Chapter 2
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds within Square Soft/ Square Enix. I don't claim any of them.
Note: As stated before, I haven't played this game. Any characters in it's story may have different roles from what was originally, so please bare with it.
"..."-Indicate speech
'...'-Indicate thought
------
St. Ivalice, School yard
Many kids wondered about in the snow filled streets of St. Ivalice. Many dressed in thick clothes to keep warm. Some kids made snow men, or angels in the snow, but most played snow ball fights. A particular gang of kids were facing each other off. Four tall boys looked down to two younger kids, one a boy dressed in an oversized gray coat, and the other a young girl dressed in pink that matched her hair. Right now the boy stood stiffly by the girl, as if intimidated by the older boys. The girl had her hands on her hips, glaring at the them. One of the older boys stepped up, dressed in a thick green sweater and a blue snow scarf.
"This sucks. Why do you weaklings have to be here? Man, its no fun being paired up against you two. This is going to be boring..."
The boy looked down at the younger boy carefully.
"Hey Mewt, you don't have that precious teddy bear of your today, huh?"
Mewt stared down at the ground.
"..."
Another boy stepped besides the other one.
"Of course he doesn't Lyle. He probably doesn't want it getting dirty in one of our snow ball fights."
the boy snickered as another one came up.
"It was a precious gift from his mommy, Corin..."
The boy then turned to Mewt.
"It's reeeaalllyy important to you, huh?"
Mewt looked a bit scared, while the final boy lined up besides the other one.
"Awww look Guiness, your gonna make him cry."
The boy said, laughing at Mewt along with the other boys while he bit his lip. The girl gritted her teeth in annoyance as a vein appeared on the side of her head.
"Ritz..."
Mewt began saying to the girl, not wanting her to get into a fight. the older boys laughter was short lived as a young boy stood besides Mewt. He was dressed in a thick navy blue sweater with a red scarf around his neck. He had long blonde hair, almost as long as Ritz's. He stared coldly at the boys, while none of them could hold their stares against his. The boy who last spoke to Mewt now spoke to the other young boy, but with slight intimidation in his voice.
"What do you want, new kid?"
The boy remained silent as Lyle looked toward him, before turning to his friend that spoke.
"Don't bother, Lesley, he won't answer back..."
He smirked at the young boy.
"He's just like a little girl."
Ritz finally exploded at the comment Lyle made to the new kid.
"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP! THAT'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT! THAT'S TOTAL CONTEMPT AGAINST WOMAN...!"
Before Ritz could keep ranting, the boy put a hand on her shoulder. Ritz look towards him, but he was looking at the older boys calmly. She breathed heavily, calming down.
"Why don't we just get this snow ball fight started?"
She said. Everyone nodded. She then turned back to the new boy.
"Just tell them your name. You don't want to be called new kid forever, do you?"
Everyone stared at him. The boy just sighed.
"Marche..."
He said in a soft voice. Once everything was settled, Mewt stared at Marche apologetically.
"I'm sorry Marche..."
He stared at the ground again in shame.
"Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong here."
Lesley was set up as judge, while Lyle, Corin and Guiness got ready with snow ball. they called an extra boy to help their team. Marche, Mewt and Ritz also got ready, and called an extra girl to help. Once everything was set, Lesley held up his hand.
"Is everyone ready?"
Once the two teams nodded, Lesley brought his hand down.
"Begin!"
Lyle attacked first, throwing a snow ball at Mewt's direction. It hit Mewt solidly in the chest. Lyle soon found his face full of snow as Marche hit him. Guiness aimed at Mewt also, but he dodged a ball thrown at him by the girl on Marche's team. He threw his ball at Mewt, hitting the boy in the leg. Corin also threw a snow ball at Mewt, but it was intercepted with another snow ball Marche threw. Corin was surprised at Marche's aim, and soon found a snow ball hit his mouth, courtesy of Ritz. They played on, most of the time, Mewt was the target for the other team. Ritz finally noticed this and barely hit Guiness. Lyle smirked at Mewt.
"Hey Mewt, you should just bust your butt and run away."
Corin smirked also.
"That's the only thing your good at is running away, ain't it Mewt?"
Mewt remained silent.
"..."
Ritz growled at the older boys.
"Hey, stop that!"
Lyle looked towards her.
"Look, were just having a real snow ball fight here."
