'Is Nareszcie ready?'
My mother was shouting at us, all excited as a little girl going on vacation for the first time. But something was wrong.
I was alone outside, in the garden, waiting for Basch to finish packing. When he finally came – his bag almost too big to pass the door – I looked thoroughly at his eyes to catch the message. The previous day, at night, we had a brotherly conversation concerning our Olszewska friend. We had very little sleep, busy as we were with our concern – and a little of excitement as well.
'Mother…' I began.
'Well', Basch interrupted. 'Noah would probably ignore how to say it so here it is: Old Olszewski died only a month ago.'
I sent him an angry look and pursued:
'We both think it is a bad idea to invite Naria to join us on our trip to Nabradia'.
Basch and I had rarely been agreed on usual topics, but on this one, we had for once the same opinion.
'And about your question…' Basch said, 'How do you want us to know if she's ready? We don't have electronic transmitters. This is the Ronsenburg family, not the Archadian army.'
My mother joined us outside and replied to him:
'So you consider Nareszcie as a Ronsenburg now? Good, my son!'
She was all laughs. Basch and I exchanged a terrified look.
'Listen, my sons', she said, bending over us, a hand on each one's shoulder. 'It is true that little Nareszcie is not a part of our family. But it is very important that we make her feel so, because she has lost both parents now and must face life alone. Have you ever wondered how it must feel? And what's more, she needs this support precisely now; now that she lost her father.'
'Mom…' Basch said, a bit irritated.
'… We did not say we were against bringing her support. We said that supporting her does not involve travelling to Nabradia, to an entertainment park!' I tried to explain in a lower tone.
Mom stood up and smiled.
'You do not know it now but I am sure the idea will please her. Let's get going!'
One year had passed again. One year separating us from the death of the man we used to call Father. My mother had been very grieved in the beginning, hardly setting a foot outside. But for some reason, some weeks later, her mood had changed utterly. She began to spend more time with the flock, with the neighbours from the nearby houses and farms, and of course, with Naria. I thought that unlike what she said, she always dreamt to have a daughter, and the death of Old Olszewski had given her the opportunity to get closer to this lone girl, full of life and energy. She had helped her become a 'little woman', as she said, dealing with all kind of housework, cooking and farm work. Slowly but surely, Naria had begun to handle all these tasks alone. She commanded over the farm workers after her father's death, with surprising authority and influence. She also took care of the farm's accounting – much better than when we went to sell the goods in Waldgott.
All these news had been given to us by our mother, for we had almost no opportunity to meet her in person since the sad event. And this was precisely the reason bringing her to a trip all of a sudden was out of the question. But Linda fon Ronsenburg obviously had no wish to listen to her fourteen-year-old sons…
'Come on!', she said. 'Don't look like dead corpses! We're alive, and we're going to spend good time in Nabradia with our friend.'
We finally reached the Olscewski farm. My mother had told Naria the previous day to get prepared to go with us, so since she didn't change her mind, she would probably keep her invitation. And indeed, before we reached the house, we saw Naria riding her Book chocobo all over the garden. She was wearing a white dress and a hat, and waved at us as we were approaching. She apparently was all ready for the trip.
Unaware of what to say on such occasion, Basch and I remained silent as she and Mom were giving the last recommendations to Sydor, the leader of the farm workers. We used a cart to move to Waldgott, where the only aerodrome of Landis was. There was a project for an aerodrome in Kalthof, the capital, but it was still in construction. Many of my old friends' families were working there.
We took a leisure craft that was supposed to take us to Nabudis. During the flight, Basch was on the deck, all busy looking at the sky full of other airships, and my mother went to rest in the room she had booked. Naria and I remained in the central hall, sitting on a bench, and looking at the people going up and down. The hall was very noisy – which is why my mother chose to retire – with all the people having discussions or coming to buy souvenirs. After a while, Naria – certainly tired of staying near a muted statue – stood up and challenged another lone girl at the other side of the hall to talk. After a while a bangaa joined the conversation. They all seemed very happy.
