A/N: Hello one and all! I have hit a snag with After the End, and thus to distract you, here is a chapter for Pilgrims! In this chapter: The one thing that RPG's never cover; the morning after the epic battle with the mighty dragon. Also, murderous White Mages. Enjoy! :D

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy. There, I fucking said it.

Chapter 11: The Morning After.

Now, the thing about Cure spells: They don't cover the bruises that popped up the morning after the epic battle that one was healed during. And man, am I learning that at the moment. I woke up and rolled over, and felt the urge to scream in pain. Slowly, I sat up, which also caused large amounts of pain.

"Jesus, that is sore," I moaned, slowly dragging my protesting body from my bed and collecting my various pieces of clothing.

A few minutes later, I slowly made my way down the stairs to find the bar deserted except for the exceptions of Lizi, her father, Shayna and Tayla.

"Hello, Mr Hero," Tayla said, somewhat teasingly.

"Oh shut it," I grumbled, sitting down beside Lizi, who instantly placed a mug of the devils drink, coffee, in front of me. Slowly, I reached out and gripped the cup. Even that hurt.

"How you feeling?" Tayla asked, smirking at me and my pain-filled movements.

"How about I throw you through 4 walls and see how you feel?" I snapped, not in the mood for smart-asses. Tayla kept smirking.

"Do it then," she challenged, smirk reaching her ears. My eyes flashed.

"Was that really needed?" asked Lizi, standing beside me and observing the damage.

"Well she knew what would happen," I said simply, shrugging.

"But still. You should be glad that that building was gonna be knocked down anyway," she continued, looking at the Tayla shaped hole in the building across the road from the Angelwing. Shayna stood nearby, healing Tayla's somewhat beaten body.

"She's lucky that I picked a building that didn't have tiled walls. Those fucking hurt," I said, huffing.

"Still. You shouldn't have done that. Next time, try to resist the urge," Lizi said, looking over her shoulder and seeing her father walking up slowly.

"So, your anger isn't just restricted to your enemies," he said. He was looking better every hour. His eyes, the same wine red colour that Lizi's were, were lit with a firey light, and he had a bushy beard, the same gray that his hair was.

"My definition of friend and enemy is never fixed," I replied.

"Huh. Good to know. Lizi. Came out to tell you that I can take over the bar for the day," he said, turning to his daughter.

"But Dad-" she was cut off by a wave of a hand.

"No buts. Have a day off. That's a order," he said, smiling, before turning and returning to the bar.

"Good to know you listen to someone," I said, earning a smack to my left shoulder, which, in turn, sent a sharp jolt of pain down my arm.

"Ow. Uncalled for," I said, gripping my shoulder.

"That's what you get for assuming that I listen to anyone," Lizi said, smiling her evil smile. I was about to reply, when a hard something whacked me over the head, making me see stars and dropping me to the ground.

"How could you do that to your friend?" said Shayna, bringing her hammer down again, this time on my shoulder, rebreaking it. Screaming, I tried to roll away from the attacking female, only for her to stomp on my back and smash my shin-bone with her death hammer.

"AHHH! This is unnecessary!" I screamed.

"Then say sorry!" Shayna said, pressing her foot into my back a little harder for emphasis.

"Ahh! I'm sorry I'm sorry!" I managed to get out without screaming.

"Promise me you won't do it again," Shayna demanded.

"I won't do it again, I swear! Now for the love of God, HEAL ME!"

"Ok ok..." Stepping off me, Shayna quickly healed me, making sure it hurt a lot. Standing up slowly, I shot Shayna and Tayla, who had stood up to watch my suffering, a evil look, before shuffling my way back inside the bar, leaning on Lizi every once in a while.

I was helping Lizi with the lunch rush, when Mathew, Robbie and the others return to the bar.

"Well?" said Lizi, looking up from the glass she was cleaning and ignoring the dirty looks her father was shooting her. Once me and Lizi had reentered the bar after my torture at the hands of Shayna, she had sat her father down and forced him to stay put for the rest of the day.

"We've got 2 days to leave," said Mathew, bluntly.

"What?" Me, Tayla, Shayna and Lizi blurted out, shocked.

"Apparently, we brought destruction to this city, and the king has given us our marching orders," Mathew continued.

"And, get this, if we are still in the city by sunset tomorrow, we become fair game to the city guard," said Robbie, evidently pissed.

"We didn't even get a word in," said Kathryn. Sighing, I rubbed my forehead.

"Aside from everything else, the king was a nice guy," said Amylee, smiling.

"And what makes you say that?" said Harley, leaning against a nearby wall.

"Because he gave me shinys!" Amylee replied in a high, childish voice. Untying a poach from her belt, she opened it and showed everyone the contents. Inside, in all its shiny glory, was what looked like about 10000 gil.

"Holy turkey shagging shit, Amylee! Why did he give you that?" I exclaimed.

"I just said to him; 'mr King sir, can we have some money to help us get some supplies?' And he gave me the poach," Amylee explained, still in her childish voice. I just stared at her in shock, completely speechless. Almost everyone else was of a similar opinion. Lizi, however, was not as shocked.

"The king may be an ass, but he is a kind person at heart. He wouldn't want us to be sent off with nothing," she said. I nodded, then processed what she had said fully.

"Wait. Who said anything about 'we'?" I said, turning and looking at Lizi.

"I'm going with you." It wasn't a question, and I didn't take it as such.

"No. You are staying here."

"Why should I? I'm as old as you are, and almost as tough! I've proved that, haven't I?"

"You have a recovering father to take care of. What happens if something happens to him?"

"I may be a old man, but I'm not dying anytime soon, Josh," Lizi's father said.

"Yea! See? I don't wanna be stuck in this bar my whole life! I wanna see the world!"

"And who put it in your head that it would be a good idea that you follow me- us around?"

"I did," Tayla said softly. I spun, already plotting her murder, when she continued. "Josh, quite honestly, we can't control you and your many issues with life in general. But, Lizi seems to at least keep you calm. So, its either she comes, or you stay. Cause we don't need you trying to kill everything that mildly looks at you weird." I looked at her, then everyone else, wondering just how evil they all were. Then, I turned and found myself facing down the most evil, vile thing imagineable. The puppy eyes. More importantly, Lizi's wine red puppy eyes.

"Please Josh?" she begged.

I sighed, and turned to answer...

A/N: Ooooh, cliffhanger! Anyway, rate & review. go on, you know you want to :D