Sorry! Sorry!!! I had to wait for the tie to come undone before I could
type this, and it didn't happen until Thursday!! Now, I suppose you're
wondering which of the options won. Well, either way would've been
interesting, but.. ______ won! Yeah, I know what would happen if looks
could kill. but you won't be in suspense for long! Either way, this'll be
fun. either way she's going to try to get out of it, but will she do it?
"No," I reply. They look a bit shocked, as if no one ever defies them.
"Why not?" Asks the queen. I fold my arms over my chest.
"Where should I start? One, she's older than me. Two, she won't be able to pronounce any of the words. Three, it takes years to master. Four, I can't teach." Five, Catalina would kill me. Six, adults never listen to children, and always insist they're right. Seven, she'll teach you. I'll never translate them anything useful anyway.
"Well, I have solutions to all those problems. One, what does age matter? She'll try as hard as possible. Two, you can teach her to say the words. Three, you won't be going anywhere soon, and she's quick enough. Four, you can learn to teach." Says the king. I must think up more reasons, fast. Wait! I got it!
"I'm forbidden to teach anyone. It goes against my societies rules."
"What's your society?" Oh, great. Well, I would've had to make up a story sooner or later. Now's as good a time as ever. Acting skills won't get rusty here, that's for sure.
"Can't tell ya that."
"Why not?"
"Not allowed." Or more likely, I'm just going to struggle with my laughter. This is going to be good. I'm a first-class liar.
"Who won't let you?"
"The village elder."
"Why not?"
"It's against the rules."
"What are the rules?"
"Classified." This is really getting interesting. This king is not taking no for an answer. I might have to do my neglected, afraid, misunderstood child act.
"Why are they classified?"
"You don't know if you've broken one until you've been punished for it."
"So how do you know you aren't allowed to teach other people this language of yours?"
"." I don't have an answer for that one. Come on imagination, kick into high gear! Wait! "My sister broke that rule. I have to correct it for her, cause she's too little." I'm very glad Catalina isn't nearby. She would've hit me over the head with a ten-pound diamond and then melted it on me if she heard that. Especially because she's the older sibling.
"How are you supposed to correct this mistake?"
"Ummm." I'm supposed to kill anyone who might have learned it! Brilliant!! I'm going to get a major thrashing from Uncle and Catalina when I get back, but it'll be worth it!!
"Are you supposed to kill anyone who could possibly have learned it?" I study the floor, pretending to be nervous. "What happens if you don't?"
"Trahenshi (head gets cut off.)," I whisper, staring at the ground.
"What's Trahenshi mean?" Asks the dragon knight, coming into my cage. I carefully study the floor.
"What does it mean?" asks the queen as well, coming in and lifting my face with her hand. I smack her hand away, but she puts it back there, just as gently. I run my hand in a quick motion across my throat to show her before smacking her hand away again. This time she doesn't put it back. "If you fail, they kill you?" She asks me. I nod, still not looking at her, and silently thanking Uncle for those lessons.
"Don't worry. No one will hurt you here." Says the princess, looking suddenly solemn. It's as if they had never heard of something so cruel before. I look up, my face in an unconvinced expression. They definitely are going to think that wherever I come from killing a child for a mistake is a legal punishment.
"What about your sister? Will she be killed if you don't do it?" Asks the king. I look down again, and make tears fill my eyes, careful not to let one fall. That body language means I really don't want to tell you. It also means that the answer to his question is probably yes. "Don't worry. No one will harm you in any way, and we'll try to find your sister. You won't get in trouble for teaching Freya how to speak it." Great. There's no way out of it. I'll have to teach her.
"Promise?" I whisper, still studying the ground.
"I promise. Do you want to come out of there and talk with us some more? Give us more information, maybe?" I shake my head, still looking down. Inside I am calling them all as many names that I know, and about five hundred filthy expressions. "Do you want something for breakfast? You didn't touch your supper." Again, I shake my head. "You'll come up here later today for another chat with us, and later to teach a few simple words to Freya." The queen and Dragon Knight leave my cage, closing and locking the door behind them. The king opens the trapdoor, and I'm slowly let down to my previous position. I stay sitting on the soft rectangle for a long time, pretending to get my emotions under control. Or am I doing more than pretending? I shall have to think about that.
Like the new style? Takes up more space with fewer words. Can anyone guess whether I got more yeses or no's? This isn't the end of the chapter. just the end of this section. Next section is another meeting of the heroes, a bit later in the day. Like Clara's tall tale? Remember it. It'll be important.
