I sense the darkness clearer.
I feel a presence here.
A change in the weather,
I feel some evil here

"Harvest Moon"—Blue Oyster Cult

Mother Terra

Chapter IV

Morning in the Black Mage Village was cold and gray. The snow had stopped, but the weather foretold that it would come again. Nevertheless, the youth of the village enjoyed the snow.

And Nuri smiled at the mage and genome youth, with Goldwin at his side.

"Nuri?"

"Yes?"

"What's this thing you were telling me about last night?"

"What thing's that?"

"The thing that'll allow us to escape from Alexandria Castle with the queen and the prince."

"Oh, that! Follow me to the synthesis shop."


A tiny bell pealed when Nuri opened the door to the synthesis shop.

The owner turned. "Hello…Nuri, is it?" he asked, while he stoked the fire.

Nuri nodded. "It is."

"And who's this with you?"

"This is my friend, Goldwin."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir," the owner said, while he and Goldwin shook hands. And returning to both men he added, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, sir," replied Nuri, "I would actually like to speak with your apprentice."

"Oh, what for?"

"Well, it's about that new gem he's been working on."

"New gem…? Oh, you mean the Warp Stone! Don't you?"

"Sure do!"

"Sharif!" called the owner.

"Yes, sir?" a voice said from the next room.

"There're some gentlemen who'd like to see you."

From the next room emerged a black mage that was a few years younger than Vivi. "Oh, Master Nuri!"

Nuri chuckled. "You don't have to be so formal. Please relax, just Nuri'll do."

Sharif nodded. "Okay, Nuri."

"Now, I've called you for a reason."

"Yes?"

"I'm interested in the Warp Stone that you've been working on."

"Oh, yes!"

"Excuse me," interjected Goldwin, "but what exactly's this Warp Stone?"

"Oh, it's something that I synchronized recently. Actually, they should probably be called 'Warp Stones,' because they come in pairs. Anyway, through the use of the Warp Stone a person is able to transport themselves and those they touch to where the other stone is located."

Goldwin was stunned. "And these actually work?"

"Of course they do! Me and Master 24 tested them ourselves!"

Master 24 nodded. "They do indeed work, Master Goldwin. Unfortunately, they have one weakness."

"And what's that?" asked Nuri.

"They can only be used once."

Sharif nodded. "True, which is why I designed a safety button, so that someone wouldn't accidentally push the button and trigger the magic before they wanted to."

"Let me ask you, Sharif," continued Nuri, "does it matter how far away you are?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, let's say that one of the stones was here, while the other was in…oh, I don't know, Lindblum. Would that matter?"

"…I don't know. I've never tested the stones from that distance, but I have tested them a good distance away from the village."

"How far?"

"Conde Petie."

"…That's a pretty good distance."

"Yes, it is."

"Well, let me ask you something more important. How much do you charge for those stones?"

"Well, they're quite expensive, Nuri."

"How expensive're we talking?"

"…Five thousand gil."

"Five thousand gil!"

"Y-yes."

"Dear god, that's expensive!"

"You have to understand, Nuri," interjected Master 24, "this is very new technology, and it's much less than any of the swords and armor we design."

Nuri turned and stared at the ceiling. Then he sighed and turned back. "Very well, I'll take a pair."


Outside the shop, Nuri smiled and prepared to light a cigar. "Looks like I answered your question about how we're going to get the queen and prince out of the Castle."

"You did, but I realized something new."

"What's that?"

"We still have a major problem."

"And what's that?"

"I didn't realize it until now, but yesterday Mikoto and Vivi left with Zidane."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, it's probably true that Zidane wouldn't recognize us, but those two would."

Nuri stared at the sky. "Damn, he's right!"

"Nuri?"

"Sorry, I was thinking."

"I've been thinking to."

"You have?"

"Yeah, it's about your plan."

"What about it?"

"I don't think it'll work."

"And why's that?"

"Because we'll never be able to get pass Mikoto and Vivi."

Nuri smirked. "Such little faith you have, Goldwin."

"I just call things as I see them, Nuri."

Nuri kept his smirk. "Then tell me what you think about this." Nuri lit a cigar and continued. "Obviously, we can't get around Mikoto and Vivi based on our looks—that's true—but can fool them? Absolutely!"

"Fool them?"

Nuri puffed. "Yeah, anyone can act if they know what to do."

"And what're we to do?"

"You—by the way, would you like to go to Alexandria?"

"…I'll think about it…Tell me the rest of your plan."

Nuri nodded. "Fair enough—anyway, you and someone else go to Alexandria Castle. From there, you tell Zidane that you've defected from me—he thinks I'm the leader, after all—and that you want to live a life like the genomes from Bran Bal. We have enough money, and you can certainly stay at the inn. While you're there learn the activities of Zidane, and remain in contact with me through radio. And whenever Zidane's gone for a significant amount of time that's when you'll strike. You'll inform me before you do, of course, so I can place the Warp Stone near the fabric, and then we can return to Terra with the queen and the prince."

"And Zidane will know we have the queen and prince, because of what?"

Nuri took another puff. "Because we leave him a note."

Goldwin bit his inner cheek and nodded. "Everything sounds good, but I still have one final question."

"Thank god this is the last one, because you sure ask a lot of them…What's that?"

"On the odd chance that the Warp Stone fails and I'm stuck in Alexandria Castle with the queen, prince, and a couple hundred guards that want to chop my head off, what do I do then? How am I able to get out of there?"

"…That you'll have to answer for yourself. I don't know the interior of Alexandria Castle, so I can't answer that question for you. All I can tell you is that while you're in Alexandria learn the area around and inside the Castle."

Goldwin crossed his arms and stared at the snow.

"So…will you do it?"

Goldwin returned to his friend. "Yes…Yes, I will."