Ahoy there :D This is my second fanfiction I have published on this site. My first was Lost and Almost Forgotten, which I recommend to any and all FFXI fans with a bit of knowledge about Windurst. And, to all folks on the server Remora, I now have a character on your server named (as surprising as it may seem) Chykisasa :) I am a Tarutaru white mage from Windurst, level 11 at the moment.
This one, however, is very different from my first. It is based on a story I've been making up about my character on the Fairy server, Lilani. It will follow the Windurst storyline closely, and conclude when (or sometime around) my character reaches rank 10, so this is a SPOILER WARNING to all Windurstians or those who might want to experience the story for themselves in the future. However, there will be plenty of stories following it to prevent it from being just a tossed-salad version of FFXI. Believe me, there will be much more to this story than just completing the game storyline.
And, as an added bonus, I am working in my friends from in game and otherwise into it. Each chapter, here at the top, I will put a key to reveal the real identities of those who I have adapted into the story. And, there will be certain things that happen that are...inside jokes in my linkshell. I'll try not to make them too exclusive, however, so that you can enjoy them too.
So, enough chitter-chatter, here it is, the first chapter of The Lilani Chronicles--A Windurstian Tale.
Chapter One: Settling In
There was a Hume in Lower Jeuno. He was standing with one foot perched on the edge of an ornate fountain, with a hand above his eyes to block out the sun. He was scanning the area for anyone seeking his services—and knew he had to be the first to offer them.
After about twenty minutes with no luck, his eyes began to wander; predominantly towards the posterior of a Mithra standing at the auction house. She had bright red hair draped over random points on her head that could be seen for many lengths on end, and she seemed to be wearing low level mage robes. She also had a sword hanging on the left side of her belt, signaling that perhaps she was a red mage. She had been standing there for quite a while, and the Hume didn't mind this at all.
She turned around and headed towards the fountain. It took the Hume a moment to figure out where she was headed, but when he did, he turned his head and hoped she wouldn't notice. However she was still headed for him, and he readied himself for a swift slap, as he had received numerous times before.
But when she was still quite a few feet away from him she stopped, still staring into his averted gaze, and apparently wanting his attention. He did a double take to add onto his act, and greeted her with a confused look.
"Ah? Oh hello Miss, is there something I can help you with?"
It was then that he noticed she was very shy. Her eyes were now squarely focused on the tips of his boots. She had her hands clasped together in front of her, the toes of her own sandals were nearly on top of each other, and her tail was delicately poised between her legs. Even her ears were tucked firmly against her head and were nearly hidden by her bright bush of hair. If it hadn't have been for her tail, she could have been easily mistaken for a bashful Hume.
She mumbled something to his boots, but it wasn't audible enough for him to catch it. "Excuse me?" he asked, now becoming a bit confused.
Rather than stepping closer into his hearing range, she stayed where she was, raised her eyes slightly, and said her words a bit louder. "Are you a teleporterrr?"
"Why, yes I am. Are you looking to go somewhere, Miss?"
"Yes. Tahrongi Canyon, please," she shortly answered.
"Alright, that'll be two thousand," the Hume replied, gratefully holding out his hand. The Mithra reached into her pocket and began to count out her gil. She seemed to be as eager to get her eyes off of him as eagerly as he'd held out his hand.
"And off we go! Thank you for choosing Dom's Teleporting Service!"
In a swirl of light and bubble beams, the two were off to the sunny but desolate canyon. In a few short seconds, they had arrived at the enormous crag that stood out from the scenery like an ant in a bowl of rice. They were on opposite ends of the crystal, so the Hume leaned around it to say his farewell, and get one more look at her.
"Again, thank you, and have a—"
He stopped short; the Mithra wasn't there. His eyes narrowed and he squinted in the sun to see where she could have gone. Just has he began thinking she'd been left behind, he saw her thirty feet away mounting a chocobo. She had jumped off the edge of the platform as soon as she had materialized, and apparently had no intention of being anywhere near him.
"And have a nice day," he grumbled as he chanted the spell Warp.
