Nascent

Disclaimer be in Part I

Author's Note: W00t. Tales of Symphonia ish t3h r0x0r. But Mom stole my controller cause she's mad at me... sad...

Anyway. Fanfiction news is as such: My big FF:U ficcy entitled "A Time to Reflect" is ALMOST done. Almost. Why is this important? Because I found a loophole, and I'm bringing the boys back... (stadium of fangirls erupts in happy cheers and sobs) (grin). That's what it feels like to me, anyway. That's where you're going to see what it is (once it's up, of course). I am also thinking of starting a "Final Fantasy: Unlimited Fanfiction University" in which I will post my new one-shots, reader requests, and even contributions from fellow authors. (nudge nudge, wink wink) I'm really getting an itch to write about my fan charas (Hoshi, Arashi, Heart, and Sakaratte), and you might find their stories interesting too...

In other news, if my dad is actually keeping a promise he's made, I should have a copy of Huta no Kizuna arriving sometime soon. Imported. From Japan. In Japanese. I can't read kanji myself, but my mom has a friend who can, so I'm hoping she can translate... I'm trying to be patient, but all the same, I'm pretty happy. Teehee.

Today's Story-To-Plug is another of XiaoBai-sempai's: "Dilemma for the Cloud", which is rather R-rated but still a good read for mature people... it seems to be on hiatus at the moment, but hopefully she'll update it one of these days. "Dilemma" casts a considerably darker look on the FF:U worlds... Kumo, guilt-stricken because of what happened to Aura twelve years ago, tries desperately to keep Kaze alive and evade the attention of the Earl and company as he does so. To complicate things, he's starting to have feelings for Kaze... which is not good. Why? Well, for one thing, half the reason the Earl is keeping him around is to be his slave... yes, that kind of slave. For another, the little bastage is beginning to get suspicious... and having to deal with Kaze along with being raped (and over and over, too) is starting to cause a lot of strain for poor Kumo-chan... this is a very angsty piece, as well as a good one, but what the Earl is doing is pretty disturbing, even I'll admit. However, we've been promised some good Kaze/Kumo in the future, so we can hope.

Yet another FYI: There seems to be a lot of confusion as to Kaze and Aura's relationship. A lot of authors who have apparently not listened hard enough during Episode 25 are hooking the two of them up. To all of them and everyone else who is doubtful, Aura is Kaze's sister. They cleared that up in the dubbed, although it wasn't mentioned in the original subbed. End of story. No more Kaze/Aura. Unlike Kiri/Kumo, that is a sibling relationship that just plain does not work. Thank you Square and ADV.

Story time...

(Kaze)

Now that we have acquired a boat, we're on our way again.

Little Kumo has spent days doing nothing but sitting up in the crow's nest; sometimes asleep and sometimes awake. At times, I wonder what he thinks of, alone up there. By the expression on his face, he is not always comfortable with the solitude.

Kiri has done most of the steering and the maintenance of the ship; after a day or so of being uproariously seasick, Aura has assisted him. Lisa has slept all this time, or cast fishing nets.

And I... can do nothing while the pulsing ache in my arm continues to spread.

The others don't know... only Aura. There is little I can manage without exposing my secret, and little enough anyway that can be done with one hand. I've tried to help in every way I am able, but there is still... some sense of uselessness. I cannot help them fight or operate machinery...

What, then, am I here for? With this cursed pain, the slow decay that only the crystal I hold can slow... what is my purpose on this quest?

What would I do if there was no reason?

Our ship is drawing into port now; Kiri's sharp eyes have spotted a village by the open harbor. By my memories of the world as taught to me in my youth, it is called Elfheim, and is built in a similar fashion to Cornelia, with a small wooden keep at the center of the village.

It is here where we shall make our berth...

