Changes

Part One; Clan Nutsy

Marche was worried.

No, Marche was really worried. A new clan was rising, just as Nutsy had done, and Marche wasn't sure if it were good or bad. Montblanc continually told him not to worry, but he couldn't help it. What if the clan had evil intentions? What if it weaseled its way into the royal heir Mewt and convinced him to begin a civil war against the clans? What would happen then? Who could answer any of these questions?

Marche knew. He just didn't want to accept it. As he made his way to Eluut Sands for a mission, with Montblanc on one of his sides and Ritz on the other. He still couldn't believe she had joined his clan, along with that Viera partner of hers, Shara. She was a great addition to the team. Both were.

Soon, the sands came into view. Marche and his band quickened their pace. Only a few men had been able to come on the mission. Once they arrived, Marche instantly knew something was wrong. So did Ritz.

"The monsters… they're crazy!"

And it was true. The monsters were going insane. Some were even biting each other- and not just friendly nibble on the ears. They were actually taken chunks of flesh off each other. An antlion bit off a fire beast's ear. A fire beast ate a goblin whole. A goblin tore off two of an antlion's legs. The band watched in horror.

"It's… it's a remarkably un-kupo massacre!" Montblanc shouted, clearly pointing out the obvious. Un-kupo doesn't cover it, Montblanc, Marche thought. But instead of pointing out another obvious thing, he drew his blade. Ritz drew her fencing sword and Shara and Montblanc drew their weapons. The other two in the band followed suit. Soon, the monsters turned their attention to the warriors. Shara shot an antlion in the eye, soon rolling out of sight.

Marche and the others charged the beasts, showing no fear. Soon, there was blood. A lot of blood. This made Montblanc even more worried than Marche, since he had been there longer. And Montblanc had taken care to notice this was the first time blood was ever spilt from monsters.

Sure, they had been killed before- some even left carcasses. But never had there been blood. Never. This worried Montblanc worse than the new clan bothered Marche. Something bad was happening in Ivalice, and what made Montblanc feel worse was that they couldn't do anything about it. And it all seemed connected to the black out.

This wasn't the only sighting of monsters going crazy. There had been plenty of insane monster reports since the black out, when the sun had turned black. It astounded everyone, from the northern mountains to the southern plains. Something Bad was happening in Ivalice.

As Marche cleaned his blade on the grass and sheathed it, he looked up at the red-hot, burning sun. He soon began marching up a steep hill that lead to a deep cliff. Standing at that cliff, Marche could see all of Eluut. A new village was being constructed there, an was to be named Gatachkëp- Gat-gate, ach-watch, and këp-keep. It was very clever, and Marche's clan promised to help construction. Right now there were people toiling at the very spot. But as Marche reached the top, his heart fell.

The new village was being constructed into the side of the cliff. They would build secret tunnels into the cliff impenetrable to monsters. But as he looked down, he clearly saw those tunnels had not yet been constructed.

A wall of monsters surrounded the half-built town. Not just a few. A wall of monsters, as in completely cornering the town. He shouted to the group to get down to the village any way they can. He himself took the daring way.

He jumped.

He wasn't a complete idiot. As he got about half way down, he pulled two one-foot daggers from his pack. He stabbed them into the wall. Not all the way in right away, but in about three inches. Soon, he began slowing, but he was still falling at a fast pace. The workers had looked up when he jumped, and were wide-eyed with fear. As Marche got about an eighth from the ground, he pushed the blades in the rest of the way. Soon, he stopped about six feet from the ground. Calmly pulling his daggers out and dropping to the ground, he couldn't help smiling. That took a grown man's courage plus his gut, and he had done it when he was a teenager.

He was greeted by amazed claps and happy shouts. He looked out at the people, shocked. Did they not know they could quite possibly die any minute? But they were cheering him. Cheering him! Still, the town came first.

"Hear me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs to tame the clapping. It died down almost instantly. "Usually I would not have the courage to do that, but your village is in peril- definite peril. A wall of monsters is approaching, and we must prepare instantly before they are upon us. I trust my clan members are well armed?" he scanned the crowd, and was surprised to find just how many they had sent. His clan had grown, for half of the members of the crowd were his, and the crowd was at least of fifty people. He nodded to each of them before taking off. Three of his closest friends, who were supervising the construction and were some of the strongest warriors in the clan, followed him.

