The First Grimoire: Final Fantasy Tactics A2

Chapter 13: "Information"

"You're telling me that this clan has no name?"

Adelle flipped the silver card over in her hand and glanced at the large blank on the top where the name of a clan would typically go. Cid scowled and snatched the card out of her hands.

"And what's wrong with that?" He stuck it inside his pocket and crossed his arms, "I am sure several clans all over Jylland lack names."

"Well, I assumed that this clan would've had a name, seeing as how strong you are." She gave a small shrug and turned around. Edyal crossed her arms and frowned. She edged towards Cid and nudged him with her staff.

"Why are we taking her along with us?" She asked in a low voice, keeping a wary eye on the silver–haired thief, "She is a thief, is she not?"

"She'll be with us until she has paid back all the gil she has stolen from us." Cid replied in a curt voice.

"And how much is that? I do not remember you ever telling us about how much gil the alraune drill would've fetched."

"Oh, I would assume somewhere around in the thousands."

"So she will be working for us until she has made back an unspecified amount of gil; which you assume to be somewhere up in the thousands?"

The Revgaji nodded. Edyal sighed and held her head with her hand, "Well, you're the leader, Cid. I have not found any reason to distrust your judgment so far."

"Don't worry," Cid pointed at the girl, who was currently showing off a fire spell to an impressed Luso, "From what I can gather, she is probably being hunted down by many, many people and clans for thievery. If she is in an adjudged clan like ours, then she has nothing to worry about, but if she is to continue her freelancer lifestyle, I would assume that she would have her throat slit in the middle of a dark night someday."

"Rather morbid, but you have a point." Edyal nodded and relented.

"...Don't you have something more important to worry about?" Cid glanced at Edyal, who looked up questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

Cid stopped and turned around. He raised his hand and pointed straight at the glimmering stalagmite behind them. Lynd was still frozen inside it, as if he was fossilized in ice.

"Oh, right." Edyal eagerly lifted her staff and began to chant a fire spell. Cid sighed and scratched the back of his neck. She appears to be enjoying herself a little too much.

"Whoa!" Luso stepped back cautiously, avoiding the fireball that just erupted in front of his face. Adelle laughed and swung it at him teasingly. He ducked while flattening his hat to avoid a fire hazard.

"You sound like you've never seen a fire spell before, Luso." She said with an amused tone, "Did you come from some sort of strange, backwater village?"

"Hey, watch it!" Luso nearly fell over as he bent back to dodge the fireball coming towards his chest.

"Then again, I'm sure even the most poorest village here in Jylland would have one or two people that know rudimentary magick." Adelle flicked the fireball away, letting it burst into bright yellow sparks in the air. "So maybe you're just stupid?"

"What do you mean stupid?" Luso shot back, offended, "How can I be stupid if I just don't know a few things? I can learn!"

"Huhu." Adelle chuckled and rummaged around inside her pockets, "Well, can you tell me what this is then?"

She pulled out a small yellow crystal, the same one she used the day before when they were fighting tomatoes.

"Um...uh..." Luso scratched his head, trying to recall what she had used it for, "I remember...you used it to uh...glow and disappear?"

"That's an interesting way to put it." She tossed the yellow jewel up and deftly caught it between her fingers, "It's a warp crystal, you've honestly never heard of a warp crystal before?"

"No?" Luso replied, feeling more and more stupid by the second, "What does it do?"

"Does what you would expect it to do. Warps you back to the town or city you bought it from."

"That sounds convenient." Luso commented, "I'm guessing you use it to make escapes whenever you steal something?"

Adelle grinned and replied by swiping Luso's hat off his head. She took a few steps back, holding it out in front of her like a shield.

"You underestimate me, Luso." She moved the hat out of the way of his flailing arms, "Yesterday was the only day where I actually used something like that. It's my personal belief that a good thief does not need to rely on tools to make their escapes."

"So what?" Luso replied, lunging forwards "A thief's a thief! What does it matter if you escape using a tool or not? You're still stealing! Now give back my hat!"

"Tsk, tsk." She sidestepped his lunge and let him fall to the ground with his arms flailing helplessly in the air, "Thieving is a noble art. You shouldn't look down upon it so easily, Luso."

"Rrrgh..." He pushed himself up from the dirt and lunged again. "Ha!"

"Whoops! Too slow!"

Adelle spun around and struck him sharply on the back with her elbow, knocking him back onto the road. She began to spin his hat on her index finger while watching him struggle to get back up again. While he was scrambling around on the ground, the clasp on his side pocket loosened and his notebook skittered out.

"Darn it!" Luso reached out and picked it up. He sat down on the ground, checking the notebook for any damages.

