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Mopping Up

A Star Ocean: The Second Story Fanfic

By: M.H. Torringjan

	Okay, legal-ese here.  I didn't make SO:TSS.  Enix and tri-Ace did.  I'm 
merely using the game in a work of fiction not intended for personal profit.  
Maybe some nice publicity for my web page and a chance to improve my writing 
skills, but no material gain whatsoever.  I just absolutely love the game.  BTW, 
I can't WAIT for SO: Blue Sphere to come out, now that I have a Game Boy color.

	This fic takes place soon after the end of the game and is involved with 
the endings that I consider logical based upon the characterization of the 
characters (i.e.-Rena/Claude, Opera/Ernest, Chisato, Noel, Celine/Chris Cross, 
Dias).  Granted, I haven't seen all of these endings, and I admit that I will be 
taking some liberties.  I *am* the writer, after all.  Also, if my dialogue 
should turn out to be as bad as the translation in the video game, my apologies.  
It's rubbed off...

	"Sir, we have another report from the Northern Front!" the messenger cried 
as he rushed into the throne room of the King of Lacour.
	"What is it?  What's going on?" the King asked.
	"The creatures have stopped their attack, and are drawing back to the 
continent of El!" the messenger cried happily as he handed the envelope to the 
King.
	"Then, they must have succeeded!" the King thought, thinking back to the 
day that he had received the message of the ambush on the navy, and how every 
ship had been lost.  A series of rescue ships had been sent out to retrieve any 
of the people that had survived.  The ships had returned with Leon and his 
family and the crew of their ship, who had been found holding onto some 
driftwood.  There had been no sign of any of the reconnaissance force of Claude, 
Dias, and their friends.
	"My Lord, what are your orders?" the messenger asked, waiting impatiently 
for orders to take back to the front line.
	"Tell the general to keep their guard up," the King began.  "Also, inform 
him that I wish a team to go to the Continent of El to retrieve our heroes if 
need be."
	"As you wish, my Lord," the messenger said as he rushed from the room.
	The King heaved a sigh.  He hoped that they were still alive so that he 
could thank them and reward them.  He had a feeling that this war wouldn't quite 
be over with until every last monster lay dead.  He also had a feeling the 
Claude and his bunch were the only ones to end it.
	As he went to give Leon and his parents the news, he decided that this was 
all mere speculation brought on by reading too many adventure books.

