Lore:Dimensional Legend

Dimensional Legend is the name of the third story written by Benji Powell for the series Clouded Horizons, an original story taking place in the Tenth and Eighth Realms. It is the sequel to his second story, Eternal Requiem.

Synopsis

Book I: Mortal Conflict

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Part I: A Hero's Challenge

Six months later, Ben finally finished his preparations for the SFA Grand Championship, renewing his ability to cast high-level magic as well as perfecting his combat techniques. He entered the tournament with his comrades cheering him on, and found out very quickly the level that the tournament was on. After barely making his way through the first two rounds, he managed to settle into a style of fighting and advance all the way to the final round. There, he fought a contender named Angel, who managed to keep him at a standstill. Before the round could finish, however, the arena was attacked by a group of fiends unlike any seen before. Darius showed up and helped the two dispatch the fiends, before they left to investigate the matter.

After some research into the fiends, they traveled to the chasm in the Calm Lands, the home of the fiends. There, Ben and Angel entered the ruined castle of King Malak Agamand, delving deep into the ruins in order to find and defeat the fiends' leader - a powerful fiend known as the Forsaken One. They managed to destroy the creature, returning to the surface for some rest. The rest was short-lived, however, as the fayth called Angel and Ben to another world, Gaia, for reasons known only to that world's Creator, Freya. The entire group ended up traveling to Gaia, ending up in a region of the world known as Balamb. There, they met Commander Squall Leonhart of Balamb Garden, as well as several of his associates.

Having explained their motives for coming and how they had gotten to the world, the group then departed to explore the new planet, later ending up in a region of the world known as Trabia. There, they found the newly-rebuilt Trabia Garden, now under the command of Headmaster Darius Elric DeValle, Sr. Ben went out to explore and quickly learned several things about the world, including the means to call on the power of Guardian Forces to augment the user's abilities, as well as the branch of pseudo-magic known as Alchemy. During this time, a pair of travelers named Tetsuya and Yuki Kurabasa met up with the group, taking shelter in the Celsius during a snowstorm on their way to the Garden.

Part II: The Zodiac Brave Story

Meanwhile, outside of Esthar, Naoki Ishida, Sumiko Remiere, and Uriko Kurabasa found themselves confronted by an individual named Seeker, who promptly attacked them and stole a small gem, unknown to the group as another of the Holy Stones. They decided to head to Esthar with the hope of tracking him down and getting information from him.

In Centra, Lady Kisara, a Divine Magus serving under the God of Magic Xeios, investigated a set of ruins which led to a confrontation between herself and Adramelk - a powerful Lucavi Demon long sealed in slumber. Katanas rescued Kisara from the demon, as she explained what she had been doing to the Garden SeeD Commander.

In Trabia, Ben decided to enroll in Trabia Garden's Alchemy program in order to further supplement his abilities. Before he could do that, however, he was confronted by a being called Fayt, one of the Ethereal Pillars of Reality. After a brief fight with the Pillar in which he found himself vastly outmatched, Katanas DeValle, the eldest son of Darius Sr. DeValle, and Kisara appeared and managed to persuade the Pillar to leave. The two had a brief talk with Ben before leaving shortly afterward.

Ben himself returned to the airship, only to later have a talk with Rikku about his background and the events of his life before his meeting their crew. Ben also found himself engaged in a training fight with the second eldest of the DeValle siblings, Revolver, which ended in a sound defeat for the Blade Knight. Shortly after, most of the Gullwings along with Tetsuya, and Yuki enrolled in Trabia Garden along with Ben to hone their own abilities.

In Esthar, Naoki's group met up with a girl named Silvia Conrad, who instructed them to head to Trabia Garden if they were looking for information. She then offered to lead the trio to the Garden, and they accepted. Later that evening, Silvia's father, Zeo Conrad, met with Darius Sr. DeValle at the Pandora Cafe in Esthar, regarding another of the Holy Stones. Conrad was attacked by the Senior, Albel, and Revolver, however, and was forced to leave the scene.

Back in Trabia, Silvia and Naoki's group arrived at the Garden, and Naoki's group left to gather information as Silvia met with Darius, a close friend of hers, to catch up on things. The two talked about what had happened between their fathers, but dropped the subject shortly after.

In the Ethereal Plane, Freya spoke with Will about his experiences in the mortal realm, before giving him two orders. First, to find all twelve of the Holy Stones and reclaim them, and second, to find Kisara and send her to Freya. Will did so, descending back to Gaia and locating Kisara, both acquiring one of the Holy Stones and relaying the message for her to return to the Realm. Kisara left Will to complete his mission, heading back to the Ethereal Plane to see Freya. Freya spoke with Kisara about her actions, before forbidding her to return to the mortal realm until she said otherwise.

Naoki and his group headed to Arkives in Trabia in search of information about Seeker, but found themselves stopped cold as they discovered that you needed a Trabian ID card to enter. Seeing no other alternative, they decided to enroll in the Garden in order to continue their search.

Meanwhile, Will confronted Zeo Conrad in Esthar about another of the Holy Stones. Despite Conrad's efforts, Will easily retrieved the Stone, leaving Conrad alone in his office. Back at Trabia, Ben and the others proceeded to take the entrance exams for Trabia Garden, with Ben and Yuki the only two in the Alchemy program. Ben successfully completed the entrance exams, and found out the next morning that he had made it in as a SeeD cadet.

