(The scene opens up on what appears to be the lobby of the Clan Highwind HQ. Atop the pair of staircases on opposite sides of the room, tables could be seen in the back of the lobby's second floor, visible from a balcony. At one of the tables, Gantz could be seen sitting with his girlfriend Rosaline, as he appeared to use his tablet to post something up.)
Me: Hello one and all! I welcome you all to the newest chapter of Journals of Clan Highwind! I'll spare you with the apologies at how long this took me to finish, and how long it should've taken since this chapter was pre-written before hand. Let's just say some stuff got in the way, and I had to handle it. There was college to consider after all.
Rosaline: Hm? (Looks around.) Who are you talking to Gantz? I don't see anyone around...
Me: It's called adressing the audience Rose. (Shrugs.) Some breaking the fourth wall is required for it.
Rosaline: Breaking the Fourth Wall? (Thinks.) Do you mean we're in the middle of one of those chapter introductions you always did, back when?
Me: Yep. (Chuckles as he motions out.) Go ahead Rose, say hello to the general public.
Rosaline: I don't know... I still don't know who it is I'm talking to...
Me: Ah, don't worry, you'll get it. In the meantime, (Looks to the audience.) Hope you all enjoy the chapter! I put a lot of work in to it!
Prologue Part 3; The Journey to Camoa
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"INSUBORDINATE CHILD..."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"HEY GANTZZZ! WAKE UP KID WE'RE GETTING READY TO GO!"
Gantz jumped awake when he heard the loud knocks followed quickly by the loud yells. "GACK!" Looking around, Gantz found himself in his room; a sparsely decorated room with a few photos hanging on the walls, a decorative sword or two, and a bookshelf with a collection of old looking tomes and rune-filled books. Looking sleepily to his door, Gantz heard the vague sound of a pair of boots stomping off having said that... He figured it was Lukino given the hiss...
For a second, the young paladin continued to sit on his bed, drifting in and out of consciousness and generally looking half asleep. After taking another moment to regain his bearings, since he was vaguely sure that dream took place in a cave (Hey he wasn't sure, it just looked like someplace dark), he crawled out of bed and collected his paladin wear from around the room. "Mrrmmmmmmmm... Today's the day..." The kid muttered to himself, as he went on to change his robes.
Once he was done, and was much more awake now then he was earlier, he turned on the magic powered lights for his room and rushed to grab his backpack which was now filled with his supplies for the trip. Generally that's what Gantz had spent the rest of the previous night; packing his bag before rushing to the stables to help the other clan members hitch up the carts and the chocobos to get ready for the trip to Camoa. It would take four days to reach there, provided no monsters or bandits attacked and delayed them.
Exactly why Gantz's most trusted sword, the 'Eclipse' was stored in a sheathe that was tied to the young warriors belt.
Once Gantz slung the bag over his shoulders, fitting his arms through the straps, he adusted the strap that tied on the sheathe, and ran to the door...
However a mirror caught his attention, showing the young man the state of his hair. Really it was the usual, a complete rat's nest, but honestly, Gantz had little time to visit the resident bath house to fix it up. Despite the thought however, Gantz frowned before he licked his hand and tried to flatten the mess, to no real avail. Not detered however, Gantz grabbed his turban from a nearby wall post and slapped it on his head. "There." Grinning, he adjusted his bangs and pushed a bit of his somewhat long hair behind his ears. As he did this, he couldn't help but chuckle wondering how his mom back in the real world would react if she saw him now. Used to, he always kept it short. Now...
Well, funny thing, life was.
When the paladin finally made it down the steps and into the lobby he found Jarvis eating up what appeared to be a type of jerky, ripping a small amount of the tough meat off the main strip. After a second of chewing, he turned to Gantz, swallowing after a moment. "Ah there's Snort Mr Daredevil now."
"Mornin Jarves." Gantz greeted back casually. "Did I miss anything?"