	Claude awoke to the sound of birds chirping.  This seemed familiar to him.  
Green tree branches hung over him and his head was placed on top of a very 
uncomfortable tree root.  It smelled very humid, almost like a rainforest.  They 
were back in the Shingo Forest.
	"HELP!" he heard a voice cry from a short distance away.  He shot to his 
feet, prepared for anything.  Rena was backing away from a creature twice her 
size.  "Oh, wait.  Just kidding!" Rena exclaimed, grabbing the creature around 
the waist and throwing it into a nearby tree.  It slid to the ground, making a 
painful sound upon arriving.
	Rena ran to Claude and hugged him.  "I knew that that would wake you up!"  
She pressed her lips forcibly to his.  "We finally did it!  We're back!" she 
continued as she removed herself from Claude's hold.
	Claude was still a bit disoriented from the transport from the self-
destructing Nede.  He looked around, and the others were all in various 
positions on the grass with pained expressions on their faces.  Claude went over 
to Opera and Ernest to help them.  The wounds from the final battle with 
Indalecio hadn't been healed yet, thanks to a lack of time.  Rena cast a healing 
spell on Dias for his badly cut left arm.
	"You okay?" Claude asked Ernest.
	"What're you talking about, of course I'm okay!" Ernest replied angrily.  
"You should know!  You're the one who sat me out of the final battle!
	Noel was awake and aiding with the healing process, though not quite as 
effectively as Rena.  Chisato woke up quickly and began scribbling on a pad of 
paper what she had in mind for the article about the final battle.  Claude 
wondered what her reaction would be when she found out that there were no 
newspapers on Expel.  Then again, they had enough fol that Chisato could set up 
her own planet-wide newspaper!  
	They could do so much, but why?  This place was the only place that he 
could think about being.  He could never change it like those other places.  
Earth, Nede, neither of them could even match Expel.  The only thing was that 
someday, he might like to be able to go to a battling arena... nah!
	Soon, everyone was awake and ready to travel some more.  However, this was 
the end of their travels together.  Claude wanted to stay in Arlia.  There was 
no reason that the outside world should know about this place.  He just wanted 
to be with Rena.  He was sure that Opera and (maybe) Ernest would want to leave, 
get their ship repaired.  That would take a while, though.  They surely could 
get some help from the inventors that they had met in Linga, the Neumans.
	Chisato brought up the question so that she could put it in her article.
	"So, what is everyone doing now?" she asked.
	Claude relayed his plans to stay in Arlia.  Rena agreed with it, and 
assured him that her mother would let him stay, at least for a while.
	"I intend to return to Tetregene," Opera said.  "And I'm hoping to take 
you with me," she said to Ernest.  It didn't sound like a request.
	"Y-yes, of course, my dear!" Ernest replied.
	"How are you two planning on fixing your ship?" Claude asked.
	"I'm sure that I can do it," Opera responded.  "If, of course, you'll give 
me the left over material kits.  I've got the know-how if I can make something 
like this thing," she said, patting her gun.
	"Until then, I'm sure that the mayor will let you stay at his house," Rena 
said.
	"Why not your house?" Opera asked.
	"We've already got full capacity," Rena said.
	"What, you and Claude aren't going to be in the same bed?" Opera asked 
with a sly smirk.  Rena blushed.
	"I'm not sure what I'll do," Noel replied.  "Maybe I'll stay here near 
Claude and Rena.  Then, at least I'll know someone here."  He shrugged.
	"I intend to return to my true love," Celine responded, referring to 
Prince Chris.
	"I'm sure that he'll be perfect for you," Rena said.
	"So am I," Celine responded, "That's why I'm going back to him!"
	"What about you, Dias?" Chisato asked.
	"Not that it's your business," Dias began, in his familiar manner, "But 
I'm going away again."
	"You're not going to return to Arlia?" Rena asked.
	"For God's sake, man!" Opera exclaimed.  "Haven't you done enough avenging 
for one lifetime?!"
	"Not while I'm still alive," Dias replied, looking into the distance.
	"Well, no extra-ordinary brain damage there," Chisato said.  "I'm going to 
find a newspaper in which to put articles about us."
	"Hate to tell you, Chis," Claude said, "But there aren't any newspapers 
here on Expel.  I doubt that there will be for a fairly long time.  Their
technological level is too primitive."
	"What?  You've got publishing companies, but you don't have newspapers?!" 
Chisato was taken aback.  "I'm sure that I can remedy that fairly quickly!  
Linga would be a good place to start!"
	The rest of the walk to the front gate of Arlia was filled with musings 
about the battles and humorous encounters that the group had just undergone.  
They reached the gate, and everyone began the good-byes.
	Celine was first.  "Well, I'll probably be able to see you guys later," 
Celine said to Rena, Claude, and Noel.  "Opera, Ernest, don't leave without 
giving me a chance to say goodbye one last time.  Dias, don't get yourself 
killed."
	"Not if I can help it," Dias replied.
	"Chisato, good luck on your newspaper," she continued.  "It's been real 
fun!  I've got to go now."  She walked off down the path towards Salva and Cross 
Castle.
	"It's been fun, all," Dias said as he ran off into the forest nearby.
	"Wonder where he's headed to next," Noel said, watching after him.  "I'd 
probably be getting in his way, anyway."  It was obvious to Claude that Noel 
wanted to go.  Then again, Claude thought, he's probably right.
	"Wish we still had the Synard," Chisato said, stretching out to prepare 
for the long hike.
	"Why don't you stay here for the night to rest up for the journey?" Rena 
asked Chisato.
	"No, that's all right," Chisato replied.  "I think that I should get as 
much traveling done as I can.  I'll catch up to Celine and see if I can spend 
the night at Cross."
	"All right," Rena said, slightly disappointed.  "See you later."  Chisato 
ran off down the path to catch up with Celine.
	The remaining five returned to Rena's home.  As they entered the door, 
Rena's mother gasped.  "Rena!  Oh, God, is it really you?!"
	"Yes, mother, it really is me," Rena replied.
	"But, I was told that you were lost at sea!  I thought that you had died!"
	"Gosh, mother, the way that you say it makes it sound like you had hoped 
for it," Rena joked.  Westa rushed to Rena in tears and hugged her tightly.
	"Oh, I was so frightened!" Westa cried.  Rena stood in Westa's hold, 
returning it with equal force.  The others had left the room to give them some 
time alone.
	"Mother, I discovered myself while I was gone," Rena said in a strong 
voice.  "I finally found my real mother."
	"And you still returned to me?" Westa asked, halting her tears in 
astonishment.
	"Of course, I did," Rena replied.  "How could I not?  I love you as a 
mother, as my real mother.  The one and only."
	"You mean, you don't hate me for not telling you the truth?" Westa asked.
	"No, I don't hate you.  I couldn't.  Not after all of the love that you've 
shown me through my life.  You're the one who raised me and taught me.  Nothing 
will change that."  Westa resumed crying harder than ever.  Rena stopped 
worrying about the moisture on her shirt.  It was dirty as was.
	After a few minutes, Westa had calmed herself enough to stop crying for 
the most part.  "Well, that's enough of that," Westa said with a sniffle.  "Now, 
I need to make you and your friends some dinner, don't I?"
	"No, mom, let me do that," Rena insisted.  She then ironically remarked, 
"You've been through a lot today."
	"But, Rena!  No insult intended, but I'm so much better than you at 
cooking!" Westa remarked sheepishly.
	"Oh, I don't know about that," Rena said, remembering the times that she 
had won the Cooking Master Contest at Fun City.  "Besides that, I can supply the 
ingredients, as well!"  She produced a Ganze Sea Urchin from her backpack.  
"Opera has the Purity Leaf, and Claude has the Juicy Beef."  Rena's mother gaped 
at her.

