Chapter 21: Cleyra: Anger

We approached the city of Cleyra and I noticed two robed figures near the entrance. As soon as we approached they stopped us. The one on the right motioned to Freya.

"You there…might you be Lady Freya?"

Freya nodded her head. "Indeed, I am."

The one on the left now spoke. "We have awaited your coming, my lady" she said, bowing her head to her.

Freya looked surprised at this "how did you come to know my identity?"

The Cleyrian on the right spoke again. "The King of Burmecia has requested that we guide you to him."

Freya now looked relieved at hearing that the king was still alive. "Long live the king! Take me to him immediately!"

The Cleyrian on the left nodded her head. "At once, my lady."

Freya turned to look at Zidane "Zidane, I shall go to see the king. Why not take this chance to rest?"

Zidane nodded. "Yeah, good idea." Freya turned back to the Cleyrians.

The one on the left spoke again. "This way, my lady" she said, turning and walking up the stairs behind her. Freya followed her up the stairs.

The other Cleyrian turned to us. "Allow me to be your guide and show you around our town."

"Actually…could you show us were we could wash up. One of us needs it badly" I said, looking over at Vivi. The saliva and mucus had dried and was beginning to give off a foul stench.

The Cleyrian, noticing where I was looking, looked at Vivi as well. "What happened to him?" she asked, surprised by his appearance.

Zidane spoke. "A Zuu swallowed him." he said, as if it was an everyday occurrence for people to be swallowed by Zuus.

The Cleyrian looked surprised. "He's fortunate that he's still alive…follow me, I will take you to our bathing area." She turned around and walked up the steps; Vivi and I followed her.

I stopped when I noticed the others weren't following, and turned back to Zidane. "Well…are you guys coming?"

Zidane shook his head. "You two go on ahead I'm going to go look around town." he said, and ran past us into town.

Quina spoke. "I look for munchies in town." she said, licking her face and running off after Zidane.

I shook my head 'all she ever thinks about is food…oh well, to each his own or, in this case, her own' I thought. I turned back and followed the Cleyrian, with Vivi beside me.

The Cleyrian brought us to a bath house and showed us to the men's bathing area. She had told us along the way that there were two large bathing pools in the place; one for the boys and one for the girls. She also told us that bathing here was a social event rather than a private event and that they cleaned each pool regularly. I didn't mind too much. It sounded like it would be similar to spending time in a sauna, a public shower room, or even a swimming pool.

She turned and looked at us "you can change in there" she said, motioning to the room on my left. "Place your clothes in the bins you find in there and place them outside the room if you want them washed. If you do, your clothes will be ready in a half hour."

I looked down at my clothes and saw that they were stained with sand and dried bug blood. They definitely needed to be cleaned. She continued, "And when you're finished changing you can enter the bathing room. There are fresh towels in there for your use."

I looked at her and nodded "alright, thank you." She nodded at me and left. I looked down at Vivi "well…guess we better get changed" I said, motioning to the door. Vivi nodded his head and we entered the room.

No one was inside the changing room; Vivi and I had the room to ourselves. The room wasn't that big and looked like the locker rooms in gym class back at my high school. I noticed the baskets the Cleyrian was talking about, and grabbed two for Vivi and myself. I went over and handed one of the baskets to Vivi.

After that, I walked over to one of the lockers and removed my battle robe. I placed my battle robe in my basket and removed my shoes, socks, and swords. I put the socks in the basket and placed my shoes and swords in the locker. I proceeded to remove my shirt and pants. I placed them in the bin and, finally, removed my underwear. I placed my underwear in the bin and turned around to look at Vivi; he was still fully dressed.

"Vivi…why aren't you changed yet?"

He looked extremely nervous. "I-I c-can't" he said.

"Can't…or won't?" I said. He looked up at me. I could see the nervousness in his eyes.

I sighed "look, Vivi, are you afraid that I wouldn't understand? Are you afraid that I'm going to run out of here screaming if I see you without your clothes?" I asked, seriously.

