Final Fantasy: Hereafter

By: Darkknight

Fals stood in the courtyard where the team was to meet. Kil had run off the day before, and was due back by twelve o'clock in the afternoon. They were also supposed to rendezvous with Pyth and Lyn at three o'clock. From there they would decide where to go. Originally, Fals had planned to have them all convene in Iven's house, but now the spot had been compromised, now swarming with German soldiers and monsters.

Fals looked around her at the courtyard. It was lined with shops of all sorts, a computer store, a laundromat, a clothing store, and a small coffee house. Jils had gone to the coffee house to get something to keep him awake, and Iven had gone with him. In the center was a large fountain sporting a statue of the country's ever-so-benevolent leader.

She stowed away her staff and took her pack into the nearby clothing store. She was only there to change her clothing into a fresh pair, but her eyes were caught on a shirt that was really cute.

"Oh, I wish I could get this," she said, then turned to go towards the bathroom, when a man said, "You know, if you really want, I could get it for you."

Fals turned around and saw Kil standing there, examining the shirt. "Though, I don't understand what's so great about it, but... You're the boss, right?"

"Yes, I'm the boss," she said, smiling, "And I would like the shirt." She then continued into the bathroom to change while Kil brought the shirt to the cash register.

After changing into some new clothes she felt a little more refreshed, though she was still in need of a shower. When she went back to the courtyard, Kil and the others were waiting, and the first thing she said was, "Kil, you're early. I didn't expect you here for another half hour."

"Well, I guess I was just running a little ahead of schedule," he replied.

"Come on, now that we're all here, let's meet at the next rendezvous site," Fals said, heading towards the north.

They headed off to the next meeting point, a small inn where they'd rented a room prior to arriving in Germany. They went inside, a large group of five people all strangely dressed milling around the lobby, as Fals checked them in. Iven went over to examine the flowers while Jils leaned against a pillar in the corner. Kil promptly found the most comfy couch in the area and sat down, sprawled out, on the edge of falling asleep. Finally, after a rather uneventful talk with the front desk, Fals was given five room keys. She gave one to Jils and another to Iven, who both received it warmly. Kil stood up with a sigh and complained about not getting a key as well.

"Well, Kil, we weren't expecting to meet up with you when we booked. They only have us down for five people. Now we have six at least," she said. She then turned towards the elevators, which would bring the four to their room. The foursome jammed themselves into the vacant elevator train, one which was quite small to say the least. Over the speakers played the usual elevator music, soft and gentle, which was completely drowned out by Fals, who was explaining procedure.

"Okay, people," she said, "Here's the deal. If we ever get split up or need to meet, we meet in our room. That's the safest place. There is no connection to any of us there, so the enemy will never find out. If we ever need to identify ourselves for any purpose, like authentication, we will use the code Conundrum."

The three other people in the train looked at her with faces of boredom, and so Fals was not sure whether they heard her or not.

"Did you three hear a word I said!?" asked Fals, slightly infuriated.

"Yeah," Jils said with a very nonchalant air.

"Uh huh, sure," Kil said.

"Yup," replied Iven, the most enthusiastic of the bunch. Fals gave a sigh of frustration as the door opened up to lead them into a manila colored hallway that seemed to stretch forever.

The four walked down the hall, counting the room numbers as they went. They stopped in front of room 6106. Fals opened the door, and they all went in. The room was rather large, about twenty-five feet across and twenty feet wide. They threw down their bags, and Kil promptly occupied one of the beds near the television. He grabbed the remote and immediately began to flip through the channels, snickering at the things he found broadcasting on German Networks Inc., the national television network.

Other than the two queen size beds there was the TV, two stuffed armchairs, a light, a coffee table, which ran alongside the TV, and a coffee pot on top of the table. Fals decided to go to the bathroom to take a shower, and so went into the back.

Meanwhile, Iven pulled out a book to read, then said, "And so we wait for news of our comrades."