Chapter 7: Kas'ion's Parting Gift
After a short hike across the meadow, the group had entered Kas'ion, simple small, medieval town. There were two silver armor-clad guards on each side of the entrance site, and beyond was a view that astonished the foreigners. The road that leads to each of the redbrick buildings were all gray, and bricked as well. Bordering the gates that surrounded the city were beautiful flowers of various colors, blooming gorgeously. As everyone continued to look around, they noticed the small town was very calm and peaceful. Conveniently there was a diner right near the entrance, so the five of them headed inside for some breakfast.
Cid went in first, followed by the rest of the young adventurers, and found a seat by the eastern corner. Once again everyone (except Magus) gaped at the view of the restaurant. All of the tables and chairs were carved beautifully with wood, and each table was decorated with a vase of blue lilies. The walls were all made of red brick, and everything was dimly lit with candles, since there was no such thing as electricity at this point in time. Tidus, Magus and Cid sat on one side of the table, while Maria and Raushanna sat across from them.
"Wow, this is a pretty neat place! How come we don't have anything like this back at home?" Raushanna questioned.
"Uh...gee.lets think, maybe because this is only like, 1500 YEARS back in time from when we're from!!" spat Tidus.
"Oh shush up Tidus!" Maria said, while skimming through the menu. "Hmm.hey! They have eggs and bacon!"
"Very observable aren't you, princess?" Magus said, while lazily flipping the menu to the other side. He seemed amazed that everyone else was in awe of the menu list.
"Ah, I think I'll just have pancakes," said Tidus. Cid and Raushanna nodded in agreement.
Shortly after deciding what everyone wanted to eat, one of the waitresses came by their table to serve. A tall, red-haired girl walked to the table in a black dress and white apron. "May I take your order?" she asked in a high voice.
"Yeah, me, her, and him will have pancakes and orange juice, please." Cid ordered, while pointing to Raushanna and Tidus, respectively.
"I'll take some bacon and eggs.with orange juice as well." Maria said.
"Two slices of lamb please, with a side of bacon, and water." Magus replied. Everyone besides the waitress gave him a strange look. The waitress finished writing the orders down, collected the menus, and headed towards the kitchen.
"How can you eat that.for breakfast!?" Raushanna asked in shock.
"Its what I eat, and I think it's none of your concern of what I eat during what time of the day." Magus muttered, adjusting his cloak.
A few minutes later the waitress returned with the orders and handed them out to everyone. They were asked to pay for the food then, so Cid brought out his bag and handed the waitress the correct amount of gil needed, including an extra tip. Talk wasn't heard much during breakfast, mainly because everyone was hungry and still quite tired from the previous night. But soon after they finish eating, they have to plan where and what they are going to do next. In such a short amount of time, the breakfast plates and glasses were emptied of food at such a quickened pace. Tidus let out a loud and long burp that startled the girls.
"EXCUSE YOU!!!" the girls said simultaneously. Magus then let out a louder, longer burp.
"HAHAHA good one mate!" Tidus said, giving Magus a high five. Maria and Raushanna just looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Men!"
