Chapter 6: Blissful City Clik
-Celine, outside of Clik
The group of four approached the port town on a horse-drawn cart. Two brown horses plodded along the road; thus far, they had been well-behaved. Around them, the weather was calm without a cloud in the sky. Near town, they passed a group of wagons that was preparing the set out. "Good afternoon to you folks!" the leader called.
"Good afternoon," Claude called back. He was seated behind the driver's bench, to help watch for bandits approaching from behind.
"You wouldn't happen to be looking for more employment as trade guards, would you?"
He shook his head. "No, we're heading elsewhere. Sorry."
"It's all right." He turned back to the rest. "It's so hard to get enough guards lately."
They were close enough that they slowed their horses. "They seem to have guards already," he said to Celine, who was handling the horses for now.
"It's been dangerous traveling these past five months," she replied. "Ever since the Sorcery Globe fell, the monsters are more active and more dangerous. It was concentrated mostly in Eluria, but it's spread to here. They have to keep up their trades routes, but they don't want the risk."
"That's true." He waited, then hopped out as they came closer to the city gate.
They found a stable near the entrance; the owner had wanted charge them a ridiculous price, but then Kevin showed an order that they were on royal business. As they walked under the entryway arch, the first area they saw was a stone road that spiraled up to a hill. A grand house stood on top of that hill, with others dotted alongside the road. A large inn was right by the gate. Past a riverway, the road started downward and disappeared behind the hill.
"Have either of you ever been to Clik?" Celine asked.
"No," Claude said.
"Me either." Rena then put her hand on Claude's shoulder. "But I thought you were from another continent. You didn't recognize Herlie so you must have come into Cross from here."
He tried to make a show of messing with his red headband, but Celine could see he was blushing. "Well I told you… I can't really explain it. I've just been traveling… a long ways."
"He says he's from somewhere called Urth," Rena said.
"Now that's an odd name," Celine said. "I hadn't heard of it."
"It's nothing," he said in a defeated tone, looking at the ground. He seemed oddly lost at that moment, although Celine couldn't think of why.
She felt it was better not to press the issue. She wanted to leave them as a friend, not someone who made him feel uncomfortable. "Anyhow, Clik is a marvelous place. It's very cultured. There are certain kinds of treasure that I'd only sell in Clik. And the Fountain Plaza is simply exquisite. If you get some time, you really should try out some of the food the vendors cook there."
"I've always wanted to see this place," Rena said, putting her hand to her mouth to disguise a girlish smile. "It might be kind of late for a ship to head out, but we should still check with the docks."
"Sure," Claude said, although his mind was still off thinking of something.
They walked along the spiraling road, which eventually came to a long mural. Other cities might have displayed a war monument or the story of their founding. However, Clik had decided to display this mural of dancing figures, all brightly colored with bold musical notes scattered over their heads and under their feet. Rena and Celine were quickly engaged in talking about which figure they liked best.
At the end of the road, they came to Fountain Plaza. The central figure was a twenty-five foot tall statue of an angel, depicted with its hands in prayer. Water spouted up to its waist, then fell into a large reflective pool. Around it were benches and carts, where many vendors called out their wares, trying to attract customers. The plaza was made of stone too, wide and circular. Thousands of people could have gathered here. Beyond that were many classy shops, selling all sorts of goods. At one end, a great many stairs led up a cliff to an overlook. At the other end, there were flags indicating that the docks were past there.
"Wow, this is busier than Salva on a festival day," Rena said, trying to look at all the action.
"And this is just a regular old day to them," Celine said, slightly teasing. "You ought to see it during their celebration of the angels. I went last year and there were so many lights and music, dancing… it was quite wonderful."
"I imagine."
"Kind of old world," Claude seemed to mumble, but Celine figured she must have misheard him. This was far from old world, most definitely the new age.
