Hey everybody... I'm not dead :D Or maybe I was and just came back... I'll let you decide.
Anyways... if you had read the intermission I posted last time, you'd understand why I kinda... dropped off the face of the planet without leaving a single clue as to where I disappeared to. I should actually be thanking The Mighty Hiei. He gave me the review that inspired me to keep working... so everyone thank The Mighty Hiei!
Now... Chapters may still come slower... but I'll try and make it a reasonable time period from now on (TRYING to make it a month, to 3 weeks per chapter. At best, aiming to get a chapter in on the first of every month.) I have taken all of the ideas in the reviews into consideration... stuck a little creativity into them, blended them on high for a few days, baked at 98.6 F in my brain... and came out with a fresh chapter. (Or something like that) One last note.... this chapter actually was turning out a bit big... so I split into 2 parts... otherwise... I don't know what may have happened.
So before I make anymore lame expressions... the Ed's are back!
Disclaimer: YEP, SAME PLACE AS ALWAYS.
Chapter 9: ED in the Big City. (Part one)
-----------------------------------------
-So... there's this partially destroyed cargo ship barely hovering through the air, cruising towards a city called Lindblum, at maybe 100mph. On it are seven stow-away's who hijacked the ship, and just battled it out with a black mage from who knows where. The South Gate was just nearly destroyed in an explosion, and their ship couldn't possibly clear the gates at Lindblum, could it? So, can things really get any worse? Murphy's law, do your stuff! -
Edd paced around the deck. "Well... I don't see how things can possibly get any worse."
Ed popped up behind him. "Of course you can't... you can't see into the future... ooooo," he said mysteriously. "Or can you... Double-D, are you hiding something from us?"
Edd just shook his head and sighed. "Never a dull moment with you Ed." and with that, he walked over to the side of the ship. Ed just shrugged and resumed running around the deck, laughing like his normal, carefree self.
Back in the cabin, Sara was piloting the ship towards the city of Lindblum, while Steiner and Vivi were administering potions to Eddy and Zidane.
Eddy groaned and rubbed his head. "Anyone get the license number of that Black Mage?" he asked groggily.
Zidane sat up too and put his hand to his head. "Man... Remind me to never try and do a one on one again with something like that." he mumbled. Zidane stood up and stretched his muscles out to try and relax them while Eddy limped out onto the deck to see what Edd was doing. Vivi and Steiner tried to call him back, but he just shook his head and said something about needing fresh air. He limped halfway across the deck before being hit by about 300lbs of pure Ed.
"Eddy, you stopped being unconscious!" Ed exclaimed and embraced Eddy in a bone-crushing hug. Eddy tried his best to try and get away, but he was still too weak. Lucky for him, Edd had seen the whole thing and had run over to get Ed off of Eddy.
"Now Ed, Eddy needs to have a bit of space for now." Edd scolded, and Ed hung his head, while Eddy snickered a bit. "As for you Eddy, you should be resting, or at least trying to on this barely flying contraption." he continued and Eddy frowned.
"Geez, you're worse than my mother, chill, will you." Eddy grumbled and walked over to the side of the ship to check out the view. Ed followed and looked over the side as well. Edd decided he had nothing better to do and went to the side to join his friends.
-Over the course of the next two hours, lots of things happened on such a small aircraft. The engine died nearly three times, but was kicked back into gear (literally kicked) by Eddy. Ed managed to almost fall off twice, and Edd nearly lost his hat in the process. Eddy managed to stab a hole in the side of the ship with his lance, and Ed somehow managed to get his foot stuck under a piece of wood. All in all, they were pretty bored when the ride came to an end, and the ship sailed closer and closer to Lindblum. The three Eds had slacked jaws as they stared at the spectacle before them. Towering nearly 250 feet in the air was a bustling city with a giant airship dock in the middle. All around the city were numerous airships and air bikes, transporting various goods all around the city. There was a great commotion below them as people walked, talked, played, ran, jumped, and shopped. As the airship passed through the first outer gate, they were amazed at how tightly packed everything looked, and how they were going to see it all while they were here. They slowly made their way into the central airship dock and landed right inside the castle. The engine gave out right there, and well... that was it. The seven filed off of the airship and made their way down the red carpeting. -
Edd looked around, fascinated by the medieval air to this place. "It's... incredible. The architecture is so amazing."
