The Song of Eternity
Canto 1
Parm: The Forsaken Realm
Verse 11
Together Again
Drawn together again back in the free land,
They gather and relive the past.
Eiko leaned back in her chair in the bar. She hadn't been working the last few days since returning to Haven, just thinking. She had left word at the castle for when the others returned, for them to meet her in the bar. So the bar was where she had stayed, alone most of the time. She had met with her companions, Deklin and the man she freed from the stone each night, but neither of them were big into talking.
She thought back to when she talked to the man she freed from the stone the day after they returned. They were sitting at the table she was at now. "Do you remember who you are?" She had asked him as they ate their dinner.
"Not something one is likely to forget," he replied in disgust. They ate in silence for a bit longer, until he broke the silence. "I am not going to do anything crazy. You two freed me. I need to find out about this place. But I am on your side."
"Don't skip town until Amarant returns, okay Kuja?" She had asked him, not believing his sincerity.
"Trust me, I am not going anywhere," he replied angrily before leaving the table and exiting the bar.
She looked into her half empty glass as she thought to the conversation she had with Deklin yesterday. They were sitting together eating in silence. Kuja had left earlier to try to find out more about his current situation. "So you had to do a lot of bad things for Ashura here?" she asked him, trying to make conversation. "Probably nothing worse than on Gaia, right?" She kept pushing, trying to pry some information from the mage. "Which of the mages were you anyway?"
"Do not speak of my acts here as if they were no big thing," he replied with fire in his eyes. "I am not one of the mages that Kuja used. I never committed an evil act on Gaia. But that was then, this is now. Vivi is dead, only Deklin remains," he said darkly as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
She rested her head on the table as the door opened and what sounded like a rowdy group of dwarves entered. She heard them cursing and shouting about some encounter they had with ogres on the way to Haven. She felt one of them sit down across the table from her. "This table is taken," she told him angrily as she raised her head at the dwarf.
"Warm welcomes, you need to work on," Deke replied as he relaxed in the chair. Eiko just stared at him as he removed his bloody and tattered chain mail. He dropped it to the ground along with a sword that was stained red and covered with scratches and nicks from battle. "What?" he asked as he noticed Eiko just staring.
"What the hell happened to you?" Eiko questioned her friend. "One day you're hanging around here, the next you come in here like you've been through a war."
"If you haven't noticed, we are at war," he laughed as he grabbed a beer from a passing waitress. "I got Pearl out of the desert, we met up with some dwarves in the mountains and I fell asleep for a couple days. When I woke up, she had left for Haven, so I headed here with the dwarven army. My group, the rear guard, got ambushed by some ogres. Do you have any idea about who I was on Gaia?"
"No, I spent most of my time in the big cities. What do you mean you slept for a couple days?" Eiko questioned him.
"I ran across that damn desert, I was tired. Whatever I was on Gaia, it musta been huge. I took out most of the ambush party myself," he finished and grew silent, intent on his drink. Another hour went by, the two of them just sat there, waiting for the others to arrive. Suddenly Deke got up from the table. He pulled a pair of daggers from his belt and pointed them at the throat area as a puff of smoke appeared and dissipated to reveal a surprised Deklin and Kuja. "No idea who that one is, but is he a friend now?" Deke asked Eiko as he pointed his dagger at Deklin.
"Yes, they're both 'friends' now," Eiko assured Deke. Deke nodded, then went back to his seat.
Deklin and Kuja sat down at the table before Deklin spoke. "Amarant and the others are on the way, they should be here in five minutes or so. How did you do that?" he asked Deke. Deke said nothing, he only shrugged. "I guess it really is you."
"What do you mean, who am I?" Deke asked him angrily as he slammed his mug down.
"I never met you, but someone who matched your description came to my village when I was on a mission back on Gaia. He gave us a lot of insight into magic, he had a natural power to feel the mana. You have to be him, you felt the spell before it happened," Deklin explained.
"Right.... Who's he?" Deke asked as he gestured at Kuja.
"Kuja, he nearly destroyed Gaia, but Amarant, Deklin, and I stopped him with help from our friends," Eiko explained.
"Then why…" Deke was cut off as Amarant, Pearl, Cid, Jack, and Lani entered the bar. "Never mind, probably nothing…" The nine of them all gathered around the table, ordered some food and drinks, then sat in silence for a bit. "So, what's going on?" Deke said as he broke the silence.
"It seems that most of us met under extreme circumstances recently, but since no one has double crossed anyone yet, I think we can trust everyone here. So, to get everyone up to speed, just go along, say who you are and what you do," Amarant took charge as most of the bar cleared out. "I am Amarant Coral, a fighter from Gaia. I was an outcast until the power of that ring," he pointed at Eiko," gave her her power back and she brought me back to normal."
"Jack Raccoumb, deposed monarch of the desert. Now I'm just a thief," Jack explained before he drank down some of his beer and leaned back in his chair.
"Lani Shinji," Lani stated, causing Deke and Amarant to look in her direction sharply. "Bounty hunter from Gaia, been pirating here for about four years."
"Kuja. I kill things. I'm from Terra, but I destroyed it and almost destroyed Gaia," Kuja said calmly as he noticed the surprised look on some of the others' faces.
"Deklin, Vivi Ornitier, whatever you want, from Gaia. I'm a black mage, but due to all my fun times here I have a lot of assassin skills," he said bitterly before swallowing some more beer.
"Eiko Carol, from Gaia as well. I know a lot of white magic and can summon monsters," she finished before elbowing Deke for his turn.
"Well, this could be a little confusing. I don't actually know myself. But from what everyone else here tells me, my name is Travis Starmore, but you can call me Deke if you want. I am apparently from some other dimension by way of Gaia. And from what I've seen, I have superior fighting skills, superhuman strength and agility, and half a metal arm. And Deklin tells me I might know some magic," he shrugged as he went back to his drink.
"Cid Pendragon, from Farluna. I am the leader of the knights of Avalon."
"Pearl Havenolsysron. You all know that I am the soon to be queen of Haven, but I can work a little curative magic as well. Now that we all know each other, does anyone have any questions?"
"Do I know you?" "Your last name is Shinji?" Deke and Amarant spoke quickly, directing their questions at Lani.
"I don't think so and so what?"
"Nothing, it just rung a bell," Deke muttered as he shook his head.
"I'll tell you sometime later," Amarant said as he decided to continue on with the meeting. "As near as we can tell, Ashura, the ogres, and the undead armies are all going to converge here the day after tomorrow. They are after these," he produces a necklace from his pocket and set it on the table. "This, along with whatever pieces the rest of you have, are our ticket out of here. This, Eiko's ring, the necklace Deklin stole, Jack's dagger, and the two pieces we took from Eden, along with whatever pieces Ashura has, are this world's crystal. He broke it fifteen years ago, Jack's people saw it and took the pieces away, scattering them as far as they could. If we can get all the pieces, we should be able to fuse them back together and go home."
"So what he's trying to say is, we need to stop Ashura's armies, then stop Ashura," Jack said, simplifying the situation.
"So what's the plan, boss man?" Deke slurred from his face down position.
"Just get out there when the fighting starts. I'll get your names out to the armory. If you need things, go get them tomorrow. When the fighting starts, if you see Ashura, send out a signal and try to hold him off until help arrives. Thank you for your help," Pearl said.
"No problem princess, none of us are very friendly with those forces. And all of want to go home," Kuja assured her.
"Until the battle then," Cid nodded as he raised his glass for a toast.
"Until the battle," they all agreed as the mugs clanked together.