They passed though the crowd and entered the dock area. It was massive. Since the town supplied the workforce, the entire bay was broken up into piers, warehouses, and repair docks. Some boats were headed out to catch some evening fishing, while other came in to deliver goods and people. Claude seemed interested in the ships while Rena was looking over everything eagerly.
"Young lady," Kevin said, gently tapping Rena's shoulder.
"Hmm, what is it Kevin?"
"You will want to put your knuckle weapons back on," he advised. "And be cautious. In this kind of place, make yourself less of a target."
"Oh, all right. Thank you." She pulled a pair of clawed gloves and slipped them on.
In the meantime, Celine had found a dock supervisor. "Excuse me sir, but my friends would like to find a ship heading to Port Tenue of Eluria."
He rubbed his chin. "Eluria, huh? Not many ships go there anymore."
"They're going with the blessings of the King," Kevin said. "Show him your passport."
"Sure," Claude said, then took it out of his pack. It was an official signed, sealed, and dated document.
The dock supervisor held it up and titled it towards the sun, to see the heraldry marks that confirmed it. "My goodness, it is a real one. Sorry, but I see so many fakes come through trying to avoid taxes." He handed back the passport, then pointed to the nearest pier. "Best option you have is Captain Ishmael over there, on the White Whale. He's taking some other adventurers up there tomorrow. You'd better hurry as to get a place in the ship, though."
"All right," Rena said.
"Is that really what the ship is called, the White Whale?" Claude asked, some smile coming onto his face.
"Yeah," the supervisor said, puzzled. "Why would you ask?"
"Just some old joke, nothing special." He was still chuckling as they walked away.
Despite the name, the White Whale was a brown and red wooden ship. Celine was thinking that it was a good ship when something didn't happen.
-C.J., 4D
The dock blurred as C.J. got an alert. 'You have a visitor: Dr. Hall.'
Again? She got out of her chair, waited a minute to shake the feeling that there should be scent of seawater around her, then went to the living room. The doctor was there with his briefcase, looking over an illusion screen of information. When she came by, he looked up, smiled, and offered a handshake. "Hello again, C.J.. I hope you've been doing well."
After the handshake, she sat in the couch near him. "I have been, thanks. I was in the middle of something in the Eternal Sphere though."
"Ah, well I'm just checking in on you, so we won't take long. What else have you been doing?"
"I've tried out embroidery lately," she said, indicating her new craft drawers. She picked up a sampler piece that she was working on. It was supposed to be an alphabet, numbers, and flowers, but it was much larger than the others she had done. She was up to 'J' thus far. "It's quite interesting, a mixture of focus and relaxing."
"I see. Still something of a chore."
"If you view it that way," she insisted. "I like having something to show for this hobby. When I get better, I might display them instead of those pictures." Right now, she had some photos of solar sailboats and some paintings of flowers. They were nice, but her own work would be something to take pride in.
Dr. Hall considered it. "Some people really stick to the sewing hobbies, but many pass on to other interests. We'll see how you do."
Unfortunately, nothing she said seemed to sway him on lifting the Sphere restrictions. It was unfair, she thought after he left. Why was he giving her such trouble about finding something to do? The suggestion of starting over on their first meeting was suspicious too. No matter what problems she'd encountered in the past, starting over was usually the last suggestion and had only been made once to her, when her husband had decided to do so. This didn't seem right. Maybe there had been some goof-up in her butler's reports.
Well, she'd get properly mad about this later. Celine was supposed to do some shopping for the wedding supplies in Clik. While most of it could be left to auto, she wanted to be there for at least one thing.
C.J. used Tria to put in a maintenance order on her butler, then logged back in.
-Celine, Clik
For a second, Celine felt lost. What was she doing right now? She was in a clothing store…
It didn't take too long for her to get her bearings back. Right, Claude and Rena had gotten a place on the White Whale under Captain Ishmael. They weren't leaving until tomorrow, but since the captain wanted to pull out early, the passengers were going to sleep in their cabins instead of at the inns. Since they had the afternoon and evening to spend, they were going to other stores to make sure they had plenty of supplies and look for any helpful tools.