In the Ethereal Plane, trouble was brewing as Fayt and Destine - the Pillar of Destiny - began to plot with each other...or so Fayt was led to believe. Mere minutes after they began speaking, Destine drained a large part of Fayt's energy, leaving immediately after to further her own plans. On the mortal realm, a similar treachery was undertaken by Darius, as Will confronted him about the Aries Holy Stone. Darius tricked Will with a false Stone, the Pillar remaining none the wiser about the switch.

In Dollet, Angel met with Locke Cole, a treasure hunter from the world of Terranigma, having a conversation with him about Angel's mission. He persuaded Locke to come back to Trabia with him, with plans made for the two of them to leave later that night.

Back at Trabia Garden, Ben had his first day as a SeeD cadet in the Alchemy division, with his Introduction to Alchemy class led by none other than Katanas. The class went fairly smoothly until an interruption by Katanas' aide, Ein Beoulve, who reported that there was a disturbance at Garden and classes were to be canceled temporarily until it was dealt with. Ben snuck out to investigate the disturbance and found Fayt at the entrance to Garden, where she promptly killed three SeeDs and critically injured a fourth before her pet, a variant of a Daeva fiend, attacked Ben. With the timely arrival of Yuna and Paine, the trio managed to destroy the fiend, but Fayt had already achieved what she came for - the casting of a spell over Rikku.

While this was occurring, Seeker made his way back to the Royal Thieves Guild in Esthar and reported on his discoveries regarding the Holy Stones - namely, that all of them seemed to have vanished from the face of the world. Mystique, their leader, found this information quite interesting but decided to take little action other than canceling their deal with Zeo Conrad. Back at Trabia Garden, Darius also had plans of his own, leaving the Garden soon after the attack with the Aries Holy Stone still in hand.

The following day, Ben, Yuna, and Paine were questioned by a council made up of Darius DeValle Sr., Albel Nox, Katanas DeValle, and the four Paladins of the Sphere - Camdus Marché, Anita Drake, Onimaru Balthas, and Ellie Night. After a brief discussion of the previous day's events, all classified, the three cadets were released from the briefing, albeit with Ben receiving a reprimand from Ellie for his actions - something that Onimaru didn't completely agree with, but was convinced not to follow up on. Angel and Locke also finally arrived back at Garden, and Locke was enrolled at classes in Trabia for SeeD cadet status.

Meanwhile, Andréa, having finally made her way back to Garden, met up with her brother Ein to explain just what had happened since she had left for Spira. Ein asked many questions pertaining to the girl's adventurous mission, fitting for a boy his age, that Andréa was happy to answer. Later that evening, Ben ran across Andréa in Trabia's training center - where Fayt decided to meddle once again. Sending down a large creature called the Thunder Dragon into the center, she attacked the duo but found her monster soundly defeated by their combined efforts, though not without some trouble. Fayt was soon after confronted by Will, who assured Fayt that her plans for both the mortal realm and Ben would fail.

At the same time, Freya met with Odin and Kisara about Fayt's plans, giving Kisara the task of watching over the Planeswalkers of Gaia, while Odin was charged with what Freya called "the complete cessation of Fayt's plans for power." Meanwhile, Fayt began to attempt to recoup the power she had lost to Destine by absorbing energy from the Ethereal Plane itself to replenish her. Back on Gaia, Darius met with Shiro Matsuda, and asked for Seifer Almasy to deliver the Holy Stone that he still held to his brother, Katanas.

Three months later, near the end of Ben's SeeD cadet training, Fayt made her presence known once more in person to Ben and Angel, appearing to them while on a trip to Esthar. Fayt easily gained the upper hand against the two surprised Planeswalkers, but Katanas DeValle showed up soon after to even the odds, revealing that he held the Aries Holy Stone and intended to use it. Kisara also appeared, further evening the playing field, but it was an unknown presence that finally caused Fayt to retreat to the Ethereal Plane. Kisara then revealed that she was to take Angel and Ben to the Ethereal Plane to meet with Freya and proceeded to do so after confirmation from the pair.

In the Realm, Freya met with the two warriors, explaining to Ben his status as a Planeswalker and also the mission she was assigning to the two of them - assisting Odin and Xeios with stopping Fayt for good. They agreed, Ben somewhat reluctantly, and the four set off to carry out Freya's will. Arriving in Fayt's domain, they were confronted by the Pillar of Fate, now in her true Ethereal form. The fight was fierce, but the unexpected arrival of Destine ended up being the last piece needed to seal Fayt's defeat. Freya arrived shortly after Destine, ordering the group to cease their attacks, before passing judgment upon Fayt and stripping her powers as a Pillar of Reality from her until otherwise ordained.

Part III: Element of Treachery

The day after the battle with Fayt, Galbadia found itself in trouble when a rogue company of troops, led by Lieutenant General Marcus Duran, took over the Presidential Palace of Galbadia from within. Fourteen hostages were taken, all leaders of various Galbadian provinces, and Duran sent a message to General Hibrom Caraway demanding the resignation of both Vinzer Deling Jr. and his entire advisory staff in two hours' time. If not, he claimed that he would begin executing the hostages, one every hour, until his demands were met. Caraway spoke with the President, suggesting that they call in SeeD to handle the situation based on a number of unknown factors. Deling grudgingly agreed, and Caraway made the call to Balamb. Unfortunately, Balamb's special operations unit was out on another mission, so Caraway was forwarded to Trabia Garden. Katanas DeValle, after hearing of the situation, accepted, and decided to take the opportunity to launch the SeeD field exam as well.

