Kefka Gerrard stood by the frozen remains of Samantha McConnel. A frown adorned his face, his light eyebrows furrowed down in unhappiness. His wide blue eyes looked around the frozen landscape, seeking, searching.

A dark, slender creature descended from an above cloud, and gently set it's long, scaled body down upon the ground. It's shiny black eyes stood out from it's gleaming silver body, besides the hooked spines that traveled down the middle of his back from head to tail. It curled it's self up like a snake.

Largus then stood up, the first twenty feet or so of his body uprighting itself. He pushed his tongue out and licked his lips, tasting the air.

In a deep, raspy voice, he asked, "May I?" He looked at the frozen bodies of Samantha and Cyrus.

Kefka starred him strait in the eyes, a look of pure annoyance adorning his face. Largus coldly stared right back. Kefka kneeled back down and looked at Samantha. Her eyes looked up to him, her purple lips shivering.

"Hmm, how do you like being encased in ice? More than likely more torturous than what my ancient grandpa had to suffer." He bent down, his face almost touching the ice case. He then said, his voice now lower, more like a growl, "Because you're so brave, which is something I respect, I'll just end it now for you."

Largus looked impatiently upon Kefka, it's tail twitching in anticipation. He hungered…

Samantha's red-rimed eyes looked upon Kefka, and she mouthed the words, 'I'd like to freeze to death, thank you.'

Kefka grinned. "Well, today isn't a day for bravery. I think you'd be much happier with Largus." He stood back up and looked back at the young dragon. "Have a field day with the both of them." Kefka then came closer to the dragon, and spoke to him with his mind. 'But next time, get the target you were suppose to get!' He then spoke out loud again. "I'm not letting you take their souls for your sake, but for the purpose of making them suffer…"

"I understand," Largus growled.

Kefka stood up and looked down upon Samantha. "Oh yes, just to inform you, your other son, Hodeki, will soon be dead. And then, your whole family gone! All of the Crystal Bound Ones, gone from this Earth!"

"Bastard!" Samantha yelled to Kefka. Her first son, Hodeki, had left a long time ago to apprentice under Ofid Sedaad, a friend of the family, as an Arcanist. And then, Xavier was now gone, to where she had no idea. Her cold, numb mind then thought about Xavier's twin sister, Kirstin. Even though Hodeki would have left Ofid years ago, since apprenticeships last only six years, and it had been fifteen since then, who knew what would happen to Kirsti if Kefka found out about her. Obviously, he didn't know about Kirsti, and for that, she thanked Ofid for doing a job well done.

As Kefka turned around and walked away, not wanting to see the gruesome ritual that Largus did to take souls, Largus moved over to Samantha first, and picked her and the ice case up with his tail. Kefka then transported himself away. The last thing he heard, was the awful windy-crunching sound of her soul being torn from her coporial body.

Hodeki stood as he watched his younger sister, Kirsti, in the battle arena, throwing spells as if they were nothing, trashing target after target. Her long brown hair tied back in a huge, single braid, swooshed behind her, mirroring all of her sudden movements, just as graceful as her. His dark eyes, enhanced by his thick eyebrows, stared down intensely upon the battle. Despite the fact that she was only 8, she was powerful, and somehow defying all the logic and rules of magic. Officially, anyone, men or women, couldn't start magic training until the age of 10, yet Ofid Sedaad, Hodeki's old mentor, started her two years ago, at the age of eight. Two years before he took her in, Hodeki left on a Runestone Quest and meanwhile, her powers had grown exponentially. One day, she would probably be on the Council of Ten, the most powerful and wisest wizards in the whole world. Some people were just born with it, and Kirsti was one of them. His mouth was turned up in a grin, two long teeth hanging lower than the others, like fangs, making him look animalish.

"Damn. I'd forgotten how powerful she was," he commented. He had been gone for the past four years, roughing it on his own, struggling to find his Runestone, trying hard to learn to use Arcane spells, which he was quite proficient at now. He had been back about two months. However, it amazed him how his sister could throw the spells off so quickly. The shortest time he could cast a spell was about ten seconds, but her spells just flowed from her. And her power reserve almost never seemed to run out. Most people would pass out from exhaustion after thirty minutes of casting spell after spell. It took her hours, and each day, her strength and constitution seemed to grow. As the battle ended below, he turned to enter the arena himself, his loose, flowing, dark robe spinning with him.

