Disclaimer: I do not own any races, places, and all that are part of Final Fantasy XII. All names, races, places in Final Fantasy XII rightfully belong to Square-Enix. I only own Original Characters that I have named, which are Kevin and Cliff.
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Cliff approached the door of Migelo's sundries, and just as he formed his fist to knock on the wall, the door creaked open. From the opening made from the green wooden door, came a Bangaa dressed in white and blue robes and a brown and green overcoat. He looked very old—he has two colors on his hide, white on the bottom sides of his body and blue on the upper sides, a lot like his clothing.
"Eh? What can I do for you, lad?" he spoke. Cliff was surprised at how his voice was not as he imagined—his voice was not the typical old person voice—his voice was raspy, and had a lot of energy to it.
"Uh…ah...are you…Mister Migelo?" Cliff asked weakly.
"Oh, please do cut the formalities," he spurted out in a hushing tone. "But yes, I am Migelo. Can I help you?"
"Oh—mister—"Cliff stopped as Migelo shot at him with a look. "Migelo, have you seen my parents? I mean—has any couples went in and came out? If you've seen any, of course…"
"There are plenty of people in my store, especially with the parade going to start and all," Migelo begun his reply, "There have been a few couples—but can't say that I saw none leave."
"Oh? I hope my parents are still in there…" Cliff said in a worried tone. "Can I go in?"
"Yes, yes you may—I'd love to help you, lad, but I'm going to be busy today. Sorry."
"It's all right…thanks Mi—Migelo!" Cliff gave a sweat drop as he nearly called Migelo Mister again. As he went in, he would have given Migelo an actual smile, but his embarrassment only made him gave a forced one.
"Hmm," Cliff hummed. There were many people inside the store. There were racks taller than he was that had many varieties of potions and bottles on one side and on the other were various food ingredients. Migelo was one neat manager—he kept everything labeled and in proper order. Behind him came the small sounds of footsteps.
"Kupo, you found them yet?" It was Kevin. Cliff completely forgot about him. Cliff wheeled to face him, and shook his head.
"N-no…Not yet." Cliff turned his head to look around. He started walking about past shelves and racks hoping he missed them. However, he never found them. "Kevin…they aren't here…but this is the only lead I have." He spoke, fearfully." Where could they be?" Kevin gave him a sympathetic face.
"Don't worry, kupo. We'll find them." He consoled.
"Thanks, Kevin." Cliff gave a small smile. "But where do I start? Everyone seems in so much of a hurry that I don't think I should bother them."
"I don't know about you, kupo, but I think we should get you a change of clothes."
"Huh?" Cliff was startled at that comment. However, thanks to it, he finally got a glance at his clothing, which he never paid attention since he decided to look for his parents.
Dust and dirt had covered his brown shirt, and it had faded and lost color. His trousers had been torn and warped, and did not have the white color he remembered. Indeed, his attire was very dirty.
"Wow, now I realize how dirty I look." Cliff was staring blankly at his clothing. "I'd get new ones, but I don't have any Gil with me."
"My mother's a tailor—she can get you something nice to wear, kupo." Kevin offered.
"Oh no—I can't ask for that…" Cliff blushed for the umpteenth time that day. "It wouldn't be right—"
"I insist, kupo!" Persistently, Kevin grabbed Cliff by the hand and, with surprising might, dragged him out the door. Cliff was practically thrown and dragged out into the streets and caught sight of Migelo talking to a teenager. He did not have much time to have to listen at what they were discussing, as Kevin had jerked him into another direction. Cliff felt very awkward, while the Moogle no younger than he is was pulling him…or was he older than he thought? It was hard to tell with Moogle folk. After some time, Kevin began to slow down.
"Finally," Cliff gave a relieved sigh. He was walking the stone paved alley, going past the walls of houses and structures. People were walking alongside him in both directions, some in groups chatting amongst each other. The walls on this side of the alley showed the houses' true age, while from over the wall Cliff could see the houses in brand new bright colored paint; the walls of the back of the houses lost their color and were cracked in some places. Some had even been broken down to their very foundations, one could see the bricks lining in the walls. Kevin wasn't holding Cliff by the hand any longer, so he could stop him from giving him clothes—it doesn't feel right, getting something free from a complete stranger. Cliff knew he could trust Kevin—but his mother…it would be very rude, and he doesn't even have a single coin of Gil with him either.
They exited the hallway and entered the Bazaar. It was quite full today, with the entire bustle about the new consul arriving. One ash-skinned Bangaa was gleefully yelling out something about 'cheap oil' and 'ink paper'—something that Cliff would have paid attention to if it weren't for the other groups shouting and groups of people haggling and arguing. That, and the Seeq, which Cliff accidentally walked into without looking. He tumbled on his back as the blubber of the giant belly of the pig-creature repelled him, wobbling in the aftermath. It gave a snort at Cliff and shot a stare. With a grunt, he continued his merry way…not as if Cliff cared where he was going. However, he shortly found out that this short intermission had a dreadful cost. Kevin was missing.
"Kevin?" Cliff knew that calling for him is futile in this crowd, short as the two of them are. Kevin would never hear him. He dashed past groups of many: One Hume that banged a counter with his fists as he found out he was ripped off, Two Seeq that were practically blocking the road with their huge lumbering builds, and a group of adventurers purchasing goods from a shady Bangaa. He leapt past several sitting peddlers, who shouted at him in discontent. He briefly turned his head and said a short sorry to them. At last, he climbed stairs and reached higher point, where he could see the entire bazaar.
