Final Fantasy VI: The Sands of Time
Book 2: The Goddess War
Chapter 11 - Red Tide
11.16 - Ashes
The morning brought many funerals. There were the newly dead, and the dead that had died weeks, months, sometimes even years ago. Bodies were continually being found among the Zozo warriors of long-lost loved ones, drawn from their homes by Lilith's recent attacks, or simply vanished without a trace years ago. All bodies were burned, and the ashes scattered to the winds, across the fields, or onto the waters. Whatever god they believed in, that was where their ashes went.
Maduin walked among the mourners unhindered. This was very different from the after math of Antissa. The people did not despise or fear him. He was a hero, despite his frightening appearance. He didn't feel like a hero, though. What had he done, after all? Ole Bull had done just as much, and given more. Many others gave everything. Everyone had fought for this victory, not just Maduin. It felt wrong, but he did not argue. Someone needed to be called hero, and what if it was him?
But what is a hero? Am I a hero? Impossible.
Ole Bull was outside with the mourners, leading the procession for his son. There was no doubt, the magicite had done him wonders. He was covered in bandages still, and his usual swagger was replaced with a weak shuffle aided by his giant pet wolf Jupiter...but he was walking, tossing his sons ashes onto the ground of Zwill as he went. His son's stay in Zwill may have been brief and long ago, but this was still his home, and the land his protector. Gaeus would be pleased.
Servais was gone. As soon as he had recovered, he had flown off to chase down Leviathan. The trail of golden blood across the land was an easy path to follow, and within hours of Leviathan's explosive escape, Servais was hunting him down. Not to kill him, but to follow him, scout ahead, and see where he went. Then, to Jidorik. More bugs had come in the early hours of the morning, and all out war was imminent in the south. Just as Leviathan had made his move on Zwill, it seemed Bahamut was finally making his move on East Jidorik, and the horror stories coming from the south were hardly to be believed. It sounded as if the entire countryside was gripped by total panic - entire villages, towns, and cities fleeing even further south for their lives, on both sides of the Medina. Servais knew he would be needed, and so he went. He knew his path, and followed it without question.
Lady Blunt had remained scarce since the previous night. She had personally seen to locking up Lilith and watching over her. Ole Bull did not argue. He wanted both of them out of sight in a jail, and if this was the best way to do it, then so be it. Lady Blunt walked her own path as well, and she followed it without regret or approval from others.
But now Maduin walked his own uncertain path, one which led straight to Captain Delphino's cabin on board the Mother of Pearl. He fingered the Nacre nervously as he walked up the gangplank and onto the ship's deck. The crew paid no attention to him as they went about their business. One nodded and pointed the way to Delphino's cabin, and that was all.
The cabin remained unchanged from the last time. It was still cramped, dimly lit, and full of the scent of salt and dust. It was a sea captain's cabin, just like Captain Bismark's.
"Have a seat." Captain Delphino, too, was unchanged. She still sat behind her cluttered desk hunched under her thick wolf's skin coat with the frills of vulture feathers. She was not smiling, but there was a glazed look in her eyes that Maduin had not seen before. An odd flicker of gold just hinted from under her lashes, and Maduin wondered.
"Do you know where you are going next?" Her voice was a raspy whisper, but the echoes in the tight room made her voice sound louder than it really was. Or perhaps that was one of her hypnotist's tricks. "I assume you won't be staying here. Neither will I."
"No, I'm leaving as soon as I figure out where I'm going. What I was looking for isn't here, I don't think."
Delphino chuckled. "You want to know about that thing around your neck, don't you?"
"Wha, what do you know about the Nacre?"
"Little, probably less than you, but I know an artifact of the Order of the Pearl when I see one, and I know you're looking for someone from the Order."
"I am," Maduin admitted. That was no secret. He had left Antissa to seek out remnants of the Order, but had found none that could help him. "Do you know someone?"