Vivi looked down at the ground, and slowly nodded his head. "Y-yeah."

I sighed again and remembered how I used to be uncomfortable about changing when someone else was around.

I walked over to Vivi and placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, nervousness still in his eyes. I smiled at him "don't worry, Vivi. I'm not going to run away from you. It takes a lot to scare me, and I understand that you don't want to get undressed while I'm here. If it will help you, I'll leave the room." Vivi seemed to relax a bit. I was relieved to see that he was feeling better.

"I'll make you a deal Vivi…if you get undressed and put your clothes in your basket, I'll sing for you, again."

Vivi's eyes widened with excitement at this. "Y-you will?"

I nodded. "Sure, but you have to get changed first…I'll meet you out in the bathing area, okay?"

Vivi nodded his head. "O-okay" he said.

I got up, turned around, left the locker room, approached the bathing pool, and slipped in.

The water was warm and refreshing. I could feel all the aches and pains of my past ordeals just wash away. I decided to get cleaned up while I waited for Vivi. I grabbed the soap, and dunked my head under the water. I washed my hair out and removed all the dirt, blood, and sand from my body. I emerged from the water and heard the sound of footsteps.

I turned and saw Vivi; he had finally undressed himself. His entire body was completely black and I noticed that he had short, wavy, brown hair. He looked at me timidly.

I smiled at him. "Good work, Vivi. Now come on in and get yourself cleaned off."

Vivi didn't move from his spot. "A-aren't you…well…y-you know…?" he asked, nervously.

I gave him a serious look. "Vivi, I don't care how you look. I meant what I said. I'm not going to run off screaming. Besides…it's not like you don't have anything I haven't seen before."

Vivi seemed to lighten up a bit. "Thanks, Michael…for understanding."

I smiled again. "No problem. Now come on in."

Vivi walked over to the pool and eased himself into the water. As soon as he settled himself down I handed him the soap. "Better wash yourself off, Vivi." He nodded and took the soap from me. He started to wash himself off.

After he was finished he looked up at me. "Where's my song?"

I looked down at him and smiled. "Alright, Vivi, I'll sing." I began to sing.

"Whaaaaat I loooove beeeest Miiiikey saaaid, isss when I'm asleeep in my bed, and the AAAngeeel of Muuusic siiings soooongs in my head. The AAAngeeel of Muuuuusic siiiings soooongs iiiiin myyyyy heaaaaaad." I concluded my song.

Vivi looked at me surprised "that's it?"

I looked down at him and smiled. "That's it."

Vivi looked disappointed. "I thought it would be longer." he said, disappointed.

"Hey, I promised I'd sing…I never said how long I would."

He gave me an accusing look. "You tricked me."

I continued to smile. "Awww, don't be that way Vivi. I'll sing longer next time."

He looked at me. "Promise?"

I put my hand on his shoulder. "I promise."

Vivi nodded. "Okay."

After thirty minutes we got out of the pool and dried ourselves off. When we arrived back in the locker room I noticed that our clothes were laid out for us. I walked over to my clothes and put them back on. I opened my locker and retrieved my swords and shoes. I put them on and looked up at Vivi; he was fully dressed. I smiled at him "come on, let's go." Vivi nodded his head and we left the bath house.

We made our way back to town. After that bath I felt a little tired. I looked down at Vivi. "I'm heading for the inn. You want to come along?"

Vivi looked at me, and shook his head. "No, I-I think I'll look around town for a bit."

I nodded. "Okay, but come find me if you run into trouble." He nodded his head and took off down one of the bridges. I smiled as I watched him leave. I started to make my way to the inn.

After a few minutes of walking I finally reached the inn. I walked inside and greeted the innkeeper. He nodded to me. "Welcome…will you be staying, sir?" I nodded. He smiled "I usually charge outsiders, but with all these refugees around you can stay for free."

I smiled. "Thanks" I said.

