"Do you have any salmon?" Kurabos asked Jirasu, who sat beside him on the edge of the boat. They both had fishing poles in the ocean, amused with their game. Jirasu was wearing a big sun hat and sunglasses over his eye patch and other eye.
He lifted his fishing pole out of the water, with a flounder struggling on the end of it. Jirasu sighed, pulling it off the hook and tossing it back into the water. Then a smile suddenly struck his face.
"Go fish," he replied happily. Kurabos threw his fishing pole back into the water hoping to catch something good. This was a good way to cure their boredom and get some food. Valgarb had been scolding them about it for days, especially because they had finished eating up the last of the ship's food, and Armeisu had fully prepared them, too!
Valgarb sat on the other side of the boat. The sun was shining on him, sweat pouring down his forehead. His shirt had been discarded; his large muscles tense and hot.
"Fish, fish... That's we've eaten for days..." Valgarb said in an annoyed tone, observing his two servants. "We're going to get scurvy sooner or later..."
Jirasu turned to his master with a hopeful look on his face.
"Can I throw a bomb now?" He asked sweetly, his eyes growing with happiness. Valgarb grunted.
"No, now shut up and fish! And if I see you two waste another good fish I'm going to throw you back into the ocean with it!" He ordered persistently, hoping they would understand and obey his orders by threatening them.
Jirasu turned back and stared into the ocean, avoiding Valgarb's face.
"Yes sir!" He replied, knowing the danger he would be in if he didn't cease his actions. He then scooted closer to Kurabos, attempting to look over his shoulder and hoping to get a glance of the next fish they would catch. Should he ask for a flounder this time?
Valgarb sighed at their stupidity. He would give anything for peace and quiet! He sank to the bottom of the ship. He closed his eyes to think, although it would be easier if he had his clackers to use for concentration. If those two idiots hadn't eaten all the food AND forgotten the map he might actually be on Final Fantasy and not starving. Armeisu was punishing him by making them come on purpose. They never liked each other and he knew his weak points. What was Armeisu up to anyway? He was supposed to help him get Lina and Zelos after what they did to his master. They had a deal!
He suddenly heard Jirasu cry out with delight. He roused from his comfortable position wondering what he might want now. If he asked to throw a bomb again he swore he would go insane. His head already ached with the stupidity of their questions.
"What is it?" He asked. Kurabos suddenly dropped the pole into the water, noticing what Jirasu had seen as well. He ran to Valgarb with delight. He pointed to the far north, his claw directly showing the direction. A piece of land was showing through the mist of the ocean. Quiet, undisturbed, and alone. Shore, a beach.
Valgarb smiled for the first time in weeks. Final Fantasy no doubt, there was nowhere else close enough he could be at. He found it at last. At least he wouldn't go insane. It was a miracle that he was able to put up with Jirasu and Kurabos that long. A breeze then began flow across the sea. The clouds blew across the sky blocking the sun from the earth below.
He brushed his blue hair from his face, the wind still blowing softly. It whispered somewhat. It awoke the ocean waves who had slept so soundly for weeks. It pushed the ship onward, Jirasu, Kurabos, and Valgarb cheering in celebration. Especially Valgarb, who couldn't wait to get off the cramped boat, and at this moment he was not angry with his servants. It didn't matter now that they had finally reached Final Fantasy.
Jirasu and Kurabos began packing up the equipment as the boat drew closer. Valgarb had been complaining that Armeisu had not let him borrow his light weapon. He had said Valgarb was too irresponsible to take care of it. Some nonsense like he would let it collide with the sword of light which was absolutely forbidden.
Valgarb quickly slipped his shirt back on, adjusting his short cape. His yellow eyes gleamed, his war paint shining with the scent of exhilaration and battle within him. The blue ocean waves pulled them further and further toward the shore, softly speaking to them. Breeze...The sound of the moving water was beautiful.