The Mithra put the chocobo into a full run, hoping the thrill and panic of going so fast up and down so many hills would prevent her from recalling her last memories of the place around her. However she soon got into the chocobo's rhythm, and her mind couldn't help itself. She recalled that sunny morning not long ago, her companion…his traitorous friend…
And then that evening. Her stomach lurched and her ears went on full alert—oh, how she had feared recalling that memory! She clenched her fists and shook her head violently to try and get the images out of it. Her chocobo reacted to these erratic movements with a high pitched "Kweh!" and a slight skip in his step. She gladly took to the distraction and calmed him down. For the rest of the ride, she focused on thinking of the habits of this chocobo, and all chocobos in general. She would think about anything to avoid any more recollections.
When she finally arrived at the gate to Windurst Woods, she slowed the chocobo down to a walk to dismount. The Mithran guard at the gate offered to take the chocobo for her. She mumbled something that sounded like a thanks to the Mithra and made her way into Windurst.
When she made it in she stopped for a moment, distracting herself with the beautiful sights of the greenery and the alluring aromas that filled the air. She began to think that getting over it would be easier than she had thought. She confidently wheeled around to the right and walked straight up to Rakoh Buuma, a Mithra who worked for the Federation by giving missions out to able-bodied adventurers.
Rakoh had been gossiping with the two Mithra at her sides, and barely noticed the Mithra approaching. "Hm? And who might you be?" she asked rather impatiently.
"I am an adventurer, ma'am, Lilani," Lilani said, consciously hoping she sounded both polite and assertive. The better impression one made on the gate guards, the tougher missions one might receive.
Rakoh straightened out and stood in an authoritative manner, "And have you completed any missions for Windurst beforrre, Miss Lilani?"
"Eh, no ma'am," she responded, obviously ashamed by it.
"I see," Rakoh critically responded as she reached down for a clipboard on the ground. She picked it up and lazily scanned the list. "We've got one here you can accept, it's for the Minister of the Orastery Ajido-Marujido. It's been out for a while now so I can't guarrrantee he still needs the help, but if you're willing to give it a shot head on down to the Orastery to see what he's up to this time."
Lilani bowed to Rakoh politely and gave her thanks. Just as she started walking off, Rakoh called out to her. "Hey, get back herrre a minute!" Lilani did as instructed. "I've got to see some confirmation that you're a representative of Windurst, and not some rrruffian come to crash some missions for kicks."
"Ah, of course," Lilani said, mostly to herself. She then took off a ring which had been on her right ring finger and gave it to Rakoh to examine.
Rakoh held it up to the sunlight a moment looking at it with both eyes, and then closing one for a more focused look, When she was done she it back out for Lilani. "Yup, that's a genuine Windurstian ring—and don't forget to get your signet as well, missie!"
"Aye, ma'am, thank you," Lilani responded, inadvertently displaying her odd accent. Rakoh picked up on it, but said nothing.
Lilani briskly made her way to the Orastery for further information on the mission. It was quite a walk to the Orastery, but she preoccupied herself once again with the scenery, but also with the words "up to this time" Rakoh had used in describing the mission. "Just how notorious could one politician be?" she wondered.
When she arrived at the Orastery, Lilani was confused as to whom she was expected to talk to. Everyone in the room seemed busy, either casting spells or giving directions, and there were no Minister-looking Tarutaru nearby. She walked to the front of the room, staring in wonder at the Tarutaru lined up in the center casting beautiful high-leveled spells and enchantments.
"Hey! Watch it, lady!"
Lilani's ears found the person yelling at her before her eyes could. She turned her head to see who it was, but her neck cramped and she leaned over to her left in pain. Just as she moved, a purple fireball exploded to her right, narrowly missing her tail.
Lilani remained hunched over for a moment, wondering if it was over yet. Suddenly, she became aware of that same shrill voice as before yelling at her again. "Are you all rightaru? Whataru do you think you're doing?!"
She looked up and noticed it was not one, but two Tarutaru scolding her. One was concerned, and the other more angry than anything else.
"I take it one of you knows who I'm supposed to be talkin' to?" Lilani asked, pulling her tail around front to check for damage. The adrenaline rush managed to put her back into her familiar mood of casualness and sarcasm. It was a nice change from all the formality she laid on thickly for the guards and teleporter.
The angry Tarutaru was the first to react. "You're lucky-wucky to be talking at all, missie! Do you have any idea where you are?"
