CORNERIAN FIELDS, WORLD B.

DAY 02, CYCLE "014".

BRANDT

The walk was a pretty depressing one, he'd decided. Everyone was quiet, and the world around them was lifeless. From the Sanctuary to this field, there had been nothing more than a barren wasteland. In the distance were some ruins, he thought, but he couldn't be sure. On every side there was an indication of life, and the stark reminder of its absence.

The world, he realized, was very much dead. Brandt had never seen a dead world before. At least, he assumed he never had. It certainly felt that way. Nothing lived here. There was no grass, there were no trees, no birds singing in the air. If he drank up the sea, he would find no fish underneath it. This was a dead world, and thinking that made him wonder: if one were to die in a dead world, where did one go?

It was too depressing a thought for him to dwell, on though. Brandt had never considered himself one for brooding, and he didn't think that this would be a good time for him to really focus on that. So he allowed his eyes to wander a bit as he walked along in silence with his companions.

Kaze walked rather rigidly, he noted, while Layle put a lot more energy into his steps. Ramza was striding far ahead of them, with Benjamin trying to catch up. In front of him on the trail was Y'shtola. Her tail was fairly distracting, and it ultimately lead to his tripping once or twice as he stared at it. He remembered, vaguely, having a tail of his own, once. Which was odd, since he most certainly didn't have one now. Aside from Y'shtola there was Aya, whose pants were made of a strange fabric that he was trying to figure out the origin of.

No longer able to bear the silence, Brandt slipped past Y'shtola to walk alongside Aya, and asked, "Hey, this is gonna be a weird question," he began. She looked at him inquisitively and he, wincing, asked, "What are your pants made from?"

Aya stared back a moment, then, with a small smile, said, "Denim. They're jeans. Haven't you ever seen jeans before?"

"Uhm, no. Are they comfortable? They look pretty tight."

"Wh-? U-uh, yeah, they're fine."

"Were you in a fight?" He asked.

"What?"

"Your pants are all ripped up. Did you get attacked?"

"What's your obsession with my pants, anyway!" Aya snapped at him.

Brandt took a step back as he realized the others had all stopped to see what the commotion was. "N-nothing," he muttered, before lowering his head. The group began to walk again, and he returned to the rear.

His ears red with embarrassment, Brandt wondered what he had said wrong. All he'd done was ask a few questions about Aya's pants. Was that so wrong? After all, they were something odd, like the "gun" she carried. He'd never heard of jeans or guns and he wanted to know more. It felt to him like she was being awful harsh for no good reason.

His reverie was interrupted, though, when Ramza called the group to a halt. When he caught up with the rest of the group, Brandt heard Layle ask, "What's up?"

"Someone's up ahead," Ramza said. "They're walking slowly, but they're heading our way."

"What are we waiting here for, then?" Aya exclaimed, "let's go see who it is!"

"And what if it's one of Chaos' men?" Kaze pointed out. "We just go running into their arms?"

"I-I hadn't thought-,"

"No, I didn't think you had."

"CLI-CHE," Layle groaned. "Even your put downs are cliché, man!"

"Should we ambush them?" Benjamin asked. "We outnumber them. We could strike first and ask questions later."

"I think we should just observe them." Y'shtola offered, "We should hide ourselves and watch. If it turns out to be Chaos' warriors, we stop them. If it's an ally, we offer aid."

"What if it's neither?" Brandt asked.

"Who would possibly be here other than us and Chaos' warriors?" Kaze asked. "In case you haven't noticed, nothing lives here."

"Cosmos does," Brandt replied.

"Which is a greater bother, still," Ramza said. "We know so little about Her, but find ourselves forced into Her service."

"Not my fault," Kaze said.

"No, I suppose not. Nor have I any to blame but myself for this. Still, something seems off about all this. Y'shtola's plan is the wisest. Let us hide ourselves and wait to see what is coming."

At Ramza's command, they all scrambled off to hide on the sides of the pathway. Aya and Kaze ducked under an out cropping, where Aya held her gun upward. Ramza and Benjamin lay down behind several stones where they had a clear view of the road. That left Brandt to semi-cuddle with Y'shtola and Layle at the bottom of the hill.

Ten minutes passed, and Brandt became severely uncomfortable. He'd never been this close to a girl before. Not even a cat-girl like Y'shtola. He had the smallest impression he'd known another girl who'd been a cat, but he wasn't sure. On the other hand, Y'shtola's body felt soft, and warm, and he kind of liked it in a way he wasn't able to express.

