Thieves

By Dixxy

Chapter Four

"Ye think this is it?" asked Karsh. A few days had passed, and the boys now stood outside of a simple house in the middle of the southwestern part of the continent. They'd spent what felt like forever trying to find the place that they thought might bring them help and now they were standing before a welcoming house covered in moss situated only about an hour or so from the beach.

"This must be it- the house isn't the same as any of the Mystic houses," said Norris. Slowly, he walked up to the front door and raised his hand, poised to knock. "Well, here goes nothing." With a deep breath, Norris rapped his fist on the door of the house and waited for a response.

Footsteps could soon be heard from inside the house. "Let's hope its Melchoir," Dario said dryly.

As if on cue, a short, stout man answered the door. He wore a blue suit with a blue hat and an orange sash around his shoulder, a wooden cane in one hand. Small, dark glasses sat on his nose, which was just above a mustache so big the boys couldn't see the man's mouth. "Hello? Who are you?"

Dario stepped up to the man and cleared his throat. "Well, my name is Dario," he introduced. He turned to his friend. "The guy with the purple hair is my friend Karsh, the tall blonde is Norris, and the shrimpy kid with the scar is my little brother, Glenn." Glenn took offense to the "shrimpy kid" comment, but didn't say anything.

The old man reached up to adjust his glasses. "Now what are you four kids doing here?"

"We're escaped slaves," Karsh blurted out. "Ozzie VIII wanted to sell Glenn off by himself and away from the rest of us, so we decided enough was enough and got out of there just a few nights ago. We only want to go home and we were hoping ye could help us, milord."

"Hmm. . ." the old man said as he scratched his chin as he thought this over. "You boys certainly have a problem on hand, don't you? Well, I will say this- while the Mystics usually don't bother me, I don't like them and I DESPISE the fact they've suddenly started this slavery practice of theirs. King Crono and Queen Marle worked years and years to try and convince them that we as humans only want piece but Ozzie VIII refuses to listen. It really is very sad."

"Worked? Why aren't they working now?" asked Glenn.

The old man paused. "You boys really must be escaped slaves if you haven't heard about the end result of the war with the Porres." The boys went silent, the three from El Nido wide eyed with fear as they wondered what happened to their fathers and friends. The old man cleared his throat, seeing he had hit some sort of a sensitive spot amongst the boys. "Why don't you boys come in for some tea and we'll swap tales."

Dario held an arm up. "Just one question," he said.

"You wish to know who I am, don't you?" said the old man. The boys nodded. "My name is Melchoir, and if you went out this way, I'm going to assume you either got lost or came looking for me as I'm the only human on this whole island that hasn't been enslaved." Dario nodded and Melchoir chuckled. "Well, come in, then! I haven't had good conversation in years!"

~

"So, from your understanding, King Crono saw that the Porres were going to win and sent the Dragoons home to protect El Nido?" said Dario. The four boys sat in the old man's study over tea and cookies as the old man told them what had happened during the war. As Melchoir nodded, Dario lowered his eyes and shook his head. "They were good, good people."

"They were," said Melchoir. "They knew it was over and wanted to save as many lives as they could. That's why General Viper and the Dragoons went home. So if you boys went to Guardia, you wouldn't find much help to get back home- it's under Porre control and, if you four are on the run from them, it wouldn't be a terribly bright idea to go rushing into that neck of the woods."

"So how do we git back to El Nido?" asked Karsh.

Melchoir sighed. "I have no idea, but it won't be easy. For one, you'll need money to buy boat tickets, right? How you kids plan to get that money is beyond me- from the sounds of it none of you are skilled in any form of work, so if you went into an unskilled job you'd be stuck there for a long time to come."

"Mr. Melchoir sir, do you have any ideas?" Glenn asked.

Melchoir laughed. "No need for formalities, little one," he said. He cleared his throat. "Well, no, I don't have any ideas. I live out of my garden because I'm not very welcome in the Mystic Marketplace. I used to travel to the mainland whenever the big fairs came around, but now there isn't much chance for that, is there?"

"No, there isn't," said Norris. "Oh, what are we going to do now?"

"We're free, but we have no where to go," said Dario. He crossed his legs and cleared his throat. "I don't think we're going to go back to the Mystics anytime soon, so from here we should probably try to get to the mainland- then we can see if we can figure something better out from there. So, unfortunately, we're playing it by ear."

"Great," said Karsh.

"If you have a better idea, say it!" said Norris.

"Stop fighting!" Glenn insisted. "It's not nice!"

"Who asked you!?"

