Chapter XI

Medieval Times

(3 Years Later) Year 4 After Midgar

We were flying over the desert in the eastern section of the Western Continent, the same desert where both the Gold Saucer (and the Corel Prison below the Gold Saucer) was located. The winds were working with us, making it so we could go faster without Jamie working so hard. The only problem was the noise it was making, as well as the sand that it kicked up. It not only got in my eyes, but it also stuck to my fur and all over my cloak. Bibble didn't seem too comfortable with the sand, either.

"Can we fly somewhere where there isn't so much sand?" Bibble yelled through the sound of the wind, covering her face with her tiny moogle hands, "It's scraping my pom-pom, kupo!"

"It's too late to turn back!" I yelled back, "We're already halfway through the desert!"

"We could've just gone around it, kupo!"

"And you tell me that I complain too much!"

I then noticed a small dark object in the sand ahead of us.

"What's that?" I wondered out loud.

"What's what?" Bibble wondered back and looked in the direction I was looking. "Oh, that! I dunno, kupo! Maybe we should go find out!"

"Good idea!"

I directed Jamie over to the dark spot. As we got closer, it started to look like some sort of structure. After we got even closer I realized that it was much larger than just a small speck.

"A castle in the middle of the desert?" I pointed out.

"A castle?" Bibble repeated, "Hey! I think I've seen that place before, kupo!"

"It looks huge," I replied, "Why isn't this place on the world map?"

"I dunno, kupo! But I think we should go check it out!"

"What if they're not friendly?"

"Then we'll run away, kupo!"

"Or fly away, whatever comes first!"

The castle was enclosed, so if we were going inside, we'd have to go in through the door. We swooped down and landed in front of the gigantic doors of the castle. The wind wasn't very strong where we landed, so the sand didn't bother us too much. The doors were large double doors.

"So where've you seen this place before, Bibble?"

"I don't remember, kupo," she answered, "But this place looks very familiar."

"HALT!" yelled a male voice from the other side of the door, "WHO GOES THERE!"

"Such a dorky line," I thought to myself.

"I think we should answer him, kupo," Bibble whispered to me.

"Uh... My name is Moira!" I yelled back, "Um... We come in peace!"

"And my name's Holly Bibble, kupo!"

"Kupo? A moogle?" The man yelled back, "Come on in, then! Moogles and their friends are always welcome!"

There was a loud boom before the doors started to open.

"Ok, that was really weird," I said and looked down at Bibble, who was still sitting in front of me on Jamie's back, "That welcome came a bit too easily."

"I don't think there's danger here, kupo," Bibble answered my worry, "There's no hostility here. And everyone near here seems to like moogles."

"I wonder if they'll think the same about me. I'm keeping my hood down just in case."

We moved forward and through the door, still riding on Jamie's back. We went through the doors and past some archways with gates wide open. We then rode through what appeared to be a town. There were many stone buildings, many of which were residential. After passing this area, the way through suddenly became crowded as we entered the marketplace. There were people hustling and bustling through shops and markets. Many stopped and stared at us, of course, but it wasn't in fear or disgust. They actually looked excited to see us.

"Well, this is certainly a change," I said to Bibble in thought. "These people actually seem happy to see us."

"They're mostly just staring at me, kupo," she whispered to me, "It seems to me like they've all seen moogles before."

"Strange," I thought, "I'd think I'd be the one grabbing all the attention with my creepy black cloak."

"They don't think you look so threatening with me here, kupo. They believe that anyone who hangs around with a moogle can't be evil."

"That's even weirder," I thought.

We finally made our way through the market and into another archway, which led to another large entrance.

We entered and ended up in a large courtyard. There were long white walkways going in four different directions. Where there wasn't a walkway, there was lush green grass as well as other assorted plants. There were large trees with beautiful pink blossoms falling off of them. There were also shrubs and bushes cut in various decorative shapes. Some looked like chocobos, others looked like moogles, and some others looked like cactuars, which were small cactus-like creatures that were physically very stiff, but also very tough to fight.

"Wow," I spoke up, in awe of the courtyard garden.

"Pretty," Bibble agreed.

As I looked around, I noticed a middle-aged man marching towards us. He stopped just a few feet from us and bowed.

"Greetings, friends," The man greeted, "Welcome to New Figaro."

"New Figaro?" I repeated, "It still exists?"

"Of course," he answered, "You thought otherwise?"

"Well, I was actually under the impression that it was completely destroyed into dust or something, because there's not even mention of any ruins on any map."

"Well, of course not," the man laughed, "New Figaro Castle is mobile, able to burrow underground through the sands, and we rise up in any desert nearest our target."

"...You do realize that this is the only hot sandy desert in the world, right?"

"Yes, but it did not used to be," he replied, "Thousands of years ago, there were two deserts, but the other somehow disappeared. And since this is the only desert now, we didn't think it necessary to go underground very much."

"Ok..."

There was a long awkward silence after that. We just sort of stared at each other for a few moments before the man blinked and turned around.

"The King requests your presence in the throne room," He said, pointing his hand at the big, red double-doors at the end of the center walkway.

"Really...?" I replied uneasily, "The King..."

"Yes, he wishes to see the moogle and her friend."

"Kupo," Bibble replied.

"Follow me," the man said as he started walking down the walkway.

I got off Jamie, and Bibble flapped her wings to fly off his back and follow me. I followed the man down the walkway with Jamie and Bibble following close behind.

He approached the doors and they seemed to open by themselves as he started walking through them. As I walked through them, I realized that there were two men holding the doors.

I looked ahead and saw a long red carpet lain on the ground, leading to a set of steps that went up to a platform with two tall chairs on the other side of the room. The room itself was huge. I could barely see the other side, so I could barely tell that the objects on the other side were chairs, or rather, thrones.

We approached the thrones, and I noticed that only one of them was occupied. A young man sat in the throne to my right. He wore a dark blue coat with a dark green trim and gold on all the edges. His pants were the same dark blue, and he had black boots that went up just above his ankles. He had light blue eyes, blonde chin-length hair, and a well-groomed moustache and goatee combo.