Jarvis shrugged before pointing to the front door of the HQ. "Well, snort Issac and Luk pulled the caravan carts out front not too snort! long ago." He seemed to take notice of Gantz's backpack as he said that. "We all put our bags in the lead cart. Our lead chocobo Crusher is Snort guarding it."
A chuckle escaped Gantz's person, 'Good Old Crusher', "Okay, thanks for telling me, Jarves." Before he walked out the front door however, he took a quick look around. "Hold on, where's everyone else?"
The Seeq only pointed to another door, to the left of the front desk. "Dinin' room. We're having some snort Breakfast fore' we head off." Made sense, really.
"Ah Breakfast; The most important meal of the day." Another chuckle, before walking to the front door. "I'll join em, just as soon as I put my bag in the caravan." Jarvis shrugged in response. "Oh by the way, Jarvis?" When Gantz turned, he saw that he had the Seeq's attention. "I thought you hated Chocobo Jerky."
"I do snort. This is Crushatrice Jerkey."
... Gantz grinned. "Stop chewing that and take a whiff a moment my friend."
He walked out the door, smiling, leaving the Seeq to do just that... Gantz waited a moment...
The sounds of gagging followed within a few seconds, "LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK!" Spitting and yelling followed, Jarvis cursing a blue streak, Gantz heard boot stomps, assuming the seeq had decided to have a REALLY stern chat with the bangaa responsible. Laughing, Gantz continued on with what he was doing, already deciding on walking into the dining room in time to seperate the clan's two knuckle-heads before they could get into a slug-fest.
In otherwords, just a regular morning at Clan Highwind HQ.
Within an hour, after the fight was broken up, and after Gantz had joined in at breakfast, the clan was back out with the carts making a few final alterations before their departure. "Yeah, that's a good Crusher. Good boy." Praised Lukino as he patted Crusher the chocobo, Arguably the clan's strongest chocobo, on the head, getting a pleased kweh, out of the bird.
With Gantz, he was seen taking a pencil or two out of his bag, along with a journal, before placing the bag in the second cart. Though he had to put it down as he looked at a small pile of snow not too far off. Smiling, he walked on over and picked up a handful, easily molding it into the rough shape of a ball. While he knew the clan wouldn't be gone for TOO terribly long, he couldn't help but think to himself that he would sorely miss this snow covered terrain.
"Mr. Gantz, Mr. Gantz!"
The palading grinned when he heard that. Turning he saw a couple of little kids making their way up to the carts excitably. The young man easily recognized the bunch (consisting of two male humes, a male and female Bangaa, and a Female Viera, all within the ages of 7-11, though the male bangaa seemed around 14) as resident children that lived in the neighborhood and, daredevil as he was, he loved hanging around with them. "Ah! Hey there guys! How're ya doin?"
The older of the two humes, named Matthew, smiled to the clan leader, "Are you and the others going on another adventure mr. Gantz?"
"Heheh! You od have all the carts packed up! Where are you going?" The younger hume, named Denzel, continued for his brother.
Gantz put a hand behind his head before throwing aside the snowball. "Well, if you must know kiddos, we got a job helping to set up and decorate the town of Camoa for the Great Land Festival." With a chuckle, he continued. "We get to enjoy the festivities too, once all the paperwork and labor is all handled."
"Oh Sssweet!" The Female Bangaa, aptly named Tifa, pumped her fists to her side. "You alwaysss hear ssstuff about the Great Land Fessstival here, but to sssee it in perssson?"
The Viera girl, in a soft spoken voice, looked up to the man a timid little smile on her face. "Your s-so lucky mr. G-Gantz, getting to go to f-far away places; enjoying foreign sights, foreign festivals." She sighed lightly. "I-... I wish I could do stuff like that..."
A kind smile appeared on Gantz's face. "Hey Rydia, don't be like that." The Viera, Rydia, looked up to the man upon hearing that. "Maybe you will be able to travel around someday. Just don't stop dreaming it, and don't stop pulling for it. Do that? Well you'll be surprised how far you'll go."
A cute little giggle, energetic and giddy, escaped Rydia at that thought. "O-Okay!"