After leaving the ship behind, the party straggled through the nearby forests towards the little village of Elfheim. Tired and still trying to recover their motor skills after being stuck on a rolling ship for a week, they didn't speak, just walked in grim silence. After their failure to retrieve news of a crystal in Pravoka, a sense of hopelessness had settled over them... would they ever be able to reach their destination? Was everything that had happened to them mere coincidence, with no higher fate involved? Were there really answers to their questions about their selection as the "heroes"?

Beyond that, they had their own crosses to bear; Kumo was still slightly shaken by his brush with death at the Chaos Shrine, Kiri berating himself for his stupidity while fighting the pirates, Kaze brooding about his supposed uselessness, Aura unusually silent and murmuring occasionally about the old woman's crystal eye, and Lisa trying to beat off memories of her attack by Garland.

It was a wonder that they even noticed when they'd drifted into town.

A pair of youths who had been camped out by the village entrance jumped up and offered to escort the weary travelers to the local inn. Kiri quickly accepted for them, and off they went.

The local woodland stew served to perk the party's spirits up a little, and while the others were busy eating, Aura asked the young waitress, who seemed pleasant and sociable, about the little village.

"This place is called Elfheim, right? Village of the last elves in the world?" The young woman nodded with a smile. "It seems so nice out here. Life must be good."

"Actually..." The girl grimaced. "Lately there's been a little trouble in these parts. A group of elves turned dark a while ago, and their leader, Astos, put our prince under a curse. He's been... sleeping for some time now, deep in a coma. The castle doctor hasn't been able to do anything about it, nor any of our mages."

"Oh..." Aura shook her head. "That's definitely not good." She turned around and elbowed Lisa, who had just set down her wooden spoon. "Hey, you can cast white magic, right?" Lisa blanched. "Why don't you take a look at him?"

"Actually, that was... um... I don't really... eheheh... it was kind of, um, spur-of-the-moment back there... I know I have the potential to heal, but... you know... I never really learned. I was lucky that the spell even worked."

"Really." Kiri gave the girl a sidelong look. Lisa was blushing, stammering, and giving an odd, slightly tone-deaf laugh... it was obvious that she was trying to hide something. "Well, when you want to tell us the truth, feel free to do so anytime."

Lisa gave him a hurt glance. "I really do have trouble with magic," she said defensively. "I don't know why I tried to cast a high-level healing on Kumo back there, but we should all be glad I did, because if I hadn't, he'd be dead, so there."

Kiri rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Well, when you want to tell us the rest of that little story, like I said, you can feel free to do that whenever you have the time. It's obvious that you're getting rather flustered about this."

"It's alright," the local said, pushing a strand of strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear (which, they noticed, tapered into a tiny point at the tip). "White mages have already examined the prince... none of them have had any success in finding out how to wake him."

"If we hear anything that'll help your prince, we'll let you know," Kumo assured the girl, pushing back his large wooden bowl with a sigh.

After the party had spent a night in Elfheim, they decided to head on to the north in order to seek out more news about crystals.

"No matter what, we have to keep going," Kiri explained to Lisa as they headed around the bends of a river. "We have to know the reason we were born with these things, and why the legends of our homes sent us out at this specific time. When we compared stories, we realized that our crystals stopped glowing at different times. Kumo's went first, but our mother and I refused to let him go until mine went out; Aura's was next; Kaze's followed hers by about a day, and mine stopped glowing at precisely the right time for us to run into each other while traveling and realize that we were supposed to go together. Now, I don't like putting a lot of stock in Fate, but even I honestly believe that this has to be more than random chance. There are too many coincidences. We have to know for certain what in the world we're supposed to do."

"As for tonight, though, I think it's seriously time to hit the sack," Aura said mid-yawn, edging back to where they were walking. "I think there's an old stone keep up ahead... it'll be damp, but way better than sleeping in the dirt or on that gods-curst ship."

"Maybe someone will be living there...?" Lisa suggested hopefully.

"There?" Kiri pointed to a large, decrepit-looking stone building. "You've gotta be joking. That place is so old and evil-looking, I doubt that even little mice hang around there for long."

