Fandom Final Fantasy: The Age of Ophiuchus [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

‘I wonder if you would have been much like her.’ The thought came with appreciation for Kikiti, as Didymus touched that pink bracelet on his wrist, imagining the sister that never was. Kikiti’s skill at following his deceptions remained admirable, and her willingness to go along with it. If only she had a taste for theft! Alas, that vice was no part of her, which somehow made a sibling seem all the more likely.

They weren’t known to get along perfectly.

The information Kikiti drew from that was what they needed, and worrisome. ‘They knew. They figured it out.’ CLIDE had been decoded. Was it Lixue? Zariel? It couldn’t have been Jagger or Oleander, they didn’t have the smarts or connections – he didn’t think. Someone like Lixue or Zariel knew how nobles interacted and could have figured this out.

Would they have done it on their own, without his help? ‘Probably not.’ He managed not to pale too drastically under the news as they all moved away to discuss the new situation, under the guise of venturing in to look for other places to rest and recuperate.

Yarrow, along with them, seeming entirely unbothered.

Didymus could only shrug at Cleon’s wonderings, “You and Reva can’t be the only ones to know about the connection. The Empire’s probably gone after any small connection you have with any family. It’s a wonder they weren’t at Sofia and Matias’s,” likely true, though the comment earned a harsh glare from Reva. He lifted his hands, “They know you’re alive! They’d go after your connections, too! It’s the smart thing to do.”

It was. There was no denying it, though Reva let out an irritated huff and shook her head, frustrated, “You are right. The only way we may get answers is to go and see.”

“I really think that’s a bad idea,” Didymus said.

“We need him,” Reva said.

“I accept that, but just barging into his place?” Didymus shook his head, “Let Kikiti and I go ahead,” he suggested, “they won’t know us, there’s a nearby lalafell town so it won’t even seem suspicious! We can see if he’s around, or try to get some word out of the Imperials.”

Reva didn’t like this. Ordinarily, perhaps, she would have agreed to let Didymus and Kikiti go on their own to scout information. They were adept at it, and worked well in tandem. She could find no logical reason to deny them, but some things went beyond that. “No,” she said, “I do not believe it is safe for anyone to go questioning his whereabouts.” It would stir suspicion, and Kikiti and Didymus might not manage a fight just the two of them. “We go together.”

 

[Arcanist]

Didymus could only shrug at Cleon’s wonderings, “You and Reva can’t be the only ones to know about the connection. The Empire’s probably gone after any small connection you have with any family. It’s a wonder they weren’t at Sofia and Matias’s,” likely true, though the comment earned a harsh glare from Reva. He lifted his hands, “They know you’re alive! They’d go after your connections, too! It’s the smart thing to do.”

Cleon uttered a rare curse under his breath, rubbing his jaw. It was natural for the Empire to look into every connection that they had; Reva’s included. He worried that perhaps the same would happen to anyone Kikiti, or even Didymus, knew. They were involved with Ucantis’s most wanted right now.
Kikiti, clear by the frown on her face, worried about the consequences of having all four of them go together. “But what if all four of us get recognised anyway? Then what?”

“It’ll be better than being separated and having to deal with it on our own,” Cleon murmured, echoing Reva’s line of thinking. Soon, they would be cornered anyway. They were lucky to simply pass through towns and roads without being recognised, or forced to fight, but that was a miracle they could only hold onto for so long.

Kikiti knew better than to argue with Reva, but she didn’t exactly like the idea of arguing against Cleon either. Keeping the peace was more preferrable than having a debate about it in public. “I suppose we could go have a look together…” She sighed. She’d go along with it, but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.

The four – some reluctant more than others – eventually advanced into the town to look for Elcid’s pub. Anyone who passed them hadn’t seemed to pay much attention to them. Valenda was a tourist’s town. It probably saw all sorts of characters pass through on a weekly basis, and the four of them were just another group blowing through.

Cid’s hadn’t been that difficult to find. The rather creative name was found on a rickety sign that needed much treatment hanging outside the establishment. The outside of the pub was undisturbed and looked as if things were running as normal. Surprisingly, no Imperials were standing outside it either.

That only increased the likelihood they were inside.

Kikiti groaned when she found she wasn’t tall enough to see through the windows, though, noticed the shutters had been closed on them. She turned to the others, Yarrow cocking his head to the side at her dispair. She murmured, “We’re gonna have to peek through the door, aren’t we?”

“That,” Cleon said, “or we find another way in.”

 

[Lucyfer]

The passage through Valenda was easy. Not even Reva was given too many stares, although she kept her hood up to try and hide her identity. As Didymus knew, Reva was apparently still a rarity even among her own kind by the darkness of her skin. He tried to get a feel for things as they walked, and did notice the crowd thinning the closer they got to their destination. He could guess they were near by that – and was right.

It was all shut up.

Locked down.

‘Let’s just leave, let’s just leave.’ He really wanted to do that, but knew they couldn’t. They were here for Elcid and wouldn’t leave until they knew more. This was the best source of information that they had, so they had to continue. He still bit down on the inside of his cheek to resist the temptation of requesting to leave aloud.

They were too close for that. ‘And the Empire knows that.’ Because they had decoded his message, they knew they were coming here.

As they considered how to get in, Didymus moved close and set his ear against one of the shuttered windows, willing everyone to be quiet. Reva did arch a brow; her hearing was far better than his, she could just tell everyone that she could hear inside, but she opted to let the thief go about things.

His heart was racing. Perhaps that shouldn’t have been notable, given the anxious situation, yet Reva still marked it. When he did pull away, he looked to them all, “There are people inside,” his voice was low, “Not sure how many, but…definitely Imperial accents.”

So Arkidian Imperial, not just Escander Imperial, or Prumoor Imperial.

The Big Boys.

“Look, we know Elcid was probably taken into Imperial custody,” Didymus said, taking in a breath, “We’re probably not going to get any information about where from these people, even if we could get to him.”

“We must try.” Reva said, “he may not be far. Perhaps he is still in there.”

Didymus wasn’t going to talk them out of this. “Okay. Then. Can Kikiti and I at least try diplomacy first? You’ll be right outside if things go south.” Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn’t – but there’d be no diplomacy if Reva and Cleon showed up first. ‘Or maybe we can just surprise them with a strike first if we realize we aren’t getting out. I have some smoke bombs.’ He’d talked his way into getting more ingredients from Sofia and Matias, so he was back up to stock.

Along with the mist bomb that wasn’t going to help him anymore.

 

[Arcanist]

The fact that Imperials were lurking around, trying to sniff them out, should have scared Cleon. It did, of course, but the goal of finding Elcid outweighed that fear. 'We have to find him. We need to. We're so close to finding him.' The journey would have been wasted if they were turned away. Where else would they go? What else would they do?

So, naturally, Cleon agreed with Reva. "Right. There has to be something we can get on him."

Kikiti was inclined to disagree, but much like Didymus, bit her tongue so as not to verbalise it. "W-wait, diplomacy? With these guys?" She hissed, seemingly not too worried about verbalising this complaint here. Then again...both Diddy and her made quite the actors. This wasn't their first Imperial rodeo. "Alright, alright," she made up her own mind before anyone could convince her, "we'll play diplomats, I suppose. Let me go first. They're bound to go softer on me."

She hoped. Usually people did when she looked like a lost child.

