At the same time Spirit Force and Partitio departed Sai the next morning, another group on their own adventure was soon to arrive at the Hinoeuma town. It would be the Shining Hope Squad, who were on their own journey together with Castti, to help her recover her lost memories.
Her journal mentioned two locations she had been to before she lost her memory, Winterbloom and Sai. Seeing as how they were closer to Sai from Canalbrine, they made that their first destination. What would they find here related to Castti's forgotten past? Only time will tell….
"Phew, so this is Sai. We finally made it." Glimmer said as she, Castti and the rest of the Shining Hope Squad arrived in the desert town.
"So Castti, what does your journal say about this place?" Kendo asked.
"Let's see…" Castti said as she pulled out her journal and read the entry about Sai. "According to my treatment log, I've been here before. Perhaps something in this place will help unlock the door to my memories."
"Perhaps we'd best start searching for clues." Espio said before a Sai native appeared.
"Help! Someone! Anyone!" she called. "My friend is wounded! Someone help him!"
"Or a problem could come find us first." Gemini noted.
"What's going on?" Castti asked a townsperson.
"Damn… again?" one townsperson asked.
"It'll be someone else's turn next. It's been tit for tat." the other said.
"Excuse us, but our friend was trying to inquire about what's going on." Perfuma said.
"Fighting, lady. With the soldiers of the town over yonder. Folk living in this neighborhood are immigrants, outsiders. We don't have much to live off of." the first townsperson said.
"Anyone who wanted to make a good life for themselves used to head to the next town for work. All was fine, 'til a few years ago. Folks there suddenly decided we were undesirables." the second townsperson said.
"That's the cause of the bloodshed?" Castti asked.
"That's the short of it, yeah. So, my turn. Who're you and your friends, lady? You all don't look like one of us." the second townsperson said.
"We're travelers passing through. Our friend here is an Apothecary. If you can tell us where that woman from before went, she can treat her friend and any other injured your town may have." Sakura said.
"The hospital. It's in a hovel in the northwest of town." the second townsperson said, directing them to it.
"Thank you. We'll head there immediately." Castti thanked.
The group then headed over to the hovel and went inside as they saw several wounded soldiers laying down. A rugged man in armor was overlooking them all, and he wasn't pleased.
"How long're you slouches plannin' on lazing around? You know the rules. You don't work, you don't eat." the man said.
"Master Edmund, please. I've only just staunched this man's wounds." an apothecary already in the tent said.
"Spare me the sob story, bonemender. A man's gotta be strong if he wants to make it in this world. Gotta be a provider, y'get me? You don't work, you don't eat. No excuses." the man known as Edmund said.
"Hey! Those men you're talking about are living breathing people." Lei K cut in, getting Edmund's attention. "You can't expect them to do what you want all the time, and besides, they're hurt."
"Haven't seen you people around here before. You got a problem with me, speak up." Edmund said.
"What I'm trying to say to you is that your people in here are injured. They're not fit to go back out and fight." Lei K said.
"She's correct. Injuries need time to heal. They cannot work in their conditions. They require rest now. Exertion will cause their wounds to reopen, putting their very lives at risk." Castti said.
"Tch. Worthless." Edmund said.
"That's uncalled for. If you really lead these men, you would care more for their lives instead of constantly expecting them to go out and fight, even in critical condition." Ichiro said. "Real leaders show compassion, not ruthlessness."
Edmund wanted to retort, but he was outnumbered, and knew better than to start a fight with unfavorable odds. "This is a waste of my time. Listen up, all of you! You got backbone, you come with me!" he said as he took the uninjured soldiers with him.
"He was almost as bad as Seifer." Roxas said.
"Ignore him for now. As much as he's against it, we must help his men." Ichiro said. "Let's speak with the Apothecary in this tent first."
"Good idea. Maybe if we do, I might be able to remember something." Castti said.
The group approached the army's resident apothecary.
"Thank you all for before. Who are you people?" she asked.
"We're the Shining Hope Squadron. A band of travelers. This is our travelmate, Castti Florenz. She's an apothecary, and she'll help you out in any way you need. We'll help however we can too." Hope said.
"It would be most welcome. There's more hurts here than I can tend alone." the apothecary said as everyone began to tend to the wounded.
Later…
"There. We've done what we can." the apothecary said.
"It's still too early to rest on our laurels. We'll need to burn the candle on both ends tonight." Cassti said.
"...If you don't mind me asking, your friends said your name was Castti, correct? Now that I'm able to get a good look at you.. We've met before, haven't we?" the apothecary asked.
"You'll have to forgive me if I don't recall. I've…lost my memories." Castti said.
"I…see." The apothecary said.
"With my friends' help, I've been retracing my past, trying to discover who I am." Castti said.
"In that case, it's my turn to help you. Ask me anything, I'll be glad to answer." the apothecary said.
