Born With Magic (Book 1 Of The Last Fantasy Duology)

Chapter 29: The Majestic Imperial General Leo

"Locke! Are you coming?"

"Coming Terra, hold up!"

With that, Locke stood up and began to walk towards Terra and Strago, dusting off his hands as he looked back at the golden statuettes, a gleam of awe in his eyes. Somewhere... there were three life-sized versions of these goddesses, each brimming with unbelievably strong magical powers that could easily destroy the world as they knew it. He shook his head a little and sighed. Just a few months ago, his biggest priority in life was deciding which of his ill-received relics he wanted to sell off so that he could eat. Now it had immediately upgraded to "protecting the Goddesses from Kefka so that the world keeps from collapsing in on itself." Oh, but not only just that... he also had multiple girl issues at the moment.

But little did he know, he would soon also have another large, sticky, purple problem on his hands.

"Lets go through here." Terra said, pointing to the exit just a few yards from them. Strago nodded, and with that, they proceeded on.

"Heh heh heh..."

"CRASH!"

"AHHH!"

Suddenly, from midair, a disgruntled and heavy Ultros fell from the ceiling of the cave that he had been stealthily crawling across (upside down, I might add, which is quite the feat for an octopus) for some time. His plan to quickly and efficiently eliminate the Returners by a surprise attack had been cut short when one of his arms lost it's grip on the ceiling, causing him to tumble down right on top of his shocked targets.

"Ack, get it OFF!" Terra cried, and with a mighty shove, heaved Ultro's squirming form off of herself, Locke, and Strago. Strago sputtered and spat the dirt from his mouth as he climbed to his feet, and Locke glared at Ultros hatefully, rubbing the dirt from his cheeks. Ultros glared back with his ugly, crooked, yellow grin, but moments later, his golden gaze caught sight of something much more pleasing to the eye, the set of three statuettes on the raised land platform. You could practically see the drool glimmering from the corner of his fangs as he looked over the priceless treasure. He suddenly forgot about the Returners, and rubbed his two front tentacles together menacingly.

"G'heh heh heh! These shiny statues are all MINE! These'll get Ziegfried's attention!"

"Who's Ziegfried?" Terra whispered, and Locke shrugged. Strago blinked and stared at the octopus. It was unlike anything he had ever seen in his entire monster-hunting career.

"Oh!" Ultros cried happily, slowly making his way towards them. "They're glowing... They're beautiful!!"

"Hey squid ball!" Locke suddenly barked, putting his hands on his hips. "Don't you ever learn?" Ultros turned back to the thief and laughed, shaking his head.

"Well, they always said I was a slow learner... but I eat FAST!" With that, Ultros suddenly lashed out at Locke with one of his arms, striking the thief with such sudden force that it knocked him to the ground with a loud thump. Locke moaned out and clenched his eyes shut tightly, reaching down to rub his aching back.

"I was just thinking of you!" Ultros exclaimed eagerly. "I have more lives than I do arms!"

"Locke!" Terra cried, and Strago stared at Ultros.

"What IS this thing?" He asked, and Ultros laughed.

"I am Ultros, octopus royalty extraordinaire!" Declared he. "And you should know Old Man, that becoming a Returner has ultimately sealed your fate--to be destroyed by ME!!!" Strago raised his eyebrows and blinked.

"Young man, you are very disrespectful!"

Ultros widened his eyes and nearly fell over at that remark. Terra took the opportunity to draw her sword and come running at the fiend, however, Ultros spotted her and snickered a bit as he raised another arm in her way, causing her to trip and fall to the ground, her sword clattering away to the side.