This story belongs to me and my creative mind. However, most of the characters, names, and places all belong to their respective companies, so don't yell at me for copyright infringements! Remember, Italics represent a person's thoughts or the telling of past events.

Enjoy...

______________

:Faraway Dreams:

Chapter Four:


"Thanks be to Goddess Rei that we're finally home." Fedrich breathed.

"Come now, it wasn't that bad a trip, was it?" Ruthy asked.

"I didn't mean it that way, I just meant that it is good to be back home." The Burman corrected.

"Heh, alright." The redhead nodded.

The two Regulators walked up the final flight of stairs to the square the Hall rested on, seeing the early evening sun spread it's red and orange hues across the building. The sky was still filled with Airships, the light sound of mist engines echoing in the air as the two warriors entered the Hall to see both Gerick and Gordan sitting at the central table with mugs in hand.

"We're back!" Ruthy announced, drawing their eyes.

"Well well, did ya enjoy your little break?" Gerick asked.

"It was a very...unique experience." Fedrich answered. "The play was spectacularly done, and the city itself was a sight to see!"

"It is good to have you both back, we have all missed you." Gordan said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's good to be back." Fedrich commented.

"So what's gone on since we left? Anything interesting, maybe?" Ruthy asked.

"Nah, things've been ordinarily boring as usual." Gerick chuckled. "Ya don't really come to expect life 'ta throw you much anything new when all you do is hunt fer monsters."

"Ah, sounds like we left in time, then." The redhead snickered in reply.

"Although it is not of much importance, I received a letter from my uncle just yesterday. He told me that he would be coming to Lindblum to visit with my parents and to tour the Zebolt Airship Factory for a few days, so I might be inclined to take a vacation of my own." Gordan added.

"I didn't know you had an uncle." Ruthy commented.

"Well, he generally is not much for social visits. Mother considers him the black sheep of her family, what with his womanizing and his general lack of manners. Despite that, it will be nice to see him again."

"Sounds like a nice guy." Fedrich deadpanned.

"He is as normal as any random person, just not upright and noble as my family would wish him to be. Most of their disappointment comes from the fact that he is the heir to the family name and it's massive monetary investments."

"What kind of money?"

"He is heir to the Gestahl Industrial company, a business that supplies the Lindblum Airship Factory with materials for constructing the hulls of Airships."

"What!?" Ruthy gasped. "He's the son of Edvard Gestahl?"

Gordan nodded. "Yes."

"So then, your mother was originally a Gestahl before she married?"

"Again, yes. If it were not for him being older than my mother, she would have been in line to inherit the family business."

"Gods, I didn't think that your family was so...prestigious." The redhead whistled.

"Well, it is not something I tend to speak of much."

"Embarrassed that yer practically loaded with rich relatives?" Gerick joked.

"It is not proper to go about bragging of one's wealth." The nobleman shot back. "Anyway, since my father has invited me to come with him on the tour of the factory, I do not think it would be trouble if anyone here would like to accompany me as well."

"Sounds like fun." Illis nodded.

"Yeah!" Ruthy added.

"Now hold on a sec, ladies, I can't have ya abandonin' yer job again." Gerick insisted. "It's been tryin' enough to cover for Fedrich 'n Ruthy's leave, I won't have the lot of you leavin' this to me."

"Aw, it'll just be for a day." Ruthy whined.

"You especially!" The bearded man continued. "Now I know that it'll be a good time, but you just came back from yer play! Unless you want 'ta forget about yer job entirely, you'll be ready fer tomorrow's patrol."

"Oh alright." She agreed forlornly.

"Do you have any qualms about my attending the tour?" Gordan asked.

"Nah, you've earned a break."

"Thank you for understanding." Gordan thanked with a nod. "Uncle Setzer ought to be here in a day or two, so I will have my parents send a message as soon as he does. I should be gone for no more than two days."


The following afternoon, a messenger from Gordan's house arrived at the Hall with invitation for his arrival to his parents home. Excusing himself from his duty, he left with the messenger to the Industrial District, where his parents owned their manor amidst the vast factories of their business. Gordan was glad to again be within the familiar streets of his home. Despite the tragedy that fell to his family name, his great uncle Edvard was more than willing to assume control of the Gestahl Industry in Lindblum. The arrival of Setzer was a good chance to see how his family's honor and reputation have recovered, knowing well that his position in the Regulator's didn't give him room to view his standings in society.

The twin doors of the manor opened widely, the messenger dismissing himself as Gordan stepped inside to the front room. He quickly saw his parents sitting in an overstuffed couch, another figure in a ornate and floor length coat standing nearby with a goblet of drink in hand.