"Why don't we start with your name? We didn't quite catch it." Castti said.
"Oh, my apologies. My name is Mao." the apothecary introduced herself.
Upon Mao giving her name, Castti suddenly found herself experiencing another flashback. This one of her and five others, one of them appearing to be Malaya helping wounded soldiers in Sai, as it was revealed Castti was Chief of Eir's Apothecaries.
"Chief…?" Castti asked. "Was I…the leader of Eir's Apothecaries?"
"It was four years ago, if I recall. Not long after the fighting began. You arrived at the head of your apothecaries to offer aid to our wounded." Mao said.
"(That's weird. In Canalbrine, the locals cited Eir's Apothecaries as evil. But here in Sai, they're saviors. Maybe something happened to differentiate reputations in different regions of Solistia?)" Adora thought.
Before anyone could think about the situation more, a Sai townsperson appeared.
"Mender! There are more wounded on the front lines!" he said.
"Take me to them. I'll see to their hurts." Castti said.
"Wait! There's no need to risk your life for us. You're here to reclaim your lost memory, right?" Mao said.
"She is, but saving the people here comes first and foremost." Ichiro said.
"Thank you. I'll leave the front lines to all of you and see to things here." Mao said.
The group then raced to the frontlines and saw Edmund with his men, seemingly enjoying themselves.
"We heard there were more wounded. Where are they?" Ichiro asked.
"Hah! None here. Not on our side, anyway." Edmund said.
"Was there some mistake? A messenger came speaking of wounded." Castti said.
"Yeah, there're wounded. Enemies." Edmund said. "I'd planned to really show them what for today, so we set up an ambush."
"And what happened instead?" Glimmer asked.
"A huge patch of quicksand appeared right as they were marchin over. The fools all got swallowed up by the sands! Gulp! Serves 'em right." Edmund said. "I could get used to this! Victory without even drawin' my sword!"
"Hang on… quicksand appearing out of the blue so suddenly like that? You didn't stop to think if that was even natural?" Glimmer asked. "Something else is going on. And we're going to find out what. But first…"
The group headed down to where the soldiers were affected by the 'quicksand'
"Hey, where d'you all think you're going?" Edmund asked.
"Where else? We're gonna see if any of those soldiers made it out alive, and treat them." Glimmer said.
"Those people are in need of my aid, and so to their aid we'll go." Castti added as they headed to the ambush spot.
"You think I'll just stand here and let you help our enemies?" Edmund asked, racing after them.
It wasn't long before the group found the enemy force. Wounded, but still alive, but not for long without proper treatment.
"Please… help me…I-I-I can't move…" one of the soldiers said.
"Don't move, we're coming. It'll be all right." Castti said.
"H-hurry! Before it gets back!" the soldier said.
"Don't move!" Sakura said as they rushed to them.
"They all seem scared out of their minds…. This wasn't quicksand that did this." Leanne said. "At this rate, they'll freeze."
"Hey, you!" Lei K said to Edmund. "Make yourself useful and get us some water and some stuff for a fire, stat!"
"Don't spout nonsense! I'm not helpin' them. They're enemies! I ain't givin' them a drop of-" Edmund started.
"You heard her! Water and Kindling! NOW!" Castti declared with a piercing glare.
"D-Damn your eyes. Fine. Water and kindling, right?" Edmund asked, racing to get some.
It wasn't long before Castti had treated the soldiers and they were laying around an open fire under the desert night sky.
"Thanks for your help. Sorry Lei was a little rough earlier, but thanks to you, these guys will make it." Hope said.
"...I was like them, once." Edmund spoke. "I was a soldier for the other side, livin' fat off my daily wages. One day, a bunch of outsiders tried to move into our kingdom. Lots of kids. Well, we went in and sent them packin'. King's orders. Didn't think much of it at first. Just followed orders. But eventually, I started thinkin'. Is what I got worth bullying innocents? Do I want to protect my coin that bad? Long story short, I got real pissed off about it all, so I switched sides."
"Edmund…" Gemini said.
"Y'know what? You people and that bonemender are alright." Edmund said. "Takes a lot of guts to stick your necks into someone else's fight just to help folk. Watching your mender friend work, well, makes me feel like an idiot for fightin' in the first place."
"Trust us, we've done way crazier. This is regular for us." Catra said as one of the soldiers started to stir.
"Ungh… I'm.. I'm alive?" the soldier asked.
"That you are, and the others too." Castti said..
"My name's Griff. I command these soldiers." the soldier said.
"What happened to you and your men?" Vashyron asked.
"We were marching to battle when a terrible monster attacked. The ground turned to quicksand, and we were pulled under." Griff said.
"I knew something seemed strange about your story!" Glimmer said to Edmund. "It wasn't a natural cause of nature, a monster attacked these guys!"
