Suzaku Memorium: Memories Etched in Crystal

By Chronic Guardian

[01] Valediction for a Stranger

-[Ace-Izana, Alternate-Cycle] [Written for Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid week 1: Reunion]

Breathe.

Smoke, tears, and blood burned down his windpipe, but he managed to gasp in enough oxygen to stave off blacking out.

Just breathe.

Between tears of pain and tears of grief, he couldn't see much. That didn't mean he couldn't hear the merciless clack, clack, clack of advancing Militesi boots pounding through the cobblestone streets. His skull pulsed to their rhythm.

"Ace..."

Could it be they were tracking him? Hunting down each Dominion straggler in the area before moving on?

"Ace... where are you?"

He'd promised. If only this once, he'd promised to be the pride of the Dominion Legionaries. Izana Kunagiri, the quiet draftee who had been doing little more than hunting coeurls up until this moment, had a promise to keep.

Just this once...

The pounding march came to an abrupt halt. It wasn't as far away as Izana would've hoped. The click of rifles' cocking broke out, breaking the brief moment of silence. He hoped against hope that they were pointed at something else unlucky enough to be nearby.

Just breathe. Close your eyes. You'll get through this. Ace needs the package. You can't die here.

"Ace..."

The bullet crack he'd been expecting didn't come.

Izana still winced. The air became electric as multiple somethings whistled through it, followed by muffled cries and heavy thuds as bodies hit the ground.

It took until Izana wet his throat with more blood-soaked saliva for him to realize he wasn't dead.

"I'm here!" Down the street, the voice of the young man Izana was looking for rang out like a lighthouse beacon cutting through fog. "I'm right here!"

Breathe. Izana bit down on the pain and tried to look up. He's here, you found him. Just a little longer. Breathe.

-}Three Years Earlier{-

"Kweh?"

The blond boy regarded the flightless avian mount with the same tilted, curious expression it was giving him. Somehow, perhaps by the color of its plumes or the hook of its beak, he felt as though it were the wrong bird occupying the stable. He'd been here so many times on visits, he and the resident should've been able to recognize each other by now.

"You're new?" the boy asked, reaching out a hand slowly to stroke where the creature's beak met its face.

The mount, a golden yellow Chocobo, shied back and warbled a warning.

"...That's a yes, huh? Too bad."

It explained everything. He remembered coming to this stall whenever Mother took them to Akademia. The old resident must have died. He couldn't remember its name or color, but it must have lived here. Even if the Suzaku Crystal sealed away memories of the dead, it didn't catch everything. The boy knew a different Chocobo had once occupied this particular stall, if only that much. Whether it had bitten him or crooned gently at his approach, he couldn't say.

"Hey! Careful!"

The boy allowed whoever had interrupted his musings a sidelong discerning look. One of the vermilion hooded legionaries, quickly approaching and wearing a slight frown. The boy held back an impatient tsk. Legionaries had a track record for taking him to council on the false charges of unauthorized presence. Mother had had several talks with the Commandant about this, but the Dominion soldiers never seemed to get the memo.

"Yes?" The boy asked calmly, addressing his senior with measured respect. Depending on the answer, he could easily give or take an ounce.

"She bites," the legionary answered, moving towards the Chocobo. The young man tentatively reached out and stroked its(her?) muzzle affectionately. Contrary to his claims, it didn't seem to have any intention of tasting his fingers. Phrasing another question over his shoulder, the legionary asked, "You lost?"

"No." The boy refrained from adding how he'd been over every inch of the Peristylium Chocobo Ranch multiple times. Heck, he'd even convinced one of the stablehands to let him go out for a trot around the corral once. At any rate, he wasn't the stranger in this encounter.

"Huh..." That didn't seem to satisfy the legionary very well. "Well... don't get carried away, alright? They don't take nicely to slacking off around here."

"...What?" Slacking off? The boy felt his careful indifference slip towards a frown. This was a new response.

"You're an orderly, right?"

The blond boy shook his head in negative. An orderly? One of those errand-running, junior quaestors? Sure, most kids running around Akademia at his age were orderlies, but that didn't mean he was. He wasn't even wearing an orderly's uniform, for pity's sake.

