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...
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:Faraway Dreams:
Chapter Thirteen:
The early afternoon sunlight gave the Treno streets an ample amount of moonlight to see by, the mysterious Gaia Shroud making the land a permanent moonscape. Within the streets of the least reputable regions of the city lurked a thriving thieves market, a place where any goods could be purchased for the right price. Although the nobles of Treno prided themselves on their classy standards, they turned a blind eye when it came to the festering criminal underworld beneath their manors. As such, the city guard rarely walked down the grimy paths, producing new generations of miscreants who walked in the open without any fear of arrest or capture. Pickpockets mingled with murderers, creating a microcosm of social interaction in the place once called the Rook's Circle. Now the citizens and locals simply called it Cutthroat circle.
The afternoon hours were as busy here as anywhere else. People walked in solitude or in groups to businesses and eateries, harlot's vied for the attention of willing men, and scuffles occurred here and there that ended in wounded pride, stolen Gil, or dead bodies. One particular figure strode over to the door of a bar with an arrogant step, lifted a clawed foot, and knocked the barrier off it's hinges with a loud crack of her heel.
"Knock knock, Joachim! You here!?" Claire announced as she stepped inside over the broken door.
"By whatever gods exist, woman, that the forth time you've ruined a perfectly good door." A cultured voice complained from deep within the bar. "Is it beyond you to simply open it like everyone else?"
Claire barked a laugh as she strode over to the bar proper, pushing past a few stunned patrons to the owner of the establishment. Sitting on an uneven stool, she leaned over and placed herself close to the man dressed in fine clothing. The man swirled around a healthy dose of red wine in his glass snifter, taking a sip while staring at her with neutral gray eyes. Setting it on the bar, he shifted his posture and crossed his arms.
"Must you?" His eyes motioned to their proximity.
"Yes, and only because it annoys you." The Burman smirked.
Joachim sighed, then stood up and straightened his slacks. "Let's take this to the back."
Claire stood and followed the man as she walked behind the bar and to a door set into a corner. Pulling out a key, he unlocked its deadbolt and swung it open, motioning for the lady to enter first. Claire took advantage of his chilvary and entered the private chamber, flopping casually onto a maroon couch as he closed the door and made sure it was secure. Walking to a high backed chair, he sat down slowly and turned it to face the woman.
"I'd hoped you would have been back earlier than this." He reprimanded.
"Hopes are for the foolish, I got my job done." She countered in a rough tone.
"And your partner, Riyu Genji?"
"Dead, to my benefit. He let his guard down and paid for it with a broadsword in his gut."
Joachim clucked his tongue. "Tragic, and here I'd hoped that he would return and be willing to work solely under my orders."
"He was blind and too prideful, I can do just as good for you!"
The man snorted. "Frankly, Clariza Severspear, you annoy my far too much to even consider it."
"Tell me, then, what is better? Better to have an obedient failure or a rebellious success?" Claire posed, reaching into her pocket for a moment. "I can provide many reasons to keep me on your tab, starting with this."
She pulled out two gold rings, one of plain manufacture and the other inlayed with precious gems that glittering in the dim lamplight. Joachim leaned forward and plucked the ornaments from her palm, eyeing them intensely. After a long few seconds, a smile lifted his expression and he placed the rings next to the lamp to further their sparkling.
"So...he's finally dead."
"You mind telling me why you wanted to off the old man? He did something to offend you?"
Joachim chuckled, placing the rings in his shirt pocket. "That is why I would prefer Riyu to the likes of you, Claire. He had intuition, could ascertain things that would go unspoken."
"What do you mean?" She prodded, sitting upright and leaning close.
"Take a look at me, woman, and pay attention to the details! Certainly even you could see the likeness between Setzer Gestahl and myself."
Claire looked intently at the man's face for a long moment, he even turned his head side to side to humor her. After many seconds, her face lit up, and she fell back into the couch with a knowing laugh.
"So you're his bastard son, then? That's rich, a misbegotten son who never got to relish his parent's wealth!"
Joachim smiled as well. "Even still you don't get it."
Claire stopped laughing, and her expression hardened in a moments time as she stared at the man. Joachim idly smoothed his shirt and leaned into his chair casually.
"Setzer is not my father. Edward Gestahl, the man who died and left the entire Gestahl Industry to the eldest heir of the family line, the one who refused to accept any outside influence from any man, the single most worshipped philanthropist of Treno's entire history, holds that title."
"Lie." She decided.
