AUTHOR'S NOTE --- Hi there, sorry for the long delay...I actually forgot I'd even started this chapter. It's finished at least. Sorry (again) for the delay in getting up here. Smed, if you read it, correct me on your wyvern's name if I picked the wrong one. I just seem to remember you saying you loved your Hien. : P I'm not sure if it is correct but I just seem to think it fits.

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Chapter Ten

The iron door slammed shut before Aonir with a loud crash that seemed to echo throughout the mine endlessly. That or her mind was making her think that was the source of the low rumble. She took a shallow breath, the cold air still painful to her lungs, and slowly made her way down the tunnel the door had closed her into. The tunnel led northwest and opened into a large room filled with the remains of what use to be a prosperous mine. Small, green flames flew around in the air and vanished right before her eyes. When they neared her, they went through her body as if they were only illusions. She followed the tracks along the right wall, passing another passage, then north through a third passage that seemed to go straight north.

She gulped, her hands clutching the pickaxe until her knuckles were white, and proceeded through the tunnel until it opened into another large room. She looked around from where she stood. Strange buildings that looked like they were going to fall apart if you blew on them, a row of carts just sitting on the tracks, to her right across the room was another path, and those green flames again.

"S-so far, nothing too strange…not counting those flame-things." Aonir whispered her breath noticeable.

She cautiously made her way across the room, once again following the tracks until she found another tunnel leading down in the northwest corner of the room. Her breath shaky but slightly calming, she made her way down the path. It was a curled passageway, only straightening when it opened into a small, circular room with a small shack in it. She noticed something shinning on the wall just to her right and she dashed over as quietly as she could. She looked around, hoping no ghosts would come over, and then she proceeded to pull on the shinning stone. She could not budge it. She looked at her pickaxe, then to the stone and shrugged. Using what little strength her body had, she hoisted the axe up then thrust it down upon the wall, jamming the tip just behind the rock.

"Oh, great, I think I'm stuck." Aonir said under her breath, the thought sending sudden chills up her spine.

She frantically pulled on the pickaxe until it finally snapped, the rock falling to the ground as well as the head of her pickaxe. Aonir, having not expected the sudden release of the pickaxe, fell backward and landed on her rear, smacking her back against a small wooden post holding a small lantern. She froze, afraid that the noise she had created had been heard by something. She sat for a moment until she felt she was safe (as safe as anyone could be in this place) then she stood up and grabbed the rock she had just pulled from the wall.

"Wow, it's a pretty stone. A heavy stone, but pretty." Aonir said with a small smile on her lips.

Just then, a noise that resembled a shrill scream echoed through the mine. Chills shot up and down Aonir's spine. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she looked to the left toward another tunnel. She gulped and muttered what was supposed to be a 'hello' but sounded more like a squeak than anything else. She tucked the rock into her bag then followed the wall around until she reached the tunnel. She took a deep breath then piered down it only to see what looked like a man standing with his head hung low.

"Oh, no! Sir, are you ok?" Aonir said quickly, rushing toward the man.

Aonir managed to get to him only to see him spin around to face her showing a face that was twisted in agony. Aonir froze, her body filled with fright as the man floated toward her. She let out a scream of fright and ran back into the room where she had mined the rock, up the path, and out into the big room once again. She had not noticed she had screamed the whole way up and now that she had time to think, she could not calm herself down. Her hands quickly covered her mouth and she backed up into the wall, sliding down to the floor while trying desperately to calm down.

She heard footsteps. They were fast and the spacing was abnormal for a single person. Could it be some soldiers? Maybe she was heard and that Galka soldier called for help. No, she thought, he did not seem to be awake when she saw him. Could it be, she gulped as she thought, undead?

"I guess I'm just a little too weak for this. I didn't even last an hour in this rock." Aonir said with the panic in her voice rising.

"Hey!" A male voice rang out.

"DON'T HURT ME!" Aonir screamed, covering her eyes, her body shaking.

"Hey, girl, cool it!" The voice said again.

Aonir peeked from between her fingers to see a Hume man with black hair and blue eyes staring at her. He was wearing the same clothes as she was and even had a pickaxe at his side.

"You're not going to hurt me, are you?" She asked.

"No, I heard a scream and ran up. Was it you?" He asked.

Aonir blushed, "Yes, I saw a, um, ghost."

"New here, eh?" He asked as he held out a hand to help her up.

"Very."

"I've been down here for about two years, maybe three." He said as he pulled her up.

