A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews. And to Hazard 13, I haven't read any fanfic that's anything like mine. This story was inspired by a daydream I had which I decided to continue with words. If my artwork gets any better, I might try making it into a comic but it doesn't look like I'll be doing that any time soon.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Treason and Forgery

The streets of the old capital was an unholy ghost town. Since the great monster rebellion 15 years ago, the palace and its people abandoned the town and established a new capital several miles north. The new capital took seven years to build, but it soon matched the original Bervenia in its grandeur. Nobody, not even elite judges, dared to step foot in the old capital. Without a soul to care for it, Bervenia had become a lawless Jagd.

The sight of the city brought back only painful memories. The government had fenced off a large portion of the land, leaving only a few places open for brave adventurists and eager tourists. Not much of either group showed up very often and even the sun refused to shine in the fenced out areas. But for the Neo-Zaora Sect, it was the place they called home.

The Neo-Zaorans were a group of radicals bent on returning the world to its original ways. They hated modern society and wished to return the world to place where crime and corruption took place every day. And after today's events, they were on the very top of Ivalice's most wanted list.

---

Seated on a toppled wall of the old palace was a black cloaked Viera. Her steely fingers were still stained with Bangaa blood from earlier. Her hood was pulled back, revealing long purple hair that was tied back in a pony tail. A pair of gold earrings clung tightly to her rabbit ears. A pair of emerald-green eyes watched the horizon as the golden sun slowly sank into the western sea.

A loud cough was heard behind her and she slowly turned a weary gaze to the person who spoke. There, standing at what used to be a doorway, was a figure constructed entirely of shadows. It had a bald head with glowing, yellow eyes. A pair of skinny arms with long fingers protruded from its broad shoulders. It had no feet, but the shadows formed a kind of cloak around his bony structure. It was unknown how he got this way, but his accent suggested he was probably a bangaa in his former life. "What are you doing out ssso late, Marion?" He hissed, a forked tongue protruding out of his invisible lips.

"Nothing, Sharu. Just waiting for Amphion." She responded. "How are the new recruits."

She was obviously talking about the monsters. "I ssset them loose in the sewersss. They'll be feasting on ratsss tonight." He answered, walking up next to the Viera. "You haven't seen the evening newsss, have you?"

"No. Why?"

"Come with me, I'll show you!" He jumped right into the air and twisted himself into a swirling vortex. Static began to fill the air around it as a sudden wind picked up, beckoning Marion to enter. The Viera waited a few seconds for the air to calm down before stepping into the portal. She emerged in what appeared to be a church altar. Behind her, the thin shadowmancer pulled himself out of the swirling gales and walked up next to her. "No matter how many times you do that, it still creeps me out." Said the Viera.

"Hey, how do you think it feelsss to have over a hundred poundsss of bone, muscle, and ssskin walk right through you?"

"I don't care. Just what did you want to show me?"

"Thissss..." hissed Sharu, striding over to an old fashioned tube-based television. It had a three inch screen but stood four feet high. He cranked up the power and set the receiver to channel 5. A fuzzy, black-and-white picture showed up on the screen. It showed a young and attractive reporter standing outside of a large building. Sharu turned up the volume so the Viera could hear.

"I'm standing here, outside of the Bagabu city airport, where a monster breakout took place approximately 9 hours ago. The escape took place in an eastern division of the Monster Holding Facility. Over a hundred and seventy monsters were freed. It took authorities over an hour to reach the scene of the crime. Witnesses claim they saw a Nu Mou accompanying the monsters, leading police to believe he was the one behind this. They are circulating a detailed sketch of the assailant, but are unsure of his motives."

A picture of Amphion showed up on screen. Marion giggled when she saw the rendition. "They got his nose wrong!" She said. "I don't know what you're worried about. We should be celebrating."

"Keep listening..."

"What has police baffled was what they found after the attack." Continued the news reporter, "During an organized search of the perimeter, authorities found almost forty knocked out monster corpses scattered on the floor. The head of this sector, Nick Acheron, refused to release any details about what happened. He assures us, however, that they did not get what they came for."

Marion's mouth fell open when the screen displayed the scene at the hanger. "What happened there? What happened to Amphi?"

"He experienced first hand the power of Enclair." Said a scratchy voice from the door. Marion and Sharu immediately turned around, recognizing the tone. Standing about a couple yards away from them was their leader, Neo Zaora himself. He was over 7 feet tall with messy white hair and sunken eye-sockets. He wore a simple white gown, similar to ones worn by priests. His old, withered hands held a ancient tome, scarred by age. Piercing blue eyes stared out through a thick pair of golden spectacles on his nose. The two of them promptly bowed down before him.

When the man beckoned them to stand, Sharu spoke up. "My lord," he began, "You should not be out of bed!"

"You need not worry about me, Sharu." Said the man, taking a seat on a wooden bench. "Our father, the great Zaora, shall never let my health be threatened. He will deliver me strength, as he will to all of you. Besides, I cannot sleep now that she's awake."

The shadowmancer's yellow eyes widened. "The Enclairion girl? Are you sure? How could this be?"

"I am sure. The disappearance of Amphion confirms my suspicions. The girl is indeed walking among us."

"So what should we do with her now?" Asked the Viera, lifting her head from the ground.

"She is useless to us now. In fact, she has become a threat."

"Then shall we kill her?"

"No. It will be interesting to see her develop. Chances are she won't even be able to control her talent." The old man lifted a hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "But this event will only prolong our plans. We shall seek out the beast's original power source. It will rise from what was said to be its final resting place. And I will have immortality, so help me god!" His words rang throughout the streets of Bervenia, attracting loud cheers from his followers.

