[aurlon]

This story my friend wrote awhile back, I found it interesting If you bored I would read it, kinda brings back memories, you guys might know these people.



Final Fantasy XI Adventure

*This is a work of fiction. Names, people, places, etc are a product of the imagination, or if real, used fictitiously. All FFXI races, images, places, etc belong to Square Enix yada yada yada*

Chapter 1

“All right. Mom, I’m done with my chores now. I’ll be in my room, so let me know if you need help with anything.” I told my mom.
I logged onto my Final Fantasy XI account after finishing up cleaning the backyard. I did it at night when it was cool out and now the rest of the night was mine to do as a I please. My Final Fantasy XI account had just two characters, Shadowlink and Sophytia. I never played Shadowlink anymore, he wasn’t as much fun compared to Sophytia. I would flirt with the other characters for free gear and items; however, it does have its drawbacks. When my friend Keltik joined my linkshell he introduced himself as my boyfriend! I was mortified, yet being a good friend I couldn’t possibly deny it in front of other people because I would look like a complete jerk. I just played along with it and here I am in a mess of lies we created, oh well. Other than that I was a typical seventeen year old boy. I just graduated high school and I am looking for a summer job before college. When I logged onto Sophytia, I saw my friend Amir was on. His character was Aurlon, an Elvaan. We were best friends and told each other everything.
“Hey what’s going man?” I asked him.
“Nothing much here, going to go merit Paladin some more, what about you?”
“Eh, I’ll just hang around Jeuno and talk to my friends like usual.”
“You need to do some different stuff on here, do some quests or missions to get some fame.”
“I know, but it just doesn’t seem that interesting to me, personally, I’d rather go fishing for some more Moat Carp, I need about 4,800 more to turn in.”
“Well, whatever, I’ll talk to you later since I’m going to be partying so don’t bother me!”
With that I started to talk to my friends, chat about where we were going to college, and how there was nothing on television at the time. I decided to take Amir’s advice and go start a mission. I headed over to the Chateau d’Oraguille to speak to Prince Trion. I found him in his room and clicked on his name to start the cutscene. The screen went black and then the cutscene began like any other, except Trion was not talking about the mission I had been assigned to. Trion mentioned that Shadow Lord was plotting a new scheme. A scheme that should he succeed, the fate of Vana’diel would be at risk.
“This is not the mission I signed up for. Thank you internet for once again lying to me!” I shouted in frustration.
“This is not an ordinary quest you will be embarking on. It will be filled with dangers the likes of which you cannot imagine, and I need your help.”
I laughed at my laptop screen thinking this has to be an elaborate joke by Square Enix. “Thanks, but no thanks. I could care less about the fate of Vana’diel because for one it’s just a bunch of pixels! I don’t care if a virtual world gets overrun by evil monsters.” Prince Trion just grinned the whole time while listening to me talk.
“Very well, you leave me no choice. You will embark on this mission like it or not and you will see how very real our world is.”
And with that, the cutscene was over and I had control over Sophytia again. I got up to go use the bathroom when suddenly I was frozen in place. I blacked out, and the next thing I know I was laying down on what felt like solid concrete…

Chapter 2

“All right lets head out to the Bhaflau Thickets so we can start killing some Colibri.” Amir just started a merit party in the Bhaflau Thickets when his screen went dark. “What the hell?!” Amir gave his computer a few good smacks until he saw the screen come back on. “There we go… hey this isn’t the thickets! This looks like Bastok or something.”
“That is correct, we are on Ore Street near the Alchemy Guild.”
“Wait, aren’t you Cornelia? Wow this is an awesome cutscene! S.E. has really outdone themselves this time.”
“This is not a cutscene, this is real. I am asking to embark on a dangerous quest to stop the Shadow Lord! He is trying to resurrect a dangerous creature; a creature not even the mightiest group of adventures has defeated!”
“I thought Absolute Virtue had already been beaten.”
“Yes, the creature has been slayed; however, there is another creature in the Aydeewa Subterrane that is too powerful for any normal adventurers to kill- the Pandemonium Warden. If the Shadow Lord is in cahoots with the Pandemonium Warden, it could be the end of all in Vana’diel! I am asking you, for the sake of Vana’diel, please help slay this creature! Others are already on the way to help you, and you must join them. Shall you succeed, you will earn riches beyond belief and Bards will sing of you for centuries to come.”
“I have never backed down from a challenge. Like the mighty Paladin I am, I accept the mission.”
“Very well, I will give you something to aid you in your quest, now I must ask you, close your eyes now, and keep them shut until I say to open them.”
“Ok, they are closed now.”
“Very well, you may open them now…”

Chapter 3

“… So you see, I foresee terrible things to happen should my premonition to come true, and I have chosen you to stop this monstrosity.”
“But how can I, a simple Summoner, take on the greatest beast ever to threaten Vana’diel?”
“Fear not, for there are others that will accompany you on this great mission, and upon victory, you will be showered with gifts and rewards. The choice is yours, and the future of this world depends on your decision…”

Chapter 4

“…So let me get this straight? The president of Bastok, Mr. Karst, wants me to embark on the greatest quest ever to save the world of Vana’diel? And should I slay the beast, untold riches and fame will be mine?”
“That is correct.”
“Well count me in Mr. Karst!”

Chapter 5

“… I don’t know, this quest seems awfully dangerous. But, how can I refuse, you’re Prince Pieuje for Pete’s sake!”
“Yes, I know this can be a difficult decision. But shall you succeed, you will amass untold fortunes; be praised and worshipped for centuries to come.”
“I am still not sure.”
“You know an Aurlon, correct?”
“Yes. How do you know him?”
“What if I told you Aurlon was also undertaking this mission?”
“Well, then I would say, ‘I would come along to support him 100%.’”
“I look forward to hearing of your triumphant return back home.”
“Thank you, Sir.”

Chapter 6

“Arrre you the one they call Syncere?”
“It depends, who might you be?”
“I’m Semih Lafihna. I have come here to find Syncere. So, If you are not him, please excuse me I must be on my way.”
“Wait! I am Syncere. What is it you need of me?”
“I have searrrched for you to ask of your assistance…”

Chapter 7

“Ow, my head. What happened? Hey, wait! Where am I? This isn’t my bedroom!” I said, rubbing my forehead.
“Glad to see your awake finally.”
“You!” I shouted while pointing a finger at the guy in front of me.
“I said you will embark on this mission. And you left me no choice. So I transported you into the game into the character you were currently playing. It just so happened to be this silly Mithra girl. Also, as punishment for your ignorance I have changed your job to Dancer. You will not be able to change your main job for the remainder of this quest.”
“What?! Why did you do this to me?” I sat down on Prince Trion’s bed and began to weep. I had rarely wept before, but now it felt a lot easier.
“I said I needed your help and I damn well meant it. If you want to return back to your world, you will need to accept the mission and defeat this monstrosity. Do you accept?”
I stopped crying and began to come to terms with what lay ahead of me. “I… guess so. I guess I don’t have much of a choice either. But why make me a dancer?! You could have at least made me something a little more useful!” I asked, unknowingly pouting.
“Ahhh, yes. I thought maybe you would entertain me with a few dances, and I love it when girls make pouting faces.” Prince Trion said winking at me.
“How dare you!” I slapped him across the face.
“Ha ha ha, pitiful girl, do you think you can even harm me in that weak state of yours? If I were you, I would head off to Jeuno, get some training done there, and fast. The Shadow Lord works quickly and won’t spare time for the likes of you. Guards! Throw this woman out! Now!”

Chapter 8

As Amir opened his eyes, he noticed something. “What the hell did you do?! How did I end up in Bastok?”
“This is a secret I have been working on for when this sort of crisis would come up. It will help you to defeat the Shadow Lord when the time comes. Now, I must be on my way before father suspects I am up to no good!”
“Wait!” But it was of no use. Cornelia fled the scene, leaving Amir in his predicament. “How is this supposed to help me?” He looked at his surroundings. “Wow, this is just like the game. I can even see my name, Aurlon, above me. I need to go find Jerry and tell him about this, this is so awesome!”

