CHAPTER 2
THE EXILED
It has been 3 weeks since Ovelia perished at the hands of Delita and little has changed. Delita has decided to dispatch his troops to locate Ramza Beoulve and destroy him, for fear his dark deeds be exposed. Using intelligence, the troops have traced Ramza and his companions to an abandoned dock near Gariland Magic City. There they hope to wipe out Ramza and his rebel friends.
Little do they know that the real war is just beginning...
"Hey Cid, give us a hand here!" Ramza Beoulve shouted to Orlandu (also known as "Thunder God Cid") as he and his friend Mustadio struggled to shove Worker No.8 aboard the ship they had found and restored. Queen Ovelia was dead, King Delita had total control over everything and Ramza and his friends were on the run from the church and Delita's troops. They had built a ship so that they could sail away to Steronn, a country where the church had no influence at all. In fact, it was mostly jungle and wasteland, with few habitable biomes.
"Are you sure that Steronn is where we should go?" Agrias Oaks, who until recently had been Ovelia's bodyguard, asked Ramza. "We're just running away from the problem? Is that it?"
"What can we do?" Cloud Strife asked as he lugged a huge suitcase onto the ship. "This country's going to pot, and we're all wanted heretics. You wanna just stay here and let them gut us?"
"I never said that!" Agrias growled at the time traveler. "But it just seems like we're taking the coward's way out... Hey, Alicia! Lavian! Be careful with my weapons chest over there!"
"Sometimes the coward's way is the best way," Mustadio argued. He and Agrias had really been snapping at each other a lot lately. Nobody knew why, not even themselves.
"I will go where the master goes," Worker No.8 said as he slowly walked onto the boat and sat down in the middle to maintain balance.
"And we don't have a home anymore anyway," Rafa sighed as she helped Malak load a crate of fruits on board. "Besides, I want to see the rest of the world."
"I agree with Rafa," Beowulf, a renowned hunter, said as he practiced slashing with his sword. "I'm just itching for some adventure."
Reis and Meliadoul said nothing, but boarded the ship and sat down. They both agreed that staying quiet on this one would be the wisest decision.
"OK, is that everything?" Ramza asked. He turned around and looked. All he saw that was left was his sister, Alma. She was standing at the edge of the enclosure they were building their boat in, watching the eternally green pine trees shift in the gentle wind on the turf outside.
"Alma?" Ramza asked as he walked up behind her.
"I can't believe she's gone..." Alma sighed. "She was my best friend in the world."
"I'm sorry too," Ramza said. "Circumstances surrounding the whole thing are pretty darn shady, if you ask me, but..."
Alma sniffled a bit. "Look," Ramza finally said. "When things cool down here, we might come back and do some detective work and find out what really happened. In the meantime, however-"
Ramza's words were cut short by an arrow embedding itself in the wall next to Ramza. "Crap!" he shouted, shoving Alma inside. "Get on the boat! I'll catch up!"
"So, we finally meet, Ramza Beoulve!"
Ramza turned around to see about 20 knights and archers standing in front of him. One of the Archers, apparently the leader, cleared his throat. "By order of his supreme excellency Delita Hyral, you and your heretic band will be executed immediately!"
"What?! Not while I'm around!" Ramza said, turning around and heading for the boat.
"Kill him!" the captain roared, verbally unleashing the knights and the archers' barrages of arrows at Ramza. Ramza turned around and saw he'd have to slow the onslaught down while Mustadio got the ship moving.
"Get it moving, Mustadio!" Ramza shouted. "I'll keep 'em busy!"
"Right!" Mustadio shouted as he opened the sails and cranked up the motor- a new invention he had made- and the ship began to move out to sea.
"Kill them! Kill all of them!" the captain yelled.
"Not today you won't," Ramza growled. "Earth Slash!!!"
Ramza slammed his fist into the ground, blowing the knights and archers everywhere. Then he turned and ran to the ship and jumped on just as the dock vanished below him.
"Archers, fire! Kill the heretics!" the captain shouted as he armed his own bow. Arrows started falling everywhere.
"Why can't those shmoes just leave us alone?!" Rad, Ramza's apprentice, growled. He threw a few Lightning Balls over the side of the ship and the arrows stopped. Rad sighed with relief.
"Well gang, we're off!" Ramza said. "Off to a place where the church isn't. Somewhere where we won't be attacked and persecuted for stuff we didn't do."
"Sounds good to me," Rafa said, looking over the ship's bow. Her dark brown hair blew gently in the ocean breeze and the salt air tickled her caramel-tinted skin.
"Urgh. I'm getting seasick..." Alicia, one of Agrias's apprentice knights, groaned. She ran to the side of the boat and... well... you know.
"You'll get used to it eventually," Lavian, Agrias's other apprentice, said as she watched Alicia regurgitate with sluggish curiosity before turning back to her book.
"We'll finally get away from that pig, Delita," Agrias grumbled as she looked back at the mainland. "Good riddance, I say! May fate make him infertile!"
Malak shuddered. "Oi, that's a wicked curse," he muttered. "Remind me not to tick you off."
"Amazing, this ship!" Mustadio said as he steered the craft across the waves. "It's almost like we're flying."
"I've lived in Ivalice all my life," Orlandu said. "...And now they want my head on a stick there. I wonder if I'll be able to handle this change?"
"I know this is tough for all of you," Ramza addressed his friends. "It's hard for me, too. But remember, we're all in this together. We'll get through this and start a new life elsewhere."
There was a respectful silence.
"...Ovelia, one of these days, I shall avenge you!" Agrias solemnly vowed between clenched teeth.
"I'll see my dad again one day," Mustadio said. "Until then, I'll follow you wherever you go, Ramza."
"Maybe I'll find a way to get back to my own time overseas," Cloud said. "I'm not exactly enjoying this, but you guys are great friends."
"We'll all find something, I'm sure," Rafa said.
"Well," Rad said. "Anyone for a chorus of 'Yo Ho Ho And A Bottle of Rum?'"