He sat with his right ankle crossed over his left knee. He leaned his body heavily on the right arm of his throne. He kept his head on his right hand, while resting his other hand on his ankle that was crossed over his leg. He looked over at us, stroking his chin with his thumb and index finger.

We stopped a few feet away from the steps that led up to the throne. Bibble landed on the floor in front of me and bowed before the king. Jamie and I followed the example and bowed.

"My friends," The young king spoke and stood up from his throne, "Welcome to New Figaro."

We straightened up and looked up at the king.

"Hello, kupo," Bibble greeted back. "Thank you for inviting us in."

"Think nothing of it. I love moogles," he replied, "I know how good-natured you are. In fact, I have a moogle as my advisor."

"You do?" I wondered out loud.

"Yes, I do," he answered, "Today is his day off, so he is not with me at the moment. But we can discuss that later. For now, I would like to know the names of my guests."

"I'm Holly Bibble," Bibble answered, "And this is my friend, Miss Moira, and her chocobo, Jamie."

"Holly, Moira, and Jamie," he repeated, looking at each of us respectively. "I am King Edgar Blade Figaro the Seventeenth. Everyone here just calls me Your Highness, but you ladies can call me Edgar. You are welcome to stay here as long as you like. But I have one request."

"What's that?" I asked.

"I would like that you take off your hood," he said, pointing at me.

"What?!" I burst.

"You need not hide your face when in the company of such a noble creature as a moogle, especially not in New Figaro."

"But I'd rather not..."

"Oh, come on now. A lady with such a lovely voice and a beautiful-sounding name should not be hiding her face under such a dark hood."

"I like my privacy, thank you," I insisted, grumbling as I caught his flirt.

"Oh well, no matter," he replied, "I'll just keep insisting until you do."

"Then I'll just leave," I replied.

"Where will you go?" He threw back.

"Away from here," I answered, "My chocobo can fly pretty far."

"Fly?" He repeated in surprise, "That's a rare ability for a chocobo. He must've flown rather far already to have gotten here in the middle of the desert. He surely must be in need of rest, or at least a bit of sleep."

I looked up at Jamie, and he looked down at me. He wasn't terribly exhausted, but he didn't look completely awake either. I didn't want to admit the king was right.

"Damn," I submitted, "I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"

"Don't worry, Miss Moira," Bibble said, looking up at me from where she was standing on the floor, "He's not that tired, so he wouldn't have to rest all that long."

"Yeah, and then what excuse will he make to get us to stay?"

"Oh, believe me, you are free to go when your chocobo is rested," He assured me, "However, I will not stop nagging about your hood."

"Miss Moira, why don't you just take it off now so you won't have to deal with that, kupo? He actually will let us go after Jamie is rested, but he's also serious about bothering you about the hood, kupo."

"Ugh, fine," I groaned and lowered the hood, "There. Happy now?"

I was expecting a shocked reaction from him, but instead he raised his right eyebrow and curled up the left corner of his mouth.

"An esper woman," he commented with a satisfied grin on his face, "Better than I thought. And I was under the impression that the esper race was extinct."

"They ARE extinct, Genius," I spat at him, "I used to be human."

"Well, you are still quite sexy, if I do say so myself," he replied, looking me up and down, "And that is just from seeing your face. I am wondering what the rest of you looks like under that cloak."

I glared at him for a moment before saying anything.

"Bibble, we're leaving now," I said after that moment and turned around to walk away, immediately putting my hood back on.

"But Miss Moira, What about Jamie?"

"We'll stay outside the castle for a while, and then we'll fly away."

"Miss Moira," Bibble called as I kept walking away.

She then flew up behind me.

"Please don't be so hard on Mr. Edgar, kupo," Bibble insisted, "He can't help what he says."

"That's right, he's one of those hormone-driven idiots who waste their time looking for a sleeping partner, so they say what their testosterone tells them to."

"This behavior runs in his family, kupo," she explained, "It's a common trait in the Figaro family. It's in his blood to try to get a girl's attention."

"He got my attention, alright, and made me want to scratch right across his royal pretty-boy face."

The discussion stopped there for a while. I was glad that it did too, because I was getting tired of talking about it. When we reached the marketplace, I noticed that everyone was rushing around worse than when we came in. And among the jumble I could hear people saying something about running for shelter.

"What's going on?" I wondered out loud.

"I dunno, kupo," Bibble replied, "Too many panicking minds all in one place."

"Fine, I'll just stop someone and ask."

I then grabbed a random man that was scrambling around. He was holding a bunch of rolled-up blankets when I grabbed him, and he dropped all of them as soon as I did.

"AH!" He screamed, "Oh, it's you. The person with the Moogle."

"Yeah, that's me. Now what's going on?"

"There's a huge sandstorm coming, so everyone has to hurry up and get home so they can be sheltered. So we have to quickly pack up all our markets as fast as we can so we don't lose anything."

I felt my face immediately go stiff, and my left ear started twitching under my hood.

"You're kidding...?" I droned and let go of the guy.

"Nope, and it'll be here any minute," he said as he started picking up his blankets again, "So you should go find shelter fast. It also looks like this storm will last at least a few days, so I might suggest you stay with the King. He always has enough room and food to support guests for more than one day."

He then turned back and scrambled away.

It felt like my brow was going to suddenly fall off from how hard I was pressing it down. I waved my hands up in the air and looked over at Bibble.

"What the hell?!" I blurted.

"Um... coincidence?" Bibble replied.

"Some freak of nature coincidence is forcing me to stay here!"

"You knew there were a lot of sandstorms in this desert, kupo. They happen very often, so it shouldn't be THAT surprising to you."

"Yes, except that it had to be timed exactly when I was thinking of leaving!"

"Well, why don't we just go back, kupo?"

"We might as well," I groaned and crossed my arms in front of me. "Ugh, what a day this has been."

We turned around and went back to the throne room, where King Edgar sat on his same throne in the same position as before. I took off my hood and looked up at him.

"Decided to come back and stay a bit?" He asked as we walked up.