Lilani, still examining her own body for scars, replied, "Yes, this is the Orastery and I was sent tah help Minister Ajido-Marujido with…" her voice faded for a moment as she picked off a bit of ash from her robe, "…something or otherrr." She then took the time to look the Tarutaru in the eye. "That's really what I'm herrre for now—I wasn't told what exactly he needs help with."
The concerned Tarutaru took over, "Ah, so you're the one who finally took thataru mission! We thought nobody-wuddy would ever take it in time. Introductions first, though, I am Hakkuru-Rinkuru and this is my companion Kuroido-Moido."
"Nice tah meet the two a' you," Lilani replied, tipping an invisible hat in greeting. "And I am Lilani."
"Well, Lilani, be more careful when stumbling-wumbling around the Orastery. There are always mages casting and always someone slipping-wipping up! And, believe you me; you never wantaru to be on the business end of those mistakes!"
"Gotcha," said Lilani. "Now, just what help did yer Minister need, anyways?"
"Oh, rightaru, him," Hakkuru-Rinkuru replied, rolling his eyes. "Minister Ajido-Marujido leftaru for the easternmost Horutoto Ruins tower in East Sarutabaruta a long timey-wime ago. Of course he had to send for help and then just up and leave anyway, so no matter who would end up accepting the mission he could still call them late…"
Kuroido-Moido snorted, "That's for sure—he's so self centered in the first place it doesn'taru really matter what he thinks of you. Anyway, you'd bettaru head out there and see what needs to be done. Remember, the easternmost tower!"
"Rrright," Lilani replied, raising a finger in the air as if she'd made some unknown discovery.
Lilani chose to rent a chocobo to make extra good time to the tower. She knew she had treated the two at the Orastery rather rudely, and regretted it some. However, she still decided to show her best to hopefully earn a good record the other mission-givers of Windurst.
When she arrived at the tower, she dismounted her chocobo and gave it a slap in front of the tail-feathers to send it back to Windurst. It took off running, and Lilani entered the ruins.
The main hall of the tower was an enormous square with rooms sprouting off each of the corners, and magical gizmos dotted on certain points of the hallway as well as inside these rooms. There were a few goblins and bats wandering around the corridors, however there was a look in Lilani's eyes that warned them to stay back if they enjoyed breathing.
Lilani made her way to the back wall of the square corridor and still couldn't find the Minister everywhere. She even made another circle, checking every one of the rooms, however still no luck. She leaned against the back wall in thought, but just as she did, the wall opened and she fell back into the secret hallway.
As she lay on her back, Lilani tilted her head further up and looked at the upside-down corridor before her. "Aha!" she told herself as she hopped back up and went down the hall. There was one goblin standing outside a glowing door at the end of the hallway. He seemed to be trying to listen to something on the other side. He saw Lilani come up, and she shooed the thing away with her hand. The goblin put up no fight and ran towards the exit of the hallway.
Lilani grinned with satisfaction, and ever so carefully pulled at the crack in the door. She knew there was obviously something interesting the goblin had been listening to, and she did not want to disturb whatever it was.
When she opened the door just wide enough for her to sneak through, Lilani tiptoed through and pinned herself into a shadow in the corner. She didn't close the door for fear that the sound would disturb the interesting conversation two Tarutaru were having on down the corridor. Lilani knew she was eavesdropping, but knew she could use her mission as an excuse for being there.
"Apururu, if you haven'taru come to help me, than just what have you come all the way down here for?" asked a male Tarutaru, from somewhere behind a large glowing gizmo farther into the chamber.
The other Tarutaru was standing just up the hall from Lilani, right in her view. "I've come keep you from doing something stupid, Ajido-Marujido! You know as well as I that this place is forbidden, as well as your pointless experimentarus!"
The other Tarutaru was standing just up the hall from Lilani, right in her view. "I've come keep you from doing something stupid, Brother! You know as well as I that this place is forbidden, as well as your pointless experimentarus!"
"Pointless? You call seeking to reverse Windurst's disintegration-wation pointless? Honestly, Sistaru, I thought I knew you better!" Ajido-Marujido nearly shouted. Lilani could sense a spike in the magical energy in the room as the argument heated. "Everything in and around Windurst is dying, Apururu, can'taru you feel it? Sarutabaruta is becoming a wasteland. These towers here lose more energy every day. Even our night skies seem to have fewer stars in them with each passing-wassing sunset!