Despite his words, however, they were greeted at the entrance of the old castle by a middle-aged man with curly black hair and a curly black beard, dark eyes, and royal-looking robes.

"Welcome," the stranger said. "Although, I am afraid, I do not have much hospitality to offer, you may make yourselves at home here for the night."

"Um, thanks," Aura replied, looking around as he led them into his own chamber, the only place in the whole building that was entirely intact. "If... you don't mind my asking... what in the world happened here?"

The man sighed. "I had a feeling one of you would ask that, lass," he told her, sounding melancholy. "The truth is, I was once the king of this place, back in the days when this old keep was a glorious castle. But some time ago, I was tricked by the dark elf Astos into handing over my crown, which held the magics of this place intact. Now I am liege and lord no longer, and my halls have fallen into disrepair. My only hope is for someone of courage and strength to retrieve the crown, which has been hidden in Marsh Cave, a dank hole on the southern end of this continent."

"If you got it back, you could fix everything, then?" Lisa asked.

"I believe I could, if only I had the crown. That way, I could combat Astos' dark curses and bring back new people to defend and cause my kingdom to flourish."

"We'll do it," Kiri said promptly.

Kaze and Kumo gave him identically skeptical looks.

"It's not like we're having any success at our current quest," he told them flatly. "And besides... maybe if we help this guy, he'll be able to help us in return."

"I am deeply obliged to you," the black-haired man said, bowing slightly to Kiri. "For tonight, why don't you stay in here? I shall retire to one of the smaller rooms." He bowed again and left, closing the door behind him.

"Why did you have to do that?" Kumo hissed as soon as the heavy stone ground together.

"Why are you being so weird about it?" Kiri retorted. "It's easy... all we'll have to do is go down, nab the guy's crown, and get back here. Besides, he might know something he's not telling. What's wrong with you?"

Kumo shook his head, frowning. "It's just... I've got a strange feeling about all of this. Even now... it feels like we're all being watched."

"Okay, now you're being silly," Aura said, clapping the white-haired boy on the shoulder. "Don't be paranoid. It's just a short little favor, like Kiri said."

"I don't know..." Kumo persisted, shaking his head again. "I don't like this feeling."

"But we're trying to help someone," Lisa put in. She turned shyly to the black-cloaked figure behind all of them. "Kaze...? What's your opinion?"

The brunet shrugged one shoulder restlessly, looking around. "I don't care."

"You're outvoted, ototo-chan," Kiri informed his little brother. "We do it."

Kumo sighed and settled for ranging around the room, restless and agitated.

They set out for Marsh Cave as soon as they'd eaten, with brief goodbyes to the keep's lord and a little bit of picking up before they went. A few minutes into the trek, Kumo started to have a strange expression and kept putting a hand to his temples, as if to ward something off.

"What's the matter now?" Aura asked with a sigh.

"It's the same feeling, like someone's watching us from somewhere," he murmured. "Only now, it's much worse... it's making my head hurt..."

"Are you sure you don't just have a migraine?" Aura retorted, sounding skeptical. "C'mon. We've got stuff to do and you're lagging."

"I'm sorry..." Kumo hurried a few steps forward to keep in time with the others, but the perturbed look on his face didn't go away.

"If you've really got such a bad feeling about it, then let's hurry and get this thing over with," Kiri said softly, rubbing his little brother's shoulder. "Ganbatte, ne?"

"Unn," Kumo replied, but the tormented expression remained.

Marsh Cave was exactly as the strange lord had described ita dank little hole in the ground that led to a nasty labyrinthine system of tunnels. Aura picked up a rough piece of wood near the entrance and shot it, making the tip flame into red-gold light.

"We'd better get going, then," she said grimly.

"I'll lead," Kiri told the others. "I got us into this. I'll get us out. Besides... I have a pretty good sense of direction. Ototo-chan, you guard the back, okay?"

