Author's Note: Due to another pointer about the breaks in paragraphs (which I admit is fair criticism, I don't want to give the impression I'm offended, I'm not), I've decided to make the offer here. I like ending/starting paragraphs with dialogue, I think it works effectively. When it shows up. It doesn't on So here's my offer. My e-mail is available in my profile, so, if you want to read the story with proper paragraph breaks, e-mail me and ask, and I'll send it to you in its text file format where it looks like its supposed to. Should hopefully make reading easier for you guys, because I really appreciate all the feedback I'm getting and all the people who are enjoying it.
PART XXII
The Goliath was thundering through the air slowly. Vivli looked down at the rubble of the island below, smashed to pieces just outside of San D'Oria. She decided that had been a close one. Bootus walked up behind her. Her ears nervously twitched, something the galka had never seen happen before. Just before Bootus could speak, she pulled up the hood on the back of her robe and turned to face him. Bootus stopped, and decided to say something else.
"Are you afraid I'm going to touch your ears?" He asked, having observed her strange behaviour.
"Maybe." Vivli answered, nervously, looking to the floor.
"Well don't be." Bootus grumbled. "I have no desire to send you into orgasmic pleasure."
"It's not orgasmic!" Vivli cried very loudly, which got extraordinarily strange glances from Zinkata, Voldos and Cid. "It's not!" She cried again as Bootus broke down into giggles.
"If you say so." Bootus smirked. "Looked like it to me."
"You're a galka. It's beyond your understanding." She taunted. "Then again, most stuff is beyond a galka."
"Hey!" Bootus cried with mock offence. "There's no need to be racist about it!" Vivli sighed.
"Sorry." She took Bootus a little too seriously. "I just feel really…" She trailed off, looking for the right word. "Strange. Really vulnerable. Like people know this little thing that's my biggest weakness."
"Li, you have many weaknesses. I don't care about any of them." Bootus was actually being comforting in his own way, although Vivli just took it as an insult. She turned and looked back down at the rubble below. Bootus could tell she was thinking about Olose. Bootus was always a curious person, he was horrible at being supportive and kind, but had his own special way of going about things. "So come on, I'm sure there'll be plenty of other guys to exploit that weakness for you." He said sarcastically. She turned around, looking fairly angry. Bootus smiled to himself. She was suitably distracted from any depressive thoughts she might be having.
"No!" She cried. "Nobody is going to find out about this. Clear?"
"Well, I dunno. I might tell some people." Bootus laughed. "Might put it up on a message board in the tavern back in Bastok."
"BOOTUS!" Vivli yelled like an angry child. "Don't you dare!"
"Would you two stop bickering and get over here?" Zinkata called. The two wondered over to join the others party.
Zinkata had been trying to look at a map, but the wind on the airship had just blown it away.
"Perhaps we should discuss this below decks." He pondered.
"Discuss what?" Bootus asked.
"What we do next, you moron." Zinkata sighed.
"An attack is futile." Voldos explained. "San D'Oria is unbreachable."
"Don't be so sure Sparky." Vivli said with a smile. Voldos rose an eyebrow. That was a nickname long forgotten. "I bet Windurst could blow down those walls with their magic. And if they couldn't the mithran mercenaries could scale it easily."
"Yeah, and the taru white mages could devastate Lich's forces." Zinkata agreed.
"So, to Windurst then?" Vivli smiled.
"No." Bootus folded his arms. "It isn't safe enough. If we're launching a full frontal attack, we need everything we can get. We go to Bastok."
"Okay fine." Sighed Zinkata. "Windurst hasn't been attacked yet, so they might not be aware of how serious it is. Vivli and Voldos can go there. Voldos as a representative of San D'Oria, and Vivli as one of their own. We'll head to Bastok and get the army from there." Zinkata stopped for a smile. "We, my friends, are going to attack San D'Oria."
The Goliath soared across the sea, having dropped off Bootus and Zinkata in Bastok. Voldos was lazily slouched in the cargo hold.
"Smarten yourself up." Vivli advised. "You're representing your entire nation."
"You know, technically I'm a Bastoker." Voldos pointed out.
"Yeah, but they don't know that." Vivli smiled. "So look smart."
"You're one to talk!" Voldos remarked. "In that scruffy robe."
"I am not scruffy!" Vivli cried, typically overreacting. "It's just got a little dirty, considering what we've been doing."
"Ya look scruffy to me." Voldos laughed. Vivli angrily marched over and started digging through the crates in the Goliath's hold.
