Chapter 9: Elegance
- Why can't we just pour some magick recorvery potion into his mouth? – Luso asks. After seeing Marche in that condition, of course he would find any possible way to make him recover as soon as possible. If he can, he'll runs back to the inn as fast as possible with Marche on his back, but Marche's weight makes even walking normally is hard enough
- Instead of helping him, that action might do harm to his life. Didn't you feel strange when I didn't do that to Ezel? – Montblanc answers. Though his tone is still like normal, in fact, ever since they started to get back to the inn, he has been resisting the urge to pour all of the high quality recovery potions he holds into Marche's throat
- I never knew that this is what happened when you overusing magick – Hurdy says. It really is shocking to see something like that. He can't even imagine what kind of thing they'll feel when they experience something like that
- You're mistaken. In the past there are some cases where the magick user died from overusing magick, but there are no records of anyone who have similar symptoms like that – Ezel comments. He wishes that he can also firmly believe in the words he just said
- Then what cause this to him?
- Like I said, there are no records of this happening in the past so my knowledge of this matter is very limited. However, when we get back, I can perform a few test on him-
"""No way!""" – The three says it at the same time. Even a kid knows that you should not leave a man suffered from a rare disease to a scientist, especially a "genius". Why? Because the more he knows, the more tests he would perform to finds out all possible cause
- At least you can appreciate my intention to help him despite of my health condition – It's true that he did get some magick from Marche, but that amount is just barely enough to help him survive. Even right now, his walking is still unsteady
- You just want him to be your guinea pig, do you?! If you want to help, then help me to carry him! – Luso retorts immediately. He has been carrying Marche for half an hour so he's very tired right now – And why did you have to pick some place so faraway from the inn anyway?
- Then do you want the owner to see all that dangerous stuffs after we begged her to let us stay just this morning?
- Ugh…
- Hey, I can see the city already!
- Finally! When he wakes up, I'll make sure to tell him to cut down on his meal. Despite his small and thin body, he sure is heavy even with out both of his arms!
- What should we do now? It has been two days and bro hasn't even opens his eyes. His body is back to normal, or at least it seems like that
- By the way, does anyone know when his body started to "grow" back?
- When I slept with him last night, the part between the elbow and the wrist is back, kupo
- Earlier this morning, I can see his palm, kupo
- And finally, when I checked up on bro a few minutes ago, his hands are back to normal
- It's a shame that I'm unable to see the whole "recovery" process. After all, this is the first time anyone has seen something like this
- If you really want to see it then why didn't you stay with him since the day before?! His hands disappear after he use magick to save your life!
- You want a weak old man like me to do that?
- Old? Sure. But weak my ass! You're the one who was near death 2 days ago, yet now you're standing here like nothing happened!
- Ah right. About that matter, there's something I need to ask you all: how did Marche saves me?
- Didn't I tell you, kupo? He used some kind of magick-transferring spell-
- That kind of spell is not common. Spell like that usually get sealed and never get to see the daylight. It's true that in war time, such spell can be use. However, there're some restrictions. First, it's not the current owner of the spell who gets to choose who'll inherit the spell, it's the spell itself. Those who are deem worthy of the spell will have to face many hardships to prove his or her worth. And second, any spell of transferring is very dangerous to the user. Overusing normal magick can cause damages to your health, but this kind of spell damages your life span instead, so usually one can only perform this spell one time in their whole life
- Only once?!
- That's right. If you can see life force as a bag of gil, then each day you'll have to take out a certain amount of gil, similar to how your life force are being drained in every day's live. However, casting this spell is like the act of borrowing a large amount of gil from the bag at once. Usually, the large amount here…
Ezel hesitate to continue. Even he himself doesn't want to hear this information at all. This is one of a few times in his life that he actually feels regret for knowing so much.
- … is all the remaining gil in the bag.
- What! But, bro is still alive, right?
