Okay...so I've had this chapter hanging half-done for...pretty much a year. I think. Eh. Either way, I know what you guys gonna say: FINALLY! YOU UPDATE THIS STORY!

Okay, so the thing about this chapter is...it's actually a very, very bad chapter. In the sense that the first half of it was written a year before the second, and so there's a definite dissonance in the flow. Also...I very nearly threw it out because I couldn't quite get Lucrecia's mindset properly. There's very little feeling here, more events and moving forward. At least...I think we're moving forward? Yep. We're moving forward. Finally.

So...I'd like your help, okay? Tell me if something sounds completely wacked or weird. Or wrong. Or Hojo-y. (Okay, especially if it's Hojo-y. Because I wanna smack that shit out before it spawns.) I don't really need a beta in the sense of grammar, but if you've got suggestions on how to improve the chapter, go for it!


There were a few bumps in the road when I tried to submit my materia/mako thesis. A lot of the information on mako was still in the 'hypothetical' stage. Some (a big fucking load) of it was due to the lack of funding. Motors were still using petrol and oil, clean energy was nearly over the fence of 'way too expensive', and mako processing was not even on the pages.

Of course, nobody really wanted to work with the stuff that warped humans into monsters. Nobody except Hojo.

And me.

The general attitude towards mako was 'that hinky stuff that's bad for you' with materia coming in as 'very expensive magic that only the rich use'. Magic being the keyword. It meant nobody had really thought to delve deeper into the way materia worked—they just took it as it was.

Of course, it was understandable given the fantastical way certain materia worked—materializing a whole other monster through a little red ball?—but it also meant that very little research went into discovering the origins of it. Mako was still very much the stuff of bedtime stories and research fell under the 'history and mythology' realm more than 'real science'.

Well. If kids could go outside and accidentally fall into a bedtime story.

Then again, wasn't that how fairy tales formed?

…Hm.

xXXx

I was pretty much the oddball in the university, especially with the research I was doing and the thesis subject I had proposed. Even my supervisor was shaking his head at how farfetched my work was. Most people were of the opinion that it was going to be one of those articles that students wrote to graduate, instead of something that he or she really wanted to do.

You see, I was reading up all the old folklore on mako, the Planet, and anything to do with materia. I was basically delving through children's storybooks and attempting to find their adult or olden day counterparts in order to ascertain the origin of the strange stuff.

Given that it wasn't exactly the modern era at the moment—the entirety of Gaia was split into the 'high tech' cities of Junon and North Corel, the mid-40s areas of Kalm and Mideel, and the practically medieval backwater regions of Nibel, Gongaga, Woodlands and assorted islands. Wutai had a strange marriage of technology, magic, and medieval tradition. If samurai were Russian, Chinese and Japanese all at once.

If we took a step back (or forward) and looked at the Wutai war, we would never have even beenin a position to make the attempt. Wutai was miles ahead of us in technology, worlds away as a cohesive force. Planet, most of us weren't even really on the 'same side' as each other yet! I would bet my nearly-mastered Fire materia that nobody in Gongaga had even heard of Nibelheim.

So. Yeah. Shinra's not looking like it's going anywhere at the moment, despite 'experience' stating otherwise. I wonder what got so many people piling onto the mako-engine wagon. I mean, we're still using oil and natural gas like on Earth, y'know? I wonder how Shinra managed to drag everyone into using processed mako instead.

…I did tell Daddy to buy its shares though, so I perhaps-maybe-possibly contributed to Shinra's growth. The Crescent family isn't old money, but we are perhaps one of the wealthiest families outside North Corel.

(If you haven't noticed yet, Midgar isn't really that big. Far as I understand from Daddy's descriptions…the only structure in existence is what will make up the Slums. There are no sections and plates, yet. It's in that unstable area of 'potential market' and 'defunct port city'.)

xXXx

And then Daddy and Mother died.

Surprise, surprise, Lucrecia's backstory is tragic.

You must understand, this was not something uncommon to daily life on Gaia right now. There are no SOLDIERs patrolling roads, and you're more likely to meet a bandit than the Planet version of Robin Hood…if you don't meet monsters. Sure, you can hire mercenaries if you have enough dough, but even then it's fifty-fifty whether they are skilled enough, trustworthy enough, and/or lucky enough. Because monsters do NOT only roam around within the confines of the map-drawn 'areas'.