As for her, she had a list of things to pick up while she was here. Much of the wedding supplies would come from the castle town itself, but there were a few things that the advisers, dressmakers, and decorators had insisted to be bought here in Clik. Since she wanted to see her new friends off on their trip, Celine had offered to go with them.
The store itself was… interesting. It claimed to be the latest in fashion, but if this was fashion, Celine didn't want to be in on it. A pink dress she was looking at seemed to be misshapen, with sleeves that would be way too long on any normal woman. Then there was this blue scrap of a dress that had mostly transparent material, save for certain areas. While she liked to show off her heraldry tattoos, there was such a thing as too much.
Thankfully, she'd been sent here for materials, not a whole outfit. She went up to the store manager, apparently the only one working at that time. "Hi, I'm here to pick up the supplies for the royal wedding." She showed the letter that proved this.
"Oh sure. I'll be back in a bit." He went through a door, then came back with a large box of fabrics. "I've already got payment for it, so if you could sign the contract, that's all we need." He pulled off the paper that the castle had sent him by pigeon as an order.
Kevin picked up the parcel while Celine signed for it. They then left to put it with the other supplies they had picked up. While the castle had given them a good set of trunks to keep things safe from thieves, Celine added to the security by setting up some H-crystals with shielding spells, so that only she or Kevin could get into the chests.
"I suggest that we go lock this into the stable for the night," Kevin said as he set the package down in one of the trunks. "Even without any shields of the castle, we might attract unwanted attention."
"Right, and the last thing we need I can just hide in my purse." They went up the spiraling road to the entrance of town, then out to leave it with the stable that was taking care of the castle's horses. Then they went back to Fountain Plaza to enter the jewelry shop.
It was a quality place, with a clean interior and many glass display cases for the pieces they had for sale. A salesperson soon found them. "Good afternoon sir, ma'm. May I help you with anything?"
"I'm looking for wedding rings," Celine said.
"For the royal wedding," Kevin interrupted before the clerk could misinterpret anything. "She's marrying the prince."
"Really? How wonderful for you. We've gotten the notice; our display for wedding rings is over here." He led them to the center potion of the back wall. There were about three dozen rings in there. One row was all simple gold and silver ones, for those who couldn't afford much. But then there were more beautiful ones with precious stones and other metals. "We've got this lovely pair over here, made of gold with a rare pink rose diamond for the lady and a white diamond for the gentleman. The stones came from Hoffman Island, but the rings were made in Hilton."
They were quite gorgeous, but she didn't want to settle on a pair just yet. "They are nice. What about this set?" She pointed to a pair two above the pink rose diamond set.
"This is a clear diamond set, identical save for the bands. The stones are from the Linga mountain range and the rings were made in Linga. There's also this set," he pointed to the one between the two. "It's a rainbow diamond pair, made by a Linga alchemist. That's a real show of craftsmanship."
"True."
Right then, there was a strange sense that something wasn't right. The glass cases rattled and the items inside trembled. In the backroom, there was a crash as something fell off a shelf. "Is everything okay back there?" the salesperson called.
"It wasn't too important!" came the reply. "How about in there?"
"Things are jostled around, but it's okay."
"At least it was just a minor earthquake," Celine said.
"Right." The salesperson opened the display cabinet and set things straight. "Any you want me to bring out while I'm in here?"
She thought about it, dismissing the minor quake for now. While these rings were nice, there was a problem. They'd all been made in Lacour. Somehow, it didn't feel right to get those. "Do you have any made here in Cross?"
He paused. "Not at the moment, I'm afraid. We sent our stock to Herlie in an exchange for many of the pieces we have on display, including these now very rare sets from Eluria."
"Oh, that's too bad."
"If you really want Cross made jewelry, I recommend going to Salva. They have the best craftsmen on the continent for jewelry without enchantments."
