Not too many posts this weekend.  I get home late Sunday, preparing for the
five thousand posts I get for the Friday-Sunday time span, and there were
less than 40! Eh, anyway, I don't know if I posted up to this chapter or
not, therefore adequate cause for the [repost???] tag.

C&C welcomed, MSTs (as long as they aren't flames in disguise) adored,
flames of any kind... I will send Kento after you.  He hasn't had dinner
yet, so he's quite vicious.

Kento: I resent that.

So, enjoy chapter 4!

~Kitiara
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sailor Tenku, Senshi of the Fanged One; Church of Ryoga Deconate;
C.A.S.K.E.T. sect
Member of the Senshi Armada (SHISHI HOUKOUDAN SHOCK WAVE!)
Protector of Chiba Mamoru; Church of Tsukino Usagi Deconate
Demi-Goddess in Training; Member of the Sailor Pluto Fan Club
Member of Codename: Sailor V; Member of the Jupiter Image Defense Force
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Come visit my web page! http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/7085/

Buffy: "Get a load of the She-Giles."
Willow: "Creepy."
***************************************************************

Edge's Quest
A Final Fantasy 4 Fanfic by Kitiara Hashiba
Chapter 4: Enter Melantha � The Dark Flower
{These} are thoughts, [these] are flashbacks, and <these> are telepathic
communication (not to be confused with thoughts.)

~* Three days later, Mid-September *~


    "And this is your room."
    "Well, thank you for the tour.  It's not common that a small town girl
gets shown around a castle by its King."
    Edge smiled.  "Well, Ry-chan, we've renovated since you guys visited the
ruins so long ago.  I figured that if you live here, you might as well want
to know how to find the stairs."
    Rydia giggled and looked around the room.  The room itself had to be one
of the largest bedrooms of Castle Eblan, with its large windows and vaulted
ceilings.  Rydia skipped over to the window, admiring the view of the Eblan
countryside. As Edge watched her from the doorway, she pulled open her
closet to put away the clothes she had brought� that Edge had "liberated"
from Castle Mist the night Rydia said she would leave.  Rydia gasped as she
found the closet mostly full.
    "Edge, what is all this?" she asked, pulling a random outfit out of the
closet.
    Edge looked sheepish. "Clothes?" he offered.
    Rydia gave him a 'get real' type of look.  "Try again."
    "Gifts?" Edge smiled innocently.
    "Try 'charity'."
    He wasn't expecting this. The origin of the clothing was supposed to a
surprise. "But that's not�"
    "Edge, I just came to live here because you offered and I didn't want to
live at Castle Mist anymore.  I don't want any charity other than this
room."
    "It's not like that�"
    "A closet full of clothes is supposed to make me feel what? More at
home? More indebted? More loved? More *stable*?"
    "Rydia, calm�"
    Rydia didn't even listen to Edge, didn't even look at the clothes.  She
slammed the closet door shut, wondering why he had done all this.  "Please,
leave me," she said quietly, not looking at him, knowing there was a shocked
and hurt look on his face.
    Edge opened his mouth to try and explain again, but he thought the
better of it.  Rydia wanted him gone.
    This was where all rational thought ended.
    He spun on his heel and slammed the heavy door to her room shut. His
dark orange cape swirled around him as he stalked angrily down the hall.
Storming into his private chambers, he started to voice his anger.
    "What did I do?  Most of that stuff was an early birthday present from
Rosa, since she's gonna be at Damcyan! What the hell made her so damn
irrational?! Only because I offered, hmm?"
    The door to his room creaked open, causing Edge to turn around
hopefully, hoping it would be Rydia, ready to apologize.  Instead, it was a
ninja � one that he had never seen.  "What is it?" he asked tiredly, his
temper almost lost.
    "Sire, I come from�"
    "May I ask who you are? Masks are not needed in the castle� at least not
in times of peace."  Edge could feel himself calming down, which was
something he wasn't ready to do.
    "Sire, my birth name is Melantha." The girl pulled off her mask and
hood, revealing an astonishingly beautiful woman.  She couldn't have been
more than twenty.  Her gray eyes were slightly almond-shaped, her oval face
framed by straight purple-black hair that trailed a little past her
shoulders.  Her skin was well tanned, her nose and mouth perfectly
proportioned to the rest of her face.  Her lips were a dark crimson-purple.
Her ninja uniform, only a little looser than skin-tight, showed off her
lithe, well-toned figure.
    Anger forgotten, Edge smiled, his flirtatious behavior shining through.
"'Dark flower'," he commented, recalling the meaning of her name.
    Melantha blushed.  "Sire�"
    "Edge," the King corrected.
    She blushed again.  "Sire Edge, I come from the caves.  There is an
horde of� of� monsters surrounding the settlements, sire."
    "What?" Edge asked, incredulous that any monsters would even dare to
attack his underground kingdom.  "When? How? How did you escape?"
    Melantha looked at the floor, a bit intimidated from Edge's
interrogation.  "Sire, they were spotted from all fronts last evening.  We
don't know how they surrounded us, Sire.  I was lucky to escape�"
    "Take me there."
    "Shouldn't we get reinforcements, Sire?"
    Edge nodded, ran to a room, and came back with his two swords � the
Masamune and the Murasame.  "This is all the reinforcement we'll need.  Lead
on, Melantha."
    Melantha smiled nervously and ran back the way she had come, Edge
following behind her.
~*�*~