Not to mention it was slightly demeaning to be compared to the non-combative merchant class when one was being raised for something much greater.

"No?" The legionary continued his friendlier-than-most pressing, putting his back to the Chocobo, but idly keeping a hand scratching just behind where her skull met her neck. "Okay then, not-an-orderly. What are you doing here then? Non-staff members aren't allowed to—"

The boy tugged at his carmine cadet scarf. "Class Zero."

"...Oh." Apparently, the statement was not lost on this particular legionary. His charcoal eyebrows rose slightly as he reevaluted the mis-identified cadet. "An Agito cadet, huh?"

"Mmhmm," the boy gave an affirmative nod and tried not to look too smug.

"An Agito cadet slacking off to get his fingers nibbled at the Chocobo ranch," the legionary continued, turning his head to the side in a vain attempt to hide a cracking smile. "You wouldn't happen to have an excuse from class for the day, would you?"

"We're on vacation," the boy sighed, again tugging at his scarf, more half-heartedly this time. Did nobody tell legionaries about Class Zero? In his head, the boy made note to ask one of his classmates about the intelligence structure of the Rubrum Army. Either that, or get Mother to write out an official visitor's permit for him.

"Well... I guess I can't be too hard on you," the legionary went on, turning his attention back to the Chocobo. The boy couldn't tell if the statement was supposed to sound sarcastic or not, but he softened his frown minutely. "After all, I was expecting a cadet when I came here."

The boy raised a sunburst eyebrow. "So you're the one assigned to the illustrious duty of catching slackers now?" At least they came equipped with manners now...

"Mmm? Oh, no. I was..." again the legionary paused and again the boy tried to figure out the young man's angle. "I was expecting my brother."

"Who's also a cadet."

"Yes."

"Who's also 'slacking off'."

"No," the legionary looked slightly offended at the insinuation. "Who should be training with his class in cavalry tactics. Guess they switched dates without me realizing it..."

The boy paused. Now that the legionary had mentioned it... "...Class Second? Navy Capes?"

"Yeah, Machina Kunagiri. You know him?"

"No, you just missed them."

"Oh..."

Again silence. And again, the boy waited to see if he would get his moment with the inheritor of his favorite stall or if he would just have to move on.

"Say... what's your name anyway?"

The boy gave a flat look. "Why? So you can write it down on your report?"

"No," the legionary (Mr. Kunagiri?) ruffled his Chocobo's feathers once more before turning back to the conversation. "So I know who's visiting Chichiri."

Chichiri... it had to be the name of his mount. How had he come up with something like that? Onomatopoeia for the sound she made?

"I know," Mr. Kunagiri put in when the boy failed to respond. "It's a weird name. You can thank Machina for that."

"Hmph..." The boy grunted, allowing himself a quiet smile. Maybe Mr. Kunagiri wasn't so bad; as far as legionaries went anyway.

"Anyway, your name?"

"...Ace."

"Nice to meet you, Ace. My name is Izana."

Izana Kunagiri... The boy, Ace, nodded and shook the young man's hand. Within the privacy of his mind, Ace permitted himself to let go of the thought that a previous owner, now forgotten, had once claimed this stall. From now on, Izana and Chichiri could inherit that place in his memories.

I hope to remember you for a long time to come.

-}Three Months Earlier{-

"You alright?"

Izana fought down his frustrated grimace and looked up. Ace, the crimson caped Agito cadet, had returned once again. Apparently, he and the rest of Class Zero trained outside of Akademia. They came to visit every now and then, but for the most part they were off with their "Mother". Izana had long implied that the woman in question was a special instructor deployed by the Council of Eight rather than an actual blood relation. Ace's classmates, who also referred to her by the affectionate familial, were too close in age to be actual siblings.

Still, they stuck together. Whenever one of them came to pull Ace away from one of his visits to the Chocobo stalls, Izana could sense a certain closeness between them. To an extent, they did operate as a family.

More than me, anyway.

"It's nothing," the legionary told his young compatriot, forcing a neutral expression. "Just... I've just had a long day."

Ace tilted his head. "Hunting coeurls, right?"

