Post by Overlord on Dec 2, 2010 18:07:20 GMT -5
It had been a while since I had been home. Beneath my feet, the road differed to how I remembered it. Could it be my imagination? I couldn’t tell. The loss that my people suffered on this land was great. That must have been something. How could the ground not alter with this truth. From dust to dust. That’s how they have always said it. The very bodies of my people have been altered into the ground and that’s surely the difference I notice. Regardless; it still feels strange to be back here.
Burmecia, the land of my birth. My former home. Time may have changed you, but there is still part of my heart that has remained unchanged. The part that bleeds for home.
A thousand thoughts pass through my mind as I walk into the Realm of Eternal Rain. Has the rain stopped? Surely not. But still, the transformation of what I knew all too well had occurred. What was fresh in my memory from not too long ago was not exactly this. Or was it me that had changed? One couldn’t ignore that idea.
A Kingdom that once stood strong and great. Fallen. I couldn’t help but feel pain at the thought. If I had not have gone, it could possibly have not happened this way. Obviously I am wrong, I would just have been another body adding to the carnage, but still, that doubt dwells within me. Almost a traitor, that’s how I feel. I left my homeland to be brutalised by a corrupted monarch who had dreams of domination. Again, I understand that a traitor, I am not. One can’t help but feel this way. Some time had past since the time of loss, when the Alexandrian forces came and conquered, and now it’s wayward son had once again returned to pay his respects. The only thing I had to ask myself was, “am I welcome?” The strange thing, for me was that I would be welcome by all those dead and alive here. They would accept my shortcomings, my lack of contribution, the fact that I am still alive where others that were more true to home had expired.
Still, I Thadeous, son of Burmecia had returned. “Welcome home, son,” the city said.
The hole inside me was unimaginable. Who would have thought my trip back to my home would be so unwelcoming? How could it leave me so empty? I couldn’t even explain it to myself. It was as though I really did blame myself for what happened in the City of Burmecia, that fateful night. Oh that night, burned into my memory for eternity. I saw the ground of my homeland littered with the lifeless bodies of my friends, my family. All of the people I had grown up with, everyone I had known, they were no more.
What did that leave me? The trip back home was more eventful than I would have liked, for a start. Travelling through the forest, I felt a presence lurking behind me. That feeling of being followed, the paranoia that came with it. It made me feel especially uneasy, with the fresh hole that my return to the Realm of Eternal Rain has burnt inside my chest, making it harder and harder to breathe. I peered over my shoulder, expecting to see it straight away, but it was not there to see. I drew my axe, holding it with both hands to carefully maintain its weight. My feet stopped in their tracks, and my eyes closed. There, I waited, patiently seeking out my foe. All that I heard was the near silence of the wind, with the rustling of the grass impossible to catch from human ears. Then it dawned on me, almost too late. I raised my axe in defence just in time to catch the wendigo that had pounced on me, as quick as lightning. Bearing its teeth at me, my heart rate quickened and I feared that this night could be my last. Gathering as much of myself as I could, I smashed my forehead hard into the creatures head, causing it to draw back disappearing from my sights instantly. I had fought this sort of creature before, but only as part of an ensemble, and that was a difficult task.
Maintaining my wits was vital, else I perish. Not this day, not if I have my say, beast. I swallowed my doubt, literally, and jumped to my feet, once more taking in the silence. Seldom, they make the mistake of uttering a sound, though it was a rarity. I would wait, trying to will it into me. Then, the snap of a twig behind me had me whip round in reflex. I had fallen into its trap. As I felt the claws penetrate my shoulders, fresh blood showing, I felt the hole inside me burn brighter than ever. The flames burst from my blade and whirled around my head, and I watched stunned. The wendigo was frozen, caught by surprise in response to this, and its claws were too deeply imbedded in me to make a quick escape. Then, summoning all my power, I urged the flame to engulf the Wendigo, and to my satisfaction, it did. I shrugged it off, taking a lot of my energy, and then I turned to face the creature, watching it struggle against the flame. With my axe still burning, I used my last reserve of energy to slam the axe blade through the creature. The last thing I saw before the blackness was the creature; perished. After that, nothing.