He nodded "the beds are right upstairs" he said, motioning to the stairs to my right. I nodded to him, walked up the stairs, picked the first bed on my right, got under the covers, and fell asleep.

"Michael…since it's your birthday I'm giving these to you" Hiko said, handing me two swords.

I looked at him questioningly. "I never learned how to use two swords at once, Master"

"I know that. Unsheathe them and you will see the difference." I unsheathed both of them and immediately saw the difference. One was a normal sword, and the other was a reverse blade sword.

I looked up at my Master "why-" he cut me off.

"Because I know how you are about not killing your opponent, but I gave you the other one so you could kill anything that isn't human."

I nodded. "Thank you, Master. This is a great gift" I said.

"You bastard! You killed my father!"

I looked up at my Master "what?" I asked. Then all went black.

I woke up with a start and heard someone yelling from below. I got out of bed and walked over to the railing. I looked down and noticed a Burmecian family. I recognized them from Burmecia; it was Dan and his family. That's when I heard someone crying; a young boy 'Vivi' I thought, recognizing those sobs.

I grabbed the railing and vaulted over it. I landed on the ground, completely ignoring everyone, and looked around for Vivi. I immediately spotted him by the window. He was looking at the ground and his body was shaking.

I immediately walked over to him, very concerned. I knelt down by his side "Vivi, are you alright? What happened?" I asked. Then I remembered my dream, and I also remembered this part of the game. I knew who was to blame for this; Dan. I…was…FURIOUS!

I immediately got up, spun around, and looked Dan straight in the eyes. "HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO HIM!" I bellowed, letting my fury take over.

Dan looked surprised at my outburst, but recovered. "He's one of the mages that sacked Burmecia" he said, adding in his own anger.

His anger was no match for mine. "Vivi was NOT one of those Black Mages that sacked Burmecia" I growled. He was surprised by my tone. I wasn't going to let him recover. "You have no RIGHT to accuse my friend of something he didn't do." I felt like I was going to lose it at anytime.

Dan regained some of his courage. "That bastard mage-" that was when I lost it.

I ran up to him, grabbed his neck with my right hand, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him against the wall. I could hear his family gasp in terror, but I didn't care. I looked Dan right in the eye "no one insults my FRIENDS!" I said fury in my voice.

The innkeeper approached me "s-sir, p-please put him down."

I looked over at him "butt out!" I yelled.

The innkeeper moved to separate us, but I pushed him to the ground with my left hand. Dan was struggling, trying to break my grip, but to no avail. I lifted him higher into the air.

Then…I heard someone crying…a woman. I turned my head and saw Dan's wife crying in fear; her children clutching her legs for protection. They all stared at me in fear. My mood lightened slightly.

I turned from the sight and looked at Dan; he had great fear in his eyes. "You're wise to be afraid, Dan. I could easily crush your neck, but I'm no murderer." Dan stopped struggling and looked at me; fear was still in his eyes.

I pulled him closer to my face. "I want you to listen and listen well. If you so much as even give Vivi a funny look…I will rip your eyes out. Got it?" Dan nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Good." I let go of his neck and he fell to the ground.

I turned away from him, closed my eyes, and tilted my head down to the ground. "Now get out of my sight…your mere presence sickens me." I heard Dan and his family scramble out of the inn.

I let out a long sigh, opened my eyes, and looked at Vivi. He had a stunned expression in his eyes. Seeing his face made me realize what I had done. I looked over at the innkeeper. "Could you give us some time alone, please?" He nodded and hurried out of the inn, obviously glad to be out of my presence.

With him gone, I turned back to look at Vivi. "Are you okay?" He looked at the ground and shook his head.

I think I knew what was bothering him, and it wasn't just Dan. I walked over to him and knelt by his side. "Vivi…I'm sorry. You must have been terrified to see me lose my temper like that."

Vivi looked up at me, concern in his eyes. "I-I've never seen you so mad before. I-It was scary" he said, shaking slightly.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I know, Vivi, I know."

