Hey guys, sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. Once again, i appreciate your reviews. . I'll do my best witht he story pace... and mere, please keep your moogles away from me. If they murder me with sporks, i won't be able to write anymore. ; Now, Annette with the disclaimer (You'll see who she is muuuuuuuuch later. I mean outside a flashback!)

Annette: Miiake does not own Square-Enix or any pre-existing characters. She merely owns her original characters. Any names that sound similair to those of real characters or only by coincidence.

Miiake: thank you Annette, you sound like the prissy know-it-all that you are!

Annette: Pardon?

Miiake: Story time! .;

13 years ago - Isaac's story

It was summer time. Mostly everyone was out resting, enjoying a break from their stressful lives. Only Isaac and Annette were inside, studying. Annette had her long, golden-blonde hair tied loosely and wore a blue cotton dress. She was reading a portion of her literature homework silently. Isaac sat there, his hair neatly combed, wearing a beige vest over a white collared shirt, and green trousers. His tutor was standing over him. Because he was of noble birth, Isaac was taught by the best, and often, it lead to him learning things beyond what a six year old should know. And while he detested this life style, his sister, at the ripe age of 16, loved it. She wanted desperately to become a mage, and so she took any piece of knowledge she could get. In her spare time, Annette would be found studying some weak magic spells. She was dedicated to her studies, unlike Isaac.

His mother and father were disappointed. Unlike most boys of noble blood, Isaac had not once spoken of becoming a knight or scholar. He took his training with the sword almost as languidly as his book studies. Instead, Isaac spoke of adventure, and freedom.

"Please explain the Pythagorean Theorem, Isaac."

Isaac sighed and looked up from his math text. He truly despised this lesson. "But, we went over it for a week already!" he whined.

"Isaac, you need to understand what you're learning. Otherwise there is no point in learning at all." His sister chimed. She loved her little brother dearly, and wanted him to understand the value of his education. She wanted him to look up to her. She wanted to be a sister he admired. He only found her constant mother-like reprimands a nuisance.

"But no one cares about the Pythagorean Theorem. Or theory! Or whatever it is! Who cares? You? When am I going to use any of this! It's stupid!" He yelled.

"Enough, Mr. Chevalier! Your sister is quite correct! Try to follow her example and be a good boy." The teacher glanced at Annette. She had always outdone everyone's expectations. How could her brother be so… different? He was a total failure in almost everyone's eyes. "Now, if you would, please explain the Pythagorean Theorem."

Isaac sighed. "A squared plus B squared equals C squared… Right?" The teacher nodded. Then he sighed.

"That is correct. Today's lesson is complete. I will see you both on firesday. And Isaac, try not to be late next class." Isaac rushed out of the room. Annette bowed her head to the teacher and followed slowly, thinking of comforting words for her brother.


Annette turned to Isaac. He was sitting in the garden by a small man-made pond, hugging his knees. He already threw off the grey vest and undid collar of his shirt. He looked so miserable and helpless, that it broke her heart to see him like that. She loved the innocent little boy, no matter how rudely he could behave, and felt badly for him. "Hey, are you feeling ok, Isaac?"

"I'm a failure. I know I am. Just go ahead and say it, Miss Perfect student!"

Annette moved to hug him. He pushed her away. "That's not true Isaac. It's just that… You don't pay as much attention and work as hard as everyone would like you to. If you try a little harder you'll do just fine. And this stuff is important Isaac. A nobleman must be educated well."

Isaac clenched his fists. "I never asked to be a noble! I hate it here! I hate these studies! I hate that teacher! That theory-"

"Theorem." She corrected.

"Ahhh! I hate being a Chevalier! I hate mom and dad and you! I hate the way you're always correcting me! Why can't everyone leave me alone?" Then he frowned and looked into the pond. After a moment he looked at Annette. "Sis, I'm sorry. I don't hate you. But everything else I said I meant!"