"Mother, father, uncle, I have returned." Gordan announced.

"Oh, my son, you're-"

"Hold on a moment, sister." The cloaked man insisted, raising a hand. "Please let me tell him."

Gordan's mother hesitated, but nodded her approval. The cloaked man turned to face Gordan, revealing that he was indeed his uncle Setzer Gestahl. Dressed in the finest clothing, he appeared as noble as ever, silvered hair spilling across his shoulders to rest at his chest.

"Nephew Gordan, it's good to see you!" Setzer began, stepping to his relative to embrace him. "How have you been? Things have been mighty rough for your parents since the scandal."

"I am well, uncle. How are you doing?"

Setzer's expression fell quickly, a sigh escaping his lips. "Truth be told, m'boy, things aren't looking good at all."

"How so?"

"You remember that your great uncle Edvard was the person to take up the reigns of the business once the scandal hit, and he managed to keep it from going under at his own troubles. Sadly, he hasn't been in good health these past months, and...he died, just last week."

Gordan was stunned at the news. "What happened to him?"

"The resident doctor told us that it was probably a failure of his heart. Spirit willing, but his frail body couldn't keep up with the demands the business required..."

"My apologies, uncle, I did not wish to stir sad thoughts."

"It had to be said, no way around it. The reason I'm here in the first place was to overlook the Zebolt Factory because of his death. His will stated that in the event of his death, the male heir of the family name would oversee the competition of the Lindblum factories and assume control of the Gestahl industrial plant. He wished that the business was to be sold to the best company available if no one could assume control."

"How ludicrous!" Gordan spat. "Surely you will not allow the family business to be sold like some mistreated statue!"

"Don't go jumping to conclusion, now! I have full intent to assume command of the Gestahl Industry and keep it afloat, I merely wished you to know the circumstances of my rise to control. After I tour the Zebolt factory, I'll return here and have property acquired for my move to Lindblum."

"So what was my reasoning to come home? Was it only to let me know of the change of power?"

"Come now, I'm not that stiff a person! I invited you here so I could see how my nephew has been doing. Your parents too have been curious as to your condition, what with your fighting monsters like some cheap soldier for hire."

Gordan laughed politely. "Uncle, working for the Regulators has offered a good change of pace for me. I have experienced a great many things during my time there. Moreso, the Regulators are hardly a ragtag collection of hoodlums, they are a well respected organization recognized by the Lindblum Armies."

"Well, to each his own, as they say." Setzer nodded with an idle smile. "Let's be on our way, Zebolt himself is waiting for our arrival to the factory, and I doubt that he will appreciate me being late."


"Sir Setzer Gestahl! It is an honor to meet your acquaintance!" Zebolt greeted, offering a furry paw.

Setzer accepted the handshake with a firm grip. "It's good to meet you as well, Sir Zebolt, but I prefer being addressed without such formalities."

"As you wish, Setzer." Zebolt nodded, turning to Gordan. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure."

"I am Gordan Fulmen, Setzer's nephew. The pleasure is mine, Zebolt." The Regulator informed while offering a handshake.

Zebolt accepted, then turned and waved his lanky arms around his massive factory. "Come now, let the tour commence!"

The trio began walking down the extensive lengths of catwalks leading around the circular heights of the factory, workers below scrambling through their day's efforts.

"As you can see, the Zebolt Industrial Factory has full usage of the vast electrical and mechanical equipment needed for Airship construction courtesy of Lindblum's own charity. Whereas Regent Cid works on the more experimental and revolutionary Airship models, we here help to manufacture the larger models of Airships from Freighter class to Viltgance class."

Motioning to his left, Zebolt drew on a half-completed Viltgance hull as an example. "The raw material for the Airships is imported from mines and forges located all across the Lindblum territories, mainly from Stony Point and it's vast mythril deposits. Once the parts are completed, the newly made parts are shipped over here and assembled on these cranes and suspension belts. It can take a hundred workers nearly three months to assemble a Viltgance Airship from the necessary parts, adding up to nearly one hundred thousand hours of work put into each craft. The massive shield and spear at the front of the Airship is the heaviest part of the Viltgance, made almost of pure mythril and forged to absolute perfection. Many people believe it to be a decorative item, but the ship is more than able to ram another Airship at speeds up to thirty kilometers an hour with the spear."

"Have there ever been any cases of the spear being used?" Setzer asked.

"None officially, although there was an accident when a dragon was impaled by the lance and nearly set the Viltgance on fire in it's death throes. Aside from that, it has never been used against another Airship."