I've heard stories of people seeing Bandersnatches near the routes between Kalm and Junon and unless you have enough MP and at least a level 2 Fire materia…eh. Oh, and ability to run fast, of course. You do not want to get bitten. I don't know how you'd count the HP loss when you're leg gets chewed off, but let's just assume you lose 90% of it with the rest draining away in seconds. Pack monsters are on a whole 'nother level compared to those who float around solo.

For one: They don't wait your turn. Obviously. Who even does that?

For two: There are usually more of them than there are of you. (Or me, for a more applicable example.)

For three: They have basic cornering tactics down pat and some packs have been terrorizing locals for more than a generation—the general consensus is that you see one of them, you run. And run. And run.

Until you reach a town. Unless you want to get pounced on when you finally slow down and yeah. You do not want to have to hope you dissolve into pyreflies before they start munching. Because you won't.

Ah. Everyone's asking this question.

What do we eat if everything dissolves into the Lifestream? How do we harvest parts and make clothes and why are plants (not monster plants) excluded?

Well I certainly hope you don't think that monsters are edible. Because I'd rather starve to death than try to eat them. They can eat us, but we certainly can't eat them. We don't poof once they kill us, sadly. No worries, we certainly join the Lifestream like regular Planeteers, but the meat gets left behind for the monsters to nom on. I haven't been able to study the phenomenon properly, but I think once you get so much as scratched by a monster, you won't dissolve until fifteen minutes later. Approximately.

Not that I'm going to actually test that, because that would be Hobo-level creepiness.

Instead, I have had plenty of experience dragging dead bodies away from monsters back home. Yes, it is awful. Yes, I'm apparently the only person qualified to do so. No, I don't want to talk about it. I just…do it.

They're usually half green by the time we make it through the gate anyway.

In any case…in a terrible case of coincidence or fortune, my parents were accosted by the Midgar Zolom.

Or its predecessor. Either way it's a bigass serpent that you can usually spot half a mile away—not that the distance will save you, it can cross that distance in the amount of time you need to process that there is a bigass snake coming at you. There is only ever one, and you can forget about killing it.

Nobody, but nobody, has so much as scratched the Midgar Zolom.

It's our local bogey monster.

Miners occasionally tell tales of overhearing it slithering around the Mythril Mines, but the truth is it is very rarely inside the mines—you're more likely to encounter it in the field outside. Unless you're the fool willing to enter the mines at night of course—that's where it sleeps—but then you'd be the idiot with the death wish and good riddance to you.

So how did we know it was the snake that did them in and not, oh, Elfadunk?

Well, when you find a caravan smashed in two with a slither-furrow right through it…it's kind of obvious.

The cargo was intact, to my eternal guilt. Okay, maybe it wasn't so eternal.

The majority of it was books and new materia for my collection. Daddy had been hinting that he had a big present for me for my sweet sixteen, but I hadn't expected a near-complete set of materia (excepting summons) and some pre-tty rare books on myths and legends.

The bodies were gone by the time we found the site. I'm…pretty sure they didn't suffer? The Midgar Zolom is known to swallow people whole, but I guess that means you're actually still alive when you're going down the pipes but would that mean that you'd slowly suffocate or actually make it somewhat conscious into the digestive tract and end up being slowly eaten up by acid? Or do they have a different system of digestion here? Or…

Me? I'm fine.

I just…

I just wished that we had funeral rites and memorials here. There're no graves and nobody really takes photographs.

I probably won't be able to recall how they look like in a few years.

xXXx

Baladry and his apprentice watched the young miss mumble under her breath in concern. She'd been slightly reclusive ever since her parents had died and while it was understandable, neither of them liked to see it. The old butler wasn't too worried over the manor's affairs—Lucrecia had been the Mistress and Mayor of Kalm ever since that faithful day she'd dragged him out. There had been more such occasions, with rules instated to allow the servants to visit home at least twice a week as well as a day of rest every month.

He had seen…rather more of his sisters than he'd wished. But somebody had to accompany the young miss on her trips.

Aaron was far from ready to take over his duties.

In regards to the late Master's business, Lady Lucrecia had been surprisingly well-prepared to take over personally. She'd already been familiar with many of the Master's contacts, and was remembered fondly by her 'uncles'.

It meant she had had little to no resistance when she'd announced that she would be taking the reins, albeit in a slightly different fashion.