Izana pursed his lips and nodded. That was his job as a legionary. Not as a first line of defense on the border, not as a garrison at the military centers of Togoreth or Eibon. No, Izana Kunagiri was simply a coeurl hunter.

"That's good," Ace's mouth compressed into a confident smile and he approached to give Chichiri his regards. "I hear they're in season this time of year. Corsi would be in trouble without you."

"...I wish I could do more."

"As a legionary? Have you tried requesting a transfer?"

"Thought about it..." But that's not really the problem.

Izana let the last part go unsaid. He was half convinced Ace only came to pet Chichiri (and the Chocobo certainly took no issue with that priority), so dumping all his problems on the teen probably wouldn't be the best etiquette. Instead, he just inched his back a little further against the oak beam separating the stables and let the boy have his fun. After all, there wasn't really a tactful way to put this.

What Izana really wished was that he had been strong enough to be an Agito cadet.

Well... "strong" wasn't quite the word to use in this sense. Agito Cadets had something more along the lines of inherent talent. Class Eleventh rarely engaged in manual labor, let alone combat, and Class Seventh could be classified as downright cowardly, given a blunt enough critic. No, whatever they had, it wasn't something he could train for. They had it and he didn't, and that was the end of that.

"You weren't there," Machina's accusing tone rung back in his head. "Our family died because you were gone. Izana... what good is joining the army if you can't even protect that much?"

Even if Izana felt like arguing the point that their parents might've died before that, it wouldn't have changed the circumstance. The village where Machina had been staying, and whoever he had known within its walls, had been wiped out that day.

"...I think I could help you."

"Hmm?" Izana raised his ebony brows and refocused on his current human companion. It was tempting to just tell Ace he didn't know what he was talking about, but Izana had long learned the boy possessed a certain wisdom beyond his years. Whatever was about to be said, it deserved a chance.

"You see, Mother says our first mission may happen soon; On Dominion soil, in fact. Class Zero could use some local support on the matter."

"Thank you, but...You don't have to coddle me."

"Coddle you?" A look of well humored challenge flashed over the blond's shoulder. "Think about it Izana: Agito cadets, Class Zero is going to be deployed. How easy could it be? Something big is coming. I'm going to need an edge, someone I trust. Can you be that edge?"

Once Ace spelled it out like that... maybe this was the chance he was looking for. Something to prove himself, something to show Machina he wasn't a coward.

"...Alright," the legionary straightened to his feet, leaving behind his oaken moorings. "Count on me."

-}Three Hours Earlier{-

"The Militesi troops have breached the city walls. Repeat, Militesi troops have breached the city walls. Large troop movements have been detected sweeping in from the south. All Dominion troops, be advised. Legionary divisions 58 and 23 reinforce forward positions. Divisions 13, 18, and 22, report to central command. 1st division—"

Izana was cinching armor onto Chichiri as the unrushed serenity of central command continued to drone orders. Imperial Dreadnoughts overtook the skies like a tessellation of geometric storm clouds. The day had come. This was what Ace had been talking about. Beneath his chestplate, Izana's heartbeat was pounding to the rush of his fellow legionaries as they moved to do what they had enlisted for. This was the day. This was his time.

And yet, it almost felt surreal. Izana didn't feel excitement to see airships blocking out the sun, dropping Magitek Armors like white lightning. His heart didn't soar to see the flag of Rubrum being marched out into the storm. Izana felt a strange hollowness as his mind desperately clung to duty and promises, automating his movements. This wasn't what he had wanted.

Minutes later, he was reporting to central command. Apparently the Empire somehow jammed the Vermillion Bird Crystal, the source of Magic and the Dominion's central military element. The Dominion forces were now being routed on the front lines, the city was lost, soon the Empire would be at the doorstep. Izana heard the words, but his mind refused to believe them. The Dominion of Rubrum was falling around him. He was here, but he was still powerless.

No... not entirely. You still have something to do. You've still got to help Ace.

When Izana arrived at the command center, he was told that he had been specifically selected to bring a comm set to a derelict unit that had just entered the fray: Class Zero. Somehow unaffected by the crystal's fall, they were the Dominion's last hope, and he was the wire that would connect the two.