The heroes meet once more an hour after their meeting with Clara, the break being for breakfast. Everyone gets there on time, and soon they're in the meeting room. "Zidane, our resident actor, you have the floor. Was Clara telling the truth?" Asks Garnet.
"About some things, but most was a lie. She's a good actor though. That 'Forbidden' bit was true, and she's definitely worried about her sister. She probably won't get killed if she fails her mission, just beaten up badly or made an outcaste. The rest was a lie, except for what that word means. She couldn't have faked that. And she's definitely scared of something or someone. The reason why she was killing and that society bit was a complete lie. She probably will teach Freya how to speak it correctly, but. she's a good actress." Says Zidane
"Still, that's sad," Says Garnet. "To be so afraid of people that she has to make up lies for whatever she does. who could've possibly made a kid so afraid? And are you sure her village elder sent her on this mission, or someone else?"
"Someone else," He decides. "That lie was good, but it was obviously spur of the moment. The only thing is, who? And where? They definitely don't live in Alexandria."
"They might've lived in Lindblum's slums. I've tried to figure out the society there, and it's if you make a mistake, you die. They don't care about age. She might have been abused so badly when she was a child she's killing all the adults so no one else will have to go through what she did." says Eiko reasonably. "I've tried to close that place down, but they manage to turn invisible whenever I look for a trail."
"W-whatever it is, we've got to get to know her better. And find her sister, before it's too late." Says Vivi. "Whatever she's doing, she has a reason for it."
"What is that reason? She has one but we do not know what it is." Considers Freya. "Or maybe we do know what it is, and do not know it."
"Why do you always have to make things harder for us than it already is? Steiner and I already have a lot to do, what with actually keeping security tight in this place. Steiner is busy training his knights to actually be strong enough to keep her here without a majority of his forces getting sent to an emergency room, and I'm busy lecturing my troops on keeping vigil at all hours, so she doesn't escape." Explains Beatrix. "I thought we'd have an adult in our cage, not someone who can't be older than thirteen."
"I agree. My troops feel sorry for her, and seem to think she was frantic to attempt that escape earlier." Says Steiner. "Not only are they arguing about training harder, but they want to go in and cheer her up. Only the most seriously hurt realize that if this were any more false, they would already be dead. She's intelligent, and is very capable of breaking out at any time. The only problem is, when?"
"You're forgetting we planned for that already, Steiner. Under the skin of her right hand Eiko planted a microchip, then cured the skin back together." Explains Zidane.
"I want to talk to you about that. I don't think our prisoner is all she appears." Says Eiko.
"How so?"
"She didn't have any blood that escaped. It was like it was cloth. I think our little terrorist is wearing a disguise."
"Are you serious?!" asks everyone else as one.
"Positive. Our murderer either doesn't want us getting her real features known to mind, or she has a few distinguishing features that would help us trace her if she escaped." Explains Eiko.
"Really. What might those features be?"
"What do you think? All shapes, sizes, and ages are common. People with deformities live on almost every street. Hippos, humans, moogles, and many other people live in harmony together. There's only one really distinguished feature she could have." Says Eiko, looking a bit nervous.
"What is it?" Asks Zidane, looking intrigued.
"A tail." You can guess who said that, and I'm going to put down the reaction just for fun.
"WHAT!!!!!!???????!!!!!!!" Exclaim Vivi, Zidane, Garnet, Beatrix, and Freya. Zidane having jumped three feet in the air, Vivi looking pale (interesting), Garnet looking. like a family member was run over by a bus without getting hurt, Beatrix looking as if she can't believe it, and Freya looking as though she.(you try thinking this stuff up!). yawned. Steiner fainted.
"You can't be serious," Zidane says with wide eyes once he lands and Steiner wakes up. "If this is a joke this is a bad one. Only Burmecians and Genomes have tails."
"There are no burmecian children or teens missing at the moment," Considers Freya, "And it has been almost seven years since we've last checked on their progress with New Bran Bal."
"I don't think any of them would be like this," Insists Zidane. "I mean, they're good people. A bit strange, but good."
"They've never been parents," Considers Beatrix. "It might be possible their strange culture has pushed a few of their more frail children over the edge."
"We'll have to think about this later," Sighs Garnet. "Freya has to have her first lesson in gibberish soon, and we have to address our citizens with what we know for sure about her."
"Our knights need some updating as well," Confirms Steiner, and the meeting is adjourned.
