Well, first it's computer trouble for two weeks, the ff.net goes down, then
I'm sick in addition to all sorts of business going around here, and then
a bout of writer's block... You know what? One might say that the odds were
against this chapter. But then, my brother found my FFIX Piano Collection,
the album I normally lisen to to help get in the mood to write this story!
Joe: I had no clue I had it! Honest! I'm sooooooo sorry! Forgive meeeeeeee!
Okay. n_n without further ado,
~Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katatsumuri soro-soro nobore Fuji no yama
{Tiny snail, ever so slowly climbing up the mountain of Fuji.}
(a haiku by Issa, translated by myself)
The sun had risen, although no one could tell. The dazzling artificial lights cast their shadows upon the sky.
"I'm ready!" Ashley called as she ran towards Roy, who was waiting in front of the Card Stadium. She was wearing a rapier at her side, and not much else. Roy stared. "Well," she chirped, "let's go!" Roy continued to stare. "Hey!" she finally screamed in his face.
"Huh?" he suddenly snapped back into reality.
"Let's go!" she growled.
"Where—oh, the boat!" he chuckled self-consciously. "This way."
~~~~~
A small, but sleek, clipped-sail ship cut out of the traffic of the Derek harbor and headed east around the Deadly Cape, where it took a northeastern route. A far smaller and far less seaworthy ship was following it closely at first but soon dropped back as the other picked up speed across the open waves. A third ship, a Lindblum model, trailed the second ship at a safe distance.
"We'll lose him if we keep following your son," Beatrix said as she peered through her telescope.
"Then, when we're at a good distance, we'll just pick up his trail, and go past Roy's tub," Amarant shrugged from behind the steering wheel.
"Why don't we just pick Roy and the girl up?"
"No way," Amarant snapped.
"The target ship is a trader, Amarant," Beatrix said, turning around. "It's meant for open sea travel, to places like New Bran Bal. Your son's rowboat will never make a trip like that."
"Good," the redhead snorted. "Maybe he'll figure that out and go home. Although I was hoping that he'd be able to keep up so that we could just trail him without the target guy noticing us."
"I'll never understand the way you think," she sighed.
"Good for you," Amarant remarked. "Anyway, you think that ship is headed for New Bran Bal?"
"Who knows?" it was Beatrix's turn to shrug. "But if that white-haired man was indeed involved in the capturing of Alexandria, there is then no doubt in my mind that he knows the whereabouts of the Queen."
"So, we're following him," he rolled his eyes. "Although Roy's normally wrong."
"When I say I have no doubt," the general replied, "I have no doubt."
"Hmph, I don't doubt it," Amarant smirked. Beatrix cast a frowning side-glance at him and went back to her telescope.
The boat ahead of them was floundering.
"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Ashley whined again. "I told you to let me get the boat!"
"No, you didn't," Roy objected, as he paddled for all he was worth.
"Did too," she sniffed.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Fine," he pouted. "It's too late now anyway. If you want to go faster, just give me a hand already!"
"No."
The boat ahead of this one cut through the waves like a sled through a snow bank. Seraphim shaded his light-sensitive eyes against the morning sun as he looked out over the horizon of deep blue. It was shaping up to be a clear day, good for this sort of traveling. Of course, he would have preferred an airship, but Shido Mart was not about to spend money on his firepower's comfort. As little as the mage liked this, he was silent about it, for at this point, they still needed the greedy nobleman. This would not be the case for much longer.
"Master Shade!" one of the crewmembers addressed him as he ran up behind him.
"What is it?" the albino asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"It appears we are being followed, sir!"
"Oh? By whom?"
"An unidentified rowboat."
"Oh," Seraphim sounded vastly disappointed. "We're close in yet. Give the boat some time. If it still appears to be following us tomorrow, I may consider doing something about it."
"You might?" the crewmember seemed surprised. "You're not worried about it?"
"Should I be?" Seraphim shrugged as he glanced down at his shadow. Judging from its position, the sun was beginning to near its zenith. "Time to go inside," the albino muttered, and made for his cabin.
~~~~~
The stained glass had been glowing well over twenty-four hours, so Faun could not be certain what time it was. This place was all magnificent, terrifying, and yet intriguing. It was a shining labyrinth of light and marble statues, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. Enraptured by this place, he had wandered and gotten lost. The entirety of the palace was enchanted with the light of the noonday sun, but this made it no less disturbing to Faun. And his stomach kept growling. So, he wandered for hours, his mind fluctuating between admiring the art around him and wondering how long it would take him to starve to death.
