CHAPTER FIFTEEN: WELCOME T'NORG

"Such a touching scene…"

"It was a shame to interrupt it, Brother."

There was a flash of light.

"Has the impurity been dispersed?"

A second flash blinded him.

"…There is still…noise. Strange, it should have all vanished with his defeat, but it has not. Perhaps because his retched former form still breaths, I don't know. It is no longer as loud however…so we can begin."

There was a final flash.

"Listen carefully, you sorry excuses for sentient beings. The Crystal Line will soon be revived and the Gates of the Gods will open. The dream we Zilart have held onto for thousands of years is about to become a reality."

Alain awoke with a start gasping heavily in an unfamiliar bed and heard a yelp as someone sitting on the end it fell off it with fright. His head was pounding worse than it ever had it felt like he was trapped in the grip of some huge monster trying to crush his skull. He was almost ill, but managed to take his mind off the agony by trying to work out where exactly he was.

The room was dimly lit and quite large. It did not seem to be a room of an inn and was definitely not a room of the outpost in the jungle. The bed was built into a larger wooden structure that seemed fitted up against a black rock wall. There was a bolted wooden door on the north wall and two more beds across the way. There was a round oak table in the middle of the room with a few chairs scattered around it. Wooden rafters littered the ceiling as if to hold it in place to stop a collapse. Was he in a mine of some kind?

From the bottom of the bed appeared a large round head with scruffy blond hair and two small pointed ears. Nokum-Akkum turned around and rubbed the back of his head with a very annoyed look on his face while his other hand held his chest emphasising just how much of a fright he had got.

"Alain! Don'taru jump up so suddenly… my poor little-wittle heartaru…"

"Sorry…" he said apologetically and let the Tarutaru clamber back up onto the side of the bed. "Where are we?"

"Did you forgetaru already? We're in the super-duper hidden Ninja and Pirate town; Norg!"

He tried to remember what happened and that's when memories of the assassin flooded back. The female assassin that had bested him in battle and probably would have killed him had his friends not intervened, the assassin that spoke with an unrecognisable accent and used magic that he had never seen before in his life and the assassin that called herself an Empty Vessel.

After that he could not picture anything. He remembered being moved, maybe back to the outpost for treatment, but after that there was nothing. He knew where Norg was thanks to the information they had gotten and if they were truly inside the hidden base then that meant the others had carried him through Sea Serpents Grotto.

The grotto was a particularly nasty cave reached from the jungle that was filled with aggressive beasts of all nature and a horde of undead skeletons. All those dangers acted as the perfect defence for a group of people who preferred to keep their presence a secret. A number of fake doors built into stone walls had to be found in order to find the marked path to Norg's gates.

His tiny friend began explaining their travels from the outpost through the cave and eventually finding Norg after a few battles with Beastmen and fiends. Nokum-Akkum was talking so fast to get everything out that he found it hard to keep track of everything that was being said, but he got the just of it.

"Where's everyone else?" he asked eventually.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" was the first reply. "Then you won'taru remember who we met! Gerdinus is here!"

This news was not a shock to him as Zeid had already said in his letter that he had found and retrieved their Galka comrade before they had even left Bastok for the second time, but it was good to know that he was safe and sound and someplace nearby.

The Tarutaru continued; "I think Cathy wentaru to find some information from the stores of this place on the scary-wary lady you foughtaru with…Rostaru disappeared into thin air when I tried to follow him with my sneaking skills…Hanaa found some people who wanted to get drunk, but my poor head can'taru take another drink so soon so I didn'taru join in. Gerdinus is probably still talking to Lion and Gilgamesh."

The name Lion was familiar to him. They had met briefly during the war not long before the final confrontation with the Shadowlord. She was the daughter of the Pirate King of Norg, who he assumed Gilgamesh to be. They worked closely with Aldo of the Tenshodo in Jeuno as well creating an underground information network that officials disproved of. As far as he knew Zeid also stayed in close contact with both Aldo and Lion.

"I guess I should get up and look around, right?" he asked somewhat rhetorically.

The Tarutaru placed one hand under his chin and the other against his cheek.

"Maybe, butaru we need to meet with Lion in under an hour to take that medicine stuff! You know, the stuff to bring back those memories you always talky-walk aboutaru? Does your stomach still have an ache as well?"

