New chapter, enjoy! I think the epic is now about a third done. I'm guessing in total, there will be around 30 chapters, can be a bit less, can be a bit more.

12. New Future

Marche opened the door of Sprohm's pub. Inside he saw, as he kind of had expected, his clan members already back from their mission. No wonder, he had been away for four days. As he entered, Ritz followed him. Montblanc didn't really believe what he saw, Marche and Ritz, together, and they didn't seem angry at each other at all! Ritz nodded at Marche, then moved to the bar and ordered a drink.

"Marche, kupo! You're back!" Montblanc exclaimed as he rushed towards his friend, Seth and Ardaun followed to greet him as well.

"Hi guys. I have an announcement to make, is everybody here?" When Montblanc nodded, Marche raised his voice. "Okay clan Marche, gather around, I have some important news!"

Aloud wondering what Marche would have to say, they all sat down at the table he was standing at. "Unexpectedly, I accepted a mission four days ago to clean Lutia Pass from some undead creatures, awoken by possible a Necromancer." A shiver went through the clan as they heard the word 'Necromancer'. "I was accompanied by whitey-locks on that mission, she insisted and because of some personal meaning behind the mission I let her. However…" Everybody fell silent. "During that mission I was aided by somebody whom I gladly accepted into our clan. She's a skilled Fencer and a master Elementalist. And her name's Ritz Malheur."

Jaws dropped on the table, but Marche ignored it. He mentioned Ritz to come over. She did and nodded to the clan, then to Marche. "This is our new clan member, I trust you guys to make her feel at home and a perfect member of our group." He smiled at Ritz. "You want to say anything to them?"

Ritz thought for a moment. "Well, I don't know… I hope my presence won't be minded. I'm honoured to be a part of your clan now, Marche. But I will miss Shara and Elena."

Montblanc hopped on the table and patted her shoulder. "We'll make you feel right at home, kupo!"

"Thanks Montblanc…" Then followed a load of congratulations and welcoming to Ritz, it overwhelmed the Fencer a bit, but mostly the clan members were nice to her.

"Name'ss Sseth, sseemss you and Marche made peace, huh?" He greeted her.

"Yes, you could say that. I'm happy to have the old Marche back."

"So do I!" Ardaun bumped in, pushing Seth playfully away. "I'm Ardaun, the clan's Ninja and Thief. And unofficial playful rival of Seth."

"Indeed." Seth hissed, punching Ardaun away. "And an annoying talkative fellow on top of that." The Bangaa smiled broadly as Ardaun barely kept his balance.

"You'll pay for that, scale-hide!"

"Oh yeah?" Seth scoffed "Then let's take it outside!" They nodded to each other and left the pub. Confused Ritz turned to Marche, who simply laughed. "You'll get used to their quarrels. They are best palls, but sometimes they just need to duke it out, only to come back in leaning against each other and Devianor needing to heal them." Then he turned to the pub master. "Say pub master, since this is kind of a special occasion, drinks for the entire pub!" Now the enthusiasm of Clan Marche passed over to the entire pub. Anybody who stood outside would have thought a hunter had used ten sonic booms at once, cause the cheer that erupted from the people was incredibly loud. Montblanc squeezed himself through the crowd towards Marche and Ritz, who sat together, enjoying their drinks.

"So, kupo… What happened, kupo? You really seem different, Marche."

Marche smiled at his friend. "Not much happened, Montblanc. Just that I am Marche again. The real Marche." Marche nodded, satisfied.

"It's good that you are you again, kupo."

"I agree." Marche replied. "And I hope that it won't change anymore."

Just then, Ritz stood up from her chair, and walked outside. Montblanc wanted to call her, but Marche stopped him. "Don't, Montblanc. I know where she's heading. She has to do this."

---

Ritz had seen the two Viera. She had hurried outside and strode past a still fighting Ardaun and Seth, trying to catch up with the two Viera she had seen. It was a bit hard because of the crowded streets, but eventually she popped up between Shara and Elena.

"Ritz!" Shara cried, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. The Sniper calmed herself down quickly. "So how did it go?"

"Well…" Ritz hesitated. How did she have to tell this? She so liked Shara and Elena, she had so enjoyed the days she had spend with these two members of the clan she had been a part of. "Can we co somewhere quiet, please?"

"Sure." Elena replied "Let's get out of town."

As they walked out of town, Ritz told them the details about the mission itself, but not about the events between Marche and herself. When she finally got to that subject, she sank down on a fallen tree trunk, away from the crowded streets of Sprohm.

"So you actually managed to get through to him?" Elena gasped, surprised at this fact. "Amazing!"

"Yes." Ritz nodded. "But it was close. If I had hesitated one more second when I kissed him, I wouldn't be here telling you all this now."