"Why don't you know for sure?" She asked as she dusted herself off.

"No way of keeping track of time."

Aonir looked at him sadly. "I don't know how long I have to be here. I'm hoping not long. I hate this place."

"Heh, what did you do?" He asked.

"Wait, I don't even know you. Who are you?" Aonir said quickly, giving him a strange look.

"Ok…that was a little random." He said with a smile. "My name is Sir…er…just Zakk."

"Sir Zakk?" Aonir asked with a small smile.

"No, I'm not a 'sir' anymore." He argued.

"Well, whatever the case, I'm Aonir. Nice to meet you." Aonir said in a whisper.

"Um, why are you whispering?" Zakk asked.

"So things can't hear me." Aonir said sheepishly.

"Well, look at it this way; you're not alone in this mine. There are people scattered all over this place." Zakk stated. "Some are here to earn money to pay off a fine of some sort, like me, then there are adventurers who are here to make their own money."

"So people just come here for gil?" Aonir asked.

"Sometimes. Well, I'm going to head back and pick the walls some more. Take care here, ok?" Zakk said with a smile as he turned his back to her.

"Um, so, is there really undead in here?" Aonir quickly asked.

"Yeah, you'll see them soon enough."

Aonir gulped as she watched him walk off. She did not want to see them, which was the whole point in asking that question. She wanted to avoid the undead as much as possible. She sighed and pulled another pickaxe from her bag then walked along the wall heading left where she spotted another shinning stone. This one seemed pretty deep in the wall. She could not even scrape off some of the encasing rock with her finger.

She slammed her pickaxe against the wall, chips of the wall fell from it, her pickaxe would break, and she continued this process until she finally managed to pull out the rock. It was gold colored and somewhat light. She threw it in the bag and it was then that an ear-piercing siren began to blare. Aonir fell to her knees, her body shaking as she covered her ears in an attempt to block out the sound.

"WHAT IS THAT THING!"

The siren roared for several minutes before silencing, echoing through the tunnels softly until it completely vanished. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around to see that the area was still empty. Carefully, but not without quivering, Aonir rose from her knees and dusted her legs off.

"Something tells me that we'll be seeing a lot of each other at this rate." Zakk's voice rang out suddenly from behind her.

"W-what was that?" Aonir stuttered.

"That," Zakk said with a solemn expression, "was our old time siren. The guard that works it is messed up in the head. That siren goes off every day or so in awkward times. Think it may have a messed up wire."

"Is that all?" Aonir asked nervously while expecting another horror story.

"Don't tell me you're sugar-coating that for her." A female voice blurted out.

Aonir and Zakk turned to see a woman covered in dirt walk up with a pickaxe over her shoulder. Her hair looked blonde but with all the dust and dirt the color was a little off and the strange, green lighting of the mines was not helpful.

"Trish. Look, she's new; don't scare her anymore than she already is." Zakk argued as the girl rushed over.

"Look here, new-bait, the guard was murdered and his corpse is swinging near the fucking control to that pain-in-the-ass horn. Every day or two, his body is shifted and he hits that god damned switch. Get use to that, it's the only truly man-made noise in this hell hole." Trish said with annoyance.

"Trish, watch yourself. You're not all that old yourself."

"Ha!" Trish blurted out, "Look, Zakk, I may not have been around this mine as long as you but I will be leaving before you. I've gathered enough ore to bail myself out of this dump and be rich."

Trish turned on her heel and walked off; laughing as she slowly vanished into the shadows of the mine. Zakk looked after her and shook his head before turning his attention back to Aonir, who was now completely filled with both fear and confusion. He smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't listen to her. She's just in this place for the money now."

"Um, you've been here for a long time…so you know what is what?" Aonir asked.

"Heh, kinda."

Aonir dug into her bag and pulled out the rocks. Zakk's eyes widened and a small grin came across his lips.

"What are these?" Aonir asked softly.

"These are your tickets out." He said closing her fingers over the stones. "So hold onto them tightly." Aonir looked into his eyes and smiled, nodding slightly.

Aonir thought for only a moment that the mines may not be entirely horrible with him around to help. Of course, she thought again, the mines were a little too creepy to be hanging around with confidence.

Meanwhile, in Jeuno's port, the guards were working to put out the flames that had formed from the impact of the airship. What few people that had remained in the port were scrambling like rats from a sinking ship. Several had been killed, crushed by the airship as it smashed into the street. Others were hit with flying debris, some lying in the open, others curled up by the walls, dead or dying. The Ducal guard had managed, shortly after Plureague and his party had returned into the hectic streets of Port Jeuno, to seal off the stairway, both up and downstairs and including the residential area.

