First of, I want to say that the title is a pretty vague term when applied to this. I've really been feeling the fandom lately, and felt that I should write something, hence the existence of this story. If I get anything wrong - info, facts, character portrayal, or anything related to the universe - please do point it out and I'll fix it ASAP.
Um, Tales of the Abyss is owned by Namco — I do not own the characters except Freya, obviously. Please support the official release.
Life is not easy. There's misfortune, there's deceit and there's hate. Some experience it and are crushed while others aren't. I am one who believes that calamity can be avoided, but that what happens is still out of my hands. That is why I distract myself with these games; they provide the ability to save people, and the feeling that you can. Reality limits this and it's oh so unfortunate. A particular game for this heroic stimulation and comedic adventure is Tales of the Abyss.
Baticul, the Capital of Light
Kingdom of Kimlasca-Lanvaldear
Remday, Rem-Decan, ND2018
The text scrolled across the screen, right after the speech, that I believe, was given by Yulia in that cutscene. The voice tended to merge with my memory of Ion's, so I could never really tell. Anyway, this day in game is the equivalent to Monday, January 11th. What year? Perhaps the year it came out would be that equivalent, or the coming 2018. I liked to believe that it was right but it could very well be wrong.
Luke fon Fabre then appeared on the screen, donned in a white thing that was apparently called an outfit, muttering to himself about hearing things in his normal arrogant tone. While I knew that was because of his lack of contact with influential human beings, it pissed me off at this point. Still, it left room for tons of character development, or at least the ability to reveal suppressed traits.
I guided Luke outside and he had his conversation with Pere before heading off to explore the manor and steal items from the chests and/or cabinets. Knowing the story, I didn't waste time speaking with the servants; only the ones that tell you the Master Van is coming and to go to Luke's room. Upon entering the cutscene with the voice played out. Guy then came to the window and snapped Luke out of it, and they conversed until the maid knocked at the door. Now, I know I'm skipping a whole lot of dialogue by explaining the events this way. Honestly, we all know and love it already, so what's the point of reading it?
Anyway, that maid called again as the blonde gynophobe jumped from the window with a brief farewell. She then told Luke that he was to come to the drawing room as per his father's orders. He dismissed her curtly and I made him go out of the room and head towards his destination. He entered and the normal conversation ensued. Duke Fabre, Susanne and Van would greet Luke, they'd speak of Ion's capture, and how Van would be leaving the next day. Luke, of course, protested and got himself a sword lesson. Fast forward and the lesson begins, guiding me through the concepts that I already knew. I finished the tutorial and Tear's singing now resounded through the area, putting all near her to sleep.
In this moment, I wondered, what it would be like for me, an ordinary girl, to experience this adventure; not by playing it, or reading its story, but by being in it. Thinking about it, that's kind of selfish when you think of the reality of the situation. You know the story by being part of it, and you see it as fun as people suffer in it. I guess when put in that situation, you'd kind of want to forget it. Forget it and experience it as something new.
"That's something that will never happen, though," I muttered to myself as Tear and Luke created a hyperresonance.
That is when I lost vision. If I had known the cause, I would've done something, but at the time, I couldn't have figured it out. Nor would I have had the ability to help these people by knowing their future. Looking back, I can say that I sort of jinxed it. Why? Because when I regained my vision I had no recollection of what I had been doing prior to then. As well as what I had ever done on Earth.
I leaned forward, blinking the sleep from my eyes. It was another day. Another boring day of training in Malkuth. Honestly, I don't know why my father insisted that I do something as dull as this for living. It's not like the foretold war will break out soon. The Score's stupid, in my opinion. I don't understand why everyone is so dependent on it. The way I see it, it is a prediction of what could happen, not what will. If someone abides by it, then, yeah, it will happen. If we oppose it, or choose some other path, then I am sure such a future could be avoided.
Ah, but that's just me. Philosophy is not a thing for the morning. That's for late at night when you get hit with random insomnia that is replaced with fatigue in the morning.
Why?