Chapter 9

“Why, if I wasn’t so weak, I would have no problem kicking your guys’ butt!” I shouted at the guards outside the Chateau d’Oraguille. I sulked off, wandering about North San d’Oria. I decided to enter my mog house. There, I caught up some sleep and rested. When I woke up I pinched myself, but I wasn’t dreaming. “Wow, this sucks! Of all jobs to be playing as, I get stuck as a Dancer! Guess I better head off to Jeuno.”
With that, I stocked up on gear and weapons at the South San d’Oria auction house. I also found out I was a level 25 Dancer with a level 12 ninja sub job. “Square Enix could have at least made some gear for Mithra that won’t always expose our bodies. It’s not good either that my legs are getting more tanned than other parts of my body. And it’s cold! Why don’t they make jackets for people?”
While being distracted by new experiences as a female, I failed to notice my best friend’s girlfriend shopping at one of the other Auction House windows.
“Hey Sophy! It’s me, Sam! Sophy!” She shouted at me from the other window. “Oh well, she must be busy. Wow, she is worse than me when it comes to shopping,” she muttered to herself and walked away from the auction house window.
“Hey is someone calling my name?” I asked. I looked around but could not see anybody I recognized. “I hate being so much shorter than everyone else! It puts me at a serious disadvantage; however, I guess smaller bodies are more lithe at dancing. All right, I got my Cotton Doublet set, my two Mercenary Knives, and my Platoon Disc. Looks like I’m ready to head out.” I got my signet and made my way easily through West Ronfaure. I had my fishing rod and ten little worms left, so I decided to try some fishing at Knightwell. After catching the fish, they looked good enough to eat and I decided to try to eat a moat carp I caught. Surprisingly, it tasted good, which is a surprise because I did not cook the fish and I have never cared for fish before. I continued on my way toward the La Theine Plateau. When I entered the plateau, I was awestruck. The place was amazing and beautiful! There were winds gusting everywhere, which felt great on my skin and fur. “I have to remember to come back here with some friends so we can enjoy the beautiful nature, it’s amazing!” After wandering through the hills, I rounded a wall when I came face to face with a Battering Ram. “Eeeek! Ok, Mr. Ram, I don’t wanna have to fight you, so I will go this way-” suddenly the ram began to charge at me and I fled to a safer area away from the Orcs so we can do a one on one battle. This was my first fight in this game as a Mithra Dancer, and I did not want it to be against a tough ram, but I had to fight it or else I would die. I quickly learned what dances were for what, that I had to use tp to use my dances, and that my daggers were not very strong at all. I also realized in the midst of battle, that I had forgotten to buy shihei in town. “This ram *gasp* is very *gasp* tough. I should have *gasp* just ran away.” I tried to use my Curing Waltz as often as I could, but I could not obtain tp fast enough. I was barely surviving and the ram still has 25% of his health remaining. “My first fight *gasp* and I’m about to die.”
“Not on my watch!”
“Huh?!”
“Come on dear, us girls have to stick together, Cure!”
“Thanks, Sam. I owe you one.”
“No problem, I told you us women have to stick together or else the boys will think they can push us around,” Sam told me, adding a little wink at the end.
“All right, now lets kill this ram!”
“You got it, Soph!”
Together, Sam and I easily defeated the ram. She enfeebled the ram and I was able to use my Flourishes to keep enough hate and build tp without using it all to cure myself and Sam. We defeated the ram within a minute or two. I told Sam how I was headed to Jeuno, when she told me she was heading there as well. When I asked her why, she said she was on a quest. I asked her about what quest she was doing, Sam surprised me by saying she was off to fight the Shadow Lord.
“You know, Sam, I too am off to fight the Shadow Lord.”
“Wait, so you’re one of the few Pieuje mentioned about coming along to defeat him?”
“Huh? I was told by Prince Trion to defeat him or else evil will rule all of Vana’diel. He never mentioned anybody else.”
“Oh, that big dummy. He may be strong, but he is so dumb and arrogant. He probably forgot to tell you more about the quest, oh well.”
“Yeah, that sounds like him.” I replied, almost sarcastically, followed by a brief silence to indicate the end of that conversation.
“So, Sophy, did you think Prince Trion was cute?”
“What?!” I was thrown off guard by this question.
“Yeah, you got to talk to him didn’t you? So I bet you got a close up of him. How was he?”
“Well, he was a bit of a jerk to me,” I replied. I still hadn’t told anyone at this time about what really happened to me. “He was kinda cute, but his personality really turned me off.”
“I bet him being mean to you means he likes you,” Sam told me, winking at me again. “Anyways, that’s what most people say about-”
“Oh wow! Look at that!” I said, interrupting Sam. I pointed to an enormous rainbow in the sky that went over the hills.
“It’s beautiful,” Sam replied. “Looks like someone completed the Summoner job quest.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you know, Sophy, that whenever the Summoner job quest is completed, a rainbow appears over the sky in this area?”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“Come on girl! Hasn’t Keltik been teaching you anything or is he dumb as well?”
“Hey! I love my Keltik! Leave him out of this,” I coldly responded.
“All right, girl, but if I were you I would teach yourself more about this game, or get a smarter boyfriend, maybe even both.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I just kept on walking next to Sam, and eventually we reached Jugner Forest.

Chapter 10

“Wow! I feel so tall in this body compared to the Humes in this town. I still don’t know how this can help me on my journey though.”
Aurlon casually walked around town, admiring how noble he felt as a Paladin. He headed over to his Mog House and took a nap. When he woke up, it took him a minute to remember everything that happened. He grabbed his gear from the safe, when he noticed he could not equip his artifact armor.
“Hey why can’t I equip my artifact armor?” He thought it may have been a glitch in the system, so he went to change his main job to Warrior, and then back to Paladin, when he noticed he was no longer level 75. “Why am I back down to level 30? Is that part of the workings of Cornelia’s spell? Damn it! I worked hard for my levels!” With frustration mounting Aurlon threw his armor against the wall in rage and left his house to head off toward the Chocobo Stables, where he encountered more trouble.
“Would like to ride one of our Chocobos? It’s only 94 gil.”
“Yes, please.”
“I’m sorry, but our sources show you do not own a Chocobo License.”
“What?! I just rode a Chocobo to get to this dumb town!”
“I’m sorry sir, rules are rules.”
“Guess I’m walking to Jeuno,” Aurlon replied with a long sigh.
“Hey Aurlon!” someone shouted from far away.
“…Oh crap,” Aurlon muttered to himself.
“Hey dude! What’s going on? Have you seen Sophytia anywhere? I want to talk to her and-”
“No, I haven’t. Anyways I’m off to Jeuno so I will talk to you later,” Aurlon had said, interrupting Daunte. He had never cared for Daunte and could not figure out why someone like Jerry would hang out with him. He always thought Daunte was pretty dumb as well. Needless to say, Aurlon was always on alert with Daunte around.
“No way! I’m heading there myself, I’ll tag along with ya!”
“Oh, great.” Aurlon replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“Hey! Was that sarcastic?” Daunte asked.
“No,” Aurlon replied, again with some sarcasm.
“Was that sarcasm?” Daunte asked Aurlon, almost sounding like he was being irritated by Aurlon.
“No! Now stop asking me questions you-”
“So what have you been up to lately, Aurlon? Hey, I thought your Paladin was 75,” Daunte asked, interrupting Aurlon.
“Nothing much, and it’s been level 30 for a short time now.”
“Oh, well that’s cool. You must be lucky to know a girl as awesome as Sophy.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Aurlon told Daunte, letting go with a small grin.
“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret of mine dude; soon enough, I’m going to be filthy stinking rich!”
“Oh really?” Aurlon once again said with some sarcasm.
“Yeah! The president of Bastok has sent me on a quest to slay a monster. And when I succeed, he says I will be rich beyond my wildest dreams! Don’t worry though, I’ll give some money to you and Sophy. Ha! Ha! Ha!” Daunte shouted, laughing like a madman at the end.
“I don’t need your crappy money dude.” Daunte was shocked by this and stopped walking.
“Hey man. I’m trying to help you out here. How can you not want my money? It‘s free!”
“Let’s head out into South Gustaberg and talk some more, people are giving you funny looks.”
“Whatever dude.” The two walked out of town into the rocky terrain of South Gustaberg and resumed their conversation as they began walking toward North Gustaberg.
“What I’m saying is I don’t need your money because I’m on the same mission as you. And stop calling me dude.”
“That’s preposterous! If you’re on it, I won’t get all the money!”
“Will you stop thinking about yourself for one fucking minute? We’re trying to save the world-- our world-- from the greatest monster to ever live in Vana’diel!”
“Ha! Ha! Ha! That’s a funny joke. But what’s this ‘our’ world crap? This is Vana’diel, not Earth. You’re too funny dude. Whatever, I’ll still get most of the money anyways, all for one!”
“And one for all,” Aurlon muttered under his breath.
By the time this conversation had ended, the group had crossed the bridge in North Gustaberg and were entering the Konschtat Highlands.
“I feel so gloomy every time I enter these lands, the dust storms, thunderstorms, and lightning storms make this place so depressing.” Aurlon coldly said.
“Yeah… whatever you say, dude. Let’s hope we find Stray Mary to make some quick cash!” With that Daunte ran off ahead, leaving Aurlon behind to shrug his soldiers in disbelief, and with that, Aurlon casually strolled through admiring the lands from a new perspective and awestruck at the size of this place.

Chapter 11

“Yo, Syncere! What’s up?”
“Oh, hey Keltik, I didn’t hear you approaching. You gotta stop sneaking up on me like that.”
“Sorry about that. So anyways, what’s up?”
“Uh…” Not wanting to cause panic throughout the Final Fantasy XI community about the Shadow Lord, Syncere decided not tell anybody he was embarking on a quest to save Vana’diel. “Just preparing to go to Jeuno. I need to go to the Tenshodo to pick up some supplies.”
“You ok? You seem a little… lost in thought or something.”
“Nah, I’m fine dude, just… thinking.”
“Well anyways I’ll join you on the trip to Jeuno. I’m on a quest given to me by the great Star Sybil.”
“That’s cool, but you can go on without me if you like.”
“Nah, it’s cool. Besides I like talking to someone, so tag your it!”
Syncere just gave Keltik that ‘I hope your joking look’ “So anyways what’s the quest about? You going to get some mysterious fish for her that she will eat for dinner?” Keltik laughed at his own joke, while Syncere was not amused at all.
“In case you must know, I’m off to save Vana’diel.”
Keltik began to laugh even harder while Syncere told him more of his story.
“And I’m off to defeat the Shadow Lord.”
“Ooooo, the Shadow Lord,” Keltik had stopped laughing at this point and was making fun of Syncere for thinking he could save Vana’diel by stopping the Shadow Lord, “Like that hasn’t been done before.”
“Well I’m also going to fight another creature, a creature the likes of which you could never possibly defeat.”
Keltik stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow, beginning to suspect Syncere would be on the same quest as himself. “You mean the Pandemonium Warden?” Keltik calmly asked.
“How do you know of him?!” Syncere asked in shock.
“Because apparently we’re on the same quest.”
“Damn, I need a drink.”
“Well let’s head over to the Timbre Timbers Tavern and talk over some drinks, courtesy of me.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Chapter 12

