Chapter 3: Family Ties
Marche, Babus, and the rest of Clan Nutsy that had gone to Moonstone Village found themselves at day's end in a rather large underground structure, which, unfortunately, was all that remained intact from the village.
"Welcome. It is regrettable that we do not have better accomadations befitting such heroes as you and your clan, sir..."
"The name's Marche, sir...." Marche replied.
"Ah, Marche....thank you for looking after my son. It pains me for he and I to have reunited under such circumstances.
"Thank you...umm...."
"Forgive me, where are my manners? I am Edel...Babus' father as you probably know by now."
Marche bowed in respect. "A pleasure to meet you sir. And Babus is one of our clan now...as I told him once before, we look after our own."
He nodded. "Honorable. I wish I could have done more to prevent that tragedy from happening."
Marche shook his head. "And if you had, you would have been as dead as the village around us. From what I heard before the engagement we got into, whatever it was that attacked here was pretty fierce. Are you SURE that it was indeed Adrammalech?"
The elder Nu Mou nodded. "Yes, but I do not understand why one of the sacred Totema would attack our village. However, the energies I sensed from him were....different, as though he was not Totema...so perhaps that would explain it attacking."
"Yes, but you're forgetting something, Father....the Totema have a sacred oath to follow to protect their own race. And there have been Bangaa known to travel through this village...they have since even my youth..."
Edel nodded. "You are correct, son. Which lends to this conclusion...are the Totema under control of another being? If so, whom and for what purpose?"
Babus shrugged. "I would not know. Although I must confess things have been chaotic since the departure of Queen Remedi and Prince Mewt...and Altima only knows what the Zodiac Stones reappearing would portend..."
Edel nodded. "Point taken....although it is ironic that our Totema was, millennia ago, controlled by the Lucavi...."
Babus, as well as any other Nu Mou that had accompanied the clan to the village, were positively dumbstruck by this revelation. "Say again?"
Edel nodded sadly. "Yes...millennia ago, evil forces that possessed the Zodiac Stones sought to bring Altima back to the world through the stones' power....specifically the Virgo stone...but he was defeated by a young boy and his clan..."
"Ah...so what brought him to the side of good?"
"After that terrible battle, something dawned on Altima. Some to this day think that a part of the soul of the girl he attempted to possess suffused into him...the essence of purity and goodness, and he...well, decided to end his struggle against man and work towards the betterment of all the world's races...some of which at that time had not been discovered..."
"Such as the Nu Mou, kupo?" Montblanc interjected.
"Yes, such as us."
They kept talking for a while about the Zodiac Stones and Altima....when suddenly one of the Viera paused, her ears twitching to and fro, then she announced. "Ummm....guys....I might be wrong but I think there's someone outside..."
Everyone froze. "More bandits?"
"Perhaps...or perhaps not....but I can definitely hear something outside."
"Well, me and some of the other clan will look outside.." Marche answered. "Babus, you, Ritz, and Shara come with me."
The three he called out to nodded and followed their leader back up the stairs. The sight before them was....in a word, comical.
There stood a Nu Mou, unmistakably....except for her long blond hair. Yes, her...this one was female.
"Umm...nice kitty?" she was saying into the distance, timidly. "You wouldn't want to eat meeee...."
From what Marche could tell, she was dressed in the outfit of a Beastmaster....and that's when he saw the two Panthers just out at the edge of the village, looking rather fierce and rather hungry."
"Please?"
"Calm down...whoever you are..."
She spun around with an ear splitting screech. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! WHO ARE YOU!!!!!!"
Marche had to resist the urge to scream too...given that her screech lured three more Panthers into the area. "I'm Marche...but unless we want to become kitty chow we might want to save the introductions for later....right now we gotta engage."
Marche looked to the rest of the party to check if they were ready, then, satisfied with what he saw, he thrust one arm upwards and shouted. "ENGAGE!!"
A judge (as usual) came out of nowhere to oversee this engagement. "Marche, don't you ever sleep? Oh well....let's see what today's law is....whoops, dropped a card....oh yes...no color magic. Penalty will be....lemme see.....a three card fine."
Marche had to keep from rolling his eyes...he figured this judge spent one too many hours over at the Cyril Pub. "Fine...Montblanc, don't use your magic...everyone else, attack at will."
The mystery Nu Mou was the first to attack. "Oh....what was that instrument again? " Her hands went rummaging through her pouch as the Panthers advanced towards her.
"Flute...bell....banjo...oh yes, here it is.....kazoo." She started playing in measured tones....only to have the Panthers come at her in a, well, to put it mildly, more amorous mood.
"Oh geez...that thing sounds like purring to them...." Marche groaned.
Obviously the guest saw this too. "OH MY....NONONONO I DIDN'T HAVE THAT IN MIND....HEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!!!" And off she ran around the battlefield.
Marche shook his head. "Now we're babysitting?"
