Final Fantasy J

[Jemal]

PROLOGUE

The Capital was even more impressive than they could have ever imagined. None of the kids had been there before, being from a small border town. Aluf had been there before, but even though he wasn't staring wide-mouthed like the 'kids' with him, it was always impressive in the capital. Magic and Technology may not work together, but they did work very well side by side.

The Capital of Mazerka was a fantastic city. It's streets were lit by electric lanterns and Motor vehicles drove along them, the exhaust being dissipated by magical purification filters. The architecture was stunning, having been designed by dwarves and built by magic.

Aluf shook his head free of the beauty and told the kids to meet him back at this inn in an hour. He had an important meeting.


ALUF had received a phone call from an old friend from the war, saying he needed to meet him in person. They had been together at the last battle against Andren, the only battle Andren has ever lost. That was where they had captured the two Airships, and given the Principality pause. They hadn't attacked since, and it had been over a month.
Unfortunately, Aluf couldn't recall a damned thing from that battle. It was common for higher ups in the army to undergo memory blocks to keep secrets from being revealed, but he'd heard that ALL of the survivors of that battle had been blocked... What had they witnessed? What had happened that was so secret? After all, they'd WON hadn't they?
With a shake of his head, Aluf entered the home of General Leo.

"Ah, good to see you again, General.. Er, I mean Aluf. Sorry, keep forgetting you're 'temporarily retired'." The big, friendly looking bear of a man Grinned and shook Aluf's hand. "I asked you here because I have a favour to ask of you. The Powers that Be have charged me with finding someone to ride shotgun on the Settlement Train. You've heard of it, I assume? We're sending an entire city across the world to lay claim to the new land. And I want YOU to escort it to the port." He smiled "I wouldn't ask, I know you take care of Mikken and the orphans, but I REALLY think you should take them with you. There's something going on here I can't quite put my finger on. The Memory block. You may feel it too, there's something off. I don't believe it's safe for you and the kids to stay here right now."


While Aluf was meeting with General Leo, the kids were left to their own devices.

 

[Caros]

Intro.

The sky was blue above Mazerka, spotted with fluffy white clouds that drifted aimlessly with the light breeze, the light of the sun shining down on the city relaxed, Not searing, but at the same time far from cool.

The city was bordered in plains and patches of forest, modern roads leading up to the high but ultimately feeble walls, a more recent construct of war for a city that never had much intrest in the practice.

Within those walls was magic and tech, buildings crafted by cranes and suported by spells, buildings that could not exist without one or the other, spires hanging out with little or no support, walkways hanging in the air over busy streets, and the moterized vehicles puttering up and down those same busy streets.

It was a beautiful birds eye view, granted from the high balcony of their rooms, rooms only befitting the station of his uncle. And yet the view barely even caught Kyo's eye.

Only a few minutes after his uncles departure, the restless Kyo had settled himself up along the balcony railing, his white overcoat draped beneath him to provide a padding, vest rising and falling with each easy breath, the thin breeze teasing the charms that hung around his neck, whipping at his short hair and ultimately keeping him awake, keeping him from falling off the side of that balcony the dozen or so stories to the ground.

He yawned then, wondering for the upteenth time why he had been dragged away from his work and the village to accompany his uncle and the others on this visit to the capitol.

The others, that brought a thin smile to his mouth, eyes fluttering closed as he focused on his hearing, trying to catch any discussion from the room itself, to hear Frida going on about how much of an adventure this was, or his cousin... well being his cousin. It'd been a fun trip thus far, thankfully uneventful, though a test on his nerves.

That was true anytime his uncle asked him to travel. The roads weren't safe these days. They hadn't been safe in ages but it was getting worse and worse by the year, wandering monsters, raiding parties from the south, even now his hands were shaking, wondering if it would be the trip back to the village that would require him to fight...

 

[Arkhandus]

While Kyo rested on the balcony apparently deep in thought or just plain bored, Mikken was sitting in the room with Frida and passing time by studying his big, sturdy book of magic. His assorted junk littered one corner of the room, and Mikken felt uncomfortable in these stuffy, city surroundings.

His chocobo had been left at the inn's stable, and though he hadn't even owned the bird long enough to name it, Mikken was somehow sad to leave it in the pen, its excitable warbling absent. Instead Mikken was listening to Frida's gleeful chatter, which he was only half paying attention to, as he looked down at his spellbook from time to time and contributed only an occasional comment. He was uneasy in this big city.

'How's uncle Al doing?' he thought. 'And what'd we travel to the city for?' he pondered.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Frida glances outside at Kyo, as he leans on the balcony and grins.

"Well, at least he's stopped pacing," she thinks to herself, as she turns her attention to her book on aquatic wildlife.

"Wow!", she exclaims, turning to a detailed study on the Fastitocalon fish. "Hey Mikken, d'you think we'll ever see one of these? That would be great!"

Frida walks across the room flips the book around to show the somewhat uninterested mage. "I heard they're pretty strong in water energy, they'd be pretty weak against lightning, right? And immune to fire? Hmmm..." She starts re-examining the page.

"Well, anyway..." she says as she puts the book down next to Mikken, "I really miss the days when we could just go out and find out this stuff without... worrying." For just a moment she looks sad, but her smile returns as she walks out to the balcony.