I'm Evil.so evil. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry, just had that bit of insanity out of my system. Now, to check up on Catalina and Michimi, and what they're doing. Also, to answer my sister, who is reading over my shoulder, question. yes. I did mean to type frail!
Catalina is lying facedown on a mountainside. She looks exhausted. Michimi is in a sling on her back, fast asleep. A young pink chocobo comes over and begins to nibble on Michimi's pompom. He wakes up with a startled "Kupo!" and jumps out of the sling. Catalina jumps up.
"What is it? What is it?! A monster? A knight?" She asks, and then sees the Chocobo. "A monster! And he looks yummy." The chocobo starts looking nervous.
"Kupo! That's no monster! That's Chibu! He's my friend, a chocobo!" Exclaims Michimi happily. "How many times have I told you my pompom is not an apple?" He asks the chocobo, flying over.
"He still looks yummy."
"You can't eat chocobo's, Kupo!"
"What's a chocobo?" Asks Catalina, looking confused. Michimi looks surprised.
"You don't know what a chocobo is, kupo?" Asks Michimi. "I thought everyone knew what a chocobo is, kupo!"
"Excuse me for growing up on another continent!"
"They have chocobo's on every continent, kupo! Though on some continents they're rare."
"Shut up! You don't have to rub it in." Claims Catalina. Privately wondering why she had wanted the moogle to come along.
"A chocobo is a bird, kupo!"
"I can see that!"
"Chocobo's are fun to ride around on, and they change color depending on their abilities, kupo."
"What can pink do?"
"Each color can do the same things as the one before it, and something else, kupo."
"So what are the colors and what can each color do?"
"Yellow can walk on flat and gently sloping land. Blue can swim in shallow water. Pink can climb mountains. Purple can swim deep water. Gold can fly."
"I get it. So this one can take us anywhere on the continent?"
"No, kupo. It only helps people it likes. You could try finding Choco. He's Chibu's dad. He's a golden chocobo."
"Cool! What do you say, Chibu?" She asks walking towards him and smiling. "Will you find your dad for us?" The chocobo starts to walk away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" She tries to climb on its back. The chocobo shakes her off and starts to run much faster than she can. "Fine, be that way! Who needs ya!" She shouts after him, and then turns to Michimi. "I still have some leftover supper. Let's have that before moving on." She sees Michimi is laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Kupo! Michimi doesn't bossy people on his back, kupo!"
"Humph"
Well! That was an. interesting chapter. Now, R&R!!
"No," I reply. They look a bit shocked, as if no one ever defies them.
"Why not?" Asks the queen. I fold my arms over my chest.
"Where should I start? One, she's older than me. Two, she won't be able to pronounce any of the words. Three, it takes years to master. Four, I can't teach." Five, Catalina would kill me. Six, adults never listen to children, and always insist they're right. Seven, she'll teach you. I'll never translate them anything useful anyway.
"Well, I have solutions to all those problems. One, what does age matter? She'll try as hard as possible. Two, you can teach her to say the words. Three, you won't be going anywhere soon, and she's quick enough. Four, you can learn to teach." Says the king. I must think up more reasons, fast. Wait! I got it!
"I'm forbidden to teach anyone. It goes against my societies rules."
"What's your society?" Oh, great. Well, I would've had to make up a story sooner or later. Now's as good a time as ever. Acting skills won't get rusty here, that's for sure.
"Can't tell ya that."
"Why not?"
"Not allowed." Or more likely, I'm just going to struggle with my laughter. This is going to be good. I'm a first-class liar.
"Who won't let you?"
"The village elder."
"Why not?"
"It's against the rules."
"What are the rules?"
"Classified." This is really getting interesting. This king is not taking no for an answer. I might have to do my neglected, afraid, misunderstood child act.
"Why are they classified?"
"You don't know if you've broken one until you've been punished for it."
"So how do you know you aren't allowed to teach other people this language of yours?"
"." I don't have an answer for that one. Come on imagination, kick into high gear! Wait! "My sister broke that rule. I have to correct it for her, cause she's too little." I'm very glad Catalina isn't nearby. She would've hit me over the head with a ten-pound diamond and then melted it on me if she heard that. Especially because she's the older sibling.
"How are you supposed to correct this mistake?"
"Ummm." I'm supposed to kill anyone who might have learned it! Brilliant!! I'm going to get a major thrashing from Uncle and Catalina when I get back, but it'll be worth it!!
"Are you supposed to kill anyone who could possibly have learned it?" I study the floor, pretending to be nervous. "What happens if you don't?"