Ritz scowled at him.
"So you say, but all you do is peg Mewt all the time."
Marche went by Mewt's side.
"Are you alright, Mewt?"
Mewt nodded.
"I'm fine, Marche."
Corin pointed to Mewt.
"See? He says it's fine by him. He doesn't care."
Ritz turned to Corin.
"Oh, really? Tell me, if it wasn't fine by him, what would you do?"
Corin threw a snow ball right at Mewt's head, making the boy fall into the snow.
"Ouch!"
Mewt held his head as Marche looked at him, seeing blood coming from beneath his hands.
"You cut his fore head..."
Marche said slowly, picking up what was left of the snow ball that landed on Mewt's jacket. He crushed it, finding a fairly big rock in the palm of his hand. He turned to Corin.
"You dare use a rock...!"
Marche was a very calm and collective boy. No one really saw him when he was angry, but when everyone caught a sliver of it, they backed away slightly, as Marche glared at them with piercing blue eyes. Corin spoke up bravely but he was extremely nervous.
"Hey...I don't know...anything about a rock...I just threw a snow ball..."
He said, trying to shrug off his nervousness. Guiness turned to Ritz, feeling Marche's narrowed eyes on his back.
"Mewt was your weakest player. Of course we were aiming at him..."
Lyle finished the sentence.
"It's the best way to get points ya know? How else were we gonna win if we don't make any points, huh?"
Ritz glared at him.
"You mean your gonna win by using any means possible. Like putting rocks into snow balls and trying to knock someone out. You guys are nothing more than a bunch of cheating scumbags. That's why I hate boys like you!"
Lyle was fed up with Ritz's words.
"Why don't you just shut up you white haired brat."
Ritz looked up at him in surprise.
"Who are you talking about?"
Guiness made a face at her.
"Even though you dye it, your heads totally white!"
Corin joined in.
"Yeah Granny! Don't try and deny it!"
Upon saying those things to Ritz, her face twisted in rage and embarrassment.
"Wha...WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Before she could speak further, a teacher called all the students in.
------
St. Ivalice, After school
Mewt, Ritz and Marche all where walking home together from school. Mewt spoke up the two others.
"Uh...thanks for your help..."
Ritz turned to him.
"Don't mention it. I can't stand bullies who pick on weaker people. Their all just a bunch of jerks!"
Ritz said. Mewt then turned to Marche, who seemed deep in thought.
"Do you have any plans, Marche?"
Marche kept walking, ignoring Mewt at first. Mewt tried again.
"Marche? are you alright?"
Both Mewt and Ritz finally saw Marche come out of his trance and look at them.
"Hm? Yeah...Why go you ask?"
Mewt looked down at his feet.
"I was wondering if you were doing anything...because if your not, I was hoping you could come with me to buy a book. It's an old book I've had my eyes on for a while..."
Marche shook his head.
"Sorry, I can't come with you. My little brother comes home from the hospital today, and I want to be home to greet him."
Ritz looked questioning at Marche.
"Why the hospital? Was he sick or something?"
She asked in concern. Marche lowered his head sadly.
"Yes...since birth, he's been a weak child since birth. He can't walk, so he must come back and forth from the hospital every now and then."
He said. Ritz shook her head sadly.
"That's a shame..."
Marche nodded at her before turning to Mewt.
"What kind of book are you going to get, Mewt?"
Mewt shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not really sure, but it looked like an old book based on magic and monsters. That kind of stuff."
Marche brought a hand to his chin in a thought.
"My brother would probably be thrilled if you brought that book over. Why don't you come to my house after getting that book?"
Marche said to Mewt.
"Is that alright?"
Mewt asked. Marche simply nodded, before looking at Ritz.
"How about you, Ritz? Want to come over?"
Ritz thought about the offer a bit.
"hmmm...yeah, I'll come. I don't have anything else better to do."
Marche nodded.
"Good, it's settled. You do remember what house it is, right?"
The two nodded before going there separate ways.
------
St. Ivalice, Outside of the local Pub
Mewt and Ritz walked by the pub, until a man with light brown hair and a stubby chin.
"Hic!"
Mewt and Ritz recognized him immediately. Ritz stared at the man in surprise.
"Sheesh...you get drunk even during lunch time?"
She asked the man. His eyes turned to them, with a glassy shine to them.
