Author's Note: This is the third new chapter I have posted for this story in less than two weeks, so please go back and read the previous chapters if you missed them!
Chapter Sixteen
On the following evening, when Alma and Izlude were provided with their meager dinner rations, Izlude was greatly regretting his refusal to eat over the past couple days. He had wolfed his meal down in about ten seconds flat.
"I am so hungry!" he moaned. "I was a fool not to eat yesterday; they do not feed us enough, as it is! I swear, I have never in my life felt so hollow!"
Alma sighed. He really was whiny, for a soldier. She knew for a fact that Ramza and his friends had sometimes made do with less food than this. Still, she told him, "I will let you have half of my dinner tonight, to catch up your appetite. This soup is horrible, anyway. To think I used to believe Lavian's soups tasted poorly, when I was traveling with my brother… Her cooking was gourmet, compared to this slop."
Izlude tried to argue that he wouldn't take her food, but Alma plopped what was left of her stale heel of bread into the remains of her nasty soup and began to slide the bowl over to him anyway. She was extra conscious of the kindly knight's warnings to her, and she carefully inched the bowl closer to Izlude's side of the room with her fingertips, keeping herself well out of his reach. She stopped when the bowl was just barely at the edge of where Izlude could reach it with his unshackled hand.
He rolled his green eyes as she did so. "You need not be so cautious of me! A knight of the Templarate would never harm a lady."
Alma snorted. "Oh, truly? They just kidnap them, then?"
"I… that was different! And I told you I am sorry for it! But I am being honest, truly, I would never harm you the way that knight was talking about. You may safely walk anywhere in this cell."
"You will pardon me if I do not believe you, given our history."
It was hard to read Izlude's expression, with his face matted in blood and grime, but Alma thought he looked affronted. "Hey, I would not…!" he sputtered, "…I would never even have need of forcing myself on anyone!" he finally spat. "Girls really like me! I have my choice of ladies!"
Alma giggled. That was funny to hear, from someone who looked like a gargoyle that had been painted darkest red. "Sure you do," she drawled sarcastically.
"You know, you are very ill-mannered for a noble lady," Izlude said.
"I tend not to bring out my best manners for people who kidnap me," Alma shot back.
Izlude slumped against the wall, having already sucked down the rest of Alma's dinner as they were talking. "I really am sorry about that," he repeated glumly. "That is not who I am! I want to help people, not hurt them. That is why the Templarate exists! The Church of Glabados will make of Ivalice a country that is safe to live in, a place devoid of class divides, Alma. A world where we may all live as equals, in the Promised Land foretold by Saint Ajora! We wish to protect the people from corruption, and I have dedicated my life to that cause! I am not some brute, no matter what you say of me!"
"Then why did you attack my brother?!" Alma demanded. "Ramza upholds all of those ideals! He has sacrificed more than you can even imagine, to protect Ivalice!"
"Your brother attacked me!" Izlude shouted, in a voice that seemed to reverberate off the stone walls. Alma jumped a little at the sudden loud noise.
He buried his face in his hands. "I did not mean to yell at you. I am upset, still… about my friends… everything… Anyway, look, your brother is a heretic. I do not know what he tried to tell you while you were traveling with him, Alma, but he is a criminal. He killed Cardinal Draclau just to take a zodiac stone from him!"
Izlude spoke so animatedly, gesturing with his hands quite a lot, and his moods seemed to jump around so quickly that it left Alma's head spinning, sometimes. He is definitely a Gemini, Alma thought.
"And would your people have done less?" she asked him.
"Probably not," Izlude admitted, with a wry smile. "Though our motives for taking it would be righteous, at least."
"My brother is not a bad person. He says the zodiac stones have the power to turn men into Lucavi demons, and Cardinal Draclau was one of those demons when Ramza killed him," Alma explained.
Izlude shook his head dismissively. "The zodiac stones are holy relics. They have naught to do with Lucavi demons. You cannot truly believe that tale?"
Alma closed her eyes while she decided what to say. She pursed her lips. "I have never known my brother to tell lies, Izlude. He is truly, truly the most honest person I have ever known. He does not even have enough deceit in him to tell a little white lie, just to spare a person's feelings. If he says that it happened, then I do believe him. Plus, his companions all told the very same tale, when I asked them."
"No." He smacked both of his hands down into the straw beneath him, "They are fooling you, somehow, Alma. The Church does not name a man a heretic unless he has earned the title."
"In this case, they have," Alma insisted.
"Look, you are wrong."
"I am sick of arguing with you, is what I am!" Alma said. "When will your father be here to ransom us, Izlude? This will be our third night in this cell! What delays him?"
