p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"Chapter 26/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"3/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"rd/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;" person (Zelkova)/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Very odd indeed." Zelkova said, as he examined the crystal ball of lightning in his hands. "It seems that creature must have had some of that strange curse in it. The lightning seems... darker." He explained to Bereit and Kurve, as they walked through the sandy dunes./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Upon hearing what had been announced by Zelkova, and examining the crystal ball as well, Bereit noticed that the darker hue to the lightning looked very similar to the type of darkness that the Garuda he hunted long ago resembled. It left a bad taste in his mouth, thinking that things were about to get worse with what he was thinking. "Well, there was one Garuda that that had the same thing. It was a lot darker, and sure hit harder than normal ones do." Bereit explained to Zelkova, eyeing the crystal ball for a little longer before he looked away. "It might not be a curse... but some sort of virus..." His explanation came with a heavy sigh. "I knew it was going to get worse..."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"A virus, you say?" Zelkova repeated, looking at Bereit. "If it's suppose to be like you said, perhaps this one only began to grow with the virus in it. If it had continued, perhaps it would have been even stronger. Maybe even more violent."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I've definitely saw that happen with the Garuda." Bereit began to worry what else this virus could infect. If it could infect those dragons their after, who knew how screwed they were. Though, he had to focus on what, rather than what could be. "You think that'll even work for the airship?" Bereit /br /Zelkova shrugged. "We can only try to see. I just hope that Cid has an answer for us."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit gently nodded, before he looked back at Kurve, seeing how he was doing. And there wasn't any sign of him doing bad or anything, so that was assuring, to say the least./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Kurve looked back at Bereit, giving him a smile under his big black hat./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The party soon made their way back to the airship. Fallen was still looking off to the ocean. Shiva was sitting right next to her, as if she was doing the same as Fallen was. Thinking about what was bound to happen next./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"As much as Bereit wanted to speak to her and see what she was thinking about, but he remembered she wanted to be alone at the moment. Or so he was told it best to leave her be. With a quiet sigh, he went right inside the airship, soon finding Cid right where, what Bereit hadn't found yet in the airship, the engine room./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"A room filled with all sorts of contraptions, pistons, moving mechanical machines, and where it was all powered, four open slots, filled with nearly empty batteries, which made Bereit wonder if the one crystal they had would be enough./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova approached Cid from behind Bereit, handing him the crystal. "We only found one. However... this might be a risk. It's corrupted with that virus that has been going around. But... it makes it stronger, oddly. Should we risk using it?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid gently ran a hand over his chin, looking over to Zelkova. "Well... as much as I don't want to risk it... we don't have much of a choice in the matter." Cid sighed, putting his hand out to Zelkova. "Hand it over. We'll give it a shot and hope for the best."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova did as asked, handing over the crystal to Cid./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid took it to his hand, and then fit the crystal to the slot. There was a charging noise coming from it. Cid had a smile on his face. "Well, would you look at that. Works like a charm."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"And the other batteries?" Bereit asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Almost empty. Though, I've got an idea." Cid told him, handing him one of the batteries. "You think you could charge them?" Cid asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit was hesitant for a moment, pursing his lips. "Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Hand those over." He asked of /br /Cid did as such, handing him the other two batteries. Bereit took them into his hands. He tilted his head a bit, looking at the battery for a few seconds, turning it every which way. He looked up at Cid. "How do batteries work again?" He asked sheepishly./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"You're joking... right?" Cid asked, with a frown./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Frankly, I don't know how batteries work either." Zelkova admitted./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid sighed, with a hand on his forehead. "I'm shocked you know how to walk."br /br /"Hey, give me a break. I didn't grow up with this nonsensical crap." Bereit said with a frown./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Well, all you need to do is put some energy at the bottom slot of it. The black part. That's where most of it is stored." Cid explained to him./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit nodded, as he put his hand against the black part of the yellow battery. He started slow with putting energy into it with his lightning magic. Lightning emitted from his fingers, the lightning going into the battery. He was nervous for putting too much in the battery, causing it to explode. But he was sure there'd have to be some sign./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Hey, look at that." Zelkova said, pointing to the small yellow light at the top of the battery. Bereit noticed it as well, as did /br /"Oh yeah! It'll turn green when it's fully charged." Cid remembered, looking at the battery. "At least some of the manuals I've read said such. So, looks like you'll have these done and know when to start the next."