She put her hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. You're just having a rough day. Tomorrow you'll-"

"Hey, you remember when we were in Port Jeuno a few days ago?"

She paused. "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you know that thief that ran by? I saw him yesterday! He stole a scroll from the stall I was at. Everyone was yelling, but I was cheering him on! He looked like he was having some real fun!"

"Isaac! How can you think that? He's a thief. The scourge of Jeuno! All thieves do is cause trouble!"

"He didn't hurt anyone. He just took what he needed. I wish I could be a thief…Have fun and make real friends. I could start a gang! We'd be the toughest gang in Jeuno!" Isaac looked at the clouds passing around them.

Annette was shocked. How could her sweet little brother even think of such a thing? "Isaac, if Mother or Father heard you say such a thing they'd be-"

She was cut off by a male voice from behind her. "-Appalled. Isaac, you're mother and I need to speak to you. It's very urgent. Both, your teacher and trainer have said you don't take your duties seriously. Do you not realize just how important this matter is? Come inside the house right now!"

He knew they wouldn't understand. He had actually believed his sister would! He felt betrayed. Alone.

Isaac took a deep breath and shouted as loudly as a six-year old child could, "NO!" He knew his father was outraged by this. His mother walked out of the house, even she had heard his yell. Isaac shook his head and began to walk backwards a few steps. Then, he turned and ran out from the house as fast as he could. He didn't want this life. He didn't want to be a Chevalier. He hated his noble blood. His family. His teachers, trainers, haughty 'friends'. He hated them all. He wanted to relax, enjoy his life. He wanted freedom only one kind a person could have. He was going to become a thief. They couldn't stop him anymore… He would run, and he would never look back.

Present day

Isaac was a thief for 13 years. He was one of the best. His family had not forgotten of his existence, but had given up on any hope of him returning. They knew better. But now, Isaac wasn't so sure of himself. He had gotten himself into who knows what? All because he was a thief. Now, some psycho mithra and galka had forced him to go retrieve an item he stole. So it was the incarnation of evil. Big deal. Why should he care? Finders keepers! Still, obviously that mithra wasn't gonna leave him alone. He might as well give in. If you can't beat em, join em… right? He hated this feeling of doubt… the uncertainty of his choice long ago. The choice to run away and become what he was now. That hatred of this doubt only worked to firm his resolve. He would go get back the sword, maybe steal items from all over Vana'diel, and then his life would go back to the way it was before any of this happened. And if the authorities found out he was saving the world, maybe they would get off his gang's case. It would all work out, or so he told himself.

Or at least, it would work out if he could get a chocobo pass. "I really hope this works. Thief rule #1: Don't try the same trick twice. Oh well, here goes nothin'… Just gotta convince 'em I turned a new leaf. Can't be too hard right? … Damn… I hate sinking this low."

He quickly turned to his friends. Lynn and Ryan looked at him sadly. They knew he didn't want to go through with this. Yoli just looked confused.

"Ok, you guys wait here, I'll be right back." With that he quickly walked inside.

Once he stepped inside, a low ranking Ducal Guard glanced at him. Then he suddenly realized who it was. "What are you doing here, thief scum? You thieves get away with a few small crimes and you think you own all of Jeuno!"

Isaac took a deep breath. This was the guard he outsmarted earlier today. He was obviously still pissed off about that. Isaac knew he needed to keep his cool. If he didn't, the guard would see through his lie right away. "Pardon? I don't believe you should be speaking to one of noble blood that way!"

This confused the guard. "You don't fool me! You stole a dagger just this morning! Now drop any weapons you have on you and stand down. It will go down better in front of my superiors. And you wont have to stay in jail too long if you come peacefully." He laughed.

"Now, aren't you being a little judgmental? That merchant offended me a while back and I only returned the favor. I gave over my life of crime quite a long time ago."

The guard frowned. He still wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. He chose not. "I'm not falling for anymore of your tricks, scum!"

