The Story of Monogino

by Paiyaku

This is a story about a young tarutaru and his experiences as he lives his life in Vana'diel.

This is the Story of Monogino, his life starts during the Age of the Adventurers and many exciting things were happening in the world. He was a born of Tina and the Great Hero who took a place in the city council to help as best he could in the world affairs. Alchemy was interesting to him and he had a love of making up pretend potions out of water and grass, he also liked to pretend he was shooting fire blasts at pretend monsters and fought with several pretend enemies with a stick that he would find on the dirt paths around Windurst and also had a love of animals. He had a choice of four things each would change his life in many ways he just had to choose. He was brown haired with a bushy haircut, he had his mother's blue eyes and unlike his father he was short for his age. He was naive of the beast-men and other things that lived beyond the city gates since he wasn't allowed to leave the city alone. Although he had his father's bravery, he had trouble finding it; he stood close to Tina and didn't like to be far from her. This would all change soon when his father brought him home a present from the city of Jueno.

"Back! Back you fiendish bugs! You won't step foot inside mommy's garden!" Mono stood there swinging at flying bugs that tried to get nectar from the flowers in Tina's garden. "Have at you!" He jumped forward and hit an enormous dragonfly that was minding its own business. Annoyed the dragonfly started to dive bomb Mono. "Oh no! Must use my special potions to defeat the monster!" He pulled out a small vial of water with some grounded flowers in it and threw it at the dragonfly. The dragonfly dodged it and the vial landed in a patch of grass, he came for another charge at Mono. "Oh no! My potion! I must use my magic to make stones fly at him!" Mono picked up full handfuls of rocks and threw them at the dragonfly. The dragonfly knew this wasn't going to end well so he turn tailed and flew as fast as possible from the rocks, but was not fast enough and was knocked out of the air by the flying stones. "Yes I beat the monster! I am undefeatable!" He cheered and threw his stick up in the air. It came down with a bounce and landed on the dragonfly and the bump was hard enough to knock him conscious. He bounced to his feet and flew off as fast as possible, Mono looked and saw him fly off and said, "Yeah you better run you darn monster! Come back again and I'll beat you more!" He clapped his hands together to dust them off then walked down the dirt path from Tina's garden up the small hill to his house.

"Welcome home Mono, where have you been?" The words made him smile s he walked through the front door and said, "Fighting the evil monsters that were after your flowers." She laughed and said, "Thank you so much for protecting my garden, your father will be home soon and I think he may have a present for you." Mono got very excited and ran around the room cheering, "Yay! Present! Present! What is it?" "I don't know, you will have to wait for him to give it to you. Let's get ready to head over to the Airship docks his ship will be arriving soon. Follow me so you don't get lost." Mono nodded with a nervous look on his face and held his mother's hand as they walked through Windurst Waters.

Adventurers were everywhere, talking, trading, it never stops, young Mono walked even closer as he looked at the towering people that had helmets on and scars all over their faces. One adventurer had a Demon helm on and was sleeping against a tree, Mono looked at his mom and as he pointed at the helmet he said, "Mommy, what is that thing?" "It's a helmet that protects their head when monsters attack them." He looked at it then turned his head and said, "Oh I see. That one must be a monster head to scare other monsters away." He was so deep in thought that he had not noticed Tina had kept walking. "Hello little guy, would you like to buy something?" Mono turned around and saw a giant galka bend down, he was covered in dark armor and none of his body was visible. "Mommy!" He ran around through the crowd looking for Tina. "Mommy! Where are you?" A mithra came up to him and said, "Aw poor little guy, lost your mommy? Don't worry, we'll find her." He looked up at her and said, "Who are you?" She laughed and said, "I'm Nesta, city guard. I help most people who get lost so you shouldn't worry I will help you." He smiled and cheered with joy then followed her closely. It didn't take long for the Mithra to spot Tina; she was well known in Windurst and stood out in a crowd real well. "Aha, there's your mom." She guided Mono over to Tina and said, "Hi, I found Mono wandering over by the fountain." Tina looked down at Mono and said, "I'm so glad your okay, I was worried about you." They hugged then Mono turned to Nesta and said, "I hope we meet again, thank you so much for helping me. Keep an eye out for those big guys with armor, they will try to eat you and make you 'trade" be careful." "Oh, don't worry I will be ok and will make sure they be good." He nodded happily and then turned to follow his mom.

A few minutes later they reached the Port of Windurst. This was the industrial area of Windurst, shipping and receiving was occurring all the time whether it was people on ships or packages, fish, and other kinds of food and items. The sounds of people shouting orders and boxes slamming on hard wood rang out through the port. "Oh there, look Mono your father is arriving on that airship. Lets hurry over and be ready to greet him." Mono ran excitedly to the giant airship station, he hadn't seen his father in weeks and he couldn't wait to see him. Several people came busting through the door and their families greeted them. Mono started to worry that hi dad wasn't on the ship; he began to get sad until he saw his dad walk out carrying several boxes with him. "Daddy!" Mono ran forward and dove at his dad. HE dropped the boxes quickly and caught Mono in his arms. Mono laughed and said, "Mommy said you got me a present! Did you?" "He he, we'll see when we get home." Tina kissed her husband happily and Mono sitting between them said, "blech! Gross! Lets go home, lets go home!" "Alright Mono calm down were going." They walked home as night fell and the city grew quiet, as the people were all asleep except for the cardian guards.

Tina came walking through the door followed by her husband carrying Mono who was excited and a bit sleepy. "Alright mono, I did get you a present." "What is it? What is it?" he said as he bounced up and down clapping his hands. "This is an amulet, it lights up even the darkest of places and protects the wearer from physical attacks, but only a few hits, enough to get some good hits in on the attacker or flee. We council members each carry one; since I go by airship to the council meetings I don't need it. I heard you were afraid of the dark so now you will not be so afraid now." Mono jumped up and down as he put on the amulet. "This is so great daddy! Thank yo-" "Wait Mono, there's more, I found a great hat which makes the most important and richest people of Jueno look very distinguished." He pulled out a Royal Blue beanie hat that had green and reddish relic markings all around it and on the bottom it was lined with trees and small knitted in animals. It was a bit big for Mono and it fit loosely around his head. "Thank you daddy! I won't ever take it off!" Mono hugged his dad and ran into his room to try out his amulet in the dark. 'It works daddy! It really works!" You could see a dim light glowing from through the doorway.

Later that night Mono was fast asleep and his parents sat and talked about the council discussions as they ate dinner. None of this mattered to Mono; he was in a wonderful dream that seemed more like a vision than a dream…

"Mono, we need a way to get past the giant!" He looked around, he was in a snowy land and a bad snowstorm was blowing hard. He felt around his belt and saw he was in strange clothes and his belt was lined with vials. Each had a different label on it, one said deodorizer, and more said potion and antidote and many other vials. Then he saw a golden vial, he read the label and it read Invisibility. "I have this!" He waved the vial in the air. A young mithra ran to him and said, "Good, let us get past this giant." We each had a small sip and in no time they were invisible to the naked eye. They ran past the roaring beast as he pounded the ground with his giant ice pick. When they were safely past the beast she turned to Mono and said, "You are a certified alchemist, master Bennin will be proud to make you a certified alchemist!" He didn't know what to think, he wasn't happy or unhappy. He looked around and said, "Um, where am I? Is this real? I could have sworn I was home asleep." Then a man appeared out of nowhere and said, "Your father is expecting much of you, to be a swordsman, mage, alchemist, beast master, or a council member." He couldn't believe what he was hearing, where was he? Shortly after the man stopped talking he awoke…

It was morning and the amulet was letting out a very low dim light that could only be seen a few inches from the amulet. He sat up and looked around, the sun was brightly through the windows in his room. He got out of bed and rubbed his eyes and changed from his worn clothes to another set of clothes that were cleaner. They were royal blue with markings of dark blue markings and drawings of trees and animals on it. He put it on quickly and ran into the dining room to join his parents for breakfast. "Mono, How about I wash you beanie later so it feels more comfortable." "No, I like it the way it is, I don't want it to get washed clothes get different colors and mine is too pretty to get ugly colors mixed in." His dad laughed and said, "Just as stubborn as I was when I was your age. " Mono started to eat his breakfast; it was his dad's specialty, ham eggs bacon and golden buttered biscuits. His father wiped his face with his napkin and said, "Mono, I know you and mommy miss me when I go. Which is why I have decided to take you both with me, the council is meeting in Bastok and there are great places to dine and play all day while I am in council. "That's a great idea honey! When do we go?" "One year from today." Mono got excited and jumped off the chair and ran next to his father and said, "Daddy, is it true Bastok will be starting a new Alchemist's guild in Windurst soon?" "The council has been deciding on if moving guilds and starting new locations is legitimate yet. It is leaning that way, why have you an interest in alchemy?" "Well, I had a dream that seemed so real and I was an alchemist taking my training course to become one and it was so much fun." "Do you understand the magic of alchemy? Some think of it as simple potion making, true alchemists can create anything they desire through the use of magic. Some alchemists have been able to make money, but were accused of counterfeiting money and were jailed for it. If you want to become an alchemist then let me know, I can start the final debates over the alchemist guild movement. Most guild leaders come to us asking to spread to other cities." "That would be great daddy! Alchemy must be wonderful! I could make presents for people for X-mas and on their birthdays!" "That's right, when we go to Bastok I want you to sit in the council hall with me and we will convince the council to allow guild movement." Mono got very excited and said, "Thank you daddy!"

"Mono we need to get some groceries, your father will stay here and you and I will go get some ok?" Mono was not so sure if he liked the sound of that since he was still scared of the adventurers that walked around Windurst. "Mommy…I am afraid, what if those big monster people try to eat me?" "They won't Mono, I'll protect you." Mono nodded nervously and followed Tina out the door, Just then Tina stopped and Mono bumped into her and said, "What is it mommy?" "Its raining, we will have to be careful not to slip in mud or puddles Okay?" "Wait, I got you both some hooded tunic from Jueno, they are waterproof and will keep you dry and warm," Mono's father said as he ran to the closet to get them. Mono and Tina were given grayish white colored tunics with hoods on them, Mono already had his on and said, "I feel like a cool sword fighter, " The hood bounced down over his eyes and he looked like a mysterious Tarutaru. "Go out and play Mono we have are going to be cleaning house and getting ready to go out. "Out? Out where mommy? Am I going too?" "Yes we are taking a ride to Mhaura tonight, we're going on a ferry to Selbina." "Why are we going there?" "It's a surprise Mono." Mono could tell his parents were going to surprise him with something, he couldn't figure out what though. "Okay, I'm going down by the docks to fish is that okay?" "Sure, heres some money so you can buy some bait."