"Yeah. and from the way this guys talkin', I think their attacker was a Sand Lion." Edmund said. "It's a beast that lives in the sands 'round here. Usually pretty docile. All the fightin' must've set it off. Once one of 'em goes berserk, nothin' to do but run for the hills until it calms."
"But…many of my soldiers are still back at our encampment! They're in peril, I must warn them!" Griff said as he sat up.
"Hold on now. You're too injured. I'll go." Edmund said.
"We'll all go." Hope said. "Commander Griff, stay here with your men and rest. We'll warn your camp."
"Thank you." Griff said.
"Cmon all. Time to go to someone else's aid." Edmund said.
The group made their way to the location of Griff's camp, but found the area to be completely destroyed.
"We're too late. The Sand Lion already got to this place." Vashyron said.
"There might be people still alive. Lets check for survivors." Ichiro said.
"Hey, I see one!" Scorpia said, seeing a man down near a cave entrance.
"Help… me…" he groaned.
"Hold on! I'm comin'!" Edmund said, running to the soldier.
"Edmund, wait-!" Adora said just as Edmund reached the soldier, at which point, the ground shook.
"Watch out!" Castti said as Edmund was suddenly pulled under into collapsing quicksand. "Master Edmund!"
The group then followed Edmund through the quicksand pit and into an underground cave.
"Are you alright, Edmund?" Perfuma asked.
"Somehow. This guy is too." the commander replied. They then heard rumbling from further away. "The Sand Lion's back there."
"We'd better exterminate that big bug before we all get buried alive down here." Catra said.
"You're right, Catra. Edmund, get everybody out of here." Hope said. "We'll deal with the Sand Lion."
"Do you all have a death wish?! Let me call for backup first!" Edmund said.
"If we don't take this thing out now, both your men and Griff's will be buried. Besides, we've fought worse, and Castti can hold her own in a fight too." Glimmer said.
"You've all got guts. Leave these people to me. Just… don't die." Edmund said.
"Thank you. Take care of them, Master Edmund." Castti said as they headed off to confront the sand lion.
The group ventured further into the cave, when suddenly, the ground shook and a massive inscent with large mandibles burst up out of the ground.
"There's the source of the problem." Catra said.
"I'm sorry we have to do this, but we can't let you run amok any longer. Time for you to take a nap." Castti said.
Grumpy Giant
Sand Lion
The Sand Lion attacked them in rage, as the group avoided its mandibles. Castti hit the sand lion with a swing of her axe, followed by a blast of ice courtesy of Frosta.
"Holy!" Xion said as she used Laser Rain by summoning twelve pillars of light that struck the sand lion consecutively from above before finishing with three pillars at once.
"Nice one, Xion!" Roxas complimented as he struck the Sandlion with Oblivion. Catra followed up by clawing at the incest with her claws.
"Time to finish you!" Hope said as he hit the Sand Lion with a light-infused punch. Castti then finished off the sand Lion by striking it with a poison swing of her axe, scaring it away.
"I hope it's learned its lesson. The shaking's stopped, and the sands seem to have stabilized. We should be able to focus on rescuing those still trapped. Which only leaves the problem of war to deal with…" Castti said.
"After everything we've done for both sides on this battlefield? I think fighting will be the last thing on Edmund or Griff's mind." Lei K said.
And she was right. After all the men were rescued, both Edmund and Griff's forces agreed to a ceasefire. Not only that, but Griff would speak with his king about letting outsiders into their kingdom. And it was all because of Castti and the Hope Squad's selfless efforts to save both.
After that, Griff spoke with Castti about the rumors surrounding Eirs Apothecarie's with death and disease, them being proven false. When Castti asked about this subject more, another lost memory came back to her.
She saw herself and a few other apothecaries confronting a hooded man in a plague mask, as he was stoking a purple bonfire which billowed smoke into the air, calling down a deadly purple rain.
"So… this time you saw some guy calling down some deadly rain?" Mermista asked.
"Did you see the guy's face? Or what the rain did?" Flamberge asked.
"No… I still can't remember everything." Castti replied. "But something terrible happened in that place. Some awful tragedy. And I need to remember."
"And you will. We promise." Hope said. "The other piece of the puzzle will be in Winterbloom, we know that for sure."
"Let's go back to Canalbrine and grab our ship. We'll set sail for the Eastern part of Solistia and go to Winterbloom." Ichiro said.
"Thank you, everyone. This is very important to me, and I can't say enough how grateful I am that you're helping me." Castti thanked.
"Heh. Don't mention it, Cass." Hope smiled.
In a town of immigrants, Castti meets with someone with knowledge of her past. Dark rumors swirl about Eir's Apothecaries, and Castti is haunted by disturbing memories dredged up from deep within her.
What lurks in the mists of her past? Castti and the Shining Hope Squad must continue their journey to find out…