Author's Note: While writing my Lightning oneshot last week, I realized there were no stories about Mog, and I had a plot in mind as a sort of sequel involving him. This evolved as a result: a separate oneshot following Mog's quick adventure through the Historia Crux. Please enjoy! It may be the first of many.
Mog was a simple creature; honestly. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be doing half the time. He just did what Serah or Noel told him to, transformed into a sword or a bow when there were monsters nearby, and then floated off to do whatever it was that moogles did in their free time. Sometimes he was launched incredible distances by Serah's powerful arm to reach treasure spheres they couldn't. Missing was unpleasant because he bounced like rubber and then had to fly back to be thrown again, so he did his best to land on the things.
"Mog, we're going to go watch the chocobo races! We'll be back at the giant roulette wheel in two hours, alright? Make sure you're not late!"
"Kupo!"
What kind of trouble could he get into in two hours? Mog was already floating off, little purple wings flapping. They were for decorative purposes, actually. The actual patented floatation device, called 'magic,' was located in the large pink crystal hanging from the black antenna on his head. Unsurprisingly, it was just as attractive to curious little children as his shiny red nose, both of which they attempted to fondle without mercy.
Now, Mog wasn't just any magical creature; he was a time lord, a manipulator of past and present among small sentient creatures capable of self-sustained flight and speech. He had the little time rod to prove it. Whether or not he could see was a different story; what passed as eyes were two thin lines. He didn't have a mouth either. Perhaps it was hiding under that nose? Enough. Mog was off to do important things.
Like find treasure! Mog adored gil. It sparkled like his crystal, when it wasn't pried from the stomach of some wild monster that mistook it for food and digested it. One such memory involving a chimera stood out to him.
"Kupo…"
He sadly chirped. Mog bumped into a wall.
"Huh? What's this, kupo?"
Chocobo's Mystic Chamber, read the sign.
"Chocobo! I love riding Chocobos, kupo."
Mog loved riding Chocobos. He could not explain why. Perhaps it was encoded deep into his being somewhere. Mog thought back to his family and friends in the Ocean of Time, and how much he missed them.
"Maybe this miss me too, kupo."
Mog had various mood swings. It was part of his nature. He remembered his time in the Void, where he had met different creatures like flan, an imp, and a centurion blade. They were all mostly nice, but they weren't family. He flew into the small chamber room.
There stood a chocobo woman, ready to tell his fortune.
"Kupo?"
She gazed at Mog deeply, swaying in a hypnotic rhythm as she contacted the spirits beyond to read into Mog's fortune. She gasped.
"You, you are the chosen one!"
"Me, chosen, kupo?"
"Yes! The legendary blade come incarnate that bends time to his will!"
Mog blushed, hiding behind the clock face on his time rod.
"Aww, kupo. I guess I am!"
She stopped swaying and resumed standing how Mog had found her. Silence fell upon them.
"Chocobo lady, kupo?"
"Yes?"
"Is there any treasure around here, kupo?"
"Powerful being-" she motioned with her arms around her, "-you are in Serendipity! Priceless treasures surround us."
"Where can I find them, kupo?"
"Seek with your enlightened wisdom and you shall find."
"Thank you, kupo!"
And he flew out of the chamber without a second thought. There were priceless treasures to be found. Now where could they be hiding? Mog looked all around with his little head, inspecting the nearest attendants and peering into tiny cracks here and there. Nothing.
And then, a brilliant idea traveled the dimensions to land upon his crystal and make it glow! Specifically, it was a distortion magic that Mog used regularly to bring items out of one time period and into another. A rippling field emitted outwards from him and encompassed some of the nearby tourists and attendants, who looked on in awe and inspected their bodies for any abrupt changes. Losing an appendage without notice was not a convenient thing. Neither was gaining one.
When no mysterious items revealed themselves, Mog flew around to find them. Normally, his crystal would glow when in proximity to a distorted item, but there was no such indication in any of the attractions of Serendipity. Defeated momentarily, Mog floated over to a refreshment stand and ordered one silver lobo slushie with the allowance gil Serah had given to him like the loving half-mother she was. Mog eyed the coins longingly, his heart filling with bittersweet aching for Serah and Noel. They made treasure hunting more fun. He was lonely without them. Truthfully… Mog was still a baby moogle.