"Both of you, shut up! He's right! We don't have TIME to be fighting like this! Don't you get it? Our next few moves are going to decide what happens to us for the rest of our lives! If we don't get to El Nido soon, we might NEVER get there!" Dario said sharply. Karsh and Norris quiet. "Look, I'm sorry I had to yell but it HAD to be done."

"He's right- getting back to El Nido won't be easy, and who's to say it won't be a few months until you even manage to get the money for it?" said Melchoir. "Most jobs don't hire kids your age. I don't know how you plan to survive, never mind get to El Nido!"

"You said MOST jobs," said Dario.

"Those jobs pay so little that by the time you save up enough money you'll be little old men and anyone you cared about would have either forgot about you or died," said Melchoir. He sighed heavily, scratching his chin. "Actually, I think I have an idea. I'm a weapon smith, and I could use a few sellers."

"You'd do that for us?!" said Karsh.

"You seem like nice kids. I go to Truce once a year to sell my wares- business will be slow considering what just happened, but I'm not getting any younger and some young kids could be a real help," said Melchoir. The boys looked at each other, silently discussing the prospect of working for Melchoir. All eyes turned to Dario, the others nominating him as their leader. Dario turned to the old man and grinned.

~

"There ye go, sir!" Karsh said, exchanging the neatly wrapped sword for the traveler's money.

"We're making a lot of money," Glenn said in wonderment and he helped Norris keep track of the money made off of the sales. Melchoir had brought the boys to Truce, where they saw what was left of what had once been a great and prosperous city. Now, many of the buildings, including Guardia Castle, lay in charred ruins, a sign of the destruction that Porre had released on the people not that long ago. Porre soldiers patrolled the streets with their well polished rifles, adding to the already miserable atmosphere of the city.

However, some of the citizens had created an underground marketplace in what had once been a mine, where trade went on as normal. Things that Porre had banned, such as bars and pubs, were flourishing, and things that had been made illegal to sell, such as weapons, were also part of the hidden economy.

"Ooo. . . sorry, we just ran out of bows," said Dario, giving his customer a sympathetic frown. Then, he smiled. "Can I interest you in these throwing knives? Made of the finest Denadorite around! Dirt cheap at only 2000 GP! Sound like a deal?" The customer shook her head and walked off with a polite "no thank you".

Melchoir was handling the buying part of the business, purchasing used weapons from travelers to re-forge into stronger, new weapons. "Have a good day, kind sir!" the old man wished the group. He turned to his four "employees". "We're doing good, boys. If we're lucky, we might have you on a boat bound for El Nido by the end of the week!"

Four pairs of eyes lit up with enthusiasm. Glenn cheered, scattering a few coins around the area they were situated in. Norris laughed at the reaction of the six-year old, then dropped to his knees to assist the child in picking up the coins, even though Glenn had most of them by that point. Karsh and Dario exchanged high fives with each other, and then tried to repeat the action with Melchoir, who was confused at the motion at first, but then caught on.

"Finally. . . we're going home!" Karsh said. "It's high time we got to go home!"

"I can't wait to see Daddy! I bet his misses us, Dario!" said Glenn.

"Do you think I'll be accepted?" asked Norris.

"Of course you will!" said Dario. "You're a great guy! How could they not?"

No sooner had the word "not" escaped Dario's lips, something catastrophic happened.

BANG! BANG!

Suddenly, the underground marketplace erupted into a fit of screaming, terrified people. The boys looked around in confusion, Glenn clinging to his brother as Karsh and Norris stood back to back, each having grabbed a weapon (an ax and a gun respectively) from the table by an act of instinct. "What's going on!?" asked Dario, looking to Melchoir for an explanation.

"The Porres are onto the operation!" he said. He quickly grabbed two swords and handed them to Dario. The oldest of the three blondes looked at the old man in confusion. "Here- take these. You boys have to get out of here before one of the Porres recognizes you. If worse comes to worse, you'll have to fight for your hides. Hurry! Run!"

"What about you, Melchoir?" asked Glenn as Karsh took him by the hand and began to run.

"Don't worry about me! Save yourselves!" Melchoir shouted as their small shop was plowed down by panic stricken shoppers, scattering tables and weapons across the ground. The old man in questioned was swallowed up by the crowd, and the boys saw nor heard him anymore. Not wanting to waste anymore time, the boys took each other's hands and began to snake their way through the panic-stricken crowd.

Dario lead the way, one of the swords tucked into his belt and the other at the ready. Glenn was immediately behind his brother, holding both his and Karsh's hand. The purple haired boy hand stuffed his ax handle into the back of his belt, ready to draw if it came down to combat. Norris, the last in line, had a firm grip on Karsh's free hand, his free hand placed next to the gun that now sat at his waist.