"Truth." Joachim countered. "Like Setzer Gestahl, so too was Edward a promiscuous ladies man in his youthful age. My mother was a book keeper for the business' finances, and Edward was more than willing to give her 'favors' during her off hours. Once mother discovered she was pregnant, she demanded to be a part of the family line and therefore be wed to him and given place as an heir to the vast money she oversaw. Edward, engaged a few days before knowing, fired her on account of inaccurate bookkeeping and made certain that she could never testify against him. She couldn't get a job anywhere in Treno, and after giving birth to me, was forced into poverty to keep me alive."
The man stood up and sighed in deep thought. "Her obsessive quest to gain revenge permeated my life, and now you are witness to it's ending. With these rings in my possession, I have the rightful claim to the business that she and I were rightfully entitled to!"
Claire stood up and cracked her neck. "Lovely story, I feel so much at ease, now. Do you have my payment?"
The man nodded, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a velvet pouch. He presented it to her, and she grabbed it and checked within. Coins of large denominations rested within, along with a plethora of other valuable gems and ores. She snickered and dropped the pouch into a large leather sack on her hip, grinning wickedly.
"It has been a unique experience, Clariza." Joachim stated, offering a hand.
"The same to you." She replied while accepting the shake.
The man opened the door to the bar and allowed Claire to exit first again, the Burman woman nearly skipping with pride and giddiness. Her eyes looked across the space, and her smile widened when she saw the monstrous bulk of a blue skinned man at the bar nusing a bottle of expensive liquor.
"Fan-fuckin'-tastic," She shouted to the behemoth. "You're just in time to see the greatest kill ever completed, big blue!"
The man didn't move, his expression hidden behind a mane of fiery red hair.
"What'sa matter, big blue, you gone mute!?" She prodded on, stepping to his side. "I just knocked off the biggest paying job that this place has seen in months! Two hundred thousand Gil, blue boy! You got anything to beat that?"
"Quiet." He ordered in a gruff voice.
"What was that? You're telling me to shut up, now?" Claire spoke as if shocked. "You, who just beats up anyone who tries to catch him, tells me that? To be quiet!?" She laughed long and hard, tearing up in humor. "I've been proving myself over and over to be unequaled in battle, and here you think you can just order me around like some common bandit!? You know, after doing this, I'm probably even better than you!"
Everyone in the bar went quiet at the accusation, knowing that what she just said was the equivalent of asking for a painful death. The massive man at the bar, however, still didn't move in face of the gloating warrior at his side. Claire pounded her fist on the bar surface, rattling his bottle to get his eyes.
"That's right!" She went on. "I declare that Claire the Demon Lance is a superior warrior and mercenary than the Flaming Amarant!"
The bulky man, the Flaming Amarant, stood up from his place at the bar, rising up to stand almost a head taller than Claire. He looked down at her with his small black eyes, mouth curled in a frown. Claire stared back at him with defiant eyes, prodding him on to battle so she could prove herself to everyone. The tall man, however, crossed his arms and snorted in disapproval.
"So you killed an old man and that makes you better?" He posed. "An old man who was in isolation in Lindblum, without his guards, and defenseless to any attacker? Pathetic."
"Why you-!!"
"When was the last time you ever got into a tough fight when the odds were against you?" He interrupted.
"Grr..."
"I fought through a hundred guards right here in Treno and killed them all. For one year almost to this day they don't even try to catch me. Why? Because I'm the Flaming Amarant. Men crap their pants and children cry when they hear my name. Cats and dogs cower when I walk by. Mercenaries avoid me instead of confront me." He leaned down and placed his face in front of hers, red hair making it appear as if a halo of fire was around his head. "I could own this city with my reputation alone. Not a single man has ever tried to hold me up for anything. People would sooner give me a million Gil than for me to hunt them, and here you are, boasting like you're queen of the fucking world because you offed one old man."
Claire felt suddenly pale at his presence, the scent of burnt wood and the heat of intense fire wafting through her sensitive nose. She had to consciously keep herself still to stop from quaking into jelly at his withering glare. The Flaming Amarant stood up again and heaved a content sigh. He turned, picked up his bottle of spirits, then strode out of the bar without a single word interrupting his departure. The patrons looked back to Claire, the woman still standing in shocked silence, then returned to their conversations as if nothing had happened.
"Are we feeling well?" Joachim asked from his place at the bar, a smirk on his lips.
Snapping out of her trance, she gritted her teeth and shook with checked anger. Her reputation was normally well standing in mercenary circles, but this went to show that she still had a way to go before truly earning one. Having people openly insult her wasn't going to be ignored.
She glanced back at the man and gave a mock smile. "I'm just dandy, and you can go to hell, you bastard."
He winced at the double meaning of her curse, but kept his composure as she left the bar. "Have a pleasant day yourself."
* * *
"Ah, the sleepless city." Leena sighed. "It looks miserably decrepit since last I came."
