Phew! This is going a lot longer than I expected, but I predict I'll end it sooner or later in a chapter at the very maximum three or four chapters. Anyways, expect much tension in this chapter as Darcie aids Clan Nutsy, amongst other things I cannot say right now, all though I can say it might get a little more violent. Farewell and I hope you enjoy! Oh yes, I don't own Square Enix, nor do I own Final Fantasy.

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It was ice cold in the frigid bottoms of Siena Gorge. It wasn't helped by the fact that it was the middle of Sagemoon, the coldest month, in the middle of the night. Darcie shivered, holding a fireball aloft in her lavender-gloved hands to see where she was going and to receive warmth. Frost crystals glistened upon every crag and precipice as the valley steadily became narrower and narrower. The only reason why Clan Nutsy had decided to take this unforgiving route was to avoid detection, which would easily happen to the clan up near the top of the gorge. Montblanc had warned Marche that Lamias and Liliths loved to prey upon unsuspecting travelers in Siena Gorge: especially at night.

"Wow. It's beautiful down here," Ritz exclaimed, her bright, watchful eyes darting around at every flicker of light upon the frosty crystals. Up above, she could hear the soft song of a Lamia; however it was too faint to be enticed by such a lullaby, and besides the Ribbon shimmering upon a red lock of hair prevented her from being tempted.

Ritz walked up past Darcie to join Marche, who was all by himself. Marche wrapped his arm around the redhead's shoulders, and Darcie would've smiled if it hadn't been for Montblanc, who accidentally clonked her in the knee with his Heretic Rod, causing her to fall backwards. Marche and Ritz, who were currently quietly talking and were preoccupied with each other, didn't stop to look back. Shara helped Darcie up, who was beaming proudly. "I never expected for her-or him-to have courage to be that close," she said with a giggle. Montblanc couldn't keep from uttering one, too, as he apologized to Darcie.

"So, you said something about being in another clan. Which one was it?" Shara inquired to Darcie. Darcie smiled a bit at such a question.

"I was in Clan Belmia, one of the first recruits. But as everyone started to want to join, they had less and less use for a mage like me. Eventually, they told me to leave after taking all of my precious pieces of equipment. They took it all, and then dumped me like a piece of trash. Lady Nanabu found me distraught in a Cyril pub, and hired me. I've been happy ever since she saved me from the doom of being an alcoholic," Darcie explained. Shara nodded, understanding shining in her Viera eyes.

"We never would do that," Montblanc said with a jump in his step, "however, no one really wants to join Clan Nutsy nowadays, kupo. No one wants to join the clan that took down Queen Remedi and the Li-Grim, kupo, but don't ask me why."

"So you're the clan that defeated her?" Darcie said, her eyes wide. They must have an extraordinary sense of teamwork and cooperation, not to mention strength, to bring down such a formidable foe. They said that the Li-Grim had all the powers of the Totema and the power to grant wishes! After her death the prince mysteriously disappeared. That was the beginning of the end of Donovan's career.

"Yes, kupo, and it was not a friendly task," Montblanc said. "But believe me, I would much have rather stayed in an exciting clan like Clan Nutsy then gone off to go participate in endless tourneys with another clan, kupo!"

Darcie smiled. "Clan Belmia originated from Muscadet, my hometown. I grew up not knowing my parents, as they had died tragically in a fatal encounter with another clan in a Jagd. I was raised by Clan Belmia, who took me in and trained me to become the Viera that I am today. However, that means nothing to them now."

Suddenly, it sparked in Darcie's mind. Which Jagd had it been? She knew exactly which one. It was the one she was headed straight for, Jagd Helje; the one she had so long ago sworn to never enter on the fear of her life. Her parents had been killed by the Bloodthirsters, a viciously bloodthirsty clan consisting mostly of death-wreaking monsters and the cruel Undead. She couldn't imagine them strewn across the mountain face like worthless dolls, and she kept the tears from coming to her eyes.

The crew was silent for a long time, even after the sun began to rise and the songs of the Lamias dissipated into the morning mist. Darcie, who was drowsy with the monotonous rhythm of the noises of walking, began to look around. Ezel was energetically shuffling a deck of cards using magic to make them float in the air and wind energies to make them spin like tops. Montblanc was practicing his juggling skills with a few small knives, careful not to let the blades fall on the backs of his paws. Shara was looking to the sky and softly humming. Ritz was sleeping peacefully and soundlessly in the arms of Marche, who was grinning to himself. Darcie smiled a bit.