Kikiti was the one to walk to the door first, Yarrow automatically following behind her. She gave a look to Cleon and Reva, begging for some good luck. Cleon had given something of a reassuring smile to the birth of them, though, that had been as convincing as a moogle masquerading as a chocobo. With a sigh and a nod to Didymus, she opened the door.

Surprisingly, the interior was much more...intact than Kikiti expected. Tables and chairs were upright, glass bottles still standing tall. No signs of a struggle.

But plenty of signs of Imperials. They had acquired boxes, documents, personal items, anything that they could get their hands on in this pub to leaf through. They were looking for any signs of where their fugitives had been - whether it was here or abroad. Maybe they were even looking up more information on Elcid, who didn’t seem to be present.

Though, Kikiti did pause. What did Elcid look like? She hadn’t remembered speaking about his appearance, that he had a hardened face from Reva’s accounts.

“Hey,” the voice of a young Imperial called, clearly posted to keep watch on the door. “Can’t you read? Place is closed.

Kikiti felt Yarrow’s body press against her leg, and somehow, that gave her the confidence to say, “Closed? The sign on the door said ‘open’?”

The Arkidian paused, almost taken aback by the statement. Like they had forgotten to turn the sign around on the door...though, their face stiffened into its intimidating stare once again. “Tch. Aren’t you a little young to be frequenting bars like this anyway?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Didymus was not looking forward to this anymore than Kikiti was, but they had to get information somehow. Just beating an Imperial senseless wasn’t a guarantee, so that meant trying to ask questions and then getting away with it. He did smile and nod, letting Kikiti have a few second’s advantage over his ‘arrival’, all the way conspiring to pick a different name for her.

The Imperials still didn’t know that he and Kikiti were working with Cleon. Well, okay, they knew he was with Cleon. Not the point. Kikiti should be protected, and so, her family, from being discovered for as long as possible. He heard the conversation, and Kikiti’s age being called out, so he approached then.

“Hey, Lulu, you find—oh,” he stopped as if surprised, taking a note of the interior of the room. It was still nice. No signs of a struggle. The Imperials seemed annoyed with the pair of them, but not outright angry. “Sorry, we were just looking for our uncle – he frequents this place and we thought he came here last night.”

An eyebrow arched, “Who’s your uncle?”

Saying ‘Elcid’ would get them into too much trouble, but Didymus opted to play wary. The Imperials were curious, that meant they might give him some information in order to get information – in order to find out if he and Kikiti were connected, “Ah, I don’t think you’d know him,” Didymus said, waving it off as unimportant, “He doesn’t really know anyone from the Empire – doesn’t leave Rozari much, you know?” He put a hand on Kikiti’s shoulder and squeezed.

Not that she needed the hint to play along, he knew that, but it suited to look a bit concerned. They were two kids surrounded by Imperials, after all.

And the one who had been talking got up from his seat, “Yeah, but we might have seen him last night. We saw a lot of people.”

‘Jackpot.’ That meant Elcid wasn’t the only one who may have been taken. Perhaps they’d come well after bar hours, and so only took the really drunk, or those who seemed particularly close to Elcid, but either way, it meant the idea was working.

Now how to get them to say where their dear ‘uncle’ was packed off to?

“Yeah – but if he’s not here, or at home, he probably just went to one of the other bars, so we’ll check around there. It was good seeing you all!” Didymus knew they weren’t walking out that easily. He was playing up scared too much for that to be allowed, as if he had something to hide. Even Yarrow seemed to give in to the tone and seem upset, bothered, about something being wrong...all while clinging to Kikiti's side.

Even if it was a perfectly reasonable reaction.



Reva, for her part, stayed out of sight with Cleon. They could no longer see Didymus or Kikiti, but she could still hear them. The twinge of fear in Didymus’s voice did concern her. She couldn’t be certain how much was genuine, and how much might be put on for the audience.

 

[Arcanist]

The Imperials still didn’t know that he and Kikiti were working with Cleon. Well, okay, they knew he was with Cleon. Not the point. Kikiti should be protected, and so, her family, from being discovered for as long as possible. He heard the conversation, and Kikiti’s age being called out, so he approached then.

Right on the money, Didymus had already come up with a cover name for Kikiti, and she reminded herself to thank him for that later. And after that came a whole cover story, that Kikiti simply nodded to the whole time, trying to keep her wits about her in the meanwhile.

Kikiti could feel Didymus squeezing her shoulder, and she knew what that was a signal for. She played up a similar look of concern on her face like Didymus did – though, wondered for a moment if her expression was too…over-exaggerated. She worried when the Imperial rose from his seat, thinking it had, though, he went on to ask about who he was, what he looked like.

Again, she had no idea what Elcid even looked like. Describing him without knowing him would be a problem – because she didn’t want to accidentally hit the mark with him if she was asked.

Kikiti went to follow Didymus’ lead with a turn, even with Yarrow clinging to her leg, until the soldier ‘caught’ their attention once again.

“Slow your roll,” he told them, stepping closer to the three as his expression became more suspicious. “If you don’t tell us, we can’t exactly help you out, right?” It teetered more on sounding like a threat than a genuine offer of help.

Though, it meant they were moving in just the right direction. They just had to keep themselves on the right path.

Kikiti turned, twisting a loose piece of hair, looking a little aloof as she started, “Oh, well, he looks kind of…” She blanked, grasping at any aspect of appearance that she could. “Old.”

There was silence from the Imperial, who raised an eyebrow at her, urging her to continue.

Kikiti spoke again. “Old-er,” she elaborated with a nervous smile. “Like, somewhere in the fifty-sixty range. Super stubborn.”

“We dealt with a lot of old, stubborn farts last night,” the Imperial cut in with an impatient sigh. “Probably got caught up in the crowd that got carted out during the ruckus here last night.”

Kikiti shot a ‘concerned’ look to Didymus. They were creeping ever so closer to their answer, it was almost in their grasp! She turned back to the soldier, and with continuing, concern, proceeded, “Oh, you don’t mean—?”

“Is there a problem, Dukas?”

Kikiti watched the soldier in front of her stiffen and turn, slamming his foot down beside the other in a salute. “N-no, Commander! Just helping these two identify a missing relative.” The Lalafell peered past the soldier, as did Yarrow, and both immediately straightened when the man locked eyes with them. Not only did the man tower over the other soldier, but he was bulkier to boot. The man looked as if he could lift and chuck Kikiti out the door.

“Place is closed under Imperial investigation,” the Commander gruffly repeated the same statement as his underling had moments before. “Trespassing warrants arrest, you know.” As his eyes moved up from Kikiti, they paused on Didymus. Something about his scruffiness seemed recognisable, and the squint didn’t help but communicate that. “Do I know you?”

-

Cleon, also impatiently waiting alongside Reva, had been focusing on her reactions the entire time. He could hear voices, perhaps a snippet of words, but his hearing was nowhere on Reva’s level. Though, for what had just transpired, and hearing what he thought might have been “know you”, caused him to look incredibly concerned at Reva.

He knew that they might have to jump to action sooner than they thought.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Kikiti what the fuck.’

Didymus didn’t show his irritation with Kikiti flailing to come up with looks, just looked down at her with fraternal concern as she offered some slight answer. She could have said anything! Even given a fake name! The Imperials here likely didn’t know every name of everyone they caught! Nor every identifying feature! This had happened recently, darn it, Kikiti!