It slowly drifted to shore bumping up on the steep rocks. At least it had not crashed at shore. It had, however, smashed the front of their boat, the broken wood being very sharp. Valgarb jumped out hastily, not waiting for Jirasu and Kurabos. He stood on the sandy shore, waiting for them and listening to the ocean, while stretching his stiff muscles. Jirasu and Kurabos slowly made their way down, backpacks balancing on their backs. Valgarb turned and faced them. They all grinned at each other, fangs showing from all their mouths. The sword of light was lingering somewhere in this mysterious world.
The bartender backed away from the counter, a man dressed in black sitting across from it. He was even wearing a mask, the mouthpiece off to drink the fine wine. A brown dog sat at his feet, violently eating the steak in front of him, tearing it apart and growling. The man reached down and petted it as the dog chewed up the last piece. He turned back forward.
"Pops, give me another steak..." He said in a quiet voice. The bartender wearily went back into the kitchen and returned with another large steak on a platter. He handed it to him, trying to stay as far away from him as possible. The man just simply handed it to the dog again, and it immediately began eating just as violently. It was no pet dog. The thing was huge! It snarled, fangs showing from the corners of its mouth, steak juice dripping down them. It looked like it was ready to fight. Ready for blood.
A waitress walked to the bartender's side, a notepad and tray in her hand, her long blonde hair flowing behind her, her short skirt almost showing her panties. The collar of her blue shirt showed cleavage, eye shadow thickly covering her lashes, red lipstick on her lips. She saw the concerned look on his face, then looked over and noticed the man in black, her curls bouncing as she turned.
"What's with him?" She asked quietly, trying not to let the man hear her. He sighed.
"You know these towns, he's an assassin. I've been seeing him around here for a while now..." He replied. She nodded.
"That's the way thing's are when the Empire is ruling... Table thirteen wants five more up on the rocks," she said seriously. He smiled and turned back to the shelves of liquor.
Jazz music was booming through the bar, lights exploding from the stage and the back of the café. A numerous amount of blonde women stood on the stage, wearing silky red dresses and makeup covering their faces. Their hair was curled and pinned up, their beautiful eyes showing. They sang loud upbeat songs, dancing around the stage.
The drunken men below cheered, chugging down more beer and wine, enjoying themselves greatly. Most of them were dressed as soldiers of the empire, rust armor covering their bodies, rust helmets on their heads. They were making the most of their free time that Kefka rarely gave them. Outside others were guarding the town of Albrook. And to think it used to be one of the most beautiful towns in the world! That's what happens when the Empire takes over, just like what she said.
The beautiful waitress hung over one the soldiers, trying to make out what he was ordering through his muffled voice, as he hick-upped once more. Across at the other table another soldier was sneakily slipping his fingers up her short skirt. She gasped and turned around immediately. She blushed.
"You Empire men are bad boys!" She said, giggling slightly. They threw their arms around her waist for comfort, in their drunken state. She tried to push them away, her face turning cherry red. The bar door opened and she struggled to break free from the soldier's hold.
A muscular man with blue hair at his shoulders entered. His shirt short, showing his chest, red war paint on his stomach and cheeks. He had a short cape, and a bandana leading up to a spiky haircut. And a horn? She gasped, her eyes glimmering. She pulled free and ran to the entrance to meet him. There were two other figures following him, one a fox and the other unknown. She didn't mind, customers that were not members of the Empire were rare, and it was even rarer to find someone so attractive.
"Welcome! How may I help you?" She asked sweetly. She blinked rapidly, her thick eyelashes fluttering.
"Table for three," He replied. She sighed at his voice and dreamily led them to a table. They seemed very hungry and took at while to decide what all they wanted. She patiently waited beside their table while they decided. Then again she didn't mind waiting by Valgarb's side. They ordered quite a bit of food for only three people... Of course two of them weren't people. The blue monster looked huge, and she expected they would order a lot. She would have to do her best to satisfy them. She hastily wrote down their order and immediately reported to the bartender.
"Look at him! Now, that's the definition of sexy!" She cried. He sighed at her girlishness.
"What's their order?" He asked in an annoyed voice. The young waitress sighed and handed him the pad. He became impatient with her. She acted as though she could just cease to work now that a customer had attracted her attention. He opened his mouth to scold her, but she had already begun to prance back to the man's table blushing.