He came down the steps, his boots clunking on every step. As he passed his sister, she said to him, "Good luck big bro. Have fun."

He mumbled something incoherent, and kept walking.

As he approached the center of the ring, the man in the control booth called down to him. "Are you ready Hodeki?"

He pulled out his mace, and waved an arm to the control man.

He started hyping himself, jumping a little, and cracking his neck. Then, a heavy stone door on the other side of the arena started to rise.

As the door was just open enough for whatever to come out, a large green light turned on that was hanging in the middle of the arena. That was the sign to allow spell casting. He quickly thought of a Light Law spell. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Five Orcs came out, running full blast. They drew their swords in preparation for battle, and roared battle cries.

His eyes shot open, and he then touched his mace. A light came from his hand and danced onto the mace, dissipating after a second. Hodeki smiled.

One Orc came within range of an attack, and it swung it's sword baseball style as it passed. Hodeki simply moved back, and as it passed, he spun behind it and cracked it in it's head, the mace glowing. The Orc fell over instantly, unconscious from the mace smashing, and piercing it's helmet. Blood started to come from under the helmet and run upon to the ground, and little lines of electrical current jumped about on his helmet.

Two more Orcs engaged Hodeki, and he produced a long knife. One brought his sword down upon Hodeki, and he parried it with the little knife, as the other stabbed at Hodeki, as he knocked it aside with his mace, and came down upon the Orc's head. It fell instantly also. The other recovered from Hodeki's block, and tried to chop him from the side. Once again Hodeki stopped him with his knife, as he brought his mace over head and down upon the Orc.

The Orc put his arm up in protection, and the mace tore up his arm, including breaking a bone. The Orc stumbled back in shock and pain, and Hodeki then finished him off with a blow to the side of his head.

The other two would shortly be on him. So he ran. As he ran, he started to cast a spell.

Momentarily, he turned around dead in his tracks, and put his palms together, and a huge ball of purple light emerged from his hands, and he shot it off at the two Orcs, point blank range. The ball passed through both of their entire upper torsos, and when the ball had passed, all that was left were their legs, which fell limply to the ground, twitching.

He heard a clap from behind him.

He turned around, breathing heavily to see his old Master. He smiled in delight.

"Hey! Master Ofid!" Yelled Hodeki.

They walked casually towards each other, and when the met, they gave each other hearty hugs.

"Nice Void Ball, Hodeki," he said, referencing the last spell he had thrown.

"Thanks," Hodeki replied back.

"So, how goes studying arcane magic? Found an earth rune yet?"

Hodeki grinned again. He pulled a small stone out from his shirt, tied upon a necklace. Hodeki's personal crest, which was simply the first letters of his first and last name, etched upon the stone in an ancient, lost language, was right in the middle of the stone, allowing Hodeki to draw upon it.

"Remember, don't let it go to your head. We don't need another crazy Arcanist who becomes power hungry," warned Ofid.

"Don't worry, I won't."

"So," started Ofid. "How long did it take you to find the stone?"

"A whole year."

Ofid's eyebrows went up. "Oh, I'm impressed. It took me three."

"But sometimes I wished I would have been a normal magic user." Hodeki looked smug. "It would have been so much easier, since they don't need a Earth rune, like we do."

"But we're definitely the baddest Arcanists on the block though!"

"Yeah!" Laughed Hodeki.

"But now, to get down to business. The Royal Highness has asked me to retrieve the crystal of light for her. And of course, you know you're the only one who can get it."

"I hope I don't die." Hodeki frowned, his mind barely connected to what Ofid had said. His mind wandered into other things at the mention of the crystal. "I would hate to place my responsibilities as a Crystal bound one upon Kirsti."

"Your sister will never have the burden of that upon her as long as you live, and I think you plan of living, don't you?"

"Sure," replied Hodeki, grinning.

"So will you help me?"

Hodeki grinned and put his hand on his old master's shoulder. "Or course!"

Ofid smiled. "Good, good…"

* * *

"So, he bought it?" Asked Kefka.

Ofid was kneeling on the ground in front of Kefka, inside his personal chamber. Secretly, behind his face was pain. The pure and bitter pain of his betrayal to someone he looked upon as a son. "Yes sir. He said he would gladly do it for me."