Watching from nearby, Rosaline smiled at the scene while the eldest member of the children, the male Bangaa stepped up. "Hey Gantzzz, you'll be sure to bring back sssouveneirsss right?"
"Sure!" He laughed. "I mean, whadaya think, Yang? That I'll travel that far away and just forget about ya? Of course I'll be buying souveneirs! It's what every self respecting tourist does!" He looked between the kids. "Can you guys think of anything you'd like? Cause I can tell that's where this is going!" And just as he thought, the kids crowded around him, trying to tell him their requests all at once.
The sight made Rose giggle. "It's an adorable sight, isn't it?" Luna walked up to the Gria girl as she said this, a magical mace visible hanging from her back. She grinned to Rose before she elbowed her playfully. "Aw! I can more then tell what your thinking about."
The Gria blushed obscenely at the implication? "L-Luna!" She looked to Gantz and then back to Luna. "W-We're not at that stage yet!" ... She let out a small sigh as her blush died down. "Gantz... Gantz still doesn't even know how I feel about him..."
A confused look crossed Luna's face as she looks to the girl. "You're not still mad at him for yesterday are you? I thought for sure you and Gantz would work it out."
"We did work it out." Rose sighed, "But he doesn't know what he said that had upset me; He can be so clueless sometimes... B-but I let him off easy-" After that, a smile came on her face. "Especially after I heard we were going to the Great Land Festival." She looked a bit more excited the more she thought about it. "After all, the festival is an ideal place for couples to become closer. It provides me the perfect oppurtunity to tell him how I feel!"
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Luna's unsure look remained there a moment. "R-Rose... Look..." She smiled a bit, but it seemed a little strained. "I applaud the fact that you want to tell him during the festival... But..." The gria lifted an eyebrow at this, seeming unsure at what Luna was trying to get at. "Well... don't you think it would be better if you told him sooner then that? I mean... It looked like you was doing okay last night up until Gantz said 'you know what'."
Rosaline looked down. "Well... I had another oppurtunity to tell him last night, when he and I walked our way back to the base... You know when he rushed in to check on me? Well I... I couldn't bring myself to say it then either..." Rosaline crossed her arms, looking unsure herself. "Luna... I want to tell Gantz but... I just can't... The Festival is my best shot, it'll help me work up the courage to finally say it."
For a little while, Luna looked at the timid girl, unsure what to say, her gaze pretty much concerned... Finally, she shook her head. "Okay... I understand." Her rabbit like ears twitched a bit. "Just know this Rosie, the festival is not a guarantee. I still think you should approach Gantz sooner rather then later, but..." She let out a sigh. "If this is what you want then okay... I wish you the best of luck." Finally a smile came to the viera's face as she hugged the gria girl.
Rose had taken in everyword, and let Luna hug her, smiling lightly. "I-I know what I'm doing but.. But thanks Luna, I really appreciate it."
"Don't you worry about it." Luna seperated from the girl and grinned a little bit. "But, so it's clear you and Gantz will be sharing the front seat of the second cart. I hope the next 6 days worth of travel will help you think of something a bit more concrete."
Rosaline blushed at the thought. "L-Luna!"
Luna smiled to the girl. "Hey, just looking out for you Rosie. Love is a rare occurance. Don't let it walk past you if you see it plainly."
"Come on guys!" Looking to the front cart, the rest of the clan found Marco sitting at the front, holding the reins attached to the two chocobos. "We're burnin' daylight kupo! Let's get moving while the day's still in it's morning hours!"
It was within a few more minutes, that the clan concluded the rest of the packing and securing, and then hopped onto their own rides. Marco rode on the front cart holding the reins with Issac riding in the back. As Luna had promised, Gantz and Rose shared the front seats of the second cart, Rosaline holding the reins. At the third cart's reins was Roland, whom had Luna hanging out in the back. Riding seperate of the carts to act as patrolmen was Lukino (Riding Crusher, of course) and Jarvis. All in all, a pretty well balanced caravan.