Katanas proceeded to call the graduate-ready cadets to a briefing room on the third floor, along with a considerable portion of the command staff in order to prepare everyone for the exam. The cadets were split into five groups of three, with Camdus Marché given command of the operation and Ein Beoulve his second-in-command. The squads filed out quickly, heading to the hangar behind Garden and proceeding towards Galbadia in one of the fleet's dropships.

Meanwhile, Duran contacted Galbadian command officials again, stating that their given two hours for the President's surrender of his office was up. Despite fierce pleading from General Alex Rustov, Duran proceeded to make good on his claims and executed one hostage, beginning the next hour of counting before cutting the transmission.

Shortly after, SeeD officials arrived on the scene at Galbadia, greeted by Caraway and a contingent of soldiers under his command. Camdus proceeded to explain more specifics of the mission to the groups, splitting squads B and E off from the others to take a different approach into the Palace - a series of escape tunnels located under the city. Squads A, C, and D proceeded towards the Palace along with Caraway and his men, while squads B and E were led to their route by three other Galbadian soldiers. The small group proceeded to make their way into the tunnels without interruption even as the other groups arrived at the current and temporary base of operations outside of the Palace. Upon their arrival, a group of special operations soldiers under Caraway proceeded to eliminate the snipers atop the roof of the building, granting the three SeeD squads a chance to enter the premises and begin the operation in earnest.

Within the building, the SeeD squads found fairly heavy resistance, encountering many Galbadian soldiers and commanders that they had to engage in order to clear the first floor of hostiles. SeeD officials moved behind them, unknown to the cadets, to keep cleared rooms and gained ground secure. As this was going on, Delta Squad moved into the second floor and swept their way through, making their way to Duran's command center with ease and quickly apprehending him and the rest of his commanders.

Back at Garden, the results of the field exam were discussed and then later released. All SeeD cadets present in the exam passed, with two exceptions - Tidus Kuroda and Lenne Kaibara. At the same time, in the Ethereal Plane, Destine traveled to the prison dimension known only as the Void, seeking assistance and followers to bring her plan to fruition. She met with a Daiesthai imprisoned there by the name of Manes, offering him freedom in exchange for his loyalty and cooperation. Begrudgingly, he agreed, seeing the opportunity as a chance to resume his quest for power.

In the mortal realm, Katanas DeValle left Ein Beoulve in charge of his duties as SeeD Commander while he was out on business. This business turned out to involve two other Planeswalkers, whom he met with in the dimension between realms, the Crystal Path. While this was happening, Camdus Marché approached Andréa Beoulve and congratulated her, bestowing upon her a promotion to Major within the Trabian combat division.

Later that evening, Destine secretly descended to the mortal realm, meeting with Shiro Matsuda of the Hachikyuusan and cryptically enlightening him to the possibility of multiple kidnappings or assassinations of well-known officials and leaders, also suggesting that there was much honor to be gained for his organization by offering his services to protect these leaders.

In the Nether Plane, the Author Wilhelm met with the leader of the plane, Aizen Sosuke, and asked to conscript one of his Planeswalkers for a time - Dmitri Yuriev, one of Aizen's newest chosen. Aizen agreed to the offer, upon which Wilhelm asked for Yuriev to meet him at any location on the mortal plane before taking his leave.

That afternoon, Destine met with the President of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling Jr., at Rubedo's, upon which she revealed information that questioned the loyalty of some of Deling's people within the city. Deling was suspicious, but Destine simply handed over a disc with information before leaving the Galbadian President to his meal, citing only "the continuation of good business" as her motive. In Esthar, some two hours later, a fire broke out in the Presidential Palace that caused a full evacuation, leaving Laguna Loire and his aides, Kiros Seagill and Ward Zaback suspecting that it was not an accident, but rather arson, following a similar string of fires in the business district of Galbadia City the previous night and earlier in the morning. At Kiros' suggestion, Laguna contacted Trabia Garden and asked them to send out a team to aid in the investigation. On Raj Ahten's orders, a squad was sent out under the leadership of Andréa Beoulve, consisting of Ben, Silvia, Naoki, and Sumiko, to Esthar in order to assist.

At the same time, Albel met with the Senior in order to discuss the string of fires in Galbadia. The fires had been businesses owned and operated by the DeValle family within the city, and the Deling family - specifically, the side dealing with under-the-table operations - was responsible. The Senior called in Albel's brother, Jarok Nox, in order to deliver a message to Vinzer Deling Jr. that called for a deal to be brokered for mutual interest within the city - if he refused, his business assets in the city would be torched similarly to how the DeValles' were. Jarok, however, countered with the fact that Deling would never agree to such a deal, and so the Senior requested that he eliminate the family if they disregarded his offer. Jarok agreed, and departed for Galbadia City to undertake the mission.

