Chapter Two: The Fields of Fum
As Layle jumped off the ship, he immediately noticed that there were no Selkies nor Lilties in this port. Glad that he wouldn't have to be running away from any guards for the moment, Layle decided to explore.
Immediately, he found that this was only a port and was not a true city. As he passed by the few buildings that there were, he saw that there were a few Clavats selling fruits and vegetables to the passengers of the newly-arrived ship. Hiding in an alley where nobody could see him, Layle swung out his hand. A blue aura appeared both around his hand and one of the many striped apples that a young man was trying to sell. Pulling the apple to his hand, Layle immediately walked away before anyone would see him and took a bite out of the apple. He might not want to show off his powers to many people, but he didn't want to waste the little money that he had either.
Soon Layle was able to find a road leading out of the port. He read the sign at the beginning of the road, which said, "Fields of Fum: West."
"Fields of Fum?" Layle muttered to himself. "I wonder what those are."
An elderly Clavat man turned to Layle. "You have never heard of the Fields of Fum?"
Layle inwardly cursed himself for speaking his thoughts aloud. "No, I haven't."
"Well, don't worry yourself over it. Not many newcomers do know much about our lands." The man beckoned behind him to a cart being pulled by a chocobo. "I myself am heading back to the Fields right now. Would you care to join me?"
Layle nearly declined the offer, then he realized that, since he was new to the area, this old man could be a very helpful guide to him. "Sure," he answered.
"I'm glad to hear it. Oh, please excuse my manners. My name is Kalfel."
"I'm Layle."
"Nice to meet you Layle." The two Clavats seated themselves in the cart and headed toward the Fields of Fum.
After about an hour, the man turned north onto a second road as the first road continued west. "What lies further west?" Layle asked Kalfel.
"Only monsters and bandits. I wouldn't go west of the Fields if I were you," Kalfel advised.
After a few more minutes, the Fields came into sight. There were dozens of fields, and their fertile soil were growing every kind of plant and tree a farmer would raise. As they passed by a few of the Fields, Layle saw children picking grapes, peaches, pears, and apples while the adults harvested the wheat and corn. Everybody in the fields were Clavats, and Layle saw the occasional straw huts next to the fields. I wonder if the Lilties are forcing them to do the dirty work just like in Harvest Prairie, Layle thought to himself.
Then, after the cart had reached the top of a hill, Layle saw the city. It was not nearly as large as Alfitaria, but it was still capable of supporting a few thousand people. The highest the buildings got were two stories, and it looked like almost all the houses had only one story. Obviously no rich Lilties live in this town.
But it wasn't the city that caught most of Layle's attention. It was the crystal in the center of the city, similar to the Lilty Crystal. Four crystal arcs (similar to the two crystal pillars that used to hold the Lilty Crystal) rose into the sky and curved back down to a point high above the city. There, they met together, and hanging from them was the crystal. It had the shape of a triangular pyramid, and what looked like vines made of crystal were surrounding it. The vines of crystal did not touch the larger crystal, but they circled around it as if shielding it from any attacks. As he gazed upon it, Layle couldn't help but feel that this crystal was a symbol of peace coinciding with nature.
"What is that?" Layle wondered.
"That is the city of Fum," Kalfel replied. "Just as the Vale of Alfitaria was named after the Lilty capital, the Fields and Plains of Fum were named after our Clavat capital. Of course, the city used to only be a small village of cottages and farmers, However, a thousand years ago, we Clavats turned that village into this city.
"And that beautiful object in the middle of the city is the Clavat Crystal. It is an amazing thing; not only is it wonderful to look at, but it blesses our fields with life."
And it is the only thing keeping you and me within this world, Layle realized. Despite the many times he had seen the Lilty Crystal and the one time he had seen the Yuke Crystal, he had never even suspected that a Clavat Crystal existed as well.
Suddenly, as Layle stared at the Clavat Crystal, a series of questions entered his mind. Could there be a Selkie Crystal as well? Surely there had to be, but where was it? And why hadn't Layle seen any Lilties or Selkies so far? How was it that neither they nor himself had ever heard of this place?
With all these questions in mind, Layle sat back and waited as the cart drew ever closer to the Clavat city of Fum.
