Chapter 13: The Center of Trade

"I'll take Arietta on to Daath." The Commandant's voice barely rose above the hustle and bustle that was Chesedonia at midday. Hundreds of people filled the desert streets, coming and going, completely oblivious to the most recent group of newcomers. Tourists were hardly out of the ordinary in such a widely known center of commerce.

"Thank you Van," Ion replied, "Could you see to it that a court inquiry date is set for her as well?"

"Certainly Fon Master, shall I have it be for after your return?"

"If you could, that would be for the best."

"Then I'll see that it's done before coming to meet you in Baticul." Without another word, Van and his small entourage of Oracle Knights boarded the ship to Daath.

Stupid Commandant. Everyone watched him go in silence. In spite of their best efforts, not one of them had managed to track him down or corner him during the entire duration of the trip. In fact, that was the most they'd seen of him in three whole days. Then again, it wasn't the only new thing they were witnessing; Luke and Asch were standing within five feet of each other. They hadn't seen that in two whole days either. As good as they were at finding each other; they were as freakishly good at avoiding each other. Their paths hadn't crossed even once. The boat wasn't that big. Whatever it was they had been yelling about had them awfully mad. Not that Anise really minded of course, one less person to compete for Asch's attention.

Not that she'd really seen much of Asch during the trip either. He pretty much stuck to his room and wasn't much one for conversation, especially if the topic involved himself in any way. Luke on the other hand had been lots of fun to talk to. She had gotten to know him a lot better over the past few days, and it turned out he was a pretty nice guy... for a noble. They'd had lots of interesting conversations and Luke wasn't anywhere near as uptight as his older brother was. Oh, this wasn't any good! Now she was wondering which one she liked better!

"Well then," the Colonel spoke up, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Shall we be going? We won't get anything accomplished just standing around here."

"Yeah," Guy agreed. "I'd still like to get this fon disc checked out."

"Why don't we go visit Astor then?" Ion suggested, "If anyone around here has the resources to analyze that fon disc, it would have to be him."

"So who exactly is this Astor person?" Luke inquired.

"He's the head merchant and leader of Chesedonia." Tear replied.

"Chesedonia has its own leader?"

"Chesedonia is built on the border between Malkuth and Kimlasca and thrives as a trading center. It was declared an autonomous state by Daath so it's separate from either country. Chesedonia contributes large sums of money to Daath, and Daath defends it as its own self-governed state. Learn to read moron," Asch shot.

"I wasn't asking you!" Luke yelled back.

"Now, now boys," a female voice intervened. "Two men as handsome as you shouldn't be fighting."

The lady walked up to Luke, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. She was dressed in a grey cloak that was a bit tattered, but made of a light material. Under the hood that she kept pulled up, hid a head of vibrant pink hair and a pair of pink eyes that she bat periodically as she very obviously came onto the young noble.

Her interest was short lived, and she made her way over to his twin. "My, my, it must be my lucky day." She grinned as she seductively circled Asch, the same way she had circled Luke only seconds earlier. Unlike Luke who was still several shades of red from the unexpected flirt, Asch kept a serious look, his gaze never leaving the woman.

Anise was biting her lip. It would be unlady like to just burst out in public, but just what did that old hag think she was doing? "Hey!" She finally yelled; keeping her temper in check had never been one of her strong points anyway. "Get your hands off him!"

"Oh what's this? Jealous are we, little girl? Can't say I blame you, he is quite a catch. But it's time for you to leave the grownups alone now," the lady taunted.

"I think that's enough," Tear interjected. "We have important business to attend to, as I imagine you do as well," she managed in the most threatening voice that she could.

"Two against one huh? That's hardly fair," she replied, but backed off none-the-less. "Have a wonderful stay," she winked at the boys "I'm sure fate will allow us to meet again someday."

"Wait!" Tear yelled as the lady began to walk away.

"Oh?" she turned around. "Having second thoughts? I'm not usually one for that kind of thing, but…"

"How about before you leave, you return their wallets?" Jade finally provided as Tear fought through stuttering, having already turned purple in a mix of fury and embarrassment.

The lady's smile became a devilish smirk, "Or how about I don't?" She reacted quicker than any normal civilian could have, ripping off her cloak, which took the hit from both Tear's knife and Jade's spear. By the time the dust had settled she was gone.

"Hah! That's what you get for messing with Noir of the Dark Wings!" The lady reappeared a moment later on the roof of a nearby stall, just out of reach of any potential strike.

"The Dark Wings? You're those bandits we heard about!" Luke cried in outrage.

"Some bandits you are," Asch's sarcastic comment silenced Noir's laughing.

"You sure talk tough for someone who was just outplayed," Noir taunted.

"Outplayed? Who was outplayed?" Asch taunted back, revealing his own wallet in his hand.