Babus, for all his control, had to mightily resist the urge to break out laughing at this Nu Mou, which were regarded to be the most level headed and logical of all the races in Ivalice. "I'll take care of this...." he muttered and thrust out one hand, palm up and began to chant.
"Runes of time, flow and bind the wicked...STILLNESS!!"
At once, three of the Panthers were brought to a dead halt, time stopped in their immediate vicinity.
"PLEASE NO I DON'T WANT TO....oh, they stopped....yay me..."
Babus shook his head. "Yay you....riiiiiight....." he muttered just before another Panther blindsided him and he had to bring his mace up to deflect the attack.
Ritz finished off the three stilled Panthers with one use of Shiva, since (gratefully) she'd taken the time to learn some Summons, and Shara KOed one more with a well aimed arrow.
That just left the one that Babus was defending against...just as the mystery Nu Mou started to fish through her pouch.
"Oh by the great Ultima..PLEASE NO!!!!" Babus barked at her. "The LAST thing I need is this cat trying to get frisky with me..."
"Oh, don't worry, I got it this time....." she said, drawing a flute from her pouch and blowing on it a few times..."
At once, the Panther stopped attacking Babus and.....pawed at him as though he were a giant ball of yarn.
"NO, WAIT, STOP, I AM NOT A PLAYTOY!!!" the Runeseeker squealed as he was batted around a few times, Marche standing off to the side and shaking his head.
Shara had to laugh as she finished off the playful kitty with one more arrow. "Seems she can't get anything right..."
"Oh thank you thank you thank you...." the mystery female squealed.
"Err...you're welcome? Although I think you REALLY need practice."
"Oh...that....I wasn't trying for that...those tunes only work during mating season..."
"Obviously they work more often than that...whoever you are..."
"Oh...forgot to introduce myself...I'm...Kitty...."
"Kitty?"
"Yup, that's my name...."
"Nice to meet you.....Kitty..."
"Nice to meet you too.....umm....."
"Marche....and these guys are Babus, Ritz, and Shara..."
"Oh...okay. Nice to meet you guys."
"Likewise...now can we all get back downstairs before we become cat food again? I'm sure there are more Panthers out there in the woods."
"Yes, please..." Kitty replied, and they all headed back down, Marche hanging back for a little while, shaking his head. "Reminds me of someone I knew back in school....just as ditzy...and hey, wait a minute..her name was Kitty too....no, it can't be...."
Marche, Babus, and the rest of Clan Nutsy that had gone to Moonstone Village found themselves at day's end in a rather large underground structure, which, unfortunately, was all that remained intact from the village.
"Welcome. It is regrettable that we do not have better accomadations befitting such heroes as you and your clan, sir..."
"The name's Marche, sir...." Marche replied.
"Ah, Marche....thank you for looking after my son. It pains me for he and I to have reunited under such circumstances.
"Thank you...umm...."
"Forgive me, where are my manners? I am Edel...Babus' father as you probably know by now."
Marche bowed in respect. "A pleasure to meet you sir. And Babus is one of our clan now...as I told him once before, we look after our own."
He nodded. "Honorable. I wish I could have done more to prevent that tragedy from happening."
Marche shook his head. "And if you had, you would have been as dead as the village around us. From what I heard before the engagement we got into, whatever it was that attacked here was pretty fierce. Are you SURE that it was indeed Adrammalech?"
The elder Nu Mou nodded. "Yes, but I do not understand why one of the sacred Totema would attack our village. However, the energies I sensed from him were....different, as though he was not Totema...so perhaps that would explain it attacking."
"Yes, but you're forgetting something, Father....the Totema have a sacred oath to follow to protect their own race. And there have been Bangaa known to travel through this village...they have since even my youth..."
Edel nodded. "You are correct, son. Which lends to this conclusion...are the Totema under control of another being? If so, whom and for what purpose?"
Babus shrugged. "I would not know. Although I must confess things have been chaotic since the departure of Queen Remedi and Prince Mewt...and Altima only knows what the Zodiac Stones reappearing would portend..."
Edel nodded. "Point taken....although it is ironic that our Totema was, millennia ago, controlled by the Lucavi...."
Babus, as well as any other Nu Mou that had accompanied the clan to the village, were positively dumbstruck by this revelation. "Say again?"
Edel nodded sadly. "Yes...millennia ago, evil forces that possessed the Zodiac Stones sought to bring Altima back to the world through the stones' power....specifically the Virgo stone...but he was defeated by a young boy and his clan..."
"Ah...so what brought him to the side of good?"
"After that terrible battle, something dawned on Altima. Some to this day think that a part of the soul of the girl he attempted to possess suffused into him...the essence of purity and goodness, and he...well, decided to end his struggle against man and work towards the betterment of all the world's races...some of which at that time had not been discovered..."
"Such as the Nu Mou, kupo?" Montblanc interjected.
