Chapter 9
In Seldovia
"This is a city?" Kate wondered aloud. She looked around and saw it was set up as more of a fortress than somewhere you could live. There were of course the necessary things a city needed. Schools, shops, homes, people. There were vehicles, but not very many. It was obvious that Miriana was not as technologically advanced as Jurrisol. And for once the group didn't get strange looks because of carrying their weapons. That was because Seldovia was the hideout of the Night Hawks. People carrying weapons were normal things here.
"Yep, it's a regular city," Cid stated plainly.
"Regular my ass, it's ready to go to war!" Scott exclaimed. "Look at it! Lookout and sniper towers, cannons inside the walls around it. It's a frickin' fortress!"
"Scott, please shut up," Emily said tilting her head in Aisha's direction.
"Don't worry Em, I'm fine," Aisha reasoned. And she certainly looked it. Same smile, same happy-go lucky charismatic appearance.
"I don't mean to bring it up, but what if you meet Vertigo again?" Kiro asked Aisha.
"I don't know what I'll do if I meet her. But if she's been round Ara, I won't hesitate to kill her," Aisha said calmly.
"Aisha, you can't be serious!" Kate exclaimed.
"I'm dead serious. She will die. Anyway, Cid... where's HQ? I wanna rest and meet some of your associates," Aisha said eagerly.
"Oh? And why is that?" Cid asked her.
"Firstly I'm tired. And second, I wanna know if these people have anything special for me to do. I wanna do something like setting off another black-out!" she began excitedly.
"Well, that won't be for a while. I have to speak with our tactician Diana Crane. Then you can come after I meet you all at the Inn at sundown. All this time is yours. Oh! And you should definitely visit the weapon shops to remodel your weapons. The shops can remodel any kind." With that Cid left them to go searching around Seldovia.
"Alright, well then I'm outta here," Aisha said and walked away.
"Me too," Scott said.
"See ya," Kiro waved to them.
"Buh-bye," Emily said quickly and headed off.
Meanwhile, Kate wandered the streets just thinking to herself. What's going on? Ever since this mark appeared things have been crazy. What do I have to do with any of this? What are Drakonites? Is it my fault that Billney was destroyed? That elite recognized me! How? Why? Will I ever make any sense of this? Thinking isn't really helping, but it's better than nothing. Mom...Dad...please be alright. Don't leave me alone! I won't. Good, because I can't stand the thought of you being gone. Don't worry. It's going to be fine, my dear Katreda. Thanks. Who's Katreda?
"Hmmm. That night when Liedel was killed, the remains of a small boat were washed up on shore. That was when the Dark Mist was released. It was released on Galicia, and quickly spread to the continent Iraliec. Only one person has the will and intention of releasing the Mist. And Liedel was one who could have stopped it. But, with that one person who was there as well. Who is that person? Black Magic in conjunction with White Magic and Dragons have something to do with it. But what?" The old, former Black Mage had many questions on his mind. After giving his power to Scott, he was faced with these questions and now he could attempt to answer them.
"I have to find Cid!" he resolved.
"Oooh! Check it out!" Aisha eyes were staring at a large obviously very classy restaurant. A huge building that reminded her of Ischka because of all the glass. As she stepped up closer to it she realized that it was completely made of crystal. Some pieces were jutting out at sides which seemed be speaking to her, taunting her like the biblical snake and the fruit. She nonchalantly stepped over in it's direction, tossing her head back and smiling at anyone who passed by, holding her arms crossed behind her back taking large steps towards the crystal. Taking one quick look behind her she whisked out a hand and broke the pieces off and placed them carefully into her waist-pouch.
"How much Gil could I get for these?" she wondered aloud happily, a grin from ear to ear spread across her face.
"I dunno, but they do look good, don't they?" Aisha froze with terror, her body tensing with the shock of being caught of doing something to something so beautiful. Her heart began to thump hard against her chest. It was obviously very expensive crystal. She'd never stolen anything nearly as price as these. Aisha did her best to swallow the lump in her throat along with her pride and turned around.
"Daddy, these are good!" a small child's voice squealed with delight.
"Whew! Better get my ass outta here..." Aisha whispered to herself. But more little pieces glittered out of the corner of her eye. "In a minute or two maybe," she said as she walked calmly to the other side of the building. For such a dingy looking and sounding city, Aisha was greatly impressed after having been mis-lead from rumours.
Kiro whistled in amazement as a huge weapon/item shop loomed in his path. If he were any more captivated by the look of the outside, he probably would've started drooling. With his spear safely attached to his back he strolled on in to see tons of weapons strewn across shelves, hanging on walls, or nicely displayed in glass cases. He eyed a large selection of spears and pole-arms.
"Sir, do you see anything that you like?" Kiro was approached by a short man with a long twisted moustache and scraggly hair.