"Why you-" Noir fumed from her spot on the rooftop.

"Oh and look at this." Asch continued pulling out Luke's wallet as well.

"What?" Noir yelled in outrage, gathering the attention of some of the nearby civilians.

"Of course, we couldn't have such a memorable encounter and not have a souvenir," Asch finished revealing his third prize: Noir's own wallet, filled with her loot from the day.

Noir couldn't even speak she was so angry at being outsmarted and out conned by her latest victims. Asch continued to dangle the wallet tauntingly, nothing short of an evil grin gracing his face.

"How dare you do that to our boss!" Two men appeared at Noir's side, completing the 'two men and a woman' that Tear had heard of from the coachman in Tataroo Valley. Standing together, the three of them looked more like a circus troupe than any bandits she had ever seen.

"You'll regret messing with us!" The other man shouted, "You may have gotten the better of us today, but we'll get you back ten times over!" Their threat echoing in the plaza that had fallen silent in light of the commotion, save for a few local authorities making their way through the crowd. By the time they reached the source, the Dark Wings were already gone.

"Thank you," Jade said as he finished answering the officer's inquiries about their encounter. "Also could you point us in the direction of Astor's manor?"

Rather than answer, the officer was carefully peeking over Jade's shoulder at the scene behind him. "Umm… are those two going to be alright?" Jade looked over his shoulder.

"Give me back my wallet!" Luke yelled jumping at the leather pouch in Asch's hand.

"Give me one good reason to. If it wasn't for me you would have had it stolen anyways!" Asch sidestepped his sibling's attempt, leaving the younger redhead to crash on the street.

"You jerk!"

"Better that than stupid!"

"They'll be fine," Jade replied.

"Fon Master!" Astor greeted Ion with open arms, offering him and his guests a place to sit and a variety of refreshments. An offer they all gratefully took him up on. The juice, squeezed from the rare desert fruits, bore a flavour that exploded in their mouths while offering a welcome reprieve from the dryness of the harsh environment. Mieu in particular enjoyed the fresh vegetables that Astor provided, having found few things to his liking while out at sea.

The room in which they had settled was lavishly decorated with cloth and tapestries from all corners of Auldrant. Many forms of art could be found all over the interior of the manor, with many plants and flowers decorating the grounds. The colour and life of the manor made it a stark contrast to its desert backdrop. The officer hadn't exaggerated when he had told them 'you can't miss it.'

"If I had known you were coming I would have prepared something much grander and more befitting your stay here," Astor commented when everyone had finished their drinks and snacks.

"This is more than enough," Ion replied, "Besides, we're trying to keep a bit of a low profile."

"I see. So what brings you here then?"

"One of my friends has a request of you, if you could assist him?"

"Certainly, I'd be more than happy to," Astor answered with an astounding amount of vigour, and a rather annoying laugh. "So what is it you need?"

"It's this fon disk," Guy spoke up, passing Astor the disk in question. "If possible, we'd like to see what's on it."

"Hmm," Astor held the disk up to the light before clapping his hands. "What do you think?" he asked, passing the disk to the man who had answered his summons.

"It seems to be slightly damaged, but it should still be capable of functioning. It may take a bit longer than usual to analyze though." The man replied.

"Alright, then begin right away."

"Sir." The man quickly departed from their company.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like its going to be awhile. Could you give us until morning?"

"That's fine." Jade replied, "Our ship doesn't depart until tomorrow morning anyway."

"Good! Then I will see you all in the morning. Would you like me to get someone to show you the way out?"

"No thank you," Tear replied standing up from the rather comfortable couch on which she had been sitting. "We can find the way ourselves, there's no need to trouble your staff."

"Yes, we'll let ourselves out if you don't mind." Ion agreed, also getting up, the rest of the group not far behind him. "We'll stop by in the morning then."

"I'll make sure everything is ready." Astor replied with another spurt of laughter.

"Thank you."

By the time they had found their way out of the manor, the sun was already beginning to set. Granted it had been midday when they had arrived, apparently Astor's manor wasn't the only site they 'couldn't miss' and they had seen their share of Chesedonia's sights before making their way to Astor's manor.

Luke had finally managed to get his wallet back, but not before making a huge scene in the middle of the city, and needless to say, relations between the two brothers weren't any better because of it. They now refused to talk to each other, which, despite how much Tear really hoped they'd make up soon, for the time being was a good thing. Their constant bickering was trying even her patience.

The walk to the inn was silent, and very awkward to say the least. No one said a word, not even Ion, who was the only one who had yet to give up on trying to get the boys to reconcile. The inn was modest, nothing like the extravagant manor in which they had been moments ago, but the rooms were a fair rate and big enough that they would only need two of them to sleep the entire group.

