"Wha...What's going on? Where am I?" he said groggily.

"You're in the new town sir, remember?"

"Oh yea." Lahndo muttered, "Well, Ezzerhall, what's on the agenda for today?" 'Ezzerhall,' thought Lahndo, 'What a weird name.' It had probably been changed by his parents when they entered the original cult of Kefka. Lots of the Monks had done that. But naming conventions changed quickly. Nowadays, the Monk's children were named after The New Saints. The youngest children were named things like 'Terra' and 'Edgar'. Coming out of his reverie, Lahndo remembered that Ezzerhall was talking to him.

"Sir?" Ezzerhall said, "Did you hear me? I said you have to go check on the apparatus. It's your job to make sure it's working properly. Only you can do it."

"Yeah, lets go down to the sub-basements." Lahndo said, speaking through a yawn, "Just let me get a cup of coffee first."

* * * *

After the required cup of Java had been consumed, Lahndo and Ezzerhall left the tent, and headed to the main Kiva. When they passed through the main temple area, the young children, who were taking classes in the makeshift school ran out to meet them. They clamored around, asking questions and basking in the chance to actually talk to Lahndo. "Did you actually TALK to Kefka?" asked one girl.

"Yes, I did," answered Lahndo, "He told me to take everyone away from the tower and build this Kiva instead."

The teacher ran out of the main temple area. He was an aging monk, with no magic to speak of. "Children," he shouted, "get Back into class this instant! What is so intriguing out here...Oh! Sir..." He bowed deeply. "I didn't know you were out here. I'll..."

"Don't worry about it." Lahndo said, cutting him off. "And don't Bow! I'm not Kefka, I'm just an administrator. Your job is much more important than mine." He took the aging monk's hand and lifted him up. "I just make sure that the Church runs smoothly, while you do the real important work and educate these youngsters. Anyone could replace me, but you are extremely precious. Remember that. You're much more needed than I." Lahndo and Ezzerhall separated themselves from the crowd and walked on.

* * * *

When they reached the stairway that led to the deepest sub-basement of the Kiva, Ezzerhall turned to Lahndo and asked, "Did you really mean that? I mean, were you serious about what you said to that teacher?"

"Yes," Lahndo replied, "Because It's True."

"What do you mean, True?" Ezzerhall said, indignantly, "You're the Magimaster of the Church of Kefka! Kefka himself appointed you! How can some dumb old schoolteacher be more important than you?"

"Ezzerhall, Ezzerhall. Don't you see? I just make sure that the church runs smoothly. But Daniel there, he makes sure that young people know about the truth. He guarantees the continuity of our church. He makes sure that the young know Kefka's true message. I take care of the present, but he secures the future."

"But aren't you our leader? I mean, don't you set church policy and things like that?" Ezzerhall asked, confused.

"Yes, I do." Lahndo replied, "But it doesn't mean that I'm better than anyone else. We're all equals here. I just happen to be directing the action at the moment. I'm not really 'In charge' anymore that you are better than your peers because you're my secretary. You do know why you were chosen as my secretary, don't you?"

"Yes..." moaned Ezzerhall, "because of my photographic memory. Because you suck at taking notes and keeping track of what you have to do."

"Well, that's one way to put it." Lahndo said. "Ah, here we are."

They had arrived at a giant steel door, with a giant combination lock. Lahndo spun the wheels of the lack till they spelled the secret password, 'PraiseKefka', and opened the door. Inside the small room, several machines were chugging away frantically. Lahndo went over to the main switch, and flipped it to the 'standby' position. The huge steam boiler power plant switched over to charging the emergency batteries, and the Magitek equipment ground to a halt. The setup was ingenious really. The steam boiler power plant burned wood or any sort of fuel and used the heat to boil water which turned turbines, and generated electricity. The electricity was fed into a Core Pack from a magitek Guardian. The Core Pack usually transformed Magical energy into electricity, which had been used to power Weapons in the days of the empire. But, since every generator is also a motor, this core pack was running in reverse, and was turning electricity into Magical power. This was then attached to a magitek infusion chamber. This used to be the receiving end of an esper drain, but at the moment was frantically charging several tinctures.

