The Republic of Bastok
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic
By:
Chison
Smelling something in his sleep, Mareo began to sniff the air, slowly opening his eyes, looking around for the aroma. "What…" he started, "what's that smell?" Sitting up, he scanned his right, then his left, and saw Alena standing by the cliff side, with a long wooden pole. "Oh! Mareo, your awake, good; I've just caught some fish for breakfast." Slowly getting to his feet, Mareo wandered towards her, crossing the rest of the bridge towards the small fire. Three fish were skewered on small sticks positioned above the fire. Rubbing his eyes from the smoke, Mareo sat down in front of the fire, and Alena joined him, "I know that on your world that you probably did not have fish for breakfast, but that is all that's out here." "Oh, no." he responded, shaking his hands, "its all right. I've never actually had fish before…"
Alena raised her eyebrows in surprise, "really?" then a smile, "good, because the fish here in Gustaberg are said to be some of the best in the world…" with that, she took one of the fish from the fire, pulled it off the stick and handed it to him, "here, go ahead just take a bite." Mareo didn't need much coaxing, he was hungry from yesterday's battle, taking the fish in his hands, and he brought it to his mouth and chomped down on the scales. Finding they were tough, he gnawed at them, but found it much easier to pull them off the scales with his teeth. "Wow…I've never seen anyone take all of the scales off in just one try…" Alena said, and took one of the fish and did the same.
Finally getting to the muscle, Mareo took a bite, expecting a bitter taste; he was excited to find that it was juicy and tender. "Hey…" he said, stopping for a moment, "they are really good." Alena simply smiled as they continued to eat the fish. When they were finished, Mareo got up from the ground and stretched his arms, one back behind his head, and then he looked to Alena, "so Bastok is just right here right?" he said, "yes," she said pointing to a high ridge, "Bastok is right on top of there, and the path…" moving her hands from the ridge to another path, "is right there." Mareo smiled, "all right. Lets go." He said, stooping giving Alena his hand, she took it and he pulled her up to her feet and they started walking. Coming to the pathway, they started their ascent into the top Mareo started to see the buildings rise over him, "is that Bastok?" he pointed to the city bustling with people and Alena nodded her head, they continued on, passing through the tall city wall, Mareo noticed that the majority of the people had some amount of sod on them, and he turned to Alena, "the Galka, large intelligent Beastmen helped us in the Great War, and now they work in the mines of Bastok, mining for precious metals and jewels." He looked from her and towards the rest of the city, "oh…that would explain why everyone is covered in sod…from the mining and stuff…" Alena nodded, and she continued walking, leaving Mareo to catch up.
Coming into the more populated area of Bastok, Mareo was amazed at the technology that surrounded him, plumes of black smoke rose from various pipes from different buildings. "Wow…I never thought this world would have anything like this…after what I've seen…" Mareo said to himself, Alena took a step forward, "Bastok has always been known for its technological advances, the Humes crafting machines and the Galka getting the supplies from the mines…" "Wait…" Mareo stopped her and walked in front of her, holding up his right hand, "what exactly is a hume?" Alena laughed hard, and after catching her breath, she pointed to Mareo, "you are a hume. Your human, and don't have long ears, or tails like the Mithra or Galka." Mareo stepped backwards and Alena continued walking, however seeing a familiar flag, she stopped and pointed to it, "Mareo, that is the consulate of San d'Oria, I have to check in with the Princes and let them know about what has happened." With that, they started walking towards the building, entering it, Alena told Mareo to wait in one of the chairs, and she walked to the front counter. "I am Alena, bodyguard to Prince Pieuje, I wish to speak to him." The Elvaan woman behind the counter nodded her head, got up from the desk and had Alena follow her.
Mareo watched Alena as the left the room, and the door was shut behind her, and he sighed, "all right…we are making some progress… We are closer to finding the Abyss…but there are not too many heartless here…the only ones I've ever seen are the ones that attacked the castle and the ones on the way here…" Speaking to himself aloud, he smacked his forehead, "I should really stop talking to myself…" he thought to himself as he looked around the room, where various paintings of the city of San d'Oria hung on the walls. "I wonder what Alena is talking about with the Prince…"
Alena walked followed the woman, who stopped in front of a door and stepped to the right, and lifted her hands to the door, "Inside you will find a Linkshell that is for royalty only." Alena nodded, and the woman left, and she entered the room, finding a shell on a wooden table, with a chair, Alena shut the door behind her and sat down in the chair. "Prince Pieuje." She picked up the seashell and talked into it, waiting for a response, "Alena, please update me on the matter of the Key." the Prince's voice rang loud and clear, "Sir," she started, "the Key has shown no signs of being controlled by the Beastmen nor the God of Twilight." The room was silent for a moment, "has the Key engaged in any battles?"
She thought for a moment, "yes. There has been a single battle against the shadows that attacked the Chateau d'Oranguille." "And his performance?" the Prince asked, Alena shook her head, "his abilities are startling…for seemingly never handling a weapon, he has great potential." Silence filled the room again, "Prince…" Alena spoke up, "I have to admit…Spying on Mareo…I believe its wrong." "Alena. I realize your concern; however, if the Key were to fall into the wrong hands, they could spell the end of our, nay all worlds' end. We must make sure this does not happen. You know what you must do if it comes down to that."
Swallowing hard on the lump in her throat, Alena responded, "yes, Prince. I understand." With that, she set the seashell down, and started to walk out of the room, when she turned back to the Linkshell, "I don't understand the Prince's logic…if Mareo was willing to risk his life for a stranger, then how could he fall to simple Beastmen?" she thought to herself as she left the room, wandering back to where Mareo was now sleeping on the chair. Alena smiled, seeing him slumped over the hand rest she gently pushed his shoulder, "Mareo…wake up, I'm back." Opening his eyes, it took a moment for him to adjust, "oh, Alena, are we ready to go?" he asked, getting to his feet.
ALL RIGHT! My finals are officaly OVER. So that means more updates! HURRAY! all is right in the world when I write. and this is a special treat, because on this day in history, your believed author was born 22 years ago! So its kinda my birthday present to myself the joy of writing along with all of you reading my stuff. I just wanna take a moment and thank everyone who is still reading, that, when you guys leave reviews good or bad, they really make a difference, and I read ALL of them.