While the late Master had attended all meetings personally, preferring the city-life of Midgar, the young miss had decided to pass some of that responsibility to trusted proxies. Apparently, she'd met several boys whom he had not been aware of in University who were looking to be traders. They came from families well-off enough to send them to higher education, but not quite wealthy enough to own their own businesses.

Which was actually rather common. He, himself, had been from one of these families, although he had been the only one of his siblings who had received a higher education.

He'd have to look into these boys. He was rather ashamed that he had not been aware of how close they were with the mistress, while his idiot apprentice seemed to have been completely in the dark. This definitely called for stricter training.

In any case, it seems he is going to be calling on a few acquaintances. He may not have left Kalm mansion for the majority of his tenure, but there were plenty of ways to keep in contact. The newly improved PHS is expensive, but there are landlines, and the old-fashioned mail. He's been exchanging letters with plenty of his counterparts in other families for decades.

(Yet another thing Aaron is going to have to learn: Contacts are Everything.)

Either way, it seems that the Young Miss has things under control for now, so he'll just go about business as usual. Unfortunately, it also looks like without the Master around, she was finally able to implement all those travel plans she thought nobody knew about.

(Subtle Miss Lucrecia was not. The most she got was Sleepel on the whole mansion and after that she'd ended up so winded she just went to bed. He'd been able to fake being hit, but obviously his apprentice needed more training.)

xXXx

Aaron Hambug was in a rare state of mind. He was worried about the beast of a mistress that he served.

(Okay, she was actually really nice in a VERY roundabout way and shy and cute and smart and…ahem. But it wouldn't do to let her know—she'd just take a chunk out of his hide.)

He fumbled the wine glass he was polishing. OH GAIA SHIT—AHHHH!

There was probably a spectacular show of acrobatics as he twisted and caught the thin stem between his teeth. It was a good thing Bald—Sir Baladry—wasn't here. He could already feel the searing glare.

At least he hadn't actually broken the damned thing. That would have cost him an actual arm and leg. The Old Man would have him scrubbing the halls with a toothbrush.

He had twisted his neck a little too quickly though. But better a crick than anything Bald—Sir Baladry—could come up with.

Ahem.

"Er…Lucrecia," he cleared his throat after she'd finished her dinner, "You okay? I mean. About the…uh…"

Aforementioned beast whipped around with an affronted look. Or what passed as an affronted look on a fire breathing summon, "I. Am. Fine. Aron."

"It's Aaron," he rolled his eyes, wondering why she'd suddenly decided to change the way she called him a couple days ago. Nobody knew what an aron was, and asking her just gave her a reason to snigger at him. "And I was just asking."

"Yeah, thanks for your concern, Aron," she rolled her eyes, "Obviously I'm filled with grief and misery and can't help but burst into tears at every opportune moment. Not. I've got a shitload of work to do and all of you aren't helping by interrupting me every two minutes when I'm trying to read a contract, okay? If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, fucks like a duck, it is a duck."

"What's a duck?" He blinked.

"Chocobo," she slapped her face with a hand, "It just doesn't rhyme as well. Now kindly fuck off."

He took several steps back.

She was fiddling with her new 2-slot bracelet and if he wasn't wrong, she had both Earth and Seal equipped. Her Fire had been mastered a couple weeks ago (popping out a new one with a loud crack), so she'd replaced it. The Seal was actually a new one, the old one having been mastered last year after she'd cast the mass Sleepel. It wouldn't actually do much damage except a lump on his head and embarrassment, but that wasn't the materia he was afraid of.

The Earth was at level 2, which meant Quake 2. He did not want to give the disaster-happy girl an excuse to cause a moderate landslide on the side of the mansion with him at the bottom.

"Okay, okay," he held both hands up, "Erm. Baladry just wants to know if you're going to start travelling. Since. Uh. Yeah."

"I've still got a year left at the university," she sighed, "And all these contracts to sort out. If I don't get someone to proxy, I'll probably be stuck here until I'm as old as he is. And the University of Junon recently sent me a couple offers from their materia research department. Though those are obviously from Shinra, but yeah. I'm not going anywhere at least until I'm sure Kalm'll be alright. I mean. Without a Mayor. Or something."

"You know we've survived without a proper Mayor for more than twenty years, right?" Aaron retorted, a little miffed at the idea that they were helpless without her or something.