"I'm only staying because there's a sandstorm coming," I groaned.

"At any rate, you came back, and I am glad," he replied and stood up from his throne again, "I'd like to apologize for my conduct earlier. It was REALLY inappropriate, especially since we've only just met. Why don't we get to know each other over dinner?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed in exasperation, though the sigh sounded more like a growl.

"Or... If you'd rather," He continued before I could say anything, "If you are in need of rest, my servants can show you to the guest quarters and take your chocobo to the stables. After that, if you are hungry, you can meet me in the dining hall? ...Maybe? Even if it is only for a few minutes? I truly am interested in knowing more about you."

I glared at him for a moment, pondering that offer. I didn't really want to have dinner with him.

"Will we be on opposite sides of the table?" I replied.

"As far away from me as you need to be comfortable. I would be happy just to eat in the same room as you, and to at least be close enough to have a conversation with you and little Holly. My moogle advisor will also be there. I'm sure he would love to meet you, and especially Holly."

I looked over at Bibble for a moment while I thought. I could tell she wanted so badly for me to say yes, obviously to meet this other moogle. She looked at me with glittering sad eyes, at least as far as I could tell from her slit-shaped eyes.

"Fine," I agreed.

"Kupo!" Bibble squealed, clapping her hands together.

"Excellent," Edgar replied, "I'll see to it that you are made comfortable."

He then snapped his fingers, and a man and a woman appeared from what seemed like nowhere.

"Willamina will care for your chocobo during your stay," Edgar said as the woman came up and took Jamie. "And Dirk will show you ladies to your room."

"Thank you, Mr. Edgar," Bibble said.

Dirk then started walking, and we followed him all the way to the guest rooms. He opened one of the doors and showed us in.

It was certainly a room that could rival the best of the inns I'd stayed at before then. It had one bed on the left side of the room and a small round table with three chairs on the right side. There were three windows on the wall opposite of the door. They all were an arch shape filled with a very thick glass.

"Why is the glass in the windows so thick?" I wondered out loud.

"They are a special design to withstand the high pressures underground," Dirk answered. "Reinforced with earth magic to withstand the abuse of the rocky walls of the tunnels this castle travels through."

I walked over and looked outside the window. There was a lot of sand blowing towards us, but I could still see a little bit of the sky, which had started to turn pink and orange.

"Enjoy your stay, ladies," Dirk said, holding the door open for us.

"Thanks," I droned and walked inside, Bibble walking behind me.

He then shut the door and left Bibble and me alone. I then took off my cloak and laid it on the table. I went over to the bed and flopped down onto it, face first.

"I suppose a bit of sleep wouldn't hurt," I said with my voice muffled through the pillow my face ad landed on.

"Yeah, kupo, let's sleep," Bibble agreed and hopped up onto the bed with me.

"Any particular reason why you're walking instead of floating around?"

"To look more formal, kupo. In moogle customs, it's more respectful to stand on the ground than to hover in the air."

"Hmm," I replied.

I then made myself comfortable on the bed and shut my eyes.

(A Few Hour Later)

I could hear the wind whistling and the sand scraping on the window outside as I quietly lay on my back on the bed. Bibble sat on the edge of the bed to my left with her legs hanging off the edge and kicking in rhythm. I stared at the ceiling, studying each crevice in the wooden beams that formed it and held it up. It was getting late, and I was getting bored. I was too busy thinking of how to avoid going to dinner, I couldn't get a wink of sleep.

"Miss Moira?" Bibble said and looked up at me, "Why don't you just go to dinner with Mr. Edgar, kupo, instead of stressing yourself on how to not go?"

"Because," I answered.

"Because Mr. Edgar's a big flirt?"

"Doesn't take a mind-reader to figure that out."

"You shouldn't be so mean to him, kupo. All you have to do is tell him about Mr. Raven."

"Hmm," I replied, not really listening. I'd found a crevice in the ceiling that was shaped like a boat and was contemplating what else it could look like.

"Miss Moira, come on!" Bibble scolded, realizing that I wasn't listening. "Let's just go to dinner and get it over with. You've got to be starved by now, kupo. We haven't had anything to eat since before we flew into the desert."

That's when my stomach started growling at me.

"Now see what you did, Bibble?" I said, rubbing my stomach, "Now my stomach's nagging at me."

"I'd say that's a sign to go eat, kupo."

"Fine," I replied and sat up, "Let's go to the stupid dinner."

"Kupo!" Bibble squealed and jumped off the bed and onto the floor.

I then turned and stood up from the bed.

"Let's see if we can figure out where the dining hall is," I said and started walking to the door.

"Or the nearest person, kupo, so we can ask directions."

"That too."

I opened the door and let Bibble out before me. She walked, of course. After she was past the door, I shut it behind us.

(A couple of hours of wandering later…)

"This castle is frickin' huge!" I groaned, looking down the lantern-lit hallway. The lanterns all looked like they were lit with some sort of magic. The hallway looked exactly the same as the last hallway we went through, which coincidently looked like the one before that… and the one before that…. and the one before that.

"Maybe we'll find something at the end of this hallway, kupo."

"You said that three hallways ago," I groaned. "Can't you just sense the nearest mind to us so we can ask for directions?"

"There's interference, kupo. I'm having trouble finding the nearest person."

"I still can't believe we haven't found anybody. We've been through eight hallways, two music rooms, a library, several large doors, and up and down three flights of stairs. Just where the hell is everybody?"

"Maybe they're sleeping, kupo. It is nighttime, you know."

"We should've at least run into a guard or something by now. Somebody has to be awake patrolling the castle."

"Patrolling for what, kupo?"

"I dunno, intruders or something," I looked down at Bibble.

"Intruders in the middle of the desert?"

"It could happen."

I then looked up and saw a big lantern in my face. I moved aside to look around the lantern and saw a guard.

"See, Bibble? I told you," I then looked at the guard, "Hey, we got lost looking for the dining hall."

"I'll say you're lost," the guard replied, "You're on the exact wrong side of the castle. The King was starting to wonder what had happened. Since you weren't in your room and your chocobo was still in the stable, he concluded that you were lost in the castle, so he sent me to find you."