In my dreams, the world was a blur. The images that flashed before my eyes seemed familiar. Fire, monsters, darkness… What had happened to make me feel this way? Then, I begin to feel again, as my senses slowly return to me. Beneath me, where I lay, the cold path touched the bare skin of my arms and the back of my neck. The hard surface seemed to comfortably accept my heavy body, though it felt as if I could sink through it at any minute. My mind then finds my eyes, where I find my eyelids are heavy. Fighting with the weight of them was important, for if my memory served me well, I potentially could still be in danger, not from the Wendigo, but from whatever was left behind, scavenging. With some effort, I managed to get them open enough to be almost blinded by the new days light that threw my efforts back some. Then, fighting more, I managed to open them enough to accustom to it, and then they were open fully. Searching around me, everything seemed them same as I remembered, with one obvious exception. Next to me, looking very curious was a small moogle. My hands groped at the floor, until I felt strong enough to pull myself to a sitting position. When I had, I looked at the moogle, my head leaning to the side as I studied it.
“Hello.” I said, trying to access why it was looking at me with such interest.
“Hello, kupo.” The moogle said, fluttering its wings around me, seeming highly satisfied with itself. “I’ve been looking for you, kupo. Kupo, it was essential that I find you, kupo.”
“I do not understand, moogle.” I merely said, lost in my confusion. Things that were clear in my head made little sense to me. The fight was understandable, but my mind suggested that I produced fire from my axe blade, which hadn’t happened before. Then, the surge of energy had been thrown forward at the creature, using what was left of my strength. Now that I was awake, for some reason this moogle was with me and had been looking for me. Why was it looking for me. I didn’t have anyone to send me mail. I didn’t associate with anyone and no one had any conflict with me. I shook my head in dismissal at the moogle, and went to stand, failing miserably.
“What’s not to understand, kupopo? I have been looking for you, kupo.” It said, with visible excitement.
“You must have the wrong person, moogle.” I said, trying again to get to my feet. “No one would be looking for me.”
This time, I managed with difficulty to rise to my feet and found the moogle flying around above my head, still happy enough to be near me. Then, it settled directly in front of my face, and tilted its own head in an attempt to mimic me.
“You are not Thadeous?” The moogle asked.
“I am.” I replied, not wishing to lie, though the thing must have meant to find another Thadeous. Such a creature was easy enough to confuse. “But it is a common name among my people.”
“It was, kupo. But now there are just a few, kupo, and you, kupo, are the one that I have been looking for, kupo.” It said, staring into my eyes.
“Why?” I said, now trying my best to not just leave it there, mainly because my body wasn’t yet ready to move and if I tried, no matter how irritated I was becoming, I was sure to only worsen my situation.
“Because of the Royal Summons of Alexandria.” It said. Now I knew it had made a mistake.
“What do you even mean, creature?” I said, now knowing that it was a troubled moogle. I hadn’t an idea why it would mock me like this, but I truly had had enough.
“You did produce fire from your blade, kupo?” It asked, as I nodded irritably. “You do not know your potential, kupo. But the seers of Alexandria are never wrong about potential kupop, and so Queen Garnet and the Alexandrian Court wishes to have you compete in the Royal Summons, kupo.”
“This has to be a mistake.” I said, in a pretty idiotic fashion.
“I guess we’ll see, kupo.” It said, handing me a piece of parchment with the details.
“Sir Beardalot?!” I exclaimed. “Why would they want me to battle against him? He is a night of the highest regard and I am a wanderer who failed to save his people. This cannot be the truth. I will have to travel to Alexandria to straighten this out with someone before they take this seriously.”
“As you wish, kupo. But you know as well as I do kupopo, that these things do not get changed.” It said, before flying off and away with a high pitched whoosh. There I stood, half defeated, completely dumbfounded and at a loss to how I was going to travel to Alexandria in my condition. Regardless, I would have to try.