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Alright... I'll let you guys know when I'm done with them." Bereit informed them, as he enhanced his lightning to charge it a little /br /"Not too fast, you hear? It might damage it." Cid warned, as him and Zelkova got up and left the engine /span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Be careful, Bereit." Zelkova added./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"br /Bereit nodded, keeping on with his constant emitting of lightning from his fingertips./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"It had been a while that the party waited for Bereit to finish up. And still no word from him. Throughout that time, everyone did their own thing to kill time./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who do you want to see?br /br /Fallenbr /Imbir/Kurve/Vanessa -br /Zelkova/Cidbr /Scharf/Co-Pilot/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"None/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Kurve, holding Imbir's and Vanessa's gun, ran around, giggling and jumping. "Pew, pew! This is so cool!" He said happily./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Hey, give that back!" Imbir called out, running after him. "That's not a toy!"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Vanessa followed, scared that Kurve would shoot the guns./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's next?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova/Cid -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Scharf/Co-Pilot/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"So that's why you became a white mage, huh?" Cid asked. "You know, where I came from. We have doctors, not white mages. We heal wounds with science. Alcohol and the sort. You seem to be convincing me that magic is a million times better than the healing I know."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova shook his head slightly. "I understand. A lot of white mages I knew had been taken from magic to science. They were lead to believe their magic doesn't heal properly. Like treat infections and the sort. And... well, if the wound is left long enough, it may be the case." Zelkova admitted. "Frankly... I was about to quit my ways as a white mage as well. But I couldn't just leave my life practice like that."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Well... to tell you the truth, I kind of wanted to learn medicine along with my know-hows with mechanics. But like anything else... it's hard to learn something like that. And I don't handle blood all that well." Cid admitted to Zelkova. "How do you handle it? Do you just grow used to it?"br /br /Zelkova was silent for a few seconds. "Well... the more blood I see... the harder I work at healing the wounded." He answered. "To me, blood is what drives me to work harder. Realize the situation they are in. And me as well."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Damn." Cid said, as he looked down a bit. That was a different way to look at a wounded person. Cid would have never looked at it that way. Knowing you could be that brave and saves lives... it kind of inspired Cid. "Hey... when this is all over... what do you say me and you work together? Maybe you can teach me how to handle that kind of stuff? And medicine too?" He seemed a bit embarrassed to ask this question./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova had a surprised look on his face, as he looked down a bit. "Well... I never considered it that way. To teach somebody how to handle that kind of thing... but hey, that doesn't sound so bad." He looked to Cid, with a smile. "I'll consider it."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's next?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Scharf/Co-Pilot -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Never in my life, had I ever thought that I'd be taking orders and following around a kid. Slaying ancient dragons... I can only imagine what my son would think of this." Scharf said, looking out the window of the cockpit./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Trust me. The first thing I wanted to do was go back and see some of my family. But... I think that'll have to wait. With those dragons flying around, they could come for my family at any time." The co-pilot said, having a slight worried tone of voice./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"When was the last time you saw them?" Scharf asked him./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's a good question." The Co-Pilot said to him. "But... either way, I'd like to see them again. At least after I know those dragons have been put to the ground."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Same here." Scharf agreed. "When this is all over... hopefully my son will believe me when I tell him I helped save the world." Scharf told him. "Maybe then he'll see me as a good person. A good dad..."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's Next?br /br /Fallen -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's Enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"It's amazing how far our journey has come, Shiva. When I was just constantly hesitating at your shrine... and here I am, hesitating to go confront my parents." Fallen said, rubbing her own shoulder. "What do I say? How do I say it?" She soon sighed, lowering her head./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Shiva soon gently had her cold hand on her shoulder and hand, having a smile on her face./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"No matter what, even if she couldn't speak, Shiva always cheered Fallen up. Perhaps it was just the gesture that helped her feel like she had somebody to make her feel better. Fallen smiled, gently putting her hand on Shiva's. "Thanks Shiva, even if you can't speak." She told Shiva./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Shiva still had her smile, as she then gently hugged Fallen. Her arms were just about able to wrap around Fallen twice, considering both of their sizes./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen felt cold from Shiva's embrace, which was ironic, since warms were meant to provide warmth. But she didn't care. A hug was a hug to Fallen. She closed her eyes, letting the gentle cold against her skin comfort her./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"As for Bereit, he was still working on those batteries. He had fully charged two of them throughout the hour and a half. He was getting really tired with how much of his power he was using./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Just one more... then I can sleep..." Bereit said, his eyes just about closed. But he tried his best to stay awake. It took a few minutes, before he saw that light finally turn green. He smiled tiredly, slowly putting the battery in the slot. He soon closed all four of them. And once he did, he was out like a light. Never had he used his magic for that length of time. He curled up, almost falling asleep immediately./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Save your game up to this point?