The Enterprise was forced to weigh anchor in the waters quite a distance outside of Boklad, and all its passengers were strongly advised by both Mid and the other crewmembers to wait until the following morning to attempt to disembark. The strange and strong currents weaving through the Strait of Autha, around Dzemekys, and between the spaces in which the Crystalline Dominion's Mothercrystal had one stood had made even weighing anchor difficult, let alone using tender boats to reach the shore.
Understandably frustrated at being so close to their next goal and yet unable to reach it, Jill conferred with the others in the galley under the light of oil lamps which swung as the ship was tossed around by the sea.
"I know Cyril said 'strong currents,' but enough to toss the Enterprise around like this?" Mid shook her head. "Me dad told me about Waloed's blockade from all those years ago – how'd they manage a blockade in this mess?"
Waloed's blockade had stood for many years, Jill knew; it had been the main cause of the Battle of the Twin Realms.
"Didn't used to be like this," Gav said, "the shift is recent. Folks sayin' it started round when Origin rose – or maybe when it fell. Makes sense, that."
Jill could certainly imagine that an entire city rising from underground would generate a significant change in the movement of the sea, but even still…
"Would the currents not have settled by now?" Jote asked, echoing what Jill had been thinking. "I understand several days of unpredictability, at least, following an event like that, but would the seas not settle into a new pattern?"
"Too many factors," Mid sighed, "magic is gone, Blight's disappearin', big geological shifts – who knows what might've shaken somethin' loose down there? Stuff might still be loose."
"And it is just here – nowhere else?" Jill asked.
"Far as we know," Gav confirmed.
"In any case," Jote interjected, "must we truly wait until morning?" Her voice was tense, and she seemed just as tired as she had been when they had returned from their excursion near Dzemekys. With each setback, it seemed to Jill that Jote's mood declined and her energy waned.
"Tides are stronger and higher at night this time of year," Mid explained, "If you feel like meetin' your end in the drink, go right ahead, but I'll be waitin' till sunup and a few hours past, besides – moonset en't till eighth bell."
Jote was silent.
"Might be better, waitin' till mornin'," Gav tried to reason, "Boklad market will be closed by now and folks'll've returned home. And bangin' on doors to try and find em' might earn us a knife to the gut, these days."
The realm still bowed under the weight of uncertainty without the crystals and the magic that had once supported most facets of its functioning. That people would be more on edge than usual was expected, though Jill still found it deeply frustrating. Jill even wondered whether it would we worth it to attempt to contact Eloise, providing that the woman still resided in Boklad at all, if the locals were as hostile as some of those their company had encountered on the way to Kanver.
"Then we'll wait," Jill said definitively, looking around at her friends. "We cannot very well discover the truth from the bottom of the sea."
It was frustrating beyond measure and cast a shroud of worry over Jill's mind that they would miss Torgal and the ones traveling along with him – that they would slip out of Boklad and make for some other unknown destination before Jill could find them. However, the risk was simply too great. If only Jill could still call upon Shiva's might…
"Should all get some sleep if there en't else to do," Gav said. He rolled his shoulders a little. "Get ready for an early start, just in case."
"Pick any cabin you like," Mid said, "I'll make sure the helmsman wakes us at first light."
"Thank you, Mid," Jill replied.
Gav retreated from the galley first to find a place to sleep, and Mid soon followed his example, leaving Jill and Jote standing near the map of the east coast of Storm.
"I want so badly to jump off the main deck and swim to Boklad," Jill admitted after a moment.
Jote jolted and looked over towards Jill with wide eyes. The dark circles beneath them made Jill's heart ache.
"I want to knock down every door in the town until someone tells me what I want to know," Jill continued. "That I am unable to is agonizing – I used to have the power of a god. Silly ocean currents would have meant naught to me, but alas," Jill said, "we are now all at the mercy of the tidemothers."