Before long, the marketplace was set ablaze as the Porres began to set fire to some of the stands and permanent shops. Screams and gunshots filled the air as the terror continued. Bodies both injured and dead alike lay on the sidewalks, friends and families weeping over each other. The Porres showed no discretion in who they chose to attack.

Dario wanted to hurl. What he saw around his was a sick, twisted example of just what humans were capable of doing. Hurting one another. Killing each other. Is this what you all start for, you Porre bastards? To ruthlessly destroy those who disagree with you and your radical ideas?

"The exit!" Karsh screamed. "It's blocked off by Porre soldiers!"

Dario swore under his breath. "Then we have to find another way out!" he said. "C'mon!" He led the boys to the far left-hand side of the marketplace, where a few people were taking refuge from the attacks. Dario grinned. "Perfect," he said. He then began to lead them in the opposite direction of the exit.

"Where are we going?" Glenn asked.

"If this is a sewer system, maybe there's another exit on the far end of the tunnel!" Dario said. "Keep running! If even one Porre spots us we have to keep going or else we'll all be in deeper trouble than we can even begin to fathom!" No one argued with Dario's slightly panic influenced logic.

As they continued down the tunnel, they saw fewer and fewer people and fewer and fewer shops until eventually it was just them and the tunnel. Their footsteps seemed to bounce off the walls like the beating of a large drum, almost asking for a Porre soldier to come and investigate what the strange noise was. Dario bit his bottom lip to try and keep his cool in the horrible situation they were facing.

"Light!" Norris said.

Dario had already seen what Norris had pointed out- the not-so-figurative light at the end of the tunnel. Tired legs wanted to speed up, but the aches and pains would not allow it, and the boys continued at their already quick pace towards the end of their long journey.

When the boys had finally reached the end of the tunnel, all fell to their knees, gasping and panting for air and a break from running. Karsh coughed, his head lowered as he stared at the ground. "Aye, we got away- thank the ancient Dragonians fer tha- we could ave been killed!"

"I think a lot of people were killed," said Norris, looking over his shoulder at the tunnel. Even as far as they'd come, screams and gunshots could still be heard. He winced. Was his father one of the men taking lives in that marketplace? You shouldn't be in the least bit surprised, Nor- you know damn well that your father is a monster.

Glenn looked up at his older brother. "Is it safe yet?"

"No, it's not," said Dario. "We have to get to the woods before someone finds us- it's all open field out here. Someone's bound to find us, and if they're a Porre soldier that recognizes even one of us, then we're all in huge trouble. C'mon- we have to keep moving. I promise we can rest up once we reach the woods but not yet."

~

Did I make the marketplace massacre scene as powerful as I could have, or was it just missing that special something? Please tell me!!!

Uftaki: I'm not a huge Ozzie VIII fan, so I used him as a villain, and, chances are, he'll be back- trust me, the boys will be having a number of people mad at them by the time this fic is through. So far, they have Curtis and the entire Porre army, and now the Mystics of Medina. Who else will be after their hide? Ah. Damn the Records of Fate and Chronopolis. Forgot about that. And I've read some of that fic- I just couldn't sit down long enough to read the whole thing through. It's here on FF.Net, you know. In fact, I think it's on my favorites list.

Mana Angel: Oh? Now it's a race to review my new chapters first? Okay, whatever. While this fic will contain childish antics, it also contains some darker elements. You have to realize they're going from a lifestyle that would bring them all up to be proper gentlemen (well. . . at least in the cases of Dario, Norris, and Glenn, at the very least) and here their lives are taking a very dramatic change. An unconventional pairing is a pairing that steps outside of the norm. Let's take Steena for an example (if she's in the fic she'll be far from a main character, which is why I'm using her). Now, her most common boyfriend/significant other is Guile. This is a conventional pairing. An unconventional pairing would be, say, Grobyc/Steena, Pierre/Steena, Radius/Steena, Lynx/Steena, ect. A pairing as such will be used, though not nearly as extreme as these examples. Eh, that's okay, I've seen much weirder.

Tami: The factory? Hmm. . . try an FAQ at Gamefaqs.com- includes both the PS version (found under FF Chronicles) and the original SNES version. It's a good play- half of the jokes and plot elements in CC don't make ANY sense without playing through CT and getting through most of the side quests. For example, Heckran Bone- Heckran was a boss who was immune to everything but magic attacks in CT. Now he's a chew toy for Poshul. If you bring Leah with you to fight the final Time Devourer, she says she's going to name her daughter Ayla, which either means she's a) naming her kid after the Ioka village chief or b) is Ayla's mother.