"So where do you come from big boy? Vector?" She asked sweetly. Jirasu didn't understand that the question was directed at Valgarb instead of him and decided to reply to the waitress.
"We're from the East! We've come for the sword of light!" He replied happily. Valgarb shot an evil face in his direction and his smile faded. The waitress grunted with annoyance, the same way Valgarb did. They were just so dense.
"I meant this hunky guy over here, not you!" She said in an angry voice. The soldiers all turned to gaze back at the waitress.
"What's so great about him darlin'? Come join us!" They all cheered. She turned her back to them in annoyance. The soldiers began moaning in disappointment. The waitress grinned at their reaction and put her arms around Valgarb, smiling happily. It automatically attracted the soldier's attention, causing a rucuss in the bar. Kurabos frowned.
"I thought we were going to eat!" He complained. He gazed back at the bartender who seemed to be working even faster now. Kurabos figured he must be threatened by his presence and he continued to complain. Jirasu curiously looked around the room, examining it. He turned back to his master.
"Hey. Boss, looks like you have fans!" He said happily. Valgarb began blushing.
"What do you mean?" He asked. Jirasu pointed to the stage, the dancers gazing at him and drooling. Valgarb shrugged, hoping the waitress would remove her arms from him without him having to say anything. He was too shy to ask her to stop it. She didn't stop on her own. His face was as red as a cherry. She was gleaming with happiness.
"Hey, hey, I'll make you're first wine up on the house!" She said happily. She gazed down at him again and remembered his sexy voice. " Actually have all you like!" She reconsidered.
Kurabos smiled
"Thanks a lot," he said joyfully. She grunted again and stood up from Valgarb, then pointed at him.
"I meant him not you!" She said in an annoyed voice.
The soldiers were still moaning and complaining for the waitress' company at the other tables. She continued to ignore them, continually trying to hit on Valgarb. They all huddled together, speaking to each other in muffled voices.
"You reckon he ain't from here? What's that ugly blue thing with him? And since when did foxes start talkin'?'" One said. "Maybe we're just really drunk..." Another said sleepily. The rest of them shook their heads.
"I reckon people around here don't got blue hair either... He's gotta be a spy wandering around these empire states!" One said loudly.
"Maybe a Returner?"
"That means-"
The waitress sat on the edge of Valgarb's chair now, handing him free glasses of wine. She giggled and smiled happily.
"You got nowhere to stay tonight? How about you come to my place to stay and get rid of these losers," she said slyly, striking an agitated look at Kurabos and Jirasu who didn't seem to notice as they engulfed the food on the table. It was obvious that they hadn't eaten in days. Valgarb gulped down the wine trying to ignore her presence. It had taken him forever to get here and find a town to eat and rest, and now some silly waitress was constantly bothering him!
The soldiers clumsily stood up from their tables, chugging down the last of the beer and wine. They noisily pushed their chairs over trying to attract everyone's attention. Kurabos and Jirasu looked up from their dinner plates, noticing the Empire's soldiers approaching their table. Everyone in the bar gazed at them as they almost tripped over each other in their drunken state. Valgarb didn't notice them at all, as the waitress kept chattering and offering him more wine.
The soldiers finally made it to his table, still looking sick, ready to have a hangover at any moment. One of them slammed their fist on their table, the wineglass spilling and rolling down on the ground, where it shattered. The shards were all over the floor. The bartender ran to the table beside the waitress. The music stopped and the customer's noise replaced it, a clamor beginning. They all cheered on for a bar fight, and the bartender used his best effort to try to calm them down.
The waitress grunted
"You pay for that glass!" She said in an angry voice. One them spit on the floor, and others cracked their knuckles. Jirasu and Kurabos sat there stunned, not knowing what to think. They dropped their forks and stood up from the table, finally noticing they were challenging them. Valgarb sighed in annoyance. Did they really expect to fight him in that kind of drunken state, over some dumb waitress? What kind of guys were these?