Isaac put on a mask of anger. "Do you realize who your speaking to!" This was it. He was going through with what he despised most. He was using his family name to get what he wanted. He hated doing this! It would show everyone how he failed at being a thief. How he couldn't be self-sufficient… How he could never break the ties of his noble blood. But that galka looked like he meant business. If Isaac was going to choose between jail or death by galka, he would pick jail. "I'm Isaac Chevalier! You do realize how outraged my father, Sir Reynard Chevalier, will be when he hears that his son was not permitted a chocobo license to finish a very important quest! He will have you stripped of your rank and perhaps even outlawed from Jeuno!"

This caused the guard to turn pale. "N-no! Wait! My apologies good sir! You see, I w-was only taking se-security measures. Your actions earlier caused me to wrongly judge you! Please, accept my apologies."

Isaac hid a smile. He decided what he did could be considered lying, and therefore, he was still a good thief. Twisting what he had to use as an advantage. That's what a thief does, isn't it? "Well, I'll consider it. In the meantime, I have a very important quest to do. It is imperative that I finish soon. And in order to do that, I require I chocobo license as quickly as possible! Please, I'm sure you have all the usual sheets for me to fill out?"

The guard began to walk over to the desk, but decided instead to win favor of this 'noble man'. He quickly pulled out one sheet of paper, obviously a contract. "There's no need for one of such high noble blood, such as yourself, to fill out all those useless documents. Instead, all you need to do is read and sign this contract. Once you do, your chocobo license will be valid and you will be free to ride. Once again, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience."

On the outside, Isaac only smiled, but on the inside he wanted to burst out laughing. "I guess thief rule #1 was a blow off. What a moron! He's so scared of being fired, he doesn't even see through this pathetic lie. Come on, I love suckers like him! And Jeuno is full of 'em!"

The Journey's Start

Fifteen minutes later he walked outside, lifted up a piece of paper and grinned. "Got it!"

Yoli couldn't help but stagger. How did he get it? It took her months to get hers, that is, after her request was pending for 3 days. "What did you do? Murder him for it?"

The caused Ryan and Lynn to chuckle. "Naw, he probably stripped for him."

Lynn, Yoli, and Isaac stared… Finally Lynn said something, "Let's pretend you didn't say that, ok Ryan?"

"I was only kidding! Get your heads out of the gutter!"

Isaac laughed and put him under his arm, wrestling with him as two brothers would. "You're the one who thought I was stripping for the guards!"

Yoli and Lynn glanced at each other. Then Yoli cleared her throat, "If you two are done, we really need to get going." Then she thought silently to herself, "I don't think that guard would have watched Isaac strip even if he was paid… But how? How did Isaac get his license so quickly?" She smirked at those thought. Isaac was the only one who noticed.

"Ahhh! Yoli's fantasizing about me!" He laughed.

This only caused Yoli to shake her head and walk over to the chocobo handler. "Ok, I'll meet you outside Jeuno's gates. Isaac, say your goodbyes and let's go! There could be trouble if we don't find Chaosbringer in time!"

Yoli held her breath for a second. She only left Jeuno to go to her training with Zeid. She knew her way around, but the thought of leaving her home a second time, made her feel depressed. This sad state made her want everyone else to suffer. It was the darkness inside her. The power that fueled her was the power all dark knights feared the most. This time, she let it win. She would make Isaac suffer. It was his fault she had to leave her home. "Leave your link pearl behind, Isaac. Talking to your friends during this quest will only be a distraction. Now hurry up."

Isaac's face fell at this news. He saw a change in Yoli's eyes, but couldn't identify it… He didn't know her well enough for that. He knew something was eating at her, and so he decided it was best he listen to her. "Here, take it for now, 'kay Ryan?"

Ryan nodded and put the link pearl in a small red pouch with all the extras. Isaac then turned to Lynn. "Oh, hey! Can I talk to you for a sec? It's really important!" She nodded and they went over to a corner.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you for some time… I wanna say it before I leave, just incase I might not see you again…"