	After dinner that night, Rena set up a bed for Noel downstairs in her 
house and asked the Elder if it would be alright to put Opera and Ernest there 
for a while.  His permission was a boon for Claude and Rena.  They wanted the 
fewest number of people in the house as was possible.
	Rena returned to her room to find Claude already waiting for her in his 
pajamas.
	"Claude, this is a bit of a surprise," Rena said to him.  His response was 
to move to her and take her into his arms and kiss her much in the same fashion 
as she had done to him earlier.
	"Just call it a bit of revenge," Claude said.  His voice seemed a bit 
different.  "I've been waiting for this chance for a long time."  He drew away 
from her and threw his hand across her face.  Rena screamed out in pain.  Claude 
reached for a previously hidden dagger in his belt.
	"Claude, what are you doing?!" Rena exclaimed as he lunged for her.  She 
dodged and countered as he plunged his dagger instead into the wood of the door 
behind her.  The wood splintered and burst outward with the combined force of 
the body's impact and Rena's strike.  Claude came rushing from the other 
bedroom, sword in hand and his fighting-stance ready.
	"Ready?" Claude asked.
	"Looks hard!" Rena exclaimed as they prepared for an encounter
	Noel rushed up from downstairs to join the fray.
	"We've got to take this outside, or he may hurt Mother!" Rena exclaimed.
	"Easy enough," Noel said, casting a Wind Blade that knocked the dagger out 
of the enemy's hands.  Claude rushed at his impostor and pinned him against the 
wall.  As the enemy was stunned, Rena grabbed him, ran him through her room and 
threw him through the window.
	"I wonder what that was about," Claude mused as he looked upon the body 
lying on the ground.
	"Rest in peace..." Noel said as he walked back downstairs.
	"Wait!" Claude exclaimed before Noel could get downstairs.  "He's not dead 
yet!"  As Claude rushed downstairs to the front door, Rena moved to the window 
to see what Claude was talking about.  The doppelganger was stilling moving, and 
only slightly phased by the fall.  Claude burst through the front door into the 
town square, sword ready for a battle.  Rena rushed downstairs as quickly as was 
possible to join him.
	"Now, shall we get it right this time?" Claude said as he faced off 
against his other self.