- This, I don't know. Because there had never been any case of performing this kind of spell and still alive, so I don't know what is going on here. The spell is not complicated so even a child can use it. The thing is, you need to overcome obstacles to obtain this spell. I heard that the previous owner of the spell is dead before the spell can find another user, so that spell should be forgotten by now, yet … somehow Marche manages to get his hand on that stuff
- There's no way Marche can do that kind of stuff. His aptitude for high leveled magick is next to none, kupo. You and I both know that better than anyone else
- But you all witnessed how he did it in front of your eyes, didn't you?
- Speaking of which, I remembered him reading the Gran Grimoire. Maybe the spell is written in there, kupo?
Ezel turns to look at Hurdy. This piece of information shocks him. Even a forgotten spell is written in there, then maybe, just maybe …
- No, kupo. There's no such spell in that book
- How can you tell, brother? Did you read the book, kupo?
- I did, kupo. However, when I turned to the middle of the book, there's a spell written in there, just not the one Marche performed.
- Wait, you OPENED the book?! How did you do it?
- I did it normally, kupo
- Normally, as in, the same as what you do to normal books?
- That's right. So what, kupo?
- Hurdy and I tried many times to open that book, yet the book just can't be opened, I tell you!
"Here, let me demonstrate, kupo", Hurdy says as he use all of his strength to opens the book, yet nothing happened. He tries it once, twice, and then third, but the outcome is still the same: the book can't be opened
"That's weird. Let me try, kupo", Montblanc takes the book from his little brother and, opens it within a second. Luso and Hurdy are stunned. They worked so hard just to open this book. They even tried to burn the book, hoping that the thing that glued the book together can be melted (thankfully, the book is still intact afterward)
Montblanc then turns the pages. He stops at the middle. It's the same spell he saw when he opened the book two days ago. Hurdy, Ezel and Luso also gather behind Montblanc's back to see what's written in that page. However, when Montblanc turns around to see their faces, various emotions can be seen: Hurdy is confused, Luso is disappointed and Ezel is shocked
- So, where's this spell you told us? – Hurdy is the first to speak up. He knows that his brother would never lie to him, but…
- Huh? It is right here, isn't it? - Montblanc answers. He doesn't understand what his brother want to say
- Right here? But this is-
- -a blank page – Luso's words finished what Hurdy want to say. He wants to see what kind of spell is written in here, and whether or not it can be use to help Marche. But when he thinks about it, if it's a spell that can help Marche then surely Montblanc had already casts it on his friend
- What are you talking about? It is right here, right Ezel?
Montblanc tries to ask his old friend, but he still stands there with a shocked expression. His eyes are glued to the page. It's like he had found what he has been searching for after a long period of time
"Hey, Ezel!", Montblanc's voice pulls Ezel back to reality. Montblanc seems to have asks him something, but his mind was not even in the state to hear what his friend have to say. Finally, the thing he had been searching for a few decades, the thing that he had given up hope on finding it, it is right in front of his eyes now
- Sorry, I spaced out a bit. What do you want to ask?
- There's a spell on this page, right? Do you see it?
- Of course! – Ezel answers instantly with all his strength. His answer is mean for himself. He wants himself to think that his dream is within his grasp
The other three are startle by his answer. Montblanc regains his composure and begins to talk as if nothing happened. He is too used to unexpected words coming from his clanmates from clan Centurio. "Maybe all clans are like that", he thinks
- Though this is a spell I have never seen before, it may become handy in the future
- What spell is it? I can't see, remember? - Luso is also curious in what kind of spell is written in there
- Well, if I have to describe it, it's a spell to track a person, kupo
Ezel is shocked with Montblanc's words. He can't understand what Montblanc's saying. "What is he talking about?! This is not a searching spell, this is-", his thinking line is halted. Similar to how Hurdy and Luso are unable to see anything written on the page, maybe Montblanc's vision of the page is also different from his vision
- But this is a spell that I have never seen before. Do you know this spell, Ezel?
