Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Final Fantasy
Chapter Thirty-Six: Unsettling Feeling...
Night befell the romantic and eventful day. Throughout the rest of the day, hardly anyone spoke. Just after the chain of events, Neal and Mirabelle caught up with the others, so everyone began walking entirely together again. Both of them were oblivious to the fact that Lily and Yuki planned it all out, so they believed that no one knew about them yet. Of course, Sevrin was too embarrassed to even look at Yuki, Midahn the same with Lily. The few times words were spoken were when the others turned back to decided which way to go, as Neal and Mirabelle were walking in the very back. When that happened, they quickly let go of each other's hands, trying not to act suspicious. However, it has become dark, approaching the time to set up camp.
"Hm?" Yuki perked up. "I think I heard something." There were rustling sounds coming from the shadows nearby, and three large goblins jumped out at them. Surprised, Yuki instinctively stepped back and reached for her katana, but felt a rush of wind pass right by her, causing her hair to be brushed back.
It was Neal, Sevrin, and Midahn dashing toward the monsters, weapons already drawn. "Stay away from Mira, you bastards!" "Come any closer to Yuki and I'll gouge your eyes out!" "Don't even think about harming my Lily!" The three boys screamed simultaneously. Neal had drawn his katana from one of his five invisible sheaths, while Sevrin wielded his legendary katana, Masamune, and Midahn held his staff. The two older boys diced the goblins into shreds while Midahn burned the last one into a crisp with a menacing flame. The girls blushed slightly and exchanged wide-eyed glances.
"...Overkill…" The three girls said. After that encounter ended, they found a good place to set up their tent. It wasn't until after the tent was pitched and everyone stood by the front flap that they realized their situation. Everyone's faces flustered quickly.
"Uh… I think we should pitch the spare as well! It can get pretty cramped up inside with… all six of us eheheh…" He said loudly and nervously.
"Good idea!" Mirabelle said, equally as loud and embarrassed. Sevrin opened the bag that contained their spare tent and the boys pitched it alongside the first one. The nervous atmosphere now calmed a little after seeing both tents.
Neal, Sevrin, and Midahn stood by the front of the first tent, while the three girls stood by the second one.
"Uh… Well… Good night!" Neal said quickly, and they all went inside and closed the tent instantly.
"G-good night!" They replied, doing the same. Once inside, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Damn… That was the first time I've felt so nervous about everyone being in the same tent before…" Neal whispered. The other two nodded in agreement. It was odd for them, as it felt so natural to them before. Nobody thought of it in that way until tonight, as everything had happened so suddenly that morning.
"Why were you two acting so nervous, though?" He whispered to them, raising an eyebrow. All throughout the day he was too distracted by the atmosphere with Mirabelle to notice that they were doing the same thing ahead of him.
In the other tent, the girls were bursting with excitement, about to share to share to each other what happened today, until they suddenly heard Neal scream, "Ehhhh?! You had yours first before me-!"
"Sh-shut up, you idiot!" Midahn whispered. He pointed to the direction where the girls tent was, and Neal's eyes grew wide. He covered his mouth.
"Shit! That just surprised me, though… You're a lucky man, Midahn." Neal replied.
"... What the hell, man… So she just did it out of the blue?" Sevrin asked, sounding both shocked and a little disappointed. He was jealous that Midahn had his first kiss before himself too.
"Yeah, I can barely remember it already… I thought I was dreaming or something…" Midahn said.
Right after Neal's outburst, Mirabelle and Yuki tilted their heads. "What'd he say?" Mirabelle whispered. Lily's face was bright red, and she was looking away shyly. Mirabelle and Yuki leaned forward, dying to know what happened.
Suddenly, the boys heard, "Ehhhh?!" From both Yuki and Mirabelle. Neal and Sevrin realized that Lily must have told them what happened too, confirming that Midahn actually did do it.
"Shhh!" Lily waved her hands back and forth in dismay, trying not to cause a scene.
"Y-you… kissed him?!" Mirabelle and Yuki both whispered in shock. "You two are too young to do that…!"