"That we are," Jote agreed. She stopped and took a breath. "I spent eighteen years at His Grace's side. He saved my life many times, and I saved his. My obligation to him ended with the death of the Phoenix, and I am no longer his servant. If he is alive, I want…I want to tell him what I never found the words to say."
And even though Jill had, eventually, found her own words…"I know what you mean."
()
Before retiring for the evening, Jill stood on the deck of the Enterprise and gazed off in the direction of Boklad. She then cast her eyes up toward Metia – still dim – and the waning gibbous moon.
Let them be there. Let us find them.
((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))
Kihel had been walking for an hour when she happened upon the man.
From a distance, it appeared as if there was nothing for it – he was so severely petrified that Kihel feared he had already passed. When she approached, however, she saw that his chest still rose and fell, albeit weakly.
Kihel turned toward Sir Terence, who had followed her and her "intuition" the entire way with no small amount of grumbling and a cart-towing chocobo.
"Him," Kihel said, pointing. "We need to help."
Terence stared at her incredulously. "Help? The only help left for him is a merciful death."
"I still have calmatives and medicines strong enough for petrified men," Kihel insisted. "Please."
Terence sighed and turned to the cart to start readying it for a passenger.
Kihel knelt next to the man on the sand and spoke to him, though she was unsure whether he could hear her.
(Just before leaving the beach with the man, she turned to face the waves crashing on the shore. She could have sworn she heard…
No, she had heard nothing. It would be ridiculous if she had – there was no one in the waves and no one on the beach.)
When the three of them returned to the Boklad home, Kihel and Terence were stunned to find the man's stony skin slowly beginning to fade back to normalcy.
"Then, all we had to do was ensure you did not succumb to fever," Terence told Clive from across the table, "and wait for you to wake."
Clive nodded; if he focused his mind very hard, he thought he could remember someone speaking to him and the roaring of the ocean. That must have been Kihel speaking to him that night.
"Thank you," said Joshua from his place at the table beside Clive, "for caring for my brother. House Rosfield is in your debt, however much that may be worth these days."
"And if not House Rosfield, the Hideaway is in your debt," Clive declared. "We can, at the very least, replace what Torgal broke."
Under the table, laying across both Clive's and Joshua's feet, Torgal whuffed softly. The sound seemed to startle Kihel slightly, who jolted while bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth.
Terence shook his head, "Kihel and I were planning on moving on from Boklad. I had thought to retreat to Imperial lands – somewhere that does not boast so arid a climate, at least. Of course, we could not move with you still so weak, but very soon we were to leave."
"If you have designs on leaving but know not where you might like to settle, we should be glad to host you at the Hideaway," Clive offered. "It is easily defensible, well-provisioned, and I would be able to reward your generosity faster. And, we have a physicker of our own who may be interested to speak with you, Kihel."
"I've heard it said that not long are the lives of those who associate with Cid the Outlaw and his merry band," Terence said, not unkindly, though the words did sting Clive slightly.
"And yet here we sit," Dion interjected while gesturing at himself, Joshua, and Clive in turn, "returned miraculously from death."
Clive took small sips of broth in the silence that followed Dion's statement.
"Now that Bearers can no longer be used for their magic and humanity is in need of solutions which do not involve crystals, it stands to reason that an equality push will soon follow," Joshua reasoned. "The mission of both the first Cid and Clive, after he inherited the name, was to work for that equality. I imagine the enemies of Cid the Outlaw will soon dwindle as support grows for former Bearers."
Terence did not seem convinced. "And what is to stop the disenfranchised from wreaking havoc upon your Hideaway before this dwindling occurs?"
"The Hideaway has never enjoyed the use or safety of magics as it has ever been located in the Deadlands," Clive answered, "and all those pledged to its protection and preservation have consistently discharged their duties in spite of this."
"I shall be joining them on their trek back to the Hideaway," Dion informed Terence. "I have…business with their historian."
"What say you, Kihel?" Terence asked, glancing at his charge.
The girl appeared shocked to be addressed, but said, "I would like to see the Hideaway and learn from a physicker."