Just as silently everyone made their way up the stairs to the rooms they had been given. Luke and Asch instinctively reached for the same door handle. They froze, and their eyes met. Looking at each other for a moment, they simultaneously scoffed and turned away. They stood with their arms crossed looking away from the other and then at the same time, stomped off into separate rooms, slamming the doors behind them in one loud crash. As terrible as it was, Tear had to hold back a small laugh; even as mad as they were, they were still completely in sync.

"That went well," Jade commented after an awkward silence.

"Were we even watching the same people?" Anise shot back.

"I'm getting worried," Ion admitted. "They've been fighting for almost four days now."

"That's true," Tear agreed. "I wonder if they've ever fought like this before. I mean, maybe they just don't know how to apologize to each other."

"Now I know that's not the case," Guy said with a chuckle.

"Oh? They've fought before then?" Ion inquired.

"Well yeah, of course." Guy provided, "I mean, they're really close and all, but they're still brothers. Though I have to admit, half the time they've fought and made up before anyone's the wiser."

"But not this time."

"No, this is one of the biggest fights they've had in awhile."

"Yeah," Anise spoke up, the sound of the doors slamming still ringing in her ears, "They're both really mad."

"I don't like it when Master fights." Mieu contributed. "He gets all sad when he's by himself. I don't like it at all."

"They'll make up eventually," Guy shrugged. "I've found the best way of dealing with it is not to get involved."

"But you're Luke's servant aren't you?" Anise asked. "How can you let it go on like that?"

"Actually," Tear cut in, "I've wanted to ask you about that for awhile now. If you're Luke's attendant, then where is Asch's? I would have thought he would have accompanied Asch from the start but we still should have met up with him by now."

"That's true, it should be his attendant's responsibility to accompany him and ensure his safety and wellbeing. We should have met them by now." Jade added tauntingly, clearly already knowing the answer.

"Actually," Guy shifted uncomfortably, "I technically answer to both Luke and Asch."

"Oh I get it; you work for both of them," Anise piped up, "So then why do you introduce yourself as Luke's attendant?"

"I was originally assigned to Luke," Guy explained. "Asch refused to have an attendant of his own so I was assigned to him as more of a formality than anything. Luke was always been the one that needed help with things. Asch is more the independent type, so I always end up spending more time with Luke than with Asch."

"That's good. I was starting to think you had something against him," Anise replied. "You know what?" She giggled. "I bet you Asch is just jealous."

"Jealous?" Tear inquired. "Why would Asch be jealous?"

"Well you heard him. He just said he spends more time with Luke than Asch. I bet Asch is jealous!"

"That would make sense." Tear agreed.

"I really don't think that's it," Guy replied nervously.

"Well, now that that's all settled, all that's left is a bit of organizing, and we can be off to bed," Jade interjected.

"Colonel, what do you mean by organizing?"

"Why sleeping arrangements of course. With our twins here refusing to stay in the same room as each other, we'll have to reorganize who gets to sleep with whom."

Everyone simple stared at Jade. Could he possibly have made that sound any creepier?

"I don't think I should sleep in the same room as Asch." Guy spoke up.

"I'm in the same room as Ion!" Anise demanded. "And I want to sleep tonight, not listen to you and Asch have another one of your sarcasm wars," she added, her eyes fixed on Jade. "So you can sleep in Luke's room."

"Are you sure you don't want me to tuck you in? I could tell you some lovely bedtime stories," Jade replied tauntingly.

"I'll pass on the nightmares thanks."

"Oh I get it; you just want to spend the night with Asch uninterrupted," Jade continued in his creepy voice. "That's fine I suppose, Tear, you can sleep in the room with us."

"What? But Colonel!" Tear protested.

"Yeah. Come on Jade!" Guy was already shaking at just the thought of sleeping that close to a girl. He'd gotten a peak in the room when Luke had opened the door. The beds weren't nearly far enough apart for his sanity to remain intact.

Anise turned beet red and was positively fuming at being made fun of. "No way. Tear comes with us!" she finally managed.

"It's far too late to be changing sleeping arrangements now," Jade let out a fake yawn. "It's time we all went to bed." Jade finished as he let himself in Luke's room and closed the door behind him.

"That stupid, stuck up-" Anise stuck her tongue out at the closed door. "So what do you wanna do Tear? You're welcome to come sleep in the other room with us."

"I think I'll be okay," Tear replied, unable to hold back the blush she knew must be on her face. "We'll never hear the end of it from Jade otherwise."

"That's true. Well as long as you don't mind, it's okay I guess. Good night Tear."

"Yes, sleep well," Ion added as Anise dragged him into the other room.

"Good night you two," Tear said softly as she entered her appointed room, leaving Guy alone in the hall.

"Hey… What about me?"

