Author's note: Alright peeps! I'm actually writing something. I know I know, a shocker for sure, but I've been feeling the itch to write, and my brain's being uncooperative when it comes to writing shiz of my own. Stupid Eric not introducing me to his friends. I gave him life, I should at least get a story out of it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the reboot of my favorite fic, Canas's Journey.
"Who said we were paying these people!?" a rather scrawny brown haired man shouted, standing from his chair, causing the looming armored man standing across from him to cower slightly. "Dammit Hector! If I knew I'd have to pay all these morons, I'd have saved more. I was hoping we'd not have to take this group back to Ostia before disbanding." He green cloaked man sighed and covered his face with his ink stained hands and sitting back down. "How much money is left?"
"Matthew!" the armored man shouted, causing a small cloaked man to appear, seemingly out of nowhere. Hector jumped a bit at his servant's sudden appearance. "I told you to at least say something before doing that."
"I'm sorry master, it merely slipped my mind," the small thief responded, smiling wryly. He bowed slightly, removing the hood from his head revealing his hair, colored a dirty blonde. "What is it that you have summoned me for?" This man may have sounded like he didn't know, but those in the cabin knew all too well that this man somehow witnessed all the goings on within their little army.
"Do you know how much money we have left at out disposal?" a redhead spoke, standing off to the side, hoping to just get this over with. Eliwood was far too kind, and way too forgiving. Mark simply sighed as he waited for a response. The number spoken by Hector's servant did not please the green cloaked man.
"Dammit. Looks like we're taking a few of them back to Ostia. Pick out the people you can stand for another month or so, and we'll pay the rest from what we've got. Anyone who thinks they didn't get a fair cut will be told to report to Ostia in a few months," the brown haired one sat farther back in his chair, sighing heavily. A green haired woman wrapped her arms around him from behind, poking her head over the back of the chair next to his.
"Come now Mark, at least we're finally back. Its been a long time since we've gotten to just relax," she spoke, calming the tactician. He sighed in relief. She was right, it had been a long long time since they'd worried about anything this trivial. "So everyone, who're we paying first."
"MAGIC MAN! COME NOW! JUST BECAUSE THE JOURNEY IS OVER DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET OUT OF TRAINING!" a man shouted from down the hall.
"Bartre!" everyone replied at once, laughing slightly.
"MAGIC MAN!" was all Canas needed to hear. He quickly grabbed his books and walked out of his room, quickly making his way down the hall and turned the corner… Only to run squarely into the man he was trying to avoid.
"Hello magic man. Ready for our morning jog?" Bartre asked, helping the purple haired man up. Canas immediately began picking up his books, neatly stashing them away beneath his cloak. "Still carrying books huh? You'll turn to mush again if you do nothing but read. Come now! Off to train." The large man picked the magic user up and started carrying him off to the deck of the ship. Canas was starting to grow annoyed of this man, yet he was still too nice to vocalize his frustrations.
"You know, its rather hard to train myself when you're doing all the work Bartre," Canas said, growing irritated of being jostled around on this man's shoulder. Bartre uttered a short sentence of understanding and set the man down. "Great. Now what will you have us do today?"
"Hrmm…" Bartre's face contorted into a most uncomfortable position, his thinking face. "I know!" The man pulled out a mighty battle ax, easily a third of Canas's weight. "Lift this." Canas looked at the man, completely flabbergasted. There was no way he would be able to lift that thing for long. "Carry it until we dock." Canas wore a defeated expression as Bartre strapped the thing to the back of this user of the elder arts.
"Uncle Canas! Where are you?" a familiar, and much more welcome, voice cried out. A green haired little girl emerged from beneath the deck, smiling widely as she laid eyes on Canas. She ran up to him, tackling him in a hug, something Canas could normally handle, but now he had a sixty pound ax on his back. And so Canas fell to the deck with a mighty thud. "No vanishing from your room. Who are you, Matthew?"
"Point taken." Canas laughed as he slowly got up. He couldn't really whine about Bartre's training. At the beginning of this journey, there was no way Canas could stand under this amount of weight, let alone stand back up. "So what is it that you want of me Nino?" She simply held up a book. "Ah, so you want another I take it?" He pulled a book out from under his cloak, brushing the newest addition to his collection, one he dare not tell the others of. He brought out a dull brown tome. "Here you go." Nino smiled brightly as she immediately found a nice sunny place to sit. Canas turned his head for a moment, and once he looked back, Jaffar was once more at his niece's side. She began reading aloud to him, as best she could. He occasionally spoke just enough to help her along.