"Right, that's what I was thinking. Well thank you for your time." She curtsied.
"Of course, m'am."
Outside of the shop, Celine spotted Claude and Rena talking with each other. "Hello, how are you two doing?" she called over to them.
They turned and Rena waved. "Hello! We've got everything in order now. We were trying to figure out what to have for dinner."
"Well there's lots around to chose from. Take whatever you like."
Normally, she would have preferred a classy restaurant. But she had learned in her travels that street vendors in busy cities were usually good too, and cheaper. Before long, they all had something to their liking. Claude had found a steaming fresh seafood stew that came with a cornbread slice. Rena had a plate of mixed dumplings and seemed pleased with the various fillings. After some searching, Celine had found rabbit kabobs with various roasted vegetables. Kevin, not wanting to remove too much of his metallic tan armor (he mumbled something about pride and royal honors), had gotten a pita bread stuffed with barbecue meats.
"The vendor wasn't too open with what kind of meat it was," Kevin said, eying the last portion before eating it.
"Well it can't be anything deadly," Rena said in amusement.
"I think it's goat meat mixed with some other kind," the knight concluded.
Just then, another small quake hit the plaza. It too wasn't that bad; the vendors' goods swayed and the water in the fountain trembled. "Oh my goodness, what's with the earthquakes today?" Celine asked, gripping her magician's hat.
"We were in a general store when the last one hit," Rena said. "This bottle fell off a display shelf and broke and it had the most awful smell." She wrinkled her nose. "The shop owner said it was monster repellent, but I think it would repel everyone, not just monsters."
"Hopefully it's not leading to a large earthquake," Claude said. He tugged at his brown jacket. "Um, do you think I should get some new clothes while we're here? I know I look a little conspicuous in this."
While one couldn't tell at a distance, his clothes were odd up close. They had an unusual cut and were made of an unfamiliar fabric. Rena giggled. "Yeah, and no one would mistake you for the Warrior in his alien raiment again."
"Hey!" he said, but just laughed and let it go.
"Well if you want to do that," Celine said, "don't be going to that store. They had odd tastes. Try that one over by the docks."
As they were walking around the fountain, a voice cut through the crowd. "PLEASE leave now! The wind of destruction is coming! This is your last chance. Leave this city for higher ground or you will perish!"
"What is that about?" Rena asked.
"Probably some mistaken doomsday prophetess," Celine commented.
A short time later, they had cleared enough of the crowd to see the prophetess. She wore a lavender colored cloak with the hood pulled up. Some blue hairs showed underneath the fabric. Although she seemed worried and was pleading all she could, not many people were taking her seriously. "Maybe she has some mental problems," a woman said as she walked on with her boyfriend.
"The quakes are just the beginning," the prophetess said. "Soon, a destructive wind will tear through this place, knocking down buildings and tearing up the docks. Then a great cascade of water will come down upon this town, obliterating it entirely. But you have a chance to save yourselves! Leave the city now and no harm will befall you from the events of this evening! GO! There isn't much time. Please, listen to me."
"If she's right, we could be in trouble," Rena said thoughtfully, putting her hand to her pendant.
"I doubt it," Celine said. "How could just wind and water destroy a whole town just like that? A bigger earthquake, maybe."
Kevin looked up to the orange sky. "There's no storm clouds forming. She's probably mistaken."
As people began to drift away, unimpressed, the prophetess looked disappointed. "Won't you believe me?" she asked quieter. She then noticed their group as they had to get by her in order to reach the clothing store. "Oh… what do you here?"
Since she seemed to direct it at them, Claude asked, "Who do you mean?"
"It's strange; the both of you carry a different air than the rest." She scratched her chin, then pulled something out of her cloak. "Probably not them, but maybe you… take this. I hope you get to safety in time tonight." She tossed something sparkling at them.
Rena caught it. It was a bracelet of a very curious design. For the main structure, there were two golden cords weaving about in a wide braid. In the gaps were various colored gemstones. None of it looked pricey, but it did have a playful prettiness to it. "What's this?"