Everyone in Windurstaru can sense what's going on, yet nobody will do anything about it! The Star Sibyl herself turns her back on the problem-woblem. I for one will not stand back and let our country fade into the abyss—I mustaru know what is going on here!"
These words changed Lilani's mood, and resonated in her mind for a long while. "Fade into the…abyss? Is it rrreally that bad?" she asked herself.
Apururu spoke again, "Ajido-Marujido, you do notaru trust the Star Sibyl?" Tears began to form in her eyes. "If it is all really-weally as dire as you say, I'm sure she would have said something by now…"
"The Star Sibyl fears another war, justaru as the rest of Windurst. That's all you people are really hung up on—fear! I, for one, notaru let it hold me back!"
This stung Apururu deep in her heart. Each race had its one great flaw in character, and for the Tarutaru it was fear. It was always an unspoken rule to never hold it against them, or any other race. It was the one thing they could never control or do anything about, and it hurt each race so to think of it. To directly insult one with their greatest flaw was the worst of all verbal curses.
"F-f-fine then! If you want to turn your backy-wack on your country and family, don'taru let me stand in your way!"
Apururu dashed towards the door with the tears still welled in her eyes. She was so distracted by her own emotions that she never noticed Lilani pinned in the corner. Lilani used the sound of the door opening and closing to her advantage, and slunk back to the middle of the hallway.
She was still staring at the door in wonder of what had just happened. She was also concerned for Apururu, but before she could gather her thoughts, Ajido-Marujido called out. "And just who mightaru you be, Eavesdropper?"
"I was sent out 'errre to help you with yer mission, sir," Lilani replied, wincing at how monotone the formality was making her sound.
Ajido-Marujido paused for a moment, "Oh yeah, I forgot I even put that mission outaru…but either way it's too late." He turned around to face the ancient gizmo. "The gizmo you were supposed to help me restartaru has just broken down—again!"
He stopped, distracted by his own musings. Lilani grew impatient. "So…what now?"
Ajido sighed, "Now I'll be going home, but I've got one lastaru thing for you to do." He turned toward Lilani. "On your way in, did you see some smaller glowing-wowing gizmos in the corners of the corridors?" Lilani nodded. "Well, in each of those I placed a mana orb—a magical ball which grants magical energy to whatever it comes into contact with. I have a hunch one of those is broken, and that's whataru caused my experiment to fail. Find the broken orb and bring it back to the Orastery."
Ajido-Marujido wasted no time in walking passed Lilani and heading towards the door. Lilani began following him out, but just before he got to the door he turned around. "Oh, and once you're doing playing delivery-girl don't spouting off about the argument you heard here, alrightaru?"
"I had no intention, sirrr."
Ajido gave her an inquisitive look, "Strange accent you have there, who did you say you were?"
"Lilani," she said, growing a bit uneasy.
"Humph, strange alias too."
Just before Lilani could reply, Ajido cast warp, leaving behind only a fading cloud of sparkles.
Lilani threw up her head and sighed. Her very first mission, which had sounded of great importance in the beginning, had been reduced to a mere task of seek-and-return.
The gizmo containing the cracked mana orb was the second to last one Lilani checked. She sighed for the sake of her own luck, and began the long trek home.
Though all the events that had occurred that morning seemed to take so long, it was only noontime when Lilani arrived back in Windurst. Her stomach was growling and she knew she had some food stuffed away somewhere in her mog safe.
Lilani walked to the residential area of Windurst Woods, talked to the Tarutaru there to get her things teleported back to her Windurst apartment, and approached her front door. Normally there would be a moogle at the door waiting to let you in, however Lilani had requested that her moogle remain on vacation for a bit longer so she could have some time to herself.
For a moment, Lilani simply stood there. Her eyes moved from the doorknob, to the darkened windows of the house, and then back to the door again. Her mind began swirling with the dreads and fears and memories of the last time she had been in that room. She even began to wonder if it would happen again if she entered…
"No," she whispered to herself, "He's dead now, it's all over…"
Surely enough, Lilani managed to safely enter her mog house and get the food out of her mog safe without incident. She contently munched on her food as she reflected on the events of her day so far.