"Fine. There must be mage robes in here somewhere." Vivli said, shuffling between armour. Voldos chuckled to himself. He was beginning to understand why Bootus enjoyed winding her up so much. She finally pulled out some dark blue ones, covered with a gold pattern. "Ha! Told you!" She looked at them. "Their a little dusty, but they'll do." She waited for a moment. "Well, I'm going to get changed. I'd rather you didn't watch."
"Aw, damn." Voldos sighed, getting up and wondering out. Vivli froze.
"And just what does that mean?" She pondered.
Meanwhile Zinkata and Bootus strolled through the streets of Bastok.
"It sure feels good to be home." Bootus sighed.
"We aren't home for long." Zinkata reminded him. "We have to find someone to get the Bastokian army behind us."
"Zinkata! Bootus!" A voice called.
"Andrew!" Zinkata cried in surprise.
"That's General Andrew." Andrew smiled.
"General?" Bootus explained, surprised.
"Yeah, apparently they needed some leaders, and I fitted the bill, considering my experience with the rebels." Andrew paused. "What's better is I get to lay it all down as soon as the fiends have been defeated and go back to adventuring."
"Well, it could be over soon." Zinkata explained.
"Yeah, but we need your help." Bootus pointed out.
"What can I do?" Andrew asked casually.
"We're planning to attack San D'Oria." Zinkata stated. "By combining forces with Windurst's mages. Right now, the fiends are at their weakest. It's our one opportunity to end this once and for all."
"If Windurst agree, I shouldn't have much trouble persuading the President." Andrew smiled. "If Bastok goes down in history as the nation that saved San D'Oria…" He paused. "Well, let's just say the President won't let our elvaans neighbours forget very soon."
"Andrew!" Came the voice of Celphie as she ran up to him.
"Ahem." Andrew said proudly.
"I mean, General Andrew, sir." She growled with sarcastic anger.
"That's better." Andrew laughed.
"I never thought I'd have to call my little brother 'sir'." Celphie sighed.
"Get used to it, sis." Andrew smiled. The two were obviously joking with each other, but Zinkata got the impression Andrew was enjoying himself.
"That's Captain." She shot back. If she couldn't be called 'sir', she'd make sure she was called by her rank.
"Very well, Captain Sis." Andrew mocked.
"They remind me of you and Vivli." Zinkata remarked to Bootus.
"Whataru?" Exclaimed the tiny tarutaru to Vivli and Voldos angrily. The two were stood in a large conference room in Windurst, talking to two tarutaru leaders.
"We need to attack San D'Oria." Vivli stated again, nervously. Voldos noticed her ears were twitching; a new habit she seemed to have picked up whenever she was nervous.
"That makes very little sensey-wence." The second said. "San D'Oria is very well defended and-"
"And it's going to attack if we don't do something." Voldos finished off, having no respect for the bickering tarutarus. "Lich has an army of undead fiends, however weakened from Bastok's victory, and the three other fiends have been resurrected. They will have a rebuilt army unless we act now." Voldos paused. "Of course, if Windurst isn't up to it, I'll understand. Can be pretty scary for little guys like you."
"WHATARU?" Screamed one of the tarutaru. "Why! I should blast you into nothingness right now!"
"Calm down!" Cried Vivli quickly. "Look, take my word for it. I have the blessing of the Star Sybil herself you know?"
"We know." The two tarutaru grumbled together.
"And I don't know why she'd give it to a pathetic feline like you!" The first snapped. "It's us tarus who should be getting the glory around here!"
"You're leaders are worse than Bastok's." Voldos whispered to Vivli.
"Look, are you going to help us?" Vivli asked. "Or do I have to go to the Star Sybil?" The two tarutaru quickly began to talk among themselves. They turned back.
"And howey-wowey do you suggest we get to Bastok?" One asked.
"Airship." Voldos answered. "We can easily call them in from Jeuno." The two taru pondered this.
"It is our only option." One stated.
"Now you two wait until the airships arrive." The second instructed. "Go roll in the mud, or whatever it is you felines do."
"I'm an elvaan." Voldos pointed out.
"That's lovely. We don't care." The second tarutaru said as he turned away to leave. Vivli and Voldos were left with blank expressions on their faces.
Back in Bastok, Zinkata and Bootus waited outside the President's office. After some time, Andrew emerged, smiling.
"He agreed the best course of action was to mobilise our troops." Andrew explained. "Now to wait for Windurst to pull through."