Izlude gave a helpless shrug. "I do not know! I am sure he must have been informed by now that I am imprisoned here… I mean, I may not be his favorite child, but still; he would not let someone like Barinten hold me forever… We must have patience, and he will be here soon."
"Hmm." Alma was most displeased at the thought of another night in this place. "So, your sister is the favorite, then?" she eventually asked Izlude.
"Hah. Oh, yes. That is why she gets an easy job like heretic hunting…" he immediately backtracked, "You know what, do not tell her I said that, if you ever meet her… I mean, I guess it is not an easy job, exactly, but it is probably the safest assignment my father could have found for her… Meanwhile, he puts me on this job…" Izlude grumbled.
"You know, I think I was my father's favorite child, as well," Alma preened.
Izlude shook his head again. "You? I cannot imagine why! You are most unpleasant, Alma! Your other brothers must be as strange as Ramza, if you were the favorite."
Alma wrathfully threw a handful of straw at him. "I am delightful, it is you who is unpleasant!" she cried.
"Oh, a hay fight, is it?" Izlude said, gathering his own handful to throw.
They were both shaking with laughter by the time they finished chucking most of their straw at each other. Alma was picking bits out of her hair while Izlude was brushing off his pant legs.
"I never met such a rude boy!" Alma remarked. "You are positively a savage!"
Izlude chuckled. "My father would agree with you, about that. He used to say that I was more trouble than I was worth, when I was a squire."
"Ah, finally the truth!" Alma exclaimed, "After all your claims to be some sort of saint for the Church!"
"No, I mean it, Alma, I take my vows for the Church quite seriously!" he insisted. "That does not mean I never have any fun."
She raised her eyebrows. "How so?"
He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Only harmless fun, truly… like… there was this high-ranking mage, Sir Kletian, who taught some of our lessons. He was…" Izlude shook his head, "Just such a fool. So, Thrydwulf and I, we thought it would be amusing to sneak into Kletian's chambers and replace all his underclothes with ladies' things. We had to steal those, too, but there was this lady instructor we also disliked, so, you know, two-birds-one-stone."
"Wow. Did you get caught?"
"No! We knew how to get around without being seen! But my father guessed right away that it was us, when Kletian came whining to him… I suppose it was not hard for him to figure out, since it was pretty much always us… Thrydwulf used to get annoyed that I could not maintain a lie, whenever we were questioned."
"Why did he keep starting mischief with you, then?" Alma asked.
"I… he always had my back, Thrydwulf. I mean, all right, not always… but he had my back, you know, when it was important. He was a good friend to me."
She regretted allowing the conversation to steer toward his lost friend again. Izlude's mood had seemed a bit brighter today, and she didn't want to see him return to weeping, so she quickly changed the subject.
Alma actually enjoyed the rest of their evening banter. Izlude was rather fun to talk to, with his animated personality.
At least the chatter kept her mind off of their surroundings. She had really been hoping that Izlude's father would show up today and get them out of this cell. She had tried her best to put on a brave face so far, but being in the dungeon was starting to fray the last of her nerves.
The guards kept the magic-powered lantern in their cell lit for them during what they assumed were the daytime hours, but the spell was always allowed to gutter out overnight. Alma was dreading that moment, this time. It felt like the walls were closing in on her when the light was gone, and it was time to sleep in this horrible place. It was so dark in the windowless cell that she couldn't even see the outline of her hand if she held it right in front of her face.
She didn't think she could pretend at bravery for another long night. For all her earlier judgment of Izlude's crying, she found that now she was doing it herself. What if his father and her brothers never came to rescue them? What if they spent years rotting in this dirty cell?
The pitch blackness seemed to magnify every little noise, and it wasn't long before Izlude recognized the sound of weeping coming from Alma's direction.
"Alma?" he said. That one word sounded so incredibly full of concern, coming from someone who wasn't even really her friend.
"What?"
"Are you all right?"
"No," she wept, "I hate it in here. What if we never get out!? I am afraid…" She couldn't really find words to express what she was afraid of. In the dark, it seemed like there were a million things to fear, and nothing would ever be all right.
"Oh, gods, Alma, I am sorry…" Izlude said. "It will not be long; we will get out soon. Come over here!"
"Why?" she sniffled.
She heard his chain rattling, like he was moving as close to her as he was able. "Oh, for—! I cannot… At least let me comfort you! Damn it, come here, Alma, I cannot reach you!"
Comfort sounded nice, and the knight's warnings felt far away right now. Still wracked with sobs, Alma crawled over until she fumblingly found Izlude, and he wrapped her in the best bear hug she had ever had. She pressed her face into his chest as she cried, and they lay together on the straw-covered floor in a tangle.