"Just a bit of lucky mischief," she said. "It won't do you any harm."
"Excuse me," a strange voice came from the crowd. A man brushed through people, ignoring any protests. He wore a cloak too, in dark forest green. But his cloak completely covered his body. Aside from a pair of white gloves (which seemed rather large), nothing more could be seen of him. Behind the hood, there just seemed to be shadow and two faint patches of white. "Miss Filia."
"Oh… Jibril. What are you doing here?"
"I came to retrieve you. What are you doing here? You weren't to leave."
She paled and shrank away. "I went to explore around some."
"It's not safe for you to be out here. Come, I'll take you back home." He took her hand. Although Filia seemed reluctant, she left with the strange man without a word.
"That was odd," Claude said.
"What is this?" Rena asked, turned the bracelet around in her hands. "I sense some kind of power in it."
"May I see?" Celine asked.
"Sure." She handed it over.
She gave it her critical eye. "Well, there's definitely some enchantment on it. Hmmm…" she took a moment to take a spectacle out of her side pocket; she always kept one there. When she put it to her eye, she could see crest symbols around it. "This is peculiar. I haven't seen anything like this outside of a book."
"What?" Rena asked, watching it with curious eyes.
"This particular crest… is a prayer of praise to the goddess of chance. It's not often used; praying to a chaotic god or goddess can end up doing anything to you. But this is very cunningly made. I think she's right. It won't hurt you. It'll just give you a bit of luck, at random. There shouldn't be any harm done in wearing it." As she turned it, she noted something. "Ah, it's missing a few gemstones. Well if it gives you luck, it probably won't be much. But who knows? That little bit might just help out." She handed it back to Rena. "Well the strange prophetess gave it to you. Keep it or do what you will with it."
"Right." She turned it again, then smiled. "I think it's fun and cute myself." She slipped it on her left wrist as a man with a torch walked by on his round of igniting the street lamps. "Well let's go check out that store."
It was mostly outfits that sailors preferred. Even so, it was much better than the so-called fashionable store. Celine pointed out a dark blue robe. "This would look nice on you, Claude."
He looked uncertain. "You think so…?"
"Why, what's wrong with it?" She handed the hanger to him. "Lots of people wear this kind of style in Cross.
He took it, but didn't seem too convinced. "Maybe in Cross, but… where I come from, this isn't very masculine."
"You must be from an odd place then," Kevin said. "That looks to be a pretty nice one, good for a day off wardrobe."
Blushing, he put it back on the rack. "Maybe." He turned to check out some shirts instead.
Kevin went ahead and bought the blue robe, saying that he needed a new one anyhow. Claude eventually found some shirts and pants that satisfied him, as well as a traveler's jacket. Once he paid for them, he changed into the dark brown jacket with a yellow shirt and dark brown pants. "It doesn't look much different than your other outfit," Rena noted. "But it does fit in better."
"Yeah, that's good." They walked out of the store. "Hey, anyone up for dessert?"
"I saw this crepe stand over there," Rena said, pointing to the southern side of the fountain. "It smelled so good. Let's go to that one."
True to her word, the crepe stand smelled magnificent, all kinds of fruits, cream, spices, sugar, and the crepes themselves melted together to make a mouth-watering bait. There were two workers there, one whistling while he cooked up the crepes and the other charming the customers as she filled and rolled them. "Hey, we make all our crepes right here," she said as the four came over. "Do you want any?"
Of course they did. Rena went first, asking for a strawberries and cream crepe, soon getting the luscious and pretty desert on a blue plate, with a spoon. The guys encouraged Celine to go next, so she picked a dark chocolate and raspberry filling, with whipped crème on top. Claude asked for spiced apples, which was topped with the apple syrup. Then Kevin got a gooey banana and whipped crème crepe.
"This was a magnificent idea, darling," Celine said after a few bites of her chocolate crepe.