“Wow, this forest looks a lot different in person,” I said out loud.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sam asked with a questioning look on her face.
“Oh! Uh, nothing. Never mind.” I realized my mistake and tried to play it off as a dumb moment and by putting a smile on my face.
“I’m telling you girl, you need a new boyfriend. I think Keltik is feeding you crack in your food or something.”
“He is not doing that! You know I’m against drugs! Your boyfriend, on the other hand, is another story.” I told Sam, beginning to get flustered by her behavior.
Sam saw I was getting angry and kept egging me on, “Well at least my boyfriend is smart.”
“Yeah, in the game! I’m way smarter than Aurlon will ever hope to be.”
“Not in street smarts though. Face it girl, you’re school smarts, not street smarts. And your boyfriend is neither.”
I turned away from Sam, and thought about what she said while wiping a tear from my eye. “Damn these girly emotions of mine *sniff*” I muttered to myself.
“Hey, did you just wipe your eye? Are you crying?”
“No! *sniff*”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you did mean it! Or else you wouldn’t have said all that stuff!” With that I ran off into the distance and found a patch of flowers by an empty cave. I sat down and began to think about all Sam had said. “This day gets worse and worse! From being turned into this Mithra by Prince Trion, to being stuck as a Dancer, and to accepting this outrageous quest!” I shouted out loud and began to cry. However, what I didn’t know was that Sam had followed me and was hiding around the corner. But I was too busy thinking I failed to hear or notice her.
“Oh wow, I’ve been such a jerk to her. What did she mean when she was forced to be the Dancer job and to be her character? She chose to make a Mithra character and chose to pick the job. How can I be nice to her when I don’t even understand what’s going on? Damn, I guess this means I really have to apologize to her, *sigh*”
I thought I heard someone coming, but I didn’t see anybody or anything. “Stupid super sensitive cat ears.” That was another thing I had to get used to, my cat ears. They were much more sensitive than my regular human ears. I stood up, wiping away the last of my tears, and in a battle position in case anybody tried to sneak up on me.
“Hey, Sophy, I’m sorry-”
I was so focused in my battle position I failed to hear Sam approach me from behind and when she put a hand on my shoulder, I was so startled that I pulled out my daggers and held them in my hands ready to attack.
“Whoa, ok. I see how it is. I guess I’ll be on my way then.” With that Sam turned around and began to walk away.
“Wait!” I yelled after her. “I didn’t mean it. You just startled me so badly, and I thought I heard something before, but I didn’t see anything. So I was on high alert and you got me when I was focused on defending myself.” She stopped moving and turned around to look at me.
“Oh. Well I guess we can continue to Jeuno together, if you wanna.”
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
Our trip through the forest was uneventful. We fought the occasional monster. I did some dancing, she did some magic, and we stopped at Lake Mechieume to rest. While Sam was taking a nap, I decided to try some more fishing and caught some Crystal Bass and logged some Yew Logs with the hatchets Sam had to start a fire and cook the fish. After that we slept peacefully in a tent for the night with no interruptions from any monsters.

Chapter 13

“Aw I don’t see Stray Mary anywhere, dude,” Daunte said with some disappointment.
“What a shocker,” Aurlon replied sarcastically. “And will you stop calling me dude?! Anyways, we’re heading to Jeuno, not hunting some dumb sheep. And I got a Mary’s Horn anyways that I’m letting Soph borrow for her Bard, so I don’t even care about Stray Mary.”
“Cool, that means when it drops I can get it, Ha! Ha! Ha!”
“Sure, whatever. As long as we get to Jeuno just fine.”
Aurlon and Daunte made it to the exit of Konschtat Highlands and were the entrance to Pashhow Marshlands while Daunte pitched the tent and Aurlon was returning from the marshlands with some dead bunnies and firewood for a small fire.
“So Aurlon, what are you going to do with your money when we defeat the warden?”
“I don’t know. I’ll probably upgrade my gear, give some to friends, that kind of stuff.”
“That’s dumb!”
“Why is that?”
“I’d spend all my fortunes for relic weapons and some of the very best gear in these lands.”
“And you’re calling me dumb for not doing that?”
“What are you trying to say? That I am the dumb one?” Daunte was clearly starting to get irritated by Aurlon. “Just because you’re the noble Paladin doesn’t mean you’re the smartest or anything! And I am the Dark Knight! I can easily slash and cut and kill anything that stands in my way!”
“I’m not saying you’re dumb,” Aurlon calmly replied, “What I think is your filled with ignorance, power, greed, everything a typical Dark Knight is filled with.”
“What?!” Daunte was absolutely stunned by this. He had never heard anything like this before, nonetheless from someone he knew or someone he did not expect to say it. “You’re… you’re crazy! You’re wrong!”
“Am I? Take a look at yourself.” And with that, Aurlon walked off into the Pashhow Marshlands where a light fog and rain quickly enveloped him.
“I am not any of what you said I am! You hear me?!” Daunte shouted at the top of his lungs into the marshlands. Daunte finished up his meal, and the little bit of rabbit Aurlon had left behind. “Whatever, I know what is and isn’t true,” Daunte grunted. “I better head out now, can’t let that arrogant Paladin beat me to Jeuno.”

Chapter 14

“All right Syn, we’ve had our drinks. I think we should begin to head out.” After a few drinks to settle down, Syncere and Keltik were feeling calm, cool, and collected. Syncere had some Windurstian Tea while Keltik downed a few Yagudo Drinks.
“Sure.”
“You seem a little lost again, are you feeling ok?” Keltik asked Syncere, almost with a hint of concern in his voice.
“Yeah I’m fine. Just thinking again,” Syncere had replied in a low voice.
“Oh, ok. Let me know if you’re not feeling well or something.”
“Sure thing.” With that, the two headed out to Odin’s Gate, got signet, and then headed out into West Sarutabaruta. In West Sarutabaruta, they traveled North-East with no problem and entered East Sarutabaruta. They crossed some rivers, sneaked past some Yagudos, and eventually entered the Tahrongi Canyon.
“This place is so dry,” Keltik managed to say.
“The winds and dirt storms don’t help either.”
“Let’s just quickly head through here and into Meriphataud Mountains. God, it’s so horrible here.” A couple times, Keltik and Syncere had to hide behind some mountains to take refuge from the horrible dust and dirt in the air. Eventually, by the time the day was over, they saw the entrance to the Meriphataud Mountains.
“Yay! The mountains! Finally we can leave this god forsaken land,” Keltik shouted in joy. “You don’t seem that happy to finally be in Meriphataud Mountains, Syn? Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m fine. And I am glad to be out of the canyon, trust me,” Syncere had quietly replied, like usual. Keltik had noticed a change in behavior in Syncere from town to the canyon. In town he was vibrant and talkative. However, outside in the wilderness, he was completely different. He barely spoke a word, and when he did talk, it was barely above an audible range.
“Maybe he just doesn’t want to get dirt in his mouth. I know that’s happened to me a fair share amount in these dumb lands. But there wasn’t any dirt flying around in Sarutabaruta. Whatever.” Keltik was muttering to himself about Syncere, but due to the high winds and dirt flying everywhere, Syncere did not notice Keltik talking to himself. “Here we come Jeuno! And we’re not gonna go back home in the face of danger!” Keltik shouted out loud. Shortly after, Keltik waited for his voice to echo when he heard it, or at least thought he heard part of it. “Hey Syn, doesn’t my echo sound like it’s saying ‘Go home… face danger…’” Keltik turned to look at Syncere, who just stood silently, thinking.

Chapter 15

“Wake up Sam!” I shouted from the lake. I woke up right as the sun was rising and did not feel tired at all. “Wow, normally I’m sleepy and tired when the sun rises in the morning, but today I feel incredible! It must have something to do with this body,” I muttered to myself. It was cold outside so I decided to get dressed and started slipping into my Cotton Doublet. Without realizing it, I was fully dressed in a matter of minutes, then I heard Sam moving about inside the tent.
“Ugh, what time is it?” Sam had replied, sticking her head outside the tent to look outside. “Hey! It’s barely sunrise! What the hell are you thinking of waking me up this early? Don’t you have any manners?!” Sam had gotten frustrated with me and I turned away from her, smirking, and went back to fishing.
“What a lovely morning! Hey their Mr. Fish, are you enjoying this lovely morning too? I know I am.” With that the fish swam off into the distance and I returned to the tent with the five Crystal Bass I had caught, and for a little fun I threw one into the tent as I said, “Wake up! You need to get firewood!” Seconds after, I heard Sam give an ear-piercing shriek and run out of the tent half nude, in nothing but her bra and underwear.
“What is your problem?! Why the hell did you throw the fish at me?!” She was clearly upset at me now, as she was still screaming at me.
I just laughed and happily replied, “You need to go chop some wood. I think I saw some Yew Logs you can chop nearby while I was fishing earlier. Oh and you missed a great sunrise!”
“I don’t give a crap about the sunrise; I just wanna sleep in and get to town! I miss running water, good food, and everything else.”
“Well you can take a quick wash in the lake, I did that earlier today while watching the sun rise.”
“Hmph.” With that she walked over to the lake and stripped down nude to wash her bra and panties. “Ahhhhhh! It’s freezing cold! How can you bathe in this water?!” She was shouting at me from the lake as I gathered the hatchets as I could not count on Sam to chop the wood.
“Oh get over it you big sissy!” I shouted right back at her. She gave a quick pout with her face and arms, and slowly, but surely, she started to clean herself. I was in the woods chopping some Yew Logs when I heard another loud shriek that hurt my ears. “Damn these cat ears,” I muttered to myself.
“Ahhhhhh!”
I came running back to camp, startled to see Sam flailing about when I started giggling.
“What’s so funny?!”
“You look so silly, flailing and thrashing about,” I replied back, still laughing.
“It’s not funny! I was cleaning myself in that area you told me about, when I felt some tickling sensations.”
I slowly stopped laughing and regained my composure to finish hearing Sam’s story.
“So I pulled my leg out of the water when I saw some leeches sucking on me! Then I screamed real loudly and pulled them off, and here you are laughing at me.”
“Well you look fine, so no harm done,” I said while poking and prodding at her leg. “I got the Yew Logs too, so let me go get them while you get changed.” I began to walk off back into the woods to get the hatchets leftover and the wood.
“You mean I’m supposed to change in public?!” She almost seemed horrified at the idea.
I continued walking, when I shouted, “We’re all girls here, you don’t have anything to hide from me. It’s not like you don’t have anything I don’t have. Besides, you seemed to be able to wash your bra just fine in the lake a few ago.” I shouted back, giggling at my own ironic joke.
I got back to camp with all my logs to see Sam finish up getting dressed by putting on her Brass Scale Mail body armor. She was looking somewhat nervous too, no doubt that she has never dressed in public like that. “You look a little paranoid Sam, let me get a fire going and you can calm down some.”
“Ok, thanks Soph.”
We silently ate our breakfast, while only pausing when I mentioned how nice the lake looks in the day. Sam just gave me that look of ‘how can you enjoy the outdoors?’ I laughed and we finished our portions of fish. I noticed how I ate a lot less in this body than in the real world. We packed up and in no time we made it to Batallia Downs.

