Final Fantasy 4 Redemption Chapter 1: The Dark Warrior - Showdown In Mist Cave

     "Come on, girl! You're too slow!" Folken cried back to Rydia.
     "I'm trying my hardest, you know! But when you're sprinting ahead faster than I can run, I'm not going to have an easy time keeping up!" Rydia cried back. She finally covered the distance to where Folken was standing.
     Why did I have to get stuck babysitting?, Folken thought to himself as Rydia ran up. The mouth of a cave loomed before them.
     "Mist Cave..." Rydia stated. Her mind had wandered back into the past, to when she lived in Mist Village. "Protected from outsiders by a Mist Dragon...My mother's Mist Dragon..."
     Folken glanced at her. "I don't think there's anyting major in it now, though. Come on, we'd better get through quickly. We have to get to Kaipo!"
     "Sorry; it's just...been a while since I had to pass through this cave. Usually I go with Rosa on airship..."
     But Folken was way ahead of her. "Come on, let's go!" he cried back.
~~~~~~~~~
     The cave was eerily quiet...Too quiet, Folken thought.
     "I'd suggest being on your guard. There's something...wrong here...," he informed Rydia behind him.
     "Like what? I don't feel anything...," Rydia responded.
     "If I knew what it was, I wouldn't be so worried!" Folken practically screamed at her.
     "Sorry!" Rydia screamed, half sarcastically. She was getting really sick of this guy and his "I know everything" attitude, treating her like a child.
     Folken took a few careful steps forward, and he was rewarded with a dark voice. "GO BACK!" it cried out.
     Rydia's eyes widened. "It can't be..."
     Folken glanced back at her. "Well, come on! We'll have to figure this out later!"
     Rydia ran up, thinking to herself. That sounded just like my mother's Mist Dragon...but it can't be her...
~~~~~~~~~
     "Look! There's the exit! Finally out of this confounded mist!" Folken stated.
     Rydia smiled. "Finally! I was getting sick of being unable to see anything..."
     "STOP!" the dark voice cried out.
     Rydia started shaking, but Folken wasn't afraid. "What do you want?"
     "YOU CANNOT PASS! NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO PASS THROUGH THIS CAVE!"
     "Well, we're passing through! Just try and stop us!" Folken cried. He charged towards the exit, but was propelled backwards by what appeared to be an invisible wall.
     "What the hell?" Folken cried, pulling himself to his feet.
     Suddenly, the mist began to gather. "No!" Rydia cried. "The guardian...he's coming!"
     The mist formed into a gigantic Mist Dragon. "NO ONE MAY PASS!" it cried out.
     Rydia just stared at it. "M..Mother?" she cried.
     Folken, however, was not phazed. Pulling out his sword, he quickly slashed at the dragon, trying to disable it. However, no wounds appeared.
     This dragon isn't real...Rocalon! This must be one of his illusions, trying to make us turn back! Folken suddenly realized.
     Then Folken spotted Rydia walking towards the dragon. "Mother!" she cried at it.
     "Rydia, no! This is a trick by Rocalon! It's not REAL!" Folken cried out, but Rydia didn't listen.
     "Mother, why? Why won't you let me through? It's me, Rydia...your daughter!" Rydia cried at the dragon. The dragon's head bowed down and stared her right in the eyes.
     Rydia's eyes widened. "You're not my mother!" Visibly angered, Rydia pulled her whip off her belt and struck the Mist Dragon with a painful blow.
     "You fake! How dare you impersonate my mother!" Rydia cried, and struck down the dragon again. It shuddered once, and faded away into the mist.
     Rydia, somewhat exhausted, took a few minutes to catch her breath. "I wonder what exactly that was..."
     "It was an illusion by Rocalon. He reads people's minds and figures out how best to hurt them mentally. In your case, attacking you with the vision of your mother," Folken responded, coming up behind her. "But you beat his illusion."
     "Her eyes...they weren't the eyes of my mother. They were the eyes of a demon..." Rydia stated. "I used to live with the Summoned Monsters, and no monster there had eyes like that..."
     Folken smiled at her. "Well, we'd better be moving on. Something tells me this means Rocalon knows we're coming..."
     Rydia nodded, and walked out of the cave behind Folken. A small part of the mist floated behind her, and attached to the back of her outfit; but Rydia didn't notice it.
~~~~~~~~~
     "Damn!" Rocalon cried. "They beat my illusion! I guess that girl is stronger than I thought she was. Bah, I have more traps in store for them..."
     A few people stared at Rocalon strangely when he uttered that statement. "What are you looking at?" he asked them ignorantly, and gave them a really nasty look. The people quickly moved on.
     "Oh, well. Come to me, Folken! I'm waiting for you here!" Rocalon cried. "And I will destroy you, in the name of Master Darkheart and the allmighty god Zemus! You just wait!"
     And with that, Rocalon began to laugh at the sky. Dark, hollow laughter, that seemed to mock everybody and everything around him...