Haven Trials

Act 1: The Fox Jumped Over the Moon

Chapter 10: Balance of Powers

"It's so nice to be back in a room!" Garnet said, stretching as she laid out on the bed. Lucas jumped on to the bed next to her's, and Vivi was on the one opposite of his. Zidane wanted to take the last bed of the room, but Steiner fussed at him, and instead, took it himself. Zidane ended up getting stuck in the room opposites there's with Snake, Fox, and Luigi. As night had approached, the group began to rest, and Snake decided to stay outside for a while, still feeling as if they were being followed.

Fox was restless the entire night, visions from a few nights ago returning to bother him.

"Fox.. we need your help.." Zelda had told him.

Who is she..?

"Our kingdom is under attack.. my father is unable to contact any of the other five kings, and thus, we are left under siege..." she continued, her voice grim.

Her father..?

"You must reach Cid.."

Cid.. that's the guy Snake's taking me to meet..

".. let him know that he has begun his assault against Hyrule.. our only hope had been sent far away by Ganondorf.. you must help us.. help me.. Fox.."

What did she mean by all of this? Hyrule is a forgotten kingdom.. it was abandoned years ago. And the 'other' five kings? Is she referring to the Gorosei..? Does this mean Cid is one of them? All of these bothered Fox as he laid in the bed. I need to tell Snake about this.. maybe he knows. He heard a noise, a humming, someone singing. His mind left the worry of all these things and now had been occupied on that song.. that voice..

"La.. la-la-la.. la-la-la-la-la.." Fox peered out the window and noticed that the sun had started rising, but it was still fairly dark. He was curious now, because this isn't the first time he's heard this song before. No, long ago, someone had sung it all the time. He was more anxious to see if it was her again, after all this time. Fox opened the room's door and entered the lobby, hearing the voice from outside. He left the inn and quietly tip-toed around the corner, peeking to see who it was.

Garnet sat on a small stone area right outside her room's window, lamenting. Her voice was angelic; Fox was mesmerized by it. He shook his head and snapped out of it, now more than ever curious as to how she learned this song. After all, he heard this song years ago, from Krystal. Fox walked up towards her, and she looked at him, ceasing her song. She was a little surprised to see Fox up.

"Oh, my apologizes, Fox. I did not mean to wake you," she said, her voice soft and kind. Fox sat down next to her and shook his head, smiling.

"No worries. I had been up all night anyways."

She cocked her head sideways, curious. "How come, if you do not mind me asking."

"I had a dream past couple of nights.. and it's been stuck on my mind. I can't tell what's the purpose of it.. but I've got a good idea. Sorta." He rubbed his chin as he was speaking, and his ears twitched, hearing somebody move from the open window behind them. Probably Zidane.. Fox thought. "I've actually got a question for you, if you don't mind."

Garnet nodded her head, his eyes still on Fox. He ducked his head down and looked at his hands, fumbling with them. "That song.. where did you learn it from?" As he looked over at her, it was her now looking down, fumbling with her hands.

"To be honest, I don't know. I can't even remember when I learned it. I sing it whenever I feel sad.. or lonely.." She looked up down, the sky turning into an purpleish haze as the sun started to welcome itself. "For some reason, it comforts me, and reminds me that I'm not alone." Fox bit his lip, his mind boggled. "Why were you interested in it?"

"This girl I once knew.. me and her were pretty close. I planned to ask her to marry me, the whole works. I loved her.. but then she was killed.." he shook his head, dismissing it. "That was the past. Anyways, I was just curious because she sang that song to me, ever since I had first met her. And when I asked her where she learned it, she said she didn't know either, and that it made her feel that she wasn't alone as well."

Garnet now seemed befuddled herself, as Fox sat there, upset. He closed his eyes, trying to picture Krystal there with him, to explain to him the origins of the song. But as he opened them, she was still gone, as she was before. Garnet had stood up as well now, dusting her gown off. "Well, I am sorry that I can't answer your questions. I think I'm going back inside now."

Fox looked up and nodded. "Thanks anyways Dagger." She smiled back at him, returning to the inn. Fox looked back down and sighed. It was all overwhelming for him. Falco is gone, and now Wolf is out there, after all these years. He could had sworn that Wolf was killed on 'that day'... but him being back is bad news for Fox. He doesn't know who he's working for now.

