---------------- =(Denotes a memory or some such thing (dreams, memory sphere projections, etcetera)
Chapter 1: History To Be Explored And A New Companion
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"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" People ran in every direction as explosions and fire filled the air. Half a building crumbled, crushing people beneath its stone weight. A young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties at most, ran desperately through the street, a newborn child in her arms.
"Cace! Cace!" She called frantically. A young man, similarly aged, appeared ahead and turned toward them, fighting his way through the crowd.
"Illia!" He called, striving to reach them through the chaos. A small eternity later they finally clasped each other in a passionate embrace, mindful of the child between them.
"What's going on? Who's attacking us?" Illia asked in a panic as she clutched the baby girl tighter, wrapping the shawl just a little more closely about the infant's form.
"The historians think it is Sin. Just go now!" Cace (Case) responded, kissing her deeply and then turning to run off.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Illia asked as she caught onto his shirt.
"To gather my men. There may be a way to defeat this." Cace responded determinedly. "We'll definitely beat this thing. Whatever it is, I'm not going to just stand by and watch it destroy my town!" He nodded sharply and turned intense eyes upon his wife and child.
"Take her and run. I'll meet up with you in the Calm Lands." He said firmly.
"The Calm Lands!? Oh gods, no!" Illia cried frightenedly.
"Just go. I'm too spiteful to die now. Go!" Cace demanded and pushed her into the crowd.
"CACE!" She screamed as he disappeared, giving a last farewell wave before running off. Illia and the child were swept along in the mob, helpless to go but anywhere they were taken.
"Illia! Illia!" She turned toward the sound of her name and spotted her brother standing on top of something a good distance off to the side.
"Drine! Drine!" She called, raising one hand to wave frantically. He saw her and pushed his way through.
"Are you and Firailc all right? Where's Cace?" Drine asked firmly as he pulled them to a semi-protected alley off to the side where they could hear each other better.
"He left to get his men. Drine, he said to meet in the Calm Lands." Illia said, disheartened.
"I'll find him. Just meet there. Your husband's so stubborn, not even having a shoopuf sit on him would damage that thick skull." Drine joked half-heartedly and patted her on the shoulder before moving back into the crowd after Cace. Illia took a deep breath to prepare her self and launched into the crowd, running as fast as she could toward the city limits where an airship waited for the escapees. A young man with dark brown, almost black hair and deep green eyes abruptly appeared out of the crowd and collided with them, all hitting the ground hard. Baby Firailc cried out in a mixture of anger and pain and surprise as she hit the paved road roughly.
"Watch out!" The stranger hollered as a Divebeak suddenly prepared to swoop in. He grabbed Illia and shoved her down, cradling the baby under him. The fiend arched back sharply to avoid a hit and began to circle as a Coeurl appeared, heading straight for them. It bit into Illia's shoulder and pried her away, breaking her neck on a nearby wall as it tossed her aside. She died with a muted scream. As the Coeurl moved back in to attack the man, he jumped to his feet and ran with Firailc in his arms, both fiends giving chase. A Cactuar appeared ahead and jammed spikes into his leg, tripping him. He hit the ground on his back with a harsh grunt and struggled to rise again, but the Coeurl's paw on his chest prevented it. Delicately, it took the baby from his arms and raised its head, so that the Divebeak carried her off. Lashing out with both feet, the man freed him self and ran, half limping, after the bird fiend. Catching up to it nearly a block later he snatched up a rock and threw it, scoring a deep wound on its wing. The baby fell and before he could catch her a Heavy Sallet appeared, launched seemingly from nowhere, and cradleed her in its massive arms, as delicate as a mother.
"Leave her alone!" The man hollered and attacked savagely with his fists, tearing the baby away and running as fast as he could down a convenient alley way. Every so often, just when he was about to turn one direction, fiends appeared and herded him down a particular path. After a while he realized they are directing him toward the massive thing attacking the city, but he could do nothing about it. Most of the fiends blocking his path were Kukulcan and Rukh. He eventually reached a dock and stared, in utter amazement and terror, at the massive creature/thing/freak floating above. The ground around him began to shake and rise as it tried to draw them in.
"No!" He screamed, backing away and clutching the baby tighter. "Why do you want her? Why her? What are you?" He raged at it as he continued to back away.
"I am Sin." The words echoed loudly in his mind, causing him to fall to his knees in pain as he jammed his eyes shut.
"What do you want with her?" He screamed again, daring to look back up.
"She is mine." Again agony lanced his body and he struggled to remain upright.
"NO! She is her parents'." He responded weakly and stumbled to his feet, turning to half run half stagger away.
"She is MINE!" Anger filled the tone and he fell to the ground screaming.
"N-no." He gasped out, continuing away from the monstrosity.
"I will find her. She can not hide." A dark hiss, filled with evil threat. He stumbled farther. After what seemed like an eternity he gat away from the docks, the words still echoing in his mind, and made it to the waiting airship just as it took off. Clutching onto the railing, a few of the passengers hauled him aboard with the baby still clasped in his arms.
"She is mine! She doesn't belong with you. She is more than human. She is mine!"
"N-no. N-not yours. Parents'." He choked out and collapsed on the deck just as the last of the city was destroyed by a huge shockwave.
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"NO!" Firailc screamed as she wrenched free of the memory and scrambled toward the wall behind her. "That's how you saw it! Your memories are tainted. That didn't happen!" She cried desperately.
