bad people did to her and attempted to do to Ultimecia." Yaru wondered "But why everyone and everything except her daughter...? Not all people are bad..." Edea sighed "She doesnt want to take more risks than she has to in order to protect what is precious to her. She knows Ultimecia has developed respect for SeeD and its likely another reason she has held back during our encounters." Trying to calm down, i said "We need to go back to garden and report what we've learned and believe might be going on here... if we stay under my mother's castle too long bad things might happen. The temporal fabric is very unstable around here because of the mist." Edea nodded and Seifer gently picked me up and then led everyone back holding me in his arms on the way there.
To Be Continued...
We made it back to the castle where we found Edea sometime later on. I sighed "My mother has beaten us to it once again... I cant say i wasnt ready for this but still." Edea nodded and said "We need to save that sorceress without getting you caught... remember, if she gets you its really the end." i replied worried "I know..." Yaru asked "Edea, you have any idea where Thasma might be keeping her?" Edea paused to think, then answered "There is a much larger castle near upper Esthar, floating above the ground rather high... It also has a strange magic mist surrounding it that seems like some protective magic." Seifer asked "Any idea how we get through it?" Yaru added "Not only that, but we cant fly. If its too high up only Sorceress Ultimecia can get in." Seifer hardened his expression "Dang it.... but we cant let her go in alone. So now what?" Edea sighed and shook her head "Its clear that this particular castle is Sorceress Thasma's primary stronghold. Protective magic mist and it floats high enough to make it near unreachable. And dont bother driving any aircraft even close to it--it will immediately self destruct and you will die before you can jump out on time." I hardened my expression "She only wanted me to be able to easily get there. Its so obvious..." Edea nodded "Thats definitely true. Its not safe to approach the main stronghold right now... we need to change course and come up with a plan around these obstacles." Yaru grew disappointed "Oh man... and i thought we might actually have her." Seifer replied "We will, but not going there. No way we can even try to go there right now." Edea agreed "Yes. But if we bring Ultimecia close enough to it she might know what we can do later on about this problem." I looked at Edea and said "Me?" Edea nodded "I think you might know what type of magic mist it is better than i would. You are her daughter after all, and youre both time mages." I nodded and decided to follow Edea's lead with everyone else.
We made it to upper Esthar by the time it was night. Once Edea led us below the floating castle of my mother, i looked up and saw the white-blue color mixture that was the magic mist Sorceress Edea described. Yaru cried "Its huge! And that mist looks kind of... hazy..." I replied "For sure. Not that id expect anything else in terms of style from my mother... as for this mist so to speak..." I gently flew a bit above the ground a bit, and explained "Its impossible to get through this stuff by ordinary means. This mist is composed of magic particles that manifest during time compression. If you try to get too close using conventional means such as aircraft, it unleashes a strong pulse that will destroy it in the blink of an eye." Yaru worried "So what do we do...? Is there some way to counter it..?" I sighed, carefully landing "I dont know... it is possible for me to safely phase through it myself..." I went on as the others listened in silence "But if i take someone else with me, theres no telling if any of you wouldnt disappear on the way in." Seifer hardened his expression "You cant be serious... is this called make everything impossible or what?!" Edea sighed "So it does trigger on the interior... i shouldve known..." I sighed and turned to Seifer "There is but one certain way through that temporal mist without the risk of being erased... a sorceress with the mastery of spatial manipulation." Yaru cried "Really?! So we can still get inside!" I nodded "Technically, yes... but i havent seen a sorceress with such a power in all the generations ive lived." Edea suddenly grew worried "So why was that other sorceress taken...? Was it really just for power...?" I turned to her and shook my head "Im not sure. To tell the truth i barely know anything about her myself. She called herself Matron claiming to be my sister... but the thing is i dont remember having a sister." Seifer suddenly suggested "Wait... do you think Thasma took her because she has the power needed to stop her?" Edea panicked "Oh no...." Suddenly i was also worried "Oh god... you might actually be right...!" Yaru asked "What do we do now then...? We cant go inside if Thasma has her in there..." Edea paused calming down, then said "While we obviously cant go in with said risks at hand, we might be able to lure her right towards us and hopefully with Matron as well." I nodded "Yes, but my mother is very, very dangerous. We cant approach this idea lightly whether its our only option or not." Yaru nodded and so did Seifer and Edea. I explained "The soldiers with those strange uniforms that we encountered back in Delling City and Dollet? They were mere powerful apparitions created by my mother." Yaru and Seifer cried out in shock "What?!" Yaru panicked "But if she made all those people... theres no way we stand a chance against her!" Seifer tightened his fist and looked down trying to hide his fear. Edea added "Sorceress Thasma has monstrous power... shes even stronger than Ultimecia is. Most likely all those soldiers were conversions of the fallen Galbadian soldiers from last year bent and adjusted by time compression and her strong willpower." Yaru worried "But doesnt it take infinite power to do so many large scale and dangerous things like this....?" I shook my head sadly "It takes great power and even grief... i want to believe if i were to go back to her as requested that she would cease this madness but..." I realized i was crying all of a sudden "Shes just.... like i was when i compressed time in my faraway era..." Edea grew concerned "Ultimecia..." Seifer suddenly seemed to feel bad too "Man... im really sorry Ultimecia..." I went on "I wanted to see her again but... not like this...!" I sat on the ground hurt and trying to calm down. Seifer sat close to me and put his arms over my shoulders to comfort me. Edea shook her head sadly "Sorceress Thasma is most likely grieved and hurt about the hostility of people towards sorceresses... thats why she wants to rewrite everything on the temporal line to meet her desires. The fact she had to risk her own life to protect her child has likely scarred her for eternity... and now shes back in this time trying to get revenge for what very bad people did to her and attempted to do to Ultimecia." Yaru wondered "But why everyone and everything except her daughter...? Not all people are bad..." Edea sighed "She doesnt want to take more risks than she has to in order to protect what is precious to her. She knows Ultimecia has developed respect for SeeD and its likely another reason she has held back during our encounters." Trying to calm down, i said "We need to go back to garden and report what we've learned and believe might be going on here... if we stay under my mother's castle too long bad things might happen. The temporal fabric is very unstable around here because of the mist." Edea nodded and Seifer gently picked me up and then led everyone back holding me in his arms on the way there.
To Be Continued...