Because logic.
Sighing, I slid off the bed and looked around my very blue room. Blue: the color of the Malkuth military. The bed sat pushed up against the furthermost wall, next to the window with – you guessed it – blue sheets. Another bed was located closer to the door. I initially had a roommate, but she couldn't stand my "bland, dark and unsocial aura". I didn't get that, but I still didn't care, as that scored me my own personal room. The other bed was not wasted and put to use immediately, having my Malkuthian uniform spread across it along with a few weapons, sheathes, etc. The night table that was situated between had books stacked on it, as well as a few spilling out of the opened drawers and onto the oak floor. A desk and bookshelf were on the wall opposite of the night table with a mirror in between them. Similarly, the desk was cluttered with books and papers, while the bookshelf was filled to the brim with fantasy books, history books, rappig care books (those were necessary when you served under Emperor Peony), and the ever lovely military operations books. There were more, yes, but the topic of those was my secret.
I walked over to the other bed and pulled on the dark brown sweater and, over it, the beige tunic of my uniform. After that came the boring dark brown trousers. Over the trousers went two beige sleeves – one for each leg – with slanted ends, coming from my feet and going to just above my knees. The same type of sleeve went over each sleeve of my sweater, starting at my hands and ending just after my elbows. That wasn't the end of it, unfortunately. Hot days were a hell. After that came the long blue overcoat and brown laced boots. (Normally they were bland brown boots with blue sleeves over them, but I insisted on otherwise.)
The overcoat had a high collar that was supposed to be folded down, but I insisted that I keep mine up like a nerd trying to play ninja. On it were buttons that signified rank. Mine were bronze, saying that I was just above the typical soldier, but not saying that I had any particular status. I was glad to be rid of that old uniform; it was just stifling. Last came my belt, that didn't have enough holes in it for me so it slid down a bit, beige shoulder pads, and white gloves. Picking up the sword and sheathe, and fon tech guns that lied on the other bed, I slid them into my belt. The sword rested on my left hip while one of the two guns were on either.
Supposedly, my family had been using fon tech guns since the Dawn Age. If they were around then – that's what Father always said. Even so, I was absolute shit at them. And I was mediocre at best with a sword. To be honest, I think the only reason I'm not a normal ranking soldier is because of my father.
Having that done, I went to stand in front of the mirror, straightening my clothes. I took a round, silver clip emblazoned with my family's crest – a panther mid growl – and brought my curly brown hair up in a ponytail. When held that way, it reached the base of my neck and left a few rebellious strands to get into my brown eyes, obstructing my view.
Now that my uniform was on, I headed towards the dark oak door that was placed on the same wall as the beds. Opening it, I stepped out into one of the many halls of one of Grand Chokmah's many military bases. Many was not an overstatement, but while they were many in number, they were small in size. The only really big one was where Colonel Jade Curtiss' office and room was. That was located to the left of the palace, and about a five minute walk from the one I stayed at. That's actually where I was heading.
Apparently, we're taking the Tartarus – the Colonel's pride and joy – to escort the Fon Master to Baticul, Kimlasca's capital and the so called Capital of Light. And being so incredibly amazing at everything – note the sarcasm – I am being dragged along on this mission that will probably result in my death. Fon Master Ion tended to get in dangerous situations. Now that I think about it, I believe the Colonel is exacting his brutal revenge for my constant insubordination. Woops.
Once I reached the gardens, I looked toward the sun, expecting it to be nearly touching the horizon. By some divine bad luck, it was half way, which meant, and Yulia help me, that I was late. Very late. No, they should still be in port.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. I have to hurry, or I'll be late. Late for my definite funeral, but still!
I took off as fast as my legs could carry me. I ran past some of the city's guards who gave me incredulous looks, but I just ignored them, knowing that whatever the Colonel had in store would be much, much worse.
"We leave at midday to escort the Fon Master to Baticul. I expect none of you to be there later than seven hundred hours. The Tartarus has an ID or passport scanning system that you all must go through. If any single one of you are not here, I will know exactly who you are. Now, do get a good night's rest, lest you be late." He'd said and then smiled that creepy Jade smile.