"Hey you! What do ya' think yer' doin' invadin' on Final Fantasy!" They yelled. "No outsiders allowed in here, bub! We're the Empire and we rule here!"
"We're at the top! You follow our rules, got it?" They all screamed. The waitress stepped back behind the counter away from the soldiers, knowing that when they wanted command, they fought for it well. If only these countries had their own freedom to decide things on there own. No one was allowed to intrude on the Empire states. They became cautious ever since The Returners discovered where their base was. They didn't want anyone to move in or out. It was as though they were trapped.
If they let someone new in they might have connections to The Returners or another resistance against them. And if someone moved out they might be going to a resistance and give out secret information of the Empire. Espers had taken over the minds of all of the Empire. No one was to find out of their powers. Espers had taken their freedom.
Valgarb slyly turned around, his yellow eyes cruelly gazing into their eyes. Jirasu and Kurabos obediently walked to his sides, ready to protect him.
"I'm really scared," he said in a sarcastic voice. Everyone around them stared like they were in an action movie. No one talked to the Empire like that! They all looked at him like he was crazy. Was someone actually standing up to them?
The soldiers grunted
"Enough talkin'! Yer' gonna' get it!" The soldiers cried. They clumsily charged at him, half of them tripping on the way. Kurabos and Jirasu got ready and alert, ready to deliver blows to the soldiers. Valgarb directed them to cease, and they lowered their fighting positions. Valgarb looked down on the pathetic soldiers and began laughing.
A green light gathered in his hands. It lit up the room, blinding everyone. They all dashed forward for a closer look. The waitress gasped.
"What a special effect!" She said in an impressed voice. The soldiers all fell to the floor, their eyes too pressured to accept the light. Valgarb softly roared and thrust the fire from his hand; it exploding over the cowering soldiers. Everyone in the bar cheered in excitement. He grinned, his fangs slightly showing from the sides of his mouth.
The waitress clapped wildly and began to whistle, beginning a clamor among the other admiring women. The young waitress leaned against the counter and sighed with joy, smiling happily. She turned around rushing to grab some wine and beer to hand out during the rest of the battle, it would be great for business. It was very rare to see someone challenge the Empire. She began placing glasses and bottles on trays urgently, trying to make sure she didn't miss anything. She gazed across the table... The man in black was gone.
The soldiers cringed in pain, slowly lifting themselves from the ground. Their burn scars stung and they moaned. Blood dripped from their bodies onto the wooden floor, staining it red. They began to throw up all over the bar, not holding the consumed wine and beer. Blood came out with it, the pain of the fire almost unbearable for soldiers who were not used to magic at all.
They tried to walk to him, vomit and spit falling from their mouths. Valgarb, Jirasu, and Kurabos all laughed at them, in their pathetic condition. One of the soldiers forced their trembling fingers up to point at Valgarb and his comrades.
"I knew it! He's an esper!" They all cried. "I thought that hair color was weird!" The rest of the soldiers agreed. A confused look crossed all their faces as the soldiers continued to accuse Jirasu and Kurabos as the same nonsense.
All the customers screamed and tried to escape from the bar, pushing over the chairs and running for the exit all at once, almost trampling over each other. They squished and pushed each other through the door to make their retreat. There was more screaming, the dancers and the waitress running for their lives with the bartender by their side. An esper... There! They were lucky they hadn't been killed. All the woman moaned with distaste that they had been flirting with an esper who could have killed them all in seconds.
"What did they just flip their lid about?" Valgarb asked Kurabos, still standing there confused at the customer's reaction to their presence. Kurabos shook his head, not at all understanding anything the soldiers had said.
"Don't ask me boss," he answered. Jiasu nodded, showing that he as well didn't know what the hell was going on. Loud moans began to fill the bar as the soldiers still tried to approach him, crawling little by little it great pain from burn scars.