The group got up from the table and set out into the lovely town of Kas'ion. As they were walking they stopped into various shops to restock on extra snacking supplies, some utensils to clean their weapons with, and more clothes (which the girls practically begged for). Magus had suggested that they go to the item shop and pick up some more potions and antidotes. "Potions and antidotes? What are we going go to, brew a pot of magic?" Tidus joked. "No you fool, there are monsters out there. The potions are healing potions for if you get wounded pretty badly. The antidotes are for when you get poisoned." Magus explained calmly. "Wow, this is so different compared to-" Raushanna began, but was cut off by Cid. "Raushanna, you have to understand, we are not in our time period anymore.and things will be different. I don't think we need to hear about every single thing that differs between these two different worlds." "Okay okay fine!" she said, a little annoyed. Maria walked into the item shop and purchased 10 potions and 10 antidotes, then returned outside and placed the items in the traveling bag. "Hey Magus.what's a phoenix down? I picked up two of these just for the hell of it." Maria said. "Oh, phoenix downs, those heal people when they get knocked unconscious or when someone enters a critical conditions.those are quite useful, but I don't think we need many of them now. But having two of them won't be a bad thing, so I guess it's good you picked those up." "Sweet! Well let's see, now that we've eaten, bought more supplies and restocked on some essential items, we can continue towards Zanarkand!" Raushanna let out. "Yeah, we have everything in our bags and pockets, so I say we head out of Kas'ion to the north." Cid replied. "Yes.and after we walk a little bit through the open meadow.we have to go through the Winding Forest to get to the other side." Magus informed the group. "There are monsters in there.so I suggest that once we enter, you all get your weapons out, we may have to do a little fighting." "Alright! That's cool with me!" Tidus said. "Let's get going!" From there, the group walked side by side all the way to the north side of town and through the gates. As soon as they took a few steps out of the northern gates, they heard a loud slam, and turned on their heels to see what has happened. "Hey! Let go of me! You blasted sons of bitches, you don't know how to run anything! I'll show you who's-hey stop that!" a 5'11" tall, blond haired boy screamed, while being held by two armor-clad guards. "From henceforth onwards, you, filthy little nor-do-well, are banned from ever returning the simple town of Kas'ion again! And if you're caught within these walls, you will be executed!" one of the guards stated, and threw the boy far, making him land in a pile of sand. "Fine! You bastards! I'm too good for your 'simple' stick-up-in-the-ass goodie-two-shoes people anyway!" The boy got up and dusted himself off, his blonde hair waved in the wind, and his blue eyes glittered with fury. He was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, with ropes on each shoulder to hold up his sword, bow and arrows. His pants were black baggy jeans, and wearing a pair of brown hiker boots. The boy turned away from the town and started heading down the meadow, and caught sight of the group staring at him. "What the hell are you looking at? Am I some kinda freak show or somethin' ta you? Do I have a "stare at me" sign followin' me!?" Maria and Raushanna blinked in shock. Cid looked mad, and was holding back Tidus from beating up the brute. It was Magus who stepped up in front of the boy, overcoming the boy with his 6'2" height and glaring red eyes. "I don't think you want to start up anything with me, hooligan." "What the fu- hooligan? You ain't jus call me a hooligan.blue boy!" the boy said, spitting in Magus' face. This got Magus on his bad side. Wiping the spit off his face with his glove, Magus shoved the boy to the ground, drew out his scythe and put it up against the boys' neck. "You wanna try that again.punk?" he said dangerously. Just then Maria interrupted. "Stop! Magus, hold on!" Maria said in her pleading voice. Magus didn't budge. Instead Maria went down and kneeled next to the boy. "Are you okay? Why are you so angry?" She said sweetly, brushing the hair away from his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, now call this damn blue boy off, he seems to listen to you like a dog." The boy said. Magus jerked his scythe closer to his throat. Then Shauna came next to Maria and knelt down. "What's your name?" she asked. "My name's John, sweetie, but everyone calls me JP. Anyone who calls me John ain't gonna speak again." Tidus scoffed and pulled Raushanna away from him. "Look man, you better watch your mouth, coz you don't know what you-" Tidus started, but Cid once again pulled him away to control him. "Haha, boy your smart-ass-lookin father's holdin ya back. You can't do shit! And I thought you were gonna be a cool boy too!" JP said. "Hey is not my father. Oh, but he can do something to you!!!" Tidus called back, pointing at Magus, who still had JP pinned, and put the scythe so close to his neck that it almost penetrated the skin. JP started to gag. "Magus wait! Pull back your scythe!" Maria pleaded. Looking into her gentle eyes, his anger filled eyes disagreed, but pulled back the scythe nonetheless. JP got to his feet. "Thanks doll. Say, how 'bout you ditch the dodo's and come along with me?" JP winked. "Uhm...no. I have to stay with this group; we have important stuff to do. I'm sorry." Maria responded politely. Magus scowled. "Ah okay, it's a'ight. Say, where are ya guys heading?" JP asked. "Zanarkand. We have to travel up through these meadows for a while, and then go through some woods." Cid explained. "Yes, and don't think you can bum your way to come along." Magus growled. "Zanarkand, eh? Well what da'ya know, that's where I'm bout ta head too!" JP exclaimed. Remembering Magus' previous statement, he added ".but since I can see I ain't wanted.I guess I'll have to drag my bum self.with no supplies.no food.just me an my weapons." He gazed at the seemingly naïve Maria.