Though she went in the right way to say their non-existent uncle was old. They could have had it! They could have found out where all those stubborn old men were, had a commander not stepped in, and Didymus felt a chill go through him. The commander was familiar – with some horror Didymus recognized him as the man who arrested him some time ago for trying to steal from the Empress.

‘Ah, shit, shit, shit.’ Did he know what became of Didymus? Did he know he was working – kind of – maybe – for the Empress?

He definitely recognized something. Could Didymus pull the wool over his eyes? He considered acting like someone important, but quickly realized that would fail given the story he and Kikiti were weaving. “I doubt it,” Didymus said instead, “Look, all we want to know is where to find our uncle – we’ll go bother the people who have him, I’m guessing he’s locked up somewhere for being stupid, stubborn, and drunk, right?” Blunt delivery. He thought it would work.

Except, that the Commander did connect some dots together with the ‘locked up’, “Yeah – he is locked up out in the capital,” the Commander said, “and shouldn’t you be locked up back in Amarum, sneak thief?” He sneered.

Didymus was terribly relieved that he didn’t seem to know about the commission. Well, at least he still looked the proper enemy of Zariel! “I guess it won’t hurt to throw you up there with him, anyways,” the Commander sniffed, “your sister as well. Whole family of foul and rotten—”

An icicle to the face shut him up, as Reva stepped behind Didymus and Kikiti. They had the information of where the people in the tavern had been brought, there was no more need to keep delaying – and the threat to Didymus and Kikiti spurred Reva to action. Better to act first!

Yet, to her own surprise, the Commander didn’t fall, or so much as bleed from the strike. He wiped a hand by his forehead as if removing water droplets, and glared at the gathered, even as a smile began to peel upwards on his face. A terrible sight, really.

“Commander, that’s—”

“I know who that is,” he smirk remained, “been hoping to meet you. Been wanting to show up that pompous Imperator. Taking down her would be a great way.” He cracked his neck, and the others around understood quickly this was going to devolve into a fight.

 

[Arcanist]

Though she went in the right way to say their non-existent uncle was old. They could have had it! They could have found out where all those stubborn old men were, had a commander not stepped in, and Didymus felt a chill go through him. The commander was familiar – with some horror Didymus recognized him as the man who arrested him some time ago for trying to steal from the Empress.

Didymus was sweating. And if he was sweating, that meant they were in some deep chocobo doo-doo. Kikiti quickly regretted saying anything. Letting Didymus say everything would have been the better approach. Maybe then, this commander wouldn’t have come waltzing onto the scene. Kikiti sealed her lips and let Didymus try to smooth talk his way out of this. He had done it before. He’d be able to do it again, wouldn’t he?

Much to her horror, he did not. And worse yet, the commander recognised him. She took a glance at him and murmured, “Since when were you last in Amarum?!” Maybe he had been there recently, given his apparent love of thieving and travelling, but how in the Twelve was he able to get himself out of there?

No time to think about that. Kikiti felt Yarrow stick closer to her leg even as she slowly tried to back off. She wouldn’t survive in prison. Oh, Twelve only imagined what the food was like, and the uniform she’d have to wear – would they even have one in her size?!

Kikiti yelped at the icicle that lodged itself in the commander’s face, but in equal part was relieved to see the towering, no-nonsense figure of Reva. She was just as relieved to see Cleon close-in as well, sword at the ready, and surprisingly, more eager to do battle. She should have known Imperials boiled his blood by now.

“And wherever the viera is, the prince comes scrambling behind,” the commander laughed. “This was easier than I thought.”

Cleon scowled, his grip tightening on the sword. They may have expected them to come here, but he wouldn’t back down now, not when they had gotten so far.

“Not one for talking, eh? Good. This’ll make things quick.” The commander flashed that sickening grin again before he lunged forward towards. The other soldier was quick to join in the fray, sword unsheathed and heading for Cleon, who managed to raise his blade to block it.

Another soldier came running towards Didymus, armed with a short sword and ready to strike at him.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Is that really important, Kikiti?!’ Didymus did not ask that, but he did send her a rueful glare as she asked about his adventures in Amarum. He really hoped that would be forgotten and just taken for granted; that he was a thief was a given. That he’d try to steal from the Empress, a given.

His escape? Not so much a given. Even he knew that before Reva interrupted, and things turned to chaos from that point. A guard rushed at him, but he reached into his bag for one of his yellow bombs, “Yeah, there’s too many of you guys in here!” He lodged the yellow bomb towards the far end of the room, and then bolted out the door as the confusion mist began to spread. It would impact those further from the door first, and though many of them would break it after attacking their allies, it would still be a help.

Didymus’s opponent had rushed too close to be impacted first, and Didymus bolted for the door, scraping by Reva and Cleon to where he could take out his daggers and not worry about the mist causing him to turn on his allies.

Not that he needed to worry at first.

Reva swept the charging guard off his feet and plunged her glaive into his throat – though this was only after she’d managed to extricate herself a bit from the commander, who was quite relentless. However, he was still only human, and Reva was quick. She wanted to gain space away from the door.

Going further into the tavern quickly became a poor idea with Didymus’s action, so she, too, had bolted for the door and recognized the charge.

And then out the door she went, shifting stance, prepared to send more spells in if no one followed.


Dukas hadn’t chosen to follow, giving an apologetic look to Kikiti, “Sorry, kid.” He didn’t mean to kill her, assumed prisoner and questioning was enough, but that meant he still had to engage her, and he tried to do so with the hilt of his sword only; fortunately for Kikiti, even that paltry attempt at an attack was deflected by a growling and angry Yarrow, who yelped up a shield, before starting to pant.

Even that single shield was an effort; Yarrow didn’t have reason to practice with Sofia and Matias. So, Yarrow just yelped again, and again, to try and scare the soldier back when the shield broke apart.


As for the other guards, well, one hadn’t quite come out of its daze before it rushed Cleon. Most had chosen to leave him alone – or planned to, since the Empress wanted him, and he was never written up as a big threat compared to the viera. Take the viera down, and Cleon would be easy. In the confused mindset, of course, one guard didn’t resist the long-haired prince, muttering about monsters and abominations under his breath.

The confusing haze impacted what it was he perceived was around him.

 

[Arcanist]

The fight was well and truly on now. True to sneaky form as always, Didymus chucked a bomb further into the tavern, already hazing the room and its inhabitants. Some of the soldiers further in the room had been quick to turn on each other, bar the ones that approached close enough to attack them.

Kikiti knew that both her, Yarrow, and Cleon needed to make like Gysahl Greens and leave, if Didymus and Reva’s swift exits were anything to go by. Though, the apology from the soldier Dukas, not to mention his odd stand and the way he held that sword blade first, took her attention. Even if she had grabbed her staff to meet the hilt, she was more taken aback by the shield that Yarrow had created to defend her.

“Wow, nice job, Yarrow!” Kikiti did a small fist bump, though, noted that was the only shield he could sustain for a time, and that it was already cracked and shattered after a few hits. She joined Yarrow in his intimidation, waving her staff as she shouted, “That’s right! Back off! And I’ll have you know, I’m sixteen. Practically a woman!”

Dukas hesitated with each thrust of his hilt and hesitated further at Kikiti’s statement. “What the hell are y--?!” Though, Dukas hadn’t gotten much of a chance as Kikiti’s staff cracked across jaw. Certainly not a life-threatening attack, but a hell of a bruiser.