"Which means he nearly killed you again and-" Shara stopped, suddenly realizing what Ritz had said. "You serious? You kissed him?!"

"I did…" Ritz felt her cheeks burning red. "And when I did that he snapped back to reality."

"And… Did you tell him… your feelings?"

Ritz nodded slowly, blushing more and more. "He even returned my feelings…"

Elena jumped with joy. "Ritz, that's great news! This means it's over, right?"

"Yeah…" The Fencer agreed "And… There's more over than I've told you two…" She sighed deeply. Now came the hardest part. "I have… I have joined his clan…" She waited for Elena furious: "WHAT???", only it never came. Hesitatingly Ritz looked up to the two Viera.

"You're not angry?" She finally dared to ask, after a long silence.

"Why would we be?" Shara asked, sitting down next to her. "I mean, we've expected this since the beginning of all this, Ritz. It was inevitable, really."

"Well, I guess it was…" Ritz bit her lip. "But I still feel bad about leaving you two behind. I had so much fun with you girls, I really feel bad about leaving."

"Don't worry about us." Elena assured her. "We'll do fine without you. And you'll do fine in his clan."

"But where will you go?" Ritz asked. "Back to our old clan?"

Shara shook her head. "Some of them already joined other clans. No, we'll do things on our own. But we'll always be there Ritz, to get to your aid whenever you need to."

"Yeah, if lover boy ever mistreats you, don't hesitate to give a call!" Ritz sighed, deeply relieved it all turned out like this. She pulled the two Viera into a tight embrace. "What would I have done without you two?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Elena groaned. "Now let me go, I'm not getting any air!" The Fencer burst out into laughing, joined soon by her two forever friends. And later, Ritz waved at them as they left her, and they waved back. She watched them go to unknown horizons, but in her heart Ritz knew she would always be able to see them. Wiping a tear away, she turned around and walked back to Sprohm. Marche was waiting for her at the outskirts of the town, not saying anything, but she knew he understood. Together they went to their clan, to her new future.

---

"Okay guys, we've been laying still long enough! Time to get our clan back into gear!" Marche gathered everyone around at the largest table in Sprohm's pub. A few days had passed since Ritz had joined, but the clan had taken what one might call a little vacation. Now Marche had decided that it was time to get to work again. When everybody had settled down, Marche began his talk. "Well, I think that since everything is back to normal in our happy little family, we can finally start doing classic clan stuff again!" Everybody started muttering things excitedly, but Marche raised his hand to silence them. "So that means we'll do some missions again! And you can count on it that we'll make all of Ivalice realize that clan Marche is back in actions!"

"Yeah!"

"Thanks for the encouragement Ardaun." Marche smirked. Seth slapped his Ninja friend playfully on the head. Ritz could hear him mutter something like 'Ow! Watch out with those claws!', but Marche continued talking. "So here I have the current list of all mission available." He quickly scanned the list again. "Apparently, there was a Viera killed in Muscadet…" His tone hardened a bit. "With a knife. They ask volunteers to help looking for the murderer. Anybody willing? I'll need two people."

Majorie, the first Viera of Marche's clan raised her hand, as Marche had expected. As did Zeran, clan Marche's gunner. "Okay, Marche nodded. Majorie and Zeran, you'll go to Muscadet. See if you can help them there."

"Okay, Devianor, if you don't mind, I would like to send you on another dispatch mission."

"As long as it doesn't mean I'll have to find a lost book again, I'm fine with it." The Wise Nu Mou grinned.

"It's not, this time they'll need you to find some crystallized wind in the desert of Eluut."

"Sounds interesting, I'm on it." He leaned to Seth. "Always nice to tell the poor mission-posters to not always believe what they hear." The Bangaa barely could keep silent.

"Me, Ritz, Montblanc, Ardaun and Seth, we're going after Swamp king Kanan in Uladon Bog. Wanted missions always offer some good gil." Marche looked from face to face. "Okay, that will be it. Everybody, get your stuff. Everybody should be gone within an hour."

In less than five seconds the table was empty.

Uladon Bog would be to far to travel on foot, Marche had realised that. So this time, they did hire Chocobos. That would cut down the travelling town by half.

"At this speed." Marche said, as they sped over the fields of Ivalice. "We'll be there in a day or three."

"Great." Ritz smiled, she was riding next to him. "Hopefully the bandits will still be there when we get there."

"Probably, Kupo." Montblanc nodded. Given the small size of moogles, Montblanc sat behind Marche on the same Chocobo. The Chocobo didn't really mind, Montblanc was light as a feather anyway. "Bandits these days grow more nerdy and nerdy. They probably think they'll be safe in their current hiding spot, just like those Materite Swindlers."