Lahndo went over every detail of the Core Pack and Infusion Chamber. This was rather important, seeing as operating magitek equipment that was damaged could cause it to explode. 'Hmph. And those esper mages think Ultima has destructive force. They should see one of these Babies go off.' Lahndo thought to himself. 'Then again, It'd better not. We need this thing working if we want to keep building our town and temple.' "All clear here," he shouted to Ezzerhall. "How's it look on your end?"

"The power plant is A-ok." Ezzerhall said. "Shall we open up?"

"Not yet," replied Lahndo. "Let's wait for Bob to come and pick these up," he indicated the tinctures.

A few minutes later, Bob arrived. The jolly merchant swept into the room with a hearty "Hey, how's it going guys? Got any more tilt for me?"

"Of course," Lahndo replied, "Why wouldn't we?" But inside he was thinking, 'This "Bob" guy is as corrupt as the day is long. I'd bet that over half the tilt we give him is going to the black market. But that's life. He's the only merchant we've got, and one of our few adult converts from outside of the original cult.' He handed Bob the tinctures that had been in the Infusion Chamber.

"Ah. Tilt." Bob said. "The nectar of the Gods."

"Go on with ya..." Lahndo said, his tone of voice friendly, but inside he was thinking 'get out of my sight you scumbag.' "Oh...and Bob?"

"Yes?"

"Send in the first mage, would ya?"

"Sure, sure..." muttered Bob, as he left the room.

* * * *

An aging monk entered the room. She looked rather worn, but her eyes still had that characteristic spark of someone who still loved life. "Hello," she said in a soft, caring voice, "I'm here for a magic restoration."

"What's your Name?" said Lahndo.

"Hazel." Responded Hazel.

"Reason for Empowerment Request?" Lahndo added, going through the old routine.

"Working on building committee." Hazel replied.

"How long will you be working?" Lahndo uttered.

"As long as I can." She replied.

"Are you aware that the process takes an hour, that it does not restore ultimate magic spells, and that the empowerment only lasts Twenty-Four hours?" Lahndo recited the short statement he had made to every prospective monk seeking empowerment.

"Yes." she said.

"Well, In you go." Lahndo replied, opening the door to the chamber. Hazel stepped into the chamber, and after checking the connection to the power station, threw the switch from 'standby' to 'active'. The chamber began to irradiate Hazel's body with magical radiation, and Lahndo settled back to watch the readouts and make sure that everything stayed under control.

* * * *

Several hours of boring dial readings later, and several mages later as well, Lahndo said, "Hey, Ezzerhall?"

"What?" Ezzerhall replied.

"You know what gets me down about this job?"

"What?"

"I spend all my time watching these machines and making tilt, and I never seem to do my job as leader of the Church. I mean, I haven't led a service in over a month. And yet...Even though I'm doing nothing, I still have terrible stress problems. I mean, I've got muscle tension from here to china. And even if I stopped doing this and had someone else take over, I'd just have more problems to deal with. They'd probably expect me to go attempt to 'reason' with the holdouts in the old tower. And then there's the construction to oversee...I'm not doing anything, yet I'm doing so much I miss meals and have no private time, Ya know what I mean?"

"Yes," Ezzerhall said, "I know what you mean. I'm with you everyday, doing the same things. I'm the one who schedules your activities. Trust me, It could be a lot worse. I could say yes to every meeting, building dedication, and merchant cartel that comes your way. Man, you're lucky you've got me around to edit out the riffraff."

"Yea, I know." Lahndo said "Don't think I don't appreciate it either. But I just have to find some way to get away from it all. I can't take much more of this. What would you do, Ezzerhall?"

"I'd take a day off. Go see the opera or something. I hear they have a great show." Ezzerhall suggested.

"Hmm...A day off. What a nice idea. But I have so much work to do. What's next on the agenda, Hmmm?" Lahndo had brushed the suggestion aside, but it nagged at the back of his mind, persistently calling him to action.

