Chapter One
Our brave hero?
"Di-Diagoro?" Jonas stammered, "You're still gonna help me, r-r-right? Dia-Di-Di…" he looked to where he knew the hound last was, and true to form, it was gone. He gave one despaired look to the paper in his hand, which seemed to have more writing:
P.S.: I'm taking my dog with me. He just came to deliver the letter, so that's out the window for you, kid.
P.P.S: By the time you finish reading the sentence after this one, the whole "creepy-time-freezing-calling-of-the-aeon-thing should just about wear off. So since you won't get to reading what comes next, how about a funny little anecdote? One time when I was in Gagazet….
The fiend finally stirred, just a little confused at Jonas' changed position. It tilted its head slightly and sniffed, then growled to get the quivering human's attention. Jonas' face drained of all color as he slowly turned his head to regard the noise. He reached slowly for his weapon, a crude club, which brought the fiend on edge. He barely had time to get it out of the loop before the monster charged.
Out of the corner of its eye, the fiend saw something approaching, heading for him. He began grinding to a halt, but it didn't realize its mistake until the object hit it square in the face. The fiend staggered, his vision blurring, and fell to its side stunned. Jonas didn't realize the fiend had been hit until it fell. The projectile went straight up from the monster's face, bounced for a bit when it hit the ground, and rolled to Jonas' feet. It was… a blitzball?
"Rao!" The shooter waved to him, one of the forwards from the Al Bhed Psyches. "Yna oui ymm nekrd? Oui fana ypuid du pa fiend wuut drana! Hahaha"
Jonas gave the Al Bhed the most sincere look of confusion he could've given in his state. Truthfully, he only understood the word "fiend", which was the only thing he said in English. He gave a feeble laugh, assuming the blitzer had just told a joke. "Um…," he said his next sentence slowly and loudly, "Thank…you…for...your…help! Do…you…speak…En-g-lish?"
"Fryd?" The Al Bhed responded, "E lyhhud ihtancdyht ouin funtc!" He sighed, knowing already this conversation was going to go nowhere. He spotted the fiend who was already getting over his dizziness and getting to his feet. "Lremt!" he warned pointing over Jonas' shoulder. "Pareht oui!"
Jonas whipped around, the pointing giving plenty translation. The fiend had already stood, and it was getting quite angry at these two. He barreled towards the cowardly human, his original target, but Jonas was just a bit faster. Screaming in a pitch not exactly what would be considered heroic, he swung for the monster's head with all his might, and felt the crack as wood connected with skull. But for all the strength put into the blow, the monster didn't go sprawling, as expected. To Jonas' credit, the fiend was quite stunned, and even went back a few feet. To the fiend's credit, his skull didn't break, and his senses returned to him quickly. He reared his head and used a technique he actually planned to save. Flames began to broil in his maw, and he released it in one giant fireball.
But before it could get close, it was intercepted. A giant slab of earth appeared right in the flame's path, and it stopped dead in its tracks.
"Honestly Jonas," Sain drawled, his book open and his next spell already on his mind, "If you just stayed with us, we would have been able to keep you safer." The wall of earth receded revealing a very annoyed fiend.
"S-Sain! Thank Yevon you're here! Where's Ar…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was suddenly aware of something above him. He looked up, and saw Arthas, who had leapt from the top bleacher with his sword pointed down at the monster. Before the poor fiend had any time to react, the sword plunged deep into the monster, which let out one feeble roar, thrashing about as his lifeblood spilled and the pyreflies flowed. Arthas pulled his rapier from the freshly made carcass, still in a squatting position from the landing.
"Miss me?" Arthas taunted, "Come on! I know you all wanted to see me save the day and what not. Let me hear you say it!"
Sain decided to humor him, "All right," he said sarcastically, "You're the great and mighty warrior who deserves a, quote, "Frickkin medal" en quote, because you can stab fiends with a couple meter's leverage. Now stand up and let's get out of here."
Arthas chuckled weakly, "There's a problem with that. Ya see that fall kinda took a bit outta me, and my legs are kinda numb, from the landin' ya know?"
Despite the chaos ensuing around them, Sain couldn't help but laugh at the utter silliness of it all. The long-ignored blitzer gave a little laugh, then muttered to himself,
"Draca kioc yna lnywo, dudymmo lnwyo!"