He walked down the path humming a cheerful tune with his fishing pole resting on his shoulder and in his right hand. The birds chirped happily and the wind blew softly, it was a great day to be fishing. "Maybe I'll catch the biggest fish of all," he said to himself as he continued down the road looking at the river on the left side of the rode. Then suddenly the clanking of heavy armor abruptly ended the peaceful music made by the wind, birds, and the river running down to the sea. Mono looked down the road and saw that Galka with the huge armor all over his body was walking down the road opposite of his direction. Mono looked around for somewhere to hide then he looked down at his amulet and remembered that it would protect him, so he looked for a good stick to fight with and there in front of him was a 3-foot long stick. "Back you monster, I know why you are going this way, you are after my mommy's garden, did that pesky dragonfly send you? Well I will not let you past!" The Galka just stood there staring at him then said, "You're a cute little guy, and nice tunic I like the beanie hat under your hood. Aw, are you going fishing? Well here have some of my bait." Mono had a surprised look on his face and dropped the stick and held out his hand. The giant hand of the galka dropped a sack full of twelve small worms. "Thank you Mister monster," Mono said as he ran off towards the port excitedly.

As mono passed through Windurst Woods Nesta the Mithran guard came to accompany him. "Hello Mono, are you lost again or are you here on your own?" He looked up at her and said, "My mommy said I could go fishing so I am gunna catch the biggest fish ever. How do I find the Port? There are too many people here I can't see where to go." Nesta laughed and said, "Here, sit on my shoulders and I will walk you to the Port." He nodded and she picked him up and set him on her shoulders. "Wow you are so tall! I can see everything up here," Mono exclaimed as Nesta steered through the crowd to get to the port. Mono was happy as could be; he was looking around and was intrigued by all the different looking people. "Alright, we're here at the port. Was that fun Mono? Next time you are traversing Windurst Woods alone find me and I will carry you to where you need to be." Mono nodded, hugged Nesta and went on his way humming the same cheerful tune from earlier. Then he saw another tarutaru child running behind the warehouses. "Hmm? What's he up to," he said to himself as he followed him. Mono followed the young tarutaru around the corner of the warehouses to the back and saw several mithra and tarutaru children standing on boxes and playing together happily. Mono set down his fishing gear and walked over to join them. "Hey! Who are you?" A Tarutaru only a few years older than him was standing atop the stack of boxes. He had brown hair with a green beanie and a blue and green jacket on and his pants and shoes were a mix of blue and green shades. "I'm Monogino, but everyone calls me Mono. What are you all doing back here?" "We're the Star Onion Brigade! If you want to join then you will have to pass a test!" Unsure he said, "alright. What must I do?" "You have to go out of Windurst into West Sarutabaruta and get us some Rarab tails. Four of them!" "But, I'm not suppose to go outside alone." "Well then you must be too scared to be in our club then." "I'm not scared! I will get your dumb tails." "Fine, heres an Onion dagger." The leader through down a small dagger and said, "Hurry up and get us the tails, don't worry the rarabs will grow the fur back, remember to only get the tail fur no meat." He nodded and picked up the knife and walked back to his grab his gear and went on his way to retrieve the tails.

He was now in front of a massive gate and through it was West Sarutabaruta. The guards were everywhere, how would he get out? "I know you aren't thinking of leaving Windurst alone Mono." Mono looked up and saw Nesta standing over him. "I have to get rarab tails so I can be in the Star Onion Brigade." "How many do you need?" "Um…four." She searched her backpack and pulled out four rarab tails. "How did you get those?" "Most of the children around here have been doing that and end up getting lost for several hours. All guards have to carry some to keep the children from wondering outside. Here, take these and don't tell the other children." They both winked and went their separate ways. Mono ran back to the leader of the clan and said, "Here! I got them, and here is your knife." He laid the knife on the ground with the rarab tails. The leader looked at them and then at Mono and said, "Okay, you're in! Welcome to the club." The other children invited Mono to join them in the game they were playing. "Come on Mono, Come play ball with us." "No, sorry, I can't. I'm gunna go catch the biggest fish ever!" "Wow, can we come?" "Do you all have fishing poles?" They jumped behind the boxes and came back out holding fishing poles and bait. "Alright lets go fishing." Mono and the other children ran down to the piers and threw their lines into the water. Within minutes the bucket were filling with fish and the fish were all different sizes.

That evening the children had caught in all about 30 fish. There were six children and strangely they each caught five fish. 'Bye Mono, see you tomorrow!" " Bye!" They al said their goodbyes and headed home. Mono came to Windurst Woods and looked around for Nesta, she was nowhere in sight and it was getting dark. Mono's amulet gave a fine glow around him so he could see where he was going. He continued to the fountain in the middle of the Windurst Woods. Suddenly a cold wind started to blow, Mono looked around and saw the light from his amulet made the trees and everything around him look like monsters. He nervously crept on carrying his fishing pole like a sword in the right hand and his bucket of fish like a lantern in the left. He tried to change the mood of the situation by humming a tune, but the tree branches scratching each other and the wind howling drowned it out. His courage was disappearing and he looked for a place to hide. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he wondered through Windurst Woods looking for a way home. "Sniff…sniff…hello? Hello is anyone there? Sniff…" Now he was crying and he had found himself atop the Auction House and didn't know where to go. He looked around and everything was new and different, he had never been in this part of Windurst before. An hour passed by and everything was getting worse. "Mono! Where are you?" Mono recognized that voice it was Nesta. "I'm here," he shouted as he ran back to the fountain backtracking the trail he had followed. He saw Nesta standing by the fountain holding a torch. "There you are! What did I say about traveling through here alone?" "I looked for you and you were gone! I couldn't find you anywhere!" He broke out in tears as he held onto Nesta's pant leg. "Aw it's ok, calm down." She picked him up and he slowly stopped crying. "There, that's a good boy, come on let's get you home your parents must be worried sick." He nodded as she put him down, "I'll carry your fishing pole and bucket of fish." "Thank you," he said while wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Where could Mono be? Should we go look for him?" "Don't worry Tina I'm sure Nesta has already found him. Besides he has the amulet it should help him find home," he said as he sat down in a chair. Tina watched out the window hoping to see Mono coming up the road. "I don't see him, it doesn't take this long to go from here to the Port. Wait, there! He's here Nesta found him," she said as she ran out the door. "See that's how you find your way home if you ever got lost Mono." "Thank you Nesta," he leaned close to her and whispered, "My amulet makes the trees look like monsters, can you make sure there are no monster trees?" She smiled and nodded happily to him. "Mono, your safe, thank heavens! What happened to you?" Knowing he didn't want to think of that horrible nightmare again Nesta spoke for him, "He go lost in Windurst Woods, poor little guy. I had just gotten back from my break and heard him calling my name. I showed him where to go if he can't find me so if you start to worry about him he will be at the guard house west of the fountain or I will be walking him back home." Tina nodded and said, "Thank you Nesta, good night." Nesta bowed and ran off into the night. "Are you ok? Sounds like you had a rough night." Mono was quiet as he leaned his fishing pole against the wall of the house and carried his bucket of fish inside the house. "Hey Mono, looks like you caught a bunch of fish," his dad said as he looked into the bucket. Mono nodded happily and said, "I found some friends and we went fishing all day!" His father's interest in his fish turned his whole night around. "Well let's put them in he freezer to stay fresh so we can eat them tomorrow ok?" He nodded happily and said, "Daddy, the amulet got really bright in Windurst Woods. Could you ask the Ruler of Windurst if more lights could be made in Windurst?" "Sure, when we leave on our trip to Bastok I shall definitely bring that topic up." Mono yawned and Tina said, "Well lets get you a bath and get you ready for bed. Tina took Mono in the bathroom and got his bath ready. As he was getting in he shouted, "Hot! This water is really hot mommy!" "Don't be silly, get in the bath and lets get that fishy smell off you." He laughed and jumped in despite how hot it was. He splashed around with his bath toys while Tina folded towels and put them in the cabinet. "This is my swimming chocobo you bad pirates! No it is our chocobo give it back!" He had a rubber chocobo toy and a little toy ship in the bath. He bobbed the chocobo around in the water with his hand and said, "He is to fast for your ship you will never catch us!" "Arg we will catch you-" "Time to get out of the bath Mono. You need to eat supper and get to bed," Tina said as she pulled the plug to drain the bathtub. She wrapped a towel around him and carried him to his bedroom and dressed him in his pajamas that were blue colored and had little chocobos designs all over them. When she finished dressing him Mono fell back sound asleep in his bed. "Aw, he must have been really tired." She tucked him in his bed and turned off the lights and left the room.

That night while Windurst slept, Nesta was on watch and she sat talking to another guard. "It's been along time since any beast-men showed their horrid faces. Could they really be gone?" "I doubt that," She said as she sat knitting. "Why do you doubt it?" "Why would the council start the advertising for the life of an adventurer? They know that none of the Kingdoms have the massive army they had during the Great War. Most of the soldiers have retired and left the army for a better life. Guards are the only real soldiers now, why else would these adventurers start showing up and helping the Kingdoms?" She looked back down at what she was knitting and continued. "I see, well adventurers are not hard to come by anymore, they come in all shapes and sizes. I just hope another war doesn't start up like so long ago." The guard looked over at Nesta who was diligently working on her knitting. "What are you working on over there?" "It's a blanket for Mono. He got lost tonight and I'm gunna give him this blanket as a gift so he doesn't feel so bad." "Oh okay, cute little youngster, he wants to brave like his father, but has a hard time finding it. The adventurers have been getting rough lately, might need to find an alternative route for him." "Nah, I just carry him on my shoulders and walk through the crowd." "Okay, well what do you think he will become one day?" "I see him as a council member with his father or a guild-member, the people on his mother's side are all well-known alchemists, maybe he will become an alchemist." "Yeah, I could see him as becoming an alchemist." The two guards grew quiet as the night went on.

The next morning Mono awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and a gentle breeze blowing. He sat up and looked around, his nice tunic and beanie lay on the chair across the room. "Time to fight the dragonflies!" He threw on his clothes and as he straightened his beanie with one hand he put on his boots with the other hand. He dashed through the living room and before he reached the front door he saw that it was raining. "Mono, if your going out at least eat some breakfast first." He ran to Tina and gave her a hug and said, "Good morning mommy!" Then he sat down at the table and quickly ate his breakfast.

After finishing he swung open the front door and dashed out into the rain. "The weather is on my side to you dragonflies, will you fight today," he said as he held a long stick and looked around for the flying fiends. There was not a single bug in sight, Mono just shrugged and said, "Well I guess the rain drops would knock them out of the sky, oh well I can go see my new friends." He looked around and then he saw, the reason there were no dragonflies out, they had sent someone to take care of Mono. It was a 1-foot long spider and it gnashed its teeth as it crawled towards Mono. "Looks like the stick won't do," he said as he ran to find a bigger weapon. The spider hissed and venom dripped from his mouth. Then it was all ended when Mono slammed his father's shovel down on the spider killing it instantly. "Nice try dragonflies, I'm too good." He wiped the spider blood off on the ground and laid the shovel back against the wall of the house. As Mono searched around the grounds of his house to make sure there were no more sneaky bugs he saw the most irresistible thing ever to any tarutaru or mithra child. Puddles, hundreds of them and still filling and overflowing into the streets, he ran and jumped into the nearest one and water splashed into the air just missing his head. "Mono, hey Mono! Its us!" His friends were running up the road towards him shouting. He waved then got back to jumping in the puddles. They ran up to him and said, "Whatcha doin Mono?" "Playing in these huge puddles!" The children looked around and saw hundreds of giant puddles. Unable to resist they joined Mono in jumping in them.