"Oooh, isth thhaat yooou, Mewtt? Ittssth your daddy, Cid Randell. Mewth, whhhy are you heeree? Is schoolll doneee? Waaanna drinkkk with dadddyyy?"
Cid's voice was slurred from all his drinking. Mewt held up his hands to decline his father's odd offer.
"Nah, it's okay. Still, you can hardly walk dad. Can you make it home by yourself?"
Mewt asked him. The man was to far gone to understand him, though.
"Sake tasteees gooood! Onnce youuu driiink itsh you foooorget everything!"
Mewt nodded at him.
"In that case, will you do that with me tomorrow?"
He said, smiling to his father. Cid nodded his head shakily back.
"Yessh, together! Annnd afftterth thattht we can dooit agaainh!"
After saying that, Cid walked away, taking very unsteady steps. Mewt stared down at the ground sadly.
"Since mom died, he's always been like that..."
Ritz nodded before a thought struck her.
"Mewt, how much do you know about Marche?"
Mewt looked at her strangely.
"Huh?"
Ritz stared at Mewt.
"I was surprised about how your father was like, since your parents were close, her death effected him. But Marche...I heard he's not even related to Ms. Radiuju. He was adopted by her sometime after she and her husband divorced. So he's never had a father..."
Mewt remained silent, but inside he felt something.
'Marche never had a father? It's almost like me but I didn't have a mother...'
------
Marche arrived in his room, to see his brother Doned in his wheel chair, looking out at the window as snow fell. He wore simple blue pajamas on his small body. Marche smiled upon seeing him.
"Doned!"
Doned turned to Marche upon hearing his name.
"Welcome home big brother! You're late!"
He told Marche, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"There was a huge snow ball fight at school, and everyone got covered in it!"
He told Boned excitedly.
"A snow ball fight...sheesh...That was stupid Marche. You probably just got hit all the time, huh?"
Marche knew that Doned had a slight jealousy towards Marche for being able to move freely without a wheel chair. Doned longed for freedom from it, and his only escape was books.
"I'm just not used to the snow, that's all."
Marche said, not wanting to gloat that he hit Lyle right in the face. Soon his mother called to him.
"Marche, your friends are here."
Marche smiled.
"Okay mom, send them up please!"
Doned looked surprised.
"You brought your friends over?"
Marche nodded at him.
"One of them has a cool book. So I thought of inviting them over so we could read it. You do like books, don't you brother?"
Doned nodded, getting more excited.
"Of course! All I do at the hospital is play games and watch television."
Ritz came come, wearing her school uniform, along with Mewt.
"Were Here! You must be Doned. I'm Ritz, and that's Mewt. Were classmates of your brother."
She and Mewt shook Doned's hand.
"Nice to meet you two."
Marche looked towards Mewt.
"Where's the book?"
Mewt put his backpack in front of him, taking out a complicated looking designed book.
"Here it is. The old man working at the book store said he didn't know what the title of this book is, so I don't know either."
Marche inspected the book's cover.
"It must have been a lot older than you originally thought. Why don't we put it on the floor and gather around it. Doned should be able to see it easily this way, too."
Mewt put the book down on the floor and opened it. Doned went to Mewt's right, while Ritz seated herself to his left. Marche took a seat by her. Upon opening it, there where five pictures on the pages: One looked like a normal human, another one looked like a lizard, one a mole like creature, one a small furry creature with a long antenna, and the last was a female with long rabbit like ears. All of them looked at the pictures in wonder.
"I couldn't read the small text under the pictures. Ritz couldn't either. I think it might be some sort of magic spell."
Mewt said to Marche and Doned. Ritz spoke up afterwards.
"It seemed pretty close, because looking at this book's cover, it reminds me of some magic square, or something. I had originally thought that this was Latin, but it wasn't. Some pages are marked up with translation..."
Marche put a hand on the book.
"Can you show them to me?"
They flipped through a few pages, before they came to some notes stuck onto the pages of the book. Marche saw them and his eyes widened.
"Alta Olon...Sodos Kamira...sounds like a spell, alright."
Mewt nodded at Marche.
"That's what I thought when I read it."
Mewt said. Doned grinned.
"Magic sounds so cool! If I could use it, I'd probably be able to..."
Marche laughed at his brother.
"You seem very pleased Doned."