"Kupo…"
If Mog could cry he would, so instead he slurped on the enticingly cold dessert. He almost didn't notice the treasure sphere, with its familiar humming, slowly bobbing up and down right above him. Almost.
"A sphere, kupo?"
Mog twirled around, his spirit refreshed with hope! Or maybe that was the slushie. All Mog had to do was fly a few meters higher and touch it with his stubby white arm. Of course, that was always easier said than conjured. The crystal made floating quite easy, but anything more required serious focus and Mog just wasn't sure his attention span could hold long enough to do it. He spoke to the stand attendant.
"Do you see that sphere up there? I want you to throw me at it, kupo!"
The attendant was in disbelief. On one hand, Mog was mind-numbingly cute. On another, he also spoke. And on the third hand, he looked like a toy. By then the attendant ran out of hands to make her various arguments, so she decided to comply.
"Kupopopo!" Mog squealed as the woman grabbed him. Her aim was precise; her throw, true as an arrow. Mog felt himself lift away from the ground at incredible speed, hurtling towards his target, reaching out to touch the metal ball right in front of him and then-!
And then Mog grabbed the sphere, bouncing across the roof. He wanted to shout back to the attendant to thank her but he had already bounced away in another direction. With growing horror that was not evident in any identifiable way, Mog realized he was headed straight for the portal at the entrance of Serendipity. He tried to stop, tried to alter his course, tried to open the sphere to see what was inside but it was all in vain.
"I'll be right back, kupoooo-!"
And Mog entered the portal, disappearing into the Historia Crux.
"This doesn't look like Serendipity, kupo!" Mog gazed steadily at the surroundings. They were pretty bland, if he had to give a critique. Desolate, ruined, and slightly tingly due to the crystal dust in the air.
"This is Oerba, kupo!" Mog had landed straight on the sandy beach, by the old building with a garden on top. This is where Fang and Vanille were from; Mog would know, he was a detective. Rusty windmills spun in the distance from an unfelt breeze. It was then that Mog noticed the sound of croaking, slapping, and his missing treasure sphere. That was worrying.
The source of the commotion turned out to be a pack of breshan bass fighting a shambling ghast, tall and undead. Perhaps a bit smelly, too. All it really did was walk around, moaning and groaning and hitting whatever was in sight and organic. While Mog would be glad to help, he was in no condition to lend assistance. He was, after all, just a little moogle time lord, not fit for exerting the effort necessary to defeat such a monster. Not by himself. He would just retrieve his treasure sphere and be on his merry way.
Except that it was rolling away- towards the cie'th.
"Come back! I just want to open you, kupo!"
With growing horror and slight brainfreeze, Mog watched it gently roll into the ghast's leg. The creature turned, letting loose a shrieking roar that dazed two of the bass. Now Mog was flustered.
"You won't take that from me, kupo!"
With a spin and a flourish, Mog flew over to the cie'th and bopped it on the head just as it pulled back its arm for a powerful swing. Perhaps it just wanted a hug. A time magic scattered from the tip of his rod and entwined the ghast, quickly sending it away to another dimension. It was someone else's problem now!
Satisfied, Mog turned to his sphere, which found itself nestled under the belly of the biggest bass in the group.
He could use some exercise to lose some of that fat, kupo…
The bass croaked, eyeing Mog with interest. Luckily, Mog was fluent in the language of most creatures known to Serah and Noel.
"Yes, that's the sphere I found and have been chasing! Could I please have it back, kupo?"
Croak.
"What do you mean why should you give it back to me? I found it and got rid of the ghast for you, kupo!"
Croak croak.
"Well if you don't return it, I'll be forced to warp you away like that big meanie, kupo!"
The bass stomped its flippers a few times and the smaller bass croaked in response. It would seem they were debating. Mog didn't know terraquatic fish-lizards could do such a thing.
Finally, the big bass croaked to Mog.
Croak. Croooak.
"Fine, you've got a deal, kupo!"
The bass dislodged itself from the sphere and slapped it towards Mog, who gleefully floated it up towards his face.
"Thank you and bye, kupo!"
Mog floated away back to the portal to the harmonious croaking of multiple bass. A cool tingling wave enveloped Mog as he floated through the gates' aura and into the Historia Crux.
"I'll be back to Serah and Noel in just a minute, kupo!"
And that would have been the case, until Mog did something that not even Etro's eyes could predict and would forever seal the fate of his next few days. He dropped the sphere. It drifted away on currents of time harmlessly, teasing Mog to follow it on a wild adventure. Dare he?