"Wha?! We're fifteen!" Lily replied in protest. "That's not too young!"
They all told each other the rest of what happened that morning. However, they were able to keep their reactions quiet.
"No way! Mira's your girlfriend now?!" Midahn asked. Neal nodded. "Pfft… Finally! And just kidding, I already knew!"
Neal's eyes widened. "Eh? What do you mean, finally?" Midahn gave him a sardonic look.
"Come on, man. It was painfully obvious…" He informed him. Neal gave a quizzical look to Sevrin, who shrugged.
"But anyways, what do ya think about Sevrin and Yuki, eh?" Midahn nudged Neal.
"She loves Sev to death. I wouldn't be surprised if…" Neal looked up at Sevrin, who looked away. Neal's eyes widened again.
"Hahah! She's your girlfriend now?! Atta boy!" He whispered.
"All three of us… in one single day… That can't be coincidental, can it?" Sevrin wondered. Neal looked up toward the sky, and smiled.
"Fate does some interesting things…" He said. A few minutes have passed, and they decided to try to catch some sleep. Now that they weren't whispering to each other anymore, it became eminently quiet. Too quiet. There wasn't even a single breeze to pass by and create any noise. Sevrin grew more and more unsettled as each minute passed. It had only been a few minutes since they went inside the tent, but he couldn't take it anymore. He sat up in frustration.
"Aargh! This doesn't feel right!" He yelled. Neal and Midahn turned toward him with raised eyebrows. The girls heard him loud and clear, causing them to open their eyes.
"What the hell is it?" Neal asked. "You might have woke up the girls or something…" Actually, they're probably wide awake talking about all that stuff… They have to be as excited as we are. I don't even think I can get a wink of sleep tonight…
"I have to take watch outside. I won't be able to sleep with the fact that they're not being protected. We can't see them after all, so who knows what might happen while we're separated…" He said.
Mirabelle and Lily turned toward Yuki, and mouthed, "Awwwww!" to her simultaneously.
"What a good boyfriend!" Lily whispered. "I know, right?" Mirabelle agreed.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You take two hours, then I'll go, then Midahn last. I don't mind the split portions of sleeping." Neal said.
Sevrin exited the tent, and sat on a log he found in front of the two tents. After a few minutes passed, he found himself with a temptation.
Damn… I really want to, but I know I can't… Tch, I know Neal would do it in a heartbeat. Eh, but that's no excuse for me to do it… He contemplated. With his sharp ears, he could barely hear whispers going back and forth in the girl's tent. Soon enough, his two hours passed, and he woke up Neal. Neal patiently sat through his two hours, dreamily thinking about Mirabelle the entire time. When his was finished, it was Midahn's turn. Since he was going last, he was waking up permanently for the day, as it would be morning by the time his two hours ended. He took this opportunity to quietly prepare for their day. By the time his two hours were over, everyone was awake and exited their tents.
"G-good morning, everyone!" Mirabelle said.
"Morning!" Neal replied quickly and loudly. They met eyes, and blushed instantly.
"Hey…" Midahn said, looking at their gear sternly. "I've been organizing our gear while on watch for the last two hours, and I found that we're running low on our food supply…"
"Huh?" Neal turned toward him, Sevrin doing the same. The three boys eyes widened.
"Ah! We can't let our girlfriends go hungry! Assemble, men! We're going hunting right now! Don't come back empty handed!" Neal shouted.
"Right!" The other two said, and the three of them dashed off just like when they encountered the monsters last night.
"Jeez… Those three…" Mirabelle said.
"They're so heroic!" Lily said with lovestruck eyes. Kissing Midahn has only just now got to her head.
"Yeah, so truueee~!" Yuki said dreamily.
Yuki too?! Mirabelle thought. Then her eyes widened. Wait… Why don't I feel as sappy and dreamy as they do right now? Do I… doubt Neal? Is it just a game to him or something? She grew worried and instantly heartbroken. When he comes back… I'm going to talk to him about it.
Later that morning, the boys finally returned. Midahn seemed to have picked the entire forest's worth of berries, while Sevrin and Neal carried freshly cut venison meat.
