The Faire Inn had a knack for drawing some very odd characters. For this reason, nobody in the bar paid the least bit of attention when a tall red cloaked figure strode into the bar. The tall figure walked over to the inn keeper, who also happened to be the bartender as well.

Innkeeper Hemi was what most people would have considered a fun loving and jolly fellow, and certainly a man not to ask questions when it was unnecessary. He noticed the tall figure walking towards him, and quickly piped happily "greetings sir, what can I do for you this fine evening?"

"I have only a single question for you, good sir. By any chance, have you seen this man?" The stranger suddenly lifted up his hands, and with that a burst of light formed. The next second it took the shape of a man.

Hemi was greatly shocked at this incredible sight. He had seen many strong wizards before, but never one able to do that! The strange figure that had been created looked very familiar.. He wondered if he should tell this strange man (it did seem that he had a male voice) about the strange group that had stopped very briefly for supplies that had a man looking identical to the one before him now. After considering, he felt that it would do no harm telling this man, for even if he was unfriendly, the group that had stopped by would be more then safe from a single person.

"Why yes, I saw him and some companions pass by less then an hour ago. Are you acquaintances?"

"You could say that. Any idea which way they went?"

The innkeeper frowned slightly, trying to remember which way he had seen them go. "I believe they were going outside of town in the direction heading towards Limberry. I think they said something to each other about stopping to eat shortly, so you shouldn't have much trouble finding them."

The figure stood up and tossed the man some gil. "Thank you, consider this a tip for your information." With that, the figure walked outside, leaving Hemi grinning at his good fortune. No man willing to give away such a good amount of gil could be unfriendly!

As soon as the cloaked figure walked outside of the inn and left the crowded streets, he met up with two companions, also wearing red cloaks. He muttered softly to them "Ramza, I have found him at last..." With that, he and the other two red cloaked figures broke into a run. A bit of the mans dark blond hair could be seen whipping through the wind where the hood was unable to properly cover it.
---

It turned out that the innkeeper had been more correct then he ever would have guessed, for there was a pretty large group not too far outside of town now, and they were indeed within a field that lead towards Limberry.

The group was without a doubt one of the strangest one would ever see. While the humans within it did not appear out of the ordinary, there was an assortment of very strange creatures that accompanied them. There was a giant metal man, known to only a few as worker number eight, a large demon known to the party as Byblos, a huge powerful type of hydra called a tiamat (which was called Nidro by the other monsters and the humans who could speak to it), a few chocobos of varying colors (two yellow, one black and one red), and last but certainly not least a very large blue dragon (known as Ursio to the party). It was no wonder the group had to eat outside of the towns! Imagine what people would have said if they had seen such horrifying creatures! No, it certainly seemed better to keep the monsters and worker number eight out of view at all times possible.

The humans in the group were probably the most skilled fighters in the world, for they formed the Zodiac Braves of legend. It was interesting that the legend had said there were twelve Zodiac Braves, for Ramza, leader of the group, saw all of his allies, human and not, as Zodiac Braves, and there was not a single person in the group who would argue with this. The Zodiac Braves (the humans anyway) consisted of Ramza, Alma, Agrias Mustadio, Malak, Rafa, Miluda, Weigraf, Orlandu, Zalbag, Meliadol, Beowulf, and Reis (although at the time of the defeat of Altima, Reis was still trapped in her dragon form). When these incredible fighters were combined with the additional help of their additional allies, they appeared unbeatable.

The feast that lay before the group was somewhat of a celebration, but at the same time was also the last meal they would all eat together before going their own ways. After being able to free Reis from her imprisonment as a dragon and sending back a very strange man back to the future, it was time for many of the group to go back to their old lives.

"Dig in, everyone!" Ramza was trying his best not to think of the sorrow he felt at losing many of his best friends and perhaps never seeing them again. He tried to occupy his mind by considering how excellent the food was, but the strategy certainly did not work. Instead he tried to watch worker 8 as it scratched its robotic head watching Orlandu eat and tried to keep from laughing, but despite the funny situation he felt himself remembering everything his companions and himself had done together.. There was a part of Ramza that desperately wanted to keep the group intact forever. Still, the more rational side of Ramza knew that they could not all stay together forever. Even though nearly half of the group had decided to remain with Ramza, it was impossible for him not to feel as if he was losing a part of himself with the departure of many of his best friends.

Alma, sitting closest to Ramza, could sense the grief and pain her brother was feeling. She knew there was not much that could be done to cheer him up, but tried all the same. "Brother, you stopped eating."

Ramza turned to face his sister and tried to keep a happy smile on his face. "Well yes, I was busy watching worker 8".