"Ohh.we can't just leave him here guys. I think we can take you along.but on one condition." Maria said. The rest of the group stared to look at her.
"Anything." He said.
"Lighten up your attitude, I don't think any of us want any more fights and stuff like that." She replied.
"A'ight, I can do that, I'll do that, I'll behave myself. But just remember, I'm a fighter, so I ain't gonna be all nice and shit when we fighting monsters."
"You better contain your attitude if you want to live." Magus said, stepping in front of Maria and Raushanna.
"Yo chill blue boy, I can-"
"YOU CALL ME BLUE BOY AGAIN AND I'LL CHOP YOUR ASS TO PIECES. DO YOU HEAR ME HOOLIGAN!?" Magus yelled.
"Hey! Stop name calling!" Raushanna exclaimed. "By the way, I'm Raushanna. This here's Maria. And he's Magus.these two over here are Tidus, and Cid."
"I think we should get going before we waste any more time. We want to get to the next town before dusk alright?" Cid suggested.
"Yeah, we'll go now, come along if you must, JP." Tidus said bitterly. With that the group gathered together once again and started walking due north through the open meadow. Following closely behind was the new recruit, JP. He looked one last time back at the town, which he was banned from, turned back towards the group, and followed. He caught sight of Magus leading the pack, and smirking to himself, he muttered one simple phrase
"Heh.Blue boy."
After a short hike across the meadow, the group had entered Kas'ion, simple small, medieval town. There were two silver armor-clad guards on each side of the entrance site, and beyond was a view that astonished the foreigners. The road that leads to each of the redbrick buildings were all gray, and bricked as well. Bordering the gates that surrounded the city were beautiful flowers of various colors, blooming gorgeously. As everyone continued to look around, they noticed the small town was very calm and peaceful. Conveniently there was a diner right near the entrance, so the five of them headed inside for some breakfast.
Cid went in first, followed by the rest of the young adventurers, and found a seat by the eastern corner. Once again everyone (except Magus) gaped at the view of the restaurant. All of the tables and chairs were carved beautifully with wood, and each table was decorated with a vase of blue lilies. The walls were all made of red brick, and everything was dimly lit with candles, since there was no such thing as electricity at this point in time. Tidus, Magus and Cid sat on one side of the table, while Maria and Raushanna sat across from them.
"Wow, this is a pretty neat place! How come we don't have anything like this back at home?" Raushanna questioned.
"Uh...gee.lets think, maybe because this is only like, 1500 YEARS back in time from when we're from!!" spat Tidus.
"Oh shush up Tidus!" Maria said, while skimming through the menu. "Hmm.hey! They have eggs and bacon!"
"Very observable aren't you, princess?" Magus said, while lazily flipping the menu to the other side. He seemed amazed that everyone else was in awe of the menu list.
"Ah, I think I'll just have pancakes," said Tidus. Cid and Raushanna nodded in agreement.
Shortly after deciding what everyone wanted to eat, one of the waitresses came by their table to serve. A tall, red-haired girl walked to the table in a black dress and white apron. "May I take your order?" she asked in a high voice.
"Yeah, me, her, and him will have pancakes and orange juice, please." Cid ordered, while pointing to Raushanna and Tidus, respectively.
"I'll take some bacon and eggs.with orange juice as well." Maria said.