As the clan readied to leave, the carts had caught the attention of a good amount of town. Joining the kids in waving 'farewell' was several more kids, and loads more adults, all of them likely good friends of the clan. For a few seconds, the carts stayed to take in the heroes send off, "Yah kupo! Yah!" Before Marco cracked the reins and the front cart was off, followed quickly by the others when similar cracks was heard.
As the carts left the city gate, the snowy little town of Moorabella continued to wave and cheer the heroes off, wishing them the best of luck. For a while, Gantz watched as Moorabella grew further away, the cart's wheels grinding through the snow... And when at last the city became a small mass on the horizon, the boy turned to face the path before them. He spared a look to Rosaline, who smiled back at him, before he reached into his backpack and pulled out his journal. Picking out a pencil from the bag, he thought to himself a moment, and began writing...
'Thoughts so far; Moorabella... I can't wait to return.'
For 3 days the clan traveled on, unhindered by any sort of obstacle. There was a few other clans that was met on the road, but it was to be expected; aside from the portion located in Zedlei Forest, the 'Weather Mage Highroad' was a well known highroad that was used by various clans to travel between Camoa and Moorabella safely. As the clan continued on, setting up camp each night usually not far from the highroad, they tried their best to make the trip enjoyable for everyone.
At one point for instance, Issac had taken the reins of the front cart, allowing Marco to play a flute for the rest of the clan. Luna, in an attempt to help, played a violin to accompany the moogle. Pretty soon, Rosaline had handed off the reins of the second cart to a writers block adled Gantz, and picked up a tambourine, inspiring Jarvis to take out a Trumpet... Within a few seconds, the clan members was playing a rather previous century, but still bouncy party tune. It wasn't really that well practiced, but it was still enjoyable, as the clan bobbed their heads to the music. The following morning, tune stuck in his head, Gantz gleefully wrote out the events in his journal.
Given the general safety of highroad, monsters was usually a rare sight, but the clan at least saw a few coeurls off to the side, prancing around in an open field. It was an odd sight, since coeurls normally didn't come close to the highroads to steer clear of monster hunters. Being the resident monster hunter, Lukino put off the curious and mystified expressions of the younger clan members, by pointing out that the two monsters looked like cubs.
On Day 3 of their travels, as the group cleared away from the Zedlei Forest region and entered into the Baptiste Highroad, a torrential downpour caught the bunch by surprise, and raingear was handed out before the group's clothes could get too wet. When they finally continued on down the highroad, it was done with more care since the rain made the road more muddy. Other precautions were taken as Gantz stopped writing for the time being, and took the reins. Along with that, he kept close to Rose, knowing she had hated and feared the cold and the rain since her early childhood. She blushed a bit at the notion, but welcomed it none-the-less.
Day 4 came after a long rainy night, and the landscape was considerably damp, as the clan loaded up their tents, which had been set up in a hurry last night, and was soon on their way. During this trip, some time was spent handling a small ambush of Baknamy, that was easily slammed aside a few minutes into the fight by the combined efforts of Gantz, Lukino, Jarvis, Issac and Luna. Baknamy weren't normally bad at fighting since they were a well known race of highway men (with only a handful living honest lives), but that often didn't help them too much in a straight on fight, least of all with trained fighters.
Day 5 found the group further along the route of the Baptiste region, growing ever closer to their destination. Just one more night out in the wide-open spaces and they would see the city limits of Camoa on the horizon...
As Night fell on day 5 of the clan's traveling, the group found themselves camped out at the well known 'Flute-Grass Bluff', an area known as a great camping spot since it was located not too far from the highroad, and because it had a wonderful ocean view. Of course, it was also a good place to find Flute grass...
Speaking of which...
Clan Highwind had set up a small fire pit where the campfire crackled in peace. Several sticks, positioned in a type of rotissert was seen spinning around slowly over the fire, fish stuck through with said stick cooking. Lukino continued to spin the rotissery as he listened... To what you may ask?