When the chief steward announced the landing, Basch immediately came down and looked through the window, his mouth wide open. I did not feel any special feeling; although that was the first time in my life I was boarding an airship. We landed, each one holding their cases, and set foot to the Nabudis International Aerodrome.
The first thing I noticed outside was the variety of people. Almost all races of Ivalice were represented: humans, bangaas, seeqs and even vieras. North of the Galtean Peninsula, you could barely see a non-human.
'Do you need a map, kupo?'
Naria lowered her head and found herself straight in front of a moogle.
Her face went from fear, to surprise and eventually enormous delight.
'Look, Auntie! How cute is this little thing!'
And she lifted the poor creature up into her arms as if he was a cuddy toy.
'Umm… It's a moogle, Naria. It's live…' I tried to explain.
'Noah? Did you ever see those fluffy plushies? You never told me, you idiot!'
My mother interfered to take the poor moogle away from her and apologize for what we did to him.
'Fine, fine… Now, do you want to buy a map?' said the little representative from the Cartographer's Guild.
'Which maps do you have?' asked Mom, as Naria was almost crying from being separated from her new toy.
'The Royal Capital, Nabudis, and the Shimmering Gardens of Nabreus!'
'Fine, we'll take a map of the capital.'
Mom paid and we moved forward in the city.
'Why did you have to take it away from me, Auntie?' Naria snorted.
'Well', Mom explained, 'it was not an ordinary plush you saw there. In our world of Ivalice, there are many races among people, not only humes like us. Those short beings with little wings and fur are called moogles. They are behind much of the technological and geographical advance we noticed these last years.'
Naria finally became quiet, her mouth wide open.
'Now Mom, where are we going?' asked Basch.
She smiled and answered:
'First we need to leave our bags somewhere. I'll show you a lovely place where we will settle during our stay, before we get back to see more of the city.'
We followed her into the streets full of people, shops and flowers, until we reach an isolated hill.
'I hate walking up hills!' Naria exclaimed, visibly exhausted.
'Come on, girl', Mom said. 'We're almost there.'
And indeed, after a few minutes, we reached the top, where there was a wooden building and some sort of little forest.
'Here we are', my mother said. 'Is anyone there?' she added, knocking on the door.
A rather short woman with curly brown hair opened. She was wearing a blue dress and a shirt with a green logo on it.
'Welcome!' she said. 'More customers! Please enter the inn, don't stay outside.'
She went behind a stone desk and sat on a high chair, looking at many papers.
'So you are…?'
'Mrs. Fon Ronsenburg and her three children' Mom said, and I could see Naria's face boiling with pride.
The woman gave a deeper look to her papers, then opened her mouth and rolled her eyes.
'Ronsenburg… From Landis! You're the guests from Landis! You should have said it from the beginning! Come on, welcome!'
She came out and hugged my mother tightly.
'Please call me Hrina!' she said.
'I'm Basch', said Basch.
'I'm Naria', said Naria.
I looked at them both without being able to open my mouth.
'Come on, Noah, introduce yourself!' my mother said, almost angry. 'Sorry Hrina, my son Noah is a bit shy with people new to him; you have to forgive him.'
'No problem!' she said with a big smile.
She invited us to go upstairs, where I began to feel a strange sensation. Something warm, exacerbated by the fire magicites that lit the hall, and that made me feel calm, almost sleepy. I looked forward and, for a second, could not see anything. I was about to shout, but as soon as I blinked, everything became clear again, and I could see a row of doors, each one with a number. Hrina stopped before number 13 and said:
'This is one of your rooms! The other one is Room 14. Please come in.'
'I booked two rooms: one for the girls and one for the boys', explained Mom with a wink.