His eyes darted up as Lucas and Vivi shot out of the inn, the two waving at Fox as they passed by. Fox waved back, smiling, and watched as they cut the corner. It was a small village, so he wasn't too worried about them getting lost. He knew for the time being that they should be safe, as they're past the curtain now, hopefully away from Deficio's grasp.

He heard a noise, a clinking, and saw Steiner now leaving the inn. His eyes looked up as he passed by, and the two of them nodded at one another, a mutual respect. Whew.. haven't got on his bad side yet. Better keep it that way, Fox thought to himself. It was bad enough with the bickering from Snake, Zidane, and Steiner, so Fox wanted to keep as much peace as he could. It was a headache listening to their bickering anyways.

Now Fox picked himself up, deciding to explore this small village. Since arriving, he's only seen kids, so his goal in mind was to meet with an adult and try to figure out the fastest way to Lindblum. The map Blank had given them only pointed out the Ice Caverns, and now, they don't have much of a plan. He passed through different shops, peeking inside, and yet, only young girls were working them. He looked ahead and saw a group of boys running around. He neared them and put up his hand, nabbing their attention.

"Hey there. Any parents around that I could speak with for a minute?" The boys looked between one another before the one in front moved up towards Fox, shrugging.

"Most o' our parents be off som'were now, been gone fer a while," the kid said. Fox was befuddled; what could call their parents away? Who's watching over them? Perhaps there's war calling them away, but that can't be right. Garnet hadn't mentioned any of the sort, well, at least with her kingdom. He looked back down and noticed they had all ran off now. He sighed, continuing through the village.

In the inn, Snake and Zidane were consulting one another, with Garnet and Luigi sitting back, listening in on their conversation. The map was pulled out, and the two were trying to decide on the best route to Lindblum from here.

"Cutting through the South Gate would be our best shot for now," Snake had said, indicating on the map the mountain range that separated them from Lindblum.

"Unless we can score a ride with somebody passing through. Didn't you notice the airship dock nearby here?" Zidane had asked.

"I already tried consulting the guy in there. Crazy old man, only talked about coffee beans.."

Luigi piped up now, grabbing the attention of the room. "Well, earlier today-a, when you were-a all still-a sleepin', a cargo ship-a came in, in the-a fields." Both Zidane and Snake shot a look at one another, hopeful.

"Then perhaps we're not stuck with the South Gate route. Whew, would have been a nightmare otherwise." Snake motioned himself wiping his brow with his arm, as Garnet struck a confused look on her face.

"Why would it? What's wrong with the South Gate?" Snake looking over at her, frozen. Zidane kept his gaze on Snake as well, confused as much as Garnet was. Shit.. Snake thought to himself. He shook his head, cheesing a smile.

"No reason, busted I think really. Would be a pain having to go around it at that point," he said. Garnet frowned, unconvinced.

"Very well then, keep your secrets to yourself." She got up and left the room, Zidane trying to ask her to stay. He cursed, leaving after her as well. Snake sat in the room now, his hand on his head, elbow on his knee. Luigi moved over towards him, sitting opposite of him, where Zidane was.

"Why is it-a a bad idea?" He asked. Snake looked up and glanced out of the room, making sure the two were gone.

"I didn't tell them because it's our fault we can't cross the South Gate on foot," Snake explained. Luigi still looked at him confused, to which Snake sighed. "The World Government attacked the North Gate earlier in search of Teach, and because of it, the South Gate is on lock down as well. We can't tell them because it would be disclosing information of the Government to people across the curtain. Can't risk it."

Luigi raised an eyebrow, his hand on his chin now, rubbing it. "But what's-a stopping us from-a telling them? I don't understand. Mario had-a always warned me-a of the same things, but I-a never got it."

"You might not know it, but they're always listening, always watching. They want to uphold their rule of 'absolute justice'. Part of it is the fact that they must keep this part of the curtain uninformed. If they were to learn the things we knew, there would be the chance they'd advance at such rates, it would throw the balance of power into shambles." He looked up at Luigi and noticed he was still confused, so he sighed and started up again.