"My memories?" Sever asked calmly. "Look at which button you pressed, my lady." The sphere button closest to her was record, not play.
"No. It's a trick. No." Firailc cried, wrapping her arms around her raised knees and rocking back and forth silently, wild eyes still staring at the blue sphere in front of her.
"Lady Sfitavi, I am merely here to help you understand this." Sever said gently as he placed the sphere on his desk, out of sight and out of mind so to speak.
"No. I don't want to understand this. I just wanna' go home. Why can't I just go home and forget all this?" She pleaded, turning wide eyes on him. He shook his head solemnly and met her squarely in the eye.
"You may be the one who can make Spira pure. Don't you want that?" He asked softly. "Don't you want to know why so many innocent people were attacked and killed by something that supposedly hadn't existed for 500 years? Don't you want to know why it killed your parents, but not you?"
"I'm scared. This can't be happening." She denied emphatically, shaking her head to stress her point. "I'm dreaming. That's all it is, I'm dreaming."
"Are you? Are you really? Do you not remember the Fayths' dream of Zanarkand and its inhabitants?" He asked. "What if we are all the same? What if we are a dream? Wouldn't you like to know what the real world is like? To see and taste and feel it with your own senses?"
Firailc looked up at him curiously, the words sparking something deep in her soul.
"What are you saying?" She asked timidly.
"Ah, I see the light in your eyes. Daring, curiosity, determination, it is all there. You are intrigued now." He commented, smiling at her softly. "I'm suggesting that you go on a journey. I suggest you find out what is real and what is not. You and I both know there is some higher power at work, there always has been."
"You want me to find out what happened, come back and tell you, then we both go find the truth?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow as she slowly uncurled her legs and got to her feet. She only standing a total of 5 feet 4 inches, the man towered over her a full 12 inches at 6 foot 4. She looked up into his eyes and found a gleam she couldn't decipher. Maybe later she would be able to, but not today.
"Precisely. Think of it, we two could know the truth and enlighten all of Spira. It would be the greatest gift, eternal peace and maybe even a way to permanently rid the world of fiends once and for all. Would you risk it, though? It will be a dangerous journey and you must know that you can tell no one of your mission." Sever said calmly.
"That's the way all my missions are. There is always an element of secrecy no matter what I am sent to do. I have a few questions and requests, though." Firailc said firmly.
"At your service." Sever said, inclining his head to encourage her.
"One, why did you say Lord Raptor wished to see me if you were just going to kidnap me? Two, I am going to need my dragon, Ripper, his tack, and my supplies. Three, I also need better sleeping quarters if I am to start this journey fresh." She said.
"To answer your question, it was to throw everyone off your trail so that I could talk to you without fear of being interrupted. You and I both know Lord Vrin has never trusted me. Two, Ripper and your tack are both here in my personal stables awaiting your convenience. For the final comment, I am sorry for your rude welcoming, but I had to be sure you weren't going to run away before I had a chance to talk with you. Your quarters are located three rooms to the left upon exiting this one and you will find your supplies there waiting for you." He said politely. As she turned to leave he added one more thing.
"I shall have one of my men accompany you, to ensure your safety on the quest."
Firailc nodded once and walked out, heading for her new rooms. Waiting on the queen-sized bed were her personal traveling bags that Leyad helped her pack as well as a gorgeous red dress, sheath style, with a curve hugging top and a slit up the side as far up as her hip. A pair of high heels, matching the dress, rested at the foot of the bed. Lying on top of it was a note.
Please meet me for dinner. Accept this as a token of apology for your harsh treatment.
Sever Keltik
"Yeah, right." She mumbled, but set the note back down heading for the nearby bathroom. Once she had taken a shower and freshened up, she stood by the bed in nothing but a towel contemplating whether she should accept the invitation and whether she should actually wear the dress.
"My lady." There was a knock at the door and a young man addressed her from the other side of it. "Lord Sever sent me to ask if you would be joining him."
"Tell him I'll be down shortly. I have to dress." She replied and listened to his receding footsteps. Sighing, she turned back to the bed and dropped the towel, beginning to dress.
"You look absolutely awe-inspiring." Sever said as he rose from his chair to greet her. She continued down the high staircase and accepted his offered hand politely somewhat self-conscious now that other people were seeing her in the dress as well.
"I much prefer my own clothes." She commented calmly enough and took her seat, waiting patiently for him to introduce the man across from her. He was not quite six feet with short, close cropped black hair and dark blue eyes. The pupils were not swirled so he wes obviously not an Al-Bhed like Sever or the others, but he seemed not to care. He wore a heavy black leather breastplate with silver designs similar to that of a tortoise shell and tight fitting blue jeans. He had a scabbard resting across his broad shoulders containing a bronze handled sword and his fists were covered with cut-off black leather gloves.
"Lady Sfitavi, this is Bolt Lancer. He is the one I mentioned would accompany you on your journey. He is a very capable fighter and someone I would trust with my life." Sever said calmly. "Bolt, this is Lady Firailc Sfitavi, the one I want you to protect. From the stories I've heard of her she too is a capable fighter so your job should not be too difficult."
"My lady." Bolt said solemnly as he reached across the table for her hand.
"If we are to be companions, just Firailc shall do." Firailc responded as she shook his hand firmly.
"Very well." Bolt said and nodded in agreement. "You may call me Bolt."
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A/N Well? What does anyone think? Drag your little cursor to the bar and click it. Reviews are an aspiring writer's friends, you know.