	From inside the mayor's residence, Opera slept peacefully.  At least, for 
the most part.  Her dreams were of Indalecio and the final battle.  She could 
still feel the heat of the flames, the cold of the water, and the jolts of 
electricity from his magic.  Ernest woke her up gently, so as not to alarm her.
	"What's up?" she asked sleepily.  She hadn't yet registered the sounds of 
battle outside of the building.
	"Sounds like action!" Ernest said, springing to get dressed.  Opera arose 
slowly, yet surely.  She got dressed, as well, and began charging her gun for 
battle.
	Once the two of them were prepared, they stepped cautiously onto the 
balcony to survey the happenings.  Other people were arising, as well, and 
peeking out of windows and doorways to observe.  Claude seemed to be fighting 
himself, sword to sword.  Neither Claude was scoring a hit on the other, and 
neither gained any ground.  Suddenly, Rena and Noel ran out onto the 
battleground.
	"Are you sure that I'm not just still dreaming?" Opera asked.
	"Which is which?" Opera heard Rena ask Noel.
	"God, how many times have I heard of this happening?" Opera said to 
Ernest.  "Never thought that it really could happen, either.  Well, I guess 
that'll teach me.  Only one way to solve this..." Opera pointed her gun and 
fired a volley of shots at both of them.  Every shot hit its mark, scoring hits 
in the side and back of the battling Claudes.  One fell down on its side, 
swearing curses to every deity that it could think of, while the other let out a 
series of unintelligible, animalistic screeches and growls.
	"Tough choice," Rena said, donning her Slayer's Ring and rushing after the 
one who was screeching.  Noel rushed to the assistance of the real Claude.  
Opera and Ernest jumped from their hiding place and into the fray.
	The fake Claude, seeing that it was outnumbered, jumped to its feet, 
ignoring its pain, and rushed to the center of the square.  It began to flash 
and grow in size until it was as tall as the mayor's house.  Also, it was no 
longer the shape of Claude.  Now, it resembled a large goat creature with no 
skullcap.
	"Longist?" Noel said, recognizing him.  "What do you want here?!"
	"My masters ordered me to find and destroy you!" Longist replied.
	"Longist, the Wise Men are dead!  You have no master any more!" Noel 
replied.
	"In that case, I'm just out for revenge!" Longist said, swinging the cane 
that had replaced the sword in his hands.  "There's no point in resisting!  
There are others just like me who would be fairly eager to take over should I be 
destroyed!"
	"And we'll destroy them, too!" Claude exclaimed as he rushed towards 
Longist and swung his sword deep into Longist's goat foot.
	"Ha!  Child's play!" Longist shouted as he threw Claude off of his sword.  
Claude flew back and was stopped by a cushion of air before he could go into the 
fishpond.
	"Thanks, Noel!" Claude exclaimed as he was floated back to the 
battlefield.  "Damn!  He's got Eternal Sphere!"
	"Noel, we should try our magic!" Rena exclaimed as Opera and Ernest 
engaged the towering fiend.  Rena began casting Star Flare as Noel cast Foehn.
	A wave of fire hit Longist just as the first stars fell on him.  Longist 
staggered at the power of the fire, but completely ignored the stars.  Opera 
leveled her gun straight at his face, at what seemed to be a vulnerable spot.  
Ernest tangled his Cat o' 9 Tails in Longist's hands and was being spun idly 
around as the shots met their mark-Longist's head without the skull-cap.  A bit 
off on the aim, but effective enough, thought Opera.  Longist was made to pause 
thanks to the attack.  This was just long enough for Claude to grab the Eternal 
Sphere again, and jump to do a Head Splitter.  Ernest ran in the direction of 
Opera.  He knew that what was soon coming would not be pretty.  Noel cast 
another Foehn just as Claude landed on his mark, Longist's exposed skullcap.
	Longist screamed in pain.  He knew that his secret had been discovered.  
He tried frantically to cast a healing spell on himself, but it was too late.  
Noel had cast a Silence spell on him.  Longist tried in one desperate attempt to 
grab Rena.  His hand closed quickly on her and lifted her high into the air.
	"You make one wrong move, and she gets it!" Longist cried.
	"You're bluffing!" Claude cried.  "If I stab your brains a few more times, 
you won't even be able to think straight!"
	"Yes, but if you make the wrong move, my contractile reflexes could be 
triggered, crushing her in my hands," Longist replied.
	"All right then," Claude replied, climbing from the top of his head to his 
shoulder.  "Look, Andre, we can talk this out like civilized people, right?"
	"What's there to talk about?" Longist asked.  "I want to kill you!"
	Claude crossed to Longist's other shoulder.  "All right, let's put it this 
way.  At this point, we're at a disadvantage.  Pretty much any way that we work 
it, someone's dead on our side.  If we attack you, Rena dies.  If you attack us, 
then, you have complete protection from us because of the aforementioned 
reason."
	"Well, that's about the size of it at this point, yes," Longist replied.
	"Claude, just forget me and kill him!" Rena exclaimed.  "I'm willing to 
give my life for your safety!"
	Give me a minute," Claude said, effecting apathy to her remark.  "Now, 
what would happen if I-" Claude jumped and slashed the sword down through the 
joint between Longist's fingers and palm.  Rena and he fell to the ground, along 
with the severed fingers of Longist.  "It's a good thing that I'm not willing to 
give your life for anything," Claude said as he ran with Rena away from the 
flailing monster.  Opera resumed firing at Longist, and Ernest slashed at an 
area on his back to get his attention.
	his gave Claude the chance that he needed to return to the summit of 
Longist and run his sword deep into the creature's head.  He swirled it around a 
bit to make sure that the job was done and jumped down as the creature fell 
forward, shrinking back to its original size.
	"Thank goodness for adrenaline," Claude said, leading Rena back inside.  
Noel stood there until Longist was long gone.  He had much to think about.  
There were going to be a fair number of battles more for the heroes of the 
universe.  They would be fairly more difficult than tonight's had been, and with 
everyone separated like they were, it would be even more difficult.  He decided 
that he should work out a guard shift with Opera and Ernest at least until the 
morning, so that they could figure out what they were going to do.
	"I think that we should keep watch from now on," Noel said to Opera and 
Ernest before they went back to sleep.  "Who's first?"
	"I'll do it tonight," Ernest said.  Noel decided that the two should be in 
the same building for security reasons.  Claude would be able to keep Rena... 
company.