Chapter 16

“I’m better off without that no good dumb Dark Knight anyways. Who said Dark Knights and Paladins work best as a duo anyways? I wanna know who said that so I can tell them how full of crap they are!” Aurlon was clearly pissed off by Daunte’s behavior and wanted no more of it. He decided the best solution was to go off to Jeuno without Daunte, and wait for him there with everybody else. He knew in groups Daunte would never get away with his actions and behavior and Aurlon knew someone else would intervene, probably Sophytia. “How could Sophytia even associate herself with a jerk like him?” Aurlon muttered to himself.
“Hey! I heard that!” Daunte shouted out from behind the rock where he was stalking Aurlon.
“So? I’m glad you heard that.”
“Oh shut-up you. I’ve had enough of your nonsense.”
“Then why did you follow me?” Aurlon calmly replied, still looking and walking forward.
“I… uh…“ Daunte stuttered at this question and could not really answer it; he really did not know why he was stalking Aurlon. “I was going to follow you out of here. It’s been a while since I’ve been through this zone and I… uh don’t remember my way through.” This was only part of the truth; however, he was also stalking Aurlon in the event that a ballista match started, he could take out Aurlon unsuspectingly with a swipe of his scythe.
“Oh really? The great Dark Knight savior of Vana’diel is scared to get lost in a little marshland? Pathetic.”
“That’s it! You and me! Right here, right now!”
“You’re challenging me to a ballista match?” Aurlon stopped walking and turned around to face Daunte. He could see some doubt in Daunte’s eyes.
“You bet I am! You scared to get your ass handed to you like I do to all other challengers?”
“No. I am not going to fight you. You could not think to defeat me with power alone. Much more is needed if you want to take down a Paladin.” Aurlon turned around, back facing towards Daunte, and resumed walking onwards to Rolanberry Fields.
“Ha! Ha! Ha! I knew you were scared to go against me! Someone looks like a little chicken! Hey! Stop walking! Are you listening to me?! I’m calling you a chicken! You’re supposed to get mad and challenge me to Ballista like everyone else!” Daunte was not shouting across the field at Aurlon, who was still walking forward and did not even glance back at Daunte. “Damn it, he’s not like the others…” Daunte muttered to himself. Eventually though, Aurlon was the first to reach Rolanberry Fields, with Daunte shortly behind him.
“We finally made it here,” Aurlon said out loud.
“Who is this ‘we’ you speak of? Are ‘we’ finally a team again or what?” Daunte replied sarcastically.
“We’ve always been a team, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Daunte smirked at this remark and the two walked into Rolanberry Fields.
“Oh my god! It’s so humid here! Who’s idea was it to make it hot, yet rainy in these lands? Gosh, it’s almost like Florida, only worse!” Daunte said out loud. Aurlon laughed at this comment, and then continued to walk forward. “Ha! I made you laugh! You don’t completely hate me and I knew it.” Daunte shouted at Aurlon and then he ran forward to catch up to Aurlon.
“You still got more to learn about me, Daunte. Maybe you should talk to Sophytia more if you wanna learn more about me.”
“Oh that’s so original to say! Why don’t you tell me about yourself then? It’ll be a good, get-to-know-each-other, moment.”
“Nah, I like making you struggle, and it’s fun to play mind games with people like you. Nothing like some schadenfreude to brighten my day,” Aurlon said, chuckling.
“What do you mean by people like you? Are you trying to say I’m like a certain group of people in this world? Well I’ll let you know I’m here on this quest with you under special circumstances. And what the fuck does schadenfreude even mean?” Daunte was trying to sound like he was more important than Aurlon; however, it wasn’t working and Daunte was getting disconcerted with Aurlon.
“You are not the only one on this quest with special circumstances. Believe it or not, I have my own set of special circumstances,” Aurlon was still walking forward during this entire conversation and never looked back once at Daunte.
“Oh yeah? What kind of special circumstances do you have?” Daunte responded, almost sarcastically.
“If only you knew… If only you knew.” Aurlon and Daunte managed to avoid fighting any monsters while traversing the fields. However, as the sun was setting as they were traveling through Dietmund’s Field and they quickly made it to Fountain of Promises, where they quickly pitched a tint and picked some Rolanberries to eat.
The next morning, Aurlon woke up early to see the sun rise, and then he went off to pick some more Rolanberries. He picked extra to give to Daunte, who was still snoring in the tent. He threw the Rolanberries next to Daunte, scribbled a quick note, and set off for Jeuno. Around noon, Daunte finally woke up. He saw the saw the Rolanberries next to him, saw Aurlon was missing, and then saw the note which read:
Dear Daunte,
I have traveled to Jeuno without you. As I am sure you saw, I picked some extra Rolanberries for you. I knew you would be hungry when you woke up and I’m sure you would be too lazy to pick some for yourself. Ha! Ha! Oh! And you missed the perfect sunrise too. Well enjoy the humidity, I’ll meet you in Upper Jeuno. Something tells me that’s where we’re meeting up at.

Your Favorite Paladin,
Aurlon.

“That bastard! He’s going to get to Jeuno first and tell everybody everything that happened! I can’t let him do that!” And with that, Daunte quickly threw everything in his inventory, ate the Rolanberries, and ran off to Jeuno.

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“Shit, I knew I shouldn’t have gone through Brutus’s Field as a shortcut!” Aurlon had decided heading straight through the field would be quickest way to Jeuno, rather than going around; however, now he deeply regretted that decision. He quickly ran into an Ochu, and it only got worse from there when it unleashed its Bad Breath attack. Severely hindered, it looked like he was going to die…
“As much as I can’t stand you, we work great together, you silly Paladin.”
“Daunte!” Aurlon was shocked when he saw Daunte come running up to help him.
“Come on! Let’s kill this fugly creature!” And they did. However, Aurlon was greatly wounded, and this impeded movement through Rolanberry Fields for the rest of the day. Aurlon was bound to his spot, blinded, and worst of all, paralyzed. He was completely dependent on Daunte and this scared him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you for the rest of the day,” Daunte told Aurlon, with some assurance.
“Ugh,” Aurlon tried to say something, but was immobile due to paralysis, and probably silence as well.
“You sound like your silenced as well.”
Aurlon was not sure, but he thought he may have heard some sorrow in Daunte’s voice.

Chapter 17

“Hey at least we made it to the Sauromugue Champaign, right?” Keltik asked Syncere.
“Whatever.” As the two progressed through Meriphataud Mountains, they followed the winding path around, and then Keltik thought it would be quicker to ditch the path and go through the hilly terrain around and through the path to make the trip faster. Syncere, on the other hand, recommended sticking to the path.
“Dude, it will be so much shorter, and it beats this winding road.”
“I say we take the path.”
“The road!”
“… fine, have it your way.” Syncere reluctantly agreed, even though he knew it was a bad choice. Needless to say, with the hilly terrain next to the path, trouble soon paid Keltik a visit.
“I told you this was a good- oh crap!” Keltik shouted as he slipped on a piece of land that gave way, and Keltik fell down almost a full two stories to the ground below.
“Keltik! Are you ok?!” Syncere shouted below, careful not to trip or fall down like Keltik.
“I think I’m fine… Ow! My arm hurts very badly! Son of a bitch!” Keltik shouted down below, clearly in some sort of pain.
“Hold on! I’m on my way down.” Syncere slowly, but carefully, scaled the wall down to the ground and eventually reached Keltik in a few minutes. “Oh my, it looks you sprained your arm, but everything else looks fine. Tell me, does this hur-”
“Yes! Damn it that hurt you bastard!” Keltik shouted at Syncere, still in enormous pain.
“Hmm, looks like we’re camping here for a day or two. I hope the others won’t be waiting long for us in Jeuno.”
“Nah, if I know my girl Sophy, she is very patient.”

Chapter 18

“We finally made it Jeuno, Sophy!” We hugged each other and jumped up and down in joy to have finally reached Jeuno.
“Let’s hope the others have not been waiting for us for too long here,” I replied, not sounding very confident at all.
“I think we made perfect timing, if I say so myself. And we only got delayed a little bit when we were stuck in the god forsaken Eldieme Necropolis. I thought we were going to die! No food, no water, no shelter, no-”
“We were only in their for a few hours, at least until the ice storm died off. With an ice storm, we never were short on water anyways,” I told Sam, with some self-assurance.
“Whatever you say girl. Anyways, I will meet you later tonight at the Merry Minstrel Meadhouse for some drinks tonight. We have can have some real girl-to-girl talk then.” And with that, Sam gave a quick wink, and we parted for the rest of the afternoon. I decided to head over to the outside of the Market Bridge to go exploring. For some reason, I found nature to be very interesting in this body. I enjoyed it now more than I ever did before. I sat down in the grass outside the bridge in Rolanberry Fields and felt how nice the grass felt.
“Oh, this feels so nice! I think I will take a quick nap here.” And with that, I was out for the rest of the afternoon.

