Chapter Sixteen

The history of the conflict


Waking up in the morning was a frightening experience for him. He knew where he was, though not why he was there. But Lord Braska felt a sense of being out of place, a sense of belonging somewhere else, possibly in one of two somewhere else's: somewhere shadowy and remote and somewhere warm and familiar. The feeling was not a pleasant one, compounded by the fact that he was in neither place, but rather in a dank and cheerless cell that was at all times guarded by two strange and hostile beings.

He had been dreaming, awakened only by the sound of the changing of the guard. He had been following someone down a long and perilous road. The memories were slowly beginning to return, but they were distorted or without context. It was almost maddening. But ever-present were two figures: a young man dressed in a robe of red and an older man with darker skin and tattoos. To them he attached the word 'guardians', and yet he could not understand why they had been with him.

He could feel the eyes of the two guards upon him as he mulled over his dreams and pieced his broken memory back together.

"Looks like he could use feeding." commented one of them.

"How often do these humans eat?" asked the other.

"Suppose they eat every day, like we do." he shrugged.

"I'd best fetch him some gruel then. Keep an extra sharp eye out while I'm gone, Gisha."

"Right." he nodded, leaning against the bars of the cell.

Braska raised his eyes from the floor and looked up at the Guado who was watching him.

"How long will I be here?" questioned Braska.

"That rather depends."

"On ... what?"

"Well, how soon your daughter gets here, what kind of terms our Lord Nav gives her, and whether or not she takes them."

"She is coming here ... for me ... then?"

"Not exactly. She was coming already to discuss matters with our leader. You're just a bonus, I suppose you could say." shrugged Gisha.

"What is this all about?" asked Braska.

"Goes back to the days of Lord Seymour. The humans, mostly the Yevonites, killed a lot of our people. My father for one. He died protecting Lord Seymour at Macalania Temple. There weren't a lot of us left when the Calm began, but Nav he gathered us all together again and promised that we'd see the day when the Guado - that's us - would rule from Lake Macalania to Djose. I guess he's making good on that promise now." said Gisha, speaking rapidly and with some excitement.

"Then your Lord Nav is seeking power?"

"An' glory. Don't forget about the glory."

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews, Jade, Summoner Cynthia, Trixie, and Skies of Blue! Jade (ShadesOfGiada) wanted to know: "Are Shelinda and Gatta together?" That would a yes. It's mentioned in Chapter 11. Trixie asked: "You mean that Luzzu is Gatta's father?! Or the other way around...hmm". Gatta (and Shelinda) named their son after Luzzu, the Crusader from Besaid who died at Operation Mi'hen. As it seems that I have had a minor to moderate pronoun problem, the previous chapter has been slightly editted.