"How long ago was this?"

"About twenty minutes ago," he answered.

"How did you find us so quickly?" I asked in surprise.

"I followed your voices through the halls."

"Kupo," Bibble replied.

"Now, if you will follow me, the King is waiting for you in the dining hall."

(Fifteen Minutes Later)

When we finally arrived at the dining hall, I was amazed at how big it was. It was a very long room, mostly. A very long table, around thirty or so feet long, occupied it. There wasn't anything on the table but plates, cutlery, and a few lit candelabras. There was also light coming from lanterns on the wall and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Edgar was pacing in the corner, but then stopped when we came in. He looked up and then came to meet us.

"That was quick," he said looking to the guard that escorted us.

"I told you I could find them, Sire," he replied, "The esper woman has a loud voice when she is complaining. It was all a matter of pinpointing where her voice was coming from."

"Hey!" I objected. "I'm not THAT loud!"

"Yes you are, kupo."

"Shut up, Bibble."

"All that matters is that you're here now," Edgar said and then turned to the guard, "Thank you, Jim. You may go back to your post."

"Yes, Your Highness," he replied with a bow and walked out of the room.

"Please ladies, have a seat," Edgar said, motioning his hand to the table. "Dinner will be here shortly. As will my advisor. He is very anxious to meet Holly."

"And I'm anxious to meet him, kupo," Bibble said while we walked over to the table. "It's been a while since I've seen another moogle."

"You mean since that 'mail moogle' that showed up out of nowhere a year ago?"

I sat down on the chair closest to the end of the table. Bibble sat next to me. Edgar sat across the table from me.

"Yeah, the Mognet Messenger," Bibble replied as she sat down, "He's the last moogle I've seen, kupo."

"It'll certainly be a happy reunion," Edgar said.

"Reunion?" I repeated, "How do you know they've met before?"

"All moogles come from the same village," he explained, "Traveling with a moogle as long as you have, she must've mentioned Kupo Village to you at least once. My advisor speaks of it on a regular basis."

"Actually, she doesn't tell me much about herself."

"How odd," he replied.

"Well, it's mostly because we're too busy concentrating on Miss Moira, kupo. I want to help Miss Moira as much as I can, and talking about my life doesn't seem to be the way to do it."

Then a creaking noise came from behind us.

"Holly?" called a somewhat squeaky male voice from behind and to the right of me, "Holly Bibble?"

Bibble and I turned around to see this moogle. He was white in color, and had pinkish purple wings, a large red nose, and a red pom-pom dangling from his head. I'd been so used to Bibble odd coloring of pink fur, darker pink wings, and blue pom-pom, that it seemed strange to see a moogle with normal coloring. This moogle was also wearing a uniform coat similar to the one King Edgar was wearing, but not as decorated.

"Rumple!" Bibble squealed and rushed out of her seat at the table, flying to this other moogle.

When she reached him, they hugged, giggled, and twirled around in circles. When they stopped twirling, they let go of each other.

"It's so good to see you, kupo!" said the male moogle, "It's been so long."

"Yes, Rumple, it has," Bibble answered, "Kupo, is THIS where you've been for all this time?"

"Kupo no, of course not. I started out traveling the world and got lost in a sandstorm when I got to this desert. It tossed me around until I finally ended up here in New Figaro. The King was so nice to me, kupo, that I decided to stay here."

They walked over and sat at the table. Bibble went back to her seat, and Rumple went to the seat across the table from her.

"I meant to try to contact you, kupo," He continued, "But I just didn't have the means to do it."

"Weren't you ladies just talking about a Mognet or something a moment ago?" the king replied.

"Mognet, kupo?" Rumple questioned, looking over at Bibble.

"Yes, kupo, Mognet is wonderful. It just started service a year ago. It's to help moogles communicate to each other from anywhere in the world."

"You mean there's other moogles besides you around the world?" I butted in.

"Well, not yet, kupo. Mognet is still fairly new, so not everyone has gotten used to being able to communicate through such distances. But eventually, kupo, there might be moogles everywhere in the world. And with Mognet, we can al keep in touch."

"That's wonderful, kupo!" Rumple replied. "You must teach me how it works, so that when you continue your journey we can keep in touch with each other."

"Don't worry. It's easy, kupo. I'll show you how it works after dinner."

"Kupo!"

Suddenly there was a knock echoing through the dining hall.

"Ah, that must be dinner," Edgar announced.

A moment later, I was surrounded by people pushing carts of dinner trays and placing the trays on various places at the center of the table. After a moment of metal clanking on the table, the room was clear again and t was just the four of us again. When I got a chance to look I noticed that there was a bottle of red wine between the king and me. The trays of food all had coverings over them.

"I always wait a few minutes before digging into the food," Edgar explained and reached for the wine bottle. "No sense burning your tongue on food that should be enjoyed."

He then poured it into each of the four glasses. After that he corked the bottle back up, placed it back on the table, and lifted his glass.

"To our guests," he toasted, "And a joyful reunion between moogles."

"Here, Here!" Rumple agreed as the rest of us lifted our glasses to the toast.

We all then took a sip of the wine. I never really liked the taste of wine, but the flavor of this one was different. I looked at the bottle, which was facing in my direction so I could read the label. It was dated several thousand years before I was born. I always heard that wines tasted better the more they were aged, but I didn't really think anything of it. After I finished thinking about how old the wine was, I looked down at Bibble, who was daintily sipping the wine.

"Funny, in all our travels you never allowed me to drink. I'd never thought I'd see you drinking fancy wine."

"I don't let you drink because I know that you don't know when to stop, kupo," she replied, "And normally I don't drink, because I only like to drink on occasions. I especially like red wine, but I try to avoid it."

"Why is that? Is it because you're afraid you won't be able to control how much of it you drink?"

"No, kupo," She answered and put down her glass, "It leaves a dark spot on the fur under my nose, and it makes it look like a moustache. It takes forever to get red wine stains out of my fur, kupo. But right now, I'm too happy to care."