	"Well, that was fun," Rena said as she cast a healing spell on Claude and 
herself.  She had calmed her mother fairly easily after the incident.  Westa was 
sleeping soundly again.  Claude had decided to sleep in Rena's room "for 
security" he had said.  She had no objections.
	"I think that we're going to have to leave again," Claude said. "We're 
going to have to find the others and warn them."
	"If they're not already d-"
	"Don't even go there!" Claude admonished her quietly.  "Let's not think 
about it any more 'til tomorrow. Then, we'll make a battle plan.  Until then, 
we're all to ourselves."
	"I was so frightened when he had me in his hand," Rena said quietly, 
moving closer to Claude.  "Thank you for saving me.  Again."  She kissed him 
gently, putting her arms around his body.
	"You were frightened?" Claude asked, breaking the kiss.  "That's better 
than I was.  I could hardly keep calm enough to act rationally."
	"Good thing that you did," Rena said.  "I really am glad that you didn't 
give my life."
	"That's not something of mine to give," Claude countered.
	"Yes, it is," Rena told him.
	"Then I wouldn't want to," Claude answered as he continued Rena's kiss.  
He ran his hands lightly over her body, being fully aware of her life beside his 
own.  Rena cast a small Press spell to put out the lamplight.  As the light went 
out, Claude drew his hands softly through Rena's hair.  His feelings for her 
always were their strongest when this sort of thing happened.  It was fairly 
difficult to understand.
	"I just seem to always feel this way about you whenever this sort of thing 
happens," Rena said to him quietly.  "I guess that emotional stress just helps 
me to realize how much I need you," Rena whispered the last three words.  Claude 
could feel wet spots forming on his shirt where Rena's head was.  She was 
crying.  "How much I love you," Rena whispered again.
	"I feel the same way," Claude replied.  "I don't like having to express it 
so simply, but you expressed it perfectly.  I haven't fully understood it up 
until this point."  Rena looked up at him.  He turned his head to where his eyes 
met hers.  He moved his head forward, turned at an angle, until his lips met 
hers.  He felt her hands caress his back, moving rhythmically and gently up and 
down the tense muscles.  Eventually, one hand came to rest on his neck, the 
other in the middle of his back.
	Claude broke the kiss and blew the light out.  The two headed for the bed 
to get some sleep.  They were going to need their rest for what was to come.
	"I love you," Claude said as he was drifting off to sleep.
	"And I you," Rena echoed, putting her arms around him and getting 
comfortable for sleep.  She felt closer to him that night than she ever had 
before, and she knew that he would always be there for her.  She reveled in the 
feeling of their bodies together as she closed her eyes.