As the rain grew harder they got tired and look at one another and said, "Lets go see boss, heard he's sick or something." "Nah, he won't want us to bother him lets go buy some candy over in Windurst Woods." All mouths hushed and all eyes turned to the Tarutaru who said that. "I have money," shouted Mono holding a bag of Gil up in the air. "Yay, lets go get some candy!" They cheered and ran down the road laughing and enjoying the company of one another.

As they entered Windurst Woods they saw the place was packed. Guards came up to the children and said, "Sorry children, can't let you travel through here, where you all headed?" "We're headed to the candy store to get candy!" "Yeah candy!" They started to get riled up and the guard backed up and said, "Okay, okay, I'll direct you to the guard house, look for Nesta she's a mithra and she'll help you." The guard pointed to the guardhouse and the children ran hurriedly to it. "What can I do for you little ones this fine rainy day?" Nesta said as she came walking out of the guardhouse. "We want candy and the guard won't let us walk to the candy store." The children fearing they weren't going to get any candy started to get teary-eyed. "Its okay, look I will take the one who has money and we will bring back the candy. The rest of you can stay here and look at the shiny weapons. Now then, who has the money?" "I do," shouted Mono as he held up his moneybag. "Oh, Mono, wonderful lets go, hold my hand and stay close. You don't want these adventurers stealing your stuff do you?" He shook his head and with his left hand held onto Nesta's right hand and his other hand reached across his chest and held onto Nesta's Pant leg. They kept walking through the crowd and the people started to look more frightening every step he took. He just looked at the ground so he wouldn't see the scary people. "Alright, let me see the money Mono," He handed her the money with a smile and she bought some candy for each child and threw in a little money knowing seeing that Mono didn't have enough. "Thank you, have a great day," The candy seller said as he put the candy into a bag and handed it to Nesta. "Thanks bye." They walked back through the crowd and when they reached the guardhouse the children were jumping up and down in excitement. Nesta distributed a candy to each child and said, "Run along now and play. Don't try and travel through this area without a guard anymore, things are getting rough in the world and the adventurers are coming far and wide." They nodded and all ran off except Mono, he was fascinated with the armor on the table. "You like that armor?" "Yes I do, I would beat the dragonflies once and for all if I had this sword!" "I don't think your mom would like you swinging swords around in her garden." He laughed and then looked at Nesta and said," why have these other people come to Windurst?" She wasn't sure if Mono's parents would be happy for telling him bout the beast-men so she said, "They serve the king when trouble arrives, if a giant monster comes then they fight it." He scratched his head as he looked at the adventurers then said, "Oh ok!" "Hey, I made you a blanket last night." "Really?" His face lit up with excitement, she went into the guardhouse and got it brought it to him and said, "It will keep you warm always and its made of the most comfortable materials in Windurst." He hugged it and cheered. "Thank you so much Nesta," He ran off to his home to show his parents the blanket.

He laid it on the end of his bed and walked out the door singing a cheerful tune. He strolled down out of the house and saw his candy sitting on the table on the porch. "I almost forgot my candy!" He grabbed the candy and threw it into his mouth and chewed mercilessly on it. "Its so chewy and flavorful!" He chewed more and more until his jaws grew tired and he stopped chewing. He started to walk down the stairs when his parents stopped him."Mono, something has come up, we are leaving to Jueno on an urgent council meeting." "Am I going?" They nodded and Tina said, "Many bad monsters have been showing up and the council wants to talk about it. While your father is in council we can do all kinds of fun things!" A smile came across Mono's face and as Tina picked him up he said, "Will we get to go to the alchemist's guild?" "I'm sure we can stop by there, but there are so many beautiful places in Jueno." He was happy to excited to go and jumped out of Tina's arms and ran to his room to pack.

"Let's see, my toys, my coloring pencils and paper, and my fishing gear and…" He went on and on throwing toys and items into suitcase after suitcase. He didn't notice Tina packing his clothes knowing he wasn't even thinking about them. "There, all packed, lots of toys and things!" He had three suitcases full of items from his room and his mother managed to fit his entire wardrobe into one. "The airship company will retrieve our suitcases if we put them on here," Tina said as she set the suitcases in the cart and it drove off down the road to the Port. "Okay Mono, can you be a good boy and head down to the Port? Nesta will help you get there. I told her to wait with you until we arrived."

Mono dashed out the door nearly losing his beanie and tore off down the road as fast as his little tarutaru feet could move. His friends stopped him and said, "Where are you rushing off to?" Gasping for air he said, "I'm going to the Port, my daddy is taking my mommy and me to Jueno!" They were all astonished, "Why are you going?" "My daddy said I can't talk about it with very many people. I think it's got to do with the adventurers showing up all of a sudden." They nodded and went on their way after saying their good byes to Mono.

He arrived at Windurst Woods and the people were in an uproar. The whole area was full of adventurers talking about recent attacks by beast-men. "Nesta? Where are you?" He couldn't see the guardhouse, there were so many people he couldn't see the other side of the Windurst Woods. Suddenly he felt someone grab him and before he knew it he was on the shoulders of Nesta. "Hello Mono, how are you?" She tried to draw his attention away from the many conversations that echoed through the Woods. "Whats a Beast-man?" He couldn't figure out what they were talking about. "Don't worry about it Mono, just silly people talking about nothing." They continued on their way and made it to the Port, now all they had to do was wait for Mono's parents to arrive.

The rain started up again and Nesta saw Mono clutching the blanket she had made for him and had it wrapped around him. "Are you okay Mono?" "I'm just really cold." She watched as every thunder boom sent him hiding under his blanket. "Want to sit in my lap and I can hold you?" He nodded and she picked him up and rocked him back and forth while singing a song that only Mithras knew. He yawned and rolled over and fell asleep. "Aw, cute little thing, I wish he were my son. There little Mono, go to sleep, that's right." She continued to sing and rock him, "Was he a good boy?" Tina said as she came running to Nesta followed by her husband. "He always gets so quiet and sleepy when I hold him," She laughed and said, "He's a wonderful child. You are so lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful child." "Yes, he is truly wonderful. How would you like to be his protector? His father his being moved to part of the high council and he has started looking for someone we could trust." Nesta happily accepted and said, "I will even baby-sit the little guy." They both laughed as they entered the Airship docks. Mono was fast asleep in Tina's arms and dreaming the same dream he had a few days ago. He was running past the giant and this time the young mithra that followed him looked like Nesta. Then he awoke and saw he was onboard an airship. "Thank you for flying United Kingdoms airship travel, we will be taking off in a few moments and I would like to go over all safety ruled…" The woman talking through the speakers was drowned to Mono because he and Nesta were happily playing games together like Rock, Paper, Scissors. "Aw, Mono you win again! How are you so good at this game?" "I don't know, maybe I'm just lucky." He smiled warmly at Nesta and said, "I'm thirst, will you get me a drink please Nesta?" She smiled and raised her hand to get the stewardess' attention. "Yes? Can I help you?" "Yes, can you get this little tarutaru here something to drink?" "Oh, sure what would he like to have? Orange Juice, Apple Juice, Lemonade…" The list ended when Mono abruptly said, "I'll take Apple Juice." The stewardess smiled and walked off to fetch his drink. "Attention all passengers we have taken off and you may now freely move throughout the ship. The stewardess brought back Mono's drink and he quickly finished it so he could go look around the ship. "Come on Mono, I'll show you around the ship, I use to be a guard on these ships." Mono set down his empty cup and jumped out of his seat and said, "Let's go Nesta!"

They walked through the seating area and up the stairs to the mid-level area of the ship, "Have you ever been on these airships before Mono?" "No, Daddy goes on his trips and Mommy and me stay home." They came to a hallway of with several doors on each side of it and at the far end there was a room with the door creaked open. The lighting wasn't so good in the hallway; there were very few lights and the hallway looked scary. None of this bothered Mono since his amulet lit up the whole hallway. "Lets go see what room that is." Mono was afraid there would be a monster in there and would try to eat Nesta. "Nesta wait! What if a monster is in there?" She laughed and said, "Don't worry, come one let's go." Mono ran to Nesta's side and held her pant leg as she got closer to the room. Nesta knocked on the door and in no time t he door swung open and a woman in chef clothes was standing there. Mono saw other people dressed in chef clothes and busily running around. "Yes, can I help you?" "Oh, no thank you we were just looking around the ship and wanted to see what was down this hallway. "Well this is the kitchen and the other rooms are staff bedrooms." The chef turned to Mono and said, "Hello little one, you want something to eat?" He looked up at Nesta then at the chef and said, "Do you have any cookies?" She laughed heartily, "Yes we have thousands of cookies, take a look." Nesta and Mono followed her in and they were led to a long table that reached 10 feet by 5 feet and it was covered with every kind of desert they could they could think of. "Let's eat it all Nesta," said Mono as he picked up a cookie that had a 7-inch radius all around. "I don't think your mom wants you spoiling your dinner, have one cookie and lets keep looking around the ship." Nesta walked out the door with Mono carrying his cookie with both hands following closely behind. They continued up the stairs and onto the deck of the ship. The wind was blowing hard and almost blew Mono off his feet, but Nesta caught him and said, " I think it'll be better if I hold you while we look around out here." He nodded happily as he finished off the last bits of his cookie. Lining the edges of the ship were cannons that dotted along it. Since this was an airship for carrying important people more defense was required.

The wind began to really pick up and rain started to fall, Things were getting rough as the airship was heading into a storm. Although no airships have been lost in a storm or badly damage, people have a rough time on board as they get tossed around and some get injured. "Let's get below deck Mono, Mono?" Nesta looked down and Mono was not in her arms, he was now at the front of the ship holding on to several pipes and other parts of the ship as the wind blew so hard his feet were up in the air. Nesta ran across the deck of the ship, keeping low she moved fast and wasn't affected by the wind. She grabbed Mono's hand and pulled him to her and said, "What are you doing all the way over here?" "I thought I saw someone and they waved to me." Nesta looked around and said, "Mono, there's no one out here, but us. Just then she remembered, some ships have been found with the people on board all dead. "Airship Pirates." She looked around and could see two vast moving objects on the other side of the clouds and was perfectly visible with every lightening flash. "Mono, we have to get downstairs quick, this may seem scary, but just hold on and you will be fine." He wasn't sure what was about to happen, but he could tell by the sound of Nesta's voice that he had better do what she said or something bad would happen. He gripped her shirt tight and held on ready for anything. "Good, now hang on!" Nesta jumped over the side of the ship and quickly pulled out a hook shot and used it to swing under the ship. Mono had his eyes closed tightly and gripped tighter with every loud cling of the hook shot. There, on the bottom of the ship Nesta saw a window and threw herself through it. They landed in the baggage area. Mono was too scared to move and Nesta couldn't pry him off of her. "Come on Mono, let go, its ok. We're safe now you can open your eyes now." Mono slowly opened his eyes and saw they were in a dark room, and then he didn't care because he had been pushed to the limit. "I wanna go see mommy!" He started to cry as Nesta set him down. "Your safe here Mono, this is the baggage area, all the people's suitcases are stored here. Pirates are going to attack the airship-" A burst of several cannons exchanging fire interrupted Nesta, "are attacking the airship, you must promise to stay here no matter what okay?" He looked up to her teary eyed and nodded. "Good boy," Nesta jumped out the storage window and raced up the ship to join the fight.