The boy nodded to Marche.
"Of course! If I could use magic, I'd be walking everywhere!"
Marche sighed.
"I doubt it. Sounds stupid..."
Doned quieted down.
"Yeah I know it's not real, but I can wish, right?"
Mewt looked longingly at some of the pages full of beautiful paintings.
"Ya know, when I looked through this book, a Though struck me: What if this books world was real?"
Ritz nodded.
" Yeah, I thought the same thing for a while, before thinking what a load of crap that was. Still, something seems so real about the pictures..."
Marche looked at her.
"What do you mean, Ritz? Don't tell me you think it's a comic book or something."
Ritz shook her head at him.
"No...it's more like...I don't know, a game of some kind: ya know, lot of fighting strong monsters and stuff.
Wouldn't it be cool if it were real?"
Marche did not answer her, but asked her another question.
"What kind of game?"
Ritz thought about it. Mewt gave his opinion.
"If you ask me, it kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy."
Before anyone could comment, Ritz looked at her watch.
"Wow, time flies when your having fun. I gotta get home."
Mewt nodded.
"Yeah, I should also be getting home."
Ritz looked to all of them.
"Well, you guys, it's been fun. Marche, Mewt, I'll see you two at school tomorrow. Later Doned."
Doned waved his hand at her.
"Bye Ritz.."
Marche stepped forward.
"Let me see you two off, okay? Dined, I'll be back in a little bit."
Doned nodded before looking at his hands dreamily.
"If only I could use magic..."
He was interrupted by his mother's voice.
"Doned, It's time for your medicine. Be sure to drink it all up!"
Doned made a sour face.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..."
------
St. Ivalice, outside of the Radiuju Residence.
Marche just got back from seeing his friends off. He looked at the night sky, as snow hit his face as it fell. Marche's eyes narrowed at seeing the text of the book Mewt bought. Although none of them could read it, Marche felt it to be similar to an old written language he once knew from another time. His eyes narrowed even further.
'That text...it looked like Ikkuko language of Ivalice, but still significantly different enough that it could pass as another text...what was that book...?'
Marche went back into his house, pondering about the book Mewt brought over.
***TBC***
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds within Square Soft/ Square Enix. I don't claim any of them.
Note: As stated before, I haven't played this game. Any characters in it's story may have different roles from what was originally, so please bare with it.
"..."-Indicate speech
'...'-Indicate thought
------
St. Ivalice, School yard
Many kids wondered about in the snow filled streets of St. Ivalice. Many dressed in thick clothes to keep warm. Some kids made snow men, or angels in the snow, but most played snow ball fights. A particular gang of kids were facing each other off. Four tall boys looked down to two younger kids, one a boy dressed in an oversized gray coat, and the other a young girl dressed in pink that matched her hair. Right now the boy stood stiffly by the girl, as if intimidated by the older boys. The girl had her hands on her hips, glaring at the them. One of the older boys stepped up, dressed in a thick green sweater and a blue snow scarf.
"This sucks. Why do you weaklings have to be here? Man, its no fun being paired up against you two. This is going to be boring..."
The boy looked down at the younger boy carefully.
"Hey Mewt, you don't have that precious teddy bear of your today, huh?"
Mewt stared down at the ground.
"..."
Another boy stepped besides the other one.
"Of course he doesn't Lyle. He probably doesn't want it getting dirty in one of our snow ball fights."
the boy snickered as another one came up.
"It was a precious gift from his mommy, Corin..."
The boy then turned to Mewt.
"It's reeeaalllyy important to you, huh?"
Mewt looked a bit scared, while the final boy lined up besides the other one.
"Awww look Guiness, your gonna make him cry."
The boy said, laughing at Mewt along with the other boys while he bit his lip. The girl gritted her teeth in annoyance as a vein appeared on the side of her head.
"Ritz..."
Mewt began saying to the girl, not wanting her to get into a fight. the older boys laughter was short lived as a young boy stood besides Mewt. He was dressed in a thick navy blue sweater with a red scarf around his neck. He had long blonde hair, almost as long as Ritz's. He stared coldly at the boys, while none of them could hold their stares against his. The boy who last spoke to Mewt now spoke to the other young boy, but with slight intimidation in his voice.
"What do you want, new kid?"
The boy remained silent as Lyle looked toward him, before turning to his friend that spoke.