"Kefka will want you..." The soldiers said weakly, hardly being able to speak between spitting out vomit and blood. They persistently threw themselves out, a few of them reaching his foot with their bloody hands. He kicked them over with distaste, drops of blood staining his shoes. The soldiers hit the wall violently from the force of the kick, falling unconscious with pain and pressure. Valgarb laughed at their level and strength, kicking more over as they approached him, Jirasu and Kurabos joining in.
A black figure appeared behind Valgarb quietly. It crept closer and closer not making a sound. Jirasu sniffed the air. He stopped laughing and examined the air further. He spun around, a needle held to Valgarb's back. Alarm struck his face.
"Valgarb-sama, watch out!" He cried. Valgarb turned around with a confused look on his face. The figure struck him with the needle, catching him off guard. Valgarb immediately fell to the ground, losing conscious.
"Valgarb-sama!"
Valgarb moaned. His muscles felt stiffer than ever. He felt sweaty and feverish. He felt sick and there was a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn't move, he felt immobilized. He slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could see a red and orange figure looking over him.
"Jirasu... Is that you?" He asked sleepily.
"Yeah, Kurabos is here too. You okay?" Jirasu asked. Valgarb groaned.
"No, actually I'm not... Who was the big son of a bitch who did this to me? The Jackass!" Valgarb cried angrily. Kurabos sighed.
"We don't know... You don't know where we are do you?" Kurabos asked. Valgarb grabbed his head in pain.
"No... Where are we?"
"In jail..." Kurabos said slowly. Valgarb gasped and pulled himself up from the cold stone floor using his anger as motivation to lift himself, in his painful condition. He could hardly think, and Jirasu and Kurabos still found a way to make him angry. He clinched his fist in anger.
"Why the hell are we in here!?" He screamed in their ears, noticing the small cell around them, cage bars on the doors and windows, and it smelt too. They both fiddled with their thumbs, not knowing what to say. Valgarb flashed a warning at them through his cold eyes, wanting an explanation for this act of stupidity. Kurabos noticed first and immediately ceased with Jirasu following.
"Well, some guy in a mask and black clothes knocked you out with some kind of drug... We tried to get him but he was just too fast... He caught us in chains..." He said in a hesitant voice. Valgarb grunted.
"In chains! How dumb are you?! I trained you better than that!" He screamed. Kurabos got a nervous look on his face, knowing it was a mistake to ever make Valgarb angry, especially when he was drugged.
"Well, he also had a knife up to my neck... He made me go outside and get inside this big thingy..." Kurabos said while scratching his head, trying to remember what it looked like. Jirasu's eyes grew large.
"And you said I couldn't throw any bombs so they caught me too! And I had to go inside with Kurabos! Then we got led into this city, and thrown in jail!" He said in a hasty voice. Valgarb calmed down. The drug made him too weak to get over excited.
"Where was I?" He asked. They both shook their heads.
"They put you in a separate thingy..." Jirasu said. Valgarb sighed.
"What are we gonna do? I'm too weak to get us out of here..." He said in soft voice. Jirasu's eyes grew wide.
"CAN I THROW A BOMB NOW??? PLEASE???" Jirasu cried.
"Yes, yes, Jirasu, now you can throw a bomb..." He said. Jirasu gasped with joy. He thrust his cape up, bombs waiting beneath. He tore three small ones out at the same time, all three lighting themselves as soon as they were pulled.
The bombs exploded on the bars, causing them to melt. Jirasu cried with joy as they exploded, as though he hadn't seen a good explosion in years. Valgarb couldn't believe Jirasu would actually come in handy at one time. He wouldn't know how to get out if Jirasu hadn't said anything. He actually laughed.
Kurabos stood up and helped Valgarb to his feet. Jirasu dashed in front of them, examining the halls for soldiers. He signaled them to walk out from the cell. Kurabos helped Valgarb balance down the hall. He became stronger with each step though still unstable and having troubles with balancing.
Any time they came across soldiers, Kurabos and Jirasu guarded Valgarb with a number of attacks. Alarm came out within the castle that the espers had escaped. Soldiers were running everywhere, looking everywhere to find them. If Kefka found out they had let the espers escape they would be in serious trouble. The punishment for not taking close care of espers was death and they all knew it.