A shuffling sound pulled his attention away from her and to the crest of the hill. Silhouetted by the dying sun was a figure, slowly dragging itself along. It reached the top of the hill, then fell forward, rolling down the hill. Brandt moved to check on it, but Y'shtola restrained him. He turned to face her, and her eyes demanded his staying still.

The figure pulled itself up, and it became apparent that its leg was broken, as well as one of its arms. Supposing such a creature could be no real threat, the party came out of hiding to check on it. It stopped as they approached, as if to watch them.

The only problem was it had no eyes. It had holes in its face where eyes should be, and spheres which could be taken to mean eyes, but they couldn't accurately be called eyes. They seemed to be, like the rest of its body, made from a strange crystalline flesh, a pale blue in color. It was wearing armor, and in- no, fused to- one of its hands was a broken sword, the blade extending less than a full foot forward. Its body moved as if it were breathing, but the sound it made was sickly, and almost mechanical.

"Are you alright?" Layle asked it.

The person turned its head in his direction, and swung its sword at him. They all took a step back after that. It was clear that this thing was not exactly friendly. Still, it was so pathetic that attacking it seemed hopelessly cruel.

"Do you think it understands us?" Ramza asked.

"It? It's a he! Look at him! He's hurt!" Aya insisted.

"Have you ever seen a person like this?" Y'shtola asked, stepping toward the crystal man. "He looks unwell, if indeed he is not meant to look like this."

As she was about to stroke its side, Benjamin snapped, "Don't touch it!" At once everyone turned to look at him. "It's a Manikin."

"A what?" Kaze asked, eyeing him over his shades.

"A Manikin." Benjamin repeated. "The word came to me just now."

"What are mannequins?" Brandt asked.

"I don't remember. Like I said, the word just came to me. I think they're monsters."

"Look at him, though!" Aya replied, "he looks human! How can he be a monster?"

"Are you blind?" Layle barked, "Stupid thing took a swing at me!"

"I say we put it down," Y'shtola said, rubbing the side of her arm with her hand and eyeing the Manikin uneasily.

"Put it down!" Aya shouted, "What for?"

"That does seem a bit unnecessary," Ramza said. "Its sword is broken and blunt. This thing poses no threat to us."

"Where do you think it was headed?" Kaze asked, indicating that he had an idea. "We're still less than a day's march from the Palace of Order, and we left Cosmos undefended there. You and I can kill this whenever we want. Could our Goddess in distress, though?"

"There's more to it than that," Benjamin added. "Can you imagine waking up tonight and seeing this thing hovering above you, ready to stab? Sure, the blade's blunt, but with enough force . . ."

"I don't like it." Y'shtola said to Aya, "I don't like the way it looks at me with its dead eyes. I don't like the sound it makes when it breathes. I don't like that it can walk with broken legs. This is an unholy thing, and we should put it down for that, if nothing else."

"Bullshit! We're just going to kill things we don't like? What about you, huh? You're some cat-thing! Where I'm from cats are pets, not people! Should I shoot you because I'm not comfortable with what you are?"

"I would like to see you try," Y'shtola snarled.

"That's enough!" Ramza interjected. "None of us likes the idea of killing something that can't defend itself, but Kaze and Ben have good points. We can't let this thing kill us our Cosmos."

"So it's kill or be killed here, huh? How long before we turn on each other?" Aya demanded.

"Haven't we already?" Kaze asked. "Seems to me I'm on this journey against my will."

"Everybody shut up!" Brandt cried at last. "What kind of heroes are you! Cosmos asked us to save Her and put Her faith in us! Look at you all, fighting about stupid stuff like this! I'll put it down. If any of you have a problem with what we're doing here, go away. I'd rather die trying to get the crystal myself than live wondering when my own team is going to kill me!"

With that, Brandt drew his sword and stepped toward the Manikin. It cocked its head at him, then raised its broken sword.

"You don't have to do this, Brandt." Aya said.

"Yes I do. I want my memories back, and I want to keep my home safe, even if I can't remember it. This thing took a swing at Layle. What if it gets past us and takes a swing at the people we love? I won't let that happen!"

The Manikin limped into what was almost a lunge, but before it could get anywhere near him, Brandt brought his sword down on its head, splitting it in half. A strange, clear liquid sprayed out from the wound, and the Manikin made a horrible shrieking noise as Brandt hit it a second time. After that, it collapsed to the ground in a pathetic mess, not unlike a crumpled paper.

"We're going to have to make hard choices," Ramza said, "I think yours was the first, Brandt."

The rest of the Warriors of Cosmos looked at one another uneasily, waiting to see if any would leave the group then and there. At last, Benjamin broke the silence by asking: "So, who's hungry?"