Final Fantasy: the rise of the dark sorceror

Chapter 4: the magitek research facility and new recruits

It has been two months since after fleeing the port town that the Kingdom of Meontis has retaken, Samuel and others have been occupied with the stuff they have done.

The twins, Cherry and Mila, have practiced their status ailment magic in secret while performing their routines in front of the troops to boost morale.

Samuel has been keeping tabs on the progress of the rebels, while practicing his own magic in the training room.

Finally, Gunther did some warm ups to stay in shape instead of spending the past two months in doing nothing, except accompanying either Mila or Samuel.

Each day felt repetitive, but they were glad to have each other's support. Until one day, the emperor called them in. They came to the throne room, wondering what he wants them to do.

"You all came, just like I ask. Good." Said the emperor.

"What is it you want, your majesty?" Asked Samuel.

"The reason why I called you four here, is because I have two tasks for each of you. For you Samuel and Cherry, I want you to go to the magitek research facility and check on the production of the magicite. And for Gunther and Mila, I want you two to go and investigate if any rebels have infiltrated our forces" explained the emperor.

"Yes, your majesty" all four have said.

Once they exit the throne room, they have split in order to carry out the tasks given by the emperor. Gunther and Mila went to the barracks to investigate, while Samuel and Cherry headed towards the magitek research facility nearby. When Samuel and Cherry arrived at the magitek research facility, they can see it's big and resembling a metal factory that spews multicolored steam from the chimneys. He was familiar with the place, and never wanted to come back to it after what the experiment had done to him.

"Are you feeling alright, Samuel?" Asked Cherry.

"Yeah, I'm experiencing a flashback to that horrible memory of me being in that facility. I never wanted to come back to that place again, yet it seems his imperial majesty wanted to remind me of that experiment that gave me my magic that I barely have any control over" he replied.

Cherry was concerned with his wellbeing, but she gave him the confidence for him to enter the facility. Once the duo entered into the magitek research facility, they are greeted with the smell of oil and metal. The interior is full of pipes, the walls are made of metal sheets, and the sounds of machines hummed in the further parts of the facility. They walked down the metal stairs, and they saw some conveyor belts moving the parts of the magitek armor and machines. They also watched as machines assembled the parts into magitek armor and other machines powered by magic, not to mention the workers operating the assembling machines.

"What is this place?" Asked Cherry as she felt unsettled.

"This place is divided into four parts: the first two floors is the magitek factory, since it produces magitek armor and other machines used for war. The other two floors below is the research labs, where they keep the espers in captivity. Right now, we have to go to the research lab" answered Samuel.

He guided her towards the elevator, and when the two entered it, he pressed button of the third floor below. Then the elevator descends down, and they waited. When it reached at the third floor and opened its door, they can see row after row of pods full of unknown liquid. This was no doubt the research labs, in which Samuel doesn't want to be here. As they explore the lab, they can see numerous espers in each pods as researchers monitored their progress. At the back, there were large pipes where chemicals go into and empty into an unknown area of the research lab. This place itself gave Cherry the chills, but Samuel was familiar with the place since it no longer creeps him out.