- Ah, no. Sorry, I can't say, because what I'm seeing is not something what you're seeing
- What? Now Ezel is seeing something that's different from what Montblanc is seeing? I can even understand what is what anymore!
Looking at the confused Luso, Ezel comes up with a plan. If it does succeed, then his dream will be within his hands. He's no longer his powerless old self; he's now someone that people called "genius". Together with this, he will achieve, no, he must achieve what he had been searching for. Now first he needs to act like usual and tries to steer the talk's direction
- Don't you find it strange that Montblanc and I can see and you two can't? – Ezel calmly asks. He has been waiting for this for years, waiting a little more is not a big deal
- Now that you mention it, it does seem like that, kupo
- Maybe the book itself has some kind of magick that make each person's perception is different from other. If that's the case, then it's easy to understand
- But … Luso and I both can't see what's written, kupo
- I think there's a trigger or something that we have accidentally activated. From the first place, you two couldn't even open the book, while Montblanc was able to do it, then Montblanc can "see" but you two can't. There must be some conditions that Montblanc and I had acquire but you two hadn't
- Can you be more specific? That's too vague of an explanation coming from you
Ezel was waiting for the talk to reach this point. With this, he will begin his first step back onto the road that he had once abandoned. He then grab the book with his right hand and says:
- Well then, maybe I should do a little research on this item. It may take a while, but then I'll be able to answer your question
- Wait, where are you talking the book to?
- Back to my laboratory, of course. My real laboratory – Ezel says and walks away. He need to head back up to his room and get ready to go
- Hey! We are not even agreeing with you taking that book back to your laboratory yet
Ezel doesn't stop walking. Luso feel pissed. This is the first time his words are ignored. In the past, no matter how much people thought he's stupid, weird or some stuff like that after his speaks, at least they were all listen to what he said. He then follows the nu mou and places his right hand on Ezel's shoulder and stops him. "I said-", his voice filled with displeased. Ezel stops. He turns around and looks at Luso. He doesn't say anything, but his expression is enough to declare his intention: "Death to anyone who tries to get in my way". The intention may not be clear on his face, but if one take a look at his eyes, he can feels that the end of someone who tries to mess with him is not gonna be hell, it'll be something much, much worse than that. Luso quickly takes his hand of Ezel's shoulder. He feels that if he did it a few seconds latter, Ezel will let him stare death in the eye right away.
"Oh come on. It's my dream to be able to get my hand on something like this. After all, a grimoire with the power to takes away the consciousness of so many people is something you don't see everyday, so let me check it out, will you?", Ezel says it like usual. Even his intention is not visible on his face anymore, as if what was happening a few second ago is just something inside Luso's mind. Ezel turns away and continues walking like nothing happened.
- What happened, kupo? Why did you let him to do what he wants?
- Well, how can I say this, it's like he's … no, never mind. Someone like him can't possibly do something like that. Maybe it was just my imagination – Luso also wants to believe in what he just said. He hopes that Ezel's intention is just something in his mind
- Well then, it's time for you to check up on Marche, Hurdy
- Ehh? Can you do it, kupo?
- I would love to do that-
- Then please do it!
- -but this will be a good lesson for you to start learning about taking care of your clanmate
- But, but…
- No but, kupo!
- Fine …
Hurdy walks up the second floor unwillingly. "Looks like that kid's relationship with Marche is not going to change anytime soon, kupo", Montblanc shakes his head a little. It's true that his little brother is no longer hate Marche, but it seems like repairing a bond that had been broken for so long need a lot of time and effort.
- I can't believe so much had happened even though we have only arrived here half a month ago. Sure, it's a dangerous game from the beginning, but seeing things like this sure makes me feels happy to be back – Luso chuckles. Even though he acts like a child all the time, there are some occasion when he can say something that make him look a lot like an adult
- I'm surprise, kupo. To think you of all people to keep track of the time
- Hey, that's hurt! But you're right, keeping in mind some thing like that really is not my thing. I specialize in charging ahead and stealing all the fun from other, either in battle or in an event
- Then how did you know that it has been half of a month already?