Needless to say, I feared for my life.
I stood panting in the entrance to the Tartarus. I had made it there just in time for the doors to shut. I had a feeling that he knew I'd be late. Now, the Colonel and I have an interesting relationship. I get in trouble, he punishes me. I think it's a healthy one except for the fact that it mostly lands me rappig duty. Which, in itself, is the biggest punishment imaginable.
"Ah, if isn't Ms. Freya Degno di Fiducia?" A shiver ran up my spine as I heard the ever familiar sarcastic tone that lived on eternally in my nightmares. "So nice of you to finally join us." At that I heard a few snickers from the guards positioned at the door to the land dreadnought.
I slowly turned, looking up at the Colonel. The Colonel was dressed in a similar garb as mine. But instead of all that complicated shit, he had a simple blue overcoat with golden buttons and a trim of the same color as well as matching boots and glasses. His brown hair was parted to my left and reached his shoulders. If one were to give him a spirit animal, it would be a jaguar on the prowl, hiding and staring you down until the time is right to strike. Since I was standing at five foot nine and a half, he didn't tower over me as much as he did the others. Though that is true, it is still terrifying to see him look down at me with feigned amusement, red demonic eyes boring into my soul.
"Oh, uh, hey, Jeido…" I blinked, unsure of why I had said his name in that way, but no matter, I was screwed anyway. "Er, Colonel." I quickly added, still knowing that wouldn't help my case. "…Rappig duty when we return, I assume…?"
The "amused" grin widened ever so slightly. "Oh, much worse. If I recall, I said to be here at seven hundred hours. That would make you…five hours late. Rappigs will be the least of your worries, Ms. Fiducia."
If possible, my naturally pale skin became even paler as he pushed up his glasses, turned and walked down the hallway to the bridge. He paused for a minute, throwing a "You are to head to the room the Fon Master is staying in" over his shoulder and then headed up the stairs leading to the bridge. After he was out of earshot, the two guards' snickers turned into full blown laughter as they doubled over, amused by my predicament. I fixed the two of them with a glare, hoping that would shut them up, but it only made them laugh more. Deciding to just ignore it, I headed to the room that the Fon Master was in.
The room I was to stand guard in had a table in the center as well as two bunkbeds pushed up against the wall. When I entered, however, instead of standing at the door like I was supposed to, I took a chair from the table that was in the center and sat across from Fon Master Ion and his Fon Master Guardian. Call me curious, but I had this nagging feeling about these two. I wanted to know more about them immediately.
The Guardian was dressed in a pink garb of Daathic make with white leggings and purple shoes. Her dark brown - or raven, I wasn't sure - hair was up in pigtails that were tied with pink bows. On her hands were white, purple cuffed gloves. On her back was a puppet doll that gave off a very disturbing aura. Its purpose was unknown to me and I was sure that it was just some toy for her.
Her charge wore white and green robes that were also of Daathic make with gold sandals. In his hand was a gold staff that resembled a tuning fork. A similar trinket hung around his neck. Ion's dark green hair was pulled into two, uh, ponytails, I guess, that ran down either side of his face. On his head was a green and gold headband with two yellow pompoms on each end. Looking at him now, I found it rather hard to believe that he was male. The only thing that really proved that he was male was his obvious lack of breasts.
I tilted my head to the side and said, "So, you're Fon Master Ion?"
The Fon Master nodded, going on to say, "Yes. That would be me. You are one of Jade's subordinates?"
"More like personal punishment example setter…." I muttered, causing the Guardian to give me a questioning glance.
"Oh, so you're the problematic one he was muttering about before?" she asked.
"Muttering? What was he saying?"
"Something about birthing rappigs and cleaning his office."
My face met the table and I let out a long sigh. "I will have a lovely time in Grand Chokmah when we return…" Hey, at least I didn't have to go find missing rappigs like in that one side—Huh? Geez. I think I'm starting to lose it.