"And now, all we have to do is get rid of him!" Kefka's eyes grew large, and he clasped his hands together. "And that means that there won't be any more Crystal Bound Fated Ones left to stop my plans. It would be the end of the line.

Ofid's mind wandered to Hodeki's sister, but said nothing. "Y-yes sir," he stumbled a little.

Kefka, hearing an unnassuring tone in his voice, looked strangely upon him. "There is no one else, right?"

Ofid, well trained in the art of lying, looked up into Kefka's icy eyes. "No sir! I would never lie to you. I've known this boy my whole life. He is an only child."

Kefka, reassured by his response, walked casually over to a window. He stared out unto the landscape. It was fall here on Avalon. Already, cold breezes came into the window, making him shiver. Since he had moved from Mandoira, the largest continent on New Terra, down to the southern continent of Avalon, he had since regretted it. He had already spent three cold, cold winters here in Avalon. His estate, a large plot of land only a day's travel by horse from the capital city of Camelot, was quite isolated. He liked it like that. It was good to be under King Arthur's protection, but not right under his nose. He had once been one of his knights, but Arthur thought that he had become too independent and detached from the whole Table of Knights, and suggested that he should resign from his position. And that he did, gladly. He hated having to around all of zealous knights. He liked things his own way, and on many occasions, clashed with other members of the table. In his mind, he didn't doubt that they held a tamberey in his absence.

Kefka turned to Ofid, and placed his hands behind his back. "Well. How shall we get rid of Mr. Hodeki?"

* * *

Ofid didn't want any harm to come to Hodeki, or any of his family. He sat in his small home, Kirsti doing dishes with Ofid's wife. Ofid's wife, Shelli, was helping Kirsti. Shelli loved having Kirsti around. Her and Ofid's only son was still a babe. He lay in his crib at the moment, sleeping peacefully. So she had a helping hand around the house, whenever Ofid was not training her. Even though she had long surpassed the level of power Ofid ever had, she was still young, inexperienced in life. When Masters took in an apprentice, they kept them for four to six years. In Kirsti's case, she would remain with him six years, and then live with her parents again, while most children, sixteen after their six years apprenticeship, would leave the nests entirely, and go on with their lives. Girls would find an young adult husband, while most sixteen year old boys went off to start a business, or adventure around to toughen them selves up, depending on what their apprenticeship was. The business people would usually be more professional, carving out a life some way or another. The adventurers either was killed by some monster some where, or wandering around to find a suitable town to start their profession. Like a towns guard, or to join the local militia or anything to that extend. All depending on what they studied and did for those long six years of their lives.

Ofid was glued to the spot he was sitting. He was so deep in thought he couldn't do anything else. There was no way around Hodeki's eventual demise, and the mere thought of that wrenched his gut, and he took it, making himself suffer as much as he could, for nothing could bring to justice his self hate of what he was going to have to do. Sometimes, tears would well up in his eyes, but he would brush them away as soon as they stung his eyes. If crying weren't so obvious to his pain, he would have let his tears continue to burn his eyes. He'd be luck if Kirsti didn't notice it. She had this natural knack of being able to see when other people were in pain, or upset about anything.

Ofid mainly thought about what he could do with Kirsti to get her as far away as possible from that madman Kefka. He himself couldn't take her away, for Kefka would notice his absence. Luckily, Kefka had thought that Kristi was his daughter. He had seen her many times, and trusted Ofid too much to ever think Ofid would betray him. Also, Ofid was happy with the fact that Kefka didn't have a paranoid side of him about trust, like most megalomaniacs did. So Ofid had carved out his situation nicely. Kirsti knew why she must be kept a secret from Kefka, for if anything were to happen to Hodeki, she would be next in line to become a Crystal Bound One.

He thought about the many places that he could take her. His best bet was an Arcanist in Mandara, a kingdom on Mandaria, and a continent just north of Avalon. Almost no one knew of it's existence. Most people were too busy with their lives to look very much farther than their noses. 'Yes, Mandara would be a good place for Kirsti…' he thought…

* * *

Three days later, Ofid sat in the empty arena and contemplated the future events. He and Kefka had decided to entrap Hodeki in the Tower or Five Dimensions. After Hodeki would retrieve the crystal, Kefka would stop him at the entrance, capture him, and take him to the Tower, entrapping him in a stasis field there.