"Wha…?! You actually got one that fast?!" They exclaimed.
"You bet! Our purpose has never been more important, so gave it everything we had!" Neal and Sevrin's eyes sparkled, their facial expressions exaggeratingly manly.
"Wowwww!" Yuki and Lily clasped their hands together, holding them to their hearts.
Mirabelle glanced at Neal, who was grinning from ear to ear. Then he met her gaze, and blushed slightly. He smiled at her.
"Um… C-can we talk over here for a second?" She asked him.
"Eh? Sure…" He replied. She led him behind a few trees, away from the others.
"What is it, Mira?" Neal asked.
"I've… told you why I like you, so… I was wondering if…" She looked away shyly. "...You could tell me why you like m-me?"
Neal's eyes widened. "O-oh… I see. Well, we're very close, so I know a lot about you. And I always have enjoyed being with you, even just talking to you makes me feel good. You're the kindest person I've ever met, always putting others ahead of yourself. You always heal us without hesitation; I think your power as a white mage reflects on your caring nature. I think that's… the most beautiful thing about you, Mira." He sounded completely embarrassed the entire time.
Mirabelle just stared at him. She didn't expect him to say that at all. All of her nerve wracking anxiety she felt since she woke up was needless. She had never been more happy in her entire life.
However, seeing how she wasn't reacting at all to what he said, Neal thought he made a grave mistake. He didn't compliment her beauty. "Ahh!" He waved his hands back and forth. "And you're the most beautiful girl in the entire world too!"
Damnit… That was so cheesy! He thought reluctantly, looking away quickly. But to be honest, I always played this little game in my head in every town we've been to. I always eyed girls our age out in public, rating them out of ten. None of them compare to Mira, though… I even gave her a perfect rating, but never thought much about it…
"N...Neaaalllll!" Mirabelle was already bawling. She ran up to him and embraced him lovingly. He was surprised, thinking that he screwed up. She could hardly contain her happiness knowing that Neal's feelings were genuine too.
"Wha?! You're acting like you thought I didn't like you or something! I would never do something like that, Mira!" He gave her a pouty face. She doubted me! I know she did! This suckkkss…
She could sense the dismay going on inside his head, which she thought was extremely cute and started giggling.
"I've gotta admit, it does feel different now when I hug you like this. But I think I'll get used to it." He said, smiling. Her heart skipped a beat.
"We'll get used to it quickly, I'm sure~!" She said. They rejoined the others, coming back to a much nicer atmosphere.
"Hmm? What were you two doing, ehhh?" Lily asked them in a teasing tone. They blushed simultaneously.
"N-nothing!" They both exclaimed.
"A… Anyways, I think we should get going." Neal said.
"Where are we headed? Do we have a destination in mind? I think we're near Gariland…" Midahn said.
"I figured we'd start here, and plan where to search accordingly, since Gariland's in the center of the land." Neal said. Then he leaned over to Mirabelle's ear. "Plus I want to go back to where we first met." He whispered to her.
Mirabelle recalled that time when she was thirteen years old. She was frightened at first, travelling to a completely new place, accompanied only by Midahn, who was but a stranger to her at the time. Their Visionary brought them to Gariland, where a festival happened to take place the day they arrived. She walked over to a cotton candy stand with Midahn, and giggled at the boy standing in front of her. After he and his friend payed for their cotton candy, and turned around, the boy immediately tried to stuff the entirety of it into his mouth. She found it amusing now that not too long after that she practically hated his guts.
When they arrived in Gariland, people crowded the streets, and there were loud arguments outbreaking everywhere. Neal ran forward into the town square.
"Hey, what the hell's going on?!" He asked. Someone turned toward him.
"That man brings terrible news! That villain of man, Samael, has stolen another one of the Crystals! Oh, could it be true…?!"
Neal's eyes widened. "What…?!" He began pushing people out of the way to find the source of this information. He finally forced his way into the center of the crowd, where a man atop a horse stood. He was sweating, seeming nervous to be surrounded by so many people. But when he spotted Neal, his face lit up, and he pointed at him.