"Two slices of lamb please, with a side of bacon, and water." Magus replied. Everyone besides the waitress gave him a strange look. The waitress finished writing the orders down, collected the menus, and headed towards the kitchen.
"How can you eat that.for breakfast!?" Raushanna asked in shock.
"Its what I eat, and I think it's none of your concern of what I eat during what time of the day." Magus muttered, adjusting his cloak.
A few minutes later the waitress returned with the orders and handed them out to everyone. They were asked to pay for the food then, so Cid brought out his bag and handed the waitress the correct amount of gil needed, including an extra tip. Talk wasn't heard much during breakfast, mainly because everyone was hungry and still quite tired from the previous night. But soon after they finish eating, they have to plan where and what they are going to do next. In such a short amount of time, the breakfast plates and glasses were emptied of food at such a quickened pace. Tidus let out a loud and long burp that startled the girls.
"EXCUSE YOU!!!" the girls said simultaneously. Magus then let out a louder, longer burp.
"HAHAHA good one mate!" Tidus said, giving Magus a high five. Maria and Raushanna just looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Men!"
The group got up from the table and set out into the lovely town of Kas'ion. As they were walking they stopped into various shops to restock on extra snacking supplies, some utensils to clean their weapons with, and more clothes (which the girls practically begged for). Magus had suggested that they go to the item shop and pick up some more potions and antidotes. "Potions and antidotes? What are we going go to, brew a pot of magic?" Tidus joked. "No you fool, there are monsters out there. The potions are healing potions for if you get wounded pretty badly. The antidotes are for when you get poisoned." Magus explained calmly. "Wow, this is so different compared to-" Raushanna began, but was cut off by Cid. "Raushanna, you have to understand, we are not in our time period anymore.and things will be different. I don't think we need to hear about every single thing that differs between these two different worlds." "Okay okay fine!" she said, a little annoyed. Maria walked into the item shop and purchased 10 potions and 10 antidotes, then returned outside and placed the items in the traveling bag. "Hey Magus.what's a phoenix down? I picked up two of these just for the hell of it." Maria said. "Oh, phoenix downs, those heal people when they get knocked unconscious or when someone enters a critical conditions.those are quite useful, but I don't think we need many of them now. But having two of them won't be a bad thing, so I guess it's good you picked those up." "Sweet! Well let's see, now that we've eaten, bought more supplies and restocked on some essential items, we can continue towards Zanarkand!" Raushanna let out. "Yeah, we have everything in our bags and pockets, so I say we head out of Kas'ion to the north." Cid replied. "Yes.and after we walk a little bit through the open meadow.we have to go through the Winding Forest to get to the other side." Magus informed the group. "There are monsters in there.so I suggest that once we enter, you all get your weapons out, we may have to do a little fighting." "Alright! That's cool with me!" Tidus said. "Let's get going!" From there, the group walked side by side all the way to the north side of town and through the gates. As soon as they took a few steps out of the northern gates, they heard a loud slam, and turned on their heels to see what has happened. "Hey! Let go of me! You blasted sons of bitches, you don't know how to run anything! I'll show you who's-hey stop that!" a 5'11" tall, blond haired boy screamed, while being held by two armor-clad guards. "From henceforth onwards, you, filthy little nor-do-well, are banned from ever returning the simple town of Kas'ion again! And if you're caught within these walls, you will be executed!" one of the guards stated, and threw the boy far, making him land in a pile of sand. "Fine! You bastards! I'm too good for your 'simple' stick-up-in-the-ass goodie-two-shoes people anyway!" The boy got up and dusted himself off, his blonde hair waved in the wind, and his blue eyes glittered with fury. He was dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, with ropes on each shoulder to hold up his sword, bow and