"Hey Kyo? What's got your attention out here? Some pretty girl, I bet! " She grins at her friend and leans on the balcony, breathing in the air. It's not very clean, but at least it's outside.

 

[Arkhandus]

Mikken looks up again from his own book, realizing he should've paid more attention, and is about to speak up, mouth opening --- but he doesn't realize his error until Frida's already talking again, and then goes to check on Kyo.

He shuts his trap before he starts to look like a gaping fish. 'Yeah, I miss those days too.' he thinks sadly.

The youth closes his book and crosses arms, looking toward Kyo and Frida while he ruminates. A funny-looking scowl creases his face.

 

[Caros]

Kyo blinked once as his view of the sky was suddenly obscured, drawn from his reverie with a start that nearly had him rolling off the side of the railing to his doom. Still, after a moment he flashed her a winning smile, head cocking to the side.

"Yo, Shinden no Hana." He chuckled a little, eyes glinting up at her. They were his best and certainly his most recognizable feature. Some people had green eyes, or blue, Kyo had emerald, so clear and vivid that they remained striking from across the room, let alone looking down into them.

"Just the sky really, no point in paying too much attention since I doubt we're staying." Again he smiled, this time a little bit more sadly than before. "Then again I suppose neither of you have ever seen the big city have you... should be out there snooping around and shopping while you have the time rather than watching over me."

He always seemed to know these days, paticularly with Frida when her attention was less focused on her books and more focused in worry over him. "Besides, the pretty girls tend to come to me anyways, no need to look."

Flashing that smile he took a moments pause, body already tensing, bracing itself against the railing in case she took the compliment in a bad form as most women of his aquaintence so often did.

(Note: Kyo has nicknames I'll be using for all of the starting party, and will come up with names for others as things progress. Whether you understand the names is up to you really.

Shinden no Hana is his name for Frida. Translates as Temple Flower.)

 

[Sound of Azure]

Frida looks at Kyo levelly with a slight smirk, "I'm pretty quick on my feet. Should be able to dodge the stampede. Pervert." She says this light heartedly, sticking out her tongue.

Looking back out across Mazerka, Frida says "You're right, though. The city sure is something...". Her voice trails off as she takes in the sights.

After a moment, she turns to him again. "I wouldn't mind having a look around, but it's not really long before we're supposed to meet anyway. Wouldn't do to get lost, now. Maybe later you can show us country bumkins around, hmm? That is, if it doesn't conflict with what ever else is going on."

Frida pauses a moment, then returns inside to retrieve her sketchbook and pencils and begins to sketch the cityscape. "I want to keep a record of everything we do. I've got this funny feeling... it'll be good to have a memento, don't you think? " Her hazel-eyed gaze looks out across the Mazerka again as she carefully captures the cityscape in pencil.

[sblock=Caros]Cool. That's a nice addition. My Japanese-fu is weak, thanks for the explanation. [/sblock]

 

[Brother Allard]

"I want YOU to escort it to the port." He smiled "I wouldn't ask, I know you take care of Mikken and the orphans, but I REALLY think you should take them with you. There's something going on here I can't quite put my finger on. The Memory block. You may feel it too, there's something off. I don't believe it's safe for you and the kids to stay here right now."

Aluf stared out the window, thoughtfully stroking his beard. The view of the city from Leo's apartments was breathtaking: all light and air. But Aluf was troubled, as he had been so often over these last months. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he considered his old friend's offer.

"I feel it, Leo. I guess we all do. A sense of foreboding, like something terrible is about to happen. Or already has." Aluf turned to regard his oldest friend, a mournful and worried look in his eyes. "And yes, I'll guard your train. I owe you that much, at least, after all we've been through together. But I have one condition."

He turned again to look out the window, thinking with some small measure of regret that this would almost surely be the last time he ever saw this view.

"When the colonists board the ships, I want you to let the kids and I board with them."

 

[Jemal]

Leo nodded "If you wish, feel free. I'm sure they won't notice or mind a few more. The settlement is made up entirely of Survivors from other towns, like yours, that were destroyed in the recent advances. Most of them are just meeting for the first time, anyways. The caravan should be ready to go in a few days. They're camped just south of the City right now, waiting to make sure everybody's there and ready to go. If you want to go meet them now, feel free, or hang around the city a few days.. It may be your last chance."

 

[Caros]

"Stampede?" He snorted, head shaking a little as he twisted on the railing, looking for a moment as if he were going to go right over the edge, twisting around finally to sit next to her, overlooking the city rather than they sky. "Don't think there are enough girls at home to constitute a stampede... and I think two years have pretty much had the big city forget me entirely. Probably for the best."

Drawing in a deep breath of air, he watched her go obtain that sketchbook, nodding to her words. "It's a beautiful view, and probably best you're going to capture it now. Divines know the principality won't feel any compunction to leave it standing when they get here." It was a fatalistic view, but one shared too often by those of their country, even after the success in capturing two airships.

Shaking free the negitive thoughts, he glanced her way, scanning over the drawing. "You'd probably be better to ask my Uncle for the tour. The city can be rough and tumble, you could get robbed, or attacked here, which would never happen to a temple girl back home."