"That's one of them! The Warriors of Light are here! You! Uh… Faris, right?! He's here to put an end to this madness!" The man exclaimed, waving his finger at Neal. The crowd focused on Neal, and began to whisper and murmur amongst each other.
"Hey, is that really him? What the hell are you doing, huh?! What's the deal with this Crystal business anyways? I thought you dealt with that guy already! Isn't your purpose to protect the Crystals?!" They were screaming. Neal was so overwhelmed by everything that was going on that he couldn't speak. He kept looking back and forth between all the people mocking him and yelling. He started backing up, but bumped into someone. He turned around, and saw Sevrin.
"You're right!" Sevrin exclaimed loudly. The crowd quieted down. "You're right… We lost track of him. He's done more damage to our world. It's inexcusable for us… But at least listen to this. We won't let him take the final Crystal. We'll defend it until our last dying breaths. You hear that?! Don't lose faith in us! We won't let Samael plunge our land into darkness!"
Thanks, Sev… I was overwhelmed a little bit… Neal thought.
"How do we know that?!"
"Who else can do it but us?" Neal yelled back. "We've prepared for this for years, ever since we discovered who we are! I fight for the peace of everyone, but I hail from Gariland! You are my true people, as that's where I met my friends, your other Warriors, for the first time and started my journey! Remember that!" He shot his fist into the air, and everyone cheered, the morale and atmosphere in the town square instantly uplifted. Neal leaned over to the man on the horse. "Which Crystal did he steal?"
"He managed to get his hands on the Crystal of Fire, hidden deep inside an inactive volcano in the East." The man replied.
"So that means he possesses the Water, Wind, and Fire Crystals… That means the only one left is… The Crystal of Earth! The one we managed to get buried underneath the rubble of the underground empire, Elstonia! He must be trying to excavate it again!" Neal realized. He quickly turned toward Sevrin. "We're going to Elstonia right now!" Sevrin nodded, and they both took off, the crowd parting away in the direction they were running.
"W-what's wrong?" Mirabelle stammered as the two of them ran toward her frantically.
"We're heading to Elstonia! We have our lead!" Neal exclaimed.
"Is that where Samael is?" She asked.
"That's possibly where he's headed! He took the Fire Crystal completely by secret. Only just now have people found out… But the Earth Crystal is the last one not under his possession. Remember when we stopped him from taking it that time, causing the underground cavern to collapse?" He asked, and she nodded. "He's probably going to try to dig it up again."
"How do we know he's not there already though?" Mirabelle asked.
"We don't! He may be there already for all we know. But we have to do what we can, right Mira?" He said, taking her by the hand and leading her toward the gate quickly.
"You're right." She said. "Let's go!" They reached the gate, where the others were waiting.
"I told them the plan. Let's get going immediately." Sevrin said.
"Damn, you're fast. Okay, Lily and Yuki, I know you've decided to join us, and you know that we love you both and are happy for you to be with us. But I just want to let you know that you don't have to take part in our battle. It's going to be extremely dangerous." He told them.
"What are you talking about?" Yuki asked, looking at him strangely. "We may not have your power of Light, but we're one of you as well. I'll support you until the end. Don't you agree, Lily?" She looked back at her.
"Yeah! Why do you think we've went through all of that training together as we travelled? I've been learning as much white magic and black magic to help you for this battle, silly!" She said, smiling.
"Heh… Lily… Yuki… Thank you. You two are amazing. Now then, we're going to take our chocobo and ride for the rest of the day. Three birds, two per bird. We'll leave the other one here for the town or something. I want to keep our travel compact, so there's no need to use all four." Neal said.
With that, they departed Gariland, seeming to leave almost instantly after they entered. Neal was in deep thought, and stayed quiet for a while as he rode his chocobo.
Damn… We got really lucky there… That man who discovered this news just happened to be in Gariland when we got there… But Samael… He must have forgotten about us or something. I remember him saying three years… It's been a little longer than that. We've been taking it easy, meanwhile… He shook his head. I'm glad that I'm with Mira now, but I really need to focus from now on.