With one last look to the spires of Akademia, Izana Kunagiri took the package and marched toward the shadows of the metal storm clouds.

-}Three Minutes Later{-

"Izana!" Ace forgot about the fires raging through the streets, about the invaders dropping from the sky. That would still be there in a moment. His comrade, his friend, would not.

Drawing another stack of his cards, the blond cadet hurled the small rectangles at his enemies, expertly guiding their trajectory and enhancing their velocity mid-flight. Energy coursed through his veins. He felt so alive, nothing would touch him.

It didn't matter, something had already touched Izana.

Hurry, you idiot! He gritted his teeth and wove deeper into the dearth of Imperial troops circling the legionary. There's still something you can do. You still remember him. He's not dead yet.

Ace's cheeks burned, and he wasn't sure if it was from the fires or his own frustration. It was a strange experience, realizing that someone would die, that moments from now he wouldn't remember anything about them. In a few moments, it wouldn't matter who had owned the Chocobo who inhabited his favorite stall.

By the time Ace finally made it to the legionary's side, the young man was weakly heaving ragged breaths. Tears were fighting a losing battle to clear the blood from his face. Beneath him, feathers of gold-stained-red gently ruffled. Chichiri had protected her master, even to the end.

"Ace..." the downed man croaked, extending a package to the cadet. Ace accepted it somberly. The world had grown quiet, if only in his mind.

The young man wet his lips and continued on. "...I don't want to die. Don't wanna be forgotten. Don't... don't want to go yet."

Ace clasped the man's hand and tried very hard to remember his name. He'd known it just a second ago, hadn't he? This was someone important, he was sure of it. "Hold on," he urged. Maybe if there was enough phantoma intact he could still heal the man. Maybe there was still a chance. "Just, hold on."

"Sorry... Ace. Looks like... maybe I wasn't cut out for this... after all..."

Ace. The man knew his name. They had to have known each other. Ace tried to keep his breath steady as he realized the face he was looking at was not familiar.

"...Ace... will I see you... on the... other side?"

"Hold on, you're not going anywhere. You're alright."

"Sorry... we all... say goodbye sometime."

}-{

Ace paused. Tears were running down from his eyes, but he didn't know why. A soldier lay dead at his feet. The soldier had probably served his unit well, probably fought valiantly for the cause of the Dominion. Whoever he was, Ace could only wonder who had forgotten him when he had died. Still he felt a certain connection.

"I'll finish this for you," Ace said quietly. "Don't worry, I'll protect the ones who lost you."

Turning from the scene, the crimson caped cadet moved on. The streets of Rubrum were red with the blood of strangers. Though he would never know them, the first of Class Zero was determined that they at least be avenged.

In his own way, he would remember.

-}End [01]{-

Author's Note:

So, as someone who has been waiting nine years for Type-0, I feel like this fan fiction was a long time coming. At the same time, I'm kind of hesitant about this just because Type-0 deals with really heavy themes and I'm... not usually a very heavy writer. If anyone was wondering, no this isn't a direct translation of the opening scene and connected material, this is an alternate cycle of the events that still played out similarly. I will probably contradict the in game interpretation of universe rules in favor of my own interpretations as this anthology goes on (such as Ace slowly forgetting the dying Izana rather than all at once), but I hope you can still enjoy these thoughts on the twelve who have finally arrived outside Japan this year (well, twelve plus two. But Machina and Rem won't get the same focus in this collection that the numbered members of Class Zero get).

Finally, as you may have noted from the tag, this is the first entry in my Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid anthology! For better written stories and more intelligent authors, please drop by the Twelve Shots of Summer C2 or, if you're interested in a summer challenge, check out the forum and see if it's your cup of tea.

Thanks for reading. See you again?

-CG

Visitor's Atlas(For those who need to catch their bearings in the land of Orience)

Dramatis Personae:

-Class Zero:

The main protagonists of Final Fantasy Type-0(Agito XIII), Class Zero is a group of children raised by Doctor Arecia Al-Rashia of the Rubrum Sorcery department. From early childhood, they have been training together as siblings and all follow Doctor Al-Rashia, whom they call "Mother", without question. Currently, they are engaged in liberating Rubrum under Mother's orders. With the exception of two new members added to the class after their battlefield debut, each member is named after a card deck trump.