"Not a single one of the miners can deal with a Levrikon. And we need at least a decade or so before we'll start producing fighters capable of protecting the village," she deadpanned, "Sometimes Miranda and Sensei Mori go out to shave off some of their numbers, but it's not like they're going to stay here forever. I'm nearly at the end of my materia training, Miranda's already started talking about initiating me for journeyman. Sensei Mori's gonna want me to head to Wutai to visit our Founding Dojo too…though that's still a way's away."

"Oh…"He blinked, then squawked, "You're building a military?"

"I'm building a military," she agreed coolly, "If we want this town to stay on the map, we're going to have to improve a lot. We've got monsters, low education, low income, and all our young people are leaving. So I'm tackling them one by one. Like proper defences. I've talked to some of my colleagues in the University's Weapon Research Department and they've started to buy in on development here. So if things work out, they're going to stay and work for Kalm's betterment instead of going off to wherever."

"I…you…" he stared, not wanting to point out the obvious link between her parent's deaths and her sudden interest in Kalm's defences. Also: A military. His hands found their way to his hair. "You're developing Kalm," he suddenly realized. And it was like a bolt of lightning coupled with all the times she'd flung a dictionary at him.

She's the Mayor of Kalm. He gaped. Holy Planet Almighty! She's our Mayor!

"I also started looking for graduates willing to teach basic Math, English and Science to children," she frowned, "Not many of those, but still enough to set up a school. I'm trying to get the University Dean to act as Principal there too, but he's kind of overloaded. But still. We have a university but no school. That's just stupid."

"You could ask the vice-Dean," he pointed out, reeling. His brain was a relentless chorus of MayorMayorMayor!

"There isn't one," she replied sourly, "They have head of departments and the Dean's assistant is just a secretary." She drummed her fingers on the table, "And I need to make sure there's enough money to pay everyone for the next decade. Which I can't if I go off on an adventure."

"Don't people usually pay taxes for things like that?" He asked. Because. Mayor.

"The Mayor isn't really the governor, Aron," Lucrecia said exasperatedly, "You really think I can just waltz to the town square and declare tax on everyone when they're already living hand to mouth? This is a mining town, they aren't exactly rolling in gold."

"Actually," Aaron cleared his throat when the word cracked in half at his excitement, "The Mayor of Kalm usually gets the rights to the mines if they have enough support. And it's been a rule since the First that a part of the money made from them goes to a trust for the village that only the Mayor can access."

"…What," She deadpanned. Then, in the next moment, exclaimed, "What?!" He bit back a shriek as she lunged forward and gripped his collar, "Are you telling me that I'm in charge of the Kalm mines?! That I fucking own them?! Did my Dad know?!" Just as quickly as she had advanced, she drew back and massaged her temples, "Wait, wait, wait. If the ownership of the mines has always belonged to Kalm, then why are they so piss-poor?! Where is the money going into?!"

The fifteen year old girl in a frilly dress let loose several expletives that had the eighteen year old young man cringing and slammed a fist into the table.

"What the hell is with you people not telling me what I'm in charge of?!" She kicked her chair, sending it crashing with a loud bang into the wall.

There were a few seconds of silence as the Mayor of Kalm, Mistress of Kalm Mansion, Lucrecia Crescent took several deep breaths. Aaron did his best to emulate a statue, facing forward with his hands behind his back.

"BALADRY YOU BASTARD! GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

xXXx


Ooooh, Baldy's gonna get it. Where is the money from the mines going to? If you think about it, yeah, miners are always poor, but that's because they're working for a company, yeah? BUT. If there was a company...why is Kalm so backward? Should there not be SOME development? Maybe in canon, the Company created the University...but seriously. What good would a university do a mining company? Nah. It was probably established before. Or by a rich local. The only rich local, AKA the MAYOR. Which means...what? There's a serious lack of governing presence in Kalm, and nobody knows who's in charge. Except there's a position called Mayor here...which means the Mayor's in charge. Except...you see where I'm going?

Frankly, I suspect someone's been pocketing the money. But the only rich bastard here is Lucrecia (cough rich bitch cough) and she's not pocketing no money!

...

And where does the mithril mined go? Who pays the miners? O.o

I sense...an uproar on the horizon. Lucrecia has officially started down the warpath and even though she doesn't have a target right now...she will have one and when she does she is going to beat him up, lay him on the roadside with his head on the curb, and stomp on his head. AKA A literal curbstomp.

And who knows? Maybe Kalm will be known as the village with plenty of earthquakes after...

Memory25