- We came here in 9th of Ember Leaf, so I add up the number of days we have been through and it's now 23rd of Ember Leaf. I also checks with the owner about the current date
- Wait, today is 23rd of Ember Leaf!?
- Y-yeah, so what?
- I forgot that you don't know about it, kupo. The truth is-
- Hey! He's awake, kupo! – Hurdy, who ran out of the room and leans his body over the fence of the second floor's corridor, yells out at the two, interrupting Montblanc's words
Luso enters the room as quickly as possible, and he see Marche's sitting on his bed, rubbing his head with his eyes wide opened. "Hey, at least knock before you enter someone else's room", he answers as if nothing happened
- You are awake! – Luso runs to his side and … Marche's shoulder, then he starts shaking Marche back and forth – I know that you can't die like that!
- Hey! Cut it out, will you? I just regain my consciousness, so don't make me lose it again – Marche says it with a little bit of annoyed. It's true that Luso does that because he cares for him, but there has to be a limit to everything
Luso finally letting go of Marche, stepping back and saying with a smile: "C'mon. It can't be helped that I'm a little over boat, right? After all, you did get-". However, his words is cut off in the middle by another guest
"Are you all right? Feeling anything different? Like missing something? Feeling lighter? Anything?", it's Montblanc's time to enter the room. He immediately bombard Marche with dozen of questions and run to his side. Then, once again, Marche got shaken back and forth with his shoulder being gripped by his little friend. But there's something in what he just said that makes Marche a little curious
"First of all, please stop shaking me like a doll. I'll faint again if you keep on doing that you know", Montblanc stops instantly, let go of his body and apologize repeatedly. Finally Marche can have a little peace in his mind. He asks: "You ask whether or not I am feeling something's missing. That's not something you usually ask a sick person if it's not involve with my fainting … Don't tell me … something in my body is missing!", Marche goes pale when he reaches this conclusion. He uses both of his hands and tries to touch various places on his body
Montblanc slowly steps back a bit and says: "N-no, of course something like that is impossible to happened, right Luso?". Montblanc turns his head to Luso, which he can tell that Montblanc wants him to back his story up. He also thinks that telling someone that his hands just disappear like a magic trick can be quiet a shock to someone who just woke up from 2 days of out cold: "This is not a film you know? A part on the body missing after using some magick, there's no way something like that can happen. Ahahaha…"
Montblanc glares at him with cold eyes, as if telling him to stops talking. He doesn't understand why he wants him to back Montblanc up, and then telling him to stop. Suddenly, he realizes he let something slip in his words. He hopes that Marche can't see what's wrong in what he just said. His little hopes is shattered immediately as Marche asks back: "Because I used magick to save Ezel, something on my body is missing right now!?". Marche's face has literally no color left. The shock is just too much for him. He wants to ask some more but a sudden headache hit him. His eyesight is blurred; his body loses all the strength he has left. He uses noth hands to hold his head, it seem like his recovery is not completed
Seeing the opportunity, Montblanc uses both hands to pushes him down while saying: "Your body is still recovering right now, so you should get some more rest. Luso, you and I should leave the room and let him sleep some more in islent". After being forced to lie down, before Marche can say anything, Montblanc and Luso have already retreated from his room. He wants to get up and hears what his friends have to say, but the headache is making him lose his consciousness. He can hear bits and pieces of the conversation outside of the room: "… We don't have much time left until …", "… Why didn't you tell us …", "You will gather …", "… rent a chocobo's cart …", "… Rupie mountains …", "… leave at 5 …", "… right after …", "… a week …" …. Before he knows it, Marche is slowly falling into a deep sleep