"Hm…that teleporter was pretty nice...but a bit of a lecher…I wonder what Rakoh Buuma was talking about before…And that Ajido-Marujido…how did he know about my alias…?"
The thought of him knowing was more than she wanted to cope with for the moment, so she reached into her pocket to grab her linkpearl. It was a normal thing among adventurers to have linkpearls at the dinner table; especially if they had a few stories to share, and Lilani had a lot of explaining to do…
"Ahoy, Vana'diel Brotherhood," she boldly greeted.
Nothing. No response.
It had been so long since she had spoken to her linkshell, and so much had occurred since she had last spoken, that Lilani had expected an instantaneous reaction. However, there was nothing. The pearl didn't even glow, signaling that it was functioning.
"Ahoy? Ahoy? Anyone there? A—"
The linkpearl shattered. Just like that, the tiny marble caved in upon itself, fell between Lilani's fingers, and pinged upon the wooden floor as just a few sky-colored shards. Lilani gasped and quickly pulled out her pearlsack to see if it was true.
It was just as she had feared. Every single one of the linkpearls inside her sack had shattered to only dust. Absolutely none had been left in working order.
"They…disbanded? Without even a message…?"
Lilani sighed and flung herself onto her bed. Staring up at the ceiling, she mumbled her options to herself, "I don't want to start my own…but there are some people advertising for their own linkshells 'round 'errre…no, I've had enough of strangers…but what'll I do for the rrrest of the day…?"
As she lied on her back, Lilani became drowsy and her mind wandered. Her consciousness drifted back into the last memories she had made in that room. As the memories came back, her stomach knotted and her body began to quake in horror. She forced herself out of the dream and blurted out the first idea that came to her mind.
"I'll…I'll go do another mission!"
Without even taking the time to brush the morning's tangles out of her hair, Lilani leapt off her bed and set out to find Rakoh Buuma again. This time she was leaning back on the door behind her, keeping in the shade as much as possible.
"You again? One mission not enough forrr you?"
Lilani laughed, "No, ma'am, are there any other rrrank one missions available?"
Rakoh sighed and checked her roster once more. "Yes, there's one here that was just submitted by Minister Apururu." Lilani's throat tightened a bit as she heard the name. "Says she needs someone able and willing to rrrecharge some mana orbs for her. Figurrres, those things go out faster than a rarab in a wolf's den…
"Well, whaddya say, Adventurer?"
"I'll take it!"
"Alrrright then, get yourself on down to the Manustery. Apururu will explain how you go about rrrecharging them."
"Thank ya."
As Lilani made the rather short walk to the Manustery from the gatehouse, she wondered if Apururu would recognize her—given that she'd seen her at all. She shrugged it off as she opened the Manustery door and entered.
Apururu was sitting on a stool behind a desk, enveloped in two large stacks of papers on either side of her. If Lilani hadn't have had the advantage of height, she would have never seen the Minister hiding behind the towers of papyrus and manuscript.
Lilani walked right in front of the Minister and stood a moment. When she realized Apururu wasn't going to look up, she cleared her throat, "Eh, Minister Apururu?"
Apururu jumped, "Oh! I'm sorry, dearie, I didn'taru see you there! Is there something I can help you with?"
Lilani smiled, mostly in relief that Apururu didn't recognize her, "Yes, I've come to help rrrecharge some mana orbs for a mission."
"Ah yes, of course! I almostaru forgot about that, hehe!"
Apururu hopped off of her stool and walked around her desk to stand in front of Lilani. She emerged holding a small sack that seemed to have several round objects in it.
"In this sack I have here are six mana orbs. As you might already-weady know, the Manustery is responsible for creating and maintaining the Cardians, which serve several purposes around Windurst. Mana orbs are what keep the Cardians moving-woving.
When these orbs run outaru of magic, the Cardian stops functioning, and needs a fresh mana orb to go on with its duties. Adventurer…oh, I never-wever like addressing you adventurers as 'Adventurer.' Whataru is your name, young lady?"
"Lilani, ma'am," Lilani said. She hadn't introduced herself this many times in a single day since she'd first joined a linkshell.