"Alright magic man! Twenty laps! Come on now," Bartre bellowed once more, reminding Canas even more of his current predicament. Fortunately, Matthew appeared after a few laps, calling Bartre to Hector's quarters. Thank the lord! As soon as the man was out of sight, Canas dropped his load and sat down next to it.
"That man will be the death of me…" Canas said quietly, breathing heavily. A silver haired man, accompanied by a beautiful blonde woman walked along the deck, out for some sun. The ship was a truly stifling place, and people had to do what they could to avoid claustrophobia. "Good day Lord Pent. I trust you and Lady Louise are doing well?" He got up, using the ax stuck in the deck to help himself to his feet.
"Why yes, we are doing quite well, it is a wonderful day after all," the purple cloaked man replied, looking down to the ax sticking up next to his friend. "I see Bartre is still on that training kick.." Canas nodded sullenly, but wished to change the subject. Pent pulled out a familiar book, and Canas knew what was coming.
"How often do I have to tell you that is a gift? I do not require it back." Canas shook his head and held up his hand to stop the Mage General. Laughing slightly, Pent placed the book once more in a pocket, instead pulling out a small pouch that jingled with gold. "And I do not require payment for it. Why are you so dead set on paying me back?" Pent forced the bag into the shaman's hand.
"If you won't take it as payment, then consider it a gift." Pent smiled as Canas sighed heavily. "It is best to just keep it, my husband tends to get stubborn about such things," Louise said, smiling warmly. A small chortle escaped Canas's throat as he placed the bag in his robe.
"Fine. I see I am not going to escape without it. I accept your 'gift' Lord." They shared a small laugh before one of the pirates called out they were approaching port.
"Alright! Everyone back to your cabins!" Fargus shouted out. "Anything you leave behind will find its way into a shop owner's hands long before it finds its way back to you." And so everyone made their way quickly to their rooms to gather their things as pirates scrambled to prepare the ship.
Canas had been called to Hector's room for his pay, and had left just as quickly as he'd entered, managing to avoid Bartre the entire time he found his way onto the dock. The port city was a bustling place, full of various merchants, pilgrims, and dock workers. That is, it was a bustling city except wherever Fargus's ship happened to dock. As he made his way into town, stretching his legs, most people gave him a wide berth. He had come off of Fargus's ship after all, there was no telling how dangerous he was. While they were right to fear his power, the wouldn't be anywhere near as leery if they knew him as a person. Sighing slightly, Canas made his way to the local tavern, wanting to rest for a bit.
The door swung open before him as he walked into the smoky room. Canas found a nice seat in the corner, rather comfy by bar standards, and it was out of the way, he wouldn't bother anyone. He reached into his cloak, pulling out a book he had been waiting to read for quite a long time. Sadly, his reading session was cut short when a rather shady fellow made his way over to the table.
"There are plenty of other tables open good sir. But, should you want this one, I will gladly move," Canas said, placing his book once more into its spot. He rose, and the man moved quickly in front of him. Canas felt a sharp point at his stomach.
"Your gold or your life scholar," was all that escaped the man's mouth, and it was all the man really need say. His intent was quite clear, and Canas's options were few. He reached out with his spirit, feeling the dark power coursing through him. He held onto this power, instead of unleashing it, hoping to spare this man's life.
"So, one would rather take my hard earned gold than earn it himself? You should reconsider this path you've taken, I can almost guarantee that it will not end well." Canas felt the sharp pressure on his stomach increase.
"I don't need any lectures. This is your last chance, gimme your gold, or I spill your blood and take it, it's up to you." Canas moved slowly, so as to not startle the man. He brushed past on of his books, allowing him to channel the powerful spirits within him. They began to spill from his being, falling to the ground and quickly snaking up the man's leg. He screamed out as the dark energies wrapped themselves around him, digging into the poor man's very soul.
The darkness split strait through the man, emerging on the other side. The man's scream suddenly stopped as he slumped to the ground in a heap, his eyes pinpoints, his face contorted into a scream that would never end. "May you rest in peace, I wish you happiness in the beyond…" Canas moved quickly to leave the tavern. Despite the lives he had taken on his journey, he still felt uneasy sending one to the great beyond. He prayed silently for the man's soul as he made his way out of town. Last thing he needed was to be pursued by the men of the marquis ruling the area.
Once more he pulled out his new book, feeling the quiet power resting within the ancient tome. As he turned the pages so aged, they were far beyond yellow, he felt the spirits within the books were different from the ones he normally dealt with in his elder magics. But he ignored it, as the information within this book was too great to pass up. The book he'd taken from Nergal, the book known as Ereshkigal.
Author's note: Well there you have it. The old version of this fic will be removed and saved as reference, so I urge you not to read it. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