"Next on the list is some policy. There are increasingly large numbers of monks who have become tilt addicts. They've built up a tolerance, so it has no useful purpose for them. You need to decide the church's stance on this. It's really impairing their effectiveness in all aspects of their work."

"Hmm...That's a touchy subject...I'll have to think about it long and hard. Put some time to think on tomorrow's list, and put the question on next week's list. What's up next?"

"Dealing with Bob's release of tilt in the black market. We have proof now, so the only question is how we deal with him."

"Hmmm...I'll have to think about THAT some more too. We need Bob, even if he is corrupt. Postpone it. What's next?"

"Well, we have had some problems with..." Ezzerhall's voice faded into the background as Lahndo thought more about his earlier suggestion. 'A vacation would just be wonderful...' He thought.

"No, no, sir," said the captain, "It's your holiday, you enjoy it."

"OK, And don't call me sir!" Lahndo added as an afterthought.

* * * *

"One for 'The West and East' please." Lahndo said to the clerk, handing over his money.

"You'd better hurry, the show's about to begin." the clerk replied, handing Lahndo his ticket. "You want some candy or popcorn or somethin'?"

"Nah, that's OK."

"OK, Enjoy the show!"

* * * *

Lahndo hurried in and sat down, just as the lights were dimming. He remembered back to the last time he had been here. It was when he was just ten years old. Uncle Jed had saved a lot of money to take him out. He remembered how amazing the opera had been then, and how he had wanted to be an actor. He remembered his uncle Jed getting the Impresario to show them the works backstage. He had been amazed by the lights and trapdoors...

Lahndo was shaken out of his reverie by the Impresario's voice, introducing the show. "The west and east were waging war..."

All of a sudden, another voice cut in. A voice in Lahndo's head, that no one else could hear. The voice of his master. "Lahndo... Pay attention."

'Yes?' Lahndo thought, jumping to attention at the sound of the voice of Kefka.

"You have to save the Impresario. Look up, in the rafters." The Ghostly voice of Kefka intoned.

Sure enough, there in the rafters was a man all dressed in grey. A man muttering something to himself while sawing a stout rope with a sword. On the end of this rope was a sandbag, which was hanging directly over the Impresario's head!

"You must save him Lahndo, You're the only on who can." Kefka's voice muttered.

Lahndo leapt from his seat and ran to the wings. "Hey! You're not supposed to be here!" shouted the Techie who was running the special effects.

"No time to explain!" Lahndo shouted, pulling the effect switches. A Dog barked. The lights dimmed and came back on. A clunk sounded from somewhere far back in the theater.

"What are you doing?!" shouted the Techie. "You'll ruin the opera!"

"This one!" shouted Lahndo, and pulled the far right switch. A trap door opened under his feet, and he went tumbling out onto the stage.

* * * *

"Is she safe? Is she...What the Hell?" The Impresario masterfully dropped his line, as he was hit with a flying body check from Lahndo. "What are you trying to do, ruin my Opera?" He shouted.

"No, I'm trying to save your life!" Lahndo shouted back, pointing to the giant sandbag located where only a moment ago, The Impresario had stood. "See?"

A figure dressed in grey dropped from the rafters, landing gracefully next to the sandbag he had cut down a moment ago. "You have ruined my plan! You must pay! Owzer has paid, The Impresario must pay, and you too shall pay, pale one. Both of you shall pay in blood!"

"What are you talking about?" the Impresario queried, "And who are you anyway?"

"I am Siegfried," the man said. "And you know damn well why you must pay!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." The Impresario said.

"The time for words has passed." Siegfried said. "Prepare to die Impresario!"

* * * *

While this intriguing dialogue had been taking place, Another, more private dialogue had been going on between Lahndo and the voice inside his head.

'What's with this guy?' Lahndo thought. 'He must be crazy or something'

"He is possessed, Chosen One." The voice replied. "You know my reasons for what I did, but there are others who would destroy indiscriminately. One of these, the master of the wraiths, has sent one of his minions to torment this man. That is the cause of his madness. Only you, Chosen One, can free him from his prison, and save both him and the Impresario. That is your duty."