Cleon, in the meanwhile, had managed to get out of the sword-hold with that other soldier. A Surprisingly, when you’re to be brought back alive to an Empress, soldiers were wary of attacking of you. He turned to his Lalafell companion, shouting, “Kikiti, grab Yarrow and go! I’ll follow behind!” The most that the soldiers would do is try to grab him, but certainly not cause him harm as he had noticed.

Kikiti, not one to stand and argue, scooped Yarrow into her arms and ran for the door.

Cleon was about to follow behind, though, found himself in a predicament with a confused soldier. One that hardly recognised him as a prince, but an abomination that had to be exterminated.

Cleon was forced to engage, even with how close he had been to his escape. He caught the incoming blade with his own, and after a brief struggle and the clash of swords, Cleon’s blade ended up slashing across the man’s stomach. Even as he recovered, and backed further out the door, he felt…odd. Funny.

Then, disorientation hit him like a herd of chocobos. It was all distorted sound and blurred lines, and he was sure he could hear someone speaking as he had reached his companions…or his enemies? Cleon couldn’t be sure, and so he raised his sword without so much as a thought and mindlessly swung.

Kikiti had just about managed to get out of the vicinity, shouting, “Gah, hey, listen to me, you idiot! Snap out of it!”

The commander emerged, with a few remaining soldiers coming out of their daze. Though, out of all of them, he seemed right as rain, hardly affected by the affliction of confusion. He laughed at the marvel of that prince swinging his sword around. Now, if they could just keep him in that state for long enough to grab him and dispose of the others…

The commander didn’t need to tell his soldiers what to do. Though, given their almost groggy states as they launched themselves towards the group, it wouldn’t be difficult to catch them off-guard.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Ah, fucking hell, Cleon!” Didymus groaned as the prince approached, clearly out of it. “You should have held your breath at least!” It was too late for that now, as the soldiers came out of the tavern, and then rushed – well, as best as they could – forward. “I’ll take care of Cleon, I did this,” Didymus grumbled, and would let Reva go ahead to sweep up the soldiers.

They were, indeed, too groggy to be a great threat, and Reva far too skilled. She swept some quite literally off their feet with her long naginata, and did plenty more damage with a spread of icicles that shot out from around her. The other soldiers seemed to be impacted by it like anyone else, and it pierced through their armor, their flesh, bloody wounds appearing quickly.

Reva could hold quite a few soldiers all on her own, even without the impact of Didymus’s bomb.



Didymus would count on Kikiti to do something about any soldier that got by Reva – she could turn them into frogs or something for all he cared. Right then, he focused on dodging Cleon’s swings, and ducking under to get in close to the mad prince to try and whack him with the hilt of his own daggers.

He would have cut Cleon, if his blades weren’t poisoned. That just didn’t seem like a risk worth taking right now. Better to whack sense into Cleon and move on.

Still, Cleon was a good swordsman, and he’d improved on the road dealing with the occasional fiend.

Didymus wasn’t spared, and on one attempt at getting too close, he felt that blade cut into his shoulder. He quickly crossed his daggers and put them under the blade so it wouldn’t continue down and sever his arm. “IFRIT’S COCK!” He exclaimed more in surprise than pain, “CLEON!” And he aimed a kick at his chest, not caring that his balance was at risk when he did that. That sword needed to come up, not down.

 

[Arcanist]

There was always the risk one of them would inhale that mist, though, Kikiti didn’t seem all that surprised to find Cleon was the one to suffer it. Trusting Didymus to handle the ailed prince, Kikiti caught one solider that managed to slip past them. Kikiti glanced to the Carbuncle, who seemed to try and muster up what energy he had to fight. “Don’t worry, Yarrow,” she told him, “I got this!”

The soldier, unhesitant like Dukas was, was determined to run the young Lalafell through for her disobedience. Kikiti, however, was aiming not to be. After some dedicated focus, she thrust her staff forward. Within an instant, the soldier ceased to be human, rather, turned quite amphibious. The freshly turned frog landed at her feet, and Yarrow would have grabbed it with its mouth, had the frog not made its own quick escape from the battlefield.

Cleon couldn’t make out friend from foe, that much had been apparent. He heard his name being called again and again, and though he wanted to see through the mist that settled in his mind, the frenzy seemingly controlled all his limbs. All he consciously knew was that he was swinging his sword, perhaps hopefully striking true, and muttered about imperial bastards or some other curse in between.

He felt his blade meet its presumed target, and try as he did to continue its descent, it had been halted. Cleon was so enraptured in continuing this pointless pursuit that he hadn’t predicted the blurred figure’s foot ramming into his chest. His sword removed itself from the wound, which seemed to knock Cleon completely off balance. His vision and his mind only seemed to clear when he hit the ground, and he lay in a state of grogginess.

Until he felt the whack of sturdy wood against his forehead.

“A-ah, Kikiti, stop! I’m fine!” Cleon shouted, bringing a hand up in a pathetic attempt to stop a battering from the Lalafell.

“I didn’t want to chance it!” Kikiti defended herself, yielding her assault. She tugged at the young man’s hand to get him onto his feet again, though, the prince was the one to put his all into getting back onto his feet.

The commander watched as soldiers fell, or backed off, or worse yet, were turned into amphibians by a little girl. Useless, the lot of them. Though he had been content to let his soldiers do most of the legwork, now was the time he would need to step up.

“S-sir!” One of the other few soldiers that had filed out of the tavern called to him. “What do we do?!”

“Stand back,” he ordered as he walked closer to the group, “and let me handle this.” He looked to the four who had somehow miraculously held their own for this long. Though, rather than charge for them, like they expected, he just stopped. “I’ve let this go on long enough. Time to make use of Lord Virys’s gifts.”

‘Gifts’ were a funny thing to call what came after. There was a strange pressure in the air around them, and what had been the commander started shifting in front of their very eyes. What flesh the commander had torn and burst open, giving way to solid rock as the commander yelled in agony. Flames licked the crevices in between each mound of thick rock as it grew into a much larger, much taller, being. With most of the taxing transformation completed, the flames around the thick, sharp rocks that formed the golem, grew higher with its inhuman, incoherent roar.

 

[Lucyfer]

Didymus winced as the blade came out of his shoulder, and couldn’t help but glare at Cleon even if he knew it was his own doing through the bomb. He was mildly satisfied by Kikiti whacking Cleon a few times for good measure, “I’m not okay,” it would be nice if Kikiti helped with the bleeding shoulder, though his attention was taken back to the major problem at hand, which were the Arkidian Soldiers.

Apparently, the commander had a surprise up his sleeves, and it was…not a very nice surprise. Didymus had half a mind to throw a bomb at him as he was transforming, but those terrible screams rendered him immobile as he stared at the beast this commander became. ‘Can…Can Oleander…?’

Didymus only knew that Oleander let himself be experimented on, but he’d never seen much of it. He wasn’t that close to the high command, of course. Certainly not close enough to even know what form Virys’s experiments took, beyond the little bomb he still had, full of mist, that he should have thrown in the ocean.

Alas.

“What the fuck….” He rather looked a bit of how Didymus always imagined Ifrit, truth told, although something inside suggested that wasn’t quite right. He didn’t know how he knew that. ‘Well, you are a zodiac, maybe you just…know.’