"You are quite attached to that book, aren't you?" Adelle asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"Of course I am! It's the only thing I have left to remember the world where I came from!"

"The world where you came fro–?" Adelle's question was suddenly silenced by a loud roar that erupted from behind them.

Right as soon as they turned their heads, a large deluge of ice pieces rained onto their faces, causing both of them to wince and cover themselves quickly.

"Ack, what's going on?" Luso exclaimed, attempting to block the shrapnel with the notebook's cover.

"Heck if I know! It's your clan!"

Wiping a drop of water off his golden blond mustache, Cid wrinkled his brow and turned towards the similarly drenched Nu Mou beside him.

"When I said to get him out, I didn't mean for you to completely obliterate that boulder of an icicle." Cid grunted, spitting out a sizable shard of ice that he caught with his teeth.

Edyal didn't reply. All she did was pick up her hat from the ground and replace it atop her head, hiding the small grin on her face. Cid sighed and waded into the ice field and extricated the unconscious Bangaa from within.

"Well...at least he isn't suffering from frostbite." Cid heaved the Bangaa onto his shoulder and began to carry him away. Edyal followed suit.

"I'll be frank, I don't understand why you and Lynd have such a violent rivalry. It'd be my greatest wish to have you two stop jumping down each other's throats all the time, figuratively and literally."

"There is a few things you do not need to know, Cid." Edyal replied cryptically. "All I can tell you is that he deserves it all."

Cid sighed and shook his head, "I don't think I'd enjoy hearing the reason."

"You most likely would not." Responded Edyal, "I see the two children up ahead, shall we join them?"

"Don't see a reason why not."

Meanwhile, inside a certain private room in Camoa...

"Aaahehehehaa!" A loud, raucous laughter filled the small room. The pig-like Ribs nearly fell off his stool as he doubled up in laughter. "Well! What a surprise! I can't say I expected a drifter like you to actually come all the way to Camoa to seek me out! I'm flattered!"

Sitting opposite to the laughing Seeq was a man, his face was covered by a large hood. His clothes consisted of a couple frayed and tattered robes loosely slung over his body like a patchwork quilt. Although he was wearing a veritable amount of cloth, his torso was exposed, showing a large amount of bandages swathed around his stomach area. Several locks of jet black hair poked out from underneath the man's hood.

"You're pompous as they say, streetear." The man grinned, taking a swig from a mug. "I'm guessing you must be a regular riot at this tavern."

"Aaahehehehaa! You're incorrect there, stranger!" Ribs hoisted up his ever–present sack of tomato stalks and began to munch heartily, "That barman knows me a little too well. Why, if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't even be allowed in this place!"

"Oh? Why not?"

"Aah...it's quite a long story, you wouldn't be interested." He punctuated his statement with a loud smacking of his lips, "So! What do you want with me? A drifter like you wouldn't call out a streetear like me to this place unless you have something to ask."

"Straight to the point, huh? Works for me." The man shrugged and reached inside his traveling robes. After a moment of difficulty, the man extracted a small photograph from the folds of his clothing. He placed it down onto the table and slid it towards the Seeq.

"Hrrng?" Ribs set down his sack and leaned over to get a better look at the photo. "Hoo..ain't that a pretty face? Yer girlfriend or something?"

He held the photo up to the small lamp that was dangling above them. In the dim light, Ribs could make out the face of a young woman. Not just any woman, but a remarkably beautiful lady. Long, blue hair cascaded down her shoulders and created a frame around her face, giving it a regal atmosphere.

The man chuckled and held a hand up to his mouth, trying to hold his beverage inside. With his other hand, he shook his finger.

"Of course not." He replied after swallowing his drink. Ribs set the photo back down onto the table and grinned.

"Then what is this for?" Ribs asked, "Because I don't know who this woman is. If that is what you are asking me about."

"No, no. That isn't why I'm here."

"Then...?"

"I'm asking for a location. Or rather, the way to get to this location."

The man reached inside his robes again. This time, he retrieved a paper scroll, tied with a golden string and sealed with a fancy looking wax stamp. Ribs' eyes widened at the sight of this stamp.

"Ahh...eehhee? Isn't that the symbol of the Noble House of Beltory? Baron Beltory himself?"

"You're well informed." The man set down the scroll and began to unseal it. Peeling off the wax and untying the string. Ribs could only stutter to himself as he watched the gold–lined paper unfurl.

"Ahem..." The man picked up the scroll and began to read off the paper, "'To Sir ...Hm, I'll omit this part, if you wouldn't mind... I shall reward you a hearty sum of 6,000,000 gil for this woman's safe return back to my mansion in Grazton by Rosefire. Her photo is provided. You may not request for help, however, you must not allow any living being to know who this woman is. I shall await your return by the end of Bloodfire. Signed, Baron Beltory.'"