Losing my temper always had its consequences. I hated losing my temper, and I always felt ashamed after losing it. In fact, I could have sworn I felt another presence inside me when it happened. It felt like some angry presence inside me was yearning to be released.

I shook this thought away and spoke to Vivi. "I don't even know why I was so angry. I mean sure I was angry with him for treating you like this when you didn't do anything wrong, but I took things too far. I had no right to do what I did."

Vivi looked up at me. "Its okay, Michael." I smiled at him, but he still had that sad look in his eyes. "Maybe they're right. Maybe I am just a monster."

My eyes opened in surprise at this. I completely forgot about what I'd done; this was more serious. "Vivi, you are no monster. I already told you this in Evil Forest. Don't let some complete stranger tell you what you are. That man doesn't even know you like I know you. Don't listen to him."

Vivi looked at me sadly. "But, why did he yell at me for something I didn't do?"

I held onto his other shoulder with my other hand. "Because to him you are no different from the mages who attacked Burmecia, but he still doesn't know you. If he really knew you he'd know that you're different from those mages." Vivi still looked saddened.

I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I embraced him. He returned the embrace and I could feel his tears on my shoulder. I allowed Vivi to cry. I knew it would do him some good to let his emotions out.

After a few minutes, he was finished crying. We let go of each other, and I looked at Vivi. "You're no monster, Vivi, and you just proved it." I said, a smile returning to my face. Vivi gave me a confused look. I decided to elaborate "monsters don't cry, Vivi. You can cry, so you're not a monster."

Vivi thought about this for a moment and nodded. "I guess you're right, Michael. Thanks."

I smiled at him. "Glad I could help" I said, patting his shoulder.

After a few minutes of silence, I spoke. "I have a song that goes well with what I just talked about."

Vivi looked up at me. "about what?" he asked.

I looked at him. "About how no one knows who you are, because the same is true for me. Aside from you and the others no one really knows who I am."

Vivi looked interested. "Will you sing?"

I nodded my head. "I warn you. The song isn't a happy one."

He looked at me. "I don't care."

I smiled and nodded "okay, here it goes." I began to sing

"Look at me aaaand tell me whooooo I aaaam, whhhhy I aaaaam, whaaaat I aaaam? Call me a fooool and it's truuue I am. III Don't Knooow Whoooo IIII aaaaaaam. IIIIIt's such a shame, IIIIIIII'm such a sham. No one knows whooooo IIIIII aaaaaam."

I stand up from my kneeling position, and look out the window. I felt the songs melody wash over me. I continued to sing.

"AAAAAAm IIII the face of the futuuuuuuure? AAAAm IIII the faaaaace of the paaaaaaast? AAAAm IIII the one who must finiiish…laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast. LLLLook at meeee and teeeeell me whooooo I aaaam, whhhhhy I aaaam, whaaaaat I am? Will I suuurviiiive who will giiiiiiiive a daaaamn if noooo one knoooows who I aaaaam. Nooooobody knooooows, not eveeeen you. No one knows whoooooooo IIIIIIIIII aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam." I concluded the song.

I looked down at Vivi and noticed that he had a slightly sad look in his eyes. "You were right, Michael…that was sad…but it was still a good song."

I smiled at him. "I'm glad you liked it, Vivi…let's get out of here."

Vivi nodded. "Yeah, let's go." We walked out of the inn together.

We left the inn and went down towards the entrance to the town. I could hear the howling sandstorm as we walked down the stairs. Suddenly, we were stopped by a voice.

"Hey, wait up."

I turned around to see who it was. My eyes narrowed dangerously; it was Dan. He stopped in front of us and caught his breath.

I spoke first. "You got a lot of nerve showing your face here. Especially after what you did."

Dan looked at me. "I-I know. I just want to apologize for what I did. I was out of line."

I wasn't convinced. "Well don't look at me. I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Dan nodded his head and looked down at Vivi.