The room was wide and clean, with two separate beds and a flower bouquet on a large table. Paintings representing landscapes of Nabradia had been put on the walls. Naria immediately fell in love with the room, so Basch and I decided to take the other one, which was similar, though a bit smaller. When we finished unpacking, Mom knocked on our door and told us to come downstairs.
'Do you have an idea why she's asking us that?' Basch said.
'Not really', I answered as I closed the cupboard, 'but I reckon we're going outside to have a walk in the city or go for a feed in a restaurant.'
'I really hope it's the restaurant! I got the munchies and I can't move anymore!'
I was about to open the door when Basch shouted:
'LOOK! Noah! It's… It's the meanest thing I've seen to the days!'
I rushed to the large window, through which he was looking, and could only catch my breath.
I often told myself Landis was a green country but what I was seeing immediately showed me I was wrong. It was green everywhere; forests, parks, trees, grass… Every point of view on the city showed it was full of nature between almost every street. From the window we could also see a wonderful landscape, which was portrayed on one of the room's paintings: I recognized the Shimmering Gardens of Nabreus. It was nothing but flower assortments and water fountains at every corner. There were large passageways for the tourists, as well as large signboards every now and then. I supposed there were meant to explain the history of the place to visitors.
'That's stunning' I said. 'Now let's hurry downstairs.'
Basch nodded and we got down the stairs – Basch trying to slide through the banister.
'Welcome to Nabudis!' Hrina said. 'There is something special I wanted to show you.'
What she wanted to show us was a gallery full of other paintings, wisely aligned one next to the other. The decoration of the ground floor was simple and sophisticated at the same time: flowers on the corners, stone tables, a blue and green-colored dining room, and a big chimney. The hall where she took us was at the bottom of the floor, hidden by a wooden little door and lit with thunder magicites. Each of the paintings represented – apparently – officials from Nabradia or elsewhere, in a green landscape. They all looked very formal. Hrina began her explanations:
'This is during the visit of the Agriculture Minister of Landis; do you recognize him? He came to formalize the treaty of free movement of goods between Landis and Nabradia.'
She took us to another painting and said:
'This is the Prime Minister of Landis. His visit was meant to ensure and insist on the peace between our two countries. For this purpose, they signed a…'
'Boooriiing', Basch said in a yawn.
Hrina was at the front, showing every detail on the paintings with her forefinger and talking without interruption. She was followed by my mother, who was carefully listening and nodding at every familiar face she saw, and Naria, who was looking at all the paintings in no order without really paying attention to the commentary. Basch and I were at the back, so only I could hear him.
'You can at least pretend' I whispered.
'I told you I'm hungry! No time to waste on futile gibberish now.'
I sighed and looked at the painting they were currently commenting. It was the last of the hall.
'And now that we saw this one, I'll show you the last of the official visits illustrations I own. I hope you appreciated this, boys!' Hrina added with a louder voice, so we could hear her.
'Yes, of course!' Basch immediately exclaimed. 'That's very interesting.'
I knew he was a good actor but he surprised me every day. Hrina pursued:
'This painting is very particular. It was painted by Tishag Lemmop during a visit we had sixteen years ago; and unlike the other ones you saw, this painting has not been done out of a sketch: the people actually posed for the painter, in the Shimmering Gardens. I show it to very little of my guests because it has a particular meaning for me; to be honest I don't remember when was the last time I showed it to someone.'
'Come on, show us already', Basch said with his usual patience.
'Sorry?' asked Hrina, thinking he had been talking to her.
'No… Nothing!'
Hrina stood before a locked door, at the bottom of the hall, and took a little key out of her dress's pocket. She was about to use it when she suddenly turned toward us and exclaimed:
'The boys! I had forgotten you brought your sons with you. How old are they? Are…'
'It's okay', Mom said in a calm tone. 'They are fourteen. I am sure they will behave well.'
Hrina looked at her with surprise and eventually opened the door.
What was behind was not even a room, it looked like a tiny utility room with not even space for a single person to stand up. All I could see was a small table with a drawer underneath.