"Not again, kupo!"
Mog glided as fast as he could after it, straight into another portal. This time, he ended up in the Sunleth Waterscape, in all its subdued and half-crystallized glory. The area had once been a nature reserve teeming with life and vegetation, but not so after Cocoon was dropped from its cradle in the sky and enveloped in stasis to save it. Now it was just kind of wet and unpleasant. There was no sunlight!
The sphere quietly bounced along the mossy canopy of a tree, steadily retreating deeper and deeper into the maze of vines and leaves. Mog made haste to keep right up, shaking loose stray strands of whatever attached itself to his little body. Finally, the sphere rolled to a halt at the bottom of a tree trunk, near the forest's floor. It seemed today was not Mog's lucky day.
Before he could reach it, miniflan rolled up to his approaching figure, waving their gooey hands around in a signal for help. Dripping streams of their flanny body poured down the gaping hole that was their mouth. Mog shuddered to think what was inside. There were three of them; a red, yellow and blue one. The red one rolled forth, gargling from within the recesses of his throat.
"You're missing your friends again?"
Gargle.
"You need help finding them?"
Gargle gargle.
"You last saw them wandering around the clearing?"
The flan nodded its stem-topped head. It looked like an oversized boiling tomato. Mog considered the request deeply, tapping his head with his rod steadily and making circles in the air.
"Fine, kupo! But I want treasure in return."
The flan all gargled their acceptance, urging him to hurry in his search.
"Oh, and watch my sphere, kupo!"
They dutifully rolled into formation around it, waving multi-colored liquid appendages around the precious metal object and whatever it held inside. Satisfied, Mog flew off, humming a jubilant moogle tune from his home dimension.
"There are lots of different creatures here, kupo…"
Mog thought out loud.
"I wonder how many? Maybe some have treasure!"
Mog giggled to himself, kupo'ing through the air. And then, he spotted a little flan matching the description he needed. It was green like most of the waterscape, so it was lucky that Mog had found him so easily. Maybe Mog was just born a natural flan-hunter. It would be another skill to add to his list of amazing things about himself.
"Hey you! Your friends are looking for you, kupo!"
The flan gave him a questioning gargle.
"Yes, they are! Now go over to that big tree right there, they're at the trunk, kupo!"
It obeyed, rolling away. Green slime trails were left in its wake wherever it crossed, bubbling gently. Mog wondered if it was a sort of poison, but understandably was not about to find out. It was actually the remains of the miniflan's breakfast.
Continuing on, Mog circled around some more trees and vines, passing some intimidating triffids and barbed specters. Their long tails weaved around ominously, the trademark of their appearance and deadly punch. Mog was glad he was a time lord- he didn't want to mess with them.
Reaching a small clearing, he floated over to the giant Enlil sitting peacefully on the forest ravine below. Its form of communication was rumbling grunts and roars, so it was hard to tell if it was sleeping or not.
"Excuse me, giant Enlil, kupo!"
The vine-covered beast shook the surrounding waterscape as it stood and grunted its hello.
"It's nice to see you, too! Have you seen some miniflan around here? I'm looking for them, kupo."
Grunt.
Mog was nearly blown away by the force of the wind that came out of Enlil's giant tubes.
"Ah, so they may be further down, kupo?"
Grunt grunt.
"That's great! Thank you, kupo!"
Gruuuunt.
Enlil did not want to let Mog go yet.
"Oh, Serah and Noel are at Serendipity right now. I'll tell them to come visit when I get back to them, kupo!"
Grunt.
Really, Mog was going deaf.
"Serendipity is a- hmm… Look, they'll explain it when they get here, kupo! Bye!"
Enlil settled back down with a shattering boom. True to his word, Mog found two more miniflan at the end of the path. These were pink and white. He instructed them like the green one and made his way back to the main forest path. Gulping, Mog spotted the giant flan in the main clearing. His throat was rather dry.
"Royal Ripeness, kupo…"
The Royal Ripeness was the king of the oversized tomatoes, and it was not a creature to be taken lightly. One mighty swing of its arm could knock even Mog out, and that was saying something! Mog steeled himself, flying over like the brave moogle he was.
"Royal Ripeness, kupo?"
The monster did not even bother looking at Mog. It just swayed rhythmically, reminding Mog of the chocobo-lady fortune teller.
"Have you seen miniflan around here, kupo?"