The Tower of the Five Dimensions was a special place that he constructed, and inundated with his enormous amount of power, just for his own base of operations. The only way to enter it was to open a gateway with his magic, and then enter it. Since it was in the fifth dimension, it's place was always constantly shifting, and it took Kefka about ten seconds to 'feel' where it was, and then connect a portal to it. Also, time ran differently there too. It was a lot slower than New Terra. If he spent a whole day inside his tower, only three or four hours had gone by in New Terra. Inside of his tower, he kept everything important he had. One of the main purposes of this place was to hold the ancient stone gateways he had found in Avalon. By use of these stone gateways, he found out that a few other worlds he could travel to had crystals of their own, and mysteriously coincidental legends of ancient 'Dragon Lords', like New Terra. If an ancestor of the Dragon Lord brought both crystals together, the Dragon Lord's soul would then be resurrected in the body of his ancestor. Out of the four other worlds he could go to, only two had Dragon Lords in there past. So Kefka had sought out ancestors from those two other world's Dragon Lords, and made alliances. He also managed to convince them to bring gateways from their worlds to their place of residence. However, he had just met them, and their relationships were still a little shaky, so he had to tread lightly. But he had a feeling it would all work out, in respect to the demeanors of the Dragon Lord ancestors he had met.

By now, Kirsti was already half the way to Mandara. Ofid didn't even think to inform her parents in all the way over in Scotland, the southern kingdom in the Isle of the Sky, which was off the east coast of Avalonia.

So now, all Ofid had to do was wait. He had no idea what he would do now, since Hodeki was to be killed, and Kirsti now gone. He felt bad about having to take back his Fire Rune of his that she always used. For without some kind of rune to draw power from, and Arcanist was basically powerless, with only normal, Magician's spells to use. Kirsti, at least, was a large part of his life, and he thought that hopefully his friend in Mandara could take good care of her. To tell the truth, he was more powerful, and more knowledgeable than he was. His friend was even up for the Council of Ten, the fifth on their list. His mind then wandered to Xavier, Kirsti's twin brother. Eventually, he came upon the decision to visit them after Hodeki was killed. Once again, his gut turned. He felt like he was going to leave a mess behind, and he wished that his stomach would take with it the feelings that tore at him.

* * *

Hodeki prepared in his room at The Black Scale Inn in Gerra, the city Ofid lived in. He was composing his backpack, when there was a knock on his door. Hodeki looked up from what he was doing, and he wondered who it was. "Who is it?" He called aloud.

"It's Darius," said the voice.

So many old visitors today, Hodeki thought. He walked over to the door, and opened it to reveal one of his best friends he made during his six-year stay here.

"Hey!" They both yelled, and gave each other a hearty hug. They exchanged conversation for a moment before Darius asked where he was heading off to so fast.

"You just got here!"

"Yeah, and it's too bad you just found out I was back. But I'm only going to be gone for a day or two, so it's not so bad," Hodeki explained.

"So where are you going?" Asked Darius.

"I am going to the Crystal Shrine. The Queen requests to see it for a while."

Darius looked at Hodeki strangely. "Aren't you suppose to be looking over that crystal?"

Hodeki shook his head and smiled. "It's not one of the crystals I'm suppose to protect. It's just a magical relic. My mother is looking after those."

"Oh." Darius looked down. "I see. Well, can I go with you?"

"Sure. I don't think anyone will mind. Are you all set?"

"Yeah. I just back into town myself yesterday."

"Good. But I've been here two months."

"Oh," Darius said. "I see now. Okay, are you ready?"

"Yes I am," replied Hodeki.

"Well, let us go. I assume you know where it is, right?"

Hodeki smiled. "Of course."

* * *

Three days out of Gerra, to the north west, Hodeki and Darius came upon a secluded shrine, covered by tons of Avalonian Vines, which almost buried the house due to how thick they grow in. To many, Avalonian vines are viewed as nuisances. They grow only on brick and wood, yet do not destroy anything. Some forests are covered with them, but only sparse ones where the Avalonian vines can receive tons of sunlight. Otherwise, they shrivel up and die.

They searched around the covered building, and eventually found where the door was. After much hacking and cutting, they cut away enough of the vine to enter. Before they did, Hodeki had an odd feeling over him, like they were being watched.