Shocked at the news that a simple medicine was the cure to their amnesia he asked if Nokum-Akkum was sure about what he had heard, but his friend was adamant that was exactly what he had been told and that within the hour they would all drink the potion to remember exactly what happened. Apparently they could not simply be told or the pain from the spell inflicted upon them trying to block the memories could cause permanent damage.

He felt his stomach where his armour had been ripped open and found it to be still quite painful, but it was bandaged well and magic had been applied to it to numb the pain. He would be safe enough walking around Norg. Immediately, Nokum-Akkum hoped off the bed to allow him to get up and find a clean shirt to change into (he had no other armour and could not see his damaged set).

"So who should we go bother firstaru?" his short friend asked with a grin.

"I want to know what exactly that female assassin was…lets go find Catherine so I can get some answers."

As they walked out the door, Nokum-Akkum tugged on his leg.

"Hey, you know I saved you from that scary-wary woman so thataru gets added to the running tally!"

Catherine had surrounded herself with books and notes on mythology, lore, and mysteries of the near eastern continent of Aht Urhgan. Surprisingly, she had been able to identify the type of assassin that had attacked Alain quite quickly, but finding information on how exactly they operated was far harder.

Aht Urhgan had lost all ties with Jeuno and the other nations during the first Crystal War when help was asked for and none was received. Since that time any and all information on the near east nation was considered contraband and confiscated. It was down to the Tenshodo to preserve records of the continent that they had stolen from various official places over the years.

The woman that had attacked Alain used the fighting style of the Blue Mage. An aggressive type of power, blue magic seemed to rely on the direct mimicking of abilities mastered by fiends and Beastmen. The lore surrounding the Blue Mage was largely cryptic and hard to make any real sense out of, but there was hints that to become a fledging Blue Mage a special ceremony had to be undergone that made an unbreakable link between a person and the Beastmen of Vana'diel partly turning them into one of them.

These fledging Blue Mages were given the title Empty Vessel, to symbolise that they now had the potential to learn the power of the fiends of the world, but had to go out and do it on their own. When certain requisites were fulfilled (she could find no record of what these were) the Empty Vessel then became an Immortal, a royal guard for the highest of society in Aht Urhgan.

While Alain's wounds were being treated he mumbled the words Empty Vessel a few times which led her to believe he had heard it from the assassin. If the assassin was not working on behalf of Aht Urhgan (she had dismissed the idea that the near east had allied with Jeuno against them as pure fantasy) and was still going under the title of Empty Vessel that meant one of two things; either she was still on her voyage of discovery to learn more magical skills, or she had abandoned her path of becoming an Immortal and fled the east to work in their lands as an assassin. The latter seemed the most likely to her.

A knock on the door to the room startled her. She asked whoever it was to enter from behind the pile of books and notes that had piled up in front of her. A tall bald Hume wearing black Ninja Garb walked around the table and handed her a handful of papers each with a red wax seal pressed into the bottom allowing two thin strands of silk to hang off them.

"Thank you…what are these exactly?" she asked the Ninja.

"A lot of mercenary work gets put to us through the Tenshodo and other organisations… and nasty stuff I don't think a well mannered wench like yer'self would want t'hear. Anyway, ye said you were interested in some foreign woman who uses a strange fighting style, aye?"

"Yes…"

"Well, we got these writs handed in from three separate clients asking us to find such a woman…some nasty stuff there I got t'warn ye. She's an animal if these are true… killing whole families, slaughtering them, taking out some well known figurehead in San d'Oria as well. Let's just say she pissed a lot-o people off, so now we've been hired to find and get rid of her. If you're interested; the nickname going around for her is Vessel, I don't have a damn clue why though."

With that the Ninja left, much to her happiness. The uncouth people of Norg were very uncivilized and rude in their manner of speaking and general treatment of strangers to their base of operations.

She looked over each writ and found that each was an assassination request of the woman that had attacked them. They were back dated by a few months however and had all occurred long before they had got caught up with Jeuno's plot. Some seemed to be dated before the end of the war as well It seemed as though the Empty Vessel was making her fortune in their lands killing for profit and someone had now hired her to take out the Six Champions.

