Here's another one. I'm pretty happy with it. I'm trying to move this a bit faster. Get Kijo and Shuyin really moving forward. I want to get to the more awesome parts sooner is what it really comes down to. I hope I'm not rushing things too fast though. I wasn't very happy with the last chapter. I might edit it later. Or maybe not.

I disclaim that which I don't own.

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Chapter 9

Keys and Clues

After a few hours of resting in the forest, Kijo gathered them all together and sat at the edge of a silent pond. "So…anyone have any brilliant ideas?" Roy looked at him with surprise and Shuyin shook his head with a smile. Brahv smirked and looked out over the still water. Solene remained silent for a minute and then began to speak slowly.

"There are…two aspects to this," she said, staring at the ground in front of her. Her dark brown hair fell over her face and she reached up to tuck it back behind her ears. "It's going to be especially difficult to get information on something that not everyone in Bevelle knows about. If we just go and ask people…we'll draw attention to ourselves too quickly." She bit her lip lightly, eyes distant and removed from the scene. "But if we just go looking for it with the amount of info we have right now…well…we'll never even get close."

"So the trick is to always speak to the right people," Shuyin spoke up, looking down at Solene. "Is that what you're saying?"

Solene nodded, though she didn't look like she was really paying attention. "Yeah…but…there's no way of knowing who that is."

"Well…the higher up the chain we go…the more likely they'll be to know about it, right?" Kijo spoke up. "So we just find some high ranking official and trick him into giving away information."

Solene shook her head. "No…not quite. When things this big go down…its usually done by a small group under the noses of the higher ups. That's not always the case…but often enough to make us give us some more trouble."

Kijo sneered and shook his head. "Damn…so how should we start this?"

"Well…" Roy piped up. "We should probably keep posing as soldiers. Bevelle soldiers are organized in units of seven." He pulled at the charred threads on his chest. "With these…we can easily pass for a unit who lost two members and was sent back to Bevelle to guard there."

Brahv nodded slowly. "And any technical questions they ask that we can't answer…we can just use the excuse of shell-shock."

Kijo pushed himself to his feet and placed his hands on his hips. "Alright then…so there's our starting point." He looked at the other members of his cell. "Once we get into Bevelle, we just have to keep an eye out for anything unusual and as soon as we get a chance, we make our move to get in further."

"Is that going to be enough?" Brahv asked slowly. "That seems like a little too little to be going into Bevelle with."

"Well what more can we do?" Shuyin responded. "We're not even sure if this machina exists, the first part is all recon."

Kijo nodded thoughtfully. "It's all we've got at the moment...aside from that we just need the basic array of fallback plans if we get split up or found out."

Roy spoke again, sounding slightly nervous. "What should our course of action be…if we get found?"

Kijo paused for a moment, thinking hard on it. "If…you are caught on your own, not part of the group, get out of Bevelle as soon as you can and just go back home." He looked at the ground. "At that point, you're on your own." The soldiers all nodded understandingly. "And…if we're caught as a unit…we get out as fast as possible…just because we are caught doesn't mean the other cells were. We shouldn't endanger them by being captured."

Silence spread over the five from Zanarkand. The crystal lake before them had no ripples and reflected the trees above perfectly. No one spoke the words that they were thinking. "And what if we are captured?" Because they all knew what they were supposed to do. For the sake of Zanarkand…say nothing, do nothing, and give your life if necessary.

"Ok," Kijo spoke softly, not wanting to break the peace of the scene. "To Bevelle then."

The five of them, still dressed in the burned and tattered gear of Bevelle soldiers stood up and began walking again. They followed the main road through the forest and soon enough came to the entrance of Bevelle. The forest ended abruptly, the crystal branches arcing over the divide, desperately reaching for the city and more land to grow.

The wonder known as the Highbridge stretched out before them. A perfectly straight path, carpeted and lined by reservoirs of perfectly clear water. It was the last line of defense for Bevelle. No cover was allotted to advancing forces, nowhere to run but forward. The only entrance.

Now, it was full of activity. Soldiers of all rank paced back and forth. Several others dressed in heavy robes paced back and forth, mages, awaiting orders. Machina lined the edges of the path.

Limping forward, leaning on Shuyin for support, Kijo began walking down the great bridge. Their group drew stares from other soldiers who looked at them and then turned away, shaking their heads. The walk took nearly half an hour at their slow pace. Finally, they reached the great wall at the end of the Highbridge where the single ornate door stood.