"Yeah, um, I would like my spear remodeled," he said lamely.
"Well obviously now my boy. What are you interested in?"
Kiro scanned over the selection of models and pointed to a Baldr model.
"I'm sorry, but that is a model available to Cataphracts only. It is simply to large for you," the little man said snootily.
"I meant that one!" Kiro yelled at him.
"Oh! Mythril model. It is light-weighted and easy to handle with the ability to pierce through some of the toughest monster scales around. It is made with Leviathan scales that have been forged under extreme heat and it has been said that certain wielders can learn the way of battling as a monster. In other words, Blue Magic resonates within the scales of Leviathan," the weapons dealer explained.
"Alright, here's my spear. How much do I owe you?" Kiro asked.
"The price will be determined on whether or not you understand the teachings of Blue Magic."
"Is that so...?" Kiro asked quietly. If I'm not gonna pay as much, then I better know how to do this!
"Aisha, you owe me big time," Emily said to herself.
"She goes and asks me to remodel her crossbow, with my money from Cid. My money! And we need to stock up on healing items, I need to get my weapon remodeled, and Scott deserted me to find food!" Emily was ranting and raving just to herself as she walked down the dull streets of Seldovia. She didn't seem to mind the fact that she was drawing concerned looks from the people around her.
She stopped mumbling when she saw Kiro's familiar face up ahead.
"KIRO! YOU! HERE! NOW!" she screamed at him. Kiro just shrugged his shoulders, let his head droop, and walked slowly towards Emily.
"IF YOU DON'T GET OVER HERE QUICK, DON'T BE SURPRISED IF YOU WAKE UP TOMORROW CASTRATED!" Kiro then began running towards her for the reason being she was dead serious.
"Thanks, I just need a bit of help with mine and Aisha's weapons. Weapon shop. Where?" she began spouting.
"Follow me," he said glumly.
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"Fresh Fish! We catch it, you buy it!"
"No thanks," Scott told the merchant while slowly backing away. He didn't buy it because the fish smelled horribly rotten. Also, he hated sea food. He remembered the first time his grandpa gave him fish. Fresh off the barbecue, seasoned slightly, yet perfect. Scott cut himself a little piece popped it in his mouth, swallowed it, and threw it up on the floor. It hadn't been undercooked, not overly cooked. It was just fine. But any time Scott swallowed food from the sea, it came right back up.
The merchant also smelled like a goat. There was the inn up the street, so Scott decided to head there seeing how his staff was remodeled, and it was sundown.
Shiva kicked the great fire beast Ifrit in the side of his monstrous face. A loud monstrous roar of pain escaped and echoed throughout the entire mountain range. Small flames escaped from it's mouth as it panted, trying to regain its strength. Ifrit had a brown toned skin with patches of fire for fur on it's arms, legs and the back of its neck and top of it's head where the large horns protruded from. Ifrit counterattacked with an all out charge into Shiva. Shiva cried out in pain as she was sent flying into the side of one of the mountains. Ifrit prepared a large fire ball in front of it, constantly growing larger. Shiva noticed this and began to prepare a ball of ice which constantly grew larger as well.
"Shiva! Finish it off!" Sikaru's voice rang throughout the area.
"Sikaru, can Shiva defeat Ifrit?" Raiko questioned.
"Of course! Shiva defeated Phoenix did she not?" was her smug answer.
Ifrit pulled the fireball apart into two, then launched them at its target. Shiva quickly released her ball of ice as it collided with both fireballs, turning them into ice as well. What once were fireballs fell to the ground and shattered into many pieces, while the original hit Ifrit and he slowly turned into a block of ice.
"Eir ech no fili sinna too sakchies!" The frozen Ifrit broke to pieces and flew into another blank card in front of Sikaru displaying Ifrit's picture.
"Everyone here?" Cid questioned.
"Kate's not here yet!" Aisha said arrogantly.
"Give her a bit of time still. She's probably still nervous about what Greg Littel will say about that mark," Emily said quietly.
Just then Kate could be seen running down the street to join her companions.
"Sorry I'm late, but I had to tell the weapon shop owner not to touch the jewels on the rod, but he didn't listen to me. So I threatened to cut a certain body part off of him."
"Yeah! Women don't have to take that crap from men!" Aisha and Kate slapped hands together.
"Ahh, shuddap!" Kiro said.
"Cid! Taran, Misty and Armando are on their way! We just received the signal!" A woman dressed in a white blouse and dark pants was running towards Cid. Her hair was up in half curls on the top of her head, a dark brown colour. Her most distinguishable feature was her one blue eye and one brown eye.
"Diana, are you serious?!" Cid asked yelling down the street.
"Positive!" Cid and the woman embraced and quickly kissed.
"From the position the signal was received, the were heading around the horn of Jurissol just past Billney!"