While his amulet lit his way, he looked around the room. Other than the battle raging up top the ship it was eerily quiet. "Why am I so scared all the time?" He began to think that he was annoying Nesta with his cowardice. "Maybe she would be better off if I left…" He looked out the window and there staring at him was a pirate. He was horrid looking, his eyes were rotted out and his bones still had pieces of flesh on them and his ragged clothes were stained with blood. Mono fell on his back crying in fear, "Nesta! Where are you?" She could not here his cries as she was on one of the pirate ships killing pirates left and right. The Pirate climbed into the room laughing sinisterly at the little tarutaru. "It's okay little one, I just want to take the luggage and I will be on my way. Then Mono remembered that his amulet offered him protection against enemy blows so he looked around for some sort of a weapon. A small knife was laying on one of the shelves. He grabbed it and lunged at the pirate. The pirate couldn't get him off, as the amulet would reverse his attacks. The Pirate struggled to get out of the room, but Mono kept slicing his bones with the knife. Then the pirate pulled out a Sapara and swung it at Mono, the amulet reflected it and the blade came flying back so fast that the pirate never knew what hit him and the blow sent him flying out the window. His sword lay on the ground and Mono knew that he had to go fight. His courage built up, he grabbed the Sapara and ran to the door leading up to the other levels.

Meanwhile Mono's parents were in their room, His father had his two holy daggers from the Great War and his wife had his old gun. Suddenly on the other side of the door they heard, "Have at you vile fiends! You will not get my mommy and daddy!" Metal clangs rang out as the sounds of swords hitting each other filled the room. The screams of pirates grew aloud then fell silent. Mono's parents slowly opened the door and saw Mono was standing in the middle of the room with two pirates dead and swords of other pirates that dropped them and ran. "Mommy! Daddy! I'm so happy you are alright!" "Nice thinking son with the protective amulet, Your quite the fighter son, may even be a fencer. "Fencer?" This word was unknown to Mono and he scratched his head as he tried understanding it. "Don't worry I'll tell you alter, for now stay with your mother." His dad ran up the stairs and bodies of dead pirates fell to the ground.

"Mommy, is daddy gunna be ok?" She could see the concern in his eyes and said, "Don't worry honey, he'll be okay, He was a soldier a long time ago." She saw he was getting worried and said, "What is it Mono?" "Where is Nesta? She told me to wait in the luggage room. She will be mad at me for leaving the room." "It's okay, Nesta will be happy to know that you fought and killed several pirates." Just then the door swung open, standing there was Nesta. "Mono, good you're safe. I was worried the pirates had gotten you." "Where did you go? A pirate got in the room and tried to get me!" "I was destroying the pirate's ship." "Are they gone Nesta?" "They're gone…"

The storm raged on as the ship flew through the storm. Mono's parents were asleep; Mono was in the Nesta and his room looking out the window while Nesta was getting Mono and her some food. "I wonder how much longer it will be till we get to Jueno." He looked out the window quietly. "Got some food!" Nesta came walking into the room carrying two bowls of Spiced Rice. Mono noticing the delicious smell says, "Ooh, what smells so good?" He looked up from the window and saw Nesta holding one of the bowls out to him. "What is it?" "Haven't you ever had Spiced Rice before?" he shook his head and said, "No, never had Rice before, my mommy makes rarab meet and carrots." "Well you will love this," She put the two bowls down on the table and sat down, "Come on Mono, you'll like it." He walked over and sat down at the table, he looked down into the bowl and he saw the small diced up orange and green vegetables mixed in with the small white vegetables. "Rice?" "Yes, now take a bite, its good." He picked up the spoon out of the bowl and looked at the small portion of rice in his spoon. "Go on, its good!" He took a bite and said, "Wow! It is good!" Mono now had a favorite food, it was Rice, he gobbled it up as quickly as he could and then realized why it was called Spiced Rice. His tongue was on burning, "Water! Water!" "Woops looks like you got my bowl. Okay here have this, " She passed him a bottled liquid and he quickly drank it. "Ah, much better! What is this stuff?" "It's a special Juice, basically the antidote to the hot rice." "Let's get some more!" "You wait here and I'll go get more for you." Nesta finished off her bowl, gathered the two bowls and left to go get more.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, it scared Mono enough to want to accompany Nesta. "Nesta wait up!" She stopped and waited for him halfway down the stairs. The Thunder let out a huge boom and shook the ship, Mono hurriedly ran to Nesta's side and said, "I thought you were could use my help carrying the food," he said as he tried to act brave. He hoped that Nesta wouldn't notice that he was holding on to her pant leg. She knew he was trying to be brave, and said, "Mono, are you scared?" "No…nope…n-not scared at all." Just then lightning flashed and Mono grabbed Nesta's leg. "It's alright Mono, nothing to be afraid of." After one giant boom of thunder the ship rocked and the lights went out. Mono's amulet lit up, but the lightning flashes had scared him enough where he ran back to the room to hide. "Monsters are back! Scarier monsters!" "Mono! Come back, the ship is in drift, we're pulling into Jueno!" He didn't hear her and was hiding under the table in the bedroom. His amulet lit up the room, tears came to his eyes as he heard someone coming closer to him and he didn't know what to do. Then the lights turned back on with a low hum and Nesta was standing next to the table. Mono started to cry knowing he will never be as brave as Nesta is. "Mono, are you alright?" She slid the table over and saw Mono fighting away the tears so she wouldn't see them. "Aw, its okay Mono, I got a little scared too when the lights went off. Come on, hey Mono cheer up. Want to go get more food when we get in Jueno?" He wiped his eyes and nodded. Nesta picked Mono up and carried him out of the ship. Mono's parents met Nesta at the exit to the airship and talked. "How was Mono, any trouble at all?" "He got a little scared and I know he's trying to be brave like me and he had Rice for the first time and loved it." Mono was fast asleep in Nesta's arms, Tina looked at him and said, "I bet you'd like a break. Why don't you go find a place to stay, here take some cash and stay in any hotel you wish, you are so kind to take care of Mono." "My pleasure, he's so cute I could take care of him all day if I wanted. Also, thanks for the cash I will find a great place to stay, I can also two room suite and Mono can stay with me if you want." "That would be great, my husband has been working hard to get ready for the council meeting and Mono is so cute he would distract him from his work." "Sure, I don't mind him staying with me, we'll go eat some dinner then go look around town."

Mono awoke in a wonderful hotel room., he sat up and looked around. "Mommy? Daddy? Where am I?" Nesta was sitting on her bed in the other room eating a bowl of Spiced Rice; Mono came walking into the room, "Where are we?" "Oh, hi Mono, we're in the Royundo Hotel, one of the Finest hotels in Jueno. I got you some Rice, it's sitting in your room on the table." He walked off to go get his Rice; Nesta smiled and ate more of her rice. "Is it okay if I eat with you?" "Sure Mono, sit anywhere you like, after we finish we can go look around Jueno." After hearing that Mono put his food on the bed next to Nesta and started eating. "Where's my mommy and daddy?" "They are at another hotel, your dad had a lot of work to do and your mom said you would be happier if you stayed with me." He kept eating then after getting very quiet said, "Nesta, how do you be so brave? I think I will never be as brave as you." Nesta stopped eating and said, "Well, the truth is I get scared, whenever you got lost that night in Windurst I was terrified at the thought of you could have been hurt and I wouldn't find you in time. You just have to swallow your fear and move forward, my weapon gives me a lot of confidence. If it's alright with your parents I can help you pick out a weapon that suits you." Mono's face lit up as the thought of being able to fight like Nesta. "I would love to have a weapon of my own. My daddy supports fighting since he was a soldier in a war. He likes to see if I can fight, but I am tired can we go tomorrow?" "Sure, let's get some sleep and we can go in the morning." Before she had finished talking Mono had crawled on her bed and curled up in her arms and she carefully covered herself up and Mono half-awake moved closer to her and fell asleep as she sang lullabies to him. She laid her arms around him and went to sleep.

The next morning Mono awoke in the bed alone. "Nesta?" "In here! Mono, get changed and let's go shopping for your weapon." He threw the blankets off of him and rushed to his room and changed to his clothes he wore the day before. "Let's go Nesta!" They went out of the suite and went down the stairs. Many of the hotel guests were still asleep and the sun hadn't risen yet. "Where are we going first?" "There's a weapon school around the block and we'll see what weapon you have a knack for." "What if I'm not good at any of the weapons? "Everyone is good with a weapon; they just have to find which one it is."

They left the lobby of the hotel and were outside strolling down the road to the Weapon school. Mono saw there weren't many adventurers in Jueno and saw the ones that were there were being removed from Jueno. "Why are those guards taking those people out of the city, Nesta?" "Adventurers are not allowed in Jueno since it has the council meetings and they don't need the streets to be full of loud and rowdy adventurers." They continued down the block, the school was visible already and it got bigger and bigger as they got closer. Nesta opened the door n let Mono go in first then she walked in closing the door behind her. Mono looked around and the room was the most amazing room he had ever been in. The carpet was made of several rows of small bamboo sticks; the walls had drawings of monsters and people fighting them. There was an office desk with a Elvaan sitting in the chair. Nesta walked up to him and said, "Excuse me, hi, I'm here to see what weapon my friend Mono is good at." The Elvaan looked up from his paperwork and said, "Alright where is he?" Nesta laughed and pointed down, the Elvaan stood up and bent over to look over the desk and saw Mono standing there holding Nesta's pant leg. "He's pretty young don't you think?" "He's at a good age, I got my weapon training when I was his age." The conversation went on and on while Mono looked around the room at the different weapons on the walls and hanging above doorways. "Alright, let's go in the back and see what he can do." Nesta took Mono by the hand and they followed the Elvaan through the door at the far end of the room. The next room was gigantic; it was a matted gym with cardians to train on and weapon rack. "Okay, let's see now, um…" "Oh this will do nicely, this is a Katana, they are short bladed oriental weapons, you keep two on you at all time for combat."

Mono took the katana and held them in his hands.

"Try it out," the Elvaan said.

Mono flew around the room swinging and slashing left and right, "Okay, that may not be the best for you…" The Elvaan took the katana from Mono.

"Guns?"

Before Nesta could deny Mono the chance to use them the Elvaan already had handed Mono a pair of shiny silver and sparkling blue tinted pistols.

"I have all kinds of guns, this pair is the best I have though, deadly accurate, and have great safety mechanisms, the entire gun was hand crafted unlike the sweat shop workshops in Bastok copies."

"Let me see them," Nesta took the pistols and looked down the sights and felt the weight in her hands and made all kinds of different checks.

"Well?" "These are the greatest pistols I have ever seen."