"You will be all right," he assured her, with his hand wrapped around the back of her blonde head. "My father will be here soon. And even if something delayed him, my sister would come, or your brothers would. There is nothing to fear."
She did feel a bit better, being held. Her tears slowly subsided. For a moment, she felt guilty that her nose had been running all over Izlude's tunic while she cried, but then she remembered how filthy it was already. He probably wouldn't even notice the difference, at this point. And she probably had grime smeared all over her face, now, come to think of it.
"Izlude?" she whispered.
"Yes?"
"We both smell terrible. I am going to beg the guards to give us a wash basin tomorrow."
"Hah. I must admit, I hope they listen to you. All this blood in my hair itches fiercely."
Alma smiled, pressing her face into the crook of his strong shoulder again. Izlude was only about the same height as she was, but he was stocky and thickly muscled. His warm arms around her felt huge. It really was comforting to be there, as if all her nameless fears were held back by him for the moment.
She let herself lie still for a while longer, before she thanked him for the hug and went back to her side of the cell to sleep.
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When the team arrived near Mullonde Cathedral, there was a brief argument over Rafa. The girl wanted to come with them, but Cid and Meliadoul were demanding that she stay outside. She was only fourteen years old, and they didn't want her death on their heads. In the end, they convinced Malak and Luso to stay with her as well, for safety in numbers.
Plus, if the rest of the group died in the cathedral, then at least the Galthena siblings could run away to safety. Maybe Malak could try to gather other fighters together; warn them what the Templarate was up to before it was too late for Ivalice.
Ramza did not bother with any sort of deception to try to get past the cathedral guards. After a mage shouted at him to state his name and purpose, Ramza simple called, "My name is Ramza Beoulve! I petition the release of Alma Beoulve, whose person is held unlawfully by the lord commander of the Knights Templar!"
The mage, wide eyed for a moment, replied, "Ramza Beoulve!? You are fool enough to present yourself before us? We will carry out your sentence where you stand!"
Ramza was done playing games with peons. He would speak with Vormav, and he would do it now.
"Construct 8, please knock down this wall," he commanded.
It had been worth the lavish bribes they had paid a private fishing company to ferry their robot friend over to Mullonde.
Their party was able to stroll into the cathedral at their leisure.
Inside, Ramza's group immediately encountered Lord Vormav, Sir Rofel, Sir Kletian, and a few other knights Meliadoul did not recognize.
She had expected some sort of emotion to show up on Vormav's face when he saw that his daughter was, truly, a part of the heretic Ramza's crew. But he did not spend any longer looking at Meliadoul than he did at any other member of the party.
Vormav politely smiled, and said, "Ramza, at last we meet! Pray forgive me. I ought to have called upon you sooner, but I have been ever so busy of late… I fear I remain so even now, so let us make this brief. If you would see your sister returned alive, you will relinquish the Scriptures and all the auracite you possess. Refuse, and she dies ere the word leaves your lips… Do we have an understanding? My patience has grown thin."
"I have what you desire. Where is Alma? I surrender naught until she is brought before me," Ramza replied.
"Did you not hear a word I said? I offered no negotiable terms. Forfeit the Scriptures and the Stones, or forfeit your sister's life."
Ramza took several steps forward and gently laid the Scriptures down on the carpet between the two groups, before he backed away again. "Here are the Scriptures," he said. "The Stones I hold until I see that she is safe."
Sir Rofel hurried forward, scooping up the book and then frantically flipping through it. He stopped on a particular page, and his eyes flew over the words written there.
Ramza fidgeted impatiently, trying to keep his temper in check.
"Well…?" Vormav demanded, from behind Rofel.
Eventually, Rofel replied, "It is written here. A surprisingly simple incantation."
"Excellent. Then we have all we need of them," Vormav smirked.
What? Ramza thought.
Vormav continued, "Of course, I suppose propriety dictates that we avenge Belias and the others while they are here. Then, we gather Alma and hurry on our way."
Ramza shouted to his teammates, "We are deceived!"
Of course, his teammates probably already knew that, given that none of them were deaf to Vormav's words.
Ramza was at least relieved to hear Vormav imply that Alma was still alive. But why did Vormav keep her, if he did not plan to ransom her back to Ramza?
"Why did you not kill Alma?" Ramza asked, puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Vormav said.
"You did not hesitate to slaughter your own son. Why keep my sister alive?"
Vormav glared at him. "Our affairs are not for you to know!"
Meliadoul felt an unexpected twinge of hurt at those words coming out of her father's mouth now. So similar to how he used to yell at her or Izlude whenever they got nosy as children, or asked so many random questions that he became annoyed with them.
Sure, they weren't kind or considerate words, but they still sounded like the man she grew up with.