"Apparently, you two are more than just acquaintances," Edgar added, pointing to Bibble and Rumple.

"Yeah, you seem like a little bit more than just two moogles from the same village," I agreed.

"We grew up together, kupo," Bibble explained.

"We've been best friends since we were very little, kupo," Rumple continued, "We both always talked about having adventures together."

"Then what happened?" I asked, "Why'd you go off on your own?"

"I wanted to take Holly with me on my travels, kupo, but that just couldn't happen. So we both agreed that I would go travel and write to Holly in detail."

"It started out that way, kupo. He wrote to me every day for five years. And hen the letters just suddenly stopped coming, kupo."

"That's when I ended up here."

"And then after a few months of not getting any letters, kupo, I decided to go on my own and look for him. I ended up in Midgar and found you, Miss Moira. You seemed so bored, and lonely, and angry, kupo. I felt like you needed a friend. So I stayed to be your friend."

"So that's why you suddenly started bugging me so much," I replied, "Geez, did I really look that miserable?"

"Yes, kupo. You did."

"When the king had told me that a moogle had come to the castle, kupo, I never imagined that it would be you."

"And the same for me when he said he had a moogle advisor, kupo."

"You couldn't just read his mind and find that out?" I asked.

"It's difficult to read minds when another moogle is nearby, kupo," Bibble answered, "Psychic interference, like static on the TV or radio."

"I find the moogles' mind-reading abilities fascinating," Edgar commented, "It's one of the reasons I made Rumple my advisor. Another reason is that he is a wonderful and trustworthy companion. He is not only my most valued servant, but also my most trusted friend."

"Sir! You embarrass me, kupo!" Rumple replied.

"I'm serious," Edgar said, "It's not easy for a king to find an advisor that is both wise and trustworthy."

"Thank you, Sir," Rumple said.

The conversation was then cut short by a loud boom. The room then shook for a second and stopped. The trays rattled and the cutlery had moved from the shaking.

"What was that?" I wondered out loud.

"I don't know," Edgar answered.

"That doesn't feel like the castle's burrowing system, kupo," Rumple said.

A moment later there was another boom and another violent shake.

"It feels like something's pounding on the castle, kupo," Bibble suggested.

"Impossible," Edgar replied, "Nothing's large enough to shake the castle like this. And besides, no living thing could live outside in a sandstorm like this."

Almost immediately after he said that, a soldier burst into the room through the large double doors.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" He cried.

"What is it? What's going on?" The king asked as he rose from his chair.

"A gigantic monster is pounding on the castle, Sir! It's huge, Sir! Our weapon aren't having any affect on it, Sir!"

"A monster?" the king replied, "In the middle of a sandstorm?"

"Maybe it's a sandworm, kupo," Rumple suggested.

"No," the soldier continued, "Bigger, MUCH bigger."

"Well, don't just stand there," the king demanded, "Get every soldier not currently on the defense and do everything you can until I tell you otherwise."

"Yes, Sir!" he answered and rushed off.

"Let's go see what it is," I said and started towards the door.

"Yes, I'm afraid dinner will have to wait for us," Edgar agreed and also started to the door. The moogles weren't far behind us.

He led us through several hallways and stairs, stopping every so often for another pound from the monster outside. It went like this until we got to the top of the castle wall. It was incredibly windy, and the sand was stinging and almost blinding. I could barely see the soldiers scrambling around to get their weapons ready to fire. I looked out to the desert, but all I saw was sand blowing around.

"How the hell can anything survive out here?!" I yelled through the wind to nobody in particular. I could barely hear my own voice as I did.

There was another pound on the castle. I nearly lost my balance as most the men fell on their backs, King Edgar included. The moogles were just trying their best to just keep from getting blown away by the wind.

"Rumple!" Edgar yelled as he stood himself back up, "Take Miss Holly and get to shelter! I don't want you blown away by the storm!"

"Yes Sir!" Rumple answered and took Bibble back down the hall we'd just come out of.

"Where is it?!" I asked, looking around. "I don't see it!"

"Neither do I!" Edgar replied.

"RRAAAAAAAARRRR---!!!!" Roared something huge from behind all the sand.

It was loud enough that I didn't hear the wind through it. Then I saw a large shape coming at us very quickly. I grabbed the king and jumped to the side before the shape could crush us, causing yet another shake. After we both got up, I looked over at it. It looked like a fat, scaly tail.

I looked up at where the tail was coming from, but all I could see through the sand was a big, fat worm-shaped creature with two sets of short, fat arms. At the end that would've been its head, there was a huge mouth with rows upon rows of teeth inside it. It was shut for the most part. After a moment it opened up as it started roaring again.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR---!!!!"

I looked over at the spot where its tail was and saw a massive hole in the wall. I looked back up at the monster, and waited for my opportunity.

"What are you doing?!" Edgar asked me, as if knowing I was up to something.

"I'm gonna go get it!" I answered.

"Are you mad?! Don't you see the size of that monster?!"

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall! And fall he will!"

We jumped aside again as his tail was again striking the wall. I then jumped up onto it, standing on all fours.

As it started moving away from the wall, I started getting ready to jump. After a moment, I found my way and made a leap, using the wind to push me right to the monster's head.

When I got there, I landed right above its mouth. It didn't seem to notice I was there, so I looked at its face, or what it had of one. It had scaly skin, which was strange for a worm. It also had three pairs of eyes running along the sides of its head. There were two more eyes along the top where I was. I figured it was either blind in those eyes or had them shut for the sandstorm because it obviously didn't see me. I then took my claws and dug into its left main eye. Needless to say, that didn't make it happy.

It immediately started tossing its head around, sending me flying into the castle wall. I was on the wall with my back to it for a moment before I started falling towards the sand below. Not to long into the fall, I clutched into the crevices of the stony wall. I looked back up and noticed the monster looking straight at me.

"Well, now it knows I'm here," I thought.

"Moira," said a familiar voice in my head. "Let me do battle with this beast instead."

"What?" I responded in thought as the thing stared down at me.

"You have not the power to defeat it. Let me help you."

