It was getting later into the evening. Everyone, except for Kayi, was intoxicated. Layla was sitting on Starkin's lap, and Willy the shirtless Ninjahad taken out a lyre, or a harp or something along the likes and began playing.
Pretty viera, my only love, please don't cry for me,
Lovely viera, my only sweet, shed no tear for me,
I know I've been gone a long, long time, but please don't weep for me,
Pretty viera, only love, please don't cry for me!
Willy was singing loudly and as he finished his song, nearby tables began to applaude. Kayi didn't blame them- the Ninja had a genuinely good voice, good enough to sing professionally. Willy smiled drunkenly and began a new song, this time an old bangaa folksong about a long dead warrior and the sword that marked his grave.
Tellenias, the Panther, growled softly and began to howl along to Willy's singing. A Blue Mage cheered and tossed a gil-coin over, which Tellenias caught in her jaws and gave to Kayi.
Zhiraz possessed some arcane ability to be drunk as well as sober at the same time. He waved over a waitress and passed her a handful of gil and spoke for a bit. She nodded and left.
"I just ordered dinner, you guys," the fanged Hunter annouced. Everyone sobered.
"Good, I'm hungry!" Sonya exclaimed as the waitress came back and slapped down bowls of steaming stew for everyone, including Tellenias.
Kayi sampled the stew and found it to be potato. The Panther just growled but lapped the stew up gingerly, as if she were afraid it might snap out at her.
"Sso, Missssy Morgana," Dasmon said suddenly. "It appears that Bruno will be much later than we thought. Probably the Passss is blocked- again."
Kayi nodded. "Well, when will he be back?"
Starkin glanced over Layla's head. "Why you'd want to ssee him beatsss me. But I think that he'll be back by tomorrow, if he hurriesss."
Kayi nodded, spooning at her soup. "Well, I don't think I'm in a hurry... Well you guys, I forgot to tell you, I'm from the future."
Everyone stopped what they were doing. Willy stopped singing and began to laugh.
"I know that you're a nice viera, but..." the shirtless Ninja began.
"Get a shirt, Willy. I'm not ssure whether to believe you or not, unlessss you can provide proof," Starkin said.
Kayi sucked in breath. "Well, I know that you guys once hunted down a Wanted rogue mage. Layla was using a rapier, the Mage Masher, and Zhiraz was still an Archer."
Zhiraz shook his head. "'m real sorry, missy, but everyone knows that tale. It was the gossip for days."
Kayi shook her head. "No, no, but I know that there was a Templar, a Bishop, a Gladiator, and a Dragoon.The Gladiator was fighting Starkin, and he cut off his belt, and your pants fell down-"
Starkin flushed and waved the words away from his head. "Everyone found out about that too- pleasse don't tell me about it again!" the Dragoon exclaimed, blushing.
Kayi thought. "Um, I know that Bruno got turned into a chocobo instead of a frog when the Bishop cast Reflect and the spell bounced back."
Everyone was quiet. Sonya dropped her spoon. Soup dripped out of Peter's mouth as it opened.
"Kupo- how did you know?" he asked quietly.
Kayi closed her eyes. "I told you already. I'm from the future. I'm the daughter of Lady Morgana, Bruno was the Alchemist, and.... And Starkin was my bodyguard."
Starkin shook his head. "Now, misssy, weren't you that viera who I was hired to guard as a Defender? And you got dropped on your head?"
Kayi shook her head. "Well, Zhiraz is going to lose an arm when he's old, and you, Starkin, you're going to get all sorts of dieseises and arthiritis and disorders and stuff-" Kayi stopped when they just stared back blankly. "Never mind."
"Well, anyways, I saw a mission I wanted to go on," Sonya said suddenly as if nothing had happened.
"Really?" Zhiraz said, cocking an eyebrow. "What?"
"Well, there's this one human that thinks that a Summoner can summon the spirit of his dead wolf so that they can play together again. I can try for it- I mean, I've learned that kind of stuff from my aunt-" the Summoner continued to chatter on and on about her training as a mediam.
Tellenais growled again for attention and put her fanged head on Kayi's lap, the Flame Collar nearly burning through the fabric.
Kayi began to scratch the huge Panther behind the ears. "Well, Tellenais, what am I supposed to do now?"
Tellenais growled and barked, as if answering in some arcane language of the Panthers.
"Missy Morgana, we'll be going to bed down now- I've just rented a room in the Inn. Will you be staying with us?" Zhiraz said.
"Um, well, I don't want to be a burden, so I think-" Kayi began when Willy interrupted.
"Aw, Morgana, come on! Tellenais hates all of us, and we can't let the spoiled little thing- excuse me- run around! Why, the little brute's a killer!" Willy exclaimed.
The huge Panther snapped and snarled at the shirtless Ninja.
"Well sorry, Tellenais, I'm just stating my opinion, you know, this is kinda a free country," Willy said. "Except for the prison, and the Laws, and the Judges, and the Palace, and the rules, and the censorship, and the limitations, and the rulers, and, and everything else that people go to the Jadgs for."
Everyone laughed. "Yes, Missy Morgana, it will be no burden for us. You can come with us- these aren't safe times," Zhiraz said. "Why, I remember when my Pa was a boy, he needed to bring sausages for the monsters every time he went to fetch water..." And everyone pitched in their own stories.Kayi found Sonya's the most unbelievable but the most entertaining-
"When I was just a little kitt, one day it was so cold that the wind and the sunlight just froze on the ground and on the door. Well, we broke them into little pieces and stored them away, in case we needed light or wind, we could just thaw it. But there was so much sunlight and wind frozen onto the door that my Momma had to summon Ifrit just to get the frozen stuff thawed! And when he started heatin' the door up, the wind and the sun thawed, and there was this one monster squall and a huge blinding light and knocked the big guy across the room, out the back door, and into the geraniums!"
It was a fantastic evening, especially when the other clans began volunteering their own tall tales. Kayi had always loved stories.
The Blue Mage that had tossed a coin to Tellenais related about the time when it was so windy that his uncle's beehives flew everywhere and into the sky. "Yessir, my ol' Unc had so many of those little bee-housies that they just plum flew up into the sky and honey started falling out of the sky like rain!" he paused for effect. "Well, they fell all over the manor, and then chocobos tried to eat it. They stuck to it and began to make such a noise that the bells were drowned out.Mister Sir the teacher came to teach around six o' clock, 'cause he thought it was three! And that's not even the biggest part- the chocobos started flappin' and flappin' like there was nothin' else 'round. So then, the house- with everyone in it- started to fly away!"
Kayi listened to the tall tales until she felt her eyelids droop.
"Well, it be gettin' real late," Zhiraz observed.
"Kupo! We'd best be getting to the Inn upstairs," Peter said and began to stumble away. Everyone followed suit, including Tellenais, who followed behind Kayi's heels like a pet dog.