She couldn't help calling out to him, "Are you truly the father I have always known?"
Vormav answered in that calm, soothing voice he had so often used to comfort her when she was upset. "Of course, I am, child! Why do you fight on their side? When did you turn against your own kin?"
It was so tempting to believe him, for just a moment.
But then, Meliadoul remembered Izlude, rotting in a mass grave with the hundreds of others slain along with him.
She steeled herself, and answered, "When my own kin ceased to be the man he once was."
"Whatever do you mean?" Vormav asked.
"The Marquis Elmdor was made some sort of fiend when he used a zodiac stone. I saw that with my own eyes. And at Riovanes…" tears pricked the corners of her eyes, "the monster who killed Izlude and all the others was you, was it not?"
He did not even answer the question. He still acted as if Izlude had been nothing. "Monster? You think us monsters?" he asked mildly.
"It is true," she growled, "You are not my father."
Seeing that she was determined not believe him, Vormav appeared to instantly give up on the conversation. She was nothing to him, as well, if she did not wish to serve his will. Vormav struck out with Crush Armor at Thunder God Cid, who was nearest to him.
They all dived into the fray. Unfortunately, Construct 8 was not as useful in this sort of fight, in a small space, as the humans darted around rather quickly, and his beam might accidentally hit a friend as easily as a foe.
Sir Kletian could not use his group-freezing spell again, as his enemies had all already spread out, and the spell took nearly all of Kletian's concentration to accomplish. But he did cast an extra-effective slowing spell, which hit Ramza, Mustadio, and Lavian.
Wulfhilda, Agrias, Rad, Alicia, and Balthier were all engaged with Sir Rofel and the knights, as Cid and Vormav went at each other.
Meliadoul dived toward Kletian, who had just viciously slammed the end of his dragon rod into Ramza's solar plexus and was now preparing to beat down the slow-moving Mustadio. She had no time to use her Divine magic, she simply thrust out hard, and once more, Kletian took a sword through his midsection, though this time the blade was Meliadoul's. She grinned as he squealed and slumped over.
Her victory was extremely short-lived, however, as Vormav had just found himself behind her, during his fight with Cid, and he took the opportunity to casually jam his own blade into Meliadoul's back. She fell to the floor as the sword was withdrawn, and Vormav stepped over her body as if she were only some piece of debris, as he scooped the hemorrhaging Kletian up into his unnaturally strong arms.
Ramza would have screamed if he had breath in his lungs. Fighting the pain and the spell that affected him, he excruciatingly slowly crawled over to Meliadoul. She wasn't moving at all. He had a Phoenix Down, he just had to hope he could find it in his pack… had to hope Vormav wouldn't find a moment to stab him, now that he was carrying Kletian…
But Ramza's friends were only a few paces behind him, those of them that were not still fighting Rofel, and had just noticed Ramza's impediment.
Vormav wasn't a fool. He teleported away with Kletian, and when Rofel saw his master leave, he immediately raised his arms and teleported off as well.
Agrias ended up giving Meliadoul the Phoenix Down and a couple of X-potions, since Ramza was moving so slowly.
Meliadoul would actually be all right, Ramza realized. He had not lost her, too. And there was still a chance… still some slight chance that he could rescue Alma. They just had to hurry.
Ramza could finally breathe well enough to speak again. "They are more craven than I had thought!" he gasped, furious that even Vormav himself would teleport away, rather than stand and fight an honest fight.
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A/N: So, y'all have probably noticed this by now, but I felt like mentioning that I am not going for 'realism' in this fic. Like, for instance, when I described Meliadoul's outfit several chapters ago... I realize that in reality a lady knight would probably look like a mountainous ugly lump of armor and leather. But, Meliadoul's sprite in the game appears to simply be wearing a black dress under her cloak, with what looks like big boobs and a little waist. So shrug that's how I wrote her appearance in the story. Generally, I like when t.v., video games, and fanfiction opt for sexiness over functionality, haha. Also, I almost didn't write the scenes with Alma and Izlude together, because I was getting stuck on the fact that in a "real" middle ages society, I doubt they would ever let a lady of Alma's standing (who they are hoping to ransom) share a cell with a non-family-member male, under any circumstances. I ended up saying 'fuck it', and wrote it in anyway, because I want them to have a chance to get to know each other, and at the end of the day, 'realism' is not that important to me, if it's getting in the way of my fun. Additionally, I will not be writing anything super off-putting, like how in this situation, realistically Alma and Izlude have to use their chamber pots for ALL bodily functions, in the same room as each other. Ick. We'll just be glazing over that unfortunate fact, along with anything else I don't want to deal with. We're going for a cartoon-ish, anime vibe in this story, after all.