"No, I'm not going to allow another transformation."

"You will surely be killed."

"I'd rather die than be responsible for another massacre. Just knowing that I've help stop this thing is enough for me."

"…Suit yourself."

Right then I saw a massive display of teeth rushing at me. I jumped up just as the monster's head rammed into the wall. I landed back on its head, where I was before, except this time its right eye had changed. Now it was open and looking right at me.

"Crap!" I thought.

I then felt something huge hit me, sending me flying off the head again and back onto the wall. This time, the monster didn't waste time. It pinned me to the wall with one of its hands. I looked up and saw that it was also looking right at me. Wondering how it could do that with its short stubby arms I looked ad saw that its arm was stretched, like it was made of rubber, so it could look right at me.

"CRAP!" I thought again as I struggled to break free from the monsters grip.

I tried scratching at its hand, but I only seemed to be scratching the scales and not really damaging it. After a second of futile scratching, I just grabbed a scale with each of my hands and pushed away from wherever it was pointing.

"RAAAAHHHH!!!!" It screamed and let go of me.

This time I fell away from the wall and couldn't grab hold of it. I ended up falling fifty feet into the sand, which was nowhere near as soft as it looked. I landed with a very loud thud, on my back. After having the wind knocked out of me, all I could to was watch as the monster picked me up with its claw and smash me into the wall. The only thing I could think of then was how much my chest was hurting. And being pinned to the wall again wasn't helping. My vision started getting blurry, and I knew it wasn't from the sand. And as everything went dark, I started feeling like the monster's hand was getting smaller, but before I could find out what was happening, I blacked out.

Hikorai

My body grew with each passing second, and with every inch, I felt my power returning to me. The monster watched, dumbfounded, as I grew too large for its hand to hold. When I was finished growing, I was still smaller than the monster, but large enough to where I was more than just an insect. At the very least I could look it in the face.

"Let us fight!" I called to the monster.

It then lunged at me, headfirst, with all of its teeth coming towards me. I readied my claws and clapped my hands together on the monster's head right when it was about to try and strike. It then pushed me back with all four of its hands and used them to pin me to the wall. Its top hands held each of my arms back while its other two hands held my chest and stomach.

"This worm is fond of pinning its opponents to the wall," I pointed out in thought.

As it prepared to lunge its teeth into me, I opened my mouth and shot a beam of ice magic into the worm's face.

"RAAAAAHHHHHHHRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!" It cried and let go of me.

It backed away several feet as it rubbed its face with its top set of hands.

I took this opportunity and lunged towards it, claws extended. I clawed into what appeared to be its neck and right shoulder.

"AAARRRRRHHHH!!!" It screamed and grabbed my left ear with one of its top arms.

It squeezed that ear and yanked down so my head was lower down. It also grabbed and dug its claws into my left hind leg. A moment later, I felt a severely sharp pain in my right shoulder.

"RAAAAAOOOOWWW!!!!" I yowled in pain as it bit into my flesh.

With my ear pulled down, all I could see was the creature's chest area. So I took my claws and grabbed hold of its torso. I then opened my mouth wide and fired ice magic, then fire magic, then lightning magic, then ice again. The monster let go of me and slithered back, but I did not stop. Shot after shot after shot I fired until all of my magic was spent.

When I could not shoot any more, I looked down as the sand covered up the remains of my foe, which was not much to speak of. Only scraps remained of what was once the gigantic monstrosity. All I could recognize from it was part of its head and one of its arms, and it too was eventually buried in the sand.

I noticed that as the monster was buried, the sandstorm subsided.

"So you were the one that caused the sandstorm." I thought out loud. "Well, now you will no longer bother…. These…"

I fell to my knees and then down to my hands as I quickly lost strength.

"Miss Hikorai!" A small familiar voice called from a distance.

"Mo…Moogle?" I replied and looked over at the castle.

I could not see it very well, and my vision was quickly worsening. The pain in my ear and shoulder was unbearable.

"She's losing blood!" I heard a young male voice say as my consciousness faded. "Get her to the clinic! Quickly!"

I then could not even hold myself up with my hands anymore and just collapsed. I felt the sand under me shifting as my body began changing size again, but before it was done, I was already gone.

(The Next Day, Around Sunset…) Moira

I opened my eyes to find myself in a large room, with rows of white beds. I was laying in one of them. I tried to move my arm up o I could rub my aching head, but it was being held in place by bandages that were wrapped around my shoulders.

"Miss Moira! You're awake, kupo!" I heard a familiar voice call out from my left.

I tried to turn my head to look, but the bandages on my shoulders were also holding my head in place.

"Ow!" I cried as I felt a pain in my right shoulder.

"Don't move, kupo. You'll open your wounds."

"What happened?" I asked after giving up on trying to move.

"You transformed, kupo," Bibble answered, "Miss Hikorai took over after you were knocked out."

"And then what?"

"Well, she fought the monster, kupo, and she won the fight, kupo. Wow, did she ever win! She blew it to pieces, kupo. And then after the fight was done, the sandstorm went away. And then she fell down unconscious and transformed back, kupo."

"And we didn't go out of control?" I wondered out loud.

"Your mind was unconscious, 'member? Without another mind to cause any conflict, kupo, there was no problem."

"Hmm," I replied. "I'll have to remember to thank her later. We all would've been dead if she hadn't continued the fight for me."

"You're still badly injured, kupo. Miss Hikorai fell unconscious 'cuz she lost a lot of blood, kupo. The sand blowing into the wounds wasn't helping any, either."

"That explains why everything stings."

"And after we got you inside to the clinic, the king went out into the village to make sure everyone was ok."

"Speaking of King Flirts-A-Lot, where is he?"

"You mean me?" Said a male voice from the doorway.

"He's right over there, kupo."

He walked up so I could see him standing at my bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I feel like a mummy," I answered.

"I'm sorry I can't help you more," he said, "I've been asking around for anyone who knows any white magic to see if they could make your wounds heal faster. Right now my soldiers are still searching."

"You don't have to do all that for me. I'm fine now."