"Perhaps." Delphino reached into her coat and pulled out a coin. The coin was bright gold and attached to a string around her neck. "Do you know anything about the past of the Stradivari?" She flipped the coin slowly in her hand, sun and full moon glinting from each side.
Maduin did not want to know anything more about the Stradivari. They were killers, what more was there to know? "I don't nee to know anything about your group. I'm looking for the Order of the Pearl, not a bounty hunter."
"What if I told you they were once one and the same?" Delphino's deft fingers continued to twirl the coin as Maduin's mouth popped open. "Each new leader of the Stradivari takes the name Solomon. Does the name of our leader not ring any bells?."
That name again. Maduin struggled to remember where he had heard it before. Had it been during a conversation about the Order? He didn't think so.
"The founder of the Order of the Pearl was a man named Solomon who lived two thousand years ago. That man was also the first leader of the Stradivari, and the founder of our brotherhood."
"Solomon...two thousand years ago? The Stradivari have been around that long?" Maduin couldn't believe it. The Order was secretive, but still known around the world. He had never heard of the Stradivari until a few weeks ago. As an archeologist, this was something he felt he, if anyone, should have known about.
"Yes and no. The dates are a little hazy. The same Solomon that founded the Order of the Pearl also founded the Stradivari, this is a known fact among us, but according to our records, the first known Solomon to lead our group lived five hundred years after the Order was founded. It couldn't have been the same man, yet our histories seem to imply it was."
"That's it...," Maduin gasped. Now he remembered where he had heard the name, and knew the secret of the Stradivari's first founding member. The group had been created by an Esper. By Genju.
"Hm?" Delphino's raised her eyebrows, and Maduin saw that faint glint of gold in her eyes, but just for a second.
"I've met the founder of your group. He's an Esper, like me, and is still alive."
If Delphino was surprised, she hid it well. The only sign of agitation was the increased pace of her spinning coin. "It would explain the apparent long life of our founder. And many other things, as well. I wonder if the current Solomon knows this? I wonder, indeed..."
As fascinating as this history was, Maduin knew he was called here for another reason. Delphino had something to tell him, but what? What was she getting at? "What does this have to do with me? With the current state of the Order?"
"Nothing. Except that you will find the two groups often share a common bond where you least expect it. We were both founded on the same ideals, after all. The Order was the instrument of peace in the ancient world, and the Stradivari the instrument of justice. Both were necessary to maintain balance in the world. How many great moments in history were brought about by hidden Stradivari agents, I wonder?"
"Do you wonder, or do you know?" Maduin found himself curious, despite his growing impatience. Uncovering the secrets of the past was what he had once lived for, in another lifetime.
"I don't. But there are those that do. The Order has record keepers, and so do the Stradivari. Normally both sets of records would be kept under lock and key, hidden from the world, and from each other since the schism of our two groups a thousand years ago. However..."
"You have a mole in the Order, too." Maduin wasn't surprised. It seemed the Stradivari were like cockroaches, skittering under every surface.
"No, as much as you would like to believe that, we don't usually meddle in the secrets of other countries and groups. Also, it has long been a rule that all members of the Stradivari sever all ties to their past when the join. All previous groups, order, nationalities, and affiliations are secondary to the Stradivari. Only people who have lost all their friends and family are even considered, and any religious or political ties are considered only superficial in order to maintain a cover."
"Like Ole Bull, aka Sampson Harcourt," Maduin said. "So Ole Bull doesn't really care about Zwill? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes. But, no." Delphino couldn't help but laugh. "Ideally, that would be the case. Ideally, a perfect Stradivari lives only for the Stradivari and their fellow members. Ideally."
"Sounds like a difficult ideal to keep to."
"Not as hard as you might think, for many Stradivari. Like Servais. He's as perfect a member as we've ever had. No family, no friends outside the order, no hometown, not a single thought beyond his fellow brothers and sisters. A marvelous example for us all, hah."