01-Ace: Ace is a serious young man and generally considered the operational leader of the group in battlefield operations. While he is usually calm and professional, he is not above personal outbursts given the right circumstances. He fights with an enchanted card deck.

02-Deuce: If there were an official position for it, Deuce would be the face of public relations for Class Zero. Deuce is polite, honest, and maybe even a little timid at first glance. Beneath that shrinking violet exterior though, she has a strong sense of duty and refuses to back down once she's made up her mind. She fights with an enchanted flute.

03-Trey: Trey is the resident marksman in Class Zero and has a nearly encyclopedic knowledge on virtually every subject. What began as a study of possible pressure points had launched the archer into a life-long pursuit of holistic knowledge. Unfortunately, there are very few willing to hang around and listen to his findings, no matter how fascinating they may seem. He fights with a long bow.

04-Cater: Cater is a headstrong firecracker who doesn't give a &%$! what the rest of the world thinks. She relies on her intuition and Mother's orders to see her through and forgets the rest. While she is eager to press on and forget the past, she is haunted by a sense of deja-vu. She fights with a magicite pistol.

05-Cinque: Something of an oddball, anyone would agree that Cinque is a little... different. While she often seems lacking in common sense and sequential thought though, Cinque is able to offer insights others miss every once in a while. She's also fond of giving nick-names. She fights with a mace.

06-Sice: Sice is often picked out as the most brooding member of Class Zero. She's cynical, detached, and about as far as you can get from being a people person. Once you get to know her, she's still a lot of those things, but she also carries a strong sense of justice behind her jaded views. She fights with a giant scythe.

07-Seven: Seven is the oldest member of Class Zero and possibly one of the most senior. She's third in the command chain and prefers a supporting role in most situations. She has quite a following outside of Class Zero and is said to be the most well connected due to her philanthropic, but not overbearing, nature. She fights with a chain whip.

08-Eight: Calm and serious, Eight is thoughtful and loathe to rush through a situation without fully understanding it. While certainly one of the most able members on the battlefield, Eight is recorded as one of the least lethal as he has been working on a technique to defeat enemy soldiers without killing them. Eight is a martial artist and fights with his body as his weapon.

09-Nine: If it weren't for his connections to Class Zero, Nine probably would've quit school a long time ago. Not one for long thought, Nine prefers to view the world through a binary lens where everything is either one thing or another. While he puts on a tough guy act, it's usually pretty obvious that he still needs affirmation of his "manly" image, much to his disgruntled classmates' dismay. He fights using a spear.

10-Tiz: Not a current member of Class Zero. The Ten slot is said to have once belonged to a solemn girl with a delicate sense of authority about her. The current whereabouts of this member, as well as why the slot remains unfilled, are both unknown.

11-Jack: The class clown, Jack doesn't let the weight of responsibility drag him down too much. A team player who is always looking to brighten everyone's day, Jack makes it his goal in life to bring as many smiles to the world as possible, whether they like it or not. He fights with a katana.

12-Queen: A stoic swordswoman with great intellectual capacity, Queen is well versed in all forms of combat and protocol and often guides her classmates through the process whenever the need arises. While she may seem stern, she has the good of her allies at heart. She fights with a longsword.

13-King: From the outside, King is summed up in one word: Loner. Not one for many words, King is a man of quiet action. Secretly, he's not so good with people, but enjoys their company nonetheless. He fights with dual handguns.

00-Joker: Currently an enigma, nobody knows if Joker is just a legend or a satellite member of Class Zero. Whatever he is, he isn't part of the main class and his slot remains empty for the foreseeable future.

?-Machina Kunagiri: A transfer from Class Second, Machina doesn't mesh well with the rest of Class Zero and instead spends more time with Rem, his childhood friend. He is obsessively protective of her. His weapons of choice are twin rapiers.

?-Rem Tokimiya: A transfer from Class Seventh, Rem is polite and innocuous to all appearances. While she does have some degree of skill on the battlefield and is a gifted mage, she also tends to break out into hacking fits and fatigues easily. She fights using twin daggers.