It was noon by the time Clan Nutsy reached the windy entrance to Jagd Helje. The ivory mountain looked just as inviting as death itself, and two small signs read in front of the entrance that the following territory was a lawless zone and that any deaths would not be prevented. It chilled Darcie to the bone. Marche had long since woken Ritz, who was now walking beside him, blushing like mad. With a grim look on his face, Marche said, "Well, we're here."

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The dripping of the leaky caverns was like music to Carrot's ears. She was in the front entrance to Jagd Helje, and was not far from home. Home just so happened to be the ancient, abandoned city's church, which had long since been desecrated with moss and fiends. It was home to Carrot, however.

As she squirmed onto the cold stone pathways, dusty with age and mold, she felt as if she were returning home from running away. She knew that is wasn't true, as Lady Nanabu was in both her homes. At least that it was her instinct had told her. Finally, she could stay here forever in the ecstasy of her newfound freedoms, away from the house and away from the accursed servants.

As she reached the center of the city's plaza, she heard a familiar noise and felt a familiar cold gaze upon her back. With a shiver, she turned around to face her adversary, who she had predicted to have followed her for quite some time. But nothing was there, just as before. With a gurgle of fear, Carrot turned back around, felt herself being lifted into the air, then felt the cold stone wall against her body as she landed in a crumpled mass on the ground.

With a painful gurgle, Carrot gazed up at whatever had been standing right in front of her, and the sight made her blood run cold. A pair of cold, malicious red eyes gleamed at her from a pallid face of withered flesh, covered by a large purple and black cape. Two snow-white, dead hands lay at the creature's sides, and it appeared to have no feet. Carrot knew exactly what it was. It was a Vampire, the terrors of the darkness and the haters of all things living.

Carrot began to cower in fear, too frightened to attack or defend. Lady Nanabu had softened her up for something like this with her luxurious treatment which spoiled her like an old egg. She didn't hold it against the woman, though, as she knew it hadn't been purposeful. But she was still scared out of her wits. A venomous bubble formed in the back of her throat, popping just as the stream of smelly grime began to leak from the glands upon her tentacles.

The Vampire smiled, showing its lines of razor sharp fangs which glittered like guillotines in the dim cavern light. It dissipated out of midair, only to appear a few feet away, grinning just as evilly. Carrot winced in fright: and in pain. She felt three large bruises and two bumps begin to form on the back of her back, and immediately began to reconsider her painful treatment of the servants. Was this what she put them through?

"May the venoms of the darkness infuse themselves into your veins! Miasma!" the Vampire muttered, his voice tainted and vile. Carrot was alarmed, as large spheres of magenta poison began to materialize in the air and fall upon her, causing her skin to rash. She felt weak with the poison, but dared not strike back. She was all ready at a disadvantage.

The Vampire began to laugh. "Little Carrot won't fight back? Poor, poor Carrot. You are just too spoiled," it cackled. No, that wasn't the Vampire. It was the Vampire's voice, but Carrot knew who was speaking. It was her instinct speaking to her.

Carrot couldn't believe it. Her instinct had tricked her into coming into this place? Lady Nanabu was not here, she was safe at home worrying her pretty little head over her. This was horrible! Carrot could imagine the poor rabbit girl, crying at her desk, waiting to pet her precious little head. She looked up at the Vampire, who was laughing out of the fact that she wasn't attacking him. The Vampire knew nothing about her instinct's trap; however Carrot looked at the undead creature as her instinct. A spark ignited in her brain, fueling a blaze that began to burn as brilliantly as the watery shimmer in Carrot's eyes.

The Vampire stopped laughing. Something definitely was going on now. Carrot's eyes turned from a glistening water-based color to a swirling red, whirling like a maelstrom of liquid fire. Her oozing slime began to sizzle from her body-generated heat. The Vampire was astounded, standing there like a goon. Carrot swallowed the bubble in her throat, let out a happy gurgle, and then hurled out an enormous missile of stored Flan acid and her own acidic saliva which shot from her mouth like a cannon. The Vampire had two seconds before three-fourths of its body was immediately drenched with acid and burned away. All that remained was the ends of its putrid black robe, which lay upon the ground.

Carrot's eyes narrowed at the sight of victory. Her instinct would no longer be in charge. She was her own master now. And the first thing in her line of things to do was the get rid of that wretched room: her "home".

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"What is that smell?" Marche asked, pinching his nose. The rest of his clan was following his example as a draft of foul-smelling air blew through the top of the cavern. Darcie knew the scent immediately. It was the smell of something burning after Carrot blasted it with acid.

"Carrot's nearby," was all she could say as she began to run, not caring to hold her nose. She would bring back Carrot safe and sound, and that would be the end of this escapade. Then she would return to a beaming Lady Nanabu and resolve this all. However, she would miss her moment in the glory of being liked when in Clan Nutsy, an experience she would never forget.

