Whoo hoo... another update! But just to give you a warning the updates MIGHT be a bit few for a couple of weeks. I will try hard to post them asap :-) Umm... I don't know what else there is to tell ya. Thanks to my faithful reviewer! I am working on the part where Bacsh comes into the picture but he will be M I A for the time being. I'm working with the game's storyline so as of right now... he is hanging out in a bird cage. But I can't wait until I get to where I can bring him in. XD Any who... read, review... enjoy! Oh... and thanks to my first reader that put my story on an alert! It makes me feel special :-)

landis icelilly

Discl: I've said it once, I've said it twice... and possible a third and now a fourth... I'm to broke to own anything! That includes FFXII and Square Enix... just think if I did... XD nah!

(rev: 9/6/07)

When they were out of ear shot and deep enough into the hallway, Captain Azelas tightened his grip around her wrist and slung her body around to the front so that she was facing him but his pull was a bit too forceful and caused her back to hit the stone wall with a painful cracking noise. Amalia inhaled sharply at the pain that shocked her spine from the impact and became irritated at her guardian's behavior.

"Ow, what in Ivalice was that for?! I am not a damn rag doll that you can throw around, Captain!" she spat at him taking up her royal demeanor. Quickly she yanked her wrist out of his grasp and rubbed it with her other hand, looking at the redness that surely would be a bruise come morning.

"Forgive me for not heeding formalities but what are you doing here?!" He looked at her expectantly for an answer and ignored the malice look she was giving him for his earlier assault on her.

"If you must know, I was invited," she replied angrily.

"By who?"

Sighing with frustration she turned to walk away and replied to his inquiry, " I do not have time for this Capta—" he halted her by slamming his hand furiously against the stone wall behind her, stopping her in her tracks and preventing her from leaving.

"Who Amalia?" he said to her in a low but cool voice.

She looked back at him, staring at him straight in the eyes with a fierce gaze and retorted plainly, " Vice."

Hearing his sigh of displeasing frustration, she questioned him.

"What is so wrong with that, Capt—" he cut her off once again.

"How many times must I tell you to call me Vossler?" he sighed and began to warn her of her accompaniment, " And the problem that I have with Vice and his lackeys is that they are not of the type to be very trust worthy, especially when they are intoxicated."

Amalia listened to him but chose to ignore his warnings figuring that he was telling her this just so that she would get upset and leave the tavern letting him escort her back to the hideout. She couldn't believe that Vice was like the person that Vossler had described to her. Not once tonight had Vice done anything that would imply he had intended to bring her harm or endanger her. Vossler knew that Amalia could be very stubborn at times and this was going to be one of them. With his hand still pushed against the wall and his arm blocking her way to leave, he sighed and forcefully said to her trying to make it sink in, " We agreed on this Amalia! This is for your safety! What would become of Dalmasca if you are to be caused harm and I'm not able to save y--"

His words only fueled the fire that was burning inside of her and she cut him off.

"I am not a helpless child! I can manage for myself!" she took her right elbow and jabbed it right into his triceps causing his upper arm to spasm in pain forcing him to lower his arm to his side. As he brought his hand up to message the pain away, he opened his mouth to let out a curse or two but quickly closed it, thinking better of it, to prevent any more trouble from starting than what had already been started.

Amalia walked away but before she reached the archway of the hall she turned her head back to Vossler and with a mischievous smile said, "You don't need to protect me tonight, I can handle my own. Oh, and Vossler… you could use a few drinks to ease up your blood pressure. I worry that you will give yourself a heart attack if you keep this up."

He gave her a peeved look in return and then she turned away disappearing into the crowd.

Still messaging the arm that she had taken some aggression out on only moments ago, he mentally kicked himself for letting her take control of the situation. He looked down the hall in the direction of where Amalia had just left and saw that the people were slowly beginning to thin out to the lower level for the late night live music and dancing that they offered on special nights. Thinking her words over, he ran his hand through his somewhat short and messy dark brown hair and let out a heavy sigh.

