Final Fantasy

I emerged from the Red Leg with a sense of relief. The small tavern was quiet and dark, and, while I preferred dark places, the place bore a horrid sense of foreboding. No one in there was kind. There were no friendly smiles to greet you; even the bartender had been a jerk. He'd flirted with me nonstop, turning what should have been a five-minute exchange into a thirty-minute struggle of a conversation. All I'd wanted to know was how to get to Asdex.

Now out in the sunlight, I glanced down at the piece of paper he'd given me. He'd written instructions on how to get to Asdex down, but his handwriting had been terrible and was mostly illegible. Fortunately, I more often than not had a very good memory, so I could take guesses at what the letters were in combination with the simplified verbal instructions he'd given. I assumed I'd be able to figure it out.

Using my hand as a visor to protect my eyes from the intense brightness of the desert sun, I peered out onto the road. The small, dusty town of Verris wasn't exactly bustling. I thanked the gods that we could finally leave this place. It seemed hotter here than it was out in the actual desert. I checked my canteen belted to my waist to make sure there was enough water in it for Hikari and Mene to drink. It was full, and I sighed in relief. There was no way I was going back into the Red Leg if I didn't have to.

I walked along the dusty little dirt road that made up the only street in Verris slowly, studying the instructions the bartender had given me. Discerning what the letters were was more difficult than I'd thought. By the time I'd gotten to the edge of the town, the only thing I'd managed to figure out was that we were to the north of Asdex. I looked up and saw Hikari and Mene sitting on the trail just outside of town. They both looked exhausted, and I felt a pang of guilt. I should've asked them to come with me. At least the Red Leg had been air conditioned.

I reached into my satchel and pulled out Hikari's extendible water trough. I set it down and poured half of the water from the canteen into it, and I gave the other half to Mene to drink out of. They both looked at me with gratitude and I felt another pang of guilt. It was so easy for mortals to become dehydrated. I didn't envy them.

I licked my lips. The desert goblin I'd fed off of earlier had been satisfying. It was unusual that goblin blood tasted good to me, but perhaps I had been dehydrated earlier myself. I was fine now, and I would probably be good for a few more hours. I sat down and rested against Hikari as I studied the directions, batting Mene's pom-pom softly with my free hand. It was a nervous habit, and, while most Moogles didn't like anyone to play with their pom-poms, Mene made exceptions for Hikari and me.

It didn't take either of them long to finish their water. Mene looked up at me and handed me the now-empty canteen. Hikari chirped and nudged the trough, indicating that she was also done. I retracted it and put it back in my satchel, and I strapped the canteen back to my waist. I thought for a minute and sighed, agitated. If these directions were correct, we had to go at least 30 more miles to get to Asdex.

"There's no way you guys can make it," I said softly, realizing what I was about to have to do.

"Kupo?" Mene murmured as he rose up a bit off the ground. He flew up to about eye-level with me. He liked to fly more than most Moogles did. Then again, he wasn't a true Moogle.

"We've got at least another 30 miles to go," I explained, "We can make that in less than a day with no problem, but there's no way you two can make it in this sweltering heat like this. I'm going to have to go back and get more water for you before we set out." Mene landed at my feet, standing about knee-high. He tugged at my leg.

"You don't have to do that, kupo. Hikari and I will be okay," he said. He tried to sound strong, but his voice kind of fell at the end.

"Kweh..." Hikari chirped weakly and nodded in agreement. I smiled. These two were always doing this kind of thing for me. I shook my head.

"No. I'm not going to let you guys put yourselves out like that," I replied. I thought for a minute. "Why don't you two come with me this time? Hikari, I know you don't like assuming your human form, but you two need to get out of this heat for a little while. They have air conditioning in that little tavern. You guys need to cool down for a bit."

"Kweh?" Hikari chirped inquisitively, tilting her head. I smiled and walked over to her, running my hands through her brilliant sky-blue plumage.