Jirasu led them through a small tunnel at the back of a staircase that seemed like an emergency escape for the troopers. They crawled through to find a factory filled with "thingies". Jirasu and Kurabos excitedly pointed at them explaining that those were the things they had been brought here in. Valgarb ran his fingers down the metal in fascination.
"Interesting... " He said softly. They were everywhere. In lines stretching as far as the room would go, carried above their heads on conveyer belts. None of them could make out what they were or what they were made of. It was strange. Valgarb couldn't keep up with all of it. This was Armeisu's fault. He was too tired to try to go on, but he pushed himself onward. He was too weak to think about what the "thingies" were or where to go on the effects of the drug. Jirasu decided to lead them, since he had the sense of a fox.
He led them through another small door at the back of the room that led them to higher floor. There was nowhere to go. Below they were looking over the factory, with no other options but to jump back down to where they started. Jirasu examined the room carefully, trying to find a way to go.
The door to the factory abruptly opened, soldiers rushing in. Jirasu and Kurabos screamed at their surprise entrance, giving themselves away. The soldiers immediately spotted them and began running for the next floor. By now Valgarb was too drugged to scold them or walk on his own for that matter.
Jirasu explained that the only way out would to jump on the conveyer belt and see where it led them. Kurabos agreed, and used his best effort to pull Valgarb along, who was now hallucinating and sweating hard. He felt dizzy and feverish, everything too blurry to think. Kurabos helped him up by placing his arm over his shoulders. Kurabos and Jirasu jumped for the belt, Valgarb holding on tight to Kurabos.
They had a bad landing on the belt, toppling over each other and falling into the machines running along it. They all laid on the belt as it carried them along, relaxing. The soldiers reluctantly retreated, knowing they would be in deep trouble for losing the espers.
"Don't worry! They're heading straight for Kefka's lair! Right where they should be!" The soldiers called to each other. A confused look struck Jirasu and Kurabos' faces.
"Does that mean we're in trouble?" Jirasu asked in a weary voice. Kurabos scratched his head in thought of the strange words. Nothing these guys said made sense to them. After all they weren't "esgers" or whatever they called them!
"Probably, and the boss is out of it too!" Kurabos exclaimed, examining his master hung over them mumbling about ice cream with closed eyes.
The conveyer belt went into the shadows of the room blacking out their vision. Kurabos pulled Valgarb back up onto his shoulder for support while Jirasu scurried ahead to see what was coming out before them. It was still to dark to see and Valgarb was still moaning about ice cream cones. They couldn't fight whoever this Kefka guy was without their superior.
The conveyer belt came down to a point and became one with the floor again in the new room of machines. More of the devices were coming in from the other lab into this one for final testing and preparation.
The trio jumped off onto the marble floor and peered curiously around the room. There was a chair at the back of the room that looked electric with all sorts of controls and locks covering it. Tubes ran from the chair and connected into a control council of one of the machines. It was very puzzling looking. It looked like the process of running power from the chair into the big armored machine.
A villainous laugh rang through the room and the three dashed to the back of the room to hide behind the devices, but gave themselves enough room to watch over the rest of the lab. A blonde haired man with paint consuming his entire face entered laughing hysterically. He looked more a clown than a scientist. He was dragging some sort of creature behind himself on a chain like a pet. It looked like a fairy, glowing white with crystal wings. A collar was around its neck, with a red light flashing on it, its lovely green eyes gleaming innocently like a damsel in distress.
The creature let out a shriek as the man placed it in the chair. Locks latched around its arms and it tried to struggle and escape. Its wings fluttered at a strenuous pace, signaling that it was in danger and needed help. Sparkles danced from them, and it began to try to gather in its magical power and release it. The collar let out a loud beeping noise and its powers shut down within it. The man giggled.
"Don't worry. Your magic is going to a good cause. The cause of our Magictek armor!" He said evilly. The fairy let out another battle cry and a red light appeared on the front of the chair. A liquid looking much like the sparkles shot up the tubes into the Magictek armor, the machine almost consuming the power.