Rikku-oh-ki: Yup. It's something used a lot to help emphasize the point that Glenn and Frog are two different people. As for the parents thing, I was considering that. This is also a chance for me to play with other character relationships, too. One that I was thinking about was, strangely enough, Solt and Peppor- the only reason they got as far as they did (which, given, wasn't very far -_-*) was because KARSH helped them- Karsh isn't there anymore, so what happened to our favorite bumbling idiots? What about Riddel? Zoah and Marcy? General Viper? Luccia? Orcha? Any number of people could be affected by this change. Lavos in CT? Well for one, if you have him, don't bring Magus- his shadow magic only HEALS the bastard, which isn't fun. Typically, you'll want Crono as one of your party members, but be sure that he has the Rainbow on hand, as that helps out a lot. Frog is a good choice because he can use healing spells and can use the nifty Frog Squash attack and the Masamune, especially if you upgraded it by doing the Hero's Grave sidequest. As a third party member, I would use either Lucca or Ayla. Lucca gives the addition of fire based magic, and Ayla has Dino Tail and a fast speed. Marle is okay if you want to use Haste, but where most of her magic is healing and supplemental, you may wish to choose a different path. Now, for the first "form", he copies previous bosses, which he shows you briefly (though he's still Lavos). Once you figure out what to strike and how, beat through those bosses. The is the shell stage. Next is the core. Here, you really need to beat at him mercilessly until there's nothing left but the three bits of the inner core. One would think that your main goal is to kill the center bit, when in actuality, it's one of the side bits- the right one, think. Beat on the other two beats, then pound on that bit before it revives the other two bits. Real pain, but you get a cool background and awesome music throughout the whole process. Other than that, make sure you've leveled up into at LEAST the high fifties/low sixties for easiest Lavos thrashing. Have the best equipment you can (Moon Armor, Prism Dress, Rainbow Helms, ect). Good luck!

Chibi Raye-chan: Thanks! Ah, so I'm making you think? That's good. Aw, you flatter me. My list didn't get bumped up by one- it got bumped up by two, but one of them WAS you ^_^.

Alba: Ozzie hasn't done anything bad in your fic (yet). But now you're making me wonder. Ah, yes it is- they're falling and falling and falling down the social ladder, and they're so close to rock bottom it isn't funny. I agree- how can you not be a realist, or even a pessimist, with all this crap going on around you? He still jokes around a lot, so he'll end up a lot like Marco of Animorphs in the sense that he's a mix of both worlds. No, no, no!!! Glenn isn't the first one to steal! That's not what I was trying to say! See, thing is, the ages I named off are the age at which they ALL begin to steal- Glenn is six when, for example, Karsh is thirteen, Norris is twelve, and Dario is thirteen or on the verge of fourteen. What I'm saying is that he's like raw material and he'll end up adapting faster than the other three because of that. I agree that Dario has a strong sense of justice, which is something he never gives up and you'll understand why as the fic progresses. Also, if you really want to argue, Karsh and Glenn HAVE stolen already- Karsh "borrowed" elements from Radius (though that was more of a childish antic than anything else) and in Memories Glenn stole bread from the Porre pantry in a juvenile sense of justification.

Iluvrikku12: Thanks! Oh, one of my RW fics? Er. . . yeah, that was supposed to have a sequel, like, two years ago or so when I actually wrote it. . . but. . . *sighs* that's a hard one to follow up.

Yukari: Bit? Which bits? *looks back in document* Oh! OH! Don't worry- I didn't spoil the worst part of the game. Yet. Dragon dudes? If you're talking about the six Dragon Gods. . . you missed that part, I'm afraid. Yeah, I'm hoping Dario comes off as cool in this fic.

Soulblighter2: Ah, hello there! Hmm, yes you have- the rest of Marooned and all of this story. But that's okay. The development is going to be a mix of newer things and older things- for instance, they all have a pretty strong sense of right and wrong, which comes into play later- you'll get it when you see it. The two other thieves, who show up later, are more true to their original personas.

Miso14: Thanks! Dark? This fic won't be totally dark, but yes, there is some thought-provoking comments. Yeah, I made Ozzie real bad, didn't I? I just want them to suffer. Oh, they THINK they might be going home, but they're a VERY far cry from it! The MINIMUM amount of time is fifteen years- from the day Glenn is kidnapped to the approximate time that the whole Serge/Chrono Trigger/Frozen Flame mess begins.

I'm feeling REALLY moody, so I think the next chapter will visit everyone back home in El Nido and create some dramatic irony as. . . well. . . you'll see.

~Dixxy