Savior
A Mitch XI story.
A/N: Wow, been a while since I've written a fic! This is another in my ongoing series, which I call the historian series. These fictions are mostly about FFT and FFTA, and star Dominic Rune, (an original character in FFTA) and Rad Hunter (an original character in FFT), as told by historian Mitchell the Eleventh. Enjoy it!
When I was cataloguing the events that are now known as the "Final Fantasy" era on the library shelves, I realized that I was missing a tome or two in the later years of "Final Fantasy". According to my cataloguing, the timeline jumped from when Marche Radiuju and Ritz Malheur found a way to return to Ivalice and were unfortunately trapped there, to when Ritz returned to St. Ivalice an older woman, who was lost for love and companionship. Thanks to my brilliance, I put two and two together and realized I had made a critical error. I scrambled to find the missing books in the timeline, with the fear of losing my job. Thankfully, after four hours of rushing around the Historian's Library, I stumbled upon the tomes, in perfect condition, sans a little dust. Grateful to whatever deity it was that watched over me, I opened the first book to reread what had been written. This story is not about losing someone; it's about gaining something along the way. And it touched my heart, as I hope it will touch yours.
Best regards,
Prologue: Trouble in Sphrom
In the middle of Ivalice, near the outskirts of Sphrom, A man was being tortured.
This was a regular event in Sphrom, as the Ravage and the Carnage clans were at war, and had been for nearly three years. Clan Ravage was a clan based around magic users and archers; most of them Nu Mou and Viera. They were heavily outnumbered and outgunned, being beaten back inch by inch at the hands of Clan Carnage's Bangaa army, until a small clan known as Clan Nutsy allied with them. With the aid of Mercenaries and Clan Nutsy, Ravage was putting up an active resistance against Clan Carnage. Desperate for their enemies' whereabouts, Clan Carnage was taken to capturing Ravage members and torturing them. Most of the clan members Carnage had captured talked easily, almost too easily.
But this man was different.
Slightly taken aback, Clan Carnage called up one of it's best to handle the interrogation, waiting for the time when the interrogation master would appear triumphant before them, and they could march onto the Ravage clan main gates.
After all, the prisoner was only human.
Clan Carnage dungeonsThe Bangaa master lowered the hot Iron again to the man's back. "I'll assk you one more time, sscum. Where iss the elementalisst?"
The man groaned, liquid streamed from his nostrils. A strong scent of burnt flesh hung in the air, tainting the night wind. The man bucked, moaning, and twisted in his bonds. But he didn't utter a word. That had been the case all night.
"The Ssummoner then? The Knight? The Thief? Talk, sscum, and I may let you live." No response. The man's blonde hair was in disarray, and it stuck to his head by grime and sweat alone. The Bangaa master kicked the man in the teeth, knocking him onto his side. He stepped on his ribcage, and began to apply pressure, slowly. The other two Bangaa present watched with dull interest as a popping noise was heard.
"I'll not grant you a quick death, Human. Jusst tell me where they are, where Ravage is, and I'll let you go…"
The man's lips moved. Finally, some reaction. "Speak louder Human."
A small sound emitted from his lips, his voice was very hoarse.
The Bangaa master lifted the human by his hair, and pressed his face close to the mans' "What is it!"
The man spat on the Bangaa Master's snout. He sneered. "Go to hell, lizard."
The bangaa roared with rage as he threw the human's head down. He kicked him in the head until his skull caved. Panting, the Master wiped the spit off of his snout in disgust. He looked briefly down at the soldier, and then turned his attention to his comrades. "The Ssoldier has died due to exsstenssive torture, and the report will ssay so. The location of Ravage is sstill unknown. Clean thiss crap up, I musst go inform our ssuperiorss."
The Master left the room as the two Bangaa set to work, cleaning blood and skin off of the floor with mops and buckets.