He stopped before he entered and looked around. He saw absolutely no one. Just incase, he cast a spell into his mythral mace, which was very absorbent magically. Darius also drew his blade. However, if it touched anything organic, whatever elemental magic was released. If was non-elemental magic stored in the metal, it would be discharged as mana burn, which is no where near as bad as other magic, unless it's in large amounts. There was a whole list of arcane spells based on pure mana, a concentrated, very pure form of magic at it's best. However, it took a lot to be able to expend all this energy. That is why the runes are necessary to have, otherwise a human alone couldn't generate enough pure mana.

The mace glowed blue for a moment, and became magically very cold. Any person who came in contact with this would feel cold worse than the most freezing temperatures in south Avalon, since all of it was barren, frozen wasteland. Temperatures went as low as -50 degrees Celsius, on average.

"What is wrong my friend?" Asked Darius.

"I felt like there was a presence behind us."

They both looked around some more.

"I see no one Hodeki."

"Neither do I."

Satisfied that no one was there, Hodeki and Darius entered the shrine.

The entrance of the shrine was dark and dingy as if it hadn't been touched in years. The air was musty, making Hodeki and Darius cough a little. The air smelled like the vines, which had a distinct cinnamon smell. The root was often used as a substitute for cinnamon.

They proceeded forward into the main hallway, and Hodeki heard something.

"What the…?" He stammered. A bat swooped down in front of him, and went into another room. Hodeki wiped his face and looked up. The ceiling was completely covered in sleeping Grilo bats, a species that constantly migrated from place to place, finding new placed to stay each night. They always wandered around aimlessly.

They looked down on the ground, and there were various spots on the floor where small piles of Grilo droppings had accumulated. They stepped around it and proceeded further.

AT the end of the hallway was the door to the chamber where people used to come and visit the relic. Hodeki wondered how it would still be here. Normally, there would be guards around items like that. He thought it must not have been such a big deal then.

It was dark in the next room, and Darius took a moment to light up a torch. After getting it going, they proceeded to the middle of the room, going up a few stairs. On top of a dais, there was a glass case, but no relic.

Hodeki's face scrunched up in confusion. "Where's the relic? Don't tell me we have to go find it…"

"…No, you don't." Said a dark voice from behind them.

Both Darius and Hodeki spun around, weapons ready.

"What the?" Said Darius.

"Who are you? Where's the relic?" Demanded Hodeki.

The man stepped out from the shadows, and so did five other men. As he came into the light better, Hodeki saw the man's features. He had long, blonde wavy hair, a long, pointed nose, and icy blue eyes that seemed to want to tear down Hodeki.

"You won't have to worry about it, ever. So who's your friend? Ofid said nothing of his coming," said Kefka calmly.

"What?! Ofid would never betray me!" Yelled Hodeki. A sick feeling took to his stomach.

Kefka's eyes lit up from Hodeki's anger. "Oh, but he did!" He then started to chuckle. He snapped his fingers, and one of the men gave Kefka a darkly stained burlap bag. Kefka then threw the bag in front of Hodeki's feet. "And he also thought about going to tell your mommy and daddy too about how you were going to die. So…" Kefka dragged his finger around the front of his neck. "…I had to get rid of the poor bastard." He then started laughing, his high voice echoing off the walls, piercing Hodeki's ears.

Hodeki bent down and opened the sack to reveal Ofid's head. Hodeki fell back in surprise. He felt as if he couldn't breath.

"I guess Ofid's wife is a poor, poor old widow now, and his daughter will come home to no father one day…"

"Daughter…?" He whispered. 'He must mean my sister…' he thought.

Kefka then threw to Hodeki the little bell-charm she always wore on her ankle, and he caught it. "…And your parents are now, and forever, being tortured in Largus's stomach. And when I was there, I took care of your brother too!" He then started laughing hysterically, bending over at the waist, and slapping his knees.

He gripped his mother's charm, tears welling up in Hodeki's eyes, and something was growing in his stomach. Something that seemed to crush his chest, and scrape out every bit of his entrails at the same time.