"When the young man heard the sound, he quickly turned around." Issac intoned, the fires casting creepy shadows over his face, "Standing behind him? The most innocent looking creature you could possibly find. Standing at around two feet tall, it had a lizard like face with big yellow eyes, dressed in a raggedy brown leather cloak... The Tonberry and the man's eyes met, and the creature started walking towards him... In it's hands we're it's dreaded instruments; it's lanturn in one hand that shimmered dimly in the night, and the tiny gutting knife in the other, that was black with dried blood..." The others listened with varrying responses, Luna looking noticeably frightened. "The man ran for his life, while the tonberry followed behind slowly and steadily... No matter where he ran however, that monstrous apparition was always right behind him; close as his shadow... It was always there in the shadows, just waiting for him to drop his guard." Luna shuddered, Gantz shivered, Jarvis sighed, Rosaline and Marco looked freaked, and Lukino was uncaring. "So great was his fear of this diminuitive stalker that he quit his jov and took an airship away from his home, and off of his home continent...
"When he arrived at his destination, he finally relaxed, believing he had lost his pursuer... However, one night as he walked home from work in a clan, he suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, and the strangest notion that he was being followed... ... No-one ever saw that man again. The following morning, the neighbors discovered a pool of blood in the middle of the street... With no body to be found..."
... Sensing the story was over, Luna shivered quite thoroughly. "Brrrrrrrr... That's some scary stuff..."
"No kidding there k-kupo..." The color slowly returning to his face, Marco turned to Lukino, hoping to change the subject. "S-so... Those fish done yet, Luk? G-gettin' scared outta your wits really worked up an appetite, kupo."
The bangaa thought a moment, before looking to the fish cooking on the rotissery. He sniffed them a moment. "Yeah their pretty much well done." Having said that, he looked to Luna, "Hey Lune! Tossss me ssome of thossse sspiccesss." Luna awoke from her fright and complied with Lukino's request, handing him what looked like season salt in a shaker from her bag. "Much obliged."
As Lukino sprinkled on the spices, Gantz turned to Jarvis; he appeared to have been making note of the story he had just heard in his journal. "What about you Jarvs? Any comment on the story?"
Sighing, the seeq sat back. "The only sad part about that snort story is that it CAN really happen... The victim shoulda called for Monster hunters snort when he still had the chance." Crossing his arms, he frowned a tad. "Tonberries are creatures you can easily outrun, but when you snortlock eyes with one, it'll follow ya ta' the ends of Ivalice."
"Dinner'sss done." With that said, Lukino passed around food, before everyone started eating up.
Luna smiled as she tasted the fish. "Mmmmm. Good fish Lukino. You always do good with the campfire food." Lukino waved Luna off before he continued eating. Really it was no secret that Lukino was a decent chef himself. Luna may have prepared all the food at the base, but Lukino was the one to turn to for camp-out cooking. It was a skill well learned during his time with clan Yellow Powers.
There was a sudden, rather off pitch, whistling sound that caught everyone's attention.
Turning, the clan saw Gantz blowing into a piece of odd looking grass, frowning. "Ugh, how are you supposed to play these things?"
Roland chuckled as he finished chewing and swallowing the bite he had in his mouth. We've been over this Gantz." He plucked a similar strand of grass from the ground, cleaned it off a little on his robes and blew into it... The sound that followed sounded clear, like a whistle while controlling the pitch of the note. After a second, he looked up, finishing his demonstration. "You're not holding it right."
Gantz, whom had been trying to imitate Roland's stance during his demonstration, looked a bit annoyed at this. "How am I holding it wrong? I'm practically imitating your stance there!" This lead to a few chuckles as the young man, in an annoyed fashion, tossed the grass away. "Come on Roland, what am I doing wrong there? I want to learn how to play too!"
"It's just not easy for some people, boy." Roland answered with a smile. "Many try, many fail to understand. It takes the right blade of flute-grass, the right hold, and the right exhale. It's like whistling or snapping your fingers. I've already taught you how it works, all you have to do is figure out the rest for yourself."
Rosaline giggled at the pouting face Gantz had after hearing this. "Oh calm down Gantz, you'll get it in time." She said as she took a bite out of her fish. "I'm glad you can't figure it out anyways. Because it means you have time to tell us a story."