Ion let out an amused chuckle at this. That of which, I wasn't expecting from the leader of the Order of Lorelei and a seeker of peace. "I'm sure Jade can't be that cruel."
"Well, then you don't know Jeido very well." I sighed again, lifting my head from the table and resting it on my hand, elbow bent as I leaned over the table. "He is called Jade the Necromancer after all. Naturally, he'd be harsh about it because apparently, as the name says, he'll work you to death and then bring you back and work you to death again. Rinse and repeat."
"Wow~" the Guardian sang. "I didn't know the Colonel was like that. I heard rumors, but I didn't believe them. He was so nice!" She frowned for a moment and then continued to speak. "I'm Anise, by the way, Ion's Fon Master Guardian! What's your name? At least give us that since you're being more social than your stiff friend over there." Anise gestured towards the other guard at the door.
"Oh, um, I'm Freya. It's a pleasure to meet you." I stood quickly and held my hand out in the universal handshake gesture. Anise accepted it with both of her gloved hands, shaking my arm up and down vigorously. Withdrawing my hand, I continued the initial topic. "And, don't let him fool you. He's quite the scary dude. There's a story among our division." At least, I think that's where this story came from. "We call it 'The Necromancer'. It goes like this:
"'As grey traces of dawn tinge the eastern sky, the three travelers, men of Willowdale, emerge from the forest shadow. Fording the River Dawn, they turn south, journeying into the dark and forbidding lands of the Necromancer. Even now, the intensity of his dread power can be felt, weakening the body and saddening the heart. Ultimately they will become empty, mindless spectres...stripped of will and soul, only their thirst for freedom gives them hunger for vengeance...'"
I paused to explain it to the two. "I believe a hymn accompanied that part, but I don't remember it. And if I did, I wouldn't be able to sing it."
Shrugging, I continued the story. "'Shreds of black cloud loom in overcast skies. The Necromancer keeps watch with his magic prism eyes. He views all his lands and is already aware of the three helpless invaders trapped in his lair...'" I stopped again, laughing a bit. The two looked at me oddly, so I elaborated.
"We're sort of like those three - trapped in his lair, the Tartarus, he knows we're here, and we're completely helpless. Jade's probably going to kill us." They both looked like they were about to laugh at that, but immediately stopped, any amusement they had being replaced with sheer terror. A shiver ran up my spine explaining why exactly they looked so scared. "He's right behind me, isn't he?" They both nodded as Jade spoke up, proving my suspicions.
"Quite the tale. It's a real shame that I had never heard it before."
I jumped up and turned to face the Colonel. "WHEN DID YOU EVEN—I DIDN'T HEAR—WHAT THE FUCK, JADE?!" I hadn't heard the door open, or his footsteps.
Jade ignored that outburst and turned to the other guard in the room. "Have you heard that story before? I don't recall such a story with a hymn to accompany it."
The guard answered without fear, as he must have been certain that Jade was right and that it did not exist. "No, sir. I've never heard it in my life."
"Ah." Jade turned to face me again. "Tell me, then, where did you acquire such a tale?"
"Um...I-I have no idea, Ja–Colonel Curtiss, sir!" I replied raising my hand in a fearful salute. Everything about this guy gave me the creeps. But what disturbed me more was the the fact that I knew that story while no one else did. And then there was his reaction. Why he was getting so worked up over it? "I'm sorry to have offended you. It was made up and does not pertain to any fact, I swear."
"You don't know of its origin? How troublesome. Perhaps kitchen cleaning duty will jog your memory."
"What?! But that's—"
Jade interrupted me, addressing Ion. "We've heard that the Dark Wings, renown criminals and thieves, are in the area. Would it be all right if we pursue them, Ion? The Malkuth military has been after them for a while now, and...Peace talks are important, but they just so happen to be on the way."
Ion immediately nodded. "They're terrorizing both Kimlasca and Malkuth. I think their capture would help our chances with this declaration of peace."