Chapter 19

“We’re finally here Aurlon.” After a day of delays, Aurlon and Daunte finally made it to the Market Bridge outside Lower Jeuno. Aurlon was still had some minor paralysis and blindness, so the traveling was quite difficult, but they managed to do just fine. “Now you can rest well in your Mog House and fully recover. I know these grounds aren’t the best to rest in. Even though it’s covered in grass, who could possibly find these grounds relaxing to rest on anyways?” Daunte asked.
“I don’t know Daunte, maybe that girl over there?” Aurlon pointed to a Mithran girl in a doublet sleeping in a patch of grass and flowers.
“She must be crazy to think that’s comfortable.”
“Well we gotta go past her to get to town, so let’s not wake up the girl,” Aurlon told Daunte, trying to be polite about the girl.
“Hey wait a minute… is that… Sophy?!”

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I woke up to see a Dark Knight in some menacing gear running towards me, and a Paladin limping over.
“Eeeek! Don’t hurt me!” I pulled out my daggers, although compared to this guy’s scythe and the Paladin’s long sword and shield, I knew my daggers must barely put up a fight.
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” The guy in the Dark Knight armor started laughing and the Paladin frowned.
“What’s so funny?!”
“Nothing, Sophy.”
“Wait a minute… Daunte? Is that you?” I asked the stranger in the Dark Knight armor.
The guy in the Dark Knight armor took off his helmet, to reveal my suspicions.
“It is you Daunte! Boy am I glad to see you! What brings you here? Oh! Is that you Aurlon? I thought I recognized you.” I told the boys, truly glad to see some familiar faces around.
“I was about to ask you the same thing, Soph,” Daunte replied back.
“Oh, well I just got to Jeuno this afternoon with your girlfriend, Aurlon, and I came out here to enjoy some nature and this patch of grass seemed so inviting, so I took a nap!” I told Daunte, with a smile on my face. Aurlon began to laugh out loud. “What’s so funny Aurlon? Is something wrong with my hair? Oh, I probably messed it up sleeping on it.” I noticed Aurlon began to stop laughing as I was fixing my hair.
“Are you feeling ok, Soph? You don’t seem like your normal self,” Aurlon asked me.
“Well-”
“Of course she is fine you dummy!” Daunte interrupted me, before I could finish my own sentence.
“I wasn’t asking you Daunte! Since when was your name Sophytia?” Aurlon shot back at Daunte.
After that comment, I began to laugh at my own irony. “Come on boys, let’s head to town. Sam said she would meet me in the Merry Minstrel Meadhouse. Let’s go, she is probably waiting for me and will be psyched to see you’re here Aurlon,” I happily told the guys. And with that I ran off towards the Meadhouse, ready to keep this quest going.

Chapter 20

“About time, girl! Where the hell have you- Aurlon!” Sam screamed his name out loud and ran past me to hug her boyfriend. That was when I noticed I had a visitor as well.
“Keltik!” I ran up to him to greet him. “How have you-”
“Ow! Damn it my arm!” he shouted out in pain.
“Oh I’m sorry, what did you do to your arm?” I asked in fear. I was scared about what happened to him.
“Ahhh, yes. Well you see, we were traversing through the Meriphataud Mountains when he fell down the cliff next to a path when the ground below crumbled. It’s only a minor sprain though, so he should be fine in a day or two,” Syncere had told me. I recognized him as one of Aurlon’s friends, although I never heard much from him as he was more of the silent type.
“Oh! Syncere! I barely recognized you. It’s good to see you again. How have you been?”
“I’ve been the same as always Soph, still living and breathing. How about you? Anything exciting going on in your world?”
“Just planning for college,” I told him, excited about it.
“You look excited to go to college.”
I blushed as he could easily see it that I was excited to go off.
“Well enough of that, how about we take Keltik down to the Infirmary Monberaux?”
“That sounds good. Aurlon, did you want to come down to the infirmary with us?” I asked him. I was still concerned that he was limping in the leg with the minor paralysis and still partially blinded.
“Sure, I wanna get my paralysis and blindness looked at.”
“Good idea, babe,” Sam had chirped in, “Oh I wanna come too, I don’t want anything to happen to my dear Aurlon. Love you, babe.”
The two shared a passionate kiss, until Daunte looked over and saw the two making out and said, “Get a room!”
“Oh screw you,” both Sam and Aurlon shouted at Daunte.
“Hey, Daunte?” I shouted to him across the other side of the bridge.
“Yeah?”
“We’ll meet you guys in the Meadhouse in an hour or so. We’re taking these two down to the infirmary.”
“Sounds good, try not to have too much fun without me!” We both laughed at that and Keltik, Aurlon, Sam, and I went off to the infirmary.

Chapter 21

Weeks have passed since we met in Jeuno. All of us have grown stronger and we’ve gone from fight worms on Qufim Island, to fighting Colibri in the Bhaflau Thickets. Thanks to Aurlon and his party expertise, we managed to level very fast, and within about four weeks, I got my first level 75 job. Aurlon was thrown off though, when he saw I was the Dancer job.
“Why the hell are you that useless job?”
Not wanting him to figure out it was really me in this body I had to think of something fast… “It is not useless! It’s actually a fun job to play!” Truth be said, I actually did find it to be a fun job. It was a great survival job too, so when Keltik or Daunte had a bad pull, and the party got wiped out, I was able to survive and run away to get some help.
“And while it’s just you and me, Soph, why are you acting more girly than usual?”
I could not hold my secret in any longer, I had to tell him. And I did. I told him the entire story, while trying to hold in my tears.
“Wow, Soph, that really sucks. Don’t worry, we’ll kill the Pandemonium Warden and you can return back home… and me too.”
“What? You mean, you‘re… you…”
“Yup, that’s right. It’s been me, Amir, this whole time.”
I looked at him in shock. I was happy that I wasn’t the only stuck in this predicament and that we both have something in common to work for; however… “Hey Aurlon, if you and me are stuck like this, then do you think the others-”
“I don’t know Soph, but I bet so,” he interrupted me again, not letting me finish my question.
“Oh, and while it’s just us, you say I’m acting more feminine, but I think you’re acting more noble like a real Paladin than usual,” I said, winking at him and then turning around to get meet the others in the Bhaflau Thickets.
“Hey! There you go again, Sophy!” He ran to catch up to me as I giggled and we kept walking on towards the Chocobo Stables.

Chapter 22

“All right, you guys. Right outside this passage is the Beaucedine Glacier. Listen to me carefully, we all huddle together and stick together. If the storms get too furious, we’re going to take shelter-”
“Aw come on Aurlon! Are we really going to stop for some dinky little storms?”
“Yes, Daunte. We’re not going to risk someone getting lost or hurt.” Daunte continued to groan and then we all left the safety of the cave for the white wonderland of snow.
“It must be our lucky day, no storms out right now!” Aurlon happily replied.
“Oh wow, it’s so beautiful up here! I’ve never seen so much snow in one place before.” I said, still in shock and awe from the environment.
“Wow, Sophy. You’ve really never seen this much snow before?” Daunte asked me, himself in shock after hearing such a comment.
“I told you, I live in Southern California. I’ve only been to the mountains a few times before, and it is nothing like this.”
“Whatever you say.” And with that we continued our trek.
As soon as we entered a wide patch of land, however, we were no longer shielded from the storms by the high cliffs and were sucked into the blizzard. Visibility was very poor, and the moving was slow. We were exposed the rest of the trip, and twice we had to take refuge in the giant towers that connect to Pso’Xja. I was lucky in that my fur kept most of my body warm, but not everyone else was lucky. Sam’s armor only partially shielded her, and Keltik’s cloth armor did little to keep him warm. When we took refuge, we had to huddle together to keep warm. We decided I would be in the center and everyone would circle around me to keep everyone as warm as we could. I personally tried to get closest to Aurlon and Keltik, as they were my best friends. The next day, we continued our journey in a mostly mild blizzard and reached the frozen wasteland that is Xarcabard.
“This place feels so… desolate. I can just feel it.” I coldly replied.
“I can feel a great evil emanating from somewhere here,” Keltik answered back.
“Yes, everyone be on high alerts. There may not be any blizzards, but this darkness weather may be even worse.” Aurlon had replied back, confirming my suspicions about this place.
We eventually made it to the Teleport-Vahzl Crystal with no problem and decided this would be the best and safest place we could camp for the day. We were exhausted after trudging through the snow and weather all day. As we neared the crystal, however, we heard someone shout for help.
“Someone help me please!” We heard a ways away as we saw a Mithra fighting what looked to be a dragon.
“Hold on! We’re coming!” Aurlon shouted, and we ran over as fast as we could. When we reached the Mithra, she was fighting a Shadow Dragon and both were almost dead. Aurlon provoked the dragon, Sam cured the Mithra, and everyone else attacked the dragon. Within seconds it was dead.
“There you go, it’s dead- Hey! Where did she go?” I asked in confusion. “I guess we were so focused on the monster, we didn’t even notice her run away,” I sighed in dejection as I wanted to make sure the Mithra was ok.
“Look.” Syncere said, pointing at the dragon’s decaying body.
“It’s just the dragon’s body disappearing like normal, Syn. Tell us something we don’t already know.”
“No, Daunte! Syn’s right, look!” Keltik said, almost sounding a little worried. That was when I heard Sam scream and the great dragon, Biast spawn, facing me directly with its gazing eyes. Without even realizing what happened I took a critical hit blow and lost over half my health.
“Sophy look out!” Daunte, Keltik, and Aurlon shouted at me. Aurlon provoked it, however I had done too many Curing Waltzes healing myself from the first blow and got too much hate. As long as I kept attacking the monster I was fine. I had a few close calls when I got intimidated and low on tp. I had just started to use Curing Waltz when I saw the dragon rear itself up.
“Sophy! Run behind me so I can cover you! It’s about to use body slam!”
I ran over as fast as I could. The dragon still turned to face me as I still kept the hate, when right as I was running in front Keltik towards Aurlon, the dragon not only body slammed me, but also Keltik and killed me instantly.
“Sophy!!!” I heard everyone scream right before I felt the longest two seconds of pain I’ve ever felt in my life, and then I blacked out. As I blacked out, the last thing I saw was I fell on top of Keltik.