"I think so too," she said, getting some cream on her next part of the crepe. She looked over to Claude, who was looking to the darkening sky for some reason. "Is something on your mind, Claude?"
"Hmm?" He looked down at them, then shrugged. "Not much. Just a little homesick, I guess."
"Maybe we can go by your home after we check into the Sorcery Globe," she suggested.
That didn't seem to encourage him much, strangely. "Maybe." He went back to eating his crepe, maybe to have an excuse to stop talking.
"We'll have to split up after this," Celine said. "We need to check into the inn and you'll be staying on the boat."
"Right, it's been fun." Rena smiled. "Sorry about missing the wedding, but the captain said that few boats head out to Eluria now. We have to catch this one."
"I know. Well take care of yourself, darlings. Be careful around the Sorcery Globe, but I hope you find something out."
"We'll do our best," Claude said.
"AHEM!" a voice called out over the crowd. Strangely, it did seem to be over the crowd, from above. When people looked up, they saw a strange sight. There was a man floating there.
At least, it seemed to be a man. He was spidery, with his limbs all stretched out. He seemed to be wearing body armor. However, there were no holes in this armor, not even at the helmet. And it was crimson and silver, strange colors for metal armor. That is, if it was metal. It had a visual dullness that didn't seem like steel or other armor metals.
"I AM SHIGEO," his voice boomed over them, seemingly filled with echoes. "WHILE YOUR PRIMITIVE EFFORTS TO UNDERSTAND THE THING YOU CALL THE SORCERY GLOBE HAVE BEEN AMUSING, IT HAS GOTTEN TO THE POINT OF ANNOYANCE. THUS, WE ARE DESTROYING THIS PORT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU STOP SENDING SHIPS OVER FROM HERE. AND, WE'RE KIND OF BORED. THE FATE OF YOUR CITY IS COMING. THE FATE OF YOUR PLANET IS IN THE SKY."
Then he took off into the sky and vanished.
For a moment, there was a tense feeling in the crowd. No one was sure if they should panic or not. But then, nothing seemed to happen. Finally, somebody called out, "Today's been just screwy!" Others laughed and began to relax. It wasn't quite as jovial, though.
"I'd agree with him," Celine said.
But as they gave back the plates and silverware to the crepe vendors, Clik was shaken yet again. But not from the earth. No, this time the very air seemed to vibrate. Celine felt her ears pop as the air pressure plummeted. It got hard to breathe, like on the tops of mountains. Dirt and lightweight items got sucked upwards.
Now people began to panic. Unfortunately, anyone who screamed fainted or fell down gasping. Rena clasped Celine's arm, as they were closest. "Wh-what's going on? This… wind is unnatural."
"Didn't that Filia say something about wind?" Claude said. Then his expression turned serious. "We have to get to higher ground!"
Normally in a windstorm, Celine would seek the shelter of indoors or find a dip in the ground that could provide cover. In this case, she didn't argue. Claude led them to the stairs that went to the overlook cliff. Some others had the same idea, while others tried going indoors or down to the dock warehouses. Given the situation, it was a tough run. The twenty or so people who went up to the overlook were all out of breath by the time they made it up there.
And then the wind blasted downward. Even up on the outlook, people felt the unnaturally high power this wind had. Celine pulled off her hat before it could be blown off, letting her pale blond hair get blown all over. All the dirt and things that had been sucked up came plummeting back down again, faster than they would normally fall. But those weren't dangerous.
The wind itself was most dangerous. Stone and brick buildings that had withstood years of sea gales could not withstand the destructive wind coming from above. They collapsed as if crushed by invisible hands, most likely killing everyone that had sought shelter inside. From the great howl that came from the wind, one would think that the gods were angry. But there were still no clouds in the sky, or any indication of a storm.