"But you're not perfect, then. And neither is Ole Bull."
"No. Ole Bull still loves Zwill, and is a very good mayor for them. Officially, of course, he would burn the town to the ground if Solomon ordered it, but you'll find many of us like Ole Bull who's ties to the past are, shall we say, imperfectly cut."
"Would he really burn Zwill if told to?" Maduin shuddered, and remembered Ole Bull's oft-repeated excuse for his actions - We do what we must.
"I do not know. But that is the official stance, anyways. Let's just hope it never comes to that. Even the Stradivari have their weaknesses, the pieces of themselves they leave behind."
"And you? What is your weakness?" Maduin did not think the old woman would answer. It was an impertinent question, but a natural one, and Maduin asked it without really expecting a response.
"This is my weakness." Delphino stood up and took another object out of her coat. It was several times larger than the coin, and glistened in the dim light brightly.
"What is that? A scale?" Maduin looked at the shiny, flat disc. It did look like the scale of some giant fish, blue and round and sharp as a razor around its jagged edges. The size was ridiculous, however, and Maduin knew of no fish that could possess such a large scale.
"It is a scale from the twice-blasted hide of Leviathan." Delphino rapped the scale against her desk and it rang out like a piece of metal. "Harder than mythril, but I pierced it all the same, didn't I? Heh, that old goat never knew what hit him. Diamond-tipped harpoons, retro-fitted the night before the attack just for him. Harder than mythril, but not harder than diamond."
Maduin found himself awestruck by the scale now. A piece of Leviathan? An actual piece of an Esper? What kind of magic would something like that possess? Not as much as magicite surely, but strange and wondrous all the same. And dangerous...
"How many more of those are there? How on earth did you get it?"
"There were a few dozen stuck to the flesh on my harpoons. I've gathered all the ones I could find, and have them all right here in my cabin, save one I gave to Servais to take to Greffuhle next time he sees her."
Maduin smirked. Of course Servais wouldn't pass up the opportunity to experiment with a strange new monster's hide. "He didn't try to eat it did he?"
Delphino smirked too, well aware of Servais's fanatical hunter's spirit. "No, I wouldn't let him, although I'm willing to bet he's tried since he left. Probably will break a few teeth on it. Also, watch this."
Delphino carelessly dropped the scale into a fireplace behind her. Maduin reached out to stop her, thinking she had accidentally dropped it. But he should have known those puppeteer's fingers would never drop something so precious.
"Ah..." Maduin breathed in softly, expecting some huge explosion of magical energy, or a summoning of Leviathan's vile form. Instead, as soon as the scale hit the flickering flames, they were snuffed out in a cloud of ash. The scale had put the fire out faster than a blast of ice from Maduin's fingertips could have. Impressive magic still remained in the scale, it would seem.
Delphino reach into the black soot and pulled the scale back out. It was unscathed by the fire, and untouched by the ash as well. It glittered as moistly as it had when Delphino first revealed it. She tossed it into a drawer in her desk quickly, as if the touch of it offended her.
"An interesting property. Imagine a fireproof shield or armor made of Leviathan scales, hm?" Delphino's eyes bored into Maduin, challenging him.
"You earned that treasure, I won't argue with how you use it. But I don't agree with Espers being used for weapons, living or dead. If you think I'll give you anything off my own body, you'll have to get it the same way you got that."
"Of course, forget I even showed you this. I just found it curious the many ways Esper magic might be used by humans. Zwill has received a great gift from this battle, and I suspect Ole Bull will use that gift to every advantage he can. We acquired more than just scales from the seas last night, Esper."
He did not like the way she said Esper. "This is what you wanted to talk to me about, isn't it?"
"Yes. The scale was a war trophy, nothing more. This was the real prize." Delphino reached once again into her seemingly endless coat and pulled out an object wrapped in cloth. But the cloth was not enough to hide the obvious truth, pulsing and glowing with a harsh golden light from within the covering.
