Deverca Attacks Again

Snow came early to Ivalice that year, it hit on the fifth of December. Luckily, Ramza and his allies had managed to get a few rooms at the inn in Gariland, and were not at all cold. When the snows calmed down, the group went outside to play in it. Malak, healing nicely from the last incident, was having a snowball fight with Rafa, and getting beat up pretty badly. Ramza was watching Alma make some Snow Angels. And Meliadoul and Agrias were building a snowman off to one side of the lawn.

"Meliadoul, what should I do?" asked Agrias, "I'm a little confused. After Malak confessed that he loved me, I began to feel different around him. As if I might be in love with him as well. But I thought that I was in love with Ramza up until a few days ago. Who am I really in love with, in that case?"


"I can't tell you that. You should ask Tess, she's better in matters of the heart. I usually just go with what I see, so I can't help you inside. But this is not my choice to make, it's yours. Whomever you love can only be determined by you. Like I said before, Tess can help you to figure out exactly how you can determine it, but she can only do that much," Meliadoul replied, putting a carrot nose on the snowman they had made. Agrias then added the coal eyes and mouth, and he was finally done.

She told her friend, "I thank you for your advice. That was more help than you probably think it was. I can most likely think about it from here. I'll tell you how it works out when I finish. Hope your search for love goes as well as mine." Then, she went back inside to have a drink.

Meliadoul watched her leave. 'How does she know that I'm on a search for love? Was it my hesitant to mention Ramza's name throughout this whole ordeal? Or maybe I am easy to read, like Alma thinks I am. Only the denser members of the team can't see what goes on with me."

* * *

"Ouch!" exclaimed Deverca, "This is just too stupid! Why would they be outside on a day like today? We've got to find the inn that their group is staying at, and ambush them there. Then, those fools will all die by my hands, and Master Vormav will reward us greatly. But remember to spare their leader, he would like to have a small talk with the boy. I wonder why, better to just kill your enemies now instead of dealing with it later. But it's not our problem, as long as we get paid we're happy."

Meliadoul heard them approaching, they weren't exactly quiet. She motioned to Ramza, who brought out Paladin and came to stand by her. Their presence greatly surprised Deverca, he didn't expect to be noticed so soon. When he mentioned as such, both warriors laughed.

"You're just too loud, fool. If you'd shut up once in a while, maybe you can sneak by your enemies. Let that be a lesson to you, next time you want to attack somebody," Meliadoul told him. Then both she and Ramza brought out their weapons, ready for battle.

Deverca said, "Let us not be hasty, I would like to propose a duel. Me versus Ramza. If he wins, I'll leave you alone forever. But if I win, all of the people in your group are going to come quietly with us, and let Master Vormav decide if you live or die by his hands. Do the two of you accept my terms?"

Ramza nodded, as Paladin shone in his hands. "I'm not afraid of you. I can defeat any enemy that I come across, and that includes you. Prepare yourself for combat, for I will not lose." With his sword in his hand, Ramza charged his enemy, meeting the twin Zorlin Shapes in mid blow.

"Fool," Deverca stated, "I can block your blows with my superior speed and agility. There's no way you can get around to cut at me." To demonstrate his point, Deverca then knocked Ramza back, and blocked him when he tried to attack once more with Paladin's blade.

Ramza could see the Ninja's speed was his greatest advantage. But he had an ace up his sleeve as well, the Ultima Spell. So he got down on his knees, as if he was praying. It was only a cover, though, for the spell to be charged up without Deverca noticing what Ramza was up to. Not something that was too hard to do, with the Ninja's limited intelligence and reliance on the physical world.

"Hey! Get up and fight, boy. Praying isn't going to save you now, you dug your grave when you went against the church. If not me, some other bounty hunter would have dispatched of you. Especially since Lord Vormav will always be able to hire another if something happens to me," Deverca stated.

Meliadoul told him, "So, you are no more than a pawn. You only serve Vormav for the money, but he could care less what happens to you. That is a most foolish act, if you are not cared for by your employer, they could always turn on you at any moment, and murder you in cold blood."


Deverca laughed. "That's the life of a mercenary, woman. Only the people on your team care, and sometimes not even then. You must always watch your back, or those you thought you trusted kill you. You could never understand that kind of life, living with a team of outlaws who all plan to use one another's talents in order to work together towards a common goal of survival."

"I understand perfectly well what it means to be used," Ramza told Deverca, "And so does Mel and the rest of our team. But we're not going to be used any more, we'll be working together and breaking away from the chains that have bind us for so long. Now, feel my wrath, Ultima."

With that, the Mage Squire's specialty split through the air, and knocked Deverca out. Wounds were covering his body in great amount, and blood spilt out on the snow. The thief looked to his lady, with sorrow in his eyes. He knew he was dying, there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Take this, Deverca," Ramza stated. He then threw the man an Elixir, restoring his wounds. Meliadoul wanted to slap her forehead, that was not the brightest thing he could have done. Now the mercenary would be able to fight back once more.

Deverca asked only one simple question," Why did you do that for me, we're enemies?"


Ramza walked towards the inn, Meliadoul by his side. "Because, I hate to kill if it is unnecessary. The duel is over, there's no more reason for us to fight one another. I don't think we'll be seeing one another again, at least not in this lifetime."

Deverca smiled, knowing that the boy was a tad crazy. But he ordered a last retreat, and his group began to walk away. They would just pretend to be killed in battle, then Vormav wouldn't come after them with his wrath. And they wouldn't have to deal with Ramza any more.

- - - -


Yup, Deverca wasn't dressed for cold. Only a little longer people. We've got to kill of Lucavi, then take care of a little Epilogue of sorts.