Then he heard a voice: a singing voice, as sweet as those of the angels. Or, at least, what he imagined angels must sound like. The strength of the notes echoed across the vast halls, making them almost impossible to track. Gradually, he located the source, and stepped out of midday into midnight. The source of the melody was leaning against the outlook over the mountain. Her dark hair blended into the night sky as it was whisked around by frisky zephyrs, but her face reflected the light of the moon as she idly sang to herself. Trying to remain unseen, Faun tiptoed further out of the castle to hide behind a large rock. Raven continued her song and reached her hand out into the night. A frenzied flapping sound drew close but stopped altogether as the princess withdrew her hand to reveal a bat hanging from her forefinger. She continued humming as she twisted her hand about, watching the evening creature happily munch upon the oglop it had caught. Faun gagged.
"Not hungry anymore?" Raven crooned into the night. The little bat dropped off her hand and scampered away through the air. She then turned her ice eyes on Faun's hiding place. "Well?" It was then that Faun realized that she had been addressing him and not the bat.
"I am hungry!" he assured her. "Only I—wait, how'd you know I—"
"The only thing louder than your footfalls is your stomach," said she, tossing her long hair.
"You could hear that over your singing?"
"Are you saying I'm loud?" she sent him a sharp glance.
"No!" he denied it. "I mean, yes. But you sound good…" Her accusing glare slipped into one of disdain. "Look, I've been lost for who knows how long and I'm starving."
"Two days," said she, as she began to walk back inside the palace.
"What?"
"You've been missing for two days. Now, follow me and I'll show you where the food is." He was rather taken aback by this response, for he didn't know whether to place it as snide or as nice. One could never tell with Raven. So he simply followed her through several passages that he could not remember whether he had passed through or not. Presently, they arrived in an elaborate dining room.
"This is the only one that still works," Raven said as she walked up to a row of odd-looking machines. She pressed a button and a gray object the size of a biscuit popped out of a slot. "Enjoy," she said, handing it to him.
"What is it?" he asked as he looked apprehensively upon the rubbery substance.
"A meal, with all the proteins and vitamins you'd need from a meal," she started to walk away.
"But I'm hungry…" he muttered.
"Then eat it," she rolled her eyes, "and follow me, because I shan't be stranded here without a pilot." Does that mean she was worried about me? Faun wondered as he followed her, chewing the tasteless substance. No, that's too good to be true…
"This is a teleporter," Raven said, stepping onto a circular thing. "Get on." He complied, and before he knew it, he was in a different room. "This is the main room," she explained. "There are many teleporters in this palace, but all of them lead back here. That one takes you to the dock, this one to the kitchen, and that one to the dungeon and library halls."
"Oh," he nodded unwittingly. She had begun walking again, so he followed her into the next chamber.
"I believe these were Kuja's chambers," she walked over to the silent fireplace. "That teleporter connects to all the others in the entire palace, so stay away from it." Faun nodded absently as he made his way about the room. The place was both inviting and unsettling, which appealed to the artist in Faun. He meandered about, poking at things, while Raven simply stared at the fireplace. Presently, Faun opened the drawer of the bed stand, and was surprised to find what appeared to be a small notebook.
"What's this?" he asked as he produced it from the little drawer. She glanced back at him only to whirl around.
"Give it to me!" she blazed towards him and took it from his surprised hands. He watched her for a while as she flipped through the pages with trembling fingers.
"What?" Faun scratched his head. "Is it his diary or something?"
"No," she smiled. "It's how to cast a comet in the same amount of time as a meteor…casting flare on multiple people…methods for bringing out the true power of Holy magic…and…" Here she broke off into deep chortling. Then the laughter rose into something more disturbing.
"Um…Raven?" Faun took a step backward. She grinned up at the ceiling, her pale features bearing the fullness of delight.
"Thank you, Oji-san."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oji-san= how one addresses one's uncle. I debated about doing that, but maybe you can guess why I decided to. n_n
Okay, that was a short chapter.... here's why: the writer's block (which my poor beta has seem to have caught from me) has really slowed me down. I have a really important section that could fit in this chapter(some of you already know what it is, and really want me to do a good job on it). I have no clue how long it's going to be right now, so I don't know if I need a new haiku and stuff. It'll be up on Saturday, even if it kills me. Hoefully, after that, I'll be back on schedule. But I have a roadtrip to Florida coming up....