"Impossible..." The Seeq gaped at the raggedy man in front of him. "You were promised six million gil to find this woman?"

"Correct. However, as you can probably tell, this scroll is utterly worthless." The man said, lacing his words with disgust as he tossed the curled paper onto the table, "Much like the Baron himself."

"Hm..." The Seeq picked up the scroll and read off it. He nodded in agreement, "You're right, no information or reason at all. Only this request. Even your average hunt request would have more information than this."

The Seeq looked up and stared at the man, "Is that why you've decided to break this rule on the request?" He pointed at the sentence stating: 'You may not request for help.'

The man raised up his arms in exasperation, "Naturally! How would anyone get anywhere with this useless scroll and a photo?" He lowered them and took another drink from his mug. Giving a small sigh, he shook himself and began to talk again.

"As soon as I've recieved this request, the first thing I've done was to frequent all of the taverns around in Grazton." The man explained, "Thankfully, I've managed to obtain a few nuggets of information. Unfortunately, the only real bit of help I ccould deduce from my information gathering was the location of this girl."

"And that is why you're here now? To ask me how to get to this location of yours?"

"Precisely."

The Seeq glanced back down at the paper, and then back up at the man's covered face. He frowned.

"One thing about this bothers me." Ribs said, still frowning.

"What is it?"

"Why would the great Baron Beltory himself ask a drifter like you?"

The man did not answer and shook his head. Ribs stared at him for a few seconds before giving a small snort.

"Ahh well!" He said jovially, "It's not in a streetear's policy to pry into their client's details. Aaahehehehaa!"

He clutched his grand belly and laughed. The man chuckled along with the Seeq.

"Well, then let's get this over with." He said, pulling out a quill and a piece of paper. "Do you know where the Ruins of Delgantua are?"

A little later on, after the Cid and company had returned to Camoa, Cid had rented several rooms in the local inn. He himself had left to the tavern to receive the reward for the hunt, while Edyal had stealthily disappeared after Lynd was taken up to his room to rest. Leaving only the two kids alone in the inn.

"So what happened to that Viera girl?" Adelle asked, untying her hair ribbon and loosening her hair, "Wasn't she traveling with you people?"

"She want back to Targ Wood this morning." Luso replied while laying out his two swords on the table. "She had to go and deliver something to a doctor there."

"Oh, what a pity." Adelle said, now removing her gloves and throwing them on top of Luso's swords. "I would've enjoyed talking with her."

Luso grunted and removed the girl's gloves off his swords before turning towards her and saying, "Why are you in my room anyway?"

He was greeted by a skirt suddenly flying into his face, covering his vision and causing him to stumble. He flailed his arms around, trying to get the offending article of clothing off his head.

"Ack! What the–!?"

"Be a dear and go wash that for me, would you?" The girl said without a trace of malice in her voice. "It's gotten all dirty from fighting that annoying adamantian."

"Why don't you go and do it yourself?" Luso said, pulling the skirt off his head. Only to have his face smothered by yet another skirt.

"I'm a little tired, so I'll be going to sleep here. You can put my clothes outside the door when you're done."

"Sleep? Here?" The boy pulled off the second skirt and stood up. "This is my roo–Gah!"

Luso quickly spun around and covered his eyes with the skirts in his hands, as Adelle was in the middle of removing her more important garments.

"Hm?" The shameless girl didn't seem to mind Luso's sudden voyeurism and continued to remove her top. "You've never seen a naked girl before? You're quite a child."

"H–hey!" The boy stammered, trying to feel his way towards the exit, "Back where I used to live, no girl would ever take off their clothes in front of a guy!"

Adelle tossed her shirt onto Luso's head and began to work on the buckle of her belt. "Speaking of that, you never did get around to telling me about 'that world you came from'. I'm a little curious."

"H–how about you stop taking off your clothes first!" He shot back, grabbing the shirt off his head and tossing it back.

Adelle sighed and caught her shirt. Reluctantly, she pulled it back over her head and said, "All right. I'm decent now. You can stop covering your tomato face."

The brown haired boy sighed and pulled the skirts away from his face. For a girl, he thought, she sure doesn't care about who might see her body.

"So what's this about your world?" She walked over to the bed and sat down on the soft mattress. She placed her elbow on her knee and propped her chin up with her hand, evidently anticipating what Luso's story is.

"Well uh..." Luso slumped onto the hardwood floor, scratching his head, "You probably won't believe me, but..."

"Try me."

"Okay then. I was cleaning a library when I found this weird book..."

A/N: I ought to update sooner. It's been what, three months? Apologies, everyone.