How did I come to be here? Once more I found my memory to be nothing more than a blur. The first thing, when I came to that I noticed was the terrific migraine that dominated my senses. It was as if my brain was twice the size of my skull and had been forced in to the crammed space. Though I had not yet felt it with my hands, the lump that had risen on the back of my head was easy to pinpoint. As my eyes opened, at first they were pleased to bet met with darkness as opposed to a blinding light, but that just confirmed my suspicions of where I was. One by one my other sense rushed back, and the smell of blood; my blood came flooding into my nostrils. My mouth also carried the bitter taste of blood. As I became more aware of the chair I had been so delicately placed on, I tried to shake my arms free but found them to be tied to the chair. With a lacklustre effort I attempt to pull at the rough rope that holds me down, but to no avail. Then, my ears pick up on the movement behind me, and it all becomes all too clear.
“I hope that you are comfortable enough, Thadeous, old friend.” He said in a mock friendly tone.
“Old friend? Don’t kid yourself.” I replied with as much venom as I could muster. “I’ve never wanted anything to do with you and yet you still try to meddle in my affairs to this day.”
“Why whatever do you mean?” He asked as he walked out from behind me and showed himself to me. I barely recognised the human in front of me, who was once a respected mercenary in Beatrix’s guard. That was until four years ago when it was revealed that he had been extorting shop owners and taking payoffs from criminals, eventually finding his place as one of Gaia’s most notorious criminals. When ever they searched for him, he’d always miraculously disappear and it always stumbled the law enforcers. But not me. I knew too well from my own experience what he was like, how he could corrupt anyone and find ways of making you silent. Time had not been his friend, though, for he had visibly changed from the clean cut well respected man he once was into this darkened creature that was barely human that stood before me now.
“You know what I mean.” I replied, not wanting to dwell on past matters. “But that surely isn’t why I am tied to a chair with an aching migraine, so please enlighten me to what is it that you exactly want from me so I can ignore your wishes and get as physically far away from your vile presence as I can.”
“I’d be careful what you say to me, oh brave and noble Thadeous. Words can hurt you far more than they can hurt me.” He said with a satisfied ugly smirk worn proudly on his face. “But you are right, we do have business to attend to.”
“I don’t want to do business with you.” I replied bluntly, though I was worried on what he had on me and how far he was willing to go to gain my cooperation.
“Allow me to continue uninterrupted, or else you’ll find a broken jaw would fit nicely in with that head ache of yours.” He said, enjoying this too much. I stared back at him, trying to burn a hole right through him. “Good.” He said, before he crouched down right in front of me to gain my full attention. He got it alright, it was hard to pry my eyes of that face. “The Royal Summons is this weekend and you are fighting the all too renowned Sir Alexis Beardalot. Everyone the world over knows his name and only a handful of gamblers know who you are. Do you catch my drift?”
“I guess.” I said, keeping my eyes on his with intent. “Perhaps that means all the money is on him, right? That means you wouldn’t want me to throw the battle, which is good because I would never do that.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I’m not asking you to then, isn’t it?” He replied, proceeding to remove an handkerchief from his pocket and wipe the blood from off of my lip. I found it extremely hard not to bite him, but I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere. “If the money is on him then I want you to win. If I want you to win, then that’s going to have to be what happens.”
“Well, I promise I’ll do my best.” I said with a wide smirk on my own face.
“I’m afraid that won’t be enough. From my experience you are not the hero that I need. You don’t have it in you to defeat such a worthy adversary. This bring me to ask, how do we weaken him before the battle?”
“Are you insane? There’s no way I’m going to let you do that.” I said bitterly to him, not caring about my own circumstances. “You do know me, don’t you? Do you think I am capable of such low underhanded tactics just to make you even slimier and rich?”
“Do you think I hadn’t thought of that before I had you brought to me.” He asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Brought in? That’s a nice expression.” I said sarcastically, trying not to sweat what he was about to reveal to me.
“I know now why you settled in to Lindblum rather than moving back to Burmecia and I can easily make it so that Lindblum no longer feels like a home to you. Do you understand me?” He said in his business like tone.