He felt Mirabelle's arms squeeze a little tighter around his waist. She was riding on his chocobo, seated behind him. "What's up? You seem complexed…"
"Eh, it's nothing." He replied. "I've just been thinking about what's going to happen when we get there."
"Well, for all we know, it just might be a huge wasteland of rubble and collapsed rock like it was when we left." She told him.
"True, but that's just on the surface. We need to find a way underground again. I wonder it there are any openings into that old underground excavation site anymore. That'd be the quickest way inside."
The Crystal of Earth was never found that day. The leaders of the Elstonian Empire were close, having nearly pinpointed the Crystal's location in the rock to within a couple hundred feet, but that was the day when the Warriors encountered Samael for the first time. Samael's powerful Earthquake spell being used underground caused the entire empire to collapse, burying the Crystal deep under the earth once again.
"Hey, let's stop here for the night." Sevrin and Yuki slid to a stop in front of them. Midahn and Neal did the same. Little before they knew it, it was dark outside. They set up the tent, and everyone started to walk to the entrance, and froze. Neal and Sevrin quickly set up the second one like their last arrangement.
"Man… It gets so awkward before we pitch the second one…" Neal said.
"You're telling me…" Midahn agreed.
"I still can't believe he captured the Fire Crystal without anyone noticing at first…" Sevrin said.
Ah, so he was thinking about it today as well… Neal noticed. "It sounds strange, doesn't it?"
"Would there have been some kind of reaction at the volcano with the disturbance of balance from the Crystal being stolen?" Midahn wondered.
"Besides that outcry in Gariland, there's been nothing out of the ordinary from what I've seen lately…" Neal said.
"Then was that all a scheme?" Midahn raised an eyebrow. The other two looked at him strangely.
"What do you mean?" Sevrin asked him.
"Maybe that situation with the man on the horse was all a plot to distract us or something…" Midahn said.
"Eh? No way…" Neal said, shaking his head. But after giving it some thought, he realized it may be true. "You… may be right, actually. We've never seen that guy before. No idea who he is… And the way the people were reacting to us at first…"
"Well, regardless of if it was true or set up by Samael or something, something's probably in store for us when we reach Elstonia tomorrow." Sevrin said.
"You can feel it?" Neal asked. He nodded.
"I've got a weird feeling. Unsettling, you could say." Sevrin said. He looked almost nervous, something he rarely shows.
The next morning, they started travelling once again. However, they were quite close to Elstonia, thanks to the speed of the chocobos. They were already seeing the change of the land from the fields to the large, rocky canyon. By midday, the remnants of the underground kingdom were in plain sight.
"This looks like an opening…" Neal said. They were at the bottom of the canyon, where large, cracked rocks and boulders lay scattered across the ground. Neal pushed aside a rock to reveal a small crack into darkness that could barely fit a person inside.
"Looks promising. Let's check it out." Sevrin said, after leaning his ear against the opening to hear how deep the cave was. They each squeezed through, one-by-one until everyone was inside. Midahn formed a small ball of fire to float above his hand and give them light. They began following the broken path deeper and deeper into the depths of the cave. At times, they would have to literally crawl since the ceiling became very low.
"Whatever you do, don't push any rocks. They could be the very ones that support the ceiling above you, so be careful." Sevrin said. Neal jerked his hand back, as he was just about to push one aside to get through easier. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, they found a open cavern with lighting.
"Woah… This must mean… This place isn't abandoned after all…" Neal realized. They could hear faint voices, so they crept toward the source of light. Around the corner, they found dozens of miners swinging pickaxes at a large boulder. They were oddly in sync, hitting the rocks at the exact same time. On the other side of them, there were a group of people dressed in dark robes and hoods. Lily's eyes widened.
"I recognize those robes…!" She whispered.
"And I recognize that black, spiky armor…" Neal added, looking at the tall armored man in the center of the dark figures.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading! The Warriors' mission is back on track, after everyone's little "distraction". The Fire Crystal got nabbed right from under them, so their last chance is the Earth Crystal, which seems to be being searched for once again?! And by who?!