"The 'Balance of Power' consists of the World Government themselves, the Gorosei, and the Yonko, the four rogue rulers of the world. Together, these three groups keep in check the other one, with the Gorosei watching over the Yonko, the Yonko keeping the World Government in check, and the World Government assisting the Gorosei. The World Government's head is the Commander-in-Chief, Kong," he said. Luigi nodded, letting Snake know he was keeping up. "The Gorosei are the five representatives of the continents of the world. Each of them meet monthly if possible to discuss any problems arising, to which they consult the World Government about."

"Gorosei.. hey, isn't this-a Cid guy one of them?"

Snake nodded. "Cid is the representative of the Mist Continent, which is ours. He rules over both Lindblum and, in a way, the Mushroom Kingdom, with Peach assisting him when he's across the curtain."

Luigi was surprised, but at the same time, he knew that, because of what Mario and Peach had discussed once, in regards to the ruler of the kingdom. He nodded, letting Snake know to continue on.

"Then there's the White King, the ruler of the Nowhere Islands, home of Skaia. It's where Lucas is from. Bad place, must be quite the hassle for the guy."

"Isn't there-a talk of a rebel group forming in Skaia?"

Snake nodded. "They aren't too happy with the way things have been going. I was deployed there a few months back, to try and aid in quelling the rebellion. Didn't do anything really. They just recovered and are as strong as ever." He pulled another map from his pack, placing it over the map Blank had given them. This one was much larger, with all of the continents on it, excluding the Nowhere Islands. He pointed at the continent above the Mist Continent.

"This one is the Outer Continent, home of Noxus. Jerichio Swain rules from there. And across from there.." He moved his finger over to a continent opposite of them. "Is the Lost Continent, where Demacia sits, home of Jarvan Lightshield IV. The two are rivals to one another. They've been mostly forgotten over the years, as talk of them at war with one another sits in place of their soon-to-be empty thrones in the Gorosei."

He moved his finger off of the continents, and now, circled the oceans themselves. "And finally, is King Neptune. He rules over the Kyugu Kingdom, down in the depths of the ocean, as well as the other seas themselves. Interesting fellow, I don't have too much about him. He was recently elected, and by recently, I mean twenty years ago."

As Snake began to roll the map back up, Luigi stopped him, pointing at another continent, one Snake failed to mention. "And what-a about this one?"

He frowned, laying the map back out. He pulled a cigar out from the pack now and lit it, puffing smoke through the open window. "The Forgotten Continent. The World Government became fed up with them years back, and ultimately, sent out a 'Buster Call', wiping them off completely." He leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, his hands behind his back. "To be honest, I can't tell you much about why they did it. Hell, I didn't even know it happened until I stumbled upon it in the papers."

Luigi shuttered at the thought of it, the government wiping out a country because of what? Them rubbing them the wrong way? He turned back towards Snake, still wondering of the Gorosei Neptune had replaced. "Who had led them previously?"

Another smoke cloud shot from Snake's mouth. "Lord Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, of the kingdom formerly known as Hyrule." He closed his eyes, picturing what sort of hell Hyrule must had gone through; unrelenting barrages of air strikes and cannon fire from warships, decimating the kingdom to dust. He has asked around, and ended up beaten for it. It's a topic the government would never reveal to him, and one of the reasons he decided to leave them. It was one of the many secrets they hid from their men, even the loyal ones.

He shook his head, sitting the chair back down and placing the map in his pack. "Oh, and as for the Yonko, I only have names: Viktor, the Black Prince, Mindfang, and Marshall D. Teach, otherwise known as Blackbeard, the man the government's been after for years now. He's the one behind the crisis of Marineford, and the one responsible for the death of Whitebeard. Each of them all prevent the World Government from going overboard, by keeping them on their toes, always ready to strike back at them. If not for them, hell, the government would be tens time stronger. They wouldn't have anyone threatening to end them."

Snake looked at Luigi, who had fallen back asleep sometime ago. Snake sighed, grinning. He puffed out one last ring before flicking the cigar butt outside. He walked towards the exit of the inn as well now, the inn keeper still sleeping at his desk. As Snake exited the inn, the inn keeper raised his head, noting that Snake had left before pulling back out a sheet of notes he had been taking. He had also placed a communicator back into his ear, speaking into it.

