Familiar Face

The boy who stood before them had short brown hair and sea green eyes, as deep as the color of Meliadoul's own. He looked to be about 18, suggested by the youthful look on his face, as well as being a reared swordsman. But he meant something more to the two girls, something different for each, but both girls had encountered him in the past, and he was dear to each one.

"Brother!" exclaimed Meliadoul, "You've come back. I thought I had lost you forever." She ran to embrace the boy, but her arms went right through him, as he was only a ghost.

"Izlude, it's nice to see you again," Alma told him. She gave the young Knight Blade a winsome smile, one that had won the hearts of everyone she had ever met. Well, excluding the villains who had taken her in order to revive the Bloody Angel, but an exception must be made for those who are evil.

Izlude said, "You must take care. Evil is returning to this world, and it is after Ramza. I had hoped to make up for the things I had done in the past, while blind to Vormav's ambitions, and I was granted permission to take on this case, as my friends and family are involve. I had hoped to fight the enemy in the shadows, so not to make my beloved sister cry again. But since you have unmasked me, I guess I must stick with you. Please, take me to see Ramza, I must warn him of the danger."

* * *

Deverca was sweating. He was reporting on the situation to his boss, and had sent the rest of his men to wait in the other room. But he was afraid of what the man would say, due to his failure. "And that's what happened. The boy was a ghost, he couldn't be damaged by mere weapons. How are we supposed to fight off something like that? Something special is about the boy, normal ghosts are able to take damage from weapons. I might need your help in order to fight him."


'So, the heavens have sent an agent to chase us,' the boss thought, 'But what kind of warrior had they brought forth? A swordsman, from the sound of it. I wonder, could it be HIM? Have they decided to play the biggest Cosmic Joke on me, by sending HIM against me?'

* * *

Back at Ramza's camp, Izlude looked around. He could see all of the warriors around him, it looked as if Ramza had amassed a good cadre of fighters. It relieved him a little, to know that the youth was protected from the demons. And by having a person who is chosen in order to fight against the demons, and given the ability to regenerate as a result, his chances for survival greatly increased.

"Ramza, can you come out here? We've got to talk to you, it's an urgent matter!" yelled Alma. It shocked Izlude a little bit, he didn't think that someone like Alma would ever yell. He had half expected Meliadoul to be the one to call out to her friend, or one of them to go looking for him.

Ramza came out, and looked shocked when he saw the company the women were keeping. But Meliadoul informed him, "Izlude has come back from the dead to fight off a group of demons. They're after you, as well as those who are on your side. The people in our group are in danger, and we can use all the help we can get. Ask him to fill you in on the details." She only caught his eye for a moment, and then looked away once more. Alma saw the look on her face, and wished she could be more open and honest with herself. Else the young woman would be very lonely in the future.

Izlude stepped forward. "I do not know exactly what kind of demons are around. But I do know that there is a real threat to those in your group. When I showed an interest in redeeming myself for the errors I made in the past, the being in charge of such cases offered me the job. I jumped on it right away. Especially since it involves my sister and her friends. I also wanted to make it up to Alma, for getting her involved in the whole mess. If I hadn't taken her hostage, she would never have been dragged all around Ivalice, and you wouldn't spend several months chasing her around, after leaving Riovanes."

"I spent a whole year in the castle," admitted Ramza, "Honoring and burying the brave souls who had been killed by Vormav and Wiegraff. As well as hiding out against being chased around by the church. Because I knew who was going to be blamed for what had happened, and if they all thought that I would move on right after the incident, they wouldn't be able to find where I was hiding."

"But you still had to spend over three months chasing Lucavi around the whole country. All you wanted was to save your sister from the demons. It kind of reminds me of myself and Meliadoul, we would do no less for one another if the same thing had happened to us," he stated.

Suddenly, Rafa's voice called out, "Ramza, Meliadoul, Alma! Dinner is ready! Come and get it before it gets too cold to eat." The young Heaven Knight ran out of the dining tent, right towards her friends. Her older brother, Malak, was right behind her. The young boy wondered where his sister got all of her energy from. Sometimes, he couldn't keep up with her.

Ramza looked at the two. "I'll be right there, I'm just talking about an urgent matter. It looks like we haven't seen the last of the demon kind. Probably not Lucavi, we have all twelve of the stones in our possession. But whoever it is, we're in for battles in the near future."

"Those thieves," stated Izlude, "Are in the demons' service. It appears that their leader brought their loyalty for a hefty sum of money, if what the informants my boss uses heard things correctly. These demons are hiding behind the thieves, we don't know when they'll show their faces."

"Whatever happens, we're going to stick together. If all of us are able to fight as one, we've practically assured victory. For even though demons are naturally stronger than humans, if people can combine their efforts, they can achieve miraculous things," Ramza stated.

Alma requested, "Let's go and eat some dinner. Izlude, you come too. I'm sure that even ghosts like yourself are going to have to replenish your energy." She ran towards the dining tent, hungry after her adventure. Ramza and the Tingel siblings followed soon after.

- - - -

I bet you're wondering why it's a year past Riovanes. Well, there's a glitch in my game that makes a year pass sometime in Chapter 3. I just put it at Riovanes, since it appears as if no time has passed, yet Ramza changes clothes once more. Besides, it fixes my ages and party up to what they are in my game.