"That's...magicite!" Maduin reached out instinctively, but Delphino pulled back. "How? Who?"
"It's Ixion's remains. I saw it glowing beneath the waves where Leviathan had been." Delphino unwrapped the stone, and its gold light filled the room. "I fished it out without a word to anyone. I don't think any of my crew saw it."
"I can't let you have that." Maduin's voice was almost a growl. He had seen what Ole Bull had done with Titan's magicite, and what Leviathan himself had done with Ixion. The scales were a minor issue, but this was the living remains of one of his fellow Espers. If he didn't take a stand now against the abuse of his kind, it would only get worse. This was his first act as ambassador of his race, and he would not turn a blind eye, even to a former enemy such as Ixion.
Delphino looked into Maduin's eyes and saw his determination. She nodded. "I agree. It's yours."
"Wha?" That was a surprise. He had expected to have to pry it from her by force, after watching the way Ole Bull had fawned over Titan's magicite, and eventually obtained it. But that was Titan's affair, and Maduin would not interfere in that mess, however much he disagreed with Titan's decision.
"I said I agree. It's too dangerous. And...I don't want it. I don't want anything to do with your kind, or magic, or him."
Maduin had never seen Delphino show much emotion, but there was no doubt she was holding back something fierce when she spoke of the magicite. What was really going on here?
"Remember what I said about my weakness?" Delphino's eyes were on the magicite, wide and hollow. She was no longer in the present. "I think it's time you learned about the past of at least one Stradivari, Dune Karn, son of Silas Karn."
Maduin watched the old woman grow older before his eyes, withering into a shell of herself as she forced old memories back to the surface. He waited for her to speak again, and when she did, he heard a sadly familiar tale.
"You're inner archeologist may find this interesting. The year 1900, by the Phoenician calendar, saw the highest recorded number of new Stradivari members in our history. That year was an unprecedented year of strife, blood, and tears. It was the bloodiest year in the civil war between East and West Jidorik, and saw the destruction of entire villages and families on both sides. It was the year of the worst horde invasion from Zozo since Old Zwill left the mountains. 1900 saw the death of Doma's most powerful shogun, Genji, at the hands of an unknown rival, and the subsequent shattering of the fragile alliance of the Doman feudal states. Even Cremona saw its fair share of dissent , and as many Stradivari died that year as were initiated while trying to quell the rebellion against Emperor Roezerbe.
"It was also a year of unparalleled storms, earthquakes, floods, famine, and all manner of strange and unexplained natural occurrences. The blood moon of 1900 was the reddest on record, and some people swear they saw the face of a demon on the second moon, Janus, during the blood moon. I saw it too, blasted across its face like a massive, purple bruise. It smiled, grimaced, then vanished. But it was there for a few minutes, as if ready to swallow the world. I was just a young girl without a care in the world during that blood moon, and had bigger things to worry about than a man in the moon. In a few months, that would all change, however.
"I am from an island known as Bariki. You may have heard of it, although I suspect many other people have not." Delphino paused and looked at Maduin, seeking the man he once was inside the fearsome form he now wore.
"I have. It no longer exists."
"Yes, Jonah Levi saw to that." Delphino blinked and cleared her throat, continuing her story. Maduin suspected where it was going now.
"I was a devout member of the Order of the Pearl back then. Young, bright-eyed, and in love. Mobius was a different man before Bariki. I don't think I will ever know the full truth of what happened to my home while I was studying to become a first-level priestess of the Order in Narsille, but I know what I found when I returned. Ashes. Nothing but ashes.
"I was so happy to finally earn my white robes that I almost did not notice Mobius when he returned to Narsille that night. His face was haggard and disfigured, and he was missing a leg and an eye. It was the most horrible sight I had even seen in my short life. I have seen many more gruesome things since then, but back then, that was the worst. The love of my life, wounded and so miserable he would not even speak to me. He never did speak to me again, and vanished from my life the next morning, to begin his love affair with the sea.