Support: Class Zero is supported by Kurasame Susuya, their commander and current instructor. Kurasame is stoic and carries out his role with perfect professionalism, rarely betraying his growing personal attachment for his students. Kurasame keeps a Tonberry, a small mole-fish-lizard like creature, as a pet. Class Zero is also under the auspices of their very own class moogle (dubbed Moglin by Cinque) who sometimes accompanies them on the battlefield to act as their link to HQ.

Finally, the enigmatic Dr. Al-Rashia is the ultimate end-all and be-all for the original Class Zero and has their explicit trust on any and every matter. Whatever she commands, they will do.

Political/Military Synopsis:

There are four governing bodies in Orience: The Militesi Empire to the West, home to the tech-based Byakko(White Tiger) peristylium; the Lorican Alliance in North, North-West Orience, keepers of the strength-based Genbu(Black Tortoise) peristylium; the Dominion of Rubrum in central Orience, resting in the magic-based Suzaku(Vermilion Bird) peristylium; and the Kingdom of Concordia in the East, guardians to the monster-based Soryu(Azure Dragon) peristylium. Each region gains the blessings of the Crystal in their respective peristylium. For example, it is not uncommon to meet seven-foot tall giants with masterfully forged weapons and armor in Lorica, just as magic is a part of every day life in Rubrum.

The ruling practices vary from country to country. Rubrum is ruled by the Consortium of Eight, headed by Chancellor Khalia Chival VI. Milites used to have an Emperor, until Marshal Cid Aulstyne conducted a coup and seized the reigns, transforming it into a military dictatorship. Lorica and Concordia are both ruled by monarchy, having their heads of state in King Gilgamesh Ashul and Queen Andoria Kaya Tranka Fam Futurio, respectively.

The majority of these stories take place during the last great crystal war in 842 AF. The Empire of Milites, under the command of Marshall Cid Aulstyne, declared war on both Lorica and Rubrum, demanding control of their respective crystals as terms for cease-fire. It is speculated that Militesi expansion was also a goal of this campaign due to tactics employed by Milites: the holdings of Rubrum, dominated by a temperate climate and ideal farm lands, were handled much more delicately than the arid nation of Lorica, which was bombed to oblivion when it resisted. What made Militesi aggression particularly notable in this case was the deploying of L'Cie on the battlefront (Militesi L'Cie Qun'mi piloted the Crystal Jammer MA Dainsleif, disabling the Suzaku crystal. The armies of Rubrum, reliant upon the crystal's blessing of magic, were rendered helpless in an instant), a direct violation of the Pax Codex. Because of this special breach of conduct, the Dominion of Rubrum claimed reasonable grounds not only to deploy its legions, but the Agito Cadets training at Akademia as well. This was no longer just a war for territory as one would suspect of Milites, it was a war for the fate of Orience.

General Geography:

Central Orience is dominated by the Bethnels, a range of mountains acting as a natural barrier between Lorica, Milites, and Rubrum. This does not stop Lorican heat waves from struggling over the peaks to cause thunder storms and humidity across the more temperate Rubrum holdings.

The far west is dominated by cold currents and wind patterns, causing almost all of Milites to be perennially snowy. The northern Azurr District is home to the capital city of Ingram and the center for technological development. East, alongside the Dominion border, lies the Cetme District. Over the Nesher mountains lie the coastal (but still snowy) East and West Nesher Districts, which serve as both fisheries (harvesting from the Convair and Morane coasts, respectively) and Military Outposts. It is speculated that Nesher once was its own nation, but was colonized by the more technologically advanced Milites in order to provide a steady food source for the northern districts. Finally, in southernmost Milites lies the Silent Key, a monster ridden peninsula housing an ancient technology at its far end. Few travel there who return alive.

Lorica in the north is a hardy and arid land, home to both the Berith desert and the arid Jubanla plains. Shielded from northerly winds by natural geothermal activity, the people of the Black Tortoise build their homes burrowed into the very earth for the most part. They value solidarity and are thus concentrated almost entirely in the eponymous capital: Lorica, the sunken city.

