"So…" Jules ventured. "you two weren't as close as it seemed."
"As close- she bloody ran off with my airship!" I sat in the middle of the open square, pulling my thick hair out, strand by golden strand. The shoebox had been promptly thrown across the clearing, its contents scattered on the cobblestones. No one dared pick it up though. No one needed a viera's shoe.
And I'd gotten beaten up again for it too! For a worthless heel!
I groaned loudly, and dropped my hands onto my legs. The sun was rising up from over the decrepit old buildings, casting a melancholy gray shadow over the pathetic city. It was even more depressing than it had been at night.
Jules walked to my side and patted me on the shoulder.
"Bucker up, chap. At least you're through with 'er!" I choked an invisible creature in my straining fists.
"I…needed that airship. And she spirited away with it like an Esper." I sighed heavily. "What to do now…?"
"Ye can get a new one?"
"Where the bloody hell would I find a new airship?" I cried. Jules backed away with a flinch.
"Aye. Ye probably can't get a new one from where you got that one." He guessed.
'No, I probably can't.' I thought, a vein appearing in my forehead.
"So, that's a no to Archades?" I shook my head.
"Can't go back there."
"And…you aren't wishing to stay in these slums for long, aye?"
"Aye." I replied, mocking his way of speech, though he was unaware of it.
"That's all fine then. Ye can take your leave through the Sochen Cave Palace." I rose my head from my knees, meeting his eyes skeptically. "Aye, it'll drop you out in the Tchita Uplands, and only a viera's hop away from the Phon Coast. There, ye could find a ship to take you wherever you say so."
"I didn't know there were any roads leaving Archades through the slums." I informed him. Jules shrugged.
"Aye, well, that's the point. It's a secret, and it's no road, Faymrin. 'Tis tunnels." Tunnels? I was not liking the sound of it. "See, it's…" Jules paused, watching the clouds intently as they passed overhead. I followed his gaze, making out a large airship heading into the city. It cast a long shadow over the already shady slums. "Hey, let's talk it over in my place over a hot cup of Corel Wine, eh?" Jules suddenly prompted, waving me away from the courtyard. I could almost feel my lips crack as he said it. I was parched. Hadn't had anything to drink since before I took of my Judge's armor.
I was relieved to get away from the streets before people started crawling out of their makeshift huts. Jules 'house' was better off, constructed into one of the more stable buildings. It was actually warm inside, and more importantly, well stocked with drinks.
The Balthier shot of Archadia was nothing compared to what Jules dished out. The drink instantly stung my eyes, a sign that even I wouldn't last long if I drank much more.
"So tell me about this tunnel. It takes you right out of Archadia?" Jules nodded, draining a second glass easily. I tried to hide my embarrassment by twirling the wine around in my fist.
"If you follow the Sochen Cave Palace, you'll end up in the deeps of the Uplands. The Uplands are dangerous, but getting to Phon Coast is a breath of fresh air after the Palace."
"Why is it called a Palace anyways?" I asked, pretending to take a sip more of the wine. Jules' dark eyes narrowed, and I froze in mid-sip.
"Because its home to a family of royals. A Queen and her loyal servants. They're quite the lively bunch. Dangerous to the bone though." He titled his glass, emptying it in one determined swig. "If they even have bones."
"I need to get out of here, no matter the cost." I assured him, staring through the red liquid stagnant in my glass.
"Can ye' fight?" Jules asked. I put the glass down.
"Somewhat. My…my physician taught me how to use a shotgun."
"Your doctor?" Jules laughed. "What kind of doctor?"
"A well rounded one." I clarified. "I can handle a few unruly beasts, if that's what you mean." Jules shook his head, amused.
"Got it. But I'd suggest stealth. There are some nasties down there." He sprung to his feet, striding over to a few hooks on the wall, draped with heavy leather pouches. "I can take you down to Phon Coast, since I'm expecting some deliveries there soon."
"You would come with me?" I clarified, awed at his offer. Jules slung one of the packs over his shoulder.
"Eh, why not? The monsters prefer to avoid groups. They like to single out one, you know?" No, I didn't. I nodded though, pretending I did, and finished the glass of wine.