Later that evening, in Esthar, Andréa's squad arrived at Esthar and began aiding the Estharian Presidential Guard with the investigation. They were greeted by Eve Hanley, Abel Squad's communications officer, and spent the next half hour discussing potential theories for arson and investigating the palace itself. Shortly after, an unauthorized entry alarm sounded throughout the Palace, and both Abel Squad and the squad from Garden moved to assist. They arrived in a laboratory within the east wing of the Palace to find the Royal Thieves Guild attempting to steal from the laboratory's contents. They engaged the Guild in battle, managing to drive them off after a short conflict, only to have a bomb go off in the adjacent room that further damaged the Palace. Back at the Guild's hideout, they handed over the items they had taken from the Palace to Destine, who had hired them - a derivative of the famous Odine Bangle, and a small box with unknown contents.

In the Nether Plane, Dmitri Yuriev, upon receiving his orders from Aizen to meet with Wilhelm, had a discussion with Rubedo Alaberti, another Planeswalker under Aizen's command, in which he asked Rubedo to keep an eye out for "interesting happenings," particularly magical ones, on the mortal plane. Rubedo reluctantly accepted, at which point Yuriev departed to meet with the Author.

In Soul Society, Darius met with Byakuya Kuchiki, the leader of the plane, proceeding to explain about his knowledge of the war that took place in the Ethereal Plane some centuries before and how he knew that several members of the Gilead Order survived and came to Soul Society. He then expressed his desire to meet those survivors, particularly Etchel, the former head of the Ethereal Archaeology and Magical Maintenance Division. Byakuya, after consideration, agreed to arrange a meeting, an action which satisfied the youngest DeValle.

Family Rites

Book II: Outbreak

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Part II: To the Victor Go the Spoils

After dealing with the threat of Darius DeValle Sr., now safely behind bars in Esthar, Ben went back to Trabia Garden, where he was promoted by Katanas to Major for a mission well done. He then went home, seeing Silvia again for the first time in several days, and the two went out for a celebratory dinner at Rubedo's in Deling City.

While there, Ben was soon pulled aside and confronted by none other than Dmitri Yuriev, who made to kill both Ben and Silvia quickly. Before he could, however, both Destine and the former Galbadia Garden's Alpha Squad intervened. Yuriev summoned Eden, "killing" Destine on the mortal plane and forcing her to go to Soul Society in order to heal. Yuriev went to attack again, but was stopped by Hyne and Celes, the former of whom promptly disposed of Yuriev's body with little effort.

Unfortunately, Yuriev was inhabiting the body of chaos, the Key of Anima, when he was killed. This sent magical backlash through both the mortal realm and the Ethereal Plane, rendering gods and goddesses throughout the Realm drained of their power, as well as creating a severe magical imbalance in the mortal realm. Katanas arrived at Rubedo's and confronted Hyne, the two exchanging words before Katanas ordered Alpha Squad, Ben, Celes, and Silvia back to Garden. Katanas then left for the Ethereal Plane to speak with Freya.

Meanwhile, on the Ethereal Plane, Freya and Will began to weigh options in keeping the balance of reality strong. A man named Toshiro Hitsugaya arrived at Freya's chamber, suggesting the option of severing the link between realms temporarily and sending a group into Soul Society to both find chaos, and dispose of Dmitri Yuriev permanently. Freya agreed to the plan, sending Will down to the mortal realm to find candidates.

Will spoke with Katal, who was serving as the acting Headmaster of Trabia Garden following the Senior's incarceration, and Ein, who was serving as the Garden SeeD Commander in Katanas' temporary absence. Katal nominated Ellie, Darius, and Albel for the mission, and Will asked for Katal to have those three assembled, before leaving. He met with both Ben and Celes, recruiting the both of them for the trip to Soul Society as well. The group of six then left for the Ethereal Plane, where Toshiro met the group at the gates. He created a portal to Soul Society and led the group through, leaving shortly thereafter. The group then split up to explore Soul Society. Ben encountered Destine and filled her in on what had happened since her arrival in Soul Society, but they had little time for pleasantries. Toshiro arrived a moment later and spoke with the two, suggesting that they regroup quickly. Ben and Destine left to find the others, soon finding the entire group except for Darius, just before they were confronted.

Byakuya Kuchiki, the Lord Sovereign of Soul Society, had been watching the group since they entered the gates, and he sent the Grim Angel Ledah Rozwelli and a contingent of soldiers to capture the 'invaders'. The soldiers soon confronted the group, but were no match for the combined efforts of the five present and were quickly and soundly defeated. Ledah arrived moments later, followed by another group of soldiers. The group decided to go along with Ledah's orders, with Darius showing up just in time to be led off with the rest of the group, except for Albel and Ellie, who left before the soldiers could take them as well.

They were led to Byakuya's palace in the inner sanctum of Soul Society, where they met with the Lord Sovereign himself. After explaining their situation, they were let free by Byakuya...or so they thought. Instead, they came face to face with Ledah, who seemed poised to attack until the unexpected appearance of Toshiro once more, informing the group that Yuriev was outside in the courtyard. While Toshiro held Ledah off, the group left the palace to confront Yuriev.

