Disclaimer: FFTA is a property of Square-Enix
A/N: This story was born because of the stupid non-Color Magic law which I've been getting a lot lately. I had to change Montblanc into a thief, which luckily ended up with him being a Juggler. Prontera's the name of my clan. BTW, the story's not completely Montblanc centric… Just this chapter and a couple more, I think. Constructive criticism greatly appreciated!
---------------------------------------------
Resolve
Chapter 1: Montblanc
By Maria
Time: Sometime after you get Salikawood, but before you defeat Babus for the first time (Mission 10 – Emerald Keep)
---------------------------------------------
The black sky fell like a huge diamond studded blanket over Cadoan and its inhabitants, including a certain clan walking down from the Pub. Their destination: Ezel's shop.
"Kupo! We really need to get that Color Magic antilaw card! I've been rendered so kupo-ingly useless over the last few battles!" Montblanc tittered on his little feet down the cobblestone path.
"Calm down… I told you, you should change into a Thief until you get another kind of job that suits the 'non-magical' laws. At least until the Judgemaster lift it off. Color Magic Antilaw is a bit hard to find." The little Moogle looked up at his blonde companion. "But when will that be, kupo? I don't like being a Thief or anything else… They aren't as kupo as a Black Mage."
"I resent that kupo statement!" A green-clothed fluffball jumped out of nowhere. "I seem to be doing fine, right? I bet your Thundara is not as fast as my knives, kupo. Just wait till I'm finally able to steal abilities, I will be the fastes… Kupo!"
"Tut tut, I'm still the fastest!" A tall Viera stood illuminated by the moon, in her grip Bismark the Moogle Thief struggled. But alas Betti was too tall and he had difficulties finding a ground support. "Release me this instant, kupo!"
Thud!
"Kupooooowww…" Bismark rubbed a rather large bump on his head. Montblanc smirked inwardly, though Marche sent him some glares. The smirk turned into a flinch, and Marche held his hand out at Bismark; for a fleeting second Montblanc had a feeling that Marche was angry. "Prontera's Thief should be tougher than that, c'mon!" Bismark tried to stand, albeit still swaying left and right and shaking his head.
'Thank kupo the Vieras have never done that to me... But then again Marche never seems to be that nice, kupo…' His line of thought was cut short as a hand gripped his collar from behind. 'Oh no… Did I say that out loud?'
"About time you get the same treatment, hahahaha." It was Bismark's turn to laugh now. "Thanks Noleen." The addressed Viera looked up from her 'victim'. She smiled, the black Elementalist fabric absent from her face. Montblanc started struggling, and was literally dropped to the floor. This time, even Marche couldn't hide his laugh.
"That's not fair, kupo! I demand an apology!" He rubbed his head with a brown paw. Slowly he wondered why the hell are the stars blinking so much before realising that it was a result of the lump on his head. "Marche, let's just go to Ezel! My abused head can't take much more of this, kupo!" The pounding from his bump did nothing to lift his mood. Marche had reserved to low giggles now, but didn't budge an inch from where he was standing. Seems that he hadn't voiced his thought out loud after all. With a shake of his head he started to walk away in despair, noticing but not registering Marche's voice as he called him back.
---------------------------------------------
"Kupo, just let him walk alone for a while. All Moogles do that to clear their kupoed head." Bismark told Marche who was still standing, mouth open and arm extended to where Montblanc just ran off. The lad relaxed his posture and faced his other companions.
"I suppose so. I can see he's really frustrated about this, especially since he's one of the best Black Mage I know." He stopped and regarded the Vieras, "By the way, I heard rapiers are on the law today. Better not start any brawl in the Pub." Betti regarded him with a bout of giggles. Noleen followed when Marche plastered a dumbfounded face, but her giggles were eerily silent. They only came as small rumbles of air.
"Marche… Don't worry, hihihi. We don't have claws for nothing. And we already set Gwyneth up with a staff." She looked at Noleen and saw her nodding. The silent communication between them looked more like a staring contest instead of knowing glance.
"We better go back to the Pub then. Gwinny might do something dangerous if she gets drunk. Take care of Montblanc, okay? The Color magic is at law again." Betti patted Marche's blonde head before extending her arm to Bismark. "You coming? I heard Lini, Ichbod and Domie have spotted some female Moogles over at the Resto next to the Pub." Upon hearing the word 'female' Bismark promptly jumped, his ears twitching in the air.
"Kupo! I can't miss this kupo out!" He ran past the two Vieras and disappeared into the night. Soon they too left and Marche was alone in the deserted street, torn between leaving his trusted friend alone or go after him. But remembering Bismark's words, he figured out that it would be best if he left Montblanc with Ezel for a while.
---------------------------------------------
The assortments of Crystal Balls and Rods and Wands on the display could've fooled all the other passers-by, but not the members of Clan Prontera. Little paws pushed the shop door open and trudged inside. The unsuspicious light brown Moogle went past the cashier to stick his head behind a curtain on the back.
"Montblanc, excellent! I just have the right card for you!" The owner of the voice dragged Montblanc in before closing the curtain securely. "This is the Color Magic antilaw. I bet you've been looking for it for a while now. That's the only one I have today." He tossed Montblanc a card, all the while pouring some tea to a pair of wooden cups. "The rate is 12, but for you I'll give it for 10." Montblanc smiled broadly.
"Thank you! You don't know how kupo I am to find this card!" He wrestled around with the antilaw cards in his backpack, grinning like a Cheshire cat. A few Missile antilaw, Fight law, and a Call antilaw cards later, the deal was done. Now the two were sipping their tea quietly, Montblanc still full of glee. Ezel eyed him before giving a knowing smile.