"You don't have to worry about it, okay?" I said, "You two need to rest. There is no pressing need for us to get to Asdex today. I'll just miss the opening ceremony of the Grand Lights Festival. We can still catch some of the celebrations that will be going on tomorrow. Even if we took off right now, we'd barely make it in time. I can't have you two having heat strokes along the way."

"Kweh..." Hikari murmured, and she looked around. She nudged the saddlebag on her side. I took it off of her and stepped back. Mene fluttered over to me and rose up to my shoulder.

I watched as Hikari's body began to morph. The first time I had seen her and Mene change form, I had been mesmerized. I'd asked them to change back and forth again and again until they'd gotten so tired they didn't have the strength to transform again for a while.

She closed her beady Chocobo eyes, and her huge, blue body began to shrink down slowly, becoming less horizontal and posture and more vertical. Her beak and feathers were sucked in slowly as well, and eventually she became a human shape. It always amazed me how the clothes they wore morphed with them. Because she usually stayed in Chocobo-most of the time, and Mene in his Moogle form, they could wear the same outfit for days at a time.

After about thirty seconds, Hikari's transformation was complete. Her human form was much smaller than her Chocobo form, and actually a little smaller than most humans as well. At less-than-average height, she barely came up to my shoulders. She stood there stretching her now-human muscles for a few seconds, then she walked up beside me. She took the saddle bag from me, wearing it like a purse. I held out my arms, and Mene flew into them. I hugged him close to my body as we walked like I always did when he was tired or when we rode Hikari. We made frequent jokes about him being my teddy bear.

When we arrived at the Red Leg, he flew out of my arms and landed on the ground at the door. "Kupo-po!" he chattered excitedly, and ran inside. We walked in behind him. Hikari found an open table and sat down. Mene sat on the floor, leaning against her legs. Neither of them seemed to notice the harshness of the place. It was just as well. We were here for them, so it was better that they were happy or at the least comfortable.

"I'll be right back, guys. I'm going to go fill up the canteen and buy us some drinks," I told them. Hikari nodded and rested her head on her hand. I could tell she was exhausted. I felt a bit of concern for her, but I knew she'd be fine. I walked back up to the counter.

"Hello..." I said softly to the bartender. He looked up at me and grinned a sinister, toothy grin.

"Hey, Babe," he said, "Couldn't stand to be away from me, after all?" I groaned.

"Whatever. Can I just get two ginger ales?" I asked passively. He frowned.

"Two? Who ya with?" He asked, obviously disheartened.

"Does it matter?" I demanded, annoyed, "Just get me my drinks." I normally wasn't so rude, but this guy was on my last nerve, and he wouldn't take the hint.

"Alright, fine fine," he said, holding up his hands in defense, "Is that gonna be all for you, darlin'?" I frowned and pulled the canteen off my belt again.

"Actually, can you fill this up with water, too?" I asked, handing him the flask. He smiled and nodded, but actually didn't make a snide comment. He took the canteen and turned around to the sink behind him and filled it up. He turned around and handed it back to me.

"I'll have your drinks in a moment," he said, "That'll be 100 gil. You can sit down. I'll bring them to you." I nodded appreciatively, thankful that I'd finally gotten my message across. I walked over to Hikari and sat down. I opened up my satchel and started digging for the money, unsure if I even had 100 gil left now.

"Thanks for this, Kaoru," Hikari said softly, "You were right. There's no way we could have made it all the way." I smiled.

"I know. You two are all I've had for years. I have a very good understanding of what mortals can take by now. Maybe better than you guys do," I told her. She laughed weakly.

"Yeah, well, my neck has a very good understanding by now of what vampires can take." She giggled at her pun. I flinched, and she giggled a bit more. "It's fine, Kaoru. You know it doesn't bother either me or Mene to let you feed off us when you need it." She gave me a sincere smile.

"I know, but it makes me feel bad everytime I have to," I said, speaking softly, "It makes me feel like a parasite - stealing away what gives you life." Mene walked over to my leg and tugged it.