"Well, Lilani, I hereby charge you with the task of recharging these six mana orbs. Go to the southeastern-most tower in East Sarutabaruta—that tower's the only one with enough juicy-wuce left to charge mana orbs. A guard named Pore-Ohre will be there to explain exactly-wactly how you should go about charge the orbs. Good luck"
Lilani decided to save herself the gil by going out Leviathan's gate into East Sarutabaruta and walking to the tower, rather than riding a chocobo all the way across West Sarutabaruta. It was a more difficult hike than she had expected, and she took a small rest outside the tower wall before entering.
Just as Lilani had been told, a Tarutaru was standing at the entrance to the tower she had been instructed to travel to. All she had to do was hold up the sack and Pore-Ohre explained to her how to charge the mana orbs.
"All you have to do is place each of those orbies in gizmos scattered in the ruins. When they're all in, flippy-wip a switch in the back and then it's done! Justaru go back around, take the orbs out, and back to the Manustery with you! Be sure to get every-wevery one—if you forget any, you'll have to come back before you can claim your reward!"
Lilani did just as the Tarutaru said. Placing the orbs was simple—almost mundane—however the task of flipping the switch got her heart pumping. A Bomb monster was in the room with the switch. Lilani could tell she wasn't strong enough to fight it, so she decided to deceive it. She propped open the stone door with her sword, and snuck over to the largest gizmo in the room while the Bomb was facing the other way (apparently beginning to doze). She felt around the odd structure a bit, but eventually struck the switch.
Magic lit up the entire room she was in, and triggered many sounds and movements from mechanisms deep in the ruins and down the corridors.
Of course, none of this got by the Bomb. It immediately turned around, gave Lilani an angered look, and roared as it began to charge.
Lilani turned to face the Bomb, slammed her right foot in the ground, and roared right back at it.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRRRRRRR!"
Her intense roar not only scared the wits out of the Bomb, but sent it into a frantic retreat. It fled to a corner in the room, whining like a defeated puppy.
Lilani dashed to the door, swiped up her sword, and took off down the corridor nearly tumbling over herself in mirth. She was sure to round a few corners before she stopped her own retreat, and had to sit down to laugh herself out.
"Ohoho…hee heh...ha ha ha!"
Finally after a few drinks from her water flask and deep breaths, Lilani was able to compose herself and go on. She recollected the mana orbs from their receptacles, strolling past the few goblins that were dotted about the corridors. Before she went up the staircase out of the ruins, she did a second count to be sure she had completed her task. Surely enough, six orbs emitting a fresh, serene glow were nestled in the sack. Lilani smiled and jogged up the stairs.
As Lilani approached the last five steps to the outside, something made her ears perk up, and she stopped. She closed her eyes and let her ears move themselves about and target the sound that interested her. She heard the whimper of a Tarutaru, and a rolling sound—sort of like what the wheels of a cart sound like on flat ground. She had no idea how the two could be connected, but she knew it wasn't good. Lilani tucked the sack of orbs in her belt behind her, laid her hand on the hilt of her sword and ran up the steps.
Lilani was abruptly startled by the scene she saw. When her eyes adjusted to the light coming from the entrance of the tunnel, she saw the silhouettes of four Cardians; though they were very different from the ones she had seen around Windurst. Their wheels and cloth were worn and faded, both from time and the elements. On top of their frayed looks, Lilani sensed much more power coming from these Cardians—power so heated and concentrated that it made her nose burn and her ears twitch.
"What's going on herrre?!" she demanded when she overcame her surprise.
"What indeed!" the Cardian in the front bellowed back, in a strange, cracked voice. It was sort of like what one hears from an old pull-string doll. "Who are you, Mithra, and what is your business with the hearts of our brothers!"
"Brotherrrs? Sorry to inform you, mate, but Cardians can't have brothers...or hearts for that matter."
"Fool! The magical orbs you carry are our hearts! It seems the Tarutaru was telling the truth after all—it was you who had the lost hearts we were searching for."
Lilani's left hand impulsively went to her side to cover the bag, while her right hand was still tightly gripped around her sword hilt. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about. These orbs weren't stolen, they were given to me by the Ministerrr of the Manustery and—"
"S-stop, stop!" Pore-Ohre sharply wimpered. "These Cardians you are rebuking are the Ace Cardians! They've got enough power-wower to kill us both in mere seconds!Justaru do what they want and live another day!"
