Following the end of the Lion War and the death of Queen Ovelia, a number of catastrophes befell the continent of Ivalice. Heavy rains resulted in bad farming, which concluded in famine for the population. Guerilla warfare was rampant in the country, murder and theft were common again, and the worst eventually followed: plague.
The plague, commonly known as the Bubonic plague, hit Ivalice like a herd of wild chocobos. The population was ravaged by the plague over the course of twenty years. Over one million people died during the epidemic. Whole villages were wiped out; the capitals of the former kingdoms were nearly destroyed. Despair ruled in the stead of the king, who seemed powerless to stop this cataclysmic event…
And yet…there seemed to be an angel among the people of Ivalice…
The plague had ravaged Lesalia the most. Its main port city of Dorter was where the disease entered Ivalice. Most of its population was infected with the plague, and the death rate was so high that most of the people left the city. This option was only available to those who could afford it, like the nobles. The people in the slums were less fortunate. People were so poor they could hardly afford bread to eat let alone leave the city. And by the end of the second year of the epidemic, most were dead.
As the plague ravaged Dorter, people who were not infected were forced to do dreadful labor: removing the dead.
Elderly, women, even children were forced to work to remove the corpses from the streets of the slums. One of the kids that was helping was a young boy named Francis. A boy of 7 years, he had lost both his parents to the plague. Now, he was helping remove bodies for food. He had lost both his parents to the plague, making him an orphan. With no one to look after him, he had become a worker, used to remove the dead from the town. He wore the only clothes he could grab, a simple tonic and shorts and walking shoes, before his home was burned by a group of men from the church.
While some were given last rites and buried in cemeteries, most were thrown and buried in mass graves outside the town. It was not a choice, but a necessity, as the town leaders had little room left anywhere for individual graves.
And more graves were always dug.
In the town square, many homeless citizens were looking in the marketplace. Francis was there as well, taking a break from his work. While he was working, he was allowed a few Gil to buy bread from the bakery, if the baker would allow plague-suspected buyers near them. The baker of the shop, however, was kind enough to give free bread to certain children. Francis was one of them. He gratefully accepted his bread for the day and went to a corner alley to eat. There he saw many other children and adults there as well. Many were there to stay away from the square itself because of a certain individual.
A Bird Man was there. Or, as the Church of Glabados calls it, a plague doctor.
Dressed in black robes that covered every inch of their bodies, and wearing bizarre masks with long beaks, people called them Birdmen for their masks. Although they had a somewhat comical appearance, their presence was never a good one.
Plague doctors often visited the most infected areas. They were feared as much as they were unwelcome. These so-called 'doctors' did little except give off pessimistic words to the dying person, and when they encountered a dead body, they immediately burned the house it was in, claiming it was 'ridding the place of evil.'
Francis could see the Bird-Man from his spot in the entrance of the alley. He was walking down the busy street, followed by members of the clergy, a wooden cross in his left hand and a smoking ball swinging from a wire in his right. From what he had been told by his late father, the smoking ball spewed out what was called 'angel smoke'. This was supposed to rule out who was infected and who was not. How that was done the boy did not know.
People parted as the doctor strolled on by them. No one said a word to him, or even looked at him, out of fear.
Then, as he passed the bakery, a cough was heard. It came from a woman in her mid-twenties. She covered her mouth, and she was grabbed by one of the clergymen and placed in front of the doctor. He waved the 'angel ball' in front of the woman. She coughed again, this time more than once. The doctor said some words that Francis had never heard before, and the woman was led away screaming for her to be let go. She tried to get away, but she was held by each arm and led away.
'That must be how you are either infected or not…', the boy thought, eating his bread. If you cough when he passes, then you are infected! And from what he had heard, those who coughed were never seen again…
He kept his mouth shut as the Bird-Man passed slowly. He stopped and looked down the alley, anyone that could hid behind various objects to hide themselves from the men. It felt like an eternity before the doctor began to move again. Francis gave a sigh of relief. But as soon as he did, a bit of the bread in his mouth went down his throat and got caught—
He coughed as he yearned for breath.
The Bird-Man stopped, turned, and pointed at Francis. As soon as the clergymen saw him, the boy took off down the alley. He ran past those who got out of his way, and bumped into those who didn't.
He took a right onto another street, as one of the men caught up with him. He managed to sneak by and Francis went into a shop. The owner didn't see him as he went out a window and into the back alley. The boy ran around to another street, accidentally bumping into someone. The force was enough to knock the boy to the muddy ground. The boy looked up and saw someone in a dark grey cloak, the person's face concealed in a cloak. Francis felt some odd feeling emitting from this person, but as he tried to get up, someone grabbed his arm. He looked around and saw that he was caught. The man grabbed him painfully by the arm and dragged him to the doctor. Forced to be on his knees, Francis looked up at the doctor, tears welling up in his eyes as the ball was waved in front of his face. The boy tried to not breath in the air, which was smelling pretty bad, like rotten fish.