The pistols had a revolver/colt mix and the chamber rolling made a beautiful clicking noise as they spun. "They have a dash of magic in the metallic structure which self-cleans the guns. They hold 8 shots and pack a punch when fired."

"We'll take them!" Nesta set a bag of gil down on the counter and after a few minutes of talking and signing paperwork Mono was walking out of the store with Nesta and his New Pistols bouncing against his side in their holsters.

"Nesta, its noon, can we go get something to eat?" "Sure, I was kind of hungry anyway."

Suddenly a large group of soldiers came running down the street as people ran the opposite way screaming. "Mono lets see what's up!" They ran down the street towards the building the council was meeting in.

"I hope your parents are okay, come on lets go!" Nesta picked up Mono and carried him down the road closer to the building. Soldiers were running inside and Nesta set down Mono and said, "Mono, you wait here, I am going to go find your mom and dad."

Mono nodded and sat against on a bench and watched the display of action happening before him. Soldiers just arriving were organizing and running into the building. Suddenly a shrouded figure was thrown from the window and he landed in the middle of the guards, he was already dead so they couldn't arrest him.

Mono ran forward to Nesta when he saw her walking out of the building. He slowed to a stop as he saw tears rolling down her face and she was wiping them away.

"What's wrong Nesta?" Mono had no idea an assassin had killed every council member and his parents were both there and were killed…

At the funeral, Mono was crying and holding Nesta's hand. "Why won't they get up? They must get up; this is all a joke isn't it? Nesta?" He cried out loud and ran to the two coffins, Nesta grabbed him and said as she cried, "Mono, they aren't coming back, your mother told me to tell you not to be sad, she would always be with you. Your father said he would be there for you giving you strength when you needed it…"

Mono couldn't stop crying and said as he cried, "I love you mommy and daddy…" he reached out to the coffins and then turned to Nesta and held onto her and cried. "I love you Nesta, had you of been in that building you would have been killed too…" Nesta carried Mono to a bench and sat with him and said, "Mono, I know I will never be like your mother, but I hope you will consider me your mother as I will take care of you." Mono had tears rolling down his face and he said, "…I always considered you as a second mother…"

That night, Mono cried and cried, Nesta tried to fight it, but she cried too.

"Mono, don't worry we will get through this together…" "What kind of man would do such a thing? How did he beat my daddy?" "He was an expert killer and he poisoned the water the council members had been drinking, your father tried to fight the killer, he through him out the window and shortly after I arrived him and your mom died there on the floor."

Mono started to cry again, "I am sorry I am showing weakness, I wish I were stronger…" "Don't say that, you have every right to cry right now…"

A few days later Mono felt a little better, he still cried every now and then and he missed his parents a lot. Nesta wanted to take care of Mono as best she could, they left the dangerous city of Jueno, and after that night the city became rough and would be until a new council was formed. They left to a small port town called Mhaura; Nesta had some friends there and knew Mono would have a better life by the ocean…

"Dinners ready, Mono I made you some Rice." Nesta put a bowl of rice down on the table; Mono was sitting on the Tatami mat floor looking out the window over the sea. He looked at the bowl and got up to go eat, "Mono, I know its been hard letting go of your parents, but they would want you to right now, besides cheer up that nice sailor agreed to teach you how to sail and pilot ships." Mono grinned from ear to ear and ate as fast as he could until there was not a single grain of rice left, Nesta had taught Mono to finish everything on his plate no matter how nasty it tasted. "I see you have been doing good with that scimitar the ferry captain bought you, don't you want your pistols anymore?" "Every time I look at the pistols my mind flashes back to that fateful night and the funeral…" "I understand Mono, if they bother you that much then I will sell them and give you the cash for spending money." Mono nodded happily as he stood up, he took his bowl to the kitchen and put it on the counter.

"Time for bed Mono, tomorrow we will have all kinds of fun." Mono nodded as he yawned and stretched his arms. Nesta picked up Mono and set him in the bed, he curled up and looked up at Nesta with trusting eyes. Nesta smiled as she got in bed with him and she sang lullabies to Mono as he fell asleep against her and she later fell asleep.

That night, Mono dreamed about life on the sea, catching fish, braving rough storms, even battling fierce pirates with Nesta. Then he heard a beautiful voice calling out to him, "Mono, wake up, its time to wake up Mono…"

He opened his eyes and Nesta was leaning over him smiling, "Wakey-wakey sleepy head." He sat up and looked around, Nesta was setting out clothes for him to wear for the day and hummed a cheerful tune to herself. Mono rubbed his eyes and said, "What are we gunna do today?" "We are going to go down to the docks and I'm going to teach you how to fish and we are also going to meet that sailor who said he would teach you how to captain a ship." Mono nodded and hopped out of bed, He threw on the clothes Nesta had laid out for him and followed her out the door of his room into the dining room where breakfast was already made.

"This breakfast is great! What is it?" "It's called oatmeal, lots of children in this town eat it." Mono looked at it and then after curling his spoon he wolfed it down. Nesta quietly finished her meal while Mono wildly ate every bite. "Okay, lets go!" Mono shouted as he ran to the kitchen to put up his bowl.

Mono and Nesta stepped out of the door and Nesta turned to lock the door as Mono waited up for her. "Ready to learn fishing?" "Yep! I have always wanted to learn!" They reached the beachfront and Nesta handed Mono a fishing pole and a bag of worms.

"Okay, now here put the worm on the hook like this and then cast the line out like this…" Mono copied every motion Nesta made with her pole. In no time Mono was fishing like a pro, "That's right! Good job Mono!" Mono smiled and said, "It's so easy mom-"he stopped talking and stared at the ground for a long time. Nesta realized what he was about to say and looked down at him. "Your mother told me to look after you, and if you want to call me mommy then that's fine, I know it wouldn't feel right, but I have always thought of you as a son…" She put her arm around Mono and he hugged her, "I love you…mommy…"

It was noon and since their fishing lesson was cut short Mono and Nesta decided to have some lunch. "Heres a nice table…Mono sit there across from me." They sat down in a small restaurant, the two of them looked through the menus. Mono noticed some people looking at Nesta then at him and then they would turn their heads in curiosity.

"Excuse me, are you this young one's mother?" Nesta looked up from her menu and two Elvaan women looking down on her. She looked at Mono and they both smiled at each other then she said, "Yes, he's my son." One of the Elvaan women whispered something into the other one's ear and then they both shook their heads and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself!" "For what- Oh I see what you are thinking, one second. Mono why don't you go over there and look at that statue I think there is a treasure on it." Nesta pointed at the Statue of a Tarutaru holding a bowl of candy. As he jumped up and ran off Nesta explained why she was taking care of him and what had happened to his parents. "We're so sorry, we falsely accused you and wish you luck in taking care of the little guy." They ran off in tears back to their table just as Mono came back with some candy in both hands.

"Mommy, I want some rice and chicken with gravy." "The number 3?" "Yeah the number 3." "I think I'll get the same."

The waiter approached the table and before he said anything they both shouted to him, "Hello, number 3 with some water!" The waiter just wrote down the order on his writing pad and hurried off to fix the orders.

"Mono, are you ready for your boat lesson today?" "Yep, I can't wait, I heard that the ones top in their class get a free ship!" "Really I didn't know that."

As the day went on Mono went to his boat lessons and Nesta walked around town looking at the different items for sale in the many shops. She bought Mono some presents knowing it would make him feel better, she also bought some more household items and some groceries. As the hours passed Nesta had finished her shopping and walked down to the docks to pick up Mono.

Mono was standing next to the mast of a ship; he was staring up at the crow's nest and had his hand resting up against the mass so he wouldn't fall over.

"Hey Mono, you ready to go?" He looked over to her and said, "Yeah, I'm ready, hey Nesta what's up there? The teacher said we would go over different parts of the ship and we went over the engine room today, he said that thing up there is the crow's nest he wouldn't tell me anything else." "It's called a crow's nest as he told you and it's where one of the shipmates sit and keep an eye out for storms, enemy ships, any kind of dangers and warn the captain if they see them."

Mono looked at the Crow's nest for a few seconds then smiled and said, "I get it now!" "Okay, let's go, I got some stuff to make dinner so let's head back to the house."

Mono held Nesta's hand and stayed close beside her as night grew and the sun went down. Of all nights, this night was of the new moon, the sky was moonless and the only thing that lit the path of the road was the streetlights glowing dimly. Mono held onto Nesta's pant leg and tried to see his way through the darkness to see if any monsters were coming after him. Nesta looked down to Mono and then picked him up and said, "I'll carry you Mono, don't worry we'll b e home soon…" Mono sat happily in Nesta's arms and felt more safe and secure than he had been on the ground. As they approached their house Nesta put Mono down and unlocked the door.

Nesta and Mono removed their shoes and walked into the house, the living room had Tatami mat flooring and they couldn't wear shoes on it or the mat would break apart. Mono walked over to his spot by the window and looked out the window making sure no one was coming towards the house and after watching for a little while he turned to go find some of his toys to play with.

"Mono, You want some gravy with your rice?" "Yes Please!"

Nesta kept working on dinner while Mono pulled out his action figures of toy knights and soldiers and played war. Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door, Nesta and Mono both raced to open the door to see who it was. It was the town guard, he was drenched in water and said as he gasped for air, "I have been sent to warn you that a storm is coming and we advise all citizens to stay home until it is over, we lost one of our ships by the choppy water." "Was anyone hurt?" "No, luckily it just fell apart as we had finished tying it down to the dock and turned to head for shelter." "What will we do about food?" "If the storm lasts for more than a few days then we will be bringing food door to door." "Thank you, best of luck sir." He bowed then ran off into the night.

"Mono, we won't be able to go outside for a little while, a bad storm so don't go outside alone. Okay?" "Yes mommy, I'll stay here." "Dinner is almost ready, why don't you go wash up and get ready?" "Okay, I will." Mono put his toys up and ran to the bathroom to wash his hands and face.

Nesta brought out two steaming plates with teriyaki chicken and Rice with gravy; she set them both down on the table and sat down. Mono joined her shortly after washing up and without hesitation grabbed his fork and knife and gobbled up his food. "Mono, you should take the time to chew your food, your gunna choke." Mono swallowed a several forkfuls of Rice and said, "Okay, I'll do that, sorry." Nesta chewed her food quietly and looked out the window every so often to see if the storm had reached port yet. "Mommy, will the storm destroy our home?" Nesta saw the worried look on Mono's face and said, "No it won't this house is strong and no storm could tear it apart."

Suddenly the power went out, the low hum of the lights stopped as they went dark and the whole room got pitch black dark.

Nesta could hear Mono shuddering then he cried out, "Mommy? I'm scared, did monsters do this?" "It's the storm, it must have knocked out the power, don't worry I'll get some candles." Nesta jumped up and lit a match, using it to help her see she found a candle and lit it then several others around the room. "See? All better now, let's finish eating Mono."

They hurried to finish their dinner and then sat quietly waiting for the power to come back on, Nesta wanted to go see if she could help with anything, but when she got up and looked out the window she saw a giant ship rolling down the road in front of the house. "Mono, we can't leave, at all…" "Why I thought if we stayed together we would be safe." "There are ships rolling through the town we can't leave or we'll get crushed."