---

The air was calm and crisp on Saturday morning. The sun cracked early, a phrase which originated from times when people thought the sun was hatched every day by a celestial goose. It simply meant that a new day had arrived. Had this been a normal occasion, Vik would have slept in. However, this was not a normal occasion and Vik was downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast.

He cracked another egg into the frying pan and threw the shell into the trash can. He broke the yolk and waited a few seconds for the bottom to cook before flipping it over and adding cheese. When it finished coking, he folded it into a half circle and lifted it onto a plate. He then added a few celery sticks and and a few strips of bacon before placing it on a tray next to a glass of milk (cow milk, cows exist everywhere!). He made a few more eggs for his parents, if they decided to get up. They usually slept until noon on weekends, unless there was an emergency. He doubted they would wake up so he covered the food with a pan so it wouldn't get cold before carrying the tray back to his room.

The reason Vik was up so early was sitting by the window combing her hair. At the crack of dawn, Saria had woken him up by shaking him furiously. "Look!" She shouted excitedly, "It's not dark any more." The smile on her face made Vik forget the fact that he should have been mad, and Vik spent a few minutes explaining about the sun and the concept of night and day before going to take care of a few things, still wearing his pajamas.

As he entered the room, he noticed Saria was wearing one of his sister's old nightshirts. Earlier last night, he had invaded his sisters closet to see if there were any clothes that would fit Saria. Most of the clothes on hangers were pretty big, since his sister was about 5 years older than him, and Saria really didn't measure up to be above average size. As he dug deeper, he discovered a large pile of some of her high-school clothes along with a large cardboard box. It was wrapped in a thick, clear plastic and about three roles of duct tape. It contained every dress and skirt his sister had received since she was 10. Vik wasn't kidding when he said his sibling was a tomboy because most of the clothes he found in the box looked almost new. The clothes he found fit Saria perfectly.

Vik set the tray next to the window and Saria gave it a curious look. "What's this?" She asked, poking the eggs with a fork.

"It's a cheese omelette. The red stuff is called bacon and the green things are celery. The stuff in the glass is milk."

"Milk?"

"It comes from a cow's...um...you know, it's best not to think about it. Just drink it." The girl gave him a searching look, as if she thought he had poisoned it. After Vik assured her he hadn't, she took a small sip of it before starting on her breakfast.

A small knock came from the front door and Vik poked his head out of the window to see who it was. Standing a couple feet below him was a familiar teenage moogle boy. "Good morning, Kili!" he called to the moogle.

"Kupo! Open up!" His best friend shouted back. It wasn't like the doors were locked, Kili just couldn't reach the knob. He couldn't even reach the doorbell, so he had to knock. Vik quickly rushed downstairs and opened the door for his friend. He rarely got to see Kili on weekends, so his outfit struck him to be somewhat odd. He was wearing a black windbreaker zipped halfway up over a white pants and T-shirt. A black ski hat was pulled over his blond hair, pressing his long ears against the sides of his head. "Hey there, Vicky!" He said, marching into the room.

Vik flinched slightly when he heard the name, resisting the urge to stomp Kili into the ground. "Did you get everything I asked for?" He asked, leading the way to his room.

"I sure did, kupo!" The moogle removed a brown envelope from inside his jacket. "My dad works for social services so I was able to sneak a few forms out of his briefcase."

"You sure he won't mind?"

"He's drunk."

"Oh." The two of them reached the top of the stairs and headed down the hallway to Vik's room, where Saria was just finishing breakfast. "Oh! Good morning, Kili." She said when she noticed Vik had company.

"Kupo! You didn't tell me you were sleeping in the same room as her!" Kili elbowed Vik impishly, successfully attracting a kick in the back.

"Let's just do what we came here to do." He said, taking a seat on the floor. He motioned for Saria to join them.

Kili reached into the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. "Did you find a valid birth certificate we could use?"

"Right here." He said, handing Kili a yellow sheet of paper. The moogle looked it over, making sure it was real.

"Um...according to this, she's only a day old. And she's got your last name, kupo!"

"Yup!" He said, throwing his arm around Saria's shoulder. "Meet my first uncle twice removed's second oldest daughter, Saria Fellcrest! We're cousins now!"

Kili sweat dropped. "You're never going to get away with this."

Frowning, Vik released Saria and yanked the certificate out of Kili's hands. "If I had 5 gil every time I heard you say that..."

---

The group spent a good part of two hours filling out false information. When the form asked for the parent's signatures, Vik and Kili got into an argument. "I'll be Franklin B. Fellcrest," Vik said, selecting a random name from his family tree, "And you'll be my wife Margaret."

"What! Why do I have to be the girl, Kupo?"

"Because it's my family tree and I have to sign for a Fellcrest. Besides, it's not like we're actually going to be married. All you got to do is sign for her. If you have a problem with it, let's flip a coin." They did. Kili lost. "Okay. Now sign it and let's get on to the schooling application." Grumbling, Kili forged a sloppy signature and pulled out the final form.

"Okay, let's see here...Name? Saria Fellcrest. Age? Let's just say 15. The school doesn't do background checks, anyways. Health records? Included..." Vik continued through the form, filling out every possible slot. "Now, all we need is the parent's salary and who's going to pay for it all."

Kili grinned mischievously. "Charge it to the captain." He said, "I did some research on him. He makes 150 thousand gil a year. He can put her through college if he wants to, kupo."

"Yeah. He'll be taking care of her for the long run anyways." Vik quickly filled the blank with Captain Nicholas's name and handed it to Kili.

"I'll make a copy of it and bring it over on Monday, kupo." He said, shoving the papers back into his jacket. "I have to go now. I gotta slip these into my dad's work pile before his hangover wears off. See ya at school!" He pretended to tip his hat before walking out of his room.

"I'm sorry if this sounds dumb," Said Saria as soon as the moogle left. "But what's school?" Vik nearly collapsed with aggravation.