"He never told me what happened to him or where he had been. I found out through others in the Order where he had been and what had supposedly happened there. Mobius knew nothing of where I was from, could not have realized he was looking at the last survivor of Bariki when he looked at me with that gaping red scar of an eye. And yet, even now, thirty years later, I still hate him for not telling me what happened to my home, for not stopping Levi, for not doing more.
"He did everything he could have. I know the story of Bariki as well, Professor Indie told me the whole thing." Maduin wonder just how much Delphino had learned from the Order about the disaster of Bariki and the Phoenix Isle.
Delphino stopped and looked at Maduin in a different light. "Did he? Yes, he would have. This tale is not mine alone. Many people lost their lives that day, didn't they?"
"I lost my father."
Delphino nodded. "As did I, and everyone else I ever cared about. I didn't know it at the time, but when I saw Mobius that night, I was looking at the last remnant of my former life, walking away forever. Later, when I am finished, you must tell me everything Professor Indra told you. I would very much appreciate it."
Maduin nodded, and gestured for her to continue.
"As soon as I learned what happened, I took the Mother of Pearl straight home. When I arrived, the entire village had been burnt to the ground. Twice. Once, crudely, by the hands of Jonah Levi, and then the wreckage was burnt to a fine ash by the hand of something else. The destruction was so thorough that the earth itself had been scorched to the bedrock, red and bare. The island was nothing but a massive scar, unfit for any life. I have been there several times since, and nothing grows, even today. But the sign of the man who sterilized the island is still there for anyone with eyes to see it.
"After my grief subsided, I found two footprints in the sand by the shore. They had been melted into the earth with such force that the sand had turned to glass, and permanently marked the spot where the man must have stood as he laid waste to an already dead world. I do not know who or what that man was. All I have are his footprints, and the world of ash he left behind. I do not think he was human. The footprints are that of bare feet, and no normal human could have stood there in that heat."
"Sade." Maduin was certain it had been Sade. Something deep inside him said his guess was the truth. Jehad had been a part of him for a short while, and the scene she had described, it was just like what he had seen as Jehad's spirit poured his last piece of humanity into Sade.
"Elder Sade?" Delphino was dumbstruck for the first time since Maduin had met her. "The man who replaced Elder Zurvan as leader of the Order? That man always disturbed me. His eyes, they burned with the same red haze I saw flickering in Mobius's mangled eye that night he returned. Are you sure?"
"Yes. Sade was once known as Jehad, but he was possessed by Moloch, and I think that thing was what returned from Phoenix Isle and burned Bariki's remains." He could see Sade doing such a thing easily. Reveling in his new power, hating the world and desiring nothing more than to reduce it to cinders.
"Jehad? I once knew a young priest named Jehad. Could it be him...? Yes, he left on a secret mission for the Order around that time and never returned. No one ever even offered an explanation for what happened to him. He was just lost at sea and that was the end of it. He was an orphan, no family, and no questions were asked. Unbelievable. And yet, it makes perfect sense. Who would miss an orphan?
"But that is more than I planned on talking about with you, and something I shall have to think about later. I left my village and everything I knew behind. I sailed around the world, alone, for over a year, trying to find out what had happened. Rumors of Jonah Levi's involvement gradually surfaced, and I made it my life's goal to hunt him down.
"I became very adept at getting information out of people. I learned hypnosis and some of the things I forced out of seemingly good people were truly depraved. I never suspected such filth lay just underneath the surface, even among the Order. They are not what they once were, Maduin. Sade saw to that, I suppose. The things he made my former friends in the Order do in the name of Altimus were despicable. When the black robes started outnumbering the white robes in the Order, I knew it was time to leave. I had nowhere to go, and had lost all faith in humanity. With my powers of hypnosis, I tricked, lied, and stole my way through life for another year, hunting after Levi's cursed ship. I am not proud of the things I did during the two years following Bariki's destruction.
