oops i rambled for too long AGAIN
Rebellion was not usually something Larsa indulged himself in. He had his allocation of mediocre stubborn stand-offs after he turned eighteen, certainly; but he quickly grew up and focused. There really was no reason to be dissenting; he had everything he needed and more than he could want. The only idea that graced his mind was the thoughts of a whimsical love – the main reason for his earlier rebellions – and the unfortunate cause of his current one.
To be fair, the only other option was to sit through a protracted session of gossip. The Judges were fair people, but they certainly could get a bit chatty – a meeting meant to review the week easily diverted to chatter of the happenings in Archades proper. Surely the Magistrates could control their minions without the Emperor there to supervise, and when Lord Larsa was not located inside the hall, they could spread the rumors they had heard of him.
So he dressed in his shabbiest clothes, which were only shabby by an emperor's ideals, and managed to abscond from the palace undetected from guardian eyes. It was no feat to be done by a novice, but even in Larsa's inexperience, he knew the palace and its workings. He hailed a taxi to get him to Nilbasse, after fumbling precariously with a chop, and then walked his way to the lower levels of Archades. Few people out of Tsenoble recognized him by face, so he had removed his Solidor crest before leaving the palace to avoid a potentially dangerous encounter below the city.
Old Archades was a melancholy place. The people and the wall were bathed in dirt, the roads were broken and unforgiving to those who sat on the sides, and the sun disappeared here before it set proper, leaving the shambled underworld in shadows for long hours. The Emperor did well to tread lightly as he maneuvered the streets, wandering aimlessly but walking with a purpose.
He knew the gossip workings of Old Archades. He only need to ask the most friendly faces, and he might receive the information he needed; favoring the children, for they were the most honest and least violent lot. He had no talk to exchange with the people who gave him his information, and instead gifted them a few gil; hefty enough for them to eat well for a few days.
One pointed him in the direction of a towering building, and told him that was the biggest building of homes in the town. That was where his luck lie. As the emperor approached the building, he saw it rickety and dangerous, not even barely scraping Archades proper standards. He worried for the people inside, for it would only take a windstorm to blow the thing over. Outside was a vendor, selling sweets, but getting no customers. That was a luxury no one here could afford. Larsa pitied the man, who had begun to pack up his shop as the shadows reached his cart, and picked a few from his selection before he climbed into the housing tower.
He refrained a shudder when he entered. The overpowering smell of mildew and sewage filled the still air of the building. He had to stand in the doorway to become habituated to the stench. He blocked the entrance to a young girl, of fair hair and slender build, maybe thirteen years of age. She shouted at him to move around the struggle of the package she carried.
He apologized and moved to the side and instead hit an elderly man laying against the wall. Larsa fumbled with his speech, flustered at the movement, but managed to ask the girl if she knew of a golden masseuse that lived in the building.
"I don't know anything about precious metals, mister. But I do know my sister, and she's a masseuse if there ever was one."
"Might her name be Ria?"
"That's her. I guess you wanna see her?"
"Might you led the way, milady?"
The girl seemed to think, taking in Larsa's appearance. Anyone who had eyes could tell he was an outsider to Old Archades, obviously an upperclassman of some sort. He could pass himself off as the son of an extremely wealthy merchant, he would think – and the son of the merchant had the adopted name of Lamont, as always.
"If you want another massage, you have to go through her work, mister. She doesn't give freebies."
"No, I, uh, I merely forgot to give her my thanks for relieving a sore I had for years."
The girl seemed skeptical, but gave him a "Whatever, mister. You gotta carry this though."
Larsa gladly accepted the burden, heaving it over his shoulder and following the bounding girl up countless flights of stairs. They reached a room near the top, with laundry hanging on the walls and fewer drunkards on the floor, and the girl opened the girl to chaos. Two boys were pelting objects at each other, and two girls were wailing, and one woman stood in the middle shouting at them all.
They barely quieted as the girl entered. Larsa stood outside, unsure of what to do in the hectic room. The woman stepped over the girls on the floor, dodged a piece of wood thrown at her, and navigated the rest of the messy room to make it to the door.
"Did you not even pick up the meat?" she asked the girl.
"I did too! And I guess I missed dinner for all my work! Selfish pigs, the lot of you!"
"Hush, your share is on the table still. I need my meat first."
"The guy has it!"
"I told you to go pick it up from the guy!"
"No, a different guy, stupid."
"Don't you dare call me stupid, or you very well won't get that dinner left for you. Where's this 'guy'?"
Larsa stepped a little closer to the threshold of the boisterous room, making himself visible in the light. The woman choked on the air in her lungs when she caught sight of him and she doubled over in a coughing fit.
"Miss Ria, I apologize for coming so unexpectedly –"
Ri held up her hand and gained her composure. "Oi! To bed, the lot of you." Groans and hisses met her order, but she only rebutted with "This is what happens when you misbehave. I thought you four better than this. Bed or you'll all be stuck with laundry tomorrow."
They seemed to fear the laundry quite a bit and quietly headed into a single room, which Larsa assumed was the bedroom of the apartment. The girl he followed up went to eat her food – she seemed to be the littlest of the bunch.