There was another knock on the door and this time she was not as pleased by the interruption. That was, however, until she saw the smiling faces of Alain and Nokum-Akkum enter. They sat down and she showed them the writs and then explained everything she had discovered about Blue Mages.

"Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum! Or ten bottles! Or twenty! Why isn't therrre any morrre damn rum in this inn!"

"This isn't an inn you fool," some replied.

"Hey! I'm your damn drrrinking guest, you know what that means, right? You trrreat me nice and pay for my drrrinks and I might be your frrriend. Maybe. If you're nice. So fill my mug up! I've only had one!"

The Pirates and Ninja's drinking area that Hanaa had discovered had not quite been prepared for her over-zealous presence. It was quite small with a table meant for gambling in the middle of it with enough seats for no more than six. Other than a woman (whose job it seemed to be to cater for the inhabitants of Norg) there were two Pirates and one Ninja in there already drinking by the time she had found the place.

She had been wandering around aimlessly after making sure Alain had not gotten himself killed to pass the time before their meeting to make them remember whatever had happened at the end of the war. She had never really dwelled on it and did not care much about it, but it was apparently important.

The door to the drinking area was hanging open when she past and her nostrils flared as soon as just the tiniest ounce of the smell of alcohol went up them, instantly drawing her into the room. She ignored the rude comments of the people already in there and did not bother to find out their names and immediately scooped up the nearest mug and began to have a drink.

They told her that she was drinking Opo-opo juice, which meant nothing to her. It tasted strong and very nice, so she did not care where it came from. It did not have a kick to it after drinking which was a bit of a let down but she would take anything she could find at that stage. It helped keep her headaches from coming back.

"Hanaa…"

Looking around to the door she saw Alain and Nokum-Akkum looking at her with disapproving expressions. She held her empty mug upside down, proclaimed she had only had one because her drinking buddies were so stingy, and asked what the problem was.

Catherine appeared behind them in the doorway, "We can't have you getting drunk again Hanaa! Don't you understand how important this is? Come on, we are going to go see Lion now."

"Spoil sporrrts…." She muttered as she was helped up by Alain and led out into the corridor.

Their little trip around Norg to find Catherine and Hanaa had let Alain take in the sights (what little there was to be had). Now they headed to Gilgamesh's room to speak with the pirate king. He and Nokum-Akkum had agreed that it was not worth their time searching for Rost.

The hidden town had been built into a large dark cavern hidden deep with Sea Serpent's Grotto with secrecy and defence in mind. It had only one large open area and the rest of the passages had been lined with wooden struts to keep them tight. A dock had been built into a rivers edge in the west of the town where a boat had been gearing up. Alain was sure he recognised it from somewhere, but could not remember.

No stalls or shops were to be found as it was not a place to commute to beyond looking to trade things on the black market. Lots of corners were filled with grimy looking grates and stacks of various different goods that almost looked like the stock delivery for an Auction House. At the top of the main staircase just before the passage where they had found Hanaa two huge red bladed swords hung crossed over one another above the door. It seemed to be the symbol the town as the same insignia was present in drawings, paintings, and markings carved into wooden pillars.

It seemed like every person that they past gave them a second glance, a sort of distrusting look that suggested they had wronged them in some way. It was not a nice feeling that an entire towns population looked at you almost like an enemy. Still, he could not blame them; Norg did not get many visitors.

There were no guards in Norg per say, though almost every inhabitant was trained in either the ways of the Ninja, Pirate, or Samurai. There were some traders, merchants and family members of Tenshodo members with no training that also lived there and their jobs seemed to be mundane things such as food preparation and stock handling. They had even met some people that had been lost in storms out at sea and been rescued, which amazed Alain.

There was still something else that did not sit well with him. He and the others knew full well that the people around them were mercenaries, assassins, black market traders, bounty hunters, pirates, and cutthroats yet they walked around the cramped wooden passages as if it were just another town.

The Tenshodo and the pirates were not evil compared to the Beastmen or the truly sinister people of the world, but they did do unjust things from time-to-time and that had always gotten to him. However, from what he had heard they never carried out anything that would directly harm innocent parties and sometimes actively worked with Jeuno to hunt down those who did not follow such rules. It was as if they had their own code of honour and that reminded him of the Gentlemen Thief.