Vivi took a step back from Dan, remembering what happened last time. Dan saw the gesture and spoke. "Listen…Vivi, right?" he asked, Vivi nodded his head. Dan walked up to him and knelt down to his level. I placed my hand on the hilt of my reverse blade sword, just incase he tried anything.

Dan continued to speak. "I'm sorry about what I did. I had no right to yell at you or call you names. You were right, you hadn't done anything wrong. I'm sorry…will you forgive me?" he asked, and bent his head towards the ground.

Vivi thought about this for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "O-okay…I forgive you."

Dan sighed in relief. "Thank you" he said, and got back up to his feet.

I looked at Dan and smiled. I moved my hand away from my sword knowing that he was no threat. "Well…if Vivi can forgive you so can I, I'm Michael. I hope you can forgive me as well. I was angry with you, but I had no right to attack and threaten you like that. I was out of line as well…can you forgive me?"

Dan looked at me and smiled "sure I can forgive you, but you really scared the hell out me when you grabbed me like that."

I nodded, remembering the moment. "Yes, I know. I'm a scary guy when I lose my temper. I don't even know why I lost my temper like that. Sure what you did was wrong, but I didn't mean to go that far."

Dan nodded at me. "It's okay. I can tell you're not a bad guy. Everyone loses their temper at some point." he said.

I nodded at him. "You're right, but I still shouldn't have gone that far. You deserved to be yelled at, but you didn't deserve the rest. I just hope I didn't traumatize your family too much."

Dan nodded his head. "Yeah, you scared them, too. They tried to stop me from coming to see you guys. They were afraid you'd kill me."

I sighed. "I wouldn't kill you, Dan. I meant what I said in there; I'm no murderer."

Dan nodded in acknowledgment. "yeah, I knew you were serious about not killing me. They were probably worried that you'd rip my eyes out."

I involuntarily flinched at those words. "I probably wouldn't have done that to you. I spoke out of anger."

Dan nodded his head. "It's okay. I'm just glad we had this talk."

I looked at him. "So am I, Dan. You're a good man."

That's when we heard someone scream. We turned to the sound and saw a huge Antlion in the distance, and it had someone in one of its forelimbs. I turned to Dan. "Dan, go back to the village and get help. Vivi and I will handle this." I said, unsheathing my normal sword. Dan nodded his head and ran back to the village. Vivi and I ran up to the Antlion and got a better look at it and its prey.

The Antlion was big and brownish-orange. It had yellow eyes with black pupils, large pincers, and scythe like forelimbs. Its body was sticking out of the middle of a sand whirlpool. It was flinging its prey around. I noticed who the prey was; it was Puck.

Puck noticed us "Vivi! Michael! Get me down from here!" he yelled, still being flung around.

I looked at Vivi. "Well…let's help him out." Vivi nodded his head, readying a staff I hadn't seen before; the 'Lightning Staff.' 'He must have bought it while I was at the inn' I thought. Vivi and I prepared for battle.

I couldn't do much of anything since the Antlion was in the middle of the whirlpool, and I didn't want to risk missing my target and getting buried under the sand. I turned to Vivi "it's up to you, Vivi. Show him what you're made of."

Vivi nodded and began to cast a Blizzara spell. He unleashed the attack and hit the Antlion's body. The Antlion screamed in pain as its skin started to freeze. It swung at Vivi with its left forelimb. I quickly got in front of Vivi and blocked the attack with my sword. 'I may not be able to attack it, but I will defend Vivi while he attacks it' I thought.

I heard Vivi cast another spell. I saw a bolt of lightning descend from the sky and electrocute the Antlion. After the initial lightning bolt a few balls of electricity surrounded the Antlion and shocked it further. 'That must be Thundara' I thought, impressed with Vivi's power.

The Antlion was furious with Vivi now. It began to blow sand at us. I knew what it was trying to do. I turned to Vivi. "Vivi, cover your eyes." Vivi did so and as soon as he did I covered my own eyes with my hands. I could feel the sand as it hit my body. After a few seconds I didn't feel it anymore. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the Antlion. Its sandstorm attack was over.