'But what must I do? and why me?' Lahndo thought.

"You must exorcise the wraith. You must do it because you are the chosen one. Command the wraith with his true name, Thiassi."

'And I thought that chosen only meant I was supposed to lead the church!' thought Lahndo. He leapt in-between Siegfried and the Impresario. "Siegfried!" He shouted. "Listen to me! This is not what you want to do! You are being controlled by a wraith! His name is Thiassi. He's making you do these crazy things! Stop now! Don't let him control you!"

Siegfried dropped to the ground, and a dark shadow slipped out of his body. The shadow addressed Lahndo in a dark voice, dripping with venom: "I have used many names over the years that I have served my master. Some have called me Ziegfried, some have called me Thanatos, but none have dared use my right name. For ruining my plans and stopping me from completing my job, I will destroy your body, and bring your soul back in chains to serve my master." So saying, the spirit launched a wave of evil energy at Lahndo.

But Lahndo's destruction was not to be, for, as he would tell others later, the spirit of Kefka protected him, and broke the wave of evil before it could harm him. He turned to face the dark spirit, and acting from a kind of internal instinct said: "Wraith Thiassi, With you true name I control you! I hold the life force you once had in my hands." And as he said those words, Lahndo felt a weight in his hand. Looking there, he saw with his blue mage training a ball of magical energy, The same energy that kept Thiassi in this world. "Now, I will crush that force, and send you back to your evil master!" Lahndo crushed the evil spirit's life force with the closing of his hand. Thiassi writhed in pain.

"Now look what you've done!" The spirit screamed. As he twisted in agony, a glowing door appeared in the air above him. An eerie glow surrounded the spirit, and he was sucked through the portal, which then shrunk down and disappeared in a tremendous flash of light.

The Impresario went over to Lahndo. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Magimaster Lahndo of the Church of Kefka." Lahndo answered.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the Impresario announced, "May I present Magimaster Lahndo of the Church of Kefka, and Siegfried!" The crowd went wild.

* * * *

Converts to the Church of Kefka came more often after that. But Lahndo was dismayed, and wondered often about what his place really was. Was his job to lead, or to fight evil? The voice inside his head just wasn't answering.

* * * *

And in a dark place, far, far away, the Master wore a scowl on his face. This was a direct strike against him. Not dangerous, but directed specifically at him. Something would have to be done.

that shall come to be after the ending

of the current one, Many things shall come to pass.

--The Ancient Prophecies of the Espers

Know ye this. Every act of destruction

is followed by an act of creation. I

destroyed the world so that a new world

could be created, A better world. It is

your duty, my faithful followers, to

assure that the new world will be a good

one, and not a world of pain like the old.

--The Book of Kefka

Several weeks had passed since the incident at the opera house. The Church had run surprisingly smoothly, with few policies to set and few duties for Lahndo to fulfill. He knew that he should feel good about what he was doing. After all, he had dealt with the two biggest problems of the Church, "Bob" and Tilt. He had approached Bob and made him agree to only put out one quarter of the tilt produced on the black market. Bob agreed rather easily, probably because we knew everything that he was doing. And a recovery program had been set up for mages who had become addicted to tilt. So why did Lahndo feel so unhappy?

"Why is my life so unfulfilling?" he pondered aloud one day. "I'm a well respected leader of a booming Church, I've passed the drudgerous job of keeping the magical irridation chamber working on to other people, life should be a lark, so why isn't it?"

And then, for the first time in ages, the voice in his head spoke again. "Because it is time for you to fulfill your destiny. It is time for you to go out and actively fight the forces of evil. It is time for you to follow the path set out for you in the mysteries, chosen one. You must go. It is your destiny."

"Wait am minute! How do I know you're not some evil spirit trying to subvert the Church into a destructive force like the old Cult was? Hmmm? I don't hear any answers forthcoming." Lahndo shouted.

"How soon we forget, foolish mortal. I was the one who cured you of your disease as you lay there, slowly dying in the old tower. I was the one who poured The Book of Kefka through your mouth when you awoke. I was the one who revealed the plans for the Grand Kiva to you."