Ria sighed. "You can set it on the table. I'm sorry she dragged you here, sir." She went to pick up the debris of the room, tidying the warzone quickly.
"I followed her here on my own account, Miss Ria. You have a rowdy bunch."
"Oh, they aren't mine. All siblings."
"Interesting all the same. How did you get motherly duties, milady?"
She began to answer, but a clamor came from inside the room, so she excused herself and stomped to the room.
The girl left the table and followed Ria. "Are you done already?" Larsa asked the girl.
"There wasn't much."
Larsa pitied the family. "Is this the usual case?" She nodded. He beckoned her over and motioned for her to keep a secret, and she nodded warily. He picked one of the sweets from the vendor and gave it to her enclosing her fingers around it. The girls grinned hugely at him, and ate it there, so enthusiastically Larsa thought she might have just thrown the whole thing in her mouth. He laughed and gave her another, this one bigger.
"Quit that!"
Larsa startled from the girl. "…Quit?"
Ria looked terrified. "Don't get her used to indulgences!" She pulled the girl away and sent her to the room with the others. "We don't have the money for her to become used to such things!" she hissed at Larsa.
A fool grin spread across his face, and he started chuckling to himself, then laughed until he had to rest on the table. She hushed him as she prepared the meat around him, and he laughed louder and harder until tears rolled down his face.
Ria sighed and let him laugh himself silly as she hurried to keep the meat from rotting. She had to work around the Emperor, who was still chuckling to himself when she was finished, as she cleaned the room that barely resembled any sort of kitchen; then went outside to pull the dried laundry from the walls. Larsa trailed after her, eyes still watering and sides cramping, and helped her fold a sheet.
"Milady, I apologize for my lack of composure. Not a soul has ever told me to 'quit' for years! Such a motherly stance upon me, of all people, struck me as humorous."
"It sounds like you need a little more motherly attention, milord," she remarked drily as she hefted the basket of clothes up.
"Would you do me the honor?"
"I apologize, sir, but these five keep my hands full. I have enough children to deal with as it is."
"Do they not attend a school of sorts?"
"We tried to keep them in as long as we could. The best we can hope for now is a good marriage to bring them upwards."
"Marriage at so young an age?"
"It is a bit archaic, yes, but it really is best for them. As long as they get out of this pit."
Larsa stood at the doorway, feeling again unwelcome in the little home. "How old are they?"
"Two girls of seventeen and nineteen, two boys at fourteen, and the youngest at twelve. She was an infant when our father left."
"And your mother?"
"I apologize, your highness, I fear I've just talked your wits away. I would offer you tea, but we ran out of leaves a week ago."
"No, please. I need to know what I can to help your family."
"You'd favor one bunch of children because their sister gave you a massage you particularly enjoyed?"
"I cannot directly help every family here. Not even I am competent enough to extend the aid into the slums. If one family's future betters, they could go back and have the ability to change Archades for the better."
"So choose some of the bright ones from the orphanage. We can handle ourselves here."
"Would you want even better for your siblings than what you could offer, though?"
"Of course I do, but we can do this without the help from above."
"At least let me take the littlest one. I can send her to the finest school in Archades, and she could board there as well, and she can still be a dazzling student."
"You're sounding as if you favor her, my lord. Your next offer might as well be to take her as your bride."
"I would much rather have you as that."
Ria froze, stilling her hands for the first time all day. "Because that would solve all your problems, wouldn't it?" She turned away from her basket of clothes and faced him, giving him a calculating stare: trying to decide his true purpose here, searching for a meaning to his presence.
"I have no immediate problems that would be solved by that compromise, other than me having what I want. I think your maternal feelings would keep a child from frivolous desires, however."
"It would give you the position to move this family upwards in the world, and it would solve the dilemma of lacking an escort for your side. Taking a poor girl with children would improve your image and give you children, while you could take a mistress on the side to truly satisfy you. Lord Larsa, you and your government are nothing but trouble for everyone in Old Archades."
"Lady Ria, you misunderstand my intent. Please excuse my former statement; my dreams and indulgences should not concern you. I only wish to better Archades little by little."
"Then start somewhere else."
"Please, just let me show you what can be done. She could grow to be one of the finest scholars in the world."
Ria sighed. "She's only twelve."
"Twelve is old enough to do many, many things. Twelve is enough to take the throne."
"Would she be cared for?"
"Yes! Yes, of course. She would receive three meals a day, and she would interact with the best professors in Ivalice."
"Let me think about it."
"There shouldn't be much to ponder, Miss Ria. Would you meet me in Molberry in two days' time?"
"I would."
Larsa grabbed her hand and kissed the back, relishing the feel of her soft fingers momentarily, selfishly taking a moment of her time he shouldn't have, and she pulled away, curiosity flaming in her eyes, trying to pry into the Emperors mind. He left her with enough money to buy some tea leaves, for she was too stubborn to take any more, and left the building as quickly as possible.
He sprinted out of the darkness of Old Archades, dashing up into Trant, leaning against the pillar of a shop to catch his breath in the fresh air. When he stood upright again, he was caught in the gaze of a man dressed as Gabranth. A very angry Gabranth to boot. He burst out laughing again, clutching his sides and losing his breath once more.
"G-Gabranth!" the man shouted. "I fear I've become hysterical!"