Many adventurers sooner or later turned their hand to working with the less legal factions on Vana'diel through promises of better rewards and infamy, but that just did not seem right and the Tenshodo was no exception to the recruitment process. He did wonder what the reason behind that was. Were they trying to make sure ignorant adventurers were not drawn into the darker side of the type of work their competitors did? He laughed inwardly at his sudden optimistic view of the people around him when prior to being there he had been so adamant that they were not good people.

The door to Gilgamesh's room was guarded by two Samurai, but upon seeing them they were allowed entry as they had already met Catherine and the others while he had been unconscious.

Inside was a surprisingly big wooden walled room that spread along for a few meters to a higher section where behind a large desk filled to the brim with maps and scrolls stood a man in an extravagant white garb. On the wall behind the Hume was a huge map of all the seas that surrounded the three nations. Next to him were a shorter woman in yellow and two Galka. Alain recognised both of the Galka instantly as his former tutor Zeid and his fellow champion Gerdinus.

All four of them walked across the creaking floorboards past walls littered with ancient looking portraits and marble plates towards the desk to greet their friends. Alain shook Gerdinus' outstretched hand and found the Galka's handshake to be as firm and painful as he remembered it to be. He then turned to Lion and they too shook hands while she introduced herself and her father. Zeid (who still hid his face behind a black mask) stared at him, but nothing was said between them.

"Welcome t'Norg!" Gilgamesh exclaimed towards him.

He thanked the pirate king for his welcome and was quite taken back by how lively the old Hume seemed. His white garb was mixed with black patterns along the stomach, arms, and legs with a skull belt around his waist. He wore a thick bright red eye patch over his left eye as well. On the desk in front of him (on top of the papers and scrolls) was a red scabbard for pirates blade sword encrusted with sparkling green and blue jewels.

His daughter had a knife attached to the side of her rawhide belt and wore a yellow skirt and top with straps connecting both over her exposed stomach. Her auburn hair was held up by a blue band and she wore two feathered armbands that matched the ends of her gloves.

"It is good to see that you have recovered from your injuries, Alain," Gerdinus said with a concerned look at the lump on his side where the bandages pushed up against his shirt. "I could not believe my ears when Catherine discovered that it was a Blue Mage that had attacked you."

"Arr, and a damn nasty one from what've been told," the pirate king chimed in. "Don't ye worry though, we'll handle it."

"Lion, now that Alain has recovered from his wounds enough to be moving around I believe we should receive whatever potion you spoke of yesterday," Catherine explained.

Lion exchanged glances with her father and then with Zeid.

"If you think you are up to it Alain then we can get started… Wait, where is Rost?"

"I bet hiding in a darrrk corrrner like usual," Hanaa muttered.

"No, no," Nokum-Akkum squeaked, "Trying to fitaru his huge ego through a door!"

Hanaa bent down so she was almost level with Nokum-Akkum's height and they chuckled together and made up some more places that their companion might be (none of them kind or pleasant).

"Well then," Zeid suddenly stated, "I will leave this and the matter of the assassination attempts in your hands Gilgamesh, Lion. I will go in search of this temple that Jakoh Wahcondalo spoke off in the jungle. I will return with any information of what I discover about the Zilart's intentions by dusk tomorrow."

With that the humungous Dark Knight strode past them all and headed out the door. Conversation then turned to what the potion would do to them and how it would actually unlock their memories but Alain did not listen. He had turned to watch Zeid pass out the door without as much as a word to him. He had not been acknowledged and he knew what that implied. He had watched the door close and his mentor disappear and it reminded him too much of the past.

Bastard…not so much as an explanation…

"Alain, are you listening to all this?" Catherine asked.

"…Yeah, go on," he lied.

What did I do wrong? Why did you just abandon my training? It's because of you that I'm not as strong as the rest of them…Why did you ever ask me to study under you in the first place… and now not to even acknowledge me…

He turned to face the closed door again and had the strong urge to chase after the Galka and get some answers before he ventured out of Norg. There was still time before the potion would be ready, ten minutes maybe if what he had half heard the others talking about to be true, that was enough time to get some answers. But by now Zeid might already be out into Sea Serpents Grotto, or he definitely would be if he kept just standing there.