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Yes/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"No/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"3/span/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;"rd/span/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"span style="font-size: large;" person (Zelkova)/span/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Very odd indeed." Zelkova said, as he examined the crystal ball of lightning in his hands. "It seems that creature must have had some of that strange curse in it. The lightning seems... darker." He explained to Bereit and Kurve, as they walked through the sandy dunes./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Upon hearing what had been announced by Zelkova, and examining the crystal ball as well, Bereit noticed that the darker hue to the lightning looked very similar to the type of darkness that the Garuda he hunted long ago resembled. It left a bad taste in his mouth, thinking that things were about to get worse with what he was thinking. "Well, there was one Garuda that that had the same thing. It was a lot darker, and sure hit harder than normal ones do." Bereit explained to Zelkova, eyeing the crystal ball for a little longer before he looked away. "It might not be a curse... but some sort of virus..." His explanation came with a heavy sigh. "I knew it was going to get worse..."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"A virus, you say?" Zelkova repeated, looking at Bereit. "If it's suppose to be like you said, perhaps this one only began to grow with the virus in it. If it had continued, perhaps it would have been even stronger. Maybe even more violent."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"I've definitely saw that happen with the Garuda." Bereit began to worry what else this virus could infect. If it could infect those dragons their after, who knew how screwed they were. Though, he had to focus on what, rather than what could be. "You think that'll even work for the airship?" Bereit /br /Zelkova shrugged. "We can only try to see. I just hope that Cid has an answer for us."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit gently nodded, before he looked back at Kurve, seeing how he was doing. And there wasn't any sign of him doing bad or anything, so that was assuring, to say the least./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Kurve looked back at Bereit, giving him a smile under his big black hat./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"The party soon made their way back to the airship. Fallen was still looking off to the ocean. Shiva was sitting right next to her, as if she was doing the same as Fallen was. Thinking about what was bound to happen next./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"As much as Bereit wanted to speak to her and see what she was thinking about, but he remembered she wanted to be alone at the moment. Or so he was told it best to leave her be. With a quiet sigh, he went right inside the airship, soon finding Cid right where, what Bereit hadn't found yet in the airship, the engine room./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"A room filled with all sorts of contraptions, pistons, moving mechanical machines, and where it was all powered, four open slots, filled with nearly empty batteries, which made Bereit wonder if the one crystal they had would be enough./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova approached Cid from behind Bereit, handing him the crystal. "We only found one. However... this might be a risk. It's corrupted with that virus that has been going around. But... it makes it stronger, oddly. Should we risk using it?"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid gently ran a hand over his chin, looking over to Zelkova. "Well... as much as I don't want to risk it... we don't have much of a choice in the matter." Cid sighed, putting his hand out to Zelkova. "Hand it over. We'll give it a shot and hope for the best."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova did as asked, handing over the crystal to Cid./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid took it to his hand, and then fit the crystal to the slot. There was a charging noise coming from it. Cid had a smile on his face. "Well, would you look at that. Works like a charm."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"And the other batteries?" Bereit asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Almost empty. Though, I've got an idea." Cid told him, handing him one of the batteries. "You think you could charge them?" Cid asked./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit was hesitant for a moment, pursing his lips. "Well... I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. Hand those over." He asked of /br /Cid did as such, handing him the other two batteries. Bereit took them into his hands. He tilted his head a bit, looking at the battery for a few seconds, turning it every which way. He looked up at Cid. "How do batteries work again?" He asked sheepishly./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"You're joking... right?" Cid asked, with a frown./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Frankly, I don't know how batteries work either." Zelkova admitted./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Cid sighed, with a hand on his forehead. "I'm shocked you know how to walk."br /br /"Hey, give me a break. I didn't grow up with this nonsensical crap." Bereit said with a frown./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Well, all you need to do is put some energy at the bottom slot of it. The black part. That's where most of it is stored." Cid explained to him./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Bereit nodded, as he put his hand against the black part of the yellow battery. He started slow with putting energy into it with his lightning magic. Lightning emitted from his fingers, the lightning going into the battery. He was nervous for putting too much in the battery, causing it to explode. But he was sure there'd have to be some sign./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Hey, look at that." Zelkova said, pointing to the small yellow light at the top of the battery. Bereit noticed it as well, as did /br /"Oh yeah! It'll turn green when it's fully charged." Cid remembered, looking at the battery. "At least some of the manuals I've read said such. So, looks like you'll have these done and know when to start the next."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Alright... I'll let you guys know when I'm done with them." Bereit informed them, as he enhanced his lightning to charge it a little /br /"Not too fast, you hear? It might damage it." Cid warned, as him and Zelkova got up and left the engine /span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Be careful, Bereit." Zelkova added./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"br /Bereit nodded, keeping on with his constant emitting of lightning from his fingertips./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"It had been a while that the party waited for Bereit to finish up. And still no word from him. Throughout that time, everyone did their own thing to kill time./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who do you want to see?br /br /Fallenbr /Imbir/Kurve/Vanessa -br /Zelkova/Cidbr /Scharf/Co-Pilot/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"None/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Kurve, holding Imbir's and Vanessa's gun, ran around, giggling and jumping. "Pew, pew! This is so cool!" He said happily./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Hey, give that back!" Imbir called out, running after him. "That's not a toy!"