That caught everyone's attention pretty quickly. "Hey yeah!" Issac grinned as he leaned forward. "Come on Gantz, tell us another story from your world."
It took a second, but Gantz eventually responded with a grin. "Well I do know one that you guys haven't heard about. This story is about the life of Harry Potter, a famous wizard from a book series I read-"
"Wait-wait-wait..." Lukino held up his hands, looking at Gantz questionably. "... POTTER? What sssort of pot are we talkin' here?"
A frown appeared on the boy's face. "Nothing! 'Potter is just the guy's last name... Jeeze." He noticed Lukino chuckling, leading to him glaring at him. "Okay, laugh it up tough guy..." He shook his head after a moment. "Anyways, Harry Potter was a natural born wizard, to start with. Magic works differently in his world. You see, instead of anyone being able to use magic simply by calling upon the powers of the elements or having faith in the healing power of holy, proficiency in magic is earned through genetics and blood. A year after Harry was born, his parents were killed by the evil wizard named Lord Voldemort, who wanted total domination of the wizard's secretive and exclusive alternate society. Harry was spared himself by an unwitting incantation that his mother placed on him before she died, and he grows up to go to a place called 'Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry', where he learns how to use his gifts... However, Voldemort slowly starts making a comeback during the events of the books, after being defeated when Harry was still an infant."
...
"That... sssoundsss like THE dumbessst crap I've ever heard in my life..." Lukino waved the boy off. "Magic gained through geneticsss... You'd THINK if it worked like that there would be WAAAAY too few people to make a ssschool, much less an alternate sssocciety..."
"Well I think it's a very interesting story kupo." Marco said with a smile.
Roland nodded along with him. "Indeed. The fact that the people of Gantz's home can't use magic would make them think of that when they think magic." He rubbed his chin a moment. "Plus a community seperate of a regular one that has magic? It sounds like it has the makings of a very interesting story. The world is certainly compelling enough from first impressions."
"It 'IS' a great story, you guys." Gantz grinned. "The author is even praised for her work on the books by critics from hither and yon. The books were worth the read to be sure."
... "Eh..." Lukino just continued to wave it off. "I'll wait for the ssstage adaption to judge that." ... Gantz couldn't help but laugh at the statement. "Anyways, NEXXT!"
Luna lifted her head, "Actually..." She turned to Roland with a small smile. "The whole 'book' thing reminds me of something I heard about from Roland before." That caught the old Nu-moh's attention as he turned to Luna. "There was some sort of old legend that you used to tell me when I was learning magic from you." As she thought about it some more, the others turned to her curiously. "Something about an enchanted library?"
Jarvis, whom had finished his morsel, laughed at this story. "An Enchanted SNORT LIBRARY? HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Why am I not surprised that our Snort resident bookworm would come up with such a tale?"
A growl was Roland's response. "This is much more then just a tall tale Jarvis... This is an actual legend." He cleared his throat. "Specifically, Luna speaks of the legend of Brightmoon Tor."
The statement was more then interesting for the clan, as the members looked between each other, "Brightmoon Tor?" Rose looked back to Roland, "I've never heard of such a thing..."
Roland nodded, looking less then surprised by this. "Not very surprising." He sighed, "Very few people outside the Moorabella Academy of Magic or other similar magic academies around Ivalice know of the tale." He cleared his throat before he continued. "The story goes as such; imagine if you will, that you are thousands of years into Ivalice's history."
After a second, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of dust, throwing it into the fire... The fire shot into the air like a blaze.
"In that time, the king of an unknown kingdom had built a giant tower as light and silver as the moon in the night sky. To make this tower known as a national landmark, he had it filled with books of every size, volume, and shape, from here, there and everywhere, calling it the grandest library ever built. As the years went by, the king continued to add new books to the collection adding in a new floor for each plethora of books added. Once the tower had reached 20 stories, a magic academy was founded near the tower, students coming from all over to learn about magic and partake in the decades worth of history in the tower's books...