Marche and the others followed the nimble Viera's trail, which ended up in a large city square dimly lit by the light of a fading sun. The center plaza was the source of all the foul-smelling air, and Marche approached it curiously. His gaze fell upon two ends of some sort of cloak, which were emitting foul wafts of steam. With a groan, he picked them up and showed them to Darcie.

"This is Carrot's saliva, all right," she said, then tossed them over her shoulder into a dark abyss behind her. "She must have deep-fried some fiend that tried to attack her. Let me tell you, Carrot is not a Malboro to be taken lightly. Just a couple days ago, my friend Madeline got a smelly experience after taunting Carrot. Carrot decided to blast her in the face with a ball of slime."

"That doesn't sound too pleasant, kupo," Montblanc said, his voice squeaky. "I never did like Malboros. They are so large, kupo, and scary!"

"Don't worry, Montblanc," assured Ritz with a smile. "We'll keep you from harm from this Carrot."

Darcie smiled, and then glanced at a door that was slightly open. "Do you think we should knock before we enter her house?" Shara asked. Darcie grinned, and then replied negatively.

"Guys, it's time to hunt some Malboro."

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Carrot growled as the finally shoved over the stone altar, which crumpled on the floor in mossy shards. She rammed into the pews and crushed each and every statue, her desire to destroy the entire place growing by the minute. However, in the middle of picking up a statue of Mateus, which was now covered in thick jade moss, she heard the door open and then she saw them. It was the servants, no doubt about it! She growled, warning them to go away and leave her alone.

"She's not herself," Darcie whispered. "She's obviously turned over a new leaf. That's the only explanation I have to be watching her desecrate her own home!"

"It is peculiar behavior," Ezel said. "I do believe Carrot is finally standing up to something. Maybe she is revolting against her own instinct? It's a mixed emotion, I know, but there is no other explanation. Carrot must be challenging her own instinct to a battle, and she is trying to eradicate it by destroying her only reason to follow it."

"Wow," Darcie said, the explanation the wise Nu Mou had just given her rather taking her powerfully. "How do you know that much about Malboro behavior?"

"I studied Beastmastery at the Cadoan Magic Academy," Ezel said, blushing. "I never expected it to have a use such as this, though. I specialized in Monster Psychology, if you couldn't all ready tell."

Darcie couldn't reply because she was knocked to the ground by a whack of Carrot's tentacles. She was in such an angry state she couldn't seem to focus on what she was attacking, because she began to beat the wall and spray it with saliva.

Shara nocked an arrow into her bow, firing a true shot at Carrot's back. The Malboro turned on her, beating her with angry tentacles before Shara could react. Immediately she was knocked to the ground and covered with a slimy glaze and Carrot began to hop on her stomach, beating her.

"Shara!" Ritz shouted, lunging at Carrot with her graceful Femme Fatale. Carrot reacted first, however, knocking the blade away and sending Ritz flying into a wall. Ritz landed in a drowsy heap next to broken statue of Famfrit, narrowly dodging a rather sharp piece.

Montblanc raised his hands, weaving his masterful paws in an attempt to stop Carrot from moving entirely. However, before he could do so Carrot crept up from behind him, and then hopped on top of him, nearly smothering the poor Moogle. Shara, now covered in slime, was now unconscious from the smell and the pain.

"Silver moon, crescent moon! Entwine your sleepy threads into all who wish to harm! Azoth!" Ezel shouted as the sleepy spell shot at Carrot. Carrot shrugged it off immediately, then turned on him and leaving another unconscious clansman in her wake. Ezel attempted to beat her back with his Vesper, but Carrot grabbed the mace and threw it to the other side of the room before toppling the Nu Mou to the ground, glazing him with her smelly slime.

"Stop it, Carrot!" Darcie shouted, but it was too late. Carrot was turning upon Darcie now. Darcie slashed with her rapier, leaving a small scratch on one eye. A now infuriated Carrot turned upon the Red Mage; however she was not down and out like the others. She had grown slightly immune to the drowsing effect of her stench now.

Carrot was now heading for Marche, who was holding the recommended rusty spear in his hands, ready to strike. However, he was in a disadvantageous position: a corner. Carrot closed in on him, eyes glazed with morbid delight, a feeling Darcie had never seen on Carrot, a feeling that frightened her.

"Marche, throw me the spear!" Darcie whispered. Marche looked at Darcie, then nodded his head and threw the spear at her. She nimbly caught it just as Carrot initiated her attack.

"I'm sorry, Carrot," Darcie said as she thrust the spear right through Carrot's back, instantly causing a pool of blood to gush from the wound. The battle was over.