I looked at Vivi. "You can open your eyes now." He did so and looked at me. I smiled at him. "Come on, let's finish this" I said determined to end this. Vivi nodded his head in agreement.

Puck spoke up. "Will you two hurry up!" he yelled.

I looked up at him. "Hey, give us a break! I don't see you doing anything useful right now!" I yelled back.

Puck spoke again. "Watch your mouth! Remember, I'm still your master!" he yelled.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

That's when the Antlion made its move. It started to move it's head around, and unleashed a Fira spell. I couldn't dodge it in time, and decided to block it instead. I successfully blocked the attack, but I was knocked backwards. I ran into Vivi and knocked him down, too. We were sprawled on the ground together.

I started to get up, as I did so I helped Vivi to his feet. I looked at him. "You alright?" he looked at me and nodded. I was relieved that he was okay. I looked at myself and saw that the Fira attack had singed my shirt, and that the sandstorm had stained my pants and robe. 'Great, and I just had these clothes washed. How typical' I thought. Vivi and I got back up, turned around, and faced the Antlion.

An idea came to me. I looked at Puck "Puck, close your eyes."

"What, why!" he said, not understanding my plan.

"Just do it!" I yelled. I lifted my sword into the air, shouted "Do Ryu Sen", and swung my sword downwards near the ground. Sand was kicked up by the wind generated by my attack. The sand hit the Antlion in the eyes. It screamed in pain and flailed its forelimbs around everywhere.

After a few more frenzied movements, the Antlion let Puck go. He was thrown into the sky and landed right next to us. He immediately got up and ran at the Antlion.

"That hurt, ya stupid jerk!" he yelled, giving the Antlion the finger.

I looked at this gesture in mild amusement. "That's not very Prince like."

He turned to me. "How'd ya know I'm a Prince?" he asked, surprised.

I thought about this. "I heard it from Freya. Vivi, finish this." I said, turning to Vivi.

The Antlion hadn't recovered from my attack. Vivi immediately cast a Fira spell. The spell hit the Antlion and its flesh began to burn. The Antlion screamed out in pain. Battered, beaten, burned, and blinded, the Antlion decided that this wasn't worth it and retreated back into the whirlpool. I sheathed my sword. We had won the battle.

I turned to look at Vivi, I smiled at him "good work, Vivi. You sure showed that thing not to mess with us."

Vivi modestly fixed his hat and looked down at the ground. "It was nothing special." I reached into my pocket, pulled out a potion, uncorked it, and drank its contents. My wound began to heal, instantly.

"Are you guys alright?" said a male voice behind me.

I turned and saw Zidane running up to us. Freya, Quina, and Dan were also with him. I smiled at them and waved "yeah we're fine. Vivi and I took care of everything."

Zidane smiled. "Alright, guys, not bad. You took care of that Antlion by yourselves?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it wasn't that hard."

Zidane laughed slightly at that. "So…where's the kid?"

I pointed to my left. "Right over there." All of them turned to where I was pointing.

Freya's eyes opened in surprise "it can't be…Prince Puck!"

Puck looked at her. "Hey Freya, whassup?" he said, as if it were an everyday occurrence for people who have been gone for years to suddenly reappear again.

Freya quickly regained her composure. "But how can this be? I heard Your Highness disappeared upon leaving Burmecia..." she paused.

Puck looked a bit uncomfortable "uh…yeah!"

Freya spoke again. "Well, let us go at once to the cathedral to inform His Majesty!"

Puck didn't seem too pleased with this idea. "My old man, huh? Nah, I don't wanna see him! Just tell him I said hi, okay? Later!"

Freya was shocked by this. "But, your highness!" she yelled.

Puck though had already taken off. Before he was out of sight he turned around to face Vivi and myself. "Vivi, Michael, take care!" he yelled and ran off.