"One day, however, after generations of students came and gone, another kingdom sought after the knowledge in the rower, knowing that it would help their military obtain the know-how needed to win a war they had planned for years. The kingdom sent spies into the tower to obtain books, but the raid failed when the spies were found out by the students.
"One thing led to another, and before you knew it, war broke out between the two kingdoms, the tower one of the sources of the conflict. So it only made sense that the war would end with a plot to burn the tower to the ground... However, the day before the plan could be enacted, the tale goes that the tower mysteriously vanished. It was as if the gods had reached down and took the tower from it's resting place..."
As the story reached it's conclusion, Roland stood up from where he sat and motioned to the moon. "No-one ever saw the tower again. However in some corners of the world, some people claaim to have actually seen a silver tower made partially visible in the light of the moon... As such, the tower was named Brightmoon Tor..."
... The clan looked at Roland with curious expressions...
"Roland..." Lukino said with a flat expression... "I take back what I ssaid earlier about Gantzz'sss sstory... THAT wasss the dumbesst thing I ever heard."
"Yeah!" Jarvis chimed in. "It sounds more like Snort a Magic Academy nnut's wet dream then an snortactual legend. I mean... A GHOST Library?"
Roland sat down and glared at the two spitefully, "Joke all you want you two, but Brightmoon Tor is, in fact, every bit an Ivalician Legend as, say, the temple of Pandemonium."
Upon hearing that, Gantz proceeded to take a few quick notes in his journal about what he had learned. "Really? Hmmm, fascinating..." Apparently this was normal behavior, as the clan paid it no mind.
"That was a pretty cool story though kupo." Marco intoned as he finished off his morsel. "What do you think Issac?"
Issac sighed; it looked like he had been taking his time looking lovingly into Luna's eyes during the story, and Luna vice versa. Interrupted by the question however, he had to remember, quickly, what that story had been about. "The story of Brightmoon Tor... Well..." He shrugged to Luna bashfully. Luna giggled at his clueless look.
"Well, historically," Came Luna in Issac's defense. "it could have happened like that. There was a lot of wars in Ivalice's history, previous to the Golden Age we live in today." She motioned to Roland. "Though I'm not sure I remember any mention of a war that was started over a library, mystical or otherwise... But still, it's an interesting story, and it probably could've happened."
"Luna has a point, Roland." Rosaline said with a small amount of curiosity. "If this was such an important event, how come there are no mentions of it in history books?"
Roland smiled at Rose's curiosity. "There are a lot of things historians leave out of everyday books, Rose. Sometimes without even meaning too." He shrugged a second later however, grinning knowingly. " I know the tower exists however... Because many years ago, a young paranormal expert known as Tobin discovered evidence of it and searched far and wide for the tower."
That caught attention all around on a whole new level. "Wait... Tobin?" Jarvis snorted in disbelief. "As in 'Tobin's Snort! Spirit Guide'? THAT TOBIN?"
"The very same." The certainty of what he said was quite apparent. "Tobin searched for the tower for years and never found it. But in an entry he made of his Spirit Guide, he said he was sure it existed and leaves a vague clue that the 'Phases of the Moon' are responsible for where it appears on the mortal plane."
Gantz appeared to take that in a moment, looking curious. "... 'Phases of the moon' huh?"
"It is an odd story to be sure." Luna responded with a shrug. "But, heheheheh, just imagine though, if we COULD find Brightmoon Tor. All of the discoveries we could make, all the magic we could discover..." She smiled, looking a little starry eyed at the thought. Marco was in clear agreement, nodding excitedly at the thought.
With a groan, Lukino looked skyward. "Well... Ssspeakin' of the moon, it'ss getting late. We'd better turn in for the night."
Issac looked up as well, before he sighed, "Luk's right guys, the moon's position is getting pretty close to mid-night. We'd better get some sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow."
Marco pouted at the announcement. "Aw! And I had this great story to tell too!" Sighing he stood up and threw the stick he was poking the firewood with into the fire. "Oh... Oh well, kupo. There's always next time." He stretched a bit, yawning. "Who's putting out the fire tonight kupo?"