"How many are there, sir?" Shultz, a Paladin, asked. "At least a hundred. We are outnumbered by forty-two at best case scenario." Shultz nodded, but the Viera sniper, Babette, looked horrified. "A hundred? It is impossible! We will lose!"

Michelo, a templar, laughed gruffly. "Have you not been with usss through our journeysss? We have faced beastsss far ssstronger than thessse, and we are ssstill here. Wounded on the occasion, of courssse, but here." This seemed to calm Babette, at least a little. Marche smiled at Michelo. Babette was one of their strongest fighters when she wasn't scared, and Michelo knew how to calm her easily. That was good. They needed calm.

Ritz, who had led the other group, had squeezed through just before the wall of beasts closed around the valley, locking it in. She nodded at Michelo, Babette, and Shultz before turning to take a head count. "All accounted for." she muttered to herself. She then turned to Marche, her eyes shining with admiration. "That took guts, Marche."

Marche smiled. "Yeah, I know. I don't know what got into me." Soon, they were joined by the workers, all armed and ready to go. And the monsters were ready too. Drawing their weapons, the clan got ready to take their stand.

The two groups met with a bang. Well, a gunshot. Arrows shot over the clan's head and hit the beasts head on. But Marche had misestimated. There weren't a hundred at least. There were two hundred. Maybe even more. After only a few moments of fighting, Marche ordered a full retreat. There were at least six dead bodies scattered on the ground. Marche was so busy with the retreat, he didn't notice another thing Shara did.

There was no judge. None in sight. As Ritz ran along side her, she whispered the fact to Ritz. She looked at Shara then around, horrified. "What does it mean, Shara?"

Shara shook her head. "It means the rules are changing, Ritz. A revolution is coming- and it will not be pretty."

No one bothered to put away their weapons. Once they got to the section of the cliff where Marche had jumped, they turned. Luckily, the cliff was at an indent, so the archers and gun moogles would be protected by a wall of close-ranged warriors. It was a smart strategy, also because the monsters would only be able to come a few at a time. Marche fought between Shultz and Michelo, who were tearing things apart like insanity. Once they spotted the blood, however, they glanced at each other worriedly. They continued to fight with this on their mind.

Then Babette saw something that made her several times more terrified than the rest of them. Approaching them was a giant drake. It was at least four times the size of a normal drake, and its strength showed. But Babette knew she couldn't panic. Not now. But then the Dragon opened its mouth to breath fire. Babette drew her bow all the way back. Now was the perfect time for her secret weapon.

"Death Sickle!" she shouted, and shot the arrow notched to the string straight into the Drake's throat. At first it faltered, but then it stood up straight. She knew they had to survive a few attacks before the Drake went down. She yelled to the magicians to double their efforts, but they didn't. They couldn't. They were already going to their limit.

Then, all of a sudden, the enemy lines faltered. From the ledge she was standing on, she could see human soldiers marching in line, cutting through the monsters cleanly. At their front, Babette noticed the person she wanted to see most right then.

Judge Cid was coming. And he brought reinforcements.

The group of soldiers split into a line, creating a pincer movement with the clan. Now the monsters had nowhere to run, and their numbers were swiftly being diminished. Then, Babette realized the demon Drake had attacked three times. With a sickening thud, it fell on top of several other beasts, crushing them. That was the final straw. The monsters forced their way through the pressing soldiers and ran for their lives.

As Cid approached Marche, he to noticed the blood- and he had also noted the giant Drake. This was not normal. Things were changing. And that was the last thing Ivalice needed.

Marche looked at Cid and nodded a hello. Cid shook his head, worried. "This is not right Marche. Ever since the eclipse, things like this have been happening all over Ivalice. Giant monsters? Where was the Judge? Why do the monsters now spill blood?"

That was when Marche noticed the blood. He had wiped it off his sword without giving it a thought. And now that he thought of it, there was no judge. Marche shrugged. "It looks like the Golden Age of Ivalice is coming to and end." Cid looked at him, horrified. "Do not say such a thing! We just hit a bump in the road. We can change this easily!"

But Marche wasn't so sure. "I don't think so, Cid. You are right- things are different. Ivalice is changing, and right now there is nothing we can do about it. I believe we should put up walls around the construction site until we figure out what has gone wrong. I will send the remainder of my men as guards. Until then, Judge Cid, remember… Change is not always a bad thing."

But as Marche walked away, he had a feeling that this was one of those times change was not a good thing.