Vivi looked up at me. "I have to tell him something" he said, and took off after Puck before I could stop him.

I looked over at the others. "Well…now what do we do?" I asked no one in particular.

Freya spoke. "I must go back to the king and tell him about this."

Zidane spoke. "I'll go with you."

Freya looked at him. "Very well. Come on." the two of them took off.

Quina looked at me. "I go back into town and look for delicious food." She ran off leaving me alone with Dan.

Dan spoke. "I can't believe you two were able to take on that Antlion without help" he said, slightly awed.

I smiled. "Vivi did most of the work. I just defended him and blinded the Antlion."

Dan nodded his head. "Still, that's an impressive feet. An Antlion is not an easy opponent" he said.

"Well…we didn't kill it, but we did manage to fight it off." I said. 'Besides it will be dead soon anyway' I thought.

I remembered what was going to happen to this place. Now I was disturbed. I looked at Dan "do you have anywhere you need to be?" he shook his head. I nodded "good, cause I need to tell you something important, and I want you to trust me, alright?" he nodded his head a bit surprised.

"I can feel that something bad is going to happen in Cleyra. Something that will affect everyone here." I said.

Dan looked a bit startled at this revelation. "Is it Alexandria? Will they attack Cleyra?"

"I think so, but I sense that something even more sinister and more powerful is behind this."

Dan looked shocked "what is this greater threat?"

"In Burmecia, we saw Brahne meeting with this mysterious person. I don't know who he is, but I could sense powerful magic coming from him. I have a feeling that he could possibly find a way through the sandstorm."

Dan was shocked further. "What should we do?"

"You need to get your family out of here and head for Lindblum. It's the only place that can provide some form of protection."

Dan looked at me. "How do you know this?"

I looked at him with a serious face. "I don't know this. I told you that I have a bad feeling, and anyone who knows me knows that when I have a bad feeling about something it will happen. Please believe me, Dan. You have to get your family out of here, now."

Dan thought about this for a moment before he decided. "Alright…I'll get my family out of here. I just hope your right about this."

I sighed. "If what I'm saying does come true, Dan; I'm going to whish I was wrong."

He nodded. "I guess I'll see you in Lindblum" he said, and ran off to get his family.

I stopped him. "Dan, take these with you" I said, pulling out two potions and throwing them to him.

He caught them and looked at me. "Thanks, Michael" he said, gratefully, and ran back to the town.

I smiled to myself. 'Good. Dan's a good man. I don't want him and his family to die when this place is destroyed, but what about the other people. They probably won't believe me, and the Cleyrians would likely never abandon their home, no matter what. Well…I tried' I thought. Tired from my battle, I walked out of the Antlion's layer, walked up the stairs that lead to the town, and entered the inn.

The innkeeper gave me an odd look as soon as I entered. I smiled at him "don't worry I won't cause any trouble. I apologize for my previous behavior."

The innkeeper sighed with relief. "That's good to know…you can stay here if you like."

I nodded. "Thanks, I think I will." I walked up the stairs, got into the same bed, and slept.

"Miiiiichhhhhhaaaaeeel" it was the voice again.

"Angel, please wait for me" I said as I ran towards the voice. I arrived at the spot, but I couldn't see my Angel anywhere. I began to sing.

"AAAAngeeeeel of Muuuusic guiiiide and guaaaardiaaaan. Graaaant toooo meee yoooour gloooooryyyyy. AAAAngeeeeeel of Muuuuusic hiiiide no longer. Coooome to me straaaaange AAAAngeeeelll." I stopped singing.

It was still quite. "Angel, where are you?" I asked, dismayed. Then all went black.

I woke up from my dream. I sat up in bed. It was quite, too quite. Then my eyes widened in realization. I got out of bed and ran to the window. I looked out and cursed. My worst fears had come true; the sandstorm was gone.

The song I sang in this chapter is "No One Knows Who I Am" from the musical Jekyll & Hyde.