"You smile, yet you still have some unresolved problem. It's not about Marche, is it?" At the Moogle's slight jolt he smiled. "I figured as much. What is it this time? You too never had any fight as far as I know."
"…" Montblanc fidgeted with his hands as if chanting a spell. "…I feel that these days he hasn't appreciated me as a Mage anymore, especially with the stupid law. He'd rather ask Lini or Domie to help in battles. All the while I just sat on some kupo rocks and brood. I've been a Black Mage all my life, kupo! I don't want to change to any other job!"
"So he asked you to change to something you aren't?"
"Precisely, kupo! I've promised myself that I will be the best Black Mage on Ivalice, kupo! So I can impress my brother! A… A… Thief or Animist isn't the job for me…" With his head down he looked smaller than he already was. The plush chair seemed like a giant's seat instead.
"Montblanc, how do you know that it isn't for you? You've never tried it after all."
"You're not helping me, kupo! I don't want to change my Job!"
Ezel shook his head at the outburst, "No, what I meant was maybe you should be a bit more flexible. These day and age everyone change their Jobs in a snap…" As if to illustrate his point, Ezel used his fingers to let out a snapping sound. "Just like that." Montblanc seemed to shrink even further as Ezel's word hit the mark. With a softer voice Ezel continued, "Before I was a Hermetic, I was a Black Mage. At first I didn't have any ambition, but then I heard that there was a new job around, 'Illusionist' who was able to incorporate All-ranged attacks. It turned out that I had to have White Mage abilities so I changed. About a month later I was an instant Illusionist. But that wasn't enough and I thought if I mix Illusionist All-range trait with some status effects I could do so much more. So I turned into an Alchemist. By then I was also able to control monsters at whim. And then I decided that being a Sage would give me more skill to be used, and I stayed a Sage for a couple of months." Montblanc was largely silent, keeping an eye towards Ezel. His mind was completely focused on the story on how the great Antilaw Creator came to be.
"This Hermetic rank I have is a result of mixing all those jobs, all the spells, all the abilities I've learnt. Soon I was able to inflict not only Darkness, but sleep to everyone in the field. 'Secret Alchemy' they say, and I'm proud of my skills despite the constant wild goose chase by the Judges." He stopped pacing and eyed Montblanc. From his expression of deep thought, Ezel smiled inwardly.
"What am I saying my friend, is to be flexible. That way you'd still be yourself… And so much more. You do know Lini, right? He's the best Mog Knight I've known. And I remember we both trained together as an Animist and Beastmaster."
"Kupo? But Lini is still so young, Kupo!" Surely Ezel was not referring to Lini the Mog Knight of Prontera.
"No my friend, he's roughly half my age… But I daresay it's about twice of yours, Montblanc. He's around thirty years I think." The Moogle's eyes bulged out from information overload. 'Lini is thirty? He certainly looks nothing of his age! And to see him still learning new abilities…' He shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts before going to the previous matter at hand.
"So are you saying that I'm not… Flexible?" Ezel nodded his head. "Yes. Though you can be flexible, but you haven't taken your chances yet."
"But still I don't want to be a Thief or Animist, kupo… Weapon work is not my speciality, and I'm terrible with animals!"
"Ah, then you might be interested in being a Juggler then. If you mix it with your Black Magic nothing will stand in your way."
"Kupo? Juggler? The one from Cyril Circus?" Laughter promptly echoed from the Nu Mou's mouth. "What's so funny? The job has no kupo battle skills!"
"Hahaha, my friend you are mistaken. This Juggler I speak of is full of power. I heard they can stop people and even inflict a full disable with quite a high accuracy. The Stop Law card has been out of stock for some time now, some Clans admitted that they need it to fight other Clan's Jugglers. A couple of Thief abilities should secure you the Job."
"But… But… I won't be known as the best Black Mage anymore!" Ezel roared again with laughter at his young friend's antics. "Montblanc… These days and age, mastering one Job is not enough. I'm sure you've seen the Vieras being able to cast spells and attack with Rapiers, yes? I heard the yearly competition in Cyril is getting tougher due to these dual abilities, but the winner is still known as a Fencer… Only with so much more potential in fighting, you see what I mean?" Montblanc fell silent again, contemplating on all the stories Ezel had told him.
"But Ezel… Do you think Marche would respect me again if I'm more flexible?" When Ezel shook his head, Montblanc felt so crestfallen.
"Marche has always respected you whatever your decision is. His trust in you runs deep, but circumstances forced him to act flexibly too. He doesn't want you end up in a jail, or struggle in battle while the law is on. He knows you are a great Black Mage but he is worried, see?" Dawn of realisation slowly landed on Montblanc. He secretly smiled at his own stupidity. 'And here I was, thinking that he thought I was useless'.
"Oh my! Look at the queue line! I guess I've held you too long without realising!" Ezel's voice broke his reverie again but he didn't mind, there's a score to be settled anyway.
"Don't worry Ezel, I think I know what I want to do now. Thank you for everything." With a last sip of his cold tea, Montblanc flung the brown backpack over his shoulder and walked out the curtain with a wave of his hand. The Hermetic smiled at the retreating back before greeting his next customer who stood there tapping his foot in impatience…
---------------------------------------------
Outside the midnight breeze ruffled the light brown fur on Montblanc's head, the chill taunting his ears to swing around in an attempt to get warm. With lighter footsteps he skipped down the roads of Cadoan towards the Pub. He would prove to his Clan members that Montblanc had all it takes to be the greatest Black Mage and much much more.
But his steps were cut short by the shrill sound of metal clashing and a blonde boy landing not to far from his feet…