    {What is wrong with you?}
    {Honestly, I can't say.}
    {Why are you crying?}
    {I don't know.}
    {Why did you hurt him?}
    {I didn't mean to�}
    {Liar.}
    {I don't want to hurt him!}
    {Then justify yourself.}
    {I can't...} Rydia shook her head. {*Why* did I get angry? He's treating
me like I'm unstable!}
    {You did just try to commit suicide.}
    {Oh� yeah.}
    {Did you even listen to his explanation?}
    {Why should I have? It was a little "make yourself at home" thing,
wasn't it?}
    {You don't know that.  Now he's gone. You hurt him, angered him. Why?}
    {He� I didn't� I don't�}
    {Other than make flirty comments to you, what did he do?}
    {Nothing� he's always been my friend�}
    {Right.  So what do you have to do?}
    {I know.  I have to apologize.  But the words are so hard to say�}
    Rydia wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.
"Edge� I'm� sorry."  The statement was weak, and lacked any noticeable
sincerity.
    {Try again.}
     "Edge� I'm really sorry I yelled at you.  You just have to understand�"
     {Don't give excuses.  Just say what you feel, Rydia.}
     "Edge� I'm in l�"
     A knock came at the door, cutting Rydia off.  Hope fluttered into
Rydia's heart that it would be Edge.  She opened the door to reveal a ninja.
Sighing dejectedly, she asked what he wanted.
     The ninja bowed slightly, handed her a letter, and left.  Rydia closed
the door, and returned to her bed, wondering whom it could be from.  Who
knows I'm here? she thought, opening the envelope.  Her breath caught in her
throat as she recognized the Baronian coat of arms on the stationery.

    Rydia ~
        Edge told me you were staying at Eblan.  Glad you're okay, since I
haven't seen you for so long.  Damcyan is being rebuilt quickly and without
hitch.  And now I hear Cecil saying that I jinxed us.  Anyway, since we'll
be in Damcyan for your birthday, I sent your gifts over with the Eblanian
air force.  Cecil is laughing at me, calling the Falcon an air force.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the clothes � I commissioned the royal seamstresses
myself. Cecil and I miss you, but we're happy you're over with Edge, so
we're sure you're safe� from monsters, that is.  Don't worry � I believe you
can hold your own against that lecherous young king (who shall remain
nameless).
    Love always,
    Rosa
        PS: Blaine is a scullery servant now, and he is punished every day,
if you're wondering.  We're  sorry for what he did to you.

    Tears ran unheeded down Rydia's face.  Not only were the clothes that
had gotten her so angry from Rosa� but Edge had managed to get rid of Blaine
as well.  Rydia felt sick to her stomach.  She had not only hurt Edge, but
had hurt him for no reason.
     {Oh, what have I done�}

~*�*~


    "Seal all the passages!  I don't want any of monsters to escape! They'll
pay for trifling with Eblan!"
     Edge drew his swords, the Murasame and the Masamune glittering
magically in the dark caves.
     {Control your anger, Edge�}
     "Get the children out of here, first!" he added.
     The messenger nodded and ran to fulfil the duty.  Melantha pulled on
Edge's arm.  "They came from over here, Sire."
     Edge nodded, and ran behind Melantha, who he could barely see, followed
by several ninja. Passing into another section the caverns, he realized he
couldn't see her anymore.
     "Melantha?"  He received no answer.  He called out again, louder this
time.  "Melantha?"
     His answer this time was the sound of a pebble falling from the roof of
the cavern.  He whirled to look where the noise had come from.  The echoing
sounds of larger pebbles and rocks hitting the cavern floor sang out in the
darkness.  Before anyone, not even Edge, could react, the cavern passage was
filled with boulders from an extensive cave in.
     "Sire!" A muffled voice shouted through the rocks.  The ninja that had
followed were trying to get through.  "Are you all right, King Edge?"
     Edge, his anger boiling with this new set-back, shouted that he was
fine, and for them to hurry up and clear the debris.  He would've vented his
frustration more, except he was knocked down from behind.  The Masamune flew
from his grip, skittering into the cavern wall.  The Murasame fell down
beside him.  Letting instincts take over, he rolled to the sword, and
flipped upward into a defensive posture.  "Who's there?"
     A shadowy figure stepped forward, chuckling evilly.  Edge considered
making a plan of how to efficiently kill the monster and keep himself from
being vulnerable, but then decided that it was too Cecil-like and attacked.
As he charged, he chanted softly, then shouted, "FLAME!"
The fire brightened the cavern considerably, igniting some of the moss
growing on the cave walls for lasting light.  The creature, still shadowy
throughout the brightness hissed at the fire.  Quicker than Edge could
comprehend, the shadow flitted over to the Masamune.  It picked up the blade
and launched it at the ninja.
     Edge saw his sword rocketing towards him, the dying flames of his spell
reflecting off the silvery blade.  He heard his heart pounding in his ears,
felt every fiber of his body scream at him to dodge, to move out of the
deadly blade's line of fire.
     The magical fire died out, leaving Edge in darkness again.
     He couldn't move.  His brain wouldn't respond to his body's desperate
cry for evasive action.
     The Masamune struck home.
     Edge's world exploded into a myriad of color and light.
*************************************************************************