"Don't bother, Lesley, he won't answer back..."
He smirked at the young boy.
"He's just like a little girl."
Ritz finally exploded at the comment Lyle made to the new kid.
"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP! THAT'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT! THAT'S TOTAL CONTEMPT AGAINST WOMAN...!"
Before Ritz could keep ranting, the boy put a hand on her shoulder. Ritz look towards him, but he was looking at the older boys calmly. She breathed heavily, calming down.
"Why don't we just get this snow ball fight started?"
She said. Everyone nodded. She then turned back to the new boy.
"Just tell them your name. You don't want to be called new kid forever, do you?"
Everyone stared at him. The boy just sighed.
"Marche..."
He said in a soft voice. Once everything was settled, Mewt stared at Marche apologetically.
"I'm sorry Marche..."
He stared at the ground again in shame.
"Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong here."
Lesley was set up as judge, while Lyle, Corin and Guiness got ready with snow ball. they called an extra boy to help their team. Marche, Mewt and Ritz also got ready, and called an extra girl to help. Once everything was set, Lesley held up his hand.
"Is everyone ready?"
Once the two teams nodded, Lesley brought his hand down.
"Begin!"
Lyle attacked first, throwing a snow ball at Mewt's direction. It hit Mewt solidly in the chest. Lyle soon found his face full of snow as Marche hit him. Guiness aimed at Mewt also, but he dodged a ball thrown at him by the girl on Marche's team. He threw his ball at Mewt, hitting the boy in the leg. Corin also threw a snow ball at Mewt, but it was intercepted with another snow ball Marche threw. Corin was surprised at Marche's aim, and soon found a snow ball hit his mouth, courtesy of Ritz. They played on, most of the time, Mewt was the target for the other team. Ritz finally noticed this and barely hit Guiness. Lyle smirked at Mewt.
"Hey Mewt, you should just bust your butt and run away."
Corin smirked also.
"That's the only thing your good at is running away, ain't it Mewt?"
Mewt remained silent.
"..."
Ritz growled at the older boys.
"Hey, stop that!"
Lyle looked towards her.
"Look, were just having a real snow ball fight here."
Ritz scowled at him.
"So you say, but all you do is peg Mewt all the time."
Marche went by Mewt's side.
"Are you alright, Mewt?"
Mewt nodded.
"I'm fine, Marche."
Corin pointed to Mewt.
"See? He says it's fine by him. He doesn't care."
Ritz turned to Corin.
"Oh, really? Tell me, if it wasn't fine by him, what would you do?"
Corin threw a snow ball right at Mewt's head, making the boy fall into the snow.
"Ouch!"
Mewt held his head as Marche looked at him, seeing blood coming from beneath his hands.
"You cut his fore head..."
Marche said slowly, picking up what was left of the snow ball that landed on Mewt's jacket. He crushed it, finding a fairly big rock in the palm of his hand. He turned to Corin.
"You dare use a rock...!"
Marche was a very calm and collective boy. No one really saw him when he was angry, but when everyone caught a sliver of it, they backed away slightly, as Marche glared at them with piercing blue eyes. Corin spoke up bravely but he was extremely nervous.
"Hey...I don't know...anything about a rock...I just threw a snow ball..."
He said, trying to shrug off his nervousness. Guiness turned to Ritz, feeling Marche's narrowed eyes on his back.
"Mewt was your weakest player. Of course we were aiming at him..."
Lyle finished the sentence.
"It's the best way to get points ya know? How else were we gonna win if we don't make any points, huh?"
Ritz glared at him.
"You mean your gonna win by using any means possible. Like putting rocks into snow balls and trying to knock someone out. You guys are nothing more than a bunch of cheating scumbags. That's why I hate boys like you!"
Lyle was fed up with Ritz's words.
"Why don't you just shut up you white haired brat."
Ritz looked up at him in surprise.
"Who are you talking about?"
Guiness made a face at her.
"Even though you dye it, your heads totally white!"
Corin joined in.
"Yeah Granny! Don't try and deny it!"
Upon saying those things to Ritz, her face twisted in rage and embarrassment.
"Wha...WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Before she could speak further, a teacher called all the students in.
------
St. Ivalice, After school
Mewt, Ritz and Marche all where walking home together from school. Mewt spoke up the two others.