Reva wasn’t rendered immobile by any of this, and as the last of the transformation was occurring, she drew water from the air and attempted to slam it down on the beast’s head and push him down with the pressure of it. However, she was quite prepared for it doing as much as the icicle earlier, and trying to fight him with her naginata. She wouldn’t drag Leviathan into this unless he was needed.

And she didn’t think he’d be needed.

The commander was impacted by the water more than the ice, and though he stumbled a step forward, he was quick to shake it off. The water steamed off the body, and he charged towards Reva, throwing a rocky punch at her. She ducked under, only to be caught in his next swing and quite literally picked up from the ground.

The extra height and strength helped. “Burn, viera bitch.” Fire seemed to move through the arm, lighting it up. Sure, the viera also had to be brought alive...but no one said unmaimed.

It was only briefly disrupted by Didymus’s attempt to stop it, though he found his blades didn’t quite cut rock when he got close enough. “Fuck.” Didymus was, of course, swatted away like a nuisance fly with the free hand.

 

[Arcanist]

Cleon and Kikiti, much like the aghast Didymus, stood paralysed at the sight of the hideous creature. Already dozens of questions cropped up in the back of their head, but unfortunately, very little time to gather the answers. Apparently, this was similarly a revelation to the soldiers, as the few that remained began to yell and take off at the sight of it.
Reva showed more courage than most of those Imperial soldiers, already trying to send a barrage of attacks into that creature. Though, her efforts were thwarted by the creature, and any attempts from Didymus to help Reva escape her grip were stopped too easily.

Kikiti had dashed to the flying Didymus, scrambling with her staff. “Just stay still, Didymus!” With a few quick murmurs, her staff gave a comforting green glow that reached his shoulder wound. Curing was faster with a staff, but like any wound or bruise, it needed time to re-stich itself or lighten in colour.

“Diddy, don’t you have any bombs that we can use against this thing?!” Not a smoke bomb or a confusion bomb, but a boom-boom kind of bomb would have made their lives a whole lot easier here.

“Reva!” It was the danger to her and the subsequent swatting of Didymus that seemed to stir Cleon into action. The commander’s free hand continued to be a pain. This time, he had no qualms directing a fire ball a small distance before Cleon could think of reaching him. The Empress wanted him alive too, though, maiming him wouldn’t have been as easy an option as it was with the Viera.

Cleon was forced backwards from the growing flames in front of him, his image of the commander and Reva in his grip distorting under the heat. He wouldn’t reach her in time before the commander hand would sear through her flesh. He thought he would flounder here, be helpless in watching Reva truly burn.

Cleon’s grip tightened on his sword, and he moved around the glowing flames, and ran at the commander. He could at least try, couldn’t he? He should have felt afraid running at this thing with his sword raised, but was it any better than standing there, watching Reva burn?

“I thought I gave you warni-!”

The commander hadn’t managed to finish his sentence, as he watched a dark and purple nebulous energy, sharp as a scythe, slice through his lower arm. There was a delay in realising what had just happened – part of the rocks crumbled as they fell, along with Reva, to the ground. A hot and bright liquid in his arm leaked from its broken mound, where it burned the ground below.

Then came that distorted, pained scream once again.

Cleon froze, his grip loosening on his sword. The act was so sudden, even he had a delay in what he witnessed. He glanced down to the falchion in his hands, where that same bruise-coloured energy festered. Cleon grew pale. He didn’t know what happened. He didn’t know what this was. Only that it saved Reva, even if he didn’t intend it to.

“You little bastard!”

The roar brought Cleon back to the present moment, and he barely managed to duck to avoid the swinging of the commander’s incredibly rocky fist.

 

[Lucyfer]

Didymus didn’t want to stay still. Far from it, he wanted to get up and help Reva. Sure, Zariel probably wouldn’t kill her, but he didn’t want to see Reva torn to pieces, either! ‘Wait, if I shout out that Kikiti and I—aah!’ The sudden healing wasn’t painful, just shocking, and he grunted and fell back to accept it. No, he couldn’t do that, either.

Even if they all knew that was what Zariel was looking for, to do that would be a betrayal of sorts, all the same. Even if it was done to save their lives.

“No, I don’t work with those kinds of things,” Didymus winced as he got back up, and slowly got to his feet again, “gunpowder is unstable, lots of room for error.” And then off went his hand. Not to mention to make a bomb explode like that, it had to have an exploding agent, and he didn’t want to be carrying that around in his pouch.

Although he kind of wished he had when he looked at the fiend – which was, all of a sudden, sans arm.

Didymus’s brows shot straight up, “Holy fuck, Cleon.” He’d never seen Cleon or his sword do anything like that before. Not that he was complaining! The shock seemed to impact everyone for a moment, sans Reva.

Ever calm, ever collected, even with burns mottling her skin and threatening more severe blisters and marks later on. She still got to her feet, naught but fury in her gaze as the commander put his attention onto Cleon. Reva dipped to the ground again, touched a finger lightly to it. The temptation of calling for Leviathan was there, but no – an idea came to mind, though she knew it would take quite a bit of her magical focus.

The water in the ground, morning dew and ground water, answered her call and began to rise up.

She paid little mind to Didymus rushing to go aid Cleon. He might not be able to do much, but he figured he could at least serve as an annoyance, “Do the thing again!” Didymus told Cleon, as if that weren’t the obvious route.

And then as the commander made a swing, the ground froze beneath him – and ran up his molten legs. Naturally, it steamed, and melted – but to the commander’s dismay, he felt them cooling, particularly as a sudden burst of chilled water rushed up from beneath, drawn up by the viera who collapsed to her knees some distance behind, but was no less in control of the chilled stream.

It left the red heat dimmed in the rocky form, and the rocks no longer so well attached. A swipe from Didymus proved they’d become suddenly brittle, porous, as he lunged forward in the moment of stagnation and his blade was able to cut through the commander’s chest – somewhat to his own surprise.

It was blood that gushed, now.

 

[Arcanist]

The sudden wave of darkness caught Kikiti’s attention, and she too stood aghast at the sight. Had she ever seen Cleon do that before? No, she would have known if he did. That was too big to miss. “Ughhh, why did he wait to bring that out until now?!” That could have come in handy so many times on the road, with swarms of monsters or soldiers in their way! If only he had discovered whatever that was sooner!

Cleon, watched Reva get back to fighting – how she did it all within the heat of battle, he would never know. Though, his attention was caught by Didymus, who insisted he ‘do the thing!’ again. Though, he panicked, looking from Didymus to his sword and back to Didymus again. “I-I don’t know how I…!”

Whatever he did to bring forth that power, he needed to figure it out soon. Reva had practically put in most of the legwork, and with that came a crucial and crippling move against the commander. What was once a pile of rock that burned as fiercely as a furnace had died, left vulnerable to the elements.

One of such elements being Didymus, who shown that he was left incredibly vulnerable.

“Cleon!” Kikiti yelled. “Do that thing again!”

Cleon grimaced. “I already told Didymus, I--!”

“Just do whatever you did before you did it!!”

Do whatever he did…before he did it? Perhaps thinking back to how it could have happened would helped. He remembered the danger that was posed to Reva. That he just ran at the commander, no thoughts, only that he had to save her. So, Cleon tried again. No thoughts. He just cleared his mind, tightened his grip on his sword, and tried to manifest whatever that thing was in his sword.