Rubrum, the dominant presence in the temperate central regions, stretches from the Meroe Region (bordering Cetme) to the Eibon Region (bordering Roshana). The northernmost North Togoreth lies across from the Concordian city of Amiter and acts as a point of trade. In between are Iscah, Togoreth, Central Rubrum, and Innsmouth. Most of these are fertile farming districts, making Rubrum either a valuable trade partner or the first target in conflict, and have given rise to a sophisticated, self reliant society. Innsmouth Coast, a southern clutch of isles that are more coastal shelf than landmass, is ill-suited to habitation due to flooding concerns but still offers rare species of Chocobo, Water Flan, and Adamantiose for Dominion use and consumption. The Dominion capital of Academia lies on an isle off the coast of Central Rubrum, near the famed brewing cities of Corsi and Aqvi. It is considered the pinnacle of societal advancement by its inhabitants.

Lastly, Concordia dominates the winding, prolonged isthmus winding to its caldera capital of Mahamayuri. Leading down this linear land are the provinces of Rilochy and Roshana, with the additional island province of Amiter, home to the Dragon Sanctuary, lying off the coast of the capital province. Many creatures lurk in the jungles of Concordia, from the various wyvern breeds to the fearsome (and flagrantly fragrant) Malboros. The people here are decisively shorter than in the other nations.

Lore of Orience

"When Nine and Nine meets Nine, and the seal of creation is broken, a voice like thunder shall sound, and thou shalt know: we have arrived."

-Excerpt from the Akshiac Record.

Within the prophecies of Orience, it is said that when one country gains control of all the Crystals, Tempus Finis will begin and the land will be subject to divine judgment by the Rursan Arbiter. Fighting on behalf of the people, a savior known as Agito will be elected by trial to be tested for the worthiness of the world.

Of all the countries, Rubrum is the only one actively training Agito cadets, teenagers being brought up with the express purpose of facing the tests of the Rursan Arbiter.

Rubrumite Social/Operational Structure:

Life in the Dominion is varied from town to town, but the people are generally well natured, if slightly temperamental. Located in the central lands of Orience, Rubrum has enjoyed much cultural bleed over from its neighbors and is said to be the steady medium between the technologically driven Militesi and the strictly traditional Concordians. The capital city of AKademia generally acts as the cultural center for the developed world and is quite the spectacle to behold. There are a handful of stongholds scattered throughout the dominion, notably Limbo, Togoreth, and Eibon, that also act as military hubs but all tactical maneuvers can be traced back to the Consortium at Akademia.

While many Rubrumites are perfectly content living agrarian lives, a good portion of children apply at Academia every year for admission into the Cadet program and other state sponsored positions. Agito cadets are selected via performance test, written test, and interview (although some prospects that slip through this screening might surprise you) and are divided into twelve classes, each representing a different philosophy for achieving Agito. There is also a legendary thirteenth class, Class Zero, who are only chosen by the Sorcery Department's Doctor Al-Rashia. Graduation from a cadet class is said to set one up for much success in life, so even students who aren't necessarily interested in becoming Agito apply anyway.

The classes are distinguished by scarfs/capes of distinct color. The listings are:

Class 0: Specialist Class, Red Capes.

Class 1: Knight Class, Blue Capes.

Class 2: Dragoon Class, Indigo Capes.

Class 3: Black Mage Class, Violet Capes.

Class 4: Geomancer Class, Ochre/Orange Capes.

Class 5: Monk Class, Yellow Green/Light Green Capes.

Class 6: Time Mage Class, Deep Green Capes.

Class 7: White Mage Class, Pink Capes.

Class 8: Thief Class, Yellow Capes.

Class 9: Ninja Class, Brown Capes.

Class 10: Scholar Class, Black Capes.

Class 11: Professor Class, White Capes.

Class 12: Blue Mage Class, Turquoise/Teal capes.

Cadets aren't the only ones to train at Akademia though, Dominion Legionaries, the main unit of the Dominion army, also use the island as a base of operations and sometimes train alongside the cadets, sharing facilities with them. Serving this community is an infrastructure of Orderlies, child messengers and supply specialists in training to become Dominion Quaestors.