"Kupo! We don't mind. You don't take enough to endanger us. We trust you, kupo!" he said happily. I looked down at him and smiled. I knew that I had a good life with these two. Even though between the three of us, we were always broke and we didn't have a home, we had each other and we managed to get by. And I knew these two cared about me.

I was still digging in my satchel. I'd only scraped together almost 80 Gil. I groaned softly. "Do you need any money, Kaoru? I think there's some in my bag," Hikari said, reaching into her saddlebag. I pulled the 77 gil out that I had and set it on the table.

"Yes," I sighed, feeling frustrated, "I'm sorry. I'm short 23. This was supposed to be my treat..." She smiled.

"It's fine, Kaoru. Really. We didn't want you to pay for us, anyway. It doesn't make sense that you pay for our drinks, anyway. You're not even getting one," she said, pulling out the gil and setting it with mine.

"Well, you won't let me pay you when you provide ME with...drink. So I feel like I should pay when I get you one, at least," I told her. She smiled.

"Why should we let you pay us, kupo?' Mene asked, rising up and landing on my shoulder.

"Because!" I protested, "It's just so...wrong! I have to draw life from you just to survive..." Mene fluttered on the table.

"Kupo! But that's where you're wrong!" he said gently, "It's no different from when you do things for us like going to get us water, kupo! We help each other, kupo."

"Mene's right," Hikari told me, "You do things like this for us. It puts you out. It's necessary for us. It's kind of the same thing when we give you our blood." I smiled. These two definitely had a way of making me feel better. The bartender brought two ginger ales in glasses and set them down on the table. He looked at Hikari with a grin.

"You know," he said to her, "Your friend won't accept my offers to take her on a date. Any ideas, sweetie?" My eyes went wide, begging her for help. She caught my expression, and a fake expression of anger spread across her face. She stood up and walked over to me, wrapping her arms around me.

"Buzz off, jerk. She's mine!" She exclaimed, "No one touches Kaoru but me!" She nuzzled my cheek softly, never taking her angry eyes off of him. I awkwardly took her hand in mine, attempting to play along. It made me feel really strange. He looked at us and his eyes went wide, as Hikari's words sunk in. He then grinned a toothy grin, and he held up his hands in defense again.

"Hey, hey! I didn't know she was like that! I never would've made a move if I'd known," he said defensively. He picked up our gil, counted it, and walked away without another word. I looked at her.

"I'm 'yours?'" I demanded in a low voice as soon as I knew he was out of earshot.

"Sorry!" she replied with a giggle, "It was my first thought, and I couldn't think of anything else that might get him to leave you alone. It worked, didn't it?"

"I guess. Just never say that again," I said, "I don't like for people to think that kind of thing about me." She laughed again.

"Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to make you feel weird. I promise!" Mene landed on top of my head and I giggled.

"I know, I know," I told her with a smile, "I appreciate it." She smiled. Mene flittered over to perch on my shoulder, as he took a glass and started drinking the ginger ale through a straw. Hikari had already nearly gotten halfway through her glass.

"Not a problem, Kaoru," she said happily, "It's what we're here for."

"Kupo? Will we be able to make it to Asdex, kupo?" Mene asked me. My eyes grew wide and I jammed my hand back in my satchel, searching for the directions. I found them and pulled them out, smoothing out the paper as I laid it down on the table. I laid them down, and tried to study them, but it was simply to dark in the tavern to see well enough to read it.

"I don't think so, Mene," I said softly, "I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure it's too far for us to make the trip in one day. It's already two o' clock."

"Kupo..." Mene murmured.

"If it wasn't so hot, I could have us there on time," Hikari said with a small edge of bitterness in her voice.

"Don't worry about it, Hikari," I told her, "Everyone has their limits. Like I said earlier, we'll just miss the opening ceremony tonight." She didn't seem to feel any better, so I hugged her tightly. "Listen, we'll just go as far as we can today. I'm in no big rush. I promise." She hugged me back.

"I know, Kaoru," she said, "It's a plan."