"Besides," Jules continued, gesturing me to follow him back outside. "Somewhat isn't good enough to get you through there in one piece."
Jules was ready in minutes, obviously accustomed to undertaking such trips with little or no notice. He took the lead as usual, guiding me deep into the slums. Scrawny, barefoot children raced past us, laughing or coughing I was unsure, but they seemed excited. The passed by Jules with waves, and open-mouth stares at me.
I frowned at their rudeness, and my unfriendly gesture sent them off again.
"What are they so happy about?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Jules shrugged ahead of me.
"Kids don't need a reason to be happy, I guess. That'll go away in a few years though." I saw what he meant. More children, only a few years older than the ones who'd just raced past us, sat slouched against the walls, glaring at the streets as if it were mocking them.
"How is this place so…" I kept slowing down to look at the poverty surrounding me, but Jules continued to walk as if it were nothing. To him, I suppose it was. He lived among this. But to me…the only people I'd seen living in the streets were those awaiting the first showing of an acclaimed play, spending the night before the doors to ensure themselves the best seats.
I seemed to catch the eye of each child.
I wanted to leave here. Now.
"Why do these people live here if it's so awful?" I muttered, narrowly sidestepping a group of angry-looking men. Jules kept walking ahead of me, but he slowed.
"Not everyone has a choice to leave. These people you see are mostly here because it's where they were born. Can't get enough pine chops of gil to get into the real city, so they have to live here."
Dark, damp, and decrepit. No, not Old Archadia. Below it.
After taking a brief elevator ride down through an ancient shaft at the top of the cave, Jules led me into an even more depressing place then the sad excuse for a city above our heads. The wide shaft had a tunnel entrance at the bottom. An unearthly zephyr of air rushed out of it, casing the tunnel to moan softly. The hair on my neck rose up. Jules finished strapping a pair of guns to his belt, beside the all-use dagger.
"Aye, let's be off then." I swallowed, watering my suddenly dry throat.
"Aye."
And so we were off.
The recoil on the gun left a bruise on my shoulder after the first shot. I was holding it wrong, I guessed. Each shot after that, the cry of the gun firing was instantly followed by a shocked scream.
"Gaia, Fumron, you'll attract the monsters with all your whining!" Jules snapped, shaking his head. "I thought you said ye' knew how to use a shotgun?" I bit down hard on my lip, rubbing my hands over my shoulder quickly to ease the pain.
"I do know! It's just that I was shot!" I protested. "This recoil is killing me!" Jules shook his head, toting his own shotgun over his shoulder.
"Can't even aim right...?" he muttered.
"No- I didn't shoot myself! Someone shot me!"
"Are all royal boys this much of moogle-hides?" I gaped at him.
"Moogle-hide!" Then, I gasped again, and stopped following him down the tunnels. "Wait…You…you think I'm royalty?" Jules snorted in amusement.
"I know it. What kind of a normal boy has the name Famine?" he jeered.
"It's Ffamran!" I corrected.
"And the cloths." Jules noted, his eyes scanning up my dirty cotton vest. A more logical response. "Cotton like that is expensive. Leather boots even more." He turned away, tapping his gun on his back. "And what kind of street boy is such a whiner?" I was offended right away, then my dignity was replaced with a nagging anxiety.
"Aren't you curious why I've come down here then? If I'm royalty?" Jules shrugged again, uninterested.
"You already said- 'to get away, no matter the cost'. That's why, right?" I nodded unsurely. "Don't get your pom-pom in a knot. I'm no thief, not to you anyways, and no dog of the Empire either. I took you down here to show you the way to the Coast, is all. Though," He twirled on his heel to face me. "I do see you're carriyin' quite a few pine chops with you." I shouldered my knapsack closer. "You won't be needin' then where you're going, aye? Just dead weight out of this cave."
"Fair enough."
I had been careless.
No new cloths, no alias- nothing. I obviously looked well-off, and people could already have been looking for me. For Ffamran Mied Bunanasa, the runaway son of Doctor Cidolfus, and thief of the new airship model. And numerous other felonies that I was certain Judge Ghis would toss in.