Outside, Yuriev absorbed Eden into his body instead of junctioning the Guardian Force, amplifying his power in the spirit-based realm, before attacking the four present. He quickly used Eden as a means to restrain Destine, putting her out of the fight, before knocking Darius unconscious, leaving Ben and Celes to face Yuriev alone. The two managed to kill Yuriev after an unexpected distraction from Toshiro and Ledah. Ledah uncloaked Toshiro a moment later to reveal that he was really Etchel Beoulve in disguise, before Etchel explained that since Yuriev's body was destroyed, he could use the spirit particles of his form to gradually assert control over the whole of Soul Society. The group left immediately after, headed back to the Ethereal Plane. Upon arriving, the group met with Freya and formulated a plan to lure Yuriev out and destroy him permanently. Ben and Celes also began to train under Etchel, training that would not be completed for six months.

Shortly after the end of the pair's training, Byakuya, under the control of Yuriev, led his forces on an attack of the Ethereal Plane. They successfully breached the gates to the realm, fighting against the entire group, all four Pillars, Odin, and later Xeios. Yuriev used Byakuya's body to frightening effect, taking out Odin quickly and then Xeios, who arrived to protect his comrade, before turning on the mortal group and defeating them quickly, along with two of the four Pillars. Will resisted longer, but was eventually defeated, as was Hyne, as Yuriev proceeded to Freya's chamber.

Yuriev confronted Freya, still in Byakuya's body, as Freya attempted to seal Yuriev's soul away into the abyss with her Sealing Technique: Sahnofuin. It didn't work, however, but did give Byakuya control of his body again. Angel, Celes, Katanas, and Ben appeared on the scene, now possessing the powers of Fate, Destiny, Foretelling, and the End respectively, passed on to them temporarily by the four incapacitated Pillars. They immediately joined Byakuya in the attack, as Freya kept the Ethereal Plane from collapsing due to Yuriev's negative influence. Ben struck the final blow, destroying Yuriev's essence on the Ethereal Realm and sending him down to Soul Society once again, before the four used the powers of the Pillars along with Byakuya's aid to restabilize the Ethereal Plane. Freya left Odin and Xeios in charge of the Realm, before descending to Soul Society along with the four Pillars to recover.

The four gave back the powers of the Pillars to their rightful owners then, while constructing a plan to trap Yuriev for eternity in Soul Society with a binding spell. As everyone retired to their rooms for the night, Yuriev contacted Ben and Celes for one final showdown. Somewhat reluctantly, the two did so, following Yuriev's call out into a large colosseum. A terrible fight ensued, with Ben utilizing his new Shinkendo techniques, Celes drawing on a large amount of her Runic power to attack and confound Yuriev with, and Yuriev himself unsealing his Diviner's initial release to strike back. In the end, however, he was defeated by the duo. His soul would later be bound by Fayt and Hyne, then eradicated by Byakuya's Six Rod Prison of Light kidō spell.

Part III: Convergence

Back in Soul Society, Byakuya thanked the group for their time before somewhat bluntly requesting their departure. They did so, returning to the Ethereal Plane and delivering a report to Freya about all that had happened. Freya thanked them, giving each of them a gift for their service to both realms - a magical weapon called a Diviner - then released them to return to Gaia. Before Ben and Celes could make it back, however, they were confronted by a person inquiring about someone or something by the name of "Tri-Edge." When the duo denied knowledge, the person attacked, severely wounding Ben before Odin showed up and forced the person's retreat. Odin led the two back to Freya's chamber to report on the attack, and the knowledge that Freya gained from the report disturbed her. Leaving Odin in charge, she returned to Soul Society to speak with Byakuya. After a short conversation with Byakuya about the mysterious person, as well as the movement of Aizen Sosuke's forces in the Nether Plane, Freya returned to her realm to begin mounting a defensive force.

On Gaia, Ben, Celes, Nightfire, Yuki, Aiva Furello, Miyuki Itsumi, and Locke Cole were gathered together in Garden's briefing room to meet with Katanas, Zeo Conrad, and Byakuya. Aiva and Miyuki were contracted to work with Conrad Synthetics and Executive Outcomes jointly on the KOS-MOS project, while Nightfire and Locke were to join Katanas on a mission to Deling City. Ben, Celes, and Yuki were sent to Soul Society to aid Byakuya and the Grim Angels with a mission as well.

In Deling City, the trio were met by Jarok Nox, who arrived just in time to help the group confront the mysterious Tri-Edge. Though a very tough opponent, the constant pressure from four opponents was too much for Tri-Edge, who was forced to fall back and heal his wounds, but not before dealing heavy damage to the city's infrastructure. However, Katanas ordered the group to fall back as well, to allow Galbadian authorities to handle the issue.

Esthar Garden was also having quite a bit of trouble, specifically from a technological standpoint. Albedo, one of the world's greatest hackers, crippled the entire OSIRIS network by pinging the system from all over the world, taking information faster than the techs at Garden could encrypt it. Esthar Garden had no choice but to temporarily disable the OSIRIS network until a source of defense was found. Angel sent Seifer to Trabia Garden with a transfer request for Ein Beoulve, also beginning to draw up a contingency plan for evacuation to other Gardens should things go wrong.

At Balamb Garden, things suddenly went wrong. While a shift change was taking place, Albedo hacked into the system and began destroying data, overloading terminals and wreaking havoc in the operations room and piloting control. The SeeD officers on duty began to destroy consoles in panic, killing the pilot in the chaos as Balamb Garden lifted off and began flying, destination unknown to anyone in the Garden.