"I am not about to concede to a few staff-spinning scarrrecrows!" Lilani snapped back. The thought of surrender always made her blood boil, and only made her more persistant not to give in.
The lead Cardian wheeled itself a bit closer to Lilani, with his "brothers" following his lead. "Impudent Mithra! I'll give you one chance—surrender those hearts or we'll not spare you or the Tarutaru!"
"And what do you want them forrr?"
"You are not in a position to be questioning! Either hand over the orbs or prepare to breath your last!"
Rather than pointing his staff at her, he turned it towards Pore-Ohre and let a spark zap the ground right in front of his feet. The poor boy jumped clear in the air, turned to the wall, tucked down with his head covered by his hands, shaking like a leaf.
Lilani rolled her eyes. "Ah, fine, if it means you'll leave us alone." She heaved a heavy sigh and held out the sack to the Cardian. The doll hastily swiped the bag from her and turned to his three companions. They opened the bag and looked inside, however one Cardian continued to point his staff to Lilani and Pore.
"All the orbs seem to be accounted for…our business is done here!"
The leader turned back to Lilani. "You've saved your life for now, Mithra, but you will someday regret crossing the Ace Cardians!"
The Cardians wasted no time in wheeling themselves out of the tower and over the farthest hilltop, far out of sight. Lilani finally relaxed and looked down at Pore-Ohre, who was still cowering in a fetal position.
"Hey, buddy, they're gone."
"H-hm?" Pore turned himself around and took a look for himself, as if he didn't believe Lilani's word. "Whewy-whew-ew! Thank the goddess!" he cried. "I thought for surey-wure we were going to be goners there!"
Lilani chuckled in amusement over his cowardice, "Yeah, we'rrre fine, and now I've got nothing to take to Minister Apururu…"
"Justaru tell her what happened here and everything will be fine. This isn'taru the first time those thuggies have made off with the Manustery's mana orbs. I'm sure she'll give you a little something-wumthing for your trouble."
"Ah, thanks…and don't get yourrrself hurt."
Lilani did as Pore-Ohre said and explained everything to Apururu. When she was done, Apururu sighed and walked around her desk just as she'd done before. Apparently, the desk simply made her feel trapped and unwelcoming.
"Well, Lilani, poor Pore-Ohre was rightaru—this certainly isn't the first time those Cardians have stolen charged mana orbs off of adventurers like yourself. You see, as I told you before, Cardians need a charged mana orb within them to function-wunction. We at the Manustery compare them to hearts because of this, and so the Ace Cardians took on the same idea.
Those particularu Cardians dissapeared to be just after the Great War ended. They somehow escaped and turned wild, and now thataru they have no master to take orders from, they follow their own guidance, as it were. Now they are devoted to seeking out and gathering mana orbs, somehow convinced that they will be able to revive other Cardians which were destroyed during the war…
But, thataru part of the story simply doesn't make sense," Apururu continued. "A trained mage of the Manustery is needed to revitalize a Cardian. I just don'taru know what they hope to accomplish from harvesting mana orbs and terrorizing travelers…"
Apururu paused for a moment to ponder on her own musings, but she finally returned her attention to Lilani. "Oh, sorry—none of thataru is really your problem. I thank you for your hard work, Lilani, you were very-wery brave in front of those Cardians! Even though you lost the orbs, I will reward you in full."
Apururu pulled a rather large sack of gil from her pocket and handed it to Lilani. "I can see a lot of potential within you, Lilani, I'm sure you will go far in this adventuring business. Take care, and ta-taru!"
"Thank you, ma'am, you take care too."
Lilani looked up at the sky to check the time. It was now the early evening, and she was glad she had managed to kill so much time. She decided to throw a self-celebration by going out to dinner at Windurst's local tavern.
When she entered the Timbre Timbers tavern, Lilani ordered her meal at the front and waited for it to be prepared. She looked around the restaurant for an empty table, however found none. When her food came, she decided to simply stand in the corner and eat.
Lilani was quite content to simply stand in the corner, eating as she spaced out staring at the other patrons of the restaurant. Just as she found the perfect way to comfortably lean into the corner, she noticed a Hume beconing her over to his table. He had long blonde hair, and so much reminded her of him that she couldn't help but blankly stare into his eyes…