I just ran into the hanger and flew off, not even with a functional craft. Then again, Fran could have been tricking me from the start...
My hand massaged me face.
Was I really so dense?
The tunnels were narrow, so Jules and I were forced to engage any creatures that blocked our path. Lucky for us though, only small, maneuverable beasts lurked in the tunnel ways. Winged Espers, and mutated sewer rats were the most common. After almost every monster fell, Jules was forced to toss a potion my way.
"How much further?" I panted, struggling to keep up with the more experienced traveler.
"Gaia, we've only just entered. Want to go back up do ye'?"
"No." I muttered, like a child who had been threatened with punishment for refusing to finish dinner.
Jules began to take shorter steps, slowing as the tunnel began to widen. He stopped a good few yards before it opened up into a spacious cavern. I made out the distant rumbling of a waterfall emptying into an underground pool, and I felt at peace despite myself. I walked up to Jules' side, then his hand lashed out and pulled me back behind him.
A wrenching cry echoed through the cave, followed by a massive thud against stone, and an instantaneous crack or something breaking.
I had a feeling this cave would not be as peaceful as I had hoped.
"What was that?" I whispered into Jules' ear. The man was still.
"Couple a beasties in a squarrel, is all. Better them fight each other than us." Jules darted out behind our cover and into the open space. I was not all for his plan, but my options were slim. I followed after him.
The monsters in the spacious caverns were obviously the 'nasties' that Jules had referred to. We steered clear of them by taking the longer, more precarious routs against the cave walls- paths that sometimes could be only as wide as our feet. There were massive, humanoid things lurking about in the open. Lacking a head, but made up for it with a large eye embedded in the upper part of their torso. Jules explained it was because their brains were in their gut, and their gut looked for things to kill. When they turned our way, Jules put his fingers on my shoulder, urging me to be still until they turned their unblinking eyes away.
Jules released my shirt, starting to inch his way along the narrow path again. I sighed, having held my breath as I was still, and started to follow him. My first step slipped. The path broke out underfoot, and the rest of my leg followed. I let out a startled yell, and Jules spun precariously and lunged for me. His hand snatched the collar of my shirt, choking me to a stop. I was dangling off the cave wall, yards from the cave floor. I scrabbled at the wall with my hands, trying to find a hold, but the dripping water made the wall sleek and smooth.
"Bloody damn!" Jules snapped above me. From my vintage point, I could see even better what had called for such colorful language. One of the creatures had heard us. It turned quickly, and instantly started lumbering towards us at an awkward, but urgent gait. "Go!" Jules ordered, and I felt his fingers slacken their hold.
"Ah-wait!" I slid roughly down the wall, but it had enough of a slanted angle to it that I didn't drop right to the floor as I'd imagined. I splashed in the collected water at the base, and rolled to a stop on the rough floor, just as Jules skidded down beside me. He tugged at my arms, already breaking into a run.
"Run! Ye hear me- run!" Even if he hadn't suggested it, I was more than willing to sprint alongside him.
Despite its unruly appearance, the Cyclops beast was only a notch slower than our fast run. And when in pursuit, it didn't mind to follow us into the tunnels. At first, I thought Jules was leading me back to the elevator to Old Archades, how the cave walls closed in like tunnels again. Our sprints became more strained as the tunnels began to incline upwards.
"Is it still following us!" I called.
"I'm not going to look!" He yelled back.
Suddenly I was blinded by a glaring light. My feet tangled together, and I tripped onto the ground, and instead of skidding painfully against the shard-like cave floor, I tumbled into a tuft of wild grass and heather. I squinted my eyes and looked over my shoulder.
Jules fired off a few loud shots into the gaping blackness of the tunnel, and the Cyclops monster screeched in pain.
"Back ye'! Yeah, go back to yer hole and stay there." Jules took me by the arm and heaved me to my feet. "Hm. Got a few scratches, but that won't mess up your pretty face." I pat his shoulder back, laughing weakly.
"Never been so scared in my life." I muttered. Jules flashed a smile.
"Bet ye never had as much fun either."