At the very mention of their home, Kate and Emily felt chills run down their spines. They may have been heading around the horn of Jurissol, but there was no more Billney as far as the two of them knew. Aisha also felt a pang of sorrow gnawing away at her stomach. She wasn't born there, but still she liked the place. She stole, but it was still fun there. Only cops were against her. And the rich assholes, but everyone else liked her, who knew who she was anyways.
"Are these the new ones?" she asked. Diana wasn't smug or sarcastic, instead she sounded as if she were excited.
"Yeah," Cid replied.
"Have they any experience in battle?"
"Mister Kiro Sagato is a cadet at Ischka who went missing after the accident. Scott Brennan is one of the few in the Night Hawks who can use Black Magic, but he is of direct descent. Aisha Carm is a thief, but one of the most skilled fighters with a crossbow I've ever seen. Emily Tiral seems to have mastered the use of one of the Faerie weapons. Kate Megido seems to be an expert with a battle rod, and for some strange reason she can use restorative spells. But she wasn't artificially infused with them like Misty had been with 'Chakra'." Cid explained what had happened in Billney and on the way to Seldovia.
"Excellent! You all seem to already be well seasoned pros. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the Night Hawks H.Q." Diana told them. She led them into the inn. Although they were slightly confused, Diana and Cid were completely sure of what they were they doing. AS they stepped up towards a crystal angel fountain with water flowing out from its flute. Diana reached behind the statue of crystal and hit something because the floor began to descend. Lower and lower they dropped until there was a significant change in temperature; it got colder. Cid and Diana were not shivering, but the rest were. Scott decided to warm things up. He cupped his hands and concentrated. His pupils dilated until they were completely black, and a flame appeared in his hand. He began to shake, having trouble controlling it so it wouldn't explode. His eyes returned to normal and the fire was a perfect sphere giving off a warmth that was comforting. And yet they dropped.
"Just be careful, it's dark down here for safety reasons. If someone discovered this place, they wouldn't be able to figure out where to go," Cid explained.
"Light the way Scott," Diana urged.
Light the way? Oh! Scott held his hands above his head and little lightning bolts crackled outward from his palms, and then stretched along the ceiling providing light.
"Aisha, there is a laser control device at the end f this corridor. Take these goggles and slink your way over to the control device, and switch it off. But it isn't going to be easy. If you hit one, alarm goes off, not nice." Diana handed over the goggles and Aisha slipped them on over her eyes. Red lines appeared every where. She slipped over a few, ducked and crawled underneath a few. Then the moving ones. She had to jump and perform flips to reach the control, but she turned it off, and motioned for everyone to join her.
"Kiro, Emily, I need you to use your weapons to jab through this thing. If you can figure it out," Cid said smugly.
A strange wall was in front of them, shimmering different colours. Kiro lunged at the wall, bouncing right off of it. Emily slashed it and spun and landed on her butt.
"Come on, your mythril weapons should do the trick."
Trick... Got it! They both thought. They held their weapons above their heads and blue balls of light emanated from the tips. The lights combined together and shattered the wall.
"Alright, you've passed."
"Passed?" The five young warriors asked in unison.
"Yes, I wanted to see if your skills were up to snuff, so I took the long way," she said happily. "Now that Cid has been proved right, he'll probably sleep easier at night!" Diana said while laughing. She led them down a steep slope and to an elevator.
"Come on, once we go up a bit, you'll be more comfortable."
The elevator felt a little cramped, but they managed to fit in and waited for the elevator to stop moving up. A quiet "bing" and an opening door was answer enough.
"Cid! Diana!" They're almost here!" A short man yelled.
"Excellent. Do you have their position?" Cid questioned. A woman rose from a table covered with various papers and answered: "Crossing the Mirianic as we speak right now."
"Then we should expect them in about an hour," Diana said. "We have sleeping facilities, and you all seem tired. Rest up a bit, and you can meet Taran, Misty, and Armando after they've rested. If you guys and girls get hungry, just talk to any person and they'll send your order to the kitchens. Anything else?" Diana asked. Silence seemed to be her answer. "Well don't all speak up at once. Cid and I will meet with Greg Littel and Kate, we'll call for you after you've rested up and eaten something."
While Cid and Diana walked away, a young girl showed them to their rooms. They each had separate rooms complete with televisions, bathrooms, comfy beds and touch lamps.
"This is posh," Aisha said quietly. For being in such a city, the Night Hawks had a really nice HQ. Once the door was closed she pulled out the pieces of crystal from her waist pouch and examined them more closely. These are soooooo cool! Shiny! She accidentally reflected light into her eyes. Ahh!
While everyone was admiring their rooms, Cid and Diana were intent on locating the three missing people. With the computers and satellites they hoped to find them. The only problem was that they weren't traveling in a Night Hawks boat, so they didn't have a specific tracker.