He glanced among the multi-racial bunch of people. Tents of colors were lining the sideways, and some had counters in the walls. People were selling and bargaining goods from all around Ivalice: pots, pans, jugs, antiques, and things that Cliff never knew existed. It was a colorful sight, though the volume and the smell, Cliff thought, should be toned down. The melting pots of voices and the air filled with stench of sweat and the scent of perfumes and spices didn't treat very kindly to his ear and nose. He ignored them, paced right, and left along a balcony that was very tall, leading deep into an abyss down below, along a yellow brick pavement, trying to see one Moogle who wore a green coat and had white fur. It was very difficult for him to see one barely three feet tall amongst those that reach heights of seven, and those that have a wide body mass. He could have sworn, as he strode left, he saw a red orb dangling in the crowd. This was definitely Kevin—he hadn't seen any Moogles in the bazaar since he entered. He raced back down the steps and narrowly bumping into another Seeq, which Cliff feared he might not be so lucky this time around, and worried that he might actually toss him off the balcony. He finally saw the orb again amongst the dense crowd and with a swift action of his hand; he caught hold of the Moogle.
"I got you!" Cliff spoke out loudly. The Moogle stopped and turned towards him.
His tiny red-fleshy ears pointed up. "I was getting worried, kupo!"
"This is no place to talk," Cliff pointed out as more people began rushing into the bazaar like a flood. "Quick, let's get to your home!"
Cliff stared at the small wooden door—small by Hume standards, but obviously large by Moogle standards—Kevin motioned Cliff to wait outside, and knocked on the door. Cliff took several steps away from the door. Within seconds, a stout Moogle, whom Cliff thought was his father, opened the door. He wasn't much taller than Kevin was, but he looked battle-hardy. He wore a chest plate that shone in white, and wore slacks that went all the way to his sandals. His arms and the visible sides of his body that weren't covered in armor revealed white fur. He had a scar over his blue eyes. He smiled as he stared at his son. He gave a string of different intonations, syllables and variations of the words Ku and Po. Kevin answered back in a similar tongue. Cliff was at first, confused, but he remembered reading some time back during his journey with his parents about the Moogle language, Mogri. It was a very interesting language to study about, and Cliff, seeing it in action for the very first time, was eager to learn it. However, only Moogles could pronounce several key tones. As they exchanged Mogri words, Cliff caught bits and pieces of the words 'father' and 'friend', which Cliff became red at hearing.
At last, Kevin and his father took a loving hug and after the releasing the embrace, went in. Cliff could only wait for what seemed like twenty whole minutes before something finally happened. Cliff could hear the distinct sound of Kevin laughing, which, admittedly, was quite different from that of the murmurs of the surprisingly high voice of his father and the lower voice of his mother, though his mother's voice wasn't much different but distinct. Within moments, Kevin had exited the house with a half-robe that lead to waist-height. It was colored navy blue, and vertically it had white stripes that circled around it.
Kevin held up the robe to Cliff. "Here, kupo. This is the only one I could find for your size, sadly…"
"I told you…it's not necessary," Cliff answered then raised his voice. "I don't want to take the clothes until I can buy it!" he said harshly.
There was a silence between them. Cliff realized how he had behaved and cooled down. "I'm sorry," He spoke weakly after a long pause at Kevin, who was looking down.
Kevin raised his head again. "If you're that persistent about buying the clothes, kupo," Kevin started grinning, "Then you can pay it later!"
Cliff smiled as well at this comment. "That sounds much better!"
"Also, you might as well buy the whole set for yourself, kupo—it'll feel more comforting if you did."
"But I couldn't—this is enough!" he argued.
"Nonsense, kupo!" Before Cliff could say a word, Kevin had shoved the robe into his hands and he had already gone inside again, opening the wooden door once more. He swore as Kevin entered, he heard him say, "Its only 5000 gil for the set!" which Cliff cringed at hearing. He clutched the robe tighter. His hands felt around the silky material. It was so smooth and felt comfortable, yet so cheap; Cliff wondered how 5000 gil would be enough to pay for the entire set. The clothes were excellent; Cliff felt he had to wear it as soon as he could. He lifted the robes and felt around it, taking a view of the fine detail. Cliff was convinced that this should definitely be more than 8000 gil in worth. There were square patches of brown in several sections, adding to the abstract and elegant feel to the clothing.
"Liking those clothes, kupo?" Kevin's voice perked behind him. Cliff lowered the robes and turned to where the voice came from, a giant bunch of clothing. Cliff burst out laughing as he saw the tiny Moogle lift a large pile, for Moogles, Cliff put in as a side mental note, of a neatly folded pair of slacks, a pair of cuffs, and a pair of gaiters and a tiny key to go on top. "Could you stop laughing and help me, please?" Cliff's laugh skimmed down into a smile and took the repertoire of clothing. Kevin took the key from the top of the pile and headed to another, much larger door to the side of the house. Cliff thought that would be the main door when people enter and exit, but upon closer inspection, Cliff saw it was a dressing room. It also had a door, which possibly lead inside.
"This is a room where the guests change when they chose their clothes, kupo." Kevin pointed out. "We also use this room to allow guests which are much bigger than us to go in."
"Why didn't you make your front door bigger then?" Cliff inquisitively asked.
"The last person who owned this house was a Moogle. He was a friend of our family—but he died before the war started. We inherited this house because he didn't have any relatives and he wrote on his will that we should. Mom needed a bigger place to keep all her things, so we gladly accepted, kupo. Well, you can change now! I can't wait to see how you look!" he walked outside and closed the door. The place was dark without any light, but Cliff figured he could manage.
The room was made of wood, just like the rest of the house, and had some hangers for the clothing he had in his hand, so he put the slacks and the robe there. He placed the gloves neatly on a small cushioned chair. To his right there was a tall mirror, where he got a good look at himself after a while.
"Can't believe I forgot how I looked…"