"Maybe she is right, I do need a few more drinks," he said aloud to himself.

With that he slowly walked in the same direction as Amalia had only a moment ago toward the slightly less crowded bar.

It had only been about ten minutes since Captain Vossler and Amalia's exchange before Vice noticed her walking confidently by herself out of the darkness of the corridor. Still puzzled by what had unfolded between the two earlier, he moved up out of his chair he had been occupying and headed in her direction to question her.

Amalia caught a sideways glimpse of someone walking straight for her and she turned her head to see Vice approaching her with a look of questionable concern. She knew he was going to ask her about her and Vossler's meeting and had to think of some excuse fast. When he finally reached her, she could see his expression was of true concern and let out a sharp sigh thinking back to what Vossler had told her about him, not seeing Vice show an ounce of it presently.

"Amalia, is everything alright?" he asked.

She shook her head and gave him a reassuring smile.

"What did Captain Azelas want?" Vice questioned knowing he was stepping over his bounds.

"Nothing really," she replied airily.

"That didn't look like nothing Amalia," he said in a stronger voice.

Laughing she replied," Really, it was nothing Vice. We just have an old score to settle that's all." She then quickly started to walk away from him to prevent any further scrutiny, but stopped and turned around to ask him if he wanted anything from the bar.

Feeling better and slightly refreshed from his brief rest, he took up on her offer and ordered another mug of ale but this time he asked for the house brew which was almost the same Dalmascan ale but had a few added ingredients that made it have a bit stronger flavor and more of an intoxicant than the other.

Amalia nodded her head in acknowledgement and then bounded in the direction of the bar in the corner once again.

While Vice waited for Amalia and his drink order to come back he caught a glimpse of the Captain as he walked out of the dark corridor that Amalia and him had previously had their argument in. Vice had noticed that the Captain was rubbing the upper portion of his left arm and was headed toward the stairway that led down to the now slightly crowded lower level of the tavern.

With curiosity, Vice followed the man a few paces behind, down the stairs and towards the substantially sized bar that occupied a big section of the lower level. Finally the Captain reached the bar top and before Vice could react he called over his shoulder, "What can I help you with soldier?" Vice jumped slightly at having been caught in his stalking and his muscles tensed up in anticipation for a verbal reprimand from him. He stared at his back and remained unmoved, Vice mentally batted back and forth his decision of whether to answer the man's question or to just say nothing at all and walk away. But before he could choose, the Captain turned completely around to look Vice in the eye and said, more as an order than a simple question, " Please, accompany me at the bar top."

"Yes sir," Vice replied back and quickly took up the bar stool that sat adjacent to him.

"What can I help you with Vice?" Vossler repeated his earlier question but voiced his name instead this time with a flat tone.

He thought of what he was doing there and why he had followed the Captain in the first place. He had barely heard a word of what he had been asked and in turn had answered back, "Hmm… uh.. well…"

"Is it about Amalia?" Vossler asked slowly. But before Vice could give a reply the bartender finally came to stand in front of the two men.

"What can I get for ya two soldiers tonight? We have some of the finest Dalmascan brews and spirits in Ivalice if ya care to try," stated the older burly and slightly grungy bartender on the other side of the wooden counter.

"Something strong," Vossler replied with a hint of distress in his voice.

"Well sir some of our spirits have quite the kick in a shot. What kind would ya have?"

"Doesn't matter, I'll take the strongest you have. Oh, and give a shot to my buddy next to me one too."

He watched the bartender scurry off to the back room storage cellar to find the drink that probably would be his fate tonight but he didn't care about that very much at the moment. Remembering that Vice still needed to answer his question he turned in his direction and implied once more, " It is isn't it?"

"Yes sir, it is," he answered not sure of how to continue.

Vossler nodded his head and with a sigh said, " I see, well it is of no great importance, so it would do you well to ease it from your mind."