Chapter 23

“Raise!” Was all I heard.
“Sophy!”
“Ugh, is that you Keltik?” I was feeling very weak and in a little bit of confusion from fainting. I noticed I was sitting on the ground with everyone standing up in a circle looking at me.
“You’re lucky Sam has the spell raise, you know I always go Summoner main, and Black Mage as a sub on these quests. Good thing Sam is a Red Mage.” Keltik said. I could sense the relief in his voice and in everyone else.
“Yeah, it’s a good thing I’m the freezing Red Mage and you guys are comfortable and warm,” Sam replied sarcastically.
“Oh for god’s sake stop thinking of yourself Sam!” Keltik shouted at Sam.
“Calm down guys,” I said, stepping into the conversation. “Besides, I’m raised, so no harm no foul. Let’s continue on our journey.”
“No.”
“Aw, why not Syn?” I asked.
“You’re in no condition to be walking around and fighting.”
“He’s right Soph, you need to rest anyways until your weakened state wears off,” Keltik told me.
“I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?” I said to everyone. “Can someone help me up, please?” Keltik and Aurlon extended their hands and they easily pulled my light body up. “Thanks, guys.” I said back, with a smile.
“No problem,” both answered back.
We made the short trek back over to the Teleport-Vahzl Crystal and pitched up some tents for the night. I stayed in the tent with Daunte and Keltik, each on my side to protect me, and Aurlon, Sam, and Syncere stayed in the other tent. It was a pretty uneventful night. We heard other adventurers come and go, and there was a severe blizzard in the middle of the night, but our tents held up fine. Morning came around, and I felt great. However, I was not the first one to wake up like usual. I saw Keltik was missing, so I got dressed quickly with panic starting to build. I saw Daunte moving about while I was getting dressed, so I knew he would wake soon. I walked outside, slipping on my doublet, when I saw Keltik off to the side.
“Oh hey! Good morning dear, what’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” As I walked over to him, I saw him laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I asked almost getting irritated.
“Nothing, just laughing at my own joke, not at you, so don’t get all irritated, ok?”
“Oh. I just started to panic when I woke up and I didn’t see you. You had me worried, you know that?”
“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t think anyone else would get up this early, and I usually wake up early to get some Summoning Magic practice in. I gotta keep my level up, you know.”
During the entire conversation, Keltik was able to talk to me and summon his avatars at the same time. “I bet that helps with your focus too.”
“You bet. How else could I summon Shiva and talk to you at the same time?”
“Hey you two! Keep it down, some people are still trying to sleep!” Sam shouted from the tent. Keltik and I, however, just ignored her as we heard her go back to sleep.
“She gets on your nerves, doesn’t she?”
“You can say that again!” I replied back to Daunte, and then we began laughing.
“Hey, you two. What’s going on so early?”
“Morning Daunte,” we both replied.
“You two are up early. I heard some moving around and when I woke up, I saw someone slipping on some body armor right before they walked outside.” As soon as Daunte said that, I blushed and both the guys looked at me, which made me blush even more.
“I… uh… I saw Keltik was missing, so I went to go look for him… and here he is!” I said, almost sarcastically.
“So anyways, what are we going to do until the others wake up?” Daunte asked us.
“Well I was practicing my summoning magic, and she was going to watch me,” Keltik told Daunte.
“Why the hell are you practicing your summoning magic? It is leveled, isn’t it?” Daunte asked Keltik, almost like it was an interrogation question.
“Hey back off, Daunte. Why do you have to question everything everyone does all the time?” Daunte almost seemed speechless as he never would have expected this kind of question from me.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I was just asking,” Daunte replied back, defensively.
“Sure didn’t sound that way to me,” Keltik said.
“Same here. It almost sounded like you were interrogating him.”
“…Whatever. I’m going back in to nap until the others wake up.”
“Ok we’ll see you in… two seconds, Daunte,” Aurlon said, as he walked out of the tent, followed by the other two.
“Wow, you guys must have been up early. You look refreshed and ready to go,” Aurlon said.
“Heh, you don’t know the half of it,” I responded.
“Well, you guys ready to get to Castle Zvahl Bailey? The trip itself isn’t long. The longest part, however, is traversing the snow. It’s packed, it’s deep, and it’s exhausting. Once we reach the castle, the entrance inside is pretty safe, so we will camp there for the rest of the day and hopefully, we can reach the Shadow Lord in a day or two.”
“Let’s go!” We all shouted in unison. And go we did. Our determination got us to the castle sooner than anyone expected, but it was still late in afternoon, so we decided to just make a camp at the entrance inside Castle Zvahl Bailey. Like usual, we had no problem reaching the campsite, all our problems occurred in the campsite like usual. Daunte got on everyone’s nerves. We all told Aurlon and Sam to get a room. And Keltik and I took the responsibility to get food for everyone. Syncere just sat around, not saying anything. It was awkward and he rarely said anything, except after we bought some mead in Kazham. After we started drinking the mead, he started to get more loose and eventually he was joining in on the conversations going around. The next day, I woke up early, again to see Keltik missing and Daunte tossing and turning in his sleep when I got dressed to go meet him outside. This time, however, he was just playing around with Carbuncle.
“Good morning!” I cheerfully said.
“Good morning,” he gloomily responded back.
“Hey what’s up? You don’t sound like yourself, you sound almost… depressed.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking, suppose we don’t defeat the Pandemonium Warden. What happens to us?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve never told anyone this, but I got turned into my character in the game by the Star Sybil, saying it was my destiny. And she said the only way for me to return home is by defeating the Pandemonium Warden, and so that got me thinking. And I’m scared. It’s like I’ve been acting the way I normally play my character, and I don’t realize half the stuff I’m doing. Oh you probably think this is the stupidest crap you’ve ever heard.” And Keltik got up and ran to our tent and went inside just as Daunte was coming out, leaving me with the disappearing Carbuncle.
“What happened Soph?” Daunte asked me as he walked over to me and Keltik went inside the tent.
“I don’t know what happened, but I think I may know what’s going on…” I said, becoming suspicious of what’s going on around me.

Chapter 24

After two days of traveling through Castle Zvahl Baileys, we made our way into the Castle Zvahl Keep. We decided to spend a whole day resting up and devising a battle strategy to defeat the Shadow Lord. We made our way through many Ore Doors, Teleporters, and fought many monsters to make it where we were, and we were not going to lose. When the Shadow Lord is weak to physical attacks, we were going to go all out on physical damage. And when he was weak to magic, I would help cure people while others would cast black magic. We had no idea if the strategy would work, but we had items as a backup, and our two-hour abilities. We all made sure to get a good night’s sleep, the next day would be a long one.

Chapter 25

“You are too late.” The Shadow Lord replied as we ran into the Throne Room. “It is done… it is complete. The Pandemonium Warden has been born, and I will control its power to destroy all of Vana’diel! Ha! Ha! Ha!” The Shadow Lord shouted into the heavens.
“I wouldn’t count on that,” Syncere answered back.
“What?!” The Shadow Lord replied back, astounded someone had questioned him.
“You’ve created a monster so powerful, not even you can control.”
“You are full of lies!” The Shadow Lord shouted at us. “Those who are defiant to me, must die!” And with that, the battle started.
We got the Shadow Lord down to about half of his health, when he went invulnerable to physical attacks and we had to change our strategy. I started to heal the others while Sam, Daunte, and Keltik began attacking the Shadow Lord, and Aurlon tried to keep hate. However, I ran out of tp much sooner than Aurlon had predicted, and I could not gain tp if the Shadow Lord was invulnerable to physical attacks. Sam had to stop dealing damage and start helping to heal us. Once the Shadow Lord lost another 25%, he switched to dealing physical damage and we could attack him again. We managed to defeat him with everyone in the party just barely living. My tp ran out, nobody had any magic left, our two-hour abilities were all used up, and everyone was in the red zone of health, when with one more blow, we thought Syncere dealt the finishing blow. We all cheered when we saw the Shadow Lord fall, except for Syncere. I should have known Syncere knew something was up, considering he is a veteran player, something even Aurlon was not.
“Look.” Syncere told us.
“We all looked over to where he pointed- at the Shadow Lord.”
“You mean… he’s not dead-” Daunte never got a chance to finish. As the Shadow Lord was rising up, he used Implosion to kill us all with one hit. We were left laying on the ground, watching the Shadow Lord approach us, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Pandemonium Warden enter. And then just like that he disappeared, what appeared was a creature I had never expected to see here, in the Throne Room on the top of the world, a three-headed dragon that similarly resembled Cerberus. I saw the dragon easily tear apart the Shadow Lord and then the dragon disappeared and I fainted when I heard some footsteps come running in.

Chapter 26

When I woke up, I saw us all lying in what I recognized as the Infirmary Monberaux in Jeuno.
“How did we get here?” I asked in amazement.
“Don’t strain yourself too much! You guys are lucky to have survived and that your friend brought you all here when she did or else you guys would be dead. You were all in critical condition when found, but nobody actually died, somehow.” The doctor was moving about to all our beds checking on us.
“Wait who brought us-”
“I said don’t strain yourself!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled as I never got to finish asking my question. I noticed some of the others start to move about and they went through the same conversation I did with the doctor when I first woke up. After a week in the Infirmary, we all said thanks to Monberaux for the top medical care, and made our way out.
“So where do we go from here? The Pandemonium Warden has been created, and it’s up to us to stop it. We don’t even know where the monster resides!” Daunte asked us.
“Yes, but I know someone who may,” Syncere told us.
“Oh yeah? Who?” Daunte asked Syncere.
“Follow me.”