Eddy, for once, couldn't contradict what Edd had said. "These are some nice digs."
Ed happily bounced down the carpet behind everybody. "This is a castle, a castle this is. Its big and large and pretty and stuff and its got nice rugs with frizz!" He sang, not caring that everyone was staring at him. The seven continued down the pathway until three guards stopped them. Two were wearing blue uniforms, while one was wearing red.
"Please, state your business here." The guard in red commanded.
Garnet stepped forward. "I am Princess Garnet til Alexandros. I have traveled here to see the regent."
The two blue guards snickered but a quick hand signal from the Red Guard cut them off. "Now, come to your senses, please. The princess would not travel on an airship like that, much less with a crew like this."
Steiner took a step forward and shook his fist. "Now see here, the princess has been traveling in desperate times, and was forced to use desperate measures."
The Red Guard merely smiled. "I am to suppose that you are the princesses royal guard, Rusty?" he said, putting a little emphasis on the Rusty. "I suppose I'll give you a chance. Do you have any proof that you are indeed the princess?"
Garnet dug into the collar of her shirt and pulled out a pendant. "This is the falcons claw, the royal jewel of Alexandria. I'm sure that you are familiar with the passing down of the jewel to the princess?" she said, trying to hold back a smile.
The Red Guard stepped back, looking at the jewel. "Very well then... I shall... get the proper person to check the... validity of your statement and item." He said, and ran off with his two guards. They only had to wait a moment before a man came back with them. The seven overheard comments along the lines of "pendant" and "fake". The minister took one look at Garnet and dismissed the guards. He then went up and gave her a warm hug.
"It's very nice to see you after all these years Garnet." he said.
Garnet smiled and nodded. "Its nice to see you too, uncle." Anyone remember what this guys name is?
Her uncle looked around for a moment, taking in the new faces. "I don't believe we've met before."
Edd stepped up. "I'm Edd... but you can call me Duo. You'll see why in a second. This is Ed"
"Boing!"
"Eddy"
"Yo"
"And Vivi"
"Pleased to meet you sir." They all responded.
The uncle just nodded. "Well, its nice to meet you all. I hope you enjoy your stay in Lindblum. Oh, and you can call me Minister if you want." He said and walked off, beckoning for the others to follow.
-The seven followed down a few hallways, and eventually came across a large lift. "A technological marvel" Edd called it. The lift took them up a floor and they found themselves in a large foyer. The three Eds had half a mind to wander off before they were called over to a large door. Inside were numerous statues lining the walls, and grand red curtains draped across the walls. A grand window was placed in the back of the room to let light in. The minister told them to wait while he got the regent. Edd wandered around, looking at the various statues of past rulers and reading a bit about them via the little plates under them. Ed resumed wandering aimlessly around, hoping or maybe not not to crash into anything. Eddy resigned to a corner of the room, due to nothing interesting him that much. A few minutes passed before a loud rumbling alerted them to the front of the room. All of a sudden, the ceiling lowered itself to the ground and a piece of floor was placed in a slot near the front of the room. And on the little piece of flooring was...-
"Uhh, what's with the empty throne?" Eddy asked. His questions were soon answered though. From behind the throne popped a little creature draped in a red cape. It had a rather large white moustache, and was maybe 2 feet tall. To Eddy, it looked like a giant cockroach. It was, in fact, an ooglop.
Steiner took a step forward. "This is not the regent. Now please stop this foolishness and bring us the real regent at once!" he demanded.
The ooglop waved its hand, trying to signal silence. "Please Steiner, I've undergone a few unfortunate circumstances since we last met."
Garnet stepped forward and bowed. "Its very nice to see you again Uncle Cid."
"This is the regent?" Edd said, speechless.
"Strange world." Eddy said with the same tone.
Cid cocked his head. "I don't believe we have met before."
"Oh..." Edd began.