Fedrich and Ruthy pulled to her side and stopped, taking a minute to absorb the distant beauty the city offered. Millions of glittering lights and fires gave it a sparkle like a rare jewel on a dark cloth. An Airship pulled away from it's walls and lifted into the air for destinations unknown, the dull whine of it's engines audible to them even kilometers away.
"It's no surprise. Treno has been suffering from more and more thievery each year. Wanted men could wander the streets with no fear from anyone nowadays." Ruthy explained in a morose tone.
"I remember this city as an oasis in the middle of a pitch black sea of grass in years past. Nobles and esteemed members of all societies would flock here to bathe in the splendor of its rich tastes." The red mage shook her head sadly. "It would seem that such things are now forgotten to more base desires."
"Yes." Fedrich agreed with a sour note. "Claire would fit in there perfectly..."
"Claire?" Leena repeated.
"She's the person who we're looking for." Ruthy answered. "She backstabbed us when we needed her, then ran away before we could stop her. Fedrich...needs to find her, he's desperate to understand why she did it."
"It must have been a horrible betrayal." Leena mused.
"More than you can imagine..." Fedrich added deeply, kicking his bird into motion. "Let's go, we're almost there."
The two women prodded their birds on, following the Burman as he made for the main gate that led to the city proper. Trotting across trails worn into the earth, they made easy time to the gate and found numerous chocobo stalls to deposit their birds at. The chocobo's were taken in and given food and rest, and the owner pointed them out to a shop if they needed future travel equipment. The travelers knew the birds wouldn't be around the next day, probably rented out to another journeyman before. The stalls had an agreement with all other cities about this, they would lose chocobos to one way trips to other lands, but in turn gain an equal number of them back as travelers came to their town. Leena, however, had to shell out extra money to rent a stall for her time in Treno, unwilling to part with her pale feathered polom.
"Gods, walking on my feet feels weird." Ruthy commented as she walked under the main arch of the city gate. "I think my lower half has fallen asleep without me!"
"I can agree to that. Perhaps we should find an Inn and take rest for the night." Leena suggested while adjusting her pack against her shoulders. "What say you, Fedrich?"
"I suppose we should, then, my legs are just as sore." He nodded.
"Good good, I know of a place that we can stop at on the main road off Surveyor's Square."
"What is it called?" Ruthy asked.
"The Golden Moon bed and bar, if I recall properly. One of the few Inns that is an average between the expense of the upper class and the shoddy keep of the lower. Treno's polarized income brackets makes it difficult to find such middle class keepings."
Ruthy nodded at her explanation, silently impressed with her intellect. For a short moment it felt as if Gordan were with them again, explaining the world's designs in his knowing tones and with a gentle smile. She sighed wistfully, homesickness already tugging at her heartstrings.
"Do you know why it changed?" Fedrich asked in response to her lengthy words. "You said it was once a stylish place."
"It could be a multitude of factors that caused it. Uneven use of money between classes, too many immigrants causing higher unemployment, unfair taxation, or even just plain greed." She waved her hand about to draw upon the scenery. "In a situation where the rich control all major facets of the economy, eventually it will separate into a small percentage of rich people and a majority of poor people. It would be easy to assume then that the thievery and crime rate would rise greatly in response to this, and it probably was the case for Treno. Judging on exterior looks alone, it seems that it's been that way here for many years, if not an entire decade."
The Burman nodded wide eyed, understanding only about half of what she said. "I see..."
Leena chuckled. "Sorry, got on a tangent again. Studying books most of your life can do that, I suppose."
"It's alright. You remind me of someone I know in Lindblum."
"Small world." The mage commented.
"Yeah..." Fedrich muttered. Thinking of Gordan did little to relax his mind. He knew that Gordan would soon come here, and that he would be hunting for Claire as well. Even the thought of her name and the atrocity behind it made him shudder in confusion, the questions and the burning need to know why she did it.
I'll find you, Claire, and I'll get the answers I need...
"Ah, we're almost there!" Leena pointed to a well kept building on stilts over the water of the canals. "The Golden Moon."
The trio walked into the Inn, immediately within the bar of the establishment that was filled with some locals and a plethora of tourists and travelers. Leena pulled aside a waitress and asked where the Inn proper was, getting a quick answer.
"Upstairs." Leena spoke to her two acquaintances.
They walked to the end of the bar and up a flight of rickety stairs, then came to a small front room with a counter and worker near the opposite end. Poor wallpapering and carpets covered the wooden boards, but looked well cared for despite the inferior quality. Leena stepped over to the counter to a young boy who was busy flipping through a periodical of kinds.
"I'll need two rooms for the night, sir." She requested.
The young worker looked back to a board with numbered pegs, then drew off a pair of keys with close numbers and slid them to the mage.
"A hundred per room, two hundred for the night total." He calculated.