"Yes, but your wounds are great and will take time to heal. Besides, we owe you our lives. You saved my castle and my people."

"I only did what I thought was right."

"We are grateful, nonetheless. You failed to mention that you could transform like that. It was amazing."

"I try to keep that a secret."

"And Holly tells me that when you transformed, another personality took over the fight for you."

"Yeah, Hikorai. She's the esper."

"Oh yes, you did mention when you arrived that you used to be human."

"Yeah, Hikorai's the unfortunate esper that got fused into me."

"I can't imagine how such a thing could happen."

"Let me put it this way. Mad scientist, plus magecite, plus stupid me equals what you see before you. And I'll leave it at that."

"Uh-huh," He replied. He obviously wanted o know more.

"Ugh, fine. Bibble, could you get the magecite out of my pocket?"

"Sure, kupo," she answered and ran over to the bed where my clothes were laid. She took the magecite out of the pocket and handed it to Edgar. He examined it for a moment before saying anything.

"It looks… Empty," he said.

"Everything that used to be in there," I pointed at the magecite and then pointed at myself, "Is now in here."

"Including the esper's soul," he replied and handed the magecite back to Bibble. She then went and put it back in my pocket.

"At any rate," he continued, "She put up an amazing fight."

"So I keep hearing. I wasn't there, so I'll have to take your word for it."

"She really was amazing, kupo," Bibble said, "With how nice she is, you wouldn't think she'd have that kind of fighting power, but she tore that monster to shreds."

"And I got torn to shreds in the process," I replied, "That was my first really big fight."

"Yup, and you won, kupo."

"Yes, you were victorious," Edgar agreed.

"No, I wasn't. I was almost killed. Hikorai won the battle, not me."

"At any rate, kupo, the battle ended with us on the winning side. It doesn't matter how it happened, kupo, as long as we're alive."

"Hmm," I replied.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" Edgar replied.

"Sir," Said a deep voice from behind the door, "We found a white mage wants to volunteer her services."

"Send her in."

The door opened, and a small woman walked in. She had long, dark red hair that was tied up in a ponytail. Draped on her shoulders, over her plain peasant clothes, she wore a white cape that had a red triangle design along the edges. When she saw the king she immediately bowed.

"Uh, y-your Highness," She stuttered in a small sweet voice and then looked over in my direction, "Is this our city's savior?"

"Yes, she is," Edgar answer, "Her name is Moira, and she is badly wounded."

"On behalf of all the people of New Figaro, I will heal her to show our gratitude."

"Thank you," Edgar replied, "I'll leave you to your work."

"Yes, Your Highness," the white mage said as Edgar left the room.

"Are you people really that grateful?" I asked, "I don't feel like I deserve it."

"Of course you deserve it," she answered as she walked up to my bedside, "You've saved us all from that hideous beast. It would've surely destroyed the castle if you had not done battle with it."

"Yeah, Miss Moira," Bibble agreed, "You were really brave, kupo."

"Thanks," I replied.

"I will need you to sleep so I can proceed," the white mage said and raised her hand over my face, "Sleep."

A second later I was off to sleep.

I found myself floating in the dark. It seemed like something normal now that I would find myself here.

"I wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I'm used to this dark place," I thought to myself. "And I wonder where Hikorai is?"

"Hikorai!" I called out into the darkness. When I didn't get an answer I decided to start wandering.

After a while I saw her massive form lying peacefully asleep. I went up to her and just smiled.

"I guess you're more tired than I am," I said, knowing she wouldn't reply. "Not that I blame you. You did most of the fighting."

"Mmm…" She mumbled and moved her head to face me. "Moira?"

She seemed groggy and not quite sure whether or not I was actually there.

"Good morning," I greeted.

"But it is evening," she corrected.

"You can tell night from day in here?"

"I had a very efficient body clock when I was alive."

"How do you feel?"

"Tired," she answered, "Very, very tired. I had not seen battle since long before my death."

"Yeah, I wasn't ready for that kind of a fight either. I wasn't expecting to be completely spanked either. I'm sorry for shoving you back in the beginning."

"You need not apologize. I understand your concern. It would have been disastrous if we had lost control right then. We would have been the force to be feared instead of the worm."

"Yeah, but I also can't ignore the fact that you saved everyone's lives in the end, including mine. Thanks."

"I only did what I thought was right. I could not let the castle be destroyed."

"Still, I owe you my life."

"No, Moira. As far as I am concerned, I was paying you a debt."

"A debt? For what?"

"For tolerating my presence in your mind for all this time."

"Well, if I had to be stuck with another being in my mind, I'm glad it's you."

She smiled and laid her head back where it was.

"Are you gonna be ok?" I asked.

"Of course I will," she answered. "Since I am already dead, I cannot die. I just need rest to regain my strength."

"I'll just let you do that then."

After a few moments of silence I started hearing a voice chanting something in a language I'd never heard before. It sounded like the white mage's voice. Her voice sounded soft, and all of a sudden I felt very comfortable.

The next thing I knew, I was back in the clinic, again lying on the bed, except this time, I wasn't in pain. I looked over at the white mage, and she smiled down at me.

"I am finished," she said, "You are healed."

"Feels like it," I replied, "The pain's all gone."

"I'll go get the king and tell him, kupo," Bibble said as she rushed out of the room.

"I am glad that I was able to help you recover," the white mage continued, "It is my life's mission to heal others in need, and I feel I am one step closer to mastering these skills."

"Well, I'm glad I could help you practice," I replied. "What's your name, anyway?"

"My name?"

"Yeah, your name. So I know who to thank for making my wounds go away faster."

"Oh, my name is Terra Katana. And I believe your name I Moira, is it not?"

"Yes, it is."

"Tell me, Moira," She said and started blushing, "Uh, what do you think of our king?"

"Edgar? He's a huge flirt, but all around he's a good guy. I think if he ever actually got a woman to like him he'd stick with her no matter what."

"Um, do you know what kind of girls he likes?"

"Wait…" I looked over at her and actually saw her blush, "You've got the hots for him, don't you?"