"Uh...thanks for your help..."
Ritz turned to him.
"Don't mention it. I can't stand bullies who pick on weaker people. Their all just a bunch of jerks!"
Ritz said. Mewt then turned to Marche, who seemed deep in thought.
"Do you have any plans, Marche?"
Marche kept walking, ignoring Mewt at first. Mewt tried again.
"Marche? are you alright?"
Both Mewt and Ritz finally saw Marche come out of his trance and look at them.
"Hm? Yeah...Why go you ask?"
Mewt looked down at his feet.
"I was wondering if you were doing anything...because if your not, I was hoping you could come with me to buy a book. It's an old book I've had my eyes on for a while..."
Marche shook his head.
"Sorry, I can't come with you. My little brother comes home from the hospital today, and I want to be home to greet him."
Ritz looked questioning at Marche.
"Why the hospital? Was he sick or something?"
She asked in concern. Marche lowered his head sadly.
"Yes...since birth, he's been a weak child since birth. He can't walk, so he must come back and forth from the hospital every now and then."
He said. Ritz shook her head sadly.
"That's a shame..."
Marche nodded at her before turning to Mewt.
"What kind of book are you going to get, Mewt?"
Mewt shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm not really sure, but it looked like an old book based on magic and monsters. That kind of stuff."
Marche brought a hand to his chin in a thought.
"My brother would probably be thrilled if you brought that book over. Why don't you come to my house after getting that book?"
Marche said to Mewt.
"Is that alright?"
Mewt asked. Marche simply nodded, before looking at Ritz.
"How about you, Ritz? Want to come over?"
Ritz thought about the offer a bit.
"hmmm...yeah, I'll come. I don't have anything else better to do."
Marche nodded.
"Good, it's settled. You do remember what house it is, right?"
The two nodded before going there separate ways.
------
St. Ivalice, Outside of the local Pub
Mewt and Ritz walked by the pub, until a man with light brown hair and a stubby chin.
"Hic!"
Mewt and Ritz recognized him immediately. Ritz stared at the man in surprise.
"Sheesh...you get drunk even during lunch time?"
She asked the man. His eyes turned to them, with a glassy shine to them.
"Oooh, isth thhaat yooou, Mewtt? Ittssth your daddy, Cid Randell. Mewth, whhhy are you heeree? Is schoolll doneee? Waaanna drinkkk with dadddyyy?"
Cid's voice was slurred from all his drinking. Mewt held up his hands to decline his father's odd offer.
"Nah, it's okay. Still, you can hardly walk dad. Can you make it home by yourself?"
Mewt asked him. The man was to far gone to understand him, though.
"Sake tasteees gooood! Onnce youuu driiink itsh you foooorget everything!"
Mewt nodded at him.
"In that case, will you do that with me tomorrow?"
He said, smiling to his father. Cid nodded his head shakily back.
"Yessh, together! Annnd afftterth thattht we can dooit agaainh!"
After saying that, Cid walked away, taking very unsteady steps. Mewt stared down at the ground sadly.
"Since mom died, he's always been like that..."
Ritz nodded before a thought struck her.
"Mewt, how much do you know about Marche?"
Mewt looked at her strangely.
"Huh?"
Ritz stared at Mewt.
"I was surprised about how your father was like, since your parents were close, her death effected him. But Marche...I heard he's not even related to Ms. Radiuju. He was adopted by her sometime after she and her husband divorced. So he's never had a father..."
Mewt remained silent, but inside he felt something.
'Marche never had a father? It's almost like me but I didn't have a mother...'
------
Marche arrived in his room, to see his brother Doned in his wheel chair, looking out at the window as snow fell. He wore simple blue pajamas on his small body. Marche smiled upon seeing him.
"Doned!"
Doned turned to Marche upon hearing his name.
"Welcome home big brother! You're late!"
He told Marche, who scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"There was a huge snow ball fight at school, and everyone got covered in it!"
He told Boned excitedly.
"A snow ball fight...sheesh...That was stupid Marche. You probably just got hit all the time, huh?"
Marche knew that Doned had a slight jealousy towards Marche for being able to move freely without a wheel chair. Doned longed for freedom from it, and his only escape was books.
"I'm just not used to the snow, that's all."
Marche said, not wanting to gloat that he hit Lyle right in the face. Soon his mother called to him.