"DAMN YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Hodeki yelled. From no where, he shot off a Mana bolt, and his earth rune shattered from the amount of power that was released. The green bolt tore through the room and a second later when it came to Kefka, he simply waved his hand, and it slowed to almost a stop. A blue wall seemed to shield him, and it richoched off of Kefka's spell, and it flew off into the far wall, making it explode instantly, showering everybody with bits of glowing rock and stone. Light now flooded the room and all of the rubble glowed bright green. Hodeki sank to his knees from the drain, and he was in shock that anyone could reflect his spell like that. It just wasn't feasible.

Darius's jaw hung open, and he dropped the torch in amazement. He barely knew what a happened besides Hodeki casted a spell, and it simply bounced off of the man.

Kefka's eyes were wide open also. All of his men were behind him, scared out of their wits. Kefka then started to chuckle. It eventually turned into an unstoppable, hysterical laugh.

He then stood strait up, his long hair flipping behind him. "Whew! That was a close one!" He then continued to laugh.

Hodeki's anger grew once again, and he stood up, and started to chant a spell.

Kefka quickly produced a ball and threw it at Hodeki. He simply stepped out of the way. Kefka instantly stopped laughing. "How dare you avoid my ball!" He pointed his shaking finger angrily at Hodeki. "Take this!" He then released a barrage of balls at Hodeki, and one eventually hit him. Hodeki felt like he had been struck by lightening after the ball stuck him. He fell over, and instantly couldn't move.

"Hey!" Yelled Darius. "How dare you?!" He then charged Kefka with his sword, and Kefka just stood there. Darius brought his blade down upon him, but Kefka stopped him with his hand inches above his head, a little blue barrier between his finger and the blade. Darius sweated from his concentration. His blade wasn't moving anywhere.

"Ohhhhhh, too bad!" Teased Kefka. "Did you honestly think that you would hack me into pieces? Oh, you did? Ohhh that’s soo cute!!" His face then turned to one of anger, and he waved his other hand towards Darius as if he was backhanding him, yet he never touched him. None the less, Darius went flying into the wall, and a slight crack was heard as he went shoulder first into the wall. He limply fell to the floor, and groaned in pain. A jagged bone had popped out the side of his shoulder, and blood flowed from his gaping wound. Darius looked where most of the pain was emanating from, and he saw his bone that had torn it's way out of his shoulder. He screamed in pain and terror.

"Ah, nothing like the cries of those in pain!" He sung. His face turned serious again, and he waved his hand again at Darius. Four chains shot out from his sleeves. All of them impaled themselves into Darius, and he yelled again in pain as they stuck into him. He felt one go through into his throat, another two into his chest, and another one through his hand he had held up in defense. He grabbed at the chains connected to the spikes embedded in his body with his good hand and shook in shock as he tried to pull them out. He felt pinching, ripping feelings in his back exactly on the opposite side of where the chains pierced his body. He looked at the backside of his hand that had been pierced, and saw that the spikes attached to the chains had hooks on them resembling fishing hooks. He shook in pain and horror.

Kefka let his sat there for a moment, discovering his new wounds, bleeding profusely now. He grew bored of the boy just sitting there, and decided to pull him in. He flicked his wrist, sending a wave down the chains, and then the device the on Kefka's wrist quickly started to reel in Darius. Kefka braced himself as the device pulled him in, and Darius fell forward, making gurgling-pain sounds as he was dragged ten feet over to Kefka. The whole time, each spike felt as if they were gonna come flying out of his body, and bring everything with it if they came out.

"Whoo! Lookey this big one mama! This here's a biggie! Whoo-wee!" Kefka yelled, and he continued to pull Darius in until he was in at his feet.

Meanwhile, Hodeki was lying on his side, watching the whole horrifying spectacle, this man's pure torturous evilness at work. The nerve toxin had taken full effect, and he couldn't move at all. It was mental torture for him too.

Kefka then pressed a button on his wrist, and all of the chains disconnected from the spikes, and retracted into his weapon. "Now, for the main meal!" He yelled.

Kefka pointed his weapon strait at Darius's forehead. "Any last words?" Kefka asked darkly.

Darius only made gurgling sounds as his head was torn into pieces as the four spikes exploded into his head. Hodeki had been holding his breath, and he passed out…

* * *

Later, Hodeki woke up inside a tube, and he found that he couldn't move. His whole field of vision had a blue tint to it. He stayed there for what seemed like forever, in actuality, years and years.