Chapter III: Braska's Departure

The sun rose above the morning sky, bringing yet another ordinary day to a White Mage named Yuna. Just like every other day, she was on her way to the village to earn some extra money for her and her father Braska to live on. Braska mixed potions and ethers while his daughter Yuna casted curative White Magic as a living.

"Father, I'll be away for a while. I'll be back soon." Yuna called back to her father as she stepped out the door.

Yuna walked down to the center of the village to heal wounded people again. This has already become a daily routine that it was nothing new to her.

The discriminations and the criticisms of the other people were nothing new either. Yuna was often mocked to be crazy enough to heal the poor for free, just like her father who is crazy enough to go mixing potions and ethers and just going around in circles...

Yet she was respected by some of the people, but it wasn't enough.

Even worse, she was always mistaken to be flipped out. Who would want to just sing at the sunset anyway?

There were times when Yuna just wanted to run home and cry to her father, but she knows that she must stand up and just get over it. White Magic was their only pillar to hold on to for a living...

Yuna's life was nearing to a crisis. But one man was there to make it even worse, and that one man's name was Seymour.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­One quiet afternoon, Yuna had to spend another day being teased and tormented. The day just flowed by normally as she sat by the fountain just staring off into her farthest thoughts.

At the same time, someone was also staring at the young White Mage sitting by the fountain. Seymour was also a spellcaster both excellent in White and Black Magic. His skills in White Magic surpass even that of Braska's. As an added advantage, he could also use the staff very well.

He was watching Yuna with much interest that he just wouldn't take away his eyes from her.

Standing beside him was Giera, his most loyal and obnoxious minion. Like Seymour, he's a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to magic but he was only less than half as skilled as his master.

"Hey boss!" Giera said. "You've been looking at that woman for more than half an hour now!"

"I know, Giera." Seymour answered back. He was casting a quick Firaspell in hopes to catch Yuna's attention. "She's undoubtedly the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

"Then why don't you make your moves on her now, boss?" Giera said, grinning broadly. "You might get lucky that she might not turn you down this time."

Giera was correct, at some point. In all of Seymour's attempts to entice Yuna, all of them were failures, but Seymour wasn't determined to give up yet.

Seymour was outrageously popular among the village girls...popular to all the girls except Yuna.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Yuna just sat there by the fountain enjoying some peaceful time to herself. She was again thinking about how different things will be if she and her father lived in another village. Everything seemed so quiet until Seymour came walking towards her wearing a conceited grin.

"Him again..." Yuna thought to herself unhappily. "When will he ever give up?"

Seymour, without asking, sat himself on the edges of the fountain beside her. Yuna tried not to look at him straight in his eyes.

"You seem alone, Yuna." Seymour said.

"Oh! Um, hi Seymour." Yuna slowly and quietly replied. "W-What brings you here...on a day like this...?" She spoke hesitantly. She was gradually feeling more and more uncomfortable with Seymour's presence.

"So Yuna," Seymour said as he began to put his arm around Yuna's shoulders. Surprisingly he could not feel Yuna shudder from his touch. "How would you like to go out with me and have a walk around the village?"

Seymour's arm was slowly tightening itself around Yuna. Yuna wanted nothing but to free herself from his malicious embrace.

"I-I'm sorry Seymour, but I..." Yuna spoke but did not finish. "I..." She hesitated as she struggled to invent an excuse.

Miraculously, Seymour released his hold around her and looked at her skeptically. "And why not?"

"I...I still have to go to the cliff!" Yuna answered hurriedly in hopes to run away from Seymour.

She was about to turn around and run away but Giera insolently stepped forward and seized her by her arm.

"The cliff!?" Giera screamed in disbelief. "Why would you want to spend your time in that dull place anyway when you could just spend it with my boss?"

"I-I'm really sorry Giera, but-"

But still Giera persisted and held a firm grip around Yuna's arm. He then forcefully pulled Yuna closer, slowly twisting her arm behind her.

"Stop it! Let go of me!" Yuna pleaded, but Giera still held her firmly without any intention of letting go.

"Say you'll go out with my boss." He threateningly whispered. Yuna could feel his hand around her blaze as hot as fire. "If you don't then watch out. I'm going to cast a Firaspell on that pretty face of yours."

Yuna's heartbeat quickened as Giera's hand felt as if it was on fire. She knew she had to do something to free herself. There must be something she could do.

"Stubborn, aren't you? Okay, you asked for it!"

Giera immediately released Yuna and raised his flaming hands.

"Fira!"

Flames shout of Giera's hands and fired themselves towards the defenseless White Mage-

"Reflect!"

-who just in time casted a Reflect spell, an essential kind of White Magic that reflects the spell back against the user. The burning flames that Giera emitted were deflected the moment they surrounded Yuna.

The flames began to surround Giera and brought him into a fiery pain.