Kumo nodded, though his eyes were shut tightly and his hand was still surgically attached to his forehead. Kiri, giving him a worried look, tapped Aura on the shoulder as they started to head down.

"I need to ask a favor."

"What?" the gunmage asked him in a quiet voice.

"Kumo-chan still isn't doing too well. He'd never admit it if I asked him to his face, but I think he may actually be too weak to help us with this. Just look at him... there's really something wrong. Stay back with him and try to keep an eye on him. If he gets much worse, take his place. Please... I'm really worried about him..."

Aura nodded, giving him a little smile. "I'll do the best I can."

And so they started into the cave.

The way was long, dark, and very wet; the air became thicker and harder to breathe as they went farther and farther down. And what was worse... they kept coming into contact with groups of wild monsters.

Giant scorpions, spiders, and undead had Marsh Cave completely overrun.

As Kiri had predicted, Kumo quickly became incapable of anything more than stumbling blindly forward. Aura quietly stepped back with him in order to keep him on the right path and fulfil the duties he could not, though she didn't say anything to him directly.

Eventually, the party was able to make its way to a little chamber at the bottom floor of the underground cavern. In the center of the room was an antique-looking treasure chest.

"Ten to one this is it," Kiri breathed. "But it can't be that easy."

"Define 'easy'," Aura muttered.

"Don't jinx us," Lisa pleaded at the same time.

The crimson swordsman walked straight up to the chest and kicked it open, then jumped back just as a minor demon leaped out. He dispatched the creature with an easy swipe of his sword, then headed back up and carefully picked a moldy brass crown from the chest. "Booby-trapped," he said grimly. "We've got the crown, so let's get out of here. Nobody touch that box; the next monster might not be so easy to kill."

In grim silence, the five of them headed back, slowly crawling back up the passageways of the labyrinth. Once again, their progress was halted by battles with minor monsters; Aura, deciding that the danger from the rear was relatively mild, stopped paying attention to what was behind her and instead assisted the others in weeding out the monsters to their fore and sides.

Just as they reached the carven stairs to the outside...

"Niisama! Look out!"

Kiri whirled and cried out; Kumo had launched himself in front of a blow intended for his brother's unprotected back. The scorpion that had snuck up behind them had buried its stinger in Kumo's side instead. The white-clad swordsman gave a faint gasp of pain and crumpled, collapsing into a pale heap on the cavern floor.

"You...!" Kiri, infuriated, impaled the beast with his crimson blade, then dropped to his knees beside Kumo. His little brother was unconscious, breathing shallowly, and sweating profusely. Although his body was slightly warm to the touch, his skin was unnaturally pale, with a touch of blue at the tips of his fingers and his lips.

"Let's get him into the light," Lisa murmured. "Out of this place..."

(Kaze)

We carry Kumo outside, then stop and set up a temporary camp.

"This is my fault," my sister is saying. "You told me to keep an eye on him... and I wasn't guarding the rear like I should have been..."

"Later," Lisa insists, cutting her off. "You can feel guilty later. Now we just have to figure out what's wrong, and help him!"

"It's some kind of poison," Kiri announces, shaking his head. "One that I've never seen before. I'm going to try to suck it out of his blood..." He bends to press his lips to Kumo's wound.

"Stop that." I shove him out of the way, trying not to disturb my right arm. "You'll just get the cut infected that way, and you may contract the poison as well." Kiri makes an annoyed noise, but I ignore him and roll Kumo gently to his back, pulling his eyes open. They are wide, unfocused, and very black. "Dilated pupils... and a heightened temperature and pulse. He's in real danger. Lisa..."

She shakes her head, looking tearful. "Didn't you hear me before when I said I can't cast magic! Besides, I don't know of any spells that can cure poison!"

"Then we must get him to Elfheim, and quickly. Detoxification is a race against time. If we stay here, it may be too late."