Chapter 27

“Oh yes, for the right price I can help you. I can show you many things with my crystal ball-”
“Cut the crap Kurou-Morou,” Syncere told him.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now, we need help finding a monster, can you help us?”
“I’ll see what my crystal ball can do.”
“I need a definitive answer or else I’ll drop-kick you and take it for myself.”
“Yes I can help you guys, sheesh.”
“Ok, we’re looking for the Pandemonium Warden, and we need to know where he’s located at. And we need you to tell us using your crystal ball where the creature resides at.”
Kurou-Morou gave us a weird look; obviously, the Tarutaru had never heard of the monster, which was good. We didn’t want the news to spread that a new threat was going to destroy Vana’diel. “Ahhh, yes. Oh my! He resides deep in the Aydeewa Subterrane. However you can easily access this area from the Wajaom Woodlands. Be warned, however. You need a key to spawn the monster, and the key is tough to get.”
“Who gives us the key?” Syncere asked, starting to get impatient with Kurou-Morou.
“I’m sorry but that costs extra-” Syncere started advancing toward the Tarutaru and then he quickly said, “But for you it’s free! Let’s see… oh! He is in Aht Urhgan Whitegate.”
Syncere walked away, with everyone else quickly following behind him. “Thanks for helping us,” I told Kurou-Morou.
“No problem! But you’re the last one of your group here, so you owe me.”
I stared at the Tarutaru, and then I ran off to catch up to the gang who were just entering the Tenshodo, when I heard him shouting at us.
“Hey you damn Mithra! You get your ass here right now! Don’t you walk away from me! I see you! You can’t do this to me, I’m the great Kurou-Morou!!!”
I entered the Tenshodo right behind everyone else. We were quickly stopped by Ghebi Damomohe, “Excuse me, I need to see a Tenshodo Invite for you to continue. And your friends each need an invite as well.”
I saw Syncere walk over to the counter and he whispered some stuff to her. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but shortly after, the Mithra apologized and were on our way.
“That was amazing Syn! What did you say to her? Did you threaten her to a Ballista or Brenner match?!” Daunte was amazed at the feat which Syncere just accomplished and could not get over it.
“Shut-up.” Syncere replied, and Daunte quickly shut his mouth. We approached a door and Aurlon ran up to it.
“Let me get this one Syncere, ladies first- hey it won’t open! What the hell gives, Syn?”
“Move, please.” Aurlon quickly stepped aside and Syncere opened the door with his Tenshodo invite.
“Once again-”
“Shut-up again Daunte.” Syncere said.
“Yes, sir,” Daunte obliged. One thing we all knew was that when Syncere said to do something, you did it. Nobody ever questioned Syncere, not even Daunte, all though I bet it must have been hard for him to do so.
As we walked through the doors, a guy by the name of Harnek greeted us, “Welcome to the Tenshodo. You want something, we got it. We got all kinds of special merchandise you won’t find anywhere else!”
“We’re in the Tenshodo?! I can’t be a criminal! I’m getting out of here-”
“No you aren’t, Sam. You’re staying with us and not going anywhere else.”
“Come on babe, it’ll be fine.”
“You better be right, Aurlon.”
Once down another flight of stairs and through another doorway, this one unlocked, Syncere started to talk to Faursel. After a lengthy conversation and exploring the room, and the locked red treasure coffer, we all saw Syncere hand the Elvaan a key and Faursel hand Syncere a card of some sort.
“Get in line, people. I’m going to give you a coffer key to give Faursel. He is going to give you each a Boarding Pass to the nations of the North East, like Aydeewa Subterrane. Here you guys go. Here’s yours Daunte and Keltik. Here you girls go.”
“Thanks Syn!” we told him in unison, making him blush a little.
“And last but not least, here you go Aurlon.”
“Thanks, bro.”
We all got our passes and then we left the Tenshodo. We got some Chocobos in Port Jeuno and then headed off toward Mhaura. From there, we boarded the ship from Mhaura to Aht Urhgan Whitegate. Once we reached Aht Urhgan Whitegate, a Hume by the name of Zarfhid greeted us and welcomed us to the nation.

Chapter 28

We were all amazed by this town, even Syncere. Since it was later in the afternoon, we decided we would split up for the remainder of the afternoon, and then meet up in Shararat Teahouse. Syncere went his own way; Daunte went off to the Salaheem’s Sentinels, he wanted to join her army I guess. And Aurlon thought it would hilarious if we had a double date in a foreign land, so Sam, Aurlon, Keltik, and I all went out to The Colosseum, Aurlon thought it would be cool to go see some action. However, when we found it, it was closed due to hours.
“Damn, we just missed it too. Bummer, if we didn’t get lost or had to go window shopping for new armor-”
“Hey!” Sam and I shouted at Aurlon, interrupting him. “I say we all go to the Culinarian’s Guild to grab a bite.” I said.
“I don’t know Soph, it’s getting late, maybe we should head to the teahouse now.”
“Good idea, Keltik.” We arrived at the Shararat Teahouse right as we saw the others sit down at a table for two.
“Nice for you boys to save us a spot!” I shouted.
“We want some man-to-man time without any silly girls around,” Daunte shouted back.
I just grinned back at him and suggested we sit at a table for two. I noticed that their waitress was a Hume female named Halbeeya, and Daunte and the two seemed to kick it off well, at least from what I saw. Our waiter, on the other hand, was a clumsy Tarutaru named Fari-Wari. After he left, I whispered something to Sam and we both giggled while the guys looked at us funny.
“What’s so funny ladies?” Aurlon asked us.
“Nothing,” I responded, still giggling and laughing. Our night went perfect. We chatted the entire night, enjoying our time in this wonderful town. Syncere and Daunte left way before we did. They told us they would be getting a rent-a-room and they would meet us here in the morning again. We continued to talk well into the night, until it was closing time. Keltik and I rented a room and we were able to share it, while Sam and Aurlon also were able to share a room. We woke up the next morning, my back was a little sore from having to share a single bed with Keltik, but I didn’t mind. He temporarily left the room while I got dressed and then I left the room while he got dressed.
“Hey there, Soph!” Aurlon greeted me as I same him walking towards me.
“Oh hey there, Aurlon, good morning!” I happily said to him, with a smile on my face.
“My, you look like the morning person, which I never remember you being,” Aurlon replied back, letting go with a long yawn.
I giggled and then responded, “You certainly look like the morning person,” and then I sat down on the ground against the wall where Aurlon shortly joined me.
“Well, I try my best. So what are you doing out here? Where’s your boyfriend?”
I smirked at how he put emphasis on boyfriend, when he knew Keltik wasn’t my boyfriend. “Ha. Ha.” I replied sarcastically. “He’s in our room getting changed. What about your girlfriend?” I retorted back, putting emphasis on girlfriend, even though I knew it was a pitiful attempt.
“Nice try, Soph. But she’s my girlfriend on here and in real life,” He stated back, smirking at me this time.
I saw Keltik appearing out of room, fully dressed. “Hey you, what are you doing with my Sophy?” Keltik said, jokingly.
“I’m taking her for myself,” Aurlon said, joking around.
“Not if I have anything to say about it! I need Sophy for when I need some girl-to-girl talk,” Sam said, leaning over the edge of the building Aurlon and I were sitting against.
“Hey! Don’t I get a say in this?” I said, pouting, and then laughing.
Everyone else joined in on the laughing and then Keltik told me, “I love it when you make that face,” with which I responded by pouting some more.

Chapter 29

We found Sanraku later that day, and he told us what we needed if we wanted to get the Pandemonium Key. We fought the Sarameya in Mount Zhayolm and were rewarded with the Bright Blue Seal. The Tyger in Caedarva Mire was vanquished for the Lavender Seal. And the Lilac Seal was obtained through defeat of the Tinnin in Wajaom Woodlands. We were able to earn enough Zeni to obtain the Pandemonium Key pop item from Sanraku after weeks of fighting monsters and traveling.
“This is it, you guys. We’re about to save Vana’diel from the greatest monster to ever live,” Aurlon told us.