Terence nodded and sighed, resigned. "Very well. Kihel and I will join you all at the Hideaway until such time that we find a new aim."
"We mean to depart as early as possible tomorrow," Clive said. "I'll be seeking out a friend of mine for a favor for speedier travel."
As long as the Crimson Caravan was still in operation, Eloise would be there. Eloise knew that the Hideaway paid its debts and would likely accept a promise of payment for the journey back to central Storm…
"You won't be going anywhere until I look at your feet to make sure the curse has faded completely," Kihel said while staring Clive in the eye.
The look was so familiar that Clive chuckled. "Oh, you and Tarja will be fast friends, indeed."
Kihel sniffed and finished her soup.
"If we are to leave swiftly, I shall make for the market early on the morrow to prepare for the journey," Dion said.
"I will join you," Terence volunteered with a small smile at the prince.
"Clive and Torgal will be staying here until we are prepared to embark on the journey proper," Joshua piped up. Determination was plain on his face.
"Begging your pardon?" Clive asked.
"Some of the talk we heard in the market today – the state of the realm is fairly dire, and a great many are currently blaming the Bearers. Though you have rid yourself of your brand, your scar remains. And Cid the Outlaw is still, at the moment, a target. Not to mention the ruckus that Torgal made yesterday when he jumped on Kihel and made off with your armband," Joshua explained. "I'd rather my brother and our faithful hound remain intact and unmolested. I shall take your place in asking for your friend's favor."
Clive was about to argue when Joshua threw him a hard look.
"If I must," the outlaw sighed.
"It will also give the curse more time to fade from your feet," Kihel said.
Clive recalled the pain from standing on the afflicted flesh earlier in the day and winced slightly. More time for the curse to fade could only be a good thing.
()
Clive had tried to insist that he did not need a room and would be fine sleeping on the bare floor of the living space – he had certainly slept in rougher conditions, after all, and it truly was no trouble. Kihel and Joshua had bullied Clive into sharing a room with his brother, the former of the two concerned with how much he had been on his feet when they still bore signs of the curse and the latter of the two jumping upon that reasoning like a hungry coeurl.
The former Dominant of Ifrit found himself staring through the open window at the moon, unable to fall asleep. He yawned, exhausted, and sighed soon after.
"Can't sleep?" Joshua asked, and Clive startled.
From his spot draped across Clive's legs, Torgal raised his head, decided there was no cause for concern, and laid back down.
Clive glanced over to see his brother sitting up in the low-lit room. The nighttime cast strange shadows across his face, but Clive could tell he seemed concerned.
In the short window between their reunion after the tilt with Bahamut and their departure for Origin, Clive and Joshua had been able to discuss quite a bit. However, something still ate at Clive's soul that he had not been able to find the words to express. Now, with little need for the urgency their earlier conversations had held, Clive could think carefully about what he wished to say.
"Do you recall the first large thunderstorm we had after Jill arrived at the castle? You would've been no older than five, I believe," Clive said, finally.
Joshua blinked, clearly not prepared to be asked such a question. "It is a foggy memory, certainly, but I do remember feeling as though the castle would shake apart. It was upsetting."
"You were terrified," Clive stated matter-of-factly, "so much so that you absconded from your chambers and ran all the way to mine."
"The door to your rooms was so heavy," Joshua recalled thoughtfully, "and the handle was far too high up. I'm not sure how long I spent trying to open it."
"I'd slept through the storm until that point, but you came into the room and woke me to ask if you could sleep there. You said that it sounded like Ramuh was going to tear down the sky," Clive continued, "but that it was alright because you knew I would keep you safe. You believed that I could stand between you and anything that might do you harm, even the heavens falling."
"Ah, good to know I've always been possessed of a sharp intellect and impeccable judgement," said Joshua. He was not joking when he said it, either.