"Alright, get me an over head scan of the horn of Jurissol," Cid commanded.
"Now lets move it down south a bit. Bit more..." Diana instructed. Suddenly a red moving blip on the screen could be seen.
"Zoom in close until I can see their faces!" Cid said sternly. The man at the computer zoomed in until Taran's ice blue eyes could be seen. He was piloting the boat with Misty while Armando kept watch with gun in hand.
"We can see them, but we can't even speak to them," the tactician moaned.
"It's alright, we'll see them soon. Once we find out where they were kept, that place is gonna be nuthin' but a big ole mushroom cloud!" Cid exclaimed.
"Cid? Where is this mushroom cloud gonna come from? Before that, we're gonna have to tell them the news they won't wanna hear." Diana finished her statement glumly. Those three had stuck together since they had first joined the Night Hawks. They'd sabotaged many war projects together and even almost died together.
"Oh. You mean how they're gonna be with those five kids. Yeah, they're gonna be really pissed at us." Cid turned away and began silently praying that things would go fine.
"But we can tell them the perks of having these kids! Kate can heal, Scott can cast Black Magic, Aisha is fast and has a lot of street sense and can keep cool in every situation, Kiro is well trained, and Emily has a strong will. Combined with Taran and Misty's strength, and Armando's skills, they would be our strongest force. They could get things done by force!" Diana said excitedly.
"But maybe we should tell the others about the reaction they'll be faced with." Cid reached over for a microphone and flipped the P.A. on. "Kate Megido." As her name was called she looked around. "Emily Tiral." Emily did the same. "Scott Brennan." Scott put down his staff. "Kiro Sagato." Kiro stood.
"Aisha Carm." Aisha jumped at the sound of her name, almost dropping the crystals.
"Please report to the main control room." Cid flipped the switch off and almost immediately they had entered the room.
"Alright, we have something to tell you five..." Diana started. After 5 minutes of sugar coating the topic, Aisha let out a howl: "WHAT!"
"They're comng!"
"They're back?!"
"They're back!" Many people came to shore line to greet the returning Night Hawks. Cheers and applause greeted them as well. Taran just sort of stood there with a smirk on his face, holding his sword beside him. Misty smiled and waved while Armando bowed to the people, dramatically waving at the people between the bows. More people, presumably the rest of the Night Hawks, pushed their way through. A person who was taken no notice of walked to the front of the crowd.
"Let's hear it for Taran, Misty and Armando!" a voice called out. Another cheer erupted.
The person then thought to himself; His name is Taran... Could he be a survivor of Torab Ni? That girl Rheena keeps talking about a Taran from Torab Ni. Rheena was a survivor. So far she's the only known. As he left the shoreline, he took one look again at Taran. He walked off unnoticed.
Misty motioned for everyone to quiet down. "Thank you all so much for all of this! We weren't expecting this much of a turnout, much less even anybody!" she said.
"We're just happy that you made it back!" an elderly lady called out.
"I don't mean to be such a spoilsport, but we really have to go see Cid and Diana," Armando said sadly.
"We're already here," Diana said.
"Diana! Cid!" Misty raced through the crowd and grouped her leaders in a group hug.
"I was scared that we wouldn't see you again," Diana told her.
"Diana don't say that. Cid's coughed up scarier stuff than that," Misty said. Diana let out a little chuckle while Cid fumed.
"She's just joking Cid," Taran said calmly.
"She better be," Cid replied with mock anger.
When the crowd had finally left the shoreline, Kate, Emily, Kiro, Scott and Aisha walked forwards, looking at their new comrades in battle.
"Who are these kids?" Taran asked Cid smugly.
Diana told the new five that they should back away while she and Cid told the other three about their new positions with the five. They obeyed and watched from afar. Suddenly, the one girl yelled; "WHAT!!!"
They had gotten over the new position Cid and Diana placed them in and began to introduce them to each other.
"Taran Wilder, Misty Jax, Armando Sear... I would like to introduce you to Kate Megido, Emily Tiral, Kiro Sagato, Scott Brennan and Aisha Carm." Armando and Aisha suddenly looked up at each other. Aisha walked over slowly to Armando and he looked down at her and said: "It's been awhile."
Aisha faced him, wound up, and punched him full force in his face. He staggered and fell down, clutching his bloody nose.
"Was it something I said?" he asked though somewhat muffled from his hands. Blood was trickling from his lip.
"How about the words 'I'll be right back'," Aisha snarled at him.
Authors notes; That concludes part one. A few unanswered questions may have risen but they will be answered later in part two. Aisha and Armando seem to have something bitter between the two of them, and what about the mysterious figure who may know Taran? Who is this 'Ara' that Aisha is trying to protect? As stated above, they will be answered later. Maybe in part three depending on how things go. But you can expect to read about the conflicts between Timar and Castrato.