"But Ion…" Anise gained the attention of everyone in the room. "We need to get there as soon as possible! This will take too much time! Even though it's on the way, what if we have to fight them and you get hurt! What then?"
The Fon Master shook his head, dismissing Anise's worry. "This letter to King Ingobert is important, but it can be held off if criminals that are hurting the peace are captured."
Anise looked like she was about to protest, but I cut her off from where I now stood in what was supposed to be my position in that room.
"Anisu," The girl tilted her head at the nickname. "Jeido's going to go through with this whether you and Ion like it or not." Anise pouted at that, crossing her arms. "By asking he was simply being nice." I casually leaned back against the wall, throwing Jade an uneasy, hopeful smile that a child trying to sneak out of trouble would.
The Colonel pushed up his glasses, the lenses flashing in the well lit room. "Why thank you for that much needed explanation~," he said. "Though, you spoke out of line. Now that I think about it...the weapon's in storage need to be cleaned and sorted. Why don't you get down to doing that?"
"BUUUUT JAAAAAAAAAAAAADE—WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!"
He smirked. "I have no idea of that of which you speak."
And then he was gone again. And I had to clean the weapons. Frick.
The weapon's storage was a room located on the lowest floor of the Tartarus, near the engine room. The room was maybe four times the size of the room that Ion and Anise had been in with wooden crates littering the floor and a couple of shelves on the walls that held chests of...ammunition, I guess? From my knowledge, some of these crates held gunpowder. Why Jade let me clean up a room with this in it, I have no idea. He obviously wanted me to accidentally blow up the Tartarus, and knowing me, it'd happen; gunpowder would somehow get into the engine room, or pipes, if we had those, and somehow ignite by some random fucktard (probably me) who decides to use the Fifth Fonon indoors on a fricken land dreadnought. I am not over exaggerating there. I'm a complete and utter klutz sometimes. I blame my height and foot size.
So, anyway, a pile of swords was on either side of me; the one on the left for the polished ones and the one on the right for the ones to be polished. We didn't have any whetstones to sharpen or proper sword polishing things around (sandpaper, abrasive paper, metal polishing compound, steel wool, etc), so I had to make do with a rag I found lying around. I'm sure this is the stupidest thing I could be using to polish considering I could cut the fabric and my own hand by some divine miracle any minute. I sure feel bad for whoever's rag this initially was. Shrug. Oh well.
The pile, admittedly, of polished swords was much smaller in size than I liked. I just wish I could get this done faster so I could plot my revenge. Well, fantasize about plotting my revenge. No one crossed Jade and survived. No one even thought of crossing Jade and survived. Yulia help anyone who does because I don't imagine they'll have escaped him for long.
I let out a long drawn out sigh as Jade's voice buzzed over the PA system.
"All gunmen report to your stations. The Dark Wings have been spotted. Prepare to open fire."
Wait. That meant the Tartarus would also reach ramming speed—
"Switch to ramming speed five."
Yulia fucking dammit.
And I was in the weapon's storage. With sharp pointy objects lying on the floor next to me. We were about to reach about seventy-five miles-per-hour. Do you understand what that momentum can do to these sharp, pointy objects? Fuck this. Freya's out. Peace.
I promptly stood, threw the swords in a random box that was at the back wall and turned to leave. What I didn't account for was one of the swords hitting another at just the right angle, to create just the right amount of friction, to spark. And guess what was in that crate.
Gunpowder.
I probably would've gotten away with it too, as it looked normal. Well, normal aside from the fact that the remains of the crate littered the ground, embers clinging to the pieces, and there was a giant fucking hole in the wall. Of Colonel Jade Curtiss's, Jade the Necromancer's, land dreadnought, the Tartarus.