'Sorry, you can't see it very well, but that was made on purpose', Hrina said. However, if you come on the left, one after the other, you will be able to look at this very particular painting.'
My mother, who was at the front, was the only one at that moment who was at the right position to see. I tried to read the expression on her face but it was still.
Of course, Basch and Naria were battling to steal her place so they could see what was so particular for Hrina. However, none of them seemed to have seen anything.
'Calm down, little ones!' Hrina said. 'You – Basch, was it? – let your friend see first. She's a girl, after all!'
Why was she saying this? Why was it so important to be a girl to see this painting? It didn't sound right.
'Come on', she said. 'Do you recognize the man?'
My mother let Naria pass, then it was Basch's turn. He visibly was trying his hardest to remember the face he was looking at. He let out a: 'Wooooow…', and eventually shook his head, just like Naria did.
'Come on now… What's your name again?'
'Noah', I replied.
'Come on, Noah. You may pass. This is a hardest guess than I thought. You're probably going to fail in recognizing who this man is, just like your brother and your friend.'
A bit irritated by her mistrust, I pulled Basch away and took his place in front of the painting.
'But…'
It was indeed the same place as the one I had seen from the window. Nabreus and its infinite greenery. In front of some sort of mini-castle, many persons were represented, many of whom seemed Nabradia locals. But in the middle, two of them were catching the eye. On the right, I saw a young woman that immediately made me think of my mother. Straight blond hair, a slender figure, and a face… so calm and serious. But she was more than that. She had sky blue eyes, and her head and shoulders were decorated in a totally different way than the men and women we had seen earlier. She was standing straight as a ramrod, her hands joined and… something was not right. All the details of her face were perfectly drawn, especially her nose and her mouth. It was a perfect symmetry, her skin was smooth as milk. Was it the painter or does such a woman exist for real?
'I think Noah has a problem', Hrina said, coming from behind. 'This painting is… not meant to be seen by males!'
I shook my head and felt clearer.
'I'm fine. I was looking at the woman but I immediately recognized who the man is.'
Next to her, a young and tall man was there; dark-skinned and wearing an armor I knew all too well.
'So… you know?'
'Of course I know! It's Judge Zecht.'
Hrina rolled her eyes and smiled.
'You just won a candy. You didn't know, Mrs. Ronsenburg?'
'Please call me Linda', Mom said. 'I heard many times of those Archadian Judges but never did I see a portrait of one of them. My son Noah, however, shows a keen interest for law, and I guess he heard of this man many times. Right, Noah?'
I nodded and moved next to her. She tousled my hair and smiled.
'So we have a future lawyer? How lucky I am!' Hrina said. 'So, let's talk about this woman now. Do you know her name?'
She looked at the three teenagers, and we all shook our heads in negation. She turned towards Mom, and saw her smile became bigger.
'Yes, this is Lady Ephie! Oh Faram, how beautiful she was!' she replied, with the excitement of a little girl.
'This is indeed Lady Ephedrine; Emperor Gramis's first wife', Hrina confirmed. It is said she had a special power over males who looked at her eyes – a negative power. So it was forbidden for male painters to portray her face, and for men to look at her without her veil.'
'How beautiful she… was?' repeated Naria. 'You mean she's dead?'
'Yes, she died in 673, certainly around your birth date. She was very ill and it was hard for her to move, but she came to Nabradia several times, and she even honored me of a visit in this inn!'
'She actually came here?' Basch asked.
'Yes!' Hrina continued. 'She stopped by for a prayer, and I didn't change the prayer room's laying out ever since.'
'For a prayer?' Mom repeated. 'Could I use this prayer room, sometimes?'
'Of course! Be my guest.' Hrina said. 'Did you notice something else on the painting?'
Naria asked to come and looked at it thoroughly.
'Yes!' she exclaimed. 'There's a dark blue light above them. What is it?'