After a few minutes, the wind died off. Celine's ears popped again now that the atmosphere had come back to normal. Down below, some buildings were still standing, although shorter than they were before. Most everything else was rubble and dust. Fountain Plaza was a mess, with the angel statue smashed and all the vendor carts squashed. Further on, the docks looked to be a total loss. Wood scraps filled the harbor and there didn't seem to be any ships left.
"Was it an attack from the Sorcery Globe demons?" someone in the crowd asked. Various others began talking amongst themselves. Several of them, mostly the children, started crying.
"Oh my word!" someone up on the highest platform yelled. "Stay up here!"
Celine went up the stairs a bit and noticed that people were looking out to sea. She got up enough to see past a tree and saw that the destruction wasn't over. While she had seen great waves before, they had all been like large bulges in the ocean. This was more like a vast wall of water, approaching Clik at an unbelievable speed. It crashed ashore with a mighty roar, demolishing anything left standing and drowning the whole town. Along with this, another quake shook the area, collapsing much of the ground Clik was built on. With a second smaller wave, the area that had once been Clik was now a litter-strewn part of the bay.
By some luck, the overlook had not collapsed to the wind, nor the tsunami, nor the earthquake. Most everyone there was upset, lamenting their losses. Celine waved her three companions down and spoke quietly. "It seems you're out of luck here."
"This is awful," Rena said, crying a bit herself out of sympathy. "It didn't seem natural."
"No wizard could demolish a city like this in such a short period of time," Celine said. "Even a group coordinating their efforts couldn't do this."
"If those demons are this strong, we'll have to redouble our efforts," Claude noted.
"You still have your passport from the king, don't you?" Kevin said. "You could use it at Herlie to cross over to Hilton and reach the Lacour continent. If his majesty King Cross sends his word ahead of you, then King Lacour would certainly assist you in reaching Eluria."
"Would that really work?" Rena asked.
He nodded. "Our kings have been at peace for many years, in good alliance."
"Sounds good." Claude looked up at the various people of Clik. "Not much we can do to help them," he said softly. "Is there a path out to the main road from here? We can check to see how the stable fared."
That seemed like the thing to do, so they climbed down the stairs to the new shoreline. There was a path that managed to keep out of the water, although it was strewn with debris. With them came six others who decided that leaving Clik was probably the best thing to do now.
Thankfully, the stables were in relatively decent shape. "But lots of fences are down and some of the buildings are damaged," one stable hand told them. "Could you help us look for runaway horses and protect the open areas from monsters?"
"Sure thing," Claude said, getting agreements from the others.
"Besides, we wouldn't want to be hooking up the horses when they're all spooked like this," Kevin added. "We can leave in the morning."
Later that evening, Claude came up to Celine. "You doing okay?"
"I'm exhausted," she said with a weary smile. "You look worn down too."
"Yeah, it's been a long day. Hey, but may I ask you about something? Do you know astronomy well?"
She nodded. "Yes, knowledge of the stars is basic instruction for sorcery. What is it?"
He pointed up to the starry sky. "I noticed a star out tonight that I don't think was out last night. It seems odd… that bright blue one up there."
When Celine looked, there was a large blue star very close to the Water Maiden constellation. It was very bright, the brightest one in the whole sky. Yet, its light shone like that of a planet, steadier than the rest. "Hmm, that's odd. From the light, you'd think it was a planet, but there's no planet that shines blue like that. It's brighter than even the Shining Eye star of Justice."
"That is the planet's fate?" Claude wondered aloud, thinking on the stranger's words.
There's a plot NPC in Clik, a blue haired boy named Ketil, who was quite obviously skipped here. His primary purpose was to get players to explore Clik and grow to like it, right before it got utterly destroyed. Since I managed that with who I had, I skipped Ketil.
There was also a lack of clarity of what exactly caused Clik's destruction, perhaps due to the PSX translation. There's talk of earthquakes, unnatural winds, and a tsunami. I went with all three. And no mention ever is made of the Nedian energy body, even though it's bright blue-green and should be easily seen in the Expellian night sky.