Recently got Final Fantasy Origins and the intro FMV for FF2 was so good I kept watching it over and over again, and just tonight based on a discussion with a friend about DS9 and how they never really explained Gul Dukat(sp?)'s character, it made me think of how Leon becoming the Dark Knight was never explained, so I decided to explain it myself. This is only part 1, because I still have to write Bafsk until Leon rejoins them and it's bedtime now.



He saw the sword lift up and prayed he could get there in time. Just as the Emperor�s soldier was about to strike a fatal blow, Leon was able to intervene.

�GET HER OUT OF HERE!� he shouted to Gus as he struck the soldier down. He was focusing on the soldier in front of him, so he didn�t see the one coming from the alleyway. Firion did, as Gus dragged a resistant Maria away. He grabbed his 2 knives, and threw them at the second soldier, buying Leon enough time for them all to continue running for their lives.

It wasn�t supposed to be this way! Leon thought as he followed his sister and friends through the woods. How can I tell them� his train of thought was broken by Maria�s abrupt stop at a cliff edge, and they all looked at the faraway smoke and flames, showing that their hometown of Phin was nothing but a pile of burning rubble by now.

The sight of it numbed them so, they didn�t hear the approaching soldiers. The first one hit Leon on the back of his head with a club, and as he fell to the ground, the screams of his sister cut into his very soul, before everything went black.

A cool breeze from the woods awoke him, and he forgot where he was for a moment, and reached his arms out to stretch, when his hand touched something sticky and warm. He shot up, aggravating an enormous headache, and looked around at the broken and bloody bodies of his sister and friends. It was Maria�s blood he had touched, but which wound it came from he would never know. He started running, and it wasn�t until his legs gave out that he stopped. He was near a stream, and he washed the blood off his hand, and stared at the red water flowing over the reflection of his face.

�How does it feel?� a voice suddenly asked.

�Who�s there?!� Leon demanded to know.

�Oh come now, surely you are not such a poor servant that you don�t recognize your own Emperor?� the voice said as a face appeared in the water. �Now you haven�t answered my question, how does it feel?�

�How does what feel?� Leon repeated, though he already knew.

�How does it feel to have betrayed all you hold dear and to have nothing but blood to show for it?�

�They weren�t supposed to be hurt! That was the deal!� Leon raged.

�But they haven�t been hurt, now have they? Death is your gift to them, for now they will never know it was you who betrayed Phin, with Borghen�s help of course. Now you have proven yourself as my Dark Knight.�

Leon had thought he was too numb to feel anything, but he felt an overpowering hatred for the Emperor, and out of that hatred, a plan started forming in his head to avenge the deaths of not only his sister and comrades, but of all those who died at Phin.

�No, I haven�t proven myself yet. Not until all resistance has been crushed and your Empire reigns supreme.�

The Emperor narrowed his eyes and simply stared at Leon for a moment. �So be it.