Mono started to cry, "We're going to die!" "No, it's okay, let's get ready for bed, the storm should be over by tomorrow."

Lightning flashed through the windows and each strike scared Mono more and more, they got into bed and Mono snuggled up to Nesta knowing she would keep him safe and Nesta put her arm over him to comfort him. While the thunder roared and things outside crashed around Nesta sang Mono's favorite lullabies, then after eh was asleep she put out the candles and went back to the bed and fell asleep with Mono right next to her.

That night Mono had a dream of the night his parents died, and the funeral, it seemed to be a reoccurring dream, and then he saw the storm in his dream it had the face of the man that killed his parents and it was searching for him, it swallowed Nesta when she charged at it then it started to eat Mono. Mono awoke in a cold sweat, it was almost sun up and Nesta was still asleep. He got out of bed and changed to the clothes he had worn the day before. He looked out the window and saw it was only raining and the sky was cloudy, a man was approaching the house and this alarmed Mono. Mono ran back to the bedroom and awoke Nesta saying someone was coming towards the house. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her weapon off the bedpost and checked through the peephole to see who it was. It was the guard from last night, she through her weapon aside and opened the door.

"Hello, I hope I haven't come to early for you and your son." "No, no we just woke up, did you need something?" "Yes, the storm destroyed all the ferries, if you were planning to leave Mhaura today then we are sorry, but there is no ferry service at this time, many of the adventurers who travel through this town are having to wait, so you might want to make sure they don't bully your son, some are a lil mad they can't ride the ferry to Selbina." "Thank you, I will do that, I use to be a top guard in Windurst, and so I know how to deal with adventurers."

The guard bowed then rushed off down the street, Nesta shut the door and looked down at Mono and said, "Wanna go see the damage?" "Is the storm over?" "I think so if it isn't then we can run back inside."

They got cleaned up and ready to go, Mono stepped out the door and quickly ran inside to grab a jacket, "The wind is cold!" Nesta grabbed one too and put it on, and then they left the house and walked down the street. Work had already been started on repairing the damage, there were giant pieces of ferries scattered up and down the streets. None of the houses had any serious damage, just some street repair and cleanup was all that was needed.

"Mommy, can we go get some food?" "Sure, there should be a restaurant around here, hopefully it didn't get destroyed."

It started to rain again, Nesta and Mono ran for cover from the rain, they stood under a small pavilion and saw the restaurant across the street from them. "Quickly and safely Mono," Nesta said as she took Mono by the hand and ran across the street.

They entered the restaurant where an employee waited to dust the water off them with a towel. "Is that okay? Will you need a towel under you when you sit?" "No thank you, we didn't get that wet." Nesta and Mono sat at the nearest booth and looked around at the restaurant. There was a huge part of a ferry sticking through the roof and sitting on the floor, "Looks like they are making the best of the storm," Nesta said as she looked through the menu. "I just want Spiced Rice with that antidote drink stuff." "That sounds good I think I'll have that too Mono."

The waitress approached the table and said, "Hi, welcome to Choco's Rice and Steakhouse, may I take your order?" "Yes we'll both have the number 3 with the antidote drink." The waitress nodded and wrote down the order and then rushed off. "I wonder if my teacher is okay…" Mono looked up to look out the window, but was shocked when he saw a Mithra waving excitedly through the window towards Nesta and Mono. Mono didn't know who it was and Nesta was looking at the restaurant. The mithra rushed inside and ran to their table. "Nesta! Remember me? From Windurst, we worked the nightshift in the guard house." "Oh yeah, how's it going?" "Great, well, Windurst is full of riots over the loss of the council, Sandoria and Bastok are worse. These small towns seem to be the only safe place in the world now…" "That's horrible, why hasn't a new council been started yet?" "They are working on it, there is no government they have been away in a distant and secret location electing the new council. Until they finish the cities are in total Anarchy, the town guard has been doing a good job beating the crowds back, but for how long?" "Yeah I know, well I quit that job…my job is taking care of my son now…" The mithra looked at Mono then back at Nesta and said, "He looks nothing like you." "His parents died and before they died his mother asked me to take care of him. So there you have it, I love him very much and I think of him as my son." the mithra smiled and said, "You always had a heart of gold Nesta, I'm glad to see you happy. Well, I've gotta go find a ship that can take me to Selbina, there are a lot of beast-men near there and soldiers from everywhere are being called in to help protect the city." "Good luck, stay safe, bye!" They waved to each other and as the mithra passed by Mono she dropped a bag of gil into his pocket.

The waitress returned with their orders, bowed, and walked off to take other orders. Mono remembered what Nesta had told him about eating his food, he ate one bite at a time chewing and not wolfing everything down. Nesta did the same and smiled when she saw Mono not rushing through his food.

Later when they finished Nesta paid the bill and they went on their way. "Mommy, what are we going to do now?" "We're going down to the docks, fishing is really good around here after a storm."

They walked down to the docks shortly after getting their fishing gear. They fished for hours, catching all kinds of fish of different sizes and colors. When they had finished they had four buckets of fish. "These fish will do nicely for dinner for a few weeks." "Yeah, mommy its getting dark are we going back soon?" "Yep, let's go." They gathered their fishing gear and headed back to their home.

Some of the power hadn't been fully restored to the town and the streetlights were all out. Every gust of wind made Mono whimper and rush to stay close to Nesta. He carried the fishing poles in one hand and held Nesta's pant leg in the other. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew so hard it knocked Mono over and Nesta caught herself, a street lamp fell over, "Mommy! What's going on I'm scared!" Mono dropped the fishing gear and jumped in Nesta's arms, Every light in the town went out, except for the crescent moon it was completely dark. "The storm is starting up again!" Mono was shuddering and shaking in fear, he started to cry when he looked over Nesta's shoulder and saw a face on a giant storm cloud. "Like in my dream…It's him!" Mono was pointing at the cloud and shouting, Nesta turned to the cloud and saw it was no cloud, it was a giant wave too small to be a tsunami, but big enough to carry any people outside out to sea. She saw the face and recognized who it was right away, "It's him!" She pulled out several multi-colored orbs no bigger than marbles and threw them into the wave. The face exploded with a roar and water splashed all over them. The wave crashed all over it and never touched the town. Mono and Nesta ran into their house and locked the door.

Mono was sitting in a corner crying, "Mommy, what are we going to do mommy? I saw that thing in my dream, it tried to eat me." She put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry sweetie, I killed him. He must have taken the form of a wave to try to kill us, that was his final attempt…it failed."

The next morning Mono woke up and saw Nesta was not in the room. "Mommy?" There was no answer; he got out of bed to see where she was. He walked out of the room and saw Nesta had fallen asleep on the floor; she had stayed near the front door in case anything tried to get in. He walked over to her and got under the blankets and snuggled up against her and fell back asleep…

Later that morning Nesta woke up, she saw Mono was asleep next to her. "Aww, little guy must have gotten lonely." She slowly and quietly got up and went to go change clothes and fix breakfast. "Sleep tight my little angel," she said as she patted him on the head. While Nesta was fixing breakfast there was a knock on the door. She hurried over to answer the door to avoid anymore knocking that might wake up Mono.

"Hello?" the mithra from the day before was standing there in torn armor. "What happened to you?" "I have been at Windurst, Selbina was under control…the council has been chosen, and many of the rioters are outraged by what has happened…" "Come in and take a seat, I can help you with your wounds." "NO, I can't stay I have to go notify other cities and towns that the new council l has been chosen." She rushed off with some parts of her armor falling off.

Nesta shut the door and she quietly crept past Mono who was still asleep and went back to cooking. Mono was awakened by the smell of crispy bacon, hot and fresh eggs and toast. "Good morning mommy!" "Good morning Mono, come and get your plate let's eat."

Later that morning after they had eaten breakfast, Mono and Nesta were cleaning the dishes when they saw it started to rain, it was poring down outside, Nesta was worried the storm had started back up again, Mono just played with his toys.

"Mommy, is the storm coming back?" "No, don't worry it's okay the storm is over its just a lil rain…" Mono looked back down to his toys and played with them, then Nesta heard something. Above the rain, Mono making battle noises as he played war with his action figures, there was a loud continuous sound. It was a parade, not just any the council was visiting the outer towns after having taken control over the main cities. They would visit people's house and greet him or her and visit with them for a little while.

A knock on the door sounded through the room, Nesta opened the door and standing in the doorway were the Windurst council members, behind them were the Bastok talking with other people and the Sandorian and Jueno council members were doing the same.

"Hello madam, we hope we haven't come at a bad time, we are the Windurstian council members and we understand that two citizens of Windurst reside in this house." "My son and I use to live in Windurst, we live in this town now, things have gotten to violent in the world." "How so? We have been taking care of everything as far as crime or anything like that goes." Nesta told them what happened the night Mono's parents died and the reasons they were out there.

Mono approached them and they looked at him and said, "Do you like living here?" He nodded happily and said, "I love living here, we have a nice house, a place to go fishing, and everyone is really nice here!" "Well, I am glad to see you so happy, we bear this gift for you two." A servant stepped forward and handed Nesta a giant bag of Gil. "We do hope you will return to Windurst one day we-" "We can't it would hurt Mono too much. Sorry, many of the people in cities do not take a liking to families like ours…" "Ah, well then it was nice to meet you and hope to see you two again someday." They each bowed respectfully and walked off.

"Mono, let's go down to the docks and see if any ships have been repaired yet." "Okay Mommy!"

They put on their raincoats and warm clothing and left the house walking through the rain down to the docks. Every thunder boom again would scare Mono into staying close to Nesta. They turned down the street and Mono saw some adventurers walking towards them. "Hey pretty lady, you're cute." They were drunk and started to say all kinds of rude things towards Nesta. Mono began to get very mad; they hadn't seen him yet since he was behind Nesta. "How about a kiss? Come one you know you want to." One of them, a galka, grabbed Nesta and pulled her towards him. Nesta was struggling to get to her weapon. Mono got very angry and found himself diving under the galka, he drew his pistols that he had no idea were even on him and fired several shots into the underside of the galka. "AAAAAAAGH, WHAT WAS THAT?" The galka dropped Nesta and he staggered around with blood dripping from him. The others never saw Mono and before they had their chance to do anything to Nesta that would be worse than what the galka had in mind they felt a bullet go through their arms and legs and when they turned to see what it was they saw Mono standing there next to the galka firing shots until his guns were empty. One went down silent while the other fell holding the place where his foot once was. Nesta walked over to the man and tied a bandage around the man's foot then through him in a trashcan.

Nesta turned to Mono who was in tears with his arms dangling beside him holding his pistols loosely. Nesta could not believe what she saw, she had sold the pistols, and how could Mono of have them? Mono looked at his pistols and began to cry out loud. Nesta ran to him and hugged him; he jumped in her arms after setting down his pistols. "Mommy, am I in trouble?" "No, they broke the law and you put them to justice, they were bad men…" This had been the first time Mono had actually killed anything and he saw the blood flowing from the two he had shot. "Mommy, are they really dead? Never to see their family or anything?" "It's okay Mono, they had no families and had you not have acted I would probably have been killed."