"But how do you know her Captain Azelas?" Vice pushed on and chose not to heed his words.

He let out a defeated sigh," You can call me Vossler for tonight."

"Ok, Vossler, but how do you know Amalia?"

He thought for a minute to figure a way to word his statement without giving up any true information of her identity. " We both used to work in the palace for the King. She was a messenger of sorts for the King and Queen and because I was one of the Captains of the Dalmascan Order of Knights, I was constantly assigned to be her guardian when she would be sent to deliver confidential documents to the neighboring countries."

"But why the unhappy reunion? Amalia told me that you two had an old score to settle. What is that about?" Vice pushed further.

Vossler raised an eyebrow up in suspicion and questioned, "Oh so you've talked to her about the situation?"

"Well not really. When she came back I asked her if everything was alright and what had happened. My only reply that she gave me was that it was nothing really and that you two just had an old score to settle. That was all." Vice replied cautiously as he was unable to read the expression on Vossler's face at the moment. He nervously scratched the back of his head and awaited the storm that was surely brewing inside of the man at such talk of a sore topic.

"That was all huh?"

"Yes sir, nothing more."

"Surprising. She usually likes to run her mouth about everything when she is mad. I guess in the few years away from the castle has changed her for the better I hope."

"I guess so."

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a loud 'thud' sound on the counter top that caused both men to jump and quickly turned their heads in the direction of the offending noise.

"Here ya go gents! The strongest spirits in the tavern. Took me awhile to find it though since no one really orders the stuff. Most of the men in here can't stomach it, I must say," the bartender said as he had placed the bottle that contained the liquor down and then reached under the counter ledge only to return a couple seconds later with two shot glasses. He took the towel that was haphazardly strung to his belt and wiped out any particles of dirt that had happened to be in them and set them back onto the bar top. Then he picked up the bottle of spirits and poured the liquid into each glass with an experienced finesse The man set the bottle back down and then pushed the shot glasses toward the two men sitting there.

"Here ya goes. Drink up! I'll just leave the rest of the bottle here for ya not that I expect ya two to finish it. Good luck to ya both!" stated the bartender as he left to help the next customer that waited.

Vice picked up the tiny glass full of the foggy white liquid and held it up at eye level.

"Is this even safe to drink?" Vice questioned.

Vossler glanced at his own shot glass and then reached out to pick up the bottle that the bartender had left behind for them. "Well I would think so since they sell it in a public establishment." He examined the label on the back of the icy blue colored bottle and found what he was looking for. "Hmm, Ixion Revenge. Never heard of the stuff. Must be an exotic vintage import of some kind."

"Ixion Revenge?" Vice questioned as he slowly placed his shot glass back onto the bar top and looked over at the bottle that Vossler was deciphering the label on. "What's it made with? Acid and arsenic?"

Chuckling at his comment, Vossler replied, "No even though I thought that at first myself. It looks like it originates from the Ridorana Cataract in the Pharos region. It says that it was derived from the poisonous venom of the Mistmares and contains the last remnants of an elite beast known as Ixion."

He returned the light blue bottle back onto the bar top and moved his hand to grasp around the small shot glass again. He raised it up to his eye level and watched for a second the mild swirling of the strange thick hazy liquid.

"Here goes nothing, cheers," he relayed as he put the glass to his lips and quickly threw back his head to take down the shot of exotic flux.

Hastily Vossler slammed the glass back down and closed his eyes tightly at the stinging and burning sensation that was accompanying the elixir down his throat. Vice looked onward at his Captain's display and concernedly questioned, "Are you alright?"

The fierce sensations that occupied his mouth and throat dissipated just as quickly as they had started and Vossler was renewed with a slight sense of calm.

"I'm quite alright Vice. Now I do believe that it's your turn to try," he answered in an urging tone.

"I don't… think that…. I really should…" Vice replied uncertainly but was stopped short.