However, try as he might, Francis couldn't hold back and coughed again. The doctor said the same thing he said to the woman before she was taken away.
'No!'
The clergymen held him each by an arm and started to move away. The boy was trying with all his might to get free but it was futile as the men held him in an impeccable grip.
Then, they stopped. A figure that was clad in a dark grey cloak. 'That's…!' the boy gave a gasp. It was the same person he had ran into before!
"Move, stranger," said one of the clergymen.
The stranger spoke, "And why should I, sir?" It was a female voice, a gentle one too.
"This boy carries the pestilence, that is why ma'am," replied the man. The woman raised her hands, which were covered in elbow length white gloves that were as white as snow. She removed the hood of her cloak, and long bright blonde hair fell from its confines. The woman was young, no more than her late teens, and had bright blue eyes that shined like sapphires, even in the cloudy atmosphere of the rainy day. Her hair had strands that reached her shoulders (which were bare from the hood being removed), chest, and the tips of her breasts. The grey cloak she wore was opened to where Francis could see her legs. She wore thigh-high silk stockings, a pastel green and white short skirt, and white ankle high boots. She seemed to be either rich or she was from another country, because no one Francis knew in Dorter sold anything the woman wore.
She walked up to them and knelt down to Francis, looking into his eyes. The boy didn't quite understand it, but he felt calm and a warm aura seemed to emit from the woman. She raised a hand and gently caressed his cheek. It was warm against his skin, and it felt pleasant. Giving the boy a nice smile, as if saying 'you have nothing to worry about,' Francis couldn't help but smile back.
"I do not see the plague in him," said the woman.
"He reacted to the magic dust!", the clergymen argued.
"A contraption of nonsense," replied the woman, her tone still normal. People reacted with shock. The clergymen themselves had to cover their mouths. And Francis was able to break free. He ran to the woman and wrapped his arms around her legs, and buried his face in her skirt, his tears creating wet spots in the cloth. He felt the woman's hand on the top of his head in a gentle caress.
"You dare say the way of the church is 'nonsense'?" one of the clergymen asked.
"I say that using a 'magic ball' attached to a wire is like using a child's toy. You use that when you could be like a real doctor to try and help these people instead of weeding out those you THINK are infected," the woman replied.
The men seemed to have had enough; they started to move towards the woman. She raised a hand and they stopped, "You will not have him."
The doctor, who was as silent as death, stepped forward, the words he spoke were clear even with the mask covering his face, "It's either the boy or you, milady. Make your choice now or you will both be taken—Hold!"
The woman had by then started to walk away, holding Francis' hand with her left hand. The doctor, feeling disrespected, took his staff and swung it at them. The woman reacted and took a sword from her the sheath on her hip and its blade blocked the staff. Francis looked at the blade, it was thin and had runic writing on it, and the handle was a dark gold in color. The clergymen took out daggers and went at her.
Francis hid behind the woman. She remained still as a shot rang out.
Out of the crowd came two more women. Both were as young as the woman with Francis. One was wearing armor, had light brown short hair that was in a bun, and carried a two-handed katana. The other wore red robes and an odd looking hat, and had long black hair. Francis recognized her as an Orator, a speech/guide. She held a gun with both hands, which was smoking from being fired.
"Lady Aura! There you are!" said the samurai, running up to the woman. Francis guessed that the woman that protected him was named Aura. The Orator separated the doctor and Aura's weapons and made space between them.
"We looked all over for you milady," said the Orator taking Aura's left hand and holding it.
Aura smiled, "I didn't go too far."
Francis still stood behind Aura. The women saw him, but did nothing. The knight went and said it was time to go. All of them, Francis included, walked away.
The group made it out of the town with no trouble from anyone. Aura and the samurai, whose name was Kazumi, were talking about the boy.
"Aura, we can barely keep ourselves fed and clothed, I do not know if we can support a child—"
"And I say we can manage. I don't want to see him thrown into a grave, a fate no child deserves," Aura replied. Francis held onto Aura's left hand. The samurai gave up and walked away. The Orator, whose name was Catherine, came up to Francis smiling, "Hello, what is your name?"
"Francis…" replied the boy.
"Well, Francis, looks like you'll be coming with us to Lionel," she said.
Francis gave a wide-eyed look of surprise, "But that's way down south…"
Aura gently squeezed his hand, "We'll protect you. You have nothing to worry about."
Catherine nodded, and went to run after Kazumi, leaving the two alone. Aura kneeled down to Francis. It was here that the boy truly noticed how beautiful she was, like an angel from heaven. "I will protect you, Francis. I swear to you."
Feeling her words to the heart, Francis smiled and quickly embraced his new friend. Aura slowly put her arms around him. The sun then began to break through the clouds, bringing the first rays of light of the day. Standing up, Aura held onto his hand, and they both began the long road to Lionel.