"I'm Eddy. Nice place this is." Eddy interrupted.
"Hello my name is Ed!" Ed followed.
"...Yes. Well, my name is Edd, but you can call me Duo, to distinguish between my friend right here." Edd said, and gestured to Ed.
Cid nodded. "Very well. Welcome to Lindblum. I hope you enjoy your stay. I really hope you don't mind, but the rest of us have a few... important matters to discuss for now. If you will kindly follow one of my soldiers, they will gladly take you to the inn for the night." A soldier wearing a light blue uniform stepped into the room and motioned for the Eds to follow.
"I'll meet up with you at the inn, alright guys?" Zidane said as the Eds left the room. The soldier led the Eds back down the elevator, past the airship dock, and around to an open platform. A light blue vehicle was sitting on some cables, and there was an odd clock next to the platform that Edd attempted to decipher.
The soldier gave the Eds some brief instructions. "When you get on this bus, it will take you all around Lindblum. Your stop is the Business District. Once you get off at the station there, right across the street is the inn. I hope you all have a good night." He said, and backed away from the door. The blades of the small, but powerful propellers began to groan and spring to life. The airbus took off on the cables and the Eds were knocked to the ground. There was nobody else on the bus, so the Eds each took a seat next to a window.
Edd looked out his window. "Its like a midevil fantasy, except the technological inventions are eons ahead of its time." There were people bustling about underneath them, trading, buying, selling, playing, working, and everything else in between.
"This is my fault." Eddy said grimly. Ed and Edd only stared at him with complete confusion.
"I'm sorry Eddy, but exactly WHAT is your fault?" Edd questioned.
Eddy stood up. It seemed like he had a lot on his mind. "It's all my fault that we're here. That we came here, that we're stuck here. If I hadn't been so stupidly selfish and greedy for that 20 bucks that you lost..."
"I lost!?" Edd interrupted.
"... Sorry." Eddy apologized. "We lost, then we wouldn't be trapped in this stupid place. Since we've gotten here, I've been furious at myself, and been trying to hide it, but it always came out the wrong way. I tried to completely destroy the monsters that came after us to try and make it up to you guys, but even then I almost failed. I could have gotten myself killed..."
"Eddy..." Ed said. "It cant be your fault, because I'm the one who forgot to tie my shoes in the morning and tripped over the log."
"You know Eddy... maybe fate called us here for a reason. Something we need to do here. Nothing happens just because it happens. Everything happens for a reason." Edd said. "Maybe we were supposed to help save the princess from that… vile, obese queen. Something may have happened if we weren't called here. Something may happen in the future. I don't know. What I do know is that you don't have to beat yourself up over this. We don't blame you at all."
Eddy looked up. "Really?"
"You bet, because we're your friends, and bestest friends of friendlyness we are. Friends stick together like glue and sticky tape" Ed said, and gave Eddy a big hug.
Eddy just sighed and smiled. "You guys are the best."
"That's what friends are..." The airbus skidded to a halt and the Eds flew to the floor.
"Business District!" Came a voice from outside.
Eddy got up and brushed himself off. "Talk about ruining a moment" he scowled. Ed and Eddy just laughed and got up too. The three Eds got out and onto the platform. They watched the airbus take off again, and then turned and went down the stairs.
"Now... the soldier said to go across the street to find the..."
"INN!" Ed shouted and ran to a door across the street. Edd and Eddy just followed Ed into the inn where Ed was running around in circles. There was a man behind the counter who was watching Ed with slight amusement.
Eddy went to stop Ed from running around while Edd went to the counter. "Excuse me sir... but how much will a room be for the three of us?"
The innkeeper looked at the three of them, and smiled. "You three must be from out of town. Am I correct?" Edd gave a quick nod. "Well then... I'll give you a discount. 50 gil for each of you."
Edd dug around in his pocket and pulled out a few coins, trying to remember how to calculate currency. Eventually he got 150 gil from his pocket and put it on the counter.
The innkeeper smiled and gave them a key. "Thank you. Your room is upstairs, the third one on the right." Edd thanked the man and went upstairs along with his friends. He scanned the hallway, and went to the third door on the right. Inside were two large beds next to each other, and a small dresser on the side of the room. There was a window on the wall that looked out to the rest of the district.