“If you touch a hair on her head…” I began, but was cut off by the back of his hand.
“You are not in a position to negotiate.” He said in almost a whisper, but I heard every syllable. “Now, here’s what I want you to do for me.”
Burmecia, the land of my birth. My former home. Time may have changed you, but there is still part of my heart that has remained unchanged. The part that bleeds for home.
A thousand thoughts pass through my mind as I walk into the Realm of Eternal Rain. Has the rain stopped? Surely not. But still, the transformation of what I knew all too well had occurred. What was fresh in my memory from not too long ago was not exactly this. Or was it me that had changed? One couldn’t ignore that idea.
A Kingdom that once stood strong and great. Fallen. I couldn’t help but feel pain at the thought. If I had not have gone, it could possibly have not happened this way. Obviously I am wrong, I would just have been another body adding to the carnage, but still, that doubt dwells within me. Almost a traitor, that’s how I feel. I left my homeland to be brutalised by a corrupted monarch who had dreams of domination. Again, I understand that a traitor, I am not. One can’t help but feel this way. Some time had past since the time of loss, when the Alexandrian forces came and conquered, and now it’s wayward son had once again returned to pay his respects. The only thing I had to ask myself was, “am I welcome?” The strange thing, for me was that I would be welcome by all those dead and alive here. They would accept my shortcomings, my lack of contribution, the fact that I am still alive where others that were more true to home had expired.
Still, I Thadeous, son of Burmecia had returned. “Welcome home, son,” the city said.
The hole inside me was unimaginable. Who would have thought my trip back to my home would be so unwelcoming? How could it leave me so empty? I couldn’t even explain it to myself. It was as though I really did blame myself for what happened in the City of Burmecia, that fateful night. Oh that night, burned into my memory for eternity. I saw the ground of my homeland littered with the lifeless bodies of my friends, my family. All of the people I had grown up with, everyone I had known, they were no more.
What did that leave me? The trip back home was more eventful than I would have liked, for a start. Travelling through the forest, I felt a presence lurking behind me. That feeling of being followed, the paranoia that came with it. It made me feel especially uneasy, with the fresh hole that my return to the Realm of Eternal Rain has burnt inside my chest, making it harder and harder to breathe. I peered over my shoulder, expecting to see it straight away, but it was not there to see. I drew my axe, holding it with both hands to carefully maintain its weight. My feet stopped in their tracks, and my eyes closed. There, I waited, patiently seeking out my foe. All that I heard was the near silence of the wind, with the rustling of the grass impossible to catch from human ears. Then it dawned on me, almost too late. I raised my axe in defence just in time to catch the wendigo that had pounced on me, as quick as lightning. Bearing its teeth at me, my heart rate quickened and I feared that this night could be my last. Gathering as much of myself as I could, I smashed my forehead hard into the creatures head, causing it to draw back disappearing from my sights instantly. I had fought this sort of creature before, but only as part of an ensemble, and that was a difficult task.
Maintaining my wits was vital, else I perish. Not this day, not if I have my say, beast. I swallowed my doubt, literally, and jumped to my feet, once more taking in the silence. Seldom, they make the mistake of uttering a sound, though it was a rarity. I would wait, trying to will it into me. Then, the snap of a twig behind me had me whip round in reflex. I had fallen into its trap. As I felt the claws penetrate my shoulders, fresh blood showing, I felt the hole inside me burn brighter than ever. The flames burst from my blade and whirled around my head, and I watched stunned. The wendigo was frozen, caught by surprise in response to this, and its claws were too deeply imbedded in me to make a quick escape. Then, summoning all my power, I urged the flame to engulf the Wendigo, and to my satisfaction, it did. I shrugged it off, taking a lot of my energy, and then I turned to face the creature, watching it struggle against the flame. With my axe still burning, I used my last reserve of energy to slam the axe blade through the creature. The last thing I saw before the blackness was the creature; perished. After that, nothing.