Joe: I had no clue I had it! Honest! I'm sooooooo sorry! Forgive meeeeeeee!
Okay. n_n without further ado,
~Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katatsumuri soro-soro nobore Fuji no yama
{Tiny snail, ever so slowly climbing up the mountain of Fuji.}
(a haiku by Issa, translated by myself)
The sun had risen, although no one could tell. The dazzling artificial lights cast their shadows upon the sky.
"I'm ready!" Ashley called as she ran towards Roy, who was waiting in front of the Card Stadium. She was wearing a rapier at her side, and not much else. Roy stared. "Well," she chirped, "let's go!" Roy continued to stare. "Hey!" she finally screamed in his face.
"Huh?" he suddenly snapped back into reality.
"Let's go!" she growled.
"Where—oh, the boat!" he chuckled self-consciously. "This way."
A small, but sleek, clipped-sail ship cut out of the traffic of the Derek harbor and headed east around the Deadly Cape, where it took a northeastern route. A far smaller and far less seaworthy ship was following it closely at first but soon dropped back as the other picked up speed across the open waves. A third ship, a Lindblum model, trailed the second ship at a safe distance.
"We'll lose him if we keep following your son," Beatrix said as she peered through her telescope.
"Then, when we're at a good distance, we'll just pick up his trail, and go past Roy's tub," Amarant shrugged from behind the steering wheel.
"Why don't we just pick Roy and the girl up?"
"No way," Amarant snapped.
"The target ship is a trader, Amarant," Beatrix said, turning around. "It's meant for open sea travel, to places like New Bran Bal. Your son's rowboat will never make a trip like that."
"Good," the redhead snorted. "Maybe he'll figure that out and go home. Although I was hoping that he'd be able to keep up so that we could just trail him without the target guy noticing us."
"I'll never understand the way you think," she sighed.
"Good for you," Amarant remarked. "Anyway, you think that ship is headed for New Bran Bal?"
"Who knows?" it was Beatrix's turn to shrug. "But if that white-haired man was indeed involved in the capturing of Alexandria, there is then no doubt in my mind that he knows the whereabouts of the Queen."
"So, we're following him," he rolled his eyes. "Although Roy's normally wrong."
"When I say I have no doubt," the general replied, "I have no doubt."
"Hmph, I don't doubt it," Amarant smirked. Beatrix cast a frowning side-glance at him and went back to her telescope.
The boat ahead of them was floundering.
"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Ashley whined again. "I told you to let me get the boat!"
"No, you didn't," Roy objected, as he paddled for all he was worth.
"Did too," she sniffed.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Fine," he pouted. "It's too late now anyway. If you want to go faster, just give me a hand already!"
"No."
The boat ahead of this one cut through the waves like a sled through a snow bank. Seraphim shaded his light-sensitive eyes against the morning sun as he looked out over the horizon of deep blue. It was shaping up to be a clear day, good for this sort of traveling. Of course, he would have preferred an airship, but Shido Mart was not about to spend money on his firepower's comfort. As little as the mage liked this, he was silent about it, for at this point, they still needed the greedy nobleman. This would not be the case for much longer.
"Master Shade!" one of the crewmembers addressed him as he ran up behind him.
"What is it?" the albino asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"It appears we are being followed, sir!"
"Oh? By whom?"
"An unidentified rowboat."
"Oh," Seraphim sounded vastly disappointed. "We're close in yet. Give the boat some time. If it still appears to be following us tomorrow, I may consider doing something about it."
"You might?" the crewmember seemed surprised. "You're not worried about it?"
"Should I be?" Seraphim shrugged as he glanced down at his shadow. Judging from its position, the sun was beginning to near its zenith. "Time to go inside," the albino muttered, and made for his cabin.
The stained glass had been glowing well over twenty-four hours, so Faun could not be certain what time it was. This place was all magnificent, terrifying, and yet intriguing. It was a shining labyrinth of light and marble statues, more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. Enraptured by this place, he had wandered and gotten lost. The entirety of the palace was enchanted with the light of the noonday sun, but this made it no less disturbing to Faun. And his stomach kept growling. So, he wandered for hours, his mind fluctuating between admiring the art around him and wondering how long it would take him to starve to death.