As they hugged each other in the middle of the street with rain falling all around them and on them the council approached. "You are taking care of everything huh? What's this? These drunken fools tried to-" "We understand, you and your son are in no trouble. We just want to help the innocent and it seems you have demonstrated the need for more guards on patrol."

That night, Mono and Nesta were sitting there quietly. Nesta was thinking about those pistols and Mono was thinking of the two people he killed. "Mommy, on the way into town, I saw a man selling musical instruments, can we go look at them tomorrow?" "Sure, some people in the world can do magic with their music." "Okay, I can't wait, maybe I will be really good at music!"

The next morning, Mono woke up Nesta; he had already changed clothes and was ready to go. "Come on mommy! Let's go!" Nesta saw the pistols in their holsters bouncing as Mono jumped up and down excitedly. She decided not to think anything of it, she quickly changed clothes and they ate breakfast and rushed to the music store.

"Mono, try out different instruments, let's see if you have any skill with any of them." Mono ran off looking at many different looking guitars, Nesta watched Mono to make sure he didn't get into trouble. Mono saw a small object on the desk; it had a note on it that said, "Eat this." He grabbed it and threw it in his mouth and chewed happily, suddenly he felt every muscle and fiber in his body tingling, this was no ordinary candy. Suddenly a bright light surrounded him, Nesta ran to help him, but before she reached him he was encased in a pure white sphere of energy. She could barely see him and she saw he was unconscious. She looked around and saw no one was around, so she was alone in this display of light and energy. The sphere slowly faded away, but Mono stayed lifted I the air for a few seconds and eventually drifted down, Nesta grabbed him and quickly took him to the town doctor.

"Sir, can you see if anything is wrong with my son?" The doctor took a quick look at Mono and then turned to the nurse at the reception desk, he just snapped his fingers twice and she ran off in a hurry and returned with a stretcher. They rushed him into a room and the doctor came back out to tell Nesta his analysis. "Madam, there is something wrong with your son, somehow he has become disfigured and become a tarutaru…" Nesta sat with her jaw dropped and then slapped the doctor across the face and gave him a quick explanation of Mono's past and how she came to being his mother.

The doctor looked back at Mono dumbfounded, "I am so sorry, we will see what the real problem is." Mono lay there unconscious as the nurses checked all kinds of places for any area of damage or difference that should not be on him. The doctor examined him closely with all kinds of tools then said, "Oh my gosh! Nurses, get his mother in here! She has to see this to believe it."

The nurses retrieved Nesta and the doctor turned to her and said, "He ate something very special...it is a new pill that was being designed for learning traits and things fast, your son has learned some new skills, It may be a little while until you see what they are. His skin color has been tinted a little bit, like a dark tan almost. Also we thought what we were seeing were tattoos, but we later found that these markings on his arms are permanent markings from the pill they are clues to what his new abilities are…" Nesta took a look and saw there was a musical note and there was a pair of wings attached to the Musical note. They were on each arm at the shoulder and on the wrists. Even a mark on his forehead, "Will he be okay?" "He will be fine, you can take him home with you if you want. He will be asleep for a day or two."

Nesta carried Mono home, every so often he would talk in his sleep, "Mommy…don't leave me…wasn't my…fault…" Nesta smiled and continued on her way. Suddenly an adventurer appeared in front of Nesta, Nesta saw he was missing a foot and remembered what Mono had done to him. "You! You and your son are dead! Look at me! I'm a freak! I'll kill you. Nesta reached to grab Mono's pistol, but when she grabbed it, it fell to dust and appeared back in Mono's holster. The man charged and Nesta dove over him and kneed him in the face, he fell screaming as blood gushed out of his nose and mouth. "You threatened me and my son, you will not leave here alive." "Aaagh, please! Let me live!" She raised her foot and pointed it down at the man's face. She kicked down as hard as she could and she felt something soft against her foot then hard ground. Her foot went straight through his face and into the ground. She kicked his head off her foot and went on her way. The guards arrived and when they saw the man and Nesta, they looked at her and nodded went to clean up the mess. Nesta arrived at the house and carried Mono into his room and laid him down in the bed and covered him up.

Nesta now had time all to herself, she couldn't leave the house for very long, and so fishing was out of the question. Perhaps she could get something to eat then go find some information on the symbols on Mono. She made sure any lit candles and any fire hazards were taken care of then she locked the door and left.

In Mono's dream he was standing on a cloud, there was a musical instrument sitting on a pedestal. He could not figure out what it was at first, and then he saw it was some form of a lute, it was a shamizen lute. He picked it up and found that he had knowledge of every kind of way to play it and every note that could be played on it. He then found himself surrounded by hundreds of people cheering and screaming as he played…

Nesta returned with a Shamizen Lute, the man at the music store told her he left that pill out for the first curious person to swallow, he didn't know what the effects were. All he knew were that one of the skills was musical talent, better than the best of all pro players. He gave her the instrument for free for putting her through all the worry and stress. She laid it against the wall in the guest room where Mono's room would be when he got older. She went back through the kitchen and into the living room. She sat down on the couch and waited eagerly for Mono to call her name, it never did for the rest of the day. She realized how much excitement he added to her life, had it not been for him she would still be at Windurst as just a guard. "Mommy, it's in the cupboard…" Mono talked in his sleep every so often and each time it made Nesta jump to her feet.

The next morning, Nesta woke up in bed with Mono and he was still asleep and too tired to move she just rolled over and went to sleep. Just as she was drifting off to sleep she noticed Mono start to move. He was finally waking up; she sat up and looked down at him waiting for him to open his eyes. Mono opened his eyes and saw Nesta looking down at him smiling happily. "Mommy! What happened to me? I remember eating some chocolate candy thing then I just fell asleep." "Everything is going to be okay, Let's get some food in you I bet your famished." Mono's hunger arose and he nodded eagerly to her and followed her into the kitchen.

As Nesta prepared breakfast she told Mono everything the doctor had told her. Mono looked down at the markings on his arms and noticed his skin was a little darker than normal. He saw something in the guest bedroom leaning against the wall. "Mommy, what's that in there?" "I got you an instrument from the store go see if you're any good with it."

He ran in and walked back out with the Shamizen Lute, he remembered from his dream the way he played the Lute, but now it made more sense, somehow he knew ten times more than he did in his dream. He just started to play, the strings plucked perfectly and music filled the room, his performance was that of a Pro player. Nesta walked out to see where this unbelievable music was coming from. She saw Mono sitting there with his eyes closed strumming the Lute; the markings were glowing as he played. "Mono, that is unbelievable, that pill gave you're a great skill." He put the Lute down and said, "I have noticed that I feel very light, almost weightless." "How so?" "Watch." Mono jumped up and he pushed off the ceiling and came back down. "I think you have gained the ability to fly, or to jump very high and far. Is it hard to stay on the ground?" "Not at all," Mono said as he took a bite of a biscuit.

Nesta and Mono finished their breakfast and went back down to the doctor so he could tell them what abilities Mono had received from the pill. The Lute was on a strap hanging on Mono's back and although he didn't notice it yet and neither did Nesta his name was magically being engraved on the Lute, the same as his pistols. They stepped into the doctor's office and the doctor recognized Mono right away. "Ah, come in young one let's see what skills you have received."

Mono nervously followed the doctor into the office, "You aren't going to give me a shot are you?" "No, no don't worry. Now, show me what you know you can do right now."

Mono swung the Shamizen Lute around his back and in front of him and started playing. The doctor was astounded by the music that was made, he was so young and he played like a pro. "Good, now let's see what else you can do." Mono laid his Lute down on a table and stepped back. He jumped up and realized his jumping skill had left him, he then felt every kind of note and instrument use experience go into his brain. At first his head hurt then the pain faded and he felt fine. He started picking up different instruments from that able the doctor had laid out and he played each like a pro. The doctor rushed out and told Nesta everything that Mono did. Nesta ran in and said, "Wow, Mono I am glad you got a wonderful skill like this." "Mommy, can we go to the beach? I want to go play on the beach." "Sure, let's go."

After paying the bill to the doctor they left the doctor's office and walked down to the beach. "Mommy, do you like me this way?" "I love you no matter what you look like, you are my son and I am going to take care of you no matter what." Mono held Nesta's hand and they kept walking. The Lute bounced at the same rhythm, as the pistols were as Mono walked, Nesta was thinking of how fortunate she was to get to care for such a sweet son. "Mono, do you ever think of leaving here?" "No, outside this town is too dangerous. I want to stay here safe with you." "That's good, I was worried you would want to leave because of your new skill."

Suddenly a large Galka was walking down the road, he didn't seem to be in a good moor and was staring off at the horizon and did not see Mono. He bumped Mono and tripped him, he fell forward and skinned his knee and got a few scratches on his arms. He sat up and started to cry. "Stupid little runt, stay out of my way!" "Excuse me! You owe my son an apology, give it to him right now or you will regret it!" Some guards saw the ruckus and hurried over to solve the problem. Mono was crying and whimpering as he clasped his cuts and saw they were red with blood. Nesta picked up Mono and comforted him as the guards sorted the problem out with the Galka. "There, there sweetie, its okay. I'll make you feel all better…" "I am not going to apologize! Just leave me alone!" The galka stomped off in a full rage, "Mommy…sorry…" "Sorry for what?" "If I was stronger I would not have cried…" "Aww that's okay, your young and you have a lower pain tolerance than older kids. You will get tougher as you get older." Mono continued to cry from the pain, although he tried to take the pain, he couldn't.

Nesta took Mono home and put bandages on his cuts and scrapes. They went inside and Mono set his Shamizen Lute aside and waited patiently for Nesta to get the bandages. "Mommy, I was wondering if we could take a trip throughout the world, I know I said I would never want to leave, but I just meant I wouldn't want to move away from here. Can we take a trip to visit other places some day?" Nesta came in with some bandages and medicine and said, "Sure, we can go in a few days If you want, we just have to tell the mayor so he doesn't think we just left for good."

Nesta rubbed some medicine on the bandages and put them on Mono's cuts. "Ow, it stings!" "Don't worry it will stop in a few seconds." Monos looked and saw the scrapes on his knees and on his elbows were covered with bandages. "All better!" "Mono jumped up from the couch and hugged Nesta. "Thank you mommy!" "Your welcome, let's start packing for our trip, I'll go tell the Mayor we are taking a trip." Nesta left the house and Mono ran to start packing his things.

He grabbed his action figures, several pairs of clothing, and also grabbed his favorite blanket that Nesta made for him and folded as best he could and shoved into the bag. Then he reached over and grabbed his Beanie hat his dad had given him and put it on. He changed from his shorts to pants and put a short sleeve shirt that had a picture of a chocobo holding a lute on. Then he put on his Tunic, it went around him loosely and he put his hood up over his beanie and then put his shoes on. When he had finished he put his bag on the couch and went to the giant mirror in the bathroom and looked at himself from head to toe to make sure he didn't have any flaws on his outfit or anything of the sort. He slipped on his gloves that Nesta had bought him to keep his hands warm, he knew right away where the trip was going to be at, it was in the SMVR, the Snowy Mountain Vacation Resort. It was a long trip even by airship, but Nesta and Mono talked about going there when they would decide to go take a trip.