The day after, Marche is still not well enough to walks around so he just stay in bed the whole day. His meal is brought into his room by his friends (they told him that right before Marche woke up, Ezel went away for some research). Everytime he tries to ask his friends either about what happened or what they are planning to do, they will try to stop the conversation or talk about something else. Marche is upset. There's something they don't want for him to know. It must be something that can damages him physically or mentally. "No matter how bad the situation is, they don't have to hide it from me!", Marche blames his friends with his thought. Suddenly he thinks of Ezel. "Maybe that's what going through his head when he found out that I was keeping a secret from him". He feels that he can't blame his friend anymore, when he's also someone who has done it before. However, accepting the fact that they're trying to protect him and not finding out what they're up to is two different things. He has to get to the bottom of this
So in the next day, when he is able to walk normally, he decides that he will try to get some information from one of his friends. Montblanc is a no-go. He's the one who care for Marche the most, so he should be the one who want to hide it from him the most. Hurdy's relationship with him is not that good, so if he tries to asks, Hurdy would just ignores it. Ezel is also out of bound, so there's just one option left: Luso. He slipped his tongue before, so with the right opportunity, Marche can draws some clue out of him again
As soon as Luso walks into the room to bring him lunch, Marche immediately follows him everywhere around. "To start a journey that last for a week with 3 people, you need to prepare for a few days. If I follow him close enough, surely he'll let loose of something that'll tell me what's his plan", Marche doesn't know if the part about "a week" is the period of time that they need to prepare or the time for their absent, however he wants to check every possible course of action being on what he heard.
However, unlike what he had in mind, Luso is just going around buying foods like Striped Apple Bun, Rainbow Croissant and so on. Then he goes out of town and looks around the bank of a small river for hours just to find some herbs. After he finishes this, it's already sunset. Luso then packs up his things and returns. Marche is disappointed. He thought that surely Luso must do something to prepare for their trip, yet all he had done is just running around finding some trivial things that have nothing to do with what he wants to know. Marche decides to stay on the river bank a little more. He doesn't want his whole day to be wasted like that, so he'll watch the sunset a little bit before coming back to the inn
It's the same sun (the sun it obviously different from the sun he knows but the appearance under one's eye is not that different), yet seeing sunset in Ivalice makes him feels calm somehow. The forest is covered in reddish light. Under this light, all things seem to become blurred. No matter how much you try to look at something, you can't see the details well enough; you can only see its shape - a black figure blending in the sea of darkness
The sky is darkening rapidly when the night comes. Marche hurries find his way back to the inn. When he enters the inn, his friends are nowhere to be found. "Crap! Did they leave while I was sitting on the river bank?". Marche immediately runs across the main hall and enters the dining room. There're a few people here, but they are not who he's looking for. He turns around and headed to the bathroom. Once again, he finds no one. He then goes up the second floor. He tries out Ezel's and Hurdy's room, but the door are all locked. "Only one room left". If he can't find them or any clues about where they are heading to then he'll have to ask around the inn for some more information. That'll be a hard task for him considering his health is not very good at the moment
He opens the door to his room. A loud shout awaits him from inside the room: "Happy birthday Marche!". It comes from the ones he's searching for: Luso, Montblanc and Hurdy. Taken by surprise, all Marche can say is: "… Eh?"
The room is filled with decorations. On the window there's a ribbon with the words: "Happy birthday". On the table there are foods and drinks that Luso had brought earlier. Plus, Luso is now standing near the table instead of standing in the middle of the room so it's obvious that he's hiding something (with Luso's kind of personality, he should be the one to jumps in front of Marche in times like this). Still, the fact that his friends is going through all this to celebrate his birthday is-
- -pointless – Marche accidentally says the last part
- Eh? – It's now the turn of Luso to be surprised. Suddenly Marche is saying something that he can't understand
- What's pointless, kupo? – Montblanc asks. He also wants to know what his friend is talking about
- Today, it's not my birthday at all! – Marche screams out. All the things they did to hide this from him are pointless! All the things he worries about are also pointless!