And that was when he saw that same dark nebula form a mist around his sword.

“Didymus, move!” He prewarned before raising his sword, giving the man ample time to get out of the way. When he brought his sword down, another sharp scythe sped towards the commander. It was an executioner’s blow, straight through the waist of the creature, met with another ungodly scream, and a unhealthy amount of blood streaming from the slice. The top half of the commander fell forward, collapsing into a heap of broken rocks, while the bottom half simply crumbled.

Cleon wasn’t for sticking around to contemplate what had just happened. He looked to everyone, in his head still trying to process what happened, before he asked, “Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?”

“What was that thing…?” Was the only answer that Kikiti gave, shuddering at the sight of cracked rocks on the ground. Nothing human, that was for sure. She went to give Cleon a proper answer, though, found him on one knee in front of Reva, presumably to check if she was okay. But his hand gripped the sword pierced in the ground, practically leaning against it for support. “Cleon?” She asked cautiously, moving to him.

He was woozy. Cleon felt like he had just taken a thousand punches, or as if it had just been sent his bed by illness. Why did his muscles feel so heavy? “I’m…I’m fine,” he breathed, though, made no move to rise. His hand gripped his other arm, though, was surprised to feel it was wet. He looked at the palm with a new bloody handprint, and blood seeping into the sleeve of his shirt. Granted, it wasn’t gushing with blood, but it was enough to be noticeable.

When did he get hit?

 

[Lucyfer]

Cleon ‘did the thing’. Didymus had time to get out of the way, still smarting a bit from his wounds even if Kikiti had mended them. Then he had time to look over the scene as Cleon seemed just as surprised. ‘It’s the sword.’ Or so Didymus guessed. He saw it all come from the sword, not Cleon. It wasn’t like the magic he saw Kikiti or Reva use, not that Didymus was an expert; he couldn’t use magic at all.

Nor could Cleon, as far as any of them knew.

And Cleon wasn’t well after whatever it was he had done. He staggered, as Reva lifted her head, and leaned his weight onto the sword. Reva started to get up, but Didymus waved her down, “Stay, stay – Kikiti, do the thing!” He said it as a bit of a joke, while he came around to Cleon and gestured him down, too, “Sit.” Reva and Cleon both needed help.

“We are not safe here. Some Imperials—”

“—trust me, they’re not coming back that quickly.” He didn’t know that, not really, but he assumed they went to get reinforcements and that might take a while. Or they ran at the sight of what their commander was, or what Cleon had done. It depended on how much they saw on the edges.

They might fear Zariel, but so far as Didymus knew, Zariel didn’t force people to suicide marches. Information on Cleon would be welcomed, even from a coward’s throat. “I’m going to see what supplies are in the bar,” he said, “and then we can get on our way. We know where Elcid is now.”

In Imperial custody – but that part was a problem for when they reached that city.

Maybe he and Kikiti would do better pretending to be…something…to free him. ‘Steal some Imperial armor, and….’ “Hey Kikiti, see if there’s any armor on the bodies that might fit me! You have my measurements now.” With that, he popped into the tavern to find food, potions, bandages – anything of use.

Alcohol was tempting but he’d resist. For his sake, and Cleon’s – they were the two likely to drink after this mess.

Reva rose no further, and tried to settle, though it was clear she was not pleased to do so, even if the burns hurt more when she moved. She fixed her red eyes on Cleon and his wound, considered it nothing unnatural. Wounds happened. Yet, “What was it you felt, Cleon? How did you do that which you did?” He didn’t know, but he could try.

While it was still fresh in mind, while he’d summoned it for a second time. It was important. Reva knew that.

 

[Arcanist]

“Doing the thing!” Kikiti gave a mock salute as she approached Reva first. Better to get to work while there were no Imperials around to bother them. She’d assume Cleon would live for a moment longer, even if he looked worse for wear as he sat down.

The bleeding could have been a lot worse.

After some forewarning to Reva that the process would most likely sting, she got to work on Reva’s burns. They were intense, and however well Reva managed to hide it, Kikiti knew it was bound to be uncomfortable for her. She glanced to Cleon. “Hey, keep that arm elevated. I don’t want to have to run around looking for blood for you after you’ve lost it all.”

Cleon didn’t think that would be quite possible…but then again, he’d heard enough stories about people bleeding out. He did as Kikiti ordered, all while caught up in his own thoughts of what had happened. He was trying to recall what had even happened, when Reva had asked him herself.

“I…” Cleon started, though paused, pondering his answer carefully. He wasn’t sure how to explain it, really, and he struggled for a moment. He figured feeling his way through the concept was better than struggling to piece it together in his mind. “It was like…I just stopped thinking. N-no, not like that. Like…I just cleared my head.” It was funny how calm he felt holding the sword, and yet, he felt fear fester in him somehow. “Then it just…happened after that.”

“Maybe it took a moment of extreme focus to let that power out,” Kikiti suggested as she turned to treat him now. Cleon didn’t look to agree nor disagree on the matter, and the girl didn’t push it. “I didn’t see anyone hit you,” she said, referring the wound on his arm.

Cleon grunted as Kikiti’s healing began to methodically stitch his wound. She had grown more confident in healing and seemed more able to fix up some bigger injuries. The application was still slow – though, healing magic seemed to be, and perhaps Cleon was a little impatient. “Me neither,” he finally answered, though, for all he knew, he could have injured himself during his confused frenzy. He bit his lip. He still had to apologise to Diddy for that.

“Strange,” Kikiti murmured, pulling her staff back a moment. “The rest should do the work itself, but I’ll come back to look at the wound. I guess I got to look for some soldiers with a good fit for Didymus…” She sighed, turning and walking a little bit away to look at some of the fallen soldiers. All she had to do was spot some soldiers who shared similarities with Didymus’s build, and hey presto!

She would not, however, be dragging the uniforms off them. She could leave that to Didymus, who would have had an easier time with it anyway. She was a little short, after all.

 

[Lucyfer]

Reva offered a curt nod of understanding when Kikiti expressed it would sting. She knew, and grit her teeth to bare it while she listened to what Cleon had to say about his experience. Losing one’s mind was not an unfamiliar experience to Reva. It happened to any viera when the mist hit, though they could not maintain focus. It was more like what Didymus’s bombs did in causing confusion, only with the addition of enhanced strength and much more besides.

This seemed more like a meditative practice – had it been that, of course. It was something that could obviously be cultivated, a strength that Cleon could draw in, and may very well need to. He was marked. ‘Yet it does not sound like my experience.’ Of course, that had involved mist. No one else was likely to have a similar experience.

Was it the blade?

Was it magic?

Reva relaxed as Kikiti turned away, what healing she could do, done. Reva was grateful for it, and more grateful as Kikiti went to tend to Cleon. Reva couldn’t say for certain whether or not Cleon had been hit. Keeping track in a battle when fighting was hard. Yet, Cleon didn’t seem to recall being hit, either.

“Depending on what the source of that power is,” Reva said, slowly, “it may have backfired on you, as well. It is not unheard of. Nor is it unheard of to take a blow in combat and not recognize it until later.” Either could be the case. Strain was always a potential problem. “It seems it may do you good to take up meditation while we are on the road,” Reva said, “if you can learn to focus your mind and empty it, you may be able to tap into more – perhaps without such strain.”