"Yes, But who are you? What are you?" Lahndo replied.

"I am the METATRON. The 'voice' of Kefka. Not the 'voice of Kefka', but an entity in my own right. I am His messenger. I deliver His words to those who are to serve Him." the Metatron said. "You are to fight for him. Your job is to find and destroy the Master of the Wraiths. Your path is already set out in the Mysteries. You must follow your destiny."

"What destiny? What Mysteries? Where do I find this 'Master'" Lahndo asked in haste. But answer there came none, for the Metatron had departed.

* * * *

"Mysteries? Oh, you mean Prophecies. They called them Mysteries in the old days." Daniel said. "Why, what's so important about ancient guesswork?"

"Well, I had a visit from that voice in my head. He said that there was a path set out for me. I thought 'Daniel's a scholar, he can help me. He knows the score.' So I came to ask you about it."

"Well, I've never seen anything specifically about you, but there is some ambiguous stuff about a 'Chosen One' in some of these."

"Holy Kefka! That's what the voice called me, the 'Chosen One'. What do the prophecies say about me?"

"Well, Let's see. Most of them are just plain wrong. We can ignore those. They don't even mention the end of the world or any sort of change in what's going on. Those are on shelf 'D' over there. Now here, on shelf 'P', are the ones that mention the end of the world. There are very few, but they're the most likely to be correct. You should probably look in these." Daniel said, and pulled a whole stack of books off the shelf. One fell to the floor. "Get that would you?"

"Hmmm...'The chosen one must take with him the artifacts of his predecessor'" Lahndo Read aloud. "Artifacts of his predecessor? Oh! It means the previous Magimaster's Weapons. I'd better pull them out of storage. Hey, wait a minute. This book looks almost new! How can it be an ancient prophecy if it was published three years ago?"

"You should thank Kefka for Vector Press," Daniel responded. "The owner was nuts about prophecies. He mass published every book of them he could get his hands on, at considerable loss, mind you."

"Well," chuckled Lahndo, "His loss is our gain, I guess."

"Don't be too happy," said Daniel. "You are gonna need to read through all of these to find out what you have to do. I hope you're ready for some heavy study."

* * * *

Three weeks later, a hooded figure was seen sneaking out of the town of the faithful. It looked like a ghost, but it was in truth a man. If you looked carefully, you could see that he carried a pack full of books and artifacts. On his side were strapped two swords, one white, and one black. It was Lahndo, and he was sneaking off to find the adventure set out for him in the prophecies. Even though he had read of his task, it was still clouded in confusion. Who were the people mentioned? Where were the places? What was the need for the tools he had been told to take? and where was he going? Only time would tell.

abandon his past. All promises fall

away before his quest. Even the most

solemn of oaths must be rescinded on

his holy quest.

--The Ancient Prophecies of the Espers

Hold ye no enmity toward those who

have defeated me, for they are my

saviors, having freed me from the

shell of an insane man. They shall be

saints to you, for they do my work,

even though it be without their knowledge.

--The Book of Kefka

Another day broke in the world of healing. Life began anew for many creatures. New flowers and shoots of grass sprung up. The animals awoke and emerged from their burrows and hideaways, ready for a new day. And Lahndo awoke, and emerged from his tent, yawned, stretched, and prepared to face the day.

"Aaah...I haven't slept like that in ages..." Lahndo muttered to noone in particular. "Letıs see, where should I go? Hmph. These stupid prophecies talk of a path, but they don't even tell me where to start...Lets see..." Lahndo scanned the horizon. "Ah! Kefka's tower! What better place is there to start a quest?" So saying, he proceeded to pack his camping gear and head off towards his destination.