"You mean you are turning down a Captain's offered drink?! I thought I trained you better than that solider," he sternly stated back

"No that's not what I was implying sir… I was… its just… Ahh, hell! Here goes nothing," Vice gave up and quickly hammered back the liquid and repeated the actions of his Captain all the same.

"Wha… the…?!" He tried to ask but couldn't from the inferno that raged inside his throat. Vossler just laughed at his attempt and poured them each another round, sliding Vice's glass toward him only to see the man's eyes gone wide with shock.

"You heard the bartender, he said that we couldn't finish off this bottle by ourselves. I frankly would like to prove him wrong so drink up. Unless you are like your fairy friends and can't handle the strong stuff," he taunted.

Not wanting to be classified the same as his amateur buddies, Vice hurriedly grabbed the refilled shot glass that had been placed in front of him and downed it contents hungrily.

Meanwhile…

Somewhat frustrated, Amalia finally emerged from the still slightly crowded upper bar area with her requested drinks in hand. She hated how the bartender had treated her by consistently ignoring her until no other that stood at the bar had an order to give him and so was forced to take her drink order. In total she had waited about ten minutes. And within those ten minutes that she stood at the bar top, she had counted out of pure irritated boredom, the amount of times that she felt a hand cup or grab her ass, which consisted of about twenty times give or take a few for 'double dipping'.

"Damn this skirt," she muttered as she walked back to the stairway that she had last talked to Vice at realizing that he was no longer there. Confused, she scanned what was left of the people on the entire upper floor to not even find a small glimpse of him anywhere.

Becoming even more annoyed she took a mental break and decided to enjoy her fresh glass of strawberry-rita, downing about half of its cold contents in the process. Feeling slightly more refreshed she decided to continue her search for Vice on the now very crowded and becoming louder by the second, lower level. As she descended the stairway she noticed that there was now a band of musicians playing a salsa type style of music, which emitted an infectious beat that was threatening to take over her body. She loved to dance whenever she had the chance to do so freely. It was never allowed to samba, salsa, cha-cha or for that matter any kind of dance other than Dalmasca's and other nations' national promenade at the royal balls her family attended. She had learned the salsa and such other dances by looking out her balcony on some nights and watching some of the street urchins perform these dances beautifully in hopes of receiving some gil to get them by.

Slightly moving her hips to the beat, she continued her search and finally rested her eyes on two figures at the bar that she recognized, fraternizing to each other as they clanked together what looked like mini glasses filled with a fuzzy white liquid and then they quickly threw back their heads and downed the strange elixir only to then refill the small glasses again. As she got closer to them she happened to notice that the lightly blue colored bottle was just about under the halfway point so she came to the conclusion that the two had probably been there since she left Vice to get their drinks. She became mildly livid at the thought and as she approached the two she retorted, " I see how you are! Send me off on a wild goose chase while you are in turn having a grand old time without me!"

Vice and Vossler turned in unison to face the slightly agitated woman that had appeared behind them, but before any of them could speak, Amalia continued, "Oh, and I am glad to see that you actually took my advice for once," noticing that it was Vossler that was engaged in drinking the shots and not one of Vice's imps that he called 'friends'.

Looking confused, Vice sloppily drank down the newly poured shot and replaced it on the bar while Vossler laughed at his pour excuse of finesse.

"I guess I did take your advice," Vossler replied smugly as he gulped down his glass.

She set the mug of ale down in front of Vice and quickly drank down the remainder of her glass and placed it along side his and replied back in a warning tone, "Don't toy with me Vossler!"

Vossler laughed even harder as he looked over at Vice to witness his priceless reaction to Amalia's threat as the expression of fear was etched across his face.

"I think you scared him Amalia."

"Damn it Vossler!"

"Alright, settle down," he let out an amused sigh, "Yes, I took your advice and you were…right. I did need a few drinks and I feel much more relaxed now. So, I thank you."