The civilians that were inside Port Jeuno were being held for physicals as well as answers. For the questions asked by the people to the guards, the only answer given was that the incident occurred due to pilot error and would be investigated further as the clean up progressed. Plureague, having seen many catastrophes in his day, sensed that there was something else that should be looked into.

"Sir, I must ask that you take your party over to the San'd Orian airship entrance and be looked at by our doctor. After an assessment, our guards will escort you to the upper levels." A young man stated, staring at Plureague as he spoke.

"I'm afraid your order will be ignored." Plureague said sternly. "My name is Plureague and my companions and I are on a quest given by Bastok. This event may have some connection to what I am investigating so I will be needing access to that ship."

The young guard stood firm and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I'm sorry, I cannot let you pass."

Plureague sighed and shook his head. "Black mage, Mithra," He said without gazing at them, "show me your worthy of joining my entourage."

"My name is Smedile, old man. Learrrn it!" Smedile growled as she stepped forward, bringing her right hand to her lips and whistled.

"Hmph…I shan't need your little pet."

"Arrogant little wench, arrre'nt we?" Smedile said with a scowl as her pet dragon flew to her side.

"Tara is what I am called. I am a master black mage and have no need for your cheap little parlor tricks." Tara stepped before the Ducal guard and grinned as she placed her fingertips close together. "I advise you reconsider your orders before it is too late."

The guard gritted his teeth and darted his eyes between Tara and Smedile, who was drawing her polearm. He shifted his grip on the hilt of his sword, preparing to draw it and attack. Smedile twirled the polearm and stood ready to strike; Hien took to the air, arcing his body to attack. Tara remained motionless, staring into the guard's shifting eyes, her back straight and her hands cupped.

"You, there!" Wolfgang's voice rang out.

All attention shifted to Wolfgang. The guard released his hold on the hilt of his sword to look and salute. Smedile relaxed her hold on her polearm, placing it at her side, the blade pointing to the sky, as Hien landed smoothly onto the cobblestone street. Tara lowered her hands but did not move an inch.

"Wolfgang. Perhaps you can place some brains in this soldier of yours." Plureague said coldly, bracing on Giraenis.

"I wasn't expecting to see your face for a while. You giving up?" Wolfgang asked.

"You've lost faith in me, too, eh?" Plureague said as he pushed away from Giraenis and made his way passed Tara and Smedile to stand before Wolfgang.

"I figured you'd come after hearing of this, at any rate. You should take a look." Wolfgang grumbled.

"So, we have permission?" Giraenis asked.

"Not exactly. You're going to have to sneak in."

Plureague chuckled, "Is that a white mage joke or are you serious?"

"I'm serious…but that spell would come in handy." Wolfgang said with a smirk.

"What ship was it?" Ayame blurted out, a hint of concern in her voice and her gaze at the mangled airship.

Wolfgang turned to face the ship, his back to the group, and he thought for a moment.

"The people I've spoken with," the young guard blurted out suddenly, "state that just before it hit, it looked like it was going to dock in Bastok's pier. Then it veered right and slammed into Windurst's dock."

Wolfgang turned to face him and nodded. "Makes sense, the angle of the ship is proof enough to make that legit. Dismissed."

The guard saluted and rushed off. Smedile took the moment to place her polearm back in its place upon her back.

"Come through at night. I'll keep my back turned just this once but you better get out of there within five minutes. Any later and I'll pull you out and charge you with tampering with evidence." Wolfgang said as he got into Plureague's face. "Which means, you owe me."

Wolfgang pushed through the group and made his way toward the stairs leaving Plureague, Ayame, Kitaku, Smedile, Giraenis, and Tara standing in the middle of the street.

"Well, I say we hide out down stairs by the auction vendors. Then, after dark, we'll go onto that ship." Plureague said with a hint of determination in his weak voice.

Giraenis nodded and watched as Plureague stumbled his way down the steps. He shook his head and took one step when Tara chuckled.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Your friend. He hides it so well, doesn't he?" Tara said with a smirk as she looked up to Giraenis for a moment.

"Hide's what?"

"Don't be coy with me. You can feel it too. You know exactly what I'm talking about." Tara stated as she followed the group down the stairs.

Giraenis stared after her then looked to the sky. Something about that girl made him feel awkward but he could not put his finger on exactly what it was.