Asch quietly opened the door and slipped out, carefully closing it behind him. It had been his luck that the old man had ended up sleeping in the other room; it would make this a whole lot easier. He had something important he wanted to tend to, something he knew no one else would understand, and that he didn't have the time or the patience to explain. Careful not to wake any of the other guests, he silently snuck downstairs, and slipped outside into the night.

Luke rolled over in his bed. Where the hell was Asch going at this time of night anyways? Luke pulled the blankets up over his head. What was so important that he couldn't wait until morning? Whatever. Luke buried his head further into his pillow. Normally, he'd get up and follow. It was habit... his responsibility, if only just to make sure Asch was safe.

Don't give me crap about responsibilities when you don't even have a future!

But for the first time in his life, Luke just couldn't be bothered. So he rolled over in his bed, and went back to sleep.

"I'm sorry to say but, we only managed to recover a small amount of data," Astor announced once everyone was settled. Asch was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Whatever he had snuck off to do must have kept him out for quite awhile. Luke knew it took a lot of sleep deprivation for his wayward original to start showing it. Oh well, serves him right for sneaking out to Score knows where all night.

"What was the problem?" Guy asked.

"Well, it seems the fon disk was handled a bit roughly and it's more damaged than we thought. We succeeded in gathering small amounts of information here and there, but it's scattered, and almost impossible to make sense of."

Luke had to be careful not to be too overt with his signs of relief. He realized he should have felt bad, Guy was so disappointed, but that was the last thing he wanted anyone to be finding out about him.

"Here," Astor handed Guy a small bunch of papers. "This is what we managed to recover."

"Thanks," Guy accepted them along with the fon disk. "Not to be rude or anything, but we'd probably better get going if we're going to catch the ferry."

"Guy's right," Ion agreed. "Thank you very much for all your hard work."

"It was my pleasure Fon Master. We shall have to arrange a longer stay for you next time."

"Yes, we shall, sometime soon."

"I'll look forward to the next time you're in the neighbourhood. Feel free to stop by! And that goes for all of you, not just the Fon Master."

"Oh boy!" Anise piped up!

"She'll be moving in next week," Luke offered sarcastically.

"Quiet you." Anise playfully glared at Luke who returned the gesture by sticking his tongue out.

"Alright, alright, enough, let's just go," Asch said suppressing another yawn.

"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Luke muttered under his breath.

"Says the one we had to send Guy to drag out of bed this morning," Asch shot back.

"Yes because you would know, considering all that quality time you and Guy spend together."

"Enough you two!" Tear snapped, cutting of the impending argument. "You want to fight fine, but this isn't the time or the place for it. Save it for the ship where the rest of us don't have to listen to you!" The whole room fell silent.

"Yes ma'am."

Chesedonia wasn't quite as busy early in the morning as it had been at midday the day before, but most of the peddlers had already lined the streets, laying out their wares for the people that the afternoon would undoubtedly bring. There really wasn't any excuse as to why they hadn't seen it coming.

Sync flew through the streets, nothing but a sudden breeze to those he passed, completely invisible until he slowed for his attack on the group. Fools, they should know better than to let their guard down like that. Oh well, far be it from him to pass up such an inviting opportunity. The one he was after, the blond, also held the prize he sought. How utterly convenient. This was just too easy! He reached out, and struck.

Guy reacted at the last second, turning away from his attacker. He hadn't been quick enough to evade the attack entirely, but with his reflexes, he had been able to move in such a way that the attack only grazed his arm. Unfortunately for Guy, it hadn't been a normal attack.

Although Sync's hand had only grazed the side of his arm, the strike caused Guy to cry out. A burning pain flew up his arm, like a hot knife carving the glyph into his skin, dropping him to his knees.

Sync spun around, upset at having missed his second target: the papers in the blond's other hand. "Hand those over!"

"We can't fight here," Jade proclaimed, "Hurry, to the ship!"

"Guy!" Luke ran to his best friend's side. "Are you okay to go?"

"Yeah," Guy accepted Luke's help to stand up.

"Not so fast!" Sync struck again, but this time they managed to sidestep his strike.

"Come on Luke, let's go."

"Yeah," Luke and Guy hurried after everyone else towards the Kimlasca port while Sync was still recovering from his failed attempt.

"Hmph." Sync stood up, brushing the dust from his uniform and carefully adjusting his mask. Several of the citizens had stopped to watch the commotion, but they eventually lost interest in the green-haired boy, and returned to their business.

Sync stood there awhile longer, until he could see the ferry departing in the distance. Any further pursuit of them would be futile. He twirled the fon disk he had made them drop around his finger. It was pretty damaged; he doubted they got any pertinent information from it. That was just as well. It saved him the time and effort of collecting the papers that the group had managed to hang onto.

As for his other objective, everything had gone just as planned. He had his curse slot laid, his extra leverage ready for the next time they should meet. With the one they called 'Guy' as his puppet; he could only hope that that time would be soon.