With a triumphant grin she replied," You're welcome. That will be 295 gil please."

"295 gil? Hey now that's robbery! No woman's advice is worth that much!" Vossler complained in a joking fashion.

"Well I might cut you a deal since you're a 'friend of the family' kind of thing. Free of charge if you will escort me out onto the floor and dance with me," she compromised innocently to the man.

Suddenly Vossler realized that there was music playing in the background and people had started dancing in flow with the moderately fast tempo of the music. He cringed slightly as he remembered being dragged onto the training grounds in the middle of the night sometimes where no one could see or hear them as she used him as a dummy partner to practice the dances she had learned watching the street urchins. In turn though, he had actually had fun and at the same time learned a thing or two at how to execute the dance almost as flawlessly as she could.

"Well? What do you say?" she inquired, as he seemingly was lost in thought.

He hesitated, then quickly turned and poured a fresh helping into the shot glass and returned to his prior position facing her holding the glass out for her to take. She looked at the glass in his hand and then back at him and asked questionably, "What am I suppose to do with that?"

"Drink it," he replied flatly.

"For what purpose?"

"To make your offering a bit more… fair," he answered innocently knowing that she would challenge him.

"Make it more fair?! How is that making it more fair?"

"You take the shot, I'll dance with you," he grinned as he knew almost exactly what she was going to do.

"It doesn't work like that Vossler."

"Why is that Amalia? Are you to much of a weakling to handle it?" he still grinned as he saw the flash of fury that crept up into her eyes.

'My how the tables have turned,' he thought to himself as he watched her fume, which added to his amusement.

"Damn it Vossler," she huffed as she forcefully yanked the tiny glass of liquid out of his grasp and with out a second glance she tilted her head back and at the same time let the hazy flux flow down the back of her throat. Even though the concoction burned the inside of her mouth momentarily she didn't even flinch as she slammed the glass back onto the bar top and stared Vossler dead in the eyes. "Do you want me to show you that again? Just in case you didn't see that the first time," she pushed knowing he would do it just to see if it all blew up in her face.

He turned slightly and said, "Vice could you pour the lady another round, please."

Vice obeyed and refilled the glass to the brim and handed it back to Amalia where she hastily accepted it and repeated the previous act once more. She then looked back to Vossler but this time she was a bit calmer than before.

"I think you owe me a dance now," she said with a relaxed tone and smiled genuinely at him.

Not fully satisfied that she could actually handle the strongest spirits in the tavern, Vice poured another shot full and held it out to her and said, "I don't believe that you can just shrug this stuff off like its nothing but water! I'll admit that after six rounds of the stuff on top of whatever else I've had to drink is already too much for me. And it definitely would knock out any woman twice your size. So… I want to see you down this one unfazed and then I will be officially amazed."

Amalia gave Vice an annoyed look but accepted his challenge by taking the shot out of his fingers.

'What damage could just one more shot do?' she thought to herself as she raised the glass up in cheers to Vice and once again downed the funny liquid with no trouble at all. "There happy?" she questioned as she handed Vice the empty glass. Her only reply she got from him was, "Impressive."

"I take that as a yes. Good, now back to business," she stated as she turned toward Vossler but to only find that his seat was now empty and he stood directly in front of her merely inches from her body. He held out his hand to her and asked, "May I have this dance, m'lady?"

Amalia felt the heat that crept up into her cheeks as she slowly placed her petite hand into the slightly larger and stronger one of Vossler's, which in turn, gently clasped around hers and he guided her out into the mass of others that were dancing in rhythm to the music leaving Vice alone at the bar.

As the two walked away, Vice felt a pang of jealousy run through him as he saw Vossler steal away his opportunity that he had been working at all night, to be with Amalia. He then mentally shrugged off the notion and returned himself to the counter top to pour himself another shot of the liquor that he had quickly became immune to the after effects of.

Well... what do ya think? I'm tryin! Please drop me a review! XD