Several Bevelle soldiers, armed with rifles stood and eyed them carefully. One with a particularly elaborate helmet stepped forward. "Hold," he said simply. Kijo stopped as did the rest of the group. He pulled on Shuyin to raise himself higher and look the soldier in the eye. The soldier stepped forward lazily. "State your business."

Kijo nodded and patted Shuyin on the shoulder who looked at him with concern but let go. Kijo stumbled forward slightly but caught himself and drew himself up in a shaky salute. "Sir! My unit was caught in a trap laid by the enemy, two of our number is dead and…well…" He glanced back at Roy who was holding his head and shaking dizzily. "Two of them developed bad cases of shell-shock."

The soldier sighed. "I can see that, soldier." He motioned toward Brahv with his rifle. "But I asked you what your business was, not why you look like crap."

Kijo blinked and nodded fervently. "Oh, yes sir, of course, sir." He laughed nervously. "Our commanding officer saw it fit to send us back to headquarters. These two," he pointed at Brahv and Roy again. "Are to be given time off to recover and the rest of us are to be reassigned when we've had our injuries looked at."

The soldier at the door let go of his rifle with one hand and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Kijo watched him silently, his face confident and a perfect mask for the roiling tempest of worry inside him.

"Reassigning, huh?" The soldier nodded slowly. "Alright. Get on in there." He pointed back at the door behind him. Kijo bowed and suppressed a sigh of relief.

The five hurried forward, and waited for the great door to open for them. Slowly, it began to creak, great cogs and gears shifting inside the wall. The ornate doors opened slowly and with great purpose.

"Hey, soldier," the guard's voice interrupted Kijo's thoughts. Kijo turned around quickly and saluted again.

"Yes sir?"

"While you're in the reassignment office…do me a favor and tell Lieutenant Ivan that we need some more people for gate duty. Our shifts are too long right now. We need some rest."

Kijo nodded. "Of course, sir." The guard reached up and waved nonchalantly over his shoulder as he turned away. Kijo saluted one last time and then, still faking his limp, led his unit through the door and into the city of Bevelle.

Bevelle was awash with the light of midday. Kijo had heard from old books and old men, that Bevelle was a beautiful city, it reflected natural light and hardly ever needed its own to be made. This had always fascinated him, because Zanarkand spent so much time in the shadow of Mt. Gagazet, that the neon lights seemed more natural to him than the sun itself. Before them, buildings rose high over their heads. Trumping them all, however, was an enormous building that reached up to the sky. It felt to Kijo, that it was trying to compete with Gagazet.

There was not time to stare, however. The streets were alive with hustled movements of commoners and soldiers. To see soldiers of their city, gawking at their home in awe…well that would just be suspicious. Without a word, Kijo began to lead them through the crowded streets. They walked purposefully and the people of the city moved out of their way courteously. Some even smiled warmly at them with a kind of pity for their disheveled appearance.

They worked their way deeper and deeper into Bevelle. The streets gradually grew less crowded and the buildings stopped looking quite as impressive. Kijo could just remember a blueprint of Bevelle he had seen not too long ago. They were reaching the section of the slums before reaching the central building.

As with any city, wealth was not evenly distributed. Wealth attracted more gil, and the gil-less often remained so. It was not much different in Zanarkand. The houses that lined the streets gradually began to sag as they walked. The clothing on the people walking nearby grew shabbier as they continued.

After some walking, their surroundings began to change again. The houses grew prettier, the streets more well-taken care of, and the people held their heads higher. Above them, the sun was slowly retreating from the sky. A dusky half-light began spreading over Bevelle.

Before them, the central building rose high. This was the headquarters of Bevelle where all the highest officials rested. If the machina were anywhere…it would be in there. With an almost invisible nod, Kijo motioned for them all to enter the building. They walked confidently up to the door, nodding to the guards stationed by the entrance.

Shuyin took the lead, reaching forward and pushing the large doors open. A thin layer of mist spilled out of the dimly lit building and pooled around their feet. Kijo raised an eyebrow but walked inside after Shuyin.

Once inside, they drew several short stares and were quickly approached by an old, short, fidgety man with a small, concerned frown on his face. He stopped almost directly in front of Shuyin and crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently on the floor.

"Alright, alright, what is it this time? What are you here for? Well?"

Shuyin blinked. "Um..."

The short man shook his head and sighed. "Come on, come on. I don't have all day to listen to 'ah's and um's. Spit it out and move on, shall we?"

Shuyin nodded quickly and stood at attention. "Two of our number were killed and we are to report back to HQ to be reassigned."