"What kind of firepower does the Viltgance have?" Gordan asked afterward.

Zebolt scratched his chin. "I cannot give exact numbers, as it is secret by order of the military. However, I can say that each shell from the main guns has enough explosive power to put a forty meter wide and fifteen meter deep crater into soft earth. The support guns aren't as powerful, but are still able to render most materials into rubble on their own."

"Impressive." Gordan mused. "Considering I have seen more than nine different Viltgances on patrol through the city, it seems that the arsenal that Lindblum possesses is unmatched anywhere on Gaia."

"Well, better to be safe than sorry. We wouldn't want to end up facing another crisis like the Mist Wars of the 1770s."

Setzer shuddered. "Dark times. Thank goodness the previous Regent was able to bring unity back to the land."

"Yes, but back on topic, here is our final testing ground." Zebolt nodded, pointing towards a finished Freighter in dock. "Here we do extensive testing of the Mist engines we receive from the above factories. In the dock, an Airship is secured to the frame of the entire building and is tested to see how it's frame can withstand the forces of the engine. If the Airship is too stiff or to weak, the engines would break apart and separate from the craft with disastrous results. I'm proud to say that in the fourteen years since we opened the doors here, we haven't had a single engine failure in the docks."

"An impressive record." Setzer commented. "What of accidents in the workforce?"

"The numbers have all been low for the duration of the factory's operation, never more than five each year. We've done-"

Before Zebolt could continue, a plume of smoke erupted in front of them on the catwalk. The trio stopped in a panic, wondering what caused it, but were soon put into greater fear as a cloaked figure appeared in the center of the haze. The sound of a sword being drawn from a sheath rang clear in the air, and soon the smoke dissipated to reveal a masked man holding a strange looking sword.

"What is this?" Zebolt demanded. "Who are you?"

"My concern doesn't lie with you, gearhead." The cloaked man informed. "I've here to speak with Setzer Gestahl."

The silver haired Gestahl stepped forward from behind his nephew. "I am he. What do you want?"

The cloaked man lifted his weapon. "I have been given a mission to end your life!"

With a quick motion, the attacker leapt towards Setzer, who reached for something within his ground length coat. With a flash, Setzer pulled a small short from his coat and blocked the strike. The assassin retried his attack, but again Setzer blocked the strike with a determined grunt.

"I'm not such easy prey!" Setzer cried, pushing his attacker back.

"And I'm not so easy to defeat!"

The assassin pulled his sword back and gave a mighty swing, knocking Setzer over. Gordan tried to intervene, but the assassin already lashed down with his blade and cut across Setzer's coat. However, to everyone's surprise, the cloth didn't cut, and the sword merely slid across the material with no ill effect. Gordan finally lashed out against the assassin with his fists, delivering two strong punches across the man's jaw and shoulder. Taking hold of the assassin's arms, the two wrestled for supremacy as Setzer regained his footing and hefted his weapon. With a thrust of the short sword, Setzer's aim brought a severe laceration across the assassin's shoulder that drew a yelp of pain from his lips. Using the pain as a focus, the assassin wrenched his arms free of Gordan's grip and flung him aside, retreating from the reach of Setzer's sword.

"Who the hell are you!?" Setzer again asked. "What do you have against me!?"

"Do you really expect me to tell you that?" The assassin joked. "I'll give you this fight, but you will be dead before the week's end!"

Reaching into his cloak, the assassin grabbed a ball and threw it to the ground, resulting in an explosion of smoke that engulfed his form. Gordan and Setzer held back as the smoke billowed out, eventually thinning to reveal that the assassin was gone. Setzer gave a grunt of satisfaction and put his sword back into the hidden sheath in his coat, Gordan and Zebolt relaxing greatly as the rush faded.

"Uncle, are you injured?"

"No, I'm fine, luckily." He sighed.

"But I saw...I saw that man stab at you! Did he miss?" Zebolt stuttered.

"No, I was saved by my coat." Setzer replied, rubbing the black material. "It was specially made with tiny mythril threads that make it very durable for just such cases."

"But why did you have that made?" Gordan asked. "Do you expect to be in such danger this often?"

Setzer hesitated a moment. "There are reasons...but I'd prefer not to speak about them where unneeded ears may overhear me."

Zebolt recovered his senses and quickly interrupted the two. "Goodness me, what a disaster! I'm so sorry! I never thought that-"

"It's okay, Zebolt." Setzer waved off. "You couldn't have stopped someone like that even if you tried. Assassins tend to be quite adept at sneaking into places without being noticed."