As he walked, Lahndo studied the things he had brought. The prophecies had instructed him to take the "artifacts of his predecessor", and so he had. Several relics were among them. A gold hairpin, a Gem Box, some Dragoon boots, a Cat's bell... 'Just a lot of junk really,' thought Lahndo. 'They say that magical artifacts can let you cast spells again, even though there's no ambient magic anymore...I wonder...' He placed the gold Hairpin in his hair, and the Gembox in his pocket. 'That oughtta help' he thought.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a Sprinter jumped at him. Lahndo immediately went into his own head. As an active blue mage, Lahndo could form almost any spell effect with magic. However, his spells effectiveness was hideous unless he practiced. Inside his own mind, he pulled on magical resources. The gold Hairpin and Gembox helped, but magic was sparse. Lahndo pushed the energy into the proper form, and prepared it to launch. He returned to his senses. The spell formation had taken less than a second. Lahndo was one of the best blue mages in his class.

"Foolish creature!" Shouted Lahndo. "Prepare to meet your doom! As all things think with one mind, in the name of The three...of Kefka, I call forth the blast of Ten Thousand degrees! FLARE STAR!" Lahndo released the Lore at the being. A strange blob of light appeared between them, an let off a cone of intense heat and blinding light at the Sprinter. Or so it seemed. Unfortunately, the quoted Ten thousand degree figure was a little under the mark. The flare star might have gotten up to about one hundred degrees before it ran out of juice. The only effect was to cause the Sprinter to break into a sweat.

"Yow!" Lahndo shouted. "That was one of my best lores! Magic must be pretty damn low around here." Lahndo wished he had learned more fighting skills. He dodged the Sprinter's attack, rolling to the side. 'Powerful magic must just not work,' He thought, 'But He'd probably be a sucker for a simple lore.' Lahndo again attempted to form a spell. It was hard, oh so hard. there was almost no magical power left. A simple spell was incredibly difficult to do. The form was ready. Lahndo faced the beast. "I call for an astral body to fight for me! TEN HITS!" Invisible fists pummeled the Sprinter, scaring it. The Terrified sprinter headed for the hills.

"Take that you...Thing!" Lahndo shouted. 'It'll be hard to protect myself, without magic working properly. It's a miracle I was able to pull off a Ten Hits lore at all. But I took an oath never to take part in physical combat, so I'll have to deal with it.'

* * *

"He is active again. I must find out what gives him his powers, for it is a danger to me," the dark figure said. He turned, and addressed a waiting wraith, "You. Follow him. Report on his movements."

"Yes Master," the wraith responded, and left.

"And you," the Master said, addressing another wraith, "You follow him, and tell me how that creature destroys him. I must know what it is he does to destroy him. I was unable to speak to Thiassi after he was destroyed. I must know what happens."

"Yes master," the second spirit answered.

* * *

Lahndo had arrived at the tower. It wasn't that impressive, being now simply a pile of rubble. A few areas of the tower were still intact. Lahndo thought that he saw a beautiful young woman going into one of the more intact rooms, but he discounted it as a figment of his imagination. Something strange appeared in the sky. A Cylinder of red light, stretching from where the top of the tower was, into the distance. Upon a second examination, Lahndo found it to be not light, but some form of magical radiation. He had unconsciously used his blue mage abilities. 'A powerful beam of magic...I wonder where it's going,' thought Lahndo. 'If I could get up there, I could figure out where it's coming from, and where it's going. I'd better look for an airship, or some other sort of flying machine.' Lahndo investigated the base of the tower, looking for an entrance. The whole place was reeking of magic, but it was contained in the materials. The huge amount of magical energy that was there was completely untapable.

The search seemed fruitless, but all of a sudden, a chunk of a ridge slid away, and a cave revealed itself. Lahndo stepped inside, only to find a room glowing with magical energy. As he entered, the energy coalesced, forming into the shape of a ring. The ring hovered in midair, and then exploded in a burst of light. Lahndo was knocked into unconsciousness.

"Lahndo...do not worry..." the voice in his dream said.

"Metatron?" Lahndo asked.

"Yes, it is I," the Metatron replied. "Do not worry yourself about your oath. It is time for a new world, and magic will not be needed here. Take the weapons of your predecessor, and learn to use them well. You must rely on yourself, not your magic. Now sleep. And may you be dreamless."

The rest of the night passed without incident.