One slimy tendril raised itself and pointed the direction for Mog. Apparently the flan was too tired to deal with anything at the moment. Mog hurriedly scampered off, not wanting to spend any more time there than he had to.
When Mog had located the last two miniflan, he guided them back to the miniflan meeting spot where his prized treasure sphere would be waiting. Except that it wasn't there. Neither were the miniflan. Mog quickly grew desperate, considering the possibility that the miniflan and sphere had simply gone off to play cards.
"Where have they gone? They tricked me and stole my treasure, kupo!"
Mog darted around the canopy, vainly searching for any hint of the little traitor tomatoes that took his sphere. Had they not been a multi-colored mass, Mog probably would not have seen them rolling it away towards the gate he had appeared from.
With a huff he blasted off towards them, yelling a shrill kupo battlecry. Then his voice grew sore, so he stopped.
The miniflan turned in unison, their expressionless tomato faces betraying nothing. Mog swooped down, diving right into the treasure sphere and tumbling with it.
"This is mine, kupoo-!"
And he disappeared through the portal. The miniflan looked at each other.
Gargle.
[We were just trying to place it by the portal for him…]
Mog was exhausted. He had been chasing this rotten treasure sphere across the Crux for a while now. Probably a whole ten minutes. He did not enjoy entering all these various time periods only to lose his sphere and have to perform favors to get it returned. It made Mog feel slightly inferior, and this was unacceptable. Mog was not an inferior creature in any way, even if he was the weakest.
"Maybe this is my punishment for being greedy, kupo…"
Mog mused to himself.
Unknowingly, he entered one more portal…
The Plains of Eternity, as they were called, were a small section of Pulse's Archylte Steppe inhabited by some Pulsian nomads and numerous deadly monsters. The villagers had probably bestowed the name in light of their eternal boredom. Really, how could anyone stand simply hunting every day? There were so many fun things to do, like getting a tan! Then again, the villagers were rather tan, so maybe they weren't completely missing out.
Mog was known to the villagers as the companion of Serah and Noel, the hero hunters from a location unknown. Together they had slain the various ailing beasts of the plains that threw off the equilibrium of man and monster, and occasionally weather.
So when Mog returned to them once more, they were overjoyed.
"Look, it's him!"
"Serah and Noel must be nearby!"
"Do you think he'll perform magic?"
"Touch his nose, quick!"
The villagers crowded around him, the children pushing to get a better look and squeeze of his nose.
"Has anyone seen my treasure sphere, kupo?"
Tipur, the leader of the nomads, stepped forward holding the floating device. Mog cheered with delight, finally in safe possession of the thing.
"Oh, while I'm here, can I ride your chocobos, kupo?"
"Certainly, you know you're always welcome around here!"
And that was how Mog ended up fulfilling his temporary dream of being a chocobo rider. He imagined Serah and Noel proudly watching him, like at the races. They traversed together across the plains, braving various large jumps and some hungry silver lobos. At one point, Mog was thrown off by the frightened chocobo and had to float back onto it to return to the settlement.
All in all, it was a fun experience. When Mog returned, Chocolina approached him.
"So hun, you've been pretty busy traveling through the Crux today! You should earn some frequent traveler miles."
Mog hung his head. "I've been chasing that treasure sphere all day, kupo."
She laughed giddily, flapping her arm feather. "Oh, I know how that feels! Why don't you buy something to make yourself feel better after all that hard work?"
Regrettably, Mog had no gil. "I'm sorry, I don't have any gil, kupo!"
Now Chocolina was sad too. "What's a girl got to do to get some customers?"
"Come on, let's go back to Serendipity, kupo! Serah and Noel are probably waiting."
She brightened rather quickly. "Oh, your friends! They're probably loaded! Let's go go go."
Together, Mog traveled back to Serendipity with Chocolina. The villagers were sad to see him go, of course, but Mog had a feeling he'd be back. Serah hadn't completely explored the plains or caught a blue chocobo, after all, so she was still itching for those achievements.
Safely back in the right dimension with his treasure sphere, Mog was overjoyed to see the bright neon of attractive buildings and stalls. And when he laid eyes on Serah and Noel, waiting impatiently by the roulette wheel, Mog was near tearing.
"Kupoooo!"
Mog flew straight over to the duo, sphere sitting idly by the portal, forgotten. Sometimes, being with the people you loved was the real treasure.