"Trahenshi (head gets cut off.)," I whisper, staring at the ground.
"What's Trahenshi mean?" Asks the dragon knight, coming into my cage. I carefully study the floor.
"What does it mean?" asks the queen as well, coming in and lifting my face with her hand. I smack her hand away, but she puts it back there, just as gently. I run my hand in a quick motion across my throat to show her before smacking her hand away again. This time she doesn't put it back. "If you fail, they kill you?" She asks me. I nod, still not looking at her, and silently thanking Uncle for those lessons.
"Don't worry. No one will hurt you here." Says the princess, looking suddenly solemn. It's as if they had never heard of something so cruel before. I look up, my face in an unconvinced expression. They definitely are going to think that wherever I come from killing a child for a mistake is a legal punishment.
"What about your sister? Will she be killed if you don't do it?" Asks the king. I look down again, and make tears fill my eyes, careful not to let one fall. That body language means I really don't want to tell you. It also means that the answer to his question is probably yes. "Don't worry. No one will harm you in any way, and we'll try to find your sister. You won't get in trouble for teaching Freya how to speak it." Great. There's no way out of it. I'll have to teach her.
"Promise?" I whisper, still studying the ground.
"I promise. Do you want to come out of there and talk with us some more? Give us more information, maybe?" I shake my head, still looking down. Inside I am calling them all as many names that I know, and about five hundred filthy expressions. "Do you want something for breakfast? You didn't touch your supper." Again, I shake my head. "You'll come up here later today for another chat with us, and later to teach a few simple words to Freya." The queen and Dragon Knight leave my cage, closing and locking the door behind them. The king opens the trapdoor, and I'm slowly let down to my previous position. I stay sitting on the soft rectangle for a long time, pretending to get my emotions under control. Or am I doing more than pretending? I shall have to think about that.
Like the new style? Takes up more space with fewer words. Can anyone guess whether I got more yeses or no's? This isn't the end of the chapter. just the end of this section. Next section is another meeting of the heroes, a bit later in the day. Like Clara's tall tale? Remember it. It'll be important.
The heroes meet once more an hour after their meeting with Clara, the break being for breakfast. Everyone gets there on time, and soon they're in the meeting room. "Zidane, our resident actor, you have the floor. Was Clara telling the truth?" Asks Garnet.
"About some things, but most was a lie. She's a good actor though. That 'Forbidden' bit was true, and she's definitely worried about her sister. She probably won't get killed if she fails her mission, just beaten up badly or made an outcaste. The rest was a lie, except for what that word means. She couldn't have faked that. And she's definitely scared of something or someone. The reason why she was killing and that society bit was a complete lie. She probably will teach Freya how to speak it correctly, but. she's a good actress." Says Zidane
"Still, that's sad," Says Garnet. "To be so afraid of people that she has to make up lies for whatever she does. who could've possibly made a kid so afraid? And are you sure her village elder sent her on this mission, or someone else?"
"Someone else," He decides. "That lie was good, but it was obviously spur of the moment. The only thing is, who? And where? They definitely don't live in Alexandria."
"They might've lived in Lindblum's slums. I've tried to figure out the society there, and it's if you make a mistake, you die. They don't care about age. She might have been abused so badly when she was a child she's killing all the adults so no one else will have to go through what she did." says Eiko reasonably. "I've tried to close that place down, but they manage to turn invisible whenever I look for a trail."
"W-whatever it is, we've got to get to know her better. And find her sister, before it's too late." Says Vivi. "Whatever she's doing, she has a reason for it."
"What is that reason? She has one but we do not know what it is." Considers Freya. "Or maybe we do know what it is, and do not know it."
"Why do you always have to make things harder for us than it already is? Steiner and I already have a lot to do, what with actually keeping security tight in this place. Steiner is busy training his knights to actually be strong enough to keep her here without a majority of his forces getting sent to an emergency room, and I'm busy lecturing my troops on keeping vigil at all hours, so she doesn't escape." Explains Beatrix. "I thought we'd have an adult in our cage, not someone who can't be older than thirteen."
"I agree. My troops feel sorry for her, and seem to think she was frantic to attempt that escape earlier." Says Steiner. "Not only are they arguing about training harder, but they want to go in and cheer her up. Only the most seriously hurt realize that if this were any more false, they would already be dead. She's intelligent, and is very capable of breaking out at any time. The only problem is, when?"
"You're forgetting we planned for that already, Steiner. Under the skin of her right hand Eiko planted a microchip, then cured the skin back together." Explains Zidane.