"Is that all?" The man's response was crisp and to the point.

"No sir," Shuyin said just as quickly. The man rolled his eyes but Shuyin continued, ignoring it. "We were caught in a trap involving explosives and may have suffered internal damage, concussion, severe shellshock, etc. The doctors on the field suggest a week to recover," the short man glared at him. "With…um…well after the central medics inspect us and if they believe it necessary of course."

The twitchy man tapped his foot two more times loudly and uncrossed his arms, digging into his pocket. There was a loud jingle, as though his pocket was full to the brim with gil. From it, he withdrew a bronze key which he handed to Shuyin.

"Alright, you'll be needing new uniforms of course, and report to the medics as soon as possible." Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and walked off, pockets jingling loudly and his feet making the mist swirl madly.

Kijo and his unit stood there for a moment, recovering from the irate official. Another soldier who was walking by smirked and stepped forward. "Someone's really gotta cast a Slow spell on ol' Orman." He smiled a friendly smile and held his hand out to Shuyin. "Name's Holtz, nice to meet you. Looks to me like this was your first time speaking with Orman."

Shuyin nodded dumbly and then smiled back at Holtz, taking his hand warmly. "Yea, I've never seen him before. We've…been out in the Great Plains for a while now. I'm Shuyin." Kijo mentally approved of Shuyin giving his real name. No one here would have heard of any of them. It would only complicate matters to give fake names. Shuyin turned and motioned at the other four of them. "This is Kijo, Solene, Brahv, and Roy."

Holtz shook Kijo's hand and nodded to the rest of them who were too far away to reach. "So…five of you…guess you lost two." He shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Kijo nodded solemnly. "They were…good soldiers. But…people die in war, no need to dwell on it." Holtz smiled understandingly. Kijo raised his head, looking at Holtz. "So how long has Orman worked here?"

"Oh gosh…I don't know, maybe like…forever?" Holtz laughed. "He's been around for a long time. He's just in an out of the public eye a lot. He's a strange guy. But if you ever need to know something, you ask him."

Kijo exchanged a split second look with Shuyin.

"He was recently put in charge of all the keys in the place. That's why he jingles everywhere he goes." Holtz explained. "Personally, I think the guys a nutcase…but he obviously knows what he's doing, I mean…he's always leading soldiers around, taking them places. So someone must think he knows what he's doing." The young man paused and then laughed. "Listen to me though! Rambling on like a nitwit! I'm sorry…you must want to go get your new uniforms."

Kijo nodded, hardly listening to Holtz now, his mind ablaze with thought.

"Well, alright. You get going. If you have some free time, I'm over in the west wing. My room is #22. Feel free to drop by if you have questions about HQ. Things change a lot, if you guys have been out on the field for a while, you might not be able to find everything." Holtz smiled and patted Shuyin on the shoulder. "Well that's enough from me. Good luck with getting that week off. See you around."

Holtz waved and trotted off, leaving wide trails in the misty smoke. Kijo watched him go and suppressed a grin as he turned and nodded at the other soldiers from Zanarkand. Things were going better than he could have dreamed. Holtz seemed to be a wealth of basic knowledge…and this keeper of the keys, Orman…well…Kijo figured he could merit some watching.

"Ok everyone…let's go get those uniforms, huh?" Kijo looked at Solene pointedly. She didn't even need to be told what was going to happen. After this…it would be up to her to follow Orman and find out what was going on. Kijo looked at the men of the unit, Brahv was stoic as ever. The edges of Roy's mouth were turned upwards ever so slightly. When Kijo looked at Shuyin though, he felt the same tremor of unease.

The blond haired boy's face was a perfect mask of indifference. Nothing moved and for all intents and purposes, he looked as emotionless as a stone. Kijo grinned uncomfortably and chuckled softly. "What's up Shuyin? Aren't you glad to be back at HQ?"

Shuyin blinked, as though coming out of a deep trance. He faced Kijo and smiled widely. "Yeah, of course I am." His face dropped slightly. "I was just…thinking about Lenne…is all." The sadness in his voice was palpable. Kijo remained silent for a moment but then raised an arm and placed it on Shuyin's shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sure she's just fine. I mean…my friend Majo is the one training her after all. You've got nothing to worry about. He'll treat her well."

Shuyin's eyes flashed dangerously again for a split second and then returned to normal. With a grin, he nodded. "Alright then. Let's go get some new clothes already. I'm tired of the draft from these blast holes."

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Oh, and be ready for something different next chapter.