	The next morning, Claude and Rena awoke and went downstairs.  Opera, 
Ernest and Noel were already there.  Westa had already cooked breakfast for the 
five of them.  It was large enough for fifteen people.
	"Nothing is too good for my heroes!" Westa said as the five of them looked 
nervously at what they would have to eat.
	"Ernest, you look like crap," Claude remarked bluntly.
	"Well, you wouldn't look quite as good if you had stayed up last night the 
whole time, would you?" Ernest remarked grumpily.  "Tell me, Miss Westa, do you 
have any coffee here?"  Opera elbowed him in the ribs.
	"Coffee?  What's that?" Westa asked.
	"It's something that we had at my home," Ernest said.  "It was a type of 
herb that, when boiled, would dispel any remains of sleep that remained around 
you for a fair amount of time."
	"Well, no, we don't have any of this coffee stuff, but we do have a bed 
upstairs that you can use," Westa said.  Ernest concluded that this was good 
enough and proceeded upstairs to partake of her bed.
	"Now we have to decide what to do," Claude said.  "Obviously, we need to 
see if we can find the others and tell them about this new turn of events.  The 
question is, who is going to go?"
	"Ernest and I need to work on our... transportation so that we can get out 
of here as soon as this is over," Opera said.  "We'll stay here."
	"All right," Rena said.  "In that case, Claude, Noel and I will go to find 
the others."
	"So, you're leaving again?" Westa asked Rena, her own eyes moistening 
considerably.
	"I'm sorry, mother, but apparently, we didn't finish off our quest that we 
had been on," Rena stated.  "Don't worry, I'll be completely safe.  I have 
Claude and Noel with me.  And besides that, I'm much stronger than I was when I 
left the first time!  We can take on anything that they throw our way!  Just 
give us a bit of time, and we'll be back for good this time.
	"All right," Westa replied, drying her tears.
	"Obviously, our best bet would be to go to Cross to find Celine," Claude 
said.  "After that, we can go for Chisato.  Once we've done that, we can try to 
find Dias.  I'm hoping that they'll have as hard a time as we will."

	Dias stood at the entrance of the mysterious cave, staring into the 
darkness.  He had heard of this place, but only in legends.  He entered into the 
entryway hall, raising his guard.  As soon as he had gone a few steps into the 
cave, the door slid shut behind him and some torches on the wall lit.  As he 
stood, observing the ancient structure around him, noises came from down the 
hallway.  The source of the noises was moving rapidly towards him.
	Well, he told himself, today's as good a day as any to die.  As he thought 
this last part, a group of monsters came charging around the corner, headed 
straight for him.  He immediately began by using a gale stab on the first 
creature, plunging his sword into the creature's chest and killing it 
immediately.
	The next one was not quite as easy.  Its body-length shield would prevent 
any shots to the front from getting through.  Of course, it was a slow-moving 
thing.  Dias jumped smoothly over its head, landing behind it and smoothly 
slicing it in half from behind.  The empty armor fell to the ground, clunking as 
it hit the ground.
	As Dias turned to his next opponent, he was struck in the cheek by a fist 
from a skeleton creature.  He used his Sword Dance to slice the skeleton to 
bits.  His next target was another shield suit, which was as easily disposed of 
as the first.
	A medusa slithered up behind him and wrapped him in her tail.  Dias tried 
reaching into his bag to reach some sort of bomb to get him loose of her grip.  
As he smashed the first thing that touched his hand on the tail, he felt a 
slight tingling in his hand.  He had applied a jar of aloe ointment to her tail.  
Wrong container, he told himself.  She seemed to ignore the slight pain.
	He reached back into his bag to try again.  He was quickly running out of 
air.  He smashed another container on her tail.  This time, it stung his hand.  
By the sound of her scream, it had hurt her, as well.  She quickly uncoiled her 
tail to escape the source of her pain.
	Dias turned and slashed his sword through her tail below the wound.  At 
this, she un-balled her fists and held her hands up.  Her fingernails flew from 
her hands, trying to stab Dias.  Dias dodged the nails as well as he could, only 
being hit by one nail in the shoulder.  The force of the blow threw him to the 
nearest wall.  He pulled the nail out of his shoulder and threw it to the 
ground.  He pulled an item out of his sack and threw it into the air.  It was a 
Fairies Card.  The fairies sprinkled him with healing magic, and he was ready to 
go.  He rushed forward with another Gale Stab that went straight into the chest
of the medusa.
	As the last of the monsters lay dying, Dias looked through the doorway.  
He heard more sounds from down the hallway.  "This'll be fun," he said to 
himself.  Experience was exactly what he needed.  The fol was a nice touch, too.

End Part one