- Ehhhhhhh! But, brother said today is your birthday – Hurdy is confused, after all he had been through to complete this, this is what he get
- No it's not! I don't remember even telling you when my birthday is at all! – Marche turns to Montblanc, waiting for an explanation
- Don't you remember, Marche? I did ask you when your birthday is before. Then you said your world's and this world's time system is different, so there's no way to tell which day is your birthday. So we chose today as the day to celebrate your birthday, remember?
- Something like that did happen. But wait! The time system of this Ivalice and that "Ivalice" is also different, how can you be so sure?
- I can't convert the time of your world and "Ivalice" because I don't know how the time system in your world runs. But I know both the time system in Ivalice and in "Ivalice", so there's no problem with the process of calculating the day from one world to another
All Marche can do is stares at his little friend. Although he had learn so many times that Montblanc's intelligent is beyond the like of average people, he can't but to feels that he's very lucky to have this moogle as a friend
"Well then, without any problem left, let's party!", Luso yells out and starts eating, forgetting the fact that he is suppose to hide something. The thing he hid, that's a cake. "Hey! You should leave some for me too!", Hurdy also join in the feast, trying to takes the food from the hand of Luso. Montblanc drags Marche into the room and shut the door so the noise won't be too loud: "You should join in too. It's your party after all, kupo!". Marche smiles. Maybe this is what he need the most right now: some time to relax and enjoy himself . He takes a croissant and put it in his mouth. There're a lot of flavor mixed in there, equals to the number of colors on the croissant.
Then from behind, Montblanc tells them something that makes the whole room falls into silence: "I have brought with me some alcohol. Who want some?". Then he takes out a mug from his pouch (Luso wonders just how much can Montblanc's pouch hold 'cause Montblanc can take out almost anything he need from inside that pouch: gil bag, knive, potions …) and pours some of the golden liquid from the bottle into the mug. "Cheer!", he says as he raises the cup up for a sip
Fast as the wind, Luso draws his twin katana, charges in and slices the mug into three pieces. Marche also unsheathes his Excalibur, runs to Montblanc's side at full speed and holds the sword in front of Montblanc's mouth to block any kind of liquid from getting inside his throat. Hurdy immediately pulls out his flute and blows as hard as he can. The sound coming from the flute this time is not a beautiful melody like usual, it's an ear-piercing sound that cause everyone in the room to feels headache. Even the window can't take it anymore and breaks into pieces – just like what he wants: to create an escape from this dead chamber in case of emergency
- What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill us?! - Marche can't believe how Montblanc still hasn't learns from the past experience.
- I thought that-
- No! We have already told you that alcohol is forbidden for you! – It's Luso's turn to jump in and cut off Montblanc's excuse
- Wait, where's Hurdy? He jumped?! No, that's impossible! This place is the second floor. There's no way-
Marche runs toward the window and leans himself through. There, he finds Hurdy is lying inside a cart full of hay. His eyes show no sign of his usual self, only fear now remain inside his mind. It seem like Hurdy had been through this traumatic experience many times, from the day when Montblanc's skill to use magick was still unrefined to the day he was called as one of the great guild leader
After another hour of cleaning up the room and facing the owner's wrath (they are still lucky that she did forgive them), everyone is very tired. But just before the party's over, Luso brings out the cake. However, unlike the usual birthday cake, this cake has no candle at all
"Don't you worry, this cake is not finish yet", as if reading Marche's mind, Luso starts doing placing something on the cake. "Must be the candle", Marche thinks. But it's strange that the candle is not originally from the cake
Luso turns around with the cake on his hands and Marche is startle: The cake now have about 20 herbs placing on top of it
- Montblanc, light them up! – Luso says with a cheerful voice, as if nothing is wrong with the cake
- What are you doing?! Why did you place this on top of a cake?! – Marche has so much to complain right now, starting with how herb can be use to replace candle
- Ahahaha, sorry, I was supposes to buy some candles but I … spend all the money I was given to buy foods – Luso averts Marche's eyes – But don't worry. I have washed these things. And they're actually herb so there's no need to worry about placing them into the cake would make the cake goes bad
Marche wants to complain more, but he restrains it. He told himself that he needs to relax a bit, so he should stops complaining about every little thing. "Fine … No matter what I say, it has been done already, so there's no way to change it now. Rather, let just ignore it". His friends are amazed. He can tell it from the look on their face. Surely they would think that he'll complain some more