In Soul Society, the trio met with Byakuya, who informed them of their mission: reconnaissance in the Nether Plane to figure out the movements of the Overlord's forces. The three departed immediately, ending up at the gates of the Nether Realm and making it inside with no conflict. Discovering that they knew little to nothing about the composition of the Nether Realm, making it hard to navigate, Ben called on Manes for help, who began to lead the trio through the area.

Balamb Garden found itself partially on top of the situation with help from Katanas and Ein, as Squall led the two down into The Dark. There, he played an audio file that seemed to be the source of the chaos, having the power to render people insane upon listening, as well as overload and destroy electronics. While they were investigating, however, Albedo hacked into Trabia's network and began to shut down systems, gathering data from their mainframe as well. Ellie managed to stop the hack with a special program developed by Ein, but Albedo had already attained what he wanted.

Meanwhile, the trio in the Nether Plane made their way deeper into the area, coming across a place known as the Deadlands. There, they were confronted by several demons, and Yuki was captured in the confrontation. Ben and Celes had no choice to retreat, heading back to the gates, but they were confronted by the 11th Arrancar, Shawlong Qufang. Fia showed up in time to distract the Arrancar, allowing the two to escape. Ben and Celes then reported their findings to Byakuya, who dismissed them and ordered them to report the same to Freya.

In the Ethereal Plane, the two reported the findings to Freya before they were interrupted by news of an attack on the Realm. With Odin and Xeios unable to help, Freya sent Ben and Celes to quell the disturbance. They arrived to find four dead gods, Katanas, and Tri-Edge, whom they promptly dispatched with Katanas' help. However, a shock came moments later, as Katanas revealed that the Tri-Edge they had just killed was a fake, and that he was the real article. He then told Ben and Celes that they had five minutes to defeat him, or he would give the Overlord the all-clear to attack.

Despite their best efforts, Ben and Celes were defeated, leaving Katanas free to order the attack to commence. Ben and Celes made their way back to Freya's throne room then, preparing for the worst. Kisara entered the throne room a minute later, reporting on how quickly the Ethereal Plane's forces were falling. Freya sent Kisara to Soul Society then, hoping to draw aid from Byakuya. The Ethereal Mage did just that, and successfully convinced Byakuya to send aid to the Realm.

In Esthar, Aiva Furello and Miyuki Itsumi had taken Conrad Synthetics the fold, in the hopes of finishing a project: the KP-X project, newly-repaired and revived. It was then transfered to Trabia Garden.

In the Nether Plane, the Overlord summoned Yuki to talk with him, a fact which the younger girl found hard to believe. He proceeded to order an Arrancar to attack, which culminated in Yuki discovering something that she hadn't known before - the Runic powers within her. The Overlord proceeded to explain what Runic was to Yuki, as well as the purpose of the Nether Plane's existence, before offering her a chance to train in the Nether Plane under him, which she accepted. Shortly after leaving the palace, however, Yuki found herself confronted by a being calling herself Xeria. Xeria attacked Yuki, easily overwhelming her and claiming the Jewel of Creation for her own, before leaving.

Part IV: Checkmate

Back on Gaia, in Esthar Garden, the next day found itself much less tense than the previous, with Ein Beoulve's help in securing the OSIRIS mainframe proving invaluable. With the information network of Garden secure, Angel and Ein began to discuss what had been happening elsewhere. Ein informed Angel of the events in the Ethereal Plane, giving him a message from Katanas before being sent a mental message himself - Freya's palace was under siege. Angel and Ein quickly warped to the Ethereal Plane to lend their aid, leaving Seifer behind in charge. They met up with Freya, Ben, and Celes almost immediately, and together the five entered combat. They were aided by members of the Order of Grim Angels, specifically Malice, Serene, and shortly after, Etchel Beoulve.

While Malice and Serene left to help in another part of the battle, Etchel began to instruct Angel, Ben, Celes, and Ein in the new blades that they held - their Diviners. He explained the properties of their Diviners, and instructed them in the use of their Shikai, or the "initial release" in the Angelic tongue. It proved timely aid as Shawlong Qufang, the 11th Arrancar, arrived moments later. Angel, Ben, and Celes put their initial releases to use immediately, engaging Shawlong in brutal combat that left the Arrancar evenly matched or moreso with even the four combatants. Even after three consecutive Limit Breaks from Ein, Ben, and Angel in turn, Shawlong still had plenty of fight left in him, and he quickly took Ein and Ben down in return before Angel attacked again, finally laying the Arrancar to rest.

Immediately after the battle ended, Etchel returned, along with the same person who had attacked Ben and Celes previously and inquired about Tri-Edge, Haseo Misaki. The group proceeded to explain about Tri-Edge, the Overlord, and that Tri-Edge was none other than Katanas DeValle in actuality. After weighing their options, Etchel, Ben, Haseo, and Celes decided to go to the Nether Plane to find out more information.

Meanwhile, Angel returned to the mortal realm and contacted fellow Headmaster Katal Corelia, also activating Garden Executive Operation Order 005 following a talk between the two. This sent out a message, once approved by all acting Garden Headmasters, to recall all SeeDs currently deployed in the field to Garden. The reason for this became clear soon after, as Angel and Camdus Marché led a force of SeeDs nearly 2,300 strong into the Ethereal Plane to aid with the fight on the Ethereal side.