The Master walked down a hallway into the Guest corridors and took a left. His thoughts pre-occupied him. It troubled him, as a master of interrogation, that he couldn't get a mere human knight to talk. He followed all the correct procedures, and the human should have broken. Should have.
Humans surprised him. All races have their strengths and weaknesses, the Nu Mou have no physical strength, the Viera have very hidden emotions, the moogle lack the ability to focus, and the Bangaa, despite his dislike of admitting it, have very little magical power. The Humans seemed to be all of the races mixed into one. With intelligence, speed, cunning, and strength, they seemed to be the perfect blend. They also had one attribute that the other races lacked greatly. Loyalty. It was Loyalty that had defeated the Master this time. There is, as the saying goes, a first time for everything.
The Master was beginning to believe that humans were impossible to break.
The Master had failed to break this human, but he would not fail twice. Someone had to find where Clan Ravage's main base was. Or Carnage was doomed.
When the master left, one of the Bangaa workers peeked out the door to see if anyone was around. When he was sure the halls were empty, he turned to his comrade. "Revive him, Nat"
With a quick glance at the Bangaa near the door, Nat kneeled next to the still form of the soldier. Nat crushed a phoenix feather in his palm and sprinkled the powder over the man's wounds and face. He then straightened the human's legs, and touched his forehead with a finger, and waited, staring down at the human. After three minutes, the human opened his eyes.
Nat stood. "Morwitz, he is awake."
Morwitz crossed the room quickly, while Nat took up a position near the door. The human moaned and coughed up blood. Morwitz rubbed the young man's back, smiling. "Welcome back." He whispered. The human's blue eyes were blurry, and his gaze was wild.
"Welcome back, Marche."
On the outskirts of Sphrom:
A Nu Mou rested against a wall, just outside of a Sphrom doorway. His White Mage robes flowed in the subtle wind. He looked left, and then right, his eyes intent and alert. The streets were nearly empty at this hour, with the occasional beggar or merchant haggling the few citizens who inhabited the streets. The White mage watched as a merchant flashed some merchandise to a young Bangaa warrior. He shook his head, and checked the moon in the night sky. Just as he raised his hood and straightened to go, a deep voice was heard.
"Logan".
The Nu Mou turned, hand on his Judge Staff. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "It is about time, my friend. Where have you been?"
"That doesn't matter," The human said, emerging from the shadows. "The informant's been compromised."
Logan's eyes widened. "Impossible. Are you certain you had the right address?"
The human scowled. "Of course I'm sure. Section 4, block 2, unit 16. He wasn't there."
"What about the roof? The next block? Surely he gave you a secondary location-"
"I checked it. Nothing. Roof was clean, and the next block was sealed off. When I arrived, all that was there was a Bangaa Defender and a black mage. Neither was happy to see me." The tall human looked down at Logan. "Either he was captured, or he was killed. Neither is good for us."
Logan shook his head in sadness. This was the third informant they had lost this month. The white mage looked up at the sky. Was the creator against them?
"Logan," the human's voice cut into his thoughts.
Logan turned his soft gaze back on the human. "What should we do, Dominic? We cannot keep losing informants like this. Our HQ is being moved, and without the informants, we will not be able to tell our own agents where it is held, and our operations will fail."
The human sighed, closing his eyes. "We need to move headquarters. Get the word out to Jon and Kelly. We move as planned. I'll send a couple of Viera archers to round up our clan members."
Logan nodded. "What about Clan Nutsy?"
"Montblanc is smart. He'll know what to do." Dominic opened his eyes. "I'll send him a message to get his people out of Sphrom. The less agents captured the better." The human's eyes scanned the street. "You should get back to the apartment."
"And you?"
The human looked back down at Logan. "I'll have to find our informant. I'll signal you if I discover anything."
The white mage nodded. "See you soon, my friend."
The human nodded and left, as silently as he had come. Logan pulled his cloak tighter against himself and started back along the main road.
If anyone can find him, it is you, Dominic. Please find him. Please bring Marche back to us.