"Sir, I've found him, Snake. I'm calling 'him' in."

Afternoon had arrived, and everyone were still out and about. Zidane took Garnet for a stroll around the village, further teaching her in improper dialect. Snake had found Fox and informed him the plan to check out the cargo ship in the fields, and the two began to split up to find everyone. They had managed to track everyone down besides Vivi and Lucas, who Fox began to worry about.

The two, along with Zidane and Garnet, arrived in the middle of the village square, next to the windmill. Luigi had continued to nap in the inn, and Steiner was off assisting a girl in a bar. The four of them had began to discuss where the two kids had gone off two, when Fox began to hear a sort of.. sniffling. He looked around and saw no one else had heard it. That's when he heard the voice plead.

"Sniff.. help.. Fox.."

"Lucas!" Fox shouted. He smacked himself for not recognizing it sooner, as Lucas was trying to contact him telepathically. That's when he looked over and saw Zidane hunched over what appeared to be a pipe, shouting in it. Apparently, he heard Vivi's voice down there, and the both of them determined Lucas and Vivi were taken underground somewhere.

They had began to search through the shops and buildings, trying to locate an entrance below. Fox was tearing through a shop, the girl behind the counter frightened of him, when Snake rushed into it.

"We found it, in the windmill!" Fox dashed outside and followed after Snake, and the two arrived at the windmill, with Zidane uncovering a latched door hidden beneath barrels of hay.

"Remember guys, stick together. We don't know what the hell could be down here," Snake said as they all began to climb down the ladder. It led them into a tunnel, with various crates and boxes scattered about. Fox could heard the squawking of a sort of bird up ahead, as well as footsteps. He took the lead, with Zidane and Garnet behind him, and Snake taking the rear. They crept through the tunnel and neared a small room ahead, with light and voices coming from it.

As they ducked behind a wall, Zidane peeked around, commenting. "This isn't just a regular underground storage facility is it.." Fox motioned to hush him as the voices picked up.

"Why is it moving..?" One of the men had asked. The other shrugged, and he shoved Vivi back a bit, eyeing him. Both of them were wearing regular garments seen in the shops in the village. "Is it true the mayor's brother found it?"

A younger voice picked up now, probably a teenager from the sound of it. "I guess they reconciled. His brother's one of us now." One of us..? Are they a cult? Fox thought to himself.

The older voice now started talking, and as Fox peered around the corner, he saw a glimpse of Vivi, standing there. "Wasn't he on the old lady's side before?" The farmer lady that was with Garnet I suppose.. Fox turned to look at Garnet, who had nodded at him, as if she read his mind.

"Oh? About abandoning the farm? He probably only said that to annoy the mayor. Who cares anyways? We need more workers." The two began to shuffle around now, and they started to leave the room, both of them holding on to Vivi. "Let's go ahead and shove him in a box."

As they left the room, Fox eyed them, watching the older man nod. "I guess the guys at the castle will take care of it." At mention of the castle, Garnet perked her ears, attentive, curious as to which they mentioned. She looked around and noticed another barrel in front of them, with a certain symbol marked on it.

"Yup. We're only in charge of the production." Vivi had stopped moving, and the older man shoved him hard in the back, getting him to move on. Zidane gritted his teeth and tried to move out after them, only to have Snake pull him back. As the two guys left the hall with Vivi and into another room, the group moved back a bit, discussing.

"What is it Snake! Why'd you stop me?!" Snake frowned and pointed at Garnet, who looked upset now. Zidane looked over at Garnet and frowned, listening.

"These barrels.. I've noticed the patterns on the same ones in Alexandria. This place must be connected to the castle somehow," she said. Her expression changed from upset to determined, followed with her standing up. "I must know what it is!" She moved forward slightly, before turning around to the others. "So please.. I beg of you, everyone, don't cause any trouble yet."

Zidane sighed and nodded, along with Fox, who was still upset that they haven't located Lucas. "Alright, fine. But I will start trouble if Vivi or Lucas are in danger," Zidane added. Garnet nodded herself, and the group continued on forward.