arrows. His pants were black baggy jeans, and wearing a pair of brown hiker boots. The boy turned away from the town and started heading down the meadow, and caught sight of the group staring at him. "What the hell are you looking at? Am I some kinda freak show or somethin' ta you? Do I have a "stare at me" sign followin' me!?" Maria and Raushanna blinked in shock. Cid looked mad, and was holding back Tidus from beating up the brute. It was Magus who stepped up in front of the boy, overcoming the boy with his 6'2" height and glaring red eyes. "I don't think you want to start up anything with me, hooligan." "What the fu- hooligan? You ain't jus call me a hooligan.blue boy!" the boy said, spitting in Magus' face. This got Magus on his bad side. Wiping the spit off his face with his glove, Magus shoved the boy to the ground, drew out his scythe and put it up against the boys' neck. "You wanna try that again.punk?" he said dangerously. Just then Maria interrupted. "Stop! Magus, hold on!" Maria said in her pleading voice. Magus didn't budge. Instead Maria went down and kneeled next to the boy. "Are you okay? Why are you so angry?" She said sweetly, brushing the hair away from his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine, now call this damn blue boy off, he seems to listen to you like a dog." The boy said. Magus jerked his scythe closer to his throat. Then Shauna came next to Maria and knelt down. "What's your name?" she asked. "My name's John, sweetie, but everyone calls me JP. Anyone who calls me John ain't gonna speak again." Tidus scoffed and pulled Raushanna away from him. "Look man, you better watch your mouth, coz you don't know what you-" Tidus started, but Cid once again pulled him away to control him. "Haha, boy your smart-ass-lookin father's holdin ya back. You can't do shit! And I thought you were gonna be a cool boy too!" JP said. "Hey is not my father. Oh, but he can do something to you!!!" Tidus called back, pointing at Magus, who still had JP pinned, and put the scythe so close to his neck that it almost penetrated the skin. JP started to gag. "Magus wait! Pull back your scythe!" Maria pleaded. Looking into her gentle eyes, his anger filled eyes disagreed, but pulled back the scythe nonetheless. JP got to his feet. "Thanks doll. Say, how 'bout you ditch the dodo's and come along with me?" JP winked. "Uhm...no. I have to stay with this group; we have important stuff to do. I'm sorry." Maria responded politely. Magus scowled. "Ah okay, it's a'ight. Say, where are ya guys heading?" JP asked. "Zanarkand. We have to travel up through these meadows for a while, and then go through some woods." Cid explained. "Yes, and don't think you can bum your way to come along." Magus growled. "Zanarkand, eh? Well what da'ya know, that's where I'm bout ta head too!" JP exclaimed. Remembering Magus' previous statement, he added ".but since I can see I ain't wanted.I guess I'll have to drag my bum self.with no supplies.no food.just me an my weapons." He gazed at the seemingly naïve Maria.
"Ohh.we can't just leave him here guys. I think we can take you along.but on one condition." Maria said. The rest of the group stared to look at her.
"Anything." He said.
"Lighten up your attitude, I don't think any of us want any more fights and stuff like that." She replied.
"A'ight, I can do that, I'll do that, I'll behave myself. But just remember, I'm a fighter, so I ain't gonna be all nice and shit when we fighting monsters."
"You better contain your attitude if you want to live." Magus said, stepping in front of Maria and Raushanna.
"Yo chill blue boy, I can-"
"YOU CALL ME BLUE BOY AGAIN AND I'LL CHOP YOUR ASS TO PIECES. DO YOU HEAR ME HOOLIGAN!?" Magus yelled.
"Hey! Stop name calling!" Raushanna exclaimed. "By the way, I'm Raushanna. This here's Maria. And he's Magus.these two over here are Tidus, and Cid."
"I think we should get going before we waste any more time. We want to get to the next town before dusk alright?" Cid suggested.
"Yeah, we'll go now, come along if you must, JP." Tidus said bitterly. With that the group gathered together once again and started walking due north through the open meadow. Following closely behind was the new recruit, JP. He looked one last time back at the town, which he was banned from, turned back towards the group, and followed. He caught sight of Magus leading the pack, and smirking to himself, he muttered one simple phrase
"Heh.Blue boy."