In my dreams, the world was a blur. The images that flashed before my eyes seemed familiar. Fire, monsters, darkness… What had happened to make me feel this way? Then, I begin to feel again, as my senses slowly return to me. Beneath me, where I lay, the cold path touched the bare skin of my arms and the back of my neck. The hard surface seemed to comfortably accept my heavy body, though it felt as if I could sink through it at any minute. My mind then finds my eyes, where I find my eyelids are heavy. Fighting with the weight of them was important, for if my memory served me well, I potentially could still be in danger, not from the Wendigo, but from whatever was left behind, scavenging. With some effort, I managed to get them open enough to be almost blinded by the new days light that threw my efforts back some. Then, fighting more, I managed to open them enough to accustom to it, and then they were open fully. Searching around me, everything seemed them same as I remembered, with one obvious exception. Next to me, looking very curious was a small moogle. My hands groped at the floor, until I felt strong enough to pull myself to a sitting position. When I had, I looked at the moogle, my head leaning to the side as I studied it.
“Hello.” I said, trying to access why it was looking at me with such interest.
“Hello, kupo.” The moogle said, fluttering its wings around me, seeming highly satisfied with itself. “I’ve been looking for you, kupo. Kupo, it was essential that I find you, kupo.”
“I do not understand, moogle.” I merely said, lost in my confusion. Things that were clear in my head made little sense to me. The fight was understandable, but my mind suggested that I produced fire from my axe blade, which hadn’t happened before. Then, the surge of energy had been thrown forward at the creature, using what was left of my strength. Now that I was awake, for some reason this moogle was with me and had been looking for me. Why was it looking for me. I didn’t have anyone to send me mail. I didn’t associate with anyone and no one had any conflict with me. I shook my head in dismissal at the moogle, and went to stand, failing miserably.
“What’s not to understand, kupopo? I have been looking for you, kupo.” It said, with visible excitement.
“You must have the wrong person, moogle.” I said, trying again to get to my feet. “No one would be looking for me.”
This time, I managed with difficulty to rise to my feet and found the moogle flying around above my head, still happy enough to be near me. Then, it settled directly in front of my face, and tilted its own head in an attempt to mimic me.
“You are not Thadeous?” The moogle asked.
“I am.” I replied, not wishing to lie, though the thing must have meant to find another Thadeous. Such a creature was easy enough to confuse. “But it is a common name among my people.”
“It was, kupo. But now there are just a few, kupo, and you, kupo, are the one that I have been looking for, kupo.” It said, staring into my eyes.
“Why?” I said, now trying my best to not just leave it there, mainly because my body wasn’t yet ready to move and if I tried, no matter how irritated I was becoming, I was sure to only worsen my situation.
“Because of the Royal Summons of Alexandria.” It said. Now I knew it had made a mistake.
“What do you even mean, creature?” I said, now knowing that it was a troubled moogle. I hadn’t an idea why it would mock me like this, but I truly had had enough.
“You did produce fire from your blade, kupo?” It asked, as I nodded irritably. “You do not know your potential, kupo. But the seers of Alexandria are never wrong about potential kupop, and so Queen Garnet and the Alexandrian Court wishes to have you compete in the Royal Summons, kupo.”
“This has to be a mistake.” I said, in a pretty idiotic fashion.
“I guess we’ll see, kupo.” It said, handing me a piece of parchment with the details.
“Sir Beardalot?!” I exclaimed. “Why would they want me to battle against him? He is a night of the highest regard and I am a wanderer who failed to save his people. This cannot be the truth. I will have to travel to Alexandria to straighten this out with someone before they take this seriously.”
“As you wish, kupo. But you know as well as I do kupopo, that these things do not get changed.” It said, before flying off and away with a high pitched whoosh. There I stood, half defeated, completely dumbfounded and at a loss to how I was going to travel to Alexandria in my condition. Regardless, I would have to try.