Chapter 30

“This is the entrance to Aydeewa Subterrane, where we need to enter,” Syncere told us.
Sam pulled me off to the side, with Keltik, and gave us some final words of advice. We ran to catch up to the others and entered the area, and I was not impressed. “Don’t fall too far behind, you two lovebirds,” Sam said to me and Keltik, showing us an evil smile. The others turned around to make sure we were there as well. Aydeewa Subterrane was dark, gloomy, devoid of sunlight, and it just did not feel right. Truth be said, I was a little scared. Without knowing it, I guess by instincts, I got closer to Keltik and the others for safety. We traversed some narrow tunnels and ended up in a single file line, with Syncere in the lead, followed by Daunte, Keltik, Me, Sam, and Aurlon in the rear. We came to a T-Intersection and decided to go right. We came to a dead end after a short while and there was a little puddle of water for which we all cleaned up and drank. Feeling refreshed, we went the other way now. We had to clear out an entire room full of slimes before we could continue on our way to kill the Pandemonium Warden. We killed the slimes with no problem, and then quickly rested up for the big fight against us later on. We continued our way, until we came up to the ???
“Hey Keltik, what’s with the girly earring? More jewelry from your girlfriend?” Daunte asked Keltik, trying to make fun of him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Keltik replied back, sarcastically.
“Well, if you must know, Sam gave it to me.”
“Oh really?” Daunte asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.
Syncere asked us, “Are you guys ready?”
We all looked around at each other, nobody, not even me, smiling. After a long silence, I finally responded with, “Yeah, I think we’re ready.”
“Ok, here goes nothing,” And Syncere traded the key to the spot to spawn the Pandemonium Warden. At first nothing happened. We all looked at each other in confusion, and then began to hear some laughing from somewhere. We all quickly formed a circle and were on high alert. Then we saw him. We charged forward to attack him, when as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared.
We stopped running and began to look at each other in shock, except I had seen something like this before, and shortly after he disappeared… “Everybody, run back! Towards the wall! Something else is going to spawn!” I shouted at the others.
“What are you talking about Soph-” And then we slowly saw something start to spawn, something very big indeed.
“I told you guys! Now run to the far end of the cave!” We quickly ran over to avoid the Long-Armed Chariot, Battleclad Chariot, Armored Chariot, and Long-Bowed Chariot that spawned. We pulled them one by one, in for some very long fights. Keltik was able to free summon Carbuncle, so while Carbuncle fought the enemies, we were able to rest for a few. This was a major help for us in between battles when we needed it and was key to our victory. “These battles are easy, but extremely long,” I told the others while healing, and it was true. The Chariots themselves were not particularly difficult, but by the time we killed them, the day was almost over.
“Yes! We killed the last one! …What happens next, Soph?” Daunte asked me.
“I… don’t know.”
“Wait, do you guys hear that?” Aurlon asked us. We all listened carefully, and then I heard it.
“I hear it Aurlon!” I said to him. Nobody else heard except Aurlon and I, and I did not like what I heard. I heard more laughing, and then we saw the Pandemonium Warden spawn again. He stayed long enough for us to deal a little damage, and then he disappeared. “Let’s move back again guys, I think something may spawn again.” And I was right. This time, the Gulool Ja Ja spawned and it was another incredibly long fight. We used the same process again as in the previous fight. We would have Carbuncle attack the monster while we rested, and then resumed fighting. When we killed Gulool Ja Ja the next day, Pandemonium Warden spawned again for a short time. This process went on for days. We vanquished Medusa, defeated Gurfurlur The Menacing, overpowered Cerberus, subjugated Hydra, and overcame Khimaira. All that was left was to conquer the great Pandemonium Warden’s Dvergr form. When Pandemonium Warden returned for the final form, he was fierce. He pulled out all the stops. We got stunned by Hellsnap. We got weighed down by Hellclap, he cackled at Keltik to lower his magic power, he cursed and paralyzed us with Necrobane, and worse of all, attacked our defense and attacks with Bilgestorm. We were going down fast, and if nothing changed, we would falter like everybody else who have tried to defeat this monstrous entity. With one final Necropurge, he managed to kill us all. And we were so close, so very close. Like with the Shadow Lord, we failed at the very last moment. The Pandemonium Warden only had about 2% of his health remaining. This time, nobody would come and save us. We were near the depths of hell where no mere mortal dared to explore. But then something that I totally forgot about happened. I saw Sam, Aurlon, and Keltik begin to rise back up, and then I figured out why I was not completely dead- I had Reraise on. I remembered now how I was able to get a Reraise…
“Soph, Keltik, come here a moment please,” Sam whispered to us right before we entered the Aydeewa Subterrane. We lagged behind the others. “Here, when I was changing the other morning, the reason I was late is because I was looking for these,” She opened the palm of her hand to show us all two earrings.
“They’re pretty and all, but how will they help?”
“They’re Reraise Earrings, you dork,” Sam replied back, sarcastically. “I found one for each of you to have. Before we begin the fight, make sure you equip and use it, I don’t think we’ll need them, but you never know. Oh! And don’t worry about me or Aurlon, I gave him one, and I got another for myself,” Sam parted her hair to show us her earring already equipped.
“It looks a little feminine,” Keltik replied back, studying the earring.
“Oh, get over it, Keltik! It’s a small price to pay anyways.” With that we ran up to the group so we didn’t fall too far behind.

Chapter 31

After I was raised by Reraise, I ran over to Keltik, Sam, and Aurlon.
“Are you guys all right?” Aurlon asked us. We all said we were fine, just a little shaken up. Suddenly, we saw a light come from Syncere’s body and he was beginning to raise.
“Glad to see I‘m not the only one who thought about Reraise,” he told us with a smile on his face.
“What about Daunte?” Aurlon asked.
“Leave him dead,” Sam replied, “Besides, he always gave me the creeps.”
“Same here,” Aurlon replied.
We agreed to leave Daunte dead and finish up killing the last little bit of Pandemonium Warden. We ran up to attack the Pandemonium Warden. He only got a few attacks in before we finally killed him. As he fell down to the ground, I saw him grin, and then disappear.
“Is that it? Is it finally over?” I asked, tears of joy streaming down my face.
“Yes, it’s finally over.” Syncere told us. We all jumped up and down in joy.
“Yay! I can finally return home to my body-” Sam gasped and held a hand to her mouth. We all stopped jumping up and down and stared at her. She started crying, and then told us her story. We all sympathized with her, and then Aurlon told his story, followed by my story. What shocked me next though, was that this happened to Keltik and Syncere as well! They were told that upon defeat of the Pandemonium Warden, they would be returned to the real world.
“I guess our reward for this quest is we get to return home in our own bodies, not these avatars we created,” Syncere told us. “Well, I guess there’s nothing left to do but to return back to the nations from whence we started, and go back home. Let’s go home, you guys.”
We all cheered and began to walk off, until I noticed something wasn’t right, “… Wait!” I shouted. The others stopped walking and turned to look at me.
“What’s up, babe?” Keltik asked me.
“We forgot about-”
“Daunte!” We all shouted together in unison.
We all ran over to Daunte’s body where Sam quickly cast Raise on him. “Raise!”
We saw Daunte began to rise, and then we ran over to hug him.
“I’m ready to finish killing the Warden!” Daunte shouted.
“Dude, he’s already dead-”
“He can’t be dead! I didn’t get to kill him!” Daunte shouted, interrupting Aurlon.
“But he is,” I responded back.
“No! No! No! I was supposed to defeat him to return home!” In a fit of panic, Daunte ran outside and we never saw him again.
“Where did he go?” I asked, with a puzzled look on my face.
“Who knows, Soph,” Syncere responded back.

Chapter 32

When we returned to Mhaura from the ship that came from Aht Urhgan Whitegate, we stepped off to hear immense crowds of shouting. It seemed as if the entire world of Vana’diel was behind the booth to enter the dock area. We saw the only ones allowed in this area were those that had originally assigned us this quest. As we stepped off the boat and onto the docks, we were greeted by those who sent us into this world: Cornelia, Karst, Prince Trion and Pieuje, Semih Lafihna, and the Star Sybil.
“Congratulations!” We heard the six say.
“Where’s Daunte?” Karst asked us.
“We don’t know,” Syncere responded back, and Karst let out a big grin.
“On behalf of the entire world of Vana’diel, we must thank you,” We heard the six leaders say in unison.
“Sam and Sophy, on behalf of the citizens of San d’Oria, the Leathercraft Guild, Blacksmith’s Guild, and Woodworking guild, we award you each a beautiful home, complete with furnishings, armor, and weapons. And like I promised, as much money as you can possibly imagine beyond your wildest dreams!” Prince Trion and Prince Pieuje told us. The crowd went crazy and the Star Sybil signaled for everyone to be quiet.
“Keltik, Syncere, on behalf of all the citizens of Windurst, the Cooking Guild, Fishing Guild, Clothcraft Guild, and Bonecraft Guild, we award you and your friends with a giant banquet to celebrate your triumphs, the two of you each receive a Lu Shang Fishing rod, the best of the best cloths, and the best bone armor the guild could possibly make. And of course, you also receive enough money to support yourselves for a very, very long time,” Semih Lafihna told Keltik and Syncere. The crowd once again went into a frenzy of shouts and cheering, until Cornelia started talking and the crowd fell silent again.
“Aurlon, on behalf of the citizens of Bastok, the Goldsmith Guild, Blacksmith Guild, and Alchemy Guild, we are honored to present you with the finest of all jewelry in Vana’diel, the best handcrafted armor and weapons you can purchase in all of Vana‘diel, and enough medicines to keep you at the healthiest you can possibly be. You, like your friends, will also be rewarded with money beyond your wildest dreams!” Cornelia told Aurlon, in joy.
Finally, Karst walked forward to us and the crowd fell silent. He walked forward enough, however, so it was only the eleven of us that heard each other talk. The crowds of Vana’diel citizens were unable to hear us talk, for it wouldn’t be good if they heard our secret. Karst shook our hands one by one, congratulating each of us. Because the crowds couldn’t hear us talk, the tension in the air was tangible. Finally, he said what we all wanted to hear. “Are you guys ready to go back home?”
We all nodded our heads up and down, watching confusion and wonder spread through the crowds as they guessed what we were talking about.
“Now, I need each of you to do exactly as I say.”
We all continued to nod in agreement, and everyone noticed how the winds began to pick up.
“Close your eyes now.” Karst told us to do, in a calm, yet serious manner.
We all closed our eyes. We could no longer see that the audience was murmuring their suspicions, but we could hear them and feel the winds pick up and dirt was starting to be picked up as well.
“I’m going to count to three, and when I say three, you’re going to open your eyes. Do you guys understand?”
“Yes.” we replied back in unison.
“One…” The winds were becoming even more stronger. “… Two…” I could feel the dirt flying everywhere and a hand touch my hand. We all quickly grabbed hands and we formed a chain. “… Three!” I heard a massive swoosh like I was being sucked into a tornado and my hand slipped. I tried screaming but nothing came out and I could hear the audience gasping as the giant windstorm came across the docks. When the windstorm passed, all eleven of us, including Trion, Pieuje, Cornelia, Karst, Star Sybil, Semih Lafihna, Sam, Aurlon, Syncere, and Keltik, were gone from sight.
Hearing some familiar voices, I opened my eyes…

[aurlon]

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