/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Vanessa followed, scared that Kurve would shoot the guns./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's next?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova/Cid -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Scharf/Co-Pilot/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"So that's why you became a white mage, huh?" Cid asked. "You know, where I came from. We have doctors, not white mages. We heal wounds with science. Alcohol and the sort. You seem to be convincing me that magic is a million times better than the healing I know."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova shook his head slightly. "I understand. A lot of white mages I knew had been taken from magic to science. They were lead to believe their magic doesn't heal properly. Like treat infections and the sort. And... well, if the wound is left long enough, it may be the case." Zelkova admitted. "Frankly... I was about to quit my ways as a white mage as well. But I couldn't just leave my life practice like that."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Well... to tell you the truth, I kind of wanted to learn medicine along with my know-hows with mechanics. But like anything else... it's hard to learn something like that. And I don't handle blood all that well." Cid admitted to Zelkova. "How do you handle it? Do you just grow used to it?"br /br /Zelkova was silent for a few seconds. "Well... the more blood I see... the harder I work at healing the wounded." He answered. "To me, blood is what drives me to work harder. Realize the situation they are in. And me as well."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Damn." Cid said, as he looked down a bit. That was a different way to look at a wounded person. Cid would have never looked at it that way. Knowing you could be that brave and saves lives... it kind of inspired Cid. "Hey... when this is all over... what do you say me and you work together? Maybe you can teach me how to handle that kind of stuff? And medicine too?" He seemed a bit embarrassed to ask this question./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Zelkova had a surprised look on his face, as he looked down a bit. "Well... I never considered it that way. To teach somebody how to handle that kind of thing... but hey, that doesn't sound so bad." He looked to Cid, with a smile. "I'll consider it."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's next?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Scharf/Co-Pilot -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Never in my life, had I ever thought that I'd be taking orders and following around a kid. Slaying ancient dragons... I can only imagine what my son would think of this." Scharf said, looking out the window of the cockpit./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Trust me. The first thing I wanted to do was go back and see some of my family. But... I think that'll have to wait. With those dragons flying around, they could come for my family at any time." The co-pilot said, having a slight worried tone of voice./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"When was the last time you saw them?" Scharf asked him./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's a good question." The Co-Pilot said to him. "But... either way, I'd like to see them again. At least after I know those dragons have been put to the ground."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Same here." Scharf agreed. "When this is all over... hopefully my son will believe me when I tell him I helped save the world." Scharf told him. "Maybe then he'll see me as a good person. A good dad..."/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Who's Next?br /br /Fallen -/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"That's Enough/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"It's amazing how far our journey has come, Shiva. When I was just constantly hesitating at your shrine... and here I am, hesitating to go confront my parents." Fallen said, rubbing her own shoulder. "What do I say? How do I say it?" She soon sighed, lowering her head./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Shiva soon gently had her cold hand on her shoulder and hand, having a smile on her face./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"No matter what, even if she couldn't speak, Shiva always cheered Fallen up. Perhaps it was just the gesture that helped her feel like she had somebody to make her feel better. Fallen smiled, gently putting her hand on Shiva's. "Thanks Shiva, even if you can't speak." She told Shiva./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Shiva still had her smile, as she then gently hugged Fallen. Her arms were just about able to wrap around Fallen twice, considering both of their sizes./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Fallen felt cold from Shiva's embrace, which was ironic, since warms were meant to provide warmth. But she didn't care. A hug was a hug to Fallen. She closed her eyes, letting the gentle cold against her skin comfort her./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"3/spansupspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"rd/span/supspan style="font-family: Constantia, serif;" person (Bereit)/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"As for Bereit, he was still working on those batteries. He had fully charged two of them throughout the hour and a half. He was getting really tired with how much of his power he was using./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;""span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Just one more... then I can sleep..." Bereit said, his eyes just about closed. But he tried his best to stay awake. It took a few minutes, before he saw that light finally turn green. He smiled tiredly, slowly putting the battery in the slot. He soon closed all four of them. And once he did, he was out like a light. Never had he used his magic for that length of time. He curled up, almost falling asleep immediately./span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Save your game up to this point?/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;" /p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"Yes/span/p
p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: 100%;"span style="font-family: Constantia, serif;"No/span/p