Alma looked at the robot and laughed herself. Worker 8 was now poking Orlandu, asking in its very strange voice "Orlandu, how do you eat this food? Scanners indicate that it is a substance too strong for human teeth to chew through." "I have a feeling your scanners picked up the bones in the meat, we don't eat those" Orlandu explained politely. "I see, so what purpose do the bone materials serve?" "Not everything has to serve a purpose to us. In this case, the bones will end up being a meal for another creature after we finish eating."

Alma and Ramza both chuckled at the conversation. Worker 8, though it proved incredibly quick at learning, still did not seem to understand many things that had appeared so easily learned for everyone else. Some of the group members, especially Meliadol, had found it best to just ignore the robot altogether. Still, everyone, even Meliadol, liked and respected the robot, even if it did get on their nerves from time to time.

It had taken Alma a while to get to know the group, but nearly all of them were kind and nice, even if they did not show it outwardly. Rafa, Miluda, Mustadio, and Orlandu had been nice to her right away and she had been able to get along with them instantly. The others were a bit more challenging to get to know even though they all remained polite and courteous, but over the few weeks they had been together, all of them had eventually warmed up to her and proved that their tough outter shells held great levels of kindness and warmth within.

The non-human creatures were the same way, even if they did not speak human tongue (aside from Byblos and worker 8). Reis had been able to reveal to Alma what the dragon and the Tiamat were saying, and so at one point she had managed to have a conversation with them with Reis dictating between them (which she had been very excited to do, its not everyday you can talk to such creatures) and they seemed nice enough despite being so strong and appearing dangerous. Byblos kept to himself and rarely spoke, but had saved Alma's life and when she had spoken to him afterwards to thank him he appeared very wise and somewhat kind (which was very surprising considering that it was a creature that had been raised to kill anything it saw). Worker 8 did not have much of a personality of its own yet. Though the robot was certainly kind and polite to everyone, it still had quite a lot to learn about the world in pretty much all aspects.

Yes, there was no doubt that Ramza had formed a group of truly amazing humans and creatures, but it came to no surprise to Alma, since her brother was such a great person himself. She still could not believe the sacrifices her brother had made to save her. Still, what made him most honorable was that truly did not care if history ignored his actions and made Delita out to be the hero instead, for he and the rest of the party knew the truth and had done the right thing for the world.

Alma looked around the wide circle of heroes. Currently, Orlandu and worker 8 were still in conversation, and Mustadio had jumped in as well, finding the situation very humorous. Weigraf, Miluda, Rafa, and Malak were also chatting to one another in between eating. Agrias and Meliadol were in deep conversation, and appeared to be discussing combat as they commonly did. Beowulf and Reis were feeding the dragon and the tiamat while the four chatted (apparently Reis had taught Beowulf how to speak to the creatures as well). Ramza was now chatting with Zalbag, the two discussing the current condition of Ivalice and what could be done to improve it. Lastly, Byblos appeared to be quite interested in the food in front of him, eating it at an extremely fast pace. The chocobos were nearby him, eating their greens happily.

Just as soon as Alma was starting to think everyone was at peace for the time being, worker 8's eyes started to flash red. "Warning, humans approaching. Distance: 500 meters. Moving at a fast rate, a speed matching that of chocobos."

Everyone quickly reacted to the warning call of the robot. It was unlikely that something heading their way this late at night was likely to be friendly. Ramza took charge, calling out for order. "Lets wait and see who it is. Reis, try to hide Ursio and Nidro. If the people coming are friendly, I don't think seeing two large dragons will keep them friendly for long-" (Ramza was interrupted as Ursio growled angrily at being referred to as a dragon, but he didn't have time to apologize at the moment), "Worker 8 and Byblos, try to keep cover as well until we know who it is."

Reis organized Ursio and Nidro, Beowulf aiding her by trying to find something large enough to cover such enormous creatures. Worker 8 had turned on its camouflage mode, which did not work very well but still made the robot somewhat difficult to see. Byblos had moved behind a small rock, ready and waiting for any movements. Everyone else was standing now, holding up their weapons and hoping that they were not about to get into a confrontation.

It did not take long until the humans that worker 8 had detected were heading towards them. It appeared to be three figures riding chocobos dressed in a heavy red cloaks, but it was impossible to tell who they were. They stopped suddenly, and the one in front dismounted his chocobo, standing there looking at the party before him.

Ramza asked simply to the nearest figure, who was probably the leader, "who are you?"

The figure took a second to reply. "Well well Ramza, we meet again at last. It's been ages... Surely you remember me? No? How about now?"

The figure removed its red hood. Under the hood was the face of a young man who looked about Ramzas age. He had short yellow hair, dark brown eyes, and a very familiar smirk on his face...

Ramza looked at the man in complete shock and horror. "Algus?! Is that you?!"