"Yes, such as us."
They kept talking for a while about the Zodiac Stones and Altima....when suddenly one of the Viera paused, her ears twitching to and fro, then she announced. "Ummm....guys....I might be wrong but I think there's someone outside..."
Everyone froze. "More bandits?"
"Perhaps...or perhaps not....but I can definitely hear something outside."
"Well, me and some of the other clan will look outside.." Marche answered. "Babus, you, Ritz, and Shara come with me."
The three he called out to nodded and followed their leader back up the stairs. The sight before them was....in a word, comical.
There stood a Nu Mou, unmistakably....except for her long blond hair. Yes, her...this one was female.
"Umm...nice kitty?" she was saying into the distance, timidly. "You wouldn't want to eat meeee...."
From what Marche could tell, she was dressed in the outfit of a Beastmaster....and that's when he saw the two Panthers just out at the edge of the village, looking rather fierce and rather hungry."
"Please?"
"Calm down...whoever you are..."
She spun around with an ear splitting screech. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! WHO ARE YOU!!!!!!"
Marche had to resist the urge to scream too...given that her screech lured three more Panthers into the area. "I'm Marche...but unless we want to become kitty chow we might want to save the introductions for later....right now we gotta engage."
Marche looked to the rest of the party to check if they were ready, then, satisfied with what he saw, he thrust one arm upwards and shouted. "ENGAGE!!"
A judge (as usual) came out of nowhere to oversee this engagement. "Marche, don't you ever sleep? Oh well....let's see what today's law is....whoops, dropped a card....oh yes...no color magic. Penalty will be....lemme see.....a three card fine."
Marche had to keep from rolling his eyes...he figured this judge spent one too many hours over at the Cyril Pub. "Fine...Montblanc, don't use your magic...everyone else, attack at will."
The mystery Nu Mou was the first to attack. "Oh....what was that instrument again? " Her hands went rummaging through her pouch as the Panthers advanced towards her.
"Flute...bell....banjo...oh yes, here it is.....kazoo." She started playing in measured tones....only to have the Panthers come at her in a, well, to put it mildly, more amorous mood.
"Oh geez...that thing sounds like purring to them...." Marche groaned.
Obviously the guest saw this too. "OH MY....NONONONO I DIDN'T HAVE THAT IN MIND....HEEEEEEELLLLLLLPPPPPPPP!!!" And off she ran around the battlefield.
Marche shook his head. "Now we're babysitting?"
Babus, for all his control, had to mightily resist the urge to break out laughing at this Nu Mou, which were regarded to be the most level headed and logical of all the races in Ivalice. "I'll take care of this...." he muttered and thrust out one hand, palm up and began to chant.
"Runes of time, flow and bind the wicked...STILLNESS!!"
At once, three of the Panthers were brought to a dead halt, time stopped in their immediate vicinity.
"PLEASE NO I DON'T WANT TO....oh, they stopped....yay me..."
Babus shook his head. "Yay you....riiiiiight....." he muttered just before another Panther blindsided him and he had to bring his mace up to deflect the attack.
Ritz finished off the three stilled Panthers with one use of Shiva, since (gratefully) she'd taken the time to learn some Summons, and Shara KOed one more with a well aimed arrow.
That just left the one that Babus was defending against...just as the mystery Nu Mou started to fish through her pouch.
"Oh by the great Ultima..PLEASE NO!!!!" Babus barked at her. "The LAST thing I need is this cat trying to get frisky with me..."
"Oh, don't worry, I got it this time....." she said, drawing a flute from her pouch and blowing on it a few times..."
At once, the Panther stopped attacking Babus and.....pawed at him as though he were a giant ball of yarn.
"NO, WAIT, STOP, I AM NOT A PLAYTOY!!!" the Runeseeker squealed as he was batted around a few times, Marche standing off to the side and shaking his head.
Shara had to laugh as she finished off the playful kitty with one more arrow. "Seems she can't get anything right..."
"Oh thank you thank you thank you...." the mystery female squealed.
"Err...you're welcome? Although I think you REALLY need practice."
"Oh...that....I wasn't trying for that...those tunes only work during mating season..."
"Obviously they work more often than that...whoever you are..."
"Oh...forgot to introduce myself...I'm...Kitty...."
"Kitty?"
"Yup, that's my name...."
"Nice to meet you.....Kitty..."
"Nice to meet you too.....umm....."
"Marche....and these guys are Babus, Ritz, and Shara..."
"Oh...okay. Nice to meet you guys."
"Likewise...now can we all get back downstairs before we become cat food again? I'm sure there are more Panthers out there in the woods."
"Yes, please..." Kitty replied, and they all headed back down, Marche hanging back for a little while, shaking his head. "Reminds me of someone I knew back in school....just as ditzy...and hey, wait a minute..her name was Kitty too....no, it can't be...."