"We would contact the others on the linkshells, but we had to throw them away." Zinkata explained.
"Yeah, Lich was using them to spy on us." Bootus grumbled. "I hope some of my good humour rubbed off on him."
"I hope some of our good nature rubbed off on him." Zinkata added.
"Isn't Lich an evil fiend designed to bring about the end of the world?" Andrew asked.
"Well, yes." Zinkata admitted. "So the good nature thing isn't too likely."
In Windurst, Vivli and Voldos were sat around eating, waiting for the airships from Jeuno to arrive. The word had been sent via linkshell, so it was only a matter of time before the remaining nations united once again to battle evil. At the time, the two were more focused on their food. Vivli was happily eating away at a fish, and Voldos was eating a slaughtered ram.
"Isn't that a little hypercritical of you?" Voldos asked.
"What?" Vivli retorted with a question, looking up from her food.
"Eating fish, although your scared of the water." Voldos explained.
"Hey! Just because I can't swim doesn't mean I can't eat fish!" She protested. "I love fish!"
"Typical feline." Sighed Voldos.
"Hey! There's nothing wrong with liking fish!" She cried.
"No. Of course not. Just such a stereotypical thing for a mithra, that's all." Voldos laughed.
"That's because we've evolved as fishers. Of course we like fish!" She moaned, taking too much offence like Voldos knew she would. She, in the process, gave him an opening for another gag.
"You evolved from fishers? So how come you can't a fish to save your life?" Voldos asked beaming a smile.
"I dunno. How come you can't pull a girl to save your life?" Vivli shot back. Voldos's smile vanished. He hadn't been expecting that.
Andrew presented his troop to the two adventurers.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Impressive." Zinkata remarked. "They'll sure give Lich a run for his gil." They were dressed in the identical matching armour of the Mythril Musketeers, now extended to Andrew's entire regiment. Celphie stood at the front of the troop. They all looked like very experienced and very powerful warriors.
"The President has also told me that Windurst has just began dispatching its forces. The message just came in over linkshell." Andrew explained.
"Excellent." Bootus smiled. "We'll be back to peace in no time. And I can get back to mocking Vivli."
Vivli was feeling particularly vulnerable to being mocked at that point. She was bundled in the hold of the Goliath, surrounded by the mithran mercenaries of Windurst. They were all much taller than she was, and dressed in heavy armour that she wouldn't even be able to lift. The one she was looking over turned down to face her.
"What arrrrre you looking at, rrrrrrrrunt?" She snarled. Vivli shrunk away.
"Nothing." She said nervously, her ears twitching.
"What's a little girrrrrl like you doing on a mission like this anyway?" The mithra asked.
"I'm not a little girl!" Vivli protested. "And I'll have you know I fought in the last war." She said with a smug smile. "I fought Chaos."
"Don't lie, girrrrrrl." The mithra snarled, pushing Vivli on the floor.
"I'm not lieing!" She cried, getting back up. Voldos came over and pulled Vivli away.
"Sheesh, what is it with the people of Windurst?" He asked. "Their worse than us elves by a long way."
"Only the higher up ones are." Vivli admitted. "Everybody else is really nice. They get a bit arrogant near the top."
"Just sit down and stay out of trouble, would you?" Voldos requested.
Zinkata and Bootus had been requested to see Cid just after the Goliath had landed in another part of the city.
"I'm glad you could make it." Cid stated. Vivli and Voldos emerged to join them.
"Hey guys." Vivli said happily.
"How's it going?" Bootus asked. "I'm impressed. You actually got that loser nation of yours into shape." The galka remarked. Vivli scowled at him.
"My latest work needs to be finished." Cid explained. "But I wanted to warn you to watch out for it on the battlefield. I hope to have it finished as soon as possible." Cid pointed across the Metalworks to the form of what looked like the Raven.
"You rebuilt her?" Zinkata exclaimed surprised. "How?"
"No. Not rebuilt." Laughed Cid. "This was too be the Raven's sister ship. Of course, it was never finished. I plan to touch it up now. The Raven II as it'll be called."
"Let's hope it meets a better fate than its sister." Voldos remarked.
"Speaking of sisters." Cried Andrew from the door. He had just run in. "Viv, you might want to see this." Vivli ran out, followed by the others.
Dedji stood outside, with a small army of mithra.
"You weren't going to let me miss out on my revenge, were you, Sis?" She asked. Vivli beamed a smile.