"OW!" Giera screamed as the flames continued to scorch his skin. "Boss! Cast Watergaon me!"

"FOOL!" Seymour yelled at his minion. "How can you just let he get away even if she can't cast offensive magic!?" He raised his hands and swirls of water began to form around them. "Waterga"

The flames were slowly put away by Seymour's powerful Waterga spell. Giera got to his feet without delay and started casting a Thundara spell as bolts of lightning arbitrarily struck their surroundings.

"Where'd she go, boss?"

"She has already escaped, you maggot." Seymour said, his voice hinted with anger. Sparks of electricity flashed around his hands. Giera will just have to watch out for a Thundaga spell next...

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­"Yuna. You're home late." Braska welcomed his daughter with open arms. "Where have you been? Did you earn enough?"

"Only a little, Father." Yuna replied as she hugged her father back. "I'm sorry I worried you. It'll never happen again."

Braska then let go of his daughter and patted her on the head. "Did anything happen? Or was Seymour trying to get you go out on a date with him?"

Yuna giggled as Braska began to ruffle up her hair.

The only thing that Yuna was happy about in her life was her father. She loved her father so much that he was like her light that shines within even the deepest darkness. Without her father, Yuna would face her life abandoned and alone...

"That Seymour..." Braska said as Yuna fixed her hair that he ruffled up. "Doesn't give up, does he?"

"I know, Father." Yuna replied rather heavily. "I barely just got away a while ago. Giera even threatened me to go out with him." She then showed her arm to her father which had a small burn on it. "He did this to me..."

"Yuna!" Braska immediately rushed forward and checked his daughter's arm. "How could he do this to you? Does it hurt?"

Yuna then ignored the pain and looked at her father sweetly. "Only a little, father. I can take care of it."

"No, let me do it." Braska gently laid a hand on Yuna's burn and muttered some enchantments.

"Cure."

The burn mark magically vanished as a gentle white light generated from Braska's hands. "That should take care of it." Braska said as he kissed his daughter on her forehead. "Just ignore him the next time you see him."

Yuna and Braska again hugged each other like a father and daughter would.

Some moments later, as Yuna was sweeping the living room...

BOOM!!!

...an explosion took place.

"Father!"

Yuna rushed to her father's workshop and quickly opened the door. Thick purple smoke came out of the room followed by Braska's coughing noises.

"Father! Are you alright?" Yuna called out while trying to fan the smoke away.

"I'm alright, Yuna." Braska replied after giving out some hard coughs.

Yuna then knelt down and helped her father get to his feet. "Days ago it was pink and the day after that it was orange smoke shaped like a dandelion. That's already the third explosion this week. What have you been working on lately?" She asked curiously.

It took at least a good half hour for the strange purple smoke to clear away...

"Finally! It's finished!" Braska said, holding a small vial containing a sky-blue colored liquid. "This new liquid remedy will work. I'm going to call it the Vitalixir. It's reasonably an enhanced mixture of a Megalixir, except that it will also heal ailments like poison and petrification."

Braska now stood up from his chair and brought Yuna into a fatherly hug. "This will be the end of all our problems, Yuna. Tomorrow, I'm going to a nearby settlement called Bevelle. There I'll sell this Vitalixir. With any luck, I'll be able to trade this for a reasonable amount of gil. Once we do, you and I are leaving this village for good and we'll begin a new life there in Bevelle."

Yuna just couldn't believe what her father just said. Finally, they were traveling to Bevelle. No more criticism, no more discrimination and most of all, no more Seymour...

"Of course you're Vitalixir will sell." Yuna said, giving her father a loving hug. "You're the best White Mage I've ever known, father..."

Braska just smiled affectionately and stroke his daughter's hair. "I know, Yuna. You're also the best White Mage I've ever trained. After all, you are my daughter.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The next morning before the rising sun.

Braska drew out their steed Chocobo named Choco and loaded him with rations and supplies. He was now prepared for his journey to Bevelle. Yuna was still in the kitchen making some sandwiches for her father's trip. After she was done, Yuna stepped out of their cottage and ran to her father.

"Father, take this." She said as she handed him the sandwiches. "Where is this settlement called Bevelle anyway?"

Braska then led Yuna towards the cliff where she usually sang.

"See that forest over there?" Braska said, pointing towards a thick cluster of trees. "The city is located at the opposite end of that dark forest. All I need to do is to cross that forest on Chocobo."

Braska faced his daughter and stroke her face.

"You'll be back soon, right?" Yuna asked.

"I'll be back, Yuna. And I promise that once I return, I'm going to begin a new life for the both of us."

Yuna smiled happily at her father and threw her arms around his neck.

"I love you, father."

"I love you too, Yuna."

Braska left for Bevelle at last...not knowing that fate and destiny will lead him to a hollow bastion standing in the dark forest, where the sun didn't blaze a ray of light.