Ben, Celes, and Haseo entered the Nether Plane as this was transpiring, Haseo immediately running off ahead of the other two to head straight for the Overlord's palace, while Angel arrived to join the group. The three then followed at a more subdued pace, arriving there to find Yuki. The younger girl seemed to be acting as a subject of the Overlord, and Ben wasted no time questioning her and requesting to see the Overlord. They were interrupted by Haseo's uncontrolled re-entry into the room they were in, courtesy of Katanas. Katanas then escorted the group to see the Overlord in person.

Ben and the rest proceeded to question the Overlord about his invasion of the Ethereal Plane, to which the Overlord had no problem replying - his true intentions had nothing to do with the Ethereal Plane, but rather the destruction of the Grim Angels and command of Soul Society. He also brought up his other vendetta, one against Freya for, in his opinion, severely lacking in her duties as a leader and the Creator of the Ethereal Plane. Moments later, Xeria entered the room, and the Overlord conversed with her about the Alchemic Trinity and Door of Space-Time, finally revealing his intentions and plan to fix what he saw as "problems" - by taking them up with the Author himself, Erasmus.

Aizen, accompanied by Ben and Celes, travelled to the Door but were met and barred by two guardians - Ma'at and Kari Inihara. They were tasked with guarding the Door from any who would misuse its ability. After a minute of negotiation, the group was let through the door and found themselves in the barrier between dimensions, the road that would lead to Hueco Mundo. With Aizen in the lead, they proceeded through the barrier and wound up in what appeared to be a bustling metropolis, but was in actuality the home of the Authors, Hueco Mundo. Quickly, they located the building in which Erasmus was present and entered, heading up to see the maker of reality itself. Discussion was had on many subjects, including Ben's travels through Spira to Gaia, revealing it to be nothing more than a plan by Wilhelm to remove the Planeswalker from his reality so that his plans for Gaia could proceed.

As they arrived at the top floor, they were promptly greeted by Erasmus himself, who Ben would later describe as "not quite what he expected from someone who literally made everything." Also among the discussion was the exact demands that Aizen wished to make - namely, that Freya abdicate her position as the Creator in favor of Katanas DeValle, which sent ripples of shock through Ben as he heard the news. The Author, instead of merely deliberating, brought both Freya and Katanas into the office to discuss it with them personally. In the discussion that followed, Freya kept her position, as Aizen himself was fired in favor of electing Katanas as the new Overlord, by the Author's authority. Katanas then suggested that Ein be given a role of importance in realm affairs, due to his association with Hyne. After deliberation, it was decided that Ein would take on a diplomatic role between the Ethereal Plane, Nether Plane, and Soul Society.

Meanwhile, in the Ethereal Plane, the tide finally turned decisively in favor of the Ethereal forces. The Pillars defeated their counterparts, the Adjuchas, and Byakuya showed up to tip the playing field firmly to the Ethereal side. Engaging Aizen Sosuke in single combat, he managed to strike a blow that crippled Aizen and signaled his defeat. Still holding great respect for his fellow combatant, ideals and position aside, Byakuya allowed him a warrior's death.

It took time, but things in the Ethereal Plane were settled and the SeeD forces remaining were returned to Garden. Ben found himself in the Training Center soon after resting from the battle, and then found himself speaking with Jarok Nox within the Center, who had apparently returned from Deling City. Meanwhile, at Esthar Garden, Will met with Angel about Katanas' new position as the Overlord, something that Angel did not take kindly to after Katanas' recent actions. As this was happening, Haseo tracked down Etchel Beoulve, stating only that Etchel could get him to Tri-Edge before engaging the Captain-level Grim Angel in combat.

Book III: Finale

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Part I: The Eighteen

The next day, Takomashi U'dashika met with Angel about an arrangement they had made a month prior, pertaining to an exploration of an area within the Centra continent. Word had been passed to Angel and others within Esthar that a set of mostly-intact ruins had been discovered in Centra, and Angel had taken the opportunity to set up an exploration mission. One week passed before SeeD operatives made it to the ruins, being joined by a man by the name of Sarek Matthews before they entered the area. The group proceeded to enter the ruins, delving deeper and deeper within the hallways and chambers, and came across pieces of machinery that were still partially working after all the time since Centra's destruction. As they continued to move, they came across Fayt, who proceeded to attempt to warn them against moving any further within the complex. Sarek and his team ignored Fayt, however, continuing onward into a corridor sealed at the end by a large door marked by a dusty plaque. Sarek examined the door, an action which caused it to open before him, before calling for the officers with him to signal their Garden to send in teams to Centra. Moments later, he proceeded into the room, coming across a massive room littered with human-sized pods, the purpose of which was unknown to Sarek and his team.

While Sarek and his group investigated the ruins, Albedo launched a coordinated attack on the Garden Network that disabled the communications systems at all three Gardens, leaving the entire Network forced to rely solely on emergency communications protocols as well as leaving their field units incapable of contact.