"But, as they always do, the Stradivari came when they sensed the balance in danger. I had finally stooped to killing a man I had put to sleep for information. He had admitted to selling his daughter to Jonah Levi for...private services. It seemed Levi had a taste for young girls. I lost control, and I killed the wretch with this."
Delphino pulled out the golden coin again and removed it from around her neck. She stretched the thin string attached to it and snapped it taut. It was a metal wire. A garrote wire, for strangling people.
"Ole Bull came the next day, and the rest is history. Do you know what this coin is, Maduin?"
Maduin shook his head. It simply looked like a golden coin with the sun on one face and the full moon on the other.
"It is a symbol of the Order of the Pearl, only given to those who show promise for rising in the Order. I was given this upon becoming a second-level priestess, and kept it. The sun on the front represents Altimus, and if you look closely, it is actually a pearl, showering its holy light onto the world. The other side is the second moon, Janus. The moon is named after the Dark Master, the god of death who opposes Altimus. That is the face I swear I saw in the sky, the night my home burned. I cannot explain it, but after recent events, I believe it. Now, more than ever in my life, I believe in the Holy Master, and the Dark Master as well."
Delphino pushed the magicite remains of Ixion on Maduin. "And I believe you need this. You are seeking balance, are you not? You seek the Triad?"
Maduin almost dropped Ixion's magicite at the mention of that word. "How do you know about that?"
"Elia came to me in a dream last night and said to give you this. Since forsaking the Order and living a life dedicated to the sea, I have thought of Elia often, and dreamt of her often enough, as any lover of the wide open ocean always does. I never thought they were anything more than idle dreams before, but now I cannot deny that the Maiden of Water, like her brethren, must truly exist. And I believe the dream I had was really her. Do you agree?"
Maduin had dreamt of Elia before as well, and he believed those dreams were real. Dreams were how the Masters communicated with mortals, it seemed, and it seemed Maduin's patron saint had answered his prayers after all.
"I do. Elia has watched over me time and time again, and I believe she is still watching over me even now, although I have not seen or heard her voice for a long time now." Maduin gripped the magicite and felt its electric pulse flow over him like a static shock. "If she wants me to have this, then I will gladly take it and learn whatever secrets it holds."
Will you talk to me, Ixion? Or will you remain silent like Titan? I did not kill you, but I am sure you blame me for your death. I have no hatred for you, and I hope that wherever you are, you are free from the Goddess's control now.
Maduin spoke these words in his mind as clearly as he could, hoping that the Esper might hear his thoughts and respond like he had while alive. He waited, but there was nothing. He would keep waiting, then. The poor soul had just died a brutal death, and most likely was still in shock, if it was still hiding somewhere in that cold, but brilliantly glowing, stone. What did Elia want from him? What was the Triad? What did this stone have to do with finding balance?
"I do not know what her words meant." Delphino said, as if she were reading Maduin's thoughts. "I do not know what the Triad is any more now than when you asked Ole Bull after that unpleasant episode in training. The gods work in mysterious ways, and I suspect you will find out when the time is right. For now, take the magicite, and take this as well."
Delphino took her coin and pulled it off the metal wire. "Give this to the young master of Manse von Muir, in the heart of South Jidorik."
"What? I can't take this from you."
"Yes you can. It's time I got rid of it. I cannot hold onto the past anymore. Lady Fey is right, that we must not let our emotions control us, although I fear she may need to take her own advice very soon. We Stradivari are a messed up bunch, Maduin. Never forget that."
She placed the coin in Maduin's hand, and forced his taloned fingers to close around it. "And don't forget we are human, as well. Even Fey, though she tries harder than any of us not to be. I fear what she may find in Jidorik."
Maduin nearly knocked his head against the ceiling. "What! Is she going south as well?"