"Eh-heh, do I make it that obvious?" She asked and blushed even more.

"Yes you do," I answered, "Why don't you just talk to him and find out?"

"Oh, but I could not possibly... I mean, he would not think of… would he?"

"I don't know. I've only known the guy for a few hours, not counting the time I've been unconscious. You're a pretty girl. I'm sure he's noticed that by now. Just talk to him and see what happens."

"Thank you. I will."

"I think I'll get rid of these bandages and get my clothes back on before the king comes in."

"I will help you."

Between the two of us, it didn't take long to get the bandages off. When they were all off, I reached over and grabbed my clothes and started putting them on.

"Geez, I'm so hairy," I grumbled, looking down at my fur-covered body, "It almost looks natural that I don't have any clothes on."

"It does not look so bad."

"It's just something I still haven't gotten over," I said as I finished dressing myself, "I mean, geez, I should be used to it by now."

"Perhaps someday, you will find someone who will find that attractive."

"Heh, I already have, but events happened that caused us to be separated, and now I'm looking for him."

"Oh, well I hope you find him."

"Thanks."

The door opened and Bibble came through it.

"Kupo? Miss Moira, are you up?"

"Yup. Up, dressed, and ready to hit the road."

"Great, kupo."

"Don't forget this," Edgar said as he entered the room with my cloak in his hand.

"Yeah, can't be seen in public without it."

I put my cloak on, but left my hood down for the moment.

Bibble walked up to me and looked up at me.

"Miss Moira," she said.

"What?" I answered.

"Your ear," she said, pointing up at my left ear.

Since I couldn't see it, I reached my hand up and felt it. I noticed that there was a hole halfway up the lower edge of my ear.

"Hmm," I said with a stern look on my face, "Now how'd that happen?"

"Maybe the monster did it, kupo."

"Heh. A battle scar, and it wasn't even while I was fighting."

"Well, let's not dwell on that," the king said, "I'm sure you want to continue on your quest. Your chocobo is rested and ready."

"Great."

The king led us through the castle and into the stables, where Jamie had been resting the whole time.

"Wark!" He greeted as we walked up. "Wark wark!"

"Hey, Jamie!" I greeted back and started petting him, "Did you sleep well?"

He trilled and rubbed his head in my face. I let go of his head so I could open the stall to let him out.

"Alrighty."

I looked back and noticed that only Bibble was with me in the stable.

"Wait, where'd Edgar go?"

"Miss Terra wanted to speak with him for a moment about something. I know what it is too, kupo. She likes him."

"I know. Do you think he'll like her back? I think he will."

"I think he will, too, kupo."

"Well, I'd love to stick around and find out, but we have a search to get back to."

"Yes, kupo," she said and then started running back into the castle. "Uh, you keep going, kupo. I'll meet you outside."

"Where are YOU going?"

"I gotta say goodbye to Rumple, kupo. I'll be right back."

"Ok."

I led Jamie out of the stable and out to the front of the castle. There the king was waiting for us.

"Where is little Holly?" he asked.

"She went to say goodbye to Rumple," I answered.

"Ah, yes. I'm sure they will miss each other greatly. But with this Mognet, I'm sure they will communicate much more."

"Probably," I said and then looked up at what was left of the castle wall. It was more damaged than I remembered. Part of it looked like it was blasted open, and I knew the monster didn't use any magic.

"The castle looks really beat up," I pointed out.

"Don't think of the castle," Edgar replied, also looking up at it, "That is not how I want you to remember New Figaro."

"Oh? And how would you prefer I remember it?"

"Remember the people you helped here. Remember that for years, centuries, countless generations to come there will be people in New Figaro, all because of you and your bravery. That is how I want you to remember us."

"But the castle doesn't even look stable anymore with all the beatings it took."

"Yes, it doesn't seem like it's safe to stay here," Edgar replied. "If there are more monsters like that in this desert, I don't think this castle could stand another beating, and none of us want the kingdom to stay underground until the end of time. I think I'll relocate the kingdom to someplace less sandy."

"Sounds like a big project," I said, "What'll you do with the castle?"

"We will dismantle it and carry the pieces to build a new castle in the new location. Of course, we won't be able to take the whole castle with us. The burrowing mechanism will stay where it is. When we leave, we will activate it for its burial. But I will not do anything until I have chosen the location, and that in itself will take some time."

"And what'll you call this new kingdom?"

He blinked a couple of times, not quite sure how to answer. Then he just shrugged and grinned a big goofy grin.

"….Er, I suppose we will just call it New Figaro again. New New Figaro would sound ridiculous. Nobody would ever take us seriously."

"Heh, Yeah I guess. Since this kingdom will be stationary, maybe someday it'll actually be on the world map."

"I can only hope so."

"Miss Moira!" Bibble called as she flew up from seemingly nowhere.

"You ready to go now?" I asked.

"Yes, kupo," she answered and then looked down where Rumple was standing. She landed in front of him and took his hands in hers.

"Do you remember what I told you, kupo?" she asked Rumple.

"About Mognet? Everything, kupo. I will start writing the moment you leave."

"And we'll write every day, kupo."

"Of course, kupo."

They nudged noses for a moment and then parted hands. Bibble flew up and sat in her usual place on Jamie's back. I then grabbed hold and hopped up, mounting onto Jamie behind her.

"You both are welcome to come back and visit any time," Edgar said.

"We'll have to," I replied, "This is the only place I actually enjoyed staying at."

"Of course you will have to come," he continued, "I owe you dinner. It was interrupted when that monster attacked the castle."

"You don't have to worry about that."

"But I insist. I give you my word as a Figaro that the next time you come to New Figaro, you will be given the feast we could not have last night."

"Heh, ok. I'll come back the next time I'm in the area. You'll still be in this spot of the desert, right?"

"Figaro Castle will not be going anywhere, anymore. At least not until I have picked out its new location."

"Well, it'll be easy to find then," I said as I started trotting off, "I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it. Farewell."

We went out the castle door and into the desert. Then Jamie sprinted off, wings half-open. And with a few flaps, we were in the air and on our way again.