If that continued, it wouldn’t be worth it.

‘Unless….’ No, wouldn’t be worth it. No matter how many more monstrosities they came across, and her eyes strayed towards those…literal pieces of what was once human. What was the Empire doing?

Thankfully, Kikiti wasn’t dealing with pieces of that armor.

When Didymus came out of the tavern with a bag full, he took note of what she had found, not stripped. “All right…I need another bag for this,” he sighed, and set down the current one, “Should be some food for the road in there, I’ll get another bag to carry this.”

“Why are you bringing Imperial armor?”

“I thought that was obvious,” Didymus frowned, “your guy, Elcid, is locked up. Kikiti will never pass for an Imperial, nor will you or Cleon. I can – and just a few words about needing to move a prisoner, and I’ll have Elcid out of there,” he shrugged, as if it could be that easy. “There’s thousands of soldiers, hundreds of commanders, you think they’re really going to question things that much for one prisoner?” he gave a cheeky grin.

Reva seemed doubtful, but let Didymus go to find another sack to carry the armor.

 

[Arcanist]

A power that backfired on you…was any power meant to do such a thing? Though, what came from that blade surely wasn’t holy or light by any means. There was something sinister that surrounded Severance, and yet, it had instilled a sense of calm in Cleon. He looked to Reva again, and glanced at the sword, before he nodded in agreement. “Yeah…that might work.” He couldn’t have been sure of that, but it seemed to be one of their only options to handling whatever he had just unlocked.

“It might help you relax a little more,” Kikiti shouted to Cleon, awkwardly looking over a dead soldier and his armour.

“I’m perfectly relaxed,” Cleon chided, and frowned at Kikiti’s scoff.

Kikiti looked up to see Didymus had quickly returned with some supplies and perked up at the mention of food. Yarrow, who had been swerving in between her legs for some time, had paused at the word too. Kikiti waved to the dead soldier, explaining, “I think this set should fit just fine…”

Cleon, like Reva, was just as doubtful when it came to Didymus’s plan, to the point where he exchanged a dubious look with her. He doubted the Empire was that stupid to let Didymus slip past with Elcid…though, perhaps with the military…no, surely not?

“O-oh, kupo…”

Cleon’s attention turned to the Moogle who had unwittingly stumbled upon the scene, rubbing the strap of its bag uneasily. Cleon moved to get onto his feet, though, Kikiti shot a look that told him to stay down before she walked over to them.

“I, uh, there’s no real easy way to explain…” Kikiti awkwardly gestured around her.

The Moogle, though still a little uneasy, just sighed, reaching into its bag. “I suppose I’ve stumbled upon worse situations…typical Tuesday…” What situations the Moogle had been in would have been interesting to hear, though, it pulled out a letter and asked, “Didymus? I have an urgent letter for him.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Didymus didn’t plan to try the armor on right there. It would need to be cleaned up, and then Kikiti could stitch some of it up to fit a bit better. First, washing. There was blood. ‘Well at least the Empire likes red.’ So that made the clothing pieces at least not too terrible, as Didymus began the tactless act of stripping the poor soldier of his clothing.

He did look up at the ‘kupo’, breastplate and tunic off.

Honestly, he’d been around enough awkward moogle deliveries that this didn’t phase him, either. Moogles knew not to get involved. Deliver the message and go. He was almost amused with how tense everyone else was.

“Uh, I’m Didymus,” he said, letting the armor and tunic drop off to the side before he approached. “Is it from Jagger?” he had a feeling it was from Jagger. Who else was going to write him? ‘Zariel.’ He didn’t need that name announced out loud right now, though.

“It is! Kupo! Expecting a letter?”

“Yeah, kind of,” he said, and took the letter from the moogle, “Thanks – I probably won’t need to return anything immediately, so you can go.” The moogle still looked at him expectantly. “Uh….”

“Jagger said you’d pay me.”

Didymus narrowed his eyes. The moogle could be conning him, but that was also a Jagger thing to do. Flush with Imperial gil, and still unwilling to come off of it.

Reva got up, pulled a cloth bag off one of the soldiers, and tossed it to the moogle, who caught it hesitantly. It jingled with gil. “That will suffice.” Reva stated. It wasn’t a question in the least.

“Kuuu-po, yes, yes it will!” There was a note of fright, but also delight. The bag apparently weighed enough to satisfy, and off the moogle ran, before Didymus opened up the letter to see what news Jagger had for him about all of this – careful enough to conceal it, though thankfully, Reva didn’t approach to try and steal a look.

She actually went to strip the rest of the soldier.

If they were doing this…it might as well be done.

Yarrow, naturally, went sniffing around the bag that Didymus dropped and whined at it being tied up.

 

[Arcanist]

The tension dissipated, at least with Kikiti, upon the moogle mentioning Didymus would be the one paying the Moogle. Though, that didn’t prove to be a problem, considering where Imperial coin was concerned, as Reva lifted a bag off a dead soldier and chucked it to the Moogle.

She forgot that they were practically grave robbers at this point. Kikiti sighed as she looked to Cleon, who had already risen to his feet. She noticed he warily grabbed his sword to sheathe it. His behaviour was never so timid around the sword, though, she could understand why he would be now.

“How’s your arm?” Kikiti asked, watching as Cleon looked back down to it as if unsure.

“Better,” he eventually replied. “It’s stitching up well. You’re getting better with your magic, Kikiti.”

“Aw, shucks,” the half-human waved an arm in mock embarrassment. Really, the compliment was well-founded.