After finishing the cake, Marche feels tired so he asks his friends to leave him alone for a night (Montblanc is to stay with Hurdy and Luso). Right after when Montblanc drives Luso and Hurdy out, he lies on the bed and ready to go to sleep, but there's something hit him in the eye: a piece of paper on the floor
- Oh shoot! My ticket is gone! – Luso has been searching his clothes for quite a while now
- I can't believe it, kupo. If it falls into Marche's hand, he will surely follow us. With his current condition, he is just a walking sand bag on the battlefield, kupo – Hurdy complains. He knows that his friend is always careless, but to think it has reaches this level…
- What's done is done, kupo. All that's matter now is to retrieve it before Marche can finds it – Montblanc suggests
- Maybe it's inside bro's room. Let me take a quick look – Luso says. He has to do this. It's him who drop this from the beginning
He gently opens the door and finds Marche's sleeping soundly. He feels a bit guilty about searching somebody's room when they're asleep, but it can't be helped. He can see the ticket stuck under the table. Luso quietly takes the ticket and leave the room. He hopes that Marche still haven't read it yet
- Hey, is everything alright? – Hurdy asks
- Yeah, I just check his room. He's still sleeping soundly, covered in blanket – Luso answers.
- I'm jealous, kupo! We're going to a freezing cold mountain for a week while he stays here and enjoys his nice bed
- You should know that clanmate are like family. We can't just let something like that happen to him again. This time, it's lucky that it's his arms. If there's a next time, and his head is gone, then I will regret forever, kupo – Montblanc is the one who thought up this plan. Sure, getting a rare healing herb on top of the highest mountain among the mountains of Rupie is difficult, but in exchange they will be able to help Marche, and that's enough – Now let's go!
The three decides to travel to Rupie mountains with a chocobo's cart so it shouldn't take more than a week to get back. They have already left Marche a note, so even if he feels worry, he wouldn't chase after them
When they get inside of the cart, somebody is already in there. That person's wearing a hood coat so it's hard to see his face and clothes. He's sitting quietly in the corner. No matter how hard Luso calls him, there's no answer at all. "Maybe he's asleep. We should stop bothering him", Montblanc says so when Luso attempts to pulls out his hood
It takes them half of a day to get to the Rupie mountains. However, that's just the beginning. The road on icy mountains is very dangerous so the speed of the cart is decreasing rapidly. It might take them 2 days or more to get to the peak of the highest mountain.
However, the problem doesn't stop there. Out of nowhere, a bunch of bandit appears and tries to take all the valuable accessories of the members on the cart. Montblanc, Hurdy and Luso get out of the cart to defeat them. During the battle, Montblanc casts Thundara which give the chocobo a fright. They start to get out of control, running around wildly. The cart is shaken from all the running and turning. Then the rope that connects the chocobo to the cart is snap due to the chocobo's behavior and due to the cold making the rope to lose it original sturdiness. Lucky for the one who control the chocobo, he's still holding onto the leash when that happen so he only get drag around on the ground by the chocobo for a while. The thing is, the mysterious guest inside the cart is not that lucky. He's still stuck inside the cart when that happened. He tries to get out of the cart and he succeeds. The only problem is, he got out of the cart the moment it flies down the mountain. As he falls down, his coat is fluttering in the air, unable to hide his body anymore. The guest is a boy with yellow hair that's about the same age as Luso. The trio knows this boy very well. He's-
"MARCHEEEEEE!", Montblanc screams with all the strength he has. He should have knows that his friend is not the kind to give up that easy, yet to follow them to this extend. Perhap he just wants to follow them until Montblanc can't find anyway to send him back early, so he just sit inside of the cart, waiting for the opportunity to reveal himself
The small figure is falling into the world of white beneath, becoming smaller and smaller until nothing can be see no matter how hard one tries to look
Marche opens his eyes. What's in front of him is a field of snow. The trees and the land, all being covered by snow
He remembers how he fells down the mountain. Somehow he manages to survive again. Ritz once said his body may seem frail, yet ridiculously hard to break, maybe it's true. However, his body is now unable to follow his command. No matter how hard he asks his body to stand up, there's no reaction at all. He can no longer feel any pain from the fall. There's only the sense of numbness across his body. He understands that his body has been lying on the snow for too long, so now the coldness is slowly freezing away his body to death.