"Right." She nodded, sliding two coins to the lad.
"You didn't need to." Ruthy began as Leena passed her a key and led the way to their rooms.
"It's a matter of paying you back for helping me in the field. I owed you greatly for the help, and this is the least I can do to make us even." Leena thanked, holding up her hand to forestall any other words. "I'll be turning in for the night. You can bunk in my room."
"Thanks, but no. You can have a room to yourself, I'll go with Fedrich."
Leena and Fedrich both arched their eyes at her comment. The mage stared at Fedrich, and he stared at her and then to Ruthy. The redhead glanced up at the Burman with a confused expression, and the two then looked back to see Leena's eyes darting between them both.
"...Alright then..." She hesitated while eyeing them, then unlocked her door. "...Goodnight."
Once her door closed, Fedrich turned to Ruthy with confusion running rampant in his head. "Er...why did you-"
"-Because she needs some time to herself. Her friends were all killed just two days ago, remember? I don't think either of us would be comfortable in those circumstances."
"But...!"
"What?"
"Well, it's not exactly like you'll have any privacy in one room with me." He felt a blush run up his face. "You know..."
Ruthy smiled and patted his shoulder, moving to unlock their door. "Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Besides, we've shared a room before, what's different about this time?" Opening the door, she stepped inside and saw two small beds against one of the walls, a dresser and table on the other end. "Look, there are two beds if you're worried about sleeping on the floor again."
"Alright." He exhaled, seeing that she was unconcerned about the arrangement.
"I'll change first, so wait a minute, okay?" She said, closing the door in Fedrich's face.
The Burman stood still in thought, then felt his muscles uncoil as he visibly slumped in posture. Her words were accurate, but he always assumed that it was a choice made on priorities. The idea that she was comfortable sleeping in the same room with a man of a different species made him reconsider her opinions of him greatly.
Is she really that comfortable around me?...
The door opened a minute later, and Ruthy stepped into the hall dressed in a conservative sleeping gown.
"You're turn." She grinned.
"...Right." He nodded, stepping inside and closing the door.
The air burned despite the pouring rain, vast waves of heat withering the life of the city away as it crumbled to the ground. The bodies of dead civilians littered the walkways and roads, blood mingling with dirt and rainwater. Soldiers in full armor were slumped on walls and among the ruins of buildings and carts, hands clinging to their swords even in death. A crash of thunder ripped through the sky, as if the weather itself protested the slaughter beneath it's gaze.
Fedrich found himself floating through the city, disembodied and unable to control his actions.
"Mama?" A tiny voice spoke.
Fedrich's vision expanded, allowing him to see a Burman child barely old enough to stand pushing her mother's body. He felt a shiver of pain ripple through his mind, sadness prevailing as the girl tried to rouse her dead parents. Again his uncontrolled vision moved along the scene of chaos, his mind stressing greatly as he began to pick out details of the city and of where he was.
...a tragedy for the age...
The voice made Fedrich start, memories of similar visions returning from slumber in his consciousness. A flash of lightening lit up the dark city, and the sudden image of a grand castle loomed in his vision, pillars crumbled and walls pocked with holes.
...wrought by greed and rage...
Burmecia. Fedrich immediately picked out the castle, the center of power for his homeland. The ruined structure looked ready to fall, the pounding rain blanketing the land and providing a dim cover to the terror that seized it.
...do not deny the call...
He couldn't think any further on the sight, unable to comprehend the kind of strength that would be able to destroy his kingdom. His parents, his friends and relatives, the people in the markets and the guards and Dragon Knights, were they all taken in this consuming destruction?
...fight them with your all...
The voice, in a deep and multi-toned command, registered clearly with Fedrich's mind. Anger and rage at the sight began to boil in his mind, his non-existent body curling in natural want to leap out and strike against whatever caused the doom of his hometown. He looked down and saw things moving in the shadows of his city, stout figures in cloaks and hats, marching together in a silent rhythm of command. Soulless yellow eyes peered into the sky, surrounded by a black void that hid their faces. Sudden magic flared up, their gloved hands manipulating it as if clay, and then hurled it to his location. Fear exploded where anger stood, and Fedrich screamed as his vision went white.
Fedrich gasped in terror and sat up, fingers curled and seeking the comfort of his short sword. He reigned in his breath, taking in the air greedily as his eyes focused back to reality. Glancing to the bed next to his revealed that Ruthy hadn't awakened, still sleeping with her arms tangled above her hair. He wiped his face, fur matted to sweat soaked skin. Shivering in the sudden chill of the night, he wrapped his arms around his body protectively, the fear lingering on his waking mind.
"The visions." He whispered, voice cracked even as it came so meekly. "Why?"
Goddess Rei help me...I can't bear this alone again...not again...