'This is Nabradia's most precious treasure!' Hrina said with pride. 'It is called the Midlight Shard, and we believe it is a gift from the Dynast King himself. It is a magic stone that spreads a blue light, similar of the color of a night sky. The Midlight Shard has not been brought to Nabreus – it is strictly confined in Verdpale Palace – but the painter chose to represent its light shining over the Imperial couple. Some say the King and the Queen showed the shard itself to Judge Zecht and Ephedrine during their first visit, as a symbol of peace between Nabradia and Archadia – maybe that's why it's there.'
'That's an interesting story. I did not know all this!' my mother said.
'Now you should go and visit the city. You can take the same path your noble predecessors took before you; the details are shown on the signboards at the entrance of Nabreus.'
'And we should also eat!' Basch pointed out.
We all laughed and we went back to the desk, where Hrina gave us a list of addresses where we could find the best restaurants in the city.
The rest of our stay was positive. Step by step, Basch found the – not so – right words to talk to Nareszcie, followed by myself, and adjudge whether she was bruised inside by her father's death. At our great surprise, it turned out she had quickly recovered from her mourning – just like we did with ours – and she was all ready for new adventures. She hadn't changed from the Naria we always knew after all: full of life, open-minded and extrovert. She wasn't afraid to say what she felt deep inside, and because of this, we knew she wasn't lying. She also told us that our mother's support had been determinant for her, so she could know she wasn't alone in what was to follow. We also promised her to help for the farm and anything else she would need.
Nabudis itself was a vast city, surrounded by hills, forests, and of course the Shimmering Gardens. The entertainment park was located southern Nabreus, not far from the Salikawood. We played water-based attractions as well as horror attractions – it was so funny to hear Naria scream for false skeletons and zombies. After that, we went to almost all the country's museums – at Basch's great disappointment – and there was even a Law museum – at my great excitement. I took notes to show Cirla and Margit once we'd be home. The food was… exotic, but still delicious. Basch enjoyed it in particular. We were as happy to eat outside as to stay in Hrina's lovely inn when we were too tired. Her cuisine was absolutely exquisite and healthy. Plus, she did not charge my mother much for all the meals we took.
One day, however, we had to leave. We had spent a week and half in one of the most beautiful countries in Ivalice, renowned even in Archadia. We packed our luggage and travelled back to Landis. This time though, we had animated conversations with our friend Naria; the glass between us had been broken, and we felt all free again, almost like sky pirates – we played at guessing which of the airships crossing the sky belonged to one.
Once we landed and took a cart back to Uwielbinie village, Naria turned her back and began to shake. My mother put a hand on her shoulder and asked her what was wrong. Then Naria suddenly rushed into her arms and said in a sob:
'Auntie… Thank you! I would like to pay you for this wonderful trip because that's too much for a gift.'
'Oh, Nareszcie…'
She hugged her:
'Your company is our retribution. Please don't hesitate in visiting us as often as you want!'
'Err… I have much work in the farm now that I'm the mistress but don't worry, we'll meet very soon! I'll come with Book! Right boys?'
'Of course!' Basch and I replied.
We left her at her house and we went to ours.
On the following day, I prepared to go to Waldgott – I had so much to tell my friends! – but Mom prevented me from doing so.
'We just came back! You should rest a bit, my son.'
However, after solid negotiations, I managed to get away with it and I went to my friends' house.
'Hello! It's me, Noah!' I said as I rang the bell.
Cirla came to open the door, his face almost not friendly at all.
'Come. You're welcome, but it'll be a bit complicated today…'
'Why so?' I asked, as I left my jacket on the coat hanger.
'Hello Noah!' little Margit said. 'Well, Father has been appointed at the Presidency's Office and we help him in his hard task.'
'Which task?'
What were they all talking about?
Cirla's words opened my eyes:
'Have you forgotten? We're in 684. It's been four years under the same authority. Next year is the big year… We're preparing law documents for the presidential election.'