In the meanwhile, Didymus had been reading over Jagger’s letter. Jagger’s letters were never tidy things. Never structured well either, though, they were usually reserved for short, curt sentences. What she had to tell Didymus was neither short nor curt in principle. It was all over the place, and whether or not it made any sense would be up for Didymus to decide.

~~~

Diddy,

Listen to me, Zariel’s just told me some crazy shit. The funny thing is, I believe her. She doesn’t need the marked for a continental world-wide conquest or whatever. She needs all the marked to stop this…thing from happening. Some real bad shit – something about the ‘World Eating Serpent’ destroying the world completely. The Twelve have marked a bunch of us for that reason.

Bahamut’s balls, I sound like the religious nutcases in Ibec screaming about end times.

Zariel’s in Rosari too. Expect plenty of Imperials. Stay the hell away from Lixue’s toy soldiers – you don’t want to mess with what he’s been working on, trust me. If you’ve got any sense, you drop the Viera, the Lalafell, and Crybaby Cleon into her hands. Trust me, you’re making it easier for all four of you.

Forget that bit above, get yourself and your new friends over to Escander, and we can all hash this out together. This doesn’t have to end badly for any of us, you know. I can explain everything way better in person.

Don’t go around repeating this stuff in public. I’m only doing this to bridge this gap between us all. There’s twelve people marked. We’re better off working together, right?

Keep safe.

Jagger.

P.S. They’re paying me in instalments. That’s enough to tell you why the moogle is gonna ask for gil off you.

~~

Kikiti waddled over to Didymus after both her and Cleon managing to coax Yarrow away from the bag with other goodies they had on hand. She never peeked at the letter, even if that action had been sorely tempting, and instead asked, “Is your sister okay?”

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Yeah, you do sound like a nut.’ Yet Didymus read it over a second time to make sure he understood it. Apparently, whatever Zariel was doing, Jagger believed in it – enough of it, anyways, even if what little she offered about a ‘world-eating serpent’ was a bit crazy. Didymus didn’t know Zariel at all, couldn’t judge from the outside, except that he found doubt gnawing at him.

But, he trusted Jagger, foolish as it was – and she wanted to meet them first in Escander. Even if she’d started to write for him to hand everyone over. He felt a headache brewing. It’d be very easy to hand them over. Stupidly easy. And they wouldn’t even suspect it.

That, of course, caused his heart to ache when he looked down at Kikiti when he asked about his sister. Who wasn’t his sister. Yet, all the same, his hand performed the action of touching his pink bracelet, as if it was his sister he was thinking of. In some ways, it was – only was it Jagger or Kikiti? Hard to say, as the wind picked up suddenly in a strong gust.

“No,” the gust died down almost as quick as it came. “No, she’s not, she’s in trouble back home with some snakes.” He folded up the letter. He’d get rid of it later, but making a show of it would be a bad idea. “Not – not literal snakes. Um.” He swallowed, hard. His anxiety would be easy to attribute to concern for Jagger, since he couldn’t mask it all.

And not what Jagger suggested. And erased. Not what he considered. And ignored.

“When we get Elcid can we go there? I mean – we don’t – we don’t have much of an idea where to go, and it’s easy to hide in Escander. Even from Imperials.” He would normally set his eyes on Reva, but this time, he set them on Cleon, large, anxious, worried. Cleon was king – and if he insisted enough, even Reva would bend, where she might otherwise argue.

At least Reva didn’t interject against it immediately. She had gotten the soldier stripped, and was bagging up his attire for later. She intended to go find some chocobos – the Imperials had to have some somewhere – to get on their way with, but she would wait to hear what Cleon had to say first.

She only offered, “I do not think we know enough to make such a promise.” It was not wise, in her mind, to try and rush for Escander right after getting Elcid when they did not know what was waiting for them, and what might require their attention, based on what Elcid knew.

 

[Arcanist]

Kikiti felt the wind pick up as he stared up at Didymus, waiting for an answer. Her curiosity gave way to concern when Didymus admitted that Jagger was not okay, and most likely in considerable danger. What could have gotten Jagger into so much trouble with other people? What was worse was how worried Didymus looked. Kikiti had never seen him that worried, even with the stressful situations they had already faced together.

The girl turned to Cleon too, believing the decision would be easy to make. She knew what was the right thing to do, so the others had to agree to the same thing, right?

Reva’s insistence that they shouldn’t make such promises so quickly made Kikiti’s heart sink. As much as she wanted to protest Reva’s suggestion, breaking the peace, never mind going up against her, didn’t sit well with the girl.

But the decision wasn’t hers to make. It would be Cleon’s. And Cleon was easier to bend when it came to any decision.

“Please, Cleon? You’re not really going to say no to trying to find Jagger, right?” Kikiti’s expertise in pleading was her crowning achievement. She spent years bending her father to her will. How hard would it be to do it with a king?

Apparently a little harder. Though Cleon wore a sympathetic expression to both Didymus and Kikiti, he said regretfully, “I…can’t promise we’ll be able to go find her immediately after. You both know finding Elcid is the priority.” Though, there was the small detail of who was going to fetch him…and Kikiti’s pouting. “But I know what you’re risking getting him out safely, so…” He sighed. “If your plan works, and we all make it out of Rosari, we’ll talk about Escander then.”

There were no promises, but most certainly not a clear ‘no’ either. Things rode on how successful they would all be on finding Elcid and getting him out. And that was before they could even get out of Rosari with Elcid and their heads intact. Cleon wasn’t unsympathetic to Didymus where his family was concerned. If it was him, he would have dropped everything in a heartbeat to find his own.

But there was nothing was keeping Didymus here to find her himself if he were truly desperate.

No ‘yes’, but no ‘no’. Kikiti supposed she could take it, though, she was unsure if Didymus would just as easily take that as an answer. A lot rode on him being able to pull off this person heist. Stealing things was one thing, stealing people was a lot harder. She took Didymus’s hand as Yarrow weaved in and out of his legs, sensing that new wave of anxiety from Didymus. “Don’t worry,” she said quietly, “we’ll get to Jagger as soon as we can.” And wear down Cleon even more, she would have said, had he not been nearby lifting some of their supplies.

 

[Lucyfer]

Cleon didn’t give a ringing ‘yes’, either. Didymus fully understood. He may have been torn apart by the emotions of the situation, the guilt, Jagger’s own insistence, and so much else, but he did understand where both Cleon and Reva were coming from. ‘And I have to stay with them, no matter what.’ He swallowed, taking the answer hard, and nodded. “We better.” There was a slight tremble in his voice.

Guilt.

Fear – true fear, really, as more of Jagger’s words sunk in. There was something the Twelve were marked to protect the world against? Why didn’t Zariel just come out and say it, then?! Well, she’d probably sound like a loon from Ibec then, too, but that wasn’t the point! People believed that shit!

Kikiti took his hand, and he glanced down at her as Yarrow wove around. She made that promise, and Didymus felt tears. Stress. Guilt. Worry. Would it be easier to just hand them over to Zariel, and try to explain?

Could he explain now?

He blinked away tears, let go of her hand to use it to wipe by his face, “Yeah,” he said, and went to go get supplies as well, to hold something besides her hand, to have something to do. Naturally, such a response didn’t go ignored by Reva.

“Who are these snakes?” Reva asked, deciding it might be good to learn a bit and prepare.

“An old group Jagger used to work with. I never liked them,” the lie was built with truth, “not the leadership, anyways. They’re…bad. They’ve done us a lot of harm already.” That group mixed with his current job, becoming one tail-eating serpent, a cycle of two terrors. The harm this mission was doing to him now! “Not really well liked in Escander either, but anyone who’s succeeded is hated in Escander, so that’s not…abnormal.”

He swallowed, hefted his bag over a shoulder, “Let’s just get moving. The sooner we get Elcid, the sooner we can talk about it, right?”

Reva wouldn’t argue. “There are chocobos in tavern stables,” she said, “I believe we will not have to pay for them.”

Despite it all, Didymus chuckled at that, “Sometimes, I think you’re more criminal than me, Reva.” It was a light tease. He knew that Reva wasn’t – but then again, she really had no qualms with killing. At all. Even he still felt something killing people. Not so much fiends that got in the way, but…well, he preferred to get away from people.

That was why he had those bombs.

And why they didn’t go boom.

He still did it, obviously. But looking at the soldiers now, with Jagger’s letter in mind, he wondered if they knew that their Empress believed in some world-eating serpent. If everyone in Amarum knew, and though the rest of the world insane for not willingly helping. ‘Jagger…has to be duped, right?’


And as the group rode off on the stolen chocobos, with their ill-gotten goods of armor and food, Didymus let the letter go at some point, and allowed it to float off on the air, to land somewhere in the grass…and be picked up by an inhuman hand which would have told Didymus exactly why Zariel kept these lofty goals to herself.

The letter was tossed up and shredded by a blade, quicker than human reflexes could credit. The hundreds of pieces scattered in the wind that blew the red cloak of the Cat of Ucantis’s Resistance army about.

“I guess even a little bird’s swansong can reveal too much.” He would have to tell the others what they had long suspected, but first things first.