"I'll do it." Came Jarvis raising his hand. "You guys go ahead and go to your snort tents."
And that's just what the clan did; retreating to the comfort of one of the four tents set up around the camp site. Marco and Issac took up one tent, since they were childhood friends, Lukino and Jarvis took up another, Luna and Rosaline, the two girls of the clan, had their own tent, while Roland and Gantz had the last one.
The campsite, the fire now out, sat in the dark, nothing appearing to move, aside from the wind on the grass of the open plains...
Suddenly a dim light appeared in one of the tents...
Inside the tent, Roland slept quite soundly in his own sleeping bad, snoring only very lightly... Another sleeping bag, not too far away however had an occupant that looked wide awake, a candle carefully lighting the dark.
"Let's see here..." Gantz went as he carefully turned the page of the book he was reading. The book had a highly decorated red cover topped with gold rims and coverings with gemstones topping the gold. The book itself had pages that were littered with odd looking runes. As Gantz carefully read the pages, he deciphered the runes, writing notes in his journal and keeping careful track of the ancient letter he stopped on to write said notes. "Huh... Interesting." He mumbled to himself, making note of his discovery.
The book Gantz was reading through was, really, an odd looking spell book he had found a long time ago. Most, if not all of the clan members knew by now that Gantz had come from a world seperate from Ivalice, and this book was the reason why he was here. After extensive research, he had discovered that this book was once called the Gran Grimoire, and was filled with all manner of powerful spells. The young man, didn't have the power to use said spells really, but it was intriguing to know just what this book had to offer.
As he continued to write notes, Gantz found himself having to stop a moment of two, due to his eyelids growing heavy; a sure sign it was getting around time to turn in. He mentally assigned himself at least the next page to be the last one for tonight, since he felt close to passing out. Turning the page, he read the sentence of runes in the dim light...
...
Before his eyes widened in shock. Carefully, he translated the runes, writing them out in his journal. But no amount of notes he took changed the horror he felt as he read that entry in the Grimoire.
In his notes, the translated page went as followed;
'Possibly the most powerful spell in all recorded history, this most powerful attack has been used to end many a war in our nation's long standing history of violence and bloodshed. The Gran Grimoire gives this spell many names, 'Armageddon', 'Ragnarok', and many others. I however shall call it as it is... Call it as it should.'
Gantz gulped as he nervously penned in this last word...
'Meteor'.
And that word haunted Gantz's sleep not long after...
Rosaline: M-M-M-M-METEOR?
Me: Yeah... It scared the hell out of me too.
Rosaline: Why didn't you say anything?
Me: To be honest, I didn't want to worry anybody. (Shrugs.) Anyways, putting that aside, since we can discuss that later, whatcha think of your first chapter Author Notes?
Rosaline: (She shrugged a bit.) To be honest, I'm still a little uncomfortable, it feels like your having me talk to thin air.
Gantz: (Laughs a bit, while putting an arm around her.) Don't worry, you'll get it. (Looks to the audience.) Well in any cases, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I had some fun in this chapter going into detail a few of the characters quirks, and the Camping scene was fun to write out, long as it was. I also got to partake in creating my own take on the Final Fantasy mythos, such as the tale of a Tonberry and the tale about Brightmoon Tor. And if your curious about what that first line was all about? Well... I guess you'll find out later now won't you? (Throws out a peace sign.) R&R People!
Rosaline: ...
Gantz: This is the part where you say 'until next update'.
Rosaline: Oh, it is? (She chuckles nervously.) But- I'm...
Gantz: Hey, relax. (kisses her on the cheek.) I can assure you there are people there. Don't think about it too much.
Rosaline: Well... Okay... (Clearing her throat a second, she tried for a smile.) Until Next... update?
Gantz: Not bad for your first try. (Shrugs.) You could do better, but no problem. You'll figure it out.
Rosaline: (Looked unsure.) Whatever you say...