"Well, I hope you're right." The Fencer shrugged. "I would hate it if we made this entire trip for nothing."

"I don't complain." Marche commented softly. "Crossing Ivalice on Chocoboback, I always found that fun. So even if this trip would be for nothing, I still enjoyed it."

---

"Alright Swamp king Kanan, you're going down!" Marche sneered as he wiped away the small drop of blood from the little scratch the Paladin had given him by surprise. Marche swung his Ultima Weapon with amazing speed, but Kanan's Lohengrin blocked it. The Paladin was a good swordsman, Marche admitted, but he would still win this battle. Marche hadn't even used his Ultima Knight skill yet. As he continued his duel with Kanan, his eyes shot looks to his fellow clan members.

Ritz was taking out a Templar, Montblanc was duelling with a Time Mage and Seth and Ardaun had engaged a gladiator and a juggler. They were doing fine, he could see. The Templar had trouble to keep up with Ritz, the Time Mage was on the run from Montblanc. Only between the Gladiator and Seth it was not clear who had the upper hand. Ardaun used one of his Veils to immobilize the Juggler, than KO'd him with two quick strikes of his Masamune's.

"Well, if they are nearly done, I should finish this as well!" Marche made a huge swing with his sword, making Kanan jump out of the way. Marche released a Shock attack, which Karan dodged narrowly. Marche lunged again at his sword collided with Kanan's. Each tried to push the other away. Eventually Marche did an unexpected step backwards, making Kanan tumble forward. The swamp king lost his balance and fell in the muddy ground. When he groaningly got up, he felt a gentle touch on his forehead, before being blown away with unseen force. He landed in the water, which broke his fall, and was KO'd. Marche received a Judge Point, and he stored the precious energy star safely in his pocket. Content with his victory, he put his Ultima Weapon on his back, breathing deeply. He observed the others.

Ritz darted out of the way of the Templar's lance, striking on it and making him drop it. Unarmed, the Bangaa tried to punch her, but she ducked and blew him in the mud with Piercethrough. Before he could get up, she KO'd him with Nighthawk. Marche smiled. Yes, she was a great addition to the clan. Her fencer skills were unsurpassed. The very fact that she was in his clan and could fight at his side seemed to make her an even better fighter.

Montblanc used dodged a stop spell from the Time Mage, and with his return-magic reflexes, cast the spell back at the Time Mage, who couldn't dodge and was frozen in time. Montblanc then finished it with a powerful Thundaga spell. The young moogle mage had definitely increased the power and accuracy of his spells. The training Marche had put his clan through really had helped. Almost every spell Montblanc cast hit. Only very skilled mages like he himself was, were able to deliver a serious challenge to him.

Seth and Ardaun both used a Judge Point to perform a combination attack, which took out the Gladiator. Those two were really great partners. Yeah, they liked to play pranks on each other and each of them wanted to show the other who was better, but if needed they teamed up and took out any challenge that was to difficult for one of them alone. They weren't as powerful as Montblanc or Marche, or even Ritz, who hadn't received the rough training, but the teamwork they could pull off more then made up for that.

The engagement was over. The Judge took Kanan and his band of wanted criminals to the Prison in Sprohm.

"Well, that went nicely." Marche commented. "Well done all of you."

"You did nice yourself, too, Marche." Ritz smiled to him. "You really made Kanan taste dirt."

"Better yet." Ardaun grinned. "Mud."

"Gee…" Marche blushed slightly and shrugged. The others laughed at Marche's embarrassed expression.

"Okay!" Marche raised his voice. "Enough laughing. To your Chocobos you all! Let's head back to Sprohm!"

They nodded and had just turned around, when they heard something drop behind them.

"Marche Radiuju?" An unknown, yet not unfriendly, young voice asked. Slowly Marche turned around. On the bridge over the river stood a young person, fully covered in a set of impressive armour.

"I am. Who are you?" Marche demanded, doing a step in the direction of the warrior.

"I am Gilgamesj, travelling Genji Knight." The young warrior introduced himself. He was no older than Marche. Only now Marche noticed that the armour Gilgamesj wore was a full set of Genji armour. Never before had Marche seen an entire set of this rare, quality armour. How Gilgamesj had obtained it, Marche could only guess, but it must have been hard.

"I have heard about you, Ultima Knight." Gilgamesj continued. "And I've come to fight you, so I can judge if you are indeed as powerful as people say."

---

Yay! New chapter, new character! To those worried that I can't come up with anything good now to make the story continue, don't worry, I've planned this epic far beyond Marche's first comeback. Just wait and see, it'll get good (I hope) soon enough.

And if I haven't gotten Swamp king Kanan's clan right, hey, I can't remember every exact detail from the game! I'm still human after all.