"Marche, your friends are here."
Marche smiled.
"Okay mom, send them up please!"
Doned looked surprised.
"You brought your friends over?"
Marche nodded at him.
"One of them has a cool book. So I thought of inviting them over so we could read it. You do like books, don't you brother?"
Doned nodded, getting more excited.
"Of course! All I do at the hospital is play games and watch television."
Ritz came come, wearing her school uniform, along with Mewt.
"Were Here! You must be Doned. I'm Ritz, and that's Mewt. Were classmates of your brother."
She and Mewt shook Doned's hand.
"Nice to meet you two."
Marche looked towards Mewt.
"Where's the book?"
Mewt put his backpack in front of him, taking out a complicated looking designed book.
"Here it is. The old man working at the book store said he didn't know what the title of this book is, so I don't know either."
Marche inspected the book's cover.
"It must have been a lot older than you originally thought. Why don't we put it on the floor and gather around it. Doned should be able to see it easily this way, too."
Mewt put the book down on the floor and opened it. Doned went to Mewt's right, while Ritz seated herself to his left. Marche took a seat by her. Upon opening it, there where five pictures on the pages: One looked like a normal human, another one looked like a lizard, one a mole like creature, one a small furry creature with a long antenna, and the last was a female with long rabbit like ears. All of them looked at the pictures in wonder.
"I couldn't read the small text under the pictures. Ritz couldn't either. I think it might be some sort of magic spell."
Mewt said to Marche and Doned. Ritz spoke up afterwards.
"It seemed pretty close, because looking at this book's cover, it reminds me of some magic square, or something. I had originally thought that this was Latin, but it wasn't. Some pages are marked up with translation..."
Marche put a hand on the book.
"Can you show them to me?"
They flipped through a few pages, before they came to some notes stuck onto the pages of the book. Marche saw them and his eyes widened.
"Alta Olon...Sodos Kamira...sounds like a spell, alright."
Mewt nodded at Marche.
"That's what I thought when I read it."
Mewt said. Doned grinned.
"Magic sounds so cool! If I could use it, I'd probably be able to..."
Marche laughed at his brother.
"You seem very pleased Doned."
The boy nodded to Marche.
"Of course! If I could use magic, I'd be walking everywhere!"
Marche sighed.
"I doubt it. Sounds stupid..."
Doned quieted down.
"Yeah I know it's not real, but I can wish, right?"
Mewt looked longingly at some of the pages full of beautiful paintings.
"Ya know, when I looked through this book, a Though struck me: What if this books world was real?"
Ritz nodded.
" Yeah, I thought the same thing for a while, before thinking what a load of crap that was. Still, something seems so real about the pictures..."
Marche looked at her.
"What do you mean, Ritz? Don't tell me you think it's a comic book or something."
Ritz shook her head at him.
"No...it's more like...I don't know, a game of some kind: ya know, lot of fighting strong monsters and stuff.
Wouldn't it be cool if it were real?"
Marche did not answer her, but asked her another question.
"What kind of game?"
Ritz thought about it. Mewt gave his opinion.
"If you ask me, it kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy."
Before anyone could comment, Ritz looked at her watch.
"Wow, time flies when your having fun. I gotta get home."
Mewt nodded.
"Yeah, I should also be getting home."
Ritz looked to all of them.
"Well, you guys, it's been fun. Marche, Mewt, I'll see you two at school tomorrow. Later Doned."
Doned waved his hand at her.
"Bye Ritz.."
Marche stepped forward.
"Let me see you two off, okay? Dined, I'll be back in a little bit."
Doned nodded before looking at his hands dreamily.
"If only I could use magic..."
He was interrupted by his mother's voice.
"Doned, It's time for your medicine. Be sure to drink it all up!"
Doned made a sour face.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..."
------
St. Ivalice, outside of the Radiuju Residence.
Marche just got back from seeing his friends off. He looked at the night sky, as snow hit his face as it fell. Marche's eyes narrowed at seeing the text of the book Mewt bought. Although none of them could read it, Marche felt it to be similar to an old written language he once knew from another time. His eyes narrowed even further.
'That text...it looked like Ikkuko language of Ivalice, but still significantly different enough that it could pass as another text...what was that book...?'
Marche went back into his house, pondering about the book Mewt brought over.
***TBC***