"Hah, yes. She seeks Lord Dunn-Raven, and reports of his appearance in the Jidorik region are growing. Though what she may find when she meets him, I do not know. You said he was no longer human, correct?"
"I do not know for sure, but I believe he is an Esper under the thrall of Leviathan and the Goddess now. A ghost-like thing barely human."
"Look out for her, Maduin. I have given you much here today. The least you could do is return the favor and watch after the poor girl. I remember how I had reacted upon learning Mobius was a different man, and a ghost of his former self. To find the man you love, only to find him an actual ghost of himself...I do not know how she will respond."
Maduin understood how she felt. He still held out hope he could return his own friends to their senses, with the power of the Nacre. But, this was the Lady Blunt she was talking about...
"I will not travel with her. But, I will try and make sure she stays out of trouble when our paths cross in Jidorik, as I'm sure they will. She has a habit of seeking me out. She is a difficult person to deal with, you know."
"Like I said, we're all screwed up here. You'll find that out when you reach Manse von Muir. Plenty of Stradivari down there, and a few are far worse than Fey."
"What is at Manse von Muir? Someone from the Order, I assume?"
"Yes, he is called Marylebone among us, although like Ole Bull he lives a double life as a Stradivari and as Prince Chris von Muir, the last surviving heir of one of the wealthiest families on the continent. I cannot help but believe part of the reason our group reached out to him so soon after his parents' deaths was to gain access to the massive fortune and powerful influences in Jidorik his family has always maintained. But, that's just my own jaded belief.
"More importantly, he is the Axelrod of the South, which means, despite his tender age, he is the leader of our group in that region, and an especially lethal warrior."
"Like Ole Bull is here?" Maduin asked. He wondered what heroic figure would greet him in the south. Ole Bull looked like a barbarian king out of legend and fought like one, and this Marylebone must be just as tough if he led the Stradivari of Jidorik.
Delphino actually giggled at Maduin's remark, but offered no explanation. "Just give him the coin and the Nacre, and tell him you received the coin from me. Manse von Muir has the largest library of ancient texts on this side of the world, and is only second to Doma's. And more than that, Marylebone leads a third secret life as the highest-ranking member of the Order of the Pearl still living, as far as anyone knows."
"What? How is that possible?"
"Because everyone else is dead, you fool," Delphino snapped, more rudely than she intended. "When Narsille fell, most of the leaders of the Order were wiped out. Marylebone's father was once in line to become the next Elder, but with Sade's takeover that all changed. As far away as he was from Narsille, Marylebone was relatively unaffected by Sade's changes to the Order. His father fell out of favor with Sade, however, and his dreams of ruling the Order were ruined. He still had high hopes for his son, however, and was grooming him to become what he could not, right up to his death. I believe he was at the ninth level last I heard, only two away from being eligible for Elder. Marylebone was supposed to have given all that up when he joined the Stradivari, but..."
"Another less than ideal member."
"Yes. During one of my travels south, Marylebone happened to see my coin, and assumed I must also be a member of the Order. He confided in me, and still trusts me to this day with his secret religion. I told you because you needed to know, and I would suggest you not tell any one else." She snapped her garrote wire tight as she finished, placing the empty string back around her own neck. Her eyes were boring into his own. "I could force you not to tell, you know. I could compel you to never speak a word of this to anyone. But I won't, because I trust you."
"I wish I could say the same." Maduin certainly had a better appreciation for the Stradivari, and Captain Delphino now, but did he trust them with his life yet? No. They were still killers. Even this Marylebone must be a killer, prince though he may be.
"I thought as much. No matter. Take the coin and the magicite, and seek the answers they may bring you. I have said what I wanted to say. Now...tell me about your father."
Maduin sat back down and stared quietly out the window, feeling uneasy about talking to a stranger. But she was no longer a stranger, was she? She had bared her soul to him, and he might as well tell her all he knew about the events of thirty years ago.