Back within the ruins, Sarek and his team continued to examine the room, becoming increasingly cautious as the pods around them began to activate, though they released nothing into the room with the team. They also became aware of the communications issues with the Garden Network, deciding to finish their examination of the room before heading outside to perhaps reduce interference from the Lunar Cry's crater. As they proceeded, they made the discovery that the pods each seemed to hold people, preserved in some sort of hibernation or stasis within the ruins. Reaching the back of the room, Sarek and his team found more pods, but slightly different ones - these each held a number, from two to eighteen - as well as a set of stairs leading up. As the SeeDs set up a defensive perimeter at the bottom of the stairs, Sarek ascended them as the door at the top opened up...then immediately ran back down, yelling for the group to retreat. Even as he began to descend the stairs, a blade pierced his back, causing him to fall as the SeeD officers running through the room were impaled by spikes coming from the pods. The last thing Sarek saw before losing consciousness as his body was kicked down the stairs was the sight of a single figure at the top, slowly laughing at the man's wounded form.

Back at Esthar Garden, Angel, Takomashi, and Seifer attempted to discover the reason why his team in Centra was not answering. Takomashi discovered after a phone call that not only was the team unreachable by Garden communications, but that Matthews was not answering any communication at all. Angel decided then that he would lead two more SeeD teams into Centra to find out what happened, but was stopped by a figure at the door as he made to leave. The figure, dressed in a black cloak, introduced himself as "two of eighteen, and eighteen of two" before attacking Angel in the command center. As the fight went on, the figure revealed that he'd fought Angel - or rather, Angelus - before, and introduced himself as a man named Salipas. As the fight neared to a close, Salipas stated that "you guys did a nice job locking us up, but you forgot to lock the door" before vanishing. Salipas reappeared in the Centran wastelands, where he met up with a man named Salinas - his identical twin - who informed him of a "potential acquisition," that being their former shelter in Trabia, now Trabia Garden. While this was happening, a plan was drafted to send Delta Squad to investigate the disappearance at Centra.

In the Nether Plane, Katanas made a speech to those gathered at the Overlord's palace, detailing his plans for leadership and stressing that they were not enemies of the other planes, but rather similarly dedicated to upholding the Balance between the realms.

Soundtrack

Opening Theme, Dimensional Legend

• Somewhere I Belong, Linkin Park

Book I: Mortal Conflict, Part I: A Hero's Challenge

Chapter II

• Ben vs. Catherine - Battle, Yasunori Mitsuda

Chapter III

• Ben vs. Joshua - Otherworld, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter IV

• Ben vs. Seth - Force Your Way, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter V

• Ben vs. Amy - The Divine Spirit of Language, Motoi Sakuraba
• Ben vs. Andréa - Final Fantasy 7 Philharmonic Suite Finale OC Remix, Jeremy Robson

Chapter VI

• Ben’s Theme - Eternity ~Band Member Performance~, Matsueda/Eguchi
• Angel’s Theme - Angel Main Theme (The Sanctuary Extended Remix), Darling Violetta
• Ben vs. Angel - Liberi Fatali, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter VIII

• Battle with Larazon - Malicious Fingers, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter IX

• Battle with Malthorious - Fighting The Shadowy Gods, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter X

• Battle with Forsaken One - Flash Over, Matsueda/Eguchi

Chapter XI

• The Sight of Gaia - Overture, Yoko Shimomura

Chapter XIII

• Ben vs. Shiva - Force Your Way, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter XIV

• The Palace of Creation - Valhalla, Motoi Sakuraba

Book I: Mortal Conflict, Part II: The Zodiac Brave Story

Chapter I

• Kisara's Theme - Wind Crest ~The Three Trails~, Matsueda/Eguchi, Ogata
• Revolver's Battle Theme - The Incarnation of Devil, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter III

• Naoki's Battle Theme - For The Reunion, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter IV

• Fayt's Theme - Final Fantasy VI Phantom Midnight OC Remix, mp
• Ben's Battle Theme - Final Fantasy VI Dancing Madly First Form OC Remix, waxingeloquent

Chapter XI

• Battle with Daeva - Dancing Rhapsody, Norikazu Miura

Chapter XIV

• Battle with Thunder Dragon - The Divine Spirit of Language, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter XVII

• Battle with Fayt - Confidence in the Domination, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter XVIII

• Battle with Fayt, Part II - Confidence in the Domination, Motoi Sakuraba

Chapter XIX

• Prelude to Battle - Sacred Moon, Yoko Shimomura
• Final Battle: Fayt - Those Who Fight Further; Tsuyoshi Sekito, Kenichiro Fukui

Book I: Mortal Conflict, Part III: Element of Treachery

Chapter III

• Galbadia City Insertion - The Landing, Nobuo Uematsu

Chapter X

• Andréa's Theme - Step, Shiro Sagisu

Chapter XI

• Manes' Theme - Albedo; Yasunori Mitsuda, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Metro Voices
• Manes' Battle Theme - Pluto; Black∞Hole

Chapter XII

• Duel at the Sorceress Memorial - The Distance to a Duel, Shiro Sagisu

Chapter XIV

• Stepping Towards Destiny - Battle Ignition, Shiro Sagisu

Chapter XV

• Rubedo's Theme - Riddles in the Dark (Morlia Gallery); Red Tailed Fox, Xaleph
• Final Battle: Destine, Part I - Final Fantasy VI Dancing Madly Second Form OC Remix, waxingeloquent
• Final Battle: Destine, Part II - Go The Distance (I'll Go), Sixto Sounds