"I want to talk to you about that. I don't think our prisoner is all she appears." Says Eiko.
"How so?"
"She didn't have any blood that escaped. It was like it was cloth. I think our little terrorist is wearing a disguise."
"Are you serious?!" asks everyone else as one.
"Positive. Our murderer either doesn't want us getting her real features known to mind, or she has a few distinguishing features that would help us trace her if she escaped." Explains Eiko.
"Really. What might those features be?"
"What do you think? All shapes, sizes, and ages are common. People with deformities live on almost every street. Hippos, humans, moogles, and many other people live in harmony together. There's only one really distinguished feature she could have." Says Eiko, looking a bit nervous.
"What is it?" Asks Zidane, looking intrigued.
"A tail." You can guess who said that, and I'm going to put down the reaction just for fun.
"WHAT!!!!!!???????!!!!!!!" Exclaim Vivi, Zidane, Garnet, Beatrix, and Freya. Zidane having jumped three feet in the air, Vivi looking pale (interesting), Garnet looking. like a family member was run over by a bus without getting hurt, Beatrix looking as if she can't believe it, and Freya looking as though she.(you try thinking this stuff up!). yawned. Steiner fainted.
"You can't be serious," Zidane says with wide eyes once he lands and Steiner wakes up. "If this is a joke this is a bad one. Only Burmecians and Genomes have tails."
"There are no burmecian children or teens missing at the moment," Considers Freya, "And it has been almost seven years since we've last checked on their progress with New Bran Bal."
"I don't think any of them would be like this," Insists Zidane. "I mean, they're good people. A bit strange, but good."
"They've never been parents," Considers Beatrix. "It might be possible their strange culture has pushed a few of their more frail children over the edge."
"We'll have to think about this later," Sighs Garnet. "Freya has to have her first lesson in gibberish soon, and we have to address our citizens with what we know for sure about her."
"Our knights need some updating as well," Confirms Steiner, and the meeting is adjourned.
I'm Evil.so evil. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Sorry, just had that bit of insanity out of my system. Now, to check up on Catalina and Michimi, and what they're doing. Also, to answer my sister, who is reading over my shoulder, question. yes. I did mean to type frail!
Catalina is lying facedown on a mountainside. She looks exhausted. Michimi is in a sling on her back, fast asleep. A young pink chocobo comes over and begins to nibble on Michimi's pompom. He wakes up with a startled "Kupo!" and jumps out of the sling. Catalina jumps up.
"What is it? What is it?! A monster? A knight?" She asks, and then sees the Chocobo. "A monster! And he looks yummy." The chocobo starts looking nervous.
"Kupo! That's no monster! That's Chibu! He's my friend, a chocobo!" Exclaims Michimi happily. "How many times have I told you my pompom is not an apple?" He asks the chocobo, flying over.
"He still looks yummy."
"You can't eat chocobo's, Kupo!"
"What's a chocobo?" Asks Catalina, looking confused. Michimi looks surprised.
"You don't know what a chocobo is, kupo?" Asks Michimi. "I thought everyone knew what a chocobo is, kupo!"
"Excuse me for growing up on another continent!"
"They have chocobo's on every continent, kupo! Though on some continents they're rare."
"Shut up! You don't have to rub it in." Claims Catalina. Privately wondering why she had wanted the moogle to come along.
"A chocobo is a bird, kupo!"
"I can see that!"
"Chocobo's are fun to ride around on, and they change color depending on their abilities, kupo."
"What can pink do?"
"Each color can do the same things as the one before it, and something else, kupo."
"So what are the colors and what can each color do?"
"Yellow can walk on flat and gently sloping land. Blue can swim in shallow water. Pink can climb mountains. Purple can swim deep water. Gold can fly."
"I get it. So this one can take us anywhere on the continent?"
"No, kupo. It only helps people it likes. You could try finding Choco. He's Chibu's dad. He's a golden chocobo."
"Cool! What do you say, Chibu?" She asks walking towards him and smiling. "Will you find your dad for us?" The chocobo starts to walk away. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" She tries to climb on its back. The chocobo shakes her off and starts to run much faster than she can. "Fine, be that way! Who needs ya!" She shouts after him, and then turns to Michimi. "I still have some leftover supper. Let's have that before moving on." She sees Michimi is laughing. "What's so funny?"
"Kupo! Michimi doesn't bossy people on his back, kupo!"
"Humph"
Well! That was an. interesting chapter. Now, R&R!!