A half hour later, Maduin had told his tale just as Indie had told it to him on a rainy night in Narsille. As he had recalled those events, he was surprised to see the captain shed more than one tear, as well as look wistfully out her porthole window at the waves.
Delphino thanked him when it was over, then shut herself away like a trap door snapping in place. She had spoken more, and with more feeling, in the past hour than in all the time he had known her combined. It must have been terribly difficult to talk about, and then to listen to, the story of her home after so long, but whatever emotions had been dredged up, they were gone now. She was Captain Delphino of the Stradivari once again.
"Before you go, look out that window there and tell me what you see," Delphino said in her usual raspy, toneless voice. "I think we are being watched."
Maduin looked, but saw nothing. He felt uneasy, though, as if he really were being watched. He strained his eyes, and tried to see what might not be visible with normal human eyes. But...there was nothing. The feeling would not go away, now that Delphino had brought the issue up.
"Nothing? I thought so. You would have noticed the pest by now if he wasn't hiding his magical energy somehow. He's out there though. My bug is getting nervous, and that's only because he senses an intruder. Here, watch."
Delphino tapped her ear and a small bug flew out from behind it, like a tiny black earring. The bug whizzed around her head, then hovered by the porthole before returning to her. It looked very agitated.
"He was here before, as well. When we first met. I don't like being spied on."
Delphino reached under her desk and pulled out an ancient looking pistol with an abnormally large barrel. Without a word, she fired it straight out the window. There was a terrific explosion of glass and gunpowder as the weapon went off, and then a horrible screeching, buzzing noise filled the room. It was a voice, even raspier than Delphino's at her worst, like a giant insect that had just been stepped on.
"Ack, scoundrel! Ack! I will report this!"
And then the voice was gone as suddenly as it had came. Maduin had seen nothing, detected nothing, but that uneasy feeling was gone. Delphino was still sitting in her chair, blowing the smoke off her gun's destroyed barrel.
"That's the first time I've fired that thing in thirty years, hah! It felt good to give that pest a little surprise. Now I see why Servais likes his guns so much. But, I get the feeling that thing was here for you, not me. You are being followed it would seem."
"Yes, and I know who it was." Maduin remembered that unpleasant voice from back in Antissa. Once you heard the voice of Zona, the Seeker of Moloch, you did not easily forget it. "Another Esper, but one that I think will not be as easy to lure into a fight as Ixion was. I'll worry about him when the time comes. For now, I think I should be leaving."
"That would be best, I think. Just remember, we are all human, Maduin. Even the worst of us, and perhaps especially the worst of us."
"I'll try. Thank you."
Delphino waved him off, and went back to admiring her handiwork. She was smiling as she picked up the pieces of broken glass and metal.
Elphis was still asleep at this hour, but soon she would be running through the streets with Kumiro, smelling all the flowers laid out for the dead, then tasting the ashes in the air. She had tasted the ashes of death too often in her life, and Maduin hoped he could find a safe haven for her in Jidorik. He would not leave her here with Ole Bull, to be turned into some kind of summoning weapon. Ole Bull had his magicite, and if Delphino was right, soon would turn Zwill into a place of magic as well as weapons. The man did what he needed to ensure the survival of his people, and it would seem, more and more, that magic was to be the future of this world.
Ole Bull was willing to embrace this new world, Delphino was not. Maduin suspected most people would be equally split about the use of this new force. Sooner or later that would cause problems, Maduin knew, but for today there was only mourning for those who had been lost, and celebration for a decisive victory.
But there was hope, at least. Zwill would be changed forever, as would every town touched by the powers of the gods in this coming war. Zwill had proved anything was possible, and Maduin would take that hope with him to Jidorik. As Maduin walked the streets looking towards the future, he saw Elphis happily dancing with a group of families celebrating the victory.
Yes, there is always hope. Every time I look at her, I cannot help but believe that.