How did I come to be here? Once more I found my memory to be nothing more than a blur. The first thing, when I came to that I noticed was the terrific migraine that dominated my senses. It was as if my brain was twice the size of my skull and had been forced in to the crammed space. Though I had not yet felt it with my hands, the lump that had risen on the back of my head was easy to pinpoint. As my eyes opened, at first they were pleased to bet met with darkness as opposed to a blinding light, but that just confirmed my suspicions of where I was. One by one my other sense rushed back, and the smell of blood; my blood came flooding into my nostrils. My mouth also carried the bitter taste of blood. As I became more aware of the chair I had been so delicately placed on, I tried to shake my arms free but found them to be tied to the chair. With a lacklustre effort I attempt to pull at the rough rope that holds me down, but to no avail. Then, my ears pick up on the movement behind me, and it all becomes all too clear.
“I hope that you are comfortable enough, Thadeous, old friend.” He said in a mock friendly tone.
“Old friend? Don’t kid yourself.” I replied with as much venom as I could muster. “I’ve never wanted anything to do with you and yet you still try to meddle in my affairs to this day.”
“Why whatever do you mean?” He asked as he walked out from behind me and showed himself to me. I barely recognised the human in front of me, who was once a respected mercenary in Beatrix’s guard. That was until four years ago when it was revealed that he had been extorting shop owners and taking payoffs from criminals, eventually finding his place as one of Gaia’s most notorious criminals. When ever they searched for him, he’d always miraculously disappear and it always stumbled the law enforcers. But not me. I knew too well from my own experience what he was like, how he could corrupt anyone and find ways of making you silent. Time had not been his friend, though, for he had visibly changed from the clean cut well respected man he once was into this darkened creature that was barely human that stood before me now.
“You know what I mean.” I replied, not wanting to dwell on past matters. “But that surely isn’t why I am tied to a chair with an aching migraine, so please enlighten me to what is it that you exactly want from me so I can ignore your wishes and get as physically far away from your vile presence as I can.”
“I’d be careful what you say to me, oh brave and noble Thadeous. Words can hurt you far more than they can hurt me.” He said with a satisfied ugly smirk worn proudly on his face. “But you are right, we do have business to attend to.”
“I don’t want to do business with you.” I replied bluntly, though I was worried on what he had on me and how far he was willing to go to gain my cooperation.
“Allow me to continue uninterrupted, or else you’ll find a broken jaw would fit nicely in with that head ache of yours.” He said, enjoying this too much. I stared back at him, trying to burn a hole right through him. “Good.” He said, before he crouched down right in front of me to gain my full attention. He got it alright, it was hard to pry my eyes of that face. “The Royal Summons is this weekend and you are fighting the all too renowned Sir Alexis Beardalot. Everyone the world over knows his name and only a handful of gamblers know who you are. Do you catch my drift?”
“I guess.” I said, keeping my eyes on his with intent. “Perhaps that means all the money is on him, right? That means you wouldn’t want me to throw the battle, which is good because I would never do that.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I’m not asking you to then, isn’t it?” He replied, proceeding to remove an handkerchief from his pocket and wipe the blood from off of my lip. I found it extremely hard not to bite him, but I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere. “If the money is on him then I want you to win. If I want you to win, then that’s going to have to be what happens.”
“Well, I promise I’ll do my best.” I said with a wide smirk on my own face.
“I’m afraid that won’t be enough. From my experience you are not the hero that I need. You don’t have it in you to defeat such a worthy adversary. This bring me to ask, how do we weaken him before the battle?”
“Are you insane? There’s no way I’m going to let you do that.” I said bitterly to him, not caring about my own circumstances. “You do know me, don’t you? Do you think I am capable of such low underhanded tactics just to make you even slimier and rich?”
“Do you think I hadn’t thought of that before I had you brought to me.” He asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Brought in? That’s a nice expression.” I said sarcastically, trying not to sweat what he was about to reveal to me.
“I know now why you settled in to Lindblum rather than moving back to Burmecia and I can easily make it so that Lindblum no longer feels like a home to you. Do you understand me?” He said in his business like tone.
“If you touch a hair on her head…” I began, but was cut off by the back of his hand.
“You are not in a position to negotiate.” He said in almost a whisper, but I heard every syllable. “Now, here’s what I want you to do for me.”