"Still, we must get you to a medic to check you over, I shall have it no other way!" Zebolt cried, pulling on Setzer's arm.

"If you insist!" Setzer said jerkily as he was pulled away. "Gordan! I'm sorry to have been interrupted like this! Please go home and we can reconvene for an late evening meal before work consumes my schedule."

"I will!"


"So, do you wish to explain what that was about?" Gordan asked of his uncle.

Setzer adjusted his collar, sipping lightly from his goblet of wine before speaking. "What I'm going to say stays in this room, m'boy, and nowhere else."

"As you wish."

"A few months ago, when your great uncle was busy running the business, there were a number of potential buyers looking to purchase our livelihood or to install themselves as aids or assistants. Naturally, Edvard being a stubborn old man, he refused all their offers, even those who weren't out to try and become rich off his work. Naturally still, this made more than one person upset at him, and it wouldn't surprise me if they had connections to those less than savory types like that assassin."

"But why would they be coming after you?"

"Well, since I am next in line to assume control of the business, it would lead me to assume that someone got upset enough at Edvard to try and ruin the business by killing it's leaders."

"Would it not be to their advantage to try and offer their assistance to you as they did with Edvard?"

"It would, so I don't know why someone is out to kill me."

"Strange indeed..." Gordan nodded.

The two remained silent in thought for a short minute. Gordan pondered over the dangerous risks that his uncle was under, seeing that the assassin had not only got inside the factory, but was able to escape as easily without detection. Setzer mulled over his position, staring into the wine to see his own watery reflection under the same kind of stress.

"So what are you planning to do about this?" Gordan asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure. Normally I would have my personal escort with me for this, but I left them in Treno because I assumed that they wouldn't follow me here. Except they knew...somehow they knew I would come here and they planted an assassin to kill me when I was most vulnerable. This is damnable news to come upon."

"Surely you are able to defend yourself well enough."

Setzer stifled a laugh. "You must be kidding. I'm a man in his forties, old by any standard. I was barely able to keep that assassin from killing me, and it took both our strength to fend him off. I'm going to need more than an armored coat and cheap sword to stay alive."

Gordan had an idea. "You did mention that you would only be here for a few days, right? Would you object if I were to stay at your side to offer my service as a protector?"

Setzer gave his nephew a strange look. "You would do that for me?"

"I was caught off guard this time. With my sword and fighting clothes, I would be able to defeat your assassin with no trouble!"

"What of your...Regulators, was it? Don't you have an obligation to them before this?"

"Gerick is an understanding man, if not a stubborn one as well. He would understand that protecting my family is of more importance that fighting off monsters in the plains."

Setzer thought of the proposal for a few seconds, then gave a grin and nod. "If he is willing, then I shall be willing as well."


* * *


"Goddess...this was a rough day..." Fedrich muttered.

"Who'd have thought that missing Gordan was gonna be this much trouble." Illis added. "I guess that fool did more work that I thought."

"Well, these thing's are 'ta be expected. It's not like it was any easier when Fedrich 'n Ruthy were gone." Gerick added.

"True." Illis agreed.

Fedrich stretched his arms idly. "So what else have we got to do today?"

Before Gerick could speak, there was a loud knock on the doors of the Hall. Curious, the bearded man stood up, walked to the doors, and shoved them open. Arching an eyebrow, he gave the person at the door a strange mixture of words that sounded like a question.

"Who is it?" Fedrich asked.

"You've got eyes, look fer yourself." He replied.

Fedrich did, so turning to look at the person. His eyes widened in surprise as well, staring out at a rather liberally dressed female Burman who was leaning on a lance with an arrogant expression on her face.

"I've heard that you guys are looking for new warriors, right?" The woman half asked, half stated. "'Cause I'm ready to save you the trouble of looking!"


* ^ * ^ *


The Author Speaks!

*Dodges thrown bottles and bricks* I'm sorry, already, sorry!! I didn't mean for this chapter to take so damn long, but this was a hard segment of the story to deal with. I had three or four different ideas on how to continue this, and I was in a bind for a while as to which one was best. Mix in a week of vacationing up north with relatives plus the start of college again, it was hard times for my writing. Hopefully the one I chose won't disappoint you all.

Aside from that, the new year is upon us, and I plan to keep my resolutions this time around. For this story, I hope that I will be able to continue it with the same effort that I did when I started. Remember, I'm not perfect by any means, so click that review button or shoot out an email if you feel like I can improve this story in any way. The more help I get from readers like you, the better I can do to make sure I deliver only the best in return. Lastly, I updated the Information Database, so check my bio page for the link and read away!

Peace and a glorious new years for you all!