I. Am. So. Fucking. Dead.
The good thing is: I escaped the weapon's storage, ran up the steps and entered Ion's and Anise's room. The bad thing is: Our every day, happy-go-lucky, super fantastical Colonel was there as well. Why the hell wasn't he in the bridge like I had hoped? I swear, I have the worst luck sometimes. The second I made a sound, I knew I'd be acknowledged, so I silently stood opposite the other guard at the door, letting my resting bitchface do its job. Having a helmet probably would've helped in this situation, but I hated them. They cut down on my sight when shooting and slashing. Even though I was bad at that, I was pretty agile (yes, tall klutzes can be agile) and could dodge, so I never saw helmets as necessities. Boy, do I wish I had just sucked it up and dealt with it right now.
I was waiting for my normal chameleon effect to take place. I normally went unnoticed if I kept up my resting bitchface and remained silent. But I knew...I knew he knew I was there. I was just hanging onto the possibility, the hope that he wouldn't question me. So, as I stood there, having nothing else to do but panic silently, I listened to their conversation.
"Jade, after the Dark Wings are taken care of, would it be possible to stop at Engeve?" Ion asked, tilting his head in thought as he spoke. "I heard that they were having trouble with their crops lately. They haven't been getting onto the trade routes."
The Necromancer sighed, bringing a hand to his temples in distress. "Ion, that is in the exact opposite direction of where we are chasing the Dark Wings, and where they are headed. That letter must reach Baticul; it is important, as you said before."
Before? Just how much of that conversation did Jade hear before?
"But…"
Jade shook his head, pushing up his glasses. "We can't attend to that now. Though, we may be able to on the way back to the empire."
Ion brought his hands together happily, giving Jade an open mouthed smiled and making some sort of gasping noise. "Thanks, Jade! You're the best!"
Idiot. You'll make his ego inflate even more than it already has.
"Wait, but what about the God-Generals…" Anise piped up, giving way to the next topic in the conversation. "We sort of did sneak out...So, Mohs will probably send them to retrieve you, or something."
I involuntarily snorted at that. Mohs wouldn't—Huh? How did I—Well, fuck, I've made sound. I'll be noticed. Shit. Shit. Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. That means someone will a—
"Well…" The Colonel stood, clasped his hands behind his back and headed for the door. "I'll be heading back to the bridge now. As much as I would like to let the young ones handle things, they lack the experience that comes with age."
He's reaching for the handle, I'm home free! Come on, Jade! Go! Go!
"That was fast." He postponed all movement. "You finished sorting?"
I stood tall, formed my hands into a fist salute, and kept a straight face. "Yes, sir. All sorted."
"Polished?"
"To perfection."
"So there will be no need for me to check on them?"
"No, sir."
"I see." Jade reached for the handle once more, opening the door and stepping out into the hall.
As soon as I was sure he was a good ways away, I let go of the breath I hadn't known I was holding and slid down the wall. "Phew…"
The Fon Master Guardian laughed, bringing me back to reality. "You should've seen yourself!" Anise said. "You became all stiff like this—" She mimicked me, sucking her gut in and puffing out her chest. The only difference was that she placed her hands at her hips, rather than bringing one to her chest and leaving another at her back in a fist salute like I had. "—and talked like this." Anise pronounced "like this" with a bastardized soldier tone. "Still, it looked like you were shaking in your boots!"
I brought my knees to my chest and propped my chin onto my knee as I responded. "I don't want any more work. I'm sure your superiors aren't quite as scary as Jade."
"My only real superior is Ion…" she muttered. "Because I'm Ionian Sergeant, Anise Tatlin, Oracle Knights, Fon Master Guard. ...Uh, that's not exactly articulate, but...It's what I am."
"That's too long…Just say Ionian Sergeant, Anise Tatlin."
"But then how'd they know I'm with the Oracle Knights?"
"Ionian Sergeant."
"Oh...Right."
Sigh. This was going to be a long ride.
"The Necromancer" is by Rush, I do not own it.
Well, there it is! Um, if anyone has suggestions regarding ships, feel free to leave them in the review section. I have a few in mind, but I'll only share one. LukeXTear. So no need to vote for otherwise! I don't know how regular updates will be as I am busy with other things. Well, yeah, see you in the next, I guess.