Nesta returned and saw Mono sitting on the couch playing his Lute and humming along with the tune happily. She saw the clothes he was wearing and knew right away he knew the surprise place they were going to. "Mono, you look so cute in your beanie, I'm going to go get packed and then the Mayor will have some people he appointed himself to take our bags to the airship. It's good you dressed warmly, the fall season has begun and the temperature has been dropping." Nesta quickly got ready and put her bag on the couch and then Mono and her left as soon as the men arrived to carry their bags.

"How could it get cold so quick?" "I don't know Mono, it's the way the seasons change, and it's nice that it's getting cold, we wouldn't want it to be hot all the time." Mono and Nesta kept walking down the road with the bag carriers following closely behind. Mono looked up at the sky and saw it started to get real dark and cloudy. He decided to not look up and just keep his eyes either at the ground or at the airship port. Mono felt something wet and cold hit his face, he looked up and saw it was starting to rain. "Mommy, it's raining, let's hurry so we don't get wet." Nesta nodded and picked up Mono and ran to the airship port with the bag carriers trying to keep up.

"Hello, welcome to the Airship port, the mayor has informed me of your trip and we have prepared proper accommodations for you and your son." "Thank you," Nesta said as she set Mono down and showed the woman her reusable airship ticket. "Young man, I'm gunna ask that you remove your weapons for now and we will give them back to you after the flight." Mono looked around to see who was talking to him and he saw a Hume was standing over him and he was looking at his pistols. "I can't…" "What do you mean you can't?" Mono took the pistols from his holsters and put them on the table. Within seconds the pistols dissolved to ashes and appeared back in Mono's holsters. "That's amazing, it has to be some kind of trick, then remove the bullets from your gun and hand them to me." Mono pulled his pistols out again and pushed a small button that opened the chamber and Mono spun it and the bullets fell out one by one into the Hume's hand. Then Mono pushed the chamber closed and put the pistols back into his holsters.

Later, they were onboard the Airship and their bas were stored in the cargo hold. Mono was excited to be on an airship, the last one was nice, but this one was the Mayor's special airship for him and his friends only. "Wine, madam?" Nesta looked up and saw a woman holding a bottle of wine and a glass. "No thank you, I'm setting a good example for my son, and besides I never touch the stuff." The woman bowed and walked off to ask the other passengers. Mono looked out the window as the ship started to take off. It was raining, but lucky for him their was a rain guard on the window which kept rain off the window so Mono could see out. He watched as birds perched on the tallest trees in town were now far below him. Nesta was reading an article on the latest news about the council. There was an article talking about the changes made in Windurst, there was another Auction House added to the Windurst Walls district. Lot's of new laws were passed and many anarchist leaders and gang leaders had been imprisoned and put to death. A Mithran Council member had risen to gain power in a large part of Windurst Woods, this caused no real outrage in fact it gave the mithras place to gather for those who lived in places that are scarce of other mithras. Nesta turned the page and read some more on different articles.

Meanwhile Mono was fascinated with the view, the airship was passing through the clouds as it gained altitude. Mono saw the ship was above the rain clouds and the sun's shine made the tops of the clouds look like great big mounds of snow, or giant marshmallows floating far above the land. "Mommy, look we are really high!" Nesta looked up from the article she was reading and looked out the window over Mono's shoulder. "Wow, it's beautiful, come on Mono, let's go to the upper deck and look around." They both got up and went up the stairs to go to the upper deck.

Mono remembered the pirates that jumped on the ship and attacked, he held onto Nesta's pant leg and stayed behind her expecting to see a pirate burst through and try to kill him. Nesta pushed the doors open wide and the sun shown brightly across the deck, all below the ship were bright purple and orange colored clouds, they seemed to climb up to the stars, they were like mountains and it was a sight only seen once in a life time. Mono ran to the edge of the ship and looked over the side.

There were birds flying in and out of the clouds and all kinds of birds flying under the ship and over it. Every so often the ship would fly through one of the mountain-like cloud formations and the whole ship became consumed for a few seconds then gently passed out the other side. The clouds were like a floor and the ship looked to be only about 200 feet or so away from them. The storm clouds were magnificent; they were dark blue and purple and would flash every so often as lightning would flash around inside the cloud trying to get out.

Mono could not believe his eyes; he had never seen anything like this. He looked around and saw a cloud formation make an arch over the ship as it passed under. He saw Nesta looking at the dark storm clouds as they churned and flashed and swirled around on themselves. "Is that a monster?" "No, it's just a storm and it's beautiful." Nesta and Mono looked all over the deck; there was a new sight everywhere they looked. One part during the flight they flew past clouds that were like giant towers above the cloud floor, it was like flying through a cloud forest, at one part they went through where the clouds formed a tunnel, the sun shown through in different spots and the rays from the sun looked almost tangible.

"Mommy! This is amazing!" "I know it's wonderful!" They stayed out there all day and never got bored. Nightfall was breath taking. The clouds looked like giant bluish cliffs and boulders sitting on top of the light blue cloud floor. Birds unrecognizable by the moon eclipsing them flew over the ship and some perched on it for a short time then flew on. The same cloud formations flew around the ship, many more arches flew over the ship and then giant ring like shapes came floating around the ship. Nesta looked down and saw Mono was asleep in her arms, so she carried him back below deck to go to bed.

The next morning, Mono awoke in a comfy bed. Nesta was asleep next to him and it was still dark outside. Mono wiped his eyes and got up to go up to the top deck and look around. Just as he was getting up he noticed the bed was so fluffy that he was sinking back down whenever he tried to climb up. He grabbed the edge of the bed and dragged himself across the cloud-like blankets and over the side. He got up to see if he had awakened Nesta, she lay there sleeping peacefully, after checking Mono ran out the door and up to the top deck.

Mono reached the top deck; he saw no one was up on the deck. Just some quiet sleeping birds that had spent the night perched on the railings were there. Mono looked and saw the sky around them had not a single cloud. It was clear down to the ground, in fact the ship was now over water, it was passing over a great sea and even as high up as they were there was no sight of land in any direction. Mono looked over the side, all he could see was blue, nothing else. He sighed and looked down at the water, no fish were jumping; no birds were flying over the water. "Pretty nice isn't it?" Mono looked up and saw Nesta standing over him smiling.

"There are no pretty clouds out…" "No, but the breeze is nice and the sea looks great." Neither of them had any idea the ship was descending nor the clouds were far above the ship. The ship skimmed across the water and slowly approached the land on the horizon. The other passengers were now awake and walking around the ship, Mono and Nesta were watching the dolphins jumping out of the water and swimming along the side of the ship. The ship-increased speed until it was at full throttle and the land was growing bigger and closer. Within minutes the ship reached port and Mono and Nesta were at the docks with their luggage.

The cold wind and snow blew around them as they looked at the small town. "Let's go find a place to stay Mono." Mono nodded and followed her as he carried his bag.

Later that day after they got settled in at the hotel they went walking around the town. Strong gusts of wind blew down the street sometimes knocking chocobos that were riding through off their feet. Nesta held Mono in her arms, she had a hood on and it was blocking the snow from hitting her face. As the winds died down a voice rang out through the streets through intercoms.

"Cold storm coming! Everyone must find shelter and stay in until the storm passes over!"

Nesta ran back to the hotel carrying Mono who was crying and burying his face against Nesta. They entered the Hotel and the door was sucked shut behind them. The people were sitting at tables and on couches.

"Mono, sit here and I'll go get you something to eat."

Mono nodded and sat down on the soft warm couch and looked around. The other people there were damp from the snow on their clothes that melted. There was a crackling fire that warmed the room and some animals were asleep warming themselves in front of the fire. The room was quiet with the exception of the quiet conversations between two people. Mono looked out the window and saw wind blowing snow all over the streets and buildings.

"Here you go Mono, hot rice, eat up I don't want you to get sick."

"Yes mommy," Mono said as he ate every bite of the rice.

He fell asleep on the couch shortly after he finished eating. Nesta smiled and picked him up, she carried him to their hotel room and put him in bed. Nesta went back downstairs to the hotel lobby to get information on the storm conditions.

While Nesta was gone Mono had another amazing dream, but he didn't know that this dream was going to cause a turning point in his life. The dream came in different sections followed by one last one.

He was on stage playing his musical instrument and people were cheering and clapping as he played, when his performance ended the curtains closed and that section of the dream ended. Next he was surrounded by thousands of monsters and he raised his hands and blasted them away with magic spells that killed hundreds with every cast. When the last beast-man fell the section ended. Next he was in a forest surrounded by animals all happy to be with him, a beast-man walked up and got ready to attack, but the animals slaughtered the goblin. Next section he was in Samurai armor and had a great katana in his hands and he was facing off against hundreds of heavily armored orcs. Next section he was firing his blue pistols at several giants, each falling over one by one. Next he was in an alchemist guild making potions. Next he was a bard playing music happily for hundreds of people. After all these sections the final one came. He was sitting on a cloud and in front of him was a man who looked very strong and he was sitting on the tip of a mountain that was sticking up above the cloud line.

The man said to him, "Young Monogino, now you make a choice of what you want to become, you have had several chances to enjoy a taste of what some of the jobs would be. What path do you choose? Alchemist, Bard, Black mage, Samurai, Beast master, or a Ranger, the one you choose this moment will change your whole life, things will happen to you that will make you perfect for the job."

"I choose…" Mono was thinking of each job and how fun each would be.

I choose Bard!"

His guns disappeared and musical notes were now symbols on his forehead, shoulders, and top of his hands. He was a prodigy to all instruments musical now and he wanted to learn as much as he could.

In the following days Nesta know he was to become a bard, she sent him off to the Sacred Bard's school where not even a documentation of Mono's studies could be made. All that was known was that is was very easy for him to learn and master the many instruments they had.

After two years he had mastered every instrument and was coming home as head of his class. The airship came to dock and Mono came running out to Nesta with tears in his eyes.

"Mommy! I missed you so much!" Nesta picked him up and hugged him.

"I am so glad you are back! Let's go home Mono."

They walked back to their home, Mono held Nesta's pant leg still afraid of the dark and the large Galka that traversed the streets. Nesta was happy to see her son was the same as when he left, he was just half an inch taller, which was a lot by tarutaru standards.

The days went by slowly, Mono played his favorite instrument, which was a sacred harp that belonged to the master of the school, but was given to him as a gift. Within a few years Mono became a famous bard and traveled throughout the land playing for thousands of people. Nesta accompanied Mono since he was still young and needed her care. After many years Mono gave up being a bard and lived at home with Nesta until he was old enough to live on his own and then lived in Selbina playing at the restaurants there. He got married to a beautiful tarutaru girl and they had a son who had a unique talent in Music and in fighting since his mom was a samurai. Nesta also got married and they had a daughter who became best friends with Mono's son. In the end Mono and Nesta both lived happily ever after in the different port towns.