"I'll be right back!" he suddenly exclaimed and ran down the room and out the door.

The legendary Dark Knight was no where to be found in the thin winding passage from Gilgamesh's room to the open dock area of the hidden town. Just as he was scanning the open are trying to spot his former mentor in the crowd he caught a glimpse of a black armoured figure walking out the main gates. He shot after him without a second thought.

A pirate guarding the gate saw him running towards it, "Hey mate, where ye rushing off to? Ye aren't even wearing armour!"

Alain pushed by the pirate, snatching the short sword attached to his belt as he went. The pirate toppled into a table and chair on a wooden platform next to the gates and startled a resting Chocobo that squawked loudly.

Beyond the gates was a cavern that slowly formed into a tight passage with wooden support beams holding it in place and lamps lighting the way. He saw Zeid just reach the start of the thin section of the passage and called his name, immediately getting his attention and causing the Galka to stop, but not turn around.

The angry pirate that Alain had knocked over appeared behind him and asked what he thought he was doing.

"Look, just get back inside. I need to borrow your sword."

The pirate looked at Zeid's intimidating figure approach from the dimly lit cave.

"Ye be mad if yer think'in of fighting with him, mate!"

With that the pirate disappeared back inside the gates.

"You still won't even speak to me!" he shouted at the Galka.

The towering armoured figure stayed silent and glared at him through the eye holes in his black mask.

"Why won't you even acknowledge me? I studied under you for so long and you just disappeared! I trusted you and you betrayed me! I want an explanation, I deserve that at least!"

The reply came succinctly, "You were too weak to carry on with the training."

He was stunned.

"What! How can you say that? You saw potential, that's what you told me, that's why I believed you and learned to fight from you. That's why I learned magic from you and the abilities of a Dark Knight. I learned everything that you taught me without failure! How can you say that?"

No answer.

"I'll show you how strong I am, Zeid. I'll prove to you that you made a mistake when you turned your back on me. Last Resort!"

A red haze erupted around his body and the strain on his wound was immediate. Shooting across the length of the cave in an instant he swung the short sword as hard as he could manage. Zeid's hand rose and caught the blade like it was a flimsy wooden stick. The Galka's other hand formed a fist and struck Alain across the face, almost knocking him all the way back into Norg. He had let go of his weapon as the punch landed and it now lay on the floor next to Zeid. Alain coughed and sat up from where he landed but found he could not move as Last Resort took the last of his strength as the price for unleashing it in his weakened state.

"Like most Dark Knights these days you think that physical power is the answer to everything. You're no better than a Warrior," Zeid uttered. "The type of strength you lack is a different sort. I saw potential in you, and I still see it. You are strong and you will be stronger, but you would not be able to pass the final trial to unlock the rest of the abilities that I denied you."

"What trial? I did everything! I learned all the magic…"

"A Dark Knight can only truly be given that title when they have faced the darkness inside and walked away with a piece of it. A true Dark Knight embraces the darkness, but does not allow their soul to be consumed by it. We are the redeemed fallen. The final trial is a test of your resolve to face that fate."

Resolve?

"Imagine yourself looking down from a lonely cliff into a pool of pure black from which all your worst nightmares would be created. To become a true Dark Knight you would face whatever lies inside that pool. During the war I knew that you would not survive such an encounter. You would be consumed just like Raogrimm was. You still are not ready and I do not know if you will ever be ready."

"Then that means that you did the same? You looked inside the pool…what did you see when you did it? What did you test your resolve against!"

The Galka turned and began walking away.

"I saw a battle I had with someone who I once called friend. I saw the rage inside me take control of my body and my actions and unleashed my true power. I saw my past play out and my fall began at that moment. I escaped with my sanity and my soul with my resolve just as strong as it had always been. I became a true Dark Knight on that day."

With that the masterful Dark Knight that had trained him since the age of fifteen vanished into the dull passage at the end of the cavern leaving him alone, recovering from the blow to his face and contemplating what had been said.

From just inside the gates of Norg Rost leaned against the wall with arms crossed and with his ears poised, listening in silence to everything that had just transpired between Alain and Zeid.

"A fallen soul that defeats the darkness that lurks inside and embraces redemption… So that's the key to the Dark Knight's power?"