"I ain't sharing a bed with unibrow here." Was the first thing Eddy said.
Edd shook his head. "You wont have to... I have a sleeping bag." he smiled. Eddy sighed with relief and jumped onto one of the beds. Ed pounced onto the other one, and Edd unfurled his sleeping bag. The three Eds bid each other good night and drifted off into soundless slumber.
------------Sometime in the Morning-----------
-If and only if they had roosters in Lindblum would have Edd awoken on time that day. Once again, we find Edd sleeping soundly on the floor, and Ed and Eddy silently conversing with each other. Ed stuffed his fist into his mouth to stop the laughing and Eddy chuckled silently. From who knows where, Eddy pulled a bucket of water... ice cold too. He tiptoed over to Edd, who was sleeping soundly in his under-armor. Slowly, Eddy pulled out a very wet, and VERY cold metal tube. With utter precision, he slipped it right under Edd's neck. Edd had currently propped himself up... but he was bound to slip down soon. Eventually, his head fell off his pillow... onto the metal tube and...-
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF... GOOD LORD THAT IS COLD!" Edd shouted, his eyes bloodshot, and his hat askew... nearly off.
Eddy merely shook his head, and spoke in soothingly mocking tones. "Now Edward, for the past few days, you have overslept... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"
Edd rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned. (Who does he think he is, my mother?) he thought. "Apparently my sleep schedule has been thrown out of whack ever since I started using magic and doing so much physical activity. It takes a lot out of you if it happens all of a sudden." Edd got up and put on his robe. He thought about putting on the rest of his armor, but decided against it; because he had a feeling it would just slow him down today. The three Eds headed downstairs to see the smiling face of the innkeeper, and Zidane.
Edd ran over and gave Zidane a big hug. "Hi Mr. Whatever Your Name Is! We had a great time on the bus. It was really fast and it was fun and..."
"I'm sure it was all super Ed, but you're... crushing... lungs." Zidane spat out, and Edd and Eddy pulled the big lump off of him. Zidane took in a big breath of air and hit himself in the chest to get the oxygen flowing again before speaking again. "It's great to see you actually made it here... not that I didn't think you could." He added quickly, after getting a disapproving look from Edd. "But let me tell you guys what's going on today." Zidane pulled up a seat at a nearby table and sat down. "So... I'm sure all of you are excited about going sightseeing... just want to let you in on a few things. First of all... I'm going to let you guys roam free today."
Eddy grinned. (Good) He thought to himself.
"So... no supervision?" Edd asked.
"Nope... I actually have some things to do today... so I'm going to let you guys sightsee on your own. Besides... there's too much out there for me to show you." Zidane explained. "Plus... I didn't want to get stuck baby-sitting you guys... no offense."
Eddy grinned. "None taken."
Edd sighed and shook his head. "Lord this is going to be just like back at home. The three of us and no parents telling us what to do."
Zidane stood up and pushed his chair in. "Just one more thing... I'll be back here at sun-down to take you back to the castle... so try not to be late," he said with a grin. "Oh... and..." He tossed a few coins on the table, which promptly disappeared into Eddy's pocket. "See you guys later." and with that, he left out the door.
The three Eds looked at each other. "So... where do we start first?" Edd asked. Eddy just said to follow him, and he walked out the door with Ed in tow. Edd sighed to himself. (Lord... I really need to work with him on that 'fools rush in' thing.) "EDDY, WAIT UP!" he shouted and ran after the two Eds.
---------------End of Part One--------------
So… There is part one. Now all I have to do is type part 2 in my spare time. I think I got my life straightened out for the most part.
Eddy showed a bit of weakness today, didn't he? You all knew he was going to crack eventually. Then again, Eddy has a heart too you know.:)
Coming up in part 2: The Eds go shopping… Of course there is going to be some chaos… and maybe a bit of mischief. Eddy has money now… so everyone better run. Next time in Final Fantasy Eds.
So… I think that should be everything I need to say.
This is AK, over and out.