Then he heard a voice: a singing voice, as sweet as those of the angels. Or, at least, what he imagined angels must sound like. The strength of the notes echoed across the vast halls, making them almost impossible to track. Gradually, he located the source, and stepped out of midday into midnight. The source of the melody was leaning against the outlook over the mountain. Her dark hair blended into the night sky as it was whisked around by frisky zephyrs, but her face reflected the light of the moon as she idly sang to herself. Trying to remain unseen, Faun tiptoed further out of the castle to hide behind a large rock. Raven continued her song and reached her hand out into the night. A frenzied flapping sound drew close but stopped altogether as the princess withdrew her hand to reveal a bat hanging from her forefinger. She continued humming as she twisted her hand about, watching the evening creature happily munch upon the oglop it had caught. Faun gagged.
"Not hungry anymore?" Raven crooned into the night. The little bat dropped off her hand and scampered away through the air. She then turned her ice eyes on Faun's hiding place. "Well?" It was then that Faun realized that she had been addressing him and not the bat.
"I am hungry!" he assured her. "Only I—wait, how'd you know I—"
"The only thing louder than your footfalls is your stomach," said she, tossing her long hair.
"You could hear that over your singing?"
"Are you saying I'm loud?" she sent him a sharp glance.
"No!" he denied it. "I mean, yes. But you sound good…" Her accusing glare slipped into one of disdain. "Look, I've been lost for who knows how long and I'm starving."
"Two days," said she, as she began to walk back inside the palace.
"What?"
"You've been missing for two days. Now, follow me and I'll show you where the food is." He was rather taken aback by this response, for he didn't know whether to place it as snide or as nice. One could never tell with Raven. So he simply followed her through several passages that he could not remember whether he had passed through or not. Presently, they arrived in an elaborate dining room.
"This is the only one that still works," Raven said as she walked up to a row of odd-looking machines. She pressed a button and a gray object the size of a biscuit popped out of a slot. "Enjoy," she said, handing it to him.
"What is it?" he asked as he looked apprehensively upon the rubbery substance.
"A meal, with all the proteins and vitamins you'd need from a meal," she started to walk away.
"But I'm hungry…" he muttered.
"Then eat it," she rolled her eyes, "and follow me, because I shan't be stranded here without a pilot." Does that mean she was worried about me? Faun wondered as he followed her, chewing the tasteless substance. No, that's too good to be true…
"This is a teleporter," Raven said, stepping onto a circular thing. "Get on." He complied, and before he knew it, he was in a different room. "This is the main room," she explained. "There are many teleporters in this palace, but all of them lead back here. That one takes you to the dock, this one to the kitchen, and that one to the dungeon and library halls."
"Oh," he nodded unwittingly. She had begun walking again, so he followed her into the next chamber.
"I believe these were Kuja's chambers," she walked over to the silent fireplace. "That teleporter connects to all the others in the entire palace, so stay away from it." Faun nodded absently as he made his way about the room. The place was both inviting and unsettling, which appealed to the artist in Faun. He meandered about, poking at things, while Raven simply stared at the fireplace. Presently, Faun opened the drawer of the bed stand, and was surprised to find what appeared to be a small notebook.
"What's this?" he asked as he produced it from the little drawer. She glanced back at him only to whirl around.
"Give it to me!" she blazed towards him and took it from his surprised hands. He watched her for a while as she flipped through the pages with trembling fingers.
"What?" Faun scratched his head. "Is it his diary or something?"
"No," she smiled. "It's how to cast a comet in the same amount of time as a meteor…casting flare on multiple people…methods for bringing out the true power of Holy magic…and…" Here she broke off into deep chortling. Then the laughter rose into something more disturbing.
"Um…Raven?" Faun took a step backward. She grinned up at the ceiling, her pale features bearing the fullness of delight.
"Thank you, Oji-san."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oji-san= how one addresses one's uncle. I debated about doing that, but maybe you can guess why I decided to. n_n
Okay, that was a short chapter.... here's why: the writer's block (which my poor beta has seem to have caught from me) has really slowed me down. I have a really important section that could fit in this chapter(some of you already know what it is, and really want me to do a good job on it). I have no clue how long it's going to be right now, so I don't know if I need a new haiku and stuff. It'll be up on Saturday, even if it kills me. Hoefully, after that, I'll be back on schedule. But I have a roadtrip to Florida coming up....