Clive sat up fully and Torgal grumbled at the disturbance. "I couldn't stop Ifrit at Phoenix Gate – couldn't protect you from myself. And I can't imagine the pain and terror that I put you through that night. You had faith that I would protect you, and I only caused you harm. Worse than failing as your Shield, I betrayed you."
"Clive…" Joshua, who had cottoned on to Clive's point, squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples. "This is unnecessary…"
But Clive was not done. "I'm so sorry, Joshua, for everything that happened at Phoenix Gate and everything that happened after. You deserved so much better. You deserved to grow up happy."
There was a long pause in which Clive's apology simply hung in the air.
"Would that our lots in life had anything to do with desert," Joshua said in the quiet. "I've a question for you – do you recall when Jill and I were playing near the fountain in the main square? It was summer."
"You both managed to fall in, yes," Clive replied dryly.
That had not been a great day, but Jill and Joshua had both had so much fun that it was easy to count it among one of his fonder memories. Their laughter…there was little Clive would not do to preserve that sound.
"Mother was furious. Jill and I tried to explain to her that it was an accident," Joshua said, "but she was looking for someone to take the blame, and Jill was going to be that someone."
Clive remembered Jill and Joshua both still dripping wet from the fountain – small, they'd both still been so small – stumbling over each other's words desperate for Anabella to listen, please just listen. Anabella had been raging about Northern savages or something similar.
"She nearly forbade Jill from ever playing with you again," Clive recalled, "so Jill was crying, then you were crying, and…"
"…then you stepped in," Joshua reminded with his eyes on the ceiling, "and took the blame upon yourself. Mother was all too willing to punish you for what we did. You've made a dreadful habit of doing that; taking upon yourself the blame and burdens from the actions of others."
"What happened at Phoenix Gate—" Clive protested.
"—was not your fault, Clive," Joshua interrupted. "Look at me," he ordered, and only continued when Clive did so, "any absolution you believe you require, you have it. Any forgiveness you seek, you have it. We were children burdened with the power of gods—"
Clive scoffed, "I was fifteen—"
"—we were children," Joshua insisted, "and nothing that happened that night was the fault of either of us."
Clive did not respond.
"Do you forgive me?" Joshua asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Do you forgive me," Joshua repeated, "for letting father die? I just stood there as a traitor beheaded him; surely I am culpable in his assassination."
"That's an unfair comparison," Clive said weakly.
"You beg forgiveness for that which you could not control, and yet you tell me I am wrong to do the same?" Joshua raised a brow. "Who is truly being unfair, here?"
"You were dying for five years because of me," Clive said.
"Because I love you, you impossibly dense moron!" Joshua exclaimed, exasperated but fond. "I shall never know where you obtained your stubborn streak."
"'Tis a gift, brother mine," Clive joked but it felt hollow.
"What was it that you said to me after we fought Bahamut? When I tried to apologize and you wouldn't let me – 'we're both alive – nothing else matters' ?"
"Something like that," Clive said.
Gods, the relief. The relief he had felt seeing Joshua alive and mostly unharmed had nearly made him faint. It nearly brought tears to his eyes now, even in the wake of Joshua's miraculous return. So much had happened in so little time; Ultima was dead, Torgal had found him, and he had learned of Joshua's defiance of death seemingly in scarcely the span of an hour. Clive imagined he could rest for another week and still not have had enough time to recover from the sudden nature of it all.
"Let's apply that logic here," said Joshua. "I order it so as the Archduke Regent of the Grand Duchy of Rosaria."
"As you wish, Your Grace," Clive said, his good humor restored at least somewhat.
Joshua threw a pillow at him.
()
When at last Clive found himself tired and relaxed enough to fall asleep, he murmured out, "And I love you, too, Joshua."
And from the other side of the room came Joshua's soft laughter and a whispered, "I know, brother."
((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))
Joshua and Clive were in the same room, neither of them missing any longer. All they needed to do now was return home; Torgal had been away from home for too long.
In the best spot to keep Clive from moving and keep an eye on Joshua should anything happen, Torgal slept soundly.