However, just as he thinks that his life will end that way, a pack of wolf appears. They slowly surround him, walking around to find a chance to attack. The second one wolf manages to take a bite; the whole pack will follow it and attacks him. As though death is not enough, now Marche has to face a slowly, painful death. He wants to escape, yet he can't. He can only leave his life in the hand of fate.
The first wolf jumps in like he expected. His life will come to an end shortly afterward. He wants to avert his eyes from the wolf, but someone in the past had taught him that you must always stare death in the face, so he can't do it even when facing his end.
"You're one brave youth", a voice rang from behind him. Then, a figure stands in front of him. That person is wearing a fur coat with a hood. The only thing that pokes out of the coat is two swords; one golden sword and one white slim sword. The wolf that was jumping at him is now sliced into two pieces. Bloods splashes everywhere. The person continue: "To not avert your eyes from the death, that is worth praising"
The person pulls the hood down while turning around. Marche can see a person with short light brown hair and a kind smile. Her appearance suggests that she's only a bit above 20. The most beautiful feature on her face is her eye, which is as blue as the summer sky
The pack of wolf doesn't seem like they want to give up an easy meal just because a random person appeared and kills one of them. This time, two wolf attacks the woman from the left and the right. However, the mysterious knight shows no sign of nervous. Instead, she calmly spins her body around to evade the first wolf and deliver a spinning slash. She doesn't stop there. She continue to spins her body another round with her upper body leaned backward to evade the second attack that come at almost the same time as the first attack. Once again, she performs a spinning slash as she spins around. Her attack style is very different from Marche's style, which composes of fast strike at fatal points on the body, blocking heavy attacks and finds a chance to counter. The woman in front of him is nothing like that. Her whole body is like a leaf dancing in the wind, whenever you try to catch it, it will simply spin around in the air, drifting away from your hand
The remaining wolfs can't wait any longer, so all the wolf attacks at once. They come at the woman from every angle, but no matter how hard they try, they just can't land a single hit. The woman, on the other, just moves around as if this is nothing but a game to her. There's no trace of seriousness or bloodlust on her face, just a face full of serenity. This is no longer a fight to survive; this is the woman's stage to perform her skill with sword. Anyone can see that she was born to do this. The blood flying in the air and the fast, swift attacks and evade of the woman make up a strange dance. A strange, deathly yet elegance dance on a bloody stage
Author notes: Bingo! The last one I want to focus on is Frimelda Lotice, the elegance and beautiful swordwoman. At first I want the party to have Adele and Ritz, but when I searched for some picture of FFTA, I saw a picture of Ezel and Babus. The idea of giving Ezel one of the lead role was then appeared in my head. I also want to let Babus in. I have already thinks of his character development, but some how that's just too unfair for A2 character, but giving the role only to Adele is not fair either, so I decided that Frimelda will be the one to take up the spotlight. Maybe in the future I'll make an extra story for Babus. Be strong, little Babus!
My house is coming down and ready to be repaired, so the work load increase significantly. Also, I have school to worry about, so I'll see you in another month
Next time: On the snowy mountain (1)
PS: To celebrate my 10th chapter, I'm gonna write this one EXTRA LONG, so please look forward to it